Mdhusudana vagamratam vol 3 veda vijnanam part2 by Yeshwanth Ce

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Vedabhãsã

1.To recollect what we have said above, we may catalogue some obvious laksanas which are 1.

is composed in

s which obey the laws of

2. Yajus runs like prose and is not subjected to limitations and 3. Sãman is recited as gãna (song). But these alone cannot distinguish mantrabhãsã from the sütrabhãsa or Brãhmana bhãsa because, even kãvyas and gathãs use the style and music compositions are sung as gãna. These certainly cannot be called Therefore, the additional laksanas like etc entitle the mantras to be called and the other bhãsa viz sütra bhãsa can be called samskrta bhãsã in a way but it has not undergone some additional samskãras which mantrabhãsã alone has undergone. Ojha then discusses Vijnãna hidden in them. First

some

explains

words

how

which

occur

the

word

Vedas

which

Purusa

reveal

covers

the

many

things The statement the Purusa.

implies that the whole Visva is conceived in

He has two components Brahma jnãna and Karma kriyã. Every Karma is percolated with brahma jnana.

That means

what

the

statement

means,

when

the

Veda

says

that Brahman alone exists all the time and it alone constitutes

All the other things exist but their sattã is dependent on the That is why they have only All karmas get constitutes only the Vijnãna of all these karmas. This vijnãna is Brahman Some people identify Veda with

only from

VedaSastra

But this is not correct.

This cannot be reached by vãk or manas. Even Visnu of Brahma does not know it. That is what the Upanisad says,

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MADHUStJDANAVÃGAMRTAM : VOL 1, PART-1

Ojha then gives a short account of Prajãpati’s svarüpa. Prajãpati is both jnãna (Veda) and Kriya (yajnã). He can take many forms very small and very big which is called Paramesvara. In

between

takes

many

forms

yajnã.

Yajnã

sarira of Prajãpati is of five kinds. The subtlest form is and grossest form is

In between, three forms of yajnã (Ãtmã) are established. In each of these prãnã, rayi (anna) and Purusa(Ãtmã) are established. The prãnas are of four kinds viz.. have different functions and pervade Paramakâsâ.

and

All these prãnas

Purãnãakãsa and Daharãkãsa. Then Ojha discusses different types of Devas. The

points

brought

our

here by Ojha are: The Devas are thirty three in number 1.They have space because they take part in participants move from place to place. In

this

allotted yajnã and

arangement

yajnã

Agni

place cannot take

occupies

place

in the

one

189

Vedabhãsã

end near the earth and at the top end Visnu who is one of the forms of Âditya is located. Among the Devas Brahaspati and Indra occupy important positions. ln each yajna pranas devas and lokas take part belongs to Vasu group and occupies the first posítion . He occupies The Prithivi loka. Then above it,the antariksa loka is occupied by eleven Rudrãs, with soma at the top. Above them twelve Ãdityas are located with visnu at the top and Varuna next below. It is in this region yajnã takes place.

This

whole

region

called

This region is fully pervaded by Agni. The saumya pranas have equal role in the yajnã and are known as Pitrs. They have three allotted places and Therefore called They are all Pitrs. Soma who is among them pervades all the lokas feeds agni all the time. In the same way there is another group of pranas called which also rèside along with the othe r

pranas. Vedas viz. Rk

Yajnas

and Sama

play their roles

in the yajnã. The ãpya pranás attain gross state and this state is called Indra pervades the entire space and is the essence of everything. _____

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MADHUStJDANAVÃGAMRTAM : VOL 1, PART-1

Sarasvatis are no other than the five bhaktis organs of ãpya prãnas . They are also called apah. They also go under the name vãk Since everywhere the statement of Aitareya viz

ãpah

pervades

is justified. It is

that gives rise to the Vedas Rk, Yajus and Sãman. Purusasükta the

says

Sarvahuta

vajnã

along

with

that yajnã

sariras,

yajus

and

sãman

are

also

Iproduced. Ojha then discusses some individual laksanas of Rk, Sãma

and

their

mutual

dealt

with

the

same

relations them. in

Here

the

and

these

creation

Yajus details

says

that

praja

are

easy

Prajãpati and

loses

the

rtviks

and

follow his

since

rasa

because

performing

have of

already spending

samvatsara

yajna

yajnãvidyã

and

making use of the Vedas revitalise Prajãpati Then

Ojha

gives

some

excellent

details

about

yajnãsvarüpa. Yajnã constiutes the mahimã of Prajãpati. The

ãgneyaprãnas

and

191

Vedabhãsã

saumya stomas

prãnas and

which

aharganas

are in

responsible the

region

for of

the yajna

yajnakriyã, and

are

spread

identified

the

with

form

rays

which

go under the name The aharganas divided equally between

which agni, vãyu

thirty gaus. The rest ten are called

In the

the

Vedas

same are

way

said

ãpyaprãnas constitute

are thousand and ãdityas each

in having

number three hundred

are and

by the Taittiriyas.

which

are

thousand

vãngmaya áãkhãs

and

which

these

give

rise

meaning

the sakhas of the four Vedas (which includes Atharvaveda or Brahmaveda) We said earlier that there are four types of prãnas. But Parorajãh prãnais Brahmarüpa and therefore we are l left with three kinds of prãnas. These

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prãnas are of ãgneya, saumya and ãpya kinds. Ãpya prãnas are referred to by the word vãk and ãgneya prãnas are referred to the by the word prãna. Therefore vãk, prãna and manas are always present in yajnã éarira. In the biggest form of Prajãpati i.e., Paramesvara this triad vãk, prãna and manas is always present. In

everyone

these

yajnã

Sariras

accompanied

agni,

vayu,

and

rsi, that

chandas, the

savana,

yajns

stoma,

other than divine vãk Prthivi Asni

the

extend

Ojha

that

Vãk.

therefore

whatever

comprises

devatas.

this

Prthivi

thousand

devas,

whose

ãjya,

which

wherever

and

six

rtu

are

and

present

. Ojha quotes Sruti

sarira

Prthivi

ãditya

prstha,

sãman

and

thirty

the

then

vãk

entire

quotes

Agni

jyoti

extends.

This

region

sükta

earth

from

forms

loka.

each are

endowed

Therefore

the

yajna

which

Sariras

with clear

are

which says that

says,

forms

form divine

and

therefore

vãk

gets

happens. and

Rgveda

the

In word

which

this

and

Agni

and

into wav

Agni

says

Prthvi

the

covers

that

Vãk

word

all

the

pervades

all the lokas. Then somayajnã live

Ojha is

because

discusses

always of

yajnãsvarüpa.

operation.

yajnãtmã

Prthivi,

functioning

everything

Surya,

Candra,

them.

Agnisoma

that tree

we or

yajnã

man takes

see

here,

everything place

every one of them. Small yajnãs feed a big yajnã. It is this yajnã that keeps the connection between Prthiviloka and Dyuloka and thus enables a man to. keep contact with svargaloka all the model for performing yajnãs on the earth:

time.

the

deva

yajnã

that

becomes

193

Vedabhãsã

The yajamãna says

the

earth

everything

performer

the

yajnãs

Devayajnã

all

the

upakaranas

the

upakaranas

Vaidha

the

earth

used yajnã

for

produced gets yajnã

performed

all

only

his

through

desires

get

devasakti

men

get

fulfilled. in

the

yajnã. Just same

devasamskãra

This like

way

all

through

'the use of

or Veda vãk. In this way

is established between.Deva yajnã and Vaidhayajnã performed by manusyas. Ojha

then

passes

explain

the

mantrabhãsa undergoes, like

special

samskãras

which

the

etc.

To start with Ojha quotes an ãkhyãna from Aitareya Aranyaka (2.2) Once Visvâmitra prayers to Indra in order understand Indra’s true svarupa. He

offered recited

mantra thousand limes which is characterised by

and which will give him the most favourite food. Pleased

with

his

prayers

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MADHUStJDANAVﾃエAMRTAM : VOL 1, PART-1

Indra appeared before. him and said O

Rsi.

very

much

pleased

with

wanted.

your stotras. Please recite the same

again two times. Visvamitra did what Indra wanted. Indra

was

happy

and

told

him

ask

what

Visvﾃ｣mitra told him that he wanted to understand his true svarupa. Indra complied with his request and told him, "O Rsi. I am of prﾃ｢na form. You also of prﾃ｣na form. The

sun

are.

who

shines

emiting

light

and

heat

also

prana

Vedabhas達

195

196

Vedabhãsã

In other words

The prãna that reaches it is called

’ It is '

That is, in this prãna there are 36000 aksaras. This denotes the number in days of the life span of man. It is through every

the Jiva gets life span of one day. Thus the total life span of a Purusa is one

hundred years. That is he enjoys 36000 ayus sutras and after they are all enjoyed at the rate of one a day, he meets with the end of his existenc inside the body. The Sruti further says.

That is, this Brhatisahasra is a sort of wealth in many respects for the Jiva. He owes his prãna kalas, krivãkalas and Jrianakalas to this Brhatisahasra. It for him

prosperity

. That is what Indra, the controller of all bhutas. is. That is why

Vaisvanara prãna is called “ At the end Indra tells Visvamitra

Indra says, ‘I am interested most, in the welfare of those men who understand who I am. I am prãna and prajnãtmã I represent immortal life

This is my true form. Knowing this you meditate o n me It is the above prãna that functions in us as

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197

and cleans all the pollutions of the Bhütãtmã which functions as our Prajnãnãtmã. The stronger our

which is nothing but Süryarasa entering u s, the greater will be its capacity to rernove the pollution of Prajnãtmã. It is because of the .fact, and because but

is nothing

the protector of our life, the Rsis ordained that the

should

worship the sun, since they themselves got full life by worshipping the sun

This is the purpose of all dvijas performing

every day throughout their life. Now Ojha explains many things in this the Karma called

In that

the total of all aksaras of the mantras of various metres

is 36000. The prãnas associated with the aksaras are also 36000,

is recited in

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MADHUSÜDAN AVÃGAMRTAM : VOL 1, PART-1

Every day one prãna comes out from the come out

sun and the total period for 36000 prãnas to

is one hundred years.

The

sum

total

these

prãnas

constitutes

one

sampaitti

which is

also called Indraprãna. In that there are three (eighties) whiche

and

These three together amount to 240-240+240=720. There

are

720

ahorâtras

Samvatsara. We have said three

because Indra wanted Visvamitra to recite the mantra thrice.

Taking

into

considertion

the

Samvatsara

whole.

can

say

that

the

Veda and Dharma

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192 MADHUSÜDANAVÃGAMRTAM : VOL 1, PART-1

sun is associated with seven chandases viz

Associated with the aksaras of these chandases, Indre enjoys a total of 36000s in theSamvatsara which the

says is Indra’s residing place

Its 36000 ahorãtras are built from the 36000 aksaras. Because of the

, his love for his residing place is indicated in the . This

Indra

who is of prãna form, who is blessed with a

other n

than

the

sun,

who pervades the entire

space outside

. In this way Ojha elucidates the fact that every mantra is connected with a particular devatã and because it is some rsi who went into detail regarding every devatã and found out its true nature, his discovery is given to us in the form of a mantra to us. Therefore

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very mantra is said to be blessed with

and the devata and chandas . which pertain to that mantra are revealed by the seer Rsi who was named after the prãna he discovers. We shall be seeing more of these discoveries as we proceed. According to Satapatha Brãhmana it is rsi prana that came into existence first and all other prãnas have evolved from it What is

Ojha explains. When the sun rises, its heat

i s less

in the

, the

is recited

(low pitch).

Veda and Dharma

201

As the sun moves up in the sky he becomes hotter as felt by us on earth. Therefore in the M達dhyandina savana the is

recited

raised

pitch. When he is overhead and is hottest as felt by us, in the third savana the is recited in a still further raised pitch, in the third savana. P達nin鱈ya Siks達 says,

By reciting the Sastra in the above manner the respective deyatas are invoked

in each

Ojha then gives some more details regarding

limits the

In the artha prapanca it is limitation of matter that finitises a vastu and its shape.

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MADHUSÜDAN AVÃGAMRTAM : VOL 1, PART-1

In Sabda prapanca

imposes limitation on letters in a mantra or in a

Has

and there is limitation of

aksaras

according to the chosen chandas. The chosen

chandas reveals the of the Devata for whom the stotra composed in the

is meant. Though there are many

some of them are of interest to

us celestial equator. . He moves northwards upto 23 N during summer and southwards upto 23 S during winter.

indicates

ie extreme

boundary of the direction. In

this

way

the

three

chandases

reveal

the

place

and

the

extent of activity of the Devatã . reveal the 720 ahorãtras of the Samvatsara and also the samvatsara-sthãnlyatva of the devata ie Indra (surya). In

the

is revealed in sãmamantra. In yajurmantra

same

way

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203

as well as (existing without support) is revealed. All these constitute It is important to note here that according to Ojha, ,the composition of Veda mantras is a highly technical job requiring superhuman skill and that is why the original composers of these mantras viz. bhauma Brahm達 and his group of intellectuals s達dhyas were imagined to be superhumans (bhaumadevas) and they were called, seers and not composers.

It is also necessary to note that every composition in Sabdaprapanca intended for invoking the divine blessings should have all the samsk達ras which Ojha has described above.

This

particularly to devotional compositions like music

applies

compositions, stotra etc.

This is

not an easy task. Only a rsi type of person can

achieve this. This means

can

give

capable

the

composing

desired

his

stotras

which

results

undergo

all

the

samsk達ras.

Incidentally it should also be noted that the teacher from whom we learn all these should also be of a rsi type. Mere statement that the achieve anything cannot carry any weight Finally Ojha summarises his views

Vedas are, great and

we caq

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He says that the type of language uesd

Maharsis

ancient

times

had

all

the

and

the

composers

mantras had good concept of the Devas they worshipped Though in principle it is possible

incorporate

all

these

aspects

other

languages

used

all

over

the

we do not have any evidence for the same. For example in the tenth mandala of Rgveda there is a sukta composed by

10.106.2. 5 & 5. 10 in

which the language used does not appear to be the same as what is available in other süktas of Rgveda. Except the 11th rk in this sukta all the other ten rks seem to have been composed in a different language. Ojha quotes some rks from this sükta

and says that the words.

etc do not occur any where else in the Vedas. It is possible that they have been

Veda and Dharma

205

taken from other bhãsãs.In such càsV they attain the status of mantra and samskrta only when they get all the, samskaras.Therefore it is clear that there should have been a bhasa which was called

which was different from the bhãsã used by the common people. There is also no evidence for any clear difference between

Therefore we can conclude that there were only two

bhãsã one used in mantras and Brahmanas and another for Sutras) The former was c

Yãska calls in his Nirukta and the latter should have been the

But sometimes though lokabhãsã gets mixed with mantrabhãsã the devasamskãras of mantrabhãsa do not get affected. For example there are Sastras which are composed in mantrabhãsã. The Gopatha Brãhmana says,

In the

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MADHUSÜDAN AVÃGAMRTAM : VOL 1, PART-1

also it is said.

All the above should have been included in ancient times. In conclusion we may say that in ancient times one bhãsã was called

which had all the

and was

and another bhãsã which did not have the

above characterisetics and used for vyavahãra purposes.

To say samskrta bhãsa

I had its origin in Palibhasa is not correct. Unless we. study the literature available in and understand its contents, it is not possible to understand the true nature of Dharma. Ojha concludes his lecture with some excellent

statements.

and Dharma XIII. Veda Veda and Dharma

207

We have already seen that the coexistence and coordinated functioning of manas, prãna and vãk constitutes our Ãtman. The Vedic seers did not take much time to realise that this functioning is not the same in all individuals. They knew that the human being is the most perfect of all God’s creations.

- Vyãsa

in Mahãbhãrata. Some have predominant jnãnasakti. In some others, kriyãsakti is predominant and yet others have predominant arthasakti. In other words, some are manas pradhãna, some are prãna pradhãna. and some others are artha wealth pradhãna. These saktis were named as Viryas and therefore they said that among men some have Brahmavirya some others ksatraviya and yet some others have Vidvirya vaisya. The Rgveda uses

or these V i r y a s r e l a t e s to Átmaraksana,relates to

bahirangaraksana and relates to sampatti (wealth).

Fittingly enough the Vedic sages attributed vãk predominant Rgveda to Vaisyas, prãna predominant Yajurveda to Ksatriyas and manas predominant Sãmaveda to Brãhmanas. The Taittriya Brahmana says.

Many people wonder how in those days, the Vedic sages justified Varnavyavastha. This concept is as old as Rgveda and therefore requires detailed analysis. We have

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already presented this in our book ‘Essence of Bhagavadgitã. However for the sake of the readers, it is again presented in this volume in a later chapter. The Vedic seers argued that since the observed universe is the outcome of a divine intelligent process it follows that the qualities and activities of the created objects are also the product of some intelligent process. While they name the process as Vedas. they named the qualities and activities of the created objects as Dharma.This is the meaning . of the statement in Manusmrti .

The living habits, the eating habits, the degree of intelligence, physical power, behaviour etc are all covered by Dharma. Because man alone has the capacity to change

his Dharma on account of his thinking power

, certain regulations

of his mental and physical activities become necessary in the interests of the society the well being of the surroundings as well as the invididual himself. 'This regulation is possible

Veda and Dharma

209

only when we understand what Dharma is. The source from which we can understand the same is naturally the sabdaveda. That is why Manu said,

The Vedic seers alone had the capacity to understand Nature in all its aspects and give us a correct picture of what Dharma is and that is why they are called and their interpretation of Dharma becomes automatically authoritative.

Since Dharma is related to Karma, it was necessary on the part of the Vedic sages to analyse karma in great detail and prescribe such karmas to every individual which enable him to prosper in life and also to serve the society, which also as a result, prospers, as a whole. This is the basis of Karmak達nda that the Vedic sages brought into existence, the like of which no other society can claim in the world. We shall go through it in our second volume in great detail and bring out the outstanding achievements of our Rsis in this field. However we shall present here a brief account and what Karma is. A thoughtful action that benefits the individual as well as his surroundings is called Karma. It also goes

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MADHUSÜDAN AVÃGAMRTAM : VOL 1, PART-1

under punya. sukrta as well as dharma. When action ends in unwanted result it is called vikarma. papa, duskrta etc. When it neither does good nor bad to the individual or the surroundings it is called akarma. Karma brings happiness and prosperity while vikarma brings disease misery etc.

In all actions karmendriyas (organs of action) and jnãnendriyas (organs of knowledge) do not play equal role.

In some the former dominate and in some the latter. The qualities

of men directly related to dharma and Karma can be classified as follows.

1. Inherited by birth. 2. Developed by training in an atmosphere in which the natural qualities and other traits are enriched and all impediments to such enrichment are removed.

3. Acquired by force.The above analysis led the Maharsis to conclude that only karma that conformsto one’s own dharma leads to prosperity of the individual and of the society as a whole Since they had already identified three main types among men viz 1 with predominant capacity to acquire knowledge jnãnasaktipradhanah 2 With predominant capacity foraction, exhibition of valour spirit of sacrifice etc knyasaktipradhãnãh and 3 with

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211

predominant capacity to acquire wealth arthasaktipradh達n達h pertaining to the three virvas or varnas, it was easy for them to declare that for prosperity each has to direct his activity (karma) towards the enrichment of the above natural qualities and regulate it according to place, time and society desa, kala and p達tra. In this process they discovered three types of Karma which have important roles. They are yajna tapas and dana. We have already

Veda and Dharma

212

said that yajna is closely related to creative process in Nautre.We shall examine it here in relation to tapas and d達na. Tapas is that activity through which the man acquires from outside such of the qualities which are absent in him and which are required for the enrichment of his natural qualities. D達na is to part with superfluous portions of one's own qualities or possessions for the sake of others who need them. If we cast off some of our possessions without naming the individual or society benefiting by it. it is called tyaga Fruit bearing trees, rainfall etc are the, best examples of this. There is thus a give and take activity that sustains the universe and the prosperity of the whole society depends on this activity. This principle of constructive feeding of the universe __________ is carried out by the

yajna process wch is essentially anna-ann達da bh達va or donor enjoyer principle or agnisoma interaction. Because yajna applies to the entire universe, it becomes a universal

dharma and therefore the most sacred act of the individual

It would therefore be clear from the above analysis that the prosperity of mankind lies in his capacity to live in tune with Nature. Veda helps him to understand Nature and Dharma helps him to live in tune with her. The above analysis in short constitutes Vedic religion. It is needless to point out tha this covers the entire mankind and therefore universal in Nature. It assures every individual both spiritual and material prosperity. It provides the right atmosphere for the emergence of human species of a higher order if at all it is possible in the future. If only we had understood this message of the Vedas properly we would have been able to unite the entire mankind into a single unit following certain codes of conduct which are universal in.

character. Then why did we not do it? Well, there are some valid reasons for our not being able to convery the message of the Vedas effectively to mankind. A careful study of the Vedic literature and the available commentaries on them would suggest that there should have been some gaps of knowledge between the original composers of Vedas and planners of rituals and the subsequent priests who inherited their knowledge. It is quite possible that the composers of mantras were victims of natural calamity like earthquakes avalanches, advancement of glaciers, land slides etc and the group which survived started with whatever knowledge they had inherited from their ancestors and carried on their priestly activities to the best of their abilities. From that time on weards the message of the Vedas started taking diverse directions. The systems of philosophy like Vaisesika, Sánkhya and Vedânta which were inseparable components of a single Vedic tradition see Ojha’s became the breeding ground for .the division of society some people swearing by Karmakãnda and some others swearing by Jnãnakãnda. Even among those who believed in the supremacy of Jnãnakãnda there were factions with the result the real message of the Vedas was completely lost. We shall see many details of these in this book when we deal With

in the third volume.

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Before we proceed further, we should know something more about the Rsi concept in Vedic literature.

XIV. The Rsi concept of Vedic sages 1. Asallaksana rsis Madhusüdan Ojha wrote an excellent book titled which contains a beautiful exposition of the Rsi concept of our sages. I would like to quote here extensively from his book for the benefit of the readers.

Here it is clear that the concept of Rsi arises from prãna of a particular kind and concept of Deva arises from prãnas of various kinds. Prãna by itself does not have Sattã. Qnly when it is combined with something like a sarira it has sattã. Therefore prãna is called Asat. Vak is Sat and Manas is Sadasat. The Sãtãpatha Brãhmana says,

When many of these prãnas join together then these bring into existence Purusa. The Rgveda talks about Sãkanja prãnas as responsible for the occurence of seasons (R.V. 1.164 ,15)- According to Madhusüdan Ojha these Sãkanja prãnas are the same seven prãnas that go to make the Purusa Prajãpati and therefore the seven p r ã n a t h e s e v e n rsi prãnas and then only the rtus seasons that are associated with pitr prãnas come into existence. Actually these seven rsi prãnas have their distinct functions in the human system. Ojha quotes from Satapatha Brãhmana to justify his statement

That is, of all the pr達nas Vasistha pr達na is the most important pr達na. It is capable of entering all the other pr達nas.

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199

The Rsi concept

The meaning is clear.

We shall see more of these rsi prãnas a little later. From the above discussion, we can easily understand that rsi prãna is the mula prãna from which the other prãnas have evolved. That is why Manu says in his Smrti,

From the rsi prãnas, pitrprãnas came into existence. From pitrprãna, deva prãna, asura prãna, gandharva prãna etc. came into existence and from them all other types evolved.

2. Rocanãlaksana rsis The above discussion pertains only to one type of rsi called .

The next type

of rsi relates to some star constellations in the sky, which are called Veda describes them as, Brãhmana says,

Here it is said that the star of Great Bear

. The

stressing on the light they emit. The Satapatha

consists of many stars. These are considered as wives

which refers to the.Thus the word rsi is used here to

represent the stars. This type of rsi is therefore called the following rk in this connection and says the word

. Ojha also quotes,

in the rk quoted below refers to

pole star

differing from the tradition of this mantra, Ojha says that the word rsi here refers to Dhruvanaksatra pole star. The mantra says that the pole star keeps the worlds in its field.

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contained in In the fourth one Ojha deals with Sãbdavedà and the names of rsis who were seers and composers of various mantrãs/samhitãs. the fifth one a brilliant exposition of the life span of mortals and the rsis is Presented. We find both in Vedic and puranic literature that some yogis were in samadhi for hundreds of years or even some kings ruled over their territory for ten thousand years etc. Ojha deals with these statements and explains how we should interpret these statements. In the sixth one Ojha explains what gotra means and theri catalogues the various gotras and the rsis who belonged to each of them. Brief summaries of the contents of the six chapters in are given below.

4. Summaries in English of Six Chapters in Ohja’s Rsi nirvacanam (general) The word rsi was used first in the creation process as the primary upãdanakãrana to create Asat prãnas. Every vastu gets its existence

through prãna only. Since the

müla prana is itself without prãna it is called Asat. Later these Asat Pranas were called rsis. The word ‘rsi’ is also used to represent naksatras which shine in the sky. Then the superhuman beings who were capable of revealing to us the vijnãna pertaining to the coming into existence of Devatas like Agni, Varuna, Soma, Indra etc were also called Rsis Ojha quotes the relevant rk in support of his statement and says that Rsis are the composers of Veda mantras which constitute Sabda samüha enjoy authority It is said that even the appropriate words in the mantras were revealed to the rsis The composer of mantravãkyas is called

rsi.Sometimes the

identified with the rsi and they are also

rsis. For example in

herself is the vaktã is

identified with and therefore the rsi also is Sometimes the mantras are in the form of conversation and in such cases, one is rsi and the other constitute the . Devata on whom the conversation is centred.

Srstipravartaka rsis Rsi are of three kinds viz. 1. Srstipravartaka rsis 2. Gotrapravartake rsis and 3. Vedapravartaka rsis. In this Brahmãnda an independent entity which has tejas heat as its laksana pervades the entire region. It is known as samavatrãn Hiranyagarbhà,Sarvajna,

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203

Purusa, Vaisnavara etc. in Vedic literature. When the purusa is awake this Visva comes into existence and when he goes to sleep, this Visva undergoes pralaya. But Purusa is never affected by mrtyu and is immortal. The entireViáva constitutes his sarira. The prãnas which go to build this sarira are called Just like the manusva sarira which is built with bhüta mãtras. tejomãtras and prajnãmãtras, pitrs, devas etc start with prãnas as the primary material cause (upãdãnakãrana), this Visva also is built starting with prãnas. Then Ojha shows how vírãt prãna comes into existence from Hiranyagarbha which is vãyurüpa. This Virãt prãna which is its name in the adhidaivata enters the adhyãtma sarira and in this state it is called taijasa which splits into ten components after entering the sarira. The avyakrta Virãt purusa undergoes change and becomes vyarta defined purusa and is called manu who has all the ten prãnas in him and with these he builds the entire V __________________________________ isva. These ten prãnas are the ten rsis _______________________________________ etc.Ojha quotes the relevant verses of Manusmrti in support of his statement. Each of these ten pranas which constituted originally the avyayas of Virãt purusa? exhibit different dharmas when they enter the adhyãtmã. All the above details are discussed in this section. .

Vedarsis Brahmavijnãna constitutes Visvavijnana, Suryavijnãna, Devatavijnãna, Prajãpati vijnãna etc. Since creation starts with pranas, our rsis discovered the dharmas of each of these prãnas and their role in the creation process. The name of the discoverer and the prãna, which he discovered and studied go under the same name. For exampla Matsya is the name of the prãna as well the name of the discoverer a Rsi. These are the

of that prãna who was called

and arespine in nine They are 1

These details are contained in this section. (miscellaneous) The above three prãnas are believed to have originated from a pot like measuring utensil. That is why they are called . The apparent diurnal movement of the sun in the sky from east to west causes day in one half of the earth’s surface and night in the other half. We can divide the earth together with the sky above it into two halves by drawing a north south line through the centre of the earth. These two halves are known as two When the sun is in the east, the eastern because it is characterised by day and the western

is pervaded by pranas and is pervaded by

pranas

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because night prevails there The former has agni predominant virya and the latter has ãpah (waters) predominant virya. When these two unit, three kinds of prãnas characterised respectively by

and

are produced. Of these, the

Soma predominant and therefore pervades the northern direction and is called is saumyaprãna. called

which

is agni predominant and pervades the south direction and is

which is ãgneyaprãna. The

(neither hot nor cold) virya is called

prãna. Ojha then deals with some of the dharmas of these prãnas

prãnas. Here Ojha narrates an ãkhyãna from Purãna and explains it in terms of The Rohini naksatra in the sky is believed to have its origin in reddish, it is called Laksmi. Then the star

Because it is

in Purãna. The movement is

upwards from constellation to That is why Rohini is called Laksmi and Jyesthã is called daridrã. Both look reddish and therefore both are somtimes called Rohini It was also imagined that both Rohini and Jyesthã together look like a deer of red (deep brown?) variety and therefore sometimes both together are called Rohini. Then Ojha gives some more details about star constellations: Explaining the ãkhyãna that Prajãpati ran after his daughter, Ojha says, that the Prajãpati referred to here is Samvatsara Prajãpati and his daughter is Prajãpati, (sun) rises in the east along with

(dawn) Samvatsara

. Since the sun rise takes place after dawn the

ãkhyãna in a figurative way says that sürya Prajãpati runs after his daughter just like a man runs after a woman. The ãkhyãna also takes support from the statement in Rgveda viz.,

Actually sürya deposits his retas (which is Vaisvãnarãgni) in Usã and as a result is produced. This no other than the son of Samvatsara Prajãpati. This Kumãrãgni has eight faces Agni, Waters, Osadhi, Vãyu, Vidyut (lighning) Parjanya, moon and sun. These mürtis are also named as These eight agnis are called

respectively. is the nineth one.

In the ãkhyãna it is said that Prajãpati’s head was cut off by an arrow. This only means that the portion that oozed out of Prajãpati is called Pravargya and it is called The retas of Prajãpati which fell down is Samrãt, (head of praja). The sun who is shining above is heat and is full of light (jyotis). The heat part is his head. This is the portion that was cut

The Rsi concept

205

off. It is from the oozed out retas all the living beings and non living things plants trees etc. on the earth came into existence. All these constitute s pasus and he is therefore called Pasupati. When the cinder rasa (retas) of Prajãpati comes into contact with Vaisvãnarãgni it bums. The flame part is called

and the

part is called Angiras.

In this way Ojha shows that the ãkhyana is full of vijnãna. In this context Ojha also When rasa and Varuna’s

explains the origin of rasa joins flames are produced. If now, this joins produced (see also chapter X ‘Soma concept of Vedic sages’). Then Ojha explains ' also called

son is

Atri prãna is He discovered

consists of the rasas of

It is

They are

respectively and therefore This prãna enters into all bodies and produces substances of different densities which go to build the body. In this chapter dealing with life span of humans, Ojha gives very interesting details and explains how we should interpret statements in the Purãnas which describe the life span of some rsis and kings as many hundreds or even thousands of years. The life span of humans is said to be one hundred years there is a statement by

However

that a man can live upto 116 years. But many other

statements only support hundred years life span for humans. Even while describing which is supposed to be completed in one thousand years, a doubt has been raised by the rsi that such a human who can livefor thousand years to complete the

is not a possibility.

But there are statements in the that life span of humans can be different for different yugas. For example it is said a man who is never affected by any disease can live upto four hundred years. But as the yugas advance for Krta to kaliyuga for every yuga the life span decreases by hundred years and in Kaliyuga it has reduced to one hundred years. But then how do we reconcile the statements in Purãnas? Ojha says that by taking the meaning of Samvatsara used there as one day (for which he shows pramãna). We can interpret statements which attribute longer span of human life. This chapter of Ojha will be reproduced in original, in volume four of this series, dealing with Purãnas. More light also will be thrown there on this topic. Then Ojha explains the word

used in Vedic literature.

The Kausika or which Ojha explains next has already been dealt with by us in the chapter on Veda bhãsã. The reader may refer to that for details. Ojha then discusses

and gives lol of details about various rsis and the

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mantra samhitas which go under their names. This chapter is very informative for the general reader. The text is easy to follow and I leave it to the reader to appreciate Ojha’s approach. At the end Ojha gives many details about Gotra pravartaka rsis.

Note : Some topics dealt with in this book

are also dealt with in

Maharsikula vaibhavam - II which has been edited by Surjandas Swamiji and published by Rajasthan Oriental Research Institute Jodhpur. Interested readers may refer to that book also for details. The following two chapters in the original text of O

’

presented below for the sake of the readers. 1.

The rest will be presented in volume 4 of this series dealing with Purãnas.

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XV. More details of Sabdaveda 1. The Sastras of Sabdaveda All our Sastras deal with Ãtma, Visva and their relation. These sastras are essentially of five kinds. 1. 2.

that includes the four Vedas, Brahmanas and Àranyakas. dealing with Brahmavidyã or Àtmavidyã.

3 dealing with various schools of thought pertaining to the origin, sustenance and end of Jagat. 4.

dealing with analysis of meanings of Vedavãkyas pertaining to Karma and Upanisad vãkyas pertaining to Brahman

dealing with Àtmajnãna and Karmavijnãna and their relation.

We shall be dealing with all these, sometimes individually and sometimes collectively, in order to impress on the reader that unless the Vedic literature is studied collectively with cross references, a realistic picture of the Vedic culture will not emerge. As we have repeatedly emphasized, the sole aim of Vedic culture is to enable every human being to evolve into a human being of a higher order. Here we are essentially concerned with Vedas, Brahmanas and Upanisads and their contents. In a concise manner we can say that the above deal with the following subjects. They are, 1.Yajna vijnãnam 2. Brahma vijnãnam 3. Itihãsa 4. Stotras Of course Purãnas and Smrtis constitute the supporting literature to the above four subjects. It is important to remember here that Yajnãvijnãna and Brahmavijnãna always go together in our ancient literature and therefore one should always keep in mind both these aspects while studying them. More than anything else, certain basic concepts have guided our sages in the composition of mantras and one of our tasks in this account is to discover these concepts and use these as and when needed in the interpretation of the mantras. The arthavãda portions of the Brahmanas contain many clues which enable us not only to probe into the minds of our sages but also to understand how they interpreted certain natural phenomena using various terms for the different forces of Nature. We shall illustrate all these in our account through many examples. One of the basic concepts of our sages is their belief in the existence of a grand Harmony or Unity in Nature. They always analysed the structure of this Visva at three levels viz., ãdhidaivika level, ãdhibhautika level and ãdhyãtmika level. According to them whatever principle functions at the ãdhidaivika level, should hold good in ãdhibhautika and ãdyãtmika levels. This is the harmony or unity, they thought, is prevalent in Nature. This

Omkãra in Sabdaveda

225

belief led them to plan their activities and way of life to be in tune with what they believed exists in Nature. Alternately what they actually observed at one level, they projected it to the other two levels and believed that the same holds good for the other two levels also. Sometimes in a mantra the principle explained holds good for all the three levels. The rsis who were capable of composing mantras which hold good for all the three levels were considered as exceptionally brilliant rsis. This is what Ojha says:

(Jagadguruvaibhavam) Here is the name of one Indra who was a ruler in Bhaumasvarga at that time and under whose leadership, the Sadhyas composed Vedamantras. We shall point out the application of this principle while coming across many instances. Here we shall give two examples to illustrate our point. Let us take the following mantra in the Rgveda.

) Here the rsi is describing a hide and seek play enacted by two heavenly children viz. the Sun and the Moon. As we have pointed out in our book Essence of Bhagavadgita, this rk has never been interpreted properly, This mantra though looks simple explains to us that Agnlsomavidyã applies to all the three levels. Both the sun and the moon change their declinations in the celestial sphere every day. The north-south motion of the moon during a lunar month is as much as the north-south motion of the sun during a year. The east-west separation of these two bodies goes on changing during the month. On the new moon day they are together and the moon is not seen. Then they separate more and more everyday and on the full moon day the moon rises when the sun sets. This is described by the rsi as hide and seek or catch and escape play of children who are sun and moon in the rk. The moon goes on moving nearer and nearer the sun and allows himself to be caught by the sun. He hides himself behind the sun and before the sun finds him out, he escapes and goes out of his reach. Because he repeats it again and again, the rsi describes it as a play of children. This is what takes place at the ãdhidaivíka level. At the ãdhyàtmika level it is prana and apãnana, ie., breathing in and breathing out. What is breathing out take place one after the other and one cannot catch the other. At the Adhibhautika level, as the sun advances north the snowline moves away from it northwards during the summer. During winter the sun moves southwards and snowline also moves southwards and tries to catch it. Actually we know that it is the movement of the sun that causes the

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seasons. But in the second half of the rk it is said that the moon causes the seasons (rtus). This requires an explanation. The reason is tht the moon is identified with Soma and it is Soma that deposits its retas in agni and causes creation of new things. It is during the rtus, new creations takes place. Thus the concept of the rsi differs from our scientific understanding of the seasons Rut when the stress is on creation of new things Soma plays the role of m a l e a n d agni plays the role of

yoni. The loss of soma is being regenerated fresh fall of snow. Similarly the moon also goes on waxing and waning. This Agni-Soma interaction is described as a confrontation between Indra (Agni) and Visnu (Soma) in another rk.

In this confrontation neither of them is the winner or the loser. On the other hand both together are engaged in the creation of Vedasâhasri, Lokasãhasri and Vaksahasri. There are many rks in which we can find that they apply to all the three levels. As we proceed we shall have occasiont to come across such rks. Another important concept is that of Àtmã and its immortal nature. The Vedic sages were very clever in formulating many secondary concepts from one principal concept. For example, the concept of Àtmã and its amrtatva led them to formulate the rebirth concept. Then by formulating the Soma concept, they could build Agnisomavidyã and its many ramifications. In the Brahman concept, they could build Ekasatya concept, Dvisatya concept, Trisatya concept, martya and amrta concept, Sat-asat concept etc. They were also clever in unifying the various concepts and developing a unified theory. For example, they declared that everything that we see around has come from one entity called jnãna or jnanasakti.

A scientist going through Vedic literature is simply wonder struck at the way in which the minds of the Rsis have worked to bring into existence such a vast literature that is available to us. It is full of Vedic science if we understand and appreciate what it means to us. The Vedas have two main components viz. Samhitã and Brãhmana. The mantras in the Samhitã part can be divided into three parts viz. 1. Those that deal with

(science)

2. Those that contain stotras (prayers) 3. Those

that

deal

with

(History)

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Devatãsvarüpa

The Brahmanas essentially deal with Karma and are full of details about yajnas, their plans, performance and purpose. At the end of every karma, Upanisadic passages discussing jnana aspects which is the real goal of Karma are given. Then we have Aranyakas which in a way form part of Brãhmana literature and which deal with Upãsanã and jnãna aspects. Thus there are broadly six subjects which are dealt with in Vedic literature viz.

What is the difference

between Jnãna and

Ojha gave a simple difinition for these two words.

In the language of science, the above statements would mean, the Jnãna refers to understanding the origin of the universe and Vijnãna refers to the understanding the evolution and structure of the unvierse in all its aspects. Bhagavadgita teaches both In this way, all aspects of and

, etc are dealt with in Vedic

literature. This is why it is said is

based

knowledge

of 2. Devatãsvarüpanirüpanam If

passage

Brahmana

says, we require knowledge of the svarupa of

etc. Again we use the

word freely but many of us do not understand the difference between these two words. The etc. but the word

refers only to

which are thirty three in number. Every devata has its right place and alloted karma and has a domain where it prevails or rules. Therefore every devata can be identified by its Karma and location

. We therefore say that any devata is

deva is

Devatas are infinite in number whereas devas are thirty

three only. For example

has five avayavas viz

and and

prãna is called rsiprãna Paramesthi prãna which is Saumya prãna is pitrprãna. Sauraprãna is called deva. Cãndra prãna is called gandharva. Parthiva prãnas are called asura prãnas and they are

(i.e. they have tamogunas). There is always a conflict

between devapranas and asura prãnas. It is this conflict that is known as This has lot of historical importance and will be discussed in great detail in volume IV of our book, it is this that is mentioned in Puranas. The Vijnãna aspect of it is dealt with

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in Brahmanas which says I Vasistha, Bhrgu, Angiras. Atri etc are twelve rsi prãnas. When we are bom we are bom with rsi prãnas, devapranas

229

Devatãsvarüpa

and pitrprãnas. We are therefore indebted to Rsis, Devas and Pitrs. How do we return these debts? The Veda says

We return the rsi debt by studying and propagating the Vedas. We return the debt to devas by performing yajnas and to pitrs by producing prajas and thereby keeping the

etc are twelve rsi prãnas. etc are seven pitrprãnas. Both the rsi prãnas and pitrprãnas

reside in Paramesthi region.

etc are 33 deva prãnas

prãnas are twenty seven gandharvas. Pãrthiva prãnas are asura prãnas these five are Pasuprãnas. They are also called prãnas. All the prãnas which have oozed out of Isvara are present in us. In Veda mantras, the devatãs have the following characteristics. 1.

Some devatas are praised as though they are purusas.

Some Vedamantras address the devatas as though they are conscious human beings.

3. 4.

Some Vedamantras imagine that they have hands legs etc. Some Vedamantras address the devatas as though they are well equipped with horses wealth charriot etc.

Some Vedamantras imagine that the devatas eat food like us and work like us.

That is why probably the author of Nirukta divided the devatas into etc. Some examples are given below.

In the last mantra, one big fig tree and a small fig tree converse about their role giving a full life to the new born baby.

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Here we are imagining that the devatas have mürti (body). We already know manusya devas like Sãdhyas, Ãbhãsvaras existed on the earth. Therefore the devatas we come across in Vedic literature can be classified as follows:

A short essay on Devatas is presented by Ojha in his There Ojha has given a short review of the use of the word Devata in Vedas and their svarupa. For the sake of the scholars it is presented here. Before that, a short summary in English of the contents of this chapter is given below. - Summary in English

Under this topic Ojha shows that the word Devata is used in Vedic literature in five ways. 1. It is used to represent the Agni, Soma, Sürya or Varunatatva which are present in the divya mandala above. The statements

(R.V) or the

Brãhmana statement refer to surya and other devatatvas. 2. Sometimes the word Devata represents the stars like Asvini, Sravana shining in the sky. 3. Sometimes it represents sentient and satvapradhanã pranãs which have body like Brahma prajãpatis. This use is found in Purãnas. Though these are subject to birth and death their bodies are made up of bhütas which have not undergone They have indriyas, siddhis, Saktis etc. They are distinguished by their feet not touching the ground. 4. It is used to indicate the Devata who is involved in a karma and for whom the recitation of the mantra is intended. 5. It is used to represent the Devatmã which is built on the yajamãna. who performs yajna for this purpose. It is because of this he is called Then the devatas pertaining to the Agni Vàyu and Sürya are described. Finally it is shown that Devata is one only and all other devatas constitute his mahimi.

Pitrsvarüpa

238

3. Pitrsvarüpanirüpanam Pitrs are classified into three kinds viz. are named as

These

respectively. The first kind of pitrs are always

pleasant while the other two kinds are always sad

The first kind of Pitrs have

naturally a superior status and occupy a higher level. There are therefore called and have no f

are of three kinds viz.

and

3. Each group is associated with a loka, devatas rsis and direction

The table

below shows the position.

In the seventh column, the rsi pranas from which the corresponding pitrs are bom are indicated. Somasada pitrs are bom from Virãt rsi prãna. Barhisada pitrs are bom from Marici rsi prana and Agnisvãtta pitrs are bom from Pulastya rsi prãna. Why are the pitrs of three kinds only and not more? The reason is, all vastus in this universe can be classified into three kinds viz. 1. hot

and neither hot

nor cold i.e. warm

The first kind belongs to Agni category, the second one to

soma category and the thrid one to yama category. Agni has a tendency to move up and therefore moves from south to north. (By convention north is

and south in

Soma moves down and therefore it moves from north to south. In between these two is yama prana which controls both Agni and soma. Agni is fed by Somahuti always. It is because of this visva comes into existence

When yama interferes

with Soma ãhuti on Agni, the vastu that has come into existence becomes weak and ultimately disappears (dies). In this way, the vastus that comes into existence go on

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disappearing after a certain stage and again are reborn because of three tatvas Agni, Soma and Yama which therefore control the cycle of births and deaths. There is another way of showing why the Pitrs are only of three kinds. Prajãpati has two Sariras viz.

and

The agni of

form comes into existence during

and gains strength during the next two rtus viz.. Grisma and Varsã. Then it starts

losing

strength and totally disappears by the end of Daksinayana period. Therefore the three rtus

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are the waning period for

Thus during a period of six rtus,

which constitute a samvatsara, experiences both growth and decay. Therefore Rtus themselves constitute pitrs because they give rise to all vastus on the earth. These rtus have three avayavas viz., days, months and samvatsara and naturally pitrs also are divided into three kinds.

Pãrvana Pitrs These pitrs have a location below Nãndimukha pitrs. Therefore their faces are turned downwords and they have body. There are four types of these viz 1.

The Somapas (pitrs who drink Soma) are of two kinds Vairãja and Kãvya. Vairajas belong to Nãndimukhas Kãvyas belong to the pãrvana group. Kãvyas are they are fed by

That is,

Vairãjas are amürtas (do not have body). The loka of these pitrs is

■ These pitrs feed on Havis. That is why they are called These have their origin in Angiras. That is why they are called

Their loka is

3. feed on ghee and their loka is 4 have their birth in Vasistha prãna and therefore they are called All these four pitrs give rise to various vastus both cetana and acetana and every vastu is distinguished by its varna (class). It should be noted here the varnas Brãhmana, Ksatriya etc are not confined to humans alone but they apply to all vastus. For example, even a stone is distinguished by its varna and there are brãhmana stones, Ksatriya stones etc. All vastus which are agni predominant belong to brãhmana group. All vastus which are Indra predominant belong to Ksatriya group. All vastus which are predominant belong to vaisya group and all which are Püsãdevatãka, belong to sudra group. The Pãrvana pitrs who are of four kinds occupy Prthivi, antariksa and dyuloka. Vasus Rudras and Ãditvas are their

That is why Yajnãvalkya says,

Preta manusya Pitrs The details pertaining to these pitrs is available in Puranas. Ojha has taken lot of trouble to collect these from the Purãnas and has presented them to us. These manusya preta pitrs do not have any role in

The Pitrs who are honoured w

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be dealt with in the second part of our series entitled In this short account Ojha has mainly dealt with preta pitrs. More details are available in his work to it.

about Rtupitrs and Nãndimukha pitrs. Interested readers may refer

The original text of Ojha on this subject available in Adhidaivikãdhyãyah is given below:

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are the waning period for Thus during a period of six rtus, which constitute a samvatsara experiences both growth and decay. Therefore Rtus themselves constitute pitrs because they give rise to all vastus on the earth. These rtus have three avayavas viz., days, months and samvatsara and naturally pitrs also are divided into three kinds.

Pãrvana Pitrs These pitrs have a location below Nãndlmukha pitrs. Therefore their faces are turned downwords and they have body. There are four types of these viz The Somapas (pitrs who drink Soma) are of two kinds Vairãja and Kãvya. Vairajas belong to Nãndimukhas Kãvyas belong to the pãrvana group. Kãvyas are That is, they are fed b y V a i r ã j a s are amürtas (do not have body). The loka of these pitrs is

These pitrs feed on Havis. That is why they are called These have their origin in Angiras. That is why they are called feed on ghee and their loka is

Their loka is 4.

have their birth in

Vasistha prãna and therefore they are called All these four pitrs give rise to various vastus both cetana and acetana and every vastu is distinguished by its varna (class). It should be noted here the varnas Brãhmana, Ksatriya etc are not confined to humans alone but they apply to all vastus. For example, even a stone is distinguished by its varna and there are brãhmana stones, Ksatriya stones etc. All vastus which are agni predominant belong to brãhmana group. All vastus which are Indra predominant belong to Ksatriya group. All vastus which are predominant belong to vaisya group and all which are Püsãdevatãka, belong to sudra group. The Pãrvana pitrs who are of four kinds occupy Prthivi, antariksa and dyuloka. Vasus Rudras and Adityas are their

That is why Yajnãvalkya says,

The Pitrs who are honoured in

will

be dealt with in the second part of our series entitled In this short account Ojha has mainly dealt with preta pitrs. More details are available in his work

about Rtupitrs and Nãndlmukha pitrs. Interested readers may refer

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to it. The original text of Ojha on this subject available in Adhidaivikãdhyãyah is given below:

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gives pirity, Rudra gives capacity to punish the wicked, Paijanya endows it with charitable disposition (Varsanaáakti), Yama gives capacity to control the senses, Mrtyu gives capacity to put an end to unwanted things and Iéãna bestows lordship. The man who inherits all the above qualities at the time of birth is said to have Ksatravirya in him. For a society to prosper, there should be close cooperation between men bestowed with predominant Brahmavlrya and men bestowed with predominant Ksatravirya. The former plan and advise the latter who by virtue of their Kriyasakti, implement the plans and make the society prosperous in every respect. Men who have predominant Vidvlrya in them function as custodians of the wealth of the society and look after all the material comforts of all people in the society. All the above three classes of people, are supported in all their activities by the men of the fourth Varna who act as the pillar of the society.

Grand Unity in Nature Now we shall examine the Varna concept of our ancients from another angle. One of the basic concepts of the Vedic seers as we have already mentioned is the grand unity observed in the Ãdhidaivika. Ãdhibhautika and Ãdhyãtmika levels. Our sages always imagined that the type of structure and functioning of the three systems are, the same (TOFt flüJl . Based on this hypothesis they inferred many things and put them into practice in their day to day life. With the above concept at the back of their mind they examined the functioning of the various parts of the Ãdhyãtmika system and imagined that the functioning of the society will be most efficient and natural, if it is on the same basis as the functioning of the various organs in the Ãdhyãtmika system. We all know that the head is the most important part of the human system because it is here that the man’s Jnãnasakti is stored and brought into action as and when needed. The hands represent the symbol of Kriyãiakti. When the man wants to exhibit his Kriyãéakti he always, raises his hands or shows his fist to prove his capacity to do work. In the buttocks and thigh part of the body there is maximum concentration of matter which symbolises Arthaáti (capacity to acquire wealth). The legs like pillars support the entire body in their own way. Suppose a man wants to see a cinema show. At first desire arises in the mind and it dictates to the prãnas to take him to the theatre. The prãna become active in the legs and the man walks to the theatre. The legs like an obedient servant carry the body and take it to the theatre. Having seated the man. the legs take rest. They have no means of enjoying the cinema show. The eyes see it and through them the mind enjoys it. The cinema is over and the man wants to return home. Again a desire arises in the mind and the pr&nas take the order of the mind and become active in the legs. Now the legs simply carry him back home. In the process, the legs have served the mind (Atma) without expecting any reward. It has not enjoyed the show. On the other hand, without their help the man could not have gone to the theatre to enjoy the show.

Now imagine that we want the society to function in the same way as the Ãdhyãtmika system functions; Certain people endowed with Jnãnasakti, certain others endowed with Kriyãsakti and yet a third class of people wielding Arthaáakti manage all the affairs of the society with the help of a fourth class of people who help all the above three classes to discharge their functions efficiently. They act like pillars and support the above society and work in every way for the prosperity of the society. They are as important in the society as all the others because when the pillars are weak and yield, the entire edifice comes down like a pack of cards. Therefore it is very essential for the three classes to keep the fourth class of people in perfect health and happiness so that they can be useful to the society. Their importance and the role in society is as significant as the other three classes who in a way thrive at their cost. That is why our sages rightly decided not to ascribe any Chandas to them so that they can enjoy as they like, they can live as they like, or they can do what they like. The entire agricultural land was managed by them and they provided the food for others after meeting their full requirements. At the same time they had very high regard for the people belonging to other Vamas. Having divided the society on the basis of functioning of the Ãdhyãtmika system the Vedic seers imagined that the similar type of functioning should be found at the Ãdhidaivika and Ãdhibhautika levels. At the Ãdhidaivika level they conceived the Virãt Purusa with his body occupying the earth, the heaven and also extending well beyond this Visva. They also imagined that at the Ãdhibhautika level this Purusa sacrificed his own body in a Yajna called sarvahuta Yajna and created the Indian Peninsula and adjoining land regions from waters. The Purusa Sükta of the Rgveda describes this sacrifice and identifies the four varnas with the four parts of his body. The Vedic seers imagined that Purusa (Isvara) lies on this sacred land (the region comprising India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the entire belt of Himalayas) with his head in the north with his hands stretched in the east and west directions with the central portion of his body in the mid region of our country and the lower portion of his body occupying the southern part of the country. In fact they believed that this Yajna Purusa or Visnu offered himself in the Yajna and created the land with all its contents out of the waters which filled this space in the beginning. He is said to have thousand heads (Sahasraslrsã) because the infinite number of mountains in Himalayas constitute his heads. The infinite number of reflections of the sun on the snow covered tops of the hills constitute his thousand eyes. His thousand legs are the infinite number of rivers which flow out of the mountains as well as his body. This lying pose of Visnu is worshipped at Srirangam in Tamil Nadu and at Srirangapatnam in Karnataka where two rivers have formed an island. The BrahmavTrya (Jnãnasaktipradhãna) was concentrated in the head of the Purusa, the Ksatravlrya (Kriyãsaktipradhãna) was concentrated in the hands and the Vidvirya (Arthasaktipradhana) was concentrated in the thighs and the adjacent portions above, where there is maximum concentration of matter (Artha) in the human body. They be-

lieved in the presence of these Vlryas in everything that Isvara created though their presence was believed to be most prominent among human beings. They therefore advised the settlement of men with different Vlryas in places on Purusa’s body in tune with the distribution of these Vlryas in his body. In the body of the Purusa they identified the legs as the part most helpful to the other parts of the body and therefore assigned the legs of Purusa to the fourth category who did not show predominance of any of the three Viryas. The Vedic seers sincerely believed that if the Vlryas were carefully nurtured both by the individual and the society the existing human beings would evolve into a society of human beings of higher order with vastly improved powers and skills. Many would attain Bhagavatva or Isvarahood which means attainment of all the eight siddhis (Animã, Mahimã, garimã, etc.,). Many of these would function on the earth as Bhüsuras i.e. Devas in the form of human beings; Krsna, Rama, Dasaratha, Janaka, Dilipa, Raghu, Aijuna, Vasistha, Drona, Vyãsa, Agastya, Vidura, Yudhisthira, Appar, Tirumülar, Pattinathar, Tirujnãnasambandhar, Rãmalingasvãmi, Rãmakrsna Paramahamsa, Ramana Maharsi, K ãnci Paramãcãrya, etc., belong to this category and there is absolutely nothing wrong in believing that all the above people once lived and flourished as superhuman beings in this sacred land of ours. This was their ultimate goal. That is why they were strongly against varnasankara (mixing of varnas). Only when the Viryas were kept pure for generations, the chances of many individuals rising up to great heights, in the spiritual, moral and material planes will be possible. Another belief they had was that there is a greater chance, that children bom to the men, in whom any one of the three Viryas was exhibited predominantly and by which they were believed to belong to a particular Varna, will also have the same Virya predominantly in the Ãtmã. This led to the belief that children bom to men belonging to a particular Varna will have children also belonging to the same class and thus the practice of determining the Varna by birth and not by qualifications like guna and karma, came into vogue and has stayed with us. According to many it is this that is causing the maximum havoc in the country. It is most unfortunate that we are identifying, everybody by his caste and harping on the injustices done to the various castes in the past and dividing the society, instead of finding out a proper solution and setting into motion a strong force which will unite people and work strongly against all the divisive forces.

5. The Satya concept and its relation to Varnavyavasthã We have been all along saying that the Vedic seers believed that the Dharma imposed on men should be such that they are in tune with the dharmas which Nature has endowed on them. So by going into more details pertaining to the working of Nature, we shall be able to decide whether the division of men according to Varna can be justified. But before proceeding further let us at this stage, recapitulate some of the concepts of our ancients which have emerged out of our analysis of Varnavyavasthã.

Every human being is endowed with an Ãtman which has three components viz. manas, prãna and vãk. By virtue of this everybody has three saktis viz. Jnãnasakti, Kriyãàakti and Arthasakti. In many human beings one of the saktis was found to be predominant and this led to the concept of the presence of Vlryas in men which are directly related to their aptitudes for different activities and their inherent qualities. Those who are endowed with Brahmavirya are interested in the pursuit of knowledge and show remarkable capacity to absorb knowledge quickly. Some others who are endowed with Ksatravirya have the capacity to control others and exhibit leadership qualities, valour, a desire to protect others from danger, capacity to put down any act of Adharma and rule the country by Dharma, etc., Yet some others endowed with Vidvirya show remarkable capacity to acquire wealth and distribute it to the needy. They are extremely modest and have a charitable disposition and also kind to all beings.

Brahma (Jnãna) and Karma are the two principal components of Atman. Jnãna endows the Atman with light (Jyotis) and Karma endows it with Virya. Virya concept forms the basis of Varnavyavasthã.

Whenever, a major work is undertaken, it requires the deployment of large number of men of varied talents. The Vedic seers believed that if men were allotted work according to Virya- predominance then it is most conducive for the efficient execution of the work. For example, when a dam is built we require men of varied talents. We require men to design the dam (Jnãnasaktipradhãna), men to organise the efficient execution of the work (Kriyãsak tipradhãna), men to mobilise the resources for the project (Arthaéakti pradhãna) and lastly a large number ofjpen to be engaged as labour force in the project.

Classes in society have always existed all over the world. Vaifevyavastia m its purest form is only a division of men into four classes in order that a society can function most efficiently for the prosperity of all. All the four classes play equally important role in building up a healthy society and there is no room for imagining that one is superior to another as far as the society as a whole is concerned. In other words the society consists of interdependent classes of men where everybody’s role is crucial for the welfare of the society. According to our sages, there is no creation by God where Varnavyavasthã is not present whether it is cow, horse, serpent, dog, crow or even worms Devas, Pitrs also have this classification Stones, trees and many inanimate and lifeless objects have been classified into Varna by our ancients