Quotes from Upanishads----vaak and three forms of agni.
agni (self-manifesting Universal Consciousness)
, vaak, prithivI (physicality), and Sita (sItaa) as
the personification of vaak---Quotes from Upanishads.
Associated words related to the sacrifice and
oblation to agni have been explained. Some other words which
are related to agni as the expressions of the self
-manifesting Universal Consciousness are also explained.
(debkumar.lahiri@gmail.com)
Index
- svayam-prakaasha agni, akShara, kShara
- Ishvara, praaNa, kaala and aahavanIya agni.
- agni, praaNa,praaNaagni
- Words related to oblation
- aahavanIya agni
- havis/haviH and vahis (bahis) / vahiH (bahiH)
- suhavaa (suhava)
- hotaa and vedi
- huta, sUta, bhUta.
- bahula and aakaasha; space and differentiation
- agni,vaak and the earth
- agni, vaak and pRithivI (earth) in
Chandogya Upanishad
- sItaa (Sita), the wife of Rama
- shavda (sound)
- danta (tooth/ dental) and vidyut (electricity,
thunder)
- The alphabet da.
- dah and dagdha (burn and burnt)
- deha (body)
- daMsh---to bite. dashana---tooth
- dam, dama, and damana.
- damayantI
- dugdha (milk) and doh
/ duh (to milk, to extract)
- stanaitnu
- daana and the river vaitaraNI
- day, dayaa
- danta----tooth
- vaishvaanara
- pRithak-vartman and a hymn on cremation
- sutejaa ( sutejas)
- gaarhapatya agni / gRihapati agni
- Limbs or the spread of gRihapati
agni
- dakShiNaagni / anvaahaaryapachana agni
- Limbs or the spread of dakShiNa agni
- raatri/nakta/night, shveta and nIla sarasvatI
- The three states of existence, the three fires,
Nachiketa and yama
- aahavanIya agni and his spread
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(Sanskrit
words and alphabets, written in italics can be found in the English-Sanskrit
Lexicon by Sir Monier Williams. (https://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/scans/MWScan/2020/web/webtc/indexcaller.php)
Universal Consciousness is svayam-prakaasha and it means that Universal Consciousness is self-manifesting (one who expresses oneself by oneself and does not need anything else to express). In this manifestation, there is the expression of the Soul as well as the expression of the entire universe. Duality cannot be expressed unless Oneness is also expressed. These expressed Oneness and duality (universe) are known as akShara aatman and khara aatman. akShara means 'who never decays'. khara means 'decaying' or in whom the 'time' is acting. Every mortal soul or kShara aatman is held in akShara.
2. Ishvara, praaNa, kaala and aahavanIya agni.
The control of the Universal Soul or what is known as Ishitva, is
acting on all of us (kShara aatman) and calling us back to the
Oneness or to the Universal soul (akShara aatman) who is our
origin. This control-personality or activity of the Universal Soul as Ishvara is
also known as praaNa. This 'call' to the Oneness is called 'kaala'
(known as the time in common parlance) and the calling agni is
known as aahavanIya agni.
3. agni, praaNa,praaNaagni
agni is the lord of fire. The word agni means 'who leads every one or every event and who is always in front'. The word comprises of two components, ag and ni. ag means agra or 'front'. ni means nI or to lead.
agni is perceived in all activities, occasions, in all sacrifices as the initiator. The first flash of Consciousness is agni and thus agni is also called praaNa. praaNa means pra (prathama--first) + ana (animation or agitation of Consciousness). praaNa means the fire or agni who is burning in us as our senses, as our life, who is active in us and in the universe as 'activities' and as 'every activity'.
Thus, along with praaNa, agni is
also addressed as praaNaagni (praaNa + agni).
havana and hu
havana means the act of oblation or sacrifice to agni or holy fire. When we eat food, it is also havana; what is an external object or food, that gets assimilated or absorbed in our Consciousness and nourishes us, supports our life. Like, if a paper or a rag is thrown into the fire, it becomes the fire; similarly, it happens with the foods. When we eat, the food is processed in several ways inside us by the control of agni. The subtle parts of the assimilated foods become our mind and spirit by the touch of Consciousness.
Before we break the word havana to understand its root, we will cite a few English words and a Bengali word that is connected to havana. The English words are 'have / has /do' and the Bengali word is 'hawoaa' (to happen). Bengali is an Indian language and is closely connected to Sanskrit like many other regional languages of India.
Conversely, any action is an action of agni or
Consciousness by whom everyone and every event are manifested.
There is another word hava derived from hu and it means 'calling, invocation, oblation'.
The alphabet ha signifies to
'annihilation'; some words beginning with 'ha' also
convey similar meanings, like 'hara' means 'taking
away', hanana means 'to annihilate or kill'. The alphabet u is
grammatically a particle that signifies 'calling' and also 'ascent'.
As agni calls or attracts
everyone to merge (hu),so agni is called aahavanIya. The
word aahvaana means 'to call or to summon'.
aahavanIya also means anything that is for oblation. aa +
havanIya (meant for oblation).
aahavanIya is also called 'the fire of the divinity because divinity
is characterized by the Oneness
expressing dualities. Divinity is the realm of self-manifestation and eternity.
The word havis/haviH means
'oblation' It is the 'noun' form. This oblation is the act of sacrificing /
offering in agni or 'Universal Consciousness'. In the act of
offering, the oblation or havis is called inward and in this
process, duality is sacrificed into 'Oneness'.
Many Sanskrit words conveying opposite senses
are also constructed out of the same alphabets arranged in the opposite or
nearly opposite manner. Thus, contrary to havis or haviH,
vahis (bahis) or vahiH (bahiH) means 'external or
outward'.
8. hotaa and vedi
9. huta, sUta, bhUta.
huta means what is sacrificed or offered in agni. huta also
means' who is called to merge in Oneness'.
Contrary to the meaning of 'calling inward or
calling to merge in Oneness', 'huta' also means, 'calling outward'
to call something from the Oneness to the 'outer space'. hu can
signify a call or an action directed toward either outer-space or inner-space.
The base or the root of the word hu is the alphabet ha which
means 'void or nothingness '. Thus hu can point to inward or
oneness (absence of duality) or to the absence of oneness or void. The absence
of oneness or state of duality is always ruled by the 'fear' or 'death' or the
'possibility of going into inane'.
So, when something or some event is created by
the Universal consciousness, it is created from Oneness. This creation of an
entity or an event is 'called' by the Consciousness and so it is also 'huta'
In both ways (inward or outward), it is an act of sacrifice or havana.
sUtra implies the thread, that leads the creature to the source or its origin. The word tra in sUtra refers to traaNa or salvation.
So, first is hUta or the 'call' and then the creature or creation comes out from the origin which is sUta.
The creature or the duality thus created,
remains bound by its 'limitation'. A creature knows itself as it has been
defined or created. A bird knows it as 'bird' and nothing else. This is the
limitation and frozen to 'mortality' or 'physicality'. This is bhUta.
As everything or everyone is created from
'call', everything or everyone created has a 'name' (naama), or a
definition when created. Everything is 'sound' or 'word' of the Universal
Consciousness.
Every sound or word expressed in us contains our 'self '. Every word is our formation and embodiment of our self or soul. We are throwing ourselves as the 'words'. As the soul or oneness splits, the soul still remains 'one' but splits into a duality. The 'soul' (aatman) is then called praaNa and this power or the ability to split is called vaak. Thus, beyond every word, beyond every created entity, there are these two personalities (praaNa and vaak) in every individual and as a whole i.e. as the universal personalities. praaNa is male and vaak is female.
Each word of ours contains our feelings and
emotions. The word articulated is a 'shell' which contains 'the self or praaNa'. Word
so created or formed or processed is called vaakya whose root
is vaak. Anything, any entity, processed or created in the
Consciousness is a 'word' of the Consciousness. This is why in Upanishads, the earth (pRithivI),
vaak and agni/ praaNa have been mentioned as
interlinked. Thus in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, it is stated: "tasyai
vaachah Prithivi shariram jyotIrupamayamagnih"---- earth is the body of
that vaak and this agni is her
illuminated/manifesting form". (Brihadaranyaka, First Chapter,
Fifth Brahmin, Eleventh mantra.)
sharIra (body) and pRithivI (earth)
are considered as same in Upanishads. Anything physical is the 'earth'.
In Chandogya Upanishad, in the first chapter,
it is mentioned that the earth is Rik and agni is saama.
aeva---indeed
Rik----is Rik
agni saama-----agni is saama.
yameva saa agni amaH
tad saama
aeva---indeed
saa----she (vaak)------anything that
can be addressed is saa or vaak.
is
tad saama----that is saama
(Chandogya Upanishad, First Chapter, Seventh
part.)
aatmaa saama------aatmaa—(the One in us who
sees, whose vision has become the eye) is saama.
In Hindu mythology (puraaNa), the
true events of ancient times have been described along with the divine parts of
the physical events. This is why the descriptions in puraaNa are
generally thought imaginary. Every personality on the earth has a corresponding
divine part. The divinity is the main part, the manifested physical part is
insignificant compared to the divinity.
The seers have described the characters and
events in the frames of divinity and mortality. So, the characters and
personalities are described with the physical events along with references to
the divinity.
As the matter is created from Consciousness, the characters or qualities (guNa) create specific physicality or physical appearance. If someone has the capability of viewing the subtle forms of a physical entity, then such a viewer finds it more appropriate to narrate the physical state with reference to the appearance in the plane of 'pure qualities' or guNa.
It may also mean a personality who has
tremendous dominance on five senses (hearing, touch, vision, taste, smell) and
corresponding five universal elements (sky/ void----universal elemental sound,
air----universal elemental touch, radiance/illumination/energy/sun-----universal
elemental vision, universal elemental water, universal elemental smell----earth
and soma (the elixir in the earth which is revealed as the
fragrance of herbs, plants, and flowers). The descriptions of the character
called raavaNa in the epic Ramayana reveal such supremacy. He was a
demon or raakShasa. raakShasa means who are protective or
one who wants 'to keep' everything to 'oneself'. So, though raavaNa had
the power over the five senses and five elements that build the universe, still
he was knowing 'himself' as the only possessor of such power and was not
knowing that he was also a part of the Universal Oneness to whom everything
belongs. (This means sItaa was in captivity in his domain. See
below.)
bRihaspatisutaH shrImaan budhya tulyo
bRihaspateH
He was the son of Brihaspati and a scholar
comparable to Brihaspati)
sambhutaa vaa~NmayI kanyaa naamnaa vedavatI
smRitaa
Thus sItaa was a historical
character and was the goddess vaak personified. This is signified
in the two events described in the epic, when sItaa entered
the 'fire' and when sItaa entered the 'earth', and also
elsewhere. (See the section above on agni, vaak and earth.)
The word shavda comprises of
two parts, (i) shava (corpse) + da.
When we sleep or die, we stop talking. When we
are awake or live, we live with the mind illuminated with words. The word shava means
a corpse or an entity in the state of inactiveness. da means 'to
donate' or 'to confer'. Thus, shavda or sound means which can
confer a state of inactiveness or which can freeze Consciousness into a fixed
or specific entity defined by that shavda or sound or word.
This freezing of unbound Consciousness into a defined, bounded entity is
'physicality'.
15. danta (tooth/ dental) and vidyut (electricity,
thunder).
da also means the 'act of breaking or tearing'. The Sanskrit word
for 'tooth' is danta (related to the English word dental,
dent, etc.) which is also a tool to dent or to crush a hard thing or food. The
face, as well as the words, are shaped by the teeth.
da is a dental consonant. da is the first alphabet
of the word danta meaning tooth. danta or the
teeth play the role of shaping the words when they are articulated in the air
or external space.
Thus, danta or teeth of the
Consciousness shape /specify the face as well as the words in us and in the
universe
The alphabet da stands
for vaak (as praaNa is the consort of vaak,
da in Vedas also represents praaNa.) So, several
Sanskrit words beginning with the alphabet da implies their
origin from either vaak or agni (praaNa). Let
us look at some of the following Vedic words and significance.
The word 'dah' means 'to burn' and 'dagdha' means
'burnt'.
dah = da + h. The alphabet da means vaak. h/ha means
‘void, firmament, where there is no dimension’. Thus, dah means to
uncover praaNa or agni by removing the physicality that acts as a
shroud. This is why, Hindus perform cremation, which signifies that the body or
the physical existence, though destroyed, existence still remains in praaNa/agni
or in Consciousness.
The word deha. deha means body. In Vedas, the earth is commonly addressed by the demonstrative pronoun ' iyam ' instead of using a noun. 'iyam' means 'this'.
Also, in Vedas or Upanishads, the words for earth and body are synonymous. So, deha means da + iha (this / this place). Thus, da (vaak/ what vaak confers or assigns) + iha (this) =deha means 'this or what vaak has given’ or 'this is what vaak has become'. We have already quoted earlier from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad that "tasyai vaachah Prithivi shariram" (earth is the body of this vaak).
(19) daMsh---to bite. dashana---tooth.
daMsh means to bite.
daMsh = daM (vaak) + sh(shaasana---- administration of rules). The act or tools by
which vaak delivers her rulings.
dashana is from the root word dash. The word dashaa means
‘the status or the state of an entity and the root dash means ‘to bestow
or provide a status’.
dashana =dashana= dash + ana (praaNa) -----who provides a status or a form to praaNa or
to an entity. We are processed to our status by vaak; we are her
expressions, we are her ‘words’.
"sama shikharina snigdhaa suchaaru
dashnaa stava"
(your teeth are evenly crested, serene, and
elegant). (Refer the section above on sItaa).
The root word 'dam' means, 'to
restrain, to subdue, to dominate'.
The word damana derived
from dam means, ' act of self -restraint'. The word, dama means,
'a place, house or a domain'. dama = da + ma.
da = vaak
The alphabet ma is the last consonant of Sanskrit alphabets of touch (sparsha varNa). It is the 25th or the last consonant of the first five groups of consonants. Each group has five members. ma is the super five and denotes the end or termination or ultimate status. Like the word uttama means, 'the best' and the word adhama means, 'the worst'.
Thus a
word, like dama, ending with ma is used to represent
superlative status.
The word dama can be broken into two
components as below:
da
(vaak) + ma (maatraa=measure; ma= martya or physical).
So, all that this created, which are all
materialized by vaak is dama. Thus, this entire universe is dama
or the domain of vaak.
damana means self-restrained and it was assigned to the deities; the
deities to follow damana. The creator, by pronouncing da to
the deities, meant damana. In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
(First Chapter, Fifth Brahmin/Chapter, Twelfth Mantra) it is stated that ' this divinity is the body
of the divine mind and the sun is the illuminated form of the mind; wherever is
this mind, there is the divinity and there is that sun"
(atha etasya manaso douH sharIram
jyotirUpam asou aadityaH
tad yavat eva manasaH
taavatI dyouH
taavan asou aaditya). This is how the
Universal consciousness is spread all over as the divinity.
As long as the inhabitants of the divinity or
the deities know that their 'self-expression' is the 'expression of the
Universal soul' they follow 'self-restraint' or damana.
So, by pronouncing the alphabet da, the
creator meant the word ‘dam' or 'damana' for
the deities.
Thus the word damayantI is
from the word dam or damana. damayantI is
the wife of king nala. nala means who has no termination -----na (no)
+ la (laya = end). damayantI in
her universal aspect is the shakti or the consort of the
deities. She is the queen reigning over dama or domains; she the
divinity is dominating over everything materialized.
raaShTrI =
who reigns over the domains, empress
sa~NgamanIM (duly move into)
vasunam (the vasu) {vasu are the group of deities who
control the vastu or the objects or the realized universe.)
I reign over
the domains, I move inside the vasu (who dominates over the realized universe).
In Chandogya Upanishad , it is stated that the
goddess vaak herself extracts whatever is there in her as her
milk for those who know her.
asmai---for him / her (for her follower)
vaak doham---vaak milks
yat (that, whatever that)
vaacho (from vaak)
doho (can be extracted)
Whatever is there in vaak that can
be extracted, she extracts that milk for her follower.
vaak has been adorably addressed as 'dogdhi' or 'milkmaid' in the Vedas / Upanishads. The word dugdha is derived from the root duh or doh, meaning to 'milk' or 'to extract milk'. This secretion of milk from her breasts, are the meanings those words bring to us, the feelings which we know in our hearts, the senses those keep us alive.
dugdha = duh + iddha. duh = to milk, to extract. iddha = illuminated. So, dugdha means the milk that is extracted or the breast milk that is fed by the divine mother to illuminate the sippers with the divinity.
Thus, here is a Vedic hymn:
ujjayataM parasuH jyotIShaa saha vuaaH
Ritasya sudughaa puaraNobat
jyotIShaa saha ----with the light
vuaaH-----in abundance
parasuH---by removing the feelings of para (difference or duality); paraM shunati (kills the duality; the word parashu generally means ‘axe’)
Ritasya---of the truth; Rita----what
flows and manifests as the truth or the reality
sudughaa----she who milks /extracts skilfully
puaraNobat---as it was done in the past
Illumine us, removing the sense of duality
With the light in abundance
You who milks out the truth skilfully
As in those bygone days!
This is why the thunder of clouds is called stanaitnu. The word stana has two meanings, (i) breast of a female, (ii) sound (also stanana). The word stanaitnu is derived from the word stana. vaak secretes rains from the sky to nourish all the inhabitants of the earth. vaak secretes senses, feelings, and meanings from the inner sky. vaak is secreting life all over the universe.
vaak (also described as dhenu or the holy cow) is
said to have four udders, out of which by two she (vaak) nourishes the devas (deities),
by the third one she nourishes the divine fathers (pitRi-gaNa) ,and
by the remaining one she nourishes the human beings. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, Fifth Chapter, Eighth
Brahmin/Part, First Mantra.)
daana means 'the act of giving or donating'. The act of
donating (daana) and the act of receiving (grahaNa) happen
together. This is an act by which the donor and the receiver get connected.
Connecting two is the action of the heart and in this way, we remain balanced
and live with the dualities. A very common example is that we human beings get
everything after exerting an action or doing work. We are principally
characterized by the work we do and the results we get. We act, we work, and
earn our livelihood in return; we practise and gain the skill. Thus we give or
donate ourselves to the society or to the 'work' and the society or the
counterpart gets what we give and in turn, makes returns to us. The constant
interactions, activities which we perform also is the basis of our evolution.
Our horizon increases and we evolve to become superior beings with superior
faculties. This is the act of donating or daana.
Thus by work or karma we are evolving. Our
activities are originating from the activities of the Soul or the Universal
consciousness. By our activities, deeds, or work we can cross over the
mortality or subjugation to the compulsory cycles of death and rebirth, by
knowing this, by perceiving this active Consciousness or prana; by
knowing that everything is a form of Consciousness, that we live in
Consciousness, we are made of Consciousness, we originate and die in
Consciousness.
daana = da + ana. ana means 'animation' or activities of Consciousness. Active Universal Consciousness is called praaNa. When we see our activities as the activities of the Universal Consciousness or praaNa, our activities take us toward the 'origin' and we evolve to merge with the Universal Oneness or Soul. This is daana. When you see everything as the forms of Consciousness, you feel everything in you, you get connected, you give yourself to all of them. This distribution of the self to others, to all that you sense, feel, or do is called vitaraNa. The word vitaraNa means ‘to donate by distribution’. vitaraNa has another meaning-----vi (difference, dualities) + taraNa (crossing over)----to cross over the ‘dualities’.
Thus, there is a river called vaitaraNI which
one has to cross over after death. This river is to be crossed without (vi) a
boat (taraNI). This river is to be crossed over by vitaraNa or
one can cross over this river if one knows what has been described above about daana
and vitaraNa.
The word day means 'to be
kind, to take pity' and 'dayaa' means kindness or
sympathy. The creator by pronouncing day to the asura (demon) instructed
them 'to be kind'.
asura means those who are obsessed with the ra
(ra~njana) colours and shades of praaNa (asu). asu means
praaNa. So, they are after external wealth and domination.
The word dayaa can be broken into the following
components:
dayaa =da + ya + a
ya is a
semivowel and pronounced ‘internally’. ya means to connect and control
internally.
Whatever we sense or feel as ‘external’, the sense happens
‘within us’. Thus as we follow this, the obsession with the ‘external vanishes’
and whatever is felt or sensed are realized as the forms of the Consciousness
or the Soul. The perceiver or the knower sees that the source of all wealth,
all that is desired, is ‘inside’ and one need not run here and there for
acquirement. Whatever, such a knower desires, he gets it from within and he
finds it as the form of the Consciousness.
So, this is day or dayaa.
(26) danta----tooth.
Like the word dashana, the word danta
also means ‘tooth’.
danta = d(a) + anta. anta means ‘end’.
The teeth make the boundary line between the inner sky (physically, the
void inside the mouth is a part of the inner sky) and the external sky. The
goddess vaak as radiant (tejas/teja) word creates herself in your
inner sky, then she condenses like clouds, as the ‘ideas, emotions, forming
into words’, then next in your mind she becomes more definite ‘as formed words
and determination (saMkalpa) to
act further or not to act (vikalpa)’. This makes you physically active.
Thus the words are ‘aired’ or articulated in the external sky. The teeth are in
the boundary between the internal and external sky; they make the end (anta)
mark the end line.
Thus, there is a hymn on vaak:
oM oShThaapidhaanaa nakulI
dantaiH parimitaH paviH
jihve maa vihvalo
chaaru maadyeha vaadaya
(Om, covered by the lips and beyond the reach
Flowing while metered by the teeth
Never falter on my tongue
Here now speak to me what is charming!)
The word by word meaning of the above Vedic
hymn is as below:
oM oShThaapidhaanaa nakulI
(Om, covered by the lips and beyond the reach)
(oShThaapidhaanaa—oShTha (upper lip) apidhaanaa
(covered);
nakulI---na = without, kul = caste or origin;
nakulI-----untraceable; beyond reach)
dantaiH parimitaH paviH
(dantaih----by danta or by the teeth;
parimitaH---restricted or controlled; limited within a perimeter; paviH---flowing;
pavi also means ‘electricity, thunder-bolt).
(flowing while metered by the teeth; teeth
take part in processing and regulating our words; the tongue, teeth, lips are
all the divine personalities and are the members in the court of the empress vaak.)
jihve maa vihvalo
(never falter on my tongue; jihvhe--- in the
tongue; maa---never; vihvalo---falter,
confuse.)
chaaru maadyeha vaadaya
(here now speak to me what is charming!
chaaru---charming, graceful; maadyeha= maa (to
me) + adya (now) + iha (here)
27. vaishvaanara----One name of agni is vaishvaanara-----vaishva (universal) +a+ nara (man----manifestation) ------the Universal Consciousness who is the manifested universe or who is the 'universal person'.
vaishvaanara----vaishva(n) + ara (spoke)---The Universal Consciousness, who originated from the centre (Oneness) like the spokes of a wheel and pervaded everywhere.
Thus below is a quote from a hymn in Prashnopanishada:
yathaa araa iva rathanaabhO praaNe sarvam pratiShThitam
(Like the spokes of a chariot wheel which find their origin in the centre, similarly,
every entity is rooted in praaNa.)
Thus there is a hymn in Ishopanaishad which is
often associated with the cremation of a dead body lit on the pyre:
agne naya supathaa raye asman
(Oh Agni, lead us along the easy-going paths
of the rays)
(You divine, {you} know all the deities of the
universe and the connectivities/networks)
sutejas= su + tejas
tejas/teja means 'tat +
ejati'.
tat = that;
ejati is derived from ' ej '. ej means ' to
stir, to agitate, to tremble'.
Everything, all dualities are from the 'agitation' or 'vibration' created in
Oneness.
Thus, teja also means 'shining, radiating'.
The word su means 'to flow
out of self /soul or from an origin'. Thus
the word suta means a child or an offspring. It is an entity
with connectivity to the origin and it demonstrates that it has manifested from
the origin and remained connected.
soma, the libation, the elixir, which intoxicates everyone is also
called 'suta' because it is 'pressed out of the eternal
immutable soul'. All the feelings, senses with which we are always occupied and
obsessed are soma flowing out from our source and making our
life to flow.
Thus, suteja means any entity
which has flown out or exuded from the Universal Consciousness and thus
created. It is created from the agitation or vibration of the Universal
consciousness. This is not a mechanical vibration or movement. It is
Consciousness desiring to create duality out of oneness.
So, in Chandogya Upanishad, it is said that
'divinity is suteja'. Divinity means 'self-expressing
universal consciousness'. Any entity which has been created has its foundation
in divinity.
The word gRiha means 'house or
home' and it is from the root word gRih meaning 'seizing',
'holding', 'taking'. gRihapati agni is the agni by
whom we are seized or held in our 'current form'. He is the driver and driving
our every day.
gRihapati = gRiha (house/home) + pati (lord,
ruler). The word garhapatya means what is related to gRihapati.
These are pRithvI, agni, anna,
aaditya.
pRithvI is the earth. It is the expression of the physical state of the
Universal Consciousness. Here, in the earth, everything or everyone is
characterized by a separate identity and being held with that identity by the
‘earth’. pRithvI is related to the word pRithak meaning
'different'.
What is pRithvI or the earth',
is the 'body' in us.
As gRihapati agni plays the
roles of the divine father(s), dakShiNaagni plays the roles of
the divine mother, or it is the divine motherhood by which we are built and we
evolve. dakShiNaagni is also called anvaahaaryapachana
agni.
dakShiNaagni also determines
the variations in the entities and species. The way one feels or endures 'cold'
or 'heat' is different, the way one feels the intensity of a suffering or a pleasure
is different from the way of another one. This is by the regulation of dakShiNaagni. It
is by this regulation we are being built and we are evolving. Our destiny and
our journey to destinations, life and death cycles are controlled by dakShiNaagni.
We are active by the activities of the Universal
Consciousness and by the activities we thrive and evolve. Thus, the karma or
our activities and the consequences or our evolution are directly regulated
by dakShiNaagni.
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.190812
Suppose, you are inclined toward a flower you to
pluck or smell; this act is activated by dik; flower rises in your east.
You deal with the flower and you are involved with it; this modifies you. This
is in the domain of southern direction.
When this
is happening, the rest of your world remains dormant in the west; this is
necessary to ensure your present (flower) prominent. When the dealing with the
flower is over, ‘your dealing with the flower’ is led to the north (uttara)
and stored there. Like this, everything is stored in the north and is refined
by the divinity. When next time you are born and back, you are back with more
refined and enhanced instincts, enhanced inherent capabilities. uttara also
means ‘answer’.
Water has a memory. Whenever, you will be again
activated about that flower, the previous experience (of feeling a flower
/ ap) will be also initiated. The divine water, ap, is
the seat or a platform from where the repeated materialization and
de-materialization happen. One who knows this, one surpasses the compulsory
cycles of rebirths. In this context, we are quoting the following conversations
between the sage Jaaratkaaru and the
great sage Yaajnyavalkya (yaaj~nyavalkya), about who can
destroy the 'death' (compulsory cycles of rebirths) :
By 'Water' is meant the 'divine water' or ap as
explained above.
(The fact that the physical water quenches the physical
fire, conveys the above 'knowledge'.)
We have mentioned about kShara and akShara
aatman earlier in this article. It has been mentioned that kShara are
the myriads of individual souls or 'we', who have originated from akShara
aatman (the one who is the immutable soul and everyone's soul, one who
is the One in everyone).
The word nakShatra can have the
following several meanings, which are connected and which represent the
characters of dakSiNa agni or the aspect of the Universal
Consciousness called dakSiNa agni :
nakShatra = nak / naks / nakta (night) + kShetra (field or
domain)---- the domain of the night. The abundant, unabated flow of Consciousness, soma, is
gushing out of the Universal Consciousness through the lunar centre called chandramaa or chandra.
shveta and nIla sarasvatI
vyakta = vaak manifested
avyakta = vaak not manifested
nakta = n + akta= who is characterized (akta) by 'n' or negativity; who keeps everything under the shroud of Oneness. (n also implies ‘new’; one who always expresses in a new way.)
We explained earlier the two meanings of shavda or sound. By the sound, Consciousness expresses or defines an entity, creates the duality. This is toward the manifestation, and thus vaak is worshipped as shveta (white) sarasvatI (the goddess of words or expressions).
By the sound, the Consciousness can unfreeze a frozen or defined identity. The expressed identity, thus unfrozen, becomes avyakta (beyond expression). This is the aspect of avaktya vaak or neela sarasvatI. neela means ‘blue’ or the colour which is ‘dark and attractive’. In the Consciousness, so many of our future lives and states are now held in seeds, waiting to bud and blossom. In the Universal Consciousness, so many universes are annihilated and so many universes are waiting to be expressed.
What is avaktya to us, is all
revealed in the Universal Consciousness. Both darkness and light are
there together in the goddess night, in vaak. In our sleep,
we feel darkness; someone who knows avaktya, the one will be in the
self-illumination during the ‘sleep’.
Thus in Rik Veda, it is said that she (the
goddess night /vaak) drives away the darkness by the
light------jyotiShaa (by the light) baadhate (repels) tamaH (the
darkness)------she repels the darkness by the light. (Rik Veda, Ratri Sukta.)
"sambeshinIm samyamanIm
(aptly captivating, aptly regulating)
grahanakShtramaalinIm
(adorned with planets and stars)
praponno aham sivam raatrim
(I have come to thee, oh! the benevolent Night)
bhadre paaram asimahi
(You compassionate! sail me to the other
bank.)"
vaak the night, as nakta, captivates all of us and so
we sleep, blissfully rest in her. This is not darkness; Upanishads have used
the word samprasaada (perfectly quiet state of satisfaction) to
describe suShupti (deep sleep).
suShupti means to be in the state achieved (aapti) through suShumnaa (the
vein or the passage in the Consciousness that leads one to the ever-calm,
immutable soul, beyond all activities).
suShupti = suShumnaa + aapti.
n = not
a = without
chi=chit,chetana = Consciousness
keta= marked or characterized
yama is the god by whom everyone is regulated to eternity. Thus he is a
part of dakShiNa agni. He is dominating on the southern (dakShiNa) direction.
He acts as the 'cover of the eternity' (aavaraNa devataa----the
deity who acts as a shroud of the main deity). He is one of the supreme
preachers of 'Eternal Soul'. (This is the implication of the word
'samyamanIm' in the above-quoted hymn on the goddess night.).
We have already mentioned about aahvanIya
agni earlier in this article. The spread of aahvanIya
agni or his bodies are as below:
praaNa, aakasha, dyu, vidyut.
aa means the spread of aatman. aakaasha means the
radiance of aatman or the soul. aakaasha is the
state of akShara aatman about to spread. This is the shine of the
Oneness. As akShara aatman spreads, praaNa is
created. In praaNa, duality and oneness are together.
Every duality or an entity is created with a specific inclination (dik) of praaNa. The
entire 'formation and physicality, the spatial distribution' are held in dik.
pRithivI also means who is holding everyone. Thus, is quoted in Upanishad
that the earth is holding or supporting the entire universe:
(You, in turn, hold me always)
The moon is the reflection of the divine mind,
by whose thoughts we are evolving. When I see a flower, it is the flower
created in the divine mind (manasa), that is reflected in me.
In the divine mind, it is an expressed 'thought' or 'word' (Rik).
In me, it is the reflection; it is illuminated by the
moon; I see a flower or I feel a flower, which means I listen to the
'word' (Rik) of the divine mind.
tasya ha vaa aetasya aatmano
vaishvaanarasya..........hRidayam gaarhapatyo, manaH anvaahaaryapachana, aasyam
aahavanIyaH------that, of this aatman who is vaishvaanara, his
heart is the gaarhapatya, his mind (reflection
/ praana) is anvaahaaryapachana (dakShiNa agni),
his aasya (mouth) is aahavanIya. (Chandogya
Upanishad, Fifth Chapter, Eighteenth part).
Also, the words creating the universe is coming
out of this mouth. So, the mouth is called aasya from where the words
are hurled. The word aasya is from the root word ‘as’, which
means ‘to throw or to hurl’.
Thus eternal, universal Consciousness (mukhya praaNa) is called aayasya. Chandogya Upanishad explained that the name aasyasa is given for the following reason: aasyad (from the mouth) yad (since) ayate (moves)-----since he (Consciousness) moves out of the mouth. (Chandogya Upanishad, Fist Chapter, Second part, Twelfth Mantra).
(Mouth = aasya=the void inside the mouth = the inner sky.)
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