Rig-Veda Sanhita - Forgotten Books

R IG - VED A SANHIT A.

A C O L L E C T I ON O F (3 1 11 391 0

A NCIENT HIN DU HYMNCONSTITUTING

THE F I R S T A SHT A K A,O R B O OK

,

OF THE

R I G - V E D A‘

THE OLDEST AUTHOR IT Y FOR THE RELIG IOUS AND SOCIA L

INSTITUTIONS OF THEHINDUS.

T R A N SLA T ED FR OM THE OR I G INA L SA N SKR I T .

BY H. H . WILSON,M.A .

,F.R.S.

Member of theRoya l Asiatzc Society , of theAsiatic Societiesof Calcutta and Par ts, and of theOmental Society of Germany ; Foreig n Mem ber of theNational Instituteof France;Member of theImper tal A cadem zesofPetersburg h andVzenna, and of theRoyalA cademiesofMum ch and Ber lm ; Ph.D . B reslau; Ml ) . Marburg ,

-c . ,

and Boden Professor of Sans/Tm z t intheUmeersity of Oxford.

fitnhlifimhunhnr thenatmuagtnfthe45mmnfg immeHfinndBaat- zniiiadlinmnanq.

S E C O N D E D I T I O N .

L O N D O N

N. T R U BN E R A N D O O . ,

60, PATERNOSTER ROW.

1 866 .

HE R T F O R DPR INTED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN .

INTRODUCT ION.

WHEN theliberal patronageof theCourt of Directors Of the East- India Company enabled Dr . MaxMuller to undertake his invaluable edition of the

Big Veda, a wish wasexpressed, that itsappearance

should beaccompanied,o r followed

,with all conve

nient despatch,by anEnglish translation. AsI had

long contemplated such a work , and had made some

progress,in itsexecution

,even before leaving India

,

I readily undertook to completemy labours and pub

lish thetranslation.

It might,else

,havebeenthought scarcelynecessary

to repeat a translation of thefirst Asht’a/ca,Ogdoad

,

or Eighth b o ok,of theBig Veda as that had been

,

already,m ore than once accomplished ; partly, in

English,by theRev. Mr . Stevenson and Dr . Boer

,

and fully,inLatin

,by the lateDr . Rosen. A trans

lation in French,also

,by M . Langlois

,extending

through four Asht’alcas,or half theVeda

,hasbeenre

cently published at Paris ; but I wasnot aware, when

I engaged to publish anEnglish translation, that such

awork hadbeencommenced . A t thesametime,these

translations do no t seem to preclude,entirely

,theuse

fulness Of anEnglish version. T heearliest publication,

vi INTRODUCTION.

thework Of theRev. Mr . Stevenson,extendsonly to

the threefirst hymns of thethird lecture,or section

,

out of the eight which the first book,o r Asht

’

aka,

consists of Dr . Roer’s translationisequally limited,

stopping with two sections,

o r thirty - two hymns .

Both translations were printed in India,and arepro

curable,with some difficulty

,in this country. Dr .

Rosen’s translation of the first book is complete,

asto thetext ; but his premature death interrupted

his annotations . A lthough executed with profound

scholarship and scrupulous exactitude,andevery way

deserving of reliance,asan authentic representative

Of theo riginal,theSanskrit isconverted into Latin

with such literal fidelity,that thewo rk scarcely ad

mits of consecutive perusal,and ism ost of valueas

a reference. T hetranslationis,infact

,subordinateto

anedition of the text which it accom panies ou'

the

samepage; and thewo rk isdesigned less for general

readers thanfor Sanskrit scholars and students of the

Veda. T heprinciplefollowed by M . Langlois is theconver seof that adopted by Dr . Rosen and hehas

avowedly sought to giveto thevagueand mysterious

passages of theoriginal a clear,simple

,and intellig i

b le interpretation. In this it may beadmitted that

hehasadmirably succeeded ; but it may be, sometimes ,thought that hehasno t beensufficiently cautious in

his rendering Of the text,and that hehas diverged

from itsphraseology,especially asinterpreted by the

nativeScho liast,m orewidely thanisadvisable. T he

real valueof theoriginal lies not so much initsmerits

asa literary composition,asin theillustrationwhich

INTRODUCTION .

it supplies of them ost ancient Hindu system Of reli

g iousworship and social organiz ation; and, unless its

language be preserved asfar asmay be consistent

with intelligibility,erroneous impressions of thefacts

and Opinions ofprimitiveHinduism may beproduced .

It is,also

,to beObserved

,that M . Langlois hasmade

his translation from manuscript copies of the Veda

and its commentary,which

,whilst it has greatly

enhanced thedifficulty and labour of thetask,and

,so

far,adds to thecredit of the translator

,suggests less

confidenceinthegenuineness Of theoriginal— asthe

manuscripts are,all

,more o r less defective

,—thanif

theversion had beenmade from a carefully co llated

edition. T he present translation possesses,at least

,

the advantage,over its predecessors

,Of an accurate

text ; and it will be thefault Of thetranslator, if he

does no t benefit by it. In converting the original

into English,it hasbeenhisaim to adhereasstrictly

to the original Sanskrit as thenecessity of being

intelligiblewould allow.

It may bealm ost superfluous to apprisethereader,

that the oldest,and

,nominally

,them o st weighty

,

authorities of the Brahmans,for their religion and

institutions,are theVedas

,of which works four are

usually enumerated : the Rich,or B zy Veda ; the

Vaj'

ush,o r Yajur Veda ; the Samara, o r Sama Veda ;

and theA'

tharvafla,or A tharva Veda. Many passages

are to be found in Sanskrit writings,some in the

Vedas them selves,which limit thenumber to three;

a

9‘ ColebrookeontheVedas—Asiatic Riésearches, Vol . viii . , p . 3 70 .

viii INTRODUCTION .

and there isno doubt that the fourth,or A tharva

Veda,although it borrows freely from theRich

,has

littlein commonwith theothers,in itsgeneral cha

racter,or initsstyle: the languageclearly indicates

a different and later era. It may, therefore, beallow

ably regarded rather asa supplement to three,than

asoneOf thefour,Vedas.

Of the other three Vedas,each has its peculiar

characteristics,although they havemuch incomm on;

and they are,apparently

,Of different dates

,although

no t separated,perhaps

,by anyvery protracted interval .

T heRig Veda consists Of metrical prayers,o r hymns

,

termed Saktas,— addressed to different divinities

,— each

of which is ascribed to a R z’

shz’

,a holy o r inspired

author . These hymns are put together with little

attempt at methodical arrangement,although such as

are dedicated to the same deity sometimes fo llow in

a consecutive series . There isno t much connexion

in the stanz as of which they are composed ; and the

samehymnis,sometimes

,addressed to different divi

nities. There are,in the Veda itself

,no directions

for theuseand application of theSak tas,no notices

of theoccasions onwhich they areto beemployed,o r

Of the ceremonies at which they are to be recited .

These are pointed out,by subsequent writers

,in

Satras,o r precepts relating to the ritual ; and, even

fo r thereputed authors of thehymns , andfo r thedeities

Inwhose honour they are composed, we are,fo r the

m ost part,indebted to independent authorities, espe

cially to an Anuhramaflz’

ha,or index

,accompanying

each Veda. T heYajur Veda differs from theRich in

INTRODUCTION .

being,m ore particularly

,a ritual

,o r a collection of

liturgical formulae. T heprayers,or invocations

,when

no t borrowed from theRich,are

,m ostly

,brief

,and

inprose,and areapplicable to theconsecrationof the

utensils and materials of ceremonial worship,aswell

asto thepraiseand worship of thegods . T heSama

Veda is little else than a recast Of theRich,being

madeup, with very few exceptions,of thevery same

hymns,broken into parts

,and arranged anew

,for the

purpose of being chanted on different cerem onial

occasions . Asfar,also

,astheA tharva Veda isto be

considered asa Veda, it will be found to comprise

many of thehymns of theRich.

a From theextensive

manner,then

,inwhich the hymns of theRZ? Veda

enter into thecompositionof theother three, wemust,

naturally,infer its priority to them

,and its greater

importanceto thehistory of theHindu religion. In

truth,it is to theRZ9 Veda that wemust have re

course,principally

,ifnot exclusively

,fo r correct no

tions of the Oldest and m ost genuine forms of the

institutions,religious or civil

,of theHindus .

These remarks apply to what are termed theSan

hz'

tasof the Vedas,— theaggreg ate assemblage

,in a

single collection,Of theprayers

,hymns

,and liturgic

formulae of which they are composed . Besides the

Sanhz’

tas,the designation Veda includes anextensive

class of compositions,entitled

,collectively

,B rahmafla

,

a “ By thefollowers of theA'

thar oaha, theRichas, or stanz asof

theRe'

g Veda, arenumerously included intheir ownSahhitd(or co llection) .

— d aha A'

ohdrya, Introduction, Muller’sedition, p . 2 .

INTRODUCTION .

which all Brahmanical writers term anintegral portion

of theVeda. A ccording to them ,the Veda consists

Of two component parts, termed, severally, Mantra and

B rahmafla ;3

the fi r st being thehymns and formulae

aggregated intheSanhz'

ta thesecond,a collectionof

rules for theapplicationof theMantras,directionsfo r

the performance Of particular rites,citations of the

hymns,or detached stanz as , to be repeated on such

occasions,and illustrative remarks

,or narratives

,ex

planatory of theoriginand Object of therite. Of the

B rahmana portions of theRzy Veda, them ost inter

esting and important is theA z’

tareya B rahmana,in

which anumber Of remarkable legends are detailed,

highly illustrative of the condition of Brahmanism

at thetimeat which it wascomposed . T heA z’

tareya

A’

ran'yaka, another B rahmanfa of this Veda,ism ore

mystical and speculative than practical or legendary ;of a third

,theKanshz

’

tahz’

,littleisknown. T heB rah

mafi a of theYajar Veda, theS’

atapatha, partakes m ore

Of thecharacter of theA z’

tareya B rahman'a : it is of

considerableextent, consisting of fourteenbooks, and

contains much curious matter. T heB rahmanasOf the

Sama and A tharva Vedasarefew,and littleknown;

and thesupplementary portions Ofthesetwo Vedasare,moreespecially

,themetaphysical andmystical treatises

a AsintheYajna Par z'

bhdshd ofA'

pastamba, quoted by Sayana,T henameVeda is that of both theMantra and theBra

’

hmafi a

and,ag ain, in theMimdnsd, “ T heBrdhmafi a and theMantra are

the two parts Of theVeda : that part which isno t Mantra isBrahmana thisconstitutesthedefinitionof thelatter .

—Introduc

tion, p . 4 and p . 22 .

INTRODUCTION .

termed Upanishads, belonging to anentirely different

state of theHindu mind from that which the textof theVedassprang from and encouraged . Connected

wit-h,and dependent upon

,theVedas generally, also

are the treatises on grammar,astronomy

,intonation,

prosody,ritual

,and themeaning of Obsoletewords ,

called the Vedang as. But theseareno t portions of

the Veda itself,but supplementary to it

,and

,in the

form inwhich we have them ,areno t

,perhaps

,alto

gether genuine,and

,with a few exceptions, areno t of

much importance. Besides theseworks,therearethe

Pratisfahhyas, or treatises onthegrammar of theVeda,and theStitras

,or aphorism s

,inculcating and describ

ing itspractices ; thewhole constituting a body of

Vaidik literature the study of which would furnish

occupation for a long and laborious life. A small

part only isyet in print. None of theB rahmanas

are published ; neither are the Sittras or P ratt'

shihhyas.

a T heUpanishadshave beenm orefortunate

infinding editors .b T hetexts of theSanhitas of the

Veda arein progress ; as, besides thepresent edition

of theR ich,anedition Of theVajasaneyi portion of

a Part Of thefirst Kanda of theSatapatha Brdhmaha has beenprinted by Dr . Weber , concurrently w ith hiseditionof thetext oftheYajur Veda and it ishisintentionto completeit .b Someof theshorter Upanishadswereprinted , w ith translations,

by RammohunRoy ; and fi veof thoseof theYajash havebeenpublished by M. Poley : Berlin, 1 844. T heB rihaddrariyaha has beenprinted by theAsiatic Society of Calcutta

,under theeditorship of

Dr . Roer , in their B iblio theca Indica ; and theChhdndoyya Upani

shadhasbeenbeg uninthesameseries.

xii INTRODUCTION.

theYajar Veda hasbeencommenced,— byDr .Weber,

at Berlin,—

,thepublication of which hasbeen

,also

,

liberally aided by theCourt ofDirectors .

T he text of the San/Zitaof theSaina Veda, and a

translationby theRev. Mr. Stevenson,werepublished,

some years since,by theOriental TranslationFund ;

and a m ore carefully elaborated edition Of the same,

with a

;

translation inGerman,and a copious glossary

and index,hasbeen recently published by Professor

Benfey, of GOtting en. In time,therefore

,we shall

bewell supplied with theMantra portionOf theVeda

but thereisyet but a partial and distant prospect Of

our having the B rahmana printed,and being

,thus

,

enabled,from adequatematerials

,to determinehow

far the wholemay be legitimately considered as a

constituent part of theVeda.

From a careful examinationOf theA itareya B rah

maria,with an excellent commentary by SAYANA

A’

charya, it is sufficiently evident, that this work, at

least,isof a totally distinct descriptionfrom theco l

lectionof theMantras,o r theSanhita, Of theRig Veda.

A lthough,no doubt

,of considerable antiquity

,it is

,

manifestly,of a date long subsequent to theoriginal

Saktas,o r hymns

,from themanner inwhich they are

quoted,— not systematically

,o r continuously

,o r com

pletely, but separately , unconnectedly, and partially ;a few phrases only being given, forming thebeginning ,no t evenof anentirehymn

,but of anisolated stanz a

,

occurring inany part Of thehymn, or inany part Ofthe

Sanhita consequently proving, that theSanhitamust

havebeencompiled,andwidely circulated

,and gene

INTRODUCTION. xiii

rally studied,beforesuch mutilated citations could be

recognized,o r verifi ed

,by thoseto whom theB rahmafi a

was presented . It isevident,also

,that the great

body of the Brahmanical ritual must have been

sanctioned by established practice,before theB rah

niaria could have been compiled ; asitsmain Object

istheapplicationof thedetached texts of theSanhita

to the performance Of the principal cerem onies and

sacrifices Of the Brahmans,enforcing their necessity

and efficacy by texts and arguments,and illustrating

their originand consequences by traditional narratives

and popular legends,the invention and currency Of

which must havebeen thework Of time,— Of a very

long interval between theSanhita,inwhich littleo r

nothing of thekind appear s,and theB rahniafla

,in

which such particulars abound . A gain, we fi nd, in

theB rahinafla,thewholesystem of social organiz ation

developed,the distinction of caste fully established

,

and theB rdhmafla,Kshattriya, Vaisya, andS

'

iidra re

peatedly named by their proper appellations,and

discriminated by their peculiar Offices and relative

stations,asin the codeOfMANU . A cursory inspec

tion of theS'

atapatha B rdhmar’

ia,asfar aspublished

,

and of someof itssections inmanuscript, shows it to

be of a character similar to theA itareya or it may

beeven,perhaps

,of a later era : and wemay venture

to affirm,in opposition to the consentient assertions

of Brahmanical scholars and critics,that neither of

theseworks has the slightest claim to beregarded as

thecounterpart and contemporary of theSanhita,o r

asan integral part of theVeda ; understanding, by

xiv INTRODUCTION .

that expression,theprimitive record of the religious

belief and Observances,and of thearchaic institutions

,

of Hindu society .

Whilst acknowledging,with occasional exceptions

,

theearly dateof theB rahinafi as,and accepting them

as valuable illustrations Of the application of the

primitive hymns and texts of theSanhi'

ta,wemust

lo ok to thelatter alone,asa safeguide

,inour inquiries

into them ost ancient conditionof theHindus ; and wemust endeavour to convey a m ore precisenotion of

what ismeant by thedesignation,asit isexemplified

intheVeda which hasbeentakenas the text of the

following translation,and which

,as hasbeen shown

,

may beregarded asthesourceand m odel of theother

works similarly named .

A ccording to the‘

credibletraditions Of theHindus ,theSaktas

,theprayers and hymns— now collected as

a Sanhita,— had existed

,ina separateand individual

form,long beforethey wereassembled and arranged

in the order and connexion inwhich they arenow

met with . IntheRig Veda thenumber ofSaktasis

something above a thousand,containing rather m ore

thantenthousand stanz as . They arearranged intwo

methods . Onedivides them am ongst eight Khan’

das

(portions) , or Asht’

ahas (eighths) , each Of which is,again

,subdivided into eight Adhyayas, o r lectures .

T heother planclasses theSaktasunder tenI’lfafi dalas

,

o r circles,subdivided into rather m orethana hundred

Anuvahas,o r sub - sections . A further subdivision of

theSa/ctasinto Varg as, or paragraphs , of about fi ve

stanz as each,iscomm on to both classifications . T he

INTRODUCTION. X

hymns areOf various extent : inoneor two instances,a

Sahta consists Of a singlestanz a ; insome, ofa number

of stanz as but theaveragenumber,asfollows from the

abovetotals Of onethousand hymns and tenthousand

stanz as,is,of course

,about ten. T he hymns are

composed in a great variety of metres,several Of

which arepeculiar to theVedas,and thevariety and

richness of which evinceanextraordinary cultivation

of rhythmical contrivance. Ingeneral,a hymnisad

dressed to a singledeity,but

,sometimes

,to two ; and,

occasionally,theverses aredistributed am ong a greater

number . T hedivinities arevarious ; but thefar larger

number ofthehymns inthis first book oftheRich,and

,

asfar ashasbeen yet ascertained, intheother books,also

,arededicated to A GNI and INDRA

,thedeities

,or

personifi cations, Of Fireand theFirmament. Of the

onehundred and twenty- onehymns contained inthe

first Asht’aha,for instance

,thirty - seven areaddressed

to A GNI alone,or associated with others and forty- fi ve

,

to INDRA : of the rest,twelve areaddressed to the

MARUT S,or Winds

,thefriends and followers of INDRA ;

and eleven, to theA éwrNs, the sons Of the Sun;four

,to the personified dawn; four, to theVIsWA

DEVAS,or collective deities ; and the rest, to inferior

divinities — an appropriation which unequivocally

shows theelemental character of the religion. In

subsequent portions of the Veda,a few hymns o c

cur which seem to be Of a poetical,or fanciful

,

rather thanof a religious,tendency asone

,inwhich

thereisa description of the revival of the frogs,on

the setting in Of the rainy season; and another,in

xvi INTRODUCTION.

which a gamester complains of hisill success : but we

shall better appreciatethe character Of such seeming

exceptions,whenwecometo them . Each Sit/eta has

,

for itsreputed author,a R ishi

,o r inspired teacher

,by

whom,inBrahmanical phraseology

,it hasbeenorigin

ally seen,that is

,to whom it wasrevealed theVedas

being,according to later mythological fictions

,theuh

created dictation Of BRAHMA'

. For thenames of theRishis

,except when incidentally mentioned in the

hymn,we are indebted

,as above remarked , to an

index Of thecontents Of theVeda,which also specifies

themetre and thenumber Of stanz as Of each hymn,

and the deity worshipped. It isanOld book,and of

high authority ; but, inasmuch asit isOf later compo

sitionthanthetext,it mayno t, always , beregarded as

ofunquestionablecorrectness . Most Of theR ishisare

familiar to the legends Of thePurar’ias,asGOTAMA

,

BHARADWAJA,VA SISHT' IIA

,VISWAMIT RA

,and

others . To someOf theseanumber of hymns areat

tributed ; to other s , Of less note, and, perhaps , only of

imaginary existence,oneo r two only areascribed . T he

arrangement of theSahtasby Asht’

ahasdoes no t seem

to depend uponany fixed principle. Of that by Mari

dalas,six out Of theten “

circles” comprisehymns by

thesameindividual , o r by members ofthesamefamily :

thus,thehymns Of the second Mandala areascribed

to GRIT SAMADA,theson of S’UNAHOTRA

,of thefamily

of A NGIRAs; those Of the third, to VIéWAMI’

l‘

RA and

his sons,o r kinsmen; Of the fourth, to VAMADEVA ;

Of thefifth,to A TRI and his sons

,who are of rather

equivocal nomenclature of the sixth,to BHARA

INTRODUCTION . XVl l

DWAJA ; and,Of the seventh

,to VA SISH’fHA and his

descendants . T heRishis of the fi r st and the three

last Maridalasarem oremiscellaneous ; thehymns Of

theninth Circleare,all

,addressed to SOMA

,theMoon

plant,or itsdeified impersonation. Thisarrangement

hasbeen considered as the Older and m o re original

of the two the distribution into Asht’ahas being

intended for theconvenienceOf instruction; forming,through their subdivisions

,— Adhyayasand Varg as,

so many lectures,o r lessons

,to be learned by the

scholar . T he inference isnot improbable; but we

arescarcely yet qualified to cometo any positivecon

clusion. T hemore usual divisionof themanuscripts

isthat into Asht’ahas; and inneither caseistheprin

ciple Of classification so unequivocally manifested as

to suggest reasonable grounds for a departure from

theestablished practice.

T he absence of any Obvious dependency of the

Sahtas upon one another is sufficiently indicativeOf

their separate and unsystematic origin. That they

arethecompositions of thepatriarchal sages to whom

they are ascribed is,sometimes

,apparent from allu

sions which they maketo thename Of the author or

of hisfamily : but theseindications areof unfrequent

recurrence andwemust trust, ingeneral, to tradition,aspreserved by theAnahramafi iha, for theaccuracy of

theappropriation. Their being addressed to thesame

divinity isa less equivocal test ofcommunity ; andthey,probably

,were composed

,inmany instances

,by the

heads of families,or of schools following a similar form

ofworship,andadoring

,inpreference

,particular deifi

xviii INTRODUCTION .

cat-ions . Besides the internal evidence afforded bydifferenceofstyle, thehymns , no t unfrequently, avow a

differenceOf date; andwefi nd someascribed to ancient

Rishis,whileothers admit their being ofnew or newest

composition. T he great variety of metres employed

shows,also

,a progressivedevelopment Of thepowers

Of thelanguage,which could havebeentheeffect only

of long and diligent cultivation. There can be little

doubt,therefo re

,that they range through a consider

ableinterval ; although , asfar asrespects their general

purport,they belong to the sameconditionOf belief

,

and to a perio d during which no change of any im

po rtancetook placein thenational creed . T hesame

divinities arewo rshipped ina similar strain, and, with

oneor two doubtful exceptions ,— which are, possibly,interpolations , o r which may admit of explanation

,

Offer nothing that is contradictory or incongruous .

This is them ore remarkable, as there can be little

doubt that the hymns weretaught, originally, orally,and that theknowledge of them wasperpetuated by

the same m ode Of tuition. This is suffi ciently ap

parent from their construction: they abound with

elliptical phrases ; with general epithets , of which the

applicationisfar from obvious, until explained ; with

brief comparisons, which cannot beappreciated with

out such additional details asa living teacher might

beexpected to supply ; and with all thoseblanks and

deficiencies which render the written text of the

Vedas still unintelligible, inmany passages, without

theassistance of the Scholiast, andwhich heisalone

enabled to fill up by thegreater or less fidelity with

XX INTRODUCTION .

DWA IPAYANA,thence surnamed MYASA

,theA rrang er ;

a person of rather questionable chronology and ex

istence,who is supposed to have flourished at the

time of the great war between the rival families of

KURU and PANDU,to the latter of which hewas

attached. T he account that is usually. given Of his

proceedings shows that his especial province was

that Of superintendence, —possibly under thepatronage

of theRaf/a YUDHISHTHIRA , after his triumph over

theKURUs,— and that various other learned persons

,

already familiar with the hymns Of the respective

Vedas,wereemployed to prepareeach several Sanhita

,

o r collection: thus,PAILA was appointed to collect

theSit/etas of theRich ; VA ISAMPAYANA , the text Of

theYajash ; JA IMINI , thehymns of theSaman; and

SUMANTU, those Of the A’

tharvafi a.

‘ Each of these

became the teacher of his own collection,and had a

succession of disciples by whom the original co llec

tionwasrepeatedly subdivided and rearranged,until

theSanhitasOf theRig Veda am ounted to sixteenor

twenty ; those of the Yajar Veda— distinguished as

twofo ld, termed theBlack and theWhite Yajash

am ounted to forty- two ; and thoseof the Sama Veda,to twenty- four . There were

,also, various Sanhitas

of theA tharva Veda ; and,besides these

,therewere

numerous S'

a’

khas,or branches

,of each Sanhita

,studied

inasmany separate schools“ T he precisenature of

these distinctions isnot very satisfactorily known at

2” ColebrookeontheVedas—A siatic Researches, Vol . iii. , p . 3 73 .

Vishha Parana, Book III .

, Chap . iv. p . 275 .

INTRODUCTION .

present,asthey havealmost wholly disappeared but

they consisted,apparently

,ofvarieties of form , (not of

substance) , containing the samehymns and formulae

arranged ina different order,according to theconcep

tions of theteacher respecting their historical succes

sion or liturgical value, or according to differences in

them ode of their recitation,—some being recited

audibly,some repeated inaudibly

,and some being

chanted o r sung . Various readings,also

,seem to have

been followed by different schools,although no t to

such an extent as materially to affect the identity

between the original and its descendant. Of the

Sanhitas of theRig Veda the only onenow inuse

is that ascribed to a teacher named VEDAMITRA or

SAKALYA . Whether theauthoritieswhich profess to

detail themultiplicity‘

of thesecompilations beentitled

to entire confidencemay bematter of question; but

thetraditions areconcurrent and consistent ; and there

canbelittledoubt that therewasa timeat which the

collection,and classification

,and study

,of thereligious

poem s,which

,eventhen

,borethestamp of antiquity

,

did form an important and popular branch Of the

literature Of theBrahmans,and must havebeenpur

sued,with extraordinary diligence

,z eal

,and ability

,

through a protracted interval,anterior to the rise of

philosophical speculation,mythological fable

,poetical

legends,and traditional history.

(11

a T hefoundationOf theVedanta philosophy, and thecompilationof theItiha

’

sasand Purdnas, are, also , ascribed to Vydsa. I t wouldbeout of placeto enter into any examinationof thequestionhere,

3

XXII INTRODUCTION .

T heinterest evinced inthecollectionand preserva

tion Of their ancient hymns and formulaeisthem ore

remarkable from their having,asfar aswe can yet

judge,affo rded littlecountenanceto the religious and

social institutions which,no doubt

,werefully matured

at thedate of their compilation. It isyet, perhaps,scarcely safeto haz ard any positiveassertionrespecting

the system Of religious belief and practicetaught in

theRiq Veda, or thestate of society which prevailed

whenitshymns werecomposed ; andit werestill m ore

indiscreet to risk a negative,and deny itssanctioning

the leading features of the Brahmanical institutes,

until we shall haveexamined it throughout,and as

certained,beyond dispute

,that no such sanctionisto

be found in it. In Offering any Opinion on these

points,therefore

,it must beunderstood that they are

derived solely from what isactually beforeus,— the

FirstR och of theRig Veda, now translated,— and that

they are subject to confirmation,or to contradiction

,

according to thefurther evidencethatmay beproduced .

It is true that wehave a somewhat wider field for

speculation,in the other three books

,translated by

M. Langlois,and in detached portions from other

books,which have been translated and published by

other Sanskrit scholars,especially by Mr . Colebrooke

,

Professor Burnouf,andDr . Bo th . T helatter

,however

,

beyond the remark,that thereseems to be littlesatisfactory evi

dence fo r thetradition; several of the Para’

iias being , in fact,ascribed to other persons. T hetraditionmay \

haveorig inated intheimpulseg ivento theg eneral cultivationofSanskrit literatureby theschool , o r schools, of Vaidilc criticism .

INTRODUCTION. xxiii

from their partial and isolated state,are

,necessarily

,

imperfect authorities ; and, of the former,it may be

Observed,that they do no t seem to Offer anything

materially at variancewith the tenour of the first

Asht’

aha. It will be sufficient,therefore

,for the

present,to confine ourselves to theevidenceat hand

,

and deduce,from it

,a few of themost important con

clusions to which it appears to lead,regarding the

religious and mythological belief of the people Of

India,— whose sentiments and notions the Sit/ctas

enunciate,—and thecircum stances of their social con

dition,to which it occasionally

,though briefly

,

adverts .

T heworship which theSaktasdescribecomprehends

offerings,prayer

,and praise. T heformer are, chiefly,

oblations and libations : clarified butter poured on

fi re,and the expressed and fermented juice Of the

Sonia plant,presented

,inladles

,to thedeities invoked

,

— inwhat manner does not exactly appear,although it

seem s to havebeen,sometimes

,sprinkled on thefi re

,

sometimes,on theground

,o r

,rather

,ontheKns

’

a,o r

sacred grass,strewed on thefloor ; and, inall cases

,

theresiduewasdrunk by theassistants . T hecerem ony

takes placein the dwelling Of theworshipper,in a

chamber appropriated to thepurpose,and

,probably

,to

themaintenanceof a perpetual fi re; although thefre

quent allusions to theoccasional kindling ofthesacred

flamearerather at variancewith this practice.

3 There

a It issaid,inoneplace, however , that menpreserved fi re con

stantly kindled intheir dwellings(HymnLXXI II .

, v. 4 : p .

INTRODUCTION .

isno mention of any temple, nor any reference to a

public placeofworship ; andit isclear that theworship

wasentirely domestic . T heworshipper,or Yajamana,

does no t appear to havetaken,of necessity

,any part,

personally,in the ceremony ; and there isa goodly

array Of Offi ciating priests,— insomeinstances

,seven;

in some,sixteen

,— by whom thedifferent cerem onial

rites are performed,and by whom theMantras

,o r

prayers,o r hymns

,are recited . That animal victims

were Offered on particular occasions may be inferred

from brief and Obscureallusions inthehymns of the

first book ;aand it isinferrible

,from somepassages

,

that human sacrifices were not unknown,although

infrequent,and

,sometimes

,typical . But thesearethe

exceptions and thehabitual Offerings may beregarded

as consisting of clarified butter and the juice of the

S onia plant.

T heseemalm ost invariably combines theattributes

of prayer and praise. T he power,thevastness , the

generosity,thegoodness

,andeventhepersonal beauty

,

of the deity addressed aredescribed inhighly lauda

tory strains,andhispast bounties

,Or exploits

,rehearsed

and glorified ; in requital of which commendations,

and Of thelibations or oblations which heissolicited

to accept,and inapproval of theritein hishonour

,

at which his presenceisinvoked, heis implored to

bestow blessings onthepersonwho hasinstituted the

a Inthesecond Asht’aha, wehavetwo hymnsontheoccasionOftheA éwamedha

,a sacrifice of a horse. (SeeTranslation of M.

Lang lois, LectureIII .,Hymnsv. , vi. )

INTRODUCTION . XXV

cerem ony,and

,sometimes

,but not so commonly

,also

ontheauthor,or reciter

,of theprayer. T heblessings

prayed for are,for them ost part

,of a temporal and

personal description,— wealth

,food

,life

,po sterity

,

cattle,cows

,and horses

,protection against enemies

,

victory over them,and

,sometimes

,their destruction

,

particularly when they are represented asinimical

to thecelebrationof religious rites,o r

,inother words

,

peopleno t professing thesamereligious faith ? There

area few indications of a hope Of immortality and Of

futurehappiness : but they areneither frequent nor,

in general,distinctly announced ; although theim

m ortality ofthegods isrecognized,and thepossibility

Of itsattainment by humanbeings,exemplified inthe

case of the demigods termed RiBHUs,— elevated, for

their piety,to the rank Of divinities . Protection

againstevil spirits (Rakshasas) is, also, requested ; and,inoneo r two passages , YAMA. and his Offi ceasruler

of thedead are Obscurely alluded to . Thereislittle

demand for m oral benefactions,although

,insomefew

instances,hatred ofuntruth and abhorrenceof sinare

expressed, a hopeisuttered that the latter may berepented of

,or expiated andthegods are

,inonehymn

,

solicited to extricatetheworshipper from sin of every

kind . T hemain objects of theprayers,however, are

benefits ofam oreworldly and physical character. T he

toneinwhich these are requested indicates a quiet

confidencein their being granted,asa return for the

benefits which thegods are supposed to derive, from

No tea, p . 1 3 8 .

INTRODUCTION .

theOfferings madeto them,in gratifying their bodily

wants,and from the praises which impart to them

enhanced energy and augmented power . Thereisno

thing,however

,which denotes any particular potency

in theprayer,or hymn

,so asto compel thego ds to

comply with thedesires Of theworshipper — nothing

of that enforced necessity which makes so conspicuous

and characteristic a figure in theHindu mythologyofa later date

,by which theperformanceofausterities

for a continued period constrains the gods to grant

the desired boon,although fraught with peril

,and

evendestruction,to them selves .

T henext questionis: Who arethegods to whom

thepraises and prayers areaddressed ? And hereWe

fi nd,also

,a striking differencebetweenthemythology

of theRig Veda and that Of the heroic poem s and

Parafi as. T hedivinities worshipped areno t unknown

to later system s : but they thereperform very subor

dinate parts ; whilst those deitieswho are the great

gods— theD iimajores— Of the subsequent period are

either wholly unnamed in theVeda,or arenoticed in

an inferior and different capacity . T henames 0 1

S'

IVA,ofMAHADEVA, Of DURGA, of KALI, of RAMA , of

KRISHNA,never occur

,asfar asweareyet aware. We

havea RUDRA,who

,in after times

,isidentified with

S'

IVA,but who

,evenintheParafi as, isofvery doubt

ful origin and identification,whilst

,intheVeda

,heis

described asthefather of thewinds,and is

,evidently

,

a form Of either A GNI or INDRA . T heepithet KAPAR

DIN,which is applied to him

,appears

,indeed

,to have

somerelation to a characteristic attribute of S'

IVA,

INT RODUCTION .

0

thesoul of all m oveableand imm oveablebeings and

hismanifestations are already known asADIT YAS,in

cluding several Of thenames preserved in thePara

nas,asVISHNU

,MITRA

,VARUNA , A RYAMAN , PUSHAN,

BHAGA,

’

and TWA SHT’RI,who arenothing m ore than

theSun diversified aspresiding over each m onth Of

thesolar year . Still,however , thesundoes not hold

that prominent place,intheVaidih liturgy, which he

seem s to havedonein that of theancient Persians ;and heischiefly venerated asthecelestial representa

tiveOf Fire.

Ifweadvert m oreparticularly to theattributes of

A GNI,we find that confusion

,inthem

,which might

be expected from the various characters he fills .

Asthefi reOf sacrifice,heistheservant of both men

and gods,conveying theinvocations and theofferings

Oftheformer to thelatter ; heistheHotri, o r priest,who summ ons the gods to the cerem ony ; the

Parchita,or family priest

,who perfo rms the rite

onbehalf of themaster of thehouse. Personified as

a divinity,heisimm o rtal

,enj oying perpetual youth

,

endowed with infinite power and splendour,the

granter Of victo ry,Of weal th

,of cattle

,Of food

,of

health,of life; he travels in a car drawn by red

horses ; he is the source and diffuser Of light,the

destroyer and reviver of all things . He is knownunder many and various appellations ; and many in

ferior deities areconsidered to bemerely hismanifest

ations. T he acts and attributes of other deities are,

not unfrequently,ascribed to him (p . hemay

assume the fo rm or nature of any other divinity

INTRODUCTION.

(p . 1 84) who isinvoked to a cerem onial rite. Heisidentified with YAMA

,VARU1QIA

,MITRA

,with theSun,

and with theeternal MEDEAS (p . A curious

series of allusions,evidently of a rem ote antiquity

,

identifies him with ANGIRA S,who

,in theVeda

,as

well asin thePardfi as,isa patriarch andRishi

,and

the founder of a celebrated holy family,to members

of which many of the hymns Of the Veda are attri

buted . ANGIRA S is,in oneplace(p . used instead

Of the repetitionof thenameA GNI ; and, inanother,

A GNI is expressly called the first and chiefest

ANGIRA S (p . T he meaning of this myth is,

apparently,explained in another passage

,in which

it is said that the A NGIRASA S first made sure Of

A GNI,whence subsequent votaries preserved hisfires

and practised his rites (p . which clearly in

timates that this priestly family,or school

,either

introduced worship with fi re,o r extended and or

g anized it in the various form s in which it came,

ultimately,to beObserved . T hetenour of thelegend

,

asit wasafterwards expanded intheB rahmaflasand

heroic poem s,equally intimates the latter

,and refers

the multiplication,or universality

,Of the occasions

onwhich fi re constituted anessential element of the

worship of theHindus,to ANGIRAS and hisdescend

ants .a Of the attributes of A GNI,in general

,the

meaning is sufficiently obvious : those of a physical

character speak for them selves ; and theallegory con

veyed by others is, either, palpableenough , aswhen

a Seethepassageof theMahdbhdrata, cited inno te(I, p . 3 .

XXX INTRODUCTION.

A GNI is said to be theson Of theWind,or springs

,

naturally,from Hindu notions

,aswhen heissaid to

beboth thefather andthesonOf thego ds,—nourishing

them,likea father

,by theoblationshebears to them

,

whiletheact Of Offering thoseoblations is the duty

Of a son. T he legend of his hiding in thewaters,

through fear of theenemies Of the gods,although

alluded to inm oresthan one place(pp . 58,

is

not very explicitly narrated ; and itsm ore circum

stantial detail is,probably

,thework of the B rah

marias. T he allusions Of theSit/etasmay bea fi g ura

tive intimation of the latent heat existing inwater,

o r a misapprehension of a natural phenomenonwhich

seem s to havemadea great impression,inlater times

,

— theem ISSIon Of flame from the surface of water,

either intheShapeOf inflammableair,or astheresult

of submarinevolcanic actionf

T hedeifi cation of INDRA ism ore consistent,ashe

hasno incongruous functions to discharge. He isa

personification of the phenomena Of the fi rmament,

particularly in the capacity Of sending down rain.

This property ismetaphorically described asa conflict

with theclouds,which arereluctant to part with their

watery stores,until assailed and penetrated by the

thunderbolt Of INDRA .

‘

Asin all allegories,thelan

guageof fact and fictionisapt to beblended and con

founded inthedescriptionof this encounter ; and the

cloud,personified asa dem onnamed AHI or VRIT RA

,

is represented as combating INDRA with all theattri

a Seethelegend ofA uroa, VishnuParana, p . 290 , note.

INTRODUCTION .

butes of a personal enemy,and assufi ering , in the

battle,mutilation

,wounds

,and death . Intheversions

of theconflict found in later works,and intheheroic

poem s and Pardrias,theoriginal allegory islost sight

of altogether ; and VRIT RA becomes a real personage,anAsara

,or king OfAsaras

,who wages a doubtful

war with the king of the gods . This contest with

the clouds seem s to have suggested, to the author s

Of the Sit/ems,the martial character of INDRA on

other occasions ; and heisespecially described asthe

god of battles,thegiver ofvictory to hisworshippers ,

the destroyer Of theenemies of religious rites,and

thesubverter of thecities of theAsaras. A popular

myth represents him,also

,asthediscoverer and rescuer

Of thecows,either Of thepriests o r of thegods

,which

had been stolen by anAsura named PANI or BALA .

LikeA GNI,heisthepossessor and bestower of riches,

and the granter Of all temporal blessings,when de

voutly worshipped, andwhenpropitiated by theSonia

juice,which seem s to bem oreespecially appropriated

to him,andwhich hastheeffect of inspiring him with

animation and courage. Some of his attributes are,

obviously,allegorical references to thelocality Of the

fi rmament ; aswhenhe is said to haveelevated the

sun,and fi xed the constellations in the Sky to be

m orevast than heaven and earth ; and to havesundered them

,when originally united (p . Of

another,which refers to him in the guiseof a ram

,

no very satisfactory explanationisgiven; although, as

remarked by M . Neve,the metam orphosis suggests

someanalogy betweenhim and Jupiter Ammon. His

INTRODUCTION .

taking part in the wars of tribes and princes,and

ensuring the triumph of thosehe befriends,belongs

to thepoetical part of thepersonification,and arises

,

no d oubt,from that character for personalvalour derived

from hismetaphorical defeat of VR ITRA,and the real

instrumentality Of theelectricity Of the atmosphere,

inthedescent of fertiliz ing showers .

T he Sun,SURYA or SAVITRI

,occupies a much less

conspicuous place,inHindu worship

,thanweshould

haveanticipated from thevisiblemagnificenceof that

luminary,and hisadorationby neighbouring nations .

Wehave,inthefirst book

,only threeSahtasaddressed

to him,individually ; and they convey no very strik

ing ly expressive acknow ledgment Of his supremacy .

Like A GNI and INDRA,he is the giver of temporal

blessings to hisworshippers ; heisthesourceof light,m oving

,with exceeding swiftness

,betweenheavenand

earth,in a chariot drawnby two white- footed horses

,

o r,as it is sometimes said

,by seven

,— meaning the

sevendays Of theweek . Heissaid to bethehealer Ofleprosy

,which may havegivenriseto them orem odern

legend Of hishaving cured SAMBA , thesonof KRISHNA ,ofthat disease; ifit benot anunauthorized graft upon

theoriginal stem . Heisrepresented as golden-eyed

and golden- handed merefigures of speech,although

a legend is devised to account for thelatter .

T hetext of the Veda,in oneremarkablepassagein

thefirst book,recogniz es a differenceOf degreeinthe

relativedignity ofthegods,andevenintheir age;enun

ciating venerationto thegreat gods , to thelesser, to the

young,and to theOld (p . Among thelesser gods

,

INTRODUCTION . xxxiii

animportant shareOf adorationisenj oyed by a group

avowedly subordinateto INDRA,— involving anobvious

allegory,—theMARUT S

,or Winds

,who arenaturally

associated with thefi rmament . Wehave, indeed, a godof thewind

,inVAYU ; but little is said of him

,and

that,chiefly inassociationwith INDRA

,— with whom he

isidentified by scholiasts ontheVeda. T heMARUT S,

on the contrary,arefrequently addressed as theat

tendantsand allies Of INDRA,confederated with him in

thebattlewith VRITRA , and aiding and encouraging

hisexertions . They arecalled thesons OfPRISNI , o r the

earth,and

,also

,RuDRAs

,o r sons of RUDRA ; themean

ing ofwhich affiliations isno t very clear,although

,no

doubt, it isallegorical . They are,also

,asso ciated

,

‘on

someoccasions,with A GNI ; anObvious metaphor, ex

pressing the action Of wind upon fi re. It is,also

,

intimated that they were, originally, m o rtal,andbecame

imm ortal inconsequence Of worshipping A GNI,which

is,also

,easy ofexplanation. Their shareinthepro

ductionof rain,and their fierceand impetuous nature,

arefigurativerepresentations of physical phenomena.

T he Scholiast'

endeavour s to connect the history Of

their originwith that narrated in thePurdr’ias,but

without success and thelatter,absurd asit is

,seem s

to haveno better foundation than one preposed etym olo g y of thename, D O no t (met) weep (rodth) ,— which ismerely fanciful , although it isno t much

worse than other explanations of thename which

commentators havesuggested (p . 225,notea) .

T heADIT YAs,o r lesser Suns

,areespecially thesons

ofA DITI,who has

,ingeneral

,thecharacter Of mother

xxxiv INTRODUCTION .

Of thegods,identified

,in this part Of theVeda

,with

Ear th,o r evenwith theUniverse; inwhich caseshe

is,evidently, allegorical . Littleissaid of theADITYAS

co llectively ; but some Of them are individually ad

dressed . Thereisno separatehymn to VISHNu ; butheismentioned asT RIVIKRAMA

,or hewho took three

steps or paces,which Mr . Co lebrookethought might

have fo rmed thegroundwork Of thePaurdn’i/elegendof the dwarf Avatara. It may havebeensuggestive

of thefiction butno allusionto thenotionof A catdras

occurs intheVeda and therecanbelittledoubt that

thethreesteps,herereferred to

,arethethreeperiods

Of thesun’s course— hisrise,culmination

,and setting .

3

MITRA isnever addressed alone heappears amongst

theVISWADEVA S (or gods collectively) , or associated

with VARUNA and A RYAMAN . Heissaid,by theScho

liast,to bea divinity presiding over theday, and, in

combination with VARUNA,

a dispenser of water .

VARUNA occupies a rather m oreconspicuous placein

the hymns : he is said to be thedivinity presiding

over thenight ; and,in that capacity

,probably

,the

constellations are called hisholy acts,and them oon

,

it issaid,moves by his command . T he titleof king

o r m onarch,Rdjao r Sanirat

'

,isvery comm only attached

to hisname. With MITRA,heis called the lord of

light ; and he supports the light onhigh, and makes

wide the path of thesun: he grants wealth,averts

a I t isexpressly so stated by Darya’

chdrya, inhiscommentary ontheNirahtaw—SeeBurnout“

,Introduction to the 3 rd vol. of the

t yaoata Pardha, p . xxii .

xxxvi INTRODUCT ION .

have the sea (Sindha) for their m other : but thisisexplained to intimatetheir identity

,asaffi rmed by

someauthorities,with thesunand m oon

,which rise

,

apparently,out o ftheocean. They arecalled DA SRAs

,

— destroyers,either Of foes or of diseases for they are

the physicians of the gods . They are,also

,called

NASATYAs,—inwhom thereisno untruth . They are

represented asever young,handsome

,travelling ina

three-wheeled and triangular car,drawnby asses

,and

asmixing themselves up with avariety ofhumantrans

actions,bestowing benefits upon their worshippers,

enabling them to foil or overcometheir enemies,assist

ing them in their need,and extricating them from

difficulty and danger . Their business seem s to liem ore

onearth than inheaven; and they .belong , by their

exploits,m oreto heroic

,thancelestial

,or solar

,mytho

logy . They are,however, connected, invarious pas

sages,with theradianceOf thesun

,and aresaid to be

precursors of thedawn, at which seasonthey ought to

beworshipped with libations of Sonia juice.

T heSabeism Of theHindus— ifitmay beso termeddiffers entirely from that of theChaldeans

,inomitting

theworship of theplanets . T heconstellations arenever

named asobjects of veneration o r worship ; and,al

though them oonappears to beoccasionally intended

under thenameSoma, —particularly, when spoken Of

asscattering darkness,— yet thenameand theadora

tionare,ina much less equivocal manner, applied to

theSanta plant, theacid asclepias , actual or personi

fi ed. T he great importanceattached to the juice of

this plant is a singular part Of the ancient Hindu

INTRODUCT ION. XXXVl l

ritual : it issufficiently prominent eveninthis portion

Of theRig Veda : but alm ost thewholeOf theSama

Veda isdevoted to itseulogy ; and this is, no doubt,littlem orethana repetitionof the S onia Mandala of

theR ich. T heonly explanationOfwhich it issusceptibleis

,thedelight

,aswell asastonishment

,which the

discovery Of theexhilarating, ifno t inebriating , pro

pertiesOf thefermented' juiceof theplant must have

excited insimpleminds,on first becoming acquainted

with itseffects . This,however

,is,of course

,wholly

different from any adorationof them oonor planets,as

celestial luminaries,inwhich they do no t appear to

haveparticipated with thesun.

INDRA and SAVITRI thus havetheir respectivesatellites

,dependent upon

,and identifiablewith

,their prin

cipals. A GNI does not seem to haveany subordinate

multiples,except in the rather anomalous deifi cations

called APRIS,which

,although including certainfemale

divinities and insensible objects,such asthe doors of

the sacrificial hall, are considered to beimpersona

tions of A GNI . BRAHMANASPAT I,also

,asfar aswecan

make out his character from the occasional stanz as

addressed to him ,seem s to beidentifiablewith A GNI

,

with theadditional attributeOf presiding over prayer.

T hecharacteristic properties Of this divinity,however ,

arenot very distinctly developed in this portionOf

theVhda.

Of RUDRA , also , thecharacter isequivocal ; but itmay be doubted if it partakes , in any remarkabledegree

,Of that fi ercenessand wrath which belong to

theRUDRA ofa later date. Heistermed,it istrue

,the

xxxviii INTRODUCTION .

slayer Of heroes but so isINDRA . T heeffects of his

anger uponmenand animals are deprecated : but he

is,also

,appealed to aswiseand bountif ul

,theauthor

Of fertility,and giver Of happiness ; and hispeculiar

characteristics are, evidently, hispresiding over medi

cinal plants and rem oval Of disease,— attributes Of a

benefi cent,not Of a malignant and irascible

,deity.

Asaboveremarked,theMARUT S

,or winds

,aretermed

hissons and this relationship would assimilatehim to

INDRA . Thereis,also

,a class of inferior deities

,termed

RUDRAS , who , inonepassage,areworshippers of A GNI

,

and,inanother

,arethefollowers Of INDRA ; being the

sameastheMARUTs. SO far,therefore

,RUDRA might

be identified with INDRA : but we have thename

applied,unequivocally

,to A GNI

,ina hymnexclusively

dedicated to that divinity (p . T heterm denotes,

according to the Scho liast,the ‘terribleA GNI : ’ but

thereisno warrant for this,inthetext and wemay

becontent, therefore, with thelatter, to regard RUDRAasa form or denominationOf fi re.

Of theother divinepersonifi cationswhich occur in

this first book,theparticular s areto o few to authorize

any unexceptionablegeneraliz ation. SomeOf themare

such asevery imaginativereligioncreates ; personifi

cations Of earth,ocean

,night

,and Ofinanimatethings .

Femaledivinities maketheir appearance: but they aremerely named

,without anything being related Of

them ; andwehave, asyet, no . suffi cient materials On

which to construct any theory of their attributes and

character . T heonly exceptionisthat Of IDA,who is

called thedaughter Of MANUs,and hisinstructress in

INTRODUCTION . xxxix

the performance Of sacrifice; but what ismeant bythis requires further elucidation. T heVISWADEVA S

,

o r universal gods , do not appear,in this part of the

Veda,as the particular class which isreferred to by

MANU,and in thePardrias

,but merely astheag g re

g ationOf thedivinities elsewhereseparatelynamed,o r

INDRA,A GNI

,MITRA

,VARUNA

,and therest.

We thus fi nd, that m ost, if no t all,the deities

named inthehymns OftheR ich —asfar asthoseof thefirst Asht’aha extend

,— areresolvableinto three: A GNI

,

o r fi re; INDRA, o r thefi rmament ; and theSun. Or,

indeed,— asthesunisonly a manifestationof fi re

,— we

might resolveall theform s into two ,‘

A GNI and INDRA .

We may, however, consent to take the assertion of

YASKA,that thereare

,intheVeda

,

“ threegods : A GNI,

ontheearth ; VAYU or INDRA , inthesky ; andSURYA,in heaven; Of each Of whom therearemany appella

tions,expressiveof hisgreatness

,and Of thevariety of

hisfunctions . ” Thereisnothing,however

,— confi ning

our negation to thepresent por tion Of theR ich,—to

warrant the other assertion Of YASKA,that “

all the

gods arebut parts Of oneatma,o r soul

,subservient to

thediversificationofhispraises through theimmensity

and variety Of hisattributes.

” a

T heAnahramafi iha

goes further,and affi rm s that thereisbut onedeity, the

GreatS oal (MahanA’

tma) quoting,however

,insup

port Of this doctrine,a passagewhich

,initsproper

place,applies only to the Sun

, who is there called

(p . 804)“ thesoul Of all that m oves or isimmoveable

JVirahta, Dairata Kanda I 4,5 .

xl INTRODUCTION .

anexpressionwhich is,probably

,to befiguratively,

not literally,apprehended .

T he notion Of a soul of the world belongs,no

doubt,to a period long subsequent to thecomposition

Of the Sit/ems. Whether their authors entertained

any belief in a creator and ruler Of the universe

certainly does no t appear from any passage hitherto

met with ; but, at the same time,the Objects of the

early worship Of the Hindus— fi re,the sky

,the

S onia plant,eventhesun

,— areaddressed inlanguage

so evidently dictated by palpablephysical attributes,

or by the m ost Obvious allegorical personifi cations,that we can scarcely think they were inspired by

any deep feeling Of veneration or of faith,o r that

theadoration Of such mere and manifest elements

contemplated them in any other light than '

as

types of the power Of a creator . However extravagant theexpressions

,wecanscarcely imagine them

to havebeen uttered in earnest, particularly aspro

ceeding from men Of evident talent and Observation,

endowed with m orethan commonintellectual activity

and acuteness of perception.

Leaving thequestionof theprimary religionof the

Hindus for further investigation, wemay now con

sider what degree of light this portion of the Veda

reflects upontheir social andpolitical condition. It has

beena favouriteno t-ion, with someeminent scho lars ,that theHindus , at theperiod of the composition Of

thehymns,wereanomadic and pastoral people. This

opinionseem s to rest solely upon thefrequent solicit

ationsfor food, and for horses and cattle,which are

INTRODUCT ION . xli

found in the hymns,and is unsupported by any

m ore positive statements . That the Hindus werenot nomads isevident from the repeated allusions

to fixed dwellings,and villages

,and towns ; and we

canscarcely supposethem to havebeen,inthis respect

,

behind their barbarian enemies,the overthrow Of

whosenumerous cities is so oftenspokenof. A pas

toral people they might have been,to someextent ;

but they were,also

,and

,perhaps

,in a still greater

degree,an agricultural people

,as isevidenced by

their supplications for abundant rain and for the

fertility Of theearth,and by themention Of ag ricul

tural products,particularly

,barley (p . They

were a manufacturing people; for the art Of weav

ing , thelabours Of the carpenter,and thefabrication

Of goldenand of ironmail,arealluded to : and

,what

ism ore remarkable,they werea maritimeand mer

cantilepeople.

Not only aretheSahtasfamiliar with theoceananditsphenomena

,but we havemerchants described as

pressing earnestly onboard ship,for the sake Of gain

(p . 1 52) and we havea naval expedition against a

foreign island,or continent (dwipa) , frustrated by a

shipwreck (p . They must,also

,havemadesome

advanceinastronomical computation astheadoption

of anintercalary m onth , for thepurposeOf adjusting

the solar and lunar years to each other,is made

mentionof(p . Civiliz ationmust have, therefore,made considerable progress ; and the Hindus musthave spread to the sea- coast

,possibly along the

Sindhu or Indus,into Cutch and Gujerat

,beforethey

xlii INTRODUCTION .

could have engaged in navigation and commerce.

That they had extended them selves from a m ore

northern site,or that they were a northern race

,is

rendered probablefrom thepeculiar expressionused,

onm orethan one occasion,in soliciting long life

,

when the worshipper asks for a hundred winters

(himas) ; a boonno t likely to havebeendesired by thenatives of a warm climate(p . They appear

,also

,

to havebeena fair- complexioned people,at least

,com

paratively, and foreigninvader s Of India asit issaid

(p . 259) that INDRA divided thefieldsam ong hiswhite

complexioned friends,after destroying theindigenous

barbarianraces : for such,therecanbelittledoubt

,we

areto understand by theexpressionD asyn, which so

Often recurs,and which is Often defined to signify

onewho no t only does not perform religious rites,

but attempts to disturb them,and harass their per

formers : the latter are the A’

ryas, the A'

rya, or

respectable,or

'Hindu,o r A rianrace. D asya, inlater

language,signifies a thief

,a robber ; and A

’

rya, a

wealthy or respectableman: but thetwo terms are

constantly used, inthetext Of theVeda, ascontrasted

with each other , and asexpressions Of religious and

political antagonists requiring, therefore, no vio lence

Of conjecture to identify the D asyas with the in

digenous tribes Of India,refusing to adopt thecere

m onial Of theA ’

ryas, a m ore civiliz ed,but intrusive

,

race,and availing them selves of every opportunity

to assail them,to carry Off their cattle

,disturb their

rites,and impedetheir progress

,— to littlepurpose

,it

should seem,as the A

’

ryas commanded the aid of

xliv INTRODUCTION .

neuter form,B rahma

,it usually implies prayer

,or

praise,or sacrificial food

,or

,inoneplace

,preservation

(p . in itsm asculine form,B rahma

,it occurs

asthepraiser,or reciter

,of thehymn(p . or as

the particular priest,so denominated

,who presides

over the cerem onial of a sacrifice (p . and in

neither casedoes it necessarily imply a B rahniafi a by

caste; for , that the Officiating priests might no t be

B rahmans appears from the part taken by VISWf

MITRA at thesacrifice of S'

UNAHSEPA,who

,although

,

according to tradition,by birth a Kshattriya, exercises

thefunctions Of thepriesthood . Thereisonephrase

which isinfavour of considering theB rahniana asthe

member of a caste,as distinguished from that Of the

military caste(p .

“ If you,INDRA and A GNI ,

haveever delighted ina B rahman'a,o r a Rafa, then

comehither : but eventhis canscarcely beregarded

asdecisive. A hymnthat occurs ina subsequent part

oftheVeda has,however

,beentranslated by Mr . Cole

brooke,in which the four castes are specified by

name,and theusual fableOf their originfrom B rahma

,

alluded to .

a Further research isnecessary,therefore

,

beforea final sentencecanbepronounced .

From this survey of the contents of thefirst book

Of theRig Veda, although somevery important ques

In theParasha Sic/eta,in theeig hth Asht

’

aha, wehave this

verse: Hism outh becamea priest [Brdhmana] ; hisarm wasmadea soldier [Kshattriya] histhig h wastransformed into ahusbandman

from hisfeet sprung theservileman -ColebrookeontheRelig iousCeremoniesOf theHindus, AsiaticResearches,Vol. vii.

,p . 25 1 .

INTRODUCT ION. X

tions remainto beanswered,it isindisputably evident

that thehymns it comprises represent a form Of religions worship

,and a state of society

,very dissimilar

to those we meet with in all the other scriptural

authorities Of theHindus, whether B rdhinarias

,Upani

shads,I tihasas(o r heroic poem s) , o r Paranas. Various

notions,and personifi cations, and persons have, no

doubt,beenadopted from theVeda

,and transmitted

to subsequent periods,although

,not unfrequently

,with

important modifications ; but the great mass Of the

ritual,all themost popular deities

,possibly theprinci

pal lawsand distinctions Of society, and thewholebodyof the heroic andPaaran’ih dramatispersonoe, havenoplace

,no part

,in theSit/rtas Of theRig Veda. That

the latter preceded theformer by a vast interval is,

therefore,a necessary inference: for theimmenseand

complicated machinery Of the whole literature and

mythology Of theHindus must havebeenOf gradualand slow development ; and, asmany Of the g enea

logical andhistorical traditions preserved by theRaind

yaita, Mahabharata,the poem s

,plays

,and Pardr

’

ias,

arenot likely to bemereinventions,but may have

had their foundations in fact,then the course of

events,theextension of theHindus through India

,

theoriginand succession Of regal dynasties,and the

formation Of powerful principalities,all unknown to

the Sanhita,areequally indicative Of the lapse Of

centuries between the compositionOf theSilhtasand

the date Of theearliest works that are subsequentto the great religious

,social

,and political changes

which,intheinterval, had takenplace. If thehymns

xlvi INTRODUCTION .

of the Sanhita are genuine,— and there isno reason

why they should no t be so ; if thereisany shadow of

truth in the historical portions Of theRamdyan’

a and

Mahabharata— and theremust be some; a thousand

years would no t beto o long aninterval for thealtered

conditions which are depictured in the Older and in

the m ore recent compositions . Considerations de

duced from theprobable progress of Hindu literatureare calculated to confirm this view Of the distance

that separates theag e of the‘

Veda from that Of the

later writings,and

,in this manner

,to lead to an

approximationto theera Of the former . T heSaktas

them selves are, confessedly, thecompositions pfvarious

periods,— aswemight concludefrom internal evidence,

— and were,probably

,falling into forgetfulness

,before

they werecollected into theSanhitas. Wethenhavea succession of schools engaged in collecting

,ar

ranging,and remodelling them

,after which come

the B rahman'as,

citing their contents in a manner

which proves that their collective compilation had

become extensively current and was readily recog

niz able.

A fter the B rahmanas come the Sittras,rules

for the application Of the passages cited in the

B rahmanas to religious cerem onies ; the works Of

authors to all Of whom a high antiquity isassigned.

-APA ST AMBA , KATYAYANA , and others,who quote

the B rahmanas as their authorities . Of the philo

sophical Sittras,the Sankhya, which seem s to bethe

Oldest system,is,perhaps

,independent of theVeda

but theParca and Uttara Mimdnsdsare, declaredly,

INTRODUCTION . X

intended to expound and elucidate the philosophy

and the practices Of the Veda,and are

,therefore

,

necessarily subsequent to theSanhita and B rahniarta,

although attributed to names Of ancient celebrity,

JAIMINI andVYASA . Theseworks were,possibly

,con

temporary with theliturgical aphorism s theVedanta

Sittrasbeing, also , posterior to theUpanishads. Now,

all thesewritings are Older thanMANU, whose cos

m o g ony is, evidently, a system Ofeclecticism compiled

from the Upanishads, theSdnlchya, and theVedanta,and many Of whose laws

,I learn from Dr . Mfi ller

,

arefound intheliturgical S ittras. Yet MANU notices

no A cataras,no RAMA

,no KRISHNA

,and is

,conse

quently,admitted to be long anterior to the growth

Of their worship asset forth in theRamayana and

Mahabharata.

Thereis,inMANU; a faint intimationthat Buddhist

ical opinions were beginning to exert an influence

over the minds Of men,— in the admission that

the greatest Of virtues is abstinence from injury

to living beings,—which would makehis laws pos

terior to thesixth century B C. But,conjecturing the

probable dates of the heroic poem s to beabout the

third century B C,we cannot placeMANU lower than

the fifth,or sixth

,at least ; beyond which we have

thewholebody Of philosophical and Vaidih literature.

This would carry us,for theage of theB rahman’a

,to

the seventh,or eighth

,at the least ; and we cannot

allow less thanfour or fi vecenturies for thecompositionand cur rency Of t hehymns

,and theoccurrenceOf

those important changes,both civil and religious

,

xlviii INTRODUCTION .

which theB rahmaria exhibits . This will bring us to

thesameera asthat which haspreviously been com

puted, or about twelve or thirteen centuries B .C.

Mr. Colebrooke,from astronomical data

,would give

theSit/etasa higher antiquity ; asheplaces their ag

g reg ation, or Sanhita,fourteen centuries B .C.

,a date

no t far from that which isheresug gested.

a A ll this

is,no doubt

,to bereceived with very great reserva

tion for,indealing with Hindu chrono logy

,wehave

no trustworthy landmarks,no fixed eras

,no compara

tivehistory,to guide us . In proposing the above

dates,therefore

,nothing m o re than conjecture is

intended ; and it may bewideOf thetruth . Wecanscarcely befar wrong

,however

,in assigning a very

remotedate to m ost,ifnot to all

,theSahtasof the

Riy Veda, and in considering them to beamongst the

Oldest extant records Of theancient world

T he text which has served fo r thefollowing trans

lation comprises theseem Of theR iy Veda and the

commentary of SAYANA A’

charya, printed, by Dr .

Miiller,from a collation Of manuscripts

,Of which he

hasgiven an account in hisIntroduction.

” SAYANA’

charya was the brother Of MADHAVA A ’

charya, the

primeminister ofVIRA BUKKARAYA,RajaofVIJAYANA

GARA inthefourteenth century,a munifi cent patronOf

Hindu literature. Both the brothers are celebrated

asscholars ; and many important works areattributed

to them,— no t only scholia on theSanhita

’

sand B roth

a A siatic Researches, Vol . vu .,283

,andVol . viii . , 483 .

bRig - Veda

,Preface, p . vii.

INTRODUCT ION. X

maitas Of theVedas,but original works on grammar

and law ; thefact, no doubt, being, that they availed

them selves of thosemeans which their situationand in

fluencesecured them,and employed themost learned

Brahmans they could attract to VIJAYANA GARA upon

theworks which bear their name,and to which they

,

also,contributed their ownlabour and learning . Their

works were,therefore

,compiled under peculiar ad

vantages,and are deservedly held in the highest

estimation.

T hescholia of SAYANA onthetext Of theR iy Veda

comprisethreedistrict portions . The first interprets

the original text,o r

,rather

,translates it into more

m odernSanskrit,

fills up any ellipse,and

,if any

legend is briefly alluded to,narrates it in detail ;

thenext portion Of the commentary is a gramma~

tical analysis Of the text,agreeably to the system

Of PANINI,whose aphorism s

,or Siltras

,are quoted ;

and the third portion is an explanation Of the ac

centuation of the several words . These two last

portions are purely technical,and are untranslate

able. T he first portion constitutes the basis of the

English translation: for,although theinterpretationof

SAYANA may be, occasionally, questioned, heundoubt

edly had a knowledge of his text far beyond thepretensions Of any European scholar, and must have

beeninpossession, either thr ough hisownlearning, o rthat Of hisassistants

,Of all theinterpretations which

had been perpetuated,by traditional teaching

,from

theearliest times .

INTRODUCTION .

In addition to these divisions of his commentary,

SAYANA prefaces each Set/eta by a specification Of

its author,

or R ishi of the deity,or deities

,to

whom it is addressed ; Of the rhythmical structure

of the several R ichas,or stanz as ; and Of the Vini

yoya, the application Of the hymn,o r Of portions

of it,to thereligious rites at which they are to be

repeated . I have been unable to makeuse of this

latter part of thedescription; asthe cerem onies are,

chiefly,indicated by their titles alone

,and their pecu

liar details arenot to bedetermined without a m ore

laborious investigationthantheimportanceo r interest

Of thesubject appeared[

to meto demand.

I have,perhaps

,to Offer

,ifno t anexcuse

,a plea

,for

retaining theoriginal denominations Of thedivisions of

the Veda,as Sanhitd

,Mandala

,Asht

’

aha,Adhyaya,

Aniwaha,Sahta

,and Varya, instead Of attempting to

express them by English equivalents . It appeared to

me,however

,that

,although theterm s Collection, Circle,

Book,Lecture

,Chapter

,Hymn

,and Sectionmight have

beentakenassubstitutes,and, ina general sense, were

allowable, yet they inno instanceexactly expressed the

meaning of the originals,and their usemight have

conveyed erroneous impressions . I have considered

it advisable,therefore

,to treat the original term s as

if they were proper names,and havemerely rendered

them inRomancharacters . I do not apprehend that anygreat inconveniencewill beexperienced from theuse

of these original designations,their conventional pur

port being readily remembered. I have,also

,specified

RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

F I R S T A SHT A K A .

FIRST ADHYAYA .

ANUVARA I .

SUKT A I . MANDALA I .

T hefirst Shhta or Hymn isaddressed to A GNI . T heRishi or

author isMADHUOHOHHAND AS, theson of VIs’

wAMIT RA . T he

metreisGayatri.

1 . I glorify A dm,

“

thehigh priest Of the sacri Varg a I .

a A g reat variety Of etym olog iesare devised to explain themeaning of theterm A gni, them ost Ofwhich are, Obviously, fanciful

,but theimport of which expressesthenotionsentertained

Of hischaracter and functions. Onearth,heisinvoked (niyate)

thefirst (ag ra) Of thegods; inheaven, heistheleader (ag raiii)ofthehosts of the g ods; heis thefirst of the g ods(prathamodevatdndm) ; he was the fi rst- born of theg ods (sa id esho

’

g re

deiatdndm ajayata) . In thesederivations, Agniiscompounded ,irreg ularly, out of ag ra, first, and né, to lead . It isalso derivedfrom ang a, body ; becauseheOffershisownsubstance, inthelig hting of thesacrificial fi re. T heauthor ofa Nirahta, or g lossary ,called Sthhldsht’htiin

,derivesit from theroot hna, w ith theneg ative

prefixed (ahnopayati) , hewho doesnot Sparethefuel . Anothercompiler of a g lossary, S

’

dhwiin’

i,derives thew ord from three

roots, i, to g o , any, to anoint, and dah, to burn, collectively ; the

5

2 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

fi ce,

a

thedivine,

" theministrant,

ewho presents theoblation(to the gods) , and isthepossessor Of greatwealth . d

2 . May that A GNI , who is to be celebrated by

both ancient and m odern sages,

econduct thegods

hither.

3 . Through A GNI the worshipper Obtains that

lettersbeing arbitrar ily changed to ag , and ni, from theroot ni,

being added . See, also, Ydsha’sNirahta, 7, 1 4 .

a A gni is termed theParchita, thepr iest wh o superintendsfam ily rites, o r becauseheisoneof thesacred firesinwhichoblationsarefirst (paras) Offered (hita) .b Deva, which, incomm onuse

,meansa g od, isordinarily ex

plained , in thepassagesinwhich it occursintheVeda, as‘the

brig ht, Shining , radiant being derived from die, to shine: o r itis

also explained , onewho abidesintheSky o r heaven(dyasthdna) .It is, here, also Optionally rendered , liberal, donor ; thesenseOf

g iving being ascr ibed to thesamerad ical .

Ritwij , a m inistering priest, o r,according to some

,the

Ritwij who isalso theHo tri,— theterm that followsinthetext,the priest who actually presentstheoblation

,o r who invokesor

summ onsthedeitiesto thecerem ony, according ly asthew ord isderived from ha

,to sacrifice

,o r hie

,to call .

d T heword isratnadha’ tania, lit.

,holder of jewels but ratna

isexplained, generally, wealth, and,fig uratively, signifiesthe

reward ofrelig iousr ites.

T he termsphria and natana, former and recent, applied to

Rishis, o r sages, areworthy Ofremark, asintimating theexistenceof earlier teachersand Older hymns. T heOldR ishisaresaid tobet ig a, Ang iras, andothers; perhaps, thosewho areelsewheretermed Prajapatis. Vishnu Parana, p . 49.

FIRST A SHT’AxA —FIRST ADHYAYA .

affluencewhich increases day by day, which isthe

sourceOf fame,and themultiplier of mankind .

4. A GNI,theunobstructed sacrifi ce3 ofwhich thou

art,onevery side

,b theprotector

,assuredly reaches

thegods .

5 . May A GNI,the presenter Of oblations

,the

attainer of knowledge,

0 hewho istrue,renowned

,

and divine,comehither

, with thegods .

6 . Whatever g o od thou mayest,A GNI

,bestow

upon the giver (of the oblation) , that,verily

,

ANGIRA S,Shall revert to thee. d

5“ A dhwaram yay’

nam. T hefirst isusually employed asa substantive, meaning , also , sacrifice it ishereused asanadjective

,

signify ing freefrom injury or interruption, - that is,byRdhshasas

,

evil spir its, alwaysonthealert to vitiateanact ofworship .

“ Onevery side” alludes to thefireswhich,at a sacrifice

,

shoul d be lig hted at thefour cardinal points,east

, west, south ,andnorth ,— termed , severally, theA

'

haianiya, Ma’

rg’

aliya, Gdrha

patya, and A'

gnidhriya.

E avihrata ishereexplained to signify oneby whom eitherknowledgeo r relig iousacts (hrata) have been acquired or per

formed (hrdnta) . T hecompound iscomm only used asa synonymofA gni.

9 That is, thewealth bestowed upontheYajanidna— thepersonby whom ,

or onwhose behalf,thesacrificeisperformed

,— w ill

enablehim to multiply hisoblations,by which Agni, ag ain, w ill

benefit . Instead ofA gni repeated , wehave, inthesecond place,Ang iras, asa synonym , which , inAl ana and all thePardnas

, is

thenameof a Rishi o r Praj apati, oneof thepr imitivem ind- bornsonsof Brahma: and theappellationisused

,frequently

,inthe

text of theVeda, in that sense, as thedesignationof a Rishi,thefounder ofa family

, or ofa school . T hecommentator quotes

2 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

fi ce,

a

thedivine,

"theministrant

,

c who presents the

oblation(to the gods) , and isthepossessor Of greatwealth . d

2 . May that A GNI, who is to be celebrated by

both ancient and modern sages,

econduct thegods

hither.

3 . Through A GNI the worshipper Obtains that

lettersbeing arbitrarily changed to ag , and a‘

i,from theroot ni

,

being added . See, also, Fasta’sNirahta, 7, 1 4 .

A gni istermed theParchita, thepriest who superintendsfam ily rites, o r becauseheisoneof thesacred firesinwhichoblationsarefirst (paras) Offered (hita) .

Deva, which, incommonuse,meansa g od, isordinarily ex

plained, in thepassagesinwhich it occursintheVeda, as‘the

brig ht, shining , radiant being derived from die, to shine: o r itis

also explained , onewho abidesinthesky o r heaven(dyasthdna) .It is, here, also optionally rendered, liberal, donor ; thesenseof

g iving being ascr ibed to thesameradical .

Ritwig , a m inister ing priest, or,accord ing to some

,the

Bitwi; who isalso theHo tri,— theterm that followsinthetext,the priest who actually presentstheoblation

,o r who invokesor

summ onsthedeitiesto thecerem ony, according ly asthew ord isderived from ha

,to sacrifice

,o r hce

,to call .

d T hew ord isratnadha’tania, lit. holder Of jewels but ratna

isexplained, generally, wealth, and,fig uratively, signifies the

reward of relig iousrites.

e T hetermsparca and natana,former and recent

,applied to

Rishis, o r sages, arew orthy Of remark, asintimating theexistenceofearlier teachersand Older hymns. T heOldRishisaresaid tobeBhrig a, Ang iras, andothers; perhaps, thosewho areelsewheretermed Prajapatis. Vishnu Pardria, p . 49.

FIRST A SH'fAKA - FIRST ADHYAYA .

affluencewhich increases day by day, which isthe

sourceof fame,and themultiplier ofmankind .

4. A GNI,theunobstructed sacrifice" ofwhich thou

art,onevery side,

"theprotector

,assuredly reaches

thegods .

5 . May A GNI,the presenter of oblations

,the

attainer of knowledge,

" hewho istrue,renowned

,

and divine,comehither

,with thegods .

6. Whatever goed thou mayest,A GNI

,bestow

upon the giver (of the oblation) , that,verily

,

ANGIRAS,Shall revert to thee. d

A dhwarani yag’

nain. T hefirst isusually employed asa substantive, meaning , also , sacrifice it ishereused asanadjective

,

signifying freefrom injury or interruption, - thatis,byRakshasas

,

evil spir its, alwaysonthealert to vitiateanact ofworship .

“ Onevery side” alludes to thefireswhich,at a sacrifice

,

shoul d be lig hted at thefour cardinal points,east

, west, south,andnorth,— termed, severally, theA

'

haianig a, Marjoiliya, Gdrha

patya, and A'

gnidhriya.

Kavihrata ishereexplained to signify oneby whom eitherknowledgeo r relig iousacts(hrata) havebeen acquired or per

formed (hrdnta) . T hecompound iscomm only used asa synonymof A gni.

‘1 T hat is, thewealth bestowed upontheYajanidna— thepersonby whom ,

or onwhose behalf, thesacrifice isperformed , —w ill

enablehim to multiply hisoblations,by which Agni, ag ain, will

benefit . Instead ofA gni repeated , wehave, inthesecond place,Ang iras, asa synonym , which , inMannand all theFaranas

, is

thenameOf a Rishi or Prajdpati, oneof theprimitivem ind - bornsonsOf Brahma: and theappellationisused

,frequently

,inthe

text of theVeda, in that sense, as thedesignationof a Rishi,thefounder of a family

,or ofa school . T hecommentator quotes

RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

7 . We approach thee,ACNI

,with reverential

homage in our thoughts,daily

,both morning and

evening ;

Ydsha,for theidentity ofAng irasw ith Ang dra, a livecoal ; anda

passagefrom theA itareyaBrahmana iscited , inwhich it issaid ,“ the coals became the Ang irasas (ye

’ng a’

r ci a’

sanste’ng iraso’bhavan) . T heidentification ofA ng iraswith A gni, infunction,thoug h no t inperson, isthesubject Of a legend , told, rather confusedly and Obscurely

,intheMahdbhdrata

,Vana-

paria (printededition

, Vol . i. , p . by Mdrhandeya to Yadhisht'

hira,inreply

to hisquestion,how i t happened , formerly, that A gni, having g one

to theforest, and his functionshaving ceased, Ang irasbecameA gni, and conveyed the oblationsto theg ods. Connected w iththisquestion, healso inquires, how it isthat A gni, who isone

,

should becomemany . Mdrhandeya thereforerelates,that Agni,

having eng aged in penance, and relinquishing his duties, theManiAng irastook uponhim hisOfiice

,and

, whenhe prevaileduponA gni to resumeit

,becamehisson: hisdescendants

,the

A ng irasas, are, therefore, also thedescendantsof A gni, o r so m anyAgnis, or fires. Their enumeration

,which followsat someleng th ,

showsthem to be,for them ost part, personifi cationsOf lig ht, Of

lum inousbodies, of divisionsoftime, of celestial phenomena, andfiresadapted to peculiar occasions, asthefull and changeOf them oon

,or to particular r ites, astheA s

’

wamedha, thePdha

yag’

nas(or sacrificesw ith food) , Obsequial and funeral fires, ex

piatory fires,and thelike. T helegend is, possibly, intended to

represent theorg anizationofworship with fi re, -which,inthefirst

instance, wasof a prim itiveand Simplecharacter, —and itsappro

priationto variousoccasions, by Ang irasand hisdisciples. T he

Mahdbhdrata isno t contented w ith thefirst account,but g ivesa

second,inwhich thefirst A gniiscalled Saha ; and heissaid to

havehiddenhimself intheocean, to avoid theapproach ofNiyata,thesonof Bharata

, thefi reof thefuneral- pile. T hetext says,

Verge. IV.

6 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

libations " areprepared for thee. Drink Of them ;hear our innovation.

2 . VAYU,thy praisers praise thee with holy

praises,

" having poured out the Soma juice,and

knowing the(fi t) season.

3 . VAYU,thy approving speech c

comes to the

giver (of the libation) , and to many (others whoinvitethee) to drink of theSonia juice.

4. INDRA andVAYU,these libations are poured

Out (for you) . Come hither,with fo od (fo r us ) .

Verily,the drops (of the Sonia juice) await you

both .

5 . INDRA andVAYU,abiding inthesacrificial rite

,

you areawareOftheselibations . Come,both

, (then, )quickly

,hither.

6 . VAYU and INDRA,

come to the rite of the

9: TheseSomasarelibationsof thejuice'

of theSoma plant, theacid Asclepiasor Sarcostenia aiminalis, which yieldsto expressurea copiousm ilky juice, of a m ild nature and subacid taste.

Roxburg h, 3 2 . A ccording to Mr. Stevenson,it isno t used

,in

sacrifices, until it hasg onethroug h theprocessof fermentation,

and hasbecome a strong spirituousbeverage— Introduction toT ranslationof theSdma Veda. Thisiswarranted by numerousexpressionsinthefollow ing hymns. It is, evidently, theHornoftheParsees; althoug h they aifi rm ,

that theplantisno t to befoundinIndia

,and procureit from them ountainsof Gilanand Ma

z enderan, and theneig hbourhood ofYezd .

b With alethas, also designated é astras, hymnsofpraise, recited,not chanted, or sung .

d a issupposed to say, I will drink thelibation.

FIRST ASHT’ARA —FIRST ADHYAYA . 7

sacrifi cer ; for thus , men," will completionbespeedily

(attained) by theceremony.

7. I invokeMITRA,

"ofpurevigour

,andVARUNA

,

thedevourer Of foes,—thej oint accomplishers of the

act bestowing water (ontheearth)"

8 . MITRA and VARUNA,augmenters of water

,

"

dispensers of water, you connect this perfect rite

with itstrue(reward) .9. Sapient MITRA and VARUNA

,prosper our sa

crifi ce,and increaseour strength . You arebornfor

the benefit Of many ; you are the refuge Of mul

titudes.

Nard,dual ofnara, aman. Thisterm isfrequently applied to

divinebeings: it isusually explained, by the Scholiast, netri,leader o r g uide but it may bedoubted if it doesnot convey thesense of maleo r m ortal , alluding to thelim ited existenceof thedivinities. Inthisplace, it issaid to beapplicableto d a and

Indra; becausethey arepossessed of manly vig our (paarashenasdmar thg enopetaa) .

M'

tra, initsordinary sense, isanameofthesun; Varana, oftheregent Of thewaters but they are

,both

,included among the

twelveA '

dityas and,inanother place

, Mitraissaid to bethedeitypresiding over day Varana

,over nig ht : seep . 227, noteb .

c Dhiyani g hrita’

ehini sddhantd. T he two first w ords,in the

senseshereexplained,dhi

,anact

,and g hritdchi, water -shedding ,

arepeculiar to the Veda. As identified with thesun, o r as

A'

dityas, A Iitra and Varana aresaid to causerain,indirectly

,by

producing evaporation. T hevapoursthusraised,becom ing con

densed intheatmosphere, descend ag ain, inshowers.

Ritdvridhaa. Rita usually meanstrueor truth ; but, intheVeda

,it imports, also, water andsacrifice.

Varg a V.

T heRishiandmetrearethesameasinthetwo precedingHymns.

Of twelvestanzas, threeareaddressed to theA SWINS ; three, toINDRA ; three, to theVISWADEVA S ; and three, to SARASWATI.

1 . ASWINS,

"

cherishers ofpious acts,long-armed

,

"

accept,with outstretched hands

,thesacrificialviands .

2 . A SWINS, abounding inmighty acts, guides (ofdevotion) , endowed with fortitude, listen, with nuaverted minds

,to our praises .

3 . A SWINS,destroyers of foes

,

" exempt from nu

truth,leaders in thevan of heroes

,

(1come to the

a T heAs’

winsarethetwo sonsof theSum— beg ottendur ing hismetam orphosisasa horse — endowed w ith perpetual youthand beauty

,and physiciansof theg ods. They aretheheroesOf

many legendsintheParanas, but Of still m oreinthisVeda. T he

enumerationof their wonderful actionsistheespecial subject ofHymnscxvr . and cxvn.

Parabhajci, which may bealso rendered , g reat eaters.

Dasrd, destroyers, either of foesor of diseases. T hemedicalcharacter Of theA s’winsisa Vaidih tradition, asina text quotedby d aiia (as

'

winaa rai deidndm bhishajdiiti s’

rateh) , thetwo

A sfwins, verily, arethephysiciansof theg ods. Veda.

G ThisistheScholiast’sinterpretationofa rather curiouscompound

,Radraiartani. Rudra, from the root rad, impliesweep

ing assay theT aitlirig as,— Inasmuch ashewept, thencecame

theproperty or function of rudra (yad arodit tad radrasya rad

ratwam) . Thisis, also, thePaaranih etym olog y . Vishria Par .

p . 58. T heVdjasaneyismaketheverb causal,“ they causeto weep ;

thereforethey arerudras(yad rodayanti tasmdd radrdh) . Fromthesetextsd ana rendersrudra, heroes, they who maketheir

FIRST ASH'fAKA— FIRST ADHYAYA . 9

mixed libations sprinkled on the lopped sacred

grass ."

4. INDRA,of wonderful Splendour, come hither.

Theselibations,ever pure

,expressed by thefingers

(ofthepriests) , aredesirous of thee.

5 . INDRA,apprehended by theunderstanding

,and

appreciated by thewise, approach,and accept the

prayers ofthepriest,asheOffers thelibation.

6 . Fleet INDRA,with the tawny coursers

,come

hither to the prayers (of the priest) , and in this

libationaccept our (proffered) food.

7 . Universal Gods,

" protectors and supporters of

men,bestowers (of rewards) , come to thelibation

of theworshipper .

enem iesweep . Var tanimeansa road or way,— or here,it issaid

,

thefront of theway, the van; and thecompound means, theywh o areinthevanofwarr iors.

Vrilctabarhishah. T hesacred has’a g rass(Pea cgnosaroides) ,after having had therootscut off, isspread onthecedio r altar ;anduponit the libation of Sonia juice

,o r oblation Of clarified

butter, ispoured out. Inother places,a tuft ofit, ina similar

position, issupposed to form a fitting seat fo r thedeity or deitiesinvoked to thesacr ifice. A ccording to Mr . Stevenson, it isalsostrewn over the floor of the chamber inwhich theworship isperformed .

T heViéwadecasare, sometimes, vag uely applied to divinitiesingeneral ; but they also form a class, whosestationandcharacterare imperfectly noticed

,but who areentitled, at m ost relig ious

r ites, to shareinthesolemnity . Inthisand thetwo next stanzas,form ing a Z rieha, or triad, to berecited at theworship of the

Viéwadeias,someof their attributesareparticularized , connecting

them with theelements.

1 0 RIG -VEDA SANHITA.

8 . May the swift-m oving universal Gods,the

shedders Of rain,cometo the libation asthesolar

rays come,diligently

,to thedays .

9. May theuniversal Gods, who areexempt fromdecay

,omniscient

,

" devoid ofmalice, and bearers (of

riches ) , accept thesacrifice.

1 0 . May SARASWAT I,

" thepurifier,thebestower

of food,therecompenser of worship with wealth

,be

attracted,by our Offered viands

,to our rite.

1 1 . SARASWAT I,theinspirer Of thosewho delight

in truth,the instructress of theright-minded

,has

accepted our sacrifice.

1 2 . SARASWAT I" makes manifest,by her acts

,a

mighty river,and (inher own form

, ) enlightens all

understandings .

a T heorig inal word isuncommon, ehinidycisah. T heScholiastexplainsit by thosewho haveObtained knowledgeuniversally

(sariato oydptaprajndh) . Or it may refer,Sa

’

yaiia states, to a

leg end , inwhich theViswadeiasaddressed theAgni Saachiha,who had g oneinto thewater,— say ing , ehi, come, andydsih, do no t

g o away ; from whencethey derived theappellationehinidydsah.

It ism orethanprobablethat the orig inand import of theterm

wereforg ottenwhenSa’

yana wrote.

Saraswatiis, here, aselsewhere, theVdg deiatd, divinity of

speech : other attributesarealluded to in thetext ; the threestanzasform ing a tricha

,to berepeated at her worship .

Saraswatiishereidentified w ith ther iver so named .

I L J. ‘ U V L L JL D . L L .

SUKT A I . (IV . )

T heRishiandmetrecontinueunchanged : theHymnisaddressedto INDRA .

1 . Day by day weinvokethedoer ofgood works ,for our protection as a good milch - cow

,for the

milking, (iscalled by themilker) .

2 . Drinker Of theSonia juice,cometo our (daily)

rites,and drink of thelibation. T he satisfaction Of

(theewho art) thebestower of riches is, verily, (thecauseOf) thegift of cattle.

"

3 . We recognize theeinthemidst Of thenightminded

,who arenearest to thee. Cometo us pass

us no t by,to reveal (thyself to others)

"

4. GO,worshipper

,to the wise and uninjured

INDRA,— who bestows thebest (of blessings) onthy

friends,—and ask him of the(fitness of the) learned

(priest who recites hispraise)"

5. Let our ministers,earnestly performing his

a That is,if Indra besatisfied, hew ill augment theworship

per’sherds. T henotionisvery elliptically expressed .

Here,ag ain, wehaveelliptical phraseolog y. T heorig inal is

and no ati hhyah, lit. , do no t speak beyond us: the completesenseissupplied by theScholiast.

T heinjunctionisaddressed to theYag’

amdna, who isdesired

to ask if theHotri, Or invoker whom heemploys, isfi t for hisduty . T heHotrihimself issupposed to enj ointhis.

RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

worship,exclaim za Depart

, ye revilers , from hence

andevery other place(whereheisadored) .6. Destroyer of foes

,let our enemies say weare

prosperous let men(congratulateus) . May weever

abide in the felicity (derived from the favour) of

INDRA.

7 . Offer to INDRA,thepervader (ofevery riteof

libation) , the juice that is present (at the threecerem onies) , the grace of the sacrifice

,theexhila

rator of mankind,the perfecter Of the act

,the

favourite of (that INDRA) who gives happiness (tothe

8. Having drunk,S

'

ATAKRA TU,

"

of this (Sonia

juice) , thou becamest the slayer of theVRITRAS

thou defendest thewarrior inbattle.

a T heScholiastwould explainbraoanta, “ let them say,” by let

them praiseIndra ; but this doesno t seem to benecessary . T he

senseisconnected w ith what follows: let them say procal este,

profani.

Theseepithetsof theSonia juicewould besomewhat unintellig ible, w ithout theaid Of theScholiast . T heperfecter of theacts

,

harma’

hi prdpnaiantam,ishisrendering of patayat, causing to

fall ; and thelast phrase, mandayatsahham, thefriend of thedelig hter, heexplainsasinthetext.

S’

atahrata, anameofIndra, isexplained, by Sag ana, hewhois connected w ith a hundred (many) acts, relig iousr ites, bahaharniayahta, either astheir performer , or their object : o r it may

berendered , endowed w ith g reat wisdom ; hrata implying eitherharma, act, o r prajnd, knowledge. In thefirst sense, thewordmay be thesource Of thePaaranih fiction

,that thedignity of

Indra isattainableby a hundred A éwamedhas."1Vritrdndm, oftheenemies, ofwhom theA sara Vritrawasthe

RIG-VEDA SANHI TA.

poured out for thesatisfactionof thedrinker of the

libations .

6 . Thou,INDRA

,performer of good works

,hast

suddenly becomeof augmented vigour,for thesake

of drinking thelibation,and(maintaining) seniority

a

(am ong thegods) .

7 . INDRA,who art the object of praises

,may

these pervading S oma juices enter into thee: maythey bepropitious for thy (attainment of) superiorintelligence.

8 . T he chants (of the AS’ama)

b have magnified

thee, S'

A TAKRATU , the hymns (of the R ic/z) havemagnified thee may our praises magnify thee.

9. May INDRA, the unobstructed protector, enjoy

thesemanifold (sacrifi cial) viands , inwhich all manlyproperties abide.

1 0 . INDRA,who art theobject of praises

,let no t

men do injury to our persons . Thou art mighty

keep offviolence.

3“ abstract ofjyaz’

sfi t’

lza, elder, oldest ; but it may,also

,meanbest or chiefest.

b T he Scholiast supplies theseparticulars, the terms of the

text being simply stomdlz andnit fi zd: theformer, hesays, arethepraises of thesingersof theSdma (Sa

'

mag dndm sto z’rdnz' ) the

latter , thehymnsof therecitersof theBalnrick

s'

astrdni) . But, of thisand other passageswhereSag/afi a insertsthedesignation of other Veda8,—thc Sarna and theYajaslz,— it

isto beobserved , that theaccuracy of hisadditionsinvolvestheprior existenceof thoseVedas, at least to thehymnsof theRichinwhich they aresupposed to bealluded to ; a conclusionwhichthereisreasonto hesitateadmitting .

FIRST ASHfAKA— FIRST ADHYAYA .

Stixm III . (VI . )

T heKid d and metre continued . T he three first stanzas and

thelast areaddressed to INDRA ; therest, to theMARUTS, o r

Winds, w ith, or w ithout, INDRA .

1 . T he circumstationed (inhabitants of thethreeworlds)

aassociatewith (INDRA ) , themighty (Sun) ,

theindestructive(fi re) , them oving (wind) , and thelights that shineintheskyf’

2 . They (thecharioteers, ) harness to hiscar his

a T he text has only parr’

tasthnsnab, thosewho arestandingaround . T he Zokatrayavar tz

’

nak pra’

fi r’

nalz, the living being s of

thethreeworlds, istheexplanationof theScholiast.

b Of the three first objects the text g ives only theepithetsbrad/ma, them ig hty, to which d ana addsA '

dz'

tya, the Sun;

arusha, thenon- injuring , to which Fireissupplied ; and alumni

them oving , anepithet of Wind . T helast phraseiscomplete,

roc/zante r ochand dz'

m'

. Sciyana’

s additions aresupported by aB rdizmana, which explainstheepithetsasequivalent, severally, to

A gni, and d a (A sanrd, A'

dz'

zfyo bradfinafi A gnz’

r rd

araslzak fi”

d ur var"olzaran) wem ay, therefore, adm it it. T heidentificationof Indra with thethreeimplies, theScholiast says,hissupremacy ;— heis but the text saysthey join and it doesno t appear , exactly, whom ; forIndra isno t named . Asthefollowing stanzasshow ,

however,

that the hymnisaddressed to Indra, hem ay beallowed to keephis place asessentially onewith thesun, fi re, w ind , and the

constellations.

Varg aXI .

1 6 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

two desirablecoursers,a placed oneither hand

,

b bay

coloured,high - spirited

,chief-bearing .

°

3 . Mortals , you oweyour (daily) birth (to suchanINDRA) , who, with therays of them orning, gives

senseto thesenseless, and, to theform less, fo rm .

‘il

4 . Thereafter,verily

,thosewho bear names in

voked in holy rites , (theMARUT S) ,e having seenthe

rain about to be engendered) , instig ated him to

resumehisembryo condition(intheclouds) .

5 . A ssociated with the conveying MARUT S,the

traversers of places diffi cult of access,thou

,INDRA

,

hast discovered thecows hiddeninthecave.

f

a T hehorses of Indra arenamed Izari,usually considered as

denoting their colour, g reeno r yellow ,o r

,asRosenhasit

, flam'

Inthissameverse, wehave them ,presently

,described assona

,

crimson, brig ht bay, o r chestnut.b Wpa/csnasd, harnessed on different sides

,— Sd

_

z/ana says, ofthechar iot ; weshould say, of thepole. But theHindu rat/lamay not havehad a pole.Literally, men- bearing ,—nr z

°

ndkasd.

d I ndra ishere, ag ain, identified w ith thesun, whosem orningraysmay besaid to reanimatethosewho havebeendead , insleep,throug h thenig ht. Thereissomedifficulty intheconstructionfor marry/db , m ortals, is plural, whileajdyatlzdk is thesecondpersonsing ular of thefirst preterite. Sag/aria isof opinionthatthewant of concord is a Var

’

dzia license, and that theplural substantivemaryak hasbeenput fo r thesing ular wary/ail .e T heJlIarnts areno t named in the text ; but theallusions

justify thecommentator’sspecification: thew indsdriveI ndra, o rthe fi rmament

,into anag g reg ationof clouds, inwhich therain

ag aincollects, asintheir w omb .

f A llusionisheremadeto a legend, which is frequently ad

FIRST A SH’fAKA— FIRST ADHYAYA . 1 7

6 . T he reciters of praises praise the mighty

(troop of MARUT S) , who are celebrated,and con

scious of the power of bestowing wealth,in like

manner asthey (glorify) thecounsellor, (INDRA) .7 . May you beseen

,MARUT S

,accompanied by

the undaunted INDRA ;a

(both, ) rejoicing , and of

equal splendour.

8. This rite is performed in adoration of the

powerful INDRA,along with the irreproachable

,

heavenward-tending,and amiable bands (of the

MARUT S) .9. Therefore

,circumambient (troop of MARUT S) ,

comehither,whether from the region of thesky,

or from the solar sphere;b for

,in this rite

, (thepriest) fully recites your praises .1 0 . Weinvoke INDRA

,—whether he comefrom

verted to , of theA sarasnamed Pam'

s having stolenthecowsofthe g ods, o r , according to someversions, of theAng irasas, and

hidden them in a cave, wherethey werediscovered by Indra,w ith thehelp of thebitch Saramd. A dialog uebetweenher andtherobbers is g iven, inanother place, inwhich she conciliatesthem . In other passages, the cowsarerepresented asforciblyrecovered by Indra, w ith thehelp oftheMar ats.a A llusion

,it issaid, isheremade to a battlebetweenIndra

and Vrz'

tra. T heg odswho had come to theaid of theformerweredrivenaway by Vr z’tra’sdogs and Indra, to obtainthesu

periority, summ oned theMarutsto hisassistance.

b T hereg ionof thewindsis, properly, thedyulolca, theheaven,or reg ionabovetheantar z'lcska

,or sky. Or they may comefrom

a sphereof light further above, or thesolar reg ion, ddz'

tyaman

Varg aXIII.

1 8 RIG-VEDA SANB ITA.

this earthly region, o r from the heaven above,o r

from thevast fi rmamentfi—that hemay give(us)wealth.

sem IV. (VII . )

T hedeity isINDRA theResinandmetre, asbefore.

1 . T he chanters (of theSama) extol INDRA with

songs ; thereciters of theRz'

elz,with prayers ; (the

priests of theYajas/z) , with texts .b

Either thepre'

tkz'

eilolca or thedyalolca. T hetext addsmakoray

’

asah, which theScholiast explainsthe g reat antare'

lcshalolca,

thesphereof thefi rmament, which is, properly, thespacebetweentheearth and heaven, corresponding with eyernan o r dkdéa, the

sky or atmosphere—Mann, I ., 1 3 .

b T heScholiast suppliesthespecificationof theseveral Vedas.T he first term , g dtln

'

nafi,merely meanssingers, althoug h heren

dersit g z’

yamdnasdmaynlctaadg dtdrah,“ theUdg dtr z

’

s, w ith Sdmas

to bechanted aninterpretation,hethinks, confirmed by thenext

term , (songs) , br z'

hat, for bre’

katd,“ w ith theBrinat Sdma. T he

next phrase, arkebin'

r dr in'nak

,ism oreakinto Rick, “ Thoseof the

Big -eeda, with stanzas but it isno tnecessar ily confined to thatsense; and, asarka isa synonym of mantra, a prayer, thesensemay be, thosewho pray, or praise, Indra with prayers. For the

Adlawar yus, or priestsoftheVajush, wehavenothing at all intheorig inal ; and theterm was, for ndnébkifi , “

with textsor words, ”

which occurs, apparently w ithout any g rammatical connexion, maybereferredeither to thesingers, or thereciters, oftheprayers. It

isapplied , by theScholiast, to thetextsoftheYajaslz, —apparently,only becausehehad connected thepreceding expressionsw iththeother two Vedas. Asalready remarked, any referenceto the

Yajaslz, or Sdma, ina verseof theRich, impliesthepriority of

thetwo former to thelatter .

FIRST A SH'fAKA— FIRST ADHYAYA . 1 9

2 . INDRA,theblender of all things, comes , verily,

with his steeds that areharnessed at hisword,INDRA

,the richly-decorated

,

athe wielder of the

thunderbolt.

3 . INDRA,to render all things visible

,elevated

thesun in the sky,

band charged the cloud with

(abundant) waters .

4 . InvincibleINDRA, protect us , inbattles abound

ing inspoil, with insuperabledefences .

5 . WeinvokeINDRA for great affluence; INDRA ,for limited wealth

,— (our) ally, and wielder of the

thunderbolt against (our) enemies .

6 . Shedder of rain,granter ofall desires

,set open

this cloud . Thou art never uncompliant with our

(requests) .

7. Whatever excellent praises aregiven to other

divinities,they are(also, thedue) of INDRA

,the

thunderer. I do not know hisfitting praise.

8. T he shedder of rain,the mighty lord

,the

always compliant,invests menwith hisstrength ; as

a bull (defends) a herd ofkine.

9. INDRA,who alone rules over men

,over riches

,

5” So theScholiast explainstheterm of thetext, fie’

ranyaya ,

literally , g olden, or madeof g old .

b T heworld being enveloped indarknessby Vr z'

tra, Indra, in

order to removeit, elevated (ar okayat, or asthecomment says,

sthdpz’

tdodn, placed, ) thesun in thedyaloloa, o r heaven. T he

latter part ofthepassagemay also berendered, he(thesun) animated themountain(z

'

. e.

,theworld, ) with hisrays.

Varg a XV.

20 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

and over the fi ve (classes) of the dwellers on

earth .

a

1 0. Weinvoke, for you , INDRA, who iseverywhereamong men. May hebeexclusively our own.

ANUVAKA III .

sem I . (VIII . )

T hedeity, Ricki, and metre, asbefore.

1 . INDRA,bring

,fo r our protection

,riches, most

abundant,enjoyable

,the source of victory, the

humbler of our foes ;2 . By which wemay repel our enemies, whether

(encountering them) hand to hand,bo r on horse

back ever protected by thee.

8. Defended by thee,INDRA

,wepossess a pon

derons weapon,wherewith wemay entirely conquer

our Opponents .

4 . With theefor our ally,INDRA

,and (aided by)

a T he text has, over the fi vemen, or classesof men, paneka

kshe’

ttndm . T helatter term isexplained etymolog ically, thosewhoarefi t for habitations T hephraseisofno t unfrequent recurrence

,and isusually said to imply the four castes

,

B rdkmanas, Ksfi attre’

yas, Vaz'

s’

yas,and S‘adras, andM'

sbddas,

barbarians, or thosewho haveno caste; intending , possibly, theaborig inal races of India

,all ina very low stageof civiliz ation,

liketheGonds, R oles,andBln

'

lsofthepresent day.

b Literally, by striking w ith thefi st, maskt'

z'

katyayd.

“ With a horse.

”

T heScholiast explainsthisand thepreceding to intend infantry and cavalry .

Varg aXVII .

Suxm II . (IX. )

Divinity, Risks, and metre, thesame.

1 . Come,INDRA

, and be regaled with all viands

and libations,and

,thence

,mighty in strength

,be

victorious (over thy foes) .

2 . T he libationbeing prepared,present theex

hilarating andeffi cacious (draught) to the rej oicingINDRA

,theaccomplisher ofall things .

3 . INDRA with the handsome chin,

a be pleased

with theseanimating praises : do thou,who art to

be reverenced by all mankind,

b

(come) to theserites

, (with thegods) .

Sr édlzara Swdm é, inthescholia ontheBkdg deata Purdna, to signify a sacred hymnnot sung , s

’

astram aprag itamantrastotram,the

repetitionofwhich istheofficeof theHotrs’, bomb -karma; whilestuts

’

and stoma im ply thesung or chanted hymn,sang étam sto

tram . M. Burnouf renderss’astra, lespre’

e‘

res[mentales] qae'

sont

eommelo g laz'

oe; and, inanoteintheVishnuPardna, I havetranslated thesameexpressionof theBhag avata, theunuttered incantation(p . 42

,But it may bedoubted if thisisquitecorrect.

T hedifferencebetweens’astra and stoma seemsto be,that oneis

recited, whether audibly or inaudibly ; theother , sung .

a Suszpra. But s’

emra meanseither thelower jaw ,or thenose

and thecompound may equally denotethehandsome—nosed .

b T heepithet m’

s‘

waekarshane is, literally, O thou who art

7all men

,

’

or,asd ana explains it, saroamanaskyaynkta, who

art j oined w ith all men, which hequalifiesasso/roazr yog

’

amdnaz’

k

p z’

rjyak, to bew orshipped by all institutorsof sacrifices. It may

bedoubted ifthisbeall that isintended . Rosenrendersit omnz

'

nm fi ominam domino : M. Lang loishasmaitresouverain.

FIRST A SH’fAKA— FIRST ADHYAYA .

4. I haveaddressed to thee,INDRA

,theshowerer

(of blessings) , the protector (of thy worshippers) ,praises which havereached thee

,

aand ofwhich thou

hast approved.

5 . Place before us, INDRA, preciousand multi

form riches ; for enough, and m orethanenough , are,assuredly

,thine.

6 . Opulent INDRA,encourage us in this rite for Varg a XVIII .

theacquirement of wealth for wearediligent and

renowned .

7 . Grant us,INDRA

,wealth beyond measure or

calculation,inexhaustible

,the source of cattle

,of

food,of all life.

8. INDRA, grant usgreat renown, and wealth ao

quired in a thousand ways,and those(articles) of

food (which arebrought from thefi eld, ) incarts.b

9. Weinvoke,for the preservation of our pro

perty,INDRA

,the lord of wealth

,the object of

sacred verses,therepairer (to theplaceofsacrifi ce) ,

0

praising him with our praises .1 0. With libations repeatedly effused

,the sacri

T heScholiast makesthis, “ reached theeinheaven, orswar g a.

It may bequestioned iftheVeda recogniz esswa/rg a astheheaven

ofIndra.

b T heorig inal of thishymn, as of many others, isso conciseandelliptical asto beunintellig ible, without the liberal amplifi

cationoftheScholiast . Wehave, inthetext, simply “thosecar

having viands,”td rathz

’

nir a'

skale, meaning , Sdg/ana says, thosearticlesoffood wh ich areconveyed incars, carts, or wag g ons, from

thesiteoftheir production; asrice, barley , andother kindsofg rain.

Here, ag ain, wehave only g antciram,hewho g oes, that is

Varg a XIX.

24 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

fi cer g lorifi esthevast prowess of INDRA, themighty,thedweller in(aneternal mansion) .

a

sem III . (x )

T hedivinity andRz'

sln'

arethesame; themetreisthecommonA naskt

’

ubh.

1 . T he chanters (of theSama) hymn thee, S’

T AKRATU ; thereciters of theR z'

e/zaspraisethee,who

art worthy of praise; theB rdlzmar’

iasb raise theealoft

,likea bamboo -pol

according to the comment, hewho isaccustomed to g o to thechamber which isappropriated to sacrifices, ydg ades

’

eg amanas’

ilam .

a T heepithet isnyolcas, from m, explained ne'

yata, fixed, permanent , and okas, dwelling .

b Thisstanz a isnearly sim ilar to thefirst stanz a oftheseventhhymn(seep . and issim ilarly expounded by thecommentator .

T hefirst term , g dyatre'na, literally, thosewho employ theGayatri

metre, issaid , by d ana, to denotetheUdg dtre’

,thechanter of the

hymnsoftheSdma : arke'nak isexplained

,asbefore

, therecitersoftheRich, and thesameastheB atre

'

ofa sacrifice. T hethird term,

brahmdnafi , isexplained theBrahmd of a sacrifice,o r priest so

denom inated, andtheother Brdhmanas. T heobjectionto theexplanation of thefirst, asinvolving theprior recognition of the

Sdma-veda, hasbeenalready noticed . T hetotal disconnectionof

the term brahmdnak,the plural of brahman

,from any refer

eneeto Brdkmanas, asbearing a sharein relig ious rites, and as

implying only betenden, utterers of prayer , as proposed byDr . Roth (Z eitselzr z

'

ft der DeatsekenMorgenla‘

ndz'

sehenGesellschaft,

Vol . I .

,p . cannot beadmitted without further investig ation;

al thoug h it may be possible that theBrahma of a sacrificedoesno t necessarily involvethenotionofaBra

’

hmana by caste. Rosen

renderstheword, Brahmane’

;M. Lang lois,pretres. T heconcluding

FIRST ASHTAxA— FIRST ADHYAYA . 25

2 . INDRA,theshowerer (of blessings) , knows the

object (of hisworshipper) , who hasperformed manyacts of worship (with theSoma plant, gathered) on

the ridges of them ountain,

aLand (therefore, ) comes

with thetroop (ofMARUT S) .3 . INDRA

,drinker of theSoma

,having put to thy

long-maned,vigorous

,and well- conditioned steeds

,

b

comenigh,to hear our praises .

4. Come,VA SU,

c

(to this our rite) : reply to our

phrase,tied a ad ransfam ioa yemire,

“ they haveraised thee, likeabamboo

,

” israther obscure. T heScholiast says, they haveelevatedIndra, astumblersraisea bamboo- pole, onthesumm it of whichthey balancethemselves; a not uncomm onfeat inIndia : or , as

rans’

a means,also

,a fam ily

,it m ay berendered , asambitiousper

sonsraisetheir fam ily to consequence. Roth’sproposed rendering ,DieBetendensehattelndie/iaaf, swiemaneinBelir sehattelt,

“ the

praying ag itatetheeup, asoneshakes a reed,

”hasno warrant

,

except from his theory of thepurport of Brakmd,“ irresistible

prayer ; asadyam never meansto shake, and a bamboo isnot areed

,nor isit

,whensubstantial, easily shaken. Rosenhas

,it is

true, te, a: arandinisinstar eriq ant but hehadno preferableequivalent for bamboo . M. Lang loishaseommeoné le

‘

vela kamped’an

dragoeaa. d ana, no doubt, knew much better thaneither of

theEuropeaninterpreters, what theexpressionintended .

T he orig inal has only, m ounting from ridge to ridge, yatsa

’

noh sanam drakat, which theScholiast completesby observingthat thisissaid of theYajamdna, who g oesto themountainto

g ather either theSoma plant for bruising , or fuel for thefi re, orother articlesrequired for thecerem ony .

b Kalcskyamrd, lit. fill ing out their g irths.Vasa, hereused asa synonym ofIndra, isexplained asthe

orig inal donor or cause of hab itations, from the radical vas, todwell, niodsalcdranabhata.

26 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

hymns,answer (to our praises) , respond to (our

prayers) : bepropitious , INDRA, to our sacrifice and '

(bestow uponus abundant) food .

5 . T hehymn,thecauseof increase

,is to bere

peated to INDRA, the repeller of many foes ; that

S'

AKRAamay speak (with kindness, ) to our sons and

to our friends .

6 . Wehaverecourseto INDRA,for hisfriendship

,

for wealth,for perfect might ; for he, the powerful

INDRA,conferring wealth

,isable(to protect us) .

7 . INDRA,by theeisfood (rendered) , everywhere,

abundant,easy of attainment

,andassuredly perfect.

Wielder of the thunderbolt,set openthe cow-

pas

tures,

band provide(ample) wealth .

8. Heavenand earth areunable to sustainthee,

whendestroying thineenemies. Thou mayest command thewaters ofheaven. Send us

,liberally

,kine.

9. O thou whose ears hear all things,listen

,

quickly,to my invocation; hold, in thy heart, my

praises ; keep near to theethis my hymn, asit were

(thewords of) a friend .

1 0 . Weknow thee,liberal rainer (of blessings) ,

the hearer of our call in battles : we invoke the

thousand- fold profitable protection of thee,the

showerer (ofbounties) .

5” Sakra isa commonsynonym of Indra, but isused, if no t inthis, clearly in thenext, stanza, asanepithet

,implying ‘the

powerful,’ from Sale, to beable.

b T hetext isliterally rendered ; themeaning being , that I nch‘

a,

asthesender of rain, should fertilizethefields, and, by providingabundant pasturage, enablethecattleto yield storeofm ilk .

FIRST ASH’f‘AKA—FIRST ADHYAYA . 27

1 1 . Come quickly,INDRA

,son of KUSIKA :

a de~

lighted,drink the libation: prolong the life that

merits commendation: makeme, who am a Rislii,

abundantly endowed (with possessions) .

1 2 . May these our praises be,on all occasions

,

around thee,deserver of praise may they augment

the power of thee, who art long - lived ; and, being

agreeableto thee,may they yield delight (to us) .

sem Iv. (XL )

T hedivinity is, still , INDRA but theRisliiisnow styled JET RI,

thesonofMADHUCHCHHANDA S : themetreisAnaslit’abii.

1 . A ll our praises magnify INDRA, expansiveas

the ocean,

b them ost valiant of warriors who fight

in chariots,the lord of food

,the protector of the

virtuous .

2 . Supported by thy friendship, INDRA , cherisher

of strength,wehaveno fear

,but glorify thee

,the

conqueror,theunconquered .

3 . T heancient liberalities of INDRA,hispro tec

a Inall thePaardnilegenealog ies, thesonofIfas’

ina isthesageViswdmitra and, inorder to explain

,

itsapplication to Indra,

d ana quotes the legend g iven in theIndex (A nakramanilcd) ,which StatesthatKas

’

ilea,thesonofIshératlza

,being desirousofa

sonequal to Indra, adopted a life of continence,inrequital of

which, Indra was born astheson of Gdtfi i, theGddiii of the

Pardnas.

b Samadra/vyaelzasam,explained samadrarad oydpiaoantam,

spreading or pervading like theocean; a vag uem odeof indicating theuniversal diffusionof Indra asthefi rmament.

28 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

tions,will no t bewanting to him who presents

,to

thereciters of thehymns,wealth of food and cattle.

4 . INDRA wasborn thedestroyer of cities,

a ever

young,ever-wise

,of unbounded strength

,thesus

tainer of all pious acts,thewielder of thethunder

bolt,themany - praised .

5 . Thou,wielder of thethunderbolt

,didst open

the cave of BALA,

b who had there concealed the

cattle; and thegods whom he had Oppressed no

longer feared,when they had obtained thee (for

their ally) .6 . (A ttracted) by thy bounties , I again come

,

hero,to thee

,celebrating (thy liberality) , while

offering this libation. T he performers of the rite

approach thee,who art worthy of praise; for they

haveknown thy (munifi cence) .

7 . Thou Slewest,INDRA

,by stratagem s

,thewily

8“ T he text has only pardm bliindali,breaker of cities the

Scholiast addsaswrdndm,of theA saras.

b Bala, according to theScholiast, wasanA sara, who stolethecowsof theg ods, and hid them in a cave: Indra surrounded thecave, with hisarmy, and recovered thecattle. Inthelegend , ascited from theA nakramaniled

,thePanza— formerly noticed asthe

cow -stealers(p . 1 6,n.

— aresaid to be thesoldiersof Bala,

and theactual thievesand concealersof them inthecave. Rosenconceivessomerelationto exist between thislegend and that ofC’acas Q uasfabalasaliqueeognationisoinealo inter seeontineri, et

ex ano eodemqaefonte, q aantamoisremoto , derivatasease, persaasam

quidem est miki.— A dnotationes

,p . xxi. But thestory islikely to

haveorig inated inincidentscomm onto anearly and, partly, pastoral stageofsociety . WehavetheCaeasof theHig hlands, andtheBala of theVeda

,insuch worthiesasDonald BenLean.

Varg a XXIII.

3 0 RIG- VEDA SANHITA.

thegods to theclipped sacred grass . Thou art their

invoker for us,and art to beadored .

4 . As thou dischargest the duty of messenger,

arousethem,desirous of theoblation: sit down

,with

them,onthesacred grass .

5 . Resplendent A GNI,invoked by oblations of

clarified butter, consume our adversaries,who are

defended by evil spirits.

a

6 . A GNI,theever- young and wise

,theguardian

of the dwelling b (of thesacrifi cer) , the bearer of

offerings,whosem outh is(thevehicle) of oblations,

iskindled by A GNI.°

7 . Praise,in the sacrifice

,A GNI

,the wise

,the

observer of truth,the radiant

,the rem over of

disease.

8 . Resplendent A GNI,be the protector of that

o fi erer of oblations who worships thee,themessenger

of thegods .

9. Bepropitious, I’AVAKA

,

dto him who

,present

artifi cially produced by thefrictionof two p iecesof a particularspeciesofwood , that of thePremna spinosa, used for thepurpose.a Rakshaswinah, having o r being attended by Ra

’

kslzasas.

b Grikapati. Butpati ism ost usually interpreted, by d ana,pdlaka, thecherisher o r protector . Hence it here characterizesA gniastheprotector of thehouseof theYajamdna.

That is, theA'

kaoaniya fi re, into which theoblationispoured ,islig hted by theapplicationof other fi re, whether takenfrom the

household fi re, or produced by attrition.

“1 A nameof fi re, or a fi re; literally, thepurifi er .

FIRST ASH’fAKA— FIRST ADHYAYA .

ing oblations for thegratification of thegods,ap

proachesA GNI .

a

1 0 . A GNI,thebright

,the purifier

,bring hither

thegods to our sacrifice, to our oblations .

1 1 . Praised with our newest hymn,bestow upon

us riches and food,thesourceofprogeny.

1 2 . A GNI,shining with pureradiance

,and charged

with all theinvocations of thegods, bepleased bythis our praise.

Sfi xT A II . (XIII) .

T heRiskiand themetrearethesame; but theHymnisaddressedto avariety of divinities, o r deified objects, to which thegeneralnameA

’

FRf is applied . T he first fi vestanz as hymnvariousformsof A GNI ; thesixth, thedoorsof thehall of sacrifi ce;theseventh , m orning and nig ht ; theeig hth, two divine o r

deified priests; theninth , the g oddessesInA, SARASWA Ti,'

and

BHARATI ; the tenth , TWA SHTRI ; theeleventh , VANASPATI ;and thetwelfth , SWAHA. They are

, all, considered asidentifiableor connected with Aenr .

‘0

1 . A GNI,who art SUSAMIDDHA

,

° invoker,purifier

, Varg a XXIV,

bring hither thegods to theofferers of our oblation;and do thou sacrifice.

2 . Wise(A GNI) , who art T ANI'

JNAFAT,

d present,

a T hisverseisto berepeated; whenthew orshipper approachesthecombined A '

lza/vantg/aandGdrkamatyafires, to offer theoblation.

b T heA'

prisare, usually, enumerated astwelve, but, sometimes,—omitting oneof thenamesof fi re

,Nar cis

’

ansa,— only eleven.

Sa, well, sam,

completely,andiddlia, kindled ; ‘thethoroug hly

kindled .

’

9 Tananapdt, thedevourer of clarified butter (tananapa) or,ac

cording to another etymolog y , theconsumer ofitsownsubstance

3 2 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

this day, our well-flavoured sacrificeto thegods, for

their food.

3 . I invokethebeloved NARA SANSA,

a thesweettongued

,theofi erer of oblations

,to this sacrifice.

4. A GNI, (who art) Irm a

,

" bring hither thegods,

inaneasy-moving chariot for thou art theinvokerinstituted by men.

5. Strew,learned priests

,the sacred grass

,

° well

bound together (in bundles) , and sprinkled with

clarified butter,thesemblanceofambrosia.

6. Let thebright doors,

dtheaugmenters of sacri

fi ce, (hitherto) unentered, beset open ; for , certainly,

to -day isthesacrificeto bemade.

Varg a XXV. 7. I invoke the lovely night and dawne to sit

upon thesacred grass,at this our sacrifice.

(tana) or fuel . Nama’

t occurs, intheNig fi afi t’

a,asa synonym of

tanaya, sonor offspring ; but, inthiscompound , thesecond memberisconsidered to beeither ad, who eats, or god, who preserves, —thelatter

,w ith naprefixed,nomdt, who doesnot preserve, who destroys.

Nardéansa, him whom men(nard/i) praiseb I

'

tita,thew orshipped ; from it

,to adore

,to praise.

Barkisissaid, here, to bean appellativealso ofA gni. T he

doublemeaning pervadestheconcluding phrase, wherein(inwhich

g rass, or inwhich A gni, ) istheappearanceof ambrosia, amritadars

’

anam ; amrita implying either theclarified butter sprinkledontheg rass, o r theimm ortal A gni. A mritasamdnasg a g kritasg a,

or mar anaraliitasag a =X= bariiirndmalcasg dgneli.

d T hedoorsof the chamber inwhich theoblationisoffered ;said to bepersonifi cationsofA gni: A gnieis

’

eskamar tag ak.

9 A ccording to theordinary import of naIcta and ashas. But

they,accord ing totheScholiast, denote, inthis.place, two formsof

fi re, presiding over thoseseasons, —tatlcdldbkimdnioahnimar tidwage.

FIRST A SH'fAKA— FIRST ADHYAYA . 3

8. I call the two eloquent,divine

,and sagein

vokersa (of thegods) , that they may celebratethis

our sacrifice.

9. May thethreeundecaying goddesses , givers of

delight,IIA, SARASWAT I, andMAHI, b sit downupon

thesacred grass .

1 0. I invokethechief and multiform TWASHT’Riz"may hebe, solely, ours .

1 1 . Present,divineVANA SPA T I

,

dour oblation to

a T heconstructionshowsthat wehavetwo persons, o r divini

ties,here; theScholiast says, two A gnis. T heIndex hasdaing an

hataranpraeketasaa, two divine invokers(praelietasas) or the

latter word may mean, merely , sages, liketheIeaoiofthetext.Mat t issaid to bea synonym of Bharati, asappearsfrom an

analog ouspassage, wherethenamesoccur I id, Saraswati, Bhdrati.Theseare, also, designated , by theScholiast, aspersonifi cationsofA gni, Vaknimz

’

irtag ah they are,also

,called thethreepersonified

flamesof fi re. Asg oddesses, thefirst, I id, istheearth, thebrideof Vishnu Saraswati is, asusual, theg oddessof eloquence, andw ifeofB rakmd thethird, synonymouswith speech , iscalled thewifeofBizarata, oneof theA

'

dity'

as but thesemytholog ical personifi cationsareofapost Vaidileperiod .

c Twaskt’

ri,inthepopular system ,

isidentified w ith Viswakarma,

theartifi cer of theg ods; and heseemsto possesssomeattributesof that naturein the Vedas, being called the fabricator of the

o rig inal sacrificial vaseo r ladle. A text of theVeda is, also , quoted ,which attributesto him theformationof theformsof animalsinpairs: Twaskt’d oaipas

’

andm mitkandndm rapaleriditis’

rate’

li. Heis

,also

,oneof thetwelveA '

dityas, and hereissaid to beanA gniTwaskt

’

rindmakam agnim .

d Vanaspati, lord of thew oods usually , a large tree here,

said to beanA gni,— as if thefuel and theburning of it wereidentified .

3 4 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

thegods ; andmay trueknowledgebe(thereward)ofthegiver.

1 2 . Perform the sacrifice conveyed through

SWAHAato INDRA

,inthe house of theworshipper.

ThereforeI call thegods hither.

sem III . (XIV. )

T heRishiandmetreareunchanged but theHymnisaddressed totheVis

’

WAnFVAS.

1 . Come, A GNI , to our'

adoration,and to our

praises,with all thesegods

,to drink theSoma juice

and (do thou) offer sacrifice.

2 . T heKA IQIWA S" invoke thee,sapient A GNI

,and

extol thy deeds . Come,A GNI

,with thegods .

3 . Sacrifice, (A GNI) , to INDRA, VAYU, BRIHASPAT I ,

MITRA,A GNI

,PI

'

ISHAN,andBIIAGA

,theADITYAS

,and

thetr0 0p of MARUT S.°

S led/id,astheexclamationused in pouring theoblationon

thefi re, may, also, beidentified w ith A gni. Inthesectiononthe

variousA g nis, intheMafi dbkdrata, Swa’

lzdiscalled thedaug hter ofB rilzaspati, thesonofA ng iras. T heParanasg iveher a differento rig in, andmakeher thedaug hter ofDales/1a, and wifeofA gni.

T heKanwasproperly denotethedescendants,o r thedisciples

,

of theRiskiKanwa but theScholiast ould restrict theterm,in

this place, to thesense of sages(medkdoinali) , or of officiatingpriests(rit yan) .

“ Sacrifice, A gni, to , aresupplied by thecommentary ; fortheversecontainsonly the proper namesin the objectivecase.

Most of thesehavealready occurred . JIIitra, Paslzan, and Biiag a

areformsoftheSun, o r A'

dityas, specified individually, aswell astheclassof A '

dityas, o r Suns, in thetwelvem onthsof theyear .

Why Vrilzaspatior B rilzaspatishould beinserted isno texplained

FIRST ASH'fAKA— FIRST ADHYAYA .

4. For all of you are poured out thesejuices,

satisfying,exhilarating

,sweet, falling in drops, or

gathered inladles .

5 . T hewisepriests,desirous of theprotection(of

thegods) , having spread the sacred grass, present

ing oblations, and offering ornaments , praisethee.

6. Let the coursers who convey thee,glossy

backed,

aand harnessed at will

,bring the gods to

drink theSoma juice.

7 . A GNI,make those objects of veneration

,aug Varg aXXVII ,

menters of pious acts, (participant of the offering) ,

together" with their wives give them,bright

tongued,to drink of theSoma juice.

8 . Let those objects of veneration and of praisedrink

,with thy tongue

,of theSoma juice

,at the

moment of libation.

9. Let thewiseinvoker (of thegods) bring hither,from theshining (sphere) of thesun,

0all thedivini

ties,awaking with thedawn.

1 0 . With all the gods,with INDRA

,VAYU

,and

theetym olog y of thenameisg ivenfrom Panini(VI . I . ,

brikas, for oribat, g reat, divine, a deity ; and pati, master , or

protector, inhischaracter ofspiritual preceptor of theg ods.

Gfi ritogarisktlidli their backsshining w ith , or from , g hee, o rclar ified butter : thecommentary says, w ith which thehorsesarefed.

Patntoataii, having their w ives.

Lit .

,from theshining of theSun(Sdrg asg a rochandt) equi

valent, theScholiast says, to Swarg aloleat but Swarg a and the

A'

ditg aloka are, usually, reg arded asvery different. Perhapsthereading should beSwarloledt, from thereg ionofheaven.

3 6 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

theglories ofMITRA ,a drink

,A GNI

,the sweet Soma

juice.

1 1 . Thou,A GNI

,appointed

,by man

,as the in

voker (of the gods) , art present at sacrifices . Do

thou present this our oblation.

1 2 . Yoke,divineA GNI

,thy fleet and powerful

mares,ROHIT S

,

"to thy chariot and

“

,by them

,hither

bring thegods .

sem i IV . (XV . )

T heRishiandmetreareunchanged ; thedeity isRITU, ° associated ,ineach stanza, w ith somedivinity m orefam iliarly known.

1 . INDRA,drink

,with RITU

,theS oma juice. Let

the satisfying drops enter into thee,and there

abide.

2 . MARUT S,drink

,with RITU

,from the sacrificial

vase consecratetherite for you arebountiful .

3 . NESHT’RI,

‘1 with thy spouse, commend our sa

crifi ce to thegods : drink,with Rrru ; for thou art

possessed of riches .

l

M trasg a dlzdmabliili, w ith the rays; o r,according to the

commentator,w ith variousformsofM'

itra.

Tdbliik, with them ,inthefem ininegender ; and, hence, the

Scholiast addsbade/odb/zik, mares. T hey aretermed Belaits, which

may meanred. T heNig hafi t’

a defines theterm asthenameof

thehorsesof A gni.

f: Rita is, properly, a season, a sixth of theHindu year, but is,here

,personified asa divinity .

d Neslitfriisanothernameof Twashtfri, from hishaving assumed ,it issaid , uponsomeoccasion, thefunctionof theNeshtri, or priestso denom inated , at a sacrifice.

3 6 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

theglories of MITRA,

a drink,A GNI

,the sweet Soma

juice.

1 1 . Thou,A GNI

,appointed

,by man

,as thein

voker (of the gods) , art present at sacrifices . Do

thou present this our oblation.

1 2 . Yoke,divineA GNI

,thy fleet and powerful

mares,ROHIT S

,

"to thy chariot and

,by them

,hither

bring thegods .

sem i Iv. (XV . )

T heRislziandmetreareunchanged ; thedeity isRITU, ° associated ,ineach stanza

, w ith somedivinity m orefam iliarly known.

1 . INDRA,drink

,with RITU

,theSoma juice. Let

the satisfying drops enter into thee,and there

abide.

2 . MARUT S,drink

,with RIT U

,from thesacrificial

vase consecratetherite for you arebountiful .

3 . hlnsrrfRI,

d with thy spouse, commend our sa

crifi ce to thegods : drink,with Rrru ; for thou art

possessed of riches .

IIitrasg a dlzdmabhilz, w ith the rays; o r,

‘

according to thecommentator

,w ith variousformsofM ira.

Tdbliih,with them ,

inthefem ininegender ; and, hence, theScholiast addsbadm a

’

blzilz,mares. They aretermed Rokits

, whichm ay meanred. T heNig lzant

'

a defines theterm asthenameof

thehorsesof A gni.

f": Rita is, properly, a season, a sixth of theHindu year, but is,here

,personified asa divinity .

d Neslit'riisanothernameofTwasktfri, from hishaving assumed,it issaid, uponsomeoccasion, thefunctionof theNeshtri, or priestso denominated

,at a sacrifice.

FIRST A SH’fAKA —FIRST ADHYAYA . 3 7

4. A GNI,bring thegods hither ; arrangethem in

three decoratethem drink with RIT U.

5 . Drink the Soma juice,INDRA

,from thepre

ciousvase of the after RIT U,for whom

thy friendship isuninterrupted.

6. MIT RA and VARUIQIA,propitious to pious acts

,

be present, with RIT U, at our sacrifice,efficacious

,

and undisturbed (by foes) .

7 . (T hepriests , ) desirous ofwealth , holding stonesc

Varg , XXIX.

o

in their hands,praisethe divine(A GNI , ) D RAVIfi o

DA S,

d both intheprimary and subsidiary sacrifices.

e

Either at thethreedaily cerem onies,—at dawn,m idday

,and

sunset,—or inthethreefireslig hted at sacrifices, theA

'

kaeantg a,

Daleshina, and Gdrfi apatg a.

T hetext isobscure. B rdfimandd rddliasaii is, literal ly, fromBrahmanical wealth but the latter isexplained

,a costly or

wealthy vessel , —dlzanabhatdtpdtrdt andtheformer,relating to

the B ra/imandeheb/iansé, — Brd7imandelzelzfi ansisambaddlidt. T he

Brdfi mandehekkansi is one of the sixteen priestsemployed insacrifi ces;

'

corresponding , in thesecond divisionof four,to the

Brakmd inthefirst : and,perhaps

,hisfunctionmay be to hold

someladle,or vase

,inwhich theoffering ispresented , o r inwh ich

theportionno t expended is removed ; asit issaid of him,

“ the

relationistheladlethat hastheleaving s, ” —tasg a samband/ig aeiiehkist

'

as’

elzamasah. Rosen rendersit,saer o praeepto cong rua ex

patera M. Lang lois, aa easegai contient l’ofi randesainte.

Grdoaliastdsah,having stones in their hands, with which to

bruisetheSoma plant. T he Grdoastat is, also, oneof thesix

teenpriests; but it is, here, used generally .

d D raein'odasiseither anepithet o r anappellativeofA gni, asthedonor (das) ofwealth , o r ofstreng th , draoina.

Intheadlzwara and intheyajnas, the first issaid to bethe

RIG- VEDA SANHITA.

8 . May DRAVIIQIODAS give us riches that may beheard of. Weask them for thegods .9. DRAVIRIODA S desires to drink

,with theRITUS

,

from thecup ofNESH’fRI .

a Hasten, (priests, to the

hall of offering) present theoblation, and depart .

1 0. Since,DRAVIfi onAs

,we adore thee

,for the

fourth time,

"along with theRIT US

,thereforebea

benefactor unto us .

1 1 . A SWINS,performers ofpious acts

,bright with

sacrificial fires,accepters

,with theRITUS

,of the

sacrifice,drink thesweet draught.

1 2 . Giver of rewards,

c

(A GNI ) , being identified

with thehousehold fi re,and partaker

,with RIT U

,of

the sacrifice,worship the gods

,on behalf of their

adorer.

sem V . (XVI )

T heRishiandmetrecontinued thedeity isINDRA .

XXX. 1 . INDRA,let thy coursers hither bring thee

,

bestower of desires,to drink theSoma juice: may

(thepriests) , radiant as thesun, (make theemani

fest) .

primary o r essential cerem ony , pralcritirapa, such astheA gnislit'

oma ; the second, them odified cerem onies,oi/critirapa; such

astheUkthg a, which is, elsewhere, termed anoffering w ith Somajuice,— Somasansthag dg a.

8“ Or from thecup of thelVesht’

ri, oneof thesixteeno fiiciatingpriests.

That is, Draoinodashasbeennow celebrated infour stanz as.

T hename, in thetext, isSentya, which isso explained , bytheScholiast, from san

,to g ive.

FIRST A SHT’AXA— FIRST ADHYAYA .

2 . Let his coursers convey INDRA,in an easy

m oving chariot,hither

,where these grains (of

parched barley) , steeped in clarified butter,are

strewn(uponthealtar) .

3 . Weinvoke INDRA,at them orning rite; we

invokehim,at the succeeding sacrifice; weinvoke

INDRA to drink theSoma juice.

a

4. Come,INDRA

,to our libation

,with thy long

maned steeds . T he libationbeing poured out, we

invoke thee.

5 . Do thou accept this our praise,and cometo

this our sacrifi ce,for which thelibation isprepared

drink,likea thirsty stag.

"

6 . Thesedripping Soma juices areefl’

used upon Varg aXXXI.the sacred grass . Drink them

,INDRA

, (to recruit

thy) vigour .

7. May this our excellent hymn,touching thy

heart,be grateful to thee; and, thence, drink the

eflused libation.

8. INDRA,the destroyer of enemies

,repairs

,as

suredly, to every ceremony where the libation is

poured out,to drink the S oma juice

,for (his) ex

hilaration.

9. Do thou,S’

AT AKRATU,accomplish our desire

,

with (the gift of) cattleand horses . Profoundly

meditating,wepraisethee.

8“ A lthoug h no t m ore particularly named, the specificationimpliesthem orning , m idday, and evening worship .

Liketheg aara, said to bea sort ofdeer .

Verge. XXXII.

RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

Sfi KT A VI . (XVII )

Metre and Riski, as before; d ivinities, INDRA and VARUISA ,

conj ointly .

1 . I seek the protection of thesovereignrulers,

“

INDRA andVARUIVA . May they, both, favour us ac

cording ly ;2 . For you areever ready

,guardians ofmankind

,

to grant protection,ontheappeal ofa minister such

asI am .

3 . Satisfy us with wealth,INDRA and VARUIQIA

,

according to our desires. We desireyou ever nearus

4 . T hemingled (libations) of our pious rites , themingled (laudations) of our right-minded (priests,areprepared) . May we be (included) among the

givers of food.

"

a Samrdjok, of thetwo emperors; but rdja is,in general,

equivocally used,— meaning , shining , brig ht, aswell as royal ;

so that Sa’g aria explains the term,

“ possessed of extensivedom inion, or shining very brilliantly .

”Indra may claim the

title of rdja’

,aschief of theg ods; but it seemsto be, ina m ore

especial manner,appropriated to Varana.

T hestanza israther elliptically and Obscurely w orded ; andthesenseof theleading term , yard/ea, isno tvery clear : it usuallydenotes a m ixture of curdsand g hee. We have, in the text,yard/ea ass

’

aehindm g avdlca samatindm. T heformer (s’

aehindm) is

explained, a m ixture of butterm ilk, water , and meal,suited for

acts of relig iousw orship ; the latter thecombinationof choiceexpressionsand praiseswhich arethesuitablephraseolog y of the

rig ht-m inded o r pious(samatindm) . T hefinal clauseis, simply,may webeof(am ong st) theg iversof food .

FIRST A SH’fAKA— FIRST ADH'YAYA .

5 . INDRA isa giver am ong thegivers of thou

sands : VARUIQIA isto bepraised am ong thosewho

aredeserving of laudation.

6 . Through their protection we enj oy (riches) ,and heap them up ; and, still, thereisabundance.

7. I invoke you both, INDRA and VARUIVA,for

manifold Opulence. Make us Victorious (over our

enemies) .

8. INDRA andVARUI’

VA,quickly bestow happiness

uponus; for our minds aredevoted to you both .

9. May theearnest praisewhich I offer to INDRA

andVARUIQIA reach you both,~—that conj oint praisewhich you (accepting, ) dignify.

ANUVAKA V .

saw I . (XVIII )T hemetreand Rishiasin thepreceding . T hefirst fi vestanz as

are addressed to BRAHMA IQIA SFA T I , associated, in the fourth,

w ith INDRA and SOMA , and, inthefifth, w ith them and DAK

snnfini: thethreenext areaddressed to SADASASPA T I ; and theninth

, to thesame, or to NARAé ANSA .

1 . BRAIIMA IQIASFAT I,

amaketheoflerer of theliba

a T heScholiast furnishesusw ith no account of thestationor

functionsof thisdivinity . T heetym olog y w ill justify Dr . Roth’sdefinitionofhim ,

asthedeity ofsacred prayer;o r, rather , perhaps,ofthetext of theVeda but whether heisto beconsidered asadistinct personification, or asa m odified form of one of thosealready recognized , and

, especially , of A gni, is doubtful . Hisg iving wealth, healing disease, and prom oting nourishment, arepropertiesno t peculiar to him ; andhisbeing associated with Indraand Sonia

, whilst it makeshim distinct from them,leaveshim

42 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

tion illustrious among the gods,likeKAKSHIVA T

,

thesonofUsIJ .

a

2 . May he, who isopulent, thehealer of disease,the acquirer of riches

,the augmenter of nourish

ment,the prompt (bestower of rewards) , befavour

ableto us .

3 . Protect us,BRAHMA IQIASPA T I

,so that no calum

nions censureofa malevolent manmay reach us .

4. T heliberal manwhom INDRA,BRAHMA I’VA SPAT I

,

and SOMA protect never perishes .

A gniashisprototype. Hisbeing , in anespecial manner,con

nected w ith prayer appearsm orefully ina subsequent passag e,HymnXL . A gniis, inanespecial deg ree, thedeity oftheBrakman and

,according to somestatements, theRig Vedaissupposed

to proceed from him ; a notion, however, which, according to

Medhdtitfi i, the commentator onMann, wassug gested by its

opening w ith thehymnto A gni, A gnim file.a Thisstory isto befound inseveral of theFar anas, especially

theMatsya and Vdg a, aswell asin theMakdbhdrata, Vol . I .

,

p . 1 54 . KaksbieatwasthesonofD irg katamas, by Us’

ij, a female

servant of the queen of theKaling a Ra'

jd, whom her husband

had desired to subm it to theembraces of thesage, inorder that

hem ig ht beget a son. T hequeensubstituted her bondmaid Us’ zgthesage, cogniz ant of the deception, sanctified Us

’

ij, and beg ot,by her , a son, named Kakshtoat, who , throug h hisaffiliation by

'

aling a, wasaEskattrig a, but, asthesonofDirg katamas, wasa

Brahman.Hewas, also , aRishi; as, inanother passage, hesaysofhimself

,afi am kakshi

’

ednRishir asmi,—I am theRisniKalasliii‘at.T heTaittirig asalso includehim among theholy personswho are

qualified to conduct sacrificesand composehymns. IntheMalici

bharata, D irg lzatamasdisallowstherig ht of theking , therenamedBali, to thesonsof a S

’adra female, and claimsthem ashisown.

sem i II . (XIX )T hemetreand Risni areunchanged ; A GNI and theMARUTS are

thedeities.1 . Earnestly art thou invoked to this perfect rite

,

to drink theS onia j uice. Come,A GNI

,with the

MARUT S .

2 . No r g odnor manhaspower over a rite(dedicated) to thee, who art mighty . Come

,A GNI

,with

theMARUT S .

3 . Who all are divine,

a

and devoid ofmalignity,

and who know (how to causethedescent) of greatwaters : b come

,A GNI

,with theMARUT S .

4. Who arefierce,and send downrain

,

°and are

unsurpassed in strength : come,A GNI

,with the

MARUT S.

Deodsak, explained dg otamdndk, shining . By theterm‘all

’

isto beunderstood theseventroopsoftheMarats, asby thetextsaptag and oaiMaratah.

Many textsascribe to theMarats, o r w inds, a mainagencyinthefall of rain; as, Marats, you haverisenfrom theocean;taking thelead , you havesent downrain, Udérag atkd, Maratah

samadrato ; g ag am eriskt'

im earskag at/ia’

, partskinak . [V .,LV .

,

5 : seeVol . II I.

,p . 3 3 3 ] Rey

’

as, theword used in thetext,

meanswater , o r lig ht, o r the w orld .

Here thew ord isarka : as,according to the Vag asaneg is,

A'

po not o/rkah. T heterm isderived from arek,to w orship

, andis

explained in two other texts: S o ’rebana aekarat

,tasg cireizata

dpo’

jdg anta,—He(Hirang ag arbka) proceeded , worshipping , (aftercreating thesolid earth) , and, from him

,w orshipping , thewaters

wereproduced ; and, ag ain, A rekato oaimekam abkat,—From me

,

w orshipping , water was. Hence thenamearka wasg iven to

water,o r rain.

FIRST A SHTAxA— Snconn ADHYAYA .

5 . Who are brilliant,of terrific form s

,who are

possessors of great wealth,and aredevourers of the

malevolent : come,A GNI

,with theMARUT S .

6. Who are divinities abiding in the radiant

heaven above the sun: 3 come,A GNI

,with the

MARUT S .

7 . Who scatter the clouds,and agitate thesea

(with waves) : come,A GNI

,with theMARUT S .

8. Who spread (through the fi rmament) , along

with therays (of thesun) , and, with their strength ,agitatetheocean come

,A GNI

,with theMARUT S .

9. I pour out the sweet Sonia juice, for thydrinking

, (as) of old . Come,A GNI

,with the

MARUT S.

SECOND ADHYAYA .

ANUVAKA v. (continued) .

sem III . (XX )

Metreand Rishi, as before; addressed to the deified mortalsnamed RIBHUS.

1 . This hymn, the bestower of riches,hasbeen

a Intheheaven(diei, i.e., dg aloke) ; abovethesunndkasg ddki,

i.e. , sarg asg opari) . Naka,hereexplained sun, is, m oreusually,

explained , sky, or heaven.

T he influenceof thew indsuponthesea, alluded to in thisand thepreceding verse, indicatesmorefam iliarity w ith theo ceanthanweshould haveexpected from thetraditional inland positionof theearlvHindus.

Varg a I.

46 RIG-VEDA SANHITA'.

addressed,by the sages

,with their own m ouths

,

to the(class of) divinities having birth .

a

2 . They who created,mentally

,for INDRA

,the

horses that areharnessed at hiswords,havepar

taken of thesacrificeperformed with holy acts ."

Deedg a janmane, literally, to the divine o r br illiant birth

but theScholiast explainsthelatter , jdg amdndg a, being born, orhaving birth ; and theformer, deeasang kdg a, a classof divinities,that is, theRibkas, o fwhom it isonly said, that they werep iousmen

,who , throug h penance, obtained deifi cation, — manaskg dk

santas tamasd denatwam pra’

ptdk. Thanks to the learning and

industry ofM. Neve, of theUniversity of Louvain, wearefullyacquainted with thehistory and character of theRibkas, asthey

appear indifferent portions of theRig - ceda—E'

ssaisar ZeMythe

desRibkaoas. Their orig inand actionsare, also, narrated intheN iti-manjart, aswell asinthenotesof Sdg ana onthisand other

similar passages. T heRibkaswerethethreesonsof Sadkanwan,

a descendant (theNiti-manjarisays, a son) ofAng iras, severally

named Ribba, Vitka, and Vafja, and styled , collectively, Ribkas,from thenameof theelder . Throug h their assiduousperformanceof g ood works,—swapas(sa- apas) ,— they obtained divinity, exercisedsuperhumanpowers, andbecameentitled to receivepraiseandadoration. They aresupposed to dwell inthesolar sphere; andthereis an indistinct identificationof them w ith theraysof thesun: but, whether typical, o r no t

,they provetheadm ission

, at

anearly date, of thedoctrinethat menm ig ht becomed ivinities.S

’

amtbkir g ag’

nam asata. M. Neverendersit : [its] ont obtenulesacrifi cepar learsoeaoresmé ritoires M. Lang lois, ilsontentoure

’

lesacrifi cedeeé r émonies(saintes) Mr . Stevenson, theypervadeoa/rsacrifi ceby parifi catorg rites; Rosen, literally, eeremoniissacri

fi ciam aceeperant. That threesimplewordsshould adm it of thisvariety of render ing showsthevag uenessof someof theVaidik

expressions. T hesenseseemsto be, they havepervaded , appro

Varg a II.

RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

you,along with INDRA

,attended by theMARUT S

,

and along with theb rilliant~

A1

DIT VA S.

a

6 . T heRIBHUS have divided into four thenewladle

,

"thework of thedivineTWA SHTRI .

7. May they, m oved by our praises, give, to theofl

’

erer of the libation,many precious things

,and

perfect thethricesevensacrifices . c

A ccording to A'

s‘

waldg ana, asquoted by Sa’

g afi a, thelibationsoffered at the third daily (o r evening ) sacrificearepresented toIndra, along w ith theA

'

ditg as, together w ith Ribba, Vibka, andVaja, w ith B rihaspatiand theVis

’

wadeoas.

T waskt’

ri,in thePaardn'ik mytholog y, is the carpenter or

artisanof theg ods: so Sdg afi a says, of him ,heisa divinity whose

duty, w ith relationto theg ods, iscarpentry,— deoasambandkt takskanaeg dpdrak . Whether he has Vaidik authority of a m oredecisivedescriptionthantheallusionof thetext doesno t appear .

T hesamemay besaid of his calling theRibkasthedisciples of

Twaskt’

ri,— T waskt

’

ak s’

iskg oikRibkaoak . T heact ascribed to them,

inthetext, ofmaking oneladlefour, has, probably, rather referenceto someinnovationintheobjectsof libation

,thanto themere

mul tiplication of thewoodenspoons used to pour out theSomajuice. T heNiti-manjari says, that A gni, com ing to a sacrificewhich theRibkascelebrated, becameasone of them

,and

, therefore

, they madetheladlefourfold , that each m ig ht havehisshare.

T rir d sdptdni. T he Scholiast considers that trili may beapplied to preciousthing s, asmeaning best, m iddling , worst ; orto sdptdni, sevensacrifices, asclassed under threeheads. Thus,oneclassconsistsof theA gng ddkeg a, sevencerem oniesinwhichclarified butter is offered onfi re; oneclassconsistsof thePdka

yajnas, in which dressed viands are offered to theVis’wadevasand others; and onecomprehendstheA gnislit

'

oma class, inwhichlibationsof Soma juicearethecharacteristic offering .

FIRST ASHTAIIA— SECOND ADHYAYA . 49

8 . Ofi’

erers(of sacrifices) , they helda

(a m ortal

existence) by their pious acts they obtained a Share

of sacrifices with thegods .

SliXT A IV . (XXL )

Rishiandmetrethesame: theHymnisaddressed to INDRA andA GNI .

1 . I invoke hither INDRA and A GNI to whom

wedesireto present our praise. Let them,who are

,

both,copious drinkers of theSoma juice

, (accept the

libation) .2 . Praise

,men

,INDRA and A GNI

,in sacrifices ;

decorate them (with ornaments) ; and hymn themwith hymns .

3 . WeinvokeINDRA andA GNI ,— for thebenefit ofour friend (theinstitutor of the rite) ,— drinkers of

theSonia juice,to drink thelibation.

4 . We invoke the two who are fierce(to theirfoes) , to attend the ritewhere the libationispre

pared . INDRA and A GNI,comehither .

5 . May those two,INDRA and A GNI

,who are

A dkdrag anta, they held, or enj oyed , is all the text g iveswhat they held isno t specified . T heScholiast suppliesprdndn,vital airs

,life: his addition isin harm ony with other texts.

Martdsak santo amritatwam dnas’

ak,—Being m ortals

, they ob

tained imm ortality . T heir partaking of sacrifices is, also,re

peatedly stated : Saadkanwand g ajnig am bkdg am dnas’

a,— By the

sonof Sadkanwanwas a sacrificial portionacquired . [SeeVo l .

III .

, p . 1 06,note Riblawo eai deeeska tapasd somapttkam

ablag ajag an, — T heRibkas won, by devotion, the drinking of

Soma among theg ods.

RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

mighty,and guardians of theassembly

,render the

Rakskasas innocuous ; and may the devourers (ofmen) bedestituteof progeny .

6 . By this unfailing sacrifice be you rendered

vigilant,INDRA and A GNI

,in the station which

affords knowledge of theconsequences of acts) ; andbestow upon us happiness .

d T A V . (XXII . )

T heRishiandmetrecontinue: theHymnconsistsoftwenty- one

stanzas, which areaddressed to a variety ofdivinities,or

,four ,

to theASWINS, and four, to SAVITRI ; thenext two , to A GNItheeleventh, to theg oddesses, collectively ; thetwelfth, to thewivesofINDRA , VARUIQIA , and A GNI ; thetwo next, toHeavenandEarth ; thefifteenth , to Earth alone; and thelast six , toVISHIQTU.

1 . Awaken theA S'

WINS,associated for them orn

ing sacrifice. Let them,both

,comehither

,to drink

ofthis Soma juice.

2 . We invoke the two A SWINS, who are,both

,

divine, thebest of charioteers, riding inanexcellent

car,and attaining heaven.

3 . A SWINS, stir up21thesacrificewith your whip

JIIimikskatam,mix intimately thejuiceof the Soma. It is

not clear how thisisto bedonew ith thewhip ; al lusionto whichonly intimates, it issaid , that the As

’

winsshould comequickly .

Tag d, by that, may, also , mean w ith that, ” — comew ith thatvourwhip : or kasfd, comm only, a whip , may meanspeech ; inwhichcase, madkamati and sanritdoati, explained wet and loud

, w illsignify sweet and veracious,— comew ith such speech

, A s’

ioins,

and tastethelibation.

RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

1 0. Youthful A GNI,bring hither

,for our proteo

tion,the wives (of the gods) ,HOTRA, BHARATI,

VARI'

ITRI,andDHISHA fi A.

a

1 1 . May the goddesses,whose wings are un

clipped,

" the protectresses of mankind,favour us

with protection,and with entirefelicity .

1 2 . I invoke hither INDRAIVI,VARUNAIQII

,and

A GNAYI,for our welfare

,and to drink theSonia

juice.

1 3 . May the great heaven and the earth be

pleased to blend this sacrifice(with their owndews) ,and fill us with nutriment.

1 4. T hewisetaste,through their pious acts

,the

ghee- resembling waters of these two, (abiding) in

thepermanent regionof theGandkareas.

"

1 5 . Earth,be thou wide- Spreading ,

d free from

9“ B etrais called thewifeof A gni, o r thepersonified invocation; Bkdraté , of Bkarata, one of the A '

dityas. It is ratherdoubtful if Varatr é bea proper name, o r anepithet of the follow ing : it isexplained by earanzg a

’

i, who isto bechoseno r pre

ferred, who isexcellent. D kiskand isa synonym of Va

’

ck o r

Vdg deeé , theg oddessof speech .

A ekckkinnanatrdk. T heonly explanationg ivenby theScholiast is

,that

,thewivesof theg odsbeing intheform of birds

,no

onehad cut their w ing s.

T hesphere of the Gandkaroas,Yakskas

,and Apsarasas is

theantarikska, theatmosphere, o r fi rmament betweenheavenandearth

,and, so far , considered asthecomm ono r connecting station

of them both, -A'

kds’

eeartamcinag ok dg dvapritkiog ok .

"1 Sg ona has, sometimes, thesenseof expanded ; sometimes, ofpleasant

,ag reeable. T hestanz a is repeated , it issaid, at the

ceremony termedMalidna’mné, at thesametimetouching theearth .

FIRST A SH'fAKA— SECOND ADHYAYA .

thorns,and our abiding place: giveusgreat hap

piness.

1 6 . May thegods preserveus (from that portion) Varg a VII

of theearth whenceV ISHIQIU, (aided) by the seven

metres,stepped.

a

1 7. VISHIQIU traversed this (world) : threetimeshe planted his foot and thewhole(world ) was

collected inthedust ofhis(footstep) .

Visininisexplained, by Sag ana, by Paramesfwara, thesupremeruler

,o r, inhisannotation on thenext verse, to mean, hewho

entersinto, o r who pervades, thew orld , Viskriar oisfater ed o g aé

noter fed. Vi ckakrame, stepped,

’heexplains by oioidkapdda

kramanam kritava’n,— hemadetheg oing of varioussteps. Rosentranslatesit transg ressas. A ccording to theTaittirig as, ascitedby theScholiast

,the g ods, w ith Vis/ina at their head, subdued

theinvincibleear th,using thesevenmetresof theVeda astheir

instruments. Sag aria conceivesthetext to alludeto theT rioikramaAeatdra

,inwhich Viskria traversed thethreew orldsinthree

steps. T hephrase“ preserveusfrom theearth” implies,according

to thecommentary,thehinderanceof thesinof thoseinhabiting

theearth,

- bkalokeoartamdndndm pdpaniedranam but thepas

sageisobscure.

This looksstill morelikeanallusionto thefourth A oatara,

althoug h no mention ismade of king Bali , o r the dwarf ; andthesemay havebeensubsequent g raftsupontheorig inal traditionof Viskna’sthreepaces. Commentatorsarenot ag reed upon themeaning of thesentence“ thricehe planted hisstep

,

” —tredka’r.

nidadkepadam . A ccording to sarcasm“

,it wasonearth

,inthe

fi rmament,inheaven; according to A arn’aea’bka, onSamdrokana,

o r theeasternm ountain,onVisknapada, themeridiansky, and

Gag as’

iras, thewesternm ountain; thusidentifying Vishnaw ith theSun

, and histhreepaces, wi th ther ise, culm ination, andsetting , ofthat luminary . A llusion. ismadeto thethreepacesof Viskna, in

RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

1 8. VISHIQJU, the preserver,athe uninjurable,

stepped three steps, upholding, thereby, righteousacts .

1 9. Behold thedeeds of VISII fi U, through which

(theworshipper) hasaccomplished (pious) vows . Heistheworthy friend of INDRA .

20 . T he wise ever contemplate that supreme

stationofVISHIQIU astheeyeranges over theSky.

2 1 . T he wise,— ever vigilant, and diligent in

praise,—amply glorify that which is the supreme

stationof VISHIVU.

Sfi KT A VI . (XXIII)T heRishiis, still, MEDHAT IT II I, thesonofKA ICIWA : themetreof

thefirst eig hteenstanzasisGdg atri; instanzanineteen, ParaUshaib intwenty- one

, Pratisktkd; and, intherest, Anaskt’

ubk.

T heHymnconsistsoftwenty- four stanzas,ofwhich thefirst is

addressed toVAYU; thetwo next, to INDRA andVAYU thenthree,to MIT RA and VARUIQIA ; three, to INDRA and theMARUTSthree, to theVISWADFVA S ; three, to PrisnAN sevenand a half

,

to theWaters; and thelast verseand a half,to A GNI.

Varg a VIII. 1 . Thesesharp and blessing -bearing S onia juices

the Vag asaneg i San/iitct of the Yag’

ar Veda ; and the Scholiastthereexplainsthem to imply thepresenceof Viskna inthethreereg ions of earth, air

,and heaven

,in the forms, respectively, of

A gni, Vdg a, andSi’

irg a,- fi re

, w ind, and thesun. Therecanbenodoubt that theexpressionwas, orig inally , alleg orical , and that itserved astheg roundwork of thePaardnik fictionof theVdmana

o r dwarf A catara.

3" Gopdk saroasg a fag ata rakskakak, the preserver of all the

world , istheexplanationof Sdg ana thusrecognizing Viskna’sprincipal and disting uishing attribute.

Paramam padam,supremedeg reeor station. T heScholiast

saysSwarg a ; but that isvery questionable.

Varg a X.

56 R IG-VEDA SANHITA.

to drink the Sonia juice. May he, with hisasso

ciates,besatisfied .

8. DivineMARUT S,— Ofwhom INDRA isthechief

,and

PI'

ISHAN,

athebenefactor

,— all hear my invocations I

9. Liberal donors,along with the mighty and

associated INDRA,destroy VRIT RA : let no t theevil

oneprevail against us .

1 0 . We invokeall the divineMARUT S,who are

fierce,and havethe(many - coloured) earth for their

mother,

"to drink theSoma juice.

1 1 . Whenever,leaders (of men) , you accept an

auspicious (offering) , thentheshout of theMARUT S

spreads with exultation, like(that) of conquerors .1 2 . May theMARUT S

,born from the brilliant

lightning,

" everywhere preserve us,and make uS

happy .

1 3 . Resplendent and (swift) m oving PI'

ISHAN,

bring from heaventhe(Sonia) juice, incombination

with thevariegated sacred grass ; as(a man bringsback) ananimal that waslost.

a“ T heMaratsarestyled Paskardtag ak, of whom Paskanisthedonor , or benefactor ; inwhat way isnot specified .

Pris’

nimdtaral a— who havePris’

nifor their mother . A ccordingto Sdg an

’

a,Pris

’

niisthemany - coloured earth , —ndndearnag aktdthat . IntheNeg/meta, Priéni isa synonym of sky, o r heavenin general . Insome texts

,asRosenshows

,it occursasa name

o f theSun.

Haskdrdd eidg atak. T he Scholiast explains thelatter, variously shining , that is, the antarikska, or fi rmament : but it

doesno t seem necessary to depart from theusual senseof eidg at,lig htning .

FIRST A SH’fAKA— SECOND ADHYAYA .

1 4. T he resplendent PI'

ISHAN hasfound theroyal(Sonia juice) , although concealed, hidden ina secret

place,

" strewed am ongst thesacred grass .

1 5 . Verily,hehas brought to me

,successively

,

thesix "

(seasons) , connected with thedrops (of theSanta juice) ; as(a husbandman) repeatedly ploughs

(theearth) for barley.

1 6. Mothers " to us who are desirous of sacri Varg a XI.

fi cing , thekindred (waters) flow by the paths (ofsacrifice) , qualifying themilk (ofkine) with sweetness .

1 7 May those waters which are contiguous to

theSun,

dand thosewith which theSunisassociated

,

bepropitious to our rite.

1 8 . I invoke the divine waters in which our

cattledrink . Offer oblations to theflowing (stream s) .1 9. Ambrosia isinthewaters ; inthewaters are

medicinal herbs . Therefore,divine be

prompt intheir praise.

T he phraseisg akd kitam,placed in a cave

,or in a place

diflicult ofaccess; or, according to theScholiast, heaven, —g aheisadris

’

edarg amedg alokestkitam .

T he text has only skat’, six : theScholiast suppliesrasan

tddénritiin,theseasons

,— spring , and therest.

Ambayek, which may meaneither m others, or waters, asintheKaaskitakiB rdkmana,—A

'

po ed, ambag ak.

d So inanother text, A'

pak Sargesamdkitdk, thewatersare

collected intheSun.

T heterm isdeedk, g ods but thiswereincompatiblewith the

direction to praisethewaters. It is, therefore, explained, the

Ritwij and other Bra’

lzmanas and theinterpretationisdefended

Varg aXII.

RIG-VEDA SANB ITA.

20. SOMA hasdeclared to me “ A ll medicaments,

aswell asA GNI,thebenefactor of theuniverse

,are

inthewaters . ” T hewaters containall healing herbs .2 1 . Waters

,bring to perfection all disease-dis

pelling medicaments,for (the good of) my body,

that I may long behold thesun.

22 . Waters , take away whatever Sin has been

(found) in me,whether I have (knowingly) done

wrong,o r have pronounced imprecations (against

holy men) , or (havespoken) untruth .

2 3 . I have this day entered into thewaters we

havemingled with their essence.

" A GNI,abiding in

thewaters,approach

,and fill me

,thus (bathed) , with

vigour.

24. A GNI,confer uponmevigour

,progeny

,and

life,so that the gods may know the(sacrifice) of

this my (employer) , and INDRA,with theRiskis

,

may know it.

by a text which calls theBrahmans present d ivinities, Etc feai

deodkpratg akskam g adB rdkmandk,— T hesedeities, who areperceptibly (present) , aretheBrahmans.To Medkdtitki, theauthor of thehymn. T hepresidency of

S oma over medicinal plantsis, generally, attributed to him . T he

entrance of A gni into thewater isnoticed inmany places; as,So

’

pak prdois’

at, intheT aittirig aBrdlimana. T his, however, refersto a legend of A gni

’

s hiding himself, throug h fear . It may

alludeto thesubservienceo f water , o r liquids, to digestion, prom oting theinternal or digestiveheat, o r agni.

Rasena samag asmaki that is, the Scholiast says, wehavebecomeassociated with theessenceof water , jalasdrena sang atdksmall .

60 RIG -VEDA SANHITA.

tals,shall we invoke theauspicious name Who

attainsadolescence, whenhisfather communicatesto him thefatefor which hewasdestined . Rokita refusessubm ission, and spendsseveral yearsintheforests, away from home. He

,at last, meets,

there, w ith Ag’

ig arta, a Rishi, ing reat distress, and persuadeshimto part w ith hissecond son, Stinaks

’

epka, to besubstituted forRokita, asanoffering to Varana. T hebarg ainisconcluded ; andStinaks

’

epka isabout to besacrificed , when, by theadviceof Vis’

wd

mitra,one of the officiating priests, heappealsto theg ods, and

is,ultimatel y

,liberated . T heA itareg a Brahmana hassupplied

the commentator w ith the circumstances which henarrates, asillustrative of theseries of hymnsin thissection. Dr . Rosendoubtsif thehymnsbear any referenceto the intentionof sacrifi cing Sanaks

’

epka but thelang uageof theBra’

hmana isnot to bem istaken; asAg

’

ig ar ta no t only tieshissonto thestake, but g oesto providehimself with a knife, w ith which to slay him . A t the

sametime,it must beadm itted , that thelang uageof theSicktas

is somewhat equivocal, and leaves the intention of an actual

sacrifice open to question. T heBhag avata followstheA itdreg aand Mann

,in term ing Stinalzs

’

epka the son of Ajég arta, and

namestheRaf/22, also ,Haris’ekandra. IntheViskna Pardna, heiscalled thesonof Vis

'

wdmitra, and istermed , also , D ccardta,o r

God-

g iven. But thisrelatesto subsequent occurrences,noticed

,

inlikemanner,by theother authorities, inwhich hebecomesthe

adopted son of Vis’wdmitra, and theeldest of all hissons; suchof whom asrefused to acknow ledgehisseniority being cursedto becomethefounders of variousbarbarianand outcasteraces.Vis

’

wdmitra’

s share in the leg end may, possibly , intimate hisopposition, and that of someof hisdisciples, to humansacr ifices.

3“ Supposed to beuttered by S’

anaks’

epa, whenbound to the

g apa, o r stake, as theparaskapas’

a,theman- animal (or victim ) ,

astheBkdg aoata termshim . Of “

whom ”

(kasg a) may also berendered, of B rakmd, o r Prajapati, one of whosenames, in theVeda

,isEa as

,Ii’

o lea oaindma Prajdpatik.

FIRST A SH’fAKA— SECOND ADHYAYA .

will give us to the great A DIT I,

"

that I may again

behold my father and my m other ?

2 . Let us invoke the auspicious nameof A GNI,

"

thefirst divinity of theimm ortals,that hemay give

us to thegreat A DIT I,and that I may behold again

my father and my m other.

3 . Ever-protecting SAVIT RI,

"

wesolicit (our) portionof thee

,—who art thelord ofaffluence

,

4. That wealth which hasbeen retained inthyhands

,and isentitled to commendation

,asexempt

from envy or reproach .

5 . We are assiduous in attaining thesummit of

affluence,through the protection of thee

,who art

thepossessor ofwealth .

6. Thesebirds,that areflying (through theair) ,

varg " XIV'

haveno t obtained,VARUIQIA

,

"thy bodily strength, o r

thy prowess, nor (are able to endure thy) wrath ;

3‘ A diti, according to Sag aria, heremeans earth .

’

A passage from the A itareg a B rdkman’

a is cited,by the

Scholiast, stating that Praj'

apatisaid to him “Haverecourseto A gni, who isthenearest of theg ods;

”uponwhich he

resorted to A gni T am Praja’

patir acackdgnir caideedndm nedisk

t'

kastam eoopadkdeeti so’

gnim apasasdra.

Inthisand thetwo follow ing stanzas, applicationismadetoSavitri, by theadvice, it issaid , ofA gni no t, however, it may heremarked , for liberation, but for riches,—a request rather irreconcileablewith thesupposed predicament inwhich S ’

anaks’

epa

stands.

' d Sacitri refers S’anakéepa, it issaid , to Varana. It isno t

very obviouswhy any compar ison should be instituted betweenthestreng th and prowessof Varana and ofbirds.

62 RIG- VEDA SANHITA.

neither do thesewaters,that flow unceasingly

,nor

(do thegales) ofwind, surpass thy speed .

7. T he regal VARUIQIA,of purevigour

, (abiding)inthebaseless (fi rmament) , sustains, onhigh, a heap

of light,therays (ofwhich) arepointed downwards,

while their base isabove. May they becomecon

centrated inus,asthesources of existence.

"

8. T heregal VARUIVA,verily

,madewidethepath

ofthesun,

"— (by which) to travel on hisdaily course,a path to traverseinpathless (space) . May hebe

therepeller ofevery affi icter of theheart.

9. Thine,0 king

,area hundred and a thousand

medicaments . May thy favour, comprehensiveand

profound,be(with us) . Keep afar from us NIRRIT I

with unfriendly looks ; and liberateus from what

ever sinwemay havecommitted.

T heepithet of Raf/kt ishere, asusual,applied to Varana ;

and it may beeither radiant or reg al : but thelatter is, ingeneral,them oresuitable. T heattributeshereassigned to Varana, hisabiding in theantarikslza, and his holding a bundleof rays

,

would rather identify him w ith thesun, or, at least, refer to himinhis character of anA

'

ditya. T he terms of the orig inal are,however , unusual ; andwedepend , for their translation, upontheScholiast : abadkne

,in the baseless; malarakite he explains

antarikske,in thesky ; and

,for oanasg a stapam,

he suppliestejasak, of radiance, andsang kam,

a heap .

A ccording to theCommentator, thesun’scoursenorth and

south of theequator is here alluded to . He doesnot explainwhat Varana hasto do w ith it.

A ccording to Sdg aria, Nir ritiisthedeity ofsin, Pa’

padeeatd.

IntheNig kantfa, it occursam ong thesynonymsof earth .

Varg aXVI.

R IG-VEDA SANHITA.

regal VARUIVA,wise and irresistible

,liberate him ;

may helet loosehisbonds .

1 4. VARUIQIA,we deprecate thy wrath with pros

trations,with sacrifices

,with oblations . Averter of

misfortune,

" wiseand illustrious,bepresent amongst

us,and mitigatetheevils wehavecommitted.

1 5 .

‘VARUIQIA

,loosen

,for me

,the upper

,the

middle,thelower

,band.

" So,sonofA DIT I

,shall we

,

through faultlessness in thy worship, becomefreedfrom Sin.

SlixT A II . (XXV . )

ThisHymn is addressed by S'UNA IIs’EPA to VARUIQIA : themetreisGdg atri.

1 . Inasmuch as all people commit errors,so do

we, divineVARUIQIA , daily disfi g ure thy worship by

imperfections .

2 . Makeus not theobjects of death,through thy

fatal indignation,through thewrath of theeso dis

pleasured .

T hetext has asara, which is interpreted aniskt'

akskepanaszla

,accustomed to cast off what isundesired , —from theroot as

,

to throw . It isanunusual senseof thew ord : but it wouldscarcely bedecorousto call Varana anA sara.

T hetext hasad attamam apds

’

am a a adkamam s madkg amam

sfratkdg a, loosen theupper,lower

,and m iddle

,bond ; meaning ,

according to Sag ana, the lig ature fastening the head, thefeet,

and thewaist. T heresult,however, isnot loosening from actual

bonds, but from thoseof sin: andg asak a sg dma, may webe

sinless.

FIRST A SH’fAKA— SECOND ADHYAYA .

3 . We soothethy mind, VARUIQIA , by our praises ,for our good ; asa chario teer

,hisweary steed .

4. My tranquil (meditations) revert to thedesire

of life asbirdshover around their nests .

5 . When,for our happiness

,shall we bring

hither VARUIQIA,eminent in strength

,the guide(of

men) , theregarder ofmany ?"

6. Partake(MITRA and VARUIQIA, ) of thecomm on

(oblation) , being propitious to the giver and cele

brato r of this pious rite.

7 .He,who knowsthe path of the birds flying

through theair,

- he,abiding in the ocean

,know s

(also , ) thecourseof ships ."

8 .He,who

,accepting the rites (dedicated to

him ) , knows the“

twelve m onths and their produc

tions,and that which is supplementarily engen

dered ;d

Vasya Vasg ak, according to the Scholiast,is

equivalent to easamatak, precious; that is, jéeanasg a, life, understood .

Uraekakskasam is explained ba/iz'indm draskt’

dram ,thebe

holder ofm any .

Herewehavetheusual func tionsof Varana recognized .

a Vedd g a apajdg ate, who knowswhat is apa ,additionally

,or

subordinately,produced . T heexpressionisobscure; but, incon

nexionw ith thepreceding , ieda maso r dwddas’

a,who knows the

twelvem onths, wecannot doubt thecorrectnessof theScholiast’

s

conclusion,that thethirteenth

,thesupplementary , o r intercalary ,

m onth of theHindu luni - solar year isalluded to “ that thirteentho r additional m onth which isproduced of itself, inconnexionw iththe year

,

”-

g as trag odas’

o’d/nkamdsa apaja

’

g atesamratsa/rasamépe

Varg aXVII

XVIII .

RIG -VEDA SANHITA.

9.He,who knows the path of the vast

,the

graceful,and the excellent

,wind

,and who knows

thosewho resideabove;1 0 .He

,VARUIQIA

,the accepter of holy rites

,the

doer of good deeds,has sat down

,amongst the

(divine) progeny ,"to exercise supreme dominion

(over them ) .

1 1 . Through him the sage beholds all themar

vels that havebeen,or will be

,wrought.

1 2 . May that Very wisesonof A DIT I keep us, all

our days , intheright path , and prolong our lives .

1 3 . VARUIQIA. clothes hiswell-nourished (person) ,wearing goldenarmour

,

"whence the(reflected) rays

arespread around

1 4 . A divine(being) , whom enemies dareno t to

offend,no r the oppressors of mankind , nor the

iniquitous, (ventureto displease) ;

1 5 . Who has distributed unlimited food to man

kind,and

,especially

,to us .

swag am eio@adg ate. T hepassageisimportant, asindicating theconcurrent use of the lunar and solar yearsat thisperiod

,and

themethod of adjusting theoneto theother .

Ni skasdda apastg dsic d. T he commentator explainspas

tg dsa, daieiskaprajdsa, divineprogeny ; Rosentranslatesit, interhomines; M. Lang lois, da seindenosdemeares Dr . Roer, amongkissubjects. T hesovereignty of Varana, sdnzrdjg a, isdistinctlyspecified .

Bibkraddrdpim kirang ag am,that is

,saearn'amag am kaoaekam,

arm our o r mail made of g old . T his looks as if the person ofVarana wererepresented by animage. T hesamemay besaid ofthephraseolog y of v. 1 8 .

Varg aXXI.

RIG - VEDA SANHITA.

ever- youthful A GNI,selected by us

,become our

ministrant priest, (invested) with radiance.

3 . Thou,A GNI

,art

,verily

,as a loving father to

a son,as a kinsman to a kinsman

,asa friend to a

friend .

4. Let VARUIQIA,MITRA

,and A RYAMAii" sit down

uponour sacred grass,asthey did at thesacrificeof

MANUS ."

5 . Preceding sacrifi cer,

c be pleased with this our

sacrifice,and with our friendship

,and listento these

thy praises .

6. Whatever we offer,in repeated and plentiful

oblation,to any o ther deity is

,assuredly

,offered to

thee.

7 . May the lord of men,the sacrificing priest

,

the gracious,the chosen

,bekind to us : may we,

possessed ofholy fires,beloved of thee.

8. As the brilliant (priests) , possessed of holy

fires,havetakenchargeof our oblation

,so we

,with

holy fires,pray to thee.

9. Immortal AGNI,may the praises of mankind

be,henceforth

,mutually (the sources of happiness)

to both, (to ourselves and to thee) .

1 0 . A GNI,sonof strength

,

"

(accept) this sacrifice,

9" A rg amanis anA'

ditya, a form of them onthly sun. Heissaid

,also

,to presideover twilig ht.

JlIanaskak,ofManas

,who , theScholiast says, isthesameas

JIana,thePrag

'

dpati.

Par'ig ako tri theHotri bornbeforeus,according to Sdg ana.

a Sakaso g ako balasg apatrak, sonofstreng th . T heepithet isnot unfrequently repeated

,and issometimesapplied to I ndra,

FIRST A SH’fAKA— SECOND ADHYAYA .

and this our praise,with all thy fires

,and grant us

(abundant) food .

SIIKT A IV . (XXVII . )

T he Riski, divinity , and metre,as before

, except in the laststanza

,inwhich themetreisT risktabk, and theVISWADEVA S

areaddressed .

1 . (I proceed) to address thee,thesovereign lord Varg a XXII ,

of sacrifices,with praises ; (for thou scatterest our

foes) like a horse, (who brushes off flies with) his

tail .

2 . May he,the son of strength

,who m oves

everywherefleetly, be propitious to us, and shower

down(blessings) .3 . Do thou

,A GNI

,who goest everywhere

,ever

protect us,whether near o r afar

,from men seeking

to do us injury .

4 . A GNI,announce

,to thegods

,this our offering

,

and theseour newest hymns ."

5 . Procure,for us

,thefood that isinheavenand

mid-air,and grant us thewealth that isonearth .

"

also . Asapplicableto A gni, it issaid to allude to thestreng threquired for rubbing thestickstogether, so asto generatefi re.

T hecomparisonismerely, wepraisetheelikea horsew ith a

tail . T heparticularsaresupplied by theScholiast.Gdg atram narg dnsam,

m ost new Gdg atri verses show ingthem orerecent compositionof thisSakta.

c Inthesupreme,inthem iddle, and of theend, arethevague

expressionsof thetext : their local appropriationisderived fromthecommentary .

Varg a XXIII .

Varg a XXIV.

RIG - VEDA SANHITA.

6. Thou,OHITRABHANU

,

"

art the distributor of

riches ; asthewaves of a river areparted by inter

jacent (islets) . Thou ever pourest (rewards) uponthegiver (of oblations) .

7 . T hem ortal whom thou,A GNI

, protectest in

battle,whom thou incitest to combat

,will always

command (food) .

8 . No onewill ever bethevanquisher of this thyworshipper

,subduer of enemies ; for notorious is

hisprowess .

9. May he, who isworshipped by all men, convey

us,with ho rses

,through the battle: may he, (pro

pitiated) by thepriests , be the bestower (of boun

ties) .

1 0 . JARABODHA,

b enter into the oblation,for the

completion of the sacrifice that benefits all man

kind. T he worshipper offers agreeablelaudationto

theterrible

1 1 . May the vast, illimitable, smoke-bannered,

resplendent A GNI be pleased with our rite,and

grant us food .

1 2 . May A GNI , the lord of men, theinvoker and

messenger of the gods, the brilliant- rayed, hear

A comm on denom inative ofA gni, hewho hasw onderful o rvar ious lustre. T hefollow ing sim ileisvery elliptically and oh

scurely expressed ; but such seemsto beitspurport, according totheexplanationof theScholiast.

Hewho isawakened (bodka) by praise(yard) .T hetext has to Rudra

”

(Badrag a) , which theScholiast cxplains to thefierceor cruel Agni krardg dgnage.

72 RIG - VED A. SANHITA.

for containing the juice,— as (broad asa woman

’s)hips

,—areemployed, recognizeand partake of the

effusions of them ortar.

3 . INDRA, (in the rite) in which the housewife

repeats egress from and ingress into (the sacrificial

recognizeand partake o f theeffusions of

them ortar.

4 . When they bind the churning- staff (with a

like reins to restrain (a horse) , INDRA, re

cogniz eand partakeof theeffusions of them ortar.

5 . If,indeed

,O JI or tar

,

"thou art present in

every house,giveforth (inthisrite, ) a lusty sound,

likethedrum ofa victorioushost.

6 . Lord of the forest,d as thewind gently blows

before thee,so . do thou

,O Mor tar

,prepare the

XXVI .

Sonia juice,fo r thebeverageof INDRA .

T heScholiast explainsthetermsof the text, apaekg aoa and

apaekg aoa, g oing in and out of thehall (sale) ; but it should ,perhaps

,rather be, m oving up and down, w ith reference to the

actionof thepestle.

In churning , in India, thestick ism oved by a ropepassedround thehandleof i t

,andround a post

,planted intheg round , as

a pivot. T heends of the r0pe being drawn backwardsand fo rwards, by thehands of the churner, g ives thestick a rotatorym otionam idst them ilk

,and thusproduces theseparation of its

component parts.

T hem ortar is,usually , a heavy woodenvessel, found inevery

farmer ’

scottage. A ccording to Sag/aria, it is thedivinitiespresiding over themortar and pestle, not theimplementsthemselves,that areaddressed .

d Vanaspati, a largetree, but, inthisverse, put, by metonymy,fo r them ortar

,and

,inverse8

,for them or tar and pestle. [See

p . 3 8 Z]

FIRST A SHTAKA -n SECOND ADHYAYA . 73

7 . Implements of sacrifice,bestowers Of food

,

loud -sounding,sport

,like the horses of INDRA

champing the grain.

8 . Do you two forest lords,of pleasing form

,

prepare,with agreeable libations

,our sweet (Soma)

juices,for INDRA .

9. Bring theremains of theSonia juiceuponthe

platters sprinkleit upontheblades Of Kas’

a grass ;and placetheremainder uponthecow-hide.

"

sem i VI . (XXIX

S'

UNAR S’

EFA"continuesto bethereciter : thedeity isINDRA the

metre,Pankti .

1 . Veracious drinker of theSoma juice,although XXVH,

a

T hisverseisaddressed , theScholiast says, toHaris’elzandra,either them inistering priest, o r a certaindivinity so named : noname occurs in the text . It isno t very clear what heisto do .

A pparently , heisto placewhat remains, after thelibationhasbeenoffered

,contained inpateraeo r platters, uponsomevessel ,— the

Scholiast says, upona car t — and, having broug ht

i t away, cast it uponthePaoitra, which isexplained , inthecomment ontheYag

’

anVeda Sanhita, to meantw o or threeblades of

Kas’

a g rass, serving asakind Of fi lter ,— typically , ifno t eflectively,- throug h which the juice falls upona sheet

,o r into a bag of

leather,madeOf theskinOf thecow (g osta achi) . A ccording to

Mr . Stevenson,the Sonia juice, after expression

,is filtered

throug h a strainer made Of g oat’shair , and isreceived ina sor tOf ewer , thedronakalas

'

a. Here,however , thedirectionsapply to

theackckkiskt’

a,theremainder

, o r leaving s such being thetermused inthetext .

S’anaks’

epa hasbeendirected by theVis’

wadeeas,it issaid in

theBrdkmana, to apply to Indra.

74 R IG-VEDA SANHITA.

we be unworthy, do thou, INDRA , of boundless

wealth,enrich us with thousandsOf excellent cows

and horses .

2 . Thy benevolence, handsome"and mighty lord

of food,endures for ever. Therefore

,INDRA

,of

boundless wealth,enrich us with thousands of ex

cellent cows and ho rses .

3 . Cast asleep (the two female messengers Of

YAMA) . Looking at each other, let them sleep , neverwaking.

" INDRA,of boundless wealth

,enrich us

with thousands ofexcellent cows and horses .

4 . May thosewho areour enemies slumber, and

those,O hero

,who are our friends

,be awake.

INDRA,Of boundless wealth

,enrich us with thou

sands ofexcellent cows and horses .

5 . INDRA,destroy this ass

, (our adversary) , praising theewith such discordant speech and do then

,

INDRA,of boundlesswealth

,enrich us with thou

sands ofexcellent cows and horses .

Siprin, literally, having either anoseo r a lower jaw or chin;that is

,having a handsomeprom inent noseo r chin.

T hetext isveryelliptical and Obscure. It is,literally : “ Put to

sleep the two reciprocally looking : let them sleep,not being

awakened .

” That two females are intended is inferriblefromtheepithetsbeing inthedual number and fem ininegender ; andtheScholiast callsthem— uponwhat authority isno t stated— two

femalemessengers of Yama Yamadatg aa. Mitkadris’d heex

plains mitkanatag d g ag alarapena pas’

g ata,“ looking , after the

manner of twins, at each other .

”

JVaeantam papag a’

mag d, praising w ith thisspeech, that isofthenatureOf abuse. Ninddr i

'

zpag d idekd istheadditionof the

Varg a XXIX .

Varg a XXX .

RIG - VEDA SANHITA.

praise,may genuine prosperity be(the reward Of

him ) who offers theelaudation.

6 . Rise up,S

'

A T AXRATU,for our defence in this

conflict . Wewill talk together inother matters .7 . On every occasion

,inevery engagement

,we

invoke,asfriends

,themost powerful INDRA

,for our

defence.

8. If he hear our invocation,let him

,indeed

,

come to us,with numerous bounties

,and with

(abundant) food .

9. I invokethe man (INDRA, ) who Visits many

worshippers,from hisancient dwelling - place

,— thee

,

INDRA,whom my father formerly invoked.

1 0 . We implore thee,as our friend

,who art

preferred and invoked by all, (to befavourable) to

thy worshippers , protector of dwellings .

1 1 . Drinker of the Sonia juice,wielder of the

thunderbolt,0 friend

, (bestow upon) us, thy friends,and drinkers Of theSoma juice

, (abundanceof cows)with projecting jaws.

"

1 2 . So beit drinker of theSoma juice,wielder

of the thunderbolt,our friend

,that thou wilt do

,

through thy favour, whatever wedesire.

1 3 . So,INDRA

,rej oicing along with us

,wemay

have(abundant food) and cows may beours , robust,and rich inmilk

,with which wemay behappy .

T heexpression in thetext isSiprinindm , g en. plur . of thefem inines’iprini, having anoseo r a jaw . It cannot, therefore, referto thepreviousnouns in theg en. plur .

,somtqodendm and sakki

nam, which aremasc . ; and theScholiast, therefore, suppliesg dvdm,

of cows, and addssamakah, a multitude, or herd .

FIRST A SH’fAKA— SECOND ADHYAYA .

1 4. O DHRISHIQIU,

" let some such divinity as

thou art,self-presented

,promptly bestow

,when

solicited, (bounties) uponthy praisers ; as(they whirl)

theaxleof thewheels (ofa car )"

1 5 . Such wealth,S'

AT AXRATU,as thy praisers

desire,thou bestowest upon them ; astheaxle(re

volves) with them ovements (of the

1 6. INDRA has ever won riches (from hisfoes) , Varg a XXXI .

with hischamping,neighing

,and snorting (steeds) :

he,the abounding in acts

,thebountiful

,hasgiven

us,asa gift

,a go ldenchariot. d

T he resolute, o r fi rm,o r hig h -spirited

,— an appellative of

Inch a.

T heverseis, throug hout, very elliptical and Obscure, and isintellig ible only throug h the liberal additions Of the Scholiast .T hesim ileis, literally , liketheaxleof two cars,— ahsham na chak

ryoh, which thecommentator renders, rathasya chakrayoh, of thetwo wheelsof a car , andaddsprakshipanti, they cast, o r turnover.

T hephraseseemsto havepuzzled thetranslators; Rosen[A dno tationes] hascarram eelat daabasro tis Stevenson, that blessingsmaycomeroand to them,

with thesamecer tainty that thewheel revolves

r oand theaxle; D r . B oer, asa wheel is broug ht to a chariot M.

Lang lois, gaelesaatresdiena, nonmoinsg aetoisensibles(2nos

louanges, soientpoar neascommel’axegaisoatientetfait toarner les

r oaesda char . T hemeaning intended , is, probably, thehopethatblessing sshould follow praise, asthepivot onwhich they revolve;astherevolutionsof thewheelsOf a car turnupontheaxle.

T his repetition o f the comparisonism ore Obscure than inthepreceding stanza. It isliketheaxle, by theacts,— ahsham na

s’

aehtbhih. T heScholiast defines‘ theacts them ovementsof thecar o r w ag g on.

"1 SO theBrahmana. By Indra, pleased , a g olden chariot was

78 RIG VEDA SANHITA.

1 7 A SWINS, come hither,with viands borneon

many steeds . DA SRA S, (let our dwelling) befilled

with cattleand with gold .

1 8. DASRA S, your chariot, harnessed fo r both alike,

isimperishable: it travels , A SWINS, through theair .

1 9. You have one wheel onthetop Of thesolid

(m ountain) , whiletheother revolves inthesky.

"

20 . USHAS,

" who art pleased by praise,what

mortal enjoyeth thee,immortal ? Whom

,mighty

one,dost thou aflect ?

2 1 . Diffusive,many- tinted

,brilliant (USHAS) , we

know not (thy limits ) , whether they benigh, o r

rem ote.

22 . Daughter Of heaven,

"approach

,with these

viands,and perpetuateour wealth .

"

g ivento him ,that is

,to Sienahs

’

epa. He,nevertheless

,handshim

over to theA sfwins.

T hereisno explanationof thismyth,inthecommentary . It

may beconnected w ith thePaardr’

iik notion of thesing lewheelof thechariot Of thesun. Vishna Parana

,p . 2 1 7 .

T he dawn; daug hter of thepersonified heaven, or itsdeity ,Dyadeoatciyd dahitd. RosentranslatesthenameA ar ora but it

seems preferableto keep theorig inal denom ination as, except in

reg ard to time, thereisnothing incomm onbetweenthetwo . In

theVishnu Parana, [but seenew edition, Vo l. p . 249

,note

indeed, Ushd, a word of sim ilar derivationasUshas, iscallednig ht ;

and thedawnisVyasht’

a. Several passagesseem to indicatethatDlshci or Ulshasisthetimeimmediately preceding daybreak .

C Weheretakeleaveof Sanahs’epa ; and, it must beconfessed ,that, for theg reater part, thereis, inthehymnsascribed to him ,

little connexionw ith thelegend narrated intheRamayana and

other authorities.

80 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

Thou hast sustained the burthen,in the rite for

which thepriest wasappointed . Thou,VASU

,hast

wo rshipped thevenerable(gods) .4. Thou

,A GNI

,hast announced heavento MANU

thou hast m ore than requited PURI’

JRAVA S,

" doing

homage to thee. When thou art set freeby theattritionof thy parents , they bear thee, first

,to the

east,then

,to thewest

, (of the5. Thou

,A GNI

,art theshowerer (of desires) , the

augmenter of the prosperity (of thy worshipper)thou art to becalled upon

,as theladleis lifted up .

Uponhim who fully understands theinvo cationand

makes the oblation,

dthou

,the provider of sus

tenance,

first bestowest light,and

,then

,upon all

men.

6. A GNI,excellently wise

,thou directest theman

who follows Improper paths,to actsthat arefitted

to reclaim him — thou who,inthestrifeOf heroes

,

(grateful to them ) aswidely- scattered wealth,de

stroyest, inthecombat, themighty, by thefeeble.

It issaid that A gniexplained to Mona, that heavenwasto

beg ained by piousw orks.

T heagency ofParararas, thesonof Badha , thesonof Some,in the generationof fi reby attrition, and itsemployment intheform of threesacrificial fires

,as told in thePararias(Vishna

Parana, p . may beherealluded to but thephraseisonlysakritesakrittarah, doing m ore g ood to him who did g ood .

T he fi re is first applied to kindle theA '

haoantya fi re, and,

then,to theGdrhapatya , according to theScholiast.

"1He who knows thedhati, w ith theoashat’

kriti,o r utterance

of thew ord rashat’at themoment of pouring thebutter onthefi re.

FIRST ASH'fAKA —SEGOND ADHYAYA .

7. Thou sustainest,A GNI

,that mortal (who wor

ships thee) , inthebest imm ortality, by daily foodthou bestowest on the sage

,who is desirous (of

creatures) Of both kinds of birth,

" happiness andsustenance.

8. A GNI,who art praised, by us, for the sakeOf

wealth,render illustrious theperformer of therite.

May weimprovetheact by a new Offspring, (givenby thee) . Preserve us, heaven and earth

,along

with thegods .

9. IrreproachableA GNI,a vigilant god am ongst

thegods, (abiding ) intheproximity of (thy) parents ,

"

and bestowing upon us embodied (progeny) , awakeus . Bewell -disposed to theOflerer of theoblation;for thou

,auspicious A GNI

,grautest all riches .

1 0 . Thou,A GNI

,art well- disposed to us ; thou art

our protector ; thou art thegiver Of lifeto us : wearethy kinsmen. UninjurableA GNI

,hundreds and

thousands of treasures belong to thee,who art the

defender ofpious acts,and attended by good men.

1 1 . T he gods formerly made thee,A GNI

,the

living general of them ortal NAHUSHA they made

It isnot very clear what ismeant theexpressionis, who is

very desirous, or long ing , for both births. T heScholiast says,fo r

theacquirement of bipedsand quadrupeds,— dwipadcim chatash

paddm ldbhdya.

T heparentsareheresaid to beheavenand earth .

Nahasha wastheson Of A ’

yas, son of ,Pararaoas, who was

elevated to heaven,asanIndra, until precipitated, thence, for his

arrog ance. T hecircumstance alluded to in the text doesnotappear inthePaardnik narrative. Vishna Parana, p . 4 1 3 .

82 Ric -VEDA SANHITA' .

ILA theinstructress of MANUS,when thesonof my

father wasborn.

"

1 2 . A GNI,who art worthy to bepraised

,preserve

us,who areOpulent

,with thy bounties , and, also, the

persons (ofour sons) . Thou art thedefender ofcattle,for thesonofmy son,

"who isever assiduous inthy

worship .

1 3 . Thou,four -eyed A GNI

,

" blazest,—as thepro

tector of theworshipper,— who art at hand

,for the

(security of the) uninterrupted (rite) : thou cherish

Thiscircumstanceisnot related , in thePar dnas, ofI lei, thedaug hter Of VaivaswataMana Vishna Parana, p . 3 49. FrequentpassagesintheVedasascribeto I lathefirst institutionof therulesofperform ing sacrifices. T hus

,inthetext, sheistermed s

’

dsané ,

which the Scholiast explainsdharmopades’

akartri, the g iver ofinstruction in duty . T he Taittirtyasare quoted for the text,‘Idd

,thedaug hter ofMana

,wastheillustrator ofsacrifice” (yaj

ndnakds’

int) and theVa’

jasaneyts, for thepassage: “ She[I ld, ] saidto Mann,

‘A ppoint me, to Offi ciateinsacrifices

,principal and sup

plementary for by meshalt thou Obtainall thy desires’ — Prayd

jcinaya'

ja'

ndm madhye mdm a/oakalpaya mayd. sarecta aodpsyasi

kdmdn. M. Burnouf questionsif I leiever occursinthesenseOfdaug hter of Mana

,in the Vedas

,and restrictsitsmeaning to

earth ’or to speech .

’T he passageOf thetext, I lam akrinwan

manashasya s’

dsantm,hetranslates

,lesDieax ontfait d

’

I la lapr é

ceptricedel’homme

,and considersit equivalent to lesD ieax ont

fait delaparo lel’institatrieedel

’

homme. Introdaetionto theBhdg a

eata Parana,III .

,pp . LxxxIv.

-XCI . Wearescarcely yet inpossessionOfm aterialsto cometo a safeconclusiononthissubject .

Wemust conclude that this hymn was composed by theauthor inhisold age, ashespeaksOf hisg randson.

Illum inating thefour cardinal points.

Varg aXXXV.

RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

1 6. A GNI,forgive us this our negligence

,this

path inwhich wehavegoneastray. Thou art to be

sought,as the protector and encourager of those

who Offer suitable libations : thou art the fulfi ller

(of theend Of rites) : thou makest thyself visible

to"

m ortals .

1 7 Pure A GNI,who goest about (to receive

oblations) , go, inthy presence, to thehall of sacri

fi ce,asdid MANUS

,and AN GIRA S

,andYAYAT I

,and

o thers Of old.

" Bring hither thedivinepersonages

seat them onthesacred g rass ; and Offer them grate

ful (sacrifice) .

1 8. A GNI,do thenthrivethrough this our prayer

,

which wemakeaccording to our ability, according

to our knowledge. Do thou,therefore

,lead us to

Opulence and endow us with right understanding,

securing (abundant) food .

sem II . (XXXII )

T heRishiandmetrearethesame: theHymnisaddressed to INDRA .

1 . I declare theformer valorous deeds Of INDRA ,

that by which lifeisto besupported healso explainsg waydjambyfiodh, living , priests, who ijyantedakshindbhih, areworshippedby g ifts.

Rishikrit, becoming present throug h desirefor the offeredoblation: theepithet isanunusual one.

Inlikemanner asancient patriarchs,—such asMann, or An

g iras,—or former kings, repaired to different placeswheresacrifices

werecelebrated . Yaydtiwasoneof thesonsofNehusha. VishnuParana, p . 41 3 .

FIRST ASH'fAKA— SECOND ADHYAYA . 85

which the thunderer has achieved : he clove the

cloud ; hecast thewaters down(to earth) hebroke

(a way) fo r thetorrents of them ountain.

"

2 .He clove the cloud,seeking refuge on the

m ountain : TWA SH'fRI sharpened his far -whirling

bolt : the flowing waters quickly hastened to the

ocean ; likecows (hastening) to their calves .

3 . Impetuous as a bull,he quaffed the S oma

juice: hedrank Of the libation at the triple sacri

fi ce.

" MAGHAVAN took his shaft,the thunderbolt

,

and,with it

,struck thefi rst-born Of theclouds .

4. Inasmuch,INDRA

,as thou hast divided the

Inthisand subsequent Saktas, wehaveanampleelucidationOf theorig inal purport of the legend Of Indra’sslaying Vritra,converted

,by thePaaranik wr iters, into a literal contest between

Indra and anA sara, or chief of theA saras, from what, in theVedas, is, merely, analleg orical narrativeof theproductionOf rain.

Vritra, sometimes also named A hi, isnothing m ore than theaccumulationOf vapour condensed, or , fig uratively, shut up in, orObstructed by, a cloud . Indra, w ith his thunderbolt, o r atm ospheric or electrical influence

,dividestheag g reg ated mass, and

vent isg ivento therain, which then descendsupon theearth ,andm oistensthefields

,or passesOff inr ivers. T helang uage of

theBichas isnot always sufi iciently distinct, and confoundsmetaphorical and literal representation; but itnever approximatesto that unqualified strain Of personification, which , beginning ,apparently, with theMahdbhdrata Vana-

paroa, ch . 1 00 also inother Pareas) , becamethesubject Of extravag ant amplificationby thecompilersof thePardfi as.

A t the T rikadrakas, the three sacrifices termed Jyotish,

Gaah, and A'

ya. No further description of them occursinthecommentary .

86 RIG -VEDA SANHITA.

fi rst- born of the clouds,

"thou hast destroyed the

delusions Of the deluders ; and, then, engendering

thesun, the dawn, the fi rmament, thou hast not

left anenemy (to oppose

5 . With hisvast destroying thunderbolt, INDRA

struck thedarkling mutilated VRIT RA . Asthetrunks

Of trees arefelled by theaxe, so lies A RI ,c prostrate

ontheearth .

6 . T hearrogant VRIT RA,asif unequalled

,defied

INDRA,themighty here

,the destroyer ofmany

,the

scatterer of foes — hehasnot escaped the contact

Of thefateOf (INDRA’S ) enemies . T hefoeof IN DRA

hascrushed the(banks Of the) rivers ."1

7 . Having neither hand nor foot,he defied

T hefi rst- formed cloud .

By scatter ing theclouds, and dispersing thedarkness, Indramay besaid to betheparent of thesunand daylig ht ; leaving noenemy, that is, nothing to obscuretheatm osphere.

We have, here, and in other verses, both names, A hi andVritra. They are, both , g ivenassynonymsof meg ha, a cloud, intheNig hantfa. T heformer isderived from han

, to strike, with dprefixed , arbitrarily shortened to a the latter

,lit .

,theencom

passer , or concealer, is fromari, to enclose, o r o rit, to be, or to

exist, or from eridh, to increase; a choice of etymolog ies intimating a vag ueuseof theterm . Heissaid to beoyané a, havinga part, or , metaphorical ly, a limb

,detached ; thus confounding

thingsw ith persons, asisstill moreviolently doneina follow ingverse

,whereheissaid to haveneither handsnor feet .

d T hetext hasonly rajdndhpipishe, hehasg round theriversthe Commentator supplies “ thebanks

,

”which

, hesays, werebroken down by the fall of Vritra, that is, by theinundationoccasioned by thedescent Of therain.

88 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

horse’s tail ." Thou hast rescued the kine; thou

hast won, hero , theSoma juice thou hast let loose

thesevenrivers to fl ow.

"

1 3 . Neither the lightning nor thethunder (dis

charged by VRITRA ) , nor therainwhich heshowered,no r the thunderbolt, harmed INDRA, when he and

A 11 1 contended,and MAGHAVAN triumphed

,also

,

over other (attacks) .

1 4. When fear d entered, INDRA, into thy heart,whenabout to slay AHI , what other destroyer ofhimWehavehad thissim ilebefore asa horselasheshistail , to

get rid of theflies.Al luding , it issaid, to a legend of Indra’s having drunk a

libationprepared by Twashtfri, after thedeath Of hisson,— who,

according to aPaardnik legend , wasT ris’

iras,also killed by Indra

,

— and to avengewhich, Vritra wascreated by Twasht’

ri.

A ccording to onePaardnik legend, theGangesdivided, onits descent, into sevenstreams, termed theNalint

,Pdcani

,and

E lddini, g oing to theeast theChaksha,Sita

’

z,andSindha, to the

west ; and theBhdg irathi, o r Gangesproper , to thesouth . In

oneplaceintheMahabharata, thesevenriversaretermed Vaswokasa

’

ra, Nalint,Pdoani

,Gang d, S étd, Sindhu, andJambanadi; in

another Gang d, Yamand, Plakshag d, Rathastha’

,Sdraya, Gomati,

and Gandakt. [SeetheVishnu Parana, new edition,Vol . II .

,

pp . 1 20,1 2 1 , andnotes. ) Ina text quoted and commented on

by Ydska, wehavetenrivers,named Gang d, Yamand, Saraswati,

Satadri, Parashni, A sikni, Maraderidha, Vitasta’ , A'

rjékiyd, and

Sashomoi. Of these, thePar ashr’

iiisidentified w ith theIrdoatitheA

'

rjikiyd w ith theVipds’

and theSashomd, w ith theSindha.

—Nir .

,III . 26 . T heorig inalenumerationofsevenappearsto be

that which hasg ivenriseto thespecificationsOf the.

Paranas.

d T heScholiast intimates, that thisfear was, theuncertaintywhether heshould destroy Vritra, o r no t ; but, intheParoh

‘

z’

as,

FIRST A SH’fAKA— THIRD ADHYAYA .

didst thou look for,that

,alarmed

,thou didst tra

verseninety andninestream s,likea (swift) hawk ?

1 5 . Then INDRA,thewielder of thethunderbolt

,

becamethe sovereignof all that ismoveableor im

m oveable,of hornless and horned cattle; and, ashe

abides the m onarch of men,he comprehended all

things (withinhim ) ; asthe circumference compre

hendsthespokesofa wheel .

THIRD ADHYAYA .

ANUVAKA VII . (continued) .

sem i III . (XXXIII )

T heRishi is, as before, HIRA fi YA STuFA . INDRA, also

,is the

divinity : themetreisT risht'abh.

1 . Come, let us repair to INDRA ,a

(to recover ourstolen cattle) ; for he, devoid Of malice

,exhilarates

o ur minds : thereupon he will bestow upon us

perfect knowledgeof this wealth, (which consists)

Of kine.

Indra isrepresented asfearing hisenemy’sprowess, and hidinghimself ina lake. Something likethisis, also, intimated inotherpassagesof thetext ; whencethePaardnik fiction. T heBreth

mana and theT aittir éya arequoted,asstating that Indra, after

killing Vritra, thinking hehad comm itted a sin, fled to a g reatdistance.

T hisisall thetext says. T heScholiast adds: T heg odsaresupposed to say thisto oneanother

, whentheir cowshavebeencarried Off. ”

Varg a I.

90 R IG-VEDA SANHITA.

2 . I fly, likea hawk to itscherished nest, to that

INDRA who isto beinvoked,by hisworshippers

,in

battle; glorifying, with excellent hymns, him who

isinvincible,and thegiver Ofwealth .

3 . T he commander Of thewholehost hasbound

hisquiver (onhisback) : thelorda drives thecattle

(to the dwelling) of whom he pleases. Mighty

INDRA,bestowing upon us abundant wealth

,take

not advantageOf us, likea dealer."

4. Verily,IND RA

,thou hast slain

’

the wealthy

barbarian" with thine adamantine (bolt ) — thou,singly assailing (him ) , although with auxiliaries (theMARUT S

, ) at hand.

d Perceiving theimpending mani

fold destructiveness of thy bow, they, theSANAxAs,"

theneglecters Of sacrifice, perished .

A rya, hereexplained saamin, master , owner , lord ,—meaning Indra.

Lit .

,do not beto usapani, a traffi cker ; such being onesense

of theterm from pana, price, hire. Indra issolicited not to m akea hard barg ain, not to demand to o much from hisw orshippers.

Vritra, theDasya, literally, a robber,but

,apparently

,used

in contrast to A'

rya, asif intending theuncivilized tribes Of

India.Heiscalled wealthy, because, according to theVdjasaneyis,hecomprehends, w ithinhim , all g ods, all know ledge, all obla

tions, Vritrasydntah saroe deoa’

h sa/rvds’

eha eidg ah sarvaniha/vinshi chasan.

d SO theBrahmana. T heMm atswho accompanied Inch a didnot attack Vritra but they stood nig h , and encouraged the

former,saying , Strike, O Lord ; Show thyself a hero .

”

T hefollowersof Vritraarecalled by thisname, themeaningof which isno t very satisfactorilyexplained by sandnka

’

yanti,

they who eulogizebenefactors. They arealso called , inthisand

RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

9. INDRA,as thou enjoyest both heaven and

earth,investing the universewith thy magnitude,

thou hast blownaway the robber with theprayers

which are repeated on behalf of thosewho do not

comprehend them .

"

1 0. When the waters descended not upon the

ends Of theearth,and overspread not that giver of

affluence with its productions,then INDRA

,the

showerer,grasped hisbolt

,and

,with itsbrightness

,

milked out thewaters from thedarkness .

1 1 . T hewaters flowed,to provide the food Of

INDRA ; but (VRIT RA ) increased, inthemidst Of the

navigable (rivers) then INDRA,with his fatal and

powerful shaft,slew VRITRA

,whosethoughts were

ever turned towards him .

1 2 . INDRA set free (the waters) Obstructed by

(VRIT RA ) , whensleeping inthecaverns of theearth,and Slew thehorned dryer up (of the Thou

,

Thispassageisrather obscure, owing to thevag uepurportof theprepositionabhi; amanyamdnanabhi manyamdnair brah

mabhih,“ with prayersto beunderstood over thosenot under

standing ;”that is, according to theScholiast, thoseyey

‘

amdnas,

o r institutorsofsacrifices, who merely repeat themantraswithoutunderstanding their meaning , are, nevertheless, to beprotected by,o r areto reap thebenefit Of, thosemantras andwith mantras

,or

prayersof thisdescription, Indra isto beanimated, o r empoweredto blow away or scatter thefollowersof Vritra, cloudsand darkness. Rosen renders theexpression, earminibas respicientibas

eos, gaihymnoram taoram sensam eel nonperspieiant ;M. Lang loishas(excité ) eontrecesmé cré antspa/r noschantsrespectaeax .

Sfring inam Sashnam . T hefirst,literally, having horns, the

Scholiastexplains furnished withweaponslikethehornsOf bulls

FIRST A SH’fAKA _ THIRD ADHYAYA . 93

MAGHAVAN,with equal swiftness and strength

,didst

kill,with thy thunderbolt, theenemy defying thee

to battle.

1 3 . T heweapon of INDRA fell upon hisadver

saries with his sharp and excellent (shaft) he

destroyed their cities : hethenreached VRIT RA with

his,

thunderbolt,and

, (by) slaying him ,exhilarated

hismind .

1 4. Thou,INDRA

,hast protected KUT SA

,grateful

for his praises : thou hast defended theexcellent

DASADYU,engaged inbattle: thedust of thy cour

ser’s hoofs ascended to heaven : '

thesonof S'WITRA

(through thy favour, ) roseup , to beagainupborne

by men.

"

1 5 . Thou hast protected,MAGHAVAN

,the ex

cellent son of S'

WIT RA,when combating for his

lands,andencouraged

, (by thee, ) whenimmersed inwater. Do thou inflict sharp pains on those of

and buffal oes.

” Stishnam,literally, drying , drying up, isapplied

to Vritra, or thecloud , asw ithholding them oisturenecessary forfertility .

Katsa issaid to bea Rishi, founder of a g otra, a relig iousfam ily

,or school

,and iselsewherespoken Of as theparticular

friend Of Indra, o r evenashisson. Heisthereputed author ofseveral hymns. Wehavea Parakatsa inthePardr

’

z’

as but he

was a Ra'

jd, theson of Mdndhdtri. Vishna Pardha, p . 3 63 .

[A lso seebelow ,especially

, Vol . III .,p . 205 , note Das‘adya

isalso called aRishi but heappearsto havebeenawarrior [see

VI .

, XXVI .

,4 P]no mentionofhim isfound intheParanas. T he

samemay besaid Of S’

waitreya, or S’

witrya, thesonof a femaletermed Stoitrd. Stoitryaisdescribed, inthenext stanz a, ashavinghiddenhimself ina pool Of water, throug h fear Of hisenemies.

Varg a IV.

94 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

hostile minds,who have long stood (in enmity)

against us .

Sfi KTA IV. (XXXIV)

T heRishi is thesame; theHymnisaddressed to theAs’wnvs;themetreisJag ati, except in theninth and twelfth stanz as

,

inwhich it isT risht'abh.

1 . WiseA SWINS,bepresent with uS thrice to

day.

" Vast isyour vehicle,aswell asyour munifi

cence your unionislikethat of theShining (day)anddewy (night) . (Suffer yourselves ) to bedetainedby thelearned (priests) .2 . Threeare the solid (wheels) of your abund

ance-bearing chariot,as all (thegods) haveknown

(it to be) , when attendant onVENA,the beloved of

SOMA z"threeare the columns placed (aboveit) for

support and,init

,thricedo you j ourney bynight,

and thriceby day.

Wehavea variety of changesrung , inthishymn, upontheInthisplace

,allusion

,it issaid

,ismadeeithernumber three.

to thethreediurnal sacrifi ces, —at dawn, mid-day, andsunset, —or

to the faculty Of all divinities,of being tripathag a

’

h,or g oing

equally throug h theheavens, thefi rmament, and theearth .

T heA s’

winsaresaid to havefilled their ratha,or car

, w ithall sortsof g ood things, whenthey went to themarriageof Vendw ith Soma, - a legend no t found inthePardnas.

SO theScholiast explainsskambhdsah skabhitdsa drabhe, postsstanding up from thebody of thecar , which ther idersmay layhold of

,if,by itsrapid or unevenm otion, they should beafraid Of

falling out.

96 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

NASATYA S,

" repair,from afar

,to thethreefold (place

Of sacrifice) asthevital air,to (living) bodies .

8 . Come,ASWINS

,thrice

,with theseven mother

stream s ." T he three rivers are ready the tripleoblationisprepared . Rising abovethethreeworlds

,

you defend the sun in thesky,who isestablished

for both night and day.

"

9. Where,NASATYA S, are the three wheels of

your triangular car ?" Where,thethreefastenings

andpreps(of theawning) Whenwill bethehar

nessing Of thepowerful ass,g that you may cometo

thesacrifice

1 0. Come,NASAT YAS

,to thesacrifice. T heobla

tion is offered . Drink thej uice,with monthsthat

They inwhom thereisnot (na) untruth (asatya) .T he text has only “ to the three the Scholiast adds

altars, severall y appropriated to oblations of g hee, to animalsacrifices and to libations of Soma,

"-aisht

'

ikapds’

akasaamika

rap é oedzh.

Gang d and theother riversarehereconsidered astheparentsOf thewater which rollsintheir streams.Threesortsofjars, or pitchers, used to containand pour out

theSoma juice, at thethreedaily sacrifices.Inasmuch as the r ising and setting Of thesunindicatethe

arrival of both day andnig ht. Inwhat way theA s’

winsare Ofserviceto thelum inary doesnot appear .

f T heapex of the car isin front, thebaseistheback part,form ing threeang les. T hetext hasonly trivrito rathasya, whichtheScholiast interpretstrisankhydkair as

’

ribhir apetasya asrathasya.

8 T he text has rdsabha, a synonym of g ardabha an ass.

A ccording to theNig hanta, thereisa pair of them : Rasabhdoaé

winoh,T wo assesarethesteedsof theA Swins.

”

FIRST ASHTAKA— THIRD ADHYAYA . 97

relish the sweet savour . Before the dawn,even

,

SAVIT RI sends, (to bring you) to therite, your won

derful car,

" shining with clarified butter .1 1 . Come

,NASA TYA S

,with the thriceelevendi

vinitiesz " come,A SWINS

,to drink the oblation.

Pro long our lives ; efface our faults ; restrain our

enemies ; and beever with us .

1 2 . Borne in your car that traverses the three

worlds,bring to us

,A SWINS

,present affluence

,

attended by (male) progeny . I call uponyou both,listening to me

,for protection . Beto us for vigour

inbattle.

Sfi xrA V . (XXXV. )

T heRishiisthesame thefirst andninth versesareintheJag atémetre; therest, intheT risht

'

abh . T hedivinity of thewholeHymnisSAVITRI ; but, inthefirst verse, AeNI , MITRA , VARUIQIA ,and Nig ht areIncluded, assubordinateor associated deities.

1 . I invokeA GNI first,for protection: I invoke

,

fo r protection, ,MITRA andVARUIQIA : I invokeMig ht,

who brings rest to theworld : I invokethedivine

SAVIT RI,for my preservation.

2 . Revolving through the darkened fi rmament,

Implying that theA s’

winsareto beworshipped , w ith thishymn, at dawn.

Thisis authority for the usual Paaranik enumeration of

thirty - threedeities,avowedly resting onVaidik texts. T helist is

,

there, madeup oftheeig ht Vasas, elevenBadras, twelveA'

dityas,

Praj'

apati, and Vashat’

ka’

ra (Vishna Pardha, p . 1 2 3 andnote27 )but theScholiast intimatesa difl’

erent classification, o r thethreefold repetition Of eleven divinities, ag reeably to thetext : “ Ye

elevendeities, who areinheaven,— Yedeodso diey ekddas’

a stha.

[I .

, CXXXIX .,1 1 seeVo l . II , p .

98 RIG-VEDA SANIIITA.

arousing m ortal and imm ortal, the divine SAVIT RI

travels inhisgolden chariot, beholding the(several)worlds .

3 . T hedivine SAVIT RI travels by anupward and

by a downward path z" deserving adoration

,he

j ourneys with two whitehorses : he comes hither,

from a distance,rem oving all Sins .

4. T he many- rayed adorable SAVITRI,having

power (to disperse) darkness from theworld,has

m ounted hisnigh - standing chariot,decorated with

many kinds Of golden ornaments , and furnished

with goldenyokes .

5 .His white- footed coursers,

" harnesse/

d to his

car with a golden yoke, havemanifested light to

mankind . Menand all theregions areever inthe

presenceof thedivineSAVITRI .

6. Three are the Spheres : two arein theprox

imity of SAVIT RI,one leads men to the dwelling

of YAMA .

" T he imm ortal (luminaries)d depend

T hat is,ascending from sunr ise to themeridian, and then

declining .

T he horses of Savitri are here termed s’

ya’

ea, which ,

properly, signifies‘thebrown but,inversethree, they havebeen

called white: ’ the present must be, therefore, a proper name,unlessthehymner contradictshimself.

T hespheresor lokaswhich lieintheimmediate path Of thesunaresaid to beheavenand earth : the intermediateloka

,an

tariksha, or fi rmament,isdescribed astheroad to the realm of

Yama, the ruler Of the dead,by which thepretdh, or g hosts,

travel . Why thisshould not beconsidered equally thecourseofthesunisnot very Obvious.

T he text hasonly amritd,“ theimmortals: ” theScholiast

1 00 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

intheevening,isat hand

,driving away Rakshasas

and Yatadhanas.

1 1 . Thy paths,SAVITRI

,areprepared Of Old

,are

free from dust,and well- placed in the fi rmament.

(Coming) by thosepaths, easy to betraversed, preserveusto -day. Deity

,speak to us .

ANUVAKA VIII .

Suk T A I . (XXXVI )

T heRishi isKA fiIWA , son of GHORA : thedeity isA GNI,identi

fi ed,inthethirteenth and fourteenth stanzas

, with theYapa,o r sacrificial post. T he metre of the Odd versesisBrihati

,

having twelvesyllablesinthethird pada, or quarter Of thestanza : themetre Of theevenversesis termed Satobrihati

,

having thefirst and third pddasequal .

Varg a VIII. 1 . We implore,with sacred hymns

,themighty

A GNI,— whom o ther (Rishis) also praise,— for the

benefit Of yo u, who aremany people,worshipping

thegods.

2 . Men have recourse to A GNI,the augmenter

of vigour . Offering oblations,weworship thee. DO

thou,liberal giver of food

,bewell- disposed to us

,

here,this day, and beour protector .

3 . Weselect thee, A GNI , themessenger and in

voker Of thegods,who art endowed with all know

ledge. T he flames Of thee,who art mighty and

eternal , spread around thy rays, touch theheavens.

4. T he deities VARUfi A,MITRA

,and A RYAMAN "

A ryamanis hereexplained , hewho measureso r estimatesproperly thearyas, drydnmimite.

FIRST ASHTAXA— THIRD ADHYAYA .

kindle thee, (their) ancient messenger . T he man

who has Offered thee (oblations) Obtains, throughthee

,A GNI

,universal wealth .

5 . Thou,A GNI

,art thegiver of delight

,the In

voker and messenger of the gods,

"

the domestic

guardian of mankind . T he good and durable ac

tions which the gods perform are,all

,aggregated

inthee.

6. Youthful and auspicious A GNI,whatever obla

tionmay bepresented to thee, do thou, well-dis

posed towards us,either now o r at any other time,

convey it to thepowerful gods .

7 . In this manner the devout ado re thee,who

art such (as described) , bright with thine own

radiance. Men,with (seven)

"ministrant priests

,

Rosen hasnantias hominam, which ag rees better w ith theorder of the text

,data eis

'

a’

im asi: but Sag ana connectsvisfdmw ith what, intheorig inal , precedes, g rihapatih, lord of thedwelling , andexplainsdata by decadata.

T heScholiast supplies“ theseven. A ccording to anothertext, sapta hotrah prdchir eashdt

’

karoanti,the seven principal

priestspour out theoblation. A ccording to Mr . Stevenson,the

sevenpriestsor assistantsat theSoma-

ydg a are - 1 . T heinstitu

tor , Or Yey’

amdna ; 2 . T heIIotri, who repeatsthehymnsof the

Rich ; 3 . T heUdg dtri, who chants the Scima ; 4 . T hePotri,

who preparesthemater ialsfor theoblation; 5 . T heNesht’

ri, who

pours it on the fi re; 6 . T he Brahma’

, who superintends thewhole; and, 7 . T heRakshas

, who g uardsthedoor . Thissuumerationom itsoneOf theprincipal performers, theA dhwarya, whorecitestheformulae of theYajash, and who should , probably,taketheplaceof theYag

’

amdna. T heothers,except thelast

,are

,

also , included among thesixteen(seep . 3 7, noteb ) .

1 00 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

intheevening,isat hand

,driving away Rakshasas

and Ydtadhanas.

1 1 . Thy paths,SAVIT RI

,areprepared of Old

,are

free from dust,and well- placed in the fi rmament.

(Coming) by thosepaths, easy to betraversed, preserveusto -day. Deity

,speak to us .

ANUVAKA VIII .

SIiKT A I . (XXXVI )

T heRishi isKARWA , son of GHORA : thedeity isA GNI,identi

fi ed,inthethirteenth and fourteenth stanzas

, with theYapa,or sacrificial post. T hemetre of the odd versesisBrihati

,

having twelvesyllablesinthethird pdda, or quarter of the

stanza : themetre of theevenversesis termed Satobrihaté,

having thefirst and third padasequal .

Varg a VIII. 1 . We implore,with sacred hymns

,themighty

A GNI,~ - whom o ther (Rishis) also praise, —for the

benefit of yo u, who aremany people,worshipping

thegods .

2 . Men have recourse to A GNI,the augmenter

of vigour. Offering oblations, weworship thee. DO

thou,liberal giver of food

,bewell- dispo sed to us

,

here,this day, and beour protector .

3 . Weselect thee, A GNI , themessenger and in

voker of thegods , who art endowed with all know

ledge. T he flames of thee,who art mighty and

eternal , spread around thy rays, touch theheavens .

4 . T he deities VARUIQIA,MITRA

,and A RYAMAN "

A ryamanis hereexplained , hewho measureso r estimatesproperly thearyas, aryanmimite.

Varg a X.

1 02 RIG-VEDA SANB ITA.

kindleA GNI (with oblations) , victorious over their

enemies .

8. T hedestroying (deities, along with thee, ) haveslain VRIT RA : they havemadeearth

,and heaven

,

and the fi rmament,the spacious dwelling-place(of

living creatures) . May A GNI , possessed Of wealth ,when invoked

,bea benefactor to KA IVWA ; like a

horsethat neighs ina conflict for cattle.

"

9. Takeyour seat,A GNI

,onthesacred grass for

thou art mighty. Shineforth for thou art devoted

to thegods . A dorableandexcellent A GNI,emit the

m oving and graceful smoke.

1 0. Bearer Of oblations, (thou art he) whom the

gods detained for the SakeOf MANU ; whom , giver

of wealth,KA IQIWA

,thehost of pious guests

,

" has

detained ; whom INDRA detained ; andwhom (now, )someother wo rshipper hasdetained.

1 1 . T herays of that A GNI,whom KA IQIWA made

morebrilliant than the sun,preeminently shine

him do theseour hymns,him do we

,extol .

1 2 . A GNI,giver Of food, completeour treasures ;

fo r thefriendship of thegods isobtainable through

thee. Thou art lord over famous viands . Makeus

happy for thou art great.

Krandad as’

wo g anisht'

isha,likea horsemaking a noisein

wishesfor cattle. T he Scholiast addssang rdmesha, in battles,having , for their Object, thew ish to wincattle, —g ocishayechchha

’

yak

tesha. T herelationOf thesim ileto A gni issomewhat obscure.

Medhyatithi, attended by venerable(medhya) g uests(atithi) ,is, here, anepithet of Kanwa, whoseson hasbeenbeforeintroduced

,asMedhdtithi, theRishiofthetwelfth andfollow ing Saktas.

FIRST ASHT’AxA— THIRD ADHYAYA . 1 0 3

1 3 . Stand up erect,for our protection

,like the

divineSAVITRI . Erect,thou art the giver of food

,

fo r which weinvoketheewith unguents , and priests

(offering oblations)"

1 4. Erect,preserve us

,by knowledge

,from sin

consume every malignant Spirit raise us aloft,

that wemay pass (through theworld) and,that we

may live, convey our wealth (Of oblations) to thegods .

1 5 . Youthful and m ost resplendent A GNI,pro

teet us against evil spirits,and from themalevolent

(man) who gives no gifts : protect us from noxious

(animals) , and from thosewho seek to kill us .

1 6. A GNI,with theburning rays

,destroy entirely

our foes,who makeno gifts

,as(potters

’ ware, ) with

a club : " let not onewho isinimical to us,nor the

man who attacks us with sharp weapons,prevail

against us .

1 7. A GNI is solicited for power- conferring (atfluence) : hehasgranted prosperity to KA IQIWA hehas

protected our friends,aswell asthe(sagewho was)

thehost Of the holy,and (every other) worshipper

(who hashad recourseto him ) for riches .

1 8. Weinvoke, from afar,along with AM I

,T UR

A gni, aserect, isheresaid to beidentified w ith theyapa o r

post to which thevictims, at a sacrificeof animals,are bound ;

and,according to A

'

s'

waldyana, thisand thenext verseareto berecited

,onsuch occasions

,at thetimeof setting up thepost.

T he text has only g hand, with a club : theScholiast addsthepottery, ” bha

’ndadi.

Varg a XII.

R IG- VEDA SANHITA.

VASA,YADU

,andUGRADEVA . Let A GNI

,thearrester

Of the robber,bring hither NAVAVASTWA

,BRIIIAD

RA T IIA,and T URVIT I .

"

1 9. MANU detained thee,A GNI

, (to give) light to

thevarious races of mankind . Bornfor thesakeof

sacrifice,and satiated with oblations

, thou , whom

menreverence,hast blazed for KA fi WA .

20 . T heflames OfA GNI are luminous,powerful

,

fearful,and not to betrusted . Ever

,assuredly and

entirely,consumethemighty spirits Of evil

,and all

our other adversaries .

SIiKT A II . (XXXVII . )

T heRishi isKA IQIWA ; theHymnisaddressed to theMARUTs;

themetreisGdyatrt.

1 . Celebrate,KA IVWA S

,

"theaggregatestrength Of

theMARUT S,Sportive

,without horses

,

" but shining

intheir car

Nothing m oreissaid, of thepersonsnamed in thisverse, thanthat they wereRdg

’

drshis, royal sages. [Seep . 1 49,andVols.

II .,III .

,IV .

, passim .] T arvas’

a may be another reading of

T areasa,who

, w ith Yada, was a sonOf Yayati, Of the lunarrace. Wehaveseveral princes

,inthePardnas

,of thenameof

B rihadratha ; but theothersare, exclusively, Vaidik.

Kanwasmay mean either the members of theg otra (the

fam ily, o r school ) of Kanwa, or , simply, sageso r priests.

T he phrase is anarcdnam,which the Scholiast explains

,

bhratrioyarahitam,literally

,w ithout a brother’sson

,which would

bea very unintellig ibleepithet. A reanis, inits usual acceptation, a horse and being w ithout horseswould not beinapplicableto theMarats

, whosechariot is drawnby deer . Bhrdtrieya has,

fo r onesense,that ofenemy ; whenceRosenrenderstheexpression

Varg a XIV

1 06 R IG-VEDA SANHITA.

tors ofheaven andearth,who shakeall around

,like

thetop (Ofa tree)7 . T hehouseholder

,in dread Of your fierce and

violent approach , hasplanted"

a fi rm (buttress) for

themany- ridged mountainisshattered (beforeyou) ,8. A t whoseimpetuous approach earth trembles ;

like anenfeebled m onarch,through dread (Of his

enemies) .

9. Stableis their birth-place, (thesky) ; yet the

birds (are able) to issue from (the sphere of) their

parent : for your strehg th iseverywhere(divided)betweentwo (regions ,— or

,heavenandearth ) .

1 0. They are the generators of speech they

spread out thewaters,intheir courses : they urge

the lowing (cattle) to enter (thewater) , up to theirknees

, (to drink) .1 1 . They drive

,beforethem

,in their course

,the

long,vast, uninjurable, rain- retaining cloud .

1 2 . MARUT S,asyou havevigour, invigorateman

kind giveanimationto theclouds .

1 3 . Wherever theMARUT S pass,they fill theway

with clam our : every onehears their (noise) .

1 4. Come quickly, with your swift (vehicles) .

T he Offerings Of the KA IQIWA S are prepared . Be

pleased with them .

1 5 . T he Ofi'

ering isprepared for your g ratifi ca

T hetext hasonl y mdnasho dadhre themanhasplanted : theScholiast explainstheformer, g rihaswam é, themaster Ofthehouse,and adds

,to the latter

, g rihadddhydr tham dridham stambham,

a strong post, to g ivestability to thedwelling .

FIRST AsnrAxA— THIRD ADHYAVA . 1 07

tion: weareyour (worshippers) , that wemay liveall our life.

sem i III . (XXXVIII )

T heRishi, deities, andmetrecontinuethesame.

1 . MARUT S,who arefond Of praise

,and for whom

thesacred grass istrimmed,whenwill you takeus

by both hands,asa father does hisson?

2 . Where,indeed

,are you (at present) ? When

will your arrival takeplace? Pass from theheaven,

not from theearth . Wheredo they (who worshipyou) cry (to you , ) likecattle3 . Where

,MARUT S

,are your new treasures

Where,your valuable (riches) Where

,all your

auspicious (gifts)4. That you

,sons of PRISNI

,

"may becomem or

tals,and your panegyrist

,becomeimm ortal.

5. Never may your worshipper be indifferent to

you,

- asa deer (isnever indifferent) to pasture,so that hemay not tread thepath ofYAMA .

6. Let not them ost powerful and indestructible

NIRRIT I " destroy us : let him perish,with our (evil)

desires .

7 . In truth,the brilliant and Vigorous MARUT S

,

T heexpressionsof thetext, samna, m arital, andsaabhag a, are

said to imply, severally, Offspring and cattle, jewelsand g old, andhorses, elephants, and thelike.

Pris’

nimatarah,aswehavehad before (p . 56 , noteb ) :

I

but

Pris’

ni ishereexplained , by theScholiast, by dhena, a m ilch- cow .

He is,here

, called a divinity of thed shasa race(seep .

62 , note. ) [A lso seeVo l . III ., p . 1 2 3

,note

Varg aXV.

Varg aXVI .

XVII .

1 08 R IG-VEDA SANHITA.

cherished by RUDRA," send downrain

,without wind

,

uponthedesert.

8 . T he lightning roars,—likea parent cow that

bellows fo r itscalf,

- and,hence

,therain isset free

by theMARUT S .

9. They spread darkness over theday, by awater

bearing cloud,and

,thence

,inundatetheearth .

1 0 . A t theroaring of theMARUT S,every dwelling

ofearth (shakes) , and men, also , tremble.

1 1 . MARUT S,with strong hands

,comealong the

beautifully-embanked rivers,with unobstructed pro

gress .

1 2 . May thefelloes of your wheels befi rm may

your cars and their steeds be steady,and your

fingers well- skilled (to hold thereins) .

1 3 . Declare,inour presence

, (priests, ) with voice

attuned to praise,BRAHMA IVA SPA T I

,

" A GNI,and the

beautiful MITRA .

1 4. Utter the verse that is in your m ouths ;spread it out

,like a cloud spreading rain: chant

themeasured hymn.

1 5 . Glorify the host of MARUT S,brilliant

,de

serving Of praise,entitled to adoration: may they

beexalted by this our worship .

Radriydsah ; i.e.

, Radrasyeme, thosewho areOf,o r belong ing

to , Radra explained , Radreiiapdlita’

h, cherished o r protected by

Badra ; for theexplanation Of which , referenceismade to the

dkhydnas, tales o r traditions. T here isno connexion betweenRadra and theMarats

,inthePardnas.

T helord of themantra (or prayer) , or Of thesacrificial food .

1 1 0 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

drag the car the fi rmament listens for your

coming ; and menarealarmed .

7 . RUDRAS, wehaverecourse to your assistance,

for thesakeof our progeny. Come,quickly

,to the

timid KA IQIWA,asyou formerly came

,for our pro

tection.

8 . Should any adversary,instigated by you

,or by

man,assail us

,withhold from him food

,and strength

,

and your assistance.

9. PRAOIIETASAS,

" who are to be unreservedly

worshipped,uphold (thesacrifi cer) KA IQIWA : cometo

us,MARUT S

,with undivided protective assistances ;

asthelightnings (bring) therain.

1 0 . Bounteou'

s givers,you enj oy unimpaired

vigour : Shakers (of theearth) , you possess undi~

minished strength : MARUT S,let looseyour anger

,

likean arrow,upon the wrathful enemy Of the

Rishis.

T hespotted deer, prishatih, arealwaysspecified asthesteedsOf theMarats. Wethenhave, inthetext, prasht

’

ir oahatir ohitah.

Prasht’

iissaid to bea sort Of yoke, inthem iddleofthreehorses,or other animals, harnessed ina car : but theword Standsalone,without any g rammatical concord ; andit doesnot appear what is

to bedonew ith theyoke. Rohita, theScholiast says, isanotherkind Of deer , thered deer, who , eahati, bearso r drags the car ,

ratham nayati. T hesensemay besomething likethat which is

g iveninthetranslation but the constructionof the orig inal isObscure, and, apparently, rudeand ung rammatical .

Or theappellativemay be anepithet only, implying thosepossessed of superior (pra) intellect (chetas) .

SIiXT A V . (XL . )

T hedeity isBRAHMA IQIA SFA T I ; theRishi is, still, KA IQWA ; themetre

, thesameasinthepreceding .

1 . Rise up,BRARMA IQIA SFA T I .

" Devoted to the

gods,we solicit thee. Bounteous MARUT S

,benigh

at hand : INDRA,bea partaker of thelibation.

2 . Mancelebrates thee, son Of strength," for the

wealth abandoned (by the foe) . MARUT S, may he

who praises you Obtain wealth, yielding excellent

steeds andeminent vigour .

3 . May BRAHMA IVA SFAT I approach us : may the

goddess,Speaker of truth

,

"

approach us : may the

gods (drive away) every adversary,and

,present

,

conduct us to the sacrifice which is beneficial to

man,and (abounds) with respectably-presented

offerings .

4.He who presents to the ministrant (priest)

Ina former passage, Brahmanaspati appeared as a form OfA gni (p . 4 1 , note) ; in this hymn, he isassociated w ith theMarats

,althoug h Indr a is, also , separately named .

Sahasaspatra. Sim ilar epithets, assahaso yaho and sanah

s’

acasd, have been applied to A gni (Hymns XXVI .

,v. 1 0 , and

XXVII . , v. T heScholiast, however , interpretsthecompound ,in this place

,the g reat or abundant protector Of streng th ,

balasya bahapalakah ; such being oneof themeaningsofpatra,

g ivenintheNirakta (patrahpara trdyate) , where, however, thatmeaning isonly theetym olog ical explanation Of patra, a son.

IVirakta,II .

,1 1 .

Devi sanritd,the g oddess Of speech (Vdg deoata) in the

form of lover Of truth (priyasatyarapd) , a form of Saraswati.

Varg a XXI .

R IG-VEDA SANHITA.

wealth fi t to be accepted enj oys inexhaustible

abundance: for him weworship IRA,"attended by

brave warriors,inflicting much injury

,receiving

none.

5 . Verily,BRAHMA IQIA SFA T I proclaim s the sacred

prayer in which the divinities INDRA, VARUIQIA ,MITRA

,and A RYAMAN havemadetheir abode.

"

6. Let '

us recite,gods

,that felicitous and fault

less prayer at sacrifices . Ifyou, leaders, desire(to

hear) this prayer, then will all that isto bespokenreach unto you .

7 . Who (except BRAHMA IQIA SFA T IJ may approach

theman who is devoted to thegods,by whom the

Manohpatri, thedaug hter of Mann,and institutrix ofsacri

fi ces(seep . 82,notea) . Looking uponBrahmanaspatiasthepre

siding divinity Of prayer or sacrifice,allusion to I té wereno t

wholly out Of place. Why sheshould besaoird, if that berig htlyexplaineds’obhanair cirair bhat’air yukta, accompanied by excellentheroes

,doesno t appear .

T his and thenext verse are directed to berecited at the

A gnisht’

oma cerem ony , in connexion w ith prayers addressed toIndra and theMarats. Professor Roth cites it in proof of histheory

,that Brahmanaspatiis, inanespecial manner , thedivinity

ofprayer,which isnot incompatiblew ith hisbeing identical w ith

either A gnior Indra, inthesamecapacity . Herecites,it issaid

,

aloud (pracadati) theprayer (mantram ) which oug ht to besorecited (akthyam) by them onth , according to theScholiast, of theHo tri inwhich manna, Indra and therest abide

,o r aremysti

cally present . Or,asexplained inthecommentary onthenext

stanza, it isthemantra, or prayer, that generateso r bring sthem tothepresenceoftheworshipper

,— Indradisaroadeoatdpratipddakam

mantram.

Varg a XXIII.

1 1 4 RIG- VEDA SANHITA.

4. ADITYAS,to you, repairing to thesacrifice, the

path is easy and free from thorns : no unworthy

oblationishereprepared for you .

5 . ADITYAS,guides

,may the sacrificewhich you

come to by a straight path be,to you

,for your

gratification.

6. That mortal (whom you favour) , exempt fromharm

,obtains all valuablewealth

,and Offspring like

him self.

7.How ,my friends , shall we recitepraise(wor

thy) Of the great glory Of MIT RA,VARUIQIA

,and

A RYAMAN ?8 . I do no t denounce to you him who assails or

reviles theman devoted to thegods : I rather pro

pitiateyou with Offered wealth .

9. For he(theworshipper, ) loves not, but fearsto Speak

,evil (Of any one) ; asa gamester fears (his

adversary) holding the four"

(dice) , until they are

thrown.

T hetext has only chaturas’

chid dadamdndd bibhiyad d ai

dhdtoh, hemay fear from oneholding four , until thefall . T he

meaning issupplied by theScholiast, w ith theassistanceOf Ydska,chataro

’ hebda dhdrayatah kitaodt, from a g ambler holdingfour dice; Sayana says, four cowrishells, —kapardakdh. That is

,

where two men are playing together, theonewho hasno t thethrow of thedice’

or theshellsisinanxiousapprehension lest itshould beag ainst him .

FIRST A SHT’AxA— THIRD ADHYAYA .

StixT A VII . (XLII. )

Rishiandmetre, asbefore: thedeity isPdsnAN .

"

I . PI'

ISHAN,convey us over theroad ; removetheVar g aXXIV.

wicked (Obstructer of theway) . Sonof thecloud,deity

,go beforeus .

2 . If a wicked (adversary) , PI'

ISHAN,a robber

,or

onewho delights inevil, points out to us (thewayweought no t to go) , do thou drivehim from the

road .

3 . Drive him far away, apart from theroad,the

hinderer of our j ourney,a thief

,a deceiver .

Pashanis, usually, a synonym of thesun; that is, heisoneOf thetwelveA'

dityas. Heisdescribed, by theScholiast, asthepresiding deity of theearth,—prithicyabhimdnideoah heis

,also

,

thecherisher of theworld from pash, to nourish . A ccording tothetenour of thehymn, heisthedeity presiding especially overroadsor j ourneyings. Hisbeing called theson of thecloud isnot incompatiblew ith hischaracter ofearth personified asamale;as

,according to other textsof theVeda, theearth wasbornOf the

water,— adbhyah prithioi; and, ag ain, earth wastheessenceOf

thewater ; T ad yad apdm sara dstt tat samahanyata sciprithieya

bhaoat,— That whichwastheessenceofthewaters, that wasag g re

g ated, and it becameearth . Pashd occurs, also, as a fem ininenoun, inwhich caseit appearsto besynonymous w ith prithioi,theearth, asinthetext Pashddhwanahpé ta, which isexplained,iyam pashd, May this Pashd protect the roads; where the

gender isdenoted by thefem ininepronouniyam and,inanother

text, Iyam caipasheyam htdam scream pashyati,—Thisis

,verily

,

Pasha fo r she cherishes this whole world . Throug hout thehymn, however, Pashanismasculine.

1 1 6 RIG- VEDA SANHITA.

4. Trample,with your feet

,uponthemischievous

(body) of that evil-minded pilferer of both (what ispresent and what isabsent) , whoever hebe.

5 . Sagacious and handsomePI'

ISHAN,wesolicit of

thee that protection wherewith thou hast encon

raged thepatriarchs .Varg aXXV 6 . Therefore

,do thou

,who art possessed Of all

prosperity,and well-equipped with goldenweapons

,

bestow upon us riches that may be liberally distributed.

7 . Lead us past our Opponents: conduct us by

an easy path : know, PUSHAN , how to protect usonthis

8 . Lead us wherethereisabundant fodder : let

there beno extreme heat by the way : PI'

ISHAN,

know how to protect us onthis (journey) .

9. Befavourableto us ; fill us(with abundance)giveus (all good things) ; sharpenus (with vigour) ;fill our bellies : PI

'

ISHAN,know how to protect us

onthis (j ourney) .

1 0 . We do not censurePUSHAN, but praisehim

with hymns : wesolicit thego od - looking (PI'

ISHAN)for riches.

Inthisand thetwo nextverses, wehaveanexampleOfwhatisno t unfrequent

,the repetitionOf a phrase, asa sor t of burden

o r refrain. T heexpressionis,Rashana iha kratam cidah,

—Pashan,

know,here, theact o r business that is, onthisoccasion, o r j ourney ,

know how to fulfil your functionOf g iving usprotection. Rosenrendersit, Pashan.

’ hiesacrificium animadverte; krata meaning anact Of sacrifice

,aswell asact o r actioningeneral .

arg aXXVII .

1 1 8 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

the encourager of hymns,the protector Of sa

crifi ces, possessed of medicaments that confer

delight,

5 . Who is brilliant as SI'

IRYA,who g ratifi es

like gold,the best Of the gods

,the provider Of

habitations

6. Who bestows easily- obtained happiness on our

steeds,our rams

,our ewes

,our men

,our women

,

and our cows .

7 . SOMA,grant us prosperity morethan(suffi cient

for ) a hundred men, andmuch strength -engendering

food .

8 . Let no t theadversaries Of SOMA,let not our

enemies,harm us : cherish us

,INDRA

,with (abun

dant) food .

9. SOMA,who art immortal

,and abidest in an

excellent dwelling,have regard for thy subjects,

when,at their head

,in the hall of sacrifice, thou

Observest them (engaged in) decorating thee.

"

ANUVAKA IX.

SOKT A I . (XLIV. )

PRASKA fi WA , thesonOf KA IQIWA , istheRishi A GNI isthedeity ;

Jaldshabheshajam,he who hasmedicamentsconferring de

lig ht ; from ja, oneborn, and ldsha, happiness; an‘

unusual word ,except ina compound form

,asabhildsha, which isof current use.

Or it may mean, sprung from water (jala) all vegetablesdepending uponwater , for their g rowth .

A pparently, thereissomeconfusionof Objectsinthisplace;Soma

, them oon, being confounded w ith Soma, libation.

FIRST ASHT’AXA— THIRD ADHYAYA . 1 1 9

but thetwo first versesareaddressed, also to theASWINS and

to UsnAs(thedawn) themetreisErikati,intheOdd verses;

Satobrihaté,intheeven.

1 . A GNI,who art imm ortal

,and cogniz ant of all

begotten things,bring

,from thedawn

,to thedonor

(of the oblation) , wealth of many sorts,with an

excellent habitation: bring hither,tod ay

,thegods

,

awaking with them orning .

2 . For thou,A GNI

,art the accepted messenger

of the gods,thebearer Of oblations

,thevehicle of

sacrifices . " A ssociated with USHAS and theA SWINS,

bestow uponus abundant and invigorating food .

3 . We select,to -day, A GNI, themessenger, the

giver Of dwellings,thebeloved of many

,thesmoke

bannered,the light- Shedding

,the protector of the

worship Of theworshipper at thebreak of day.

4. I praiseA GNI at the break of day, thebest

and youngest (of thegods ) , theguest (of man) , theuniversally-invoked

,who isfriendly to themanthat

Offers (oblations) , who knows all that areborn,that

hemay go (to bring) theother divinities .5 . A GNI

,immortal sustainer of the universe

,

bearer of oblations,deserving Of adoration

,I will

praise thee,who art exempt from death

,thepre

server,thesacrifi cer .

Rathir adhwardha’

m . Rosenrendersrathéh,aariya ; but Sci

yan'

a explainsit, rathasthdntya, in theplace Of a chariot ; con

firmed by other texts; as, Esha hidecarathah,He(A gni) is, verily,thechariot of the g ods, andRatho ha ed esha bhatebhyo decebhyohacyam cahati

,T ruly

,heisthechariot that bearsthe oblationto

thespiritsand theg ods.

Var g aXXIX .

Varg a XXX .

1 20 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

6 . JuvenileA GNI,whoseflames delight

,who art

universally invoked,and art praised

, (by us, ) on

behalf of theworshipper,understand (our wishes) ,

and, granting PRASKANWA to livea lengthened life,

do honour to thedivineman.

"

7. A ll people kindle thee,A GNI

,thesacrifi cer

,

theomniscient. DO thou,AeNI

,who art invoked by

many,quickly bring hither thesapient deities .

8 . Object Of holy rites,

"

(bring hither, ) on the

dawn following the night,SAVIT RI

,USHAs

,the

A SWINS,BHAGA

,

"and A GNI . T heKANWAS

,pouring

out libations,kindle thewafter of theburnt- ofl

’

er

ing .

9. Thou,A GNI

,art theprotector of the sacrifices

Of the people,and themessenger (of the gods) .

Bring hither,to -day, thego ds, awaking at dawn, and

contemplating thesun,to drink theSonia juice.

1 0 . Resplendent A GNI,visible to all

,thou hast

blazed after many preceding'

dawns thou art the

pro tector (of people) invillages thou art theasso

ciateOf manplaced ontheeast (of thealtar)"

1 1 . We place thee,A GNI

,asMANUS placed thee

,

who art theimplement of sacrifice,theinvoker

,the

ministering priest,very wise

,thedestroyer (of foes ) ,

imm ortal,themessenger (of thegods) .

Namasyd daicyam fanam ; that is, theRishi of the hymn,Praskanwa.

Swadhioara ; from sa, g ood , and adhicara, sacrifice; equiva

lent,according to theScholiast, to theA

'

haoantya fi re.

Bhag a isoneof theA'

dityas.

Par ohita,which may also meanthedomestic priest .

Varg aXXXII.

1 22 RIG -VEDA SANHI 'fA .

3 . A GNI,accomplisher of solemn acts

,cogniz ant

of all who areborn,hear theinvocation of PRAS

RWA,as thou hast heard those Of PRIYAMEDHA

,

ofA TRI,Of VIRuFA

,ofANGIRAS.

"

4. T heperformers of great cerem onies,theOffer

ersof acceptable sacrifi ces,haveinvoked

,fo r (their

protection) , A GNI , shining, amidst ‘

the solemnities,

with pureresplendence.

5 . Invoked by oblations, giver Of rewards , listen

to these praises with which the sons of KAI'

VWA

invoketheefor protection.

6. A GNI,granter Of abundant sustenance

,who

art beloved of many,the sons Of menin-vokethee

,

radiant-haired,to bear theoblation(to thegods ) .

7 . T hewisehave placed thee,A GNI

,in(their)

sacrifices,astheinvoker

,theministrant priest

,the

noteb) but, according to theA itareyaBra’

hmar‘

ia,2,1 8

, therearetwo classes; of thirty- threedivinitieseach

, theoneconsisting ofthoseformerlyspecified, who aretermed , also, Somapds, o r drinkersoftheSoma juice, and theother, ofelevenPraya

’

jas(thesamew iththeA

'

pris, p . elevenAnayag as, and eleven Upayag as, who

areto bepropitiated by oblationsOf clarified butter, no t by libations of Soma. They are

,evidently, littleelse thanpersonifi

cationsof sacrifices.

T hecommentator, ontheauthority of theNirakta, III .,1 7,

callsthese,all

, Rishis. A triand Ang irasarealwaysenumeratedam ong thePrajapatis; Priyamedha may be thesame asPri

yacrata, thesonOf SwdyambhacaMann and wehavea Virapaam ong theearly descendants of Vaicaswata Mann, who , asthe

father ofI ld,istheMann of theVeda. Vishnu Parana, pp . 5 3

and 3 59.

FIRST A SHT’AXA— T II IRD ADHYAYA . 1 2 3

donor of vast wealth,the quick-hearing

,the far

renowned .

8. T he wise (priests) , with effused libations OfS onia juice

,havesummoned thee

, vast and brilliant

A GNI,to partake of the(sacrificial food) , as they

hold theoblationonthepart Of theindividual who

presents it.

9. Strength- generated,

" giver Of rewards,provider

of dwellings,place here

,to -day, upon the sacred

grass,them orning-moving deities

,or (other) deified

being,to drink theSoma juice.

"

1 0. Worship,with conj oint invocations

,A GNI

,

thepresent deified being . Bounteous divinities,this

is theSanta juice: drink it ; for it wasyesterday

expressed .

"

SliK'

I A III . (XLVI . )

T heRishi, as before; the deitiesaretheASWI NS ; themetreisGayatri.

1 . T hebeloved USHAS, until now unseen, scatters

Produced by friction, which requires streng th to performeffectually .

Inthisand thenext stanza, wehave, ag ain, an allusiontosome divine or deified person, daiiyam g

'

anam,o r to someother

divinity, without par ticularizing him . I t may beintended for E a

o r Prey'

cipati, who , with A gni, here actually addressed, would

makeup thethirty- threedivinities, with theVasas, Radras, andA

'

dityas.

T iro - ahag am issaid to betheappellationOf theSoma juiceso prepared

,—from tiras, Obliqueor indirect, andahnyam, diurnal ;

that juicewhich isexpressed onthepreceding day, and Offered onthesucceeding .

Varg a

XXXIII.

1 24 RIG -VEDA SANHITA.

darknessfrom theSky. A SWINS,I greatly praise

you,

2 . Who aredivine,Of pleasing appearance

,chil

dren of thesea,

" willing dispensers of wealth,and

granters of dwellings, (in recompense of) pious

acts .

3 . Since your chariot proceeds, (drawn) by your

steeds,above theglorious heavens

,your praises are

proclaimed (by us) .4. (ASWINS) ; guides ; thesun, (theevaporator) Of

the waters,the nourisher

,the protector and be

ho lder of the(solemn) rite, nourishes (the gods)with our oblation

5 . NASA TYA S,accepting our praises

,partake Of

theexhilarating Soma juice,theanimator of your

minds .

6. A S'

WINS,grant us that invigorating food which

may satisfy us , having dispelled the gloom (Of

7 . Come,asa ship

,to hear us over an ocean Of

praises : harness,A SWINS

,your car .

8. Your vessel,vaster thantheSky, stops on the

sea- shore: your chariot (waits on the land) : the

Sindhamdta/rd. T hesunandm oon, as theScholiast states,aresaid to bebornof thesea,—samadrajaa ; and

,intheOpinion

of some, theAs’

winsarethesameasthesunand m oon,and con

sequently, aresea- born.

T he orig inal has only “ disperse the darkness,— tamas

tirah. T he Scholiast explains the darkness to signify that Ofpoverty , - ddridrydrapam andhaka

'

ram.

Varg a I.

proachab leprotection.

FOURTH ADHYAYA .

ANUVAKA IX. (continued) .

SlixT A IV . (XLVII . )

T heRishiisPRAsxA ICIWA thedeitiesaretheA S'WINS themetre

of theodd verses, B rihatt ; of theeven, Satobrihati.

1 . A SWINS,encouragers Of sacrifice

,this m ost

sweet Soma juiceisprepared for you. Drink it of

yesterday’s expressing, and grant riches to the

donor.

2 . Come,A SWINS

,with your three- columned

,

triangular car .

" T heKA IQIWA S repeat your praiseatthesacrifice. Graciously hear their invocation.

3 . A SWINS, encouragers Of sacrifi ce, drink this

most sweet Soma juice: approach,to -day, thegiver

of theOffering,you who areOf pleasing aspects

,and

bearers ofwealth .

4. Omniscient A SWINS, stationed on the thrice

heaped sacred grass, sprinklethesacrificewith the

T rioandharefi a triarita rathena, with a car with threeposts,and triang ular, istheexplanationwe

’ havehad before. T heScholiest hereproposesa somewhat different interpretation, andwouldrender theterms; having threeundulating fasteningsof timber,and passing , unobstructedly, throug h thethreeworlds.

FIRST A SHT’AxA— FOURTH ADHYAYA . 1 27

sweet juice. T heillustrious KA fi WA S,with eflused

libations,invokeyou .

5 . With such desired aids as you protected

KA IVWA with,do you, cherishers Of pious acts

,

preserve us : encouragers of sacrifice,drink the

Soma juice.

6. Good- looking A SWINS,asyou brought, inyour v

erge 1L

car,bearers Of wealth

,abundance to SUDAS

,

" so

bring to us the riches that many covet,whether

from thefi rmament o r thesky beyond .

7. NASA TYA S,whether you abidefar Off

,or close

at hand,cometo us

,inyour well - constructed car

,

with therays of thesun.

8 . Let your coursers,the graceOf the sacrifice

,

bring you, to be present at our rite. Guides (ofmen) , bestowing food upon the pious and liberal

donor (oftheOffering) , Sit downonthesacred grass .9. Come

,NASA TYA S

,with your sun- clad chariot

,

"

inwhich you have ever conveyed wealth to the

donor (Of the offering) , to drink of thesweet Soma

juice.

1 0 . Weinvoke,with chanted and recited hymns

,

thevery affluent A SWINS,to bepresent

,for our

protection. Have you no t ever drunk the Soma

juiceinthefavoured dwelling of theKA IQIWA S ?

Sadasiscalled a Raye, theson of Pig'

acana. Wehavetwopr incesOf thenameOf Saddsa, intheParanas one

,inthesolar

line(Vishnu Pardha, p . theother, inthelunar, thesonof

Dieoda’

sa (ibid.

, p .

Literally, sun-skinned ,—saryatwacha; that is, either sur

rounded Or invested by thesun, or likehim inb rig htness.

Varg a III.

RIG- VEDA SANHITA.

SUKTA V. (XLVIII . )

T heRishiisthesame, but theHymnisaddressed to UsnAs, the

personified dawn, o r Aurora : themetreisthesameasinthe

preceding .

1 . USHAS,daughter of heaven

,dawn upon us

with riches : diffuser of light,dawn upon us with

abundant food : bountiful goddess, dawn upon uS

with wealth (of cattle) .

2 . A bounding with ho rses,abounding with kine

,

bestowers Of every so rt Of wealth ,"

(thedivinities of

m orning ) are possessed ofI

much that isnecessary

fo r thehabitations (of men) . USHAS,speak to me

kind words : send ustheaffluenceof thewealthy .

3 . T he divine USHAS has dwelt (inheaven, Ofo ld) . May shedawntod ay

,theexcitressof chariots

which are harnessed at her coming ; as thosewho

aredesirous of wealth (send ships) to sea.

"

4 . USHAS,at thy comings wisemen turn their

minds to benefactions . Of these men the m ost

wiseKA IQIWA pro claim s thefame.

T hesethreeepithetsare, all, inthefem inineplural, without asubstantive: as

’

wdoatih, g omatéh, eis’

wasaoidah : theScholiastsupplies

,therefore, ashodeoatdh, the divinities Of dawn, as if there

weremany . Rosensupplieshora matatince.

T he text isSamadrena s‘racasyacah, Likethosedesirous Ofwealth fo r sea : thecommentary supplies send ships.

”Inthe

beg inning Of thestanza, wehave only Uodsoshdh, which the

Scholiast explains, pard niedsam akarot, shehasmadea dwelling ,formerly

,i.e.

, prabhdtam kritaoati, sheproduced thedawn.

V (l l g t] . V a

1 3 0 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

the breath and life of all (creatures) rest in thee.

Difluser Of light,cometo us

,with thy spacious car

possessor of wondrous wealth,hear our invocation.

1 1 . USHAS,accept the (sacrificial) food which , of

many kinds,exists am ong the human race

,and

thereby bring to the ceremony the pious,who

,

Offering oblations,praisethee.

1 2 . USHAS,bring

,from the fi rmament

,all the

gods,to drink theSoma juice and do thou thyself

bestow upon us excellent and invigorating food,along with cattleand horses .

1 3 . May that USHAS,whose bright auspicious

rays arevisibleall around,grant us desirable

,agree

able,andeasily-attainableriches .

1 4 . A dorableUSHAS,whom the ancient sages

invoked fo r protection and for food,do thou

,

(radiant) with purelight, (pleased) by our oflering s,accept our praises .

1 5. USHAS,sincethou hast

,to -day, set open the

two gates of heavenwith light,

" grant us a spacious

and secure habitation : bestow upon us,goddess

,

cattleand food .

1 6. A dorableUSHAS,associateus with much and

multiform wealth,and with abundant cattle

,with

all foe- confounding fame,and

,giver of sustenance

,

with food .

T heeast andwest pointsOf thehorizon.

SIixTA VI . (XLIX . )

T heRishiand deity arethesame; themetreisAnasht’

abh.

1 . USHAS,come

,by auspicious ways

,from above

thebright (regionOf the) fi rmament : let thepurple

(kine)" bring thee to the dwelling of theOfferer Of

theSoma juice.

2 . USHAS,in theampleand beautiful chariot in

which thou ridest,come

,to -day, daughter Of heaven,

to thepious Offerer of theoblation .

3 . White- complexioned USHAS,upon thy coming

bipeds and quadrupeds (are in m otion) , and the

winged birds flock around,from the boundaries of

thesky.

4. Thou,USHAS

,dispersing the darkness

,illu

minest theshining universewith thy rays : such as

thou art,theKA IQIWA S

,desirous of wealth , praise

theewith their hymns .

ssm VII . (L. )

PRASXA IQIWA is, still , theRishi thedeity isSliRYA , thesun. T he

first ninestanzasareintheGdyatrimetre thelast four,inthe

A nasht’

abh.

1 .His coursers bear on high the divine all Varg aVII.

knowing Sun,that he may be seen by all (the

worlds) .2 . (A t theapproach) of theall-illuminating Sun,

SO theNighant’

a,— arang o g dca ashasdm,

purple cows, thevehiclesof themorning .

1 3 2 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

the constellations " depart,with the night

,like

thieves .

3 .Hisilluminating rays behold meninsuccession,

likeblaz ing fires .

4. Thou,SURYA

,outstrippest all inSpeed ;

"thou

artvisibleto all ; thou art thesourceOf light thou

shinest throughout theentirefi rmament.

Nakshatra, the stars in general, o r the lunar asterisms,

which, according to different texts, areconsidered to betheabodesOf theg ods, or thevisibleformsof p iouspersonsafter death ; as,Decag rihaoainakshatrdni, T heconstellationsare, verily, thedwellingsof theg ods; and, ag ain, Yo ad iha yag

’

ate’mam lokam nak

shate, either ,He who performsworship hereObtainsthenextw orld, or, Sakritam edetdnijyoténshiyannakshatrdni, Thosecon

stellationsaretheluminariesOf thosewho practiserelig iousacts,that is, according to d ana

,thosewho , by attending to relig ious

dutiesinthisworld , attainSwar g a, arebeheld intheform ofcon

stellations,— iha lokekarmdnasht’

hdya yeswarg am prdpnacanti te

nakshatrar apena drisyante.

d ana says,that, according to theSmriti, thesunm oves

yojanasinhalf a twinkleOf theeye.

Jyotishkrit, g iving lig ht to all thing s, evento them oonandtheplanets

,by nig ht : for they, it issaid, areof a watery sub

tance,from which theraysof thesunarereflected ; inlikeman

ner asthe rays of thesun, falling upona m irror placed in thedoorway Of a chamber

,arereflected into the interior , and g iveit

lig ht. d ana also explainsthewholepassagemetaphysically,identifying the sun w ith thesupremespirit, who enablesall

being sto passover theocean of existence, who is beheld by alldesirous of final emancipation

, who is the author Of true or

spiritual lig ht, andwho renderseverything luminousthroug h thelig ht Of themind .

1 3 4 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

1 1 . Radiant with benevolent light,rising to -day,

and m ounting into thehighest heaven,do then

,O

Sun,rem ove the sickness Of my heart, and the

yellowness (Of my1 2 . Let us transfer theyellowness (of my body)

to the parrots,to the starlings

,o r to theHaritala"

(tree) .

1 3 . This Amm hasrisen,with all (his) might,

g’

yotir attamam, weg o to thebest lig ht ; that is, webecomeidentifi edw ith spiritual lig ht,— sdyajyam g achchhdmah and

,ag ain, he

(thew orshipper) becomesidentical with thatwhich heworships,tam yathd yathopdsatetadera bhaoati.

Eridrog a may also mean heart-burn or indigestion; harimaham, g reennessor yellowness, isexternal changeOf thecolourof theskin, injaundiceor bilious affections. Thisverseand thetwo follow ing constitute a tricha or triplet, therepetition ofwhich , w ith dueformalities, isconsidered to becurativeof disease.

Sarya, thushymned by Praskanwa, cured him , it issaid , Of acutaneousmalady, or leprosy, under which hewas labouring .

A ccording ly, S’

aanaka termsthecoupletsamantra,dedicated to the

sun,rem oving sin, healing disease, anantidoteto poison

, and the

meansof obtaining present happinessand final liberation. T he

especial worship Ofthesun, inIndia, at thetimeofthefirst incursionsof theMahommedans, attributed to that lum inary’shavingcured Sdmba, thesonOfKrishna

,of leprosy, is fully related by

M. Reimend, inhisinteresting Mémoiresar l’ Inde, and wasthen,no doubt

,ofancient date, orig inating w ith theprim itivenotions

of theattributes Of Sarya, here adverted to . T he hymn is,

throug hout, ofanarchaic character .

SO theScholiast interpretsthehdridrava of thetext, ha/ritala

drama; but thereisno treeso called . Har itoila most usuallymeansyellow orpiment ; hdrichr

ara,a yellow vegetablepowder.

my enemy.

"

ANUVAKA X.

SiiKT A I . (LI ) .

T heRishiisSAVYA ," thesonofANGIRA S theHymnisaddressed

to INDRA : thetwo last versesareintheT risht’abh metre; therest, intheJag ati.

1 . Animate,with praises

,that ram

,

"

(INDRA) , who

is adored by m any,who isgratified by hymns

,and

is an ocean Of weal th ; whose good deeds spread

abroad,fo r thebenefit Of mankind

,liketherays Of

light. Worship the powerful and wise INDRA,for

theenj oyment ofprosperity .

2 . T heprotecting and fostering RIBIIUS " hastened

to the presence Of INDRA,Of graceful m otion

,and

irradiating the fi rmament,

" imbued with vigour,

T heenemy hereintended issicknesso r disease.

Ang iras, it issaid , having performed worship , to Obtain a

sonwho should resem bleIndra, thedeity becamehisson, underthenameof Savya.

T yam mesham referring to a legend inwhich it isnarrated ,that Indra came, intheform of a ram ,

to asacrificesolemnized byIlledhdtithi

,and drank the Soma juice. Or mesha may be ren

dered victor over foes.

T heRibhusaresaid , here, to mean theMarats, by whom

Indra wasaided and encouraged , whenall theg odshad desertedhim ; asinthetexts, Al l theg odswho were thy friendshavefled : may there be friendship betweentheMar/ratsand theeand

,ag ain, “ T heMaratsdid not abandonhim .

Indra, asS’

akra, isoneOf thetwelveA'

dityas, o r suns.

1 3 6 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

thehumiliator of hisenemies,the performer of a

hundred pious acts ; and by them encouraging

words wereuttered .

"

3 . Thou hast opened the cloud" for the A NGI

RASAs; thou hast showntheway to A TRI , who vexes

his adversaries by a hundred doors thou hast

granted wealth,with food

,to VIMADA thou art

wielding thy thunderbolt indefenceof a worshipper

engaged inbattle.

4. Thou hast opened the receptacle of the

waters ; thou hast detained, in themountain, the

treasureOf themalignant when thou hadst slain

VRITRA,thedestrOyer,

"thou madest thesunVisible

inthesky .

They exclaimed , “ Str ike; Bhag acan, bevaliant, ” - Prahara,

Bhag a/voa eiryaswa.

T he term isg otra, explained either a cloud,or a herd Of

cattle. Gotrabhid, asanameOf Indra, implies, inordinary lan

g auge, mountain- breaker,— that is, w ith the thunderbolt : as

applied to cattle, it alludes, it issaid , to therecovery of thecowsstolenbyPani. Ineither case, theactwasperformed inconsequenceOf theprayers

,or for thebenefit, of thedescendantsof Ang iras.

Bv a number of meansor contrivances,—yantras.

Vimada iscalled , inthecommentary, aMaharshi.

Parcatedanamad easa.

“ In them ountain” implies thedwelling ofIndra. a amat isvariously explained, asonedoingan injury

,hostile or malignant, anenemy ; o r

,one descended

from Dana, a a aea,anA sara or it may beanepithet Of oasa,

wealth , fi t for liberality from ddna, g iving .

f Vritra, who isA hi explained

,hantri

,theslayer . From a

text cited from theYag’

ar Veda, A hi appearsto bethepersonification Of all the benefits derivable from sacrifice, knowledge,

1 3 8 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

who areD asyas restraining thosewho perform noreligious rites , compel them to submit to theperformer Of sacrifi ces : bethou

,who art powerful

,the

encourager of the sacrifi cer . I am desirous Of

celebrating all thy deeds, in ceremonies that give

theesatisfaction.

9. INDRA abides,humbling theneglecters of holy

acts,in favour of those who Observe them

,and

punishing thosewho turnaway from hisworship,in

favour of thosewho arepresent (with their praise) .

VAMRA,while praising him

,whether o ld or ado

lescent,and spreading through heaven

,carried Od

theaccumulated (materials of thesacrifice)"

1 0 . If USANA S should sharpenthy vigour by his

own,thenwould thy might terrify, by itsintensity,

both heaven and earth . Friend of man,let the

will-harnessed steeds, with thevelocity Of thewind,convey thee

,replete(with vigour) , to (partakeOf the

sacrificial) food .

T heA'

ryas, asappearsfrom th isand thenext verse,and as

stated by the Scholiast, are thosewho practiserelig ious rites;whiletheDasyasarethosewho do not observerelig iouscerem onies, and areinim ical to thosewho do being , probably, theuncivilized tribesof India, yet unsubdued by the followersOf the

Vedas, theA'

ryas, therespectableo r civilized race.

T hetext is, here, Obscure, Vamro cig'

ag hdnasandihah; Vamra

destroyed the collections. T he Scholiast says, that a Rishi

named Vamra took advantageofI ndra’sabsencefrom a sacrifice,

to carry away theaccumulated heap Of offering s, themarrow o r

essenceof theearth ; Yad calmikacapdsambhdro bharati iwy'

am

eraprithicydh.

FIRST A SH'f‘AKA— FOURTH ADHYAYA . 1 3 9

1 1 . When INDRA is delighted with acceptablehymns, he ascends (his car ) , drawn by m oreand

m ore obliquely - curveting coursers : fierce,heex

tracts thewaters,from the passing (cloud) , in a

torrent,and hasoverwhelmed theextensivecities Of

S’

USHNA .

1 2 . Thou m ountest thy chariot willingly,INDRA

,

for thesakeof drinking thelibations . Such asthou

delightest inhavebeenprepared (at thesacrificeof)S

’

ARYAT A .

" Bepleased with them,asthou art grati

fi ed by theeffused Sonia juices, (at thesacrifices) Of

others . SO dost thou obtainimperishable famein

heaven.

1 3 . Thou hast given,INDRA

,the youthful VRI

OIIAYA" to the aged KAKSHIVA T,praising thee

,and

Offering libations . Thou,SUKRA TU

,wast MENA

,the

daughter ofVRISHANASWA .

" A ll thesethy deeds areto berecited at thy worship .

S’

drydta wasa Rajarshi,— according to theScholiast,— Ofthe

raceofBhrig a. T heA itareyaB rethma’

fi a callshim a princeof theraceofMana. T he term isa patronymic

,implying sonor de

scendant Of S’

arydti, who wasthefourth sonoftheMannVaioas

wata. [Seep . 293 , note0 ] T heRishi Chyaoana married hisdaug hter ; andasolemnsacrificewasheld ontheoccasion, atwhichIndra and theA s

’

winswerepresent . Chyacana appropriated tohimself theshareoftheoblationintended for theA é icins

,at which

Indra wasvery ang ry ; and, to appeasehim, a fresh Offering was

prepared . T heScholiast quotesthisstory from theKaashitaki

Brdhmana. It isdetailed intheBhdg aoata andPadmaFaranas.

Vriehayd, it issaid , wasg ivento Ifakshioat, at theRa'

jasag a

cerem ony . No noticeofher occurselsewhere.

T heBrdhmana iscited for a strangestory of Indra’

shaving ,

1 40 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

1 4 . INDRA has been had recourse to,that he

may assist thepious,intheir distress . Praise by

thePAIRAS" is(asstable) asthepost of a doorway .

INDRA, the giver of riches,who is possessed Of

horses, cattle, chariots, and wealth," ispresent.

1 5. This adoration is Offered to the shedder ofrain, the self- resplendent, the possessor of truevig our, themighty . May we beaided

,INDRA

,in

this conflict,by many heroes

,and abide ina pros

perous(habitation, bestowed) by thee.

ssm II . (LII )

T heRishiand divinity arethesame: themetreof thethirteenthand fifteenth versesisT risht’abh ; Of therest, Jag ati.

1 . Worship well that ram,

" who makes heavenknown

,whom a hundred worshippers at onceare

assiduous inpraising . I imploreINDRA,with many

prayers , to ascend the car,—which hastens

,likea

fleet courser, to thesacrifi ce,— for my protection.

2 . When INDRA,who delights in the sacrificial

food,had slain the stream - obstructing VRITRA

,and

waspouring down thewaters, he stood fi rm ,amid

thetorrents,likea m ountain

,and

,endowed with a

himself,becomeMend, thedaug hter Of Vrishanas

’

wa,and having ,

afterwards, falleninlovewith her . T heIIend of thePardnasisoneof the daug htersof thePitris, by Swadhd, and thew ifeofHima/vat, theking Of them ountains.

T heReg'

rasaresaid to bethesameastheA ng irasas.

Or it may berendered “who is desirous of possessing ,

expecting such g iftsfrom theinstitutor of theceremony .

Seep . 1 3 5,note0 .

XIII .

1 42 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

6 . When, INDRA, thou hadst smitten, with thythunderbolt

,thecheek of thewide-extended VRIT RA

,

tionof thesacred g rass, to thethreeblades of which, placed on

thealtar,thelegend may oweitsorig in: but thisdoesnot appear

from the narrative. T he Scholiast, following the Taittiriyas,

saysthat A gni threw thecindersoftheburnt- Offer ing sinto water,whencesuccessivelyaroseEkata,Dwita, and T rita, who , itelsewhereappears, were, therefore, called A

'

ptyas, o r sonsof water(StiktaCV .,

v. T rita,having , onasubsequent occasion, g oneto draw water

from a well, fell into it ; and theA sarasheaped coveringsover them outh of it

,to prevent hisgetting out ; but hebrokethroug h

them w ith case. It isto thisexploit that I ndra’sbreaking throug hthedefencesof theAsaraBalaiscompared . T hestory issomewhat differently related intheNiti—mang

’

dri. Threebrothers,it is

said,Ekata, Dwita, and T rita, weretravelling ina desert

,and

,

being distressed by thirst, cameto awell , from which theyoungest,T rita, drew water and g aveit to hisbrothers. Inrequital, theythrew him into thewell , inorder to appropriatehisproperty, and,having covered thetopw ith a cart-wheel, left him inthewell . In

thisextrem ity, heprayed to all theg odsto extricatehim ,and

,by

their favour, hemadehisescape. Paridhi, theterm of thetext,meansa circum ference, a circular covering , o r lid . Mr . Colebrookehasbriefly, but w ith hisusual accuracy, cited thisstory, inhisaccount Of theRig Veda (As. Researches, Vo l . VIII .

, p . D r .

Roth conceivesT rita to bethesameasT raitana, anamethat occurs

ina text of theRich and,converting thelatter into adeifi cation,

heimag ineshim to betheorig inal Of T hraetona, theZ end form of

Feridan, oneOf theheroesoftheShdh-adma, andof ancientPersian

tradition.—Z eitschrift der D . Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, Vo l .

p. 2 1 6 . Professor Lassenseemsdisposed to adopt thisidentifi

cation.— IndischeA lterthamskande, A dditions. T heidentity of

T rita and T raitana, however , remainsto beestablished ; and the

very stanza quoted, by Dr . Roth,asauthority for thelattername,isexplained , intheNiti-manjari, inavery different sensefrom that

FIRST ASH'fAKA— FOURTH ADHYAYA . ] 43

who,having Obstructed thewaters , reposed in the

region above the fi rmament, thy fame spread afar,thy prowess wasrenowned .

7 . T he hymns,INDRA

,that glorify thee attain

unto thee,asrivulets (flow into) a lake. T WA SH’

TRI

has augmented thy appropriate vigour : he has

sharpened thy bolt with overpowering might.

8. INDRA,performer of holy acts

,desirous of

going to man,thou

,with thy steeds , hast slain

VRITRA, (hast set free) thewaters, hast taken, inthy

hands,thy thunderbolt Of iron

,and hast made the

sunVisibleinthesky .

which hehasg iven. It issaid, that theslavesOf D irg hataanas,

whenhewasOld and blind , becameinsubordinate, and attemptedto destroy him ,

first, by throwing him into thefi re, whencehewassaved by theA s’wins, then, into water , whencehewasextricatedby thesamed ivinities; uponwhich, T raitana, oneof theslaves,w ounded him on thehead

,breast

,and arms

,and theninflic ted

likeinjur iesonhimself, Ofwhich heperished . A fter theseevents,thesagerecited , inpraiseoftheA s

’

wins, thehymninwhich theverseoccurs— Na md g drannadyo matritama, ddsa

’

yadansasa~

mabdham aoddhah s’

iro yad asya T raitano oitakshat, swayam ddsa

aro ansdcapi g dha, Let no t thematernal watersswal low me,

sincetheslavesassailed thisdecrepit (old man) . Inlikemanner as

theslaveT raitanaw ounded hishead , so hashestruck it, ofhimself,and, likewise, hisbreast and shoulders.

”

[I .

,CLVIII .

,5 see

Vo l . II .

,p . If thisinterpretationbecorrect

,therecanbe

littlerelationbetweenT rita and T raitana, and betweenthelatterand Feridan. T heformer term has

,however , found adm ission

asa numeral, and,apparently

,also asa proper name

,into the

Z end books. SeeM. Burnouf’s “ Rtadessar lesTextes Z ends,

”

Journal A siatique, A pril , 1 845 see,also, theword T rita, inthe

Glossary OfBenfey’

seditionOf theSdma Veda.

Varg aXIV.

1 44 RIG-VEDA SANHITA.

9. Through fear (of VRITRA , they, the wor

shippers, ) recited the suitablehymn of theB rihat

self-illuminating,strength-bestowing

,and

ascending to heaven; on which his allies, (the

MARUT S) , combating for men, (guardians) of heaven,and Vivifi ers of mankind

,animated INDRA (to

destroy him ) .1 0 . T he strong heaven was rent asunder with

fear,at theclamour of that AHI

,whenthou

,INDRA

,

wast inspirited by (drinking) the effused (Soniajuice) , and thy thunderbolt, in itsvigour, struck Off

the head of VRIT RA,the Obstructor of heaven and

earth .

1 1 . A lthough,INDRA

,theearth wereOf tenfold

(itsextent) , and men multiplied every day, yet,MAGHAVAN

,thy prowess would be equally re

nowned ; theexploits achieved by thy might wouldbespread abroad

,with theheavens .

1 2 . Firm -minded INDRA,abiding

, (secure, ) inthystrength

,beyond the limit of the wide-expanded

fi rmament,thou hast framed theearth for our pre

servation thou hast beenthetypeOf vigour ; thou

hast encompassed the fi rmament and thesky,asfar

asto theheavens .

1 3 . Thou art the type Of theextended earth ;"

T hetexthasonlyB rihat; theScholiast addsSdma. Anallusionto theSdma, ina verseof theRich, would indicatethepriority Oftheformer , at least asrespectsthishymn.

Bha/vah pratimdnam ,thecounter -measureOf theearth ; that

is, according to theScholiast, Of similar magnitudeand likeinconceivablepower .

Varg a XVI .

1 46 R IG-VEDA SANHITA.

of barley,themaster and protector Of wealth

,the

foremost in liberality, (the being ) of many days

thou disappointest no t desires (addressed to thee)thou art a friend to our friends . Such anINDRA we

praise.

3 . Wise and resplendent INDRA,theachiever Of

great deeds,theriches that are spread around are

known to be thine: having collected them,victor

(over thy enemies) , bring them to us : disappoint

not theexpectationof theworshipper who trusts in

thee.

4. Propitiated by these offerings,by these liba

tions,dispel poverty with cattleand horses . May

we,subduing our adversary

,and relieved from

enemies by INDRA, (pleased) by our libations , enj oy,

together,abundant food .

5 . INDRA,may we become possessed of riches

and of fo od ; and, with energies agreeableto many,and shining around

,may weprosper, through thy

divinefavour,the source of prowess

,of cattle

,and

Of horses .

6. Those who were thy allies (the MARUT S, )brought thee j oy. Protector of thepious

,thoseli

bations and oblations (that were offered thee,on

slaying VRIT RA ) , yielded thee delight, when thou,unimpeded by foes

,didst destroy the ten thousand

Obstacles " opposed to him who praised thee and

Offered theeoblations .

D as’

a rritrdhi a assahasrani. Vritrani is interpreted bydoarakdfi i, covers, concealments, obstructions.

FIRST A SH'fAKA - FOURTH ADHYAYA . 1 47

7 . Humiliator (of adversaries) , thou goest frombattle to battle

,and destroyest, by thy might, city

after city . With thy foe-prostrating associate, (the

thunderbolt) , thou , INDRA , didst slay , afar off,the

deceiver named NAMUCHI .

"

8 . Thou hast slainKARANJA and PARNAYA with

thy bright gleaming spear , in the cause of Am

THIGWA . Unaided,thou didst dem o lish thehundred

cities of VANGRIDA,whenbesieged by RIJISWAN.

"

9. Thou,renowned INDRA

,overthrewest

,by thy

no t- to - be- overtakenchariot-wheel,thetwenty kings

of men,who had comeagainst SUSRAVA S

,unaided

,

and their sixty thousand and ninety and nine

fo llowers.

"

1 0 . Thou,INDRA

,hast preserved SUSRAVAS

,by

thy succour T I'

IRVAYANA,by thy assistance. Thou

hast madeKUT SA,A T IT II IGWA

,andAYU" subject to

themighty,though youthful

,SUSRAVA S.

1 1 . Protected by thegods, weremain, INDRA, at

thecloseo f thesacrifice, thy m ost fortunatefriends .

Namachiistermed anA sara. Heappears, intheParanas, asa a aea

,o r descendant ofD ana .

T hefirst tw o arethenames of A saras. A tithig wa wehavehad before: Vang rida iscalled anA sara ; andRijis

’

wan, a Ra’

jd.

Wehaveno further particulars; no r do they appear inthePardhas. [SeeVo l . III .

,pp . 1 48

,

Here,ag ain, weder iveno aid from theBhdshya. T helegend

isno t Paaraffi ik and,thoug h wehavea Sas

’

raeasamong thePra

jdpatisinthed a Pardh'

a,hedoesno t appear asa king .

A'

yas, thesonOfPararaoas, m ay beintended ; but thename,here

,isA

'

ya, w ithout thefinal sib ilant .

Varg a XVII.

sem i IV . (LIV )

T hedeity and Rishiarethesame: themetreofthesixth,eig hth ,

ninth,andeleventh stanzasisT risht'abh Oftheother seven

,Jag ati.

1 . Urge us not,MAGHAVAN

,to this iniquity

,to

these iniquitous conflicts; for the limit Of thy

strength isno t to besurpassed . Thou hast shouted,

and hast madethewaters of the rivers roar. How

(isit possible) that theearth should not be filled

with terror

2 . Offer adoration to the wise and powerful

S'

AKRA . Glorifying thelistening INDRA,praisehim

who purifies both heaven and earth by his irre

sistiblemight,who isthesender of showers

,and

,by

hisbounty, g ratifi esour desires .

3 . Ofler exhilarating praises to the great and

illustrious INDRA,of whom

,undaunted

,the steady

mind is concentrated in its own firmness ; for he,who is of great renown

,the giver of rain

,the

repeller of enemies,who is obeyed by his steeds,

theshowerer (Of bounties) , ishastening hither.

4 . Thou hast shakenthesummit Of the spacious

heaven; thou hast slain S'AMBARA , by thy resolute

self ; thou hast hurled , with exulting and determined

mind,thesharp andbright- rayed thunderbolt against

assembled Asaras.

5 . Since thou,loud- shouting

,hast poured the

rain upon the brow Of the breathing (wind) , and

Varg a XIX.

1 50 RIG - VEDA SANHITA.

thee they arethebeverageOf INDRA . Q uaff them

satiatethineappetitewith them ; and, then, fix thymind onthewealth that isto begiven(to us) .1 0 . T hedarkness Obstructed the current of the

waters ; thecloud waswithin thebelly Of VR ITRA

but INDRA precipitated all the waters which the

obstructor had concealed,insuccession

,downto the

hollows (of theearth) .

1 1 . Bestow upon us,INDRA, increasing reputa

tion; (bestow uponus) great, augmenting, and foe

subduing strength ; preserveus inaffluence; cherish

thosewho arewise; and supply us with wealth from

which proceed excellent progeny and food.

SuXT A V . (LV . )

Deity andRishi, asbefore themetre,Jag ati.

1 . T heamplitude Of INDRA wasvaster thanthe

(space of) heaven: earth wasno t comparable to

him,inbulk ; formidableand m ost mighty

,hehas

been,ever

,theafflicter (of theenemies Of) those

men (who worship him ) hewhetshisthunderbolt,

for sharpness,asa bull

, (hishorns) .2 . T hefi rmament- abiding INDRA grasps thewide

Spread waters with his comprehensive faculties,

"

as

the o cean (receives the rivers) : he rushes, (im

petuous, ) asa bull, to drink Of theSoma juice he,

thewarrior,ever covets praisefo r hisprowess .

Gribhndti «k earimabhih,- heg rasps, w ith hispowersof com

prehending o r collecting , samoaranaih ; o r,it may be, by his

vastness,aratwaih.

FIRST ASHT AXA —FOURTH ADHYAYA . 1 5 1

3 . Thou,INDRA

,hast no t (struck) the cloud fo r

(thineown) enj oyment ; thou rulest over thosewhoarepossessed ofgreat wealth . That divinity isknown

,

by us,to surpass all othersinstrength : thehaughty

(INDRA) takes precedence of all gods,onaccount Of

hisexploits.

4.He,verily

,isglorified by adoring (sages) inthe

forest ; he proclaim s hisbeautiful vigour amongst

men; heisthegranter Oftheir wishes (to thosewho

solicit him ) ; he is theencourager Of those who

desire to worship (him ) , when thewealthy offererof oblations

,enj oying his protection

,recites his

praise.

5 . INDRA,thewarrio r

,engages in many great

conflicts,for (thegood of) man, with overwhelming

prowess . When he hurls his fatal Shaft,every

one immediately has faith in the resplendent

INDRA .

6 . Ambitious Of renown, destroying the well Varg aXX ,

built dwellings Of theAsaras,expanding like the

earth,and setting the (heavenly) luminaries free

from concealment,

" he,theperformer Of good deeds

,

enables thewaters to flow,for the benefit of his

worshippers .