Selected Hymns from the Rig Veda: Sri Aurobindo in The Secret of the Veda

Sri Aurobindo chose a series of 13 hymns from the Rig Veda to quickly illustrate and support his insight to the psychological meaning of the Veda and the dual-sense of the symbols chosen by the Rishis.

It is difficult to systematically study and appreciate the Rig Veda other than through audio programs, inasmuch as considerable force of the revelation comes through in the poetic force and recitation of these verses, and thus, we have created a series of audio files which include introduction by Sri Aurobindo, the recitation of the Sanskrit text of the Rig Vedic hymns chosen, and the English translation provided by Sri Aurobindo. All recordings were created in 1973 at Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Commentary and Translation by Sri Aurobindo. Recitation in Sanskrit by Sri Vinayak. English recitation by Santosh Krinsky. Click on the enclosed links to go directly to each of the 13 audio files included here. Page references to the U.S. edition of The Secret of the Veda by Sri Aurobindo, published by Lotus Press are provided for further elucidation and reading on the subject of each hymn.

Sri Aurobindo writes: “My object has been to show in as brief a compass as possible the real functions of the Vedic gods, the sense of the symbols in which their cult is expressed, the nature of the sacrifice and its goal, explaining by actual examples the secret of the Veda. I have purposely selected a few brief and easy hymns, and avoided those which have a more striking depth, subtlety and complexity of thought and image, — alike those which bear the psychological sense plainly and fully on their surface and those which by their very strangeness and profundity reveal their true character of mystic and sacred poems. It is hoped that these examples will be sufficient to show the reader who cares to study them with an open mind the real sense of this, our earliest and greatest poetry. By other translations of a more general character it will be shown that these ideas are not merely the highest thought of a few Rishis, but the pervading sense and teaching of the Rig-veda.”

Rig Veda Samhita Mandala I, Sukta 170 The Colloquy of Indra and Agastya, pp. 241-244

Rig Veda Samhita Mandala I, Sukta 4 Indra, Giver of Light, pp. 245-253

Rig Veda Samhita Mandala I, Sukta 171 Indra and the Thought-Forces, pp. 254-262

Rig Veda Samhita Mandala I, Sukta 77 Agni, the Illumined Will, pp. 263-271

Rig Veda Samhita Mandala V, Sukta 81 Surya Savitri, Creator and Increaser, pp. 272-280

Rig Veda Samhita Mandala III, Sukta 61 The Divine Dawn, pp. 281-286

Rig Veda Samhita Mandala V, Sukta 82 To Bhaga Savitri, the Enjoyer, pp. 287-293

Rig Veda Samhita Mandala IV, Sukta 48 Vayu, the Master of the Life Energies, pp. 294-302

Rig Veda Samhita Mandala IV, Sukta 50 Brihaspati, Power of the Soul, pp. 303-313

Rig Veda Samhita Mandala IV, Sukta 45 the Ashwins, Lords of Bliss, pp. 314-323

Rig Veda Samhita Mandala I, Sukta 20 the Ribhus, Artisans of Immortality, pp. 324-330

Rig Veda Samhita Mandala I, Sukta 154 Vishnu, the All-Pervading Godhead, pp. 331-338