I, 60

Vedic Hymns, Part II (SBE46), by Hermann Oldenberg [1897], at sacred-texts.com

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MANDALA I, HYMN 60.

ASHTAKA I, ADHYÂYA 4, VARGA 26.

1. Mâtarisvan brought (Agni) to Bhrigu as a gift precious like wealth, of double birth 1, the carrier, the famous, the beacon of the sacrifice 2, the ready and immediately successful messenger.

2. Both follow his command, the Usigs 1 offering sacrificial food, and the mortals. The Hotri (Agni) has sat down before daybreak among the clans, the lord of the clans, whose leave should be asked, the performer of worship.

3. May our new, beautiful praise, born 1 from our heart, reach him the honey-tongued (Agni), whom the human priests in our settlement 2, the Âyus, offering enjoyment have engendered.

4. The Usig 1, the purifier, the Vasu has been established among men, the best Hotri among the clans, the domestic 2 master of the house in the house: Agni has become the treasure-lord of treasures.

5. Thus we, the Gotamas, praise thee, O Agni, the lord of treasures, with our (pious) thoughts, rubbing thee as (they rub down) a swift racer that wins the prize. May he who gives wealth for our prayer, come quickly in the morning 1.

NOTES.

Rishi and metre are the same. No verse occurs in the other Samhitâs.

Verse 1.

Note 1. The celestial and the terrestrial birth of Agni. Comp. Bergaigne, Rel. Véd., II, 52.

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Note 2. The text has vidáthasya. Comp. I, 31, 6, note 2.

Verse 2.

Note 1. On usíg ('the willing one'), as denoting the mythical priests who have first established Agni and have sacrificed as the first, comp. Bergaigne, I, 57 seq. The ubháyâsah seem to be these mythical ancestors and the actual sacrificers.

Verse 3.

Note 1. I propose to read gâ´yamânâ. Comp. I, 171, 2. stómah … hridâ´ tashtáh; II, 35, 2. hridáh â´ sútashtam mántram; VIII, 43, 2. ágne gánâmi sushtutím; V, 42, 13. gíram … gâ´yamânâm, &c.—Comp. Lanman, 356.

Note 2. On the meaning of vrigána, see Max Müller, vol. xxxii, pp. xx, 208, 304; Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 139 seq., with my remarks, Göttinger Gelehrte Anzeigen, 1890, 410 seq.; Ludwig, Ueber Methode bei Interpretation des Rig-veda, 27 seq.; Colinet, Les Principes de l’Exégèse Védique d’après MM. Pischel et Geldner, 28 seq.; von Bradke, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morg. Gesellschaft, XLVIII, 500; Bechtel, Nachrichten der Göttinger Gesellschaft der Wiss., 1894, 392 seq.

Verse 4.

Note 1. See verse 2, note 1.

Note 2. Bartholomae's theory (Bezzenberger's Beiträge, XV, 194) that the stem dámûnas has been developed out of the phrase dámû nah, 'in our house,' does not carry conviction.

Verse 5.

Note 1. See I, 58, 9, note 1.