१०९

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सायण-भाष्यम्

तेऽवदन्निति सप्तर्चं दशमं सूक्तं जुहूर्नामब्रह्मवादिनी ऋषिः ब्रह्मपुत्रऊर्ध्वनाभानाम वा षष्ठी सप्तम्यावनुष्टुभौ शिष्टाः पञ्च त्रिष्टुभः विश्वेदेवा देवता । तथा चानुक्रान्तम्-तेऽवदन्त्सप्त जुहूर्ब्रह्मजाया ब्राह्मो वोर्धनाभा वैश्वदेवं द्व्यनुष्टुबन्तमिति । गतो विनियोगः ।।

Jamison Brereton

109 (935)
All Gods
Juhū Brahmajayā or Ūrdhvanābhan Brāhma
7 verses: triṣṭubh, except anuṣṭubh 6–7
This short hymn has provoked much discussion, but, in our opinion, it has not been well served by its commentators. The topic of the hymn is the “Brahmin’s wife,” mentioned explicitly in verses 2–7, and in particular the “giving back” of the Brahmin’s wife. The currently prevailing opinion about the hymn (see espe
cially Geldner and Doniger O’Flaherty) is that it represents an early version of the story in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa (IV.6.5) in which King Soma abducts the wife of Br̥haspati, the guru of the gods, and ultimately is forced to return her. Needless to say, the chronological difference—the several millennia intervening between the R̥gveda and the Viṣṇu Purāṇa—should make this connection a disfavored one unless no other possible interpretations can be found. And it is also the case that the R̥gvedic hymn lacks almost all the salient features of the purāṇic story, includ
ing the abduction.
We instead believe that the hymn relates to the much-debated issue in the late R̥gveda about the introduction of the Sacrificer’s Wife into ritual performance (see, e.g., nearby X.102), and that the poet both recognizes the perils of this new ritual practice and reassures his audience that all will be well. The hymn has an omphalos structure: the first and last verses (1 and 7) concern the “offense” (kílbiṣa) implicitly done to the Brahmin (husband of the woman in question) by separating him from his wife and placing her in the ritual arena, where she interacts with the gods and acts as conduit of the fearsome forces unleashed by the sacrifice. Her contact with the gods is potentially adulterous, and, given the power of the gods, there is also the danger that they will not want to release her at the end of the ritual. But these possible dangers do not arise: the inner ring of the hymn (vss. 2, 6) emphatically states that the gods have given her back without rancor, and the kílbiṣa is expiated in the final verse (7).
The middle verses (3–5) concern the wife’s activities on the ritual ground and their importance. It is she who “places what is difficult to place in the highest dis tant heaven” (vs. 4), in our view a reference to her role in mediating between the earthly and divine realms especially in the animal sacrifice: she figuratively depos its the oblation in heaven by touching and ritually preparing the sacrificed ani mal. The most difficult verse is 5, which also contains the only R̥gvedic occurrence of the word brahmacārín (already in the Atharvaveda a word for “Vedic student” and later a standard way of referring to a man practicing chastity). Although the verse remains enigmatic, it is possible that it suggests that a single ritual performer (reciter of formulations) is necessary but not sufficient, and it is for this reason that the Wife has been introduced into ritual practice.
The hymn is also saturated with wedding vocabulary (“grasp the hand,” “lead,” etc.). This domestic ritual, in which man and wife participate jointly, provides a reassuring model for the wife’s foray into the more solemn and serious realm of śrauta ritual.
For more detailed discussion, see Jamison (forthcoming b).

01 तेऽवदन्प्रथमा ब्रह्मकिल्बिषेऽकूपारः - त्रिष्टुप्

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ते॑ऽवदन्प्रथ॒मा ब्र॑ह्मकिल्बि॒षेऽकू॑पारः सलि॒लो मा॑त॒रिश्वा॑ ।
वी॒ळुह॑रा॒स्तप॑ उ॒ग्रो म॑यो॒भूरापो॑ दे॒वीः प्र॑थम॒जा ऋ॒तेन॑ ॥

02 सोमो राजा - त्रिष्टुप्

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सोमो॒ राजा॑ प्रथ॒मो ब्र॑ह्मजा॒यां पुनः॒ प्राय॑च्छ॒दहृ॑णीयमानः ।
अ॒न्व॒र्ति॒ता वरु॑णो मि॒त्र आ॑सीद॒ग्निर्होता॑ हस्त॒गृह्या नि॑नाय ॥

03 हस्तेनैव ग्राह्य - त्रिष्टुप्

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हस्ते॑नै॒व ग्रा॒ह्य॑ आ॒धिर॑स्या ब्रह्मजा॒येयमिति॒ चेदवो॑चन् ।
न दू॒ताय॑ प्र॒ह्ये॑ तस्थ ए॒षा तथा॑ रा॒ष्ट्रं गु॑पि॒तं क्ष॒त्रिय॑स्य ॥

04 देवा एतस्यामवदन्त - त्रिष्टुप्

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दे॒वा ए॒तस्या॑मवदन्त॒ पूर्वे॑ सप्तऋ॒षय॒स्तप॑से॒ ये नि॑षे॒दुः ।
भी॒मा जा॒या ब्रा॑ह्म॒णस्योप॑नीता दु॒र्धां द॑धाति पर॒मे व्यो॑मन् ॥

05 ब्रह्मचारी चरति - त्रिष्टुप्

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ब्र॒ह्म॒चा॒री च॑रति॒ वेवि॑ष॒द्विषः॒ स दे॒वानां॑ भव॒त्येक॒मङ्ग॑म् ।
तेन॑ जा॒यामन्व॑विन्द॒द्बृह॒स्पतिः॒ सोमे॑न नी॒तां जु॒ह्वं१॒॑ न दे॑वाः ॥

06 पुनवैड़् देवा - अनुष्टुप्

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पुन॒र्वै दे॒वा अ॑ददुः॒ पुन॑र्मनु॒ष्या॑ उ॒त ।
राजा॑नः स॒त्यं कृ॑ण्वा॒ना ब्र॑ह्मजा॒यां पुन॑र्ददुः ॥

07 पुनर्दाय ब्रह्मजायाम् - अनुष्टुप्

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पु॒न॒र्दाय॑ ब्रह्मजा॒यां कृ॒त्वी दे॒वैर्नि॑किल्बि॒षम् ।
ऊर्जं॑ पृथि॒व्या भ॒क्त्वायो॑रुगा॒यमुपा॑सते ॥