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

The text seems thoroughly corrupt.

Note 3. See Lanman, p. 557.

Verse 10.
Note 1. Comp. Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 121.

Verse 11.

Note 1. Comp. above, verse 6, Pada 2.

Note 2. Comp. VIII, 24, 14. daksham prinkintsim.

Note 3. The human and the divine race. I do not believe that Dr. Neisser (Zur Vedischen Verballehre, 17) is right in interpreting yamati as an indicative.

Verse 13.

Note 1. The translation of .rimivadbhi^ is only tentative.
Siml (I, 151, 1 ) cannot be identical with sâmi.

Note 2. Ni^ tatanyu^ (ni'sh /atanyu^, Sa^hitap&//*a) of course is derived from tan, not from stan. Comp. I, 105, 12. satydm tatana surya^ ; IV, 5, 13. sura^ var^ena tatanan ushasa/z, &c.

p. 53

p. 142ASH7AKA II, ADHYAYA 2, VARGA 10-11.

Apr! Hymn.

i. Being inflamed, Agni, bring hither to-day the gods to the man who holds forth the (sacrificial) ladle. Spin out the ancient thread (of sacrifice) * for the sacrificer who has prepared Soma.

2. Measure out, O Tanunapat1, the sacrifice rich in ghee, rich in honey, of a priest like me, of a sacrificer who has toiled hard.

3. The brilliant, purifying, wonderful NanLrawsa * mixes the sacrifice with honey three times a day, the god worthy of worship among the gods.

4. Agni, magnified1 by us, bring hither the bright, beloved Indra. For this my prayer is addressed2 to thee whose tongue is good.

5. (Priests) hold forth the (sacrificial) ladle, strewing the sacrificial grass at the decorous service of the sacrifice; — I * trim2 (the sacrificial grass) which best receives the gods with its wide extent, a big shelter for Indra.

61. May the divine doors open themselves, the increasers of Rita., the never sticking, large ones, the purifying, much-desired (doors), that the gods may come forth.

7. May Night and Dawn, of glorious appearance, the two neighbouring (goddesses), wearing beautiful ornaments1, the young2 mothers of Ri\a.y sit down together on the sacrificial grass 3.

8. May the two divine Hotris, eager in praising (the gods), the sages with lovely tongues, performp. 154 for us to-day this successful sacrifice which attains to Heaven.

9. The brilliant (goddess) placed among the gods, among the Maruts1, Hotra Bhârati2, I/a, Sarasvati, and Mahf 3 : may these worshipful (goddesses) sit down on the sacrificial grass.

10. May Tvash/rz, inclined towards us, pour forth for us, in our navel 1, that wonderful seed with many treasures 2, plentiful by itself, for the sake of prosperity and wealth 3.

11. Letting go (the sacrificial food to the gods) sacrifice by thyself to the gods, O tree1. May2 Agni make the offerings ready 3, the god among the gods, the wise one.

12. For Him who is accompanied by Pfishan and by the Maruts, by the Visve deva^, (by) Vayu1, who is moved by the Gayatra song, for Indra pronounce the Svaha over the offering.

May2
Agni make the offerings ready 3, the god among the
gods, the wise one.

12. For Him who is accompanied by Pfishan and by the Maruts, by the Visve deva^, (by) Vayu1, who is moved by the Gayatra song, for Indra pronounce the Svaha over the offering.

13. Come hither to the offerings over which the
Svaha has been pronounced, in order to feast.
Indra! Come hither! Hear our call! Thee they
call at the worship.

NOTES.

The hymn is an Aprisukta. The same Rishi. Metre,
Anush/ubh. The whole hymn is closely related to I, 13. —
Verse 10: cf. VS. XXVII, 20 ; TS. IV, 1, 8, 3 ; MS. II,
12, 6.

Verse 1.

Note 1. The third Pada of this verse is identical with
VIII, 13, 14-

Verse 2.

Note 1. Comp. I, 13, 2, note 1.

MANDALA I, HYMN 1 42. 1 55

Verse 3.
Note 1. Comp. I, 13, 2, note 1.

Verse 4.

Note 1. ' Magnified ' is \litih ; comp. the note on I, 1, 1.
The verse is addressed to the Idah.

Note 2. The text has ikkha . . . va^yate. To me there seems to be no doubt that this is the passive of va£, not of wank. Comp. the name of the priest a^Mdvaka, and the phrase a^Moktibhi^ matinam, I, 61, 3 ; 184, 2. The same passive of va.k is found III, 39, 1. matin hridah a va£yamana (then follows akkha . . . ^igati) ; X, 47, 7 (stomal) . . . manasa vakyamknan. — It may be observed that in our passage as well as in III, 39, 1 and X, 47, 7, the forms va^yate, va^yamana, va^yamana^ are preceded by a vowel ; and we may infer that the poet did not say u^yate, &c, in order to avoid the hiatus.

Verse 5.

Note 1. The poet begins as if he intended to say, ' Priests
. . . lay down the sacrificial grass.' But he continues,
' I lay down.' Dr. Neisser (Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XX,
60) tries to explain the difficulty in a way in which
I cannot follow him.

Note 2. On the verb vrig technically connected with barhi^, see Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 152 seq., and compare vol. xxxii, I, 38, j, note %\ I, 64, 1, note 2.

Verse 6.
Note 1. With the whole verse compare I, 13, 6.

Verse 7.

Note 1. PischeFs opinion (Vedische Studien, II, 113 seq.) that pdra/fc means ' Gestalt,' 'Form,' * Farbe/ 'rupa,' does not convince me.

Note 2. See Geldner, Kuhn's Zeitschrift, XXVIII, 195.

I =;6 VEDIC HYMNS.

Note 3. Comp. VIII, 87, 4. a barhi^ sidatam sumat.
Geldner (Vedische Studien, II, 190) translates: 'das schone
Opfergras.'

Verse 9.

Note 1. ' Should we read marteshu for manitsu ? ' M. M.
This conjecture seems perhaps rather bold.

Note 2. Hotra Bharati, i.e. the personified Offering of
the Bharatas, seems to be one goddess, more usually called
simply Bharati. Comp. I, 22, 10; II, 1, 11 ; III, 62, 3;
Bergaigne, Religion Vedique, I, 322 ; H. O., Religion des
Veda, 243, note 2. Pischel's opinion (Vedische Studien,
II, 85) is different.

Note 3. See above, I, 13, 9, note 1.

Verse 10.

Note 1. On the navel as the symbol of the connection between father and son, see Bergaigne, I, 35, 36, and comp. the well-known name Nabhanedish/^a.

O., Religion des
Veda, 243, note 2. Pischel's opinion (Vedische Studien,
II, 85) is different.

Note 3. See above, I, 13, 9, note 1.

Verse 10.

Note 1. On the navel as the symbol of the connection between father and son, see Bergaigne, I, 35, 36, and comp. the well-known name Nabhanedish/^a.

Note 2. For purii varam very probably puruvaram should be read (Grassmann). See II, 40, 4. puruvaram . . . rayas posham vi syatam nabhim asme.

Note 3. With the last Pada compare II, 40, 4, quoted in note 2, and II, 3, 9. pra^-am Tvash/a vf syatu na'bhim asme ; see also Taittiriya Sa/^hita IV, 1, 8, 3. Tvash/rz is generally considered as giving sons; see H. O., Religion des Veda, 234.

Verse 11.

Note 1. Comp. I, 13, 11, note 1.

Note 2. The second hemistich recurs I, 105, 14.

Note 3. See Neisser, Zur Vedischen Verballehre, 22.

Verse 12.

Note 1. The text has 'for Vayu,' not 'for (the god) accompanied by Vayu/ But there is no doubt that pusha;zvate, &c, refers to Indra, and that Vayu is named merely as a companion of Indra.

MAiVDALA I, HYMN 1 43. 1 57

MANBALA I, HYMN 143.p. 12

i. I bring forward my most powerful, entirelynew (pious) thought (i.e. hymn) the prayer of my words ] to Agni, the son of strength ; he is the child of the Waters 2, the beloved one, who together with the Vasus has sat down on the Earth as a Hotrz observing the appointed time (for sacrificing).

2. Being born in the highest heaven Agni- became visible to Matarkvan. By the power of his mind, by his greatness when kindled, his flame filled Heaven and Earth with light.

3 \ His flames are fierce; never ageing are the flames of him who is beautiful to behold, whose face is beautiful, whose splendour is beautiful. The never sleeping, never ageing (rays) of Agni whose power is light, roll forward like streams across the nights (?) 2.

4. Him the ail-wealthy, whom the Bhrigus have set to work on the navel of the earth, with the whole power of the world1 — stir up that Agni by thy prayers in his own house — (him) who alone rules over goods like Vanma.

5. He who is not to be kept back like the roar of the Maruts, like an army * that is sent forward, like the thunderbolt of heaven — Agni eats with his sharp jaws, he chews, he throws down the forests as a warrior throws down his foes.

6. Would Agni eagerly come to our hymn ? Would He the Vasu together with the Vasus fulfil our desire ? Will He, the driver, stir our prayers

I58 VEDIC HYMNS.

that they may be successful ? (Thus thinking) I praise Him whose face is bright, with this my prayer.

7. He who has kindled him strives1 towards Agni as towards Mitra (or, towards a friend) — (to Agni) whose face shines with ghee, the charioteer of Rite. May he who when kindled becomes a racer 2, shining at the sacrifices 3, lift up our brightcoloured prayer.