Vedic Hymns, Part I (SBE32): Vedic Hymns: I, 134. To Vâyu

1. O Vâyu, may the quick racers bring thee towards the offerings, to the early drink 1 here, to the early drink of Soma! May Sûnritâ 2 (the Dawn) stand erect, approving thy mind! Come near on thy harnessed chariot to share, O Vâyu, to share in the sacrifice 3!

2. May the delightful drops of Soma delight thee, the drops made by us, well-made, and heaven-directed, yes, made with milk, and heaven-directed. When his performed aids assume strength for achievement, cur prayers implore the assembled steeds for gifts, yes, the prayers implore them.

3. Vâyu yokes the two ruddy, Vâyu yokes the two red horses, Vâyu yokes to the chariot the two swift horses to draw in the yoke, the strongest to draw in the yoke. Awake Purandhi (the Morning) 1 as a lover wakes a sleeping maid, reveal heaven and earth, brighten the dawn, yes, for glory brighten the dawn.

4. For thee the bright dawns spread out in the distance beautiful garments, in their houses 1, in their rays, beautiful in their new rays. To thee the juice-yielding 2 cow pours out all treasures. Thou hast brought forth the Maruts from the flanks 3, yes, from the flanks of heaven.

5. For thee the white, bright, rushing Somas, strong in raptures, have rushed to the whirl, they

have rushed to the whirl of the waters. The tired hunter asks luck of thee in the chase 1; thou shieldest 2 by thy power from every being, yes, thou shieldest by thy power from powerful spirits 3.

6. Thou, O Vâyu, art worthy as the first before all others to drink these our Somas, thou art worthy to drink these poured-out Somas. Among the people also who invoke thee and have turned to thee 1, all the cows pour out the milk, they pour out butter and milk (for the Soma).

NOTES.

Ascribed to Parukkhepa Daivodâsi, and addressed to Vâyu. Metre, 1-5 Atyashti; 6 Ashti. No verse occurs in the other Vedas.

Verse 1.

Note 1. Pûrvapîti may here imply that Vâyu receives his libation first, before the other gods, see verse 6.

Note 2. Whatever the etymology of sûnritâ may be, in our passage, which describes the morning sacrifice and the arrival of Vâyu as the first of the gods, it can hardly mean anything but dawn. Ûrdhvâ sthâ is an expression applied frequently to the rise of the dawn or the morning, see III, 55, 14; 61, 3; VIII, 45, 12. In the last passage sûnritâ is simply the dawn. Ludwig translates, 'deine treflichkeit erhebe sich, günstig aufnemend die absicht.' He, like Bergaigne, III, 295, takes sûnritâ as su-nri-tâ, virtue. It seems to me that sûnrita may be formed irregularly in analogy to an-rita, and then mean true, good. In other places sûnritam seems to mean hymn, like ritavâka, IX, 113, 2. In places where it occurs as a name of Ushas, one feels tempted to conjecture su-nritûs. See also Bartholomae, in Bezzenb. Beitr. XV, 24.

Note 3. On makhásya dâváne, see note to I, 6, 8; but also note to VIII, 7, 27.

Verse 2.

My translation is purely tentative, and I doubt whether the text can be correct. I have taken krâna here in the sense of made, but I am quite aware that this meaning becomes incongruous in our very verse, when repeated for the third time. On its other meanings, see Pischel, Ved. Stud. p. 67. For the whole verse, compare VI, 36, 3. Grassmann translates:

Die lust’gen Indu’s mögen, Vâyu, dich erfreuen,
Die starken, die wir schön gebraut, die himmlischen,
Die milchgemischten, himmlischen;
Wenn Tränke tüchtig deinen Sinn p. 447
Uns zu gewinnen, bei dir sind,
Dann fordere Lieder die vereinte Rosseschar,
Die Speisen zu empfangen auf.

Ludwig: Erfreuen sollen dich die frohen tropfen, Vâyu, von uns bereitet, die morgendlichen, mit milch bereitet, die morgendlichen, dasz der (opfer) tüchtigkeit zukomen hilfleistungen zum gelingen, gewärt, die insgesammt herwärts gerichteten gespanne (antworten) zur (mit) beschenkung den liedern, ihn sprechen an die lieder.

These translations may serve to show that certain verses in the Veda are simply hopeless, and that the translators must not be held responsible if they cannot achieve the impossible.

Verse 3.

Note 1. Purandhi may have meant originally doorkeeper or bar-holder (cardo), from pûh and dhi, being formed like ishudhí, vríshandhi, sevadhí, &c. Purandhrî also may have been πυλωρός, janitor, or rather janitrix, then housewife. Grassmann translates it by Segensfülle, Ludwig by Fülle; Bergaigne, III, 476, has a long note on purandhi, as one of the many names of 'la femelle.' Whatever it meant etymologically, in our passage, where she is to be woke by the wind in the morning (cf. ushásah budhí, I, 137, 2), it is again a characteristic epithet of the dawn, πολιοῦχος, πολιάς, ποαῖτις. See also Pischel, Vedica, p. 202; Hillebrandt, Wiener Zeitschrift, III, 188; 259.

Verse 4.

Note 1. I have translated damsu as a locative; could it be a nom. plur. of damsu, δασυ, referring to vastrâ, the terminations being left out? see Lanman, p. 415.

Note 2. Sabardúghâ, juice-yielding. Roth explains it as quickly yielding, identifying sabar with Greek ἄφαρ. But Greek φ never represents Sanskrit b. Sabar, juice, milk, water, would really seem to yield the true source of A. S. sæp, O. H. G. saf, sap, for it is clear that neither ὀπός, nor Lat. sucus, would correspond with A. S. sæp; see Brugmann, Grundriss, vol. i, § 328; also Bartholomae, in, Bezzenb. Beitr. XV, 17.

Note 3. Vakshánâbhyah, from the flanks. It would be better if we could refer vákshanâbhyah to Dhenu, the cow, the mother of the Maruts, while Dyaus is their father, see V, 52, 16. Here, however, Vâyu is conceived as their father, and dyaus (fem.) as their mother.

Verse 5.

Note 1. I have followed Ludwig in his explanation of tsârî, hunter, watcher, and takvavîya, chase of the takva, whatever animal it may be.

Note 2. Oldenberg suggests prâ´si for pâsi, which on many accounts would be excellent.

Note 3. On asuryă, see von Bradke, Dyaus Asura, p. 39, and Bergaigne, Journal Asiatique, 1884, p. 510.

Verse 6.

Note 1. Vihutmat is translated by Roth as not sacrificing. But vihutmat can hardly be separated from vihava and vihavya, and seems to mean therefore invoking, possibly, invoking towards different sides. Hu, to sacrifice, does not take the preposition vi. Vavargushî is doubtful. Without some other words, it can hardly mean 'those who have turned towards the gods,' as we read in X, 120, 3 (tvé krátum ápi vriñganti vísve); nor is it likely to be the same as vrikta-barhis, 'those who have prepared the barhis.'

I have translated it in the former sense. See Geldner, Ved. Stud. p. 144, and Oldenberg, Gött. Gel. Anz. 1890, p. 414.

MANDALA I, HYMN 134.

ASHTAKA II, ADHYÂYA 1, VARGA 23.