From: pvr108 <pvr@charter.net>
Date: 2009/8/30
Subject: [vedic-wisdom] Re: Meaning of one verse from Rig Veda
To: vedic-wisdom@yahoogroups.com
> I cannot give a complete sense of what this verse is saying
> (will try later), but can give an overall big picture first.
Unfortunately, this verse depends on the context built by the previous 14 verses of RV 10.95. Though I intended to type out a detailed mail with my independent interpretation of all the verses in that chapter, it is a big task and I am unable to find time for it.
Fortunately, I chanced upon a nice website giving the Hindi translation (including word-by-word meanings) of all the four Vedas by Swami Dayananda Saraswati. Though not at the same depth as Aurobindo's commentary (which was limited to a few verses), his exhaustive work is quite good.
If you are comfortable with Hindi language, please use this website for commentary on Vedas in future. It is far far far far better than the English commentary on the site you referred to. I checked out some sample verses and quite pleased with the commentary. This work is similar in wavelength to my own thinking and I am comfortable recommending this. Though it does not internalize enough in several places, it is not dumb and silly like other internet commentaries.
In the case of RV 10.95 that you enquired about, Swami Dayananda Saraswati interpreted Pururava as a cloud containing water and Urvashi as vidyut (electricity, i.e. lightening). This is quite intelligent and acceptable to me, though my view expressed in the mail below internalizes it further.
The website is
http://www.aryasamajjamnagar.org/
Click the link on the right for Rigveda bhashya (bhashya=commentary). God bless Arya Samaj folks at Jamnagar!
Best regards,
Narasimha
----------------------------------------------------------
Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homam
Do Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/tarpana
Spirituality: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vedic-wisdom
Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net
Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org
Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org
----------------------------------------------------------
--- In vedic-wisdom@yahoogroups.com, "Narasimha P.V.R. Rao" <pvr@...> wrote in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vedic-wisdom/message/2138:
> Namaste,
>
> Veda is for self-realization. Veda deals with various aspects of dual and non-dual self. There are hardly any good translations or commentaries on Veda in today's world. Aurobindo's commentary (on a small number of riks) is the only intelligent commentary I have come across.
>
> Just as Adi Sankara devoted his life to commenting on some Upanishads, someone like him needs to come and devote life to commenting on Veda, if we are to have a good commentary. Actually, Vivekananda commented on his last day (1902 July 4) on the commentaries on Veda. He had his disciples read a verse from Sukla Yajur Veda, read the commentary by Mahidhara and said that Mahidhara's interpretation did not appeal to his mind. He connected the verse to some later day tantra concepts and wished that his disciples would make an attempt at fresh independent interpretation of mantras from Veda, as the existing commentaries were not good. This was one of the last few desires expressed by Vivekananda before he gave up his body.
>
> Aurobindo said that he had a vision of Vivekananda in his prison cell and that Vivekananda explained some things to him. It is interesting that Aurobindo came up with a sublime commentary on some Vedic verses in later years.
>
> * * *
>
> Do not trust any commentary on Veda. More so the one at the website you mentioned. I checked out a few verses. The translations given by them are usually quite silly. Ignore that website.
>
> * * *
>
> Commenting on a verse from Veda is different. It is not merely an intellectual activity requiring scholarship and logical thinking.
>
> I cannot give a complete sense of what this verse is saying (will try later), but can give an overall big picture first. The verses around this verse alternate between having Pururava as the rishi (seer) and Urvashi as the devata (deity) and having Urvashi as the rishi (deity) and Pururava as the devata (deity). This is an exchange between Pururava and Urvashi as they pursued each other. You can read various puranic stories about Pururava, the great king from Chandra vamsha, and Urvashi, the beautiful apsara (celestial nymph). They were attracted to each other and lived together on earth. They are personifications of some qualities inside us.
>
> Urvashi comes from ura and vasha. It means one who has the power to control and pull the heart. Urvashi is personification of the attraction that pulls one's heart towards various objects in the field of duality. As a sadhaka does great tapascharya and starts to overcome duality, Urvashi is sent to test one. Urvashi successfully seducing a sadhaka and disturbing his tapascharya means that the sadhaka succumbed to the power of attraction that pulled his heart towards objects and his heart desired something.
>
> Pururava means a crying a lot or crying majestically. He is a personification of the emotional nature and compassion within us. No wonder he is a king in the Chandra vamsha. The solar and lunar lineages that are popular in the scriptures have to do with the solar and lunar channels - Pingala and Ida (respectively). Ida nadi is the channel of emotions, intuition, feeling, compassion etc. So Pururava is from that lineage.
>
> While everyone is charmed by Urvashi - the power of attraction that binds one's heart, Urvashi herself was charmed by Pururava, the majestic and noble king. Pururava rescued Urvashi from a demon once. The majestic and noble quality of compassion saves the power of attraction from having to combine with meaner motives. One's heart can be pulled towards various objects out of the spirit of self-gratification (a demon) or out of kindness and compassion (Pururava). When compassion arises in one's heart, then the heart's attraction to others is driven by compassion rather than the spirit of self-gratification.
>
> The verses you referred to are a dialog between the personification of compassion and personification of the power of attraction that pulls one's heart towards various objects. This whole series of verses has to be interpreted in abstract and internalized terms. It is not a commentary on men and women at all.
>
> More later..
>
> Best regards,
> Narasimha
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homam
> Do Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/tarpana
> Spirituality: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vedic-wisdom
> Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net
> Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org
> Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org
> ----------------------------------------------------------
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: rajarshi nandy
> To: vedic-wisdom@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 10:54 PM
> Subject: [vedic-wisdom] Meaning of one verse from Rig Veda
> Dear Narasimhaji and others
>
> Can you kindly explain the meaning of the following verse from the Rig Veda:
>
>
> http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rvsan/rv10095.htm
>
> The english translation provided is as follows:
>
> 15 Nay, do not die, Purūravas, nor vanish: let not the evil-omened wolves devour thee.
> With women there can be no lasting friendship: hearts of hyenas are the hearts of women.
>
> http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv10095.htm
>
> Is this translation correct? If so, then is this a negative comment on all women?
>
> -Regards
> Rajarshi
Date: 2009/8/30
Subject: [vedic-wisdom] Re: Meaning of one verse from Rig Veda
To: vedic-wisdom@yahoogroups.com
Namaste Rajarshi,
> I cannot give a complete sense of what this verse is saying
> (will try later), but can give an overall big picture first.
Fortunately, I chanced upon a nice website giving the Hindi translation (including word-by-word meanings) of all the four Vedas by Swami Dayananda Saraswati. Though not at the same depth as Aurobindo's commentary (which was limited to a few verses), his exhaustive work is quite good.
If you are comfortable with Hindi language, please use this website for commentary on Vedas in future. It is far far far far better than the English commentary on the site you referred to. I checked out some sample verses and quite pleased with the commentary. This work is similar in wavelength to my own thinking and I am comfortable recommending this. Though it does not internalize enough in several places, it is not dumb and silly like other internet commentaries.
In the case of RV 10.95 that you enquired about, Swami Dayananda Saraswati interpreted Pururava as a cloud containing water and Urvashi as vidyut (electricity, i.e. lightening). This is quite intelligent and acceptable to me, though my view expressed in the mail below internalizes it further.
The website is
http://www.aryasamajjamnagar.org/
Click the link on the right for Rigveda bhashya (bhashya=commentary). God bless Arya Samaj folks at Jamnagar!
Best regards,
Narasimha
----------------------------------------------------------
Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homam
Do Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/tarpana
Spirituality: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vedic-wisdom
Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net
Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org
Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org
----------------------------------------------------------
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vedic-wisdom/message/2138:
> Namaste,
>
> Veda is for self-realization. Veda deals with various aspects of dual and non-dual self. There are hardly any good translations or commentaries on Veda in today's world. Aurobindo's commentary (on a small number of riks) is the only intelligent commentary I have come across.
>
> Just as Adi Sankara devoted his life to commenting on some Upanishads, someone like him needs to come and devote life to commenting on Veda, if we are to have a good commentary. Actually, Vivekananda commented on his last day (1902 July 4) on the commentaries on Veda. He had his disciples read a verse from Sukla Yajur Veda, read the commentary by Mahidhara and said that Mahidhara's interpretation did not appeal to his mind. He connected the verse to some later day tantra concepts and wished that his disciples would make an attempt at fresh independent interpretation of mantras from Veda, as the existing commentaries were not good. This was one of the last few desires expressed by Vivekananda before he gave up his body.
>
> Aurobindo said that he had a vision of Vivekananda in his prison cell and that Vivekananda explained some things to him. It is interesting that Aurobindo came up with a sublime commentary on some Vedic verses in later years.
>
> * * *
>
> Do not trust any commentary on Veda. More so the one at the website you mentioned. I checked out a few verses. The translations given by them are usually quite silly. Ignore that website.
>
> * * *
>
> Commenting on a verse from Veda is different. It is not merely an intellectual activity requiring scholarship and logical thinking.
>
> I cannot give a complete sense of what this verse is saying (will try later), but can give an overall big picture first. The verses around this verse alternate between having Pururava as the rishi (seer) and Urvashi as the devata (deity) and having Urvashi as the rishi (deity) and Pururava as the devata (deity). This is an exchange between Pururava and Urvashi as they pursued each other. You can read various puranic stories about Pururava, the great king from Chandra vamsha, and Urvashi, the beautiful apsara (celestial nymph). They were attracted to each other and lived together on earth. They are personifications of some qualities inside us.
>
> Urvashi comes from ura and vasha. It means one who has the power to control and pull the heart. Urvashi is personification of the attraction that pulls one's heart towards various objects in the field of duality. As a sadhaka does great tapascharya and starts to overcome duality, Urvashi is sent to test one. Urvashi successfully seducing a sadhaka and disturbing his tapascharya means that the sadhaka succumbed to the power of attraction that pulled his heart towards objects and his heart desired something.
>
> Pururava means a crying a lot or crying majestically. He is a personification of the emotional nature and compassion within us. No wonder he is a king in the Chandra vamsha. The solar and lunar lineages that are popular in the scriptures have to do with the solar and lunar channels - Pingala and Ida (respectively). Ida nadi is the channel of emotions, intuition, feeling, compassion etc. So Pururava is from that lineage.
>
> While everyone is charmed by Urvashi - the power of attraction that binds one's heart, Urvashi herself was charmed by Pururava, the majestic and noble king. Pururava rescued Urvashi from a demon once. The majestic and noble quality of compassion saves the power of attraction from having to combine with meaner motives. One's heart can be pulled towards various objects out of the spirit of self-gratification (a demon) or out of kindness and compassion (Pururava). When compassion arises in one's heart, then the heart's attraction to others is driven by compassion rather than the spirit of self-gratification.
>
> The verses you referred to are a dialog between the personification of compassion and personification of the power of attraction that pulls one's heart towards various objects. This whole series of verses has to be interpreted in abstract and internalized terms. It is not a commentary on men and women at all.
>
> More later..
>
> Best regards,
> Narasimha
> ----------------------------------------------------------
> Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homam
> Do Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/tarpana
> Spirituality: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vedic-wisdom
> Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net
> Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org
> Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org
> ----------------------------------------------------------
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: rajarshi nandy
> To: vedic-wisdom@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 10:54 PM
> Subject: [vedic-wisdom] Meaning of one verse from Rig Veda
> Dear Narasimhaji and others
>
> Can you kindly explain the meaning of the following verse from the Rig Veda:
>
> purÅ«ravo mÄ má¹›thÄ mÄ pra papto mÄ tvÄ vá¹›kÄ so aÅ›ivÄ sa uká¹£an |
> na vai straiá¹‡Ä ni sakhyÄ ni santi sÄ lÄ vá¹›kÄ á¹‡Ä á¹ƒhá¹›dayÄ nyetÄ || (Rig Veda Book 10, Hym XCV)>
> http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rvsan/rv10095.htm
>
> The english translation provided is as follows:
>
> With women there can be no lasting friendship: hearts of hyenas are the hearts of women.
>
> http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/rv10095.htm
>
> Is this translation correct? If so, then is this a negative comment on all women?
>
> -Regards
> Rajarshi
