Book Reviewed: A Vedic Index Meaning and explanation of some important Vedic symbols, words, images, and concepts in the words of Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo’ explanation of selected Vedic terms (Four stars)

The title of this book is somewhat misleading. I thought that this book is about Vedic terms from Rigveda, but this is about selected words and phrases from Vedic literature. The interpretation of Sri Aurobindo’s is somewhat metaphysical and does not include references, elucidation or annotation to the hymns of Rigveda. It refers to the page numbers of the Complete Works of Sri Aurobindo (CWSA). It is not as exhaustive as the book about Vedic Index by Arthur A. MacDonnell and Arthur B. Keith.

The interpretation of Vedic terms in this book is quite metaphysical. The Vedic literature interprets that Rigveda has little philosophy except for Nasadiya Sukta (Rigveda 10:129,1-7), but the author relates to the mind of Vedic seers. The post-Vedic scriptures like Upanishads are intensely metaphysical, which led to six schools of Hindu philosophical system unlike any other Abrahamic faiths. This could not have dropped out into the hands of Vedic Seers from nowhere. The preceptors of Upanishads were Vedic scholars knowledgeable about Vedic practices found metaphysical wisdom in early Vedic literature.

Mystical elements are associated with sacrificial performance of Vedic culture. This ritual was believed to please the Vedic gods and bless the performer with strength. It is said that the Vedic altar which is the seat of sacrifice is referred to as the farthest extremity of earth. Paro antah prithvyah (Rig-Veda I.164.35) as the nodes of Truth, Rtsya nabhih (Rig-Veda V. X.13.3). In some places the sacrifice is referred to as an entity with conscious activity, Tatramtsya cetanam yajnam te tanavavahai (Rig-Veda I.170.4) and the gods themselves perform conscious sacrifice, Cetanam Yajnam. Thus, sacrifice is deemed as a wheel for generating the power. Everything connected to a sacrifice has a symbolic meaning. Behind the external ceremony, there is an inner sanctum in which the sacrifice offers his material possessions to the higher powers with full devotion and dedication. It is a self-consecration with Agni who witnesses this journey to the inner sanctum. Agni is considered as the inner flame, a leader and the pathfinder.

In Rigveda 1.164.46, we find, “ekam sat viprah bhaudha vadanti,” translation; The Truth is One; Sages call it by different names. This sets the tone for very early metaphysical ideas that were later developed in Upanishads. The scribe of this hymn suggests that deities appear to be different and independent from each other, but they are manifestations of One Supreme God, referred to as Brahman in Upanishads.

According to the author, the Vedic Word or mantra is the expression of the intuition arising out of the depths of the soul or being. The Vedic hymns possess a finished metrical form, a constant subtility and skill in their technique, great variations of style and poetical personality; they are not the work of rude, barbarous primitive craftsmen but the living breath of a conscious being. The Vedic hymn composed by a Rishi sought to progress for himself and for others. It rose out of his soul and became a power of his mind; it was the vehicle of his self-expression in some important or even critical moment of his life's inner history. It helped him to express the god in him and to destroy the devourer and the expresser of evil. The core Hindu principles that dharmic practices lead to moksha and karma follows the evil deeds. Practicing bhakti-yoga and jnana-yoga lead to enlightenment.

The Nasadiya Sukta, the Hymns of Creation, Rigveda 10:129,1-7 describes the cosmos in highly metaphysical terms; it describes the essential features of quantum reality. It may also have contributed to furthering metaphysics in Upanishads. The first and last hymns reads as;

1. Then even nothingness was not, nor existence,
There was no air then, nor the heavens beyond it.
What covered it? Where was it? In whose keeping?
Was there then cosmic water, in depths unfathomed?

7. Whence all creation had its origin,
the creator, whether he fashioned it or whether he did not,
the creator, who surveys it all from highest heaven,
he knows — or maybe even he does not know.