spirituality

  • The Rigveda’s 20th Sukta

    Namaste, my brother in Christ, and welcome (or welcome back) to my latest adhyayana posting. Reaching the Rigveda’s 20th Sukta feels like a milestone, but it’s just a drop in the bucket, considering that the Rigveda’s Samhita contains ten mandalas (allegedly) organized into eighty-five anuvakas (lessons) and 1,028 suktas (hymns), totaling 10,552 mantras. Yikes. So far, no hymns, so only time…

    Read more →

  • The Rigveda’s 16th Sukta

    Namaste, my brother. I humbly offer you God’s peace, joy, love, and mercy. We’ve now come to the Rigveda’s 16th Sukta–another alleged hymn to King Indra, which is, in fact, a wisdom teaching describing the relationship between Indra, the Red Ray or Blood of Christ, and Soma, the Great I Am. The scholar-baffling words somapitaye…

    Read more →

  • The Rigveda’s 15th Sukta

    Contrary to what Google reports, the 15th Sukta of the Rigveda’s First Mandala (Rv 1.15) is not “a hymn invoking the Maruts, a group of storm gods worshipped in ancient India, to assist Agni and Indra in blessing the fire-sacrifice ritual-ceremonies called yajnas.” It is, in fact, a great deal more than a simple hymn of…

    Read more →

  • The Rigveda’s 14th Sukta

    The Rigveda’s 14th Sukta

    According to Google (quoting the Wisdom Library) “Rigveda 1.14 is a 12-verse hymn (Sukta) dedicated to Agni (the sacrificial fire) by the seer Medhātithi Kāṇva in the nicṛdgāyatrī meter. It acts as an invitation for Agni to bring various deities—including Indra, Vāyu, Mitra, and the Maruts—to the ritual to partake in the Soma drink, emphasizing Agni’s role as…

    Read more →

  • The Rigveda’s 13th Sukta

    The Rigveda’s 13th Sukta

    Google tells us the Rigveda’s 13th Sukta “consists of twelve verses in Gayatri meter, focusing on inviting deities to the sacrifice through Agni, often featuring phrases like samiddho adya manuṣvad agnir (1.13.1) and narāśaṃsam iha priyam (1.13.3). The verses are dedicated to various deities associated with the ritual, including Agni, Narāśamśa, and the Barhis (the sacred grass).” If you’ve…

    Read more →

  • The Rigveda’s 12th Sukta

    The Rigveda’s 12th Sukta

    At long last, I’ve migrated all the content from my former BlogSpot blog to this newer one on WordPress, with a few guided additions. It’s now time to tackle the Rigveda’s 12th Sukta, a supposed hymn in praise of Agni, the presumed Hindu god of elemental fire. In actuality, the Sukta is not a hymn,…

    Read more →

  • The Rigveda’s 10th Sukta

    The Rigveda’s 10th Sukta

    Are you ready to unlock the secrets of the Rigveda’s 10th Sukta? Getting this far feels like a milestone — until I remember how many more Riks lay ahead. Yikes. Will I finish the job before I drop my body? Will I even get through the first Mandala? Only time will tell — and best…

    Read more →

  • The Rigveda’s 9th Sukta

    The Rigveda’s 9th Sukta

    We’ve now come to the Rig Veda’s Ninth Sukta — and I wish I could say the translation process is getting easier. But that wouldn’t be wholly truthful. What I can say — in complete honesty — is that I’m still learning and expanding my understanding of the labyrinthian morass that is Hindu theology. I’m…

    Read more →

  • Dharma, Lakshmi & the Circle-Journey

    I don’t yet have all the answers, because I’m still walking and, therefore, still learning how to remember what I’ve forgotten. Had I not ventured into Hinduism and Kundalini Yoga a few years back, I would know even less than I do at present. And now, it would seem, the journey’s taking me to Egypt,…

    Read more →

  • Unmasking the Fourth Cherubim

    I really should get back to the Rigveda — and I will, very soon — but I was too intrigued by yesterday’s discovery of the potential meaning of “Noah” to let it go. Hoping to find our fourth Cherubim, the one with a human head, I checked to see if there was an ancient God…

    Read more →