Om Adibhutaya Namaha, Salutations to the One who has taken form first. The Sun, self-effulgent, radiating light it partakes from the Central Sun of all the Universes, lokas. The Sun is a fragment of the Central Sun of all Universes, and thus, radiates the life-force of all to all, without fear or favour. The Vedas are the first that arise and the cause of light being perceived.
ādi Hin., San. m. the beginning, origin; original archetype. ‘Neither the gods nor the sages know my origin.’ (Bhg. X.2)
ādi– Hin. ādi-, ādya San. adj. when compounded with other words primordial, earliest, the very first, primary; original
bhūt Hin. m. bhūta San. n. (from bhū – to become, arise, be, exist) a created thing; any living thing, from plants to God; a spirit, fiend; the existent world; one of the five elements.
Adibhuta is a the first thing to come into existence from the primordial origins. Just as the full emerges from the fulness, and fulness remains when the full emerges from that fulness so also, the Sun has the same primordial light that emerges from the Central Sun of all Universes.
The Sun emerges or is born from the Central Sun of all the worlds, the lokas. Then is born the grahas, the planets, then the upagrahas and constellations of the nakshatras.
Vedas the Source of Light
The sun is self-effulgent, it radiates light of its own nature. It takes that nature from the Grand Central Sun of all the Worlds, what this sloka is calling adibhuta, the first that arises. What arises is the energy, the vibration of divine revelation, divine self-giving from form of the adibhuta: the vedas are heard. The Vedas are the source of light in all the worlds.
We recall the story of Hayagreeva, the incarnation of Vishnu with the head of a horse (Haya). Hayagreeva took form to recover the light when the Vedas were stolen from Lord Brahma, and all the worlds were plunged into darkness. Hayagreeva pursued the demons Madhu and Kaitabha who had stolen the vedas and hidden them under water. Hayagreeva dived to the bottom of the ocean and rescued the Vedas after killing the demons. He then returned the Vedas to Lord Brahma
Hayagreeva returns the Vedas to Lord Brahma
Although the Sun is self-effulgent and light is perceived, light is only perceived because of veda vidwath (study of vedas), veda poshana (fostering of the vedas) and veda patsalas (colleges devoted to learning of vedam). The presence of Vedas and the maintenance of vedic learning and chanting is that which keeps the light of the Central Sun present in our solar system.
The Vedas
Veda is the name for a mass of divine knowledge. Veda teaches the Truth that cannot be revised or reversed by the passage of time through the three stages – past, present and future. The Veda ensures welfare and happiness for the three worlds. It confers peace and security on human society. The Veda is the collation of Words that are Truth, which were visualised by sages who had attained the capacity to receive them into their enlightened awareness. In reality, the Word is the very Breath of God, the Supreme Person. The unique importance of the Veda rests on this fact.
The word ‘Veda’ originated from the root ‘Vid’, meaning ‘to know’, “Vidana thu anena ithi Vedah“, “That which reveals and makes clear all knowledge is Veda”. The Veda can be mastered neither by limited intellect nor by limited experience. The sacred Veda instructs all that one requires for his spiritual advancement. It instructs one the means and methods to overcome all sorrows and grief. It instructs one in all the spiritual disciplines which can give unshaken peace. No one has understood correctly the beginning of the Veda or its end. So, it is hailed as Anaadi (Beginningless) and Sanathana (Eternal). Since the first and the last of the Veda are not known, it is Nitya, Everlasting. The intelligence of humans is tainted but since the Veda has no trace of taint, it is concluded that it cannot be a human product. So the Veda is also characterised as A-pourusheya (Non-personal).
Whatever the source from which a person arises, be it name, family, generations, culture, nature, it is of essence One, and that one is the spark of the divine within. That spark of the divine is self-effulgent light, ONE with the Central Sun of all the Worlds.
