TIT BITS OF RIG VEDA MADE EASY (II)

SOOKTA II

सूक्त २ (देवता वायु आदि )

It is natural that after Agni many other crucial life sustaining principles of the Universe become more relevant for yajnya यज्ञ.

Unfortunately, the translation of Vayu वायु as "wind" (Wind God) has derailed the essence of Rig Veda.

As stated in the article on "Demystifying Shri Hanuman" on this blog, Vayu is the essence of
life and is known as प्राण Prana. Without प्राण there is no living being of any kind.

The Agni is mysteriously working behind the scene to make the material (organic and non-organic in
specific formulations) transformed into living beings. No sooner than Agni transforms atoms and

molecules into living entities, Prana प्राण begins to operate and becomes functional. So Brahman

is now transformed into living being (negative entropy at work). Living entity is totally indebted to Agni and Prana for its existence. 

What a joy it is to realize this rtam ऋतं।

After invoking the  अग्नि,  ऋत्विक् is therefore enthralled to perceive the glory of वायु.

Sookta 2.01:

He (ऋत्विक्) hails Vayu वायु  to come and participate in the यज्ञ. He addresses him in most endearing

and reverent fashion as प्रियदर्शन, "one who shows us everything we love." For those of us who love life what better name than प्रियदर्शन can describe Him (प्राण)?  He (the ऋत्विक्) welcomes him by offering the best drink he has, सोम. He welcomes him and invites him to come and drink Soma. (One can see the Bhakti भक्ति rtvik ऋत्विक् has for both Agni and Vayu here in the first two Sooktas of Rig Veda.  He has so much loving feelings सख्यभाव for both in addition to reverence and adoration)

Sookta 2.02

Soma सोम here has multiple meanings. In this Sookta 2 सूक्त  २ itself the meanings are clarified by describing its lofty properties. We will look at these later.

यज्ञज्ञाता means one who knows what यज्ञ yajnya is all about. Those यज्ञज्ञाता (s) (pleural)  understand

and recognize वायु as Deva देव . They address him as Vayu devata वायु देवता (Please read multiple articles on Devas and Devatas by Achintyachintaka on this blog), and वायुदेव. 

Agni and Vayu (Prana) प्राण are both देवताs real and not imaginary. The reader has realized this by now. Brahman is everywhere and is Real and It exists सत् (therefore Agni is described as सत्यपरायण).  Agni likewise is operating from time immemorial, and प्राण is ubiquitous especially in the biosphere.

Prana (प्राण) is in all living beings evidenced as bioelectric energy and bioelectric currents. Human beings are thrilled to have knowledge of these forces of Nature, and considering the magnificence of these Life sustaining Forces, adore them and revere them in the Vedas. Understanding देव becomes easy when one understands वेद through knowledge of यज्ञ. 

The 2.02 of this Sooka 2 clearly describes Soma as subjected to special chemical reactions and संस्कार

and takes credit for "discovering" (परिशोधित) it. With this special Soma सोम in hand the rtvik ऋत्विक् praises Vayu.

Here Soma is to be understood as the "life giving liquid." (Not an intoxicant) The plasma, electrolytes, other specific chemical molecules, peptides, proteins, etc. (cytoplasm) (सोम) are in the life giving liquids that are essential for Prana to function. Prana cannot make life possible without these सोम . This life giving drink, Soma, is offered to वायु with love. Then it is recognized that the qualities of Soma come to light with Prana acting on it. सोमगुण-प्रकाशक is an adjective used to describe Prana प्राण  or Vayu वायु. It must be pointed out that सोम Soma is expressed from Soma plants as per the legend and is qualitatively the cytoplasm of the cells of that plant.

Then in this very sookta no 2 the rtvik ऋत्विक् invokes इन्द्र Indra. Prana प्राण becomes sentient

when working in cooperation with Indra इन्द्र,  "the regulator of all electrical energy in the Universe."

It is Indra that makes the individual awareness (40 Hz activity in the Human Cortex) possible through the functioning of इन्द्रिय standing for all sensations, sensory organs of all living beings (including all special senses). What a great realization for the ऋत्विक् !! (Indriyas are extensions of Indra in the organism, living beings)

Food is then transformed into life and that is a great yajnya  यज्ञ also, one life state transformed into

another life, sustaining another life.  So यज्ञ is constantly taking place to sustain life at the biospheric or organic level with the help of Agni in the living beings facilitating transformations after transformations while at the consciousness level the Yajnya is taking place at cognitive level transforming states of consciousness and states of being and cognitive styles with increasing cognitive insights ultimately leading to ज्ञान . Without one the other cannot proceed (without the Yajna at the organism's metabolic level from mitochondria to systemic functioning the cognitive system cannot function or engage in Yajnya, for pursuit of Knowledge or ज्ञान )

So, the rtvik, after intuitively recognizing this principle in Sookta 2.04 invites and requests Indra and Vayu to bring food, अन्न,  the other essential component to be combined with Soma the life giving fluid.

Rtvik ऋत्विक् is eager to share this insight with his Devas, Agni, Vayu, Soma, Indra, and invites them

all to expeditiously enter the field of Yajnya यज्ञ (यज्ञ क्षेत्र). These are deepest philosophical insights

of Vedas (वेद). It may be true that symbolically one life or one state of existence is sacrificed to bring about and sustain another state of existence or being. That process itself is also understood as यज्ञ 

(Example: Vinoba Bhave's Bhudaana Yajnya). The living being is also a Ygnjna where all these principles or Devas live together with अन्न सहित हव्य .  This yajnya will continue only so long as it is

graced by वायु or प्राण. When Prana is extinguished the life ends. 

Sookta 2.06 : The rtvik begins to see Indra and Vayu as deva-dwaya देव द्वय a pair like two peas 

in the pod indivisibly working together to fulfill the goals of yajnya (यज्ञ) (In the living being).

So far the interpretation is focused on the microcosm as if Agni, Vayu, Indra are limited to living beings. Far from the truth.

The yajnya is continuously taking place whether the  ऋत्विक् officiates it or not. Agni is at it constantly

for infinite time and it can be comprehended by the  ऋत्विक् and he can try to play act it with bricks and fire like a child plays with toys that act as symbols. Behind this play acting is deepest cognitive insight into the nature of life, Universe and Consciousness and may be some esoteric science so far not discovered.

So in this Sooka (2.07) Mitra मित्र and वरुण are recognized as necessary in the microcosmic yajnya. They are also essential for the yajnya so far focused on until Sookta 2.06.

The closely linked solar energy and the Water System of the earth are so very precisely designed to sustain life with super computation and high performance computation in the nature to make the ambiance suitable for life. How can they be ignored or not recognized as Devas?

Varuna वरुण has been maintaining the salt concentration of the ocean water at 0.9 % Saline level for billions of years, regulating it with highest mathematical accuracy and so also the serum in the human beings and most body fluids of living beings. The temperature range on earth is life sustaining with Mitra radiating its energy with mathematical accuracy with distances from Earth to Sun and earth to moon mathematically designed to sustain life on earth. The biosphere within the ocean controlling and regulating the chemistry of the ocean and its contribution to the ecology of the earth to regulate and sustain the biosphere on the earth outside the oceans also.

Therefore, in Sookta 2.08 and 2.09 they (मित्र and वरुण ) are recognized as playing an important role as

यज्ञवर्धक and यज्ञस्पर्शी poetically difficult to translate in English but roughly as sustainers and enhancers of Yajnya and caressing the Yajnya lovingly and blessing it. That is the role Mitra मित्र and Varuna 

वरुण are playing.

इंद्र and वरुण possess (mathematical) Universal Intelligence and therefore are viewed as बुद्धिसम्पन्न  and  जनहितकारी benevolent towards the living beings.

Thus ends the Sookta 2. सूक्त २  clarifying further the meaning of यज्ञ on Earth and in the Universe.

These Sooktas praise the Brahman for emanating into multiple Devas and Devatas that give us the protection of our strength and ability to act as human beings with a free will. Indra and Varuna are thanked for making this possible. There is adoration for Brahman, Agni, Vayu, Indra, Mitra, Varuna, and Soma. Thus the stage is set to understand and comprehend the basics of Rig Veda in these very first two Sooktas. The existence of Brahman is implicit here though not specifically mentioned.