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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Yet even 90 VEDIC HYMNS. 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
2It 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
3183 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 Bahuvrihi NOTES. I, 38,11. 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 : VIII, 5, 35. hirazyayena rathena dravatp4ni-bhik dsvaik. On a golden chariot, on quick-hoofed horses. 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.
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.
1Yet even 90 VEDIC HYMNS. 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
2It 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
3183 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 Bahuvrihi NOTES. I, 38,11. 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 : VIII, 5, 35. hirazyayena rathena dravatp4ni-bhik dsvaik. On a golden chariot, on quick-hoofed horses. 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.
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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