RigVeda Sanhita, 1st Ashtaka, Translated by H.H. Wilson

That's French for "the ancient system," as in the ancient system of feudal privileges and the exercise of autocratic power over the peasants. The ancien regime never goes away, like vampires and dinosaur bones they are always hidden in the earth, exercising a mysterious influence. It is not paranoia to believe that the elites scheme against the common man. Inform yourself about their schemes here.

RigVeda Sanhita, 1st Ashtaka, Translated by H.H. Wilson

Postby admin » Sat Jan 28, 2023 5:44 am

RigVeda Sanhita. A Collection of Ancient Hindu Hymns, Constituting the First Ashtaka, or Book of the Rig-Veda: The Oldest Authority for the Religious and Social Institutions of the Hindus.
Translated from the Original Sanskrita by H.H. Wilson, M.A., F.R.S., Member of the Royal Asiatic Society, of the Asiatic Societies of Calcutta and Paris, and of the Oriental Society of Germany; Foreign Member of the National Institute of France; Member of the Imperial Academies of Petersburgh and Vienna, and of the Royal Academies of Munich and Berlin; Ph.D., Breslau; M.D. Marburg, &c., and Boden Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Oxford.
Published under the patronage of the Court of Directors of the East-India Company.
1866.



Indra and Savitri ...have their respective satellites, dependent upon, and identifiable with, their principals. Agni does not seem to have any subordinate multiples, except in the rather anomalous deifications called Apris, which, although including certain female divinities and insensible objects, such as the doors of the sacrificial hall, are considered to be impersonations [emanations?] of Agni....

Female divinities make their appearance: but they are merely named, without anything being related of them; and we have, as yet, no sufficient materials on which to construct any theory of their attributes and character. The only exception is that of Ila, who is called the daughter of Manus, and his instructress in the performance of sacrifice; but what is meant by this requires further elucidation.


-- RigVeda Sanhita. A Collection of Ancient Hindu Hymns, Constituting the First Ashtaka, or Book of the Rig-Veda: The Oldest Authority for the Religious and Social Institutions of the Hindus. Translated from the Original Sanskrita by H.H. Wilson, M.A., F.R.S., Member of the Royal Asiatic Society, of the Asiatic Societies of Calcutta and Paris, and of the Oriental Society of Germany; Foreign Member of the National Institute of France; Member of the Imperial Academies of Petersburgh and Vienna, and of the Royal Academies of Munich and Berlin; Ph.D., Breslau; M.D. Marburg, &c., and Boden Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Oxford. Published under the patronage of the Court of Directors of the East-India Company. 1866.


HYMN II.

AT DAWN.

1. Daughter of Heaven, Aurora, arise, and bring us your riches and your opulent abundance. Brilliant and generous Goddess, (come) with your treasures.

2. Holy prayer has often contributed to the happy establishment (of man); it has brought him horses, cows, goods of all kinds. Aurora, may your presence inspire my prayers, and send me the happiness of the rich.

3. She is already born, she is going to shine, this divine Aurora; it sets in motion the chariots, which, on its arrival, move (on the earth), as on the sea the (vessels) greedy for wealth.

4. Among these fathers of families whose piety greets your appearance to obtain your largesse, there is no child of Canwa more devoted than the one who, at this moment, invokes your name.

5. Aurora, like a good mother, comes to protect (the world). She arrives, stopping the flight of the evil (genius) of the night (3), and exciting the flight of birds.

6. The Dawn excites equally the diligent and the poor. She is the enemy of laziness. To your clarity, (o goddess) rich in gifts, it is no longer the winged being who forgets himself in rest.

7. Here she is, in the distant region where the sun rises, harnessing her horses. The happy Aurora comes to find the sons of Manu with hundreds of chariots (all laden with wealth).

8. The whole world, in its aspect, bows down. Wise and opulent, it sheds light. Aurora, daughter of Heaven, by her rays chases away our enemies and confounds their hatred.

9. Daughter of Heaven, Aurora, shine with your sweet radiance! Bring us happiness and abundance, enlighten our sacrifices.

10. Foresighted (goddess), the moment you shine, you become life, the breath of the universe. (Appear) on your broad chariot, rich and resplendent; hear our prayer.

11. Aurora, grant us those various foods that are suitable for mankind! Approach those innocent and pious men who have hymns and oblations for you.

12. Aurora, bring here from heaven all the gods to our libations! Grant us, Aurora, such abundance that we may be renowned for our cows, our horses, and our vigor.

13. May the Dawn, whose happy lights we see, give us the richness so beautiful, so desired; may this wealth come to us gently!

14. All the ancient sages who implored your help, O great (goddess), have been heard. Aurora, also welcome our prayer, and (answer us) with the gift of a brilliant and pure abundance

15. Divine Aurora, after having illumined the gates of heaven with your rays, grant us that our house may be powerful, that our enemies may move away from it, and that fertile cows maintain abundance there.

16. Noble and magnificent Aurora, spread over us a wide and beautiful opulence; that we obtain from you cows, wealth that assures triumph, and much food!

***

HYMN XIII.

AT LEARNED (54).

1. Agni, (nicknamed) Sousamiddha (55), bring the gods for us to him who offers the holocaust: priest and priest, consummates the sacrifice.

2. Sage (deity, called) Tanounapat (56), make our sacrifice acceptable to the gods today; May it be as sweet to them as honey!

3. I invoke here, in this assembly, (the one called) Narasansa, (the god) beloved and priest, whose tongue is so sweet.

4. Agni, on your blessed chariot bring the gods; O you, priest (called) llita (57), you whom Manu (58) constituted (to preside over our festivals)!

5. Enlightened mortals, spread the (sacred) turf; let it be sprinkled with butter at the place where (the gods) will come to take their ambrosia.

6. Let the divine gates open (of the sacred enclosure, these gates) which the sacrifice sanctifies! let them open today for the pious ceremony!

7. I call to this sacrifice the beautiful Night and the beautiful Aurora: that they both come and take their place on this cousa.

8. I also call on this pair of soft-spoken gods (59), wise and sacrificial: let them have their share of our sacrifice.

9. Let the three goddesses who bring joy, Ila, Saraswati and Mahi (60), deign without fear to sit on this cousa.

10. I call here on the great Twachtri (61), who knows how to assume all forms: let him be our friend!

11. Divine Vanaspati (62), give to the gods the burnt offering destined for them. May wisdom be the share of those who offer it to them!

12. In honor of Indra, use the swaha (63) in the house of the (father of the family) who offers the sacrifice: it is there that I invite the gods.

***

9. O Agni, brought hither, to partake of our libations, Twachtri and the beloved wives of the gods (9).

10. Agni ever young, brought to these places, for our good, these divine wives, Hotra (10), Bharati (11), Varoutri (12), Dhichana (13).

11. May these goddesses, friends of men, cover us with their high favor, and give us prosperity; let nothing hurt their (protective) wing.

***

HYMN VIII.

TO VARIOUS GODS.

1. Arise, Brahmanaspati (41); full of devotion, we come to you. Let the Marouts approach with their rich treasures; and you, Indra, be present, and take your share (of our libations).

2. O son of strength (42), the mortal honors you to obtain the riches he desires. O Marouts, may the man who celebrates you be rich in family and horses through you!

3. Vienna Brahmanaspati! come the goddess of the holy word (43)! May the Devas make our sacrifice powerful, useful to men, and perfect!

4. He possesses an imperishable wealth, (the god) who shows himself magnificent towards his panegyrist. It is for this god that we call to our sacrifice Ila (44), who is strong, victorious and invulnerable.

5. Brahmanaspati begins (45) a melodious prayer, in which have a place Indra, Varouna, Mitra, Aryaman, all the gods.

6. Let us pronounce it then, in our sacrifices, this prayer which gives happiness, and which is so powerful. And if you can delight in our wishes, mighty gods, may our whole hymn come to you!

7. What god would not come to the aid of the religious man, to the aid of the man who prepared a bed of cousa for him? (See this) father who presents himself with the priests; his house is rich, his interior is wealthy.

8. May he possess power (46)! Help of his royal protectors, (I see him) strike down his enemies, and in the midst of terror (of combat) keep his post worthily. It is like lightning weapon; and in no matter, whether great or small, he knows neither superior nor victor.


***

HYMN III.

TO INDRA.

1. He is rich in horses, he is the first for his herds of cows, the mortal whom you help with your help, o Indra! You come to him with your vast treasures, as the waters naturally go to the ocean.

2. Yes, as the waters (flow to the sea), so also the goddesses come to the place of sacrifice; they have seen on the earth dawn and spread the light of the hearth. The Devas, turned towards the east, honor the (god) friend of the holy ceremonies and servant of the other gods; they seek to please him, like lovers (to their beloved) (4).

3. To this double libation which the spoon of the sacrifice pours in your honor, you have added the homage of hymns. Pious and collected, (the priest) takes care of your worship; a happy force attaches itself to him who adores you and sacrifices you.

-- Rig-Veda Or Book Of Hymns. Translated from Sanskrit, by M. Langlois, Member of the Institut. 1848


Tārā is the Hindu goddess of felicity and sanguineness. She is also the consort of Hindu god Brihaspati, the god of planet Jupiter. According to some Puranas, Tara sired or mothered a child named Budha, the god of Mercury through Chandra and had a son named Kacha through Brihaspati.

Brahmaṇaspati literally means ‘lord of brahman prayer or the Vedas’.

‘Brahmaṇaspati’ is one of the names that occurs in the Rgveda and also in the Śatapatha Brāhmana. He may be the deity of prayer and the text of the Veda itself. He is said to control the clouds and rain and help the world by protecting vegetation.

Scholars differ in regards to his exact identity. He is identified with several roles:

1. Agni (the fire-god)
2. The priest of god Indra
3. Deity of vegetation
4. A form of candra or the moon

There is reason to believe that Brahmaṇaspati is another name for Bṛhaspati, the preceptor of the gods.

-- Brahmaṇaspati, by Swami Harshananda, hindupedia.com


Tara was the wife of Brihaspati, the guru of Devas. According to historians, it is mentioned as her husband spent most of his time with the problems and matters of Devas, she felt being ignored by her husband. One day, Chandra, the moon god visited Brihaspati. There he saw Tara and was captivated by her beauty. Chandra used Hypnosis on Tara.

Brihaspati was infuriated and demanded Chandra to return his wife. Chandra told Brihaspati that Tara was happy and satisfied with him. He told that how can an old man be husband of a young woman. This made Brihaspati more annoyed and he warned Chandra for battle. Indra and other Devas gathered to fight a war. Chandra was not ready to give Tara back and he took help from the Asuras and their preceptor, Sukra. The Devas were assisted by Shiva and his companions. Devas and Asura were about to fight a war, but Brahma, the creator god, stopped them and convinced Chandra to return Tara. In some versions, Shiva stopped the war.

After some time, Brihaspati found out that Tara was pregnant and questioned her who the father of the child was. But Tara remained silent. After the boy was born, both Chandra and Brihaspati claimed to be his father. Tara revealed it was Chandra's son. The boy was named Budha.

-- Tara (Hindu goddess), by Wikipedia


About the end of the sixth century A.D., Tantrism or Sivaic mysticism, with its worship of female energies, spouses of the Hindu god Siva, began to tinge both Buddhism and Hinduism. Consorts were allotted to the several Celestial Bodhisats and most of the other gods and demons, and most of them were given forms wild and terrible, and often monstrous, according to the supposed moods of each divinity at different times. And as these goddesses and fiendesses were bestowers of supernatural power, and were especially malignant, they were especially worshipped.

-- The Buddhism of Tibet, or Lamaism With Its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology, and in its Relation to Indian Buddhism, by Laurence Austine Waddell, M.B., F.L.S., F.R.G.S., Member of the Royal Asiatic Society, Anthropological Institute, etc., Surgeon-Major H.M. Bengal Army, 1895


Praises to the Twenty-One Tārās ["Tara" "Ture" means "protectress"]

ཨོཾ་རྗེ་བཙུན་མ་འཕགས་མ་སྒྲོལ་མ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
om jetsünma pakma drolma la chaktsal lo
Oṃ. Homage to the noble lady Tārā!
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཏཱ་རེ་མྱུར་མ་དཔའ་མོ། །
chaktsal taré nyurma pamo
Homage to Tārā, swift and gallant,
ཏུཏྟཱ་ར་ཡིས་འཇིགས་པ་སེལ་མ། །
tuttara yi jikpa selma
Homage to Tuttārā, who banishes fear,
ཏུ་རེས་དོན་ཀུན་སྦྱིན་པས་སྒྲོལ་མ། །
turé dön kün jinpé drolma
Homage to Turā, who fulfils every need,
སྭཱ་ཧཱའི་ཡི་གེ་ཁྱོད་ལ་འདུད་དོ། །
sa hé yigé khyö la dü do
With svāhā we offer you honor and praise!1
ཕྱག་འཚལ་སྒྲོལ་མ་མྱུར་མ་དཔའ་མོ། །
chaktsal drolma nyurma pamo
Homage to Tārā, swift and gallant,
སྤྱན་ནི་སྐད་ཅིག་གློག་དང་འདྲ་མ། །
chen ni kechik lok dang dra ma
Whose glance flashes like flares of lightning;
འཇིག་རྟེན་གསུམ་མགོན་ཆུ་སྐྱེས་ཞལ་གྱི། །
jikten sum gön chukyé zhal gyi
Born on the heart of a blossoming lotus
གེ་སར་བྱེ་བ་ལས་ནི་བྱུང་མ། །
gesar jewa lé ni jung ma
That rose from the tears of the Triple-World’s Lord. (1)
...
མ་ལུས་ཕ་རོལ་ཕྱིན་པ་ཐོབ་པའི། །
malü parol chinpa tobpé
You are well served by the heirs of the Victors,
རྒྱལ་བའི་སྲས་ཀྱིས་ཤིན་ཏུ་བསྟེན་མ། །
gyalwé sé kyi shintu ten ma
Those who’ve accomplished all the perfections. (4)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཏུཏྟཱ་ར་ཧཱུྂ་ཡི་གེ །
chaktsal tuttara hung yigé
Homage to you, who with tuttāra and hūṃ
འདོད་དང་ཕྱོགས་དང་ནམ་མཁའ་གང་མ། །
dö dang chok dang namkha gang ma
Fill desire realms unto the ends of space.
འཇིག་རྟེན་བདུན་པོ་ཞབས་ཀྱིས་མནན་ཏེ། །
jikten dünpo zhab kyi nen té
You trample underfoot the seven worlds,
ལུས་པ་མེད་པར་འགུགས་པར་ནུས་མ། །
lüpa mepar gukpar nü ma
And have the strength to summon all. (5)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་བརྒྱ་བྱིན་མེ་ལྷ་ཚངས་པ། །
chaktsal gyajin melha tsangpa
Homage to you, praised by Indra,
རླུང་ལྷ་སྣ་ཚོགས་དབང་ཕྱུག་མཆོད་མ། །
lunglha natsok wangchuk chö ma
Agni, Brahmā, Maruts,2 and Śiva.
འབྱུང་པོ་རོ་ལངས་དྲི་ཟ་རྣམས་དང་། །
jungpo rolang driza nam dang
All the hosts of bhūtas, vetālas,
གནོད་སྦྱིན་ཚོགས་ཀྱིས་མདུན་ནས་བསྟོད་མ། །
nöjin tsok kyi dün né tö ma
Gandharvas and yakṣas pay tribute to you. (6)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཏྲཊ་ཅེས་བྱ་དང་ཕཊ་ཀྱིས། །
chaktsal tré cheja dang pé kyi
Homage to you, who with traṭ and phaṭ
ཕ་རོལ་འཕྲུལ་འཁོར་རབ་ཏུ་འཇོམས་མ། །
parol trulkhor rabtu jom ma
Crush the enemies’ yantras3 to dust.
གཡས་བསྐུམ་གཡོན་བརྐྱང་ཞབས་ཀྱིས་མནན་ཏེ། །
yé kum yön kyang zhab kyi nen té
With right leg bent in and left leg extended,
མེ་འབར་འཁྲུག་པ་ཤིན་ཏུ་འབར་མ། །
mebar trukpa shintu bar ma
Shining you tread amidst flames wildly blazing. (7)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཏུ་རེ་འཇིགས་པ་ཆེན་པོས། །
chaktsal turé jikpa chenpö
Homage to Ture, the fearsome lady,
བདུད་ཀྱི་དཔའ་བོ་རྣམ་པར་འཇོམས་མ། །
dü kyi pawo nampar jom ma
Destroyer of the most powerful demons.
ཆུ་སྐྱེས་ཞལ་ནི་ཁྲོ་གཉེར་ལྡན་མཛད། །
chukyé zhal ni tronyer den dzé
With a lotus-face and a deep-furrowed brow,
དགྲ་བོ་ཐམས་ཅད་མ་ལུས་གསོད་མ། །
drawo tamché malü sö ma
You are the slayer of each and every foe. (8)
...
བཞད་པ་རབ་བཞད་ཏུཏྟཱ་ར་ཡིས། །
zhepa rab zhé tuttara yi
Smiling and laughing, with tuttāre
བདུད་དང་འཇིག་རྟེན་དབང་དུ་མཛད་མ། །
dü dang jikten wang du dzé ma
You bring demons and worlds under control. (10)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ས་གཞི་སྐྱོང་བའི་ཚོགས་རྣམས། །
chaktsal sa zhi kyongwé tsok nam
Homage to you, who can summon
ཐམས་ཅད་འགུགས་པར་ནུས་པ་ཉིད་མ། །
tamché gukpar nüpa nyi ma
The hosts of earthly guardians.
ཁྲོ་གཉེར་གཡོ་བའི་ཡི་གེ་ཧཱུྂ་གིས། །
tronyer yowé yigé hung gi
Your frown it quivers, and the syllable hūṃ
ཕོངས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་རྣམ་པར་སྒྲོལ་མ། །
pongpa tamché nampar drolma
Delivers us all from every misfortune. (11)
...
ཕྱག་འཚལ་བསྐལ་པ་ཐ་མའི་མེ་ལྟར། །
chaktsal kalpa tamé mé tar
Homage to you, seated in a halo
འབར་བའི་ཕྲེང་བའི་དབུས་ན་གནས་མ། །
barwé trengwé ü na né ma
Blazing with apocalyptic flames.
གཡས་བརྐྱང་གཡོན་བསྐུམ་ཀུན་ནས་བསྐོར་དགའི། །
yé kyang yön kum künné kor gé
Your right leg stretched out and left bent inward,
དགྲ་ཡི་དཔུང་ནི་རྣམ་པར་འཇོམས་མ། །
dra yi pung ni nampar jom ma
Immersed in joy, you crush legions of foes. (13)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ས་གཞིའི་ངོས་ལ་ཕྱག་གི །
chaktsal sa zhi ngö la chak gi
Homage to you, who on the earth’s surface
མཐིལ་གྱིས་བསྣུན་ཅིང་ཞབས་ཀྱིས་བརྡུང་མ། །
til gyi nün ching zhab kyi dung ma
Strike your palms and stamp your feet;
ཁྲོ་གཉེར་ཅན་མཛད་ཡི་གེ་ཧཱུྂ་གིས། །
tronyer chen dzé yigé hung gi
Your brow deeply furrowed, with hūṃ you smash
རིམ་པ་བདུན་པོ་རྣམས་ནི་འགེམས་མ། །
rimpa dünpo nam ni gem ma
The seven netherworlds to nothing but dust. (14)
...
སྭཱ་ཧཱ་ཨོཾ་དང་ཡང་དག་ལྡན་པས། །
soha om dang yangdak denpé
With oṃ and svāhā in perfect union,
སྡིག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་འཇོམས་པ་ཉིད་མ། །
dikpa chenpo jompa nyi ma
You lay to waste every terrible evil. (15)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཀུན་ནས་བསྐོར་རབ་དགའ་བའི། །
chaktsal künné kor rabga bé
Homage to you, who, immersed in rapture,
དགྲ་ཡི་ལུས་ནི་རབ་ཏུ་འགེམས་མ། །
dra yi lü ni rabtu gem ma
Shatters the bodies of all your foes.
ཡི་གེ་བཅུ་པའི་ངག་ནི་བཀོད་པའི། །
yigé chupé ngak ni köpé
You manifest from the wisdom-syllable hūṃ,6
རིག་པ་ཧཱུྂ་ལས་སྒྲོལ་མ་ཉིད་མ། །
rigpa hung lé drölma nyi ma
And display each of your mantra’s ten syllables. (16)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཏུ་རེའི་ཞབས་ནི་བརྡབས་པས། །
chaktsal turé zhab ni dabpé
Homage to Ture, your feet stomping boldly,
ཧཱུྂ་གི་རྣམ་པའི་ས་བོན་ཉིད་མ། །
hung gi nampé sabön nyi ma
Formed from the seed of the syllable hūṃ.
རི་རབ་མནྡ་ར་དང་འབིགས་བྱེད། །
rirab mendara dang bikjé
The mountains of Meru, Mandara and Vindhya,
འཇིག་རྟེན་གསུམ་རྣམས་གཡོ་བ་ཉིད་མ། །
jikten sum nam yowa nyi ma
And all the three worlds, you cause them to quake. (17)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལྷ་ཡི་མཚོ་ཡི་རྣམ་པའི། །
chaktsal lha yi tso yi nampé
Homage to you, who hold in your hand
རི་དྭགས་རྟགས་ཅན་ཕྱག་ན་བསྣམས་མ། །
ridak takchen chak na nam ma
A deer-marked moon like a divine lake.
ཏཱ་ར་གཉིས་བརྗོད་ཕཊ་ཀྱི་ཡི་གེས། །
tara nyi jö pé kyi yigé
With tāra twice and then with phaṭ,
དུག་རྣམས་མ་ལུས་པར་ནི་སེལ་མ། །
duk nam malüpar ni selma
You totally cleanse all of the poisons. (18)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལྷ་ཡི་ཚོགས་རྣམས་རྒྱལ་པོ། །
chaktsal lha yi tsok nam gyalpo
Homage to you, who is served by kings
ལྷ་དང་མིའམ་ཅི་ཡིས་བསྟེན་མ། །
lha dang mi'amchi yi ten ma
Of hosts divine, and of gods and kiṃnaras.7
ཀུན་ནས་གོ་ཆ་དགའ་བ་བརྗིད་ཀྱིས། །
künné gocha gawa ji kyi
Suited in armour of joy and splendour,
རྩོད་དང་རྨི་ལམ་ངན་པ་སེལ་མ། །
tsö dang milam ngenpa selma
You clear away nightmares, soothe away strife. (19)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཉི་མ་ཟླ་བ་རྒྱས་པའི། །
chaktsal nyima dawa gyepé
Homage to you, whose eyes shine with lustre,
སྤྱན་གཉིས་པོ་ལ་འོད་རབ་གསལ་མ། །
chen nyipo la ö rabsal ma
Bright with the fullness of sun and moon.
ཧ་ར་གཉིས་བརྗོད་ཏུཏྟཱ་ར་ཡིས། །
hara nyi jö tuttara yi
With twice-uttered hara and tuttāre
ཤིན་ཏུ་དྲག་པོའི་རིམས་ནད་སེལ་མ། །
shintu drakpö rimné selma
You pacify the most intractable diseases. (20)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་དེ་ཉིད་གསུམ་རྣམས་བཀོད་པས། །
chaktsal denyi sum nam köpé
Homage to you, who have the power to free,
ཞི་བའི་མཐུ་དང་ཡང་དག་ལྡན་མ། །
zhiwé tu dang yangdak den ma
You put forth the realities as a set of three.
གདོན་དང་རོ་ལངས་གནོད་སྦྱིན་ཚོགས་རྣམས། །
dön dang rolang nöjin tsok nam
Supreme Ture, you completely destroy
འཇོམས་པ་ཏུ་རེ་རབ་མཆོག་ཉིད་མ། །
jompa turé rab chok nyi ma
The hordes of grahas,8 vetālas,9 and yakṣas.10 (21)
རྩ་བའི་སྔགས་ཀྱི་བསྟོད་པ་འདི་དང་། །
tsawé ngak kyi töpa di dang
This Praise with the twenty-one verses of homage
ཕྱག་འཚལ་བ་ནི་ཉི་ཤུ་རྩ་གཅིག །
chaktsalwa ni nyishu tsa chik
Is itself the root mantra.
The Excellent Benefits of the Praise
ལྷ་མོ་ལ་གུས་ཡང་དག་ལྡན་པའི། །
lhamo la gü yangdak denpé
The wise who recite these words in earnest,
བློ་ལྡན་གང་གིས་རབ་དང་བརྗོད་དེ། །
loden gang gi rab dang jö dé
Filled with genuine devotion for this goddess, (22)
སྲོད་དང་ཐོ་རངས་ལངས་པར་བྱས་ནས། །
sö dang torang langpar jé né
At dusk, and also having risen at dawn,
དྲན་པས་མི་འཇིགས་ཐམས་ཅད་རབ་སྟེར། །
drenpé mi jik tamché rab ter
With recollection, will be granted fearlessness;
སྡིག་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་རབ་ཏུ་ཞི་བྱེད། །
dikpa tamché rabtu zhijé
They will utterly eliminate all misdeeds,
ངན་འགྲོ་ཐམས་ཅད་འཇོམས་པ་ཉིད་དོ། །
ngendro tamché jompa nyi do
And surmount all evil destinies. (23)
...
དེ་ཡི་དུག་ནི་དྲག་པོ་ཆེན་པོ། །
dé yi duk ni drakpo chenpo
Even the most powerful and toxic poisons,
བརྟན་གནས་པའམ་གཞན་ཡང་འགྲོ་བ། །
ten nepa am zhenyang drowa
Which derive from plants or living beings,
ཟོས་པ་དང་ནི་འཐུངས་པ་ཉིད་ཀྱང༌། །
zöpa dang ni tungpa nyi kyang
Whether eaten or taken as a draught,
དྲན་པས་རབ་ཏུ་སེལ་བ་ཉིད་ཐོབ། །
drenpé rabtu selwa nyi tob
Will be purged entirely by recalling this praise. (25)
གདོན་དང་རིམས་དང་དུག་གིས་གཟིར་བའི། །
dön dang rim dang duk gi zirwé
Reciting this two or three or seven times11
སྡུག་བསྔལ་ཚོགས་ནི་རྣམ་པར་སྤངས་ཏེ། །
dukngal tsok ni nampar pang té
Will eliminate multitudes of suffering
སེམས་ཅན་གཞན་པ་རྣམས་ལ་ཡང་ངོ༌། །
semchen zhenpa nam la yang ngo
Brought about by spirits, pestilence, and poison—
གཉིས་གསུམ་བདུན་དུ་མངོན་པར་བརྗོད་ན། །
nyi sum dün du ngönpar jö na
And this applies even to other beings as well. (26)
བུ་འདོད་པས་ནི་བུ་ཐོབ་འགྱུར་ཞིང༌། །
bu döpé ni bu tob gyur zhing
Those who wish for progeny will bear them;
ནོར་འདོད་པས་ནི་ནོར་རྣམས་ཉིད་ཐོབ། །
nor döpé ni nor nam nyi tob
Those who wish for riches will acquire them;
འདོད་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཐོབ་པར་འགྱུར་ལ། །
döpa tamché tobpar gyur la
Each and every wish will hereby be fulfilled,
བགེགས་རྣམས་མེད་ཅིང་སོ་སོར་འཇོམས་འགྱུར། །
gek nam mé ching sosor jom gyur
And obstacles, entirely vanquished, will be no more. (27)
བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་མ་སྒྲོལ་མ་ལ་ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱིས་བསྟོད་པ་གསུངས་པ་རྫོགས་སོ། །
Translated by Samye Translations (trans. Stefan Mang, Peter Woods, and Ryan Conlon, ed. Libby Hogg) with the kind assistance of Adam Pearcey, 2019.
_______________

Notes:

1. In some traditions this four-line verse is added after the translator’s homage and before the actual start of the Praise. The verse conjures Tārā by drawing upon the three epithets that also form the core of her root mantra (oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā): Tārā (Deliverer), Tuttārā (Savior) and Turā (Swift One). The verse is an explanation of Tārā’s root mantra (oṁ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā) and may represent a synopsis of the Praise that follows. Some masters explain that this verse is dedicated to Green Tārā, who is considered Tārā’s principal form yet is not included in the Praise. The origin of the verse remains unclear. It may be traced back to a translation of Pang Lotsawa Lodrö Tenpa (dpang lo tsā ba blo gros brtan pa, 1276–1342).

2. Maruts are the Vedic gods of wind.

3. The word yantra (’khrul ’khor) designates an instrument or other type of mechanical device (esp. one used in warfare), or a magic diagram. It is derived from the Sanskrit root √yam, “to control.” (For more information on yantras, see Gudrun Bühnemann, “Maṇḍalas and Yantras,” in Knut A. Jacobsen (eds.), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism, vol. ii, (Leiden: Brill, 2010): 566–572.)

4. The last two lines of this verse could be understood as: a) Tārā graces all points and bearings of the compass, and b) Tārā bears the mark(s) of (a) thousand spoked wheel(s) on her hand(s and feet), the first of the 32 major marks of a buddha.

5. Some editions read zla ba’i rtse mo, lit. “lunar peak,” instead of zla ba’i dum bu, “a sliver of moon”.

6. The various Tibetan editions read either sgrol ma or sgron ma. Based on this variant, Tibetan authors variously interpret this line as “you manifest from” (sgrol ma) or “you shine with” (sgron ma) the wisdom syllable hūṃ.

7. Kiṃnaras (mi’am ci) are a class of semi-divine beings known for their musical skills, depicted as half-horse and half-human, or half-bird and half-human.

8. Grahas (gdon) are a type of evil spirit known to exert a harmful influence on the human body and mind. Grahas are closely associated with the planets and other astronomical bodies.

9. Vetālas (ro langs) are harmful spirit who haunts charnel grounds and can take possession of corpses and reanimate them.

10. Yakṣas (gnod sbyin) are a class of semi-divine beings that haunt or protect natural places and cities. They can be malevolent or benevolent, and are known for bestowing wealth and worldly boons.

11. This instruction led to the tradition of reciting the Praise first twice, then thrice, and finally seven times. We find this, for example, in the Zabtik Drolchok (zab tig sgrol chog).

12. Please note that this colophon varies across the various Tibetan versions. Here we are following the Degé Kangyur edition of the Praise (T 438).

-- Praises to the Twenty-One Tārās, by Lotsawa House


Calmette described how he had confirmed the authenticity of the texts he had purchased by having young Brahmins who were learning the Vedas recite them to him (1732: 35v). In his letter he describes how both Gargam, his close colleague in the northern reaches of the Carnatic mission, and Jean-François Pons, a Jesuit collecting Sanskrit texts in Bengal, had been deceived into buying texts purporting to be Vedas (1732: 35r). Nevertheless, while Calmette did obtain the Ṛg, Yajur, and Sāma Veda saṃhitās, his “Adarvana Vedam” is in fact an assortment of tantric and magical texts connected with goddess worship called Ātharvaṇatantrarāja and Ātharvaṇamantraśāstra.92 [Filliozat, Catalogue du fonds sanscrit, I, 25.]….

[Calmette] adds that it was remarkable how few Brahmins understood Vedic Sanskrit… Some of these works, like others sent by the Jesuits, were not so much copies of actual Indian texts as verbal abstracts of the texts recited by scholars and recorded, on paper not palm-leaves, by converts who adorned them with Christian symbols…

--The Absent Vedas, by Will Sweetman


Contents:

• Introduction
• First Ashtaka.
o First Adhyaya.
 Anuvaka I.
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Re: RigVeda Sanhita, 1st Ashtaka, Translated by H.H. Wilson

Postby admin » Sat Jan 28, 2023 5:49 am

Part 1 of 3

INTRODUCTION.

When the liberal patronage of the Court of Directors of the East-India Company enabled Dr. Max Muller to undertake his invaluable edition of the Rig-Veda, a wish was expressed, that its appearance should be accompanied, or followed, with all convenient despatch, by an English translation. As I had long contemplated such a work, and had made some progress, in its execution, even before leaving India, I readily undertook to complete my labours and publish the translation.

It might, else, have been thought scarcely necessary to repeat a translation of the first Ashtaka, Ogdoad, or Eighth book, of the Rig-Veda; as that had been, already, more than once accomplished; partly, in English, by the Rev. Mr. Stevenson and Dr. Roer, and fully, in Latin, by the late Dr. Rosen. A translation in French, also, by M. Langlois, extending through four Ashtakas, or half the Veda, has been recently published at Paris; but I was not aware, when I engaged to publish an English translation, that such a work had been commenced. At the same time, these translations do not seem to preclude, entirely, the usefulness of an English version. The earliest publication, the work of the Rev. Mr. Stevenson, extends only to the three first hymns of the third lecture, or section, out of the eight which the first book, or Ashtaka, consists of: Dr. Roer’s translation is equally limited, stopping with two sections, or thirty-two hymns. Both translations were printed in India, and are procurable, with some difficulty, in this country. Dr. Rosen’s translation of the first book is complete, as to the text; but his premature death interrupted his annotations. Although executed with profound scholarship and scrupulous exactitude, and every way deserving of reliance, as an authentic representative of the original, the Sanskrit is converted into Latin with such literal fidelity, that the work scarcely admits of consecutive perusal, and is most of value as a reference. The translation is, in fact, subordinate to an edition of the text which it accompanies on the same page; and the work is designed less for general readers than for Sanskrit scholars and students of the Veda. The principle followed by M. Langlois is the converse of that adopted by Dr. Rosen; and he has avowedly sought to give to the vague and mysterious passages of the original a clear, simple, and intelligible interpretation. In this it may be admitted that he has admirably succeeded; but it may be, sometimes, thought that he has not been sufficiently cautious in his rendering of the text, and that he has diverged from its phraseology, especially as interpreted by the native Scholiast, more widely than is advisable. The real value of the original lies not so much in its merits as a literary composition, as in the illustration which it supplies of the most ancient Hindu system of religious worship and social organization; and, unless its language be preserved as far as may be consistent with intelligibility, erroneous impressions of the facts and opinions of primitive Hinduism may be produced. It is, also, to be observed, that M. Langlois has made his translation from manuscript copies of the Veda and its commentary, which, whilst it has greatly enhanced the difficulty and labour of the task, and, so far, adds to the credit of the translator, suggests less confidence in the genuineness of the original — as the manuscripts are, all, more or less defective, — than if the version had been made from a carefully collated edition. The present translation possesses, at least, the advantage, over its predecessors, of an accurate text; and it will be the fault of the translator, if he does not benefit by it. In converting the original into English, it has been his aim to adhere as strictly to the original Sanskrit as the necessity of being intelligible would allow.

It may be almost superfluous to apprise the reader, that the oldest, and, nominally, the most weighty, authorities of the Brahmans, for their religion and institutions, are the Vedas, of which works four are usually enumerated: the Rich, or Rig-Veda; the Yajush, or Yajur-Veda; the Saman, or Sama-Veda; and the Atharvana, or Atharva-Veda. Many passages are to be found in Sanskrit writings, some in the Vedas themselves, which limit the number to three;*

 

I. On the Vedas, or Sacred Writings of the Hindus.
[From the Asiatic Researches, vol. viii. p. 369—476. Calcutta, 1805. 4to.]


In the early progress of researches into Indian literature, it was doubted whether the Vedas were extant; or, if portions of them were still preserved, whether any person, however learned in other respects, might be capable of understanding their obsolete dialect. It was believed too, that, if a Brahmana really possessed the Indian scriptures, his religious prejudices would nevertheless prevent his imparting the holy knowledge to any but a regenerate Hindu. These notions, supported by popular tales, were cherished long after the Vedas had been communicated to Dara Shucoh [Shikoh], and parts of them translated into the Persian language by him, or for his use. [Extracts have also been translated into the Hindi language; but it does not appear upon what occasion this version into the vulgar dialect was made.]

The doubts were not finally abandoned, until Colonel Polier obtained from Jeyepur a transcript of what purported to be a complete copy of the Vedas, and which he deposited in the British Museum. About the same time Sir Robert Chambers collected at Benares numerous fragments of the Indian scripture: General Martine: at a later period, obtained copies of some parts of it; and Sir William Jones was successful in procuring valuable portions of the Vedas, and in translating several curious passages from one of them. [See Preface to Menu, page vi. and the Works of Sir William Jones, vol. vi.] I have been still more fortunate in collecting at Benares the text and commentary of a large portion of these celebrated books; and, without waiting to examine them more completely than has been yet practicable, I shall here attempt to give a brief explanation of what they chiefly contain.

It is well known, that the original Veda is believed by the Hindus to have been revealed by Brahma, and to have been preserved by tradition, until it was arranged in its present order by a sage, who thence obtained the surname of Vyasa, or Vedavyasa: that is, compiler of the Vedas. He distributed the Indian scripture into four parts, which are severally entitled Rich, Yajush, Saman, and Atharvana: and each of which bears the common denomination of Veda.

Mr. Wilkins and Sir William Jones were led, by the consideration of several remarkable passages, to suspect that the fourth is more modern than the other three. It is certain that Menu, like others among the Indian lawgivers, always speaks of three only, and has barely alluded to the Atharvana, [Menu, chap. 11, v. 33.] without however terming it a Veda. Passages of the Indian scripture itself seem to support the inference: for the fourth Veda is not mentioned in the passage cited by me in a former essay [Essay Second, on Religious Ceremonies. See Asiatic Researches, vol. vh. p. 251.] from the white Yajush; [From the 31st chapter; which, together with the preceding chapter (30th), relates to the Purushamedha, a type of the allegorical immolation of Narayana, or of Brahma in that character.] nor in the following text, quoted from the Indian scripture by the commentator of the Rich.

“The Rigveda originated from fire; the Yajurveda from air; and the Samaveda from the sun.” [Menu alludes to this fabulous origin of the Vedas (chap. 1. v. 23). His commentator, Mednatitni, explains it by remarking, that the Rigveda opens with a hymn to fire; and the Yajurveda with one in which air is mentioned. But Cullucabratta has recourse to the renovations of the universe. “In one Calpa, the Viedas [Vedas] proceeded from fire, air, and the sun; in another, from Brahma, at his allegorical immolation.”

Arguments in support of this opinion might be drawn even from popular dictionaries; for Amerasinha notices only three Vedas, and mentions the Atharvana without giving it the same denomination. It is, however, probable, that some portion at least of the Atharvaha is as ancient as the compilation of the three others; and its name, like theirs, is anterior to Vyasa’s arrangement of them: but the same must be admitted in regard to the Itihasa and Puranas, which constitute a fifth Veda, as the Atharvana does a fourth.

-- Essays on the Religion and Philosophy of the Hindus, by Henry Thomas Colebrooke, Esq., 1858


and there is no doubt that the fourth, or Atharva-Veda, although it borrows freely from the Rich, has little in common with the others, in its general character, or in its style: the language clearly indicates a different and later era. It may, therefore, be allowably regarded rather as a supplement to three, than as one of the four, Vedas.

Of the other three Vedas, each has its peculiar characteristics, although they have much in common
; and they are, apparently, of different dates, although not separated, perhaps, by any very protracted interval. The Rig-Veda consists of metrical prayers, or hymns, termed Suktas, — addressed to different divinities, — each of which is ascribed to a Rishi, a holy or inspired author. These hymns are put together with little attempt at methodical arrangement, although such as are dedicated to the same deity sometimes follow in a consecutive series. There is not much connexion in the stanzas of which they are composed; and the same hymn is, sometimes, addressed to different divinities. There are, in the Veda itself, no directions for the use and application of the Suktas, no notices of the occasions on which they are to be employed, or of the ceremonies at which they are to be recited. These are pointed out, by subsequent writers, in Sutras, or precepts relating to the ritual; and, even for the reputed authors of the hymns, and for the deities in whose honour they are composed, we are, for the most part, indebted to independent authorities, especially to an Anukramanika, or index, accompanying each Veda. The Yajur-Veda differs from the Rich in being, more particularly, a ritual, or a collection of liturgical formulae. The prayers, or invocations, when not borrowed from the Rich, are, mostly, brief, and in prose, and are applicable to the consecration of the utensils and materials of ceremonial worship, as well as to the praise and worship of the gods. The Sama-Veda is little else than a recast of the Rich, being made up, with very few exceptions, of the very same hymns, broken into parts, and arranged anew, for the purpose of being chanted on different ceremonial occasions. As far, also, as the Atharva-Veda is to be considered as a Veda, it will be found to comprise many of the hymns of the Rich.a

a “By the followers of the Atharvana, the Richas, or stanzas of the Rig-Veda, are numerously included in their own Sanhita (or collection.” — Sayana Acharya, Introduction, Muller’s edition, p. 2.


From the extensive manner, then, in which the hymns of the Rig-Veda enter into the composition of the other three, we must, naturally, infer its priority to them, and its greater importance to the history of the Hindu religion. In truth, it is to the Rig-Veda that we must have recourse, principally, if not exclusively, for correct notions of the oldest and most genuine forms of the institutions, religious or civil, of the Hindus.

These remarks apply to what are termed the Sanhitas of the Vedas, — the aggregate assemblage, in a single collection, of the prayers, hymns, and liturgic formulae of which they are composed. Besides the Sanhitas, the designation Veda includes an extensive class of compositions, entitled, collectively, Brahmana, which all Brahmanical writers term an integral portion of the Veda. According to them, the Veda consists of two component parts, termed, severally, Mantra and Brahmana;b

b As in the Yajna Paribhasha of Apastamba, quoted by Sayana, “The name Veda is that of both the Mantra and the Brahmana and, again, in the Mimansa, “The Brahmana and the Mantra are the two parts of the Veda: that part which is not Mantra is Brahmana:" this constitutes the definition of the latter. — Introduction, p. 4 and p. 22.


the first being the hymns and formulae aggregated in the Sanhita; the second, a collection of rules for the application of the Mantras, directions for the performance of particular rites, citations of the hymns, or detached stanzas, to be repeated on such occasions, and illustrative remarks, or narratives, explanatory of the origin and object of the rite. Of the Brahmana portions of the Rig-Veda, the most interesting and important is the Aitareya Brahmana, in which a number of remarkable legends are detailed, highly illustrative of the condition of Brahmanism at the time at which it was composed. The Aitareya Aranyaka, another Brahmana of this Veda, is more mystical and speculative than practical or legendary; of a third, the Kaushitaki, little is known. The Brahmana of the Yajur-Veda, the Satapatha, partakes more of the character of the Aitareya Brahmana: it is of considerable extent, consisting of fourteen books, and contains much curious matter. The Brahmanas of the Sama and Atharva Vedas are few, and little known; and the supplementary portions of these two Vedas are, more especially, the metaphysical and mystical treatises termed Upanishads, belonging to an entirely different state of the Hindu mind from that which the text of the Vedas sprang from and encouraged. Connected with, and dependent upon, the Vedas generally, also are the treatises on grammar, astronomy, intonation, prosody, ritual, and the meaning of obsolete words, called the Vedangas. But these are not portions of the Veda itself, but supplementary to it, and, in the form in which we have them, are not, perhaps, altogether genuine, and, with a few exceptions, are not of much importance. Besides these works, there are the Pratisakhyas, or treatises on the grammar of the Veda, and the Sutras, or aphorisms, inculcating and describing its practices; the whole constituting a body of Vaidik literature the study of which would furnish occupation for a long and laborious life. A small part only is yet in print. None of the Brahmanas are published; neither are the Sutras or Pratisakhyas.a

a Part of the first Kanda of the Satapatha Brahmana has been printed by Dr. Weber, concurrently with his edition of the text of the Yajur-Veda; and it is his intention to complete it.


The Upanishads have been more fortunate in finding editors.b

b Some of the shorter Upanishads were printed, with translations, by Rammohun Roy [Ram Mohan Roy]; and five of those of the Yajush have been published by M. Poley: Berlin, 1844. The Brihadaranyaka has been printed by the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, under the editorship of Dr. Roer, in their Bibliotheca Indica; and the Chhandogya Upanishad has been begun in the same series.


Bibliotheca Indica is a series of "books belonging to or treating of Oriental literatures and contains original text editions as well as translations into English, and also bibliographies, dictionaries, grammars, and studies" on Asia-related subjects in other disciplines (such as ethnology). The series was launched in 1849 and published by the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta and subsequently by the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal and then by The Asiatic Society.

Publisher's advertisements of the early 20th century showed the Bibliotheca Indica as being divided in three "series" (in fact, subseries): Sanskrit Series, Tibetan Series, and Arabic and Persian Series. The Society's website in 2022 reports that the languages published in the series include "Sanskrit, Prakrit, Pali, Rajasthani, Kashmiri, Hindi, Bengali, Tibetan, Kui, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, (...) sometime with [English] translations".

The majority of the books in the series are now in the public domain and are now available on the Internet as digital downloads. In addition, all of the Bibliotheca Indica books are available on The Asiatic Society's Digital Library.

-- Bibliotheca Indica, by Wikipedia


The texts of the Sanhitas of the Veda are in progress; as, besides the present edition of the Rich, an edition of the Vajasaneyi portion of the Yajur-Veda has been commenced, — by Dr. Weber, at Berlin, — the publication of which has been, also, liberally aided by the Court of Directors.

The text of the Sanhita of the Sama-Veda, and a translation by the Rev. Mr. Stevenson, were published, some years since, by the Oriental Translation Fund; and a more carefully elaborated edition of the same, with a translation in German, and a copious glossary and index, has been recently published by Professor Benfey, of Gottingen.

The Oriental Translation Fund was established in 1828 by a committee of the Royal Asiatic Society under the Chairmanship of Sir Gore Ouseley. Its purpose was to translate and publish such "interesting and valuable works on eastern History, Science, and Belles-Lettres as are still in MS... The object proposed is, to publish, free of expense to the authors, translations of the whole or parts of such works...generally to be accompanied by the original texts printed separately." King George IV became patron of the Fund. In its early years the fund was financed by subscriptions and the list of subscribers included: Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg, the Prime Minister (Wellington), the Archbishop of Canterbury and one of the founders of the Royal Asiatic Society, Henry Colebrooke.

The Oriental Translation Committee who controlled the Fund was independent to the Society and an annual subsidy of 100 guineas was received from the East India Company. Various works were published throughout this period and these formed Series One of the publications (1828-1879). However, operations were suspended in 1860 due to a lack of funds and the Committee disposed of most of its stock.

The Royal Asiatic Society Council considered reviving the fund in 1888 due mainly to the efforts of the British Orientalist, Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot. He led the management of the Fund and donated finances. He was also supported by the former Viceroy of India, Lord Northbrook, and a prominent Sanskrit Scholar, E.T. Sturdy. This led to the Series Two publications. The Fund is still operational today.

-- Oriental Translation Fund, by archiveshub


In time, therefore, we shall be well supplied with the Mantra portion of the Veda: but there is yet but a partial and distant prospect of our having the Brahmana printed, and being, thus, enabled, from adequate materials, to determine how far the whole may be legitimately considered as a constituent part of the Veda.

From a careful examination of the Aitareya Brahmana, with an excellent commentary by Sayana Acharya, it is sufficiently evident, that this work, at least, is of a totally distinct description from the collection of the Mantras, or the Sanhita, of the Rig-Veda. Although, no doubt, of considerable antiquity, it is, manifestly, of a date long subsequent to the original Suktas, or hymns, from the manner in which they are quoted, — not systematically, or continuously, or completely, but separately, unconnectedly, and partially; a few phrases only being given, forming the beginning, not even of an entire hymn, but of an isolated stanza, occurring in any part of the hymn, or in any part of the Sanhita; consequently proving, that the Sanhita must have been compiled, and widely circulated, and generally studied, before such mutilated citations could be recognized, or verified, by those to whom the Brahmana was presented. It is evident, also, that the great body of the Brahmanical ritual must have been sanctioned by established practice, before the Brahmana could have been compiled; as its main object is the application of the detached texts of the Sanhita to the performance of the principal ceremonies and sacrifices of the Brahmans, enforcing their necessity and efficacy by texts and arguments, and illustrating their origin and consequences by traditional narratives and popular legends, the invention and currency of which must have been the work of time,— of a very long interval between the Sanhita, in which little or nothing of the kind appears, and the Brahmana, in which such particulars abound. Again, we find, in the Brahmana, the whole system of social organization developed, the distinction of caste fully established, and the Brahmana, Kshattrhja, Vaisya, and Sudra repeatedly named by their proper appellations, and discriminated by their peculiar offices and relative stations, as in the code of Manu. A cursory inspection of the Satapatha Brahmana, as far as published, and of some of its sections in manuscript, shows it to be of a character similar to the Aitareya; or it may be even, perhaps, of a later era: and we may venture to affirm, in opposition to the consentient assertions of Brahmanical scholars and critics, that neither of these works has the slightest claim to be regarded as the counterpart and contemporary of the Sanhita, or as an integral part of the Veda; understanding, by that expression, the primitive record of the religious belief and observances, and of the archaic institutions, of Hindu society.

Whilst acknowledging, with occasional exceptions, the early date of the Brahmanas, and accepting them as valuable illustrations of the application of the primitive hymns and texts of the Sanhita, we must look to the latter alone, as a safe guide, in our inquiries into the most ancient condition of the Hindus; and we must endeavour to convey a more precise notion of what is meant by the designation, as it is exemplified in the Veda which has been taken as the text of the following translation, and which, as has been shown, may be regarded as the source and model of the other works similarly named.

According to the credible traditions of the Hindus, the Suktas, the prayers and hymns — now collected as a Sanhita, — had existed, in a separate and individual form, long before they were assembled and arranged in the order and connexion in which they are now met with. In the Rig-Veda the number of Suktas is something above a thousand, containing rather more than ten thousand stanzas. They are arranged in two methods. One divides them amongst eight Khandas (portions), or Ashtakas (eighths), each of which is, again, subdivided into eight Adhyayas, or lectures. The other plan classes the Suktas under ten Mandalas, or circles, subdivided into rather more than a hundred Anuvakas, or sub-sections. A further subdivision of the Suktas into Vargas, or paragraphs, of about five stanzas each, is common to both classifications. The hymns are of various extent: in one or two instances, a Sukta consists of a single stanza; in some, of a number of stanzas; but the average number, as follows from the above totals of one thousand hymns and ten thousand stanzas, is, of course, about ten. The hymns are composed in a great variety of metres, several of which are peculiar to the Vedas, and the variety and richness of which evince an extraordinary cultivation of rhythmical contrivance. In general, a hymn is addressed to a single deity, but, sometimes, to two; and, occasionally, the verses are distributed among a greater number. The divinities are various; but the far larger number of the hymns in this first book of the Rich, and, as far as has been yet ascertained, in the other books, also, are dedicated to Agni and Indra, the deities, or personifications, of Fire and the Firmament. Of the one hundred and twenty-one hymns contained in the first Ashtaka, for instance, thirty-seven are addressed to Agni alone, or associated with others; and forty-five, to Indra: of the rest, twelve are addressed to the Maruts, or Winds, the friends and followers of Indra; and eleven, to the Aswins, the sons of the Sun; four, to the personified dawn; four, to the Viswadevas, or collective deities; and the rest, to inferior divinities; — an appropriation which unequivocally shows the elemental character of the religion. In subsequent portions of the Veda, a few hymns occur which seem to be of a poetical, or fanciful, rather than of a religious, tendency; as one, in which there is a description of the revival of the frogs, on the setting in of the rainy season; and another, in which a gamester complains of his ill success; but we shall better appreciate the character of such seeming exceptions, when we come to them. Each Sukta has, for its reputed author, a Rishi, or inspired teacher, by whom, in Brahmanical phraseology, it has been originally seen, that is, to whom it was revealed; the Vedas being, according to later mythological fictions, the uncreated dictation of Brahma. For the names of the Rishis, except when incidentally mentioned in the hymn, we are indebted, as above remarked, to an index of the contents of the Veda, which also specifies the metre and the number of stanzas of each hymn, and the deity worshipped. It is an old book, and of high authority; but, inasmuch as it is of later composition than the text, it may not, always, be regarded as of unquestionable correctness. Most of the Rishis are familiar to the legends of the Puranas, as Gotama, Kanwa, Bharadwaja, Vasishtha, Viswamitra, and others. To some of these a number of hymns are attributed; to others, of less note, and, perhaps, only of imaginary existence, one or two only are ascribed. The arrangement of the Suktas by Ashtakas does not seem to depend upon any fixed principle. Of that by Mandalas, six out of the ten “circles” comprise hymns by the same individual, or by members of the same family: thus, the hymns of the second Mandala are ascribed to Gritsamada, the son of Sunahotra, of the family of Angiras; those of the third, to Viswamitra and his sons, or kinsmen; of the fourth, to Vamadeva; of the fifth, to Atri and his sons, who are of rather equivocal nomenclature; of the sixth, to Bharadwaja; and, of the seventh, to Vasishtha and his descendants. The Rishis of the first and the three last Mandalas are more miscellaneous; the hymns of the ninth Circle are, all, addressed to Soma, the Moon-plant, or its deified impersonation. This arrangement has been considered as the older and more original of the two; the distribution into Ashtakas being intended for the convenience of instruction; forming, through their subdivisions, — Adhyayas and Vargas, — so many lectures, or lessons, to be learned by the scholar. The inference is not improbable; but we are scarcely yet qualified to come to any positive conclusion. The more usual division of the manuscripts is that into Ashtakas; and in neither case is the principle of classification so unequivocally manifested as to suggest reasonable grounds for a departure from the established practice.

The absence of any obvious dependency of the Suktas upon one another is sufficiently indicative of their separate and unsystematic origin. That they are the compositions of the patriarchal sages to whom they are ascribed is, sometimes, apparent from allusions which they make to the name of the author or of his family: but these indications are of infrequent recurrence; and we must trust, in general, to tradition, as preserved by the Anukramanika, for the accuracy of the appropriation. Their being addressed to the same divinity is a less equivocal test of community; and they, probably, were composed, in many instances, by the heads of families, or of schools following a similar form of worship, and adoring, in preference, particular deifications. Besides the internal evidence afforded by difference of style, the hymns, not unfrequently, avow a difference of date; and we find some ascribed to ancient Rishis, while others admit their being of new or newest composition. The great variety of metres employed shows, also, a progressive development of the powers of the language, which could have been the effect only of long and diligent cultivation. There can be little doubt, therefore, that they range through a considerable interval; although, as far as respects their general purport, they belong to the same condition of belief, and to a period during which no change of any importance took place in the national creed. The same divinities are worshipped in a similar strain, and, with one or two doubtful exceptions, — which are, possibly, interpolations, or which may admit of explanation, — offer nothing that is contradictory or incongruous. This is the more remarkable, as there can be little doubt that the hymns were taught, originally, orally, and that the knowledge of them was perpetuated by the same mode of tuition. This is sufficiently apparent from their construction: they abound with elliptical phrases; with general epithets, of which the application is far from obvious, until explained; with brief comparisons, which cannot be appreciated without such additional details as a living teacher might be expected to supply; and with all those blanks and deficiencies which render the written text of the Vedas still unintelligible, in many passages, without the assistance of the Scholiast, and which he is alone enabled to fill up by the greater or less fidelity with which the traditional explanations of the first viva voce interpreters, or, perhaps, of the authors of the hymns themselves, have come down to his time. The explanation of a living teacher, or of a commentator, must have been indispensable to a right understanding of the meaning of the Suktas, in many passages, from the moment of their first communication: and the probability is in favour of an oral instructor, as most in harmony with the unconnected and unsystematic currency of the hymns; with the restricted use of writing, — even if the art were known in those early times (a subject of considerable doubt), — and with the character of Sanskrit teaching, even in the present day, in which the study of books is subordinate to the personal and traditional expositions of the teacher, handed down to him through an indefinite series of preceding instructors.

At last, however, there arrived a period when
the antiquity of the hymns, the obscurity of their style, the peculiarities of the language, and the number to which they had multiplied, with the corresponding difficulties of recollecting and teaching them, and, possibly, also, the perception, that some venerable authority on which their growing claims to superior sanctity might be based was wanting, suggested, to the progressive advancement of the literature of the Brahmans, the expediency of rescuing the dispersed and obsolete Suktas from the risk of oblivion, and moulding them into some consistent and permanent shape. The accomplishment of this object is traditionally ascribed to the son of Parasara Rishi, Krishna Dwaipayana, thence surnamed Vyasa, the Arranger; a person of rather questionable chronology and existence, who is supposed to have flourished at the time of the great war between the rival families of Kuru and Pandu, to the latter of which he was attached. The account that is usually given of his proceedings shows that his especial province was that of superintendence, — possibly under the patronage of the Raja Yudhishthira, after his triumph over the Kurus, — and that various other learned persons, already familiar with the hymns of the respective Vedas, were employed to prepare each several Sanhita, or collection: thus, Paila was appointed to collect the Suktas of the Rich; Vaisampayana, the text of the Yajush; Jaimini, the hymns of the Saman; and Sumantu, those of the Atharvana. Each of these became the teacher of his own collection, and had a succession of disciples by whom the original collection was repeatedly subdivided and rearranged, until the Sanhitas of the Rig-Veda amounted to sixteen or twenty; those of the Yajur-Veda — distinguished as twofold, termed the Black and the White Yajush — amounted to forty-two; and those of the Sama-Veda, to twenty-four. There were, also, various Sanhitas of the Atharva-Veda; and, besides these, there were numerous Sakhas, or branches, of each Sanhita, studied in as many separate schools.a

a Colebrooke on the Vedas. — Asiatic Researches, Vol. iii., p. 378. Vishnu Parana, Book III., Chap. iv.: p. 275.


Vyasa having compiled and arranged the scriptures, theogonies, and mythological poems, taught the several Vedas to as many disciples: viz. the Rich to Paila, the Yajush to Vaisampayana, and the Saman to Jaimini; as also the Atharvana to Sumantu, and the Itihasa and Puranas to Suta. These disciples instructed their respective pupils, who becoming teachers in their turn, communicated the knowledge to their own disciples; until at length, in the progress of successive instruction, so great variations crept into the text, or into the manner of reading and reciting it, and into the no less sacred precepts for its use and application, that eleven hundred different schools of scriptural knowledge arose.

-- Essays on the Religion and Philosophy of the Hindus, by Henry Thomas Colebrooke, Esq.


The precise nature of these distinctions is not very satisfactorily known at present, as they have almost wholly disappeared; but they consisted, apparently, of varieties of form, (not of substance), containing the same hymns and formulae arranged in a different order, according to the conceptions of the teacher respecting their historical succession or liturgical value, or according to differences in the mode of their recitation, — some being recited audibly, some repeated inaudibly, and some being chanted or sung. Various readings, also, seem to have been followed by different schools, although not to such an extent as materially to affect the identity between the original and its descendant. Of the Sanhitas of the Rig-Veda the only one now in use is that ascribed to a teacher named Vedamitra, or Sakalya. Whether the authorities which profess to detail the multiplicity of these compilations be entitled to entire confidence may be matter of question; but the traditions are concurrent and consistent;

Shakalya was an ancient Indian grammarian and scholar of Vedic period [1500-500 BCE] who is supposed to have revised the Vedic texts and written their Pada-pāṭha. He is often quoted by Pāṇini and the writers of the Prātiśākhya, treatises on phonetics. His Padapāṭha of the Rig Veda was one of the early attempts in the direction of analysis; he broke down the samhita text of the Rig Veda into words, identifying even the separate elements of compound words.

-- Shakalya, by Wikipedia


and there can be little doubt that there was a time at which the collection, and classification, and study, of the religious poems, which, even then, bore the stamp of antiquity, did form an important and popular branch of the literature of the Brahmans, and must have been pursued, with extraordinary diligence, zeal, and ability, through a protracted interval, anterior to the rise of philosophical speculation, mythological fable, poetical legends, and traditional history.a

a The foundation of the Vedanta philosophy, and the compilation of the Itihasas and Puranas, are, also, ascribed to Vyasa. It would be out of place to enter into any examination of the question here, beyond the remark, that there seems to be little satisfactory evidence for the tradition; several of the Puranas being, in fact, ascribed to other persons. The tradition may have originated in the impulse given to the general cultivation of Sanskrit literature by the school, or schools, of Vaidik criticism.
 

The interest evinced in the collection and preservation of their ancient hymns and formulae is the more remarkable from their having, as far as we can yet judge, afforded little countenance to the religious and social institutions which, no doubt, were fully matured at the date of their compilation. It is yet, perhaps, scarcely safe to hazard any positive assertion respecting the system of religious belief and practice taught in the Rig-Veda, or the state of society which prevailed when its hymns were composed; and it were still more indiscreet to risk a negative, and deny its sanctioning the leading features of the Brahmanical institutes, until we shall have examined it throughout, and ascertained, beyond dispute, that no such sanction is to be found in it. In offering any opinion on these points, therefore, it must be understood that they are derived solely from what is actually before us, — the First Book of the Rig-Veda, now translated [by Max Muller],— and that they are subject to confirmation, or to contradiction, according to the further evidence that may be produced. It is true that we have a somewhat wider field for speculation, in the other three books, translated by M. Langlois, and in detached portions from other books, which have been translated and published by other Sanskrit scholars, especially by Mr. Colebrooke, Professor Burnouf, and Dr. Roth. The latter, however, from their partial and isolated state, are, necessarily, imperfect authorities; and, of the former, it may be observed, that they do not seem to offer anything materially at variance with the tenour of the first Ashtaka. It will be sufficient, therefore, for the present, to confine ourselves to the evidence at hand, and deduce, from it, a few of the most important conclusions to which it appears to lead, regarding the religious and mythological belief of the people of India, — whose sentiments and notions the Suktas enunciate, — and the circumstances of their social condition, to which it occasionally, though briefly, adverts.

The worship which the Suktas describe comprehends offerings
, prayer, and praise. The former are, chiefly, oblations and libations: clarified butter poured on fire, and the expressed and fermented juice of the Soma plant, presented, in ladles, to the deities invoked, — in what manner does not exactly appear, although it seems to have been, sometimes, sprinkled on the fire, sometimes, on the ground, or, rather, on the Kusa, or sacred grass, strewed on the floor; and, in all cases, the residue was drunk by the assistants. The ceremony takes place in the dwelling of the worshipper, in a chamber appropriated to the purpose, and, probably, to the maintenance of a perpetual fire; although the frequent allusions to the occasional kindling of the sacred flame are rather at variance with this practice.a

a It is said, in one place, however, that men preserved fire constantly kindled in their dwellings (Hymn lxxiii., v. 4: p. 195).


There is no mention of any temple, nor any reference to a public place of worship; and it is clear that the worship was entirely domestic. The worshipper, or Yajamana, does not appear to have taken, of necessity, any part, personally, in the ceremony; and there is a goodly array of officiating priests, — in some instances, seven; in some, sixteen, — by whom the different ceremonial rites are performed, and by whom the Mantras, or prayers, or hymns, are recited.

The extravagant amount of worship prescribed in the above horoscope is only a fair sample of the amount which the Lamas order one family to perform so as to neutralize the current year's demoniacal influences on account of the family inter-relations only. In addition to the worship herein prescribed there also needs to be done the special worship for each individual according to his or her own life's horoscope as taken at birth; and in the case of husband and wife, their additional burden of worship which accrues to their life horoscope on their marriage, due to the new set of conflicts introduced by the conjunction of their respective years and their noxious influences; and other rites should a death have happened either in their own family or even in the neighbourhood. And when, despite the execution of all this costly worship, sickness still happens, it necessitates the further employment of Lamas, and the recourse by the more wealthy to a devil-dancer or to a special additional horoscope by the Lama. So that one family alone is prescribed a sufficient number of sacerdotal tasks to engage a couple of Lamas fairly fully for several months of every year!

A somewhat comical result of all this wholesale reading of scriptures is that, in order to get through the prescribed reading of the several bulky scriptures within a reasonable time, it is the practice to call in a dozen or so Lamas, each of whom reads aloud, but all at the same time, a different book or chapter for the benefit of the person concerned...

On the occurrence of a death the body is not disturbed in any way until the Lama has extracted the soul in the orthodox manner. For it is believed that any movement of the corpse might eject the soul, which then would wander about in an irregular manner and get seized by some demon. On death, therefore, a white cloth is thrown over the face of the corpse, and the soul-extracting Lama ('p'o-bo) is sent for. On his arrival all weeping relatives are excluded from the death-chamber, so as to secure solemn silence, and the doors and windows closed, and the Lama sits down upon a mat near the head of the corpse, and commences to chant the service which contains directions for the soul to find its way to the western paradise of the mythical Buddha — Amitabha....

Notice is sent to all relatives and friends within reach, and these collect within two or three days and are entertained with food of rice, vegetables, etc., and a copious supply of murwa beer and tea....

At this stage it often happens, though it is scarcely considered orthodox, that some Lamas find, as did Maudgalayana by his second-sight, consulting their lottery-books, that the spirit has been sent to hell, and the exact compartment in hell is specified. Then must be done a most costly service by a very large number of Lamas....

Sometimes a full course of the necessary service is declared insufficient, as the spirit has only got a short way out of hell, — very suggestive of the story of the priest and his client in Lever's story, — and then additional expense must be incurred to secure its complete extraction...

But the cremation or interment of the corpse does not terminate the death-rites. There needs still to be made a masked lay figure of the deceased, and the formal burning of the mask and the expulsion from the house of the death-demon and other rites...

Next day the Lamas depart, to return once a week for the repetition of this service until the forty-nine days of the ghostly limbo have expired; but it is usual to intermit one day of the first week, and the same with the succeeding periods, so as to get the worship over within a shorter time. Thus the Lamas return after six, five, four, three, two, and one days respectively, and thus conclude this service in about three weeks instead of the full term of forty-nine days...

On the conclusion of the full series of services, the paper-mask is ceremoniously burned in the flame of a butter-lamp, and the spirit is thus given its final conge. And according to the colour and quality of the flame and mode of burning is determined the fate of the spirit of deceased, and this process usually discovers the necessity for further courses of worship...

The manes of the departed often trouble the Tibetans as well as other peoples, and special rites are necessary to "lay" them and bar their return. A ghost is always malicious, and it returns and gives trouble either on account of its malevolence, or its desire to see how its former property is being disposed of. In either case its presence is noxious. It makes its presence felt in dreams or by making some individual delirious or temporarily insane. Such a ghost is disposed of by being burned...

For this purpose a very large gathering of Lamas is necessary, not less than eight, and a "burnt offering" (sbyin-sregs) is made. On a platform of mud and stone outside the house is made, with the usual rites, a magic-circle or "kyil-'khor," and inside this is drawn a triangle named "hun-hun." Small sticks are then laid along the outline of the triangle, one piled above the other, so as to make a hollow three-sided pyramid, and around this are piled up fragments of every available kind of food, stone, tree-twigs, leaves, poison, bits of dress, money, etc., to the number of over 100 sorts. Then oil is poured over the mass, and the pile set on fire. During the combustion additional fragments of the miscellaneous ingredients reserved for the purpose are thrown in, from time to time, by the Lamas, accompanied by a muttering of spells. And ultimately is thrown into the flames a piece of paper on which is written the name of the deceased person --always a relative --whose ghost is to be suppressed. When this paper is consumed the particular ghost has received its quietus, and never can give trouble again....

--The Buddhism of Tibet, or Lamaism With Its Mystic Cults, Symbolism and Mythology, and in its Relation to Indian Buddhism, by Laurence Austine Waddell, M.B., F.L.S., F.R.G.S., Member of the Royal Asiatic Society, Anthropological Institute, etc., Surgeon-Major H.M. Bengal Army
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Re: RigVeda Sanhita, 1st Ashtaka, Translated by H.H. Wilson

Postby admin » Sat Jan 28, 2023 5:57 am

Part 2 of 3

That animal victims were offered on particular occasions may be inferred from brief and obscure allusions in the hymns of the first book;a

a In the second Ashtaka, we have two hymns on the occasion of the Aswamedha, a sacrifice of a horse. (See Translation of M. Langlois, Lecture III., Hymns v., vi.)


Calmette described how he had confirmed the authenticity of the texts he had purchased by having young Brahmins who were learning the Vedas recite them to him (1732: 35v). In his letter he describes how both Gargam, his close colleague in the northern reaches of the Carnatic mission, and Jean-François Pons, a Jesuit collecting Sanskrit texts in Bengal, had been deceived into buying texts purporting to be Vedas (1732: 35r). Nevertheless, while Calmette did obtain the Ṛg, Yajur, and Sāma Veda saṃhitās, his “Adarvana Vedam” is in fact an assortment of tantric and magical texts connected with goddess worship called Ātharvaṇatantrarāja and Ātharvaṇamantraśāstra.92 [Filliozat, Catalogue du fonds sanscrit, I, 25.]….

[Calmette] adds that it was remarkable how few Brahmins understood Vedic Sanskrit… Some of these works, like others sent by the Jesuits, were not so much copies of actual Indian texts as verbal abstracts of the texts recited by scholars and recorded, on paper not palm-leaves, by converts who adorned them with Christian symbols…

--The Absent Vedas, by Will Sweetman


Praises to the Twenty-One Tārās ["Tara" "Ture" means "protectress"]

ཨོཾ་རྗེ་བཙུན་མ་འཕགས་མ་སྒྲོལ་མ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
om jetsünma pakma drolma la chaktsal lo
Oṃ. Homage to the noble lady Tārā!
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཏཱ་རེ་མྱུར་མ་དཔའ་མོ། །
chaktsal taré nyurma pamo
Homage to Tārā, swift and gallant,
ཏུཏྟཱ་ར་ཡིས་འཇིགས་པ་སེལ་མ། །
tuttara yi jikpa selma
Homage to Tuttārā, who banishes fear,
ཏུ་རེས་དོན་ཀུན་སྦྱིན་པས་སྒྲོལ་མ། །
turé dön kün jinpé drolma
Homage to Turā, who fulfils every need,
སྭཱ་ཧཱའི་ཡི་གེ་ཁྱོད་ལ་འདུད་དོ། །
sa hé yigé khyö la dü do
With svāhā we offer you honor and praise!1
ཕྱག་འཚལ་སྒྲོལ་མ་མྱུར་མ་དཔའ་མོ། །
chaktsal drolma nyurma pamo
Homage to Tārā, swift and gallant,
སྤྱན་ནི་སྐད་ཅིག་གློག་དང་འདྲ་མ། །
chen ni kechik lok dang dra ma
Whose glance flashes like flares of lightning;
འཇིག་རྟེན་གསུམ་མགོན་ཆུ་སྐྱེས་ཞལ་གྱི། །
jikten sum gön chukyé zhal gyi
Born on the heart of a blossoming lotus
གེ་སར་བྱེ་བ་ལས་ནི་བྱུང་མ། །
gesar jewa lé ni jung ma
That rose from the tears of the Triple-World’s Lord. (1)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་སྟོན་ཀའི་ཟླ་བ་ཀུན་ཏུ། །
chaktsal tönké dawa küntu
Homage to you whose countenance is
གང་བ་བརྒྱ་ནི་བརྩེགས་པའི་ཞལ་མ། །
gangwa gya ni tsekpé zhal ma
A hundred full moons gathered in autumn,
སྐར་མ་སྟོང་ཕྲག་ཚོགས་པ་རྣམས་ཀྱི། །
karma tongtrak tsokpa nam kyi
Smiling and glowing with brilliant radiance,
རབ་ཏུ་ཕྱེ་བའི་འོད་རབ་འབར་མ། །
rabtu chewé ö rab bar ma
Like a thousand stars clustered, ablaze. (2)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་སེར་སྔོ་ཆུ་ནས་སྐྱེས་ཀྱི། །
chaktsal ser ngo chu né kyé kyi
Homage, golden lady, your lotus-hand
པདྨས་ཕྱག་ནི་རྣམ་པར་བརྒྱན་མ། །
pemé chak ni nampar gyen ma
Is graced with a blue water-born flower.
སྦྱིན་པ་བརྩོན་འགྲུས་དཀའ་ཐུབ་ཞི་བ། །
jinpa tsöndrü katub zhiwa
You embody generosity, diligence, endurance,
བཟོད་པ་བསམ་གཏན་སྤྱོད་ཡུལ་ཉིད་མ། །
zöpa samten chöyul nyi ma
Serenity, patience and meditation. (3)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་གཙུག་ཏོར། །
chaktsal dezhin shekpé tsuktor
Homage to you, whose victories are endless,
མཐའ་ཡས་རྣམ་པར་རྒྱལ་བ་སྤྱོད་མ། །
tayé nampar gyalwa chö ma
Jewel on the great Tathāgata’s crown.
མ་ལུས་ཕ་རོལ་ཕྱིན་པ་ཐོབ་པའི། །
malü parol chinpa tobpé
You are well served by the heirs of the Victors,
རྒྱལ་བའི་སྲས་ཀྱིས་ཤིན་ཏུ་བསྟེན་མ། །
gyalwé sé kyi shintu ten ma
Those who’ve accomplished all the perfections. (4)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཏུཏྟཱ་ར་ཧཱུྂ་ཡི་གེ །
chaktsal tuttara hung yigé
Homage to you, who with tuttāra and hūṃ
འདོད་དང་ཕྱོགས་དང་ནམ་མཁའ་གང་མ། །
dö dang chok dang namkha gang ma
Fill desire realms unto the ends of space.
འཇིག་རྟེན་བདུན་པོ་ཞབས་ཀྱིས་མནན་ཏེ། །
jikten dünpo zhab kyi nen té
You trample underfoot the seven worlds,
ལུས་པ་མེད་པར་འགུགས་པར་ནུས་མ། །
lüpa mepar gukpar nü ma
And have the strength to summon all. (5)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་བརྒྱ་བྱིན་མེ་ལྷ་ཚངས་པ། །
chaktsal gyajin melha tsangpa
Homage to you, praised by Indra,
རླུང་ལྷ་སྣ་ཚོགས་དབང་ཕྱུག་མཆོད་མ། །
lunglha natsok wangchuk chö ma
Agni, Brahmā, Maruts,2 and Śiva.
འབྱུང་པོ་རོ་ལངས་དྲི་ཟ་རྣམས་དང་། །
jungpo rolang driza nam dang
All the hosts of bhūtas, vetālas,
གནོད་སྦྱིན་ཚོགས་ཀྱིས་མདུན་ནས་བསྟོད་མ། །
nöjin tsok kyi dün né tö ma
Gandharvas and yakṣas pay tribute to you. (6)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཏྲཊ་ཅེས་བྱ་དང་ཕཊ་ཀྱིས། །
chaktsal tré cheja dang pé kyi
Homage to you, who with traṭ and phaṭ
ཕ་རོལ་འཕྲུལ་འཁོར་རབ་ཏུ་འཇོམས་མ། །
parol trulkhor rabtu jom ma
Crush the enemies’ yantras3 to dust.
གཡས་བསྐུམ་གཡོན་བརྐྱང་ཞབས་ཀྱིས་མནན་ཏེ། །
yé kum yön kyang zhab kyi nen té
With right leg bent in and left leg extended,
མེ་འབར་འཁྲུག་པ་ཤིན་ཏུ་འབར་མ། །
mebar trukpa shintu bar ma
Shining you tread amidst flames wildly blazing. (7)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཏུ་རེ་འཇིགས་པ་ཆེན་པོས། །
chaktsal turé jikpa chenpö
Homage to Ture, the fearsome lady,
བདུད་ཀྱི་དཔའ་བོ་རྣམ་པར་འཇོམས་མ། །
dü kyi pawo nampar jom ma
Destroyer of the most powerful demons.
ཆུ་སྐྱེས་ཞལ་ནི་ཁྲོ་གཉེར་ལྡན་མཛད། །
chukyé zhal ni tronyer den dzé
With a lotus-face and a deep-furrowed brow,
དགྲ་བོ་ཐམས་ཅད་མ་ལུས་གསོད་མ། །
drawo tamché malü sö ma
You are the slayer of each and every foe. (8)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་དཀོན་མཆོག་གསུམ་མཚོན་ཕྱག་རྒྱའི། །
chaktsal könchok sum tsön chakgyé
Homage to you, whose fingers grace
སོར་མོས་ཐུགས་ཀར་རྣམ་པར་བརྒྱན་མ། །
sormö tukkar nampar gyen ma
Your heart and display the Three Jewels mudrā.
མ་ལུས་ཕྱོགས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོས་བརྒྱན་པའི། །
malü chok kyi khorlö gyenpé
You’re graced by wheels adorning every direction,
རང་གི་འོད་ཀྱི་ཚོགས་རྣམས་འཁྲུག་མ། །
rang gi ö kyi tsok nam truk ma
With dazzling radiance that overwhelms all.4 (9)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་རབ་ཏུ་དགའ་བ་བརྗིད་པའི། །
chaktsal rabtu gawa jipé
Homage to you, supremely joyous,
དབུ་རྒྱན་འོད་ཀྱི་ཕྲེང་བ་སྤེལ་མ། །
ugyen ö kyi trengwa pelma
Your splendorous crown spreading garlands of light.
བཞད་པ་རབ་བཞད་ཏུཏྟཱ་ར་ཡིས། །
zhepa rab zhé tuttara yi
Smiling and laughing, with tuttāre
བདུད་དང་འཇིག་རྟེན་དབང་དུ་མཛད་མ། །
dü dang jikten wang du dzé ma
You bring demons and worlds under control. (10)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ས་གཞི་སྐྱོང་བའི་ཚོགས་རྣམས། །
chaktsal sa zhi kyongwé tsok nam
Homage to you, who can summon
ཐམས་ཅད་འགུགས་པར་ནུས་པ་ཉིད་མ། །
tamché gukpar nüpa nyi ma
The hosts of earthly guardians.
ཁྲོ་གཉེར་གཡོ་བའི་ཡི་གེ་ཧཱུྂ་གིས། །
tronyer yowé yigé hung gi
Your frown it quivers, and the syllable hūṃ
ཕོངས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་རྣམ་པར་སྒྲོལ་མ། །
pongpa tamché nampar drolma
Delivers us all from every misfortune. (11)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཟླ་བའི་དུམ་བུའི་དབུ་རྒྱན། །
chaktsal dawé dumbü ugyen
Homage to you, so brightly adorned,
བརྒྱན་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཤིན་ཏུ་འབར་མ། །
gyenpa tamché shintu bar ma
With a sliver of moon as your crown,5
རལ་པའི་ཁྲོད་ན་འོད་དཔག་མེད་ལས། །
ralpé trö na öpakmé lé
Your locks are graced by Amitābha,
རྟག་པར་ཤིན་ཏུ་འོད་རབ་མཛད་མ། །
takpar shintu ö rab dzé ma
Whose gleaming rays stream forever forth. (12)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་བསྐལ་པ་ཐ་མའི་མེ་ལྟར། །
chaktsal kalpa tamé mé tar
Homage to you, seated in a halo
འབར་བའི་ཕྲེང་བའི་དབུས་ན་གནས་མ། །
barwé trengwé ü na né ma
Blazing with apocalyptic flames.
གཡས་བརྐྱང་གཡོན་བསྐུམ་ཀུན་ནས་བསྐོར་དགའི། །
yé kyang yön kum künné kor gé
Your right leg stretched out and lest bent inward,
དགྲ་ཡི་དཔུང་ནི་རྣམ་པར་འཇོམས་མ། །
dra yi pung ni nampar jom ma
Immersed in joy, you crush legions of foes. (13)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ས་གཞིའི་ངོས་ལ་ཕྱག་གི །
chaktsal sa zhi ngö la chak gi
Homage to you, who on the earth’s surface
མཐིལ་གྱིས་བསྣུན་ཅིང་ཞབས་ཀྱིས་བརྡུང་མ། །
til gyi nün ching zhab kyi dung ma
Strike your palms and stamp your feet;
ཁྲོ་གཉེར་ཅན་མཛད་ཡི་གེ་ཧཱུྂ་གིས། །
tronyer chen dzé yigé hung gi
Your brow deeply furrowed, with hūṃ you smash
རིམ་པ་བདུན་པོ་རྣམས་ནི་འགེམས་མ། །
rimpa dünpo nam ni gem ma
The seven netherworlds to nothing but dust. (14)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་བདེ་མ་དགེ་མ་ཞི་མ། །
chaktsal dé ma gé ma zhi ma
Homage to you, blissful, gracious and tranquil,
མྱ་ངན་འདས་ཞི་སྤྱོད་ཡུལ་ཉིད་མ། །
nya ngen dé zhi chöyul nyi ma
Whose domain is the peace of nirvāṇa.
སྭཱ་ཧཱ་ཨོཾ་དང་ཡང་དག་ལྡན་པས། །
soha om dang yangdak denpé
With oṃ and svāhā in perfect union,
སྡིག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་འཇོམས་པ་ཉིད་མ། །
dikpa chenpo jompa nyi ma
You lay to waste every terrible evil. (15)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཀུན་ནས་བསྐོར་རབ་དགའ་བའི། །
chaktsal künné kor rabga bé
Homage to you, who, immersed in rapture,
དགྲ་ཡི་ལུས་ནི་རབ་ཏུ་འགེམས་མ། །
dra yi lü ni rabtu gem ma
Shatters the bodies of all your foes.
ཡི་གེ་བཅུ་པའི་ངག་ནི་བཀོད་པའི། །
yigé chupé ngak ni köpé
You manifest from the wisdom-syllable hūṃ,6
རིག་པ་ཧཱུྂ་ལས་སྒྲོལ་མ་ཉིད་མ། །
rigpa hung lé drölma nyi ma
And display each of your mantra’s ten syllables. (16)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཏུ་རེའི་ཞབས་ནི་བརྡབས་པས། །
chaktsal turé zhab ni dabpé
Homage to Ture, your feet stomping boldly,
ཧཱུྂ་གི་རྣམ་པའི་ས་བོན་ཉིད་མ། །
hung gi nampé sabön nyi ma
Formed from the seed of the syllable hūṃ.
རི་རབ་མནྡ་ར་དང་འབིགས་བྱེད། །
rirab mendara dang bikjé
The mountains of Meru, Mandara and Vindhya,
འཇིག་རྟེན་གསུམ་རྣམས་གཡོ་བ་ཉིད་མ། །
jikten sum nam yowa nyi ma
And all the three worlds, you cause them to quake. (17)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལྷ་ཡི་མཚོ་ཡི་རྣམ་པའི། །
chaktsal lha yi tso yi nampé
Homage to you, who hold in your hand
རི་དྭགས་རྟགས་ཅན་ཕྱག་ན་བསྣམས་མ། །
ridak takchen chak na nam ma
A deer-marked moon like a divine lake.
ཏཱ་ར་གཉིས་བརྗོད་ཕཊ་ཀྱི་ཡི་གེས། །
tara nyi jö pé kyi yigé
With tāra twice and then with phaṭ,
དུག་རྣམས་མ་ལུས་པར་ནི་སེལ་མ། །
duk nam malüpar ni selma
You totally cleanse all of the poisons. (18)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལྷ་ཡི་ཚོགས་རྣམས་རྒྱལ་པོ། །
chaktsal lha yi tsok nam gyalpo
Homage to you, who is served by kings
ལྷ་དང་མིའམ་ཅི་ཡིས་བསྟེན་མ། །
lha dang mi'amchi yi ten ma
Of hosts divine, and of gods and kiṃnaras.7
ཀུན་ནས་གོ་ཆ་དགའ་བ་བརྗིད་ཀྱིས། །
künné gocha gawa ji kyi
Suited in armour of joy and splendour,
རྩོད་དང་རྨི་ལམ་ངན་པ་སེལ་མ། །
tsö dang milam ngenpa selma
You clear away nightmares, soothe away strife. (19)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་ཉི་མ་ཟླ་བ་རྒྱས་པའི། །
chaktsal nyima dawa gyepé
Homage to you, whose eyes shine with lustre,
སྤྱན་གཉིས་པོ་ལ་འོད་རབ་གསལ་མ། །
chen nyipo la ö rabsal ma
Bright with the fullness of sun and moon.
ཧ་ར་གཉིས་བརྗོད་ཏུཏྟཱ་ར་ཡིས། །
hara nyi jö tuttara yi
With twice-uttered hara and tuttāre
ཤིན་ཏུ་དྲག་པོའི་རིམས་ནད་སེལ་མ། །
shintu drakpö rimné selma
You pacify the most intractable diseases. (20)
ཕྱག་འཚལ་དེ་ཉིད་གསུམ་རྣམས་བཀོད་པས། །
chaktsal denyi sum nam köpé
Homage to you, who have the power to free,
ཞི་བའི་མཐུ་དང་ཡང་དག་ལྡན་མ། །
zhiwé tu dang yangdak den ma
You put forth the realities as a set of three.
གདོན་དང་རོ་ལངས་གནོད་སྦྱིན་ཚོགས་རྣམས། །
dön dang rolang nöjin tsok nam
Supreme Ture, you completely destroy
འཇོམས་པ་ཏུ་རེ་རབ་མཆོག་ཉིད་མ། །
jompa turé rab chok nyi ma
The hordes of grahas,8 vetālas,9 and yakṣas.10 (21)
རྩ་བའི་སྔགས་ཀྱི་བསྟོད་པ་འདི་དང་། །
tsawé ngak kyi töpa di dang
This Praise with the twenty-one verses of homage
ཕྱག་འཚལ་བ་ནི་ཉི་ཤུ་རྩ་གཅིག །
chaktsalwa ni nyishu tsa chik
Is itself the root mantra.
The Excellent Benefits of the Praise
ལྷ་མོ་ལ་གུས་ཡང་དག་ལྡན་པའི། །
lhamo la gü yangdak denpé
The wise who recite these words in earnest,
བློ་ལྡན་གང་གིས་རབ་དང་བརྗོད་དེ། །
loden gang gi rab dang jö dé
Filled with genuine devotion for this goddess, (22)
སྲོད་དང་ཐོ་རངས་ལངས་པར་བྱས་ནས། །
sö dang torang langpar jé né
At dusk, and also having risen at dawn,
དྲན་པས་མི་འཇིགས་ཐམས་ཅད་རབ་སྟེར། །
drenpé mi jik tamché rab ter
With recollection, will be granted fearlessness;
སྡིག་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་རབ་ཏུ་ཞི་བྱེད། །
dikpa tamché rabtu zhijé
They will utterly eliminate all misdeeds,
ངན་འགྲོ་ཐམས་ཅད་འཇོམས་པ་ཉིད་དོ། །
ngendro tamché jompa nyi do
And surmount all evil destinies. (23)
རྒྱལ་བ་བྱེ་བ་ཕྲག་བདུན་རྣམས་ཀྱིས། །
gyalwa jewa trak dün nam kyi
Seventy million victorious buddhas
མྱུར་དུ་དབང་ནི་བསྐུར་བར་འགྱུར་ལ། །
nyurdu wang ni kurwar gyur la
Will swiftly confer empowerment upon them,
འདི་ལས་ཆེ་བ་ཉིད་ནི་ཐོབ་ཅིང༌། །
di lé chewa nyi ni tob ching
And they will attain greatness in this world,
སངས་རྒྱས་གོ་འཕང་མཐར་ཐུག་དེར་འགྲོ། །
sangye gopang tartuk der dro
And reach the ultimate state of buddhahood. (24)
དེ་ཡི་དུག་ནི་དྲག་པོ་ཆེན་པོ། །
dé yi duk ni drakpo chenpo
Even the most powerful and toxic poisons,
བརྟན་གནས་པའམ་གཞན་ཡང་འགྲོ་བ། །
ten nepa am zhenyang drowa
Which derive from plants or living beings,
ཟོས་པ་དང་ནི་འཐུངས་པ་ཉིད་ཀྱང༌། །
zöpa dang ni tungpa nyi kyang
Whether eaten or taken as a draught,
དྲན་པས་རབ་ཏུ་སེལ་བ་ཉིད་ཐོབ། །
drenpé rabtu selwa nyi tob
Will be purged entirely by recalling this praise. (25)
གདོན་དང་རིམས་དང་དུག་གིས་གཟིར་བའི། །
dön dang rim dang duk gi zirwé
Reciting this two or three or seven times11
སྡུག་བསྔལ་ཚོགས་ནི་རྣམ་པར་སྤངས་ཏེ། །
dukngal tsok ni nampar pang té
Will eliminate multitudes of suffering
སེམས་ཅན་གཞན་པ་རྣམས་ལ་ཡང་ངོ༌། །
semchen zhenpa nam la yang ngo
Brought about by spirits, pestilence, and poison—
གཉིས་གསུམ་བདུན་དུ་མངོན་པར་བརྗོད་ན། །
nyi sum dün du ngönpar jö na
And this applies even to other beings as well. (26)
བུ་འདོད་པས་ནི་བུ་ཐོབ་འགྱུར་ཞིང༌། །
bu döpé ni bu tob gyur zhing
Those who wish for progeny will bear them;
ནོར་འདོད་པས་ནི་ནོར་རྣམས་ཉིད་ཐོབ། །
nor döpé ni nor nam nyi tob
Those who wish for riches will acquire them;
འདོད་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཐོབ་པར་འགྱུར་ལ། །
döpa tamché tobpar gyur la
Each and every wish will hereby be fulfilled,
བགེགས་རྣམས་མེད་ཅིང་སོ་སོར་འཇོམས་འགྱུར། །
gek nam mé ching sosor jom gyur
And obstacles, entirely vanquished, will be no more. (27)
བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་མ་སྒྲོལ་མ་ལ་ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱིས་བསྟོད་པ་གསུངས་པ་རྫོགས་སོ། །
Translated by Samye Translations (trans. Stefan Mang, Peter Woods, and Ryan Conlon, ed. Libby Hogg) with the kind assistance of Adam Pearcey, 2019.
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Notes:

1. In some traditions this four-line verse is added after the translator’s homage and before the actual start of the Praise. The verse conjures Tārā by drawing upon the three epithets that also form the core of her root mantra (oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā): Tārā (Deliverer), Tuttārā (Savior) and Turā (Swift One). The verse is an explanation of Tārā’s root mantra (oṁ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā) and may represent a synopsis of the Praise that follows. Some masters explain that this verse is dedicated to Green Tārā, who is considered Tārā’s principal form yet is not included in the Praise. The origin of the verse remains unclear. It may be traced back to a translation of Pang Lotsawa Lodrö Tenpa (dpang lo tsā ba blo gros brtan pa, 1276–1342).

2. Maruts are the Vedic gods of wind.

3. The word yantra (’khrul ’khor) designates an instrument or other type of mechanical device (esp. one used in warfare), or a magic diagram. It is derived from the Sanskrit root √yam, “to control.” (For more information on yantras, see Gudrun Bühnemann, “Maṇḍalas and Yantras,” in Knut A. Jacobsen (eds.), Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism, vol. ii, (Leiden: Brill, 2010): 566–572.)

4. The last two lines of this verse could be understood as: a) Tārā graces all points and bearings of the compass, and b) Tārā bears the mark(s) of (a) thousand spoked wheel(s) on her hand(s and feet), the first of the 32 major marks of a buddha.

5. Some editions read zla ba’i rtse mo, lit. “lunar peak,” instead of zla ba’i dum bu, “a sliver of moon”.

6. The various Tibetan editions read either sgrol ma or sgron ma. Based on this variant, Tibetan authors variously interpret this line as “you manifest from” (sgrol ma) or “you shine with” (sgron ma) the wisdom syllable hūṃ.

7. Kiṃnaras (mi’am ci) are a class of semi-divine beings known for their musical skills, depicted as half-horse and half-human, or half-bird and half-human.

8. Grahas (gdon) are a type of evil spirit known to exert a harmful influence on the human body and mind. Grahas are closely associated with the planets and other astronomical bodies.

9. Vetālas (ro langs) are harmful spirit who haunts charnel grounds and can take possession of corpses and reanimate them.

10. Yakṣas (gnod sbyin) are a class of semi-divine beings that haunt or protect natural places and cities. They can be malevolent or benevolent, and are known for bestowing wealth and worldly boons.

11. This instruction led to the tradition of reciting the Praise first twice, then thrice, and finally seven times. We find this, for example, in the Zabtik Drolchok (zab tig sgrol chog).

12. Please note that this colophon varies across the various Tibetan versions. Here we are following the Degé Kangyur edition of the Praise (T 438).

-- Praises to the Twenty-One Tārās, by Lotsawa House


SOURCES

1. The Sanskrit text


We have presented on pages 55 to 58 above the Sanskrit text of the Praise, edited from:

(a) Chapter 3 of the Tantra, in five editions of the Kangyur (D: De-ge; L: Lhasa; N: Nar-t'ang; P: Peking; T: Tog) and in Bu-ton Rinpoche's copy from an early edition (B).

(b) Godefroy de Blonay's edition of 1895 in his Materiaux (M), prepared from two Sanskrit manuscripts, probably from Nepal. Though too garbled for him to attempt a translation, it was still very useful when I had only the Tog Kangyur text to work from --despite the more than a hundred errors in the latter, I was able to deduce from M and T together very nearly the final text.1

(c) A remarkable quadrilingual blockprint (Q), of which Gonsar Rinpoche kindly lent me a photocopy. It gives each of the twenty-one verses of homage in Sanskrit (Lan-tsha script), Tibetan, Mongolian and Chinese, accompanied by a picture in Chinese style of the corresponding aspect of Tara in the iconographic system of Suryagupta (see below).

Another manuscript, in modern Devanagari script, of which Gonsar Rinpoche also lent a copy, proved to differ so little from M that it could well have been transcribed from it.

2. The Tibetan translation

Unfortunately, only one Tibetan translation of the Praise appears to have survived. We shall refer to its translator(s), unnamed in the Kangyur, as TT. According to the colophon given in Jetsun Drak-pa gyal-tsan's commentary, it is by the translator Nyan (late eleventh century)2 and was revised by Drak-pa gyal-tsan himself, though if this was so it is hard to see why he did not make it consistent with his commentary.3

A critical edition of the Tibetan translation, based on a variety of sources, is presented in Appendix 1. The Sanskrit text used by TT clearly differed here and there from ours, but there is no reason to regard it as any more authoritative. There are several places where our Sanskrit text makes good sense while the Tibetan needs unnatural twisting to wring any intelligible meaning out of it.

3. Indian commentaries

The Tangyur contains Tibetan translations of a set of five texts by the Kashmiri pandit Suryagupta (probably mid-ninth-century),4 which are considered to comment on the Praise in Twenty-one Homages on the level of Anuttara-yoga-tantra. As Je Ge-dun-drup in his commentary and Ka-drup Je in his Introduction to the Buddhist Tantric Systems point out, this is quite consistent with the Praise itself being Kriya-tantra, the lowest of the four levels of Tantra.

S1. Practice of the Twenty-one-fold Praise of Tara (Taradevi-stotra-ekavimsatika-sadhana-nama). P2557, eight pages (i.e. about four leaves). This quotes the twenty one-verses of homage, each one followed by a brief prose description of how to visualize the corresponding aspect of Tara: colour, seat, posture, number of faces and arms, implements and mudras.

S2. Summary of the Practice of the Venerable Arya-Tara, with the Twenty-one Branches of Ritual (no Sanskrit title). P2558, thirty-four pages. 26 chapters, describing rituals for the functions associated with each of the twenty-one Taras, and five other rituals. The ritual for entering the mandala (Tara no. 10) occupies over ten pages.

S3. Method of instruction on the Accomplishment of Tara (Tara-sadhanopadesa-krama). P2559, three pages. Maps the twenty-one Taras, plus the three Taras of Vajra Body, Vajra Speech and Vajra Mind, on to the twenty-four parts of the body and the twenty-four places of Jambudvipa.

S4. An Approach to the Twentyonefold Praise of the Lady Tara (Bhagavati-Taradevy-ekavimsati-stotropayika). P2560, twenty-two pages. After quoting each homage verse from the Praise in Twenty-one Homages, this gives a verse of commentary stating that the Tara concerned is to be meditated on; next comes a concise iconographic description as in S1, and finally a description of the ritual for Her function, more concise than S2 but mostly with what are evidently supposed to be the same mantras.

S5. Praise of the Twenty-one Taras, Called the Pure Head-Jewel (Devi-taraikavimsati-stotra-visuddha-cudamani-nama). P2561, nine pages. Describes each of the twenty-one Taras iconographically, as in S1, but in the form of verses of homage, including many remarks on the symbolism, the function of the implements, etc.

Tara Herself transmitted this cycle to Suryagupta, when he prayed to Her for three months for a cure for his leprosy (see p. 239). S1 and S2 were translated around 1100 by Mal-gyo lotsawa and S4 about 1210 by Tro-pu lotsawa Jam-pa pal (see Appendix 3). S3 (like S4) was apparently translated under Sakya-sri-bhadra while he was in Tibet (1204-13), and S5 is attributed in the Tangyur Index to Tson-dru seng-ge of Gya (d.1041).6

Apart from mantras, all the texts are in verse, except S1. Little in them relates perceptibly to the words of the Praise in Twenty-one Homages except the commentary verse in S4, which I shall translate below along with the name and iconographic description of each Tara from these texts.

Since I have no other Indian commentary on the Praise, it is appropriate to translate the Praise in accordance with Suryagupta as far as possible.

4. Tibetan commentaries

Many of the interpretations transmitted in the Tibetan commentaries must have originated in Indian commentaries now lost. Others must be Tibetan developments, at least as regards the details of how individual words are asserted to contribute to the overall meaning.

I shall quote most of the commentary of Je Gedun drup-pa (1391-1475)
, posthumously awarded the title of First Dalai Lama.7 This is called The Precious Garland, a Tika on the Twenty-one Homages to Tara.8 It will be denoted by G.

Many points in G would remain obscure without the oral tradition
, which I have received in the form of clear and detailed teachings by the Venerable Geshe Thubten Lodan based on the commentary of Ngul-chu Dharmabhadra (1772-1851).9 This commentary, The Bunch of Captivating Utpalas, an Explanation of the Praise in Twenty-one Homages to Tara,10 was written at Ngul-chu ri-puk in 1818. Its explanations will be mentioned occasionally, marked with D.

It is interesting to compare these commentaries from the Gelukpa tradition with those of Jetsun Drak-pa gyal-tsan (1147-1216), a noted translator and scholar numbered among the 'Five Greats: of the Sakyapa tradition. As lineage-holder of Suryagupta's Tara cycle,121 he wrote as many as thirteen texts on Tara, including Outlines of the Praise in Twenty-one Homages12 and Clear Light Explanation of the Praise,13 which I shall refer to as J. He is notably silent on the points where later Tibetan interpretations are at odds with the Sanskrit text, as one would expect if these interpretations gradually developed after his time.

Translation of the root text

The translation below is from the Sanskrit text and attempts to follow Suryagupta where possible. Annotations are held over to the commentary, which follows. Another version, modified to follow the Tibetan translation and accord with Tibetan interpretations, is given in Appendix 2.
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Notes:

1 Wayman's (1959) edition was based on M and D. He goes astray at the point most crucial to his rather weird theory (tritata for tri-tattva at 21a) and in verse 26, but otherwise his differences from my more widely-based edition are fairly minor.

2 D'ar-ma-drak of Nyan, recorded as having attended a congress of translators in 1076 (BA 71, 328). Bu-ton (ii. 219) says he lived twelve years in India. He translated Prajnakaramati's great commentary on the Bodhi-caryavatara, texts on Kalacakra and Tara, and other works.

3 There is a sharp contradiction at 1C, see note on vaktrab-ja.

4 See pp. 238-241.

5 Lessing and Wayman edition, pp. 126-7.

6 See p. 290.

7 See pp. 297-8.

8 sGrol ma phyag tshal nyer gcig gi tikka Rin po chei phreng ba.

9 See p. 299.

10 sGrol mar phyag tshal nyer gcig gis bstod pai rnam bshad Yid phrog utpa lai chun po zhes bya ba.

11 See Appendix 3.

12 Phyag tshal nyer gcig gi bstod pai sa bcad.

13 bsTod pai mam bshad gsal bai od zer.

14 Colophon from M.

-- In Praise of Tara: Songs to the Saviouress, by Martin Wilson


and it is inferrible, from some passages, that human sacrifices were not unknown, although infrequent, and, sometimes, typical. But these are the exceptions; and the habitual offerings may be regarded as consisting of clarified butter and the juice of the Soma plant.

The Sukta almost invariably combines the attributes of prayer and praise. The power, the vastness, the generosity, the goodness, and even the personal beauty, of the deity addressed are described in highly laudatory strains, and his past bounties, or exploits, rehearsed and glorified; in requital of which commendations, and of the libations or oblations which he is solicited to accept, and in approval of the rite in his honour, at which his presence is invoked, he is implored to bestow blessings on the person who has instituted the ceremony, and, sometimes, but not so commonly, also on the author, or reciter, of the prayer. The blessings prayed for are, for the most part, of a temporal and personal description, — wealth, food, life, posterity, cattle, cows, and horses, protection against enemies, victory over them, and, sometimes, their destruction, particularly when they are represented as inimical to the celebration of religious rites, or, in other words, people not professing the same religious faith.a

a Note a, p. 138.


There are a few indications of a hope of immortality and of future happiness; but they are neither frequent nor, in general, distinctly announced; although the immortality of the gods is recognized, and the possibility of its attainment by human beings, exemplified in the case of the demigods termed Ribhus, — elevated, for their piety, to the rank of divinities. Protection against evil spirits (Rakshasas) is, also, requested; and, in one or two passages, Yama and his office as ruler of the dead are obscurely alluded to. There is little demand for moral benefactions, although, in some few instances, hatred of untruth and abhorrence of sin are expressed, a hope is uttered that the latter may be repented of, or expiated; and the gods are, in one hymn, solicited to extricate the worshipper from sin of every kind. The main objects of the prayers, however, are benefits of a more worldly and physical character. The tone in which these are requested indicates a quiet confidence in their being granted, as a return for the benefits which the gods are supposed to derive, from the offerings made to them, in gratifying their bodily wants, and from the praises which impart to them enhanced energy and augmented power. There is nothing, however, which denotes any particular potency in the prayer, or hymn, so as to compel the gods to comply with the desires of the worshipper; — nothing of that enforced necessity which makes so conspicuous and characteristic a figure in the Hindu mythology of a later date, by which the performance of austerities for a continued period constrains the gods to grant the desired boon, although fraught with peril, and even destruction, to themselves.

The next question is: Who are the gods to whom the praises and prayers are addressed? And here we find, also, a striking difference between the mythology of the Rig-Veda and that of the heroic poems and Puranas. The divinities worshipped are not unknown to later systems: but they there perform very subordinate parts; whilst those deities who are the great gods — the Dii majores — of the subsequent period are either wholly unnamed in the Veda, or are noticed in an inferior and different capacity. The names of SIVA, of MAHADEVA, of DURGA, of KALI, of RAMA, or KRISHNA, never occur, as far as we are yet aware. We have a RUDRA, who, in after times, is identified with SIVA, but who, even in the Puranas, is of very doubtful origin and identification, whilst, in the Veda, he is described as the father of the winds, and is, evidently, a form of either Agni or Indra. The epithet Kapardin, which is applied to him, appears, indeed, to have some relation to a characteristic attribute of Siva, — the wearing of his hair in a peculiar braid: but the term has, probably, in the Veda, a different signification, — one now forgotten, — although it may have suggested, in after time, the appearance of Siva, in such a headdress, as identified with Agni. For instance, Kapardin may intimate his head being surrounded by radiating flame; or the word may be an interpolation. At any rate, no other epithet applicable to SIVA, occurs; and there is not the slightest allusion to the form in which, for the last ten centuries, at least, he seems to have been almost exclusively worshipped in India, — that of the Linga or Phallus. Neither is there the slightest hint of another important feature of later Hinduism, the Trimurti, or triune combination of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, as typified by the mystical syllable Om; although, according to high authority on the religions of antiquity, the Trimurti was the first element in the faith of the Hindus, and the second was the Lingam.a


a Creuzer, Religions de l'Antiguite, Book I., Chap, I: p. 140.


The chief deities of the Veda are, as has been noticed above, Agni and Indra. The former comprises the element of Fire under three aspects: 1st, as it exists on earth, not only as culinary, or religious, fire, but as the heat of digestion and of life, and the vivifying principle of vegetation; 2nd, as it exists in the atmosphere, or mid-heaven, in the form of lightning; and, 3rd, as it is manifested in the heavens, as light, the sun, the dawn, and the planetary bodies. The Sun, it is true, is acknowledged and hymned as a divinity, the soul of all moveable and immoveable beings; and his manifestations are already known as Adityas, including several of the names preserved in the Puranas, as Vishnu, Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman, Pushan, Bhaga, and Twashtri, who are nothing more than the Sun diversified as presiding over each month of the solar year. Still, however, the sun does not hold that prominent place, in the Vaidik liturgy, which he seems to have done in that of the ancient Persians; and he is chiefly venerated as the celestial representative of Fire.

If we advert, more particularly to the attributes of Agni, we find that confusion, in them, which might be expected from the various characters he fills. As the fire of sacrifice, he is the servant of both men and gods, conveying the invocations and the offerings of the former to the latter; he is the Hotri, or priest, who summons the gods to the ceremony; the Purohita, or family priest, who performs the rite on behalf of the master of the house.
Personified as a divinity, he is immortal, enjoying perpetual youth, endowed with infinite power and splendour, the granter of victory, of wealth, of cattle, of food, of health, of life; he travels in a car drawn by red horses; he is the source and diffuser of light, the destroyer and reviver of all things. He is known under many and various appellations; and many inferior deities are considered to be merely his manifestations. The acts and attributes of other deities are, not unfrequently, ascribed to him (p. 179): he may assume the form or nature of any other divinity (p. 184) who is invoked to a ceremonial rite. He is identified with Yama, Varuna, Mitra, with the Sun, and with the eternal Vedhas (p. 190). A curious series of allusions, evidently of a remote antiquity, identifies him with Angiras, who, in the Veda, as well as in the Puranas, is a patriarch and Rishi, and the founder of a celebrated holy family, to members of which many of the hymns of the Veda are attributed. Angiras is, in one place (p. 3), used instead of the repetition of the name Agni; and, in another, Agni is expressly called the first and chiefest Angiras (p. 79). The meaning of this myth is, apparently, explained in another passage, in which it is said that the Angiras first made sure of Agni, whence subsequent votaries preserved his fires and practised his rites (p. 187); which clearly intimates that this priestly family, or school, cither introduced worship with fire, or extended and organized it in the various forms in which it came, ultimately, to be observed. The tenour of the legend, as it was afterwards expanded in the Brahmanas and heroic poems, equally intimates the latter, and refers the multiplication, or universality, of the occasions on which fire constituted an essential element of the worship of the Hindus, to Angiras and his descendants.a

a See the passage of the Mahabharata, cited in note d, p. 3.


Of the attributes of Agni, in general, the meaning is sufficiently obvious: those of a physical character speak for themselves; and the allegory conveyed by others is, either, palpable enough, as when Agni is said to be the son of the Wind, or springs, naturally, from Hindu notions, as when he is said to be both the father and the son of the gods, — nourishing them, like a father, by the oblations he bears to them, while the act of offering those oblations is the duty of a son. The legend of his hiding in the waters, through fear of the enemies of the gods, although alluded to in more than one place (pp. 58, 177), is not very explicitly narrated; and its more circumstantial detail is, probably, the work of the Brahmanas. The allusions of the Suktas may be a figurative intimation of the latent heat existing in water, or a misapprehension of a natural phenomenon which seems to have made a great impression, in later times, — the emission of flame from the surface of water, either in the shape of inflammable air, or as the result of submarine volcanic action.a

a See the legend of Aurva, Vishnu Purana, p. 290, note.


The deification of Indra is more consistent, as he has no incongruous functions to discharge. He is a personification of the phenomena of the firmament, particularly in the capacity of sending down rain. This property is metaphorically described as a conflict with the clouds, which are reluctant to part with their watery stores, until assailed and penetrated by the thunderbolt of Indra. As in all allegories, the language of fact and fiction is apt to be blended and confounded in the description of this encounter; and the cloud, personified as a demon named Ahi or Vritra, is represented as combating Indra with all the attributes of a personal enemy, and as suffering, in the battle, mutilation, wounds, and death. In the versions of the conflict found in later works, and in the heroic poems and Puranas, the original allegory is lost sight of altogether; and Vritra becomes a real personage, an Asuru, or king of Asuras, who wages a doubtful war with the king of the gods. This contest with the clouds seems to have suggested, to the authors of the Suktas, the martial character of Indra on other occasions; and he is especially described as the god of battles, the giver of victory to his worshippers, the destroyer of the enemies of religious rites, and the subverter of the cities of the Asuras. A popular myth represents him, also, as the discoverer and rescuer of the cows, either of the priests or of the gods, which had been stolen by an Asura named Pani or Bala. Like Agni, he is the possessor and bestower of riches, and the grantor of all temporal blessings, when devoutly worshipped, and when propitiated by the Soma juice, which seems to be more especially appropriated to him, and which has the effect of inspiring him with animation and courage. Some of his attributes are, obviously, allegorical references to the locality of the firmament; as when he is said to have elevated the sun, and fixed the constellations in the sky; to be more vast than heaven and earth; and to have sundered them, when originally united (p. 169). Of another, which refers to him in the guise of a ram, no very satisfactory explanation is given; although, as remarked by M. Neve, the metamorphosis suggests some analogy between him and Jupiter Ammon. His taking part in the wars of tribes and princes, and ensuring the triumph of those he befriends, belongs to the poetical part of the personification, and arises, no doubt, from that character for personal valour derived from his metaphorical defeat of Vritra, and the real instrumentality of the electricity of the atmosphere, in the descent of fertilizing showers.

The Sun, Surya or Savitri, occupies a much less conspicuous place, in Hindu worship, than we should have anticipated from the visible magnificence of that luminary, and his adoration by neighbouring nations. We have, in the first book, only three Suktas addressed to him, individually; and they convey no very strikingly expressive acknowledgment of his supremacy. Like Agni and Indra, he is the giver of temporal blessings to his worshippers; he is the source of light, moving, with exceeding swiftness, between heaven and earth, in a chariot drawn by two white-footed horses, or, as it is sometimes said, by seven, — meaning the seven days of the week. He is said to be the healer of leprosy, which may have given rise to the more modern legend of his having cured Samba, the son of Krishna, of that disease; if it be not an unauthorized graft upon the original stem. He is represented as golden-eyed and golden-handed; mere figures of speech, although a legend is devised to account for the latter.

The text of the Veda, in one remarkable passage in the first book, recognizes a difference of degree in the relative dignity of the gods, and even in their age; enunciating veneration to the great gods, to the lesser, to the young, and to the old (p. 71). Among the lesser gods, an important share of adoration is enjoyed by a group avowedly subordinate to Indra, — involving an obvious allegory, — the Maruts, or Winds, who are naturally associated with the firmament. We have, indeed, a god of the wind, in Vayu; but little is said of him, and that, chiefly in association with Indra, — with whom he is identified by scholiasts on the Veda. The Maruts, on the contrary, are frequently addressed as the attendants and allies of Indra, confederated with him in the battle with Vritra, and aiding and encouraging his exertions. They are called the sons of Prisni, or the earth, and, also, Rudras, or sons of Rudra; the meaning  of which affiliations is not very clear, although, no doubt, it is allegorical. They are, also, associated, on some occasions, with Agni; an obvious metaphor, expressing the action of wind upon fire. It is, also, intimated that they were, originally, mortal, and became immortal in consequence of worshipping Agni, which is, also, easy of explanation. Their share in the production of rain, and their fierce and impetuous nature, are figurative representations of physical phenomena. The Scholiast endeavours to connect the history of their origin with that narrated in the Puranas, but without success; and the latter, absurd as it is, seems to have no better foundation than one proposed etymology of the name, — “ Do not (ma) weep (rodih)," — which is merely fanciful, although it is not much worse than other explanations of the name which commentators have suggested (p. 225, note a).

The Adityas, or lesser Suns, are especially the sons of Aditi, who has, in general, the character of mother of the gods, identified, in this part of the Veda, with Earth, or even with the Universe; in which case she is, evidently, allegorical. Little is said of the Adityas collectively; but some of them are individually addressed. There is no separate hymn to Vishnu; but he is mentioned as Trivikrama, or he who took three steps or paces, which Mr. Colebrooke thought might have formed the groundwork of the Pauranik legend of the dwarf Avatara. It may have been suggestive of the fiction: but no allusion to the notion of Avataras occurs in the Veda; and there can be little doubt that the three steps, here referred to, are the three periods of the sun’s course — his rise, culmination, and setting.a

a It is expressly so stated by Durgacharya, in his commentary on the Nirukta. — See Burnouf, Introduction to the 3rd vol. of the Bhagavata Purana, p. xxii.


Mitra is never addressed alone; he appears amongst the Viswadevas (or gods collectively), or associated with Varuna and Aryaman. He is said, by the Scholiast, to be a divinity presiding over the day and, in combination with Varuna, a dispenser of water. Varuna occupies a rather more conspicuous place in the hymns; he is said to be the divinity presiding over the night; and, in that capacity, probably, the constellations are called his holy acts, and the moon, it is said, moves by his command. The title of king or monarch, Raja or Samrat, is very commonly attached to his name. With Mitra, he is called the lord of light; and he supports the light on high, and makes wide the path of the sun: he grants wealth, averts evil, and protects cattle; in all which we have no trace of the station assigned to him, in later mythology, of sovereign of the waters. In one rather obscure passage, however, it is said of him, that, abiding in the ocean, he knows the course of ships; but he is, also, said, in the same stanza, to know the flight of birds and the periodical succession of the months. The notions entertained of Varuna, beyond that of his connexion with the sun, do not appear to be very precise. Aryaman is never named alone; most usually, with Mitra and Varuna: we have a text identifying him with the sun; and he is said, by the Scholiast, to preside over twilight. Pushan, besides being occasionally named, has, in the first book, a hymn to himself, the main purport of which is to solicit his protection on a journey, particularly against robbers: he is said to be the divinity, or, rather, perhaps, the Aditya, or sun, presiding over the earth. The connexion of the personified dawn, or Ushas, or, rather, many dawns, or Ushasas, with the sun forms a natural portion of solar adoration: several hymns are addressed to her, the language of which involves no mystery, but is dictated by the obvious properties of the morning, not unfrequently picturesquely and poetically described.

Demigods who are, much more frequently than any of the preceding (except the Maruts), the objects of laudation, are the two Aswins, — the sons of the Sun, according to later mythology, but of whose origin we have no such legend in the Veda, as far as we have yet gone. They are said, indeed, in one place, to have the sea (Sindhu) for their mother: but this is explained to intimate their identity, as affirmed by some authorities, with the sun and moon, which rise, apparently, out of the ocean. They are called Dasras, — destroyers, cither of foes or of diseases; for they are the physicians of the gods. They are, also, called Nasatyas, — in whom there is no untruth. They are represented as ever young, handsome, travelling in a three-wheeled and triangular car, drawn by asses, and as mixing themselves up with a variety of human transactions, bestowing benefits upon their worshippers, enabling them to foil or overcome their enemies, assisting them in their need, and extricating them from difficulty and danger. Their business seems to lie more on earth than in heaven; and they belong, by their exploits, more to heroic, than celestial, or solar, mythology. They are, however, connected, in various passages, with the radiance of the sun, and are said to be precursors of the dawn, at which season they ought to be worshipped with libations of Soma juice.

The Sabeism of the Hindus — if it may be so termed — differs entirely from that of the Chaldeans, in omitting the worship of the planets. The constellations are never named as objects of veneration or worship; and, although the moon appears to be occasionally intended under the name Soma, — particularly, when spoken of as scattering darkness, — yet the name and the adoration are, in a much less equivocal manner, applied to the Soma plant, the acid asclepias, actual or personified. The great importance attached to the juice of this plant is a singular part of the ancient Hindu ritual: it is sufficiently prominent even in this portion of the Rig-Veda: but almost the whole of the Sama-Veda is devoted to its eulogy; and this is, no doubt, little more than a repetition of the Soma Mandala of the Rich. The only explanation of which it is susceptible is, the delight, as well as astonishment, which the discovery of the exhilarating, if not inebriating, properties of the fermented juice of the plant must have excited in simple minds, on first becoming acquainted with its effects. This, however, is, of course, wholly different from any adoration of the moon or planets, as celestial luminaries, in which they do not appear to have participated with the sun.

Indra and Savitri thus have their respective satellites, dependent upon, and identifiable with, their principals. Agni does not seem to have any subordinate multiples, except in the rather anomalous deifications called Apris, which, although including certain female divinities and insensible objects, such as the doors of the sacrificial hall, are considered to be impersonations of Agni.
Brahmanaspati, also, as far as we can make out his character from the occasional stanzas addressed to him, seems to be identifiable with Agni, with the additional attribute of presiding over prayer. The characteristic properties of this divinity, however, are not very distinctly developed in this portion of the Veda.

Of Rudra, also, the character is equivocal; but it may be doubted if it partakes, in any remarkable degree, of that fierceness and wrath which belong, to the Rudra of a later date. He is termed, it is true, the slayer of heroes; but so is Indra. The effects of his anger upon men and animals are deprecated: but he is, also, appealed to as wise and bountiful, the author of fertility, and giver of happiness; and his peculiar characteristics are, evidently, his presiding over medicinal plants and removal of disease, — attributes of a beneficent, not of a malignant and irascible, deity. As above remarked, the Maruts, or winds, are termed his sons; and this relationship would assimilate him to Indra. There is, also, a class of inferior deities, termed Rudras, who, in one passage, are worshippers of Agni, and, in another, are the followers of Indra; being the same as the Maruts. So far, therefore, Rudra might be identified with Indra: but we have the name applied, unequivocally, to Agni, in a hymn exclusively dedicated to that divinity (p. 70). The term denotes, according to the Scholiast, the ‘terrible Agni:’ but there is no warrant for this, in the text; and we may be content, therefore, with the latter, to regard Rudra as a form or denomination of fire.
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Re: RigVeda Sanhita, 1st Ashtaka, Translated by H.H. Wilson

Postby admin » Sat Jan 28, 2023 6:08 am

Part 3 of 3

Of the other divine personifications which occur in this first book, the particulars are too few to authorize any unexceptionable generalization. Some of them are such as every imaginative religion creates; personifications of earth, ocean, night, and of inanimate things. Female divinities make their appearance: but they are merely named, without anything being related of them; and we have, as yet, no sufficient materials on which to construct any theory of their attributes and character. The only exception is that of Ila, who is called the daughter of Manus, and his instructress in the performance of sacrifice; but what is meant by this requires further elucidation. The Viswadevas, or universal gods, do not appear, in this part of the Vedam as the particular class which is referred to by Manu, and in the Puranas, but merely as the aggregation of the divinities elsewhere separately named, or Indra, Agni, Mitra, Varuna, and the rest.

We thus find, that most, if not all, the deities named in the hymns of the Rich — as far as those of the first Ashtaka extend, — are resolvable into three: Agni, or fire; Indra, or the firmament; and the Sun. Or, indeed, — as the sun is only a manifestation of fire, — we might resolve all the forms into two, Agni and Indra. We may, however, consent to take the assertion of Yaska, that there are, in the Veda, “three gods: Agni, on the earth; Vayu or Indra, in the sky; and Surya, in heaven; of each of whom there are many appellations, expressive of his greatness, and of the variety of his functions.” There is nothing, however, — confining our negation to the present portion of the Rich, — to warrant the other assertion of Yaska, that “all the gods are but parts of one atma, or soul, subservient to the diversification of his praises through the immensity and variety of his attributes.”a

a Nirukta, Daivata Kanda, i., 4, 5.


The Anukramanika goes further, and affirms that there is but one deity, the Great Soul (Mahan Atma); quoting, however, in support of this doctrine, a passage which, in its proper place, applies only to the Sun, who is there called (p. 304) “the soul of all that moves or is immoveable;” an expression which is, probably, to be figuratively, not literally, apprehended.

The notion of a soul of the world belongs, no doubt, to a period long subsequent to the composition of the Suktas. Whether their authors entertained any belief in a creator and ruler of the universe certainly does not appear from any passage hitherto met with; but, at the same time, the objects of the early worship of the Hindus — fire, the sky, the Soma plant, even the sun, — are addressed in language so evidently dictated by palpable physical attributes, or by the most obvious allegorical personifications, that we can scarcely think they were inspired by any deep feeling of veneration or of faith,
or that the adoration of such mere and manifest elements contemplated them in any other light than as types of the power of a creator. However extravagant the expressions, we can scarcely imagine them to have been uttered in earnest, particularly as proceeding from men of evident talent and observation, endowed with more than common intellectual activity and acuteness of perception.

Leaving the question of the primary religion of the Hindus for further investigation, we may now consider what degree of light this portion of the Veda reflects upon their social and political condition. It has been a favourite notion, with some eminent scholars, that the Hindus, at the period of the composition of the hymns, were a nomadic and pastoral people. This opinion seems to rest solely upon the frequent solicitations for food, and for horses and cattle, which are found in the hymns, and is unsupported by any more positive statements. That the Hindus were not nomads is evident from the repeated allusions to fixed dwellings, and villages, and towns; and we can scarcely suppose them to have been, in this respect, behind their barbarian enemies, the overthrow of whose numerous cities is so often spoken of. A pastoral people they might have been, to some extent; but they were, also, and, perhaps, in a still greater degree, an agricultural people, as is evidenced by their supplications for abundant rain and for the fertility of the earth, and by the mention of agricultural products, particularly, barley (p. 57). They were a manufacturing people; for the art of weaving, the labours of the carpenter, and the fabrication of golden and of iron mail, are alluded to: and, what is more remarkable, they were a maritime and mercantile people.

The kala pani (lit. black water) represents the proscription of the over reaching seas in Hinduism. According to this prohibition, crossing the seas to foreign lands causes the loss of one's social respectability, as well as the putrefaction of one’s cultural character and posterity.

The offense of crossing the sea is also known as "Samudrolanghana" or "Sagarollanghana". The Dharma Sutra of Baudhayana (II.1.2.2) lists sea voyages as first of the offenses that cause the loss of varna. The Dharma Sutra suggests a person can wipe away this offense in three years by eating little at every fourth meal time; bathing at dawn, noon and dusk; standing during the day; and seated during the night.

The reasons behind the proscription include the inability to carry out the daily rituals of traditional Hindu life and the sin of contact with the characterless, uncivilized mleccha creatures of the foreign lands. An associated notion was that crossing the ocean entailed the end of the reincarnation cycle, as the traveler was cut off from the regenerating waters of the Ganges. Such voyages also meant breaking family and social ties. In another respect, the inhabitants of the land beyond the "black water" were houglis, bad-spirited and monstrous swines who could sometimes mask their true ugliness by presenting an illusion of physical beauty or superiority. The mleccha people were spawned by immoral reprobates and blasphemously held religious belief in nāstika, albeit in different forms. They are understood to have rejected the Vedas and have ceased to worship Bhagavan, the divine Vedic God, in favor of concocted false religions and irreligions with contemptible manners of reverence. Their societies are immoral and built on deceit, subjugation, and corruption. Therefore, it was thought that true Hindus should not come under their influence or embrace their beliefs, as they will be just as deserving of contempt as a mleccha.

During the Portuguese Age of exploration, Portuguese sailors noted that Hindus were reluctant to engage in maritime trade due to the kala pani proscription. In the eighteenth century, the banias of North India even considered the crossing of the Indus River at Attock to be prohibited, and underwent purification rituals upon their return.

--Kala pani (taboo), by Wikipedia


In pre-modern times, caste really mattered, as it identified you as part of the community. This community gave you a vocation and a wife, and demanded you follow the community rules, which included giving your daughter only to a member of the caste. It was an extended family. And so anything, which led to loss of caste, acquired great significance.

Baudhayana Dharma-sutra, composed about 2,000 years ago, maybe earlier, lists this "Samudrolanghana" or "Sagarollanghana" as the first of many reasons for loss of castes (II.1.2.2). This especially applied to Brahmins, as there was fear that travel abroad prevented a Brahmin from performing various rites and rituals in the prescribed manner at the prescribed time. The belief was that movement away from the sacred Vedic fire, made one vulnerable to pollution. The contemporary ritual of "aarti" or waving of lamps when one is leaving the house is meant to create a shield to protect against pollution; the same at the time of the return is meant to wipe out all pollutants, and ensure purification...

The major epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, do not refer to sea travel...

There was definitely a thriving sea-trade to South East Asia in the Gupta Age 1,500 years ago. [4th century CE -late 6th century CE.]

-- Do Hindus lose their caste when they travel abroad?, by Devdutt Pattanaik


Not only are the Suktas familiar with the ocean and its phenomena, but we have merchants described as pressing earnestly on board ship, for the sake of gain (p. 152); and we have a naval expedition against a foreign island, or continent (dwipa), frustrated by a shipwreck (p. 307). They must, also, have made some advance in astronomical computation; as the adoption of an intercalary month, for the purpose of adjusting the solar and lunar years to each other, is made mention of (p. 65). Civilization must have, therefore, made considerable progress; and the Hindus must have spread to the sea-coast, possibly along the Sindhu or Indus, into Cutch and Gujerat, before they could have engaged in navigation and commerce. That they had extended themselves from a more northern site, or that they were a northern race, is rendered probable from the peculiar expression used, on more than one occasion, in soliciting long life, — when the worshipper asks for a hundred winters (himas); a boon not likely to have been desired by the natives of a warm climate (p. 176). They appear, also, to have been a fair-complexioned people, at least, comparatively, and foreign invaders of India; as it is said (p. 259) that Indra divided the fields among his white-complexioned friends, after destroying the indigenous barbarian races: for such, there can be little doubt, we are to understand by the expression Dasyu, which so often recurs, and which is often defined to signify one who not only does not perform religious rites, but attempts to disturb them, and harass their performers: the latter are the Aryas, the Arya, or respectable, or Hindu, or Arian race. Dasyu, in later language, signifies a thief, a robber; and Arya, a wealthy or respectable man: but the two terms are constantly used, in the text of the Veda, as contrasted with each other, and as expressions of religious and political antagonists; requiring, therefore, no violence of conjecture to identify the Dasyus with the indigenous tribes of India, refusing to adopt the ceremonial of the Aryas, a more civilized, but intrusive, race, and availing themselves of every opportunity to assail them, to carry off their cattle, disturb their rites, and impede their progress, — to little purpose, it should seem, as the Aryas commanded the aid of Indra, before whose thunderbolt the numerous cities, or hamlets, of the Dasyus were swept away.

[T]his examination focuses on the discourse concerning the Aryan race as a "shared myth" (Thapar 1992: 71) in nineteenth-century India and in Germany and as a reification of ancient textual sources in service of social practice. The Aryan myth has given historical value to ancient Indian history and has contributed to Indian nationalism during the colonial period and after the departure of the British. Myths concerning the Aryan race also served the ideological interests of Europe. The history of India could be appropriated as a means of expressing nineteenth-century European concerns with origins.

THE ARYAN CANON

Since the Aryan arrival in India is associated with the compilation of the Rig Veda, we will focus on how the construction of Aryan racial identity developed through a continued rearticulation of the authority vested in "Vedic" texts. For Indians and Westerners alike, the Veda functioned as the touchstone for Hindu orthodoxy as well as for their understanding of the Aryan. It served as a point of reference to be regarded as absolutely authoritative. Yet it provided a rather peculiar canon: open yet unerring, complete yet subject to reinterpretation. It posed multiple problems from a hermeneutical point of view.

In India, while the Vedas are revered and recognized as omniscient, the texts themselves were weakened, altered, or even lost (Renou 1965: 1). Although traditional Hinduism accedes to the infallibility and authority of the Vedas, their importance in practice was textually and historically limited (Llewellyn 1993: 95). Before the nineteenth century, they were not used beyond their ritual status as a practical guide.1 The Vedas were invoked, rather than laboriously analyzed as communicative texts. In Europe, different hermeneutic issues presented themselves, since the Veda engendered critical discussion in the form of spurious fragments, misattributions, and forgery (Figueira 1994: 201). When we speak of the reception of the Veda in pre-nineteenth-century Europe and India, we are referring to either an absent or a falsely present text. In critical terms, the Veda functioned as an aporia [a puzzle.]. It also served as a metaphor since the Vedic tradition was often culled from texts that were not strictly "Vedic," but "Vedantic"2 or even later.3 Various Sanskrit texts function therefore as mediators of knowledge between the Aryan and its Other. On the level of history, they recount truth. On the level of the text's own production, the reader mediates this truth through idiosyncratic readings and authoritative definitions of what was considered "Vedic."

As the textual reference in the formation of an ideology regarding the Aryan, the Veda also posed problems on the level of canonicity. In what manner was the Veda used to legitimize assertions of faith or law? What were accepted procedures for interpreting the Veda as a canonical text? How did it change over time and place? Was there ever an accepted interpreter whose exegesis was seen as binding (even before it was read)? To what extent did the Veda's reception characterize the situation where "the Devil can quote Scripture to his need?" A canonical literature arises through the consensus of a group elite and normally serves to stabilize that group. It lends value to the interests and products of that group. A fictive Veda or the fiction of the Veda was used to this effect in both the East and the West. In this manner, the Vedic canon could change to meet one challenge after another.

-- Aryans, Jews, Brahmins: Theorizing Authority through Myths of Identity, by Dorothy M. Figueira


We have no particular intimation of the political condition of the Hindus, except the specification of a number of names of princes, many of which are peculiar to the Veda, and differ from those of the heroic poems and Puranas. A few are identical; but the nomenclature evidently belongs to a period anterior to the construction of the dynasties of the Sun and Moon, no allusion to which, thus far, occurs. The princes named are, sometimes, described as in hostility with each other; and the condition of the provinces of India occupied by the Hindus was, no doubt, the same which it continued to be until the Mohammedan conquest, — parcelled out amongst insignificant principalities, under petty and contending princes.

Upon a subject of primary importance in the history of Hindu society, the distinctions of caste, the language of the Suktas—of the first Ashtaka, at least, — is by no means explicit. Whenever collectively alluded to, mankind are said to be distinguished into five sorts, or classes, or, literally, five men, or beings [pancha kshitayah). The commentator explains this term to denote the four castes, Brahmana, Kshattriya, Vaisya, and Sudra, and the barbarian, or Nishada: but Sayana, of course, expresses the received impressions of his own age. We do not meet with the denominations Kshattriya or Sudra in any text of the first book, nor with that of Vaisya; for Vis, which does occur, is, there, a synonym of man in general. Brahmana is met with, but in what sense is questionable. In the neuter form, Brahma, it usually implies prayer, or praise, or sacrificial food, or, in one place, preservation (p. 274); in its masculine form, Brahma, it occurs as the praiser, or reciter, of the hymn (p. 204), or as the particular priest, so denominated, who presides over the ceremonial of a sacrifice (p. 24): and in neither case does it necessarily imply a Brahmana by caste; for, that the officiating priests might not be Brahmans appears from the part taken by Viswamitra at the sacrifice of Sunahsepa, who, although, according to tradition, by birth a Kshattriya, exercises the functions of the priesthood. There is one phrase which is in favour of considering the Brahmana as the member of a caste, as distinguished from that of the military caste (p. 279): “If you, Indra and Agni, have ever delighted in a Brahmana, or a Raja, then come hither:” but even this can scarcely be regarded as decisive. A hymn that occurs in a subsequent part of the Veda has, however, been translated by Mr. Colebrooke, in which the four castes are specified by name, and the usual fable of their origin from Brahma, alluded to.a

a In the Purusha Sukta, in the eighth Ashtaka, we have this verse: “His mouth became a priest [Brahmana]; his arm was made a soldier [Kshattriya]; his thigh was transformed into a husbandman [Vaisya]; from his feet sprung the servile man [Sudra].” — Colebrooke on the Religious Ceremonies of the Hindus [SEE BELOW], Asiatic Researches, Vol. vii., p. 251.


Further research is necessary, therefore, before a final sentence can be pronounced.

From this survey of the contents of the first book of the Rig-Veda, although some very important questions remain to be answered, it is indisputably evident that the hymns it comprises represent a form of religious worship, and a state of society, very dissimilar to those we meet with in all the other scriptural authorities of the Hindus, whether Brahmanas, Upanishads, Itihasas (or heroic poems), or Puranas. Various notions, and personifications, and persons have, no doubt, been adopted from the Veda, and transmitted to subsequent periods, although, not unfrequently, with important modifications; but the great mass of the ritual, all the most popular deities, possibly the principal laws and distinctions of society, and the whole body of the heroic and Pauranik dramatis personae, have no place, no part, in the Suktas of the Rig-Veda. That the latter preceded the former by a vast interval is, therefore, a necessary inference; for the immense and complicated machinery of the whole literature and mythology of the Hindus must have been of gradual and slow development; and, as many of the genealogical and historical traditions preserved by the Ramayana, Mahabharata, the poems, plays, and Puranas, are not likely to be mere inventions, but may have had their foundations in fact, then the course of events, the extension of the Hindus through India, the origin and succession of regal dynasties, and the formation of powerful principalities, all unknown to the Sanhita, are equally indicative of the lapse of centuries between the composition of the Suktas and the date of the earliest works that are subsequent to the great religious, social, and political changes which, in the interval, had taken place. If the hymns of the Sanhita are genuine, — and there is no reason why they should not be so; if there is any shadow of truth in the historical portions of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, — and there must be some; a thousand years would not be too long an interval for the altered conditions which are depictured in the older and in the more recent compositions. Considerations deduced from the probable progress of Hindu literature are calculated to confirm this view of the distance that separates the age of the Veda from that of the later writings, and, in this manner, to lead to an approximation to the era of the former. The Suktas themselves are, confessedly, the compositions of various periods, — as we might conclude from internal evidence, — and were, probably, falling into forgetfulness, before they were collected into the Sanhitas. We then have a succession of schools engaged in collecting, arranging, and remodelling them, after which come the Brahmanas, citing their contents in a manner which proves that their collective compilation had become extensively current and was readily recognizable.

After the Brahmanas come the Sutras, rules for the application of the passages cited in the Brahmanas to religious ceremonies; the works of authors to all of whom a high antiquity is assigned, — Apastamba, Katyayana, and others, who quote the Brahmanas as their authorities. Of the philosophical Sutras, the Sankhya, which seems to be the oldest system, is, perhaps, independent of the Veda; but the Purva and Uttara Mimansas are, declaredly, intended to expound and elucidate the philosophy and the practices of the Veda, and are, therefore, necessarily subsequent to the Sanhita and Brahmana, although attributed to names of ancient celebrity, — Jaimini and Vyasa. These works were, possibly, contemporary with the liturgical aphorisms; the Vedanta Sutras being, also, posterior to the Upanishads. Now, all these writings are older than Manu, whose cosmogony is, evidently, a system of eclecticism compiled from the Upanishads, the Sankhya, and the Vedanta, and many of whose laws, I learn from Dr. Muller, are found in the liturgical Sutras. Yet Manu notices no Avataras, no Kama, no Krishna, and is, consequently, admitted to be long anterior to the growth of their worship as set forth in the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

There is, in Manu, a faint intimation that Buddhistical opinions were beginning to exert an influence over the minds of men, — in the admission that the greatest of virtues is abstinence from injury to living beings,
— which would make his laws posterior to the sixth century B.C. But, conjecturing the probable dates of the heroic poems to be about the third century B.C., we cannot place Manu lower than the fifth, or sixth, at least; beyond which we have the whole body of philosophical and Vaidik literature. This would carry us, for the age of the Brahmana, to the seventh, or eighth, at the least; and we cannot allow less than four or five centuries for the composition and currency of the hymns, and the occurrence of those important changes, both civil and religious, which the Brahmana exhibits. This will bring us to the same era as that which has previously been computed, or about twelve or thirteen centuries B.C. [???] Mr. Colebrooke, from astronomical data, would give the Suktas a higher antiquity; as he places their aggregation, or Sanhita, fourteen centuries B.C., a date not far from that which is here suggested.a

a Asiatic Researches, Vol. vii., 283, and Vol. viii., 483.


Notes (A.)

That Hindus belong to various sects is universally known; but their characteristic differences are not perhaps so generally understood. Five great sects exclusively worship a single deity; one recognises the five divinities which are adored by the other sects respectively, but the followers of this comprehensive scheme mostly select one object of daily devotion, and pay adoration to other deities on particular occasions only. Even they deny the charge of polytheism, and repel the imputation of idolatry; they justify the practice of adoring the images of celestial spirits, by arguments similar to those which have been elsewhere employed in defence of angel and image worship. If the doctrines of the Veda, and even those of the Puranas, he closely examined, the Hindu theology will be found consistent with monotheism, though it contain the seeds of polytheism and idolatry. I shall take some future occasion of enlarging on this topic: I have here only to remark, that modern Hindus seem to misunderstand the numerous texts, which declare the unity of the godhead, and the identity of Vishnu, Siva, the Sun, &c. Their theologists have entered into vain disputes on the question, which among the attributes of God shall be deemed characteristic and preeminent. Sancara Acharya, the Celebrated commentator on the Veda, contended for the attributes of Siva, and founded or confirmed the sect of Saivas, who worship Maha deva as the supreme being, and deny the independent existence of Vishnu and other deities. Mad'hava Acharya and Vallabha Acharya have in like manner established the sect of Vaishnavas, who adore Vishnu as God. The Sauras (less numerous than the two sects abovementioned) worship the Sun, and acknowledge no other divinity. The Ganapatyas adore GANESA, as uniting in his person all the attributes of the deity.

Before I notice the fifth sect, I must remind the reader that the Hindu mythology has personified the abstract and active powers of the divinity, and has ascribed sexes to these mythological personages. The Sacti, or energy of an attribute of God, is female, and is fabled as the consort of that personified attribute. The Sacti of SIVA, whose emblem is the phallus, is herself typified by the female organ. This the Sactas worhip; some figuratively, others literally.

Vopadeva, the real author of the Sri Bhagavata, has endeavoured to reconcile all the sects of Hindus by reviving the doctrines of Vyasa. He recognises all the deities, but as subordinate to the supreme being, or rather as attributes or manifestations of God. A new sect has been thus formed, and is denominated from that modern Purana. But the numerous followers of it do not seem to have well apprehended the doctrines they profess: they incline much to real polytheism, but do at least reject the derogatory notions of the divinity, which the other sects seem to have adopted.

The Vaishnavas, though nominally worshippers of Vishnu, are in fact votaries of deified heroes. The Goculast'has (one branch of this sect) adore Crishna, while the Ramanuj worship Ramachandra. Both have again branched into three sects. One consists of the exclusive worshippers of Crishna, and these only are deemed true and orthodox Vaishnavas; another joins his favourite Rad'ha with the hero. A third, called Rad'haballabhi, adores Rad'ha' only, considering her as the active power of Vishnu. The followers of these last-mentioned sects have adopted the singular practice of presenting to their own wives the oblations intended for the goddess; and those among them who follow the left-handed path (there is in most sects a right-handed or decent path, and a left-handed or indecent mode of worship), require their wives to be naked when attending them at their devotions.

Among the Ramanuj, some worship Rama only; others Sita; and others both Rama and Sita. None of them practise any indecent mode of worship; and they all, like the Goculast'has, as well as the followers of the Bhagavata, delineate on their foreheads a double upright line with chalk or with sandal wood, and a red circlet with red Sanders, or with turmeric and lime; but the Ramanuj add an upright red line in the middle of the double white one.

The Saivas are all worshippers of Siva and Bhavani conjointly, and they adore the linga or compound type of this god and goddess, as the Vaishnavas do the image of Lacshmi-Narayana. There are no exclusive worshippers of Siva besides the sect of naked gymnosophists called Lingis: and the exclusive adorers of the goddess are the Sactas. In this last-mentioned sect, as in most others, there is a right-handed and decent path, and a left-handed and indecent mode of worship: but the indecent worship of this sect is most grossly so, and consists of unbridled debauchery with wine and women. This profligate sect is supposed to be numerous though unavowed. [They are avowed in some provinces.] In most parts of India, if not in all, they are held in deserved detestation; and even the decent Sactas do not make public profession of their tenets, nor wear on their foreheads the mark of the sect, lest they should be suspected of belonging to the other branch of it. The sacrifice of cattle before idols is peculiar to this sect.

The Saivas and Sactas delineate on their foreheads three horizontal lines with ashes obtained, if possible, from the hearth on which a consecrated fire is perpetually maintained; they add a red circlet, which the Saivas make with red sanders, and which the Sactas, when they avow themselves, mark either with saffron or with turmeric and borax.

The Sauras are true worshippers of the sun; some of them, it seems, adore the dormant and active energies of the planet conjointly. This sect, which is not very numerous, is distinguished by the use of red sanders for the horizontal triple line, as well as for the circlet on their foreheads.

The Ganapalyas have branched into two sects; the one worships sudd'ha Ganapati, the other Uchch'hishta Ganapati. The followers of the latter sect pronounce their prayers with their mouths full of victuals (whence the denomination of the deity worshipped by them). The Ganapatyas are distinguished by the use of red minium for the circlet on their foreheads. The family of Brahmanas, residing at Chinchwer near Puna, and enjoying the privilege of an hereditary incarnation of Ganesa from father to son, probably belongs to this sect. We may hope for more information on this curious instance of priestcraft and credulity, from the inquiries made on the spot by the gentlemen of the embassy from Bombay, who lately visited that place.

Before I conclude this note (concerning which it should be remarked, that the information here collected rests chiefly on the authority of verbal communications), I must add, that the left-handed path or indecent worship of the several sects, especially that of the Sactas, is founded on the Tantras which are, for this reason, held in disesteem. I was misinformed when I described them as constituting a branch of literature highly esteemed though much neglected. (As. Res. vol. V. p. 54.) The reverse would have been more exact.

[Note] (B.)

This prayer, when used upon other occasions, is thus varied, "Salutation unto you, fathers, and unto the saddening season," &c. The six seasons, in the order in which they are here named, are the hot, dewy, rainy, flowery, frosty, and sultry seasons. One is indicated in this passage by the name of the month with which it begins; and a text of the Veda, alluded to by the late Sir William JONES, in his observations on the lunar year of the Hindus (As. Res. vol. iii, p. 258), specifies Tapas and Tapasya, the lunar (not the solar) Magha and P'halguna, as corresponding with Sisira: that is, with the dewy season. The text in question shall be subjoined to this note, because it may serve to prove that the Veda, from which it is extracted (Apastamba's copy of the Yajurveda usually denominated the black Yajush [Yajus]), cannot be much older than the observation of the colures recorded by Parasara [Parashara] (see As. Res. vol. ii, p. 268, and 393), which must have been made nearly 1391 years before the Christian era (As. Res. vol. v, p. 288).

Parāśara was a maharshi and the author of many ancient Indian texts....He was the grandson of Vasishtha, the son of Śakti Maharṣi....

When Parāśara's father, Sakti Maharishi died after being devoured by the king Kalmashapada along with Vashistha's other sons, Vashistha resorted to ending his life by suicide. Hence he jumped from Mount Meru but landed on soft cotton, he entered a forest fire only to remain unharmed, then he jumped into the ocean who saved him by casting him ashore. Then he jumped in the overflowing river Vipasa, which also left him ashore. Then he jumped into the river Haimavat, which fled in several directions from his fear and was named Satadru. Then when he returned to his asylum, he saw his daughter-in-law pregnant. When a son was born he acted as his father and hence forgot completely about destroying his life. Hence, the child was named Parāśara which meant enlivener of the dead.

According to the Vedas, Brahma created Vasishtha (reborn to Mitra-Varuna), who, with his wife Arundhati, had a son named Śakti Mahariṣhi who sired Parāśara. With Satyavati of Kaivartta clan Parāśara is father of Vyasa. Vyāsa sired Dhritarashtra and Pandu through his deceased step brother's wives, Ambika and Ambalika and Vidura through a hand-maiden of Ambika and Ambalika. Vyāsa also sired Shuka through his wife, Jābāli's daughter Pinjalā. Thus Parāśara was the biological great-grandfather of both the warring parties of the Mahābhārata, the Kauravas and the Pandavas....

Parāśara was raised by his grandfather Vasishtha because he lost his father at an early age. His father, Śakti Muni, was on a journey and came across an angry rākṣasa (demon) who had once been a king but was turned into a demon feeding on human flesh as a curse from Vasishtha. The demon devoured Parāśara's father. In the Vishnu Purana, Parāśara speaks about his anger from this:

"I had heard that my father had been devoured by a Rākṣasa employed by Vishwamitra: violent anger seized me and I commenced a sacrifice for the destruction of the Rākṣasas: hundreds of them were reduced to ashes by the rite, when, as they were about to be entirely exterminated, my grandfather Vasishtha said to me: Enough, my child; let thy wrath be appeased: the Rākṣasas are not culpable: thy father's death was the work of destiny. Anger is the passion of fools; it becometh not a wise man. By whom, it may be asked, is anyone killed? Every man reaps the consequences of his own acts. Anger, my son, is the destruction of all that man obtains by arduous exertions, of fame, and of devout austerities; and prevents the attainment of heaven or of emancipation. The chief sages always shun wrath: be not subject to its influence, my child. Let no more of these unoffending spirits of darkness be consumed. Mercy is the might of the righteous."...

In the Ṛgveda, Parāśara, son of Śakti Muni (Parāśara Śāktya), is the seer of verses 1.65-73 which are all in praise of Agni (the sacred fire), and part of 9.97 (v.31-44) which is in praise of Soma....

Texts attributed to Parāśara

• Speaker of the Bṛhat Parāśara Horāśāstra, abbreviated as BPHS. It is considered a foundational text of Hindu astrology.

-- Parasara, by Wikipedia


According to the Veda, the lunar Mad'hu and Mad'hava, or Chaitra and Vaisac'ha, correspond with Vasanta or the spring. Now the lunar Chaitra, here meant, is the primary lunar month, beginning from the conjunction which precedes full moon in or near Chitra, and ending with the conjunction which follows it. Vaisac'ha does in like manner extend from the conjunction which precedes full moon in or near Visac'ha to that which follows it. The five nacshatras, Hasta, Chitra, Swati, Visac'ha and Anurad'ha, comprise all the asterisms in which the full moons of Chaitra and Vaisac'ha can happen; and these lunar months may therefore fluctuate between the first degree of Uttara P'halguni and the last of Jyesht'ha. Consequently the season of Vasanta might begin at soonest when the sun was in the middle of Purva Bhadrapada, or it might end at latest when the sun was in the middle of Mrigasiras. It appears, then, that the limits of Vasania are Pisces and Taurus; that is Mina and Vrisha. (This corresponds with a text which I shall forthwith quote from a very ancient Hindu author.) Now if the place of the equinox did then correspond with the position assigned by Parasara to the colures, Vasanta might end at the soonest seven or eight days after the equinox, or at latest thirty-eight or thirty-nine days; and on a medium (that is when the full moon happened in the middle of Chitra), twenty-two or twenty-three days after the vernal equinox. This agrees exactly with the real course of the seasons; for the rains do generally begin a week before the summer solstice, but their commencement does vary, in different years, about a fortnight on either side of that period. It seems therefore a probable inference, that such was the position of the equinox when the calendar of months and seasons was adjusted as described in this passage of the Veda. Hence I infer the probability, that the Vedas were not arranged in their present form earlier than the fourteenth century before the Christian era. This, it must be acknowledged, is vague and conjectural; but, if the Vedas were compiled in India so early as the commencement of the astronomical Cali yuga, the seasons must have then corresponded with other months; and the passage of the Veda, which shall be forthwith cited, must have disagreed with the natural course of the seasons at the very time it was written. I shall now quote the passage so often alluded to in this note. "Mad'hus cha Madhavas cha Vasanticav ritu; Sucras cha Suchis cha graishmav ritu; Nabhas cha Nabasyas cha varshicav ritu: Ishas chojas cha saradav ritu; Sahas cha Sahasyas cha haimanticav ritu: Tapas cha Tapasyas cha saisirav ritu. "'Mad'hu and Mad'hava are the two portions of the season Vasanta (or the spring); Sucra and Suchi, of grishma (or the hot season); Nabhas and Nabhasya, of varsha (or the rainy season); Ijas and Ujas, of sarada (or the sultry season); and Sahas and Sahasya, of hemanta (or the frosty season); and Tapas and Tapasya, of sisira (or the dewy season).' All authors agree that Madhu signifies the month of Chaitra; Madhava the month of Vaisacha, and so forth. These names are so explained in dictionaries and by astronomical writers, as well as by the commentators on this and other passages, where these names of the months are employed. The author now before me (Divacara Bhatta) expressly says, that this text of the Veda relates to the order of the seasons according to the lunar months. He proves it by quoting a text of the Taittiriya Yajurveda, and afterwards cites the following passage from Baudhayana respecting the seasons measured by solar-sidereal time, "Mina-Meshayor Mesha-Vrishabhayor va vasantah," &c. "Vasanta corresponds with Mina and Mesha, or with Mesha and Vrisha,'' &c. It should be observed, that the secondary lunar month, which begins and ends with full-moon, cannot be here meant; because this mode of reckoning has never been universal, and the use of it is limited to countries situated to the northward of the Vind'hya range of hills, as I learn from the following passage of the Tricanda mandana: "The lunar month also is of two sorts, commencing either with the light fortnight or with the dark one. Some do not admit the month which begins with the dark fortnight; and even by them who do, it is not admitted on the south of the Vindhya mountains."

-- Essays on the Religion and Philosophy of the Hindus, by Henry Thomas Colebrooke, Esq., 1858


Astronomy in popular perception is about stars, planets, sun, moon, eclipses, comets, meteorites and associated observable phenomena. Something of all of these was known to our ancients though not in the same form and detail as it is available now. In the context of India, the question is what was known, in what detail and when...[F]or the more ancient period we have no exclusive texts other than Lagadha’s Vedānga Jyotiṣa (c 1400 BCE) which is a calendar with no reference to eclipses or planets. Hence when one talks of Vedic Times several precautions are necessary. Firstly even though for the pre-siddhāntic period many texts are available, they are neither specific to astronomy nor are they by particular authors. Second, the texts were all orally transmitted by memory for generations before they were scripted on palm leafs...

It is generally observed that Vedic culture personified celestial objects and their actions. Hence the texts carry a background that has to be deciphered for extracting the archaic models of the visible sky. When we read that a demon (asura) fell from the sky and went underground, we can safely infer that this picture should have been probably correlated in time and space with a meteorite fall. Similarly when it is said that an āsura covered Sun, we may suspect this event to be an eclipse. This allegorical approach was known to the Vedic tradition as recorded by Yāska (c 700 BCE) who records three types of interpretations for several hymns of the Ṛgveda. These are the adhiyajña, adhyātma and the adhidaiva; the sacrificial, philosophical and celestial (divine) meanings respectively. For example the adhidaiva meaning of the word Soma is Moon, whereas in a Vedic sacrifice as per the adhiyajña, Soma is a creeper of that name. In the Upaniṣads the philosophical meaning of Soma is manas or mind....

But, Yāska, quite clearly says in the Nirukta (11.4-5) that Soma is Moon whom no gods literally eat. It is easy to see that the reference in such cases is to the waning moon said to be consumed by gods on a daily basis starting from Full Moon. The Vedic seers personified celestial objects as they beheld some cosmic transcendental unity and pattern through observable natural phenomena. Hence it should not be surprising to find in Vedic sacrifices, Hindu religion and Vedānta philosophy reflections of ancient sky pictures, however hazy they might seem now. This type of modelling sky observations by our Vedic ancestors can be called scientific naturalism....

The Ṛgveda Samhitā is the most ancient literature of India available for our study.... This is the primary source for finding the most ancient celestial observations made in the Indian skies....The language of RV is by definition, Vedic Sanskrit and its style can at best be described as inspired poetry emanating out of spontaneous intuition, revelation or contemplation. Hence explaining the text strictly through analytical methods of grammar, etymology, dictionaries and linguistics will make us miss the forest for the trees.

Any one approaching RV faces the daunting problem of extracting the meanings of the hymns. This difficulty is known since the time of Yāska who already noted that RV hymns can be interpreted in several different ways. Due to the archaic nature of the Vedic language, precise meanings may remain unknown, but the overall contextual implications when read with other similar hymns should be reasonably clear. Hence when a particular event or deity is described more number of times, a clear picture of what the ancient composers meant emerges. To approach RV in this fashion, we have to follow the ancillary texts and the traditional Sanskrit commentaries, instead of going by modern day translations. This helps us to find whether the origin of a later Vedic ritual can be traced to the sky pictures of RV. Among the various editions of RV available, the Mysore Palace edition of the Ṛgveda (abbr. MPRV) is versatile1. This gives in thirty six volumes an exhaustive introduction, the text, traditional meaning, ritual application, grammatical explanation, and the complete Sanskrit commentary of Sāyaṇa along with the ancillary texts needed to follow the Ṛgveda. The translations and interpretations of the hymns given here follow closely the commentary of Sāyaṇa and the traditional explanations given by the compilers of the MPRV edition.

Astronomy is popularly understood as a subject about the sun, the moon, the planets, eclipses and comets. While the sun and the moon, even when they are lauded as deities, can be easily recognized as celestial objects it may not be so clear for a modern reader whether other objects are described in the Vedic texts. A further difficulty arises as the Hindu socio-religious pluralistic tradition in constant flux tends to attribute different meanings to the same word. A case in point is the word ketu that appears some eighty times in the RV...This word is interpreted in the Nirukta as knowledge, flag, herald, insignia, and as a memory trigger. Hence the RV word dhūmaketu which means comet in almost all Indian languages is taken by Sāyaṇa to mean an epithet for the sacrificial fire with a smoke banner. This is a typical example of the adhidaiva meaning [the foremost, preserver or “god” of all natural phenomena] getting masked in the orthodox adhiyajña tradition [relating to a sacrifice]...

-- Ancient Indian Astronomy in Vedic Texts, by R.N. Iyengar


...

It would be clear from the above, that all the skill shown in distorting the meanings of words and trying to show when these impossible or rare phenomena and contradictory planetary combinations would actually occur, has been wasted. Excepting the time of the year when the war might have happened, there is nothing in the Mahabharata to fix the year definitely. We do not have adequate data to fix either the happenings or when the work, even part by part, was written.

-- Determination of the Date of the Mahabharata: The Possibility Thereof, [Reprinted from Vishveshvaramand Indological Journal, Vol. XIV (1976) pp. 48-56.], Excerpt, from Collected Papers on Jyotisha, by T.S. Kuppanna Sastry


All this is, no doubt, to be received with very great reservation; for, in dealing with Hindu chronology, we have no trustworthy landmarks, no fixed eras, no comparative history, to guide us. In proposing the above dates, therefore, nothing more than conjecture is intended; and it may be wide of the truth. We can scarcely be far wrong, however, in assigning a very remote date to most, if not to all, the Suktas of the Rig-Veda, and in considering them to be amongst the oldest extant records of the ancient world. [???]

The text which has served for the following translation comprises the Suktas of the Rig-Veda and the commentary of Sayana Acharya, printed, by Dr. Muller, from a collation of manuscripts, of which he has given an account in his Introduction.
b



Sayana Acharya was the brother of Madhava Acharya, the prime minister of Vira Bukka Raya, Raja of Vijayanagara in the fourteenth century, a munificent patron of Hindu literature. Both the brothers are celebrated as scholars; and many important works are attributed to them, — not only scholia on the Sanhitas and Brahmanas of the Vedas, but original works on grammar and law; the fact, no doubt, being, that they availed themselves of those means which their situation and influence secured them, and employed the most learned Brahmans they could attract to Vijayanagara upon the works which bear their name, and to which they, also, contributed their own labour and learning. Their works were, therefore, compiled under peculiar advantages, and are deservedly held in the highest estimation.

The scholia of Sayana on the text of the Rig-Veda comprise three distinct portions. The first interprets the original text, or, rather, translates it into more modern Sanskrit, fills up any ellipse, and, if any legend is briefly alluded to, narrates it in detail; the next portion of the commentary is a grammatical analysis of the text, agreeably to the system of Panini, whose aphorisms, or Sutras, are quoted; and the third portion is an explanation of the accentuation of the several words. These two last portions are purely technical, and are untranslateable. The first portion constitutes the basis of the English translation; for, although the interpretation of SAYANA may be, occasionally, questioned, he undoubtedly had a knowledge of his text far beyond the pretensions of any European scholar, and must have been in possession, either through his own learning, or that of his assistants, of all the interpretations which had been perpetuated, by traditional teaching, from the earliest times.  

In addition to these divisions of his commentary, Sayana prefaces each Sukta by a specification of its author, or Rishi; of the deity, or deities, to whom it is addressed; of the rhythmical structure of the several Richas, or stanzas; and of the Vini-yoga, the application of the hymn, or of portions of it, to the religious rites at which they are to be repeated. I have been unable to make use of this latter part of the description; as the ceremonies are, chiefly, indicated by their titles alone, and their peculiar details are not to be determined without a more laborious investigation than the importance or interest of the subject appeared to me to demand.


I have, perhaps, to offer, if not an excuse, a plea, for retaining the original denominations of the divisions of the Veda, as Sanhita, Mandala, Ashtaka, Adhiyaya, Anuvaka, Sukta, and Varga, instead of attempting to express them by English equivalents. It appeared to me, however, that, although the terms Collection, Circle, Book, Lecture, Chapter, Hymn, and Section might have been taken as substitutes, and, in a general sense, were allowable, yet they in no instance exactly expressed the meaning of the originals, and their use might have conveyed erroneous impressions. I have considered it advisable, therefore, to treat the original terms as if they were proper names, and have merely rendered them in Roman characters. I do not apprehend that any great inconvenience will be experienced from the use of these original designations, their conventional purport being readily remembered. I have, also, specified the metre that is employed in each Sukta, in order to show the variety that prevails. The description of the different kinds will be found in Mr. Colebrooke’s Essay on Sanskrit and Prakrit Prosody, in the tenth volume of the Asiatic Researches.

H. H. WILSON.

July, 1850.
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Re: RigVeda Sanhita, 1st Ashtaka, Translated by H.H. Wilson

Postby admin » Sat Jan 28, 2023 6:23 am

III. Enumeration of Indian Classes
by H.T. Colebrooke, Esq.
1799

The permanent separation of Classes, with hereditary professions assigned to each, is among the most remarkable institutions of India; and, though now less rigidly maintained than heretofore, must still engage attention. On the subject of the mixed Classes, Sanskrit authorities, in some instances, disagree: Classes mentioned by one, are omitted by another; and texts differ on the professions assigned to some tribes. A comparison of several authorities, with a few observations on the subdivisions of Classes, may tend to elucidate this subject, in which there is some intricacy.

One of the authorities I shall use, is the Játimálá, or Garland of Classes; an extract from the Rudrayamala Tantra, which, in some instances, corresponds better with usage and received opinions than the ordinances of MENU, and the great D'herma-purána.*

* The texts are cited in the Vivádárnave sétu, from the Vrihad D'herma-purána. This name I therefore retain; although I cannot learn that such a purána exists; or to what treatise the quotation refers under that name. [?!]


On more important points its authority could not be compared with the D'herma-sastra; but, on the subject of Classes, it may be admitted; for the Tantras form a branch of literature highly esteemed, though at present much neglected. Their fabulous origin derives them from revelations of SIVA to PARVATI, confirmed by VISHNU, and therefore called Agama, from the initials of three words in a verse of the Tódala Tantra.

"Coming from the mouth of SIVA, heard by the mountain-born goddess, admitted by the son of VASUDEVA, it is thence called Agama."

Thirty-six are mentioned for the number of mixed classes; but, according to some opinions, that number  includes the fourth original tribe, or all the original tribes, according to other authorities: yet the text quoted from the great D'herma-purána, in the digest of which a version was translated by Mr. HALHED, name thirty-nine mixed classes; and the Jatimala gives distinct names for a greater number.

On the four original tribes it may suffice, in this place, to quote the Jatimala, where the distinction of Brahmanas, according to the ten countries to which their ancestors belonged, is noticed that distinction is still maintained.

"In the first creation, by BRA'HMA, Brahmanas proceeded, with the Véda, from the mouth of BRA'HMA. From his arms Chhatriyas sprung; so from his thigh, Vaisyas; from his foot Súdras were produced: all with their females.

"The Lord of creation viewing them, said, "What shall be your occupations?" They replied, "We are not our own masters, oh, God! Command us what to undertake.

"Viewing and comparing their labours, he made the first tribe superior over the rest. As the first had great inclination for the divine sciences, (Bráhmevéda,) therefore he was Brahmana. The protector from ill, (Cshate) was Cshatriya; him whose profession (Vésa) consists in commerce, which promotes success in war, for the protection of himself and of mankind; and in husbandry, and attendance on cattle, called Vaisya. The other should voluntarily serve the three tribes, and therefore he became a Súdra: he should humble himself at their feet."

And in another place:

"A chief of the twice-born tribe was brought by VISHNU's eagle from Sáca dwipa: thus have Sáca dwipa Brahmanas become known in Jambu dwipa.

"In Jambu dwipa Brahmanas are reckoned tenfold; Sareswata, Cányacubja, Gauda, Maithila, Utcala, Drávidà, Maraháshtra, Tailanga, Gujjava, and Casmira, residing in the several countries whence they are named. (1.)

(1.) These several countries are Sareswata, probably the region watered by the river Sersutty, as it is marked in maps; unless it be a part of Bengal, named from the branch of the Bhagirathi, which is distinguished by this appellation, Canyacubja, or Canoj; Gaurá, probably the western Gár, and not the Gaur of Bengal; Mit'hila, or Tirabhuti, corrupted into Tirhut; Utcala, said to be situated near the celebrated temple of Jagannat'ha; Drávidà, pronounced Dravira; possibly the country described by that name, as a maritime region south of Carnata, (As. Res. vol. ii. p. 117.) Marahashtra, or Marhátta; Telinga, or Telingana; Gujjara, or Guzrat: Casmira, or Cáshmir.


"Their sons and grand-sons are considered as Cányacubja priests, and so forth. Their posterity, descending from MENU, also inhabit the southern regions: others reside in Anga Banga and Calinga; some in Camrupa and Odra. Others are inhabitants of Sumbhadesa: and twice-born men, brought by former Princes, have been established in Báda Mágadha, Varéndra, Chóla, Swernagráma, China Cula, Saca, and Berbera." (1.)

(1.) Anga includes Bhagalpur. Benga, or Bengal Proper, is a part only of the Suba. Varéndra, or tract of inundation north of the Ganges, is a part of the present Zila of Rajesháhi. Calinga is watered by the Godáveri, (Asi. Res. vol. iii. p. 48.) Camrupal, an ancient empire, is become a province of Asam. Odra I understand to be Orisa Proper. Rada (if that be the true reading) is well known as the country west of the Bhagiratha. Mágadha, or Magadha, is Bahar Proper; Chola is part of Birbhum. Another region of this name is mentioned in the Asiatick Researches, vol. iii. p. 48. Swernagráma, vulgarly Sunargau, is situated east of Dacca. China is a portion of the present Chinese empire. On the rest I can offer no conjecture. Saca and Berbera, here mentioned, must differ from the Dwipa, and the region situated between the Cusha and Sancha Dwypas.


I shall proceed, without further preface, to enumerate the principal mixed classes, which have sprung from intermarriages of the original tribes.

1. Murd'habhishičta, from a Bráhmana by a girl of the Cshatriya class: his duty is the teaching of military exercises. The same origin is ascribed in the great D'herma-purána to the Cumbhacára, ( 2,)

(2) Vulgarly, Cumár.


or potter, and Tantraváya, (3,)

(3) Vulgarly, Tanti.


or weaver: but the Tantraváya, according to the Jatimala, sprung from two mixed classes, begotten by a man of the Manibandha on a woman of the Manicára tribe.

2. Ambasht'ha, or Vaidya, (4,)

(4.) Vulgarly, Baidya.


whose profession is the science of medicine, was born of a Vaisya woman, by a man of the sacerdotal class. The same origin is given by the D'herma-purána to the Cansacára, (5,)

(5) Vulgarly, Caserá.


or brazier, and to the Sanc'hacára, (6,)

(6) Vulgarly, Sac'hèra.


or worker in shells. These again are stated, in the Tantra, as springing from the intermarriages of mixed classes; the Cansacára from the Támracúta and the Sanc'hacára; also named Sanchadáreca, from the Rájaputra and Gándhica: for Rajaputras not only denote Chhatriyas as sons of kings, but is also the name of a mixed class, and of a tribe of fabulous origin.

Rudra-Yámala Tantra: "The origin of Rajaputras is from the Vaisya on the daughter of an Ambasht'ha. Again, thousands of others sprung from the foreheads of cows kept to supply oblations."

3. Nisháda, or Parasava, whose profession is catching fish, was born of a Súdra woman by a man of a sacerdotal class. The name is given to the issue of a legal marriage between a Brahmana and a woman of the Súdra class. It should seem that the issue of other legal marriages in different classes were described by the names of mixed classes springing from intercourse between the several tribes. This, however, is liable to some question; and since such marriages are considered as illegal in the present age, it is not material to pursue the inquiry.

According to the D'herma-purana, from the same origin as the Nisháda springs the Varajiví, or astrologer. In the Tantra, that origin is given to the Bráhme-sudra, whose profession is to make chairs or ſstools used on some religious occasions. Under the name of Varajivi (1)

(1) Vulgarly, Baraiya.


is described a class springing from the Gópa and Tantravaya, and employed in cultivating beetle. The profession of astrology, or, at least, that of making almanacks, is assigned, in the Tantra, to degraded Brahmanas.

"Brahmanas, falling from their tribe, became kinsmen of the twice-born class: to them is assigned the profession of ascertaining the lunar and solar days."

4. Mábishya is the son of a Chhatriya by a woman of the Vaisya tribe. His profession is music, astronomy, and attendance on cattle.

5. Ugra was born of a Súdra woman by a man of the military class. His profession, according to Menu, is killing or confining such animals as live in holes: but, according to the Tantra, he is an encomiast or bard. The same origin is attributed to the Nápita (1)

(1) Vulgarly, Náya, or Nai.


or barber; and to the Maudaca, or confectioner. In the Tantra, the Nápita is said to be born of a Cuverina woman by a man of the Patticára class.

6. Carana (2)

(2) Vulgarly, Caran.


from a Vaisya, by a woman of the Súdra class, is an attendant on princes, or secretary. The appellation of Cáyast'ha (3)

(3) Vulgarly, Cait.


is in general considered as synonimous with Carana; and accordingly the Carana tribe commonly assumes the name of Cáyast'ha; but the Cayast'has of Bengal have pretensions to be considered as true Súdras, which the Jatimala seems to authorize; for the origin of the Cayast'ha is there mentioned, before the subject of mixed tribes is introduced, immediately after describing the Gópa as a true Súdra.

One, named Bhútidatta, was noticed for his domestic assiduity, (4;)

(4) Literally, Staying at home, (Cáéy sansthitah,) whence the etimology of Cayast'ha.


therefore the rank of Cayast' ha was by Brahmanas assigned to him. From him sprung three sons, Chitrangada, Chitraséna, and Chitragupta: they were employed in attendance on princes.

The D'herma-purána assigns the same origin to the Tambuli, or beetle-seller, and to the Tanlica, or areca-seller, as to the Carana.

The six above enumerated are begotten in the direct order of the classes. Six are begotten in the inverse order.

7. Suta, begotten by a Cshatriya, on a woman of the priestly class. His occupation is managing horses, and driving cars. The same origin is given, in the Purána, to the Málácára (1)

(1) Máli.


or florist; but he sprung from the Carmacára and Tailica classes, if the authority of the Tantra prevails.

8. Mágadha, born of a Cshatriya girl, by a man of the commercial class, has, according to the Sastra, the profession of travelling with merchandize; but, according to the Purána and Tantra, is an encomiast. From parents of those classes sprung the Gópa (2)

(2) Góp.


if the Purána may be believed; but the Tantra describes the Gópa as a true Súdra, and names Gópajivi (3)

(3) Góaria-Góp.


a mixed class, using the same profession, and springing from Tantraváya Manibandha classes.

9 and 10. Vaideha and Ayogava. The occupation of the first, born of a Bráhmeni by a man of the commercial class, is waiting on women: the second, born of a Vaisya woman by a man of the servile class, has the profession of a carpenter.

11. Cshattri, or Cshatta, sprung from a servile man by a woman of the military class, is employed in killing and confining such animals as live in holes. The same origin is ascribed by the Purána to the Carmacára, or smith, and Dása, or mariner. The one is mentioned in the Tantra without specifying the classes from which he sprung; and the other has a different origin, according to the Sastra and Tantra.

All authorities concur in deriving the Chándala from a Súdra father and Brahmenì mother. His profession is carrying out corpses, and executing criminals; and officiating in other abject employments for public service.

A third set of Indian classes originate from the intermarriages of the first and second set: a few only have been named by MENU; and, excepting the Abhira, or milkman, they are not noticed by the other authorities to which I refer. But the Purána names other classes of this set.

A fourth set is derived from intercourse between the several classes of the second set: of these also few have been named by MENU; and one only of the fifth set, springing from intermarriages of the second and third set; and another of the sixth set, derived from intercourse between classes of the second and fourth set. MENU adds to these classes four sons of outcasts.

The Tantra enumerates many other classes, which must be placed in lower sets*,

* See the annexed rule formed by our late venerable President.


and ascribes a different origin to some of the classes in the third and fourth sets.

These differences may be readily apprehended from the comparative table annexed. To pursue a verbose comparison would be tedious, and of little use; perhaps, of none; for I suspect that their origin is fanciful; and, except the mixed classes named by MENU, that the rest are terms for professions rather than classes; and they should be considered as denoting companies of artisans, rather than distinct races. The mode in which AMERA SINHA mentions the mixed classes and the professions of artisans, seems to support this conjecture.

However, the Jatimala expressly states the number of forty-two mixed classes, springing from the intercourse of a man of inferior class with a woman of superior class. Though, like other mixed classes, they are included under the general denomination of Súdra, they are considered as most abject, and most of them now experience the same contemptuous treatment as the abject mixed classes mentioned by MENU. According to the Rudrayamala, the domestic priests of twenty of these classes are degraded. "Avoid," says the Tantra, "the touch of the Chandála, and other abject classes; and of those who eat the flesh of kine, often utter forbidden words, and perform none of the prescribed ceremonies; they are called Moléchcha, and going to the region of Yavana, have been named Yavanas.

"These seven, the Rajaca, Chermacára, Nata, Baruda, Caiverta, and Médabhilla, are the last tribes. Whoever addociates with them, undoubtedly falls from his class; whoever bathes or drinks in wells or pools which they have caused to be made, must be purified by the five productions of kine; whoever approaches their women, is doubtless degraded from his class."

"For women of the Nata and Capála classes, for prostitutes, and for women of the Rajaca and Nápita tribes, a man should willingly make oblations, but by no means dally with them."

I may here remark, that, according to the Rudrayamála, the Nata and Natáca are distinct; but the professions are not discriminated in that Tantra. If their distinct occupations, as dancers and actors, are accurately supplied, dramas are of very early date.

The Pundraca and Pattasutracára, or feeder of silk-worms, and silk-twifser, deserve notice; for it has been said, that silk was the produce of China solely until the reign of the Greek Emperor JUSTINIAN, and that the laws of China jealously guarded the exclusive production. The frequent mention of silk in the most ancient Sanscrit books would not fully disprove that opinion; but the mention of an Indian class, whose occupation it is to attend silk-worms, may be admitted as proof, if the antiquity of the Tantra be not questioned. I am informed, that the Tantras collectively are noticed in very ancient compositions; but, as they are very numerous, they must have been composed at different periods; and the Tantra which I quote, might be thought comparatively modern. However, it may be presumed that the Rudra-yamala is among the most authentic, and, by a natural inference, among the most ancient; since it is named in the Durgameháta, where the principal Tantras are enumerated*.

* Thus enumerated, Cali-Tantri, Múndmálá, Tárá, Nirbána-Tantra, Servar sárun, Bira-Tantra, Singár-chana, Bhúta-Tantra, Uddisan and Calicácalpa, Bhairavi-Tantra, and Bhairavicalpa, Tódala, Mátribehédancha, Máya-Tantra, Biréswara, Biseves-ára, Samaya-Tantra, Brahma-Yámala-Tantra, Rudra-Yámala-Tantra, Sanctryamala-Tantra, Gayatri-Tantra, Cálicácula Servaswa, Culárnnava, Yogini-Tantra, and the Tantra Mehishamarddini. These are here universally known, Oh, BHAIRAVI, greatest of souls! And many are the Tantras uttered by SAMBHU.


In the comparative Tables to which I have referred, the classes are named, with their origin, and the particular professions assigned to them. How far every person is bound, by original institutions, to adhere rigidly to the profession of his class, may merit some enquiry. Lawyers have largely discussed the texts of law concerning this subject, and some difference of opinion occurs in their writings. This, however, is not the place for entering into such disquisitions. I shall therefore briefly state what appears to be the best established opinion, as deduced from the texts of MENU, and other legal authorities.

The regular means of subsistence for a Brahmana, are assisting to sacrifice, teaching the Védas, and receiving gifts; for a Cshatriya, bearing arms; for a Vaisya, merchandize, attending on cattle, and agriculture; for a Súdra, servile attendance on the higher classes. The most commendable are, respectively for the four classes, teaching the Véda, defending the people, commerce, or keeping herds or flocks, and servile attendance on the learned and virtuous priests.

A Brahmana, unable to subsist by his duties, may live by the duty of a soldier: if he cannot get a subsistence by either of these employments, he may apply to tillage, and attendance on cattle, or gain a competence by traffick, avoiding certain commodities. A Cshatriya, in distress, may subsist by all these means; but he must not have recourse to the highest functions. In seasons of distress, a further latitude is given. The practice of medicine, and other learned professions, painting and other arts, work for wages, menial service, alms and usury, are among the modes of subsistence allowed to the Brahmana and Cshatriya. A Vaisya, unable to subsist by his own duties, may descend to the servile acts of a Súdra. And a Súdra, not finding employment by waiting on men of the higher classes, may subsist by handicrafts; principally following those mechanical occupations, as joinery and masonry; and practical arts, as painting and writing; by following of which he may serve men of superior classes and, although a man of a lower class is in general restricted from the acts of a higher class, the Súdra is expressly permitted to become a trader or a husbandman.

Besides the particular occupations assigned to each of the mixed classes, they have the alternative of following that profession which regularly belongs to the class from which they derive their origin on the mother's side: those, at least, have such an option, who are born in the direct order of the classes, as the Múrdhábhishcta, Ambasht'ha, and others. The mixed classes are also permitted to subsist by any of the duties of a Súdra; that is, by menial service, by handicrafts, by commerce, or by agriculture.

Hence it appears that almost every occupation, though regularly it be the profession of a particular class, is open to most other classes; and that the limitations, far from being rigorous, do, in fact, reserve only one peculiar profession, that of the Bráhmana, which consists in teaching the Véda, and officiating at religious ceremonies.

The classes are sufficiently numerous; but the subdivisions of classes have further multiplied distinctions to an endless variety. The subordinate distinctions may be best exemplified from the Brahmana and Cáyast'ha, because some of the appellations, by which the different races are distinguiſhed, will be familiar to many readers.

The Brahmanas of Bengal are descended from five priests, invited from Cányacubja, by A'DISURA, King of Gaura, who is said to have reigned about three hundred years before Christ. These were Bhatta Nerayna, of the family of Sandila, a son of Casyapa; Dacsha, also a descendant of Casyapa; Védagarva, of the family of Vatsa Chandra, of the family of Saverna, a son of Casyapa; and Sri Hershu, a descendant of Bhavadwaja.

From these ancestors have branched no fewer than a hundred and fifty-xix families, of which the precedence was fixed by BALLA'LA SE'NA, who reigned in the twelfth century of the Christian æra. One hundred of these families settled in Varendra, and fifty-six in Rara. They are now disperfed throughout Bengal, but retain the family distinctions fixed by BALLA'LA SE'NA. They are denominated from the families to which their five progenitors belonged, and are still considered as Cányacubja Brahmanas.

At the period when these priests were invited by the king of Gaura, some Sareswata Brahmanas, and a few Vaidicas, resided in Bengal. Of the Brahmanas of Sareswata none are now found in Bengal; but five families of Vaidicas are extant, and are admitted to intermarry with the Brahmanas of Rárá.

Among the Brahmanas of Váréndra, eight families have pre-eminence, and eight hold the second rank.*

* VARI'NDRA BRAHMANAS.
CULINA 8.

Moitra./Lahari
Bhima, or Cali. /Bhaduri
Rudra-Vagisi. / Sadhu-Vagisi.
Sanyamini, or Sandyal. / Bhadara.

The last was admitted by the election of the other seven.

Sudha Sro'tri' 8.
Cashta Sro'tri' 84.

The names of these families seldom occur in common intercourse.


Among those of Rárá, six hold the first rank.†

RARI'YA BRAHMANAS.
CULINA 6.

Muchuti, Vulgarly Muc'herja. / Ghoshala.
Ganguli. / Bandyagati, Vulgarly, Banoji.
Canjelala. / Chat'ati. Vulgarly, Chatoji.
SRO'TRI' 50.

The names of these families seldom occur in common intercourse.


The distinctive appellations of the several families are borne by those of the first rank; but in most of the other families they are disused; and Serman, or Sermà, the addition common to the whole tribe of Brahmanas, is assumed. For this practice, the priests of Bengal are censured by the Brahmanas of Mit'hilá, and other countries, where that title is only used on important occasions, and in religious ceremonies.

In Mit'hilá the additions are fewer, though distinct families are more numerous: no more than three sirnames are in use in that district, T'hácura, Misra, and Ojhá; each appropriated in any families.

The Cayast' has of Bengal claim descent from five Cayast' has who attended the priests invited from Canyacubja. Their descendants branched into eighty-three families, and their precedence was fixed by the same prince BALLA'LA SENA, who also adjusted the family rank of other classes.

In Benga and Decshina Rárá three families of Cáyast”-has have pre-eminence; eight hold the second rank.*

* CA'YAST'HAS of DECSHINA RA'RA' and BENGA.
CULINA 3.

Ghosha.
Vasu, Vul. Bo'se.
Mitra.
SANMAULICA 8.
De, / Sena.
Datta. / Sinha.
Cara. / Dasa.
Palita. / Guha.
MAULICA 72.
Guhan / Soma. / Sanya, or Sain. / Syama, &c.
Teja, &c.
Chaci, &c.
Gana. / Pui.
Heda. / Rudra.
Huhin. / Pala. / Suin, &c.
Naga. / Aditya.
Bhadre. / Chandra.
The others are omitted for the sake of brevity; their names seldom occur in common intercourse.


The Cayast'has of inferior rank generally assume the addition of Dása, common to the tribe of Súdras, in the same manner as other classes have similar titles common to the whole tribe. The regular addition to the name of Cshatriya is Verman; to that of a Vaisya, Gupta; but the general title of Déva is commonly assumed; and, with a feminine termination, is also borne by women of other tribes.

The distinctions of families are important in regulating intermarriages. Genealogy is made a particular study; and the greatest attention is given to regulate the marriages according to established rules, particularly in the first marriage of the eldest son. The principal points to be observed are, not to marry with in the prohibited degrees; nor in a family known by its name to be of the same primitive stock; nor in a family of inferior rank; nor even in an inferior branch of an equal family; for within some families gradations are established. Thus, among the Culina of the Cayast' has, the rank has been counted from thirteen degrees; and in every generation, so long as the marriage has been properly assorted, one degree has been added to the rank. But should a marriage be contracted in a family of a lower degree, an entire forfeiture of such rank would be incurred.

The subject is intricate; but any person, desirous of acquiring information upon it, may refer to the writings of Gat'tácas, or genealogists, whose compositions are in the provincial dialect, and are known by the name of Culaji.

-- Enumeration of Indian Classes, by H.T. Colebrooke, Esq., Asiatic Researches, Volume V, p. 54. 1799
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