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Art. XIX. —The First Maṇḍala of the Ṛig-Veda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Frederic Pincott
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Extract

The paper which. I formerly wrote on the Rig-Veda was merely intended to lay down the general principles which guided the ancient Arranger of that venerable collection of poems. It was my good fortune to be the first to lay before scholars the following discoveries:—

1. That the hymns of the Ṛig-Veda are arranged in the order of their diminishing length.

2. That the First Maṇḍala differs from the rest, and that it possesses a special arrangement of its own.

3. That Maṇḍalas II. to VII. are uniform in character.

4. That the hymns of the Ninth Maṇḍala are manifestly arranged according to the metre and length of the hymns.

5. That certain long hymns in the Ṛig-Veda can be resolved into short sets of verses.

6. That the Tenth Maṇḍala consists of, at least, two collections, showing a distinct mark of cleavage between the 84th and 85th hymns.

Type
Original Communications
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 19 , Issue 4 , October 1887 , pp. 598 - 624
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1887

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References

page 598 note 1 Journal of the Roy. Asiat. Soc., Vol. XVI. Part II.Google Scholar

page 598 note 2 Sept.-Oct., 1886, p. 183; Feb.-March, 1887, p. 191. As the whole of M. Bergaigne's papers are based on my discoveries, it would have been more courteous had that gentleman made a more prominent allusion to me than an obscure reference at the end of the first paper, for the purpose of dissenting from an unimportant detail in my long article.

page 599 note 1 At the end of his second paper, M. Bergaigne gives a list of 184 hymns, and parts of hymns, in the Ṛig-Veda which he regards as interpolations.

page 600 note 1 In the 83rd hymn of this Maṇḍala Gotama makes the following statements about his family: “The Ângirasas first prepared the sacrificial food, and then, with kindled fire, (worshipped) with a most holy rite: they, the institutors (of the ceremony), acquired all the wealth of Paṇi, comprising horses, and cows, and (other) animals.”

page 600 note 2 See the 80th hymn of this Maṇḍala.

page 600 note 3 See ProfMüller, Max's Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 38.Google Scholar

page 600 note 4 Ibid. p. 446.

page 601 note 1 The Śatapatha-Brâhmaṇa reckons only seven Brahmarshis, by omitting Agasti from its list; but Agasti is a Devarshi of the highest rank, and the progenitor of an orthodox Gotra or family.

page 602 note 1 Here it may be pointed out that the names of the families represented in the First Maṇḍala themselves indicate Solar attributes; thus, Bhṛigu “the scorching,” Angiras “the swift,” Viśvâmitra “the universal friend,” Vasishṭha “most wealthy.” The meaning of Agasti is doubtful; the suggested rendering, “mountain-thrower,” is more than problematical. On the other hand, the meaning of Atri “the devourer,” and that of Kaśyapa “with black teeth,” may imply allusions to Lunar eclipse. These are probably mere coincidences; but they curiously accord with the rest of the evidence adduced. Atri may mean “the devourer (of clarified butter),” and Kaśyapa's having been the first human pupil of Agni, would connect these two also with Solar worship.

page 603 note 1 This is plainly shown by the inclusion of the Gaupâyana hymn in the Fifth or Âtreya Maṇḍala.

page 604 note 1 The hymns are said to have been ‘seen’ by Kutsa, of the race of Angiras, or the son of Angiras; but the relationship of these remote progenitors is decidedly problematical. Kutsa may have been an old, or specially influential, member of the Bhâradvâja family, and may have been accounted a Devarshi in consequence; or, being already accounted a Devarshi, hymns ascribed to him may have been selected to represent the Bhâradvâja family. It is remarkable that Yâska, in his. Nirukta, quotes Kautsa as a heterodox disbeliever.

page 606 note 1 In proof that the early Hindùs were familiar with this system of placing ceremonial observances on each side of a medial act, I cite what the Satapatha-Brâhmaṇa says of this arrangement of the Purushamedha sacrifice: “Thereof the Agnishṭoma is the first day; the next is the Ukthya; the next is the Atirâtra; then comes the Ukthya; and next the Agnishṭoma; thus it is enclosed on boti, sides by the Ukthya and the Agnishṭoma.”

page 611 note 1 The legend that Vishṇu stepped three times is found in the 22nd hymn of this Maṇḍala; but the steps were taken “to uphold righteous acts,” and Vishṇu was aided in the performance “by the seven metres,” without allusion to the eight Gâyatrī feet.

page 614 note 1 It may be only a coincidence, but still it deserves notice that the number of stanzas which M. Bergaigne proposes to reject from the First Maṇḍala as interpolations, amount to 177; but as he hesitates about rejecting the tenth stanza of Hymn 45, we may reduce this number to 176. He would, however, reject the whole of hymns 162–164, which specially relate to the Horse-sacrifice; and he would also omit the last hymn (191), addressed to the Sun. These are just the hymns which I consider specially significative of the true character of the Maṇḍala. However this may be, they comprise 103 stanzas, which, deducted from his total rejections 176, leave 73 as remainder, exactly the number which 1973 is in excess of 1900 stanzas, which would allow 100 riches to each of the 19 Ṛishis. It would thus appear that M. Bergaigne's investigations tend to strengthen my conclusions generally. The above certainly shows that if hymns 162, 163, 164, and 191 be considered integral parts of the First Maṇḍala, and the remaining 73 stanzas be rejected which M. Bergaigne holds to be interpolations, we get exactly the 1900 riches needed to provide the Rishis with 100 each.

page 615 note 1 I am, of course, aware that the particular Śâkhâ preserved to us is that of the Śâkalas, and this appears to have been the Śâkhâ followed by Śaunaka, of the Śunaka-gotra, of the Bhṛigu race. But this does not imply that the text we possess is the Bhârgava version, and therefore unsuitable as a foundation for arguments relating specially to the Bhâradvâjas; for the Prâtiśâkhya of this Śâkhâ claims to follow the Sanhitâ of the Śaiśârīya-śâkhâ. Now Śiśira and Mudgala, both founders of Bhâradvâja Gotras, are cited as two of the five students of the Śâkala School who propagated varying recensions of the Ṛig-veda; hence I infer that the Bhâradvâjas were intimately associated with the Śâkalâs. Śaunaka, also, though reckoned an adherent to the Śâkala School, yet openly differed from the Śâkalas on various points.

page 618 note 1 It deserves remark, however, that Ambarīsha is, also, the name of one of the ancestors invoked by the Kautsa-gotra of the Bhâradvâja race. Was this ancestor and the king of Ayodhya the same person? The lists of Gotras and Ancestors preserved to us date however from only the Sûtra period of Sanskrit literature; and we know that, long before that time, the meaning of many Vedic words and expressions had become matter of speculation, and the subjects of improbable fables.

page 619 note 1 It is clear from other hymns of this Maṇḍala that by this term is meant all the dwellers on earth; thus the 7th hymn says that “Indra rules over the five classes of the dwellers on earth;” and the 89th hymn, wishing to express the universality of Aditi, says, “Aditi is all the gods; Aditi is the five ćlasses of men;” and the 117th hymn says that Atri was “venerated by the five classes of men,” meaning that all mankind honoured him.

page 620 note 1 It deserves remark that the Śatapatha-Brâhmaṇa expressly tells us that the sacrifice is fivefold. The words are: “The Purushamedha occupies five days, and is the greatest rite of sacrifice. The sacrifice is fivefold, and fivefold are the sacrificial animals; five are the seasons included in the year. Whatever is fivefold in celestial matters may be obtained through this.”

page 623 note 1 See pp. 607 and 620 note.