०८७

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

‘रदत्पथः’ इति सप्तर्चं सप्तदशं सूक्तं वसिष्ठस्यार्षं त्रैष्टुभं वारुणम् । अनुक्रान्तं च – रदत्सप्त ’ इति । गतो विनियोगः ॥

Jamison Brereton

87 (603)
Varuṇa
Vasiṣṭha Maitrāvaruṇi
7 verses: triṣṭubh
On this hymn, see the introduction to the previous hymn and especially Jamison (2007: 101–3).
The name of Varuṇa occurs in each verse of the hymn, and in verse 4 Varuṇa himself speaks. Like the previous one, therefore, this hymn has an omphalos structure, organized around the central verse 4 and the words of the god himself. In hymns organized around a central verse, that verse is often the key to under
standing a hymn or the dramatic climax of the hymn, as it is, for example, in the previous hymn. But sometimes, as here, it is the most enigmatic verse of all. In 4a, as implied in the translation below, does Varuṇa know that the poet is wise and therefore will understand his cryptic words? Or does médhira “wise” anticipate the wisdom that the poet will receive from Varuṇa’s words? In that case, we might rather say that Varuṇa spoke “to me (to make me) wise”? As Jamison (2007: 102– 3) argues, the ambiguous placement of ná in 4c allows it to be taken either as a particle of comparison (“like”) or as a negation (“not”). As a result the pāda can mean either “he will speak (their names) like secrets,” that is, he will speak the names but he will do so only in a cryptic manner, or “he will not speak their secret (names),” that is, he will keep the secrets hidden. But most of all, there are the obscure words of the god in 4b: “The inviolable cow bears three times seven names.” As often, the “cow” in this verse is speech (e.g., Thompson 1995: 20), and it is speech, or more specifically this hymn, that carries within it twenty-one “names.” These names may be similar to the three times seven “tracks” (padā́) in I.72.6, although these tracks too are also “secret” (gúhyāni) and therefore their reference unclear.
There is one possible clue to the twenty-one names in the following verse. Verse 5 mentions three heavens and three earths “arranged in six” or “arranged in sixes.” That is, “six” could refer to the three heavens and three earths, and, if so, we should translate, “Three heavens are hidden within him, and below are three earths, form
ing an arrangement of six.” On the other hand, if ṣáḍvidhānāḥ refers only to the three earths and if each of the three earths is arranged in six, then we would have eighteen earths and three heavens, which gives twenty-one, the number of “names.” In that case, the “names” might be tokens of the extent of Varuṇa’s rule.
Returning again to verse 4, its last mystery is the “later generation” in 4d, which may refer not to a future generation of human beings but to humans as the “generation” of beings later than the gods. If so, then Varuṇa strives to instruct humans despite their limited capacities, perhaps well illustrated in our attempts to understand him.
While verse 4 is the most enigmatic in the hymn, it is not the only mysterious one. We have already touched on the riddle of three heavens and three earths of verse 5ab. In verse 6a Varuṇa is like the sky, which drops to the horizon at the far distance where there is the river that surrounds the earth. Because he is like the sky that drops toward this river, he is called a wild animal (6b) that comes down to the water to drink and he is like the “bright drop,” which, as Geldner points out, might be the setting moon or sun or even the soma as it sinks into the waters with which it is mixed. In 6c Varuṇa is “of deep recitation.” The primary sense is probably that Varuṇa speaks profound words, but the compound is ambiguous and could also mean that Varuṇa inspires or receives profound praise-recitations. Verse 7 connects this hymn to the previous hymn and provides a persuasive reason to link the two hymns, as Jamison (2007: 103) has noted. In VII.86.2 the poet asks, “When shall I be within Varuṇa?” Here in verse 7 the poet gives an answer: when we are free of offense, then “we would be within Varuṇa.” That is, we would be in conformity with the vratā́ny áditeḥ “the commandments of Aditi,” the goddess representing offense lessness, whose commandments are mentioned in 7c.

01 रदत्पथो वरुणः - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

रद॑त्प॒थो वरु॑णः॒ सूर्या॑य॒ प्रार्णां॑सि समु॒द्रिया॑ न॒दीना॑म् ।
सर्गो॒ न सृ॒ष्टो अर्व॑तीरृता॒यञ्च॒कार॑ म॒हीर॒वनी॒रह॑भ्यः ॥

02 आत्मा ते - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

आ॒त्मा ते॒ वातो॒ रज॒ आ न॑वीनोत्प॒शुर्न भूर्णि॒र्यव॑से सस॒वान् ।
अ॒न्तर्म॒ही बृ॑ह॒ती रोद॑सी॒मे विश्वा॑ ते॒ धाम॑ वरुण प्रि॒याणि॑ ॥

03 परि स्पशो - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

परि॒ स्पशो॒ वरु॑णस्य॒ स्मदि॑ष्टा उ॒भे प॑श्यन्ति॒ रोद॑सी सु॒मेके॑ ।
ऋ॒तावा॑नः क॒वयो॑ य॒ज्ञधी॑राः॒ प्रचे॑तसो॒ य इ॒षय॑न्त॒ मन्म॑ ॥

04 उवाच मे - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

उ॒वाच॑ मे॒ वरु॑णो॒ मेधि॑राय॒ त्रिः स॒प्त नामाघ्न्या॑ बिभर्ति ।
वि॒द्वान्प॒दस्य॒ गुह्या॒ न वो॑चद्यु॒गाय॒ विप्र॒ उप॑राय॒ शिक्ष॑न् ॥

05 तिस्रो द्यावो - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

ति॒स्रो द्यावो॒ निहि॑ता अ॒न्तर॑स्मिन्ति॒स्रो भूमी॒रुप॑राः॒ षड्वि॑धानाः ।
गृत्सो॒ राजा॒ वरु॑णश्चक्र ए॒तं दि॒वि प्रे॒ङ्खं हि॑र॒ण्ययं॑ शु॒भे कम् ॥

06 अव सिन्धुम् - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

अव॒ सिन्धुं॒ वरु॑णो॒ द्यौरि॑व स्थाद्द्र॒प्सो न श्वे॒तो मृ॒गस्तुवि॑ष्मान् ।
ग॒म्भी॒रशं॑सो॒ रज॑सो वि॒मानः॑ सुपा॒रक्ष॑त्रः स॒तो अ॒स्य राजा॑ ॥

07 यो मृळयाति - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

यो मृ॒ळया॑ति च॒क्रुषे॑ चि॒दागो॑ व॒यं स्या॑म॒ वरु॑णे॒ अना॑गाः ।
अनु॑ व्र॒तान्यदि॑तेरृ॒धन्तो॑ यू॒यं पा॑त स्व॒स्तिभिः॒ सदा॑ नः ॥