Indian Antiquary Vol 58

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 111

JUNE, 1929 ]
VEDIC STUDIES
VEDIC STUDIES.
BY A. VENKATASUBBIAH, M.A., PH.D. (Continued from vol. LVII, page 148.)
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7. Abhya.
The word yakṣa leads us to the nearly-allied word abhva, of which no satisfactory explana. tion has yet been given by the exegetists. This word is enumerated twice in the Nighantu, once amongst the udaka-nâmâni (1. 12) and once amongst the mahan-nâmâni (3. 3). These two meanings udaka and mahat, however, are inadequate to explain the sense of many passages in which the word occurs; and hence Sayana has, in his RV-bhagya, been obliged to suggest other explanations for this word. He thus explains it as 'enemy' (abhavatîty abhvaḥ satruḥ) in 1, 39, 8, as 'speed' (vega) in 1, 24, 6, as 'cloud' (megha) in 1, 168, 9; and even when seemingly retaining the meaning mahat, he practically helps himself with new meanings when he explains abhva as ati-vistṛtam jagat in 2, 33, 10, mahad dhanam in 5, 49, 5, mahat karma in 6, 4, 3, mahat sarvam vastu-jatam in 6, 71, 5, and mahato bhaya-hetoḥ pâpât in 1, 185, 2-8. Of the European exegetists, Roth explains the word as Unding; Ungeheur; Unheimlichkeit; ungeheure Macht, Grösse, u. s. w.; Schwüle'; and Grassmann repeats these explanations with the addition of two more, 'der Widerwärtige, das Ungethum; das grauenerregende Dunkel'. Bergaigne, in his article on this word in his Etudes sur le lexique du RV, comes to the conclusion that it means 'obscurity; evil in general; demoniacal might', and in one passage (Sata. Br. 11,2,3,5) 'might' in general, while Geldner, in his article on this word in Ved. St., vol. 3 (p. 117 f.) has followed the lead of Roth and set down 'Schrecknis, Graus, Schreckensgestalt, Schreckenserscheinung, Gespenst, Spuk, Popanz' as the meaning of this word. Substantially the same explanation is given of this word by him in his Glossar also.
How insufficient these meanings are to explain the sense of the passages in which the word abhva occurs will become clear to every one who will read Geldner's interpretation of them in the course of his article mentioned above. And particularly, in one of these passages, namely, in Sata. Br. 11, 2, 3, 3-5:
atha brahmaiva parårdham agacchat | tat parårdham gatvaikṣata katham nv imanl lokan pratyaveyâm iti tad dvdbhyam eva pratyavaid rûpena caiva namna ca | sa yasya kasya ca námásti tan nama yasyo api nama násti yad veda rûpenedam rûpam iti tad rûpam | etavad va idam yavad rupam caiva nama ca te haite brahmano mahati abhve | sa yo haite brahmano mahati abhve veda mahad dhaivabhvam bhavati te haite brahmano mahati yakse sa yo haite brahmana mahati yakse veda mahad dhaiva yakşam bhavati ||,
it is hard to believe, as Geldner would have us do, that nama and rûpa are here to be understood as the two ghore rûpe or Popanze or Phantome of Brahman, and that he who thus knows nama and rupa as the two ghore rûpe or Popanze or Phantome of Brahman, becomes himself a ghoram rûpam or Popanz or Phantom.
The clue to the real meaning of the word abhva is contained in the above-cited passage itself, in which the sentence te haite brahmano mahati abhve | sa yo haite brahmano mahati abhve veda mahad dhaivabhvam bhavati is closely parallel to the sentence following: te haite brahmano mahati yakse sa yo haite brahmano mahati yakse veda mahad dhaiva yakṣam bhavati. This parallelism indicates that the word abhva has the same value as the word yaksa. Now in the article preceding on yaksa I have shown that this word has the value of bhûta and that it means (a) being (concrete); beings in the collective, the creation, universe, world; a particular class of superhuman beings; evil being; (b) being (abstract); reality, essence, principle, substance, virtue, power, might. These are the meanings of abhva also, and I shall now show that these meanings fit well into the context in all the passages where this word occurs. I begin with the above-cited passage Sata. Br. 11, 2, 3, 3-5, which I translate asHaving gone up to the sphere worlds?' It then descended
"Then the Brahman itself went up to the sphere beyond. beyond, it considered, 'How can I descend again into these
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