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Rig Veda 10.191
Rig Veda 10.191
Rig Veda 10.191
RV 10.191
ṛṣi: samvanana; devatā: 1 agni, 2-4 saṃjñāna; chanda: anuṣṭup, 3 triṣṭup
Analysis of RV 10.191
1. THOU, mighty Agni, gatherest up all that is precious for thy friend.
Bring us all treasures as thou art enkindled in libation's place
Interpretation:
“O Lord, vṛṣan, O Flame Divine, agne, unite all in the absolute unity, saṃ sam id yuvase
viśvāni, for the Aryan, arya ā, [who aspires towards it]!
You are totally kindled in the place of the Truth, iḻaspade sam idhyase, bring to us our
luminous treasures, sa no vasūni ā bhara!”
Vocabulary:
iḻaspade, in the place , of sacred libation i.e. at the altar or place of offering RV.
yu, (cf. yuj) 2. P. (Dhātup. xxiv , 23) yauti (Ved. also A. yute and cl. 6. yuvati, -te; accord. to
Dha1tup. xxxi , 9 also cl. 9. yunāti, yunīte;) to unite , attach , harness , yoke , bind , fasten RV.;
to draw towards one's self , take hold or gain possession of , hold fast AV. TS. ŚBr.
Interpretation:
“Together you go, sam gacchadhvam, together you speak, saṃ vadadhvam, and
together you realize your thoughts, saṃ vo manāṃsi jānatām, as the first gods assumed
their share [in this creation], devā bhāgam yathā purve, set fully agreeing with each
other together, saṃjānānā upāsate.”
3 The place is common, common the assembly, common the mind, so be their thought united.
A common purpose do I lay before you, and worship with your general oblation.
Interpretation:
“Uniting is their Word, Uniting is their Gathering, Uniting is their Mind of these [gods]
who have one Consciousness.
It is this Uniting Word that I speak to you [now], it is with this Uniting Offering of yours
that I offer!”
samānī́ va ā́kūtiḥ
samānā́ hŕ̥dayāni vaḥ
samānám astu vo máno
yáthā vaḥ súsahā́sati 10.191.04
4 One and the same be your resolve, and be your minds of one accord.
United be the thoughts of all that all may happily agree.
Interpretation:
“May your Will in the body be uniting, may your Aspirations of the Heart be uniting, and
may your Mind be uniting, as in your common well being together.”
Vocabulary:
ākūti, f. intention , wish RV. AV. &c.
ākūta, n. intention , purpose , wish VS. ŚBr. &c.; (see cittākūta and sākūta) incitement to activity
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This will lead to the emergence of the next structure of consciousness: mental one. In
the mental structure of consciousness all the denied concerns of the magic structure re-
emerge again in a new way, as it were, as an objective reality. It is again in the
opposition to the concerns of the mythical structure that the mental one comes into
being: the fight between the Church and the Science and materialism is the vivid
example in the last few millennia. Materialism is the most aggressive and clear form of
Science, introducing Nature and its consciousness again as the only possible one, but
now in the opposition to the Soul and its Myth. It reestablishes the reality of Nature in a
new fashion, in the objective way. It is depicted by Gebser as three-dimensional
structure. It perceives the world as objective reality, regardless to the subjective reality
of the soul or magic oneness. This structure is based on thinking, theory, science, as an
approach to knowledge.
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All these structures have to be reconciled in the transparency of the integral structure,
they all have to find their new position and validity in the complexity of the integral
consciousness. In the integral structure of consciousness all other structures are present
and functional, but in another way, which is more comprehensive and complex.
According to Gebser the mutation of consciousness through the evolution took place
only once. We start with archaic and end with integral structure. But according to the
Vedic Knowledge this process took place many times. The movement within the
structures was known as manvantaras, the periods of Manu, the founder of Men. Each
Manvantara has four mahāyugas, great periods of time with many subdivisions, yugas
within it. Each period of time is ending with the critical structure of Kali Yuga, and
breaks into another period starting with Satya Yuga again. In every Manvantara there is
a particular Veda brought down by the seven Rishis, involutionary beings, for mankind
to follow. The Knowledge of the Veda is the same but it is fashioned for every
manvantara in a different way, accommodating the changes in the evolution and
projecting new possibilities for conquest of the Nature by the Soul. In this sense the
Veda is to be seen as the product of the previous manvantara and therefore integral in
its structure, incorporating all the psychological approaches to reality:
1) magic, mythical and mental,
2) the action, the word (myth) and the thought,
3) the body, the heart and the mind.
This can be clearly seen in the hymns, which are at once magic, mythical and highly
mental in their character.
The last Hymn of the Rig Veda, which is the message of the whole scripture, speaks
openly about these three structures, suggesting their integration.
Sáṃ gachadhvaṃ, meet together (magic structure), sáṃ vadadhvaṃ, speak together
(mythical structure), sáṃ vo mánāṃsi jānatām, may your thoughts know together
(mental structure), devā́ bhāgáṃ yáthā pū́rve saṃjānānā́ upā́sate, as the first gods who
set together agreeing about the portion of the work/sacrifice to take part in the creation.
Here we can clearly see this integral approach of the Veda to all possible structures of
consciousness: action, word and mind, or, as it be spoken in the last verse of this hymn:
will, heart and mind, ākūti, hṛdayāni, manaḥ.
This integral character of the Veda is the foundation of all Indian Civilisation. And
because it is integral it creates more possibilities of seeming deviation or rather
explorations of different varieties in manifestation without clashing with each other. The
integral character of the Veda defined the whole way of thinking in the later religious
and scientific literature; the Upanishads and the Gita have therefore similar integral
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approach, as in the Gita: Karma, Bhakti and Jñāna approaches to knowledge, so in the
Taittirīya Upaniṣad: Śikṣā Vallī, Brahmānanda Vallī, Bhṛgu Vallī, etc. etc.