Vedic Hymns, Part I (SBE32), by Max Müller, [1891], at sacred-texts.com
Vedic Hymns, Part I (SBE32), by Max Müller, [1891], at sacred-texts.com
1. Those who stand around 2 him while he moves on, harness the bright red (steed) 1; the lights in heaven shine forth 3.
2. They harness to the chariot on each side his (Indra's) 1 two favourite bays, the brown, the bold, who can carry the hero.
3. Thou who createst light where there was no light, and form, O men 1! where there was no form, hast been born together with the dawns 2.
4. Thereupon 1 they (the Maruts), according to their wont 2, assumed again the form of new-born babes 3, taking their sacred name.
5. Thou, O Indra, with the swift Maruts 1, who break even through the stronghold 2, hast found even in their hiding-place the bright ones 3 (days or clouds).
6. The pious singers 1 (the Maruts) have, after their own mind 2, shouted towards the giver of wealth, the great, the glorious (Indra).
7. Mayest thou 1 (host of the Maruts) be verily seen 2 coming together with Indra, the fearless: you are both happy-making, and of equal splendour.
8. With the beloved hosts of Indra, with the blameless, hasting 2 (Maruts), the sacrificer 1 cries aloud.
9. From yonder, O traveller (Indra), come hither, or from the light of heaven 1; the singers all yearn for it;—
10. Or we ask Indra for help from here, or from heaven, or from above the earth, or from the great sky.
This hymn is ascribed to Kanva, the son of Ghora. The metre is Gâyatrî throughout.
Verse 1 = SV. II, 818; VS. XXIII, 5; AV. XX, 26, 4; 47, 10; 69, 9; TS. VII, 4, 20, 1; TB. III, 9, 4, 1.
Verse 2 = SV. II, 819; VS. XXIII, 6; AV. XX, 26, 5; 47, 11; 69, 10; TS. VII, 4, 20, I.
Verse 3 = SV. II, 820; VS. XXIX, 37; AV. XX, 26, 6; 47, 12; 69, 11; TS. VII, 4, 20, 1; TB. III, 9, 4, 3.
Verse 4 = SV. II, 101; AV. XX, 40, 3; 69, 12.
Verse 5 = SV. II, 202; AV. XX, 70, 1.
Verse 6 =AV. XX, 70, 2.
Verse 7 = SV. II, 200; AV. XX, 40, 1; 70, 3.
Verse 8 = AV. XX, 40, 2; 70, 4.
Verse 9 = AV. XX, 70, 5.
Verse 10 = AV. XX, 70, 6.
Wilson: The circumstationed (inhabitants of the three worlds) associate with (Indra), the mighty (Sun), the indestructive (fire), the moving (wind), and the lights that shine in the sky.
Benfey: Die rothe Sonne schirr’n sie an, die wandelt um die stehenden, Strahlen strahlen am Himmel auf.
Ludwig: Sie spannen an den hellen, den roten, den vom feststehenden hinwegwandelnden; heller glanz erstralt am Himmel.
Note 1. The poet begins with a somewhat abrupt description of a sunrise. Indra is taken as the god of the bright day, whose steed is the sun, and whose companions the Maruts, or the storm-gods. Arushá, meaning originally red, is used as a proper name of the horse or of the rising sun, though it occurs more frequently as the name of the red horses or flames of Agni, the god of fire, and also of the morning light. In our passage, Arushá, a substantive, meaning the red of the morning, has taken bradhná as an
adjective,—bradhná meaning, as far as can be made out, bright in general, though, as it is especially applied to the Soma-juice, perhaps bright-brown or yellow. Names of colour are difficult to translate from one language into another, for their shades vary, and withdraw themselves from sharp definition. We shall meet with this difficulty again and again in the Veda; see RV. X, 20, 9.
As it has actually been doubted whether bradhná arushá can be meant for the sun, and whether the Vedic poets ever looked upon the sun as a horse, I may quote Vâg. Samh. XXIII, 4, where the same verse occurs and is declared to be addressed to the sun; and Satap. Br. XIII, 2, 6, 1, where we read, yuñganti bradhnam arusham karantam iti, asau vâ âdityo bradhnoऽrushoऽmum evâsmâ âdityam yunakti svargasya lokasya samashtyai. Ludwig remarks justly that the sun has been conceived as a chariot also, and that bradhná arushá may have been thus understood here. Delbrück translates quite boldly: Sie schirren die rothe Sonne an. See also Tait. Br. III, 7, 7, 4; Tândya Br. XXIII, 3, 5; Sâṅkh. Br. II, 17, 3; Ludwig, Comm. ii. p. 173. M. Bergaigne (Rél. Ved. iii. p. 324) remarks very truly: 'Le soleil est tantôt une roue, tantôt un char, tantôt un cheval, trainant le char, tantôt un héros monté sur le char et dirigeant les chevaux.'
The following passages will illustrate the principal meaning of arushá, and justify the translation here adopted.
Arushá is used as an adjective in the sense of red:
VII, 97, 6. tám sagmâ´sah arushâ´sah ásvâh bríhaspátim saha-vâ´hah vahanti,—nábhah ni rûpám arushám vásânâh.
Powerful red horses, drawing together draw him, Brihaspati: horses clothed in red colour, like the sky.
III, 1, 4. svetám gagñânám arushám mahi-tvâ´.
Agni, the white, when born; the red, by growth. III, 15, 3. krishnâ´su agne arusháh ví bhâhi.
Shine, O Agni, red among the dark ones.
III, 31, 21; VI, 27, 7.
VII, 75, 6. práti dyutânâ´m arushâ´sah ásvâh kitrâ´h adrisran ushásam váhantah.
The red horses, the beautiful, were seen bringing to us the bright dawn.
V, 43, 12; I, 118, 5; IV, 43, 6; V, 73, 5; I, 36, 9; VII, 3, 3; 16, 3; X, 45, 7; I, 141, 8.
II, 2, 8. sáh idhânáh ushásah râ´myâh ánu svâ´h na dîdet arushéna bhânúnâ.
He (Agni), lit after the lovely dawns, shone like the sky with his red splendour.
III, 29, 6; IV, 58, 7; I, 114, 5; V, 59, 5; 12, 2; 12, 6; VI, 8, 1.
VI, 48, 6. syâvâ´su arusháh vríshâ.
In the dark (nights) the red hero (Agni). Cf. III, 7, 5.
In one passage vríshan arushá is intended for fire in the shape of lightning.
X, 89, 9. ní amítreshu vadhám indra túmram vríshan vríshânam arushám sisîhi.
Whet, O strong Indra, the heavy strong red weapon, against the enemies.
X, 43, 9. út gâyatâm parasúh gyótishâ sahá—ví rokatâm arusháh bhânúnâ súkih.
May the axe (the thunderbolt) appear with the light—may the red one blaze forth, bright with splendour.
X, 1, 6; VI, 3, 6.
X, 20, 9. krishnáh svetáh arusháh yâ´mah asya bradhnáh rigráh utá sónah.
His (Agni's) path is black, white, red, bright, reddish, and yellow.
Here it is extremely difficult to keep all the colours distinct.
Arushá is frequently applied to Soma, particularly in the 9th Mandala. There we read:
IX, 8, 6. arusháh hárih. IX, 71, 7. arusháh diváh kavíh vríshâ. IX, 74, 1. vâ´gî´ arusháh. IX, 82, 1. arusháh vríshâ hárih. IX, 89, 3. hárim arushám.
IX, 111, 1. arusháh hárih. See also IX, 25, 5; 61, 21.
In IX, 72, 1, arushá seems used as a substantive in the sense of red-horse.
Professor Spiegel, in his important review of my translation (Heidelberger Jahrbücher, 1870, p. 104), points out that aurusha in Zend means white, so that it would seem as if the original meaning of arusha had been bright, bright like fire, and thus red.
Arushá is used as an appellative, and in the following senses:
1. The one red-horse of the Sun, the two or more red-horses of Agni.
I, 6, 1. yuñgánti bradhnám arushám.
They yoke the bright red-horse (the Sun).
I, 94, 10. yát áyukthâh arushâ´ róhitâ ráthe.
When thou (Agni) hadst yoked the two red-horses and the two ruddy horses to the chariot. 1, 146, 2.
II, 10, 2. sruyâ´h agníh—hávam me—syâvâ´ rátham vahatah róhitâ vâ utá arushâ´.
Mayest thou, Agni, hear my call, whether the two black, or the two ruddy, or the two red-horses carry you.
Here three kinds of colours are clearly distinguished, and an intentional difference is made between róhita and arushá. IV, 2, 3.
IV, 6, 9. táva tyé agne harítah—róhitâsah—arushâ´sah vríshanah.
To thee (Agni) belong these bays, these ruddy, these red-horses, the stallions.
Here, again, three kinds of horses are distinguished—Haríts, Róhitas, and Arushás.
VIII, 34, 17. yé rigrah vâ´ta-ramhasah arushâ´sah raghusyádah.
Here arushá may be the subject, and the rest adjectives; but it is also possible to fake all the words as adjectives, referring them to âsú in the next verse. The fact that rigrá likewise expresses a peculiar red colour, is no objection, as may be seen from I, 6, I; 94, 10.
VII, 42, 2. yuṅkshvá—harítah rohítah ka yé vâ sádman arushâ´h.
Yoke (O Agni) the bays, and the ruddy horses, or the red-horses which are in thy stable. VII, 16, 2.
2. The cloud, represented as one of the horses of the Maruts.
I, 85, 5. utá arushásya ví syanti dhâ´râh.
(When you go to the battle, O Maruts), the streams of the red (horse) flow off.
V, 56, 7. utá syáh vâ´gî´ arusháh.
This strong red-horse,—meant for one of the horses of the Maruts, but, at the same time, as sending rain.
Besides the passages in which arushá is used either as an adjective, in the sense of red, or as an appellative, meaning some kind of horse, there are others in which, as I pointed out in my Essay on Comparative Mythology a, Arushá occurs as a proper name, as the name of a solar deity, as the bright deity of the morning (Morgenroth). My interpretation of some of these passages has been contested, nor shall I deny that in some of them a different interpretation is possible, and that in looking for traces of Arushá, as a Vedic deity, representing the morning or the rising sun, and containing, as I endeavoured to show, the first germs of the Greek name of Eros, I may have seen more indications of the presence of that deity in the Veda than others would feel inclined to acknowledge. Yet in going over the same ground again, I think that even verses which for a time I felt inclined to surrender, yield a better sense, if we take the word arushá, which occurs in them as a substantive, as the name of a matutinal deity, than if we look upon it as an adjective or a mere appellative. It might be said that wherever this arushá occurs, apparently as the name of a deity, we ought to supply Agni or Indra or Sûrya. This is true to a certain extent, for the sun, or the light of the morning, or the bright sky form no doubt the substance and
subject-matter of this deity. But the same applies to many other names originally intended for these conceptions, but which, nevertheless, in the course of time, became independent names of independent deities. In our passage I, 6, 1, yuñgánti bradhnám arushám, we may retain for arushá the appellative power of steed or red-steed, but if we could ask the poet what he meant by this red-steed, or if we ask ourselves what we can possibly understand by it, the answer would be, the morning sun, or the light of the morning. In other passages, however, this meaning of red-steed is really no longer applicable, and we can only translate Arushá by the Red, understanding by this name the deity of the morning or of the morning sun, the later Aruna.
VII, 71, 1. ápa svásuh ushâsah nák gihîte rinákti krishnî´h arushâ´ya pánthâm.
The Night retires from her sister, the Dawn; the Dark one yields the path to the Red one, i. e. the red morning.
Here Arushá shares the same half-mythological character as Ushas. Where we should speak of dawn and morning as mere periods of time, the Vedic poet speaks of them as living and intelligent beings, half human, half divine, as powers of nature capable of understanding his prayers, and powerful enough to reward his praises. I do not think therefore that we need hesitate to take Arushá in this passage as a proper name of the morning, or of the morning sun, to whom the dark goddess, the Night, yields the path when he rises in the East.
VI, 49, 2. diváh sísum sáhasah sûnúm agním yagñásya ketúm arushám yágadhyai.
To worship the child of Dyu, the son of strength, Agni, the light of the sacrifice, the Red one (Arushá.).
In this verse, where the name of Agni actually occurs, it would be easier than in the preceding verse to translate arushá as an adjective, referring it either to Agni, the god of fire, or to yagñásya ketúm, the light of the sacrifice. I had myself yielded a so far to these considerations that I
gave up my former translation, and rendered this verse by 'to worship Agni, the child of the sky, the son of strength, the red light of the sacrifice a.' But I return to my original translation, and I prefer to see in Arushá an independent name, intended, no doubt, for Agni, as the representative of the rising sun and, at the same time, of the sacrificial fire of the morning, but nevertheless as having in the mind of the poet a personality of his own. He is the child of Dyu, originally the offspring of heaven. He is the son of strength, originally generated by the strong rubbing of the aranis, i. e. the wood for kindling fire. He is the light of the sacrifice, whether as reminding man that the time for the morning sacrifice has come, or as himself lighting the sacrifice on the Eastern altar of the sky. He is Arushá, originally as clothed in bright red colour, but gradually changed into the representative of the morning. We see at once, if examining these various expressions, how some of them, like the child of Dyu, are easily carried away into mythology, while others, such as the son of strength, or the light of the sacrifice, resist that unconscious metamorphosis. That Arushá was infected by mythology, that it had approached at least that point where nomina become changed into numina, we see by the verse immediately following:
VI, 49, 3. arushásya duhitárâ vírûpe (íti ví-rûpe) stríbhih anyâ´ pipisé sû´rah anyâ´.
There are two different daughters of Arushá; the one is clad in stars, the other belongs to the sun, or is the wife of Svar.
Here Arushá is clearly a mythological being, like Agni or Savitar or Vaisvânara; and if Day and Night are called his daughters, he, too, can hardly have been conceived otherwise than as endowed with human attributes, as the child of Dyu, as the father of Day and Night, and not as a mere period of time, not as a mere cause or effect.
IV, 15, 6. tám árvantam ná sânasím arushám ná diváh sísum marmrigyánte divé-dive.
They trim the fire day by day, like a strong horse, like Arushá, the child of Dyu.
Here, too, Arushá, the child of Dyu, has to be taken as a personal character, and, if the ná after arushám is right, a distinction is clearly made between Agni, the sacrificial fire, to whom the hymn is addressed, and Arushá, the child of heaven, the pure and bright morning, here used as a simile for the cleaning or trimming of the fire on the altar.
V, 47, 3. arusháh su-parnáh.
Arushá, the morning sun, with beautiful wings.
Árushî, like arushá, is used as an adjective, in the same sense as arushá, i. e. red:
III, 55, 11. syâ´vî ka yát árushî ka svásârau.
As the dark and the red are sisters.
I, 92, 1 and 2. gâ´vah árushîh and árushîh gâ´h.
The red cows of the dawn.
I, 92, 2. rûsantam bhânúm árushîh asisrayuh.
The red dawns obtained bright splendour.
Here ushásah, the dawns, occur in the same line, so that we may take árushîh either as an adjective, referring to the dawns, or as a substantive, as a name of the dawn or of her cows.
I, 30, 21. ásve ná kitre arushi.
Thou beautiful red dawn, thou, like a mare.
Here, too, the vocative arushi is probably to be taken as an adjective, particularly if we consider the next following verse:
IV, 52, 2. ásvâ-iva kitrâ´ árushî mâtâ´ gávâm ritá-varî sákhâ abhût asvínoh ushâ´h.
The dawn, beautiful and red, like-a mare, the mother of the cows (days), the never-failing, she became the friend of the Asvins.
X, 5, 5. saptá svásrîh árushîh.
The seven red sisters.
If used as a substantive, árushî seems to mean the dawn. It is likewise used as a name of the horses of Agni, Indra, and Soma; also as a name for mare in general.
It means dawn in X, 8, 3, though the text points here so clearly to the dawn, and the very name of dawn is mentioned so immediately after, that this one passage seems hardly sufficient to establish the use of árushî as a recognised name of the dawn. Other passages, however, would likewise gain in perspicuity, if we took árushî by itself as a name of the dawn, just as we had to admit in several passages arushá by itself as a name of the morning. Cf. I, 71, 1.
Árushî means the horses of Agni, in I, 14, 12:
yukshvá hí árushîh ráthe harítah deva rohítah.
Yoke, O god (Agni), the red-horses to the chariot, the bays, the ruddy.
I, 72, 10. prá nî´kîh agne árushîh agânan.
They knew the red-horses, Agni, coming down. VIII, 69, 5.
Soma, as we saw, was frequently spoken of as arusháh hárih.
In IX, 111, 2, tridhâ´tubhih árushîbhih seems to refer to the same red-horses of Soma, though this is not quite clear.
The passages where árushî means simply a mare, without any reference to colour, are VIII, 68, 18, and VIII, 55, 3.
It is curious that Arushá, which in the Veda means red, should, as pointed out before, in its Zend form aurusha, mean white. That in the Veda it means red, and not white, is shown, for instance, by X, 20, 9, where svetá, the name for white, is mentioned by the side of arushá. Most likely arushá meant originally brilliant, and became fixed with different shades of brilliancy in Sanskrit and Persian. Arushá presupposes a form ar-vas, and is derived from a root ar in the sense of running or rushing. See Chips from a German Workshop, vol. ii, pp. 135, 137.
Having thus explained the different meanings of arushá and árushî in the Rig-veda, I feel it incumbent, at least for once, to explain the reasons why I differ from the classification of Vedic passages as given in the Dictionary published by Boehtlingk and Roth. Here, too, the passages in which arushá is used as an adjective are very properly separated from those in which it appears as a substantive. To begin with the first, it is said that 'arushá means ruddy, the colour of Agni and his horses; he (Agni) himself appears as a red-horse.' In support of this, the following passages are quoted:
III, 1, 4. ávardhayan su-bhágam saptá yahvî´h svetám gagñânám arushám mahi-tvâ´, sísum ná, gâtám abhí âruh ásvâh. Here, however, it is only said that Agni was born brilliant-white a, and grew red, that the horses came to him as they come to a new-born foal. Agni himself is not called a red-horse.
III, 7, 5. Here, again, vríshnah arushásya is no doubt meant for Agni. But vríshan by itself does not mean horse, though it is added to different names of horses to qualify them as male horses; cf. VII, 69, I, â´ vâm ráthah vríshabhih yâtu ásvaih, may your chariot come near with powerful horses, i. e. with stallions. See note to I, 85, 12. We are therefore not justified in translating arushá vríshan by red-horse, but only by the red male, or the red hero.
In III, 31, 3, agníh gagñe guhvẫ régamânah mahâ´h putrâ´n arushásya pra-yákshe, I do not venture to say who is meant by the maháh putrâ´n arushásya, whether Âdityas or Maruts, but hardly the sons of Agni, as Agni himself is mentioned as only born. But, even if it were so, the father of these sons (putra) could hardly be intended here for a horse.
IV, 6, 9. táva tyé agne harítah ghrita-snâ´h róhitâsah rigu-áñkah su-áñkah, arushâ´sah vríshanah rigu-mushkâ´h. Here, so far from Agni being represented as a red-horse, his different horses, the Haríts or bays, the Róhitas or
ruddy, and the arushâ´sah vríshanah, the red stallions, are distinctly mentioned. Here vríshan may be translated by stallion, instead of simply by male, because arushá is here a substantive, the name of a horse.
V, 1, 5. gánishta hí gényah ágre áhnâm hitáh hitéshu arusháh váneshu. Here arusháh is simply an adjective, red, referring to Agni, who is understood throughout the hymn to be the object of praise. He is said to be kind to those who are kind to him, and to be red in the woods, i. e. brilliant in the wood which he consumes; cf. III, 29, 6. Nothing is said about his equine nature.
In V, 12, 2 and 6, VI, 48, 6, we have again simply arushá vríshan, which does not mean the red-horse, but the red male, the red hero, i. e. Agni.
In VI, 49, 2, diváh sísum sáhasah sûnúm agním yagñásya ketúm arushám yágadhyai, there is no trace of Agni being conceived as a horse. He is called the child of the sky or of Dyu, the son of strength (who is produced by strong rubbing of wood), the light or the beacon of the sacrifice, and lastly Arushá, which, for reasons stated above, I take to be used here as a name.
Next follow the passages in which, according to Professor Roth, arushá, as an adjective, is said to be applied to the horses, cows, and other teams of the gods, particularly of the dawn, the Asvins, and Brihaspati.
I, 118, 5. pári vâm ásvâh vápushah pataṅgâ´h váyah vahantu arushâ´h abhî´ke. Here we find the váyah arushâ´h of the Asvins, which it is better to translate by red birds, as immediately before the winged horses are mentioned. In fact, whenever arushá is applied to the vehicle of the Asvins, it is to be understood of these red birds, IV, 43, 6.
In I, 92, 1 and 2 (not 20), árushî occurs three times, referring twice to the cows of the dawn, once to the dawn herself.
In IV, 15, 6, tám árvantam ná sânasím arushám ná diváh sísum marmrigyánte divé-dive, arushá does not refer to the horse or any other animal of Agni. The verse speaks of a horse by way of comparison only, and says that the sacrificers clean or trim Agni, the fire, as people clean a horse. We
cannot join arushám in the next pâda with árvantam in the preceding pâda, for the second ná would then be without any construction. The construction is certainly not easy, but I think it is safer to translate: they trim him (Agni), day by day, as they clean a strong horse, as they clean Arushá, the child of Dyu. In fact, as far as I know, arushá is never used as the name of the one single horse belonging to Agni, but always of two or more.
In III, 31, 21, antár (íti) krishnâ´n arushaíh dhâ´ma bhih gât, dhâ´ma bhih is said to mean flames of lightning. But dhâ´man in the Rig-veda does not mean flames, and it seems better to translate, with thy red companies, scil. the Maruts.
That arushá in one or two passages means the red cloud, is true. But in X, 43, 9, arushá refers to the thunderbolt mentioned in the same verse; and in I, 114, 5, everything refers to Rudra, and not to a red cloud,, in the proper sense of the word.
Further on, where the meanings attributable to árushî in the Veda are collected, it is said that árushî means a red mare, also the teams of Agni and Ushas. Now, here, surely, a distinction should have been made between those passages in which árushî means a real horse, and those where it expresses the imaginary steeds of Agni. The former, it should be observed, occur in one Mandala only, and in places of somewhat doubtful authority, in VIII, 55, 3, a Vâlakhilya hymn, and in VIII, 68, 18, a dânastuti or panegyric. Besides, no passage is given where árushî means the horses of the dawn, and I doubt whether such a passage exists, while the one verse where árushî is really used for the horses of Indra, is not mentioned at all. Lastly, two passages are set apart where árushî is supposed to mean flames. Now, it may be perfectly true that the red-horses of Agni are meant for flames, just as the red-horses of Indra may be the rays of the sun. But, in that case, the red-horses of Agni should always have been thus translated, or rather interpreted, and not in one passage only. In IX, 111, 2, árushî is said to mean flames, but no further light is thrown upon that very difficult passage.
Note 2. Pári tasthúshah. I take this form as a nominative plural like ábibhyushah, I, 11, 5, tvâ´m devâ´h ábibhyushah tugyámânâsah âvishuh, 'the gods, stirred up, came to thee, not fearing;' and like dadúshah, I, 54, 8, yé te indra dadúshah vardháyanti máhi kshatrám, 'who giving or by their gifts increase thy great power, O Indra.' Here we might possibly take it as a gen. sing. referring to te, but dadivân is far more appropriate as an epithet of the sacrificer than of the god. (See Benfey, Vocativ, p. 24; and Hermes, p. 16.) It is well known among Sanskrit scholars that Professor Whitney, in reviewing my translation, declared that the participial form tasthushah had no right to be anything but an accusative plural or a genitive or ablative singular. (See Chips from a German Workshop, vol. iv, p. 508.) Dr. Kern, however, in his translation of the Brihat-Samhitâ had shown long before that nom. plur. such as vidushah are by no means rare, even in the Mahâbhârata and kindred works. Dr. Lanman (Journ. Americ. Or. Soc. X, p. 513) has now entered abibhyushah as a nom. plur., but he prefers to take tasthushah as an acc. plural, so that we should have to translate kárantam pári tasthúshah by 'walking round those who stand.' This may be grammatically possible; but who could be meant by tasthushah, standing ones? And, secondly, is it usual in Vedic Sanskrit to say karati pári tam, he walks round him?' We find pari tam yâti, or tam pari yâti, but hardly yâti pari tam, 'he goes round him,' except when pari stands independent of the verb and means 'around,' e. g. IX, 72, 8, pavasva pári pâ´rthivam rágah. It is more difficult to decide whether we should adopt Ludwig's interpretation, who takes pari tasthushah in the sense of 'away from what is firm.' This is correct grammatically, and tasthivat, as opposed to gágat, is often used in the sense of what is immovable. But is it ever used in that sense by itself? I doubt it, though I may add in support of it such a passage as I, 191, 9, út apaptat asaú sû´ryah … âdityáh párvatebhyah, a verse where the expression visvádrishtah adríshtahâ´ is analogous to our ketûm krinván aketáve. I therefore retain pari tasthushah as a nom. plural in the sense of standing around, circumstantes, possibly of parikara,
attendants. Parishthâna or sthâna comes to mean an abode, and paritasthivantas would be bystanders, attendants, the people, in fact, who are supposed to harness the horse.
Though I do not assign great weight to interpretations of hymns, as given by the Brâhmanas, I may mention that in the Taitt. Br. III, 9, 4, I, paritasthushah is explained as a nom. plur., ime vai lokâh paritasthushah, while Sâyana in his commentary (Sâma-veda II, 6, 3, 12, i) has paritoऽvasthitâ lokatrayavartinah prâninah.
Note 3. Rókante rokanâ´. A similar expression occurs III, 61, 5, where it is said of Ushas, the dawn, that she lighted the lights in the sky, prá rokanâ´ ruruke ranvásandrik.
Wilson: They (the charioteers) harness to his car his two desirable coursers, placed on either hand, bay-coloured, high-spirited, chief-bearing.
Benfey: Die lieben Falben schirren sie zu beiden Seiten des Wagens an, braune, kühne, held-tragende.
Ludwig: Sie spannen seine lieblichen falben an den wagen mit auseinandergehenden seiten, die blutroten, mutigen, helden-bringenden.
Note 1. Although no name is given, the pronoun asya clearly refers to Indra, for it is he to whom the two bays belong. The next verse, therefore, must likewise be taken as addressed to Indra, and not to the sun or the morning-red, spoken of as a horse or a chariot in the first verse.
Vipakshasâ is well explained by Sâyana, vividhe pakshasî rathasya pârsvau yayos tau vipakshasau, rathasya dvayoh pârsvayor yogitâv ity arthah. The only doubt is whether it refers to the two sides of the chariot, or of the principal horse. That horses were sometimes yoked so that one should act as leader, and two should be harnessed on each side, we see in I, 39, 6, note.
Wilson: Mortals, you owe your (daily) birth (to such an Indra), who, with the rays of the morning, gives sense to the senseless, and to the formless, form.
Benfey: Licht machend—Männer!—das Dunkele and kenntlich das Unkenntliche, entsprangst du mit dem Morgenroth.
Ludwig: Sichtbarkeit schaffend dem unsichtbaren, gestalt o schmuckreiche (Marut) dem gestaltlosen, wurdet ihr mit den Ushas zusammen geboren.
Note 1. In the TB. III, 9, 4, several of these mantras are enjoined for the Asvamedha. When the banner (dhvaga) is fastened, this verse is to be used, because ketu was supposed to mean a banner. The vocative maryâh, which I have translated by O men, had evidently become a mere exclamation at a very early time. Even in our passage it is clear that the poet does not address any men in particular, for he addresses Indra, nor is marya used in the general sense of men. It means males, or male offspring. It sounds more like some kind of asseveration or oath, like the Latin mehercle, or like the English O ye powers, and it is therefore quoted as a nipâta or particle in the Vâg. Prâtis. II, 16. It can hardly be taken here as addressed to the Maruts, though the Maruts are the subject of the next verse. Kluge in Kuhn's Zeitschrift, vol. xxv, p. 309, points out that maryâh as an interjection does not occur again in the Rig-veda. But the Rig-veda contains many words which occur once only, and the author of Vâg. Prâtisâkhya is no mean authority. See also Tândya Brâhm. VII, 6, 5. If Dr. Kluge proposes to read mâryâi as a dative (like λύκῳ) he knows, of course, that such a form does not only never occur again in the Rig-veda, but never in the whole of Sanskrit literature. Grassmann and Lanman (N. I., p. 339) both seem to imagine that the Pada text has marya, but it has maryâh, and no accent. If maryâh had the accent, we might possibly translate, 'the youths, i. e. the Maruts, made,' taking krinvan for akrinvan, or the more usual akurvan; but in that case the transition to agâyathâh would be very sudden. See, however, I, 6, 7.
Sâyana explains it maryâh, manushyâh! idam âskaryam pasyata. Another explanation of this verse, which evidently troubled the ancient commentators as much as us, is, 'O mortal, i. e. O sun (dying daily), thou hast been born with the dawn.'
Note 2. Ushádbhih, an instrumental plural which attracted the attention of the author of the Vârttika to Pân. VII, 4, 48. It occurs but once, but the regular form, ushobhih, does not occur at all in the Rig-veda. The same grammarian mentions mâs, month, as changing the final s of its base into d before bhis. This, too, is confirmed by RV. II, 24, 5, where mâdbhíh occurs. Two other words, svavas, offering good protection, and svatavas, of independent strength, mentioned together as liable to the same change, do not occur with bhih in the Rig-veda, but the forms svavadbhih and svatavadbhih probably occurred in some other Vedic writings. Svatavadbhyah has been pointed out by Professor Aufrecht in the Vâgasan. Samhitâ XXIV, 16, and svatavobhyah in Satap. Br. II, 5, I, 14. That the nom. svavân, which is always trisyllabic, is not to be divided into sva-vân, as proposed by Sâkalya, but into su-avân, is implied by Vârttika to Pân. VIII, 4, 48, and distinctly stated in the Siddhânta-Kaumudî. That the final n of the nom. su-avân disappeared before semi-vowels is confirmed by the Sâkala-prâtisâkhya, Sûtra 287; see also Vâgasan. Prâtis. III, Sûtra 135 (Weber, Ind. Stud. vol. iv, p. 206). On the proper division of su-avas, see Aufrecht, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, vol. xiii, p. 499.
Wilson: Thereafter, verily, those who bear names invoked in holy rites (the Maruts), having seen the rain about to be engendered, instigated him to resume his embryo condition (in the clouds).
Benfey: Sodann von freien Stücken gleich erregen wieder Schwangerschaft die heilgen Namen tragenden.
Ludwig: Da haben nämlich in ihrer göttlichen weise dise der Prisni leibesfrucht gebracht, opfer verdienenden namen erwerbend.
Note 1. Ât must here take vyûha and be pronounced as an iambus. This is exceptional with ât, but there are at least two other passages where the same pronunciation is necessary. I, 148, 4, â´t rokate váne â´ vi-bhâ´-vâ, though in the line immediately following it is monosyllabic. Also in V, 7, 10, â´t agne áprinatah.
Note 2. Svadhâ´, literally one's own place, afterwards, one's own nature. It was a great triumph for the science of Comparative Philology that, long before the existence of such a word as svadhâ in Sanskrit was known, it should have been postulated by Professor Benfey in his Griechisches Wurzellexicon, published in 1839, and in the appendix of 1842. Svadhâ´ was known, it is true, in the ordinary Sanskrit, but there it only occurred as an exclamation used on presenting an oblation to the manes. It was also explained to mean food offered to deceased ancestors, or to be the name of a personification of Mâyâ or worldly illusion, or of a nymph. But Professor Benfey, with great ingenuity, postulated for Sanskrit a noun svadhâ´, as corresponding to the Greek ἔθος and the German sitte, O. H. G. sit-u, Gothic sid-u. The noun svadhâ has since been discovered in the Veda, where it occurs very frequently; and its true meaning in many passages where native tradition had entirely misunderstood it, has really been restored by means of its etymological identification with the Greek ἔθος or ἦθος. See Kuhn's Zeitschrift, vol. ii, p. 134; vol. xii, p. 158.
The expressions ánu svadhâ´m and svadhâ´m ánu are of frequent occurrence. They mean, according to the nature or character of the persons spoken of, and may be translated by as usual, or according to a person's wont. Thus in our passage we may translate, The Maruts are born again, i. e. as soon as Indra appeared with the dawn, according to their wont; they are always born as soon as Indra appears, for such is their nature.
I, 165, 5. índra svadhâ´m ánu hí nah babhû´tha.
For, Indra, according to thy wont, thou art with us.
VIII, 20, 7. svadhâ´m ánu sríyam nárah—váhante. According to their wont, the men (the Maruts) carry splendour.
Thou hast grown (Indra) according to thy nature.
IV, 33, 6. ánu svadhâ´m ribhávah gagmuh etâ´m.
According to their nature, the Ribhus went to her, scil. the cow; or, according to this their nature, they came.
IV, 52, 6; I, 33, 11; I, 88, 6; VII, 56, 13; III, 51, 11.
In all these passages svadhâ´ may be rendered by manner, habit, usage, and ánu svadhâ´m would seem to correspond to the Greek ἐξ ἔθους. Yet the history of these words in Sanskrit and Greek has not been exactly the same. First of all we observe in Greek a division between ἔθος and ἦθος, and whereas the former comes very near in meaning to the Sanskrit svadhâ, the latter shows in Homer a much more primitive and material sense. It means in Homer, not a person's own nature, but the own place, for instance, of animals, the haunts of horses, lions, fish; in Hesiod, also of men. Hom. Il. XV, 268, μετά τ᾽ ἤθεα καὶ νομὸν ἵππων, loca consueta et pascua. Svadhâ´ in the Veda does not occur in that sense, although etymologically it might take the meaning of one's own place: cf. dhâ-man, familia, &c. Whether in Greek ἦθος, from meaning lair, haunt, home, came, like νομός and νόμος, to mean habit, manner, character, which would be quite possible, or whether ἦθος in that meaning represents a second start from the same point, which in Sanskrit was fixed in svadhâ´, is impossible to determine. In Sanskrit svadhâ´ clearly shows the meaning of one's own nature, power, disposition. It does not mean power or nature in general, but always the power of some one, the peculiarity, the individuality of a person. This will appear from the following passages:
II, 3, 8. tisráh devî´k svadháyâ barhíh â´ idám ákkhidram pântu.
May the three goddesses protect by their power the sacred pile unbroken.
IV, 13, 5. káyâ yâti svadháyâ.
By what inherent power does he (the Sun) move on?
IV, 26, 4. akakráyâ svadháyâ.
By a power which requires no chariot, i. e. by himself without a chariot.
The same expression occurs again X, 27, 19.
In some places the verb mad, to delight, joined with svadháyâ, seems to mean to revel in his strength, to be proud of his might.
V, 32, 4. svadháyâ mádantam.
Vritra who delights in his strength.
VII, 47, 3. svadháyâ mádantîh.
The waters who delight in their strength. See X, 124, 8.
In other passages, however, as we shall see, the same phrase (and this is rather unusual) requires to be taken in a different sense, so as to mean to rejoice in food.
I, 164, 38; III, 17, 5.
III, 35, 10. índra píba svadháyâ kit sutásya agnéh vâ pâhi gihváyâ yagatra.
Indra drink of the libation by thyself (by thy own power), or with the tongue of Agni, O worshipful.
To drink with the tongue of Agni is a bold but not unusual expression. V, 51, 2. agnéh pibata gihváyâ. X, 15, 3.
I, 165, 6. kvâ´ syâ´ vah marutah svadhâ´ âsît yát mâ´m ékam sam-ádhatta ahi-hátye.
Where was that custom of yours, O Maruts, when you left me alone in the killing of Ahi?
VII, 8, 3. káyâ nah agne ví vasah su-vriktím kâ´m ûm (íti) svadhâ´m rinavah sasyámânah.
In what character dost thou light up our work, and what character dost thou assume, when thou art praised?
IV, 58, 4; IV, 45, 6.
I, 64, 4. sâkám gagñire svadháyâ.
They (the Maruts) were born together, according to their nature; very much like ánu svadhâ´m, I, 6, 4. One can hardly render it here by 'they were born by their own strength,' or 'by spontaneous generation.'
In other passages, however, svadháyâ, meaning originally by its own power, or nature, comes to mean, by itself, sponte suâ.
VII, 78, 4. â´ asthât rátham svadháyâ yugyámânam.
She, the dawn, mounted the chariot which was harnessed by itself, by its own power, without requiring the assistance of people to put the horses to.
X, 129, 2. â´nît avâtám svadháyâ tát ékam.
That only One breathed breathlessly (or freely) by its own strength, i. e. by itself.
In the same sense svadhâ´bhih is used in several passages: I, 113, 13. amrítâ karati svadhâ´bhih.
The immortal Dawn moves along by her own strength, i. e. by herself.
VIII, 10, 6. yát vâ svadhâ´bhih adhi-tíshthathah rátham.
Or whether ye mount your chariot by your own strength, ye Asvins.
I, 164, 30. gîváh mritásya karati svadhâ´bhih ámartyah mártyena sá-yonih.
The living moves by the powers of the dead, the immortal is the brother of the mortal. III, 26, 8; V, 60, 4.
There are doubtful passages, such as I, 180, 6, in which the meaning of svadhâ´bhih, too, is doubtful. In VI, 2, 8, svadhâ´ looks like an adverb, instead of svadháyâ, and would then refer to párigmâ. The same applies to VIII, 32, 6.
But svadhâ´ means also food, lit. one's own portion, the sacrificial offering due to each god, and lastly, food in general.
I, 108, 12. yát indrâgnî (íti) út-itâ sû´ryasya mádhye diváh svadháyâ mâdáyethe (íti).
Whether you, Indra and Agni, delight in your food at the rising of the sun or at midday.
X, 15, 12. tvám agne îlitáh gâta-vedah ávât havyâ´ni surabhî´ni kritvî´, prá adâh pitrí-bhyah svadháyâ té akshan addhí tvám deva prá-yatâ havî´mshi. 13. yé ka ihá pitárah yé ka ná ihá yâ´n ka vidmá yâ´n ûm (íti) ka ná pra-vidmâ, tvám vettha yáti té gâta-vedah svadhâ´bhih yagñám súkritam gushasva. 14. yé agni-dagdhâ´h yé ánagni-dagdhâh mádhye diváh svadháyâ mâdáyante, tébhih sva-râ´t ásunîtim etâ´m yathâ-vasám tanvâ´m kalpayasva.
12. Thou, O Agni Gâtavedas, hast carried, when implored, the offerings which thou hast rendered sweet: thou hast given them to the fathers, they fed on their share. Eat thou, O god, the proffered oblations. 13. Our fathers who are here, and those who are not here, our fathers whom we know and those whom we do not know, thou knowest
how many they are, O Gâtavedas, accept the well-made sacrifice with the sacrificial portions. 14. They who, whether burnt by fire or not burnt by fire, rejoice in their offering in the midst of heaven, give to them, O king, that life, and thy (their) own body, according to thy will.
III, 4, 7. saptá prikshâ´sah svadháyâ madanti.
The seven horses delight in their food.
X, 14, 7. ubhâ´ râ´gânâ svadháyâ mádantâ.
The two kings delighting in their food.
IX, 113, 10. yátra kâ´mâh ni-kâmâ´h ka, yátra bradhnâsya vishtápam, svadhâ´ ka yátra tríptih ka tátra mâ´m amrítam kridhí.
Where wishes and desires are, where the cup of the bright Soma is (or, where the highest place of the sun is), where there is food and rejoicing, there make me immortal.
I, 154, 4. yásya trî´ pûrnâ´ mádhunâ padâ´ni ákshîyamânâ svadháyâ mádanti.
He (Vishnu) whose three places, full of sweet, imperishable, delight or abound in food.
V, 34, 1; II, 35, 7; I, 168, 9; I, 176, 2.
In the tenth book svadhâ is used very much as it occurs in the later Sanskrit, as the name of a peculiar sacrificial rite.
X, 14, 3. yâ´n ka devâ´h vavridhúh yé ka devâ´n svâ´hâ anyé svadháyâ anyé madanti.
Those whom the gods cherish, and those who cherish the gods, the one delight in Svâhâ, the others in Svadhâ; or, in praise and food.
Note 3. The expression garbha-tvám â-îrire is matched by that of III, 60, 3, saudhanvanâ´sah amrita-tvám â´ îrire, the Saudhanvanas (the Ribhus) obtained immortality, or became immortal. I do not think that punar erire can mean, as Ludwig supposes, they pushed away their state of garbha. The idea that the Maruts assumed the form of a garbha, lit. of an embryo or a new-born child, is only meant to express that they were born, or that the storms burst forth from the womb of the sky as soon as Indra arises to do battle against the demon of darkness. Thus we read, I, 134, 4, áganayah marútah vakshánâbhyah, Thou, Vâyu, hast produced the Maruts from the bowels (of the sky).
[paragraph continues] As assisting Indra in this battle, the Maruts, whose name retained for a long time its purely appellative meaning of storms, attained their rank as deities by the side of Indra, or, as the poet expresses it, they assumed their sacred name. This seems to be the whole meaning of the later legend that the Maruts, like the Ribhus, were not originally gods, but became deified for their works. See also Kern, Translation of Brihat-samhitâ, p. 117, note.
Other explanations are: they made that which was born within the cloud into a garbha or embryo; or, they arose with Âditya, proceeded with Savitar, and when Savitar set, they became again garbhas; see Sâma-veda II, 2, 7, 2, comm.
Wilson: Associated with the conveying Maruts, the traversers of places difficult of access, thou, Indra, hast discovered the cows hidden in the cave.
Benfey: Mit den die Festen brechenden, den Stû´rmenden fandst, Indra, du die Kû´he in der Grotte gar.
Ludwig: Und mit denen, die das feste sogar anbrechen, selbst im versteck, o Indra, mit den priesterlichen, fandest du die morgenstralen auf.
Note 1. Sâyana explains váhnibhih in the sense of Marúdbhih, and he tells the oft-repeated story how the cows were carried off by the Panis from the world of the gods, and thrown into darkness, and how Indra with the Maruts conquered them and brought them back. Everybody seems to have accepted this explanation of Sâyana, and I myself do not venture to depart from it. Yet it should be stated that the use of váhni as a name of the Maruts is by no means well established. Váhni is in fact a most difficult word in the Veda. In later Sanskrit it means fire, and is quoted also as a name of Agni, the god of fire, but we do not learn why a word which etymologically means carrier, from vah, to carry, should have assumed the meaning of fire. It may be that vah, which in Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin means chiefly to carry, expressed originally
the idea of moving about (the German be-wegen), in which case váh-ni, fire, would have been formed with the same purpose as ag-ní, ig-nis, fire, from Sk. ag, ἀγ-ω, ag-o. In Alvis-mal, V, 94, we read, kalla Vág Vanir, the Wanes call fire Vág, i. e. wavy. But in Sanskrit Agni is so constantly represented as the carrier of the sacrificial oblation, that something may also be said in favour of the Indian scholastic interpreters who take váhni, as applied to Agni, in the sense of carrier. However that may be, it admits of no doubt that váhni, in the Veda, is distinctly applied to the bright fire or light. In some passages it looks very much like a proper name of Agni, in his various characters of terrestrial and celestial light. It is used for the sacrificial fire:
V, 50, 4. yátra váhnih abhí-hitah.
Where the sacrificial fire is placed.
It is applied to Agni:
VII, 7, 5. ásâdi vritáh váhnih â-gaganvâ´n agníh brahmâ´.
The chosen light came nigh, and sat down, Agni, the priest.
Here Agni is, as usual, represented as a priest, chosen like a priest, for the performance of the sacrifice. But, for that very reason, váhni may here have the meaning of priest, which, as we shall see, it has in many places, and the translation would then be more natural: He, the chosen minister, came near and sat down, Agni, the priest.
VIII, 23, 3. váhnih vindate vásu.
Agni finds wealth (for those who offer sacrifices?).
More frequently váhni is applied to the celestial Agni, or other solar deities, where it is difficult to translate it in English except by an adjective:
III, 5,i. ápa dvâ´râ támasah váhnih âvar (íty âvah).
Agni opened the two doors of darkness.
I, 160, 3. sáh váhnih putráh pitróh pavítra-vân punâ´ti dhî´rah bhúvanâni mâyáyâ.
That light, the son of the two parents, full of brightness, the wise, brightens the world by his power.
Agni is even called váhni-tama (IV, I, 4), which hardly means more than the brightest.
II, 17, 4. â´t ródasî (íti) gyótishâ váhnih â´ atanot.
Then the bright (Indra) stretched out or filled heaven and earth with his light.
II, 38, I. út ûm (íti) syáh deváh savitâ´—váhnih asthât. The divine Savitar, the luminous, arose.
Besides this meaning of light or fire, however, there are clearly two other meanings of váhni which must be admitted in the Veda, first that of a carrier, vehicle, and, it may be, horse; secondly that of minister or priest.
VI, 57, 3. agâ´h anyásya váhnayah hárî (íti) anyásya sámbhritâ.
The bearers of the one (Pûshan) are goats, the bays are yoked for the other (Indra).
I, 14, 6. ghritá-prishthâh manah-yúgah yé tvâ váhanti váhnayah.
The horses with shining backs, obedient to thy will, which carry thee (Agni).
VIII, 3, 23. yásmai anyé dása práti dhúram váhanti váhnayah.
A horse against whom other ten horses carry a weight; i. e. it requires ten horses to carry the weight which this one horse carries. (See X, II, 7. váhamânah ásvaih.)
II, 37, 3. médyantu te váhnayah yébhih î´yase.
May thy horses be fat on which thou goest. II, 24, 13.
I, 44, 13. srudhí srut-karna váhni-bhih.
Agni, who hast ears to hear, hear, on thy horses. Unless váhni-bhih is joined with the words that follow, devaíh sayâ´va-bhih.
III, 6, 2. vakyántâm te vâhnayah saptá-gihvâh a.
May thy seven-tongued horses be called. Here váhnayah is clearly meant for the flames of Agni, yet I doubt whether we should be justified in dropping the simile, as the plural of váhni is nowhere used in the bald sense of flames.
In one passage váhni is supposed to be used as a feminine, or at all events applied to a feminine subject:
VIII, 94, 1. yuktâ´ váhnih ráthânâm.
She is yoked as the drawer of the chariots. Probably, however, váhnih should here be changed into váhnî.
The passages in which váhni is applied to Soma in the ninth and tenth Mandalas throw little light on the subject. (IX, 9, 6; 20, 5; 6; 36, 2; 64, 19; 89, 1; X, 101, 10.)
Instead of visâ´m vispátih, lord of men (VII, 7, 4), we find IX, 108, 10. visâ´m váhnih ná vispátih. One feels inclined to translate here váhnih by leader, but it is more likely that váhni is here again the common name of Soma, and that it is inserted between visâ´m ná vispátih, which is meant to form one phrase.
In IX, 97, 34, tisráh vâ´kah îrayati prá váhnih, we may take váhni as the common appellation of Soma. But it may also mean minister or priest, as in the passages which we have now to examine. Cf. X, 11, 6.
For besides these passages in which váhni clearly means vector, carrier, drawer, horse, there is a large class of verses in which it can only be translated by minister, i. e. officiating minister, and, as it would seem, chiefly singer or reciter a.
The verb vah was used in Sanskrit in the sense of carrying out (ud-vah, ausführen), or performing a rite, particularly as applied to the reciting of hymns. Hence such compounds as ukthá-vâhas or stoma-vâhas, offering hymns of praise, and yagñá-vâhas. Thus we read
V, 79, 4. abhí yé tvâ vibhâ-vari stómaih grinánti váhnayah.
The ministers who praise thee, splendid Dawn, with hymns.
I, 48, 11, yé tvâ grinánti váhnayah.
The ministers who praise thee.
VII, 75, 5. ushâ´h ukkhati váhni-bhih grinânâ´.
The dawn lights up, praised by the ministers.
VI, 39, 1. mandrásya kavéh divyásya váhneh.
Of the sweet poet, of the heavenly priest …
VII, 82, 4. yuvâ´m ít yut-sú prítanâsu váhnayah yuvâ´m kshémasya pra-savé mitá-gñavah, îsânâ´ vásvah ubháyasya kârávah índrâvarunâ su-hávâ havâmahe.
We, as ministers, invoke you only in fights and battles; we, as suppliants, (invoke) you for the granting of treasure; we, as poets, (invoke) you, the lords of twofold wealth, you, Indra and Varuna, who listen to our call.
VI, 32, 3. sáh váhni-bhih ríkva-bhih góshu sásvat mitágñu-bhih puru-krítvâ gigâya.
He (Indra) was victorious often among the cows, always with celebrating and suppliant ministers.
I have placed these two passages together because they seem to me to illustrate each other, and to show that although in the second passage the celebrating and suppliant ministers may be intended for the Maruts, yet no argument could be drawn from this verse in favour of váhni by itself meaning the Maruts. See also VIII, 6, 2; 12, 15; X, 114, 2.
IV, 21, 6. hótâ yáh nah mahâ´n sam-váraneshu váhnih.
The Hotar who is our great priest in the sanctuaries.
I, 128, 4. váhnih vedhâ´h ágâyata.
Because the wise priest (Agni) was born.
The same name which in these passages is applied to Agni, is in others, and, as it will be seen, in the same sense, applied to Indra.
II, 21, 2. tuvi-gráye váhnaye.
To the strong-voiced priest or leader.
The fact that váhni is followed in several passages by ukthaíh would seem to show that the office of the váhni was chiefly that of recitation or of addressing prayers to the gods.
III, 20, 1. agním ushásam asvínâ dadhi-krâ´m ví-ushtishu havate váhnih ukthaíh.
The priest at the break of day calls with his hymns Agni, Ushas, the Asvins, and Dadhikrâ.
I, 184, 1. tâ´ vâm adyá taú aparám huvema ukkhántyâm ushási váhnih ukthaíh.
Let us invoke the two Asvins to-day and to-morrow, the priest with his hymns is there when the dawn appears.
In a similar sense, it would seem, as váhnih ukthaíh, the Vedic poets frequently use the words váhnih âsâ´. This âsâ´ is the instrumental singular of âs, mouth, and it is used
in other phrases also of the mouth as the instrument of praise.
VI, 32, 1. vagríne sám-tamâni vákâmsi âsâ´ sthávirâya taksham.
I have shaped with my mouth blessed words to the wielder of the thunderbolt, the strong Indra.
X, 115, 3. âsâ´ váhnim ná sokíshâ vi-rapsínam.
He who sings with his flame as the poet with his mouth. See also I, 38, 14. mimîhí slókam âsyẽ, make a song in thy mouth.
Thus we find váhnih âsâ´ in the same place in the sixth and seventh Mandalas (VI, 16, 9; VII, 16, 9), in the phrase váhnih âsâ´ vidúh-tarah, applied to Agni in the sense of the priest wise with his mouth, or taking váhnih âsâ´ as it were one word, the wise poet.
I, 129, 5. váhnih âsâ´, váhnih nah ákkha.
Indra, as a priest by his lips, as a priest coming towards us.
From the parallelism of this passage it would seem that Professor Roth concluded the meaning of âsâ´ a to be near,
or coram. In the Nighantu, II, 16, the right reading is evidently âsât, not âsâ; see Nirukta, ed. Satyavrata Sâmasrami, vol. i, p. 264. Âsâ´, however, is an old variant, as may be seen from Rig-veda-bhâshya I, 127, 8; X, 115, 3.
I, 76, 4. pragâ´-vatâ vákasâ váhnih âsâ´ â´ ka huvé ní ka satsi ihá devaíh.
With words in which my people join, I, the poet, invoke, and thou (Agni) sittest down with the gods.
VI, 11, 2. pâvakáyâ guhvẫ váhnih âsâ´.
Thou, a poet with a bright tongue, O Agni!
Grassmann thinks that vahnir âsâ can always be translated by 'vor das Angesicht bringend,' but this does not appear to be the case in his translation.
The question now arises in what sense váhni is used when applied without further definition to certain deities. Most deities in the Veda are represented as driving or driven, and many as poets or priests. When the Asvins are called váhnî, VIII, 8, 12; VII, 73, 4, it may mean riders. But when the Visve Devâs are so called, I, 3, 9, or the Ribhus, the exact meaning is more doubtful. The Maruts are certainly riders, and whatever other scholars may say to the contrary, it can be proved that they were supposed to sit astride on horseback, and to have the bridle through the horse's nostrils (V, 61, 2). But if in our verse I, 6, 5, we translate váhni as an epithet, rider, and not only as an epithet, but as a name of the Maruts, we cannot support our translation by independent evidence, but must rely partly on the authority of Sâyana, partly on the general tenor of the text before us, where the Maruts are mentioned in the preceding verse, and, if I am right, in the verse following also. On the other hand, if váhni can thus be used as a name of
the Maruts, there is at least one other passage which would gain in clearness by the admission of that meaning, viz.
X, 138, 1. táva tyé indra sakhyéshu váhnayah—ví adardiruh valám.
In thy friendship, Indra, these Maruts tore asunder the cloud.
Note 2. I have translated vîlú by stronghold, though it is only an adjective, meaning firm. Dr. Oscar Meyer, in his able essay Quaestiones Homericae, specimen prius, Bonnae, 1867, has tried to show that this vîlú is the original form of Ἴλιος, and he has brought some further evidence to show that the siege and conquest of Troy, as I pointed out in my Lectures on the Science of Language, vol. ii, p. 470, was originally described in language borrowed from the siege and conquest of the dark night by the powers of light, or from the destruction of the cloud by the weapons of Indra. It ought to be considered, however, that vîlú in the Veda has not dwindled down as yet to a mere name, and that therefore it may have originally retained its purely appellative power in Greek as well as in Sanskrit, and from meaning a stronghold in general, have come to mean the stronghold of Troy.
Note 3. The bright cows are here the cows of the morning, the dawns, or the days themselves, which are represented as rescued at the end of each night by the power of Indra, or similar solar gods. Indra's companions in that daily rescue are here the Maruts, the storms, the same companions who act even a more prominent part in the battle of Indra against the dark clouds. These two battles are often mixed up together, so that possibly usríyâh may have been meant for clouds.
Wilson: The reciters of praises praise the mighty (troop of Maruts), who are celebrated, and conscious of the power of bestowing wealth in like manner as they (glorify) the counsellor (Indra).
Benfey: Nach ihrer Einsicht verherrlichend besingen Sänger den Schätzeherrn, den berühmten, gewaltigen.
Ludwig: Als fromme heran zum liede haben die sänger ihn, der trefliches findet, berühmten gesungen.
Note 1. The reasons why I take gírah as a masculine in the sense of singer or praiser, may be seen in a note to I, 37, 10.
Note 2. yáthâ matím, lit. according to their mind, according to their heart's desire. Cf. II, 24, 13.
Wilson: May you be seen, Maruts, accompanied by the undaunted (Indra); both rejoicing, and of equal splendour.
Benfey: So lass mit Indra denn vereint, dem furchtlosen, erblicken dich, beide erfreu’nd und glanzesgleich.
Ludwig: Mit Indra zusammen wirst du gesehn zusammengehend mit dem furchtlosen, mild ihr zwei, von gleichem glanze.
Note 1. The sudden transition from the plural to the singular is strange, but the host of the Maruts is frequently spoken of in the singular, and nothing else can here be intended. It may be true, as Professor Benfey suggests, that the verses here put together stood originally in a different order, or that they were taken from different sources. Yet though the Sâma-veda would seem to sanction a small alteration in the order of the verses, the alteration of verses 7, 4, 5, as following each other, would not help us much. The Atharva-veda sanctions no change in the order of these verses.
The transition to the dual at the end of the verse is likewise abrupt, not more so, however, than we are prepared for in the Veda. The suggestion of the Nirukta (IV, 12) that these duals might be taken as instrumentals of the singular, is of no real value.
Note 2. Dríkshase, a very valuable form, well explained by drisyethâh, a second person singular conjunctive of the First Aorist Âtmanepada, the termination 'sase' corresponding to Greek σῃ, as the conjunctive takes the personal terminations of the present in both languages. Similar
forms, viz. prikshase, X, 22, 7, mamsase, X, 27, 10; Ath. Veda VII, 20, 2-6, and possibly vívakshase, X, 21, 1-8, 24, 1-3, 25, 1-11, will have to be considered hereafter. (Nirukta, ed. Roth, p. 30, Notes.) As Ludwig has pointed out, the Tândya-brâhmana XII, 2, 6, 7, reads drikshuse, and explains it by ime lokâ dadrisire. Sâyana, however, explains drisidhâtoh karmani madhyamaikavakane vyatyayena sepratyaye drikshusa iti rûpam. See Delbrück, Syntaktische Forschungen, I, p. 111. The story of Indra's being forsaken by all the gods in his battle against Vritra, but being helped by the Maruts, is often mentioned; see RV. VIII, 96, 7; SV. I, 4, 1, 4, 2; Ait. Br. III, 20.
Wilson: This rite is performed in adoration of the powerful Indra, along with the irreproachable, heavenward-tending, and amiable bands (of the Maruts).
Benfey: Durch Indra's liebe Schaaren, die untadligen, himmelstürmenden, strahlet das Opfer mächtiglich.
Ludwig: Mit den tadellosen, morgens erscheinenden singt der kämpfer sighaft, mit des Indra zu liebenden scharen.
Note 1. Arkati, which I have here translated by he cries aloud, means literally, he celebrates. I do not know of any passage where arkati, when used, as here, without an object, means to shine, as Professor Benfey translates it. The real difficulty, however, lies in makhá, which Sâyana explains by sacrifice, and which I have ventured to translate by priest or sacrificer. Makhá, as an adjective, means, as far as we can judge, strong or vigorous, and is applied to various deities, such as Pûshan I, 138, 1, Savitri VI, 71, 1, Soma XI, 20, 7, Indra III, 34, 2, the Maruts I, 64, 11; VI, 66, 9. By itself, makhá is never used as the name of any deity, and it cannot therefore, as Professor Roth proposes, be used in our passage as a name of Indra, or be referred to Indra as a significant adjective. In I, 119, 3, makhá is applied to men or warriors, but it does not follow that makhá by itself means warriors, though it maybe connected
with the Greek μαχος in σύμμαχος. See Curtius, Grundzüge, p. 293; Grassmann, in Kuhn's Zeitschrift, vol. xvi, p. 164.
There are two passages where makhá refers to an enemy of the gods, IX, 101, 13; X, 171, 2.
Among the remaining passages there is one where makhá is used in parallelism with váhni, X, 11, 6. vívakti váhnih, su-apasyáte makháh. Here I propose to translate, The poet speaks out, the priest works well. The same meaning seems applicable likewise to the phrase makhásya dâváne, to the offering of the priest, though I should prefer to translate 'to share in the sacrifice.'
I, 134, 1. â´ yâhi dâváne, vâ´yo (íti), makhásya dâváne.
Come, Vâyu, to the offering, to the offering of the priest.
VIII, 7, 27. â´ nah makhásya dâváne—dévâsah ûpa gantana.
Come, gods, to the offering of our priest.
Professor Roth proposes to render makhá in these passages by 'attestation of joy, celebration, praise,' and he takes dâváne as a dative of dâván, a nomen actionis, meaning, the giving. There are some passages where one feels inclined to admit a noun dâvána, and to take dâváne as a locative sing.
VI, 71, 2. devásya vayám savitûh sávîmani
sréshthe syâma vásunah ka dâváne.
May we be in the favour of the god Savitar, and in the best award of his treasure.
In II, 11, 1, and II, 11, 12, the locative would likewise be preferable; but there is a decided majority of passages in which dâváne occurs and where it is to be taken as a dative a, nor is there any other instance in the Veda of a nomen actionis being formed by vana. It is better, therefore, in VI, 71, 2, to refer sréshthe to sávîmani, and to make allowance in the other passages for the idiomatic use of such phrases as dâváne vásûnâm or râyáh dâváne, whether from dâ or from do. See De Infinitivi forma et usu, by E. Wilhelm, 1873, p. 17.
The termination váne explains, as has been shown by Professor Benfey, Greek infinitives such as δοῦναι, i. e. δοεναι or δοϝεναι = Sanskrit dâ-váne. The termination mane in dâ´-mane, for the purpose of giving, explains, as the same scholar has proved, the ancient infinitives in Greek, such as δό-μεναι. It may be added that the regular infinitives in Greek, ending in εναι, as λελοιπ-έναι, are likewise matched by Vedic forms such as IX, 61, 30. dhû´rv-ane, or VI, 61, 13. vibhv-áne, and turv-áne (Delbrück in K. Z. XVIII, p. 82; Bopp, Accent, §§106, 113, 117). It is hardly right to say that vibhváne in VI, 61, 13, should be taken as an instrumental, for it does not refer to the chariot, but to Sarasvatî. In the termination ειν, which stands for ενι, like εις for εσι, we have, on the contrary, not a dative, but a locative of an abstract noun in an, both cases, as we see from their juxta-position in VI, 71, 2, being equally applicable to express the relation which we are accustomed to call infinitive. See RV. I, 134, 5. ugrâ´h ishananta bhurváni, apâ´m ishanta bhurváni.
Note 2. Abhidyu I now translate by hastening, and derive it from div, dîvyati, in its original meaning of to throw forth, to break forth, to shine. As from this root we have didyú, weapon, what is thrown, pl. didyavah, and possibly didyut, the weapon, particularly Indra's weapon or thunderbolt, abhídyu might mean breaking forth, rushing forth towards us, something like prakrîlínah, another name of the Maruts. How abhídyu could mean conquérant, maître du jour, as M. Bergaigne maintains, I do not see. Abhídyû´n, I, 33, I I; 190, 4, does not differ much from ánudyû´n, i. e. it is used vîpsâyâm.
Wilson: Therefore circumambient (troop of Maruts), come hither, whether from the region of the sky, or from the solar sphere; for, in this rite, (the priest) fully recites your praises.
Benfey: Von hier, oder vom Himmel komm ob dem Æther, Umkreisender! zu dir streben die Lieder all.
Ludwig: Von hieher, o Parigman, kom, oder von des himels glanzfirmamente her; zu disem streben unsere lieder auf.
Wilson: We invoke Indra,—whether he come from this earthly region, or from the heaven above, or from the vast firmament,—that he may give (us) wealth.
Benfey: Von hier, oder vom Himmel ob der Erde begehren Spende wir, oder, Indra! aus weiter Luft.
Ludwig: Von hier zu empfangen verlangen wir, oder vom himel, oder vom irdischen raume her, oder aus dem grossen luftkreis den Indra.
Note 1. Although the names for earth, sky, and heaven vary in different parts of the Veda, yet the expression diváh rokanám occurs so frequently that we can hardly take it in this place in a sense different from its ordinary meaning. Professor Benfey thinks that rokaná may here mean ether, and he translates 'come from heaven above the ether;' and in the next verse, 'come from heaven above the earth.' At first, every reader would feel inclined to take the two phrases, diváh vâ rokanâ´t ádhi, and diváh vâ pâ´rthivât ádhi, as parallel; yet I believe they are not quite so.
The following passages will show that the two words rokanám diváh belong together, and that they signify the light of heaven, or the bright place of heaven.
VIII, 98, 3. ágakkhah rokanám diváh.
Thou (Indra) wentest to the light of heaven. I, 155, 3.
III, 6, 8. uraú vâ yé antárikshe—diváh vâ yé rokané.
In the wide sky, or in the light of heaven.
VIII, 82, 4. upamé rokané diváh.
In the highest light of heaven.
IX, 86, 27. tritî´ye prishthé ádhi rokané diváh.
On the third ridge, in the light of heaven. See also I, 105, 5; VIII, 69, 3.
The very phrase which we find in our verse, only with kit instead of vâ, occurs again, I, 49, I; VIII, 8, 7; and the same sense must probably be assigned to VIII, 1, 18, ádha gmáh ádha vâ divâh brihatáh rokanâ´t ádhi.
Either from the earth, or from the light of the great heaven, increase, O Indra!
Rokaná also occurs in the plural:
I, 146, 1. vísvâ diváh rokanâ´.
All the bright regions of heaven.
Sâyana: 'All the bright palaces of the gods.' See III, 12, 9.
The same word rokaná, and in the same sense, is sometimes joined with sû´rya and nâ´ka.
Thus, I, 14, 9. sû´ryasya rokanâ´t vísvân devâ´n—hótâ ihá vakshati.
May the Hotar bring the Visve Devas hither from the light of the sun, or from the bright realm of the sun.
III, 22, 3. yâ´h rokané parástât sû´ryasya.
The waters which are above, in the bright realm of the sun, and those which are below.
I, 19, 6. yé nâ´kasya ádhi rokané, diví devâ´sah â´sate.
They who in the light of the firmament, in heaven, are enthroned as gods.
Here diví, in heaven, seems to be the same as the light of the firmament, nâ´kasya rokané.
Thus rokaná occurs also frequently by itself, when it clearly has the meaning of heaven.
It is said of the dawn, I, 49, 4; of the sun, I, 50, 4; and of Indra, III, 44, 4.
vísvam â´ bhâti rokanám, he lights up the whole sky.
We also read of three rokanas, where, though it is difficult to say what is really meant, we must translate, the three skies. The cosmography of the Veda is, as I said before, somewhat vague and varying. There is, of course, the natural division of the world into heaven and earth (dyú and bhû´mi), and the threefold division into earth, sky, and heaven, where sky is meant for the region intermediate between heaven and earth (prithivî´, antáriksha, dyú). There is also a fourfold division, for instance,
VIII, 97, 5.
Whether thou, O greatest killer of Vritra, art in the light of heaven, or in the basin of the sea, or in the place of the earth, or in the sky, come hither!
V, 52, 7. yé vavridhánta pâ´rthivâh yé uraú antárikshe â´, vrigáne vâ nadî´nâm sadhá-sthe vâ maháh diváh.
The Maruts who grew, being on the earth, those who are in the wide sky, or in the realm of the rivers, or in the abode of the great heaven.
But very soon these three or more regions are each spoken of as threefold. Thus,
I, 102, 8. tisráh bhû´mîh trî´ni rokanâ´.
The three earths, the three skies.
II, 27, 9. trî´ rokanâ´ divyâ´ dhârayanta.
The Âdityas support the three heavenly skies.
V, 69, 1. trî´ rokanâ´ varuna trî´n utá dyû´n trî´ni mitra dhârayathah rágâmsi.
Mitra and Varuna, you support the three lights, and the three heavens, and the three skies.
Here there seems some confusion, which Sâyana's commentary makes even worse confounded. What can rokanâ´ mean as distinct from dyú and rágas? The fourth verse of the same hymn throws no light on the subject, and I should feel inclined to take divyâ´-pâ´rthivasya as one word, though even then the cosmic division here adopted is by no means clear. However, there is a still more complicated division alluded to in IV, 53, 5:
tríh antáriksham savitâ´ mahi-tvanâ´ trî´ rágâmsi pari-bhûh trî´ni rokanâ´, tisráh dívah prithivî´h tisráh invati.
Here we have the sky thrice, three welkins, three lights, three heavens, three earths.
A careful consideration of all these passages will show, I think, that in our passage we must take diváh vâ rokanâ´t ádhi in its usual sense, and that we cannot separate the two words.
In the next verse, on the contrary, it seems equally clear that diváh and pâ´rthivât must be separated. At all events there is no passage in the Rig-veda where pâ´rthiva is joined as an adjective with dyú. Pâ´rthiva as an adjective is frequently joined with rágas, never with dyú. See I, 81,
[paragraph continues] 5; 99, 7; VIII, 88, 5; IX, 72, 8: in the plural, I, 154, 1; V, 81, 3; VI, 31, 2; 49, 3.
Pâ´rthivâni also occurs by itself, when it refers to the earth. as opposed to the sky and heaven.
X, 32, 2. ví indra yâsi divyâ´ni rokanâ´ ví pâ´rthivâni rágasâ.
Indra thou goest in the sky between the heavenly lights and the earthly.
VIII, 94, 9. â´ yé vísvâ pâ´rthivâni papráthan rokanâ´ diváh.
The Maruts who stretched out all the earthly lights, and the lights of heaven.
VI, 61, 11. â-paprúshî pâ´rthivâni urú rágah antáriksham.
Sarasvatî filling the earthly places, the wide welkin, the sky. This is a doubtful passage.
Lastly, pâ´rthivâni by itself seems to signify earth, sky, and heaven, if those are the three regions which Vishnu measured with his three steps; or east, the zenith, and west, if these were intended as the three steps of that deity. For we read:
I, 155, 4. yáh pâ´rthivâni tri-bhíh ít vígâma-bhih urú krámishta.
He (Vishnu) who strode wide with his three strides across the regions of the earth.
These two concluding verses might also be taken as containing the actual invocation of the sacrificer, which is mentioned in verse 8. In that case the full stop at the end of verse 8 should be removed.
20:a Chips from a German Workshop, 2nd ed., vol. ii, p. 137 seq. Selected Essays, vol. i, p. 444.
21:a Chips from a German Workshop, vol. ii, p. 139.
22:a Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1867, p. 204.
25:a See V, 1, 4. svetáh vâgî´ gâyate ágre áhnâm. X, I, 6. arusháh gâtáh padé ílâyâh.
39:a Cf. I, 58, 7. saptá guhvãh.
40:a See Taitt. Brâhm. I, 1, 6, to. vahnir vâ anadvân, vahnir adhvaryuh.
42:a As, mouth, the Latin os, oris, has been derived from a root as, to breathe, preserved in the Sanskrit as-u, spirit, asu-ra, endowed with spirit, living, the living god. Though I agree with Curtius in admitting a primitive root as, to breathe, from which as-u, breath, must have sprung, I have always hesitated about the derivation of âs and âsya, mouth, from the same root. I do not think, however, that the lengthening of the vowel in âs is so great a difficulty as has been supposed (Kuhn, Zeitschrift, vol. xvii, p. 145). Several roots lengthen their vowel a, when used as substantives without derivative suffixes. In some cases this lengthening is restricted to the Aṅga base, as in anadvâh; in others to the Aṅga and Pada base, as in visvavât, visvavâdbhih, &c.; in others again it pervades the whole declension, as in turâshât: (see Sanskrit Grammar, §§ 210, 208, 175.) Among ordinary words vâk offers a clear instance of a lengthened vowel. In the Veda we find ritîsháham, VI, 14, 4, and ritîshâ´ham (Samhitâ), I, 64, 15. In X, 71, 10 the Samhitâ has sabhâsâhéna, the Pada sabhâsahéna. We find vâh in apsu-vâh (Sâm. Ved.), indra-vâh, havya-vâh. Sah at the end of compounds, such as nri-sah, pritanâ-sah, bhûri-sah, satrâ-sah, vibhâ-sah, sadâ-sah, varies between a long and short â: (see Regnier, Étude sur l’idiome du p. 43 Védas, p. 111.) At all events no instance has yet been pointed out in Sanskrit, showing the same contraction which we should have to admit if, as has been proposed, we derived âs from av-as, or from an-as. From 'an' we have in the Veda âná, mouth or face, I, 52, 15. From as, to breathe, the Latin omen, originally os-men, a whisper, might likewise be derived. See Bopp, Comp. Gr. par. 909; Kuhn in Ind. Stud. I, 333
47:a RV. I, 61, 10; 122, 5; 134, 2; 139, 6; II, 1, 10; IV, 29, 5; 32, 9; V, 59, 1; 4; 65, 3; VIII, 25, 20; 45, 10; (92, 26); 46, 25; 27; 63, 5; 69, 17; 70, 12; IX, 93, 4; X, 32, 5; 44, 7; 50, 7.