Further lights : The Veda and the Tantra

THE VAK OF THE VEDA AND THE THROB OF THE TANTRA

Among the stupendous achievements of the mystics of ancient India stands foremost the Theory of Creation by the Word. The creative Logos of the Greeks does certainly correspond to the vāk (Lat. Vox, Sans. vac, to speak) that is the Creatrix of the World. But the Indian conception is distinguished by the theory and the treatment it has received at the hands of great seers of the Vedic age, the sages and intuitive thinkers of the Upanishads in succession, the philosophers of the Darshanas, the Tantra Shastras and the Puranas. In the long line of sacred and general literature from the Vedas down to our times we find that they have made capital use of the theory of Vak and its practical importance was the one aim towards which all their efforts were directed. The theory of Vak which has permeated the religious literature of the land has influenced to a considerable extent the belles lettres of later ages as exemplified in the utterances of Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti. While the former affirms Vak as Shakti, power, that cannot be alienated from the meaning, its substance, in the opening verse of his Epic Poem, the latter, Bhavabhuti, makes a profound statement in his dictum that is laden with a world of ideas about the original power of Vak and its real nature on the one hand and on the other hand Vak as vehicle of thought at the disposal of the decent-minded. For he says that speech follows the meaning in the case of the sādhus of the world-and they are called sādhus who are of a good, well-bred kind with regard to veracity-in effect it comes to mean that at the best, men in the world give a correct expression to the thought in their minds. In contradistinction to this is the other statement that the meaning follows the word in the case of primeval Seers, the Rishis. The intention of the poet here is unmistakable and the idea about the real nature of Vak as transmitted from age to age from the Vedic times is revealed in the pregnant phrase-vācam artho’nudhavati. The Vak of the Rishis is not a sound-symbol of a mental idea vocally expressed as is done by all developed human beings. What else could it be then? Vak, no doubt, is Voice, word or speech. But it is not the Voice or word depending on the mind to express an idea. It is a voice in a deeper sense of the term which is in its source a power of expression, a force which impels the being to respond to the stimulii which are a demand made on the being by the environment or by the subtle or occult and spiritual forces from the deeper layers or higher levels of being.

It is a voice that proceeds from the depths, or from the heights of one’s being which is not established in mind, but itself being an early and settled movement for expression is the support of the mind which, comparatively speaking, is a subordinate instrument of expression. Here we have to understand the distinction made by the ancients between the Voice which is the support of the mind and the voice which is speech. The word as vocal expression is sound-symbol of an idea in the mind and naturally has mind for its basis, source and support. In this light the poet’s dictum that meaning follows the Rishi’s Vak has to be understood; and indeed it is intelligible that the Voice proceeds from the heights or depths of the conscious substance in which the Rishi is stationed and carries with it the meaning to be realised when it finds its completion in the delivery of the utterance. This is how meaning follows the Word in the case of a seer and in the case of others word is chosen and adapted to convey the intended meaning.

Now let us enquire into the real character of the Vak that creates, the Vak which, in the words of a Vedic poet, became all these worlds, vāgeva visvā bhuvanāni jajñe. We have clues found in the Rig Veda itself which we can follow with great advantage in our attempt to penetrate into the mysteries of the Word. The oft-quoted famous passage of Dirghatamas helps us a great deal to have an adequate idea of the theory of the Word as Mantra and of human speech as understood by the seers of the Rig Veda. For the seer-poet in stating that there are four steps by which the Word of the Mantra unveils itself has revealed a truth which has a large bearing on the source of the Word itself, as being the abode of the Great Cosmic Powers, the Gods as mentioned in another verse of the same hymn. These two Riks (I.164-39,45) announce in plain and unambiguous language as is rarely the wont of these ancient mystics, certain facts of mystic experience which we may reduce to categorical dicta for modern understanding.

1. There is the supernal Ether in the empyrean heights of Being called paramam vyoma.

2. It is the abiding place—imperishable and immutable—of the Riks, i.e., the Mantras.

3. All the Gods, the Cosmic Powers alsreside there.

4. What can any one do with the Rik who does not know That (the Supreme Ether) which is the abode of the Riks as well as of the Gods? That is to say, the Rik has value only when one knows its source, the supreme Ether.

5. There are four steps or planes, padāni, from which the Speech issues, the fourth step is the human speech that is the ordinary word while the other planes are hidden in the secrecy.

6. The Word and the meaning of the Mantra, i.e., the Veda belongs to the higher planes.

7. And the last and important statement is that the Veda is referred to by the Rig Vedic Seers themselves as the Word Eternal, nityā vāk, a phrase the Rishi applies to the Mantra in the urge for laudation to Agni, nityajā zācā codasia (VIII.64.6).

We can now consider how the essential truths in the statements made above formed the basis of the Upanishads and later Scriptures in dealing with instructions on the character of the Eternal Word of which the Sound-symbol is OM. For it is the nearest representative approach in the mental and vocal expression to the inexpressible fountain-source of all original rhythms of the Supreme Ether. This Ether of the Sublime above is the native Home of the primordial sound-substance of which the Mantras are formations hidden in the higher planes and manifest in their descent to the last step which is the human speech. This Supernal ākāśa is the imperishable source and perpetual basis of sonorous rhythms that issue from the heights to form the planes and build the worlds and also to function by casting harmonic spells for their sustenance. It is this Vedic idea and spirit that bristles in the utterance of the Upanishad wherein the Rishi prays to Indra the Lord of Swar, the Divine Power of the Luminous Heaven, whose vibrations of rhythms proceed from that World of the luminous Gods, whose abode, as has been stated, is the self-same Ether, paramam vyoma. "He who is the Bull of the Vedas of the universal form, he who was born in the sacred rhythms from the Immortal-may Indra satisfy me through the intelligence, O God, may I become a vessel of the Immortal. May my body be full of vision.”¹⁷⁰

One more topic about the four steps of Vak requires elucidation. We can translate the term as planes answering to the steps, padāni, used in the Rik. The four steps are taken to be, first, the Material plane, next, the plane of Life-force that penetrates, circumfuses and sustains it, itself remaining above in its station higher than that of the material existence; and the third from here is a plane in which the Mind-principle is dominant and is in relation to the plane of the Life-world, in the same way as the latter is to the world of Matter. If we take the first plane, the material world, as a gross existence, then the second is the subtle and the third is the causal. Giving birth to these three planes, there stands above these three the great Causal, mahākārana, in which reside in an undifferentiated state all rhythms of sound to build the worlds and planes, all play of Light to direct the lines of rhythm which are real creators not only of objects of the world severally and in their totality but also manifestations of the Gods in the Cosmos.

The fourfold division of the gross, the subtle, the causal and the Supreme Causal that transcends the three as envisaged here may correspond to similar divisions of other ways of classification that are suited to the practical lines adopted in the various systems of Yoga and their respective philosophies. Commenting on this Rik, Sayana mentions the names of the four steps of Vak using the terminology of the Tantric Yoga. We can explain the significance of those four steps or states in the light of the fourfold division as envisaged above. The Tantriks while admitting the principle of the division, apply it for practical purposes dealing with the subject from a psycho-physical and psycho-spiritual point of view; naturally therefore, since the subtle centres play a vital part in their Yoga they locate the Vak of the states in the nervous system. They name it parā, paśyanti, madhyamā and vaikhari. The first and the supreme source—the primordial parā-vāk is beyond; it it unmanifest, but turned towards manifestation; it is the great Causal mahā-kāraṇa, and as such its centre is at the bottom of the spinal column that supports the nervous system. This bottom is mūlādhāra, the root-centre of the physical being. Next is the paśyanti vāk, the word that perceives, and this is the causal located in the navel centre; then is the madhyamā vāk, the middle, the Word in the intermediate subtle region between the navel and the throat which last is the region for the express speech called vaikhari vāk.

These four states of what may be called the process of sound-formation may or may not have an exact correspondence to the four steps mentioned by the seer in the Rig Veda or to the other lines of classification that is based upon the practical procedure, Yoga, adopted in the different systems. It is not of much importance to reconcile the corresponding divisions as that would cause confusion and minimise the value and importance of certain classifications in preference to others. But what is of great moment to us and is common to all the systems is the fact that the principle of fourfold division has bearing on the states of consciousness, wherein their vibrations are represented in their dynamic aspect by the vibrant word, the expressive sound. While the Tantric Yoga locates these states in the centres, the Yoga of Sri Aurobindo which takes a Cosmic view of things would consider the four principles as referring not only to the four states of consciousness, but also to the corresponding fields of consciousness and call them the four planes of being. Necessarily then, the Waking consciousness, jāgrat, operates in the world of Matter, the Dream consciousness,-not the subconscious dream, but the superconscious Yogic dream, svapna,-in the field of the Life-world, and above, next to it, the Yogic Sleep consciousness, sușupti, belongs to the third world from here, the world of the Luminous Divine Mind, the Swar. Above the third is the fourth, turiya, that transcends the lower three states of consciousness and planes of being. It is from there the effulgent Rays of the Gods, the Cosmic Powers of the Supreme One, radiate and their rhythms are caught on their way from the Supreme Ether by the seer, one who is endowed with the faculty of the revelatory vision or inspirational audience.

It is clear then, that these are all conscious and superconscious states of which in the normal waking state we are not conscious. That we are not conscious is no proof that they are not conscious. It is too late in the day to question the correctness and veracity of utterances of the seers who have experienced these truths in the mystic field and bequeathed the same to their posterity. These states and planes are the steps by which the rhythms of the Creative Word, the Vak, descend to the level of the human speech which is called the Mantra, the word of inspiration that expresses in rhythm truths of intuitive vision or direct perception. It goes without saying that it does not apply to all human speech most of which is representative in sound-symbol of ideas in the mind. But it applies most eminently to the Mantras of the Vedic age when language was a living organism acting to the emotional pressure and nervous experience, forces of impulsion, inspirational incitement or revelatory visions. It also applies to some extent to genuine Poetry of all times—not all poetry, but Poetry of the kind in which the poet catches the rhythms in the deeper and subtler layers or on the higher altitudes in their less weakened intensity and vigour before ley get much mixed and so thoroughly diluted in the ordinary human level and word-transaction and thought-formation. Indeed it is this fact that accounts for some poets giving utterance to truths of which they themselves were not conscious at the time of their creation and delivery. On this subject of poetical creation and the rhythms, there are precious passages in the writings of Sri Aurobindo and no amount of writing upon it here can touch even a fringe of the matter as dealt with in the authentic utterances of the Master. Whatever the Vedic theory of the Word and the utterances of sages in the literature connected with it including the Brahmanas and the Upanishads be, those who are more familiar only with classical Sanskrit cannot feel quite at home in the earlier scriptures unless they make a special attempt to acquaint themselves with the obsolete words, archaic usage, the thought-content of the hymns in general and the recondite and complex and subtle conception of the graded and Vast existence beyond the material universe expressed in images, figures and symbols. But there is another class of scriptural literature, the Tantric, where the language is easy, the ideas are clearly laid, the substance of the whole matter that is dealt with is given out in a manner that directly goes home to any enquiring mind. Let us see what they state about the true character of the Word reduced to sound, sabda, and its utility in all human endeavour for success in life as well as for liberation from the bonds of ignorance leading to the final beatitude.

They start with the dictum that the word-sound has a power inherent in it, and that this power varies with the letter-sounds and a proper use of these word-sounds enables us to realise the truth in or behind the object it refers to. This theory of Tantriks is based upon their first axiom that the Word or sound-creation precedes the creation of objects—Word-sound, sabda, first and artha, the meaning or object next-artha-srsteh pūrvam sabda-szștiḥ. This śabda takes the place of the Vak of the Vedic scriptures. It is the first śabda, called nāda, rhythmic sound that was the first creation, the primordial throb, ādya spanda, that proceeds to effect the formation of the universe and create the objects of the world. It is the ancient Vedic theory of Creation, Vak, the Voice of the Bull that roars, vrṣabho roraviti, of the Supreme Truth, the Godhead that is translated into the language of the Tantra, as the supreme and primal throb, the vibrant move of an infinitesimal portion of the Infinite Absolute that measures out and forms and manifests all the worlds and this world and its objects. It is the same word, the sound, the rhythm, nāda, that is at work in the formation of tiny things as of colossal objects. The Tantriks discovered and promulgated a series of sound-symbols selected from articulate speech as representing the rhythms that constitute the formations not only of material objects, but of others which are subtle and are of the subtler planes of the Cosmos. Thus the original Word, the Vak, the Voice of Creation which suggests the Eternal syllable of the Veda, OM-or rather AUM-develops in the course of its manifestation into the seed-sounds of the Tantriks, bija-akşaras, which are charged with the principles of things, and in reality they have their own forms made of rhythms which stand behind the revelations and inspirations that greet the developed and higher faculties even as they compel and build the forms in well-ordered vibrations and move into great Cosmic measures.

The development of this seed-sound theory into very minute details by the Tantriks, with an eye to its utility in their explorations in the occult spheres, has had a far-reaching consequence on the practice of mantra-sādhanā for dealing with men and things, the elemental forces, and beings of the supra-physical worlds. For the letters, singly and in conjunction with others, represent in their rhythms not only objects; they express the colours and other qualities, actions of different kinds including attraction and repulsion as well as creation and destruction. It must be borne in mind that there are two sides in the effectual process of these seed-sounds for their respective purposes. One is the radical and psychological aspect which carries with it the spirit and thought-vibrations natural to them and the other is the mechanical side that arouses the vibrations of the material energy that is generated in the effort to vocalise and deliver it for the execution of its natural function. This latter aspect can be easier appreciated if we remember what is a common-place of modern Science—that the vibration of sound has the potency, the effectual power to create or destroy forms; but the other, the psychological and spiritual aspect of the sound-vibration requires a closer consideration, for it is not the sound of a drum or the voice of a brute, but the vocal expression of a self-conscious human being. And if we but go a little deeper behind the spoken word into the undelivered word which resides in the mind and consider its real character as related to the desires, passions, sensations and emotions on one side and the thoughts and ideas that belong to the higher mind or the mind proper on the other side, we discover that daily and hourly we produce by the word-sound within us thought-forms and thought-vibrations which result in corresponding vital and physical vibrations, act upon ourselves and others ending in the indirect creation of action and of formation in the physical world. When we learn to appreciate the relation of sound to speech, and also the action of thought-vibrations which are also sound in subtle tate that incessantly emanate from us, act and react on others and ourselves in the manner stated above, we would find it easier to understand intelligently the power of the seed-sounds, bijākşaras which represent as approximately as possible in terms of human speech-sound the natural sound-vibrations and orderly rhythms that have built the forms and bodies of the created objects as well as of creative forces to which they apply because of being their natural names in their causal state. The Tantras have discovered their utility in the occult lines of thought by fixing the seed-sound chosen for a particular object in some locus or centre in the nervous system and concentrating on it in a stream of uninterrupted flow of the same, i.e., similar vibrations that lead to the realisation of the true meaning in its causal state, or its position and purpose in the scheme of the Cosmic order. Or when this method involves a strenuous yogic effort too much for an ordinary seeker of occult truths, there is another comparatively easier, but none the less effective method that is generally recommended. It is the repetition backed by attention and interest, of the letter or letters to produce the subtle vibrations on the consciousness and thus to prepare it to receive the truth or truths beyond the mind which are evoked by the harmonic rhythms of the letter-sound held in mind through repetition and which are the nearest approaches to the natural rhythms of those truths.

So far we have seen how the mystics of Tantra treat the letters and their sound-rhythms and their real character and value for ends which pertain to life in this world and other worlds. But they do not stop with the occult truths however interesting and useful they may be, they proceed to the Beyond, the Transcendental, for the ultimate goal, the final Beatitude, the Light Eternal which is also the Vedic Ideal. Actuated by a synthetic spirit to include every element of truth that matters and concerns the individual and the universal, pindānda and brahmānda, to use their terminology, they proceed from the subtle meaningful sound-vibrations to their causal and to the great Causal of all causals which issue from the Original Throb which in its native form is Light. That is how they call the Eternal Word of the Veda, AUM as the Radical Light, also as the generator of all seed-sounds sarva-bija-utpadaka, as the source tree of all branches sākhādih, and as the constant, steady and inexhaustible and immutable,dhruva, avyaya and akşara.

Here again the Tantra accepts the theory of Vak in principle, but develops it in its characteristic way for practical purposes.

A word about the Vedic method of using the Vak for purposes of Sadhana is necessary to distinguish it from the Tantric method since we started with the Vedic Vak and entered into some details about the Tantric theory of seed-sounds. It may be asked: how did the Vedic sages apply their theory of Vak to the life of Sadhana, to build the inner life? It is difficult to enter into this question in detail here. But we can safely, without hesitation, say what can be easily gathered from the hymns of the Rig Veda. One outstanding fact in their manner of approach to the Godhead is that while they were tireless in their effort to commune with the Cosmic Powers, the Gods, and aimed at the Highest, they had for their article of faith the one Cosmic Power of the Godhead nearest to the Earth-plane; in fact, the presiding king of this world is Agni, the Divine Flame. And Agni has many functions, as the heat of the conscious Force that effects the formation of things in the world of matter and develops his functions in man— for the Gods function in the cosmos as natural powers, and as psychological and spiritual powers in man; and as the human faculties develop in the self-conscious being, he manifests himself as the flame of aspiration that burns out the smoke of desires and passions and impurities, arriving at his fuller manifestation as the Divine Will. In the Vedic scheme the first function of Agni is to voice forth the aspirational call of man for the acceptance by the higher Gods of his being, in all the parts of his being, so that whatever in man belongs to the Cosmic Powers will go to their rightful owners, the Powers of the Godhead, and man may be delivered to his rightful place among the Gods and abide in the Home of Truth.

But that is a higher function of Agni when the higher faculties of the human being are so developed as to enable man for the divine effort of self-exceeding and mounting the higher steps of the ladder of cosmic existence. Even before that, Agni’s function begins as the voice in man, agnir vāg bhūtaḥ. It is this aspect of Agni that the Vedic sages were initially impressed with and used prayers to evoke him so that he may awake and take up the function of calling the higher Powers. Vak therefore as hymns, prayers addressed to Agni first and to other Gods afterwards, was the main instrument of their spiritual effort. Whatever their personal effort, it was all directed towards the help of the ruling Powers and was subordinate to and aid to self-giving, self-offering of which Vak as prayer was the motor force, rather than concentration and meditation on sacred syllables as is the case with Yogins of later ages including the Tantric way. And the inspired nature of the Vedic Vak tended to attach greater importance to and enhance the value of the sacred utterance and the result was tangible and, comparatively speaking, unfailing as can be seen from a close study of most of the hymns addressed to the Gods in Rig Veda. It is noteworthy that the Seer-poets of the Veda themselves make mention of the efficacy of Vak, the Mantra, quite often expressing their gratitude to the responsive Gods whom they laud with a happy confidence that they are watchful and hear and respond to them in the hour of their need. The potency of the Vedic Vak as prayer lay in the fact that it was an externalised vibrant sound, a perfect reproduction in resonant rhythms of thought-vibrations charged with feelings from the depths of the Seer-poet and others who used it. Vak was the chief means used by the Rishis to awaken the Great God of the Earth, Agni, seated in the heart of man. It is not that the Rishis did not employ means other than prayer, concentration, tapasyā, etc. They were great tapaswins and Yogins with a fund of occult Knowledge and vision of spiritual truths all of which were gifts of the awakened Agni guiding the Rishi in his onward journey towards the Home of the Supernal Light. Agni, then, is Vak, the power of expression, the voice of Call, on the physical plane; in his subtler aspect at the back of the voice he is the psychic fire whose flame throws up the force of Aspiration in the march towards the Godhead; radically he is the Godhead himself, his Will secret in the heart of things and of man.

Now we close: we began with Vak as the creatrix, the throb in the Infinite calm that sets into motion the Creation, the manifestation of the worlds in Cosmic measures. It is the primal root-sound represented by OM, of all seed-sounds which are the basic rhythans for the formation of all things in Creation. The word and sound precede the meaning and objects in creation. The four steps of the words are Cosmic steps in their descent into Manifested Existence. In the Cosmic view these steps are the planes—the great Causal that is above, followed by the causal, the subtle, and the last, gross physical plane. It is the relation of thought-vibration and sound-vibration to speech-subtle or openly expressed-that explains the dynamic character of mantras for formation, dissolution and sustenance. Such is the perception of the mystics of ancient India; such the profound conception behind their utterance about the value and potency of Vak; and such also is the grandeur at once subtle and recondite, yet yielding to utility not only for purposes of life here,-though this is subordinated to higher and pure spiritual aims, but for the highest aim of man endowed with Vak, for his self-exceeding effort 10 arrive at the most sublime, the Immortal Light which is the Eternal home of all lights and all rhythms, all Gods and all measures of this Cosmic Manifestation.