०३१

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सायण-भाष्यम्

’ आ नः’ इत्येकादशर्चं द्वितीयं सूक्तं कवषस्यार्षं त्रैष्टुभं वैश्वदेवम् । अनुक्रान्तं च - आ न एकादश वैश्वदेवम् ’ इति । गतः सूक्तविनियोगः । एकादशिनस्य वैश्वदेवस्य पशोः पुरोडाशस्य ‘ आ नः’ इत्येषानुवाक्या । सूत्रितं च –’ विश्वे अद्य मरुतो विश्व ऊत्या नो देवानामुप वेतु शंसः । (आश्व. श्रौ. ३. ७) इति ॥

Jamison Brereton

31 (857)
All Gods
Kavaṣa Ailūṣa
11 verses: triṣṭubh
An extremely obscure hymn. As in many such compositions, one of the major sources of obscurity is the uncertainty of the referents in many key verses and the possibility of multiple referents in such cases. The interpretation given here is ten tative and uncertain, and even if correct, or partially so, it does not exclude other possible interpretations. In our view, the hymn speculates about the mystery of the sacrifice, about the relations between men and gods that the sacrifice encodes, and about Agni, the most conspicuous symbol of the sacrifice and the mortal–immortal partnership, as the foundational principle of the cosmos and the neutralization of the distinction between space and time. Although assigned to the All Gods, this is obviously not a conventional All God hymn (if such exist) but one for which the designation serves as a cover for mystic speculation. If it has a conventional deity, it is Agni.
The hymn begins innocently enough with four verses establishing the ritual scene. However, even in the first verse we encounter something unusual: the raw material of the sacrifice seems to be seeking us out, as if the gods themselves were assisting us in our duties toward them. Nonetheless, verse 2 asserts that the mortal sacrifi
cer must exert his own inherent powers in order to perform a proper sacrifice and receive its benefits. The happy result of the mutual action of men and gods (note the latter are called “helpers” in 3b) is expressed in verse 3, and in verse 4 (particularly full of unidentified referents; see esp. pāda d) it seems that the central divine figure Agni is well pleased and that other gods have favored the sacrificer as well.
Verses 5–6 are roughly the center of the hymn (especially since vs. 11 is a pseudo-dānastuti); they are verbally responsive (note the asyá beginning 5c, 6a, and 6c, for example), and they introduce a larger cosmic dimension to the depiction of the sacrifice. They thus qualify as an omphalos. Most important in these two verses are the three words for “earth” that knit them together: kṣā́ḥ in 5a, bhū́man in 6b, and, by implication, pr̥thvī́, disguised in the feminine participle paprathānā́ in 6a, derived from the same root (prath) as pr̥thvī́ in 9a. (The three words—kṣā́ḥ, bhū́man, and pr̥thvī́—are reunited again in vs. 9, a good indication that the conjunction in vss. 5–6 was deliberate.) This emphasis on the earth in a ritual context seems to make an implicit claim that the sacrificial ground is the earth. In verse 5 the sacrifi cial context is more overt: this seems to concern the distribution of the dakṣiṇās or priestly gifts at dawn. Verse 6 is more opaque, but in our view refers to the benevo lence of a well-pleased Agni radiating outward. The second half of verse 6 provides a transition to the cosmic speculations that follow: the “lord” of 6a seems still to be Agni, with his womb containing, on the one hand, his flames, and, on the other hand perhaps, the gods.
The speculations of verses 7–10 begin, as often, with an unanswerable question about the origins of the cosmos. Verse 7 also contrasts the stable and unchanging quality of heaven and earth (space) with the ever-changing and aging aspect of time. This opposition in a way provides the framework for the next few verses, although the direct connection between 7 and what follows is superficially dim. However, if, as we believe, the next three verses (8–10) concern Agni, he partakes of both space and time, and provides the foundation for both. He supports heaven and earth (8b)—there is no reason to look elsewhere (8a)—but he is also in con stant motion (8cd, 9ab) and appears in many guises (9cd). He thus grounds the stability of the spatial cosmos while being in constant motion through it. In the same way (vs. 10), temporal aging is represented by his regular rebirth, but because of the paradox that he is born before his parents, temporal advance is negated. The space/time conundrum is solved! The last clause of verse 10, “if they should inquire” / “when they shall ask,” is in our view the formal closure to the cosmic speculation opened by a question in verse 7 and not confined to the themes of verse 10.
The final verse (11) has all the trappings of a dānastuti, appended to the hymn, but it seems to refer to a very obscure saga also encountered in I.117.8, an Aśvin hymn.

01 आ नो - त्रिष्टुप्

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आ नो॑ दे॒वाना॒मुप॑ वेतु॒ शंसो॒ विश्वे॑भिस्तु॒रैरव॑से॒ यज॑त्रः ।
तेभि॑र्व॒यं सु॑ष॒खायो॑ भवेम॒ तर॑न्तो॒ विश्वा॑ दुरि॒ता स्या॑म ॥

02 परि चिन्मर्तो - त्रिष्टुप्

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परि॑ चि॒न्मर्तो॒ द्रवि॑णं ममन्यादृ॒तस्य॑ प॒था नम॒सा वि॑वासेत् ।
उ॒त स्वेन॒ क्रतु॑ना॒ सं व॑देत॒ श्रेयां॑सं॒ दक्षं॒ मन॑सा जगृभ्यात् ॥

03 अधायि धीतिरससृग्रमंशास्तीर्थे - त्रिष्टुप्

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अधा॑यि धी॒तिरस॑सृग्र॒मंशा॑स्ती॒र्थे न द॒स्ममुप॑ य॒न्त्यूमाः॑ ।
अ॒भ्या॑नश्म सुवि॒तस्य॑ शू॒षं नवे॑दसो अ॒मृता॑नामभूम ॥

04 नित्यश्चाकन्यात्स्वपतिर्दमूना यस्मा - त्रिष्टुप्

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नित्य॑श्चाकन्या॒त्स्वप॑ति॒र्दमू॑ना॒ यस्मा॑ उ दे॒वः स॑वि॒ता ज॒जान॑ ।
भगो॑ वा॒ गोभि॑रर्य॒मेम॑नज्या॒त्सो अ॑स्मै॒ चारु॑श्छदयदु॒त स्या॑त् ॥

05 इयं सा - त्रिष्टुप्

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इ॒यं सा भू॑या उ॒षसा॑मिव॒ क्षा यद्ध॑ क्षु॒मन्तः॒ शव॑सा स॒माय॑न् ।
अ॒स्य स्तु॒तिं ज॑रि॒तुर्भिक्ष॑माणा॒ आ नः॑ श॒ग्मास॒ उप॑ यन्तु॒ वाजाः॑ ॥

06 अस्येदेषा सुमतिः - त्रिष्टुप्

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अ॒स्येदे॒षा सु॑म॒तिः प॑प्रथा॒नाभ॑वत्पू॒र्व्या भूम॑ना॒ गौः ।
अ॒स्य सनी॑ळा॒ असु॑रस्य॒ योनौ॑ समा॒न आ भर॑णे॒ बिभ्र॑माणाः ॥

07 किं स्विद्वनम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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किं स्वि॒द्वनं॒ क उ॒ स वृ॒क्ष आ॑स॒ यतो॒ द्यावा॑पृथि॒वी नि॑ष्टत॒क्षुः ।
सं॒त॒स्था॒ने अ॒जरे॑ इ॒तऊ॑ती॒ अहा॑नि पू॒र्वीरु॒षसो॑ जरन्त ॥

08 नैतावदेना परो - त्रिष्टुप्

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नैताव॑दे॒ना प॒रो अ॒न्यद॑स्त्यु॒क्षा स द्यावा॑पृथि॒वी बि॑भर्ति ।
त्वचं॑ प॒वित्रं॑ कृणुत स्व॒धावा॒न्यदीं॒ सूर्यं॒ न ह॒रितो॒ वह॑न्ति ॥

09 स्तेगो न - त्रिष्टुप्

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स्ते॒गो न क्षामत्ये॑ति पृ॒थ्वीं मिहं॒ न वातो॒ वि ह॑ वाति॒ भूम॑ ।
मि॒त्रो यत्र॒ वरु॑णो अ॒ज्यमा॑नो॒ऽग्निर्वने॒ न व्यसृ॑ष्ट॒ शोक॑म् ॥

10 स्तरीर्यत्सूत सद्यो - त्रिष्टुप्

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स्त॒रीर्यत्सूत॑ स॒द्यो अ॒ज्यमा॑ना॒ व्यथि॑रव्य॒थीः कृ॑णुत॒ स्वगो॑पा ।
पु॒त्रो यत्पूर्वः॑ पि॒त्रोर्जनि॑ष्ट श॒म्यां गौर्ज॑गार॒ यद्ध॑ पृ॒च्छान् ॥

11 उत कण्वम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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उ॒त कण्वं॑ नृ॒षदः॑ पु॒त्रमा॑हुरु॒त श्या॒वो धन॒माद॑त्त वा॒जी ।
प्र कृ॒ष्णाय॒ रुश॑दपिन्व॒तोध॑रृ॒तमत्र॒ नकि॑रस्मा अपीपेत् ॥