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ANALYSIS OF MEANING
In RV 1.145.5 and 10.4.6 Bergaigne translated the expression as 'bull of the forest' (taureau des bois). 1 RV 1.145.5 is addressed to Agni and runs as
sá irit mygó apyo vanargúr úpa tvacy upamásyāṁ ni dhayi/ vý obravid vayúna mártyebhyo 'gnir vidvà rtacid dhi sałydk //
RV 10.4.6 occurs also in a Agni hymn, and the context of the first line is that of the churning of the fire.
tanūtyájeva táskarā vanargu rasanábhir dasábhir abhyadhitām / iyám to agne ndoyasi manişá yuksvá ráthaí ná ścáyadbhir ángaih //
AV 4.36, where the word occurs in the seventh verse, is intended to drive away all evil beings. There Whitney translates it as 'savages', although with a question mark. In the Nighantu 3.24 vanargu appears, by the side of taskara, among the stenanāmāni. Whitney obviously has the derivation of -gu- from ✓ ga 'to go in mind. The verse runs as -
nd piśācaih sám saknomi ná stenair ná vanargúbhih /
piśācās tásman naśyanti yám ahám grāmam avisé //
SV 6.4.9 is addressed to Indra. Since the verse occurs in the Aranyakasamhită of the SV, I was at one time inclined to interpret vanárgu in this verse as' singing in the forest.' The verse runs as
hári ta indra smástuny utó te haritau hari/ tám tvā stuvanti kaváyah parusa so vanárgavah //
All the three possibilties have thus been exhausted and in fact such that the three possible meanings have been distributed over the three Samhitås. The question arises- is this really necessary ? Is it not possible to get on without assuming the multiplicity of meanings ?
Let us examine all the three meanings:
(1) singing in the forest' is clearly excluded for the RV and the AV occurrences. It can suit only the SV Passage. (2) 'wander ing in a forest'" does, in fact, appear to suit all the four passages but the following considerations go against it :
(1) In the RV 1.145.5 Agni is called ápyah mpgáh 'water animal and also vanargúß. Ths parallelism shows that corresponding to mrgáh, gy-in vanargú is better interpreted as something concrete and 'bull'
Madhu Vidya/387
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