Rig Veda 10.191

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RV 10.191
ṛṣi: samvanana; devatā: 1 agni, 2-4 saṃjñāna; chanda: anuṣṭup, 3 triṣṭup

s<-s/m! #d! yu?vse v&;/Ú! A¶e/ ivña?Ny! A/yR Aa ,


#/¦s! p/de sm! #?Xyse/ s nae/ vsU/Ny! Aa -?r . 10-191-01
s< g?CDXv</ s< v?dXv</ s< vae/ mna<?is jantam! ,
de/va -a/g< ywa/ pUvˆR? s~jana/na %/pas?te . 10-191-02
s/ma/nae mÙ>/ sim?it> sma/nI s?ma/nm! mn>? s/h ic/Äm! @?;am! ,
s/ma/nm! mÙ?m! A/i- m?Ùye v> sma/nen? vae h/iv;a? juhaeim . 10-191-03
s/ma/nI v/ Aakª?it> sma/na ùd?yain v> ,
s/ma/nm! A?Stu vae/ mnae/ ywa? v>/ sus/has?it . 10-191-04

Analysis of RV 10.191

s<-s/m! #d! yu?vse v&;/Ú! A¶e/ ivña?Ny! A/yR Aa ,


#/¦s! p/de sm! #?Xyse/ s nae/ vsU/Ny! Aa -?r . 10-191-01

sáṃ-sam íd yuvase vr̥ṣann


ágne víśvāni aryá ā́
iḷás padé sám idhyase
sá no vásūni ā́ bhara 10.191.01

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.

s< g?CDXv</ s< v?dXv</ s< vae/ mna<?is jantam! ,


de/va -a/g< ywa/ pUvˆR? s~jana/na %/pas?te . 10-191-02

sáṃ gacchadhvaṃ sáṃ vadadhvaṃ


sáṃ vo mánāṃsi jānatām
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devā́ bhāgáṃ yáthā pū́rve


saṃjānānā́ upā́sate 10.191.02

2 Assemble, speak together: let your minds be all of one accord,


As ancient Gods unanimous sit down to their appointed share.

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.”

s/ma/nae mÙ>/ sim?it> sma/nI s?ma/nm! mn>? s/h ic/Äm! @?;am! ,


s/ma/nm! mÙ?m! A/i- m?Ùye v> sma/nen? vae h/iv;a? juhaeim . 10-191-03

samānó mántraḥ sámitiḥ samānī́


samānám mánaḥ sahá cittám eṣām
samānám mántram abhí mantraye vaḥ
samānéna vo havíṣā juhomi 10.191.03

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!”

s/ma/nI v/ Aakª?it> sma/na ùd?yain v> ,


s/ma/nm! A?Stu vae/ mnae/ ywa? v>/ sus/has?it . 10-191-04

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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ākū, A. -kuvate, to intend ŚBr. iii.


susaha, ind. good company RV. - 2. 
sahāsana, n. sitting or abiding together Mn. MBh. &c.
āsat, part. pres. from ās 2.A.
  
An Integral Structure of Consciousness in the Rig Veda.

The Rig Veda represents an unusual combination of highly sophisticated language,


which is very rich and conceptually elaborated, much richer grammatically than the
literature of the Classical Sanskrit, and the ideas, which are from all different structures
of consciousness (using Gebser’s terms). It has a magic component in it and the prayers
of the pure mythical, religious structure and at the same time a very developed concepts
and visions of the high intuition.
It is nearly impossible to make out what structure of consciousness it should really
belong to. It seems to contain all the elements in itself.
The magic structure of consciousness, according to Gebser, is the layer of the
consciousness in the Nature; body, life and mind constitute this profound structure of
consciousness, which is seen always outside man, as it were, of which man is only a
part. Gebser calls it one-dimensional structure, which can be defined psychologically as
‘there is only what is’. It is based on one being and moving within it.
The Mythical structure of consciousness seems to appear later, as a memory of one’s
origin, introducing the self awareness or the consciousness of the soul, which wants to
go back to its origin, disregarding the magic structure and its concerns. It denies it, and
is always past-oriented, as it were, two-dimensional in its character. It is totally different
in character from the magic structure; it finds its consciousness within itself. It brings
into a play the Word, as the expression of the Soul. It creates a Myth, a story of creation
and its return to its Origin. It is in a constant contradiction to the Nature and especially
its lower parts and their concerns. It introduces a higher and purer love of the Heart to
the Divine, Beauty, Beloved, in opposition to the sensual pleasure of the magic structure
(sexual love of the body). It disregards all the major concerns of the magic structure,
such as comfort of the body, bodily pleasures, tribal togetherness, sexual enjoyment,
magic powers, etc. etc. It introduces other concerns for the Soul and its self-finding,
creating the ascetic approach to life, individualistic approach to the Truth, austerity,
monastery, away from life and its powers. The compromise between the two will then
re-appear as the development of the social and religious laws of the society. The
mythical structure is based on the Myth, the Word, the Scripture.

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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So these three structures psychologically can be described as:


1) The world is me, there is no other me;
2) I am different from the world, I have my own Origin, to which I must return;
3) I am an objectively existing egoistic or natural being, different from others.

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.

samānī́ va ā́kūtiḥ samānā́ hŕ̥dayāni vaḥ


samānám astu vo máno yáthā vaḥ súsahā́sati 10.191.04
“May your Will in the body be uniting, may your Aspirations of the Heart be uniting, and
may your Mind be uniting, as [it should be] in your common well being together.”

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.

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