Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1taruza, dhérusa, karuza), the etymological identity of ‘varuzas’ and odpayés is now probably questioned by few scholars. The ethical attributes of this mythological conception seem to b2 XX SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA., form of the horse that the Sun is thus lauded in the hymn Rig-v. I, 163, recited by the Hotvz on the second Somaday of the Asvamedha, after the horse has been led up to the sacrificial stake, and to the slaughtering-place? :—1. ‘When, first born (just born), thou didst neigh, uprising from the sea, or from the vapoury region, the falcon’s wings and the deer’s feet—praiseworthy greatness was innate in thee, O steed!’... 4. ‘ Three fetterings?, they say, are thine in the sky, three in the waters, three within the sea ; and like unto Varuza, O steed, dost thou appear to me, where, they say, thy highest birth-place is.’ And since, as in these verses, the upper regions commonly present themselves to the eye of the Vedic singer under the semblance of a heavenly sea, Varuza also comes to be looked upon as the divine representative of the waters ; whilst the horse, for the same reason, is supposed to have sprung from the waters. Of any connection of the sacrificial horse with Pragapati, on the other hand, as of the Pragdpati theory of the sacrifice generally, clearly shadowed forth in the Purusha-sOkta, and so decidedly dominant during the Brahmaza period, no trace is to be found in the earlier hymns. Indeed, if we have any right to assume that the horse-sacrifice was known and practised in the earlier times, it can scarcely be doubted that King Varuza must have been the deity to whom this victim was chiefly consecrated. The close and natural relations between the sun and the heavens find their hallowed expression in the divine duad Mitra and Varuza. Though, judged by the number of me to find a sufficiently intelligible explanation without resorting to outside influence to account for them. Indeed, Dr. Hillebrandt’s ‘ Varuna und Mitra’ gives a fairly complete and satisfactory account of this figure of the Indian pantheon in all its relations. » See Sat. Br. XIII, 5, 1, 17, 18. * That is, probably, three halting-places (? the points of rising, culminating, and setting). Perhaps also the three statements are merely meant as an emphatic repetition of one and the same locality—the sky, the sea of waters; though, possibly, three different strata of the upper region may be intended. Professor Ludwig, on the other hand, takes ‘tri#i bandhan&ni’ in the sense of ‘ three fetters,’ and Professor Hillebrandt, l.c., in that of ‘three relations (or connections, Beziehungen).’ INTRODUCTION. xxi
2Professor Ludwig, on the other hand, takes ‘tri#i bandhan&ni’ in the sense of ‘ three fetters,’ and Professor Hillebrandt, l.c., in that of ‘three relations (or connections, Beziehungen).’ INTRODUCTION. xxi hymns addressed to them, singly or jointly, this pair of deities occupies a somewhat subordinate position in the Vedic pantheon, there is reason to believe that it formed a more prominent feature of a phase of belief lying beyond the period reflected in the hymns of the Rig-veda. Judging from the peculiar character of these deities, one might indeed be inclined to claim for the people that formed religious conceptions such as these a long period of peaceful dwelling and normal intellectual growth. If such was the case, the occupation of the land of the seven rivers and the gradual eastward drift certainly proved a turning-point in the development of this Aryan people. But, in any case, the decided change of climate’, and the close contact with aboriginal tribes of inferior culture, could hardly fail, along with the changed conditions of life, to influence considerably the character of the people, and to modify their religious notions and intellectual tendencies. As, in their struggles against hostile tribes, the people would naturally look to leaders of deed and daring rather than to mild and just rulers, so the violent war of elements, periodically convulsing the heavens in these regions, after long and anxious seasons of heat and drought, and striking awe and terror into the minds of men, might seem to them to call for a heavenly champion of a different stamp than the evenheaded and even-tempered Varuza,—it would need a divine leader of dauntless, and even ferocious, spirit to fight the worshipper’s battle against his earthly and unearthly foes. Such a champion the Vedic Aryans indeed created for themselves in the person of Indra, the divine representative, as it were, of their warlike kings, and the favourite subject of their song. And side by side with him, and sharing with him the highest honours—nay, even taking precedence of him—we find the divine priest, Agni, the deified fire of sacrifice, as representing the all-pervading, all-supporting 4 Whilst the climate of Baluchistan is regulated, as in Europe, by the succession of four seasons, the climate of the districts east of the Indus, as of India generally, shows the characteristic threefold division of rainy, cool, and hot seasons (S. Pottinger, Beloochistan, p. 319 seqq.). Xxii SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA.
3Pottinger, Beloochistan, p. 319 seqq.). Xxii SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA. light of heaven ; just as we found Mitra, the sun, by the side of Varuna, the god of the all-encompassing heaven. Not as if Agni and Indra had ever entirely superseded Mitra and Varuza. On the contrary, all these gods continue to share, in a greater or less degree, the affections of the Vedic singers; and as regards Varuvza and Indra in particular, their relations are well expressed by Vasishtha when he says (Rig-v. VII, 82, 2; 5), that the one (Varuza) is ‘samrag’ (universal ruler, overlord) ; and the other (Indra) ‘svarag’ (self-ruler, independent lord) ;—and that, ever since the time when these two, by their power, created all the beings in the world, Mitra serves Varuza in peace, whilst the mighty (Indra) goes forth with the Maruts in quest of glory. Even in the sacrificial ritual, Mitra and Varuza continue to play an important part, seeing that one of the priests—the Maitravaruza—is named after them, that they receive various oblations, and that at the end of every Somasacrifice at least one sterile cow is offered to them,apparently as an expiatory victim, for shortcomings in the sacrifice}, thus accentuating once more the ethical character of these deities. It is thus not to be wondered at that, whilst Agni and Indra are most commonly referred to in the Brahmanas as the divine representatives of the Brahman and Kshatra, or the spiritual and the political powers—the high priest and king—respectively, the very same is the case as regards Mitra and Varuva*; and the Maruts, representing the common people, are accordingly associated with Varuza, ' Taitt. S. VI, 6, 7, 4, explains this offering as symbolically smoothing down the sacrifice torn up by recited verses and chanted hymns, even as a field, torn up by the plough, is levelled by a roller (‘matya,’ taken however by Sfy. in the sense of ‘cow-dung’). The Sat. Br. does not allude to the expiatory character of the offering, but there can be no doubt that it is of an essentially piacular significance. It need scarcely be mentioned that the ‘ avabhvztha,’ or lustral bath, at the end of Soma- and other sacrifices, is distinctly explained (IT, 5, 2, 46; IV, 4, 5, 10) as intended to clear the Sacrificer of all guilt for which he is liable to Varama. Cf. Taitt. Br. III, 9, 15, ‘At the lustral bath he offers the last oblation with ‘To Gumbaka hail!” for Gumbaka is Varuna : he thus finally frees himself from Varuma by offering.’ * See, for instance, Sat. Br. IV, 1, 4, 2; V, 3, 2, 43 IX, 4, 2, 16; Maitr. S. IV, 5,8; Taitt. Br. III, 1, 2, 7 (kshatrasya raga Varuxo sdhirfigat). INTRODUCTION. Xxiii
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.
1taruza, dhérusa, karuza), the etymological identity of ‘varuzas’ and odpayés is now probably questioned by few scholars. The ethical attributes of this mythological conception seem to b2 XX SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA., form of the horse that the Sun is thus lauded in the hymn Rig-v. I, 163, recited by the Hotvz on the second Somaday of the Asvamedha, after the horse has been led up to the sacrificial stake, and to the slaughtering-place? :—1. ‘When, first born (just born), thou didst neigh, uprising from the sea, or from the vapoury region, the falcon’s wings and the deer’s feet—praiseworthy greatness was innate in thee, O steed!’... 4. ‘ Three fetterings?, they say, are thine in the sky, three in the waters, three within the sea ; and like unto Varuza, O steed, dost thou appear to me, where, they say, thy highest birth-place is.’ And since, as in these verses, the upper regions commonly present themselves to the eye of the Vedic singer under the semblance of a heavenly sea, Varuza also comes to be looked upon as the divine representative of the waters ; whilst the horse, for the same reason, is supposed to have sprung from the waters. Of any connection of the sacrificial horse with Pragapati, on the other hand, as of the Pragdpati theory of the sacrifice generally, clearly shadowed forth in the Purusha-sOkta, and so decidedly dominant during the Brahmaza period, no trace is to be found in the earlier hymns. Indeed, if we have any right to assume that the horse-sacrifice was known and practised in the earlier times, it can scarcely be doubted that King Varuza must have been the deity to whom this victim was chiefly consecrated. The close and natural relations between the sun and the heavens find their hallowed expression in the divine duad Mitra and Varuza. Though, judged by the number of me to find a sufficiently intelligible explanation without resorting to outside influence to account for them. Indeed, Dr. Hillebrandt’s ‘ Varuna und Mitra’ gives a fairly complete and satisfactory account of this figure of the Indian pantheon in all its relations. » See Sat. Br. XIII, 5, 1, 17, 18. * That is, probably, three halting-places (? the points of rising, culminating, and setting). Perhaps also the three statements are merely meant as an emphatic repetition of one and the same locality—the sky, the sea of waters; though, possibly, three different strata of the upper region may be intended. Professor Ludwig, on the other hand, takes ‘tri#i bandhan&ni’ in the sense of ‘ three fetters,’ and Professor Hillebrandt, l.c., in that of ‘three relations (or connections, Beziehungen).’ INTRODUCTION. xxi
2Professor Ludwig, on the other hand, takes ‘tri#i bandhan&ni’ in the sense of ‘ three fetters,’ and Professor Hillebrandt, l.c., in that of ‘three relations (or connections, Beziehungen).’ INTRODUCTION. xxi hymns addressed to them, singly or jointly, this pair of deities occupies a somewhat subordinate position in the Vedic pantheon, there is reason to believe that it formed a more prominent feature of a phase of belief lying beyond the period reflected in the hymns of the Rig-veda. Judging from the peculiar character of these deities, one might indeed be inclined to claim for the people that formed religious conceptions such as these a long period of peaceful dwelling and normal intellectual growth. If such was the case, the occupation of the land of the seven rivers and the gradual eastward drift certainly proved a turning-point in the development of this Aryan people. But, in any case, the decided change of climate’, and the close contact with aboriginal tribes of inferior culture, could hardly fail, along with the changed conditions of life, to influence considerably the character of the people, and to modify their religious notions and intellectual tendencies. As, in their struggles against hostile tribes, the people would naturally look to leaders of deed and daring rather than to mild and just rulers, so the violent war of elements, periodically convulsing the heavens in these regions, after long and anxious seasons of heat and drought, and striking awe and terror into the minds of men, might seem to them to call for a heavenly champion of a different stamp than the evenheaded and even-tempered Varuza,—it would need a divine leader of dauntless, and even ferocious, spirit to fight the worshipper’s battle against his earthly and unearthly foes. Such a champion the Vedic Aryans indeed created for themselves in the person of Indra, the divine representative, as it were, of their warlike kings, and the favourite subject of their song. And side by side with him, and sharing with him the highest honours—nay, even taking precedence of him—we find the divine priest, Agni, the deified fire of sacrifice, as representing the all-pervading, all-supporting 4 Whilst the climate of Baluchistan is regulated, as in Europe, by the succession of four seasons, the climate of the districts east of the Indus, as of India generally, shows the characteristic threefold division of rainy, cool, and hot seasons (S. Pottinger, Beloochistan, p. 319 seqq.). Xxii SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA.
3Pottinger, Beloochistan, p. 319 seqq.). Xxii SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA. light of heaven ; just as we found Mitra, the sun, by the side of Varuna, the god of the all-encompassing heaven. Not as if Agni and Indra had ever entirely superseded Mitra and Varuza. On the contrary, all these gods continue to share, in a greater or less degree, the affections of the Vedic singers; and as regards Varuvza and Indra in particular, their relations are well expressed by Vasishtha when he says (Rig-v. VII, 82, 2; 5), that the one (Varuza) is ‘samrag’ (universal ruler, overlord) ; and the other (Indra) ‘svarag’ (self-ruler, independent lord) ;—and that, ever since the time when these two, by their power, created all the beings in the world, Mitra serves Varuza in peace, whilst the mighty (Indra) goes forth with the Maruts in quest of glory. Even in the sacrificial ritual, Mitra and Varuza continue to play an important part, seeing that one of the priests—the Maitravaruza—is named after them, that they receive various oblations, and that at the end of every Somasacrifice at least one sterile cow is offered to them,apparently as an expiatory victim, for shortcomings in the sacrifice}, thus accentuating once more the ethical character of these deities. It is thus not to be wondered at that, whilst Agni and Indra are most commonly referred to in the Brahmanas as the divine representatives of the Brahman and Kshatra, or the spiritual and the political powers—the high priest and king—respectively, the very same is the case as regards Mitra and Varuva*; and the Maruts, representing the common people, are accordingly associated with Varuza, ' Taitt. S. VI, 6, 7, 4, explains this offering as symbolically smoothing down the sacrifice torn up by recited verses and chanted hymns, even as a field, torn up by the plough, is levelled by a roller (‘matya,’ taken however by Sfy. in the sense of ‘cow-dung’). The Sat. Br. does not allude to the expiatory character of the offering, but there can be no doubt that it is of an essentially piacular significance. It need scarcely be mentioned that the ‘ avabhvztha,’ or lustral bath, at the end of Soma- and other sacrifices, is distinctly explained (IT, 5, 2, 46; IV, 4, 5, 10) as intended to clear the Sacrificer of all guilt for which he is liable to Varama. Cf. Taitt. Br. III, 9, 15, ‘At the lustral bath he offers the last oblation with ‘To Gumbaka hail!” for Gumbaka is Varuna : he thus finally frees himself from Varuma by offering.’ * See, for instance, Sat. Br. IV, 1, 4, 2; V, 3, 2, 43 IX, 4, 2, 16; Maitr. S. IV, 5,8; Taitt. Br. III, 1, 2, 7 (kshatrasya raga Varuxo sdhirfigat). INTRODUCTION. Xxiii
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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