०२३

सर्वाष् टीकाः ...{Loading}...
सायण-भाष्यम्

‘ कथा महाम्’ इत्येकादशर्चं द्वितीयं सूक्तं वामदेवस्यार्षं त्रैष्टुभमैन्द्रम् । “ऋतस्य हि ‘इत्याद्यास्तिस्र ऋतदेवताका वा । तथा चानुक्रान्तं-’ कथोपान्त्यास्तिस्र ऋतदेव्यो वा ’ इति । आभिप्लविकेऽहनि दशरात्रे प्रथमेऽहनि माध्यंदिनसवने मैत्रावरुणशस्त्रेऽहीनसूक्तस्य स्थान इदं तृतीयं संपातसूक्तम् । सूत्रितं च-’ कथा महामिन्द्रः पूर्भिद्य एक इत् ’ ( आश्व. श्रौ. ७. ५) इति । महाव्रते निष्केवल्ये एतत् । तथैव पञ्चमारण्यके शौनकेन सूत्रितं च -’ कथा महामवृधत्कस्य होतुरिति संपातः (ऐ. आ. ५. २. २ ) इति ।

Jamison Brereton

23 (319)
Indra (1–7, 11), Indra or R̥ta (8–10)
Vāmadeva Gautama
11 verses: triṣṭubh
The most salient feature of this hymn is the insistent series of questions that domi nate its first six verses. These questions all concern the sacrificers’ relationship to Indra—which sacrificers have managed to attract and please Indra, how does Indra know who is sacrificing and where, who receives Indra’s bounty and comradeship and by what means. A preliminary and oblique answer is given in the second half of verse 4: “the god will take cognizance of my truths,” that is, my praise and sacred formulations, which will ensure that Indra will come to our sacrifice and share his bounty. This answer is elaborated upon in the last verses of the hymn. After this partial answer in verse 4 the questions take on a more intimate tone, inquiring into the nature of Indra’s friendship with his worshipers, who are now his comrades, whereas the first four verses were more concerned with the mechanics of attracting Indra to our particular sacrifice. A striking feature of these question verses is that, despite the poet’s eagerness for the presence and intimate comradeship of Indra, the god is always referred to in the 3rd person, and indeed the poet and sacrificers are almost always in the 3rd person as well. This 3rd-person distancing of Indra reminds us somewhat of the doubts expressed about Indra’s existence or at least his whereabouts in other R̥gvedic hymns; the 3rd-person reference suggests that the poet has not established the direct personal contact with the god that he desires. Verse 7 serves as a transition to the amplified answers of verses 8–10. In verse 7 Indra prepares to destroy “the lie,” the deceit that is inimical to the proper func tioning of the cosmos. After Indra’s destruction of the lie, the ubiquitous and all-powerful force of “truth” can be celebrated in the remaining verses (8–10, before the refrain verse 11). These three verses contain twelve instances of the word r̥tá “truth,” most of them initial in their pāda. As Paul Thieme illuminatingly pointed out (1964: 30), r̥tá is the implicit answer to the questions posed earlier—the “how?” questions answered with “by means of truth,” the “which sacrificer?” questions by “the one who produces truth.” And we already saw that r̥tá as the answer was fore shadowed in the middle of the hymn (vs. 4cd). Thus we can satisfactorily resolve the apparent lack of connection between the first two-thirds of the hymn, with its bar rage of questions about Indra and the sacrifice, and the last third, with its insistently repeated “truth” and absolutely no mention of Indra, that led the Anukramaṇī to suggest the possibility of two different divinities for the hymn (Indra 1–7, 11; R̥ta 8–10). Indra by destroying the lie (vs. 7) gave free rein to the workings of truth described in verses 8–10.

Jamison Brereton Notes

Indra Thieme tr. and comments on this hymn in Gedichte (pp. 30-33).

01 कथा महामवृधत्कस्य - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

क॒था म॒हाम॑वृध॒त्कस्य॒ होतु॑र्य॒ज्ञं जु॑षा॒णो अ॒भि सोम॒मूधः॑ ।
पिब॑न्नुशा॒नो जु॒षमा॑णो॒ अन्धो॑ वव॒क्ष ऋ॒ष्वः शु॑च॒ते धना॑य ॥

02 को अस्य - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

को अ॑स्य वी॒रः स॑ध॒माद॑माप॒ समा॑नंश सुम॒तिभिः॒ को अ॑स्य ।
कद॑स्य चि॒त्रं चि॑किते॒ कदू॒ती वृ॒धे भु॑वच्छशमा॒नस्य॒ यज्योः॑ ॥

03 कथा शृणोति - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

क॒था शृ॑णोति हू॒यमा॑न॒मिन्द्रः॑ क॒था शृ॒ण्वन्नव॑सामस्य वेद ।
का अ॑स्य पू॒र्वीरुप॑मातयो ह क॒थैन॑माहुः॒ पपु॑रिं जरि॒त्रे ॥

04 कथा सबाधः - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

क॒था स॒बाधः॑ शशमा॒नो अ॑स्य॒ नश॑द॒भि द्रवि॑णं॒ दीध्या॑नः ।
दे॒वो भु॑व॒न्नवे॑दा म ऋ॒तानां॒ नमो॑ जगृ॒भ्वाँ अ॒भि यज्जुजो॑षत् ॥

05 कथा कदस्या - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

क॒था कद॒स्या उ॒षसो॒ व्यु॑ष्टौ दे॒वो मर्त॑स्य स॒ख्यं जु॑जोष ।
क॒था कद॑स्य स॒ख्यं सखि॑भ्यो॒ ये अ॑स्मि॒न्कामं॑ सु॒युजं॑ तत॒स्रे ॥

06 किमादमत्रं सख्यम् - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

किमादम॑त्रं स॒ख्यं सखि॑भ्यः क॒दा नु ते॑ भ्रा॒त्रं प्र ब्र॑वाम ।
श्रि॒ये सु॒दृशो॒ वपु॑रस्य॒ सर्गाः॒ स्व१॒॑र्ण चि॒त्रत॑ममिष॒ आ गोः ॥

07 द्रुहं जिघांसन्ध्वरसमनिन्द्राम् - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

द्रुहं॒ जिघां॑सन्ध्व॒रस॑मनि॒न्द्रां तेति॑क्ते ति॒ग्मा तु॒जसे॒ अनी॑का ।
ऋ॒णा चि॒द्यत्र॑ ऋण॒या न॑ उ॒ग्रो दू॒रे अज्ञा॑ता उ॒षसो॑ बबा॒धे ॥

08 ऋतस्य हि - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

ऋ॒तस्य॒ हि शु॒रुधः॒ सन्ति॑ पू॒र्वीरृ॒तस्य॑ धी॒तिर्वृ॑जि॒नानि॑ हन्ति ।
ऋ॒तस्य॒ श्लोको॑ बधि॒रा त॑तर्द॒ कर्णा॑ बुधा॒नः शु॒चमा॑न आ॒योः ॥

09 ऋतस्य दृळ्हा - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

ऋ॒तस्य॑ दृ॒ळ्हा ध॒रुणा॑नि सन्ति पु॒रूणि॑ च॒न्द्रा वपु॑षे॒ वपूं॑षि ।
ऋ॒तेन॑ दी॒र्घमि॑षणन्त॒ पृक्ष॑ ऋ॒तेन॒ गाव॑ ऋ॒तमा वि॑वेशुः ॥

10 ऋतं येमान - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

ऋ॒तं ये॑मा॒न ऋ॒तमिद्व॑नोत्यृ॒तस्य॒ शुष्म॑स्तुर॒या उ॑ ग॒व्युः ।
ऋ॒ताय॑ पृ॒थ्वी ब॑हु॒ले ग॑भी॒रे ऋ॒ताय॑ धे॒नू प॑र॒मे दु॑हाते ॥

11 नू ष्थुत - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

नू ष्टु॒त इ॑न्द्र॒ नू गृ॑णा॒न इषं॑ जरि॒त्रे न॒द्यो॒३॒॑ न पी॑पेः ।
अका॑रि ते हरिवो॒ ब्रह्म॒ नव्यं॑ धि॒या स्या॑म र॒थ्यः॑ सदा॒साः ॥