Vedic Hymns: I, 6. To Indra and the Maruts (the Storm-gods)

Verses 9, 10. Wilson: Therefore circumambient (troop of Maruts), come hither, whether from the region of the sky, or from the solar sphere; for, in this rite, (the priest) fully recites your praises. Benfey: Von hier, oder vom Himmel komm ob dem Æther, Umkreisender! zu dir streben die Lieder all. p. 49 Ludwig: Von hieher, o Parigman, kom, oder von des himels glanzfirmamente her; zu disem streben unsere lieder auf. Wilson: We invoke Indra,—whether he come from this earthly region, or from the heaven above, or from the vast firmament,—that he may give (us) wealth. Benfey: Von hier, oder vom Himmel ob der Erde begehren Spende wir, oder, Indra! aus weiter Luft. Ludwig: Von hier zu empfangen verlangen wir, oder vom himel, oder vom irdischen raume her, oder aus dem grossen luftkreis den Indra. Note 1. Although the names for earth, sky, and heaven vary in different parts of the Veda, yet the expression diváh rokanám occurs so frequently that we can hardly take it in this place in a sense different from its ordinary meaning. Professor Benfey thinks that rokaná may here mean ether, and he translates 'come from heaven above the ether;' and in the next verse, 'come from heaven above the earth.' At first, every reader would feel inclined to take the two phrases, diváh vâ rokanâ´t ádhi, and diváh vâ pâ´rthivât ádhi, as parallel; yet I believe they are not quite so. The following passages will show that the two words rokanám diváh belong together, and that they signify the light of heaven, or the bright place of heaven.

The following passages will show that the two words rokanám diváh belong together, and that they signify the light of heaven, or the bright place of heaven. VIII, 98, 3. ágakkhah rokanám diváh. Thou (Indra) wentest to the light of heaven. I, 155, 3. III, 6, 8. uraú vâ yé antárikshe—diváh vâ yé rokané. In the wide sky, or in the light of heaven. VIII, 82, 4. upamé rokané diváh. In the highest light of heaven. IX, 86, 27. tritî´ye prishthé ádhi rokané diváh. On the third ridge, in the light of heaven. See also I, 105, 5; VIII, 69, 3. The very phrase which we find in our verse, only with kit instead of vâ, occurs again, I, 49, I; VIII, 8, 7; and the same sense must probably be assigned to VIII, 1, 18, ádha gmáh ádha vâ divâh brihatáh rokanâ´t ádhi. p. 50 Either from the earth, or from the light of the great heaven, increase, O Indra! Rokaná also occurs in the plural: I, 146, 1. vísvâ diváh rokanâ´. All the bright regions of heaven. Sâyana: 'All the bright palaces of the gods.' See III, 12, 9. The same word rokaná, and in the same sense, is sometimes joined with sû´rya and nâ´ka. Thus, I, 14, 9. sû´ryasya rokanâ´t vísvân devâ´n—hótâ ihá vakshati. May the Hotar bring the Visve Devas hither from the light of the sun, or from the bright realm of the sun. III, 22, 3. yâ´h rokané parástât sû´ryasya. The waters which are above, in the bright realm of the sun, and those which are below. I, 19, 6. yé nâ´kasya ádhi rokané, diví devâ´sah â´sate.

I, 19, 6. yé nâ´kasya ádhi rokané, diví devâ´sah â´sate. They who in the light of the firmament, in heaven, are enthroned as gods. Here diví, in heaven, seems to be the same as the light of the firmament, nâ´kasya rokané. Thus rokaná occurs also frequently by itself, when it clearly has the meaning of heaven. It is said of the dawn, I, 49, 4; of the sun, I, 50, 4; and of Indra, III, 44, 4. vísvam â´ bhâti rokanám, he lights up the whole sky. We also read of three rokanas, where, though it is difficult to say what is really meant, we must translate, the three skies. The cosmography of the Veda is, as I said before, somewhat vague and varying. There is, of course, the natural division of the world into heaven and earth (dyú and bhû´mi), and the threefold division into earth, sky, and heaven, where sky is meant for the region intermediate between heaven and earth (prithivî´, antáriksha, dyú). There is also a fourfold division, for instance, VIII, 97, 5. yát vâ ási rokané diváh samudrásya ádhi vishtápi, yát pâ´rthive sádane vritrahan-tama, yát antárikshe â´ gahi. p. 51 Whether thou, O greatest killer of Vritra, art in the light of heaven, or in the basin of the sea, or in the place of the earth, or in the sky, come hither! V, 52, 7. yé vavridhánta pâ´rthivâh yé uraú antárikshe â´, vrigáne vâ nadî´nâm sadhá-sthe vâ maháh diváh. The Maruts who grew, being on the earth, those who are in the wide sky, or in the realm of the rivers, or in the abode of the great heaven.

The Maruts who grew, being on the earth, those who are in the wide sky, or in the realm of the rivers, or in the abode of the great heaven. But very soon these three or more regions are each spoken of as threefold. Thus, I, 102, 8. tisráh bhû´mîh trî´ni rokanâ´. The three earths, the three skies. II, 27, 9. trî´ rokanâ´ divyâ´ dhârayanta. The Âdityas support the three heavenly skies. V, 69, 1. trî´ rokanâ´ varuna trî´n utá dyû´n trî´ni mitra dhârayathah rágâmsi. Mitra and Varuna, you support the three lights, and the three heavens, and the three skies. Here there seems some confusion, which Sâyana's commentary makes even worse confounded. What can rokanâ´ mean as distinct from dyú and rágas? The fourth verse of the same hymn throws no light on the subject, and I should feel inclined to take divyâ´-pâ´rthivasya as one word, though even then the cosmic division here adopted is by no means clear. However, there is a still more complicated division alluded to in IV, 53, 5: tríh antáriksham savitâ´ mahi-tvanâ´ trî´ rágâmsi pari-bhûh trî´ni rokanâ´, tisráh dívah prithivî´h tisráh invati. Here we have the sky thrice, three welkins, three lights, three heavens, three earths. A careful consideration of all these passages will show, I think, that in our passage we must take diváh vâ rokanâ´t ádhi in its usual sense, and that we cannot separate the two words. In the next verse, on the contrary, it seems equally clear that diváh and pâ´rthivât must be separated. At all events there is no passage in the Rig-veda where pâ´rthiva is joined as an adjective with dyú. Pâ´rthiva as an adjective is frequently joined with rágas, never with dyú. See I, 81,

In the next verse, on the contrary, it seems equally clear that diváh and pâ´rthivât must be separated. At all events there is no passage in the Rig-veda where pâ´rthiva is joined as an adjective with dyú. Pâ´rthiva as an adjective is frequently joined with rágas, never with dyú. See I, 81, p. 52 [paragraph continues] 5; 99, 7; VIII, 88, 5; IX, 72, 8: in the plural, I, 154, 1; V, 81, 3; VI, 31, 2; 49, 3. Pâ´rthivâni also occurs by itself, when it refers to the earth. as opposed to the sky and heaven. X, 32, 2. ví indra yâsi divyâ´ni rokanâ´ ví pâ´rthivâni rágasâ. Indra thou goest in the sky between the heavenly lights and the earthly. VIII, 94, 9. â´ yé vísvâ pâ´rthivâni papráthan rokanâ´ diváh. The Maruts who stretched out all the earthly lights, and the lights of heaven. VI, 61, 11. â-paprúshî pâ´rthivâni urú rágah antáriksham. Sarasvatî filling the earthly places, the wide welkin, the sky. This is a doubtful passage. Lastly, pâ´rthivâni by itself seems to signify earth, sky, and heaven, if those are the three regions which Vishnu measured with his three steps; or east, the zenith, and west, if these were intended as the three steps of that deity. For we read: I, 155, 4. yáh pâ´rthivâni tri-bhíh ít vígâma-bhih urú krámishta. He (Vishnu) who strode wide with his three strides across the regions of the earth. These two concluding verses might also be taken as containing the actual invocation of the sacrificer, which is mentioned in verse 8. In that case the full stop at the end of verse 8 should be removed.

These two concluding verses might also be taken as containing the actual invocation of the sacrificer, which is mentioned in verse 8. In that case the full stop at the end of verse 8 should be removed. 20:a Chips from a German Workshop, 2nd ed., vol. ii, p. 137 seq. Selected Essays, vol. i, p. 444. 21:a Chips from a German Workshop, vol. ii, p. 139. 22:a Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1867, p. 204. 25:a See V, 1, 4. svetáh vâgî´ gâyate ágre áhnâm. X, I, 6. arusháh gâtáh padé ílâyâh. 39:a Cf. I, 58, 7. saptá guhvãh. 40:a See Taitt. Brâhm. I, 1, 6, to. vahnir vâ anadvân, vahnir adhvaryuh. 42:a As, mouth, the Latin os, oris, has been derived from a root as, to breathe, preserved in the Sanskrit as-u, spirit, asu-ra, endowed with spirit, living, the living god. Though I agree with Curtius in admitting a primitive root as, to breathe, from which as-u, breath, must have sprung, I have always hesitated about the derivation of âs and âsya, mouth, from the same root. I do not think, however, that the lengthening of the vowel in âs is so great a difficulty as has been supposed (Kuhn, Zeitschrift, vol. xvii, p. 145). Several roots lengthen their vowel a, when used as substantives without derivative suffixes. In some cases this lengthening is restricted to the Aṅga base, as in anadvâh; in others to the Aṅga and Pada base, as in visvavât, visvavâdbhih, &c.; in others again it pervades the whole declension, as in turâshât: (see Sanskrit Grammar, §§ 210, 208, 175.) Among ordinary words vâk offers a clear instance of a lengthened vowel. In the Veda we find ritîsháham, VI, 14, 4, and ritîshâ´ham (Samhitâ), I, 64, 15. In X, 71, 10 the Samhitâ has sabhâsâhéna, the Pada sabhâsahéna. We find vâh in apsu-vâh (Sâm. Ved.), indra-vâh, havya-vâh. Sah at the end of compounds, such as nri-sah, pritanâ-sah, bhûri-sah, satrâ-sah, vibhâ-sah, sadâ-sah, varies between a long and short â: (see Regnier, Étude sur l’idiome du p. 43 Védas, p. 111.) At all events no instance has yet been pointed out in Sanskrit, showing the same contraction which we should have to admit if, as has been proposed, we derived âs from av-as, or from an-as. From 'an' we have in the Veda âná, mouth or face, I, 52, 15. From as, to breathe, the Latin omen, originally os-men, a whisper, might likewise be derived. See Bopp, Comp. Gr. par. 909; Kuhn in Ind. Stud. I, 333 47:a RV. I, 61, 10; 122, 5; 134, 2; 139, 6; II, 1, 10; IV, 29, 5; 32, 9; V, 59, 1; 4; 65, 3; VIII, 25, 20; 45, 10; (92, 26); 46, 25; 27; 63, 5; 69, 17; 70, 12; IX, 93, 4; X, 32, 5; 44, 7; 50, 7.