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<title>THE SECOND SUKTA</title>

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<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:center; line-height:150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0"><b>
<font size="4">THE SECOND SUKTA</font><o:p></o:p></b></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span style='font-size:
8.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The upward spirit, the
conscious <span class=SpellE>energising</span> power, the aspiration-fire that
resides at the root of all spiritual disci­plines as their fount and primal
inspiration has been invoked in the first <span class=SpellE>sukta</span>. The
present <span class=SpellE>sukta</span> throws light upon the different steps
and rungs of that upward spiritual discipline.</p>

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150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The
Vedic spiritual discipline aims at Truth, the Right and the Vast. The ordinary
life consists of body, life and mind. The trivial work, the insignificant
inspiration</p>

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<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;'>Page-98<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'><span class=GramE>and</span>
enjoyment of life, the limited knowledge of the mind - man is aware of nothing
beyond. But there is something above the body, life and mind. When one reaches
that higher plane, one becomes full of truth-consciousness, that is to say, one
owns the nature and the law of conduct of, the Gods. Body, life and mind stand
in the way of the aspi­rant to the realm of the Gods. However, for that we are
not to deny the existence of or do away with body, life and mind. What is
actually needed is the purification and transforma­tion of these three
instruments. There are three stages of pu­rification and transformation;
accordingly the present <span class=SpellE>sukta</span> has been divided into
three parts each containing three <span class=SpellE>riks</span>.</p>

<p class=MsoBodyTextIndent3 style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0">The first three <span class=SpellE>riks</span> deal
with the purification and trans­formation of life-energy. <span class=SpellE>Vayu</span>
is the presiding Deity of life-energy. <span class=SpellE><i>Vayuh</i></span><i>
<span class=SpellE>pranah</span> </i>(<span class=SpellE>Vayu</span> is
life), says the <span class=SpellE>Mundaka</span> Upanishad. In the <span
class=SpellE>Rigveda</span> too there is a clear<span style='font-size:10.0pt'>
indication of it. It </span>says, <span class=SpellE><i>pratnat</i></span><i>
<span class=SpellE>vayurajayata</span> </i>(<span class=SpellE>Vayu</span>
came into existence from the Supreme as Life). This <span class=SpellE>Vayu</span>
or life energy is the <i>raison d’être </i>of all the activities of the
ordinary human life. Life abounds with desires and enjoyments of earthly
objects. The ordinary life is blind and ignorant. It hankers after the
satisfaction of desires. It gets satisfaction even in fleeting pleasures. But
what an aspirant needs in life is to taste the pure and unalloyed nectar which
is the perpetual divine delight inherent in each object.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:10.3pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The
<span class=SpellE><i>Somarasa</i></span><i> </i>is the transcendental Delight,
and this De­light is nothing rather than Immortality. It is also an im­mensely
conscious and luminous exhilaration of the divine existence of the Gods. Truth
must be revealed with the rhythm and words of direct knowledge, and the delight
of the realised truth must be made manifest in life. Those who have done it are
called &quot;<span class=SpellE>Aharvida</span>&quot;. It means they have now
the light of the day. No more do they crave for trivial enjoyments. All the
parts of their being are vibrant, con­scious and filled with the immortal
delight.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;line-height:150%;mso-pagination:
none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>Luminous delight in
profusion must be established in<o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><span class=GramE>life</span>. </p>

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mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>
<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;'>Page-99<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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<p class=MsoBodyText style="line-height: 150%; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0">And for that the mind must
first be purified and made perfect. Indra is the presiding Deity of pure and
perfect mind. Indra gives pure intelligence and with that pure intelligence the
aspirant establishes a pure enjoyment of the quintessence of truth, rich
delight and fulfilment in life. Therefore in the second three <span
class=SpellE>riks</span> Indra and <span class=SpellE>Vayu</span> are in- <span
class=SpellE>voked</span> together.</p>

<p class=MsoNormal style='text-align:justify;text-indent:11.75pt;line-height:
150%;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0'>The
last three <span class=SpellE>riks</span> deal with the full realisation and
the goal of the aspirant. When life is purified, when mind is purified, the
aspirant will be established in that vast and luminous Heaven. <span
class=SpellE>Varuna</span> is the presiding Deity of vastness. The harmony and
the union that came into existence from the infinite expanse of <span
class=SpellE>Varuna</span> are the gifts of <span class=SpellE>Mitra</span>.
Lord <span class=SpellE>Varuna</span> removes the limitation, isolation and<span
style='font-size:10.0pt'> </span>disunion of our ordinary knowledge. He tears
away the hostile force that compels us to remain narrow and small. Hence -he is
called <span class=SpellE><i>Risadasam</i></span><i>. </i>And <span
class=SpellE>Mitra</span> is our divine Guide. With his clear vision he unites
all the objects together in perfect har­mony. When an aspirant attains to the
level of indivisible harmony in the infinite, in the limitless, he arrives at
the fundamental Truth and his action then becomes the in­fallible manifestation
of that Truth. Indra possesses pure intelligence. Behind him stand the two
powers of the Infinite <span class=SpellE>Varuna</span> and <span class=SpellE>Mitra</span>.
It is they who have made intelligence full or<i> </i>Knowledge and Energy. They
are also called poets, <i>i.e., </i>the seers of Truth. It is because of their
infinite expanse, eternal rhythm, and inborn power of truth that the aspirant
is able to draw the stupendous inspiration of <span class=SpellE>energising</span>
power and an unobstructed pure genuine capacity to carry on all his activities
in life.</p>

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<span
style='font-size:10.0pt;'>Page-100<o:p></o:p></span></p>

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