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sákhin ákkha sakhâyah, mánmâni kitrâh api-vâtáyantah eshẩm bhûta návedâh me ritẩnâm.

Agastyah.

14. A yát duvasyất duváse ná kârúh asmẩn kakré mânyásya medha, ó (íti) sú varta marutah vípram ákkha ima bráhmâni garita vah arkat. imấ

Agastyah.

15. Esháh vah stómah marutah iyám gîh mândâryásya mânyásya kâróh, a isha yâsîshta tanvẽ vayẩm vidyama ishám vrigánam gîrá-dânum.

friends; wonderful (divinities), be to them the means of acquiring riches; and be not uncognisant of my merits.

LANGLOIS (Le poëte parle): Quel est celui qui vous chante en ce moment, ô Marouts? Soyez-nous agréables, et venez vers des amis. D'un souffle propice favorisez nos vœux. Possesseurs de biens variés, daignez visiter notre sacrifice.

14. WILSON: Since the experienced intellect of a venerable (sage), competent to bestow praise upon (you), who deserve praise, has been exerted for us: do you, Maruts, come to the presence of the devout (worshipper) who, glorifying (you), worships you with these holy rites.

LANGLOIS: Si la science d'un sage nous a, comme un

COMMENTARY.

According to the Anukramanikâ this hymn is a dialogue between Agastya, the Maruts, and Indra. A careful consideration of the hymn would probably have led us to a similar conclusion, but I doubt whether it would have led us to adopt the same distribution of the verses among the poet, the Maruts, and Indra, as that adopted by the author of the

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hither, O friends, towards your friends. Ye brilliant Maruts, cherish these prayers, and be mindful of these my rites.

14. The wisdom of Mânya has brought us to this, that he should help as the poet helps the performer of a sacrifice: bring (them) hither quickly! Maruts, on to the sage! these prayers the singer has recited for you.1

15. This your praise, O Maruts, this your song comes from Mândârya, the son of Mâna,' the poet. Come hither with rain! May we find for ourselves offspring, food, and a camp with running water.

artiste habile, façonnés au culte pompeux que nous rendons, ô Marouts, traitez avec bonté l'homme qui, par ses prières et ses chants, vous a honorés.

15. WILSON: This praise, Maruts, is for you: this hymn is for you, (the work) of a venerable author, capable of conferring delight (by his laudations). May the praise reach you, for (the good of your) persons, so that we may (thence) obtain food, strength, and long life.

LANGLOIS: O Marouts, cet éloge et cet hymne d'un respectable poëte s'addressent à vous. Il a voulu vous plaire. Venez avec l'abondance, en étendant vos réseaux. Que nous connaissions la prospérité, la force et l'heureuse vieillesse !

Anukramanikâ. He assigns the first two verses to Indra, the third, fifth, seventh, and ninth to the Maruts, the fourth, sixth, eighth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth to Indra, and the three concluding verses to Agastya. I think that the two verses in the beginning, as well as the three concluding verses, belong certainly to Agastya or to whoever else the real performer of the sacrifice may have been. The two verses in the beginning cannot be ascribed to Indra,

sikhin ákkha sakhâyah, mánmâni kitrâh api-vâtáyantah eshẩm bhûta návedâh me ritấnâm.

Agastyah.

14. A yát duvasyất duváse ná kârúh asmẩn kakré mânyásya medha, ó (íti) sú varta marutah vípram ákkha ima bráhmâni garita vah arkat.

Agastyah.

15. Esháh vah stómah marutah iyám gîh mândâryásya mânyásya kâróh, a isha yâsîshta tanvẽ vayẩm vidyama ishám vrigánam gîrá-dânum.

friends; wonderful (divinities), be to them the means of acquiring riches; and be not uncognisant of my merits.

LANGLOIS: (Le poëte parle): Quel est celui qui vous chante en ce moment, ô Marouts? Soyez-nous agréables, et venez vers des amis. D'un souffle propice favorisez nos vœux. Possesseurs de biens variés, daignez visiter notre sacrifice.

14. WILSON: Since the experienced intellect of a venerable (sage), competent to bestow praise upon (you), who deserve praise, has been exerted for us: do you, Maruts, come to the presence of the devout (worshipper) who, glorifying (you), worships you with these holy rites.

LANGLOIS: Si la science d'un sage nous a, comme un

COMMENTARY.

According to the Anukramanikâ this hymn is a dialogue between Agastya, the Maruts, and Indra. A careful consideration of the hymn would probably have led us to a similar conclusion, but I doubt whether it would have led us to str adopt the same distribution of the verses among_the_post the Maruts, and Indra, as that adopted by the author

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hither, O friends, towards your friends. Ye brilliant Maruts, cherish these prayers, and be mindful of these my rites.

14. The wisdom of Mânya has brought us to this, that he should help as the poet helps the performer of a sacrifice: bring (them) hither quickly! Maruts, on to the sage! these prayers the singer has recited for you.

15. This your praise, O Maruts, this your song comes from Mândârya, the son of Mâna,' the poet. Come hither with rain! May we find for ourselves offspring, food, and a camp3 with running water.

artiste habile, façonnés au culte pompeux que nous vous rendons, ô Marouts, traitez avec bonté l'homme qui, par ses prières et ses chants, vous a honorés.

15. WILSON: This praise, Maruts, is for y.a: this hymn is for you, (the work) of a venerable author, capable of conferring delight (by his laudations). May the praise reach you, for (the good of your) persons, so that we may the tain food, strength, and long life.

LANGLOIS: O Marouts, cet éloge et cet hymne d'az, regene table poëte s'addressent à vous. Il a voulu vos pare. Vis2 avec l'abondance, en étendant vos réseau Que site (G naissions la prospérité, la force et l'heureuse !

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who, to judge from his language, would never say: 'By what strong devotion may we delight the Maruts?' It might seem, in fact, as if the three following verses, too, should be ascribed to the sacrificer, so that the dialogue between Indra and the Maruts would begin only with the sixth verse. The third verse might well be addressed to Indra by the sacrificer, and in the fourth verse we might see a description of all that he had done for Indra. What is against this view, however, is the phrase prábhritah me ádrih. If used by the sacrificer, it might seem to mean, 'my stone, i. e. the stone used for squeezing the Soma, has been brought forth.' But though Professor Roth assigns this meaning to prábhrita in our passage, I doubt whether, in connection with ádri, or with vágra, prábhrita can mean anything but hurled. Thus we read:

i. 61, 12. asmaí ít ûm (íti) prá bhara—vritrẩya vágram. Hurl thou, Indra, the thunderbolt against this Vritra. v. 32, 7. yát îm vágrasya prá-bhritau dadabha.

When Indra conquered him in the hurling of the thunderbolt.

I therefore suppose the dialogue to begin with verse 3, and I find that Langlois, though it may be from different reasons, arrived at the same conclusion.

There can be little doubt that the other verses, to verse 12, are rightly apportioned between Indra and the Maruts. Verse 12 might perhaps be attributed again to the worshipper of the Maruts, but as there is no absolute necessity for assigning it to him, it is better to follow the tradition and to take it as the last verse of Indra's speech. It would seem, in fact, as if these ten verses, from 3 to 12, formed an independent poem, which was intended to show the divine power of the Maruts. That their divine power was sometimes denied, and that Indra's occasional contempt of them was well known to the Vedic poets, will become evident from other hymns. This dialogue seems therefore to have been distinctly intended to show that, in spite of occasional misunderstandings between the Maruts and the all-powerful Indra, Indra himself had fully recognized their power and accepted their friendship. If we suppose that this dialogue was repeated at sacrifices in honour of the

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