A Book Review of Dr. R. Rangan’s The Veda: My Passion

Introduction

The Vedas are collections of hymns sung in the praise of beloved deities; an outpouring of intense yearning of devotees, engaged in sādhanā. These spiritual luminaries or sādhakas, designated as ṛṣis and munis, are the ‘seers’ of these hymns. They were mantra-draṣṭā––one who could literally see tshe underlying spiritual forces of mantra, through their tapas. Their experiences via spiritual immersion and their natural expressions became the foundation for Indian Knowledge Systems.

The Vedas have remained vibrant through millennia due to continuous commentaries by self-realized souls, preserving India's spiritual knowledge through rigorous scholarship and sādhanā. However, this tradition faced severe disruption during Islamic invasions and British colonial rule, which devastated Indian society through violence, destruction of sacred spaces, and socio-economic upheaval, creating what Sir Vidya Naipaul termed a ‘wounded civilization.’

The Colonial forces systematically vilified Indian Knowledge Systems, targeting texts like the Vedas as symbols of infidelity and superstition. Unable to physically eliminate these sources, they distorted and defamed them, stripping the Vedas of their spiritual essence. Over the last two centuries, interpretative frameworks rooted in monotheism, historicism, and economic reductionism have misrepresented the Vedas as primitive and idolatrous. These academic distortions redefined the texts as historical documents of inequality, severing their spiritual connection. Consequently, students trained in such analyses lost the deeper, sacred understanding of the Vedas.

One of the most unfortunate tragedies of colonialism in India is the constant vilification, misinterpretation, and distortions of Indian Knowledge Systems. Since the alien forces landed up in Bhāratavarṣa, they not only enacted the horrendous massacres of Indians, but also burnt libraries and brutally killed scholars. They found the Indian texts as the source of the worst kind of infidelity and psychic pollution. When they could not physically eliminate these textual sources, they began to indulge in defaming and denigrating them. One of the chief targets of their ceaseless slandering was none other than the supreme text of the Sanātana Dharma – the Vedas.

In the last two hundred years or so, the Vedas have been uprooted from its spiritual anchoring. The various interpretive lenses, from exclusive monotheistic to strictly historic, from linear perspective of the ‘civilized’ forces to economic machination, have led to a confused mass of literary tomes. No doubt, some of these interpretations have shed lights on important historical characters of the text, but largely misses the soul of it.

The Veda has been decoded as the text of heathens, full of idolatry and worship of ‘false gods’. It has been depicted as a product of the ‘savage’ mind, living in the constant fear of natural forces. Once these interpretations became the part of academia, the Vedic literatures were considered as ‘historical’ texts where wealth of information regarding social inequalities can be extracted. It became a tool for studying ‘the primitive mind’ with all their insecure yearning for bovine wealth. The students trained in such academic exercise lost the spiritual connection to the Vedas. They looked and analyzed them with strange alienated lens, resulting in the worst distortions.

Reconnecting with the Vedic Wisdom: Dr. R. Rangan’s The Veda: My Passion

Dr. R. Rangan’s The Veda: My Passion explores the wisdom of the Vedas, aiming to correct widespread misunderstandings of the Indian spiritual traditions. His work reestablishes the Vedas as a valuable spiritual resource, urging readers to reconnect with this heritage. The Vedic hymns, composed by spiritual sages, are seen as revelations of deeper truths. However, centuries of invasions and colonialism have distorted their meanings, prompting scholars like Dr. Rangan to restore their authentic interpretations.

At the outset, I must mention that this work is the summary of his Saṁskṛta commentary on the whole Ṛg Veda. It has used the traditional linguistic concept of dhvani, expounded by the eminent scholar and aesthetician named Ānandvardhana, to look at various denotations and connotations of multilayered meanings of the Vedic mantras. Therefore, his commentary is aptly titled as Dhvanidīpikā. The significance of this comprehensive commentary is highlighted in the preface of this book:

“Though there are many research works, commentaries, and writings on the Veda, works having its spiritual interpretation are rare indeed. Even among the works having spiritual interpretation, the commentary for the Rig Veda as a whole in Sanskrit is quite few. Even among the spiritual commentaries of the Rig Veda as a whole, the one with the recognition from traditions is extremely rare and special. The author’s commentary on the Rig Veda is of that kind.”

Having drawn inspiration from the works of Sri Aurobindo and Kapali Shastri, the Vedic mantras began to yield their deeper and esoteric meanings to him. Many layers of superficial interpretations, that often lead to confusions, began to give way to profound symbolism hidden within. He recollects that while reading about the ‘Vedic’ Indra, he found great dissonance with the ‘Puranic’ Indra and the current conception of Indra. He states:

“It disturbed me that Indra spoken in the Veda was vastly different from the one whom I thought of. He is something more. Glories of Indra found in the Veda are not of the ordinary kind. He has a lot of significance in the Veda……Here then comes the question. Who is Indra of the Veda? Who are Mitra and Varuna spoken in the Veda? ....... These questions may not disturb many others, who learn Vedas even with Kavay-paata knowledge. But it disturbed me heavily”. (pp. 8-9)

On his path of resolving this dilemma and quest to understand their deeper meanings, he mentions various factors that helped him–– the commentary on the Veda by his father (the spiritual luminary Shri Krishnapremi Swamigal), his own yogic practices, and his encounter with Sri Aurobindo’s works:

“At the age of 20, I happened to came across ‘The Secret of the Veda’ by Sri Aurobindo which explains the esoteric insights found in the Veda. Gods found in the Veda have esoteric significance. If Agni is fire in the external world, he is Divine Will internally. If Vayu is air externally, internally he is our own vitals ….. It goes on and on opening the gates of a new world.” (pp. 10-11)

These transformations led him to write the multi-volume commentary on the Ṛg Veda, Dhvanidīpikā; further summarized in The Veda: My Passion.

The Non-Human Origin of the Vedas

One concept that often becomes the topic of heated discussion among intellectuals is the non-human origin of the Vedas, its status of being ‘apauruṣeya’. This concept not only establishes the Vedas' divine origin but also places them above human limitations and biases.

Dr. Rangan acknowledges the ‘apauruṣeya’ origin of the Veda, while quoting the Ṛg Veda (1.164.39): “Vedic Mantra are in the imperishable space of consciousness where all god reside. What is an individual going to do with just Vedic Mantra who does not know that space of consciousness?’

Building on this, he also shows the efficacy of the origin of supra-mundane existence of the mantra by claiming that “the wisdom poured from the pure consciousness of seers, couched in Mantras, leads us to the same pure consciousness by removing all impurities, if it is practiced properly”.

At the same time, he shares more contemporary ways of understanding the concept of apauruṣeya, claiming that the non-human origin of the Veda must be understood as free from all kinds of human prejudices––whether they are prejudices of gender, caste, creed, race, sect and religion. The section four of the book is an interesting read in this regard as it provides evidence, one after another, on how the Veda are above any local prejudices. The veneration of animals, respect for all kinds of occupational jātis, the presence of women ṛṣikās as the mantra-draṣṭā and pray for universal welfare of all beings, including believers, sceptics, adorers and non-adorers alike provide enough evidences for transcending all sorts of prejudices in the Ṛg Veda. This unprejudiced foundation makes the Veda as the perfect guiding tool for entire humanity. Dr. Rangan affirms this, “scripture which is absolutely free of all prejudices alone deserves the highest honour regarding being Pramana for Dharma”.

Understanding the Limitation of Mīmāṃsā Perspective

Further, it will be pertinent to mention here that the Vedic interpretations also got deviated from the holistic approach in the Indic tradition, over the period of time. This, I mentioned in previous review of The Veda Mīmāṃsā also:

“An exclusive approach resulted in partial interpretations, providing many times incoherent explanations. Once attacked from the rationalist side on the superiority of knowledge over action, ‘the doctrine of rituals has gone down in people’s estimation. The ritualist side, on the other hand, has kept their focus only on the ceremonial part, glossing over the mystical meanings of mantras. It seems that the task of the Vedic interpretation becomes complicated with such an inherent tension over fundamental ideas.”

Dr. Rangan also deals with this problem in the section five, where he looks at the orthodox mīmāṃsā stands of interpreting the mantras only through the lens of rituals, holding the Brāhamaṇa texts as the primary guide. He also highlights the problem of access to the Vedic wisdom if one primarily relies on the rituals, as most of these, are inaccessible to the laymen. The Vedas, being universal in nature, cannot be restricted to the few ritualists:

“If Mantra and Upanishad too are ignored, and if Brahmana texts alone are taken as guidance in Vedic literature, then the Vedic literature is helpful only to those Yajna-performers who are just about hundred people.” (p. 53)

In this context, he also mentions the works of great mystic-scholars who provided ‘free access to Vedic Mantras devoid of ritualistic interpretation’. He listed out few traditional luminaries, such as Ādi Śaṅkarācārya, Madhāvacharya, Jayatīrtha, Rāghvendra, Bhagavānnamā Bodhendral and Śrīdhara Āyyaval, who opened up the other dimensions of interpretations, besides ritualistic one. And, in the modern time also, this exploration does not stop and continues in the hands of Sri Aurobindo and Dayānanda which are being taken ahead by their successors in the last hundred years.

The Characteristics of the Vedic Divinity

So, how does one approach the mystical-esoteric meanings of the ‘Vedic Mantra’? How do we make sense of the deities that are far-away from us in a historical sense? Do they belong only to the Vedic communities of that era, alienated to us, in the present time? These questions might bother any seekers. For that, we need to understand the nature and characteristics of Vedic gods, as the Vedic mantras are poetic outpouring in their praises and adorations. Dr. Rangan summarizes these characteristics:

“Three things are common to all Vedic gods. (1) All gods are described as in-dwellers. In essence, all are from pure self. (2) All gods are part of one infinite and therefore described as infinite, and all pervasive. (3) All gods are connected to universal welfare. The most important understanding here is that all the above mentioned are identical.” (p. 96)

Unlike the Abrahamic religions, the gods and goddesses of the Hindu Dharma have both Immanent and Transcendent nature. They exist outside, but are part of our inner forces. They are our inner instruments, our cognitive faculties, as well as the forces of nature outside us. He provides a lucid explanation in his other book, What is Dharma?:

“The prime subject matter of the Vedas is the description of Devas. Every hymns of the Vedas is dedicated to a Deva. It is very important to know about Devas from the Vedic point of view. Devas are not merely persons in the Vedas. Devas are natural elements around us without which we cannot live. This is a preliminary understanding about Devas. E.g.: Vayu is the blowing wind; Agni is the fire; Varuna is the power in water ..… Surya is the sun and Soma is the moon.”  (p. 43)

These natural forces are worshipped, not because sages lived in the perpetual fear of them. They are venerated because these forces, through their web of networks (tantu), shaped and manifested all beings on this planet. The mantras reflect our deep gratitude to them. On the other hand, Dr. Rangan also emphasizes the other side of spectrum:

“These Devas are not only perceived as natural elements but also as natural forces dwelling in us, without which we cannot live. E.g. Vayu is the vital energy; Agni is the heat and sound energy … In a deeper sense these very same Devas are perceived and understood as the various powers of cognition. This is because each and every natural element in the external world has become a symbolic representation or archetypal expression of the higher and the cognitive world. E.g. Vayu which is the blowing wind in the concrete world represents the core Prana of Psyche and beyond, in cognitive world. Agni which is fire in the gross world represents the burning will of the Divine…” (pp. 44-45)

 In this way the whole cosmos is seen as the reflection of spiritual powers dwelling within us. This foundational understanding paves the way for unlocking the various layers of meanings in the Vedic literature.

Unravelling the Symbolic Meanings: Yama, Dog, Mitra, Varuṇa and Aryama

Let’s take a few examples of such symbolic meanings, to explore the way they unfold in the Vedic hymns. For instance, we understand that Yama is the god of death and many times depicted as a source of constant fear among humans. However, the ‘yama’ is also mentioned as one of the limbs of ‘aṣṭāṅga-yoga’, where it means abstinence and restraints. Is there any connection between these two different usages of ‘Yama’?  Are there more connotations that can be explored? Dr. Rangan analyses the various mantras from the Ṛg Veda (10.19.2-5, 6.95) and unravels their connections. He states:

“Yama is not only the presiding deity of withdrawal from senses or instincts while living, but also the presiding deity of withdrawal while dying. When we go through nineteenth chapter we understand Yama to be associated with final and ultimate withdrawal happening at the time of liberation.” (p. 234)

In fact, in this context, one must contemplate the deeper meaning of the funeral mantra from the Ṛg Veda (10.16.3-4) which states the merging of all in-dwelling vital elements with their counterpart in natural forces.

In the context of ‘Yama’, Dr. Rangan discusses the ‘riddle of the dog’, referencing Yama’s dogs, Śārvara and Śyāma, who guide and guard the path of the departed (Ṛg Veda 10.14.12). Sons of Saramā, a dog associated with Indra in the search for hidden cows— these figures symbolize the spirit of ‘quest and finding.’ He interprets this as the inner spiritual quest inherent in every heart. However, he cautions that when this quest becomes overly enthusiastic, leading to psychic distractions and hurdles, it must be restrained and brought under control to maintain spiritual focus. Therefore, we find mention of dog attacking the Yajna and the subsequent restraints required to control it, and hence, again the repletion of imagery of ‘restraint’ and ‘withdrawal’!

Through decoding of such multilayered meanings, one begins to feel the pulse of these mantras, expressed in symbolic imagery. This book is replete with such examples, where one finds that the Varuṇa devatā, being the presiding deity of ṛta, represents cosmic order, and through his ‘māyā’ also veils them. Again, the Mitra devatā, presiding deity of love, represents the ‘love dimension of self-sun’ and is connected with universal wellbeing and love; one who melts the heart. The associated deity Aryama represents the act of sharing and giving. Further, Dr. Rangan brilliantly decodes the inherent spiritual meanings of these three companion gods:

“By restraining from sins or the forces against cosmic order (Varuna), the conscious flow of love dawns in the heart (Mitra). But this is not enough. One may feel universal love in his heart. But if he does not dedicate his life and works hard for it, it does not get fulfilled. Thus the universal love has to get manifested in the form of sharing and giving (Aryama).” (p. 95)

Agni: The Spiritual Aspiration of the Seeker

Any spiritual seeker can connect with these meanings through his own experiences. For him, Agni devatā would never be limited to the gross manifestation in fire, it is also spiritual fire burning within him, which leads to awareness and inner yajña. As stated in the Ṛg Veda (6.16.1): “O Agni, you are the invoker in yajñas being welfare to all. You are established by gods in humans”.

Dr. Rangan connects the outer yajña with the inner one: “Clarified butter psychologically means understanding. Actions are fire sticks. Submitting our thoughts and actions to the aspiration of universal welfare is the internal Yajna” (p. 111).

In translation of the Ṛg Veda hymn (3.11.3), he states: “Agni becomes conscious through meditation. He is the ancient consciousness Yajna. His meaning is transcending”. In another hymns (Ṛg Veda 1.143.7), he brings this concept closer to inner yajña: “The Illuminer decorates Agni who is luminous of clarified thought, who governs the cosmic order and who is like a friend. He shines in meditation, getting illumined. He cannot be transgressed. He yokes our cognition.  This wonder-world begins to open up for us, while going through his translations and penetrating commentaries”.

The various sections take readers through a spiritual tour, couched in beautiful expressions. The section 23 of the book on the ‘Birth of Mystic Fire’ is one such piece of mystical interpretations of Agni devatā, bringing out the unifying threads, spread across the Indian Knowledge System. He states:

“Here Agni is will. Streams are streams of fundamental energies. Space is consciousness. Puranas narrate the birth of Skanda in the same way as we see with Agni. That is why Ganapati Muni says Skanda and Agni are one. Seven streams found here are Six Krittika stars in Puranas.”

It must have been clear to us, through various mantras we have discussed so far, that the gods in the Vedas always come in pairs, in symbiotic relationship with each other. They are never exclusive and jealous of each other, neither fighting with each other, nor try to dominate one another. For instance, Mitra is always accompanied with Varuṇa; Aśvinis often goes along with Rudra; Uṣā is inseparable with Surya and so on. This symbiotic relationship reveals deeper spiritual forces working within us, one leading to another, nourishing and uplifting our inner journey.  In this context, Rangan ji raises query about counterpart of the Agni devata: “We see the Veda talks frequently about the fire hidden in plants. Veda talks about fire which burns plants. If the fire in the Veda is the wish of universal welfare, what is plant?”

The Soma: Bliss, Awareness and Creativity

To explain that he deals with the most intriguing and fascinating area for any seeker of the Veda – the mystery of ‘Soma’! If the gross fire manifests itself as the burning spiritual desire within us, what does the soma reveal? What is the corresponding ‘interiorization’ of the Soma plant? Is it just a juice or creeper for the hallucinating mind? or Is it connected with some inner spiritual force? He clarifies:

“The word Soma is highly connected in the Vedas to various terms like Ananda (bliss), Mada (rapture), Madhu (sweet), Matsara (ecstasy) and Rasa (aesthetic flow or sap). But, through these words one cannot mistake Soma as merely an intoxicant drink, because the word Soma is also connected to the terms like Pavitra (pure), pavamana or punana (purifier), amrita (immortal elixir), cetana (consciousness), priya (love) and jyoti (splendor).” (pp. 164-65)

Having connected various subtle connotations (dhvani) to the Soma, he provides commentary on the various hymns, elaborates how Soma dwells in ‘avya’ (Ṛg Veda 9.37.3), which literally means contentment, indicating “the blissful awareness dwelling within the heart”; how it purifies and smash the forces of tamas (Ṛg Veda 9.9.7)– whether miserly sensations or egoistic identification, leading to the transcendental bliss; it is also connected with ‘expansion and expanded space’, therefore “Seers approach Soma aspiring the super-cognition”.

In the section 39, titled ‘Soma and Creativity’, Rangan ji takes us even deeper to the source of creativity, the fountainhead of kavi pratibhā (poetic intuitions) and outpouring of their ‘aesthetic flow’ into the literary masterpieces – a timeless kāvyas – all connected with inner soma. One will find the source of mantras and other kāvyas of Indian spiritual traditions, in this section, explained through various hymns of the ninth mandala of Ṛg Veda, which is exclusively dedicated to the pavamāna soma.

I wonder if these short introductions are so illuminating and an eye-opener, what it would feel like to go through the commentary on the Ṛg Veda (Dhvanidīpikā) as a whole–– an ocean of mystical insights awaiting us there.

In the remaining book, he continues to explain various other spiritual concepts and deities, covering a wide spectrum, from the cosmic water (apas) to the goddess Aditi (un-manifested energy); from Uṣā (the dawn of self-knowledge), a daughter of the sun (pure self) to Aśvinis, the divine horses representing the prāṇa or energy; from Indra (acquire supreme mastery), releasing gau (rays of consciousness) and destroying Vṛtras (mental-adjuncts) to the supreme lord Viṣṇu (all pervading), also equated with Sūrya, in the form of Sūryanārāyaṇa.

The Final Thoughts

Let me leave you with final thought to feel the direct experience of these hymns in the words of Acharya Rangan ji, while discussing the Self:

“Self is all pervasive, proclaims the Vedas and Upanisads. What is the intent of this statement? Is this just a dogma? Just forget everything. Feel that you are entering into the field of spirituality and Indian culture for the first time. Feel fresh. Feel that you are listening to this statement of the Vedas for the first time. What do you feel? Don’t sentimentally accept this statement as a faith or dogma. Ask why the Vedic seers proclaim like this? What must be their intent? What must be the purport of this statement? What must they have felt when they spoke of this?” (p. 90)

He is asking us to become seekers, rather than believers, which requires us to have the first-person experience of these proclamations. To connect with the wisdom of the Rishis, we have to become Rishi. The great seers of the Vedas saw the reality, as it is, without cognitive limitations and that immersion culminated in the poetic exuberance of the highest order.

It is only the mystic-scholar like Dr. Rangan ji, with profound intuitions and rigorous research, who can lead us to the primordial meanings of the Vedas and open the floodgates of Vedic wisdom. 

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