०१९

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सायण-भाष्यम्

यस्य निःश्वसितं वेदा यो वेदेभ्योऽखिलं जगत् ।

निर्ममे तमहं वन्दे विद्यातीर्थमहेश्वरम् ॥

अष्टके सप्तमे षष्ठं व्याख्याय श्रुतिकोविदः ।

सायणार्यस्ततोऽध्यायं सप्तमं व्याचिकीर्षति ॥

अथ द्वादशानुवाकात्मकस्य दशममण्डलस्य द्वितीयेऽनुवाके त्रयोदश सूक्तानि । तत्र ‘नि वर्तध्वम्’ इत्यष्टर्चं तृतीयं सूक्तम् । अस्य यमपुत्रो मथिताख्य ऋषिर्वरुणपुत्रो भृगुर्वाथवा भार्गवश्च्यवनः । षष्ठी गायत्री शिष्टा अनुष्टुभः । इदमब्देवताकं गोदेवताकं वा । ’ अग्नीषोमा पुनर्वसू ’ इत्यर्धर्चोsग्नीषोमदेवताकः । तथा चानुक्रान्तं – नि वर्तध्वमष्टौ मथितो भृगुर्वा वारुणिर्भार्गवश्च्यवनो वापं गव्यं वानुष्टुभमग्नीषोमीयो द्वितीयोऽर्धर्चः षष्ठी गायत्री ’ इति । गतो विनियोगः

Jamison Brereton

19 (845)
Cows
Mathita Yāmāyana or Bhrgu V ̥ āruṇi or Cyavana Bhārgava
8 verses: anuṣṭubh, except gāyatrī 6
This simple, repetitive, but charming call to the cows to come home is the final hymn of the Yama collection, though its connection to the other hymns in the cycle, especially the funeral hymns that immediately precede it, is unclear. The signature idiom in this hymn is “turn back,” and perhaps it was attached to the Yama cycle on thematic grounds, because the first verses of the preceding hymn, X.18, concern the return to life of the living after the funeral of their dead kinsman (see esp. X.18.3).

010-019 ...{Loading}...
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 नि वर्तध्वम् - अनुष्टुप्

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नि व॑र्तध्वं॒ मानु॑ गाता॒स्मान्त्सि॑षक्त रेवतीः ।
अग्नी॑षोमा पुनर्वसू अ॒स्मे धा॑रयतं र॒यिम् ॥

02 पुनरेना नि - अनुष्टुप्

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पुन॑रेना॒ नि व॑र्तय॒ पुन॑रेना॒ न्या कु॑रु ।
इन्द्र॑ एणा॒ नि य॑च्छत्व॒ग्निरे॑ना उ॒पाज॑तु ॥

03 पुनरेता नि - अनुष्टुप्

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पुन॑रे॒ता नि व॑र्तन्ताम॒स्मिन्पु॑ष्यन्तु॒ गोप॑तौ ।
इ॒हैवाग्ने॒ नि धा॑रये॒ह ति॑ष्ठतु॒ या र॒यिः ॥

04 यन्नियानं न्ययनम् - अनुष्टुप्

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यन्नि॒यानं॒ न्यय॑नं सं॒ज्ञानं॒ यत्प॒राय॑णम् ।
आ॒वर्त॑नं नि॒वर्त॑नं॒ यो गो॒पा अपि॒ तं हु॑वे ॥

05 य उदानड्व्ययनम् - अनुष्टुप्

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य उ॒दान॒ड्व्यय॑नं॒ य उ॒दान॑ट् प॒राय॑णम् ।
आ॒वर्त॑नं नि॒वर्त॑न॒मपि॑ गो॒पा नि व॑र्तताम् ॥

06 आ निवर्त - गायत्री

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आ नि॑वर्त॒ नि व॑र्तय॒ पुन॑र्न इन्द्र॒ गा दे॑हि ।
जी॒वाभि॑र्भुनजामहै ॥

07 परि वो - अनुष्टुप्

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परि॑ वो वि॒श्वतो॑ दध ऊ॒र्जा घृ॒तेन॒ पय॑सा ।
ये दे॒वाः के च॑ य॒ज्ञिया॒स्ते र॒य्या सं सृ॑जन्तु नः ॥

08 आ निवर्तन - अनुष्टुप्

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आ नि॑वर्तन वर्तय॒ नि नि॑वर्तन वर्तय ।
भूम्या॒श्चत॑स्रः प्र॒दिश॒स्ताभ्य॑ एना॒ नि व॑र्तय ॥