10. Bounteous givers, you possess whole strength, whole power, ye shakers (of the world). Send, O Maruts, against the wrathful enemy of the poets an enemy, like an arrow.1 if mana could be taken in the sense of measure, i. e. shape or form, but this is doubtful. generally means body or Verse 1, note 2. Várpas, which form, is here explained by praise. Gesang, Gebet); Langlois, maison. much reason, has been compared to be taken in a more general sense. Thus vi. 44, 14, asyá madé purú várpâmsi vidvẩn, is applied to Indra as knowing many schemes, many thoughts, many things, when he is inspired by the Soma-juice. Verse 3, note. Benfey takes ví yâthana in a causative sense, you destroy, you cause the trees to go asunder. But even without assigning to yâ a causative meaning, to go through, to pierce, would convey the idea of destruction. In some passages vi-yâ is certainly used in the simple sense of passing through, without involving the idea of destruction: viii. 73, 13. ráthah viyấti ródasî (íti). Your chariot which passes through or between heaven and earth. In other passages the mere passing across implies conquest and destruction: i. 116, 20. vi-bhindúnâ...........ráthena ví párvatân........ayâtam. On your dissevering chariot you went across the mountains (the clouds). In other passages, however, a causative meaning seems equally, and even more applicable: viii. 7, 23. ví vritrám parva-sáh yayuh ví párvatân. They passed through Vritra piecemeal, they passed through the mountains (the clouds); or, they destroyed Vritra, cutting him to pieces, they destroyed the clouds. Likewise i. 86, 10. ví yâta vísvam atrínam. Walk athwart every evil spirit, or destroy every evil spirit! We must scan vi yathana vaninah prithivyâh. Verse 3, note. It might seem preferable to translate ẩsâh párvatânâm by the spaces of the clouds, for párvata means cloud in many places. Yet here, and still more clearly in verse 5, where párvata occurs again, the object of the poet is to show the strength of the Maruts. In that case the mere shaking or bursting of the clouds would sound very tame by the side of the shaking and breaking of the forest trees. Vedic poets do not shrink from the conception that the Maruts shake even mountains, and Indra is even said to have cut off the mountain tops: iv. 19, 4. áva abhinat kakúbhah párvatânâm. In the later literature, too, the same idea occurs: Mahâbh. Vana-parva, v. 10974, dyauh svit patati kim bhûmir dîryate parvato nu kim, does the sky fall? is the earth torn asunder, or the mountain? Verse 4, note1. Sâyana was evidently without an authoritative explanation of tánâ yuga. He tries to explain it by 'through the union of you may strength to resist be quickly extended.' Wilson: May your collective strength be quickly exerted.' Benfey takes tánâ as adverb and leaves out yuga: 'Zu allen Zeiten, O Furchtbarn!-sei im Nu zu überwält❜gen euch die Macht.' Yuga, an instrumental, if used together with another instrumental, becomes in the Veda a mere preposition :`cf. vii. 43, 5; 95, 4. râyấ yugã; x. 83, 3. tápasâ yugẩ; x. 102, 12. vádhrinâ yugẩ; vii. 32, 20. púram-dhyâ yugấ; vi. 56, 2. sákhyâ yuga; viii. 68, yuga. As to the meaning of tán, see B. R. s. v., where tán in our passage is explained as continuation. The offspring or race of the Maruts is mentioned again in the next verse. 9. tva Verse 4, note. Nú kit â-dhríshe might possibly be taken as an abrupt interrogative sentence, viz. Can it be defied? Can it be resisted? See v. 87, 2: tát vah marutah ná â-dhríshe sávah. Your strength, O Maruts, is not to be defied. Verse 5, note1. Large trees of the forest are called the kings or lords of the forest. Verse 6, note 1. Práshti is explained by Sâyana as a sort of yoke in the middle of three horses or other animals, harnessed in a car; róhita as a kind of red deer. Hence Wilson remarks that the sense may be, 'The red deer yoked between them aids to drag the car.' But he adds that the construction of the original is obscure, and apparently rude and ungrammatical. Benfey translates, ‘Sie führt ein flammenrothes Joch,' and remarks against Wilson that Sâyana's definition of práshti as yoke is right, but that of róhita as deer, wrong. If Sâyana's authority is to be invoked at all, one might appeal from Sâyana in this place to Sâyana viii. 7, 28, where práshti is explained by him either by quick or by pramukhe yugyamânah, harnessed in front. The verse is yát eshâm príshatîh ráthe práshtih váhati róhitah. When the red leader draws or leads their spotted deer in the chariot. vi. 47, 24. práshtih is explained as tripada âdhârah; tadvad vahantîti prashtayo 'svâh. In i. 100, 17, práshtibhih, as applied to men, means friends or supporters, or, as Sâyana explains, pârsvasthair anyair rishibhih. Verse 7, note1. Kanva, the author of the hymn. Verse 8, note 1. A very weak verse, particularly the second line, which Wilson renders by, Withhold from him food and strength and your assistance.' Benfey translates ábhva very happily by Ungethüm. Verse 9, note1. The verb dadá is the second pers. plur. of the perfect of dâ, and is used here in the sense of to keep, to protect, as is well shown by B. and R. s. v. dâ 4, base dad. Sâyana did not understand the word, and took it for an irregular imperative; yet he assigned to the verb the proper sense of to keep, instead of to give. Hence Wilson: 'Uphold the sacrificer Kañva.' Benfey, less correctly, 'Den Kanva gabt ihr,' as if Kanva had been the highest gift of the Maruts. Verse 9, note 2. The simile, as lightnings go to the rain, is not very telling. It may have been suggested by the idea that the lightnings run about to find the rain, or the tertium comparationis may simply be the quickness of lightning. Wilson: As the lightnings bring the rain.' Benfey: (So schnell) gleichwie der Blitz zum Regen kömmt.' Lightning precedes the rain, and may therefore be represented as looking about for the rain. Verse 10, note 1. Wilson: Let loose your anger.' Sâyana: Let loose a murderer who hates.' Pari-manyú, which occurs but once in the Rig-veda, corresponds as nearly as possible to the Greek περίθυμος. Manyú, like Ovμós, means courage, spirit, anger; and in the compound parimanyú, as in Teρioυμos, the preposition pári seems to strengthen the simple notion of the word. That pári is used in that sense in later Sanskrit is well known; for instance, in parilaghu, perlevis, parikshâma, withered away: see Pott, Etymologische Forschungen, second edition, vol. i. p. 487. How pári, originally meaning round about, came to mean excessive, is difficult to explain with certainty. It may have been, because what surrounds. exceeds, but it may also have been because what is done all around a thing is done thoroughly. Thus we find in the Veda, viii. 75, 9, pári-dveshas, lit. one who hates all around, then a great hater : mã nah pári-dveshasah amhatíh, ûrmíh ná nẩvam a vadhît. May the grasp of the violent hater strike us not, as the wave strikes a ship. Again, pari-sprídh means literally one who strives round about, then an eager enemy, a rival (fem.): ix. 53, 1. nudásva yẩh pari-sprídhah. Drive away those who are rivals. Pari-krosá means originally one who shouts at one from every side, who abuses one roundly, then an angry reviler. This word, though not mentioned in B. R.'s Dictionary, occurs in i. 29, 7. sárvam pari-krosám gahi. Kill every reviler! The same idea which is here expressed by pari-krosá, is in other places expressed by pari-ráp, lit. one who shouts round about, who defies on every side, a calumniator, an enemy. ii. 23, 3. a vi-bādhya pari-rápah. Having struck down the enemies. ii. 23, 14. ví pari-rápah ardaya. Destroy the enemies. In the same way as words meaning to hate, to oppose, to attack, are strengthened by this preposition, which conveys the idea of round about, we also find words expressive of love strengthened by the same preposition. Thus from prîtáh, loved, we have pári-prîtah, lit. loved all round, then loved very much: i. 190, 6. pári-prîtah ná mitráh; cf. x. 27, 12. We also find ix. 72, 1. pari-príyah, those who love fully or all around, which may mean great lovers, or surrounding friends. In all these cases the intensifying power of pári arises from representing the action of the verb as taking place on every side, thoroughly, excessively; but in other cases, mentioned by Professor Pott, particularly where this preposition is joined to a noun which implies some definite limit, its magnifying power is no doubt due to the fact that what is around, is outside, and therefore beyond. Thus in Greek περίμετρος expresses the same idea as ὑπέρμετρος (loc. cit. p. 488), but I doubt whether pári ever occurs in that sense in Sanskrit compounds. |