Atharva Veda — Kanda 19, Suktha 53
compared with The IIP-VGF framework
(Translations from Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1895).
Atharva Veda — Kanda 19, Suktha 53
19.53.2 —
This Time hath seven rolling wheels and seven naves, immortality is the chariot's axle. This Time brings hitherward all worlds about us: as primal Deity is he entreated.
Note: The Griffith translation of the word amṛ́taṃ (अमृतं) appears in print as "immorality", which appears to be a typographical error. The correct translation should be "immortality" (or "amrita" which means the "nectar of immortality")
First of all: the "seven rolling wheels and a seven naves": The nave is the central hub of a wheel. In Vedic cosmology the number “seven” rarely functions as a literal numerical count. Rather, it symbolises cosmic completeness across all planes or strata of existence — the full articulation of reality into ordered layers (as in the seven worlds, seven sages, seven rays, seven regions). Thus when the Atharva Veda says “Time has seven rolling wheels and seven naves,” the intention is not to restrict Time to seven discrete parts, but to express the idea that Time pervades and structures the whole manifested cosmos in its complete, layered extent. It represents wholeness-through-articulation, not arithmetic limitation. If we were using the same kind of language rather than mathematics, we would say that the VGF in the IIP-VGF framework has infinitely many "wheels" which are its recursive layers or closures. Time here is not physical-clock time — it is generative iteration itself.
The parallels to the Infinite Iteration Principle (IIP) are clear:
• Seven wheels / seven hubs → symbolic of recursive layers or closures
• Immortal axle → the fixed-point / invariant core of iteration
• Time brings hitherward all world about us → worlds arise as stabilised closures of iteration
• First among gods → it is prior to all derived structures and distinctions
In VGF language, this reads like:
The IIP iterates upon itself; each iteration stabilises into a closure (a “wheel”), and the hierarchy of closures scaffolds the worlds.
So here Time ≈ generative recursion, and the axle ≈ the unbroken identity of the process across levels.
19.53.3 —
On Time is laid an overflowing beaker: this we behold in many a place appearing. He carries from us all these worlds of creatures. They call him Kāla in the loftiest heaven.
IIP–VGF Parallel
• The overflowing beaker / cosmos → the Vast Generative Field (VGF) that is "overflowing" because it is always forming closures.
• He carries from us all these worlds of creatures. → In the IIP-VGF framework "world" and "intelligence" are two aspects of the one functor, and it must decohere.
• Loftiest heaven → This appears in the VGF morphology as the part of it before closure - it corresponds to the pure IIP - the infinite iteration principle.
In the mathematical / scientific register of the IIP-VGF we have:
• The IIP is ontologically primary
• The VGF is the closure of its infinite iteration
• Each domain of coherence "experiences time" as a particular projection or decoherence
19.53.4 —
He only made the worlds of life, he only gathered the worlds of living things together. Their son did he become who was their Father: no other higher power than he existeth.
The metaphysical description here is reflective of the general Hindu morphology in which the original Source or Being becomes all, through becoming and involution, which is essentially what appears as the stories of beings in the Puranas. Morphologically, it is essentially the same principle found in the IIP-VGF and its forming of closures.
19.53.5–6 —
Kāla created yonder heaven, and Kāla made these realms of earth. By Kāla, stirred to motion, both what is and what shall be expand. Kāla created land; the Sun in Kāla hath his light and heat. In Kāla rest all things that be: in Kāla doth the eye discern.
Comment: Kala is Time. The verses essentially say that Time creates the world known as the Earth and its situation, together with all the realms of knowing and experience that go together with it. It goes on to say that Time is "stirred into motion" (which in the IIP-VGF picture is the iterative generativity of nature, the IIP). As a consequence, "both what is and what shall be", expand. This expansion in the IIP-VGF picture is the expansion of "closures" or "attractors" in the VGF, as a result of the IIP.
In VGF terms:
• Past = redundancy accumulated through decoherence
• Future = unfolding iteration constructing new stabilisations
• Perception itself occurs within a stabilised temporal envelope
The line in the verses “in Kala doth the eye discern” means that consciously seeing happens "within" or is enabled by, Time. In the IIP-VGF framework both the objectivity of the world that can be seen and perceptual coherence are stabilised products of iterative redundancy within a temporal envelope.
19.53.7 —
In Kāla mind, in Kāla breath, in Kāla names are fixed and joined. These living creatures, one and all, rejoice when Kāla hath approached.
IIP–VGF Parallel:
This beautifully expresses the same principle we articulate when we say in the IIP-VGF framework:
• Cognition is not outside the VGF — it is a closure inside it
• Mind, breath, language, identity all arise from recursive stabilisation
“Names are fixed and joined in Time” parallels the fact that in the IIP-VGF framework, categories, objects, and symbols are stabilised semantic closures crystallising out of generative iteration.
19.53.9 —
He made, he stirred this universe to motion, and on him it rests. He, Kāla, having now become Brahma, holds Parameshthin up.
This refers to Time ("He" - Kala) being the basis of the universe by stirring it into motion. Doing so, Time (Kala) becomes Brahma who realises the supreme being. Beyond the IIP-VGF framework which is expressed in the mathematical and scientific register, from the point of view of Hindu metaphysics, the IIP-VGF framework is a symbol. Essentially, the IIP in the IIP-VGF mathematical and technical framework is the root mathematical principle from which time arises as a stabilisation. In the IIP-VGF cosmological model (which matches the standard Lambda-CDM "Big Bang" model except that it doesn't adopt the standard assumption that spacetime begins at the beginning) time and space stabilise together which is why we have spacetime. Nonetheless, in the IIP-VGF framework time is more fundamental. The Hindu metaphysics speaks from the position of consciousness and Being, whilst the IIP-VGF framework speaks from the position of evolutionary, discriminatory, human intelligence. In this way, for the point of view of the Hindu metaphysics the IIP (infinite iteration principle) in the IIP-VGF framework is the symbol of Kala or Time, and the VGF is the symbol of Brahma and creation.
Atharva Veda — Kanda 19, Suktha 53
19.53.2 —
This Time hath seven rolling wheels and seven naves, immortality is the chariot's axle. This Time brings hitherward all worlds about us: as primal Deity is he entreated.
Note: The Griffith translation of the word amṛ́taṃ (अमृतं) appears in print as "immorality", which appears to be a typographical error. The correct translation should be "immortality" (or "amrita" which means the "nectar of immortality")
First of all: the "seven rolling wheels and a seven naves": The nave is the central hub of a wheel. In Vedic cosmology the number “seven” rarely functions as a literal numerical count. Rather, it symbolises cosmic completeness across all planes or strata of existence — the full articulation of reality into ordered layers (as in the seven worlds, seven sages, seven rays, seven regions). Thus when the Atharva Veda says “Time has seven rolling wheels and seven naves,” the intention is not to restrict Time to seven discrete parts, but to express the idea that Time pervades and structures the whole manifested cosmos in its complete, layered extent. It represents wholeness-through-articulation, not arithmetic limitation. If we were using the same kind of language rather than mathematics, we would say that the VGF in the IIP-VGF framework has infinitely many "wheels" which are its recursive layers or closures. Time here is not physical-clock time — it is generative iteration itself.
The parallels to the Infinite Iteration Principle (IIP) are clear:
• Seven wheels / seven hubs → symbolic of recursive layers or closures
• Immortal axle → the fixed-point / invariant core of iteration
• Time brings hitherward all world about us → worlds arise as stabilised closures of iteration
• First among gods → it is prior to all derived structures and distinctions
In VGF language, this reads like:
The IIP iterates upon itself; each iteration stabilises into a closure (a “wheel”), and the hierarchy of closures scaffolds the worlds.
So here Time ≈ generative recursion, and the axle ≈ the unbroken identity of the process across levels.
19.53.3 —
On Time is laid an overflowing beaker: this we behold in many a place appearing. He carries from us all these worlds of creatures. They call him Kāla in the loftiest heaven.
IIP–VGF Parallel
• The overflowing beaker / cosmos → the Vast Generative Field (VGF) that is "overflowing" because it is always forming closures.
• He carries from us all these worlds of creatures. → In the IIP-VGF framework "world" and "intelligence" are two aspects of the one functor, and it must decohere.
• Loftiest heaven → This appears in the VGF morphology as the part of it before closure - it corresponds to the pure IIP - the infinite iteration principle.
In the mathematical / scientific register of the IIP-VGF we have:
• The IIP is ontologically primary
• The VGF is the closure of its infinite iteration
• Each domain of coherence "experiences time" as a particular projection or decoherence
19.53.4 —
He only made the worlds of life, he only gathered the worlds of living things together. Their son did he become who was their Father: no other higher power than he existeth.
The metaphysical description here is reflective of the general Hindu morphology in which the original Source or Being becomes all, through becoming and involution, which is essentially what appears as the stories of beings in the Puranas. Morphologically, it is essentially the same principle found in the IIP-VGF and its forming of closures.
19.53.5–6 —
Kāla created yonder heaven, and Kāla made these realms of earth. By Kāla, stirred to motion, both what is and what shall be expand. Kāla created land; the Sun in Kāla hath his light and heat. In Kāla rest all things that be: in Kāla doth the eye discern.
Comment: Kala is Time. The verses essentially say that Time creates the world known as the Earth and its situation, together with all the realms of knowing and experience that go together with it. It goes on to say that Time is "stirred into motion" (which in the IIP-VGF picture is the iterative generativity of nature, the IIP). As a consequence, "both what is and what shall be", expand. This expansion in the IIP-VGF picture is the expansion of "closures" or "attractors" in the VGF, as a result of the IIP.
In VGF terms:
• Past = redundancy accumulated through decoherence
• Future = unfolding iteration constructing new stabilisations
• Perception itself occurs within a stabilised temporal envelope
The line in the verses “in Kala doth the eye discern” means that consciously seeing happens "within" or is enabled by, Time. In the IIP-VGF framework both the objectivity of the world that can be seen and perceptual coherence are stabilised products of iterative redundancy within a temporal envelope.
19.53.7 —
In Kāla mind, in Kāla breath, in Kāla names are fixed and joined. These living creatures, one and all, rejoice when Kāla hath approached.
IIP–VGF Parallel:
This beautifully expresses the same principle we articulate when we say in the IIP-VGF framework:
• Cognition is not outside the VGF — it is a closure inside it
• Mind, breath, language, identity all arise from recursive stabilisation
“Names are fixed and joined in Time” parallels the fact that in the IIP-VGF framework, categories, objects, and symbols are stabilised semantic closures crystallising out of generative iteration.
19.53.9 —
He made, he stirred this universe to motion, and on him it rests. He, Kāla, having now become Brahma, holds Parameshthin up.
This refers to Time ("He" - Kala) being the basis of the universe by stirring it into motion. Doing so, Time (Kala) becomes Brahma who realises the supreme being. Beyond the IIP-VGF framework which is expressed in the mathematical and scientific register, from the point of view of Hindu metaphysics, the IIP-VGF framework is a symbol. Essentially, the IIP in the IIP-VGF mathematical and technical framework is the root mathematical principle from which time arises as a stabilisation. In the IIP-VGF cosmological model (which matches the standard Lambda-CDM "Big Bang" model except that it doesn't adopt the standard assumption that spacetime begins at the beginning) time and space stabilise together which is why we have spacetime. Nonetheless, in the IIP-VGF framework time is more fundamental. The Hindu metaphysics speaks from the position of consciousness and Being, whilst the IIP-VGF framework speaks from the position of evolutionary, discriminatory, human intelligence. In this way, for the point of view of the Hindu metaphysics the IIP (infinite iteration principle) in the IIP-VGF framework is the symbol of Kala or Time, and the VGF is the symbol of Brahma and creation.