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अथर्ववेद - काण्ड 4/ सूक्त 35/ मन्त्र 1
सूक्त - प्रजापतिः
देवता - अतिमृत्युः
छन्दः - त्रिष्टुप्
सूक्तम् - मृत्युसंतरण सूक्त
यमो॑द॒नं प्र॑थम॒जा ऋ॒तस्य॑ प्र॒जाप॑ति॒स्तप॑सा ब्र॒ह्मणेऽप॑चत्। यो लो॒कानां॒ विधृ॑ति॒र्नाभि॒रेषा॒त्तेनौ॑द॒नेनाति॑ तराणि मृ॒त्युम् ॥
स्वर सहित पद पाठयम् । ओ॒द॒नम् । प्र॒थ॒म॒ऽजा: । ऋ॒तस्य॑ । प्र॒जाऽप॑ति: । तप॑सा । ब्र॒ह्मणे॑ । अप॑चत् । य: । लो॒काना॑म् । विऽधृ॑ति: । न । अ॒भि॒ऽरेषा॑त् । तेन॑ । ओ॒द॒नेन॑ । अति॑ । त॒रा॒णि॒ । मृ॒त्युम् ॥३५.१॥
स्वर रहित मन्त्र
यमोदनं प्रथमजा ऋतस्य प्रजापतिस्तपसा ब्रह्मणेऽपचत्। यो लोकानां विधृतिर्नाभिरेषात्तेनौदनेनाति तराणि मृत्युम् ॥
स्वर रहित पद पाठयम् । ओदनम् । प्रथमऽजा: । ऋतस्य । प्रजाऽपति: । तपसा । ब्रह्मणे । अपचत् । य: । लोकानाम् । विऽधृति: । न । अभिऽरेषात् । तेन । ओदनेन । अति । तराणि । मृत्युम् ॥३५.१॥
अथर्ववेद - काण्ड » 4; सूक्त » 35; मन्त्र » 1
Subject - Conquest of Death
Meaning -
Brahmaudana, divine food of life, which Prajapati, divine generator and sustainer of his creation, first self-manifested of Rtam, laws and dynamics of existence, brooded over, perfected and brought into being by ‘tapas’, his will and power, for his self¬ manifestation as well as for the expansive manifested universe, which is the mainstay of the worlds of existence and the people therein, never decays, nor does it hurt anyone. By that very food of life I would conquer and outlive death unto eternity. (Brahmaudana here can be interpreted as ‘Brahma that itself is the food of life’, and ‘life that is the food of Brahma’. Both ways, the interpretation is the same with reference to human life. In Shatapatha Brahmana (13, 1, 1, 4) and in Taittiriya Brahmana (3, 8, 2, 4) Odana is interpreted as Retas, creativity of divinity. Rgveda 10,129 also speaks of the precreation stage of existence as the state of Brahma existing with its creative power. And power and the powerful both are one, together, integrated. Odana is also interpreted as Brahmacharya, the way of life in which one knows as well as lives the life divine with perfect self control. So, if Brahma is the food of life, it means that you dedicate your life and time to Brahma as your sole object of love and service. On the other hand, if life is the food of Brahma, you totally surrender yourself to Brahma. In one case, Brahma is your food, in the other, you are the food of Brahma. How do we conquer death by Brahma? Our life on earth is a cycle of birth, age and death: Life is body and soul together, death is seperation of the two. If we identify ourselves with life-in-body, we identify ourselves with the motal despite our immortality. But if we know our real nature and live in full awareness as such and dedicate ourselves to Brahma, we abide in freedom from the ravages of mortality. Death then becomes irrelevant and meaningless, at best a stage in the journey. Thus we conquer death and outlive it in the state of freedom from mortality. Thus we become identified with eternity, with Brahma.