UNIT- II

Vedic and Upanishadic Traditions

Vedic Mantras: Hymn of Creation, To Vak

Upanishadic Narratives: The Story of Nachiketa

Vedic Mantras

• The Rg Veda, which comprises 1,017 hymns divided into ten books
• It represents the earliest phase of the evolution of religious consciousness

Deities
• We have worship of deities like Surya (sun), Agni (fire), Dyaus (sky or heaven), Maruts (storms), Vayu or Vata (wind),
Apas (waters), Usas (dawn), and Prthivx (earth).
• Even deities whose names are no longer so transparent, such as Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Aditi, Visnu, Pusan, the two
Asvins, Rudra, and Parjanya, were originally related to natural phenomena.
• Qualities which emphasize particular important aspects of natural phenomena attained sometimes to the rank of
independent deities.
• Savitr (Savitar), the inspirer or life-giver, and Vivasvan, the shining, were originally attributes, names of the sun, but
later became sun-gods.
• Some of the deities worshiped by the different tribes were admitted into the Vedic pantheon.
• Abstract qualities like Sraddha (faith), Manyu (anger), Gandharvas (fairies), Apsaras (heavenly damsels), and forest
and field spirits were also included.
• Though the Rg Veda speaks of a plurality of gods, when worship is accorded to any one of them, he becomes the
chief god, the creator, preserver, and judge (or destroyer) of the universe.
• As several gods are exalted to this high place, the tendency is called henotheism, as distinct from monotheism where
only one God is exalted as the highest.
• The attributes of creation, preservation, and judgment (or destruction) could not be separated and ascribed to
different deities.
• They were given to a single personality, Prajapati, the lord of creatures, and Vigvakarman, the world-maker. The
conception of Rta (the order of the world) supports this idea.
• If the endless variety of the world suggests numerous deities, the unity of the world implies one deity.

Hymns to Gods: Polytheism

• To Indra
• To Visnu
• To Agni
• To Brhaspati (Lord of prayers)
• To Prthivi
• To Dyaus and Prthivi (Heaven and Earth)
• To Surya
• To Usas (Dawn)
• To Vata/Yayu (Wind)
• To Vak (Voice or Speech personified)

Monotheistic and Monistic Tendencies

• The hymns in this section represent the second and third stages of the development of the thought of the Rig Veda,
the transition from naturalistic polytheism to monotheism and then to the philosophical monism which constitutes
the main philosophical doctrine of the Veda later to be carried over into the Upanisads and eventually into the most
highly developed system of Indian thought, the Vedanta.
• Identification one god with another or throw all the gods together. This tendency and systematisation has its natural
end in monotheism, which is simpler and more logical than the anarchy of a crowd of gods and goddesses thwarting
each other.
• Even the single great Being of the monotheistic period did not escape criticism.
• The mind of man is not satisfied with an anthropomorphic (the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to
a god) deity. The seeking mind did not so much care for personal comfort and happiness as for absolute truth.
Whatever the emotional value of a personal God may be, the truth sets up a different standard and requires a
different object of worship.
• Monotheism failed to satisfy the later Vedic thinkers. And thus, monotheism eventually gave way to philosophical
monism, the doctrine of the impersonal, unknowable One.

In Monotheism hymns to deities such as,

• To Varuna (chief of the gods of the natural and moral order)

• To Visvakarman (the “ all-worker,” creator of the universe)
• To Purusa (person or man personified)
• To the Gods
• To Visvedevas (All gods- the pantheon as a whole)

HYMN OF CREATION

• Since the hymns often deal with more than one topic, it is not possible always to subsume the entire hymn under
single topical categories.
• Deals with the nature of the Absolute and the relation of the Absolute to the empirical world, as well as the process
of creation itself.

Text

1. At first was neither Being nor Nonbeing.

There was not air nor yet sky beyond.
What was its wrapping? Where? In whose protec=on?
Was Water there, unfathomable and deep?

2. There was no death then, nor yet deathlessness;

of night or day there was not any sign.
The One breathed without breath, by its own impulse.
Other than that was nothing else at all.

3. Darkness was there, all wrapped around by darkness,

and all was Water indiscriminate. Then
that which was hidden by the Void, that One, emerging,
s=rring, through power of Ardor, came to be.

4. In the beginning Love arose,

which was the primal germ cell of the mind.
The Seers, searching in their hearts with wisdom,
discovered the connec=on of Being in Nonbeing.

5. A crosswise line cut Being from Nonbeing.

What was described above it, what below?
Bearers of seed there were and mighty forces,
thrust from below and forward move above.

6. Who really knows? Who can presume to tell it?

Whence was it born? Whence issued this crea=on?
Even the Gods came aQer its emergence.
Then who can tell from whence it came to be?

7. That out of which crea=on has arisen,

whether it held it firm or it did not,
He who surveys it in the highest heaven,
He surely knows or maybe He does not!
EXPLANATION

• This short passage is actually one of several creation hymns in the Vedas. There are several different stories and
explanations of creation in the Hindu tradition, which underlies the main theme of this creation story – that no one
knows exactly what happened at the creation of the world.
• This hymn discusses skepticism (doubt) at knowing exactly what existed at the beginning of existence, as it states
that there was neither “existence nor non-existence” – most likely because those are human concepts and therefore
meaningless beyond our realm.
• The text refers to “that one” which is a reference to Brahman, the ultimate reality or Spirit of Hinduism. The term
“God” is usually not used in reference to Brahman – words like “one”, “spirit”, or “unity” are often used instead.
• The text also describes the beginning of existence as coming from “desire”, and “poets” who sought “wisdom” and
therefore created a “bond”. This connects to one of the essential teachings of Hinduism, which is that the goal of all
our lifetimes is to overcome desire for this world. Desire is what keeps us trapped in the cycle of reincarnation. When
we give up the “desire” that creates a “bond” to this world, which in Hinduism is a form of ‘original sin’, then we can
be released back to Brahman and eternal, perfect existence.
• The last section of the hymn focuses on the unknowability of the specifics of the creation of the universe. The hymn
mentions that not even the gods know, because they came “afterwards” – in Hinduism the gods are part of this
creation, and also have to find their way back to Brahman. The hymn ends with the mysterious claim that maybe not
even God himself, the “one who looks down on it” knows exactly how this universe came to be.
• This hymn gives us an important insight into Hinduism, which does not emphasize believing in certain doctrines in
order to return to God after death. It instead emphasizes that there are multiple paths, multiple understandings of
the truth.

DETAILED ANALYSIS
• The vision of this hymn comes out of a profound insight into the mystery of reality. It is the product of a mystical
experience that are above logical thinking; it is a religious chant invoking in splendid verses the Primal Mystery that
transcends all categories, both human and divine. This hymn, while trying to plumb the depths of the mystery
expresses itself by means of a rich variety of different symbols related to the one single insight.

• We are dealing here, in the first place, not with a temporal cosmogonic hymn describing the beginning of creation,
or even with an ontological theogony, or with a historical description concerning the formation of the Gods or even
of God. It is not the description of a succession of stages through which the world has passed. The starting point of
the hymn is not a piece of causal thinking seeking the cause of this world or of God or the Gods, but rather an
intuitive vision of the whole. This hymn does not attempt to communicate information but to share a mystical
awareness that transcends the sharpest lines of demarcation of which the human mind is capable: the divine and
the created, Being and Nonbeing. It seeks to give expression to the insight of the oneness of reality which is
experienced as being so totally one that it does not need the horizon of nonreality or the background of a thinking
process to appear in its entire actuality. This oneness is so radically one that every distinction is overcome; it is that
unutterable and unthinkable process that “sees” all that is and is-not, in its utmost simplicity, which is, of course, not
a jnana, a gnosis, but an ignorance, an interrogation. The One
• is not seen against any horizon or background. All is included. All is pure horizon. There are no limits to the universal
or, for that matter, to the concrete.

• The first verse brings us straightaway to the heart of the mystery and is composed of a series of questions. Neither
an affirmation nor a negation is capable of carrying the weight of the ultimate mystery. Only the openness of an
interrogation can embrace what our mere thinking cannot encompass. The Ultimate is neither real nor nonreal,
neither being nor nonbeing, and thus neither is nor is-not; the apophatism is total and covers everything, even itself:
“darkness was wrapped in darkness.”

• Being as well as Nonbeing, the Absolute (or Ultimate) as well as the Beginning, are contradictory concepts when
applied to the primordial mystery. “Absolute” means unrelatedness, and when we speak or think about it we are
negating that character. “Ultimate” points toward the end of a process that has no “after,” and “Beginning” toward
a point that has no “before.” But what is to prevent our thinking a “previous” to the Beginning and a “beyond” to
the Ultimate, unless our mind artificially imposes a limit on its thinking or bursts in the effort? If we think “Being” we
cannot be prevented from thinking “Nonbeing” also, and so the very concept of an all-including “Being” which does
 not include “Nonbeing” defeats its own purpose. Indeed, a metaphysician might say that “Nonbeing” is a nonentity
and an unthinkable concept; yet the fact remains that at least on the level of our thinking the concept of “Being”
cannot include its contradiction. This verse tells us that the primordial mystery cannot be pinpointed to any idea,
thing, thought, or being. It is primarily neither the answer to a set of riddles nor the object of current metaphysical
speculations concerning the how or the why of creation. It is beyond thinking and Being. The symbol of water is the
most pertinent one: the primordial water covers all, supports all, has no form of its own, is visible and invisible, has
no limits, pervades everything, it is the first condition of life, the place of the original seed, the fertilizing milieu.

• The seer then continues by a series of negatives: there was neither death nor nondeath, nor any distinction between
day and night. All the opposites, including the contradictories, are on this side of the curtain. At this point we have
not yet reached Being and thus we have not yet the possibility of limiting Being by Nonbeing. This One is not even
a concept. It is not a concept limit like truth, goodness, beauty, and similar concepts when applied to the Absolute;
it is rather the limit of a concept, unthinkable in itself and yet present on the other side of the curtain as the necessary
condition for the very existence and intelligibility of everything. Whereas the concepts of being, goodness, truth,
and the like admit degrees of approximation to the fullness of that to which they refer, the One does not. There are
degrees of being, of goodness, of truth. There are no degrees of oneness. The One represents the peak of mystical
awareness, which India developed later in her Advaitic philosophy, and the West in Trinitarian theology.

• Darkness and emptiness are also symbols of the first moment. This darkness is not, however, the moral or even the
ontological darkness of the world, but the primordial darkness of the Origin. The negative as well as the positive
aspect of existence belongs to the Ultimate. Evil and good, the positive and the negative, both are embraced in the
One that encompasses everything. Now, to cancel darkness by darkness, is it not to let the light shine forth?
Furthermore, it is said that desire, love, fervor, were the dynamic forces that brought reality to a temporal process
of originating something out of something. Out of nothing nothing can come.

• Nothingness is not previous to, but coextensive with Being. The source of Being is not another Being or anything
that can be considered as being an origin out of which things come to be. The process, according to the intuition of
the Vedic rishi, is one of concentration, of condensation, of an emergence by the power of love. This love cannot be
a desire toward “something” that does not exist, or even a desire coming out of a nonexisting Being. It is this very
concentration that originates the Self which is going to be and have that love. Primordial love is neither a transitive
nor an intransitive act; it is neither an act directed toward the other (which in this case does not exist) nor an act
directed toward oneself (which in this case is also nonexistent), but it is the constitutive act by which existence comes
into being. Without love there is no being, but love does not happen without ardor or tapas. It is fervor, tapas, that
makes the being be; they are not separable. The relation between kama, desire and love, on the one hand, and tapas,
ardor and heat, on the other, is one of the universal cosmic laws linking Being and the whole realm of beings (vv. 3-
4).

• The poets, those sages who seek to penetrate the mystery of reality, discover in Nonbeing the gravitational center
of Being; only when this is realized can the cord that differentiates them be extended. The rope connecting Being
and Nonbeing is the ultimate rope of salvation.

• The two last stanzas voice several agonized queries and give expression to a deep-rooted unextirpable uncertainty
for which no reply is vouchsafed, because reality is still on the move and any definite answer would preclude its
constant newness. This insight brings us again to that ultimate level where the One is situated. From that depth the
sage expresses the most fundamental question about the essential and existential enigma of the universe: What, he
asks, is the origin of this universe, of all this, idam? Who, or what, is its purpose, its end, its direction? It cannot be
the Gods, for they themselves belong on this side of the curtain. Nobody can know what is the very foundation of
knowing, nor can anyone say that it is not known. This latter assumption would amount to being biased in favor of
a certain negative theology or philosophy. To say that we do not know can be as assertive as to say that we do know.
The last question is not the expression of a renunciation of knowledge or a declaration of agnosticism, which would
here amount to a dogmatic affirmation, but the declaration that the problem--and not only the answer--is beyond
the subject and object of knowledge itself. Only he who is beyond and above everything many know--or he may
not, for how may there be any assurance concerning it? It is not only that we know that we do not know, which
would then be mere pretending, but that we really do not know even if it is at all knowable by any possible
knowledge. The hymn concludes with this query, this constitutive uncertainty which is of infinite magnitude, because
we are all involved in it. To answer the query would amount to killing the very unfolding of reality. It is the openness
of this interrogation which allows the universe to emerge and to exist.
TO VAK/ VAK SUKTA/ DEVI SUKTA

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT WOMEN SCHOLARS OF THE VEDAS

• The Vedic period saw highly intelligent and learned women who actively contributed to the shaping of human
civilization. The Vedas comprise the largest and longest-living literature of the world.
• The Rig Veda mentions around 27 to 30 Rishikas or women seers and several of the Rig Vedic Hymns are attributed
to them. They were known as Brahmavadinis – women of high scholarship.
• Brahmavadinis dedicated their entire lives to learning, teaching and spreading knowledge through their Tapasya
and remained unmarried. This was their sole aim.
• Sadyodvāhās were also a group of women scholars who continued their education until their marriage. Their
compositions show the high position women seers enjoyed in the Rig Vedic times.

COMPOSITION OF VAK SUKTA

• Book 7 of the Rig Veda, 125th Hymn - the Devi Suktam, sees the beginning of the contributions of women seers.
• Unlike many other Suktams in which the Vedic Seer addresses a Devata, this is composed from a state of divine
ecstasy born out of being merged in Devi consciousness. Hence, this is an Atmastuti.
• The Devi Suktam is an expression of the unity of the universe and is one of the earliest Advaitic works. Comprising
of 8 stanzas, the descriptions match with all aspects of the universal goddess, Adi Parashakti – Durga, Lakshmi and
Sarasvati. The Devi Suktam is a celebration of our inherent divinity and splendour!

ABOUT THE COMPOSER

• Rishika Vak Ambhrini, the daughter of the great seer Ambhrina is credited with the Devi Suktam, also known as
Vak Suktam.
• She is among the most ancient women poets of the world.
• The Vak Suktam is pure power. It is not composed by her as one would compose poetry. It is a spontaneous
outpouring of her realizations and divine experience.
• She identifies herself as the Supreme Goddess herself, Adi Parashakti. Embodying the consciousness of the Devi she
has composed the Hymn on, the composition pours power, vigour and strength.
• The seer of the mantra is vak, the daughter of Rishi Ambhuna, resulting in the complete name vagambhrni. The
devata is also vagambhrni, meaning that the seer completely identifies with the seen in this suktam.

ABOUT VAK SUKTA

• It belongs to the late Rigveda and is considered to be one of the most emblematic texts of the Vedic culture,
encoding the profound knowledge of ancient poets about the creative essence and the power of Sound and
Language.
• According to the Rigvedic tradition this is anatmastuti-hymn. The hymns of this specific and rare genre in Rigveda
have been composed not in the format of a praise or prayer to the gods as the usual poems in the first Veda, but in
the format of a god’s words, addressed to the adepts.
• The god himself “speaks“ to the mortals, “impersonalized“ in the priest who recites the hymn. (Example movie
Kantara)

DESCRIPTION
• In the present hymn the Goddess of Speech, Vak, being the hidden energy represented through the activities of
other gods, reveals her capacity to create the world.
• The speech which we utter is described as a goddess in Rigveda. There its nature and qualities are mentioned.
• The rishika contemplates on the Self- can also be interpreted as
(a) the primordial speech-paravak, as per the later philosophies of Kashmir Shaivism or
(b) the first letter A, in the primordial sabda U
• And on its creative powers and joyfully proclaims these verses in praise of the Self.
EXPLANATION OF VAK SUKTAM

1. I move with the Rudras and also with the Vasus, I wander with the Adityas and the Vishwadevas. I hold alo9 both
Mitra and Varuna, and also Indra and Agni and the twin Ashvins.

• In the above verse, the Goddess declares herself as the controlling power behind the many Devas who are associated
with various facets and functions of this universe.
• She claims to move as one with the mighty Devas, including the eleven Rudras, Vasus, Adityas and Vishwadevas,
assuming their form.
• She is their core and inner self of all the Devas. She is more than their equal, as she sustains and holds them aloft
(overhead). She is thus Supreme.
o The 11 Rudras are manifestations of Shiva.
o The Adityas are the sons of Aditi and sage Kashyapa.
o The 8 Vasus are a class of wealth giving deities who represent aspects of the cosmic natural phenomena.
o Vishwadevas are a group of 10 Vedic Gods, who are sons of Vishwaa.
• She is their supporter without whom they cease to exist.

2. I uphold and cherish the Soma, the exuberant plant, that is pressed out for the delight of the Gods. I am the
supporter of the divine sculptor and craftsman, Tvaṣṭar and of Bhaga and Pushan too. I am the giver of the
fruits of the sacrifices and grant the wealth of oblation, to the mindful institutor of sacrifice and to the
performer of Soma sacrifice.

• The Goddess now says that she is the controller of the high-swelling Soma juice, the sacred drink that brings
delight to the Devas.
• She bears the three divinities – Tvaṣṭar, Pūṣan, and Bhaga.
o Tvaṣṭar is the divine architect and through his excellent craftsmanship has created implements for many
of the Devas. He is also the protector of Soma.
o Pūṣan performs the crucial role of guiding souls, connecting them to the other planes of existence,
facilitating their journeys and protecting them through their journey to other worlds.
o Bhaga is a Rig Vedic deity responsible for the bestowing of wealth, fortune and prosperity.
• Thus, it is with the power of Devi that these divinities carry on their important cosmic functions that keep the
created realities thriving.
• To the one who zealously pours the Soma juice and offers his oblations to the Yajna, she bestows the fruits of the
fire ritual.
• She bestows wealth on the mindful Yajamana (patron of the sacrifice).
• It is through her that the offerings of Soma and Havis reach the Gods.

3. I am the ruling Queen, the authority and amasser of treasures, full of wisdom, first of those who are worthy
of worship through Yajna (fire and sacrifice). It is me, the Devas have installed in many places, in many
directions, with many homes for me to enter and abide in.

• She is the supreme Queen of the Universe, the ruler in control of all material wealth (vasus) and dispenser of the
riches.
• She is the embodiment of knowledge, the cognizer of the Brahman and the all-knowing one.
• The first among gods, she is the prime among the deities worshipped through the fire ritual (Yajna).
• She gives wealth to those who worship her.
• She enters many bodies as the prime consciousness, Atma, taking various forms and with different manifestations,
in various ways.
• Hence, the Devas have incorporated her in various places, having many abodes, causing her to pervade (or
overpower) many.
• From this verse, it is evident that the Devi addressed is Lalitha, encompassing aspects of Lakshmi and Sarasvati..
• The Devi states that she is the supreme ruler in control of all material wealth (Lakshmi), knowledge and wisdom
(Saraswati).
• According to the Puranas and Agamas, Goddess Lalitha holds the undisputed supremacy among all Deities and
creates the Trinities out of Herself.
• She is the first among gods and is present in all things and in every part of the universe.
4. It is by my power and through me alone that one eats, sees, breathes and hears the spoken word. He is not
aware of me, yet he dwells in me alone. Listen with concentration, O those who can hear! For, I tell you what
is trustworthy! Hear, one and all, the truth as I declare it.

• In this mantra, the Goddess announces herself as the primordial power driving all life processes that make the
human body function, whether one is aware or not.
• It is through her power that one eats his food, one sees, breathes and hears what is said.
• Even those who do not recognize her, are protected by her.
• Those who ignore her with their thoughts not turned to her, run to ruin.
• She asks for her statement to be heard with concentration and exhorts its credibility.
• She urges that what she says is trustworthy and that she be listened to.

5. It is I who announces the tidings that are pleasing to gods and men. The man I love, I make mighty in
strength, a knower of the Brahman – a sage, a learned scholar, or a wise one as I please.

• This time, the Devi addressed both the Devas and the earthly beings.
• She states that her announcements cause the Devas and the human beings to rejoice.
• She would bestow her grace on whomsoever she wishes, by granting them material or other benefits as they
deserve.
• If she is pleased by someone, (for his meditation towards her), she makes him
(i) Ugra: One greatest in strength
(ii) Brahman: A knower of the Brahman, as a Self-realized soul
(iii) Rishi: One well versed in knowledge as a learned scholar
(iv) Sumedha: A very wise person.
• Her decision is welcomed by one and all.
• Declaring her supremacy as the Sarva Jagat Iswari or the sole controller of all Gods and men, she makes it clear
that only she holds the power to grant BrahmAtva or Vishnutva or Rishi-hood.
• It is her grace that all Gods and men strive to achieve.

6. I bend the bow for Rudra that his arrow may slay the hater of the words of sacred wisdom. I rouse the people
and make them strive. I have entered the Earth and Heaven, filling everything.

• In this verse, she assumes the Durga aspect of Adi Parashakti, who fights for the Dharmic forces.
• She bends the bow for Rudra to kill all those enemies who detest Dharma, and so that his arrow may strike and
slay the hater of devotion.
• Here, Devi could also mean that she is the elastic potential energy that turns into kinetic energy when the bow is
released and thus establishes herself as both the unmanifest potential energy and manifest kinetic energy, that
the universe is a combination of.
• At the level of the Devas, she has fought several battles and slain many savage Asuras including Mahishasura,
Shumba and Nishumba, to name a few. (Navratri Katha)
• The Devi Purana is replete with stories of her bloody battles and she always emerging victories after fighting
impossible Asuras. (story of Raktbeej)
• Even at the level of humans, she goes all out to protect a sincere devotee or humble Dharmi.
• She wages war against hostile men to protect the praying ones.
• Here, however, she rouses the inner strength in people and makes them determined to fight for their welfare.
• Durga Devi helps both the Devas and humans in establishing Dharma, by providing them the power to fight
against Adharma.

7. I generate the father on the summit of this (sky). My source is in the waters, deep in the inner cosmic oceans.
From there, I spread among all living creatures, alongside the all-pervading, and with the vertex, I touch that
sky.

• In the Rig Veda, Dyaus Pitr is the God of the sky and heavens and is considered the father.
• His consort is Prithvi Devi – Mother Earth, and together, they are the source of all creation.
• Here, the Devi exhorts that she is the progenitor of Dyaus Pitr or Akasha (sky), it is from her that he has emerged
and it is she who gave birth to him.
 • The source of her own creative powers lie deep in the cosmic ocean and waters, and by that, she is present in all
three worlds.
• Here, “waters” refers to the cosmic waters which is an all-pervading entity, the genesis of all creative energy.
• Emerging from the cosmic ocean, through a vortex, she pervades all creation and touches the sky and the apex
of the heavens with her forehead.
• She establishes herself as the absolute origin of all creation and pervades all creation.

8. I breathe a strong breath like the wind and tempest, from which commence forth all living beings and
universes. I hold together all of existence – beyond this wide earth and beyond the heavens. I have become
so mighty in my grandeur!

• It is her breath that blows forth as the mighty winds.

• The last verse is a declaration of her vastness and largeness.
• She is beyond what the mind can comprehend, beyond the created space and time.
• She verily brings into existence, both space and time and all the worlds issue forth through the winds that she
vehemently blows.
• She breathes life into all of creation.
• So vast is her greatness and glorious is her power.
• Thus concludes the powerful Devi Suktam.

• Filled with bold proclamations, the Suktam oozes brilliance and might.
• Vagambhrini became a medium for Adi Parashakti and the ultimate truth to pour forth.
• It is through such highly accomplished seers that the truth is shared and recorded as Shrutis.
• These are divine revelations seen by Rishis and Rishikas, our ancient Sages, while absorbed in intense Tapasya and
meditation.