Varga XXXVI.

SÚKTA II. (XIX.)

The metre and Rishi are unchanged; AGNI and the MARUTS are

the deities.

1. Earnestly art thou invoked to this perfect rite, to drink the Soma juice. Come, AGNI, with the MARUTS.

2. Nor god nor man has power over a rite (dedicated) to thee, who art mighty. Come, AGNI, with the MARUTS.

3. Who all are divine," and devoid of malignity, and who know (how to cause the descent) of great waters: come, AGNI, with the MARUTS.

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4. Who are fierce, and send down rain, and are unsurpassed in strength: come, AGNI, with the MARUTS.

a Devásah, explained dyotamánáh, shining. By the term 'all' is to be understood the seven troops of the Maruts, as by the text saptagañá vai Marutah.

b Many texts ascribe

in the fall of rain; as, 66

to the Maruts, or winds, a main agency Maruts, you have risen from the ocean; taking the lead, you have sent down rain,- Udirayathá, Marutah samudrato; yúyam vṛishtim varshayathá, puríshiñah.” [V., LV., 5: see Vol. III., p. 335.] Rajas, the word used in the text, means water, or light, or the world.-Nighanťu.

• Here the word is arka: as, according to the Vájasaney's, Apo vá arkah. The term is derived from arch, to worship, and is explained in two other texts: So 'rchann acharat, tasyárchata ápo' jáyanta,-He (Hiranyagarbha) proceeded, worshipping, (after creating the solid earth), and, from him, worshipping, the waters were produced; and, again, Archato vai me kam abhút,-From me, worshipping, water was. Hence the name arka was given to water, or rain.

5. Who are brilliant, of terrific forms, who are possessors of great wealth, and are devourers of the malevolent come, AGNI, with the MARUTS.

6. Who are divinities abiding in the radiant heaven above the sun: come, come, AGNI, with the

MARUTS.

7. Who scatter the clouds, and agitate the sea (with waves): come, AGNI, with the MARUTS.

b

8. Who spread (through the firmament), along with the rays (of the sun), and, with their strength, agitate the ocean: come, AGNI, with the MARUTS. 9. I pour out the sweet Soma juice, for thy drinking, (as) of old. Come, AGNI, with the

MARUTS.

Varga XXXVII.

SECOND ADHYAYA.

ANUVÁKA V. (continued).

SÚKTA III. (XX.)

Metre and Rishi, as before; addressed to the deified mortals named RIBHUS.

1. This hymn, the bestower of riches, has been

" In the heaven (divi, i.e., dyuloke); above the sun nákasyádhi, i.e., súryasyopari). Náka, here explained sun, is, more usually, explained, sky, or heaven.

The influence of the winds upon the sea, alluded to in this and the preceding verse, indicates more familiarity with the ocean than we should have expected from the traditional inland position of the early Hindus.

Varga I.

addressed, by the sages, with their own mouths, to the (class of) divinities having birth."

2. They who created, mentally, for INDRA, the horses that are harnessed at his words, have partaken of the sacrifice performed with holy acts."

a Deváya janmane, literally, to the divine or brilliant birth: but the Scholiast explains the latter, jáyamánáya, being born, or having birth; and the former, devasangháya, a class of divinities, that is, the Ṛibhus, of whom it is only said, that they were pious men, who, through penance, obtained deification, — manushyáh santas tapasá devatwam práptáh. Thanks to the learning and industry of M. Nève, of the University of Louvain, we are fully acquainted with the history and character of the Ribhus, as they appear in different portions of the Rig-veda.—Essai sur le Mythe des Ribhavas. Their origin and actions are, also, narrated in the Niti-manjari, as well as in the notes of Sáyaña on this and other similar passages. The Ribhus were the three sons of Sudhanwan, a descendant (the Niti-manjari says, a son) of Angiras, severally named Ṛibhu, Vibhu, and Vája, and styled, collectively, Ṛibhus, from the name of the elder. Through their assiduous performance of good works,-swapas (su-apas),-they obtained divinity, exercised superhuman powers, and became entitled to receive praise and adoration. They are supposed to dwell in the solar sphere; and there is an indistinct identification of them with the rays of the sun: but, whether typical, or not, they prove the admission, at an early date, of the doctrine that men might become divinities.

b Samibhir yajnam áśata. M. Nève renders it: [ils] ont obtenu le sacrifice par leurs œuvres méritoires; M. Langlois, ils ont entouré le sacrifice de cérémonies (saintes); Mr. Stevenson, they pervade our sacrifice by purificatory rites; Rosen, literally, ceremoniis sacrificium acceperunt. That three simple words should admit of this variety of rendering shows the vagueness of some of the Vaidik expressions. The sense seems to be, they have pervaded, appro

3. They constructed, for the NáSATYAS, a universally-moving and easy car, and a cow yielding milk."

4. The RIBHUS, uttering unfailing prayers," endowed with rectitude, and succeeding (in all pious acts), madea their (aged) parents young.

5. RIBHUS, the exhilarating juices are offered to

priated, or accepted, the sacrifice offered (which last word is understood), with the usual implements and observances (śamibhih, ceremoniis); as Sáyaña, grahachamasádinishpádanarúpaih karmabhir, yajnam, asmadiyam áśata (vyáptavantah), they have pervaded (or accepted) our sacrifice, performed with those acts which are executed by the means of tongs, ladles, and other (utensils employed in making oblations). The expression may, perhaps, obscurely intimate the invention of the implements so used, by the Ribhus; their modification of one of which, at least, is subsequently referred to (v. 6), while other expressions imply mechanical skill.

a

Takshan, for atakshan; literally, they chipped, or fabricated. So, in the preceding verse, they carved (tatakshuh) Indra's horses. There, it is said, they did so mentally (manaśa); but, in this verse, there is no such qualification; and the meaning of the verb implies mechanical formation. The Ribhus may have been the first to attempt the bodily representation of these appendages of Indra and the Aświns.

b Satyamantráh, having, or repeating, true prayers, i.e., which were certain of obtaining the objects prayed for. There is some variety in the renderings, here, also; but it was scarcely necessary, as the meaning is clear enough.

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• Vishti, for vishtayah: according to the Scholiast, vyáptiyuktáh, in which vyápti means, encountering no opposition in all acts, through the efficacy of their true or infallible mantras.

a Akrata, from kri, to make, generally; not, as before, atakshan, to make mechanically.

Varga II.

you, along with INDRA, attended by the MARUTS, and along with the brilliant ADITYAS."

6. The ṚIBHUS have divided into four the new ladle, the work of the divine TWASHTṚI.

b

7. May they, moved by our praises, give, to the offerer of the libation, many precious things, and perfect the thrice seven sacrifices.

a

According to Aswalayana, as quoted by Sáyaña, the libations offered at the third daily (or evening) sacrifice are presented to Indra, along with the Adityas, together with Ṛibhu, Vibhu, and Vája, with Brihaspati and the Viswadevas.

b Twashtri, in the Pauránik mythology, is the carpenter or artisan of the gods: so Sáyaña says, of him, he is a divinity whose duty, with relation to the gods, is carpentry,-devasambandhi takshañavyápárah. Whether he has Vaidik authority of a more decisive description than the allusion of the text does not appear. The same may be said of his calling the Ribhus the disciples of Twashtri,-Twashtuh śishyah Ṛibhavah. The act ascribed to them, in the text, of making one ladle four, has, probably, rather reference to some innovation in the objects of libation, than to the mere multiplication of the wooden spoons used to pour out the Soma juice. The Niti-manjari says, that Agni, coming to a sacrifice which the Ribhus celebrated, became as one of them, and, therefore, they made the ladle fourfold, that each might have his share. © Trir á sáptáni. The Scholiast considers that trih may be applied to precious things, as meaning best, middling, worst; or to sáptáni, seven sacrifices, as classed under three heads. Thus, one class consists of the Agnyádheya, seven ceremonies in which clarified butter is offered on fire; one class consists of the Pákayajnas, in which dressed viands are offered to the Viswadevas and others; and one comprehends the Agnishtoma class, in which libations of Soma juice are the characteristic offering.