Unlocking the TRUE Timeless Wisdom of Rig Veda 8.7 (Part 1 of 4)

The image above depicts the Maruts, the wind or storm gods allegedly discussed and addressed in numerous hymns found in the Rig Veda, the oldest and most sacred text in Hinduism's scriptural canon. Curious about these deific forces, I decided to investigate what the Rig Veda actually imparts about the Maruts. For reasons I can't explain, I was guided to Rv 8.7, a Sukta referencing the Maruts multiple times -- or so H. H. Wilson and Ralph T. H. Griffith would have us believe. According to both of these long-dead Oxford-based Sanskrit scholars, the name "Maruts" occurs in the Sukta's very first line. Griffith, in fact, devotes the whole Rik to these presumed storm-deities.

Wilson's translation of 8.7.1 reads: 

When the pious worshipper offers you, Maruts, food at the three diurnal rites, then you have sovereignty over the mountains.

Griffith's translation of the same line reads:

O MARUTS, when the sage hath poured the Trstup forth as food for you, Ye shine amid the mountain-clouds.

No idea what a Trstup is supposed to be, but no matter, because both these translations are miles away from what this Sukta's opening verse actually communicates. This line -- and the whole of Rv 8.7 -- is, in actuality, a spiritual teaching of incredible importance. It is not, as widely believed, a hymn or a prayer, nor does it resemble the nonsensical nursery-rhyme Wilson, Griffith, and so many others have made it out to be.

Hear this now, my dreaming brother: When right-mindedly translated, Rv 8.7 imparts mystical wisdom that is as relevant today as when these Great Truths were first revealed to the Hindu rishis of old. And, perhaps not so astonishingly, that wisdom echoes the teachings of the Bible, the Course, and other sacred texts -- to an uncanny degree in many instances.

Owing to the Great Deceiver's chicanery, that wisdom has been lost to humankind for centuries, if not millennia. So, let's waste no more time in learning what Great and Timeless Truths the Rig Veda longs to reveal to sincere spiritual-seekers. And yes, I did indeed translate all thirty-six verses of this Sukta -- a laborious undertaking that turned out to be a tremendous teaching-learning opportunity.

I didn't just translate all thirty-six verses, you see. I also endeavored to understand and explain their meaning, using the Course as a frame of reference. As the commentary expanded, so did the post -- until it grew into an unruly behemoth. To make it more manageable (for me and you), I divided the unwieldy tome into "chapters" or "parts." For each verse translated, I included 1) the original wording in transliterated Sanskrit, 2) H. H. Wilson's original pre-Raj-era English interpretation, 3) a worksheet specifying how I divided and defined each word, and 4) my detailed explanations peppered with illustrative imagery.

So, without further ado, let's begin at the beginning, with Rv 8.7.1, which reads as follows in transliterated Sanskrit: prayat vas triṣṭubham iṣam maruto vipro akṣarat vi parvateṣu rājatha.

Wilson's translation (repeated for the sake of comparison and consistency), formatted as a prayer addressed to the Maruts:

When the pious worshipper offers you, Maruts, food at the three diurnal rites, then you have sovereignty over the mountains.

My translation, formatted as a teaching addressed to the reader:

Devote yourself to elevating the holiness-preserving Star of the Supreme Spirit's first Red Ray of Creation singing to extend the imperishable Holy Name pervading the Temple of Anointing ruled by the Moon.

My blow-by-blow definitions worksheet:

prayat (devote yourself to) vah (elevating) trstu-bham (the Tratsu or holiness-preserving star of) iṣam (the Supreme Spirit's) ma-ruto (first Red Ray of Creation) vipro (singing to extend) akṣarat (the imperishable Holy Name, Word, or Syllable) vi (pervading) parvat-eṣu (the Temple of Anointing) rāja-tha (ruled by the Moon)

My notes:

On first pass, my translation may seem as nonsensical as Wilson's; but be assured that's far from the case. Not only does it make perfect sense, it also dovetails with the teachings of the Bible and the Course.

Let's start with my definition of tristubham, which does NOT mean "three diurnal rites," as Wilson suggests. Neither does the word refer in any way to "Vedic meter," as is more commonly presumed. As explained in a previous post, the metered structure of some Vedic hymns was almost certainly imposed to aid memorization and recitation during the multi-generational period of oral transference (before the Vedic teachings were written down). Mention of that meter would NOT, therefore, logically occur in the Suktas themselves. In much the same way, this erroneous definition of tristubh has been indelibly attached to the Gayatra Mantra, which we'll discuss later in this series.

The word rendered herein as tristubham is most likely a compound of the proper name Trstu (Tratsu or Trasu, actually, rather than Tristu) and the word bham, which can mean "light," "star," or "ray." According to the Vedic Index, the name Tratsu occurs multiple times in the Rig Veda, once in singular form, and several more times as a plural.

Literal-minded historians presume Tratsu is the name of a tribe of the Aryan race, which ruled in ancient times alongside another powerful clan called the Bharatas -- a word meaning (tellingly) "seekers of ultimate truth." According to the allegorical Vedic accounts, the Bharatas, guided by Visva-Mitra (the spirit of one's own Self, serving as "friend"), prospered and advanced to Vipas (inspiration) and Sutudri (holy vision). The Tratsus, meanwhile, helped the Sudas (the holy givers) in the great battle against the ten kings (the top ten charka-blocking ego demons, presumably).

In most scriptural allegories, the names reveal what the characters symbolize. And Tratsu is almost certainly a marriage of "tr" (to save or deliver) and "astu" (Amen or "let it be as God wills"). Tratsu is, I'm fairly certain, also the "great charioteer" called Trasu in the Puranas. Trasu translates as "preserver of holiness," which perfectly describes the function of the first Red Ray of Creation, which still abides in all living creatures as a "star" or "spark."

Speaking of which ... let's shift our focus to the word maruto, which is no more a deific name than is "Agni." In no way, shape, or form does "maruto" translate as either "Maruts" or "wind." The word is actually pretty interesting, scripturally speaking. When divided as "ma" and "ruto," for example (which works best here), the word translates as "Creation's first Red Ray." But, when divided as "maru" and "(u)to," the meaning shifts significantly to "wilderness" or "desert" in the sense of a penance (maru) and "wellspring," "fountain," or "grass" (uto/a). I inserted an extra "u" because "to" doesn't appear to be a proper Sanskrit word or suffix. In the end, I opted for the former definition. But the latter definitely has merit, given that "desert," "wilderness," "wellspring," and "grass" are scriptural terms used pretty universally. And that concordance is too striking to dismiss as inconsequential.

But wait ... because the Puranic legends supposedly identify "Marut" as 1) a wind god; 2) an epithet for Vayu, another supposed wind-god; and 3) the spiritual father of Hanumat or Hanuman, the monkey-faced disciple of Rama. Hanumat, as it happens, is also called "Maruti," which allegedly translates as "son of Marut" (Marut + i). I can, however, find nothing to suggest that "i" signifies "son of" in Sanskrit. I may be mistaken, but I suspect the name "Maruti" may be a compound of "maru" and "ti," which would mean something akin to "desert-waterer." The word might also describe someone who has awakened to the Wholeness and/or Holiness they share with all of Creation. Hanuman is, in fact, a devoted disciple of Rama, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

That said, Hanuman is, in fact, the embodied "son" of Marut, if Marut is understood to be the first Red Ray of Creation (and not an elemental wind-god). Through his discipleship to Rama, Hanuman achieves liberation from earthly existence for more than himself. Thus, he isn't so much a chiranjivi (an immortal deity) as one who discovers the truth of his God-bestowed immortality through Rama, the Hindu personification of the inner holiness or sinlessness we possess eternally as the Son of God. Hanuman has, in other words, followed the advice of the rishis and "devoted himself to elevating the holiness-preserving Star of the Supreme Spirit's first Red Ray of Creation."

Images of Hanuman almost always show him with Lord Vishnu's Cudgel of Truth, so he definitely represents a spiritual seeker who can hear and heal through the Om/Aum.

Let's move on to the all-important Holy Name, which Course-Jesus characterizes as "the name we share with God." That Holy Name, he tells us, is 1) the great panacea for all the world's ills, 2) the prayer incorporating all other prayers within it, and 3) our Holy Inheritance from God. In the introduction to the Song of Prayer, an addendum to the Course, he further explains:

Prayer is the greatest gift with which God blessed His Son at his creation. It was then what it is to become; the single voice Creator and creation share; the song the Son sings to the Father, Who returns the thanks it offers Him unto the Son. Endless the harmony, and endless, too, the joyous concord of the Love They give forever to Each Other. And in this, creation is extended. God gives thanks to His extension in His Son. His Son gives thanks for his creation, in the song of his creating in his Father's Name. The Love They share is what all prayer will be throughout eternity, when time is done. For such it was before time seemed to be. (ACIM, S-1.in.1:1-8) 

The Holy Name of which Course-Jesus speaks is identified in Hinduism, Buddhism, and most schools of Yoga as "Om" or "Aum." Because the Course's initial target audience was disenchanted American Christians, Jesus avoids using "foreign" terms like "Om" or "Aum." Instead, he uses myriad westernized euphemisms to communicate the same idea, including the song of Heaven, the song of redemption, the forgotten melody, the ever-present echo, the song of Christ, the song of union and love, salvation's song, and the song of gratitude. He also expressly identifies the Name of God as "love," as well as "Jesus Christ" -- a symbolic form of Perfect Love humans can understand and emulate.

Understanding all this clarifies that Om/Aum is, in fact, God's Love vibrating inside the Temple of our Higher Minds. Om/Aum also is, therefore, the joyful, peace-restoring, infinite, and indivisible WHOLENESS of Creation pulsing underneath the ego-manifested universe. Rightly understood, that "Holy Heartbeat" is 1) God's Answer to the separation, 2) the Call to Return, 3) the Voice for God, 4) the Song of Heaven, and 5) the Holy Name all the dreaming sparks of the Red Ray still share with their Creator.

Or, to again quote Course-Jesus:

Our Father calls to us. We hear His Voice, and we forgive creation in the Name of its Creator, Holiness Itself, Whose Holiness His Own creation shares; Whose Holiness is still a part of us. (ACIM, W-pII.11.5:1-2)

Being the Voice for God and the Call to Return, Om/Aum also is the Holy Spirit of the Bible and the Course, as Jesus affirms below:

The Holy Spirit is the spirit of joy. He is the Call to return with which God blessed the minds of His separated Sons. This is the vocation of the mind. The mind had no calling until the separation, because before that it had only being, and would not have understood the Call to right thinking. The Holy Spirit is God’s Answer to the separation; the means by which the Atonement heals until the whole mind returns to creating. (ACIM, T-5.II.2:1-5) 

Bible-Jesus also meant "Om" -- the Holy Spirit of the Christ Self or Purusha -- when he said (in Matthew 18:20), "When two or three gather in my name, there am I with them."

The Vedic rishis express the same idea in this verse: By gathering together in the Holy Name of Om/Aum, the love vibration that IS "the Christ" -- the manifestation of God's All-Inclusive Perfect Love in the dream-universe -- our Souls amplify the Living Water of Grace that "washes away" the perceived separation.

If you're a student of the Course, the process I've just described is "miracle-working." If you're a student of the Vedas, this meditative practice of "singing together" is the Soma-offering or yajna performed through "Agni," the Lamb of God.

As explained in earlier posts, "Agni" is neither the proper name of a "god" nor the name of the Hindu god of fire. Rather, the Vedic Sanskrit term "Agni" is related to the Latin phrase Angus Dei, the Lamb of God -- a Biblical term referring to the Inner-Instrument, Menorah, or Chariot transporting the Soul within the Temple of the Holy Spirit (of the Christ Self). And that is why, the New Testament Book of Revelations describes the Lamb as having seven horns and seven eyes. Rightly interpreted, the seven horns represent the seven branches of the Menorah, while the eyes symbolize the seven "spirits" of the Lord of the Temple.

 

The Lamb of God, as described by John the Elder. As shown here, the Lamb's SYMBOLIC heart-blood fills the Chalice of the Atonement. That heart-blood, Lifeblood of Christ, or Love of God is the eternal "mode of being" God gifted to all His Creations. And by "drinking" that "elixir of immortality" or "Amrita" (in the Hindu lore) we eventually remember our God-given True State of Being.

The Temple of Anointing mentioned in this Vedic verse is, of course, the same Temple discussed in the Bible (and in earlier posts on this blog). As explained in those posts, that Temple houses the Menorah or Lampstand through which the Holy Spirit/Holy Name restores the Wholeness or At-one-ment of the Body of Christ, Christ Self, Christ Mind, Purusha, or Son of God. All of these terms describe the limitless Greater Light underneath the forms the Ego Mind manifested to hide the Truth of our Being.

As the "stars," "sparks," "seeds," or broken fragments of that hidden Greater Light, our Souls still possess all the power of the Whole. They can, however, only exert that power by joining together as equals with a shared objective sanctioned by God. They must, in other words, will for themselves and each other ONLY what God wills for all His earth-bound Children. And what God wills is for the Sonship to choose Wholeness again of its own free will. We exercise that choice by coming together in the Name of Christ -- the vibratory Song of Love eternally holding Creation together.

This brings us to the Temple-ruling "tha" or "moon" referenced in that verse. That Moon is the Greater Light shining in the dream as the Lesser Light. That Moon is the Holy Spirit and the Om/Aum -- the guiding force that restores us to spiritual sanity. That Moon referenced herein is, therefore, the one the Vedic rishis interchangeably identify as Soma (the Great I Am) and Chandra (the Comforter).

In Hinduism, Agni and Soma are often referred to as "the primordial consorts." The symbiotic relationship between these two forces, as well as what each represents, has, unfortunately, been distorted beyond recognition over the centuries (not unlike the Rig Veda itself). So let's sort it out, here and now, simply and efficiently.

Soma = the Holy Spirit and/or Comforter
Agni = the Holy Spirit's chariot or vahana

Soma = the Spirit rebuilding the Temple of the Body of Christ
Agni = the skeletal structure of that Temple or Body

Soma = the Great I Am
Agni = the Lamb of God

Soma = the Mind of the Atonement
Agni = the "body" or "instrument" through which that "mind" communicates and acts in the dream of separation

 

What we see here isn't Agni, the god of fire. It's Soma, mounted on Agni, the uriel symbolizing the Lamb of God by which we scale the peaks of Mt. Sumeru.

Let's return to our new and improved translation of Rv 8.7.1, now that we have a keener grasp on what it means. In this idea-packed opening salvo, the rishis are, in essence, extolling us to spend the majority of our time endeavoring to produce the Living Water the Holy Spirit needs to save the world, rather than busying ourselves with bodily activities that ultimately gain us nothing.

Okay, so ... I probably should end my commentary on this opening verse here, but I'm not going to because we haven't yet talked about the mysterious "lunar mansions" much discussed in Hindu, Jewish, and Islamic mysticism; in Persian, Chinese, and Vedic astrology; and in the Christian writings of St. Teresa of Avila. In Vedic astrology, these mansions are called Nakshatras -- a Sanskrit word meaning "Star Temple" or "Birth Temple."

And guess what? When divided differently, tr-istu-bham translates as "the lunar mansion of the will to be saved." And that may, in fact, be the intended definition.

 

St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

 

Guess what else? Those mysterious "mansions" are the same ones mentioned by Bible-Jesus in John 14:2-6.

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, "Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?" Jesus saith unto him: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

These teachings coincide with many things we've discussed thus far. The "lunar mansion of the desire to be saved" almost certainly refers to the first mansion WITHIN the Temple -- the mansion identified as the second or Svadhishthana Chakra in the popular seven-chakra model. In Hindu astrology, that second lunar mansion is called "Bharani Nakshatra." Bharani is typically defined as "one who bears," but the word more accurately breaks down as "the light-radiating guidance" or "the one who fills all things." 

Not insignificantly, this chakra-mansion is closely associated with Maa Sarasvati, the Hindu personification of the Voice of Higher Reason (a.k.a., the Buddhi) -- the thought-force that gradually shifts our perception of reality through the "miracles of grace" the Holy Spirit prepares us to give and receive. In my diagram of the Menorah (shown below), notice that the Muladhara or Root Chakra falls BELOW the first bisection of branches. This suggests that the first or lowest level of ego-consciousness exists outside the Temple's "ark" -- in the nowhere-nothingness of the "dark void" of spiritual denial. Thus, spiritual teachers who advise their students to "ground" themselves in the root chakra know not of what they speak.

 

In her book, The Interior Castle, Saint Teresa of Avila confirms that our consciousness does indeed drift in dark nothingness until we accept that earthly life has a spiritual purpose -- and also willingly and ardently devote ourselves to that purpose. Choosing "to be saved" is, therefore, the key that opens the door to the Star Temple's first mansion. By my calculations, that "mansion" is the Church of Smyrna mentioned in the following passage from Revelations 2:8-11:

And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive.

I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.

Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

This message makes perfect sense when we apprehend that this is, in effect, the Soul's "welcome to the Temple" greeting from the Great I Am or Amen. It also helps to know that the Greek word translated as "Jews" in the second paragraph was loudaios, which more accurately means "Judean" or "of Judea." As you might recall from my post on Restoring the Temple, "Judea" is Biblical "code" for the road back to Heaven. So, a Judean or loudaios is someone traveling that road.

In this section of Revelations, the Great Amen is telling the Souls entering the second mansion that s/he sees the falsehood of those who claim to offer salvation, but are, in fact, congregations of the Ego Mind. S/he is, in essence, warning those entering the Temple against putting their faith in "the ego's religion." What constitutes "the ego's religion"? Any person or organization attempting to formalize, standardize, and/or externalize the process of salvation.

Or, to quote Course-Jesus:  

The attempt to formalize religion is so obviously an ego attempt to reconcile the irreconcilable that it hardly requires elaboration here. Religion is experience; psychotherapy is experience. At the highest levels they become one. Neither is truth itself, but both can lead to truth. What can be necessary to find truth, which remains perfectly obvious, but to remove the seeming obstacles to true awareness? (ACIM, P-2.II.2:1-7) 

Let me explain it this way: In the Bharani Nakshatra, we are still almost completely external-reality oriented. Or, as St. Teresa puts it, we bring a lot of "lizards" into the Temple with us. Those "lizards," she explains, are the wrong-minded beliefs that continue to lead us astray. While these lizards still plague us, we can't hear the Om/Aum. The Holy Spirit must, therefore, inspire and teach us through sermons, spiritual books, scriptural studies, and the like. The goal is to hear God's Voice inside our minds, NOT to become dependent on, attached to, or worshipful of these stop-gap external delivery devices. We should, therefore, take care to perceive all such devices as the means to a greater end, rather than the ends themselves. When, in other words, we realize the Church of Christ is within us, we will no longer feel the need to seek external substitutes.

We will, that is to say, give up the world and "endeavor to dwell among the stars choosing to disappear into the I Am of the Christ Self."

In his message to the inhabitants of the Church of Smyrna, the Great Amen also says the road ahead will be paved with trials and tribulations, but if they have faith -- unto the death of the false ego "I-am-ness" -- they will be rewarded with the restored memory of our eternal Holy Self. 

And that's my not-so-subtle way of telling you that the Rig Veda, the Bible, the Course, and the inspired writings of St. Teresa all tell the same story -- once the egoic chaff is stripped off and the language of all four sacred texts is right-mindedly interpreted.

 

Many equate the Nakshatra or "Star Map" with the astrological Birth Chart, but these "lunar mansions" are probably more similar to the gyroscopic "wheels" seen and described by the Hebrew prophet Zechariah. As we go forward, keep in mind that "lunar" or "moon" is scriptural code for the Mind of the Atonement shining God's Light into the Temple of the Higher Mind.

 

We've unlocked a lot of timeless wisdom already -- and that's only the first verse! So, let's break here and continue next time with the next batch of verses. Until then, Om Shanti Om and God Bless.