The Secret of the Veda

The Secret of the Veda

Subhash Kak, Regents Professor of Computer Science Department at Oklahoma State

Here’s the translation people see on the Internet:

I laud Agni, the chosen Priest, God, minister of sacrifice,
The hotar, lavishest of wealth. (translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1896)

Agni is fire, but how can it be Priest, God, minister of sacrifice, and the rest that follows. And why is it important to have a priest or minister of sacrifice? What is the meaning of sacrifice? What is God, if we don’t see him anywhere? Why is Agni “God” and why is lauding him important or relevant? Why speak of things that cannot be tested?
It is a jumble of words that takes you nowhere. You stop and give up.

Deeper Meaning

To get to the deeper meaning, we must first understand who Agni is. To the uninitiated, Agni is the physical fire that one can see. But the deeper meaning of Agni is the light (or spark) within that lifts the veil on the lamp of consciousness; yet another meaning is Vāc or speech.

Agni and Vāc are two manifestations of the same deeper reality. This is expressed in the poetic expression that Vāc and Agni both reside in the waters and in trees. The waters of materiality hide the spark of Agni and the sounds of their waves; from trees comes fire as well as the wood for flutes and other musical instruments. There is also a deeper connection between the elements of tejas and vāyu that I have discussed elsewhere (see my book Matter and Mind).[Note 1]

Devam, translated by Griffith as “God” is from the root div which means light. (Many years ago, I showed in my book The Gods Within that the devas are the cognitive centers in the mind. [Note 2]) The word “God” is meaningless here excepting in its primary meaning of Light. The devas are the centers of agency that are the constituents of our mind.

So here is the deeper meaning of words and the translation is:

I venerate Agni, the priest [purohita] who is the light [devam] and invoker [ṛtvij] of the sacrifice, the one who chants [hotṛ] and bestows treasure.