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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Note 1. It requires a stronger belief in the infallibility ofVedic text tradition than I possess, not to change j-avasa into ^avasa^. I do not think that I, 62, 9 (sanemi sakhyam svapasyamana^ sunlit dadhara ^avasa sudamsak) furnishes a sufficient argument against this conjecture. Verse 3. Note 1. Grassmann reads aghaayo/£ for the sake of the metre; Prof. Max Miiller proposes aghayo^. I think that the missing syllable should be gained by disyllabic pro- nunciation of -at in martyat or rather martiat. Comp. my Prolegomena 185 and the quotations given there in note 1. Verses 7-9. Note 1. It is not my intention to enter here into a new discussion on so frequently discussed a word as va^a. I have translated it in verses 7, 9 by ' race,' in verse 8 by ' strength.' Note 2. The expression used in verses 7 and 8 should be compared especially with VII, 40, 3. sa^ it ugrak astu maruta^ sak ^ushmi' yam martyam przshada.yva/z avatha, uta im agnik sarasvati ^unanti na tasya xaykh paryeta asti. MANDALA I, HYMN 27. 1 9 Note 3. VLyva^arsham, a frequent epithet of Agni, here refers to the mortal hero protected by Agni; comp. I, 64, 14 (vol. xxxii, p. 108) ; X, 93, 10 (vuva>£arsham .yrava^). Verso 10. Note 1. I think that Ludwig is right in taking Gara- bodha for a proper name. Note 2. Vi.fe-vi.re may possibly depend on ysgniy&ya, so that we should have to translate : ' Administer this task : a beautiful song of praise to Rudra who is worshipful for every house.' Note 3. Rudra is here a designation of Agni, as the next verses show. Comp. Pischel-Geldner, I, 56. Verse 13. Note 1. The word cLrina, 'old/ occurring only here, is doubtful. In III, i, 6 ; IV, ^ 3 ; X,39, 4, sana or sanaya stands in contrast with yuvan. Shall we conjecture namaA ci sanebhya^ ? Note 2. The last Pada of this verse, ma ^yayasa^ sAm- sam a vrikshi deva^ (' May I not, O gods, neglect the praise of the greatest/ Muir, V, 12), offers some difficulty. It may be doubted whether a vrzkshi belongs to k-wrig or to a-vra^. Let us see what would be the meaning of the passage, if we were to decide for k-vrig. VIII, 101, 16 the cow speaks : devim devebhya^ pari eyiishim gam a ma avrzkta martya^ dabhra^eta^, ' Me the goddess, the cow, who has come hither from the gods, the weak-minded mortal has appropriated/ 6atapatha Brahma^a XIV, 9, 4, 3. ya eva/« vidvan adhopahasaw ^araty a. sa strln&m sukrttam vrmkte *tha ya idam avidvan adhopahasa/^ £araty asya striya// sukritam vrmgzte, ' He who knowing this, &c, appro- priates the good works of the women. But the women appropriate the good works of him who without knowing this,' &c. In Rig-veda X, 159, 5 also we probably have a form of a-vrig. There we find the triumphant utterance C 2 20 VEDIC HYMNS.
2But the women appropriate the good works of him who without knowing this,' &c. In Rig-veda X, 159, 5 also we probably have a form of a-vrig. There we find the triumphant utterance C 2 20 VEDIC HYMNS. of a wife who has gained superiority over her fellow-wives : a awzksham anyasam var^a^, ' I have won for myself the splendour of the other wives/ We may conclude from these passages that our Pada, if a wzkshi is derived from a\-vrig, would mean : ' May I not draw on myself the curse of my better.' On the other hand we have a great number of passages — they have been collected by Ludwig, IV, 249 seq. — in which the verb a.-vrask appears. Referring the reader for fuller information to Ludwig, I content myself here with selecting one or two of these passages. Taitt. Sa^h. II, 4, 11, 4. devatabhyo va esha a v risky aXz yo yakshya ity uktva na vacate. In translating this we should remember that vrask means ' to cut down ; ' a-vra.sk, therefore, must be 'to cut down so that the object reaches a certain desti- nation/ I translate therefore : ' He who says, " I shall sacrifice," and does not sacrifice, is cut down for the deities,' — i. e. he is dedicated or forfeited to the deities and is thus destroyed (comp. a different explanation of a\-vra.sk by Delbriick, Altindische Syntax, 143). In other passages not the dative but the locative is used for indicating the being to whom somebody is forfeited ; see Atharva-veda XII, 4,6. 1 »• 26; XV, 1 a, 6. 10. A Rig-vedic passage containing a\-vras& (with the dative) is X, 87, 18. a vriskya.nta.rn aditaye dureva^, 'May the evil-doers be forfeited to Aditi.' Several times we find the first person aor. med. in the same form as in our passage, a vrzkshi ; see, for instance, the Nivid formula to the Visve deva/i, 5ankhayana vSrautasutra VIII, 21. In this Nivid, the text of which as given by Hillebrandt is not quite identical with that of Ludwig, we read according to Hillebrandt's edition : m& vo deva avLsasa ma vLrasayur a vrz'kshi. This ma ... a wz'kshi looks quite similar to our passage. The same may be said of Taittiriya Sa^zhita I, 6, 6, 1. yat te tapas tasmai te mavrz*kshi. Considering such passages it is difficult not to believe that it is the verb & vrajv£ which we have before us in our verse. It must be admitted indeed that the accusative MAiVDALA I, HYMN 2j. 21
3The same may be said of Taittiriya Sa^zhita I, 6, 6, 1. yat te tapas tasmai te mavrz*kshi. Considering such passages it is difficult not to believe that it is the verb & vrajv£ which we have before us in our verse. It must be admitted indeed that the accusative MAiVDALA I, HYMN 2j. 21 samsam does not agree with the construction of the later Vedic passages. Can the accusative stand in the ancient language of the Rig-veda in the same connection in which we have found the dative and the locative? So that (i-vrask (in the middle or passive) with the accusative would mean : to be cut down in the direction towards another being, i. e. being forfeited to that being ? In that case the translation of our passage would be : ' May I not, O gods, fall as a victim to the praise (or rather, to the curse) of my better/ If this explanation of the accusative is thought too bold, we should propose to correct the text so as to get a dative or, which would suit the metre better, a loca- tive : mci gy&ydLSdik sa.msa.ya (or samse) a vWkshi deva^. 2 2 VEDIC HYMNS. MAA^ALA I, HYMN 31. ASH7AKA I, ADHYAYA 2a VARGA 32-35. i. Thou, O Agni, (who art) the first Angiras 7?zshi, hast become as god the kind friend of the gods. After thy law the sages, active in their wisdom1, were born, the Maruts with brilliant spears. 2. Thou, O Agni, the first, highest Angiras, a sage, administerest the law of the gods, mighty for the whole world, wise, the son of the two mothers 1f reposing everywhere for (the use of) the living2. 3. Thou, O Agni, as the first, shalt become1 manifest to Matarisvan, through thy high wisdom, to Vivasvat. The two worlds trembled at (thy) elec- tion as Hotrz. Thou hast sustained the burthen ; thou, O Vasu, hast sacrificed to the great (gods) 2. 4. Thou, O Agni, hast caused the sky to roar1 for Manu, for the well-doing Pururavas, being thyself a greater well-doer. When thou art loosened by power (?)2 from thy parents, they led thee hither before and afterwards again. 5. Thou, O Agni, the bull, the augmenter of pros- perity, art to be praised by the sacrificer who raises the spoon, who knows all about the offering1 and (the sacrifice performed with) the word Vasha/. Thou (god) of unique vigour art the first to invite2 the clans. 6. Thou, O Agni, leadest forward the man who follows crooked ways1, in thy company at the sacri- fice2, O god dwelling among all tribes, who in the strife of heroes, in the decisive moment for the MAiVDALA I, HYMN 31. 23 obtainment of the prize 3, even with few companions killest many foes in the battle4. 7. Thou, O Agni, keepest that mortal1 in the highest immortality, in glory day by day, (thou) who being thirsty thyself2 givest happiness to both races (gods and men), and joy to the rich. 8. Thou, O Agni, praised by us, help the glorious singer to gain prizes. May we accomplish our work with the help of the young active (Agni). O Heaven and Earth ! Bless us together with the gods.
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.
1Note 1. It requires a stronger belief in the infallibility ofVedic text tradition than I possess, not to change j-avasa into ^avasa^. I do not think that I, 62, 9 (sanemi sakhyam svapasyamana^ sunlit dadhara ^avasa sudamsak) furnishes a sufficient argument against this conjecture. Verse 3. Note 1. Grassmann reads aghaayo/£ for the sake of the metre; Prof. Max Miiller proposes aghayo^. I think that the missing syllable should be gained by disyllabic pro- nunciation of -at in martyat or rather martiat. Comp. my Prolegomena 185 and the quotations given there in note 1. Verses 7-9. Note 1. It is not my intention to enter here into a new discussion on so frequently discussed a word as va^a. I have translated it in verses 7, 9 by ' race,' in verse 8 by ' strength.' Note 2. The expression used in verses 7 and 8 should be compared especially with VII, 40, 3. sa^ it ugrak astu maruta^ sak ^ushmi' yam martyam przshada.yva/z avatha, uta im agnik sarasvati ^unanti na tasya xaykh paryeta asti. MANDALA I, HYMN 27. 1 9 Note 3. VLyva^arsham, a frequent epithet of Agni, here refers to the mortal hero protected by Agni; comp. I, 64, 14 (vol. xxxii, p. 108) ; X, 93, 10 (vuva>£arsham .yrava^). Verso 10. Note 1. I think that Ludwig is right in taking Gara- bodha for a proper name. Note 2. Vi.fe-vi.re may possibly depend on ysgniy&ya, so that we should have to translate : ' Administer this task : a beautiful song of praise to Rudra who is worshipful for every house.' Note 3. Rudra is here a designation of Agni, as the next verses show. Comp. Pischel-Geldner, I, 56. Verse 13. Note 1. The word cLrina, 'old/ occurring only here, is doubtful. In III, i, 6 ; IV, ^ 3 ; X,39, 4, sana or sanaya stands in contrast with yuvan. Shall we conjecture namaA ci sanebhya^ ? Note 2. The last Pada of this verse, ma ^yayasa^ sAm- sam a vrikshi deva^ (' May I not, O gods, neglect the praise of the greatest/ Muir, V, 12), offers some difficulty. It may be doubted whether a vrzkshi belongs to k-wrig or to a-vra^. Let us see what would be the meaning of the passage, if we were to decide for k-vrig. VIII, 101, 16 the cow speaks : devim devebhya^ pari eyiishim gam a ma avrzkta martya^ dabhra^eta^, ' Me the goddess, the cow, who has come hither from the gods, the weak-minded mortal has appropriated/ 6atapatha Brahma^a XIV, 9, 4, 3. ya eva/« vidvan adhopahasaw ^araty a. sa strln&m sukrttam vrmkte *tha ya idam avidvan adhopahasa/^ £araty asya striya// sukritam vrmgzte, ' He who knowing this, &c, appro- priates the good works of the women. But the women appropriate the good works of him who without knowing this,' &c. In Rig-veda X, 159, 5 also we probably have a form of a-vrig. There we find the triumphant utterance C 2 20 VEDIC HYMNS.
2But the women appropriate the good works of him who without knowing this,' &c. In Rig-veda X, 159, 5 also we probably have a form of a-vrig. There we find the triumphant utterance C 2 20 VEDIC HYMNS. of a wife who has gained superiority over her fellow-wives : a awzksham anyasam var^a^, ' I have won for myself the splendour of the other wives/ We may conclude from these passages that our Pada, if a wzkshi is derived from a\-vrig, would mean : ' May I not draw on myself the curse of my better.' On the other hand we have a great number of passages — they have been collected by Ludwig, IV, 249 seq. — in which the verb a.-vrask appears. Referring the reader for fuller information to Ludwig, I content myself here with selecting one or two of these passages. Taitt. Sa^h. II, 4, 11, 4. devatabhyo va esha a v risky aXz yo yakshya ity uktva na vacate. In translating this we should remember that vrask means ' to cut down ; ' a-vra.sk, therefore, must be 'to cut down so that the object reaches a certain desti- nation/ I translate therefore : ' He who says, " I shall sacrifice," and does not sacrifice, is cut down for the deities,' — i. e. he is dedicated or forfeited to the deities and is thus destroyed (comp. a different explanation of a\-vra.sk by Delbriick, Altindische Syntax, 143). In other passages not the dative but the locative is used for indicating the being to whom somebody is forfeited ; see Atharva-veda XII, 4,6. 1 »• 26; XV, 1 a, 6. 10. A Rig-vedic passage containing a\-vras& (with the dative) is X, 87, 18. a vriskya.nta.rn aditaye dureva^, 'May the evil-doers be forfeited to Aditi.' Several times we find the first person aor. med. in the same form as in our passage, a vrzkshi ; see, for instance, the Nivid formula to the Visve deva/i, 5ankhayana vSrautasutra VIII, 21. In this Nivid, the text of which as given by Hillebrandt is not quite identical with that of Ludwig, we read according to Hillebrandt's edition : m& vo deva avLsasa ma vLrasayur a vrz'kshi. This ma ... a wz'kshi looks quite similar to our passage. The same may be said of Taittiriya Sa^zhita I, 6, 6, 1. yat te tapas tasmai te mavrz*kshi. Considering such passages it is difficult not to believe that it is the verb & vrajv£ which we have before us in our verse. It must be admitted indeed that the accusative MAiVDALA I, HYMN 2j. 21
3The same may be said of Taittiriya Sa^zhita I, 6, 6, 1. yat te tapas tasmai te mavrz*kshi. Considering such passages it is difficult not to believe that it is the verb & vrajv£ which we have before us in our verse. It must be admitted indeed that the accusative MAiVDALA I, HYMN 2j. 21 samsam does not agree with the construction of the later Vedic passages. Can the accusative stand in the ancient language of the Rig-veda in the same connection in which we have found the dative and the locative? So that (i-vrask (in the middle or passive) with the accusative would mean : to be cut down in the direction towards another being, i. e. being forfeited to that being ? In that case the translation of our passage would be : ' May I not, O gods, fall as a victim to the praise (or rather, to the curse) of my better/ If this explanation of the accusative is thought too bold, we should propose to correct the text so as to get a dative or, which would suit the metre better, a loca- tive : mci gy&ydLSdik sa.msa.ya (or samse) a vWkshi deva^. 2 2 VEDIC HYMNS. MAA^ALA I, HYMN 31. ASH7AKA I, ADHYAYA 2a VARGA 32-35. i. Thou, O Agni, (who art) the first Angiras 7?zshi, hast become as god the kind friend of the gods. After thy law the sages, active in their wisdom1, were born, the Maruts with brilliant spears. 2. Thou, O Agni, the first, highest Angiras, a sage, administerest the law of the gods, mighty for the whole world, wise, the son of the two mothers 1f reposing everywhere for (the use of) the living2. 3. Thou, O Agni, as the first, shalt become1 manifest to Matarisvan, through thy high wisdom, to Vivasvat. The two worlds trembled at (thy) elec- tion as Hotrz. Thou hast sustained the burthen ; thou, O Vasu, hast sacrificed to the great (gods) 2. 4. Thou, O Agni, hast caused the sky to roar1 for Manu, for the well-doing Pururavas, being thyself a greater well-doer. When thou art loosened by power (?)2 from thy parents, they led thee hither before and afterwards again. 5. Thou, O Agni, the bull, the augmenter of pros- perity, art to be praised by the sacrificer who raises the spoon, who knows all about the offering1 and (the sacrifice performed with) the word Vasha/. Thou (god) of unique vigour art the first to invite2 the clans. 6. Thou, O Agni, leadest forward the man who follows crooked ways1, in thy company at the sacri- fice2, O god dwelling among all tribes, who in the strife of heroes, in the decisive moment for the MAiVDALA I, HYMN 31. 23 obtainment of the prize 3, even with few companions killest many foes in the battle4. 7. Thou, O Agni, keepest that mortal1 in the highest immortality, in glory day by day, (thou) who being thirsty thyself2 givest happiness to both races (gods and men), and joy to the rich. 8. Thou, O Agni, praised by us, help the glorious singer to gain prizes. May we accomplish our work with the help of the young active (Agni). O Heaven and Earth ! Bless us together with the gods.
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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