FOOTNOTES:
[150] Wilson, Lectures, p. 9.
[151] As it has been doubted, and even denied, that the publication of the Rig-Veda and its native commentary has had some important bearing on the resuscitation of the religious life of India, I feel bound to give at least one from the many testimonials which I have received from India. It comes from the Âdi Brahma Samâj, founded by Ram Mohun Roy, and now represented by its three branches, the Âdi Brahma Samâj, the Brahma Samâj of India, and the Sadhârano Brahma Samâj. "The Committee of the Âdi Brahma Samâj beg to offer you their hearty congratulations on the completion of the gigantic task which has occupied you for the last quarter of a century. By publishing the Rig-Veda at a time when Vedic learning has by some sad fatality become almost extinct in the land of its birth, you have conferred a boon upon us Hindus, for which we cannot but be eternally grateful."
[152] Rig-Veda X. 114, 5.
[153] Rig-Veda X. 121.
[154] Muir, iv. 9.
[155] Rig-Veda I. 139, 11.
[156] Rig-Veda III. 6, 9.
[157] The following names of Devapatnîs or wives of the gods are given in the Vaitâna Sûtra XV. 3 (ed. Garbe): Prithivî, the wife of Agni, Vâk of Vâta, Senâ of Indra, Dhenâ of Brihaspati, Pathyâ of Pûshan, Gâyatrî of Vasu, Trishtubh of Rudra, Gagati of Âditya, Anushtubh of Mitra, Virâg of Varuna, Pankti of Vishnu, Dîkshâ of Soma.
[158] Rig-Veda III. 9, 9.
[159] Grimm showed that Thôrr is sometimes the supreme god, while at other times he is the son of Ôdinn. This, as Professor Zimmer truly remarks, need not be regarded as the result of a revolution, or even of gradual decay, as in the case of Dyaus and Tŷr, but simply as inherent in the character of a nascent polytheism. See Zeitschrift für D. A., vol. xii. p. 174.
[160] "Among not yet civilized races prayers are addressed to a god with a special object, and to that god who is supposed to be most powerful in a special domain. He becomes for the moment the highest god to whom all others must give place. He may be invoked as the highest and the only god, without any slight being intended for the other gods."—Zimmer, l. c. p. 175.
[161] "Es handelt sich hier nicht um amerikanische oder afrikanische Zersplitterung, sondern eine überraschende Gleichartigkeit dehnt sich durch die Weite und Breite des Stillen Oceans, und wenn wir Oceanien in der vollen Auffassung nehmen mit Einschluss Mikro-und Mela-nesiens (bis Malaya), selbst weiter. Es lässt sich sagen, dass ein einheitlicher Gedankenbau, in etwa 120 Längen und 70 Breitegraden, ein Viertel unsers Erdglobus überwölbt."—Bastian, Die Heilige Sage der Polynesier, p. 57.
[162] Henry S. King & Co., London, 1876.
[163] P. 58.
[164] There is a second version of the story even in the small island of Mangaia; see "Myths and Songs," p. 71.
[165] See before, p. 158.
[166] This explanation is considered altogether inadequate by many scholars. It is, of course, not altogether a question of learning, but also one of judgment.—Am. Pubs.
[167] "The Sacred Books of the East," vol. i. p. 249: "The first half is the earth, the second half the heaven, their uniting the rain, the uniter Parganya." And so it is when it (Parganya) rains thus strongly—without ceasing, day and night together—then they say also, "Heaven and earth have come together."—From the Aitareya-Âranyaka, III. 2, 2.—A. W.
[168] Bastian, Heilige Sage der Polynesier, p. 36.
[169] Bergaigne, "La Religion Védique," p. 240.
[170] Ait. Br. IV. 27; Muir, iv. p. 23.
[171] See Muir, iv. p. 24.
[172] Homer, Hymn xxx. 17.
[173] Χαἱρε θεῶν μἡτηρ, ἄλοχ' Οὺρανοῦ ἁστερὁεντος .
[174] Euripides, Chrysippus, fragm. 6 (edit. Didot, p. 824):
Γαῖα μεγἱστη καὶ Διὸς αὶθἡρ,
ό μὲν ὰνθρὡπων καὶ θεῶν γενἑτωρ,
ἡ δ' ὑγροβόλους σταγόνας νοτἱους
παραδεξαμἑνη τἱκτει θνατοὑς,
τἱκτει δὲ βορὰν, φῦλἁ τε θηρῶν,
ὁθεν οὺκ ἁδἱκως
μἡτηρ πἁντων νενόμισται.
[175] Dionysius Halic., vol. v. p. 355; Muir, v. p. 27.
[176] Rig-Veda I. 22, 15.
[177] See "Lectures on the Science of Language," vol. ii. p. 468.
[178] Rig-Veda I. 160, 4.
[179] L. c. IV. 56, 3.
[180] L. c. VIII. 6, 5.
[181] L. c. III. 30, 5.
[182] L. c. III. 34, 8.
[183] L. c. III. 34, 8.
[184] L. c. VIII. 36, 4.
[185] L. c. X. 54, 3.
[186] Cf. IV. 17, 4, where Dyaus is the father of Indra; see however Muir, iv. 31, note.
[187] Rig-Veda VI. 30, 1.
[188] L. c. I. 131, 1.
[189] L. c. IV. 17, 2.
[190] L. c. II. 40, 1.
[191] L. c. X. 121, 9.
[192] L. c. X. 190, 3.
[193] L. c. X. 81, 2.
[194] Rig-Veda VI. 70, 1.
[195] Rig-Veda X. 75. See Hibbert Lectures, Lect. iv.
[196] Vivasvat is a name of the sun, and the seat or home of Vivasvat can hardly be anything but the earth, as the home of the sun, or, in a more special sense, the place where a sacrifice is offered.
[197] I formerly translated yát vãgân abhí ádravah tvám by "when thou rannest for the prizes." Grassman had translated similarly, "When thou, O Sindhu, rannest to the prize of the battle," while Ludwig wrote, "When thou, O Sindhu, wast flowing on to greater powers." Vâga, connected with vegeo, vigeo, vigil, wacker (see Curtius, Grundzüge, No. 159), is one of the many difficult words in the Veda the general meaning of which may be guessed, but in many places cannot yet be determined with certainty. Vâga occurs very frequently, both in the singular and the plural, and some of its meanings are clear enough. The Petersburg Dictionary gives the following list of them—swiftness, race, prize of race, gain, treasure, race-horse, etc. Here we perceive at once the difficulty of tracing all these meanings back to a common source, though it might be possible to begin with the meanings of strength, strife, contest, race, whether friendly or warlike, then to proceed to what is won in a race or in war, viz. booty, treasure, and lastly to take vâgâh in the more general sense of acquisitions, goods, even goods bestowed as gifts. We have a similar transition of meaning in the Greek ἁθλος, contest, contest for a prize, and ἁθλον, the prize of contest, reward, gift, while in the plural τἁ ἁθλα stands again for contest, or even the place of combat. The Vedic vâgambhara may in fact be rendered by ἁθλοφὑρος, vâgasâti by ἁθλοσὑνη.
The transition from fight to prize is seen in passages such as:
Rig-Veda VI. 45, 12, vãgân indra sravãyyân tváyâ geshna hitám dhánam, "May we with thy help, O Indra, win the glorious fights, the offered prize" (cf. ἁθλοθἑτης).
Rig-Veda VIII. 19, 18, té it vãgebhih gigyuh mahát dhánam, "They won great-wealth by battles."
What we want for a proper understanding of our verse, are passages where we have, as here, a movement toward vâgas in the plural. Such passages are few; for instance: X. 53, 8, átra gahâma yé ásan ásevâh sivãn vayám út tarema abhí vâgân, "Let us leave here those who were unlucky (the dead), and let us get up to lucky toils." No more is probably meant here when the Sindhu is said to run toward her vâgas, that is, her struggles, her fights, her race across the mountains with the other rivers.
[198] On sushma, strength, see Rig-Veda, translation, vol. i. p. 105. We find subhrám sūshmam II. 11, 4; and iyarti with sūshmam IV. 17, 12.
[199] See Muir, Santkrit Texts, v. p. 344.
[200] "O Marudvridhâ with Asiknî, Vitastâ; O Ârgîkîyâ, listen with the Sushomâ," Ludwig. "Asiknî and Vitastâ and Marudvridhâ, with the Sushomâ, hear us, O Ârgîkîyâ," Grassman.
[201] Marudvridhâ, a general name for river. According to Roth the combined course of the Akesines and Hydaspes, before the junction with the Hydraotes; according to Ludwig, the river after the junction with Hydraotes. Zimmer (Altindisches Leben, p. 12) adopts Roth's, Kiepert in his maps follows Ludwig's opinion.
[202] According to Yâska, the Ârgîkîyâ is the Vipâs. Vivien de Saint-Martin takes it for the country watered by the Suwan, the Soanos of Megasthenes.
[203] According to Yâska the Sushomâ is the Indus. Vivien de Saint-Martin identifies it with the Suwan. Zimmer (l. c. p. 14) points out that in Arrian, Indica, iv. 12, there is a various reading Soamos for Soanos.
[204] "Chips from a German Workshop," vol. i. p. 157.
[205] Vâginîvatî is by no means an easy word. Hence all translators vary, and none settles the meaning. Muir translates, "yielding nutriment;" Zimmer, "having plenty of quick horses;" Ludwig, "like a strong mare." Vagin, no doubt, means a strong horse, a racer, but vaginî never occurs in the Rig-Veda in the sense of a mare, and the text is not vaginîvat, but vaginîvatî. If vâginî meant mare, we might translate rich in mares, but that would be a mere repetition after svasvâ, possessed of good horses. Vaginîvatî is chiefly applied to Ushas, Sarasvatî, and here to the river Sindhu. It is joined with vagebhih, Rig-Veda I. 3, 10, which, if vâginî meant mare, would mean "rich in mares through horses." We also read, Rig-Veda I. 48, 16, sám (nah mimikshvá) vãgaih vâginîvati, which we can hardly translate by "give us horses, thou who art possessed of mares;" nor, Rig-Veda I. 92, 15, yúkshva hí vâginîvati ásvân, "harness the horses, thou who art rich in mares." In most of the passages where vâginîvatî occurs, the goddess thus addressed is represented as rich, and asked to bestow wealth, and I should therefore prefer to take vâgínî, as a collective abstract noun, like tretínî, in the sense of wealth, originally booty, and to translate vâginîvatî simply by rich, a meaning well adapted to every passage where the word occurs.
[206] Urnâvatî, rich in wool, probably refers to the flocks of sheep for which the North-West of India was famous. See Rig-Veda I. 126, 7.
[207] Sîlamâvatî does not occur again in the Rig-Veda. Muir translates, "rich in plants;" Zimmer, "rich in water;" Ludwig takes it as a proper name. Sâyana states that sîlamâ is a plant which is made into ropes. That the meaning of sîlamâvatî was forgotten at an early time we see by the Atharva-Veda III. 12, 2, substituting sûnritâvatî, for sîlamâvatî, as preserved in the Sânkhâyana Grihya-sûtras, 3, 3. I think sîlamâ means straw, from whatever plant it may be taken, and this would be equally applicable to a sâla, a house, a sthûna, a post, and to the river Indus. It may have been, as Ludwig conjectures, an old local name, and in that case it may possibly account for the name given in later times to the Suleiman range.
[208] Madhuvridh is likewise a word which does not occur again in the Rig-Veda. Sãyana explains it by nirgundi and similar plants, but it is doubtful what plant is meant. Gunda is the name of a grass, madhuvridh therefore may have been a plant such as sugar-cane, that yielded a sweet juice, the Upper Indus being famous for sugar-cane; see Hiouen-thsang, II. p. 105. I take adhivaste with Roth in the sense "she dresses herself," as we might say "the river is dressed in heather." Muir translates, "she traverses a land yielding sweetness;" Zimmer, "she clothes herself in Madhuvridh;" Ludwig, "the Sîlamâvatî throws herself into the increaser of the honey-sweet dew." All this shows how little progress can be made in Vedic scholarship by merely translating either words or verses, without giving at the same time a full justification of the meaning assigned to every single word.
[209] See Petersburg Dictionary, s. v. virapsin.
[210] "Among the Hottentots, the Kunene, Okavango, and Orange rivers, all have the name of Garib, i.e. the Runner."—Dr. Theoph. Hahn, Cape Times, July 11, 1882.
[211] Dehli, not Del-high.—A. W.
[212] Cunningham, "Archæological Survey of India," vol. xii. p. 113.
[213] Pliny, Hist. Nat. vi. 20, 71: "Indus incolis Sindus appellatus."
[214] The history of these names has been treated by Professor Lassen, in his "Indische Alterthumskunde," and more lately by Professor Kaegi, in his very careful essay, "Der Rig-Veda," pp. 146, 147.
[215] Ptol. vii. 1, 29.
[216] Arrian, Indica, viii. 5.
[217] Rig-Veda III. 33, 1: "From the lap of the mountains Vipâs and Sutudrî rush forth with their water like two lusty mares neighing, freed from their tethers, like two bright mother-cows licking (their calf).
"Ordered by Indra and waiting his bidding you run toward the sea like two charioteers; running together, as your waters rise, the one goes into the other, you bright ones."
[218] Other classical names are Hypanis, Bipasis, and Bibasis. Yâska identifies it with the Ârgîkîyâ.
[219] Cf. Nirukta IX. 26.
[220] "The first tributaries which join the Indus before its meeting with the Kubhâ or the Kabul river cannot be determined. All travellers in these northern countries complain of the continual changes in the names of the rivers, and we can hardly hope to find traces of the Vedic names in existence there after the lapse of three or four thousand years. The rivers intended may be the Shauyook, Ladak, Abba Seen, and Burrindu, and one of the four rivers, the Rasâ, has assumed an almost fabulous character in the Veda. After the Indus has joined the Kubhâ or the Kabul river, two names occur, the Gomatî and Krumu, which I believe I was the first to identify with the modern rivers the Gomal and Kurrum. (Roth, Nirukta, Erläuterungen, p. 43, Anm.) The Gomal falls into the Indus, between Dera Ismael Khan and Paharpore, and although Elphinstone calls it a river only during the rainy season, Klaproth (Foe-koue-ki, p. 23) describes its upper course as far more considerable, and adds: 'Un peu à l'est de Sirmágha, le Gomal traverse la chaîne de montagnes de Solimán, passe devant Raghzi, et fertilise le pays habité par les tribus de Dauletkhail et de Gandehpour. Il se dessèche au défilé de Pezou, et son lit ne se remplit plus d'eau que dans la saison des pluies; alors seulement il rejoint la droite de l'Indus, au sud-est de bourg de Paharpour.' The Kurrum falls into the Indus north of the Gomal, while, according to the poet, we should expect it south. It might be urged that poets are not bound by the same rules as geographers, as we see, for instance, in the verse immediately preceding. But if it should be taken as a serious objection, it will be better to give up the Gomatî than the Krumu, the latter being the larger of the two, and we might then take Gomatî, 'rich in cattle,' as an adjective belonging to Krumu."—From a review of General Cunningham's "Ancient Geography of India," in Nature, 1871, Sept. 14.