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 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 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.”
Sri Aurobindo provides extensive analysis of the role and significance of Mitra and Varuna in Chapter VII Varuna-Mitra and the Truth in The Secret of the Veda (pp. 65-74) and in his analysis of a Hymn to Varuna, (pp. 531-535)
Varuna-Mitra and the Truth Secret of the Veda Chapter VII: Varuna and Mitra are two of the Godheads that invoke psychological powers within the seeker to bring about the transformation of consciousness. Sri Aurobindo provides an extensive description of these powers, and thereby also shows us the obvious psychological sense of the Rig Veda.
The recordings were made at Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1973. Introductory comments from Sri Aurobindo’s The Secret of the Veda, Chapter VII. Sanskrit Mandala I, Sukta 2 recited by Sri Vinayak. English translation by Sri Aurobindo (Mandala I, Sukta 2, Riks 7-9) recited by Santosh Krinsky. (Secret of the Veda, pp. 65-74). Sanskrit Mandala V, Sukta 66 recited by Sri Vinayak. English translation by Sri Aurobindo recited by Santosh Krinsky. (Secret of the Veda, pp. 477-478
Hymn to the Surya and Mitra-Varuna, Mandala VII, Sukta 60 In The Secret of the Veda, Sri Aurobindo showed that there is a deep, esoteric sense to the Vedic hymns that is the real sense of the hymns. This Hymn to Surya and Mitra-Varuna describes the sun of Truth and the consciousness that supports and develops it. The English translation was provided by Sri Aurobindo in The Secret of the Veda, pp. 536-537. The recordings were made at Sri Aurobindo Ashram in 1973. Sanskrit recited by Sri Vinayak. English translation recited by Santosh Krinsky
Sri Aurobindo, The Secret of the Veda, U.S. edition published by Lotus Press
Sri Aurobindo Studies 