Medhā Sūktam: The Power of Memory

The brilliant seers or ṛṣīs of ancient India knew exactly the specific qualifications to reach the supreme spiritual ideal. They therefore also perfected their power of memory. Why did they do this?

Sṃrti or Memory we speak of here is not in its ordinary psychological sense of memory but in a very special sense. It is the experience of many aspirants that our lessons are often forgotten and we have to re-learn the same experiences repeatedly involving tremendous effort.

The Yogī has to acquire the capacity to note the lessons of experience and to retain them in his or her consciousness for future guidance. The aspirant for Liberation must have the capacity to learn from all experiences quickly and finally, not needing to go through the same experiences over and over, due to failure of memory. In the Vedic tradition, this power of memory is worshipped as Goddess Medha. This hymn is an extract from the Taittirīya Upaniṣat.

This course is especially wonderful for aspiring yogīs and yoginīs in understanding and developing another essential qualification for Samādhi – memory.