4. Vaiśvānara as Good Leader

It is well known that in ancient time there was monarchy and people had great respect towards this form of administration. In the Ṛg-Veda, many verses are found in support of this. Regarding Vaiśvānara, interestingly many verses are found where the sense of a benevolent king or a good leader is expressed. For instance in the Ṛg-Veda I.98.1, Vaiśvānara is described as a good king^[1]. As usual Sāyaṇa gives a ritual sense to the verse and says that the fire mentioned here is the terrestrial fire and when it goes upward, he becomes the sun. In this way he is the deity of multiple worlds and also is the master of these worlds. So a sense of king or leader comes from the interpretion of Sāyaṇa.

Then coming to Dayānanda, he explains the word Vaiśvānarasya as—

viśveṣu nareṣu jiveṣu bhavasya

“Who is born within human being i.e digestive fire”.

Then the second Vaisvanara is explained as sarveṣām jīvānāṃ netā or the leader of living beings. So in his opinion, being a leader,Vaiśvānara directs the people to behave in such a manner that nobody becomes unhappy.

Then explaining the word rājā he explains it as—

nyāyādhiśaḥ sarvādhipatīrīśvaraḥ;

“A good judge, a monarch, master etc.”

All are advised to follow the path of Vaiśvānara who is like a monarch, gives beautiful things and by whose might, sun is seen,shines etc. But as per Dayānanda Pun or ślesa is figure of speech in this verse. So the purpose of this verse may be that everybody should behave according to the direction of Supreme Soul, who pervades everything(as digestive fire). He manifests as the powerful god like Sun and it it is proper to get the knowledge of That One and make the life fruitful in this world.

Similarly, in the Ṛg-Veda, III.3.10, Vaiśvānara has been described as a wonderful leader of men^[2]. He has been assigned adjectives like vicakṣaṇa or 'very cleaver one'. Usually Sāyaṇa takes Vaiśvānara as a form of the fire god. But Dayānanda has taken it as the pradhāna puruṣa or important person.

It is perhaps due to the interpretation of this word as—

viśvān narān nayati;

“Who leads all men”.

So a sense of leader comes from this word. Then the word vicakṣaṇa or very clever is an adjective of Vaiśvānara that exhibits the character of a good leader. A good leader must be very wise, so that a right decision can be taken at the right time. So, when Vaiśvānara is thought of as an important personality, some qualities must be there. Dayānanda finds the Elided Simile in this verse. The purport of the verse is that, a person, who is like Agni, righteous,unfolds various spheres of wisdom, and he is very much helpful to humanity. Again he shares happiness and grief with the fellow men.

In this way, the qualities of a good leader is seen by Dayānanda which comes through a figure of speech. This sense has not been described by any of the ancient and medieval interpreters. So the sense of a good leader is the purport of this verse as per Dayānanda and accordingly he has explained the words in this verse. In this way who knows the inner qualities of Agni through mediation etc. makes it use in daily life and remain happy.

Dayānanda has described Vaiśvānara as a leader par excellence in many verses of the the the Ṛg-Veda. For instance in the Ṛg-Veda, IV.5.1, he has been described as a leader of people^[3].

Sāyaṇa has interpreted—

vaiśvānara as viśvānara sambandhini etadātmakāya;

“Who is related to Viśvānara.”

He has taken Vaiśvānara here as sun or the 'floating fire' (sun). But Dayānanda has interpreted it as 'the leader of men'.

As per the translation of Acharya Dharmadev—

“O king! shining like the fire how can we give happiness to you who are bright with great luster, shower benefits, leader of all persons and upholder of of the state like a dam. With anger and wrath (at injustice) and the one who duly measures, set all of us try to confer happiness on your loving behaviour and the spirit of service”.

So from the above translation it becomes clear that Vaiśvānara is like a good and efficient leader, who protects his fellow men allround.

Dayānanda explains the word Vaiśvānaraya as—

viśveṣu nāyakāya;

“For the leader of the people”.

Then the word agnaye as—

vahnivat vartamānāye viduṣe rājñye;

“For the king /wiseman who is like fire”.

So it is very clear that as per Dayānanda,Vaiśvānara is the leader of the people and is very wise and benevolent to his subjects. Again here is the Elided Simile or Vācakaluptopamā. Through this figure of speech the purport of this verse comes as the ruler of state or a good leader and he is the illuminator of good virtues. Also he restrains the wicked people from doing evil like a strong dam, which restricts water. A good leader takes happiness and misery of their fellow men like his own and infuse virtues within the subjects. In this way, a secular sense like that of a king or wise-man, comes from this verse, through the figure of speech.

In the Ṛg-Veda, III.26.2, Vaiśvānara has been described as a guest having much wisdom, who makes his hosts equally brilliant so as to achieve success in life^[4]. As per Wilson, Vaiśvānara is here a form of Agni and nothing new. Sāyaṇa has treated the word like Vaiśvānara as 'relating to Viśvānara',mātariśvā as lightning, Bṛhaṣpati as the lord of sacrifice and like that. It seems he has interpreted the verse from the ritualistic point of view.But Dayānanda takes Vaiśvānara as viśveṣu nāyakeṣu virājamanam or 'who is present in all the leaders '. Here Agni Vaiśvānara is invoked and has been assigned with the adjectives like brilliant Bṛhaṣpati or guardian of the earth(pṛthivyādinām͘ pālakam), raghuṣyadam or quick moving etc.

However 'Agniṃ' in this verse is explained by Sāyaṇa as—

vidyutādisvarupaṃ vahniṃ;

“Fire in the form of lightning etc.”

Since Vaiśvānara is the deity of this verse, he is treated as lightning or anything having the power of making things active or fit to be used for the benefit of mankind. But a quite different meaning is seen from the interpretation of Dayānanda.

He explains Bṛhaṣpati as the protector of earth, manuṣaḥ as—

mananadharmāṇah;

“Who has this power of thinking or distinguishing, devatātaye as divyaguṅa prāptaye or the act of getting godly qualities etc.”

He thinks of Elided Simile or vācakaluptopamā in this verse, through which a secular sense is derived. As per Dayānanda, the purport of this verse is, a guest, who is full of deep wisdom and divine knowledge, makes his host full of that knowledge. Again by that knowledge of Agni, the host, makes good use of it and utilize to attain divine virtues. So this deep and practical knowledge of fire comes in use of the artisans etc. and they invent new things and ultimately after acquiring wealth, lead a virtuous life. In this way, a secular sense of guest and host, the knowledge of fire and procurement of wealth etc. only comes through this figure of speech, as pointed out by Dayānanda. The words interpreted by earlier interpreters like Sāyaṅa, Ubaṭa etc. have not pointed out this sense, which is done by Dayānanda. As pointed out earlier, Dayānanda followed Yāska's derivation theory and has taken the roots of the words to reveal the true meaning or purpose of this verse. He has taken Agni as the another name of the Supreme Soul and accordingly interpreted the verses. So as per him, the Vedas are not detached to the ordinary activities of mankind rather very much attached to it.

Another example of Vaiśvānara as a good leader is found in the Ṛg-Veda,I.59.7^[5]. Dayānanda has explained Vaiśvānara here as sarvanetā or—

vaiśvānaraḥ sarvaneta;

“Leader of all”.

He has been assigned with the adjectives like viśvakruṣṭi or who is the progenitor of humans. Again the word vibhāvā is interpreted as 'very illuminating ' and Agni as—

sūryariva svaprākāśaḥ;

“Self-illuminating like sun”.

The word śātavaneye is explained as 'who is present in the earth and in the worlds, consisting of hundreds of substances. It is well-known that the earth and others worlds are full of substances. But as per Dayānanda, Agni is present invariably in all the substances. Also he is responsible for the constant motion of the materials. So it can be said that rightly he leads the men and so is called Vaiśvānara. A good leader remains within the hearts of the people through his good deeds and is responsible for their upliftment. In the same way Vaiśvānara Agni is the cause of the birth of all the subjects. So rightly he is called śatinī or 'who is with numerous (śata) motion related actions'. According to Dayānanda, the purport of this verse signifies God and his devotees are Vaiśvānara or leader. As electricity is present in all the substances and is responsible for uncountable activities, in the same way God is present everywhere. So the devotee is also a part of the above or macrocosm. But this knowledge, as Vaiśvā nara as the leader, comes to the enlightened ones. He, who knows this, knows the science of everything. So everybody is expected to acquire this secret knowledge and accordingly lead their lives. This idea points to the concept of philosophical systems like Vedānta etc. of the latter times. In this way a secular concept like, to lead a fruitful life.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

[...] Ibid. I.98.2

[2]:

[...] Ibid. III.3.10

[3]:

[...] Ibid. IV.5.1 Cf. Dayananda Bhasya, Aryamantavya, Vol.III,p.42—Cf. Acharya Dharmadev,Sarvadesik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha,1986,p.242

[4]:

[...] Ibid. III.26.2 Cf.Dayananda Bhasya,Aryamantavya,Vol.IV,p.191—Cf. Acharya Dharmadev,Sarvadesik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha,1986,p.741

[5]:

[...] Ibid. I.59.7 Cf. Dayananda Bhasya,Aryamantavya,Vol.III,p.707—Cf. Acharya Dharmadev,Sarvadesik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha,Vol.11986,p.927