CWTVKS Volume 1

First Published in 1954 and Reprinted in 1975.

THE INITIATE AND THE MYSTIC FIRE

"Is it your view that the Yoga of Sri Aurobindo is the same as that of the Rishis of the Rig Veda? Is it your object to establish that the Integral Yoga is based upon the essential truths embedded in the Mantras of the Rik Samhita ?” Thus queried an Indologist, a well-known Vedic scholar and linguist. I sent a suitable brief reply orally through a friend, adding at the same time that he would find the position of the Vedic sages made clear in the Commentary, Siddhanjana, that was under preparation and that Sri Aurobindo’s writings on his Yoga are well-known and nothing is left in doubt. The matter ended there for the time being, so far as the well-meaning questioner was concerned; but it awakened in me a profound feeling for the search of the actual method adopted by the Vedic Rishis that could be gathered from the hymns themselves. It is not that I was unaware of what all the Master has said about the Vedic Mystics and their Doctrine through his translations and commentaries and other essays on the Vedic lore and wisdom. That is indeed a vast subject. The question that occupied me fully in this regard was apparently narrow, precise and limited but consequential and cardinal in importance. The question is simply this: what exactly is the path or key for the Initiation of the mystics? We have, as a matter of course, enough materials in the hymnal texts that give us an idea of the achievements of the seers who were Initiates. But how did they start? What was the key that the novitiate was provided with to open the Gates of the Mystic Chamber? Once the Initiate passes the threshold and enters into the secret Realm, he communes with the Powers that transcend the physical senses or through them advances towards the Godhead. But all this and much more are the wonders that we can glimpse from these utterances of the seers; but how did they gain admission into the Secrecy, what was the process or the mystic formula, if any? That is the question. We can indeed find an authentic answer not from one source, but from many passages scattered over the voluminous writings of Sri Aurobindo. But we have to sift and choose from a number of references to the subject from his works and commentaries, if we wish to have a precise answer to the precise question raised above.

Again, we have to be cautious in our attempt to probe into the secret of the mystic method of initiating and getting initiated into the profundities of the hidden truths of the Godhead, or of the occult presence of the Conscious Powers and their active participation in the functioning of the Cosmic Spirit in the Universe. Removed as we are from the Age of the Mystics for a space of scores of centuries, we must not overstep reasonable limits in our enthusiasm to incarnate into the terms of modern mentality the words of Wisdom that gleam through the figures, images and symbols employed in the verses of these litanies of a hoary past. However conscientious we may be, it is not an easy task to understand and appreciate the full significance of the utterances of the ancient seers without being influenced by the ideas of spirituality we have imbibed from the spirit of our age through the sacred writings of the saints and sages of subsequent times as well as through the post-Vedic scriptures beginning with the Upanishads and the Gita down to the authentic teachings of God-men of our own age in living memory. It is common knowledge that this tendency to read modern ideas into ancient texts, not always consciously, is more pronounced in the spirit of research scholarship to some extent and also in the reverential sentiment actuating pious minds to plumb into the depths of ancient wisdom. At the same time, it must be admitted that the various lines of Godward approach with which we are familiar could all be traced to their source in the Hymns of the Rig Veda.

But how does it help an answer to the question we have posed for ourselves ? Indeed, when we come across Riks which extol truth, truth in speech, and action and truthful move in every way of life, we can affirm without stretching the meaning of the words beyond legitimate bounds that regard for truth and adherence to truth as the governing principle of all action, all life, was among the cardinal teachings of the Vedic seers; but we cannot say with definiteness that that is the same as the Yoga of Works, the disinterested action of the Bhagavad Gita, though perhaps its prototype is there. Similarly when we find verses sung in adoration of the Almighty, of the indescribable One, the Supreme Godhead behind and in all and each of the Gods, we can assuredly say, here is the prototype of what we call the line of Knowledge i.e., Jnana as explicitly affirmed in the Upanishads and the Gita, but we cannot call it the Jnana Yoga popularised in all its details and form, in theory and practice as advocated in our age through the recognised scriptures and canonised utterances of saints and sages of later generations. As for the line of Devotion, Bhakti, a larger proportion of the hymns of the Rik Samhita stands witness to the wisdom of the Rishi in his intimate appeal to the Godhead, to the God of his adoration. And of all the Gods of the Vedic pantheon with their Cosmic functions and distinct aspects of the Supreme One, tad ekam, it is Agni who occupies a prominent position nearest to man, first to be awakened in the mortal, whose intimacy with the Rishi is so pronounced and repeatedly brought to light in the hymns addressed to him. The mystic communion with the Godhead as represented by Agni, the Mystic Fire, is so much in evidence in the Mantras of Agni, that if we study and ponder over them we cannot fail to recognise the fact that the Rishi was not only face to face with him, but was at least in touch with the secret treasures of the mystic realm revealed to him by the Agni himself. If we go one step further it is not difficult to discover the means by which he became first acquainted with this Immortal born in the mortal. For when the Rishi sings: “I have uttered the Word, may he manifest himself”, or lines conveying sense to this effect, it is clear that the word he employed to wake up Agni was the key to unlock the gates of the Divine treasure; for that is the secret truth, the unfailing Guide, the Seer-Will lodged in the heart of men and things, stimulated to activity by a burning passion, by a rising flame of aspiration from the human heart. But, what is this Word? How is it endowed with such a potency to bring about the manifestation of the Immortal in man? Certainly we may say that the word means a fervent prayer to invoke the presence; and there is strong reason to support this view; for prayer can be denoted by the term word and prayer as the chief means of approach to the Godhead is powerful and moving as it contains the element of aspiration of the human heart and a fixed will to achieve the end. If this were all that is meant then we can plainly and straightly conclude that the Vedic seers used prayer as the main means in their adventure into the occult and spiritual realms. That prayer has been resorted to in all climes and ages to win the Grace of the Deity is unexceptionable; and that the term word can refer to prayer also is reasonable. But it is doubtful if that sums up all that is meant by the word whenever it occurs in the hymns and without doubt the word means much more than a mere word or even a prayer in many places such as,
ādid vasūni pra vāvä сāsmai,
to such a one he (Agni) gives word of the riches," or, vilu cid d’lhā pitaro na ukthairadrim rujannangiraso, raveņa,

Our fathers by their words broke the strong and stubborn places, the Angiras seers shattered the mountain rock with their cry....”

Instances are numerous in the hymns where the word signifies a secret utterance, a sacred formula, akin to what we call in modern language a code word by which the God who is adored, the Agni who is awakened and wakeful recognises the adorer and looks into his needs. Such a potent word — say a mantra — is originally generated by the concentrated power of consciousness of the mystic who initiates the would-be-initiate with the sacred formula into the secrecy of the Powers of the Godhead. The word is effective for initiation because it is laden with the condensed energy of Conscious force emanating from the Initiator in the transmission of the influence to the Initiate. We may go further and affirm that the word was quite often instantly effective and so felt by the Initiate that it entered into the conscious stuff of his being and not as it would be generally in our age a sheer sound of mechanical speech with all its regular articulation. To explain it in modern language, we may say further that there was a realisation of the power of sound over matter as well as mind. It must be borne in mind that this sound is not a sheer mechanical effect of friction of the vocal cords in the attempt of thought to find its expression in the word. It is, indeed, sound, but sound that carries conscious vibrations of the thought to complete its movement in the evolution of the word. For although a master initiate could give the initiation with thought alone, generally and especially in the Vedic tradition the culmination of a thought-movement in the word-expression was considered important and indispensable. For without the word thought-movement is incomplete, since it is nothing but word in a subtle, not full-blown, condition. And word without thought, it goes without saying, is meaningless, for it means word mechanically uttered separated from the thought which it is intended to express. The essential factor in the effective use of the word is that it is inextricably united with the thought-vibrations that are the main product of the Tapas-force of the Rishi, the Mystic. The word was thus a conscious power; if on the one hand it brought the Initiate the initial awakening into the presence of Agni, it did on the other hand, prove a live force to call on Agni to come to the forefront and take charge of the Initiate’s life-work and guide him to the destination. It was a force that was used to evoke the powers of intuition and inspiration, to develop the faculties of truth-audition and truth-perception, and thereby to formulate effective forms of prayer, the mantra, to achieve definite ends in the inner as well as the outer life of the Initiate. Such is the character and purpose of the potent Word that fell from the Mystic for the initiation of the Initiate.

Since the Word of initiation is a potent sound churned out by the Tapas – self-gathered conscious power of the Rishi, it continues to live and have a distinct life of its own in the Initiate who always relies on and refers to it for any of the purposes as already mentioned, when the need arises.

What was the actual word of initiation used by the mystic cannot be affirmed with certitude as the choice always depends upon the need and temperament of the Initiate. It may have been any form of the Eternal Word, nitya vak, as mentioned by the Seer Virupa, by which term the Vedic Word, the Word issued from tapas-ſakti is meant. But we may assume on the strength of other Vedic texts and the Upanishads as well as on the hoary tradition that AUM represented the name of the Sole and Supreme Truth and was superbly fitted for the mystic initiation. Here also, it is the actual initiation and the capacity to transmit that is the essence of the matter. But we may note in passing that tradition has preserved the manner of initiation; in spite of the encrustation of heavy forms or rites it points to the secret of initiation. For the Acharya who accepts the disciple takes him alone and they keep themselves aloof from the view of others by closing themselves under a cloth spread over them and he utters the Mantra which the novitiate repeats following the teacher, and later utters the Mantra along with the teacher keeping his voice and tone in close union with the teacher’s. Here lies the essential of the dikṣā, initiation; for later on, when the disciple takes to the name, the Mantra, it is the voice of initiation that dominates the being of the disciple in the act of his use of the Mantra for meditation, prayer or adoration of the Ideal for which he has consecrated his life.

The initiation into the mystic truths was always understood to be a guarded secret and when the initiation takes effect in the Initiate even the Gods come down to greet the new child born in him. We have it explicitly stated in a hymn in the Atharva text (11.5.3) that the Acharya initiating the disciple takes him into his womb and bears him for three nights in his belly and when he is new-born the gods come down together to behold him. This shows beyond a shadow of doubt that the mystic initiation is a self-effectuating process introduced into the system of the disciple who keeps himself under the care of the adept until the new birth, the spiritual birth of the Initiate becomes a settled fact. This spiritual birth is not the end but the beginning; it is the epiphany of the Immortal in the mortal, the Seer-Will coming to the front from beind the veil of darkness, the Flaming Force that burns to ashes all that obscures and obstructs, and brightens the passage of the Gods for the human march.

Once Agni is kindled, born and tended to grow into a firm and fixed, divine and articulate organ occupying the central part of the Initiate, he is always recognised as the new-born and distinct child of the Grace Divine and whatever activity such a mortal is called upon to undertake, he could and has to unburden himself to the Divine Guest to whom he can deliver himself with all his possessions. Thus Agni is not an imaginary figure, or metaphysical concept, but a living presence, the Divine Guide quite recognisable as distinct from all that is human in the Rishi. He is face to face with him, quite intimate, beloved like a father, a son, a friend and nearest of relatives to whom he can always look up for advice and guidance. When we read hymn after hymn addressed to Agni we can always find an unusual striking intimacy of the Rishi with this mystic Fire. We cannot afford to dispose of such hymns as fanciful prayers and pious hopes of credulous men of those ages in the beginnings of time, unless we choose to be perverse or un-reasonable. When the Rishi says, “ Agni, I deem my father, Agni my kinsman, him I deem my brother and friend for ever,” he is not eulogising Agni as conceived in his mind, nor the elemental fire, nor the sanctified fire for sacrificial purposes, but speaks with fervour the Truth of his life that Agni, the purifying flame of the Divine Seer-Will has entered into his life and occupies a central position in his being and that he is so much loved and adored that the Rishi cannot think of any one else nearer to him than Agni. Thus sings Trita Aptya in the tenth Book of the Rik Samhita. Numerous are the Riks that throw light on the Rishi’s intimacy with Agni, an intimacy which emboldens him to address the God in terms of endearment and love, of reverence and adoration, cherishing him in all possible relationship as occasion de nds. The Rishis are of one voice in extolling the birth of Agni, they adopt the same formula in celebrating it with a happy confidence in the marvels that he reveals beginning with and subsequent to his birth. Let us choose from the Hymns to the Mystic Fire a specimen Rik or two at random that reveal the wondrous birth and still more wondrous effect of his advent on the forces that block the way and are opposed to godly life and light of truth. Jamadagni Bhargava sings: “As soon as he was born Fire measured out the shape of the sacrifice and became the leader who goes in front of the Gods. In the speech of this priest of the call which points out by its direction the Truth, may the Gods partake of the oblation made swāhā.” (X.110.11) Note that the sacrifice mentioned here is the inner one which is a live force that proceeds upwards to the regions of the Light and Truth and that it is Agni who determines its course in accordance with the need of the Rishi. And when the passage is made clear the Gods come to accept the offering in response to the Call of which Agni himself is the priest.

In another verse of the same hymn we find that by the good offices of Agni the Divine Doors open and are easy of approach to the Gods. “Widely expanding may they spring apart making themselves beautiful for us as wives for their lords; O divine doors, vast and all-pervading, be easy of approach to the Gods.” (X.110.5)

In another place, Agni is plainly addressed as the builder of the levels (i.e. planes). “All the manifold magic of the lords of magic they have combined in Thee, O all-ruler, O builder of the levels.”

The potency of the Word, the secret Name, or the sacrificial Name, yajniyam nāma, is mentioned a number of times in the hymns. We have already stated that the Rishis valued the Word as a treasure and used it always with effect because of the conscious life that made for its potency. In Rishi Purucchepa’s chant (1.127.7), we find a similar reference to the Word’s marvel. When the Bhrigus “have made obeisance and spoken to him (Agni) the Word, when they have churned him out by their worship, the Fire becomes Master of the riches.”

The Rishi’s trust in the efficacy of the Word, the happy confidence that is manifest in his Call on Agni are often simple, straight, sincere and strike a note of reverential intimacy which leaves its impress on the ardent lover and devotee of the mystic lore. When Gritsamada sings, “O Messenger, O youngest Power, come at our word for him who aspires to thee and craves for thy safeguard; arrive, O Priest of the Call, strong for sacrifice" (II.6.6.), is it possible not to be moved by the faith-laden words of inspiration that steal into us with a stir in the core of our being ? And yet this Agni who is so close to us and accessible to devout hearts is not different from the Sun of Truth. For in the last resort, the Rishi realises him as the force of the Sun of Truth. “I serve thy Vast Fire, his bright and worshipped force of the Sun in heaven." (X.7.3.)

Here we stop for the present and close this short Paper on the character and process of initiation and the advent of the Mystic Fire. And this is the substance of what we have stated so far that the initiation starts with the Word churned out of the tapas-force generally transmitted by an adept to the Initiate or possibly by the Initiate himself discovering the Word of Truth by his tapasya, or by the favour and help of the Divine Powers in response to his intense call and fervent prayer. It is the Word that brings the initial awakening of the soul to the awareness of a higher Power, a deeper presence within him. And when by the Word, by the Name, the Fire within is kindled and the birth of the Divine, the Immortal element becomes settled, the Initiate gradually hands over the charge of his self-discipline to the Mystic Fire who determines the road and steps to be traversed and carries him safe through openings to the radiant realms of Truth-Force, Truth-Consciousness and Truth-Light. He builds the planes of his being, opens the closed centres that are linked to the Cosmic planes, confers on him Truth-vision and Truth-audition, and whatever means is necessary He grants him Knowledge, power or concentration and through all this He reaches him to the immortal Life, the undying Light, to the Sun-World which is the plenary Home of Truth.