A new approach to the Vedas : an essay in translation and exegesis

A NEW APPROACH TO THE VEDAS

96 All symbols are “‘ according to the enlightenment of the reason of him who shapes and shows them,’’ Ruysbroeck.

87 Kavi, from root ki, to voice, utter (= kav, to describe or depict), is in Vedic usage nearly synonymous with words such as ¥si, sumedha, dhiva, rebha, “ prophet,” “ sage,” “ singer.’’ The professional reference to “ one who makes literature,” and the application of the term kavya to “‘ belle-lettres *’ belong to a later time. If we render the word Ravi by “ poet,’’ we must do so with the original meaning of poiein, to ““make,’’ “‘ create,’’ in view, and think of the poet not as lyricist, but as shaper, maker, prophet, oracle, or Latin vates, or even asa magician in the proper sense. Vedic poetry is neither “ fine” nor “* decorative,”’ but simply highly accomplished in execution: the “ poet’ rightly compares his own craftsmanship to that of the weaver or wheelwright, in modern terms we might say to engineering rather than to “ art.’’ The verses (yc) or measures (chandas) are thought of as formule, spells, incantations, centres of force or words of power (mantra). They are not in any way comparable to hymns or prayers such as are now thought of as the natural expression of “ religious ’’ aspiration : for the operation of a Vedic rite or hymn depends on accurate performance, not on any emotional state on the part of the celebrant, or-emotional Tesponse on the part of the object of ‘‘ worship.’’ What is truly moving in Vedic “poetry ”’ is not a lyrical quality, but one of profundity : the lauds are means to happiness far rather than to pleasure, and it would be an affectation to speak of them as “‘ literature.” “‘ What is set forth in the Vedas, that is Essential Truth. By what the Vedas tell, wise men live their life,’’ Maitri Up., VII, 10.

The Vedas are not of human origin, but apauruseya, Sankaracarya on the Veddnta Sitra, I, 2, 2. On the one hand the utterance of the mantras and ordering of the ritual (“‘ the observance of the rule thereof is the same as at the ‘ creation,’ ”’ Satapatha Brahmana, XIV, ft, 2, 26 and XIV, 3, 1, 36) by the Angels or by non-individual Prophets, Poets, or Seers, represents a co-creative activity whereby the one and singular Utterance of the Spirit is contracted and identified (vi dha, Rg Veda, X, 71, 3) into variety (visvam) : the discrimination of things by name (nama-dheya Rg Veda, X, 71, 1, see Note 62) being the immediate cause of their distinction as such, cf. the statement of SankarAcarya, Vedanta Sutra, I, 1, 3, that the Veda “‘ is the cause of the distinction (paribhaga-hetu) of the castes and estates of angels, animals, and men.’’ So we have in Rg Veda, X, 5, 2, “‘ Poets (kavi) ward the traces (pada) of the Law-of-Heaven (yta), and in the innermost (gwha) are-pregnantwith (dhr) the ultimate (para) ideas (n@ma)’’: X, 71, 1, ‘‘ Then what was best and flawless in them, hid in the innermost, that by their love they brought to light.’’ The Niyukta, XII, 13, with reference to the designation of Savitr, the Solar Angel, as avi, in Rg Veda, V. 81, 2, explains, ‘‘ He is kavi in that he displays (or reveals, lit., releases) the various forms-of-things (visva rapant prati musicate) .. . ‘ kavi,’ either because his presence is desired (./ kam), or the word is derived from 4/ kav, to describe, praise, or depict.’’ How, then, the designation havi is appropriate to the Sun and to the prophet alike is, inasmuch as both reveal or bring to light, that is into the field of perception, what was previously unseen or latent.

On the other hand, by the reverse process implied in the phrase “for him who understands,” the mantras constitute a means of reunion to higher states of consciousness. We might express this in Vedic phraseology by saying that the yarn of the poetic tissue can be traced intellectually back to its unitary source, or that the metres are traces

98