HYMN CLXXIX. Rati.

Rig Veda, tr. by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1896], at sacred-texts.com

HYMN CLXXIX. Rati.

(The following Hymn was originally only found in the Appendix, with certain lines translated in Latin.—JBH.)

The deified object of this omitted hymn is said to be Rati or Love, and its Ṛṣis or authors are Lopāmudrā, Agastya, and a disciple. Lopāmudrā is represented as inviting the caresses of her aged husband Agastya, and complaining of his coldness and neglect. Agastya responds in stanza 3, and in the second half of stanza 4 the disciple or the poet briefly tells the result of the dialogue. Stanza 5 is supposed to be spoken by the disciple who has overheard the conversation, but its connexion with the rest of the hymn is not very apparent. In stanza 6 'toiling with strong endeavour' is a paraphrase and not a translation of the original khanamānaḥ khanītraiḥ (ligonibus fodiens) which Sāyaṇa explains by 'obtaining the desired result by means of lauds and sacrifices.'

M. Bergaigne is of opinion that the hymn has a mystical meaning, Agastya being identifiable with the celestial Soma whom Lopāmudrā, representing fervent Prayer, succeeds after long labour in drawing down from his secret dwelling place. See La Religion Vedique, ii. 394 f.

1 'Through many autumns have I toiled and laboured, at night and morn, through age-inducing dawnings.
Old age impairs the beauty of our bodies. Let husbands still come near unto their spouses.
2 For even the men aforetime, law-fulfillers, who with the Gods declared eternal statutes,—
They have decided, but have not accomplished: so now let Wives come near unto their husbands.
3 Non inutilis est labor cui Dii favent: nos omnes aemulos et aemulas vincamus.
Superemus in hac centum artium pugna in qua duas partes convenientes utrinque commovemus.
4 Cupido me cepit illius tauri [viri] qui me despicit, utrum hinc utrum illinc ab aliqua parte nata sit.
Lopamudra taurum [maritum suum] ad se detrahit: insipiens illa sapientem anhelantem absorbet.
5 This Soma I address that is most near us, that which hath been imbibed within the spirit,
To pardon any sins we have committed. Verily mortal man is full of longings.
6 Agastya thus, toiling with strong endeavour, wishing for children, progeny and power,
Cherished—a sage of mighty strength—both classes, and with the Gods obtained his prayer's fulfilment.

By 'both classes' probably priests and princes, or institutors of sacrifices, are meant. M. Bergaigne understands the expression to mean the two forms or essences of Soma, the celestial and the terrestrial.