Description of Goddess Vac (Goddess of speech)

Vac is the goddess of speech, and she personifies the metres. She is one-syllabic 28 and she is also the indestructible 27 29 r 30° letter. She is Vc or the sacred verse, and she is the saman (a song of praise) to be sung by the prastaty (singer who praises) 31 32 too She is the foundation of saman. She shines in various ways on account of throwing light on the meaning of speech, and in the 17 Maitrayani-samhita III : 6 : 18, Taittiriya-brahmana III : 3:11:6. 18 Maitrayani-samhita IV : 2:14. 19 PVB XII : 12:14. 20 Satapatha-brahmana V : 14 13:20. 21 Taittiriya-brahmana II : 285, Maitrayani-samhita II : 13198. 22 Taittiriya-brahmana III = 3:1:2. 23 Jaiminiya-brahmana III : 4:2:1. 28 PVB XX L 15:2, Maitrayani-samhita IV:2:14, IV : 5:23. 24 Atharva-veda IV 3):2. 29 Taittiriya-brahmana II : 2:8:5. 27 325 Taittiriya-brahmana III: 3:11:6. 30 26 Taittiriya-brahmana I 1:3:1. Maitrayani-samhita III : 10 : 25, Aitareya-brahmana(Rigveda) V : 114. Jaiminiya-brahmana I : 2:2:2, I : 8:1:8, I: 8:2:2, SmvB I: 1:1:12. 31 Jaiminiya-brahmana I: 11:1:3, I:13:1:2, 1:2, 1:13:1:1, III : 61814. 1:7:2:8, 32 Smv BI :1:12, Aitareya-brahmana(Rigveda) V: 1:4.

202 deciphering of the meaning of words, she bounds forth the casting aside all diffidence 33 with the help of speech, the sacrificial 34 mantras (formulae)are uttered, and people can speak of the 35 various forms of gods and men, too. She supports Mitra, Varuna, Indra, Agni and both the Asvins, and she also supports the heady soma, Tvastar, Risan 36 37 and Bhaga. 38 39 40 She protects her worshippers, and overcomes their enemies. Her paths are guarded by Pusan, and she is well-guarded by Indra. She in her turn is also the guardian of Indra. 41 She is sometimes identified with the cow. She holds the 42 form of a cow, and gives milk to her devotees. 43 She is praised well with Vedic mantras by the worshippers, 44 and she is said to be a singer of praises. 45 She is possessed of the highest birth, and she is the .46 refuge of all the living creatures in the world 66 She is held to 47 be the sarparajni, queen of serpents. She speaks inaaccordance 48 with her mind, and she is asked to approach an existence which is 49 free from affliction. 42 44 N❤34O C O O 2:4:10. Taittiriya-brahmana I: 2:4:10, Gopatha-brahmana II : 21. 13 Taittiriya-brahmana I Satapatha-brahmana II : 3:2:11. Taittiriya-brahmana I # 2:5:2. Taittiriya-brahmana II 28: 4 & 5. # KB XXVII : 4. 48 Satapatha-brahmana II : 312:16. 49 Satapatha-brahmana II : 3 ; 8; 12. 33 Taittiriya-brahmana I: 2:5:2. 34 Taittiriya-brahmana I : 2:512. 35 Taittiriya-brahmana I : 2:512. 45 36 37 3:ww Atharva-veda IV : 30:1, TE II : 2:75. Atharva-veda IV : 3016. 46 38 Taittiriya-brahmana II : 21815. 40 Satapatha-brahmana II : 3:2:16. 41 Taittiriya-brahmana II : 21814. 47

203 50 She personifies the earth and the atmosphere: She blows forth like the wind, and goes beyond the earth and the sky; such 51 is her greatness. Her womb is within the waters, that is, the ocean, and from there she extends herself to all beings; even 52 beyond the sky, the summit is touched by her. Through her characteristic features, the ajya-lauds and the days are divided 53 55 54 56 She holds life in her womb, and she is possessed of a thousand-fold progeny. She has been given birth by the gods, and she is regarded as the mother of Vedas. She personifies the the L 57 58 59 Brahman, and the whole universe is said to have arisen from her. A reference may be noted in relation to Vac being conceived as the mother of the Vedas : 66 The Taittiriya-Brahmana says that the goddess vac is eternal and that she is the mother of the Vedas and the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad speaks of her as the sole cause of the Vedas. V. Vagdeni is described as eternal and the Vedas that spring up from Vac are also eternal. The eternality of Vac and her evolutes is intelligible only when the Vedas are considered as the manifestations of Vac and not as products newly brought into existence by Vac. The same divinity is known as Vac in its unmanifest state and as Vedas when manifest. It also easily follows that Vac in essence is not different from the 1260 Vedas but is identical with the Vedas. 50 Jaiminiya-brahmana I : 1:2:1, Satapatha-brahmana II : 416:16, 56 Atharva-veda IV : 3015. 57 Taittiriya-brahmana I # 214110. Taittiriya-brahmana II 2:8:5. 51 Atharva-veda IV # 30:8. . 58 Jaiminiya-brahmana II : 316, II : 5:1:2. 52 Atharva-veda IV : 30:7. 53 PVB XX : 15:2. 60 V. Swaminathan, "Asya 54 Maitrayani-samhita II : 13 : 98. 55 Satapatha-brahmana III : 4:513, III : 416#3. 59 Satapatha-brahmana I : 183#16. Vamasya sukta : A new interpretation of Verse 41," Visveshvaranand Indalecies)

$ A reference may be noted in connection with the role she plays in creation in Vedic mythology # a 204 Vac's character is richly developed in the Brahmanas in a series of myths and images that associate her with creation and ritual. Vac's indispensability in ritual and cult (in which spoken or chanted 'mantras are essential) is emphasised in myths that tell of how the gods stole her or seduced her away from the demons after the creation of the world and having obtained her, instituted sacrificial,rituals that sustain the creation and produce bounty, life and immortality (Satapatha-brahmana#3.2.1.18-3.2.3.30). Without her the divine rituals would not have been possible. In her. role as creator, Vac is said to create the three Vedas (Satapatha-brahmana: 5.5.5.12) and the three Vedas are in turn, the earth (Rigveda), air (YV) and the sky (SV) - (Satapatha-brahmana 4.6.7.1 & 3). At another place she is said to have entered into the sap of plants and trees, thus pervading and enlivening all vegetation (Satapatha-brahmana: 4.6.9.16). Prajapati, the central (Satapatha-brahmana deity in the Brahmanas, is described as initiating creation by commingling his mind and his speech. (Satapatha-brahmana : 6.1.2.5 & 16). Elsewhere it is said that Vac, having been created by Prajapati's mind, wished to become manifest, to multiply herself to extend herself, and so it was that creation proceeded, impelled by Vac's urge to create (Satapatha-brahmana; 10.5.3.4 & 12). Vac plays a significant role in Vedic literature, not only in terms of being mentioned often but also from a theoretical point of view. Theologically it is suggested that she is co-eternal with Prajapati. Although the Brahmanas are not consistent, they sometimes state that the Veda is created by Prajapati. She does not seem to have a theologically exalted position in these texts.

205 There are also hints that it is through the Vedas or in pairing with her, that Prajapati creates. This is different from the role of Sakti in later Hindu philosophic schools, in which the male counterpart of Sakti tends to be inactive. Prajapati toils and desires to create. Nevertheless, Vac's role in the Brahmanas is suggestive of the nature of Sakti in later Hinduism. Her role vis-a-vis Prajapati is also suggestive of the theory of sabia-brahman (the absolute in the form of sound) and the sphota theory of creation (in which the world is created through sound) 61 Stella Kramrisch considers Vac as a form of the Great Goddess. She says $ a She is the movement of and in the waters of creation, mother of the godhead. She is the centre of the vortex in which is her stillness, the transmundane axis sending forth, breathing forth waves of worded sound, vibrant in the Aksana, the creative syllable. r Vak, the Great Goddess born in the flowing waters while she stands still giving birth to the Father on high, moves as she breathes in the gale of the spirit with the power of her will when she chooses those she loves and who hears her sing her own song. By her own will she makes fly Rudra's arrow of destruction. It strikes fatally. Mermaid of the Ocean of Light, lover and warrior, she chooses seers and poets through whom she speaks. She is power itself, embodied movement of the light waves and mother who creates her own father. 61 David Kinsley, "Hindu Goddess - Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition," Archive Publishers, Distributors, New Delhi, 1987, pp. 12-13.

206 No god is named as her consort, she is the absolute mistress of creation. The Great Goddess, in her form as Vak, is not a cosmogonic goddess. But - being speech she gives birth to the Father through whom the cosmos comes into 62 existence ... etc. 66 Among the gods and goddesses of the Rgveda, the goddess Vac, deified Holy speech or Utterance, is so devoid of anthropomorphic qualities as to lack even a minimum of mythology.' It might be questioned that she deserves to be called a goddess at all. Macdonell gives her only eleven lines in his Vedic Mythology (P. 124, with an additional remark or two on pp. 87. 137), scanty treatment, which is justifiedly the fact that her personification is hardly more than one of grammatical gender and remains so until the post-rgvedic period when she has blended with Sarasvati. In the Rgveda and Atharva-vedas, broadly speaking, she attains only a fair degree of importance as a bit of hieratic metaphysics, representing, the ultimate elevation of the magic power, which holy sound is considered to , possess. She seems to have received no popular exaltation nor to have had a popular following. Yet within a limited priestly circle, one of those concerned with religious or philosophical speculation, she came to occupy a commanding position, rivalling the lofty status of such conceptions as the masculines Prajapati, Visvakarman, Purusa, Brhaspati, Brahmanaspati and the the neuters Brahman and Tad Ekam. 63 62 63 "The Indian Great Goddess," History of Religions, Vol. 14, No. 4, May 1975, pp. 247-248. W. Norman Brown, "The Creative Role of the Goddess Vac in the Rgveda," in Heesterman (ed.). Pratidanam : Indian, Iranian and Indo-European Studies presented to F.B.J. Kuiper on his 60th Birthday (The Hague, 1968), p. 393. 1

207 The Goddess Vac was generally looked upon by the Vedic Aryans as the goddess of speech. They worshipped her for the grant of wealth, food, cattle, etc. They invoked her for giving them protection against their opponents too. She came to play a very important part in the sacrifices performed by the people, because those sacrifices had to be conducted with mantras or sacrificial formulae which could be recited only with her help ise, the help of speech. Her role in sacrifice grew bigger during the period of the Brahmanas because at that time the sacrifices including the mantras accompanying them had become very complex and difficult. Therefore her help was sought by the people in deciphering those intricate sacrificial formulae. It is true that there are many points of similarity between Vac and Sarasvati viz. both are regarded as goddess of speech, etc. But still there are a few points of difference between them too, for example, Vac is mainly conceived of as a goddess of speech, whereas Sarasvati is not only looked upon as a goddess of speech, but was initially also considered as a river-goddess. Again, unlike Vac she is regarded as a physician capable of curing the people of diseases. Vacis unlike Sarasvati is never invoked by the devotees for the bestowal of progeny and wisdom or knowledge. Sarasvati is imagined as a wife and a daughter, but Vac is never conceived of as either Therefore, keeping in mind these points of dissimilarity between Vao and Sarasvati, they cannot be regarded as reflections -

208 : of the same divinity. They are quite different from each other It may be noted that since Sarasvati and are mutually exclusive. starts being considered as only a goddess of speech in the period of the Brahmanas, that is, she gets merged in the personality of Vac, leads some people to think of Vac and Sarasvati as different forms of the same divinity. L Vac is the apotheosis of the abstract concept of hogos, sacred word on the Cosmokrator Fogos. Since this word brings creation into existence, it cannot be related to other male gods as wife, mother, daughter and sister. Because she is basically a disembodied abstract concept, her characteristics are 65 vague and general viz : she is said to be resounding, divine, 67 68 64. immortal 66 distinguished? prosperous vigorous, lustrous, and 71 she holds the form of blessings, etc. and for the same reason, there are no concrete feats to her credit. The concept of the word that creates is found in many mythologies of And God said : 'Let there be light and there was light' (Genesis 1. In all mythologies it appears at a late stage and may have originated from the observation of an earthly overlord's potent words which were immediately obeyed, on which action was taken by his underlings without delay. Such words of potentates appeared as creative, 64 Jaiminiya-brahmana III # 6:8:4. 65 Satapatha-brahmana III: 5:2:11. 66 Taittiriya-brahmana II : 2:8:4 & 5. 67 Maitrayani-samhita IV: 5:23. 68 Satapatha-brahmana II # 3:8:12. 69 Satapatha-brahmana II : 4:5:3. 70 Rigveda VIII : 100:11, Atharva-veda XIX : 9:3. 71 Taittiriya-brahmana II : 2: 7:5.

209 that is, immediately carried out into action. From this the the mythopoeic imagination conceived a "primordial cosmic word" which was obeyed by creation coming into being as if it was a creative cosmic mandate of Supreme Being. N On another level, Vac is the exaltation of the culturally charged word, the matrix of civilisation as the age of the Brahmanas perceived it; it was the most abstract root of the potent mantra. It was with the help of Vac that the powerful and sacred mantra (or sacrificial formula) was formulated and recited by the off 1- ciating priest. The mantra was regarded as powerful since through the proper recitation of the mantra at the sacrifice the people could hope to attain the fulfilment of their desires. The mantra was an integral part of the sacrifice which had come to play a very important part in the lives of the people, especially during the period of the Brahmanas. The success of a sacrifice depended upon the proper recitation of the mantra accompanying it. The mantra was considered as sacred because it was through the proper recitation of the mantra at the sacrifice that the people could come into close contact with the gods especially with the almighty God, that is, Prajapati or Brahman. Again, it was through the proper recitation of the mantra at the sacrifice that the people could attain heaven. Therefore, it may be easily understood why Vac was looked upon as the most abstract root of the potent mantra. Later, the Mimamsa philosophy came up with the concept of Apurva, the magic :

210 power which renders the sacrificial formulas potent. natural corollary of the apotheosis of Vac. 72 This was a Vac helps obtain all the names, and she unites the Vedas 73 and metres. She fulfils all the desires of the people, and through 74 her all desires are expressed." Through her grace, the rich milk- 75 -yielding cow comes to the sacrificer. 76 She delights the fire, and is beseeched to be pleased 78 77 with an enjoy the soma. She is the oil-fed rite, and is looked 79 upon as the fire: She is prayed to accept the sacrifice of the 80 worshipper. She also is the mother of al 181 She extends as far as Brahman extends; wherever there is Vak, there is Brahman and 82 vice versa. This equation of Vac with brahman is significant : brahman is word charged with the supernatural power of the sacrifice. Hence Vac also becomes the magically potent word which renders the sacrifice effective. 83 She is the seed of mind, and her 84 86 85 87 seed is action. She is the Erhati, Brahman, Saman, Githa, 72 Sankhayana-aranyaka V : 4 & 6. 73 Sankhayana-aranyaka VII : 18. 74 A AI : 312. 75 Paraskara-grihya-sutra I : 19:8. 76 77 32 Sankhayana-aranyaka X : 2. 86 Brihad-aranyaka-upanishad I : 3:22. 87 Brihad-aranyaka-upanishad I : 3:23. KES IX: 11:19. A A V : 312, Satyashadha-srauta-sutra II : 8:2:6, ASS V : 616. 78 79 32 AAI : 1:4. A A II : 1:5. 80 81 AAI : 1:4. Sankhayana-aranyaka VII : 18, Brihad-aranyaka-upanishad I: 587. - A 82 Aitareya-aranyaka I : 318. 83 Aitareya-aranyaka II # 113. 84 Chandogya-upanishad I : 2:11, Brihad-aranyaka-upanishad I : 3 (20. 85 Brihad-aranyaka-upanishad I : 3 : 21.

211 89 90 91 92 88 world Rgveda, divine, known. Atri, and is the best-founded? She is the Rc on which rests the life (saman), and is the upholder 93 94 _95 of the saman. She is the Viraj, prastava, gayatri (all this 96 97 creation), and is one of the four feet of Brahman. In this series of equations, Vac becomes the cardinal entity of the sacrifice, gathering in herself its several links and accessories. She is 98 99 established in the mind, and is benevolent and famous. She is sweet-sounding and is highly praised. is highly praised 100 She perso- 101 nifies all beings and everything, 102 104 sounds and she is united with the 103 breath. She is the symbol of the Rathantara, and embodies all the 105 She is excellent, and personifies all kinds of holy 106 work, for example, itihasa-purana. The Sankh cs 107 107 says that the Medha-janana rite is performed by saying thrice in the child's right ear, "Speech (Vac)", that the father then recites over the child the formula 66 May the goddess speech perceiving through mind together with her child breath, uttered by Indra, rejoice in thee for the sake of pleasure; the great goddess who is sweet- -sounding, melodious, fluent and self-produced. 88 Brihad-aranyaka-upanishad I : 5:4. 08 Manava-grihya-sutra I : 4:4 & 8. 99 Manava-grihya-sutra II #1316. 89 Brihad-aranyaka-upanishad I 155. 100 Paraskara-grihya-sutra I : 19:2. 90 Brihad-aranyaka-upanishad I: 5: 8 & 6. * 101 Sankhayana-aranyaka IV: 3, II: 15 & 17. 91 Brihad-aranyaka-upanishad II : 214: ** 92 Brihad-aranyaka-upanishad VI : 112. 93 Chandogya-upanishad I : 711, 94 Chandogya-upanishad I % 13$2 95 Chandogya-upanishad II 19:1. 96 Chandogya-upanishad III :12:1. 97 Chandogya-upanishad III : 1813. 102 Sankhayana-aranyaka VII : 14. 103 Sankhayana-aranyaka VII, 19. 104 Sankhayana-aranyaka VII 1 22. 105 Sankhayana-aranyaka IX : 2. 106 Sankhayana-aranyaka VIII : 11. 107 1.24. 9-10.

212 The Aryans of the later Vedic period no longer held Vac to be such an important goddess as before. But they still considered her as the goddess of speech, and also thought her to be the saman, the metres, the Vedas, etc. She does not play an important part in the sacrificial ritual performed by the people any more. It is also noticeable that she underwent certain changes in the period from the Aranyakas to the Sutras. She was conceived as a somewhat abstract goddess in the period of the Aranyakas and Upanisads, for example, she was thought to be the seed of the mind, the personification of all kinds of holy work, etc. Yet as before, she was still looked upon as the personification of Brahman, and also of the whole universe or creation.