०४२

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सायण-भाष्यम्

‘ मम द्विता ’ इति दशर्चं दशमं सूक्तम् । पुरुकुत्सस्य पुत्रस्त्रसदस्यू राजर्षिः । आद्यासु षट्स्वात्मनः स्तुत्यत्वात् आत्मा देवता । अवशिष्टानां चतसृणामिन्द्रावरुणौ देवता । त्रिष्टुप् छन्दः । अत्रानुक्रमणिका- मम द्विता दश त्रसदस्युः ‘पौरुकुत्स्यः षळाद्या आत्मस्तवः’ इति । उक्तो विनियोगः पूर्वसूक्ते ॥

Jamison Brereton

42 (338)
Indra and Varuṇa
Trasadasyu Paurukutsya
10 verses: triṣṭubh
According to the Anukramaṇī, the author of this hymn is King Trasadasyu, and the first six verses are his own self-praise. Beginning from a similar premise, Lommel (1951) argues that verses 1–6 were spoken by King Trasadasyu on the occasion of his royal consecration. Lommel points out that in the later royal consecration rite, the king is compared to both Varuṇa as dharmapati “lord of dharma” and to Indra as vr̥trahan “smasher of Vr̥tra.” Thus Trasadasyu identifies himself as both Indra and Varuṇa, and because of these identifications the poet of the hymn affirms that the king is “half a god” (vs. 8). Schmidt (1992) elaborated on this thesis, locating the hymn in a different ritual context. He argues that according to later Vedic tradition Varuṇa and Indra are dominant in different seasons, and this alternation between the two gods is visible in this hymn. So according to Schmidt (1992: 340), “King Trasadasyu impersonates both Varuṇa and Indra by performing their functions according to the demands of the seasons.” This hymn marks the transition from the settled period, in which the king enacts the role of Varuṇa, to the period of raiding and battle, when he becomes Indra. Thus it begins with the king’s identification with Varuṇa, but “in the third stanza the king affirms that he is not only Varuṇa but also Indra and thus announces the transition to his Indra-like activities which he details in the fifth and sixth stanza.” However the ritual context is interpreted, the hymn provides insight into the nature of kingship in the R̥gvedic period.
It is not clear whose voice it is in verse 7. For Lommel it is the poet; for Geldner and Renou, Varuṇa. Schmidt (1992: 341) offers the interesting suggestion that these two possibilities need not exclude one another if at this point in the rite or at this time of the year, a priest impersonates Varuṇa. He surmises that when the king left for war, he installed a caretaker in the settlement, represented here by the poet. Verse 8 refers to a legend about the birth of Trasadasyu, but its details are uncertain. According to Sieg (1902: 97–98), following a tradition mentioned in Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa XIII.5.4.5, Purukutsa performed a Horse Sacrifice with a horse named Daurgaha, and his son Trasadasyu was born as a result. As Lommel (1951: 37) points out, this reference to Trasadasyu’s birth would have enhanced his dignity and further justified his identification with Indra and Varuṇa because of the favor those gods showed to his mother. Sāyaṇa gives another, less likely ver
sion of the legend. According to this version, King Purukutsa Daurgaha had been captured. Seeing that the kingdom was left without a king, the principal wife of Purukutsa appealed to the Seven Seers, who offered a sacrifice to Indra and Varuṇa on her behalf, and the gods then gave her Trasadasyu as her son.
In the final verses (9 and 10) the poet addresses Indra and Varuṇa in a dual dvandva compound indrāvaruṇā, which signals the gods’ close connection to one another. Thus, while the rest of the hymn describes the two sides of kingship, these last verses emphasize the unity of the kingship represented by the two gods and their union in King Trasadasyu. The poet’s final request for a cow “that does not kick” (ánapasphurantī) may be explained by its possible double meaning. On the one hand, a cow that doesn’t kick is one that is easy to milk and therefore represents the prosperity that the poet hopes for (10a). On the other hand, as Renou notes, the description “never kicking” (ánapasphur) is applied to the soma when it is compared to a cow in VIII.69.10. So then the cow in this verse may also be good soma, which will “elate” the gods (10b). Therefore, the cow “that does not kick” is both the successful sacrificial performance and the successful result of the sacrifice.

01 मम द्विता - त्रिष्टुप्

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मम॑ द्वि॒ता रा॒ष्ट्रं क्ष॒त्रिय॑स्य वि॒श्वायो॒र्विश्वे॑ अ॒मृता॒ यथा॑ नः ।
क्रतुं॑ सचन्ते॒ वरु॑णस्य दे॒वा राजा॑मि कृ॒ष्टेरु॑प॒मस्य॑ व॒व्रेः ॥

02 अहं राजा - त्रिष्टुप्

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अ॒हं राजा॒ वरु॑णो॒ मह्यं॒ तान्य॑सु॒र्या॑णि प्रथ॒मा धा॑रयन्त ।
क्रतुं॑ सचन्ते॒ वरु॑णस्य दे॒वा राजा॑मि कृ॒ष्टेरु॑प॒मस्य॑ व॒व्रेः ॥

03 अहमिन्द्रो वरुणस्ते - त्रिष्टुप्

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अ॒हमिन्द्रो॒ वरु॑ण॒स्ते म॑हि॒त्वोर्वी ग॑भी॒रे रज॑सी सु॒मेके॑ ।
त्वष्टे॑व॒ विश्वा॒ भुव॑नानि वि॒द्वान्त्समै॑रयं॒ रोद॑सी धा॒रयं॑ च ॥

04 अहमपो अपिन्वमुक्षमाणा - त्रिष्टुप्

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अ॒हम॒पो अ॑पिन्वमु॒क्षमा॑णा धा॒रयं॒ दिवं॒ सद॑न ऋ॒तस्य॑ ।
ऋ॒तेन॑ पु॒त्रो अदि॑तेरृ॒तावो॒त त्रि॒धातु॑ प्रथय॒द्वि भूम॑ ॥

05 मां नरः - त्रिष्टुप्

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मां नरः॒ स्वश्वा॑ वा॒जय॑न्तो॒ मां वृ॒ताः स॒मर॑णे हवन्ते ।
कृ॒णोम्या॒जिं म॒घवा॒हमिन्द्र॒ इय॑र्मि रे॒णुम॒भिभू॑त्योजाः ॥

06 अहं ता - त्रिष्टुप्

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अ॒हं ता विश्वा॑ चकरं॒ नकि॑र्मा॒ दैव्यं॒ सहो॑ वरते॒ अप्र॑तीतम् ।
यन्मा॒ सोमा॑सो म॒मद॒न्यदु॒क्थोभे भ॑येते॒ रज॑सी अपा॒रे ॥

07 विदुष्थे विश्वा - त्रिष्टुप्

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वि॒दुष्टे॒ विश्वा॒ भुव॑नानि॒ तस्य॒ ता प्र ब्र॑वीषि॒ वरु॑णाय वेधः ।
त्वं वृ॒त्राणि॑ शृण्विषे जघ॒न्वान्त्वं वृ॒ताँ अ॑रिणा इन्द्र॒ सिन्धू॑न् ॥

08 अस्माकमत्र पितरस्त - त्रिष्टुप्

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अ॒स्माक॒मत्र॑ पि॒तर॒स्त आ॑सन्त्स॒प्त ऋष॑यो दौर्ग॒हे ब॒ध्यमा॑ने ।
त आय॑जन्त त्र॒सद॑स्युमस्या॒ इन्द्रं॒ न वृ॑त्र॒तुर॑मर्धदे॒वम् ॥

09 पुरुकुत्सानी हि - त्रिष्टुप्

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पु॒रु॒कुत्सा॑नी॒ हि वा॒मदा॑शद्ध॒व्येभि॑रिन्द्रावरुणा॒ नमो॑भिः ।
अथा॒ राजा॑नं त्र॒सद॑स्युमस्या वृत्र॒हणं॑ ददथुरर्धदे॒वम् ॥

10 राया वयम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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रा॒या व॒यं स॑स॒वांसो॑ मदेम ह॒व्येन॑ दे॒वा यव॑सेन॒ गावः॑ ।
तां धे॒नुमि॑न्द्रावरुणा यु॒वं नो॑ वि॒श्वाहा॑ धत्त॒मन॑पस्फुरन्तीम् ॥