The Secret Of The Veda Aurobindo - HolyBooks.com

126 The Secret of the Veda
symbol of light, (I.92.4). We may note also that in this hymn
I.92, the Ashwins are asked to drive downward their chariot on
a path that is radiant and golden, gomad hiran. yavad.Moreover
Dawn is said to be drawn in her chariot sometimes by ruddy
cows, sometimes by ruddy horses. “She yokes her host of the
ruddy cows”; yu ˙nkte gavām arun. ānām anīkam (I.124.11), —
where the second meaning “her host of the ruddy rays” stands
clear behind the concrete image. She is described as the mother of
thecowsorradiances;gavā ˙m janitrīakr.ta pra ketum (I.124.5),
“the Mother of the cows (radiances) has created vision”, and
it is said elsewhere of her action, “vision” or “perception has
dawned now where nought was”; and again it is clear that the
cows are the shining herds of the Light. She is also praised as “the
leader of the shining herds”, netrī gavām, VII.76.6; and there
is an illuminating verse in which the two ideas are combined,
“the Mother of the Herds, the guide of the days”, gavā ˙m mātā
netrī ahnām (VII.77.2). Finally, as if to remove the veil of the
image entirely, the Veda itself tells us that the herds are a figure
for the rays of the Light, “her happy rays come into sight like
cows released into movement” — prati bhadrā adr.ks.ata gavā ˙m
sargā nara´smayah. (IV.52.5). And we have the still more conclusive
verse, VII.79.2, “Thy cows (rays) remove the darkness
andextendtheLight”;sa ˙m tegāvas tama ā vartayanti, jyotir
yacchanti. 2
But Dawn is not only drawn by these shining herds; she
brings them as a gift to the sacrificer; she is, like Indra in his
Soma-ecstasy, a giver of the Light. In a hymn of Vasishtha
(VII.75) she is described as sharing in the action of the gods
by which the strong places where the herds are concealed are
broken open and they are given to men; “True with the gods
who are true, great with the gods who are great, she breaks open
the strong places and gives of the shining herds; the cows low
towards the dawn,” — rujad dr.d. hāni dadad usriyān. ā ˙m, prati
2 It cannot of course be disputed that go means light in the Veda e.g. when it is said
that Vritra is slain gavā, by light, there is no question of the cow; the question is of the
use of the double sense and of the cow as a symbol.