Hymns to the Mystic Fire

[23]

RV IV.2

2. Vamadeva's second hymn to Agni.

[word] - word(s) omitted by the author or lost through damage to the manuscript that are required by grammar or sense, and that could be supplied by the editors.

1) Yo martyeshu amṛito ṛitává, devo deveshu aratir nidháyi;
Hotá yajishṭho mahná shuchadhyai, havyair agnir manusha írayadhyai.

He who was established immortal in mortals as the possessor of the Truth, a god in the gods as the worker of our perfection, Agni, priest of the offering strong in sacrifice by his might to purify, by the offerings of man to impel him on the path;

2) Iha twam súno sahaso no adya, játo játán ubhayán antar Agne;
Dúta íyase yuyujána ṛishva, ṛijumushkán vṛishaṇah shukránshcha;

Here born today, O child of Force, thou, O Agni, goest as our messenger between the births of either world, yoking, O swift attaining, thy strong stallions straight and full-bodied and bright of hue.

ऋष्व. Sy. gives two renderings, दर्शनीय and महत्, neither of which am I able to accept. ऋ means to go, move, ऋष् to reach, attain as probably in ऋषि or simply to go, flow etc as in ऋष्, ऋष्य an antelope. Its other sense is to pierce, injure, hurt, burn, shine as in ऋष्, ऋष्टिः a sword or lance, ऋषु fire, brand, sunbeam. ऋष्व may mean therefore either speedy, swift, or warlike, powerful, valiant or like ऋषि and ऋषु wise. In all probability ऋष्व as applied to Indra & Agni means swift on their journey, or swiftly attaining the Vedic goal, with a covert sense of knowledge as in ऋषि, ऋतं etc, or simply "swift in their action".

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ऋजुमुष्कान्. Sy. takes ऋजु = प्रसाधक & मुष्क = मांसल. We must await a better interpretation.

3) अत्या वृधस्नू रोहिता घृतस्नू ऋतस्य मन्ये मनसा जविष्ठा ।
अंतरीयसे अरुषा युजानो युष्मांश्च देवान्विश आ च मर्तान् ।

Red coursers of the Truth (or of the True One) dripping increase, dripping brightness swiftest by the mind in my mind I hold; yoking those rosy steeds thou movest between thy divine peoples (lit. you the gods) and the race of men.

वृधस्नू घृतस्नू. Sy. interprets, dripping food, dripping wateṛ This, I suppose, MaxMuller would call part of Sayana's clear & rational method & spirit; but if horses can drip food & water I do not see why they should not drip increase & brightness quite as easily. But स्नू here = सनू, procuring or giving abundantly, and I use dripping concretely as a figure of abundant giving. ऋतस्य is for Sy. सत्यभुतस्य तव. It is possible. मन्ये = स्तौमि says Sayana. I demuṛ There is an obvious connection in sense between मन्ये & मनसा which necessitates some such rendering as I have given. It means really I meditate on in my thought so as to possess in mental faculty.

4) Aryamaṇam Varuṇam Mitram eshám, Indrávishṇú Maruto Ashwinota;
Svashwo Agne surathah surádhá, edu vaha suhavishe janáya.

Aryaman, Varuna & Mitra of these, Indra&Vishnu, theMaruts and the Aswins, do thou, O Agni, good in thy steeds, good in thy chariot, good in thy delight, bear hither to men good in their offerings.

5) Gomán Agne avimán ashwí yajno, nṛivatsakhá sadam id apramṛishyah;
Iḷáván esho asura prajáván, dírgho rayih pṛithubudhnah sabháván;

Rich in the cows of light, in the flocks of sight, in the horses of strength the Sacrifice is like a human friend ever inviolable; long (or long-enduring) is this felicity, O mighty one, wide of

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foundation in the house of the sacrifice and attended with the revealed knowledge & the human fruit.

Sy. takes एष = यज्ञः & रयि as an adjective = धनवान्, but the epithets are all suitable & most of them common epithets of the noun रयिः, not of यज्ञ. रयि may be masculine as well as feminine.

6) Yas te idhmam jabharat sishwidáno, múrdhánam vá tatapate twáyá;
Bhuvas tasya swatavánh páyur, Agne vishvasmat sím agháyata urushya.

He who has brought to thee thy fuel with sweat of his body, he who has heated his head with his desire for thee, mayst thou become to him a protector self-strong; O Agni, protect him on all sides from every power of evil.

Sy. explains स्वतवान् = धनवान्. I take it as स्व self & तवान् strong from तु meaning strength as in tavisha, tavishí, tavas.

7) Yas te bharád anniyate chid annam, nishishan mandramatithim udírat;
Á devayur inadhate duroṇe, tasmin rayir dhruvo astu dásván.

He who bringeth food of matter to thee although rich in matter, intensifies and sends upward his rapturous guest, he who desiring the godhead kindles thee in the gated house, in him may felicity be firm-enduring and creative (or bounteous).

अन्नियते. Sy. takes = अन्नमिच्छते & चिद् = and, apparently with the next clause. The interpretation I have selected avoids this difficulty & gives a natural sense to the words. निशिषत्. Sy. takes निशिषत् मंद्रं = मदकरं सोमं नितरां प्रयच्छति. But it is absurd to take मंद्र by itself = सोम, esp. when both निशिषत् & उदीरत् can apply to मंद्रमतिथिं, supposing always that the Padapatha is right in reading निशिषत्. It takes शिष् as a strengthened form of शि to be sharp, sharpen, excite, intensify in force or keenness etc; this is as good & possible a sense as प्रयच्छति. दास्वान् like दस्र may mean either bounteous or active, creative, formative. Cf also दानु eg दानुमदूसु. Sy. interprets रयिः here as पुत्रः; but anything is possible in his system.

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8) Yas twá doshá ya ushasi prashansát, priyam vá twá kṛiṇavate havishmán;
Ashwo na swe dama á hemyáván, tam anhasah píparo dáshwánsam.

He who expresses thee at night, who at dawn, or makes thee glad with the oblation in his hands, thou like a steed impetuous in thy own home bring that giver safe beyond all evil.

अंहसः. Sy. पापरूपाद् दारिद्रात् (!)—& he interprets बहु धनं प्रयच्छेत्यर्थः! हेम्यावान्. Sy. सुवर्णनिर्मितकक्ष्यावान्. In that case the image must be that as a horse adorned in its own stable with a golden ornament rewards his master's kindness by carrying him through some danger, so should Agni, similarly pleased by the praises & gifts of the sacrificer, carry him beyond evil or calamity. I suggest that हेम, हेम्या is from हि to rush, throw & when used of a horse in Veda, akin in sense to हयः, the charger, the swift charger. हेम्या will then mean impetuous in speed. स्वे दमे हेम्यावान् refers directly to Agni, not to अश्व, although the idea of the horse is preserved in the choice of the epithet.

9) Yas tubhyam Agne amṛitáya dáshad, duvas twe kṛiṇavate yatasruk;
Na sa ráyá shashamáno vi yoshan, nainam anhah parivarad agháyoh.

He who giveth, O Agni, to thy immortality and doeth in thee the action of sacrifice with managed ladle, let him not in attaining calm be divorced from joy, him let not the evil of the evil-wisher ring around.

स्रुक्—"a pourer" (it means also a spring or cascade)—& in its implied psychological sense the motive force or motor instrument of action fulfilling the internal or external act, यत well-guided in one case, in the other well-controlled and regulated. In the latter sense, it is equivalent in a way to यतेन्द्रिय.

10) Yasya twam Agne adhwaram jujosho, devo martasya sudhitam raráṇah;
Prítá id asad dhotrá sá yavishṭha, asáma yasya vidhato vṛidhásah.

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Of whomsoever thou, O Agni, cleavest to the sacrifice, a god the sacrifice of a mortal, that well-established, thou full of delight, glad indeed becometh that Lady of the offering, O young & vigorous god, of whom disposing the action may we be the increasers.

Sayana with startling coolness explains the feminine सा होत्रा as स होता! यस्य surely refers to Agni, who is alone mentioned in this line & to whom & not to a man the expression vṛidhásah could appropriately be used. विधतः may be either in agreement with यस्य or with वयं implied in असाम.

11) Chittim achittim chinavad vi vidván, pṛishṭheva vítá vṛijiná cha martán;
Ráye cha nah swapatyáya deva, ditim cha ráswa aditim urushya.

In his wisdom may he distinguish the Knowledge and the Ignorance like wide open levels and those that hamper mortals; and, O god, for our felicity fruitful of its works enrich for us the divided being and widen the undivided.

Sayana explains "like the beautiful backs of horses & those that are unfit to carry", takes martán = पुण्यकृतोऽपुण्यकृतश्च मनुष्यान् after विचिनवद्,—a stupendous extension,—creates a कुरु after राये & interprets दितिं & अदितिं as the giver & the non-giver. All this incoherence is unnecessary. वीता is, like ऋजूनि, as wide, open & flat, opposed to वृजिन = crooked or uneven, lit. shutting off by bends or undulations, पृष्ठा means any level, surface, not the back of a horse. मर्तान् is the objective after the verbal idea in the adjective वृजिना, a frequent type of construction in the Veda, राये expresses the purpose of the action रास्व & उरुष्य, दिति & अदिति are the fixed terms expressing in Diti the broken & divided consciousness (bheda) of the Avidya (achittim) & in Aditi the infinite unbroken consciousness of the Vidya. Sayana is driven to ignore the fixed sense of अदिति in the Veda, because he cannot see any other sense in उरुष्य except ward off, get rid of, protect from. But उरुष्य can mean also to desire or give wideness, to widen. The thought & language are perfectly

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simple, connected & logical. चित्तिं, पृष्ठेव वीता, अदितिम् also refer to the free unity consciousness proper to Vidya, achittim, vṛijiná, ditim to the multiple divided consciousness proper to Avidya. The verse expresses briefly what is expressed at greater length in three slokas of the Isha Upanishad—9-11.

12) Kavim shashásuh kavayo adabdhá, nidhárayanto duryásu áyoh;
Atas twam dṛishyán Agna etán, paḍbhih pashyer adbhután arya evaih.

The seer the Seers unconquered expressed, establishing him in the gated houses of being, (or of the creature),—therefore do thou behold all these wondrous ones, the objects of vision, with rangings of thy feet.

Note that the kavi is here the drashṭá.

13) Twam Agne vághate supraṇítih, sutasomáya vidhate yavishṭha;
Ratnam bhara shashamánáya ghṛishve, pṛithushchandram avase charshaṇipráh.

Thou, O vigorous Agni, art a perfect guide to the sacrificer who has pressed out the soma & disposes the rites,Ovigorous god;O bright god, bring to his self-expression a delight wide-extended in its pleasurableness, filling his action with thyself.

सुप्रणीतिः. Sy. सुष्ठूत्तरवेद्यां प्रणयनीयस्त्वं. But it means more naturally leading the sacrifice or the sacrificer to his goal. पृथुश्चंद्रं. The Padapatha reads पृथु चंद्रं—the sense will be almost the same, wide & pleasurable; but I take पृथुश्चंद्रं as a compound as in other passages.

14) Adhá ha yad vayam Agne twáyá, paḍbhir hastebhish chakṛimá tanúbhih;
Ratham na kranto apasá bhurijor, ṛitam yemuh sudhya áshusháṇáh.

And now in truth by what we, O Agni, in our desire of thee have

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done with our feet and hands and bodies, making as it were a chariot by the work of the two worlds (or of the arms), they of wise-understanding have laboured & mastered enjoying the Truth.

चकृम. Sy. interprets त्वामुपपादयामः. This is possible, but there is no त्वाम्. भुरिजोः. बिभृतः कर्मकरणसामर्थ्यं पदार्थान्वेति भूरिजौ बाहू. I take भुर् here in the ordinary sense we have in भुरण्युः etc & suppose it to be equivalent to भूमि, अवनि, but especially applied to the रोदसी, heaven & earth, mind & body. ऋतं Sy. takes = सत्यभूतं त्वाम्. This is possible in grammar but not in sense. ॠतमाशुषाणाः must have the same significance as in v. 16 where it is certainly "the Truth" gained by breaking the hill & freeing the cows of knowledge.

15) Now may we supreme & with the seven illuminations of Dawn the Mother give being to the strong Ones who dispose, may we become Angirasas, sons of heaven, being purely bright may we break the hill full of substance.

Adhá mátur ushasah saptaviprá, jáyemahi prathamá vedhaso nṛín;
Divas putrá angiraso bhavema, adrim rujema dhaninam shuchantah.

सप्रविप्राः I take as a single word & विप्र in the sense of knowledge, not of knower or else if knower, then in the sense, "knowers of the seven". Otherwise the prayer must mean, "Let us become the seven Rishis & give being to the gods". This is possible, if the rik be taken by itself without any connection with its context. अंगिरसो. The sense seems to be, "Let us, Angirasas in bodily birth, be truly Angirasas in our spiritual being." Sy. says भूतिमंतः स्याम for which I see no justification, nor for his rendering of the plain & straightforward दिवस्पुत्राः as meaning physical children of the Sun. The Sruti when it says दिवस्पुत्रा अमृतस्य पुत्राः is using a plain & simple expression which we have every right to take in its natural significance,—emphasised as it is & brought out by the देवयंतो देवाः of the 17th Rik.

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16) Adhá yathá nah pitarah parásah, pratnáso agna ṛitam áshusháṇáh;
Shuchíd ayan dídhitim ukthashásah, kshámá bhindanto aruṇír apa vran.

Now as when the ancient supreme fathers, O Agni, enjoying Truth by the expression of the word reached the purity, the light, breaking their two worlds (or their earth) they uncovered the red (herds of the Dawn).

क्षामा. The Padapatha reads क्षाम. It is more natural to take it as it stands, the dual क्षामा = द्यावाक्षामा or रोदसी. Sy. takes us ten miles out of the way to interpret क्षयकारणं तमः पापं वा.

17) Sukarmáṇah surucho devayanto, ayo na devá janimá dhamantah;
Shuchanto Agnim vavṛidhanta Indram, úrvam gavyam parishadanto agman.

Perfect in action, perfect in light, desiring the godhead, they, grown gods, working out the births as one works the iron ore, making Agni pure-bright, increasing Indra, they went on their way & made their [home] in all the wideness that is the world of the Light (of the Herds).

शुचंतो, not merely दीपयंतः; the repeated शुचंतः (15), शुचि (16), शुचंतः (17) shows that it is the idea of the pure light of knowledge, the pure mental & moral state, which is intended.

18) Á yútheva kshumati pashvo, akhyad devánám yaj janimánti ugra;
Martánám chid urvashír akṛipran, vṛidhe chid arya uparasya áyoh.

Like herds in the dwelling (or field) of the Cow, thou didst behold, O forceful god, the births of the gods in front of thee; they both fulfilled the wide enjoyments of mortals and were strong in high activity for the increase of the higher life.

अख्यद् Sy. takes इन्द्रोऽख्यत्, reading in Indra from the last line. It is just possible, but very forced. Agni is the jatavedas, it

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is Agni who is addressed in उग्र. अरव्यद् is really a form of the Rt रव्य lost, like all the short अ roots in later Sanscrit; cf अति रव्य etc; it is an old survival & therefore keeps more easily than other verbs the old tendency to have the same characteristic consonant for the second & third persons.

उर्वशीः. Yaska उर्वभ्यश्रुत ऊरुभ्यामश्रुते & this we are to take as equivalent to प्रजाः! There is no need to drag in the human thighs & to argue lightly that "those who enjoy with the thighs" must naturally mean children! उर्वशीः may mean either wide being, wide possession, wide enjoyment or wide desire or even desire of wideness; but the चिद् .. चिद् shows that a contrast is intended between the ordinary mortal life & the higher existence; human enjoyment in its widest largeness & an increased divine & bliss are possessed in harmony by the siddha. अर्यः, अरिः always suggests the high tapasya of the seeker after godhead or the exalted nature which is the result of तपस्या. No single English word can express the Vedic sense. Sy. takes अर्यः = स्वामी, but अर्यः is also the plural of अरिः & the balanced rhythm & structure चिदकृप्रन् .. चिदर्यः demand the same subject for both clauses.

आयोः may mean either existence or the being who exists, either life or man. We may take "the higher man" as opposed to मर्तानाम्, but the expression would be a little forced & "existence" is more natural & gives the same sense more easily & straightforwardly.

19) Akarma te svapaso abhúma, ṛitam avasrann ushaso vibhátíh;
Anúnam agnim purudhá sushchandram, devasya marmṛijatashcháru chakshuh.

We do actions for thee & become perfected in works & the outshining dawns make their dwelling in the Truth (or clothe themselves with the Truth); we give strength to (or put to strong action, or brighten) Agni in his unstinted being & full delight, the bright vision of the God.

ऋतमवस्रन्. तेजो .. आच्छादयंति. Sy. चक्षुः. Sy. तेजः. This is just possible; but चक्षुः also & more commonly means sight or eye; it

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may also mean that which is seen. Agni is the sight or the eye of the divine life & existence, through him it sees the births or worlds hidden from the mortal vision.

20) Etá te agna uchatháni vedho, avocháma kavaye tá jushasva;
Uchchhochasva kṛiṇuhi vasyaso no, maho ráyah puruvára pra yandhi.

We have uttered these words to thee, O Agni, Disposer, who art the seer, to them do thou cleave; shine bright & pure, make us richer in being; the great felicities do thou effect for us, O lord of many boons.