Anuradha Choudry — Pondicherry University, Pondicherry.

Sri Aurobindo in his book, the Secret of the Veda, clearly states that the Vedas become relevant to humanity as a whole only when it is accorded an adhyatmika or spiritual interpretation. He arrived at this conclusion from his personal experiences when, during the course of his sadhana, he realized that oft recurring figures like that of Ila, Saraswati and other Vedic Godheads were closely associated with certain psychological states of being. This led him to conclude that these Godheads and other important words were in fact symbols of profound psycho-spiritual truths. To confirm his discovery he attributed this deeper psycho-spiritual meaning to the Vedic texts and systematically, the hymns acquired an entirely different sense which was not only consistent and meaningful in its expression but revealed the universal applicability of the Vedas. In this paper, Sri Aurobindo’s psycho-spiritual approach is applied to the famous legend in the Vedas of the Angirasa Rishis and the Lost Cows, and shows how it acquires a new and practical significance.

Email the author: "Anuradha Choudry" <panditanu@yahoo.com>