I, 68

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

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MANDALA I, HYMN 68.

ASHTAKA I, ADHYÂYA 5, VARGA 12.

1. Cooking 1 (the oblations?) the quick one has approached the sky. He has revealed the nights and what stands and moves 2—

2. When he the god, alone of all these gods 1 encompassed (the others) by his greatness.

3. When thou, O god, hadst been born living from the dry (wood), then all (gods and men?) were pleased with thy wisdom.

4. They all obtained the name of divinity, of immortality 1, serving the Rita in due way.

5. The instigations of Rita, the thought of Rita 1: they all performed the works of [?] the full-lived one 2.

6. Bestow wealth, thou who art the knowing one, on him who worships thee or who does service to thee 1.

7. He who sits down as the Hotri among the offspring of Manu: he verily is the master of all these riches.

8. They longed together for the seed in their bodies 1, and the wise ones were concordant among each other in their minds.

9. They took pleasure in his will, as sons (take pleasure) in their father's (will), the quick ones who have listened to his command.

10. He who is rich in food has opened the gates of wealth 1. The householder (Agni) has adorned the sky with stars.

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NOTES.

The same Rishi and metre.

Verse 1.

Note 1. Boehtlingk-Roth are wrong in deriving srînán (which should more correctly be written srinán, comp. my Prolegomena, 477) from the root sri. They supply an object like sokih and translate: 'Licht verbreitend hebt er sich zum Himmel.'

Note 2. Lanman, 422.

Verse 2.

Note 1. Bollensen conjectures devâ´nâm deváh (instead of deváh devâ´nâm) which seems to be right (comp. below, 69, 2), though this conjecture is not absolutely necessary (see my Prolegomena, 97):

Verse 4.

Note 1. Amrítam belongs to nâ´ma; comp. V, 57, 5. amrítam nâ´ma bhegire; X, 123, 4. vidát gandharváh amrítâni nâ´ma.

Verse 5.

Note 1. With ritásya dhîtíh comp. I, 71, 3; IV, 23, 8; IX, 76, 4; 97, 34; 111, 2.—Prof. Max Müller thinks that rita should be taken as a name of Agni: 'for the righteous (Agni) are the prayers, for the righteous the devotion.'

Note 2. Is visvâ´yuh an adverb meaning 'eternally'? As visvâ´yu is an epithet of Agni frequently used in the Rig-veda and especially in the Parâsara hymns (see 67, 6. 10; 68, 5; 73, 4), one feels tempted to read visvâ´yoh (comp. IV, 42, 1. râshtrám kshatríyasya visvâ´yoh).

Verse 6.

Note 1. Comp. III, 59, 2. yáh te âditya síkshati vraténa.

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Verse 8.

Note 1. Some light is thrown on this obscure verse by the hymn, I, 72, a hymn belonging, as our hymn does, to the Parâsara collection. It is shown by the second verse of that hymn (see below), that the searching ones, 'ámûrâh,' are the gods who seek Agni. It seems probable, consequently, that the 'seed' is Agni (comp. I, 164, 35, where Soma is said to be vríshnah ásvasya rétah, 'the seed of the manly horse'). Of the same searching gods in I, 72, 5 the expression samgânânâ´h is used; comp. sám gânata in our passage.

Verse 10.

Note 1. Râ´yah must be a genitive; comp. I, 72, 8. râyáh dúrah ví ritagñâ´h agânan. Probably the accent should be râyáh; comp., however, Lanman, 431.