Vedic Hymns, Part II (SBE46), by Hermann Oldenberg [1897], at sacred-texts.com

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MANDALA V, HYMN 20.

ASHTAKA IV, ADHYÂYA 1, VARGA 12.

1 1. Whatever good, O Agni, best acquirer of gain, thou thinkest (fit), praise thou 2 that (good), which is celebrated in songs, among the gods as our share.

2. They, Agni, who do not set into motion for thee (prayers or offerings), when grown full of mighty strength 1, turn away to encounter the hatred and the tricks of him who follows another (i. e. a wrong) law 2.

3. We choose thee as our Hotri, Agni, the giver of skill; offering delight (to thee) we call with our prayer (thee), the foremost at the sacrifices.

4. So that we, O strong one, (may be ready) for thy favour, for wealth and Rita, O highly wise one: thus may we day by day rejoice 1 with cows and rejoice with heroes.

NOTES.

The Rishi is Prayasvanta Âtreya (cf. verse 3. práyasvantah havâmahe), the metre Anushtubh, verse 4 Paṅkti.—Verse 1 = VS. XIX, 64.

Verse 1.

Note 1. Professor Max Müller proposes to read vâgasâ´tamam, as in IX, 98, 1. Pischel (Vedische Studien, I, 200) translates this verse: 'O Agni, das rühmenswerte Gut, das du für geeignet hältst, das preise du zugleich mit unsern Liedern (no gîrbhír yúgam) den Göttern an (diis vendita).' He explains: 'Agni soll den Göttern Gut bringen and sie

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veranlassen, es den Menschen für die Lieder zu schenken.' I cannot follow Pischel's theory about the identity of the roots pan and pan (comp. about pan the quotations collected by Bartholomae, Indogermanische Forschungen, III, 180); and the paraphrase 'diis vendita' seems inadmissible to me. I differ from Pischel, besides, in the interpretation of yúgam; cf. rayím … yúgam, IV, 37, 5; râyâ´ yugâ´, VII, 43, 5; 95, 4.

Note 2. Neisser, Bezzenberger's Beiträge, XX, 55, explains panayâ as standing for panayâma, and compares V, 56, 2 (?).

Verse 2.

Note 1. On vridh with the genitive, compare Delbrück; Altindische Syntax, p. 158; Macdonell, Journal Roy. As. Soc., 1893, p. 433. Grassmann's conjecture vríddhâ(v) is a failure.

Note 2. With the second hemistich compare VS. XXXVIII, 20 (Satapatha Brâhmana XIV, 3, 1, 9); TÂr. IV, 11, 4 (cf. V, 9, 7).

Verse 4.

Note 1. Syâma stands, as the accent shows, in an independent clause. Prof. Max Müller proposes to change the accent: 'So that we … may for thy favour, for wealth and Rita day by day rejoice with cows.'