VI, 74. To Soma and Rudra

Vedic Hymns, Part I (SBE32), by Max Müller, [1891], at sacred-texts.com

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MANDALA VI, HYMN 74.

ASHTAKA V, ADHYÂYA 1, VARGA 18.

To Soma and Rudra.

1. Soma and Rudra, may you maintain your divine dominion, and may the oblations reach you properly. Bringing the seven treasures to every house, be kind to our children and our cattle.

2. Soma and Rudra, draw far away in every direction 1 the disease 2 which has entered our house. Drive far away Nirriti 3, and may auspicious glories belong to us!

3. Soma and Rudra, bestow all these remedies on our bodies. Tear away and remove from us  1 whatever evil we have committed, which clings to our bodies.

4. Soma and Rudra, wielding sharp weapons and sharp bolts, kind friends, be gracious unto us here! Deliver us from the snare of Varuna, and guard us, as kind-hearted gods!

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NOTES.

Ascribed to Bhâradvâga Bârhaspatya. Verse 2 occurs TS. I, 8, 22, 5; AV. VII, 42, 1; verse 3, TS. I, 8, 22, 5; AV. VII, 42, 2. All the four verses, but in a different order (3, 1, 2, 4), in MS. IV, 11, 2; see also Kâth. XI, 12. Metre, Trishtubh.

This is the only hymn addressed to Soma and Rudra. In the Khândogya Up. III, 7 and 9, the Rudras are said to have Indra, while the Maruts have Soma at their head.

It is translated by Geldner and Kaegi.

The whole hymn betrays its secondary character; first by violating the law of decrease, secondly by duals in au before consonants, and thirdly by using a very large number of passages from other hymns. Compare verse 1, pâda c, with V, 1, 5, c; verse 2, pâda c, with I, 24, 9, c; verse 2, pâda d, with VI, 1, 12, d. Phrases like verse 1, pâda d, sám nah bhûtam dvipáde sám kátuhpade, occur again and again, with slight modifications; see I, 114, 1; 157, 3; VII, 54, 1; X, 165, 1. Sumanasyámânâ also is suspicious. It occurs again in the next hymn, the last of the Mandala, in VII, 33, 14, likewise a suspected hymn, and in the tenth Mandala, X, 51, 5; 7.

Verse 2.

Note 1. On víshûkîm, see II, 33, 2.

Note 2. Ámîvâ has been identified with ἀνῑα by Fick, Orient und Occident, III, p. 121. The difficulty is m = n.

Note 3. The AV. reads bâ´dhethâm dûrám nírritim, the AV. and TS. read parâkaíh kritám kid énah prá mumuktam asmát.

Verse 3.

Note 1. AV. reads asmát for asmé, and ásat for ásti. Verse 4. In the Maitr. S. the second half of this verse is, mumuktám asmâ´n grasitâ´n abhî´ke prá yakkhatam vrishanâ sántamâni.