(This article was first published in the Nov 2016 issue of 'The Call Beyond', monthly magazine of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, New Delhi.)
Brihaspati is also
referred to as Brahmanaspati in the Veda – a name which was omitted in
the Puranas. We have to first understand this name to begin unravelling the
symbolism behind Brihaspati.
The word ‘brahman’,
among other meanings, signifies the Vedic mantra, the intuitive Word which expresses
the Truth. The Rishis were seers of the Truth and the mantras were the expressions
of that Truth in words.
Sri Aurobindo writes: “Brahman
in the Veda signifies ordinarily the Vedic Word or mantra in its profoundest
aspect as the expression of the intuition arising out of the depths of the soul
or being.”[1]
Brahmanaspati is the
Master of this Word.
Now, we have to
understand that this Word is no ordinary word but the creative Power or Force
by which, first, the all-containing and all-formulating (supramental) consciousness[2]
descends into matter, and then, it is also the means by which man ascends out
of the subconscient to that same Supramental consciousness. For both processes,
the Word is the means.
In the later Puranic
tradition, both these processes were separately represented – the former by
Brahma, the creator, the foremost of the holy trinity; and the latter by
Brihaspati, the counsel to the gods, who guides them towards the Truth.
“The Divine, the Deva,
manifests itself as conscious Power of the soul, creates the worlds by the Word…
This power of the Deva is Brahma..
The manifestation of
the different world-planes in the conscient human being culminates in the manifestation
of the superconscient, the Truth and the Bliss, and this is the office of the
supreme Word or Veda. Of this supreme word Brihaspati is the master… Brihaspati
gives the Word of knowledge.. to the gods and especially to Indra, the lord of
Mind..
It is easy to see how
these conceptions came to be specialised in the.. Puranic symbolism into Brahma,
the Creator, and Brihaspati, the teacher of the gods. In the name,
Brahmanaspati, the two varying stresses are unified and equalised. It is the
link-name between the general and the special aspects of the same deity.”[3]
Brihaspati is thus
invoked by the Rishis to facilitate the ascent to the luminous
Truth-consciousness or Supramental-consciousness. Although, this consciousness
is manifest in man, but it is obscured by the Inconscient and the Subconscient
– represented in the Veda as the Dasyus, sons of darkness, Vritra, Vala,
Pani etc.
But it is not by physical
weapons that the Dasyus are defeated, but by the power of the intuitive Word,
the brahman, that Brihaspati and other Gods subdue the dark forces. This
was perhaps the origin of the mythical brahmāstra of the Puranas and
Itihasas.
bṛhaspatiḥ prathamaṃ jāyamāno maho
jyotiṣaḥ parame vyoman
saptāsyas tuvijāto raveṇa vi
saptaraśmir adhamat tamāṃsi
sa suṣṭubhā sa ṛkvatā ghaṇena valaṃ
ruroja phalighaṃ raveṇa
bṛhaspatir usriyā havyasūdaḥ
kanikradad vāvaśatīr ud ājat
– R.V. IV.50.4-5
“Brihaspati, coming first into birth
from the great Light in the supreme ether, seven-mouthed, multiply-born,
seven-rayed, dispelled the darknesses; he with his host that possess the stubh
and the Rik broke Vala into pieces by his cry. Shouting Brihaspati drove
upwards the bright herds that speed the offering and they lowed in reply.”[4]
Brihaspati is often
imaged as one who breaks open the dark mountain caves and releases the Light by
the force of the Word. This represents how the Soul-Force breaks open the rock
of this material existence and reclaims the luminous Truth-consciousness.
Sri Aurobindo summarily
explains:
“The conscious
Soul-Power that is the universal creator and realiser, leads in all his (man’s)
activities. It gives him the guidance of the Truth in his relations with all
creatures and therefore he acts upon them with an entire and spontaneous
mastery. This is the ideal state of man that the soul-force should lead him,
Brihaspati, Brahma, the spiritual light and counsellor, and he realising himself
as Indra, the royal divinity of action, should govern himself and all his
environment in the right of their common Truth.”[5]
This is the secret of the
Vedic deity, Brihaspati.
No comments:
Post a Comment