०८२

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सायण-भाष्यम्

‘ चक्षुषः’ इति सप्तर्चं चतुर्दशं सूक्तम् । ऋष्याद्याः पूर्ववत् । ‘चक्षुषः’ इत्यनुक्रान्तम् । गतः सूक्तविनियोगः ॥

Jamison Brereton

82 (908)
Visvakarman ́
Viśvakarman Bhauvana
7 verses: triṣṭubh
This hymn complements the preceding one and may be the more interesting of the two since it offers various hints about the various roles that Viśvakarman plays. The first words of the hymn, which call Viśvakarman the “father of the eye” (cákṣuṣaḥ pitā́), create the possibility of double reference. On the one hand, as Geldner and Renou (EVP XV: 170) rightly see and the subordinate clause “for he is insightful in mind” supports, the eye is the inspired vision of seers. On the other hand, the “eye” can be the eye of the sun, as frequently in the R̥gveda (e.g., I.164.14, V.40.8, 59.5, X.10.9). This double possibility is realized in the remainder of the verse, which describes both the sacrifice and the cosmos. In pāda b, the primary reference is to the sacrifice, evident in the ghee that the father produced. Because they are set in a sacrificial context, “the two that bob up and down” refer initially to the sacrificial ladles (juhū́), bending to the fire. But the two can also be heaven and earth, which rise and fall, a subsequent reading triggered by pāda d. In 1cd there is a shift to a cosmic context, which then becomes primary, and the sacrificial context is secondary. In 1c the phrase ántāḥ . . .pū́rve “ancient lim its”—the beginnings of the world—can also mean the “eastern limits,” the limits from which the sacrificial area is measured. The reference to “heaven and earth” in pāda d confirms the cosmic context of this hemistich but without excluding sacrificial reference, for on the sacrificial ground heaven is represented by the Āhavanīya or “offering fire” in the east and earth by the Gārhapatya or “domestic fire” in the west. (Though those terms, ubiquitous in middle Vedic śrauta litera ture, are not used in the R̥gveda of those two fires, the polarity of the two fires is clearly reflected in the R̥gveda.)
In verse 2a there is again an ambiguity: iṣṭá may mean what is offered in sacrifice or what is wished for, and here both meanings are possible. But whose are these “offerings” or “wishes”? The seers represented in the constellation of the Seven Seers (vs. 2b) are the closest and best possibilities. The frame of reference would then be the cosmos. Or those offering or wishing may be the “ancient seers,” who

appear in verse 4. In that case the frame of reference is the sacrifice. That is to say, the first verses describe both the creation of the sacrifice and the creation of the world and thereby link the creation of the sacrifice to the creation of the world.
Whatever it is that Viśvakarman represents is central to these creations. He is initially set beyond both the sacrifice and the cosmos as the “father” of poetic vision and of the sun. But then in verse 2 he spreads throughout the sacrifice and the world. Verse 2ab puns on his name Viśvakarman, repeating its first syllable by the prefix vi- in vímanā “vast in mind,” víhāyā “vast in power,” and vidhātā́ “vast distributor”—the last, the one who distributes widely. The opposite of vi-, literally “apart,” is sam- “together, completely,” and the latter replaces vi- in 2bc in saṃdŕ̥ś “full manifestation,” a cosmic term, and sám √mad “fully invigorate,” a sacrificial term. The lexical shifts create the sense that Viśvakarman first extends throughout the sacrifice and the cosmos and then condenses in a perceptible form.
In the latter part of the poem, in verses 5–7, the poet explores the manifest forms that Viśvakarman has taken. The best clue to the forms of Viśvakarman is the ref erence repeated in verses 5 and 6 to “the first embryo” that the waters received and in which all the gods were manifest and gathered. That first embryo can represent any or all of three realities. First, on the cosmic plane, it can be the sun, which rises out of the waters. Thus Viśvakarman would be initially the father of the sun and then, in manifest form, the sun itself. Second, on the sacrificial plane, the embryo can be fire, or more specificially the sacrificial fire, which is the “child of the waters” (apā́ṃ nápāt) and the form in which the presence of the gods at the sacrifice is manifested. And third, perhaps uniting cosmos and sacrifice, the embryo can be the king, who is reborn as the sun or as a sun-like being by means of the unction waters in the royal consecration rite. For a clearer reference to such imagery in the royal consecration rite, see X.121.

01 चक्षुषः पिता - त्रिष्टुप्

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च᳓क्षुषः पिता᳓ म᳓नसा हि᳓ धी᳓रो
घृत᳓म् एने अजनन् न᳓न्नमाने
यदे᳓द् अ᳓न्ता अ᳓ददृहन्त पू᳓र्व
आ᳓द् इ᳓द् द्या᳓वापृथिवी᳓ अप्रथेताम्

02 विश्वकर्मा विमना - त्रिष्टुप्

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विश्व᳓कर्मा वि᳓मना आ᳓द् वि᳓हाया
धाता᳓ विधाता᳓ परमो᳓त᳓ संदृ᳓क्
ते᳓षाम् इष्टा᳓नि स᳓म् इषा᳓ मदन्ति
य᳓त्रा सप्तर्षी᳓न् पर᳓ ए᳓कम् आहुः᳓

03 यो नः - त्रिष्टुप्

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यो᳓ नः पिता᳓ जनिता᳓ यो᳓ विधाता᳓
धा᳓मानि वे᳓द भु᳓वनानि वि᳓श्वा
यो᳓ देवा᳓नां नामधा᳓ ए᳓क एव᳓
तं᳓ सम्प्रश्न᳓म् भु᳓वना यन्ति अन्या᳓

04 त आयजन्त - त्रिष्टुप्

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त᳓ आ᳓यजन्त द्र᳓विणं स᳓म् अस्मा
ऋ᳓षयः पू᳓र्वे जरिता᳓रो न᳓ भूना᳓
असू᳓र्ते सू᳓र्ते र᳓जसि निषत्ते᳓
ये᳓ भूता᳓नि सम᳓कृण्वन्न् इमा᳓नि

05 परो दिवा - त्रिष्टुप्

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परो᳓ दिवा᳓ पर᳓ एना᳓ पृथिव्या᳓
परो᳓ देवे᳓भिर् अ᳓सुरैर् य᳓द् अ᳓स्ति
कं᳓ स्विद् ग᳓र्भम् प्रथमं᳓ दध्र आ᳓पो
य᳓त्र देवाः᳓ सम᳓पश्यन्त वि᳓श्वे

06 तमिद्गर्भं प्रथमम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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त᳓म् इ᳓द् ग᳓र्भम् प्रथमं᳓ दध्र आ᳓पो
य᳓त्र देवाः᳓ सम᳓गछन्त वि᳓श्वे
अज᳓स्य ना᳓भाव् अ᳓धि ए᳓कम् अ᳓र्पितं
य᳓स्मिन् वि᳓श्वानि भु᳓वनानि तस्थुः᳓

07 न तम् - त्रिष्टुप्

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न᳓ तं᳓ विदाथ य᳓ इमा᳓ जजा᳓न
अन्य᳓द् युष्मा᳓कम् अ᳓न्तरम् बभूव
नीहारे᳓ण प्रा᳓वृता ज᳓ल्पिया च
असुतृ᳓प उक्थशा᳓सश् चरन्ति