०४० मेधा

40. To various divinities: for various blessings.

मेधा।
१-४ ब्रह्माः बृहस्पतिः, विश्वे देवाश्च। १ पराऽनुष्टुप् त्रिष्टुप्, २ पुरः ककुम्मत्युपरिष्टाद्बृहती, ३ बृहतीगर्भा, ४ त्रिपदाऽर्षी गायत्री।

[Brahman.—caturṛcam. bārhaspatyam uta vāiśvadevam. ānuṣṭubham: 1. parānuṣṭup triṣṭubh; 2. puraḥkakummaty upariṣṭādbṛhatī; 3. bṛhatīgarbhā; 4. 3-p. ārṣī gāyatrī.]

Comment

Of this hymn only the first verse occurs in Pāipp. (in xix.). The comm. reports no viniyoga, but SPP. supplies one, finding it quoted in Pariś. 37. 4, in a ceremony of expiation for the loss (nāśa) of a strainer; ⌊and again, in 37. 14, for use in case a certain earthen vessel (upayāma) falls from the hand⌋.

Translations

Translated; Griffith, ii. 297.

A prayer for pardon of error in sacrifice, and for wisdom, strength, and life

Translation

1. What that is defective (chidrá) of my mind, and what of my voice
   hath found (? jagā́ma) Sarasvatī enraged, let Bṛihaspati, in concord
   with all the gods, mend (sam-dhā) that.

Notes

The meaning of b is extremely doubtful. SPP. reads sárasvatī
against the large majority of his authorities and all of ours, which
have -tīm. Our hárasvantam was a conjecture, and perhaps not a
particularly successful one. The translation given (tentatively) above
implies -tīm manyumatī́m, while all the mss., the comm., and SPP., have
-mántam. Ppp. reads sarasvatī: manvavittaṁ jagāma. Hardly a ms.
gives an accent to jagāma (one of SPP’s, probably by accident, and
another, p.m.). Ppp. reads in d sandadātu. There are corresponding
verses in VS. (xxxvi. 2) and Āp. (xiv. 16. 1), but they cast no light on
b: VS. reads yán me chidráṁ cákṣuṣo hṛ́dayasya mánaso vā́ ’titṛṇṇam
bṛ́haspátir me tád dadhātu; and Āp., yan me manasaś chidraṁ yad vāco
yac ca me hṛdaḥ: ayaṁ devo bṛhaspatiḥ saṁ tat siñcatu rādhasā.

For each defect of mine in voice and spirit I have approached One vehement and ardent. With all the Deities, fully approving, Brihaspati supply the want!

यत्। मे॒। छि॒द्रम्। मन॑सः। यत्। च॒। वा॒चः। सर॑स्वती। म॒न्यु॒ऽमन्त॑म्। ज॒गाम॑। विश्वैः॑। तत्। दे॒वैः। स॒ह। स॒म्ऽवि॒दा॒नः। सम्। द॒धा॒तु॒। बृह॒स्पतिः॑। ४०.१।

• बृहस्पतिः, विश्वे देवाः
• ब्रह्मा
• परानुष्टुप्त्रिष्टुप्
• मेधा सूक्त

बुद्धि बढ़ाने का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - (यत्) जो (मे) मेरे (मनसः) मन का (च) और (यत्) जो (वाचः) वाणी का (छिद्रम्) दोष है, [जिससे] (सरस्वती) सरस्वती [उत्तम वेदविद्या] (मन्युमन्तम्) क्रोधयुक्त [व्यवहार] को (जगाम) प्राप्त हुई है। (तत्) उस [दोष] को (विश्वैः) सब (देवैः सह) उत्तम गुणों के साथ (संविदानः) मिलता हुआ (बृहस्पतिः) बड़े आकाश आदि का पालक परमेश्वर (सं दधातु) सन्धियुक्त करे ॥१॥

भावार्थभाषाः - जब मनुष्य मानसिक वा वाचिक दोष से विद्या देवी को क्रोधित कर देवे, वह परमात्मा की शरण लेकर अपनी न्यूनताएँ पूरी करे ॥१॥

टिप्पणी: इस मन्त्र का मिलान करो-यजु०३६।२॥१−(यत्) (मे) मम (छिद्रम्) दोषम् (मनसः) हृदयस्य (यत्) (च) (वाचः) वाण्याः (सरस्वती) विज्ञानवती वेदविद्या (मन्युमन्तम्) क्रोधवन्तं व्यवहारम् (जगाम) प्राप (विश्वैः) सर्वैः (तत्) छिद्रम् (देवैः) उत्तमगुणैः (सह) (संविदानः) संगच्छमानः (सं दधातु) सन्धानं करोतु (बृहस्पतिः) बृहतामाकाशादीनां पालक ईश्वरः ॥

Translation

2. Do not ye, O waters, devastate (pra-math) our wisdom nor our
   bráhman; come ye flowing with easy flow, being invoked; [be] I of
   good wisdom, having splendor.

Notes

All the mss. accent ā́pas in a, and SPP. refuses to follow us in
the obvious emendation to āpas, although the comm. also takes the word
as vocative. At the end of b, the comm., followed by three of SPP’s
authorities, has mathiṣṭa naḥ. In c, the mss. read śuṣyadā́ (p.
the same), and the comm. understands it as śuṣyat: ā; SPP. emends by
conjecture to suṣyadā́s (p. su॰syadā́ḥ), which is decidedly more
successful than our śuṣmadā́s. The translation, however, ventures to
emend yet further, to suṣyádā́ (p. su॰syádā: ā́). Most of the mss.
give syannadhvam; ⌊W’s O. and SPP’s carefully corrected Dc., s.m.,⌋
join with the comm. in syanda-, which stands in both printed texts.
The translation, finally, implies our reading úpahūtās, against the
mss., SPP., and the comm., which give -tas (-to ‘ham); against,
also, the Anukr.,* but making much better meter than if c is ended
with syandadhvam. The mss. and SPP. have sumédhās (the p.-mss.
wrongly su॰médhā); ⌊in the edition⌋ we ⌊should have⌋ rectified the
accent ⌊so as to read⌋ sumedhā́s. *⌊The Anukr. would scan as 6 + 8: 8

• 12; the Berlin text as 6 + 8: 12 + 8.⌋

Disturb ye not our intellect, O Waters, nor the power of prayer_ Glide on your way, strength-giving, invocated: may I be vigor- ous and wise.

मा। नः॒। आपः॑। मे॒धाम्। मा। ब्रह्म॑। प्र। म॒थि॒ष्ट॒न॒। सु॒ऽस्य॒दाः। यू॒यम्। स्य॒न्द॒ध्व॒म्। उप॑ऽहूतः। अ॒हम्। सु॒ऽमे॑धाः। व॒र्च॒स्वी। ४०.२।

• बृहस्पतिः, विश्वे देवाः
• ब्रह्मा
• पुरःककुम्मत्युपरिष्टाद्बृहती
• मेधा सूक्त

बुद्धि बढ़ाने का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - (आपः) जल [के समान शान्तस्वरूप प्रजाओ] तुम (मा) न (नः) हमारी (मेधाम्) धारणावती बुद्धि को और (मा) न (ब्रह्म) वेदज्ञान को (प्र मथिष्टन) नष्ट करो। (सुष्यदाः) सहज में बहनेवाले (यूयम्) तुम (स्यन्दध्वम्) बहते जाओ। (उपहूतः) आवाहन किया हुआ (अहम्) मैं (सुमेधाः) सुन्दर बुद्धिवाला और (वर्चस्वी) बड़ा प्रतापी [हो जाऊँ] ॥२॥

भावार्थभाषाः - जैसे प्रभूत जल बे रोक-टोक सहज में बहता चला जाता है, वैसे ही मनुष्य सब विघ्नों को हटाकर अपने सन्तान आदि को बुद्धिमान् और प्रतापी बनावें ॥२॥

टिप्पणी: २−(मा) निषेधे (नः) अस्माकम् (आपः) जलानीव शान्तस्वभावाः प्रजाः (मेधाम्) धारणावतीं बुद्धिम् (मा) निषेधे (ब्रह्म) वेदज्ञानम् (प्र मथिष्टन) मथे विलोडने-लोटि छान्दसं रूपम्। प्रमथत। प्रभ्रंशं कुरुत (सुष्यदाः) सु+स्यन्दू प्रस्रवणे-क, टाप्। सहजस्रवणशीलाः (यूयम्) (स्यन्दध्वम्) प्रवहत (उपहूतः) आहूतः (अहम्) (सुमेधाः) अ०५।११।१। सु+मेधा-असिच्। सुबुद्धियुक्तः (वर्चस्वी) प्रतापी, भूयासमिति शेषः ॥

Translation

3. Do not ye injure our wisdom, nor our consecration, nor what ardor
   (tápas) is ours; be they propitious to us in order to [prolonged]
   life-time; let them become [our] propitious mothers.

Notes

The mss. have in b hiṅsiṣṭam, and SPP. does not follow our
obviously acceptable emendation to -ṣṭa. The comm., too, has -ṣṭam,
and explains it by calling ⌊into service⌋ that everlasting pair
dyāvāpṛthivī; but, as alternative, he apparently goes on to anticipate
the pair of Aśvins from vs. 4; there is, however, a lacuna in the sole
manuscript, cutting off this explanation almost at the beginning. In
c, the mss. all have sáṁsvanta ā́y- (p. sám॰svantaḥ!), but the
comm. śaṅsantu, explaining it as = stuvantu; ⌊SPP. reports that the
text of the comm. is śaṁsantu and that the sole ms. of the commentary
has actually santu;⌋ SPP. takes this, and alters it to śáṁ santu;
our emendation to simple santu, suiting both sense and meter, is
obviously to be accepted. The pada-mss. in general give śivā́ in
c; ⌊but one of W’s and one of SPP’s, each s.m., have śivā́ḥ;⌋ they
all ⌊except perhaps W’s L.⌋ have śivā́ḥ in d. There is no good
reason why the Anukr. should call the verse bṛhatīgarbhā, since c
can be read as eight syllables in either form.

Mar not our consecrating rite, our intellect, or fervent zeal. Gracious to us for lengthened life, propitious let the Mothers be.

मा। नः॒। मे॒धाम्। मा। नः॒। दी॒क्षाम्। मा। नः॒। हिं॒सि॒ष्ट॒म्। यत्। तपः॑। शि॒वाः। नः॒। शम्। स॒न्तु॒। आयु॑षे। शि॒वाः। भ॒व॒न्तु॒। मा॒तरः॑। ४०.३।

• बृहस्पतिः, विश्वे देवाः
• ब्रह्मा
• बृहत्यनुष्टुप्
• मेधा सूक्त

बुद्धि बढ़ाने का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - [हे माता-पिता ! म०४] तुम दोनों (न) न तो (नः) हमारी (मेधाम्) धारणावती बुद्धि को, (मा) न (नः) हमारी (दीक्षाम्) दीक्षा [नियम और व्रत की शिक्षा] को और (मा) न (नः) हमारा (यत्) जो कुछ (तपः) तप [ब्रह्मचर्यादि] है, [उसको] (हिंसिष्टम्) नष्ट करो। (नः) हमारे (आयुषे) जीवन के लिये [वे प्रजाएँ] (शिवाः) कल्याणकारिणी और (शम्) शान्तिदायिनी (सन्तु) होवें, और (शिवाः) कल्याणकारिणी (मातरः) माताओं [के समान] (भवन्तु) होवें ॥३॥

भावार्थभाषाः - माता-पिता ऐसा प्रयत्न करें कि उनके सन्तान बुद्धिमान्, धर्मात्मा और सर्वहितैषी होवें, जिससे उनसे सब लोग माता के समान प्रीति करें ॥३॥

टिप्पणी: यह मन्त्र कुछ भेद से महर्षिदयानन्दकृत संस्कारविधि वानप्रस्थप्रकरण में व्याख्यात है ॥३−(मा) निषेधे (नः) अस्माकम् (मेधाम्) धारणावतीं बुद्धिम् (मा) (नः) (दीक्षाम्) नियमव्रतयोः शिक्षाम् (मा) (नः) (हिंसिष्टम्) नाशयतं युवाम् (यत्) (तपः) ब्रह्मचर्यादितपश्चरणम् (शिवाः) मङ्गलकारिण्यः प्रजाः (नः) अस्माकम् (शम्) शान्तिदायिन्यः (सन्तु) (आयुषे) जीवनाय (शिवाः) मङ्गलप्रदाः (भवन्तु) (मातरः) जननीवद्धितकारिण्यः ॥

Translation

4. That food (? íṣ) O Aśvins, which, full of light, shall make us
   pass through the darkness, may ye give (rā) to us.

Notes

The verse corresponds to RV. i. 46. 6, and is translated from the RV.
text, the AV. version being utterly corrupt, and offering a very
noteworthy measure of what this nineteenth book can do in the way of
corruption even of a text that is intelligibly handed down elsewhere.
The ms. reading is mā́ naḥ píparid aśvinā jyótiṣmatī támas tiráḥ: tā́m
asmāí rāsatām íṣum. Our text differs from that of RV. only by reading
pī́parid (which is an oversight for the pī́parad ⌊Grammar §869 c⌋ of
the RV.) and rāsathām (which is bad); ⌊RV. has rāsāthām, to be taken
as augmentless s-aorist, 2d person dual middle⌋. The comm. differs
from RV. by giving mā́ at the beginning; ⌊his text, furthermore, has
rāsātām; but his comment has rāsāthām, like RV.⌋; he understands
aśvinā correctly as vocative. SPP. clings to rāsatām, and thinks to
make it answer by accenting aśvínā (on the authority, ⌊probably⌋
accidental, of a single ms.). ⌊I suppose Whitney means to imply that, if
SPP. intends to make rāsatām a 3d person dual imperative middle of the
s-aorist, but from an a-stem, as explained at Grammar §896, the
form ought to be rāsetām, corresponding to the 3d singular rāsatām
there noticed.⌋ There is really no way but to adopt the RV. text
throughout; any attempt at compromise simply spoils the verse. The comm.
takes mā pīparat as pāram mā gamayatu, and b as its antithesis,
supplying karotu to tiras; and he refers at the end to yā as read
śākhāntare (i.e., in RV.).

Vouchsafe to us, ye Asvins twain, such strength as, with atten- dant light, May through the darkness carry us.

या। नः॒। पीप॑रत्। अ॒श्विना॑। ज्योति॑ष्मती। तमः॑। ति॒रः। ताम्। अ॒स्मे। रा॒स॒ता॒म्। इष॑म्। ४०.४।

• बृहस्पतिः, विश्वे देवाः
• ब्रह्मा
• त्रिपदार्षी गायत्री
• मेधा सूक्त

बुद्धि बढ़ाने का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - (या) जो (ज्योतिष्मती) उत्तम ज्योतिवाली [अन्न-सामग्री] (तमः) अन्धकार का (तिरः) तिरस्कार करके (नः) हमें (पीपरत्) पूर्ण करे, (अश्विना) व्यवहारों में व्यापक दोनों [माता-पिता] (ताम्) उस (इषम्) अन्नसामग्री को (अस्मे) हमें (रासताम्) दिया करें ॥४॥

भावार्थभाषाः - माता-पिता सन्तानों को ऐसा विद्वान् और बलवान् बनावें कि जिससे उत्तम अन्न के भोगने से नेत्रों में कभी अन्धकार न छाए, किन्तु सदा ज्योति बनी रहे ॥४॥

टिप्पणी: यह मन्त्र कुछ भेद से ऋग्वेद में है-१।४६।६॥४−(या) इट्। अन्नसामग्री (नः) अस्मान् (पीपरत्) पूरयेत् (अश्विना) व्यवहारेषु व्यापकौ मातापितरौ (ज्योतिष्मती) प्रकाशवती (तमः) अन्धकारम् (तिरः) तिरस्कृत्य (ताम्) तादृशीम् (अस्मे) अस्मभ्यम् (रासताम्) प्रयच्छतां तौ (इषम्) इषम्, अन्ननाम-निघ०२।७। इष्यमानामन्नसामग्रीम् ॥