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. The chasing 1 Maruts with gleaming spears, the golden-breasted, have gained great strength, they move along on quick well-broken horses;—when they went in triumph, the chariots followed.
2. You have yourselves, you know, acquired power; you shine bright and wide, you great ones. They have even measured the sky with their strength;—when they went in triumph, the chariots followed.
3. The strong heroes, born together, and nourished together, have further grown to real beauty. They shine brilliantly like the rays of the sun;—when they went in triumph, the chariots followed.
4. Your greatness, O Maruts, is to be honoured, it is to be yearned for like the sight of the sun. Place us also in immortality;—when they went in triumph, the chariots followed.
5. O Maruts you raise 1 the rain from the sea, and rain it down, O yeomen 2! Your milch-cows, O destroyers 3, are never destroyed;—when they went in triumph, the chariots followed.
6. When you have joined the deer as horses 1 to the shafts, and have clothed yourselves in golden garments, then, O Maruts, you scatter all enemies;—when they went in triumph, the chariots followed.
7. Not mountains, not rivers have kept you back, wherever you see, O Maruts, there you go. You
go even round heaven and earth;—when they went in triumph, the chariots followed.
8. Be it old, O Maruts, or be it new, be it spoken, O Vasus, or be it recited, you take cognisance of it all;—when they went in triumph, the chariots followed.
9. Have mercy on us, O Maruts, do not strike us, extend to us your manifold protection. Do remember the praise, the friendship;—when they went in triumph, the chariots followed.
10. Lead us, O Maruts, towards greater wealth, and out of tribulations, when you have been praised. O worshipful Maruts, accept our offering, and let us be lords of treasures!
The same poet, Syâvâsva Âtreya. Metre, 1-9 Gagatî; 10 Trishtubh. None of the verses occurs in SV., VS., AV. Verse 5 is found in TS. II, 4, 8, 2; MS. II, 4, 7. The refrain probably means that when the Maruts march in triumph, the chariots of their army, or the chariots of other gods, follow. The latter view is taken by Sâyana, TS. II, 4, 8, 2.
Note 1. Práyagyu, generally explained by rushing forward, but in that sense hardly to be derived from yag, to sacrifice, may stand for an old Vedic form prayakshyu, changed into prayagyu by priests who had forgotten the root yaksh, and thought of nothing but sacrifices. This root yaksh has been identified by Grassmann with OHG. jagôn (venari, persequi), originally to rush after, to hunt, to try to injure or kill (cf. mriganyávah, X, 40, 4). This would explain most derivations from yaksh, not excepting the later Yakshas, and would yield an excellent sense for prayakshyu, as an epithet of the Maruts. Sec note to VII, 56, 16. Pischel, Ved. Stud. I, p. 98, is satisfied with deriving prayagyu and prishthaprayag from the root yag, to sacrifice, and translates it by sacrificing, but in the sense of causing sacrifices to be offered.
Note 1. The verb îrayatha is transitive; see Gaedicke, Accusativ, p. 54, and compare AV. IV, 27, 4. apáh samudrâ´d dívam úd vahanti.
Note 2. I have translated purîshinah by yeomen, in the sense of cultivators of the land. I have followed Roth, who shows that purîsha means soil, and that purîshin is used for an occupier of the soil, a landlord. See K. Z. XXVI, p. 65.
Note 3. Dasra, powerful, a common epithet of the Asvins, seems here, when joined with dasyanti, to retain something
of its etymological meaning, which comes out clearly in dâs, to attack, unless it is derived from dams.
Note 1. I prefer to translate here 'the deer as horses,' not 'the speckled horses.' See, however, II, 34, 4, and Pischel, Ved. Stud. p. 226.