Concept Virāj: A Critical Study

सार

 ‘annam vai virāṭ’ is a well-known Śruti that identifies meter Virāj as anna. i.e. food in general as well as the divine food including havis, soma etc. The Monier Williams dictionary also mentions that Virāj is mystically regarded as ‘food’, and invocations are directed to be made in this meter when food is the special object of prayer. Surprisingly, there is no uniform formula that describes the external form of the meter. There are multiple definitions about the number of letters in each pāda, exact number of pāda and the nature of the meter. But Virāj is said to bring us food irrespective of its form. Therefore it calls for researcher’s interests into an inquiry. This word Virāj occurring in feminine gender has multidimensional nuances and its connection with anna, whether clear or obscure, has been asserted in almost all of its forms and presences. This research paper, therefore, is based on the following hypotheses: Popularized as one of the important meters among seven Vedic meters, Virāj was later perceived as playing substantial role in making the universe sustain through repeating cycle of recreation and nurturing. Although Virāj lost its position among important meters, it could retain its fundamental sanctity throughout the process of self-evolution. Additionally, ‘Virāj’ can be regarded as the pioneer illustration of ‘semantic density’ of food-related terminology in the history of Indian Philosophy through which the relation between gross and subtle, individual and universe, microcosm (vyaṣṭi) and macrocosm (samaṣṭi) was manifested and realised.