VEDIC PRAYER

Translation By Dr. Sudhir Anand

Om sa na pitayva sunway agnay supäyano bhava.

Sachasva na swastyay. (Rig Veda 1: 1: 9)

Om sa agnay pitayva sunway na supäyano bhava.

God, He is Our Ultimate Leader, just as a father is easily be easily available to us.

Supreme Light, available to his son, for guidance.

Sachasva na swastyay.

Be our Companion for our benevolence.

This Veda mantra addresses God as Agnay our Ultimate Leader who enlightens us and leads us forward and higher. The words Agnay or Agni remind us that it is God alone who is the Supreme Light, Ultimate Source of Enlightenment and that we must pray only to God for guidance. When we are confronted with failure in our lives, when we are in darkness, we ask God to be our Ultimate Leader to guide us so that we do not follow the path of temptation.

The next two prayers in the mantra are for God to be easily available to us for guidance just as a father is easily available to his son and to be our constant companion for our benevolence. God in the Vedas is considered our Ultimate Father (Rig Veda 1: 1: 9; 1: 31: 14; 8: 98: 11). This description of God as father is only symbolic; just as a child can have access to his/her father for help and advice, God is always there to guide us. God is also called Father of our fathers, grand fathers and great grand fathers—Pitränäm Piträtamah (Rig Veda 4: 17: 17). Omnipresent God residing in our soul is our constant Companion, the closest entity to us and even more easily available than our physical father. God constantly inspires our soul to do the right thing and as the inner voice to our soul, God is constantly inspiring us to follow truth and virtue in life. The inner joy and inspiration that we feel when we do the right thing comes from God our Father. Also, when we think evil thoughts or plan to do something wrong (lying, stealing, hate etc.) God creates doubt, fear, shame or an aversion in us toward such thoughts and behavior advising us to change our course. God for our benevolence always steers us towards the right path. Whether we follow God’s advice, however, is our choice because as independent souls we have freewill and may follow a virtuous or sinful path in our lives.