# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book XIII/Hymn 1

1. To Rohita (the sun, as ruddy one).
Found also in Pāipp. xviii. ⌊with vs. 30 after 31; vss. 56-57, 59-60 are lacking; vs. 58 is lacking in Pāipp. xviii., but is found in Pāipp. xx.⌋. A number of the verses are used in various parts of Kāuç., and several (four) in Vāit. *⌊So the Berlin ms. (against jagatī of the London ms.): and atijagatī more nearly fits the vs.⌋ †⌊Here the Anukr. text looks as if in disorder: it seems as if yaṁ vāta (vs. 51) iti ṣaḍ anuṣṭubhaḥ ought to refer to the 6 vss. 51, 53-54, 56-58.⌋
Translated: Muir, v. 395 (parts); Ludwig, p. 536; Scherman, p. 73 (parts); Henry, 1, 21; Deussen, Geschichte, i. 1. 218 (cf. his introduction, p. 212 ff.); Griffith, ii. 133; Bloomfield, 207, 661.—Furthermore, Bloomfield, in his review (AJP. xii. 429-443) of Henry, discusses a considerable number of passages from this hymn. These discussions will be briefly cited by reference to "AJP. xii." He considers that the hymn is secondarily "an allegorical exaltation of a king and his queen."
1. Rise up, O powerful one (? vājín) that [art] within the waters, enter into this kingdom [that is] full of pleasantness; the ruddy one (róhita) that generated this all—let him bear thee, well-borne, unto kingdom.
Róhita is evidently a name or form of the sun; and the vājin (Henry, 'conqueror of booty') addressed is also the sun. The verse ⌊with faulty accents⌋ is found also in TB. (ii. 5. 2$^1$), which reads ⌊asi after yó in a⌋, ā́ viça in b, and, for d, sá no rāṣṭréṣu súdhitāṁ dadhātu, which seems better, as removing the difficulty of the sun establishing the sun. Ppp. reads viçvabhṛtaṁ for viçvam idam in c; and it has pipartu for bibhartu at the end; ⌊we had the converse at xi. 5. 4⌋. The resolution ud-ā́-ihi is required to fill out the meter of a. All the four hymns of the book (under the name rohitās) are prescribed in Kāuç. 99. 4 to be used in case of a darkening (eclipse) of the sun. The first half-verse is, according to Kāuç. 49. 18, to be used in the witchcraft ceremony of the 'water-thunderbolts' (see x. 5) 'when the boat sinks.' ⌊Cf. AJP. xii. 431.⌋
2. Up hath arisen the power (? vā́ja) that is within the waters; mount (ā-ruh) thou the clans (víç) that are sprung from thee (tvádyoni); assuming (dhā) the soma, the waters, the herbs, the kine, make thou the four-footed, the two-footed ones to enter here.
In b begins the play of words upon the root ruh 'ascend, mount, grow,' and its compounds and derivatives; this play is suggested by the at least apparent relationship between ruh and rohita, ⌊and is found with considerable elaboration throughout⌋ these hymns. Here it doubtless signifies 'have supremacy over.' Ppp. combines in b viçā ”roha, in c dadhāna ’po ’ṣadh-, and in d dvipadā ’veç-; and this last we have to accept in order to make a triṣṭubh pāda. In a the resolution of ā́ agan, and in b that of tuád-, make the meter right. The Anukr. takes no notice of any irregularity in the verse.
3. Do ye [who are] formidable, O Maruts, sons of the spotted mother, with Indra as ally, slaughter our foes; the ruddy one shall listen to you, ye liberal ones (sudā́nu), ye thrice seven Maruts that enjoy sweets together.
The first half-verse occurred above as v. 21. 11 a, b. We can hardly help emending triṣaptā́so to tríṣaptāso. Ppp. reads instead triṣaptā. The verse is found also in TB. (ii. 5. 2$^3$), which reads in a ugrā (which is better), in b sayújā prá ṇī́tha (corrupt), in c açṛṇod abhidyavaḥ, and in d (with the desired accent) trísaptāso. The verse lacks a syllable (in b) of being a proper jagatī.
4. The ruddy one ascended (ruh), mounted the ascents (rúh); [he,] the embryo of the wives, [mounted] the lap of births; him, taken hold of by them (f.), the six wide [spaces] discovered; seeing in advance the track, he hath brought (ā-hṛ) hither the kingdom.
The verse is found also in TB. (ii. 5. 2$^1$), which reads in a (much better) róhaṁ-rohaṁ (for rúho ruroha), at the beginning of b prajā́bhir vṛ́ddhim, and in c sáṁrabdho avidat. Such variations are of interest especially as showing how little connected sense was recognized in these verses by those who established the texts. This verse has no right to the name of jagatī, since all its pādas have a trochaic close; the two redundant syllables in a and c are removed by the TB. readings. ⌊For ā́hāḥ, see Prāt. ii. 46.⌋ ⌊With regard to the transition-sound between -dan and ṣáḍ, see Prāt. ii. 9, note.⌋
5. The ruddy one hath brought hither thy kingdom; the scorners have scattered; fearlessness hath become thine; unto thee, being such, let heaven-and-earth, by the revátīs, yield (duh) here thy desire by the çákvarīs.
Our mss. are divided in d between duhāthām and -tām: the majority give -thām (so Bs.s.m.Bp.O.D.R.T.K.); while P.M.W.E.p.m. have -tām; ⌊and so has Ppp.⌋. Kp. reads āsthat in b, the other pada-mss. -an; if -at is accepted, it will mean 'he has scattered the scorners'; the form may best be viewed, probably, as coming from sthā, like ādat from dā and ādhat from dhā ⌊see Skt. Gram. § 847⌋; a root asth is extremely improbable; ⌊it is discussed at AJP. xii. 439 and IF. v. 388, where references to previous discussions are given; to these add KZ. xxxii. 435; cf. also note to vii. 76. 3 above⌋. The verse occurs also in TB. (ii. 5. 2$^1$), which has very different readings: ā́hārṣīd rāṣṭrám ihá róhito mṛdho vy asthad ábhayamṁ no astu: asmábhyaṁ dyāvāpṛthivī çákvarībhī rāṣṭráṁ duhāthām ihá revátībhiḥ. The verse is no jagatī; by the frequent and permissible contraction to -pṛthvī in c it becomes a fairly good triṣṭubh (badly constructed in a). It is reckoned as belonging to the abhaya gaṇa: see note to Kāuç. 16. 8. ⌊Ppp., like TB., puts mṛdho before vy ā- in b.⌋ ⌊For vss. 4-5, see AJP. xii. 432.⌋
​6. The ruddy one generated heaven-and-earth; there the most exalted one stretched the line (tántu); there was supported (çri) the one-footed goat (? ajá); by strength he made firm (dṛh) heaven-and-earth.
Ppp. reads in c ekapād yo. The verse occurs in TB. (ii. 5. 2$^3$), with only slight variants: tásmin for tátra in b and c, and ékapāt in c. ⌊C£. AJP. xii. 443.⌋
7. The ruddy one made firm heaven-and-earth; by him was established the sky (svàr), by him the firmament (nā́ka); by him the atmosphere, the spaces (rájas) were measured out; by him the gods discovered immortality (amṛ́ta).
The verse is found in TB. (ib.), the second half-verse reading quite differently: só antárikṣe rájaso vimā́nas téna devā́ḥ súvar ánv avindan. Ppp. combines and reads in d devā ’mṛtatvam.
8. The ruddy one examined (vi-mṛç) the all-formed, collecting to himself the fore-ascents and the ascents; having ascended the sky with great greatness, let him anoint (sam-añj) thy kingdom with milk, with ghee.
The TB. version (ii. 5. 2$^2$) has, for a, ví mamarça róhito viçvárūpaḥ; in b, samācakrāṇáḥ; in c, gatvā́ya (for rūḍhvā́ ⌊improving the meter⌋); for d, ví no rāṣṭrám unattu páyasā svéna. Ppp. combines in a -to ‘mṛçat, and reads in b samākṛṇvānaṣ.
9. What ascents, fore-ascents thou hast, what on-ascents (ārúh) thou hast, with which thou fillest the sky, the atmosphere, with the bráhman, with the milk of them increasing, do thou watch over the people (víç) in the kingdom of the ruddy one.
Though the first three pādas count 12 syllables each, only a is jagatī in structure. With a, b compare xviii. 2. 9 a, b. ⌊For vss. 8-9, see AJP. xii. 433.⌋
10. What clans (víç) of thine came into being out of ardor (tápas), those have come hither after the young (vatsá), the gāyatrī́; let them enter (ā-viç) into thee with propitious mind; let the ruddy young with its mother go against [them].
Or (in a) 'what clans came into being out of thy heat.' In b, the pada-text has ihá: ā́: aguḥ. In d, sámmātā means more probably 'having a common mother,' but the sense is too obscure to allow of much confidence in any translation. The TB. version (ii. 5. 2$^2$) reads in a tápasā (better); for b, gāyatráṁ vatsám ánu tā́s ta ā́ ’guḥ; in c, máhasā svéna; in d, putró (for vatsó). The Anukr. does not heed that the last pāda is jagatī. Ppp. combines in d vatso ‘bhy.
11. The ruddy one hath stood aloft upon the firmament (nā́kā), generating all forms, [he,] young, poet; Agni shineth forth with keen light; in the third space (rájas) he hath done dear things.
Ppp. reads bhāsi in c. The Anukr. again passes without notice the jagatī pāda b. ⌊W. suggests by interlineation as alternative, 'hath made for himself dear forms.'⌋
12. The thousand-horned bull Jātavedas, offered to with ghee, soma-backed, having good heroes—let him not abandon me; let me not, a ​suppliant, abandon thee*; assign thou to me both prosperity in kine and prosperity in heroes.
The verse is found also in TB. (iii. 7. 2$^7$), K. (xxxv. 18), and Āp. ⌊ix. 3. 1⌋. TB. (with which Āp. ⌊substantially⌋ agrees throughout) has, for b, stómapṛṣṭho ghṛtávānt suprátīkaḥ; and, for c, d, mā́ no hāsīn metthitó nét tvā jáhāma gopoṣáṁ no vīrapoṣáṁ ca yaccha. Ppp. reads in b ghṛtāhutis so-. The irregular verse (12 + 11: 12 + 12, but with triṣṭubh cadences throughout) is very ill described by the Anukr. as simply a jagatī. *⌊All the translators, with W., seem to overlook the accent oi jáhāni: nét can hardly mean aught else than 'lest.'⌋
13. The ruddy one is generator and mouth of the sacrifice; to the ruddy one I make oblation with speech, with hearing, with mind; to the ruddy one go the gods with favoring mind; let him cause me to ascend with ascensions (róha) of meeting (sāmityá).
The pada-texts read blunderingly in d sām॰aityāí (instead of -yāíḥ). Henry emends to samityāí 'in order to union with him'; but sámiti has the well-established sense of 'meeting, gathering, assembly'; hence Ludwig (for rohāiḥ s-) 'with abundant success in the samiti.' ⌊See AJP. xii. 434.⌋ Ppp. reads at the end rohayāti. The verse is kindred with ii. 35. 5 in general expression. Its metrical structure (12 + 15: 13 + 11 = 51) is wholly irregular; the definition of the Anukr. ⌊52 syllables⌋ ⌊nearly⌋ fits it mechanically.
14. The ruddy one disposed the sacrifice for Viçvakarman; therefrom have these brilliancies come unto me; may I speak thy navel (nā́bhi) upon the range (majmán) of existence.
The last pāda is repeated below as vs. 37 d. Ppp. reads in a vi dadhāt. The metrical definition implies the resolution ví ad-, and two resolutions in b (-si úpa and mā im-, doubtless), to make a pan̄kti (14 + 12: 14 = 40).
15. Unto thee ascended bṛhatī́ and pan̄ktí, unto [thee], O Jātavedas, kakúbh with honor; unto thee ascended the uṣṇíhā syllable, the váṣaṭ-utterance; unto thee ascended the ruddy one along with seed.
Or uṣṇihā॰akṣaráḥ (so p.) is, in spite of its accent, an adjective to vaṣaṭkāraḥ (so Henry). Read in a bṛhaty ùtá; though all our mss. except ⌊O.⌋ K. happen to agree here in lengthening the ù. Saha at the end is, of course, a misprint for sahá. Ppp. reads at for uta in a, and viçvavedaḥ in b. ⌊The Anukr. appears to count the syllables as 11 + 10: 13 + 13 = 47.⌋ The metrical irregularities in this book exceed the ordinary measure. ⌊For vss. 15, 17-20, cf. AJP. xii. 434.⌋
16. This one clothes himself in the embryo (womb?) of the earth; this one clothes himself in the sky, the atmosphere; this one, on the summit of the reddish one, has penetrated the heaven (svàr), the worlds.
Ppp. reads viṣṭapas sv- in c-d, and sam ānaçe in d. The verse (9 + 9: 8 + 8 = 34) seems to be overlooked in the Anukr., or its definition has dropped out of the mss. Verses 16-20 are prescribed in Kāuç. 54. 10 to accompany, in the godāna-ceremony, the dressing of the child in a new garment. They are much better suited to that use than to their surroundings here.
​17. O lord of speech, [be] earth pleasant to us; [be] the lair (yóni) pleasant, [be] our couch very propitious; just here be breath in our companionship; thee here, O most exalted one, let Agni surround with life-time, with honor.
Henry understands sakhyé as dat. of sákhi, against the accent. The Anukr. apparently views the verse as ⌊10 + 10: 10 + 12 + 6 = 48⌋. The verse (with the two following?) is included among the vācaspatilin̄gās, used in Kāuç. 41. 15 in a ceremony for good luck. Ppp. reads at the end -ṣṭhi pary ahaṁ varcasā dadhāmi.
18. O lord of speech, the five seasons that are ours, that came forth into being as Viçvakarman's—just here be breath in our companionship; thee here, O most exalted one, let the ruddy one surround with life-time, with honor.
The mss. read in a yé nāu (but I.R. yó nāu ⌊yónāu⌋); ⌊SPP's text and most of his authorities have yé nāu: but two have yónāu;⌋ the edition makes the apparently necessary correction to yé no. ⌊The Anukr. seems to scan as 11 + 12: 10 + 14 + 6 = 53.⌋ Ppp. omits ye nāu (or no) in a, and sam- in b, and āyuṣā near the end.
19. O lord of speech, [generate] well-willing and mind; generate kine in our stall (goṣṭhá), progeny in our wombs (yóni); just here be breath in our companionship; thee here, O most exalted one, I surround with life-time, with honor.
Ppp. reads in b prajām, and in d avahaṁ (for aham), omitting, as before, āyuṣā, ⌊and having again dadhātu at the end, repeated unintelligently from the preceding⌋.
20. May Savitar, god Agni, surround thee [with honor]; with honor may Mitra-and-Varuṇa deck (abhi⌊+dhā⌋) thee; striding down all niggards come thou; thou hast made this kingdom full of pleasantness.
The shift from pári in a to abhí in b makes a mixed and difficult construction. Ppp. combines devo ‘gnir in a and sarvā ’rātīr in c, and reads (better) kṛṇuhi in d.
21. Thou whom the spotted one (f.), the side-horse, draws (vah) in the chariot, O ruddy one, thou goest with brightness (çúbh), making flow the waters.
This verse corresponds to RV. viii. 7. 28, which, however, has considerable variants: for a, yád eṣām pṛ́ṣatī (p. -tīḥ) ráthe; in b, róhitaḥ; in c, yā́nti çubhrā́ (p. -rā́ḥ). As is usual in such cases, some of our mss. read pṛ́ṣṭis in b, and ṛṇán in c. And most read rohitaḥ ⌊unaccented⌋ at end of b (only Bs.R.K. -ta), as if under influence of the RV. version. ⌊SPP. adopts in his text rohita, but reports six of his mss. as giving rohitaḥ, without accent.⌋ Ppp. adds at the end tene ’maṁ brahmaṇaspate ruhaṁ rohayo ’ttamam. The verse is quoted in a ceremony for prosperity' by Kāuç. (24. 42), which volunteers the added explanation dyāuḥ pṛṣaty ādityo rohitaḥ; and it is also included among the puṣṭika mantras: see note to Kāuç. 19. 1. Kāuç. 24. 43 states further that a spotted cow is given (as sacrificial fee); and the comm. appears to direct that vss. 21-26 accompany the gift.
​22. She that is ruddy (róhiṇī) is submissive to the ruddy one, being liberal (sūrí), of beautiful color, vast (bṛhatī́), very splendid; by her may we conquer booty (? vā́jān) of all forms; by her may we overcome all fighters.
Róhiṇī, doubtless the dawn. Our pada-mss. read in c -rūpām, by a blundering misapprehension of the assimilated nasal in the combination -pāṅ ja- ⌊Prāt. ii. 11⌋. M.p.m. ⌊and SPP's C.⌋ read at end syāma; the passage is quoted as an instance of ṣy- in the comm. to Prāt. ii. 107. Ppp. reads sūryas suv- in b, and combines pṛtanā ’bhi in d. In the Anukr. (by an exceptional usage hardly met with elsewhere) this verse and the next, and a little later vs. 27, are specified as prākṛta ⌊mss. prakṛta⌋: i.e., as following the established norm of the hymn, which is triṣṭubh.
23. Here the seat (sádas), she that is ruddy, of the ruddy one; yonder the road by which the spotted one (f.) goes; her the Gandharvas, the Kaçyapas, lead up; her the poets defend unremittingly.
All the mss. except O.D. (and these differ perhaps only by accident) read in c gandharvāḥ, as if vocative.
24. The sun's yellow (hári) bright (ketumánt) horses, immortal, constantly draw the easy-running chariot; the ghee-drinking ruddy one, shining (bhrāj), the god, entered the spotted sky.
Bs.E. combine in b amṛ́tās su-. The Anukr. does not heed the jagatī pāda b.
25. The ruddy one, the sharp-horned bull, who encompassed Agni, the sun, who props asunder (vi-stabh) the earth and the heaven—out of him do the gods create creations.
Ppp. begins with ayaṁ roh-. The curious reading of O. in c, ṣṭab-h-nāti (the b and h two different letters), was noted above, under xii. 4. 4. ⌊"Encompassed": Bloomfield, "became superior to," AJP. xii. 443.⌋ Kāuç. 18. 25 gives the verse, in company with several others, as to be used in the so-called citrākarman (ceremony concerning the asterism citrā) to accompany the partaking of a milk rice-dish; and the Paddhati includes both it and the following verse in the salila gaṇa.
26. The ruddy one mounted the sky, out of the great sea (arṇavá); the ruddy one ascended all ascents.
That the verse is reckoned as belonging to the salila gaṇa was noted under the preceding verse.
27. Measure thou out (vi-mā) the milk-giving, ghee-dripping (ghṛtā́ñc) [cow]; this is the unresisting milch-cow of the gods. Let Indra drink the soma; let there be comfort (kṣéma); let Agni commence praising; do thou thrust away the scorners.
Ppp. reads eṣām at end of b. With the verse is to be compared Āp. xi. 4. 14: vi mime tvā payasvatīṁ devānāṁ dhenuṁ sudughām anapasphurantīm: indraḥ somam pibatu kṣemo astu naḥ, which accompanies the measuring out of a vedi in shape of a cow. In Vāit. 15. 7; 28. 23, it is used in a like manner; and so also in Kāuç. 137. 10, in preparing for the ājyatantra; ⌊cf. also note to 137. 4⌋.
​28. Agni, kindled, being kindled, increased with ghee, offered to with ghee—let the overpowering, all-overpowering Agni slay them who are my rivals.
This verse (though there are others having the same pratīka) is doubtless the one quoted (next after vs. 1) in Kāuç. 49. 19, to accompany the laying of bonds upon the "boat" there treated of; ⌊rather, the laying of sticks with strings on them upon the fire: Caland, p. 173⌋. The description of the Anukr. strangely forbids us to make the elision -dho ‘gníḥ in a.
29. Let him slay them, burn [them] away,—the enemy (ári) who fights us; by the flesh-eating fire do we burn away our rivals.
Ppp. reads in a enāṁ; we require enaṁ, as antecedent to b, which, as the verse now stands, seems to describe the subject of the verbs in a. Ppp. has also agnis for aris in b.
30. Do thou, O Indra, having arms, smite them down downward with the thunderbolt; then my rivals have I taken to myself with Agni's brightnesses (téjas).
Ppp. puts the verse after our 31, and reads at the end ā dadhe. ⌊Or ā́diṣi may be referred to dā 'cut' + ā: so W. in a ms. note to his Index, and so BR. But BR's forms from vi. 104 are referred by W. to dā 'tie.'⌋
31. O Agni, make our rivals fall below us; stagger the truculent (utpípāna) fellow, O Brihaspati; O Indra-and-Agni, O Mitra-and-Varuṇa, let them fall below [us], impotent in their fury.
Lit. 'not making their fury effective against' us. The Anukr. apparently understands the structure of the verse as 12 + 14: 8 + 6 + 8 = 48; but there is no good reason for dividing the last redundant pāda into two. Ppp. reads utapidānaṁ (for utpipānam ⌊discussed AJP. xii. 441⌋) in b.
32. Do thou, O heavenly sun, arising, smite down my rivals; smite them down with the stone; let them go to lowest darkness.
Ppp. appears to read avāi ’nāṁ raçmibhir jahi rātrīṇāṁ tantasā vadhīs taṁ hantv adhamaṁ tamaḥ. ⌊We had our d at x. 3. 9 d.⌋
33. The young (vatsá) of the virā́j, the bull of prayers (matí), mounted, bright-backed, the atmosphere; with ghee they sing (arc) the song (arká) unto the young; him, being bráhman, they increase with bráhman.
Ppp. combines in b -pṛṣṭho ant-. TB. (ii. 8. 8$^9$) has a corresponding verse, but with numerous variants: pitā́ virā́jām ṛṣabhó rayīṇā́m antárikṣaṁ viçvárūpa ā́ viveça: tám arkāír abhy àrcanti vatsám bráhma sántam bráhmaṇā vardháyantaḥ. ⌊Bloomfield, AJP. xii. 441, would emend arkám to aktám; but the TB. variant is very much against it.⌋ Our verse is quoted in Kāuç. 12. 4, at the end of a charm for securing one's wishes.
34. Both ascend thou to heaven and ascend to earth; both ascend to kingdom and ascend to property; both ascend to progeny and ascend to immortality; make thyself contiguous with the ruddy one.
The verse is quoted in Vāit. 13. 5 to accompany the leading up of the cow that is to be exchanged for the soma-plant.
35. The kingdom-bearing gods who go to surround (abhítas) the sun—in concord with them let the ruddy one, with favoring mind, assign kingdom to thee.
The combination tāíṣ ṭe is quoted as example under Prāt. ii. 84. The verse (7 + 8: 9 + 11: or 8 in a, if we resolve deva-ā́ or rāṣṭṛ-a-) is far too irregular to be defined simply as an upariṣṭādbṛhatī.
36. Sacrifices purified by bráhman carry thee up; yellow (hári) roadsters draw (vah) thee; thou shinest over (ati-ruc) across the ocean, the sea.
The verse might better be called virāj than nicṛt (11 + 11: 12). Ppp. reads in b abhyaktuṁ (for adhvagato); and in c -se arṇavam, as do some of our mss. (O.R.T.K.). ⌊Pādas a and b recur below, vs. 43.⌋
37. On the ruddy one are set (çritá) heaven-and-earth, on the goods-conquering, kine-conquering, booty-conquering one, of whom the births are a thousand and seven; may I speak thy navel on the range of existence.
Ppp. reads for b vasujid gojit saṁdhanājiti, and in c draviṇāni saptatir. The obscure last pāda is identical with vs. 14 c.
38. Glorious thou goest to the directions and quarters, glorious of cattle and of people (carṣaṇí); glorious in the lap of earth, of Aditi, may I become pleasant (cā́ru) like Savitar.
Ppp. reads nu instead of ca in a, and asmi instead of bhūyāsam in d; and it combines pṛthivyā ’di- in c. There is a deficiency of a syllable, unnoticed in the Anukr., in a, unless we resolve ya-āsi.
39. Being yonder, thou knowest here; being on this side, thou seest those things; from this side they see the shining space (rócana), the inspired sun in the sky.
Ppp. begins c with yataṣ paç-.
40. Thou, a god, molestest (mṛc) the gods; thou goest about within the sea (arṇavá); they kindle the same fire; it the high (pára) poets know.
'It,' i.e. 'the fire' (tám). Ppp. reads marcayati and carati. ⌊Bloomfield, AJP. xii. 437, emends to devám arcayasi; but Ppp., and the antithesis of a and b, admirably suggested by Deussen's dennoch, are in favor of marc-.⌋
41. Below the distant, thus beyond the lower, bearing her calf with her foot, the cow hath stood up; whitherwards, to what quarter, hath she forsooth gone away? where giveth she birth? for [it is] not in this herd.
42. One-footed, two-footed [is] she, four-footed; having become eight-footed, nine-footed, thousand-syllabled, a series of existence; out from her flow apart the oceans.
This verse is the pādas b-e of ix. 10. 21 (RV. i. 164. 41 b-d, 42 a) ⌊see under ix. 10. 21 for variants⌋. It and the preceding are very little in place in our hymn. ⌊With d cf. 3. 2 b, below.⌋
43. Mounting the sky, immortal, do thou favor my words; sacrifices purified by bráhman carry thee up; yellow roadsters draw thee.
Pādas b and c are identical with 36 a, b. Instead of adhvagatas, Ppp. reads ghṛtaṁ pibantaṁ. Bp. accents prá: áva.
44. I know that of thine, O immortal one, namely (yát) thy climb (ākrámaṇa) in the sky, thy station (sadhástha) in the highest firmament.
Vyòmani would make a more regular paroṣṇih, but the Anukr. takes no notice of the deficiency.
45. The sun overlooks (ati-paç) the sky, the sun the earth, the sun the waters; the sun, the one eye of what exists, hath mounted the great sky.
The verse is made in Vāit. 16. 11 to accompany the antaryāmahoma after sunrise.
46. The wide ones (urvī́) were the enclosures; the earth took shape as sacrificial hearth; there the ruddy one set (ā-dhā) these two fires, cold and heat.
47. Having set cold and heat, having made the mountains sacrificial posts (yū́pa), having rain as sacrificial butter, the two fires of the sky-finding ruddy one performed sacrifice (yaj).
The Anukr. appears to ratify the resolution kṛtu-ā́ in b. Ppp., in this verse as later, combines agnī ”jāte. ⌊For 46, Hillebrandt, Ved. Mythol. i. 179, cites ÇB. i. 2. 5$^7$.⌋
48. The fire of the sky-finding ruddy one is kindled with bráhman; therefrom heat, therefrom cold, therefrom the sacrifice was born.
The majority of mss. read correctly yajñò ’jāy- at the end; the rest vary between -ñó aj- and -ñò aj-. Ppp. reads -ño aj-; and, in b, samāhitah for sam idhyate.
49. The two fires [are] increasing by bráhman, increased with bráhman, offered to with bráhman: kindled with bráhman, the two fires of the sky-finding ruddy one performed sacrifice.
Ppp. reads for a brahmaṇā ’gnis saṁvidāno, and in b -ddho, -hutaḥ, and again combines in c agnī ”jāte. With b compare vs. 28 b.
50. The one is all set in truth, the other is kindled in the waters: kindled with etc. etc.
Ppp. reads in b samāhitas ⌊again: cf. 48⌋ for sam idhyate, and adds another pāda: satye adbhis samāhitaḥ.
​51. What one the wind adorns about, or what one Indra, Brahmaṇaspati: kindled with etc. etc.
Ppp. omits vā in b.
52. Having shaped (kḷp) the earth as sacrificial hearth, having made the sky sacrificial fee, then having made heat his fire, the ruddy one made all that has soul, with rain as sacrificial butter.
53. Rain as sacrificial butter, heat as fire, earth as sacrificial hearth took shape; there, with songs (gír), the fire shaped these mountains aloft.
Ppp. reads ‘gnir in a, and some of our mss. (P.M.p.m.W.) give the same. P.M.W. also have in common the blunder bhū́mipr ak- in b. It is doubtless by a loss of part of its text that the Anukr. does not define vss. ⌊57-58⌋ as anuṣṭubh, although it describes a minor feature of vs. 57, taken as an anuṣṭubh. ⌊With 52, cf. vs. 46.⌋
54. Having shaped [them] aloft by songs, the ruddy one said to the earth: in thee let this all be born, what is (bhūtá) or what is to be.
Ppp. reads at the end bhavyam.
55. That first sacrifice was born [as] the one that is, that is to be; from that was born this all, whatsoever shines out (vi-ruc) here, brought (ā-bhṛ) by the ruddy one [as] seer.
Ppp. ends the hymn with this verse, although vs. 58 is found in another place. It combines jajñe ’daṁ, as we are doubtless to read, though not with the sanction of the Anukr., which calls the pāda bṛhatī. ⌊Cf. iv. 23. 7.⌋
56. Whoever both kicks a cow with the foot and urinates in face of the sun—of such a one I hew off (vraçc) thy root; thou shalt not further cast (kṛ) shadow.
⌊Cf. the note on the vs. concerning posture in urination at vii. 102: and add that Buddhaghosa, in his comment on the description of the Acelakas, at Dīgha Nikāya, viii. 14 (as reported by Davids, Translation, p. 227), speaks of the standing posture as wrong.—As to making water with face towards the sun, cf. MBh. xiii. 104. 75 (5029), and note to Manu iv. 48 in my Reader, p. 349, and the references there given, especially the reference to Jolly's Viṣṇu, SBE. vii. 194 f.—As for the loss of the shadow, cf. the Peter Schlemihl story; also Jātaka, i. 102$^9$; vi. 337$^{11}$.⌋
The character of this and the following verses shows that Ppp. has reason for not making them a part of the hymn. This verse makes its appearance in Kāuç. 49. 26, at the conclusion of a series of witchcraft ceremonies. ⌊For the theoretical k of pratyán̄k, see note to vi. 51. 1.⌋
57. Thou that goest past me shading me, and between me and the fire, I hew off thy root; thou shalt not further cast shadow.
The connection appears to demand this pregnant rendering of abhichāyám 'so as to cast thy shadow on' (so also Ludwig). It is easy to read b as a regular anuṣṭubh pāda, though the Anukr. allows it only six syllables.
​58. Whoso this day, O heavenly sun, shall go between both thee and me—on him we wipe off evil-dreaming, pollution, and difficulties.
This verse is found in Ppp. xx., which reads for c tasmin duṣvapnyaṁ sarvaṁ.
59. Let us not go forth from the road, nor, O Indra, from the sacrifice with soma; let not the niggards stand between us.
That is, between us and something else, so as to cut us off from our desire or object. The verse is, without variant, RV. x. 57. 1, and found also in JB. iii. 168. It is used once in Vāit. (18. 8), and several times in Kāuç. (54. 18; 82. 6; 89. 11; also by the schol. under 42. 15; 58. 17).
60. What line, accomplisher of the sacrifice, is stretched clear to the gods, that, sacrificed unto, may we attain.
The verse is RV. x. 57. 2, which reads at the end naçīmahi. It is used by the schol. to Kāuç. 58. 17, with vs. 59, in the ceremony of name-giving.
⌊Here ends the first anuvāka, 1 hymn and 60 verses. The quoted Anukr. says ṣaṣṭiḥ.⌋