The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Preface
• Introduction
• Errata
• Vedic Hymns
• Agnİ
• Savitṛ́
• MarÚtas
• VİṢṆu
• Dyá̄vĀ-pṚthiví̄
• Índra
• RudrÁ
• Apá̄Ṃ NÁpĀt
• MitrÁ
• Bṛ́haspÁti
• UṢÁs
• AgnÍ
• ParjÁnya
• PŪṢÁn
• Á̄pas
• Mitrá̄-vÁruṆĀ
• Sú̄rya
• AŚvÍnĀ
• VÁruṆa
• MaṆḌŪkĀs
• VÍŚve Devá̄Ḥ
• SÓma
• Funeral Hymn
• PitÁras
• Hymn of the Gambler
• PÚruṢa
• Rá̄trĪ
• Hymn of Creation
• YamÁ
• Vá̄ta
• Vocabulary
• Abbreviations

PARJÁNYA

This deity occupies quite a subordinate position, being celebrated in only three hymns. His name often means ‘rain-cloud’ in the literal sense; but in most passages it represents the personification, the cloud then becoming an udder, a pail, or a water-skin. Parjanya is frequently described as a bull that quickens the plants and the earth. The shedding of rain is his most prominent characteristic. He flies around with a watery car, and loosens the water-skin; he sheds rain-water as our divine (ásura) father. In this activity he is associated with thunder and lightning. He is in a special degree the producer and nourisher of vegetation. He also produces fertility in cows, mares, and women. He is several times referred to as a father. By implication his wife is the Earth, and he is once called the son of Dyaus.

v. 83. Metre: 1. 5-8. 10. Triṣṭubh; 2-4. Jagatī; 9. Anuṣṭubh.

See Page Number 104, Hymn Number 1 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 1

  áchā vada tavásaṃ gīrbhír ābhíḥ;
• stuhí Parjányaṃ; námasá̄ vivāsa.
• kánikradad vṛṣabhó jīrádānū
• réto dadhāti óṣadhīṣu gárbham.

Invoke the mighty one with these songs; praise Parjanya; seek to win him with obeisance. Bellowing, the bull of quickening gifts places seed in the plants as a germ.

áchā: with final vowel metrically lengthened in the second syllable of the Pāda. vada: the poet addresses himself. vivāsa: ds. of van win. kánikradat: see iv. 50, 5 d. vṛṣabhás: Parjanya. jīrádānū: Sandhi, 47; his quickening gift is rain = rétas in d. gárbham: as apposition to rétas, Parjanya quickens the growth of plants with rain.

See Page Number 105, Hymn Number 2 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 2

  ví vṛkṣá̄n hanti utá hanti rakṣáso:
• víśvaṃ bibhāya bhúvanaṃ mahá̄vadhāt.
• utá̄nāgā īṣate vṛ́ṣṇiāvato,
• yát Parjányaḥ stanáyan hánti duṣkṛ́taḥ.

He shatters the trees and he smites the demons: the whole world fears him of the mighty weapon. Even the sinless man flees before the mighty one, when Parjanya thundering smites the evil-doers.

bibhāya: pf. of bhī = pr. (p. 342 a). mahá̄vadhāt: a Bv. owing to its accent (p. 455 c). vṛ́ṣṇyāvatas: Parjanya; abl. with verbs of fearing (p. 316 b). ánāgās: with irr. accentuation of the privative an- in a Bv. (p. 455 c α and f. n. 2). This word is here contrasted with duṣkṛ́tas; hence the utá before it has the force of even. On the internal Sandhi of duṣkṛ́t see 43, 2 a.

See Page Number 105, Hymn Number 3 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 3

  rathí̄ iva káśayá̄śvāṁ̆ abhikṣipánn,
• āvír dūtá̄n kṛṇute varṣíāṁ̆ áha.
• dūrá̄t siṃhásya stanáthā úd īrate,
• yát Parjányaḥ kṛṇuté varṣíaṃ nábhaḥ.

Like a charioteer lashing his horses with a whip he makes manifest his messengers of rain. From afar arise the thunders of the lion, when Parjanya makes rainy the sky.

rathí̄: N. of rathín, much less common than rathí̄, N. rathí̄s. The contraction rathí̄va also occurs in x. 51, 6; rathí̄r iva is much commoner and would have been metrically better here. dūtá̄n: the clouds. siṃhásya stanáthāḥ: condensed for ‘the thunders of Parjanya like the roars of a lion. varṣyàm: predicative acc.; on the accent of this form and of varṣyà̄n in b, see p. 450, 2 b. kṛṇuté: note that kṛ follows the fifth class in the RV., kṛṇóti, &c.; karóti does not appear till the AV., cp. p. 145, 4.

See Page Number 105, Hymn Number 4 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 4

  prá vá̄tā vá̄nti; patáyanti vidyúta;
• úd óṣadhīr jíhate; pínvate súaḥ.
• írā víśvasmai bhúvanāya jāyate,
• yát Parjányaḥ pṛthiví̄ṃ rétasá̄vati.

The winds blow forth, the lightnings fall; the plants shoot up; heaven overflows. Nurture is born for the whole world when Parjanya quickens the earth with seed.

vá̄nti, jíhate (2. hā go) are both accented as antithetical (p. 468, 19 β) to the two following verbs patáyanti (itv., 168), pínvate, which are accented as beginning new sentences (p. 466, 19 A a); cp. also note on bá̄dhate, i. 35, 9 c. On the secondary root pinv see 134, 4 β. írā: the rain shed by Parjanya makes the earth productive (cp. 1 c, d). Note that the preceding Jagatī triplet (2-4) is bound together by a refrain beginning with yát Parjányaḥ and varying the idea ‘when Parjanya rains’.

See Page Number 107, Hymn Number 5 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 5

  yásya vraté pṛthiví̄ nánnamīti;
• yásya vraté śaphávaj járbhurīti,
• yásya vratá óṣadhīr viśvárūpāḥ:
• sá naḥ, Parjanya, máhi śárma yacha.

In whose ordinance the earth bends low; in whose ordinance hoofed animals leap about; in whose ordinance plants are omniform, as such, O Parjanya, bestow mighty shelter on us.

yásya vraté: that is, in obedience to whose law. nánnamīti: int. of nam (see 173, 2 b; 172 a). śaphávat: that which has hoofs, used as a n. collective. járbhurīti: int. of bhur quiver (174 a). óṣadhīs: the following adj. viśvárūpāḥ is most naturally to be taken predicatively, like the verbs in a and b. sá: as nom. corr. followed by the voc.: as such, O Parjanya. yacha: ipv. of yam.

See Page Number 107, Hymn Number 6 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 6

  divó no vṛṣṭíṃ, Maruto, rarīdhvaṃ;
• prá pinvata vṛ́ṣṇo áśvasya dhá̄rāḥ.
• arvá̄ṅ eténa stanayitnúnéhi,
• apó niṣiñcánn ásuraḥ pitá̄ naḥ.

Give us, O Maruts, the rain of heaven; pour forth the streamsof your stallion. Hither with this thunder come, pouring down the waters as the divine spirit our father.

divás: this might be abl., from heaven, as it is taken to be by Sāyaṇa; but it is more probably gen., being parallel to áśvasya dhá̄rāḥ in b; cp. ix. 57, 1, prá te dhá̄rā, divó ná, yanti vṛṣṭáyaḥ thy streams go forth like the rains of heaven. rarīdhvam: 2. pl. pr. ipv. of rā give (cp. p. 144, B 1 a). Marutas: the storm gods, as associated with rain, are in a b invoked to bestow rain, which is described as water shed by their steed (as also in i. 64, 6 and ii. 34, 13). vṛ́ṣṇo áśvasya: = stallion. In c d Parjanya is again addressed. stanayitnúnéhi: the accent alone (apart from the Pada text) shows that this is a contraction not of -nā ihi (which would be -nehi), but of -nā éhi, which would normally be -náihi; -néhi is based on the artificial contraction -ná̄ (= -nā á̄) + ihi. The same Sandhi occurs in Índréhi (i. 9, 1) for Índra á̄ ihi. With stanayitnúnā cp. stanáyan in 2 d and stanáthās in 3 c. apás = vṛṣṭím in a and dhá̄rās in b. ásuraḥ pitá̄ naḥ: as appositional subject of the sentence, with the 2. ipv. íhi; cp. sá in 5 d with the voc. Parjanya and the 2. ipv. yacha. The two epithets are applied to other gods also, such as Dyaus, whom in his relation to Earth Parjanya most resembles.

See Page Number 108, Hymn Number 7 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 7

  abhí kranda; stanáya; gárbham á̄ dhā;
• udanvátā pári dīyā ráthena.
• dṛ́tiṃ sú karṣa víṣitaṃ níañcaṃ:
• samá̄ bhavantu udváto nipādá̄ḥ.

Bellow towards us; thunder; deposit the germ; fly around with thy water-bearing car. Draw well thy water-skin unfastened downward: let the heights and valleys be level.

stanáya: accented as forming a new sentence. gárbham: cp. 1 d, réto dadhāti óṣadhīṣu gárbham. dhās: 2. s. root ao. sb. of 1. dhā. dīyā: with final vowel metrically lengthened. dṛ́tim: the rain-cloud, here compared with a water-skin, doubtless like the leather bag made of a goat-skin still used in India by water-carriers. víṣitam (from si tie): untied so as to let the water run out. nyàñcam: predicative: = so that the untied orifice turns downward. samá̄s: that is, may the high and the low ground be made level by the surface of the water covering both.

See Page Number 109, Hymn Number 8 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 8

  mahá̄ntaṃ kóśam úd acā, ní ṣiñca;
• syándantāṃ kulyá̄ víṣitāḥ purástāt.
• ghṛténa dyá̄vāpṛthiví̄ ví undhi;
• suprapāṇáṃ bhavatu aghniá̄bhyaḥ.

Draw up the great bucket, pour it down; let the streams released flow forward. Drench heaven and earth with ghee; let there be a good drinking place for the cows.

The process of shedding rain is here compared with the drawing up of a pail from a well and pouring out its contents. acā: metrical lengthening of the final a. ní ṣiñca: Sandhi, 67 c. purástāt: according to Sāyaṇa eastward, because ‘rivers generally flow eastwards’; but though this is true of the Deccan, where he lived, it is not so of the north-west of India, where the RV. was composed. ghṛténa: figuratively of rain, because it produces fatness or abundance. dyá̄vāpṛthiví̄: Pragṛhya, but not analysed in the Pada text (cp. i. 35, 1 b). undhi: 2. s. ipv. of ud wet = unddhi. This Pāda is equivalent in sense to 7 d. suprapāṇám: note that in the Pada text this compound is written with a dental n, indicating that this was regarded by the compilers of that text as the normal internal Sandhi (see 65 b).

See Page Number 110, Hymn Number 9 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 9

  yát, Parjanya, kánikradat,
• stanáyan háṃsi duṣkṛ́taḥ,
• prátīdáṃ víśvaṃ modate,
• yát kíṃ ca pṛthivyá̄m ádhi.

When, O Parjanya, bellowing aloud, thundering, thou smitest the evil-doers, this whole world exults, whatever is upon the earth.

yát Parjanya: cp. 2 d. háṃsi: 2. s. pr. of han (66 A 2). yát kiṃ ca: indefinite prn., whatever (19 b), explains idáṃ víśvam this world; if a verb were expressed it would be bhávati.

See Page Number 110, Hymn Number 10 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 10

  ávarṣīr varṣám: úd u ṣú̄ gṛbhāya;
• ákar dhánvāni átietavá̄ u.
• ájījana óṣadhīr bhójanāya kám;
• utá prajá̄bhyo avido manīṣá̄m.

Thou hast shed rain: now wholly cease; thou hast made the deserts passable again. Thou hast made the plants to grow for the sake of food; and thou hast found a hymn of praise from (thy) creatures.

This concluding stanza, implying that Parjanya has shed abundant rain, describes its results.

ávarṣīs: 2. s. s ao. of vṛs. u ṣú̄: on the Sandhi see 67 c; on the meaning of the combination, see under u and sú, 180. gṛbhāya: this pr. stem is sometimes used beside gṛbhṇá̄ti. ákar: 2. s. root ao. of kṛ. áti-etavái: cp. p. 463, 14 b α. ájījanas: cp. I d and 4 b. kám: see 180. Here we have the exceptional intrusion of a Jagatī Pāda in a Triṣṭubh stanza (p. 445, f. n. 7). avidas: a ao. of vid find, thou hast found = received. prajá̄bhyas: abl., from creatures in gratitude for the bestowal of rain.