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

A NEW APPROACH TO THE VEDAS

vidvan might have been said at any time, and not for the first time when the Upanisads were finally “ published.” A single illustration of this may be cited in the equivalence of Varuna, Brahma-Prajapati, ViSvakarma, and Narayana-Visnu, which can be demonstrated easily from many points of view (cf. Yaksas, II, p. 36). That the Vedic kavi8? was in fact vidvdn is shown by such well-known assertions as that ‘‘ The priests speak in divers ways of that which is but one: they call it Agni, Yama, Matari$van ... Rg Veda, I, 164, 46; “ Priests and singers make manifold the (Sun-) bird that is unique,” zbzd., X, 114, 5; or when Aditi or Prajapati are identified with all that is, ibid., 1,89, 10o,and X, 121. The ideas and often theactual locutions of the Upanisads are to be found in the Vedas, e.g., VI, 16, 35, yasta viyanat, equivalent to ya evam vidvan ; and even more striking, V, 46, I, na asyah vasmi vimucam na avyttam punah, vidvan pathah pural’ eta yju neSati, ‘‘ 1 covet neither deliverance nor a coming back again, may He that is waywise be my guide and lead me straight,’ where punar dvyitam can hardly be otherwise understood than in the “ later”’ literature.

A translation of the famous bhdva vrita, or “ Creation hymn,” Rg Veda, X, 129, now follows :

Rg Veda, X, 129

‘“* Non-existence (asa?) then was not, nor Existence (sat); neither Firmament (vajas), nor Empyrean (vyoman) there beyond :

What covered o’er all (dvartvar) and where, or what was any resting-place (Sarman) ? What were the Waters (ambhah)? Fathomless abyss (gahanam gambhiram). I.

Then was neither death (mrtyw) nor life (ampta), nor any fetch (fraketa) of night or day :

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