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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Navam4nasya might also be used in the sense of making. a noise (see I, 29,5), and possibly navamanasya nidé might have been intended for shouting and laughing to scorn. But all this leaves the true meaning of the verse as unfathomable as ever. Verse 11. Note 1. Vishzor eshasya prabhrithé is obscure. At the offering of the rapid Vishzu is supposed to mean, when the rapid Vishzu offers Soma. The same phrase occurs again, VII, 40, 5. In VIII, 20, 3, we can translate, ‘we know the strength of the Maruts, and of the hasting Vishau, the bounteous gods.’ In VII, 39, 5, the reading is vishzum esham. Bergaigne (II, 419) is inclined to take vishzu esha as Soma. We should then translate, ‘at the offering of Soma.’ Verse 12. Note 1. The Dasagvas are mentioned as an old priestly family, like the Angiras, and they seem also, like the Angiras, to have their prototypes or their ancestors among the divine hosts. Could they here be identified with the Maruts? They are said to have been the first to carry on the sacrifice, and they are asked to rouse men at the break of the day. Now the same may be said of the Maruts. They are often connected with the dawn, probably because the storms break forth with greater vigour in the morning, or, it may be, because the chasing away of the darkness of the night recalls the struggle between the darkness of the thunderstorm and the brightness of the sun. The matutinal character of the Maruts appears, for instance, in V, 53, 14 (usr{ bheshagdm), and their father Dyaus is likewise called vvishabha usrfyah, V, 58,6. In the second line frmute, though in the singular, refers also to the Maruts in the plural; see Bergaigne, Mélanges Renier, NOTES. Il, 34, 13. 307 Paris, 1886, p. 80. There still remain two difficult words, maha and gé-armasd. The former (see Lanman, p. 501) may be taken as an adjective referring to the Dasagvas or Maruts, unless we take it as an adverb, quickly, like makshu. If we could change it into mahd, it would form an appropriate adjective to gyotish4, as in IV, 50,4. On g6-armasé all that can be said is that it mostly occurs where something is uncovered or revealed, so I, 112, 18; X, 38, 2. Note 2. On yagf#am vah, to carry on the sacrifice like - a wagon, see Bergaigne, Rel. Véd. II, 259-260. See also RV. VIII, 26, 15; 58,1, and yag#a-vahas. Verse 18.
2On g6-armasé all that can be said is that it mostly occurs where something is uncovered or revealed, so I, 112, 18; X, 38, 2. Note 2. On yagf#am vah, to carry on the sacrifice like - a wagon, see Bergaigne, Rel. Véd. II, 259-260. See also RV. VIII, 26, 15; 58,1, and yag#a-vahas. Verse 18. Note 1. In interpreting this obscure verse we must begin with what is clear. The aruz&s afigdyah are the wellknown ornaments of the Maruts, mentioned I, 37, 2, note; I, 64, 4, note, &c. The Maruts shine in these ornaments or paints, I, 85, 3; 87,1; V, 56,1; X,78,7. Though we do not know their special character, we know that, like the daggers, spears, and bracelets of the Maruts, they were supposed to contribute to their beautiful appearance. Again, we know that when the Maruts are said to grow (vavridhuz), that means that they grow in strength, in spirits, and in splendour, or, in a physical sense, that the storms increase, that the thunder roars, and the lightnings flash, see V, 55,33 59, 5- Now if it is said that the Rudras grew with kshovzis, as if with bright red ornaments, we must have in these kshozis the physical prototype of what are metaphorically called their glittering ornaments. And here we can only think either of the bright morning clouds (referring to ush&% nd ramth arunafk dpa draute in the preceding verse), or lightnings. These bright clouds of heaven are sometimes conceived as the mothers (III, 9, 2. apa matrfh), and more especially the mothers of the Maruts, who are in consequence called S{ndhu-matarah, X, 78, 6,a name elsewhere given to Soma, IX, 61, 7, and to the Asvins, I, 46, 2. It is said of a well-known hero, Pur(ravas (originally a solar hero), that as soon as he was born the women (gn4) were there, and immediately after- X 2 308 VEDIC HYMNS. wards that the rivers increased or cherished him, X, 95, 7- In other passages too these celestial rivers or waters or clouds are represented as women, whether mothers or wives (X, 124, 7). A number of names are given to these beings, when introduced as the companions of the Apsaras Urvasi, and it is said of them that they came along like a%gayahk aruzayah, like bright red ornaments, X, 95,6. It seems clear therefore that the aruz4s afigdyahk of the Maruts have to be explained by the bright red clouds of the morning, or in more mythological language, by the Apsaras, who are said to be like aruzayahk afgdyak. Hence, whatever its etymology may have been, kshow{bhiZ in our passage must refer to the clouds of heaven, and the verse can only be translated, ‘the Rudras grew with the clouds as with their red ornaments,’ that is, the clouds were their red ornaments, and as the clouds grew in splendour, the Maruts grew with their splendid ornaments.
3Professor Geldner arrived at a similar conclusion. In Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XI, p. 327, and more recently in Ved. Stud., p. 277, he assigned to kshowi the meaning of woman, which is quite possible, and would make it a synonym of the celestial gnés. But he translates, ‘the Maruts excite themselves with red colours as with women.’ These are hardly Vedic thoughts, and the position of nd would remain anomalous. Nor should we gain much if we read te kshozayak aruxebhié na a”gibhik, ‘these Rudras were delighted like wives by bright ornaments.’ The bright ornaments have once for all a settled meaning, they are peculiar to the Maruts, and cannot in a Marut hymn be taken in any other sense. Then comes the question, how is the meaning assigned to kshovi, namely cloud, or, as personified, Apsaras, applicable to other passages? In X, 95, 9, it seems most appropriate: ‘So long as the mortal (Purfravas), longing for the immortal (Apsaras), does not come near with strength to those kshovis, i.e. those Apsaras, or morning clouds, they beautified their bodies like ducks’ (an excellent image, if one watches ducks cleaning themselves in the water), ‘like sporting horses biting each other. Geldner NOTES. II, 34, 13. 309 translates this verse somewhat differently, Ved. Stud. I, p. 276. Having disposed of these two passages where kshoi occurs in the plural, we have next to consider those where it stands in the dual. Here kshozi always means heaven and earth, like rodasi, dyA4vaprithivi, &c. VIII, 7, 22. sim u tyé mahatiZ apds sim kshoni sdm u siryam...parvasd# dadhuk. They, the Maruts, set the great waters (the sky), heaven and earth and the sun piecemeal (or, they put them together piece by piece). VIII, 52, 10. sm indrak réyahk brihattz# adhQnuta sdm kshowi sdm u sfiryam. Indra shook the great treasures, heaven and earth, and the sun. VIII, 99, 6. d4nu te sishmam turdyantam iyatué kshomt sisum nd matara. Heaven and earth followed thy rapid strength, like mother-cows their calf. II, 16, 3. nd kshowfbhy4m paribhvé te indriyam. Thy strength is not to be compassed by heaven and earth.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Navam4nasya might also be used in the sense of making. a noise (see I, 29,5), and possibly navamanasya nidé might have been intended for shouting and laughing to scorn. But all this leaves the true meaning of the verse as unfathomable as ever. Verse 11. Note 1. Vishzor eshasya prabhrithé is obscure. At the offering of the rapid Vishzu is supposed to mean, when the rapid Vishzu offers Soma. The same phrase occurs again, VII, 40, 5. In VIII, 20, 3, we can translate, ‘we know the strength of the Maruts, and of the hasting Vishau, the bounteous gods.’ In VII, 39, 5, the reading is vishzum esham. Bergaigne (II, 419) is inclined to take vishzu esha as Soma. We should then translate, ‘at the offering of Soma.’ Verse 12. Note 1. The Dasagvas are mentioned as an old priestly family, like the Angiras, and they seem also, like the Angiras, to have their prototypes or their ancestors among the divine hosts. Could they here be identified with the Maruts? They are said to have been the first to carry on the sacrifice, and they are asked to rouse men at the break of the day. Now the same may be said of the Maruts. They are often connected with the dawn, probably because the storms break forth with greater vigour in the morning, or, it may be, because the chasing away of the darkness of the night recalls the struggle between the darkness of the thunderstorm and the brightness of the sun. The matutinal character of the Maruts appears, for instance, in V, 53, 14 (usr{ bheshagdm), and their father Dyaus is likewise called vvishabha usrfyah, V, 58,6. In the second line frmute, though in the singular, refers also to the Maruts in the plural; see Bergaigne, Mélanges Renier, NOTES. Il, 34, 13. 307 Paris, 1886, p. 80. There still remain two difficult words, maha and gé-armasd. The former (see Lanman, p. 501) may be taken as an adjective referring to the Dasagvas or Maruts, unless we take it as an adverb, quickly, like makshu. If we could change it into mahd, it would form an appropriate adjective to gyotish4, as in IV, 50,4. On g6-armasé all that can be said is that it mostly occurs where something is uncovered or revealed, so I, 112, 18; X, 38, 2. Note 2. On yagf#am vah, to carry on the sacrifice like - a wagon, see Bergaigne, Rel. Véd. II, 259-260. See also RV. VIII, 26, 15; 58,1, and yag#a-vahas. Verse 18.
2On g6-armasé all that can be said is that it mostly occurs where something is uncovered or revealed, so I, 112, 18; X, 38, 2. Note 2. On yagf#am vah, to carry on the sacrifice like - a wagon, see Bergaigne, Rel. Véd. II, 259-260. See also RV. VIII, 26, 15; 58,1, and yag#a-vahas. Verse 18. Note 1. In interpreting this obscure verse we must begin with what is clear. The aruz&s afigdyah are the wellknown ornaments of the Maruts, mentioned I, 37, 2, note; I, 64, 4, note, &c. The Maruts shine in these ornaments or paints, I, 85, 3; 87,1; V, 56,1; X,78,7. Though we do not know their special character, we know that, like the daggers, spears, and bracelets of the Maruts, they were supposed to contribute to their beautiful appearance. Again, we know that when the Maruts are said to grow (vavridhuz), that means that they grow in strength, in spirits, and in splendour, or, in a physical sense, that the storms increase, that the thunder roars, and the lightnings flash, see V, 55,33 59, 5- Now if it is said that the Rudras grew with kshovzis, as if with bright red ornaments, we must have in these kshozis the physical prototype of what are metaphorically called their glittering ornaments. And here we can only think either of the bright morning clouds (referring to ush&% nd ramth arunafk dpa draute in the preceding verse), or lightnings. These bright clouds of heaven are sometimes conceived as the mothers (III, 9, 2. apa matrfh), and more especially the mothers of the Maruts, who are in consequence called S{ndhu-matarah, X, 78, 6,a name elsewhere given to Soma, IX, 61, 7, and to the Asvins, I, 46, 2. It is said of a well-known hero, Pur(ravas (originally a solar hero), that as soon as he was born the women (gn4) were there, and immediately after- X 2 308 VEDIC HYMNS. wards that the rivers increased or cherished him, X, 95, 7- In other passages too these celestial rivers or waters or clouds are represented as women, whether mothers or wives (X, 124, 7). A number of names are given to these beings, when introduced as the companions of the Apsaras Urvasi, and it is said of them that they came along like a%gayahk aruzayah, like bright red ornaments, X, 95,6. It seems clear therefore that the aruz4s afigdyahk of the Maruts have to be explained by the bright red clouds of the morning, or in more mythological language, by the Apsaras, who are said to be like aruzayahk afgdyak. Hence, whatever its etymology may have been, kshow{bhiZ in our passage must refer to the clouds of heaven, and the verse can only be translated, ‘the Rudras grew with the clouds as with their red ornaments,’ that is, the clouds were their red ornaments, and as the clouds grew in splendour, the Maruts grew with their splendid ornaments.
3Professor Geldner arrived at a similar conclusion. In Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XI, p. 327, and more recently in Ved. Stud., p. 277, he assigned to kshowi the meaning of woman, which is quite possible, and would make it a synonym of the celestial gnés. But he translates, ‘the Maruts excite themselves with red colours as with women.’ These are hardly Vedic thoughts, and the position of nd would remain anomalous. Nor should we gain much if we read te kshozayak aruxebhié na a”gibhik, ‘these Rudras were delighted like wives by bright ornaments.’ The bright ornaments have once for all a settled meaning, they are peculiar to the Maruts, and cannot in a Marut hymn be taken in any other sense. Then comes the question, how is the meaning assigned to kshovi, namely cloud, or, as personified, Apsaras, applicable to other passages? In X, 95, 9, it seems most appropriate: ‘So long as the mortal (Purfravas), longing for the immortal (Apsaras), does not come near with strength to those kshovis, i.e. those Apsaras, or morning clouds, they beautified their bodies like ducks’ (an excellent image, if one watches ducks cleaning themselves in the water), ‘like sporting horses biting each other. Geldner NOTES. II, 34, 13. 309 translates this verse somewhat differently, Ved. Stud. I, p. 276. Having disposed of these two passages where kshoi occurs in the plural, we have next to consider those where it stands in the dual. Here kshozi always means heaven and earth, like rodasi, dyA4vaprithivi, &c. VIII, 7, 22. sim u tyé mahatiZ apds sim kshoni sdm u siryam...parvasd# dadhuk. They, the Maruts, set the great waters (the sky), heaven and earth and the sun piecemeal (or, they put them together piece by piece). VIII, 52, 10. sm indrak réyahk brihattz# adhQnuta sdm kshowi sdm u sfiryam. Indra shook the great treasures, heaven and earth, and the sun. VIII, 99, 6. d4nu te sishmam turdyantam iyatué kshomt sisum nd matara. Heaven and earth followed thy rapid strength, like mother-cows their calf. II, 16, 3. nd kshowfbhy4m paribhvé te indriyam. Thy strength is not to be compassed by heaven and earth.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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