Home > Library > New > Friedrich Max Muller > The Upanishads, Part 1 > Aitareya Aranyaka. I, 3, 4

Aitareya Aranyaka. I, 3, 4

*
"The Upanishads, Part 1 (sbe01)\", by Max Mller, [1879],

Fourth Kha
\"N"D"A 1.

1.
He begins with: 'That indeed was the oldest in the worlds 2;'--for that (the Brahman) is verily the oldest in the worlds.

2.
'Whence was born the fierce one, endowed with brilliant force;'--for from it was born the fierce one, who is endowed with brilliant force.

3.
'When born he at once destroys the enemies;'--for he at once when born struck down the evil one.

4.
'He after whom all friends rejoice;'--verily all friends are the creatures, and they rejoice after him, saying, 'He has risen, he has risen 3.'

5.
'Growing by strength, the almighty 4;'--for he (the sun) does grow by strength, the almighty.

6.
'He, as enemy, causes fear to the slave;'--for everything is afraid of him.

7.
'Taking the breathing and the not-breathing;'--this means the living and the lifeless.

8.
'Whatever has been offered at feasts came to thee;'--this means everything is in thy power.

9.
'All turn their thought also on thee 5;'--this

p. 180

means all these beings, all minds, all thoughts also turn to thee.

10.
'When these two become three protectors;'--i. e. when these two united beget offspring.

11.
He who knows this, gets offspring and cattle.

12.
'Join what is sweeter than sweet (offspring) with the sweet (the parents);'--for the couple (father and mother) is sweet, the offspring is sweet, and he thus joins the offspring with the couple.

13.
'And this (the son, when married) being very sweet, conquered through the sweet;'--i. e. the couple is sweet, the offspring is sweet, and thus through the couple he conquers offspring 1.

14.
This is declared by a "Ri"shi 2: 'Because he (Pra"g"pati) raised his body (the hymn tad id sa or the Veda in general) in the body (of the sacrificer)' (therefore that Nishkevalya hymn is praised);--i. e. this body, consisting of the Veda, in that corporeal form (of the sacrificer).

15.
'Then let this body indeed be the medicine of that body;'--i. e. this body, consisting of the Veda, of that corporeal form (of the sacrificer).

16.
Of this (the first foot of Rv. X, 120, 1) the eight syllables are Gyatr, the eleven syllables are Trish"t"ubh, the twelve syllables are "G"agat, the ten syllables are Vir"g". The Vir"g", consisting of ten syllables, rests in these three metres 3.

17.
The word purusha, consisting of three syllables, that indeed goes into the Vir"g" 4.

p. 181

18.
Verily, these are all metres, these (Gyatr, Trish"t"ubh, Gagat) having the Vir"g" as the fourth. In this manner this day is complete in all metres to him who knows this.

Footnotes

179:1
He now explains the first hymn of the Nishkevalya, which is called the R"g"ana.

179:2
Rv. X, 120, 1.

179:3
The sun and the fire.

179:4
Rv. X, 120, 2.

179:5
Rv. X, 120, 3.

180:1
All these are purely fanciful interpretations.

180:2
Not to be found in our "S"kh of the Rig-veda.

180:3
These metres are obtained by a purely arbitrary counting of syllables in the hymn tadidsa, which really consists of Trish"t"ubh verses.

180:4
If we simply count syllables, the first and second feet of the p. 181 first verse consist of ten syllables only, the fourth of nine or ten. In order to bring them to the right number, the word purusha is to be added to what is a Vir"g", i.e. to the first, the second, and fourth feet. We thus get:

tad id sa bhuvaneshu "g"yesh"th"am pu

yato "g"a"g"a ugras tveshan"ri"m"n"o ru

sadyo ga"g"no ni ri"n"ti "s"atrn

anu ya"m" vi"s"ve madanti m"h" sha"h".

Cf. Ait. r. V, 1, 6.
london polyglot bible| london polyglot bible
Home > Library > New > Friedrich Max Muller > The Upanishads, Part 1 > Aitareya Aranyaka. I, 3, 4