Satapatha Bramhana Part 03

SR No.: 007679
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Julius Eggeling
Publisher: Oxford
Publication Year: 1894
Total Pages: 2382
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 45 MB

Page 1094

VII, 53.
551
the meaning of 'law, decree,' and the like, and has an un-Vedic flavour according to my judgment.
COMMENTARY.
c, d. Literally, 'may the noises not arise when there is frequent (continuous) slaughter ',' &c.
It is not at all clear what the day of Indra has to do with the cessation of carnage. Is it that Indra by fighting his battle removes all need of fighting enemies? Or, is the day of Indra simply the battle-day? The latter seems
more natural. The word áhani seems to harbour one of the inevitable puns, suggesting 'non-slaying,' i. e. perhaps 'the end of any need of fighting on the part of men.' See also Prof. Henry's careful discussion of the passage.
VII, 53. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 52.
The hymn belongs to the class of âyushyâni, 'hymns designed to prolong life;' cf. the âyushyagana, Ath. Paris. 32, 4, at Kaus. 54, 11, note, and the Anukramanî, âyushyam uta bârhaspatyam âsvinam. The ayushya-hymns are very uniform in character; the present one exhibits especially noteworthy points of contact with VIII, 1. Kaus. 55, 17 prescribes its employment, along with many more of a similar character, at the ceremony of investiture (upanayana). The seventh stanza, familiar in the Samhitâs and the ritual, is employed at Kaus. 24, 32 on rising from sleep during the âgrahâyanî, the spring-festival at the full-moon of the month agrahâyana, or mârgasîrsha. At Vait. Sû. 24, 4 it is spoken in stepping out of the bath (symbolic application as the sun rises from the celestial sea; cf. XI, 5, 26). Cf. also Kaus. 55, 15, note; 58, 18, note, and Ath. Paris. 43, I.
The hymn has been translated by Muir, Original San
Sâyana reads vinihrute, and glosses, kau/ilye nimitte ghoshâh vaimanasyanibandhanâh sabdâh . . . utthitâ mâ bhuvan, yadvâ bahulasabdena tamo vivakshyate . . . viseshena stainyâdikautilyanimitte bahule tamasi... ghoshâh mâ bhuvan.
' Cf. also Sântikalpa 17, 18, which is quoted by Sâyana erroneously as Nakshatrakalpa.
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