Vedic Experience

`B. THE OTHER WORLD`

`Asau lokah`

In truth there are two states of this person: the state of being in this world and the state of being in the other world. There is a third twilight state of being: that of sleep. In the twilight state of being he sees the other two: that of this world and that of the other world.

When entering into this third state of being, since it constitutes an approach to the state of being of the other world, he sees both, that is to say, the evils and the joys. When he falls asleep, taking with him all the elements composing this state of being, he takes them apart and reconstructs them as he likes, dreaming by means of his own radiance, his own light. Then this person becomes his own light.

BU IV, 3, 9

The text given as antiphon of this subsection tells us of two states or conditions of Men, the state of existence in this world and the state of existence in the other or higher one: the para-loka-sthana. There is, however, an intermediary state also, the state of sleep. 148 a There we are in contact, the text says, with both the other worlds. 149 In sleep we begin to overcome the temporal and spatial differentiation between the two worlds and no longer imagine the “other” world to be “after” or “above” this world. Here cosmology is reabsorbed in anthropology, but this will constitute the last, the unique, step of the Upanishads.

There is a certain autonomous conception of Man which seems to see human destiny at variance with the destiny of the world. Man dies. He may enter another plane of existence, he may rise again, or a part of him may be immortal, but he still has to go through the gates of death regardless of whether, once the threshold is crossed, there is fullness, emptiness, or a renewal of the whole process of life. The world, on the other hand, does not seem to have to die and certainly nobody has ever seen the death of the cosmos or even of a substantial part of it. Perhaps it is the fact of his own inevitable death, in contrast with the world’s continuing existence, which has led Man to differentiate himself from the surrounding cosmos: only what is alive may cease to live.

The Vedic view seems to take exception to that conception. We have already looked at some different understandings of the relationship between Man and the world, and we have seen how the Vedic experience tends toward a nondualistic understanding of this relationship. Man is not an undifferentiated part of the world, nor, however, is he a foreigner. He is not even a temporary resident or guest on this planet, for the world is his home, just as his body is, and body and world are linked together in a common destiny. Just as Man, in one way or another, has to face death, so the whole world too, in one way or another, will have to confront the problem of death. Thus the destiny of the world is not different from human destiny, which is not to say that Man shares in the specific caducity of the cosmos, for that would suggest that the cosmos is predominant; nor is it to affirm that the cosmos shares in the peculiar mortality of Man, for that would be to err in the opposite direction and confer predominance on Man. Man and cosmos are both involved in one and the same venture and both undergo the same process, though each in its own way. The cosmos, like Man, dies and is also immortal.

Modern psychology may speak of a process of transference, as if Man could transfer onto the world what he experiences within himself. Indian thinking may retort that transference is possible precisely because Man and cosmos are united both in their being and in their destiny. Vedic experience embraces the cosmos as well as Man.

We have already mentioned the existence of the three worlds, the earth, the sky, and the in-between, 150 as well as the worlds of the rishis, the pitrs, and the devas. 151 We have seen that according to the Vedas the life of Man is not limited to the confines of this world alone; his existence is not solitary or isolated. Here we see that the existence of the world itself is neither solitary nor isolated, and for exactly the same reason: the Vedic experience abhors the idea of an absolute beginning or an absolute end. Such ideas are felt to be impossible, to be stifling of all life and even of all thought. If the universe is all that exists, then the idea that the universe should have an absolute limit is impossible, for absoluteness is the negation of all limitations.

Cosmological infinity as viewed in the Vedic experience offers an alternative both to the closed world view of many traditional cosmologies and to the purely scientific infinity of an ever-expanding universe. Vedic cosmological infinity is not a rival to the infinity of God, at least not to that of a supreme personal God, for these two infinities belong to different orders. Nor does it contradict a merely scientific infinity. It is rather, as it were, the spatiotemporal infinity of the Godhead. The world had no beginning and will have no end, for beginning and end are themselves intraworldly categories and thus fall within this side of the whole picture. If we were to undertake a journey across the world in time and space, or with the mind alone, and try to reach the beginning or the end, we could never do so, even supposing such a journey was possible. The end of any path, temporal, spatial, or even spiritual, would be the end of the world and of its observer as well.

The Vedic cosmological experience is not mainly temporal or spatial, as if Man were thrown into a limitless temporal or spatial sea, he himself being of different material and capable of witnessing what was happening. It is a prolongation of the experience of Man himself. The worlds are not empty places devoid of Men: they are Man’s great body, the real theater where his existence unfolds. To think of worlds with no relation to Man whatsoever is as much an abstraction as thinking of Man without a world. To substantiate what we have been saying we may recall the meaning of the word loka as open space, as the place of our experience and the horizon of our knowledge. 152

Significantly enough, the silence of the Vedas on the ages of the world, their destruction and succession, is going to be more than counterbalanced by the profusion of Puranic and epic literature on the subject. The Vedas say hardly anything about cosmological eschatology. 153 They concentrate primarily on Man. The three subsections that follow clearly illustrate this emphasis. The first one contains two of the infrequent mentions of cosmic dissolution, for the idea of pralaya, the destruction of the world, or any other idea of cosmic disintegration is very rare in the shruti. Only a few Upanishadic texts provide the link with later periods. We offer the texts according to a certain internal order. The other two subsections are devoted to the main utterances about heaven and hell, for these are the other two places where Man’s life continues unfolding.

`a) Cosmic Disintegration`

`Pralaya`

Both Man and nature are subject to the canker of decay, but deep within both is also to be found the seed of immortality. The pattern of Day and Night is not only a terrestrial phenomenon; it occurs also in the heavens year after year. Moreover, we have known that Prajapati is the year 154 and that this word means simply time, which amounts to saying that day and night are the expression of the cosmic rhythm of the entire universe. Each day the world reaches an end, just as each day a Man’s life is completed and expended, so that the one who reserves himself for the morrow is living an unauthentic life. Furthermore, the same day-night rhythm operates also in every day of Brahma or every yuga. The reason for this, the Gita says, is that behind all the dynamism the Lord is present, effecting both the destruction and the reconstruction of the world.

The same homology is to be found in the first of the given texts. It seems as if the emphasis on the destruction of mankind is intended to highlight and emphasize its reconstruction. We shall not here analyze this account, the only one in the whole shruti, of what in other cultures is a very common myth: the myth of the flood and the periodic purification of the cosmos by the waters. The description is so closely interwoven with the doctrine of sacrifice and so intimately connected with its ritual that any foreign origin is highly questionable. We have here not so much a description of a cosmic event or of a metahistorical fact as a new emphasis on sacrifice and on the cosmoanthropocentric aspect of the doctrine concerning sacrifice. Each sacrifice is a sacrifice of the whole of mankind and effects the regeneration of mankind. Each sacrifice is a salvation from the flood and is relevant for the fate of the whole human race.

Furthermore, “Ida is faith,” as is affirmed in the same Brahmana in order to stress that confidence or trust, as the sine qua non of authentic sacrifice, is an essential element of human life: “Ida is faith. He who knows that Ida is faith himself acquires faith and all that one can obtain through faith. He certainly obtains all this.” 155 Ida has a complex history. On the one hand “it” is the fivefold offering that is eaten in common by all the participants after the sacrifice. On the other hand “she” is the daughter of Manu and thus the instrument for the divine incest which is to be the origin of the human race: the creatures, produced by God, their Father, are incapable of fulfilling their destiny alone and require a second coming down of God, a second initiative--the divine incest--in order to achieve their own existences, 156

This passage illumines in an original manner the character of Vedic eschatology. The story does not tell us the cause of the Flood nor does it describe the destruction of all things by the waters, but it narrates the tale of Manu, the one man who, thanks to the good offices of a fish, was saved and was destined, after the waters had subsided, to receive the blessing of offspring and riches in response to his offering of oblations.

We should keep in mind the whole context of this Indian myth and not try to center it on any historical flood. Nor has it any covenantal overtones. The world is not here destroyed because it was wicked, nor is there any promise or pact not to destroy it again. The context of the myth, as the many commentaries confirm, is the cultic climate of the Brahmanas. Even when in later versions the cyclic character of temporal events in the cosmos is stressed, the fact remains that the emphasis lies in the power of the sacrifice in regenerating the whole world, the power of the sacrifice to produce Ida again by virtue of which the entire universe is remade.

At a later date, that of the Mahabharata and the Puranas, the idea began to gain ground that in ancient times there dwelt upon earth an ideal race of Men, perfect in all respects; it was the age of the great sages. Then, little by little, there comes a progressive deterioration of morale and a degeneration in bodily physique until the era is brought to a climax of dissolution by a great flood, which in its turn is followed by a new creation when all once again is perfect. At the time of each flood it is the water, preexisting before each act of creation, which dissolves and purifies all things and then ushers in a new humanity, regenerate and revitalized.

The next two groups of texts, after an introductory passage from the Maitri Upanishad, which stresses the process of decay observable in the whole universe, direct our attention above and beyond the world and claim to have found the fulcrum on which depends the turning of the universe. All things can dissolve and come again into being because there is a point, the One, which is outside this dynamism. It is indeed this One that brings about the circular movement of the universe. 157

An early Upanishad makes this function so integral to the concept of the absolute that it defines Brahman precisely as

That from which beings are born,

that by which, once born, they live,

that into which, once dead, they enter, 158

as if to say that the central point around which everything revolves is at the same time the foundation or ground into which everything dissolves. The world is contingent and decaying because there exists something outside the flux, something into which the world can lapse, as the Bhagavad Gita declares with its beautiful parable of the day and the night, symbolic of the cosmic rhythm of the whole universe. 159

`The Deluge`

`Samplava`

17

`SB I, 8, 1, 1-10`

1. One morning they brought to Manu water for his ablutions, just as now also they bring water for washing the hands. When he was washing himself, a fish came into his hands.

2. [The fish] thus spoke to him:

“Tend me carefully and I will save you!”

“From what will you save me?” [Manu enquired.]

“A flood will wash away all these living beings. I will save you from that!”

“How can I tend you carefully?”

3. [The fish] said:

“As long as we are small, there is great danger of our destruction, because fish devour fish. You should first keep me in a jar. When I outgrow that, you will dig a pond and keep me in it. When I outgrow that, you will take me to the sea, for then I shall have overcome the danger of destruction.”

4. It soon became jhasha [a large fish], for this is the fish that grows largest. The fish said further: “In such and such a year that flood will come and you should build a ship and be near me. When the flood comes you should enter into the ship, and I will save you from it [the flood].”

5. After he had tended it in this way, he took it to the sea. And in the same year predicted by the fish, he built a ship and remained near the fish. When the flood had come, he entered into the ship. The fish then swam toward him, and he tied the rope of the ship to its horn and by that means he reached the northern mountain.

6. Then the fish said to him: “I have saved you. Fasten the ship to a tree, but do not let the water wash you away while you are on the mountain. You may gradually descend as the waters subside!” And, in fact, he gradually descended, and thus it came about that the slope of the northern mountain is called “Manu’s descent.” Now the flood had swept away all living beings and Manu alone remained here.

7. He took to worship and austerities, because he was desirous of bringing forth living beings. He then performed also a paka-sacrifice: he offered in the waters clarified butter, sour milk, curds, and whey. After a year a woman was produced from all that. She emerged, taking solid form, clarified butter still remaining in her footprints. Then Mitra and Varuna met her.

8. They asked her, “Who are you?”

“I am Manu’s daughter,” she answered.

“Say you are ours,” they said.

“No,” she said, “I belong to the one who has begotten me.”

They wanted to have a share in her. She neither agreed nor disagreed, but slipped straight past them. She came to Manu.

9. Manu asked her, “Who are you?”

“I am your daughter,” she answered.

“How, [blessed] one, are you my daughter?”

“With those offerings of clarified butter, sour milk, curds, and whey, made in the waters, you have begotten me. I am Blessing: make use of me at the sacrifice! If you will make use of me at the sacrifice, you will have many offspring and cattle. Whatever blessing you invoke through me shall be fully granted to you!”

He then made use of her in the middle of the sacrifice, for the middle of the sacrifice is intermediate between the first and the last offerings.

10. So with her he took to worship and austerities, because he was desirous of offspring. Through her he begot this race, which is humanity; and whatever blessing he invoked through her, that was fully granted to him.

7. Paka-sacrifice: lit. cooked sacrifice (yajna), a simple sacrifice with the fire of the hearth. Manu, eager to escape from his loneliness and acquire children, practices austerity and offers an oblation of milk and butter. From this oblation is born his daughter. Ida is the personification of offering and in this passage her father Manu unites with her to be assured of an offspring.

10. Humanity: lit. the race of Manu.

`In Whom All Things Dissolve`

`Samhara`

18

`MAIT U I, 4`

i) We see that all this [universe] is perishable: these flies, for example, mosquitoes, and so forth, the grass and the trees which grow and decay.

But what of all these? There are even other beings, superior to them: great warriors; world rulers like Sudyumna, Bhuridyumna, Indradyumna, Kuvalayashva, Yauvanashva, Vadhryashva, Ashvapati, Shashabindu, Harishcandra, Ambarisha, Nanaktu, Saryati, Yayati, Anaranya, Ukshasena, and the rest; and also kings like Marutta, Bharata, and others-all of whom have abandoned their great glory in the sight of their friends and relatives and have departed to the other world.

But what of them? We even see the destruction of other beings, superior to them, like Gandharvas, demons, sprites, ogres, ghosts, troops of genii, goblins, serpent-demons, vampires, and the like. But what of them? We even see worse things: the drying up of big oceans, the downfall of mountain peaks, the displacing of the polestar, the tearing of the wind cords, the submergence of the earth, the fall of the Gods from their throne. How is it possible to enjoy one’s desires in such a world? For we see that men, having tasted them, return again to the world from which they have come. Deliver me, I pray, Sir, for in this cycle of existence I am like a frog in a dry well. Lord, you alone are our refuge, you alone are our refuge.

SU III, 2

ii) One alone is God; there cannot be a second.

It is he alone who governs these worlds with his powers.

He stands facing beings. He, the herdsman of all worlds,

after bringing them forth, reabsorbs them at the end of time.

SU IV, 1; 11

iii) 1. May he who is one, who though colorless bestows countless colors

with mysterious purpose and multiple practice of his power,

the God into whom at the end all is dissolved

as in the beginning, endow us with purity of mind!

11. The One who holds dominion over every source,

in whom all things unite and dissolve again,

the Lord who grants men favor when a man beholds him,

the God who is ever to be worshiped, he forever finds peace.

SU V, 3

iv) That God who in this terrestrial field spreads out nets,

one after another in various ways, then withdraws them--

he the great Self, creating the lords afresh,

rules once again as Lord over all these things.

MAHANAR U 3-4

v) 3. That in which all things are gathered together

and scattered again,

that in which all the Gods had their seat--

4. it is That which was and which shall be.

That dwells in the imperishable highest heaven.

i) 3. Cf. § IV 6.

Demons: asuras.

Sprites: yakshas.

Ogres: rakshasas.

Ghosts: bhutas.

Troops of genii: ganas.

Goblins: pishacas.

Vampires: grahas.

Tearing of the wind cords: cf. the conception that the stars are held by wind cords.

Dry: andha, waterless, without issue, lit. blind.

Refuge: gati, which can mean also way and goal, i.e., way of salvation, place of refuge; cf. § I 29 notes

You alone are our way.

ii) God: Rudra, the Terrible, “the awe-inspiring,” is here the personification of the supreme reality.

There cannot be a second: na dvitiyaya tasthuh, lit. they (those who know) do not stand for a second.

There is here a parallelism ishata ishanibhih, lit. rules with ruling powers.

The herdsman: gopa, the watcher, the surveyor to whom is assigned the function of keeping an eye on something, the protector.

3-4. Cf. § I 28.

iii) 1. Colorless: avarna without distinctions, determining features, in opposition to varna. The first meaning of varna is the external painting or dye, i.e., the color (luster, splendor, glory) by which a form becomes visible; hence race, character, “caste.” In the context of the SU the sociological dimension vanishes before the metaphysical symbolism of the manifold which does not endanger oneness.

With mysterious purpose: nihitartha, of hidden aim, inscrutable design, with no extrinsic motivation.

Practice of his power: shakti-yoga.

God: deva.

With purity of mind: buddhya shubhaya, with good understanding.

11. Source: yoni.

Unite and dissolve: sam ca vi caiti, meet and separate.

Lord: ishana.

God: deva.

iv) Field: kshetra.

Withdraws: samharati, reabsorbs, collects.

4. Cf. § III 6.

v) 1-2. Cf. § III 6.

3. Gathered together and scattered: sam ca vi caiti, are united and divided.

4. In the imperishable highest heaven: akshare parame vyoman, or, in the imperishable, in the highest firmament.

`The Nightfall of the World`

`Jagadratri`

19

`BG VII, 6`

i) I am the origin and also the dissolution

of this whole world.

BG VIII, 18-19

ii) 18. At the dawn of day all manifest things

issue forth from the unmanifest.

At nightfall once more they dissolve into the same,

what is called the unmanifest.

19. These same myriad beings, emerging one by one,

ineluctably dissolve

at nightfall, O Arjuna, and emerge again

into existence at daybreak.

BG XIV, 2

iii) When they have acquired this knowledge, their nature

resembles my own:

they are not born at the world’s creation nor troubled

at its dissolution.

i) Origin: prabhava, source.

Dissolution: pralaya.

8-11. Cf. § III 7.

ii) 18. Manifest: vyakta.

Unmanifest: avyakta, i.e., the primal matter, pradhana, of the Samkhya system.

iii) My own [nature]: mama sadharmya.

World’s creation: sarga.

Dissolution: pralaya.

`b) Hell`

`Naraka`

In a world suffused with the radiance of the Sun, where all aspirations tend toward the realm of Light, where Dawn brings new hopes each day, where Earth provides Men with good things in plenty and the daily sacrifice to Agni leads them toward Heaven--in that world is there no shadow of darkness, no realm of dreadful obscurity? Texts on this subject are rather scarce. Nevertheless, all is not bright: sin, wickedness, injustice, enemies, untruthfulness, crimes, also exist. 160 Punishment as a means of re-establishing justice and the right order of things certainly has a place, but is the punishment temporary or will it continue after this life and last forever? Where and how will the punishment be administered? Here and there we find texts that express, albeit imprecisely and with a certain characteristic restraint, the idea of what a later and less reticent tradition, taking a somewhat sardonic pleasure in describing its tortures, named naraka-loka, hell, the infernal world. Yet hell, before assuming the allegorical features developed later on in the rich imagery of the Puranic world view, is first of all experienced as negation. For the Vedic rishi it is the realm of asat, of nonbeing, of absence of structured reality, which is the most frightful. Indeed, as the famous Upanishadic prayer concisely states, nonbeing (asat), darkness (tamas), and death (mrtyu) are the characteristics of the sphere that we would call “hell.” 161

In the present selection it is interesting to note that the stanzas from the Rig Veda are addressed to Agni, Indra, and Soma, who are the dispellers of darkness in all its aspects. It is known that the combinations Agni-Indra, Agni-Soma, and Indra-Soma are allies in the fight against demons, evil spirits, and fiends, and against the impudent rascal who dares to desecrate the sacrifice. Under the name of whatever spirit evil operates, the two Gods of light together with Soma the purifier strike at its root, whether in Man or in demon. Here there is no room for Varuna’s mercy; 162 sinners are thrown into an abyss, a deep pit, an underground place, where they will “see no more the rising of the sun.” It is the burning flame of Agni which utterly destroys, consuming both miscreants and liars. There is no remission. Let them be burned!

The Atharva Veda is no less adamant. It gives more details about the person of the miscreant; here he is a vile man who has insulted a Brahmin, there one who has not offered the gift of a cow to the priests.

The Yajur Veda adds: “Hell is either for the homicide or for the man who is no longer worthy to have the sacrificial fire.” 163

Most of the texts are concerned with preserving the sacredness of the sacrifice. Whatever sullies that sacredness must be punished with extreme measures, whether by Agni’s flames or in an abysmal region of utter darkness.

There follows a rather extraordinary dialogue from the Shatapatha Brahmana, between a young man Bhrgu and people in hell. The text is usually acknowledged to be a traditional description of the torments of hell, as imagined by the common folk of the time, though it is a document concerned specifically with the sacrifice of the agnihotra.

The young Bhrgu, who is puffed up with vanity, is sent by his father Varuna to the four regions, East, West, South, and North, in order to see and know what is happening there. With dismay and horror the boy sees only “men dismembering one another, cutting off each of their limbs.” As they have been treating others they are themselves treated now, that is, with the utmost cruelty. Evil engenders evil; it calls for evil, for wrath. Gripped with repugnance, Bhrgu asks if there is really no way to expiate and to avoid such terrible crimes. The miserable creatures answer that there is a way out and that only Varuna knows it. The rest of the passage is the explanation Varuna gives to his now less arrogant son: the agnihotra has the power to master even this wrath. The meaning is allegorical, explains Varuna: the men in the East are the trees; the men in the South are the cattle; the men in the West are the herbs; the men in the North are the waters; the two women Bhrgu met later, one beautiful, the other ugly, are belief and unbelief; the black man with yellow eyes is wrath. One by one all these elements belonging to the offering of the agnihotra are mastered; by offering the daily sacrifice to Agni one subdues everything. Thus once more, even if we are taken a little far from our subject, the importance of sacrifice is emphasized. As for the hell Bhrgu visited, except for the torments, we do not learn much about it, nor is it clear whether this type of torment is going to last forever.

The Upanishadic period that follows seems not to be much concerned about hell. 164 Some commentators have suggested that the Katha Upanishad may be pointing to it when it says that “to the childish and the careless, deluded by the glamor of wealth, there is no departure for the beyond,” 165 but no further description is given.

The Gita is far more outspoken. It does not waste time in describing hell or its torments; it specifies, rather, those for whom this naraka-loka is destined: those who have no regard for family laws and break them and those who are entangled in their own desires, blinded by the veil of delusion. In fact, the gate giving entrance to hell has, so to speak, a triple porch: desire, anger, and greed. Those vices ruin the atman in Man and lead to perdition. The Gita adds that these are gates of darkness and that the man who has avoided them is on the way to salvation. 166 Even if the doctrine is more elaborated and if Man’s consciousness has gone a long way since the Rig Veda, the basic intuition is the same: human life is a texture of darkness and light; Man shuns gloom and darkness and craves light. True brightness is as described by the Katha Upanishad: it is the brightness of the Brahma-world where one sees reality, that is, shadow and light. 167 Once the shadows and the dark spots of hell are discovered, they must, if life is not to become a hell, be removed. Hell, like Heaven, can be everywhere--including the here and now.

`The Bottomless Abyss`

`Padam gabhiram`

20

`RV II, 29, 6`

i) Incline toward us today, O Holy Ones.

With awe I approach you to win your hearts.

Protect us, O Gods, from the devouring wolf.

Save us from falling into the pit, O you Holy Ones!

RV IV, 5, 5

ii) Hardened sinners are these, like obtrusive young women

of evil conduct who deceive their husbands.

In their hearts no truth or faithfulness is found.

It is they who have produced this abysmal region.

RV VII, 104, 3; 7; 11; 24

iii) 3. Into the abyss, Indra and Soma, plunge

the wicked! Into bottomless darkness fling them,

so that not one of them may ever return!

May your fierce power prevail and subdue them!

7. Be attentive to our prayer. Slay swiftly the wicked!

Destroy the evil and treacherous demons!

O Indra and Soma, may the wicked not prosper,

whoever persecutes us with cunning power!

11. May he be lost, himself and his children!

Let him be consigned beneath the three earths!

May the fair name of him who day and night

seeks to harm us, O Gods, be totally blighted!

24. Slay, O Indra, the male magician

and also the witch who boasts of her magic.

May idolaters perish with broken necks!

No more for them the rising of the sun!

RV IX, 73, 8

iv) The Guardian of Order, most wise, is not mocked.

In his heart are three means of purification.

He who knows espies all living beings.

The ruthless transgressor he throws into the pit.

RV X, 87, 14; 20

v) 14. Destroy with your heat the workers of magic;

destroy with your power the evil spirits;

destroy with your flames idolatrous persons;

burn to nothingness murderous scoundrels!

20. From above and from below, from behind and before,

protect us, O Agni!

With their glowing coals your flames, ever blazing,

will wholly consume the untruthful man.

RV X, 152, 2; 4

vi) 2. Giver of salvation, Lord of the people,

destroyer of the demon,

overpowerer of enemies,

O powerful Lord, enjoyer of Soma,

go before us,

calming our fear.

4. Scatter our foes, O Indra, subdue

those who attack us.

Send them down to nethermost darkness

who seek to destroy us.

AV II, 14, 3

vii) There may the evil ghosts dwell--

in the house infernal!

There may Decay and every witch

find an abode!

AV V, 19, 3

viii) Those who have spat or dribbled mucus

on a holy man

sit in a stream flowing with blood,

devouring hair.

AV XII, 4, 36

ix) In Yama’s realm the cow grants all desires

to him who has offered her.

But hell, so they say, is the lot of the one

who is asked, but refuses.

YV I, 25

x) At earth’s remotest end, Savitri,

bind him with a hundred cords, as also

those who hate us and whom we hate.

Thence never release him!

i) To Vishvedevah.

ii) To Agni.

Cf. the four terms used: dureva, papa anrta, asatya.

Abysmal region: padam gabhiram; which could also be rendered as mysterious or obscure sentence, word (of the enemy in the disputation).

iii) To Indra-Soma (the same hymn is given in AV VIII, 4).

3. Fierce power: sahase manyum, the might of your wrath.

7. Demons: rakshasah.

Cunning power: druh, also evil, etc.

11. Himself: lit. his body.

Three earths: prthivih, which correspond to the “three heavens” and indicate the lowest possible place.

Fair name: yashas also glory, honor.

24. Magician: yatudhana.

Idolaters: muradevah, worshipers of demons or a clan of demons. Cf. RV IV, 4 (§ VII 41).

iv) To Soma.

Order: rita.

Means of purification: pavitrah, used usually with reference to the three strainers of Soma, here symbolically.

Transgressor: avrata, the one who does not keep the holy law, who does not serve the Gods, etc.

Pit: karta, abyss.

v) To Agni.

14. Workers of magic: yatudhanah.

Evil spirits: rakshas.

Idolatrous persons: muradevah (or muladeva according to some commentators).

vi) To Indra.

2. Salvation: svasti, blessing, well-being, happiness.

Powerful Lord: lit. bull Indra.

Calming our fear: abhayamkara, giving us peace.

vii) Against evil creatures.

Evil ghosts: arayah, evil spirits, hags, witches. Cf. RV X, 155, 1, and AV I, 28, 4.

Decay: sedi; the commentator says nirrti.

Witches: yatudhanyah, sorceresses.

viii) Against those who insult Brahmins.

Holy man: Brahmin.

ix) Against the man who refuses to give a cow to the Brahmin.

Reference to the wish-fulfilling cow (kamadhenu) which is obtained only by those in heaven who have been generous on earth.

Hell: naraka loka.

x) Only part of stanza 25 addressed to Earth is given here. The whole hymn contains the prayers for the New and Full Moon sacrifices.

`Men Dismembering Each Other`

`Bhishma loka`

21

`SB XI, 6, 1-13`

1. Bhrgu, son of Varuna, considered himself superior to his father in wisdom. Varuna had noticed that he considered himself superior in wisdom.

2. He spoke to him: “My son, go to the East, and having seen what is to be seen there, go to the South, and having seen what is to be seen there, go to the West, and having seen what is to be seen there, go to the North, and having seen what is to be seen there, go to the Northeast, and whatever you shall see there, tell it to me.

3. So he went from there to the East. There men were dismembering one another, cutting off each of their limbs, saying: “this to you, this to me!” He said: “Oh, horrible! Men are here dismembering one another, cutting off each of their limbs!” They replied: “In this way they have treated us in the other world, and in the same way we now treat them in return.” He asked: “Is there no expiation for this?” “Yes, there is.” “What is it?” “Your father knows it.”

4. So he went from there to the South. There men were dismembering one another, cutting into pieces each of their limbs, saying: “this to you, this to me!” He said: “Oh, horrible! Men are here dismembering one another, cutting into pieces each of their limbs!” They replied: “In this way they have treated us in the other world, and in the same way we now treat them in return.” He asked: “Is there no expiation for this?” “Yes, there is.” “What is it?” “Your father knows it.”

5. So he went from there to the West. There men sitting in silence were devoured by men sitting in silence. He said: “Oh, horrible! Men sitting in silence are here devouring one another!” They replied: “In this way they have treated us in the other world, and in the same way we now treat them in return.” He asked: “Is there no expiation for this?” “Yes, there is.” “What is it?” “Your father knows it.”

6. So he went from there to the North. There men crying loudly were devoured by men crying loudly. He said: “Oh, horrible! Men crying loudly are here devouring one another!” They replied: “In this way they have treated us in the other world, and in the same way we now treat them in return.” He asked: “Is there no expiation for this?” “Yes, there is.” “What is it?” “Your father knows it.”

7. So he went from there to the Northeast. There were two women, one beautiful and one ugly, and a black man with yellow eyes and a stick in his hand stood between them. Having seen him, he was seized with fear, and he returned and entered his house. His father told him: “Study your holy scripture. Why don’t you study it?” He said: “What shall I study? There is nothing at all.” Then Varuna knew: “He has really seen it.”

8. He said: “Those men whom you have seen in the East dismembering one another and cutting off each of their limbs, saying: “This to you, this to me,” they were trees. When one puts the wood as fuel, one conquers the trees and wins the world of trees.

9. And those men whom you have seen in the South, dismembering one another and cutting into pieces each of their limbs, saying, “This to you, this to me,” they were cattle. When one offers milk in sacrifice, one conquers the cattle and wins the world of cattle.

10. And those men whom you have seen in the West, sitting in silence and being devoured by men sitting in silence, they were herbs. When one lights the fire with grass [straw], one conquers the herbs and wins the world of herbs.

11. And those men whom you have seen in the North, crying loudly and being devoured by men crying loudly, they were the waters. When one pours water [in the milk], one conquers the waters and wins the world of the waters.

12. And those two women whom you have seen, one beautiful and one ugly-- the beautiful one is faith. When one offers the first libation, one conquers faith and wins faith. The ugly one is nonfaith. When one offers the second libation, one overcomes nonfaith and wins nonfaith.

13. And the black man with yellow eyes and a stick in his hand, standing between them, is wrath. Assuredly he who, knowing this, performs the agnihotra, wins all and conquers all.

1. Bhrgu: In the RV the name usually appears in the plural. The Bhrgus are mythical beings, whose role is the kindling of the sacrificial fire on earth. In some passages, however, the name designates a clan of ancient sacrificers. In later time Bhrgu is a sage (cf. AV V, 19, 1; AB II, 20, 7 (VIII, 2) ) who is adopted by Varuna and is even, as in the present passage, called his son.

3. Expiation: prayashcitti, atonement, the only way of avoiding the retribution of evil deeds.

7. Ugly: atikalyana, or extremely beautiful.

Holy scripture: svadhyaya, the daily lesson or reading of the Veda.

8. Trees: vanaspatayah.

9. Cattle: pashu.

10. Herbs: oshadhayah.

12. Faith: shraddha.

Nonfaith: ashraddha.

13. Wrath: krodha.

He . . . wins all: sarvam jayati.

`The Triple Gate of Hell`

`Narakadvara`

22

`BG I, 44`

i) For men who have destroyed, O Janardana,

their families” laws,

there is ordained most surely an abode in hell--

thus we have heard.

BG XVI, 4; 16; 21

ii) 4. Hypocrisy, arrogance, and self-conceit,

anger and harshness,

as well as ignorance, characterize the man

who is born demonic.

16. Seduced by many a fancy, entangled

in a net of delusion,

enslaved to the indulgence of desires, they fall

into loathsome hell.

21. Triple is the gate of hell which leads

to the ruin of the atman:

desire, anger, and greed. These three

one should therefore abandon.

i) Janardana: i.e., Krishna.

Hell: naraka.

ii) 4. Demonic: asuri, belonging to the asuras.

21. Desire: kama.

Anger: krodha.

Greed: lobha, cf. BG II, 62-63.

`c) Heaven`

`Svarga`

The typology of heaven in the Vedic insight regarding the final station of the human pilgrimage seems to be conceived of on three planes: the cosmological, the ontological, and the mystical. Heaven, viewed from the cosmological perspective, varies according to whether it is based on the primacy of space or of time. If space has primacy, heaven is a place of bliss and reward, a region where Man can finally enjoy life and make up for all the limitations, anguishes, and anxieties of earth. If the primacy of time is stressed, heaven is a “moment” of infinite time, in which Man will enjoy a neverending existence with no relapse into sorrow and suffering. Not only the Vedic tradition but also subsequent world views have understood heaven mostly in the cosmological sense, because the ontological and mystical goals of the human pilgrimage transcend ordinary imaginings concerning a heavenly world.

In the Vedas there is no doubt that above our human world and above the open space there is a “third world” full of light and radiance, where “the sun does not set.” Svar is the heavenly light 168 and svarga the going to or being in that light, hence the world of light, heaven. Earth also has no doubt been experienced as full of light but not light invariable and unimpeded, not light that is invulnerable to darkness. The enjoyment of earthly light is accompanied always by the fear of losing it, the fear that darkness may overcome it, whereas in heaven there is “no trace of fear” 169 because “light unfailing ever shines.” 170 We do not find many descriptions of the beauties of that world beyond, because the supreme image remains that of light which encompasses all other glories. This heavenly realm is inhabited by radiant beings, the celestials, the Gods, and also by the sages, seers, and saints who have attained immortality. It is a world abounding in celestial waters--of which our earthly waters are but an image--flowing with milk and honey, and certainly filled with Soma, the juice of immortality and delight. It is a place of rest and happiness, and even a place of loving communion which Men long to join. The ways by which Men ascend to this realm seem to be manifold, just as their callings are diverse; sacrifice, the means par excellence of reaching heaven, does not seem to be the only means, for ascetics attain it by fervor (tapas), warriors by their bravery, the fathers by their fidelity to cosmic order (rita), and the poets by their songs. 171 The fact that sacrifice is the real “boat to heaven” 172 does not exclude the possibility of a man’s reaching heaven by an act of “grace” on the part of the divine. The hymns are real prayers expressing the sincere longing for a world of wholeness, immortality, goodness, freedom, and joy, which can never be the automatic outcome of a mechanical performance but which has to be the fruit of striving (tapas), of faithfulness (to rita), of daring, and of generosity:

He who gives liberally goes straight to the Gods;

on the high ridge of heaven he stands exalted. 173

One could even say that heaven by definition is the fulfillment of all desires, though in a certain hierarchical order. 174 The Atharva Veda specifies more precisely that heaven is a place where one will possess a healthy body and enjoy the company of his beloved ones on earth in a more perfect way. 175 Heaven is a perfect mirror of earth--or earth is an imperfect reflection of heaven. Just as on earth there are different degrees, so also in heaven, thus allowing for higher and higher ascents.

A foretaste of--and not only a means to--heaven is given in the sacrifice itself, particularly in the sharing of Soma. 176 The bliss (ananda) and immortality (amrta) contained in Soma constitute a heavenly joy which may be experienced even on earth; it is this same experience that the Upanishads deepen and dissociate from its ritual setting, locating the real source of joy in the heart of Man himself. The experience of joy is composed of many intertwining threads, and it would be wrong to attempt to disentangle them and to speak of a purely ritualistic or a purely spiritualized experience, for one can hardly be imagined without the other. Heaven would be an empty word if here on earth one had caught no spark of the experience of Soma and ananda. 177 One of the characteristics of the heavenly existence is the freedom to move at will in all worlds, to be present everywhere, which means not to be limited by time and space.

However the heavenly world is imagined, the fact did not escape the penetrating eye of the Upanishadic sage that it is still a world, a loka, another kind of world, perhaps, in a different dimension, but nevertheless a world. Heaven, svarga, is part of the triloka scheme; it is simply the culmination of the this-worldly reality on another plane. Loka belongs to the realm of the seen and not, as the Upanishads would put it, of the seer, much less of the unseen. It is thus not an ultimate state. In psychological terms, heaven is still a projection of the mind which may have its own degree of reality but is not ultimate.

Later traditions belonging to the jnana-marga 178 say that “the worlds” are attained by sacrifice and action (karman) and that the state beyond is attained by knowledge (jnana). For them the attainment of heaven is by no means ultimate. Treading on that path, we reach the realm of the spirit, the metaphysical model of heaven.

On the ontological plane heaven no longer has to do with space or time. It is a state in which not only spatiotemporal bonds are broken but also all ontic limitations are overcome. It is the state in which the different beings have merged into Being and reached their fullness. Pure Being, the Upanishadic atman, is the supreme state, the real heaven.

We may leave aside the question whether the idea of pure transcendence is originally Buddhist or is to be found independently in the Upanishads. The fact remains not only that the expression brahmanirvana appears in the Gita but also that the intuition that underlies it lurks, as it were, everywhere in the Upanishads. This type of heaven is no longer a place in time or space, nor is it even being or Being, but it transcends every category in order to plunge into the infinite state of what the later Buddhist tradition calls total and absolute emptiness: shunyata.

Moksha or liberation is here so total that it is considered not only as deliverance from all bonds and limitations but also as liberation from Being itself. The mystical conception of heaven entails the liberation from the concept of Being and even of any shade of “reality” we may be tempted to give to that “Being.” Moksha is here more than the freedom of Being; it is the liberation from it. The silence then reaches an unsurpassable ontological depth. There is nothing to say, because there is nothing.

`Where Light Unfailing Ever Shines`

`Yatra jyotir ajasram`

23

`RV IX, 113, 6-11`

6. Where the priest, reciting the metrical word

and handling the pressing stone, exults in Soma,

through Soma creating, O Purifier, bliss,

flow, Soma-juice, for Indra’s sake!

7. Where light unfailing ever shines,

where dwells the Sun, in that deathless world

place me, O Purifier, beyond harm’s reach.