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W. Norman Brown
Among the gods and goddesses of the Rgveda the goddess Vac, deified
Holy Speech or Utterance, is so devoid of anthropomorphic qualities as to
lack even a minimum of mythology. It might be questioned that she
deserves to be called a goddess at all. Macdonell gives her only eleven
lines in his Vedic Mythology (p. 124, with an additional remark or two on
pp. 87, 137), scanty treatment, which is justified by the fact that her
The Rgvedic sources for this view of_Vlc are the three hymns 10.71,
10.125, and 1.164, the last ascribed to Dirghatamas. Of these the most
informative is 1.164, though the information it contains about Vic has
not had the attention from scholars which they have given to the others
and which it deserves, perhaps because the puzzlesome character of that
hymn as a whole may have veiled from them the light it casts upon her
role. This fact has been impressed upon me in the course of an intensive
study which I have been making of that hymn. Deussen, for example, in
that it is Vac who is the One Real (km st) of stanza 46. 2
As the Holy Utterance of the Vedic ritual, Vic, in the eyes of her
cult, was the final apotheosis of the power of spells, charms, incantations.
Macdonell points out (loo. ait.) that in the Naighantuka (5.5) she "is
enumerated among the deities of the atmosphere; and* thunder, or mdhyamik
vc, 'the voice of the middle region', in the terminology of the commentators
(Nir. 11.27), may have been the starting point of the personification."
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- 20 -
him Vic does not reside in the atmosphere e Her place is at the peak of
the universe: "On the top of yonder sky, they say, is Vac, who knows
a^l but does not enter all11 (mantryante divo amsya prsth vvavdam
vacam vivaminvm , RV 1.164. 10). 3 This would be in the* upper half of*
heaven, which is separated from the lower half by the vault (nka; see
Macdonell, op. cit., p. 8fe), which the Sun does not enter, for it is
possibly because it is mortal, dying every evening, and only the immortal
attain to Vac's abode, as RV 1.164 45 makes clear: "Vc was divided in
four parts. These those Brahmans with insight (and hence immortality;
see RV 1.164.22-25) know. Three parts, which are hidden, mortals do^not
activate; the^fourth part they speak" ^{oatvri vuk primita padni tni
vidur brhman y mansinah / ah trtni nihita nngayanti turtyam vo
syllable, on which the gods in highest heaven have ail taken their seat
- what will he who does not know it accomplish by means of the rcVy
upon nothing outside_herself , as is also the neuter "That One" {td kam)
lowed ^and thus fashioned the tumultuous chaotic floods {gauriv mirriya
beginning and That One breathed (came into existence) by its own
had fashioned the floods, the (heavenly) oceans flowed forth from her,
in consequence of which the four directions exist, and then the aksra
she had also produced the aksra, the instrument with which the unorganized
material was to be organized. To make use of the aksra and with it
perform the first sacrifice, which was that of creation, the "heroes"
{virh) took over (RV 1.164.43). Who the "heroes" were and what their
origin Dirghatamas does not state. On the basis of RV 10.72, which is
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another hymn describing creation, it might be thought that they were the
seven Adityas, who are there cast in that role. Or the "heroes" may be
the "three long-haired ones" (tryah kenah) in the stanza (44) just
following that in which the "heroes" are mentioned. These three "longhaired ones" also are not clearly identified though a fair guess is that
they are Agni, Surya, and Vayu, acting respectively as the fire priest, ^
the supervising priest, and the manipulating priest at the first sacrifice.
It seems that the first sacrificers needed Agni to teach them the ritual
so that they could function. It is possible, but not certain, that in
Agni, we may assume, had been instructed in the aksra and its use
have communicated it to the first sacrificers when they laid down the
(1.164.5); these sacrificers were the kavis mentioned above who spread
At this first sacrifice the Sun was produced (RV 1.164.5-10) and by
means of a repetition of that sacrifice it is now caused to rise each
The hymns RV 10.71 and 10.125 do not offer materials for a consecutive
account of Vac in the role of creator. At best they only remark upon certain
features of it. The stanzas RV 10.125.7-8 give us the most information:
"On the brow of this universe I give birth to the Father. My birthplace
(home) is in the Waters in the (heavenly) ocean. Thence I spread out over
the worlds on all sides. I touch yonder sky with the crown of my head (7).
I breathe like the wind supporting all the worlds. Beyond the sky, beyond
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These stanzas agree with RV 1.164 in that they place Vac's abode at
the top of the universe (1.164.10) and have her encompassing the worlds
on all sides (1.164.45; cf. Purusa in RV 10.90.3). They add to the
account of 1.164 in specifying that Vic gives birth to the Father (Dyaus?) ,
and herself supports the worlds as does the Wind; in 1.164.13,14 it is the
Sun which supports the worlds. RV 10.125.1-3 states that Vac travels
with (supports?) the Rudras and the Vasus, the Adityas and the Vive
Devh, and supports Varuna and Mitra, Indra, Agni, and the Avins, Soma,
Tvastr, Pusan, and Bhaga, and that the gods have distributed her
manifoldly* and call her the first of those to be worshipped, who dwells
in many homes. These assertions recall the division of Vac in four parts
by the first sacrificers, so that she is known to mortals as Indra, Mitra,
the statement that she dwells in many places corresponds in some degree
to the statement of RV 1.164.10 that Vic knows all but does not enter all
RV 10.71 says very little about Vic's creative role; rather it seems
For those who like Dirghatamas considered Vac the creator and the
supreme power in the universe it was entirely consistent to think of the
highest knowledge as being knowledge of her and understanding her
utterances. This was to be knowledge not only of the one part which
mortals speak but also of the other three parts which mortals do not
know the ritual in all its minutiae and in its full application; they
also know the full metaphysical significance of the separate parts of the
ritual. Such a priest, who is rare, is differentiated from ordinary
priests, who may know the parts of the ritual and their sequence well
enough but have never penetrated to its true transcendental quality and
do not understand the full coordination of the separate functions of the
different technical priests who officiate at the sacrifice. RV 10.71
elaborates this point and discriminates between those priests who look
but do not really see and listen but do not really hear and that priest
who really sees, really hears (stanzas 4, 7). The latter kind wins in the
sacrificial contest and brings glory and rewards to the priestly college
view in very similar terms; such a one, who really sees and really hears,
has her favor. Priests of this sort justifiably "laud their portion of
was the first sacrifice and all the occurrences that preceded it. In
10.129.4; 10.130*6.
But how does a seeker win such a vision, gain such transcendental
knowledge? It does not come to him easily; it comes only through intense
mental application, concentration. A common expression for the method to
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With such effort one may have this surpassing vision. Then only does
Vc grant him her favor, "make him powerful, a true knower of the mystical
become one of the happy few, successful in the fullest and the highest
sense, an immortal destined to share the loftiest heaven with Vic.
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- 24 NOTES
Rigv. 1.164" (see in 4th ed. Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1920, I1, pp. 105-
119.)
RV 1.164o41).
visible but not his form (dhrajir kasya dadre n rupm) . The
rare word dhrji, here translated "onrush," is used only twice else-
the Wind (vta) , while the related words dhrajas and dhrjmat are
used only of the Wind or of something compared to the Wind; see also
among the uses of the verb dhraj. Agni, Surya,^and Vyu are mentioned
7, The text says: "Here, where the birds (priests) in conclave flawlessly
laud their portion of immortality, the mighty herdsman of the whole
world, the wise one (Agni), has entered me, the simpleton" (ytr
8. "On this five-spoked wheel (the Sun) as it revolves all the worlds
bhvanani viv (RV 1.164.13). And again, "The unaging wheel (the
Sun) . o . the eye of Srya c^. . all the worlds are kept in motion
9. The text reads: ahm suve pitaram asya rmrdhn mama ynir apsv
nth samudr / tto vi tisfhe bhvarinu vivotmum dyp varsmypa
spvOxni /y ahm ev vata ivq pr vamy rbhamna bhvanni v^v /
paro div por ena prthivyaitavat mahin sm hbhva //
10. RV 10.125o5cd: jjm kamye tm^tam ugrm ki^omi tm brahmnam tm
tsim tm sumedhm*
o
11.
RV
10o71e4cd:
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ut
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1. I travel with the Rudras and the Vasus, the dityas and the
Viva Devas. Both Varuna and Mitra do I support, Indra and Agni, and
the Avins.
4. Through me that one eats his food who really sees, who
breathes, who hears (me as) that which is spoken. Though knowing it
not, they dwell with me. Hear, you man of renown, I tell you what
5. Only I myself say this in which gods and men rejoice. Whomever
I give my favor to, him I make powerful, a true knower of the mystical
power, a rsi, a successful sacrificer.
6. I stretch the bow for Rudra so that his arrow may reach the
hater of religion and destroy him. I rouse the battle fury for the
people. I have penetrated Heaven and Earth.
7. On the brow of this universe I give birth to the father.
My birthplace is in the water, in the ocean. Thence I spread out
over the worlds on all side. I touch yonder sky with the crown of
my head.
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- 26 -
W. Norman Brown
what was perfect, which had been kept in secret, was revealed from their
love (of mankind) [Utterance of a name caused the creature named to
come into existence.]
2. Where the Wise, as if cleansing grain with a sieve, with mental
application produced Vac, there the colleagues recognized the usages of
collaboration; their auspicious symbol lay in Vac.
3. With the sacrifice they followed Vac's track; they found her
entered in the rsis. They brought her out and divided her manifoldly.
Seven singers join in praising her.
4 One (priest) looks but does not see Vac; one listens but does
not hear Vac. To another she discloses herself like a richly arrayed,
passionate wife to her husband.
fixedly reserved; they do not urge him to take part in the sacrificial
the product of their mental quickness shaped by the heart (that is,
nor to that (that is, lazily stay still), acting neither as priests
nor as preparers of soma, and insincerely sidling up to Vc, they
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innate wisdom; another (the manipulating priest) measures the (totality of)
ANNOUNCEMENT
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