१२१

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सायण-भाष्यम्

अष्टादशेऽनुवाके षट् सूक्तानि । तत्र ‘कदित्था ’ इति पञ्चदशर्चं प्रथमं सूक्तम् । अत्रानुक्रम्यते – ‘कदित्था पञ्चोना वैश्वदेवं वा’ इति । अनुवर्तमानः कक्षीवानृषिः । अनादेशपरिभाषया त्रिष्टुप् । विश्वे देवा इन्द्रो वा देवता । विनियोगो लैङ्गिकः ॥

Jamison Brereton

121
Indra or the All Gods
Kakṣīvant Dairghatamasa
15 verses: triṣṭubh
Of all the challenging and maddening hymns in Kakṣīvant’s small but memorable oeuvre, this hymn may present the biggest challenges and the most maddening set of puzzles—though the immediately preceding one is at least in competition. It seems that antiquity had a similar reaction, as the Anukramaṇī is not even sure whether the hymn is dedicated to Indra or to the All Gods. We will here sketch a structure and suggest some themes, but we make no claims for the correctness of all the choices made in our translation or commentary.
The predominant deity of the hymn must be Indra, though his name does not appear until verse 11, and the governing myth of the hymn is that of the opening of the Vala cave. But other mythic material is interspersed through the hymn, and the present-day sacrificial situation is also treated—while, conversely, the Vala myth is sometimes presented as if it were happening at this moment. In fact, the first verse sets up this scenario, with questions about Indra’s attendance at a sacrifice where the Aṅgirases, his helpers in the Vala myth, are performing their hymns. The same prospective appearance of Indra among the Aṅgirases is also described in verse 3, with the recital of the Vala myth continued, in the past, in verse 4. The intervening verse (2) is also couched in the mythic past and begins (2ab) with Indra’s primal cosmogonic deed, the separation of heaven and earth. The second half of verse 2 contains one of the most discussed portions of the hymn, a set of three memorably described female figures whose relationships to each other and to the “buffalo” who is gazing upon at least one of them are unclear. In our view, all three figures are different forms of Dawn, the subject of two of Kakṣīvant’s other hymns (I.123–124), as she transforms herself from a young girl choosing her husband (the Sun) to a wife (of the Sun in the form of a horse) to a mother (of a cow: the light of Dawn is frequently compared to cows). The buffalo is probably Indra, and the focus on Dawn is appropri ate to a hymn celebrating the opening of the Vala cave and the release of the dawn-cows.
Verse 4 alluded to the impetus that drinking soma gave to Indra at the opening of the Vala cave, and the following two verses (5–6) sketch the history of Indra’s possession of soma and then turn to the soma currently being produced at today’s dawn sacrifice. The following, quite puzzling verse (7) seems to identify Indra with the sun and, by implication, with the shining soma of the previous verse, also com
pared to the sun. The poet seems further to suggest that, even in the absence of all the sacrificial necessities, the presence of radiant Indra is tantamount to a properly performed sacrifice, for the benefit of the poet and his family. (We suggest that Kakṣīvant is alluding to himself here, on the basis of similar vocabulary used in I.126.5.)
Verse 8 begins a series of mythological verses, with an intertwining of the Vala myth (9ab, 10ab) and that of Indra’s slaying of Śuṣṇa with the aid of Uśanā Kāvya (9cd, 10cd, 11d, 12) and the related myth of the halting of the Sun’s horses and chariot (13), with incidental mentions of other deeds of Indra (the Vr̥tra battle, 11c) thrown in. The interpenetration of these mythic allusions keeps the audi
ence off balance, a queasy feeling much increased by the disjunctive and elliptical syntax.

The final two verses (14–15), asking for protection and valuables, are by contrast quite straightforward. Presumably on this subject Kakṣīvant did not want the god to misunderstand.

Jamison Brereton Notes

Indra or the All Gods This is a very problematic hymn, and both the published translation and this comm. are tentative and tenuous on many points. There are some quirks that reappear throughout the hymn: a remarkable no. of pāda-final góḥ (2b, 2d, 7b, 9a) - is this some sort of hidden encoding? It’s also part of a pattern of favoring pāda-final monosyllables (vrā́m 2c, rā́ṭ 3a, dyū́n 3b, 7c, dyā́m 3d, vaḥ 4d, nṝ́n 12a, 13a, dā́t 12c

  • and, flg. Hoffmann, daḥ 10d). Also a fondness for pári and prá, the former esp. in opaque contexts.

01 कदित्था नछर्’थ६श्ःँ - त्रिष्टुप्

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कदि॒त्था नॄँः पात्रं॑ देवय॒तां श्रव॒द्गिरो॒ अङ्गि॑रसां तुर॒ण्यन् ।
प्र यदान॒ड्विश॒ आ ह॒र्म्यस्यो॒रु क्रं॑सते अध्व॒रे यज॑त्रः ॥

02 स्तम्भीद्ध द्याम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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स्तम्भी॑द्ध॒ द्यां स ध॒रुणं॑ प्रुषायदृ॒भुर्वाजा॑य॒ द्रवि॑णं॒ नरो॒ गोः ।
अनु॑ स्व॒जां म॑हि॒षश्च॑क्षत॒ व्रां मेना॒मश्व॑स्य॒ परि॑ मा॒तरं॒ गोः ॥

03 नक्षद्धवमरुणीः पूर्व्यम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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नक्ष॒द्धव॑मरु॒णीः पू॒र्व्यं राट् तु॒रो वि॒शामङ्गि॑रसा॒मनु॒ द्यून् ।
तक्ष॒द्वज्रं॒ नियु॑तं त॒स्तम्भ॒द्द्यां चतु॑ष्पदे॒ नर्या॑य द्वि॒पादे॑ ॥

04 अस्य मदे - त्रिष्टुप्

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अ॒स्य मदे॑ स्व॒र्यं॑ दा ऋ॒तायापी॑वृतमु॒स्रिया॑णा॒मनी॑कम् ।
यद्ध॑ प्र॒सर्गे॑ त्रिक॒कुम्नि॒वर्त॒दप॒ द्रुहो॒ मानु॑षस्य॒ दुरो॑ वः ॥

05 तुभ्यं पयो - त्रिष्टुप्

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तुभ्यं॒ पयो॒ यत्पि॒तरा॒वनी॑तां॒ राधः॑ सु॒रेत॑स्तु॒रणे॑ भुर॒ण्यू ।
शुचि॒ यत्ते॒ रेक्ण॒ आय॑जन्त सब॒र्दुघा॑याः॒ पय॑ उ॒स्रिया॑याः ॥

06 अध प्र - त्रिष्टुप्

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अध॒ प्र ज॑ज्ञे त॒रणि॑र्ममत्तु॒ प्र रो॑च्य॒स्या उ॒षसो॒ न सूरः॑ ।
इन्दु॒र्येभि॒राष्ट॒ स्वेदु॑हव्यैः स्रु॒वेण॑ सि॒ञ्चञ्ज॒रणा॒भि धाम॑ ॥

07 स्विध्मा यद्वनधितिरपस्यात्सूरो - त्रिष्टुप्

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स्वि॒ध्मा यद्व॒नधि॑तिरप॒स्यात्सूरो॑ अध्व॒रे परि॒ रोध॑ना॒ गोः ।
यद्ध॑ प्र॒भासि॒ कृत्व्याँ॒ अनु॒ द्यूनन॑र्विशे प॒श्विषे॑ तु॒राय॑ ॥

08 अष्था महो - त्रिष्टुप्

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अ॒ष्टा म॒हो दि॒व आदो॒ हरी॑ इ॒ह द्यु॑म्ना॒साह॑म॒भि यो॑धा॒न उत्स॑म् ।
हरिं॒ यत्ते॑ म॒न्दिनं॑ दु॒क्षन्वृ॒धे गोर॑भस॒मद्रि॑भिर्वा॒ताप्य॑म् ॥

09 त्वमायसं प्रति - त्रिष्टुप्

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त्वमा॑य॒सं प्रति॑ वर्तयो॒ गोर्दि॒वो अश्मा॑न॒मुप॑नीत॒मृभ्वा॑ ।
कुत्सा॑य॒ यत्र॑ पुरुहूत व॒न्वञ्छुष्ण॑मन॒न्तैः प॑रि॒यासि॑ व॒धैः ॥

10 पुरा यत्सूरस्तमसो - त्रिष्टुप्

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पु॒रा यत्सूर॒स्तम॑सो॒ अपी॑ते॒स्तम॑द्रिवः फलि॒गं हे॒तिम॑स्य ।
शुष्ण॑स्य चि॒त्परि॑हितं॒ यदोजो॑ दि॒वस्परि॒ सुग्र॑थितं॒ तदादः॑ ॥

11 अनु त्वा - त्रिष्टुप्

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अनु॑ त्वा म॒ही पाज॑सी अच॒क्रे द्यावा॒क्षामा॑ मदतामिन्द्र॒ कर्म॑न् ।
त्वं वृ॒त्रमा॒शया॑नं सि॒रासु॑ म॒हो वज्रे॑ण सिष्वपो व॒राहु॑म् ॥

12 त्वमिन्द्र नर्यो - त्रिष्टुप्

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त्वमि॑न्द्र॒ नर्यो॒ याँ अवो॒ नॄन्तिष्ठा॒ वात॑स्य सु॒युजो॒ वहि॑ष्ठान् ।
यं ते॑ का॒व्य उ॒शना॑ म॒न्दिनं॒ दाद्वृ॑त्र॒हणं॒ पार्यं॑ ततक्ष॒ वज्र॑म् ॥

13 त्वं सूरो - त्रिष्टुप्

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त्वं सूरो॑ ह॒रितो॑ रामयो॒ नॄन्भर॑च्च॒क्रमेत॑शो॒ नायमि॑न्द्र ।
प्रास्य॑ पा॒रं न॑व॒तिं ना॒व्या॑ना॒मपि॑ क॒र्तम॑वर्त॒योऽय॑ज्यून् ॥

14 त्वं नो - त्रिष्टुप्

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त्वं नो॑ अ॒स्या इ॑न्द्र दु॒र्हणा॑याः पा॒हि व॑ज्रिवो दुरि॒ताद॒भीके॑ ।
प्र नो॒ वाजा॑न्र॒थ्यो॒३॒॑ अश्व॑बुध्यानि॒षे य॑न्धि॒ श्रव॑से सू॒नृता॑यै ॥

15 मा सा - त्रिष्टुप्

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मा सा ते॑ अ॒स्मत्सु॑म॒तिर्वि द॑स॒द्वाज॑प्रमहः॒ समिषो॑ वरन्त ।
आ नो॑ भज मघव॒न्गोष्व॒र्यो मंहि॑ष्ठास्ते सध॒मादः॑ स्याम ॥