________________
Charu Deva Shastri Felicitation Volume
three heavens since no such word as uffamd is used regarding the third heaven to contrast with the words avamd and madhyamá used of the other two heavens. And what has been achieved by the possessive suffixes vant and mant in udanvárt and pilúment has been sought to be achieved by the expression ydsyam pitára ásate. In other words this expression is as good as pitṛmat. If pitymatt would have been actually used, then probably Luders might have considered that, and not Pradiv, as the proper name of the third heaven. If pradio is not the proper name of the highest heaven in the AV, there is little justification in interpreting apodaka and other words of the KB as proper names. It is, therefore, better to understand apodaka without water", ladhaman 'the seat of tta", aparajita as 'invincible', adhidio as 'the heaven above (the preceding three)', pradio as 'the heaven further up', and rocana as 'shining." In the above interpretation rocana is taken as an adjective and not a noun (for a proper noun). Luders has clearly shown (p.66 ff) that in the RV rocand occurs as a noun and refers to the invisible part of the heaven, to the region of light above the firmament (unsichtbarer Himmel, Lichtraum). But he also demonstrates (p. 71 ff) that towards the end of the Vedic period, the word rocand has come to be used as adjective meaning 'shining lustrous' (glänzend, leuchtend). Not only this. He further makes clear (p. 78) that rocand seems to have been used as an adjective already in the Rgveda in three places: 3.5.10; 3.61.5; 10. 189.2.
108
It seems possible to show that rocand occurs as an adjective also in two other places in the Rgueda. In 5.69.4 we read about
Jain Education International
middle heaven is characterized by svadha (ye......mddhye divdh svadhdya mäddyante). Hence pilumati, which also refers to the middle heaven, may be translated as 'full of the drink of the fathers'. However, it should be noted that in the verse 48 it is the highest heaven, and not the middle one, in which the fathers are said to live.
1. If, as seen above, one of the divisions of the world is characterized by water (udane dii) then, perhaps, the reading apodakem, as adjective of Agniloka, is to be preferred to apodakam. It would mean that the Agniloka is close (upa) to that division of the heaven which is characterized by water (udaka). In that case apodakam would be an emendation of one who did not know what to do with upodakam. He thought that apodaka "waterless' would go better with Agniloka. Upodakam is also the reading accepted in the edition of E. R Sreekrishna Sarma. Further, in this edition imam is construed with Agniloka, and not with the preceding jivaloka.
2. Keith also does not look upon these words as proper names. He renders rtadhaman established in moral order', adhidio 'over the sky', pradio the highest sky', rocana 'the welkin'.
Madhu Vidya/105
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
