Agni and the first hymn of Rik Veda

This is a narration on the first hymn of Rik Veda, with original text , meaning and etymology. It describes the self illuminated, all manifesting Universal Consciousness and the invocation by the seers.

1. Agni and the First Hymn of Rik Veda
(All Sanskrit words which are written in  italics  fonts are
available in the Sanskrit English Lexicon by Sir Monier
Williams. These are the ‘Itrans’ version of ‘Devanagari
Unicode’----- http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni- koeln.de/
monier/ )
(Written by following the teaching of the Seers Shri.
BijoyKrishna Chattopadhyaya {1875-1945} and his principal
disciple Shri. Tridibnath Bandyopadhyaya {1923-1994}. --
[email protected])
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Rik veda means  vedana  or the streams of consciousness from the
Universal Consciousness called  Rik. Ri means to
move ;  Rik means moving toward  'ka'. ' ka' is the first consonant.
Consonants are also known as  vya~njana (coloured,
manifesting)  varNa (alphabet). So,  Rik veda means that aspect
of Universal Consciousness from whom the perceptible,
coloured, dimensional universe is manifesting. So, the Universal
Consciousness is addressed as  agni, the lord of fire in the first
and subsequent hymns of Rik Veda.  agni is the self-manifesting,
self-illuminated Universal Consciousness by whom everything
is manifested.
Hymn
“agnim Ile purohitam, yaj~nasya devam Ritvijam, hotaaram
ratnadhaatamam.
Overall meaning

2. Let agni flow in us, (who is) the god (revealer / who brings
everything into expression) of yaj~na (event, activities), the
Ritvik (implementer), the hotaa (the host; one who summons or
invites everyone and runs the event), the (ratna+dhaatRi) holder
of the gem.


Word by word meaning; significance of the words and brief
narration.
agni ----god of fire.  agni----ag (front) + ni (lead)----who leads
being in the front.

agnim is the accusative case of  agni. The root word  ‘nI’ means
‘to lead’. The word ‘agra’ means ‘foremost’ or ‘front’.
agni is the self-revealing active Universal Consciousness, who is
before every manifestation and whose manifestation is the entire
universe.  agni is also called  praaNa  or praaNa-agni.


Ile (pronounced as 'eele') means ‘let flow’.
Ile (eele) is from the word  ' Il ' (eel) meaning 'to flow'. This root
word ' Il' (eel) is also is the base of the word 'Electricity'.
This flow, described by the word  ‘Il’ implies the ‘flow that takes
along everything in oneness’. As the electricity flows through a
conductor, the material is polarized in opposite charges and an
associated magnetic field or domain of electricity is created and
we say that the conductor is electrified; similarly as  ‘agni’ the
‘eternal  praaNa’ or ‘eternal Consciousness flows in us we are
blazed or illuminated in Consciousness. This flow is happening
whenever we sense anything.

3. As a vision comes in me, it is  agni the Consciousness in the
form of that visionary sense flows in me. The Consciousness
takes the form of ‘vision’ or what is seen.
In Consciousness, the vision, the center of visionary function
(eye) and the beholder, all are created instantaneously. Our
vision is a part of this entire process. Thus, in every sense or
perception,  agni takes us in Him (in  agni) and flows. This is
‘Il’ (eel). Knowing  agni like this, the seers have also
addressed  agni as ‘agnim Ile’!
Notes
As we live by eating food, assimilating and getting calories,
conversely as the Consciousness or  agni flows (or knows) in us,
He burns us. Anything in fire becomes fire. This is ‘Il’ ----
flowing of senses, flowing of Consciousness and taking us in
that.
The seers have mentioned about two  naaDI or two streams of
Consciousness------  IDaa and pi~Ngalaa. The stream in which
we are assimilated in  agni or Consciousness is  IDaa. It is like
going back to our source or core along with a feeling or an
action.  agni takes us along with Him during the course of every
event and that event becomes past.
pi~Ngalaa is where we are scattered in the Consciousness,
where we are coloured with feelings and senses as we go
through an event or as we feel or sense.
purohitam is the accusative case of  purohita.
purohita----puro (in front) +  hita ( situated, placed)---who
always remains ahead of everyone, who is the frontier.

4. purohita---- pura (body, abode) +  hita (placed inside or resides
inside)---who is inside us;  hita also means 'welfare or good';
so purohita  also means who is inside us for our good and
welfare.
praaNa or fire is inside our body and is burning as
life. praaNa is purohita. 
praaNa is in us in five forms called  praaNa, vyaana, apaana,
samaana, udaana. These five forms are also
called  pa~ncaagni = pa~nca (five) +  agni.
One aspect of  agni is anva-aahaarya- pacana-agni----the fire
or agni by which assimilation happens. (Chandogya Upanishad
—4/12/1).
anva---anu+ a—following;  aahaarya— foods;  pacana—
digestion; anva-aahaarya-pacana-agni is  agni whom foods /
senses and the assimilation follow.
purohita ---pu (repeatedly) +  rohita (red)---who reddens every
now and then.
Red in Sanskrit is  'rohita' and originates from the root word 'ruh'
which means to grow, to sprout, to ride.
Thus, Consciousness reddens before creation. This is stated as
"yad agne rohitam rupam tejastad rupam"....the red hue of 'agni'
is that of his  'teja' or vibration / energy. (Chandogya Upanishad
—6/4/1)
teja means  tad(that—Consciousness) + aejati (vibrating); the
vibrant aspect Consciousness as the source of any event or
creation. Vibration means, ‘though moving, still the movement

5. is contained within the soul or self’; the motion that does not
throw the moving away from the source of motion.
yaj~na…to control by knowing or the control by the
Consciousness. yaj~nasya is the genitive case of the
word yaj~na. ‘ya’ means to control. ‘ya’ is a semi vowel
corresponding to the vowel ‘e’ (meaning 'to move')
and E (meaning 'energy or shakti'); energy in Consciousness is
the 'act of knowing’. Thus, the word  yaj~na implies that in any
event, the Consciousness remains within and by the act of
‘knowing’ controls the event. (More precisely, everything
remains within the Consciousness.)
Thus, any activity, any action anywhere is  yaj~na'. The
'Universal Consciousness knows Him /Her as that activity or as
that event and that’s how an event is created, gets into action and
ends. In Consciousness, 'to know' means 'to become'.
As each of us is a form of Universal Consciousness so every
action in us and by us is the part of the action or knowing by
Universal Consciousness and is  ‘yaj~na’. Thus, everything and
every event is ‘yaj~na.
(It is interesting to note the following.The word ‘havana’ also
means ‘yaj~na’ or the action of Consciousness which creates the
‘events’. The word ‘happen’ in English has some resemblance
with ‘havana' and so also the Bengali word ‘haowaa’ meaning
‘to happen’. Also, the word ‘have’ in English is a sort of
auxiliary verb related to ‘activity’ or ‘action'.)


devam> accusative case of the word  ‘deva’. The

6. word deva means someone who is self- revealing or radiating,
self -expressing. Our nature is to receive and live on that. This is
characterized by planets and the characters of the creatures who
are dwelling in the planet. Thus, planets are called 'graha' and
the word graha also means 'act of receiving or obtaining'. The
planets (graha) receive light and motion from the sun. Light is
the revelation, creation and motion is the flow of life. In the
earth, the environment is already created for us to live and we
get all the living from the mother earth. In  deva loka (divinity),
the act of living happens by revealing or expressing everything
from the self or soul. Each aspect of Universal Consciousness is
represented by such a revealing personality called 'deva' or a
deity. The water, air, sky, earth and everything in divinity is an
eternal personality of the Universal Consciousness, each
representing a particular aspect or form of the Universal
Consciousness.  agni, the Universal Consciousness, from whom
everyone is created or revealed, has been addressed as ‘devam'.
Ritvijam is the accusative case of the word ‘Ritvik’.
Ritvik means who makes everything 'realized".  Rita means '
flow' or who flows or comes out to become 'satya' or realized.
Thus, the words  'Rita' and 'satya' are paired words. Rita is like
the 'negative' of a photo film;  satya is like the picture developed
from the negative film.
So, Ritvik means the implementer. The Consciousness brings out
each and every event, each and every moment from Him /Her
as Ritvik. He /She gives it a realization and thus everything is
materialized and materializing.

7. hotaa means who is calling or the caller of an event.

hotaaram is the accusative case of the word  hotaa.
hotaa is from the root word 'hu'. The word 'hu' means 'to
sacrifice', 'to oblate’.  'hu' also means ‘to call to the self or to the
soul'. Thus, one form of 'agni' is called 'aahavanIya'. 
'ahavanIya' is from the word ‘aahava’ or 'aa +hu. ‘aa’ means to
call to merge in  aatman or Oneness and  hu means to sacrifice
(which means to ‘happen’ or ‘become the same’ with  aatman or
the soul).
The Universal Consciousness is always calling us to integrate in
Her/Him, in Oneness. So, this is 'hotaa' the 'caller'.
Thus 'hu' means to summon everyone in the soul.
Every action is originating from  agni and ending in  agni. As the
action or an event originates and progresses, at the same time it
regresses or simultaneously returns to the source. Thus,
everyone and every event has a beginning and ending. So, we
say that everything is from the past and everything goes back to
the past. This is how everything happens or is done. The English
word 'do' is probably the word  'hu'. ' havana ' is 'hu +ana',
i.e. hu in animation or  hu in action.
ratnadhaatamam---  ratna (gem or treasure) +  dha( to hold).
ratnadhaa means the one who is holding the treasure or a gem.
ratnadhaatamam is the accusative case of ratnadhaataa.
This entire creation is the treasure of the Universal
Consciousness and She/ He is holding the universe. Everyone is
held and placed in one's respective orbit.
The word 'rata' means 'the act of remaining in a certain state'.
Each such state or stationary status is a creation of the

8. Consciousness and is a  'ratna'  or a gem. Each such gem has
specific lusters of the Consciousness or of the self-
revealing  'agni'.
Universal Consciousness is One and Only one and everyone is
from this Universal One and made of this Universal One.
When this Oneness is revealed to an individual, he or she finds
this Oneness as his or her root. This is called  aNu (micro/
atomic) aatman  (soul) or  pratyak  (pointer / inward)  aatman.
When he or she realizes that this ‘One’ in him or her, is the
‘One’ everywhere, then such 'One' is the 'Universal One /
Universal Soul' or ‘paramaatman’. Thus, every micro soul is
held by the Universal soul. This is the meaning of holding the
‘gem. In each individual, this soul or micro- soul is behind the
sense or the assertion ‘I am’  (aham). It is called ‘savyam’ or
‘assertion less self’ in Sanskrit.

I die, I sleep; but ‘savayam’ neither dies nor sleeps. ‘savayam’ is
immortal, immutable.


A few significant Vedic words related to  agni.
vahni---- agni is also called  vahni. vahni means the one who
carries. The verb form is  vahana which means the act of
carrying and also ‘vehicle’. The words are sometimes formed by
retroversion and alphabets are rearranged. One such example is
vahana and havana.
All sorts of communications and transports are controlled
by agni and are within the domain of  agni.
agni is also the carrier or the vehicle of all the deities. Thus in
'havana' when the gods or the deities are invoked, they are

9. carried and led by 'agni' to the invoker. Whatever forms of
communication exist, whatever ways of transport exist, be the
wireless communication, be the verbal communication, be the
communication in nerves and cells, be the transport by fuel
propulsion or whatever, are within the domain of 'agni'.
Rik--- Ri means to flow;  k or ka is the first consonant of Sanskrit
alphabets. The expressed universe, the dimensions, anything that
has a name, that has a definition or a dimension, are the
expressed words or the words spoken by the Universal
Consciousness. Words are the defined expressions.
Thus,  Rik means that aspect of the Universal Consciousness
from whom everyone is expressed in a defined manner.It is the
eye of the Universal Consciousness from where the defined,
perceptible Universe is emerging.


Rik, archi, arka------The expansion of the word  Ri is 'ar'. So,
when Rik is expanded it becomes 'arka'. arka also means the sun
or a flashing light or an arc of electricity. Thus,  arka is the self-
illuminated Consciousness behind every expression of  Rik.
The root word  kRi meaning to do or perform and is also related
to the English word ‘create’.  kRi is ‘arka’ in reverse way.  kRi if
expanded becomes  ‘kar’ or ‘kara' which ‘means ‘hand’ or the
‘doer.  ‘kara’ also means the rays. If you see your activities in
your Consciousness, inside you, rested in your soul or
Consciousness, then they become ‘arka’. Any work or an
activity is the formation or dimension by the rays of
Consciousness. (Work and  arka sound somewhat similar.) The
physicality or the physical plane (which is actually the

10. physicality of Consciousness or His/ Her physical form) is the
dimensional form of the Consciousness. The dimensions,
shapes, colours etc. are made by Consciousness out of
Consciousness. These are the rays of the Sun or the Soul.
Consciousness becomes everything by knowing HIM/ HER as
that thing. Thus, this Universe is the knowledge of the
Consciousness and we are tiny and micro forms of the Universal
consciousness.

The word  archi, means rays or self - illuminating rays and is
from the word  Rich which means verses of  Rik veda. The
word archna means psalms or hymns and more correctly ‘the
self-praising or self-narrating hymns’. Thus  archi, the rays, are
from archana.
The English word ‘arc’ is related to the word  arka and also
means the bending or curved motion of the Universal
Consciousness. The revelation, vision or the light of
Consciousness (or Conscious light) bends to create. Thus, it has
been mentioned in Upanishad that the deities or the devas (who
are revealing, shining personalities of the Universal
Consciousness) always love the indirect dealings and they hate
the direct dealings. The words  parokSha (parah >  para = indirect
or different +  akSha=eye /  akSha=axis) and
pratyakSha (prati =direct +  akSha = eye / vision or axis) are
mentioned with regard to the deities in Upanishad / Veda. As
deities are behind the creation of the universe or behind all
revelations, so (in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad) it is said that they
like the indirect look or the indirect deals. If the deal is direct,

11. the creation will not be stable; it will merge in the Creator or the
Universal Soul.
In Chandogya Upanishad it is said that the divinity is the bent
stem or bent line of genealogy of  ‘aaditya’ the centre of
‘Oneness’ who is radiating into many. (Chandogya, 3/1/1.)
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Other articles:
The five vital airs, the five aspects of praaNa <https://
www.scribd.com/document/310401 05/Five-Vital-Air-Five-
Aspects-of- Praana>
Agni-Self-revealing-Universal- Consciousness <https://
www.scribd.com/do cument/16364338/Agni-Self-revealing-
Universal-Consciousness>