Book Title: Upnishad
Author(s): Max Muller
Publisher: Oxford

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 1587
________________ I KÂNDA, 7 ADHYAYA, 4 BRÂHMANA, 4. 209 daughter,- either the Sky or the Dawn?. May I pair with her l' thus (thinking) he united with her. 2. This, assuredly, was a sin in the eyes of the gods. “He who acts thus towards his own daughter, our sister, [commits a sin]'they thought. 3. The gods then said to this god who rules over the beasts (Rudra), 'This one, surely, commits a sin who acts thus towards his own daughter, our sister. Pierce him!' Rudra, taking aim, pierced him. Half of his seed fell to the ground. And thus it came to pass. 4. Accordingly it has been said by the Rishi 3 with reference to that incident), When the father embraced his daughter, uniting with her, he dropped his seed on the earth.' This (became) the chant (uktha) called agnimâruta*; in connection with) · For other versions of this legend about Pragâpati (Brahman)'s illicit passion for his daughter, which, as Dr. Muir suggests, probably refers to some atmospheric phenomenon, see Ait. Br. III, 33, and Tândya Br. VIII, 2,10; cf. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV, p. 45; I, p. 107. See also Sat. Br. II, 1, 2, 9, with note. ? The construction here is irregular. Perhaps this is part of the speech of the gods, being a kind of indirect address to Rudra in order to avoid naming the terrible god. Dr. Muir translates: "The gods said, “This god, who rules over the beasts, commits a transgression in that he acts thus to his own daughter, our sister: pierce him through."' In the Kanva MS. some words seem to have been omitted at this particular place. According to the Ait. Br., the gods created a god Bhatavat, composed of the most fearful forms of theirs. After piercing the incarnation of Pragâpati's sin, he asked, and obtained, the boon that he should henceforth be the ruler of cattle. 3 Viz., Rig-veda X, 61, 7, where verses 5-7 contain the first allusion to this legend. • The âgnimâruta is one of the sâstras recited at the evening libation of the Soma-sacrifice; and made up chiefly of a hymn addressed to Agni Vaisvânara and one to the Maruts; and [following the stotriya and anurupa pragatha) a hymn to Gatavedas; [and one to the  pas, followed by various detailed [12] Digitized by Google

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 1585 1586 1587 1588 1589 1590 1591 1592 1593 1594 1595 1596 1597 1598 1599 1600 1601 1602 1603 1604 1605 1606 1607 1608 1609 1610 1611 1612 1613 1614 1615 1616 1617 1618 1619 1620 1621 1622 1623 1624 1625 1626 1627 1628 1629 1630 1631 1632 1633 1634 1635 1636 1637 1638 1639 1640 1641 1642 1643 1644 1645 1646 1647 1648 1649 1650 1651 1652 1653 1654 1655 1656 1657 1658 1659 1660 1661 1662 1663 1664 1665 1666 1667 1668 1669 1670 1671 1672 1673 1674 1675 1676 1677 1678 1679 1680 1681 1682 1683 1684 1685 1686 1687 1688 1689 1690 1691 1692 1693 1694 1695 1696 1697 1698 1699 1700 1701 1702 1703 1704 1705 1706 1707 1708 1709 1710 1711 1712 1713 1714 1715 1716 1717 1718 1719 1720 1721 1722 1723 1724 1725 1726 1727 1728 1729 1730 1731 1732 1733 1734 1735 1736 1737 1738 1739 1740 1741 1742 1743 1744 1745 1746 1747 1748 1749 1750 1751 1752 1753 1754 1755 1756 1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 1762 1763 1764 1765 1766 1767 1768 1769 1770 1771 1772 1773 1774 1775 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800 1801 1802 1803 1804 1805 1806 1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816 1817 1818 1819 1820 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1826 1827 1828 1829 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834 1835