Sri Aurobindo’s Method of Interpretation

To understand the intent of the Veda one needs to understand the nature of its language as also the abstract psychological phenomena which it represents. These two aspects are interlinked and are central to Sri Aurobindo’s method of interpretation.

Language, in the early Vedic period, was at a stage where it was extremely fluid. It had not been cast into a fixed mould where each word referred to a particular thing and that thing alone. There was a creative utilization of word roots and each root could have multiple meanings. The word that a root gave birth to held, first, the sense of the root, and then, of the object which it named.

“The word for the Vedic Rishi is still a living thing, a thing of power, creative, formative. It is not yet a conventional symbol for an idea, but itself the parent and former of ideas. It carries within it the memory of its roots, is still conscient of its own history.”^[1]

“When in English we use the word “wolf” or “cow”, we mean by it simply the animal designated… But for the Vedic Rishi “vrika” meant the tearer and therefore, among other applications of the sense, a wolf; “dhenu” meant the fosterer, nourisher, and therefore a cow. But the original and general sense predominates, the derived and particular is secondary.”^[2] 

Secondly, there is a particular kind of inner, psychological experience that is being expressed through the hymns of the Veda. In fact, this fluidity of language gave the Rishis a suitable medium for conveying their abstract experiences.

“In that original epoch thought proceeded by other methods than those of our logical reasoning and speech accepted modes of expression which in our modern habits would be inadmissible. The wisest then depended on inner experience and the suggestions of the intuitive mind for all knowledge that ranged beyond mankind’s ordinary perceptions and daily activities.”^[3]

This inner experience is also the deeper layer of meaning behind the outer ritualistic and naturalistic framework and the Veda itself reveals it in certain passages. In such verses, the veil of symbols temporarily lifts and the spiritual intent is seen without any doubt whatsoever. One is required to find and hold on to these clues and correlate them with other occurrences of the same ideas. Eventually, one is able to affix the exact meaning to each symbol, each image, and the seemingly disconnected mass of hymns becomes a unified expression of a single conception.

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[1] The Secret of the Veda, Pg.54, Line no.6 from bottom

[2] The Secret of the Veda, Pg.55, Line no.1

[3] The Secret of the Veda, Pg.10, Line no.2

The Legend of the Lost Cows

(This article was first published in the Sep 2016 issue of 'The Call Beyond', monthly magazine of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, New Delhi.)

“The image of the Cow is the most important of all the Vedic symbols.”[1]

- Sri Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda

In the Rig Veda, there is often the mention of lost cows, lying concealed in a dark mountain cavern, which have to be recovered by the gods, primarily Indra. It may seem odd that the Rishis who are known for highest spiritual accomplishments be so obsessed with this one legend that they mention it repeatedly, invoking now this deity, now that deity, for the mere recovery of their lost cattle. However, on closer examination of the Veda, one understands that it is not the rescue of any earthly herd of cows that the Rishis demanded, rather the resurgence of an illumined consciousness out of the dark depths of ignorance.

The thing is, cows are symbols of Light in the Veda. While this inner meaning is tightly veiled by the Veda under its elaborate scheme of symbols, it becomes evident in some hymns where the garb of symbols is momentarily lifted. Many of these hymns refer to the Sun and Dawn and go or cow is mentioned in their close association:

saṃ te gāvas tama ā vartayanti jyotir yachanti - R.V. VII.79.2

 “Thy cows (rays) remove the darkness and extend the Light”[2]

Sun or Surya represents the Truth in the Veda and Dawn or Usha, the medium for its realization. Thus, their rays, the cows, don’t represent just any light, but the Light of the Truth-consciousness.

The legend of the lost cows is also closely associated to another legend in the Veda – the legend of the lost Sun. In fact, the two legends are often spoken of together, in one hymn, in one sentence even:

yebhiḥ sūryamuṣasaṃ mandasāno avāsayo apa darlhāni dardrata

mahāmadriṃ pari gā indra santaṃ nutthā acyutaṃ sadasasa pari savāta

“Thou (Indra) didst make the Sun and the Dawn to shine, breaking the firm places; thou didst move from its foundation the great hill that enveloped the Cows”[3] – R.V. 6.17.5

ajanayata sūryaṃ vidada gā aktunāhnāṃ vayunāni sādhata

“He (Indra) brought to its birth the Sun, found the Cows, effecting out of the Night the manifestations of the days.”[4] – R.V. 2.19.3

This understanding especially helps demystify the meaning behind the Vedic Rishis constantly praying for such material prosperity as cows, horses, chariots, gold, food, sons etc. 

“For them these material objects were symbols of the immaterial; the cows were the radiances or illuminations of a divine Dawn, the horses and chariots were symbols of force and movement, gold was light, the shining wealth of a divine Sun—the true light; both the wealth acquired by the sacrifice and the sacrifice itself in all their details symbolised man’s effort and his means towards a greater end, the acquisition of immortality.”[5]

Sri Aurobindo tells us to not read words like these in isolation rather see the Veda as one whole. The Veda itself will reveal their inner meaning in many hymns, and when we find that inner meaning, we must not hesitate to apply it to all other instances of the word. Only then will we be able to understand what the Rishis have conveyed.

Sri Aurobindo concludes:

          “By this inevitable conclusion the corner-stone of Vedic interpretation is securely founded far above the gross materialism of a barbarous worship and the Veda reveals itself as a symbolic scripture… the cult of a higher and inner Light, of the true Sun, satyaṃ sūryaṃ, that dwells concealed in the darkness of our ignorance… in the infinite rock of this material existence.”[6]

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[1] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 123, Line no.23

[2] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 126, Line no.22

[3] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 157, Line no.5

[4] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 156, Line no.33

[5] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 139, Line no.19

[6] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 157, Line no.32

Usha - Dawn of the Truth

(This article was first published in the August 2016 issue of 'The Call Beyond', monthly magazine of Sri Aurobindo Ashram, New Delhi.)
 

“The human individual is an organised unit of existence which reflects the constitution of the universe. It repeats in itself the same arrangement of states and play of forces. Man, subjectively, contains in himself all the worlds in which, objectively, he is contained.”[1]

- Sri Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda

The spiritual progress of the Rishis towards Truth-consciousness is represented through a complex system of symbols and imagery in the Veda. Many aspects of the physical, natural world are utilized to represent psychological phenomena because they are, in essence, quite the same. One such key Vedic representation is the imagery of Dawn and the rising Sun.

In the physical world, dawn is the gentle daylight which precedes the arrival of a bright, shining sun. In the Veda, too, Dawn precedes the advent of Sun or Surya. But it is not merely the description of the everyday physical dawn but the rarest of rare dawns of the supramental or Truth-consciousness.

Sri Aurobindo calls Surya the Master of Truth[2]. The word ‘surya’ means illuminator and it is a symbol for the luminous Truth-consciousness. Regarding Surya, Sri Aurobnido writes:

“His rays in their own nature are supramental activities of revelation, inspiration, intuition, luminous discernment, and they constitute the action of that transcendent principle which the Vedanta calls Vijnana, the perfect knowledge, the Veda Ritam, the Truth. But these rays descend also into the human mentality and form at its summit the world of luminous intelligence, Swar”[3]

Swar is the summit of Vedic heaven and the realm of Surya which is nothing but that luminous plane of consciousness where only Truth is seen. Dawn or Usha is the medium for this luminous awakening.  She represents the perceptive vision of the mind which is capable of seeing the Truth clearly. 

vi nūnamuchādasati para ketu - R.V. I.124.11

Now perceptive vision has broken out into its wide dawn where nought was before[4]

Sri Aurobindo explains the role of Usha in great detail: “By her increasing illumination the whole nature of man is clarified; through her he arrives at the Truth, through her he enjoys the Beatitude.”[5]

The following hymns will help us appreciate these ideas better:

dyutad-yāmānam bṛhatīm ṛtena ṛtāvarīm… svar āvahantīm - R.V. V.80.1

“of a luminous movement, vast with the Truth, supreme in (or possessed of) the Truth, bringing with her (the luminous world of) Swar”[6]

yā vahasi puruspārhaṃ vananvati ratnaṃ na dāśuṣe mayaḥ - R.V. VII.81.3

“thou who bearest to the giver the beatitude as a manifold and desirable ecstasy.”[7]

One may find it strange that the same Usha is also described in the Veda as gomatī aśvavati. Literal translation of these epithets would be cowful and horsed, which seems bizarre. However, Sri Aurobindo shows that actually these words, go and aśva, which generally mean cow and horse, are actually symbols congruent with the overall schema of Vedic symbolism. 

Cows are a symbol of Light, they represent the luminous rays of Surya, and this is proved by Sri Aurobindo by referring to numerous Vedic hymns:

 

prati bhadrā adṛkṣata gavāṃ sargā na raśmayaḥ - R.V. IV.52.5

“her happy rays come into sight like cows released into movement.”[8]

saṃ te gāvas tama ā vartayanti jyotir yachanti - R.V. VII.79.2

 “Thy cows (rays) remove the darkness and extend the Light”[9]

These and many other mentions of cows indicate towards the sense of Light. Similarly, it is shown that horse is the symbol for Prana or nervous energy.

“A study of the Vedic horse led me to the conclusion that go and aśva represent the two companion ideas of Light and Energy, Consciousness and Force, which to the Vedic and Vedantic mind were the double or twin aspect of all the activities of existence.”[10]

Thus, the bounty that Usha brings is not merely material wealth but that rich state of being which turns towards the Truth-consciousness. 

Sri Aurobindo summarily describes Usha as: “the inner dawn which brings to man all the varied fullnesses of his widest being, force, consciousness, joy; it is radiant with its illuminations, it is accompanied by all possible powers and energies, it gives man the full force of vitality so that he can enjoy the infinite delight of that vaster existence.”[11]

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[1] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 288, Line no.1

[2] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 287, Line no.2

[3] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 287, Line no.3

[4] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 134, Line no.19

[5] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 295, Line no.4

[6] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 132, Line no.23

[7] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 133, Line no.18

[8] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 126, Line no.19

[9] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 126, Line no.22

[10] The Secret of the Veda, Pg 44, Line no. 20

[11] The Secret of the Veda – Pg. 136, Line no.15