June topic: mAyA in the vedas: Rbhus are in here somewhere

[Guest guest]

Namaste all,

This is not the posting that me, ken, really wanted to

do. I was really looking forward to the one on the

Rbhus.

For the last week, every time I tried to work on what

to write distractions came in, books went missing.

Then, finally at the weekend, with several hours free,

www.flaez.ch was impoosible to load

( can someone please check it from your end ).

So I cut out all I wanted to write about chariots and

mind-yoked hymns and the following is what appeared.

I trust it is of use.

 

Ken Knight

 

In RV X.177 we discovered that it is through the pure

discrimination of heart and mind that we are able to

discern unity in the apparent diversity, the mAyA of

the asura. Then, in a variety of hymns, we saw how

Indra has the power of mAyA to take up many forms to

overcome that which covers the truth.

He is the power of meditation and also the

‘thought-bestirrer’., codayanmati, RV VIII. 46.19.

The brahman ( sung prayer) makes him expand:

 

‘Thou becomest great by virtue of the sacred word’

X.50.4 also I.80.1 vii.19.11 III.34.1

 

X.119.5

aháM táSTeva vandhúram páry acaami hRdaá matím |

 

'As a wright bends a chariot-seat so round my heart I

bend (shape beautifully)the hymn'

 

(It is at that point I want to go on about chariots

but I reckon the gods will seize up my hard-disk.)

 

So:

 

 

We will remember from earlier postings the hymn, RV

I.12.6 which states: ‘By Agni Agni is inflamed.’

Imagine lighting a fire. The fire is already in the

wood waiting to be released. By bringing the flame to

the wood the fire is released. That is the meaning.

The Self 'in' us awaits the Supreme Self.

 

Again,we have seen in earlier postings that Agni has

three main forms which he assumes: the Sun, lightning

and the fire of the hearth .

 

RV.III.20.2

ágne trií te vaájinaa trií Sadhásthaa tisrás te jihvaá

Rtajaata puurviíH |

tisrá u te tanvò devávaataas taábhir naH paahi gíro

áprayuchan ||

 

‘Three are thy powers, O Agni, three thy stations,

three are thy tongues, yea, many, Child of Order!

Three bodies hast thou which the Gods delight in: with

these protect our hymns with care unceasing.’

 

And it is through the magical powers, mAyA mAyinAM,

that this magic is achieved.:

 

ágne bhuúriiNi táva jaatavedo déva svadhaavo

..amR'tasya naáma |

yaásh ca maayaá maayínaaM vishvaminva tvé puurviíH

saMdadhúH pRSTabandho ||

 

‘O Agni, many are the names thou bearest, immortal,

God, Divine, and Jatavedas.

And many charms of charmers, All-Inspirer! have they

laid in thee, Lord of true attendants!’

 

This idea is extended in the Atharva Veda XII.1.19-20:

'There lies the fire in the earth and in plants; and

waters carry it,

The fire is in stone, and there is fire deep within

men, a fire in the kine, and a fire in the horses;

The same fire that burns in the heavens, the mid-air

belongs to this fire divine.

Men kindle this fire that bears the oblation and loves

the melted butter.’

 

This process of immanence and transcendence through

division is easy to understand but not so easy to

observe as we become lost in the appearance of

products of the division.

 

Not surprisingly, from the hymns seen so far, there is

a link between Rta and mAyA. It is through the mAyA

that the world order is continually expressed through

apparent differentiation and this lawful process is

seen as magical in human sight.

 

maayaá vaam mitraavaruNaa diví shritaá suúryo jyótish

carati citrám aáyudham |

tám abhréNa vRSTyaá guuhatho diví párjanya drapsaá

mádhumanta iirate ||

 

‘Your magic, Mitra-Varuna, resteth in the heaven. The

Sun, the wondrous weapon, cometh forth as light.

Ye hide him in the sky with cloud and flood of rain,

and water-drops, Parjanya! full of sweetness flow.’

 

This magical, creative and artistic understanding of

mAyA is taken up in Puranic tales of the architect of

the gods, Maya, who served the asuras and was a master

of mAyA skills and built the three celestial cities

for the protection of the asuras. People may like to

pick up on a tale of this craftsmanship in MBh

III.23.12.

 

The ASvins are known as mAyAvin because they have

understood this universal force and fill their

chariot, rathaM, with magical power, purumAyaM.

Griffith just calls this ‘wondrous car.’, I prefer

rathaM purumAyaM, sounds much better.

 

RV.I.119.1

A vAM rathaM purumAyaM manojuvaM jIrAshvaM yajñiyaM

jIvase huve |

sahasraketuM vaninaM shatadvasuM shruSTIvAnaM

varivodhAmabhi prayaH ||

 

‘Hither, that I may live, I call unto the feast your

wondrous car, thought-swift, borne on by rapid steeds.

With thousand banners, hundred treasures, pouring

gifts, promptly obedient, bestowing ample room.’

 

And it is that skilful, artistry of mAyA displayed by

the ASvins that is repeated in the story of the Rbhus.

 

For this story go to:

http://www.vedah.com/org/literature/rigVeda/gov/rbhus.asp#1

You will find there an interpretation of the story

that requires discussion but I feel that I should

limit this posting initially otherwise we will soon be

distracted from the use of mAyA in this context.

 

We need to note that it was through their (Rbhus)

skilful use of mAyA that they earned their place among

the gods. This power is then sub-divided into the

powers of speech, sháciibhiH, power of vision, dhiyA

and mental ability, manasA:

 

RV.III.60.1,2

ihéha vo mánasaa bandhútaa nara ushíjo jagmur abhí

taáni védasaa |

yaábhir maayaábhiH prátijuutivarpasaH saúdhanvanaa

yajñíyam bhaagám aanashá ||

 

‘Here is your ghostly kinship, here, O Men: they came

desirous to these holy rites with store of wealth,

With wondrous arts, whereby, with schemes to meet each

need, Ye gained, Sudhanvan's Sons! your share in

sacrifice.’

 

yaábhiH sháciibhish camasaáM+ ápiMshata yáyaa dhiyaá

gaám áriNiita cármaNaH |

yéna hárii mánasaa nirátakSata téna devatvám RbhavaH

sám aanasha ||

 

’ The mighty powers wherewith. ye formed the chalices,

the thought by which ye drew the cow from out the

hide,

The intellect wherewith ye wrought the two Bay

Steeds,-through these, O Rbhus, ye attained divinity.

‘

 

Because of my interests, the vast majority of the

Rgvedic hymns are about speech and the four levels of

speech of which most people only understand one

quarter:

RV. I. 164.1

'Speech hath been measured out in four divisions, the

Brahmans who have understanding know them.

Three kept in close concealment cause no motion; of

speech, men speak only the fourth division.'

 

As our common language is enclosed in that fourth

division we cloud the meaning of the mantras. We are

misusing the power of mAyA but that is not the fault

of mAyA. We cannot blame the rope for our fear of

snakes.

If we catch a glimpse of the other, inherent levels of

meaning as discussed in the postings on YAska, then

with the artistry of speech unveiled by the

Rbhus,sháciibhiH, we are able to reverse the 'outward'

thrust of division and return on an 'inward' approach

to the unity that is all-pervading.

This would lead us naturally to a discussion on the

use of the mahAvAkyas and 'neti, neti' but a look at

the archives will show that we have done this very

thoroughly in the past.

 

 

It is at this point that we may be able to introduce

once more the book of P.D Shastri. He notes that

whenever the word mAyA is used in the Rgveda there is

the idea of mystery, what he calls:

'a mysterious power of will.'....saMkalpa Sakti or

iccha Sakti.

 

So, following his approach, we may take this to be in

accord with 'That One' willing to become 'many' as the

tradition comes to us. Similarly, the gods 'will' to

become enclosed in different forms so that there power

may manifest. This is in accord with Rta and

accomplished through the power of mAyA.

 

It is easy to see then how we can imply a meaning of

mAyA being a deceptive power, but to see it as being

only a power of deception is to miss its lawful place

in the order of things, as the veil which reveals that

underlying 'will', iccha.

 

 

 

‘From this Supreme Self are all these, indeed,

breathed forth.’

 

 

 

 

 

=====

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