०४६

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सायण-भाष्यम्

‘एषो उषाः’ इति पञ्चदशर्चं तृतीयं सूक्तं प्रस्कण्वस्यार्षम्। इदमुत्तरं चाश्विनं गायत्रीच्छन्दस्कम् । अत्रानुक्रमणिका -’एषो पञ्चोनाश्विनं तु गायत्रम् ’ इति । प्रातरनुवाके आश्विने क्रतौ गायत्रीच्छन्दस्याश्विनशस्त्रे चेदं सूक्तम् । अथाश्विन एषो उषाः’ (आश्व. श्रौ. ४. १५) इति सूत्रितम् ॥

Jamison Brereton

46
Aśvins
Praskaṇva Kāṇva
15 verses: gāyatrī
This hymn is an invitation to the Aśvins to come in the early morning to a soma offering, either the early morning of the pressing day or the early morning of the following day in an Atirātra or “overnight” soma ritual. It is a difficult hymn because of its obscure references (cf. vss. 4 and 5) and its penchant for hapaxes (e.g., kúṭa in vs. 4, ā́dāra in 5, avidriyá in 15).
A unifying image running through much of the hymn is the journey of the Aśvins over the waters to the sacrificial area (vss. 3, 7, 8, 11), introduced by the poet’s statement that the Sindhu River is the mother of the Aśvins (vs. 2). In accord with this image, the soma itself is a river, flowing upward to the Aśvins to bring them to the sacrificial area (vs. 9ab). In this verse “what is good” or “the good thing” that is “in the track of the rivers” may refer to the soma, as Geldner suggests. Echoing this image is the poet’s repeated use of derivatives of √pR̥“carry across” (vss. 4, 6, 12).
In verse 1 Dawn is the first to arrive, before other deities, although with the arrival of dawn the Aśvins should also appear, and indeed in verse 14 the poet returns to the arrival of Dawn and says that she has followed the Aśvins. In verse 2 the insight through which the Aśvins find goods may be both their insight and also the poet’s, for the hymns inspire the Aśvins to bring goods. Verse 4 is very obscure for several reasons. First, the identity of the “lover of the waters, the carrier” is uncertain. Among the suggestions are Indra (Pirart 1995: 81) or Soma (Geldner, Renou, Thieme [1967: 236]), but it might also be Agni, who is also connected with the waters—he is famously “the Child of the Waters”—and who carries oblations to the gods and carries sacrificers across difficulties. Unfortunately 4c is not much help in identifying “the carrier” since kúṭa is a hapax of uncertain meaning. We have translated it as “house” following Thieme, but it may have another meaning and could even be a proper name, as Pirart suggests. This “lover of the waters” is probably also the ā́dāra, again a hapax and again of unsure meaning. We have translated it as “the one paying heed,” but according to another etymological analysis it could mean “breaker, splitter.” All we can say with certainty is that the verse ends with a clear invitation to the Aśvins to drink the soma (5c). As the soma flows to the Aśvins, so the poet hopes that the morning light, correspond ing to the soma, will flow toward the sacrificers (6). In verse 9 the poet turns to address his fellow Kaṇvas in the first half-verse and the Aśvins in pāda c. In that last line, the poet asks where the Aśvins are hidden, where they are “cloaked,” for it is presumably still dark and neither the dawn nor the Aśvins have yet appeared. The cloaking of the Aśvins in 9 contrasts with verse 13, in which the poet asks the Aśvins to “clothe” themselves in the soma in the company of Vivasvant, who is here likely associated with the sun. Then they and the morning will be present to the sacrificers.

44-49 ...{Loading}...
Jamison Brereton Notes

For illuminating remarks on the rhetorical and grammatical connections among these hymns, see Jesse Lundquist 2014 (25th UCLA IE Conf., Proceedings).

01 एषो उषा - गायत्री

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ए॒षो उ॒षा अपू॑र्व्या॒ व्यु॑च्छति प्रि॒या दि॒वः ।
स्तु॒षे वा॑मश्विना बृ॒हत् ॥

02 या दस्रा - गायत्री

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या द॒स्रा सिन्धु॑मातरा मनो॒तरा॑ रयी॒णाम् ।
धि॒या दे॒वा व॑सु॒विदा॑ ॥

03 वच्यन्ते वाम् - गायत्री

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व॒च्यन्ते॑ वां ककु॒हासो॑ जू॒र्णाया॒मधि॑ वि॒ष्टपि॑ ।
यद्वां॒ रथो॒ विभि॒ष्पता॑त् ॥

04 हविषा जारो - गायत्री

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ह॒विषा॑ जा॒रो अ॒पां पिप॑र्ति॒ पपु॑रिर्नरा ।
पि॒ता कुट॑स्य चर्ष॒णिः ॥

05 आदारो वाम् - गायत्री

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आ॒दा॒रो वां॑ मती॒नां नास॑त्या मतवचसा ।
पा॒तं सोम॑स्य धृष्णु॒या ॥

06 या नः - गायत्री

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या नः॒ पीप॑रदश्विना॒ ज्योति॑ष्मती॒ तम॑स्ति॒रः ।
ताम॒स्मे रा॑साथा॒मिष॑म् ॥

07 आ नो - गायत्री

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आ नो॑ ना॒वा म॑ती॒नां या॒तं पा॒राय॒ गन्त॑वे ।
यु॒ञ्जाथा॑मश्विना॒ रथ॑म् ॥

08 अरित्रं वाम् - गायत्री

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अ॒रित्रं॑ वां दि॒वस्पृ॒थु ती॒र्थे सिन्धू॑नां॒ रथः॑ ।
धि॒या यु॑युज्र॒ इन्द॑वः ॥

09 दिवस्कण्वास इन्दवो - गायत्री

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दि॒वस्क॑ण्वास॒ इन्द॑वो॒ वसु॒ सिन्धू॑नां प॒दे ।
स्वं व॒व्रिं कुह॑ धित्सथः ॥

10 अभूदु भा - गायत्री

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अभू॑दु॒ भा उ॑ अं॒शवे॒ हिर॑ण्यं॒ प्रति॒ सूर्यः॑ ।
व्य॑ख्यज्जि॒ह्वयासि॑तः ॥

11 अभूदु पारमेतवे - गायत्री

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अभू॑दु पा॒रमेत॑वे॒ पन्था॑ ऋ॒तस्य॑ साधु॒या ।
अद॑र्शि॒ वि स्रु॒तिर्दि॒वः ॥

12 तत्तदिदश्विनोरवो जरिता - गायत्री

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तत्त॒दिद॒श्विनो॒रवो॑ जरि॒ता प्रति॑ भूषति ।
मदे॒ सोम॑स्य॒ पिप्र॑तोः ॥

13 वावसाना विवस्वति - गायत्री

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वा॒व॒सा॒ना वि॒वस्व॑ति॒ सोम॑स्य पी॒त्या गि॒रा ।
म॒नु॒ष्वच्छ॑म्भू॒ आ ग॑तम् ॥

14 युवोरुषा अनु - गायत्री

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यु॒वोरु॒षा अनु॒ श्रियं॒ परि॑ज्मनोरु॒पाच॑रत् ।
ऋ॒ता व॑नथो अ॒क्तुभिः॑ ॥

15 उभा पिबतमश्विनोभा - गायत्री

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उ॒भा पि॑बतमश्विनो॒भा नः॒ शर्म॑ यच्छतम् ।
अ॒वि॒द्रि॒याभि॑रू॒तिभिः॑ ॥