B. SIN AND MERCY
Papa-Mrdika
If we have sinned against the man who loves us, have wronged a brother, a dear friend, or a comrade, the neighbor of long standing or a stranger, remove from us this stain, O King Varuna.
RV V, 85, 7
The seers of the Vedic period possessed a peculiar awareness of sin and guilt. A brief study of the terms used in the Vedas for sin and evil leads us to discover three basic insights which, like three seeds, may later develop into complete theories.
We discover, first, a series of words indicating an external cause for all sorts of violence, harming, hurting, and afflicting. 67 Here the cause of evil comes from the outside; it encroaches upon us and hinders the happy and smooth development of our being. The evil is transcendent.
Another set of words seem to denote an internal source. These words speak of anxiety, narrowness, lack of expansion, a feeling of imprisonment within oneself. 68 Here the cause is within and seems to be inherent in our own nature. We cannot blame others but only ourselves. We would like to be different and yet we are not. Evil is here immanent.
A third set of words, most of them compounds, 69 seem to suggest that evil springs from maladjustment and malfunctioning of a system that otherwise is far from being bad. These words postulate a kind of factual ambivalence in almost any human value, which can turn out to be either negative and mischievous or positive and beneficial. Evil here depends on the direction events and values take, on the use we or others make of the data.
We thus realize that sin is here conceived of as more than simply a pollution, and that it would be inappropriate to reduce the Vedic theology of evil to a cosmological theory. The distinction between the cosmic and the ethical should not, however, make of them two separate realities. Man, in fact, is not seen as a cosmic anomaly, but as part and parcel of the total reality.
The words used for evil and sin reinforce the impression that there is a close connection between these two notions. They are two sides of one and the same reality. Sin is not the cause of evil or of suffering, nor can evil be said to be the cause of sin. Unlike other traditions that seem to recognize sin as the one single source of evil and put the blame on the free will either of Man or of another being, the shruti seems to find a close relationship between the two, though not a causal one, because they are not considered to be two really different things. It is not sin that is first and foremost responsible for suffering, nor does any kind of human distress lead inevitably to sin. 70 The dichotomy between an ethical and a cosmic order is foreign to Vedic thinking, not because the ethical order is ignored but because the really existential order is anthropocosmic and thus includes both the ethical and the cosmic in one.
When we consider Varuna in the second subsection we shall see that there is also room for compassion and mercy. One feature that will be noticed immediately is the noncapricious character of the readiness to forgive and the sober character of compassion. There is place for both mercy and compassion, but not as the result of an almighty Will operating outside order or reason. Mercy and compassion have their place in the framework of the universe; they too, we might say, have their own laws. Here the peculiar character of rita and dharma should be taken into account. There is no place for an automatic or mechanical ordering of the universe, or for a mathematical one, or for a certain type of physical determinism, so that miracles must be viewed as exceptions, mercy as a break of justice, or compassion as a sentimental weakness. The situation is different because the pattern of the universe is not physicomathematical. Mercy can come about only as the fruit of a relationship, but the relationship is not exceptional nor does it militate against existing regulations; it is a part of the overall order of rita. Neither rita in the first period nor karman as it slowly begins to emerge in the pre-Upanishadic period is an automatic, merely mechanical force: both rita and karman are always functional and they function according to a set of relational factors, one of which is the human will along with its sentiments and feelings. 71
Before the three already mentioned subsections we offer a selection consisting of verses mostly from the Rig Veda and covering a wide variety of experiences regarding sin and mercy.
The Vedas employ a term for grace which, unlike later words of common use, implies forgiveness pure and simple. The Gods are requested to forgive Man’s real sins and also his constitutional shortcomings. Man is never worthy of grace from the divine. 72 Mrdika, though occurring only nine times in the Rig Veda, 73 denotes the grace that elevates Man and wipes away all his stains. 74 We have here a forgiveness that comes, unpredictably and undeservedly, from the divine.
It would overstep the limits of this anthology to analyze all the passages referred to in the footnotes. Nevertheless, we may remark that this concept rests on a personalistic world view and on an approach to the Gods much more like the approach to an earthly monarch than to a cosmic power.
Among these hymns, one prayer to Agni is a religious composition almost around the word mrika. 75 Each stanza ends on the same theme: “. . .with your mercy come to us!” (v. 1); “We mortals invoke you, fiery God, for mercy we are craving (v. 2); “Show your grace to us who love your laws” (v. 3); “At the great contest we cry for your grace, for victory!” (v. 4); “The priest calls upon mercy” (v. 5). None of the other terms has this implication. Kshama 76 means the patience and forbearance of the Gods with us mortals, and hence comes to mean mercy, compassion. Daya is mercy that is prompted by a sense of compassion and sympathy. The later words for grace, anugraha and prasada, have altogether different implications.
As a charioteer, O Varuna, tethers his horses,
so with our songs may we bend your heart toward mercy. 77
Break the Chains That Bind Us
Pasham shrathaya
8 Varuna scrutinizes Men’s deeds, good and bad alike. His piercing eye sees everything, and he, the all-powerful ruler of the universe who combines justice and mercy, knows how to punish the recalcitrant and forgive the penitent. Yet Varuna is by no means the only one to whom Men open their hearts and look for justice, compassion, and forgiveness. This selection is composed of verses taken from many different hymns and addressed to different deities: the Waters, Varuna, Mother Aditi, Indra, Ushas, Savitri, Vishvedevah, Rudra, Agni, Surya, the Vasus, Soma, Brhaspati, Heaven, and Earth. 78
Sin is a stain which the Waters are begged to wash away, a chain which Varuna will break, the infringment of a divine law which merits wrath and destruction (i-iv). Sin is so interwoven in human life that Men can well foresee their daily weaknesses and implore Varuna in advance not to get angry (iii). We have here a whole range of feelings: awareness of sin, guilt, anguish, fear, repentance, longing for pardon, hope of purification (vi; xiv-xx). Underlying the complexities of the human heart and mind there are always the need for justification, the protestation of innocence and ignorance, the humble recognition of a constitutive weakness, and a sense of solidarity with other Men (v; vii-viii; xii; xiv). And what could be more expressive than the prayer to Soma-Rudra (xiii) which includes everything, bodies and souls, diseases and sins? Rudra, “the God who never slumbers,” is asked to be attentive to our cry, 79 for we sometimes sin out of utter carelessness. 80 Man is asking for forgiveness because to do so belongs to his existential condition. 81
Pasham shrathaya
RV I, 23, 22
i) Whatever sin is found in me,
whatever evil I have done,
if I have lied or falsely sworn,
Waters, remove this stain from me!
RV I, 24, 9; 15
ii) 9. Yours, O King, are solaces a hundred, a thousand!
Great and far-reaching be also your favors!
Drive far away from us baneful Destruction.
Remove from us whatever sin we have committed.
15. Loosen the bonds, O Varuna, which bind us,
which crush us, cramping our every movement.
Make us sinless in respect to your Holy Law,
unbound for Boundlessness, O son of Aditi.
RV I, 25, 1-2
iii) Whatever law of yours, O God Varuna,
we, being mortal men, may violate
day after day, do not consign us, we beg,
as prey to death or to your own fierce anger,
to be destroyed by reason of your displeasure.
RV I, 104, 6
iv) Give us, Lord, a share of sunlight, of waters,
freedom from sin and communion with the living.
Do not tarnish the joy of our hearts
for we have put our trust in your name.
RV I, 123, 3
v) When you present before the Lord this day,
O Dawn of noble birth, the race of men,
may Savitri the God, friend of the homestead,
bear witness to the Sun that we are innocent.
RV II, 29, 5
vi) It is I alone, who against you have sinned many times.
You have punished me as a father punishes his gambler son.
My offense, O Gods, remove far; then remove far your snares.
Do not pounce upon me like a bird swooping down on her offspring.
RV IV, 12, 4
vii) God ever youthful, whatever sin unwitting
we have committed, as men are prone to do,
cleanse us, we pray, in the sight of Mother Aditi.
Entirely remove, O Agni, our every sin.
RV IV, 54, 3
viii) If we weak men have sinned against the Gods
through thoughtlessness and frailty or through pride,
absolve us from this fault, O Savitr,
and make us clean from sin before Gods and men.
RV V, 2, 7
ix) You set free Shunahshepa from a thousand stakes,
when he was already set for the sacrifice.
So Agni, wise Priest, come and take your place
and liberate us from the bonds that bind us.
RV V, 82, 5-6
x) All that is harmful, Savitri, God,
drive far away from us, we pray.
Send to us only what is good!
May we be sinless in the sight of Aditi
through the gracious help of the God Savitri.
May we obtain all excellent things!
RV VI, 50, 2
xi) Come near to prove us free from sin,
O Surya, Lord of mighty power.
RV VI, 51, 7
xii) Do not let us suffer for the sin of others
or ourselves do the deeds you punish, O Gods.
RV VI, 74, 3
xiii) Soma and Rudra, provide for our bodies
all needful medicines. Loosen and withdraw
from within us whatever sin we have committed,
which still adheres within our persons.
RV VII, 88, 6
xiv) If your true friend has sinned against you, O Varuna,
he yet remains your friend, the one you love.
Not as sinners, O Living One, may we come before you!
Grant protection to him who hymns you, as to a sage!
RV VIII, 1, 14
xv) We were slow and weak, O Powerful One.
Once again we desire to receive a share
in your bounty, O Hero, and find again
joy in your praise.
RV VIII, 45, 34
xvi) Not for one sin, or two, or three,
slay me, O Mighty One, nor yet for many!
RV X, 35, 3
xvii) Today may that great pair, Heaven and Earth,
preserve us in peace and happiness, free from evil!
May Morning, sending forth her light, drive sin afar!
We pray to Agni, now kindled, to bring us joy.
RV X, 164, 3-5
xviii) 3. If we have sinned, awake, asleep,
knowing, unknowing, through evil nature,
may Agni banish far from us
all such hateful wicked deeds!
4. O Indra and Brahmanaspati, hear us!
If we have gone the evil way,
may the farsighted son of heaven
protect us from suppression at the hand of our foes!
5. Victorious now, we are free from sin!
May evil dreams and bad intentions
be directed to those who wish us ill
and those whom we ourselves detest!
AV VI, 45, 1-2
xix) 1. Sin of the mind, depart far away!
Why do you utter improper suggestions?
Depart from this place! I do not want you!
Go to the trees and the forests! My mind
will remain here along with our homes and our cattle.
2. Whatever wrong we have committed, O Agni,
waking or sleeping by ill will or hatred
or cursing, remove it from us, whatever
displeases you. Thrust it afar!
AV VI, 96, 3
xx) In whatever way we have sinned with our eyes
or our minds or words, awake or asleep,
may Soma by his own pure nature cleanse us!
AV VI, 121, 4
xxi) Open yourself, create free space;
release the bound one from his bonds!
Like a newborn child, freed from the womb,
be free to move on every path!
i) Cf. RV X, 9 (§ I 17).
ii) 9. King: Varuna.
Destruction: nirrti.
15. Cramping our every movement: lit. above, around, and beneath.
Holy Law: vrata.
Boundlessness: Aditi. Cf. SU I, 11 (§ IV 21).
iii) Law: vrata, ordinance. Cf. § IV B b for its synonyms.
3-21. Cf. § I 26.
iv) Lord: Indra.
Communion with the living: jivashamse, lit. with the praise (or speech) of the living (beings).
Name: lit. your Indra name.
vi) O Gods: Vishvedevah.
ix) For the Shunahshepa story cf. § III 23 Introduction. Another version, referring to this same story, would read: bound for a thousand cows. In this instance the thousand cows are the price paid in order that Shunahshepa may be bound to the sacrificial post.
Priest: hotr
xii) Sin: enas.
Gods: Vasus.
xv) O Powerful One: Vrtra-slayer, i.e., Indra.
xvi) O Mighty One: shura, hero, Indra.
xvii) Morning: Ushas.
xviii) 4. The evil way: abhidroha.
Son of heaven: Angirasa, here an epithet for Agni or Brhaspati.
Suppression: amhas.
5. The best part of stanza 5 has several readings.
xix) Sin of the mind: manaspapa.
xxi) Open yourself: does it refer to amrta, immortality, of v. 3?
Create free space: lokam krnu.
The last two lines are addressed to the person who is freed by this prayer.
a) Evil and Fear
Abhva
The first three hymns of this subsection, given after the Upanishadic myth, come from the inexhaustible Rig Veda, but they differ widely except in one respect: all evidence Man’s deep instinct for survival and his heartfelt cry for delivery from doom. In the first hymn Man uplifts his voice before the overwhelming grandeur of the heavens and the earth, their marvelous harmony and beauty, while at the same time he feels his own smallness and contingency. Man’s life here on earth continues to be possible only if the universe in all its complexity runs smoothly. Man prays to be spared the terror of the infinite. The second example is typically “religious,” or ritualistic. Here Man does not face the universe but himself and, discovering his creatureliness and sin, sends up a prayer to Agni, the Lord. In the third hymn the feeling is neither cosmic nor anthropological. It is neither the sublimity of the cosmos nor the depravity of Man which gives rise to these deep and authentic human sentiments, but the experience of personal failure, of one’s own misery and sinfulness. Here Man does not face himself in an abstract way but is confronted with his own present wretched life which he has failed to master.
The three following hymns are taken from a group of psalms of the Atharva Veda, all of them with striking simplicity asking for forgiveness and mercy. After a psalm requesting pardon for the many faults the priests may commit in performing the sacrifice, 82 we have the simple prayer of a sinner asking to be cleansed and purified, as butter is cleansed after passing through the strainer. Man is a debtor on earth, for he feels himself to be a debtor to God as well as to his fellowmen. 83
All too often, there is fear in Man’s life, but there is also an unlimited confidence that all his shortcomings can be overcome, not so much by looking back to the past as by looking forward toward the future.
We may note that repentance, regarded as an ethical virtue, presupposes certain cosmological assumptions, one of which is a particular relation with time and, more specifically, with the past. Repentance means to break with the past in one way or another in order to come back to the sinless state, to the original starting point, to start anew. It is the means to recovery of the lost paradise. Now, to make it possible for Man to recover the sinless state, time (more specifically the past) has to be of such a nature as to permit him to start anew. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that explain both the peculiarity of the Vedic conception and the character of the later Vedantic speculation. Leaving the latter aside, we may briefly consider certain traits of the former.
The word “repentance” does not generally mean merely to feel sorrow for an action one has committed; it connotes also to “turn back,” to “recover,” to start again, to “reinstall,” and the like, all of these being operations connected with the past. It is assumed, moreover, that such reversions are meaningful and possible. This conception of repentance is hardly possible, or rather understandable, given the notion of time which has prevailed and still prevails in the Indian subcontinent. According to that notion, what has happened has happened and no power on earth or in heaven can undo what has been done. The past cannot be canceled. What Man can do, however, is to handle the future so as to modify it and get rid of the impact of the past; it is still in his power to prevent the actions of the past from conditioning by their repercussions the actions of the present.
The English word “rue,” probably connected with the Sanskrit karuna, 84 may convey, perhaps in a less alien manner than “repentance,” the meaning of Vedic sorrow for sins committed. “Rue” in a Vedic context does not look back into the past in order to “redeem” it. It looks rather into the future in order to avoid a repetition of the same mistake and also the possible bad results or punishment for the mistake in question. Looking ahead is so deeply built into this world view that later on the idea of rebirth came to have a direct connection with it. The past is neither blotted out nor exempt from the reckoning; it will yield its fruits in the future and it is in view of the menacing future that Man, especially in later times, will feel rueful. Rue then will not expect to abolish the past by regretting it or need the almighty power of God to bring about forgiveness, but will contain a thrust toward the future. Thus the aim of a sacrifice or any expiatory rite is not that of undoing what cannot be undone, but of avoiding the destructive consequences of the past action. 85 The subjective factor is here paramount. An ontic structure has been damaged or broken and rue aims at repairing it insofar as its effects in the future are concerned.
The subjective factor here is not repentance or sorrow, that is, the feeling of having done something intrinsically wrong, of having betrayed the confidence of the Gods or broken a human pact; it is rather fear, fear of incurring punishment, fear of having set in motion a negative movement in the world, of having to go on living with a broken piece or a defective element.
The objective factor, however, is also present. A bad action is certainly bad and is to be deprecated, but the very fact that one has done it means that it could be done and thus that it was in the range of the possible and therefore that it was not absolutely evil. Absolute evil cannot be done. Evil is destructive of goodness. Absolute evil would destroy itself and its own action. What is done, therefore, cannot be ultimately and totally regretted, but only accidentally. This does not mean a wholly selfish or self-centered attitude, but rather a conviction of the objectivity and autonomy of the world of actions. It implies both a sober and realistic attitude to evil actions and a settled belief that the important thing is not to brood over the past, but to prepare for the future. Yet the Lord can burn away our sins. 86 Rita is more flexible than karman. The two conceptions coexist for quite some time. Is any synthesis possible?
The Origin of Evil
Papasambhava
9 If we try to trace the origin of evil in the world, we will find ourselves returning to the origin of the world itself or, in Vedic-Upanishadic terms, to the beginning of duality. The Vedas do not provide a clear myth of a fall of Man or of the origin of evil. We shall see later how Yama does not succumb to the temptation presented to him by Yami and thus becomes, not the first fallen Man, but the first immortal, the first to transcend death. 87 Nevertheless, although it is nowhere explicitly stated that Prajapati’s desire for a second contained within itself the germ of evil and suffering, we cannot escape the fact that dissension and disobedience started precisely with the “second.” The Prajapati myth describes not the original Sin, but the originating Fall. Prajapati, being alone and “desirous of a second,” dismembered himself in order to produce his own offspring, in order to create. Once the world of multiplicity is there, the struggle begins. It is not the fall of Man or the fall of the creature, but the fall of God, if we want to continue to use that idiom. We have seen in the context of sacrifice 88 that Prajapati “corrected” his initial “mistake” by means of the sacrifice, retrieving thus his original wholeness. Many texts from the Brahmanas describe this process, as also the constant struggle between good and evil powers, the devas and the asuras, which takes place at all levels of divine, cosmic, and human life.
One of the numerous accounts of the devasura fight, given in the Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, provides a further clue to the origin of evil. The asuras are always intent on disturbing any sacred act and any good intention. The devas, who are the good powers, are mostly weak, unable to resist the attacks of their opponents. Yet both are the descendants of Prajapati, Lord of all creatures, and thus they are not two absolute principles, opposed to each other, but inimical brothers, the one assuming the role of good, the other of evil. 89 Even in later periods, the most famous enmities and struggles in Indian myth and history are those that take place among brothers or relatives. The enemy is not a principle of absolute evil, not something totally external to us, but our own brother, a part of ourselves. Evil is here neither substantialized nor isolated in an absolute way.
The devas, to continue with our text, want to use the most sacred and powerful means they can find to overcome their enemies. This weapon is the holy chant, the Udgitha. All the human organs-- divinities--take part in the chant, but they are not sufficiently strong in themselves and as a result they succumb to the wicked asuras. Thus not only do all the organs perform holy actions, pronounce holy words, and think pure thoughts, but they also perform evil deeds, speak evil words, and think evil thoughts. They are subject to duality, being torn between good and evil. No human organ is totally pure, without a tinge of evil and sin.
The only “divinity” that is not overcome by the powers of evil is the principle of life, the central life breath, prana, which is frequently identified with the atman. 90 Here again we have the strong conviction that life itself is invincible, that the Self is untainted and untouched by evil. Only the external organs, only the nonessential part of reality, and not the very core of life, the atman, can be overpowered by evil or fall victim to the asuras. Sin affects Man only in his manifestations, not ultimately in his very Being, unless, of course, he is an atmahan, as the Isha Upanishad says, that is, one who slays his own Self. 91 Thus it is only this selfsame core of our existance which will ultimately overcome evil.
Even when it is overcome, evil is not totally annihilated. In the language of this Upanishad, it is only expelled or sent to the very ends of the earth (or, historically speaking, to the limits of one’s own “civilized” world); hence it is dangerous to go beyond certain limits, even geographically, because one may be affected by evil. Evil and death are encountered at the limit, 92 and any transgression of the set limits exposes us to their influence. The conquest of evil brings with it the conquest of death.
Papasambhava
BU I, 3, 1-11
1. The offspring of Prajapati were of two kinds: Gods and demons. Of these the Gods were the younger and the demons the older. They were disputing the possession of these worlds. The Gods said: “Well, let us overpower the demons at the sacrifice with the Udgitha chant.”
2. They said to speech: “Chant for us!” “Very well,” she said. So speech chanted for them the Udgitha. Whatever delight is in speech, that she chanted for the Gods; whatever she speaks well, that is for herself. The demons knew: “By this singer they will overpower us.” They attacked her and pierced her with evil. The evil that makes one speak what is improper, that is that evil.
3. Then they said to the breath: “Chant for us!” “Very well,” he said. So the breath chanted for them the Udgitha. Whatever delight there is in breath, that he chanted for the Gods; whatever fragrance he smells, that is for himself. The demons knew: “By this singer they will overpower us.” They attacked him and pierced him with evil. The evil that makes one smell what is improper, that is that evil.
4. Then they said to the eye: “Chant for us!” “Very well,” he said. So the eye chanted for them the Udgitha. Whatever delight there is in the eye, that he chanted for the Gods; whatever beautiful he sees, that is for himself. The demons knew: “By this singer they will overpower us.” They attacked him and pierced him with evil. The evil that makes one see what is improper, that is that evil.
5. Then they said to the ear: “Chant for us!” “Very well,” he said. So the ear chanted for them the Udgitha. Whatever delight there is in the ear, that he chanted for the Gods; whatever he hears well, that is for himself. The demons knew: “By this singer they will overpower us.” They attacked him and pierced him with evil; The evil that makes one hear what is improper, that is that evil.
6. Then they said to the mind: “Chant for us!” “Very well,” he said. So the mind chanted for them the Udgitha. Whatever delight there is in the mind, that he chanted for the Gods; whatever he thinks well, that is for himself. The demons knew: “By this singer they will overpower us.” They attacked him and pierced him with evil. The evil that makes one think what is improper, that is that evil. Thus they afflicted these divinities with evil; they pierced them with evil.
7. Then they said to the Life Breath in the mouth: “Chant for us!” “Very well,” he said. So the Breath chanted for them. The demons knew: “By this singer they will overpower us.” They attacked him and wanted to pierce him with evil. But just as a lump of earth is scattered when it strikes on a stone, in the same way they were scattered in all directions and perished. Therefore the Gods increased and the demons diminished. He who knows this increases in himself and his enemies diminish.
8. Then they said: “What has become of him who thus took care of us? He is within the mouth; he is called Ayasya Angirasa, for he is “the essence of the limbs.”
9. Assuredly, the name of this divinity is Dur, for death remains far from him. From him who knows this, death is far off.
10. Moreover, this divinity, having warded off evil and death from those other divinities, made them go to the farthest limits of the four regions; there he placed the evils. Therefore one should not go to those people; one should not go to those limits, lest one go to evil and death.
11. As that divinity had warded off evil and death from those other divinities, it led them beyond death.
Cf. the parallel passage CU I, 2, 1 sq.
1. Gods: devas.
Demons: asuras, devils.
Younger: kaniyas, which can also mean inferior, and jyayas, superior.
Udgitha is the chanting of the Sama Veda. Here the (musical) recitation which involves all the sense organs is a powerful instrument in the struggle between devas and asuras.
2. Speech: vac.
Delight: bhoga, enjoyment or usefulness.
The merit of a proper pronunciation goes to vac herself, whereas the “fruit” of the recitation goes to the devas.
Evil: papman.
Improper: apratirupa, incorrect and also unpleasant.
3. Breath: prana, here referring to the organ of smell, not to the Life Breath.
6. Divinities: devatah, sense organs.
7. Life Breath in the mouth: asanya prana, the vital Breath.
The Gods increased: deva abhavan, lit. they became (powerful).
Increases in himself: bhavaty atmana, lit. becomes (established) in himself. Cf. TS II, 4, 3, 3.
8. Ayasya Angirasa: a rishi who is identified with the Life Breath, his name being explained as meaning “essence of the limbs": anganam rasah, life sap of the body.
9. Pun with Dur as a name and dura, far.
10. Limits: anta, the ends of the known world. Cf. the story of Bhrgu who is sent to the “ends of the regions” to meet with evil (SB XI, 6, 1 sq., § V 21).
11. Led them beyond: atyavahat, carried over.
In vv. 12-16 there follows the description of how the different divinities (devata), i.e., sense organs, are led beyond death. The new life is not a disincarnated one!
Heaven and Earth Deliver Us from Evil
Dyava-prthivyau
10 Dyava-prthivi, Heaven and Earth, form a pair indissolubly linked. In not a single hymn of the Rig Veda is Heaven mentioned alone, while Earth is addressed alone only in one short hymn.
Another hymn says explicitly that Heaven was created from the head and Earth from the feet of the purusha. 93 Here the question of the first stanza seems to be somewhat rhetorical, for the poet does not go on to answer the query how, but states that between them Heaven and Earth support all other beings and that their tension is relational so that the one cannot be without the other. There is no earth without a heaven and heaven would be devoid of meaning if it were not populated by the dwellers on earth. Heaven and Earth encompass human life and even the life of the Gods. They are the parents of Men and Gods alike. We are all embarked on the same adventure. It would be misleading to speak of “nature-mysticism” in this connection. This hymn is describing rather the all-encompassing reality that shelters the divine-human drama. It is precisely the awareness of this reality which evokes on the lips of the poet and in the heart of his hearers an urgent cry for deliverance from the horrors and evils of the cosmos. This prayer for protection is addressed, not to another power mightier than the one that threatens, but to the power that, like a mother whose child runs back to her after a scolding, both menaces and shelters us.
Dyava-prthivyau
RV I, 185
1. Which of these two came earlier, which came later?
How did they come to birth? Who, O Seers, can discern it?
They contain within them all that has a name,
while days and nights revolve as on a wheel.
2. You two, though motionless and footless, nurture
a varied offspring having feet and movement.
Like parents clasping children to their bosoms,
O Heaven and Earth, deliver us from evil!
3. I crave from the Infinite a matchless favor,
generous, irresistible, resplendent, inviolable, awesome.
O you two worlds, procure it for this worshiper!
O Heaven and Earth, deliver us from evil!
4. Close to them may we stay--they know no suffering,
these parents of the Gods who grant men favors.
Both are divine, with days and nights alternate.
O Heaven and Earth, deliver us from evil!
5. These twin maidens, like two friendly sisters
nestled close together, rest in their parents” bosom
and kiss together the center of the world.
O Heaven and Earth, deliver us from evil!
6. These wide and lofty realms, the parents of the Gods,
I invoke with reverence, their favor asking;
they bring us life, showing us kindly faces.
O Heaven and Earth, deliver us from evil!
7. This far-flung Pair, variegated and vast,
I at this sacrifice address with awe.
Quick to our aid, they set us in a state of bliss.
O Heaven and Earth, deliver us from evil!
8. Such sin as we at any time committed
against the Gods, a friend, or a family chief,
of this may our prayerful musing be expiation!
O Heaven and Earth, deliver us from evil!
9. May Heaven and Earth, twin objects of men’s praises,
bless and attend me with their help and favor,
to the liberal God-fearer grant greater riches!
May we be strong, O Gods, nourished on plenty!
10. With wisdom have I now uttered this truth,
calling, for all to hear, on Earth and Heaven.
Guard us from every fault and erring course;
like father and mother succor and protect us.
11. Fulfill, O Heaven and Earth, this my prayer,
with which, O Father and Mother, I now address you.
Be of all Gods the nearest with your favors,
in order that we may savor your quickening food.
This hymn, like many others, is susceptible of a wide variety of interpretations. There is throughout a reference to the problem of time.
1. All that has a name: yad dha nama, all existing things.
2. Having feet and movement: i.e., space and time. Heaven and Earth are beyond space and time and thus are said to generate them.
Evil: a-bhva, immense power, horror, etc.
3. The Infinite: Aditi.
The six adjectives, each difficult to translate by a single term, are anehas, datra, anarva, svarvat, avadha, namasvat, all related to Aditi with a genitive. For a reference to Aditi as the light of life, cf. RV II, 27, 14; IV, 25, 3; Vll, 82, 10; X, 185, 3.
You two worlds: rodasi, twin firmaments (in voc. dual).
4. They know no suffering: atapyamane, they are not (painfully) heated.
5. Twin maidens: day and night.
Center of the world: lit. the navel (nabhi ), probably referring to the altar of sacrifice.
6. With reverence: rtena, sincerely, or according to the true order, rite.
Life: amrta, immortality.
They bring us life. . .: lit. they bear immortality, having their benevolent faces turned toward us.
9. May we be strong, . . . nourished on plenty: isha madanta ishayema. Ish means a draught, refreshment, refreshing waters of heaven, strength, food, sap, libation.
10. Truth: rita. Rita can be truth as well as the truly or duly performed act (action, sacrifice).
Fault: durita.
11. Fulfill: lit. let this become true (idam satyam astu). The idea is that all gifts come to us from Heaven and Earth--a reference to libation, sap, and the Soma-juice.
Savor your quickening food: isham vrjanam jiradanum, the life sap that strengthens and gives life.
May the Lord Burn Away Our Sin!
Shucir agnih
11 In this heartful prayer, the human, divine, and cosmic elements are all present. Agni is the material fire, but he is also God and the fire within us. He shines in all directions, purifying all he touches; he kindles our own interior fire and imparts to all fires their power and strength. He illumines us and thus rescues us from darkness.
This hymn affirms clearly that there is a fire that has power to burn away all impurities and sins. Unlike other creatures, Man has the privilege and the responsibility of praying for the cleansing of his stains; or, to express it in stronger and more appropriate terms, for the cauterizing of his evil. The message of this psalm is that such an operation is still possible and needful: Agni may still burn away our sin.
Shucir agnih
RV I, 97
1. Shine brightly, Agni, and chase away
our sin; beam down upon us grace.
May the Lord burn away our sin!
2. We make our offering to you
for fruitful fields and pleasant homes.
May the Lord burn away our sin!
3. May he and our elders who worship surpass
all others who sing your praises!
May the Lord burn away our sin!
4. May high priests spring from you, O Lord!
May we also be born again in you!
May the Lord burn away our sin!
5. The Lord’s all-conquering beams go far;
his face shines bright on every side.
May the Lord burn away our sin!
6. Your face is turned toward every side.
Everywhere you pass, the all-protecting.
May the Lord burn away our sin!
7. O God, whose face shines every side,
convey us safely as in a boat.
May the Lord burn away our sin!
8. Rescue us safely, as in a boat,
across the stream, from dark to light.
May the Lord burn away our sin!
1. May the Lord burn away our sin: apa nah shoshucad agham, lit. consume away every evil, agha being the antithesis of rayi, spiritual and material wealth, grace, mercy, blessing, welfare. For rayi cf. §§ I 4; II 6; II 34; VII Introductions.
The Lord: Agni, throughout. For Agni cf. §§ I 22; III 2; 3; 4, and the several hymns to Agni in § VII.
2. Fruitful fields . . .: lit. desiring the possession of good fields (sukshetriya), of spiritual welfare (sugatuya), and of prosperity (vasuya). Cf. the symbolism of the field (kshetra). Cf. § II C a.
4. There is, however, another possible interpretation: Your faithful worshipers are we. Give to us the blessings of children.
Born again: pra jayemahi, from pra-jan- to be born or produced, to become an embryo, to be begotten; here, to be reckoned as your children.
8. Rescue us: parsha, from the root pr- which means to protect, bring over, deliver from, rescue.
Lament of a Rueful Gambler
Akshah
12 Among the hymns of the Rig Veda the lament of the unlucky gambler is certainly one of the most vivid and realistic. It is a dialogue of the gambler with his conscience (represented by two “witnesses,” the poet himself and the God Savitri) when passion for the gaming board has destroyed his happiness.
The first verses describe in a graphic fashion how, carried away by the lure of the dice, he has been the downfall of his family. He would like to renounce gambling but is incapable of doing so (v. 5). The irresistible attraction of the fatal dice is described both realistically and poetically (vv 7, 9). Once again he is overwhelmed by remorse and by the misery of being gripped so inextricably by his craving. Suddenly, however, he makes a decision to start a new life, to abandon the dice board, make his wife happy, and cultivate his fields. It is the God Savitri who bids him rebuild his life and who encourages and inspires him to the task.
The Indian reader will here remember one of the climaxes of the Mahabharata. Yudhishthira, the living symbol of righteousness, the embodiment of dharma, the real hero of the whole epic, had a weakness for dice. He fell under their spell, and in the presence of King Dhrtarashtra and all the Pandavas as well as of Duryodhana and all his retinue, played and gambled away all that he had, himself and even Draupadi, the virtuous wife of all the five brothers. Having regained all that he had lost because of the presence of mind of Draupadi, who challenged the validity of Yudhishthira’s wagering her, when he had already lost his own freedom, he yet returned to the fatal game and lost. As a result he and his brothers were forced to spend the famous twelve years in the forest and a thirteenth year in hiding before the great battle. Against this background the hymn surpasses its moral character and attains epic grandeur. The greatest Man is not perfect and yet his weakness reveals the power of dharma the more forcefully.
Aksshah
RV X, 34
[The Gambler:]
1. These nuts that once tossed on tall trees in the wind
but now smartly roll over the board, how I love them!
As alluring as a draught of Soma on the mountain,
the lively dice have captured my heart.
2. My faithful wife never quarreled with me
or got angry; to me and my boon companions
she was always kind, yet I’ve driven her away
for the sake of the ill-fated throw of a die.
[The Chorus or the Poet:]
3. His wife’s mother loathes him, his wife rejects him;
he implores people’s aid but nowhere finds pity.
A luckless gambler is no more good
than an aged hack to be sold on the market.
4. Other men make free with the wife of a man
whose money and goods the eager dice have stolen.
His father and mother and brothers all say:
‘He is nothing to us. Bind him, put him in jail!”
[The Gambler:]
5. I make a resolve that I will not go gaming.
So my friends depart and leave me behind.
But as soon as the brown nuts are rattled and thrown,
to meet them I run, like an amorous girl.
[The Chorus or the Poet:]
6. To the meeting place the gambler hastens.
shall I win? he asks himself, hoping and trembling.
But the throws of the dice ruin his hopes,
giving the highest scores to his opponent.
7. Dice, believe me, are barbed: they prick and they trip,
they hurt and torment and cause grievous harm.
To the gambler they are like children’s gifts, sweet as honey,
but they turn on the winner in rage and destroy him.
8. Fifty-three strong, this band jumps playfully,
like Savitri, the God whose statutes are true.
They pay no heed to the anger of the powerful;
the king himself pays heed to them.
9. Downward they roll, then jump in the air!
Though handless themselves, they can keep the upper hand
over those who have! On the board, like magic coals,
they consume, though cold, the player’s heart to ashes.
10. Abandoned, the wife of the gambler grieves.
Grieved, too, is his mother as he wanders vaguely.
Afraid and in debt, ever greedy for money,
he steals in the night to the home of another.
11. He is seized by remorse when he sees his wife’s lot,
beside that of her neighbor with well-ordered home.
In the morning, however, he yokes the brown steeds
and at evening falls stupid before the cold embers.
12. To the mighty chieftain of your whole band,
the one who has become the king of your troop,
to him I show my ten fingers extended.
No wealth do I withhold! I swear I speak truth!
[The God Savitri:]
13. Steer clear of dice. Till well your own field.
Rejoice in your portion and value it highly.
See there, O Gambler, your cattle, your wife.
This is the counsel of noble Savitri.
[The Chorus or the Poet:]
14. Grant us your friendship, have mercy upon us!
Do not overwhelm us with your fierce attack!
May your anger and evil intention be assuaged!
Let the brown dice proceed to ensnare another!
The Sanskrit indicates by means of direct and indirect discourse those who participate in this hymn. In our version we introduce the speakers at the beginning of the respective stanzas.
1. On the mountain: Mujavat, name of a mountain and also of a soma-plant growing on that mountain.
Dice: Vibhidaka, name of a tree (Terminalia bellerica) whose nuts were used as dice.
7. Like children’s gifts: kumara-deshnah, gifts that children give but then ask to have returned.
8. Fifty-three: or 150, i.e., three times 50.
Like Savitri, the God whose statutes are true: deva iva savita satyadharma, ordaining man’s fates.
12. Addressed to the dice, as is also v. 14.
Cleanse Me from My Sins
Papamocana
13 In this prayer addressed to all the Gods, the psalmist prays that he may be set free from all possible sins, committed willingly or unwillingly, in the waking state or asleep, in the past or in the future. The comparisons that the poet uses here remind us of different sacrificial acts. He feels that his guilty conscience ties him to a state of sin just as a victim is tied to the sacrificial stake, and he begs for release from sin in the same way as a victim is freed from the stake. Again, he wants to be as completely pure from the defilement of guilt as a man who is pure after a cleansing bath, or to be as transparent and free from impurities as sacrificial butter that has been carefully strained.
These comparisons are just faint expressions of a deep and strong yearning to get rid for all time of all guilt, wickednesses, and impurities--to be wholly purified. However, this yearning can never be fulfilled once and for all, and the poet, knowing human frailty only too well, prays in advance to be set free from future sin.
Papamocana
AV VI, 115
1. Any sin we have committed,
consciously or unconsciously,
deliver us from it,
O Gods one and all!
2. From whatever sin
I, a sinner, committed
awake or asleep,
may both past and future
set me free,
as if from a stake
to which I was fastened!
3. May I be set free
as if loosed from a pillar
or loosed from the dirt
after taking a bath!
May all the Gods
cleanse me from sin,
as butter is pure
after passing through the strainer!
1. Sin: enas, throughout.
Consciously or unconsciously. . .: cf. RV X, 164, 3 (§ IV 8).
Gods: vishvedevah.
2. Stake: drupada, wooden pillar, a post (to which captives are tied), any pillar or column.
Forgive Us Our Debts
Anrnah syama
14 This hymn is addressed to Agni who, like Varuna, unlooses all bonds. Man is preoccupied with the debt he owes to the “other world.” Whether it is the prayer of a man who in old age thinks of his imminent departure to the beyond and who wants to be cleared from any debt to Yama and to the Gods, or whether it is simply the routine prayer of a man engaged in the daily sacrifice, the same sentiment is apparent: “Man, so soon as he is born, is to be regarded, his whole person, as a debt owed to death.” 94 It is through sacrifice that he purchases himself back from death. Throughout his lifetime he is preoccupied with freeing himself from his existential debt to his fellowmen, to the sages, to the ancestors, and to the Gods, 95 who form a link between this world and the other. Furthermore there are precise regulations regarding the special offering due to Yama. 96 One hymn of the Atharva Veda says that when the deceased reaches Yama’s realm he has to pay one sixteenth of his “wish-fulfilling sacrifices” but that he may discharge this debt in advance in his earthly life by offering a ram in sacrifice. 97
Anrnah syama
AV VI, 117
1. The food that I eat
and the debt that I owe
and my offering to Yama
which ever sustains me--
O Agni, make me
free from these debts,
you who know
how to loosen all bonds.
2. Standing before you,
we restore this gift.
I restore it, O Agni,
the grain I have eaten,
the living for the living,
so that I may become
free from guilt and debt.
3. Free from guilt and debt,
in this world and the higher,
free from guilt and debt
in the third world also;
in the world of the Gods
and in those of the Fathers,
on all our paths,
may we ever remain
free from quilt and debt!
1. Free from. . . debts: anrna
2. The living for the living: jiva- jivebhyo; i.e., grain, as a living seed, is offered on behalf of living persons.
Free from guilt and debt: anrna, i.e., without rna, which includes both what we owe to the Gods because of our guilt and to men because of our debts. Cf. what has already been said on rna (§§ III 23; IV Introductions).
Free Us from Our Creditors
Anrnya
15 Gambling, as is well recognized, was one of the favorite pastimes of Vedic Man. As we have already seen, 98 this pastime led to the ruin of the gambler and of his family and aroused in him strong remorse for the money wasted, the life spoiled, and the debts contracted. The present hymn, another supplication of a remorseful gambler, begs for forgiveness for cheating at the gaming table. As in the preceding psalm the man who utters the prayer may or may not be on the point of death. He is worried at the thought that the man he has wronged may get him tied up in the land of Yama; that is, he may have to pay there a heavy debt for his cheating.
This prayer, which is addressed, it seems, to two Apsarases (who like Varuna scrutinize Men’s deeds) and to all the Gods, expresses sincere regret and the fear of well-deserved punishment. It is a cry for mercy and compassion.
Anrnya
AV VI, 118
1. For the various ways we have sinned with our hands,
desiring to possess the reward of the dice,
forgive us this day our guilt and our debt,
you frightening and all-conquering spirits.
2. Forgive the transgressions we committed while gambling, you terrifying ones, who scrutinize men.
May we not be compelled to pay the debt
in the world of Yama, tied with a rope!
3. Let not my creditor or his wife whom I approach
or the man to whom I go begging, O Gods,
raise their voices against me overwhelmingly,
O you divine spirits, companions of the Gods!
1. Guilt and. . . debt: rna.
Frightening and all-conquering spirits: allusion to two Apsarases.
2. Transgressions: kilbishani.
Who scrutinize men: rashtrabhrt, lit. scrutinizer of the people; he who looks after the order of the country.
3. Divine spirits: Apsarases.
Companions of the Gods: patni, wives of the Gandharvas.
b) The Merciful Lord
Varuna
Varuna, the Universal Ruler, the mightly Lord who establishes, controls, and surveys both the operation of cosmic law and the deeds and activities of Men, is along with Indra the most prominent of the Vedic symbols for the Divine. 99 It is not simply that he combines in himself several attributes or functions; rather, he embodies in himself various completely contrasted features. The result of accumulating in the divine so many attributes, however, in no way diminishes his vitality, concreteness, and thus his effective power.
There is an intriguing continuity in the religious history of mankind. Any living faith, any popular feast, any sacred place, and effective God, even any doctrine prevalent at a given time, is invariably older than its official formulation. Certainly there are changes and there is evolution, but there are no radical creations in the religious world. Varuna is probably of pre-Vedic origin, adopted and transformed by the Aryans on their arrival. He has predecessors as well as successors. In fact he passes on his lordship to Prajapati in the later Vedic period and his name then continues as only a Water-God.
He is the God of justice to whose scrutiny the life of Man lies completely exposed. In him resides power to inflict punishment or to free Men from their sins, to produce in them a sense of fear and humility, admission of guilt, and regret. The hymns addressed to Varuna are unrivaled for the sincerity of their expression, for the depth of their contrition, and for their strong confidence in the mercy of God.
Before presenting the texts concerning sin and pardon we must acquaint ourselves with Varuna and the part he plays in Vedic religiousness. First of all, Varuna is a Sky-God and seems to come into prominence once the luster of Dyu, the personification of the sky, is on the wane. 100 Varuna is the “encompassing one,” according to the most probable etymological reading. 101 His eye with which he sees everything 102 is the sun. 103 He is “farsighted,” 104 and he has around him his own watchmen, 105 his messengers, 106 and his wise helpers. 107
No wonder that this master of the sky is represented as sovereign Lord over Men and Gods and holds sway over all natural phenomena: no bird can fly, no river can run, no human heart can beat, nothing in the three heavens or on the three earths can “do its own thing” without his knowledge and his permission. 108 Varuna is King, rajan, 109 king of the universe, samraj, 110 and king of Men and Gods alike. 111 He rules over all that exists. 112 He has set firm the earth and the sky: “The all-wise Asura propped up the heavens and measured out the broad earth’s expanse. All worlds does the great King hold in his sway.” 113 “He has put intelligence in hearts, fire in the waters, the sun in the sky, and the soma-plant on the hills.” 114 The stars and the waters obey his decrees. 115
Varuna is, next, a Water-God. He is the Lord of the waters 116 and rivers and, with Mitra, the dispenser of rain: 117
Hither descend, O mighty kings and princes,
protectors of cosmic order, lords of rivers.
O Mitra and Varuna, generous givers of bounty,
send to us rain, the bringer of every blessing! 118
Or, as we are going to read, he makes “the rivers flow,” 119 It is this role that he retains after his eclipse. He remains God of the seas. 120
Third, we turn our attention to the source of Varuna’s might, that is, to his power, for which one of the most powerful and elusive terms of Indian wisdom, 121 maya 122 is often used. Varuna is the great mayin among the Gods. 123 It is by maya that Varuna establishes the earth. As the poet says:
i will speak of the mysterious deed of Varuna renowned, the Lord Immortal,
who, standing in the firmament, has measured out the earth, as it were, with a yardstick. 124
Through maya Mitra and Varuna send the rain and through maya they keep a watch on their law; 125 through maya the sunbird is garlanded. 126
The maya of Varuna 127 or of Mitra and Varuna 128 is good, but there can also be bad maya, as in the word durmayu, user of bad craft. 129 It has been said that the English word “craft” denotes fairly well the ambivalence of maya, a power that, being derived from a certain uncommon knowledge, can be used either for good or for bad purposes; thus it is an intelligent power or a cunning shrewdness. 130 This power appears to be detachable from the one to whom it belongs, so that it may be used for different purposes, both good and bad. It has indeed both a personal and cosmic character. No wonder that, since power tends to corrupt, even this greatest power of the Gods is corrupted not only in its usage by them but also in the very conception of its meaning, so that later on maya came to mean the power of deception and delusion.
In Upanishadic documents the word appears for the first time in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, where it still has the same basic meaning as in the Vedas and an undeniable ambivalence, which gives rise to the post-Upanishadic meaning of maya as illusion, trick, error, or veil of ignorance: 131 “Know that maya is Nature and the mayin the mighty Lord.” 132
Fourth, we need to connect Varuna with another of the pivotal concepts of the whole Vedic world view: the notion of rita. 133 Varuna and Mitra are the guardians of rita:
Those Lords of rita, of light, I invoke
who uphold rita by means of rita,
Mitra and Varuna. 134
Through Varuna’s rita order is established in the universe. 135 It is Varuna’s rita that keeps the rivers in their beds, 136 for he is the fountainhead of rita 137 to such a degree that when Agni is striving for rita he is called Varuna 138 “According to Eternal Law you govern the whole world.” 139 It is by rita also that Men are saved from their iniquities, for this concept does not refer only to cosmic order; it includes also the ethical sphere which is not separate and autonomous but is ontonomically linked with the state of the cosmos.
The fifth and most distinctive character of Varuna, the ethical God, as he has sometimes been called, though this expression is somewhat alien, is that he is a forgiving and merciful God. He does not merely go about his own business in splendid isolation or even devote himself to the protection of mankind. He liberates, he is merciful, he forgives; his justice is more than impersonal. Rita, in fact, when in the “hands” of Varuna, acquires personal features, or, if we prefer, relational character, or, in the words of the Rig Veda, a pure and beautiful face. 140 Rita in his hands becomes more than a legalistic system. Rita is righteousness and anrita simply a lie, 141 and it is Varuna who discerns the one from the other. 142
Varuna’s ordinances are firm. 143 Curiously enough, what does vary are the names given to Varuna’s injunctions: vrata, 144 observance; dharma, 145 law; dhama, 146 decree; kratu, 147 will; daksha, 148 power.
As we have already seen, moral order and cosmic order are not two separate things. It would not be proper, however, to say that there is no moral order and that all is cosmic. It would be equally improper to affirm that there is no cosmic order and that all is subsumed into a moral world view. The fact is that this division does not apply and that the real order of the world is, if we still want to employ these terms, both moral and cosmic. Sin, therefore, is neither simply a moral concern of the individual or of the group, nor merely the cosmic catastrophe of a natural stain.
Varuna undoubtedly manifests anger 149 and punishes falsity, anrita; 150 his well-known watchmen inspect Men’s lives 151 and keep an account of their sins. 152 Yet these and similar attributes do not overshadow the fact that in almost every hymn to Varuna there is a prayer for the gracious forgiveness of sins and the removal of guilt, in a way that is not employed for any of the other Vedic deities. Significantly, no anecdotes are told about Varuna.
The two hymns given below, Rig Veda VII, 86, and VII, 89, are two masterpieces illustrating a rather uncommon feature in Vedic spirituality. 153 Man is not aware of his sin and yet is conscious that Varuna is angry with him. Recognizing that there must have been a break in the fellowship with God, he declares himself to be sinful and from the bottom of his heart asks for personal forgiveness, not only for the reparation of a rupture in cosmic order. Varuna is a merciful and gracious God who not only chastises the sinner 154 but at the same time provides innumerable remedies. 155 Sin is here the transgression of Varuna’s law, 156 which, indeed, is often quite explicit: not to curse or kill, 157 not to deceive, 158 not to gamble, 159 not to cheat when playing. 160 What Varuna punishes severely is untruthfulness, which is the worst transgression Man can commit and for which Man ceaselessly begs for mercy. It is in truth that Varuna’s unrivaled sovereignty is grounded:
This great God rules over all Gods,
for the precepts of Varuna, the King, are true. 161
He Counts the Blinks of Every Eye
Satyanrta-samikshaka
16 This hymn, which, though not centered on forgiveness, is one of the most complete descriptions of Varuna, is given here as an introduction to his theology. It is extremely well composed, harmoniously blending general aspects with concrete instances. The first stanzas describe the omnipresent Varuna. Among all the Gods Varuna is the one who knows perfectly all that Men are doing wherever they are, be it openly or secretly. He penetrates into the inmost recesses of the human heart; he cannot be deceived. If the human heart and mind are the special objects of his love and concern, he is nonetheless involved in the cosmos also: he is both great and small; the sky is his abode and yet he is equally present in a drop of water. Stanzas 6 and 7, though related to his omnipresence, contain a strong and realistic imprecation. The poet, in righteous (or unrighteous) indignation, makes an appeal to Varuna the just, the one God who leaves no sinner unpunished, especially the liar who, it is said, receives just retribution for his lies, while the truthful man goes on his way in peace. Here, undoubtedly, is a strong sense of right and wrong, as well as a powerful desire for retribution which demands that the wicked of this world be justly punished.
The eighth stanza is a kind of doxology. We may give a free version:
God is the point of convergence of all things.
He is the point of divergence of all.
God belongs to us; he belongs to the others.
God is divine; he is also human.
Satyanrta-samikshaka
AV IV, 16
1. The mighty overseer on high
espies our deeds, as if he were
quite close at hand.
The Gods through him know all men do,
though often men contrive to act
all stealthily.
2. A man may stand quite still, or walk,
or run, or flee, or hide himself,
as he thinks, secretly;
two men may hatch a plot together;
Varuna knows it all, being present
as the third one.
3. This earth is his; to him belongs
the lofty boundless sky above.
Varuna contains
within his body both the oceans,
and yet he also is contained
within one droplet.
4. Whoever would climb up to heaven
and even beyond would not elude
the Lord Varuna.
His watchmen with a thousand eyes,
descending from heaven, sweep the earth
with all-seeing glance.
5. Whatever exists in heaven and earth,
whatever lies beyond--all this
Varuna scans.
He counts the blinks of every eye
and reckons, like a skillful dicer, his throw
in the cosmic game.
6. May the seven times seven threads of net
stretched out three times--a fatal trap
to catch the unwary--
ensnare the man who tells a lie,
but let the man pass safely by
who speaks the truth.
7. Seize and bind with a hundred cords,
O Varuna, the one who utters falsehood.
Let him not pass!
Let the rogue be, his belly distended,
like a bursting barrel whose bands are cut
and contents spilling!
8. Varuna is the warp of the loom,
Varuna is the woof of the loom
of this universe.
Varuna is of us, Varuna is foreign,
Varuna is divine. he is also human,
Varuna he King.
9. I bind you, so-and-so, son of so-and-so,
with all these bonds,
all these I assign to you!
4. Watchmen: spashah, spies.
5. Like a skillful dicer . . .: like a gambler with his dice, so he settles all these (things, people).
8. Warp and woof of the cosmic loom renders the idea of the samamya and vyamya, i.e., extending in length (vertically) and extending under (horizontally).
9. This stanza is perhaps a later addition, the oldest part of the hymn being vv. 1-5. The personal and family names of the person to be secured by fetters are to be inserted, a fact suggesting that this hymn was used ritually.
Let the Thread of My Song Not Be Snapped While I Sing
Ma tantush chedi vayato dhiyam me
17 Rig Veda Hymn II, 28, to which we have already made several references, is addressed to Varuna and combines in a harmonious and poetic fashion both depth of feeling and beauty of expression. It starts with an address of praise to the divinity who is light and goodness (v. 1). The poet alludes in verse 2 to Agni and then proceeds to implore divine pardon and favor. He compares the stream of his life with that of a river never weary of flowing, and from his heart springs spontaneously this prayer (v. 5):
Loose me from my sin as from a bond that binds me.
May my life swell the stream of your river of Right.
He prays that Varuna, the Lord omnipotent, without whom he is powerless even to open his eyes, may deliver him from all fear and from the “dreadful weapons that strike the sinner” (v. 7). He praises the God Supreme, whose laws are as unchangeable as the mountains, and humbly begs for pardon in a spirit of hope and assurance that is renewed with each dawn (vv. 8, 9). Finally he expresses to King Varuna his longing for protection and prosperity. This psalm, like most of those that extol Varuna, conveys an impression of peace, harmony, and order in all spheres of life.
Ma tantush chedi vayato dhiyam me
RV II, 28
1. I hymn the self-luminous wise Lord
to be praised and glorified above all forever,
Varuna the mighty! I beg him for renown,
the God who shows love to all those who adore him.
2. With reverence and care we sing your praises.
Happy we feel in your service, O Varuna!
We hymn you like the fire that arises each dawn
to usher in the day with its promise of riches.
3. O Leader of heroes, whose words reach far,
may we ever abide in your shelter, O King!
O sons of the Infinite, Gods ever faithful,
forgive us our sins; grant us your friendship.
4. The God Varuna made the rivers to flow.
At his Order they run and he sustains them.
They cease not flowing and never feel weary.
They move with swiftness like birds in full flight.
5. Loose me from my sin as from a bond that binds me.
May my life swell the stream of your river of Right!
Let the thread of my song not be snapped while I sing
or my work be cut short before its completion!
6. Drive far, O Varuna, all perils. Receive me
graciously, O King. Like a calf from its cords,
undo me from the troubles that bind me. Without you
I am powerless even to open my eyes.
7. Spare us, O Varuna, those dreadful weapons
that strike the sinner when you utter the word.
Let us not pass from light into darkness.
Disperse, for our comfort, all that would harm us.
8. We will sing your praises, O God almighty,
now and forever, even as of old.
On yourself, O Immutable, are fixed our resolves,
firmly established as if upon a mountain.
9. Remove far from me the sins I have committed.
Let me not suffer for the guilt of others!
Many dawns shall yet arise to shine upon us.
Let us partake of them so long as we live!
10. The man, O King, be he workmate or friend,
who has scared me in a dream, enhancing my fears,
and the thief and the wolf who plan to harm us--
from these, O Varuna, protect us, we pray!
11. May I never be deprived of my donor beloved,
of my generous friend, O Varuna! Never
may I lack, O King, well-appointed resources!
May we speak, as men of valor, a strong word in the assembly!
1. Lord: aditya, here referring to Varuna.
3. The Infinite: Aditi.
4. Order: rita, with the double connotation of order and command.
5. River of Right: spring of rita, order, ordinance.
6. Perils: bhiyas, fear.
Troubles: amhas, oppression.
8. Resolves: vratani, laws, vows, ordinance.
9. The guilt of others: anyakrta, what is done by others; may I not have to bear the consequences of others” deeds. Cf. RV VI, 51, 7 (§ IV 8).
I Question Myself on My Sin
Prche tad enah
18 As already noted, this hymn along with a few others strikes an original note in Vedic literature: the rishi addresses a sincere petition for forgiveness to God. He surrenders himself, humbly acknowledging his own guilt, with the hope that the mercy of the Lord--and that alone--will bring him justification. Tradition, followed and enlarged by the Puranas, has built upon these hymns a whole story. The key to the anguish of Vasishtha is to be found in hymn 104 of the same book (VII). Vasishtha has fallen out of favor with his king Suda and, he feels, with the God Varuna also. Finding himelf the target of the accusations of his enemy Vishvamitra, the proud Brahmin priest humbles himself before God. Here is a typical example of the way in which in religious literature the concrete story and the particular events of a single person acquire a paradigmatic and thus quasi-universal value applicable to any Man in a similar situation.
Prche tad enah
RV VII, 80
1. The peoples are wise through the greatness of him
who has fixed in their stations the heaven and the earth
who has thrust up on high the vast dome of the sky
and the stars and has spread out the earth down below.
2. I muse in my heart and I ponder this question:
When shall I again be at one with Varuna?
Will he accept without rancor my offering?
When, reassured, shall I taste of his mercy?
3. I question myself on my sin, O Varuna,
desirous to know it. I seek out the wise
to ask them; the sages all give me this answer:
“The God, great Varuna, is angry with you.”
4. What, then, O God, is my greatest transgression
for which you would ruin your singer, your friend?
Tell me, O God who knows all and lacks nothing,
so that, quickly prostrating, I may sinless crave pardon.
5. Loose us from the yoke of the sins of our Fathers
and also of those we ourselves have committed.
Release your servant, as a thief is set free
from his crime or as a calf is loosed from its cord.
6. The evil, Varuna, was not done on purpose;
it was wine, dice, or anger that led us astray,
or thoughtlessness, sometimes the elder a younger.
Even in sleep evildoing is not wholly banished.
7. I am eager to serve you as a slave serves his master,
you, God, all-watchful, I free from sin!
This most wise God gives knowledge to the simple
and spurs to achievement the clever and the discreet.
8. O God, whose power is self-subsisting,
may these praises now reach you and lodge in your heart!
Well may it go with us in peace and in warfare!
Ever protect us, O Gods, with your blessings!
2. When shall I again . . .: kada nv antarvarune bhuvani.
3. Sin: enas.
4. Transgression: agas.
Would ruin: jighamsasi, desiderative form of han-, to strike, put to death, to wish to kill or ruin.
Who knows all and lacks nothing: duabha svadhavo, lit. who cannot be deceived and is self-supporting.
5. Cf. TB III, 7, 12, 3 for the idea of being freed from the sins of one’s ancestors.
Servant: Vasishtha, one of the seven rishis and supposedly author of the seventh mandala of the RV and chief priest of King Suda. Here is a reference to the story of the quarrel between Vasishtha and Vishvamitra author of the third mandala. Vasishtha sees himself as a thief who has performed penance for his theft. The author of BrDev, a work enumerating the deities of the RV, explains (VI, 11 sq.) how Vasishtha had entered Varuna’s abode by night in a dream (cf. V. 6) in order to steal because he was hungry, a mystical (and psychological) theme.
7. Spurs to achievement: raye junati . . . .
The clever and the discreet: grtsam.
8. Whose power is self-subsisting,: svadhavah from svadha, self-position, self-power, self-supporting (same word as in stanza 4).
In peace and in warfare: ksheme . . . yoge with reference both to spiritual states and also to rest and labor.
Forgive, Lord, Have Mercy!
Mra sukshatra mraya
19 This simple heartfelt prayer is addressed to Varuna by a sufferer who recognizes his guilt and implores the Lord for forgiveness. The man who utters this intensely human cry does not specify the character of the suffering he is experiencing or of the sin that incurred it. The intricate feelings of the human heart are expressed in all sincerity. Varuna appears to Men as being simultaneously the wielder of thunder, the watcher of Men’s deeds who punishes by suffering and death, and the gracious God who forgives. Man, though a sinner, still craves life and finds all possible excuses to explain his shortcomings and sins: ill chance, slowness of intellect, thoughtlessness. Verse 4 remains enigmatic. Does it allude to the thirst caused by dropsy, with which Varuna is known to strike evildoers, or to the thirst of avarice in the midst of abundant wealth? Either way it expresses in a profound and poetic manner the concrete existential situation of the Man who is starving from lack of the very thing that is most abundant around him, who looks for friendship when he is living among friends, craves solitariness when he could easily withdraw, desires happiness when all that could make him happy is at hand, thirsts for water when he is surrounded by it on every side. The truth comes home to us in the refrain that sums up the whole hymn: forgive, Lord, have mercy!
Mra sukshatra mraya
RV VII, 89
1. Let me not pass to the house of clay,
King Varuna, as yet.
Forgive, Lord, have mercy!
2. If I totter along, O wielder of thunder,
like a puffed-up wineskin,
forgive, Lord, have mercy!
3. If by ill chance in the dullness of my wits
I went straying, O Holy One,
forgive, Lord, have mercy!
4. Thirst is plaguing your worshiper, even when he stands
surrounded by waters,
forgive, Lord, have mercy!
5. If we men commit, O Varuna, an offense
against the heavenly ones;
or in thoughtlessness transgress your laws,
oh, punish us not!
1. House of clay: urn or vessel used for storing the ashes of the dead: metaphor for deaih. Cf. AV V, 30, 14 (§ V 9).
Forgive, Lord, have mercy: mra sukshatra mraya. The verbal stem mr- or mrd- means to be gracious or favorable, to pardon, to spare.
Lord: sukshatra, good master, one who rules well, has power.
2. O wielder of thunder: adrivah, O you who are armed with stones or thunderbolts. Adri, a stone referring especially to the stone used for grinding soma (cf. § III 18), but the master of the grinding stones is properly Indra and not Varuna.
Some interpreters see here the prayer of a man suffering from dropsy, whose body is swollen by the disease (cf. also v. 4).
3. The first three stanzas are dominated by three vocatives: rajan: O King!; adrivah (as above); shuce: O Holy One!
5. Thoughtlessness: acitti.
Laws: dharma.
c) Purification
Pavitrata
Life would be unbearable if Man had to carry inexorably, with no hope of riddance, all the burden of his past and all the anxiety of his future. Man can survive only if he unloads the weight of his sins and if he sees at least some bright spots on the horizon of his future.
The three subsections given below cover a wide range. They all illustrate the sacramental order, the order in which the spiritual and the material, the immanent and the transcendent, the human and the divine, collaborate in order to help Man to reach his goal, to fulfill his mission, to realize himself. We may sum up these widely different texts as follows: the Brahmanas tell us to perform a complete bathing ritual in order to acquire the desired purification. The water is more than “water,” but without the water there is no real forgiveness. The Upanishads try to convince us that ultimately the stain is not a stain on our real self, that sin has no ultimate ontological status, and that therefore the prime necessity is to discover the nonultimate character of all our defilements. This conviction cannot be induced or feigned, but the one who reaches such a conviction by doing so gets rid of his sins, which by virtue of this knowledge cease to be real sins. The Gita, along with some Upanishads, elaborates on a kindred theme: that real knowledge purifies and that true wisdom performs a catharsis of the soul. He who really knows is freed from every stain.
A reference to the most common Sanskrit word for holiness, that is, the state of purity and sinlessness, will help us to understand the underlying connection linking the three above-mentioned perspectives. Pavitra is basically a “means of purification,” that which cleanses. It comes from the root pu- to purify, to cleanse, to brighten, from which pavitr (also pavana), the purifier, and often the God of wind as purifying breeze, air, and so on, and other words are derived. 162 The idea of dirt, sin, guilt, stain, and the like changes according to varied understandings of what constitutes the proper means of purification. In the Rig Veda, pavitra is the strainer that clarifies and thus purifies the soma so that it becomes the pure par excellence. In the Brahmanas it is the cleansing bath that washes away transgressions committed against the ritual order. In the Upanishads it is wisdom that purifies Man from bad tendencies and accumulated karman. In each instance, however, the sacred or holy or saintly is essentially that which is pure, purified, and purifying. And, as tradition later on is fond of stressing, the very presence of a saint has the purifying effect of all conceivable cleansing baths or purifying rites.
It must be added that, especially in the Brahmanic period, rituals and ceremonies of purification begin to proliferate and the beginnings of an exuberant casuistry are already visible. Without either hiding such practices or denying that a process of degeneration often does take place, we may observe that such rituals do not contain the same interest for all times. Nevertheless, we give some examples, taken (perhaps surprisingly) from among the Upanishads, without entering into the minutiae of the Brahmanas.
The Cleansing Bath
Snana
20 Although the Yajur Veda gives some importance to the performance of expiatory rites, 163 the Brahmanas frequently evidence consciousness of guilt and longing for purification. In this period religious acts follow prescribed patterns and formulas; the spontaneity and poetic verve of the Rig Veda are to some degree subdued.
Of the three texts that follow, the first two, taken from the Yajur Veda and the Shatapatha Brahmana, speak of the ritual bath that constitutes a complete purification; if taken in strict accordance with the rules. We should not fail to note, however, that the man who sets out to perform each ritual act (such as a bath, a sacrifice, etc.) must as a preliminary, in company with his wife, observe a fast, follow the directions of the officiating priest, and make certain offerings. There is no doubt that all this preparation is not a mere outward observance but is undertaken with a view to achieving the more important inner purification. The third text, from the Taittiriya Aranyaka, is the well-known “sin-effacing” mantra, which may be recited at the time of the morning bath.
At a later date the code of Manu reiterates in its own fashion the ideas of the Rig Veda regarding guilt and confession, repentance and pardon, but now they appear in the form of minute regulations to be followed and practices to be observed if expiation of sin and purification are to follow. The longing for expiation and for a means of atonement (prayashcitta) leads to a meticulous, often rigidly prescribed, ritual ceremony where so much stress is laid on the perfect fulfillment of each penitential observance that little opportunity remains for sincere emotion or real contrition of the heart.
Snana
YV III, 48
i) O swiftly moving purifying Bath, you flow gently down. With the help of the Gods may my sins against the Gods be removed and with the help of mortals may my sins against mortals be washed away.
Protect us from harm and from the loudly speaking [enemy].
SB IV, 4, 5, 22-23
ii) 22. O cleansing Bath, cleansing as you flow, may I wipe out with the help of the Gods such sin as I have committed against the Gods and with the help of men such sin as I have committed against my fellowmen. . . .
23. Having put on fresh clothing, they step out of the old. Even as a snake sloughs off its skin, so does the penitent slough off his sin; there is not in him even as much sin as there is in a newborn child.
TA X, 1, 12-13
iii) I seek the Lord of the Waters of golden appearance.
May he hear our entreaty and grant us a place of ablution!
Whatever food I have taken in the house of the wicked,
whatever gift I have received at the hands of the crafty,
whatever sin of thought or word or deed
I have committed, from this may Indra, Varuna,
Brhaspati, and Surya cleanse me again and again!
If I have eaten or drunk to excess, or consorted
with people of violent ways, may King Varuna
wipe it all away! Thus, rid of impurity and evil
and free from my sin, may I find liberation and pass
to the world of the Lord of creation!
i) The sacrificer and his wife are performing the ritual ablution (avabhrtha). It is important to note that sins can be expiated only in the same realm in which they have been committed.
ii) For the metaphor of the serpent’s skin, cf. PrasnU V, 5 (§ VI 12) and the comments in § IV 21 Introduction.
Purifying Knowledge
Jnanashuddhi
21 The Upanishads do not dismiss ritual purification altogether, but they are more interested in finding out the source of all purification, the hidden power of the cleansing waters. Gradually this source becomes the only real means of purification. The Upanishadic discovery is jnana, saving and purifying knowledge.
The order in which we offer the texts is intended to indicate the process of this discovery. We see how from a merely ritualistic conception we pass to an intensive coexistence of karmakandins and jnanins, or ritual and gnostic trends, and how finally the latter seem to eliminate the former, substituting for ritual action an ultimate insight into the nature of evil. Evil is regarded more and more as a constitutive part of the world itself, which consequently becomes more and more estranged from the atman, which is itself untouched by darkness, sin, or evil in any form.
The Upanishads are quite aware of human weakness 164 and of the necessity of daily purification (i). They take into consideration both the cosmic aspect of impurity and purification (iii) and the human dimension of guilt and forgiveness (iv). It is the whole Man, represented by the triad manas (mind), vac (speech), and sharira or prana (body or life, which corresponds to karman, physical action), who commits sin and it is the whole Man who has to be released from the guilt of sin committed on these three levels (i). Even the ritually orientated text of the Mahanarayana Upanishad ends with the intuition that only the discovery of the light core in Man is capable of purifying him completely (vii). Again, it is the actual knowledge of the meaning of the rite which has the same power to “burn” sins as Agni has on the altar (x). The Kaushitaki Upanishad refers to the procedure for purification of sin at the three important moments of the day (samdhya). Here, too, we have a ritual text, known as the “daily adoration of the Sun for the removal of sin.”
The development of the doctrine of karman 165 shows that sin and purification are more than individual processes: all actions in the universe are interrelated in a web of inextricable causes and effects. Karman transcends individuality, for the consequences of good or evil deeds reach the very limits of the world and their sum total constitutes the whole circle of samsara. 166 Thus the ultimate aim of purification is to rid oneself of the chains of samsara; to this end the Upanishads undertake an ardent and unwearying search and an almost superhuman effort to purify the self, to disengage it from the vicissitudes of human life and the cycle of rebirth in order that it may gain liberation. There is a significant shift from the passage about the snake sloughing off its skin as reported in the Shatapatha Brahmana 167 to the same idea as expressed in one Upanishad. 168 Here the text emphasizes that purification is effected not by a purifying bath or any other sacred action, but by meditating on the purusha (the primordial person) as the fruit of jnana, gnosis.
Several texts warn us not to disconnect this saving knowledge from our daily life and from the normal code of conduct. Other texts powerfully emphasize that knowledge is saving by itself and that to the really freed and enlightened soul there is no sin and no possibility of committing sin, even if he should perform the externals of the most hideous crimes. Just as water neither pollutes nor even wets the lotus leaf, so sin does not touch the man who knows. He does not even blush, says one very daring text, adducing the example of Indra. The only condition is to “know him,” and thus, as other texts on atman and brahman would add, “to be him [or it].” The state of a jnanin, a knower of the Self, has always been considered to be “beyond good and evil,” precisely because he is beyond karman and its laws (x, xv). Let us remember that to do evil necessarily means that one is not beyond it. Whatever this state of being beyond good and evil may be, by definition, it cannot be immoral. If to be beyond good and evil is an evil state, then it is not beyond good and evil. Just as there is undeniable intellectual evidence (once I am convinced through intrinsic evidence of a certain truth I cannot undo that conviction unless it is replaced by another one), there is also a means of moral evidence (conscience) which no one can overrule, unless that conscience itself yields to a better light. What the Upanishads are telling us is that the enlightenment of our conscience is also possible. They affirm, further, that an enlightened conscience, piercing as it does all appearances, cannot be the source of an act that is morally wrong, even if sometimes that act when observed from the outside may seem to be otherwise. To act in perfect conscience implies that one has reached perfect consciousness. Meanwhile we are only on the way.
A remarkable text, which we give later on, stresses the greatness of the authentic Brahmin. 169 It says, first, that the core of reality does not increase by good works or decrease by bad ones. The inner space dwelling in the depths of the heart is untouched by works, even if they are sacred actions. The text adds that such a knower of Brahman is not haunted by scruples about works that he has done or left undone, or performed well or badly. He is not attached to them and thus he is free. He knows that all that has happened has a meaning and a purpose and he thus accepts the real as it realizes itself. His knowledge has purified him.
Jnanashuddhi
MAHANAR U 132-133
i) If I have done wrong in thought, word, or deed,
may Indra, Varuna, Brhaspati, and Savitri
purify me again and again!
MAHANAR U 138
ii) Free from my sins, I shall be liberated,
freed from guilt, without spot or stain!
MAHANAR U 317-318
iii) May the Waters purify the Earth,
may this Earth so purified purify me!
May the Lord of the Holy Word purify me,
may [Earth], purified by Brahman, purify me!
MAHANAR U 321-323
iv) May Agni, the zealous, and the lords of wrath
guard me from sins committed in anger!
The sin that I this day committed
in thought, in words, with my hands or my feet,
by my stomach or by my generative organ--
may this day efface it!
And this evil within me I offer in sacrifice,
together with myself, in the womb of the Immortal,
in the Truth, in the Light. Svaha!
MAHANAR U 325-326
v) The sin that I this night committed
in thought, in words, with my hands or my feet,
by my stomach or by my generative organ--
may this night efface it!
And this evil within me I offer in sacrifice,
together with myself, in the womb of the Immortal,
in the Truth, in the Light, Svaha!
MAHANAR U 414-416
vi) You are the expiation for the sin of the Gods. Svaha!
You are the expiation for the sin of men. Svaha!
You are the expiation for the sin of the Ancestors. Svaha!
You are the expiation for the sin of myself. Svaha!
You are the expiation for the sin of another. Svaha!
You are the expiation for the sin of all. Svaha!
MAHANAR U 441
vii) May the word, the mind, the eye, the ear,
the tongue, the nose, the semen, the intelligence,
the intention, and the will be purified in me!
I am light! May I be purified from all stain and sin!
BU I, 5, 20
viii) Whatever sufferings creatures undergo remain with them. Only good deeds reach God, for no sin reaches the Gods.
BU V, 7
ix) It is said that Brahman is lightning. It is called lightning because it cleaves. He who knows that lightning is Brahman cleaves sin, for Brahman is lightning.
BU V, 14, 8
x) It is Agni who is its mouth. Whatever quantity of fuel they lay on a fire, it burns it all. Similarly he who knows this, even if he commits very much sin, burns it all and becomes clean and pure, ageless and immortal.
CU IV, 14, 3
xi) As water does not adhere to a lotus leaf, so evil deeds do not adhere to the man who knows this.
CU VIII, 13, 1
xii)From the dark I go to the colored, from the colored to the dark. Shaking off sin as a horse shakes off dust from its hair, freeing myself from the body as the moon frees itself from the mouth of Rahu, I enter into the unmade world of Brahman with a fulfilled atman. I enter into the world of Brahman.
KAUS U II, 7
xiii) Next come the three adorations of the invincible Kaushitaki: . . .
At the rising of the sun he would say:
“O Deliverer, deliver me from my sin.”
Likewise, when the sun was midway in heaven he would say:
“O Deliverer, risen to the heights, raise me to
the heights and deliver me from my sin.”
Likewise, when the sun was setting he would say:
“O Deliverer who can deliver completely,
deliver me completely from my sin.”
And he delivers him from whatever sin he has committed in the day or at night.
KAUS U III, 1
xiv) Pratardana, son of Divodasa, reached the well-loved abode of Indra by means of struggle and effort. Indra thus spoke to him:
“Pratardana, choose a boon!”
Pratardana said: “You yourself choose it for me, the boon that you consider most beneficial for mankind.”
Indra said to him: “A greater, to be sure, does not choose a boon for a lesser. You yourself choose!”
“That is no boon at all for me,” said Pratardana.
Then Indra did not desist from truth, for Indra himself is truth.
Indra said: “Know me. The most useful enterprise for men is to know me.
“I slew the three-headed son of Tvashtr; I delivered the Arunmukhas and the ascetics to the wild dogs; I have transgressed many agreements; I killed the Prahladas in the sky, the Paulomas in the space between, and the Kalakanjas on earth, and not a single hair of mine was hurt.
“So the world of the man who knows me does not deteriorate by any action he may do, whether he steals or procures an abortion or kills his mother or his father. Whatever sin he commits, he remains unabashed.”
SU I, 11
xv) When a man knows God all fetters are loosed.
Sorrows are no more; birth and death cease.
By meditation on him, at the body’s dissolution,
there comes the third state, that of supreme mastery.
His desires are fulfilled; he is absolutely free.
i) The following mantras are recited as a confession before the ritual bath.
ii) The idea of freedom from sins and guilt is repeated time and again throughout the U.
iv) The zealous: manyu, the spirit of zeal which later means the incarnation of wrath. There is a pun on manyu: the “lords of wrath” may be those who have overcome anger.
Evil: durita.
In the womb of the Immortal: amrtayonau, which could also be translated as “in the bosom of the eternal Father.” The self-oblation is made to the three aspects of the Absolute: amrta, satya, and jyotis
vi) The text proceeds with a litany of sins repeating the same refrain.
Sin: enas.
vii) The text goes on to enumerate other parts of the human being, repeating the same theme.
viii) Sufferings: shocanti, they grieve.
Good deeds: punya, merit, etc.
God: lit. him, i.e., the godhead, Prajapati, mentioned a few lines before.
Sin: papa, which may also be translated as “evil.”
Suffering is proper to men, goodness is proper to God. When man goes to God only good accompanies him. Meanwhile he carries the burden of his creatureliness.
ix) 6. Cf. § VI 7. A Sanskrit pun. Lightning: vidyut; cleaves: vidyati, destroys, divides (all) evil; pava sin.
x) 6-7. Cf. Gayatri Introduction.
xi) A recurring idea. Cf. KausU 1, 4 (§ V 4); BG V, 10.
xii) Sin: papa.
Unmade world of Brahman with a fulfilled atman: akrtam krtatma brahma-lokam . . .: with a disciplined completed, perfected soul I reach union with the uncreated Brahman world. For the rest of CU VIII and all the ref. cf. § VI 6 (v) and notes.
xiii) Sin: papa. In a more literal version: You are one who gathers; twist off my sin when the sun is at the zenith. You are one who tears; root up my sin by the setting sun. You are one who seizes; take hold of my sin.
xiv) Boon: vara.
Most beneficial for mankind: manushyaya hitataman, the most favorable for humanity.
A greater . . .: one cannot choose for another.
Indra himself is truth: satyam hindrah.
Know me: mam eva vijani, understand myself.
Son of Tvashtr: Vishvarupa, whose conflict with Indra is referred to in TS II, 5, 1 sq.; SB I, 6, 3, 1-2. Cf. also RV X, 8, 8-9.
Wild dogs: the episode is described in AB VII, 28 (XXXV, 2).
Prahladas: Prahlada was a famous asura.
Paulomas: demons.
Kalakanjas: demons of another kind.
2-3. Cf. § II 6.
xv) 6-10. Cf. § VI 11.
11. Absolutely free: kevala, unconditioned, isolated.
12. Cf § VI 11.
15-16. Cf. § VI 5.
The Fire of Wisdom
Jnanagni
22 Our selection from the Bhagavad Gita starts with a rather remarkable shloka (III, 36) describing an inner tension in Man which leads him to sin against his will. The inertia of inherited karman may be a partial answer to the question posed, but the problem remains. Furthermore, we have here a highly particularized query in the sense that it is not an abstract question about sin or evil, but the burning and agonizing question of the human heart after profound introspection: something in me, which is equally “me,” offers resistance to the well-being of my existence. 170 This is not an interrogation concerning the nature of evil so much as an inquiry about human weakness. After the speculation of the Upanishads the Gita sounds once again a human note.
The following verse speaks of wrong action, of sin. These terms are used with the connotation already noted in connection with “purifying knowledge.” The Man who, by the grace of the Lord, has renounced all things, in whom there is complete harmony, to whom true wisdom and true jnana (knowledge) have been revealed, whose being is united with the Lord--that Man is no longer affected by any action whatever or by any sin; he has attained the supreme bliss of Brahman. Furthermore, even the Man who is not yet altogether detached, to whom wisdom has not yet been fully imparted, who is still living an imperfect, even evil, life--he too, if he adores the Lord with all his being and with sincere intention, will be purified and will come to know wisdom and that peace in the Lord which will last forever.
The overall picture of the shruti brings out in strong colors the sorrow and suffering of Man and does not conceal his sinfulness or ignore his evil, but it does not stop there. It is equally full of traits depicting mercy, purification, and forgiveness. There is fear on earth and in Man, but there is also a message of fearlessness. And yet the last test has still to come.
Jnanagni
BG III, 36
i) Impelled by what power is a man driven
against his resolve
to commit sin, as if he were constrained
by some outward force?
BG IV, 36-38
ii) 36. Even if you should be the worst
among all sinners,
you will cross, by the boat of wisdom alone,
the sea of evil.
37. As a blazing fire reduces the wood
to ashes, O Arjuna,
so does the fire of knowledge reduce
all activity to ashes.
38. There is nothing on earth which possesses such power
to cleanse as wisdom.
The perfect yogin finds this knowledge in himself
by himself in due time.
BG IX, 1
iii) To you who have faith I will tell a deep mystery
that holds within itself
both vision and knowledge. By knowing this mystery
you will be freed from all evil.
BG XVIII, 58
iv) Concentrating on Me, you shall overcome
by my grace all dangers;
but if from self-conceit you will not listen,
you will surely perish.
i) Sin: papa.
ii) 36. The worst among all sinners: papebhyah sarvebhyah papakrttamah.
Wisdom: jnana.
The sea of evil sarvam . . . vrjinam, lit. all falsity, inauthenticity, evil.
38. Power to cleanse: pavitra, lit. purifying, holy, pure, sanctified.
39-40. Cf. § I 38.
iii) Evil: ashubha, lit. shamefulness, badness.
iv) Grace: prasada.
Self-conceit: ahamkara, selfishness, self-centeredness, egotism.