i. 191, 7. ádrishtâh kím kaná ihá vah sárve sâkám ní gasyata. Invisible ones, whatever you are, vanish all together! II. We now come to passages in which kaná stands for ka ná, and therefore renders the sentence negative without any further negative particle : ii. 16, 2. yásmât índrât brihatáh kím kaná îm rité. Beside whom, (beside) the great Indra, there is not anything. ii. 24, I2. vísvam satyám magha-vânâ yuvóh ít ẩpah kana prá minanti vratám vâm. Everything, you mighty ones, belongs indeed to you; even the waters do not transgress your law. iii. 30, 1. títikshante abhí-sastim gánânâm índra tvát a káh kaná hí pra-ketáh. They bear the scoffing of men; for Indra, away from thee there is no wisdom. iv. 30, 3. vísve kaná ít anã tvà devasah indra yuyudhuh. Even all the gods together do not fight thee, O Indra. v. 34, 7. duh-gé kaná dhriyate vísvah a purú gánah yáh asya távishîm ákukrudhat. Even in a stronghold many a man is not often preserved who has excited his anger. vii. 83, 2. yásmin âgấ bhávati kím kaná priyám. In which struggle there is nothing good whatsoever. vii. 86, 6. svápnah kaná ít ánritasya pra-yota. Even sleep does not remove all evil. In this passage I formerly took kaná as affirmative, not as negative, and therefore assigned to prayota the same meaning which Sâyana assigns to it, one who brings or mixes, whereas it ought to be, as rightly seen by Roth, one who removes. viii. 1, 5. mahé kaná tvẩm adri-vah párâ sulkẩya deyâm, ná sahásraya ná ayútâya vagri-vah ná satẩya sata-magha. I should not give thee up, wielder of the thunderbolt, even for a great price, not for a thousand, not for ten thousand (?), not for a hundred, O Indra, thou who art possessed of a hundred powers! viii. 51, 7. kada kaná starih asi. Thou art never sterile. viii. 52, 7. kadấ kaná prá yukkhasi. Thou art never weary. viii. 55, 5. kákshushâ kaná sam-náse. Even with my eye I cannot reach them. x. 56, 4. mahimnáh eshâm pitárah kaná îsire. Verse 12, note 6. Considering the particular circumstances mentioned in this and the preceding hymn, of Indra's forsaking his companions, the Maruts, or even scorning their help, one feels strongly tempted to take tyágas in its etymological sense of leaving or forsaking, and to translate, by his forsaking you, or if he should forsake you. The poet may have meant the word to convey that idea, which no doubt would be most appropriate here; but then it must be confessed, at the same time, that in other passages where tyágas occurs, that meaning could hardly be ascribed to it. Strange as it may seem, no one who is acquainted with the general train of thought in the Vedic hymns can fail to see that tyágas in most passages means attack, onslaught; it may be even the instrument of an attack, a weapon. How it should come to take this meaning is indeed difficult to explain, and I do not wonder that Professor Roth in his Dictionary simply renders the word by forlornness, need, danger, or by estrangement, unkindness, malignity. But let us look at the passages, and we shall see that these abstract conceptions are quite out of place: viii. 47, 7. ná tám tigmám kaná tyágah ná drâsad abhí tám gurú. No sharp blow, no heavy one, shall come near him whom you protect. Here the two adjectives tigmá, sharp, and gurú, heavy, point to something tangible, and I feel much inclined to take tyágas in this passage as a weapon, as something that is let off with violence, rather than in the more abstract sense of onslaught. i. 169, 1. maháh kit asi tyágasah varûtẩ. Thou art the shielder from a great attack. iv. 43, 4. káh vâm maháh kit tyágasah abhîke urushyátam mâdhvî dasrâ nah ûtî. Who is against your great attack? Protect us with your help, ye givers of sweet drink, ye strong ones. Here Professor Roth seems to join maháh kit tyágasah abhïke urushyátam, but in that case it would be impossible to construe the first words, káh vâm. i. 119, 8. ágakkhatam krípamânam parâ-váti pitúh svásya tyágasâ ní-bâdhitam. You went from afar to the suppliant, who had been struck down by the violence of his own father. According to Professor Roth tyágas would here mean forlornness, need, or danger. But níbâdhita is a strong verb, as we may see in viii. 64, 2. pada panîn arâdhásah ní bâdhasva mahẩn asi. Strike the useless Panis down with thy foot, for thou art great. x. 18, 11. út svañkasva prithivi ma ní bâdhathâh. Open, O earth, do not press on him (i. e. the dead, who is to be buried; cf. M. M., Über Todtenbestattung, Zeitschrift der D. M. G., vol. ix. p. xv). vii. 83, 6. yátra raga-bhih dasá-bhih ní-bâdhitam prá su-dasam avatam trítsu-bhih sahá. When you protected Sudâs with the Tritsus, when he was pressed or set upon by the ten kings. Another passage in which tyágas occurs is, vi. 62, 10. sánutyena tyágasâ mártyasya vanushyatẩm ápi sîrsha vavriktam. By your covert attack turn back the heads of those even who harass the mortal. Though this passage may seem less decisive, yet it is difficult to see how tyágasâ could here, according to Professor Roth, be rendered by forlornness or danger. Something is required by which enemies can be turned back. Nor can it be doubtful that sîrsha is governed by vavriktam, meaning turn back their heads, for the same expression occurs again in i. 33, 5. párâ kit sîrsha vavriguh té indra áyagvânah yágva-bhih spárdhamânâh. Professor Benfey translates this verse by, Kopfüber flohn sie alle vor dir;' but it may be rendered more literally, 'These lawless people fighting with the pious turned back their heads.' X. 144, 6. evá tát índrah índunâ devéshu kit dhârayâte máhi tyágah. Indeed through this draught Indra can hold out against that great attack even among the gods. x. 79, 6. kím devéshu tyágah énah kakartha. What insult, what sin hast thou committed among the gods? In these two passages the meaning of tyágas as attack or assault is at least as appropriate as that proposed by Professor Roth, estrangement, malignity. There remains one passage, vi. 3, 1. yám tvám mitréna várunah sa-góshâh déva pẩsi tyágasâ mártam ámhah. I confess that the construction of this verse is not clear to me, and I doubt whether it is possible to use tyágasâ as a verbal noun governing an accusative. If this were possible, one might translate, 'The mortal whom thou, O God (Agni), Varuna, together with Mitra, protectest by pushing back evil.' Anyhow, we gain nothing here, if we take tyágas in the sense of estrangement or malignity. If it be asked how tyágas can possibly have the meaning which has been assigned to it in all the passages in which it occurs, viz. that of forcibly attacking or pushing away, we can only account for it by supposing that tyag, before it came to mean to leave, meant to push off, to drive away with violence, (verstossen instead of verlassen.) This meaning may still be perceived occasionally in the use of tyag; e. g. devâs tyagantu mâm, may the gods forsake me! i.e. may the gods drive me away! Even in the latest Sanskrit tyag is used with regard to an arrow that is let off. 'To expel' is expressed by nis-tyag. Those who believe in the production of new roots by the addition of prepositional prefixes might possibly see in tyag an original ati-ag, to drive off; but, however that may be, there is evidence enough to show that tyag expressed originally a more violent act of separation than it does in ordinary Sanskrit. It Verse 13, note 1. Sámsa, masc., means a spell whether for good or for evil, a blessing as well as a curse. means a curse, or, at all events, a calumny : i. 18, 3. ma nah sámsah árarushah dhûrtíh prának mártyasya. Let not the curse of the enemy, the onslaught of a mortal hurt us. i. 94, 8. asmakam sámsah abhí astu duh-dhyah. May our curse fall on the wicked! ii. 26, I. rigúh ít sámsah vanavat vanushyatáh. May the straight curse strike the enemies! Cf. vii. 56, 19. iii. 18, 2. tápa sámsam árarushah. Burn the curse of the enemy! vii. 25, 2. âré tám sámsam krinuhi ninitsóh. Take far away the curse of the reviler! It means blessing: Cf. vii. 34, 12. ii. 31, 6. utá vah sámsam usígâm-iva smasi. We desire your blessing as a blessing for suppliants. May the blessing of the gods come to us! x. 7, 1. urushyá nah urú-bhih deva sámsaih. Protect us, god, with thy broad blessings! ii. 23, 10. mẩ nah duh-sámsah abhi-dipsúh îsata prá susámsâh matí-bhih târishîmahi, Let not an evil-speaking enemy conquer us; may we, enjoying good report, increase by our prayers! Lastly, sámsa means praise, the spell addressed by men to the gods, or prayer: i. 33, 7. prá sunvatáh stuvatáh sámsam âvah. Thou hast regarded the prayer of him who offers libation and praise. x. 42, 6. yásmin vayám dadhimá sámsam índre. Indra in whom we place our hope. Cf. âsams, Westergaard, Radices Linguæ Sanscritæ, s. v. sams. |