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A Commentary on the First
Six Suktas of Rigveda
THE FIRST SUKTA COSMIC creation is a great and sublime sacrifice. Sarvagatam Bramha...¹ (The all-pervading Brahman is established in the sacrifice), says the Gita. Each and every object offers itself into this sacrificial fire. Why? Sacrifice indicates movement, that is to say, an ever-proceeding course towards the greater and still greater fulfilment of evolution. Sacrifice is being performed; creation has become dynamic and presses forward with the self-sacrifice of the objects inherent in it. By self sacrifice one creates another form and gets in it one's larger self. The plant has evolved from Matter; the animal after the plant; man from the animal, and God wants now to manifest Himself through man by virtue of this process of self-sacrifice. Sacrificing itself, the cloud comes down as rain. Parents sacrifice flesh and blood to give birth to their offspring. All these are but different forms of this sublime sacrifice. We may quote the Gita again: sahayajnah prajah;..² (With sacrifice the Lord of creatures of old created creatures and said: By this shall you bring forth (fruits or offspring), let this be your milker of desires.) It is the gods who are the primal powers holding and controlling this sacrifice and the cosmic creation. By his self offering man fulfils the nature of the gods. What is externally the sacrifice of physical elements
¹ Gita, III.15 ²Gita, II.10
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aYoga of union in the inner-consciousness. The
discipline of human life is also a sacrifice. What is the aim of such a
sacrifice? Evolution, ascension, from the little to the vast,
from suffering, weakness and ignorance to delight, strength and knowledge.
How is it possible? By the same self-sacrifice,
self-offering, dedication and prostration. The lower levels and the
lower dharmas in us have to be quietened
and surrendered to the higher and higher levels and dharmas.
The Katha Upanishad declares: Yacchedvammanasi
prajñastadyacchejjñana atmani, Jñamatmani mahati niyacchettadyacchecchanta atmani.¹ "Let the wise man restrain speech in his mind and
mind in Self, and knowledge in the Great-Self, and
that again let him restrain in the Self that is at peace." (Translated
by Sri Aurobindo) The Gita too says: Sarvanindriyakarmani
pranakarmani capare
Atmasamyamayogagnau juhvati jnanadipite. ² "And others offer all the actions of the sense and all the actions of the vital force into the fire of Yoga of self-control kindled by knowledge." The innermost and the uppermost "commune" of the divine energies is known as the gods. The aspirant will offer heart and soul and carry their prostration to the "commune" of the gods. Then alone will the gods descend in him with all their divine plenitude. The truth-seeker gives birth to the gods in his being. Likewise the gods draw him towards them. With regard to the mystery of this sacrifice Lord Sri Krishna proclaims: ¹ Katha, I.3.13. ² Gita, IV.27.
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bhavayatanena te deva bhavayantu vah Paraspararm bhavayantah sreyah paramavapsyatha.¹ "Foster by this the gods and let the gods foster you; fostering each other, you shall attain to the supreme good." This mutual exchange of sacrifice between man and the divine forces leading to progression, to evolution of life, is guarded by Fire, the light and heat that signify the power born of spiritual discipline. It is this energy that enables the practicant to go forward on his way of sacrifice. The aspirant offers as an oblation every limb of his being into this energy of spiritual practice which in its turn carries the self offering of the aspirant to his divinity, and continues to work for its establishment; that is why Fire is the offerer. Fire is also called the carrier, for he brings down the divine powers into the aspirant and carries him up into their region. This work Fire has undertaken to perform without the least violation of the rhythm of Truth day after day through the evolutionary process. Hence he is called the priest. The priest is he who knows the proper time for the performance of the seasonal sacrifices. The energy born of spiritual practice too has the spontaneous tendency to determine the spiritual course of the practicant. The Fire of spiritual discipline burns up all the dross contained in the receptacle of the aspirant making him more capable and bringing down into him the divine power, knowledge and bliss - complete success. The power of Fire is no other than the dynamis of the Divine vision, the activity born of direct realisation (kavikratu); therefore Fire is called the protecting power of Truth (gopam rtasya). That which is the foundation of Truth, the Right, the Vast, the fourth world, is indeed svarloka, the own home (sva dama) of Agni and all the other gods. It is here that the gods reign supreme in their own real form, in their true nature. But, then, every god has his assigned field of activity here on earth through some suitable subtle
¹ Gita, III.11.
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The seat of Fire, his field of action, is the earth, the gross sheath. The
Energy of spiritual discipline first possesses the practicant
in his body, the body-con- sciousness; and gradually
with the help of the other gods this Fire-god leads him to the vital region and
then to the sphere of the mind, thence to the Supermind, the fourth heaven.
Each god represents the divine embodiment of the special virtue of a particular
region or level. But Fire is the foremost God, and the aspirant who wants to
have an access to the secrets of spiritual practice and is eager to progress
must become a worshipper of Fire (angiras). This sukta (the word
literally means "well spoken", the faultless speech, the infallible
words of the seasoned seer of Truth) can be divided into three parts each
containing three riks in accordance with the special
differences in the current of thoughts. The first three riks
deal with the theme: Who is Fire, what are his particulars, name and form? The
second three deal with the subject: What is Fire, what his virtues, nature and
innate tendencies? The third group describes the relationship between Fire and
the aspirant in the matter of spiritual practice, the holy sacrifice. The
mantras are composed in the metre called Gayatri,
which too has three feet. Thus every rik too has
three metrical divisions.
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