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KUNDE SUDASIENS
The word tejas is an -as derivative from the root tij 'sharpen', which
is represented in several other Indo-European languages besides
Sanskrit, such as Persian (tez 'sharp'), Greek (stizo, stigma 'tattoo',
'tattoo-mark'), Latin (dis-tinguo), Anglosaxon (sticia.n 'stick') and
German (stecken). According to the basic meaning of the root, we should
therefore expect tejas to mean 'sharpness': ·and this is actually the case
with the earliest rigvedic occurrences. Very soon, however, the word
developed a meaning centered on the notion of a peculiar kind of
'substance' or 'energy' with distinctive fiery connotations, manifest as
'glow' on the physical and as 'ardour' or 'fierceness' on the psychical
level 1.
Emergent traits of this development through metaphorical
extension are already detectable in the ~gveda 2 , although out of 75
connection with the roots {tij and { 80 has not yet been subjected to thorough
investigation, expressing his conviction "that there are common qualities bet-
ween sharpness and heat (particularly between tejas and tapas), and that the
study of one would help to explain the other" (CH. J. BLAIR, Heat in the ~g
Veda and Atharva Veda. New Haven [Conn.] 1961, p. 125 f. BLAIR is here
thinking in particular of a passage where Brhaspati is urged to "heat the rak{ia.s
with sharpest heat" [J;l,V Il,23,14-: tejil!fliaya tapant ra.k.,<i,qas ta.pa ye tvii nide
da<lhrre ar.,ra·i,r:ryarr. ! avis tat kriJva ycul a8at ta ukthya'l!l- bfha,spate i:i 11arirapo
nrdaya]). The affinity is all the more consphmous as we broaden our scope to
consider the impreAsive post-vedic shift of meaning whfoh brings tPja.,.; so close
t.o lapa.s, up to the threshold of identity in epic-puranic times.
:I ~v Vl.3,5: 8a id if,qteva rmiti dhad alii~yaii chi.srta tej6 'yaw mi. dhii.ri'i:m I
citniAlhrajatfr a.ratir y<1 aktr>r ver na drui;adhtJii. ra.gh1tpatmaja.1hhii.IJ,. The same
simile ocf!urs in .B.V III,2,:IO, where the human nations are said to "have made
Agni t.hat it may be sha.rp like a sword,, ('1Jisli.q1. k:m1i-r(I. vispd.ti-'!• maliY{5'iT il'}a"/t Scl·'f!I
st.m aknivanl B'vadhitfrft n<i t~jaxe / .sa 't1.dvafo nit•ato yati vbriljat sa. yarfJharn fiJ'U
{1h.1l.nane11u d'idharat). In I_lV VT,8,5 t.he meaning of 'sharpness' is reinforced by
t.h1• root vra.4c 'foll. hew·: Agni is besought to "cut down the wicked with his pavi
lik" a tree with the sharpnest1 [of an axe]" (yu.yeyu,ge v-idatltya-'f!'I· gri:uUbhy6 'yne
1·01ti'.W ya.M. 11a·1r1. dhe.lii navya11'i'm. / pm.>ye1!1l rlijann. agha,,~a:tiu1am ajara ni<:a n{ vpht
1·1111/1111·111 mi teja8ii). In :i;tV l.5i5,l Indra is inn1ked as ··an awful and mighty
anlo11r that whets his thunderbolt to make it. t1harp. as a bull [whets his homs]"
(dini...-< l'id "·'!I" mrima vi papra..tha ind1wqi mi mahna prthi·nt r;ana prati f bltim<i..-
t1i 1•i.~1111I ti. 1·11.1-,w1~1.ibh.ya ii.ta.pdl}, sis'ite ·vajra17t t~jase mi. v<iri1.8a.ya~.).
I 1:. v v I. I ii, I !l: nayrim u tvli yrluipa..te janiini'im. agnr. rikarm.a rsarnidha brluin-
/11111 ! 11.<//iiirf '/Ill !Jn.r/uq><ltyani'. .wint1J. tiyrnR.na 'Yi.(Lfl teja,8ii. 8(lf!/. si,4adh-i.
'' I::\' I Jili.:!: lri.111. rrurtd.yo nemann{~a~. pa1'ii1J.a8a. Q, 8a1'n·udni:rp. nf1 frffr/l·r.ara~1.e
:;lf11is.111i1•1(!1 ! 111iti111 d1ikf!11. .~:w1. ·ni1l<itlw.8ya ·n·& 8dlw yiri'ffl. mi 1•e1ia ad/iii. rnlw. t1Ua.frii.
The Development of tejas from the Vedas to the Puriir.tas 1.39
6 ~v I,71.8: a ydd i1Jt. nrp<ttir.n teja an.at hi.ci reto ni~ikta'f!I dya~ir abhtke !
'ma'!til} krrti'Tfl bhfi,li'Tfl ni yac1;hatu j tejasi.i mii sd.muk,~atu. ydsa.~li 1:1rim.mwktu mii.
9 AV X,5,25: -vi1nwl} krd1r1.o '1:1i sapatnahfi prthiv!t.~a.'Tfl.~ito 'gnit1jfi.(1. / prlh.i-1•tm
140 P.MAGNONE
a:n.u. vi kram,I', 'hltr1i prthivyas trirri n{rbh<ijamo yo 'sman dvr;11ti ya1'[1· vaya:r!I, di1i11rruil1.
/ .~a rna J'iil!it ta·rri pra:!f. ,; jahatu.
Ill A further cue to the kind of energy which is actually meant is offered by
a passagn like AV XII,5,7-11 where the k.,atriya who robs a bri'ilnna:!Ja of his cow
.is tht·eatcned with the loss of various attributes, grouped in eoupfos ;wcording
to analogy or com plernentarity (6ja8 ca teja.s ca 8ri.ha.~ cri l11ilarr1. ca ·uti.k cendriytf.r.n
en ,frts ca dhrirrna.~ ca f / br,ihma ca k~atrri.rri ca rii(l(r<.ir/1· ca vi.4a.~ ca t?Ji'}is r:a yriAaJ
m ·1J<fro18 ca. drduitia1p. ca ! ayu./; r,a rupa1µ ca nam,a ca k'irti.~ c.a J'rii.tuiil ci'ipan.68 ca
··tilc~u.i ro.•4rulmt[L ca II ptiya8 ca rrfaa.4 canrUl1[t cannady(trtt carta11i ca sa.tyarr1
"''':'f'lrfl. (".(1 pJlrtr.irrt ca pmja ca. pnsri.V((.S ca. 11 ta-ni s1irvai:iy apa kratnanti brahrna-
r1u"1111 ii.drlll1ina11ya Jinato brakrnati.ri.-rrt k.,atrf.ya8ya ). Hern it is signifiea.nt thnt
/•ju.< i>< gmuped together with ojas at. the very bt•ginning of the hymn, this first
c·1111ph· lwi11g adjacent to another formed by 1Sahas a.nd bal<t, whcrea1:1 other
1·011plc"" """h as l'llifl·i f ya..fu,;,, varcas / drat>il'}.a follow a fow steps apart; which
><•·1·111~ l.o i111ply t.hat the connotations of vigour and power a1"B primary with
n·.-<l""·t. '"' r.liosP of radiance a.nd majesty.
I I :-:; I: 11 Ji.-1 x ... t~jo ua agnir indriyaf[I vf:ryam indm, afi.bhya.m. P1W111 ·u/Jab-
,,!/ll 1!1 1•irycibh!1ii111 nyli.mi.u hrahma ·ua a11nifj, f0atrrirn {ndm.s te 11.bhe sa.n11nlbliyri
1.,,lf11u11 m """1tr<i111 <'a ·"t!t11:jwn lqt-1>ii tnbhyam n1am ·uMhhyar11 viryahhyam a.9h··
'l'lw Development of tejas from the Vedas to the Pural).as 141
one with the supreme essence, but rather a.ppears as the subtle
centrifugal energy presiding over manifestation. Thus in BrU' III,7,14,
expounding his cosmic (adkidaivata) doctrine of the atman,
Yajfiavalkya concludes the ascendant hierarchy of entities as follows:
"He, who though dwelling in tejas is other than it, whom tejas does not
know, whose body is tejas, who rules tejas from within, he is thine
atman, thine interior Ruler, the Immortal" 15 . Here tejas is the most
intimate body of at·man, on the threshold of manifestation through the
successive layers of darkness, space, moon-and-stars, the quarters, the
sun, the wind, the atmosphere, fire, water and earth. Likewise, in the
daiva. parimara described in KauU 2,12-13 each deity is said to be
resolved into pra·1;ta, which goes to the wind, and teja~q, which is
absorbed into the higher deity, the same process being then repeated
over again: "This brahman indeed shines, when fire blazes; but when
it does not, it dies. Its tejas goes to the sun, its praria to the wind ... "
and so forth 16 • Even in this passage, whereas prafJ,a appears to
represent the invariable kernel of reality, t~jas is the ever-changing
energy which is passed on along the downward current of evolution
and taken back in involution. The source of such energy is clearly
identified with the purU:ja Vi~QU in MaiU 6,35: "The truth's mouth is
hidden behind a veil of gold; do thou remove it, o Pu~an, that [I may
reach to] Vi:?I)U the Satyadharma. I am indeed the pv.ru§a in the sun!
For verily, Satyadharma is the sun-nature in the sun, the pure and
indeterminate puru,~a-nature. What abides in the middle of the sun, as
well as in the eye and in fire, is but a particle of tejas permeating space;
it is brahman, immortality, effulgence, it is Satyadharma" 17 . This
passage is most meaningful in that for the first time it transfers the
notion of tejas from its original animatistic or pantheistic milieu to a
theistic context, where tejas comes to be regarded as the supreme god's
own creative energy. This doctrine is definitively Kanctioned by the
oft-cited strophe of BhG X.,41, where Kr:?I).a concludes the
enumeration of his vibhutis by saying: "Whatever being is glorious,
15 Brt: III,7,14: yas teja81: tiljtha'l'{tS teja.so 'ntaro yarrt tejo na 1!eda yasya tejalp
8arirri1J1. yas tejo 'ntaro yamayaty ~a ta atmii:maryiimy amrtalp.
16 KauU 2,12: .. .etad ·vai bra.hma dipyate yad agnir jvalati / athaitan mriyate
We finally come to the epics and the PuraQas, where indeed the
concept of tejas att.ains its full development by a transposition of its
l'!overal resonances on the mythological plane. Here we must content
ourselves with merely reviewing some of the major motives.
On the gross level, the ancient connection of tejas with fire and heat
iH preserved in the imagery of the myths, where tejas is usually manifest
hul.h in living and in lifeless beings as burning glow or dazzling blaze.
011 the subtle level, as an energy, tejas preserves those qualities of
u.brnpt1w11s, keenness and excess which we have seen accrete to it as
uurly nH in t,he vedic period through the metaphor of sharpness. Seers
11.1·u 1,lw v1,ry epitome of the teja~vin ih this respect. n1i Kapila burnt to
iwhoH 110 lnMH than king Sagara's 20,000 sons in a single outburst of
'°·
tla.111i11µ; l1jr1..~ 'l'he tejas of r~ Aurva's wrath was threatening to
UUllHlltrw t.lui whole world, until he threw it into the sea where it became
a tfor,Y 1111i.r·p who uneeasingly drains the ocean and will drink it up at the
ibnu ol' di:-1imlution 20 . It is unnecessary to multiply instances since they
llofll all 1,oo well known.
All oxcess is dangerous, hence tejas is typically destructive, as in the
~buv1i instances. Even when it is creative, in foree of its ancient
.-11oci11t.ion with procreation and seed, it regularly carries dei:itructive
h11plit'u.tions or undertones. \Vhen Siva and PiirvatT were engaged in
prolm1~ed love-making, the gods became anxiomc1 fearing thiit they
would give birth to a son possessed of unbearable tejas. They succeeded
iu inkrrupting the couple, but Siva's spilt seed could not be easily
diHprnmd of: Agni, Gariga and still others were burnt by its tejas, unt,iJ
it, wni; finally thrown into a lump of reeds where Skanda was born 21 •
'l'he brahmanical specificity of tejas is still occasionally in evidence,
!\fol P.g. in the story of Vasi!;!tha and Visvamitra's strife. In the
l'tii.rniiyal)a version, Vasi!;!tha's cow Sabala herself, impersonating the
t"~i':; brahmanical might, professes that, though king Visvamitra be
poHMl~Hsed of great v'irya, Vasi!;!tha's own teja8 is invincible, for brahrnan
iH :-1uperior to k~atra; and the defeated king finally avows: "a laughable
t.hing is the force of a k~atriya; the force of brahmanical teja., is real
wont to infuse his teja.s into a chosen individual to make him equal to
some task, as he did e.g. with Purukutsa, who defeated the ga,ndharuas
"having his own uirya increased by the Lord's teja.s" 30 • Conversely, we
may recall that the Parasurama-avata.ra was not dissolved like the
preceding ones, but he was shorn of his vaitJ'TJ,amtejas by the younger
Rama come to relieve him from his duty of avatlira-hood 31 •
In any case, according to this doctrine the Lord is the sole wielder
and dispenser oftejas, which nothing can restrain but tejas itself: and so
by tejas the Lord subdues his own tejas, playing both parts in the
conflicts which seemingly oppose him to his enemies. However, even
though this theistic perspective is obviously dominant, the upanishadic
monistic strand is also interwoven in the complex puranic notion of
tejas, being most clearly discerned in the common cliche of the rebellious
demon, whose tapas or tejas, opportunely converted into some boon of
power, is not directly amenable to control even by the supreme Lord
unless by extraordinary, and often tricky means. In such passages teja.~
appears as a self-standing universal energy independent of the Lord,
and obeying its own intrinsic laws, with which the Lord has himself to
cope. This duplicity is but another instance of that dialectic of
personalism and impersonalism which is rooted deep in Indian culture,
sprouting along the course of its development the opposite branches of
monism and theism, ritualism and devotion, resort to magic and
surrender to grace.
Abbreviations·