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Chapter 10
CONTEMPLATION OF GOD’S MANIFESTATIONS
52. God In Creation
14. The Veda has prescribed fire-worship. Fire (Agni) too is a form of God. How bright and glowing it is! When you rub two wooden sticks against each other, it reveals itself. Who knows where it was hidden till then? It is so warm and luminous! The very first hymn in the Rig Veda, in fact, is about fireworship— ‘अग्निमीळे पुरोहितं यज्ञस्य देवमृत्विजम्। होतारं रत्नधातमम्॥' Look at the fire, with whose worship the Veda begins. The flames of fire remind me of the quest of the human soul to reach up to the Lord. The flames may be from a kitchen stove or they may belong to the forest fire—they are always striving to go upwards. They are always agitated and restless. Scientists may say that their fluttering is due to ether or air-pressure. But I see in it the quest of the luminous flames to reach the Supreme Spirit, to reach the sun-god who is the ocean of luminosity. It is a quest of the part to merge into the whole. The endless quest of the flames starts with their creation and ceases only on their extinction. That the sun is too distant never bothers them; all they know is to make the best possible effort. It appears that the bright and glowing heat of vairagya has assumed the form of the fire. The flame of vairagya also does not remain still wherever it is. That is why the Veda began with the word ‘अग्निमीळे'ǃ |
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