Note 5. Rimidti, like the preceding expressions krivirdati and rddati, is not chosen at random, for though it has thep. 224 general meaning of crushing or destroying, it is used by the Vedic poets with special reference to the chewing or crunching by means of the teeth. For instance,
I, 148, 4. purdizi dasmaé ni rivAti gimbhaih.
Agni crunches many things with his jaws.
1,127, 4. sthirf Ait d4nna nf rinAti dgasa.
Even tough morsels he (Agni) crunches fiercely.
In a more general sense we find it used,
V, 41,10. sokih-kesak nf rinAti vana.
Agni with flaming hair swallows or destroys the forests.
IV, 19, 3. ahim vdgrena vi rindh.
Thou destroyedst Ahi with the thunderbolt.
X,120,1. sadyahk gagnanah ni rindti sdtran.
As soon as born he destroys his enemies.
Note 6. Sudhita-iva barhdza. I think the explanation of this phrase given by Sayaza may be retained. He explains siidhita by suhit4, i.e. sush¢#u prerita, well thrown, well levelled, and barhav4 by hatis, tatsadhand hetir v4, a blow or its instrument, a weapon. Professor Roth takes barhav4 as an instrumental, used adverbially, in the sense of powerfully, but he does not explain in what sense sidhitd-iva ought then to be taken. We cannot well refer it to didyut, lightning, on account of the iva, which requires something that can form a simile of the lightning. Nor is su-dhita ever used as a substantive so as to take the place of svddhitiva. Su-dhita has apparently many meanings, but they all centre in one common conception. Su-dhita means well placed, of a thing which is at rest, well arranged, well ordered, secure; or it means well sent, well thrown, of a thing which has been in motion. Applied to human beings, it means well disposed or kind.
III, 23, 1.. nfZ-mathita si-dhitak & sadhd-sthe.
Agni produced by rubbing, and well placed in his abode.
VII, 42, 4. su-pritak agnih si-dhitak dame &.
Agni, who is cherished and well placed in the house.
III, 29, 2. ardnyok ni-hitak gatd-vedahk garbhah-iva sudhitadé garbhizishu.
Agni placed in the two fire-sticks, well placed like an embryo in the mothers. Cf. X, 27, 16.
Come, O Vasu, to these well-placed offerings. Cf. I, 135, 4; VI,15,15; X, 53 2
X, 70, 8. su-dhita havimeshi.
The well-placed offerings.
IV, 2, 10 (adhvardm). VII, 7, 3 (barhi£).
As applied to dyus, life, sidhita may be translated by well established, safe :
II, 27, 10, asydma dydmshi su-dhitani prva.
May we obtain the happy long lives of our forefathers.
IV, 50, 8. sa it ksheti su-dhita% dkasi své.
That man dwells secure in his own house.
Applied to a missile weapon, sidhita may mean well placed, as it were, well shouldered, well held, before it is thrown; or well levelled, well aimed, when it is thrown :
I, 167, 3. mimydksha yéshu si-dhita—rishaiz,
To whom the well held spear sticks fast.
Applied to a missile weapon, sidhita may mean well placed, as it were, well shouldered, well held, before it is thrown; or well levelled, well aimed, when it is thrown :
Then, like a kind friend, Agni shone among the children of man.
V, 3,2. mitram si-dhitam.
VI, 15, 2. mitram na ydm st-dhitam.
VIII, 23, 8. mitram nd gdne su-dhitam ritd-vani.
(32] Q
p. 226
X,115,7. mitraésak nd yé si-dhitas.
At last si-dhita, without reference to human beings, takes the general sense of kind, good:
III, 11, 8. pari visvani si-dhitaé agnéZ asyama mdnmabhiz.
May we obtain through our prayers all the goods of Agni.
Here, however, pray4msi may have to be supplied, and in that case this passage, too, should be classed with those mentioned above, VIII, 60, 4, &c.
If then we consider that sudhita, as applied to weapons, means well held or well aimed, we can hardly doubt that barhav4 is here, as Sayava says, some kind of weapon. I should derive it from barhayati, to crush, which we have, for instance,
Pound together the fearful Pis&#i with his fiery weapons, strike down every Rakshas.
II, 23, 8. brthaspate deva-nida% n{ barhaya.
Brihaspati strike down the scoffers of the gods. Cf. VI, 61, 3.
Barhdv4d would therefore mean a weapon intended to crush an enemy, a block of stone, it may be, or a heavy club, and in that sense barhdv4 occurs at least once
When shouts have been sent up to Indra by the people of the five clans, then the club scattered the spears; or, then he scattered the spears with his club.
In other passages Professor Roth is no doubt right when he assigns to barhd#4 an adverbial meaning, but I do not think that this meaning would be appropriate in our verse. Grassmann also translates, ‘ ein wohlgezielter Pfeil.’
Verse 7.
Note 1. Aldtriniisak, a word which occurs but once more, and which had evidently become unintelligible even at the
p. 227
Grassmann also translates, ‘ ein wohlgezielter Pfeil.’
Verse 7.
Note 1. Aldtriniisak, a word which occurs but once more, and which had evidently become unintelligible even at thep. 227 time of Yaska. He (Nir. VI, 2) explains it by alamatardano megha4, the cloud which opens easily. This, at least, is the translation given by Professor Roth, though not without hesitation. Alamatardanaf, as a compound, is explained by the commentator as 4tardanaparydpta4, alam Atardayitum udakam, i.e. capable of letting off the water. But Devardgayagvan explains it differently. He says: alam paryaptam Atardanam hims4 yasya, bahidakatvasksabalo megho viseshyate, i.e. whose injuring is great; the dark cloud is so called because it contains much water. SAdyana, too, attempts several explanations. In III, 30,10, he seems to derive it from tyzh, to kill, not, like Y4ska, from tréd, and he explains its meaning as the cloud which is exceedingly hurt by reason of its holding so much water. In our passage he explains it either as anatrzna, free from injury, or good hurters of enemies, or good givers of rewards.
From all this I am afraid we gain nothing. Let us now see what modern commentators have proposed in order to discover an appropriate meaning in this word. Professor Roth suggests that the word may be derived from r4, to give, and the suffix trivza, and the negative particle, thus meaning, one who does not give or yield anything. But, if so, how is this adjective applicable to the Maruts, who in this very verse are praised for their generosity? Langlois in our passage translates, ‘heureux de nos louanges;’ in ITI, 30, 10, ‘qui laissait fiétrir les plantes.’ Wilson in our passage translates, ‘devoid of malevolence ;’ but in III, 30, 10, ‘heavy.’
I do not pretend to solve all these difficulties, but I may say this in defence of my own explanation that it fulfils the condition of being applicable both to the Maruts and to the demon Bala. The suffix triva is certainly irregular, and I should much prefer to write aldtriga, for in that case we might derive latrin from lAtra, and to this latra, i.e. ratra, I should ascribe the sense of barking. The root rai or ra means to bark, and has been connected by Professor Aufrecht with Latin rire, inrire, and possibly inritare’,
® Kuhn, Zeitschrift, vol. ix, p. 233. Q2
p. 228
ratra, I should ascribe the sense of barking. The root rai or ra means to bark, and has been connected by Professor Aufrecht with Latin rire, inrire, and possibly inritare’,
® Kuhn, Zeitschrift, vol. ix, p. 233. Q2p. 228 thus showing a transition of meaning from barking, to provoking or attacking. The same root ra explains also the Latin lAtrare, to bark, allatrare, to assail ; and, whatever ancient etymologists may say to the contrary, the Latin latro, an assailer. The old derivation ‘latrones eos antiqui dicebant, qui conducti militabant, a7é rijs Aarpeias,’ seems to me one of those etymologies in which the scholars of Rome, who had learnt a little Greek, delighted as much as scholars who know a little Sanskrit delight in finding some plausible derivation for any Greek or Latin word in Sanskrit. I know that Curtius (Grundziige, p. 326) and Corssen (Kritische Nachtrage, p. 239) take a different view; but a foreign word, derived from Adrpov, pay, hire, would never have proved so fertile as latro has been in Latin.
If then we could write alAtrizdsak, we should have an appropriate epithet of the Maruts, in the sense of not assailing or not reviling, in fact, free from malevolence, as Wilson translated the word, or rather Sdyaza’s explanation of it, Atardanarahita. What gives me some confidence in this explanation is this, that it is equally applicable to the other passage where alatriza occurs, III, 30, 10:
alatrindh valah indra vragdh géh pur& hanto# bha4yamanak vi ara.
Without barking did Vala, the keeper of the cow, full of fear, open, before thou struckest him.
If it should be objected that vragd means always stable, and is not used again in the sense of keeper, one might reply that vragd#, in the nom. sing., occurs in this one single passage only, and that bhadyamanaé, fearing, clearly implies a personification. Otherwise, one might translate: ‘Vala was quiet, O Indra, and the stable of the cow came open, full of fear, before thou struckest.’ The meaning of alatrivd would remain the same, the not-barking being here used asa sign that Indra’s enemy was cowed, and no longer inclined to revile or defy the power of Indra. Hom. hymn. in Merc. 145, o¥8@ xives AeAdKovro.
Note 2. See I, 38, 15, note 1, page 95.
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Verse 8.
Note 1. Abhi-hruti seems to have the meaning of assault, injury, insult. It occurs but once, but abhi-hrut, a feminine substantive with the same meaning, occurs several times. The verb hru, which is not mentioned in the Dhatup4¢ha, but has been identified with hvar, occurs in our hymn, verse 12:
He protects us from evil, from assault, from evil speaking, from assault.
X, 63,11. tréyadhvam nak duh-évayas abhi-hruta.
Protect us from mischievous injury !
I, 189, 6. abhi-hritém dsi hi deva vishpdz.
For thou, god, art the deliverer from all assaults. Vishpd¢, deliverer, from vi and spas, to bind.
X, 63,11. tréyadhvam nak duh-évayas abhi-hruta.
Protect us from mischievous injury !
I, 189, 6. abhi-hritém dsi hi deva vishpdz.
For thou, god, art the deliverer from all assaults. Vishpd¢, deliverer, from vi and spas, to bind.
Vi-hruta, which occurs twice, means evidently what has been injured or spoiled :
VIII, 1,12. ishkart4 vi-hrutam punar (iti).
He who sets right what has been injured. Cf. VIII, 20, 26.
Avi-hruta again clearly means uninjured, intact, entire:
V, 66, 2. t&é hf kshatrdm avi-hrutam —4sAte.
For they both have obtained uninjured power.
X, 170, 1. &yuk dddhat yagiid-patau dvi-hrutam.
Giving uninjured life to the lord of the sacrifice.
Verse 9.
Note 1. Tavishd certainly means strength, and that it is used in the plural in the sense of acts of strength, we can see from the first verse of our hymn and other passages. But when we read that tavish&a#i are placed on the chariots of the Maruts, just as before bhadra, good things, food, &c., are mentioned, it is clear that so abstract a meaning as strength or powers would not be applicable here. We might take it in the modern sense of forces, i.e. your armies, your companions are on your chariots, striving with each other; but as the word is a neuter, weapons, as the meansp. 230 of strength, seemed a preferable rendering. As to mithaspridhya, see I, 119, 3, p. 164.
Note 2. The rendering of this passage must depend on the question whether the khadis, whatever they are, can be carried on the shoulders or not. We saw before (p. 120) that khadis were used both as ornaments and as weapons, and that, when used as weapons, they were most likely rings or quoits with sharp edges. There is at least one other passage where these khad{s are said to be worn on the shoulders :
On your shoulders are the quoits, on your chests the golden chains are fastened.
_ In other places the kh4dis are said to be in the hands, hasteshu, but this would only show that they are there when actually used for fighting. Thus we read:
I, 168, 3. &esh4m dmseshu rambhini-iva rarabhe, hasteshu khadiz ka kritih ka s4m dadhe.
To their shoulders there clings as if a clinging wife, in their hands the quoit is held and the dagger.
Thus we read:
I, 168, 3. &esh4m dmseshu rambhini-iva rarabhe, hasteshu khadiz ka kritih ka s4m dadhe.
To their shoulders there clings as if a clinging wife, in their hands the quoit is held and the dagger.
In V, 58, 2, the Maruts are called khfdi-hasta, holding the quoits in their hands. There is one passage which was mentioned before (p. 112), where the khadis are said to be on the feet of the Maruts, and on the strength of this passage Professor Roth proposes to alter prd-patheshu to pra-padeshu, and to translate, ‘The khddis are on your forefeet” I do not think this emendation necessary. Though we do not know the exact shape and character of the khad{, we know that it was a weapon, most likely a ring, occasionally used for ornament, and carried along either on the feet or on the shoulders, but in actual battle held in the hand. The weapon which Vishvu holds in one of his right hands, the so-called Aakra, may be the modern representation of the ancient khdd{. What, however, is quite certain is this, that kh4d{ in the Veda never means food, as Sayaza optionally interprets it. This interpretation is accepted by Wilson, who translates, ‘At your restingplaces on the road refreshments (are ready).’ Nay, hep. 231 goes on in a note to use this passage as a proof of the advanced civilisation of India at the time of the Vedic Rishis. ‘The expression,’ he says, ‘is worthy of note, as indicating the existence of accommodations for the use of travellers: the prapatha is the choltri of the south of India, the sardi of the Mohammedans, a place by the road-side where the travellers may find shelter and provisions.’
Note 8. This last passage shows that the poet is really representing to himself the Maruts as on their journey, and he therefore adds, ‘your axle turns the two (IV, 30, 2) wheels together,’ which probably means no more than, ‘ your chariot is going smoothly or quickly.’ Though the expression seems to us hardly correct, yet one can well imagine how the axle was supposed to turn the wheels as the horses were drawing the axle, and the axle acted on the wheels. Anyhow, no other translation seems possible. Saméayé in the Veda means together, at once, and is the Greek éuj, generally duod or duds, the Latin simul. Cf. I, 56,6; 73, 6; 113,10; 163, 3; VII, 66,15; IX, 75, 43 85, 53 97, 56.
Vrit means to turn, and is frequently used with reference to the wheels:
VIII, 46, 23. ddsa syavaz—nemim ni vavritud.
The ten black horses turn down the felly or the wheel.
IV, 30, 2. satrf te dnu_ krishtdyak visvak kakré-iva vavrituh.
All men turn always round thee, like wheels.
That the Atmanepada of vrit may be used in an active sense we see from
I, 191,15. tdta# vishdm pra vavrite.
I turn the poison out from here.
All the words used in this sentence are very old words, and we can with few exceptions turn them into Greek or Latin. In Latin we should have axis vos(ter) circos simul divertit. In Greek dav i(pGv) xixrdw duf....
Verse 10.
tdta# vishdm pra vavrite.
I turn the poison out from here.
All the words used in this sentence are very old words, and we can with few exceptions turn them into Greek or Latin. In Latin we should have axis vos(ter) circos simul divertit. In Greek dav i(pGv) xixrdw duf....
Verse 10.
Note 1. See I, 64, 4, note 1, page I11. Note 2. See I, 166, I, note 1, page 212.
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Note 3. On éta in the sense of fallow deer, or, it may be, antelope, see I, 165, 5, note 2, page 196.
Eta originally means variegated, and thus becomes a name of any speckled deer, it being difficult to say what exact species is meant. Sdyama in our passage explains ét4z by suklavarz4 mal4#, many-coloured wreaths or chains, which may be right. Yet the suggestion of Professor Roth that ét4%, deer, stands here for the skins of fallow deer, is certainly more poetical, and quite in accordance with the Vedic idiom, which uses, for instance, go, cow, not only in the sense of milk,—that is done even in more homely English,—but also for leather, and thong. It is likewise in accordance with what we know of the earliest dress of the Vedic Indians, that deer-skins should here be mentioned. We learn from Asvalayana’s Grihya-sitras, of which we now possess an excellent edition by Professor Stenzler, and a reprint of the text and commentary by Raéma Narayava Vidydratna, in the Bibliotheca Indica, that a boy when he was brought to his tutor, i.e. from the eighth to possibly the twenty-fourth year, had to be well combed, and attired in a new dress. A Br&hmawa should wear the skin of an antelope (aizeya), the Kshatriya the skin of a deer (raurava), the Vaisya the skin of a goat (Aga). If they wore dresses, that of the Brahmava should be dark red (kashaya), that of the Kshatriya bright red (mAgish¢ha), that of the Vaisya yellow (haridra). The girdle of the Brahmaza should be of Muziga grass, that of the Kshatriya a bow-string, that of the Vaisya made of sheep’s wool. The same regulations occur in other Sdtras, as, for instance, the Dharma-sitras of the Apastambiyas and Gautamas, though there are certain characteristic differences in each, which may be due either to local or to chronological causes. Thus according to the Apastambiya-sdtras, which have been published by Professor Biihler, the Brahmaza may wear the skin of the hariza deer, or that of the antelope (aizeyam), but the latter must be from the black antelope (krishzam), and, a proviso is added, that if a man wears the black antelope skin, he must never spread it out to sit or sleep on it. As materials for the dress, Apastambap. 233 allows saza, hemp‘, or kshumé, flax, and he adds that woollen dresses are allowed to all castes, as well as the kambala (masc.), which seems to be any cloth made of vegetable substances (darbhadinirmitam Airam kambalam). He then adds a curious remark, which would seem to show
I, 166, 10. 233
allows saza, hemp‘, or kshumé, flax, and he adds that woollen dresses are allowed to all castes, as well as the kambala (masc.), which seems to be any cloth made of vegetable substances (darbhadinirmitam Airam kambalam). He then adds a curious remark, which would seem to show
8 Sana is an old Aryan word, though its meanings differ. Hesychius and Eustathius mention xdyva as being synonymous with iabos, reed. Pollux gives two forms, xdvva and xdva, (Pollux X, 166, mravdxa 8¢ dors Wiabos f dv Tois dxariows fy Kai kdvay Kadovow. VII, 176, xavvat 8€ +d éx xavdBwv mAdypa.) This is important, because the same difference of spelling occurs also in xdyvaSis and xdvafos or xdvvaBos, a model, a lay figure, which Lobeck derives from xdvva. In Old Norse we have hanp-r, in A.S. henep, hemp, Old High- Germ. hanaf.
The occurrence of the word sama is of importance as showing at how early a time the Aryans of India were acquainted with the uses and the name of hemp. Our word hemp, the A.S. hzenep, the Old Norse hanp-r, are all borrowed from Latin cannabis, which, like other borrowed words, has undergone the regular changes required by Grimm’s law in Low-German, and also in High-German, hanaf. The Slavonic nations seem to have borrowed their word for hemp (Lith. kanapé) from the Goths, the Celtic nations (Ir. canaib) from the Romans (cf. Kuhn, Beitrage, vol. ii, p. 382). The Latin cannabis is borrowed from Greek, and the Greeks, to judge from the account of Herodotus, most likely adopted the word from the Aryan Thracians and Scythians (Her. IV, 74; Pictet, Les Aryens, vol. i, p. 314). Kdvvafis being a foreign word, it would be useless to attempt an explanation of the final element bis, which is added to saza, the Sanskrit word for hemp. It may be visa, fibre, or it may be anything else. Certain it is that the main element in the name of hemp was the same among the settlers in Northern India, and among the Thracians and Scythians through whom the Greeks first became acquainted with hemp.
The history of the word xdvvafis must be kept distinct from that of the Greek xdvva or xdva, reed. Both spellings occur, for Pollux, X, 166, writes mravaxa 8€ dors Wiabos H €v rots dxariots fy Kal xdvay xadovow, but VII, 176, xavvar 8¢ 1d éx xavdBwov mdréypa, This word xdvwwa may be the same as the Sanskrit saza, only with this difference, that it was retained as common property by Greeks and Indians before they separated, and was applied differently in later times by the one and the other.
p. 234
p. 234
that the Brahmaaas preferred skins, and the Kshatriyas clothes, for he says that those who wish well to the Brahmazas should wear agina, skins, and those who wish well to the Kshatriyas should wear vastra, clothes, and those who wish well to both should wear both, but, in that case, the skin should always form the outer garment. The Dharma-sftras of the Gautamas, which were published in India, prescribe likewise for the Brahmaza the black antelope skin, and allow clothes of hemp or linen (s4zakshaumaéira) as well as kutapas (woollen cloth) for all. What is new among the Gautamas is, that they add the karp4sa, the cotton dress, which is important as showing an early knowledge of this manufacture. The karpa4sa dress occurs once more as a present to be given to the Potar priest (Asv. Srauta-sdtras IX, 4), and was evidently considered as a valuable present, taking precedence of the kshaumi or linen dress. It is provided that the cotton dress should not be dyed, for this, I suppose, is the meaning of avikrita. Immediately after, however, it is said, that some authorities say the dress should be dyed red (kA4shayam apy eke), the very expression which occurred in Apastamba, and that, in that case, the red for the Brahmana’s dress should be taken from the bark of trees (varksha). Manu, who here, as elsewhere, simply paraphrases the ancient Sitras, says, II, 41: kArshvarauravabastani AarmAni brahmakdrinah vasirann Anupirvyeva sémzakshaumavikani a.
‘Let Brahmafarins wear (as outer garments) the skins of the black antelope, the deer, the goat, (as under garments) dresses of hemp, flax, and sheep’s wool, in the order of the three castes.’
The Sanskrit name for a dressed skin is agina, a word which does not occur in the Rig-veda, but which, if Bopp is right in deriving it from agd, goat, as alyis from aif, would have meant originally, not skin in general, but a goat-skin. The skins of the éta, here ascribed to the Maruts, would be identical with the aizeya, which Asvalayana ascribes to the Brahmaza, not, as we should expect, to the Kshatriya, if, as has been supposed, aizeya is derived from ena, which is a secondary form, particularly in thep. 235 feminine eni, of eta. There is, however, another word, eda, a kind of sheep, which, but for Festus, might be haedus, and by its side eva, a kind of antelope. These two forms pre-suppose an earlier erza or arva, and point therefore in a different direction, though hardly to dpves.
Note 4. I translate kshura by sharp edges, but it might have been translated literally by razors, for, strange as it may sound, razors were known, not only during the Vedic period, but even previous to the Aryan separation. The Sanskrit kshurd is the Greek fupdés or fupdv. In the Veda we have clear allusions to shaving :
X, 142, 4. yadé te vatak anu-vati sokiz, vapta-iva smasru vapasi pra bhfima.
The Sanskrit kshurd is the Greek fupdés or fupdv. In the Veda we have clear allusions to shaving :
X, 142, 4. yadé te vatak anu-vati sokiz, vapta-iva smasru vapasi pra bhfima.
When the wind blows after thy blast, then thou shavest the earth as a barber shaves the beard. Cf. I, 65, 4.
If, as B. and R. suggest, vaptar, barber, is connected with the more modern name for barber in Sanskrit, viz. napita, we should have to admit a root svap, in the sense of tearing or pulling, vellere, from which we might derive the Vedic svapil (VII, 56, 3), beak. Corresponding to this we find in Old High-German snabul, beak, (schnepfe, snipe,) and in Old Norse nef. The Anglo-Saxon neb means mouth and nose, while in modern English neb or nib is used for the bill or beak of a bird*. Another derivation of n4pita, proposed by Professor Weber (Kuhn’s Beitrage, vol. i, p. 505), who takes napita as a dialectic form of snapitar, balneator, or lavator, might be admitted if it could be proved that in India also the barber was at the same time a balneator, Burnouf, Lotus, p. 452, translating from the SAmafiia-phala Sutta, mentions among the different professions of the people those of ‘ portier,’ ‘ barbier,’ and ‘ baigneur.’
Verse 11. Note 1. Vi-bhitaya# is preperly a substantive, meaning
® Grimm, Deutsche Grammatik, vol. iii, pp. 400, 409. There is not yet sufficient evidence to show that Sanskrit sv, German sn, and Sanskrit n are interchangeable, but there is at least one case that may be analogous. Sanskrit svafg, to embrace, to twist round a person, German slango, Schlange, snake, and Sanskrit naga, snake. Grimm, Deutsche Grammatik, vol. iii, p. 364.
p. 236
power, but, like other substantives*, and particularly substantives with prepositions, it can be used as an adjective, and is, in fact, more frequently used as an adjective than as a substantive. In English we may translate it by power. It is a substantive,
I, 8, 9. eva hi te vi-bhatayak itdyak indra m&-vate sadyah Ait sdnti dasushe.
For indeed thy powers, O Indra, are at once shelters for a sacrificer, like me. :
The sweet draughts of Soma delighted the great, the perfect, the strong, the powerful, the unyielding Indra. Cf. VIII, 49, 6; 50, 6.
Vibhvas, with the Svarita on the last syllable, has to be pronounced vibhuas. In III, 6, 9, we find vi-bhavas.
Note 2. See I, 87, 1, note 1, page 160.
Note 3. See I, 6, 5, note 1, page 41.
Verse 12.
Note 1. Mahi-tvandm, greatness, is formed by the suffix tvand, which Professor Aufrecht has identified with the Greek ovvyn (cvvov); see Kuhn’s Zeitschrift, vol. i, p. 482. The origin of this suffix has been explained by Professor Benfey, ibid. vol. vii, p. 120, who traces it back to the suffix tvan, for instance, i-tvan, goer, in pratak-{tva=pratah-yava.
i, p. 482. The origin of this suffix has been explained by Professor Benfey, ibid. vol. vii, p. 120, who traces it back to the suffix tvan, for instance, i-tvan, goer, in pratak-{tva=pratah-yava.
Note 2. Vrata is one of the many words which, though we may perceive their one central idea, and their original purport, we have to translate by various terms in order to make them intelligible in every passage where they occur. Vrata (from vri, vrinoti), I believe, meant originally what is enclosed, protected, set apart, the Greek vopds :
2. Vrat& means what is fenced off or forbidden, what is determined, what is settled, and hence, like dharman, law, ordinance. V4rayati means to prohibit. In this sense vrat& occurs very frequently:
I, 25,1. yat Ait hi te visa# yatha pra deva varuza vratdm, minimdsi dyavi-dyavi.
Whatever law of thine we break, O Varuna, day by day, men as we are.
II, 8, 3. ydsya vratdm nd mfyate.
Whose law is not broken.
III, 32, 8, indrasya karma su-krit4 purlizi vrat&ni devas na minanti visve.
The deeds of Indra are well done and many, all the gods do not break his laws, or do not injure his ordinances.
II, 24,12. visvam satydm maghavana yuvod {it &pak hand pra minanti vratim vam.
All that is yours, O powerful gods, is true; even the waters do not break your law.
II, 38,7. ndki% asya tani vrata devdsya savitusé minanti.
No one breaks these laws of this god Savitar. Cf. IT, 38, 9.
I, 92,12. dminati dafvyéni vratani.
Not injuring the divine ordinances. Cf. I, 124, 2.
X, 12, 5. kat asya ati vratam Aakrima.
Which of his laws have we overstepped ?
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VIII, 25,16. tasya vraténi dnu vak £ardmasi.
His ordinances we follow.
X, 33, 9. nd devéném ati vratam satd-Atma and givati.
No one lives beyond the statute of the gods, even if he had a hundred lives.
The earth and the sky followed thy threefold law, O Agni Vaisvanara.
VII, 87,7. yak mrildyati dakrishe Ait agak vaydm syama vdrune anagAf, anu vratani aditeA r¢dhdntah.
Let us be sinless before Varusza, who is gracious even to him who has committed sin, performing the laws of Aditi!
The earth and the sky followed thy threefold law, O Agni Vaisvanara.
VII, 87,7. yak mrildyati dakrishe Ait agak vaydm syama vdrune anagAf, anu vratani aditeA r¢dhdntah.
Let us be sinless before Varusza, who is gracious even to him who has committed sin, performing the laws of Aditi!
II, 28, 8. ndmad pura te varuza utd nindm utd apardm tuvi-g4ta bravama, tvé hi kam pdrvate nd sriténi dprakyutani dud-dabha vratani.
Formerly, and now, and also in future let us give praise to thee, O Varuza; for in thee, O unconquerable, all laws are grounded, immovable as on a rock.
A very frequent expression is d4nu vratam, according to the command of a god, IT, 38, 3; 6; VIII, 40,8; or simply anu vratdm, according to law and order:
I, 136, 5. tam aryam@ abh{ rakshati rigu-ydntam dnu vratam.
Aryaman protects him who acts uprightly according to law.
Cf. ITI, 61,1; IV, 13, 2; V, 69, 1.
8. The laws or ordinances or institutions of the gods are sometimes taken for the sacrifices which are supposed to be enjoined by the gods, and the performance of which is, in a certain sense, the performance of the divine will.
At whose bidding the earth bows down, at whose bidding hoofed animals run about, at whose bidding the plants assume all shapes, mayest thou, O Parganya, yield us great protection!
Note 8. Datra, if derived from d4, would mean gift, and that meaning is certainly the most applicable in some passages where it occurs:
IX, 97, 55. asi bhagak asi datrasya data.
Thou art Bhaga, thou art the giver of the gift.
In other passages, too, particularly in those where the verb da or some similar verb occurs in the same verse, it can hardly be doubted that the poet took datrd, like datra or dattra, in the sense of gift, bounty, largess:
The white horse, O Asvins, which you gave, that your gift was great and to be praised.
I, 185, 3. anehd% datrdm ddite# anarvdm huvé.
I call for the unrivalled, the uninjured bounty of Aditi.
VII, 56, 21. m& vak datrét marutah nf{# arama.
May we not fall away from your bounty, O Maruts!
III, 54, 16. yuvam hi sthaé rayi-dau nak rayinam datrdm rakshethe.
For you, Nasatyas, are our givers of riches, you protect the gift.
VI, 20, 7. rvigisvane datram dasishe das.
To Rigisvan, the giver, thou givest the gift.
VIII, 43, 33. tat te sahasva imahe datrdm ydt nd upadasyati, tvat agne varyam vdsu.
We ask thee, strong hero, for the gift which does not perish ; we ask from thee the precious wealth.
X, 69, 4. datrdm rakshasva ydt iddm te asmé (iti).
Protect this gift of thine which thou hast given to us.
VIII, 44, 18. fsishe varyasya hi datrdsya agne sva/-patiz.
For thou, O Agni, lord of heaven, art the master of the precious gift. Cf. IV, 38, 1.
Professor Roth considers that datra is derived rather from da, to divide, and that it means share, lot, possession. But there is not a single passage where the meaning of gift or
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For thou, O Agni, lord of heaven, art the master of the precious gift. Cf. IV, 38, 1.
Professor Roth considers that datra is derived rather from da, to divide, and that it means share, lot, possession. But there is not a single passage where the meaning of gift orp. 241 bounty does not answer all purposes. In VII, 56, 21, ma vahk datrit maruta’ nih arama, is surely best translated by, ‘let us not fall away from your bounty,’ and in our own passage the same meaning should be assigned to datra. The idea of datra, bounty, is by no means incompatible with vrata, realm, dominion, sway, if we consider that the sphere within which the bounty of a king or a god is exercised and accepted, is in one sense his realm. What the poet therefore says in our passage is simply this, that the bounty of the Maruts extends as far as the realm of Aditi, i.e. is endless, or extends everywhere, Aditi being in its original conception the deity of the unbounded world beyond, the earliest attempt at expressing the Infinite.
As to datra occurring once with the accent on the first syllable in the sense of sickle, see M. M.,‘ Uber eine Stelle in Yaska’s Commentar zum Naighatuka,’ Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlindischen Gesellschaft, 1853, vol. vii, P- 375-
Trusting in thee alone, O Indra, I take the sickle in my hand. .
This datra, sickle, is derived from do, to cut.
Aditi, the Infinite.
Note 4. Aditi, an ancient god or goddess, is in reality the earliest name invented to express the Infinite; not the Infinite as the result of a long process of abstract reasoning, but the visible Infinite, visible, as it were, to the naked eye, the endless expanse beyond the earth, beyond the clouds, beyond the sky. That was called A-diti, the un-bound, the un-bounded ; one might almost say, but for fear of misunderstandings, the Absolute, for it is derived from diti, bond, and the negative particle, and meant therefore originally what is free from bonds of any kind, whether of space or time, free from physical weakness, free from moral guilt. Such a conception became of necessity a being, a person, a god. To us such a name and such a conception seem decidedly modern, and to find in the Veda Aditi, the
[32] R
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Such a conception became of necessity a being, a person, a god. To us such a name and such a conception seem decidedly modern, and to find in the Veda Aditi, the
[32] R
p. 242
Infinite, as the mother of the principal gods, is certainly, at first sight, startling. But the fact is that the thoughts of primitive humanity were not only different from our thoughts, but different also from what we think their thoughts ought to have been. The poets of the Veda indulged freely in theogonic speculations, without being frightened by any contradictions. They knew of Indra as the greatest of gods, they knew of Agni as the god of gods, they knew of Varuza as the ruler of all, but they were by no means startled at the idea that their Indra had a mother, or that their Agni was born like a babe from the friction of two fire-sticks, or that Varuza and his brother Mitra were nursed in the lap of Aditi. Some poet would take hold of the idea of an unbounded power, of Aditi, originally without any reference to other gods. Very soon these ideas met, and, without any misgivings, either the gods were made subordinate to, and represented as the sons of Aditi, or where Indra was to be praised as supreme, Aditi was represented as doing him homage.
Here Professor Roth takes Aditi as an epithet of Agni, not as the name of the goddess Aditi, while Dr. Muir rightly takes it in the latter sense, and likewise retains st6mam instead of sémam, as printed by Professor Aufrecht. Cf. VII, 38, 4.
The idea of the Infinite, as I have tried to show elsewhere, was most powerfully impressed on the awakening mind, or, as we now say, was revealed, by the East*®. ‘It is impossible to enter fully into all the thoughts and feelings that passed through the minds of the early poets when they formed names for that far, far East from whence even the early dawn, the sun, the day, their own life, seemed to spring. A new life flashed up every morning before their eyes, and the fresh breezes of the dawn reached them like greetings from the distant lands beyond the mountains, beyond the clouds, beyond the dawn, beyond “ the immortalp. 243 sea which brought us hither.” The dawn seemed to them to open golden gates for the sun to pass in triumph, and while those gates were open, their eyes and their mind strove in their childish way to pierce beyond the limits of this finite world. That silent aspect awakened in the human mind the conception of the Infinite, the Immortal, the Divine.’ Aditi is a name for that distant East, but Aditi is more than the dawn. Aditi is beyond the dawn, and in one place (I, 113, 19) the dawn is called ‘the face of Aditi,’ dditer dnikam. Thus we read:
* Lectures on the Science of Language, Second Series, p. 499.
Aditi is beyond the dawn, and in one place (I, 113, 19) the dawn is called ‘the face of Aditi,’ dditer dnikam. Thus we read:
Mitra and Varuza, you mount your chariot, which is golden, when the dawn bursts forth, and has iron poles at the setting of the sun: from thence you see Aditi and Diti, i.e. what is yonder and what is here.
If we keep this original conception of Aditi clearly before our mind, the various forms which Aditi assumes, even in the hymns of the Veda, will not seem incoherent. Aditi is not a prominent deity in the Veda, she is celebrated rather in her sons, the Adityas, than in her own person. While there are so many hymns addressed to Ushas, the dawn, or Indra, or Agni, or Savitar, there is but one hymn, X, 72, which from our point of view, though not from that of Indian theologians, might be called a hymn to Aditi. Nevertheless Aditi is a familiar name; a name of the past, whether in time or in thought only, and a name that lives on in the name of the Adityas, the sons of Aditi, including the principal deities of the Veda.
May the gods come to us with their help, praised by the songs of the Angiras,—Indra with his powers, the Maruts with the storms, may Aditi with the Adityas give us protection !
May Indra with the Vasus watch our house, may Aditi with the Adityas give us protection, may the divine Rudra with the Rudras have mercy upon us, may Tvashéar with the mothers bring us to happiness!
May Aditi with the Adityas hear us, may the Maruts give us good protection!
In another passage Varuza takes the place of Aditi as the leader of the Adityas:
VII, 35, 6. sam nak indrak vdsu-bhis devas astu sim AdityébhiZ varuzah su-sdmsah, sim nah rudrah rudrébhik galdshak sdm nak tvdsh/A gnabhi# ihd svinotu.
May Indra bless us, the god with the Vasus! May Varuza, the glorious, bless us with the Adityas! May the relieving Rudra with the Rudras bless us! May Tvashéar with the mothers kindly hear us here!
Even in passages where the poet seems to profess an exclusive worship of Aditi, as in
There are Parganya and VAta, the powerful, the givers of rain, Indra and Vayu, Varuza, Mitra, Aryaman, we call the divine Adityas, Aditi, those who dwell on the earth, in heaven, in the waters.
We may not be justified in saying that there ever was a period in the history of the religious thought of India, a period preceding the worship of the Adityas, when Aditi, the Infinite, was worshipped, though to the sage who first coined this name, it expressed, no doubt, for a time the principal, if not the only object of his faith and worship.
Aditi and Daksha.
Soon, however, the same mental process which led on later speculators from the earth to the elephant, and from the elephant to the tortoise, led the Vedic poets beyond Aditi, the Infinite. There was something beyond that Infinite which for a time they had grasped by the name of Aditi, and this, whether intentionally or by a mere accident of language, they called ddksha, literally power or the powerful. All this, no doubt, sounds strikingly modern, yet, though the passages in which this daksha is mentioned are few in number, I should not venture top. 246 say that they are necessarily modern, even if by modern we mean only later than 1000 B.c. Nothing can bring the perplexity of the ancient mind, if once drawn into this vortex of speculation, more clearly before us than if we read:
Daksha was born of Aditi, and Aditi from Daksha. For Aditi was born, O Daksha, she who is thy daughter; after her the gods were born, the blessed, who share in immortality.
Daksha was born of Aditi, and Aditi from Daksha. For Aditi was born, O Daksha, she who is thy daughter; after her the gods were born, the blessed, who share in immortality.
1, Let us now with praise proclaim the births of the gods, that a man may see them in a future age, whenever these hymns are sung.
2. Brahmazaspati* blew them together like a smith (with
® Bréhmanaspiti, literally the lord of prayer, or the lord of the sacrifice, sometimes a representative of Agni (I, 38, 13, note), butp. 247 his bellows); in a former age of the gods, Being was born from Not-being.
3. In the first age of the gods, Being was born from Not-being, after it were born the Regions (space), from them Uttanapada ;
4. From Uttanapad the Earth was born, the Regions were born from the Earth. Daksha was born of Aditi, and Aditi from Daksha.
The ideas of Being and Not-being (rd dv and 16 pi dv) are familiar to the Hindus from a very early time in their intellectual growth, and they can only have been the result of abstract speculation. Therefore ddksha, too, in the sense of power or potentia, may have been a metaphysical conception. But it may also have been suggested by a mere accident of language, a never-failing source of ancient thoughts. The name daksha-pitara4, an epithet of the gods, has generally been translated by ‘those who have Daksha for their father.’ But it may have been used originally in a very different sense. Professor Roth has, I think, convincingly proved that this epithet daksha-pitar, as given to certain gods, does not mean, the gods who have Daksha for their father, but that it had originally the simpler meaning of fathers of strength, or, as he translates it, ‘preserving, possessing, granting faculties*.’ This is particularly clear in one passage :
III, 27,9. bhdténam garbham 4 dadhe, dakshasya pitéram.
I place Agni, the source of all beings, the father of strength.....
bhdténam garbham 4 dadhe, dakshasya pitéram.
I place Agni, the source of all beings, the father of strength.....
by no means identical with him (see VII, 41, 1); sometimes performing the deeds of Indra, but again by no means identical with him (see II, 23, 18. {ndrena yugi—nih apm aubgah arnavdm ; cf. VIII, 96,15). In II, 26, 3, he is called father of the gods (devinam pit4ram); in II, 23, 2, the creator of all beings (visvesham ganit4), ® The accent in this case cannot help us in determining whether d4ksha-pitar means having Daksha for their father (Aoxpomdrap), or father of strength. In the first case d4éksha would rightly retain its accent (d4ksha-pitar) as a Bahuvrihi; in the second, the analogy of such Tatpurusha compounds as grzh4-pati (Pax. VI, 2, 18) would be sufficient to justify the pOrvapadaprakritisvaratvam.
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After this we can hardly hesitate how to translate the next verse:
VI, 50, 2. su-vydtishak—daksha-pitré¢n—devin.
The resplendent gods, the fathers of strength.
It may seem more doubtful, when we come to gods like Mitra and Varuza, whom we are so much accustomed to regard as Adityas, or sons of Aditi, and who therefore, according to the theogony mentioned before, would have the best claim to the name of sons of Daksha; yet here, too, the original and simple meaning is preferable; nay, it is most likely that from passages like this, the later explanation, which makes Mitra and Varum#a the sons of Daksha, may have sprung.
VII, 66, 2. yd—su-daksh4 daksha-pitara.
Mitra and Varuaa, who are of good strength, the fathers of strength.
Lastly, even men may claim this name; for, unless we change the accent, we must translate:
We suppliants, being, through your aid, fathers of strength.
But whatever view we take, whether we take daksha in the sense of power, as a personification of a philosophical conception, or as the result of a mythological misunderstanding occasioned by the name of daksha-pitar, the fact remains that in certain hymns of the Rig-veda (VIII, 25, 5) Daksha, like Aditi, has become a divine person, and has retained his place as one of the Adityas to the very latest time of Purazic tradition.
Aditi in her Cosmic Character.
But to return to Aditi. Let us look upon her as the Infinite personified, and most passages, even those where she is presented as a subordinate deity, will become intelligible.
Aditi, in her cosmic character, is the Beyond, the unbounded realm beyond earth, sky, and heaven, and originally she was distinct from the sky, the earth, and the ocean. Aditi is mentioned by the side of heaven and earth, which
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Aditi, in her cosmic character, is the Beyond, the unbounded realm beyond earth, sky, and heaven, and originally she was distinct from the sky, the earth, and the ocean. Aditi is mentioned by the side of heaven and earth, whichp. 249 shows that, though in more general language she may be identified with heaven and earth in their unlimited character, her original conception was different. This we see in passages where different deities or powers are invoked together, particularly if they are invoked together in the same verse, and where Aditi holds a separate place by the side of heaven and earth:
May Mitra and Varuza grant us this, may Aditi, Sindhu (sea), the Earth, and the Sky!
In other passages, too, where Aditi has assumed a more personal character, she still holds her own by the side of heaven and earth; cf. IX, 97, 58 (final) :
The mother of the Rudras, the daughter of the Vasus, the sister of the Adityas, the source of immortality, I tell it forth to the man of understanding, may he not offend the cow, the guiltless Aditi! Cf. I, 153,33; IX, 96,15; Vagasan. Samhité XIII, 49.
Let us for welfare step into the divine boat, with good oars, faultless and leakless—the well-protecting Earth, the peerless Sky, the sheltering, well-guiding Aditi!
X, 66, 4. Aditi dy&vaprithivi ({ti).
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Aditi, and Heaven and Earth.
Where two or more verses come together, the fact that Aditi is mentioned by the side of Heaven and Earth may seem less convincing, because in these Nivids or long strings of invocations different names or representatives of one and the same power are not unfrequently put together. For instance,
1. There are the grand and beautiful Morning and Night, Heaven and Earth, Varuza, Mitra, Aryaman; I call Indra, the Maruts, the Waters, the Adityas, Heaven and Earth, the Waters, the Heaven.
2. May Heaven and Earth, the provident, the righteous, preserve us from sin and mischief! May the malevolent Nirriti not rule over us! This blessing of the gods we ask for to-day.
3. May Aditi protect us from all sin, the, mother of Mitra and of the rich Varuza! May we obtain heavenly light without enemies! This blessing of the gods we ask for to-day.
Here we cannot but admit that Dyavakshdm4, heaven and earth, is meant for the same divine couple as Dyavaprithivi, heaven and earth, although under slightly differing names they are invoked separately. The waters are invoked twice in the same verse and under the same name; nor is there any indication that, as in other passages, the waters of the sky are meant as distinct from the waters of the sea. Nevertheless even here, Aditi, who in the third verse is called distinctly the mother of Mitra and Varuaa, cannot well have been meant for the same deity as Heaven and Earth, mentioned in the second verse; and the author ofp. 251 these two verses, while asking the same blessing from both, must have been aware of the original independent character of Aditi.
Aditi as Mother.
In this character of a deity of the far East, of an Orient in the true sense of the word, Aditi was naturally thought of as the mother of certain gods, particularly of those that were connected with the daily rising and setting of the sun. If it was asked whence comes the dawn, or the sun, or whence come day and night, or Mitra and Varuza, or any of the bright, solar, eastern deities, the natural answer was that they come from the Orient, that they are the sons of Aditi. Thus we read in
IX, 74, 3. urvi gavyiti# dditeh ritdm yaté.
Wide is the space for him who goes on the right path of Aditi.