B. AWAKENING AND COMING OF AGE
Manushyata
The divine Power who has bound this girdle round us, who tied us together and yoked us in one, the divine Power under whose direction we progress, may he lead us to the other shore and free us!
Daughter of Faith, born out of Fervor, sister of the sages who mold the world, grant to us, Girdle, powers of thought and wisdom, grant to us ardor and manly vigor.
AV VI, 133, 1; 460
The girdle extolled in this hymn is a powerful symbol of human maturity, power, and restraint, that is to say, of a disciplined freedom (for one is bound by one’s own freedom); it possesses a material concreteness, but represents also a spiritual reality. 61 The girdle is what the three highest varnas of tradition are accustomed to wear as a sign of their second birth, that is, of having undergone the initiation that makes them dvija, “born again.” At the time of initiation the girdle is a symbol of chastity and obedience and thus it represents the condition of the brahmacarin, the student, who is bent on gaining wisdom and progressing on the spiritual path.
The rise of human consciousness is undoubtedly the most important phenomenon that has yet happened in the evolution of the whole universe. One of the most exhilarating features of the Vedic Revelation is that it bears witness to this Awakening, even daring to speculate on it with that same almost unique unselfconscious consciousness with which the problem of reality is investigated, a reality that is at once both objective and subjective, thought and thinking, known and knower.
The ecstatic moment prevalent in Part I has to come to an end, or at least it simply happens that it comes to an end, by the self-discovery of the subject that is having the experience. In the course of time, Life, the Sun, and the Gods become partners in a dialogue that is still cosmic but now includes also the human. Man stands at the other pole of this relationship, and the fact that he now looks at his own end blurs his vision of the other. Man begins to suspect that it may well be that his desire for the Gods in fact constitutes them, at least partly, and that his own sense of beauty may also belong to the Sun as it really is; in that event neither the Gods nor the Sun may be considered simply as something objectively given and totally independent of Man’s consciousness.
From now on, the horizontal vision, the evaluation of “things” around Man, will contain a reflection on Man himself: he will discover himself and his own projection in the outside world. That was not true of the vertical vision, when Man was not looking around but up to the heavens. The road to humanness is now open, and the vision is presented to us of a realistic humanness in which every value has a countervalue and every concept is ambivalent. Vedic Man begins to be aware of his own involvement in the universe. We are present here at Man’s discovery of himself after he has discovered the Gods. “Man is the nearest to Prajapati.” 62
The discovery of Man, moreover, like Man’s encounter with God, is not an abstract or merely a mental process. In this discovery Man discovers that he has to be really born into personhood, that he has to establish a relationship with the other and also admit him into manhood (initiation), while the other for his part has to assume. Man to his own self (marriage and children). 63 Furthermore, in this discovery Man recognizes that these two steps are finite and not ultimate. This is the threshold of real life.
Each day Dawn, Ushas, brings a renewal of hope; the Sun, Savitri, brings Earth to life with the warmth of his rays and she, the great Mother, bestows upon Men liberally the blessings of crops and herds. Upon this earth a child grows and develops, entrusted from birth to the care of the Gods, to Savitri, Indra, Sarasvati. Now the young man is on the threshold of manhood, startled at the discovery of himself and of his own special relation to the world around him. Knowledge and love burgeon. Both must be developed. Upanayana and vivaha, initiation and marriage, are the two starting points. Both are initiatory rites. You do not know your bride; you do not possess knowledge, just as you do not possess love. Both will come and grow, like a plant, if the right seed and a good soil are there, and if the field is properly watered and tended.
What does Vedic Man see when he comes of age? He sees the three worlds: the other shore, his own bank, and the river in between; the heavens, the earth, and the atmosphere (or sky, as the antariksha, the “in-between,” is sometimes translated). It is obvious that the picture of these three worlds has evolved considerably through the ages and that mythical literature has described them in rather different terms from the more philosophical speculations, which speak of knowledge and ignorance and the crossing over from the one to the other.
We may sum up this process of awakening to full human life by saying that we have here the process by which the human being becomes a person.
The individual is biologically a single specimen of the human species. He is simply a part of the whole and, even when he acquires consciousness of the surrounding world and a certain awareness of himself as a different and peculiar element in the whole, he is not yet a person. He can perhaps function as a human being if society takes care of him and he conform to the given pattern. In other words, the individual can act and behave as a human being as long as there is a superior instance, a higher “person,” of which he is a part and on behalf of which he performs the acts he is required to do. This superior person can be the family, the tribe, the sect, the religious community, the region, the nation, or any other group that encompasses the whole of human existence. The individual becomes a person when he discovers that he is an unrepeatable complex of relations, a unique knot in a net of relationships; he becomes a person when his individual consciousness becomes aware of being neither a subject looking out upon an objective world nor an object being looked upon, and also looked after, by a superior authority (God, father, chief, husband, etc.), but when he discovers that he himself is subject and object at the same time, that he himself is the whole insofar as the whole is mirrored in him and passes through him. 64
The Upanishads, as the end and crown of the Vedas, complement and refine the merely karmakandic or ritualistic view of human growth. They do so by developing the idea of that internal growth into truly mature human life which takes place only with the discovery of the atman. Man reaches manhood when he discovers the existence of himself and of the world as two distinct but inseparable entities. Human maturity is reached the very moment we make the threefold discovery of ourselves, of others, and of the mysterious link that binds us together: (a) Initiation, (b) Love, and (c) Union.
a) Initiation into Human Life
Manushyaprapti
Unlike many other traditions, the Vedic Revelation does not stress human initiation as a particular act that Men have to perform. Initiation certainly belongs to human growth and development; it takes place alike in the body and mind of the human being, just as it takes place also in the whole evolutionary process of the cosmos. When the right time comes, maturity appears. You do not kill yourself in order to be born anew, and yet a new birth occurs when the previous one is no longer sufficient, no longer “living.”
In congruity with this spirit the transition from an undeveloped human life to full manhood is recognized and heralded, but it is not produced or brought about by a particular rite. The Vedic rite witnesses and sanctions rather than produces and effects. No Man, and much less Vedic Man, can live totally without rites. From olden times rites de passage have developed and some of them are given here. Initiation, however, would have no meaning or would have to be interpreted in an almost magical way, if Man had not already awakened to the mystery of human life, that is, to the personal discovery of love, though still without an object. This accounts for the two groups of texts of this subsection.
In fact, the first sign of coming of age is not a biological change but a psychological realization: the discovery of the other as a mysterious part of oneself; the realization that he or she is neither oneself nor an “other” and much less another self. The first initiation is not accomplished by a rite, but by a growth, by a personal discovery; the discovery that makes a human being a person. It is the discovery of the relationship of love, in which the other is not an instrument (to be manipulated according to one’s own wishes) or a “thing,” an obstacle or an enemy, but the beloved, the thou, and--ultimately--the I. The other is still one’s own projection. Innocence has not yet been lost.
Loftier Than the Gods
Kama
12 Later speculations within the Indian tradition, as is true of other cultures also, have somewhat blurred the powerful, sober, and transparent conception of kama, love, desire, which appears in the Vedic Revelation. It would be of little avail and merely retrograde to revert to a cosmic conception of love or to the unearthing of old myths; but, equally, we would be falsifying and impoverishing human experience if we were to ignore that area of human existence which is powerfully indicated in the texts of the Vedic Revelation. Here we have perhaps some of the deepest sayings regarding that fundamental human archetype.
Kama, as we have already seen, 65 is considered to be the first principle of activity, 66 the creative and procreative force leading the supreme Being out of the closed circle of its own existence. It is a cosmic force, but not to be understood as a kind of blind energy or impersonal urge. On the contrary, the personal is so much included in the transpersonal element that kama is said to be the first seed of mind, the firstborn of the Absolute and thereafter the loftiest characteristic of all created beings, and more particularly of human beings. Kama is the driving force in any enterprise, the highest of all human qualities. There is one and the same urge stimulating the entire range of reality, one and the same energy pushing the universe to expand--and it is kama. Without it there would be only death; time would shrink and reality would collapse. Kama is not a hankering after what is lacking in the individual; it is not an imperfection and thus a cause of suffering. Kama is not the proof that we have not yet arrived, that we are imperfect and enmeshed in unfulfilled longings and unsatisfied urges. Kama is, on the contrary, the perfection of expansion, the quality of creativity, the positive dynamism to be more, to reach higher, to overcome what still stands in front of us, because the adventure of existence is not yet finished, although this unfinished character is just the opposite of the imperfect. A “finished” universe would be in fact finished, limited, finite, deadly, and not divine. Kama proves not that we are poor pilgrims, still on the way, displaced persons in search of a paradise lost, but that we are divine sparks full of creative energy with our own part to play in the structuring of the world. Sharing in this power is indeed the first sign of awakening and coming of age. The adolescent is afraid to love to the extent that he is afraid to be.
Our hymn starts by addressing kama as a powerful ally whose aid a man seeks to secure in his struggle against enemies of all sorts (w. 1-19). This part consists of a long series of imprecations. Some have seen only magic practices in them, though their interpretation would appear somewhat more complex.
The last part of the hymn is devoted to an address to kama, extolling him above all else. He has the primacy over all things, people, and Gods. He who has kama has all; all goods come with him. Where kama is, there no thoughts of evil intrude.
Kama
AV IX, 2, 19-21; 23-25
19. Love is the firstborn, loftier than the Gods,
the Fathers and men.
You, O Love, are the eldest of all,
altogether mighty.
To you we pay homage!
20. Greater than the breadth of Earth and Heaven
or of Waters and Fire,
you, O Love, are the eldest of all,
altogether mighty.
To you we pay homage!
21. Greater than the quarters and directions, the expanses
and vistas of the sky,
you, O Love, are the eldest of all,
altogether mighty.
To you we pay homage!
23. Greater than all things moving and inert,
than the Ocean, O Passion,
you, O Love, are the eldest of all,
altogether mighty.
To you we pay homage!
24. Beyond the reach of Wind or Fire,
the Sun or the Moon,
you, O Love, are the eldest of all,
altogether mighty.
To you we pay homage!
25. In many a form of goodness, O Love,
you show your face.
Grant that these forms may penetrate
within our hearts.
Send elsewhere all malice!
19. Cf RV X, 129, 4 (§ I 1), from which the idea and its expression are borrowed, though they are developed here in a more prominent way. We here use “we,” instead of “I,” “Fathers” for “ancestors,” and “eldest” for “superior” (because born first).
20. The cosmic waters and Agni are meant here.
22. This verse (omitted) contains obscure names of insects and reptiles.
23. Moving and inert: lit. all that blinks and stands erect (tishthati), i.e., what moves and what does not, the animate and the inanimate.
Passion: kama manyo, O Love (and) fury. Manyu, zeal, anger, wrath.
25. Malice stands for evil thoughts or prayers or other devices.
The First Seed of Mind
Manaso retah
13 Kama is not here seen, as in later speculation, as a psychological desire, much less as a mere desire for individual pleasure; desire has here no pejorative connotation. Desire is the dynamism inherent in the whole creation, in whatever way we may like to explain it. If it were not for this striving that we call love, the whole universe would be not only cold, but dead, and would not exist at all.
This hymn recalls that kama existed from the beginning and was the first seed of mind. It then proceeds to express a rather subtle identification of and differentiation between the cosmic and primeval kama and that of the individual. Sacrifice is here again the clue. There is an internal and almost inaudible dialogue going on in this hymn, from Love to love, from Desire to desire, from Heart to heart. Without kama it is not possible to achieve anything whatsoever; but kama, unlike other values, is the most universal gift bestowed upon the whole of creation.
Manaso retah
AV XIX, 52
1. In the beginning was Desire,
the first seed of mind.
O desire, twin of Desire,
grant wealth to me!
2. Powerful, unshakable,
shining, companionable,
formidable victor,
grant power to me!
3. He who longed from afar
to furnish a pledge
in response to the eternal
was heeded by the regions.
By means of Desire
they generated light.
4. From Desire springs desire,
leaps from Heart to heart.
The mind of my people,
let that mind be mine!
5. Now prosper, Desire,
the desires of our hearts,
that we may succeed.
Accept this oblation!
1. Desire: kama, translated as Love in the preceding hymn. Cf. also RV X, 129, 4 (§ I 1) for the source of this idea and also its expression in words.
Twin: as being of one origin.
Grant wealth: i.e., wealth and power for the sacrificer; cf. v. 2.
2. Companionable: i.e., a friend or companion to the person who seeks one.
3. Obscure verse. Cf. TA III 15, I.
To furnish a pledge: pratipanaya, lit. for the counterpledge, counterstake (meaning not clear).
Light: svar, heaven. It is longing desire and ardent prayer that create light and life.
4. The capital and small letters are intended to stress the anthropocosmic meaning of the verse.
5. Accept: lit. eat.
The Ritual
Upanayana
14 Human life, like cosmic existence and divine reality, implies a decision, a taking in charge, the following of a direction, the shaping of events, and later the acceptance of what has been so shaped. In the human cycle the process means a coming-of-age so as to take one’s life into one’s own hands except that the “one” is not necessarily always the individual. There is a period in human life, however, in which living implies more than sheer passivity. Both biologically and also intellectually and spiritually, creative force appears at a certain age. Man enters into life by living, that is, by overcoming death, setting limits for himself, and following his own path. Initiation is the relatively modern technical word for the rite de passage implied in reaching human maturity. 67
We are not going to enter here into the peculiarities of the dvija or twice-born and the philosophy of the Hindu samskaras or sacraments. It is enough to remark that initiation in one way or another is a natural and universal phenomenon and that the elaborate texts we are giving belong to a post-Upanishadic period, though their roots are Vedic.
Since one feature of our times is the loss of proper and meaningful rites, the following rituals, though from another epoch, may well be a source of inspiration. We summarize and simplify by reducing to its essentials a ceremony that is still performed today in various ways. It may be divided into the following stages:
The presentation by the acarya (teacher) to the boy of a new garment, symbolizing the new period of his life. Prayer is offered to the Goddess who wove the piece of cloth.
The presentation of the girdle, which represents the Goddess of the spirit of austerity (tapas) and both physical and mental vigor.
The presentation of the sacred thread (or sacrificial cord), which henceforth gives the initiate the right, or rather the power, to take part in the offering of the ritual sacrifice.
The presentation of the deerskin, followed by prayers beseeching the Gods to aid the student in his knowledge of the wisdom embodied in the Vedas.
The presentation of the staff, accompanied by a prayer in which the student is entrusted to the divine hierarchy.
Having entrusted the student to the vigilant protection of the Gods, the acarya accepts him as a disciple. The unity that has to exist between master and pupil is expressed in prayer and in the touching of the heart. 68
The Savitri mantra, by which the dvitiya janman or second birth is achieved, is now taught to the student.
Next follows the ceremony of the Fire, which sets a seal upon the unity of life which is to exist within the student.
The second section, the ceremony of the departure, consists of a ritual bath taken by the student at the end of his stay (which is generally of several years) with his master.
Before the bath the young man lights the ritual fire. The prayers during the bath, unlike those of the initiation ceremony which contain a note of austerity and renunciation, are full of joy and rejoicing in the good things of life. Then, putting to one side his ascetic garb, the young man arrays himself in fine new clothing, bedecks himself with flowers, puts on a turban, earrings and new shoewear. He takes an umbrella in his hand and a bamboo staff.
He is now ready to live to the full his adult life, a life that will take its inspiration from the wisdom of the Scriptures.
Upanayana
New Garment
HGS I, 1, 4, 2
i) After the boy has removed his old attire the teacher clothes him in a new garment that has not yet been washed, saying:
“May the Goddess who spun, who wove, who measured and fashioned this garment, clothe you with long life! Put on this garment, endowed with life and strength
Clothe him! By this garment may he attain a life span of a hundred years. Lengthen his days. Brhaspati gave this garment to King Soma to put on
May you live to old age! Put on this garment. Be a protector of mankind against menacing speeches. Live a hundred years, full of vigor. Clothe yourself in ever increasing wealth.”
PGS II, 2, 7
ii) “As Brhaspati clothed Indra in the garment of immortality, even so I clothe you, with prayer for long life, a good old age, strength, and splendor.”
HGS I, 1, 4, 3
iii) Thus clothed [the boy], the following prayers [are said by the teacher]:
“For your own well-being you have put on this garment. You have become a protector of your friends against the curses of men. Live a hundred long years. May you be noble, blessed with fullness of life, sharing generously your wealth.”
The Girdle
SGS II 1, 28-29
iv) 28. After the teacher has offered sacrifice, they both stand behind the fire, the teacher facing East, the other facing West.
29. He should initiate him standing.
II, 2, 1
He ties the girdle from left to right [around the waist of the boy] three times, saying:
“Here has come to us this blessed girdle, friendly Goddess for our defense against evil words and for the purification of our family, investing us with strength by inhalation and exhalation.”
The Sacred Thread
SGS II, 2, 3-12
v) 3. He fixes the sacred thread (saying):
“You are the sacred thread. With the sacred thread of sacrifice I initiate you.”
4. He takes water in the hollow of his joined hands, the student also joining his hands, and says:
“What is your name?”
5. “I am so-and-so, Sir,” replies the student.
6. “Descending from the same patriarchal sages?” asks the teacher.
7. “Descending from the same patriarchal sages,” says the student.
8. “Declare yourself as a student.”
9. “I am a student, Sir.”
10. Then he sprinkles water three times with his joined hands on the joined hands of the student, saying: “bhur, bhuvah, svah!”
11. Then, grasping the student’s hands, with right hand uppermost, he says:
12. “By the vivifying power of God Savitri, with the strength of the two Ashvins and with Pushan’s aid, I initiate you, so-and-so.”
The Deerskin
HGS I, 1, 4, 6
vi) He then puts on him a deerskin as an outer covering and says:
“Put on this skin, noble so-and-so; may the firm strong eye of Mitra, his glorious splendor, powerful and shining, be a token of swiftness and self-control. Let Aditi gird your loins that you may know the Vedas, that you may acquire insight and faith, and, keeping what you have learned, that you may be endowed with goodness and shining purity.”
The Staff
PGS II, 2, 11-12
vii) 11. The teacher hands him the staff.
12. The student accepts it saying:
“This staff which is falling from the sky upon the earth I now take up again, with prayer for life, fullness of spirit, and the splendor of Brahman.”
The Dedication
SGS II 3, 1-5
viii) 1. The teacher then says:
“Bhaga has grasped your hand,
Savitri has grasped your hand,
Pushan has grasped your hand,
Aryaman has grasped your hand,
Mitra are you now by law,
Agni has become now your master,
along with myself, so-and-so.
Agni, I entrust this student to you,
Indra, I entrust this student to you,
Aditya, I entrust this student to you,
All Gods, I entrust this student to you,
that he may have long life, a blessed posterity,
strength, frequent increase of riches, authority
in all the Vedas, high renown, and happiness.”
3. The teacher touches the student’s heart saying: “May your pure heart ever hold me dear.”
4. He then turns, silently, from right to left.
5. And then, putting his hand with the palm up on the student’s heart, he prays in a low voice.
SGS II, 4, 1; 5
ix) 1. “Under my direction I place your heart.
Your mind will follow my mind.
In my word you will rejoice with all your spirit.
May Brhaspati unite you with me.
5. “You are a student. Tend the fire. Drink only water.
Perform your service. Do not sleep in the daytime.
Keep silence till the lighting of the fire.”
The Savitri Mantra
SGS II, 5, 1-3; 8-12
x) 1. After a year the teacher recites the Savitri mantra (to the student),
2. or, after three nights,
3. or, immediately.
8. They sit to the north side of the fire.
9. the teacher turning towards the East, the student toward the West.
10. Then the student says: “Recite, Sir!”
11. The teacher, after uttering the syllable OM, invites the student to say the mantra: “Recite the Savitri, Sir.”
12. Then he recites for him the Savitri, that verse, “That glorious Savitri,” at first verse by verse, then line by line, and finally the whole at one stretch.
The sacred fire
PGS II, 4, 2-3; 8
xi) 2. The student heaps up the fire with his hand, speaking these words:
“O Lord, the glorious one, make me glorious,
as you, glorious Lord, yourself are glorious.
As you, Lord, are custodian of sacrifice for the Gods,
even so may I be custodian of Sacred Knowledge for men.”
3. Having sprinkled water around the fire from left to right, he places some wood on the fire and says, standing:
“To the Lord, the great Seer, I have brought some wood.
As you, O Lord, are set ablaze by wood,
so may I be set ablaze by life, intelligence, and vigor,
by means of offspring, cattle, and divine glory.
May my teacher be one whose sons are living.
May I be capable of insight, not obstructive.
May I increase in honor and divine glory.
May I integrate everything into the cosmic dynamism of the sacrifice. Svaha!”
8. He warms his hands at the fire and puts them to his mouth and says:
“You, Lord, are the protector of bodies, Protect my body.
You, Lord, are the giver of life. Grant life to me.
You, Lord, are the giver of vigor. Impart vigor to me.
What is imperfect, Lord, in my body, that restore to fullness.
May the God Savitri give me wisdom,
may the Goddess Sarasvati give me wisdom,
may the two divine Asvins, wreathed with lotus,
give me wisdom.”
The End of Student Life
PGS II, 6, 25-26; 29-31
xii) 25. He puts a turban on his head, reciting:
“A young man, well-dressed.”
26. He puts on the two earrings, saying:
“An ornament are you. May I have more!”
29. He takes an umbrella in his hand and says:
“You are the protection of Brhaspati;
protect me, then, from evil,
but do not protect me from splendor and renown!”
30. Next he puts on the pair of sandals:
“You are my defense. Defend me from every side.”
31. He takes, finally, a bamboo staff, reciting
“From all destructive powers preserve me on all sides.”
i) Brhaspati is here a house priest, a priest of Soma. Cf. SB IV, I, 2, 4. The new garment is the kaupina to cover the private parts of the boy who is shortly going to become an adult.
ii) Long life and a good old age: (vitality) ayus and ayutva: dyushe dirghayutvaya balaya varcasa iti. An expression recurrent throughout.
iv) Girdle: mekhala, to hold in position the kaupina made of different fabric according to the family or varna. On the girdle cf. AV VI, 133 (§ II B Antiphon). Cf. also RV III, 8, 4 (§ III 19).
Friendly Goddess: sakha devi.
Inhalation and exhalation: prana and apana.
v) 3. Sacred thread: yajnopavita.
I initiate you: upanayami.
6. Patriarchal sages: rishis.
12. Vivifying power: prasava, inspiration, impulse. Cf. also the word of the acarya (teacher) in PGS II, 2, 21.
iv) Deerskin: ajina, generally an antelope skin, though it denotes the skin of any animal. Cf. SB III, 9, 1, 12 for the clothing with skins. Probably used first as an upper garment and afterward to sit on. It may symbolize the putting on of the virtues of a rishi and the taking of a vow to strive toward that ideal. The Veda here could meaningfully be rendered by “wisdom.”
vii) 12. This mantra concerning the staff represents the reintegration of the newly initiated young man into the cosmic order. The danda, the staff, descending from the air upon the ground, symbolizes the axis mundi, the pivot on which the earth revolves (perhaps also lightning).
viii) 1. The last concepts are traditional and have more than a mere moral meaning: dirghayutvaya, suprajastvaya, suviryaya, rayasposaya, sarvesham vedanam adhipatyaya, sushlokyaya, svastaye.
3-5. The acarya takes the student in charge, but he dedicates him to the different Gods so as to integrate him into the world of the spirit.
ix) 1. The touching of the heart symbolizes the dedication of the student to the sacred world of learning. There is a crescendo in the words of the master: heart (hrdaya), mind (citta), spirit (manas), you (tva):
mama vrate hrdayam te dadhami
mama cittam anu cittam te astu
mama vacam ekamana jushasva
brhaspatish tva niyunaktu mahyam (iti).
Direction: vrata, lit. that which is chosen, from the root vr-, to choose, meaning generally a vow, i.e., a firm purpose, the following of a vocation, and thus will and also law, rule, obedience, manner of life, direction. Cf. SB XI, 5, 4.
x) 1. For the Savitri mantra, called also Gayatri, cf. RV III, 62, 10 at the beginning of this anthology
12. Verse: pada is the fourth part of a stanza. Two verses form a line or hemistitch and four verses the stanza.
xi) Lord: Agni throughout.
3. The great Seer: jatavedas, he who knows beings.
May I be set ablaze: samindhe, may I be inflamed, as you are, O Agni, by ayus (life, vital power, vitality duration of life), medha (wisdom, mental power, intelligence), varcas (vigor, energy, activity) Cf. the illuminating power of fire: splendor, dynamic force.
May I . . . : in the Sanskrit the verb is in the imperative form indicating a firm resolve.
Not obstructive: anirakarishnu, not hindering, not warding off anyone or, as the Commentary adds, not forgetful of what has been taught.
May I integrate everything . . . : annada, lit, eater or enjoyer of food, implying the vital assimilation, i.e., the integration of everything into a new body, which is only possible thanks to the Fire of the divine sacrifice. Therefore the prayer ends with svaha!
xii) 25. Turban: ushnisha.
All this is done after the student has taken the ritual bath with me permission of the guru at whose feet he has been seated for a number of years. Asceticism is never an end in itself. The preceding texts of the same GS speak of his putting on new garments and of placing flowers on his head.
b) Growing into One
Ekibhava
The awakening of human consciousness, like the awakening into life, is a process of sifting and discrimination. Growth implies and requires differentiation, separation, a self-affirmation by a negation of the other, a looking into oneself, and a concern with what is happening within one’s self, all concentrated in the internal process of finding the self that exists precisely because it has been set apart from other selves and thus from the totality.
Initiation has triggered off the process of growth and development. But the very moment one comes of age, the very moment one gets perspective by differentiation and self-identity by separation, the opposite process starts: that of unification, of integration, of reacquiring that unity of which one begins to be aware only when one has lost it. The uphill movement of adult human life begins.
The basic experience here is double: the discovery on the one hand that one is separated from the Ground of Existence, which we can still call God, and, on the other hand the discovery that one is separated from the rest of the world, especially from other human beings. In this latter part of the experience a factor of primary importance is the awareness of sex, through which one is aware that in oneself one is not the totality of the human species, or even a complete specimen, for there is another half which has somehow to be integrated. 69 Love is born in this moment--the first seed of mind, as the text has said, or the first ‘sprout’ of mind discovering its own incompleteness and tending toward the integration of its being by uniting itself with a representative of the other half of mankind.
The young man may begin by having a vague and undiscriminated love, but very soon this same love takes shape and form and is even given a name, the name of the partner in life. No initiation is complete until marriage is performed. In a way marriage is the initiation into absolute life, as has been remarked. Individualization was a necessary process, but he who stays there is dead and will not reach human maturity. Human life is relationship, but there is no real relationship unless the related parts have really become parts of a whole, that is, unless the relationship has been somehow fused into a fuller integrated human being.
May All the Divine Powers Join Our Two Hearts in One
Surya-vivaha
15 This famous hymn describes the marriage of Surya, daughter of the Sun (Surya), with Soma, who here personifies the Moon. This cosmic event is the model and image of every human marriage. The text has two clear-cut parts. The first introduces us to Soma and the second describes practically all the ceremonies of the marriage.
After the stanzas (1-19) describing the marriage of Soma the Moon with Surya the Sun-maiden they are proclaimed an inseparable couple, and the second part of the hymn celebrates the human part of the wedding ceremony. The verses that follow are put into the mouths of the different persons taking part: the priest, the bride, the bridegroom, and so on. The bride is taken solemnly from her father’s house to the dwelling of her future husband. The Gandharva is sent away, while those who have arranged the marriage are given a blessing for their journey and enterprises. Then the bride is brought into her new home, where, on her arrival, the marriage is performed. The ceremony of the bridal robe, that of the taking of her hand, the circumambulation of the sacred fire, and the settling into the new home are among the rites described in the second part of this hymn.
Surya-vivaha
RV X, 85, 20-47
20. Mount, O Surya, this gold-hued chariot
fashioned from many-shaped planks of Kimshuka
and Shalmali wood, strong-wheeled, smooth-rolling.
Forth to the world immortal! Prepare
for your husband a happy bridal journey!
21. “This woman has a husband. Go, seek another
a girl in her father’s home ripe for marriage”
--I thus addressed Vishvavasu in song--
“and thus fulfill the task assigned you.”
22. Get up from here, Vishvavasu!
We entreat you now with due respect.
Seek another willing girl
and leave the wife alone with her husband.
23. Straight be the paths and thornless on which
our friends will travel to present our suit!
May Aryaman and Bhaga lead us together!
May heaven grant us a stable marriage!
24. I free you now from the fetter of Varuna
with which the kindly Savitri secured you.
Unharmed within the bosom of Order I set you,
along with your husband, in the world of goodness.
25. I free her from this knot, not from that other
in which I have now well and truly bound her,
in such a way that, mothering fine sons,
she may dwell in happiness, O generous Indra!
26. May the Provident One lead you, holding your hand!
May the two Ashvins transport you on their chariot!
Enter your house as that household’s mistress.
May authority in speech ever be yours!
27. May happiness await you with your children!
Watch o’er this house as mistress of the home.
Unite yourself wholly with your husband. Thus
authority in speech till old age will be yours.
28. Dark blue and red is the magic sign
which clings so closely. The kinsmen of the bride
prosper; the husband is bound with bonds.
29. Cast away the dirty robe!
Distribute the treasure among the priests!
This magic sign, assuming feet,
approaches the husband in guise of a wife!
30. Ugly his body, of lurid hue,
if with evil intent the husband
covers his member with the robe of his bride.
31. The diseases that belong to her own people
and follow in the wake of the bridal procession--
these may the worshipful Gods despatch
hence to the place from which they came!
32. May those who lurk to bar the pathway
not find the bridal couple as they go!
May they escape by pleasant paths all harm!
Let all the ill-wishers flee away!
33. Signs of good fortune attend the bride.
Congregate, one and all, to see her!
Wish her joy and return to your homes!
34. It is pungent in odor, sharp, full of barbs.
It resembles poison unfit for eating.
Only he who knows the Surya hymn
is worthy to take the bridal robe.
35. Now it is cut, severed, and divided!
See the beautiful colors of Surya!
Only the priest can purify these.
36. I take your hand in mine for happiness,
that you may reach old age with me as husband.
Bhaga, Savitri, Aryaman, Purandhi,
have given you to be my household’s mistress.
37. Rouse her, O Provident One, this bride of many charms,
in whom as in a field men sow the seed.
Let her, desirous, open her thighs,
that we, desirous, may insert the member.
38. To you they bring, first, in bridal procession
this Surya, guiding her steps in circles.
Return her now, O Agni, to her husband
as rightful wife, and grant to her children.
39. Agni has now returned the bride
endowed with splendors and length of life.
May she live a lengthy span of days
and may her husband live a hundred autumns!
40. This woman was first acquired by Soma.
Next the Gandharva was her guardian.
To Agni, third, was she presented in marriage.
Her fourth husband is born of a woman.
41. Thus Soma passed her on to the Gandarva
and he in turn presented her to Agni.
Agni has given to me wealth and sons;
it is he who has given me this my wife.
42. Dwell in this home; never be parted!
Enjoy the full duration of your days,
with sons and grandsons playing to the end,
rejoicing in your home to your heart’s content.
43. May Prajapati grant to us an issue,
Aryaman keep us till death in holy marriage!
Free from ill omens, enter the home
of your husband. Bring blessing to both humans and cattle.
44. Not evil-eyed nor harmful to your husband,
kind to dumb beasts, radiant, gentle-hearted;
pleasing, beloved by the Gods, bring forth heroes.
To menfolk and beasts alike bring blessing.
45. Bless now this bride, O bounteous Lord,
cheering her heart with the gift of brave sons.
Grant her ten sons; her husband make the eleventh!
46. Act like a queen to your husband’s father,
to your husband’s mother likewise, and his sister.
To all your husband’s brothers be queen.
47. May all the divine Powers together with the Waters
join our two hearts in one! May the Messenger,
the Creator, and Holy Obedience unite us!
1. Cf. § II 16 Introduction.
2-19. Independent part of the hymn describing the relations between Surya and Soma, generally taken as a cosmic marriage.
20. Cf. AV XIV, 1 and XIV, 2, wedding hymns where several verses of RV X, 85 have been incorporated with some variations.
Kimshuka and Shalmali: two kinds of wood.
21. Vishvavasu, a Gandharva, is the spirit who “possesses” the girl before her marriage and who has to be sent away in order to give place to the husband.
24. Within the bosom of Order: rtasya yonau.
In the world of goodness: sukrtasya loke, world of noble conduct.
26. The Provident One: Pushan, nourisher of all beings, protector, from push-, to nourish. cf. v. 37.
Ashvins: one could render: may the two Angels . . .
May authority in speech, etc.: vashini tvam vidatham a vadasi: vidatha, knowledge given to others, instruction. Power to address the assembly, freedom of speech, right to “take the floor.” Cf. the same expression in v. 27 vidatham a vad-: to impart knowledge, give instruction (in a community or congregation, especially during the observance of festival or religious rites).
27. Lit. closely unite your body.
28. Dark blue and red: a reference to the blood of menstruation (see also v. 29).
The husband is bound . . . : patir bandheshu badhyate. This may mean that the “spell” of the bride’s “impurity” is now transferred from her parents to her husband, or else it is a general reference to the marital bond (see also v. 29).
29. Distribute . . . : the gifts for the priests performing the ceremony.
30. The last stanzas seem to refer to different magical practices.
31. All the dangers are prayed away.
33. Signs of good fortune: sumangali. to see a bride is auspicious (just as, even today, it is “inauspicious” to see a widow).
Joy: saubhagya, good luck.
34 & 35. Again refer to the bridal robe. which has some magical property.
35. Surya: i.e., the bride. The colors may again refer to the dirty robe of v. 28 which is to be ritually purified.
37. The metaphor is interesting: the bride is likened to the field (kshetra), and the act of placing the seed is thus generalized.
40. Born of a woman: one of human birth. As the marriage between Surya and Soma is the archetype of any marriage, Soma is the first husband of every bride. The Gandharva is the guardian of virginity and is connected with female fertility, and Agni is the presiding deity of every marriage ceremony. The human bridegroom receives his bride therefore from these Gods.
43. Prajapati is invoked for offspring. Aryaman is the God of friendship whose task is to take constant care of the unity of the married couple.
45. Lord: Indra.
47. Divine Powers: vishvedevah.
Messenger: Matarishvan.
Creator: Dhatr, supporter, establisher (sometimes an epithet of Indra).
Holy Obedience: Deshtri. Cf. Sayana on PGS 1, 4, 14 who calls Deshtri: datri phalanam (giver of fruits).
I Am He, You Are She
Amo ‘ham asmi sa tvam
16 It is significant that two long and very important hymns on the subject of human marriage should both begin with a stanza that uses cosmic and metaphysical terms to indicate the central place in the entire economy of the universe accorded to the man-woman union:
By Truth is the Earth supported,
by the Sun is the Heaven supported;
by Cosmic Order the Adityas stand
and Soma is set upon the Sky. 70
Man and woman are the symbol of all cosmic polarities and an example of the same polarity. Man and woman do not belong to only one of the two poles; they represent cosmic polarity in toto.
Marriage is here not seen as a more or less free legal contract between two adults. Marriage is the human counterpart of or, more precisely, one of the ways of human participation in the creative tension of dualities (and also the overcoming of them) which constitutes the pattern of the whole of reality. Marriage is a sacrifice. 71 Thus a happy marriage will presumably not be one that takes into account two perhaps unpredictable psychological characters and studies their possible matching together, but one that is in accordance with the cosmic harmony of the universe. What is done in the darkness of night is witnessed by the stars as onlookers and guardians of universal order. Heaven and Earth can meet only at the horizon, light and darkness only in the twilight of morning or of evening; there is no song without its corresponding verse and no verse without its proper tune. Man alone, or woman alone, is not yet a person; nor, however, are man and woman mere individuals. They are halves only, each of them representative of the existential split in the existing order of the world and of the desire to overcome that split by a confidence not so much in the individual goodwill of the partner as in the unvarying well-structured pattern of the universe. Cosmic faith is required for the leap into married life. It is all a question of discovering It by tuning into that cosmic harmony, though there is no reason, of course, why psychological laws should not be taken into consideration also. There is more joy among the stars because of a well-performed human wedding than for a thousand other harmonies of the heavenly spheres. The selection that follows is taken from the actual performance of the rite.
Amo ‘ham asmi sa tvam
AV VII, 36-37
i) 36. Sweet be the glances we exchange,
our faces showing true concord.
Enshrine me in your heart and let
one spirit dwell within us.
37. I wrap around you this my robe
which came to me from Manu,
so that you may be wholly mine
and never seek another.
AV XIV, 1, 17; 42
ii) 17. We offer praise to the Friend,
the kindly marriage arranger.
Like one who plucks a cucumber
I release you from here, not from yonder.
42. Love, children, happiness, and wealth
will come to answer your hopes.
Devoted to your husband’s needs,
be girded for immortality!
AV XIV 2, 64; 71
iii) 64. Unite, O Lord, this couple
like a pair of Cakravakas.
May they surrounded by children be,
living both long and happily.
71. I am He, you are She,
I am Song, you are Verse,
I am Heaven, you are Earth.
We two shall here together dwell,
becoming parents of children.
i) 36. Lit our eyes be of honey-aspect.
37. The garment given by Manu may be the brides hair. according to some interpreters. Cf. RV X, 85, 30 (§ II 1S).
ii) 17. The Friend: Aryaman, a minor Vedic divinity (one of the eight sons of Adib according to TB I, 1, 9, 1), though he is mentioned about a hundred times, sometimes in the sense of comrade, groomsman, friend.
42. Devoted to: anuvrata, adapting yourself or following (your husband’s) vocation, vows; obedient or faithful to . . . vrata, vow.
iii) 64. Cakravakas: birds famous for their faithful love; they are a symbol for an ideal married life (cf. also later Sanskrit literature).
71. I am He, you are She: amo ‘ham asmi sa tvam. Lit. This I am, that you are. This text is also given in BU VI, 4, 20. Cf. for the same idea similarly expressed, AB VIII, 27 (XL, 4); SB, XIV, 1, 4, 16; TB III, 7, 1, 9; HGS I, 6, 20, 2; PGS I, 6, 3; AGS I, 7, 6; SGS I, 13, 4; etc.
The Rite
Vivaha
17 Among the samskaras or sacraments of Vedic origin marriage is undoubtedly the most fully elaborated and also the most important. We give here only a selection from the Grhya Sutras. The Grhya Sutras continue and elaborate the Vedic tradition, following perhaps the earlier Mantra Brahmana which gives a marriage rite in its entirety.
The young man, after finishing his period of formation, returns to his family. Now is the time when, with the concurrence of his parents and relatives, guided by their common sense as well as by ritualistic tradition, he will marry a wife, settle down, and hope for a long life and many stalwart sons.
Our first short texts begin by describing the ceremony of the holding of the hand of the bride by the bridegroom as a symbol of protection. The bridegroom next requests the bride to tread upon a stone, which symbolizes steadfastness, stability, strength of character--all virtues that the bride as well as the bridegroom should show. Then, generally, comes the lighting of Agni, the sacred Fire, when the appropriate offerings are made to him, accompanied by prayers.
Then the bride scatters parched grain with a prayer for the long life of her husband and her family, while after further prayers the bridegroom in his turn pours the grain into the hands of the girl and then offers it to the fire. After the offering of parched grain the couple goes around the fire while the husband prays to Agni; the rite of the fried grain is repeated and husband and wife go around the fire three times.
An impressive part of the ceremony, though found first only in the Mahabharata, is the seven steps taken by the bride, each of them representing a virtue and a blessing. The bridegroom now touches the heart of the bride, saying: “Let your heart become my heart and your mind my mind.” 72 Then after still more prayers the wedded couple, followed by parents and guests, set out for the new home, the nuptial fire being carried in a receptacle and not allowed to go out. Once arrived at their new abode, the couple fulfill certain rites and then keep silence until nightfall. When night has fallen they go out under the open sky to gaze upon the polestar which they proceed to worship. The husband extols the polestar, pointing it out to the wife as a model of stability.
As to the social status of women in Vedic times, we may remark that, although the present-day form of theoretical equality between men and women was inconceivable, woman’s position was by no means one of slavish submission to masculine tyranny. A deterioration took place later through an exaggeration of the Vedic view that to serve the husband was to serve God according to the custom of the patideva, that is, of considering pati, the husband, as the God, deva, for his wife.
Vivaha
The Grasping of the Hand
HGS I, 6, 20, 1
i) Himself facing the East while she faces the West [or vice versa], the bridegroom takes the bride’s hand. . .
“O Sarasvati, gracious one, rich in offspring,
you whom we hymn first of all the Gods,
may you prosper this marriage.”
“I seize your hand.”
The Treading on the Stone
SGS I, 13, 11-12
ii) 11. The bridegroom says the words while she stands up:
“Come, beautiful one!”
12. And lets her put the tip of the right foot on the stone, saying:
“Come, step on the stone; be strong like a stone.
Resist the enemies; overcome those who attack you.”
The Oblation of Parched Grain
HGS I, 6, 20, 3-4
iii) 3. The bridegroom pours some parched grain into the bride’s joined palms:
“This grain I spill.
May it bring to me well-being
and unite you to me.
May Agni hear us.”
4. He then causes the bride to spill the grain into the fire, saying:
“This woman, scattering grain into the fire, prays:
Blessings on my husband.
May my relatives be prosperous. Svaha!”
The Circumambulation of the Fire
PGS I, 7, 3-6.
iv) 3. Then they walk around [the fire], the bridegroom repeating:
“First now they bring to you in bridal procession
this Surya, guiding her steps in circular motion.
Return her now, O Agni, to her husband
as rightful wife, with hope of children to come.”
4. Then [the entire rite is repeated] twice more, beginning with [the rite of] the fried grain.
5. At the fourth round she pours [into the fire] all the fried grain from the mouth of the winnowing basket saying:
“To Bhaga svaha!”
6. After the three rounds are performed, and having sacrificed the oblation
to Prajapati [follows the next rite].
The Seven Steps
SGS I, 14, 5-6
v) While the bride takes seven steps to the Northeast [the bridegroom sings the following verses]:
“One Step for Vigor,
Two Steps for Vitality,
Three Steps for Prosperity,
Four Steps for Happiness,
Five Steps for Cattle,
Six Steps for Seasons,
Seven Steps for Friendship.
To me be devoted.”
HGS I, 6, 21, 2
vi) After the seventh step he makes her remain where she is and says:
“With seven steps we become friends.
Let me reach your friendship.
Let me not be severed from your friendship.
Let your friendship not be severed from me.”
Touching the Heart
PGS I, 8, 8
vii) He then over her right shoulder touches her heart saying:
“I hold your heart in serving fellowship,
your mind follows my mind.
In my word you rejoice with all your heart.
You are joined to me by the Lord of all creatures.”
The Departure
HGS I, 7, 22, 1-3; 6; 10
viii) 1. She then abandons her father’s house; they let her depart or be taken away from it.
2. They carry behind [the couple] the sacred fire, having put it [into a vessel].
3. They should keep the fire constantly alight.
6. When [she] reaches his house, he says:
“Enter with your right foot.
Do not remain outside.”
10. They sit in silence until the stars are visible.
Looking at the Polestar
PGS I, 8, 19
ix) After sunset he lets her look at the polar star, [saying]:
“You are firm and I see you.
Be firm with me, O flourishing one!
Brhaspati has given you to me,
so live with me a hundred years
bearing children by me, your husband.”
i) The grasping of the hand: pani-grahana. The ceremony generally commences after the lighting of the sacrificial fire. The so-called promise of marriage follows and the recitation of RV X, 85 (cf. v. 36 § II, 15). Cf. also RV X, 18, 8 (§ V 15) for the grasping of the hand. The husband is sometimes called a hastagrabha, the one who holds the hand.
ii) The treading on the stone: ashmarohana. Cf. HGS I, 6, 19, 8: etc.
iii) The oblation of parched grain: lajahoma. Cf. SGS I, 14, 1; etc.
iv) Walk around: parikram-, the circumambulation of the Fire: agnipradakshina. Cf. HGS I, 6, 20, 5, etc.; SGS I, 13, 13.
3. The verse is taken from RV X, 85, 38 (§ II 15).
5 Mouth of the winnowing basket: shurpa-kushtaya.
6 After. . . : now follow the seven steps, saptapadi.
v) The seven steps: saptapadi. The last line is to be found only in PGS I, 8, 1, which is the same as the given text plus this last line. The root of “friendship,” sac-, implies equality rather than submission. The last line undoubtedly reflects male preeminence. The literal words for the seven steps are: sap, juice, wealth, comfort, cattle, seasons, friend. HGS I, 6, 21, 1 has a little more elaborated version, adding after each step: “May Visnu go after you.” The seven steps rite is followed by the murdhabhisheka or the sprinkling of water on the heads of the bridegroom and the bride (AGS I, 7, 20; SGS I, 14, 9) or on the head of the bride only (PGS I, 8, 5).
vii) Touching the heart: hrdayasparsha.
Serving fellowship: vrata, service, obedience, will, in this context, whereas in the RV it means ordinance, law, rule. It has later the meaning of vow (promise, resolution).
Your mind . . . : cittam anucittam.
Lord of all creatures: Prajapati. Cf. BGS I, 4, 1, given in the Introduction.
ix) Looking at the polestar: dhruvadarshana.
Husband and Wife
Dampati
18 Marriage is a cosmic act that involves the whole universe and reflects the mode of operation of the entire world. Yet the Cosmic Revelation does not forget to stress time and again that it is also the daily common life of a couple within the simple framework of a village household.
Many hymns scattered here and there, as we shall have an opportunity to observe, describe the household life of a married couple, where a rather striking equality between husband and wife is emphasized. To complete our picture of marriage, we adduce a simple, brief example. The very title of this hymn by its use of the dual form of dampati (householder, lord of the house) suggests a certain equality between husband and wife.
Dampati
RV VIII 31, 5-9
5. Husband and wife in sweet accord
give milk oblations to the Gods
and press and strain the Soma.
6. They acquire a plenteous store of food.
they come united to the altar.
Their rewards never lessen.
7. They do not wander from the Gods
or seek to hide their favors granted.
Thus they acquire great glory.
8. With sons and daughters at their side
they live a good long span of years,
both decked with precious gold.
9. Devoted to sacrifice, gathering wealth,
they serve the Immortal and honor the Gods,
united in mutual love.
1-4. Speak about the effect of the sacrifice.
5. Husband and wife in sweet accord: ya dampah samanasa, lit. these lords of the household as with one mind.
Gods: devah.
6. Altar: lit. sacred grass.
The last line could also be rendered, “Their strength never fails.” There is a sacrificial tone in the whole stanza.
10-18. Invoke various deities but are not related to married life.