Psychological ideas in the Vedas and their relevance to contemporary psychology

R. L. Kashyap

This chapter expounds on the emphasis in the Vedas on an all-sided perfection of human life, and modes of its realization. In the Vedic view, life is a journey from one peak of perfection to another. The Vedic gods are supra-physical beings endowed with consciousness, knowledge and power, but without physical bodies. Thus Agni is the power of will endowed with wisdom, and Indra is the Divine mind which provides appropriate knowledge to human beings so that they may attain perfection in all their actions. The author further notes, based on Sri Aurobindo, that the Ṛg Veda is poetry of a high order and its true meaning is concealed in the symbolism. A list of proper nouns (names of Vedic gods) with their deeper meaning and significance, concealed behind the symbolism, are provided.