००८

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सायण-भाष्यम्

‘प्र केतुना’ इति नवर्चमष्टमं सूक्तं त्रैष्टुभम् । त्वष्टृपुत्रस्त्रिशिरा नामर्षिः । आदितः षडाग्नेय्यस्ततस्तिस्र ऐन्द्र्यः । तथा चानुक्रान्तं- प्र केतुना नव त्रिशिरास्वाष्ट्रस्तृचोऽन्त्य ऐन्द्रः’ इति । आदितः षण्णां प्रातरनुवाकाश्विनशस्त्रयोराग्नेयक्रतावुक्तो विनियोगः ॥

Jamison Brereton

8 (834)
Agni (1–6), Indra (7–9)
Triśiras Tvāṣṭra
9 verses: triṣṭubh
Although the Anukramaṇī assigns this hymn, along with the following one (X.9 to the Waters), to a different poet from the first seven Agni hymns of the maṇḍala, which are attributed to Trita Āptya, it is fairly clear that these nine hymns belong together, on the basis of criteria like shared phraseology, as well as larger structural considerations. (See Oldenberg 1888: 233–34.) The poet of X.8–9 is given as Triśiras Tvāṣṭra, a speaking name: “Three-Headed Son of Tvaṣṭar” and a figure who is the mythological enemy of Trita. Thus, as Oldenberg saw, the two poets to whom this sequence of nine hymns is ascribed are narratively linked, and both names were probably assigned as poets to these hymns because of the mythological narrative sketched in this particular hymn. Trita’s defeat of his three-headed foe, also known as Viśvarūpa (“having all forms”), is treated in the last three verses of our hymn (7–9). The myth goes back to Indo-Iranian times in one form or other. In the Younger Avestan Hom Yašt (Yasna 9–11), Zarathushtra asks the Haoma (= Skt. Soma) the names and stories of the men who first pressed him. In Y 9.7–8 Haoma names a certain Āϑβiia (note the similarity to, but not identity with, Āpt(i)ya) as the second man to press him, whose son, Θraētaona, smote a mighty serpent-dragon (Aži Dahāka; cf. the Sanskrit cognate áhi “serpent” frequently used of Vr̥tra) with three heads (ϑrikamǝrǝδa; cf. mūrdhán “head” in vss. 3 and 6 of this hymn). Immediately thereafter (Y 9.10–11) he identifies Θrita (= Skt. Trita) as his third presser, one of whose sons defeats another formidable dragon (also aži) in a particularly imaginative fashion. The names Āϑβiia and Θrita, though differently distributed, and the three-headed mon ster speak strongly for the kinship of the two myths, though they are not identical in all their features.
What is not clear is why this little mythic vignette has been appended at the end of this Agni cycle, though we will suggest some reasons at the end of the introduc tion. Here and elsewhere in Vedic the story of Trita Āptya’s slaying of three-headed Viśvarūpa is associated with Indra (even in this hymn; see vss. 8–9), not Agni, and it is assimilated in several ways to the better-known Vala myth—generally an Indra myth. First, Trita Āptya begins his quest in a cave or hole of some sort (vs. 7a), and the happy result of the defeat of Viśvarūpa is the release of his cows (vss. 8–9)—just as the cows confined in the Vala cave are released at the end of that myth. Moreover, the “familial” (vs. 7) or “ancestral” (vs. 8) weapons Trita employs in the fight appear to be mental and verbal (see especially the “visionary thought” he seeks in 7b and his “speaking” his weapons in 7d). In the Vala myth Indra and his helpers, the Aṅgirases, break open the cave with verbal spells, not physical weapons. Since the corresponding Avestan version does not have these elements, it is likely that these Vala-like features were grafted onto the inherited myth, whose popularity was per
haps waning in R̥gvedic times. (It does have a robust revival in Vedic prose.) The first few verses of the hymn for the most part contain standard Agni fare, though with a cosmic dimension. The fire, conceived of also as a powerful male animal, reaches through the worlds to heaven itself (vs. 1), just after it is born (vs. 2). His birth and installation are further treated in verse 3, where the ritual references probably also have cosmic referents. The hymn begins to take an odd turn in verse 4. In that verse Agni “sets seven steps,” thereby “begetting an alliance (or, the god Mitra).” The seven-step reference is to the culminating ritual action particularly of the marriage ceremony, after which the marriage is irrevocable, when the bride and groom take seven steps together; other alliances can be assimilated to the mar riage alliance by the performance of the seven steps (see Jamison 1996a: 120–23). These seven steps are always taken beside the ritual fire, and as Proferes (2007) has discussed at length (on this particular passage, see p. 61), the fire is also a symbol of the alliances made by social groups. Through those alliances the fire itself is strengthened and increased, hence the “for the sake of your own body” in this verse. The reason for this intrusion of the social world at this point in the hymn is unclear,

since heretofore the focus has been entirely on Agni. In the following verses (5–6) Agni is identified with, or transformed into, a series of divinities and functional roles. Perhaps these identifications were suggested by the alliance generated in verse 4, representing the web of associations in which Agni participates.
The six Agni verses end with Agni setting his head (mūrdhán) in heaven. As noted above, the hymn in fact contains two occurrences of mūrdhán (vss. 3, 6), and its Avestan cognate kamǝrǝδan (with pejorative ka-prefix), in the bahuvrīhi Θri-kamǝrǝδa “having three heads,” qualifies the monster killed by Āϑβiia’s son. The corresponding form in the Trita myth in this hymn has a different word for head, -śíras- (acc. sg. m. tri-śīrṣā́ṇam, vs. 8). However, the R̥gveda does contain an occurrence of tri-mūrdhán—but referring to Agni, in the phrase trimūrdhā́naṃ
saptáraśmim “having three heads and seven reins” (I.146.1). The three heads are most likely the three ritual fires, the seven reins possibly the seven priests, but the important thing is that this same phrase, “having three heads and seven reins,” is found in our hymn X.8, describing the enemy Viśvarūpa (8c). This, we would submit, is the initial point of contact between this Agni hymn and the Trita saga appended to it: the old Indo-Iranian myth used the word *tri-mr̥Hdhan for the three-headed beast. But the epithet can also be used positively as a descriptor of Agni with his three representative fires on the ritual ground. The poet is playing with the delicious positive/negative polarities of the epithet, and signals the connection between the Agni portion of the hymn and the little Trita myth by using the word originally used of the monster, mūrdhán, elsewhere in the hymn.
But there may be another connection. As we noted, Agni undergoes several transformations in the last verses of his section of the hymn. And it is quite possible that verse 7 is suggesting yet another transformation, into Trita or “the third (fire),” being born in the fireplace, seeking poetic vision and ritual release. Agni sometimes seems to be called Trita (see esp. X.46.3, 6), and the Trita/Viśvarūpa story may be introduced here via a modulation through Agni identified with Trita.

01 प्र केतुना - त्रिष्टुप्

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प्र᳓ केतु᳓ना बृहता᳓ याति अग्नि᳓र्
आ᳓ रो᳓दसी वृषभो᳓ रोरवीति
दिव᳓श् चिद् अ᳓न्ताँ उपमाँ᳓ उ᳓द् आनळ्
अपा᳓म् उप᳓स्थे महिषो᳓ ववर्ध

02 मुमोद गर्भो - त्रिष्टुप्

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मुमो᳓द ग᳓र्भो वृषभः᳓ ककु᳓द्मान्
अस्रेमा᳓ वत्सः᳓ शि᳓मीवाँ अरावीत्
स᳓ देव᳓ताति उ᳓द्यतानि कृण्व᳓न्
स्वे᳓षु क्ष᳓येषु प्रथमो᳓ जिगाति

03 आ यो - त्रिष्टुप्

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आ᳓ यो᳓ मूर्धा᳓नम् पितरो᳓र्+ अ᳓रब्ध
नि᳓ अध्वरे᳓ दधिरे सू᳓रो अ᳓र्णः
अ᳓स्य प᳓त्मन्न् अ᳓रुषीर् अ᳓श्वबुध्ना
ऋत᳓स्य यो᳓नौ तनु᳓वो जुषन्त

04 उषउषो हि - त्रिष्टुप्

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उष᳓-उषो हि᳓ वसो अ᳓ग्रम् ए᳓षि
तुवं᳓ यम᳓योर् अभवो विभा᳓वा
ऋता᳓य सप्त᳓ दधिषे पदा᳓नि
जन᳓यन् मित्रं᳓ तनु᳓वे सुआ᳓यै

05 भुवश्चक्षुर्मह ऋतस्य - त्रिष्टुप्

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भु᳓वश् च᳓क्षुर् मह᳓ ऋत᳓स्य गोपा᳓
भु᳓वो व᳓रुणो य᳓द् ऋता᳓य वे᳓षि
भु᳓वो अपां᳐᳓ न᳓पाज् जातवेदो
भु᳓वो दूतो᳓ य᳓स्य हव्यं᳓ जु᳓जोषः

06 भुवो यज्ञस्य - त्रिष्टुप्

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भु᳓वो यज्ञ᳓स्य र᳓जसश् च नेता᳓
य᳓त्रा नियु᳓द्भिः स᳓चसे शिवा᳓भिः
दिवि᳓ मूर्धा᳓नं दधिषे सुअर्षां᳓
जिह्वा᳓म् अग्ने चकृषे हव्यवा᳓हम्

07 अस्य त्रितः - त्रिष्टुप्

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अस्य᳓ त्रितः᳓ क्र᳓तुना वव्रे᳓ अन्त᳓र्
इछ᳓न् धीति᳓म् पितु᳓र् ए᳓वैः प᳓रस्य
सचस्य᳓मानः पितरो᳓र्+ उप᳓स्थे
जामि᳓ ब्रुवाण᳓ आ᳓युधानि वेति

08 स पित्र्याण्यायुधानि - त्रिष्टुप्

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स᳓ पि᳓त्रियाणि आ᳓युधानि विद्वा᳓न्
इ᳓न्द्रेषित आप्तियो᳓ अभ्य् अ᳡युध्यत्
त्रिशीर्षा᳓णं सप्त᳓रश्मिं जघन्वा᳓न्
त्वाष्ट्र᳓स्य चिन् निः᳓ ससृजे त्रितो᳓ गाः᳓

09 भूरीदिन्द्र उदिनक्षन्तमोजोऽवाभिनत्सत्पतिर्मन्यमानम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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भू᳓री᳓द् इ᳓न्द्र उदि᳓नक्षन्तम् ओ᳓जो
अ᳓वाभिनत् स᳓त्पतिर् म᳓न्यमानम्
त्वाष्ट्र᳓स्य चिद् विश्व᳓रूपस्य गो᳓नाम्
आचक्राण᳓स् त्री᳓णि शीर्षा᳓ प᳓रा वर्क्