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
SOLAR GODS
IN the nineteenth century, Max Müller conceived and popularized the theory that all the gods of the Rig Veda were aspects of the sun. Solar mythology has now been eclipsed, but it is certainly true that many of the Vedic gods have some connection with the sun, that many of the creation hymns involve the discovery of the sun, and that many of the closing benedictions include a plea that the worshipper may continue to see the sun. Visnu is a particularly solar god (cf. 1.154), and Agni and Soma have strong solar characteristics; other gods are more vaguely solar, being described as shining or golden and dwelling in the sky.
There is, in addition, a group of gods connected with the sun in various concrete ways. Dawn is incarnate as a goddess closely associated with the Asvins (1.92), who are themselves the sons of Vivasvan, the sun. The Asvins are given credit for accomplishing many acts of benefit to mankind, particularly the rescue of people in danger (1.116); many of these remain obscure, but one, the rescue of Atri, is described at length (5.78). Atri, in turn, is said to have found the lost sun (5.40), an act that may be seen as a variant of the original act of creation itself, the making or finding of the sun (usually attributed to Indra), or merely surviving the danger of an eclipse.
The sun is personified primarily as Surya (1.50); metaphorically, he is associated with the sun-bird (10.177), who is in turn personified in a mysterious sage named Vena (10.123). Püsan is the charioteer of the sun and is therefore associated with journeys and travellers (1.42); he is also the god who presides over the unharnessing of chariots at the end of the day (6.55). Savitr is the ‘Driver’ who inspires and impels men to action; he, too, is invoked not only by day but at sunset (2.38) and at night (1.35). The dark aspect of the sun, which is manifest even in the hymns to Dawn, is balanced by a vision of the light embodied in the benevolent aspect of night (10.127).
1.92 Dawn and the Asvins
The central and recurring metaphor in this hymn to Usas (personification of dawn) is that of harnessing tawny cows or bay horses to her chariot, in which she is to bring all riches to the men who worship her. The chariot is both a simple instrument of portage, a kind of cosmic Wells Fargo wagon, and symbolic of the victory chariot by which all riches are won. The metaphor is complicated and enriched by the fact that the lights of dawn themselves are regarded as cows or mothers, who come of their own accord to be milked at dawn.
1 See how the dawns have set up their banner1 in the eastern half of the sky, adorning and anointing2 themselves with sunlight for balm. Unleashing themselves like impetuous heroes unsheathing their weapons, the tawny cows, the mothers, return.
2 The red-gold lights have flown up freely; they have yoked the tawny cows who let themselves be yoked. The dawns have spread their webs in the ancient way; the tawny ones have set forth the glowing light.
3 They sing like women busy at their tasks, coming from a distant place with a single harnessed team,3 bringing refreshing food day after day to the man of good actions, the man of generosity, the man who sacrifices and presses the Soma.
4 Like a dancing girl, she puts on bright ornaments; she uncovers her breast as a cow reveals her swollen udder. Creating light for the whole universe, Dawn has opened up the darkness as cows break out from their-enclosed pen.
5 Her brilliant flame has become visible once more; she spreads herself out, driving back the formless black abyss. As one4 sets up the stake in the sacrifice, anointing5 and adorning it with coloured ornaments, so the daughter of the sky sets up her many- coloured light.
6 We have crossed to the farther bank of this darkness; radiant Dawn spreads her webs. Smiling like a lover who wishes to win his way, she shines forth and with her lovely face awakens us to happiness.
7 The shining daughter of the sky, bringing rich gifts, is praised by the Gotamas.6 Measure out off spring and strong men as the victory prizes, Dawn, the rewards that begin with cattle and culminate in horses.
8 Let me obtain great riches of glory and heroic men, Dawn, riches that begin with slaves and culminate in heroes. Fortunate in your beauty, incited by the victory prize you shine forth with the fame of great achievements.
9 Gazing out over all creatures, the goddess shines from the distance facing straight towards every eye. Awakening into motion everything that lives, she has found the speech of every inspired poet.6
10 The ancient goddess, born again and again dressed in the same colour, causes the mortal to age and wears away his life-span,7 as a cunning gambler carries off the stakes.
11 She has awakened, uncovering the very edges of the sky; she pushes aside her sister.8 Shrinking human generations, the young woman shines under her lover’s gaze.9
12 Spreading out her rays like cattle, like a river in full ood the brightly coloured one shines from the distance. The fortunate goddess does not break the laws of the gods but becomes visible, appearing by the rays of the sun.
13 Dawn, you who hold the victory prize, bring us that brightly coloured power by which we establish children and grandchildren.
14 Dawn, rich in cows, rich in horses, resplendent giver of gifts, shine your riches upon us here and now.
15 Harness your red-gold horses now, O prize-giving Dawn, and bring all good fortunes to us.
16 O Asvins10 who work wonders, turn your chariot that brings cattle, that brings gold, and with one mind come back to us.
17 You Asvins who gave a shout from heaven11 and made light for mankind, bring us strength.
18 May those who wake at dawn12 bring here to drink the Soma the two gods who work wonders and give joy, moving on paths of gold.
NOTES
1. The banner that the dawns plant in the sky, as if to stake out a territory, may be a streak of dawn light revealing the darkened universe, or it may be the sun ; it is also a battle banner, as the verse goes on to liken the dawns to warriors.
2. The verb means both to anoint and to adorn; in verse 1, the dawns adorn themselves with the sun and anoint themselves with light; in verse 5 the priest anoints the stake with clarified butter and adorns it with coloured ornaments, a metaphor which also recalls the setting up of the banner in verse 1.
3. The phrase indicates that the team has travelled a yojana, the distance one can traverse with a single ‘yoking’, without having to change the team.
4. The priest. Here Dawn is likened to a man, as she is in verse 1 (a warrior) and verse 10 (a gambler). She is a potent, sinister figure.
5. The family of sages to whom this hymn is attributed.
6. ‘Found’ both in the sense that she finds it for him (inspires him) and finds it in him (accepts his praise).
7. Here, and in the next verse, Dawn steals away the life-span (cf. 1.179.1) of mortals, while remaining young herself and acting for the benefit of the gods. She steals our youth as a gambler (perhaps by deception) takes away someone else’s stakes (cf. 2.12.5 and 10.34.6).
8. The night.
9. Her lover, as the next verse makes clear, is the sun, whose love is reflected in her.
10. Three verses addressed to the Asvins are appended to this hymn, attracted by the metaphor of the chariot that brings riches and by the ideas of awakening (w. 17-18) and dawn (v. 18).
11. They shout to wake people up at sunrise.
12. The priests.
1.116 The Deeds of the Asvins
1 For the Näsatyas1 I offer praises, as one sets an offering on sacred grass, driving them forward as the wind drives rain-clouds; the two of them brought a wife to the young Vimada on a chariot swift as an arrow,2
2 trusting in their horses with strong wings and swift gaits or in the incitements of the gods. Your donkey, Näsatyas, won a thousand in the prize race with Yama.3
3 Tugra had left Bhujyu in the cloud of water as a dead man leaves behind his wealth. You brought him back, Asvins, in ships that were alive, that swam through the realm of air far from the water.
4 With birds that flew on for three nights and three days you Näsatyas brought Bhujyu to the far shore of the ocean, to the edge of the wetness, in three chariots with six horses and a hundred feet.4
5 You did the deeds of heroes in that ocean that has no beginning, no support, no handhold, when you Asvins carried Bhujyu home after he had climbed on board your ship that has a hundred oars.
6 The white horse that you Asvins gave to the man who had poor horses, to be a joy to him for ever, this great gift of yours has become famous, and the racehorse of Pedu can still be summoned by his master.5
7 You lords of men granted the wish of Pajriya Kaksivat when he praised you: you poured forth from the hoof of your potent stallion a hundred pots of wine as if from a sieve.
8 With snow you warded off the red-hot fire; you brought him6 sustaining nourishment. When Atri was led down into the glowing oven, you Asvins led him and all his followers back up again safely.
9 You Näsatyas overturned the well : you made the base on the top and the rim slanting down.7 Like water for drinking, the streams flowed for riches for the thousand thirsty people of Gotama.
10 You Näsatyas stripped away the sheath of flesh from Cyavana when he had grown old, as if it were a cloak.8 You masters stretched out his life-span when he had been abandoned and made him the husband of young girls.
11 Manly Näsatyas, your helpful protection was worthy of praise and admiration, when, knowing how to do it, you dug out Vandana who was hidden like a treasure.9
12 As thunder announces rain, I announce – for reward – your enormous master-deed, lords: that Dadhyañc, the son of the Atharvan priest, told you about the honey through the head of a horse.10
13 Näsatyas who enjoy many things, the bringer of abundance11 called for your hands to give great help as you came to her. You heard the cry of the wife of the impotent man as if it was a command, and you Asvins gave her a son with golden hands.
14 You manly Näsatyas released the quail right out of the mouth of the wolf. You who enjoy many things gave sight to the poet when he lamented.
15 At the turning-point in Khela’s race the mare broke a leg, like the wing of a bird; right then you gave Vispalä12 an iron leg so that she could run for the rich prize that had been set.
16 When Rjräsva carved up a hundred rams for the she-wolf, his father made him blind.13 You Näsatyas, wonderworking healers, gave him two eyes so that he saw with perfect sight.
17 The daughter of the sun mounted your chariot like a woman winning her goal with a racehorse.14 All the gods agreed to it in their hearts. You Näsatyas are strongly attracted to beauty.
18 When you Asvins drove on your journey to Divodäsa and to Bharadväja, your trusty chariot brought a treasure: a bull and a dolphin were yoked together.15
19 Bringing wealth with good kingship, long life blessed with fine children and true heroism, you Näsatyas with one mind came with prizes to Jahnävi,16 who offered you a sacrificial portion three times a day.
20 You carried Jähusa away in the night on good paths through the realms of space when he was surrounded on all sides, and with your chariot that breaks through barriers you unageing Näsatyas drove through the mountains.
21 You Asvins helped Vasa in the battle when in one morning he won thousands. With Indra at your side you bulls drove disasters and attacks away from Prthusravas.
22 You raised up water from the bottom of the deep well to the top for Sara Ärcatka to drink. You Näsatyas used your powers to make the barren cow swell with milk for Sayu when he was exhausted.
23 For Visvaka Krsniya, who needed help and praised you and was a righteous man, you Näsatyas used your powers to bring back Visnäpü for him to see again, he who had been lost like a stray cow.17
24 When Rebha lay for ten nights and nine days bound by his enemy and immersed inside the waters, broken into pieces thrown in the water, you drew him out as one draws out Soma with a ladle.18
25 I have proclaimed your wondrous deeds, Asvins. Let me be lord over this world, with good cattle and good sons; let me see and win a long life-span and enter old age as if going home.
NOTES
1. The Asvins are said to be ‘unfailing’ or ‘saviours’ or ‘born of the nose’ (from the nostrils of their mother, Saranyü) or ‘not- untrue’, for possible glosses of Näsatyas.
2. This is the first of numerous references in this hymn to the deeds of the Asvins, some known from the Rig Veda or other ancient texts, some obscure. Vimada was attacked when taking his bride home; the Asvins brought her to him on their own chariot.
3. The donkey is sometimes said to pull the Asvins’ chariot; here they employ him in a race, probably on the occasion of the marriage of Suryä (cf. 10.85.8–9, 10.85.15–16).
4. Bhujyu, mentioned often in the Rig Veda, was rescued from drowning. The ship’s hundred ‘feet’ are the oars, mentioned by name in the next verse.
5. Pedu was given a white horse that killed snakes; before this, he had no good horse.
6. Atri was thrown by the Asuras into a fiery pit, whence the Asvins rescued him.
7. The overturned well is a metaphor for the rain-cloud that saves Gotama from drought, a rescue elsewhere credited to the Maruts (1.85.10-11).
8. Cyavana, often identified with Atri, was kept in a pit or box where he had no access to his wife, until the Asvins freed him and rejuvenated him. Cf. 5.78.
9. Vandana (perhaps yet another name for Atri?) was similarly trapped and aged, and similarly rescued by the Asvins.
10. 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.
11. Purandhi is a divinity connected with abundance and child birth, sometimes associated or even identified with Indra (cf. 4.26.7, 4.27.2, 2.38.10). Here she is a woman whom the Asvins- assist in giving birth (cf. 5.78.16, which refers to a woman with an impotent husband).
12. Vispalä is the name of Khela’s racing mare restored by the Asvins.
13. The she-wolf for whom Rjrâsva slaughtered the rams is said to have been one of the donkeys of the Asvins in disguise.
14. The Asvins, brothers of Süryä, are also her husbands, winning her in a chariot-race competition. Cf. 10.85.8-9, 10.85.15-16; cf. also 10.102 for a woman charioteer.
15. Bharadväja was the priest of Divodäsa; the bull and dolphin are yoked both as a proof of the Asvins’ power and to pull the chariot on land and water. For the unusual chariot animals, cf. 10.102.
16. Probably the wife of Jahnu, a great sage.
17. Visnäpü was the son of Visvaka Krsniya.
18. Rebha was dead in the water, killed by several different methods, and the Asvins brought him back to life.
5.78 The Rescue of Atri
The first set of three verses invokes the Asvins; the second triad tells of Atri’s rescue; the third prays for the successful birth of a child. These three parts are closely interrelated, for the Asvins ‘delivered’ Atri from a pit as the child is delivered from the womb. The tale of Atri is known in several different variants, but the basic plot is that certain enemies kept Atri away from his wife at night, locked in a pit, a box, or a room in his own house; every morning they would take him out. After suffering in this way for a long time, Atri conceived the idea of praising the Asvins, the physicians – particularly the obstetricians – of the gods (vv. 1-3); they came to him, took him out, and vanished; Atri made love to his wife but then went back into the pit at dawn as before, for he was afraid. In the pit he was inspired with the verses telling of his rescue (vv. 4-6). Whether the child whose birth is to be protected in the final three verses is the result of Atri’s stolen visit to his wife seems unlikely; rather, the tale of Atri is told to provide a model for any happy delivery.
1 Asvins, unfailing ones,1 come to us; do not turn away. Fly here like two swans to the Soma-juice.
2 Asvins, like two gazelles, like two buffaloes to the grassy meadow, fly here like two swans to the Soma-juice.
3 Asvins, rich in prizes, enjoy the sacrifice and grant our wish. Fly here like two swans to the Soma-juice.
4 As Atri climbed down into the pit2 and called to you like a woman in need of help,3 then you Asvins came with the fresh, welcome speed of an eagle.
5 ‘Open, O tree,4 like the womb of a woman giving birth.5 Asvins, hear my cry and set free the man seven times unmanned.’6
6 When the sage seven times unmanned was frightened and in need, with your magic spells you Asvins bent the tree together and apart.7
7 As the wind stirs up a lotus pond on all sides, so let the child in your womb stir and come out when it is ten months old.
8 As the wind and the wood and the ocean stir, so let the ten-month-old child come down together with the afterbirth.
9 When the boy has lain for ten months in the mother, let him come out alive and unharmed, alive from the living woman.
NOTES
1. The Näsatyas are ‘true’ or unfailing in that they do what they say they will do.
2. Elsewhere in the Rig Veda Atri is rescued by the Asvins from a fiery pit. Cf. 1.116.8.
3. The word particularly designates a woman in pangs of labour. This forms a further link with the last three verses.
4. The tree may be the wooden box or the wooden door of the room in which Atri is con ned.
5. A further, and this time explicit, link with the last three verses.
6. This may be an epithet of Atri (Saptavadhri) or of another man rescued by the Asvins. Atri and Saptavadhri appear together on other occasions, where it seems more likely that they are a pair rather than a single character. But Atri himself is ‘unmanned’ (literally, castrated, the term used to refer to a steer in contrast with a bull – cf. 1.32.7 and 10.102.7, 10.102.12) by those who keep him from his wife. The two men are thus closely parallel, if not identical. Cf. 1.116.13.
7. The image of splitting apart the tree – pressing its sides together and then stretching them apart – to let Atri out is another birth metaphor.
5.40 Atri and the Last Sun
This hymn may describe the experience of an eclipse (verse 5 seems best interpreted in this light) or the myth of the finding of the sun at the time of creation – or, in classical mythic fashion, both at once. The first four verses invoke Indra; verses 1-6 describe the mythic deeds of Indra, overlapping with verses 6-9 describing the role of the high priest Atri both in assisting Indra and in accomplishing the miracle himself.
1 Come, lord of Soma,1 come and drink the Soma that has been pressed by the stones, O Indra, bull with bulls,2 greatest killer of Vrtra.
2 The pressing-stone is a bull; the ecstasy is a bull; the pressed-out Soma is a bull, O Indra, bull with bulls, greatest killer of Vrtra.
3 As a bull I call to you, the bull with the thunderbolt, with various aids, O Indra, bull with bulls, greatest killer of Vrtra.
4 Impetuous bull with the thunderbolt, the king who breathes hard as he overpowers the mighty, Vrtra- slayer and Soma-drinker – let him yoke his two bay horses and come here to us. Let Indra drink to ecstasy in the midday Soma pressing.
5 When the demon of sunlight3 pierced you, Sun,4 with darkness, then all creatures looked like a confused man who does not know where he is.
6 As you, Indra, struck down the sunlight-demon’s magic spells that were turning beneath the sky,5 then Atri with the fourth incantation6 found the sun that had been hidden by the darkness pitted against the sacred order.7
7 [Tie sun:] ‘Let not the attacker swallow me up in his jealous spite and terrifying rage, for I am yours, Atri. You are my friend,8 whose favour is real.9 I hope that both you and King Varuna will help me now.’
8 The high priest Atri set the pressing-stones to work and honoured the gods with devout obeisance, seeking to win their protection. He set the eye of the sun in heaven and
made the magic spells of the demon of sunlight disappear.
9 The Atris found again the sun that the sunlight demon had pierced with darkness, for no others could do this.
NOTES
1. Indra is the lord of Soma, the best Soma-drinker.
2. The bulls are the Maruts.
3. Svarbhânu, ‘sunlight’, is a demon (Asura) who devours the sun, either in the course of its annual waning, or in its daily setting, or in its occasional eclipses. In later mythology he becomes Râhu, who devours both the sun and the moon. He is a ‘sunlight’ demon whose name is constructed like the name of the ‘cookie-monster’: he eats sunlight as the monster eats cookies.
4. Surya.
5. The sun could not shine down to earth as the magic placed a barrier beneath it.
6. Later texts tell that the first three spells did not work. Säyana suggests that this may also be a reference to the first four stanzas of this hymn, that invoke Indra.
7. The sacred law or order (Rta), the way of nature, would not have made the sun dark at that time. This seems to imply an eclipse rather than some natural darkening of the sun in winter or at night.
8. A pun on ‘friend’ and the name of the god Mitra, ally of Varuna.
9. That is, whatever you help me with is sure to come true.
1.50 The Sun, Surya
The Sun in this hymn drives a chariot whose rays (also called banners) are said to be seven mares. In his fiery aspect, he is identified with Agni ‘Knower of Creatures’ (Jâtavedas), and through the recurrent image of seeing and being seen and giving light that allows others to see he is further identified with Varuna, the eye of the gods.
1 His brilliant banners draw upwards the god who knows all creatures, so that everyone may see the sun.
2 The constellations, along with the nights, steal away like thieves, making way for the sun who gazes on everyone.
3 The rays that are his banners have become visible from the distance, shining over mankind like blazing fires.
4 Crossing space , you are the maker of light, seen by everyone, O sun. You illumine the whole, wide realm of space.
5 You rise up facing all the groups of gods, facing mankind, facing everyone, so that they can see the sunlight.
6 He is the eye with which, O Purifying Varuna, you look upon the busy one1 among men.
7 You cross heaven and the vast realm of space, O sun, measuring days by nights, looking upon the generations.
8 Seven bay mares carry you in the chariot, O sun god with hair of flame, gazing from afar.
9 The sun has yoked the seven splendid daughters of the chariot; he goes with them, who yoke themselves.
10 We have come up out of darkness, seeing the higher light around us, going to the sun, the god among gods, the highest light.
11 As you rise today, O sun, you who are honoured as a friend, climbing to the highest sky, make me free of heartache and yellow pallor.2
12 Let us place my yellow pallor among parrots and thrushes, or let us place my yellow pallor among other yellow birds in yellow trees.
13 This Aditya3 has risen with all his dominating force, hurling my hateful enemy down into my hands. Let me not fall into my enemy’s hands!
NOTES
1. A probable reference to the diligent sacrificer.
2. Jaundice (yellow pallor) is analogous to yellow sunlight; hence the sun is invoked to dispense homoeopathic medicine.
3. The sun is one of the children of Aditi (cf. 10.72), a group of solar gods called Ädityas.
10.123 Vena
A strange, mystical hymn to a sage or god named Vena (‘longing’); the imagery plays upon Vena’s identification both with Soma and with the sun, more particularly with the sun-bird that is (or wins) Soma (cf. 4.26-7). The pressing of Soma, the rising of the sun, and the birth of speech and inspiration (cf. 1.164) run as parallel themes through the hymn.
1 This Vena drives forth those who are pregnant with the dappled one.1 Enveloped in a membrane of light,2 he measures out the realm of space. In the union of the waters and the sun, the inspired priests lick him with prayers as if he were a calf.3
2 Vena whips the wave high out of the ocean.4 Born of the clouds, the back of the loved one has appeared,5 shining on the crest at the highpoint of Order. The women6 cry out to the common womb.
3 The calf’s many mothers from the same nest stand lowing at their common child. Striding to the crest of Order, the voices lick the honeyed drink of immortality.
4 Knowing his form, the inspired ones yearn for him, for they have come towards the bellow of the wild animal, the buffalo.7 Going on the right path, they have climbed to the river. The divine youths have found the immortal names.8
5 The nymph,9 the woman, smiling at her lover bears him to the highest heaven. The lover moves in the wombs of the lover. Vena sits on the golden wing.10
6 Longing11 for you in their heart, they saw you ying to the dome of the sky as an eagle, the golden-winged messenger of Varuna, the bird hastening into the womb of Yama.
7 Then the divine youth12 climbed straight back up into the dome of the sky bearing his many-coloured weapons. Dressing himself in a perfumed robe, looking like sunlight, he gives birth to his own names.13
8 When the drop comes to the ocean,14 looking upon the wide expanse with the eye of a vulture, then the sun, rejoicing in the clear light, takes on his own names in the third realm.
NOTES
1. The dappled one (Prsni) is both the Soma stalk, brightly coloured, and the sun, represented as a dappled bull; the pregnant ones are thus the waters that mix with the Soma and the dawns that hold the sun, and Vena is said to bring them forth simultaneously.
2. As an embryo (the image projected from the first half of the verse), Soma is born in a burst of light (a membrane; cf. 10.51.1), as is the sun, who is the subject of the second sentence in the verse, while the third refers primarily to Soma.
3. Soma is often likened to a new-born calf licked by a cow, as is Agni. Cf. 4.18.10 and 2.35.13.
4. The sage brings the wave of sacred speech out of the ocean of the heart; the sun rises from the ocean, and Soma is mixed with the waters.
5. The loved one is Soma, immediately identified with the shining sun.
6. The women are either the voices and sacred speeches of the priests, calling to Soma (the womb of Order), or the streams of milk that mix with Soma. Both of these similes are extended in the next verse.
7. Soma is the buffalo who roars as he mingles with the waters.
8. The Gandharvas are the ones who reveal the secrets of the gods. Demigods associated with power and fertility, they are often identified with Soma, as is the case here, or the sun, as in the following verse.
9. The nymph, or Apsaras, as the beloved of the Gandharva, represents the Dawn, who loves the sun, or the waters or Speech, who love Soma.
10. Vena as the sun bears Soma on golden wings. The metaphor continues in the next verse.
11. ‘Longing’ (venantas), a pun on the name of Vena.
12. Here the divine youth (Gandharva) primarily represents the sun; in the second half of the verse, Soma is primary, the sun secondary.
13. By revealing his names, he reveals his forms.
14. Vena is Soma in the first half of the hymn, flying from the ocean through the wide expanse of space, to become the sun in the second half of the hymn, in the third realm that is heaven.
10.177 The Bird
The imagery of this hymn is closely tied to that of the Vena hymn. This is regarded as a magic-dispelling {mäyäbheda) incantation.
1 The wise see in their heart, in their spirit, the bird anointed1 with the magic of the Asura. The poets see him inside the ocean; the sages seek the footprints of his rays.2
2 The bird carries in his heart Speech that the divine youth3 spoke of inside the womb. The poets guard this revelation that shines like the sun in the footprint of Order.
3 I have seen the cowherd who never tires, moving to and fro along the paths. Clothing himself in those that move towards the same centre but spread apart,4 he rolls on and on inside the worlds.
NOTES
1. The Asuras, noted for their magic, possess a miraculous balm which, placed upon the eyes, makes the bearer invisible to the eyes of others.
2. Vena as the sun is hidden inside the waters.
3. Here, as in 10.123.4, the Gandharva (the sun) ‘reveals’ the secrets of the gods. This secret is often told while the speaker is still in the womb. Cf. 4.27.1 and 4.18.1.
4. The waters and rays. This verse is taken from 1.164.31, which expands upon the riddle of the sun-bird.
1.42 Püsan on the Road
Püsan presides over roads and journeys. He is one of the Ädityas and therefore a solar god, though this aspect of his character is seldom emphasized.
1 Traverse the ways, Püsan, and keep away anguish, O child of the unharnessing.1 Stay with us, O god, going before us.
2 The evil, vicious wolf who threatens us, Püsan, chase him away from the path.
3 The notorious highwayman, the robber who plots in ambush, drive him far away from the track.
4 Trample with your foot the torch of the two-tongued slanderer, whoever he may be.
5 Worker of wonders,2 full of good council, O Püsan, we beg you for that help with which you encouraged our fathers.
6 You bring every good fortune and are the best bearer of the golden sword. Make riches easy for us to win.
7 Lead us past our pursuers; make our paths pleasant and easy to travel. Find for us here, Püsan, the power of understanding.
8 Lead us to pastures rich in grass; let there be no sudden fever on the journey. Find for us here, Püsan, the power of understanding.
9 Use your powers, give fully and lavishly, give eagerly and fill the belly. Find for us here, Püsan, the power of understanding.
10 We do not reproach Püsan, but sing his praises with well-worded hymns. We pray to the worker of wonders to give us riches.
NOTES
1. The releasing or unyoking of the horses at journey’s end or at nightfall; by extension, perhaps, the release of the worshipper from evil or misfortune or exhaustion, the tight spot {amhas) or anguish.
2. An epithet usually given to the Asvins, implying wonders wrought in order to be helpful to human worshippers.
6.55 Püsan, Child of the Unharnessing
1 Come, burning child of the unharnessing. Let the two of us be joined together. Be for us the charioteer of Order.1
2 Best of charioteers, lord of great wealth, friend with braided hair, we pray to you for riches.
3 You are a stream of riches, a heap of wealth, O burning one with goats for horses,2 friend of this and that inspired singer.
4 Püsan with goats for horses, the prize-winner who is called the lover of his sister,3 him we would praise.
5 I have spoken of him who is his mother’s suitor; let him hear, he who is his sister’s lover, the brother of Indra, and my friend.
6 Let the sure-footed goats who pull his chariot bring Püsan to us, carrying here the god who is the glory of the people.
NOTES
1. Perhaps the one who carries us to Order (Rta), or who drives Order to us.
2. The goat, sacred to Püsan (cf. 1.162.3-4), draws his chariot in place of the usual horse.
3. Apparently Dawn (Usas) was the sister of Püsan as well as his mother (v. 5), and, finally, the object of his (perhaps unrequited?) love. The Asvins are also unsuccessful suitors and brothers of Sûryâ (10.85). This incestuous tangle arises in part out of the fact that dusk, dawn, and twilight are natural siblings in close contact with the sun, and dawn ‘gives birth’ to the sun in one sense and is born from him in another.
2.38 Savitr at Sunset
Savitr ‘the impeller’, ‘driver’, or ‘goader’, is the god of the sun at morning and the setting sun, the latter aspect often emphasized in the hymns.
1 This god Savitr, the driver,1 has risen up many times to goad us on – this is his work. Now he apportions to the gods the jewel,2 and to those who offer the oblation he gives a share in happiness.
2 So that all will obey him, the god with broad hands stands uptight and stretches out his two arms before him. Even the waters obey his command; even the wind stops in his orbit.
3 Even the one who travels with swift horses3 now unharnesses them; he4 has stopped even the wanderer5 from going on. He has put an end to the voracious hunger even of those who eat serpents.6 Night has come by Savitr’s command.
4 She who weaves7 has rolled up again what was stretched out. The skilful worker has laid down the work half-completed. He8 stirs and stands up; he has set apart the different times. With his thoughts gathered, the god Savitr has come.
5 He who lives in a house 9 goes off into various dwellings, all his life. The glow of fire springs up and spreads out. The mother gives her son the best portion, because of the longing that Savitr has stirred up in him.10
6 He who went away because he wished to get something has now come back; the desire of all who wander turns to home. All of them, leaving their work uncompleted, have
followed the command of the divine Savitr.
7 Those whose portion you decreed to be water are in the waters;11 the hunters spread out over the dry land. The trees belong to the birds; no one transgresses these commands of this god Savitr.12
8 Varuna goes to the watery womb that he loves best, after rushing about restlessly from one blink of the eye to the next. Every bird and beast goes to his nest or pen; Savitr has dispersed each creature to its proper resting-place.
9 He whose law is not broken by Indra, nor by Varuna or Mitra, nor by Aryaman or Rudra, nor even by the forces of evil – that god Savitr I call upon for happiness, bowing low.
10 Stirring up Good Luck13 and Thought and Abundance -and may Praise-of-Men,14 the husband of goddesses, help us – when blessings come and riches pile up let us be dear to the god Savitr.
11 From the sky, from the waters, from the earth let there come to us that bounty that we long for and that you give, that brings happiness to those who praise and to your friend,15 the singer whose praises reach far, O Savit?.
NOTES
1. That is, the driver of the chariot. The same epithet is also applied to Agni in 3.31.1.
2. Both immortality and the sacrificial offering.
3. Simultaneously Savitr in his chariot and any man on earth, who unyokes now that night has come.
4. Only Savitr is meant here.
5. Either one who wanders about as he wishes to do, or one who has strayed from the path.
6. Probably birds of prey.
7. Both night, continued from verse 3, here ‘rolling up’ the sun light, and the woman who takes up her weaving now that night has come.
8. Only Savitr here, who demarcates the different seasons and hours.
9. Both the householder who goes home at night, and the domestic fire (mentioned in the next part of the verse) that ‘arrives’ in the house at evening.
10. That is, the setting sun makes the boy hungry.
11. The animals who seek water-holes at the end of the day; the hunters, by contrast, are hunting on the dry land.
12. Several overlapping meanings: no one destroys the trees; no one, not even the trees, disobeys Savitr’s command to rest at night.
13. Good Luck (Bhaga) is often personified as a god, but here he appears with other personifications regarded more as abstractions – thought (dhi) and abundance (Purandhi).
14. The praise that is bestowed upon men (Narãsamsa), rather than by them.
15. That is, the author of this hymn.
1.35 Savitr at Night
1 I call first to Agni for well-being; I call Mitra and Varuna here to help. I call on Night1 that gives rest to all that moves ; I call on the god Savitr for aid.
2 When he turns through the dark dust and gives rest to the immortal and the mortal, the god Savitr who watches all creatures comes with his golden chariot.
3 The god goes forward; he goes upward; he who is worshipped goes with his two bright bay horses. The god Savitr comes from the far distance, driving away all evils.
4 The god Savitr, who is worshipped, mounts his high chariot that is covered with pearls, painted with all colours, fastened with golden pins; shining brightly, he puts on his vital power for the dark dusts.2
5 The black horses with white feet have looked at the people, pulling the chariot with the golden shafts in front. All tribes, all worlds, rest always in the lap of the divine Savitr.
6 There are three skies: two are the lap of Savitr, and the last is the one that controls men, in the world of Yama. Immortal things rest on him like a chariot wheel on a lynch- pin. Let him who understands this proclaim it here.
7 The eagle has looked over the middle realms of space; he is the Asura who leads well and is spoken of in secret. Where is the sun now? Who knows? To what sky has his ray stretched?
8 He has looked upon the eight peaks of the earth, and on the three plains a league wide, and the seven rivers. The golden-eyed Savitr has come, bringing to the worshipper the treasures that he longs for.
9 Golden-handed Savitr moves busily between the two, between sky and earth. He drives away disease and bids the sun approach; he reaches to the sky through the dark dust.
10 Let the merciful and helpful Asura, the good leader with golden hands, come towards us. Routing the demons3 and sorcerers, the god to whom we sing has taken his place against the evening.
11 On your ancient paths, Savitr, that are dustless and well made in the middle realm of space, on those paths that are good to go on come to us today, and protect us, and speak a blessing on us, O god.
NOTES
1. Here and in other verses of this hymn, Savitr appears in his nocturnal aspect (as Dawn often does), moving through the dark dust or haze of night.
2. That is, he uses his powers of brightness to cross the dark spaces of night.
3. Raksases, flesh-eating demons on earth, not the mighty Asuras of heaven.
10.127 Night
This is the only Rig Vedic hymn dedicated to the goddess of night, sister of Dawn and, like Dawn, a bright creature, full of coloured stars, in contrast with the feared darkness of black night that is banished (vv. 3 and 7).
1 The goddess Night has drawn near, looking about on many sides with her eyes.1 She has put on all her glories.
2 The immortal goddess has filled the wide space,2 the depths and the heights. She stems the tide of darkness with her light.
3 The goddess has drawn near, pushing aside her sister the twilight.3 Darkness, too, will give way.
4 As you came near to us today, we turned homeward to rest, as birds go to their home in a tree. 5 People who live in villages have gone home to rest, and animals with feet, and animals with wings, even the ever-searching hawks. 6 Ward off the she-wolf and the wolf; ward off the thief. O night full of waves, be easy for us to cross over.4 7 Darkness – palpable, black, and painted.5 – has come upon me. O Dawn, banish it like a debt.6 8 I have driven this hymn to you as the herdsman drives cows.7 Choose and accept it, O Night, daughter of the sky, like a song of praise to a conqueror.
NOTES
1. The stats. 2. Between sky and earth. 3. The actual term used here is dawn, but it probably indicates twilight in general, more specifically here the evening twilight, or even the entire day (as in the Vedic expression ‘dawn and night’ meaning ‘day and -night’). On the other hand, if one takes it literally as dawn, it may mean that the Night keeps dawn away because darkness must depart when dawn appears. Cf. 1.92.11, where Dawn pushes Night aside. 4. The verb ‘to cross’ is frequently applied to a transition from one period of time to another. Its primary meaning is to cross from one bank of a river to another, and here itmay recall the epithet ‘full of waves, ’ depicting Night as a dangerous body of water that one must cross. Cf. 1.92.6.
5. Night is here regarded as a material mass painted with stars or actually painting them herself.
6. The implication is that light (often compared to wealth) should banish darkness as money banishes the poet’s debts ; or Dawn may ‘collect’ the debt of the night, that is, make good what darkness had incurred or ‘exact’ the darkness from Night as one would exact money owing.
7. An elliptic image, but clear in the Vedic context that associates cows with light; the herdsman gives back at night the cows that he has kept all day.
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