============ Gods In Rig Ved ============ No deep understanding of Rig Ved is possible without having a clear perception of the two most widely occurring words in the Rig Ved namely deva and yajna. Deva occurs in about thirteen hundred verses. Since Agni, Indra and so on, are characterised as devas, almost every verse in Rig Ved refers to a deva directly or implicitly.
Deva is derived from the root 'div', to shine or illumine. The devas are beings endowed with consciousness, but without a physical body like the humans. Thus they are supraphysical beings endowed both with knowledge and power. The sages of Rig Ved were great observers of not only nature external to them like the mountains, rivers, herbs, animals and so on but also were aware of the world within themselves. They recognised different types of powers pulsating behind and within all aspects of manifestation. Behind each cosmic power , they divined the presence of a conscious being denoted as deva or devi. Each deva is a distinct cosmic power. Even though Rig Ved mentions thousands of devas, about thirty of them get detailed attention like Agni, Indra, Sarasvati, to mention a few.
Rig Ved gives a picture of the qualities common to all the devas in the forty hymns dedicated to the vishve-devah, the collectivity of all the devas. Individual devas are described in different suktas. Indra is described in two hundred forty hymns or roughly twenty five thousand verses. Agni, is described in two hundred suktas and so on.
Even though devas like Agni or Indra are mentioned in puranic texts also, they are quite different from the devas in Rig Ved. There is no need to bring in the anecdotes of purana to describe the events of Rig Ved. A careful reading of Rig Ved can answer all the questions regarding the devas. To get an idea of a deva, consider Indra.
The sages of Rig Ved were aware that the minds of the individual human beings are not completely isolated. They are all projections of the cosmic mind, the deity or deva behind it being Indra. Thus Indra is the Lord of the Divine Mind. Note the adjective divine qualifying the mind. The ordinary human mind has several imperfections due to many reasons such as its close association with the material human body. The divine mind is free of all these imperfections. Similarly, Agni is the cosmic power of heat and light in the manifested universe. But he is not confined to them. He is also the power of the Divine Will connected with Wisdom which vitalises all the human beings.
All the devas are considered as the children of the devi Aditi, the goddess of infinity, whose power is aptly described in the verse Rig Ved (1.89.10). Aditi is the earliest known conception of infinity which encompasses everything.
अदितिर्द्यौरदितिरन्तरिक्षमदितिर्माता स पिता स पुत्रः |
विश्वे देवा अदितिः पञ्च जना अदितिर्जातमदितिर्जनित्वम ||
(Rig Ved 1.89.10)
Let us consider the relationship between these devas and the Supreme Being, termed as the One ekah or tat, That or ekam sat, That One Truth as was done in the later Upanishad texts. These devas are the limbs of the Supreme Being. Each deva is a distinct power and personality of the Supreme. The Divine consciousness and force which permeates every aspect of manifestation, living or non-living is termed as Vaishvanara Agni, the Universal Force , described in about ten hymns of RV. Even a stone is endowed with consciousness according to Rig Ved (1.70.2) :
गर्भो यो अपां गर्भो वनानां गर्भश्च सथातां गर्भश्चरथाम |
अद्रौ चिदस्मा अन्तर्दुरोणे विशां न विश्वो अम्र्तः सवाधीः ||
A unique feature of the Rig Vedic Gods is their camaraderie with the humans. The different Vedic Gods do not support different human beings and cause them to fight one another as the Greek Gods do in books like Iliad. The Vedic Gods are eager to hel p a person and manifest their power in him provided the person expresses his aspiration by recognising the delight of existence present everywhere, releases it by his/her activities and offers it to the Gods. The Gods like Indra manifest in the human, remove the effects of hostile forces like Vrtra in the inner life of the person and promote the all-round growth and happiness of the person. Rig Ved does not associate a distinct deva with each human being or animal or plant.
Each human being has a soul in him/her called as jiva or atma and this is not regarded as a deva. The different devas manifest their powers in the various aspects of the manifested nature. The functions associated with the different animals or plants are possible only because of the power given by the corresponding devas. By means of the practices described in Rigveda, s/he comes in contact with these cosmic powers who are called as Agni, Indra, Ashvin, Soma etc. S/he tries to reach that state of consciousness or contact directly these universal powers. This is called as the ascent mentioned in several places. The first power to be contacted is the Agni power. Hence Agni is called the First God.
The sages of Rig Ved expressed their wisdom about the goal of existence and the methods of achieving the goal by means of a four-fold formula of immortality or all-round perfection or bliss, freedom and knowledge which integrates all the aspects of existence and finally, the supreme Divine or God who pervades everything but is not limited by anything. If we study all the verses in Rig Ved grouped under these four headings, we get a glimpse of both the breadth and depth of the Rig Ved and notice that Rig Ved contains the seeds of all the multidimensional thoughts of the later Hindu spiritual literature. This is not to say that the sages of Rig Ved knew everything that is to be known or that the later teachers of Hinduism were not creative. Consider for instance, the concept of the One without the Second, Brahman, discussed in magnificent detail, in the Upanishad books of later times. One finds in the Rig Ved the seeds of the thought of these books. Similar comments can be made for the yoga of devotion and works, the occult psychological knowledge found in the Tāntrik texts etc. Hence, the seer of modern times, Sri Aurobindo states that the earliest formula for wisdom will prove to be the last.
Similarly no one can claim that all of mathematics is contained in RV. But the beginning of the mathematics is certainly there as seen by the mention of the spoked wheel in Rig Ved (1.164) which implies a solution of circling the square.
Immortality amŗtatva is declared as the goal to be achieved even while we are living, we being the sons of immortality (Rig Ved 10.13.1), a phrase quoted later in the Shvetashvatāra Upanishad. Immortality is intimately associated with bliss or happiness denoted by words like Soma, Madhu etc. Soma manifests itself in the stone, the herb, the animal, man and the worlds beyond the range of the senses. It is the Delight of Existence. But this bliss is concealed. It can be released only by work. Veda repeatedly mentions the squeezing of Soma, Somasuta. It has to be purified. It is this bliss that can remove the incapacities in the human existence like death, old age and illness and render perfection in every part and lead to immortality. It leads from a partial consciousness of existence asat to sat the true existence, united with the supreme being, not only in its unity but also in multiplicity.
Freedom is a key idea in Rig Ved. It has no conception of hell into which the critics are thrown! Knowledge constitutes the bulk of Rig Ved. The key note of knowledge is its integrality. It is not divided into several rigid compartments.
Rig Ved describes several worlds lokās, each world being based on a particular psychological principle. Only the earth in which we live, bhūmi, is made of matter. Other worlds are supraphysical. In Rig Ved, the inner psychological structure of each person is considered to be a city dama, puri, gŗha, made up of many rooms, each room standing for one psychological power or faculty. These powers, undeveloped in the beginning, develop in the course of time in response to the aspiration of the individual, eventually, leading to perfection. This development is impossible without the help of devās, the distinct powers and personalities of the Supreme Being or God. Each deva manifests his power in each human being and literally grows in the human as described in hundreds of verses. The devās of the Rig Ved are faultless, perfect, always of one mind, always in touch with the Supreme Truth and always helpful to the human beings in their quest for the goal of supreme perfection.
Rig Ved has more than forty hymns about the aspects of every day life like marriage, the householder's life, the celibate student, wandering ascetic, the various professions, health, sickness and death. It deals extensively with the cause of suffering, the presence of evil forces and beings, their origin, and their influence on the human life; ever present is the discussion of the various paths to Immortality.
In every action we see the dominant contribution of the devās. Thus both devās and humans are collaborators or co-creators in all activities. Eventually every human being can achieve the perfection natural to a cosmic power deva. This comprehensiveness of knowledge distinguishes Rig Ved from all other spiritual books.
Symbolism Of Some Of The Vedic Deities :
1. Aditi: The Goddess of Infinity.
2. Agni: Fire; It is the cosmic power of heat and light and the will-power united with wisdom. Human will-power is a feeble projection of this power.
3. Aryamā: The lord of exalted power
4. Ashvins: The Lords of Bliss and Divine Physicians who render the human body free of disease so that it can accept the divine Prāṇa, the life-energy.
5. Bṛhaspati: The power of the soul; closely related to Brahmaṇaspati
6. Bhaga: Enjoyer and the Distributor of Delight.
7. Brahmaṇaspati: Lord of Mantra-s, Gaṇapati.
8. Iḷā: The Goddess of revelation.
9. Indra: He is the Lord of the Divine Mind and Action. In Indian tradition, mind is not a source of knowledge, it arranges the knowledge to aid action. Indra battles the evil forces on behalf of the human.
10. Mahī: Goddess of the vast
11. Maruts: Life Energies
12. Mitra: The Lord of Love and Harmony
13. Pūṣhan: The deity of nourishment
14. Parjanya: The deity of descending dynamic energies
15. Rudra: The Force of Evolution
16. Ṛbhu-s: The Divine Artisans
17. Sarama: The Goddess of intuition
18. Sarasvati: The Goddess of inspiration
19. Soma: The Divine Delight
20. Sūrya-Savitṛ: The Supreme Deity of Light and Force
21. Tvaṣhṭṛ: Divine form maker
22. Uṣha: The goddess of dawn
23. Vāstu: Dwelling
24. Vāyu: Wind; He is the Lord of all the Life-energies, Prāṇa which represent the passions, feelings, emotions and abilities
Vaishvānara: Universal Divine Will and Force
25. Varuṇa: The Master of Infinities who cannot tolerate restrictive thinking or actions. Only he can cut the three bonds which restrict the three aspects of every human being - physical, vital and mental
26. Vasu: The master of riches
27. Viṣhṇu: The Lord of all Space
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Powers of the Gods: An Overview :
आ नो देवेभिरुप यातमर्वाक सजोषसा नासत्या रथेन |
युवोर्हि नः सख्या पित्र्याणि समानो बन्धुरुत तस्य वित्तम ||
......... Rig Ved (7.72.2)
‘‘O Gods, between you and us (humans), there is the ancestral friendship and we are equal as relatives; remember and regard it''
The Gods are not poetical personifications of abstract ideas. To the Vedic seer, they are living realities. They are born in the human beings, empower them in their journey towards the supreme perfection. It is the gods who protect the human beings in their journey from the attacks of anti-divine demonic forces.
Among them Agni is the first, he is the power of the divine will, a force of god instinct with knowledge. This conscious and forceful will is the immoṛtal guest in our moṛtality, the mediator between the earth (the realm of matter) and the heaven (the realm of mind). It carries what we offer to the higher powers and brings back in return their force and light and joy into our humanity.
Indra, is the power of pure existence, self-manifested as the Divine Mind as mentioned in Rig Ved (2.12.1) :
यो जात एव परथमो मनस्वान देवो देवान करतुना पर्यभूषत |
यस्य शुष्माद रोदसी अभ्यसेतां नर्म्णस्य मह्ना स जनास इन्द्रः ||
Agni is one pole of force instinct with knowledge that sends its current upward from earth to heaven, Indra is the other pole of light instinct with force which descends from Heaven to Earth. He comes down into our world as the Hero with the shining horses and slays darkness and division with his lightnings, pours down the life-giving heavenly waters, makes the Sun of truth mount high in the heaven of our mentality.
Sūrya, the Sun, is the master of the supreme truth, the truth of being, truth of knowledge, truth of process and act and movement and function. He, the Savitar, is the creator or the manifester of all things. He releases the illuminations we seek, termed as Ray-cows.
Soma is the bliss which is generated by work just as the crushing of the Soma-herb releases the Soma-juice. The Soma is not a physical liquid. It is the joy of work. When a human being experiences the joy in the work he/she is doing, then that experience is Soma. What a human being should do is to offer the delight to the gods, especially Indra since in any work, the final result is due mostly to the efforts of the cosmic powers and the role of human being is very small, though vital. Indra and others pleased with the Soma increase the capacity of the human aspirant to do work with more and more perfection.
Each of these primary deities has others associated with them to fulfil related functions. For the establishment of the truth of Sūrya in moṛtals, a vast purity and clear wideness is indispensable; this is Varuṇawho destroys all sin and crooked falsehood. Also required is a luminous power of love forming into harmony all our thoughts; this is Mitra. Also required is a right enjoyment in all things; this is Bhaga.
For the whole bliss of Soma to be established in us, a happy and unmaimed condition of mind, vitality and body are necessary. This is given to us by the twin deities wedded to the daughter of Sun.
As the giver of the light of truth and the slayer of Vṛtra, Indra is aided by the powers of will and vital force, the Maruts.
There are female energies. Aditi, the infinite mother of the gods comes first. There is the triple Iḷā, Sarasvati and Mahī, and also Dakṣhiṇa, the goddess of discernment.
Three great Gods, origin of the Purāṇic trinity make possible this grand development. Brahmaṇaspati is the creator of Word. Rudra smites all that opposes and heals all that is wounded and suffers. Viṣhṇu of the vast pervading motion holds all these worlds in his triple stride.
Our earth, shaped out of the dark inconscient ocean of existence lifts its ascending peaks upward; heaven of the mind has its own formations, the clouds that give their lightnings and the waters of life. Thus the Vedic poets sing the hymn of our spiritual ascension using the images of physical nature.
"Om Shanti Shanti Shanti"
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