Madhuvidya

SR No.: 006525
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: S D Laddu, T N Dharmadhikari, Madhvi Kolhatkar, Pratibha Pingle
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 762
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Literature, & Philosophy
File Size: 17 MB

Page 131

Sapla devalokak
109
Mitra and Varuņa : ya dhartára rojaso rocandsyotádityt divya pdrthirasya. Lüders interprets rotaná here as a noun and translatest : “Those you, the heavenly Adityas, who are the holders (Erhalter) of the expanse of the light space (Lichtreichraum) and of the carthly (one)." But in this line there is clearly intended a parallelism between parthiva (rajas) and yocaná rájas. In other words, rocand here takes the place of divya and hence, like pdrthiva, it should be understood as an adjective qualifying rajas. The line, therefore, may be translated as : "you, the heavenly Adityas, who are the holders of the shining space (i.c. the invisible heaven) and of the carthly space (i.e. the carth)". Lüders usually translates tocand as 'Lichtraum', but since in the present passage he takes both rocand and rajas as nouns he combines the two into a single expression 'Lichtreichraum', which hardly seems to differ from 'Lichtraum'.
In the RV 1. 19. 6 we read about the Maruts : yé nákasyddhi rocané divi devasa dsale which Luders translates (p.66); "who live as gods in heaven, in the lightspace of heaven (Die im Lichtraum des Himmels, im Himmel als Götter wohnen)". He observes on p. 76 that in this line the word ndkasya has been chosen in place of the usual diváḥ because the word divi occurs in the same line. Hence, according to Lüders, in the above line nákasya rocand is as good as divdh rocané 'in the lightspace of the heaven'. Understood this way, there occurs an unnecessary repetition of heaven'. It is therefore better to interpret rocané as adjective qualifying divi and understand náka in its usual Rgvedic sense attributed to it by Luders viz. 'the visible heaven, the firmament'. The line may then be translated as : "who, as gods, live in the shining heaven on the firmament.”3
According to Lüders (pp. 75-76) náka appears, not in its special meaning 'firmament', but in the generalized meaning 'heaven' clearly only in two places in the Rgveda, viz. 1. 164. 50 - 10.90.16 and 1. 19.6. It is true that these references are from the later portions of the Repeda and hence the occurrence of naka in them in its generalized meaning is not surprising. But, as shown above, in 1. 19. 6 náka can very well mean the 'firmament'. If this is true then the clear use of naka 'heaven' in the Rgveda is reduced to one.
1. Varuna 1, p. 66. 2. "die Erhalter der Lichtwelt und der irdischen Welt" Geldner. 3. "Die über dem Lichte des Firmaments, im Himmel als Götter wohnen..."
Geldner
Madhu Vidya/106