Dirghatamas is the second volume in the series Life and Vision of Vedic Seers intended to cover as many seers as possible. Started with visvamitra, it is likely to go up to vamadeva, atri, Bharadvaja and vasistha. The present volume concerns the seer of this name who has seen Rgveda 1. 140-164. Dirghatamas is that great seer who has seen that well-known mantra which states that Reality is one though spoken of variously by seers.

The hymn in which this mantra occurs is known as Asyavamiya. It is the most philosophical hymn in the whole of the Veda and has served as the foundation not only of Vedanta but also of Bharthari’s philosophy of language as expouned in his Vakyapadiya. In this long hymn Dirghatamas has envisioned intimate relationship not only between the world and the reality but also between the word and reality. The word as Om has been serving since the vedic age as the most efficient means to spiritual sadhana in several religions of the world. He is also the first in the human history to have given the idea of Kala-cakra based on astronomical events. The idea of horse-sacrifice, asvamedha, as expounded by him in two hymns, has subsequently served as a great determinant in the political history of India. In view of these and many more facts of seminal significance, the publication is expected to be of immense interest not only to those who are involved in the understanding of the secret of the Vedic wisdom but also to those who are interested in the history of ideas, religions, philosophical, linguistic, cultural and even scientific. Over all, if one wants to have a taste of the Vedic ethos in its making as well as culmination, one cannot afford to ignore the present publication and much more so the series it is placed in.

Contents - Preface 9 Introduction 17 CHAPTER I 43 Human Consciousness and its Quest for the Reality CHAPTER II 67 Word and the Reality CHAPTER III 91 Space – Time and Idea of the Supreme Being CHAPTER IV 119 The One and the Many CHAPTER V 141 Dynamics of Single Divinities – Agni, Visnu and Sarasvati CHAPTER VI 163 Polarity of Dual Divinities – Dyava-Prithvi, Asvina and Mitra – Varuna CHAPTER VII 177 Philosophy of Sacrifice CHAPTER VIII 193 Philosophy of Life Index 209