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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. XXXiX ingenious observations contained in numerous articles by Professors Kuhn, Bollensen, Grassmann, and others. With regard to the interpretation of certain words and sentences too, it may happen that explanations which have taxed the ingenuity of some scholars to the utmost, seem to others so self-evident that they would hardly think of quoting anybody’s name in support of them, to say nothing of the endless and useless work it would entail, were we obliged always to find out who was the first to propose this or that interpretation. It is impossible here to lay down general rules:—each scholar must be guided by his own sense of justice to others and by self-respect. Let us take one instance. From the first time that I read the fourth hymn of the Rig-veda, I translated the fifth and sixth verses : utd bruvantu nak nfida& nif anyatak fit arata, dddhan4A indre {t divas, utd nak su-bhdgan arf vokéyuk dasma krish¢dyah, sy4ma it indrasya sdrmani. 1. Whether our enemies say, ‘Move away elsewhere, you who offer worship to Indra only,’— 2. Or whether, O mighty one, all people call us blessed : may we always remain in the keeping of Indra. About the general sense of this passage I imagined there could be no doubt, although one word in it, viz. ar{k, required an explanation. Yet the variety of interpretations proposed by different scholars is extraordinary. First, if we look to Sayama, he translates : 1. May our priests praise Indra! O enemies, go away from this place, and also from another place! Our priests (may praise Indra), they who are always performing worship for Indra. 2. O destroyer of enemies! may the enemy call us possessed of wealth; how much more, friendly people! May we be in the happiness of Indra! Professor Wilson did not follow SAayana closely, but translated : 1. Let our ministers, earnestly performing his worship, xl VEDIC HYMNS. exclaim: Depart, ye revilers, from hence and every other place (where he is adored). 2. Destroyer of foes, let our enemies say we are prosperous: let men (congratulate us). May we ever abide in the felicity (derived from the favour) of Indra. Langlois translated : 1. Que (ces amis), en fétant Indra, puissent dire: Vous, qui étes nos adversaires, retirez-vous loin d’ici. 2. Que nos ennemis nous appellent des hommes fortunés, placés que nous sommes sous la protection d’Indra. Stevenson translated : 1. Let all men again join in praising Indra. Avaunt ye profane scoffers, remove from hence, and from every other place, while we perform the rites of Indra. 2. O foe-destroyer, (through thy favour) even our enemies speak peaceably to us, the possessors of wealth; what wonder then if other men do so. Let us ever enjoy the happiness which springs from Indra’s blessing. Professor Benfey translated : 1. And let the scoffers say, They are rejected by every one else, therefore they celebrate Indra alone.
2Let us ever enjoy the happiness which springs from Indra’s blessing. Professor Benfey translated : 1. And let the scoffers say, They are rejected by every one else, therefore they celebrate Indra alone. 2. And may the enemy and the country proclaim us as happy, O destroyer, if we are only in Indra’s keeping®*. Professor Roth, s.v. anyata#, took this word rightly in the sense of ‘to a different place, and must therefore have taken that sentence ‘move away elsewhere’ in the same sense in which I take it. Later, however, s.v. ar, he corrected himself, and proposed to translate the same words by ‘you neglect something else.’ Professor Bollensen (Orient und Occident, vol. ii, p. 462), * I add Grassmann’s and Ludwig's renderings: Grassmann: Mag spottend sagen unser Feind: ‘Kein Andrer kiimmert sich um sie; Dram feiern Indra sie allein.’ Und gliicklich mégen, Miachtiger! Die Freundesstimme nennen uns, Nur wenn wir sind in Indra’s Schutz. Ludwig: Mogen unsere tadler sagen: sogar noch anderes entgeht euch (dabei), wenn ibr dienst dem Indra tut. Oder mége uns gliickselige nennen der fromme, so nennen, o wundertater, die (fiinf) volker, in Indra’s schutze mégen wir sein. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. xli adopting toa certain extent the second rendering of Professor Roth in preference to that of Professor Benfey, endeavoured to show that the ‘something else which is neglected,’ is not something indefinite, but the worship of all the other gods, except Indra. It might, no doubt, be said that every one of these translations contains something that is right, though mixed up with a great deal that.is wrong; but to attempt for cvery verse of the Veda to quote and to criticise every previous translation, would be an invidious and useless task. In the case just quoted, it might seem right to state that Professor Bollensen was the first to see that arf# should be joined with kvishé4yah, and that he therefore proposed to alter it to ariz, as anom. plur. But on referring to Rosen, I find that, to a certain extent, he had anticipated Professor Bollensen’s remark, for though, in his cautious way, he abstained from altering the text, yet he remarked: Possitne arih pluralis esse, contracta terminatione, pro arayah? After these preliminary remarks I have to say a few Plan of the Words on the general plan of my translation.
3After these preliminary remarks I have to say a few Plan of the Words on the general plan of my translation. work. I do not attempt as yet a translation of the whole of the Rig-veda, and I therefore considered myself at liberty to group the hymns according to the deities to which they are addressed. By this process, I believe, a great advantage is gained. We see at one glance all that has been said of a certain god, and we gain a more complete insight into his nature and character. Something of the same kind had been attempted by the original collectors of the ten books, for it can hardly be by accident that each of them begins with hymns addressed to Agni, and that these are followed by hymns addressed to Indra. The only exception to this rule is the eighth Mamdala, for the ninth being devoted to one deity, to Soma, can hardly be accounted an exception. But if we take the Rig-veda as a whole, we find hymns, addressed to the same deities, not only scattered about in different books, but not even grouped together when they occur in one and the same book. Here, as we lose nothing by giving up the old arrangement, we xii VEDIC HYMNS. are surely at liberty, for our own purposes, to put together such hymns as have a common object, and to place before the reader as much material as possible for an exhaustive study of each individual deity.
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.
1PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. XXXiX ingenious observations contained in numerous articles by Professors Kuhn, Bollensen, Grassmann, and others. With regard to the interpretation of certain words and sentences too, it may happen that explanations which have taxed the ingenuity of some scholars to the utmost, seem to others so self-evident that they would hardly think of quoting anybody’s name in support of them, to say nothing of the endless and useless work it would entail, were we obliged always to find out who was the first to propose this or that interpretation. It is impossible here to lay down general rules:—each scholar must be guided by his own sense of justice to others and by self-respect. Let us take one instance. From the first time that I read the fourth hymn of the Rig-veda, I translated the fifth and sixth verses : utd bruvantu nak nfida& nif anyatak fit arata, dddhan4A indre {t divas, utd nak su-bhdgan arf vokéyuk dasma krish¢dyah, sy4ma it indrasya sdrmani. 1. Whether our enemies say, ‘Move away elsewhere, you who offer worship to Indra only,’— 2. Or whether, O mighty one, all people call us blessed : may we always remain in the keeping of Indra. About the general sense of this passage I imagined there could be no doubt, although one word in it, viz. ar{k, required an explanation. Yet the variety of interpretations proposed by different scholars is extraordinary. First, if we look to Sayama, he translates : 1. May our priests praise Indra! O enemies, go away from this place, and also from another place! Our priests (may praise Indra), they who are always performing worship for Indra. 2. O destroyer of enemies! may the enemy call us possessed of wealth; how much more, friendly people! May we be in the happiness of Indra! Professor Wilson did not follow SAayana closely, but translated : 1. Let our ministers, earnestly performing his worship, xl VEDIC HYMNS. exclaim: Depart, ye revilers, from hence and every other place (where he is adored). 2. Destroyer of foes, let our enemies say we are prosperous: let men (congratulate us). May we ever abide in the felicity (derived from the favour) of Indra. Langlois translated : 1. Que (ces amis), en fétant Indra, puissent dire: Vous, qui étes nos adversaires, retirez-vous loin d’ici. 2. Que nos ennemis nous appellent des hommes fortunés, placés que nous sommes sous la protection d’Indra. Stevenson translated : 1. Let all men again join in praising Indra. Avaunt ye profane scoffers, remove from hence, and from every other place, while we perform the rites of Indra. 2. O foe-destroyer, (through thy favour) even our enemies speak peaceably to us, the possessors of wealth; what wonder then if other men do so. Let us ever enjoy the happiness which springs from Indra’s blessing. Professor Benfey translated : 1. And let the scoffers say, They are rejected by every one else, therefore they celebrate Indra alone.
2Let us ever enjoy the happiness which springs from Indra’s blessing. Professor Benfey translated : 1. And let the scoffers say, They are rejected by every one else, therefore they celebrate Indra alone. 2. And may the enemy and the country proclaim us as happy, O destroyer, if we are only in Indra’s keeping®*. Professor Roth, s.v. anyata#, took this word rightly in the sense of ‘to a different place, and must therefore have taken that sentence ‘move away elsewhere’ in the same sense in which I take it. Later, however, s.v. ar, he corrected himself, and proposed to translate the same words by ‘you neglect something else.’ Professor Bollensen (Orient und Occident, vol. ii, p. 462), * I add Grassmann’s and Ludwig's renderings: Grassmann: Mag spottend sagen unser Feind: ‘Kein Andrer kiimmert sich um sie; Dram feiern Indra sie allein.’ Und gliicklich mégen, Miachtiger! Die Freundesstimme nennen uns, Nur wenn wir sind in Indra’s Schutz. Ludwig: Mogen unsere tadler sagen: sogar noch anderes entgeht euch (dabei), wenn ibr dienst dem Indra tut. Oder mége uns gliickselige nennen der fromme, so nennen, o wundertater, die (fiinf) volker, in Indra’s schutze mégen wir sein. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. xli adopting toa certain extent the second rendering of Professor Roth in preference to that of Professor Benfey, endeavoured to show that the ‘something else which is neglected,’ is not something indefinite, but the worship of all the other gods, except Indra. It might, no doubt, be said that every one of these translations contains something that is right, though mixed up with a great deal that.is wrong; but to attempt for cvery verse of the Veda to quote and to criticise every previous translation, would be an invidious and useless task. In the case just quoted, it might seem right to state that Professor Bollensen was the first to see that arf# should be joined with kvishé4yah, and that he therefore proposed to alter it to ariz, as anom. plur. But on referring to Rosen, I find that, to a certain extent, he had anticipated Professor Bollensen’s remark, for though, in his cautious way, he abstained from altering the text, yet he remarked: Possitne arih pluralis esse, contracta terminatione, pro arayah? After these preliminary remarks I have to say a few Plan of the Words on the general plan of my translation.
3After these preliminary remarks I have to say a few Plan of the Words on the general plan of my translation. work. I do not attempt as yet a translation of the whole of the Rig-veda, and I therefore considered myself at liberty to group the hymns according to the deities to which they are addressed. By this process, I believe, a great advantage is gained. We see at one glance all that has been said of a certain god, and we gain a more complete insight into his nature and character. Something of the same kind had been attempted by the original collectors of the ten books, for it can hardly be by accident that each of them begins with hymns addressed to Agni, and that these are followed by hymns addressed to Indra. The only exception to this rule is the eighth Mamdala, for the ninth being devoted to one deity, to Soma, can hardly be accounted an exception. But if we take the Rig-veda as a whole, we find hymns, addressed to the same deities, not only scattered about in different books, but not even grouped together when they occur in one and the same book. Here, as we lose nothing by giving up the old arrangement, we xii VEDIC HYMNS. are surely at liberty, for our own purposes, to put together such hymns as have a common object, and to place before the reader as much material as possible for an exhaustive study of each individual deity.
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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