Studies of the Rig Veda, RV 10.13 Hymn to the double Sun by Vivasvan Aditya
Author: Vladimir
RV 10.13 ṛṣi: vivasvān āditya; devatā: havirdhāne; chanda: triṣṭup, 5 jagatī
yujé vām bráhma pūrviyáṃ námobhir
ví ślóka etu pathíyeva sūréḥ
śr̥ṇvántu víśve amŕ̥tasya putrā́
ā́ yé dhā́māni diviyā́ni tasthúḥ 10.013.01
1
I YOKE with prayer your ancient inspiration: may the laud rise as on the prince's pathway.
All Sons of Immortality shall hear it, all the possessors of celestial natures.[1]
Interpretation:
“I yoke the Ancient Word rising in the Heart, yuje vām brahma pūrvyam, with the surrenderings to you two, namobhiḥ; may the expression of the Word go far into the vastness, vi śloka etu, as on the path of the luminous godhead, pathyeva sūreḥ. May all the children of Immortality hear it, śr̥ṇvántu víśve amŕ̥tasya putrā́, who thus abide in the heavenly realms, ā́ yé dhā́māni diviyā́ni tasthúḥ !”
The phrase pathyeva sūreḥ can be also translated ‘as on the Path of the Sun’.
The idea here is that both firmaments (of heaven and earth, or of higher and lower hemisphere, which are known as two havirdhānas, lit. ‘two holders of the offering’) are yoked through the surrenderings of men with the ancient Word emerging in the Heart, brahma pūrvyam. It can also suggest that these havirdhānas can be understood as two suns: involved and uninvolved (see the last verse of the hymn), especially if we take into account that the author of this hymn is Vivasvān Āditya, the Lord of the Sun himself. So here the Lord speaks about himself in terms of double nature: involved and uninvolved. They are both yoked to the Word, accompanied by the constant surrender by man or we can say that by yoking with the help of the Word the aspiration rising from the depths of his being with the descending inspiration from above over the mental nature (dve havirdhāne) man accomplishes the Sacrifice. The Word is seen as the original Intent of the Divine to manifest itself; thus Bṛhaspati can be understood as adhiyajña here. So these two havirdhānas are yoked by the double surrender of the Divine Will rising from below and the Light coming from above with the help of the Heart, and that was the sign of an ancient Yoga of transformation (sacrifice).
The power of aspiration rising from the depths of our being (the power of Rudra, whose son is Agni, whose mental energies are Maruts) is to be reinforced and formed by the Word rising from the depths of the Heart (power of Brihaspati) and then only it reaches out to Heaven and gets support from above (the power of Vishnu which is coming down in flashes of lightning of Indra).
Thus Rudra represents the movement of the involved Supramental Sun from below transforming Nature from within, Vishnu of the uninvolved Supramental Sun from above, descending down into manifestation, and Brihaspati reaching out from within the heart. In fact there is only one Supramental Sun viewed differently: from below, from within and from above. Manifestation is kept within it. “I am not in the world, - says Krishna, - but the world is in me”.
Vocabulary:
pathya, mfn. ‘belonging to the way’, suitable, fit, proper, wholesome, salutary (lit. and fig. ; esp. said of diet in a medical sense) Yājñ. MBh. Suśr. &c.; (ā) f. a path , way , road (with revatī, ‘the auspicious path, personified as a deity of happiness and welfare) RV. TS.
sūri, m. ‘inciter’, the institutor of a sacrifice (= yajamāna in later language) RV. AV.; a lord, chief (also of gods) RV.
yamé iva yátamāne yád aítam
prá vām bharan mā́nuṣā devayántaḥ
ā́ sīdataṃ svám ulokáṃ vídāne
suāsasthé bhavatam índave naḥ 10.013.02
2
When speeding ye came nigh us like twin sisters, religious−hearted votaries brought you forward. Take your place, ye who know your proper station: be near, be very near unto our Soma.
Interpretation:
“When you two came aspiring, yatamāne yad aitam, as if you were the twins, yame iva, then men seeking/manifesting the divine here, mānuṣā devayantaḥ, have brought you forward, pra vām bharan!
Approach [our sacrifice], ā sīdatam, you who know your own vaster world, svam ulokam vidāne! Be close to our station, svāsasthe bhavatam, to our offering of Delight, indave naḥ.”
Now these two are compared with twins, who can be sisters in the feminine gender or two of neutral gender, as they are mentioned in the first verse. Havirdhāna literally means ‘holders of offering’, ‘sacrificial containers’.
The sense of the verse is that these two are remote in their own vast world beyond, but they act as one being, yame iva, and when they aspiring come closer to our world men are able to bring them even more forward, men who seek the divine manifestation, mānuṣā devayantaḥ. So there is a direct relation between the aspiration of the two suns, from below and from above, and the sacrificial action done by god seeking men on earth to promote even further their work, which is to manifest the Divine in Matter.
Vocabulary:
svāsastha, mf(ā)n. sitting on a good seat RV. TS.; offering or supplying a good seat VS. ŚBr
páñca padā́ni rupó ánv arohaṃ
cátuṣpadīm ánu emi vraténa
akṣáreṇa práti mima etā́m
ṛtásya nā́bhāv ádhi sám punāmi 10.013.03
3
Five paces have I risen from Earth. I follow her who hath four feet with devout observance.
This by the Sacred Syllable have I measured: I purify in the central place of Order,
Interpretation:
“Following the five principles I grew out of Earth, pañca padāni rupo anv aroham. I follow her, anu emi, who has four principles/steps, catuṣpadīm, by the law, vratena.
It is by the Indestructible/Syllable of the Word, akṣareṇa, that I measured her out, prati mima etām; I am purifying (her) totally, sam punāmi, in the Navel of the Truth, ṛtasya nābhau adhi.”
Vivasvan Aditya, the Rishi of this Hymn, who is also the Supramental Sun, speaks about himself as the one who has risen out of Earth following five-fold principle of material manifestation (pañca mahābhūtāni), and the four levels of the Nature: physical, vital, mental and supramental, catuṣpadīm anu emi. He has measured out the whole Nature by the Word, and in the Navel of Truth he thus totally purifies her, making her Divine.
Vocabulary:
rup, f. the earth RV. (Sāy.)
devébhiyaḥ kám avr̥ṇīta mr̥tyúm
prajā́yai kám amŕ̥taṃ nā́vr̥ṇīta
bŕ̥haspátiṃ yajñám akr̥ṇvatá ŕ̥ṣim
priyā́ṃ yamás tanúvam prā́rirecīt 10.013.04
4
He, for God's sake, chose death to be his portion. He chose not, for men's good, a life eternal.
They sacrificed Brhaspati the Rsi. Yama delivered up his own dear body.
Interpretation:
“Yes, for the sake of Gods he chose Death, devebhyaḥ kam avṛṇīta mṛtyum; yes, for the sake of the creatures born in the body he chose not immortality, prajāyai kam amṛtam nāvṛṇīta.
Brihaspati, the Rishi, they made their Sacrifice [here], bṛhaspatiṃ yajñam akṛṇvata ṛṣim, and Yama left his beloved body empty, priyām yamas tanvam prārirecīt.”
There can be also a different reading of this verse:
“Whom did he choose as Death for the sake of Gods? And who Immortal he chose not for the sake of Creatures? Brihaspati they made their Sacrifice, the Rishi; Yama has left his dear body empty.”
The vacating of the beloved body by Yama, the first Man who died and found his way back to the origin, is indicative of the beginning of long and tardy process of evolution and transformation of the fallen self by the Spirit descending from above. It can also indicate the beginning of creation, where the Spirit creates a gap within his own being, which is to be constantly filled by the Sacrifice, from below and from above, havirdhāne.
Vocabulary:
kam, ind. well (opposed to a-kam, ‘ill’) TS. ŚBr. &c.; a particle placed after the word to which it belongs with an affirmative sense , ‘yes’, ‘well’ (but this sense is generally so weak that Indian grammarians are perhaps right in enumerating kam among the expletives Nir.; it is often found attached to a dat. case , giving to that case a stronger meaning, and is generally placed at the end of the Pāda , RV. v , 83 , 10) RV. AV. TS.; kam is also used as an enclitic with the particles nu, su, and hi (but is treated in the Pada-pāṭha as a separate word; in this connection kam has no accent but once AV. vi , 110 , 1) RV. AV.; a particle of interrogation (like kad and kim) RV. x , 52 , 3 (sometimes , like kim and kad, at the beginning of compounds) marking the strange or unusual character of anything or expressing reproach L.
praric A. -ricyate, to excel , surpass , be superior to (abl.) RV. TS.; to empty excessively, become excessively empty TĀr.: Caus. -recayati, to leave remaining RV.; to quit , abandon ib.
ric, 7. P. A. (Dhātup. xxix , 4) riṇakti, riṅkte; 1. P. (Dhātup. xxxiv , 10) recati; 4. A. (cf. Pass.) ricyate (arirecīt RV.), to empty , evacuate , leave , give up , resign RV.; to release , set free ib. to leave behind , take the place of (acc.) , supplant AV. TS.
saptá kṣaranti śíśave marútvate
pitré putrā́so ápy avīvatann ṛtám
ubhé íd asya ubháyasya rājata
ubhé yatete ubháyasya puṣyataḥ 10.013.05
5
The Seven flow to the Youth on whom the Maruts wait: the Sons unto the Father brought the sacrifice. Both these are his, as his they are the Lords of both: both toil; belonging unto both they prosper well.
Interpretation:
“Seven are they who flow towards a Child, who is the lord of Maruts, saptá kṣaranti śíśave marútvate; [as] the sons who make the Truth dynamic known to their Father, pitré putrā́so ápy avīvatann ṛtám. They both are His, the Lords of these both [worlds], ubhé íd asya ubháyasya rājata. Both they aspire/labor, ubhé yatete; and of both they grow together, ubháyasya puṣyataḥ.”
They both are the lords of both worlds: the transcendental and this world. They both are of His Being. The Father is the Lord of the Transcendental World of saccidānanda, and the antaryāmin or antarātman, his son, is the lord of this world, the Child on whom the Maruts wait. They both labor and both grow through this labor because they belong to separate worlds, even though they are of one Being, ubhe id asya.
We can also interpret it in this way where the two lords are seen as the two suns, one is transcendental Sūrya, Āditya, Savitar, and other one is involved, Vivasvat, Martāṇḍa, hidden by the Titans in the Darkness of Inconscient, from whom Agni is rising as his son, the sparks of which are the souls of men, growing psychic beings, antaryāmin, antarātman, caitya puruṣa. It is with the help of the psychic beings and their growth here in manifestation that the two suns can enlarge their presence and transform the whole Nature.
Vocabulary:
api-vat, (Opt. pl.-vatema; pr. p. -vatat) to understand, comprehend RV. vii , 3 , 10 60 , 6; Caus. (Imper. 2. sg. -vātaya ; pr.p. -vātayat; aor. 3. pl. avīvatan RV. x , 13 , 5) to cause to understand , make intelligible to (with or without dat.) RV.; (1. pl. -vātayāmasi) to excite , awaken RV. i , 128 , 2.