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DECEMBER, 1926
VEDIC STUDIES
231
themselves, independent.' Compare 5, 48,1: kád u priya'ya dha' mne mandmahe svákshatraya sva vasase maha vayám which is likewise addressed to the Visve Devah who are here called svakshatrah ; compare also 1, 165, 5 where the Maruts are described as svakshatrah. Priva. kshatra is thus a synonym of sakshatra, evardj, svapati. 8, 71, 2: nahi manyúh paúrusheya i'be hi vah priyajáta
tvám $d asi kshápáván II "The anger of man, O (Agni) born of thyself, has no power over you ; thou indeed art the ruler of the earth". Priyajáta here does not mean als freund geborener' (Ludwig) or
erwünscht geboren' (Grassmann), but is equivalent to svajata, 'born of his own self', a description that is frequently made of Agni; compare agne tanud sujata in 3, 15, 2; compare also the epithet tanúnapát, 'son of self' used of Agni. 10, 150, 3: tvá'm u játávedasam vibvávaram grne dhiya |
ágne devá'í a vaha nah priyávratan mulkd'ya priyávratán "I praise thee, Jata vedas, that hast all desirable things, with hymn. Bring to us, O Agni, the gods, whose are the ordinances—for grace, (those) whose are the ordinances". Priyavratan
=svavratán, those whose are the ordinances; that is, either (1) those who follow their own ordinances (cp. 3,7,7: devd devd' nam anu hivrata' gúh'the gods followed the ordinances of the gods') and not those of others; that is to say, those who are independent, sovereign; or what comes to the same thing, (2) those from whom come the divine ordinances which are followed in the universe ; compare 1, 164, 50: yajñéna yajñám ayajanata devá' & ta' ni dhármani prathama' ny dsan : 3,56,1: ná la minanti máyino nádhfra vrata' deva' nam prathama' dhruvá' ni; 1,36,5 : tvé viva sámgatáni vrata' dhruva' ya'ni devd' alornvata, and the expression daivyani vratani (see Grassmann, 8.v. vrata). 1, 140, 1: vedisháde priyadhamaya sudyúte
dhasim iva prá bhard yonim agnáye 1 vástreneva vásaya mánmana túcim
jyoti ratham sukrávarnam tamohanam || "Offer, like food, a place for Agni, who sits on the altar, whose are the laws and who shines well. Adorn with the hymn, as if with an ornament, (Agni), the bright, the destroyer of darkness, the brilliant-coloured, who has a chariot of splendour". Priyadhamaya=svadhamne=svavrataya in either of the meanings given above. Compare 3, 21, 2 where Agni is addressed as svadharman 'following his own laws '; regarding the second sense, compare the epithet vratapah (see Grassmann, s.v.) that is applied to Agni; compare also 7, 6,2: agnér vrata' ni púrvyd' maha'ni: 2, 8, 3: yásya (Bc. agner) vratám ná mí'yale ; 1, 69, 7: nákish ta (agneh) eta vrata' minanti ; and 6, 7, 5: vaisvánara tára tá'ni vrata' ni mahd' ny agne nakir d'dadharsha. In the second pada the word iva has really the force of ca and dhasim iva yonim prabhara means dhasim yonim ca prabhara.
There can be no doubt that the word prijadhaman has this same meaning in AV. 17, 1, 10 also : tvám na indrotibhiḥ śiva' bhiḥ śámtamo bhava árshans tridivám divs gynanah asmapitaye priyadhamd svastaye .... "Do thou, O Indra, be most beneficent to us with propitious aids—(thou) ascending to the triple heaven of the heaven, praised (that is, invoked) for drinking the Soma and for well-being, sovereign ..."
TS. 1, 3, 8, 1 : révatir yajña patim priyadha' vidala The Maitr. Sam. (1,2,15;p. 25, 1, 7) and the Kath. Sam. (3, 6; p. 25, 1, 13) read revati predha yajña patim dviba, while the Váj. Sam (6,11) reads revati yajamdne priyamdha avisa. It seems clear therefore that priya has become shortened to pre-in predhd and that the anuavdra in priyamdhd is an intruder. The word itself is formed from priya with the suffix dha (see Whitney's Grammar, 1104). Priyadha here is equivalent to sadha, and I translate : "O ye that
