In the previous episode, I was talking about some new way of relating to God as described in the ancient Indian Vedic hymn, namely the Purusha Sukta. I am using the word ‘new’ because, that way of relating to God is alien to most people of Abrahamic faith. At best they can view it as pantheism or polytheism, which it is not, as I have explained in that episode. It is a way of seeing God in everything.
As if that were not enough, in this episode, I am going to go further deep into the journey of relationship that one can have with God. That is the relation in which ‘one identifies oneself with God’ – taadaatmya!
Religions like Islam would abhor such an idea which they consider as blasphemous. In Quran, Allah clearly forbids equating Him with anything, or with any other God, far less equating with some mortal human being, not the least with oneself! Allah threatens with sever punishment if one indulges in such things. That is the only sin Allah never forgives.
In Christian and Jewish faith, things are not that rigid, though equating God with anyone else is looked down. One of the reasons why Jesus was crucified was because he ‘claimed’ himself to be God! It is a different matter though; Jesus probably never made that mistake. He never claimed himself to be God. Not even as son of God! Most of the time he identified himself as ‘son of man’ and even when he addressed God as ‘My father’, he was implying that God is the father of everyone and all are his children.
But it is interesting that old Aramaic language versions of Bible have an utterance ‘Ena na’, attributed to Jesus. Aramaic was the language spoken by Jesus. The Aramaic word ‘Ena na’ is interpreted as ‘I am He’, meaning ‘I am God’! This simple phrase is equivalent to the well-known Vedic saying ‘Soham or Sa Aham’’ on which the entire Advaitic edifice rests. I have touched upon this interesting observation in my book “Was Jesus really in India?”.
Declaring oneself as God or identifying oneself with God is neither forbidden nor uncommon in Indian context. I am not talking about modern Gurus who often do that, for promoting their self-interest 😉 I am talking about a state where one starts identifying himself or herself with God, as the ultimate and inseparable relationship with God, probably at the climax of one’s spiritual journey.
To quote a well-known and recent example, it is said that Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the Guru of Swami Vivekananda often used to get into that mental state. where he used to identify himself with God. During the process of adorning the idol of Kali, which Ramakrishna used to worship as a female form of God, Ramakrishna used to place the flowers on his own body since he felt no difference between himself and Kali. It was such an intimate identification.
As I said, such identification with the divine is not barred in the Indian context. Many Indian scriptures do say that ‘one who realizes God, becomes God’. Actually, there is nothing to ‘become’, since Indian scriptures consider everything to be a form taken by God. So, it is just a matter of realizing this ultimate truth. Well, I am aware of schools of thought even within India, both ancient as well as modern, who, like the Abrahamic religions, abhor this kind of identity relation.
But it is not a matter of just declaring oneself as God. Before one can do that, one needs to attain that high level of vision. That can happen after one passes through the stages of seeing God in everything, and finally identifying oneself with God. In that state, there is hardly anyone left, to say ‘I am God’. The word ‘I’ becomes superfluous! But we have our own limitations, imposed by the language, when we discuss such things 😉
In this episode, I am talking about one such declaration by a young girl who belonged to the Vedic times, i.e. thousands of years ago.
Contrast this with our current scenario. Hardly a century ago, there were countries where women were second class citizens. Even in democracy, there were times women did not have the right to vote. I am sure that there are still places where such discriminations against the female gender continue. Even India had passed through periods where feminine occupied a lower rung in the society.
But this girl lived almost 5000 years ago. She had the ‘audacity’ to declare that she IS God! And probably she was not the only one in those days.
This young girl’s name was Vaak. She was the daughter of a Vedic sage by name AmbhrNa. So, she was Vaak AmbhrNi – Vaak, the daughter of AmbhrNa. This girl was a great devotee of the all-pervading God, God as described in the Vedas. She had passed through the stage of seeing God in everything. She was ready to get into the next stage of identifying herself with God.
Her declaration of identification with God is recorded in the Rigveda as one of the important hymns. More specifically, it is the 125th Sukta of the 10th Mandala of Rigveda, comprising of 8 mantras. This Sukta is named after her, as Vaak Sukta.
What does Vaak say? She says
“I myself am all the Gods - Rudra, Vasu, Aditya, Visva Deva, Mitra, Varuna, Indra, Agni, Asvini, and so on. All these Gods are within me and they are no different from me”
“aham rudrEbhih, Vasubhih, AdityEih, VisvadEvaih, Mitraa, VaruNa, Indra, Agni, Asvinaa bibharmi “
She further says
“It is Me who bestows whatever is asked by the person who performs a fire ritual in the name of all these Gods.”
“aham haviShmatE, supraavyE, sunvatE yajamaanaaya draviNam dadaami”
In a state of ecstasy, she goes on to say
“I am the Lord of the entire universe. I am the storehouse of all the wealth. I am the knower of all knowledge. I am the one who appears in many forms, all over the world. I am also the one who resides in all the beings.”
“aham RaaShtree, Vasoonaam sangamani, cikituShee, bhooristhaatraam. aham bhoori aavEsayanti.”
She has more to say and also with a note of caution
“Whatever food that one eats comes from me, i.e. I am the source of all nourishment. One’s ability to see, hear and even to survive by breathing is sheerly because of me. If someone ignores these facts, such a person is doomed to perish.”
“yah annam atti, yah praaNiti, yah vipasyati, yah srNOti mayaa. maam amantavah tE upa kShiyanti.”
Does it sound like height of arrogance?
But the word arrogance loses its meaning for someone who has dropped all association with her limited identity. She is no more Vaak, sage AmbhrNa’s daughter, when she utters these words!
“She is the one who moves around freely like the air, supporting all the beings. She is the one who pervades beyond all the worlds, all on her own, forever.”
“vaata iva visvaa bhuvanaani aarabhamaaNaa ahamEva pra vaami. Diva parah, Enaa prthvyaah parah, mahinaa Etaavatee sambabhoova.”
Only those who have ever reached those heights can understand how she feels. But then, not just her, all of us can reach that height, if only we can transgress our limited identity. That is the ultimate in devotion – to be one with the divine.
Let me conclude this Vaak Sukta with traditional chanting.
Aham Rudrebhih vasubhih charami,
Aham aadityeih uta vaisvadevaih,
Aham mitraa varuNObha bibharmi,
Aham indraagni, aham asvinObha \1\
Aham somam aahanasam bibharmi
Aham twaShTaaram uta pooShaNam bhagam,
Aham dadhami draviNam haviShmatE,
supraavyE yajamaanaya sunwatE \2\
Aham raShtree samgamanee vasoonaam,
chikituShee prathamaa yajniyaanaam,
taam maa devaah vyadadhuh purutraa,
bhooristhatraam bhooari aavEsayanteem. \3\
mayaa so annamatti yo vipasyati, yah praaNiti
y eem srNOthi uktam,
amanatavO maam ta upakShiyanti,
srudhi srutha sraddhivam tE vadaami \4\
AhamEva swayam idam vadami,
juShTam dEvEbhih uta maanuShebhih,
yam kaamayE tamtam ugram krNOmi,
tam brahmaNam tam rshim tam sumEdham\5\
Aham rudraaya dhanuh aa tanOmi,
brahmadwiShE saravE hantavaa u,
Aham janaaya samadam krNOmi,
Aham dyaayaaprthiwee aa vivEsa \6\
Aham suvE pitaramasya moordhan,
mama yonih apsu antariti samudrE,
taatah vi tiShThE bhuvanaanu viswOta,
Amoom dyam varShmaNOpa sprsaami \7\
AhamEva vaata yiva pravaami,
AarabhamaaNaa bhuvanaani viswaa,
parO divaa para Ena prthiwyaa,
Etaavatee mahinaa sam babhoova \8\
Credits:
1. “Saayana Bhashya of Rigveda”, By Sayanacarya, 16th century.
2. “Devi Suktham – (Vaak Ambhrini Suktham – Chanting) with English translation”,
Ramesh Krishnakumar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKchlH7IHlY
© Dr. King, Swami Satyapriya 2023
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