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good gifts, bounteous. The first of these meanings may indeed be admitted in certain passages, but in others it is more than doubtful.
VEDIC HYMNS.
II. Vrishan, fertilising.
I, 181, 8. vrisha vâm megháh may be translated, your raining cloud.
I, 129, 3. dasmák hí sma vríshanam pínvasi tvákam. Thou art strong, thou fillest the rainy skin, i. e. the cloud. See also IV, 22, 6; and possibly V, 83, 6.
It may be that, when applied to Soma too, vrishan retained something of its etymological meaning, that it meant gushing forth, poured out, though in many places it is impossible to render vrishan, as applied to Soma, by anything but strong. All we can admit is that vrishan, if translated by strong, means also strengthening and invigorating, an idea not entirely absent even in our expression, a strong drink.
III. Vrishan, strong.
I, 80, 2. sáh två amadat vrisha mádah, sómah-sutáh. This strong draught inspirited thee, the poured out Soma-juice.
I, 91, 2. tvám vrishâ vrisha-tvébhih.
Thou, Soma, art strong by strength.
I, 175, 1. vrishâ te vrishne índuh vâgi sahasra-satamah. For thee, the strong one, there is strong drink, powerful, omnipotent.
In the ninth Mandala, specially dedicated to the praises of Soma, the inspiriting beverage of gods and men, the repetition of vrishan, as applied to the juice and to the god who drinks it, is constant. Indo vrishâ or vrisha indo are incessant invocations, and become at last perfectly meaningless.
IV. Vríshan, epitheton ornans.
There can be no doubt, in fact, that already in the hymns of the Veda, vrishan had dwindled away to a mere epitheton ornans, and that in order to understand it correctly, we must, as much as possible, forget its etymological
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| SR No. | 007685 |
| Book Title | Grihya Sutras |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | Hermann Oldenberg |
| Publisher | Oxford |
| Publication Year | 1886 |
| Total Pages | 2642 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 49 MB |