०८८

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सायण-भाष्यम्

‘प्र शुन्ध्युवम्’ इति सप्तर्चमष्टादशं सूक्तं वसिष्ठस्यार्षं त्रैष्टुभं वारुणम् । ‘प्र शुन्ध्युवम्’ इत्यनुक्रान्तम् । गतो विनियोगः ।।

Jamison Brereton

88 (604)
Varuṇa
Vasiṣṭha Maitrāvaruṇi
7 verses: triṣṭubh
This intricate and justly admired hymn has been widely anthologized and stud ied. See especially the treatment of the hymn in Jamison (2007: 103–8) and Lüders (1951: 315–21). It is closely related to the two preceding hymns and likewise con cerns the relationship between Vasiṣṭha and Varuṇa, delineating it in perhaps the most intimate fashion of any of these hymns.
Vasiṣṭha speaks for himself in these verses, even though he begins in verse 1 by addressing himself in the vocative. Once again, the theme of the poem is the distance between Vasiṣṭha and Varuṇa that has been created by something that Vasiṣṭha has done. That Vasiṣṭha addresses himself in the 2nd person perhaps suggests not only his distance from the god but even, as a result, from himself. The meaning of this becomes clearer as the poem develops. In verse 2 Vasiṣṭha approaches the ritual fire during the night and in the face of fire sees the face of Varuṇa. This results in a vision of Vasiṣṭha and Varuṇa sailing together (vs. 3). Their goal is Varuṇa’s “swing,” which, as in VII.87.5, is probably the sun, which Vasiṣṭha hopes will dispel the dark ness that surrounds him and his relationship with Varuṇa. This vision takes Vasiṣṭha back to the time when he and Varuṇa were close (vs. 4), when Varuṇa made Vasiṣṭha a seer (ŕ̥ṣi) and praise singer (stotár). The light imagery is most intense in this verse, for the day Vasiṣṭha became a seer and praise singer was the “brightest day of days.” This memory of a time of perfect harmony between Vasiṣṭha and Varuṇa is the dra matic and emotional climax of the hymn and not surprisingly occupies the central
verse of the hymn, which like the two previous hymns has an omphalos structure. In verse 5 Vasiṣṭha returns from his vision and memory of better times to the unhappy present, in which he is no longer in the household of Varuṇa. But in verse 6 he continues to hope that, despite what he has done, the god will not hold his offenses against him, and will again offer him the protection that he once enjoyed within the house of Varuṇa. The poet keeps these offenses distant from himself by talking about the offender in the 3rd person (in 6ab), but then he refers to those who bear the guilt of those offenses in the 1st person (in 6c). Finally, in verse 7 the poet more confidently looks to Varuṇa’s forgiveness: he “will release his fetter” of punishment “from us.” As Jamison (2007: 107) has pointed out, both pādas a and c have present participles for which there is no grammatically appropriate noun. Logically they should describe “us”—and that logic is reflected in the translation— but the absence of an explicit reference to us generalizes that happy result and the possibility of reconciliation with the god.

01 प्र शुन्ध्युवम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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प्र शु॒न्ध्युवं॒ वरु॑णाय॒ प्रेष्ठां॑ म॒तिं व॑सिष्ठ मी॒ळ्हुषे॑ भरस्व ।
य ई॑म॒र्वाञ्चं॒ कर॑ते॒ यज॑त्रं स॒हस्रा॑मघं॒ वृष॑णं बृ॒हन्त॑म् ॥

02 अधा न्वस्य - त्रिष्टुप्

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अधा॒ न्व॑स्य सं॒दृशं॑ जग॒न्वान॒ग्नेरनी॑कं॒ वरु॑णस्य मंसि ।
स्व१॒॑र्यदश्म॑न्नधि॒पा उ॒ अन्धो॒ऽभि मा॒ वपु॑र्दृ॒शये॑ निनीयात् ॥

03 आ यद्रुहाव - त्रिष्टुप्

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आ यद्रु॒हाव॒ वरु॑णश्च॒ नावं॒ प्र यत्स॑मु॒द्रमी॒रया॑व॒ मध्य॑म् ।
अधि॒ यद॒पां स्नुभि॒श्चरा॑व॒ प्र प्रे॒ङ्ख ई॑ङ्खयावहै शु॒भे कम् ॥

04 वसिष्टं ह - त्रिष्टुप्

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वसि॑ष्ठं ह॒ वरु॑णो ना॒व्याधा॒दृषिं॑ चकार॒ स्वपा॒ महो॑भिः ।
स्तो॒तारं॒ विप्रः॑ सुदिन॒त्वे अह्नां॒ यान्नु द्याव॑स्त॒तन॒न्यादु॒षासः॑ ॥

05 क्वट् त्यानि - त्रिष्टुप्

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क्व१॒॑ त्यानि॑ नौ स॒ख्या ब॑भूवुः॒ सचा॑वहे॒ यद॑वृ॒कं पु॒रा चि॑त् ।
बृ॒हन्तं॒ मानं॑ वरुण स्वधावः स॒हस्र॑द्वारं जगमा गृ॒हं ते॑ ॥

06 य आपिर्नित्यो - त्रिष्टुप्

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य आ॒पिर्नित्यो॑ वरुण प्रि॒यः सन्त्वामागां॑सि कृ॒णव॒त्सखा॑ ते ।
मा त॒ एन॑स्वन्तो यक्षिन्भुजेम य॒न्धि ष्मा॒ विप्रः॑ स्तुव॒ते वरू॑थम् ॥

07 ध्रुवासु त्वासु - त्रिष्टुप्

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ध्रु॒वासु॑ त्वा॒सु क्षि॒तिषु॑ क्षि॒यन्तो॒ व्य१॒॑स्मत्पाशं॒ वरु॑णो मुमोचत् ।
अवो॑ वन्वा॒ना अदि॑तेरु॒पस्था॑द्यू॒यं पा॑त स्व॒स्तिभिः॒ सदा॑ नः ॥