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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
11. dyauk ka nak prithivi ka prd-ketasA ritdvari ({ty ritdvari) rakshatam dmhasa# rishas, m& duk-vidatra nth-ritik nak isata tat devindm dvahk adyd vrinimahe. 2. visvasmat nak aditiz patu dmhasak mata mitrdsya vdrunasya revatah svah-vat gyoti# avrikdm nasimahi. 3. 1. There are the grand and beautiful Morning and Night, Heaven and Earth, Varuza, Mitra, Aryaman; I call Indra, the Maruts, the Waters, the Adityas, Heaven and Earth, the Waters, the Heaven. 2. May Heaven and Earth, the provident, the righteous, preserve us from sin and mischief! May the malevolent Nirriti not rule over us! This blessing of the gods we ask for to-day. 3. May Aditi protect us from all sin, the, mother of Mitra and of the rich Varuza! May we obtain heavenly light without enemies! This blessing of the gods we ask for to-day. Here we cannot but admit that Dyavakshdm4, heaven and earth, is meant for the same divine couple as Dyavaprithivi, heaven and earth, although under slightly differing names they are invoked separately. The waters are invoked twice in the same verse and under the same name; nor is there any indication that, as in other passages, the waters of the sky are meant as distinct from the waters of the sea. Nevertheless even here, Aditi, who in the third verse is called distinctly the mother of Mitra and Varuaa, cannot well have been meant for the same deity as Heaven and Earth, mentioned in the second verse; and the author of NOTES. I, 166, 12. 251 these two verses, while asking the same blessing from both, must have been aware of the original independent character of Aditi. Aditi as Mother. In this character of a deity of the far East, of an Orient in the true sense of the word, Aditi was naturally thought of as the mother of certain gods, particularly of those that were connected with the daily rising and setting of the sun. If it was asked whence comes the dawn, or the sun, or whence come day and night, or Mitra and Varuza, or any of the bright, solar, eastern deities, the natural answer was that they come from the Orient, that they are the sons of Aditi. Thus we read in IX, 74, 3. urvi gavyiti# dditeh ritdm yaté. Wide is the space for him who goes on the right path of Aditi.
2Thus we read in IX, 74, 3. urvi gavyiti# dditeh ritdm yaté. Wide is the space for him who goes on the right path of Aditi. In VIII, 25, 3, we are told that Aditi bore Mitra and Varuna, and these in verse 5 are called the sons of Daksha (power), and the grandsons of Savas, which again means might : napata sdvasa# maha sind (iti) ddkshasya su-krdtd ({ti). In X, 36, 3, Aditi is called the mother of Mitra and Varuaa; likewise in X, 132, 6; see also VI, 67, 4. In VIII, 47, 9, Aditi is called the mother of Mitra, Aryaman, Varuna, who in VII, 60, 5 are called her sons. In X, 11,1, Varuna is called yahvah ddite#, the son of Aditi (cf. VIII, 19,12); in VII, 41, 2, Bhaga is mentioned as her son. In X, 72, 8, we hear of eight sons of Aditi, but it is added that she approached the gods with seven sons only, and that | the eighth (mart4da, addled egg) was thrown away : ash/au putrasah ddited yé gat&h tanvak pdri, devén upa pra ait saptd-bhiAZ pdra martaaddm Asyat. In X, 63, 2, the gods in general are represented as born from Aditi, the waters, and the earth: yé stha gatdh aditeé at-bhyas pari yé prithivydz té me ihd sruta hdvam. You who are born of Aditi, from the water, you who are born of the earth, hear ye all my call! The number seven, with regard to the Adityas, occurs also in 252 VEDIC HYMNS. IX, 114, 3. saptd disak n&nd-sdry4h sapté hdtarak ritvigah, devih Adity&% yé sapta tébhiZ soma abhi raksha nah, There are seven regions with their different suns, there are seven Hotars as priests, those who are the seven gods, the Adityas, with them, O Soma, protect us! The Seven Adityas. This number of seven Adityas requires an explanation. To say that seven is a solemn or sacred number is to say very little, for however solemn or sacred that number may be elsewhere, it is not more sacred than any other number in the Veda. The often-mentioned seven rivers have a real geographical foundation, like the seven hills of Rome. The seven flames or treasures of Agni (V, 1, 5) and of Soma and Rudra (VI, 74, 1), the seven paridhis or logs at certain sacrifices (X, 90, 15), the seven Harits or horses of the sun, the seven Hotar priests (III, 7, 7; 10, 4), the seven cities of the enemy destroyed by Indra (I, 63, 7), and even the seven Rishis (X, 82,2; 109, 4), all these do not prove that the number of seven was more sacred than the number of one or three or five or ten used in the Veda in a very similar way. With regard to the seven Adityas, however, we are still able to see that their number of seven or eight had something to do with solar movements. If their number had always been eight, we should feel inclined to trace the number of the Adityas back to the eight regions, or the eight cardinal points of the heaven. Thus we read: I, 35, 8. ash¢au vi akhyat kakubhak prithivy42. The god Savitar lighted up the eight points of the earth (not the eight hills).
3Thus we read: I, 35, 8. ash¢au vi akhyat kakubhak prithivy42. The god Savitar lighted up the eight points of the earth (not the eight hills). But we have seen already that though the number of Adityas was originally supposed to have been eight, it was reduced to seven, and this could hardly be said in any sense of the eight points of the compass. Cf. Taitt. Ar. I, 7, 6. | As we cannot think in ancient India of the seven planets, I can only suggest the seven days or tithis of the four parvans of the lunar month as a possible prototype of the NOTES. I, 166, 12. 253 Adityas. This might even explain the destruction of the eighth Aditya, considering that the eighth day of each parvan, owing to its uncertainty, might be represented as exposed to decay and destruction. This would explain such passages as, IV, 7, 5- yagishtzam saptd dh&ma-bhiAz. Agni, most worthy of sacrifice in the seven stations. IX, 102, 2. yagfdsya sapté dhama-bhit. In the seven stations of the sacrifice. The seven threads of the sacrifice may have the same origin : II, 5, 2. & ydsmin sapta rasmayah tat& yagiidsya netari, manushvat daivyam ash¢amam. In whom, as the leader of the sacrifice, the seven threads are stretched out,—the eighth divine being is manlike(?). The sacrifice itself is called, X, 124, 1, sapta-tantu, having seven threads. X, 122, 3. sapté dh4mAni pari-ydn amartyak. Agni, the immortal, who goes round the seven stations. X, 8, 4. ushd#-ushat hi vaso (iti) 4gram éshi tvam yamayok abhavas vi-bhéva, ritaya sapta dadhishe pad&ni gandyan mitrdm tanvé svayai. For thou, Vasu (Agni), comest first every morning, thou art the illuminator of the twins (day and night). Thou holdest the seven places for the sacrifice, creating Mitra (the sun) for thy own body. X, 5,6. sapta maryad4% kavdyak tatakshuh t&sim ékam {t abhi amhurdd gat. The sages established the seven divisions, but mischief befell one of them. I, 22, 16. dtak devas avantu nak yatak vishnuk vi-kakramé prithivyas sapté dh&ma-bhiz. May the gods protect us from whence Vishzu strode forth, by the seven stations of the earth! Even the names of the seven or eight Adityas are not definitely known, at least not from the hymns of the Rigveda. In II, 27,1, we have a list of six names: Mitrd, Aryamdn, Bhaga, Vdruza, Ddaksha, Amsah. These with Aditi would give us seven. In VI, 50, 1, we have Aditi, 254 VEDIC HYMNS. Varuna, Mitra, Agni, Aryamdn, Savitdér, and Bhaga. In I, 89, 3, Bhdga, Mitr4, Aditi, Déksha, Aryamdn, Véruma, Séma, Asvina, and Sdrasvatt are invoked together with an old invocation, pirvaya ni-vida. In the Taittirtya-arazyaka, I, 13, 3, we find the following list: 1. Mitra, 2. Varuna, 3. Dhatar, 4. Aryaman, 5. Amsa, 6. Bhaga, 7. Indra, 8. Vivasvat, but there, too, the eighth son is said to be Mart4zda, or, according to the commentator, Aditya.
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.
11. dyauk ka nak prithivi ka prd-ketasA ritdvari ({ty ritdvari) rakshatam dmhasa# rishas, m& duk-vidatra nth-ritik nak isata tat devindm dvahk adyd vrinimahe. 2. visvasmat nak aditiz patu dmhasak mata mitrdsya vdrunasya revatah svah-vat gyoti# avrikdm nasimahi. 3. 1. There are the grand and beautiful Morning and Night, Heaven and Earth, Varuza, Mitra, Aryaman; I call Indra, the Maruts, the Waters, the Adityas, Heaven and Earth, the Waters, the Heaven. 2. May Heaven and Earth, the provident, the righteous, preserve us from sin and mischief! May the malevolent Nirriti not rule over us! This blessing of the gods we ask for to-day. 3. May Aditi protect us from all sin, the, mother of Mitra and of the rich Varuza! May we obtain heavenly light without enemies! This blessing of the gods we ask for to-day. Here we cannot but admit that Dyavakshdm4, heaven and earth, is meant for the same divine couple as Dyavaprithivi, heaven and earth, although under slightly differing names they are invoked separately. The waters are invoked twice in the same verse and under the same name; nor is there any indication that, as in other passages, the waters of the sky are meant as distinct from the waters of the sea. Nevertheless even here, Aditi, who in the third verse is called distinctly the mother of Mitra and Varuaa, cannot well have been meant for the same deity as Heaven and Earth, mentioned in the second verse; and the author of NOTES. I, 166, 12. 251 these two verses, while asking the same blessing from both, must have been aware of the original independent character of Aditi. Aditi as Mother. In this character of a deity of the far East, of an Orient in the true sense of the word, Aditi was naturally thought of as the mother of certain gods, particularly of those that were connected with the daily rising and setting of the sun. If it was asked whence comes the dawn, or the sun, or whence come day and night, or Mitra and Varuza, or any of the bright, solar, eastern deities, the natural answer was that they come from the Orient, that they are the sons of Aditi. Thus we read in IX, 74, 3. urvi gavyiti# dditeh ritdm yaté. Wide is the space for him who goes on the right path of Aditi.
2Thus we read in IX, 74, 3. urvi gavyiti# dditeh ritdm yaté. Wide is the space for him who goes on the right path of Aditi. In VIII, 25, 3, we are told that Aditi bore Mitra and Varuna, and these in verse 5 are called the sons of Daksha (power), and the grandsons of Savas, which again means might : napata sdvasa# maha sind (iti) ddkshasya su-krdtd ({ti). In X, 36, 3, Aditi is called the mother of Mitra and Varuaa; likewise in X, 132, 6; see also VI, 67, 4. In VIII, 47, 9, Aditi is called the mother of Mitra, Aryaman, Varuna, who in VII, 60, 5 are called her sons. In X, 11,1, Varuna is called yahvah ddite#, the son of Aditi (cf. VIII, 19,12); in VII, 41, 2, Bhaga is mentioned as her son. In X, 72, 8, we hear of eight sons of Aditi, but it is added that she approached the gods with seven sons only, and that | the eighth (mart4da, addled egg) was thrown away : ash/au putrasah ddited yé gat&h tanvak pdri, devén upa pra ait saptd-bhiAZ pdra martaaddm Asyat. In X, 63, 2, the gods in general are represented as born from Aditi, the waters, and the earth: yé stha gatdh aditeé at-bhyas pari yé prithivydz té me ihd sruta hdvam. You who are born of Aditi, from the water, you who are born of the earth, hear ye all my call! The number seven, with regard to the Adityas, occurs also in 252 VEDIC HYMNS. IX, 114, 3. saptd disak n&nd-sdry4h sapté hdtarak ritvigah, devih Adity&% yé sapta tébhiZ soma abhi raksha nah, There are seven regions with their different suns, there are seven Hotars as priests, those who are the seven gods, the Adityas, with them, O Soma, protect us! The Seven Adityas. This number of seven Adityas requires an explanation. To say that seven is a solemn or sacred number is to say very little, for however solemn or sacred that number may be elsewhere, it is not more sacred than any other number in the Veda. The often-mentioned seven rivers have a real geographical foundation, like the seven hills of Rome. The seven flames or treasures of Agni (V, 1, 5) and of Soma and Rudra (VI, 74, 1), the seven paridhis or logs at certain sacrifices (X, 90, 15), the seven Harits or horses of the sun, the seven Hotar priests (III, 7, 7; 10, 4), the seven cities of the enemy destroyed by Indra (I, 63, 7), and even the seven Rishis (X, 82,2; 109, 4), all these do not prove that the number of seven was more sacred than the number of one or three or five or ten used in the Veda in a very similar way. With regard to the seven Adityas, however, we are still able to see that their number of seven or eight had something to do with solar movements. If their number had always been eight, we should feel inclined to trace the number of the Adityas back to the eight regions, or the eight cardinal points of the heaven. Thus we read: I, 35, 8. ash¢au vi akhyat kakubhak prithivy42. The god Savitar lighted up the eight points of the earth (not the eight hills).
3Thus we read: I, 35, 8. ash¢au vi akhyat kakubhak prithivy42. The god Savitar lighted up the eight points of the earth (not the eight hills). But we have seen already that though the number of Adityas was originally supposed to have been eight, it was reduced to seven, and this could hardly be said in any sense of the eight points of the compass. Cf. Taitt. Ar. I, 7, 6. | As we cannot think in ancient India of the seven planets, I can only suggest the seven days or tithis of the four parvans of the lunar month as a possible prototype of the NOTES. I, 166, 12. 253 Adityas. This might even explain the destruction of the eighth Aditya, considering that the eighth day of each parvan, owing to its uncertainty, might be represented as exposed to decay and destruction. This would explain such passages as, IV, 7, 5- yagishtzam saptd dh&ma-bhiAz. Agni, most worthy of sacrifice in the seven stations. IX, 102, 2. yagfdsya sapté dhama-bhit. In the seven stations of the sacrifice. The seven threads of the sacrifice may have the same origin : II, 5, 2. & ydsmin sapta rasmayah tat& yagiidsya netari, manushvat daivyam ash¢amam. In whom, as the leader of the sacrifice, the seven threads are stretched out,—the eighth divine being is manlike(?). The sacrifice itself is called, X, 124, 1, sapta-tantu, having seven threads. X, 122, 3. sapté dh4mAni pari-ydn amartyak. Agni, the immortal, who goes round the seven stations. X, 8, 4. ushd#-ushat hi vaso (iti) 4gram éshi tvam yamayok abhavas vi-bhéva, ritaya sapta dadhishe pad&ni gandyan mitrdm tanvé svayai. For thou, Vasu (Agni), comest first every morning, thou art the illuminator of the twins (day and night). Thou holdest the seven places for the sacrifice, creating Mitra (the sun) for thy own body. X, 5,6. sapta maryad4% kavdyak tatakshuh t&sim ékam {t abhi amhurdd gat. The sages established the seven divisions, but mischief befell one of them. I, 22, 16. dtak devas avantu nak yatak vishnuk vi-kakramé prithivyas sapté dh&ma-bhiz. May the gods protect us from whence Vishzu strode forth, by the seven stations of the earth! Even the names of the seven or eight Adityas are not definitely known, at least not from the hymns of the Rigveda. In II, 27,1, we have a list of six names: Mitrd, Aryamdn, Bhaga, Vdruza, Ddaksha, Amsah. These with Aditi would give us seven. In VI, 50, 1, we have Aditi, 254 VEDIC HYMNS. Varuna, Mitra, Agni, Aryamdn, Savitdér, and Bhaga. In I, 89, 3, Bhdga, Mitr4, Aditi, Déksha, Aryamdn, Véruma, Séma, Asvina, and Sdrasvatt are invoked together with an old invocation, pirvaya ni-vida. In the Taittirtya-arazyaka, I, 13, 3, we find the following list: 1. Mitra, 2. Varuna, 3. Dhatar, 4. Aryaman, 5. Amsa, 6. Bhaga, 7. Indra, 8. Vivasvat, but there, too, the eighth son is said to be Mart4zda, or, according to the commentator, Aditya.
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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