मनन Manana · ReflectStep 7 of 9
Nāsadīya Sūkta · Ṛgveda 10.129.6
Verse 6The gods came later
को अद्धा वेद क इह प्र वोचत्कुत आजाता कुत इयं विसृष्टिः ।
अर्वाग्देवा अस्य विसर्जनेनाथा को वेद यत आबभूव ॥
ko addhā veda ka iha pra vocat kuta ājātā kuta iyaṃ visṛṣṭiḥ |
arvāg devā asya visarjanenāthā ko veda yata ābabhūva ||
Meaning
Who truly knows? Who here can declare it? From where was it born, from where this creation? The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this world. Who then knows from where it has arisen?
Word by word
Words joined in recitation are shown split. Where sounds change at the joins, the dictionary form is given under the word.
Reflection
Who really knows? Who here, on this earth, can say where it came from? The gods came after creation, so they cannot tell us either. The Upaniṣads read the gods as the senses: fire as speech, the sun as sight, the wind as breath. Read that way, the verse says that our senses arrived after creation, and cannot see back to its source. Whatever we are looking for lies behind the very tools we use to look.
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