०२८

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सायण-भाष्यम्

‘यत्र ग्रावा’ इति पञ्चमं सूक्तं नवर्चम् । आदितः षडनुष्टुभः । ’ आयजी’ इत्याद्यास्तिस्रो गायत्र्यः । आदितश्चतसृणाम् इन्द्रो देवता । ततो द्वे उलूखलदेवत्ये । तदनन्तरभाविन्यौ उलूखलमुसलोभयदेवताके । अन्त्यायाः “ उच्छिष्टम्’ इत्यस्याः हरिश्चन्द्राधिषवणचर्मसोमानामन्यतमो देवता । तथा च बृहद्देवतायामुक्तम्-’ चर्माधिषवणीयं वा सोमं वान्त्या प्रशंसति’( बृहद्दे. ३. १०१ ) इति । तदुक्तमनुक्रमण्याम्-’ यत्र ग्रावा नव षळनुष्टुबादि यच्चिद्ध्यौलूखल्यौ परे मौसल्यौ च प्रजापतेर्हरिश्चन्द्रस्यान्त्या चर्मप्रशंसा वा’ इति । आद्याश्चतस्रः अञ्जःसवे होमे विनियुक्ताः । पञ्चम्याद्याश्चतस्रः अभिषवे। अन्त्या द्रोणकलशे सोमावनयने । तथा च ब्राह्मणम्-’ अथ हैतं शुनःशेपोऽञ्जःसवं ददर्श तमेताभिश्चतसृभिरभिसुषाव यच्चिद्धि त्वं गृहेगृह इत्यथैनं द्रोणकलशमभ्यवनिनायोच्छिष्टं चम्वोर्भरेत्येतयर्चाथ हास्मिन्नन्वारब्धे पूर्वाभिश्चतसृभिः सस्वाहाकाराभिर्जुहवांचकार’ (ऐ. बा. ७. १७) इति ।

Jamison Brereton

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Indra (1–4), the Mortar (5–6), the Mortar and Pestle (7–8), Prajāpati Hariścandra or the Soma-Pressing Hide (9)
Śunaḥśepa Ājīgarti
9 verses: triṣṭubh 1–6, gāyatrī 7–9
This brief and somewhat racy hymn has attracted a great deal of scholarly atten tion. Most scholarly treatments are more or less in agreement with Geldner’s interpretation, signaled already in his title “Die vereinfachte Somapressung” (The Simplified Soma-Pressing). In this interpretation the hymn depicts an abbreviated soma-pressing done at home, on the spur of the moment and without formality, by a sacrificer and his wife, using normal household implements, the mortar (ulū́khala) and pestle, to pound the soma stalks. The participation of the wife occasioned the slightly salacious comparisons between the pounding and sexual intercourse. A woman, presumably the wife, is mentioned explicitly once, in a word play that implicitly compares her regular movements in wielding the mortar with rhythmic sexual movement (vs. 3). Despite the weight of scholarly opinion, we consider this literal interpretation quite unlikely, because the precious and prized substance soma, the focus of the most elaborate non-royal rites, can hardly have been used for a slapdash, playful domestic entertainment. Instead, this hymn should be considered together with a number of others in the late R̥gveda in which women figure in controversial or con
tested roles (e.g., I.179, X.10, X.102, X.109). In our view (see Jamison 2011, forth coming a, forthcoming b, in addition to background in 1996a), the late R̥gveda saw the introduction of a new ritual model, in which the Wife of the Sacrificer partici pated in the ritual along with her husband and the other male functionaries. This innovation was, we believe, being bitterly debated by theologians in this period, and the debate can be discerned beneath the surface of such hymns.

This particular hymn alludes to the new ritual model incorporating the Sacrificer’s Wife by presenting the solemn soma-pressing as if it were a domestic procedure, utiliz ing tools to be found in every kitchen, the proper domain of the Wife. An implicit iden tification between domestic paraphernalia and that of solemn ritual is found already in the first verse, where the standard high-ritual word for the pressing stone (grā́van) is juxtaposed with that for the domestic mortar (ulū́khala). (See also Atharvaveda IX.6.15 with the same identification: yā́ny ulūkhalamusalā́ni grā́vāṇa evá té “the mortar and pestle—they are the pressing stones,” in a hymn that systematically presents a series of such statements.) The final verse (9) returns to technical terms for soma equipment in solemn ritual (camū “cup”; ́ pavítra “filter”; gór ádhi tvací “upon the hide of the cow”), thus affirming that a real soma sacrifice has indeed been performed. Perhaps the most important technical term in that verse is śiṣṭá (in the sandhi sequence úc chiṣṭám ← úd + śiṣṭám; cf. later úcchiṣṭa “leftover”): in later śrauta ritual the Wife is particularly active in the Third Pressing and the soma offered there is “left-over” soma. We thus see the ritual notion of the “leftover” already associated with the Wife here.

Since one of the aims of introducing the Sacrificer’s Wife into ritual was to inject sexuality and fertility into the previously sterile realm of sacrifice, the double-entendres throughout the hymn have a (semi-)serious purpose. As often with sexual phraseology, the exact intent is sometimes difficult to figure out (e.g., vs. 6).
And what does our poet think about the new model? Although treating the soma-pressing as if it were a cooking demonstration might seem to debase and desolemnize it, the cheerful tone and the reassuring presence of Indra, the consum mate soma-drinker (who also seems to favor the introduction of the Wife in other hymns), appears to indicate approval of the ritual innovation.

Jamison Brereton Notes

Indra (Abbreviated Soma Rite) See introduction. for detailed discussion of my interpretation of the context of the hymn, which differs significantly from the standard view. I discuss this further in a treatment of the prehistory of the śrauta/gṛhya ritual split: “Vedic Ritual: The Sacralization of the Mundane and the Domestication of the Sacred” (Thite Fs., 2019, ed. Lauren Bausch).

01 यत्र ग्रावा - अनुष्टुप्

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यत्र॒ ग्रावा॑ पृ॒थुबु॑ध्न ऊ॒र्ध्वो भव॑ति॒ सोत॑वे ।
उ॒लूख॑लसुताना॒मवेद्वि॑न्द्र जल्गुलः ॥

02 यत्र द्वाविव - अनुष्टुप्

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यत्र॒ द्वावि॑व ज॒घना॑धिषव॒ण्या॑ कृ॒ता ।
उ॒लूख॑लसुताना॒मवेद्वि॑न्द्र जल्गुलः ॥

03 यत्र नार्यपच्यवमुपच्यवम् - अनुष्टुप्

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यत्र॒ नार्य॑पच्य॒वमु॑पच्य॒वं च॒ शिक्ष॑ते ।
उ॒लूख॑लसुताना॒मवेद्वि॑न्द्र जल्गुलः ॥

04 यत्र मन्थाम् - अनुष्टुप्

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यत्र॒ मन्थां॑ विब॒ध्नते॑ र॒श्मीन्यमि॑त॒वा इ॑व ।
उ॒लूख॑लसुताना॒मवेद्वि॑न्द्र जल्गुलः ॥

05 यच्चिद्धि त्वम् - अनुष्टुप्

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यच्चि॒द्धि त्वं गृ॒हेगृ॑ह॒ उलू॑खलक यु॒ज्यसे॑ ।
इ॒ह द्यु॒मत्त॑मं वद॒ जय॑तामिव दुन्दु॒भिः ॥

06 उत स्म - अनुष्टुप्

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उ॒त स्म॑ ते वनस्पते॒ वातो॒ वि वा॒त्यग्र॒मित् ।
अथो॒ इन्द्रा॑य॒ पात॑वे सु॒नु सोम॑मुलूखल ॥

07 आयजी वाजसातमा - गायत्री

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आ॒य॒जी वा॑ज॒सात॑मा॒ ता ह्यु१॒॑च्चा वि॑जर्भृ॒तः ।
हरी॑ इ॒वान्धां॑सि॒ बप्स॑ता ॥

08 ता नो - गायत्री

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ता नो॑ अ॒द्य व॑नस्पती ऋ॒ष्वावृ॒ष्वेभिः॑ सो॒तृभिः॑ ।
इन्द्रा॑य॒ मधु॑मत्सुतम् ॥

09 उच्छिष्थं चम्वोर्भर - गायत्री

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उच्छि॒ष्टं च॒म्वो॑र्भर॒ सोमं॑ प॒वित्र॒ आ सृ॑ज ।
नि धे॑हि॒ गोरधि॑ त्व॒चि ॥