MAyA in the RgVeda: Introduction- . AGNI SAKSHI !

[Guest guest]

Most respected Shriman Ken Knight-ji,

 

What an auspicious start with that Hymn rgveda mandala 191 addressed

to Agni.

 

You have already 'bowled' us over lock, stock and barrel with this

great introduction.

(i am a cricket fan and in my iNDIA days, i used to admire the

BATMANSHIP of Peter May , Richie BEnaud and Gary Sobers and the

bowling prowess of Roy Gilchrist and Wesley Hall)

 

We are indeed fortunate we are discussing the Rig Veda here.

 

AS per Chandogya Upanishads ,

 

The essence of all beings is the earth.

The essence of the earth is water.

The essence of water is the plant.

The essence of the plant is man.

The essence of man is speech.

*The essence of speech is the Rigveda.*

The essence of Rigveda is the SamAveda.

The essence of SamAveda is OM.

 

Rg veda occupies a pride of place among sacred Hindu literature.

 

The Rg Veda consists of (some cold facts)

 

1) 1028 hymns

 

2) comprising of 589 verses in 10 chapters known as Mandalas

 

3) 33 gods are worshipped

 

4) 100 hymns addresses to Soma; 250 addressed to Indra; 200 addressed

to Agni; many addressed to Surya, Few addressed to Ushas, Aditi,

Saraswati, Varuna and Asvins.

 

The word 'rta' also came from rg veda which denotes a 'cosmic order'

and this is supposed to the origin of the word Dharma.

 

Knight-ji,

 

You have rightly invoked Fire God 'Agni' with these words ,

 

"Thou, mighty Agni, gatherest up all that is

precious for thy friend."

 

Indeed! Agni or Fire is an ancient god in the Vedas.

 

The first verse of the Rig Veda , the earliest scripture in the

world, starts with *Agnimide purohitam *.

 

Fire is supposed to be the communication channel between gods and

humans. He conveys through mantras not only information but also food

and energy in the form of havis .

 

Fire has the capacity to engulf everything. Anything touched by fire

becomes its part and ceases to exist as a separate entity. So in the

Gita, Jnana is compared to fire that burns all karma into ashes.

Since fire provides light it is equated with enlightenment.

 

Civilisation began with the discovery of fire that cooks food,

provides warmth and keeps off wild animals during nights.

 

Fire stands for energy. So we speak of a fiery speech, blazing like

fire, spreading like fire etc.

 

A Hindu householder is supposed to keep three fires? garhapatya,

ahavaniya and dakshina . Fire has to burn non-stop to ensure and

signify the continuity or parampara of the household. Fire is the

eternal witness validating contracts and promises, agnisakshi in

marriages, vows etc.

 

The first step in any ceremony is to light the fire. Absence of fire

means there is no karma to be performed. So a sannyasin is said to be

niragnih (without fire).

 

In the Kena Upanishad , Agni is called Jataveda (all knowing),

because he can consume everything. Since Agni burns up everything it

is a samadarsi .

 

Fire is the purifier par excellence. It can never be polluted. It is

an entity that always goes upward, and not downwards like other

objects.

 

A very tough test is called agnipariksha .

 

(Source: The Vedanta Kesari, July 2000, Ramakrishna Mission.)

 

This is the beauty of 'Fire' ...

 

It is Red like human blood, warm like the human body and animated

with living power, its almost personified. When ignited to a blaze

out of control, it moves and devours violentlygrowing hungrier as it

goes.

 

Yet, after the rage of its all-consuming devastation, it gives back

its vanquished as ash, suitable for fertilizing the earth it

burnt.

 

Fire signifies eternal life and inner light.

 

Alchemic experiments , which attempt to purify mineral substances and

turn them into gold, use it to recrystalize lower elements into newer

and higher forms.

 

Fire is the great transformer, graciously wielding its flame in a

number of ways, forever defying judgement of good and bad.

 

Fire has always been an important part of religious rites worldwide.

Its chief function in religion is similar to that of its opposite,

water to purify. Yet, there is nothing like purification by fire. In

its ruthless efficiency and ultimate purification it leaves nothing

behind.

 

So, Every auspicious function,ceremony, worship or Pooja starts with

the fire in someform or the other. all hindu weddings are performed

in front of fire as witness or sakshi.

 

Homa itself is the process of burning all the defects of the

spiritual self especially the body and the mind.

 

And one of the main reason for doing Homa is to awaken the Bhuta

Agni, which is the fire of the subtle body, the fire which must be

ignited in order for spiritual progress to be made. And

in order for the Bhuta Agni to be awaken, the "I"

must disappear and spiritual vaccum created

 

knight-ji , you have indeed created the perfect scene for the

awakening of 'truth' ( fire is also called Truth and the kundalini

shakti) with that very first Mandala addressed to Agni !

 

AUM SHANTI! AUM SHANTI! AUM SHANTIHI!

[Guest guest]

adi_shakthi16 <adi_shakthi16 wrote:

 

 

>What an auspicious start with that Hymn rgveda

>mandala 191 addressed

>to Agni.

 

Namaste Adi,

You had flames pouring out of my monitor!!!!!!!! Such

a powerful posting that I had to sit back away from

the screen. Fortunately I have a wireless keyboard.

 

By what magical power is it that Agni can appear in so

many forms? Is it his own? Not in the Kena Upanishad

where he cannot move the smallest thing in the

universe, a straw, placed before him by the mysterious

YakSa. (Kena Up. III.6) Agni can take on so many

forms: flame, heat, spark, smoke, the life force, and

generation after generation he keeps turning up,

seemingly never diminished. Real magic.

 

Later in this study we are going to meet him as the

‘Son of Waters’ in a wonderful Rgvedic hymn but that

is for the future.

 

In the Rgveda Agni appears out of the creative urge:

 

divás pári prathamáM jajñe agnír asmád dvitiíyam pári

jaatávedaaH |

 tRtiíyam apsú nRmáNaa ájasram índhaana enaM jarate

svaadhiíH ||

 ‘First Agni sprang to life from out of Heaven: the

second time from us came Jatavedas.

Thirdly the Manly-souled was in the waters. The pious

lauds and kindles him the Eternal.’ RV X.45.1

 

So how does he get involved with waters?  More

mysteries to look forward to; this project is going to

be fun.   Much better than trying to explain to our

American brethren on this site how a cricket match can

last for five days and have neither side winning at

the end.!!!

 

Once we have properly set our time machine for 1500 BC

and get involved in the Vedas properly then we will

not be able to discuss such late works as the

Upanishads…that’s because Sunderji is allowing me to

make up the rules as I go along.  But for the moment:

 

As the flames leap out of my monitor they are greeted

by SarasvatI who sits atop my monitor with her Vina.

Now Agni failed to ‘consume’ the straw because of his

enthusiasm and his powers of discernment went missing.

So if we follow the story through….and I know how you

like stories….after VAyu has also failed, Indra, full

of his arrogance and self-assumed power, took up the

challenge to discern the nature of the YakSa. Now the

YakSa vanishes but Indra stays ‘in that very

space’…tasmin eva AkASe and the beautiful UmA appears.

(Kena Up. III.12)

 

What a wonderful teaching: we are directed to go to

that very centre of mystery and stay there and see

what happens. The ego has no place on such hallowed

ground. In a ‘wink of an eye’, known in ‘a flash of

lightning’,(Kena Up. IV.4) the fact that the victory

was Brahman’s and not the gods is understood.  What

victory?  We must wait for the postings on the Rgveda

to find that out.

 

 

Thankd you for your posting which has much for those

new to this topic to enquire into,

 

Ken Knight

 

 

 

=====

‘From this Supreme Self are all these, indeed, breathed forth.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

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