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. Let your voice-born 1 prayers go forth to the great Vishnu, accompanied by the Maruts, Evayâmarut, and to the chasing host, adorned with good rings, the strong, in their jubilant throng, to the shouting power (of the Maruts).
2. O Maruts, you who are born great, and proclaim it yourselves by knowledge, Evayâmarut, that power of yours cannot be approached by wisdom, that (power) of theirs (cannot be approached) by gift or might 1; they are like unapproachable mountains.
3. They who are heard with their voice from the high heaven, the brilliant and strong, Evayâmarut, in whose council no tyrant 1 reigns, the rushing chariots 2 of these roaring Maruts come forth 3, like fires with their own lightning.
4. The wide-striding (Vishnu) 1 strode forth from the great common seat, Evayâmarut. When he has started by himself from his own place along the ridges, O ye striving, mighty 2 Maruts, he goes together with the heroes (the Maruts), conferring blessings.
5. Impetuous, like your own shout, the strong one (Vishnu) made everything tremble, the terrible, the wanderer 1, the mighty, Evayâmarut; strong with him you advanced self-luminous, with firm reins, golden coloured, well-armed 2, speeding along.
6. Your greatness is infinite, ye Maruts, endowed
with full power, may that terrible power help, Evayâmarut. In your raid 1 you are indeed to be seen as charioteers; deliver us therefore from the enemy, like shining fires.
7. May then these Rudras, lively like fires and with vigorous shine, help, Evayâmarut. The seat of the earth is stretched out far and wide 1, when the hosts of these faultless Maruts come quickly to the races.
8. Come kindly on your path, O Maruts, listen to the call of him who praises you, Evayâmarut. Confidants of the great Vishnu, may you together, like charioteers, keep all hateful things far 1, by your wonderful skill.
9. Come zealously 1 to our sacrifice, ye worshipful, hear our guileless call, Evayâmarut. Like the oldest mountains in the sky, O wise guardians, prove yourselves for him irresistible to the enemy.
This hymn is evidently a later addition at the end of the fifth Mandala. It is addressed to the Maruts, and is ascribed to Evayâmarut Âtreya. None of its verses occurs in SV., VS., AV., TS., TB., MS., except the first, which is found in SV. I, 462. Metre, Atigagatî.
The name of the poet is due to the refrain Evayâ´marut which occurs in every verse, and sometimes as an integral portion of the verse. Evayâ´marut is a sacrificial shout, much like Εὐοῖ in Greek, Evoe in Latin, though I do not mean to say that the two are identical. Evayâh, as I explained in note to I, 168, 1, is an epithet of Vishnu, as well as of the Maruts, meaning quickly moving. Evayâmarut, therefore, may mean the 'quick Marut.' This is strange, no doubt, because in the Rig-veda the Maruts always occur in the plural, except in some doubtful passages. Still Evayâmarut, the quick Marut, might be a name of Vishnu. It cannot be taken as a Dvandva, Vishnu and the Maruts.
This hymn was translated by Benfey in his glossary to the Sâma-veda, p. 39. Benfey takes evayâ as identical with εὐοῖ, and explains it as an adverbial instrumental, like âsuyâ, in the sense of stürmisch. But this would leave evayâvan unexplained.
Note 1. Giri gâ´h may mean 'produced on the mountains,' but it may also mean 'produced in the throat or voice,' and it is so explained elsewhere, for instance in SV. I, 462 (Bibl. Ind., vol. i, p. 922). girau vâki nishpannâh; [also by another commentator, hridaye gâtâ, yagñagâtâ vâ ity uktam]. Oldenberg suggests girige, which would be much better, considering how Vishnu is called girikshit, girishthâ, &c.; see Bergaigne, II, 47. Most of the epithets have occurred before. I take sávase as a substantive, like sardhas, not as an adjective. As to dhûnivrata, see V, 58, 2; as to práyagyu, V, 55, I.
Note 1. Krátvâ, dânâ´, and mahnâ´ seem to me in this place to belong together. The difficulty lies in the transition from vah to eshâm, but this is not uncommon. On mahinâ´ = mahimnâ, dânâ´, and mahnâ´, see Wenzel, Instrumentalis, p. 17; Lanman, p. 533. Pischel, Ved. Stud. p. 101, translates, 'Ihre Macht gereicht ihnen zu grosser Gabe.' See also VIII, 20, 14. Gâtâ´h mahinâ´, born by greatness, seems to mean born in greatness, or born great. It would be easy to write mahínâh.
Note 1. The translation of írî is purely conjectural.
Note 2. Syandrâ´sah, as suggested by Oldenberg, are probably meant for rathâh. Syandana is a carriage in later Sanskrit. In VIII, 20, 2, we have to supply rathaih; in VI, 66, 2, rathâh.
Note 3. Prá, with the verb understood, they come forth; cf. VII, 87, 1. prá árnâmsi samudríyâ nadî´nâm; X, 75, 1. Dhuni, like dhûti, has become almost a name of the Maruts, see I, 64, 5.
Note 1. The god here meant seems to be Vishnu, mentioned already in verse 1, and probably recalled by the Evayâ in Evayâmarut.
Note 2. 'We must either take víspardhasah and vímahasah with Benfey as names of the horses, or accept them as vocatives, addressed to the Maruts. Vimahas is used as an epithet of the Maruts, see I, 86, 1.
Note 1. On yayíh, see note to I, 87, 2; but it seems better to take it here as an adjective.
Note 2. On svâyudha, see Geldner, Ved. Stud. I, p. 143; Oldenberg, Gött. Gel. Anzeigen, 1890, p. 424.
Note 1. Prásiti may be, as Ludwig translates it, fangschnur, a noose, but it can hardly mean Noth, as Grassmann
suggests. I take it here in the sense of shooting forth, onslaught, raid; cf. VII, 46, 4. Geldner, Ved. Stud. I, p. 139, takes it for a trap. Lanman, p. 386, is right in considering the locative in au before consonants a sure sign of the modern origin of this hymn.
Note 1. The idea that the earth is stretched out or becomes large during a thunderstorm has been met with before, V, 58, 7. We read I, 37, 8; 87, 3, that at the racings of the Maruts the earth trembled, and that the Maruts enlarged the fences in their races. I therefore translate, though tentatively only, that the earth is opened far and wide, as a race-course for the faultless Maruts, whose hosts â´, appear, ágmeshu, on the courses, maháh, quickly. If the accent of paprathe could be changed, we might translate, 'at whose coursings (ágmeshu â´) the seat of the earth is quickly stretched out far and wide,' and then take sárdhâmsi ádbhutainasâm in apposition to rudrâ´sah. Adbhutainas, in whom no fault is seen.
Bergaigne translates, 'faisant du mal mystérieusement.' See Geldner, in K. Z. XXVIII, 199, Anm. 2; Bezzenberger's Beiträge, III, 169.
Note 1. Cf. VI, 48, 10.
Note 1. Susámi, generally explained as a shortened instrumental, for susamî = susamyâ, used in an adverbial sense. Susámi has a short i here, because it stands at the end of a pâda, otherwise the i is long, see VII, 16, 2; X, 28, 12, even before a vowel. The same applies in the Rig-veda to sami; it has short i at the end of a pâda, see II, 31, 6; VIII, 45, 27; X, 40, 1. The phrase dhiyâ´ sámi, which has short i in II, 31, 6; X, 40, 1, has long i in IX, 74, 7. dhiyâ´ sámî. It is shortened, however, before vowels in the middle of a pâda, and written samy; see I, 87, 5; III, 55, 3.