Contributions to the Interpretation of the Veda 9781607246060, 1607246066

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Contributions to the Interpretation of the Veda

A n a l e c t a Gorgiana

352 Series Editor George Anton Kiraz

Analecta Gorgiana is a collection of long essays and

short

monographs which are consistently cited by modern scholars but previously difficult to find because of their original appearance in obscure publications. Carefully selected by a team of scholars based on their relevance to modern scholarship, these essays can now be fully utili2ed by scholars and proudly owned by libraries.

Contributions to the Interpretation of the Veda

Maurice Bloomfield

1 gorgia* press 2009

Gorgias Press LLC, 180 Centennial Ave., Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA www.gorgiaspress.com Copyright © 2009 by Gorgias Press LLC Originally published in All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise without the prior written permission of Gorgias Press LLC. 2009

1

ISBN 978-1-60724-606-0

ISSN 1935-6854

Extract from The ^American Journal of Philology 17 (1896)

Printed in the LTnited States of America

THE INTERPRETATION

OF THE VEDA.

437

vor seinem altern geheiratet hat, oder (so der text) der ältere, der den jüngern früher hat heiraten lassen, hat dadurch trockenheit verursacht. Er wird gebunden, seine frau, sein kind, bisz der regen ihn erlöst.' Support for this statement is wanting, and the author has not defined his motives. Grill treats both hymns rather too vaguely under the caption 'krankheit' (p. 8 ff.). T h e Anukramanl defines vi. 112 as ägneyam, vi. 113 as päusnam. W e may add a translation of the two hymns, undertaken in the light of the preceding exposition: vi. 112. 1. May this (younger brother) not slay the oldest one of them, O A g n i 1 ; protect him so that he be not torn out by the r o o t ! D o thou here cunningly loosen the fetters of Grähi (attack of disease); may all the gods give thee leave ! 2. Free these three, O A g n i , from the three fetters with which they have been shackled! D o thou here cunningly loosen the fetters of G r ä h i ; release them all, father, sons and mother! 2 3. T h e fetters with which the older brother, whose younger brother has married -before him, has been bound, with which he has been encumbered and shackled limb by limb, may they be loosened; since fit for loosening they are. W i p e off, O Ptisan, the misdeeds upon him that practises abortion! vi. 113. 1. O n Trta the gods wiped off this sin, Trta wiped it off on human beings; hence, if Grähi has seized thee, may these gods remove her by means of their charm. 2. Enter into the rays, into smoke, O sin; g o into the vapors, and into the fog ! L o s e thyself with the foam of the river; wipe off, O Pusan, the misdeeds upon him that practises abortion! 3. Deposited in twelve places is that which has been wiped off Trta, the sins belonging to humanity; hence, if Grähi has seized thee, may these gods remove her b y means of their charm! MAURICE BLOOMFIELD. T h i s h e m i s t i c h m a y h a v e b e e n secondarily a d a p t e d to the present s i t u a t i o n : jyesthdm vadh.lt reminds us of jyesthaghni, the d e s i g n a t i o n of a certain c o n s t e l l a t i o n ( A V . v i . n o . 2), and P ä d a b repeats f o r m u l a i c a l l y vi. n o . 2", w h i c h o b v i o u s l y alludes to the constellation müla. S e e the fuller notes to these h y m n s , S B E . X L I I 524 ff. 1

2 T h a t is, release the entire f a m i l y from the consequences of the m i s d e e d s of certain m e m b e r s (the sons)!

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V O L . X V I I , 4.

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I.—CONTRIBUTIONS

N O . 68.

TO THE INTERPRETATION THE VEDA.

SEVENTH

OF

SERIES.1

I . — T H E MYTH OF T H E H E A V E N L Y E Y E - B A L L , WITH

REFERENCE

T O R V . X. 40. 9.

T h e pretty wonder of the eye-ball has not failed to stimulate the fancy of the Hindus, and especially to arouse their talemaking instincts. W h e n a Hindu perceives a relation, an analogy, he is usually not content merely to note it and to derive from it what comfort he may. H e is given to eager exploitation, to restless following out of consequences, and, as relations and analogies are in general partial and defective, this deficiency in restraint leads to excess. O n e would wish to tie a string to their fancy, so as to draw it back when it threatens to lose itself in v a g a r y and to secure it against the just charge of grotesqueness and futility. Thus, for instance, the attractive legend of the mountains, which has become a stock theme of the Hindu romancers 1

T h e p r e c e d i n g series of these studies w e r e published as f o l l o w s :

F i r s t Series (under the title ' S e v e n H y m n s of the A t h a r v a - V e d a ' ) : J o u r n . P h i l . V I I , pp. 466-SS. Second S e r i e s : A m e r . Journ. Phil. X I , pp. 3 1 9 - 5 6 . T h i r d S e r i e s : Journ. A m e r . Or. Soc. X V , pp. 142-S8. F o u r t h S e r i e s : A m e r . Journ. Phil. X I I , pp. 4 1 4 - 4 3 . F i f t h S e r i e s : Journ. A m e r . Or. Soc. X V I , pp. 1 - 4 2 . S i x t h S e r i e s : Z e i t s c h r i f t der deutschen M o r g e n l a n d i s c h e n X L V I I I , pp. 541-79.

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and poets. It is told v e r y tersely in the M a i t r â y a n i - S a m h i t â i. 10. 1 3 : ' T h e mountains are the oldest children of Prajâpati (the creator). T h e y h a d w i n g s . T h e y flew a w a y w h e r e v e r t h e y willed. T h e n this (earth) b e c a m e unstable. Indra cut off their wings, and steadied this (earth) b y means of these (mountains). T h e w i n g s b e c a m e clouds. T h e r e f o r e the clouds a r e e v e r floating towards the mountains, for this is their place o f o r i g i n . ' 1 The s t o r y , neat as it is, just skirts and b a r e l y e s c a p e s the d o m a i n of the bizarre ; another touch o f the same k i n d of f a n c y a d d e d w o u l d m a k e it distinctly disobedient to our sense of fitness a n d measure, to our instinct of d r a w i n g the line at the r i g h t place. T h e H i n d u commentators d e s i g n a t e s u c h l e g e n d s as àkhyâyikâ 'little stories,' a n d the B r â h m a n a s a b o u n d in them e s p e c i a l l y . A s a rule they are repeated in a considerable n u m b e r of texts, but e v e r y writer a d d s t o u c h e s of his o w n , outbidding, as it were, his p r e d e c e s s o r ; h e n c e the task o f stripping them of these individual aberrant fancies and subtilities, of extracting from t h e m their simpler h u m a n elements, the traits that are l i k e l y to h a v e s p r u n g s p o n t a n e o u s l y a n d g e n u i n e l y from the folk, is both important and difficult. T h e old designations of the eye-ball are kanînaka, masculine ; kanînaka, kaninikd and kanânakâ ( T S . v . 7. 12), feminines. T h e s e w o r d s , like L a t . papilla, pilpula, h a v e the d o u b l e m e a n i n g of 'little b o y , or g i r l ' a n d ' e y e - b a l l . ' 2 ' W h e n the g o d s slew the A s u r a - R a k s a s ( d e m o n s ) , then Ç u s n a the D â n a v a (a particular d e m o n ) falling b a c k w a r d entered into the e y e s o f m e n : he is the pupil of the e y e (kanînaka), a n d l o o k s l i k e a y o u n g lad (kumd1Cf.

L a n m a n ' s R e a d e r , notes, p. 393 b ; Pischel, V e d i s c h e Studien, I, p. 174. T h i s statement needs to be circumscribed in the light of the present investigation. W h i l e there need be no doubt about the e t y m o l o g i c a l derivation of kanînaka and the corresponding feminines, there w i l l be left, the careful reader may observe, no instance in w h i c h these words m e a n ' b o y ' or ' girl.' T h e words everywhere mean ' pupil of the eye.' T h u s also in the stanza R V . iv. 32. 23, w h i c h has perplexed the interpreters from the time of Y â s k a , N i r u k t a iv. 15, to Professor H e n r y , Mémoires de la Société de linguistique, I X , pp. 106 ff. T h e expression kanlnakéva is, as H e n r y j u s t l y observes, to be resolved into kanlnakû iva, but kanlnaki, is pretty certainly the dual of a m a s c u l i n e kanînaka. T h e comparison is b e t w e e n Indra's two (masculine) steeds w h i c h shine (fobhete) l i k e two eye-balls. It w o u l d seem that the eyeballs in a little figure (idol?) are the source of the comparison, but I have nothing to offer except the conviction that kanlnaka here, as e v e r y w h e r e else, means ' eye-ball.' 2

THE

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401

raka).' S o s a y s Q B . iii. 1. 3. 11. 1 T h i s akhyayika well illustrates our i n t r o d u c t o r y s t a t e m e n t : the comparison of the e y e - b a l l with a b o y is universally h u m a n ; w e m a y also grant that here a n d there the d a r k diminutive denizens of the pupil were suspected as little d e v i l s ; but b e y o n d that w e are s u r e l y d e a l i n g with the individual, not over-felicitous attempt to turn crude folklore into concinnate m y t h . T h e s t o r y in this form is never repeated. T h e e y e is d i v i d e d either into t w o parts, the light (gukla) and the d a r k (krma)2; or into three parts, the light, the d a r k , a n d the pupil (kanlnaka). 3 N o w , the H i n d u s , just as the G r e e k s , love t o correlate the e y e with the cosmic e y e , the sun, 4 and b y s y n e c d o c h e the pupil is also thus correlated, as, e. g., x i v . 5. 2. 3 = Brh. A r . U p . ii. 2. 2. T h e sun, h o w e v e r , is but one form o f h e a v e n l y l i g h t ; another is the lightning, as it were the majestic g l a n c e of h e a v e n . A c c o r d i n g l y , w e find the correlation of the pupil with l i g h t n i n g expressed in direct terms. In V S . x x v . 1 , 2 ; T S . v. 7. 1 2 ; M S . iii. 15. 1, 2, at the horse-sacrifice, the separate parts of the horse are offered to divinities and quasi-divinities on the g r o u n d of cosmic c o r r e s p o n d e n c e s ; e. g . the breath of the animal is offered to the wind, etc.; the two pupils to lightning. N o w t a k e s place the following delicate leger-de-main. Man's e y e has been correlated with the sun or the l i g h t n i n g : how e a s y it is t o say n e x t that the sun has an e y e or that the lightning has an e y e ! A c c o r d i n g l y , in V S . iv. 32 w e h a v e the f o r m u l a : ' G e t up to the e y e of S u r y a (the sun), to the pupil o f A g n i ' s e y e . ' T h e use o f the formula is stated K a t y . £ r . vii. 9. 9 : a black antelope's skin is fastened to a s t a f f in front of the soma-cart to s e r v e as a sort of a flag, destined to chase a w a y d e m o n s from the sacrificial place. M a h i d h a r a explains that the flag attracts the attention of a n d is seen b y the e y e of S u r y a a n d the pupil of A g n i ' s e y e . In T S . vi. 1. 7. 3 (cf. i. 2. 4. 1), where the s a m e formula is e m p l o y e d , we h a v e an implicit c o m m e n t a r y u p o n this p e r f o r m a n c e : ' V e r i l y that path is not injured b y the demons, that b e l o n g e t h to A g n i and S u r y a . H e (therefore) pronounces the f o r m u l a : " I h a v e g o t t e n u p to the e y e of S u r y a to the pupil o f 1 C f . Maitr. S. 3. 6. 6 (p. 6 6 , 1 . 1 4 ff.). In £ B . xiv. 5 . 3 . 5 = Brh. A r . U p . ii. 3. 5 the word purusa ' p e r s o n ' is substituted for kaninaka. 2

E . g. £ B . xiii. 4. 2. 3. xii. 8. 2. 2 6 ; xiii. 4. 2. 4.

3£B.

4

T/hoEidearaTov ye olfiai (TO ofifia) TOV irspi raf madtjaeiq opyavuv (Plato, Repub.

508).

Cf., e. g., A i t . A r . ii. 4. 2.

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Agni's eye." Then he gets up to a path that is not injured by the demons.' Similarly MS. i. 2. 5; iii. 7. 7 (p. 84, 1. 10). W e have thus arrived at the definite, not at all strange, result that heavenly lights are conceived as having an eye and a pupil: the A g n i spoken of in this connection is either the god Agni (fire) in general, or more specifically the lightning, the heavenly A g n i ; cf. the author's ' Hymns of the Atharva-Veda,' Sacred Books of the East, vol. X L I I , p. 401. Having thus far dealt with conceptions that are universally human and are likely to crop out anywhere, we come next to an important mythical feature which is characteristically Hindu, the changes upon which are rung in a great number of Vedic texts. T h e eye and the eye-ball of these heavenly lights, as well as of more completely anthropomorphic divinities substituted for them, is conceived of as descending upon earth and there turning into a considerable variety of pleasing and useful objects. The innermost kernel of these little myths seems to be that plants are the upshot of the descent of the eye-ball; in other words, that the glances of the heavenly eyes as they are shot down upon earth do not pass away without result, but are fruitful: the eye-balls of the heavenly eyes fall upon earth to rise in the form of plants. W h o does not at once think of the sunflower (helianthos, sonnenblume) as a possible, one might say logically necessary, source of such conceptions ? A V . iv. 20. 3 is addressed to a plant which Kaugika 28. 7 conceives to be the sadampuspa 'ever-flowering' (schol. irisamdhya)\ ' T h o u art verily the eye-ball of the divine eagle 1 ; thou didst ascend the earth as a weary woman a palanquin.' T h e plant is worn as an amulet designed to expose hidden demons, wizards, and their hostile practices. He that wore the amulet must have surely reasoned: ' I have with me the eye-ball of the heavenly eagle, no demoniac forces will escape its scrutiny.' T h e heavenly eagle is either the sun or the lightning, each of which owns the epithet. In this instance I incline to lightning, being reminded of the legend of the rape of the soma by the heavenly eagle. That, I believe I have shown, means the descent of the lightning along with the rain, the heavenly fluid; see Contributions, Fifth Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. X V I 1 ff. The descent of this eagle is disturbed by a heavenly archer K r j a n u , 1Cf.

Apast.

6. 20. 2.

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403

who wounds the eagle so that he loses a feather, which falls to the earth and grows up as a plant or tree. Obviously the last touch is a variant form of our myth: the lightning is not sown, as it were, into the earth without growing up again. 1 But, further, the same plant, the sadampuspa, is addressed in stanza 7 of the hymn so as to leave no doubt that it is conceived also as the offshoot of the sun's e y e : ' Thou art the eye of K a j y a p a , and the eye of the four-eyed bitch. L i k e the sun moving in the bright day make thou the Pigaca (demon) evident to m e ! ' Aside from this statement that introduces the sun directly, both Kagyapa and the four-eyed bitch are quickly reducible to terms of the sun. K a f y a p a is a name to conjure with in the Atharvan writings: amulets and charms handled by him are peculiarly powerful; e. g. i. 14. 4 ; iv. 37. 1 ; viii. 5. 14. He rises to the dignity of the supreme self-existing being (svayam-bhii) in A V . xix. 53. 10; cf. also T S . v. 6. 1. 1, and see the Pet. Lex., s. v. 2b. He is intimately related with forms of the sun, Surya and Savitar, as is stated expressly in TS.it. Ar. i. 7. 1 ; see also T&it. Ar. i. 8. 6, and compare T S . v. 6. 1. 1 with A V . i. 33. i", a comparison that yields the equation Kagyapa = Savitar (the sun). In fact, K a j y a p a is the sun as a tortoise, that creeps its slow course across the s k y ; cf. the conceptions of the sun as a hermit, and as a Brahman disciple, A V . xi. 5, introduction (Sacred Books of the East, X L I I , p. 626). With this knowledge in mind T&it. Ar. i. 8. 8 puns upon the name, ka(yapall pafyako bhavatiyat sarvam paripagyati ' K a g y a p a is the seer because he looks over the all.' T o say of a plant that it is the eye of the four-eyed bitch is certainly startling, but it is not difficult to coax the conception into line with those preceding. T h e 'four-eyed bitch' is Sarama, the mother of the two four-eyed dogs of Yama (the Cerberi), £yama and Qabala, a n c j th e y a r e the sun and moon ; see Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. X V 163 if.; S B E . X L I I 404. T h e two heavenly dogs are frequently designated by their metronymic sarameya, and the substitution of the mother for one of them, the sun, would have required no violent tour de force. But one cannot say with certainty that this is s o : we shall next meet with plants that are the eye-ball of still other anthropomorphic divinities. 1 A n o t h e r myth w h i c h derives a v a l u a b l e plant, the kmtha (costus speciosus), from heaven is told A V . v. 4. 3 - 6 ; vi. 95. 1 , 2 ; xix. 39. 6 - 8 : kmtha is brought d o w n from h e a v e n b y a g o l d e n ship (soma the moon), and deposited upon the H i m a l a y a Mountains. See Sacred Books, X L I I 415.

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Y e t another point belongs to the definite equipment of the myth. T h e verbs which ordinarily describe the descent of the eye are from the root pat 'fall' or ' f l y ' with or without the preposition para 'away.' Thus T S . vi. 4. 10. 5 : 'Prajapati's eye swelled, 1 it fell away (or, flew away) ; it entered a vikankata-tree,2 but did not stay in the vikankata. It entered the barley : in the barley it remained'; MS. iv. 6. 3: 'Prajapati's left eye swelled. The tears which dropped from it, they cause rain here (upon earth) . . . His eye-ball fell a w a y ; that became barley'; £ B . iv. 2. 1. 11 : ' Varuna once struck K i n g Soma right in the eye, and it swelled (agvayat): therefrom a horse (agva~) sprung; and because it sprung from a swelling, therefore it is called afva. A tear of his fell down: therefrom the barley sprung.' The story strays still farther away from the original motifs in T S . v. 3. 12. 1 ; T B . i. 1. 5. 4; £ B . xiii. 3. 1. 1, yet not without retaining some of the features of the original conceptions that gave rise to it: ' Prajapati's eye swelled, it fell away, and became a horse. Because it swelled (agvayat) therein lies the horse-nature of the horse (agvasya 'gvatvani).' One can almost see how the pretty original came to be debased into the service of this clap-trap pun: since the eye fell out it must have swelled first (agvayat), and no normally built Brahmana-writer could fail, with a self-satisfied leer towards his own literary discrimination, to bring in the horse (agva) through the wide-open door of this pun. Therefore the true elements of the myth thus far are the correlation of the human (or animal) eye with the sun, or lightning ; the consequent endowment of the sun or lightning with an eye, or pupil of its own; the poetic supposition that plants (primarily, perhaps, sun-like plants) are due to the descent of the eye or pupil upon the earth. The transfer of the eye from the sun to other divinities would in the long run be hardly avoided. But there is yet another aspect which the myth-makers have bravely availed themselves. W h a t comes from the eye, especially the divine eye, is good for the eye 3 : it was therefore sure to be correlated with that substance which ordinary experience has taught the Hindus to use on their own eyes—namely, 1 2

Cf. T a i t . A r . i. 4. 1. F l a c o u r t i a sapida roxburghiensis, a thorny plant.

3 C o n v e r s e l y , the divine eye may harm the eye of man, for it is related that J a n a k a , the k i n g of Mithila, did not revere the sun, for w h i c h he was afflicted with the diseases of the eye ; see W i s e , H i n d u M e d i c i n e , p. 291.

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eye-ointment or collyrium (anjana)—especially as these substances were derived from plants, themselves conceived the product of the heavenly eye. A l l India loves collyrium. T h o u g h b y itself unsightly, it imparts a charm that is in turn reflected upon itself. 1 It is, too, full of virtue, driving out disease, prolonging life, destroying demons. Its origin is on the rivers ( Y a m u n a and Indus) and the high mountains of the H i m a l a y a ( A V . iv. 9 ; xix. 44). Especially the mountain T r i k a k u d or T r i k a k u b h ' T h r e e - p e a k s , ' the later Trikuta, is famed as the source of the s a l v e : it is accordingly designated as traikakudam? Since it does not count a m o n g the habits of salve to flow in rivers, or to bubble up from mountain springs, we may suppose that vegetable ingredients from riverbanks and mountain-heights were used in the composition. Probably the ku§tha-plant (costus speciosus), still known in K a s h m i r and K a b u l as an aromatic plant, the plant which itself descended upon the mountains in a golden ship, 3 is especially in the mind of the poets. It is placed by the side of ointment, licorice and spikenard, A V . vi. 102, and women appear to be designated as 'fond of ku§tha,' A V . xix. 39. 9.* In this way we can understand how the writer, A V . xix. 44. 5, can address collyrium as the flower of lightning . . ., the sun, the e y e ; i. e. the plants which g o to m a k e it up are the product of the heavenly e y e or glance in accordance with the main motif of the myth. But the ordinary poetic formula addressed in the (^rauta-texts to collyrium states outright its derivation from a heavenly eye. V S . iv. 3 ; Q B . iii. 1. 3. 1 5 ; K £ . vii. 2. 3 4 : ' T h o u art the pupil o f Vrtra's e y e ; e y e - g i v i n g thou art: give me the eye.' O r T S . i. 2. 1. 2 ; M S . i. 2. 1 ; A p . £r. x. 7. 1 : ' T h o u art the pupil of Vrtra's e y e ; eye-protecting art t h o u : protect m y eye.' The Brahmana-texts equip this formula with a legend which echoes the legend of the pupil and the plants perfectly. T h u s T S . vi. 1. 1. 5 : ' I n d r a slew Vrtra, the pupil of his eye fell away, it became collyrium. W h e n he anoints himself he plucks the v e r y e y e of his enemy '; M S . iii. 6. 3 : ' Indra slew Vrtra, the pupil of his e y e fell away, it went to mount Trikakubh. Therefore he anoints himself with ointment from mount T r i k a k u b h ' ; £13. iii. 1. 3. 1 2 : 1

B e h t l i n g k ' s I n d i s c h e Sprixche 2 , 1592, 2146, 7568. Indische Studien, I 78.

C f . T a i t . A r . 1. 4. 1.

2Cf. 3

See the note on p. 403 ; Z i m m e r , A l t i n d i s c h e s L e b e n , p. 63 ff.

4

T h e text is not quite certain ; see S a c r e d Books, X L I I 680.

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'(Ointment) is such as comes from mount T r i k a k u d : for when Indra slew Vrtra he transformed that eye of his into the mount Trikakud. T h e reason, then, why (ointment) from mount T r i k a k u d (is used) is that he thereby puts e y e into eye.' T h e present connection with the myth of Vrtra, rather than the sun, may be due to special emphasis laid upon the devil-like appearance of the pupil, implied in the legend, iii. i . 3. 1 1 . Or we shall do well to remember that the mention of a single part of the body is itself suggestive of V r t r a : this cloud-demon, after he has been cleft by Indra, is almost invariably depicted by the legends as being dismembered. T h e stories usually play pranks in a vindictive way with Vrtra's limbs, head, nose, etc. S e e the article on rujanah, below. W e must not, however, press matters too much in the Brahmanas: the main ingredients of the original myth, the heavenly pupil (kaninikft.), its descent {para pat), and its growth as a plant on the earth are obviously present in this modified version of the legend. T h e preceding picture of a Hindu notion, in itself not without interest, rises to a higher plane of usefulness because it, and it alone, furnishes the hermeneutical apparatus for the interpretation of R V . x. 40. 9, and because it illustrates anew the important principle that the Vedas are essentially a unit. T h e so-called later parts of the Veda—later in redaction and form, but frequently earliest in subject-matter—especially the prose books, at times state in plain language what is presented in the hymns with a degree of obscurity approaching to what the Norse skalds called a kenning. A f t e r what has been reported above, the interpretation of the stanza in question, even in the eyes of lay readers, will appear impossible without reference to the myth of the e y e ball, and, conversely, it will be of interest to find this curious conception dealt with familiarly in the earliest document of India. R V . x . 40. 9 reads : jdnista yosd patayat kanlnako vi ca ,ruhan vinidho dansdna dnu a 'smai riyante nivane 'va sindhavo 'sma dhne bhavati tatpatitvandm.

Grassmann translates: ' G e b o r e n ward das madchen und der knabe lief, und pflanzen sprossen auf durch eure wunderkraft. Zu diesem rinnen strome nieder wie in's thai, und die vermahlung ist an diesem tage ihm.' L u d w i g ' s rendering is: ' Erzeugt hat

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das weib, d a s kind fiel heraus ; es e r h o b e n sich die s c h ö n e n w u n d e r da, die pflanzen. Ihm fliessen, wie a u f a b s c h ü s s i g e m g r ü n d e die flüsse zu ; dises (diser) Vorrecht wird disem t a g e . ' B o t h translators are d e b a r r e d from a true appreciation of the stanza b y the absence in their philological apparatus of the m y t h s k e t c h e d a b o v e . T h e r e f o r e they t a k e kaninakâ in its primary sense o f ' k n a b e , ' or ' k i n d , ' 1 instead of the s e c o n d a r y sense o f ' eye-ball, pupil.' B u t with the story in mind, the juxtaposition in the stanza o f the three catchwords of the m y t h : pat 'fall,' kaninakâ ' e y e - b a l l , ' a n d vlrüdhah, 'plants,' narrows d o w n the possibilities of its interpretation so that n o great m i s t a k e can be made. T h e stanza pictures a b r i g h t and glorious w e d d i n g - d a y . The entire h y m n is a d d r e s s e d to the A ç v i n s , apparently with special reference to the l e g e n d o f the princess Ghc sä. T h e latter, w h o h a d lived to be a little passée, y e t v e r y desirous of a husband, is k n o w n to h a v e appealed to the A ç v i n s for succor. T h e A ç v i n s , a c c o r d i n g to the m y t h elsewhere, g r a n t e d her request, this graciousness of theirs being one of the noteworthy a c h i e v e m e n t s for which t h e y are extolled. 2 T h e A ç v i n s are in general mediators o f m a r r i a g e s a n d p r o t e c t o r s of connubial happiness. 3 In the first e i g h t stanzas the A ç v i n s are called and their manifold w o n d e r f u l helpful d e e d s are recited. In stanza 5 the story o f G h o s a is alluded to ; at the end of st. 9 some one, either G h o s ä ' s b r i d e g r o o m or an ordinary h u m a n b r i d e g r o o m in w h o s e behalf the poet has c o m p o s e d the h y m n , is described as b e i n g in the act of m a r r y i n g on a w o n d r o u s l y beautiful and auspicious d a y : ' T h e m a i d e n ( d a w n , U s a s ) was b o r n ; the (sun's) e y e - b a l l fell, a n d the plants s p r u n g u p t h r o u g h the m a g i c d e e d . T o him the rivers flow as t h o u g h d o w n a d e c l i v i t y : this m a r r i a g e on this d a y d o e s c o m e about.' T h e only point that stands in n e e d of c o m m e n t is the rendering of jâni^ta yosä. L u d w i g ' s rendering, ' e r z e u g t hat das w e i b , ' i s c o n t r a r y to the uses of the root jan, w h i c h has the m e a n i n g ' t o b e g e t ' only in the causative. Grassmann's ' g e b o r e n w a r d das m ä d c h e n ' is correct as to its w o r d i n g , but stands in need of 1

So also the Pet. L e x . , s. v. 2) : ' mädchen, jungfrau,' and Säyana,

kanyäkämah

patïh. 2

See especially R V . i. 1 1 7 . 7, 1 9 ; x. 40. 5 ; Myriantheus, D i e A ç v i n s , pp. 93,

115. 3 Myriantheus, ibid., pp. 1 1 4 ff., 1 1 9 ff.

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further definition. T h e m a i d e n here is she of w h o m R V . x. 3. 2 states that A g n i ' w h e n he has o v e r c o m e the black v a r i e g a t e d ( n i g h t ) with his luminous form, begets the maiden, the d a u g h t e r of the lofty father, 1 and establishes on h i g h the radiance of the s u n ' ; cf. also R V . i. 92. 1 1 ; 101. 7 ; 123. 9 ; vii. 75. 5. The maiden is U s a s ; the lofty father is t h e s k y . A f t e r night first c o m e s aurora, then the sun. A g n i is the fire l i g h t e d in the e a r l y morning, the herald of nature's activity in passing from n i g h t t h r o u g h dawn to d a y ; s e e Journ. A m e r . O r . S o c . X V I 36. T h e remaining stanzas of R V . x. 40 are also w e d d i n g stanzas : 10, 12 and 13 figure in the w e d d i n g - b o o k of the A V . ( x i v . 1. 4 6 ; 2. 5, 6), a n d t h e y are rubricated in a variety of S u t r a s in their chapters on the m a r r i a g e ceremonies. II.—THE

ORIGINAL dak$ind,

OR F E E OF T H E

PRIESTS.

Professor W i n d i s c h , in a luminous article published in the ' F e s t g r u s s an O t t o v o n B o h t l i n g k ' (1888), p p . 1 1 5 if., has s h o w n that the V e d i c c o m p o u n d istdpurta is a c o p u l a t i v e c o m p o u n d ; that its t w o m e m b e r s are participles, r e s p e c t i v e l y from the roots yaj ' t o sacrifice' and par (pf) ' t o present w i t h ' ; and that the c o p u l a t i v e c o m p o u n d m e a n s ' t h a t w h i c h has been sacrificed (to the g o d s ) , and that w h i c h has been g i v e n as a present (to the priests).' H e has thus a d d e d to a now r a p i d l y g r o w i n g list o n e m o r e instance w h i c h s h o w s that the ritualistic texts k n o w the true m e a n i n g s of V e d i c w o r d s , and that, w h e n not e n g a g e d u p o n the mission of phantastic perversion, t h e y are perfectly capable of transmitting this information to attentive readers. A good e x a m p l e , calculated to r e m o v e a n y l i n g e r i n g doubt, is p r e s e n t e d in A V . vii. 103. 1, w h e r e the two actions are stated in t h e form of abstracts: ko tin ko ko

asya no druhd 'vadyavdtya nesyati ksairiyo v&sya ichdn yajndkamah, kd u purtikamali devesu vanute dlrghdm ayuli.

Prof. L u d w i g , D e r R i g - V e d a , I I I 269, ingeniously construes this as the plaintive ejaculation ( ' s t o s s s e u f z e r ' ) of a B r a h m a n out of e m p l o y m e n t : ' W h a t k i n g , desirous of m o r e possessions, will g e t us out of this w r e t c h e d misery ? W h o is desirous of sacrificing, 1 Here correctly the causative of jan, to wit: jandyan yos&m brhatah pitiir jfim.

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and who of making presents ? W h o asks for long life from the g o d s ? ' But as Prof. H e n r y , L e livre V I I de l ' A t h a r v a - V g d a , p. 116, remarks, the word druho is not a little strange in such an a p p e a l 1 ; the word savors rather of the popular mind (raksas, demon), and may be an appeal in time of general misery to the king, urging him to greater acts of piety in order to stop the public evil and at the same time to increase his own prosperity. 2 T h e r e is in either case no question but what yajna and purti refer to the sacrifice and the daksina, the istam and the purtam; cf. also the e x p r e s s i o n y a j n & m p i p r h i in A V . vii. 20. 4 ; 79. 1. In the following I wish to add some remarks b y way of defining more sharply the conception of the purti. It is interesting, in the first place, to find the word daksina employed as a complete s y n o n y m of the purtam. S o in A V . xviii. 3. 20 ye dtrayo dngiraso navagva istavanio ralisaco dddhanah, dak^inavaniah sukrto yd u sthd . . . H e r e istavantah and daksinavantah speak for themselves (cf. A V . xviii. 4. 29). In A V . iv. 11. 4 yajndli pdyo ddk§ina doho asya the juxtaposition of yajnali and ddksina is equally intentional; the word purti might have stood in the place of daksina without altering the s e n s e ; cf. Gop. Br. i. 1. 33. N o t e especially A V . x. 6. 34, where an amulet of khadira-wood is addressed as yajnavardhana . . . fatadaksina. T h e passage involves a delicate oratio pro domo on the part of the priest w h o has prepared the amulet; the real meaning of the epithets i s : ' a s I, the priest, have by means of this amulet made thy sacrifice successful, thus do thou, the king, permit thyself to be inspired to reward me, the priest, b y a gift of a hundred cows.' In A V . vi. 53. 1 we have ddkqinaya pipartu, which is the equivalent of *purtena pipartu. In A V . viii. 10. 4 yajndrto daksiniyo . . . bhavati 1

Sayarta: nindyarupadiyuktaya druhali drogdhryah.

2The

question is complicated by the e m p l o y m e n t of the stanza in the ritual ( K a u g . 59, 19) in a prayer addressed to Prajapati, for g e n e r a l prosperity. The c o n n e c t i n g l i n k b e t w e e n the stanza and Prajapati is obviously the word k a ;

cf. 'Contributions,' I I I , J AOS. X V , p. 184.

Sayana: kithfabdena prajapatir

ucyate. T h e r e is positively no other tradition in reference to the stanza in the A t h a r v a n literature, and it is safe to assume that the redactors of the (Jaunaklya-samhita k n e w it only in its present ritualistic function, w h i c h is founded upon an obvious perversion of the text. T h i s perversion m a y have been acccompanied by such changes in the text as w o u l d adapt it for the use in w h i c h it appears. W e must hope that the stanza w i l l appear in some other quarter and in some characteristic environment. N o conclusive interpretation is possible as the matter stands at present.

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yd evafa veda ' he b e c o m e s p o s s e s s e d of the o r d e r of the sacrifice, fit for daksina w h o thus k n o w s . ' It w o u l d clearly b e useless, h o w e v e r , to trust to the direct definitions of daksina in the ritualistic texts a n d the c o m m e n t a t o r s , in o r d e r to establish the original v a l u e of purti, since the daksina m a y g o as far as the sarvasvam ' o n e ' s a l l ' (e. g . K a u f . 1 2 7 . 1 2 ) . T h e c o m m e n t a t o r s ' t a k e their m o u t h f u l l ' e q u a l l y w h e n t h e y d e f i n e the purti; the s t y l e o f definition w h i c h Prof. W i n d i s c h has g a t h e r e d ( F e s t g r u s s , 1 1 7 ) is r e p e a t e d v e r y p e r f e c t l y , e. g . , b y S a y a n a at A V . iii. 29. 1 i§tam (rutivihiiam yagadikarma, purtam smrtivihitam kupatatakadinirmanalaksanaiii karma \ cf. a l s o his definitions at A V . ii. 1 2 . 4 ; iii. 1 2 . 8 ; vi. 1 2 3 . 2, etc. I b e l i e v e that the M a n t r a s reflect the original a n d m o r e s i m p l e function which is indicated b y the w o r d s purtam a n d purti, a n d that this is in a c c o r d with the e t y m o l o g y of these w o r d s t h e m s e l v e s . T h e root par ( p f ) means p r i m a r i l y ' t o fill,' and that w a s p r o b a b l y the extent of the original daksina: the B r a h m a n s w e r e f e d at the sacrifice with the odanam ' t h e p o r r i d g e ' which h o l d s a characteristic p l a c e in these c e r e m o n i e s t h r o u g h o u t . T h e b e s t o w a l of gifts in g e n e r a l q u i c k l y took a p l a c e b y the side of this p r i m a r y a n d n e c e s s a r y r e w a r d . T h e root pac alone, or the r o o t pac and da t o g e t h e r , o c c u r as p e n d a n t s to yaj in such a w a y as to s t a m p them as the m o r e explicit form of statement, as a sort of c o m m e n t a r y on the w o r d s purta and purti. A f t e r the c o o k i n g c o m e s the filling of the s t o m a c h , as is stated distinctly R V . x . 86. 1 4 , uksno . . .pacanti. . . kuksa prnanti\ cf. vii. 3 2 . 8. A t A V . vi. 1 4 2 . 3 the prydntak ' t h e fillers' a n d the attarah, ' t h e e a t e r s ' a r e contrasted. S o then at A V . vi. 1 2 3 . 4 the statement, sd pacami sa dadami sdyaje, e x p a n d s the idea contained in istapurtdm in st. 2 (cf. purtdsya in st. 5 ) ; in A V . xii. 3. 47 we h a v e ahdm pacamy ahdm dadami in the sense of prnanii. T h e f o l l o w i n g statement in G o p . B r . ii. 1 . 5 presents this in m o r e technical f o r m : isti vd etena yad yajate 'tho vd etena purti ya odanah pacyate. Still m o r e f o r m a l i z e d w e h a v e the s a m e idea in s u t r a - f o r m , A p . £ r . x . 1 4 . 5 - 7 , na dargapurnamasabhyam yajate, na dadati, na pacati, with which w e m a y c o m p a r e A p . £ r . iv. 9. 6, with purtam in the p l a c e of pacati". svam ma istam svam dattam svara p>urtam\ cf. a l s o T B . iii. 7. 5. 4 ; xiii. 1 . 5. 6. T h u s the p a s s a g e T S . i. 7. 3. 3, q u o t e d b y Prof. W i n d i s c h (ib. 1 1 6 ) , is p l a c e d in p r o p e r r e l i e f : yajnena vd isti pakvena purti. T h e Hindu grammarians r e g a r d pakvd as the perfect p a s s i v e participle of the root pac,

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and as far as the function of the word is concerned, their observation holds good from the earliest period of the language; pakvd is equal to *paktd, and the pakv&h sc. odandli (RV. viii. 77. 6) is the original purtarn, the daksina in its simplest form. Cf. the odandm pacydmanam in RV. viii. 69. 14, and in general AV. iv. 34- 3. 4 5 35- 1. 2, 7; xi. 1. 1, 33, 37; xii. 3. 4, 5, 12, 27. As late, e. g., as Paragara-smrti xi. 47, 49 the sinfulness of not cooking for priests is animadverted upon. This homely present quickly swells out in the schemes of the priests into pdncaudana (AV. iv. 14. 7 ; ix. 5. 8, 37), gata.uda.na (AV. x. 9. 4),1 and in the danastutis and the Qrauta-ritual the ingenuity of the Brahmans fairly exhausts itself in the variety and magnificence of the presents demanded, and reported to have been freely bestowed by liberal patrons in the past. Yet another word—namely, graddha—claims attention here, because it is definitely allied to the istapurtam. The word means primarily 'faith, religious faith,' e . g . RV. ii. 12. 5; or, more explicitly, AV. xi. 2. 28 ydli graddddhati sdnti deva Iii' he who believes the gods exist.' But Vedic India is nothing if not practical, and this abstract 'faith' is soon pointed towards 'works.' Hence the frequent juxtaposition of graddha on the one hand •w\l\iyajna, or derivatives of the r o o t s y a j and hu (RV. x. 151. 1 ; v. 44. 16; vii. 6. 3; AV. x. 2. 19; 6. 4; xv. 7. 4, 5 ; Maitr. S. iv. 8. 1 [p. 107, 1. 7] ; TS. vii. 1. 8. 2; TB. iii. 2. 5. 9; Mundaka Up. i. 2. 2) •; on the other hand with daksina and the root da (RV. x. 151. 2; AV. ix. 5. 7 ; xi. 8. 22; £B. xiv. 6. 9. 22 = Brh. Ar. Up. iii. 9. 21). In AV. xv. 16. 4 ff. we have graddha correlated with yajna and daksina both. Thus the practical meaning of graddha is not so much abstract 'faith' as 'desire to perform holy work' ('opferwilligkeit'), which renders one yajnakama and purtikama (iqtapurta). In Gop. Br. i. 1. 39 we have the full sequence that leads from graddha ' t h e faith that manifests itself in works' to the climax daksina ' f e e ' : graddha, dlksa 'consecration for the sacrifice,' yajna 'sacrifice,' and daksina 'fee.' From this use of the word comes the derivative graddha 'sacrifice to the manes.' It is this, not abstract faith, that induces Naciketas, when yet a child he is seized by graddha (Jam ha kumdram santam . . . graddha vivega), to ask that he himself shall be given away as a sacrificial gift: TB. iii. 11. 8. 1; Katha Up. i. 2. As an illustration of the manner in which this narrower construction oi graddha 1

ydh fatàudanam pacati . . . prltA Ky asya Ttvijaft. sdrve .

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may be helpful in the interpretation of a Vedic passage, I would instance A V . v. 7. 5 : yam yacämy ah am väc a sürasvatyä manoyüjä fraddha tdm adyd vindatu datta so'mena babhrünä. Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III 306, renders: 'den (anteil, den) ich verlange mit der stimme der kräftigen (Sarasvatl) der vom geiste angestrengten, den soll heute £raddhä finden (betätigt) mit dem braunen Soma.' Grill, Hundert Lieder 2 , p. 40, renders: ' W e n ich angehe mit dem spruch, dem redefluss, gedankenvoll, der werd heut inne mein vertraun und nehm den braunen Soma hin.' And Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 272, note, takes fraddha- . . . datta somena babhrünä in the sense ' courage that has been infused by the (exhilarating) brown soma.' All this is wide of the mark : the stanza cannot be understood without realizing that fraddha here means the mental state which leads to pürii, the bestowal of the daksinä. The hymn v. 7 aims to appease the powers of avarice and grudge personified as Aräti {a-räti 'non-liberality'). In st. 5 the priest says: ' Him whom I implore with solemn speech (lit. with Vac Sarasvatl, the goddess of speech), the yoke-fellow of thought, faith (that gains expression in dak§ina) shall overtake to-day, bestowed by the brown soma.' The sacrificer, inspired and made cheerful by the soma, 1 shall, when approached by the suppliant priest, be liberal in his gifts. This is the plain sense.2 In this way the epithet afraddhd ' devoid of fraddha,' used of the Panis, R V . vii. 6. 3, amounts in the end to their characteristic designation, 'stingy.' III.—ON

THE

¿TT. Xey.

rujanäll,

HAPLOLOGY

AND

R V . i. 3 2 . 6 , W I T H A N O T E

ON

HAPLOGRAPHY.3

The hymn containing the word rujanäll is one of the most prominent of the large class which describe the conflict of Indra and the demon of the cloud, Vrtra. The passage in question, R V . i. 32. 6 c, d, reads: * C f . R V . ix. 1 1 3 . 4. 2 C f . Sacred Books, X L I I 424, w h i c h contains the germ of these remarks on f raddhä. W h i l e correcting this proof I was g l a d d e n e d by a reprint of Prof. O l d e n b e r g ' s ' V e d i s c h e Untersuchungen,' Z D M G . L 423 fif., w h i c h contain a similar exposition of fraddhä (p. 448 ff.). T h e almost self-evident truth of these observations needs no securer voucher. 3 A n abstract of this paper was printed in the Proc. A m e r . O r . Soc., A p r i l , 1893 (Journal, vol. X V I , pp. xxxii ff.).

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413

na Hand asya sdmrtim vadhanam sdrn rujanah pipisa indragairuh. ' (Vrtra) has not survived the blow of his (Indra's) weapons,' etc. The fourth pada is rendered by Grassmann: ' im Sturz zerbrach der Indrafeind die Kliifte'; Ludwig translates: 'die gebrochenen burgen zermalmte er (selber noch im sturze) des feind gott Indra.' Both translators ignore the native treatment of the word. In Yaska's Naighantuka i. 13 = Kautsavaya 30,1 it occurs in a list of words for 'river,' and in Yaska's Nirukta vi. 4 we have, more explicitly, rujana nadyo bhavanti rujanti kulani'' 'the rujanah are rivers; they break (ruj) the banks.' This purely etymological rendering is adopted by Sayana: indrena hato nadlsu patitah san . . . vrtradehasya patena nadinam kulani tatratyapa§anadikam curnibhutam. Even at the time of the present arrangement of the naighantuka there must have been some perplexity, for the word occurs a second time in Naigh. iv. 3, in one of those lists which even in Yaska's time stood in need of especial elucidation. And Madhava, in explaining the parallel passage at T B . ii. 5. 4. 4, renders quite differently: bhangam prapnuvantih svaklya eva senah, . . . vajrena hato bhumau patan san samlpavartinah sarvan furan curnikrtavan ' his own armies while they are perishing, all the heroes standing near, (Vrtra) slain by the bolt, falling upon the ground, has ground to pieces'; here rujanah is explained by bhangam prapnuvantih, . .. senah, in a manner totally different from the Nirukta. But all these translations are certainly incorrect, because they make rujanah an accusative dependent upon sdmpipise, which is thus forced to assume the function of a middle with active value. Every occurrence of the word in the Rig-Veda and the Atharva-Veda, and, so far as is known, every Vedic occurrence of the word, goes to show that the middle does not occur with active value; only the active occurs; see especially Grassmann's Lexicon and Whitney's Index Verborum. Thus sdm pipisa indragatruh cannot mean anything else but 'he who had Indra as his enemy was crushed.' This grammatical consideration is supported to perfection by the facts otherwise known in the case: Vrtra never crushes anything; on the other hand, sdm pis is used especially of Indra, and most 1 S e e the writer in Proc. A m e r . O r . Soc., October, 1890 (Journal, vol. X V , p. xlviii).

® Cf. under Panini ii. 3. 54 nadl kulani rujati.

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frequently when he crushes cloud-demons; e. g. R V . iii. 18. 9 giro dasasya sdm pinak \ iii. 3 0 . 8 ahastdm. indra sdm pinak kiinärum.; iv. 30. 1 3 püro yad asya (sc. güsnasya) sampinak ; vi. 1 7 . loyena nävantam. dhim sampinak-, viii. 1 . 28 tvdm piiram . . .

güsnasya sdm pinak. One may say that but for the presence of rujanah in the päda, no one would have ever thought of regarding sdm pipi§e as an active. W e are thus constrained to search in rujanah, for a nom. sg. in agreement with the subject of the sentence. Another point strongly claims recognition. T h e root ruj, simple as well as with various prepositions, figures v e r y prominently in descriptions of the injuries which Indra inflicts upon demons, and it seems very natural to suppose that the word rujanah, here states that such injury was inflicted upon Vrtra b y I n d r a . T h u s R V . x . 89. 6, 7 ( i n d r a h ) grnati vldii rujdti sthirani • • • jaghana vrirdm . . . ruröja pürah-, cf. also i. 6. 5 ; 5 1 . 5 ; i v .

32. 1 0 ; vi. 32. 3 ; ix. 48. 2. vrirdm

parvagö

V e r y similar are R V . viii. 6. 1 3 vi

i. 59. 6 vi vrirdsya

rujän;

. . . pasyä

'riijali;

x.

1 5 2 . 3 = A V . i. 2 1 . 3 = S V . ii. 1 2 1 7 ; also T S . i. 6. 12. 5 vi vrtrdsya hänü ruja. Elsewhere V a l a is treated in the same w a y ; e. g. R V . i v . 50. 5 välain ruroja; R V . vi. 39. 2 rujäd. . . vi vdlasya Sanum.; A V . x i x . 28. 3 hrddli sapätnänäm bhindhi 'ndra iva •virujdn valdm. A t R V . x . 49. 6 sdm . . . dasam vrtraha 'rujam, a n d A V . iv. 24. 2 yö (sc. indro) dänavanäm bälarn ärurdja, the

same theme is treated. A t R V . vi. 22. 6 the words rüjo vi drdha express essentially the same thing, the cleaving of the clouds; cf. also vii. 75. 7 ; viii. 45. 1 3 ; ix. 34. 1. A t R V . vi. 32. 2 we have rujdd

ddrim

(cf. i. 7 2 . 2) ; at R V . vi. 6 1 . 2 arujat

A g a i n , of Indra it is said, R V . x. 84. 3 rujdn 1 0 2 . 4 = A V . vii. 50. 4 prä

fdtrünäm

sanu

. . . gätrün;

maghavan

vfsnyä

girlnam.

R V . i. ruja.

E v e r y additional example strengthens the impression that rujanah, originally stood in agreement with indragairuh, the subject of the sentence, and w e are at once led to the emendation rujänäh, ' b r o k e n ' in the sense of a passive; cf. Delbrück, Altindische S y n t a x , p. 264. But why should the correctly accented and easily intelligible rujanah, have given way to this discordant lectio difficillima with anomalous accent ? T h e sense, too, is tautological in the e x t r e m e : ' V r t r a having been broken was crushed.' T h e root ruj is employed very frequently in connection with parts of the body. Thus we have above the expressions vi vrtrdsya

hd?iil

ruja;

vi

vrträm

parvagd

rujän;

nijad.

. . vi

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415

v&lasya Sanum. In a different connection we have A V . ix. 8. 13, figuratively, yah simanam viruj&nti mürdhanam praty ar§anih 'the pains which break the crown of the head and the h e a d ' ; A V . ix. 8. 18 yah . . . pärünsi viruj&nti; iv. 5. 2. 3 virujya groni. A t Ram. iii. 72. 20 we have paksatundanakhäih, . . . gäträny ärujatä; at Har. 5694 stanän ärujya. With this use are related the very common expressions like mukha-ruj 'pain in the mouth,' Varäh. Br. S. 5. 82; drg-ruj, ibid. 104. 5; aksi-ruj, ibid. 51. 1 1 ; 104. 16; netra-ruj, A K . iii. 4. 26. 203, 'pain in the eyes'; pärfva-ruj, Sujruta i. 165. 9, 'pain in the side'; laläte ca rujä jajne, Räm. iii. 29. 15; giro-ruj, Varäh. Brh. S. 53. 1 1 1 ; firorujä, Mahabh. iii. 16829! iiraso rujä, ibid. 16816. My suggestion, now, is that rujanah, is a compound of a derivative of the root ruj with some designation of a part of the body. It might be = rujänd + as 'having a broken mouth'; but it seems even more likely to be rujänä + näs 'nose.' This would yield *rujänanäs, changed by dissimilation (haplology) to rujanäs.1 T h e word would then mean 'with broken nose.' In stanza 7 of the same hymn the statement is made that Vrtra was broken into many small pieces : purutra vrlro afayad vyastah; which augurs that his nose was not spared in the general catastrophe. Humorous (to our feeling) descriptions of Vrtra's discomfiture abound in the Brähmanas. Thus the Mäitr. S. iv. 7. 4 (p. 97, 1. 18), using this very verb ruj, says: indro väi vrtram ahans tasya yan mürdhanam udarujat sa dronakalafo 'bhavat1 Indra slew Vrtra ; when he broke open his head that became a soma-bucket.' Cf. the variant of this story, T S . vi. 5. 9. 1, and see £ B . i. 6. 3. 16. The falling away of Vrtra's eye-ball is another instance of the attention that is paid to Vrtra's separate remains after he has been dispatched by Indra (see above, p. 406). This explanation, at any rate, yields good sense, and accounts for the anomalous (bahuvrlhi) accentuation of rujanäs. The stem näs 'nose' does not occur out of composition, but it seems to be fairly certain in anas, R V . v. 29. 10: anaso ddsyünr amrno vadMna. T h e padapätha divides an-aso, and both the Petersburg lexicons and Grassmann follow, translating the word by ' without face or mouth.' Ludwig, Der Rig-Veda, II 109, translates 'with 1 See the note on h a p l o l o g y at the end of this article. A bahuvrlhi with a participle in na as the first member w e have in dadr^änd-pavi, yuyujänd-sapti ( W h i t n e y , Sk. Gr. 2 , §1299 c); cf. also uttänd-hasta, uttänd-pad. T h e participle rujänd is to be regarded as b e l o n g i n g to the root-aorist; cf. ib., §840, 6.

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y o u r w e a p o n y o u slew the noseless D a s y u , ' h a v i n g in mind the flat-nosed aborigines. Cf. also his r e m a r k s in the notes, vol. V , p. 95. T h e s a m e interpretation was a d v a n c e d p r e v i o u s l y b y M a x M i i l l e r : see A d . K u h n , D i e H e r a b k u n f t des F e u e r s , p. 59, note. E s p e c i a l l y o n the second assumption ( r u j a n a h — rujandnaff) it is e a s y to understand h o w the composite character of the w o r d m i g h t h a v e been forgotten, and the earliest interpreters driven t o propositions entirely out of a c c o r d with the rest o f the sentence a n d with reasonable sense. Note on Haplology

and

Haplography.

C a s e s of h a p l o l o g y are b y no means so rare in the o l d e r l a n g u a g e as w o u l d a p p e a r from the v e r y few instances that are usually reported. W h i t n e y , S k . Gr. 2 , §1021 b, mentions irddhyai for *iradh-ddhyai, and this is the sole e x a m p l e in illustration of the process mentioned b y B r u g m a n n , Grundriss, I 484. O t h e r e x a m p l e s , in addition to uloka for *ulu-loka from uru-loka (see the next article), a r e : madiigha ' s w e e t - w o o d , licorice' for. *madhu-dugha, *madhugha, w i t h loss of aspiration, both intermediate forms b e i n g found occasionally in the M S S ; s e e e. g . K a u j . 35. 21, note 9 ; trcd a n d trica for *try-rca ' a g r o u p o f t h r e e s t a n z a s ' (so a l r e a d y Y a s k a , Nir. iii. 1 ) ; hiranmdya for *hiranya-maya ' g o l d e n , ' w h e r e the loss of the firstjya b y dissimilation operates across the s y l l a b l e ma1; fiismayd for *fusmamaya, T S . ii. 2. 12. 4, ' f i e r y , ' w h i c h the P e t e r s b u r g lexicon erroneously r e g a r d s as the corruption of a theoretical *fusmya; fivrdha for *feva-wrdha ' k i n d l y , f r i e n d l y ' ( G r a s s m a n n ) ; sddaspdti for *sadasaspd(i 'protector of h o m e ' : c o m p o u n d s with pdti h a v i n g t w o accents r e g u l a r l y exhibit a genitive as the first m e m b e r : fubhds-pdti, br"has-pdti, brdhmanas-pati, and b y imitation vdnas-pdli, jas-pdti, rdthas-pdti; firsakti 'headache' may stand for girsa-sakti 'affection of the h e a d ' from root sac in the sense of 'fasten u p o n ' ; cf. A V . i. 12. 3, w h e r e firsakti and sac occur together alliteratively. T h e last e x a m p l e is b y no means certain. T h e r e is correlation, surely, between this p h e n o m e n o n and the g l i d i n g o v e r of causatives like kqayayami, etc., to the p-type: ksapaydmi, etc.; cf. also the c h a n g e of roh&yami of the M a n t r a s to ropdyami in the B r a h m a n a s . 1 T h e establishment thus of a quasi-stem hiran- has produced the secondary adjective stems, also meaning ' g o l d e n , ' hiranin and hiranvatl\ see W a c k e r nagel, Altindische Grammatik, vol. I, p. 2S0.

THE

INTERPRETATION

OF THE

VEDA.

417

S i n c e the a b o v e was written S a n s k r i t g r a m m a r has b e e n p e r m a n e n t l y enriched b y the publication of the first v o l u m e o f W a c k e r n a g e l ' s substantial and scholarly A l t i n d i s c h e G r a m m a t i k . In §241 ( p p . 278-80) the present subject is dealt with, and c l o s e l y related p h e n o m e n a are discussed also in §53 (p. 59). Wackern a g e l a d d s a n u m b e r of e x a m p l e s to those g i v e n a b o v e , not all o f w h i c h , from the nature of the subject, are e q u a l l y secure. Especially the derivation of apitvä' participation' from api-pitvd1 needs t o be canceled. T h e r e is no suffix -pitvd: the w o r d s e n d i n g in this w a y are c o m p o u n d s o f p i t ü ' f o o d , ' and a r e restricted to the metrical l a n g u a g e , which d o e s not exhibit apitvä at a l l ; s e e Journ. A m e r . O r . S o c . X V I 24 ff. T h e formation of api-ivd is illustrated b y tat-iva ' t h u s - n e s s ' : it is an abstract from api ' t o o , ' m e a n i n g ' t o o - n e s s ' (participation); cf. e x p r e s s i o n s l i k e n& tcisya väcy äpi bhägö asti, R V . x. 71. 6 ; as tu eva me 'pi praside bhägah, £ B . iv. 1. 2. 6.2 O n the other hand, w e m a y note in a d d i t i o n p ä s y o h for päsyayoh, R V . ix. 102. 2; k&nikrat for k&nikradat, n o m . sing, masc. of the participle o f the intensive from the root krand ' s h o u t , ' R V . ix. 63. 20; gru-musti ' f u l l fist,' T S . v . 4. 5. 2, 3, for gurumusti, Mäitr. S . iii. 3. 6 ; didhitäm for dldhlyäthäm, A V . ii. 12. 5 ; pratisthaand pratisthäfor pratitisthaand pratitisthä-, B ö h t l i n g k , B e r i c h t e d e r K ö n i g ] , S a c h s . Gesellschaft der W i s s e n schaften, A p r i l 23, 1 8 9 1 ; p o s s i b l y the p r o p e r n a m e söbhari for saho-bhari ( A u f r e c h t , Z D M G . X L V 305), r e m e m b e r i n g that bh was under certain conditions not v e r y different in pronunciation from h (jabhära, jarbhur, e t c . ) ; valml-kalpa, p r o b a b l y for valmika-kalpa, cited in the £ a b d a k a l p a d r u m a as one of the 30 d a y s w h i c h m a k e u p a m o n t h of B r a h m a 3 ; proksyasi, future for proksisyasi, R a m . ii. 44. 23 (cf. Pet. L e x . , vol. I, col. 8 6 5 ) ; possibly p&ryuktä for p&riyuktä, A V . iv. 19. 2, a c c o r d i n g t o S ä y a n a ' s explanation (viniyuktä 'si).4 H e r e finally b e l o n g s the discussion of the interesting w o r d bhfjvän, in the formula ksuro bhrjvän chandas, T S . iv. 3. 12. 3. T h e parallel texts, e. g . V S . x v . 4 ; £ B . viii. 5. 2. 4 ; M S . ii. 8. 7, etc., read k§uro bhrajag (bhrjaf) chandas. W h a t e v e r the relation of the variants in this 1 A c c o r d i n g to Z u b a t y in the P r o c e e d i n g s of the B o h e m i a n A c a d e m y of Sciences, i8g2, p. 1 0 ; W a c k e r n a g e l , p. 279. 2 T h e derivation of isana ' m o m e n t ' from lisana ' g l a n c e ' ( W a c k e r n a g e l , p. 61) seems to me very u n l i k e l y : it is more l i k e to come from kmim ' b l o w ' ; cf. German ' auf einem schlag,' French ' tout d'un coup.'

3

See Pet. Lex., s. v. kalfa 2) d.

* C f . Sacred B o o k s of the E a s t , vol. X L I I , p. 398.

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formula to one another may be, there can be no doubt that bhrjvan in the T S . is a reduction of bhtirijvan, a derivative with suffix vant from bhurij-. the expression ksuro bhrjvan1 means therefore 'the razor with the strop'; cf. Pischel, Vedische Studien, I, pp. 23Q-43.2 That the tendency towards haplology and haplography exercises a corrupting influence on textual tradition need hardly be stated. In A p . £r. xi. 12. 3 all M S S write cakrima for ca cakrima; in A V . xix. 68. 1 all M S S write dvyasag ca for dvyacasaf ca; in Ait. Br. vii. 13. 14. the expression iti ha sma akhyaya is to be restored to iti ha smasma akhyaya ' having thus narrated to h i m ' ; in Ait. Br. iii. 30. 2 vaci kalpayisyans is perhaps to be emended to vaci cikalpayisyans (desiderative), according to the note in Aufrecht's edition, p. 430. In the light of these phenomena we can understand the defective pada A V . vii. 81. i° vifva 'nyo bhiivana vicaste, when compared with R V . x. 85. i8° vifvany anyo bhiivana 'bhicdste. T h e more noteworthy cases of haplography in the M S S of the Kaugika-sutra are gathered in the introduction to the edition, p. lxi. IV.—THE

MEANING

AND

ETYMOLOGY

OF

ufokfr?

T h e various essays on this expression are instructive alike for the keen philological insight and the inadequate grammatical propositions of their authors. T h e expression is distinctively an archaism in the literature. In the first eight mandalas of the R V . the word lokd occurs only twice without the u preceding : vi. 47. 8; viii. 100. 12.4 W i t h antecedent u the occurrences are i. 93. 6 ; ii. 30. 6; iii. 2. 9 ; 29. 8; 37. 1 1 ; iv. 17. 1 7 ; v. 1. 6 ; 4. 1 1 ; vi. 23. 1

Neither

bhrjvan

nor

bhurijvan

are m e n t i o n e d in the lexicons.

1 w o u l d warn philologists not thoroughly acquainted with the V e d i c l a n g u a g e a g a i n s t copying Grassmann's statement in his lexicon, p. 1415», that afifnat, R V . vii. 28. 3, stands for aficnathat-, the form is a regular reduplicated root-aorist; see W h i t n e y , S k . Gr. 2 , §867. I see also no sufficient reason for r e g a r d i n g the form isanta, R V . i. 134. 5, as an abbreviation of isanania, since the stem isa- is w e l l a u t h e n t i c a t e d : the occurrence of the form imnanta in the same verse renders it l i k e l y that the use of the two stems is i n t e n t i o n a l ; cf. L u d w i g , D e r R i g - V e d a , V 269, 641. 2

3 A n abstract of this paper was printed in the Proc. A m e r . O r . Soc., A p r i l , 1893 (Journal, vol. X V I , pp. x x x v fif.). 4 Correct, a c c o r d i n g l y , Bollensen in Z D M G . X X I I I 607, w h o claims that there is no occurrence of lokd unpreceded by u in the first eight b o o k s ; and M a x M u l l e r , V e d i c H y m n s , S B E . , vol. X X X I I , p. lxxv, w h o notes only viii. 100. 12.

THE INTERPRETATION

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419

3 ; 73. 2; vii. 20. 2; 35. 5 ; 60. 9 ; 84. 2; 99. 4; viii. 15. 4 (here u loka-krtntim). In the ninth book there are two occurrences of simple loka, ix. 1 1 3 . 7, 9; and three of u loka, ix. 2. 8 (u lokakrtniim)-, 86. 21 (u lokakr'i)-, 92. 5 (u lokdm). In the tenth book there are six occurrences of u lokd : x. 13. 2 ; 16, 4; 30. 7 ; 104. 10; 133. 1 (u lokakr'f)-, 180. 3 ; and three occurrences of simple lokd-. x. 14. 9; 85. 27; 90. 14. In addition the tenth book, and that alone, begins to produce compounds in which lokd is the final member: unilokam, in x. 128. 2; jivalokdm, in x. 18. 8; and patilokdm, in x. 85. 43. This shows, on the whole, a perceptible growth of lokd at the expense o f « lokd in the ninth and tenth books; and the A V . continues boldly in the same direction. Here lokd occurs so often as to render a count useless, but « lokd occurs only three times, in one hymn of the Yamabook, xviii. 4. ix, 44, 71, in the obviously archaizing phrase sukr'tdm u lokdm. I do not count three other occurrences which coincide with the RV.—namely, vii. 84. 2 = R V . x. 180. 3; xviii. 2. 8 = R V . x. 16. 4; xviii. 3. 38 = R V . x. 13. 2. The A V . abounds also in compounds in which loka forms the second member; see Index Verborum, p. 257a. In the Yajus-texts, both u lokd and lokd occur; but we have no means of controlling their frequency or proportion. We have surabha u lokd in VS. xii. 35 = T S . iv. 2. 3. 2 = MS. ii. 7. 1 0 ; vi. 8. 2. 3 1 ; sukftam u lokdm in VS. xviii. 52 = TS. iv. 7. 13. 1 = MS. ii. 12. 3 ; and in VS. xviii. 58; QB. j x< 1. 45; svam u lokam, T&it. Ar. vi. 5. 1. The parallel of VS. xviii. 58 in TS. v. 7. 7. 1 has sukftasya lokdm instead of sukftam. u lokdm. That is precisely the favorite manner in which the AV. manages to circumvent the archaism ; see e. g. iv. 1 1 . 6; 14. 6; vi. 119. 1 ; 120. 1 ; 121. 1, 2; vii. 83. 4; xi. 1. 8, 37, etc. In VS. xi. 22 = MS. ii. 7. 2 occurs the pada akali su lokdm siikrtam prthivyam, which is varied in TS. iv. 1. 2. 4 to dkali sd lokdm siikrtam prthivyah. Both sti and sd are modern variants of u; and they testify that the combination u lokd had become perplexing. It is to be noted also that the compound lokakr't, which is preceded by u in the two sole occurrences in the R V . (ix. 86. 21 ; x. 133. 1), occurs in other texts always without u\ A V . xviii. 3. 25; TS. i. 1. 12. 1 ; TB. iii. 7. 2. 10; Agv. Qr. iv. 13. 5. Most Vedic scholars have recognized the unusual character of u before loka. In many cases it makes no sense; and in R V . iii. 1

T h e same expression occurs in R V . v. 1 . 6 .

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2. g; 37. I i ; v. 4. 1 1 ; viii. 15. 4 ; ix. 2. 8 it stands at the b e g i n n i n g of a päda, in defiance of the rule that enclitics cannot stand at the b e g i n n i n g o f a n y verse-line. 1 T h e r e is no connection from w h i c h u lokd, r e g a r d e d as t w o words, c o u l d h a v e p r o p a g a t e d s e c o n d a r i l y 2 ; h e n c e all the interpreters h a v e a g r e e d to a s s u m e ulokd as a single w o r d , misunderstood b y the p a d a p ä t h a and the P r ä t i f ä k h y a o f the R V . , o w i n g to the o c c u r r e n c e of loka in the s a m e text. A d a l b e r t K u h n , Indische S t u d i e n , I 350 ff., after c o m p a r i n g lokd with L i t h . and O l d Pruss. laukas, Lettish lauko, all m e a n i n g ' o p e n space, field,' L o w G e r m , louch, loch ' v i l l a g e , ' d e r i v e s the word from S k . urü, elpi-s, and sees in the u a trace of the fuller form of the stem, w h i c h w a s lost for reasons not stated. Roth, in his E r l ä u t e r u n g e n z u m N i r u k t a , p. 34, thinks that u of ulokd m a y be the rest of the preposition ud (ul-lokd). T h e Pet. L e x . s u g g e s t s that the w o r d is a d e r i v a t i v e from the root rue ' s h i n e , ' p r e c e d e d b y a preposition u, a r e d u c e d form of ava. Bollensen, Z D M G . X V I I I 607 ff., X X I I 580, derives it from an a d j e c t i v e *urv-anc, t h r o u g h the w e a k stem *urvac, e x t e n d e d into an a-stem *urvaka, *uroka. A s c o l i , C o r s i di G l o t t o l o g i a , p. 236 ( G e r m a n translation, p. 1 9 5 ) ; F i c k , V e r g l e i c h e n d e s W ö r t e r b u c h (all edit i o n s : fourth, vol. I, p. 122), a n d Joh. S c h m i d t , V o c a l i s m u s , I I 220, a s s u m e a phonetic d e v e l o p m e n t of u out of the initial I. G r a s s m a n n modifies the v i e w of the Pet. L e x . b y s u p p o s i n g a reduplicated stem *ruroka w h i c h lost the r o f the r e d u p l i c a t i n g syllable. F i n a l l y A u f r e c h t , Z D M G . X L I I 152, assumes that ulokd is r e d u c e d from uru-lokd. T h e g e r m of w h a t s e e m s to us the true explanation is contained in K u h n ' s and A u f r e c h t ' s v i e w s : there is s o m e connection b e t w e e n ulokd and the w o r d urü. T h e following statements a n d conclusions w e r e written out without a k n o w l e d g e of A u f r e c h t ' s brief note, and the independent arrival o f both o f us at the s a m e result m a y impart an element of security to the construction. W e m a y a s s u m e the s i m p l e stem lokd, and a d e s c r i p t i v e c o m 1 H e n c e the Rigveda-Präti