RigVeda and the Indian Systems of Approach to the One

[Guest guest]

Here is posting no. 4

Best wishes to all.

-- Himanshu

 

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RigVeda and Indian Systems of Approach to the One :

(notes from selfstudy - svaadhyaaya)

IV : The Princliple of Reverse Analogy (prativartinii upama)

---- Himanshu B. Dave

 

aha.m so asmi ya.h puraa sute vadaami kaani cit |

ta.m maa vyantyaadhyo3 v.rko na t.r.s.naja.m m.rga.m vitta.m me asya rodasii ||

[RV I - 105 -7] [.r"si.h trita vi"svedevaa.h]

 

{I am the one who previously recited when [soma] was poured out. Yet sorrow

assails me, like a wolf on a thirsty deer. Heaven and earth, know my this

[problem].}

 

That was a straight translation (almost similar to what Prof. H.H.Wilson has

given, with simpler English words). It does not really do justice to the

original

mantra.

 

Actually, this mantra in effect says that even though I tried to

practice Yoga type meditation to remove my problem (feeling of being bound

to the Samsaara), sorrow still did not leave me. It indirectly shows the

limitation of meditation alone. Who is saying this? "Rishi" is trita, i.e.

one having three ways or states, i.e. jeeva.

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I selected this mantra as the opening keeping in view recent discussion on

Advaita List about efficacy of meditation vs. Knowledge. It satisfies my

other requirements also.

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How do we arrive at this interpretation? Please read on.

 

Notice the word na in the mantra. In some mantras of RigVeda this word and

the word iva is used. Na does not mean negation, it means "like", "as if".

Iva has also similar meaning. These connectives are used to give an analogy

(upamaa) to illustarte some idea. For example, in the straight translation,

being overtaken by the sorrow is compared with attack by a wolf on a deer.

 

It is such analogies (and there are plenty of them in RigVeda),

misunderstanding of the purpose of which possibly lead the Western scholars

to say "childish babbling" refering to Vedas. If you feel that is a strong

statement, the following will show you why.

 

Actually, the analogy is to be used in reverse (prativartinii upamaa) and

when this is done, as shown below, the upamaa and the original statement

merge into one whole, giving the intended meaning.

 

Not only that, this operation itself is upamaa for merging the low-level

understanding of this Universe into Knowledge (Brahman). Take two facts or

ideas at low level of reality (vyavahaarika sattaa) which are analogous, out

of them derive a higher level truth. Do you get this? Are you able to see

the double upamaa, one specific and the other general, spread throughout the

RigVeda? That is the beauty and power of RigVeda. It is this purpose of the

analogies that is NOT understood by Western scholars (and all who are guided

by them).

 

We have already seen in the previous posting that RigVeda uses code words

and concept codes. Decoding the codes and using the Principle of Reverse

Analogy (RA) gives us the correct interpretation, but what is RA?

 

Reverse Analogy :

There are two statements or phrases "A (o) P" and "B (O) Q", where A, P, B,

Q are some entities and (o) and (O) are some relationships between A-P and

B-Q respectively.

We write a compound statement "A (o) P as is B (O) Q". ... ... ... ... (1)

 

Here, "A (o) P" is used as the main statement for which we give an analogy

"B (O) Q".

"as is" represents na or iva in Vedic mantras.

 

Now the principle of RA says that, after decoding the referents for the

entities, "B (O) Q" becomes the main statement and "A (o) P" becomes its

analogy, and finally both of them merge into one. Thus the compound

statement should be

"B (O) Q as is A (o) P" ... ... ... ... (2)

which reduces to "C (0) R" ... ... ... ... (3)

 

(3) being the final interpretation.

 

Now, let us apply this principle to the mantra given above.

 

aha.m so asmi ya.h puraa sute vadaami kaani cit |

 

{I am the one who previously recited when [soma] was poured out.}

sute -- poured out; denotes Soma, that is the bliss and synchronization

achieved during deep meditation;

vadaami kaani cit - prayed by mantra japa, etc.

This is straightforward enough.

 

ta.m maa vyantyaadhyo3 v.rko na t.r.s.naja.m m.rga.m vitta.m me asya rodasii ||

 

{Yet sorrow assails me, like a wolf on a thirsty deer. Heaven and earth, know my

this

[problem].}

 

Heaven and earth - (rodasii) - my base level and abstract level thinking;

i.e. my total self, what we generally call "I" in normal sense of the word;

 

know my problem - understand this problem with me.

That is also straight enough.

 

Now comes the RA.

A = sorrow; (o) = assails; P = me;

B = wolf; (O) = [assails]; Q = thirsty deer;

wolf - (v.rka.h) - is a code word for tamasik thoughts, engrossment in

day-to-day living;

thirsty deer - (t.r.s.naja.m m.rga.m) - deer means mind (my thinking

process), one that provides inputs to the higher levels

of the self; this is a "thirsty" mind; thirsty for the

assumed sources of worldly pleasures;

(Actually, the original straight translation is defective because the word

is t.r.s.naja.m = born out of t.r.s.naa, desires. But the Western scholar

could not fit it with deer. See what WE have :

"the mind born out of desires" the mind itself is result of desires. Is it

not much better interpretation?)

OK. So our RA is :

Tamsik thoughts assail my mind which is born out of desires, [just as]

sorrow assails me.

 

Note that now do not need [just as] and the two phrases merge into one.

 

The final interpretation is :

"Even though I prayed in deep meditation, worldly thoughts still assail my

mind."

 

I hope I have been able to clearly explain the RA operation. There are

hundreds of such examples in RigVeda.

 

With best wishes to all.

-- Himanshu

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Harih Om:

 

First, I want to thank Sri Himanshu for his scholarly

presentation of RigVeda.

 

For those who want to read an elaborate treatise of

RigVeda, I recommend the Hinduism Website maintained

by the Himalayan Academy. This Website provides Rig

Veda on line with English Translation - "Vedic

Experience," a modern revelation of the most ancient

scripture of the world, by Raimon Panikkar:

 

RAIMON PANIKKAR, who grew up in Spain, the son of a

Hindu Indian father and a Roman Catholic Spanish

mother, is a living embodiment of interreligious

dialogue. Professor emeritus of Religious Studies of

the University of California at Santa Barbara, he now

lives in retirement in a small village near Barcelona.

Among his major books are The Vedic Experience; The

Unknown Christ of Hinduism; Myth, Faith, and

Hermeneutics; The Trinity and the World's Religions;

Worship and Secular Man; The Silence of God: The

Answer of the Buddha; The Cosmotheandric Experience;

and Blessed Simplicity.

 

Vedic Experience is infinite and consequently, it can

be experienced by everyone irrespective of the origin

and background of the person. Panikkar's Vedic

experience demonstrates why Vedas have no limits!

 

Web Site Address:

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/books/vedic_experience/VEIndex.html

 

Raimon Panikkar's scholarly discussion of his Vedic

experience is quite objective and profound. I provide

below a sample of his scholarship where he discusses

the last mantra of Rig Veda.

 

 

This entire section is from the homepage sited above.

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LAST MANTRA

 

The Rig Veda is not the whole shruti, but it

enunciates the most central part of it and lays the

foundations for all the rest. It is befitting, then,

to conclude this anthology with the final mantra of

the Rig Veda, just as we opened it with the invocation

of the first. Having traversed the long road of

praise, exaltation, meditation, and sacrifice, having

traveled through the upper realms of the Gods and the

underworld of the demons, having reached the loftiest

peaks of mystical speculation and touched the lowest

depths of the human soul, having gazed, as far as we

could, upon the cosmos and upon the divine, we arrive

at this last stanza, which is dedicated to the human

world and is a prayer for harmony and peace among Men

by means of the protection of Agni and all the Gods,

but ultimately through the acceptance by Men of their

human calling. The last mantra knows only Man's

ordinary language and Man's own cherished ideas; it

comes back to the simplicity of the fact of being

human: a union of hearts and a oneness of spirit, the

overcoming of isolating individualism by harmonious

living together, because Man as person is always

society and yet not plural. He is a unity with so many

strings that they incur the risk of wars and strife,

but also offer the possibility of a marvelous harmony

and concord.

 

Last Mantra RV X, 191, 4

 

samani va akutih

samanda hrdayani vah

samanam astu vo mano

yatha vah susahasati

 

United your resolve, united your hearts,

may your spirits be at one,

that you may long together dwell

in unity and concord!

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