Upabrmhana and Rgveda Interpretation

Author(s): T G Manikar
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 26

The Upabīmhana and the Rgveda Interpretation
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Rāmānuja has indeed brought out excellently the essentials and the sheer necessity of this traditional and sound principle of consulting the Itibāsa and the Purāna for proper understanding of the Vedic passages that appear as ‘unintelligible' or 'hopeless', or difficult and defy us. The procedure implied in this "upabrmhana' is useful since the entire literature seems to present a continuous tradition. This is not to deny the presence of the additions and the changes, the elaborations and the dramatisations of the Vedic accounts carried out by the later generations. Granting all this, this literature still remains a good source of help. Rgveda in terms of Rgveda, Rgveda in terms of Paņini, Rgveda in terms of the Avesta are all quite good so far as they go, but then it is to be remembered that the traditional cry for 'u pabr mhana' also has its rightful place by the side of these modern principles.
In what follows I have selected two hymns from the Rgveda, the Hymn of Agastya and Lopamudrā(l. 179) and the Hymn of Mudgala(X, 102) and the Asvin-Stuti from the Itibāsa, the Mababhārat (Adiparva. Pauşya III) for my study. I have made an attempt to have a fresh look at these hymns which have been regarded as 'difficult'. The interpretations offered so far have not satisfied me and I am also conscious that even my interpretations will not appear satisfactory to many. This is bound to be and is as it should be. Truth is never in a hurry and in such inquiries no word is ever final. The Rgveda is a constant challenge to its students and is never exbausted. My aim in this first lecture was to argue for the utility and justification of the course that I intend to follow. All the while, I have been arguing, with illustrations as I could draw upon, the case for the utility and authority of the Itihasa and the Purāņa in the matter of the Vedic interpretation