Wendy Doniger Rig Veda on Creation

CREATION

సృష్టి

ఋగ్వేదంలో సృష్టి ఆవిర్భావం గురించి అనేక ఋక్కులు ఉన్నాయి. వీటిలో సృష్టి మంచి-చెడు, దేవత-అసురుడు మొదలైన ద్వంద్వాల మధ్య జరిగే పోరాటంగా చిత్రీకరింపబడినది. ఇంద్రుని గురించి చెప్పబడిన ఋక్కులలో స్వర్గాన్ని, భూమిని వేరుచేయడం ముఖ్య ఉద్దేశ్యంగా వర్ణన ఉంటుంది. ఋగ్వేద 2 మొదలుకొని 9 మండలాలలో సృష్టి ఆవిర్భావము ఋక్కులలో అక్కడక్కడ చెప్పబడినది. కానీ 10 వ మండలంలో ఆవిర్భావము ముఖ్య ఉద్దేశ్యంగా అనేక ఋక్కులు చెప్పబడినవి. కొన్ని ఋక్కులలో అస్తిత్వం యొక్క అస్తిత్వాన్ని గురించి, అనగా సృష్టి కర్త యొక్క అస్తిత్వం ఋషులు దర్శించేరు. ఇతర ఋక్కులలో యజ్ఞము వలన భూమి యొక్క, భూలోకవాసుల యొక్క ఆవిర్భావము సంభవించినదని చెప్పబడి, యజ్ఞము యొక్క ఆస్తిత్వము గురించి కూడా వివరింపబడింది.

THE Rig Veda refers glancingly to many different theories of creation. Several of these regard creation as the result – often apparently a mere by-product – of a cosmic battle, such as those mentioned in the hymns to Indra, or as a result of the apparently unmotivated act of separating heaven and earth, an act attributed to several different gods. These aspects of creation are woven in and out of the hymns in the older parts of the Rig Veda, books 2 through 9. But in the subsequent tenth book we encounter for the first time hymns that are entirely devoted to speculations on the origins of the cosmos. Some of these hymns seek the origins of the existence of existence itself (10.129) or of the creator himself (10.121). Others speculate upon the sacrifice as the origin of the earth and the people in it (10.90), or upon the origins of the sacrifice (10.130, 10.190).

Sacrifice is central to many concepts of creation, particularly to those explicitly linked to sacrificial gods or instruments, but it also appears as a supplement to other forms of creation such as sculpture (10.81-2) or anthropomorphic birth (10.72).

యజ్ఞము సృష్టికి మూలము. ముఖ్యంగా దేవతలు యజ్ఞము వలన సంతృప్తి చెందేవారని ఋగ్వేదం చెప్తుంది. అలాగే పనిముట్లు, శిల్ప కళ వంటి కళలు, తల్లి గర్భకోశం నుండి మానవుని జన్మము మొదలైన విషయాల ఆవిర్భావము కూడా ఋగ్వేదము వివరిస్తుంది.

10.129  Creation Hymn (Nasadiya)

10.129  నాశదీయ సూక్తం

This short hymn, though linguistically simple (with the exception of one or two troublesome nouns), is conceptually extremely provocative and has, indeed, provoked hundreds of complex commentaries among Indian theologians and Western scholars. In many ways, it is meant to puzzle and challenge, to raise unanswerable questions, to pile up paradoxes.

నాశదీయ సూక్తం వ్యాకరణ పరంగా చిన్నదైనా, భారతీయ వేద పండితులు మరియు పాశ్చాత్య ఆధ్యాత్మికవేత్తలు మధ్య అనేక వాదోపవాదాలకు దారి తీసింది. ఈ సూక్తం ఒక క్లిష్టమైన చిక్కు ముడి లాగ ఉండి, అనేక ఉత్తరువులు లేని ప్రశ్నలకు తావునిచ్చింది.

1 There was neither non-existence nor existence then; there was neither the realm of space nor the sky which is beyond. What stirred?¹ Where? In whose protection? Was there water, bottomlessly deep?

1. ఒకప్పుడు ఆస్తిత్వము లేదా ఆస్తిత్వము లేని స్థితి లేవు. అంతరిక్షము గాని, ఆకాశము గాని లేవు. ఏది చలించింది? ¹ ఎక్కడ? ఎవరిని ఆధారం చేసికొని? నీరు ఉందా? అనిర్వచనమైన జలాశయాలు ఉన్నాయా?

2 There was neither death nor immortality then. There was no distinguishing sign² of night nor of day. That one breathed, windless, by its own impulse. Other than that there was nothing beyond.

2. అప్పుడు మరణము గాని, అమరత్వము గాని లేవు. రేయి, పగలు లేవు.² అది వాయువు లేకుండానే తన చైతన్యంతో శ్వాస చేసేది. అది తప్ప వేరేది లేదు.

3 Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning; with no distinguishing sign,³ all this was water. The life force that was covered with emptiness, that one arose through the power of heat.³

3. మొదట చీకటి మీద కారు చీకటి పేరుకు పోయి ఉండేది. ఎటువంటి సంజ్ఞ లేదు. ³ అంతా జల మయం. జీవ చైతన్యం శూన్యంతో కప్ప బడేది. అది ఉష్ణం వలన లేచింది. ³

4 Desire came upon that one in the beginning ; that was the first seed of mind. Poets⁴ seeking in their heart with wisdom found the bond of existence in non-existence.

4. అప్పుడు కోరిక జనించింది. అది మనస్సు యొక్క మొదటి బీజం. ద్రష్టలు ⁴ తమ హృదయాంత రంగాలలో ఆస్తిత్వంలో తమ జ్ఞానంతో ఆస్తిత్వము లేనిదాన్ని దర్శించేరు.

5 Their cord ⁵ was extended across. Was there below? Was there above? There were seed- placers; there were powers.⁶ There was impulse beneath; there was giving-forth above.

5. ఛందస్సు ⁵ జనించింది. క్రింద, మీద, దిక్కులు లేవు. బీజాలను నాటే వాళ్ళు గలరు. శక్తులు గలవు⁶ . వాటిక్రింద చైతన్యం ఉంది.

6 Who really knows ? Who will here proclaim it? Whence was it produced? Whence is this creation? The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.⁷ Who then knows whence it has arisen?

6. ఎవరికి ఎరుక? ఎవరు దానిని దర్శించ గలరు? ఎక్కడనుంచి అది ఆవిర్భవించింది? సృష్టిగా ఎలా మారింది? దాని తరువాత దేవతలు వచ్చేరు.⁷ ఎవరు దీనికి కారణం?

7 Whence this creation has arisen – perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not – the one who looks down on it, in the highest heaven, only he knows – or perhaps he does not know.

7.సృష్టి స్వయంభువు కావచ్చు. కాక పోవచ్చు. ఎవరైతే ఉన్నతమైన లోకాలనుండి క్రిందకి చూస్తున్నారో వారికే తెలుసు. బహుశా తెలియక పోవచ్చు.

NOTES

వివరణ

1. The verb is often used to describe the motion of breath. The verse implies that the action precedes the actor.

1. శ్వాస కదలిక గురించి చెప్పబడినది. ఈ ఋక్కులో కార్యానికి ముందు ఒక కారణం ఉంటుందనే తర్కం వాడబడినది.

2. That is, the difference between night and day, light or dark- ness, or possibly sun and moon.

2. రేయి మరియు పగలు, లేదా కాంతి మరియు చీకటి, లేదా సూర్యుడు మరియు చంద్రుడు అనే ద్వంద్వాలు.

3. Tapas designates heat, in particular the heat generated by ritual activity and by physical mortification of the body.

3. తపస్సు తాపాన్ని సూచిస్తుంది. అంటే యజ్ఞ యాగాదులు లేక కఠోర మానవ ప్రయత్నం తపస్సులు.

4. Kavi designates a poet or saint.

4. కవి అంటే ఋషులు లేదా ద్రష్టలు.

5. Possibly a reference to the ‘bond’ mentioned in verse 4, or a kind of measuring cord by which the poets delimit – and hence create – the elements.

5. ఇక్కడ ఛందస్సు సూచింపబడింది.

6. Through chiasmus (Chiasmus is a figure of speech and literary device where two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures, often in an 'ABBA' pattern. It involves the inversion of the grammar or order of words in one phrase in the following phrase, creating a mirrored effect. For example, a simple chiasmus is: "He led bravely, and we bravely followed"), the verse contrasts male seed-placers, giving-forth, above, with female powers, impulse, below.

6. ఇక్కడ బీజాన్ని నాటే పురుషుడు మీదన, నారీ శక్తి, చైతన్యం క్రిందన అనే అర్థాన్ని సూచించడమైనది.

7. That is, the gods cannot be the source of creation since they came after it.

7. దేవతలు సృష్టికి కారణం కాదు. ఎందుకంటే వారు సృష్టి జరిగిన తరువాత వచ్చిన వారు.

10.121   The Unknown God, the Golden Embryo

10.121  హిరణ్య గర్భుడు

ఈ సూక్తం మొదట ఒక నామం లేని దేవుని సూచిస్తుంది. సంస్కృతంలో 'క' అనగా 'ఎవ్వరు'. అదే సృష్టి కర్త. ప్రశ్నలోనే సమాధానం ఉన్నట్టయింది. తదుపరి ఇంద్రుడు ప్రజాపతిగా నిర్ధారించేడు. కానీ ఈ ఋక్కు ఎవరని ధృవీకరించలేదు. సృష్టి కర్త దేవతల కందరికంటే ముందున్నవాడు ¹. వారిని ఆతడే సృష్టించేడు. 7 వ పాదంలో అతడు జల మయం తరువాత వచ్చిన వాడు అని సూచించడమైనది. 9 వ పాదంలో జలాలు అతని నుండి ఆవిర్భవించేయని చెప్పడమైనది. తరచి చూస్తే ఒకరి నుండి మరొకరు ఆవిర్భవించేరు. ²

This creation hymn poses questions about an unnamed god (whom Max Müller first dubbed Deus Ignotus) ; later tradition (beginning with the subsequent appending of the final verse of this hymn, a verse that ends with a phrase used to conclude many other Rig Veda hymns) identified this god with Prajapati and made the question in the refrain (who?) into an answer: ‘Who’ (Ka) is the name of the creator, a name explicitly said, in later texts, to have been given to Prajapati by Indra (as agnostics are sometimes accused of praying ‘to whom it may concern’). But the original force of the verse is speculative: since the creator preceded all the known gods,¹ creating them, who could he be? In verse 7, he seems to appear after the waters; in verse 9, the waters appear from him. They are born from one another, a common paradox.²

ఈ ఋక్కులో హిరణ్యగర్భుని సృష్టికర్తగా అభివర్ణించేరు. హిరణ్య మనగా బంగారము. గర్భ మంటే గర్భాశయము, బీజము, పిండము, లేదా శిశువు. తదుపరి అండము అనే అర్థం కూడా వస్తుంది. అంటే భూమ్యాకాశాలు అండము యొక్క ఉపరితలము కాగా, సూర్యుడు వాటి మధ్య నున్న పచ్చ సొన. ఈ ఋక్కులో సృష్టికర్తని బంగారు పిండము లేదా బీజము అని చెప్పబడినది. తదుపరి ఎవరైతే బంగారు బీజాన్ని, అండాన్ని కలిగి ఉంటాడో అతడే సృష్టికి కర్త అని చెప్పడం జరిగినది. ఈ నేపథ్యంలో శయనుడు "సృష్టి కర్త గర్భంలో బంగారు బీజము లేదా అండము, పిండ రూపంలో ఉండునని" చెప్పెను. అగ్ని తత్త్వము గల ఆ బీజము, గర్భాశయ జలంలో పెట్టబడినది. అదే జలాలు గర్భము దాల్చడానికి కారణమైన పిండము.

The creator in this hymn is called Hiranyagarbha, a truly pregnant term. It is a compound noun, whose first element means ‘gold’ and whose second element means ‘womb, seed, embryo, or child’ in the Rig Veda and later comes to mean ‘egg’; this latter meaning becomes prominent in the cosmogonic myth of the golden egg that separates, the two shells becoming sky and earth, while the yolk is the sun.³ In the present hymn, the compound functions straightforwardly: the god is the golden embryo or seed. Later, it is glossed as a possessive compound: he is the god who (more anthropomorphically) possesses the golden seed or egg. Sayana suggests that the compound may be interpreted possessively even here, making it possible to include several levels of meaning at once – ‘he in whose belly the golden seed or egg exists like an embryo’. This seed of fire is placed in the waters of the womb; it is also the embryo with which the waters become pregnant (v. 7). So, too, Agni is the child of the waters but also the god who spills his seed in the waters. These are interlocking rather than contradictory concepts; in the late Vedas, the father is specifically identified with the son. Furthermore, the egg is both a female image (that which is fertilized by seed and which contains the embryo that is like the yolk) and a male image (the testicles containing seed). Thus the range of meanings may be seen as a continuum of androgynous birth images : seed (male egg), womb (female egg), embryo, child.

అగ్ని జలము యొక్క శిశువు. అలాగే జలమునందు బీజము నాటిన వాడు. ఈ రెండూ వ్యతిరేకములు గావు. సజాతీయమే. కాల ప్రవాహంలో తదుపరి వచ్చిన ఋక్కులలో తండ్రిని, పుత్రునితో పోల్చేరు. అలాగే అండము స్త్రీ, పురుషులుభయులకూ వర్తిస్తుంది. అంటే అది పురుషుని బీజము వలన పిండ రూపము దాల్చి గ్రుడ్డులోని పచ్చ సొనగా ఉంటుంది. పురుషుని బీజము వృషణంలో ఉంటుంది. కాబట్టి సృష్టి పురుషుని బీజం, స్త్రీ అండం వలన కలిగే శిశువనబడే పిండ రూపం.

1 In the beginning the Golden Embryo arose. Once he was born, he was the one lord of creation. He held in place the earth and this sky.⁴ Who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

1. ఆదిలో బంగారు అండం ఉద్భవించింది. అదే సృష్టికర్త. అతడు భూమ్యాకాశాలను ⁴ వేరు చేసెను. ఆహుతులు ఏ దేవునికి యజ్ఞంలో అర్పింతుము?

2 He who gives life, who gives strength, whose command all the gods, his own, obey; his shadow is immortality -and death.⁵ Who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

2. ఎవడైతే జీవము, శక్తి ప్రసాదిస్తాడో, దేవతలని కూడా శాసిస్తాడో, ఎవరి నీడ అమరత్వం మరియు మరణం సూచిస్తుందో, ఆహుతులు ఏ దేవునికి యజ్ఞంలో అర్పింతుము?

3 He who by his greatness became the one king of the world that breathes and blinks, who rules over his two-footed and four-footed creatures – who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

3. ఎవడైతే తన తేజస్సువలన భువనాలకు చక్రవర్తియో, శ్వాస, కను సంజ్ఞలతో ద్విపద, చతుష్పద జీవులను శాసిస్తాడో, ఆహుతులు ఏ దేవునికి యజ్ఞంలో అర్పింతుము?

4 He who through his power owns these snowy mountains, and the ocean together with the river Ras⁶ they say; who has the quarters of the sky as his two arms ⁷ – who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

4. ఎవరైతే మంచు పర్వతాలను, మహా సముద్రాలను, రస్ అనబడే నదిని⁶, స్వశక్తితో సృష్టించేడో, ఆకాశము బాహువులుగా కలవాడో⁷ , ఆహుతులు ఏ దేవునికి యజ్ఞంలో అర్పింతుము?

5 He by whom the awesome sky and the earth were made firm, by whom the dome of the sky was propped up, and the sun, who measured out the middle realm of space⁸ -who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

5. ఎవరి వలన నిశ్చలమైన ఆకాశము, భూమి సృష్టింప బడినవో, ఆకాశము తన స్థానంలో ఉంచబడినదో, అంతరిక్షంలో సూర్యుని గమనము కలిగించబడినదో, ఆహుతులు ఏ దేవునికి యజ్ఞంలో అర్పింతుము?

6 He to whom the two opposed masses looked with trembling in their hearts, supported by his help,⁹ on whom the rising sun shines down – who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

6. ఎవరిని ప్రతిపక్ష, విపక్ష శక్తులు భయముతో గాంచినవో, ఆధారముగా గలవో⁹, ఎవనిపై సూర్యోదయ కాంతులు వెదజల్లబడినవో, ఆహుతులు ఏ దేవునికి యజ్ఞంలో అర్పింతుము?

7 When the high waters came, pregnant with the embryo that is everything, bringing forth fire, he arose from that as the one life’s breath of the gods. Who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

7. ఉన్నతమైన జల రాశులు, పిండమును గర్భాశయములో నుంచుకొని, అగ్నిని ప్రజ్వలించగా, అతడు దేవతల సమిష్టి శ్వాసగా పైకి లేచి, ఆహుతులు ఏ దేవునికి యజ్ఞంలో అర్పింతుము?

8 He who in his greatness looked over the waters, which were pregnant with Daksa,¹⁰ bringing forth the sacrifice, he who was the one god among all the gods – who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

8. అతడు తన ఉత్కృష్టమైన స్థితిలో, యజ్ఞ మాచరించిన దక్షుని ¹⁰ కారణాన గర్భము దాల్చిన జలాలపై, దృషి సారించగా, ఆహుతులు ఏ దేవునికి యజ్ఞంలో అర్పింతుము?

9 Let him not harm us, he¹¹ who fathered the earth and created the sky, whose laws are true, who created the high, shining waters. Who is the god whom we should worship with the oblation?

9. అతడు మనల్ని రక్షించు గాక; అతడే భూమ్యాకాశాలకు తండ్రి; అతని శాసనము సత్యము; అతడే ఉన్నతమైన జలాశయాల సృష్టి కర్త,, ఆహుతులు ఏ దేవునికి యజ్ఞంలో అర్పింతుము?

10 Prajapati, lord of progeny, no one but you embraces all these creatures. Grant us the desires for which we offer you oblation. Let us be lords of riches.

10. ప్రజాపతీ, మానవాళి నీ సంతతియై యుండగా, నీవే జీవుల పోషకూడవు. మా అభీష్టములను నెరవేర్చుము. ఆహుతులు ఏ దేవునికి యజ్ఞంలో అర్పింతుము?

NOTES

వివరణ

1. Cf. 10.129.6. Here and throughout these notes, numbers with out a designated text refer to Rig Vedic hymns translated in this volume.

1. 10.129.6 ఈ వరసలో ఒక్క సంఖ్యలు మాత్రమే యున్నచో అవి ఈ 10 వ మండల పుస్తకములో వివరింప బడినవి.

2. Cf. the birth of Daksa and Aditi from one another in 10.72.4.

2. దక్ష మరియు అదితుల పరస్పర జన్మలు (10.72.4 )

3. Cf. 10.82.5-6.

3. 10.82.5-6

4. This traditional cosmogonic act is often credited to Visnu, Varuna, Indra, and other gods.

4. అనాదిగా చెప్పబడే విష్ణు, వరుణ, ఇంద్ర తదితర దేవతలచే గావింపబడిన సృష్టి కార్యము

5. This may refer to the world of gods and the world of humans, or it may have some subtler and darker metaphysical significance.

5. ఇది దేవతల, మానవుల లోకాలను సూచిస్తుంది; లేదా ఏదో తెలియని తత్త్వము తెలియజేయుచున్నది

6. The river Rasa surrounds heaven and earth, separating the dwelling-place of men and gods from the non-space in which the demonic powers dwell. Cf. 10.108.2.

6. రస అనబడే నది స్వర్గమును, భూలోకమును ఆవరించి మరియు దేవతల, మానవులు నివాస స్థలములను అసుర శక్తులనుండి విడిగా చేస్తున్నది (10.108.2)

7. A reference to the cosmic giant, Purusa (cf. 10.90), whose arms are in that part of space which the four cardinal directions span.

7. తన బాహువులతో అంతరిక్షంలో నాలుగు దిక్కుల వ్యాపించిన విరాట్పురుషిని (10.90) సూచిస్తున్నది.

8. This act of measuring out space, closely connected with the propping apart of sky and earth (cf. v. 1), is also attributed to Visnu and Varuna, who are said to set up the sun and then to measure out a space for him to move through, a space which (un- like sky and earth) has no finite boundaries. The sun itself also functions both as a prop to keep sky and earth apart and as an instrument with which to measure space. Cf. 1.154.1 and 1.154.3.

8. . అంతరిక్షము యొక్క కొలత భూమ్యాకాశాలను విడదీసే చర్యతో ముడిబడి యున్నది. విష్ణువు, ఇంద్రుడు సూర్యుని ప్రవేశబెట్టి వాని గమనానికి అనుకూలంగా అనంతమైన విశ్వాన్ని సృష్టించేరు. సూర్యుడు భూమ్యాకాశాలను వేరువేరుగా చేయడానికి, అంతరిక్షాన్ని కొలవడానికి నియమింపబడ్డాడు (1.154.1, 1.154.3).

9. This verse presents an image on two levels. The two opposed masses are armies, the polarized forces of gods and demons (Asuras) who turn to the creator for help (as in 2.12.8). But they also represent the parted sky and earth, who seek literal ‘support’ (the pillar to keep them apart). The images combine in a metaphor suggesting that sky and earth themselves form a phalanx in the fight between gods and demons.

9. ఈ పాదంలో రెండు చిత్రీకరణములున్నాయి. ఒకటి దేవాసురల మధ్య జరిగే యుద్ధాలలో సృష్టికర్త సహాయాన్ని కోరడం (2.12.8). రెండవది భూమ్యాకాశములు యొక్క ఆస్తిత్వము ఆ సృష్టికర్త వలననే సాధ్యము. ఈ రెంటినీ జత చేసేది దేవాసుర సంగ్రామములు భూమ్యాకాశముల మధ్య జరుగుతాయనే విషయం.

10. Daksa represents the male principle of creation and is later identified with Prajapati. As the embryo of the waters, he is identified with the seed or fire (v. 7), the latter then explicitly defined in this verse as the sacrifice, or sacrificial fire. Sacrifice is often an element in primeval creation (cf. 10.90.6-9).

10. దక్షుడు సృష్టి కార్యంలో పురుషుని పాత్ర వహించేడు. అటు పిమ్మట ప్రజాపతి ఆ పాత్ర నిర్వహించేడు. జలాల్లోని పిండానికి అతడు బీజము లేదా అగ్ని. అగ్ని తత్త్వము యజ్ఞమును సూచిస్తుంది. కాబట్టి సృష్టి కార్యంలో యజ్ఞము ముఖ్యమైనది.

11. In this verse, the abstract tone vanishes and the poet lapses back into a more typical Vedic fear (and particularly typical of book 10), the fear of a personified, malevolent god.

11. ఈ పాద ప్రారంభంలో ద్రష్ట కవిత్వానికి ప్రాధాన్యతను ఇచ్చినా, క్రమంగా సృష్టి కర్త ఒక సాకార సాక్షిగా, అలాగే ఎల్ల వేళల ప్రేమ పూర్వకంగా ఉండని దేవునిగా, అనగా శిక్షకునిగా కూడా, భావించేడు.

10.90   Purusa-Sukta, or The Hymn of Man

10.90   పురుష సూక్తం

In this famous hymn, the gods create the world by dismembering the cosmic giant, Purusa, the primeval male who is the victim in a Vedic sacrifice.¹ Though the theme of the cosmic sacrifice is a widespread mythological motif, this hymn is part of a particularly Indo-European corpus of myths of dismemberment.² The underlying concept is, therefore, quite ancient; yet the fact that this is one of the latest hymns in the Rig Veda is evident from its reference to the three Vedas (v. 9) and to the four social classes or varnas (v. 12, the first time that this concept appears in Indian civilization), as well as from its generally monistic world-view.

ఈ ఋక్కులో దేవతలు విరాట్పురుషుని యజ్ఞంలో బలి చేసి విశ్వాన్ని సృష్టించిన విధానం తెలుపబడినది.¹ ఇతర ఆధ్యాత్మిక లేదా మత పరమైన విశ్వాసాల్లో కూడా బలి చేయడం చూస్తాం ². ఇది తక్కిన వేదాలతో పోల్చి చూస్తే బహు పురాతనము కాదు. ఎందుకంటే ఇందులో వర్ణ వ్యవస్థ యొక్క ఆవిర్భావము వివరింపబడింది. అలాగే అన్ని జీవులకూ సృష్టి కర్త ఒక్కడే అనే తత్త్వాన్ని కలిగిఉంటుంది .

1 The Man has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. He pervaded the earth on all sides and extended beyond it as far as ten fingers.

1. అతనికి లెక్కింపలేని తలలు, కళ్ళు, పాదాలు గలవు. అతడు భూమి చుట్టూ ఉండి, పది అంగుళాలు వ్యాపించి ఉండెను.

2 It is the Man who is all this, whatever has been and whatever is to be. He is the ruler of immortality, when he grows beyond everything through food.³

2. ఉండినదంతా అతడే. ఉన్నది అతడే. అతడు అమరత్వానికి అధిపతి. ఆహారం తీసికొని అతడు సర్వ వ్యాప్తమైనాడు.

3 Such is his greatness, and the Man is yet more than this. All creatures are a quarter of him; three quarters are what is immortal in heaven.

3. అన్ని జీవులు అతనిలో పావు వంతు. తక్కిన ముప్పావు వంతు అమరులుండే స్వర్గం.

4 With three quarters the Man rose upwards, and one quarter of him still remains here. From this⁴ he spread out in all directions, into that which eats and that which does not eat.

4. అతడు అగుపడని అవ్యక్తాన్ని కూడా ఆవరించి ⁴ ఆహారం తీసికొనే జీవులను, ఆహారము తీసికొనని అన్నింటి యందూ వ్యాపించి ఉండెను.

5 From him Viraj⁵ was born, and from Viraj came the Man. When he was born, he ranged beyond the earth behind and before.

5. అతని నుండి విరాట్పురుషుడు ఉద్భవించెను⁵. విరాట్ నుoడి మానవుడు జన్మించెను. అతడు దేశకాలాలు అన్నింటిలోనీ వ్యాప్తి చెంది యున్నాడు.

6 When the gods spread⁶ the sacrifice with the Man as the offering, spring was the clarified butter, summer the fuel, autumn the oblation.

6. దేవతలు అతనిని యజ్ఞంలో బలి చేసినప్పుడు ⁶ , వసంత ఋతువు నెయ్య, గ్రీష్మ ఋతువు ఇంధనము, శరద్ ఋతువు ఆహుతి.

7 They anointed⁷ the Man, the sacrifice⁸ born at the beginning, upon the sacred grass.⁹ With him the gods, Sadhyas,¹⁰ and sages sacrificed.

7. దర్భలతో ⁹ అతనిని శుద్ధి చేసి⁷, దేవతలు, సాధ్యులు, ¹⁰ ఋషులు అతనిని బలి ⁸ఇచ్చేరు.

8 From that sacrifice⁸ in which everything was offered, the melted fat¹¹ was collected, and he¹² made it into those beasts who live in the air, in the forest, and in villages.

8. యజ్ఞం ⁸నుండి కరిగిన కొవ్వును సేకరించి ¹¹ అతడు ¹² దానితో ఎగిరే, వనాల్లో నివసించే, గ్రామాల్లో నివసించే జీవులను సృష్టించేడు

9 From that sacrifice in which everything was offered, the verses and chants were born, the metres were born from it, and from it the formulas were born.¹³

9. ఆ యజ్ఞం నుండి ఇంకా మంత్రాలు, ఛందస్సు, సూత్రాలు ఉద్భవించెను. ¹³

10 Horses were born from it, and those other animals that have two rows of teeth;¹⁴ cows were born from it, and from it goats and sheep were born.

10. గుర్రములు, రెండు దంత వరసలున్న జీవులు¹⁴, ఆవులు, గొర్రెలు, మేకలు ఉద్భవించెను.

11 When they divided the Man, into how many parts did they apportion him? What do they call his mouth, his two arms and thighs and feet?

11. అతనిని ఎన్నిటిగా విభజించేరు? అతని నోటిని ఏమన్నారు? అలాగే అతని చేతులు, తొడలు, పాదాలని ఏమన్నారు?

12 His mouth became the Brahmin; his arms were made into the Warrior, his thighs the People, and from his feet the Servants were born.¹⁵

12. అతని నోటినుండి బ్రాహ్మణులు, భుజాలనుండి క్షత్రియులు, తొడల నుండి వైశ్యులు, పాదాల నుండి తక్కిన వారు జన్మించేరు. ¹⁵

13 The moon was born from his mind; from his eye the sun was born. Indra and Agni came from his mouth, and from his vital breath the Wind was born.

13 అతని మనస్సు నుండి చంద్రుడు, కన్నుల నుండి సూర్యుడు, నోటి నుండి ఇంద్రాగ్నులు, శ్వాస నుండి వాయువు ఉద్భవించెను.

14 From his navel the middle realm of space arose; from his head the sky evolved. From his two feet came the earth, and the quarters of the sky from his ear. Thus they¹⁶ set the worlds in order.

14. అతని నాభినుండి అంతరిక్షము, తల నుండి ఆకాశము, రెండు పాదాలనుండి భూమి, తక్కినవి చెవుల నుండి ఆవిర్భవించెను. ఈ విధంగా సృష్టి క్రమంగా పుట్టెను. ¹⁶

15 There were seven enclosing-sticks¹⁷ for him, and thrice seven fuel-sticks, when the gods, spreading the sacrifice, bound the Man as the sacrificial beast.

15. అతనిని దేవతలు బలి చేసినపుడు ఏడు కట్టెలు¹⁷, ఇరవై ఒక ఇంధనపు కట్టెలు గలవు.

16 With the sacrifice the gods sacrificed to the sacrifice¹⁸ These were the first ritual laws.¹⁹ These very powers reached the dome of the sky where dwell the Sadhyas,¹⁰ the ancient gods.

16. ఈవిధంగా దేవతలు యజ్ఞంలో బలి ¹⁸ ఇచ్చేరు. ఇవి ప్రప్రధమంగా ఉన్న యజ్ఞ సంస్కారము. ¹⁹. సాధ్యులు ¹⁰ నివసించే, ఆకాశంలో ఉన్నత స్థానంలో ఉండే, లోకాలకు యజ్ఞము యొక్క ప్రభావము వ్యాపించింది.

NOTES

వివరణ

1. Cf. the horse as the primeval sacrificial victim in 1.162 and 1.163.

1. 1.162, 1.163 లో అశ్వము మొట్టమొదటి బలి పశువుగా చెప్పబడినది.

2. The dismemberment of the Norse giant Ymir is the most striking parallel, but there are many others.

2. వైమీర్ అనబడే నార్స్ యొక్క బలి, ఇతర మతాల్లో కూడా చెప్పబడినది

3. This rather obscure phrase seems to imply that through food (perhaps the sacrificial offering) Purusa grows beyond the world of the immortals, even as he grows beyond the earth (v. 1 and v. 5). He himself also transcends both what grows by food and what does not (v. 4), i.e. the world of animate and inanimate creatures, or Agni (eater) and Soma (eaten).

3. ఆహారము ద్వారా పురుషుడు జీవులు నివసించే లోకాలను, భూమిని ఆవరించెను. అలాగే అగ్ని వలె ఆహారాన్ని భుజించే జీవులను, ఆహారము తిననివాటిని, అనగా సోమ అనబడే పదార్థాన్నితినే వాటిని ఆవరించెను.

4. That is, from the quarter still remaining on earth, or perhaps from the condition in which he had already spread out from earth with three quarters of his form.

4. అతని నాలుగవ వంతు భూమి కాగా, తక్కిన భాగము విశ్వమైనది.

5. The active female creative principle, Viraj is later replaced by Prakrti or material nature, the mate of Purusa in Sankhya philosophy.

5. స్త్రీ తత్త్వము సూచింపబడినది. విరాట్ సాంఖ్య సిద్ధాంతం లో పురుషుడు, ప్రకృతి గా విభజింపబడెను.

6. This is the word used to indicate the performance of a Vedic sacrifice, spread or stretched out (like the earth spread upon the cosmic waters) or woven (like a fabric upon a loom). Cf. 10.130.i-2.

6. వైదిక యజ్ఞాలు, గర్భ జలాల్లో వ్యాప్తమైన భూమి, లేదా దారములతో వస్త్రము చేయు విధి సూచింపబడినవి.

7. The word actually means ‘to sprinkle’ with consecrated water, but indicates the consecration of an initiate or a king.

7. పవిత్ర జలమును వెదజల్లుట లేదా పవిత్ర జలముతో రాజుని శుద్ధి చేయుట

8. Here ‘the sacrifice’ indicates the sacrificial victim; they are explicitly identified with one another (and with the divinity to whom the sacrifice is dedicated) in verse 16.

8. యజ్ఞము లేదా యజ్ఞ బలి పశువు యొక్క పరస్పర సంబంధమును సూచించుచున్నది.

9. A mixture of special grasses that was strewn on the ground for the gods to sit upon.

9. దర్భలను నేలపై పరచి దేవతలను ఆశీనులను చేయుట

10. A class of demi-gods or saints, whose name literally means ‘those who are yet to be fulfilled’.

10. ఇంకనూ పూర్ణ పరిపక్వము చెందని దేవతలు.

11. Literally, a mixture of butter and sour milk used in the sacrifice; figuratively, the fat that drained from the sacrificial victim.

11. నెయ్య, పెరుగు మిశ్రమము

12. Probably the Creator, though possibly Purusa himself.

12. సృష్టి కర్త లేదా పురుషుడు

13. The verses are the elements of the Rig Veda, the chants of the Sama Veda, and the formulas of the Yajur Veda. The metres often appear as elements in primeval creation; cf. 10.130.3-j and , 1.164.23-5.

13. ఋగ్ వేదంలో ఋక్కుల, సామ వేదంలో సామముల, యజుర్ వేదంలోని సూక్తముల ఛందస్సు (10.130.3-j, 1.164.23-5.)

14. That is, incisors above and below, such as dogs and cats have.

14. మాంసము తినే శునకములు, మార్జాలములకు ఉండే పలు వరస

15. The four classes or varnas of classical Indian society.

15. వర్ణ వ్యవస్థలోని నాలుగు వర్ణములు

16. The gods.

16. దేవతలు

17. The enclosing-sticks are green twigs that keep the fire from spreading; the fuel sticks are seasoned wood used for kindling.

17. కట్టెలనగా పచ్చి కొమ్మలు -- అవి అగ్ని వ్యాపించకుండా నియంత్రిస్తాయి; ఎండిన కొమ్మలు యజ్ఞాగ్నిని జ్వలింప జేసేవి

18. The meaning is that Purusa was both the victim that the gods sacrificed and the divinity to whom the sacrifice was dedicated; that is, he was both the subject and the object of the sacrifice. Through a typical Vedic paradox, the sacrifice itself creates the sacrifice.

18. పురుషుడు బలి పశువు మరియు యజ్ఞ భోక్త. యజ్ఞమే యజ్ఞాన్ని సృష్టించడం

19. Literally, the dharmas, a protean word that here designates the archetypal patterns of behaviour established during this first sacrifice to serve as the model for all future sacrifices.

19. యజ్ఞ ధర్మము. అనగా ప్రప్రధమ యజ్ఞము తరువాత వచ్చిన యజ్ఞాలకు ప్రతీక

10.130   The Creation of the sacrifice

10.130   యజ్ఞము

The image of weaving the sacrifice (cf. 10.90.15) is here joined with explicit identifications of ritual and divine, ancient and present, elements of the sacrifice.

యజ్ఞము యొక్క వర్ణన (10.90.15).

1 The sacrifice that is spread out with threads on all sides, drawn tight with a hundred and one divine acts, is woven by these fathers as they come near: ‘Weave forward, weave backward, ’ they say as they sit by the loom that is stretched tight.

1. నేత నేసే వారిలాగ "ముందు నెయ్యి" లేదా "వెనక నెయ్యి" అని యజ్ఞాన్ని దైవ పథంలో నడిపించే యజమానులు

2 The Man¹ stretches the warp and draws the weft; the Man has spread it out upon this dome of the sky. These are the pegs, that are fastened in place; they² made the melodies into the shuttles for weaving.

2. పురుషుడు ¹ నేత వస్త్రమును చేయుటలాగ ఆకాశాన్ని ఆవరించేడు. అతడే అన్నిటికీ ఆధారం. మంత్రాలు ² నేత వేయుటకు ఉపయోగపడే నాడె, వేమ లాంటివి.

3 What was the original model, and what was the copy, and what was the connection between them? What was the butter, and what the enclosing wood?³ What was the metre, what was the invocation, and the chant, when all the gods sacrificed the god?⁴

3. దేవతలు దేవుడిని బలి పశువు చేసినపుడు ఏది ప్రధమ కార్యం? ఏది ద్వితీయం? వాటి మధ్య సంబంధ మేమి? నెయ్య ఏది? కట్టె ఎక్కడిది? ఛందస్సు ఎక్కడిది? మంత్రమేమి? ⁴

4 The Gayatri metre⁵ was the yoke-mate of Agni; Savitr joined with the Usni metre, and with the Anustuubh metre was Soma that reverberates with the chants. The Brhati metre resonated in the voice of Brhaspati.

4. గాయత్రి ఛందస్సు ⁵ అగ్ని దేవతతో కూడిన నాగలి. సవితర్ ఉస్ని ఛందస్సుతో కలిసి, సోమము అనుస్టుబ్ ఛందస్సుతో జత చేసి యజ్ఞ మంత్రములవలె ప్రతిధ్వనించెను. బృహతి ఛందస్సు బృహస్పతి వాక్కుతో మిళిత మయ్యెను .

5 The Viraj⁶ metre was the privilege of Mitra and Varuna; the Tristuubh metre was part of the day of Indra. The Jagati entered into all the gods. That was the model for the human sages.⁷

5. విరాట్ ఛందస్సు ⁶ మిత్ర వరుణుల ప్రత్యేకత. త్రిస్తుభ్ ఛందస్సు ఇంద్రుని దినములో ఒక భాగము. జగతి అన్ని దేవతలలోనూ ప్రవేశించింది. ఇదే ఋషులకు ప్రతీక⁷

6 That was the model for the human sages, our fathers, when the primeval sacrifice was born. With the eye that is mind, in thought I see those who were the first to offer this sacrifice.

6. ఆ ప్రతీక నుండే మానవ యజ్ఞాలు ఉద్భవించేయి. నా మనోనేత్రముతో ప్రప్రధమ యజ్ఞము చేసిన వారలను దర్శిస్తున్నాను.

7 The ritual repetitions harmonized with the chants and with the metres; the seven divine sages harmonized with the original models. When the wise men looked back along the path of those who went before, they took up the reins like charioteers.

7. ఆ ఆచారమే వల్లె వేయడం ద్వారా ఛందోబద్దమైన మంత్రాలుగా మారేయి. సప్త ఋషులు వాటిని దేవతల యజ్ఞాలతో అనుసంధానము చేసేరు. జ్ఞానులు తమ పూర్వీకుల ఆచారాలను అవలంబించి గుఱ్ఱపు పగ్గాలను పట్టుకొని ముందుకు సాగే సారథులు లాగ అయ్యారు.

NOTES

వివరణ

1. Purusa, as in 10.90.

1. పురుషుడు (10.90)

2. The gods who first performed the sacrifice. Cf. 10.90.14.

2. ప్రప్రధమ యజ్ఞము చేసిన దేవతలు (10.90.14)

3. Cf. 10.90.15.

3. 10.90.15

4. The circular sacrifice of the god to the god, as in 10.90.6, 10.81.5-6.

4. వృత్రాకారం లాగ ఉండే దేవుడు చేసిన యజ్ఞానికి దేవుడే బలి పశువు (10.90.6, 10.81.5-6.)

5. The metres alluded to in 10.90.9 are here enumerated and associated with particular gods.

5. 10.90.9 లో చెప్పబడిన ఛందస్సు దేవతలతో అనుసంధానము చేయబడినది.

6. Viraj, a female cosmic principle in 10.90.5, is here merely a metre.

6. స్త్రీ తత్త్వము కలిగిన విరాట్ (10.90.5) ఇక్కడ ఒక ఛందస్సుగా చెప్పబడినది.

7. Sages (rishis) are seers as well as poets.

7. ఋషులు ద్రష్టలు మరియు కవులు కూడా

10.190   Cosmic Heat¹

10.190   ఉష్ణము ¹

1 Order² and truth were born from heat as it blazed up. From that was born night; from that heat was born the billowy ocean.

1. క్రమము², సత్యం ప్రజ్వరిల్లే ఉష్ణము నుండి పుట్టెను. వాటి నుండి రాత్రి జన్మించెను. ఉష్ణము నుండి సముద్రములు జన్మించెను.

2 From the billowy ocean was born the year, that arranges days and nights, ruling over all that blinks its eyes.³

2. సముద్రము నుండి సంవత్సరము జన్మించెను. తద్వారా పగలు, రాత్రి కనురెప్పలార్పే జీవులను³ క్రమ బద్దీకారణము చేయడమైనది.

3 The Arranger has set in their proper place the sun and moon, the sky and the earth, the middle realm of space, and finally the sunlight.

3. సూర్యచంద్రులు, భూమ్యాకాశాలు, అంతరిక్షము, సూర్య కాంతి తమ తమ స్థానాల్లో నియమింపబడ్డారు.

NOTES

1. Tapas, the heat produced by the ritual activity of the priest, is equated with the primeval erotic or ascetic heat of the Creator.

1. తపస్సు అనగా ఋషుల ధ్యానం నుండి ఉద్భవించే ఉష్ణము. అది సృష్టి కర్త యొక్క ప్రేరణగా చెప్పబడినది.

2. Rta, cosmic order. Truth (satya) is, like Rta, also a term for reality.

2. ఋతమనగా క్రమము. సత్యము ఋతము వంటిదే. అది వ్యావహారికము.

3. For blinking as a sign of a living creature, cf. 10.121.3.

3. కనురెప్పలార్పుట జీవానికి సంకేతము (10.121.3).

Doniger Rig Veda Table Of Contents

About

These are some Rig Veda mantra commentaries by Wendy Doniger of U. of Chicago who is a sanksrit scholar and well known Indologist. Her wiki page provides an impressive background:

"Wendy Doniger was born in New York City to immigrant non-observant Jewish parents, and raised in Great Neck, New York, where her father, Lester L. Doniger (1909–1971), ran a publishing business. While in high school, she studied dance under George Balanchine and Martha Graham.

She graduated summa cum laude in Sanskrit and Indian Studies from Radcliffe College in 1962,and received her M.A. from Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in June 1963. She then studied in India in 1963–1964 with a 12-month Junior Fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies. She received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in June 1968.

Doniger has written 16 books, translated (primarily from Sanskrit to English) with commentary nine other volumes, has contributed to many edited texts and has written hundreds of articles in journals, magazines and newspapers.

Doniger's trade book, "The Hindus: An Alternative History" was published in 2009 by Viking/Penguin. According to the Hindustan Times, The Hindus was a No. 1 bestseller in its non-fiction category in the week of October 15, 2009. Two scholarly reviews in the Social Scientist and the Journal of the American Oriental Society, though praising Doniger for her textual scholarship, criticized both Doniger's poor historiography and her lack of focus. In the popular press, the book has received many positive reviews, for example from the Library Journal, the Times Literary Supplement, the New York Review of Books,The New York Times, and The Hindu. In January 2010, the National Book Critics Circle named The Hindus as a finalist for its 2009 book awards. The Hindu American Foundation protested this decision, even though many disagree with them, alleging inaccuracies and bias in the book.

In 2011, a lawsuit was filed against Doniger and Penguin books by Dinanath Batra on the grounds that the book intentionally offended or outraged the religious sentiments of Hindus, an action punishable by criminal prosecution under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. In 2014, as part of a settlement agreement reached with plaintiff, The Hindus was recalled by Penguin India. Indian authors such as Arundhati Roy, Partha Chatterjee, Jeet Thayil, and Namwar Singh inveighed against the publisher's decision.The book has since been published in India by Speaking Tiger Books."

The reasons I chose to put her following commentaries in my blog are manifold: (a) almost 90% of Americans and Indians, especially hindus, may've heard of vedas but don't know what's in them; (b) Prof. Doniger raised the awareness about hindus in the west with her writings and speeches; like all famous personalities she is embroiled in controversy mainly from the "hindutva" people who don't represent the mainstream hindus; (c) she doesn't filter salacious content in the vedas For example she wrote

"The Sakspath Brahmana says that part of Urvasi contract with Pururavas included the stipulation that he must ‘strike her with his rod’ three times a day."

Those who didn't read the Saksapath Brahmana, would consider it in bad taste, especially so when the exact sloka or passage in the Brahmana is not provided. If she made the same comment about a revered god like Vishnu, there would be hell to pay. But she knows her limits and makes the reader aware that what we hear from the pundits is white-washed and holier-than-thou posturing.

I tried to dig up novel ideas stated in Rig Veda. In Rig Veda it was mentioned that

Dadhyañc was given a horse-head with which he told the Asvins about Soma and the beheading of the sacrifice; Indra then cut off that head, and Dadhyañc’s own head was restored by the Asvins.

Similarly in Daksha Yagna episode, Siva's lieutenant Veerabhadra severed Daksha's head and Asvins came to his rescue by attaching a horsehead.

Even to those believing Vedas are just ancient soap operas of devas and devatas, it should come as a surprise that 5000 years ago the rishis demonstrated organ transplanting. In this manner, we can interpolate that wireless communication, hypersonic missiles, light speed travel, etc. are all not just imagined but demonstrated in Bharata.

The final note of some controversy is Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT). The astute readers of vedas believe that embodied humans, called Aryans, originated in Tibet first and spread in all directions after receiving vedas from the paramatma. They believe vedas are indigenous and Aryans didn't invade Bharatavarsha. Their thesis, with dubious claims of DNA evidence, is specious because Tibet is considered still north of Bharat and those living south of Tibet would be the natives or indigenous people. It is possible that the Aryans descended into their dwellings carrying vedas much like the europeans spread in Americas with bible, thus conquering the natives with trickery.

You may ask: "Do you believe in vedas?" My answer: by hamsa ksheera nyayam I take them with a pinch of agnosticism. For me they provide a glimpse of an ancient civilization that gave raise to my Self. Without them, I don't exist and having total faith in them makes me feel wholesome yet tiny because I would be a naught without them, much like earth is a speck in comparison to the multitude galaxies and blackholes in the universe.

Table Of Contents

CREATION
DEATH
THE ELEMENTS OF SACRIFICE
THE HORSE SACRIFICE
GODS OF THE SACRIFICE: AGNI AND SOMA
SOMA
INDRA
GODS OF THE STORM
SOLAR GODS
SKY AND EARTH
VARUNA
RUDRA AND VISNU
REALIA
WOMEN
INCANTATIONS AND SPELLS

Wendy Doniger Rig Veda on Death

Table Of Contents

CREATION
DEATH
THE ELEMENTS OF SACRIFICE
THE HORSE SACRIFICE
GODS OF THE SACRIFICE: AGNI AND SOMA
SOMA
INDRA
GODS OF THE STORM
SOLAR GODS
SKY AND EARTH
VARUNA
RUDRA AND VISNU
REALIA
WOMEN
INCANTATIONS AND SPELLS

DEATH

EVEN as the Rig Veda speculates in various contrasting, even conflicting ways about the process of creation, so too there is much variation in the speculations about death, and in the questions asked about death. There is evidence of different rituals – cremation (10.16) or burial (10.18), the latter also underlying the image of the ‘ house of clay’ in a hymn to Varuna (see 7.89). Several fates are suggested for the dead man: heaven (10.14), a new body (10.16), revival (10.58), reincarnation (10.16), and dispersal among various elements (10.16.3, 10.58). It is also evident that there is a wide range of people that the dead man may hope to join, wherever he goes (10.154), and so it is not surprising that different groups of people are addressed, even within a single hymn: the fathers or dead ancestors in heaven (10.14), the gods (10.16), particularly Yama (10.14, 10.135), the dead man (10.14, 10.135), the mourners (10.14.12 and 10.14.14, 10.18), mother earth and Death himself (10.18). Together, these hymns reveal a world in which death is regarded with great sadness but without terror, and life on earth is preciously clung to, but heaven is regarded as a gentle place, rich in friends and ritual nourishment, a world of light and renewal.

10.14   Yama and the Fathers

This funeral hymn centres upon Yama, king of the dead, the first mortal to have reached the other world and the path-maker for all who came after him. Verses 1 and 2 address the mourners and describe this ancient path; 4 and 5 invoke Yama to come to the funeral in order that he may lead the dead man to heaven. Verses 3 and 6 invoke famous ancestors already in the world beyond; 7, 8 and 10 speed the dead man on his way, and 9 speeds the evil spirits on their way. Yama and his two dogs are addressed in 11 and 12; these dogs are regarded (like many Vedic gods) as dangerous because they kill you (verses 10 and 12) but also as potentially benevolent, because they lead you to heaven (verse 11). Verses 13-15 call upon the priests to offer Soma¹ to Yama, and the final verse recapitulates the two main themes : the farewell to the dead man on the path of Yama, and the offerings of Soma and praise to Yama.

1 The one who has passed beyond along the great, steep straits,² spying out the path for many, the son of Viva- svan,³ the gatherer of men, King Yama – honour him with the oblation.

2 Yama was the first to find the way for us, this pasture that shall not be taken away.⁴ Where our ancient fathers passed beyond, there everyone who is born follows, each on his own path.

3 Matala⁵ made strong by the Kavyas, and Yama by the Angirases, and Brhaspati by the Rkvans – both those whom the gods made strong and those who strengthen the gods :⁶ some rejoice in the sacrificial call, others in the sacrificial drink.

4 Sit upon this strewn grass, O Yama, together with the Angirases, the fathers. Let the verses chanted by the poets carry you here. O King, rejoice in this oblation.

5 Come, Yama, with the Angirases worthy of sacrifice: rejoice here with the Vairupas,⁷ sitting on the sacred grass at this sacrifice. I will invoke Vivasvan, who is your father.

6 Our fathers, the Angirases, and the Navagvas, Atharvans, and Brhgus,⁷ all worthy of Soma – let us remain in favour with them, as they are worthy of sacrifice, and let them be helpful and kind.

7 [To the dead man :] Go forth, go forth on those ancient paths on which our ancient fathers passed beyond. There you shall see the two kings, Yama and Varuna, rejoicing in the sacrificial drink.⁶

8 Unite with the fathers, with Yama, with the rewards of your sacrifices and good deeds,⁸ in the highest heaven. Leaving behind all imperfections, go back home again;⁹ merge with a glorious body.

9 [To demons:] Go away, get away, crawl away from here. The fathers have prepared this place for him.¹⁰ Yama gives him a resting-place adorned by days, and waters, and nights.¹¹

10 [To the dead man :] Run on the right path, past the two brindled, four-eyed dogs, the sons of Sarama,¹² and then approach the fathers, who are easy to reach and who rejoice at the same feast as Yama.

11 Yama, give him over to your two guardian dogs, the four-eyed keepers of the path, who watch over men. O king, grant him happiness and health.

12 The two dark messengers of Yama with flaring nostrils wander among men, thirsting for the breath of life. Let them give back to us¹³ a life of happiness here and today, so that we may see the sun.

13 For Yama press the Soma; to Yama offer the oblation; to Yama goes the well-prepared sacrifice, with Agni as its messenger.

14 Offer to Yama the oblation rich in butter, and go forth.¹⁴ So may he intercede for us among the gods, so that we may live out a long life-span.¹⁵

15 Offer to Yama, to the king, the oblation most rich in honey. We bow down before the sages born in the ancient times, the ancient path-makers.

16 All through the three Soma days,¹⁶ he¹⁷ flies to the six broad spaces¹⁸ and the one great one. Tristubh, Gayatrï, the metres – all these are placed in Yama.

NOTES

1. Soma is the sacrificial drink pressed from the Soma plant; it is the ambrosial food offered to the gods to make them immortal.

2. These are the paths leading to the highest heaven, where Yama dwells ; they may be the watercourses at the end of the world.

3. A name of the sun, father of Yama.

4. The meaning is either that everyone gets to heaven or that, once there, you never leave (i.e. that there is no rebirth).

5. A name of a god or demi-god who appears only here in the Rig Veda.

6. This verse contrasts two groups of individuals to be encountered in the world beyond (an expansion of the ‘ancient fathers’ mentioned in the previous verse). Matali, Yama, and Brhaspati are here regarded as semi-divine figures, who are made strong by other gods and by the sacrificial drink, the Svadha, here – and elsewhere – a name for Soma. The Kavyas, Angirases, and Rkvans are families of ancient poets, priests, and singers who make the gods strong and who rejoice in the sacrificial call, the sound ‘Svaha’ that they make to call the gods and the fathers to receive the offering.

7. Other priestly clans related to the Angirases.

8. Not merely the dead man’s own good deeds but those which are done on his behalf in the funeral ceremonies.

9. The dead man takes on a new, perfect body in place of the old one burnt in the fire (see 10.16); he ‘goes back home’ to heaven or to earth.

10. The flesh-eating ghouls who live in the burning-ground may contest the dead man’s right to enter the world of heaven, or perhaps, as in later Hinduism, they merely wish to eat the corpse.

11. The waters may be the rains (that fall from heaven) or the cool, refreshing waters that are so often described as a feature of heaven, where the days and nights rotate as on earth. Yet another possible interpretation of the ‘resting-place’ would be a burning- place on earth, purified by water.

12. Yama’s two dogs are the descendants of Sarama, the bitch of Indra (cf. 10.108), who guard the doorway to the other world, like Cerberus in Greece. They may be four-eyed in the sense of sharp-sighted or in reference to the round spots situated above their eyes.

13. The dogs are asked to give back to the mourners the life that was endangered while they were in the shadow of death.

14. That is, back into the world of the living.

15. Here Yama is asked to give life back to the mourners who are not yet ready to die, to keep them among the living who worship the gods, and not to lead them to the dead fathers.

16. The fire that burns during the three days of the Soma ceremony is directly connected with and follows immediately upon the cremation fire.

17. The dead man wanders for three days after death before arriving in heaven.

18. Either the three earths and three heavens (cf. 1.164.6, and 1.164.9) or two of each of the three worlds (earth, air, and sky; cf. 1.154.4). The one great space is the top of the sky, where Yama lives.inal association with the fathers (in contrast with the gods, the masters of the second fire). This is a transformation, rather than a confusion, for in verse 9 the one fire becomes the other; as both are forms of Agni, he is merely asked to stop burning the corpse and to start carrying the oblation (a role prefigured by the reference to the ‘gentle forms’ in verse 4). In verse 11, both forms of Agni unite, and in verse 5 the corpse itself becomes the oblation.

The ambiguous nature of Agni in this hymn finds a parallel in the ambiguities surrounding the body of the dead man. Verse 3 states that the body will disperse into sky, earth, and water, while the eye, breath, and limbs go to their cosmic equivalences: sun, wind, and plants. The waters are often identified with the air, the middle realm of space between sky and other ; this would mean that the body disintegrates into the three worlds. But it is not clear whether the body is dispersed into all three places or whether one may choose one or the other; parts of the body (eye, breath, limbs) are specifically distributed, while the dead man himself is said to go into the three worlds.

This might imply that the soul of the dead man goes to these worlds, while his physical parts are distributed elsewhere. But the verse says that the limbs go to the plants, the place to which the soul is consigned in the Upanisads, where the doctrine of transmigration is first expounded. Moreover, the breath (often identified with the soul in

the Upanisads, and here called the Atman, the word that came to designate the transmigrating soul) is here said to disperse separately into the wind. Indeed, it seems to be the body, not the soul, of the dead man that Agni is asked to lead to heaven, to Yama, to the fathers, and to the gods, the body that is the focus of the entire hymn. It would thus appear that here, as in several of the more speculative creation hymns, the poet has tried out various, perhaps conflicting, views of the afterlife. These views overlap in the liminal figures of the hymn, for Yama and the fathers are both mortals and immortals, both pure and impure, the ones who receive the corpse but also the ones who receive the oblation and the Soma; moreover, the dead man himself begins as an impure corpse but becomes, by the end of the hymn, himself one of the fathers to whom the oblation is sent.

These problems are compounded by verse 5, which states that the dead man will get a new body (cf. 10.14.8) in order to reach his descendants. This latter word, literally ‘remaining’ (sesa), has provoked several interpretations that attempt to circumvent the paradox. Sayana suggests that it refers to the body that remains after cremation (i.e. the bones); or it may refer to the survivors of the dead man, i.e. the mourners, or to those who have been buried before, i.e. the ancestors whom the dead man will join. But it more likely means the posterity of the dead man, i.e. the people that he has begotten or will beget with his new life and his new body. Is this body to exist in heaven or on earth? A few verses of the Rig Veda (and more detailed passages in the Brahmanas) give ample evidence for the concept of the new body in heaven, depicting the afterlife as an improved replica of life on earth, a place where one raises children and watches them grow up. But the idea of a new body on earth is supported by the Brahmana funeral ceremonies, the Sraddha offerings in which a man’s descendants create for him, ritually, a new body in which he is reborn on earth. If this is the meaning of the verse, it is an early prefiguration of the doctrine of reincarnation.

Finally, if the dead man is to have a new body anyway, what is the motivation for the desire to keep the old body from being burnt too much (a concept that conflicts paradoxically with the idea of cremating the body in the first place) and to keep it from being destroyed by unclean animals (in verse 6, which may in fact refer to damage done to the live body in the past as well as to the corpse; cf. 10.14.8, where apparently natural ‘imperfections’ of the body are to be removed)? It would appear that Agni cooks the corpse, a function regarded as the opposite of eating it (as he usually does); cooking raises it to a higher state ( fit for heaven), while eating reduces it to a lower state ( fit for animals). The wild beasts who would eat the corpse are kept away, as is the omnivorous Agni; instead, the corpse is to be cooked to prepare it for the gods, like the prepared Soma. And Soma, the healer, is asked to assist Agni in cleansing and healing the body (v. 6).

1 Do not burn him entirely, Agni, or engulf him in your ames. Do not consume his skin or his flesh. When you have cooked him perfectly, O knower of creatures, only then send him forth to the fathers.

2 When you cook him perfectly, O knower of creatures, then give him over to the fathers. When he goes on the path that leads away the breath of life, then he will be led by the will of the gods.

3 [To the dead man:] May your eye go to the sun, your life’s breath to the wind. Go to the sky or to earth, as is your nature;¹ or go to the waters, if that is your fate. Take root in the plants with your limbs.

4 [To Agni:] The goat is your share; burn him with your heat.² Let your brilliant light and flame burn him. With your gentle forms, O knower of creatures, carry this man to the world of those who have done good deeds.³

5 Set him free again to go to the fathers, Agni, when he has been offered as an oblation in you and wanders with the sacrificial drink.⁴ Let him reach his own descendants, dressing himself in a life-span. O knower of creatures, let him join with a body.

6 [To the dead man :] Whatever the black bird has pecked out of you, or the ant, the snake, or even a beast of prey, may Agni who eats all things make it whole, and Soma who has entered the Brahmins.⁵

7 Gird yourself with the limbs of the cow as an armour against Agni,⁶ and cover yourself with fat and suet, so that he will not embrace you with his impetuous heat in his passionate desire to burn you up.

8 [To Agni:] O Agni, do not overturn this cup⁷ that is dear to the gods and to those who love Soma, fit for the gods to drink from, a cup in which the immortal gods carouse.

9 I send the flesh-eating fire far away. Let him go to those whose king is Yama,⁸ carrying away all impurities. But let that other, the knower of creatures, come here and carry the oblation to the gods, since he knows the way in advance.

10 The flesh-eating fire has entered your house, though he sees there the other, the knower of creatures ; I take that god away to the sacrifice of the fathers.⁹ Let him carry the heated drink¹⁰ to the farthest dwelling-place.

11 Agni who carries away the corpse, who gives sacrifice to the fathers who are strengthened by truth – let him proclaim the oblation to the gods and to the fathers.

12 [To the new fire :] Joyously would we put you in place, joyously would we kindle you. Joyously carry the joyous fathers here to eat the oblation.

13 Now, Agni, quench and revive the very one you have burnt up. Let Kiyamba,¹¹ Pakadurva, and Vyalkasa plants grow in this place.

14 O cool one,¹¹ bringer of coolness ; O fresh one, bringer of freshness; unite with the female frog. Delight and inspire this Agni.

NOTES

1. Literally, your dharma. Sayana links this with karma, interpreting it to mean that the dead man will be reborn according to his good works, to enjoy their fruits in heaven; it may have a more general meaning, according to the way the worlds are arranged in general. But the simplest idea would be ‘according to your natural affinities’.

2. This refers to the practice of placing the limbs of a scapegoat over the dead man, so that Agni would consume them and not the corpse with his violent flames.

3. Cf. 10.14.8 and 10.154 for joining with good deeds and the doers of good deeds in heaven.

4. The Svadhâ offered to the gods at the funeral. Cf. 10.14.3.

5. Soma appears here in his capacity of god or plant (cf. The cooling plants in the final verses), or simply as the Soma juice inside the priests.

6. This refers to the limbs and caul (inner membrane of the embryo) or skin of a dead cow which would be used in addition to or in place of the scapegoat, while the corpse would be anointed with fat and suet.

7. A wooden cup that the dead man had used in life to make Soma offerings to the gods and to ‘those who love Soma’ (i.e. the fathers) was placed at the corpse’s head, filled with melted butter.

8. The fathers.

9. This could be a sacrifice by the fathers to the gods, or, more likely, a sacrifice to the fathers.

10. The hot oblation for the fathers, who either come to the sacrifice (brought by the non-flesh-eating Agni) or have Agni bring them the drink.

11. The plants in verses 13 and 14, some called by obscure names, others by descriptive epithets (‘cool one’), are water plants. These verses accompany the ritual of dousing the fire with water so thoroughly that it produces a marsh where water-plants and frogs may thrive. In later rituals, these items were actually used; here they are merely metaphorically invoked. The female frog, in particular, is a symbol of rain and fertility (cf. 7.103). Thus new life sprouts at the end of the funeral.

10.18   Burial Hymn

This evocative hymn contains several references to symbolic gestures that may well have been accompanied by rituals similar to those known to us from later Vedic literature. But the human concerns of the hymn are vividly accessible to us, whatever the ritual may have been.

1 Go away, death, by another path that is your own, different from the road of the gods. I say to you who have eyes, who have ears : do not injure our children or our men.

2 When you¹ have gone, wiping away the footprint of death,² stretching farther your own lengthening span of life, become pure and clean and worthy of sacrifice, swollen with off spring and wealth.

3 These who are alive have now parted from those who are dead. Our invitation to the gods has become auspicious today. We have gone forward to dance and laugh, stretching farther our own lengthening span of life.

4 I set up this wall³ for the living, so that no one else among them will reach this point. Let them live a hundred full autumns and bury death in this hill.⁴

5 As days follow days in regular succession, as seasons come after seasons in proper order, in the same way order their life-spans, O Arranger, so that the young do not abandon the old.

6 Climb on to old age, choosing a long life-span, and follow in regular succession, as many as you are. May Tvastr who presides over good births be persuaded to give you a long life-span to live.

7 These women who are not widows, who have good husbands – let them take their places, using butter to anoint their eyes.⁵ Without tears, without sickness, well dressed let them first⁶ climb into the marriage bed.

8 Rise up, woman,⁷ into the world of the living. Come here; you are lying beside a man whose life’s breath has gone. You were the wife of this man who took your hand and desired to have you.

9 I take the bow from the hand of the dead man,⁸ to be our supremacy and glory and power, and I say, ‘You are there; we are here. Let us as great heroes conquer all envious attacks.’

10 Creep away to this broad, vast earth, the mother that is kind and gentle. She is a young girl, soft as wool to anyone who makes offerings;⁹ let her guard you from the lap of Destruction.¹⁰

11 Open up, earth; do not crush him. Be easy for him to enter and to burrow in. Earth, wrap him up as a mother wraps a son in the edge of her skirt.

12 Let the earth as she opens up stay firm, for a thousand pillars must be set up.¹¹ Let them be houses dripping with butter for him, and let them be a refuge for him here for all his days.

13 I shore up the earth all around you;¹² let me not injure you as I lay down this clod of earth. Let the fathers hold up this pillar for you ; let Yama build a house for you here.

14 On a day that will come, they will lay me in the earth, like the feather of an arrow.¹³ I hold back speech that goes against the grain,¹⁴ as one would restrain a horse with a bridle.

NOTES

1. The hymn, that began by addressing death directly, now addresses the company of the mourners.

2. There may have been a ritual to erase the footprints of the mourners, or it may be a simple and straightforward metaphor for the end of mourning.

3. Perhaps a stone to mark the boundary of the world of death.

4. The mound over the grave.

5. Ritually purified butter would be used instead of mascara or eye-shadow to protect the women among the mourners.

6. That is, long before they climb into old age or the grave.

7. The wife of the dead man, who lay down beside him (perhaps miming copulation, as the queen later did with the dead stallion), until called back with this verse.

8. Probably only done when the dead man was a warrior.

9. That is, to any generous sacrificer, not merely to someone who makes offerings to the earth.

10. Destruction (Nirrti) is the female personification of disorder and disintegration, in contrast with the orderly and peaceful aspects of death.

11. The metaphorical house built by Yama for the dead man, perhaps symbolized by the urn containing his bones (or his cremated ashes) placed in the earth.

12. The dead man is addressed again.

13. An elliptic metaphor, perhaps referring to the way the feather is stuck into the cleft made for it in the arrow, or as a feather floats gently down to earth when it is freed from the arrow.

14. Perhaps a reference to the poet’s satisfaction in having made a good hymn, or his pleasure in returning now to more auspicious subjects, or a statement that the rest is silence. Most likely, a command to remain silent lest one say something ill-omened.

10.154   Funeral Hymn

The hymn begins with a distinction between levels of spiritual attainment and then asks that the dead man be sent to live among those who are distinguished in one way or another.

1 For some, the Soma is purified; others sit down for butter.¹ Those for whom honey flows² – let the dead man go away straight to them.

2 Those who became invincible through sacred heat,³ who went to the sun through sacred heat, who made sacred heat their glory – let him go away straight to them.

3 Those who ight in battles as heroes, who sacrifice their bodies, or those who give thousands to the priests – let him go away straight to them.

4 Those who first nursed Order, who had Order and made Order grow great, the fathers full of sacred heat, O Yama – let him go away straight to them.

5 Those inspired poets who know a thousand ways, who protect the sun, the seers full of sacred heat, O Yama -let him go away to those who are reborn through sacred heat.

NOTES

1. A distinction between the foods of the gods and the dead fathers. Cf. 10.14.3. and 10.135.1. Though both groups eat both foods, Soma is ambrosia for the gods, while butter is human food for the semi-divine fathers.

2. As honey (Soma) is better than butter, the dead man hopes to go to the gods.

3. Tapas, the heat generated by religious activity. Cf. 10.190.

10.135   The Boy and the Chariot

Though this hymn is traditionally dedicated to Yama, Yama appears only in the first and last verses (which are closely related), framing an allegory of the secret of death. The plot, though obscure, seems to be something like this: The father of a young boy has died, and the boy mentally follows the journey of his father to the realm of Yama, grieving and trying to get him to return; the hymn does not necessarily imply that the boy himself dies or even wants to die. The voice of the father answers the boy, saying that the chariot that the boy has built in his imagination to follow his father is already, unknown to the boy, bringing him after the father. This chariot is the funeral sacrifice or the oblation or the funeral fire that ‘carries’ the corpse to Yama and the fathers.¹ It is, at the same time, a manifestation of the boy’s own wish to see his father.² The final verse gives a vision of paradise, perhaps to reassure the boy.³

1 [The son:] ‘Beneath the tree with beautiful leaves where Yama drinks with the gods, there our father, the head of the family, turns with longing to the ancient ones.⁴

2 ‘ Reluctantly I looked upon him as he turned with longing to the ancient ones, as he moved on that evil way.⁵ I longed to have him back again.’

3 [Voice of the father :] ‘In your mind, my son, you made a new chariot without wheels, which had only one shaft but can travel in all directions. And unseeing,⁶ you climbed into it.

4 ‘My son, when you made the chariot roll forth from the priests,⁷ there rolled after it a chant that was placed from there upon a ship.’

5 Who gave birth to the boy? Who made the chariot roll out? Who could tell us today how the gift for the journey⁸ was made?

6 How was the gift for the journey made? The beginning arose from it: first they made the bottom, and then they made the way out.⁹

7 This is the dwelling-place of Yama, that is called the home of the gods. This is his reed- pipe that is blown, and he is the one adorned with songs.

NOTES

1. Cf. 1.164 for the mystic symbolism of the chariot that is the sacrifice, with no wheels and one shaft (10.135.3); and cf. 10.16 for the funeral re.

2. In later Sanskrit, the ‘chariot of the mind’ (manoratha) is a word for ‘wish’. Cf. 10.85.12 for a chariot made of thought.

3. This hymn may be the kernel of the famous myth of Naciketas, in which a boy travels to the realm of death and converses with Death and with his father. But the present hymn cannot be interpreted as if it were already an expression of that complex myth.

4. The dead ancestors in the realm of Yama. Cf. 10.14.

5. The path of death; probably not Hell, but cf. 10.71.9 and 10.85.30.

6. Literally, not seeing the chariot that you are mounting; symbolically, not understanding the power of the sacrifice.

7. The priests compose the funerary hymns which accompany the corpse and which are thus ‘carried’ by the chariot and by a ship (both metaphors for the sacrifice and the oblation) that the priests send away from them.

8. Probably equipment with which the deceased was supplied for the journey to Yama’s abode (cf. 10.16.8), here identified with the chant placed on the sacrificial chariot. The word here translated ‘gift for the journey’ (anudeyï) occurs only once more in the Rig Veda, to describe the woman who accompanies the bride on her journey to the groom’s house (10.85.6).

9. This verse is simultaneously a literal description of the chariot and a figurative reference to the chant, with its opening and closing phrases.

10.58   A Spell to Turn Back the Departing Spirit

This imprecation to the mafias – heart, mind, and life-spirit -may have been spoken over a dead man or to a man on the brink of death, to keep the spirit within the body. The central verses refer alternately to earth (3, 5, 7, 9) and sky (4, 6, 8).

1 If your spirit has gone to Yama the son of Vivasvan far away, we turn it back to you here to dwell and to live.

2 If your spirit has gone to the sky or to the earth far away, we turn it back to you here to dwell and to live.

3 If your spirit has gone to the four-cornered earth far away, we turn it back to you here to dwell and to live.

4 If your spirit has gone to the four quarters of the sky far away, we turn it back to you here to dwell and to live.

5 If your spirit has gone to the billowy ocean far away, we turn it back to you here to dwell and to live.

6 If your spirit has gone to the flowing streams of light far away, we turn it back to you here to dwell and to live.

7 If your spirit has gone to the waters, or to the plants, far away, we turn it back to you here to dwell and to live.

8 If your spirit has gone to the sun, or to the dawns far away, we turn it back to you here to dwell and to live.

9 If your spirit has gone to the high mountains far away, we turn it back to you here to dwell and to live.

10 If your spirit has gone to this whole moving universe far away, we turn it back to you to dwell and to live.

11 If your spirit has gone to distances beyond the beyond, far away, we turn it back to you to dwell and to live.

12 If your spirit has gone to what has been and what is to be, far away, we turn it back to you to dwell and to live.