I, 65
*
"Vedic Hymns, Part Ii (sbe46)\", by Hermann Oldenberg [1897],
p. 54
Ma\"N"D"Ala I, Hymn 65.
Ash\"T"Aka I, Adhyya 5, Varga. 9.
1 1. Thee who hidest thyself in secret like a thief with an animal 2 (which he has stolen)--who hadst harnessed 3 adoration and carriedst adoration--
2. The wise unanimously followed by thy foot-marks 1. All (gods) deserving worship (reverentially) sat down near thee.
3. The gods followed the laws of "Ri"ta. There was an encompassing as the heaven (encompasses) the earth 1.
4. In the lap, in the womb of "Ri"ta, the waters nourish the fine child with praise, him who is well born.
5. Like good fortune, like a broad abode, like the fertile hill 1, like the refreshing stream,
6. Like a racer urged forward in the race, like the rapids of the Sindhu 1--who can hold him back?
7. (He is) the kinsman of the rivers, as a brother of his sisters. He eats the forests as a king (eats, i. e. takes the wealth of) the rich 1.
8. When he has spread through the forests, driven by the wind, Agni shears the hair of the earth.
9. Sitting in the waters he hisses like a swan. (He is) most famous by his power of mind, he who belongs to the clans, awakening at dawn--
10. A performer of worship like Soma, the god born from "Ri"ta, like a young (?) 1 beast, far-extending, far-shining.
p. 55
Notes.
The authorship of the whole collection, I, 65-73, is ascribed to Par"s"ara "S"ktya. These hymns are addressed exclusively to Agni. The greater part of them (65-70) is composed in the Vir"g" metre; comp. on this metre my Prolegomena, 95 seq. I have given there my reasons for considering that each verse consists of twenty, not of forty syllables.
This section ascribed to Par"s"ara has been treated of by Bollensen, Zeitschrift der D. Morg. Gesellschaft, Xxii, 569 seq. No verse of these hymns composed in the metre Dvipad Vir"g" (i, 65-70) occurs in the other Sa"m"hits.
Verse 1.
Note 1. Professor Max Mller proposes the following translation for verses 1 and 2: The wise (gods) together followed thee (Agni) when in hiding, by means of footsteps, as one follows a thief by the animal; they followed thee who accepts and carries adoration (to the gods). All the worshipful gods sat down (reverentially) near thee.
Note 2. There is no reason for reading with Bartholomae (Studien zur indogermanischen Sprachgeschichte, I, 48) pa"s"vn (gen. plur.) n tym.
Note 3. Ludwig proposes yuvnm, which is quite unnecessary.--See also Gaedicke, 173.
Verse 2.
Note 1. We have here the well-known myth of the hidden Agni discovered by the gods. The 'wise ones,' (dhr"h") are no doubt the searching gods, the same who are called y"g"atr"h" in the last Pda, and who are expressly designated as dev"h" in verse 3. Comp. Bergaigne, I, 110.
Verse 3.
Note 1. Regarding the construction, see Gaedicke, 192.--Professor Max Mller's opinion on this phrase differs from
p. 56
mine. He writes: 'I should prefer parsh"t"i. But parish"t"i seems to mean a running about, reconnoitring, searching. "There was searching on earth as in heaven," lit. earth, like heaven, was reconnoitring-ground.'
Verse 5.
Note 1. Comp. Viii, 50, 2. gir"h" n bhu"g"m. I believe that Boehtlingk-Roth, Bollensen, and Grassmann are right in correcting our passage accordingly; ra"n"v, p"ri"thv, "s"ambh follow the gender of the corresponding substantives, and the same may be expected here. Comp. Lanman, 530. The meaning is that Agni yields nourishment to all beings as a mountain fertilises the country by the waters which come down from it; comp. Viii, 49, 2. gir"h" iva pr rs"h" asya pinvire dtr"n"i puruba"g"asa"h".
Verse 6.
Note 1. Regarding the construction, comp. Gaedicke, 252 seq.; Bergaigne, Mlanges Renier, 95. Joh. Schmidt (Die Pluralbildungen der indogerm. Neutra, 305) and Ludwig (V, 524) are wrong in taking kshda"h" as a locative or as an instrumental respectively.
Verse 7.
Note 1. Comp. Pischel-Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, p. xvi.
Verse 10.
Note 1. Can "s"s"v be the nominative of a stem "s"s"van which stands by the side of "s"s"u as "r"bhvan of "ri"bh? Prof. Max Mller proposes: 'Large like a cow with young, like a pregnant cow.'
"Vedic Hymns, Part Ii (sbe46)\", by Hermann Oldenberg [1897],
p. 54
Ma\"N"D"Ala I, Hymn 65.
Ash\"T"Aka I, Adhyya 5, Varga. 9.
1 1. Thee who hidest thyself in secret like a thief with an animal 2 (which he has stolen)--who hadst harnessed 3 adoration and carriedst adoration--
2. The wise unanimously followed by thy foot-marks 1. All (gods) deserving worship (reverentially) sat down near thee.
3. The gods followed the laws of "Ri"ta. There was an encompassing as the heaven (encompasses) the earth 1.
4. In the lap, in the womb of "Ri"ta, the waters nourish the fine child with praise, him who is well born.
5. Like good fortune, like a broad abode, like the fertile hill 1, like the refreshing stream,
6. Like a racer urged forward in the race, like the rapids of the Sindhu 1--who can hold him back?
7. (He is) the kinsman of the rivers, as a brother of his sisters. He eats the forests as a king (eats, i. e. takes the wealth of) the rich 1.
8. When he has spread through the forests, driven by the wind, Agni shears the hair of the earth.
9. Sitting in the waters he hisses like a swan. (He is) most famous by his power of mind, he who belongs to the clans, awakening at dawn--
10. A performer of worship like Soma, the god born from "Ri"ta, like a young (?) 1 beast, far-extending, far-shining.
p. 55
Notes.
The authorship of the whole collection, I, 65-73, is ascribed to Par"s"ara "S"ktya. These hymns are addressed exclusively to Agni. The greater part of them (65-70) is composed in the Vir"g" metre; comp. on this metre my Prolegomena, 95 seq. I have given there my reasons for considering that each verse consists of twenty, not of forty syllables.
This section ascribed to Par"s"ara has been treated of by Bollensen, Zeitschrift der D. Morg. Gesellschaft, Xxii, 569 seq. No verse of these hymns composed in the metre Dvipad Vir"g" (i, 65-70) occurs in the other Sa"m"hits.
Verse 1.
Note 1. Professor Max Mller proposes the following translation for verses 1 and 2: The wise (gods) together followed thee (Agni) when in hiding, by means of footsteps, as one follows a thief by the animal; they followed thee who accepts and carries adoration (to the gods). All the worshipful gods sat down (reverentially) near thee.
Note 2. There is no reason for reading with Bartholomae (Studien zur indogermanischen Sprachgeschichte, I, 48) pa"s"vn (gen. plur.) n tym.
Note 3. Ludwig proposes yuvnm, which is quite unnecessary.--See also Gaedicke, 173.
Verse 2.
Note 1. We have here the well-known myth of the hidden Agni discovered by the gods. The 'wise ones,' (dhr"h") are no doubt the searching gods, the same who are called y"g"atr"h" in the last Pda, and who are expressly designated as dev"h" in verse 3. Comp. Bergaigne, I, 110.
Verse 3.
Note 1. Regarding the construction, see Gaedicke, 192.--Professor Max Mller's opinion on this phrase differs from
p. 56
mine. He writes: 'I should prefer parsh"t"i. But parish"t"i seems to mean a running about, reconnoitring, searching. "There was searching on earth as in heaven," lit. earth, like heaven, was reconnoitring-ground.'
Verse 5.
Note 1. Comp. Viii, 50, 2. gir"h" n bhu"g"m. I believe that Boehtlingk-Roth, Bollensen, and Grassmann are right in correcting our passage accordingly; ra"n"v, p"ri"thv, "s"ambh follow the gender of the corresponding substantives, and the same may be expected here. Comp. Lanman, 530. The meaning is that Agni yields nourishment to all beings as a mountain fertilises the country by the waters which come down from it; comp. Viii, 49, 2. gir"h" iva pr rs"h" asya pinvire dtr"n"i puruba"g"asa"h".
Verse 6.
Note 1. Regarding the construction, comp. Gaedicke, 252 seq.; Bergaigne, Mlanges Renier, 95. Joh. Schmidt (Die Pluralbildungen der indogerm. Neutra, 305) and Ludwig (V, 524) are wrong in taking kshda"h" as a locative or as an instrumental respectively.
Verse 7.
Note 1. Comp. Pischel-Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, p. xvi.
Verse 10.
Note 1. Can "s"s"v be the nominative of a stem "s"s"van which stands by the side of "s"s"u as "r"bhvan of "ri"bh? Prof. Max Mller proposes: 'Large like a cow with young, like a pregnant cow.'
