Vedic Hymns, Part II: Hymns to Agni (Mandalas I–V) — SBE Vol. 46 (trans. Hermann Oldenberg, 1897)

Note 2. Bartholomae's theory (Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XV, 194) that the stem damunas has been developed out of the phrase damu na^, ' in our house/ does not carry conviction.

Verse 5.

Note 1. See I, 58, 9, note 1.

p. 54

MAM0ALA I, HYMN 65.p. 9

i \ Thee who hidest thyself in secret like a thief with an animal2 (which he has stolen) — who hadst harnessed 3 adoration and carriedst adoration —

2. The wise unanimously followed by thy footmarks \ All (gods) deserving worship (reverentially) sat down near thee.

3. The gods followed the laws of 7?zta. There was an encompassing as the heaven (encompasses) the earth *.

4. In the lap, in the womb of jRtta, the waters nourish the fine child with praise, him who is well born.

5. Like good fortune, like a broad abode, like the fertile hill \ like the refreshing stream,

6. Like a racer urged forward in the race, like the rapids of the Sindhu 2 — who can hold him back ?

• 7. (He is) the kinsman of the rivers, as a brother of his sisters. He eats the forests as a king (eats,
• i. e. takes the wealth of) the rich l.

8. When he has spread through the forests, driven by the wind, Agni shears the hair of the earth.

9. Sitting in the waters he hisses like a swan. (He is) most famous by his power of mind, he who belongs to the clans, awakening at dawn —

10. A performer of worship like Soma, the god born from i?zta, like a young (?)* beast, far-extending, far-shining.

MAiVDALA I, HYMN 65. 55

NOTES.

The authorship of the whole collection, I, 65-73, ls ascribed to Para^ara vSaktya. These hymns are addressed exclusively to Agni. The greater part of them (65-70) is composed in the Vira^* metre; comp. on this metre my Prolegomena. 95 seq. I have given there my reasons for considering that each verse consists of twenty, not of forty syllables.

This section ascribed to Parlsara has been treated of by
Bollensen, Zeitschrift der D. Morg. Gesellschaft, XXII,
569 seq. No verse of these hymns composed in the metre
Dvipada Vira^* (I, 65-70) occurs in the other Sa^hitas.

Verse 1.

Note 1. Professor Max Miiller proposes the following translation for verses 1 and % : The wise (gods) together followed thee (Agni) when in hiding, by means of footsteps, as one follows a thief by the animal ; they followed thee who accepts and carries adoration (to the gods). All the worshipful gods sat down (reverentially) near thee.

Note 2. There is no reason for reading with Bartholomae
(Studien zur indogermanischen Sprachgeschichte, I, 48)
pa^van (gen. plur.) na tayiim.

Note 3. Ludwig proposes yuvanam, which is quite unnecessary.— See also Gaedicke, 173.

Verse 2. Note 1. We have here the well-known myth of the hidden Agni discovered by the gods. The 'wise ones,' (dhira^) are no doubt the searching gods, the same who are called ya^*atra^ in the last Pada, and -who are expressly designated as devaVz in verse 3. Comp. Bergaigne, I, no.

Verse 2. Note 1. We have here the well-known myth of the hidden Agni discovered by the gods. The 'wise ones,' (dhira^) are no doubt the searching gods, the same who are called ya^*atra^ in the last Pada, and -who are expressly designated as devaVz in verse 3. Comp. Bergaigne, I, no.

Verse 3. Note 1. Regarding the construction, see Gaedicke, 192. — Professor Max Muller's opinion on this phrase differs fromp. 56 mine. He writes : 'I should prefer parish/i. But parishri seems to mean a running about, reconnoitring, searching. "There was searching on earth as in heaven," lit. earth, like heaven, was reconnoitring-ground.'

Verse 5.

Note 1. Comp. VIII, 50, 2. glrik na bhii^ma. I believe that Boehtlingk-Roth, Bollensen, and Grassmann are right in correcting our passage accordingly; ra/zva, przthvf, jambhu follow the gender of the corresponding substantives, and the same may be expected here. Comp. Lanman, 530. The meaning is that Agni yields nourishment to all beings as a mountain fertilises the country by the waters which come down from it ; comp. VIII, 49, 2. gire^ iva pra xâsâk a,sya pinvire datra/zi purubhqg*asa^.

Verse 6.

Note 1. Regarding the construction, comp. Gaedicke, 252 seq. ; Bergaigne, Melanges Renier, 95. Joh. Schmidt (Die Pluralbildungen der indogerm. Neutra, 305) and Ludwig (V, 524) are wrong in taking kshoda/* as a locative or as an instrumental respectively.

Verse 7.

Note 1. Comp. Pischel-Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, p. xvi.

Verse 10.

Note 1. Can slsvk be the nominative of a stem s\svaxi which stands by the side of .sim as r/bhvan of rzbhii? Prof. Max Miiller proposes : ' Large like a cow with young, like a pregnant cow.'

p. 57

MAJVZ7ALA I, HYMN 66.p. 10

i. Like unto excellent wealth, like unto the shine of the sun, like unto living breath, like unto one's own * son —

2. Like unto a quick takvan 1 he (Agni) holds the wood, like milk, like a milch cow2, bright and shining.

3. He holds safety, pleasant like a homestead, like ripe barley, a conqueror of men,

4. Like a 7?zshi uttering (sacred) shouts, praised among the clans ; like a well-cared-for race-horse 19 Agni bestows vigour.

5. He to whose flame men do not grow accustomed \ who is like one's own mind 2, like a wife on a couch, enough for all (happiness).

6. When the bright (Agni) has shone forth, he is like a white (horse [P])1 among people, like a chariot with golden ornaments, impetuous in fights.

7. Like an army which is sent forward he shows his vehemence, like an archers shaft with sharp point.

8. He who is born is one twin; he who will be born 1 is the other twin — the lover of maidens, the husband of wives 2.

9 \ As cows go to their stalls, all that moves and we, for the sake of a dwelling, reach him who has been kindled.

10. Like the flood of the Sindhu1 he has driven forward the downwards-flowing (waters)2. The cows lowed at the sight of the sun 3.

p. 58

NOTES.

9 \ As cows go to their stalls, all that moves and we, for the sake of a dwelling, reach him who has been kindled.

10. Like the flood of the Sindhu1 he has driven forward the downwards-flowing (waters)2. The cows lowed at the sight of the sun 3.

p. 58

NOTES.

The same Rzshi and metre.

Verse 1.

Note 1. Comp. I, 166, %\ 185, 2; X, 39, 14. The second passage (nityam na sumim pitro^ upasthe dyava rakshatam przthivi na^ abhvat) would be sufficient to show that we cannot translate {wie ein uberlebender sohn' (Ludwig).

Verse 2.

Note 1. We do not know what animal the takvan is.
Comp. I, 134, 5 with M. M.'s note.
Note 2. See Bergaigne, Mel. Renier, 101 ; Gaedicke,

*53-

Verse 4.

Note 1. Comp. X, 101 , 7. primta a^van hitam £*ayatha.

Verse 5.

Note 1. Comp. VII, 4, 3. durokam agni^ ayave susoka.

Note 2. Prof. Max Muller believes that kratu here means, ' like kartrz, a sacrifices so that kratu^ na nityaA sounds like sunu^ na nitya^, one's own sacrificing son. But all this is very obscure/

Verse 6.

Note 1. The second Pada is translated by Grassmann: 'wie Licht in Hausern;' by Ludwig: * fast weiss, bei den menschenstammen.' I think that there can be no doubt that the words svetak na contain a comparison like all the other comparisons of which these hymns are full ; this comparison is unduly effaced in Lud wig's translation. Nor is Grassmann right in translating svctâk bei 'Licht;' the word is an adjective meaning 'white' and nothing else. We must supply here, as in many passages, a substantive, and I do not see any reason why this should not be thatp. 59 substantive with which .yveta is most frequently combined in the Rig-veda, namely a^va ; comp. I, 116, 6; 118, 9 [119, 10] ; VII, 77> 3 ; x> 39> IO- In V, 1, 4 it is said of Agni : jveta^ va^f ^dyate agre ahndm, c the white racer is born in the beginning of the days/

Verse 8.