Upanishads
SAKSIVC
Page 68 of 111
Word meaning with explanation: suryasya, of supreme God savitr who activates
all rtam, the supreme Truth in its own form, rtena, by the truth in the form of
the universe standing as the three worlds denoted by the term lower half,
apihitam, concealed apashyam, I have seen yatra, in which supreme Truth vam,
of you both, mitra varunayoh, Mitra and Varuna, the place is dhruvam, secure or
eternal; where ashvan vimuchanti, they mass the rays and marshal them. And
where dasha-shata, the ten hundred rays stood together in on place devanam
vapusham shrestham tad ekam, of those that had attained the form of the Gods
or of the embodied Gods, the excellent, most auspicious Form, presiding over,
yet above the Cosmos, known to the rishis famously as That, without compeer,
dazzling, brilliant, the Form of Truth, have I seen.
Here it is to be noted: Sayana explains vam in the third case as the subject of
the impersonal voice; we read it as your place, seat, vam yuvayoh, sixth case.
Either way there is ellipsis. That the seat of Mitra and Varuna is the World of the
Sun is not disputed. Sayana says rtena is “by water and rtam is the solar orb. I,
the rishi have seen the sun covered by the water”. On the other hand we say: it
means the rishi says he had beheld the Light celebrated in the Hymns as
varenyam bhargah the excellent Effulgence, tad vishnoh paraman padam, that
highest step of Vishnu sarvadhatamam shreshtham, the excellent all-sustainer
the One supreme Truth known by the terms tat, That, shining in that High Ether,
the pure, intense and substantial Consciousness--known as akshara, the
Immobile, the Truth whose symbol is the Sun.
To Sayana, ashvah, means ten hundreds of rays. To us also this is acceptable.
But Sayana goes on to explain the purport by drawing upon legends which speak
of the horses of surya imprisoned by asuras called mandeha and others, being
released by the prayers of the invokers. We would suggest that the mention of
release and dwelling together indicate the massing and marshalling of the
brilliance's of the Light of Truth denoted by the word Ray. We accept too the
figurative (metaphorical) meaning “of the embodied Gods” given by Sayana to
devanam vapusham. If it be asked what are two rtams spoken of in rtena rtam,
we would point out: the current use of the terms rta and satya to mean one and
the same thing is also to be found at times in the Veda. But really there is a
distinction between the two. The world satya signifies that which is the eternal,
the supreme, Existence in its own form sat. rtam signifies that which is evident
or perceptible, manifested out of the satya, what has come to be in accordance
with satya or that which represents the satya. In this rik word rta has been
explained in terms of satya. Both the rtams are indeed satya. One is the
supreme satya, Truth, the Eternal of Upper Half known as the supreme Ether.
That Truth, is here said to be covered by an inferior truth of the lower half.
Sayana explains the passage to mean that the cloud covers the Sun and the rishi
saw the Sun on the exit of the cloud. Now, one need not be a rishi to be able to
see the Sun when the cloud has passed; anyone with ordinary eyes can do that!