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

PŪṢÁN

This god is celebrated in eight hymns, five of which occur in the sixth Maṇḍala. His individuality is vague, and his anthropomorphic traits are scanty. His foot and his right hand are mentioned; he wears braided hair and a beard. He carries a golden spear, an awl, and a goad. His car is drawn by goats instead of horses. His characteristic food is gruel (karambhá).

He sees all creatures clearly and at once. He is the wooer of his mother and the lover of his sister (Dawn), and was given by the gods to the Sunmaiden Sūryā as a husband. He is connected with the marriage ceremonial in the wedding hymn (x. 85). With his golden aerial ships Pūṣan acts as the messenger of Sūrya. He moves onward observing the universe, and makes his abode in heaven. He is a guardian who knows and beholds all creatures. As best of charioteers he drove downward the golden wheel of the sun. He traverses the distant path of heaven and earth; he goes to and returns from both the beloved abodes. He conducts the dead on the far-off path of the Fathers. He is a guardian of roads, removing dangers out of the way; and is called ‘son of deliverance’ (vimúco nápāt). He follows and protects cattle, bringing them home unhurt and driving back the lost. His bounty is often mentioned. ‘Glowing’ (á̄ghṛṇi) is one of his exclusive epithets. The name means ‘prosperer’, as derived from puṣ, cause to thrive. The evidence, though not clear, indicates that Pūṣan was originally a solar deity, representing the beneficent power of the sun manifested chiefly in its pastoral aspect.

vi. 54. Metre: Gāyatrī.

See Page Number 111, Hymn Number 1 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 1

  sáṃ, Pūṣan, vidúṣā naya,
• yố áñjasānuśá̄sati,
• yá evédám íti brávat.

Conjoin us, O Pūṣan, with one that knows, who shall straightway instruct us, and who shall say (it is) ‘just here’.

vidúṣā: inst. governed by the sense of association produced by the combination of naya (nī lead) with sám: cp. p. 308, 1 a. The meaning is: ‘provide us with a guide’. anu-śá̄sati (3. s. pr. sb.): who shall instruct us where to find what we have lost. idám: not infrequently, as here, used adverbially when it does not refer to a particular substantive. brávat: 3. s. pr. sb. of brū.

See Page Number 112, Hymn Number 2 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 2

  sám u Pūṣṇá̄ gamemahi,
• yó gṛhá̄ṃ̇̆ abhiśá̄sati,
• imá evéti ca brávat.

We would also go with Pūṣan, who shall guide us to the houses, and shall say (it is) ‘just these’.

u: see p. 221, 2; on its treatment in the Pada text, p. 25, f. n. 2. Pūṣṇá̄: see note on vidúṣā, 1 a. gamemahi (a ao. op. of gam): we would preferably go with Pūṣan as our guide. gṛhá̄n: that is, the sheds in which our lost cattle are.

See Page Number 112, Hymn Number 3 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 3

  Pūṣṇáś cakráṃ ná riṣyatí,
• ná kóśǒ áva padyate;
• nố asya vyathate pavíḥ.

Pūṣan’s wheel is not injured, the well (of his car) falls not down; nor does his felly waver.

nó: = ná u, also not; on the Sandhi cp. 24. kóśó va: on the Sandhi accent, see p. 465, 17, 3. asya: unaccented, p. 452, B c. Sāyaṇa explains cakrám as Pūṣan’s weapon, and pavís as the edge of that weapon. But this is in the highest degree improbable because the weapon of Pūṣan is a spear, an awl, or a goad; while his car is elsewhere mentioned, as well as the goats that draw it, and he is called a charioteer.

See Page Number 113, Hymn Number 4 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 4

  yố asmai havíṣá̄vidhan,
• ná táṃ Pūṣá̄pi mṛṣyate:
• prathamó vindate vásu.

Him who has worshipped him with oblation Pūṣan forgets not: he is the first that acquires wealth.

asmai: Pūṣan; on the syntax, see 200, A 1 f; on loss of accent, see p. 452 B c. ápi: verbal prp. to be taken with mṛṣ. prathamás: the man who worships Pūṣan.

See Page Number 113, Hymn Number 5 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 5

  Pūṣá̄ gá̄ ánu etu naḥ;
• Pūṣá̄ rakṣatu árvataḥ;
• Pūṣá̄ vá̄jaṃ sanotu naḥ.

Let Pūṣan go after our cows; let Pūṣan protect our steeds; let Pūṣan gain booty for us.

ánu etu: to be with them and prevent injury or loss. rakṣatu: to prevent their being lost.

See Page Number 113, Hymn Number 6 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 6

  Pú̄ṣann, ánu prá gá̄ ihi
• yájamānasya sunvatáḥ,
• asmá̄kaṃ stuvatá̄m utá.

O Pūṣan, go forth after the cows of the sacrificer who presses Soma, and of us who praise thee.

ánu prá ihi: cp. p. 468, 20 a. yájamānasya: of the institutor of the sacrifice. stuvatá̄m: of the priests as a body.

See Page Number 114, Hymn Number 7 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 7

  má̄kir neśan; má̄kīṃ riṣan;
• má̄kīṃ sáṃ śāri kévaṭe:
• áthá̄riṣṭābhir á̄ gahi.

Let not any one be lost; let it not be injured; let it not suffer fracture in a pit: so come back with them uninjured.

neśat: inj. ao. of naś be lost (see 149 a 2). riṣat: a ao. inj. of riṣ. śāri: ps. ao. inj. of śṝ crush. áriṣṭābhis: supply góbhis.

See Page Number 114, Hymn Number 8 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 8

  śṛṇvántaṃ Pūṣáṇaṃ vayám,
• iryam ánaṣṭavedasam,
• í̄śānaṃ rāyá īmahe.

Pūṣan, who hears, the watchful, whose property is never lost, who disposes of riches, we approach.

ánaṣṭa-vedasam: who always recovers property that has been lost; he is also called ánaṣṭa-paśu: whose cattle are never lost; cp. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7. rāyás: gen. dependent on í̄śānam (see 202 A a). īmahe: 1. pl. pr. Ā. of ī go governing the acc. Pūṣáṇam: cp. 197 A 1.

See Page Number 114, Hymn Number 9 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 9

  Pú̄ṣan, táva vraté vayáṃ
• ná riṣyema kádā caná:
• stotá̄ras ta ihá smasi.

O Pūṣan, in thy service may we never suffer injury: we are thy praisers here.

Pú̄ṣan táva: note the Sandhi (40, 2). vraté: that is, while abiding in thy ordinance. smasi: 1. pl. of as be; c gives the reason for the hope expressed in a b.

See Page Number 115, Hymn Number 10 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 10

  pári Pūṣá̄ parástã̄d
• dhástaṃ dadhātu dákṣiṇam:
• púnar no naṣṭám á̄jatu.

Let Pūṣan put his right hand around us from afar: let him drive up for us again what has been lost.

parástād: the ā to be pronounced dissyllabically (cp. p. 437, a 8). pári dadhātu: for protection. dhástam = hástam: 54. naṣṭám: from naś be lost; cp. ánaṣṭavedasam in 8 b. á̄jatu: the meaning of the vb. shows that by the n. naṣṭám what is lost cows are intended.