| This first hymn we look at concerning Rudra, has many mushroom qualities described. He is a dweller on mountains, like we have seen previously with Agni and he is the first divine physician. He is a serpent slayer, like Indra, who is colored red, like the A. muscaria. He has a thousand eyes, which are sometimes depicted on paintings and art of aboriginal tribes and in the Syrian “eye” idols. The eye is a symbol for wisdom and knowledge that the mushroom bestows. Lord of plants and trees, as the fungal kingdom is supreme above all. And finally, he lives or rests in familiar places. Herds of cattle, cow-pens, homes, hearts and whirlpools, wells and abysses, green things, dust and vapor, inaccessible places in the earth and in soil. He is praised along with the bow and arrow makers. He is Lord of Soma juice and colored red and blue. Blue is the color of the throat or stem of psilocybin mushrooms and then we read about blue and white throats just afterwards. Then lastly, the arrows are likened to the rain, and then to food. These are all phrases used to describe Rudra: (4) O’ Dweller on the Mountain, we salute thee with auspicious hymn; That all, yea, all our people may be healthy and well-satisfied. (5) The Advocate, the first divine Physician, hath defended us. Crushing all serpents, drive away all Yâtudhânis down below. (7) May he who glides away, whose neck is azure, and whose hue is red, He whom the herdsmen, whom the girls who carry water have beheld, may he when seen be kind to us. (8) Homage to him the Azure-nested, the thousand-eyed, the bountiful. (19) Homage to the red architect, to the Lord of trees homage! Homage to him who stretched out the earth, to him who gives relief be homage. Homage to the Lord of Plants, homage to the prudent merchant! Homage to the Lord of bushes, to the shouting Lord of foot-soldiers who makes foes weep be homage. (44) Homage to him who is in herds of cattle and to him who is in cow-pens, homage to him who is on beds and to him who is in houses. Homage to him who is in hearts, and to him who is in whirlpools, homage to him who is in wells and to him who is in abysses. (45) Homage to him who is in dry things and to him who is in green things. Homage to him who is in dust and to him who is in vapour. Homage to him who is in inaccessible places, homage to him who is in creeping plants, homage to him who is in the earth and to him who is in good soil. (46) Homage to him who is in leaves and to him who is in the falling of leaves. Homage to him with the threatening voice and to him who slays, homage to him who troubles and to him who afflicts. Homage to you arrow-makers and to you bow-makers, homage to you sprinklers, to the hearts of the Gods. Homage to the discerners, homage to the destroyers; homage to the indestructible. (47) Pursuer, Lord of Soma juice, thou cleaver, coloured blue and red, (54) Innumerable thousands are the Rudras on the face of earth: Of all these Rudras we unbend the bows a thousand leagues away. (56) Rudras are dwelling in the sky, whose necks are blue, whose throats are white: Of these do we unbend the bows a thousand leagues away from us. (57) Sarvas haunt realms beneath the earth—their necks are blue, their throats are white: Of these, etc. (65) Homage to Rudras, those whose home is air, whose arrows is the rain. To them, etc. (66) Homage to Rudras, those whose home is earth, whose arrows is men's food. (33) |
In the following hymn, Rudra heals sickness with his bright arrows. He has a thousand medicines: (2) He through his lordship thinks on beings of the earth, on heavenly beings through his high imperial sway. Come willingly to our doors that gladly welcome thee, and heal all sickness, Rudra, in our families. (3) May thy bright arrow which, shot down by thee from heaven, flieth upon the earth, pass us uninjured by. Thou, very gracious God, hast thousand medicines: inflict no evil on our sons or progeny. (RV-VII) Hymn XLVI. Rudra Let’s keep in mind that not all mushrooms are safe to eat. Therefore, it’s possible that “inflict no evil on our sons and progeny” can mean “give us no poisonous mushrooms.” In this next hymn, we have some similar mentions like those in the prayers to Agni. Immortal one is mentioned along with sovereign but this time combined with medicines. He is also referred to as the Red, and he is likened to a boar in the sky. Pigs have a great affinity for mushrooms, especially truffles as they are known to be able to smell them and dig up the dirt trying to find them. Some truffles are actually psychedelic: (5) Him with the braided hair we call with reverence down, the wild-boar of the sky, the red, the dazzling shape. May he, his hand filled full of sovran medicines, grant us protection, shelter, and a home secure. (6) To him the Maruts’ Father is this hymn addressed, to strengthen Rudra's might, a song more sweet than sweet. Grant us, Immortal One, the food which mortals eat: be gracious unto me, my seed, my progeny. (RV-I) Hymn CXIV. Rudra. 5-6 The following are all phrases used to describe Maruts, emphasized in Bold. Like Indra and Agni, the Maruts are associated with cattle and thunderstorms differing only in that they appear to be many instead of one. This leads me to think of spores dropping from the sky in the rain and being carried by the winds. They are described as a bull among cows and being strengthened by drinking the rains. Again, strength is implied by the verbiage of mighty heroes and thunder is implied by shakers of earth or this could possibly be a reference to the way mushrooms grow up through rock and cause it to split. I hesitate to ascribe some things directly and would prefer to suggest possibilities here instead: (5) Praise ye the Bull among the cows; for ’tis the Maruts’ sportive band: It strengthened as it drank the rain. (6) Who is your mightiest, Heroes, when, O shakers of the earth and heaven, Ye shake them like a garment's hem? (RV1) Hymn XXXVII. Maruts. (33) The Texts of the White Yajurveda translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith [1899] BOOK SIXTEEN. 44-47, 54-57, 65-66 |