I must once again express my gratitude and reverence to Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (AKC), one of the pioneers of Perennial Philosophy, who was a true Vedic sage - a rishi - in his comprehensive and integral, but at the same time deep and genuine, understanding of Vedic metaphysics. I also continue his use of 'metaphysics' in preference to 'philosophy' or 'spirituality', as the former term accurately describes the system of ideas, concepts and teachings of the Vedic literature and deep enlightenment regarding the "non-physical" or "beyond-physical", i.e. "meta-physical" state that should result from the triple action of ṥravaṇa, manana, nididhyāsana (learning, pondering and meditating) that is the famous classic path of Vedanta. Truly, there is no difference between what has been called "Rig Veda, etc.", i.e. the "Karma Kāṇḍa" and the "Upanishads", i.e. the "Jñāna Kāṇḍa" except the age of the language and turn of phrase. But then, there is the real difference that the older Rig Veda uses much more complex symbolism than the younger Upanishad. The trick to unraveling symbolism is that the same symbol can stand for many things at many levels.
At the outset, I would like to emphasize my shortcomings in comparison to the genius of AKC in his energetic synthesis of different verses of the Rig Veda and Upanishads. Although every essay of his has countless gems of interconnected deductions, the following essays in particular contain material that is pertinent to my present endeavor:
1. A New Approach to the Vedas
2. The Darker Side of Dawn
3. Angel and Titan: An Essay in Vedic Ontology
4. The Vedic doctrine of 'Silence'
5. The Tantric doctrine of divine biunity
6. Kha and other words denoting 'zero' in connection with the Indian metaphysics of space
7. On the one and only transmigrant
8. Vedic 'Monotheism'
9. Vedic Exemplarism
I shall proceed to list key ideas and concepts in as logical an order as I can think of, with references from the Rig Veda and other texts that AKC has used and also a few more that are obviously in context. The overarching goal is to show by interconnecting the texts, that the rishis of the Rig Veda had fathomed the deepest secret, the deepest and most profound truth about the nature of reality. They had experienced the ultimate, irreducible state of "enlightening darkness" which level of oxymoron is the only way to describe that supreme, absolute, irreducible state of Existence-Knowledge.
1. Agni and other "Gods of Light/Heaven" are in fact "dark" in their origin. Their original state, i.e. before creation and manifestation of the universe is described.
Pañcaviṁśa Brāhmaṇa 25.15.4: सर्प्या: वा आदित्याः sarpyāḥ vā ādityāḥ The Gods are really serpents.
AKC reiterates that the descriptions of Gods prior to "coming into the light" is ophidian (serpent-like). This should not connote any vicious, terrifying or repulsive images that one may have of real-world snakes. The deep significance of the intricate symbol of serpent is noteworthy.
2. Agni is in fact explicitly described as a serpent, or with actions of a serpent.
Gotama Rāhūgaṇa (RV 1.79.1): अहि: धुनिः ahiḥ dhuniḥ A raging serpent
Aitareya Brāhmaṇa 3.36: एष ह वा अहिर्बुध्न्यो यदग्निर्गार्हपत्य: eṣa ha vā ahirbudhnyo yad agnir gārhapatyaḥ This Agni Gārhapatyaḥ (i.e. the foundational fire) is truly the serpent of the deep.
Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 7.3.2.14: अद्भ्य उपोदासृप्तं पुष्करपर्णे adbhya upodāsṛptaṁ puṣkaraparṇe He had crept out of the waters onto a lotus leaf.
In the last reference, Agni is likened to a serpent slithering out from the water onto a lotus leaf. This description is loaded with several related doctrines. The lotus (puṣkara) is the symbol of an individual manifested world. As Agni is the First Manifested Principle (i.e. "God") in any world (prathamajā ṛtasya), it is consistent with other references linking Agni to the lotus (for example, RV 6.16.13: Atharvan churned Agni from the Lotus, from Viśva's head).
3. Agni is 'endless' or 'infinite' before manifestation or creation
The last reference tells us Agni was a slithering unsegmented Being until he crept up onto a lotus leaf, at which point, he is in a world that he created by virtue of his creeping up onto it. Before that, he is said to have no hands or feet. This is significant as the foot is a discrete mode of motion. A foot needs a solid distinct "ground" upon which to move in finite, discrete, measured "quanta". However, slithering needs no "ground" as it is a continuous, non-discrete motion that is non-differentiated or "unmeasured". Thus, the foot is the symbol for a distinct manifestation or a created world. Hence, the footless serpent is the symbol for the state prior to creation, prior to distinct entities.
Vāmadeva Gautama (RV 4.1.7): अनन्ते अन्तः परिवीत आगात् anante antaḥ parivīta āgāt Enveloped in the infinite, may he come to us.
Vāmadeva Gautama (RV 4.1.11): स जायत... बुध्ने रजसः अस्य योनौ ... अपादशीर्षा गुहमानो अन्ता sa jāyata... budhne rajasaḥ asya yonau... apādaśīrṣā guhamāno antā He is born in the depths of space (or waters - compare Ahi Budhnya, serpent of the deep, above) in his own womb... Without feet and without a head, he conceals his ends.
'Conceals his ends' essentially means infinite. Here again, the image of a serpent with its tail in its mouth comes to mind, such that the Being is continuous, unsegmented (without intervals or gaps), full of infinite potentialities prior to manifestation.
4. Agni dwells in the Darkness prior to creation
The idea of Agni, the exemplar of worldly light, dwelling in darkness is very paradoxical and strange at first. However, this reveals the highest conception of the Vedic sages which they symbolized as Agni. Perhaps we might get a better understanding by looking at the instances in the Rig Veda:
Bharadvāja Bārhaspatya (RV 6.9.7): विश्वे देवा अनमस्यन् भियानाः त्वामग्ने तमसि तस्थिवांसम् viśve devā anamasyan bhiyānāḥ tvām agne tamasi tasthivāṁsam - All the Gods bowed in fear to you, Agni, when you dwelt in the Darkness.
RV 10.51.5: एहि ... तमसि क्षेष्यग्ने सुगान्पथः कृणुहि देवयानान् वह हव्यानि सुमनस्यमानः ehi ... tamasi kṣeṣi agne ... sugān pathaḥ kṛṇuhi devayānān vaha havyāni sumanasyamānaḥ - Come ... you are dwelling in the darkness ... make our paths easy-faring and carry sacred offerings, being of good will to us.
RV 10.124.1: इमं ... यज्ञमेहि ... असो हव्यवाळुत नः पुरोगाः ज्योगेव दीर्घं तम आशयिष्ठाः imam yajñamehi aso havyavāḍuta naḥ purogāḥ jyogeva dīrgham tama āśayiṣṭhāḥ - Come to this sacrifice, O Life-eternal, carrier of sacred offering and our leader. You have stayed too long in darkness.
These verses show the fundamental doctrine in the form of myth, i.e. by the use of Gods as personalities pleading Agni to come out of the darkness and set the sacrifice "rolling" by creating paths and carrying offerings between the worlds, which in effect causes the worlds to be created.
There is a more profound metaphysical doctrine hidden in those descriptions of Agni dwelling in the darkness. As already pointed out, it is a paradox that the paragon of light should stay in darkness. This should give us the clue that physical light is not meant here. Agni is the pure self-consciousness and existence that is the foundation of all empirical experience. Agni is the pure "I" that is the final and ultimate irreducible state of singular existence-consciousness from which worlds are created and into which they dissolve. Such a state is characterized by complete absence of multiplicity of names and forms, which implies absence of the Light of Creation that exposes, differentiates and defines the forms and names that constitute the universe.
In contrast, this "Agni dwelling in darkness" is a "Dark Light". Compare this to Chandogya Upanishad 1.6, "The white light of the sun is 'sa' and the extremely dark blue black light is 'ama' and together they make 'saama'." So Vedic tradition symbolizes a dark light that is behind the white light of the sun. This 'Dark Light' is the 'Agni dwelling in darkness' which is a Silent Observer existing alone in inaction. The same concept is found in Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.3.6-7:
अस्तमित आदित्ये याज्ञवल्क्य चन्द्रमस्यस्तमिते
शान्तेऽग्नौ शान्तायां वाचि किंज्योतिरेवायं पुरुष इत्यात्मैवास्य ज्योतिर्भवति …
। ६। कतम आत्मेति योऽयं विज्ञानमयः प्राणेषु हृद्यन्तर्ज्योतिः … । ७।
astamita āditye yājñavalkya candramasyastamite
śānte'gnau śāntāyāṃ vāci kiṃjyotirevāyaṃ puruṣa ityātmaivāsya jyotirbhavati … । 6। katama ātmeti yo'yaṃ vijñānamayaḥ prāṇeṣu hṛdyantarjyotiḥ … । 7।
When the sun has set, and the moon has set, and
the fire is extinguished and speech is silent, what light is available to man?
The Self is indeed his light… Who is this Self? The one who is full of consciousness,
who is within the senses, the light within the heart…
In other words, this Self is the Light within
the Darkness, which is also the symbolism of Agni as seen in the afore-quoted verses.
This is the state of Brahman of the Upanishads. The famous Nāsadīya Sūktam (RV 10.129) confirms the same concept:
तम आसीत्तमसा गूळ्हमग्रे ... आनीदवातं स्वधया तदेकं तस्माद्धान्यन्न परः किञ्चनास tama āsīt tamasā gūḷham agre ... ānīd avātam svadhayā tadekam tasmāddha anyan na paraḥ kiñcanāsa In the beginning darkness was covered by darkness ... That One breathed without breath; other than That One there was nothing else.
The above Rig Veda verses depict the myth of creation where the "Gods" are eager for Agni to come out of the darkness, i.e. project the First Ray of Universal Light, which is also depicted in different myths. One of them is that Agni-Ahi Budhyna the Primordial Serpent crept up on a lotus leaf. Another one is Indra slaying the Primordial Serpent under the name Vritra and cutting him up into parts that become the universe (along with releasing the waters of life). The true meaning of the Vedic yajna is to realize the original unity of the Serpent, and ritually effect the conjoining of the parts of Agni or Prajapati to make him whole. This is the true meaning of Agnicayana. This inner meaning of the ritual was adopted by Upanishad sages to various degrees, for example, as the Inner Fire Ritual (āntaram agnihotram) to be effected intellectually to realize the Primordial Unity.
Thus, it has been shown that Vedic metaphysics has always been consistent in its essential doctrine, while only changing in language and idiom.
The continuity has been carried on into Puranic symbolism. The most conspicuous example of Vedic serpent symbolism is the mythology of Vishnu resting on the thousand-hooded serpent Ananta Shesha.
The name of the serpent is variously Ananta (Infinite), Shesha (Remnant), Adi Shesha (Primordial Remnant). So obviously this is the same infinite Vedic serpent Agni-Ahi Budhnya. Shesha is what remains after creation. But he is Ananta Shesha, i.e. Infinite Remnant, which is an overstatement of the concept that what is infinite is never emptied out.
Vishnu is the Supreme God of the universe, whereas Ananta is the Godhead, the source of the God. This may come as a little shock to devout Hindus. Vishnu emerges out of Ananta, and rests on Ananta as his foundation. Vishnu is manifested in the universe, "visible" and active as the universal consciousness. Ananta is unmanifested, "invisible" as the Silent Observer existing alone in inaction. Of course, in the end Vishnu and Ananta are one and the same.
तम आसीत्तमसा गूळ्हमग्रे ... आनीदवातं स्वधया तदेकं तस्माद्धान्यन्न परः किञ्चनास tama āsīt tamasā gūḷham agre ... ānīd avātam svadhayā tadekam tasmāddha anyan na paraḥ kiñcanāsa In the beginning darkness was covered by darkness ... That One breathed without breath; other than That One there was nothing else.
The above Rig Veda verses depict the myth of creation where the "Gods" are eager for Agni to come out of the darkness, i.e. project the First Ray of Universal Light, which is also depicted in different myths. One of them is that Agni-Ahi Budhyna the Primordial Serpent crept up on a lotus leaf. Another one is Indra slaying the Primordial Serpent under the name Vritra and cutting him up into parts that become the universe (along with releasing the waters of life). The true meaning of the Vedic yajna is to realize the original unity of the Serpent, and ritually effect the conjoining of the parts of Agni or Prajapati to make him whole. This is the true meaning of Agnicayana. This inner meaning of the ritual was adopted by Upanishad sages to various degrees, for example, as the Inner Fire Ritual (āntaram agnihotram) to be effected intellectually to realize the Primordial Unity.
Thus, it has been shown that Vedic metaphysics has always been consistent in its essential doctrine, while only changing in language and idiom.
The continuity has been carried on into Puranic symbolism. The most conspicuous example of Vedic serpent symbolism is the mythology of Vishnu resting on the thousand-hooded serpent Ananta Shesha.
The name of the serpent is variously Ananta (Infinite), Shesha (Remnant), Adi Shesha (Primordial Remnant). So obviously this is the same infinite Vedic serpent Agni-Ahi Budhnya. Shesha is what remains after creation. But he is Ananta Shesha, i.e. Infinite Remnant, which is an overstatement of the concept that what is infinite is never emptied out.
Vishnu is the Supreme God of the universe, whereas Ananta is the Godhead, the source of the God. This may come as a little shock to devout Hindus. Vishnu emerges out of Ananta, and rests on Ananta as his foundation. Vishnu is manifested in the universe, "visible" and active as the universal consciousness. Ananta is unmanifested, "invisible" as the Silent Observer existing alone in inaction. Of course, in the end Vishnu and Ananta are one and the same.
