Rig Veda 5.48
Rigveda 5.48 is considered an enigmatic and deeply mysterious hymn.
Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton in their translation (page 1581) stated about this Hymn or Suktam, as follows:
“Another enigmatic hymn, made more baffling (as in a number of All God hymns in Maṇḍala V) by the lack of named referents for the descriptive phrases. There is certainly no consensus among scholars about these referents or about the purpose and structure of the hymn; indeed, a number of scholars consider this a “fragment.”
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My understanding of this Hymn is as follows:
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Ṛṣi (seer): Pratibhānu Ātreya
This Hymn or Suktam contains 5 Riks or verses.
I have reproduced the original Rik and provided English translation thereto of Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton.
Thereafter, I have provided my interpretation.
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Rig Veda 5.48.1
कदु प्रियाय धाम्ने मनामहे स्वक्षत्राय स्वयशसे महे वयम् । आमेन्यस्य रजसो यदभ्र आँ अपो वृणाना वितनोति मायिनी ॥
kad u priyāya dhāmne manāmahe svakṣatrāya svayaśase
mahe vayam | āmenyasya rajaso yad abhra ām̐ apo vṛṇānā vitanoti māyinī ||
English translation:
What shall we compose for the self-ruling, self-glorious great one [=Agni?] for his own dear establishment, when the mistress of artifice [=Dawn?], choosing the waters in the dark cloud of the variegated dusky realm, stretches them forth.
My interpretation
The rishi was questioning as to the method of prayer or meditation to be followed to gain help from the Female divinity, who is the possessor of formative/creative magic (māyinī) and who has spread in his realm and extended to the higher realm (Heaven.
This Rik can be re-arranged as follows:
apo vṛṇānā vitanoti māyinī : "And possessing creative energy, gathers the waters and spreads them across the skies."
svakṣatrāya svayaśase mahe vayam: "We, to that great Power which is sovereign in its native strength and glorious in itself,"
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We have to remember that the feminine divinity should be situated in the mid-space and that she can spread upto Heaven and she has the power to create delusions/illusions and also the power to pull out ONE from delusions – māyinī.
Rig Veda says Saraswatī rules the mid-space.
And, Rig Veda 6.61.3 says Sarasvatī killed Bṛsaya, the universal deluder - सरस्वति नि बर्हय विश्वस्य मायिनः बृसयः –
When Saraswatī can kill a universal deluder like Bṛsaya, she must be much more powerful in creating and executing delusions. If understood in another way, both the capacities to create delusions/illusions and also the power to pull out ONE from delusions (the supreme wisdom (Vidyā) to dissolve it), are part of Saraswatī.
And, Rig Veda 2.1 says Saraswatī is an epithet of the formless ENERGY OR BRAHMAN.
Thus, my idea is that this Rik is referring to Saraswatī, as māyinī.
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We should also remember that Indra and Varuṇa, other epithets for BRAHMAN as is Saraswati, were also described as "Māyāvī " in Rig Veda 6.47.18 & Rig Veda 9.73.9, indicating that the power to create delusions/illusions and also the power to pull out ONE from delusions of BRAHMAN is more powerful than that of negative forces like Bṛsaya or Vṛtrá.
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Rig Veda 5.48.2
ता अत्नत वयुनं वीरवक्षणं समान्या वृतया विश्वमा रजः । अपो अपाचीरपरा अपेजते प्र पूर्वाभिस्तिरते देवयुर्जनः ॥
tā atnata vayunaṃ vīravakṣaṇaṃ samānyā vṛtayā viśvam ā rajaḥ | apo apācīr aparā apejate pra
pūrvābhis tirate devayur janaḥ ||
English translation:
They [=Dawns] have spread their hero-strengthening tracery along the same course through the whole dusky realm. A man devoted to the gods drives away the backward-facing (dawns) ever behind (him), and lengthens (his life) with those in front.
My interpretation
The 2nd line in this Rik - apācīr aparā apa ījate pra pūrvābhis tirate devayuḥ janaḥ - The devout seeker leaves behind the retrogressing, lower currents, and steps forward into the primary, ascending lights to reach the Divine” – can be co-related with 1st line in the Rik Rig Veda 1.164.17 - avaḥ pareṇa para enāvareṇa padā vatsaṃ bibhratī gaur ud asthāt - "The Mother Cow, holding the calf with her lower foot below and her higher foot above, has risen upward (pushed the calf upwards)."
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The calf (the seeker/human mind) cannot lift itself out of the clutches of ignorance (Bṛsaya or Vṛtrá) on its own, as it is trapped in its own creation of delutions as 1.164.17 explicitly notes.
To break free, the supreme Māyinī / Sarasvatī must activate her dual capacity. By applying her upper grip, she intercepts the seeker’s consciousness. She literally yanks the seeker's perception upward (ud asthāt). This explains how the devayuḥ janaḥ (god-seeking person) manages to "leave behind" the dense, deceptive currents of the animalistic tendencies. They are not merely walking away; they are being dynamically re-oriented and drawn upward by the cosmic mother's vertical pull.
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Rig Veda 5.48.3
आ ग्रावभिरहन्येभिरक्तुभिर्वरिष्ठं वज्रमा जिघर्ति मायिनि । शतं वा यस्य प्रचरन्त्स्वे दमे संवर्तयन्तो वि च वर्तयन्नहा ॥
ā grāvabhir ahanyebhir aktubhir variṣṭhaṃ vajram ā jigharti māyini | śataṃ vā
yasya pracaran sve dame saṃvartayanto vi ca vartayann ahā ||
English translation:
Along with the pressing stones, through (the periods) of the day and through the nights, he [=Agni?] sprinkles [=prepares] the best mace, when the master of artifice [=Indra?] (is there)—while into his own [=Agni’s] house (the Dawns?) proceed by the hundred: rolling up the days, they unroll them (again).
My interpretation
a) Both Saraswatī and Indra rules the mid-space or Antariksha in the spiritual realm. And, Saraswatī and Indra are the epithets of the same formless ENERGY/BRAHMAN.
Hence, the wielder of Vajra in this Rik (vajram ā jigharti) on māyini –the deceptive or cunning one (Bṛsaya or Vṛtrá) is Saraswatī/Indra.
b) The Weaver of Time (Sāṃvartayanto vi ca vartayan): The second line describes the forces in the divine home are rolling up (dissolving) and unrolling (manifesting) the days.
This is exactly how Saraswatī/Indra works as the cosmic architect.
He/She "rolls out" the day (creation/manifestation) and "folds back" the night (dissolution/Pralaya). It happens effortlessly within his/her "own home" (sve dame), meaning within the framework of Absolute Consciousness.
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Rig Veda 5.48.4
तामस्य रीतिं परशोरिव प्रत्यनीकमख्यं भुजे अस्य वर्पसः । सचा यदि पितुमन्तमिव क्षयं रत्नं दधाति भरहूतये विशे ॥
tām asya rītim paraśor iva praty anīkam akhyam bhuje asya varpasaḥ |
sacā yadi pitumantam iva kṣayaṃ ratnaṃ dadhāti bharahūtaye viśe ||
English translation:
I have looked upon this stream(ing) of his [=Agni], like (the swing) of an axe; I have looked upon his face, for the enjoyment of his form, when concurrently he establishes a treasure like a dwelling place abounding in food for the clan whose cry is “carry (the day).”
My interpretation
a) I look straight at his sweeping advance, sharp as an axe’s edge; I gaze upon his front to enjoy the fullness of his manifest form (varpasah).
b) In my opinion, this Rik, which uses paraśu, can be co-related with Rig Veda 9.67.30, which says alāyyasya paraśur nanāśa.
c) In traditional explanation, Alāyya is often brushed off as a proper name of a person or a generic foe. However, esoterically, the root points to that which does not dissolve, that which binds, or a rigid structure. The paraśu (axe) of Alāyya represents a sharp, cutting, discriminating power (Viveka) that is wielded at a certain stage of consciousness to hack away dense, binding illusions (like the ignorance of Bṛsaya).
D) An axe is a tool of division, cutting, and separation. In the initial stages of Sadhana, the sharp axe of intellect and discrimination is absolutely vital to separate the Real from the Unreal (Sat from Asat), and the higher currents from the lower currents. However, when the seeker enters the absolute, non-dual ocean of Soma/Brahman, all dualities must melt.
e) If the 2nd line in above Rik - sacā yadi pitumantam iva kṣayaṃ ratnaṃ dadhāti bharahūtaye viśe- is rearranged as - yadi sacā iva viśe kṣayaṃ bharahūtaye dadhāti pitumantam ratnaṃ, it gives the meaning - If its (BRAHMAN) dwelling place is with us (IF the seekers got merged into BRAHMAN), Upon invocation, it (BRAHMAN) grants people with abounding nourishment of BLISS (JEWEL - ratnaṃ).
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Rig Veda 5.48.5
स जिह्वया चतुरनीक ऋञ्जते चारु वसानो वरुणो यतन्नरिम् । न तस्य विद्म पुरुषत्वता वयं यतो भगः सविता दाति वार्यम् ॥
sa jihvayā caturanīka ṛñjate cāru vasāno varuṇo yatann arim | na tasya vidma
puruṣatvatā vayaṃ yato bhagaḥ savitā dāti vāryam ||
English translation:
The four-faced one stretches with his tongue out straight, wearing pleasing (garb), putting the stranger in place (as) Varuna (does). We do not know, because of our human state, that (source?) from which Bhaga and Savitar will give what is choice.
My interpretation
a) "He, the four-fronted one (catuḥ-anīkaḥ), sets himself in motion with his tongue—Varuṇa, beautifully robed, keeping the divider/adversary (arim) in check. By our human status (puruṣatvátā), we do not comprehend his vast infinity; yet from that very source, the distributive power (Bhaga) and the cosmic impeller (Savitṛ) bestow the choices of treasure."
b) The Unknowable or BRAHMAN is Beyond Human Mind (na tasya vidma puruṣatvátā)
c) Rig Veda 2.1.3 says Agni is BRAHMAN, as also INDRA, Varuna, Rudra, etc. And, Rig Veda 1.31.13 says AGNI has 4 eyes. In this Rik, Varuṇa is stated to be having 4 faces, indicating the ability to see all directions.
d) The verse ends by showing that Savitṛ (Illumination) and Bhaga (Adiya) bestow spiritual riches to the seekers, operating from Varuṇa/Brahman (yato bhagaḥ savitā dāti vāryam).
