०१९

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

‘ अभ्यवस्थाः’ इति पञ्चर्चं पञ्चमं सूक्तम् । अत्रेयमनुक्रमणिका–’ अभ्यवस्था वव्रिर्गायत्र्यावनुष्टुभौ विराड्रूपा’ इति । आत्रेयो वव्रिर्ऋषिः । प्रथमाद्वितीये गायत्र्यौ तृतीयाचतुर्थ्यावनुष्टुभौ पञ्चमी विराड्रूपा ‘एकादशिनस्त्रयोऽष्टकश्च विराड्रूपा’ इत्युक्तलक्षणोपेतत्वात् ॥

Jamison Brereton

19 (373)
Agni
Vavri Ātreya
5 verses: gāyatrī 1–2, anuṣṭubh 3–4, virāḍrūpā 5
As other translators have remarked, this hymn is enigmatic. Renou even describes it as a collection of disjointed verses, and it is true that in its five verses the hymn has three different meters.
The first two verses describe the birth of Agni in terms that suggest human birth. The fire is born from a womb of wood, its first covering, and appears with a caul of smoke, its second covering. Having emerged, it peeps out from the hollow of the lower churning stick that gave it birth. Then priests nurture Agni’s growth into manhood, and perhaps Agni himself, as Geldner suggests, becomes a fortress for them, or perhaps the sacrificial ground governed by Agni is their fortress.
In verse 3 it is not clear who Śvaitreya might be. He could be Agni himself, whose kin would be his flames. Or he might be a clan leader or even, as Geldner argues, a racing bull. Because the relationship between Br̥haduktha and Śvaitreya is unclear, it is equally uncertain how to understand the relationship between 3ab and cd. Br̥haduktha is elsewhere a poet, and although the Anukramaṇī abstracts Vavri Ātreya as the name of the poet of this hymn from the vavrí “covering” in the first verse, it is more likely that Br̥haduktha is actually the poet. He is apparently seeking the prize the way a horse does. Oldenberg points out that in the Vājapeya sacrifice there is a mantra that invites the horse to drink honey, perhaps to give him strength, and perhaps this custom lies behind the simile in d. The mystery deepens in verse 4, but it appears that Agni, when he is born, then mates with the two fire-churning

sticks that give him birth as he consumes them. The act would seem to be unholy, but that is merely Agni’s deception.
The last verse apparently describes the fully mature Agni, flinging his flames in the wind. On this verse, see Hoffmann (1954/61: 46–47 [=1975: 375–76]); he is surely correct to read sandhr̥ṣájas, which could mean “daring warriors” or the like, instead of san dhr̥ṣájas with the Padapāṭha.

01 अभ्यवस्थाः प्र - गायत्री

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

अ॒भ्य॑व॒स्थाः प्र जा॑यन्ते॒ प्र व॒व्रेर्व॒व्रिश्चि॑केत ।
उ॒पस्थे॑ मा॒तुर्वि च॑ष्टे ॥

02 जुहुरे वि - गायत्री

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जु॒हु॒रे वि चि॒तय॒न्तोऽनि॑मिषं नृ॒म्णं पा॑न्ति ।
आ दृ॒ळ्हां पुरं॑ विविशुः ॥

03 आ श्वैत्रेयस्य - अनुष्टुप्

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आ श्वै॑त्रे॒यस्य॑ ज॒न्तवो॑ द्यु॒मद्व॑र्धन्त कृ॒ष्टयः॑ ।
नि॒ष्कग्री॑वो बृ॒हदु॑क्थ ए॒ना मध्वा॒ न वा॑ज॒युः ॥

04 प्रियं दुग्धम् - अनुष्टुप्

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प्रि॒यं दु॒ग्धं न काम्य॒मजा॑मि जा॒म्योः सचा॑ ।
घ॒र्मो न वाज॑जठ॒रोऽद॑ब्धः॒ शश्व॑तो॒ दभः॑ ॥

05 क्रीळन्नो रश्म - विराड्रूपा

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क्रीळ॑न्नो रश्म॒ आ भु॑वः॒ सं भस्म॑ना वा॒युना॒ वेवि॑दानः ।
ता अ॑स्य सन्धृ॒षजो॒ न ति॒ग्माः सुसं॑शिता व॒क्ष्यो॑ वक्षणे॒स्थाः ॥