०२८

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

‘विश्वो हि’ इति द्वादशर्चं द्वादशं सूक्तं त्रैष्टुभम् । इन्द्रवसुक्रयोः पितापुत्रयोः संवादोऽत्र क्रियते । पुरा वसुक्रे यज्ञं कुर्वाणे सति इन्द्रः प्रच्छन्नरूप आजगाम । तं वसुक्रपत्नीन्द्रागमनाकाङ्क्षिणी विप्रकृष्टमिवाद्ययास्तौत् । अतस्तस्याः सर्षिः इन्द्रो देवता । अथ तस्याः प्रीत्यै वसुक्रेण सहेन्द्रः संवादमकरोत् । द्वितीयादियुजश्चतुर्थीरहिताः पञ्चर्चं इन्द्रवाक्यानि । अतस्तासां स ऋषिः । यद्यप्यासु वसुक्रः संबोध्यत्वाद्देवता तथापि ता ऋच ऐन्द्रे कर्मणि विनियोक्तव्या इन्द्रलिङ्गसद्भावात् । चतुर्थीसहिताः शिष्टास्तृतीयाद्या वसुक्रवाक्यानि । अतः स ऋषिस्तासामिन्द्रो देवता। तथा चानुक्रान्तं—-’विश्वो हि द्वादशेन्द्रवसुक्रयोः संवाद ऐन्द्रः सूक्तस्य प्रथमयेन्द्रस्य स्नुषा परोक्षवदिन्द्रमाहेन्द्रस्य युजः शेषा ऋषेश्चतुर्थी च’ इति । गतो विनियोगः ॥

Jamison Brereton

28 (854)
Indra
Vasukra Aindra
12 verse: triṣṭubh
Another devilish hymn by the very talented Vasukra, and a worthy companion piece to X.27. Like the first half of X.27, this hymn consists of a dialogue between Indra and a singer/sacrificer, introduced in this case by a verse spoken by the sacri ficer’s wife (who then disappears from the hymn). The hymn is more tightly struc tured than X.27, and it complements X.27 in another way: though the second half of X.27 is deliberately obscure and esoteric in its expression, X.28 presents itself (however misleadingly) as instruction to the simple, couched in straightforward language.
The topic of the hymn, to be reductionist, is successful and unsuccessful sac rifices, and the human participants in the dialogue seem to express anxiety about failing, perhaps by accident, to provide a sacrificial offering adequate to attract the gods, especially Indra. The hymn begins (vs. 1) with the sacrificer’s wife, who is

also Indra’s daughter-in-law, anxiously noting Indra’s absence from the sacrifice. In verse 2 Indra responds that he protects those who provide him adequate soma; the singer (probably) replies, perhaps a bit testily, that not only do they press soma and cook bulls for Indra, but Indra does consume this provender (vs. 3).
There follows an abrupt change of subject, or at least change of tone. Indra begins verse 4 with “Mark well this (speech) of mine, singer” and then alludes glancingly to what appear to be animal fables of the sort found in much later texts like the Pañcatantra. In verse 5 the mortal expresses doubt about his ability to understand the god because of his (the mortal’s) simple nature, but also expresses certainty that the god will enlighten him at the right time. The next three verses (6–8) we will take up below. The animal fables return in verses 9 and 10, while the last two verses (11–12) contrast greedy people, who consume what was destined for the sacrifice and thereby actually weaken themselves, with the hard-laboring sacrificers, who thrive.
The hymn is thus structured in the following way: the outer verses (1–3, 11–12) concern successful and unsuccessful sacrifices and sacrificers, the opening verses being more personal, the final ones more general. Within this frame there is an inner ring of verses (4–5, 9–10), which establish a dialogue between mortal and god about this problem and which express the god’s teaching in the simple terms a mortal can understand, that is, in animal allegories briefly alluded to. This double ring of complementary verses thus surrounds and marks out the center of the hymn, verses 6–8, and especially the exact center of the twelve-verse hymn, verses 6–7. These two verses are also rhetorically responsive, and both their position and their structure define them as an omphalos. Furthermore, they are uttered directly after the singer has expressed certainty that Indra will proclaim his doctrine at the right time (vs. 5cd). Everything in the context seems to mark these verses as the direct teaching of Indra, his significant message—and, indeed, as his epiphany, the epiphany that was expected but not realized in verse 1. The vaunting self-praise in the omphalos verses contrasts strangely with the animal fable verses that form the inner ring around them, for in those the message seems to be rather that the weak can best the strong.
The re-transition from the ātmastuti (“self-praise”) of the omphalos (vss. 6–7) to the animal fables (vss. 9–10) is effected by an even more enigmatic verse (8). Though it does not match any of the structurally paired verses of the rest of the hymn, it may carry the key to the whole, for it seems to treat the original establishment of the sacrifice, instituted first by the gods. This reminds us of the more elaborate treat
ment of the origins of the sacrifice in X.27.13–18 (esp. 15), and it also suggests that the sacrifice is the tool by which the weak (currently mortals) may control the strong (Indra and the gods), as in the animal fables that enclose the hymn’s center. Reached by way of a playful transition (vss. 10d, 11a), the final two verses (11–12) return us to the present day and the ritual situation, and remind us of the contrast between sacrificers and non-sacrificers in the first half of X.27, especially verses 2 and 7.
A word about the animal verses. Despite the major importance of animal fables and allegories in later Sanskrit, there is essentially nothing like them in Vedic, especially early Vedic, and even the allusions to stories we have here— which are reminiscent of the summary verses of Pañcatantra tales—are unique in the R̥gveda. Keeping in mind that animal stories are not told in later Sanskrit simply to amuse, but are overtly instructive and educational, especially for cal low and wayward youth, we can connect the use of these allusions in this hymn to the singer’s self-description as “a simple man,” incapable of understanding Indra’s message (vs. 5). Indra is tailoring his instruction to the mental abilities of his hearer: rather than express himself in the usual mysteries of R̥gvedic high style (as in the immediately preceding X.27), Indra packages his message in a series of beast fables. If this reading of the hymn’s general scenario is correct, then we must assume already for the R̥gvedic period not only the existence of a body of story literature, of animal fables, but also (more interestingly) a fairly organized functional role for this literature in an instructional setting, conform
ing to the same model that we find quite a bit later in Indic literature in general. And this in turn may lead us to reconsider the standard views of the history of Indian literature and especially the connections between Vedic and Classical genres.
For further discussion of this hymn, see Jamison (2004a; 2007: 80–83; 2008b).

Geldner

Die Schwiegertochter:

01 विश्वो ह्यट्न्यो - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

विश्वो॒ ह्य१॒॑न्यो अ॒रिरा॑ज॒गाम॒ ममेदह॒ श्वशु॑रो॒ ना ज॑गाम ।
ज॒क्षी॒याद्धा॒ना उ॒त सोमं॑ पपीया॒त्स्वा॑शितः॒ पुन॒रस्तं॑ जगायात् ॥

02 स रोरुवद्वृषभस्तिग्मशृङ्गो - त्रिष्टुप्

विश्वास-प्रस्तुतिः ...{Loading}...

स रोरु॑वद्वृष॒भस्ति॒ग्मशृ॑ङ्गो॒ वर्ष्म॑न्तस्थौ॒ वरि॑म॒न्ना पृ॑थि॒व्याः ।
विश्वे॑ष्वेनं वृ॒जने॑षु पामि॒ यो मे॑ कु॒क्षी सु॒तसो॑मः पृ॒णाति॑ ॥

03 अद्रिणा ते - त्रिष्टुप्

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अद्रि॑णा ते म॒न्दिन॑ इन्द्र॒ तूया॑न्त्सु॒न्वन्ति॒ सोमा॒न्पिब॑सि॒ त्वमे॑षाम् ।
पच॑न्ति ते वृष॒भाँ अत्सि॒ तेषां॑ पृ॒क्षेण॒ यन्म॑घवन्हू॒यमा॑नः ॥

04 इदं सु - त्रिष्टुप्

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इ॒दं सु मे॑ जरित॒रा चि॑किद्धि प्रती॒पं शापं॑ न॒द्यो॑ वहन्ति ।
लो॒पा॒शः सिं॒हं प्र॒त्यञ्च॑मत्साः क्रो॒ष्टा व॑रा॒हं निर॑तक्त॒ कक्षा॑त् ॥

05 कथा त - त्रिष्टुप्

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क॒था त॑ ए॒तद॒हमा चि॑केतं॒ गृत्स॑स्य॒ पाक॑स्त॒वसो॑ मनी॒षाम् ।
त्वं नो॑ वि॒द्वाँ ऋ॑तु॒था वि वो॑चो॒ यमर्धं॑ ते मघवन्क्षे॒म्या धूः ॥

06 एवा हि - त्रिष्टुप्

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ए॒वा हि मां त॒वसं॑ व॒र्धय॑न्ति दि॒वश्चि॑न्मे बृह॒त उत्त॑रा॒ धूः ।
पु॒रू स॒हस्रा॒ नि शि॑शामि सा॒कम॑श॒त्रुं हि मा॒ जनि॑ता ज॒जान॑ ॥

07 एवा हि - त्रिष्टुप्

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ए॒वा हि मां त॒वसं॑ ज॒ज्ञुरु॒ग्रं कर्म॑न्कर्म॒न्वृष॑णमिन्द्र दे॒वाः ।
वधीं॑ वृ॒त्रं वज्रे॑ण मन्दसा॒नोऽप॑ व्र॒जं म॑हि॒ना दा॒शुषे॑ वम् ॥

08 देवास आयन्परशूँरबिभ्रन्वना - त्रिष्टुप्

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दे॒वास॑ आयन्पर॒शूँर॑बिभ्र॒न्वना॑ वृ॒श्चन्तो॑ अ॒भि वि॒ड्भिरा॑यन् ।
नि सु॒द्र्वं१॒॑ दध॑तो व॒क्षणा॑सु॒ यत्रा॒ कृपी॑ट॒मनु॒ तद्द॑हन्ति ॥

09 शशः क्षुरम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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श॒शः क्षु॒रं प्र॒त्यञ्चं॑ जगा॒राद्रिं॑ लो॒गेन॒ व्य॑भेदमा॒रात् ।
बृ॒हन्तं॑ चिदृह॒ते र॑न्धयानि॒ वय॑द्व॒त्सो वृ॑ष॒भं शूशु॑वानः ॥

10 सुपर्ण इत्था - त्रिष्टुप्

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सु॒प॒र्ण इ॒त्था न॒खमा सि॑षा॒याव॑रुद्धः परि॒पदं॒ न सिं॒हः ।
नि॒रु॒द्धश्चि॑न्महि॒षस्त॒र्ष्यावा॑न्गो॒धा तस्मा॑ अ॒यथं॑ कर्षदे॒तत् ॥

11 तेभ्यो गोधा - त्रिष्टुप्

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तेभ्यो॑ गो॒धा अ॒यथं॑ कर्षदे॒तद्ये ब्र॒ह्मणः॑ प्रति॒पीय॒न्त्यन्नैः॑ ।
सि॒म उ॒क्ष्णो॑ऽवसृ॒ष्टाँ अ॑दन्ति स्व॒यं बला॑नि त॒न्वः॑ शृणा॒नाः ॥

12 एते शमीभिः - त्रिष्टुप्

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ए॒ते शमी॑भिः सु॒शमी॑ अभूव॒न्ये हि॑न्वि॒रे त॒न्व१॑ः॒ सोम॑ उ॒क्थैः ।
नृ॒वद्वद॒न्नुप॑ नो माहि॒ वाजा॑न्दि॒वि श्रवो॑ दधिषे॒ नाम॑ वी॒रः ॥