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Vedic Conception of the Poet</TITLE>
	
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<font size="4">A
Vedic Conception of the Poet</font></b></p>
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<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=3><I>'Kavi'
</I>is an invariable epithet of the gods. The Vedas mean by this
attribute to bring out a most fundamental character, an inalienable
<I>dharma </I>of the heavenly host. All the gods are poets; and a
human being can become a poet only in so far as he attains to the
nature and status of a god. Who is then a <I><FONT FACE="Arial Narrow">kavi?
</FONT></I>The Poet is he who by his poetic power raises forms of
beauty in heaven – kavih <I>kavitv<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>
divi r<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">ū</FONT>pam <FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>sajat.<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup1;</FONT>
</I>Thus the essence of <FONT FACE="Times New Roman">poetic power is
to fashion divine Beauty, to reveal heavenly forms. What is this
Heaven whose forms the Poet discovers and embodies? Heaven – Dyaus
– has a very definite connotation in the Veda. It means the
luminous or divine Mind<sup>2</sup> – the mind purified of its obscurity and
limitations, due to subjection to the external senses, thus opening
to the higher Light, receiving and recording faithfully the deeper
and vaster movements and vibrations of the Truth, giving them a form,
a perfect body of the right thought and the right word. Indra is the
lord of this world and he can be approached only with an enkindled
intelligence, </FONT><I>didhay<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>
man<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">ī</FONT>s<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>,<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup3;</FONT></I>
a faultless understanding, <I>sumedh<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>.<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup3;</FONT>
</I>He is the supreme Artisan of the poetic power, <I>Tasht<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>,<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup3;</FONT>
</I>the maker of perfect forms, <I>sur<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">ū</FONT>pa
krtnum.<sup>4</sup> </I>All the gods turn towards Indra and become gods and
poets, attain their Great Names of Supreme Beauty.<sup>5</sup> Indra is also the
master of the senses, <I>indriyas, </I>who are his hosts. It is
through this mind and the senses that the poetic creation has to be
manifested. The mind spreads out wide the Poet's weaving;<sup>6</sup></FONT></P>
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<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup1;</FONT>
<I>Rig Veda, X. </I>124. 7.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><I><FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup2;</FONT>
The Secret of the Veda, </I>by Sri Aurobindo.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup3;</FONT>
<I>Rig Veda, III. </I>38. 1.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><I>4
Ibid., I. </I>4.1.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2>5
<I>Ibid., III. </I>54. 17.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2>6
<I>Ibid., X. </I>5. 3.</FONT><BR>
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<FONT face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10pt;">Page – 42</span></FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=3>the
poet is the priest who calls down and works out the right thinking in
the sacrificial labour of creation.<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup1;</FONT>
But that creation is made in and through the inner mind and the inner
senses that are alive to the subtle formation of a vaster knowledge.<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup2;</FONT>
The poet envisages the golden forms fashioned out of the very
profundity of the consciousness.<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup3;</FONT>
For the substance, the material on which the Poet works, is Truth.
The seat of the Truth the poets guard, they uphold the supreme secret
Names.<sup>4</sup> The poet has the expressive utterance, the creative word; the
poet is a poet by his poetic creation-the shape faultlessly wrought
out that unveils and holds the Truth.<sup>5</sup> The form of beauty is the body
of the Truth.</FONT></P>
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<FONT SIZE=3>The poet is a trinity in himself. A triune consciousness
forms his personality. First of all, he is the Knower-the Seer of the
Truth, <I>kavayah satyadrast<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>rah . </I>He
has the direct vision, the luminous intelligence, the immediate
perception.<sup>6</sup> A subtle and profound and penetrating consciousness is
his, <I>nirgam, pracetas; </I>his is the eye of the Sun, <I>s<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">ū</FONT>rya
caksuh.<sup>7</sup> </I>He secures an increased being through his effulgent
understanding.<sup>8</sup> In the second place, the Poet is not only Seer but
Doer; he is knower as well as creator. He has a dynamic knowledge and
his vision itself is power, <I>nrcaka<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>h;<sup>9</sup><FONT FACE="Arial Narrow">
</FONT></I>he is the Seer-Will, <I>kavikratuh. <sup>l0</sup> </I>He has the
blazing radiance of the Sun and is supremely potent in his
self-Iuminousness.<sup>l1</sup> The Sun is the light and the energy of the
Truth. Even like the Sun the Poet gives birth to the Truth, s<I><FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">ū</FONT>rya
satyasava, saty<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>ya satyaprasav<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>ya.
</I>But the Poet as Power is not only the revealer or creator,
<I>savit<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>, </I>he is also the builder
or fashioner, <I>tast<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>, </I>and he is
the organiser, <I>vedh<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Äh</FONT> , </I>of the
Truth.<sup>12</sup> As Savita he manifests the Truth, as Tashta he gives a
perfected body and form to the Truth, and as Vedha he maintains the
Truth in its dynamic working. The</FONT></P>
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<FONT SIZE=2>1
<I>Ibid., I. </I>151. 7. a <I>Ibid., IV. </I>16. 3.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2>8
<I>Ibid., VIII. </I>8. 2.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">4
</FONT><I>Ibid., X. </I>5. 2.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">8
</FONT><I>Ibid., IX. </I>96. 17;</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">6
</FONT><I>Ibid., I. </I>71. <I>10; kavim ketum-VII. </I>6. 2. 7
<I>Ibid., IX. 10. </I>8-9.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">6
</FONT><I>Rig., Veda, VIII. </I>44.12.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">9
</FONT><I>Ibid., III. </I>54. 6.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">10
</FONT><I>Ibid., I. </I>1. 5.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">11
</FONT><I>Ibid., VII. </I>59. 11.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">12
</FONT><I>Ibid., V. </I>52. 13.</FONT><BR>
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<FONT face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10pt;">Page – 43</span></FONT><BR>
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<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=3>effective
marshalling and organisation of the Truth is what is called Ritam,
the Right; it is also called Dharma,<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup1;</FONT>
the Law or the Rhythm, the ordered movement and invincible execution
of the Truth. The Poet pursues the Path of the Right;<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup2;</FONT>
it is he who lays out the Path for the march of the Truth, the
progress of the Sacrifice.<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup3;</FONT> He is
like a fast steed well-yoked, pressing forward;<sup>4</sup> he is the charger
that moves straight and unswerving and carries us beyond <sup>5</sup> – into
the world of felicity.</FONT></P>
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<FONT SIZE=3>Indeed delight is the third and the supremely intimate
element of the poetic personality. Dear and delightful is the poet,
dear and delightful his works, <I>priya, priy<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Än</FONT>i.
</I>His hand is dripping with sweetness, <I>kavir hi madhuhastya.<sup>6</sup>
</I>The Poet-God shines in his pristine beauty and is showering
delight.<sup>7</sup> He is filled with utter ecstasy so that he may rise to the
very source of the luminous Energy.<sup>8</sup>? Pure is the Divine Joy and it
enters and purifies all forms as it moves to the seat of the
Immortals.<sup>9</sup> Indeed this sparkling Delight is the Poet-Seer and it is
that that brings forth the creative word, the utterance of Indra.<sup>10</sup></FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=3>The
solar vision of the Poet encompasses in its might the wide Earth and
Heaven, fuses them in supreme Delight in the womb of the Truth.<sup>11</sup> The
Earth is lifted up and given in marriage to Heaven in the home of
Truth, for the creation and expression of the Truth in its varied
beauty, <I>c<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>ru citram.</I></FONT></P>
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<FONT SIZE=3>The Poet creates forms of beauty in Heaven; but these
forms are not made out of the void. It is the Earth that is raised to
Heaven and transmuted into divine truth forms. The union of Earth and
Heaven is the source of the Joy, the Ananda, that the Poet unseals
and distributes. Heaven and Earth join and meet in the world of
Delight; between them they press out Soma, the drink of the gods.</FONT></P>
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<FONT SIZE=3>The Mind and the Body are held together by means of the
Life, the mid-world. The Divine Mind by raising the body-</FONT></P>
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&nbsp;</P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY STYLE="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%">
<FONT SIZE=2>1 <I>Ibid., III. </I>38. 2.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2>2
<I>Ibid., VIII. </I>8. 23.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2>3
<I>Taittiriya Samhita, III. </I>55.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2>4. .
<I>Rig Veda, III. </I>38. 1.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">s
</FONT><I>Ibid., IV. </I>16. 11.</FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=2><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">6
</FONT><I>Ibid., V. </I>5. 2.</FONT></P>
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<FONT SIZE=2>7
<I>Ibid., IX. </I>25. 2. </FONT>
</P>
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<FONT SIZE=2>8
<I>Ibid., IX. </I>25. 6.</FONT></P>
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<FONT SIZE=2>9
<I>Ibid., IX. </I>25. 4.</FONT></P>
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<FONT SIZE=2>10
<I>Ibid., IX. </I>25. 5.</FONT></P>
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<FONT SIZE=2>11
<I>Ibid., III. </I>54.6.</FONT><BR>
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<FONT face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10pt;">Page – 44</span></FONT><BR>
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<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=3>consciousness
into itself gathers up too, by that act, the delight of life and
releases the fountain of immortal Bliss. That is the work and
achievement of the gods as poets.</FONT></P>
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<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=3>Where
then is the birth of the Poets? Ask it of the Masters. The Poets have
seized and mastered the Mind, they have the perfect working and they
fashion the Heaven.</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN=JUSTIFY STYLE="margin-bottom: 0; line-height: 150%; margin-top:0"><FONT SIZE=3>On
this Earth they hold everywhere in themselves all the secrets. They
make Earth and Heaven move together, so that they may realise their
heroic strength. They measure them with their rhythmic measurings,
they hold in their controlled grasp the vast and great twins, and
unite them and establish between them the mid-world of Delight for
the perfect poise.<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup1;</FONT></FONT></P>
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<FONT SIZE=3>All the gods are poets-their forms are perfect, <I>sur<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">ū</FONT>pa,
sudr<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">ś</FONT>a, </I>their Names full of
beauty, <I>c<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>ru devasya n<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">Ä</FONT>ma.<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup2;</FONT>
</I>This means also that the gods embody the different powers that
constitute the poetic consciousness. Agni is the Seer-Will, the
creative vision of the Poet – the luminous energy born of an
experience by identity with the Truth. Indra is the Idea-Form, the
architectonic conception of the work or achievement. Mitra and Varuna
are the large harmony, the vast cadence and sweep of movement. The
Aswins, the Divine Riders, represent the intense zest of well-yoked
Life-Energy. Soma is Rasa, Ananda, the Supreme Bliss and Delight.</FONT></P>
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<FONT SIZE=3>The Vedic Poet is doubtless the poet of Life, the
architect of Divinity in man, of Heaven upon earth. But what is true
of Life is fundamentally true of Art too-at least true of the Art as
it was conceived by the ancient seers and as it found expression at
their hands.<FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup3;</FONT></FONT></P>
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<BR>
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<FONT SIZE=2><I><FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup1;</FONT>
Rig Veda, </I>111. 38. 2. 3. </FONT>
</P>
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<FONT SIZE=2><I><FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup2;</FONT>
Ibid., </I>1. 24. 1.</FONT></P>
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<FONT SIZE=2><FONT FACE="Luxi Serif">&sup3;</FONT><FONT FACE="Times New Roman">
The Vedic term </FONT><I>Kavi </I>means literally 'a seer', 'one who
has the vision', as the word 'poet' means etymologically 'a doer', 'a
creator'. I have combined the two senses to equate the terms and
bring out the meaning involved in their more current acceptation.</FONT><BR>
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<FONT face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10pt;">Page – 45</span></FONT></P>
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