Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1I now take tuvidyumna for an adjective referring to the Maruts, because it is a divine rather than a human epithet. Still, the passage is doubtful. Verse 4. Note 1. The first question is, which is the subject, ahani NOTES. I, 88, 4. 175 or grfdhrahk? If grfdhrak were the subject, then we should have to translate it by the eager poets, and take dhAni in the sense of visva ahani. The sense then might be: ‘ Day by day did the eager poets sing around you this prayer.’ There would be several objections, however, to this rendering. First, gv/dhr4#, though metaphorically applicable to poets, never occurs again as signifying poets or priests. One passage only could be quoted in support, IX, 97, 57, kavdyak nd grfdhrahk (not gridhr&h), like greedy poets. But even here, if indeed the translation is right, the adjective is explained by kavi, and does not stand by itself. Secondly, 4h4ni by itself is never used adverbially in the sense of day after day. The only similar passage that might be quoted is IIT, 34, 10, and that is very doubtful. To take dhani as a totally different word, viz. as 4+h4ni, without ceasing, without wearying, would be too bold in the present state of Vedic interpretation. If then we take dh4ni as the subject, gv/dhraZ would have to be taken as a vocative, and intended for the Maruts. Now, it is perfectly true, that by itself grédhra, hawk, does not occur again as a name of the Maruts, but syend, hawk, and particularly a strong hawk (IX, 96, 6), is not only a common simile applied to the Maruts, but is actually used as one of their names: VII, 56, 3. abhi sva-pfibhiZ mithdé vapanta vita-svanasahk syenadh aspridhran. They plucked each other with their beaks (?), the hawks, rushing like the wind, strove together. Agus might be the aorist of gai, to sing, or of gA, to go: I, 174, 8. sdn4 té te indra ndvy4h & aguh. New poets, O Indra, sang these thy old deeds. ITI, 56, 2. gévak & aguh. The cows approached. If then the sense of the first line is, ‘Days went and came back to you,’ the next question is whether we are to extend the construction to the next words, im&m dhfyam varkéryam a devim, or whether these words are to be joined to krinvdntak, like br{hma. The meaning of 176 VEDIC HYMNS.
2If then the sense of the first line is, ‘Days went and came back to you,’ the next question is whether we are to extend the construction to the next words, im&m dhfyam varkéryam a devim, or whether these words are to be joined to krinvdntak, like br{hma. The meaning of 176 VEDIC HYMNS. varkary& is, of course, unknown. SAyama’s interpretation as ‘what is to be made by means of water’ is merely etymological, and does not help us much. It is true that the object of the hymn, which is addressed to the Maruts, is rain, and that literally varkaryd might be explained as ‘that the effect of which is rain. But this is far too artificial a word for Vedic poets. Possibly there was some other word that had become unintelligible and which, by a slight change, was turned into varkarya, in order to give the meaning of rain-producing. It might have been darkArya, glorious, or the song of a poet called Varkara, or, as Ludwig suggests, Vrzkari. The most likely supposition is that varkary# was the name given to some famous hymn, some pzan or song of triumph belonging to the Gotamas, possibly to some verses of the very hymn before us. In this case the epithet devi would be quite appropriate, for it is frequently used for a sacred or sacrificial song: IV, 43, 1, devim su-stutim ; III, 18, 3. im&m dhfyam sata-s¢éy4ya devim. See, however, the note to verse 6. The purport of the whole line would then be that many days have gone for the Maruts as well as for the famous hymn once addressed to them by Gotama, or, in other words, that the Gotamas have long been devoted to the Maruts, an idea frequently recurring in the hymns of the Veda, and, in our case, carried on in the next verse, where it is said that the present hymn is like one that Gotama composed when he saw the Maruts or spoke of them as wild boars with iron tusks. The pushing up the lid of the well for to drink, means that they obtained rain from the cloud, which is here, as before, represented as a covered well. See another explanation in Haug, Uber die urspriingliche Bedeutung des Wortes Brahma, 1868, p. 5. Verse 5. Note 1. Ydgana commonly means a chariot : VI, 62, 6. arezu-bhiz ydganebhif bhuganta. You who possess dustless chariots. VIII, 72, 6. dsva-vat yoganam brhat. NOTES. 1, 88, 6. 177 The great chariot with horses. It then became the name for a distance to be accomplished without unharnessing the horses, just as the Latin jugum, a yoke, then a juger of land, ‘quod uno jugo boum uno die exarari posset,’ Pliny XVIII, 3, 3, 9. In our passage, however, yégana means a hymn, lit. a composition, which is clearly its meaning in VIII, 90, 3. brahma te indra girvazah kriydnte dnatidbhutaé, im& gushasva hari-asva ydgan4 {indra ya te amanmahi. Unequalled prayers are made for thee, praiseworthy Indra; accept these hymns which we have devised for thee, O Indra with bright horses !
3brahma te indra girvazah kriydnte dnatidbhutaé, im& gushasva hari-asva ydgan4 {indra ya te amanmahi. Unequalled prayers are made for thee, praiseworthy Indra; accept these hymns which we have devised for thee, O Indra with bright horses ! Note 2. Var&hu has here the same meaning as vardhd, wild boar (VIII, 77, 10; X, 28,4). It occurs once more, I, 121, 11, as applied to Vvitra, who is also called var4hd, I, 61, 7; X, 99, 6. In X, 67, 7, vrésha-bhi# var&haixz (with the accent on the penultimate) is intended for the Maruts*. Except in this passage, varaha has the accent on the last syllable. In IX, 97, 7, varaha is applied to Soma. Verse 6. This last verse is almost unintelligible to me. I give, however, the various attempts that have been made to explain it. WILSON : This is that praise, Maruts, which, suited (to your merits), glorifies every one of you. The speech of the priest has now glorified you, without difficulty, with sacred verses, since (you have placed) food in our hands. BENFEY: Dies Lied—Maruts!—das hinter euch emporstrebt, es klingt zuriick gleich eines Beters Stimme. Miihlos schuf solche Lieder er, entsprechend eurer Arme Kraft. (Note: Der zum Himmel schallende Lobgesang findet seinen Widerhall (wirklich, ‘bebt zuriick’) in dem Sturm- a See Genthe, Die Windgottheiten, 1861, p.14 ; Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 689. Grimm mentions eburSrung (boar-throng) as a name of Orion, the star that betokens storm. [32] N 178 VEDIC HYMNS. geheul der Maruts, welches mit dem Geheul des Betenden verglichen wird.) Lupwic: Dises lied, o Marut, euch unterstiitzend (aufnemend) als eines priesters braust euch entgegen, nachbrausen hat es gemacht ohne miihe in (die) der nahe die gottliche weise (ihrer) arme. My own translation is to a great extent conjectural. It seems to me from verse 3, that the poet offers both a hymn of praise and a libation of Soma. Possibly varkarya in verse 4 might be taken in the sense of Soma-juice, and be derived from valkala, which in later Sanskrit means the bark of trees. In that case verse 5 would again refer to the hymn of Gotama, and verse 6 to the libation which is to accompany it. Anu-bhartri does not occur again, but it can only mean what supports or refreshes, and therefore would be applicable to a libation of Soma which supports the gods. The verb stobhati would well express the rushing sound of the Soma, as in I, 168, 8, it expresses the rushing noise of the waters against the fellies of the chariots. The next line adds little beyond stating that this libation of Soma rushes forth freely from the hands, the gabhastis being specially mentioned in other passages where the crushing of the Soma-plant is described : IX, 71, 3. ddri-bhiz sutds pavate gabhastyok. The Soma squeezed by the stones runs from the hands.
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.
1I now take tuvidyumna for an adjective referring to the Maruts, because it is a divine rather than a human epithet. Still, the passage is doubtful. Verse 4. Note 1. The first question is, which is the subject, ahani NOTES. I, 88, 4. 175 or grfdhrahk? If grfdhrak were the subject, then we should have to translate it by the eager poets, and take dhAni in the sense of visva ahani. The sense then might be: ‘ Day by day did the eager poets sing around you this prayer.’ There would be several objections, however, to this rendering. First, gv/dhr4#, though metaphorically applicable to poets, never occurs again as signifying poets or priests. One passage only could be quoted in support, IX, 97, 57, kavdyak nd grfdhrahk (not gridhr&h), like greedy poets. But even here, if indeed the translation is right, the adjective is explained by kavi, and does not stand by itself. Secondly, 4h4ni by itself is never used adverbially in the sense of day after day. The only similar passage that might be quoted is IIT, 34, 10, and that is very doubtful. To take dhani as a totally different word, viz. as 4+h4ni, without ceasing, without wearying, would be too bold in the present state of Vedic interpretation. If then we take dh4ni as the subject, gv/dhraZ would have to be taken as a vocative, and intended for the Maruts. Now, it is perfectly true, that by itself grédhra, hawk, does not occur again as a name of the Maruts, but syend, hawk, and particularly a strong hawk (IX, 96, 6), is not only a common simile applied to the Maruts, but is actually used as one of their names: VII, 56, 3. abhi sva-pfibhiZ mithdé vapanta vita-svanasahk syenadh aspridhran. They plucked each other with their beaks (?), the hawks, rushing like the wind, strove together. Agus might be the aorist of gai, to sing, or of gA, to go: I, 174, 8. sdn4 té te indra ndvy4h & aguh. New poets, O Indra, sang these thy old deeds. ITI, 56, 2. gévak & aguh. The cows approached. If then the sense of the first line is, ‘Days went and came back to you,’ the next question is whether we are to extend the construction to the next words, im&m dhfyam varkéryam a devim, or whether these words are to be joined to krinvdntak, like br{hma. The meaning of 176 VEDIC HYMNS.
2If then the sense of the first line is, ‘Days went and came back to you,’ the next question is whether we are to extend the construction to the next words, im&m dhfyam varkéryam a devim, or whether these words are to be joined to krinvdntak, like br{hma. The meaning of 176 VEDIC HYMNS. varkary& is, of course, unknown. SAyama’s interpretation as ‘what is to be made by means of water’ is merely etymological, and does not help us much. It is true that the object of the hymn, which is addressed to the Maruts, is rain, and that literally varkaryd might be explained as ‘that the effect of which is rain. But this is far too artificial a word for Vedic poets. Possibly there was some other word that had become unintelligible and which, by a slight change, was turned into varkarya, in order to give the meaning of rain-producing. It might have been darkArya, glorious, or the song of a poet called Varkara, or, as Ludwig suggests, Vrzkari. The most likely supposition is that varkary# was the name given to some famous hymn, some pzan or song of triumph belonging to the Gotamas, possibly to some verses of the very hymn before us. In this case the epithet devi would be quite appropriate, for it is frequently used for a sacred or sacrificial song: IV, 43, 1, devim su-stutim ; III, 18, 3. im&m dhfyam sata-s¢éy4ya devim. See, however, the note to verse 6. The purport of the whole line would then be that many days have gone for the Maruts as well as for the famous hymn once addressed to them by Gotama, or, in other words, that the Gotamas have long been devoted to the Maruts, an idea frequently recurring in the hymns of the Veda, and, in our case, carried on in the next verse, where it is said that the present hymn is like one that Gotama composed when he saw the Maruts or spoke of them as wild boars with iron tusks. The pushing up the lid of the well for to drink, means that they obtained rain from the cloud, which is here, as before, represented as a covered well. See another explanation in Haug, Uber die urspriingliche Bedeutung des Wortes Brahma, 1868, p. 5. Verse 5. Note 1. Ydgana commonly means a chariot : VI, 62, 6. arezu-bhiz ydganebhif bhuganta. You who possess dustless chariots. VIII, 72, 6. dsva-vat yoganam brhat. NOTES. 1, 88, 6. 177 The great chariot with horses. It then became the name for a distance to be accomplished without unharnessing the horses, just as the Latin jugum, a yoke, then a juger of land, ‘quod uno jugo boum uno die exarari posset,’ Pliny XVIII, 3, 3, 9. In our passage, however, yégana means a hymn, lit. a composition, which is clearly its meaning in VIII, 90, 3. brahma te indra girvazah kriydnte dnatidbhutaé, im& gushasva hari-asva ydgan4 {indra ya te amanmahi. Unequalled prayers are made for thee, praiseworthy Indra; accept these hymns which we have devised for thee, O Indra with bright horses !
3brahma te indra girvazah kriydnte dnatidbhutaé, im& gushasva hari-asva ydgan4 {indra ya te amanmahi. Unequalled prayers are made for thee, praiseworthy Indra; accept these hymns which we have devised for thee, O Indra with bright horses ! Note 2. Var&hu has here the same meaning as vardhd, wild boar (VIII, 77, 10; X, 28,4). It occurs once more, I, 121, 11, as applied to Vvitra, who is also called var4hd, I, 61, 7; X, 99, 6. In X, 67, 7, vrésha-bhi# var&haixz (with the accent on the penultimate) is intended for the Maruts*. Except in this passage, varaha has the accent on the last syllable. In IX, 97, 7, varaha is applied to Soma. Verse 6. This last verse is almost unintelligible to me. I give, however, the various attempts that have been made to explain it. WILSON : This is that praise, Maruts, which, suited (to your merits), glorifies every one of you. The speech of the priest has now glorified you, without difficulty, with sacred verses, since (you have placed) food in our hands. BENFEY: Dies Lied—Maruts!—das hinter euch emporstrebt, es klingt zuriick gleich eines Beters Stimme. Miihlos schuf solche Lieder er, entsprechend eurer Arme Kraft. (Note: Der zum Himmel schallende Lobgesang findet seinen Widerhall (wirklich, ‘bebt zuriick’) in dem Sturm- a See Genthe, Die Windgottheiten, 1861, p.14 ; Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, p. 689. Grimm mentions eburSrung (boar-throng) as a name of Orion, the star that betokens storm. [32] N 178 VEDIC HYMNS. geheul der Maruts, welches mit dem Geheul des Betenden verglichen wird.) Lupwic: Dises lied, o Marut, euch unterstiitzend (aufnemend) als eines priesters braust euch entgegen, nachbrausen hat es gemacht ohne miihe in (die) der nahe die gottliche weise (ihrer) arme. My own translation is to a great extent conjectural. It seems to me from verse 3, that the poet offers both a hymn of praise and a libation of Soma. Possibly varkarya in verse 4 might be taken in the sense of Soma-juice, and be derived from valkala, which in later Sanskrit means the bark of trees. In that case verse 5 would again refer to the hymn of Gotama, and verse 6 to the libation which is to accompany it. Anu-bhartri does not occur again, but it can only mean what supports or refreshes, and therefore would be applicable to a libation of Soma which supports the gods. The verb stobhati would well express the rushing sound of the Soma, as in I, 168, 8, it expresses the rushing noise of the waters against the fellies of the chariots. The next line adds little beyond stating that this libation of Soma rushes forth freely from the hands, the gabhastis being specially mentioned in other passages where the crushing of the Soma-plant is described : IX, 71, 3. ddri-bhiz sutds pavate gabhastyok. The Soma squeezed by the stones runs from the hands.
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.
No commentary for this page.