As we said in our introduction to this chapter, the Lord is making an open statement, that what He had been saying so far was nothing other than an intelligent reiteration of what is the content of the immortal Vedas. Inspired by a Divine remembrance, the Lord declares that He Himself, at the very beginning of creation, imparted the Knowledge of the Vedas to the Sun, and later on, the Sun-god conveyed it to his son, Manu, the ancient law-giver of India. Manu, in his turn, declared it to Ikshvaku, the ancestor of the Solar-dynasty that ruled over Ayodhya for a long period of time.

The word “Veda” is derived from the root Vid, “to know”; Veda, therefore, means ‘Knowledge.’ The ‘Knowledge’ of divinity lurking in man and the technique by which it can be brought out to full manifestation are the theme of the Veda text-books, and the Truth of this theme is eternal.

Just as we can say that electricity is eternal, as there was electricity even before the first scientist discovered it, and electrical energy will not be exhausted because of our forgetfulness of its existence, so too the divine nature of man will never be destroyed because of our non-assertion of it. The knowledge of the divine content and its possibilities in man are indeed eternal.

The creation of the universe, it is accepted even by modern science, must have started with the Sun. As the source of all energy, the Sun was the first of the created objects, and with its very creation, this Great Knowledge of the Self was given out to the world.

The theme of Vedic literature being the subjective divinity, language fails to express it completely. No deep experience can be exhaustively expressed in words. Therefore a study of the scriptures by one’s own self is apt to create misunderstandings in the mind of the student, rather than a right appreciation of it. Thus it is a time-honoured tradition in India that spiritual lessons are directly heard from a true Master, who has vivid inner experiences in the realm of the Spirit. It has been handed down from Master to disciple and we have been given here the identity of the earliest students of Brahma-Vidya.

In the beginning of creation, with a veiw to infusing vigour into the Ksatriyas who are the protectors of the world, aham, I; proktavan, imparted; imam, this; avyayam, imperishable; yogam, Yoga, presented in the (preceding) two chapters; vivasvate, to Vivasvan, the Sun. Being endowed with this power of Yoga, they would be able to protect the Brahmana caste. The protection of the world becomes ensured when the Brahmanas and the Ksatriyas are protected. It (this Yoga) is avyayam, imperishable, because its result is undecaying. For, the result-called Liberation-of this (Yoga), which is characterized by steadfastness in perfect Illumination, does not decay. And he, Vivasvan, praha, taught (this); manave, to Manu. Manu abravit, transmitted (this); iksvakave, to Iksvaku, his own son who was the first king. [First king of the Iksvaku dynasty, otherwise known as the Solar dynasty.]