Hymns to the Mystic Fire

[2]

RV I.1.1–3

[word] - word(s) omitted by the author or lost through damage to the manuscript that are required by grammar or sense, and that could be supplied by the editors.

ओम्

॥१॥ मधुच्छन्दा वैश्वामित्रः ॥ अग्निः ॥ गायत्री ॥

अग्निमीळे पुरो हितं यज्ञस्य देवमृत्विजं । होतारं रत्नधातमं ॥१॥
अग्निः पूर्वेभिर्ऋषिभिरीड्यो नृतनैरुत । स देवाँ एह वक्षति ॥२॥
अग्निना रयिमश्नवत्पोषमेव दिवे दिवे । यशसं वीरवत्तमं ॥३॥
अग्ने यं यज्ञमध्वरं विश्वतः परिभूरसि । स इद् देवेषु गच्छति ॥४॥
अग्निर्होता कविकतुः सत्यश्चित्रश्रवस्तमः । देवो देवेभिरा गमत् ॥५॥
यदंग दाशुषे त्वमग्ने भद्रं करिष्यसि । तवेत्तत् सत्यमंगिरः ॥६॥
उप त्वाग्ने दिवे दिवे दोषावस्तर्धिया वयं । नमो भरन्त एमसि ॥७॥
राजन्तमध्वराणां गोपामृतस्य दीदिविं । वर्धमानं स्वे दमे ॥८॥
स नः पितेव सूनवेऽग्ने सूपायनो भव । सचस्वा नः स्वस्तये ॥९॥

Analysis.

॥१॥ अग्निम् ।

Agni is a devata, one of the most brilliant and powerful of the masters of the intelligent mind. Man, according to Vedic psychology, consists of seven principles, in which the Atman cases itself,—annam, gross matter; prana, vital energy; manas, intelligent mind; vijnanam, ideal mind; ananda, pure or essential bliss; chit, pure or essential awareness; sat, pure or essential being. In the present stage of our evolution ordinary humanity has developed annam, prana and manas for habitual use; and well-developed men are able to use with power the vijnanam acting not in its own habitation, स्वे दमे, nor in its own rupa, vijnanam, but in the mind and as reasoning faculty, buddhi; extraordinary men are able to aid the action of manas and buddhi proper by the vijnanam acting in the intelligent mind indeed and so out of its proper sphere, but in its own form as ideal consciousness—the combination of manasic and vijnani action making what is called genius, pratibhanam, a reflection or luminous response in the mind to higher ideation; the Yogin

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goes beyond to the vijnanam itself or, if he is one of the greatest Rishis, like Yajnavalkya, to the ananda. None in ordinary times go beyond the ananda in the waking state, for the chit and sat are only attainable in sushupti, because only the first five sheaths or panchakosha are yet sufficiently developed to be visible except to the men of the Satya Yuga and even by them the two others are not perfectly seen. From the vijnanam to the annam is the aparardha or lower part of existence where Vidya is dominated by Avidya; from the ananda to the sat is the parardha or higher half in which Avidya is dominated by Vidya and there is no ignorance, pain or limitation.

In man as he is at present developed, the intelligent mind is the most important psychological faculty and it is with a view to the development of the intelligent mind to its highest purity and capacity that the hymns of the Veda are written. In this mind there are successively the following principles: sukshma annam, the refinement of the gross annam out of which the physical part of the manahkosha or sukshma deha is made; sukshma prana, the vital energy in the mind which acts in the nadis or nervous system of the sukshma deha and which is the agent of desire; chitta or receptive consciousness, which receives all impressions from without and within by tamasic reaction, but, being tamasic, does not make them evident to the sattwic consciousness or intelligent awareness which we call knowledge, so that we remember with the chitta everything noticed or unnoticed, but that knowledge is useless for our life owing to its lying enveloped in tamas; hrit or the rajasic reaction to impressions which we call feeling or emotion, or, when it is habitual, character; manas or active definite sensational consciousness rendering impressions of all kinds into percept or concept by a sattwic reaction called intelligence or thought which men share with the animals; buddhi or rational, imaginative and intellectually mnemonic faculty, observing, retaining, comparing, reasoning, comprehending, combining and creating, the amalgam of which functions we call intellect; manasa ananda or the pure bliss of existence manifesting through the impure mind, body and prana impurely, ie mixed with pain of various kinds, but in

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itself pure, because disinterested, ahaituka; manasa tapas or the pure will-power acting towards knowledge, feeling and deed, impurely through the impure mind, body and prana, ie mixed with weakness, dull inertia and ignorance or error; but in itself pure because ahaituka, disinterested, without any ulterior purpose or preference that can interfere with truth of thought, act and emotion; ahaituka sat or pure realisation of existence, operating through the impure organs as ahankara and bheda, egoism and limitation, but in itself pure and aware of unity in difference, because disinterested, not attached to any particular form or name in manifestation; and, finally, Atman or Self seated in mind. This Atman is Sat and Asat, positive and negative, Sad Brahma and Sunyam Brahma; both positive and negative are contained in the Sa or Vasudeva and Tat or Parabrahman, and Sa and Tat are both the same. The Buddhi again is divided into understanding (medha), which merely uses the knowledge given by sensation and like manas, chitta, hrit and prana is adhina, anisha, subject to sensation; reason or buddhi proper, (smriti or dhi, also called prajna), which is superior to sensation and contradicts it in the derived light of a higher knowledge; and direct jnanam, satyam or sattwam which is itself that light of higher knowledge. All these faculties have their own devatas, one or many, each with his ganas or subordinate ministers. The jiva or spirit using these faculties is called the hansa, he who flies or evolves upward; when he leaves the lower and rises to the sacchidananda in the mind, using Sat, chit and ananda only, and reposing in the Sad Atma or in Vasudeva, then he is called the Paramhansa, one who has gone or evolved to the highest in that stage of evolution. This is the fundamental knowledge underlying the Veda, the loss of which, aided by the corruption of nirukta, has led to the present confusion and degradation of its meaning.

Chandra is the devata of the smriti or prajna; Surya of the satyam; Indra of the understanding and manas; Vayu of the sukshma prana; Mitra, Varuna, Aryama and Bhaga are the four masters of the emotional mind or character; Brihaspati of the sahaituka chit or tapas of knowledge; Brahma of the sahaituka sat; Agni of the sahaituka tapas etc. This is only an indication.

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The various characteristics and energies of the gods are best developed by an examination of the Veda itself. The gods strive to function perfectly for the Lord or Yajna, the Isha, Master of the adhara or sevenfold medium of manifestation; the Titans or Daityas, equally divine, try to upset this perfect functioning. Their office is to disturb that which is established in order to push man below or give him an opportunity of rising higher by breaking that which was good and harmonious in itself but imperfect, and in any case to render him dissatisfied with anything short of perfection and drive him continually to the Infinite, either by the uttama gati to Vasudeva or, if he will not have that, by the adhama gati to Prakriti. The Vedic Aryans sought to overcome the Daityas or Dasyus by the aid of the gods; afterwards the gods had themselves to be overcome in order that man might reach his goal.

Agni in the sphere of material energies is the master of tejas, the third and central material principle in the five known to Vedic science. Tejas itself is of seven kinds, chhaya or negative luminosity which is the principle of the annakosha; twilight or dosha, the basis of the pranakosha being tejas modified by chhaya; tejas proper or simple clarity and effulgence, dry light, which is the basis of the manahkosha; jyoti or solar light, brilliance which is the basis of the vijnanakosha; agni or fiery light, which is the basis of the chitkosha; vidyut or electrical illumination, which is the basis of the anandakosha; and prakasha which is the basis of the satkosha. Each of the seven has its own appropriate energy; for the energy is the essential reality and the light only a characteristic accompaniment of the energy. Of all these Agni is the greatest in this world, greater even than Vidyut—although the God of the vaidyuta energy is Vishnu himself who is the Lord of the ananda, the vaidyuto manavah, electrical Man, of the Upanishads. In the vijnana, Surya as well as Vishnu is greater than Agni, but here he and Vishnu both work under the dominant energy of Agni and for the satisfaction of Indra,—Vishnu in the Upanishads being younger than Indra,—Upendra. Translated into the language of physics, this means that Agni, commanding as he does heat and cold, is the fundamental

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active energy behind all phenomena of light and heat; the Sun is merely a reservoir of light and heat, the peculiar luminous blaze of the sun being only one form of tejas and what we call sunlight is composed of the static energy of prakasha or essential light which is the basis of the satkosha, the electrical energy or vaidyutam, and the tejas of agni modified by the nature of Surya and determining all other forms of light. The prakasha and vaidyutam can only become active when they enter into Agni and work under the conditions of his being and Agni himself is the supplier of Surya; he creates jyoti, he creates tejas, he creates, negatively, chhaya. Right or wrong, this is the physics of the Veda. Translated into the language of psychology, it means that in the intelligent mind, which now predominates, neither jnanam nor ananda can be fully developed, though essentially superior to mind; not even Soma, the rational buddhi, can really govern; but it is Indra full of Soma, the understanding based on the senses and strengthened by the buddhi, who is supreme and for whose satisfaction Soma, Surya, Agni and even the supreme Vishnu work. The reason on which man prides himself, is merely a link in the evolution from the manas to the vijnanam and must serve either the senses or the ideal cognition; if it tries to work for itself it only leads to universal agnosticism, philosophic doubt and the arrest of all knowledge. It must not be thought that the Veda uses these names merely as personifications of psychological and physical forces; it regards these gods as realities standing behind the psychological and physical operations, since no energy can conduct itself, but all need some conscious centre or centres from or through which they proceed. A doubt will naturally arise, how Vishnu, the supreme Lord, can be the Upendra of the Vedas. The answer is that, whatever energy is of supreme importance at a particular stage of the evolution, is taken up by Vishnu-Virat as his especial care.We have seen that the Ananda is now highest in the developed evolution. Vishnu is therefore now preeminently the Lord of the Ananda and when he comes down into the material world he stands in the Sun as the supreme electrical force involved in Agni and evolving out of him, which is the physical counterpart of Ananda and without

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which no action in the world can proceed. He is not inferior, he only subordinates himself, pretending to serve, while really by service he commands. But Upendratwa is not the highest plane of Vishnu's manifestation, the param dhama; rather it is a special function here in the lowest dhama. Upendratwa is not Vishnutwa, but only one of its workings.

Agni, therefore, is master of tejas, especially fiery tejas, and the agent of the sahaituka tapas in the mind. In the language of modern psychology, this sahaituka tapas is Will in action,—not desire, but Will embracing desire and exceeding it. It is not even choice, wish or intention. Will, in the Vedic idea, is essentially knowledge taking the form of force. Agni, therefore, is purely mental force, necessary to all concentration. Once we perceive this Vedic conception, we realise the immense importance of Agni and are in a position to understand the hymn we are studying.

The word Agni is formed from the root अग् with the nominal addition नि. The root अग् is itself a derivative root from the primitive अ meaning "to be", of which traces are found in many languages. The ग gives an idea of force and अग् therefore means to exist in force, preeminently—to be splendid, strong, excellent and Agni means mighty, supreme, splendid, forceful, bright. We find the same root in the Greek ἀϒαθóς, agathos, good, meaning originally, strong, noble, brave; ἄϒαν, agan, excessively; ἄϒω, ago, I lead; Latin, ago; ἀϒλαóς aglaos, bright; the names Ἂϒɩς, Ἀϒαμέμνων, Agis, Agamemnon, and in the Sanscrit अग्र, अगस्ति. It is interchangeable with its brother root अज् from which some of the meanings of ἄϒω are derived. It seems also to have meant to love, from the idea of embracing, cf Greek ἀϒάπƞ, agape, but in this sense the old Sanscrit preferred अंग्. For the connection between the two roots, cf अंगति, in the sense of fire, अंगिर: as a name of Agni, अंगार:, a live coal.

ईळे ।

The root like all simple Sanscrit roots has two forms इळ् and ईळ्. The original root was इल् to love, embrace, flatter, praise, adore; the cerebral ळ is a later form,—a dialectical peculiarity

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belonging to some of the dominant races of the Dwapara Yuga, which established itself for a time but could not hold its own and either resolved itself back into ल or was farther transformed into the soft cerebral ड with which it was interchangeable. So we have the form ईड् in precisely the same sense. There is no idea necessarily involved of adoration to a superior, the dominant ideas being love, praise and desire. The meaning here is not "praise" or "worship", but "desire", "yearn for".

पुरो हितम् ।

The words are two and not one. The sense of "priest, purohit", put on the compound word in the later ceremonial interpretation of the Veda, is entirely absent in this hymn. The word पुर: was originally the genitive of पुर् used adverbially. पुर् meant door, gate, front, wall; afterwards, house or city; cf. the Greek πύλƞ, pule, a gate, πύλος, pulos, a walled city or fort, πύλɩς, a city; so in front. हितम् is the participial adjective from the root हि in the sense of to cast down, throw down, plant, place, which appears in Greek as χέω cheo, I pour (हया:). पुरो हितम् means therefore set or planted before.

यज्ञस्य ।

The word यज्ञ is of supreme importance in the Veda. In the ceremonial interpretation यज्ञ is always understood as sacrifice and no other conception admitted. The Veda cannot be understood as the source of all Indian spirituality and divine knowledge, if this materialistic interpretation is accepted. In reality यज्ञ is the name of the supreme Lord Vishnu himself; it also means धर्म or योग and by a later preference of meaning it came to signify sacrifice, because sacrifice in the later Dwapara Yuga became the one dharma and yoga which dominated and more and more tended to replace all others. It is necessary to recover the proper meaning of this important word by Nirukta, and, in order to [do] it, to lay down briefly the principle of Nirukta.

The Sanscrit language is the devabhasha or original language spoken by men in Uttara Meru at the beginning of the Manwantara; but in its purity it is not the Sanscrit of the

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Dwapara or the Kali, it is the language of the Satyayuga based on the true and perfect relation of vak and artha. Every one of its vowels and consonants has a particular and inalienable force which exists by the nature of things and not by development or human choice; these are the fundamental sounds which lie at the basis of the Tantric bijamantras and constitute the efficacy of the mantra itself. Every vowel and every consonant in the original language had certain primary meanings which arose out of this essential shakti or force and were the basis of other derivative meanings. By combination with the vowels, the consonants, and, without any combination, the vowels themselves formed a number of primary roots, out of which secondary roots were developed by the addition of other consonants. All words were formed from these roots, simple words by the addition again of pure or mixed vowel and consonant terminations with or without modification of the root and more complex words by the principle of composition. This language increasingly corrupted in sense and sound becomes the later Sanscrit of the Treta, Dwapara and Kali Yuga, being sometimes partly purified and again corrupted and again partly purified so that it never loses all apparent relation to its original form and structure. Every other language, however remote, is a corruption formed by detrition and perversion of the original language into a Prakrit or the Prakrit of a Prakrit and so on to increasing stages of impurity. The superior purity of the Indian language is the reason of its being called the Sanscrit and not given any local name, its basis being universal and eternal; and it is always a rediscovery of the Sanscrit tongue as the primary language that prepares first for a true understanding of human language and, secondly, for a fresh purification of Sanscrit itself.

This particular root यज् from which यज्ञ is formed, is a secondary root on the base of the consonant य्, the gunas of which are strength and tenderness applied to action, motion, formation and contact. The primary roots are य, यि and यु, with their lengthened forms या, यी and यू,—the original devabhasha recognising only three pure vowels, the rest being either modified or mixed vowels. The primary root of यज् is य, which means

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essentially to go quietly and persistently, to act or apply oneself quietly and with force and persistence, to master (knowledge or any thing or person) by steady application, to come or bring into contact with gently or lovingly and effectively, to form or express clearly etc. The first sense appears, with its colour rubbed out, in the lengthened form या, in यक्ष्, in one of the meanings of यम् etc; the second in यत् & यस्; the third in यज्, यम् and यन्त्र्; the fourth in यज् and याच् which is originally a causal of यच् to give, now lost except in certain conjugational forms of यम्; the fifth in one of the meanings of यम् (to show), etc. Besides यच् there are other lost roots यल् to seek after, love, desire (Greek ἰάλλω), यश् with a similar meaning, from which we have यश: which was originally an adjective meaning lovely, charming, and a noun meaning sometimes an object of love or pursuit, sometimes beauty, ambition, fame etc, or love itself, favour, partiality. This is a brief example of the method followed by the original tongue as it can now be observed with its distinctions and shades confused and the colours of the words expunged.

In the root यज् the force of the consonant ज् determines the meaning. Its essential nature is swiftness, decisiveness, rapid brilliance, and restlessness. It has therefore a frequentative and intensive force. It means to love habitually and fervently, so to worship, to adore. It means to give freely, wholly or continuously; from these shades comes the meaning of sacrifice. It means to master thoroughly, habitually, with a continual repetition of the act of mastery; the word यत् means endeavour, but यज् can never have meant endeavour, it is too decisive and triumphant and must imply possession or mastery, action sense of its result. It means therefore to rule, govern, order, possess. That is why यज्ञ is Vishnu, in the sense of the Almighty Ruler, the Master of man's action, body, thought, the supreme Lord ruling from the higher faculty in man, the parardha or Sachchidananda.

यज: is formed by the addition of न, a nominal suffix which has the sense of action. It may be adjectival or nominal. It may convey the actor, the instrument, the manner or the sufferer of the action. यज: therefore came to mean, he who rules, the governor or master; loving, adoring, also he who is loved; the means

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of mastery and so Yoga, in its processes, not in its realisations; the manner of mastery and so dharma, a rule of action or self-government; adoration or an act of worship, though this sense was usually kept for यजु:, giving, offering, sacrifice. As the name of Vishnu it meant, predominantly, the Master who directs, compels and governs; but the idea of the Lover and Beloved, the Giver and the object of all action, ritual and worship, of all karma also entered into it in the associations of the worshipper and sometimes became prominent.

The Vishnu Purana tells us that Vishnu in the Satya Yuga incarnates as Yajna, in the Treta as the conqueror and king, in the Dwapara as Vyasa, the compiler, codifier and lawgiver. It is not meant that He incarnates as sacrifice. The Satya Yuga is the age of human perfection when a harmonious order is established, the perfect or chatuspad dharma, whose maintenance depends on the full and universal possession of Yoga or direct relation to God and that again on the continual presence of incarnate Vishnu as the Adored, the Master and centre of dharma and yoga. The chatuspad dharma is the perfect harmony of the four dharmas, Brahmanyam, Kshatram, Vaishyam and Shaudram; for this reason separate castes do not exist in the Satya Yuga. In the Treta the Brahmanyam begins to fail, but remains as a subordinate force to help the Kshatram which then governs humanity. Mankind is maintained no longer by viryam or tapas easily sustained by inherent Brahmajnanam, but by viryam or tapas sustaining the Brahmajnanam with some difficulty and preventing its collapse. Vishnu incarnates as the Kshatriya, the incarnate centre of viryam and tapas. In the Dwapara, the Brahmanyam farther fails and turns into mere knowledge or intellectuality, the Kshatram becomes a subordinate force supporting the Vaishyam which has its turn of supremacy. The main qualities of the Vaishya are kaushalam, order and method, and therefore the Dwapara is the age of codification, ritual, Shastra, external appliances to maintain the failing internal spirituality; danam, and therefore hospitality, liberality, the sacrifice and the dakshina begin to swallow up other dharmas—it is the yuga yajniya,—the age of sacrifice; bhoga, and therefore the Veda

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is used for procuring enjoyment in this world and the next, bhogaishwaryagatim prati. Vishnu incarnates as the lawgiver, ritualist and Shastrakara to preserve the knowledge and practice of the dharma by the aid of the intellect and abhyasa, customary practice based on intellectual knowledge. In the Kali all breaks down except love and service, the dharma of the Shudra by which humanity is maintained and from time to time purified; for the jnanam breaks down and is replaced by worldly, practical reason, the viryam breaks down and is replaced by lazy mechanical appliances for getting things done lifelessly with the least trouble, dana, yajna and shastra break down and are replaced by calculated liberality, empty ritual and tamasic social forms and etiquette. Love is brought in by the Avataras to break down these dead forms in order that the world may be rejuvenated and a new order and a new Satya Yuga emerge, when the Lord will again incarnate as Yajna, the supreme Vishnu in the full manifestation of the chatuspad dharma, knowledge, power, enjoyment and love.

It has been said that Vishnu in our present stage of evolution is preeminently the Lord of the Ananda, but he is also the Sanmay Brahman and the Tapomay. It is as the Sanmay that He is Yajna—the Sat containing in it the Chit or Tapas and the Ananda. It must be remembered that while in the Aparardha we envisage Brahman through thought, feeling, action etc, in the Parardha we envisage Him through essential realisation superior to thought, feeling and action. In the Ananda we realise essential delight; in the Chit, essential energy, intelligence and will; in the Sat, essential truth or be-ness. The Sat is therefore called the Mahasatyam and Mahakaranam, the highest truth in the manifestation, out of which everything proceeds. It is by this Mahasatyam—distinguished from the ordinary satyam or karanam called objectivelymahat and subjectively vijnanam, the fourth of the seven bhumis,—that Vishnu as Yajna supports the dharma and yoga in the Satya Yuga. He is the Sad Brahma in manifestation.We shall see when we deal with the word ॠत्विजम् in what sense Agni stands before the Lord.

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देवम् ।

A god. From the secondary root दिव् to flash, gleam, vibrate, play. On the basis of the consonant द् of which the gunas are force, heavy violence, density, dense penetration, dense movement, we get दा to cut, दि to vibrate and दु to trouble and from दि we get द्यु and दिव् or दीव् meaning to vibrate shiningly, gleam, scintillate or play. The Devas are those who play in light. Their proper home is in the vijnanam, महर्लोक or karanajagat, where matter is jyotirmay and all things luminous स्वेन धाम्ना, by their own inherent lustre and where life is an ordered lila or play. Therefore when the Bhagawat speaks of the power of seeing the life of the gods in Swarga, it calls that particular siddhi देवक्रिडानुदर्शनम्, watching the sports of the gods, because all life is to them a sport or lila. The Gods, however, dwell for us in the lower Swarloka, ie, Chandraloka of which the summit is Kailas and the basis Swarga with Pitriloka just above Swarga. Nevertheless even there they keep their jyotirmay and lilamay nature, their luminous bodies and worlds of self-existent bliss free from death and care.

ॠत्विजम् ।

This word is taken in the ceremonial interpretation of the Veda in the later sense of Ritwik, a sacrificial priest, and it is explained by separating as ऋतु+इज् one who sacrifices seasonably. In reality, ॠत्विज् is a very old word compounded in ancient Sanscrit before the creation of the modern rules of Sandhi, and is composed of ऋत् truth and विज्, ecstasy or ecstatic. It means one who has the ecstasy of the truth or satyam.

ऋत् is an abstract noun formed from the root ऋ whose essential meaning was to vibrate, shake, dart, go straight; and its derivate meanings to reach, acquire, or else attack, hurt, injure, or to be erect, rise or raise; to shine; to think, realise truth etc. From the sense of going straight in the secondary verb ऋज् with its adjective ऋजु straight, cf Lat. rego, rectus; ऋत straight, right, true; ऋतम्, truth, right, established law or custom,—सत्यम् applied to the Supreme Brahman as the satyam or mahakaranam; ऋतु, rule, fixed order, fixed time or season;

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ऋषि, a thinker, direct seer of truth, cf Lat. reor, I think, ratio, method, order, reason, proposition, etc. The obsolete word ऋत् meant directness, truth, law, rule, thought, सत्यम्.

विज् is noun or adjective from the verb विज् meaning to shake, be troubled, excited, tremble, to be ecstatic, joyous, full of rapture, felicity or ecstatic energy. Cf Latin vigeo and vigor, from which comes the English vigour. ऋत्विज् is therefore one who is ecstatic with the fullness of the truth or satyam. Agni, it has been pointed out, is the god of the tapas or energy at work disinterestedly on the intellectual plane, one of the higher gods working on the lower level in the service of the lower deity Indra. He proceeds straight from the chit, which, when active, is known as mahatapas or chichchhakti, the energy of the essential intelligence in the Sad Brahman, Yajna or Vishnu. The Shakti begins creation by kshobha or ecstatic vibration in the calm Sad Atma and this ecstatic vibration or विज्, वेग: goes out as speed, force, heat, तप: or अग्नि, the basis of life and existence. This tapas born of the Chichchhakti (Shakti, Devi, Kali, Prakriti) is full of the ecstatic movement of the Sat or Mahasatyam manifesting itself. For this reason Agni is called ऋत्विज्, vibrating, ecstatic with the सत्यम्. For the same reason he is called जातवेदा:, he from whom the higher knowledge is born, because he holds in himself the Veda or Satyam and manifests it; tapas is the basis of all concentration of chit, awareness (the sanyama of Patanjali) and it is by sanyama or concentration of awareness either on the object of awareness (rajayoga) or on itself (jnanayoga and adhyatmayoga) that satyam and Veda become directly selfmanifest and luminous to the Yogin. Without this sanyama no Yoga is possible, no effective action of any kind is possible. When Brahma turned his mind to creation, it was the cry of "tapas, tapas" that was heard on the waters of the karan samudra (Mahakaranam or Sad Brahma). The immense importance of Agni as the Ritwij to the Yogin, therefore, becomes manifest; and it is also clear why he is पुरोहितं यज्ञस्य for it is the tapas which stands before the Satyam, which we reach before we can get the Sat. It is the Chichchhakti which takes us to the Sat,—the Devi, Shakti or Kali who brings us to Brahman, to Vasudeva,

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and Agni, her especial agent for tapas in the mind, is therefore a special intermediary between us and Yajna, who, as has been seen, is Vishnu, Vasudeva or Brahman, in the Sacchidananda or Parardha on the intellectual plane, which is all man in the average has yet reached. This is the reason why Agni was so great a god to the Rishis. To mere sacrificers and ritualists he was great only as the god of fire indispensable in all their ritual, but to the Yogin he has a much greater importance, as great as that of Surya, the lord of illumination, and Soma, the lord of Amrita. He was one of the most indispensable helpers in the processes which the Veda illumines and assists.

होतारम् ।

Hota is another word of great importance in the Veda. In all existing interpretations of the Veda hota is interpreted as the priest who offers the libation, हवि: as the libation and हु in the sense of pouring the offering. So fixed is this notion born of the predomination through several millenniums of the ceremonial meanings attached to all the important words of the Veda, that any other rendering would be deemed impossible. But in the original Veda होता did not mean a sacrificial priest, nor हवि: an offering. Agni may by a metaphorical figure be called a purohit of the sacrifice, though the figure will not have any very great Sanscritic exactness, but he can in no sense be the one who pours the libation. He devours the libation, he does not offer or pour it. Hota, therefore, must have some other signification which, without outraging fact and common sense, can be applied to Agni.

The root हु, like the roots हा and हि, is based on the consonant ह्, the essential gunas of which are aggression, violent action, impetuosity, loud breathing, and so challenge, summons etc. The verb हु originally like ह, हा and हि meant to strike or throw down, attack, slay, the vowel उ adding a sense of pervasiveness which easily brought the idea of battle. We find, therefore, that this root meant to attack, fight, as in आहव: battle; to call, shout, summons, as in ह्वे (originally हवे) etc; to throw, overthrow, destroy; to throw, pour, offer. From the last sense it came to have

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its more modern meaning. The transference from the sense of battle to the sense of sacrifice is paralleled by the Greek word μάχƞ, battle, which is certainly the same as the Sanscrit मख:, sacrifice. It must be remembered that the Yoga was to the old Aryans a battle between the Devas and Daityas, the gods being the warriors who fought the Daityas for man and were made strong and victorious by the क्रिया or effective practices of Yoga, the Daityas being the Dasyus or enemies of Yajna and Yoga. This will become clearer and clearer aswe proceed. This view of life as well as Yoga, which is only the sublimation of life, as a struggle between the Devas & Daityas is one of the most fundamental ideas of Veda, Purana, Tantra and every practical system in Hinduism. Agni is par excellence the warrior whom theDaityas most dread, because he is full of the ahaituka tapas, against which, if properly used and supported by the Yajamana, the Yogin, no evil force can prevail. The Ahaituka Tapas destroys them all. It is the mighty effective and fighting force which once called in prepares perfect siddhi and an almost omnipotent control over our nature and our surroundings. Even when ashuddha, impure, tapas fights the enemy tamas; when shuddha, when the very action of Agni, it brings viryam, it brings jnanam, it brings Ananda, it brings mukti. Hotaram means therefore the warrior, the destroyer of the Daityas, Agni jatavedas; havis and hava mean battle or strength in violent action; hu to fight.

रत्नधातमम् ।

Superlative of रत्नधा, joy-giving, the disposer of delight. We have the root रत् as a derivative from the primary root र. The three roots र, रि, रु are themselves variations of the elemental shabda र् whose essential significance is tremulous continual vibration. र means essentially to vibrate, shake, quiver abroad, the vowel अ conveying essentiality, absoluteness, wideness, want of limitation as opposed to the vowel इ which gives a sense of relation and direction to a given point. From this essential sense come the derivative meanings, to play, to shine; as in रतम्, रत्न a jewel, रति:, रम्, रञज्, रजतम् silver, रज: dust, रजनी, रात्रि, night etc. From the former meaning there comes the sense, to

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please, delight, love, adore, etc. as in रामा, राम:, राध्, रज्, रज:, (rajoguna) etc. The word रत्न in ancient Sanscrit, from the root रत्, had two sets of senses, delight, ananda, pleasure, play, sexual intercourse, a thing of delight, mistress, etc, and splendour, light, lustre, brilliance, a brilliant, a jewel,—the modern sense. At first sight it would seem that lustre, brilliance is more appropriate to Agni, and it would apply well to the warrior who destroys the darkness of the mind, but the central idea of the hymn is not Agni as the master of light,—that is Surya,—but as the master of force, tapas, which is the source out of which comes delight. The three terms of the parardha are sat, chit and ananda. In sat, chit abides and emerges from sat. As soon as it emerges, it generates the energy of chichchhakti which plays throughout the universe; this play, रत्न, is ananda in chit and it emerges from chit. All tapas therefore generates ananda, and the pure sahaituka tapas generates pure sahaituka ananda which being universal, self-existent and by its nature incapable of any admixture of sorrow, is the most sure, wide, and intense. Therefore Agni is most joy-giving, a great disposer of delight. The word धा means to set, create, give, arrange; here it is the old Aryan substantive expressing the agent and often used adjectivally.

॥२॥ अग्निः पूर्वेभिर्ऋषिभिरीडयो नूतनैरुत ।

There is nothing in these words that needs special explanation, since all the words and their senses are modern. The Rishi indicates Agni, master of the ahaituka tapas, as adorable in all ages by all seers ancient or modern, because to all seekers and at all times, ahaituka tapas is the condition and agent of suddhi, mukti, bhukti and siddhi, the fourfold aim of Yoga. The word Rishi means a knower of truth, one who attains, from ऋ to go straight, attain the goal, reach the object, know, think. Originally it had something of the sense of साधक, the ष giving a habitual force; one who continually goes straight (by knowledge or inspired thought) to the truth. The force of उत is here, "much more", "as a matter of course". The idea is that not only is Agni the great object of desire and worship to the high sadhaks of these days, but in all times he has occupied the same place in

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the sadhan, even when man was in a different stage of evolution and walked in other paths of Yoga. Whatever Yoga is adopted, sahaituka tapas is of the first importance to full siddhi.

स ।

Sa is here used much in the sense of "who",—it is the Greek ὅς (originally σóς though by a common law in Greek the s has been worn into an aspirate), and it gives the reason for the adoration of Agni.

देवान् ।

The gods of the lower functions in the body, prana, mind and vijnana are all borne up by the impartial strength of Agni and the delight, रत्न, which it generates. Ananda is the condition of all existence and persistence,—को ह्वोवान्यात् कः प्राण्यात् यदेष आकाश आनन्दो न स्यात् ॥ Tapas is the stay, the supporter of ananda.Therefore Agni bears up the gods.

एह ।

From root इह्, an adverb meaning forcefully, with strength. The root इह् meant originally to put forth strength in a given direction, so to will, wish, desire. Cf for this sense of derivatives from the primary root इ, Greek ἶφɩ, ἴφθɩμος, ἴς (ἴνα), इन्द्र, ईर् to utter, force out, etc. The adverb used is especially appropriate to the action of the god of tapas; it is in strength, by the force of tapas that he supports all the gods.

वक्ष्यति ।

The root is वह् + ष, and ष in old Sanscrit gave a habituative or desiderative sense, the two being kin to each other, cf the Greek φɩλεῖ, meaning both "loves" and "is wont to". Cf also the previous note about ऋषि. We shall meet this habituative form frequently. Agni is wont to bear up, that is his perpetual office.

॥३॥ अग्निना रयिम् ।

The word रयिः (Latin res) means substance. It comes from the root र to vibrate + इ, an ordinary nominal termination which, when feminine, usually gives the idea of quality or

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abstract existence. In ancient Sanscrit the semivowels य & व were used to bridge over the gap between two vowels, as in म्रिये, जाये, हुवे, and this usage has been faithfully preserved in one of its surviving daughters of an elder group, Tamil. रयिः therefore means vibration, stir, play, motion, and, because all substance is merely Prakriti or Shakti in motion, it comes to mean substance. The word and the meaning are among the oldest in Sanscrit. By Agni, by sahaituka tapas is got or enjoyed substance, body. Into whatever that stream of force flows, however unsubstantial it may be at the time, it grows in body, being and solidity; it tends to establish itself, to become a res or established actual thing.

अश्र्नवत् ।

The word अश् is a secondary root from अ to be, one of the most important of all old Sanscrit roots. From this root we have अस् to be, breathe, live, be strong; अद् to be (annam, substance, matter), to eat (अन्नं food); अह् to breathe (अही, प्राह); अन् to breathe, live, be (अनिलः, प्राणः, अनु); अर् to be, be strong, excel, fight, rule (अरिः, आर्य, अर्यमा, Gr. ἀρετή, Ἄρƞς) and a number of others. Every Aryan primary root was capable of being used either transitively or intransitively, and in its transitive sense a meant "to have", whence we get अश् to have, possess, enjoy, eat, get, acquire. अश् becomes in Greek ἔχω. Here both the senses of "get", and "enjoy", must be taken together. The root is one of those which still preserves the old verbal enclitics न, ना, नु. The verbal termination वत् is here used impersonally; one gets, there is got.

पोषमेव ।

The sense of पोषम् is "increase". The word completes the sense of रयिमश्र्नवत् which, without the addition of पोषम्, might only imply a single and immediate accretion of substance, but the Rishi refers to the steady action of sahaituka tapas in the Yoga, by which once the stream of Agni is set flowing on the guna, vritti or jnanam to be obtained, it inevitably proceeds to get actuality and to increase in substance and power from day to day until it acquires यशसं वीरवत्तमम्, the utmost manifestation of splendour.

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The root पु is important in Vedic etymology. The letter प् has the signification of sharp, swift and decisive movement, contact, formation etc. The roots based upon it give us variations of the ideas, "to rush, fall, dart, strike, leap, soar; to seize, master, own, be lord of; to enjoy, take, take in, devour, drain, drink, fill oneself, fill; to strike out, forge, do, make, effect; to produce, bring to being or fulfilment; increase, advance" and others developing from the elementary idea of the vocable. We get from the root पु, पुत्र one produced, cf Latin pullus, a son; पू to perfect, पूतः, पूताः (Vedic), पुण्यं perfection, virtue, merit; पवनः the wind, (the rushing one); पूषा the Sun, he who fosters, develops and perfects; पोषः increase; पूज् to foster, cherish, adore, worship; पुर् increase, advance, forwardness, front (पुरः, पूर्वः, पुरा, before, O.S. पुरा (Gr. πύλƞ ) door, gate, पुर्, पुरः, पुरी front, wall, fortified town, Gr. IIύλος, πóλɩς) etc.

एव in later Sanscrit means "indeed", giving emphasis, or has a limiting and restricting sense, eg Isha Upanishad कुर्वन्नेव कर्माणि, "Thou shalt verily do actions (and not refrain from them)." But in old Sanscrit its original force was that of एवम्, so, this, thus; and then "and, also" In the latter sense एवम् is still used in literary Bengali, for the spoken Sanscrit of the provinces often preserved forms and meanings the literary language lost and these, more or less corrupted, have passed into our modern vernaculars.

दिवे दिवे ।

From day to day. By the mere lapse of time, without effort on our part, the mere action of Agni being sufficient. This is an important principle of Yogic psychology which will be explained in the Commentary. The word दिवः is from दिव् to shine and may mean either "day", दिवः कालः the bright period, or "heaven", दिवो लोकः, the bright world. It has both senses in the Veda.

यशसम् ।

The word यशस् is from the root यश्, a secondary root from the primary य.

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