Madhuvidya

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

Page 30

ON CAKRAN N. IN THE RGVEDA X 95.12-13
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would give us cakrád, like sasyád from Vsyand, and not cakrán. But this means only going against the Padapātha and does not involve any emendation in the Samhităpăţha ; for, in the Samhită cakrád ná would give cakrán ná.8 GELDNEX. in his new translation of the Rgveda, accepts the derivation of cakrán from v krand,? but he would regard it as haplology for cakradán as kánikrat (Rv. 9.63.20) for kánikrodat. As against this explanation it may be observed that in cakradán the accent is on dá and hence its loss due to haplology is unlikely ; in kánikradat, however, the accent is on the first syllable and not on da. Sayaņa already seem to connect cakrán with V krand when he explains the text word in verse 12 as krandamānaḥ; that he paraphrases the text word in verse 13 by rudan show that in both the cases he regards the form to be present participle.
It is obvious that these attempts to explain cakrán are not convincing. Apart from the irregularities involved in connecting the form with V krand, this derivation remains unsatisfactory also from the point of view of the meaning of the verb, The verb V krand, in the Rgveda, is primarily restricted to the cries uttered by the animals like a horse or a bull, or to the shrieking sound made by the birds ; secondarily it is also applied to the thundering or the rumbling sound of the clouds, winds, or waters, or to the sound of the fire and lightning. It is generally believed that'a war, or a war army' is called 'krándas' in the Rgvedas owing to the human shoutings. This is not improbable, but in view of the overwhelming evidence where V krand is applied to the sounds of animals it would be more proper to suppose that krándas is used in the above senses on account of the sound raised by the neighing of the horses. It would certainly not be beside the point to think here also of the war-drum, the beating of which must have added to the great tumult. Thus in the Atharvaveda 5.20.9, a war-drum is called saṁkrándana. In the same hymn, in verse 7, the verb abhi V krand is used with it, and it is also used in verse 2, where it is compared to a bull (rşabhó văsităm iva), or is itself called a bull (vrşå tvám). In the Rgveda, the verb v krand occurs in connection with the
6. In support, OLDENBeuc refers to MACDONELL, Vedic Grammar, 874 a (p. 67). MACDONELL, however, observes--"A final media before a nasal inay become the nasal of its own class. There seems to be no certain instance of this in the Rv.; cakrán ná (X.95.12.13), however, probably stands for cakrát nd, though the l'p. has cakrán na." Thus the sandhi between cakrád ná as cakránná is not obligatory, though it is possible. Pāņini (8.4.45) allows similarly option in such cases in the spoken language. cf. etad murārih or etan murāri.
7. Earlier in his Ved. Stud. 1.279 (1880), GELDNER had rejected the derivation from V krand and regarded cakrán as the participle of the redupl. Aor. of a rootkr (as vardhantah 4.2.17) As none of the existing three roots kr had similar formation, he proposed to postulate a fourth V kr which would lie at the basis of the words like kiri, karuna, kurara (GELDNER translates here cakrún as unlucky person '). Some years later in his Kommentar (1909) on p. 193 (and Glossar p. 47 under v kr) GELDNER proposes to derive it from v kr, and give it the meaning the pro creator, the father' (he takes the second påda in verse 12 to mean' knowing the facts) he will cry like his father ').
8. 10.88.1 ; 2.12.8 ; 0.25.4. In 10.121.6, by krandasi, heaven and earth are meant.
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