Agni and the First Verse of Rik Veda.
(Revised and elaborated.)
Introduction:
All Sanskrit words that are written in italics fonts are available in the Sanskrit English Lexicon by Sir Monier Williams. These are the ‘Itrans’ version of ‘Devanagari Unicode’----- <http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni- koeln.de/monier/>
(debkumar.lahiri@gmail.com)
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The first verse of the Rik Veda.
Ri means to move; Rik means moving toward 'ka'. 'ka' is the first consonant of the Sanskrit alphabet. Consonants are also known as vya~njana (coloured, manifesting) varNa (letters). So, Rik veda means that aspect of Universal Consciousness from whom the perceptible, coloured, dimensional universe is manifesting.
More succinctly, Consciousness, who is moving and radiating colours and visions, is Rik Veda. It is the eye of the Universal Consciousness from where the defined, perceptible Universe is emerging.
agni is the self-manifesting, self-illuminated Universal Consciousness by whom everything is manifested. agni is hailed as the divine fire.
agnim iile purohitam yaj~nasya devam Ritvijam|
hotaaram ratnadhaatamam ||
Overall meaning.
I invite (invoke) agni (to flow in me/us), (who is) the priest (purohita), the god (deva—revealer/who brings everything into expression) of yaj~na (event, activities), the Ritvik (implementer), the hotaa (the host; one who summons or invites everyone and runs the event), the holder of the gem (ratna dhaatRi).
Word-by-word meaning, significance of the words, and brief narration.
agni—god of fire. agni—ag (front) + ni (lead)—who leads by being in the front.
(i). agnim is the accusative case of agni. The root word ‘nii’ means ‘to lead’. The word ‘agra’ means ‘foremost’ or ‘front’.
agni is the self-revealing, active Universal Consciousness who exists before every manifestation, and whose manifestation is the entire universe. agni is said to lead all the gods, that is, all the divine manifestations. Any physical manifestation or event is a sequel to a divine activity.
praaNa means the One who is the first (pra) animation (ana)—the One who kindles animation everywhere. The flow of praaNa is felt as the fleeting life within us and the time in the external world.
In the Soul, everything exists in oneness; it is an absolute state of rest. When the ever-still Soul or aatman, becomes active, the Soul reveals itself in the form of praaNa. Soul means the One who is the origin of everything, and who lies at the root of the sense of self/ego, in every individual. Soul is called svyam or nija in Sanskrit.
Another etymological meaning of the word agni is derived from the Sanskrit verb ag. ag means ‘to move tortuously’. The serpents move tortuously, and they crawl on the heart. This motion is described as ‘sasarpari’ in the Rik veda. (Refer to the Rik veda verses 3.53.15 & 3.53.16. This word is related to the word ‘sasarpa’. The word ‘sarpa’ means ‘a serpent.’)
The word ‘dadhikraa’ in Rik veda is made of the two words: dadhi and kra. The word dadhi is from the verb ‘dadh’; dadh means ‘to hold’; ‘i’ means ‘motion’; ‘kra’ means ‘krama’, that is, ‘sequence’/‘cycle’. Consciousness or praaNa is in motion, while holding all of us to its heart. In this motion, sequences and cycles are created; the cycles of birth, death, and rebirth arise, and the universe is driven to evolve. This motion is ag—the movement of agni, and the movement led by agni.
(ii). iile in the context of this verse implies ‘let flow in me/us’.
The verb ‘iil’ means ‘to move, to flow. ‘iile’ is the first person nominative, middle voice (aatmanepada form) of the verb ‘iil’.
It is a kind of verb in the Sanskrit language, known as ‘atmanepada’*; an action represented by such a verb implies that the action happens on the doer, or the results of the action are on the doer, or the action is self-invoking and internal.
So, by the term ‘agnim iile’, the worshipper is saying ‘I invite agni to move in me/in us; I invite agni to flow in me/ in us’.
(*aatmanepada = aatmane [for the self/soul] + pada [word/step]
This root word 'iil' is also the base of the word ‘Electricity'*.
This flow, described by the word ‘iil’, implies the ‘flow that carries everything in Oneness; a flow that draws the invoker into Oneness’. As the electricity flows through a conductor, the material is polarized in opposite charges, and an associated magnetic field—or domain of electricity is created; we then say that the conductor is electrified. Similarly, as ‘agni’, the ‘eternal praaNa’ or ‘eternal Consciousness flows in us, we are animated or illuminated in Consciousness.
In Consciousness, the vision, the center of visionary function (eye), and the beholder, all are created instantaneously. Our vision is a part of this entire process. Thus, in every sense or perception, agni takes us in agni and flows. This is ‘iil’ (eel). Knowing agni like this, the seers have addressed agni as ‘agnim iile’ !
We live by eating food, assimilating and getting calories; conversely, as the Consciousness or agni flows (or knows) in us, HE animates us. Anything in fire becomes fire. This is ‘iil’—flowing of senses, flowing of Consciousness, and taking us along the flow. This is also illumination.
(iiia). purohitam is the accusative case of purohita.
praaNa is in us in five forms called praaNa, vyaana, apaana, samaana, and udaana. These five forms are also called pa~ncaagni = pa~nca (five) + agni.
One aspect of agni is anva-aahaarya- pacana-agni----the fire or agni by which assimilation happens. (Chandogya Upanishad—4/12/1).
anva---anu+ a—following; aahaarya— foods; pachana—digestion; anva-aahaarya-pachana-agni is agni, by whom foods/senses and their assimilation in the soul happen.
(iiib). purohita ---pu (repeatedly) + rohita (red)---who reddens every now and then.
The word ‘red’ in Sanskrit is rohita, derived from the root ruh, meaning to grow, sprout, arise, or thrive. These are fundamental to creation. agni manifests colour and form in every entity; indeed, agni itself grows as the colour and form of all things. This is the rohita form of agni.
Thus, Consciousness reddens before creation. This is stated as "yad agne rohitam rupam tejastad rupam”,—the red hue of 'agni' is that of his 'teja' or vibration/energy. (Chandogya Upanishad—6/4/1). teja means tad(that—Consciousness) + aejati (vibrating),— the vibrant aspect of Consciousness as the source of any event or creation. Vibration means, ‘though moving, still the movement is contained within the soul or self’.
(iv). yaj~nasya devam—the deva (deity/ revealer) of yaj~na. yaj~nasya is the genitive case of the word yaj~na.
yaj~na means ‘to control by knowing’ or ‘the control by the Consciousness’. ‘ya’ means to control. ‘ya’ is a semi-vowel corresponding to the vowel ‘e’ (meaning 'to move') and ‘ee’ (meaning ‘energy or capability or shakti'); energy of Consciousness is its capability to perform any act by knowing (j~na). Thus, the word yaj~na implies that in any event, the Consciousness remains within* and by the act of ‘knowing’ controls the event.
The 'Universal Consciousness knows itself as an activity or as an event, and that’s how that event is created, gets into action, and ends. In Consciousness, 'to know' means 'to become'.
As each of us is a form of Universal Consciousness, so every action in us and by us is a part of the action or knowing by Universal Consciousness and is ‘yaj~na’. Thus, everything and every event is ‘yaj~na*.
For this reason, the actions or rituals that ease our journey towards knowing our origin are also called yaj~na .
(*It is interesting to note that the word ‘havana’ also means ‘yaj~na’ or the action of Consciousness which creates the ‘events’. The word ‘happen’ in English has some resemblance with ‘havana', and so also the Bengali word ‘haowaa’ meaning ‘to happen’. Also, the word ‘have’ in English is an auxiliary verb related to ‘activity’ or ‘action'.)
(v). devam is the accusative case of the word ‘deva’. The word deva means someone who is self- revealing or radiating, self-expressing— expressing in recurring infinity. Our nature is to receive and live on that. This is characterized by the planets and the creatures that dwell on them. Thus, planets are called ‘graha', and the word graha means 'act of receiving or obtaining'. The planets (graha) receive light and motion from the sun. Light is the revelation, creation, and motion is the flow of life. On Earth, the environment is already created for us to live, and we get all that is life from Mother Earth. In deva loka (the divine realm), the process of living occurs through the revelation or expression of everything from the self or soul. Each aspect of Universal Consciousness is represented by a revealing personality called a ‘deva', or deity, revealing ad infinitum. Water, air, sky, earth, and everything in the divine realm are eternal personalities of Universal Consciousness.
In this verse, agni, the Universal Consciousness from whom everyone is created or revealed, is addressed as “devam.”
The expression “eternal personality” implies two meanings:
(i) unending (ananta), beyond mortality (amṛta);
(ii) existing in recurring infinity.
Anything that is created in heaven, or in deva-loka (dyu/div), exists in recurring infinity.
(vi). Ritvijam is the accusative case of the word ‘Ritvik’.
Ritvik means the one who makes everything “realized.” The personality of Consciousness that creates in us the feeling of reality is called satya. The word satya means “truth”—the aspect of Consciousness by whose presence we feel our own existence, the presence that gives us a sense of security.
Rita means the expression of truth, or the manifestation of satya. Thus, Ritvik means the implementer—the one who carries out the process of realization.
The seat of the sense of ‘truth’ (satya) exists in our vision. (This is stated in many parts of the Upanishads.) The varied, shaped, colourfully expressed universe is Rita. When Rik becomes ‘ita’, that is, when the action of expressing is attained or completed, it becomes Rita.
(vii). hotaaram is the accusative case of the word hotaa. ‘hotaa’ means ‘the one who calls’, or the caller of an event.
hotaa derives from the root word 'hu'. The word 'hu' means 'to sacrifice', ‘to offer an oblation’. 'hu' also means ‘to call to the self or to the soul'.
One of the forms of 'agni' is called 'aahavaniiya'. 'aahavaniiya' is from the word ‘aahava’ or 'aa +hu. ‘aa’ means to call to merge into aatman or Oneness, and hu means to sacrifice (which means to ‘happen’ or ‘become the same’ with aatman or the soul).
The Universal Consciousness is always calling us to integrate into Her/Him, into Oneness. So, this is ‘hotaa', the 'caller'.
Thus, 'hu' means to summon everyone into the soul.
Every action originates from agni and ends in agni. As the action or an event originates and progresses, at the same time, it regresses or simultaneously returns to the source. Thus, every being and every event has both a beginning and an ending. Therefore, we say that everything is from the past and everything goes back to the past. This is how everything happens, or all events unfold.
The English word 'do' may perhaps be related to the root 'hu'. The word 'havana' is 'hu +ana’ — that is, hu in animation or hu in action.
(viii) ratnadhaatamam— ratna (gem or treasure) + dha ( to hold).
‘ratnadhaa’ means ‘the one who holds a treasure or a gem.’
ratnadhaatamam is the accusative singular form of the noun, ‘ratnadhaatama’. The word ‘ratnadhaatama’ means the ‘supreme holder, or the supreme bearer of treasure.’
This entire creation is the treasure of the Universal Consciousness, who holds the universe. Every being thus held is placed in its respective orbit.
A gem is called ratna. ratna = rata +tama. The word ‘rata’ means ‘a state of staying in a pleasure, staying in rest’; ‘tama’ is an affix, and when applied, it converts the adjective into its ‘superlative’ state. So, ratna means the state of supreme existence of rest; it is shining with the splendour of the oneness of Soul and the splendour of opulence of praaNa-agni.
Universal Consciousness is One and Only one, and everyone emerges from this Universal One and is made of this Universal One. When this Oneness is revealed to an individual, he or she finds this Oneness as his or her root. This is called aNu (micro/atomic) aatman (soul) or pratyak (pointer / inward) aatman. When one realizes that this ‘One’ within oneself is the same ‘One’ everywhere, then that One is known as the 'Universal One, Universal Soul’, or ‘paramaatman’. Thus, every micro soul is held by the Universal soul. This is the meaning of holding the ‘gem’. In each individual, this soul or micro- soul stands behind the sense or the assertion ‘I am’ (aham). In Sanskrit, it is called ‘svayam/sva’, the ‘assertion-less self’.
I may die, and I may sleep, but ‘svayam’ neither dies nor sleeps. ‘svayam’ is immortal, immutable.
2. The Rishi (seeer), devataa (the deity), and Chanda (rythm/form) of the first hymn of Rik veda.
This verse of the Rik veda, along with seven other verses make the first hymn of the Rik veda. Every hymn of the Rik veda belongs to a seer or RiShi, a deity (devataa), and there is a synchronized structure or rhythm or a form of the expression of Consciousness, which is the hymn itself. This synchronized structure or rhythm is the metre of the hymn, and also of the verses of the hymn.
This verse of the Rik Veda that we are narrating belongs to the first hymn. For this hymn, the seer’s name is madhuchChandaa visvaamitra. madhuchChandaa means ‘the one whose rhythm or form is honey or sweetness.’ madhu means honey, and Chanda means metre, rhythm, form. Chandaa is an adjectival form of Chanda. Thus, madhu + Chanda becomes MadhuchChhanda.
As the seer knows that this physical universe is Rik, the illuminating, life-animating, and unending form of Consciousness, for him, this physicality has turned into honey (madhu).
madhu= ma (mRityu) +dhu; ma = mRityu/death/mortality; dhu = removed; washed away. So, madhu or ‘honey’ signifies the state in which the mortality has been washed away.
The deity (devataa) of the hymn is agni. This means that the divine personality or the expression of the hymn as well as of the verse, is agni himself. When you look at something, the vision is transformed within you into a set of words or a verse. This is shruti or ‘listening/hearing’. shruti is another name for veda or vedana. vedana means ‘feeling’or ‘sensation’. So, what is deva (deity) in the external is veda within you. So, this verse or the hymn is agni himself.
The Chanda, or metre, of the hymn/verse is gaayatrii. gaayatrii is known as the mother of all the Vedas. The word gaya means the cognitive faculties. gaya = ga + ya. ga means ‘to go’, to move out; this syllable is related to the verb gam, meaning ‘to move’, ‘to set out’. ya means ‘to move inward’. Thus, our cognitive activity continually sways to and fro—outward and inward.
The physical organs, such as the eyes, ears, tongue, lips, skin, hands, feet, etc., are the instruments that are required for our cognitive functions (inward motion) and physical actions (outward motion). These, inward and outward actions, are ultimately leading us to ‘decay’ and ‘death.’ In this way, we revolve within the compulsory cycles of birth and death.
Therefore, our cognitive faculties—the organs such as the eyes and ears—as well as the organs through which we perform actions, such as the hands and feet, are collectively called gaya. These organs are also called
(i) indriya, and
(ii) praaNaaH.
The word praaNaaH is the plural of the word praaNa, and the word gayaa is the plural of gaya. Verse 5.4.4 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says that these organs/faculties or praanaaH are gayaa : praanaaH vai gayaa; it further says that as the goddess resuces (tatre) the praaNaH or the gayaa, so She is gaayatrii (gaya + trii>tra>tatre).
The rescue of the organs or faculties means that they become unbound and transcend mortality. Consciousness, as the goddess gaayatrii, ushers us toward a realization that carries our faculties (gaya) beyond death.
A few significant Vedic words related to agni.
(i). vahni : agni is also called vahni. vahni means ‘the one who carries or transports’. The related verbal form is vahana, which means the act of carrying and also ‘vehicle’. Sometimes words are formed through retroversion, that is, the letters are rearranged. One such example is vahana and havana.
All forms of communication and transport are controlled by agni and fall within the domain of agni.
agni is also the carrier or the vehicle of all the deities. Thus, in ‘havana', when the deities are invoked, they are carried and led by 'agni' to the invoker. Whatever forms of communication exist, whatever modes of transport exist— whether wireless communication, verbal communication, communication in nerves and cells, or transport by fuel propulsion or whatever— are all within the domain of ‘agni’.
(ii). havya vaahana
The word baahya means ‘outside’, ‘external’. The Sanskrit letter ‘ba’ is a labial consonant, and the Sanskrit letter ‘va’ is a semi-vowel.
From the external world—the external form of Consciousness—agni as vaahana (the carrier) incessantly brings the sensory impressions into us. In this way, Consciousness, who is Rik, or what we call ‘external (bahis)’, flows into us, keeping us conscious and animated, and continually endows us with the sense of existence.
So, what is the external form of Consciousness— baahya or bahis—becomes havis within us. These oblations or havis are illuminated in us as our vision, taste, touch, smell, hearing, and as our very animation.
agni carries the oblation. In the same way, whatever you offer to a deity or to anyone is carried by agni. Therefore, agni is called havya-vaahana—the carrier of the oblation.
(iii). hotaa, agni, and vaak. : We have explained the word ‘hotaa’ earlier. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (verse 3.1.3), it is stated that vaak is hotaa. Although everything lies within the possession of the personality of Consciousness called ‘death’, and though everything is seized by death, the sacrificer (yajamaana) overcomes the grip of ‘death’ by the Ritvik named hotraa (hotaa), by agni, by vaak.
It is further said: vaak vai (vaak indeed) yaj~nasya hotaa (is the hotaa of yaj~na) tad yad iyam vaak (that what is this vaak) saH ayam agniH (that is this agni) saH muktiH (he is liberation) saa atimuktiH (she is beyond liberation) : vaak is indeed the hota of the yaj~na; she who is vaak is this agni. He (agni) is liberation, she (vaak) is beyond liberation.
In verse 4.1.2 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, it is said that vaak is brahma—vaak is the One who has become everything.
vaak is the ‘faculty of speech’. A word or a sentence is ‘vaakya’. Consciousness splits from its Oneness by its faculty called vaak. Every such split formation is a word or a vaakya. The words of Consciousness have materialized as the physical world in the external sky. Our words in the mind (in our inner sky) are the formation of vaak, created by vaak. These words are the sparks of agni. vaak is the faculty or consort of agni, or praaNa-agni.
It is further said that vaakya, that is, the formed words, or the materialized universe, are the bodies of vaak, or the dimensionalized forms of vaak. vaak is rooted in aakaasha, in the void. vaak is worshipped as praj~naa (‘knowledge’), because it is vaak who lets us ‘know’ everything by becoming the ‘words’ (in our mind). This world would sink into the darkness if the words stop scintillating within us. When we sleep or when we become unconscious, we stop talking. Thus, it is said, when everything is seized by death, the sacrificer escapes its clutch by the hota, called vaak. This physical universe is made of ‘knowledge’ or of word-forms. Where everything exists without any dimension—there in the void (aakaasha)— lies the abode of vaak. This void is not inane. In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (verse 1.4.3), it is said: ayam aakaashaH stRiyaa puuryata—this sky/void is filled up by the female (vaak).
Rik, archi, arka: The expansion of the letter Ri is 'ar'. Thus, when Rik expands, it becomes 'arka'. When Consciousness, as the radiating or manifesting words, begins to expand or move, arka is created.
The word arka, means ‘the sun’ or ‘an arc of light’. So, what we perceive as the curvy, shining, vast expanse—the sky, is also arka. As it expands and moves, Consciousness bends (creates direction or orientation) and shines (expressing itself and every being, and looking at every being).
archi and archana : The word archi derives from the verb arch. The word archi means ‘rays’, or ‘self - illuminating rays’, and it is related to the word Rich; Rich means verses of the Rik veda.
The verb arch means ‘to sing’, ‘to praise in hymns’. The letter ‘cha’, and the verb ‘chi’, both carry the sense of ’ collecting in the self’.
The word archna means psalms or hymns— and more precisely ‘the self-praising or self-narrating hymns’— hymns in which the Self/Soul praises or narrates itself. Thus, archi, or the rays, arise from archana. As Consciousness moves to create, it sings ‘the self praising psalms’.
Therefore, it is said in the Brihadranyaka Upanishad (verse 1.2.1), that during creation Consciousness moves while singing: saH (he) archanan (by singing the psalms) acharat (moved)—‘HE moved, singing the psalms.’
This is the song of vaak while creating the universe; this is narrated in the Rik veda verses 10.125.1 through 10.125.8.
arka and kara.
The root word kRi, meaning ‘to do’ or ‘to perform’; this word is also related to the English word ‘create’. When kRi expands, it becomes kar or kara, meaning ‘hand’ or ‘the doer.’ kara also means ‘rays. kRi (kara) is ‘arka’ in the reverse form.
If you see your activities in your Consciousness, inside you, active in your soul or Consciousness, then they become ‘arka’. Any work or activity is a formation created by the rays of Consciousness. (Work and arka sound somewhat similar.)
The physicality or the physical world (which is the physicality of Consciousness) is the dimensional expression of the Consciousness. The dimensions, shapes, colours, etc., are made by Consciousness out of Consciousness. These are the rays of the Sun or the Soul. Consciousness becomes everything by knowing itself as that thing. Thus, the Universe is created in the knowledge of Consciousness, and we are tiny, minute expressions of the Universal Consciousness.
arka, arc, bending, and orientation. We mentioned in a previous section, the shining, curved spatial form of arka, which causes everything to move in arcs through space.
Motion or time, and formation of dimensions or forms are interrelated. This is why, from the sun we get our time in the form of day-night cycles, seasons, and so on, and also we get the light through which the visible world appears. Similarly, our eyes regulate the circadian rhythms and serve as the center of vision. In the oneness of Consciousness— in the Soul— there is no activity and no time. The active form of Consciousness is called praaNa. The activity of praaNa is time, and is also known as the strides of viShNu in Rik veda. The foot (motion/time), and the eye (dimensions/forms) of praaNa/ viShnu are mentioned in the famous verse 1.22.20 of the Rik veda.
Consciousness manifests itself as time, and subsequently directions, or orientations, arise; these give rise to curvature, spin, cyclic periods, and motions along curved trajectories.
Thus, in the Upanishads, there are two words that are used to describe these direct and indirect (oblique or bent*) actions of the visions of Consciousness; these are 'pratyakSha', and 'parokSha'. What is direct, self-evident, is pratyakSha. pratyakSha = prati (toward) + akSha (axis—origin of cycles; akshi means ‘eye’) .So, when the eye or akShi, is directed toward the akSha (axis), that is, directed toward the origin form where all the cycles of time or the duality is generated, it is called pratyakSha. The vision of Consciousness, that is pratyakSha, leads us back into Oneness, or into the Soul.
parokSha= paro (beyond) + akSha (axis—origin of cycles). So, parokSha, means the vision of Consciousness that looks beyond Oneness— that is, toward the duality that emerges from that Oneness.
(*In the Chandogya Upanishad, it is said that the divinity is the bent stem or curved line of genealogy of ‘aaditya’, the centre of ‘Oneness’, who is radiating into many. (Chandogya, 3/1/1.)
As only Oneness dissolves the universe into the Soul, and thereby also dissolves the creation, so it is told that the deities love the indirect vision (parokShya) and they hate the direct address (pratakShya). This indirectness is necessary for the stabilization of the creation. Yet the deities are carrying the banners of Oneness— the Soul, who is simultaneously One and many. Consciousness is One, absolutely One, and exists simultaneously in recurrently infinite states.
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Other articles:
1. Consciousness, our physical existence, and the related Vedic-Sanskrit words.
<https://vedicsanskritwords.blogspot.com/2023/05/consciousness-our-physical-existence.html>
2. The five vital airs, the five aspects of praaNa <https://www.scribd.com/document/310401 05/Five-Vital-Air-Five-Aspects-of- Praana>
3. Agni-Self-revealing-Universal- Consciousness <https://www.scribd.com/do cument/16364338/Agni-Self-revealing- Universal-Consciousness>
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