०५५

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सायण-भाष्यम्

‘अमीवहा’ इत्यष्टर्चं द्वाविंशं सूक्तम् । आद्या गायत्री पञ्चम्याद्याश्चतस्रोऽनुष्टुभो द्वितीयाद्यास्तिस्र उपरिष्टाद्बृहत्यः । ‘त्र्यष्टका चतुर्थद्वादशी बृहती’ इति तल्लक्षणयोगात् । आद्या वास्तोष्पतिदेवताका शिष्टा ऐन्यःर् । तथा चानुक्रान्तम्-‘अमीवहाष्टौ वास्तोष्पत्याद्या गायत्री शेषास्त्र्युपरिष्टाद्बृहत्यादयोऽनुष्टुभः प्रस्वापिन्य उपनिषत् ’ इति । गतो विनियोगः । बृहद्देवतायां यदुक्तं तदिह लिख्यते- वरुणस्य गृहान् रात्रौ वसिष्ठः स्वप्नमाचरन् । प्रविवेशाथ तं तत्र श्वा नदन्नभ्यवर्तत । क्रन्दन्तं सारमेयं स धावन्तं दष्टुमुद्यतम् ॥ यदर्जुनेति च द्वाभ्यां सान्त्वयित्वा ह्यसूषुपत् । एवं प्रस्वापयामास जनमन्यं च वारुणम्’ (बृहद्दे. ६. ११-१३) इति । अत्र केचित् पुनरेवमाहुः-’ आसां प्रस्वापिनित्वं तु कथासु परिकल्प्यते । वसिष्ठस्तृषितोऽन्नार्थी त्रिरात्रालब्धभोजनः । चतुर्थरात्रौ चौर्यार्थं वारुणं गृहमेत्य तु । कोष्ठागारे प्रवेशाय पालकश्वादिसुप्तये । यदर्जुनेति सप्तर्चं ददर्श च जजाप च’ (अनु. भा. ७. ५५) इति ।।

Jamison Brereton

55 (571)
Lord of the Dwelling Place (Vāstospati) (1), Sleep ̣ Incantations (2–8)
Vasiṣṭha Maitrāvaruṇi
8 verses: gāyatrī 1, upariṣṭādbr̥hatī 2–4, anuṣṭubh 5–8
As was noted in the introduction to VII.54, the first verse of this hymn, dedicated to the Lord of the Dwelling Place, really belongs with the previous hymn—though it was not simply wrongly divided from that hymn: it is in a different meter, and the final verse of VII.54 ends with the Vasiṣṭha clan refrain, which is always the final pāda of the hymns in which it is found.
What follows this first verse is one of the most beloved and most delightful of R̥gvedic hymns, a sleep charm, a species of lullaby. It is divided into two parts by the meter (vss. 2–4, 5–8), but forms a conceptual unity. Verses 2–4 are addressed to a dog, presumably a watchdog barking in the night, who is urged to go to sleep. The dog is given a grand metronymic, “son of Saramā,” the legendary bitch of Indra, who on Indra’s behalf tracked down the cows stolen by the Paṇis and retrieved them, in the memorable dialogue hymn X.108.
The next two verses (5–6) are an incantatory listing of each member of the house hold, sending them all to sleep one by one (reminiscent of the modern American children’s book Goodnight Moon). The next verse (7) puts them all to sleep with the moonrise, with the final verse devoted to an intriguing set of unidentified women falling asleep wherever they happen to be. This fleeting picture of somnolent ladies reminds us of several similar famous scenes in much later Indian literature, such as the sleeping rākṣasīs in Rāvaṇa’s household in Laṅka in the Rāmāyaṇa (V.7.30–62, 8.30–46) and the sleeping women whose fleshy sensuality disgusts Siddhārtha, the future Buddha, in Aśvaghoṣa’s Buddhacarita (V.47–67).
A number of fanciful scenarios have been devised, both ancient and modern, Indian and Western, as the backstory of this hymn, but this creative plotting seems unnecessary: the hymn can be simply enjoyed for itself.

Jamison Brereton Notes

Sleep As noted in the published introduction, the first vs. does not belong with the rest of the hymn but rather with the preceding one, VII.54, to Vāstoṣpati, the Lord of the Dwelling Place. However, as also noted there, this is not just a product of wrong division of hymns: VII.55.1 is in a different meter from VII.54, and VII.54 ends with the Vasiṣṭha clan refrain, which is always the final pāda of a hymn. Moreover, as Oldenberg points out, VII.54 has three vss. and follows correctly on the three-vs. hymns VII.51- 53, while an additional vs. would break that sequence. Oldenberg suggests that the single vs. ### 01 originally formed its own hymn and that the rest of VII.55, with 7 vss., is an addition to the original collection (Anhangslied).

01 अमीवहा वास्तोष्पते - गायत्री

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अ॒मी॒व॒हा(=व्याधिहा) वास्तो॑ष्पते॒
विश्वा॑ रू॒पाण्य् आ॑ वि॒शन्न् ।
सखा॑ सु॒शेव॑(फ) एधि नः ।

02 यदर्जुन सारमेय - उपरिष्टाद्बृहती

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यद॑र्जुन सारमेय द॒तः पि॑शङ्ग॒ यच्छ॑से ।
वी॑व भ्राजन्त ऋ॒ष्टय॒ उप॒ स्रक्वे॑षु॒ बप्स॑तो॒ नि षु स्व॑प ॥

03 स्तेनं राय - उपरिष्टाद्बृहती

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स्ते॒नं रा॑य सारमेय॒ तस्क॑रं वा पुनःसर ।
स्तो॒तॄनिन्द्र॑स्य रायसि॒ किम॒स्मान्दु॑च्छुनायसे॒ नि षु स्व॑प ॥

04 त्वं सूकरस्य - उपरिष्टाद्बृहती

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त्वं सू॑क॒रस्य॑ दर्दृहि॒ तव॑ दर्दर्तु सूक॒रः ।
स्तो॒तॄनिन्द्र॑स्य रायसि॒ किम॒स्मान्दु॑च्छुनायसे॒ नि षु स्व॑प ॥

05 सस्तु माता - अनुष्टुप्

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सस्तु॑ मा॒ता सस्तु॑ पि॒ता सस्तु॒ श्वा सस्तु॑ वि॒श्पतिः॑ ।
स॒सन्तु॒ सर्वे॑ ज्ञा॒तयः॒ सस्त्व॒यम॒भितो॒ जनः॑ ॥

06 य आस्ते - अनुष्टुप्

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य आस्ते॒ यश्च॒ चर॑ति॒ यश्च॒ पश्य॑ति नो॒ जनः॑ ।
तेषां॒ सं ह॑न्मो अ॒क्षाणि॒ यथे॒दं ह॒र्म्यं तथा॑ ॥

07 सहस्रशृङ्गो वृषभो - अनुष्टुप्

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स॒हस्र॑शृङ्गो वृष॒भो यः स॑मु॒द्रादु॒दाच॑रत् ।
तेना॑ सह॒स्ये॑ना व॒यं नि जना॑न्त्स्वापयामसि ॥

08 प्रोष्टेशया वह्येशया - अनुष्टुप्

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प्रो॒ष्ठे॒श॒या व॑ह्येश॒या नारी॒र्यास्त॑ल्प॒शीव॑रीः ।
स्त्रियो॒ याः पुण्य॑गन्धा॒स्ताः सर्वाः॑ स्वापयामसि ॥