Blissful Hearings and Seeings: Rig Veda 1.89.8: Translations

Refer to the last post titled "Blissful Hearings and Seeings: Rig Veda 1.89.8 & Taittiriya Aranyaka" where we provided an overview of RV 1.89.8. We noted how RL Kashyap's work translates RV 1.89.8:

Verse

भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवाः ।

भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः ।

स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्टुवांसस्तनूभिर्व्यशेम देवहितं यदायुः ॥

Transliteration

bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ |

bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhir yajatrāḥ |

sthirair aṅgais tuṣṭuvāṃsas tanūbhir vyaśema devahitaṃ yad āyuḥ ||

Translation

RL Kashyap's commentary on TA translates it thus:

"O Gods, may we hear (only) what is blissful;

may we behold with our eyes what is blissful.

Praising you with bodies having firm limbs,

may we enjoy the God-given span of life."

This post compares the view of HH Wilson with RL Kashyap. We'll discuss Sayana later. For now, let's deal with Wilson., whose translation of the verse reads as below:

"Let us hear, gods, with our ears, what is good; objects of sacrifice, let us see with our eyes what is good; let us, engaged in your praises, enjoy, with firm limb and (sound) bodies, the term of life granted by the gods."

Let us have see these two translations side by side:

Kashyap	Wilson
O Gods, may we hear (only) what is blissful; may we behold with our eyes what is blissful. Praising you with bodies having firm limbs, may we enjoy the God-given span of life	Let us hear, gods, with our ears, what is good; objects of sacrifice, let us see with our eyes what is good; let us, engaged in your praises, enjoy, with firm limb and (sound) bodies, the term of life granted by the god

A comparison of Kashyap and Wilson, thanks to ChatGPT, does not reveal a substantial difference in the English meaning of the verse, except for certain places. This table classifies the translation as identical (when both translations are the same), similar (when there is not much difference in the meaning in translation) and not similar (where there is a substantial difference):

Sanskrit	Wilson	R. L. Kashyap	Assessment
bhadram	what is good	what is blissful	Not similar. Kashyap’s stress is more on the spirituality aspect while Wilson’s attribution of meaning is more neutral: “good”.
karṇebhiḥ	with our ears	with our ears	Identical
śṛṇuyāma	let us hear	may we hear	Identical
devāḥ	gods	O Gods	Similar
bhadram	what is good	what is blissful	Not similar. Kashyap’s stress is more on the spirituality aspect while Wilson’s attribution of meaning is more neutral: “good”.
paśyema	let us see	may we behold	Not similar- “see” is more neutral unlike Kashyap's “behold”, which tilts towards a spiritual interpretation
akṣabhiḥ	with our eyes	with our eyes	Identical
yajatrāḥ	objects of sacrifice	worshipful ones	Not similar- “see” is more neutral unlike Kashyap's “behold”, which tilts towards a spiritual interpretation
sthiraiḥ aṅgaiḥ	with firm limbs	with bodies having firm limbs	Similar
tuṣṭuvāṃsaḥ	engaged in your praises	praising you	Identical
tanūbhiḥ	with bodies	with bodies	Identical
vyaśema	let us enjoy	may we enjoy	Similar
devahitam	granted by the gods	God-given	Similar
yad āyuḥ	the term of life	the span of life	Similar

As would be apparent, the translations differ substantially when it comes to construing the words, bhadram, paśyema, and yajatrāḥ. It is well known that Wilson focussed on Sāyaṇācārya (14th century commentator of the Vedas) while RL Kashyap followed Aurobindo's spiritual approach to the Vedas as opposed to the textual one. To illustrate, Kashyap dedicated the first volume of the commentary on Yajur Veda Samhita to Aurobindo. In the preface to his work, he explicitly stated: "My aim is to bring out the spiritual and psychological wisdom contained in the 1346 mantra-s of this  kāṇḍa. The main source for my work is the essays of Sri Aurobindo on the inner Yajña in the Veda and his translations of the Rig Veda mantra-s."

References:

HH Wilson, Rig Veda Sanhita, Vol. I (1850) (reprinted 1925) (link for 1.89.8)

RL Kashyap, Taittiriya Aranyaka: Krishna Yajur Veda - Text in Devanagari Translation and Notes Vol. I (2016)

Blissful Hearings and Seeings: Rig Veda 1.89.8 & Taittiriya Aranyaka

The phrase in the title of this post, “blissful hearings and seeings” is from the RL Kashyap’s work on the first Shanti mantra of Taittiriya Aranyaka (TA), which finds its place in the Vedic corpus in various places, including as Verse 1.89.8 of the Rig Veda. The verse was well-known during the Vedic times, as is now, in that it finds its place in the Taittiriya Aranyaka, Sama Veda, Vajasaneya Samhita, Aitreya Aranyaka, Prashna Upanaishad and the Mandukya Upanishad. This post provides a brief descriptive comment about the Mantra.

Verse

भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवाः ।

भद्रं पश्येमाक्षभिर्यजत्राः ।

स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्टुवांसस्तनूभिर्व्यशेम देवहितं यदायुः ॥

Transliteration

bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ śṛṇuyāma devāḥ |

bhadraṃ paśyemākṣabhir yajatrāḥ |

sthirair aṅgais tuṣṭuvāṃsas tanūbhir vyaśema devahitaṃ yad āyuḥ ||

Word by Word Meaning

The padaccheda of the verse along with its word by word meaning as is available is given below. We'll revisit this later.

भद्रम् (bhadram): blissful

कर्णेभिः (karṇebhiḥ): with our ears

शृणुयाम (śṛṇuyāma): may we hear

देवाः (devāḥ): Oh Gods

पश्येम (paśyema): May we see

अक्षभिः (akṣabhiḥ): with our eyes

यजत्राः (yajatrāḥ): O worshipful ones; O worthy of sacrifice

स्थिरैः (sthiraiḥ): firm

अङ्गैः (aṅgaiḥ): limbs

तुष्टुवांसः (tuṣṭuvāṃsaḥ): praising you

तनूभिः (tanūbhiḥ): with bodies

व्यशेम (vyaśema): may we live out; may we pass through

देवहितम् (devahitam): God given; ordained by the gods;

यत् (yat): which

आयुः (āyuḥ): life span

Translation

RL Kashyap's commentary on TA translates it thus:

"O Gods, may we hear (only) what is blissful;

may we behold with our eyes what is blissful.

Praising you with bodies having firm limbs,

may we enjoy the God-given span of life."

Some Questions

The Mantra appears as a Shanti mantra in both Taittiriya Aranyaka and Aitariya Aranyaka. Why, of all mantras in the Rig Veda, has this mantra been placed as the Shanti mantra in TA? The broader project of the Vedas as not merely information source but as normative content is perhaps reflected in this Mantra and its placement in TA. It connects body, and its organs, mind, teachers, gods and the cosmos.

The mantra seems to prioritise hearing over seeing. The first stanza of the mantra is a prayer to the Gods that “may we hear (only) what is blissful”. The second stanza continues with the prayer that “may we behold with our eyes what is blissful”. This structuring may not have been accidental. The mantra does not state about what is seen first. The prioritisation to hearing seems to accord with the idea that the Veda is Shruti (what is heard).

There are various questions concerning RV 1.89.8 vis-à-vis TA that require answering. For instance:

• Why was this mantra chosen as the first Shanti Mantra of Tattiriya Aranyaka than another one?
• Why was this prioritised over the the second Shanti Mantra that actually appears a few verses earlier as RV 1.89.6?

More on this in another post.

Some References:

Rohini Bakshi, bhadram karṇebhiḥ RV 1.89.8 & svasti na indro RV 1.89.6 transliterated (27.02.2017)

RL Kashyap, Taittiriya Aranyaka: Krishna Yajur Veda - Text in Devanagari Translation and Notes Vol. I (2016)

When were the Brahmasutras Written?

This post summarises the state of current knowledge on the dating of the Brahmasutras. They are based on Nakamura (1983) and Uskokov (2022).

 These and other works point out the following conclusions:

• Brahmasutras were written between 200 to 450 CE
• Brahmasutras as they exist today were not written by a single person. The latter parts were added somewhere between 400 to 450 CE.

Our understanding of Brahamasutras has been augmented in the recent past by a scholar of immense repute- Nakamura. Nakamura's works cited here have been written originally in Japanese and translated into English. Chapter X of Nakamura’s work, History Of EarlyVedanta Philosophy: Part One (1983) discusses this. Some interesting conclusions are worth noting here. Brahmasutras was composed by the Vedanta school of philosophy, particularly the school that “revered” Chandogya Upanishad:

• Extensive interpretations and explanations from Chandogya Upanishads (p. 430).
• Even Shankara’s commentary quotes Chandogya Upanishads often (p. 431).
• But Brahmasutras pick from other Upanishads such as the Taittriya Upanishad (p. 431).
• Originally, the Brahmasutras were intended to “synthesize, harmonize and unify the thought” of all the Upanishads but remains true to the Chandogya Upanishad. (p. 431).
• Later additions in Brahmasutra reflected other Upanishadic theories.

On the dating, Nakamura argued that the later portions of the Brahmasutra which attack the Buddhist theory of consciousness must have been additions after 400 CE. The Brahmasutra, according to him, would have passed through 3 stages:

• Stage 1: Composed in schools of Sama Veda whose attention centred on the Chandogya Upanishads.
• Stage 2: Upanishadic theories were addressed and the Brahmasutras were enlarged.
• Stage 3: Additions of the logical refutation of other schools made and the Sutras were unified.

Nakamura cautiond that “we cannot absolutely conclude” of this stagewise evolution (p. 433), though. Also, Nakamura states that the Brahmasutras could have been regarded as a secret work, given that it was not addressed in the Buddhist canon.

Based on the dates of Vasubandhu (320 to 400 CE) and Nagarjuna (who lived earlier), Nakamura pegged the earliest possible date of the present compilation of the Brahmasutras to 400 CE. The latest possible date is 400 to 450 CE, given that there were several commentaries of the Brahmasutras, according to him (p. 436). Nakamura clarified that given that the Brahmasutras went through the three stage evolution, the earlier versions would have been written much earlier, prior to even the Christian era.

Uskokov in the work titled "The Philosophy of the Brahma-Sutra" (2022) seems to agree with Nakamura’s dating. He concludes: “Be that as  it may, the Brahma-sūtra could not have been finalized much later than the fifth century because we know for a fact that several prominent Vedāntins wrote commentaries on it before the eighth century Śaṅkara”  (p. 6) Uskokov also pegged Shankara’s commentary on the Brahmasutras at 750 CE (p. xiv).

So, to conclude, the current state of knowledge dates the Brahmasutras as they exist now, to the 5th century CE, specifically, between 400 to 450 CE.

Slokam 14: Vishnu Sahasranamam: Aeshame

Slokam 14:

Transliteration

eṣa me sarva dharmāṇāṃ dharmo 'dhikatamo mataḥ |

yad bhaktyā puṇḍarīkākṣaṃ stavair arcen naras sadā || 14 ||

Meaning

"This worship of the Supreme Lotus-eyed Lord at all times by a person endowed with devotion is

regarded by me as the greatest of all religious practices."

(by Pandit U.Ve. Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari)

"This worship of the lotus eyed lord, by a person singing his praise, is hence regarded by me

as the greatest dharma."

"This I think is the most excellent dharma of all dharmas that with devotion, a man should always glorify the lotus-eyed (Lord) by praises." (link)

Comment

This Slokam is in reply to the fifth question: "Which is the greatest Dharma?". Bheeshma answers this by stating that he regards the singing in praise of the lotus eyed lord as the greatest Dharma. Meanings of some of the words in the slokam are given below: 

eṣa: This 

me: to me 

sarva: whole/ entire/ all 

dharmāṇāṃ: dharmas  

dharmo: dharma 

adhikatamo: highest/ most 

mataḥ: opinion 

yad: if 

bhaktyā: with devotion 

puṇḍarīkākṣaṃ: Lotus-eyed 

sadā: always 

Slokam 13: Vishnu Sahasranamam: Brahmanyam

We did the last post on Vishnu Sahasranamam almost a year back. The last post was on Sloka 12, which reads

anādinidhanaṁ viṣṇuṁ sarvalōkamaheśvaram |

lōkādhyakṣaṁ stuvannityaṁ sarvaduḥkhātigō bhavet || 12 ||

The meaning of Slokam 12, as per Pandit U.Ve. Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari, is:

"One who is ever engaged in praising the Lord who is without beginning and end, the All pervading- One, the Ruler of the Universe, the Supervisor of the worlds, the One Who is to be known from the Vedas, Who is Himself the Knower of all Dharmas, the One Who is constantly engaged in the Universal Welfare, Lord of the Universe, and the Cause of all beings — such a devotee transcends over all the sorrows of this material world."

In the last post, we highlighted the difference of views as to whether Slokam 12 was in reply to the third or the fifth question posed by Yudhishtra. Slokas 8 and 9 are:

The third and the fifth questions of Yudhishtra were:

3. Which is the deity that is to be worshipped?

5. Which is the greatest Dharma? 

Sri UVe Velukkudi Krishnan in his lectures on the Vishnu Sahasranamam states that the 12th Sloka is in reply to the third and not the fifth question. In these series, we will go by that order.

In reply, Bhishma answers these in the twelfth sloka. 

Slokam 13:

Transliteration

brahmaṇyaṃ sarva dharmajñaṃ lokānāṃ kīrti-vardhanam |

lokanāthaṃ mahadbhūtaṃ sarvabhūta-bhavodbhavam || 13 ||

Meaning:

"Verily He is champion of the devotees, conversant with all duties and injunctions, the enhancer 

of fame and achievement of all people, the master of all the universe, exceedingly wonderful, and

the cause of the origination of all beings." (Pandit U.Ve. Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari)

Comment:

The sense that the slokam conveys, word by word, is as follows:

brahmaṇya: relating to brahman

sarva: whole, entire, all, every

dharmajñaṃ: Knowing the law or what is right

lokānāṃ: of the people/ devotees

kīrti: fame

vardhanam: enhancement/ increase

lokanāthaṃ: lord of the worlds (universe)

mahadbhūtaṃ: exceedingly wonderful

sarvabhūta: all beings

bhavodbhavam: cause of the origination

Originally, as posted, we commented that Slokam 13 was in reply to question 5 of Yudhishtra, which is: "Which is the greatest Dharma and none greater than that?": To this question, Bhishma replies in terms of Slokam 13. We also stated that in reply to the question as to which or who is the greatest dharma, Bhishma says that Sri Vishnu is the greatest dharma in terms of Sloka 13.

It is interesting to note that some commentaries do not link this Slokam to any of the questions that Yudhishtra asks. See, for example, S. Suryamurthy's commentary. Likewise, KE Parthasarathy's commentary also does not attribute this sloka to any question. Following this, we do not link this Slokam to any of the questions posed by Yudhishtra.

References:

Pandit U.Ve. Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari, Vishnu Sahasranama Stotra

M Monier- Williams, A Sanskrit English Dictionary (2002 ed: 2020 reprint) (p. 511, 

https://www.learnsanskrit.cc/ (Dictionary)

S. Suryamurthy, Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam (Tamil)(2017). 

KE Parthasarathy, Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam with Commentaries of Sri Sankaracarya & Sri Parasara Bhattar (1966)

Slokam 12: Vishnu Sahasranamam: Anaadhinidhanam

Introduction

In the last post, we saw that Yudhishtra raises six questions and Bhishma answers those questions one by one. We also discussed the eleventh sloka. In this post, we discuss the twelfth sloka.

Sloka 12

Sloka 12 is in reply to Slokas 8 and 9, which are questions posed by Yudhishtra. Slokas 8 and 9 are:

In reply, Bhishma answers these in the twelfth sloka which is given below:

Transliteration

anādinidhanaṁ viṣṇuṁ sarvalōkamaheśvaram |

lōkādhyakṣaṁ stuvannityaṁ sarvaduḥkhātigō bhavet || 12 ||

Meaning

one who is ever engaged in praising the Lord who is without beginning and end, the All pervading- One, the Ruler of the Universe, the Supervisor of the worlds, the One Who is to be known from the Vedas, Who is Himself the Knower of all Dharmas, the One Who is constantly engaged in the Universal Welfare, Lord of the Universe, and the Cause of all beings — such a devotee transcends over all the sorrows of this material world.

(Pandit U.Ve. Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari)

Comment

As stated above in the 8th and 9th Sloka, Yudhishtra asks six questions to Bhishma. Of these, the last two are: 

5. Which is the greatest Dharma?

6. Which is the means that will bring about release from Bondage?

Bhishma says that the greatest Dharma is ever praising or chanting the name of Vishnu. He also says such a devotee (who is engaged in chanting the name of Vishnu) transcends all sorrows of the material world and that such chanting will release him from Bondage. 

Prof. A Srinivasa Raghavan (ASR), in his preface to the English translation of the commentary of Sri Parasara Bhattar on the Sahasranama, argues that the 12th sloka is the answer to the fifth question noted above. According to Prof. ASR, Bhishma answers the sixth question (noted above) through the tenth Sloka, whose meaning is: "The chanting of the names of Sri Krishna , who is the Supreme Deity and Purushottama, should be done for obtaining release from bondage." [ASR, p. III].  It is to be noted that even the 12th sloka speaks of going beyond ("atigo bhavet"). On the other hand, there is a view, predominant, that the 12th Sloka is in answer to the third question: Which is the deity that is to be worshipped?

[Note: Edited after posting. See post on Slokam 13]

The word by word meaning of the 12th Sloka is:

Anaadhinidhanam: Without beginning/ existing from eternity or end/ annihilation/ destruction.

Vishnum: Vishnu

Sarvaloka: All the worlds

Maheshwaram: The Supreme Lord

lokaa dhyakshaM: knower of all worlds or knower of all Dharmas

Stuvan: chants 

nityam: daily or always

sarva duHkha: All sorrows

atigo bhavet: Go beyond

[Sources: 

1) M Monier Williams, A Sanskrit English Dictionary, 17th Reprint: 2020: Motilal Banarasidass; 

2) Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam Word-to-word translation

3) http://sanskritdictionary.com/]

Note that the phrase Anaadhinidhanam is also found in Sloka 34, Chapter 10 of Canto 2 of the Srimad Bhaghavatam, which states:

ataḥ paraṁ sūkṣmatamam

avyaktaṁ nirviśeṣaṇam

anādi-madhya-nidhanaṁ

nityaṁ vāṅ-manasaḥ param

The sloka's meaning is: "Therefore beyond this [gross manifestation] is a transcendental manifestation finer than the finest form. It has no beginning, no intermediate stage and no end; therefore it is beyond the limits of expression or mental speculation and is distinct from the material conception."[Source: https://prabhupadabooks.com/sb/2/10/34?d=1]

Book Review: The War that Made R&AW by Anusha Nandakumar and Sandeep Saket (Westland)

Anusha Nandakumar and Sandeep Saket, The War That Made R&AW, Westland (April 2021)

Indian writing has come a long way. The trick is that like a racy screenplay in films, the writing should be catchy and racy. This is true especially in non-fiction. The recently released book, the War that made R&AW, is about the founding of the Research and Analysis Wing and its working in the Indo-Pak War of 1971. R&AW is the foreign intelligence agency of India, while its domestic counterpart is the Intelligence Bureau.

The book discusses how R&AW was founded by RN Kao, how he selected his team, how the Prime Minister supported establishment and functioning of R&AW, how Sankaran Nair helped RN Kao in running the R&AW, and how India helped in the formation of Bangladesh. Such books are rare to come by. Well researched, compact (~187 pages), and written like a racy film, the book is a must read for those interested in political non-fiction and about Indian polity. 

The authors, Anusha Nandakumar, and Sandeep Saket are not political journalists. They're basically film makers and first time authors. Given these, the book is mind-blowing and the authors are to be congratulated for writing this wonderful book.

On the flipside, the book does not talk about post-1971 developments of R&AW. Given the title "The War that Made R&AW", this is not a 'defect' as such. However, a ten page chapter covering some landmark events post 1971 would have been helpful.

Another problem with the book is that it  presents the book from an Indian perspective. The American,  British, Chinese and Pakistani perspectives on the war are nowhere to be seen. 

Even so, this is an excellent read. 

Links to the some of the book reviews of this book are provided here: The Indian Express, The Scroll (with excerpts from the book), The Print,

Other books on R&AW are RN Kao are given in the bibliography of the book.