Following on from the last post, another of Vamadeva’s mantras from the Rig Veda is quoted in the Upanishads:
It was said by the ṛsi:
“While in the womb I fully knew
The births of all the gods.
A hundred citadels of iron surrounded me.
A hawk, I flew out with speed.”
Vāmadeva said that while lying in the womb. [1]
The mantra in question is Rig Veda 4.27.1. Because of it, Vamadeva is sometimes known as a rishi who became liberated in the womb. However, this is not the full picture of the verse. For one, we have no explanation for why and how he became liberated.
Looking at the symbolism in the mantra shows its deeper truth and how Vamadeva “became immortal” through knowing Brahman [2].
“While in the womb I fully knew the births of all the gods.”
The “womb” Vamadeva is talking about is no different to that which “births all the gods.” It is saying, while in the womb, I realised it is the same womb which gives birth to all. He “fully knew” the births of all the gods — meaning where they originate from. Not only that, but his full knowing means he has become identical with all the gods, as this is the knowledge of Advaita. Only by seeing that one’s origin is the same as all the gods can we know theirs. In other words, there is only one source from which we and they both come.
What is it that led Vamadeva to knowing where the gods emerge from? The Self. While in the womb means the Self. It is non-dual, therefore by knowing one’s own origin, we know the origin of all things. This also means that the gods are productions of the Self and are inseparable from us. As the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says,
Whoever worships another god, thinking, “He is one and I am another”, does not know. [3]
Therefore, knowing the source of all gods is the same as becoming them, as their source is the Self, which is indivisible.
“A hundred citadels of iron surrounded me.”
In short, the hundred iron citadels symbolises the stronghold of Maya or Samsara. More specifically, a citadel or fortress symbolises the body. It is being likened to an iron fortress, as if we are a prisoner in it. The use of ‘hundred’ is not literal, but used to signify many. In this way, it represents the many bodies inhabited as a result of Maya. Until Vamadeva knew the difference between the body and Self and how the Self is unconfined, he was subjected to rebirth. Being “surrounded” indicates how inescapable Samsara is whilst under the influence of Maya [4]. This is why it is sometimes described as a large ocean which we must cross to reach the ‘shore’.
“A hawk, I flew out with speed.”
This signifies Vamadeva’s liberation from the ‘fortress’ of the body which defines the experience of Samsara. By resting in the Self, one sees the one source of all (appearances and form) and that they are beyond and free from the body. A hawk not only denotes ascension, but also swiftness. This points to, by seeing that the Self is the one, indivisible reality, there is no more experience of Samsara, no more fabrication of what’s Real.
Vamadeva became immortal as a result of his realisation because the Self is eternal, changeless. Realising its eternal nature and oneself as that is signified by immortality. Finally, the Aitareya Upanishad finishes with, “whoever knows ‘I am Brahman’ becomes all this.” This means that Vamadeva’s mantra, like Rig Veda 4.26.1, deals with knowledge of Brahman. In 4.26.1, it is framed as he becoming Manu and Surya, while, in 4.27.1, it is knowing the “birth”, source, “of all the gods” — as identical with his own. The two are interchangeable [5].
[1] Aitareya Upanishad 4.5
[2] Ibid 4.6
[3] 1.4.10
[4] As Shankara explained the meaning in his commentary on the Aitareya Upanishad, “bodies impenetrable, like those made of iron guarded me from extricating myself from the meshes of Samsara.”
[5] Interestingly, both the Brihadaranyaka and Aitareya Upanishads which quote Vamadeva’s mantras (4.26.1 and 4.27.1) from Rig Veda, finish their passages by saying,
Even today, whoever knows “I am Brahman” becomes all this.
— Brihadaranyaka 1.4.10; Aitareya 4.6