tains Brihaspati in abundance, who praises and magnifies him as (a deity) entitled to the first distinction, overcomes all hostile powers by his force and valour."

x. 68, 6. Yadā Valasya piyato jasum bhed Brihaspatir agnitapobhir arkaiḥ | dadbhir na jihvā parivishṭam ādad āvir nidhīn akṛinod usriyānām 7..... andera bhittva śakunasya garbham ud usriyāḥ parvatasya tmanā "jat | 8 (= Nir. x. 12). Aśnāpinaddham madhu pary apaśyad matsyam na dīne udani kshiyantam | nish ṭaj jabhāra chamasam na erikshad Brihaspatir viravena vikṛitya | 9. Soshām avindat saḥ svaḥ so Agnim so arkena vi babādhe tamāmsi | Brihaspatir govapusho Valasya nir majjānam na parvano jabhāra |

"When Brihaspati clove with fiery gleams the defences of the malignant Vala, as the tongue devours that which has been enveloped by the teeth, he revealed the treasures of the cows. 7. . . . As if splitting open eggs, the productions of a bird, he by his own power drove out the cows from the mountain. 8. He beheld the sweet liquid enveloped by rock, like a fish swimming in shallow water; Brihaspati brought it out, like a spoon from a tree, having cloven (Vala) with his shout. 9. He discovered the Dawn, the Sky, Agni; with his gleam he chased away the darkness; Brihaspati smote forth, as it were, the marrow from the joints of Vala, who had assumed the form of a bull."

i. 40, 5. Pra ninam Brahmanaspatir mantram vadati ukthyam | yasminn Indro Varuno Mitro Aryamā devāḥ okāmsi chakrire | 6. Tam id vochema vidatheshu sambhuvam mantram devaḥ anehasam | "5. Brahmanaspati now utters a laudatory hymn, in which Indra, Varuna, Mitra, the gods, have taken up their abode. 6. This spotless hymn, bringing good fortune, may we, o gods, utter on the festivals." 409

i. 190, 1. Anarvūnam vṛishabham mandrajihvam Brihaspatim vardhaya navyam arkaiḥ | gāthānyaḥ surucho yasya devāḥ āśṛinvanti navamānasya martāḥ | 2. Tam ṛitviyāḥ upa vāchaḥ sachante sargo yo na devayatām asarji "1. Magnify Brihaspati, the irresistible, the vigorous, the pleasant-tongued, who ought to be praised with hymns, a shining leader of songs to whom both gods and men listen when he utters

verses:

|

409 In the dissertation quoted above, p. 74, Professor Roth remarks on these "The thunder is his (Brahmanaspati's) voice. This voice of thunder, again, as the voice of the superintendent of prayer, is by a beautiful transference brought into connection with the prayer which, spoken on earth, finds, as it were, its echo in the heights of heaven."

praise. 2. To him proceed well-ordered words, like a stream of devout men which has been set in motion."

v. 43, 12. Ā vedhasam nīlapṛishṭham brihantam Brihaspatim sadane sadayadhvam sadadyonim dame a didivāmsam hiranyavarnam arusham sapema "Seat on the sacrificial ground the wise, the dark-backed, the mighty Brihaspati. Let us reverence the golden-hued ruddy god who sits on our hearth, who shines in our house."

z. 98, 7. Devaśrutam vṛishṭivanim rarāno Brihaspatir vācham asmai ayachhat "Brihaspati, fulfilling (his desire), gave him (Devapi) a hymn seeking for rain, which the gods heard."

(2) Parentage and attributes of the god.

Brahmanaspati, or Brihaspati, appears to be described in vii. 97, 8, as the offspring of the two Worlds, who magnified him by their power (devi devasya rodasī janitrī Brihaspatim vavṛidhatur mahitvā); whilst in ii. 23, 17, he is said to have been generated by Tvashtri (see above). He is called a priest, x. 141, 3 (brahmānam cha Brihaspatim); is associated with the Rikvans, or singers (vii. 10, 4; x. 14, 3; compare x. 36, 5; x. 64, 4); is denominated an Angirasa (iv. 40, 1; vi. 73, 1; x. 47, 6); is the generator, the utterer, the lord, the inspirer, of prayer (ii. 23, 1, 2; i. 40, 5; x. 98, 7), who by prayer accomplishes his designs (ii. 24, 3), and mounting the shining and awful chariot of the ceremonial, proceeds to conquer the enemies of prayer and of the gods (ii. 23, 3 f., 8). He is the guide, patron, and protector of the pious, who are saved by him from all dangers and calamities (ibid. verses 4 ff); and are blessed by him with wealth and prosperity (ibid. 9 f.). He is styled the father of the gods, ii. 26, 3 (devānām pitaram); is said to have blown forth the births of the gods like a blacksmith (see above, p. 48); to be possessed of all divine attributes, viśraderya, or viśvadeva (iii. 62, 4; iv. 50, 6); bright, suchi (iii. 62, 5; vii. 97, 7); pure, śundhyu (vii. 97, 7); omniform, viśvarūpa (iii. 62, 6); possessed of all desirable things, visvavāra (vii. 10, 4; vii. 97, 4); to have a hundred wings, satapatra (vii. 97, 7); to carry a golden spear, hiranyavāśī (ibid.; compare ii. 24, 8, where a bow and arrows are assigned to him); to be a devourer of enemies, vṛitrakhāda (x. 65, 10; comp. ri. 78, 3); a leader of armies along with Indra, etc., Indraḥ āsāṁ

meta Brihaspatir Dakshina (x. 103, 8), and armed with an iron axe, which Tvashtri sharpens, śiśīte nūnam paraśum svāyasam yena vṛiśchād etaśo Brahmanaspatiḥ (x. 53, 9); clear-voiced, śuchikranda (vii. 97, 5); a prolonger of life, pratarītā 'si ayushaḥ (x. 100, 5); a remover of disease, amīvahā (i. 18, 2); opulent, revat, vasuvit; an increaser of the means of subsistence, pushtivardhana (i. 18, 2). Plants are said to spring from him, yāḥ oshadhīḥ . . . . Brihaspatiprasūtāḥ (x. 97, 15, 19). He is said in one place to be conveyed by easy-going ruddy horses, tam śagmāso arushāso aśvāḥ Brihaspatim saharaho vahanti (vii. 97, 6).

In one place he is said to have heard the cries of Trita, who had been thrown into a well and was calling on the gods, and to have rescued him from his perilous position, i. 105, 17 (Tritaḥ kūpe avahito devun havate utaye | tat śuśrāva Brihaspatiḥ kṛinvann amhūraṇād uru).

His exploits in the way of destroying Vala, and carrying off the heavenly kine, or releasing the imprisoned waters of the sky, have been sufficiently explained, in the quotation I have made above from Professor Roth's Essay, as well as in the texts which have been translated. He is further, as we have seen, described as holding asunder the ends of the earth (iv. 50, 1).

(3) Whether Brihaspati and Brahmanaspati are identifiable with Agni.

410

Brahmanaspati and Brihaspati are regarded as names of Agni by M. Langlois, in his translation of the Rig-veda, vol. i. p. 249 (note 36), p. 254 (note 83), p. 578 (note 1), and index, vol. iv., under the words.4 Professor Wilson also, in the introduction to the 1st vol. of his translation, p. xxxvii., writes as follows: "Brahmanaspati, also, as far as we can make out his character from the occasional stanzas addressed to him, seems to be identifiable with Agni, with the additional attribute of presiding over prayer. The characteristic properties of this divinity, however, are not very distinctly developed in this portion of the Veda" (see also the notes in pp. 41, 111, 112). In the introduction to his second volume, p. ix. however, Professor Wilson says that, as described in the 2nd ashṭaka of the R.V., Brihaspati, "when treated of separately, is identical with Indra, by his attributes of sending rain (p. 199) and wielding the thunderbolt (p.

10 M. Langlois spells Brihaspati, Vṛihaspati.

284); but he is hymned indiscriminately with Brahmanaspati, who is styled the lord of the Ganas, or companies of divinities, and also, which is in harmony with his former character, chief or most excellent lord of mantras or prayers of the Vedas (p. 262); he also, in some of his attributes, as those of dividing the clouds, and sending rain, and recovering the stolen kine (p. 268) is identical with Indra, although with some inconsistency he is spoken of as distinct from, although associated with, him (p. 270); but this may be a misconception of the scholiast, etc." Finally, Professor Müller (Transl. of R.V. i. 77) states his opinion that "Brahmanaspati and Brihaspati are both varieties of Agni, the priest and purohita of gods and men, and as such he is invoked together with the Maruts, etc.," as he had previously remarked that Agni also is. The verse to which this note refers, R.V. i. 38, 13, is as follows: achha vada tanā girā jarāyai brahmaṇaspatim agnim mitram̃ na darśatam, which Professor Müller renders thus: "Speak out for ever with thy voice to praise the lord of prayer, Agni, who is like a friend, the bright one."

This identification, in the strict sense, of Brahmanaspati with Agni is supported by some texts, but opposed to others. Of the former class are the following:

ii. 1, 3. Tram Agne Indro vṛishabhaḥ satām asi tvam Vishnur urugāyo namasyaḥ | tvam brahmā rayivid brahmanaspate | "Thou, Agni, art Indra, the most vigorous of the good; thou art the wide-striding and adorable Vishnu; thou, o Brahmanaspati (or lord of prayer), art a priest (brahma), the possessor of wealth, etc." Here, although Agni is also identified with Indra and Vishnu, as he is with other deities in the following verses, the connection between him and Brahmanaspati is shown to be more intimate and real by the fact that both the latter word and Agni are in the vocative. In the next passage also Brihaspati, as well as Matariśvan may be regarded as an epithet of Agni, iii. 26, 2. Tam subhram Agnim avase havāmahe vaiśvānaram mātariśvānam ukthyam | Brihaspatim manusho devatataye vipram hotāram atithim raghushyadam | "We call to our succour the bright Agni, the friend of all mankind; Matariśvan, who is worthy to be hymned; Brihaspati, the wise invoker, the guest, swiftly-moving, that he may come to a man's worship of the gods."

The verse above quoted, v. 43, 12, is also alternatively explained of

Agni by Sayana in his remarks: athavā iyam Āgneyī | bṛihataḥ parivṛidhasya karmanaḥ svāmī iti Brihaspatir Agnir uchyate | tathā nīlavarṇa-dhūma-prishṭhatva-sadana-sādana - hiranyavarṇatvādi-lingair apy Agnir eva Brihaspatiḥ | "Or, Agni is the subject of the verse. By Brihaspati, the lord of the grand ceremonial, Agni is denoted. And, further, it is also shown by the marks of having a back of darkcoloured smoke, of being placed on the sacrificial ground, of having a golden hue, etc., that Brihaspati is Agni." And in ii. 2, 7, Agni is besought to make Heaven and Earth favourable to the worshipper by prayer, brahmanaā (prāchi dyārāprithivi brahmanā kridhi). Further, Agni (see above pp. 199 f.), as well as Brahmanaspati and Brihaspati, is called a priest, and both are designated as Angiras, or Āngirasa.

On the other hand, however, Brahmanaspati or Brihaspati is elsewhere distinguished from Agni. Thus in x. 68, 9, Brihaspati is said. to have found out Ushas, the heaven, and Agni, and by a hymn to have chased away the darkness (saḥ ushām avindat saḥ svaḥ so agnim so arkena vi babādhe tamām̃si). In vii. 10, 4, Agni is asked to bring Brihaspati along with Indra, Rudra, Aditi, etc. In the following texts, where a number of different gods are invoked or named together, Agni is mentioned separately from Brahmanaspati or Brihaspati, iii. 20, 5; iv. 40, 1; v. 51, 12 f.; vii. 41, 1; vii. 44, 1; ix. 5, 11; x. 35, 11; x. 65, 1; x. 130, 4; x. 141, 3.