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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
(August, 1928
For the second half-verse, I have, with much hesitation, given the explanation of M. Boyer as this seems to be better than that proposed by Sayapa ; I feel however very doubtful whether either of these is the correct explanation. RV. 4, 3, 13: má kásya yakshám sádam id dhurd ga
ma' vesásya praminato md' pehl ma' bhra'tur agne ánrjor rnám ver
má sá khyur dáksham ripor bhujema 1 "Do not at any time go to the sacrifice of any enemy (literally, injurer) or harmful neighbour or comrade ; do not get into the debt, О Agni, of our crooked brother; may we not suffer from the power of our friend (turned into) enemy." I have already said above (p. 63) that the view of the Indian commentators that yaksha is derived from the root yaj is justified by the parallelism of the words yaksha and yajña in AV. 8, 9, 8. Sayana is therefore right in explaining yaksha here as yajña, sacrifice. The expression, do not get into the debt of our crooked brother', in the third påda, too, means the same thing; it means, 'do not go to the sacrifice of, and partake of the offerings given by, our deceitful brother'; for the term 'debt' when used of a deity with reference to a human, means, as has been shown by Geldner, 1.c., pp. 133, 134, the debt that such deity owes to a human in return for the offerings that have been made and accepted ; compare also Bh. Gita, 3, 11-12 in this connection. Similarly, the fourth pada too, seems to refer indirectly to the same thing, to implore Agni not to attend the sacrifice of the friend who has turned inimical and make him rich and powerful in return, This verse therefore is one of the class that implore the deities not to favour by their presence the sacrifices of rival yajamanas; see Hillebrandt, Ved. Myth. I, pp. 119 ff.; and Bloomfield, Johns Hopkins University Circulars, 1906. RV. 7, 56, 16: átydso na yé marútah svánco
yakshadr' &o na subháyanta máryáh | té harmyeshtha'h fišavo na subhra'
vatsa 80 ná prakrílinah payodha'h | "They who are swift like coursers, the youths, (sc. Maruts) made themselves bright (that is, decked themselves with ornaments), like people that (go to see sacrifices; they are radiant like children that are in mansions and frisky like calves that drink milk". Sayaņa explains yaksha here as utsava, festival. Now, yaksha, as we know, means. sacrifice,' 'worship'; and many of the Soma-sacrifices were in fact grand festivals and are explicitly called or dea. cribed by the name of utsava in the Puranas and Itihasas. Compare, for instance, the following passages : Srimad-bhagavata, 4, 3, 3 ff. :
Brhaspatisavam ndma samdrebhe kratúttamam || 3 | tasmin brahmarshayah sarve devarshi-pitr-devatah dsan kyta-svastyayanás tatpatnyas ca sabhartykáh || 4|| tad u pasrutya nabhasi khecaraņdm prajalpatam Sati dakshayani devi pitur yajña-mahotsavam || 5 | vrajanti h sarvato digbhya upadeva-varastriyah vimanayandh sapreshtha nishka-kanthih suvdsasah | 6 || drshţvd sva-nilayd bhydée lolákshir myshta-kundalah
patim bhutapatim devam autsukydd abhy-abhashata | 7 || Saty uvdca:
prajapates te svaduras ya sampratam niryd pito yajña-mahotsavah kila || Sab || pasya praydntir abhavdnya-yoshito
'pyalankrtaḥ kantasakha varuthabah || 12ab || “(Daksha) began the sacrifice known as Brhaspatisava to which went in well-being all the Brahmarshis, the Devarshis, pitrs and devas, and also their wives with their husbands,
