They, the Maruts, like rushing bulls, mount on the dark cows.
The last sentence states that the wind grows even stronger after it has tasted the rain (I, 85, 2. té ukshit&sak mahiménam 4sata).
Note 2. I take gambhe in the sense of gimbhane. (On the root gabh and its derivatives, see Kuhn, Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft, vol. i, p. 123 seq.) It would be better to read mukhe, instead of sukhe, in the commentary. The Maruts were not born of milk for Prisni, as Wilson says in a note, but from the milk of Prisni. Présni is called their mother, Rudra their father: (V, 52, 16; 60, 5.)
Benfey takes the cows for clouds in which the lightnings dwell; and the abyss of the sap is by him supposed to be again the clouds.
p. 74
Verse 6.
WILSON : Which is chief leader among you, agitators of heaven and earth, who shake all around, like the top (of a tree)?
BENFEY : Wer, Helden! ist der erste euch—ihr Erd- und Himmel-schiitterer !—wenn ihr sie schiittelt Wipfeln gleich ?
Lupwic: Wer ist der grésste bei euch, helden, wenn vom himel und der erde, schiitteler, ihr am saume gleichsam riittelt !
Note 1. Antam n, literally, like an end, is explained by Sayana as the top of a tree. Wilson, Langlois, and Benfey accept that interpretation. Roth proposes, like the hem of a garment, which I prefer; for vastranta, the end of a gar- " ment, is a common expression in later Sanskrit, while anta is never applied to a tree in the sense of the top of a tree. Here agra would be more appropriate.
Verse 7.
WILSON: The householder, in dread of your fierce and violent approach, has planted a firm (buttress); for the many-ridged mountain is shattered (before you).
BENFEY: Vor eurem Gange beuget sich, vor eurem wilden Zorn der Mann; der Hiigel weichet und der Berg.
LUDWIG: Vor eurem anzug, eurem gewaltigen eifer, niederduckte sich der mensch, wich der festgeknotete [wolken]berg.
Note 1. Sdyama translates: ‘Man has planted a firm buttress to give stability to his dwelling.’ The reading na for nf, which Aufrecht adopted, is untenable, as Ludwig shows. It has been altered in the second edition. See also VIII, 7, 5, nf yemiré. Nidadhré is the perfect Atmanepada, and expresses the holding down of the head or the cowering attitude of man. I have taken ugréya manyave over to gfhita, because these words could hardly form an apposition to yamaya. As the Vedic poets speak of the very mountains as shaken by the storms, we might translate pdrvato girfz by the gnarled or rocky mount;
p. 75
but there is no authority for translating gthita by it is shattered, and we should have to translate, the mountain yielded or bent before your anger. Cf. V, 57, 3:
ni vak vand gihate yfmanak bhiy&.
The forests get out of your way from fear.
V, 60, 2. vana Ait ugraA# gihate nf vak bhiyd prithivi Zit regate parvatah kit.
Cf. V, 57, 3:
ni vak vand gihate yfmanak bhiy&.
The forests get out of your way from fear.
V, 60, 2. vana Ait ugraA# gihate nf vak bhiyd prithivi Zit regate parvatah kit.
Even the forests, ye fearful Maruts, yield from fear of you ; even the earth trembles, even the mountain.
In I, 166, 5, yat tvesha-yAm4/ naddyanta pdrvatd4n, we may translate ‘when they on their fiery course made the parvatas (clouds) to sound or thunder,’ but it is more likely that nddayati here means to cause to shake or vibrate, and that parvata stands for mountain. We ought to remember such poetical expressions as 1 Kings xix. 11, ‘and a great, strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord.’
Verse 8.
WILSON : At whose impetuous approach earth trembles ; like an enfeebled monarch, through dread (of his enemies).
BENFEY: Bei deren Lauf bei deren Sturm die Erde zittert voller Furcht, wie ein altergebeugter Mann.
LuDwIiG: Bei deren marschen zitterte wie ein gealtet stammeshaupt die erd vor furcht auf ihren wegen.
Note 1. Agma seems to express the act of racing or running (like Agi, race, battle), while yma is the road itself where the racing takes place. A very similar passage occurs in I, 87, 3. The comparison of the earth (fem.) to a king (masc.) would be considered a grave offence in the later Sanskrit literature. In I, 87, 3, vithur& takes the place of vispati.
Verse 9.
WILSON : Stable is their birthplace, (the sky); yet the birds (are able) to issue from (the sphere of) their parent: for your strength is everywhere (divided) between two (regions,—or, heaven and earth).
p. 76
BENFEY: Kaum geboren sind sie so stark, dass ihrer Mutter sie entflichn : ist ja doch zwiefach ihre Kraft.
Lupwic: Denn fest ist ihr geburtsort, végel (sind sie) von der mutter fortzugehn, nach dem, wie von altersher ihre kraft.
Oder, Denn fest ist ihre kraft geworden von der mutter sich zu trennen, da schon von alters her ihre kraft diss wollte.
Note 1. A very difficult verse. The birth of the Maruts is frequently alluded to, as well as their surpassing strength, as soon as born. Hence the first sentence admits of little doubt. But what follows is very abrupt. Vdyas may be the plural of vi, bird, or it may be vayas, the neuter, meaning vital strength: see Kuhn’s Zeitschrift, vol. xv, p.217. The Maruts are frequently compared to birds (cf. I, 87,2; 88,1), but it is usual to indicate the comparison by na oriva. I therefore take vayas as a nom. sing. neut., in the sense of vigour, life. They are called brihadvayasah in a Nivid; see Ludwig, p. 226. Nir-i is used with particular reference to the birth of a child (cf. V, 78, 7; 9).
Verse 10.
WILSON: They are the generators of speech : they spread out the waters in their courses: they urge the lowing (cattle) to enter (the water), up to their knees, (to drink.)
BENFEY: In ihrem Lauf erheben dann diese Séhne Getiés und Fluth, die bis zum Knie den Kiihen geht.
V, 78, 7; 9).
Verse 10.
WILSON: They are the generators of speech : they spread out the waters in their courses: they urge the lowing (cattle) to enter (the water), up to their knees, (to drink.)
BENFEY: In ihrem Lauf erheben dann diese Séhne Getiés und Fluth, die bis zum Knie den Kiihen geht.
LUDWIG: Und dise sine, die singer, denten auf ihren ziigen ihre banen aus, so dass briillend sie uns ganz nahe kamen.
Note 1. If we could take sinava# girak in the sense of the sons of voice, i.e. of thunder, which would remove many difficulties, the accent of girak would have to be changed. The commentator takes sfinu in the sense of utpddaka, producers of sound. Girak, however, occurs at least once more, in the sense of singers or poets, IX, 63, 10, where girak can only be a vocative, O ye singers! In I, 6,6, the translation of gfrak by singers, i.e. the Maruts, may be contested, but if we consider that gira%, in the sense ofp. 77 hymns, is feminine, and is followed by the very word which is here used, viz. devaydntaA, as a feminine, viz. devaydntiz, VII, 18, 3, we can hardly doubt that in I, 6, 6, gfrak is a masculine and means singers. The same applies to VI, 63,10. In VI, 52,9, ipa naz sinavak girahk srinvantu amrttasya yé, the construction is, of course, quite different.
devaydntaA, as a feminine, viz. devaydntiz, VII, 18, 3, we can hardly doubt that in I, 6, 6, gfrak is a masculine and means singers. The same applies to VI, 63,10. In VI, 52,9, ipa naz sinavak girahk srinvantu amrttasya yé, the construction is, of course, quite different.
Note 2. The expression that the Maruts enlarged or extended the fences of their race-course (RV. IV, 58, 7), can only mean that they swept over the whole sky, and drove the clouds away from all the corners. Kashzha may mean the wooden enclosures (carceres) or the wooden poles that served as turning and winning-posts (metae). The SAma-veda has yagfeshu instead of agmeshu. That the translation of this verse is purely tentative, and far from satisfactory, was known to all Vedic scholars, but I doubt whether they will consider the interpretation which M. Bergaigne proposes with so much assurance, as less tentative and more satisfactory. He translates (Journ. As. 1884, Pp- 239), ‘des fils ont, dans leur marche, allongé leurs chants comme des chemins, pour y marcher a genoux (sur les genoux) en mugissant (en chantant).’ I shall content myself with shortly pointing out the misgivings which every Vedic scholar would feel at once in proposing such a rendering. First as to the conception itself. Can a poet say, ‘The Maruts have stretched out their songs in order to march on them on their knees?’ ‘The roads,’ as M. Bergaigne shows himself, are only a simile, and no one walks on a simile. Secondly, the idea that these Maruts widened the roads on which they march, is common enough, but that they lengthened their songs, like paths, is never said by the Vedic Rishis, nor would they in such a case have left out the particle na or iva. Lastly, though many things are said of the Maruts, I do not remember that they ever appear on their knees. I do not think, therefore, that M. Bergaigne’s infallible method helps us much beyond where we were before. Conjectures are easy, but for that very reason, one does not like to bring them forward. One might propose to read s(indvak divas, a very common name of the Maruts, One might go a step further, identify
p. 78
Bergaigne’s infallible method helps us much beyond where we were before. Conjectures are easy, but for that very reason, one does not like to bring them forward. One might propose to read s(indvak divas, a very common name of the Maruts, One might go a step further, identifyp. 78 gid with bhdrati, and point out that the Maruts are called the sons of Bharata, II, 36,2. But all this leaves us in utter uncertainty, and where a scholar feels the ground so uncertain beneath his feet, he hesitates to speak with papal authority. M. Bergaigne’s strong point is that abhigfiu means on their knees, not up to their knees. Here again, I ask, does abhi in prepositional compounds ever mean on? If abhigvu is used in the same sense in which we use ‘on our knees,’ it would in Sanskrit mean only ‘bowing up to the knees.’ Now in I, 72, 5, abhigfiu seems to express a positive expression of reverence. With regard to the other passages where abhigfu occurs, M. Bergaigne has not shown how they ought to be translated so as to give a clear sense. I do not pretend to solve the difficulties, but I think it is better to confess our difficulties than to hide them under the veil of a so-called systematic interpretation. Abhigiiu, like mitag#u, may have expressed a position of the knees, expressive of strength, but on such points very little information is to be gained from Indian commentators.
The last sentence expresses the result of this race, viz. the falling of so much rain that the cows had to walk up to their knees in water. This becomes still clearer from the next verse.
SAyANA: These, the producers of speech, have spread water in their courses, they cause the cows to walk up to their knees in order to drink the water.
Verse 11.
WILSON: They drive before them, in their course, the long, vast, uninjurable, rain-retaining cloud.
BENFEY: Dann treiben sie im Sturm heran jenen langen und breiten Spross der Wolke unerschépflichen.
Lupwic: Sogar disen langen, breiten, das kind der wolke, den unfeindlichen, schleudern auf ihren ziigen sie vorwarts.
Note 1. Rain is called the offspring of the cloud, mihd napat, and is then treated as a masculine; cf. apam napat, &c.
p. 79
Verse 12.
WILSON: Maruts, as you have vigour, invigorate mankind: give animation to the clouds.
BENFEY: O Marut’s! mit der Kraft, die ihr besitzt, werft ihr Geschépfe um, die Berge werft ihr um sogar.
LuDwIG: O Marut, so wie eure kraft ist, warft ihr die leute nieder, warft ihr die berge nieder.
Note 1. In VIII, 72, 8, akukyavit is explained by vyadarayat, he tore open. Auéyavitana is the Vedic form of the 2nd pers. plur. of the reduplicated aorist.
Verse 13.
WILSON: Wherever the Maruts pass, they fill the way with clamour: every one hears their (noise).
BENFEY: Wenn die Marut’s des Weges ziehn, dann sprechen mit einander sie und mancher mag sie héren.
LuDWIG: Wenn die Marut wandern, sprechen auf dem weg sie mit einander, es héret sie ein jeder.
WILSON: Wherever the Maruts pass, they fill the way with clamour: every one hears their (noise).
BENFEY: Wenn die Marut’s des Weges ziehn, dann sprechen mit einander sie und mancher mag sie héren.
LuDWIG: Wenn die Marut wandern, sprechen auf dem weg sie mit einander, es héret sie ein jeder.
Note 1, Yanti has to be pronounced as an amphibrachys.
Verse 14.
WILSON: Come quickly, with your swift (vehicles). The offerings of the Kazvas are prepared. Be pleased with them.
BENFEY: Auf schnellen kommet schnell herbei, bei Kazva’s Spross sind Feste euch: da wollt euch schon ergotzen.
LuDWIG: Brecht rasch auf mit raschen rossen, bei den Kaava’s ist euer dienst, dort eben erfreuet euch.
Note 1. Benfey supposes that diva’ stands in the singular instead of the plural. But why should the plural have been used, as the singular (asti) would have created no kind of difficulty? It is better to take duvak as a nominative plural of a noun dd, worshipper, derived from the same root which yielded divas, worship. We certainly find 4-duva#, as.a nom. plur., in the sense of not-worshipping :
p. 80
VII, 4, 6. m& tv4 vaydm sahas4-van avirak mé dpsavah pari sadima ma dduvaA.
May we not, O hero, sit round thee like men without strength, without beauty (cf. VIII, 7, 7), without worship.
Here S4yawa explains d4duvah very well by pariarazahina, which seems better than Roth’s explanation ‘zégernd, ohne Eifer,’
Verse 15.
WItson : The offering is prepared for your gratification : we are your (worshippers), that we may live all our life.
BENFEY: Geriistet ist fiir euren Rausch und wir geh6ren, traun! euch an fiir unser ganzes Lebelang.
Lupwic: Er ist euch zur trunkesfreude, und wir gleichfalls euer hier, dass unsere ganze dauer wir erleben.
wratad I, HYMN 38. 81
—— —_
°
MANDALA I, HYMN 838. ASHTAKA I, ADHYAYA 8, VARGA 15-17.
To THE MarutTs (THE STORM-GODS).
1. What then now? When! will you take (us) as a dear father takes his son by both hands, O ye gods, for whom the sacred grass has been trimmed ? ?
2. Where now? On what errand of yours are you going, in heaven, not on earth!? Where are your cows sporting ?
3. Where are your newest favours!, O Maruts ? Where the blessings? Where all delights ?
4. If you, sons of Przsni, were mortals, and your praiser an immortal }¥,—
5. Then never! should your praiser be unwelcome, like a deer in pasture grass’, nor should he go on the path of Yama *.
6. Let not one sin! after another, difficult to be conquered, overcome us; may it depart? together with greed.
7. Truly they are terrible and powerful; even to the desert the Rudriyas bring rain that is never dried up1.
8. The lightning lows like a cow, it follows as a mother follows after her young, when the shower (of the Maruts) has been let loose '.
9. Even by day the Maruts create darkness with the water-bearing cloud!, when they drench the earth.
10. Then from the shouting of the Maruts over the whole space of the earth ', men reeled forward.
9. Even by day the Maruts create darkness with the water-bearing cloud!, when they drench the earth.
10. Then from the shouting of the Maruts over the whole space of the earth ', men reeled forward.
11. Maruts on your strong-hoofed never-wearying®
[32] Gp. 82 steeds! go after those bright ones (the clouds), which are still locked up ®.
12. May your fellies be strong, the chariots, and their horses, may your reins? be well-fashioried.
13. Speak forth for ever with thy voice to praise the Lord of prayer!, Agni, who is like a friend 2, the bright one.
14. Fashion a hymn in thy mouth! Expand like the cloud!! Sing a song of praise.
15. Worship the host of the Maruts, the terrible, the glorious, the musical’. May they be magnified here among us ?.
p. 83
NOTES.
This hymn is ascribed to Kazva, the son of Ghora. The metre is Gayatri throughout. Several verses, however, end in a spondee instead of the usual iambus. No attempt should be made to improve such verses by conjecture, for they are clearly meant to end in spondees. Thus in verses 2, 7, 8, and 9, all the three pddas alike have their final spondee. In verse 7, the ionicus a minore is with an evident intention repeated thrice. No verse of the hymn occurs in SV., VS., AV.; but verse 8= TS. III, 1, 11, 5; verse 9 = TS. II, 4, 8, 1.
Verse 1.
Note 1. Kadha-priya/ is taken in the Padapas#a as one word, and Sayama explains it by delighted by or delighting in praise, a nominative plural. A similar compound, kadhapriya, occurs in I, 30, 20, and there too the vocative sing. fem., kadhapriye, is explained by Sayama as fond of praise. In order to obtain this meaning, kadha has to be identified with kath4, story, which is simply impossible. There is another compound, adha-priya, nom. dual, which occurs VIII, 8, 4, and which Sayama explains either as delighted here below, or as a corruption of kadha-priya.
In Boehtlingk and Roth’s Dictionary, kadha-priya and kadha-pri are both taken as compounds of kadha, an interrogative adverb, and priya or pri, to love or delight, and they are explained as meaning kind or loving to whom? In the same manner adha-priya is explained as kind then and there.
It must be confessed, however, that a compound like kadha-pri, kind to whom?, is somewhat strange, and it seems preferable to separate the words, and to write kadha priya and adha priya.
It should be observed that the compounds kadha-pri and kadha-priya occur always in sentences where there is another interrogative pronoun. The two interrogatives k4t—kddha, what—where, and kas—kddha, who—where, occurring in the same sentence, an idiom so common in
G2
p. 84
It should be observed that the compounds kadha-pri and kadha-priya occur always in sentences where there is another interrogative pronoun. The two interrogatives k4t—kddha, what—where, and kas—kddha, who—where, occurring in the same sentence, an idiom so common in
G2
p. 84
Greek, may have puzzled the author of the Pada text, and the compound being once sanctioned by the authority of Sakalya, SAyaza would explain it as best he could. But if we admit the double use of the interrogative in Sanskrit, as in Greek, then, in our passage, priya# would be an adjective belonging to pita, and we might translate: ‘What then now? When will you take (us), as a dear father takes his son by both hands, O ye Maruts?’ In the same manner we ought to translate I, 30, 20:
kak te ushad kddha priye bhugé marta% amartye.
Who and where was there a mortal to be loved by thee, O beloved, immortal Dawn?
In VIII, 7, 31, where the same words are repeated as in our passage, it is likewise better to write:
kat ha nindm kadha priyaé yat indram d4gahatana, k4h vah sakhi-tvé ohate.
What then now? Where is there a friend, now that you have forsaken Indra? Who watches for your friendship?
Why in VIII, 8, 4, adha priya should have been joined into one word is more difficult to say, yet here, too, the compound might easily be separated.
Kadha does not occur again, but would be formed in analogy with ddha. It occurs in Zend as kadha.
Kuhn, Beitrage IV, p. 186, has shown that kdsh¢hak (RV. V, 74, 1) is a similar monster, and stands for ku sh¢hah.
The words kat ha nindm commonly introduce an interrogative sentence, literally, What then now? cf. X, 10, 4.
Note 2, Vrikta-barhis is generally a name of the priest, so called because he has to trim the sacrificial grass. ‘The sacred Kusa grass (Poa cynosuroides), after having had the roots cut off, is spread on the Vedi or altar, and upon it the libation of Soma-juice, or oblation of clarified butter, is poured out. In other places, a tuft of it in a similar position is supposed to form a fitting seat for the deity or deities invoked to the sacrifice. According to Mr. Stevenson, it is also strewn over the floor of the chamber in which the worship is performed.’
When I reverentially trim the truss for Agni, when the well-trimmed ladle, full of butter, is stretched forth.
In our passage, unless we change the accent, it must be taken as an epithet of the Maruts, they for whom the grassaltar has been prepared. They are again invoked by the -same name, VIII, 7, 20:
kva nndm su-dénavad madatha vrikta-barhisha/.
Where do ye rejoice now, you gods for whom the altar is trimmed?
They are again invoked by the -same name, VIII, 7, 20:
kva nndm su-dénavad madatha vrikta-barhisha/.
Where do ye rejoice now, you gods for whom the altar is trimmed?
Otherwise, vrikta-barhishaz might, with a change of accent, supply an accusative to dadhidhve: ‘ Will you take the worshippers in your arms?’ This, though decidedly better, is not absolutely necessary, because to take by the hand may be used as a neuter verb.
WILSON : Maruts, who are fond of praise, and for whom the sacred grass is trimmed, when will you take us by both hands as a father does his son?
BENFEY: Wo weilt ihr gern? was habt ihr jetzt—gleichwie ein Vater seinen Sohn—in Handen, da das Opfer harrt ?
Verse 2.
Note 1. The idea of the first verse, that the Maruts should not be detained by other pursuits, is carried on in the second. The poet asks, what they have to do in the sky, instead of coming down to the earth. The last sentence seems to mean ‘where tarry your herds?’ viz. the clouds. Sdyawa translates: ‘Where do worshippers, like lowing cows, praise you?’ Wilson: ‘Where do they who worship you cry to you, like cattle?’ Benfey : ‘Wo jauchzt man euch, gleich wie Stiere? (Ihre Verehrer briillen vor Freude iiber ihre Gegenwart, wie Stiere.)’ The verb ranyati, however, when followed by an accusative, means to love, to accept with pleasure. The gods accept the offerings and the prayers:
The immortal who deigns to accept all offerings among mortals,
V, 74, 3. kasya brdhm4ni razyathah.
p. 86
Whose prayers do ye accept?
Followed by a locative ramyati’ means to delight in. Both the gods are said to delight in prayers (VIII, 12, 18; 33,16), and prayers are said to delight in the gods (VIII, 16, 2). I therefore take razyanti in the sense of tarrying, disporting, and na, if it is to be retained, in the sense of. not; where do they not sport? meaning that they are to be found everywhere, except where the poet desires them to be. We thus get rid of the simile of singing poets and lowing cows, which, though not too bold for Vedic bards, would here come in too abruptly. It would be much better, however, if the negative particle could be omitted altogether. If we retain it, we must read: kva vak | gavak | na r4z | yant{|. But the fact is that through the whole of the Rig-veda kva has always to be pronounced as two syllables, kuva. There is only one passage, V, 61, 2, where, before a vowel, we have to read kva: kuva vo ’svaA, kvabhisavad. In other passages, even before vowels, we always have to read kuva, e.g. I, 161, 4. kuvet=kva it; I, 105, 4. kuvartam=kva vitam. In I, 35,7, we must read either kuvedanim sfrya#, making sfrya% trisyllabic, or kuva idanim, leaving a hiatus. In I, 168, 6, kvAvaram is kuvavaram: Sakalya, forgetting this, and wishing to improve the metre, added na, thereby, in reality, destroying both the metre and the sense. Kva occurs as dissyllabic in the Rig-veda at least forty-one times.
In I, 168, 6, kvAvaram is kuvavaram: Sakalya, forgetting this, and wishing to improve the metre, added na, thereby, in reality, destroying both the metre and the sense. Kva occurs as dissyllabic in the Rig-veda at least forty-one times.
Verse 3.
Note 1. The meanings of sumna in the first five Mazdalas are well explained by Professor Aufrecht in Kuhn’s Zeitschrift, vol. iv, p. 274. As to suvita in the plural, see X, 86, 21, and VIII, 93, 29, where Indra is said to bring all suvitas. It frequently occurs in the singular:
X, 148,1. & nak bhara suvitdm ydsya akan.
Verse 4.
Note 1, One might translate: ‘If you, sons of Présni, were mortals, the immortal would be your worshipper.’ But this seems almost too deep and elaborate a compliment for a primitive age. Langlois translates: ‘Quand vous nep. 87 seriez pas immortels, (faites toutefois) que votre panégyriste jouisse d’une longue vie.’ Wilson’s translation is obscure : ‘That you, sons of Prisni, may become mortals, and your panegyrist become immortal.’ Sdyaza translates : ‘Though you, sons of Présni, were mortal, yet your worshipper would be immortal.’ Ludwig has, ‘ Wenn ihr, 0 kinder der Présni, sterbliche waret, der unsterbliche ware euer singer dann. Nicht werde euch unlieb der sanger, wie ein wildes tier auf der weide, nicht des Yama Pfad betrete er.’ I think it best to connect the fourth and fifth verses, and I feel justified in so doing by other passages where the same or a similar idea is expressed, viz. that if the god were the poet and the poet the god, then the poet would be more liberal to the god than the god istohim. Whether sy4t should have the udatta, I cannot tell. Thus I translated a passage, VII, 32, 18, in my History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 545: ‘If I were lord of as much as thou, I should support the sacred bard, thou scatterer of wealth, I should not abandon him to misery. I should award wealth day by day to him who magnifies, I should award it to whosoever it be.’ Another parallel passage is pointed out by Mr. J. Muir, (On the Interpretation of the Veda, p. 79; see also Sanskrit Texts, V, 303.) VIII, 19, 25: ‘If, Agni, thou wert a mortal, and I were an immortal, I should not abandon thee to malediction or to wretchedness; my worshipper should not be miserable or distressed.’ Still more to the point is another. passage, VIII, 44, 23: ‘ If I were thou, and thou wert I, then thy wishes should be fulfilled.’ See also VIII, 14, 1, 2.
As to the metre it is clear that we ought to read martdsaé syAtana.
Verse 5.
Note 1. M4, though it seems to stand for na, retains its prohibitive sense.
Note 2. Yadvasa is explained by Sayama as grass, and Wilson’s Dictionary, too, gives to it the meaning of meadow or pasture grass, whereas yava is barley. The Greek (ed or (ed is likewise explained as barley or rye, fodder for horses. See I, 91, 13. gava# nd yavaseshu, like cows in meadows.
p. 88
The Greek (ed or (ed is likewise explained as barley or rye, fodder for horses. See I, 91, 13. gava# nd yavaseshu, like cows in meadows.
p. 88
Note 3. The path of Yama can only be the path first followed by Yama, or that leads to Yama, as the ruler of the departed.
X, 14, 8. sam gakkAasva pitrt-bhiz sim yaména.
Meet with the fathers, meet with Yama (X, 14, 10; 15, 8).
X, 14, 7. yamam pasy4si varuzam ka devdm.
Thou wilt see (there) Yama and the divine Varuza.
X, 165, 4. tasmai yamaya ndmaZ astu mritydve.
Adoration to that Yama, to Death!
WILSON: Never may your worshipper be indifferent to you, as a deer (is never indifferent) to pasture, so that he may not tread the path of Yama.
BENFEY: Wer euch besingt, der sei euch nicht gleichgiltig, wie das Wild im Gras, nicht wand!’ er auf des Yama Pfad.
Agoshya is translated insatiable by Professor Goldstiicker.
Verse 6.
Note 1. One of the meanings of nirvéti is sin. It is derived from the same root which yielded rita, in the sense of right. Nirriti was conceived, it would seem, as going away from the path of right, the German Vergehen. Nirriti was personified as a power of evil and destruction.
May Soma hand them over to Ahi, or place them in the lap of Nirvtti.
I, 117, 5. susupvaémsam na nth-rited upd-sthe.,
Like one who sleeps in the lap of Nirviti.
Here Sadyaza explains Nirrzti as earth, and he attaches the same meaning to the word in other places which will have to be considered hereafter. Cf. Lectures on the Science of Language, Second Series, p. 562.
Wilson treats Nirvzti as a male deity, and translates the last words, ‘let him perish with our evil desires.’
Note 2. Padish¢é is formed as an optative of the Atmanepada, but with the additional s before the t, which, in the ordinary Sanskrit, is restricted to the so-called benedictive (Grammar, § 385; Bopp, Kritische Grammatik, ed. 1834,
p. 89
Padish¢é is formed as an optative of the Atmanepada, but with the additional s before the t, which, in the ordinary Sanskrit, is restricted to the so-called benedictive (Grammar, § 385; Bopp, Kritische Grammatik, ed. 1834,
p. 89
§ 329, note). Pad means originally to go. Thus RV. IX, 73, 9, Atra kartdm d4va padati dprabhu/, may the impotent go down into the pit. In certain constructions it gradually assumed the meaning of to perish, and native commentators are inclined to explain it by pat, to fall. One can watch the transition of meaning from going into perishing in such phrases as VS. XI, 46, m4 p4dy Ayusha/ pur, literally, ‘may he not go before the time, but really intended for ‘may he notdie before the time.’ In the Rig-veda padish/a is generally qualified by some words to show that it is to be taken in malam partem. Thus in our passage, and in ITI, 53, 213; VII, 104,16; 17. InI, 79, 11, however, padisha sah is by itself used in a maledictory sense, pereat, may he perish! In another, VI, 20, 5, padi by itself conveys the idea of perishing. This may have some weight in determining the origin of the Latin pestis (Corssen, Kritische Beitrage, p. 396), for it shows that, even without prepositions, such as 4 or vi, pad may have an ill-omened meaning. In the Aitareya-brahmawa VII, 14 (History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 471), pad, as applied to a child’s teeth, means to go, to fall out. With sam, however, pad has always a good meaning, and this shows that originally its meaning was neutral. Another translation, suggested by Ludwig, might be: ‘Let not one dreadful Nirriti (sin) after another strike us.’
Verse 7.
Note 1. The only difficult word is avatém. Sdyana explains it, ‘without wind.’ But it is hardly possible to understand how the Maruts, themselves the gods of the storm, the sons of Rudra, could be said to bring clouds without wind. Langlois, it is true, translates without any misgivings: ‘Ces dieux peuvent sur un sol desséché faire tomber la pluie sans l’accompagner de vent.’ Wilson: ‘ They send down rain without wind upon the desert.’ Benfey saw the incongruous character of the epithet, and explained it away by saying that the winds bring rain, and after they have brought it, they moderate their violence in order not to drive it away again; hence rain without wind. Yet even
p. 90
Yet even
p. 90
this explanation, though ingenious, and, as I am told, particularly truthful in an eastern climate, is somewhat too artificial. If we changed the accent, avatam, unchecked, unconquered, would be better than avatém, windless. But dvata, unconquered, does not occur in the Rig-veda, except as applied to persons. It occurs most frequently in the phrase vanvan avatahk, which S4yama explains well by hismsan ahimsitah, hurting, but not hurt: (VI, 16, 20; 18, 1; IX, 89, 7.) In IX, 96, 8, we read prit-si vanvdn avatah, in battles attacking, but not attacked, which renders the meaning of avata perfectly clear. In VI, 64, 5, where it is applied to Ushas, it may be translated by unconquerable, intact.
There are several passages, however, where avata occurs with the accent on the last syllable, and where it is accordingly explained as a Bahuvrihi, meaning either windless or motionless, from vata, wind, or from vata, going (I, 62, 10). In some of these passages we can hardly doubt that the accent ought to be changed, and that we ought to read avata. Thus in VI, 64, 4, avate is clearly a vocative applied to Ushas, who is called 4vaté, unconquerable, in the verse immediately following. In I, 52, 4, the Maruts are called avat4h, which can only be avat4#, unconquerable ; nor can we hesitate in VIII, 79, 7, to change avatak into avata/, as an epithet applied to Soma, and preceded by advzptakratuh, of unimpaired strength, unconquerable.
But even then we find no evidence that av4ta, unconquered, could be applied to rain or to a cloud, and I therefore propose another explanation, though equally founded on the supposition that the accent of avatéam in our passage’ should be on the first syllable.
I take vata as a Vedic form instead of the later vana, the past participle of vai, to wither. Similarly we find in the Veda gita, instead of gina, the latter form being sanctioned ‘by PAmini. VA means to get dry, to flag, to get exhausted ; 4vata therefore, as applied to a cloud, would mean not dry, not withered, as applied to rain, not dried up, but remaining on the ground. It is important to remark that in one passage, VI, 67, 7, Sayama, too, explains avata, as applied to rivers, by asushka, not dry; and the same meaning would
NOTES. I, 38, 8. gI
It is important to remark that in one passage, VI, 67, 7, Sayama, too, explains avata, as applied to rivers, by asushka, not dry; and the same meaning would
NOTES. I, 38, 8. gI
be applicable to av4t& in I, 62, 10. In this sense of not withered, not dry, avatam in our passage would form a perfectly appropriate epithet of the rain, while neither windless nor unconquered would yield an appropriate sense. In the famous passage, X, 129, 2, anit avatam svadhdya tat ékam, that only One breathed breathless by itself, avatam might be taken, in accordance with its accent, as windless or breathless, and the poet may have wished to give this antithetical point to his verse. But 4v4tam, as an adverb, would here be equally appropriate, and we should then have to translate, ‘that only One breathed freely by itself.” Ludwig translates, ‘Als treue die blendenden, die stiirmenden Rudriya auf dder flache sogar, als brunnen die wolke schaffen.’ This presupposes the conjectural reading avatam. Verse 8.
Note 1, The peculiar structure of the metre in the seventh and eighth verses should be noted. Though we may scan
--- vu -- |---| v--- -- | —-vu--U-- | -- Vv -- 0 = | Ve by throwing the accent on the short antepenultimate, yet the movement of the metre becomes far more natural by throwing the accent on the long penultimate, thus reading —-t-tuvt-|-tutvvut-|vt-tuu+t- —-tut-ut—|-tu4-u-- | vt-tuut-
SAyana : Like a cow the lightning roars, (the lightning) attends (on the Maruts) as the mother cow on her calf, because their rain is let loose at the time of lightning and thunder.
WIison: The lightning roars like a parent cow that bellows for its calf, and hence the rain is set free by the Maruts.
BENFEY: Es blitzt—wie eine Kuh briillt es—die Mutter folgt dem Kalb gleichsam—wenn ihr Regen losgelassen. (Der Donner folgt dem Blitz, wie eine Kuh ihrem Kalbe.)
Vasra as a masculine means a bull, and it is used as a name of the Maruts in some passages, VIII, 7,3; 7. As g2 VEDIC HYMNS.
a feminine it means a cow, particularly a cow with a calf, a milch cow. Hence also a mother, X, 119, 4. The lowing of the lightning must be intended for the distant thunder, and the idea that the lightning goes near or looks for the rain is not foreign to the Vedic poets. See I, 39,9: ‘Come to us, Maruts, with your entire help, as lightnings (come to, i.e. seek for) the rain!’
Verse 9.
Note 1. That parganya here and in other places means cloud has been well illustrated by Dr. Biihler, Orient und Occident, vol. i, p. 221. It is interesting to watch the personifying process which is very palpable in this word, and by which Parganya becomes at last a friend and companion of Indra. See now, ‘India, what can it teach us?’ p. 183 seq.
Verse 10.
Note 1. Sd4dma, as a neuter, means originally a seat, and is frequently used in the sense of altar: IV, 9, 3. sa# sddma pari niyate hét4; VII, 18, 22. hdta-iva s4dma pari emi rébhan. It soon, however, assumed the more general meaning of place, as
183 seq.
Verse 10.
Note 1. Sd4dma, as a neuter, means originally a seat, and is frequently used in the sense of altar: IV, 9, 3. sa# sddma pari niyate hét4; VII, 18, 22. hdta-iva s4dma pari emi rébhan. It soon, however, assumed the more general meaning of place, as
X, 1, 1. agniZ bhanina rusata visva sdmani aprad,
Agni with brilliant light thou filledst all places.
It is lastly used with special reference to heaven and earth, the two sddmani, I, 185, 6; III, 55,2. In our passage sddma parthivam is the same as parthive sd4dane in VIII, 97, 5. Here the earth is mentioned together with heaven, the sea, and the sky. Sdyaza takes sddma as ‘ dwelling,’ so do Wilson and Langlois. Benfey translates ‘der Erde Sitz,’ and makes it the subject of the sentence, which may be right: ‘From the roaring of the Maruts the seat of the earth trembles, and all men tremble.’ Sadman, with the accent on the last syllable, is also used as a masculine in the Rig-veda, I, 173, 1; VI, 51, 12. sadmanam divyam.
Verse 11.
Note 1. I have translated vilu-pAz{bhiz, as if it were vilipazibhiZ, for this is the right accent of a Bahuvrihip. 93 compound. Thus the first member retains its own accent in prithi-p4vi, bhdri-pAxi, vrésha-pavi, &c. It is possible that the accent may have been changed in our passage, because the compound is used, not as an adjective, but as a kind of substantive, as the name of a horse. P4Az{, hand, means, as applied to horses, hoof :
II, 31, 2. prithivya/ sinau ganghananta pdm{-bhik.
When they strike with their hoofs on the summit of the earth.
This meaning appears still more clearly in such compounds as dravat-paxi :
The horses of the Maruts, which in our verse are called vilu-p4{, strong-hoofed, are called VIII, 7, 27. hirazyapani, golden-hoofed :
Asvaik hiranyapAsi-bhik dévasak upa gantana.
On your golden-hoofed horses come hither, O gods.
Those who retain the accent of the MSS. ought to translate, ‘Maruts, with your strong hands go after the clouds.’
Note 2, Rdédhasvatti is explained by Sayama asriver. It does not occur again in the Rig-veda. Rdodhas is enclosure or fence, the bank of a river ; but it does not follow that rédhasvat, having enclosures or banks, was applicable to rivers only. II, 15, 8, it is said that he emptied or opened the artificial enclosures of Bala, these being the clouds conquered by Indra. Hence I take rédhasvati in the sense of a cloud yet unopened, which is followed or driven on by the Maruts.
Kitra, bright or many-coloured, is applied to the clouds, V, 63, 3. Aitrébhi# abhraiz.
Note 3. Roth and Ludwig take 4khidrayaman for a name of horse, which seems right. The word does not occur again in the Rig-veda.
WILSON: Maruts, with strong hands, come along the beautifully-embanked rivers with unobstructed progress.
Aitrébhi# abhraiz.
Note 3. Roth and Ludwig take 4khidrayaman for a name of horse, which seems right. The word does not occur again in the Rig-veda.
WILSON: Maruts, with strong hands, come along the beautifully-embanked rivers with unobstructed progress.
BENFEY: Mit euren starken Handen folgt den hehren eingeschlossnen nach in unermiid’tem Gang, Maruts.
p. 94
Verse 12.
Note 1. Abhisu, rein, does not mean finger in the Rigveda, though S4yaza frequently explains it so, misled by Y4ska, who gives abhisu among the names of finger. Wilson: ‘May your fingers be well skilled (to hold the reins).’
Verse 18.
Note 1. Agni is frequently invoked together with the Maruts, and is even called marut-sakhé, the friend of the Maruts, VIII, 92,14. It seems better, therefore, to refer brdhmazas patim to Agni, than, with SAyama, to the host of the Maruts (maridgazam). Bradhmamaspdati and Brthaspati are both varieties of Agni, the priest and purohita of gods and men, and as such he is invoked together with the Maruts in other passages, I, 40, 1. Tana is an adverb, meaning constantly, always, for ever. Cf. II, 2,1; VIII, 40, 7.
WILSON: Declare in our presence (priests), with voice attuned to praise Brahmazaspati, Agni, and the beautiful Mitra.
BENFEY: Lass schallen immerfort das Lied zu griissen * Brahmazaspati, Agni, Mitra, den herrlichen.
Note 2. Mitra is never, as far as I know, invoked together with the Maruts, and it is better to take mitrdm as friend. Besides na cannot be left here untranslated. Ludwig translates, ‘beautiful like Mitra,’ that is, bright like the sun.
Verse 14,
Note 1. The second sentence is obscure. SAyana translates: ‘Let the choir of priests make a hymn of praise, let them utter or expand it, like as a cloud sends forth rain.’ Wilson similarly: ‘Utter the verse that is in your mouth, spread it out like a cloud spreading rain.’ Benfey: ‘Ein Preislied schaffe in dem Mund, ertone dem Parganya gleich.’ He takes Parganya for the god of thunder, and supposes the hymn of praise to be compared to it on account of its loudness. Tatana# can only be the second person singular of the conjunctive of the reduplicated perfect, of which wep. 95 have also tatdnat, tatandma, tatanan, and tatdnanta. Tatana’ can be addressed either to the host of the Maruts, or to the poet. I take it in the latter sense, for a similar verse occurs VIII, 21,18. It is said there of a patron that he alone is a king, that all others about the river Sarasvati are only small kings, and the poet adds: ‘May he spread like a cloud with the rain, giving hundreds and thousands (parganyah-iva tatanat hi vrishty&). Ludwig takes tan in the sense of thundering ; thunder like Parganya!
Verse 15.
Ludwig takes tan in the sense of thundering ; thunder like Parganya!
Verse 15.
Note 1. It is difficult to find an appropriate rendering for arkin. It means praising, celebrating, singing, and it is in the last sense only that it is applicable to the Maruts. Wilson translates, ‘entitled to adoration ;’ Benfey, ‘flaming.’ Boehtlingk and Roth admit the sense of flaming in one passage, but give to arkin in this place the meaning of praising. If it simply meant, possessed of arka, i.e. songs of praise, it would be a very lame epithet after panasyu. But other passages, like I, 19, 4; 52,15, show that the conception of the Maruts as singers was most familiar to the Vedic Rishis (I, 64,10; Kuhn, Zeitschrift, vol. i, p. 521, note); and arka is the very name applied to their songs (1,19, 4). In the Edda, too, ‘storm and thunder are represented as a lay, as the wondrous music of the wild hunt. The dwarfs and Elbs sing the so-called Alb-leich which carries off everything, trees and mountains. See Justi in Orient und Occident, vol. ii, p.62; Genthe, Windgottheiten, p-4; 11. There is no doubt therefore that arkin here means musician, and that the arké of the Maruts is the music of the winds.
Note 2. Vriddha, literally grown, is used in the Veda as an honorific epithet, with the meaning of mighty, great, or magnified :
We worship with praise the mighty Indra, the great, the exalted, the immortal, the vigorous.
Here neither is vriddhd intended to express old age,p. 96 nor ylvan young age, but both are meant as laudatory epithets. See Darmesteter, Ormazd et Ahriman, p. 91 seq.
Asan is the so-called Le¢ of as, to be. This Le? is properly an imperative, which gradually sinks down to a mere subjunctive, and is generally called so. Of as, we find the following Let forms: belonging to the present, we have dsasi, II, 26,2; dsati, VI, 23, 9; dsatha%, VI, 63,1; and Asatha, V, 61,4: belonging to the imperfect, 4sa%, VIII, 100, 2; asat, I, 9, 5; dsima, I, 173, 9; dsan, I, 89, 1. Asam, a form quoted by Roth from Rig-veda X, 27, 4, is really &sam.
We find, for instance, 4saz, with an imperative or optative meaning, in
VIII, 100, 2. dsak ka tvam dakshinvatas sdkha me
Adha vritrizi ganghandva bhfri.
And be thou my friend on my right hand, and we shall kill many enemies.
Here we see the transition of meaning from an imperative to the conditional. In English, too, we may say,‘ Do this and you shall live, which means nearly the same as, ‘If you do this, you will live.” Thus we may translate this passage: ‘ And if thou be my friend on my right side, then we shall kill many enemies.’
Here we have the imperative ihi and the Le¢ d4sak used in the same sense.
Far more frequently, however, d4sa# is used in relative sentences, such as,
VI, 36, 5. dsaz yatha nak sdvasa kakandh.
That thou mayest be ours, delighting in strength.
VII, 24,1. dsak yatha nak avita vridhé ha.
That thou mayest be our helper and for our increase.
See also X, 44, 4; 85, 26; 36.
WILSON: May they be exalted by this our worship.
BENFEY: Moégen die Hohen hier bei uns sein.
p. 97
MANDALA I, HYMN 339. ASH7AKA I, ADHYAYA 8, VARGA 18-19.
To tHE Maruts (THE SToRM-copDs).
1. When you thus from afar cast forwards your measure}, like a blast of fire, through whose wisdom is it, through whose design*? To whom do you go, to whom, ye shakers (of the earth) ?
2. May your weapons be firm to attack, strong also to withstand. May yours be the more glorious power, nor that of the deceitful mortal.
3. When you overthrow what is firm, O ye men, and whirl about what is heavy, you pass! through the trees of the earth, through the clefts of the rocks ?,
4. No real foe of yours is known in heaven, nor on earth, ye devourers of foes! May power be yours, together with your race’! O Rudras, can it be defied *? y
5. They make the rocks tremble, they tear asunder the kings of the forest'. Come on, Maruts, like madmen, ye gods, with your whole tribe.
6. You have harnessed the spotted deer to your chariots, a red one draws as leader!; even the earth listened* at your approach, and men were frightened.
7. O Rudras, we quickly desire your help for our race. Come now to us with help, as of yore; thus now for the sake of the frightened Kazva’.
8. Whatever fiend, roused by you or roused by’ men, attacks us, deprive him of power, of strength, and of your favours}.
9. For you, chasing and wise Maruts, have wholly
{32} Hp. 98 protected’ Kazva. Come to us, Maruts, with your whole favours, as lightnings* (go in quest of) the rain.
10. Bounteous givers, you carry whole strength, whole power, ye shakers (of the world). Send, O Maruts, against the wrathful enemy of the poets an enemy, like an arrow’.
p. 99
NOTES.
This hymn is ascribed to Kazva, the son of Ghora. The metre varies between Brzhatt and Satobrzhati, the odd -verses being composed in the former, the even verses in the latter metre. Each couple of such verses is called a Barhata Pragdtha. The Brthati consists of 8+8+12+8, the Satobrihati of 12+8+12+48 syllables. No verse of this hymn occurs in SV., VS., AV.; verse 5=TB. II, 4, 4; 3.
Verse 1.
Each couple of such verses is called a Barhata Pragdtha. The Brthati consists of 8+8+12+8, the Satobrihati of 12+8+12+48 syllables. No verse of this hymn occurs in SV., VS., AV.; verse 5=TB. II, 4, 4; 3.
Verse 1.
Note 1. Mana, which I translate by measure, is explained by Sayaza as meaning strength. Wilson: ‘When you direct your awful vigour downwards from afar, as light (descends from heaven).’ Benfey: ‘Wenn ihr aus weiter Fefne so wie Strahlen schleudert euren Stolz (das worauf ihr stolz seid: euren Blitz).’ Langlois: ‘Lorsque vous lancez votre souffle puissant.’ I doubt whether mana is ever used in the Rig-veda in the sense of pride, which no doubt it has, as a masculine, in later Sanskrit: cf. Halayudha, ed. Aufrecht, iv, 37. M4&na, as a masculine, means frequently a poet in the Rig-veda, viz. a measurer, a thinker or maker; as a neuter it means a measure, or what is measured or made. Thus V, 85, 5, we read:
mf&nena-iva tasthi-van antdrikshe vi ya# mamé prithivim stiryena.
He (Varuna) who standing in the welkin has measured the earth with the sun, as with a measure.
In this passage, as well as in ours, we must take measure, not in the abstract sense, but as a measuring line, which is cast forward to measure the distance of an object,—a simile, perfectly applicable to the Maruts, who seem with their weapons to strike the trees and mountains when they themselves are still far off. Another explanation might be given, if mana could be taken in the sense of measure, i.e. shape or form, but this is doubtful.
H 2
p. 4
p. 100
Note 2. Varpas, which has generally been translated by body or form, is here explained by praise. Benfey puts Werk (i.e. Gesang, Gebet); Langlois, maison. Varpas, which, without much reason, has been compared to Latin corpus, must here be taken in a more general sense. Thus VI, 44, 14, asyd made puri varp4msi vidvin, is applied to Indra as knowing many schemes, many thoughts, many things, when he is inspired by the Soma-juice; see I, 19, 5.
Verse 3.
Note 1, Benfey takes vi y4thana in a causative sense, you destroy, you cause the trees to go asunder. But even without assigning to ya a causative meaning, to go through, to pierce, would convey the idea of destruction. In some passages, however, vi-y4 is certainly used in the simple sense of passing through, without involving the idea of destruction:
VIII, 73, 13. rathak viyati rédast (iti).
Your chariot which passes through or between heaven and earth.
In other passages the mere passing across implies conquest and destruction :
I, 116,20. vi-bhindun4....rathena v{ pdrvatan....ayAtam.
On your dissevering chariot you went across, or, you rent, the mountains (the clouds).
In other passages, however, a causative meaning seems equally, and even more applicable:
VIII, 7, 23. vi vritram parva-s4h yayuh vi parvatan.
vi-bhindun4....rathena v{ pdrvatan....ayAtam.
On your dissevering chariot you went across, or, you rent, the mountains (the clouds).
In other passages, however, a causative meaning seems equally, and even more applicable:
VIII, 7, 23. vi vritram parva-s4h yayuh vi parvatan.
They passed through Vritra piecemeal, they passed through the mountains (the clouds); or, they destroyed Vritra, cutting him to pieces, they destroyed the clouds.
Likewise I, 86, 10. vi yata visvam atrizam.
Walk athwart every evil spirit, or destroy every evil spirit! See before, I, 19, 73; 37, 7.
vev weve v ~~ ve
We must scan vi yAthana vaninak prithivyaz.
Note 2. It might seem preferable to translate &s4% parvatandm by the spaces of the clouds, for parvata means clouds in many places. Yet here, and still more clearly in verse 5, where parvata occurs again, the object of the poetp. 101 is to show the strength of the Maruts. In that case the mere shaking or bursting of the clouds would sound very tame by the side of the shaking and breaking of the forest trees. Vedic poets do not shrink from the conception that the Maruts shake even mountains, and Indra is even said to have cut off the mountain tops : IV, 19, 4. Ava abhinat kaktbha’ parvatanim. In the later literature, too, the same idea occurs: Mahabh. Vana-parva, ver. 10974, dyauk svit patati kim bhamir diryate parvato nu kim, does the sky fall? is the earth torn asunder, or the mountain?
Verse 4.
Note 1. Sayava was evidently without an authoritative explanation of té4n4 yugdé. He tries to explain it by ‘through the union of you may strength to resist be quickly extended. Wilson: ‘May your collective strength be quickly exerted.’ Benfey takes tana as adverb and leaves out yugd: ‘Zu allen Zeiten, O Furchtbare!—sei im Nu zu iiberwilt’gen euch die Macht.’ Yug4, an instrumental, if used together with another instrumental, becomes in the Veda a mere preposition: cf. VII, 43, 5; 95,4. raya yugd ; X, 83, 3. tapasa yuga; X, 102, 12. vddhrind yuga ; VII, 32, 20, puram-dhy4 yugaé; VI, 56, 2. s4khy4 yugd; VIII, 68, g. tva yugé. As to the meaning of tan, see B. R. 8. v., where tan in our passage is explained as continuation. The offspring or race of the Maruts is mentioned again in the next verse.
Note 2. I take nu Ait 4-dhv/she as an abrupt interrogative sentence, viz. Can it be defied? Can it be resisted ? See V, 87, 2:
tat vak maruta% na 4-dhrishe sdvak.
Your strength, O Maruts, is not to be defied.
Verse 5.
Note 1. Large trees of the forest are called the kings or lords of the forest. Instead of prdé Arata, the Taitt. Br. II, 4, 4, 2, reads pré varata, which Sdyawa explains by pro, prakarshewa, avarata dhavata.
p. 102
Verse 6.
Your strength, O Maruts, is not to be defied.
Verse 5.
Note 1. Large trees of the forest are called the kings or lords of the forest. Instead of prdé Arata, the Taitt. Br. II, 4, 4, 2, reads pré varata, which Sdyawa explains by pro, prakarshewa, avarata dhavata.
p. 102
Verse 6.
Note 1. Prdshdi is explained by SAyaza as a sort of yoke in the middle, when three horses or other animals are harnessed to a car; rdhita as a kind of red deer. Hence Wilson remarks that the sense may be, ‘The red deer yoked between them aids to drag the car.’ But he adds that the construction of the original is obscure, and apparently rude and ungrammatical. Benfey translates, ‘Sie filhrt ein flammenrothes Joch,’ and remarks against Wilson that Sayava’s definition of prashdi as yoke is right, but that of réhita as deer, wrong. If SAyava’s authority is to be invoked at all, one might appeal from Sayaza in this place to SAdyavza VIII, 7, 28, where prash¢i is explained by him either by quick or by pramukhe yugyamAnad, harnessed in front. The verse is yat eshAm pr/shatiz rathe prashziz vahati rdhitas.
When the red leader draws or leads their spotted deer in the chariot.
VI, 47,24. prash¢iz is explained as tripada Adharaz ; tadvad vahantiti prashfayo:svak. In I, 100, 17, prashabhiA, as applied to men, means friends or supporters, or, as Sayaza explains, parsvasthair anyair rishibhiz.
Ludwig (IV, ad 25, 8) adds some useful information. He quotes from the comm. on Taitt. S.I,7,8; vamadakshizayor asvayor madhya ishadvayam prasarya tayor madhye saptyakhyagativiseshopetam asvam yuzigyat. The right horse is said to be the arva, the left vagi, the middle saptix. Latyd4yana II, 7, 23, calls the two side-horses prash/t. According to Sayaza (Taitt. S. I, 7, 8, p. 1024) prashdi means originally a tripod for holding a pot (see above), and afterwards a chariot with three horses. In that case we should have to translate, the red chariot moves along.
Note 2. Aufrecht derives asrot from sru, to shake, without necessity, however ; see Muir’s Sanskrit Texts, IV, p. 494.
Ludwig also remarks that asrot might be translated by the earth trembled or vibrated. Similar passages occur RV. I, 127, 3. vidi Ait yasya sdm-ritau srivat van4-iva yat sthirdam, at whose approach even what is firm and strongp. 103 will shake, like the forests. Roth translates, the earth . yielded, got out of your way.
Verse 7. Note 1. Kazva, the author of the hymn.
Verse 8.
Note 1. The abhva, fiend, or, as Benfey translates it very happily, Ungethiim, may have been sent by the Maruts themselves, or by some mortal. With reference to yushméshita it is said afterwards that the Maruts are to withdraw their help from him. I have adopted Wilson’s and Ludwig’s interpretation of vi yuyota, with the instrumental.
Verse 9.
With reference to yushméshita it is said afterwards that the Maruts are to withdraw their help from him. I have adopted Wilson’s and Ludwig’s interpretation of vi yuyota, with the instrumental.
Verse 9.
Note 1. The verb dada is the second pers. plur. of the perfect of da, and is used here in the sense of to keep, to protect, as is well shown by B. and R. s. v. da 4, base dad. Sayaza did not understand the word, and took it for an irregular imperative; yet he assigned to the verb the proper sense of to keep, instead of to give. Hence Wilson: ‘ Uphold the sacrificer Kazva.’ Benfey, less correctly, ‘Den Kazva gabt ihr,’ as if Kazva had been the highest gift of the Maruts.
Note 2. The simile, as lightnings go to the rain, is not very telling. It may have been suggested by the idea that the lightnings run about to find the rain, or the tertium comparationis may simply be the quickness of lightning. Wilson : ‘As the lightnings bring the rain.’ Benfey: ‘(So schnell) gleichwie der Blitz zum Regen kémmt.’ Lightning precedes the rain, and may therefore be represented as looking about for the rain. Ludwig proposes some bold conjectures. He would change kdmvam to razvam, and take the words from asdmibhif to ganta as a parenthesis. He translates: ‘For nothing imperfect, you highly to be revered Maruts, no, something delightful you gave—(with perfect aids, Maruts, come to us)—as lightnings give rain.’
Verse 10. Note 1. Wilson: ‘Let loose your anger.’ Sayama: ‘Let loose a murderer who hates.’
p. 104
Pari-manyu, which occurs but once in the Rig-veda, corresponds as nearly as possible to the Greek zepl6upos. Manyu, like @vyzds, means courage, spirit, anger; and in the compound parimanyu, as in wepiOupos, the preposition pari seems to strengthen the simple notion of the word. That pari is used in that sense in later Sanskrit is well known; for instance, in parilaghu, perlevis, pariksh4ma, withered away: see Pott, Etymologische Forschungen, second edition, vol. i, p. 487. How pari, originally meaning round about, came to mean excessive, is difficult to explain with certainty. It may have been, because what surrounds exceeds, but it may also have been because what is done all around a thing is done thoroughly. See Curtius, Grundziige, fifth edition, p. 274. Thus we find in the Veda, VIII, 75, 9, pari-dveshas, lit. one who hates all around, then a great hater:
May the grasp of the violent hater strike us not, as the wave strikes a ship.
Again, pari-spr¢dh means literally one who strives round about, then an eager enemy, a rival (fem.):
IX, 53, 1. nuddsva yah pari-spr/dhak.
Drive away those who are rivals.
Pari-kros4 means originally one who shouts at one from every side, who abuses one roundly, then an angry reviler. This word, though not mentioned in B. R.’s Dictionary, occurs in