Ribhus / Rbhus

Ribhus / Rbhus are one of the most unknown / enigmatic characters from the pages of the rich history of Sanatana Dharma. The author wasn't aware of their prowess or standing within the echelons of gods until I stumbled upon a wonderful book provided in the references below.

History

Ribhus / Rbhus are typically refernced as the 3 children of Sudhanvā who in turn was born from Angiras.
Brahma --> Angiras --> Sudhanvā --> Ribhus / Rbhus
 

Vedas attached a much deeper philosophical and spiritual significance to Ribhus / Rbhus.
Ribhus / Rbhus are considered to be 

• Rays of the Sun
• Artisans of Immortality
• Powers of the light who have descended into matter & born as human to become divine and immortal

Furthering the last point, Ribhus / Rbhus are represented as Humans who have attained the conditions of Godhead by power of knowledge & perfection in their work. In this perspective, when they are represented as children of Sudhanvā, the meaning attached to the word Sudhanvā  is quite different.

Sudhanvā = Dhanvan = Solid / Desert fielf of Matter = Hill / Rock out of which water / rays are delivered. They are also quoted as "Offspring of Indra, Grandson of Luminous Force" as Indra representing the divine mind in man is born out of the Luminous Force. 

Three Ribhus / Rbhus

The names of  Ribhus / Rbhus is in the order of their birth

1.  Ribhu / Ribhukshan = Skillful knower / shaper in knowledge
2.  Vibhwa / Vibhu = Pervading / self-diffusing
3.  Vaja = Plenitude 

The eldest i.e. Ribhu is the first in man who beings to shape by his thoughts & works on the forms of immortality.
Vibhwa gives pervasiveness to this working.
Vaja supplies the plenitude of divine light and substance to complete the work.

Rbhus represent a divine birth who once humans would have become immortal i.e. upward evolution in the world-yajna due to which they earn the divine privilege to be along with divine powers. 

What do Ribhus / Rbhus do?

In Rigveda, there are 4 major functions ascribed to Ribhus / Rbhus. 

• Horses of Indra
• 2 brilliant horses yoked by speech to their movements, yoked by word & fashioned by the mind

• Chariot of Ashwins
• Ashwins are lords of human journey

• Cow that gives sweet milk
• Some literature points this to be Brihaspati's cow [2]. However there are 2 significant references to Cow.
• Reference 1:
  
• Cow is a metaphor for the primal light, Aditi
• Mother Aditi's son is Jiva = soul of a man, separated from the mother by skin which represents the product of ignorance
• Reference 2:
• Cow that gives sweet milk
• Cow separated from the skin represents the action of powers of duality
• Rbhus restore the constant companionship with it's infinite mother

Here, there is a short story quoted to describe the miracles of Rbhus. Long ago, in the ashram of a Rsi, a cow died. The calf was unable to bear the sorrow and began to cry. The Rsi prayed to Rbhus to help, who made a cow, covered it with the dead skin of the cow and placed it before the calf.

 

The calf believed it to be it's mother due to the likeness of the skin and was happy. 

• Restoring Youth of aged parents
• Here the aged parents of the world are Heaven and Earth
• Heaven = Mental Consciousness
• Earth = Physical
• It is said that Rbhus ascend to the house of sun, stay for 12 days
• After that, Rbhus traverse heaven & earth filling with abundance of rain of streams of truth, nourishing them & restoring their youth & vigor

Apart from these, Ribhus/Rbhus are also credited with the multiplication into 4 of the one of the divine bowl of gods, originally created by Twashtri.

References

• Majority of these deeds are captured in Rig Veda, 1st Mandala, 16th Anuvaka.
• In Mahabharatha, Anushasana Parva, Chapter 137, verse 25, there is a mention that even Gods worship Rbhus.

Note:

There is a Ribhu Gita, a well known book on Advaita, which is a dialogue between Rbhu (manasa-putra of Brahma) & sage Nidagha. This is part of Shiva Rahasya, whose admirer was none other than Maharshi Ramana. 

It should be noted that there is no connection between Ribhu Gita and the divine verses of Rig Veda.

Literature References

1. Rbhus by R. L. Kashyap (Sakshi Publications)
2. Puranic Encyclopedia by Vettam Mani