SRI AUROBINDO

Hymns to the Mystic Fire

Supplement

The following notes and studies found among Sri Aurobindo’s early manuscripts, evidently unrevised, are printed here for their intrinsic value.

The First Rik of the Rig-veda

Madhuchchhandas Vaishwamitra’s Hymn to Agni written in the Gayatri metre in which the first verse runs in the devabhāṣā,

1.1.1

अ॒ग्निमी॑ळे पु॒रोहि॑तं य॒ज्ञस्य॑ दे॒वमृ॒त्विजं॑ ।

होता॑रं रत्न॒धात॑मं ॥

agním īḷe puráḥ-hitam yajñásya devám ṛtvíjam ǀ

hótāram ratna-dhā́tamam ǁ

and in English,

“Agni I adore, who stands before the Lord, the god who seeth Truth, the warrior, strong disposer of delight.”

So the Rig-veda begins with an invocation to Agni, with the adoration of the pure, mighty and brilliant God. “Agni (he who excels and is mighty),” cries the Seer, “him I adore.” Why Agni before all the other gods? Because it is he that stands before Yajna, the Divine Master of things; because he is the god whose burning eyes can gaze straight at Truth, at the satyam, the vijñānam, which is the Seer’s own aim and desire and on which all Veda is based; because he is the warrior who wars down and removes all the crooked attractions of ignorance and limitation (asmajjuhurāṇam enaḥ) that stand persistently in the way of the Yogin; because as the vehicle of Tapas, the pure divine superconscious energy which flows from the concealed higher hemisphere of existence, (avyakta parārdha), he more than any develops and arranges Ananda, the divine delight. This is the signification of the verse.

Who is this Yajna and what is this Agni? Yajna, the Master of the Universe, is the universal living Intelligence who possesses and controls His world; Yajna is God. Agni also is a living intelligence that has gone forth, is sṛṣṭa from that Personality to do His work and represent His power; Agni is a God. The material sense sees neither God nor gods, neither Yajna nor Agni; it sees only the elements and the formations of the elements, material appearances and the movements in or of those appearances. It does not see Agni, it sees a fire; it does not see God, it sees the earth green and the sun flaming in heaven and is aware of the wind that blows and the waters that roll. So too it sees the body or appearance of a man, not the man himself; it sees the look or the gesture, but of the thought behind look or gesture it is not aware. Yet the man exists in the body and thought exists in the look or the gesture. So too Agni exists in the fire and God exists in the world. They also live outside of as well as in the fire and outside of as well as in the world.

How do they live in the fire or in the world? As the man lives in his body and as thought lives in the look or the gesture. The body is not the man in himself and the gesture is not the thought in itself; it is only the man in manifestation or the thought in manifestation. So too the fire is not Agni in himself but Agni in manifestation and the world is not God in Himself but God in manifestation. The man is not manifested only by his body, but also and much more perfectly by his work and action. Thought is not manifested only by look and gesture, but also and much more perfectly by action and speech. So too, Agni is not manifested only by fire, but also and much more perfectly by all workings in the world,— subtle as well as gross material,— of the principle of heat and brilliance and force; God is not manifested only by this material world, but also and much more perfectly by all movements and harmonies of the action of consciousness supporting and informing material appearances.

What then is Yajna in Himself and what is Agni in himself? Yajna is Being, Awareness and Bliss; He is Sat with Chit and Ananda, because Chit and Ananda are inevitable in Sat. When in His Being, Awareness and Bliss He conceals Guna or quality, He is nirguṇa sat, impersonal being with Awareness and Bliss either gathered up in Himself and passive, they nivṛtta, He also nivṛtta or working as a detached activity in His impersonal existence, they pravṛtta, He nivṛtta. Then He should not be called Yajna, because He is then aware of himself as the Watcher and not as the Lord of activity. But when in His being, He manifests Guna or quality He is saguṇa sat, personal being. Even then He may be nivṛtta, not related to His active awareness and bliss except as a Watcher of its detached activity; but He may also by His Shakti enter into their activity and possess and inform His universe (praviśya, adhiṣṭhita), He pravṛtta, they pravṛtta. It is then that He knows Himself as the Lord and is properly called Yajna. Not only is He called Yajna, but all action is called Yajna, and Yoga, by which alone the process of any action is possible, is also called Yajna. The material sacrifice of action is only one form of Yajna which, when man began to grow again material, took first a primary and then a unique importance and for the man of men stood for all action and all Yajna. But the Lord is the master of all our actions; for Him they are, to Him they are devoted, with or without knowledge (avidhipūrvakam) we are always offering our works to their Creator. Every action is, therefore, an offering to Him and the world is the altar of our life-long session of sacrifice. In this world-wide Karmakanda the mantras of the Veda are the teachers of right action (ṛtam) and it is therefore that the Veda speaks of Him as Yajna and not by another name.

This Yajna, who is the Saguna Sat, does not do works Himself, (that is by Sat), but He works in Himself, in Sat by His power of Chit,— by His Awareness. It is because He becomes aware of things in Himself by some process of Chit that things are created, brought out, that is to say, brought from His all-containing non-manifest Being into His manifest Self. Power and awareness, Chit and Shakti are one, and though we speak for convenience’ sake of the Power of Chit, and call it Chich-chhakti, yet the expression should really be understood not as the Power of Chit, but Chit that is Power. All awareness is power and all power conceals awareness. When Chit that is Power begins to work, then She manifests Herself as kinetic force, Tapas, and makes it the basis of all activity. For, because all power is Chit subjectively, therefore all power is objectively attended with light; but there are different kinds of light, because there are different manifestations of Chit. Seven rays have cast out this apparent world from the Eternal Luminousness which dwells like a Sun of ultimate being beyond its final annihilation, ādityavat tamasaḥ parastāt, and by these seven rays in their subjectivity the subjective world and by these seven rays in their objectivity the phenomenal world is manifested. Sat, Chit, Ananda, Vijnana, Manas, Prana, Annam are the sevenfold subjectivity of the Jyotirmaya Brahman. Prakasha, Agni, Vidyut, Jyoti, Tejas, Dosha and Chhaya are His sevenfold objectivity. Agni is the Master of the vehicle of Tapas. What is this vehicle of Tapas of which Agni is the master? It is fiery light. Agni is the light of Tapas, its vehicle and continent. The Master is known by the name of his kingdom. Strength, heat, brilliance, purity, mastery of knowledge and impartiality are his attributes. He is Yajna manifest as the Master of the light of Tapas, through whom all kinetic energy of consciousness, thought, feeling or action is manifested in this world which Yajna has made out of His own being. It is for this reason that he is said to stand before Yajna. He or Vidyut or Surya full of him is the blaze of light in which the Yogins see God with the divine vision. He is the instrument of that universal activity in which Yajna at once reveals and conceals His being.

Agni is a god — He is of the Devas, the shining ones, the Masters of light — the great cosmic gamesters, the lesser lords of the Lila, of which Yajna is the Maheshwara, our Almighty Lord. He is fire and unbound or binds himself only in play. He is inherently pure and he is not touched nor soiled by the impurities on which he feeds. He enjoys the play of good and evil and leads, raises or forces the evil towards goodness. He burns in order to purify. He destroys in order to save. When the body of the Sadhaka is burned up with the heat of the Tapas, it is Agni that is roaring and devouring and burning up in him the impurity and the obstructions. He is a dreadful, mighty, blissful, merciless and loving God, the kind and fierce helper of all who take refuge in his friendship.

Knowledge was born to Agni with his birth — therefore he is called Jatavedas.

Analysis

अग्निम् (agnim)

Agni is a Devata, one of the most brilliant and powerful of the masters of the intelligent mind. Man, according to Vedic psychology, consists of seven principles, in which the Atman cases itself,— annam, gross matter; prāṇa, vital energy; manas, intelligent mind; vijñānam, ideal mind; ānanda, pure or essential bliss; cit, pure or essential awareness; sat, pure or essential being. In the present stage of our evolution ordinary humanity has developed annam, prāṇa and manas for habitual use; and well-developed men are able to use with power the vijñānam acting not in its own habitation, स्वे दमे (sve dame), nor in its own rūpa, but vijñānam in the mind and as reasoning faculty, buddhi; extraordinary men are able to aid the action of manas and buddhi proper by the vijñānam acting in the intelligent mind indeed and so out of its proper sphere, but in its own form as ideal consciousness — the combination of mānasika and vaijñānika action making what is called genius, pratibhānam, a reflection or luminous response in the mind to higher ideation; the Yogin goes beyond to the vijñānam itself or, if he is one of the greatest Rishis, like Yajnavalkya, to the ānanda. None in ordinary times go beyond the ānanda in the waking state, for the cit and sat are only attainable in suṣupti, because only the first five sheaths or pañcakoṣas are yet sufficiently developed to be visible except to the men of the Satya Yuga and even by them the two others are not perfectly seen. From the vijñānam to the annam is the aparārdha or lower part of Existence where Vidya is dominated by Avidya; from the ānanda to the sat is the parārdha or higher half in which Avidya is dominated by Vidya and there is no ignorance, pain or limitation.

In man as he is at present developed, the intelligent mind is the most important psychological faculty and it is with a view to the development of the intelligent mind to its highest purity and capacity that the hymns of the Veda are written. In this mind there are successively the following principles; sūkṣma anna, refinement of the gross anna out of which the physical part of the manaḥ koṣa or sūkṣma deha is made; sūkṣma prāṇa, the vital energy in the mind which acts in the nāḍis or nervous system of the sūkṣma deha and which is the agent of desire; citta or receptive consciousness, which receives all the impressions from without and within by tāmasika reaction, but, being tāmasika, does not make them evident to the sāttvika consciousness or intelligent awareness which we call knowledge, so that we remember with the citta everything noticed or unnoticed, but that knowledge is useless for our life owing to its lying enveloped in tamas; hṛt or the rājasika reaction to impressions which we call feeling or emotion, or, when it is habitual, character; manas or active definite sensational consciousness rendering impressions of all kinds into percept or concept by a sāttvika reaction called intelligence or thought which men share with the animals; buddhi or rational, imaginative and intellectually mnemonic faculty, observing, retaining, comparing, reasoning, comprehending, combining and creating, the amalgam of which functions we call intellect; mānasa ānanda or the pure bliss of existence manifesting through the impure mind, body and prāṇa impurely, i.e. mixed with pain of various kinds, but in itself pure, because disinterested, ahaituka; mānasa tapas or the pure will-power acting towards knowledge, feeling and deed, impurely through the impure mind, body and prāṇa, i.e. mixed with weakness, dull inertia and ignorance or error; but in itself pure because ahaituka, disinterested, without any ulterior purpose or preference that can interfere with truth of thought, act and emotion; ahaituka sat or pure realisation of existence, operating through the impure organs as ahaṅkāra and bheda, egoism and limitation, but in itself pure and aware of unity in difference, because disinterested, not attached to any particular form or name in manifestation; and finally, Atma or Self seated in mind. This Atman is Sat and Asat, positive and negative, sadbrahman and Shunyam Brahma; both positive and negative are contained in the saḥ or Vasudeva and tat or Parabrahman, and saḥ and tat are both the same. The buddhi again is divided into understanding (medhā), which merely uses the knowledge given by sensation and, like manas, citta, hṛt and prāṇa, is adhīna, aniśa, subject to sensation; reason or buddhi proper, (smṛti or dhī, also called prajñā), which is superior to sensation and contradicts it in the divided light of a higher knowledge; and direct jñānam, satyam or sattvam which is itself that light of higher knowledge. All these faculties have their own devatās, one or many, each with his gaṇas or subordinate ministers. The jīva or spirit using these faculties is called the hansa, he who flies or evolves upward; when he leaves the lower and rises to the saccidānanda in the mind, using sat-cit and ānanda only, and reposing in the sadātman or in Vasudeva, then he is called the Parabrahma, one who has gone or evolved to the highest in that stage of evolution. This is the fundamental knowledge underlying the Veda, the loss of which, aided by the corruption of the Nirukta, has led to the present confusion and degradation of its meaning.

Chandra is the devata of the smṛti or prajñā; Surya of the satyam; Indra of the understanding and manas; Vayu of the sūkṣma prāṇa; Mitra, Varuna, Aryama and Bhaga are the four masters of the emotional mind or character; Brihaspati of the sahaituka cit or Tapas of knowledge; Brahma of the sahaituka sat; Agni of the sahaituka tapas etc. This is only an indication. The various characteristics and energies of the gods are best developed by an examination of the Veda itself. The Gods strive to function perfectly for the Lord or Yajna, the Isha, Master of the ādhāra or sevenfold medium of manifestation; the Titans or Daityas, equally divine, try to upset this perfect functioning. Their office is to disturb that which is established in order to push man below or give him an opportunity of rising higher by breaking that which was good and harmonious in itself but imperfect, and in any case to render him dissatisfied with anything short of perfection and drive him continually to the Infinite, either by the uttama gati to Vasudeva or, if he will not have that, by the adhama gati to Prakriti. The Vedic Aryans sought to overcome the Daityas or Dasyus by the aid of the gods; afterwards the gods had themselves to be overcome in order that man might reach his goal.

Agni in the sphere of material energies is the master of tejas, the third and central material principle in the five known to Vedic science. Tejas itself is of seven kinds, chāyā or negative luminosity which is the principle of annakoṣa; twilight or doṣa, the basis of the prāṇakoṣa being tejas modified by chāyā; tejas proper or simple clarity and effulgence, dry light, which is the basis of the manaḥkoṣa; jyotis or solar light, brilliance which is the basis of the vijñānakoṣa; Agni or fiery light, which is the basis of the citkoṣa; vidyut or electrical illumination which is the basis of the ānandakoṣa; and prakāśa which is the basis of the satkoṣa. Each of the seven has its own appropriate energy; for the energy is the essential reality and the light only a characteristic accompaniment of the energy. Of all these Agni is the greatest in the world, greater even than vidyut — although the God of the Vaidyuta energy is Vishnu himself who is the Lord of the Ananda, the vaidyuto mānavaḥ, Electrical Man, of the Upanishads. In the vijñāna, Surya as well as Vishnu, is greater than Agni, but here he and Vishnu both work under the dominant energy of Agni and for the satisfaction of Indra,— Vishnu in the Upanishads being younger than Indra,— Upendra. Translated into the language of physics, this means that Agni, commanding as he does heat and cold, is the fundamental active energy behind all phenomenon of light and heat; the Sun is merely a reservoir of light and heat, the peculiar luminous blaze of the sun being only one form of tejas and what we call sunlight is composed of the static energy of prakāśa or essential light which is the basis of the satkoṣa, the electrical energy or vaidyutam, and the tejas of Agni modified by the nature of Surya and determining all other forms of light. The prakāśa and vaidyutam can only become active when they enter into Agni and work under the conditions of his being and Agni himself is the supplier of Surya; he creates jyotis, he creates tejas, he creates, negatively, chāyā. Right or wrong, this is the physics of the Veda. Translated into the language of psychology, it means that in the intelligent mind, which now predominates, neither jñānam nor ānanda can be fully developed, though essentially superior to mind; not even Soma, the rational buddhi, can really govern; but it is Indra full of Soma, the understanding based on the senses and strengthened by the buddhi, who is supreme and for whose satisfaction Soma, Surya, Agni and even the supreme Vishnu work. The reason on which man prides himself, is merely a link in evolution from the manas to the vijñānam and must serve either the senses or the ideal cognition; if it has to work for itself it only leads to universal agnosticism, philosophic doubt and the arrest of all knowledge. It must not be thought that the Veda uses these names merely as personifications of psychological and physical forces; it regards these gods as realities standing behind the psychological and physical operations, since no energy can conduct itself, but all need some conscious centre or centres from or through which they proceed. A doubt will naturally arise, how Vishnu, the supreme Lord, can be the Upendra of the Vedas. The answer is that, whatever energy is of supreme importance at a particular stage of the evolution, is taken up by Vishnu-Virat as his especial care. We have seen that the Ananda is now highest in the developed evolution. Vishnu is therefore now pre-eminently the Lord of the Ananda and when he comes down into the material world he stands in the Sun as the supreme electrical force involved in Agni and evolving out of him, which is the physical counterpart of Ananda and without which no action in the world can proceed. He is not inferior, he only subordinates himself, pretending to serve, while really by service he commands. But upendratva is not the highest plane of Vishnu’s manifestation, the param dhāma; rather it is a special function here of the lowest dhāma. Upendratva is not viṣṇutva but only one of its workings.

Agni, therefore, is master of tejas, especially fiery tejas, and the agent of the sahaituka tapas in the mind. In the language of modern psychology, this sahaituka tapas is Will in action,— not desire, but Will embracing desire and exceeding it. It is not even choice, wish or intention. Will, in the Vedic idea, is essentially knowledge taking the form of force. Agni, therefore, is purely mental force, necessary to all concentration. Once we perceive this Vedic conception, we realise the immense importance of Agni and are in a position to understand the hymn we are studying.

The word Agni is formed from the root अग् (ag) with the nominal addition नि (ni). The root अग् (ag) is itself a derivative root from the primitive अ (a), meaning “to be”, of which traces are found in many languages. The ग् (g) gives an idea of force and अग् (ag), therefore, means to exist in force, pre-eminently — to be splendid, strong, excellent and Agni means mighty, supreme, splendid, forceful, bright. We find the same root in the Greek agathos, good, meaning originally, strong, noble, brave; agan, excessively; agō, I lead; Latin ago, age; aglaos (Gr.), bright, the names, Agis, Agamemnōn, and in the Sanskrit अग्र (agra), अगस्ति (agasti). It is interchangeable with its brother root अज् (aj), from which some of the meanings of agō (Gr.) are derived. It seems also to have meant to love, from the idea of embracing, cf. Greek agapē, but in this sense the old Sanskrit preferred अङ्ग् (aṅg). For the connection between the two roots, अग्, अङ्ग् (ag, aṅg), cf. अङ्गति (aṅgati), in the sense of fire, अङ्गिराः (aṅgirāḥ), as a name of Agni, अङ्गारः (aṅgāraḥ), a live coal.

ईळे (īḷe)

The root like all simple Sanskrit roots has two forms इळ् (iḷ) and ईळ् (īḷ). The original root was इल् (il) to love, embrace, flatter, praise, adore; the cerebral ळ् (ḷ) is a later form,— a dialectical peculiarity belonging to some of the dominant races of the Dwapara Yuga, which established itself for a time but could not hold its own and either resolved itself back into ल् (l) or was farther transformed into the soft cerebral ड् (ḍ) with which it was interchangeable. So we have the form ईड् (īḍ) in precisely the same sense. There is no idea necessarily involved of adoration to a superior, the dominant ideas being love, praise and desire. The meaning here is not “praise” or “worship”, but “desire”, “yearn for”.

पुरोहितम् (purohitam)

The words are two and not one. The sense of “priest, purohita”, put on the compound word in the later ceremonial interpretation of the Veda, is entirely absent in this hymn. The word पुरः (puraḥ) was originally the genitive of पुर् (pur) used adverbially. पुर् (pur) meant door, gate, front, wall; afterwards, house or city; cf. the Greek pulē, a gate, pulos, a walled city or fort, polis, a city; so in front. हितम् (hitam) is the participial adjective from the root हि (hi) in the sense of to cast down, throw down, plant, place, which appears in Greek as cheō, I pour; हयाः (hayāḥ), पुरोहितम् (purohitam) means therefore set or planted before.

यज्ञस्य (yajñasya)

The word यज्ञ (yajña) is of supreme importance in the Veda. In the ceremonial interpretation यज्ञ (yajña) is always understood as sacrifice and no other conception admitted. The Veda cannot be understood as the source of all Indian spirituality and divine knowledge, if this materialistic interpretation is accepted. In reality यज्ञ (yajña) is the name of the supreme Lord Vishnu himself; it also means धर्म (dharma) or योग (yoga) and by a later preference of meaning it came to signify sacrifice, because sacrifice in the later Dwapara Yuga became the one dharma and yoga which dominated and more and more tended to replace all others. It is necessary to recover the proper meaning of this important word by Nirukta, and, in order to do it, to lay down briefly the principle of Nirukta.

The Sanskrit language is the devabhāṣā or original language spoken by men in Uttara Meru at the beginning of the Manwantara; but in its purity it is not the Sanskrit of the Dwapara or the Kali, it is the language of the Satya Yuga based on the true and perfect relation of vāk and artha. Everyone of its vowels and consonants has a particular and inalienable force which exists by the nature of things and not by development or human choice; these are the fundamental sounds which lie at the basis of the Tantric bījamantras and constitute the efficacy of the mantra itself. Every vowel and every consonant in the original language had certain primary meanings which arose out of this essential Shakti or force and were the basis of other derivative meanings. By combination with the vowels, the consonants, and, without any combination, the vowels themselves formed a number of primary roots, out of which secondary roots were developed by the addition of other consonants. All words were formed from these roots, simple words by the addition again of pure or mixed vowel and consonant terminations with or without modification of the root and more complex words by the principle of composition. This language increasingly corrupted in sense and sound becomes the later Sanskrit of the Treta, Dwapara and Kali Yuga, being sometimes partly purified and again corrupted and again partly purified so that it never loses all apparent relation to its original form and structure. Every other language, however remote, is a corruption formed by detrition and perversion of the original language into a Prakrit or the Prakrit of a Prakrit and so on to increasing stages of impurity. The superior purity of the Indian language is the reason of its being called the Sanskrit and not given any local name, its basis being universal and eternal; and it is always a rediscovery of the Sanskrit tongue as the primary language that prepares first for a true understanding of human language and, secondly, for a fresh purification of Sanskrit itself.

This particular root यज् (yaj) from which यज्ञ (yajña) is formed is a secondary root on the base of the consonant य् (y), the Gunas of which are strength and tenderness applied to action, motion, formation and contact. The primary roots are य (ya), यि (yi) and यु (yu) with their lengthened forms या (yā), यी (yī) and यू (yū) — the original devabhāṣā recognising only three pure vowels, the rest being either modified or mixed vowels. The primary root of यज् (yaj) is य (ya) which means essentially to go quietly and persistently, to act or apply oneself quietly and with force and persistence, to master (knowledge or anything or person) by steady application, to come or bring into contact with gently or lovingly and effectively, to form or express clearly etc. The first sense appears, with its colour rubbed out, in the lengthened form या (yā), in यक्ष् (yakṣ), in one of the meanings of यम् (yam) etc.; the second in यत् (yat) and यश् (yaś), the third in यज् (yaj), यम् (yam) and यन्त्र् (yantr); the fourth in यज् (yaj) and याच् (yāc) which is originally a causal of यच् (yac) to give, now lost except in certain conjugational forms of यम् (yam), the fifth in one of the meanings of यम् (yam) to show, etc. Besides यच् (yac), there are other lost roots यल् (yal) to seek after, love, desire (Greek iallō), यश् (yaś) with a similar meaning, from which we have यशः (yaśaḥ) which was originally an adjective meaning lovely, charming, and a noun meaning sometimes an object of love or pursuit, sometimes beauty, ambition, fame etc., or love itself, favour, partiality. This is a brief example of the method followed by the original tongue as it can now be observed with its distinctions and shades confused and the colours of the words expunged.

In the root यज् (yaj) the force of the consonant ज् (j) determines the meaning. Its essential nature is swiftness, decisiveness, rapid brilliance, and restlessness. It has therefore a frequentative and intensive force. It means to love habitually and fervently, so to worship, to adore. It means to give freely, wholly or continuously; from these shades comes the meaning of sacrifice. It means to master thoroughly, habitually, with a continual repetition of the act of mastery; the word यत् (yat) means endeavour, but यज् (yaj) can never have meant endeavour, it is too decisive and triumphant and must imply possession or mastery, action sense of its result. It means therefore to rule, govern, order, possess. That is why यज्ञ (yajña) is Vishnu, in the sense of the Almighty Ruler, the Master of man’s action, body, thought, the supreme Lord ruling from the higher faculty in man, the parārdha or Sachchidananda.

यज्ञ (yajña) is formed by the addition of न (na), a nominal suffix which has the sense of action. It may be adjectival or nominal. It may convey the actor, the instrument, the manner or the sufferer of the action. यज्ञः (yajñaḥ) therefore came to mean, he who rules, the governor or master; loving, adoring, also he who is loved; the means of mastery and so Yoga, in its processes, not in its realisations; the manner of mastery and so dharma, a rule of action or self-government; adoration or an act of worship, though this sense was usually kept for यजुः (yajuḥ), giving, offering, sacrifice. As the name of Vishnu it meant, predominantly, the Master who directs, compels and governs; but the idea of the Lover and Beloved, the Giver and the object of all actions, ritual and worship of all Karma also entered into it in the associations of the worshipper and sometimes became prominent.

The Vishnu Purana tells us that Vishnu in the Satya Yuga incarnates as Yajna, in the Treta as the conqueror and king, in the Dwapara as Vyasa, the compiler, codifier and law-giver. It is not meant that He incarnates as sacrifice. The Satya Yuga is the age of human perfection when a harmonious order is established, the perfect or catuṣpād dharma whose maintenance depends on the full and universal possession of Yoga or direct relation to God and that again on the continual presence of incarnate Vishnu as the Adored, the Master and centre of Dharma and Yoga. The catuṣpād dharma is the perfect harmony of the four Dharmas, Brahmanyam, Kshatram, Vaishyam and Shaudram; for this reason separate castes do not exist in the Satya Yuga. In the Treta the Brahmanyam begins to fail, but remains as a subordinate force to help the Kshatram which then governs humanity. Mankind is maintained no longer by vīryam or Tapas easily sustained by inherent brahmajñānam, but by vīryam or Tapas sustaining the brahmajñānam with some difficulty and preventing its collapse. Vishnu incarnates as the Kshatriya, the incarnate centre of vīryam and Tapas. In the Dwapara, the Brahmanyam farther fails and turns into mere knowledge or intellectuality, the Kshatram becomes a subordinate force supporting the Vaishyam which has its turn of supremacy. The main qualities of the Vaishya are kauśalam, order and method, and therefore the Dwapara is the age of codification, ritual, Shastra, external appliances to maintain the failing internal spirituality; dānam, and therefore hospitality, liberality, the sacrifice and dakṣinā begin to swallow up other Dharmas — it is the Yuga Yajñiya,— the age of sacrifice; bhoga, and therefore the Veda is used for procuring enjoyment, in this world and the next, bhogaiśvaryagatim prati. Vishnu incarnates as the law-giver, ritualist and śāstrakāra to preserve the knowledge and practice of the Dharma by the aid of the intellect and abhyāsa, customary practice based on intellectual knowledge. In the Kali all breaks down except love and service, the Dharma of the Shudra by which humanity is maintained and from time to time purified; for the jñānam breaks down and is replaced by worldly, practical reason, the vīryam breaks down and is replaced by lazy mechanical appliances for getting things done lifelessly with the least trouble, dāna, yajña and śastra break down and are replaced by calculated liberality, empty ritual and tamasic social forms and etiquette. Love is brought in by the Avatars to break down these dead forms in order that the world may be rejuvenated and a new order and a new Satya Yuga emerge, when the Lord will again incarnate as Yajna, the supreme Vishnu in full manifestation of the catuṣpād dharma, knowledge, power, enjoyment and love.

It has been said that Vishnu in our present stage of evolution is pre-eminently the Lord of Ananda, but he is also the sanmaya brahman and the tapomaya. It is as the sanmaya that He is Yajna — Sat containing in it the Chit or Tapas and the Ananda. It must be remembered that while in the aparārdha we envisage Brahman through thought, feeling, action etc., in the parārdha we envisage him through essential realisation superior to thought, feeling and action. In the Ananda we realise essential delight; in the Chit, essential energy, intelligence and will; in the Sat, essential truth or be-ness. The Sat is therefore called the mahāsatyam and mahābrahman, the highest truth in the manifestation, out of which everything proceeds. It is by this mahāsatyam — distinguished from ordinary satyam or kāraṇam called objectively mahat and subjectively vijñānam, the fourth of the seven bhūmis,— that Vishnu as Yajna supports the dharma and yoga in the Satya Yuga. He is the sadbrahman in manifestation. We shall see when we deal with the word ऋत्विजम् (ṛtvijam), in what sense Agni stands before the Lord.

देवम् (devam)

A god — from the secondary root दिव् (div) to flash, gleam, vibrate, play. On the basis of the consonant द् (d) of which the Gunas are force, heavy violence, density, dense penetration, dense movement, we get दा (dā) to cut, दि (di) to vibrate and दु (du) to trouble and from दि (di) we get द्यु (dyu) and दिव् (div) or दीव् (dīv) meaning to vibrate shiningly, gleam, scintillate or play. The Devas are those who play in light,— their proper home is in the vijñānam, महर्लोक (maharloka), kāraṇa jagat, where matter is jyotirmaya and all things luminous, स्वेन धाम्ना (svena dhāmnā), by their own inherent lustre, and where life is an ordered Lila or play. Therefore when the Bhagawata speaks of the power of seeing the life of the Gods in Swarga, it calls that particular siddhi देवक्रीडानुदर्शनम् (devakrīḍānudarśanam), watching the sports of the gods, because all life is to them a sport or Lila. The Gods, however, dwell for us in the lower Swarloka, i.e., Chandraloka of which the summit is Kailasa and the basis Swarga with Pitriloka just above Swarga. Nevertheless even there they keep their jyotirmaya and līlāmaya nature, their luminous bodies and worlds of self-existent bliss free from death and care.

ऋत्विजम् (ṛtvijam)

This word is taken in the ceremonial interpretation of the Veda in the later sense of Ritwik, a sacrificial priest, and it is explained by separating as ऋतु + इज् (ṛtu+ij), one who sacrifices seasonably. In reality, ऋत्विज् (ṛtvij) is a very old word compounded in ancient Sanskrit before the creation of the modern rules of Sandhi, and is composed of ऋत् (ṛt), truth, and विज् (vij), ecstasy or ecstatic. It means one who has the ecstasy of the truth or सत्यम् (satyam).

ऋत् (ṛt) is an abstract noun formed from the root ऋ (ṛ) whose essential meaning was to vibrate, shake, dart, go straight; and its derivate meanings to reach, acquire, or else attack, hurt, injure, or to be erect, rise or raise; to shine; to think, realise truth, etc. From the sense of going straight in the secondary verb ऋज् (ṛj) with its adjective ऋजु (ṛju), straight, cf. Latin rego, rectus; ऋत (ṛta) straight, right, true; ऋतम् (ṛtam), truth, right, established law or custom; — सत्यम् (satyam) applied to the Supreme Brahman as the satyam or mahākāraṇam; — ऋतु (ṛtu), rule, fixed order, fixed time or season; ऋषि (ṛṣi), a thinker, direct seer of truth, cf. Latin reor, I think, ratio, method, order, reason, proposition, etc. The obsolete word ऋत् (ṛt) meant directness, truth, law, rule, thought, सत्यम् (satyam).

विज् (vij) is noun or adjective from the verb विज् (vij) meaning to shake, be troubled, excited, tremble, to be ecstatic, joyous, full of rapture, felicity or ecstatic energy, cf. Latin vigeo and vigor, from which comes the English vigour, ऋत्विज् (ṛtvij) is therefore one who is ecstatic with the fullness of the truth or सत्यम् (satyam). Agni, it has been pointed out, is the god of the Tapas or energy at work disinterestedly on the intellectual plane, one of the higher gods working on the lower level in the service of the lower deity Indra. He proceeds straight from the cit, which, when active, is known as mahātapas or cicchakti, the energy of the essential intelligence in the sadbrahman, Yajna or Vishnu. The Shakti begins creation by kṣobha or ecstatic vibration in the calm sadātman and this ecstatic vibration or विज् (vij), वेगः (vegaḥ), goes out as speed, force, heat, तपः (tapaḥ), or अग्नि (agni), the basis of life and existence. This Tapas born of the cicchakti, (Shakti, Devi, Kali, Prakriti) is full of the ecstatic movement of the sat or mahāsatyam manifesting itself. For this reason Agni is called ऋत्विज् (ṛtvij), vibrating ecstatic with the सत्यम् (satyam). For the same reason he is called जातवेदाः (jātavedāḥ), he from whom the higher knowledge is born, because he holds in himself the Veda or satyam and manifests it; Tapas is the basis of all concentration of Chit, awareness (the saṃyama of Patanjali) and it is by saṃyama or concentration of awareness either on the object of the awareness (rājayoga) or on itself (jñānayoga and adhyātmayoga) that satyam and veda become directly self-manifest and luminous to the Yogin. Without the saṃyama no Yoga is possible, no effective action of any kind is possible. When Brahma turned his mind to creation, it was the cry of “Tapas, Tapas” that was heard on the waters of the kāraṇa samudra (mahākāraṇam or sadbrahman). The immense importance of Agni as the ṛtvij to the Yogin, therefore, becomes manifest; and it is also clear why he is पुरोहितं यज्ञस्य (purohitaṃ yajñasya) for it is the Tapas which stands before the satyam, which we reach before we can get the Sat. It is the cicchakti which takes us to the Sat,— the Devi, Shakti or Kali who brings us to Brahman, to Vasudeva, and Agni, her especial agent for Tapas in the mind, is therefore a special intermediary between us and Yajna, who, as has been seen, is Vishnu, Vasudeva or Brahman, in the Sachchidananda or parārdha on the intellectual plane, which is all man in the average has yet reached. This is the reason why Agni was so great a god to the Rishi. To mere sacrificers and ritualists he was great only as the god of fire indispensable in all their ritual, but to the Yogin he has a much greater importance, as great as that of Surya, the lord of illumination, and Soma, the lord of Amrita. He was one of the most indispensable helpers in the processes which the Veda illumines and assists.

होतारम् (hotāram)

Here is another word of great importance in the Veda. In all existing interpretations of the Veda hotā is interpreted as the priest who offers the libation, हविः (haviḥ) as the libation and हु (hu) in the sense of pouring the offering. So fixed is this notion born of the predomination through several millenniums of the ceremonial meanings attached to all the important words of the Veda, that any other rendering would be deemed impossible. But in the original Veda होता (hotā) did not mean a sacrificial priest, nor हविः (haviḥ) an offering. Agni may by a metaphorical figure be called a purohita of the sacrifice though the figure will not have any very great Sanskritic exactness, but he can in no sense be the one who pours the libation. He devours the libation, he does not offer or pour it. Hota, therefore, must have some other signification which, without outraging fact and common-sense, can be applied to Agni.

The root हु (hu), like the roots हा (hā) and हि (hi), is based on the consonant ह् (h), the essential Gunas of which are aggression, violent action, impetuosity, loud breathing and so challenge, summons etc. This verb हु (hu) originally like ह (ha), हा (hā) and हि (hi) meant to strike or throw down, attack, slay, the vowel उ (u) adding a sense of pervasiveness which easily brought the idea of battle. We find, therefore, that this root meant to attack, fight, as in आहवः (āhavaḥ), battle; to call, shout, summons, as in ह्वे (hve), originally हवे (have) etc.; to throw, overthrow, destroy; to throw, pour, offer. From the last sense it came to have its more modern meaning. The transference from the sense of battle to the sense of sacrifice is paralleled by the Greek word machē, battle, which is certainly the same as the Sanskrit मखः (makhaḥ), sacrifice. It must be remembered that the Yoga was to the old Aryans a battle between the Devas and Daityas, the gods being the warriors who fought the Daityas for man and were made strong and victorious by the क्रिया (kriyā) or effective practices of Yoga; the Daityas being the Dasyus or enemies of Yajna and Yoga. This will become clearer and clearer as we proceed. This view of life as well as Yoga, which is only the sublimation of life, as a struggle between the Devas and Daityas is one of the most fundamental ideas of Veda, Purana, Tantra and every practical system in Hinduism. Agni is par excellence the warrior whom the Daityas must dread, because he is full of the ahaituka tapas, against which, if properly used and supported by the Yajamana, the Yogin, no evil force can prevail. The ahaituka tapas destroys them all. It is the mighty, effective and fighting force which once called in prepares perfect siddhi and an almost omnipotent control over our nature and our surroundings. Even when aśuddha, impure, Tapas fights the enemy, tamas, when śuddha, when the very action of Agni, it brings vīryam, it brings jñānam, it brings ānanda, it brings mukti. होतारम् (hotāram) means therefore the warrior, the destroyer of the Daityas, agni jātavedas; havis and hava mean battle or strength in violent action, हु (hu) to fight.

रत्नधातमम् (ratnadhātamam)

Superlative of रत्नधा (ratnadhā), joy-giving, the disposer of delight. We have the root रत् (rat) as a derivative from the primary root र (ra). Three roots र (ra), रि (ri), रु (ru) are themselves variations of the elemental śabda र् (r), whose essential significance is tremulous continual vibration. र (ra) means essentially to vibrate, shake, quiver abroad, the vowel अ (a) conveying essentially absoluteness, wideness, want of limitation as opposed to the vowel इ (i) which gives a sense of relation and direction to a given point. From this essential sense come the derivative meanings, to play, to shine; as in रतम् (ratam), रत्न (ratna) a jewel, रतिः (ratiḥ), रम् (ram), रञ्ज् (rañj), रजतम् (rajatam) silver, रजः (rajaḥ) dust, रजनी (rajanī), रात्रि (rātri) night etc. From the former meaning there comes the sense, to please, delight, love, adore, etc., as in रामा (rāmā), रामः (rāmaḥ), राध् (rādh), रज् (raj), रजः (rajaḥ), रजोगुण (rajoguṇa), etc. The word रत्न (ratna) in ancient Sanskrit from the root रत् (rat), had two sets of senses, delight, Ananda, pleasure, play, sexual intercourse, a thing of delight, mistress, etc., and splendour, light, lustre, brilliance, a brilliant, a jewel,— the modern sense. At first sight it would seem that lustre, brilliance is more appropriate to Agni, and it would apply well to the warrior who destroys the darkness of the mind, but the central idea of the hymn is not Agni as the master of light,— that is Surya,— but as the master of force, Tapas, which is the source out of which comes delight. The three terms of the parārdha are sat, cit, and ānanda. In sat cit abides and emerges from sat. As soon as it emerges, it generates the energy of cicchakti which plays throughout the universe; this play, रत्न (ratna), is ānanda in cit and it emerges from cit. All Tapas therefore generates ānanda, and the pure sahaituka tapas generates pure sahaituka ānanda which being universal, self-existent and by its nature incapable of any admixture of sorrow, is the most sure, wide and intense. Therefore Agni is most joy-giving, a great disposer of delight. The word धा (dhā) means to set, create, give, arrange; here it is the old Aryan substantive expressing the agent and often used adjectivally.