and fostering protection we seek to conquer and possess.]Sri Aurobindo
The Secret of the Veda
with Selected Hymns
The First Hymn to Mitra-Varuna
The Lords of the Thousand-Pillared Home of Truth and Bliss
[The Rishi hymns the eternal and immutable Truth of which the Truth in mutable things is the veil; that is the goal of the journey of the manifested Sun of divine knowledge; it is the eternal unity of all things that are and the supreme Divine of which the Gods are various forms. Into it unite all the wealth of being and knowledge and power and bliss won by the sacrifice. It is the large vastness of the wide purities of Varuna and of the shining harmonies of Mitra. There, eternally stable, dwell the herds of the divine radiances of knowledge; for that is the happy field to which they here are travelling. The Impeller of the cosmic movement and journey pours out knowledge in us, the milk of the herds, by the dawns of the inner light and there descend the streams of the immortal existence followed by the single and perfect movement of Mitra-Varuna, the Light and the Purity, the Harmony and the Infinity. It is the rain of heaven which these two Godheads pour down, upholding the physical existence in its fruits and the celestial in its herding radiances of illumination. They thus create in man a force full of divine knowledge and a wide being which they guard and increase, a strewn seat for the sacrifice. This thousand-pillared force of knowledge they make a home for themselves and dwell there in the revelations of the Word. It is luminous in its form and its pillars of life have an iron strength and stability. They ascend to it in the dawning, in the rising of the Sun of knowledge and look with that eye of their divine vision on the infinite existence and the finite, the indivisible unity of things and their multiplicity. It is a home full and large with the sweetness and ecstasy of the supreme and inviolable peace and bliss which by their cherishing and fostering protection we seek to conquer and possess.]
5.62.1
ऋ॒तेन॑ ऋ॒तमपि॑हितं ध्रु॒वं वां॒ सूर्य॑स्य॒ यत्र॑ विमु॒चन्त्यश्वा॑न् ।
दश॑ श॒ता स॒ह त॑स्थु॒स्तदेकं॑ दे॒वानां॒ श्रेष्ठं॒ वपु॑षामपश्यम् ॥१॥
ṛtena ṛtam api-hitam dhruvam vām sūryasya yatra vi-mucanti aśvān
daśa śatā saha tasthuḥ tat ekam devānām śreṣṭham vapuṣām apaśyam
By the Truth1 is veiled that ever-standing Truth of yours where they unyoke the horses of the Sun;2 there the ten hundreds3 stand still together; That One,– I have beheld the greatest of the embodied gods.4
5.62.2
तत्सु वां॑ मित्रावरुणा महि॒त्वमी॒र्मा त॒स्थुषी॒रह॑भिर्दुदुह्रे ।
विश्वा॑: पिन्वथ॒: स्वस॑रस्य॒ धेना॒ अनु॑ वा॒मेकः॑ प॒विरा व॑वर्त ॥२॥
tat su vām mitrāvaruṇā mahi-tvam īrmā tasthuṣīḥ ahabhiḥ duduhre
viśvāḥ pinvathaḥ svasarasya dhenāḥ anu vām ekaḥ paviḥ ā vavarta
That is the utter vastness of you, O Mitra and Varuna; there the Lord of the movement milks the herds of his stable radiances by the days. Lo, you twain swell all the streams of the Blissful One and your one wheel5 moves in their path.
5.62.3
अधा॑रयतं पृथि॒वीमु॒त द्यां मित्र॑राजाना वरुणा॒ महो॑भिः ।
व॒र्धय॑त॒मोष॑धी॒: पिन्व॑तं॒ गा अव॑ वृ॒ष्टिं सृ॑जतं जीरदानू ॥३॥
adhārayatam pṛthivīm uta dyām mitra-rājānā varuṇā mahaḥbhiḥ
vardhayatam oṣadhīḥ pinvatam gāḥ ava vṛṣṭim sṛjatam jīradānū iti jīra-dānū
You uphold earth and heaven, O Mitra King and King Varuna, by your greatnesses; you increase the growths of earth, you nourish the shining herds of heaven, you pour forth the rain of its waters, O swift in strength.
5.62.4
आ वा॒मश्वा॑सः सु॒युजो॑ वहन्तु य॒तर॑श्मय॒ उप॑ यन्त्व॒र्वाक् ।
घृ॒तस्य॑ नि॒र्णिगनु॑ वर्तते वा॒मुप॒ सिन्ध॑वः प्र॒दिवि॑ क्षरन्ति ॥४॥
ā vām aśvāsaḥ su-yujaḥ vahantu yata-raśmayaḥ upa yantu arvāk
ghṛtasya niḥ-nik anu vartate vām upa sindhavaḥ pra-divi kṣaranti
Let horses perfectly yoked with their well-governed reins of light bear you down to us; the form of the clarity follows in your coming and the Rivers flow in the front of heaven.
5.62.5
अनु॑ श्रु॒ताम॒मतिं॒ वर्ध॑दु॒र्वीं ब॒र्हिरि॑व॒ यजु॑षा॒ रक्ष॑माणा ।
नम॑स्वन्ता धृतद॒क्षाधि॒ गर्ते॒ मित्रासा॑थे वरु॒णेळा॑स्व॒न्तः ॥५॥
anu śrutām amatim vardhat urvīm barhiḥ-iva yajuṣā rakṣamāṇā
namasvantā dhṛta-dakṣā adhi garte mitra āsāthe iti varuṇa iḷāsu antariti
Increasing the strength that comes to our ear of knowledge, guarding by the sacrificial word6 your wide realm7 as if our seat of sacrifice, bringing obeisance, holding fast to judgment, you take your seat in your home, O Mitra, within the revealings of knowledge, O Varuna.
5.62.6
अक्र॑विहस्ता सु॒कृते॑ पर॒स्पा यं त्रासा॑थे वरु॒णेळा॑स्व॒न्तः ।
राजा॑ना क्ष॒त्रमहृ॑णीयमाना स॒हस्र॑स्थूणं बिभृथः स॒ह द्वौ ॥६॥
akravi-hastā su-kṛte paraḥ-pā yam trāsāthe varuṇā iḷāsu antariti
rājānā kṣatram ahṛṇīyamānā sahasra-sthūṇam bibhṛthaḥ saha dvau
With hands that spare not, protectors of the beyond for the doer of perfect works whom you deliver and he dwells within the revealings of knowledge, kings free from passion, together you uphold a thousand-pillared strength.
5.62.7
हिर॑ण्यनिर्णि॒गयो॑ अस्य॒ स्थूणा॒ वि भ्रा॑जते दि॒व्य१́श्वाज॑नीव ।
भ॒द्रे क्षेत्रे॒ निमि॑ता॒ तिल्वि॑ले वा स॒नेम॒ मध्वो॒ अधि॑गर्त्यस्य ॥७॥
hiraṇya-nirnik ayaḥ asya sthūṇā vi bhrājate divi aśvājanī-iva
bhadre kṣetre ni-mitā tilvile vā sanema madhvaḥ adhi-gartyasya
Its form is of golden light, iron is its pillar and shines in heaven as if the swift lightning;8 in the happy field9 it is shaped or in the field of the gleaming.10 May we win possession of the sweet honey11 which is in that home.
5.62.8
हिर॑ण्यरूपमु॒षसो॒ व्यु॑ष्टा॒वयः॑स्थूण॒मुदि॑ता॒ सूर्य॑स्य ।
आ रो॑हथो वरुण मित्र॒ गर्त॒मत॑श्चक्षाथे॒ अदि॑तिं॒ दितिं॑ च ॥८॥
hiraṇya-rūpam uṣasaḥ vi-uṣṭau ayaḥ-sthūṇam ut-itā sūryasya
ā rohathaḥ varuṇa mitra gartam ataḥ cakṣāthe iti aditim ditim ca
To that home whose form is of the gold, whose pillars are of the iron, in the breaking of the Dawn, in the uprising of the Sun you ascend, O Varuna, O Mitra, and thence you behold the Infinite and the Finite.12
5.62.9
यद्बंहि॑ष्ठं॒ नाति॒विधे॑ सुदानू॒ अच्छि॑द्रं॒ शर्म॑ भुवनस्य गोपा ।
तेन॑ नो मित्रावरुणावविष्टं॒ सिषा॑सन्तो जिगी॒वांसः॑ स्याम ॥९॥
yat baṃhiṣṭham na ati-vidhe sudānū iti su-dānū acchidram śarma bhuvanasya gopā
tena naḥ mitrāvaruṇau aviṣṭam sisāsantaḥ jigīvāṃsaḥ syāma
That bliss of yours which is most large and full and without a gap, O strong guardians of the world, so that none can pierce through and beyond it, by that cherish us, Mitra and Varuna; may we be victorious, who would take possession of that peace.
1 The active cosmic Truth of things diffused and arranged in their mutability and divisibility of Time and Space veils the eternal and unchanging Truth of which it is a manifestation.
2 The eternal Truth is the goal of the divine Light which arises in us and journeys upward into higher and higher heavens through the shining upper ocean.
3 The entire plenitude of the divine wealth in its outpourings of knowledge, force and joy.
4 The One, the Deva veiled by his form of the divine Sun. Cf. Isha Upanishad, “That splendour which is thy fairest form, O Sun, that let me behold. The Purusha who is there and there, He am I.”
5 The unified movement, when the lower wheel of the Sun is struck away; the inferior truth is taken up into the unity of the higher truth from which it now seems to be separate in its motion.
6 Yajur. The Rik is the word which brings with it the illumination, the Yajur the word which guides the sacrificial action in accordance with the Rik.
7 Or, “increasing and guarding the wide strength”.
8 Or, “the Mare”, the energy of the Horse of Life.
9 The Ananda, the Bliss-World.
10 The field of the gleaming of the Dawns, the world of the Light.
11 Madhu, the Soma.
12 Aditi and Diti.