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2. Audio |
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▪ by Sri Shyama Sundara Sharma and Sri Satya Krishna Bhatta. Recorded by © 2012 Sriranga Digital Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd. |
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Rig Veda
Text & Audio
MAṆḌALA 1
Sūkta 171
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1. Info |
| To: | 1, 2: maruts; 3-6: indra, maruts |
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| From: | agastya maitrāvaruṇi | |
| Metres: | triṣṭubh |
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2. Audio |
▪ by South Indian brahmins |
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▪ by Sri Shyama Sundara Sharma and Sri Satya Krishna Bhatta. Recorded by © 2012 Sriranga Digital Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd. |
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3. Text |
01.171.01 (Mandala. Sukta. Rik)
2.4.11.01 (Ashtaka. Adhyaya. Varga. Rik)
1.23.065 (Mandala. Anuvaka. Rik)
Samhita Devanagari Accented
प्रति॑ व ए॒ना नम॑सा॒हमे॑मि सू॒क्तेन॑ भिक्षे सुम॒तिं तु॒राणां॑ ।
र॒रा॒णता॑ मरुतो वे॒द्याभि॒र्नि हेळो॑ ध॒त्त वि मु॑चध्व॒मश्वा॑न् ॥
Samhita Devanagari Nonaccented
प्रति व एना नमसाहमेमि सूक्तेन भिक्षे सुमतिं तुराणां ।
रराणता मरुतो वेद्याभिर्नि हेळो धत्त वि मुचध्वमश्वान् ॥
Samhita transliteration accented
práti va enā́ námasāhámemi sūkténa bhikṣe sumatím turā́ṇām ǀ
rarāṇátā maruto vedyā́bhirní héḷo dhattá ví mucadhvamáśvān ǁ
Samhita transliteration nonaccented
prati va enā namasāhamemi sūktena bhikṣe sumatim turāṇām ǀ
rarāṇatā maruto vedyābhirni heḷo dhatta vi mucadhvamaśvān ǁ
Padapatha Devanagari Accented
प्रति॑ । वः॒ । ए॒ना । नम॑सा । अ॒हम् । ए॒मि॒ । सु॒ऽउ॒क्तेन॑ । भि॒क्षे॒ । सु॒ऽम॒तिम् । तु॒राणा॑म् ।
र॒रा॒णता॑ । म॒रु॒तः॒ । वे॒द्याभिः॑ । नि । हेळः॑ । ध॒त्त । वि । मु॒च॒ध्व॒म् । अश्वा॑न् ॥
Padapatha Devanagari Nonaccented
प्रति । वः । एना । नमसा । अहम् । एमि । सुऽउक्तेन । भिक्षे । सुऽमतिम् । तुराणाम् ।
रराणता । मरुतः । वेद्याभिः । नि । हेळः । धत्त । वि । मुचध्वम् । अश्वान् ॥
Padapatha transliteration accented
práti ǀ vaḥ ǀ enā́ ǀ námasā ǀ ahám ǀ emi ǀ su-ukténa ǀ bhikṣe ǀ su-matím ǀ turā́ṇām ǀ
rarāṇátā ǀ marutaḥ ǀ vedyā́bhiḥ ǀ ní ǀ héḷaḥ ǀ dhattá ǀ ví ǀ mucadhvam ǀ áśvān ǁ
Padapatha transliteration nonaccented
prati ǀ vaḥ ǀ enā ǀ namasā ǀ aham ǀ emi ǀ su-uktena ǀ bhikṣe ǀ su-matim ǀ turāṇām ǀ
rarāṇatā ǀ marutaḥ ǀ vedyābhiḥ ǀ ni ǀ heḷaḥ ǀ dhatta ǀ vi ǀ mucadhvam ǀ aśvān ǁ
interlinear translation
Toward [1] you [2] with this [3] bow [4] I [5] go [6], by perfect word [7] seek [8] right-thinking [9] of swift ones [10]. Do enjoy [11], O Maruts [12], knowledges [13], do hold back [14+16] wrath [15], unyoke [17+18] horses [19].
01.171.02 (Mandala. Sukta. Rik)
2.4.11.02 (Ashtaka. Adhyaya. Varga. Rik)
1.23.066 (Mandala. Anuvaka. Rik)
Samhita Devanagari Accented
ए॒ष वः॒ स्तोमो॑ मरुतो॒ नम॑स्वान्हृ॒दा त॒ष्टो मन॑सा धायि देवाः ।
उपे॒मा या॑त॒ मन॑सा जुषा॒णा यू॒यं हि ष्ठा नम॑स॒ इद्वृ॒धासः॑ ॥
Samhita Devanagari Nonaccented
एष वः स्तोमो मरुतो नमस्वान्हृदा तष्टो मनसा धायि देवाः ।
उपेमा यात मनसा जुषाणा यूयं हि ष्ठा नमस इद्वृधासः ॥
Samhita transliteration accented
eṣá vaḥ stómo maruto námasvānhṛdā́ taṣṭó mánasā dhāyi devāḥ ǀ
úpemā́ yāta mánasā juṣāṇā́ yūyám hí ṣṭhā́ námasa ídvṛdhā́saḥ ǁ
Samhita transliteration nonaccented
eṣa vaḥ stomo maruto namasvānhṛdā taṣṭo manasā dhāyi devāḥ ǀ
upemā yāta manasā juṣāṇā yūyam hi ṣṭhā namasa idvṛdhāsaḥ ǁ
Padapatha Devanagari Accented
ए॒षः । वः॒ । स्तोमः॑ । म॒रु॒तः॒ । नम॑स्वान् । हृ॒दा । त॒ष्टः । मन॑सा । धा॒यि॒ । दे॒वाः॒ ।
उप॑ । ई॒म् । आ । या॒त॒ । मन॑सा । जु॒षा॒णाः । यू॒यम् । हि । स्थ । नम॑सः । इत् । वृ॒धासः॑ ॥
Padapatha Devanagari Nonaccented
एषः । वः । स्तोमः । मरुतः । नमस्वान् । हृदा । तष्टः । मनसा । धायि । देवाः ।
उप । ईम् । आ । यात । मनसा । जुषाणाः । यूयम् । हि । स्थ । नमसः । इत् । वृधासः ॥
Padapatha transliteration accented
eṣáḥ ǀ vaḥ ǀ stómaḥ ǀ marutaḥ ǀ námasvān ǀ hṛdā́ ǀ taṣṭáḥ ǀ mánasā ǀ dhāyi ǀ devāḥ ǀ
úpa ǀ īm ǀ ā́ ǀ yāta ǀ mánasā ǀ juṣāṇā́ḥ ǀ yūyám ǀ hí ǀ sthá ǀ námasaḥ ǀ ít ǀ vṛdhā́saḥ ǁ
Padapatha transliteration nonaccented
eṣaḥ ǀ vaḥ ǀ stomaḥ ǀ marutaḥ ǀ namasvān ǀ hṛdā ǀ taṣṭaḥ ǀ manasā ǀ dhāyi ǀ devāḥ ǀ
upa ǀ īm ǀ ā ǀ yāta ǀ manasā ǀ juṣāṇāḥ ǀ yūyam ǀ hi ǀ stha ǀ namasaḥ ǀ it ǀ vṛdhāsaḥ ǁ
interlinear translation
This [1] your [2] hymn [3], O Maruts [4], full of bow [5], is formed [7] by heart [6], is established [9] by mind [8], O gods [10]; do come [13+14] by mind [15] to [11] words [16], for [18] you [17], verily [21], are [19] increasers [22] of bow <i.e. of surrender> [20].
01.171.03 (Mandala. Sukta. Rik)
2.4.11.03 (Ashtaka. Adhyaya. Varga. Rik)
1.23.067 (Mandala. Anuvaka. Rik)
Samhita Devanagari Accented
स्तु॒तासो॑ नो म॒रुतो॑ मृळयंतू॒त स्तु॒तो म॒घवा॒ शंभ॑विष्ठः ।
ऊ॒र्ध्वा नः॑ संतु को॒म्या वना॒न्यहा॑नि॒ विश्वा॑ मरुतो जिगी॒षा ॥
Samhita Devanagari Nonaccented
स्तुतासो नो मरुतो मृळयंतूत स्तुतो मघवा शंभविष्ठः ।
ऊर्ध्वा नः संतु कोम्या वनान्यहानि विश्वा मरुतो जिगीषा ॥
Samhita transliteration accented
stutā́so no marúto mṛḷayantūtá stutó maghávā śámbhaviṣṭhaḥ ǀ
ūrdhvā́ naḥ santu komyā́ vánānyáhāni víśvā maruto jigīṣā́ ǁ
Samhita transliteration nonaccented
stutāso no maruto mṛḷayantūta stuto maghavā śambhaviṣṭhaḥ ǀ
ūrdhvā naḥ santu komyā vanānyahāni viśvā maruto jigīṣā ǁ
Padapatha Devanagari Accented
स्तु॒तासः॑ । नः॒ । म॒रुतः॑ । मृ॒ळ॒य॒न्तु॒ । उ॒त । स्तु॒तः । म॒घऽवा॑ । शम्ऽभ॑विष्ठः ।
ऊ॒र्ध्वा । नः॒ । स॒न्तु॒ । को॒म्या । वना॑नि । अहा॑नि । विश्वा॑ । म॒रु॒तः॒ । जि॒गी॒षा ॥
Padapatha Devanagari Nonaccented
स्तुतासः । नः । मरुतः । मृळयन्तु । उत । स्तुतः । मघऽवा । शम्ऽभविष्ठः ।
ऊर्ध्वा । नः । सन्तु । कोम्या । वनानि । अहानि । विश्वा । मरुतः । जिगीषा ॥
Padapatha transliteration accented
stutā́saḥ ǀ naḥ ǀ marútaḥ ǀ mṛḷayantu ǀ utá ǀ stutáḥ ǀ maghá-vā ǀ śám-bhaviṣṭhaḥ ǀ
ūrdhvā́ ǀ naḥ ǀ santu ǀ komyā́ ǀ vánāni ǀ áhāni ǀ víśvā ǀ marutaḥ ǀ jigīṣā́ ǁ
Padapatha transliteration nonaccented
stutāsaḥ ǀ naḥ ǀ marutaḥ ǀ mṛḷayantu ǀ uta ǀ stutaḥ ǀ magha-vā ǀ śam-bhaviṣṭhaḥ ǀ
ūrdhvā ǀ naḥ ǀ santu ǀ komyā ǀ vanāni ǀ ahāni ǀ viśvā ǀ marutaḥ ǀ jigīṣā ǁ
interlinear translation
Chanted [1], let [4] Maruts [3] be gracious [4] to us [2] and [5] chanted [6] {let} Lord of plenty [7] {be} most auspicious [8]. Let [11] desired [12] delights <lit. trees> [13] be [11] high [9] for us [10], {let} all [15] days [14], O Maruts [16], {be} the will towards victory [17].
01.171.04 (Mandala. Sukta. Rik)
2.4.11.04 (Ashtaka. Adhyaya. Varga. Rik)
1.23.068 (Mandala. Anuvaka. Rik)
Samhita Devanagari Accented
अ॒स्माद॒हं त॑वि॒षादीष॑माण॒ इंद्रा॑द्भि॒या म॑रुतो॒ रेज॑मानः ।
यु॒ष्मभ्यं॑ ह॒व्या निशि॑तान्यास॒न्तान्या॒रे च॑कृमा मृ॒ळता॑ नः ॥
Samhita Devanagari Nonaccented
अस्मादहं तविषादीषमाण इंद्राद्भिया मरुतो रेजमानः ।
युष्मभ्यं हव्या निशितान्यासन्तान्यारे चकृमा मृळता नः ॥
Samhita transliteration accented
asmā́dahám taviṣā́dī́ṣamāṇa índrādbhiyā́ maruto réjamānaḥ ǀ
yuṣmábhyam havyā́ níśitānyāsantā́nyāré cakṛmā mṛḷátā naḥ ǁ
Samhita transliteration nonaccented
asmādaham taviṣādīṣamāṇa indrādbhiyā maruto rejamānaḥ ǀ
yuṣmabhyam havyā niśitānyāsantānyāre cakṛmā mṛḷatā naḥ ǁ
Padapatha Devanagari Accented
अ॒स्मात् । अ॒हम् । त॒वि॒षात् । ईष॑माणः । इन्द्रा॑त् । भि॒या । म॒रु॒तः॒ । रेज॑मानः ।
यु॒ष्मभ्य॑म् । ह॒व्या । निऽशि॑तानि । आ॒स॒न् । तानि॑ । आ॒रे । च॒कृ॒म॒ । मृ॒ळत॑ । नः॒ ॥
Padapatha Devanagari Nonaccented
अस्मात् । अहम् । तविषात् । ईषमाणः । इन्द्रात् । भिया । मरुतः । रेजमानः ।
युष्मभ्यम् । हव्या । निऽशितानि । आसन् । तानि । आरे । चकृम । मृळत । नः ॥
Padapatha transliteration accented
asmā́t ǀ ahám ǀ taviṣā́t ǀ ī́ṣamāṇaḥ ǀ índrāt ǀ bhiyā́ ǀ marutaḥ ǀ réjamānaḥ ǀ
yuṣmábhyam ǀ havyā́ ǀ ní-śitāni ǀ āsan ǀ tā́ni ǀ āré ǀ cakṛma ǀ mṛḷáta ǀ naḥ ǁ
Padapatha transliteration nonaccented
asmāt ǀ aham ǀ taviṣāt ǀ īṣamāṇaḥ ǀ indrāt ǀ bhiyā ǀ marutaḥ ǀ rejamānaḥ ǀ
yuṣmabhyam ǀ havyā ǀ ni-śitāni ǀ āsan ǀ tāni ǀ āre ǀ cakṛma ǀ mṛḷata ǀ naḥ ǁ
interlinear translation
I [2], trembling [8] with fear [6] before this [1] mighty [3] Indra [5], is impelled {by him} [4], O Maruts [7]. For you [9] offerings [10] were [12] prepared [11], {we} have made [15] them [13] from afar [14], be gracious [16] to us [17].
01.171.05 (Mandala. Sukta. Rik)
2.4.11.05 (Ashtaka. Adhyaya. Varga. Rik)
1.23.069 (Mandala. Anuvaka. Rik)
Samhita Devanagari Accented
येन॒ माना॑सश्चि॒तयं॑त उ॒स्रा व्यु॑ष्टिषु॒ शव॑सा॒ शश्व॑तीनां ।
स नो॑ म॒रुद्भि॑र्वृषभ॒ श्रवो॑ धा उ॒ग्र उ॒ग्रेभिः॒ स्थवि॑रः सहो॒दाः ॥
Samhita Devanagari Nonaccented
येन मानासश्चितयंत उस्रा व्युष्टिषु शवसा शश्वतीनां ।
स नो मरुद्भिर्वृषभ श्रवो धा उग्र उग्रेभिः स्थविरः सहोदाः ॥
Samhita transliteration accented
yéna mā́nāsaścitáyanta usrā́ vyúṣṭiṣu śávasā śáśvatīnām ǀ
sá no marúdbhirvṛṣabha śrávo dhā ugrá ugrébhiḥ stháviraḥ sahodā́ḥ ǁ
Samhita transliteration nonaccented
yena mānāsaścitayanta usrā vyuṣṭiṣu śavasā śaśvatīnām ǀ
sa no marudbhirvṛṣabha śravo dhā ugra ugrebhiḥ sthaviraḥ sahodāḥ ǁ
Padapatha Devanagari Accented
येन॑ । माना॑सः । चि॒तय॑न्ते । उ॒स्राः । विऽउ॑ष्टिषु । शव॑सा । शश्व॑तीनाम् ।
सः । नः॒ । म॒रुत्ऽभिः॑ । वृ॒ष॒भ॒ । श्रवः॑ । धाः॒ । उ॒ग्रः । उ॒ग्रेभिः॑ । स्थवि॑रः । स॒हः॒ऽदाः ॥
Padapatha Devanagari Nonaccented
येन । मानासः । चितयन्ते । उस्राः । विऽउष्टिषु । शवसा । शश्वतीनाम् ।
सः । नः । मरुत्ऽभिः । वृषभ । श्रवः । धाः । उग्रः । उग्रेभिः । स्थविरः । सहःऽदाः ॥
Padapatha transliteration accented
yéna ǀ mā́nāsaḥ ǀ citáyante ǀ usrā́ḥ ǀ ví-uṣṭiṣu ǀ śávasā ǀ śáśvatīnām ǀ
sáḥ ǀ naḥ ǀ marút-bhiḥ ǀ vṛṣabha ǀ śrávaḥ ǀ dhāḥ ǀ ugráḥ ǀ ugrébhiḥ ǀ stháviraḥ ǀ sahaḥ-dā́ḥ ǁ
Padapatha transliteration nonaccented
yena ǀ mānāsaḥ ǀ citayante ǀ usrāḥ ǀ vi-uṣṭiṣu ǀ śavasā ǀ śaśvatīnām ǀ
saḥ ǀ naḥ ǀ marut-bhiḥ ǀ vṛṣabha ǀ śravaḥ ǀ dhāḥ ǀ ugraḥ ǀ ugrebhiḥ ǀ sthaviraḥ ǀ sahaḥ-dāḥ ǁ
interlinear translation
By {that} bright might [6], by which [1] luminous [4] movements of the mind [2] continually [7] awoke in consciousness [3] in mornings [5], he [8] for us [9] with Maruts [10], Bull [11], Mighty one [14] with mighty ones [15], do establish [13] hearing {of the Truth} <i.e. for supramental knowledge> [12], steadfast [16], the giver of strength [17].
01.171.06 (Mandala. Sukta. Rik)
2.4.11.06 (Ashtaka. Adhyaya. Varga. Rik)
1.23.070 (Mandala. Anuvaka. Rik)
Samhita Devanagari Accented
त्वं पा॑हींद्र॒ सही॑यसो॒ नॄन्भवा॑ म॒रुद्भि॒रव॑यातहेळाः ।
सु॒प्र॒के॒तेभिः॑ सास॒हिर्दधा॑नो वि॒द्यामे॒षं वृ॒जनं॑ जी॒रदा॑नुं ॥
Samhita Devanagari Nonaccented
त्वं पाहींद्र सहीयसो नॄन्भवा मरुद्भिरवयातहेळाः ।
सुप्रकेतेभिः सासहिर्दधानो विद्यामेषं वृजनं जीरदानुं ॥
Samhita transliteration accented
tvám pāhīndra sáhīyaso nṝ́nbhávā marúdbhirávayātaheḷāḥ ǀ
supraketébhiḥ sāsahírdádhāno vidyā́meṣám vṛjánam jīrádānum ǁ
Samhita transliteration nonaccented
tvam pāhīndra sahīyaso nṝnbhavā marudbhiravayātaheḷāḥ ǀ
supraketebhiḥ sāsahirdadhāno vidyāmeṣam vṛjanam jīradānum ǁ
Padapatha Devanagari Accented
त्वम् । पा॒हि॒ । इ॒न्द्र॒ । सही॑यसः । नॄन् । भव॑ । म॒रुत्ऽभिः॑ । अव॑यातऽहेळाः ।
सु॒ऽप्र॒के॒तेभिः॑ । स॒स॒हिः । दधा॑नः । वि॒द्याम॑ । इ॒षम् । वृ॒जन॑म् । जी॒रऽदा॑नुम् ॥
Padapatha Devanagari Nonaccented
त्वम् । पाहि । इन्द्र । सहीयसः । नॄन् । भव । मरुत्ऽभिः । अवयातऽहेळाः ।
सुऽप्रकेतेभिः । ससहिः । दधानः । विद्याम । इषम् । वृजनम् । जीरऽदानुम् ॥
Padapatha transliteration accented
tvám ǀ pāhi ǀ indra ǀ sáhīyasaḥ ǀ nṝ́n ǀ bháva ǀ marút-bhiḥ ǀ ávayāta-heḷāḥ ǀ
su-praketébhiḥ ǀ sasahíḥ ǀ dádhānaḥ ǀ vidyā́ma ǀ iṣám ǀ vṛjánam ǀ jīrá-dānum ǁ
Padapatha transliteration nonaccented
tvam ǀ pāhi ǀ indra ǀ sahīyasaḥ ǀ nṝn ǀ bhava ǀ marut-bhiḥ ǀ avayāta-heḷāḥ ǀ
su-praketebhiḥ ǀ sasahiḥ ǀ dadhānaḥ ǀ vidyāma ǀ iṣam ǀ vṛjanam ǀ jīra-dānum ǁ
interlinear translation
Thou [1] do protect [2], O Indra [3], the manly ones [5] in their increased might [4], be [6] with Maruts [7] him whose anger is appeased [8], upholding [11], putting forth force [10] together with them who have right perceptions [9]. Let {us} know [12] mighty [14] impelling force [13] that shall break swiftly through [15].
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Translations and commentaries by Sri Aurobindo |
Indra and the Thought-Forces
1. To you I come with this obeisance, by the perfect Word I seek right mentality from the swift in the passage. Take delight, O Maruts, in the things of knowledge, lay aside your wrath, unyoke your steeds.
2. Lo, the hymn of your affirmation, O Maruts; it is fraught with my obeisance, it was framed by the heart, it was established by the mind, O ye gods. Approach these my words and embrace them with the mind; for of submission2 are you the increasers.
3. Affirmed let the Maruts be benign to us, affirmed the lord of plenitude has become wholly creative of felicity. Upward may our desirable delights3 be uplifted, O Maruts, upward all our days by the will towards victory.
4. I, mastered by this mighty one, trembling with the fear of Indra, O Maruts, put far away the offerings that for you had been made intense. Let your grace be upon us.
5. Thou by whom the movements of the mind grow conscient and brilliant4 in our mornings through the bright power5 of the continuous Dawns, O Bull of the herd,6 establish by the Maruts inspired knowledge in us – by them in their energy thou energetic, steadfast, a giver of might.
6. Do thou, O Indra, protect the Powers7 in their increased might; put away thy wrath against the Maruts, by them in thy forcefulness upheld, who have right perceptions.
May we find the strong impulsion that shall break swiftly through.
Commentary
A sequel to the colloquy of Indra and Agastya, this Sukta is Agastya’s hymn of propitiation to the Maruts whose sacrifice he had interrupted at the bidding of the mightier deity. Less directly, it is connected in thought with the 165th hymn of the Mandala, the colloquy of Indra and the Maruts, in which the supremacy of the Lord of Heaven is declared and these lesser shining hosts are admitted as subordinate powers who impart to men their impulsion towards the high truths which belong to Indra. “Giving the energy of your breath to their thoughts of varied light, become in them impellers to the knowledge of my truths. Whensoever the doer becomes active for the work and the intelligence of the thinker creates us in him, O Maruts, move surely towards that illumined seer,” – such is the closing word of the colloquy, the final injunction of Indra to the inferior deities.
These verses fix clearly enough the psychological function of the Maruts. They are not properly gods of thought, rather gods of energy; still, it is in the mind that their energies become effective. To the uninstructed Aryan worshipper, the Maruts were powers of wind, storm and rain; it is the images of the tempest that are most commonly applied to them and they are spoken of as the Rudras, the fierce, impetuous ones,– a name that they share with the god of Force, Agni. Although Indra is described sometimes as the eldest of the Maruts,– indrajyeṣṭho marudgaṇaḥ,– yet they would seem at first to belong rather to the domain of Vayu, the Wind-God, who in the Vedic system is the Master of Life, inspirer of that Breath or dynamic energy, called the Prana, which is represented in man by the vital and nervous activities. But this is only a part of their physiognomy.
Brilliance, no less than impetuosity, is their characteristic. Everything about them is lustrous, themselves, their shining weapons, their golden ornaments, their resplendent cars. Not only do they send down the rain, the waters, the abundance of heaven, and break down the things best established to make way for new movements and new formations,– functions which, for the rest, they share with other gods, Indra, Mitra, Varuna,– but, like them, they also are friends of Truth, creators of Light.
It is so that the Rishi, Gotama Rahugana, prays to them, “O ye who have the flashing strength of the Truth, manifest that by your might; pierce with your lightning the Rakshasa. Conceal the concealing darkness, repel every devourer, create the Light for which we long.” And in another hymn, Agastya says to them, “They carry with them the sweetness (of the Ananda) as their eternal offspring and play out their play, brilliant in the activities of knowledge.” The Maruts, therefore, are energies of the mentality, energies which make for knowledge. Theirs is not the settled truth, the diffused light, but the movement, the search, the lightning-flash, and, when Truth is found, the many-sided play of its separate illuminations.
We have seen that Agastya in his colloquy with Indra speaks more than once of the Maruts. They are Indra’s brothers, and therefore the god should not strike at Agastya in his struggle towards perfection. They are his instruments for that perfection, and as such Indra should use them. And in the closing formula of submission and reconciliation, he prays to the god to parley again with the Maruts and to agree with them so that the sacrifice may proceed in the order and movement of the divine Truth towards which it is directed. The crisis, then, that left so powerful an impression on themind of the seer,was in the nature of a violent struggle in which the higher divine Power confronted Agastya and the Maruts and opposed their impetuous advance. There has been wrath and strife between the divine Intelligence that governs the world and the vehement aspiring powers of Agastya’s mind. Both would have the human being reach his goal; but not as the inferior divine powers choose must that march be directed,– rather as it has been firmly willed and settled above by the secret Intelligence that always possesses for the manifested intelligence that still seeks. Therefore the mind of the human being has been turned into a battle-field for greater Powers and is still quivering with the awe and alarm of that experience.
The submission to Indra has been made; Agastya now appeals to the Maruts to accept the terms of the reconciliation, so that the full harmony of his inner being may be restored.
He approaches them with the submission he has rendered to the greater god and extends it to their brilliant legions. The perfection of the mental state and its powers which he desires, their clearness, rectitude, truth-observing energy, is not possible without the swift coursing of the Thought-Forces in their movement towards the higher knowledge. But that movement, mistakenly directed, not rightly illumined, has been checked by the formidable opposition of Indra and has departed for a time out of Agastya’s mentality. Thus repelled, the Maruts have left him for other sacrificers; elsewhere shine their resplendent chariots, in other fields thunder the hooves of their wind-footed steeds. The Seer prays to them to put aside their wrath, to take pleasure once more in the pursuit of knowledge and in its activities; not passing him by any more, let them unyoke their steeds, descend and take their place on the seat of the sacrifice, assume their share of the offerings.
For he would confirm again in himself these splendid energies, and it is a hymn of affirmation that he offers them, the stóma of the Vedic sages. In the system of the Mystics, which has partially survived in the schools of Indian Yoga, the Word is a power, the Word creates. For all creation is expression, everything exists already in the secret abode of the Infinite, guhā hitam, and has only to be brought out here in apparent form by the active consciousness. Certain schools of Vedic thought even suppose the worlds to have been created by the goddess Word and sound as first etheric vibration to have preceded formation.
In the Veda itself there are passages which treat the poetic measures of the sacred mantras,– anuṣṭúbh, triṣṭubh, jágatī, gāyatrī,– as symbolic of the rhythms in which the universal movement of things is cast.
By expression then we create andmen are even said to create the gods in themselves by the mantra. Again, that which we have created in our consciousness by theWord, we can fix there by the Word to become part of ourselves and effective not only in our inner life but upon the outer physical world. By expression we form, by affirmation we establish. As a power of expression the word is termed gīḥ or vacas; as a power of affirmation, stóma.
In either aspect it is named manma or mantra, expression of thought in mind, and brahman, expression of the heart or the soul,– for this seems to have been the earlier sense of the word brahman,8 afterwards applied to the Supreme Soul or universal Being.
The process of formation of the mantra is described in the second verse along with the conditions of its effectivity. Agastya presents the stóma, hymn at once of affirmation and of submission, to the Maruts. Fashioned by the heart, it receives its just place in the mentality through confirmation by the mind.
The mantra, though it expresses thought in mind, is not in its essential part a creation of the intellect. To be the sacred and effective word, it must have come as an inspiration from the supra-mental plane, termed in Veda, Ritam, the Truth, and have been received into the superficial consciousness either through the heart or by the luminous intelligence, manīṣā. The heart in Vedic psychology is not restricted to the seat of the emotions; it includes all that large tract of spontaneous mentality, nearest to the subconscient in us, out of which rise the sensations, emotions, instincts, impulses and all those intuitions and inspirations that travel through these agencies before they arrive at form in the intelligence. This is the “heart” of Veda and Vedanta, hṛdaya, hṛd, or brahman. There in the present state of mankind the Purusha is supposed to be seated centrally.Nearer to the vastness of the subconscient, it is there that, in ordinary mankind,– man not yet exalted to a higher plane where the contact with the Infinite is luminous, intimate and direct,– the inspirations of the Universal Soul can most easily enter in and most swiftly take possession of the individual soul. It is therefore by the power of the heart that the mantra takes form. But it has to be received and held in the thought of the intelligence as well as in the perceptions of the heart; for not till the intelligence has accepted and even brooded upon it, can that truth of thought which the truth of the Word expresses be firmly possessed or normally effective. Fashioned by the heart, it is confirmed by the mind.
But another approval is also needed. The individual mind has accepted; the effective powers of the Cosmos must also accept. The words of the hymn retained by the mind form a basis for the new mental posture from which the future thoughtenergies have to proceed. The Maruts must approach them and take their stand upon them, the mind of these universal Powers approve and unite itself with the formations in the mind of the individual. So only can our inner or our outer action have its supreme effectivity.
Nor have the Maruts any reason to refuse their assent or to persist in the prolongation of discord. Divine powers who themselves obey a higher law than the personal impulse, it should be their function, as it is their essential nature, to assist the mortal in his surrender to the Immortal and increase obedience to the Truth, the Vast towards which his human faculties aspire.
Indra, affirmed and accepted, is no longer in his contactwith the mortal a cause of suffering; the divine touch is now utterly creative of peace and felicity. The Maruts too, affirmed and accepted, must put aside their violence. Assuming their gentler forms, benignant in their action, not leading the soul through strife and disturbance, they too must become purely beneficent as well as puissant agencies.
This complete harmony established, Agastya’s Yoga will proceed triumphantly on the new and straight path prescribed to it. It is always the elevation to a higher plane that is the end, – higher than the ordinary life of divided and egoistic sensation, emotion, thought and action. And it is to be pursued always with the same puissant will towards victory over all that resists and hampers. But it must be an integral exaltation. All the joys that the human being seeks with his desire, all the active energies of his waking consciousness,– his days, as it is expressed in the brief symbolic language of the Veda,– must be uplifted to that higher plane. By vanāni are meant the receptive sensations seeking in all objectivities the Ananda whose quest is their reason for existence. These, too, are not excluded. Nothing has to be rejected, all has to be raised to the pure levels of the divine consciousness.
Formerly Agastya had prepared the sacrifice for the Maruts under other conditions. He had put their full potentiality of force into all in him that he sought to place in the hands of the Thought-Powers; but because of the defect in his sacrifice he had been met midway by the Mighty One as by an enemy and only after fear and strong suffering had his eyes been opened and his soul surrendered. Still vibrating with the emotions of that experience, he has been compelled to renounce the activities which he had so puissantly prepared. Now he offers the sacrifice again to the Maruts, but couples with that brilliant Name the more puissant godhead of Indra. Let the Maruts then bear no wrath for the interrupted sacrifice but accept this new and more justly guided action.
Agastya turns, in the two closing verses, from theMaruts to Indra. The Maruts represent the progressive illumination of human mentality, until from the first obscure movements of mind which only just emerge out of the darkness of the subconscient, they are transformed into an image of the luminous consciousness of which Indra is the Purusha, the representative Being.
Obscure, they become conscient; twilit, half-lit or turned into misleading reflections, they surmount these deficiencies and put on the divine brilliance. This great evolution is effected in Time gradually, in the mornings of the human spirit, by the unbroken succession of the Dawns. For Dawn in the Veda is the goddess symbolic of new openings of divine illumination on man’s physical consciousness. She alternates with her sister Night; but that darkness itself is a mother of light and always Dawn comes to reveal what the black-browedMother has prepared. Here, however, the seer seems to speak of continuous dawns, not broken by these intervals of apparent rest and obscurity. By the brilliant force of that continuity of successive illuminations the mentality of man ascends swiftly into fullest light. But always the force which has governed and made possible the transformation, is the puissance of Indra. It is that supreme Intelligence which through the Dawns, through the Maruts, has been pouring itself into the human being. Indra is the Bull of the radiant herd, the Master of the thought-energies, the Lord of the luminous dawns.
Now also let Indra use theMaruts as his instruments for the illumination. By them let him establish the supramental knowledge of the seer. By their energy his energy will be supported in the human nature and hewill give that nature his divine firmness, his divine force, so that it may not stumble under the shock or fail to contain the vaster play of puissant activities too great for our ordinary capacity.
The Maruts, thus reinforced in strength, will always need the guidance and protection of the superior Power. They are the Purushas of the separate thought-energies, Indra the one Purusha of all thought-energy. In him they find their fullness and their harmony. Let there then be no longer strife and disagreement between this whole and these parts. The Maruts, accepting Indra, will receive from him the right perception of the things that have to be known. They will not be misled by the brilliance of a partial light or carried too far by the absorption of a limited energy. They will be able to sustain the action of Indra as he puts forth his force against all that may yet stand between the soul and its consummation.
So in the harmony of these divine Powers and their aspirations may humanity find that impulsion which shall be strong enough to break through the myriad oppositions of this world and, in the individual with his composite personality or in the race, pass rapidly on towards the goal so constantly glimpsed but so distant even to him who seems to himself almost to have attained.
1 Indra and the Thought-Forces // CWSA.– Vol. 15.– The Secret of the Veda.– Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1998, pp. 266-275. 1-st published: Arya: A Philosophical Review. Monthly.– Vol.1, No 2 – September 1914, pp. 29-38.
2 Namas. Sayana takes namas throughout in his favourite sense, food; for “increasers of salutation” is obviously impossible. It is evident from this and other passages that behind the physical sense of obeisance theword carries with it a psychological significancewhich here disengages itself clearly from the concrete figure.
3 Vanāni. The word means both “forests” and “enjoyments” or as an adjective, “enjoyable”. It has commonly the double sense in the Veda, the “pleasant growths” of our physical existence, romāṇi pṛthivyāḥ.
4 Usrāḥ. In the feminine the word is used as a synonym for the Vedic go, meaning at onceCow and ray of light. Usha, theDawn, also, is gómatī, girt with rays or accompanied by the herds of the Sun. There is in the text a significant assonance, usrā vy-uṣṭiṣu, one of the common devices used by the Vedic Rishis to suggest a thought or a connection which they do not consider it essential to bring out expressly.
5 Śavas. There are a host of words in the Veda for strength, force, power and each of them carries with it its own peculiar shade of significance. Śavas usually conveys the idea of light as well as force.
6 Vṛṣabha. Bull, Male, Lord or Puissant. Indra is constantly spoken of as Vṛṣabha or Vṛṣan. The word is sometimes used by itself, as here, sometimes with another word governed by it to bring out the idea of the herds, e.g. Vṛṣabha matīnām, Lord of the thoughts, where the image of the bull and the herd is plainly intended.
7 Nṝn. The word nṛ seems to have meant originally active, swift or strong. We have nṛmṇa, strength, and nṛtama nṛṇām, most puissant of the Powers. It came afterwards to mean male or man and in the Veda is oftenest applied to the gods as the male powers or Purushas presiding over the energies of Nature as opposed to the female powers, who are called gnā.
8 Also found in the form bṛh (Brihaspati, Brahmanaspati); and there seem to have been older forms, bṛhan and brahan. It is frombrahan (gen. brahnas) that, in all probability, we have the Greek phren, phrenos, signifying mind.