The Holy Vedas: Part - 4
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Edited and Prepared By Pandit Satyakam Vidyalankar
The divine light of cosmic intelligence, which has golden radiance and a sweet voice, descends from heaven to inspire us thrice at our assemblies. Mayest
Thou accept, O Lord of Divine Light, the praises recited by the eulogers and thereupon fulfil all our aspirations.
(Rig.3.54.11)
O the stream of consciousness divine,
These offerings are presented to you with adoration.
May you acknowledge and accept our praises,
And place us under your kind care.
May we ever take your shelter
As a traveller takes refuge under a tree.
(Rig.7.95.4)
O beautiful spiritual stream of divine light,
By your blessings people get both kinds
of nourishment, physical and supramental.
May you be pleased, O protectress, to be considerate to us.
May you, the friend of the vital breaths, bestow riches on them who are sincere in devotion.
(Rig.7.96.2)
May the auspicious stream of divine light bestow spiritual fortune upon us.
May the faultless and active stream,
The giver of spiritual sustenance,
Think of us.
You have been already glorified
By people of divine vision:
May you be glorified by seekers of truth.
(Rig.7.96.3)
The constellations are set high
By Him in the heaven above us;
They are visible at night,
And disappear by day;
His laws remain always un-violated;
The moon during night moves on its splendour
By His command.
(Rig.1.24.10)
May those cosmic luminaries of equal splendour, the sun, the dwarf-stars and the giant-stars, be pleased today by our invocations, they who are sons of Mother Infinity, luminous, purified by showers of effulgence, who abandon none and are irreproachable and unassailable.
(Rig.2.27.2)
The cosmic pair of day and night,
Come to cherish our noble deeds
Like two deers in a forest,
Like two wild cattle on fresh pastures,
Or like two swans flying in the sky.
(Rig.5.78.2)
Ruddy and luminous are the rays that bear the auspicious expanding and illustrious dawn. Like a valiant archer and like a swift warrior, scattering enemies, she drives away the gloom.
(Rig.6.63.3)
The bright dawn heralds a new day,
Its rosy lances have opened the golden gates of the Sun, and lit up the path of action.
Awake, O man, the slumber and darkness of the night are over.
May each dawn lead us from triumph to triumph in the long journey of life!
(Rig.1.113.16)
O Lord of Solar Systems, may we be free from every bond!
O Lord of Cosmic Life, residing among Nature's bounties,
May Thy protection extend to mortals.
O Lord of Cosmic Light and Bliss, may we partake of Thy bounty.
O Heaven and Earth, may we live through your blessings!
(Rig.7.52.1)
May He, the showerer,
Be impregnator of the perennial plants,
For in Him rests the vitality
Of both the organic and inorganic worlds.
May the waters sustain me
For full one hundred years.
May you all shower blessings on us.
(Rig.7.103.6)
We solicit from you, 0 Divine Waters,
That pure, faultless, rain-shedding,
Sweet essence of the earth
Which the pious worshippers
Have first consecrated as a
Beverage of the Resplendent Lord.
(Rig.7.47.1)
O Divine Waters, the fire protects that wave,
Which is most rich and wherewith may
The sun and life-giving elements be pleased.
May we, devotees of Nature's bounties,
Share with you today your joy!
(Rig.7.47.2)
Unsoiled by dust, the golden cosmic chariots of the
Clouds are shining like kindled flames, enlarging themselves twofold and threefold at will. They are invested with great strength and virile energies.
(Rig.6.66.2)
The clouds come in their colourful chariots with tremendous speed,
And of them, the brilliant ones shed the rains.
(Rig.8.7.28)
He is the one who shines without fuel
In the midst of cosmic waters,
And whom worshippers adore
At the place of worship.
May this Divine elixir,
Mixed with sweet celestial waters,
Be given to the soul to infuse vigour and heroism.
(Rig. 10.30.4)
Knowledge, Jnana, is like the light of the sun.
The celestial region is equivalent to the ocean.
The sun is older than the earth.
Space has no dimensions.
(Yajur.23.48)
Perennial Flame of Life
See unity in diversity.
'Behold one divine form appearing in multi-forms; Immense is 'His vastness, unparalleled is His glory.
All the countless earths suns and planets which are seen, an which are beyond our perceptions exist under
His command.
Kindled in various forms, the perennial flame is one;
Sprinkling the world with golden beams at dawn;
Painting the evening clouds with changing colours, the sun is one
(Rig.8.58.2)
O Mother of Divine Powers, the life-force of the earth, and the ensign of sacrificial works, may you shine forth exalted. May you rise up, bestowing reward for our devotion.
O, the Universally Respected. Maid, make us eminent among the people.
(Rig. L 113.19)
These stars, sons of Mother Infinity,
Are of huge dimensions, unparalleled
Provided with super brilliance,
Radiating out as if from innumerable eyes.
Whether far from or near to
The royal celestial bodies,
They appear as if beholding
From their innermost places
Both our vices and our virtues.
(Rig.2.27.3)
In this creation are held in balance the three regions, terrestrial, interspatial and celestial, and the three divine realms pertaining to body, mind and spirit provided with three eternal functions— physical, mental and transcendental. O sons of
Mother Infinity, the dwarf-stars, the sun and the giant-stars, you are excellent and great since you further the eternal law (of our Lord).
(Rig.2.27.8)
The stream of spiritual awareness, limitless, shining, issuing forth from the ocean of cosmic intelligence, comes onward with a tempestuous roar.
(Rig.6.61.8)
May the solar systems, the Mother Infinity
The most loving sun, the ordainer,
And waters be extolled.
May the guardians of the world become our friends
And accept the elixir of devotion.
(Rig.7 .51.2)
All the solar systems, all the vital principles,
All Nature's bounties, all the men of intellect,
The sun, the fire divine, the pair of twin divines,
Have been glorified by us;
May you all ever cherish us with blessings!
(Rig.7 .51.3)
May He who augments the plants,
Augments the waters
And who rules with His divine magnanimity
Over the whole earth
Give us shelter and all sorts of felicity.
May He grant us the desired light at three seasons!
(Rig.7.101.2)
We use thee, O water,
So that, thou makest us happy
By curing our diseases.
Thou rejuvenatest our potent energy,
To enable us to have more progeny.
(Sama.1839)
The brilliant stars, sons of Mother Infinity,
Are the upholders (of all gravitational bodies).
Movable or apparently stationary
They are the protectors of the universe balancing the equilibrium
Are provident in acts, dispellers of darkness,
True to eternal law, and acquitters of Nature's debts.
(Rig.2.27.4)
The divine cosmic embraces the entire Cosmic Creation.
For providing protection
Men crown Him alone with their offerings and hymns.
Possessed of golden flames, he distinguishes
Himself in both the regions of the universe
Like the minds hastily rustling
Through field of ripe corn.
(Rig.2.2.5)
May we prosper, invigorated by Thy cosmic laws, which are generous, diverse in form, but with similar functions.
(Rig.6.70.3)
The sky is like a barren cow,
And the earth is potent
The sky takes whatever shape it desires
The mother earth receives water from the father, the sky,
Who nourishes all living beings.
(Rig.7.101.3)
Hymns on Devotion
Most humbly we bow to Thee, O Supreme Lord,
At Thy command moves the mighty wheel of time.
Thou art eternal and beyond eternity,
(Atharva.10.8.1.)
God Proclaims
"Tam the prime source of contemplation and divine light.
I am the farseeing sage and centre, of cosmic orbit.
I am the accomplisher of piercing intellect.
I am the past, the well-wisher of all So many all behold me."
(Rig.4.26.1)
"I give the earth to the noble men;
Rain to the mortals who till the soil;
I set free the roaring waters;
The cosmic powers obey my orders."
(Rig.4.26.2)
"Through my love for my devotees
I demolish all strongholds of evils.
I destroy all malicious forces
When I help my dear devotees obeying Me."
(Rig.4.26.3)
"I am the king, the most venerable king,
On me are based those principal energies
That are destructive of evil forces.
The divine powers abide by my order.
As the venerable Lord, I rule over men and their kith and kin."
(Rig.4.42.2)
"O man, I cover thy frail body and mind with My loving care,
As if with an armour of metal
May this blissful divine love clothe thee with eternal joy.
May the cosmic observer and compassionate grant thee
Ample strength for thy living. May all divine powers be kind to thee
In thy victorious onward journey of life."
(Sama 1870)
"0 singer! Open thy eyes and behold—
Here I am before thee.
All things I transcend in greatness and majesty
That exist.
It is Me that teachers of truth illuminate.
Spreading knowledge of Me far and wide;
Adored by all worlds, I cherish them with tender care."
(Rig.8.100.4)
God blesses: "I endow men with a life of a hundred years; reap the full benefit of this gift by keeping thy body and mind healthy and fit.”
(Rig.10.18.4)
"I am the one who strikes with a deadly weapon the big exploiters
As the lightning strikes the furious clouds.
I strike these fattening blood-suckers so hard
That they are thrown far away across the bright sky."
(Rig.10.49.6)
"I move the cosmic forces of vitality and wealth
The luminaries and all celestial powers;
I sustain the cosmic sources of water and light
I am the centre of energy, light and life
Given by the sun, air, fire and
All other beneficial cosmic forces."
(Rig.10.125.1)
"I am the Mother, the restorer of wealth;
I know all that is worth knowing and expressing;
The divine powers function with My instructions;
I possess all domains;
My hymns are chanted in all places."
(Rig.10.125.3)
"O enlightened men! through My power all the creatures
Take breath, eat, see and hear
Even if they do not know, they dwell in My love;
I am in them, they are in Me."
(Rig.10.125.4)
"Only I speak words that bring joy
To divinities and men;
I grant powers to men I favour;
I make them divine, the seer,
And men of perfection."
(Rig.10.125.5)
"I stretch the bow for the defender of cosmic life
So that his arrows may pierce the malicious powers.
I rouse the fury in the hearts of people
To battle against evils;
I penetrate the heaven and earth;
So that none violates my eternal laws."
(Rig.10.125.6)
"I breathe like the wind pervading all the regions;
I go beyond the heavens, beyond the limits of this vast earth.
I am invincible; none can defy me."
(Rig.10.125.8)
"I am the possessor of all riches.
Fain would I be a leader of my equals.
The supreme knowledge is my soul.
A friend of man is dear to my heart.
My heart is free from sorrow.
It has the capacity of a sea
A dwelling place for all beloved and friendly."
(Atharva.16.3.11)
"I am a terror to the wicked
As a tiger is to the flock of sheep.
The wicked are stunned to see me
As dogs become stunned when they are face to face with a lion."
(Atharva.4.36.6)
"I uphold the moisture-shedding cosmic ocean;
I uphold the effulgent region in the abode of
The eternal order.
Being the preserver of eternity,
I created all the regions of the universe."
(Rig.10.125.2)
No one whether he is Arya or non-Arya
Can break by means of his power
My potent eternal law.
(Atharva.5.11.3)
The four corners of the world pay homage to Me,
The waves of the ocean rise in obedience to Me.
(Atharva.9.2.7)
Within these, O enlightened man; I place heaven and earth;
All the centres of receiving wisdom and strength.
Inside thy heart I place celestial luminaries.
Mayest thou develop harmony with all
And enjoy life in full.
(Yajur.7.5)
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He fashioneth these worlds and pervadeth them;
He beareth many a lapse of ours
And helpeth the pious in countless ways
This He doeth for the welfare of godly devotees;
He worketh unceasingly.
He guideth His devotee as the Sun regulateth seasons;
He is the observer of truth and dispeller of evil forces;
He is eternal and omniscient.
May He convey His devotees
Across the turbulent sea of life.
Reverence
Offer reverence to the Lord of Destiny who with His sharp edge of justice severs the bondages of life and death, liberates us from it and then delivers us to Yama, the God of Death, who hands us over back to destiny. Thus the of life and death continues till ultimate liberation. is achieved. (Atharva.6.63.2)
To Him, the most exalted Supreme Lord, we offer reverence,
To Him who has made the wind as the life of Creation,
Who has made the Rays of Light as its eyes,
Who has made the Directions of Space as the organs of hearing.
(Atharva.10.7.34)
Reverence is to the mighty one.
Reverence sustains earth and heaven.
Reverence is to be offered to Nature's bounties;
Reverence overwhelms all evil
I offer penance in the form of reverence for sins,
Which I might have committed ever in my life.
(Rig.6.51.8)
We offer reverence to that Supreme Lord,
Who is bliss incarnate, peace incarnate,
Reverence to Him who bestows bliss and peace;
Reverence to Him who is benign, evermore benign. (Yajur.16.41)