०७१

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सायण-भाष्यम्

बृहस्पते ’ इत्येकादशर्चं तृतीयं सूक्तम् आङ्गिरसस्य बृहस्पतेरार्षम् । नवमी जगती शिष्टा दश त्रिष्टुभः । अनेन सूक्तेनर्षिः परमपुरुषार्थसाधनं परब्रह्मज्ञानं स्तुतवान् । अतस्तद्देवत्यमिदम्। उक्तं हि बृहद्देवतायां - सुज्योतिः परमं ब्रह्म यद्योगात्समुपाश्नुते । तज्ज्ञानमभितुष्टाव सूक्तेनाथ बृहस्पतिः । ( बृहद्दे. ७. १०९ ) इति । अनुक्रान्तं च — ‘ बृहस्पते बृहस्पतिर्ज्ञानं तुष्टाव नवमी जगती ’ इति । सूक्तविनियोगो गतः । देवसुवाँ हविःषु बृहस्पतिर्वाचस्पतिरित्यस्य प्रथमानुवाक्या । सूत्रितं च —– ‘ बृहस्पते प्रथमं वाचो अग्रं हंसैरिव सखिभिर्वावदद्भिः ’ ( आश्व. श्रौ. ४. ११ ) इति ।

Jamison Brereton

71 (897)
Wisdom
Brhaspati ̥ Āṅgirasa
11 verses: triṣṭubh, except jagatī 9
This hymn describes the mastery of sacred speech (vā́c), which is essential for the priests performing the soma rites. This mastery binds the priests together, establish ing their “companionship” (vs. 2). The degree of mastery distinguishes one priest from another (vss. 4–5, 7–8), while the inability or unwillingness of some priests to employ sacred speech in performance marks them and their mastery as useless (vss. 6, 9). Using the language of horseracing, the poet speaks of the “competition” or “competitions” (vā́jina, vss. 5, 10) in which priests succeed through their mastery of speech. These “competitions” could be contests to determine which priests can best compose hymns or recite hymns and therefore which ones will be chosen to partici
pate in a ritual performance. That kind of contest occurred and is likely described in verse 10ab. It is also true that the poem emphasizes the composer of the hymns: it begins with a reference to Br̥haspati, the “Lord of the Sacred Formulation,” and in the concluding list of priests, the brahmán, the “formulator,” is the only one men
tioned by name. But the “competitions” could also be the sacrifices themselves, which strive against one another for the attention and favor of the gods. If so, sacred speech is not contained just in the hymns, but constitutes all of the speech in the rite. This broader conception of sacred speech is implied in the reference to the “seven husky-voiced singers” (3d), who are likely the “seven Hotars,” the seven priests of the sacrifice (cf. II.1.2), and the reference to four types of priests in the last verse.
The hymn begins by remembering the ancient seers (cf. vs. 3b, ŕ̥ṣi), who first found the “hidden name.” As Schmidt (1968: 124) suggests, the reference may be to the ancient seers who found the hidden name of the cows and so were able to release the imprisoned cows from the Vala cave (cf. X.68.7). Their concerted priestly action and effective priestly speech is then a model for contemporary priests, to whom the poet shifts in verse 2. These priests have also created the speech of the sacrifice, and their knowledge and their ability to articulate that speech bind them together as colleagues. Because sacred speech belongs to them, it carries their “mark” or “brand” (lakṣmī́, 2d). In verse 3 they found this speech by the sacrifice, for it was in the words of the ancient seers, who were their ances tors and forerunners. They have brought that speech into the present and dis persed it throughout the sacrifice. Not everyone who would recite or compose is capable of doing so (vs. 4). Or, as verse 5a puts it, there are those who are “stiff and swollen in their companionship.” This description is open to various interpretations, but “stiff and swollen” could apply to a corpse and here meta phorically describe someone who is useless, similar to the American expression “the guy’s a stiff.” Their talent is unproductive, “no milk-cow,” and their words are sterile, bringing no “fruit or flower” (5d). Likewise, the uncooperative priest betrays the speech he perceives because only the priests together can perform the rite (vss. 6, 9). In verse 9cd the poet compares the speech in the sacrifice to the warp-threads on which the sacrifice is woven. But someone who does not use his knowledge and ability in the rite offers nothing more substantial than a stream of water and produces nothing worthwhile.
This hymn and its concentration on vā́c invites comparison with the famous self-praise pronounced by the goddess Vāc herself (X.125), though the tone of the two hymns is very different.

01 बृहस्पते प्रथमम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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बृह॑स्पते प्रथ॒मं वा॒चो अग्रं॒ यत्प्रैर॑त नाम॒धेयं॒ दधा॑नाः ।
यदे॑षां॒ श्रेष्ठं॒ यद॑रि॒प्रमासी॑त्प्रे॒णा तदे॑षां॒ निहि॑तं॒ गुहा॒विः ॥

02 सक्तुमिव तितउना - त्रिष्टुप्

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सक्तु॑मिव॒ तित॑उना पु॒नन्तो॒ यत्र॒ धीरा॒ मन॑सा॒ वाच॒मक्र॑त ।
अत्रा॒ सखा॑यः स॒ख्यानि॑ जानते भ॒द्रैषां॑ ल॒क्ष्मीर्निहि॒ताधि॑ वा॒चि ॥

03 यज्ञेन वाचः - त्रिष्टुप्

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य॒ज्ञेन॑ वा॒चः प॑द॒वीय॑माय॒न्तामन्व॑विन्द॒न्नृषि॑षु॒ प्रवि॑ष्टाम् ।
तामा॒भृत्या॒ व्य॑दधुः पुरु॒त्रा तां स॒प्त रे॒भा अ॒भि सं न॑वन्ते ॥

04 उत त्वः - त्रिष्टुप्

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उ॒त त्वः॒ पश्य॒न्न द॑दर्श॒ वाच॑मु॒त त्वः॑ शृ॒ण्वन्न शृ॑णोत्येनाम् ।
उ॒तो त्व॑स्मै त॒न्वं१॒॑ वि स॑स्रे जा॒येव॒ पत्य॑ उश॒ती सु॒वासाः॑ ॥

05 उत त्वम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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उ॒त त्वं॑ स॒ख्ये स्थि॒रपी॑तमाहु॒र्नैनं॑ हिन्व॒न्त्यपि॒ वाजि॑नेषु ।
अधे॑न्वा चरति मा॒ययै॒ष वाचं॑ शुश्रु॒वाँ अ॑फ॒लाम॑पु॒ष्पाम् ॥

06 यस्तित्याज सचिविदम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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यस्ति॒त्याज॑ सचि॒विदं॒ सखा॑यं॒ न तस्य॑ वा॒च्यपि॑ भा॒गो अ॑स्ति ।
यदीं॑ शृ॒णोत्यल॑कं शृणोति न॒हि प्र॒वेद॑ सुकृ॒तस्य॒ पन्था॑म् ॥

07 अक्षण्वन्तः कर्णवन्तः - त्रिष्टुप्

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अ॒क्ष॒ण्वन्तः॒ कर्ण॑वन्तः॒ सखा॑यो मनोज॒वेष्वस॑मा बभूवुः ।
आ॒द॒घ्नास॑ उपक॒क्षास॑ उ त्वे ह्र॒दा इ॑व॒ स्नात्वा॑ उ त्वे ददृश्रे ॥

08 हृदा तष्थेषु - त्रिष्टुप्

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हृ॒दा त॒ष्टेषु॒ मन॑सो ज॒वेषु॒ यद्ब्रा॑ह्म॒णाः सं॒यज॑न्ते॒ सखा॑यः ।
अत्राह॑ त्वं॒ वि ज॑हुर्वे॒द्याभि॒रोह॑ब्रह्माणो॒ वि च॑रन्त्यु त्वे ॥

09 इमे ये - जगती

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इ॒मे ये नार्वाङ्न प॒रश्चर॑न्ति॒ न ब्रा॑ह्म॒णासो॒ न सु॒तेक॑रासः ।
त ए॒ते वाच॑मभि॒पद्य॑ पा॒पया॑ सि॒रीस्तन्त्रं॑ तन्वते॒ अप्र॑जज्ञयः ॥

10 सर्वे नन्दन्ति - त्रिष्टुप्

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सर्वे॑ नन्दन्ति य॒शसाग॑तेन सभासा॒हेन॒ सख्या॒ सखा॑यः ।
कि॒ल्बि॒ष॒स्पृत्पि॑तु॒षणि॒र्ह्ये॑षा॒मरं॑ हि॒तो भव॑ति॒ वाजि॑नाय ॥

11 ऋचां त्वः - त्रिष्टुप्

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ऋ॒चां त्वः॒ पोष॑मास्ते पुपु॒ष्वान्गा॑य॒त्रं त्वो॑ गायति॒ शक्व॑रीषु ।
ब्र॒ह्मा त्वो॒ वद॑ति जातवि॒द्यां य॒ज्ञस्य॒ मात्रां॒ वि मि॑मीत उ त्वः ॥