|
Recall that Atharva
Veda calls itself as the Brahma Veda [15.6.8],
the Veda of spiritual knowledge. There are about
190
hymns in this category if we include the hymns to the individual
devās like the spiritual Sun, Agni who all psychological
powers.
The hymns
9.9
and 9.10
are also in RV (1.164),
asya vāmasya; all of these verses can be interpreted only
in a spiritual way. This hymn has the famous verse ‘The supreme
one is called by various names’. It also has the famous verse
involving two birds in AV [9.9.20]
which occurs also in RV [1.164]
and in the Mundaka Upanishad. It has several famous
aphorisms quoted in our subhāshitās or good sayings.
The hymn
(10.7)
of 44
verses entitled skambha or pillar which supports all
manifestation is dedicated to the eternal entity or Brahman
which existed before the manifested universe. It is called as a
basis for everything, sarva dhāra in which
everything is established.
In the first
twenty-one verses, it poses a series of questions on existence and
manifestation given below. In the next
22 verses, it
gives the answers.
We give here
2
verses in this hymn dealing with existence and non existence hymn.
"A conspicuous
branch of non-existence people have regarded as Brahman;
And people who
worship that branch regard it as existence
(10.7.21)
Great indeed are
the devās who
Have sprung out of
non-existence;
And one part of
the support of the universe
People have called
non-existence (10.7.25)."
"When at first the unborn sprung into being
He won his own domain
beyond which nothing higher has been in existence
(31)."
The translation of
the entire hymn
AV (10.7) is given below.
The hymn
(8.9)
dedicated to Virāt or the wonders of the origins and
manifestation is highly symbolic. We will quote only one verse
(8.9.10).
"Who understandeth the
pairness of virāt?
Who the seasons?
Who the ordering of
her?
Who know how many steps
were fashioned?
What is her abode?
How many times the
onrush of knowledge have occurred?” (8.9.10)
The pairness in the
first line refers to all the pairs of opposites in the unwise like
one and many, pain and pleasure, victory and defeat, fate and free
will etc. Whitney renders the key word pairness mithunatva
as sex.
ATHARVA VEDA (10.7)
THE SUPPORT OF THE
UNIVERSE
Rishi:
Atharvan
In
what limb of his does tapas lie?
In what limb is Eternal Law established?
Where lies Dedication? where Reverence?
in what limb is Truth firmly
placed? -------------------
(1)
From which of his limbs does fire shine?
And from which limb does the wind blow?
From which limb does the moon measure its course,
measuring the vast form of him who is the Support of the
universe? ------------------- (2)
In
which limb of his does the earth lie?
in which limb the mid-region?
In
which limb is the sky upheld,
and in which limb is the firmament
established? -------------------
(3)
Towards whom does the fire that rises shine with longing?
towards whom does the wind with longing blow?
Tell me of the Support of the universe: who, the One among many,
is he
towards whom all the pathways
turn? -------------------
(4)
Where do the half-months and the months with the year
proceed in unison together?
Tell me of the Support of the universe: who, the One among many,
is he
to whom the seasons and the groups of seasons
move? -------------------
(5)
Towards whom do the two young damsels of varied hues--
Day and Night--with longing run,
each in accord with the other?
Tell me of the Support of the universe: who, the One among many,
is he
towards whom the waters with longing
flow? -------------------
(6)
Tell me of the Support of the universe: who, the One among many,
is he
in whom the Lord of life found his prop
while he upheld all the
worlds? -------------------
(7)
The universe--high, low, middle and of many forms
that the Lord of life created--
how much of it did the Support of the universe penetrate,
and how much was left that he did
not? -------------------
(8)
How much of the past has the Support of the universe entered?
by what part of him has he penetrated the future?
and, of that one part which he has made thousand-fold,
how much has the Support of the universe entered?
-------------------
(9)
Tell me of that Support of the universe: who, the One among many,
is he
in whom people have found the worlds and their enclosures,
and waters and sacred lore,
and found non-existence and existence at their
end? -------------------
(10)
Tell me of the Support of the universe: who, the One among many,
is he
in whom tapas, becoming powerful,
attaches itself to the highest Dedication,
and found non-existence and Devotion are united
together? -------------------
(11)
Tell me of the Support of the universe: who, the One among many,
is he
in whom earth, mid-region and sky
have had their foundation,
on whom rest agni, chandramas, sūrya and vāta? -------------------
(12)
Tell me of the Support of the universe:
who, the One among many, is he
whose body contains the three and thirty devās? -------------------
(13)
Tell me of the Support of the universe:
who, the One among many, is he
in
whom exist the first-born sages,
and rik, sāman, yajus and the earth,
and in whom the one Sage
abides? -------------------
(14)
Tell me of the Support of the universe:
who, the One among many, is he
the Being in whom both immortality and death lie in concord,
in whom are gathered the water-courses as
arteries? -------------------
(15)
Tell me of the Support of the universe:
who, the One among many, is he
in
whom are the four quarters his chief arteries,
in whom sacrifice is most
powerful. -------------------
(16)
Those who know brahman in puruşha
know the Being who is supreme;
he
who knows the Supreme Being
and he who knows the Lord of life--
these know the loftiest brahman,
and thence they know fully the Support of the
universe. -------------------
(17)
Tell me of the Support of the universe;
who, the One among many, is he
of
whom vaishvānara became the head
and angirases the eye,
and yātus the limbs of the
body. -------------------
(18)
Tell me of the Support of the universe;
who, the One among many, is he
whose mouth, they have said, is sacred knowledge,
and whose tongue the honeyed whip,
and whose bosom they have called
Splendour? -------------------
(19)
Tell me of the Support of the universe;
who, the One among many, is he
from whom the rik has been chiselled out, and yajus
clipped,
whose hairs are sāman songs,
and whose mouth is atharvāngirases? -------------------
(20)
A
conscious branch of non-existence
people have regarded as the Supreme;
and people below who worship that branch
regard it as
existence. -------------------
(21)
Tell me o the Support of the universe:
who, the One among many, is he
in
whom ādityas and rudras and vasus are united,
in whom exist the past and the future and all the
worlds. -------------------
(22)
The three and thirty devās
constantly guard his treasure;
who knows today what that treasure is
which you, devās,
protect? -------------------
(23)
The devās with the sacred knowledge
worship the highest brahman;
he
who knows them face to face,
that Sage has known the
truth. -------------------
(24)
Great indeed are the devās who
have sprung out of non-existence;
and, one part of the Support of the universe
people have called
non-existence. -------------------
(25)
While the Support of the universe, creating,
revolved back what was old,
then that one part of the Support of the universe
they knew as the
ancient. -------------------
(26)
In
his body existed the three and thirty devās
by dividing themselves into its limbs;
those alone who knew Brahman knew
the three and thirty
devās.
-------------------
(27)
People know the Divinity in his splendour
as the Supreme, far beyond any expression.
It
was the Support of the universe who in the beginning
poured forth that
splendour. -------------------
(28)
In
skambha, the Support of all, lies the world,
in skambha lies tapas, in him the eternal Law.
I
have known thee, skambha, by direct vision,
to be existing wholly in
Indra.
-------------------
(29)
In
Indra, the Support of all, lies the world,
in Indra lies tapas, in him the eternal Law;
I
have known thee, Indra, by direct vision,
to be wholly established in
skambha.
-------------------
(30)
Man calls the one Deity by the other's name
before sunrise and before dawn.
When at first the Unborn sprang into being
he won his own dominion beyond which
nothing higher has been in
existence. -------------------
(31)
Homage to supreme brahman
of whom the earth is the base,
the mid-region the middle,
and who has made the sky his
head. -------------------
(32)
Homage to supreme brahman
of whom the sun is the eye,
and the moon that becomes new again and again,
and who has made agni his
mouth. -------------------
(33)
Homage to supreme brahman,
of whom the wind is the in-breath and the out-breath,
and the angirases became the sight,
and who made the quarters of the sky
his vehicles of
knowledge. -------------------
(34)
skambha
has upheld these two- Heaven and Earth-
skambha
has upheld the wide mid-air,
skambha
has upheld the six
spacious regions,
skambha
pervades the whole
world.
(35)
Homage to the supreme brahman
who, having sprung from toil and tapas,
his completely filled all the worlds,
and who has made the soma libation entirely his
own. -------------------
(36)
How is it that the wind does not cease to blow,
and the mind takes no rest ?
And why do the waters, seeking the Truth,
never keep
still? -------------------
(37)
Transcendent through tapas
the great Spirit lies in the centre of the world,
and on the surface of water;
and all the devās attach themselves to him.
So
stands the trunk of a tree
with branches around
it. -------------------
(38)
Tell me of the Support of the universe:
who, the One among many, is he
to
whom holy men with their hands and feet and word and ear and eye,
offer unmeasured worship
in
a measured hall of
sacrifice? -------------------
(39)
From him darkness flees away,
he is never beset with distress;
in
him are all the lights-the three
that are in the Lord of creation.
-------------------
(40)
He
who knows the Reed of Gold
standing up in water,
is, verily, the mysterious Lord of creation.
-------------------
(41)
The two Maidens, different in colour,
move together round and round
as
they weave the woof of six pegs.
While the one takes the threads across,
the other lays them on.
They don't twist them wrongly,
nor do they come to the end of their labour.
(42)
Of
these two who, as it were, are dancing round,
I
know not which is behind the other.
A
Male weaves the web,
a
Male holds it up,
a
Male extends it to the cope of heaven.
-------------------
(43)
These pegs have supported the sky,
and sāmans have been made shuttles for weaving the web.
-------------------
(44)
|
