Madhuvidya

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

Page 69

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Velankar Commemoration Volume
veda (Vol. II. 324? gives the reading puruşáso21The same reading also occurs in the Jaiminiya Samhită (2.4.3) edited by Raghu Vira, Lahcre, 1938.22 The reading paruşáso, however, is to be favoured because piruşiso would have accent on the first syllable, and secondly perusa- by the side of kavi- hardly adds anything meaningful.
Vanárgavaḥ in the SV verse shows an accent different from the one (vanurgú-) found in the other three occurrences. This fact has not been noted in the lexicons. Sayaņa notes it and therefore he does not interpret the word as vanagāmi, but as vananīyāḥ sambhajaniyāḥ sevanīyā gāvo yesüm te vanargavah. But if the compound was really intended to be a bahuvrihi, since the accent is on the pūrvapada, it should have been accented on the first syllable on account of prakstisvaraiva (vánar:). Therefore it appears that this is only a case of accent shift and does not amount to different accentuation. The accent shift is probably to be explained as follows: (vanargú + as) *vanargvás > *vanárgvas > vanárgavas.
Sāyaṇa does indeed consider here -gu. <gó.. As a matter of fact, since the reading parusaso has been regarded as more probable, it is tempting to accept this explanation, cf. parusé gavi (RV 6.56.3), parusãḥ......... uksánah (RV 5.27.5). But the compound cannot be explained as Sāyaṇa has done." The forest bulls" also does not seem to be a very happy epithet for kavis when they are described as praising Indra. In this context it would be more appropriate to explain the form as vánar + gā 'to sing, 23. This would not only accord well with the purpose (gāna) of the rks in the Sámaveda, but also with the fact that the above verse occurs in the Aranyakasamhitã of the SV: As regards the relationship between the Pūrvācika and the Aranyakasarhitã on the one hand and the Grāmageyagána and the Aranyagāna on the other, Caland2+ observes: “Diese Register wurden nun vom Vedaschuler, der sich zum Chandoga herausbilden wollte, zuerst studiert : das Grāmageyagāna mit Pūrvārcika im Dorfe, das Aranyagāna mit Aranyakasamhitā. wegen der angeblichen grösseren Heiligkeit bzw. Gefährlichkeit, im Walde. Daher die Namen ; denn zu der Annahme (Vgl. Winternitz, Gesch. der Ind. Literatur I S. 145), dass das Grāmageyagāna nur Gesänge enthält, die man bei den Somaopfern im Dorfe, das Aranyagāna dagegen Gesänge, die man nur bei Somaopfern im Walde singen dürfte, fehlt uns jeder Grund." Winternitz has accordingly revised his opinion as one can see from the Eng. Trasl. of his book (Vol. I p. 167). "There are, attached to the Arcika, a Grāmageyagāna ("book of songs to be sung in the village") and an Aranyagāna ("book of forest songs"). In the latter those melodies were collected, which were considered as dangerous
21 This is also the reading of S. D. Satavalekar's edn. of the SV (Aundh, 1999), and the word-index to the SV by Swami Vishweshvarananda and Swami Nityananda, Bombay, 1908.
22 Other variants in this Sariihitā are harità for haritau and käravah for kavayaḥ.
28 It is also possible to think of Ruto shout with joy! But in that case the compound would ve been vanargút. Of course, such compounds without a final-t are also to be found cf. -dru, -stu. 24 Die Jaiminiya-Samhită, pp. 9-10, Breslau, 1907.
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