Madhuvidya

Author(s): S D Laddu, T N Dharmadhikari, Madhvi Kolhatkar, Pratibha Pingle
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 194

SÀYANA'S INTERPRETATION OF DAURGAHÉ BADHYA MANE ...
259
our done to them), told her to offer again profusely to Indra and Varuna. The queen did as told and gave birth to Trasadasyu.
The Itihasa-stanzas thus make clear what was left vague in the two Rgvedic stanzas. They clearly tell us that what Purukutsāni did was something in addition to the horse-sacrifice which was being performed by the king and hence the conclusion that the birth of Trasadasyu was the result of the joint effort done in the same direction.
The information supplied by the Itihasa differs from that of the Rgveda in a few respects. In the first instance the Itihāsa does not say that the seven sages were already there present at the sacrifice and acted as its officiating priests. The stanzas say that the sages arrived by chance when the sacrifice was in progress. Secondly, the Rgveda does not tell us that Purukutsāni worshipped the deities at the instance of the seven sages. Finally, there is a difference in the use of the verbs to express what Purukutsāni did: das- (adāśat) in the RV, but yaj. (yaja, istvā) in the Itihasa. As a consequence it is likely that what Purukutsāni did according to the Rgveda was a simple sacrifice requiring some offerings and namas; on the other hand, what Purukutsäni was required to do according to the Itihasa was an elaborate sacrifice (yaja ... bhrśam).
Sāyaṇa, however, has completely misunderstood the Itihasa-stanzas and, consequently, the RV stanzas 4.42.8-9. According to him the word daurgaha occurring in the Itihasa and in the Vedic stanza (8) does not mean a 'horse', but it is a patronymic of Purukutsa 'son of Durgaha (daurgahe durgahasya putre purukutse). Stanza 8, as understood by Sayana, informs us that since king Daurgaha was firmly bound by fetters (badhyamāne drdham påsair yasmāt) and since the kingdom was without a
'I construe punah with yaja, and not with procuh, because the sages have not said anything before to justify connecting punah with procuh 'spoke again'. On the other hand, a sacrifice was in progress when they arrived, and hence they asked her 'to offer again (punah yaja) to get a son.
Madhu Vidyā/169