"Existence, consciousness and the significance of our conscious being, -a triple enigma confronts us when we look at them to discover their origin, foundations, nature, their innermost secret "Existence itself is the first riddle. ...

      "Consciousness of existence is a second insoluble miracle. It is a premier fact and without it being would not know of its own existence. Things might exist, but only as a useless encumbrance of a meaningless space, - consciousness makes being self-aware, gives it a significance. But what then is consciousness? Is it something in the very grain of being or an unstable result or fortuitous accident? To whom does it belong? Is it to the world as a whole? Or is it peculiar to individual being? Or has it come from elsewhere into this inanimate and inconscient universe? To what end this entry?

    "The significance of our conscious being in an inconscient material world is the last and worst enigma "The problem of consciousness is the central problem; for it links the other two together and creates their riddle.

 [Sri Aurobindo: Essays Divine and Human pp 285-86].

     “The human mind in its progress marches from knowledge to knowledge, or it reviews, renews, and enlarges previous Knowledge that has been obscured and overlaid, or it seizes on old imperfect clues and is led by them to new discoveries.”

        Maharishi Sri Aurobindo, Pondicherry

           

Shree Krishna Dvaipayana, the Omniscient Shree Hari Narayana or Achyuta Badarayana, known as ‘Veda Vyasa’; it is He who sits in the cavity of the heart as antaryamin is seen here with the Lord of the Universe Ganapati; it is He who dwells in Muladhara plexus of Consciousness. The Rk Veda Samhita is actually a soliloquy. It is, as if, a dialogue between pure Consciousness and the vibrating Mind and moods. May be, Ganapati* as an elemental god is a myth indicating the transient nature of existence. That way, the Revered Omniscient Sage Veda Vyasa**, renowned author of the Brahmasutras, all the Puranas and the scriptures- shruti and smruti, is none other than the Para Brahman from whom Consciousness radiates as an eternal flow of sat-cit-anand. Sarvam khalvidam Brahma |

   The Rk Veda Samhita locates Ganapatim at the Muladhara Plexus of Consciousness and it is He who writes the Rks with his tooth (danta) in our heart. He is the Deity of our Basal Plexus (muladhara prajnya) and it is He who wards off all evil and keeps us in our senses. gaNAnAm tvA gaNapatim havAmahE…|

[* believed to be called Veda Vyasa after classifying the Veda.

 ** Elemental god made of clay, symbolic of transient nature, keen eyes and sharp ears, complete awareness, pure Consciousness according to Puranas].

  

        gaNAnAm tvA gaNapatim havAmahE

        kavim kavInAm upama shravastamam |

        jyEShTrAjam brahmaNAm brahmaNaspata

        a naH UtiBiH sIda sAdanam || (RV 2. 23. 1)

  

“The human mind in its progress marches from knowledge to knowledge, or it reviews, renews, and enlarges previous Knowledge that has been obscured and overlaid, or it seizes on old imperfect clues and is led by them to new discoveries.” Sri Aurobindo

    “In response to our praise, O God of strength, open for your singer who trembles with fervor a channel of inspiration, a powerful thought such as you, O honorable, and all the Gods approve. From you, O Agni, spring poetic wisdom, inspiration, and hymns most efficacious; from you comes wealth adorned with heroes to the worshiper whose thought is properly attuned! From you springs the horse who wins the prize, of incomparable size and strength and spirit; from you, O Agni, god-sent wealth for our joy, from you the swift charger, ranging afar. It is you, O sweet-spoken Agni, the immortal, whom the god-loving seek first to win with their prayers-- O you who remove far all hostility, unerring friend and master of the home! Remove, as our helper, all poverty of thoughts; dispel all sorrow, all evil intention. Be kind, O Agni, son of strength, at evening with him whose salvation, as God, you provide!” [Rk Veda IV, 11, 1- 6]

On understanding it is said, 

   “Understanding is, verily, greater than meditation. Understanding makes one understand the Rks, the Rk Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda, the Atharva Veda, the epics and the ancient lores as the fifth- the Upanishads- Veda of the Vedas, the rules of sacrifices by which the Manes are gratified, the science of numbers, the science of portents, the science of time, logic, ethics, etymology, Brahma-vidya, the science of elemental spirits, the science of weapons, astronomy, the science of serpents and the fine arts; heaven, earth, air, water, fire, gods, men, cattle, birds, herbs, trees; animals, together with worms, flies and ants; and also righteousness and unrighteousness, the true and the false, the good and the bad, the pleasant and the unpleasant, food and taste, this world and yonder world.

   Meditate on understanding.

    Narada said: Venerable Sir, is there anything greater than understanding?

   Of course there is something greater than understanding.

Please tell that to me, venerable Sir.”  

   “He who meditates on understanding as Brahman attains the worlds of understanding and knowledge and can, of his own free will, reach as far as understanding reaches- he who meditates on understanding as Brahman.”     [Sama Veda, Chandogya Upanishad VII, VII – Understanding as Brahman 1-2]