Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Nasadiya Sukta (भारत एक खोज)

I know that there are three main vedas: Rig Ved, Sam Ved and Yajur Ved. I havent read any. I am a big fan of good old television serials that used to come on Doordrshan. One such serial was "Bharat Ek Khoj" based on Jawahar Lal Nehru's "Discovery of India". My mother says that when I was very young say 2 to 3 years old, I used to recite that entire shloka and the subsequent song of that serial. People used to get amazed at this. I still remember the song and the shlokas. The only difference is that I know now the correct pronounciation and meaning of that song. I found out that the song is based on teachings of Rig Veda.
It is called "Nasadiya Sukta" (Nasadiya means'not-being') of Rig Veda where the basic question of existence is asked. The rishi, the narrator of the veda asks the question that when there was "nothing" absolutely "nothing" then the 1st thing that came into being was called "GOD". How can we say that 'He' was symbolism of truth when no such concept was known. Rishi asks how was the world created.
The answer is given in the sukta itself. They say that when there was nothing, there was a warmth. The darkness was wrapped all over even then the first seed was born called desire. The knowledged people tried to differentiate between 'being' and 'not-being'.
The question of whether the God is worth devoting to or not is also answered in the later part of the song where the symbolism of knowledge called "Hiranya-garbh" is defined. It describes which God should we pray to while performing 'karma' or a 'yajna'. The last line says that "the ONE whose arms are widespread and engulf each one of us, YES, that God is worth devoting".
Presented below is the actual Hindi Lyrics of that Song.



नासदासीन नो सदासीत तदानीं नासीद रजो नो वयोमापरो यत ।
किमावरीवः कुह कस्य शर्मन्नम्भः किमासीद गहनं गम्भीरम॥



सृष्टि से पहले सत नहीं था
असत भी नहीं
अंतरिक्ष भी नहीं

आकाश भी नहीं था

छिपा था क्या, कहाँ किसने ढका था

उस पल तो अगम अतल जल भी कहां था


नही थी मृत्यु , जी अमरता भी नही,

नही था दिन, रात भी नही,

हवा भी नही, साँस थी स्वयमेव फिर भी,

नही था कोई कुछ भी , परम तत्त्व से अलग , या परे भी

कर्म बनकर बीज पहला जो उगा,


काम बनकर वो जगा।


कवियों, ज्ञानियों ने जाना ,


असत और सत का निकट सम्बन्ध पहचाना


पहले सम्बन्ध में - हिरण्य

परम तत्त्व उसपर

ऊपर या नीचे ....... वह था बंटा हुआ ।

पुरूष और स्त्री बना हुआ ....

-----------(not remember it now; the full song was shown only in last episode)

ऊपर .......नीचे ......

सृष्टि यह बनी कैसे ,

किससे आई है कहाँ से ।


क्या कोई जानता है ,

बता सकता है ।


देवों को नही ज्ञान,

वे आए सृजन में क्यों ??



सृष्टि का कौन है कर्ता? कर्ता है या है विकर्ता?
ऊँचे आकाश में रहता
सदा अध्यक्ष बना रहता
वही सचमुच में जानता
या नहीं भी जानता
है किसी को नही पता
नही पता
नही है पता
नही है पता



Now these are lyrics of the ending track:


हिरण्य गर्भः समवर्त्ततागृह् भूतस्य जातः पतिः एका असीत् ।
सा दधारा पृथ्वीं ध्याम उतेमो कस्मै देवाय हविषा विधेम् ॥


वह था हिरण्य गर्भ सृष्टि से पहले विद्यमान
वही तो सारे भूत जात का स्वामी महान
जो है अस्तित्वमान धरती आसमान धारण कर
ऐसे किस देवता की उपासना करे हम हवि देकर

जिसके बल पर तेजोमय है अम्बर
पृथ्वी हरी भरी स्थापित स्थिर
स्वर्ग और सूरज भी स्थिर
ऐसे किस देवता की उपासना करे हम हवि देकर

गर्भ में अपने अग्नि धारण कर पैदा कर
व्यापाथा जल इधर उधर नीचे ऊपर
जगा जो देवों का एकमेव प्राण बनकर
ऐसे किस देवता की उपासना करे हम हवि देकर

ओअम ! सृष्टि निर्माता स्वर्ग रचयिता पूर्वज रक्षा कर
सत्य धर्म पालक अतुल जल नियामक रक्षा कर
फैली है दिशाएं बाहु जैसी उसकी सब में सब पर
ऐसे ही देवता की उपासना करे हम हवि देकर
ऐसे ही देवता की उपासना करे हम हवि देकर

4 comments:

Guru said...

nayi shuruat....hum aapke saathh.....

Anonymous said...

For the correct meaning of the creation (nasadiya) hymn, please read the ebook:

A HORSE AMONGST DONKEYS

Unknown said...

I guess even I could chant the signature tune of Bharat Ek Khoj (Nehru's Discovery of India). Later I came to know how politically motivated it was there is no mention of Subhash Chandra Bose throughout the series, perphaps Congress bias. It seems Tata Steel had to sponsor the series as a punishment for an incident with Russi Mody or Tata's not sure.

Here it is "M J read an extract from his book on an incident (that Russi Mody had himself narrated to M J) of how a young Russi had once opened the door of a room in the Governor’s House and had seen Jawaharlal and Edwina in a clinch. “Jawaharlal Nehru looked at Russi Mody and grimaced. Russi quickly shut the door and walked out.”
http://www.mjakbar.org/2016/02/18/the-india-club-book-talk/

Unknown said...

Micheal angelo has portrayed a small child as god and portrayed the same person after 15 years as devil. It is the surroundings that make men good or bad. In India the same surroundings (Environment)(British and foreign rule) has ruined its culture. Now its making you people think 'Is there a horse among donkeys?'

But everything that happens is manifestation of GOD.