He is the plenitude of his own discerning mind for the second soul2 when it bears the purified intelligence; then it holds in itself the continual wine of delight and affirms thee, O Immortal.Sri Aurobindo
The Secret of the Veda
with Selected Hymns
The Eighteenth Hymn to Agni
A Hymn of the Lords of the Plenitude
[The Divine Will is invoked to complete the manifestation of the divine powers after the second state of the soul when it has passed beyond the mere physical being and is full of the perfect energy of the vital plane; for the gods have given all the life’s fifty steeds of swiftness, Agni is there as the light and flame of its far-extended existence which has broken the limitations of the material being and he is full of the joys of this new and rich supra-physical life. Now the third state, the free mental being, is to be perfected by a richly varied and luminous play of thought and word ending in the manifestation of the highest reach of the mental realms, the power of the supramental Light in the mentality; there begins the manifestation of the intuitive and inspired mind. Agni has to create that vastness and light and divinity of the Truth-knowledge and so crown with it the already attained free swiftness of force and wide range of life and enjoyment proper to the perfected and god-filled vitality.]
5.18.1
प्रा॒तर॒ग्निः पु॑रुप्रि॒यो वि॒शः स्त॑वे॒ताति॑थिः ।
विश्वा॑नि॒ यो अम॑र्त्यो ह॒व्या मर्ते॑षु॒ रण्य॑ति ॥१॥
prātaḥ agniḥ puru-priyaḥ viśaḥ staveta atithiḥ
viśvāni yaḥ amartyaḥ havyā marteṣu raṇyati
Let the Will be affirmed in the dawning,1 guest of the creature with his many delights who, immortal in mortals, takes joy in all their offerings.
5.18.2
द्वि॒ताय॑ मृ॒क्तवा॑हसे॒ स्वस्य॒ दक्ष॑स्य मं॒हना॑ ।
इन्दुं॒ स ध॑त्त आनु॒षक्स्तो॒ता चि॑त्ते अमर्त्य ॥२॥
dvitāya mṛkta-vāhase svasya dakṣasya maṃhanā
indum saḥ dhatte ānuṣak stotā cit te amartya
He is the plenitude of his own discerning mind for the second soul2 when it bears the purified intelligence; then it holds in itself the continual wine of delight and affirms thee, O Immortal.
5.18.3
तं वो॑ दी॒र्घायु॑शोचिषं गि॒रा हु॑वे म॒घोना॑म् ।
अरि॑ष्टो॒ येषां॒ रथो॒ व्य॑श्वदाव॒न्नीय॑ते ॥३॥
tam vaḥ dīrghāyu-śociṣam girā huve maghonām
ariṣṭaḥ yeṣām rathaḥ vi aśva-dāvan īyate
Such art thou I call, the pure flame of this far-extending existence for the lords of the plenitude whose chariot inviolate ranges wide,3 O giver of the steeds of swiftness,–
5.18.4
चि॒त्रा वा॒ येषु॒ दीधि॑तिरा॒सन्नु॒क्था पान्ति॒ ये ।
स्ती॒र्णं ब॒र्हिः स्व॑र्णरे॒ श्रवां॑सि दधिरे॒ परि॑ ॥४॥
citrā vā yeṣu dīdhitiḥ āsan ukthā pānti ye
stīrṇam barhiḥ svaḥ-nare śravāṃsi dadhire pari
The lords of the plenitude in whom is rich light of the thought and they keep the words of our utterance in their mouth;4 the fullness of the soul has been spread as a seat of sacrifice in the power5 of the luminous world and all its inspirations are set round about.
5.18.5
ये मे॑ पञ्चा॒शतं॑ द॒दुरश्वा॑नां स॒धस्तु॑ति ।
द्यु॒मद॑ग्ने॒ महि॒ श्रवो॑ बृ॒हत्कृ॑धि म॒घोनां॑ नृ॒वद॑मृत नृ॒णाम् ॥५॥
ye me pañcāśatam daduḥ aśvānām sadha-stuti
dyu-mat agne mahi śravaḥ bṛhat kṛdhi maghonām nṛ-vat amṛta nṛṇām
They who have given me fifty steeds of swiftness6 with a perfect affirming, the divine souls that are lords of the plenitude, for them, O Flame-Immortal, create the large, the vast, the luminous knowledge full of the godheads.
1 The dawning of the divine Dawn of the higher knowledge in the mind.
2 Dwita, the god or Rishi of the second plane of the human ascent. It is that of the Life-force, the plane of fulfilled force, desire, free range of the vital powers which are no longer limited by the strict limitations of this mould of Matter. We become conscious of and conscious in new realms, immense ranges of life, the “far-extending existence” of the next verse, which are screened off from our ordinary physical consciousness. Trita is the god or Rishi of the third plane, full of luminous mental kingdoms unknown to the physical mind.
3 In these new worlds of life the divine movement is now fulfilled there and ranges unpierced by the “harms” of the powers of Death and Darkness.
4 This verse describes the farther ascent of the movement from the realms of Dwita to the realms of Trita.
5 Swarnara, often spoken of as if it were a country; it is not Swar itself, the utter superconscient plane, but the power of itself which the light of that world forms in the pure mentality. Here its inspirations and illuminations descend and take their place round the seat of the sacrifice. These are elsewhere called the scouts, “éclaireurs”, of the solar Deity, Varuna.
6 The Ashwa or Horse is the symbol of the Life-Force as the Cow is the symbol of the Light. Fifty, hundred, a thousand are numbers symbolic of completeness.