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सायण-भाष्यम्

‘अहश्च’ इति सप्तर्चं नवमं सूक्तं भरद्वाजस्यार्षं वैश्वानराग्निदेवताकम् । अनुक्रान्तं च- ‘अहश्च’ इति । व्यूळहे दशरात्रे षष्ठेऽहन्याग्निमारुतशस्त्रे वैश्वानरनिविद्धानमिदम् । सूत्र्यते हि- अहश्च कृष्णं मध्वो वो नाम ’ ( आश्व. श्रौ. ८. ८) इति ।।

Jamison Brereton

9 (450)
Agni Vaiśvānara
Bharadvāja Bārhaspatya
7 verses: triṣṭubh
A powerfully enigmatic hymn, in which the poet reflects on the craft of poetry, worries about his ability to practice it, and, on having received the revelation of the mysteries from the ritual fire, takes heart and assumes his poetic vocation. In this progression the hymn is very reminiscent of IV.5, also a hymn to Agni in his Vaiśvānara aspect and one in which a poet receives his poetic inspiration from Agni.
The first and last (7) verses establish a ritual context: the fire is being kindled in the darkness just before daybreak; its light, which dispels the physical darkness, will be configured as the metaphorical light of inspiration in the rest of the hymn. Verses 2–3 are responsive verses, with verse 2 couched in the 1st-person singular voice of the poet. He confesses his lack of knowledge of poetic craft, metaphori
cally expressed as weaving. The burden is all the greater in that he feels pressure to surpass his father, whose poetic heir he is. On the basis of the second pāda of this verse, many scholars have interpreted the whole hymn as a depiction of a brah modya, a poetic contest among rival poets, but we see no evidence of a formal contest here, simply a poet struggling to find his place as a poet within the bardic tradition.
The response to this verse in verse 3 provides the answer to the poet’s perplex ity: he will learn his craft if he rightly perceives the ritual fire (who is not mentioned by name). This verse not only provides the answer, but serves as an example of the poet’s growing skill, for the last pāda of the verse can be read with double applica tion, both to the poet and to Agni. On the one hand, the repetition of “higher” and “below” from 2cd suggests that the same father-son pair is referred to as there, and that the poet is asserting that he will indeed obtain the upper hand over his father from the revelation of Agni. On the other, the pāda can be read as a riddling defini tion of the god Agni himself, who “moves about below” on the human plane, but “sees above the other” (perhaps the sun, as another form of fire), because he goes all the way to heaven bearing men’s oblations to the gods. Thus, what we translate as “‘(He [=the poet] is) the herdsmen of the immortal’—(the son who, though) he moves about below, sees above the other [=his father]” can also be read as “(He [=Agni] is) the herdsmen of the immortal, who, though he moves about below, sees above the other [=sun?].” That Agni is the object to be rightly perceived, referred to but not named in verse 3, which will confer poetic prowess, is made very clear in verse 4, though again the name Agni does not appear—only unmistakable descriptions of fire. The imme diacy of the revelation is underlined by the repeated near-deictic pronoun “here (is)” (a: ayám, b: idám, c: ayám). This anonymous but unambiguous description of Agni is continued in verse 5, where he is the entire focus also of the gods. Also important in verse 5 is the characterization of Agni as “swiftest mind,” for it is the mental energy of Agni that the poet is absorbing.
In verse 6 the 1st-person poet returns, and with clear excitement testifies to the new flights of his poetic perception and imagination, matching the swift-flying mind of Agni in verse 5. The “light deposited in my heart” is clearly the light of Agni’s inspiration. He ends the verse with questions about what he will now say and think—no longer out of a feeling of powerlessness (as in vs. 2), but a sense of future possibilities. (This difference is also conveyed by a change in verbal tense/mood: in verse 2 he wonders about his speech in the subjunctive mood; here he uses the future tense, conveying certainty.)
The hymn has a neatly structured omphalos shape. Verses 1 and 7 are the ritual frame; verses 2 and 6 contain the contrasting 1st-person self-descriptions of the poet; verses 3 and 5 provide the inner frame, identifying Agni as the object of per ception of both gods and men; while verse 4 is the omphalos, with its insistent, deictic revelation of Agni immediately before the poet’s (and our) eyes.

Jamison Brereton Notes

Agni Vaiśvānara On the structure of this complex hymn and for a verse-by-verse synopsis, see published introduction. It has been much translated and discussed – in addition to the usual treatments, see, e.g., Thieme, Gedichte; Renou, Hymnes spéculatifs; Wendy Doniger, Rig Veda. Oldenberg (ZDMG 55.296-97) gives a detailed (for him) account of the contents and pronounces it an ākhyāna, an opinion repeated in the Noten, though he doesn’t spell out who the speakers might be verse by verse. Gonda (Vedic Literature, 99) calls it “a profound glorification of Agni as the great immortal conceived as the inner light and placed among the mortals to guide them in the mysteries and intricacies of the ritual.” As discussed in the published introduction, the hymn concerns the development of the poet’s craft and resembles IV.5, in which the poet also receives his poetic inspiration from Agni Vaiśvānara. I do not see the poetic contest (brahmodya) that others (starting with Geldner [Ved. Stud. II.181-82], fld by Renou, Doniger, George Thompson [“Brahmodya”]) take as the mise en scène of the hymn.

See Oldenberg’s explicit rejection of the brahmodya interpr. (ZDMG 55.297), with which I concur. The brahmodya interpr. primarily rests on a brief phrase in vs. 2, on which see below.

01 अहश्च कृष्णमहरर्जुनम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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अ᳓हश् च कृष्ण᳓म् अ᳓हर् अ᳓र्जुनं च
वि᳓ वर्तेते र᳓जसी वेदिया᳓भिः
वैश्वानरो᳓ जा᳓यमानो न᳓ रा᳓जा
अ᳓वातिरज् ज्यो᳓तिषाग्नि᳓स् त᳓मांसि

02 नाहं तन्तुम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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ना᳓हं᳓ त᳓न्तुं न᳓ वि᳓ जानामि ओ᳓तुं
न᳓ यं᳓ व᳓यन्ति समरे᳓ ऽतमानाः
क᳓स्य स्वित् पुत्र᳓ इह᳓ व᳓क्तुवानि
परो᳓ वदाति अ᳓वरेण पित्रा᳓

03 स इत्तन्तुम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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स᳓ इ᳓त् त᳓न्तुं स᳓ वि᳓ जानाति ओ᳓तुं
स᳓ व᳓क्तुवानि ऋतुथा᳓ वदाति
य᳓ ईं चि᳓केतद् अमृ᳓तस्य गोपा᳓
अव᳓श् च᳓रन् परो᳓ अन्ये᳓न प᳓श्यन्

04 अयं होता - त्रिष्टुप्

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अयं᳓ हो᳓ता प्रथमः᳓ प᳓श्यतेम᳓म्
इदं᳓ ज्यो᳓तिर् अमृ᳓तम् म᳓र्तियेषु
अयं᳓ स᳓ जज्ञे ध्रुव᳓ आ᳓ नि᳓षत्तो
अ᳓मर्तियस् तनु᳓वा व᳓र्धमानः

05 ध्रुवं ज्योतिर्निहितम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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ध्रुवं᳓ ज्यो᳓तिर् नि᳓हितं दृश᳓ये क᳓म्
म᳓नो ज᳓विष्ठम् पत᳓यत्सु अन्तः᳓
वि᳓श्वे देवाः᳓ स᳓मनसः स᳓केता
ए᳓कं क्र᳓तुम् अभि᳓ वि᳓ यन्ति साधु᳓

06 वि मे - त्रिष्टुप्

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वि᳓ मे क᳓र्णा पतयतो वि᳓ च᳓क्षुर्
वी᳓दं᳓ ज्यो᳓तिर् हृ᳓दय आ᳓हितं य᳓त्
वि᳓ मे म᳓नश् चरति दूर᳓आधीः
किं᳓ स्विद् वक्ष्या᳓मि कि᳓म् उ नू᳓ मनिष्ये

07 विश्वे देवा - त्रिष्टुप्

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वि᳓श्वे देवा᳓ अनमस्यन् भियाना᳓स्
तुवा᳓म् अग्ने त᳓मसि तस्थिवां᳓सम्
वैश्वानरे᳓ अवतु ऊत᳓ये नो
अ᳓मर्तियो अवतु ऊत᳓ये नः