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Ataber, 1928)
VEDIC STUDIES
141
VEDIC STUDIES. BY A. VENKATASUBBIAH, M.A., PED.
(Continued from page 102.) RV. 1, 190, 4: asyá Slóko divi' yate prthivya'm
átyo na yamsad yakshabhy'd vicelah mrga nam ná hetá yo yánti cema'
br' haspáter ghimayan abhi dyu'n! "His voice rushes in heaven and in earth. He, the supporter of the universe, the wise, raised (his shouts or chants) as a horse (does his neigh). These chants of Brhaspati go forth, like missiles on beasts, on the enemies who are as crafty as Ahi ". Yakshabhrt=the supporter of the universe, as Roth has correctly explained. It is the equivalent of the word bhatabhrt which is also used in the same sense ; compare Bh. Gita, 9, 5: bhutabhın na ca bhūtastho mamatma bhàtabhavanah, 'supporting the universe but not in it'; and Mahabharata, 13, 254, 16 (Vishnu-sa hasrandma): bhůta krd bhutabhd bhavah. I follow Geldner in supplying slokam in the second pada as object of the verb yameat, and in understanding abhi dyû'n (ought we not rather to read abhidyún as one word ?) as "attackers' or enemies'. After imah in the third påda, we have to understand vdcah, girah or other similar word meaning 'words; chants', which Brhaspati as purohita makes use of on behalf of his patron (see Geldner, .c., p. 137). These rush on the enemies and destroy them, as the arrows of a hunter speed towards the beasts and destroy them; compare p. 229 in vol. LVI above and the verge from Raghuvamba cited there, namely, 1, 61 addressed by King Dilipa to his purohita : tava mantrakrto mantrair dúrdt prasamitáribh ih pratyadityanta iva me drshta-lakshya-bhidah bardh "My arrows that are able to pierce such objects only as are visible to me are made to recede to the background by the mantras (spells) that have been employed by you, the mantra-maker, and that kill enemies from a far distance." Note here too the comparison of the purohita's spells with arrows shot at some object. RV. 10, 88, 13: vaifvdnarám kaváyo yajñíyd so
'gnim devd' ajanayann ajuryam nákshatram pratnám áminat carishnú
yakshásya'dhyaksham tavishám bịhántam || “The worshipful wise ones, the gods, engendered Agni Vaisvanara, the imperishable, the ancient, mobile luminary (star), the supervisor of the universe, the mighty, the great" Yakshasya adhayaksham or supervisor of the universe' is equivalent to'lord of the universe'; compare 1, 98,1: vaisvanardsya sumataú sydma rá'já nú kam bhuvananam abhi t'
h itó játó vitvam idám vi cashte vqióvdnaro yatate sú'ryeņa "May we dwell in the favour of Vaisvánara ; he is the king and the ornament of the world. Born from here Vaisvanara beholds this world; he competes with the sun". Vaisvænara is thus, in this latter verse, a being different from the sun, while in the former (10, 88, 13) the words nakshatram aminac carishnu seem to indicate that Vaišvånars is identical with the sun. Sat. Br. 11, 4, 3,5: te haile brahmano mahati yakshe sa yo haite brahmano mahati yakshe
veda mahad dhaiva yaksham bhavati | " Those two (sc. nd ma and rupa ; name and form) are the two great beings (that is, forms, ex-istences) of Brahman. He who knows these two great beings (that is, forms, ex-istences) of Brahman, becomes himself a great being." Kaulika-sútra, 95, 1: atha yatraitani yakshani dréyante tad yathaitan markagah dudpado
udyasah purusharpam iti tad evam dáankyam eva bhavati | "When these evil beings are seen, as for instance, an evil being having the form of a monkey, or of boost of prey, or of a crow, or of man, then the same apprehension is to be felt". The word yaksha here denotes 'ovil being', and as monkeys, and crows can not, by themselves, be said to be evil beings, it follows that the words marlafal and vdyacah denote evil beings having
