Page Text
________________
MANDALA I, HYMN 31.
27
bódhati. No one will doubt that the operation of this 'Hauchdissimilationsgesetz' could be annihilated by opposite forces, but it must be admitted that the forms with 'Hauchdissimilation' could also remain intact. The verb vi-dhà means 'to distribute, to arrange, to ordain;' thus the original meaning of vidátha must be, like the meaning of vidhấna,' distribution, disposition, ordinance.' In V, 3,6 we read vidátheshu áhnàm: this phrase receives its explanation by VII, 66, 11. vi yé dadhúh sarádam másam at Shah ; ahorâtráni vidádhat, X, 190, 2; masám vidhanam, X, 138, 6; ritűn . . . ví dadhau, I, 95, 3. We may call attention also to VI, 51, 2. véda yah trini vidáthåni eshåm devanam gánma, 'he who knows their threefold division, the birth of the gods ;' VI, 8, 1. prá nú vokam vidáthà gâtávedasah, 'I will proclaim the ordinances of Gatavedas.' Within the sphere of the Vedic poets' thoughts, the most prominent example of something most artificially 'víhita' was the sacrifice (comp. ví yé dadhúh . . . yagñám, VII, 66, 11; sámsåti ukthám yágate ví a dhåh, IV, 6, 11 ; [the moon] bhågám devébhyah ví dadhâti d-yán, X, 85, 19; and the following very significant passage: yagñásya två vidátha prikkham átra káti hótârah ritusáh yaganti, Våg. Samh. XXIII, 57). Thus yagñá and vidátha, sacrifice' and 'ordinance,' became nearly synonymous (comp. III, 3, 3, &c.). It would be superfluous to quote the whole number of passages which show this, but I believe that an attentive reader will discern at least in some of them the traces of the original meaning of vidátha ; see, for instance, II, 1,4; III, 28, 4.-Finally vidátha seems to mean the act of disposing of any business' or the like; this meaning appears, I believe, in passages like the well-known phrase, brihát vadema vidáthe suviräh (comp. suvírásah vidátham á vadema): 'may we with valiant men mightily raise our voice at the determining (of ordinances, &c.).' Thus the words vidátha and sabha approach each other in their meaning; a person influential in council is called both vidathỹa and sabhéya (see Boehtlingk-Roth, s. v. vidathỹa).
Note 8. The exact meaning of paritakmya is not quite
Digitized by Google
| SR No. | 007680 |
| Book Title | Satapatha Bramhana Part 05 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Julius Eggeling |
| Publisher | Oxford |
| Publication Year | 1900 |
| Total Pages | 2017 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 44 MB |