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Psychological Ideas in the Vedas and Their Relevance to Contemporary Psychology

R. L. Kashyap

This chapter presents some of the key ideas and ideals contained in the four Veda mantra collections (saṃhitā), which are known as Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda and Atharva Veda. The Yajur Veda contains verses with metrical structures as well as short rhythmic prose passages called Yajur mantras. The remaining three have only verses (or mantras) with metrical structures. The metres in these verses have names such as gāyatrī and anuṣṭup, characterized by the number of syllables. The four books have substantial overlaps and together they comprise about 26,000 mantras, including repetitions. In the early days, all these mantras comprised a single collection as noted in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa. The Ṛg Veda itself has about 10,500 metrical verses, divided into ten books, known as maṇḍalas. Each maṇḍala is made up of hymns or sūktas, each sūkta having about ten mantras or verses.

All-Sided Perfection

Many of the mantras of the Veda deal with the concept of an all-sided perfection of human life and modes of its realization. Those who have only cursorily glanced at the summary translations of the mantras of the Ṛg Veda by Griffith (1898) may demur at this statement. The wisdom in the Ṛg Veda will be apparent only after one understands the extensive symbolism in the verses. The topic of symbolism will be discussed in a later section.

The ideal of an all-sided perfection has been mentioned in several so-called ‘New Age’ and self-help books. Achieving perfection in a particular activity that is more or less under one's control is straightforward. If someone is serious about learning music, she may approach the best music teacher in the neighbourhood for learning. However, achieving harmony and beauty in all of one's own activities, and especially in those involving others, is a different matter. Perhaps the only way to do this is ‘to completely spiritualize one's everyday life’ (The Mother, 1978, p. 517), that is, to recognize the existence of a Supreme Spirit which pervades and energizes every aspect of existence and invoke That in every activity.

In the Indian tradition, the meaning of the word ‘spiritual’ is quite different from religion as commonly understood. Spirituality is free from any dogma or creed. Spiritual experience is an experience of the spirit or spiritual consciousness, which pervades the entire cosmos including all human activities. For instance, from the point of view of our ordinary consciousness, each being is different from every other being, human or non-human. But from the point of view of spiritual consciousness, each one of us is but a point in the ocean of consciousness. Thoughts, desires and emotions appear as waves in the ocean of the spirit; each wave waxes and wanes through each point of the cosmos, each point corresponding to a being. The movement of a particular wave of desire through a particular point gives the impression to the experiencer that that particular wave of desire originated in him. Further, the power of a person depends on the cosmic forces over which he has conscious or unconscious control. Consequently, there is no hard barrier between individual human beings and the cosmic powers called devās, or even the Supreme One. Only when we understand the unity of the universe, we can answer the question: ‘How to introduce beauty and harmony in every aspect of our life, that is, harmony and beauty in thoughts and feelings, harmony and beauty in every outward action and movement, harmony and beauty in our surroundings?’

Another important aspect of life is that everyone is engaged in some form of work. The work may be cooking, reading, listening to or making music, doing athletics, or whatever else that occupies us. However, do we understand why we work? Some people claim that they work for enjoyment. Others complain that the work they have undertaken, does not give them any joy. They seek their enjoyment by some other means utilizing the monetary resources obtained through their work. But what is the source of enjoyment?

It appears that the Ṛg Veda saṃhitā has answers to all the above questions—the nature of work, the forces behind activity, the relationship between work and enjoyment, and between work and progress—by relating to life as a unique journey.

Life as a Unique Journey

According to the Vedic sages, everyone should regard his or her life as a journey from one peak of perfection to another peak. They have indicated that help is always available for those who embark on such exciting journeys. We shall quote here one mantra from the Ṛg Veda (1.10.2, that is mantra 2 in sūkta 10 of maṇḍala 1 of the Ṛg Veda.) Because of its metre, each mantra is naturally divisible into three or four parts whose meanings are relatively self-contained. This particular mantra has four parts whose translation is given below. The corresponding Sanskrit text is given as an endnote.

When the worshipper climbs from peak to peak (1),

He (she) realizes the progress that is yet to be achieved (2).

Then (the cosmic-power) Indra awakens in the seeker the purpose of the journey (3),

And manifests with his troop to aid (the devotee in his journey) (4). (RV, 1.10.2)¹

This verse or mantra is straightforward in its meaning and the symbolism is transparent. The phrase, ‘climbing from peak to peak’ indicates the life-journey of an individual, attaining one level of perfection after another.

The second line indicates the deep psychological insight that only a person who starts on a journey can understand how much is still to be done.

The third phrase makes an important statement that the person undertaking the journey is not alone or helpless. The cosmic force (or the god) Indra himself awakens in him the purpose of his journey and indicates within him or her, the next peak to be pursued. The god Indra literally comes in a subtle manner to give the help.

This verse is not unique in the Ṛg Veda. There are many others which deal with the life-journey and the ascent. Some translators hold that the Ṛg Veda is ritualistic and is devoid of any reference to higher mental operations. They should notice here the use of the word ‘awakens’ (cetati). The Ṛg Veda has at least thirty-six different words dealing with mental operations (Purani, 1963, p. 43). It is a sign of incompetence to regard all these words as synonyms. Sri Aurobindo (1914/1998, p. 295) makes the difference between them explicit. For instance, the two words vicetas and pracetas mean, respectively, ‘one wide in consciousness’ and ‘one who has the perceptive knowledge’.

Further, one may wonder whether the climbing refers only to meditative activities or to the activities of everyday life, involving the life-energy (prāṇa) and the mind. It should be borne in mind that the Veda does not indulge in a rigid separation of the realm of activities into ‘worldly’ and ‘spiritual’. Its aim is that all activities, including those of daily life, must be made spiritual. In support we quote this verse or mantra (RV, 5.7.5).

When in his service (veṣaṇe) (1),

Men cast down their sweat (as an offering) on the paths (2),

They ascend to a self-born (self-joyous, svajenyam) ground (3),

As if to wide levels (4).

In other words, the ascent to the peaks is possible by physical and mental activities.

Who are the Gods?

Before proceeding further we have to focus on the nature of the cosmic forces called gods (devās) with names such as Agni and Indra, and their relation to the work of human beings.

The Veda declares the existence of the Supreme Person (puruṣa), (RV, 10.90) who is transcendent but who also, at the same time, permeates all the aspects of manifestation. The Supreme spirit is described in the Atharva Veda as follows:

You are the woman, you are the man;

You are the beautiful maiden; you are the boy;

You are the one tottering on the staff.

You with hundred faces look everywhere.

Atharva Veda (10.8.27), quoted in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (3.6)

There is nothing else in this universe except this One. But the Veda does not deny the existence of the Many. It gives equal importance to both the One and the Many. The core of this One is simply called tat. The gods (or devās) are not personifications of qualities or powers; they are the emanations or the conscious forces which may be called the limbs of the Supreme. They have names such as Agni and Indra. They are supra-physical beings without physical bodies, but endowed with consciousness, knowledge and power. They can carry out their actions directly from their consciousness. By following certain practices, a human being can come into conscious contact with one or more of these cosmic forces. All these forces are harmonious and their aim is to help human beings in their journey towards an all-sided perfection.

When a human being prays for the help of a cosmic power, that power responds and puts an emanation within the human being. This action is described metaphorically as the birth of the particular god as a child in the human being. This power can grow, indicating that the power of the particular god grows within and helps the human being in his journey.

Each God has a unique psychological power and personality, which helps the human being to develop that power. The two major deities of the Ṛg Veda are Agni and Indra. About 2,000 mantras are devoted to Agni and 2,500 to Indra.

Agni

The very first hymn in the Ṛg Veda describes the power of Agni. He is not merely the physical fire or the deity of the fire. Agni is the power of will endowed with wisdom. He initiates all actions. Agni's pre-eminence in the Veda arises from the fact that he lays the foundation for the development of the spiritual life which obviously requires a long and sustained effort. Agni is born first in humans and then helps them in the manifestation of the other gods. Agni's function begins with the inner voice (Aitareya Upaniṣad, 2.4). It is this aspect of Agni that the Vedic sages were initially impressed with, and they used prayers to invoke him so that he may awaken in them.

Indra and Work

Indra is the Lord of the Divine mind and all its actions. The role of Indra is to help human beings develop the abilities needed for mental formation and associated action. Indra is primarily the deity who gives appropriate knowledge to human beings so that they can perform all their actions at the highest possible level of perfection. Actions are not limited to those on the physical plane, that is, those we do with our hands, legs, mouth, etc. They include the actions done at the inner levels too—the inner vital, inner physical.

The Veda has interesting insights into the nature of work and how it is done. It states that every work begins with some entities—physical, mental, etc. Work is the transformation of one set of entities with particular structures and functions to another set of entities with different structures and functions, which are presumably more useful to the person doing the work. For instance, consider the work of cooking. The entities are the raw materials such as rice, water, vegetables, spices, utensils, and a source of energy of heat (agni). The human cook mixes the ingredients and heats them following a recipe resulting in the cooked food. Usually the human cook takes complete credit for the final result of the cooked food. A little reflection will reveal the inappropriateness of the claim. The ingredients like rice, water and vegetables have inherent properties that combine with each other under the appropriate conditions of heat, and result in the properties of taste and nourishment contained in the cooked food. The source of the energy and its instrument are not the human cook's creations. The utensils needed for the cooking have gone through a complex process for their functioning. The contribution of the human cook is to mix, stir and heat in the appropriate manner. The Vedic sages perceived that the main contributors in the edible food are the cosmic forces indicated by the rice-ness of rice, watery-ness of water, heat-power of fire and so on. The rice itself is the end-product of a complex set of operations whose major contributors are again the cosmic forces. In the growing process of a rice-seed yielding another rice-seed, the major contributors are air, water, and soil with its nourishing environment.

In other words, the major contributors in any work, the so-called willed-work carried out by human beings, are the cosmic forces known by the names of Agni, Indra, and so on; while the human contribution is really miniscule, though essential.

Recall that Indra is the lord of the Divine mind and actions. Recall also that any work involves considerable planning and the mobilization of various resources (or energies); the final part done by our hands or legs is only the last stage of the work. If we invoke the power of Indra and the other deities in the work, we become more conscious and so the quality of the product of the work improves.

The idea that work is done primarily by cosmic forces is the main reason for the injunction of the Bhagavad Gītā, ‘Do not claim the benefits of the work done through your participation’. The human contribution is only minuscule. Even though most of the time we obtain all the benefits of the work—the food cooked by us does not walk away to others—still, not claiming the result helps us psychologically, for example when the credit is given to someone else.

We will elaborate now on the connection between Indra and work in the Veda. The Ṛg Veda (1.4.1) declares that Indra is the one who fashions perfect forms (rūpa). Even though this task appears to be very simple from the outer view, it involves a variety of cosmic forces to which we normally do not pay attention. Indra is the power which gives perfect form (RV, 1.4.1; 6.47.18). He converts our obscure mentality into a higher intelligence. There is a prayer that says, ‘may that Indra-power increase in our subtle body’. But it is to be noted that that power does not come to a lazy person. The example given is that of milking a cow. Unless a cow is milked by a specific procedure, milk is not obtained. In the Veda, Indra is compared to a cow, its teats have to be squeezed to release the Indra-power.

Our work is made up of the contributions made by a variety of forces. It is Mitra, the Lord of Love, who coordinates all these powers in us by his Power of Love. Both the goddess Sarasvatī and the god Mitra symbolize the accuracy of the intuitive mind, the conscious hand and the discerning eye of perfect work. The action of Mitra is possible because of the energy of the all-powerful king Varuṇa. Varuṇa never tolerates narrowness in our thinking or actions. Hence, these two deities work together and their names Mitra and Varuṇa almost always appear together.

Work and Enjoyment

Speaking of the fruit of action, the Veda tells us that every action done consciously as an offering to the god Indra automatically results in the release of delight or joy, called soma. The work not only gives its intended result but also soma, or joy. The Ṛg Veda regards Indra as a cow, who can be milked and it is only our effort, which results in the milk of soma. If we offer the soma back to the gods, then the Indra-power increases in us to render our work more and more perfect. Consequently more soma or joy is released. This is the true relation between work and enjoyment.

Soma is the deity of joy in work and it is to be noted that this joy can be released by work. Receiving joy from work is analogous in the rituals to pressing or crushing the soma creeper, releasing the juice and offering it to the gods.

This soma obtained from the work is offered to all the gods or cosmic forces who are the real performers of our work. Among them Indra, the fashioner of thoughts, is regarded as accepting profusely or drinking copiously the soma. In the Vedas and Upaniṣads delight is the foundation of existence. The Ṛg Veda (9.97.41) declares that it is soma who causes the Sun to shine. Interestingly enough, soma in Sanskrit means moon. Moon and delight go hand in hand in Sanskrit poetry. Thus the name soma also indicates the function of the deity.

How do We Invoke Agni?

Where does Agni reside in our being? How does one begin the journey? Agni is the beginning and the end. Agni is the Divine Will. He is the will in the mind and he gives the necessary aspiration for the upward journey. He is also the will in the prāṇa, the dynamic life-energy. He devours, enjoys and purifies the nervous being. The proverbial psychological foes such as greed, delusion and jealousy are transformed into the corresponding divine powers of sharing, clarity and taking joy in others’ achievements, respectively. He transforms our reactions like anger in an encounter, into helping aids.

‘Agni, the cosmic power who leads us on the journey, creates the light of intuition in us’, (ketum kriṇoti (RV, 5.7.4), ketum prathamam (RV, 5.11.2)). ‘Agni tears down the desert of our dwelling’ (RV, 5.7.7), (that is, he breaks down all the wrong ideas about the world as an unhappy place or a place without aim) ‘and builds a happy home for man’ (astatātim (RV, 5.7.6)). He shows us the path to the plenitude (vājāya panthām (RV, 5.10.1)), or the path of right (ṛtasya panthām). He makes us climb to greatness, (asuryam aruhat (RV, 5.10.2)). Agni helps in our journey to the desirable goal (vāryam yāti (RV, 5.6.3)), leads us to the perfect world (RV, 5.6.8). The aspirant is described as the achiever of work (dasma) in many verses. The force of Agni incessantly drives the aspirants in their impulse (RV, 5.6.6). Agni awakens the glory in us, sukīrtir bodhati tmanā (RV, 5.10.4). Agni helps us by putting on the veil of humanity (RV, 5.21.2).

Progress is possible only because of the absence of duality in the human seeker, na dvayena (RV, 5.12.2) as he identifies himself with the cosmic powers. Any task undertaken by a human being is really an act of collaboration between him and the gods; it is known as a sacrifice or yajña which marches forward, yajña ānuṣak adya (RV, 5.26.8). The main associates of Indra are the Maruts. They act on our animal consciousness made up of the impulses of nervous mentality and transform them into brilliant Rays of the Sun. The Aśvins are the Lords of Bliss and healing. Their name ‘Nāsatya’ is derived from the root ‘nas’, to move. They offer their guidance and help in the journey. And finally there is the collective of all the Cosmic Powers, gods and goddesses, Viśve devāḥ who help us in many ways.

Symbolism in the Ṛg Veda

If we read an English translation of the Ṛg Veda such as the one by Griffith, we see that, by and large, it consists either of pedestrian sentences such as, ‘O Indra, drink the soma and kill vṛtra’ or enigmatic sentences such as, ‘The sages smashed the hill by their sound’ (RV, 1.71.2); ‘They smashed the hill using the cows’ (RV, 1.7.3). In this translation many epithets associated with Agni, the fire, make no sense at all. There are only a small number of verses which appear to be full of wisdom. Often, there is no consistency between the various phrases within a single verse, let alone the entire hymn. It is claimed that the translation itself is faithful to the text but that the tradition of assigning wisdom to the Ṛg Veda and its poets is futile. This has been even the view of many Indian academics for more than a century.

The Ṛg Veda is poetry of a high order. It is sheer poverty of understanding to read poetry ignoring its symbolism. The Veda itself says that there is a secret in the Ṛg Veda.^2,3,4 That secret is hidden behind the symbolism. A symbol attempts to describe an experience beyond the realm of the senses. Symbols can be either auditory or visual. For people who have the gift, hearing a word can create an impression in the inner being, which conveys the full power of the symbol.

There are four classes of symbols in the Ṛg Veda. The first comprises of the devās, like Agni and Indra, and the devīs like Sarasvatī, Saramā and Mahī. They represent distinct types of divine powers with their associated functions. In the second category are Vṛtra, Vala and Śuṣṇa, the powers of falsehood. The third category of symbols consists of common nouns like go (cow); aśva (horse); adri (hill); āpaḥ (waters); nadīḥ (rivers); and vṛka (wolf). The fourth and the last is the category of the names associated with sages and poets, like Kaṇva and Kutsa.

Each member of these four categories represents a distinct psychological power which can be a help or a hindrance. The unravelling of the symbolism behind each word was attempted by Sri Aurobindo and Sri Kapali Sastry using their experience and intuition. But we do not have to merely believe what they say. We can set up concrete objective tests to determine whether the symbolic meanings suggested by them are correct or not. For instance, take the word go which ordinarily means cattle. Go and its synonyms like usrā occur in more than one thousand verses. Of course, many of these verses may involve other members of the four categories like adri (hill). As symbol, go stands for knowledge; each individual type of go standing for a specific type of knowledge. Adri is the symbol for the force of ignorance and the state of inconscience, that is, an almost complete absence of consciousness. Now we can substitute the symbolic meanings for the physical meanings and see whether the various verses make sense. For the verses involving go, all the verses make excellent sense except those where go is used as a simile in which case it is an animal. If we follow this substitution systematically all the phrases which appear enigmatic or senseless become meaningful. Interpreting the meaning of the key Sanskrit words such as go, aśva, adri, based on all their occurrences in the Ṛg Veda, has been done by Kashyap (2006).

The phrase ‘they smashed the adri with the go’ does not mean that they smashed the hill with their cattle, but that the forces of ignorance were overcome by the forces of knowledge. The phrase ‘they smashed the hill with their sound’ means that the forces of ignorance were destroyed by the power of the mantra, the potent word.

We give in Tables 3.1A and 3.1B the symbolic meanings of some of the members of the four categories. An extensive discussion on symbolism can be found in M. P. Pandit (1967).

The recovery of the symbolic meanings of individual words is only the first step. The recovery of the deeper meaning of the verses needs much more work. Once this is done, the consistency of the meaning of all the phrases in a verse, and the consistency of all the verses in a hymn is assured. The wisdom of Ṛg Veda comes upfront.

Even in classical Sanskrit, the maxims of wisdom (subhāṣita) are expressed symbolically. We mention one such popular maxim which occurs both in the Ṛg Veda (7.104.22) and the Atharva Veda saṃhitā (8.4.22). It deals with the six well-known psychological foes, namely, ‘delusion, anger, jealousy, lust, arrogance and greed’, symbolized by ‘owl, wolf, dog, cakravāka bird, eagle and vulture’, respectively. Ṛg Veda (7.104.22) calls upon these six to be killed, but translators of the Atharva Veda such as Whitney think these animals/birds represent sorcerers!

Santillana and Von Dechend (1992) discuss the importance of symbolism in preserving wisdom revealed to an early generation for a later generation, which may be far removed from the earlier one, while the intermediate generations for thousand or more years may not have appreciated this wisdom.

Agni	Fire; It is the cosmic power of heat and light and the will-power united with wisdom. Human will-power is a feeble projection of this power. It can be strengthened by the Ṛg Veda chants to Agni.
Indra	Indra is the Lord of the Divine Mind and Action. In the Indian tradition, mind is not a source of knowledge, it manipulates the knowledge to aid action. Indra battles the evil forces on behalf of the human.
Vāyu	Wind; Vāyu is the Lord of all the Life-energies, prāṇa, which represent the passions, feelings, emotions and abilities.
Aśvins	The Lords of Bliss and the Divine Physicians who render the human body free of disease so that it can accept the divine prāṇa, the life-energy.
Mitra	The Lord of Love and Harmony.
Varuṇa	The Master of Infinities who cannot tolerate restrictive thinking or actions. Only he can cut the three bonds which restrict the three aspects of every human being—physical, vital and mental.
Sarasvatī	The goddess of inspiration.
Ilā	The goddess of revelation.
Saramā	The goddess of intuition.
Sūrya	The Supreme Deity of Light and Force.

Table 3.1A: Symbolism of some proper nouns or names.

 

go	Cow; each type of cow stands for a particular type of Light or Knowledge.
aśva	Horse; stands for the vital energy or life-energy which the devās can bestow.
adri	Hill; the force or beings of inconscience and ignorance.
āpaḥ	Water; the divine energies flowing from the heights purifying all mankind.
nadī	River; the flowing current of energies.

Table 3.1B: Symbolism of some common nouns.

Conclusion

The Ṛg Veda is the earliest book which deals with the topics of work, enjoyment and progress from a ‘cosmo-psychological’ angle. What we have presented here is based on the insights of Sri Aurobindo and Sri Kapali Sastry. The recognition of psychological powers behind deities like Agni and Varuṇa is credited to Sri Aurobindo. The idea of invoking the spirit all the time, as part of a spiritual attitude towards life is mentioned in the Upaniṣad, and by medieval saints such as Sri Madhvacharya⁵, and others. Sri Aurobindo's great contribution is to show us that by invoking the great mantras of the Vedas we can still develop the powers of intuition, inspiration, will within us.

We conclude this overview with a quote from the last part of the chapter, ‘The Doctrine of the Mystics’ in Sri Aurobindo's Hymns to the Mystic Fire (1971, pp. 34–35).

Our life is a horse that neighing and galloping bears us onward and upward; its forces are swift-hooved steeds, the liberated powers of the mind are wide-winging birds; this mental being or this soul is the upsoaring Swan or the Falcon that breaks out from a hundred iron walls and wrests from the jealous guardians of felicity the wine of the Soma. Every shining godward Thought that arises from the secret abysses of the heart is a priest and a creator and chants a divine hymn of luminous realisation and puissant fulfilment. We seek for the shining gold of the Truth; we lust after a heavenly treasure…. So understood the Rig Veda…becomes the high-aspiring Song of Humanity; its chants are episodes of the lyrical epic of the soul in its immortal ascension.

References

Aurobindo, Sri (1914/1998). The secret of the Veda. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department.

Aurobindo, Sri (1971). Hymns to the mystic fire. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department.

Griffith, R. T. H. (1898/1973). Hymns of the Rig Veda. New Delhi: MLBD.

Kashyap, R. L. (2006). Semantics of Rig Veda. Bangalore: SAKSI.

Pandit, M. P. (1967). Vedic symbolism. Pondicherry: Deepti Publications.

Purani, A. B. (1963). Studies in Vedic interpretation. Varanasi: Chowkambha Sanskrit Series.

Santillana, G. de, & Dechend, H. V. (1992). Hamlet's mill. Boston: David R. Godine.

Sastry, T. V. K. (2001). Unveiling the light in the Veda. Compiled by R. L. Kashyap from The Collected Works of Sri T. V. Kapali Sastry. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications.

The Mother (1978/1999). On education. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publication Department.