Odd Passages in the Vedas and what they might mean – I

I have always been struck by one gnawing feeling whenever I read the Vedas and the Upanishads. That some of the passages are extremely odd. Vedas and Upanishads, for the entirely uninitiated are the oldest part (and for the believers like me, the most sacred part, the Shruti) of Hindu sacred literature. While the Vedas were definitely composed sometime in the early part of the second millennium B.C, the Upanishads were products of a slightly later period with the most important ones (such as the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad) having attained their present form a couple of centuries before the Buddha’s life. Since these are the oldest texts, these are also the most alien to the modern mind in terms of the world and society they were addressing. Reading certain verses today, one feels, more than anything else, complete wonder and bafflement. At least that is so in my case.

Feminists reading them will find the beginnings of the institutions of patriarchy, dalit scholars will find the undeniable indications of the early onset of the caste system, Hindu philosophers will find already fully articulated ideas of Vedanta, and the essential oneness of the Jivatma and Brahman, Buddhist and Jain philosophers will find the stifling rules of the elaborate rituals that possibly led to the popularity of Buddhism and Jainism in the subsequent centuries, material historians of India in the ancient period will find the shift from the nomadic lifestyle to settled cultivation which according to them explain the shift from the more mundane ritualistic aspects of the Vedas to the more speculative philosophical excursions of the Upanishads, the historians of religion will find similarities between these traditions and similar impulses in traditions across the world from China to Greece. But all of these suffer from the same malaise. The malaise of hindsight influencing the meaning we ascribe to these texts. While each of the above might be true, either in isolation or together, that may still not answer what the texts meant for those composing them or even why they composed them. This malaise has been highlighted and documented extensively by Wendy Doniger in her book on Hinduism. (Wendy Doniger, The Hindus: An Alternative History. New York, Penguin Press, 2009.)

It must be borne in mind however, that the Vedas especially were not addressing society in any manner whatsoever, in fact, they were entirely addressing the various celestial beings to whom most of the verses were dedicated. They were inspired by the fickle-mindedness of Varuna, the torrential anger of Rudra, the gorgeous beauty of Usas, the intoxicating Soma, the vigor and virtue of Indra and so on. Characters and beings who were as real to them as people. Or were they? Because in these verses one also finds that they seem to question the existence and meaning of all the gods and rituals. So at times, it is probably the best and most accurate form of analysis to simply wonder – wonder at what motivated these people to write down these verses of immense beauty in a systematic and metered form and commit them to memory with such great perfection that they have been almost impeccably preserved down to this day. I will be selecting some especially enigmatic verses and discussing them in this piece and subsequent pieces.

Let us take the first example from the Rg Veda, which is probably the most often quoted verse from this text:

(Here the standard disclaimer. Vedic verses are meant to be heard and recited not read. This is less so with Upanishads. Hearing them is a completely different sensual experience from reading them. They are in verse form for a reason and in Sanskrit for a reason. Therefore reading them in English is at least twice removed sensually and linguistically from the proper way of absorbing these texts. But what can we do about it! We do the best we can.)

You can find all the pieces quoted in this writeup here:http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/

HYMN CXXIX. Creation.

THEN was not non-existent nor existent: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.
What covered in, and where? and what gave shelter? Was water there, unfathomed depth of water?
Death was not then, nor was there aught immortal: no sign was there, the day’s and night’s divider.
That One Thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature: apart from it was nothing whatsoever.
Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness this All was indiscriminated chaos.
All that existed then was void and form less: by the great power of Warmth was born that Unit.
Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire, the primal seed and germ of Spirit.
Sages who searched with their heart’s thought discovered the existent’s kinship in the non-existent.
Transversely was their severing line extended: what was above it then, and what below it?
There were begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here and energy up yonder
Who verily knows and who can here declare it, whence it was born and whence comes this creation?
The Gods are later than this world’s production. Who knows then whence it first came into being?
He, the first origin of this creation, whether he formed it all or did not form it,
Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not.

Amartya Sen, in his book The Argumentative Indian sees this verse as the manifesto of Indian skepticism. His analysis is based on the line:

“Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not.”

Perhaps he knows not? Surely that is an agnostic worldview to have. But perhaps Amartya Sen knows not. Adi Sankara on the other hand relies on this very same verse to establish the unbroken tradition of Advaita Vedanta from Rig Veda onwards. (Amartya Sen, The Argumentative Indian, Allen Lane, 2005). He relies on the line:

“That One Thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature: apart from it was nothing whatsoever.”

This must be the most succinct explanation of Brahman. And this is the oldest text on Hinduism there is. So that shows that Advaita Vedanta has the sanction of the Vedas. But there are some even more strange lines here. What does this mean for instance?

“There were begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here and energy up yonder”

It is generally suggestive of some primeval state of chaos but nothing more concrete. And what do you make of:

“Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire, the primal seed and germ of Spirit.”

Now this definitely is philosophical insight – however much the material historians (read Romila Thapar) try to paint the Vedic people as ritualistic cattle stealers, the person who came up with that line had higher preoccupations than cattle and ghee. (Romila Thapar, Early India, Penguin, 2004)

The next example is also from the Rg Veda:

HYMN CXXX. Creation.

THE sacrifice drawn out with threads on every side, stretched by a hundred sacred ministers and one,—

This do these Fathers weave who hitherward are come: they sit beside the warp and cry, Weave forth, weave back.

The Man extends it and the Man unbinds it: even to this vault of heaven hath he outspun, it.

These pegs are fastened to the seat of worship: they made the Sāma-hymns their weaving shuttles.

What were the rule, the order and the model? What were the wooden fender and the butter?

What were the hymn, the chant, the recitation, when to the God all Deities paid worship?

….

Now what does this mean? The poet seems to be describing the first sacrifice. He asks how was the first sacrifice performed? How did the sacrificers know what to do? He goes on to give a very ornate answer in the second part of the verse, but we are more interested in this part. Whatever, you make of hymns like these, one thing is certain – that they are open to possibly infinite interpretations. But most immediately these strike you as the speculation of an ancient self-reflectively wondering why exactly he is doing this sacrifice that he was doing. What is even more interesting is that this self-reflectively ‘wondering’ hymn itself was part of the hymns being recited during a sacrifice. A bit like a song that goes like:

“I really don’t know why I am singing, …

nor do I know who sang this song in the beginning”.

I will leave you in this piece with another verse from the Rig Veda:

HYMN XC. Puruṣa.

1. A THOUSAND heads hath Puruṣa, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet.

On every side pervading earth he fills a space ten fingers wide.

2 This Puruṣa is all that yet hath been and all that is to be;

The Lord of Immortality which waxes greater still by food.

3 So mighty is his greatness; yea, greater than this is Puruṣa.

All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths eternal life in heaven.

4 With three-fourths Puruṣa went up: one-fourth of him again was here.

Thence he strode out to every side over what cats not and what cats.

5 From him Virāj was born; again Puruṣa from Virāj was born.

As soon as he was born he spread eastward and westward o’er the earth.

6 When Gods prepared the sacrifice with Puruṣa as their offering,

Its oil was spring, the holy gift was autumn; summer was the wood.

7 They balmed as victim on the grass Puruṣa born in earliest time.

With him the Deities and all Sādhyas and Ṛṣis sacrificed.

8 From that great general sacrifice the dripping fat was gathered up.

He formed the creatures of-the air, and animals both wild and tame.

9 From that great general sacrifice Ṛcas and Sāma-hymns were born:

Therefrom were spells and charms produced; the Yajus had its birth from it.

10 From it were horses born, from it all cattle with two rows of teeth:

From it were generated kine, from it the goats and sheep were born.

11 When they divided Puruṣa how many portions did they make?

What do they call his mouth, his arms? What do they call his thighs and feet?

12 The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rājanya made.

His thighs became the Vaiśya, from his feet the Śūdra was produced.

13 The Moon was gendered from his mind, and from his eye the Sun had birth;

Indra and Agni from his mouth were born, and Vāyu from his breath.

14 Forth from his navel came mid-air the sky was fashioned from his head

Earth from his feet, and from his car the regions. Thus they formed the worlds.

15 Seven fencing-sticks had he, thrice seven layers of fuel were prepared,

When the Gods, offering sacrifice, bound, as their victim, Puruṣa.

16 Gods, sacrificing, sacrificed the victim these were the earliest holy ordinances.

The Mighty Ones attained the height of heaven, there where the Sādhyas, Gods of old, are dwelling.

This is the much maligned Purusha Sukta. This is cited as the earliest form of casteism in India for the following lines:

The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Rājanya made. His thighs became the Vaiśya, from his feet the Śūdra was produced.

But the same verse has lines like:

THOUSAND heads hath Puruṣa, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. On every side pervading earth he fills a space ten fingers wide.

This Puruṣa is all that yet hath been and all that is to be; The Lord of Immortality which waxes greater still by food. On every side pervading earth he fills a space ten fingers wide.

Seems to me to be an understanding that the size of the earth and the size of ten fingers are both same in some grand sense. Then this undoubtedly wonderful imaginary for the seasons:

When Gods prepared the sacrifice with Puruṣa as their offering, Its oil was spring, the holy gift was autumn; summer was the wood.

What do you make of these lines? I don’t know. But what I do know is that it is more entertaining to just simply wonder at these lines rather make them obey some view you have formed out of hindsight and the course subsequent history has taken. My forthcoming pieces will contain more such enigmatic verses.