{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/sbe46/sbe46021.htm","path":"hin/sbe46/sbe46021.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe46/sbe46021.htm","text":"Vedic Hymns, Part II (SBE46), by Hermann Oldenberg [1897]\n1. The loving (women) have (amorously) excited 1 their lover, as wives of the same nest (house) their own husband. The sisters have delighted in the dark and in the red (goddess) 2, as the cows in the brightly shining dawn.\n2. Our fathers, the A\u1e45giras 1, have broken even the strong fortresses by their hymns, the rock by their shouting. They have opened to us the path of the great heaven; they have obtained day and sun and the shine of the dawn 2.\n3. They founded the Rita; they set into motion the thought of it 1. Thus then the widely-spread (prayers) 2 of the poor 3 which seek to obtain (wealth), which are free from thirst 4, the active, approach 5 the tribe of the gods 6, strengthening them by offering them delight.\n4. When M\u00e2tarisvan had produced him by attrition, he, the reddish, the noble one, who was brought to many places 1, has come to every house. Then the Bhrigu-like 2 has undertaken the messengership 3 (for the mortal) as for a mightier king, being attached to him.\n5. When he had created sap to the great father Heaven, the knowing one stealthily approached the speckled (cows). The archer fiercely shot an arrow at him. The god turned his impetuous power against his daughter 1.\n6. Augment, O Agni, twofold the strength of\nthe man who worships 1 thee in his house, or offers adoration to the loving one 2 day by day. May he whom thou incitest be united with riches 3.\n7. Every nourishment goes towards Agni 1, as the seven young 2 rivers (flow) into the ocean. Our strength does not shine from kinsmen 3. Do thou therefore who knowest this, procure among the gods kindness for us.\n8 1. When the sharp splendour 2 reached the lord of men to incite him 3, the bright sperm poured down from Heaven (or, from the god Dyaus) 4, Agni produced 5 and furthered the blameless, young, well-wishing host 6.\n9. He who traverses the paths quickly 1 like thought, the Sun alone rules over wealth altogether. (There are) the two kings Mitra and Varuna with graceful hands 2, who watch over the beloved ambrosia 3 in the cows.\n10. Do not forget, O Agni, who art a sage possessed of knowledge 1, our paternal friendship. Old age impairs the appearance (of men) as a cloud (covers the sun or the sky). Before this curse (attains us), think thou (of us) 2.\nThe same Rishi. Metre, Trishtubh.\nThough the hymns 71\u201373 are not composed in the Vir\u00e2g metre like the preceding hymns, it is shown by 'manifold evidence that they had the same origin. Verse 8 = VS. XXXIII, 11; TS. I, 3, 14, 6; MS. IV, 14, 15.\nNote 1. Comp. Geldner, Vedische Studien, II, 134.\nNote 2. if the text is correct, the 'sisters' may either\nbe the ten fingers which generate Agni by attrition (III, 29, 13; IV, 6, 8), or the streams of water among which Agni grows up, or streams of Ghrita or the like (comp. II, 5, 5 see below). Why these sisters are said to delight in the dark and in the bright goddess, the Night and the Dawn, remains doubtful.\nBut I think there are reasons which strongly recommend a correction of the text. In III, 55, II we read sy\u00e2\u00b4v\u00ee ka \u2026 \u00e1rush\u00ee ka sv\u00e1s\u00e2rau, 'the two sisters, the dark one and the red one.' Is it not probable that in our passage also it is the sisters who are described as dark and red? The dark goddess and the red goddess of course are Night and Dawn, and Night and Dawn, as is well known, are sisters in Vedic poetry. And furthermore the 'sisters' are described in our verse as amorously exciting the god Agni: for it cannot well be doubted that the sv\u00e1s\u00e2rah of the third P\u00e2da are identical with the usat\u00ee\u00b4h of the first: similarly it is said in 70, 7\u2014in a hymn belonging to the same collection with out S\u00fbkta\u2014that the Nights and Dawns augment Agni's greatness; in other passages Agni is represented as beloved by the Dawn, or as suckled by Night and Dawn (Bergaigne, Religion V\u00e9dique, II, 14. 15). The 'sisters' then are stated in our verse to delight (agushran), probably in Agni: now we read in II, 2, 2. abh\u00ed tv\u00e2 n\u00e1kt\u00eeh ush\u00e1sah vav\u00e2sire \u00e1gne vats\u00e1m n\u00e1 sv\u00e1sareshu dhen\u00e1vah, 'The Nights and Dawns, Agni, have lowed at thee as the milch-cows in their stalls at their calves;' comp. Bergaigne, II, 15. Thus everything is clear, if we take the usat\u00ee\u00b4h and the sv\u00e1s\u00e2rah for the bright and dark goddesses, i. e. for the Dawns and Nights. The correction of the text to which this interpretation leads, is sv\u00e1s\u00e2rah sy\u00e2\u00b4v\u00eeh \u00e1rush\u00eeh agushran, 'the dark and the red sisters have delighted (in Agni).' It is easy to understand that the corruption of the text was occasioned by the simile of the fourth P\u00e2da. The words ush\u00e1sam n\u00e1 g\u00e2\u00b4vah seemed to demand a parallel nominative and a parallel accusative in the third P\u00e2da. The nominative was sv\u00e1s\u00e2rah, but there was no accusative. Thus probably arose the reading sy\u00e2\u00b4v\u00eem \u00e1rush\u00eem.\nNote 1. On the A\u1e45giras as the fathers of the priestly tribes, see H. O., Religion des Veda, 278.\nNote 2. The phrase ush\u00e1sah ket\u00fah occurs several times in the Rig-veda. I think that ket\u00fam usr\u00e2\u00b4h means exactly the same; it has been shown by Kaegi, Festgruss an Boehtlingk, p. 49, and by Bartholomae, Bezzenberger's Beitr\u00e4ge, XV, 185, that a genitive sing. usr\u00e2\u00b4h existed.\nNote 1. Ludwig refers asya to the sacrificer, Bollensen to Agni, and so does S\u00e2yana. I believe that asya should be explained as rit\u00e1sya; the phrase rit\u00e1sya dh\u00eet\u00ed is frequently used, comp. IV, 23, 8; IX, 76, 4; 97, 34; 111, 2. See also Ludwig's note on III, 31, 1 (vol. v, p. 65).\u2014Prof. Max M\u00fcller refers rita to Agni. 'One might translate it by righteous: They established the righteous (Agni), they moved his mind (made him attend?).'\nNote 2. The substantive (of feminine gender) which is to be supplied to didhish\u1e7dah, \u00e1trishyant\u00eeh, &c., seems to me to be g\u00edrah or the like. Ary\u00e1h stands frequently together with g\u00edrah.\u2014Prof. Max M\u00fcller writes: 'Could not ari be a feminine like karshani and vis; see before, I, 70, I. We should then translate, and then the people emulous, widely spread, never flagging [the stones also are called atrishit\u00e2h atrishnagah, X, 94, 11], and active go towards the gods.'\nNote 3. See above, 70, 1, note 1.\nNote 4. Are the prayers called 'free from thirst' because they are accompanied by libations of Ghrita, Soma, &c.?\nNote 5. I believe that dev\u00e2\u00b4n g\u00e1nma depends both on \u00e1kkh\u00e2 and on vardh\u00e1yant\u00eeh.\nNote 6. Dev\u00e2\u00b4n, or rather dev\u00e2\u00b4m, is gen. plur.; see above, 70, 6, with note 1.\nNote 1. The place in which v\u00edbhritah stands would seen to show that it is an epithet of M\u00e2tarisvan, and so it is understood by Ludwig and by Bergaigne (Rel. V\u00e9d. I, 54).\n[paragraph continues] But it is Agni himself, not M\u00e2tarisvan, who is very frequently mentioned as v\u00edbhrita or the like. As we read here, v\u00edbhritah \u2026 grih\u00e9-grihe, it is said in V, II, 4. agn\u00edm n\u00e1rah v\u00ed bharante grih\u00e9-grihe, 'the men carry Agni hither and thither, to every house;' comp. I, 70, 10; III, 55, 4; X, 1, 2; 45, 2; 80, 4. Thus I believe the poet means to say that M\u00e2tarisvan first kindled Agni, in one place of course, and that Agni then was brought to many places, to all human dwellings. I think that the text indeed can be understood in this way, if we suppose that the author, for the sake of the metre, allowed himself a hyperbaton or synchysis.\nWe must not omit to mention that the first P\u00e2da of I, 148, 1 is nearly identical with our passage: m\u00e1th\u00eet y\u00e1t \u00eem visht\u00e1h m\u00e2tar\u00edsv\u00e2. This P\u00e2da is deficient by one syllable. If we were to read v\u00edbhritah, as in our passage, this would lead indeed to the conclusion that there is no hyperbaton in our verse\u2014for the verse, I, 148, 1, could not be explained in that way\u2014but that v\u00edbhritah refers to M\u00e2tarisvan. I think, however, that it is more than doubtful that the verse, I, 148, 1, really ought to be corrected in this way; whatever may have been the original form of that verse, it is quite possible, and even probable, that it differed from our passage just in that one word.\nNote 2. The exact meaning of Bhr\u00edgav\u00e2na is doubtful. It is, of course, derived from Bhr\u00edgu as v\u00e1sav\u00e2na, t\u00e1kav\u00e2na, from v\u00e1su, t\u00e1ku. Agni is called Bhr\u00edgav\u00e2na also in IV, 7, 4. Comp. Bergaigne, I, 54.\nNote 3. With the words \u00e2\u00b4 d\u00fbt\u1ef9am viv\u00e2ya comp. IV, 9, 6. v\u00e9shi \u00edt u asya d\u00fbt\u1ef9am.\nNote 1. This difficult verse evidently treats of the incest which the father Dyaus has committed with his daughter. Compare on this subject Bergaigne, Rel. V\u00e9d. II, 109 seq. Agni seems to be represented here as stimulating the desire of the father; the 'sap' (r\u00e1sa) probably is the sperm, comp. I, 105, 2.\nIn the second P\u00e2da, Agni, having done, as it seems, some mischief, goes away to the speckled cows.' We cannot say who these speckled cows were; they evidently are identical with those mentioned in another passage treating of the same story, X, 61, S.\u2014Bergaigne paraphrases the second P\u00e2da of our verse, wrongly in my opinion, 'Agni sort furtivement de cette fille, de cette vache, prisan\u00ee\u00b4.'\nThe archer who shoots at Agni (third P\u00e2da) is not better known to us than the speckled cows. Bergaigne's opinion, 'que cet archer n\u2019est autre que le p\u00e8re lui-m\u00eame,' is not very convincing.\nNote 1. The traditional reading vibh\u00e2\u00b4ti ('he who shines for thee in his house') gives no satisfactory sense. I propose to read vidh\u00e2\u00b4ti. Cf. I, 120, 1. kath\u00e2\u00b4 vidh\u00e2ti \u00e1praket\u00e2h.\nNote 2. I have some doubts as to the correctness of usat\u00e1h (Samhit\u00e2p\u00e2tha, usat\u00f3) \u00e1nu dy\u00fb\u00b4n. Us\u00e1t, of course, is an epithet not of the days, but of Agni. But then we expect the dative. Correcting the text (usat\u00e9) is all the easier, because before a following vowel the dative and the genitive were, in the original pronunciation, identical (usat\u00e1\u093d\u00e1nu; see my Prolegomena, 447 sqq.); the spellings of the Samhit\u00e2p\u00e2tha, usat\u00f3 \u00e1nu and usat\u00e9 \u00e1nu, belong to the inventions of Vedic grammarians.\nNote 3. Literally, May he whom thou incitest drive on the same chariot with riches. Comp. such expressions as rath\u00ee\u00b4h r\u00e2y\u00e1h and the like.\nNote 1. Comp. IV, 44, 2. yuv\u00f3h v\u00e1puh abh\u00ed pr\u00edkshah sakante; VII, 90, 5.\nNote 2. Comp. I, 26, 10, note 1.\nNote 3. Ludwig: nicht unter unsern freunden ward auszf\u00fcndig gemacht die kraftspeise. Grassmann: nicht bei Verwandten ward uns Nahrung sichtbar. Wilson: Our food is not partaken of by our kinsmen. Griffith: Not by our brethren was our food discovered.\u2014Ludwig and Grassmann translate as if the text had g\u00e2m\u00edshu. What the\ninstrumental means is shown, I believe, for instance, by IV, 14, 2. v\u00ed s\u00fb\u00b4ryah rasm\u00edbhih k\u00e9kit\u00e2nah, 'the sun shining with his rays.' Thus in our passage the poet seems to me to say, 'We have no strong kinsmen who might add lustre to our strength. Agni, procure thou strength to us.' Comp. X, 23, 7. vidm\u00e1 h\u00ed te pr\u00e1matim deva g\u00e2miv\u00e1t, 'for we know, O god, thy providing care like that of a kinsman.'\u2014Prof. Max M\u00fcller proposes the translation: 'Our wealth is not known by our kinsmen, i. e. we cannot support them as we ought.'\nNote 1. The poet returns here to the myth of which he had spoken in verse 5. Should the order of the verses be changed?\u2014On our verse, compare Geldner, Ved. Studien, II, 34.\nNote 2. T\u00e9gas seems to be here a synonym of r\u00e9tas, as in the later language.\nNote 3. Is the lord of men Agni? See the third P\u00e2da.\u2014Ish\u00e9 I consider, with Geldner, as an infinitive.\nNote 4. My translation rests on the supposition that dya\u00fbh is to he corrected into dy\u00f3h; thus the ablative is obtained, of which the word abh\u00ee\u00b4ke is usually accompanied (comp. Lanman, 433; Collitz, Bezzenberger's Beitr\u00e4ge, X, 15). If we leave the reading dya\u00fah, this nominative will be the subject of the verb \u00e2\u00b4nat. Then t\u00e9gah must be accusative dependent on \u00e2\u00b4nat, and we can scarcely avoid making nrip\u00e1tim to depend on the infinitive ish\u00e9. This is the way which Geldner has followed in interpreting this passage. But I cannot consider this separation of nrip\u00e1tim from the verb \u00e2\u00b4nat very probable.\nNote 5. The exact meaning of ganayat seems to be here, 'he caused them to be born.' Comp. Satapatha Br\u00e2hmana I, 7, 4, 4. yath\u00e2 tad dev\u00e2 retah pr\u00e2ganayan (comp. Aitareya Br\u00e2hmana III, 34; see also Rig-veda X, 61, 7).\nNote 6. This may be the host of the seven Rishis. Comp. III, 31, 1\u20135; IV, 1, 12 seq. (?). Or the Maruts are alluded to (comp. below, 72, 4), though that seems to me less probable.\nNote 1. Literally, in one day. But sady\u00e1h has already in the Rig-veda the secondary meaning 'immediately, quickly.'\nNote 2. Comp. III, 56, 7. r\u00e2\u00b4g\u00e2n\u00e2 mitr\u00e2\u00b4-v\u00e1run\u00e2 sup\u00e2n\u00ee\u00b4.\nNote 3. See below, 72, 6.\nNote 1. Comp. VII, 18, 2: there the words abh\u00ed vid\u00fah kav\u00edh s\u00e1n are identical with our text.\nNote 2. Of the second hemistich Prof. Collitz has treated in Bezzenberger's Beitr\u00e4ge, X, 15, note. He paraphrases the meaning in the following way: 'Der Sinn des ganzen Verses ist: unsere Freundschaft mit dir, Agni, stammt aus alter Zeit. Nun sagt man zwar \"im Alter \u00e4ndert sich das Aussehn wie das der Wolke.\" Aber stehe du uns bei vor diesem Fluche.' I do not believe that this interpretation, though very ingenious, gives the real meaning of the Vedic poet.\u2014Comp. I, 179, I. min\u00e2\u00b4ti sr\u00edyam garim\u00e2\u00b4 tan\u00fb\u00b4n\u00e2m.","title":"Vedic Hymns, Part II (SBE46): I, 71","type":"page"}