०३३

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सायण-भाष्यम्

॥ श्रीगणेशाय नमः ॥

यस्य निःश्वसितं वेदा यो वेदेभ्योऽखिलं जगत् ।

निर्ममे तमहं वन्दे विद्यातीर्थमहेश्वरम् ॥

चतुर्थेऽनुवाके त्रयोदश सूक्तानि । तत्र ‘प्र ऋभुभ्यः’ इत्येकादशर्चं प्रथमं सूक्तं वामदेवस्यार्षं त्रैष्टुभम् । तुह्यादिपरिभाषया इदमादि सूक्तपञ्चकमृभुदेवताकम् । अत्रानुक्रमणिका - ’ प्र ऋभुभ्य एकादशार्भवं वा ’ इति । व्यूढे दशरात्रे चतुर्थेऽहनि वैश्वदेवशस्त्रे आर्भवनिविद्धानीयमिदम् । तथा च सूत्रितं- प्र ऋभुभ्यः प्र शुक्रैत्विति वैश्वदेवम् ’ ( आश्व. श्रौ. ८. ८) इति ॥

Jamison Brereton

33 (329)
R̥bhus
Vāmadeva Gautama
11 verses: triṣṭubh
This is one of the most interesting of the R̥bhu hymns and one of the most sig nificant for the interpretation of the R̥bhus. The R̥bhus are gods, but they are also priests, and much of the hymn refers to their work as sacrificial performers in the third soma pressing, the pressing with which they are associated (cf. vs. 11). This sacrificial work is sometimes directly expressed (e.g., vss. 2ab, 3cd, 9), but most often it is described in mythic narrative. For example, while verse 4 has been contro versial, it likely refers to a distinctive rite of the Third Pressing in which the soma stalks already used in the first two pressings are beaten again to extract the soma juice for the Third Pressing. The “cow” that one R̥bhu tends is the soma stalks, which are thoroughly mangled or “carved” in the pressing and then “carried” away. Because the R̥bhus prepared the soma or perhaps even created the Third Pressing, they “attained immortality” and became gods. This leaves unexplained the verse’s

repeated reference to the “year,” but perhaps the year represents the sacrificial day or even the period of the Third Pressing.
The next verses (5–6) describe the institution of the Third Pressing. The princi pal soma recipients in the Third Pressing are Indra and the three R̥bhus. The four soma cups that the R̥bhus construct from the one made by Tvaṣṭar thus represent the four soma recipients and the extension of the soma rite into the Third Pressing. Unfortunately, the narrative returns to deeper obscurity in verse 7. The story of the R̥bhus and Agohya occurs in other R̥bhu hymns (I.110.2–3 and 161.11–12), but none of the hymns provides enough information to know who Agohya is or the significance of the R̥bhus’ slumber in the house of Agohya. If there is a ritual reference here, it may be to an Atirātra or overnight soma rite, in which the Third Pressing is extended through the night into the next day. If that is the case, then the poet could be conflating different units of time as in verse 4, and the “twelve days” they remained with Agohya could be the hours of the night. One possibility is that Agohya is Savitar (cf. I.110.2–3), and that identification too would point to the night since Savitar is associated with the night. In verse 8 the “smooth running” chariot that stands still may be the sacrifice, elsewhere compared to a chariot, but the “all-rousing milk-cow of all shapes” remains elusive.
Although there is significant competition for this honor, perhaps the most obscure of the stories is that of the R̥bhus’ rejuvenation of their parents (vss. 2–3ab). Their parents could be the sacrificer and his wife, who has an important ritual role in the Third Pressing and whose sexual power is a theme of that pressing. Or they could even be the two Aśvins, who in the classical soma rite are invoked in the morning fol
lowing an overnight soma rite. The word pitárā, though understood here and usually as an elliptical dual referring to father and mother, can mean “two fathers,” perhaps an oblique reference to the Aśvins. The Aśvins are part of the Morning Pressing and their reappearance at the end of the rite could constitute a kind of rejuvenation.
The difficulties in the interpretation of the narratives in this hymn are reflected in some of the language of the hymns, especially at its beginning and end. The first verse imitates the clever artisanship of the R̥bhus by its own verbal intricacy. In pāda c the phrase taráṇibhir évaiḥ could be translated “along their transiting ways” and mean that the R̥bhus move actually or figuratively along the courses that cross heaven. But taráṇi can also mean “surpassing,” and therefore the phrase might also refer to the “surpassing” ritual skill of the R̥bhus by which they encompass heaven. With equal justification, therefore, we could translate “(The R̥bhus,) sped by the wind, by their surpassing ways have encompassed heaven….” Pāda b interrupts and separates pāda a from cd, which continue it. In pāda b it is not clear what the “śvaitarī cow” is—it could be a kind of cow as Geldner suggests—but śvaítarī car ries or suggests the sense of “gleaming white” and points to the identification of the cow as milk. If the priest has just drunk it, milk might form an underlayer of his speech, which he then offers to the gods. The infinitive upastíre “to spread an underlayer” evokes the upastáraṇa, the underlayer of butter that accompanies a puroḍāśá or barley cake offering. The last verse has a different kind of complexity. Pāda b begins ná r̥té śrāntásya, and the problem particularly involves the word r̥té. The simplest and most common reading is to translate r̥té as “except,” but it would then normally govern an ablative noun and there is none to be had. Our suggestion is that there is an ellipsis of an abla
tive sakhyā́t “companionship.” But further, we also suggest that r̥té is a śleṣa, a pun, and means not only “except,” but also “in the truth,” that is, “according to the proper order of the sacrifice.” In this sense the word is construed with śrāntá “labored.” To try to capture the double meaning, we have translated the word twice in these two senses.

01 प्र ऋभुभ्यो - त्रिष्टुप्

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प्र ऋ॒भुभ्यो॑ दू॒तमि॑व॒ वाच॑मिष्य उप॒स्तिरे॒ श्वैत॑रीं धे॒नुमी॑ळे ।
ये वात॑जूतास्त॒रणि॑भि॒रेवैः॒ परि॒ द्यां स॒द्यो अ॒पसो॑ बभू॒वुः ॥

02 यदारमक्रन्नृभवः पितृभ्याम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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य॒दार॒मक्र॑न्नृ॒भवः॑ पि॒तृभ्यां॒ परि॑विष्टी वे॒षणा॑ दं॒सना॑भिः ।
आदिद्दे॒वाना॒मुप॑ स॒ख्यमा॑य॒न्धीरा॑सः पु॒ष्टिम॑वहन्म॒नायै॑ ॥

03 पुनर्ये चक्रुः - त्रिष्टुप्

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पुन॒र्ये च॒क्रुः पि॒तरा॒ युवा॑ना॒ सना॒ यूपे॑व जर॒णा शया॑ना ।
ते वाजो॒ विभ्वाँ॑ ऋ॒भुरिन्द्र॑वन्तो॒ मधु॑प्सरसो नोऽवन्तु य॒ज्ञम् ॥

04 यत्संवत्समृभवो गामरक्षन्यत्संवत्समृभवो - त्रिष्टुप्

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यत्सं॒वत्स॑मृ॒भवो॒ गामर॑क्ष॒न्यत्सं॒वत्स॑मृ॒भवो॒ मा अपिं॑शन् ।
यत्सं॒वत्स॒मभ॑र॒न्भासो॑ अस्या॒स्ताभिः॒ शमी॑भिरमृत॒त्वमा॑शुः ॥

05 ज्येष्ट आह - त्रिष्टुप्

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ज्ये॒ष्ठ आ॑ह चम॒सा द्वा क॒रेति॒ कनी॑या॒न्त्रीन्कृ॑णवा॒मेत्या॑ह ।
क॒नि॒ष्ठ आ॑ह च॒तुर॑स्क॒रेति॒ त्वष्ट॑ ऋभव॒स्तत्प॑नय॒द्वचो॑ वः ॥

06 सत्यमूचुर्नर एवा - त्रिष्टुप्

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स॒त्यमू॑चु॒र्नर॑ ए॒वा हि च॒क्रुरनु॑ स्व॒धामृ॒भवो॑ जग्मुरे॒ताम् ।
वि॒भ्राज॑मानाँश्चम॒साँ अहे॒वावे॑न॒त्त्वष्टा॑ च॒तुरो॑ ददृ॒श्वान् ॥

07 द्वादश द्यून्यदगोह्यस्यातिथ्ये - त्रिष्टुप्

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द्वाद॑श॒ द्यून्यदगो॑ह्यस्याति॒थ्ये रण॑न्नृ॒भवः॑ स॒सन्तः॑ ।
सु॒क्षेत्रा॑कृण्व॒न्नन॑यन्त॒ सिन्धू॒न्धन्वाति॑ष्ठ॒न्नोष॑धीर्नि॒म्नमापः॑ ॥

08 रथं ये - त्रिष्टुप्

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रथं॒ ये च॒क्रुः सु॒वृतं॑ नरे॒ष्ठां ये धे॒नुं वि॑श्व॒जुवं॑ वि॒श्वरू॑पाम् ।
त आ त॑क्षन्त्वृ॒भवो॑ र॒यिं नः॒ स्वव॑सः॒ स्वप॑सः सु॒हस्ताः॑ ॥

09 अपो ह्येषामजुषन्त - त्रिष्टुप्

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अपो॒ ह्ये॑षा॒मजु॑षन्त दे॒वा अ॒भि क्रत्वा॒ मन॑सा॒ दीध्या॑नाः ।
वाजो॑ दे॒वाना॑मभवत्सु॒कर्मेन्द्र॑स्य ऋभु॒क्षा वरु॑णस्य॒ विभ्वा॑ ॥

10 ये हरी - त्रिष्टुप्

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ये हरी॑ मे॒धयो॒क्था मद॑न्त॒ इन्द्रा॑य च॒क्रुः सु॒युजा॒ ये अश्वा॑ ।
ते रा॒यस्पोषं॒ द्रवि॑णान्य॒स्मे ध॒त्त ऋ॑भवः क्षेम॒यन्तो॒ न मि॒त्रम् ॥

11 इदाह्नः पीतिमुत - त्रिष्टुप्

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इ॒दाह्नः॑ पी॒तिमु॒त वो॒ मदं॑ धु॒र्न ऋ॒ते श्रा॒न्तस्य॑ स॒ख्याय॑ दे॒वाः ।
ते नू॒नम॒स्मे ऋ॑भवो॒ वसू॑नि तृ॒तीये॑ अ॒स्मिन्त्सव॑ने दधात ॥