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Sayana's Interpretation of daurgahé badhyamāne in the Rgveda 4.42.8
M. A. MEHENDALE
V 4.42 is a hymn of ten stanzas' of which the first six are 'self-praise' of King Trasadasyu (Anukramani), or of Varuna (st. 1-4) and Indra (5-6) GELDNER). Stanzas 8 and 9 together inform us that Indra and Varuna gifted a son, Trasadasyu, to Purukutsani (wife of Purukutsa) as a result of a horse-sacrifice (performed by Purukutsa) and the worship offered to them by his wife.
Stanza runs as:
asmakam átra pitáras tá ásan saptá ṛṣayo daurgahé badhyamane / tá àyajanta trasádasyum asya indram ná
vrtratúram ardhadevám
The stanza refers to a sacrifice for which daurgaha was tied to the post. The seven sages acted as officiating priests at this sacrifice as a result of which they got for the queen (Purukutsänī st. 9) a son, Trasadasyu.
The stanza does not tell us who offered this sacrifice. It would be a reasonable guess that it was king Purukutsa, the husband of Purukutsǎni. The stanza also does not tell us to whom the sacrifice was offered, and
For a highly informative and critical study of the entire hymn see H.-P. SCHMIDT, "The Place of the Rgveda 4.42 in the Ancient Indian Royal Ritual". In: Ritual, State and History in South Asia, Essays in Honour of J. C. Heesterman, Leiden 1992, pp. 323-349.
Jain Education International
2 Stanza 7 is attributed by some to the seer Vämadeva, by others to Varuna; st. 10 is "probably a multi-purpose prayer" (H.-P. SCHMIDT 330).
FESTSCHRIFT PAUL THIEME, StII 20 (1996), S. 257-264
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