०५० रात्रिः

50. To night: for protection.

रात्रिः।
१-७ गोपथः। रात्रिः। अनुष्टुप्।

[As 47.—saptakam.]

Comment

Follows also in Pāipp. xiv. our hymn 49. Has the same liturgical use as hymn 49.

Translations

Translated: Ludwig, p. 465; Griffith, ii. 307.

A hymn to Night for protection and prosperity

Translation

1. Do thou, O night, make the snake blind, harsh-smoked, headless; smite
   out the eyes of the wolf; cast the thief into the snare.

Notes

This verse is nearly identical with that translated as 47. 8 above (8
c, d and 9 a, b of the printed text). As there, the mss. have at
the beginning ándha, which SPP., with the comm., changes to ádha;
and all, in c, d, have nír jahyās téna* táṁ ⌊or tváṁ⌋ drupadé
jahi in a manner analogous with the reading there. ⌊The translation
implies the division nír jahy ā́…jahi: cf. my note to 47. 8.⌋ ⌊Apart
from some less important variants.⌋ the mss. are divided, as often in
such cases, between akṣāú and akṣyāú, and SPP. chooses the worse,
akṣāú; our akṣyāù is alone defensible. Ppp. omits (see note to 49.
10) the first two words, and reads, as at 47. 8, tiṣṭadhūmam; ⌊it
begins the second line with hano vṛkasya and ends it (as above) with
nṛpate jahi; what the intervening words are is not clear from Roth’s
Collation⌋. ⌊Meantime Bloomfield kindly informs me that Ppp. reads the
line thus: hano vṛkasya nir jahy ā tvāinaṁ nṛpate jahi: this gives no
support for a jahyās (see note to 47. 8); but the tvāinaṁ obviously
stands in some relation to the dvāinaṁ of the Ppp. reading at 47. 8,
which is jambhayādvāinaṁ.⌋ *⌊The pada-reading is níḥ: jahyāḥ:
téna.⌋

Blind him and make him headless, Night! the serpent with the pungent breath. Strike from his head the wolf’s two eyes, and dash the thief against a post.

अध॑। रा॒त्रि॒। तृ॒ष्टऽधू॑मम्। अ॒शी॒र्षाण॑म्। अहि॑म्। कृ॒णु॒। अ॒क्षौ। वृक॑स्य। निः। ज॒ह्याः॒। तेन॑। तम्। द्रु॒ऽप॒दे। ज॒हि॒। ५०.१।

• रात्रिः
• गोपथः
• अनुष्टुप्
• रात्रि सूक्त

रात्रि में रक्षा का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - (अध) और (रात्रि) हे रात्रि ! (तृष्टधूमम्) क्रूर धुएँवाले [विषैली श्वासवाले] (अहिम्) साँप को (अशीर्षाणम्) रुण्ड [बिना शिर का] (कृणु) करदे [शिर कुचल कर मार डाल]। (वृकस्य) भेड़िये के (अक्षौ) दोनों आँखें (निः जह्याः) निकाल कर फेंक दे, (तेन) उससे (तम्) उसको (द्रुपदे) काठ के बन्धन में (जहि) मार डाल ॥–१॥

भावार्थभाषाः - जो मनुष्य सर्प और भेड़िये आदि के समान रात्रि में दुःख देवें, उन्हें बन्दीगृह में बन्द करके कष्ट दिया जावे ॥१॥

टिप्पणी: यह मन्त्र कुछ भेद से ऊपर आ चुका है-४७।८ ॥ १−अयं मन्त्रो व्याख्यातः-४७।८। अत्र विशेषो व्याख्यायते (अक्षौ) अक्षिणी। चक्षुषी (निः) निःसार्य (जह्याः) ओहाक् त्यागे-लिङ्। त्यजेः। प्रक्षिपेः ॥

Translation

2. What draft-oxen thou hast, O night, sharp-horned, very swift, with
   them do thou today pass us always (viśváhā) over difficulties.

Notes

SPP. follows the mss. in the false accent tī́kṣṇa- in b. In c,
d, he reads pārayā́ ’ti with us and with the comm. (also with Ppp.),
⌊but against the mss., most of which⌋ have pārayaty áti. In b,
Ppp. gives -śṛn̄gyāśvāsavaḥ.

3. May we pass (

tṛ

) night after night receiving no harm with ourselves (

tanvā̀

); may the niggards fail to pass [it], as men without boats a deep
[water].

Or tanvā belongs to tarema. The comm., against the accent and the
sense, takes áriṣyantas as a future participle (= gamiṣyantas)! Ppp.
reads in c, d apravāyuṣaṁ na tarehur ar-.

Those oxen that are thine, O Night, with sharpened horns and rapid pace, With those transport us safe to-day o’er difficulties everywhere.

ये। ते॒। रा॒त्रि॒। अ॒न॒ड्वाहः॑। तीक्ष्ण॑ऽशृङ्गाः। सु॒ऽआ॒शवः॑। तेभिः॑। नः॒। अ॒द्य। पा॒र॒य॒। अति॑। दुः॒ऽगानि॑। वि॒श्वहा॑। ५०.२।

• रात्रिः
• गोपथः
• अनुष्टुप्
• रात्रि सूक्त

रात्रि में रक्षा का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - (रात्रि) हे रात्रि ! (ते) तेरे (ये) जो (तीक्ष्णशृङ्गाः) पैने सींगवाले और (स्वाशवः) बड़े फुरतीले (अनड्वाहः) रथ ले चलनेवाले बैल [अर्थात् बैलों के समान रक्षा भार उठानेवाले पुरुष] हैं। (तेभिः) उनके द्वारा (नः) हमें (अद्य) आज और (विश्वाहा) सब दिन (दुर्गाणि प्रति) विघ्नों को लाँघ कर (पारय) पार लगा ॥२॥

भावार्थभाषाः - मनुष्यों को चाहिये कि रथ ले चलनेवाले फुरतीले बलवान् बैलों के समान रक्षा भार उठाने में फुरतीले और पराक्रमी होकर सब विघ्नों को हटावें ॥२॥

टिप्पणी: २−(ये) रक्षकाः (ते) तव (रात्रि) (अनड्वाहः) अनसः शकटस्य वाहकाः पुङ्गवा इव रक्षाभारवाहकाः पुरुषाः (तीक्ष्णशृङ्गाः) निशितविषाणाः (स्वाशवः) अतिशीघ्रगामिनः (तेभिः) तैः (नः) अस्मान् (अद्य) अस्मिन् दिने (पारय) तारय (अति) अतीत्य। उल्लङ्घ्य (दुर्गाणि) विघ्नान् (विश्वहा) विश्वेषु सर्वेषु अहःसु दिनेषु ॥

रात्रिं॑रात्रि॒मरि॑ष्यन्त॒स्तरे॑म त॒न्वा व॒यम्।
ग॒म्भी॒रमप्ल॑वा इव॒ न त॑रेयु॒ररा॑तयः ॥३॥

Uninjured in our bodies may we pass through each succeeding night, And let malignities fail to pass, as men without a boat the depth.

रात्रि॑म्ऽरात्रिम्। अरि॑ष्यन्तः। तरे॑म। त॒न्वा᳡। व॒यम्। ग॒म्भी॒रम्। अप्ल॑वाःऽइव। न। त॒रे॒युः॒। अरा॑तयः। ५०.३।

• रात्रिः
• गोपथः
• अनुष्टुप्
• रात्रि सूक्त

रात्रि में रक्षा का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - (अरिष्यन्तः) बिना कष्ट उठाये हुए (वयम्) हम लोग (तन्वा) अपने शरीर के साथ (रात्रिं रात्रिम्) रात्रि के पीछे रात्रि को (तरेम) पार करें। (अरातयः) वैरी लोग [उसको] (न तरेयुः) न पार करें, (इव) जैसे (अप्लवाः) बिना नाववाले मनुष्य (गम्भीरम्) गहरे [समुद्र] को ॥३॥

भावार्थभाषाः - पुरुषार्थी मनुष्य सब विघ्नों को सहकर उन्नति करें, विरोधी आलसी पुरुष सुकर्मों को सिद्ध नहीं कर सकते ॥™३॥

टिप्पणी: ३−(रात्रिं रात्रिम्) रात्रिं प्रति रात्रिम् (अरिष्यन्तः) दुःखं न प्राप्नुवन्तः (तरेम) पारं गच्छेम (तन्वा) स्वशरीरेण (वयम्) पुरुषार्थिनः (गम्भीरम्) अगाधं समुद्रम् (अप्लवाः) नौकादिरहिताः (इव) यथा (न) निषेधे (तरेयुः) अतिक्रामेयुः (अरातयः) शत्रवः ॥

Translation

4. As the millet-seed, flying forth, blowing away, is not found, so, O
   night, make him fly forth who is malicious against us.

Notes

The mss. read in a mostly śāmyā́kas (so the comm. and SPP.), also
śyāmyā́kas and śyāmā́kas; and have prapátan or prápatan, with
other chance variations; and in b, apavā́n (p. apa॰vā́n) or
-vā́ṁ; in respect to this word, the translation ⌊taking it as present
participle of apa-vā⌋ follows them rather than our emendation
aparám. None of the mss. accent na, but SPP. ventures ⌊with the
Berlin ed.⌋ to emend the reading. At the beginning of c, the mss.
all have etā́v ā́ ⌊several ā⌋ (p. etāú: ā́); the comm. and SPP. (also
Ppp.) agree with our evā́. The majority of mss. have at the end
-yánti. Ppp. has in a, b sānyākaṣ prapatante divāṁ nā ’nu-; in
d it combines yo ‘smāṅ.

As millet hurried through the air before us is beheld no more. So cause the man to vanish, Night, who plans to do us injury.

यथा॑। शा॒म्याकः॑। प्र॒ऽपत॑न्। अ॒प॒ऽवान्। न। अ॒नु॒ऽवि॒द्यते॑। ए॒व। रा॒त्रि॒। प्र। पा॒त॒य॒। यः। अ॒स्मान्। अ॒भि॒ऽअ॒घा॒यति॑। ५०.४।

• रात्रिः
• गोपथः
• अनुष्टुप्
• रात्रि सूक्त

रात्रि में रक्षा का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - (यथा) जैसे (शाम्याकः) सामा [छोटा अन्न विशेष] (प्रपतन्) गिरता हुआ और (अपवान्) दूर चला जाता हुआ (न) नहीं (अनुविद्यते) कुछ भी मिलता है। (एव) वैसे ही, (रात्रि) हे रात्रि ! [उस दुष्ट को] (प्र पातय) गिरा दे, (यः) जो (अस्मान्) हमारा (अभ्यघायति) बुरा चीतता है ॥४॥

भावार्थभाषाः - धर्म्मात्मा लोग दुष्टों को ऐसा दूर करें कि फिर उसका पता न लगे, जैसे सामा अन्न धूलि में वा पवन में जाकर नहीं मिलता ॥४॥

टिप्पणी: ४−(यथा) (शाम्याकः) श्यामाकाख्यः क्षुद्रधान्यविशेषः (प्रपतन्) निपतन् (अपवान्) वा गतौ-शतृ। अपगच्छन् (न) निषेधे (अनुविद्यते) कदापि लभ्यते (एव) एवम् (रात्रि) (प्रपातय) निपातय शत्रुम् (यः) शत्रुः (अस्मान्) धार्मिकान् (अभ्यघायति) अभिलक्ष्य अघं पापमिच्छति ॥

Translation

5. Thou didst make the thief stay away, and the kine-driving robber,
   also him who, haltering the courser’s head, tries to lead it [away].

Notes

The pada-mss. strangely read at the beginning apáḥ; the rest ⌊save
one of SPP’s, p.m., which has ápa⌋ accent apá; SPP., as well as our
text, emends to ápa, which the comm. also understands. All the mss.
have vā́sas, and the comm., and SPP.; our avāsayas is a bold
emendation, but makes both good meter and good sense. Ppp. gives no
help: apa stedaṁ vāsamathaṁ. In b, SPP. follows the comm. in
reading goajám; most of the mss. give gór ájam, but a part górájas
(p. górájaḥ! but one ms. gó ‘jaḥ ⌊or gó॰jaḥ: that is gó and
jaḥ with avagraha-sign between⌋, corrected to góájaḥ). ⌊Ppp. reads
gotham. The comm. absurdly takes goajám as a copulative compound, =
gā ajāṅś ca, and makes it and vā́sas objects of nínīṣati. The
translation implies rather SPP’s text than ours ⌊that is goajám rather
than gór ájam, I suppose⌋. ⌊At the end, the níneṣati of the Berlin
text is doubtless to be corrected to nínīṣati (cf. the stems in W’s
Roots, Verb-forms, etc., p. 233-4): nínīṣati is read by Ppp., by
W’s O.D.I., and (since he reports nothing to the contrary) by all of
SPP’s authorities. From the Index Verborum and from the Roots (p.
91) it would appear that W’s later judgment rejected the níneṣati of
the text and some mss., though he has overlooked the matter here. The
desiderative⌋ so distinctly calls for a prefix that one is tempted
further to emend átho in c to ápa.

The thief hast thou kept far away, the robber driver of our kine. Even him who having covered up the horse’s head would lead him off.

अप॑। स्ते॒नम्। वासः॑। गो॒ऽअ॒जम्। उ॒त। तस्क॑रम्। अथो॒ इति॑। यः। अर्व॑तः। शिरः॑। अ॒भि॒ऽधाय॑। निनी॑षति। ५०.५।

• रात्रिः
• गोपथः
• अनुष्टुप्
• रात्रि सूक्त

रात्रि में रक्षा का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - तू (स्तेनम्) चोर को (उत) और (गोअजम्) गौ को हाँक ले जानेवाले (तस्करम्) लुटेरे को (अप वासः) बाहिर बसा दे। (अथो) और भी [उसको], (यः) जो (अर्वतः) घोड़े के (शिरः) शिर को (अभिधाय) बाँधकर (निनीषति) [उसे] ले जाना चाहता है ॥५॥

भावार्थभाषाः - जो पुरुष गौ आदि दूध के पशुओं को चुरा ले जावें, और इसलिये कि घोड़े फिर घर को न लौट आवें और न शब्द करें, उनका शिर अर्थात् आँखें और मुख बन्द करके भगा ले जावें, उन्हें देश से निकाल देना चाहिये ॥५॥

टिप्पणी: ५−(अप) दूरे (स्तेनम्) चोरम् (वासः) वस निवासे-णिजन्ताल्लेटि। छान्दसं रूपम्। त्वं वासयः। निवासं देहि (गोअजम्) गो+अज गतिक्षेपणयोः अच्। सर्वत्र विभाषा गोः। पा० ६।१।१२२। इति प्रकृतिभावः। गोः क्षेप्तारं प्रेरकम् (उत) अपि च (तस्करम्) (अथो) अपि च (यः) तस्करः (अर्वतः) अश्वस्य (शिरः) (अभिधाय) बध्वा (निनीषति) अपजिहीर्षति ॥

Translation

6. When, O well-portioned night, thou comest today, sharing out what is
   good, [then] make us to enjoy that, that it go not away.

Notes

The translation follows our text, which is very different from that of
the mss. and SPP. Our adyā́ in a implies adyá ā́ (ā́…áyas),
which all the pada-mss. have, while SPP., with the comm., treats it as
only adyá with the final lengthened by the usual Vedic license. In
b all the mss. accent ví bhajanti ⌊p. ví: bhajanti⌋; SPP. emends
to vi-bhájanti, while our text means vibhájantī. The comm.
understands -nti ⌊supplying śatravas as subject⌋, and takes áyas
after it as the noun, ‘metal’ (ayomayaṁ vastu); to us áyas is verb.
⌊Ppp. has vasuḥ at end of b.⌋ In c the mss., the comm., and
SPP., begin with yád; we have emended it to tád. For d, most
mss. have yáthe ’dáṁ nā́ ’nupāyási (p. anu॰pāyási); but one -yáti,
one -dányā́nu-; SPP. follows the comm. and prints yáthé ’d anyā́n
upā́yasi (p. upa॰áyasi), but in a note conjectures yáthé ’d anyā́n nó
’pā́yati ’that it go not unto others,’ which is very acceptable, as
giving a good sense with less alteration of the original text than our
version requires. Ppp. is wholly corrupt: yathed yasmā nitājaya yathed
anyān upāyatī; but the last pāda favors SPP’s conjecture.

If dealing treasure thou hast come to-day, O highly favoured Night. Cause thou us to enjoy it all so that this may not pass away.

यत्। अ॒द्य। रा॒त्रि॒। सु॒ऽभ॒गे॒। वि॒ऽभज॑न्ति। अयः॑। वसु॑। यत्। ए॒तत्। अ॒स्मान्। भो॒ज॒य॒। यथा॑। इत्। अ॒न्यान्। उ॒प॒ऽअय॑सि। ५०.६।

• रात्रिः
• गोपथः
• अनुष्टुप्
• रात्रि सूक्त

रात्रि में रक्षा का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - (सुभगे) हे बड़े ऐश्वर्यवाली (रात्रि) रात्रि ! (अद्य) आज (यत्) जिस (अयः) सुवर्ण और (यत्) जिस (वसु) धन को (विभजन्ति) वे [चोर] बाँटते हैं। (एतत्) उसको (अस्मान्) हमें (भोजय) भोगने दे, (यथा) जिससे (इत्) निश्चय करके (अन्यान्) दूसरे [पदार्थों] को [हमें] (उप-अयसि) तू पहुँचाती रहे ॥६॥

भावार्थभाषाः - मनुष्य प्रयत्न करके डाकू चोर आदि दुष्टों से धन और सम्पत्ति की रक्षा करके वृद्धि करते रहें ॥६॥

टिप्पणी: ६−(यत्) (अद्य) अस्मिन् दिने (रात्रि) (सुभगे) हे बह्वैश्वर्यवति (विभजन्ति) विभागेन प्राप्नुवन्ति (अयः) हिरण्यम्-निघ० १।२ (वसु) धनम् (यत्) (एतत्) (अस्मान्) (भोजय) भोक्तॄन् कुरु (यथा) येन प्रकारेण (इत्) निश्चयेन (अन्यान्) पदार्थान् (उप-अयसि) इण् गतौ-लेटि, अडागमः, अन्तर्गतण्यर्थः। उपगमयेः ॥

Translation

7. Unto the dawn, O night, do thou commit us all, free from guilt; may
   the dawn bestow (ā-bhaj) us on the day, the day on thee, O shining
   one.

Notes

The comm., two of SPP’s reciters, and Ppp., read in c bhajat.
Compare the verse 48. 2, above ⌊and MB. i. 5. 15, there cited⌋.

Do thou entrust us to the Dawn, all of us free from sin, O Night. May Dawn deliver us to Day, and Day to thee, O glorious One.

उ॒षसे॑। नः॒। परि॑। दे॒हि॒। सर्वा॑न्। रा॒त्रि॒। अ॒ना॒गसः॑। उ॒षाः। नः॒। अह्ने॑। आ। भ॒जा॒त्। अहः॑। तुभ्य॑म्। वि॒भा॒व॒रि॒। ५०.७।

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• रात्रि सूक्त

रात्रि में रक्षा का उपदेश।

पदार्थान्वयभाषाः - (रात्रि) हे रात्रि ! (उषसे) उषा [प्रभातवेला] को (नः) हम (सर्वान्) सब (अनागसः) निर्दोषों को (परि देहि) सौंप। (उषाः) उषा (नः) हमें (अह्ने) दिन को, और (अहः) दिन (तुभ्यम्) तुझको (आ भजात्) देवे, (विभावरि) हे बड़ी चमकवाली ॥७॥

भावार्थभाषाः - मनुष्य दिन और राति सदा धर्म के साथ अपनी वृद्धि करें ॥७॥

टिप्पणी: यह मन्त्र कुछ भेद से ऊपर आ चुका है-४८।२ ॥ ७−(उषसे) प्रभातवेलायै (नः) अस्मान् (परिदेहि) समर्पय (सर्वान्) (रात्रि) (अनागसः) निर्दोषान् (उषाः) प्रभातवेला (नः) अस्मान् (अह्ने) दिनाय (आभजात्) भज सेवायाम्-लेटि, आडागमः। आभजेत् समन्तात् सेवेत। समर्पयेत्। अन्यत् पूर्ववत्-४८।२ ॥