E. EMERGING LIFE
Jivana
God ever true, we faint with despair.
Source of all treasure, grant to us hope of blessings to come.
Subdue the malevolent spirits that haunt, the kindly awaken.
Grant to us hope of blessings to come.
RV I, 29, 1-2; 4 122
This final section of Part I is both a conclusion and a beginning. It is a conclusion, for Dawn, Human Birth, and Faith are really at the end of a divine process: the genesis of the Gods. The prelude of the world, the preparation for the emergence of Man, the rising of human consciousness--none of these happen in a single day nor are they the results of spontaneous generation; the way for them has been carefully and painfully prepared. Cosmogony, anthropogenesis, and the first intimations of spiritual life do not constitute an absolute beginning but the conclusion of an elaborate preparation, the result of the victory of light over darkness, of the devas over the asuras, of the spirit over matter. The night has been long, the fight intense, and the tension has almost reached a breaking point, but Life has emerged. Theogenesis has given birth to life.
This section is also a beginning, for Dawn, Human Birth, and Faith are nothing if not ignition sparks; starting points of the real cosmic and human process. Up to now all has happened “behind the curtain.” There has been the sacrifice of Prajapati, the fight of the Gods and the demons, the preparation for human consciousness, the accumulation of conditions favorable to the possibility of human life. Dawn is simply the herald of day, the forerunner of the sun, just as the child is the living hope of growth into a Man and faith the foretaste of things to come and to become. This process, of course, does not need to be understood in a modern evolutionary way, nor must it be interpreted in a merely temporal manner. The mystery of life goes on under our very eyes day by day, for every day we experience the marvel of dawn and every day we may also experience the reality of faith which comes to us discreetly, invisibly, yet all the more luminously: a light that makes us aware of the ever deepening, the unfathomable, dimension of every spark of reality. The Vedic Revelation is not a historical record or a document concerning something that took place a long while or even a short while ago. It conveys a transtemporal message, if we are permitted to use this word with reference to the present, in order to make us more aware of the mystery of existence and of life. Dawn, Human Birth, and Faith, from this perspective, belong together. There is no such thing as a purely astronomical dawn. Dawn postulates an eye, or at least a limited and concrete point of reference rooted in the earth. The birds can discover and enjoy the dawn, but a supersonic aircraft traveling around the earth may very well avoid sunrise altogether or may, on the other hand, have it constantly present. In either event it would cease to be dawn. A merely physiological procreation does not constitute a human birth, nor is a simple rationalization of one’s situation in the world the emergence of mature human consciousness. The following texts may succeed in conveying that unified vision in which differences are not overlooked or distinctions ignored, but in which reality is not dissected into small portions, or observations, experiences, and experiments isolated so as to prevent their being integrated into one simple and life-bringing insight. It is not necessarily pantheism to worship dawn, just as it is not always superstition to perform a ceremony of blessing over an infant; nor is it fideism to consider faith a constitutive dimension of the human being, though variable in accordance with a man’s individual personality.
Life emerges in and around us, on the cosmic plane and on the human level. We do not need to read any text to become aware of this. The texts we have chosen are an invitation to see reality, not through them, but along with them.
a) Dawn
Usas
Usas is the Daughter of Heaven who was born in the Sky. 123 She is the Lady of Light, the mistress and wife of the Sun. He follows her as a young man follows a maiden. The Goddess of hope, the elder sister of Night, 124 is mentioned more than 300 times in the Rig Veda, in hymns that are among the most beautiful of all the Samhitas.
The poetry of these hymns is imbued with intense luminosity. The yearning for light, the deep longing for the sun, and, by contrast, the fear of shadows and of darkness are strongly marked characteristics of the soul-strivings of the Vedic people. It is in keeping with these qualities that in the Rig Veda some twenty hymns are addressed to Usas and many to the Sun; the name of dyu, the sky, is mentioned more than 500 times, but only one hymn is dedicated to Night. 125 The fascination with light bursting forth from the cosmos is heightened in the speculations of the Upanisads, where the Spirit is named Light. It is not difficult to imagine why Usas has so prominent a place. The experience of Dawn is one of the simplest and most complete of all human experiences It unites in itself a vision of nature, an aesthetic awareness, a fresh opening for Man toward a hopeful future, and a mystical insight into the horizon beyond the rising light from where all good things come. A vision of the Dawn is not an experience of the Sun. You do not see Dawn, but you share in her light; you are not illumined by the Dawn as you are by the Sun; you are enwrapped in her light, you participate in her all-encompassing beauty and sense that nature is more than nature and that God is less than supernatural. In the twilight before sunrise, the union between light and darkness, there are no fixed limits for the senses or the mind. At Dawn you cannot say where the earth begins and where the sky ends, where the light dispels darkness or where the darkness has still the upper hand; you cannot assert what comes from the God or what emerges from the earth. At Dawn you do not mix anything, but you do not separate either; all remains a message, an expectation, a promise. Dawn is the Goddess of hope. 126 Although there are no lines specifically addressed to Hope in the Rig Veda, most of the hymns addressed to Dawn could be said to be songs and prayers of hope, mirroring the high optimism and great joy of Vedic culture. Rather than attempting to describe or to extol the excellences of Dawn, we may compose a hymn of praise by quoting the following:
Stotra
Dawn is “beloved” of Heaven:
RV I, 46, 1
i) Now Dawn with her earliest light shines forth,
beloved of the Sky.
She is closely associated with her lover the Sun:
RV I, 115, 2
ii) Just as a young man follows his beloved,
so does the Sun the Dawn, that shining Goddess.
She becomes his consort:
RV I, 123, 11
iii) Fair as a bride adomed by her mother,
you show your beauty for all to see.
Happy are you, O Dawn. Shine ever more widely,
surpassing every dawn that went before.
Resplendent with light, she drives away darkness:
RV V, 80, 5
iv) Fresh from her toilet, conscious of her beauty,
she emerges visible for all to see.
Dawn, Daughter of Heaven, lends us her lustre,
dispersing all shadows of malignity.
RV VI, 64, 3
v) Like a swift warrior she repulses darkness.
RV VII, 75, 1
vi) She drives off wicked spirits and dread darkness.
She awakens living creatures:
RV I, 48, 5
vii) Usas comes carefully, fostering all creatures,
stirring to life all winged and creeping things.
RV I, 49, 3
viii) Bright Usas, when your rays appear,
all living creatures start to stir,
both four-footed and two.
RV IV, 51, 5
ix) Arousing from deep slumber all that lives,
stirring to motion man and beast and bird.
She is always faithful to the divine order of the universe:
RV I, 123, 9
x) This maiden infringes not the Eternal Law,
day after day coming to the place appointed.
Now Light Has Come
Jyotir agat
30
RV I, 113
1. Now there is light, the fairest of all lights.
Now comes to shining birth a glow of brightness.
Night, sent away before the Sun is rising,
has yielded up to morning her domain.
2. Trailing white offspring the radiant [Dawn] advances
to claim the dwelling by dark [Night] relinquished.
Morning and Night, the immortal sisters, follow
hard on each other’s heels with alternate colors.
3. They follow the same pathway, never ending.
Instructed by the Gods they ply their course.
Fair, yet contrasting, following one spirit,
Morning and Night neither collide nor linger.
4. Dawn, the glorious bringer of graces, shines forth
and flings wide open for us her shining doors.
Stirring the whole world, she displays her riches,
raising to consciousness all living creatures.
5. She wakes to action all who repose in slumber.
Some rise to labor for wealth, others to worship.
Those who saw little before now see more clearly.
Dawn raises to consciousness all living creatures.
6. One she leads on to power, another to glory;
another she leads on to pursuit of gain;
yet others she directs to varied callings,
raising to consciousness all living creatures.
7. The Daughter of Heaven now appears before us,
a fair young woman clothed in shining garments.
Auspicious Dawn, mistress of earthly treasure,
shine upon us today in queenly splendor.
8. She, first of endless morns to come hereafter,
follows the path of morns that went before.
Dawn at her shining summons forth the living;
the dead she never wakens from their slumbers.
9. O Dawn, you shine forth with the eye of the Sun.
You wake the worshiper and inspire his heart
to kindle the fire and offer sacrifice.
Thus to the Gods you render noble service.
10. How long a time until they meet together,
dawns that have shown and dawns to shine hereafter?
Eagerly she yearns to join her predecessors
and goes forth with the others, gladly shining.
11. Vanished are those who in the days before us
gazed at the rising of the morning Sun.
It is we the living who now behold the Dawn,
and after us her shining others will see.
12. Disperser of our foes, bringer of joys,
born child of Order, to Order ever faithful,
convey our offerings to the Gods, O Dawn,
and shine on us today for wealth and fortune.
13. Never has Goddess Dawn failed to appear.
Again today the generous One has risen.
Ever hereafter will she rise each morning.
She proceeds by her own power, unaging, deathless.
14. On the sky’s borders she appears in splendor.
The Goddess has thrown off the robe of darkness.
Her well-yoked chariot of tawny horses
heralds the approach of Dawn and rouses all men.
15. With her she brings all life-sustaining blessings.
Brightly she shines and sheds abroad her radiance.
She is the last of countless vanished mornings.
She is the first of more bright morns to come.
16. Arise! The breath of life again has reached us.
Darkness has fled and light is fast approaching.
She leaves a pathway for the Sun to travel.
We have arrived where life will again continue.
17. With the reins of speech the priest, uttering praises,
drives onward, steering their course, the shining Dawns.
Shine then today, O generous Dawn, for your singer!
Convey to us the gift of life and children!
18. To the mortal who honors them these ascending Dawns
impart both wealth of cattle and hero sons.
May the same accrue to the sacrificer, giver of horses,
when swift as the wind the gifts have been summoned by song!
19. Mother of Gods and brightness of the Godhead,
token of sacrifice, shine forth on high.
Rise up and look upon our prayers with favor.
Bless us among people, Dawn ever desired!
20. Whatever wondrous gift the Dawns convey
as blessing to the offerer who shows himself zealous in worship,
that may Mitra and Varuna grant to us,
and Aditi, the Sacred River, Earth, and Heaven!
1. The Sun: Savitri.
2. By “white offspring” some understand the white clouds attending the Dawn; lit. a white calf. Usas’s calf is said to be Agni in RV I, 95, 1, and I, 96, 5, while some commentators affirm it to be the Sun.
3. Following one spirit: samanasa, of one and the same mind.
7. Young woman: yuvati, maiden.
9. The eye of the Sun: lit. the eye of Surya, referring to the sun in heaven. Usas causes the fire, Agni, to be kindled, for this takes place at dawn.
11. Allusion to the mystery of life and death, which is only tragic when viewed from an individualistic perspective.
12. Foes: dvesah also obstacles, adversities.
Order rita. LI. 2-4 lit.: Born [child] of rita [truth, Order, divine law], rteja, you are the keeper of the divine rita [rtapa]; [bestow] your favor upon us, let our songs of joy [offerings of praise], resound, [be] propitious, you who transmit the food divine [deva-viti], shine on us today, O Dawn, O you most bright.
14. Cf. RV I, 48, 7, where Usas is said to amve on a hundred chariots drawn by tawny horses (the reddish rays of the moming sun).
The robe of darkness: the night.
15. Lit.: Appearing, she spreads out her bright-colored [glittering, shining] banner.
16. Breath of life: jivo asur.
19. Brightness of the Godhead: aditer anikam, face of Aditi (the Goddess of the infinite, also associated with light). Cf. RV IV 25, 3; VII, 82, 10; AV XII, 1, 61 (§ I 19 and notes).
Dawn ever desired: vishvavare (vocative), lit. O you desired by all.
Daughter of Heaven
Divo duhita
31
RV VII, 81
1. See now, the shining Daughter of Heaven approaches,
dispelling gloom of night that we may see.
The friendly Lady ushers in the light.
2. The ascending Sun, refulgent star of heaven,
co-worker with the Dawn, pours down his beams.
O Dawn, at your arising and the Sun’s,
grant us, we pray, our portion in your light.
3. O Dawn, gbrious Daughter of high Heaven,
promptly we rise and come to welcome you.
Most generous one, granter of all desires,
to worshipers you give both joy and treasure.
4. O glorious Dawn, you bring the earth to view
and lighten up the lofty vault of heaven.
We yearn to be yours, partaking in your rewards.
Accept our love as that of mother’s children.
5. Bring to us, Dawn, your grace most bountiful,
that shall be celebrated far and wide.
Give us what you possess as nourishment for men,
that we may rejoice therein, O Daughter of Heaven.
6. Give to our princes wealth and everlasting fame.
To us grant in the contests herds of kine.
O shining Dawn, you who inspire the generous
and are full of grace, drive from us all our foes.
1. Ushers in: lit. makes light.
2. Pours down his beams: lit. lets out his cows.
Grant us. . . our portion sam bhaktena gamemahi, may we obtain (our) share, i.e., may we share in (partake of, enjoy) your light.
5. Grace radhas, gift, favor.
6. Everlasting amrta, immortal, deathless.
Contests: refers to the poetical contests well known in the RV.
Full of grace sunrtavati (vocative), graceful, bringer of gladness.
Lady of Light
Hiranyavarna
32
RV VII, 77
1. Dawn comes shining
like a Lady of Light,
stirring to life all creatures.
Now it is time to kindle the Fire.
The light of Dawn scatters the shadows.
2. Her face turned toward
this far-flung world,
she rises, enwrapped in bright garments.
Shining with gold,
with rays of light bedecked,
she sends forth the world on its course.
3. Our Lady of Light
brings the Eye of the Gods,
as she rides her white, beautiful steed.
Dawn shines apparent,
bestowing on all men
her store of marvelous treasure.
4. Come with your bounty;
drive away foes.
Grant us secure and lush pastures.
Disperse those who hate us.
O bountiful One,
give to your singer reward.
5. Beam forth your light
to guide and sustain us,
prolonging, O Goddess, our days.
Give to us food, grant to us joy,
chariots and cattle and horses.
6. Lady nobly born,
Daughter of Heaven,
worshiped by all the illustrious,
grant us your blessings,
riches and wealth.
Now and forever protect us!
1. Fire: Agni.
The light of Dawn. . . : lit. she made the Iight, chasing away darkness.
2. She sends forth the world on its course: lit. mother of kine (i.e., the rays of light), guide of the days, she shines. Cf. RV IV, 52, 2-3.
3. Our Lady of Light: lit. the shining one, auspicious one, the blessed one.
The Eye of the Gods: the Sun.
She rides. . . : lit. Ieading her white, beautiful steed.
5. Joy: radhas, gift, favor, or reward.
6. Nobly born: sujata.
Illustrious: Vasishtha, name of the rishi who composed the VII mandala of the RV, a priestly family. Lit. the most bright.
b) Human Birth
Janman
Man has a peculiar and very special place in the universe. Every origin is sacred and unfathomable, but human birth is a mystery which no amount of rationalization can explain or explain away. To become the father or the mother of a newborn baby dispels any doubt one may have about it. We can speculate and generalize, but when the parents see and feel that the new creature is part and yet more than just a part of them, they cannot be satisfied with any merely scientific or philosophical explanation. No wonder that the danger of exploitation by priestcraft has not always been avoided. The dawn of the human being involves the rising of Life and a new sort of life in the world. The horizon is filled not only with red clouds and auspicious signs, but with the light of a new spark of that universal consciousness in which we are all enwrapped. The continuation of the universe, of human life, and, more intimately, of the sacred order of things, depends upon the birth of a child and mainly, as far as the continuity of traditional wisdom and sacrifice is concerned, upon the birth of a son. No wonder that the desire for a son is a most holy wish and that the bringing forth of children is a sacred duty. Therefore the mystery of life, from the moment of conception onward through the stages after the birth of a child, is attended by prayers and ritual actions. 127
The dialogue in the Rig Veda carried on by the wife of the sacrificer, the sacrificer, and the priest (who assumes the role of Prajapati or the genius of procreation) shows the delicacy of the relationship between husband and wife and the sacredness of the act of procreation. It is after performing tapas, after concentrating energy in an act of restraint, and after deep meditation that the two, husband and wife, meet. The blessing is given by the priest who affirms that all life is produced by Prajapati, Father of all creatures, who places the seed and brings about new life. The Atharva Veda contains many prayers for successful conception and childbirth 128 and for the protection of both mother and child against every kind of danger. Various divinities closely connected with fertility are invoked, such as Sarasvati, Sinivali (Goddess of the new moon and of female fertility), the Ashvins (the divine twins), 129 and certain creative divine powers such as Savitri, Dhatr, Tvastr, and Prajapati. 130 It is Agni, the life germ of all creatures 131 and the power that fecundates the waters, 132 who bestows children:
May a son of our flesh be born to us!
May this your grace come upon us, O Agni! 133
Human birth is both a part and also the culmination of the cosmic birth of all living things. The mother who bears the child is just like mother Earth who patiently carries all beings. The Grhya Sutras contain a collection of rites and prayers for the celebration of a birth, most of them of shrautic origin (i.e., related to the revealed tradition) and for this reason justifiably included in this anthology. Blessings are invoked upon the newborn male child. 134 Some ancient texts stipulate that the ceremony be performed before the cutting of the umbilical cord, though very soon this custom was no longer observed. 135 The child is fed a little butter and honey, symbols of wisdom, and the protection of Savitri, the Goddess Sarasvati, and the divine Ashvins is entreated. There follows a prayer in the form of a litany for the longevity of the child. It is by faithfulness to the distinctive characteristics of the personages invoked that long life is ensured. To conclude the litany, sacrifice and water are mentioned. Next comes a short paean to the Earth, to the particular place on earth where the child has been born. May this plot of earth accord him a long life! A prayer for strength for the newbom child concludes the ceremony. The protection and blessings of Indra, the most powerful of all the Gods, are implored. A short benediction, addressed to the child’s mother, asks that she be blessed for having given birth to a son, and in the last petition Water is also implored to grant the mother watchful protection.
When the baby is ten or eleven days old the ceremony called namadheya or name-giving takes place. 136 The choice of name, based on the caste and the sex of the child, is determined by well-defined rules and is accompanied by offerings. In the sixth month annaprashana, another important ceremony of early infancy, takes place. As an accompaniment to the first morsels of solid food given to the child, some verses of the Rig Veda are recited. 137 The symbolism of food is important here. l38 Later on, in about the third year, the ceremony of the first haircut or cudakarana takes place. Thus the child’s first years are hallowed by religious ceremonies marking each stage of its growth.
Desire for a Son
Putrakama
33
RV X, 183
i) [The wife]
1. I saw you as within your mind grew insight,
born from Ardor, strengthened through Ardor.
Bestowing here offspring, bestowing treasure,
produce now, desirous of a son, a progeny!
[The husband]
2. I saw you meditating within your heart,
your body being afflicted at the season.
Rise now to meet me! Be a young woman!
Produce now, desirous of a son, a progeny!
[Prajapati]
3. It is I who have placed in every plant a seed;
it is I who have placed a seed in all creatures;
it is I who bring forth children on the earth.
I will ever henceforth produce sons in women!
AV VI, 17
ii) 1. Just as the mighty earth bore the seed of all life,
so may you carry the child and bring forth a son!
2. Just as the mighty earth bore the trees of the forest,
so may you carry the child and bring forth a son!
3. Just as the mighty earth bore the mountains and peaks,
so may you carry the child and bring forth a son!
4. Just as the mighty earth bore the whole world’s weight,
so may you carry the child and bring forth a son!
i) 1. Ardor: tapas.
Treasure: rayi; the first of all treasures is a son.
Desirous of a son: putrakama.
Meditating within your heart: manasa didhyanam.
3. Seed: garbha, germ, embryo, etc.
The First Birth
Prathamam janma
34
BU VI, 4, 22-24
i) Then he comes to her and says:
22. With a golden fire stick the Ashvins
produce from fire a flame.
Thus we pray for you a seed
hat shall come forth in the tenth month.
As the earth bears fire in her womb
and the heaven is pregnant with lightning
and the quarters have wind as their seed,
so I place in you, my wife, this child.
23. As the wind agitates a pond
of lotus from every side,
so may the child stir in you
and come forth together with the afterbirth!
This thunderbolt of Indra is fashioned
with a covering for protection.
Let him come forth, O Indra,
the afterbirth along with the child!
24. In this child I shall prosper a thousandfold, i
ncreasing within my own house.
His fortune, along with his offspring
and cattle, shall never diminish.
Svaha!
The life-powers that are in me,
I offer them to you in spirit.
Svaha!
Whatever in my sacred duties
I have done too much or too little--
may Agni, the wise, perfect offerer,
correct and perfect on our behalf!
Svaha!
AU II, 1-6
ii) 1. In a man this [atman] first becomes a germ, and this semen is his essence taken from all his limbs; in himself, indeed, he carries the Self. When he fecundates a woman, then he causes [a childl to be born. This is his first birth.
2. Then he enters into the very self of a woman, just as a limb of her own. Therefore it does not injure her. She nourishes this self as it has entered into her.
3. As she is the nourisher, she should be nourished. The woman carries it [this self] as an embryo. He [the father] takes care of the boy before the birth and after the birth, and as he takes care of the boy before and after the birth, he takes care of his own self, for the extension of these worlds: for these worlds are thus extended. This is his [a man’s] second birth.
4. He [the son] becomes the self of his father for the performance of sacred actions. Then his other self, having accomplished his work and having grown old, departs and, after departing [from this world], is reborn. This is his third birth. Thus it has been said by the seer.
5. “While I was still in the womb I already knew all the generations of the Gods. Though a hundred fortresses of iron guarded me, I came forth with the swiftness of an eagle.” Thus spoke Vamadeva even while he was as yet lying in the womb.
6. He who knows this and rises up [from the body] through the head at the time of separation from the body, having satisfied all his desires in the heavenly world, he becomes immortal, yes, he becomes immortal.
i) The entire section is consecrated to the mystery of procreation.
22. The Ashvins are connected with fertility (cf. RV X, 184, 3; AV V, 25, 3). The production of the embryo is compared to the production of fire from the fire sticks.
Seed: garbha, embryo.
Heaven: one of the few passages where dyu is a Goddess.
Lightning: Indra.
My wife: lit. so-and-so, i.e., the name of the woman has to be uttered.
23. Cf. RV V, 78, 7-8; PGS I, 14, prayer for successful childbirth.
Thunderbolt of Indra: indrasya. . . vajrah; the child is compared to Indra’s thunderbolt (v. 23 c).
24. I offer them to you in spirit (manasa): because the real transmission of the father’s life-power into the son takes place at the time of his death (cf. KausU II 15; § V 12).
Sacred duties: karman. The father prays that any mistake he has made in performing the sacrifice may not affect his family, i.e., the newborn child.
ii) Cf. AV VI, 11, 2.
1. Semen is his essence: cf. BU VI, 4, 1 purusasya retah (rasah).
His first birth: a human being’s first birth. For the three human births cf. SB XI, 2, 1, 1 (§ III 23).
3. Nourisher: bhavayatri.
His own self: atman, body. The son is the continuation of the self of the father; the father is born as the son.
For the extension: the verb is sam-tan-, to spread, to extend, to continue.
Second birth: dvitiya janman, not referring here to the conception of the second birth by initiation (cf. dvija).
4. Other self: the father.
5. Cf RV IV, 27 1. The seer Vamadeva applies to himself the saying of the eagle in the RV, which refers to an ancient legend where the eagle was detained by demons in a hundred fortresses. The story is here used as an image for liberation.
Ceremony After Birth
Jatakarman
35
Prayer for Wisdom
AGS I, 15, 1-2
i) 1. At the birth of a son, the child’s father, before anyone else touches him, should feed him (with a golden spoon) a little butter and honey in which a trace of gold (dust) has been mixed and say:
“I feed you with the wisdom of honey,
I feed you with ghee, the gift of God,
the beautiful. May you have long life, protected by the Gods,
may you live in this world a hundred circling years!”
2. Putting his lips close to the child’s ears he murmurs:
“May God grant you intelligence,
may his Power grant you intelligence,
may his two divine Messengers, lotus-wreathed,
grant to you intelligence.”
Prayer for Vital Power
PGS I 16 6
ii) Near the [child’s] navel or right ear he says softly:
“The Lord is full of life: through firewood he is full of life.
By this vital power I make you full of life.
The divine Drink is full of life: through herbs
he is full of life.
“By this vital power I make you full of life.
The Brahman-priest is full of life: through the Brahmanas he is full of life.
“By this vital power I make you full of life.
The Gods are full of life: through their nourishment
they are full of life.
“By this vital power I make you full of life.
The sages are full of life: through their observances
they are full of life.
“By this vital power I make you full of life.
The ancestors are full of life: through their offerings
they are full of life.
“By this vital power I make you full of life.
Sacrifice is full of life: through sacrificial fees
it is full of life.
“By this vital power I make you full of life.
The ocean is full of life: through the rivers it is full of life.
By this vital power I make you full of life.”
Prayer to the Earth
PGS I, 16, 17
iii) On the spot in which the child was born he prays;
I know your heart, O Earth, that rests in heaven,
in the moon. I know your heart; may it it know me!
May we see a hundred circling years,
may we live a hundred circling years,
may we hear [the sounds of] a hundred years!
Prayer for Strength
AGS I, 15, 3
iv) He touches the [child’s] shoulders on both sides, saying:
Be a stone, be an ax, be unsurpassed gold.
You in truth are the Veda, called my son.
Live, therefore, a hundred years.
Powerful God, give us the best of treasures.
Grant us your gifts, O bountiful, O swift one.
Infusion of Holy Learning
SGS I 24 8
v) Bhuh!
I instill the RigVeda into you--so and so.
“Bhuvah!
“I instill the Yajur Veda into youso and so.
“Svah!
“I instill the Sama Veda into youso and so.
“Svaha! Bhur, bhuvah, svah!
“I instill the Speculations into you,
the History and the Legends into you--Om;
all the Vedas I instill into you--so and so.
“Svaha!
Prayer for the Mother
PGS I, 16, 19; 22
vi) 19. He then prays over the mother:
“You are Ida, the daughter of Mitra and Varuna.
You, a courageous woman, have borne a vigorous son.
May you be blessed with vigorous children,
you who have blessed us with a vigorous son.”
22. He places a jar of water near her head, saying:
“You, O waters, are co-watchers with the Gods.
As co-watchers with the Gods, watch over this mother,
who is now confined, and also her child!”
i) 1. Wisdom: veda.
God: Savitri.
Years: lit autumns.
2. He murmurs the medha-janana or “production of intelligence.” Ghee, honey, and gold were considered to stimulate the intelligence.
God: Savitri.
Power (of God): Sarasvati.
Two divine Messengers: the Ashvins.
ii) This is the rite for ensuring long life and vital power to the child, called ayusya. The entire prayer is constructed on the idea of ayus, or vital power, health.
Lord: Agni.
Full of life, vitality: ayushmat, possessed of vital power, health, life. Life-possessing.
Divine Drink Soma.
The meticulous perfommance of the brahmana rites ensures long life for Brahmins.
Nourishment (of the Gods): amrta.
Sages: rishis.
Offerings: the svadha, the food offered as an oblation for the dead. Cf. RV X, 15, 3.
iii) Prays: mantrayate.
Years: lit. autumns.
iv) Cf. PGS I, 16, 18, where it is said atma vai putra namasi “you are the atman called son.”
Powerful God: Indra. This line quotes RV II, 21, 6 (§ II A Antiphon). The next line quotes RV III, 36, 10.
v) Speculations: vakovakya.
History and Legends: itihasapurana.
vi) 19. Ida: cf. the myth of the flood, SB I, 8, 1, 1-10 (§ V 17).
Courageous, vigorous: vira, brave, strong powerful, generally as male virtues (cf. Latin, vir), from which also hero, chief.
20-21. Ceremony of washing the mother’s two breasts and giving them to the child.
c) Faith
Shraddha
Vedic faith is not primarily an intellectual assent, for if it were it would be subservient to the “thing” to which assent is made with the mind. Nor is it a kind of blind trust in certain superhuman beings. We have examples of hymns expressing not only doubt but what some today would call unbelief. 139 Vedic faith is, furthermore, not a result or a product of the will; thus there is no stress on the moral responsibility of the believer. It is rather a quality of the full human being; it is something given to or rather grafted into his being. Man is endowed with faith as he is endowed with other human qualities. For this reason, there are ultimately as many types of faith as there are types of Men, or even as there are human beings. 140
Vedic faith is previous to thinking and anterior to willing and deciding. It is precisely faith that makes thinking possible, for faith offers the unthought ground out of which thinking can emerge. It is faith that makes moral and other decisions possible, opening to us the horizon against which our actions become meaningful. Any action performed without faith is only an instinctive or automatic movement, without any truly human content; it can hardly be called a truly human action.
You act with faith when you act from such a depth that hesitation is not possible, when you are sure that what you are doing is what you are doing, that is, when you perform an action that springs up from your inmost self and not from a whispered external influence. The Man of doubt perishes; he, in fact, destroys himself. It is not intellectual hesitation we are now talking about, or indecision of the will. It is the main and central thrust of the human being which is our theme here. The word of the Bhagavad Gita quoted below is self-explanatory: it is the doubt penetrating the very heart of the atman which is lethal. Faith is not made up of those beliefs about which you can entertain intellectual doubt; faith is made of those convictions that are rooted so deeply in your own being that you are not conscious of them; faith is the first emanation of life, as we shall read in one text; faith is the hidden root of Man out of which real human growth proceeds; faith is rooted in the heart and is composed of the heart’s intention, the heart being the symbol for the core of Man. This faith is expressed in beliefs and actions which, when they come directly from that inner source, can be called authentic; otherwise they are make-believe, pseudo actions which shoot wide of their mark. Faith is authentic human existence.
A girdle is called “Daughter of Faith” in the Atharva Veda because she is born of tapas and seen as its deepest dimension. 141 “Faith wraps the Gods, faith wraps this whole world,” says another text, 142 stressing the all-encompassing nature of faith. Without faith the entire universe degenerates into a merely mechanical model; all would be automatic, the result, at best, of a logical syllogism, but with no freedom and with no place for human ambivalence. Shraddha, faith, and rita, cosmic order, go together. 143 Cosmic order is not to be equated with modern scientific “laws of nature:” the faith of the agent is an integral part of the action performed according to rita. The three groups of texts given here stress different aspects of faith according to the main thrust of the period. The titles given are intended to express this emphasis. Some of the Upanisadic texts have to be read in their own context for a better understanding, but even isolated they are meaningful. The concrete manifestation of faith, according to our first hymn which is representative of the first period, consists in a belief in the meaningfulness and efficacy of the sacrificial action. Indeed, such belief is essential for the man performing the sacrifice, for without it there would be only a mechanical and thus a fruitless action. 144 In the second period, that of the Upanisads, faith is represented as the condition for approaching the guru, for without such an approach no real knowledge can be transmitted or received. Faith acquires here the form of a concrete personal confidence for the sake of supreme realization. Yet this faith does not depend on our will alone, for, although the germ of faith is given with life itself, an awakening to faith is given as a second grace. The beginning of the story of Naciketas, given here, shows how the Katha Upanisad envisages faith as a grace that takes possession of the young man and gives him the courage to resist his ritualistically minded father, a courage that leads him up to the kingdom of death, guides him throughout his discourse with Death, and leads him finally to attain the highest wisdom. 145 In the Gita, just to mention our third group of texts, faith is experienced as a loving surrender to the Lord, and here faith is strongly tinged with bhakti.
Acting Faith
Shraddhahavih
36
RV X, 151
1. By Faith is Fire kindled.
By Faith is offered Sacrifice.
Sing we now Faith, the pinnacle of joy.
2. Bless Faith, the one who gives.
Bless him who wills, but has not.
Bless him who gives his worship unstinting.
Bless this song I sing.
3. As the Gods evoked Faith
from the mighty Asuras,
so may my prayer for the generous worshiper be accepted!
4. The Gods, led by the Spirit,
honor Faith in their worship.
Faith is composed of the heart’s intention.
Light comes through Faith.
5. Through Faith men come to prayer,
Faith in the morning,
Faith at noon and at the setting of the Sun.
O Faith, give us Faith!
1. Fire: Agni.
Sing we: lit. we celebrate, vedayamasi.
3. Asuras: cf. RV X, 124, 3; 5.
4. Spirit: Vayu, in his aspect of uplifter of oblation. This elevation of the heart is also worship and thus the devas come near to Faith, inspired by Vayu.
Thinking Faith
Vijijnasa
37
BU III, 9, 21
i) “And on what are the offerings to the priests based?
On faith, for when a man has faith, he gives
offerings to the priests.
Therefore it is on faith that the offerings to
the priests are based.
On what is faith based?
On the heart, for through the heart one knows faith.
In fact, on the heart alone is faith based.”
CU I, 1, 10
ii) What one performs with knowledge, with faith, with meditation, that,
indeed, becomes more effective.
CU VII, 19-20
iii) 19. “When a man has faith, then he thinks. Nobody thinks
until he has faith. Only by having faith a man thinks.
So you should really desire to understand faith.”
“Sir, I do desire to understand faith.”
20. “When a man perseveres, then he has faith.
No one has faith without having perseverance.
Only by having perseverance one has faith.
So you should really desire to understand what it is
to have perseverance.”
“Sir, I do desire to understand perseverance.”
TU I, 11, 3
iv) Give with faith; give nothing without faith.
KATH U I, 1-2
v) Desiring the fruit of the sacrifice, Vajashravasa gave away all that he possessed. He had a son named Naciketas. As the sacrificial gifts were being led up, faith entered into him, boy though he was.
MUND U III, 2, 10
vi) This has been said in a sacred verse:
Those who perform ritual acts, who know Scripture,
who are firmly established in the Ultimate,
who offer themselves with faith to the unique Seer--
to them should perfect knowledge be declared.
PRASN U I, 2
vii) To them the sage responded: “Dwell with me a year more in fervor, purity and faith. Ask then all the questions you like and, if we know, we will tell you everything.”
PRASN U VI, 4
viii) He [the Person] emitted life, and from life came faith, then space, wind, light, water, earth, the senses, and the mind. . .
Faith: shraddha throughout.
i) 10-17. Cf. § VI 7.
21. based: pratisthita
24-25. Cf. § I 14.
ii) 1-9. cf. § VI 12.
Knowledge: vidyda.
Meditation: upanisad.
iii) For the rest of CU VII and ref. cf. § VI 3 (v. and notes).
20. Perseveres: nististhati, to endure, tolerate, to be steadfast. The verb nih-stha-, meaning to grow forth. Nistha means the state of being grounded, of resting on such a firm basis that further growth is rendered possible: steadfastness. Thus, used in conjunction with faith it suggests a firm reliance on truth (thus firmly believed): deeply rooted growth. It suggests a steady growth because one is rooted in the ground of one’s own being. Faith is not a matter of holding an opinion, but of being. The following verse affirms that only by acting can one prove one’s own steadfastness. Cf. BG III, 3, where nistha has the meaning of basis, ground, method, and thus law, way of life, perfection.
v) The text suggests that faith is a gratuitous gift but that it is linked nevertheless with the generosity of having given everything away.
vi) 1-9. Cf. § VI 11.
Firmly established in the Ultimate: brahmaistha, deeply rooted in the ultimate Ground, brahman, holy word.
Perfect knowledge: brahma-vidya
vii) 1. Cf. § II 6.
In fervor, purity, and faith: tapasa brahmcaryena shraddhaya. Faith is a condition for true wisdom.
viii) Emitted: from the root srj-, cause to emanate, send forth.
Life: prana, from which faith comes forth because the breath of life is the lord of all living creatures, lord of all that is; cf. PrasnU II, 11 (§ II 6). Faith is the first offering to the Lord of all that lives. Cf. also CU V, 4, 2; VII, 15, 1 (§ VI 3).
Loving Faith
Bhakti
38
BG IV, 39-40
i) 39. A man of faith, absorbed in faith,
his senses controlled,
attains knowledge, and, knowledge attained,
quickly finds supreme peace.
40. But the ignorant man, who is without faith,
goes doubting to destruction.
For the doubting self there is neither this world,
nor the next, nor joy.
BG VI, 47
ii) Who worships Me full of faith, his inmost self
absorbed in Me,
him of all yogis I consider most completely
integrated in Me.
BG IX, 3
iii) Men who, O Arjuna, have no faith
in this Way of Truth
do not attain Me but retum to the path
of ever recurring death.
BG XII, 20
iv) But those men of faith who make Me their goal,
adhering to Truth,
exceedingly dear are they to Me,
my loving devotees.
BG XVII, 3; 17; 28
v) 3. The faith of every man, O Arjuna,
accords with his nature.
Man is made up of faith; as is his faith,
so is he.
17. This threefold austerity pacticed with faith
by men of balanced mind,
without expectation of any reward,
is said to be “pure.”
28. Without faith whatever offering or gift
is made or work done
or penance performed, it is reckoned “not-being”
both now and hereafter.
i) 36-38. Cf § IV 22.
89. Knowledge: jnana.
Supreme peace: para santi, highest peace.
40. Ignorant: ajna.
Without faith: ashraddadhana.
Doubting self: samsayatman.
iii) Way of Truth: dharma, order.
Ever recurring death: mrtyu samsara, cycle of death. Cf. § V 6.
4-5. cf § I 8.
iv) Truth: dharma.
Devotees: bhaktah, partakers, sharers of myself (my love).
v) 3. Accords with his nature: sattvanurupa, according to the fundamental form of being (is the faith of everything: sarvasya).
17. The threefold austerity (tapas) of action, words, and mind. Cf. the previous shlokas: control of the body, of the tongue, and of the mind; but all has to be motivated by faith.
28. Not-being: asat.