Vedic Hymns, Part I — SBE Vol. 32 (trans. F. Max Müller, 1891)
The translator’s English as printed (F. Max Müller). The original-language text is not held; names are romanised as the translator printed them.
Another word narésamsa had originally the same meaning as givasamsa, but it was chiefly used as a name of Agni. He was called Nardsamsa, i.e. Mannerlob, or dyék sdmsa, Himmelslob, as a German poet was once called Frauenlob, not only because he praised women, but because he was praised by women. As we can say, God is my song, the Vedic Rishis might call any god the samsa, i.e. the praise or song of men, of the fathers, or of the gods. So far from agreeing with Bergaigne, ‘on comprendrait moins bien qu'une locution dont le sens propre aurait été “ éloge mortel” eft désigné celui qui est loué par le mortel,’ nothing is easier and better confirmed by other languages, while the invocation of ‘une formule sacrée’ is almost unintelligible. If in a later hymn Indra is called gyéshthah mantra#, in X, 50, 4, I should translate, ‘thou art the oldest or the best song,’ that is, ‘the theme of the oldest song, but not thou art a magic formula. There is no necessity therefore for taking nardsamsa as a possessive compound, possessed of the praise of men, nor must we forget that in words which become almost proper names the accent is by no means always a safe guide.
p. 440
p. 2ASHTAKA I, ADHYAYA 1, VARGA 8-4.
To VAyu.
1. Come hither, O VAyu, thou beautiful one?!
These Somas are ready, drink of them, hear our
call !
2. O V4yu, the praisers celebrate thee with hymns, they who know the feast-days!, and have prepared the Soma.
3. O Vayu, thy satisfying stream?! goes to the worshipper, wide-reaching, to the Soma-draught.
4. O Indra and VAyu, these (libations of Soma) are poured out; come hither for the sake of! our offerings, for the drops (of Soma) long for you.
5. O Indra and Vayu, you perceive the libations, you who are rich in booty’; come then quickly hither !
6. O V4yu and Indra, come near to the work? of the sacrificer, quick, thus is my prayer ?, O ye men!
7. I call Mitra, endowed with holy strength’, and Varuma, who destroys all enemies; who both fulfil a prayer accompanied by fat offerings %.
8. On the right way, O Mitra and Varuza, you have obtained great wisdom, you who increase the right and adhere to the right!;
g. These two sages, Mitra and Varuna, the mighty, wide-ruling, give us efficient strength.
p. 441
NOTES.
Ascribed to Madhué/Aandas VaisvAmitra, and addressed
to Vayu (1-3), Indra and Vayu (4-6), and to Mitra and
Varuaa (7-9). Metre, Gayatri. Verse 4=VS. VII, 8;
XXXII, 56; TS. 1, 4, 4,1; MS. I. 3, 6. Verse 7=SV.
II, 197; VS. XXXIII, 57. Verse 8=SV. II, 198. Verse
9g=SV. II, 199.
This hymn, with the hymn I, 3, belongs to the Pra-uga ceremony. It consists of three trzkas.
Verse 1.
Note 1. Darsata, as applied to the wind, may be intended for visible, but its more general meaning is conspicuous, clarus, insignis.
Verse 2.
Verse 8=SV. II, 198. Verse
9g=SV. II, 199.
This hymn, with the hymn I, 3, belongs to the Pra-uga ceremony. It consists of three trzkas.
Verse 1.
Note 1. Darsata, as applied to the wind, may be intended for visible, but its more general meaning is conspicuous, clarus, insignis.
Verse 2.
Note 1. Aharvid, which Benfey translates by tagekundig, Grassmann, die des Tages (Anbruch) kundig, seems to have two meanings. When applied to men, poets or priests, it means those who know (vid) the right days or seasons for every sacrifice, but when it is applied to certain deities, particularly those of the morning, it means finding (vind), bringing back the day, like lucifer. Thus the Asvins are called aharvida (VIII, 5, 9;.21). The power (daksha) of Vishzu is called aharvid, conquering, or bringing, the light of the day (I, 156, 4). The priests, as inviting these gods, might possibly themselves be called aharvid, bringing back the light of day, but this seems doubtful.
Verse 3.
Note 1. This verse, though it seems easy, is really full of difficulties. The meaning of dhend is very doubtful. It is explained as lips by native authorities, and would in that case be derived from dhe, to suck. But though this meaning is possible in some passages, particularly where dhene occurs in the dual, in other passages dhena seems clearly top. 442 mean a stream of milk, or of some other liquid, poured out (visrishéa) from the clouds or at a sacrifice. It often occurs in the dual dhene, and has then been taken as the upper and lower lips (not the nares, as Roth suggests), distinguished from sipre, the upper and lower jaws. See note on II, 34, 3. Sayava (Rv. Bh. I, 101, 10) explains it by gihvopagihvike. Durga adds (Nirukta Bhdshya, VI, 17) Adhastye damshfre v4 gihvopagihvike vA, ity eke, tayor hy annam dhiyate. :
Benfey translates: ‘Vayu, deine vorkostende Lippe
schreitet zum Opferer, weit hingestreckt zum Somatrank.’
Praprznkati can hardly mean vorkostend.
Verse 4.
Note 1. The instrumental prdyobhif is best translated here by ‘for the sake of;’ see Wenzel, Instrumental, p. 104.
Verse 5.
Note 1. On vagint and vaga, see ‘India, what can it teach us?’ pp. 164,166. The transition of meaning from vaga, booty, to vaga, wealth in general, finds an analogy in the German kriegen, to obtain, also in Gewinn, and A.S. winnan, to strive, to fight, to obtain. V4ginivasd, in the dual, is a frequent epithet of the Asvins, II, 37, 5; V, 74s 6373 75,33 78,3; VIII, 5,3; 12; 20; 8,10; 9, 4; 10, 53 22,73 14; 18; 26, 3; 85,3; 101, 8; of Indra, III, 42, 53 X, 96, 8.
winnan, to strive, to fight, to obtain. V4ginivasd, in the
dual, is a frequent epithet of the Asvins, II, 37, 5; V, 74s
6373 75,33 78,3; VIII, 5,3; 12; 20; 8,10; 9, 4; 10,
53 22,73 14; 18; 26, 3; 85,3; 101, 8; of Indra, III, 42,
53 X, 96, 8.
It differs little from vaginivat, which is likewise applied to the Asvins, I, 120, 10, and comes to mean simply wealthy, liberal; cf. I, 122, 8; VII, 69,1. Vaginivati is an epithet of Ushas, Sarasvati, and Sindhu. A common phrase is v4gebhiz vaginivati, lit. wealthy in wealth, cf. I, 3,10. VA4gini occurs as the feminine of vagin, wealthy, or strong, but never in the sense of mare ; cf. III, 61, 1. ushak vagena vagini, Ushas wealthy by wealth or booty; VI, 61, 6. Sarasvati vaégeshu v4gini, Sarasvati, strong in battles; cf. I, 4, 8; 9. Native commentators generally explain vagini by sacrifice, vaginivasu, by dwelling in the sacrifice. I take vagini in compounds like vaginivasu as a collectivep. 443 substantive, like padmini, dhini, vahini, tretini, anikint, &c., and in the sense of wealth; unless we may look upon vaginivat as formed in analogy to such words as tavishi-mat, only that in this case tavishi exists in the sense of strength. Pischel’s explanation, Ved. Stud. p. 9, rich in mares, takes for granted the existence of vagini in the sense of mare. I have not found any passage where vagini has necessarily that sense.
Verse 6.
Note 1. Nishkrita can hardly mean here what it means
in later Sanskrit, a rendezvous. Note 2. On itthd dhiyd, see Pischel, Ved. Stud. p. 184.
Verse 7.
Note 1. Pdtadaksha, cf. pitdkratu, VIII, 68, 17.
Note 2. Ghritaki seems to be taken here in a technical sense, like ghvztavat, i.e. with oblations of butter thrown into the fire. In I, 167, 3, I took ghrztaâi in the more general sense of bright, resplendent, while others ascribed to it the meaning of bringing fatness, i.e. rain. It may also mean accompanied by ghee. See B.-R. s. v.
Verse 8.
Note 1. Ritasprés, probably not very different from ritasdp.
p. 444
p. 184p. 23
To VAyu.
1. O Vayu, may the quick racers bring thee towards the offerings, to the early drink? here, to the early drink of Soma! May Sdnvzt4? (the Dawn) stand erect, approving thy mind! Come near on thy harnessed chariot to share, O V4yu, to share in the sacrifice?!
2. May the delightful drops of Soma delight thee, the drops made by us, well-made, and heaven-directed, yes, made with milk, and heaven-directed. When his performed aids assume strength for achievement, our prayers implore -the assembled steeds for gifts, yes, the prayers implore them.
3. Vayu yokes the two ruddy, Vayu yokes the two red horses, Vayu yokes to the chariot the two swift horses to draw in the yoke, the strongest to draw in the yoke. Awake Purandhi (the Morning)! as a lover wakes a sleeping maid, reveal heaven and earth, brighten the dawn, yes, for glory brighten the dawn.
Another word narésamsa had originally the same meaning as givasamsa, but it was chiefly used as a name of Agni. He was called Nardsamsa, i.e. Mannerlob, or dyék sdmsa, Himmelslob, as a German poet was once called Frauenlob, not only because he praised women, but because he was praised by women. As we can say, God is my song, the Vedic Rishis might call any god the samsa, i.e. the praise or song of men, of the fathers, or of the gods. So far from agreeing with Bergaigne, ‘on comprendrait moins bien qu'une locution dont le sens propre aurait été “ éloge mortel” eft désigné celui qui est loué par le mortel,’ nothing is easier and better confirmed by other languages, while the invocation of ‘une formule sacrée’ is almost unintelligible. If in a later hymn Indra is called gyéshthah mantra#, in X, 50, 4, I should translate, ‘you are the oldest or the best song,’ that is, ‘the theme of the oldest song, but not you are a magic formula. There is no necessity therefore for taking nardsamsa as a possessive compound, possessed of the praise of men, nor must we forget that in words which become almost proper names the accent is by no means always a safe guide.
p. 440
MANDALA I, HYMN 2.
ASHTAKA I, ADHYAYA 1, VARGA 8-4.
To VAyu.
1. Come hither, O VAyu, you beautiful one?!
These Somas are ready, drink of them, hear our
call !
2. O V4yu, the praisers celebrate you with hymns, they who know the feast-days!, and have prepared the Soma.
3. O Vayu, your satisfying stream?! goes to the worshipper, wide-reaching, to the Soma-draught.
4. O Indra and VAyu, these (libations of Soma) are poured out; come hither for the sake of! our offerings, for the drops (of Soma) long for you.
5. O Indra and Vayu, you perceive the libations, you who are rich in booty’; come then quickly hither !
6. O V4yu and Indra, come near to the work? of the sacrificer, quick, thus is my prayer ?, O you men!
7. I call Mitra, endowed with holy strength’, and Varuma, who destroys all enemies; who both fulfil a prayer accompanied by fat offerings %.
8. On the right way, O Mitra and Varuza, you have obtained great wisdom, you who increase the right and adhere to the right!;
g. These two sages, Mitra and Varuna, the mighty, wide-ruling, give us efficient strength.
p. 441
NOTES.
Ascribed to Madhué/Aandas VaisvAmitra, and addressed
to Vayu (1-3), Indra and Vayu (4-6), and to Mitra and
Varuaa (7-9). Metre, Gayatri. Verse 4=VS. VII, 8;
XXXII, 56; TS. 1, 4, 4,1; MS. I. 3, 6. Verse 7=SV.
II, 197; VS. XXXIII, 57. Verse 8=SV. II, 198. Verse
9g=SV. II, 199.
This hymn, with the hymn I, 3, belongs to the Pra-uga ceremony. It consists of three trzkas.
Verse 1.
Note 1. Darsata, as applied to the wind, may be intended for visible, but its more general meaning is conspicuous, clarus, insignis.
Verse 2.
Verse 8=SV. II, 198. Verse
9g=SV. II, 199.
This hymn, with the hymn I, 3, belongs to the Pra-uga ceremony. It consists of three trzkas.
Verse 1.
Note 1. Darsata, as applied to the wind, may be intended for visible, but its more general meaning is conspicuous, clarus, insignis.
Verse 2.
Note 1. Aharvid, which Benfey translates by tagekundig, Grassmann, die des Tages (Anbruch) kundig, seems to have two meanings. When applied to men, poets or priests, it means those who know (vid) the right days or seasons for every sacrifice, but when it is applied to certain deities, particularly those of the morning, it means finding (vind), bringing back the day, like lucifer. Thus the Asvins are called aharvida (VIII, 5, 9;.21). The power (daksha) of Vishzu is called aharvid, conquering, or bringing, the light of the day (I, 156, 4). The priests, as inviting these gods, might possibly themselves be called aharvid, bringing back the light of day, but this seems doubtful.
Verse 3.
Note 1. This verse, though it seems easy, is really full of difficulties. The meaning of dhend is very doubtful. It is explained as lips by native authorities, and would in that case be derived from dhe, to suck. But though this meaning is possible in some passages, particularly where dhene occurs in the dual, in other passages dhena seems clearly top. 442 mean a stream of milk, or of some other liquid, poured out (visrishéa) from the clouds or at a sacrifice. It often occurs in the dual dhene, and has then been taken as the upper and lower lips (not the nares, as Roth suggests), distinguished from sipre, the upper and lower jaws. See note on II, 34, 3. Sayava (Rv. Bh. I, 101, 10) explains it by gihvopagihvike. Durga adds (Nirukta Bhdshya, VI, 17) Adhastye damshfre v4 gihvopagihvike vA, ity eke, tayor hy annam dhiyate. :
Benfey translates: ‘Vayu, deine vorkostende Lippe
schreitet zum Opferer, weit hingestreckt zum Somatrank.’
Praprznkati can hardly mean vorkostend.
Verse 4.
Note 1. The instrumental prdyobhif is best translated here by ‘for the sake of;’ see Wenzel, Instrumental, p. 104.
Verse 5.
Note 1. On vagint and vaga, see ‘India, what can it teach us?’ pp. 164,166. The transition of meaning from vaga, booty, to vaga, wealth in general, finds an analogy in the German kriegen, to obtain, also in Gewinn, and A.S. winnan, to strive, to fight, to obtain. V4ginivasd, in the dual, is a frequent epithet of the Asvins, II, 37, 5; V, 74s 6373 75,33 78,3; VIII, 5,3; 12; 20; 8,10; 9, 4; 10, 53 22,73 14; 18; 26, 3; 85,3; 101, 8; of Indra, III, 42, 53 X, 96, 8.
winnan, to strive, to fight, to obtain. V4ginivasd, in the
dual, is a frequent epithet of the Asvins, II, 37, 5; V, 74s
6373 75,33 78,3; VIII, 5,3; 12; 20; 8,10; 9, 4; 10,
53 22,73 14; 18; 26, 3; 85,3; 101, 8; of Indra, III, 42,
53 X, 96, 8.
It differs little from vaginivat, which is likewise applied to the Asvins, I, 120, 10, and comes to mean simply wealthy, liberal; cf. I, 122, 8; VII, 69,1. Vaginivati is an epithet of Ushas, Sarasvati, and Sindhu. A common phrase is v4gebhiz vaginivati, lit. wealthy in wealth, cf. I, 3,10. VA4gini occurs as the feminine of vagin, wealthy, or strong, but never in the sense of mare ; cf. III, 61, 1. ushak vagena vagini, Ushas wealthy by wealth or booty; VI, 61, 6. Sarasvati vaégeshu v4gini, Sarasvati, strong in battles; cf. I, 4, 8; 9. Native commentators generally explain vagini by sacrifice, vaginivasu, by dwelling in the sacrifice. I take vagini in compounds like vaginivasu as a collectivep. 443 substantive, like padmini, dhini, vahini, tretini, anikint, &c., and in the sense of wealth; unless we may look upon vaginivat as formed in analogy to such words as tavishi-mat, only that in this case tavishi exists in the sense of strength. Pischel’s explanation, Ved. Stud. p. 9, rich in mares, takes for granted the existence of vagini in the sense of mare. I have not found any passage where vagini has necessarily that sense.
Verse 6.
Note 1. Nishkrita can hardly mean here what it means
in later Sanskrit, a rendezvous. Note 2. On itthd dhiyd, see Pischel, Ved. Stud. p. 184.
Verse 7.
Note 1. Pdtadaksha, cf. pitdkratu, VIII, 68, 17.
Note 2. Ghritaki seems to be taken here in a technical sense, like ghvztavat, i.e. with oblations of butter thrown into the fire. In I, 167, 3, I took ghrzta&i in the more general sense of bright, resplendent, while others ascribed to it the meaning of bringing fatness, i.e. rain. It may also mean accompanied by ghee. See B.-R. s. v.
Verse 8.
Note 1. Ritasprés, probably not very different from ritasdp.
p. 444
MANDALA I, HYMN 184.
ASHT7AKA II, ADHYAYA 1, VARGA 23.
To VAyu.
1. O Vayu, may the quick racers bring you towards the offerings, to the early drink? here, to the early drink of Soma! May Sdnvzt4? (the Dawn) stand erect, approving your mind! Come near on your harnessed chariot to share, O V4yu, to share in the sacrifice?!
2. May the delightful drops of Soma delight you, the drops made by us, well-made, and heaven-directed, yes, made with milk, and heaven-directed. When his performed aids assume strength for achievement, our prayers implore -the assembled steeds for gifts, yes, the prayers implore them.
3. Vayu yokes the two ruddy, Vayu yokes the two red horses, Vayu yokes to the chariot the two swift horses to draw in the yoke, the strongest to draw in the yoke. Awake Purandhi (the Morning)! as a lover wakes a sleeping maid, reveal heaven and earth, brighten the dawn, yes, for glory brighten the dawn.
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