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. O ye worshipful, your company of Maruts is fond of honey, they who delight in their strength at the sacrifices, the Maruts, who shake even the wide heaven and earth, and fill the well, when they move about, the terrible ones.
2. Truly the Maruts find out the man who praises them, and guide the thoughts of the sacrificer. Sit down then to rejoice to-day, on the altar 1 in our assemblies 2 well pleased.
3. Others do not shine so much as these Maruts with their golden chains, their weapons, and their own bodies; the all-adorned, adorning heaven and earth, brighten themselves with the same brightness, when starting for triumph.
4. May your shining thunderbolt be far from us, O Maruts, whatever sin we may commit against you, men as we are: O worshipful, let us not fall under 1 its power, let your best favour rest on us.
5. May the Maruts be pleased with whatever little we have done here, they the faultless, the bright, the pure. Protect us, ye worshipful, with your favours, lead us to prosperity through booty.
6. And let the manly Maruts, when they have been praised, under whatever names, enjoy these offerings! Grant that our offspring may not die 1, raise up for us riches 2, glory, and wealth.
7. O Maruts, when you have thus been praised, come all together with help towards our lords who with their hundredfold wealth freely prosper us;—protect us always with your favours!
Ascribed to Vasishtha. None of its verses occurs in SV., VS., AV., TS., TB., MS. Metre, Trishtubh.
This hymn has been translated by Geldner and Kaegi. The first verse is most difficult. G.-K. avoid all difficulties by translating, 'Beim Fest des süssen Trankes weiss man tüchtig euch zu begeistern, hehre Schaar der Marut.' Ludwig grapples with them by translating; 'An eures madhu kraft, o zu vererende, freut bei den opfern sich der Marut geschlecht.' I doubt, however, whether savas is ever ascribed to madhu, though it is ascribed to Soma. Oldenberg suggests, ‘The sweet ones’ is your Marut-name, O worshipful, they who rejoice in their strength at the sacrifices.’ Here the difficulty would be that Mârutam nâma is the recognised term for the name, i. e. the kin of the Maruts. Still, unless we venture on a conjecture, this would seem to be the best rendering. Could we change mádhvah vah nâ´ma mâ´rutam into madhvád vah nâ´ma mâ´rutam? Madhvád is a Vedic word, though it occurs once only, in I, 164, 22, and as trisyllabic. Its very rarity would help to account for the change. The meaning would then be, 'your Marut kin eats honey, is fond of honey.'
It has been proved that the present mádati is always neutral, meaning to rejoice, while mand (Par.) is transitive, to make rejoice. Otherwise madhvah might possibly have been taken in the sense of sweet things, as in I, 180, 4; IX, 89, 3, and construed with madanti.
Note 1. Barhis, which I translate by altar, is the simplest form of an altar, mere turf or kusa-grass, on which the offerings are placed. See note to VII, 46, 4.
Note 2. On vidatha, see my note, V, 59, 2.
See Gaedicke, Accusativ, p. 241; his rendering would be acceptable but for the â. Without any verb of motion â ragas can hardly mean 'through the air,' nor â´ ródasî 'through the worlds.'
Note 1. On api bhû and api as, see B.-R. s. v.
Note 1. Amrita cannot be rendered by immortality in our sense, it simply means not dying.
Note 2. Gigritá, imp. aor. caus. of gar. Râyáh, acc. plur.