०७२

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सायण-भाष्यम्

॥ श्रीगणेशाय नमः ।।

यस्य निःश्वसितं वेदा यो वेदेभ्योऽखिलं जगत् ।

निर्ममे तमहं वन्दे विद्यातीर्थमहेश्वरम् ॥

प्राज्ञः श्रीसायणाचार्यो व्याख्याय चरमेऽष्टके ।।

स्फुटं द्वितीयमध्यायं तृतीयं वक्तुमुद्यतः ॥

तत्र ‘ देवानाम् ’ इति नवर्चमनुवाकापेक्षया चतुर्थं सूक्तमानुष्टुभं देवदेवत्यम् । लोकनाम्नः पुत्रो बृहस्पतिराङ्गिरस एव वा बृहस्पतिर्ऋषिः । अथवा दक्षस्य दुहितादितिर्ऋषिः । तथा चानुक्रान्तं – देवानां नव लौक्यो वा बृहस्पतिर्दाक्षायण्यदितिर्वा दैवमानुष्टुभम्’ इति । गतः सूक्तविनियोगः ।

Jamison Brereton

72 (898)
The Gods
Brhaspati ̥ Āṅgirasa, Brhaspati Laukya, or Aditi D ̥ ākṣāyaṇī
9 verses: anuṣṭubh
Geldner remarks that the hymn almost seems as if the poet intentionally wanted to show the insolubility of the problem of the origin of things by setting incompat ible theories of cosmogony alongside one another. While we find greater coherence than this, we recognize the complexities and uncertainties that caused Geldner to come to this conclusion. At least at a very general level, the hymn does show a cos mogonic progression from “what is not existing” to “what is existing” and finally to immortal gods and mortal humans.
The hymn also has thematic elements in common with the preceding hymn. The most obvious is that bráhmaṇas pátiḥ, the Lord of the Sacred Formulation (vs. 2), is Br̥haspati, who is invoked at the beginning of X.71. Then too, while it has the appearance of a cosmogony, the hymn also makes repeated reference to sacrificial performance. One thematic strand of this hymn is that the sacrifice embodies the principles that gave rise to the world.
In verse 3 what Br̥haspati “smelted” is the “births” of the gods, as Sāyaṇa already noted. Br̥haspati brings them about by means of a sacred formulation (bráhman) expressing the origins of the gods. But such a formulation can also bring about the birth of the gods in a specific ritual place at the time of a ritual performance. In that way, words—or the thoughts behind words—can make beings real. Perhaps this is what the poet means when in verse 2d he says that “what exists,” what are “things” (the world, the gods, and humans), was born from “what does not exist,” what are not “things” (thoughts or words).
In verse 3cd “the one whose feet were opened up” gives rise to what exists, which in turn gives rise to the regions of space. But in 4ab “the one whose feet were opened up” gives rise to the earth, which gives rise to the regions. That is to say, between the two hemistichs, there is a shift in the middle term: “what exists” in verse 3 and “the earth” in verse 4. The key to the significance of this shift is the word bhū́
“the earth.” “The earth” is only one possible translation; the word could also mean a “form” that something assumes (cf. III.55.13b=X.27.14d) or, etymologically at least, the act of “becoming.” If the ambiguity is intentional, then the two verses together redefine “what exists” as that which has material substance—most broadly the earth or more specifically what has form.
The source of “what exists” or “the earth” is the principle or entity described as “one whose feet were opened up” (uttānápad). Falk (1994: 7–10) understands uttāná to describe something whose feet are “turned upward,” perhaps the upside-down world tree with its roots above. We take the more common approach in seeing here an image of birth or possibly sexual availability. But then whose feet are these? If the answer is inside the hymn, then it might be the goddess Aditi, who appears in verse 4 and is a mother of the gods in verses 8–9. Or again, since “what exists” (sát) is said to have arisen from “what does not exist” (ásat) in verses 2 and 3, there is per
haps an implied identification of “the one whose feet were opened up” with “what does not exist.” Whoever or whatever the uttānápad may be, the term also contains an oblique reference to the lower aráṇī, one of the pieces of wood used to kindle the sacrificial fire. See, for example, III.29.3ab addressing the priests, uttānā́yām áva bharā cikitvā́n, sadyáḥ právītā vŕ̥ṣaṇaṃ jajāna “Attentive, bear down upon her who is opened up (uttānā́) [=the lower fire-churning stick]. Impregnated on this day, she has given birth to the bull [=Agni].” That is to say, the appearance of fire from the fire-churning wood replicates the emergence of “what exists” from “what does not exist.”
In verse 4cd the poet describes the paradoxical birth of Aditi from Dakṣa and Dakṣa from Aditi. Aditi is not only a goddess, but also a principle, the principle of Innocence or Offenselessness against the gods. Likewise, Dakṣa can be a god per sonifying ritual Skill. Their birth from one another may signify the mutual depen dence of freedom from offense against the gods and ritual skill, both of which are necessary to carry out the sacrifice. Similarly, there may also be reference to the sac rifice in verse 5d, in which the gods are said to be amŕ̥tabandhavaḥ. The compound can mean that the gods are kin of the “immortal” Soma or Agni or that they are kin “to immortality” or that they are connected to the immortal waters (Falk 1994: 13). There are possible references to the ritual or ritual mythology in the succeeding

verses as well. Thus, in 6d tīvrá, “sharp” or “bitter,” is a typical description of soma. Or again in 7a the Yatis are ritual priests, whose death resulted in the rains that swell “the living worlds” (cf. Jamison 1991: 111). And finally in 7cd the sun in the waters can be a figure describing soma (cf. Oberlies 1999: 164–65) or fire.
The last two verses describe the birth of immortals, Aditi’s “seven sons,” with whom she went to the ancient generation of gods (vs. 9ab), and the birth of mortals, who are born from a “dead egg” (Hoffmann 1976b [=1992: 723]), a divine miscar riage, both “for procreation” and “for death” (9cd).
As a cosmology the hymn invites comparison with X.129.

01 देवानां नु - अनुष्टुप्

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दे॒वानां॒ नु व॒यं जाना॒ प्र वो॑चाम विप॒न्यया॑ ।
उ॒क्थेषु॑ श॒स्यमा॑नेषु॒ यः पश्या॒दुत्त॑रे यु॒गे ॥

02 ब्रह्मणस्पतिरेता सम् - अनुष्टुप्

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ब्रह्म॑ण॒स्पति॑रे॒ता सं क॒र्मार॑ इवाधमत् ।
दे॒वानां॑ पू॒र्व्ये यु॒गेऽस॑तः॒ सद॑जायत ॥

03 देवानां युगे - अनुष्टुप्

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दे॒वानां॑ यु॒गे प्र॑थ॒मेऽस॑तः॒ सद॑जायत ।
तदाशा॒ अन्व॑जायन्त॒ तदु॑त्ता॒नप॑द॒स्परि॑ ॥

04 भूर्जज्ञ उत्तानपदो - अनुष्टुप्

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भूर्ज॑ज्ञ उत्ता॒नप॑दो भु॒व आशा॑ अजायन्त ।
अदि॑ते॒र्दक्षो॑ अजायत॒ दक्षा॒द्वदि॑तिः॒ परि॑ ॥

05 अदितिर्ह्यजनिष्थ दक्ष - अनुष्टुप्

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अदि॑ति॒र्ह्यज॑निष्ट॒ दक्ष॒ या दु॑हि॒ता तव॑ ।
तां दे॒वा अन्व॑जायन्त भ॒द्रा अ॒मृत॑बन्धवः ॥

06 यद्देवा अदः - अनुष्टुप्

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यद्दे॑वा अ॒दः स॑लि॒ले सुसं॑रब्धा॒ अति॑ष्ठत ।
अत्रा॑ वो॒ नृत्य॑तामिव ती॒व्रो रे॒णुरपा॑यत ॥

07 यद्देवा यतयो - अनुष्टुप्

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यद्दे॑वा॒ यत॑यो यथा॒ भुव॑ना॒न्यपि॑न्वत ।
अत्रा॑ समु॒द्र आ गू॒ळ्हमा सूर्य॑मजभर्तन ॥

08 अष्थौ पुत्रासो - अनुष्टुप्

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अ॒ष्टौ पु॒त्रासो॒ अदि॑ते॒र्ये जा॒तास्त॒न्व१॒॑स्परि॑ ।
दे॒वाँ उप॒ प्रैत्स॒प्तभिः॒ परा॑ मार्ता॒ण्डमा॑स्यत् ॥

09 सप्तभिः पुत्रैरदितिरुप - अनुष्टुप्

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स॒प्तभिः॑ पु॒त्रैरदि॑ति॒रुप॒ प्रैत्पू॒र्व्यं यु॒गम् ।
प्र॒जायै॑ मृ॒त्यवे॑ त्व॒त्पुन॑र्मार्ता॒ण्डमाभ॑रत् ॥