#6B8E23 Dr. R. Nagaswamy The next stage is what is called reciting the Vedic Poems that are called “Purifying hymns”. They are said to purify the chants as well and are called “Pavamāna sūkta”. 1) Let that Supreme being, from whom the sun, the witness to all acts emanated, From whom Indra emanated, Who is pregnant with all the powers of Agni (fire), That Omnipresent being golden in colour, pure, and Who purifies the waters, Bless us with happiness and auspiciousness 2) Let that Supreme being resting in whom the king Varuna witnessing truth and falsehood moves among men Whose nature is to bestow sweetness, Who is pure and who purifies That Omnipresent being bless us with happiness and good things 3) Let that Supreme being by whose power the Celestials shine in heaven who shines in the intermediate space in divergent forms, who fertilizes the earth with water, the life support, That Omnipresent Supreme bless us with all comforts and good things. (These hymns are addressed to Varuna the deity of Waters.) 4) Be pleased to bestow your gracious sight at me 5) Be pleased to purify all my limbs by pervading through out my body 6) Be pleased to stabilize on me all the brightness, godly qualities, beauties and will power 7) Let that god who purifies all things Who knows all that purifies, Who is capable of purifying , Who will make me achieve heaven purify me. 8) Let those born in heaven purify me 9) Let the thoughts purify me with grace 10) Let all the great men born in this world purify me 11) Oh Agni! please purify me with thy purity 12) Oh Agni! shining with brightness of purity purify this offering of mine 13) Oh Agni ! we get this offerings of ours purified by thy illumination that shines in the midst of glowing forms 14) Oh Lord Savita! we get our actions purified both by thy purity and actions (savena- The offering is here called Brahma) 15) Let the Goddess who embodies all gods and who purifies all that exist, manifest to purify us. By the blessings of her who has blemish less appearances, we happily engage in good acts and acquire lordship over all wealth. 16) Let the god Surya-Agni who does good to all men purify me by his brightness. 17) Let the god Vāyu (Air) enter all parts of my body in the form of Prāna (Vital breadth) increase my happiness. 18) Let the everlasting heaven and earth (Dyāvā Prithvī) purify my waters, milk and the like for the sake this sacred offering. 19) We shall purify this sacred act by all those purifying and divine methods through which the gods purified our ancestors and through which the gods of waters purified the path to heaven. “ It may be seen that all the prayers upto this point are address to Lord Varuna, the deity of waters, Varuna (Waters), Agni(fire), Surya (sun), Vayu (air), and the Goddess to purify the performer and all the people. The purification is meant for the strength obtained through vital breadth (Prana) happiness, good for all and for prosperity in this world and for heavenly bliss. What is striking here are all the prayers addressed to nature’s forces that are vital to the existence of man. It is the nature’s forces that are deified and no other superhuman deity is invoked. The second point that deserves great attention is that among the deities we find a deified Goddess who is the power to act in all men. She is said to embody all Gods. It is a clear indication that the adoration Sakti- deified as Goddess was well established in the Vedic period itself. There are some speculative scholars who claim that no adoration of Goddess was known to the Vedic people. In the very first act of Vedic ritual the Vedic Goddess is invoked that shows Worship of goddess is foremost in Vedic tradition. To deny that is to distort factual history. Not only the worship of Feminine power is essential it recognizes that goddess manifests in manifold forms, which shows that multiplicity of Goddesses were adored in Vedic times. She is worshipped as giver of wealth and Knowledge as may be seen in the sequence. The concept of Prāṇa Sakti, Vital breadth as the Supreme goddess, was fully established in Vedic times. By performing this rite the performer is longing for good health, prosperity and purity and achievement of heaven for all people and thus expresses the highest form of classical civilized life. What is further interesting is that the hymns that follows are in praise of these purifying hymns themselves. The hymns are called Pāvamāni hymns (Pāvamāni) that point to a strong adoration of nature poetically personified as divine beings. The Hindu civilization is deeply rooted in the beauty and power of nature. It is not wrong to say that that nature is looked at with poetic vision and beauty given a personality. The following are the hymns in praise of Pāvamāni poems. “One who recites all these Pāvamāni poems preserved for us by the great sages (rishis) as the very essences and made delectable by the god Vāyu enjoys all immortality. The Goddess Saraswati bestows immortality on the person who recites these pāvamāni hymns collected and preserved for us . She makes milk, ghee, honey, and waters as nectars. These Pāvamāni hymns are capable of showing us the auspicious path. They are the cows that give good milk. These were essences collected by the Rishis. They are the nectars for the Brahmins. These Pavamani hymns bestow this and other world. These should fulfill all our desires. These Devis (goddesses –Poems) are adored by the celestials. These Pāvamāni hymns lead us to goodness. Like ghee they confer health and purity. These are the essences collected by the sages. They bestow happiness and immortality. The divine beings get themselves purified always by these Pāvamāni hymns. These purifying hymns purify me with their thousands of streams.”