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		<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0" align="center">
		<b><i>A. Vedic Conception of the Poet</i> </b></p>
		<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0" align="center">&nbsp;</p>

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<font face="Times New Roman"><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;</font>

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<font face="Times New Roman">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>kavi?
</i>The Poet is he who by his poetic power raises forms of beauty
in heaven—<i>kavih kavitva divi rupam asajat.<sup>1</sup></i> Thus the essence of
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, <i>didhaya manlsa,<sup>3</sup></i> a faultless understanding, <i>sumedha.<sup>3</sup></i> He is the supreme Artisan of the poetic
power, <i>Tashta4,</i> the maker of perfect forms, <i>surupa krtnum.*</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>indnyas,</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>

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&nbsp;<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0" align="justify">
<font face="Times New Roman"><i><font size="2">Rig Veda, X. 124. 7.</font></i></font><font size="2">
</font>

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<font face="Times New Roman"><i><font size="2">1The Secret of the Veda,</font></i><font size="2"> by Sri Aurobindo.<br>
3 <i>Rig Veda, III. 38. 1.<br>
</i>3 <i>Ibid., I. 4. 1.<br>
</i>4 <i>Ibid., III. 54. 17.<br>
5Ibid., X. S. 3.</i></font></font><font size="2"> </font>

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Page 335<hr>

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<font face="Times New Roman">the poet is the priest who calls down and works out the right
thinking in the sacrificial labour of creation,<sup>1</sup> 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.<sup>2</sup>
The poet envisages the golden, forms fashioned out of the very profundity of the 
consciousness.<sup>3</sup> 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>

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<font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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 satyadrastarah.</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>ninyam, pracetas;</i> his is the eye of the Sun, <i>surya 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;</font>&nbsp;
<font face="Times New Roman">he is knower as well as creator. He has a dynamic knowledge
and his vision itself is power, <i>nrcaksah;<sup>9</sup></i> he is the Seer-Will, <i>kavikratuh.<sup>10</sup></i> He has the blazing radiance of the Sun and is
supremely potent in his self-luminousness.<sup>11</sup> The Sun is the light
and the energy of the Truth. Even like the Sun the Poet gives
birth to the Truth, <i>surya satyasava, satyaya satyaprasavaya.</i> But
the Poet as Power is not only the revealer or creator, <i>savita,</i> he
is also the builder or fashioner, <i>tasta,</i> and he is the organiser, <i>vedhah,</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<br>
as Vedha he maintains the Truth in its dynamic working. The</font>

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&nbsp;<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0" align="justify">
<font size="2" face="Times New Roman">1 <i>Ibid. I. 151. 7.</i></font><font size="2">
</font>

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<font size="2" face="Times New Roman">2 <i>Ibid. IV. 16. 3.</i></font><font size="2">
</font>

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<font size="2" face="Times New Roman">3 <i>Ibid. VIII. 8. 2.</i></font><font size="2">
</font>

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<font size="2" face="Times New Roman">4 <i>Ibid. X. S. 2.</i></font><font size="2">
</font>

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<font size="2" face="Times New Roman">« <i>Ibid. IX. 96. 17;</i></font><font size="2">
</font>

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<font face="Times New Roman"><i><font size="2">'Ibid. I. 71. 10; kavmi ketim-VH. 6. 2.</font></i></font><font size="2">
</font>

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<font size="2" face="Times New Roman">7 <i>Ibid. IX. 10. 8-9.</i></font><font size="2">
</font>

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<font size="2" face="Times New Roman">« <i>Rig., Veda, VIII. 44.12.</i></font><font size="2">
</font>

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<font face="Times New Roman"><i><font size="2">&quot;Ibid. III. 54. 6.<br>
u Ibid. I. I. 5.<br>
</font>
</i><font size="2">» <i>Ibid. VII. 59. 11.<br>
</i>u <i>Ibid. V. 52. 13.</i></font></font><font size="2"> </font>
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Page 336<hr>

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<font face="Times New Roman">effective marshalling and organisation of the Truth is what is
called Ritam, the Right; it is also called Dharma,<sup>1</sup> the Law or
the Rhythm, the ordered movement and invincible execution
of the Truth. The Poet pursues the Path of the Right;<sup>2</sup> it is he
who lays out the Path for the march of the Truth, the progress
of the Sacrifice.<sup>3</sup> 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>

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<font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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, priyani.</i> His hand is dripping with sweetness, <i>kavir hi madhuhastyah.<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><sup>
</sup>

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<font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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.11 The Earth is lifted up and given marriage
to Heaven in the home of Truth, for the creation and expression of the Truth in its varied beauty, <i>
caru citram.</i></font>

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<font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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 truthforms. 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>

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<font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Mind and the Body are held together by means of the
Life, the mid-world. The Divine Mind by raising the body-</font>

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&nbsp;<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0" align="justify">
<i><font size="2">1 Ibid., III. 38. 2.</font></i><font size="2"> </font>

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<font size="2">2 <i>Ibid., VIII. 8. 23.</i>

</font>

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<font size="2">3<i>Taittiriya Samhita,<b> </b> III. 5S. 3.</i>

</font>

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<font size="2">4<b> </b> <i>Rig Veda,<b> </b> III<b>.</b> 38. 1.</i>

</font>

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<font size="2">5 <i>Ibid., IV. 16. 11.</i>

</font>

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<i><font size="2">&nbsp;6Ibid., V. 5. 2.</font></i><font size="2"> </font>

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<i><font size="2">&nbsp; 7 Ibid., IX. 25. 2.</font></i><font size="2"> </font>

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<i><font size="2">&nbsp; 8 Ibid., IX. 25. 6.</font></i><font size="2"> </font>

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<i><font size="2">&nbsp;9 Ibid., IX. 25. 4.<br>
</font>
</i><font size="2">10 <i>Ibid., IX. 25. 5.<br>
</i>11 <i>Ibid: III. 54.6.</i>

</font>

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<font face="Times New Roman">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>

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&nbsp;<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0" align="justify">
<font face="Times New Roman">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.
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.<sup>1</sup></font><sup> </sup>
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&nbsp;<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0" align="justify">
<font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; All the gods are poets—their forms are perfect, <i>surupa,
sudrsa,</i> their Names full of beauty, <i>cam devasya nama,<sup>2</sup></i> This
means also that the gods embody the different powers that
constitute the poetic consciousness. Agni is the Seer-Will, the&nbsp;
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>

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<font face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 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.<sup>3</sup></font><sup>
</sup>
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&nbsp;<p style="line-height: 150%; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:0" align="justify">
<i><font size="2">1 Rig Veda, 111. 38. 2. 3.</font></i><font size="2"> </font>

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<font size="2">2 <i>Ibid., 1. 24. I.</i> </font>

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<font size="2">3 The Vedic term <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>
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Page 338<hr>

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