Post No. 10,406
Date uploaded in London – – 3 DECEMBER 2021
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There are very interesting verses in the fourth Veda, that is, Atharva Veda. There is one on Wisdom or intelligence.
AV BOOK 6, HYMN CVIII, SUKTA 281
A prayer for wisdom
1.Intelligence, come first to us with store of horses and of kine!
Thou with the rays of Sūrya art our worshipful and holy one.
2.The first, devout Intelligence, lauded by sages, sped by prayer,
Drunk by Brahmachāris, for the favour of the Gods I call.
3.That excellent Intelligence which Ribhus know, and Asuras,
Intelligence which sages know, we cause to enter into me.
4.Do thou, O Agni, make me wise this day with that Intelligence.
Which the creative Rishis, which the men endowed with wisdom
knew.
5.Intelligence at evening, at morning, Intelligence at noon of day,
With the Sun’s beams, and by our speech we plant in us
Intelligence.
It is similar to Gayatri mantra; prayer for obtaining wisdom.
xxxx
Here are some interesting points
Asuras in mantra 3 are interpreted as divine beings. This epithet Asura is used for Varuna, Agni and other gods with positive connotation elsewhere. But in the very next sutra 282 , Asuras are interpreted as fiends. We know that the Zend Avesta used Asura for good beings only. So we have to take asura as an adjective meaning strong or powerful; no ethnicity is attached to it.
Another interesting word is ‘Bhutakritah’ for Rishis. They are described as creative. It is found in AV 3-28-1 and 4-35-2. Foreign tranlators; interpretation
The footnotes say
Rishis are regarded as creators of beings. They are also called ‘world creators’. It is repeated in suktam 306 also. Nowhere the interpreters or translators explained the meaning. Are the seers talking about any miraculous powers ? We don’t know. Even in the Ashtama Siddhis / Eight supernatural powers ,this is not included. We must do more research on the word.
We come across mythological reference of Viswamitra creating a new world or new heaven, probably meaning Trisangu Swarga. Even that Southern Star identified as Trisangu is visible only from Southern Hemisphere! Agastya Star and Trisangu / Southern Cross are identified with stars in the southern sky!
The above Atharva Veda mantra is similar to Samithadhana mantra of Brahmacharis (Bachelors morning worship)
–subham—
tags- wisdom, intelligence, mantra
Tamil and Vedas 