Discoveries of The Vedic Rishis - Discoveries of The Vedic Rishis 402

Now the story is that nine Rishis began to make sacrifice in search of the truth and went on and on and on, and for a certain period they went on making sacrifice. And always they reached almost the right point of achieving the truth but could not, this is the legend. Wise people, in Sanskrit, they are called navagwas. These nine sages were in search of the truth, and they went on making sacrifice, they burnt themselves to find out the truth. For a certain period, they went on and on. They reached a certain point when the truth was about to be discovered but they could not find it, then they started again. Again burning, burning, burning, again they reached the same point, but they could not enter into the truth. Again they started. Several times they did this, they were failing, then came a great help. A tenth sage came to accompany them. Then were nine themselves but the tenth sage came to help. His name was Ayasya. Ayasya is a very famous name in the Veda, he was himself a great sage. The Navagwas become now Dashagwas. This is a famous legend of the Veda. The nine sages became ten sages. And then they increased the period of their sacrifice. Up till now they were only making sacrifice for a certain period. With the coming of Ayasya there was a new advice given, that the period for which you are making sacrifice is not enough.  The period was increased and that brought about a certain discovery. We are now coming to the third discovery. The second discovery was only the secret of sacrifice, burn yourself, move forward, make a progression, then you take the help of another one, this also is a part of the discovery. And then, with Ayasya, when the period of sacrifice was increased, what happened? Ayasya became universal, this was the discovery, that the truth cannot be discovered unless you become universal. This was the discovery made. They were failing all the time because this point of becoming universal was missing. So he became universal. Having become universal there was a rise in universality. There are planes and planes of universality.

And then they discovered Turiyam swid. This is the Sanskrit word, very important Sanskrit expression for the Vedic discovery. They discovered turiyam swid. Swid means that one which is turiyam, the fourth. They discovered that one which is the fourth. As I told you, the language of the Veda is algebraic. So "that fourth" is an algebraic expression. What is this fourth they discovered? The fourth is something above the three, three principles, matter, life and mind. These three were already known, but here there is no truth, it is mixture of truth and falsehood. In matter, life and mind, there is a mixture of truth and falsehood. It keeps you divided, narrow. Unless you become universal you cannot rise beyond these three elements, physical, vital, mental. In Sanskrit, there are names for all the three, the physical is prithiwi, ... those who find Sanskrit words difficult don't worry, but those who know Sanskrit a little they will enjoy it, therefore I am speaking of this. The physical is prithiwi, the vital is antariksha and the mental is dyau. The physical is the ground which you see, that is prithiwi, antariksha is the wide space that you see around and dyau is the sky. These three words are often used in the Veda. Even to climb from prithiwi to dyau is a big climb. It is not easy to climb, therefore Veda speaks very often even of the journey from prithiwi to dyau. Form earth to the sky. But sky actually represents the mind. To rise from the physical to the mental, that is an ordinary climbing, although that also is quite a climb. But still it is ordinary climbing, and as long as you continue to climb only to that extent, you fail, you don't get the truth. You need the help, a further help, Ayasya must come and then you increase the period of your sacrifice and then you become universal and you discover "that fourth". You go beyond prithwi, antariskha and dyau, you go beyond the physical, vital and mental. And this was the great discovery that is celebrated in the Veda. This fourth is the greatest discovery of the Veda, you might say, one of the greatest — there is still greater, which I'll come to, --  but a supreme discovery as it were, because they found that in "that fourth" there is no mixture of falsehood at all. In the body, life and mind there is a mixture of truth and falsehood, but when you go to the fourth one, in "that fourth", there is no mixture, there is only truth and truth and truth alone, ‘satyameva’, nothing but the truth, widest, most universal, no narrowness at all, no crookedness at all. In the lower physical, vital and mental there is all crookedness. When we criticise each other and we say, "Oh! he is crooked", don't eliminate yourself. As long as we live in the physical, vital and mental, all of us live in a crooked world, and our consciousness is crooked, and we live in a crooked manner, we think in a crooked manner, there is always a kind of a strategy, we want to escape from here, escape from that, make a profit here, drag this here, allow that, we are generous, we are miserly, all mixtures all the time, in this we are all equal, nothing to choose. And then you come to the real thing that has to be chosen, where there is nothing but the truth. This was the great discovery, -- ‘Mahaspanthah’. The great path was now opened up when they discovered this fourth one. This is the third discovery of the Veda. Sri Aurobindo has called this third discovery, this discovery of that fourth, the discovery of the Supermind. This discovery of the Supermind, that there is above the mind Supermind and that one can ascend into it, one can go into it, one can live in it, where one can be absolutely straight. Rijuta, straightforwardness. It is also concerned with rita. Rijuta and rita are all connected. There is nothing but the right. Everything, all the rays of light are straight. Nothing crooked.  You have seen the flower which Mother has called the flower of Supramental action? You have seen that flower? Flower of Supramental action. A kind of a globe in which so many... Yes, there are so many... all straight. That is a symbolic presentation of the supramental, you might say. Everything is straight. You can go into it, you can live in it. All knowledge is manifest there. You don't have to make an effort to know. Whatever is to be known is known immediately, spontaneously. It is almost like a magic. You want to know this, immediately it is known. Nothing is hidden, nothing is concealed. It is all blazing light. This is, as I am describing to you, the third discovery.

It is not that the Veda has written in it: first discovery, second discovery. I am describing the discoveries made by the Vedic Rishis and I am saying they made five basic discoveries. There are many discoveries but I am trying to tell you in brief five main discoveries, among the five discoveries, this is the third discovery. The first is the discovery of the battle, battle between the good and the evil, Gods and Asuras. The second is the discovery of sacrifice, the means by which you can make an ascension from the lower levels to the higher levels. The third discovery is the discovery of the supermind. It is a great discovery of the Vedas. In fact in the Vedas what is very often celebrated constantly with a great joy is the discovery of the supermind. All darkness is destroyed, -- Tamah neshate. All the darkness is finished. You can definitely say that all darkness is finished. The everlasting sun has arisen, which is never going to set. In the beginning there is only Ushas, -- Usha the dawn. When you are about to enter into the supermind, the first steps are the steps which are like entering into the dawn. Therefore in the Veda you find sometimes very beautiful descriptions of the dawn, Usha. Nisha has gone, the night has gone, and Usha has come, the dawn has come and then gradually you rise, and you enter into the supermind, where the sun never sets, everlasting sun. Now all knowledge is available.