०१०

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सायण-भाष्यम्

‘ओ चित्’ इति चतुर्दशर्चं दशमं सूक्तम् । अत्रानुक्रम्यते- ओ चित् षळूना वैवस्वतयोर्यमयम्योः संवादः षष्ठ्ययुग्भिर्यमी मिथुनार्थं यमं प्रोवाच स तां नवमीयुग्भिरनिच्छन् प्रत्याचष्टे ’ इति । ततः षष्ठ्यां प्रथमातृतीयाद्ययुक्षु विवस्वतः पुत्री यम्यृषिर्यमो देवता । ‘यस्य वाक्यं स ऋषिर्या तेनोच्यते सा देवता’ इति न्यायात्। तथा नवम्यां द्वितीयाचतुर्थीप्रभृतिषु युक्षु वैवस्वतो यम ऋषिर्यमी देवता । अनादेशपरिभाषया त्रिष्टुप् । गतो विनियोगः ॥

Jamison Brereton

10 (836)
Dialogue of Yama and Yamı̄
Yama Vaivasvata and Yamī Vaivasvatī
14 verses: triṣṭubh
This justly famous (and much discussed) hymn presents a tense dialogue between a pair of twins, the male Yama and female Yamī (yamá means “twin”; yamī́ is the feminine form), who become the first mortals. Yamī́, who speaks first, urges her twin brother to have sex with her, so that they can have children and continue their line in the approved manner. Yama indignantly rejects her advances, outraged by the idea of incest and certain that the divine guardians of moral order will see the act and punish them.
It is impossible in a short introduction to do justice to the richness of this hymn and the extraordinary skill with which the poet deploys grammatical categories such as person, number, and verb modality in service of the condensed drama of their encounter. Both Yamī and Yama make legalistic arguments, often using juridi
cal turns of phrase, and especially in the first part of the hymn they distance the personal and emotional implications of their speech by regularly using plural and 3rd-person forms to refer to each other. It is not until the last word of verse 4 that one of them uses a 1st-person dual (“we two”) form. They also use dueling divine models for the relationships they are arguing for: Yama cites their near ancestors, “the Gandharva in the waters and the watery maiden,” as reason not to violate the incest taboo (vs. 4) and Mitra and Varuṇa as stern enforcers (vs. 6) with spies everywhere (vs. 8)—while Yamī claims that Tvaṣṭar, who shapes embryos in the womb, made them a married couple already in the womb (vs. 5) and twice (vss. 5, 9) invokes as their divine counterparts Heaven and Earth, a notoriously incestuous pair (as she makes quite explicit in 9c). The use and placement of kinship terms

in the hymn is also notable, including the fact that “brother” and “sister” are not encountered until verse 11. It is also striking that the names of the speakers do not appear until verse 7.
The emotional temperature of the hymn rises significantly at that very point. Yamī abandons her legalistic arguments—that they need to have offspring, that they were already a married couple in the womb—in favor of a naked expression of sexual desire. Yama remains unmoved, but the roiling emotions are reflected in the ragged meter of some of the later verses (12–13), especially in the latter verse where Yamī breaks off her speech in frustration in a very short pāda containing two occurrences of a word (batá) found nowhere else and exhibiting aberrant phonology. Our render
ing of the word aims at the level of slangy insult to which batá appears to belong. The hymn ends in an impasse. Yama remains obdurate and urges Yamī to find another lover—a difficult quest when there are no other mortals! However, given the rest of his history, sketched briefly above, we must assume that he gave in in the end, on the evidence of X.13.4.

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Jamison Brereton

The next ten hymns (X.10–19) form a Yama cycle, though the subject matter found in the individual hymns is quite various. Yama, the son of Vivasvant, is king of the land of the dead because he was the first mortal to die. Yet he was apparently born immortal (see esp. I.83.5) and chose to become mortal, subject to death, “for the sake of the gods…and for the sake of offspring” (X.13.4). The opening hymn in the cycle, the dialogue of Yama and his twin sister Yamī, on the fraught topic of embarking on incestuous sex in order to produce offspring, addresses Yama’s change of status and his choice, but in a deliberately oblique and misleading fashion, as Yama spurns the sexual advances of his sister, and at the end of their bitter argument there seems little likelihood of children. The last six hymns in this cycle (X.14–19) are collectively known as funeral hymns. The first, X.14, is devoted especially to Yama in his role as king of the realm of the dead, while the others, especially 15–18, concern various aspects of death and the treatment of the dead—for example, the forefathers who preceded us to Yama’s realm in X.15, the cremation fire in X.16, the funeral itself in X.

The intermediate hymns, X.11–13, have less superficially clear connections to the Yama saga, but both X.12 (vss. 6–7) and X.13 (vss. 4–5) make important comments on Yama and on Yama’s choice.

There is also an underlying unifying theme, that of duality and twinned-ness: the absolute disjunction between and the ultimate complementarity and unity of the mortal and the immortal, life and death, men and gods, men and women, heaven and earth, sacred and profane. It is appropriate that the cycle should begin with the dialogue between the primal twins, Yama and Yamī, whose very names mean “twin” and who bridge the gap between mortal and immortal.

01 ओ चित्सखायम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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ओ᳓ चित् स᳓खायं सखिया᳓ ववृत्यां
तिरः᳓ पुरू᳓ चिद् अर्णवं᳓ जगन्वा᳓न्
पितु᳓र् न᳓पातम् आ᳓ दधीत वेधा᳓
अ᳓धि क्ष᳓मि प्रतरं᳓ दी᳓धियानः

02 न ते - त्रिष्टुप्

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न᳓ ते स᳓खा सखियं᳓ वष्टि एत᳓त्
स᳓लक्ष्मा य᳓द् वि᳓षुरूपा भ᳓वाति
मह᳓स् पुत्रा᳓सो अ᳓सुरस्य वीरा᳓
दिवो᳓ धर्ता᳓र उर्विया᳓ प᳓रि ख्यन्

03 उशन्ति घा - त्रिष्टुप्

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उश᳓न्ति घा ते᳓ अमृ᳓तास एत᳓द्
ए᳓कस्य चित् त्यज᳓सम् म᳓र्तियस्य
नि᳓ ते म᳓नो म᳓नसि धायि अस्मे᳓
ज᳓न्युः प᳓तिस् तनु᳓वम् आ᳓ विविश्याः

04 न यत्पुरा - त्रिष्टुप्

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न᳓ य᳓त् पुरा᳓ चकृमा᳓ क᳓द् ध नून᳓म्
ऋता᳓ व᳓दन्तो अ᳓नृतं रपेम
गन्धर्वो᳓ अप्सु᳓ अ᳓पिया च यो᳓षा
सा᳓ नो ना᳓भिः परमं᳓ जामि᳓ त᳓न् नौ

05 गर्भे नु - त्रिष्टुप्

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ग᳓र्भे नु᳓ नौ जनिता᳓ द᳓म्पती कर्
देव᳓स् त्व᳓ष्टा सविता᳓ विश्व᳓रूपः
न᳓किर् अस्य प्र᳓ मिनन्ति व्रता᳓नि
वे᳓द नाव् अस्य᳓ पृथिवी᳓ उत᳓ द्यउः᳓

06 को अस्य - त्रिष्टुप्

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को᳓ अस्य᳓ वेद प्रथम᳓स्य अ᳓ह्नः
क᳓ ईं ददर्श क᳓ इह᳓ प्र᳓ वोचत्
बृह᳓न् मित्र᳓स्य व᳓रुणस्य धा᳓म
क᳓द् उ ब्रव आहनो वी᳓चिया नॄ᳓न्

07 यमस्य मा - त्रिष्टुप्

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यम᳓स्य मा यमि᳓यं का᳓म आ᳓गन्
समाने᳓ यो᳓नौ सहशे᳓यियाय
जाये᳓व प᳓त्ये तनु᳓वं रिरिच्यां
वि᳓ चिद् वृहेव र᳓थियेव चक्रा᳓

08 न तिष्टन्ति - त्रिष्टुप्

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न᳓ तिष्ठन्ति न᳓ नि᳓ मिषन्ति एते᳓
देवा᳓नां स्प᳓श इह᳓ ये᳓ च᳓रन्ति
अन्ये᳓न म᳓द् आहनो याहि तू᳓यं
ते᳓न वि᳓ वृह र᳓थियेव चक्रा᳓

09 रात्रीभिरस्मा अहभिर्दशस्येत्सूर्यस्य - त्रिष्टुप्

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रा᳓त्रीभिर् अस्मा अ᳓हभिर् दशस्येत्
सू᳓र्यस्य च᳓क्षुर् मु᳓हुर् उ᳓न् मिमीयात्
दिवा᳓ पृथिव्या᳓ मिथुना᳓ स᳓बन्धू
यमी᳓र् यम᳓स्य बिभृयाद् अ᳓जामि

10 आ घा - त्रिष्टुप्

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आ᳓ घा+++(=ह!)+++ ता᳓ गच्छान् उ᳓त्तरा युगा᳓नि
य᳓त्र जाम᳓यः +++(=सहोदर्यः)+++ कृण᳓वन्न् अ᳓जामि +++(कर्म)+++।
उ᳓प बर्बृहि +++(रतो-)+++वृषभा᳓य बाहु᳓म्
अन्य᳓म् इच्छस्व सुभगे प᳓तिं म᳓त् ॥

11 किं भ्रातासद्यदनाथम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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कि᳓म् भ्रा᳓तासद् य᳓द् अनाथ᳓म् भ᳓वाति
कि᳓म् उ स्व᳓सा य᳓न् नि᳓रृतिर् निग᳓छात्
का᳓ममूता बहु᳓ एत᳓द् रपामि
तनु᳓वा मे तनु᳓वं स᳓म् पिपृग्धि

12 न वा - त्रिष्टुप्

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न᳓ वा᳓ उ ते तनु᳓वा तनु᳓वं स᳓म् पपृच्याम्
पाप᳓म् आहुर् यः᳓ स्व᳓सारं निग᳓छात्
अन्ये᳓न म᳓त् प्रमु᳓दः कल्पयस्व
न᳓ ते भ्रा᳓ता सुभगे वष्टि एत᳓त्

13 बतो बतासि - त्रिष्टुप्

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बतो᳓ बतासि यम
नइ᳓व᳓ ते म᳓नो हृ᳓दयं चाविदाम
अन्या᳓ कि᳓ल त्वां᳓ कक्षि᳓येव युक्त᳓म्
प᳓रि ष्वजाते लि᳓बुजेव वृक्ष᳓म्

14 अन्यमू षु - त्रिष्टुप्

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अन्य᳓म् ऊ षु᳓ त्वं᳓ यमि अन्य᳓ उ त्वा᳓म्
प᳓रि ष्वजाते लि᳓बुजेव वृक्ष᳓म्
त᳓स्य वा त्व᳓म् म᳓न इछा᳓ स᳓ वा त᳓व
अ᳓धा कृणुष्व संवि᳓दं सु᳓भद्राम्