१२८ राजा

128. For auspicious time: with dung-smoke.

राजा
१-४ अङ्गिराः। सोमः, शकधूमः। अनुष्टुप्।

[Atharvān̄giras (nakṣatrarājānam candramasam astāut).—caturṛcam. sāumyam; śakadhūmadevatyam. ānuṣṭubham.’]]

Comment

Except the third verse, this hymn occurs also in Pāipp. xix. Besides the ceremony reported under vs. 1, Kāuś. has the hymn (50. 13) in a general rite for good fortune, with vi. 1, 3-7, 59, etc. etc.; and also, in the chapter of portents (100. 3), in an expiatory ceremony on occasion of an eclipse of the moon (somagrahaṇa, comm.); vs. 3, too, is specially quoted in the aṣṭakā ceremony (138. 8), as accompanying a nineteenth [oblation?].

Translations

Translated: Weber, Omina und Portenta (1858), p. 363; Zimmer, p. 353; Griffith, i. 316; Bloomfield, 160, 532.—Bloomfield had already treated it at length, AJP. vii. 484 ff., and JAOS. xiii. p. cxxxiii (= PAOS., Oct. 1886). A pencilled note on Whitney’s ms. shows that he considered the propriety of rewriting the translation and comment for vi. 128.

Translation

1. When the asterisms made the śakadhū́ma their king, they bestowed on
   him auspicious (bhadrá-) day, saying “This shall be [his] royalty.”

Notes

śakadhū́ma (with irregular but not unparalleled accent: see my Skt.
Gr. §1267 b) means primarily ‘dung-smoke,’ i.e. smoke arising from
burning dung (or else the vapor from fresh dung). According to the
comm., it signifies here the fire from which such smoke arises, and
then, “on account of inseparability from that, a Brahman”; and he quotes
TS. v. 2. 8¹⁻²: “a Brahman is indeed this Agni Vāiśvānara.” The
Kāuśika-Sūtra, in a passage (50. 15, 16) also quoted by the comm., says
that, with this hymn, ‘having laid balls of dung on the joints of a
Brahman friend, one asks dung-smoke, “what sort of day today?” He (of
course, the Brahman*) answers “propitious, very favorable.”’ Prof.
Bloomfield takes śakadhūma to be out-and-out the title of a Brahman,
“weather-prophet”; but this seems not to follow from the Sūtra, also not
from the Anukr., and least of all from the hymn. The Pāipp. version
differs considerably from ours (but nearly agrees with one in an
appendix to the Nakṣatra-kalpa: see Bloomfield, AJP. vii. 485): it reads
yad rājānaṁ śakadhūmaṁ nakṣatrāṇy akṛṇuta: bhadrāham asmāi prā ’yachan
iato rāṣṭram ajāyata. The accent of ásāt in d is not explained by
any known rule. *⌊So Keśava to Kāuś. 50. 16.⌋

What time the heavenly bodies chose the Weather Prophet as their King, They brought him favouring weather, and, Let this be his do- main, they said.

श॒क॒ऽधूम॑म्। नक्ष॑त्राणि। यत्। राजा॑नम्। अकु॑र्वत। भ॒द्र॒ऽअ॒हम्। अ॒स्मै॒। प्र। अ॒य॒च्छ॒न्। इ॒दम्। रा॒ष्ट्रम्। असा॑त्। इति॑। १२८.१।

• सोमः, शकधूमः
• अथर्वाङ्गिरा
• अनुष्टुप्
• राजा सूक्त

आनन्द पाने का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - (यत्) जिस कारण से (नक्षत्राणि) चलनेवाले नक्षत्रों ने (शकधूमम्) समर्थ [सूर्य आदि] लोकों के कँपानेवाले परमेश्वर को (राजानम्) राजा (अकुर्वत) बनाया, और (अस्मै) उसी के लिये (भद्राहम्) शुभ दिन का (प्र अयच्छन्) अच्छे प्रकार समर्पण किया, (इति) इसी कारण से (इदम्) यह जगत् (राष्ट्रम्) उस का राज्य (असात्) होवे ॥१॥

भावार्थभाषाः - जिस परमात्मा के वश में सूर्य आदि लोक और सब नक्षत्र हैं, वही जगत्स्वामी हमें सदा आनन्द देता रहे ॥१॥

टिप्पणी: १−(शकधूमम्) शक्लृ शक्तौ−पचाद्यच्+धूञ् कम्पने−मक्। शकानां समर्थानां सूर्यादिलोकानां कम्पकं परमेश्वरम् (नक्षत्राणि) गमनशीलास्तारागणाः (यत्) यतः (राजानम्) शासकम् (अकुर्वत) कृतवन्ति (भद्राहम्) राजाहःसखिभ्यष्टच्। पा० ५।४।९१। भद्र+अहन्−टच्। पुण्याहं शुभदिनम् (अस्मै) परमेश्वराय (प्र) प्रकर्षेण (अयच्छन्) समर्पितवन्ति (इदम्) जगत् (राष्ट्रम्) तस्य राज्यम् (असात्) भवेत् (इति) हेतोः ॥

Translation

2. Auspicious day ours at noon, auspicious day be ours at evening,
   auspicious day ours in the morning of the days; be night auspicious day
   for us.

Notes

That is, may each of these times be free from omens and influences of
ill-luck. The Ppp. version runs thus: bh. astu nas sāyaṁ bh. prātar
astu naḥ: bh. asmabhyaṁ tvaṁ śakadhūma sadā kṛṇu (as in the appendix to
the Nakṣatra-kalpa just cited).

May we have weather fair at noon, May we have weather fair at eve, Fair weather when the morning breaks, fair weather when the night is come.

भ॒द्र॒ऽअ॒हम्। नः॒। म॒ध्यंदि॑ने। भ॒द्र॒ऽअ॒हम्। सा॒यम्। अ॒स्तु॒। नः॒। भ॒द्र॒ऽअ॒हम्। नः॒। अह्ना॑म्। प्रा॒तः। रात्री॑ भ॒द्र॒ऽअ॒हम्। अ॒स्तु॒। नः॒। १२८.२।

• सोमः, शकधूमः
• अथर्वाङ्गिरा
• अनुष्टुप्
• राजा सूक्त

आनन्द पाने का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - (नः) हमारे लिये (मध्यन्दिने) मध्य दिन में (भद्राहम्) शुभ दिन, (नः) हमारे लिये (सायम्) सायंकाल में (भद्राहम्) शुभ दिन, (नः) हमारे लिये (अह्नाम्) सब दिनों के (प्रातः) प्रातःकाल में (भद्राहम्) शुभ दिन (अस्तु) होवे, (नः) हमारे लिये (रात्री) रात्रि में (भद्राहम्) शुभ दिन (अस्तु) होवे ॥२॥

भावार्थभाषाः - मनुष्य परमेश्वर के अनुग्रह से सब काल में धर्म का आचरण करके सदा आनन्द भोगे ॥२॥

टिप्पणी: २−(भद्राहम्) म० १। शुभकालः (नः) अस्मभ्यम् (मध्यन्दिने) मध्याह्ने (सायम्) सूर्यास्ते (अस्तु) (अह्नाम्) सर्वदिनानाम् (प्रातः) सूर्योदये (रात्री) रात्र्याम् ॥अन्यद् व्याख्यातम्॥

Translation

3. From day-and-night, from the asterisms, from sun-and-moon, do thou, O
   king śakadhū́ma, make auspicious day for us.

Notes

This verse, as already noted, is wanting in Ppp., but its second half
nearly agrees with that of the Ppp. version of vs. 2. The accent in
b should be emended to sūryācandramasā́bhyām, as is read below ⌊see
W’s note⌋ in xi. 3. 34. The first half-verse is metrically irregular.

Fair weather to the day and night, and to the stars and sun and moon. Give favourable weather thou, King, Weather Prophet, unto us.

अ॒हो॒रा॒त्राभ्या॑म्। नक्ष॑त्रेभ्यः। सू॒र्या॒च॒न्द्र॒मसा॑भ्याम्। भ॒द्र॒ऽअ॒हम्। अ॒स्मभ्य॑म्। रा॒ज॒न्। शक॑ऽधूम। त्वम्। कृ॒धि॒। १२८.३।

• सोमः, शकधूमः
• अथर्वाङ्गिरा
• अनुष्टुप्
• राजा सूक्त

आनन्द पाने का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - (शकधूम) हे समर्थ सूर्य आदि लोकों के कँपानेवाले (राजन्) परमेश्वर ! (त्वम्) तू (अस्मभ्यम्) हमारे लिये (अहोरात्राभ्याम्) दिन और रात्रि से, (नक्षत्रेभ्यः) नक्षत्रों से और (सूर्याचन्द्रमसाभ्याम्) सूर्य और चन्द्रमा से (भद्राहम्) शुभ दिन (कृधि) कर ॥३॥

भावार्थभाषाः - मनुष्य सब काल में, सब स्थान में, सब पदार्थों से उपकार लेकर परमेश्वर की महिमा विचारते हुए सदा सुखी रहें ॥३॥

टिप्पणी: ३−(अहोरात्राभ्याम्) अहःसर्वैकदेश०। पा० ५।४।८७। इत्यकारः समासान्तः। अहश्च रात्रिश्च ताभ्यां सकाशात् (नक्षत्रेभ्यः) अश्विन्यादिभ्यः (सूर्याचन्द्रमसाभ्याम्) अकारश्छान्दसः समासान्तः। सूर्यचन्द्राभ्याम् (भद्राहम्) शुभदिनम् (अस्मभ्यम्) अस्मदर्थम् (राजन्) शासितः (शकधूम) म० १। समर्थानां सूर्यादिलोकानां कम्पक (त्वम्) (कृधि) कुरु ॥

Translation

4. Thou who hast made auspicious day for us at evening, by night, also
   by day—to thee as such, O śakadhū́ma, king of the asterisms, [be]
   always homage.

Notes

Ppp. reads akarat at end of a, and prātar for naktam in b.
All the mss. leave akaras unaccented, and SPP. accordingly gives
akaras. in his text; ours emends to ákaras.

One may conjecture that it is the Milky Way, which is not unlike a thin
line of smoke drawn across the sky, that is the real king of the
asterisms, and that its imitation by a column of the heavy smoke of
burning dung is what was relied on to counteract any evil influences
from the asterisms; or the behavior of such smoke, as rising upward or
hanging low, may have been really a weather-sign.

Be worship ever paid to thee, O Weather Prophet, King of Star s, Who gavest us oo weather in the evening and by night and day!

यः। नः॒। भ॒द्र॒ऽअ॒हम्। अक॑रः। सा॒यम्। नक्त॑म्। अथो॒ इति॑। दिवा॑। तस्मै॑। ते॒। न॒क्ष॒त्र॒ऽरा॒ज॒। शक॑ऽधूम। सदा॑। नमः॑। १२८.४।

• सोमः, शकधूमः
• अथर्वाङ्गिरा
• अनुष्टुप्
• राजा सूक्त

आनन्द पाने का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - (यः) जिस तूने (नः) हमारे लिये (सायम्) सायंकाल में, (नक्तम्) रात्रि में (अथो) और (दिवा) दिन में (भद्राहम्) शुभ दिन (अकरः) किया है। (नक्षत्रराज) हे नक्षत्रों के राजा ! (शकधूम) हे समर्थ सूर्य आदि लोकों के कँपानेवाले परमेश्वर ! (तस्मै ते) उस तेरे लिये (सदा) सदा (नमः) नमस्कार होवे ॥४॥

भावार्थभाषाः - मनुष्य सुखनिधि परमात्मा का उपकार साक्षात् करके संसार का उपकार करते हुए उसकी आज्ञा का पालन करें ॥४॥

टिप्पणी: ४−(यः) यस्त्वम् (नः) अस्मभ्यम् (भद्राहम्) म० १। (अकरः) कृतवानसि (सायम्) (नक्तम्) रात्रौ (अथो) अपि च (दिवा) दिवसे (तस्मै) तथाभूताय (ते) तुभ्यम् (नक्षत्रराज) नक्षत्राणां स्वामिन् (शकधूम) म० १। (सदा) सर्वदा (नमः) सत्कारः ॥