Soma, Gandharva, and the other divine beings in the Universal Consciousness (Part-1)
Wherever possible,
history/mythology associated with the divine characters has been mentioned.
References to
the original texts have been provided and they are quoted with word-word
meanings; these are mainly from the Upanishads and Vedas.
It is
important to understand that wherever a character or an event has been narrated
in the Vedas, in the purana (mythologies), and in the epics (like Mahabharata,
Ramayana), the history and the corresponding earthly events have been described
along with the divine parts of the same. As we are obsessed with the physical
world only, such description appears strange. Everything, every being in the physical world
has a divine aspect. Also, mythology or puraaNa acts like a supplement (pUraka)
to the Vedas.
Earlier
another article was published on Soma, titled “The treasures in the Vedas. Soma
the nectar of the moon and the mind” This is available in the following links https://www.slideshare.net/debkumar_lahiri/soma-22145183
It is
intended to complete this article in another part to cover more on soma
and soma yaj~na.
The non-English words written in italics fonts are Sanskrit words and most of these words are available in the Sanskrit English Lexicon by Sir Monier Williams available in the internet at <https://www.sanskritlexicon.unikoeln.de/scans/MWScan/2020/web/webtc/indexcaller.php> .
This is
written following the teachings of the great sage Shri.BijayKrishna
Chattopadhyaya (1875-1945) and his principal disciple Sri.Tridibnath
Bandopadhyaya (1923-1994).
Dekumar
Lahiri (dekumar.lahiri@gmail.com)
Index.
Section-1 The
being called gandharva
Section-2 gandha (scent)—the olfactory sense and gandharva
Section-3 The world of Gandharvas and other related
worlds
Section-4 Physicality /earth and the water
Section-5 vaayu/aayu/the divine air
Section-6 antariikSha (inner-sky) and vaayu
Section-7 gandharva and antariikSha
Section-8 gandharva and aaditya
Section-9 soma
Section-10 aaditya and chandra/chandramaa,
and soma
Section-11 soma/chandra (moon) and birth-death
cycles.
Section-12 tithi (phase of the moon), atithi (the
immutable one, without waxing and waning), and medhaatithi
Section-13 Gandharvas and the chariot of the sun
Section-14 The Soul
as perceived in the world of Gandharva
Section-15 Apsara (apsaraa)—the consort of
Gandharva
Section-16 The eternal
repose of Gandharvas
Section-17 Dhrupada
Section-18 The goddess sarasvatii
and the lakes and pools
Section-19 Act of
hearing and anointment by ap (the divine water) or soma.
Section-20 Anointment by
perfumes, preservation & memory
Section-21 sarpi,sarpa, soma-creeper and dadhikraa
Section-22 ghraaNa (the act of
smelling), ghRita /aajya (clarified butter)
Section-23 The products
of milk and the divinity.
Section-24 kajjala/kajjvala/kajvala (collyrium made from lampblack) and ghRita.
Section-25 Apsara called
ghRitaachii
Section-26 Indra the
king of heavens, his wife, and Apsaras
Section-27 The celestial
dance and music; blue and white hued sarasvatii
Section-28 Celestial
dancers and musicians
Section-29 Water
carrying the sperms
Section-30 Gandharvas
named haahaa and huhu
Section-31 Gandharvas
mentioned in Brihadarnyaka Upanishad
Section-32 Apsara uurvashii
/urvashii
Section-33 urugaaya viShNu
Section-34 urvashii and purUravas
Section-35 Gandharva
named chitraratha
Section-36 Apsara
tilottamaa
Section-37 The deity kuvera and his associates
Section-38 Guardians of soma, nakshatra (stars/constellations),
filtration of soma
39. suparNa-----beautifully
winged soma
40. soma
and his sixteen phases (ShoDasha kalaa)
41. agni and soma
42. indu and bindu
1. The being called gandharva.
Gandharvas
are the divine beings who are known for their amorous habits, skills for music,
songs, knowledge of anatariikSha (inner space), knowledge of Sun’s
chariot (or the divinity related to motion/time & space, and for other
divine prowess. They are fond of the elixir soma that captivates us as
the shine of the moon, as the intoxicating sap of senses of vision, hearing,
touch, taste, and smell in which we crave to live; the soma that
implants itself as the sap inside the earth supporting the vegetation, fauna,
and flora and revealing as the scents and fragrances of the flowers and leaves.
Gandharvas are the divine traders of scents or perfumes which in turn means
that they are the traders of soma. The scent is called gandha in
Sanskrit. We will elaborate on this.
2. gandha (scent)—the olfactory sense and gandharva
The word gandha
means ‘scent’. Etymologically it is gam (motion) + dha (held,
contained). The stability that our mother earth has provided us is working in
conjunction with the process of breathing---- inhaling, and exhaling. The
diurnal and annual rotations of the earth are churning out the life or
animation. It is the circulation of air /vaayu/praaNa that is
churning out the cycles of lives in us. The days and nights, seasons, months,
and years are coming out of Consciousness. The circulation of air through our
nose, the pulses of life throbbing in us are the periodicities created by Consciousness.
This is also the breathing functions and the sense of scent in us. Gandharvas
are tuned to this periodicity and circulation of air or praaNa.
This is why,
they (Gandharvas and their consorts called Apsara) are the famous musicians,
dancers, performers of arts; they have the masterly knowledge on the motion of
Sun’s chariot and other chariots i.e. on the motion of the Consciousness or on
the time and distance of the worlds.
As they are
tuned to the periodicity of praaNa, or the eternal Consciousness, they
are the beings who are dominating the inner space called antariiksha.
When the
physical existence is transformed into the existence in praaNa, when the
existence is perceived as the outcome of the circulations/periodicity of
Universal Consciousness or the eternal praaNa, this earth or the
physicality becomes the fragrance of the Consciousness. The scent or the smell
holds or retains; it is the manifestation of vidhRiti shakti of praaNa.
vidhRiti shakti is the aspect/faculty (called apaana) of praaNa or
the Universal Consciousness by which praaNa
(Consciousness) holds us in the body. It is the same faculty of
Consciousness, by which we are being held to the earth. Thus in the subtlety,
the earth/body is the scent. (Refer verse 3.8 of Prashnopanishad, and verse
3.2.2 of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad.)
3. The world of Gandharvas and other
related worlds
In
Brihadaranyka Upanishad (Brihadaranyaka Verse 3.6.1), the sage Yajnavalkya
while answering a series of questions asked by the female sage Gargi mentioned
the world of soma(chandra), Gandharva, and the other related worlds as
below:
“ Gargi
asking Yajnavalkya: When all the material world is laid within ap (water),
where the world of ap is laid?
Yajnavalkya
answering Gargi: Within vaayu (air).
Gargi asking
Yajnavalkya: Within whom the world of vaayu is laid?
Yajnavalkya
answering Gargi: Within antariikSha (inner-sky).
Gargi asking
Yajnavalkya: Within whom the world antariikSha is laid?
Yajnavalkya
answering Gargi: Within the domain of gandharva.
Gargi asking
Yajnavalkya: Within whom the world of gandhatva is laid?
Yajnavalkya
answering Gargi: Within the domain of aaditya (Sun)
Gargi asking
Yajnavalkya: Within whom the world of aaditya is laid?
Yajnavalkya
answering Gargi: Within the domain of chandra (Moon)
4. Physicality /earth and the water
The Universal
Consciousness has become the physicality, which is the ultimate state of
realization. We are physical means, we are individual and limited within a
physical boundary or body. In Vedic parlance, earth and body convey the same
sense, the sense of physicality.
The Universal
Consciousness as the divine water or ap is acting as the sap of the
physical world. Thus in Chandogya Upanishad, it is stated that the earth (pRithivii)
is the essence of the physical world (bhUta) and water (ap) is
the essence of the earth. (Chandogya Upanishad Verse 1.1.2). Whatever is the
satisfaction we get from physicality it is ap or aapti or the
acquirement/satisfaction of being physical. Physical water has no particular
shape, but it takes the shape of the receptacle. In divinity, Consciousness as
the water or ap is supporting the ‘holding power’ or the gravitational
field of the earth and the formation of physical shapes. This reminds also the
‘water bag’ in the womb, where the body of the fetus is formed and held. Thus it
is said by the sage Yajnavalkya that the material world is laid within ap (water).
ap is the aspect of praaNa called
apaana (ap + ana/praaNa). In Prashnopanishad, it is mentioned that the
deity in the earth is holding apaana in an entity and thus creating stability.
This implies that the earth (gravity) as apaana is holding an entity or bestowing
its stationary state. (Refer verse 3.8 of Prashnopanishad)
5. vaayu/aayu/the divine air
The divine
air or vaayu is that personality of the Universal Consciousness, who has
kept the entire universe connected. vaayu is the main deity of Yajur
Veda (yajur veda). The word yajur (also yajus) is from the
root word yuj meaning ‘to join’ or ‘to yoke’.The first verse of Yajur
Veda addresses vaayu. Universal Consciousness as the air, as our
respiration, is connecting the external with internal; what is the life /air / vaayu
outside, is becoming ‘life’ in us by the process of breathing. Thus vaayu
becomes aayu in us. aayu means the ‘life span’ or ‘life’.
This air, in physical form, is the nerves in our body. The entire universe is woven and
connected by a network formed by vaayu. vaayu is related to the
root verb ‘vay’ meaning ‘to flow or move’ and is connected with the word
‘vaya’ which means ‘weaver’. The
air in the atmosphere and air within us is this divine air vaayu. The
word ‘atmosphere’ itself is from the words ‘aatman’ (soul) and sphUraNa
(spherical expansion or expansion in all directions, inflation.) Thus,
Consciousness as the One multiplied and created the Universe by inflating or
expanding. The duality starts with vaayu and this is the foundation of
the sense called ‘touch’ (sparhsa). So, Consciousness or praaNa/vaayu,
is also called ‘one and half’ (adhi ardha), as Consciousness is One
and dual simultaneously. (Refer to Brihadaranyaka Upanishad verse 3.9.8).
It is for
this reason when we leave the body after our death, the body experiences an
event called ‘primary flaccid’. Our body
becomes flaccid before the rigor mortis starts. The ‘inner air’ stops functioning,
resulting in primary flaccid.( Refer to Brihadaranyaka Upanishad verse 3.7.2)
Thus,the entire
manifested and the physical universe is tied together by vaayu, all are
connected and activated by this network of praaNa or the Universal
Consciousness.
So, ap/ water is laid within vaayu/
air.
6. antariikSha (inner-sky) and vaayu
As every
entity in the universe is connected to each other and to the origin by vaayu,
so vaayu leads us to antariikSha or the inner-sky, where we
find everything within us.
By this
aspect of Consciousness (inner sky), the balance or equilibrium of an entity as
well as of the universe is maintained. This aspect of praaNa is also
called samaana (sama-same; ana = praaNa).
Thus,
Upanishad have cited: antaraa yad aakaashaH sa samanaH –sky that is inside is
Samaana (Prashnopanishad….). Things become even, naturalized when they are felt
within or seen within.
7. gandharva and antariikSha
As mentioned
above, the power that holds us to the earth (gravitation), and the power by
which we are held in our body are the same. This is by Consciousness or praaNa
and this power is called vidhRiti shakti. dhRiti means the act of
‘holding’ and vidhRiti’ means, ‘act of holding everyone separately,
the act of holding every entity’. This act of holding is exhibited by the
‘earth’. Earth is called dharitrii meaning ‘the goddess who is holding’.
This action of holding is mentioned as the action of praaNa called apaana.
(We have mentioned about apaana above while narrating ap). In
Prashopanishad it is mentioned that the goddess who is in the earth, she as apaana
within an ‘entity or being’, has made the entity ‘stable’. Also, it is stated
in Brihadaranyaka, that we smell by the aspect of praaNa, called apaana.
(Refer Verse 3.8 of Prashnopanishad and verse 3.2.2 of Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad.)
This aspect
of praaNa, holding every being and every entity is called
gandha or scent. We have mentioned this before also. This aspect of
‘holding’ or vidhRiti shakti is also exhibited by the void or sky (aakaasha).
The planets and stars, the entire physical universe is held in the sky. Whatever
is there in the external world, it is the ‘word’ of the Universal Consciousness
materialized. This universe is manifested within the mind of the Universal
Consciousness like our words are taking definite forms in our mind. Our mind is
that part of Consciousness where we perceive or see the defined and
dimensionalized world and where we interact with the physical world by making determinations
(saMkalpa) or by withdrawing/altering determinations (vikalpa).
We are
listening to the words of the Universal Consciousness and perceiving the
Universe. The physical words or the physical world are held as ‘words’ within
us. We listen to whatever we see or feel. Our every feeling or perception is
associated with words. So, this is how we are held within.
Thus from the
material world to antariikSha, everything is held in praaNa and
this is gandha or the fragrance of the Universal Consciousness. This is
why, it is said, anatariikSha is laid within the worlds of ‘gandharva’.
8. gandharva and aaditya
We explained
above the relation between the earth and the scent. As the earth is held by the
sun, so the scent or gandharva is also held by the sun or aaditya.
The sun in
our solar system, and similarly in other planetary systems, is said to be the
manifestation of the radiance of viShNu. viShNu is all-pervading
Universal Consciousness or praaNa, and is within everyone as uShNa or
the ‘warmth’ or vitality.
Thus there is
a hymn on the earth and viShNu, who are holding everyone affectionately.
It is as below:
om pRithvi tvayaa
dhRitaa lokaa
(Om. Oh! the
goddess Earth, the worlds are being held by you!)
devi tvam viShNunaa
dhRitaa.
(Goddess, you
are being held by viShNu.)
tvam cha dhaaraya
maam nityam
(Goddess, you
in turn hold me all the time.)
pavitram kuru
chaaasanam.
((And)
Consecrate my seat.)
Thus, additya, who is manifested as the
radiance of praaNa, is holding everyone belonging to the material world,
to ap/water, to vaayu/air, to antariikSha/ inner-sky, to
the world of Gandharva.
So, gandharva/
the world of Gandharva, is laid within aaditya.
9. soma
soma is the flow of Consciousness, the flow
of praaNa. The king soma or soma rajaan, is the shining
immutable soul or the Consciousness within all, from whom is gushing the flows
of Consciousness or streams of soma. soma rajaan is also called atithi
(guest) and we have explained the significance of this later in this
article. So, soma is the nectar, that brings joy beyond mortality
as we learn to drink it by knowing its connection with the king soma. It
is felt by us as the continuous streams of the senses and feelings by which we
are animated and intoxicated. Because we are unaware of our origin or the
source as well as the source of soma, we live as fragmented or isolated
from the source. This is why we see the end or termination of everything. When
every moment, every event is perceived as the appearance of the Universal Soul
or the Universal Consciousness, the moments, events of our lives emerge in
divinity which is beyond death and so beyond all adversaries. The sufferings which we encounter in our lives, which cause bitter feelings, pains, ailments,
uncertainties, are all partial deaths.
soma =
saha (with) + oM;
oM is the expression beyond all expressions. If all expressions get into
one expression, one word, it is oM. oM is called praNava or the
Consciousness (pra / praaNa) whose every expression is nava or
new. The One who is beyond death is always new, and every expression of the One
is new.
soma =
saha (with) + umaa; umaa = u/ut (up/above, beyond mortality) + maa
(measure); soma is the Universal Consciousness, who is coming to us with
the measures of divinity or eternity.
We think we
are going to end along the passage of time, but along the course of time, we
are becoming ‘new’ at every moment and continue to be new in our journey to
eternity.
There are
three kinds of soma; where we are differentiating and where we are
dominated by duality or ‘many’, there it is called, kuvit soma. Where we
find, that soma is flowing to break our stagnation, removing the scales
of dirt and dust on us, sanctifying us, it is called pavamaana soma.
pavamaana means, who is flowing, who is purifying. When we transcend death
or mortality after being purified by pavamaana soma, we find soma as
sunavaama soma.
Here is a
hymn offering prayer to pavamaana
soma:
asato maa sadgamaya, tamaso maa jyotirgamaya, mRityormaamRitaM gamayeti.
Meaning
From the
untruth lead me to the truth
From the
darkness lead me to the light
From the
death lead me to eternity. (So is said.) (Brihadarayaka Upanishad,verse
1.3.28.)
[ asato (from the
untruth) maa (me) sadgamaya (lead
to the truth)
tamaso (from
the darkness) maa (me) jyotirgamaya (lead to the light)
mRityor (from the
death) maa (me) amRitaM (to eternity) gamaya (lead) iti (so is said).]
Following is
a hymn on sunavaama soma:
jaatavedase sunavaama
somam araatiiyato nidahaati vedaH |
sa naH parShadati
durgaaNi vishvaa naaveva sindhuM duritaatyagniH || (Taittiriya Aranyaka).
Meaning
jaatavedase ----for jatavedas
sunavaama (su---nicely; navaama---made new) somam----- we have made /pressed out soma anew nicely!
araatiiyato nidahaati vedaH-----araati (a raati---unyielding); ni dahaati (burn to the end) vedaH (knowledge/perception)----burn to the end the knowledge that is unyielding
sa (let he/jataavedas)
naH(us) parShadati (carry over) durgani
(difficulties) vishva (of the universe / all)----let he carry us across
all the difficulties
naaveva sindhuM ---naava iva (like a ship) sindhuM (ocean) duritaat (difficulties) atiy (beyond/over) agniH (oh agni)-----
"We have pressed out anew the soma for jaatavedas.
Let all the knowledge
that is futile be burnt to the end.
Let he (jaatavedas) carry us over all the difficulties, like a ship crossing the ocean; take us beyond the difficulties,oh agni!" (Taittiriya Aranyaka of Krishna Yajur Veda ).
‘sunavaama
somam’ means, “I have made soma or the elixir new”! We say this when
soma unfolds the aspect of ‘ever newness----nava kalaa.
jaatavedas means the one who is generating (jaa) oneself as many and knowing/sensing (veda) what is being generated; and every entity thus generated is also 'knowing' or is active by Consciousness.
10. aaditya and chandra/chandramaa, and soma
The sun and
the moon which we see in our sky are the parts of the divine personalities or
the personalities of the Universal Consciousness as manifested in our space and
they are generally called aaditya and chandra/chandramaa respectively.
Our sense of
‘presence’ or our ‘present time’ is supported by the sun/aaditya. Thus,
the sun is related to jaagrata (awakeness) paada (state) or the
state of awakeness.
On the other
hand, whatever is the past, it belongs to the moon or chandra/chandramaa
(the lunar field of Universal Consciousness). Whoever departs from the
‘present’, whoever departs from the earth, reaches the moon or lunar domain or chandra.
(Kaushitaki Upanishad verse 1.2, Chandogya Upanishad, Fifth Chapter, Tenth
part). From chandra, the departed
soul either returns to the earth (or mortality) by the regulation that executes
compulsory cycles of ‘rebirths’; or the departed soul travels to the divinity
where there is no such compulsion and the state of dependency.
When you are
seeing a flower, irrespective of whether it is daytime or night, you are seeing
it by the light of the sun or aaditya jyoti, which keeps you externally
activated or physically activated.
Later, when
you muse or reflect on the flower when you recall its colour, scent, etc., you
do this in your internal light or moonlight.
Even, while
seeing a flower on a branch, you simultaneously start feeling and judging its
details like, shape, size, colour, scent and you start liking it or disliking
it. The flower gets in you, gets absorbed in you. Whenever you will think of
it, the flower already now existing within you, will effuse the feelings or soma
and shine the moonlight or soma. We call memory ‘smRiti’, because,
in memory, things remain dead or mRita (mRi), at the same time they
become live and effuse soma, radiate the moonlight or internal light, bring about
the associated feelings and perceptions of ‘what we call past’. So, we call it
a ‘reflection’ of the past.
Reflection is
also associated with ‘absorption’ and ‘anointment’. (An object assumes its
colour or is anointed by the light reflected from its surface and it absorbs
the rays of other colours. Some light is also filtered through the object. We
are mentioning this as these phenomena are part and parcel of soma merging
with us and are represented in the rituals of soma yaaga like jyotiShToma.
When the sun
(gRihapati agni) illuminates us, then by the regulation of the moon or chandramaa,
the illumination is absorbed, assimilated by us, and also a part of the light that
we reflect becomes our characteristic illumination. This is the light of the
moon.
The sun, or
the personality of the Universal Consciousness called the sun, is addressed as aaditya.
The word aaditya is related to the two source words, ‘adana’ and
‘aditi’. ‘adana’ is from the root verb ‘ad’ meaning ‘to eat’. The
word ‘aditi’ means, without ‘diti’ or ‘without division, without duality’. When
we eat, we assimilate the food, it merges with us, nourishes us, adds to our
shining, illuminates us with life/vitality or ‘ana’. So, food is also
called ‘anna’. So, as we eat we digest and assimilate the food, the food
becomes part of us. Similarly, the Universal Consciousness is eating us and
assimilating us. Thus, it is stated that five-faced raajan
(king/radiant) soma eats everyone. (Refer to verse 2.9 of Kaushitaki
Upanishad.)
This eating
by the Universal Consciousness is the process of ‘evolution’ and we are
evolving to ‘eternity’, we are getting integrated into the Universal Oneness.
(So, the sun or aaditya is also the source of ‘time’.)
aaditya exhibits the personality of oneness (aditi)
and so exhibits ‘wholeness’. Every individual has multiple personalities,
and in every moment, he or she is a different person; still, overall, as a
whole, there is a unique personality by which the individual is identified.
Similarly, the Universal Consciousness as a ‘whole’ is a Universal Personality
to which we all belong and the Universal Consciousness as aaditya, has
thus embraced all of us and regaling (adana). This is aaditya and
praaNa as the Universal Person is also known as vaishvaanara (vaisha
= universal + nara = person).
The lunar
plane or the lunar aspect of Universal Consciousness is acting within aaditya, and regulating the process of assimilation or evolution. So, in other words, aaditya or the
world of the sun is laid within chandra/chandramaa (moon).
The aspect of
the Universal Consciousness by whom we are externally active is also called gRihapati
agni. gRihapati agni means, agni
or the Consciousness who is leading (nii/ni) everyone, who exists in
front (ag) and dominating (pati---dominator) on us or on our
house/abode (gRiha). Under the dominance of gRihapati agni we are
running our daily chores or living our everyday life or our existing in the ‘present time’.
But each of
us has unique life or life events and span of life. Each of us is different
from the other. This is administered and regulated by chandramaa or the
lunar field. Our evolution is controlled by Universal Consciousness. Whatever
we eat, sense, feel, a part of it is absorbed in us, merges with us. This
changes us, constructs us. This is sap or medhaa. medhaa= me+dhaa = me (my)
+ dhaa (holder) = the one who is holding me, or what holds me.
We work in
our Consciousness. Whatever we do, the feelings which are associated with that
deed determines the consequences (fala) or the effcets that result from our performace; they (feelings) determine our evolution or changes, our destiny,
our destination after death, rebirth. Our nature, our instincts, our destiny,
everything depends on this processing. This is the lunar aspect of Consciousness
or chandra/chandramaa. The active, controlling Universal Consciousness,
who is observed in the lunar centre or chandra/chandramaa is known as anvaaharyapachana-agni,
and is also called dakShiNa-agni.
anvaaharyapachanaagni means the agni by whom all foods or whatever we sense are assimilated in us; and also, whatever we eat (aaharya), the corresponding digestion (pachana) follows (anu) the fire god/ agni, or follows the Consciousness who activates everyone. So, it (anvaaharyapachanaagni/ dakShiNa-agni) is within aaditya or regulating within aaditya. What is happening in the ‘present’, during the state of awakeness, or whatever is happening in the domain of aaditya, the consequence of that is determined by dakShiNa-agni/ anvaaharyapachanaagni; this again shapes our future and pre-determines our life events. This process of assimilation or merging that is working within us is executed by the aspect of praaNa or Consciousness called samaana. It is mentioned that samaana brings the foods in ‘sameness’ or by samaana, the offered foods (foods eaten /the senses felt) merge with us as our sap. “hutam annaM samaM nayati’’(Prashnopanishad Verse 3.5.) ------offered food is led to the state of ‘sameness’. Thus the world of aaditya (sun) is laid within chandra (moon) or dakShiNa-agni . (Refer Chandogya Upanishad verse 4.12.1).
11. soma/chandra (moon) and birth-death cycles.
In
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad it is stated that ap or the divine water is the
‘body’ of praaNa or the Universal Consciousness who has activated
everything and event, and the ‘moon’ or chandramaa/chandra is the shine
of praaNa; also, as much as is pervaded by praaNa, that much is
pervaded by ap and that much is pervaded by chandramaa. (Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad, 1.5.13)
Universal
Consciousness as soma, as the effusing nectar, as the gush of the
streams of consciousness or senses, is flooding aaditya, the world of
Gandharvas and antariikSha; and soma as ap (water) is
sustaining/nourishing the physical world.
Consciousness
effusing as soma is merging with us as sap, as enhancement of our
sensory and functional faculties. In the process, we are becoming more
self-conscious, and conscious of the extent of ‘self’. Gradually, we are
becoming soul searching and eventually, it becomes our primary goal.
When we
return to the earth after re-birth or move to the other world after death, we
are steered along the course of soma or the rays of the moon. During the
return to the earth, we enter into the upper atmosphere and the several
formations of the clouds, we descend to the earth along with the pouring rain,
we enter into the plants, vegetations, crops, etc., and then into the body of
the progenitor. From there, we go into the wombs for the birth. This transition
to birth after death is the most common for beings in the upper levels of
evolution. There are many other routes/circuits for other beings. (Refer
Chandogya Upanishad verses 5.10.6 through 5.10.8). This happens by precise
regulations under the control of dakshiNa agni or anvaaharyapachana-agni,
about whom we have narrated above.
(Refer Chandogya Upanishad
Chapter 5, Part 8, 9, 10 and Brihadaranyaka Upanishad verse 6.2.13
through 6.2.16, Kaushiitaki Upanishad
verse 1.2.)
12.tithi (phase of the moon), atithi (the
immutable one, without waxing and waning), and medhaatithi
tithi (a phase of the moon)
tithi means the ‘phase of the moon’. A more
significant meaning of the word tithi is as below:
tithi = ti
+ thi; ti = tiras (beyond)
+ thi (existence/presence)= that what is beyond or behind the existence;
that what is determining the current status of the existence. So, tithi determines
or defines the ‘phase’ of a creature.
A crescent
moon depicts both, the part illuminated (present) and the part in darkness (past).
The present and past are, in a sense, existing together. The fullness of the
presence or the new moon (pUrNimaa) wanes into the fullness of the past
or the new moon (amaa kalaa) and vice versa.
amaa means beyond or without (a) + maa (measure).
The new moon
is also called nava (new) kalaa. kalaa means the outcome of the
action of ‘kal’. kal is the action of the Universal Consciousness by
what ‘regulation’ or ‘time’ is being generated. The new phases sprout
from the phase of the new moon.
kal is a verb, it means the action of the
Universal Consciousness which we see as ‘time’ or ‘kaala’. The word kal
implies ‘who is bringing the end? / who is making the new? (kal = kaH (who)
laayayati (is causing the end)?. It is also the ‘call’ of Universal
Consciousness.
atithi
The word atithi
generally means a ‘guest’, a ‘visitor’ without a prior appointment’.
atithi = a
(without) + tithi
(phase or change). So, in Vedic parlance, atithi means ‘unchanged, the immutable
soul of the Universe who is also the immutable soul in every entity.
Thus in Kathopaishad
verse 2.2.2, it is said ‘atithi duroNasat’-----atithi is within the cask(droNa>duroNa)
of soma-----within all changes of the waxing and waning moons, behind
the titihi/phases, exists the one who is constant, unchanged,
immutable.
This atithi,
the immutable soul, who is inside the duroNa (also droNa) is
also called soma raajan. raajan means
who is radiant and shining. raajan also means the king.
Behind all
the changes that are coming with the moments, amidst all the turbulence of
life, there is this soma raajan, who is still, unperturbed and,
shining.
There is a
section in the Rik Veda Aitareya Bramhana, First Panchika, Third Chapter, Sixth
Part, titled ‘Aatithyavatyou’ on the invocation of atithi. This is a
part of soma yaj~na. Also, refer to Aitareya Bramhana, First Panchika,
Third Chapter, Fourth Part.
medhaa
and medhaa-tithi----motherhood
of the Universal Consciousness.
As explained,
the lunar sphere/ chandramaa/dakShiNa-agni, plays the roles of building
us, constructing us, evolving us.
dakShiNa-agni belongs to the ‘mother’ or represents
the ‘motherhood’ of the Universal Consciousness. She is building us to
perfection, we are evolving to eternity, merging with Her. This motion or
journey to eternity is done by the Universal Consciousness as ashva (shva---breathing,
time), who is carrying us through evolution. ashva also means the animal
called ‘horse’. In the process of evolution, what merges in us, mixes with us,
and becomes parts of our ‘selves’, that is our marrow or the sap, and is called
‘medha’. medha as a quality in us
is called medhaa. (This is also the significance of the Vedic ritual
called ‘Horse Sacrifice’ or ‘ashvamedha yaj~na’.)
Thus, medhaa
= me (my) + dhaa (holder) = the one who is holding me.
This process
of growth in us is induced by agni or praaNa, who is seen in chandra
or the moon; this is happening by the waxing and waning of praaNa or
chandra. soma or the sap is effused in sequential phases (tithi),
and we all imbibe the same, which modulates and nourishes us.
Thus this
aspect of Consciousness as soma or chandra is called medhaatitihi
(medhaa-tithi). (https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/medhatithi)
In puraaNa
(mythology) it is mentioned that the seer medhaatithi lived on the banks of the river
chandrabhaagaa and performed soma-yaj~na known as jyotiShToma.
(Refer, Kaalikaa Puraana).
chandrabhaagaa means the divine female personality ‘associated with the
allotment/portion/phase of the moon or allotment of soma.
soma or chandramaa/chandra is
invoked when the mother suckles the newborn. Here is a verse, quoted from Brihadarayaka
Upanishad:
‘atha enam
maatre pradaaya stanaM prayachChati---yaste stanaH shashyo yo mayo’bhuuryo
ratnadhaa vasuvidyaH sudatraH|
yena vishva
pushyasi vaaryaNi sarasvati tamiha dhaatave kariti||’ (Brihadarayaka Upanishad
6.4.27.)
Meaning
atha (then)
enam (this/this newborn) maatre (to the mother) pradaaya (is given) stanaM (the
breast) prayachChati (is offered)---Then the newborn is given to the mother and
the breast is offered.
yaH te (from
your) stanaH (breast) shashyo (flows incessantly the elixir from the moon (soma);
the word shashyo is derived from the root verb shashaya; shashaya means
‘ever flowing’; also the word shashyo is connected to the word shashi meaning
‘the moon’.
yaH mayo’bhuuH
(that what is emanating with joy) yaH (that what is) ratnadhaa (possessing/holding
all the gems; the one in whom every entity is held in the supreme state) vasuvid
(who possesses all vasu; vasu are the deities by whom everyone dwells
and by whom everyone is draped; vas=to dwell; to dress ) yaH (who is)
sudatraH (su—elegant;sudatra----who elegantly gives whatever
desired).
Then this
newborn is given to the mother and the breast is offered.
(And, the
following hymn is chanted:)
From your breast
flows incessantly the elixir of the moon (soma), that is emanating with joy,
that retains every entity in its supreme state, that possesses all the
faculties providing dwellings and drapes, that elegantly provides all that is
desired. (Brihadarayaka
Upanishad 6.4.27.)
Also, refer
to verse 2.8 of Kaushitaki Upanishad. An extract from the verse is provided
below:
atha maasi
maasyamaavaasyaayaM pashchaat chandramasaM
dRishyamaanam
upatiShThetaitayaivaavRitaa haritatRiNaabhyaM vaak pratyasyati
yatte susiimaM
hRidayamdhi chandramasi shritam
tenaamRitatvasyeshaane
maa’haM poutramaghaM ruudamiti na
hysmaat puurvaH
prajaaH praitiiti…..
Meaning
atha (now) maasi maasi (every month) amaavaasyaayaM (when it is new-moon) pashchaat (rear/west) chandramasaM (moon) dRishyamaanam (seen) upatiShTheta (orienting toward) etayaa eva (like this) aavRitaa (covering/engulfing the self), harita (fawn-coloured/yellowish) tRiNaabhyaam(two blades of grasses) vaak (words) pratyasyati (offers)-----now, every month, during the new-moon period, one orients oneself toward the moon who is visible from rear (during the new-moon period, the face of the moon that we see from the earth is turned toward the sun, i.e. turned away from the earth), and thus engulfing oneself (with the thought of soma), with two fawn-coloured blades of grasses (the two wings of soma/ two lunar fortnights) offeres these (sacred) words (to the moon/soma)
‘yad te (that
yours) susiimaM (su—beautiful; siimam---divided/cleavage) hRidayam (heart/bosom)
chandramasi (in the moon) adhi shritam (rests)-----your bosom with beautiful
cleavage that rests in the moon
tena (by
that) amRitatvasya (of eternity) iishaane (controller) maa (never) ahaM (me) poutram
(regarding son/decedents) aghaM (mishap) ruudam (weep) iti -------by that (by
the nectar in your bosom), oh! controller of nectar that gives eternity (amrita),
may I never have to weep for any mishap related to my descendants
na ha (indeed
not) asmat (him) puurvaH (before) prajaaH (the descendants) praiti (die) iti-----indeed
the descendants never die before (the death) of him (before the death of the
one who thus worships the moon (soma).
'Now, every
month, during the new-moon period, one orients oneself toward the moon who is
visible from the rear (during the new-moon period, the face of the moon that we
see from the earth is turned toward the sun, i.e. turned away from the earth),
and while thus engulfing oneself (with
the thoughts of the moon) and with two fawn-coloured blades of grasses (the two wings of soma, two
lunar fortnights), these (sacred) words (to the moon/soma) are offered:
"the bosom
of yours with beautiful cleavage which rests in the moon, by that (by the
nectar in your bosom), oh! controller of the nectar that brings eternity
(amrita), may I never have to weep for any mishap related to my descendants."
Indeed the
descendants never die before (the death) of him (before the death of the one
who thus worships the moon (soma))'.
(A part of verse 2.8 of Kaushitaki Upanishad.)
13.Gandharvas and the chariot of the sun
Gandharvas
are famous for their deep knowledge of the chariot of the sun (aaditya)
or the motion of praaNa. The verses 3.3.1 and 3.3.2 of Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad may be referred to for the description of the transportation of the
community called parikShita by deva (divine) ratha. This
description was narrated by Gandharva named Sudhnva Aangirasa.
The
circulation of praaNa, or the flow of Consciousness from the centre
called aaditya (the sun) is classified among twelve months. During each
such month, the sun-god moves in a chariot specific to that month. For each
month there is a specific name of the sun god, expressing a specific aspect of aaditya.
Also, corresponding to every month there are specific co-passengers like riShi
(sages), Gandharvas, Apsaras, etc. who accompany the sun god during that
month’s journey. For the details of various names of the months, corresponding
names of the sun god, Ganndharvas, Apsaras, etc. who travel with the Sun in the
chariot, in every month, you may refer to the contents in the following
link: https://www.thehinduportal.com/2014/08/the-12-adityas-and-their-associates_29.html
The chariot
is called ratha. The sun, the deities, and the other beings, all own
chariots or ratha. The meaning of the word ratha is as below:
ratha =
ra+ tha; ra = Ri + a; Ri means,
‘to move’. tha = state of rest; stationary state, a state into which
something is finally fixed or framed. In Chandogya Upanishad, the earth is
called ‘tham’. Earth means the last stage of manifestation of Consciousness; it
is the physical form of Consciousness when the Consciousness fixes
Consciousness within a specific boundary, and as if isolated from the source.
The limitations, mortality, isolation are predominant on us who inhabit the
earth.
So, ratha means
a combined state of movement and rest. In Upanishad, the body has been termed
as ratha. (Kathopanishad verse 1.3.3).
Although we are always in motion, being pulled by praaNa, pulling
us like ashva or a horse, and though every moment of our life is fleeting,
still we get a static feeling about our existence.
14.The Soul as perceived in the world of
Gandharva
As the moon
is broken into many reflected images on the surface of the water, so a gandharva
finds himself reflected into many personalities, split into many ‘selves’
in praaNa. They do not remain fixed and confined in limited
personalities and bound by the limitations of physicality or physical body.
Here in Gandharva loka, in the world of Gandharvas, the manifestation of
praaNa, vibrations, and rhythms of praaNa are more intense. It is
for this reason, the natural happiness that one feels or enjoys as a gandharva
is much more than the happiness with which we live our lives on the earth. Regarding
the relative measures of happiness/ joys (aananda) when compared among
different entities like human beings and other divine beings (like Gandharvas), refer Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad verse 4.3.33.
Referring to
the above narration on gandharva splitting into many selves on the
surface of water or ap or praaNa, the following is quoted
from a verse of Upanishad (Kathopanishad, Part 2, Verse 5)
“ yathaa apsu
parIva dadRishe tathaa gandharva loke”------yathaa (as) apsu (in water) pari (on)
iva (like), tathaa (similarly) gandharva loke (in the world of gandharva)
----as on the surface of the water (reflected), so in the world of gandharva.
15.Apsara (apsaraa)—the consort of
Gandharva
apsaras, also apsaraa, are the consorts
of gandharva. apsaras = ap + saras; apsaraa = ap
+ saraa. ‘sara’, ‘saraa’, or ‘saras’ means ‘movement or drift’.
Thus Apsaras
are the potent or the innate power (shakti) of Gandharvas, that
enables Gandharvas to assume the multifaceted features and to be in unison with
the beats of praaNa. The vibrant scatter of Gandharvas, vibrating in synchronization
with the rhythms of praaNa are captured in ap or in apsaraa.(Refer
to Kathopaishad verse quoted above.)
Gandharvas
and Apsaras are unparalleled musicians and dancers, performing in the divine
courts; they are courtiers of indra the king of heaven, and of kuber the
custodian of divine wealth.
We being
obsessed by the physicality, fail to follow that any diversion or digression,
is a diversion or digression in our Consciousness and by Consciousness or praaNa.
There were
many narrations of diversions or enticements caused by the beautiful amorous
Apsaras, acting as divine hookers at the instruction of indra, and
diverting kings and sages; many consequences to these drifts had led to the
births of great souls and occurrence great events.
It may be
noted that the formation of shapes and images happen by the bending/diversion
of light. This bending or drifting is essential in creation.
16. The
eternal repose of Gandharvas
Here is a verse from
Rikveda on the permanent repose of the Gandharvas, the constant repose, the
repose that always remains:
tayorid ghRitavat payo
vipraa rihanti dhiitiviH
gandharvasya dhruve pade
(Rik veda—1/22/14)
tayoH (between them) it
(exists)---- between them exists---between the heaven and the earth exists) [
the verse {1/22/13} previous to this verse has mentioned about the ‘heaven’ and
‘earth’].
ghRitavat payo----ghRita
vat -----paya/payas that resembles ghRita; payas is from
the root word pii meaning ‘to drink’; payas means ‘the one who is
the drink of everyone’, the drink that removes the thirst and bestows the life.
ghRita---clarified butter; for the meaning and significance of the word ghRita,
refer to Section 22 below.)
payas is also connected to the word paa
meaning ‘to drink’, ‘to protect’, ‘to rear’, ‘to cause to drink’, ‘to
imbibe’ etc.
vipraa (the truth seekers
turned inwardly) rihanti (licking/ licking the lactating teats of goddess vaak)
dhiitivi (by devotion)
gandharvasya (of Gnadarvas)
dhruve ( ever existing) pade (repose)----in the ever-existing repose of
Gandharvas.
Consolidating the above, an
overall translation of the verse is:
Between heaven and earth
exists the elixir resembling ghRita which the souls enlightened inwardly lick
with devotion; it (elixir) is there in the eternal repose of Gandharvas. (Rik Veda, 1/22/14).
The eternal repose of
Gandharvas is the eternal Universal Soul or atithi (who is hidden within
all tithi/phases or changes. (See section 12 above for atithi and
tithi.)
17.Dhrupada
It is noteworthy that
Dhrupada is a type of ancient Indian classical song, originated from Samveda (saama
veda), and this name Dhrupada is derived from ‘dhruva pada’ as
mentioned in the above-quoted verse of Rik Veda.
18.The goddess sarasvatii and the lakes and pools
The Consciousness as the goddess sarasvatii
is regulating the words which are getting expressed. Expressed or articulated
words are from her and all words coexist in her in sameness. So, she is white
in her complexion.
sarasvatii = sara +
sva +tii; sara is from the root word
sRi meaning to move or drift; sva means svayam or aatman,
soul, or the ‘assertionless self’. When we say ‘I am’, it is an assertion
on the ‘assertionless soul or the entity who is my root’; the soul is the self
of the self, constant(atithi), immortal, and universal. It is the state
of neutrality. The active aspect of the
soul or sva is called praaNa. Consciousness is simultaneously
inactive and active.
sarasvatii means, the personality of the Consciousness or
the faculty of Consciousness by which all drifts, motions, or displacements
remain held or connected to sva or svayam. So, the roots of the Apsaras are here in
the goddess sarasvatii. Apsaras and Gandharvas are fond of lakes or
water bodies. The word saras means ‘a lake or a pool’ and these divine
beings are/were often sighted at the water bodies. The word sarasvatii also means saras
+ vatii----(the personality of Consciousness / the goddess) attached to a lake or a water (ap)
body.
Consciousness, manifesting as the
words, as the full-formed senses filled with meanings and emotions, nourishing
and satisfying us, enabling our conscious existence at every moment, is the
goddess sarasvatii. All the ‘acquirements’
or the ‘expressions’ are already there in the Consciousness and when we are
expressed in a definite way in any given moment in our Consciousness it results
in our satisfaction/acquirement which is also ap or aapti, who in
terrestrial form is the ‘water’ that supports the life on the earth.
The lakes and water bodies, the
rivers, are all the presence of this divine ap. A lake (hrada) is
the water contained in a specific manner or a particular expression or
containment of sarasvatii who has materialized as ap or water. Lake/hrada
is an expression of hRid (heart/hRidaya).
Thus, these lakes and pools (hrada)
are the physical or earthly forms of particular aspects of Consciousness
captured to nourish the creatures. Thus on the earth, they represent the divine
beings called vidyadhara, who are males, and vidyadharii, who are
females. They are holders (dhara/ dharii) of vidya (Consciousness
or Knowledge; vidya---the faculty by which we ‘know’; vid = to
know, to exist.) There are many famous lakes, all over the world; they all are
the divine beings in our inner sky.
Within the
shell of every processed word that is expressed in each of us in every moment,
there is the flow of emotions and vibration or recurrences of the senses,
determinations, and re-determinations of the mind.
The words are
originating from the soul, they are the creation of the soul. Soul or Oneness
is becoming 'many' as words. Each formed or processed word is the body of the
soul. The formation of words or fractionation of the soul in Consciousness is
seen as a result of the action by two aspects of Consciousness called vaak
and praaNa. As vaak or the goddess of speech or word,
Consciousness is shaping Consciousness or praaNa in multiple forms.
19.Act of hearing and anointment by ap (the
divine water) or soma.
As you listen
to a word, it gets in your mind as meaning, in your heart as a feeling; in
fact, it spreads into your entirety, in all directions.
Everything,
whatever we are sensing or feeling, exists as a word in us.
What we feel
as directions or orientations are the same as ‘the sense of hearing’ or ‘ear of
the Consciousness’. In Vedas or Upanishads, shruti i.e. act of hearing
and dik (directions) are mentioned as the same. (The word karNa in
Sanskrit means ‘ear’ and is connected to the English word ‘corner’ implying
‘direction’.) The way we listen and take a word within us, the same way the
other senses also merge with us. This is how we are infused with the senses and
feelings. This is happening inside us, in the inner sky or antarIkSha and
under the domain of dakShiNa agni.
This getting
infused or moistened by the senses is also called getting wet by the ap (water
within). aapyaana in Upanishad is the Sanskrit word that means flooding
or imbibing by the life-giving water/ ap inside. This is the sap or soma
from the moon (from praaNa) that is nourishing us. Thus, in
many Upanishads, in the beginning, a prayer has been cited, pleading to infuse
or flood with soma or ap and to achieve consequent acquirement (aapti).
soma is borne by the words or mantras in the verses or passages of
Upanishad. In this verse, the word ‘aapyaantu’ related to the word aapyaana has
been used. 'aapyaantu’ means to plead aapyaana or to plead to infuse
with ap or soma.
A part of the
verse is quoted below:
“oM aapyaayantu
mamaa~ngaani vaakpraaNashchakSuH
shrotramatho balamindriyaaNi
cha sarvaaNi”
Meaning
“oM, let
(all these) be infused by ap
(aapyaana) ---my spreads/limbs, the speech, the breathings, the vision, the
hearing, the strength, the organs, and everything else (in me).”
In this
context, it is noteworthy that the followings are the parts /limbs or the
aspects of dakShin agni, by which dakShin agni or the Universal
Consciousness is acting on us:
ap (divine water), dik (the
directions), nakShtra (stars/constellations), chandramaa (moon/soma.)
It is
mentioned in Chandogya Upanishad that the being observed in chandramaa is
dakShin agni or anva-aaharya-pachana-agni.
(Chandogya Upanishad Verse 4.12.1).
20.Anointment by perfumes, preservation & memory
Anointment by
perfumes or balms is a subject that has its origin in the mystery of gandha or
scent. We are being anointed by fragrant soma all the time. We have
addressed this in the above section and explained the word ‘aapyaana’. We
have mentioned about vidhRiti shakti or the power of holding by praaNa.
gandha or ‘scent’ defines how every entity is ‘held’ in praaNa or
Universal Consciousness. This power of holding or vidhRiti shakti implies
‘preservation’. When something is not preserved properly it smells or tastes
foul and for the food, we say that it has become stale. The use of balms in
mummification in ancient times is well known. (Refer, https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2014.15717). This also reminds us of the
connection between smell and memory as known to modern medical science. It says
that the sense of smell is routed to the brain in a very direct manner, unlike
the way the other senses get their ways to the brain. Smells are known to
trigger powerful memories, especially which are emotive. The regions in the
brain which control emotions, memories, and smells are very much intertwined.
You may please refer to the publication by Live Science available in the link https://www.livescience.com/why-smells-trigger-memories.html.
Our memory or
smRiti retains everything we experience. We have explained the significance
of the word smRiti in an earlier section of this article. We have also
explained the relationship between gandha/ scent and the faculty of
‘holding’ by praaNa or the Consciousness.
Scent and
memory are both related to vidhRiti shakti of praaNa or to the
faculty of praaNa to hold or retain everything.
21.sarpi,sarpa, soma-creeper and dadhikraa
The word sarpi
generally means clarified butter. Similarly, the word sarpa generally
means ‘snake’. Both these words
originate from the root verb sRip. sRip means ‘to crawl or to creep’. soma
is creeping everywhere and is celebrated as a ‘creeper’ called soma-lataa.
soma-lataa or soma creepers were used in yaj~na or Vedic
rituals in which oblations were offered to agni or praaNa. We
have explained above the relationship between orientation/directions and the
act of hearing or listening /shruti. When you feel, perceive, or listen, the corresponding sense or the feeling gets spread in the entirety
of your entity, in all directions. We have mentioned that this is appayana, or
anointment by soma (or soma as ap) and is the
fulfillment/satisfaction achieved from that feeling or perception. This feeling
or satisfaction spreading everywhere in the entity (who goes through the perception
or feeling) is the act of sarpi. Thus in Upanishad, it is said, if sarpi
or udak (water) is sprinkled on the eye, it goes ‘along the circuit’
or along the ‘route’. Eye means the
centre of expression or formation, by which realization is achieved or the
truth is seen. Whatever Consciousness expresses or whatever Consciousness
becomes, Consciousness also ‘feels’, ‘knows ‘ or ‘listens to it’ and this includes our own senses and feelings too. This happens
in an all-pervading manner or in all directions. This is sarpi. It
creeps in all directions. The motion of praaNa or Consciousness is like
that of a snake. Consciousness moves on ‘heart’ and is holding everyone by
heart. This is serpentine motion. As Consciousness holds us and moves, Consciousness
is also called dadhikraa. dadh means ‘to hold’ and kraa means ‘to
move or to move while creating sequences’.
(Thus, curd
made out of milk is also called dadhi, as milk coagulate or coheres,
expressing ‘holding’.)
22.ghraaNa (the act of smelling), ghRita /aajya
(clarified butter)
The root verb ghraa means ‘to smell’ and also ‘to kill’. If the body or the
physicality of the living being and the being inside the body is separated
from each other, it is killing or death; the one who has lived with the
physicality, now leaves the body and departs with praaNa who was
circulating inside the being as air or was active as breathing (when the entity or the being was living within the body). In addition to the meaning of ‘smelling’, this separation of the being from physicality is implied in the meaning of ghraaNa.
Thus, ghraaNa means to perceive the being living inside the body, the being who is non-physical.
Being created in Consciousness, we are illuminated by Consciousness as
an entity. Consciousness means who is manifesting, revealing,
illuminating. This is ghRita which means ‘illumined’. ghRita also means
‘clarified butter’, the liquid fuel which is used to anoint sacred woods to
be sacrificed in the holy fire or praaNa; ghRita is edible; it adds an
excellent aroma to rice and other dishes. praaNa is anointing us, praaNa
has animated us, we are illuminated with sound, touch, vision, taste, and smell; we are illuminated, expressing ourselves in every moment as a new individual.
We are burning in Consciousness, bright with life and animation, and returning to eternity; we, ourselves, are also sacrificial offers to the Universal Consciousness.
ghRita, also called aajya is used as oblations to the sacrificial fire or agni/ praaNa-agni/ praaNa.
aajya is from the word aja. aja = a (without) + ja (birth/generation).
Thus, aja means the immutable,
universal soul.
Although Consciousness is aja, still Consciousness has
created Consciousness as us, as the universe.
(If there is aja, there has to be ja or ‘generation’ or ‘creation’.)
aajya means, who is a descendent of aja or who is born out of aja.
Although Consciousness is aja and exists before everything, still we are aajya, because we and the universe are born from Universal Consciousness or who is aja.
Like aajya to be sacrificed as an oblation to the holy fire, we are also
being sacrificed to the Universal Consciousness and in the process, we as aajya are evolving to or merging with the one who is aja or perpetual.
It may be noted that, among ancient Hindus, there was
a culture of smelling the head of younger ones by the
elders as a gesture of affection, and it still exists in some communities. It is called shiro-ghraaNa. shiro or shiras means ‘head’. So, this smelling the head means,
smelling the divinity; the head represents the location of heaven in the body. (Refer to verse 2.11 of Kaushitaki Upanishad.)
23.The products of milk and the divinity.
We have already mentioned a
few products of milk and the associated divinity in the previous sections; they
are sarpi, ghRita, dadhi, and aajya. Here are a few more words
about them.
dugdha is the Sanskrit word for milk. dugdha is from the component
duh meaning to draw or extract milk and also ‘what is being drawn’. The
alphabet dha in the word dugdha implies ‘to hold’. The root verb dhaa
means ‘to hold’. dugdha means what the Universal Consciousness as the
mother goddess vaak is drawing from her breasts to hold and nourish the
entire universe. So, vaak is also called dogdhRi (the milkmaid)
in the Vedas. Also, dugdha implies what is being drawn or extracted
to illuminate. dugdha = dug+dha is similar to the word iddha (id +
dha) meaning what is illuminated. Illumination or expression of one by the
one and without the aid of anything else is the characteristic of divinity.
This is how dogdhRi is extracting the milk!
The organs like eyes, ears, hands, etc., by which we remain active and move around in Consciousness or in the world made of ‘knowledge or perception’ are called ‘go’ in Sanskrit; the Sanskrit word go is related to the root verb ‘gam’ meaning ‘to go, to move ’. go also means the animal ‘cow’ as they are pasturing animals and yield nourishing milk. Similarly, we are pasturing our cows or go i.e. our sensory & functional organs are moving or functioning and we are growing/evolving. These are the pasturing cows, the movements or activities in Consciousness, by which the ‘milk’ is produced and we are evolving.
As mentioned earlier, the
curd or yogurt is made by coagulating milk; because of coagulation and
consequent solidification, it is called dadhi. dadhi is from the root word dadh meaning
‘to hold’. Thus, the eternal Consciousness, or praaNa, is called dadhikraa
(dadhi----who is holding + kraa---to move in a course and creating
sequence) as praaNa is holding everyone and moving to take everyone to
eternity.
ghRita is also the clarified butter. It is inflammable and burns with a
golden hue. It has a pleasant aroma and adds flavour when added to cooked food
and white rice. It is praaNa who is shinning as vision. Collyrium made
out of ghRita is used in India to decorate the eyes.
24.kajjala/kajjvala/kajvala (collyrium made from lampblack) and ghRita.
It is a common practice in
India, to decorate the eyes (especially the eyes of the kids) by applying
homemade collyrium made of the soots from lamps fuelled by clarified butter and
burning with cotton wicks soaked in ghRita or clarified butter. Such a
collyrium is called kajjvala (also kajjala).
kajjvala means----- kaH jvalati----who is glowing? Of course, praaNa
is glowing, praaNa / Consciousness is shining. The centre of this
shine or glow is in the eyes which are the seat of vision.
All our feelings are
blazing in our eyes; in the external space (which is within our perception) the
eye or the centre of radiance/vision is the sun.
25.Apsara called ghRitaachii
ghRitaachii is one of the most celebrated Apsaras like urvashii, rambhaa,
tilottamaa, and menakaa.
ghRitaachi= ghRiTa+chii
ghRitaa is the female form of ghRita and chii = chi + i;
chi = chit = to make or to keep conscious;
i = to move.
Universal Consciousness, as
ghRitaachii is smearing us with the fragrant anointment of Consciousness
called ghRita, which has illuminated us and is shining through our eyes,
creating the colourful world. ghRitaachI is one of the principal Apsaras
and is a member of the court of indra the king of heaven.
26.Indra the king of heavens, his wife, and Apsaras
The being or the entity (puruSha)
in the (right) eye, in an individual’s eye, in everyone’s eye, is the
Universal being and the king of heaven called indra. indra = idam (it)
+ dra (draShTRi----observer).
indra is the divine observer and is seeing or viewing everything. Our
vision is part of his vision. indra has been mentioned as the
personality in the right eye and his wife named viraaT is residing in
the left eye. viraaT >viraaj, means who is shining and ruling.
viraaT (viraaTa) also means the ‘vast universe’ or the ‘vast
expanse’. The entire illuminated/ manifested
universe belongs to the kingdom or domain of indra and viraaT. Upanishad has remarked that though in the
direct sense he (indra) is indha, still he is regarded as indra.
indha means the one who is ‘shining or who is radiating, i.e. who is
creating the ‘vision’. indra means the one who is observing what is
being created. (For indra, indha and viraaT, refer
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, verses 4.2.2 & 4.2.3).
The entire realm of the
left eye belongs to viraaT and courtiers of indra called Apsaras.
The eye in Sanskrit is
called akShi is related to the word akSha meaning ‘axis’ as well
as ‘wheel’. We have narrated in many of
our earlier publications, explaining that the centre of vision which is the eye
in an individual is also the sun in the external space (or in a planetary
system), and it (the sun) is the centre of manifestation of periodicity or
circulation and action of time as well as the centre of vision that manifests
the universe. In our eyes, this is understood from the circadian rhythms, which
is the centre in us and is related to ‘individual’s time or aho-raatra (day
and night).
The direction that is
called ‘right’, is the direction from which our performance, efforts, or work
are directed. It is called dakShiNa. This word dakShiNa is
related to the word dakSha meaning ‘dexterous’ or ‘having a skilled
hand’.
The side, the direction or
inclination of the Consciousness, that preserves the fruits of our work that is
‘left’ to us, is called ‘vaama’ (left) in Sanskrit. What becomes our
natural ability over time, the experience/instincts that we gain by work/experience
exist on the left; the work we do, the activities that animate us, are executed
by Consciousness from ‘right’ or ‘south’.
As the outcome of our
activities, we gain natural skills, abilities, traits; these natural skills
exist or are retained on the left or north (uttara). uttara means,
‘answer’, ‘remainder’, ‘what is left, what has passed over from the south to
the north. ut > ud means, to
rise, to leave to or move to a higher order’. So, this is ‘left’. The
natural abilities/instincts of us are the aspects of shakti or consort
who has become ours, like our faculties of vision, touch, etc., which are all
very natural to us, inseparable from us. This is shakti (vidya)
aspect of Consciousness. Thus left hand is siddha or what is endowed
with ‘gain or acquirement’, and the right hand is sadhya i.e. by what we
strive to gain or acquire. It may be noted here that for many persons, the left
hand may be the dominant hand, and so for such a person, his/ her left hand
stands for ‘saadhya’ or dakShiNa, and the right-hand stands for sidhya.
(What I am trying to convey here is that ‘right’ and ‘left’ are to be
considered in the context of the above-explained meanings and significance of
right and left directions.)
So, on the left (vaama)
is located the one who is vaamaa. vaamaa means a very beautiful
female and vaamaa also means shakTi or consort. What needs effort
toward the right, is effortless toward the left. On the left, it is effortless;
achieving anything is effortless; this is divinity. This is vaama and
the associated divine personalities are called vaamaa. These divine, elegant, exquisite ladies,
called vaamaa remain always attached to indra, to the soul of the
universe, whose observation captures everyone and everything, and who is the
observer in everyone’s observation. This is why the entity or purusha is
called saMyad vaama---meaning the entity or the soul in whom all aspects
of vaama (fulfillment /attainment) exist.
So, all the Apsaras are
parts of vaamaa and they are the courtiers of indra/virraT.
The following verses of
Chandogya Upanishad, describe the Universal Observer and are relevant to what
has been mentioned above:
ya eShoH akShiNii puruSho
dRiShyata esha aatmeti hovaacha etad amRitam avayam etad brahmaeti
tad yadyapi asmin sarpiH vaa
udakam vaa si~nchanti vartmnii eva gachChati (Chandogya Upanishad, 4/15/1.)
ya eShoH (that this) akShiNii puruSho (entity in the
eye/vision) dRiShyata (is observed)
esha (this is) aatmaa(the
soul) iti ha uvaacha (this is what he said)-----that this entity observed in
the eye is the soul, thus he said
etad (this is) amRitam
(eternal) avayam (beyond fear) etad (this is) brahmaeti (brahma---the
absolute one who is evergrowing surpassing all)----this is eternal, this is
beyond fear, this is brahma
tad yadyapi (That is why) asmin
(in this---in this eye/vision) sarpi (sarpi/ the clarified butter/whatever
creeps in a serpentine way ) vaa (or) udakam (water/water that moves up) vaa
si~nchanti (sprinkles) vartmnii eva (along its rim, along the rim of the eye) gachChati
(goes/ flows)---that is why, when sarpi or water is sprinkled, it goes
along the entire rim of the eye
Consolidated meaning
That this entity who is
observed in the eye/vision is the soul---- this is what he said.
This is eternal, without
any fear, this is brahma (the absolute one who is evergrowing surpassing
all).
In this eye/vision, if sarpi
(what creeps in a serpentine manner and pervades everywhere) udaka (water that
moves up (ud) ) is sprinkled, it flows along its rim (the rim of the eye). (If
our tortuous or sinuous motions or karma/activities, and those
activities that move us upward or toward divinity, whatever is offered to or
seen in this brahma or the Universal consciousness, that becomes part of
the akShi or the eye of the Consciousness that is wheeling everything
and wheeling out time; i.e. whatever is offered to the Universal Consciousness or to the ‘eye’ it
spreads everywhere, to everyone, to the entire creation. (Refer also Section 21
above for the meaning of the word sarpi.)
etaM saMyadvaama
ityaachakShata etaM hi sarvaaNi vaamaanyabhisaMyanti sarvaaNyenaṃ
vaamaanyabhisaMyanti ya evaM veda. (Chandogya Upanishad 4.15.2.)
etam (It—the entity in the
eye)
aachakShata—is viewed
saMyadvaamaa iti---as saMyad-vaamaa.
etam ( to it -to the entity
in the eye) hi (indeed)
sarvaani vaamaani (all
those are vaama) abhisaMyanti (go toward)
sarvaani enam (to him)
vaamaa (vaamaa) abhisaMyanti (go toward) ya (who) evam (like this) veda
(knows)
Consolidated meaning
The entity in the eye) is
viewed as saMyad-vaamaa; indeed all that is vaama goes to it.
(Also, the one) who knows like this, all that is vaamaa goes the one.
27.The celestial dance and music; blue and white
hued sarasvatii
The orderly motion or
changes happening in the spontaneous action of Consciousness, the recurrences,
and repetitions, the rhythms, and all such controlled actions, in every formation of Consciousness, are
resulting in definitive meaningful events and the perceptible universe. Thus
there are continuous songs, music, and dances, not metaphorically but really,
in the domain of Consciousness; and then there is the roar of the ocean from
where all the sounds are originating.
The goddess vaak, who is
the mother of all vaakya (processed words or the perceptible universe)
possesses all the ‘faculties and fertility (teja) to create everything
from Oneness. Toward the origin, Consciousness is vaak and also known as
neela sarasvatii (blue-hued sarasvatii
) and toward the expression or formation, vaak becomes vaakya (formed,
processed, meaningful, perceptible words (or worlds or perceptions), and then
Consciousness is called shveta sarasvatii (white sarasvatii).
The words are coming from the inside
of us, from the core, where there is Oneness and nothing else. Similarly, the
words are coming out from the core of the universe, where there is the same
One. As vaak, she is also called paraa
or supreme. While manifesting, she
becomes radiant, and the motion and vision start manifesting, and she is called
pashyantii (the faculty of vision). Then she pervades everyone, she is
the medium everywhere. Here she is called madhyamaa (medium; word within
the word). madhyamaa is active in
the middle place or the heart, where all the implications, meanings, and
feelings underneath the cover of a word are seen and felt by us. This is also antariiksha,
which is in between heaven (dyu) and the earth (bhU). Here in the heart (hRidaya), all
the feelings, cravings, joys borne by the unabated flow of Consciousness, or soma
are felt. Here there is lightning (ashani) and thunder (stanayitnu).
These two are required to press the soma, to extract it; so it
rains, so soma pours down. indra
is identified with ashani and stanayitnu in
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. “ indo indraaya parisrava-----let soma /indu stream
forth for indra”. (Quoted from Yajur Veda.) The entire antariiksha is
flooded by the moonlight (soma).
From madhyamaa, vaak
(sarasvatii) becomes vaikharii, when the words are articulated, when
the words are formed in the external space. This is the ultimate state of
realization. Thus the earth is formed, realization or physicality is finally
achieved. The word ‘earth’ is from the Sanskrit word artha which means
‘meaning’ or ‘realization’.
28.Celestial dancers and musicians.
The divine beings who knowingly
follow the rhythms, sounds, and formation of the flowing vaak or sarasvatii
in antariikSha are the celestial artists. Gandharvas and Apsaras are
the most notable among them. This is why they can take any formation or appearance
they like and they can change their genders and trade genders with others. They
are thus the traders of scents. gandharva= gandha (scent) + vaNija (trader).
They can trade and share personalities. In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, there are
two narrations regarding women possessed by Gandharvas. These Gandharvas are
sagacious and divine and when accosted by the seers, they exhibited the
profound knowledge of divinity. We have quoted these narrations below.
Another class of divine beings,
closely related to Gandharvas is called yakSha. Shikhandi (shikhaNDi)
/ Shikhandininani (shikhaNDinii), a character in the epic Mahabharata,
was born as a ‘girl’ and reared as a ‘boy’. Shikhandinii, got her gender
changed after getting in touch with a yakSha named sThUlaakarNa
who was a male. sThUlaakarNa lent
his gender to Shikhandi and himself became a female. The maleness was returned to sThUlaakarNa when
Shikhandi died.
The dynamics of vaak and
the consequent formation of words are the reasons behind all the changes
we are experiencing. Thus even if any
event comprising changes is chaotic, still it is orderly, because it is from
Consciousness and by conscious actions. We quote below a verse from Tantra (tantra):
“giitam
vaadyam tathaa nRityam aalaapam varavarNiNii|
sarve
juvatii rupaa dhyanamarge pratiShThitaa||”
giitam (the
songs) vaadyam (the music) tathaa (so
also) nRityam (the dance) aalaapam (alaapa/ art of introduction)
varavarNiNii (vara---reverse of rava or the externally oriented
sound or word; varNiNii----hued; varavarNiNii----whose lustre exhibits
the origin of the words or expressions----the goddess exhibiting the lustre of
oneness or of the Universal soul)
sarve (all)
juvatii (young maids---who remain attached to shiva or to the Universal
soul) rupaa (as) dhyanamarge (dhyaana---meditation; marga---path;
dhyanamarge---in the domain of meditation) pratiShThitaa (are placed)
Consolidated
meaning
Oh, varavarNiNii!
The song, music, so also the dance, (and) aalaapa
All of them
as young maids passionate about Shiva
Are
dwelling in the domain of meditation.
Water is
the divine ap as present in our terrestrial system. This water is behind
any physicality and supports physical formation. When we descend to the earth
during the process of re-birth, we are carried from the other world by the
lunar rays (soma) into the finer clouds and then into the clouds that
rain. Then we enter into vegetations,
plants, and similar other entities that can hold us in seeded forms.
Then finally through the foods, we enter into the body of the progenitor or
‘father’. The embryos grow in the water bags in the wombs. (The above process of re-birth has been stated
as a common one for the evolved species like human beings. There are other
routes that are taken by species of lower order in terms of evolution.
There are
many verses in Upanishad, which say, sperms (reta) rest in ‘ap’. Being natural with divine water ap and
soma, Gandharvas and Apsaras are known to be present during the
process of ‘conceiving’. Gandharvas can bestow virility.
Here is a
verse from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, on the ‘sperm’ and its place in divinity.
(Shaakalya is asking Yaj~navalya) : kimdevataH asyaaM pratiichyaaM dishyasiiti? ------Which deity is in the direction west?
(Yajnavalkya answering): varuNadevata iti------The deity named varuNa.
(Shaakalya is asking Yaj~navalya) : Sa varuNaH kasmin pratiShthita iti? -----Where is that varuNa founded?
(Yajnavalkya
answering) : apsu iti-----In the water.
(Shaakalya is asking Yaj~navalya) : kasmin nu apaH pratiShthita iti? ----Where is the water founded?
(Yajnavalkya answering) : retasa iti-----In the sperms.
(Shaakalya is asking Yaj~navalya) : kasmin nu retaH pratiShthita iti? ---------Where the sperms are founded?
(Yajnavalkya
answering) : hRidaya iti (In the heart); tasmadapi (this is why) pratirUpaM (similar/ resembling) jaatm (when
is born) aahuH (it is said), hRidayat (from the heart) iva (as if) sRiptaH
(stemmed), hRidayat (out the heart) iva (as if) nirmitaH (made), hRidaye hi eva (indeed in the
heart) retaH (the sperms /seeds) pratiShThitaM bhavatiiti (gets founded)-------in
the heart; this is why when someone is born resembling the father, it is said
as if the new-born has stemmed out of the (father’s heart), made out of (the
father’s) heart.
(Shaakalya
is agreeing) : Evam eva etad yaj~navalkya------It is like this Yaj~navalkya.
ap or water is also called jala.
jala= ja + la; ja= generation;
la=laya=to lye in rest or to be in dormant state. ap or jala
is the one, from whom ‘physicality is created’ and in whom physicality is
dissolved and who bears the beings as the seeds or sperms, before the process
of birth.
haahaa and huhu are the names of two
Gandharvas who are the sons of the seer Kashyapa and his wife Pradhaa. They are
the choristers in Indra’s court.
haahaa
The word haahaa is the
unabated sound of laughter (haasya). The alphabet ha means ‘void
or the sky’ and it is also the sound of ‘certainty’. The sky and the air are
the same as the void and the touch. The touch or the flow of Consciousness/ praaNa
originates from ‘void’ or where there is nothing but only ‘oneness’. The
laughter is the expression of the ‘touch of the soul’ or ‘aatman’ or ‘oneness’. Thus, haahaa is that
personality of the Universal Consciousness who can invoke laughter in various
forms and manners and dominates on, or is present in the rhythms (Chanda
/ shape/structure) of laughter and expressions of touch.
Etymologically, the word haasya
= ha +aasya; ha = void /sky + aasya
(mouth or face); haasya = who is coming out of ha or void of aasya
(mouth). The mirth that comes out of
the sky (which we are perceiving as the hollow inside the mouth) is the
expression of Consciousness, like the words coming out of the mouth, and is also
the expression of Consciousness. It may be noted that as the face is the
expression of Consciousness, as Consciousness is coming out of the mouth as
words and sounds; so the Eternal Universal Consciousness is called aayasya meaning
the ‘one who is flowing out of aasya or the mouth.
We normally perceive void as
‘nothing’ and ‘inane’. But it is not,
‘nothing’, it is ‘ oneness and nothing else. Thus the feeling of the void as
emptiness raises ‘fear’ or ‘ sorrow’ for those who have not realized the Oneness.
The word haahaakaara represents the ‘expression of grief due to the
unavailability or loss of what is desired’.
Thus all the rhythms of tears and
smiles find their ways in Gandharva haahaa.
huhu
Thus huhu is opposite to haahaa. If you close your ear-holes, the sound that you hear is ‘huhuhuhu…’. It is the sound of the flame or Consciousness burning. It is called praaNaagni----praaNa + agni (fire). Whatever we eat, whatever we sense, all are sacrificed to Consciousness who is burning in us as praaNaagni. This sacrifice/oblation (the act of eating/sensing) in turn nourishes us and everyone else is involved in this process of sacrifice and is connected. (Refer Chandogya Upanishad Chapter Five, Part Nineteen and the subsequent parts.)
Thus, huhu is dominant and
present in the rhythms or Chanda of havana or sacrifice.
(I wish to point out that my
mother tongue, Bangala/Bengali language, is derived from Sanskrit and is the
dialect of West Bengal. There is a phrase in Bengali which is ‘moan huhu
korche’ and if translated word by word, it is like this: “the mind is in the
state of huhu”; this implies, the mind is extremely eager to reach someone or
something that mind has recalled. This (huhu) is the expression to go
back or reach back. )
31.Gandharvas mentioned in Brihadarnyaka Upanishad
In Brihadarnyaka Upanishad (bRihadaaraNyaka
upaniShad) the incidents with two Gandharvas have been narrated.
The name of one Gandharva is Sudhnvaa Aangirasa.(Refer
to Brihadarnyaka Upanishad, Third Chapter, Third Brahmin/Part). When the seer Bhujyu Laahyayani was visiting with his companions in
Madras (madra desha), (which is now the state of Tamil Nadu in India),
they came across the Gandharva Sudhnvaa Aangirasa in the house of one person
named Patanjala Kaapya. His daughter was
possessed by the Gandharva Sudhnvaa
Aangirasa. When he (Bhujyu
Laahyani) asked the Gandharva about the destination beyond the worlds and in
that context he also asked Gandharva where the community called paarikiShita
had gone. In the reply, Sudhnvaa
Aangirasa said that
it is the same place where the performers of ‘ashvamedha’ (Horse
Scrificers) had gone.
paarikiShita means who are the
descendants of parIkShit. parIkShit was also a famous king, mentioned in
the epic Mahabharata.
parIkShit = parI+kShit; parI > pari = above or beyond; kShit
= who belongs to kShiti or
earth / mortality; kShiti is related to the word kShaya meaning
‘to decay’. Thus, paarikiShita means those who have gone beyond
mortality.
ashva means praaNa, who
is carrying us and we are evolving in the process. ashva also means
horse. The motion of this divine horse is manifesting as time. The component shva
in ashva means ‘time’, as well as ‘breathing’ (nishvaasa----exhaling;
prashvaasa—inhaling). medha means the development or nourishment
due to ‘merging’ or ‘assimilation’. Thus ‘horse sacrifice’ or ashvameda
yaj~na means evolving into eternity, going beyond mortality.So, Sudhnvaa
Aangirasa said that the destination where paarikiShita went, is the same
place where ashvamedha yaaji or
the Horse Sacrificers had gone.
He further
said that paarikiShita were assisted by indra, who carried them
in the inner sky and handed them over to vaayu. vaayu held them within
himself and took them to the destination where the Horse Sacrificers had gone.
aayu is the flow of
Consciousness inside and is seen as aging. The flow of Consciousness is
essentially the ‘beginning’, ‘termination’ and the ‘confluence of beginning and
termination, which is the existence’. Flow or activity of Consciousness / praaNa
means ‘knowing’ by Consciousness. Consciousness means the one who is knowing,
seeing, hearing,……. and these activities are originating from Consciousness by
Consciousness. We and the universe are created in Consciousness and made of
Consciousness.
Who in an individual is aayu, the same one is collectively or when seen
in everyone is vaayu. Consciousness or praaNa, flowing and
connecting everyone is vaayu. The
physical nerves in our body are the physical forms of vaayu. The entire
universe is woven and connected by a network formed by vaayu. vaayu is
related to the root verb vay meaning ‘to flow or move’ and is connected
with the word ‘vay’ which means
‘weaver’.Thus, by vaayu, the Lord of Air, who is the breathings and life
in us and everyone, parikShits were
conveyed beyond the mortality. Gandharva, further mentioned that vaayu is
vyaShTi (individual) as well as samaShTi
(collective, whole). The whole
creation is seen as split into individuals and as an assembly of individuals or
collectivity or clan. Thus species are created.In the other narration, the seer
Uddaalaka Aaruni (uddalaka aaruNi) was in communication with Gandharva
Aatharvana Kabnadha (aatharvaNa kabandha). (Refer to Brihadarnyaka Upanishad, Third Chapter, Seventh Brahmin/Part). Uddalaka
and others dwelled in the house of Patanjala Kaapya during a study session on yaj~na
(sacrifice). The wife of Patanjala Kaapya was possessed by Gandharva
named Aatharvana Kabnadha. Gandharva asked Udaalaka and other scholars there,
whether they know that ‘thread’ by which this world, the other worlds, and all
the creations are securely tied together with the one who while present inside
everyone regulates everyone.
Uddalaka
knew about the ‘thread’ and asked the seer yaj~navalkya to describe the
‘thread’ in case he knows the same.
In this
reply, yaj~navalkya mentioned: “vaayu is the thread; by vaayu this
world, the other worlds, and all the creations are securely tied together; this
is why the body and the limbs of a person become flaccid after death; everyone
is tied together by the thread called vaayu.
(https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-happens-to-my-body-right-after-i-die-1132498)
It may be
noted that both the Gandharvas talked about vaayu, about praaNa or
eternal Consciousness, by which everyone is connected, tied, who has created
the species, or clan/cohesion and also individuals; who is present within every
entity and regulating the entity. This is what has been sung by both the
Gandharvas.
32.Apsara uurvashii /urvashii
uurvashii, also urvashii, is
one of the most celebrated apsaraa and a celebrated character in Rik
Veda and puraNa (Vedic mythology).
The hymns
in Rik Veda, narrating the conversation between uurvashii / urvashii and puruuravas
are well known and are stated in the Rik Veda verses 10.95.1 to 10.95.18
(Rik Veda 10th Mandala, 95th Sukta, verses/ mantra 1
to 18), when urvashii was returning to the heaven, leaving purUravas on
the earth. A poetical translation of these hymns is available in the link https://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv10095.htm by Sri. Ralph T.H.
Griffith.
If we seek
the origin of the goddess / Apsaraa urvashii, i.e., how she is placed in
the Universal Consciousness, it relates her to the goddess viraaT, the
goddess who is the consort of indra, and is present in the ‘left eye’
and that this illuminated vast expanse of the universe is held in the ‘vision’.
(See section 26, “ Indra the king of heavens, his wife, and Apsaras”.)
The word uurvashii/urvashii = uru + ash + ii
uru = expanse ; ash = to
pervade; urvashi= the goddess who is characterized by her expanse.
As
mentioned before, from the motion or activities of praaNa, or from the
outcome of the process of knowing by Consciousness or praaNa, time,
space, and everything is created. This has been celebrated as the ‘eye’ and
‘steps’ of viShNu in Rik Veda. (Rik Veda Verse 1.22.16 through 1.22.21/
Rik Veda 1st Mandala, 22nd
Sukta, Verse/Mantra 16 through 22.) Like the steps or the legs of viShNu, the
thighs of viShNu are also celebrated. The thigh is uuru in
Sanskrit, and there is another word uru which means ‘great or vast
expanse’. It is noteworthy that Urvashi is spelled as both uurvashii (corresponding to uuru) and urvashii (corresponding to uru).
Between our
two thighs or legs is located the reproduction organ. The action of legs or the
motion or time (kaala) originates from desire (kaama). In the
beginning, there is the desire to multiply into many and thus One has become
many and vastness has been created. This vast expanse, endless expanse of the
Universal Consciousness is implied by the word uru, and from where it is
originating is uuru. The word urvii stands for the widely spread
out earth or the vast space or the universe. Everything is created from the
desire of the Universal Consciousness and behind every creation or every event,
there is a ‘desire’. So, ‘desire’ is commanding on all. These are the
characteristics of goddess urvashii, who captivates all. So, another way
of understanding the word urvashii is as following: uru ----thigh-region,
the centre from where desire function + vasha---dominion
/authority + ii (endowed with, possessing)—the goddess who as the desire
in the beings is dominating over everyone. (It is interesting to note here that
viShNu killed the demons madhu and kaitabha by placing
them on his thigh.)
The two
thighs or the two uuru of a female have been mentioned as the heaven and
the earth in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. (Refer to Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Verse
6.4.21).
Where heaven and earth join, that is antariikSha. So, between the two uuru/(thighs) exists the door to antariikSha. We are also born to physicality from antariikSha.
33.urugaaya viShNu
The entire
universe, which is also expanding is held in the uuru or the thigh of viShNu.
Thus viShNu is hailed as urugaaya viShNu, meaning viShNU making
long strides. From the strides of viShNu, from the three long steps, the
beginning, existence, and termination are being created; the divinity (dyu),
inner-space (antariikSha), and external or physical or external space (bhuu)
are being created; the cycles of time, the seasons, months, days and
nights, the orbital and diurnal motions, the circadian and the various rhythms
everywhere are created. Thus, viShNu is also called urukrama (whose
movement is creating the expanse (uru) of time and space. krama means
motion in succession or sequence. This word krama is related to
the Greek word Chronos (Kronos) which means ‘time’ and also as per ancient
Greek Philosophy, it is the personification of time.
We quote
below a verse from Rik Veda, regarding viShNu and uru/uuru:
“pra tadviShNuH stavate viiryeNa mRigo na bhiimaH kucharo
giriShThaaH|
yasyoruShu triShu vikramaNeShvdhikShiyaMti bhUvanaani vishvaa||” (Rik
Veda 1.154.02)”
pra (Perfectly) tat
(that) viShNu (viShNu) stavate (is lauded)
viiryeNa (by the vigour)
mRigo-----mRiga---mRi=death;ga=act of going or movement; driven into
the motion of life by the awe of death or
annihilation.
na= like;
bhiimaH= formidable;
bhiima= what or who causes awe;
mRigo na bhiimaH----formidable form that causes the fear of death by
which everyone is
driven
kucharo----roaming
everywhere
giriShThaaH----giri---speech and is from the root verb gir; giriShThaaH---
who is present inside all the words or expressions from which the
universe is created.
giri also means ‘mountain’ or head as the ‘words’ or ‘speeches’ are
processed from the head.
Thus ‘gir’ in Hindi language means to ‘fall’ as the words and also the
senses are falling down from the
brain to the throat and to the limbs.)
yasyoruShu triShu vikramaNeShu----yasya (in whose) triShu (three)
uruShu (thighs /wide expanses) vikramaNeShu (vi= particular;
kramaNa= motion creating sequence and
periodicity)
adhikShiyaMti (dwell/live) bhUvanaani (the worlds) vishvaa
(universe/all)----live all
the worlds.
(Consolidated meaning)
Perfectly that viShNu is
lauded.
By his vigour (and) formidableness, (the worlds are) moving in a spree of
awe-inspiring annihilation; (he is) roaming everywhere; (he is) within all
the words (that create).
In his three wide expanses and three motions (creating three sequences),
live the worlds of the
universe. (Rik Veda 1.154.02).
For the verses of urugaaya viShNu, refer Rik Veda verses in 1.154 (Rik Veda, Madala 1, Sukta 154.)
34. urvashii and puruuravas
puruuravas also puruu-ravaa was
the son of budha and iilaa. With every expression of Consciousness, with
every expression of the word, we are becoming a separate identity or formation
in Consciousness as that ‘word’ or expression of Consciousness. puruuravas means the one who is crying
much or loudly. puru/puruu means ‘many’
and ravas/rava means ‘sound’ or more precisely ‘outward or physical
sound in which the Consciousness remains covered by the exhibit of the
expression’; it is like the body or the shell which has obscured the
Consciousness or animation within. (The shell or the body itself is also
Consciousness materialized as a physical entity.)
puruu / puru means
‘many’ or ‘prolific’. We are puruuravas
(also puruu-ravaa). In every moment, we are coming out of the
Consciousness, from the Oneness (aatman) in our core, as an expression,
as a different personality at that moment. Each such expression is a sound or rava
and every expression which we become, we feel it or we listen to that
expression/sound /rava; this is the process of simultaneous speaking and
hearing (what is spoken), always happening in us. Thus, in every moment of our existence, that
moment is brought to us by the mother Consciousness, and she (as consort or shakti)
merges with us and that makes us to ‘know’ / ‘feel’ or ‘enjoy’ that moment.
But as we are puruuravas / puruuravaa, we are not aware that
Consciousness is our every moment, that divinity is the spirit of our every
moment. So, though urvashii/ uurvashii comes at every moment, she
departs also, as we remain mortal and she remains divine.
Thus in the
Rik Veda Verse 10.95.1, puruu-ravaa is pleading urvashii to
reconsider her departure to heaven as below:
haye jaaye
(hey my wife) manasaa (by mind /decide) tishTha (stay) ghore (self-absorbed)
vacaaMshi (words) mishraa (together) kRiNavaavahai (let us do) nu (now)
na (not)
nou (our) mantraa (words/thoughts) anuditaasa (unexpressed) ete (these)
mayaskaran (causing delight) paretare (in the bygone) chanaahan (moreover- not-
days)
(puruu-ravaa
to urvashii): Hey my wife, mind to stay! (Ye) self-absorbed, let us now talk
the words together. Moreover, these unexpressed thoughts of ours in the bygone
days have not caused any delight.
In the next
verse, urvashii is making the following reply:
kimetaa
(what) vaachaa (with these words) kRiNavaa (I do) tavaahaM (tavaa-of yours;
aham---I am)
praakramiShamuShasaamagriyeva
(pra akramiSham—verily I move; uShasaam agriyeva –ahead like Ushaa{ the goddess
of dawn} )
pUruravaH
(pUruravaa) punarastaM (punaH –again; astam— set or descend down; at home/dwelling) parehi
(paraa---former + ihi --- return to
former---turn back) duraapanaa (difficult to obtain;,dur—difficult; aapna----to
obtain;) vaataivaahamsmi ( vata—wind;
iva—like; aham asmi--I am; I am like the wind)
(urvashii
to puruu-ravaa): "What am I to do with these words of yours? Verily I
move ahead like Ushaa (the goddess of dawn); puruuravaa, turn back and again be
at your dwelling; I am like the wind, difficult to be owned.)"
(I quote
below the translation of the above verses by Shri. Raphel Griffith:
“Ho there,
my consort! Stay, thou fierce-souled lady, and let us reason out for a while
together.
Such thoughts as these of ours, while yet unspoken in days goneby have never
brought us comfort.”
“What am I now to do with this thy saying? I have gone from thee like the first
of Mornings.
Puuravas, return thou to
thy dwelling: I, like the wind, being difficult to capture.”)
We have
clarified before the meaning of the word ratha (chariot), and also the
role of the sun and the eyes as the source of vision/ expression and motion
/time. In the epic Mahabharata, an event between Gandharva chitraratha and arjuna has been mentioned. chitraratha delivered
a knowledge/faculty to arjuna; this faculty/ knowledge is called chaakShuShii
vidya. chaakShuShii is an adjective of the word chakShu meaning
‘eye’. So, chaakShuShii vidya means ‘the divine faculty of the vision’. chitraratha
means the ‘ratha’/chariot or the motion from which chitra/images
are generating. While bestowing this vidya/(knowledge)/ faculty,
Gandharva told arjuna that he (arjuna) will be able to view
anything in the earth or heaven at his will. Thus, this is related to the
vision and motion of Universal Consciousness that has been narrated in the
earlier sections of this article.
34.Apsara tilottamaa (Refer the epic Mahabharata, Adi parva >Arjun vanavaasa parva >Chapter 203 and 204.)
Apsara tilottamaa
was created by the god vishvakarmaa who represents the ‘hands of the
Universal Consciousness’ by which everything is made. vishvakarmaa created
her by the ingredients which are the minutest as well as the supreme quality of
every entity of the universe. vishvakarmaa was instructed to create
tilottamaa by brahmaa, who is the personification of the
divine mind.
tilottamaa was made by the finest (uttama) and minutest
(tila) gem (ratna) of every entity in the three worlds ( (bhU=
the physical or material world; bhuva
= the inner world that acts as a connection between the material world or
divinity; sva = the divinity i.e. the world where self-illumination,
self -expression dominates----where one is not dependent on others or who are
different from the one.)
Each of us is
made of mind (mana/manas), feelings/attachments (hRidaya/heart/praaNa),
and spirit/faculty of expression (vaak), and beyond these three states
of us, we are in the form of ‘immutable soul’ or our ‘immutable, perpetual’
form is existing. So, if we are reduced to our elemental form, we are reduced
to an immutable form which is also called aNu (atomic) aatmaN
(soul). This is the minutest (tila) and most precious gem (ratna)
to be found in every entity; everything, every entity is turned into a
minutest and supreme gem when it is seen along with aNu aamaN. tilottamaa is
thus made of all the supreme and minutest gems of the three worlds. The
expression of the Universal Consciousness holding every entity as its soul
within it is tilottamaa. This aspect of the Universal Consciousness is
mentioned as ratnadhaa (who is holding gems) while
invoking agni (refer Rik Veda verse 1.1.1).
(In
this context it is to be noted that the soul in every individual or aNu
aatmaN, is also the Universal Soul or the Universal-One; when observed in
an entity or any individual, Universal Consciousness is called aNu aamaN (also
pratyak aatmaN). The Universal Soul is called akShara
aatmaN.
Thus, there
is this hymn in Svetasvatara Upanishad as below:
“sUkShaatisUkShmaM
kalilasya madhey vishvasya sraaShTaaram anekarUpam |
vishvasyaikaM pariveShTitaaraM j~naatvaa shivam shaantim atyantam
eti ||” (Svetasvatara Upanishad, verse
4.14.)
The meaning
of the verse is as below:
sUkShaatisUkShmaM---subtler
than the subtle; sUkSha---subtle.
kalilasya
(buds) madhey (within) -----within the buds (kali) of time (kaala)
vishvasya (of
the universe) sraaShTaaram (creator)----the creator of the universe
anekarUpam
---aneka (multiple) rUpam (forms)----has multiple forms.
vishvasyaikaM (of the universe) ekam (one) pariveShTitaaraM (embracing)
j~naatvaa(knowing)
shivam(shiva—in whom everyone rests) shaantim(peace)
atyantam(supreme) eti (arrives).
“The
creator of the universe has multiple forms (as observed) within the buds (kali)
of time (kaala).
The sole
embracer of the universe (he is), and by knowing shiva (creator in whom everyone
rests) (one) attains perpetual peace.” (Svetasvatara Upanishad, verse 4.14.)
Thus, tilottamaa was the cause of the
destruction of the two demon (daitya) brothers called sunda and upasunda.
Demon or daitya means the personality who is occupied with the sense of diti
or duality.
The word sunda
can be broken as sa (saha/with) +und+a (und—to flow;undana—flowing
and anointing. So, sunda means the one who is flowing and
anointing, moistening.
upsunda
=upa (along with)
+ sunda = along with /together with sunda.
In
Consciousness, one is an expression and another is the one who observes or
senses the expression. They are always together in an inseparable brotherhood. The word sundara means 'beautiful' or 'good looking'. So, sunda and upasunda are the beautiful universe and its observer.
In reality, the two entities are the same. The
observer and what is being observed are the same, and so also the faculty of
the observation; all are the aspects of the Consciousness and needed to
complete the act of ‘observation’. As long as the duality remains, the act of observation remains as a compulsion.
tilottamaa
exhibiting all the
universe in the immutable soul was the cause of the destruction of this
duality. It is also, for this reason, indra became endowed with thousand
eyes (sahasra lochana) after looking at tilottamaa. sahasra =
(atmanaa) saha (along with) sraavati (flowing)-----all observations, all senses
are flowing along with aatman or with the ‘One’ who is the one in
everyone and who has become everything.
37. The
deity kuvera and his associates.
kubera/kuvera---ku+
vera; ku=kusha>kosha---sheath/treasury; vera---- body/confinement/barrier.
kubera/kuvera----the divine being who is in charge
of the divine wealth; who keeps or protects the wealth/soma.
What you have felt, what you have enjoyed, those remain with you and not only that, whatever will happen to you in future, whatever soma you are going to drink, also remains arranged for you. These all remain in the custody of kuvera.
kubera/kuvera
heads the beings
called yakSha. yakSha= ya + kSha; ya =yamana or control; kSha
= decay / consumption----those who regulate the consumption or those who regulate the treasury. Yakshas are associates of kuvera. As mentioned
earlier, sThUlaakarNa, who was a yakSha, lent his maleness to
shikhaNDin (also called shikhaNDinii as a female).
There is
another clan called kiMnara, who are also associates of Gandharvas and
who also could naturally change personalities and gender. kiMnara means
“kiM (what kind of) nara (person)”.
There is
another species called raakShasa who protects the acquired wealth. The
word raakShasa is from the two words rah and kSha. rah
means ‘to leave or keep separated’; kSha = decay /consumption (keeping
wealth isolated to protect from decay or consumption or loss.) So raakShasa means the one who retains
the wealth to themselves.
These are all
the personalities of the Universal Consciousness and we inherit our
personalities from these Universal beings.
kuvera and his associates like yakSha,
kiMnara are devotees of lord shiva or mahaadeva. mahaadeva
has been described as the soma aspect of shiva. Thus it is
said, “”mahaadevaaya soma mUrtaye shivaaya namaH”---we bow to 'mahaadevaa' who is the form of shiva called 'soma'. shiva is the universal Oneness. shiva
is from the root verb shii meaning ‘to lie down, to rest’. In
shiva everything lies in oneness, there is no duality. mahaadeva means:
maha—magnanimous or all spread out self-radiant (deva) Consciousness.
The domains of both kuvera and soma are in the north (uttara).
38.Guardians
of soma, nakshatra (stars/constellations), filtration of soma.
As soma flows
from antariikSha to the physicality, it passes through Gandharvas, kuvera,Yakshas,
through various domains of the Universal
Consciousness and thus regulated. Thus, these beings are called soma
rakShaka or the guardian of soma.
On one side
of dakShiNa agni exists the domain of gRihapati agni and on the
other side is aahavaniiya agni. As mentioned in Section 3, Gandharvas
are laid within aaditya, i.e. they are dominated by aaditya or gRihapati
agni. They are the co-passengers in the chariot of aaditya (sun).
The self-effusing soma is descending
from the realm of aahavaniiya agni to the realm of gRihapati agni.
aahavaniiya agni means agni or the self-radiant Consciousness who is
calling back everyone to merge with him or to eternity. The word aahvaana means
to call or to summon. aahavaniiya agni belongs to divinity or to the
deities (deva).
As through
Gandharvas, soma is regulated to the other beings in the territory of gRihapati
agni, similarly, soma is regulated by nakshatra (stars/constellations)
as soma descends from the divinity (territory of aahavaniiya agni).
It is to be
noted that regulation includes filtration. Filtration of soma is a part
of soma-yaa~nja rituals.
nakShatra=n (not) + akSh (to pass through,
to pervade)+atra (here/in this matter).
Not
everything is allowed for everybody, not everything is passed on. This is
necessary for the One to become many or to create duality. In astrology,
constellations play a major role. This is why everyone is destined to a
different future. This is why nakshatra is a part of dakShiNa-agni.(Refer
to Section 10 for dakShiNa-agni.)
Another
meaning is as below:
nakShtra = nakSha (to come near, to reach) + tra (rescue, attainment/achieving what is desired)-----as the moon arrives at a constellation, a certain desire or intention of Consciousness is achieved. Accordingly, the constellations shape the future of us; they uniquely filter soma for every individual, thus making every individual unique.
39. suparNa-----beautifully winged soma
As soma descends
from heaven, from the domain of aahavaniiya agni to the domain of gRihapati
agni and down to the earth, soma is called suparNa.
suparNa means su (beautiful) + parNa
(leaf/wing)-----the one who is with beautiful wings.
The two wings
of soma span all the creatures and the wings flip with the
periods of waxing and waning moon. When the moon waxes, soma
flourishes us. We enjoy being flourished with praaNa. When the moon
wanes, we enter the phase of weaning; soma takes it back. During the
period of waning, soma enjoys by having us; we return him the elixir, we
return our praaNa to him. As the ebbs and tides, this waxing and waning in our minds are
happening all the time.
As a leaf (parNa) falls from the branch of a tree, the fall itself has a pattern. Similarly, as soma is falling or flowing, beautiful patterns are being created; so soma is suparNa.
40. soma
and his sixteen phases (ShoDasha kalaa)
In Brihadaranyaka
Upansihad soma has been addressed as samvatsara and prajaapati.
(Refer to Brihadranyaka Upanishad, First Chapter, Fifth part /Bramhana (Part),
Fourteenth verse (Verse 1.5.14). samvatsara means the time (kaala)
or the action of the Universal Consciousness that duly rears a creature to
develop into eternity or to return to the origin. samvatsara also means
the period needed to duly develop a creature or a particular phase of a
creature.
sam = perfect, in a due manner; vatsara
means ‘a year’, and is from the word vatsa meaning ‘a baby’ or
‘someone who is being reared and nourished for development’. (It is interesting
to note that the English word ‘yarling’ is related to the word ‘year’.) So, samvatsara
means the Universal Consciousness who is building us to attend our ‘supreme
form’ or eternity.
prajaapati
means who is pati (lord/in
charge of) of prajaa; (prajaa= creatures; pra (from praaNa)
jaa (generated/created----who are created from praaNa)).
It is
mentioned that praaNa or prajaapti has sixteen phases (ShoDasha
kalaa). The sixteenth phase is called dhruva. dhruva means eternal
or constant. So, by the sixteenth phase, it is meant atithi, i.e. the
one who is without tithi (phase) or whose phase never changes. (Refer to
Section 12 for atithi.)
There is another word niShkala, that has been used in Upanishad to describe the perpetual soul. niShkala means ‘ni = without; kalaa = phase; niShkala=without any phase’.
Everything is
created by the copulation of praaNa and vaak.
The immutable soul (atithi), the Universal Consciousness as the
perpetual One, splits into vaak and praaNa to create the
universe.
The
immutable, eternal soul or atithi/prajaapati along with fifteen forms of
vaak is the inherent form of every creature. Every number is figurative
in addition to be numerative. vaak with five forms of praaNa is
controlling and nourishing every entity, every creature. The creation,
existence, and termination are all executed by the five functions. When vaak
and praaNa create us, we are processed as an individual and this is
called a ‘state’ or ‘dashaa’; i.e. we enter into a state
characterized by ‘creation/beginning, existence, and death/termination’. This
state or dashaa is characterized and represented by the number ten or dasha/dashama.
In Latin ten is called ‘decem’.
Five is pa~ncha
in Sanskrit, and it is the number related to ‘punch’ or
‘mixing/blending’ like punch applied to ‘cocktail drinks’. Thus vaak with
five (pa~ncha) forms of praaNa do all the blending or punching
to create us and create our dashaa/status. Each of us is a special blend
or punch of soma or Consciousness.
So, ShoDasha
=16= 1(prajaapati/atithi) + 5 (vaak in union with five praaNa)
+ 10 (dashaa/state of a creature).
Thus, the
immutable soul (atithi) and the universe created by the immutable
soul/Universal Consciousness by splitting Him as praaNa and vaak
has made the number sixteen (ShoDasha). Thus, the goddess vaak
is addressed as the goddess ShoDashii.
At every
moment we are flooded by soma and soma returns to the source (atithi).
At every moment we are being created in the Consciousness as a new entity,
as a new personality by the copulation (mithuna) of vaak and praaNa
and then the new personality returns to the source and remains stored in
the north/uttara direction in Consciousness. We have mentioned in
Section 37 that the domain of soma is in the north and in Section 26 we have explained the significance of the
direction north. Thus, it is mentioned,” uttaraa ha vai somo raajaa ----the
king soma is indeed the north”. (Rik Veda Aitareya Bramhana.)
This flooding
by soma is described as ‘prajaapati (praaNa) is filled or
satisfied by the nights (raatri/vaak)’. It must be understood that prajaapati
means praaNa as well as every entity of the universe, as
every entity is a form of praaNa.
It is further
mentioned that the nights fill prajaapati with vitta. vitta means
‘wealth’, and also ‘what is known’. Everything
is created in Consciousness and thus is a form of ‘knowledge’. The word vitta
is from the root word vid which means ‘to know’ and also vid/vidyate
means ‘to exist’.
Thus, this is
how we are being constantly processed by the Universal Consciousness as by vitta, by the
new formations in Consciousness, we are being created new, and every new
fragment is taken back by Consciousness and that is the waning.
It is said
that during the night of amaavasya (new moon), prajaapati along
with fifteen nights (raatri) enter into the creature (or creature form)
to create it new.
amaa means ‘together with’. vasya means
‘dwelling’. So, amaavasya means the period when praaNa or prajaapati
and vaak or raatri are living together.
In our core
is existing the immutable soul, who has created us by becoming vaak and praaNa.
Each of us is thus also an entity with sixteen phases. We are being waxed
and waned by the activities of vaak and praaNa with the
immutable, eternal soul in the core. We
are living in our Consciousness. Whatever we sense, feel, desire, we do,
everything is made of Consciousness,
made by the union of vaak and praaNa.We get them by vaak and
praaNa and they are withdrawn or shelved also by vaak and praaNa.
But, whatever changes may be happening we remain anchored to our perpetual
soul. So, these formations in our Consciousness are said to create a rim or
felly of the wheel of time that is in circulation. These formations are the
wealth or vitta on which we live or exist. (Refer to the etymology of
the word vitta mentioned above.) Thus, when someone is dead, people say
that the one is no more but actually, the rim of the wheel is no more, the nave
of the wheel remains; the nave is the eternal, immutable, constant one who is the
soul of every entity and also the soul of the universe. Thus, the nave is
called naavi in Sanskrit, because, the eternal soul assures everyone by
saying “naa bheH (naabhaiShiiH)---don’t be scared’’. (refer to Rik Veda
Aitareya Bramhana, First Pa~nchikaa/chapter, Fourth Part.)
(naabhi=na/naa
+ bhi>bhii; na/naa=no; bhii=to fear; naabhi=the nave or
the centre that eliminates fear. Nave
= no void/not inane; thus, the sky is
also called nava in Sanskrit. In Sanskrit, voya means ‘fear’ or void .)
Now we
quote below the two verses of
Brihadarayaka Upanishad:
"sa eSha saMvatsaraH prajaapatiH ShoDashakalaH,
tasya raatraya eva pa~nchadasha kalaaH, dhruvaivaasya ShoDashii kalaa; sa raatribhirevaa
cha puuryate'pa cha kShiiyate; so'maavaasyaaM raatrimetayaa ShoDashyaa kalayaa
sarvamidaM praaNabhRidanupravishya tataH praatarjaayate; tasmaadetaM raatrim
praaNabhRitaH praaNaM na vicchindyaat, api kRikalaasasya, etasyaa eva devataayaa
apachityai ||" (Brihadarayaka Upanishad, verse 1.5.14).
Meaning
saH (he) eShaH (this)
saMvatsaraH prajaapatiH ShoDashakalaH--- He, this samvatsara prajaapati
, is ShoDashakala (the one
who is having sixteen phases)
tasya (his) raatraya (the
nights) eva pa~nchadasha (fifteen) kalaaH (phases)----his
fifteen phases are the nights (during which the moon either waxes or wanes)
dhruvaa (the constant) eva asya
(his) ShoDashii (sixteenth) kalaa (phase)---his sixteenth phase is constant
(neither waxes nor wanes)
sa (he) raatribHi eva (by the
nights) a cha puuryate (is filled) apa cha kShiiyate (and also depleted)-----he
is filled by the nights and is depleted also
saH (he) amaavaasyaaM (in the
new moon) raatrim (night) etayaa ShoDashyaa (along with these sixteen) kalayaa
(phases) sarvam idaM (in all these) praaNabhRid (creatures; praaNa bhRit---nourished/supported
by praaNa) anupravishya (by
entering inside) tataH (from that state) praataH (at the time of filling/
waxing period) jaayate (is born (as new))------he (the Soul /Consciousness/prajaapati)
along with these sixteen phases enters inside every creature to regenerate
himself (as new; as a new form/phase of the creature) when the waxing period
comes
tasmaat (this is why) etaṃ (in
this) raatrim (night (of newmoon))
praaNabhRitaH (of a creature) praaNaM (praaNa) na (donot) vicchindyaat (sever), api (eve) kRikalaasasya (a lizard); etasyaa (of this) eva
devataayaa (deity/prajaapati) apachityai (in honour)
"He, this samvatsara prajaapati,
is ShoDashakala (the one who is having
sixteen phases); his fifteen phases are the nights (during which the moon
either waxes or wanes). His sixteenth phase is constant (neither waxes nor
wanes). He is filled by the nights as well as is depleted also. He (the Soul
/Consciousness/prajaapati) along with these sixteen phases enters inside every
creature to regenerate himself (as new; as a new form/phase of the creature)
when the waxing period comes. This is why in this night
(of the new moon) do not sever praaNa/life even from a lizard (do not kill even a lizard) in the honour of
this deity/prajaapati". (Brihadarayaka Upanishad, verse 1.5.14).
yo vai
sa samvatsaraḥ prajaapatiH ShoDashakalaH, ayameva sa yo'yamevaMvitpurushaH;
tasya, vittameva pa~nchadasha kalaaH, aatmaivaasya ShoDashi kalaa, sa
vittenaivaa cha puurayte'pa cha kShiiyate; tadetannabhyaM yadayamaatmaa,
pradhirvittam; tasmaadyadyapi sarvajyaaniṃ jiiyate, aatmanaa chejjiivati, pradhinaagaadityevaahuH
|| (Brihadarayaka Upanishad, verse 1.5.15).
Meaning
yo vai sa (indeed the one who
is) samvatsaraḥ prajaapatiH ShoDashakalaH----indeed the one who is samvatsara
prajaapati with sixteen phases
ayam
eva sa (this is the one) yaH ayam (who
is this) evamvit (learned like this) puruShaH (person)---- (and) this (prajaapati) is (also) the
one, who is the person who knows this
tasya
(his/of that person), vittam (vitta) eva pa~nchadasha (is fifteen)
kalaaH (phases), aatmaa (the soul) eva asya (is his/her) ShoDashii (sixteen)
kalaa (phases)------ vitta is the
fifteen phases of such a person, the soul is the sixteenth phase
sa (he/she/the
person) vittena (by vitta) eva a cha puurayteH (is filled) apa cha
kShiiyate (and also is depleted)-----he/(she) is filled by vitta and is
also depleted (of vitta)
tad (that)
etat (this is) nabhyam (nave) yad (that) ayam (this) aatmaa (soul)-----this
soul (in the person) is the nave
pradhiH
(the felly of the wheel is) vittam (vitta)-----vitta is the felly
tasmaat (this is why) yadyapi (even though) sarvajyaaniṃ (the one who has lost / the one who has lost
the consciousness/self ) jiiyate (remains/exists), aatmanaa (by the soul
/because of the soul) chet (consciousness) jiivati (lives/exists)------this is
why even though the one who has lost the self but continues to survive, the one
lives by the conscious soul
pradhinaa (the felly) agaat (has gone) iti eva (thus is) ahuH
(said)-------the felly has gone--thus is said (about the person)
"Indeed
the one who is samvatsara prajaapati with sixteen phases, is also the person who
knows this (prajaapati). vitta is the fifteen phases of such a person, the soul
is the sixteenth phase. He/ (she) is filled by vitta and is also depleted (of
vitta). This soul (in the person) is the nave, vitta is the felly. (vitta---all
that on which we live; see above for the meaning of vitta). This is why, even though the one who has lost the ‘self’
but continues to survive, the one lives
by the conscious soul. The felly has
gone--thus is said (about the person)". (Brihadarayaka
Upanishad, verse 1.5.15).
The felly of the wheel erodes away but the nave remains. The
nave is the eternal soul. The wheel again is regenerated as new, the moon
starts waxing, the wheel starts rotating.
41. agni and soma
agni and soma together
have been celebrated in the Vedas and soma joined with agni is
considered as soma in supreme form.
The self-expressing, all manifesting Universal Consciousness
is agni who leads (ni) in everything and who is before (ag) everything.
The divine joy, the unlimited satisfaction that results in an
expression of Consciousness is soma.
In every sense, i.e., in every expression of Consciousness,
along with that expression, Consciousness is coming to us with
entirety----everything is there, whatever is existing and whatever non-existent,
in addition to that particular expression.
In our every moment, soma is descending to us like a
falcon from the sky carrying the nectar. soma is called sheyna (falcon).
Whenever soma comes, there is agni, there is soma, and
there is the guest hidden in them. The guest is called atithi in
Sanskrit and we have explained earlier the meaning of atithi. atithi is
the eternal soul, without any tithi or phase /change; or atithi is
prajaapati or the one with the phase that never changes (sixteenth
phase). Our every moment is like this, flooded by soma; our every moment
is held in eternity.
In Aitareya Bramhana, it is quoted: ‘
praaNaapaanaavagniisomou’----praaNa-apaanou agnii-somou----praaNa is agni
and apaana is soma.
Whatever, Consciousness is expressing as praaNa, that
expression or the form of Consciousness is held in the stability by
Consciousness as apaana. The acquirement, the satisfaction of the entity
thus created, is part of apaana. Thus apaana is soma. Water
(ap) is part of apaana. Thus, ap /water is part of soma.
Thus the moon with the water creates the charms that attract everybody. (Refer to Section 14 above for the moon,
water, and Gandharva.)
Also, refer to the following verse in
Rik Veda.
apsu me somo abraviid-antar-vishvaani bhessajaa |
agni~ncha vishva-shambhuvam || (Rik Veda - Mandala 10 - Sukta 9, Verse 6)
apsu (in the ap/water) me (to me) somo (soma)
abraviid (told)
antar (within) vishvaani (all) bhessajaa (which cures; medicines)
agnicha (and the fire/agni) vishva (universe)
shambhuvam (causing contentedness)
Meaning
Soma told me that within the water (ap) all the medicines
(bheShaja) exist and also the fire (the praaNa who is in every entity as the warm life) who causes contentedness
to the entire universe. (Rik Veda - Mandala 10 - Sukta 9, Verse 6)
bheShaja means ‘medicines’, ‘what
heals or cures’, ‘herbs those contain healing elements, medicaments’. bheShaja=
bha (fear---bhaya)+iSh (to send off/impel)+ja (generates)----
what/who grows to remove the fear.
soma as ap (water) rains
on the earth, making the earth fertile. The plants, herbs, vegetables grow to
support life; they produce foods, medicines, scents, and oxygen to breathe.
42. indu and bindu
indu means soma /chandra
(moon) and also a drop of soma. The word bindu means ‘point’.
There is a diacritic sign used in Sanskrit which is called chandrabindu (chandra+bindu)
and it is written by drawing a crescent moon or a small arc with its hollow upward and a dot
or a bindu drawn over it ( ঁ ). When chandrabindu is applied to an
alphabet, i.e. placed over the alphabet, it then represents the alphabet in its
nasalized form. The words of the divine beings and the beings who are not physical
are heard as nasal sounds. We have explained earlier the meaning of the word ghraaNa
(scent) and the word aaghraaNa (the act of smelling). So, that explains
why the words of the divine beings are heard as nasal. It is a common practice
by the Hindus to use the diacritic sign in the beginning, while writing the
name of a deceased person. We have also mentioned earlier that everybody
reaches chandra after leaving the physical state or after death.
bindu means the origin, where we
go back at the end of a cycle and also from where we are again expressed or are
born.
Thus, soma or indu flows forth from bindu. This
flow makes savana, the periods of life, the periods of our lives. Thus savana
also means the pressed out Soma-juice and its libation.
We all are indra, we are the
observers of the universe. (See section 26 on Indra.) We are sipping the sap of
the realized universe,
the pressed out Soma-juice
and its libation, which is of course the truth, realization. Truth is the deity
and we are seeing him or knowing him by the eyes. Thus, Upanishads have said,
‘eye is the truth’. So, this indu is flowing forth for all of us; it is
flowing forth for indra. So, the sages of the Vedas have said,’indo
indraayo parisrava----ye indu, flow forth for indra’. This indu
, this soma will bring the nectar of eternity in every
moment, if we can see that the Universal Consciousness is coming to us at every
moment, and as every moment.
From atithi, from the immutable Universal Soul, soma
is flowing out. This soma is shining, illuminated by the light of
the soul, light of praaNa, the conscious light who is self-illuminating
and by whom every entity is illuminated, everyone is manifested. This is why soma
is addressed as soma raajan in the Vedas. raajan or raaj means
the one who is shining; it also means ‘king’.
The Sanskrit words in or inva means
‘pervading’; pervading through everything or ‘who is inside everything’. The
English word ‘in/inward’ is related to the Sanskrit words in or inva.
indu means, in (inside) + duha (what is being extracted or
pressed out inside, in the inner plane or antariikSha’. So, indu means
soma who is flooding and pervading the inside of the entire universe.
Here is a quote from Brihadarayaka Upaishad on the lustre of praaNa
and the shine.
"athaitasya praaasyaapaḥ shariiram,
jyotiiruupamasau
candraḥ; tadyaavaaneva praaNaH, taavatya aapaḥ, taavaanasau
candraḥ, ta ete sarva eva samaaH, sarve'nantaaH; sa yo
haitaanantavata
upaaste'ntavantaM sa lokaM jayati;
atha yo haitaananantaanupaaste'nantaM sa lokaM jayati
||" (Brihadarayaka Upaishad 1.5.13)
Meaning
atha etasya praaNasya (now this PraaNa’s) aapaH (ap/water)
shariiram (is the body), jyotiiruupam (illuminated form) asau chandraH (is that
moon); tad yaavaan eva praaNaH (that as much is praaNa), taavatya aapaH
(that much is ap/water), taavaan asau chandraH (that much is the moon);
ta ete sarva eva samaaH (they all are the same), sarve anantaaH (they all are
endless); sa yo ha etaan antavata upaasteH (one who worship them as finite) antavantaM
sa lokaM jayati (the one gets the domains which are finite/mortal); atha yo ha
etaan anantaan upaastH (one who worship them as infinite) anantaṃ sa lokaM
jayati (the one gets the domains which are infinite/eternal);
"Now ap/water is the body this praaNa and illuminated form is
that moon; that as much is the expanse of praaNa, that much is ap/water, that
much is the moon (chandra); they all are the same, they all are endless; one
who worships them as finite, the one gets the worlds which are finite/mortal;
one who worships them as infinite, the one gets the worlds which are infinite/eternal."
Comments
Post a Comment