The Online Library of Liberty

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• 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

MAṆḌŪKĀS

The following hymn, intended as a spell to produce rain, is a panegyric of frogs, who are compared during the drought to heated kettles, and are described as raising their voices together at the commencement of the rains like Brahmin pupils repeating the lessons of their teacher.

vii. 103. Metre: Triṣṭubh; 1. Anuṣṭubh.

See Page Number 141, Hymn Number 1 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 1

  saṃvatsaráṃ śaśayāná̄
• brāhmaṇá̄ vratacāriṇaḥ,
• vá̄caṃ Parjányajinvitāṃ
• prá maṇḍú̄kā avādiṣuḥ.

The frogs having lain for a year, like Brāhmans practising a vow, have uttered forth their voice roused by Parjanya.

saṃvatsarám: acc. of duration of time (197, 2). śaśayāná̄s: pf. pt. Ā. of śī lie(p. 155, f. n. 1). brāhmaṇá̄s: i. e. like Brahmins. vratacāríṇas: i. e. practising a vow of silence. Parjánya-jinvitām: because the frogs begin to croak at the commencement of the rainy season; on the accent see p. 456, 2 α. avādiṣur: iṣ ao. of vad (145, 1).

See Page Number 142, Hymn Number 2 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 2

  divyá̄ á̄po abhí yád enam á̄yan,
• dṛ́tiṃ ná śúṣkaṃ, sarasí̄ śáyānam,
• gávām áha ná māyúr vatsínīnāṃ,
• maṇḍú̄kānāṃ vagnúr átrā sám eti.

When the heavenly waters came upon him lying like a dry leatherbag in a lake, then the sound of the frogs unites like the lowing of cows accompanied by calves.

divyá̄ á̄paḥ: the rains. enam: collective = the frogs; cp. the sing. maṇḍú̄kaḥ in 4 c used collectively. á̄yan: ipf. of i (p. 130). sarasí̄: loc. of sarasí̄ according to the primary ī dec. (cp. p. 87). A dried-up lake is doubtless meant. gávām: 102, 2; p. 458, c. 1. átrā (metrically lengthened): here as corr. to yád (cp. p. 214).

See Page Number 142, Hymn Number 3 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 3

  yád īm enāṁ̆ uśató abhy ávarṣīt
• tṛṣyá̄vataḥ, prāvṛ́ṣi á̄gatāyām,
• akhkhalīkṛ́tyā, pitáraṃ ná putró,
• anyó anyám úpa vádantam eti.

When he has rained upon them the eager, the thirsty, the rainy season having come, one with a croak of joy approaches the other while he speaks, as a son (approaches) his father.[ ]

īm: see p. 220, 2. uśatás (pr. pt. A. pl. of vaś desire): longing for rain. ávarṣīt: iṣ ao. of vṛṣ: if the subject were expressed it would be Parjanya. prāvṛ́ṣi: loc. abs. (see 205, 1 b). akhkhalīkṛ́tyā: see 184 d; the final of this gd. may be regarded as retaining the original long vowel rather than metrically lengthening a short vowel, though it always appears with ǎ in the Pada text. anyás: i. e. maṇḍú̄kas.

See Page Number 143, Hymn Number 4 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 4

  anyó anyám ánu gṛbhṇāti enor,
• apá̄ṃ prasargé yád ámandiṣātām.
• maṇḍú̄ko yád abhívṛṣṭaḥ kániṣkan,
• pṛ́śniḥ saṃpṛṅkté háritena vá̄cam.

One of the two greets the other when they have revelled in the discharge of the waters. When the frog, rained upon, leaps about, the speckled one mingles his voice with (that of) the yellow one.

enos: gen. du., of them two(112 a). gṛbhṇāti: 3. s. pr. of grabh. ámandiṣātām: 3. du. Ā. iṣ ao. of mand exhilarate. maṇḍú̄kas: in a collective sense. kániṣkan: 3. s. inj. int. of skand leap (= kániṣkandt), see 174 b. Note that this form in the Pada text is kániskan, because in the later Sandhi s is not cerebralized before k (cp. 67). The use of the inj. with yád is rare. saṃ-pṛṅkté: 3. s. Ā. pr. of pṛc mix.

See Page Number 143, Hymn Number 5 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 5

  yád eṣām anyó aniásya vá̄caṃ,
• śāktásyeva vádati śikṣamāṇaḥ,
• sárvaṃ tád eṣāṃ samṛ́dheva párva
• yát suvá̄co vádathaná̄dhi apsú.

When one of them repeats the speech of the other, as the learner[ ]that of his teacher, all that of them is in unison like a lesson that eloquent ye repeat upon the waters.

eṣām: cp. enos in 4 a. samṛ́dhā: the interpretation of c is uncertain because of the doubt as to the form and meaning of this word, and because of the many senses of párva. It has accordingly been very variously explained. The above rendering is perhaps the most probable. samṛ́dhā: inst. of samṛ́dh, lit. growing together, then unison, harmony. párvan, joint, then a section in Vedic recitation. Thus c would be an explanation of b, the voices of the frogs sounding together like those of pupils reciting a lesson after their teacher. vádathana: see p. 125, f. n. 3; change, as often, from 3. prs. to 2. ádhi: 176, 2 a(p. 209).

See Page Number 144, Hymn Number 6 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 6

  gómāyur éko, ajámāyur ékaḥ;
• pṛ́śnir éko; hárita éka eṣām.
• samānáṃ ná̄ma bíbhrato vírūpāḥ.
• purutrá̄ vá̄caṃ pipiśur vádantaḥ.

One lows like a cow, one bleats like a goat; one is speckled, one of them is yellow. Bearing a common name, they have different colours. In many ways they adorn their voice in speaking.

gómāyus: cp. 2 c. pṛ́śnis, háritas: cp. 4 d. samānám: they are all called frogs, though they have different voices and colours. bíbhratas: N. pl. pr. pt. of bhṛ (p. 132). purutrá̄: note that the suffix in words in which the vowel is always long in the Saṃhitā text (as in devatrá̄, asmatrá̄, &c.) is long in the Pada text also; while in others like átra, in which it is only occasionally lengthened metrically, the vowel is always short in that text. pipiśur: they modulate the sound of their voices (cp. a).

See Page Number 145, Hymn Number 7 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 7

  brāhmaṇá̄so atirātré ná sóme,
• sáro ná pūrṇám abhíto, vádantaḥ,
• saṃvatsarásya tád áhaḥ pári ṣṭha,
• yán, maṇḍūkāḥ, prāvṛṣí̄ṇaṃ babhú̄va.

Like Brahmins at the over-night Soma sacrifice speaking around as it were a full lake, ye celebrate that day of the year which, O Frogs, has begun the rains.

atirātré: this is the name of a part of the Soma sacrifice in the ritual of the Yajurveda. Its performance lasted a day and the following night. Its mention in the RV. shows that it is ancient. sáro ná: as it were a lake, a hyperbolic expression for a large vessel filled with Soma. abhítas: 177, 1. pári ṣṭha: lit. be around, then celebrate; cp. pári car go round, then attend upon, honour; on the Sandhi, cp. 67 c. prāvṛṣí̄ṇaṃ babhú̄va: has become one that belongs to the rainy season.

See Page Number 145, Hymn Number 8 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 8

  brāhmaṇá̄saḥ somíno vá̄cam akrata,
• bráhma kṛṇvántaḥ parivatsarí̄ṇam.
• adhvaryávo gharmíṇaḥ siṣvidāná̄,
• āvír bhavanti; gúhiā ná ké cit.

Soma-pressing Brahmins, they have raised their voice, offering their yearly prayer. Adhvaryu priests, heated, sweating, they appear; none of them are hidden.

brāhmaṇá̄sas: ná need not be supplied (as in 1 b), the frogs being identified with priests. somínas: celebrating a Soma sacrifice, which expresses much the same as sáro ná pūrṇám abhítaḥ in 7 b. vá̄cam akrata: cp. vádantas in 7 b. akrata: 3. pl. Ā. root ao. of kṛ (148, 1 b). bráhma: with b cp. 7 c, d. gharmíṇas is meant to be ambiguous: oppressed with the heat of the sun (frogs), busied with hot milk (priests). Here we already have a reference to the Pravargya ceremony in which milk was heated in a pot, and which was familiar in the ritual of the Brāhmaṇas. siṣvidāná̄s: pf. pt. Ā. of svid; note that the cerebralized initial of the root is restored in the Pada text; cp. kániṣkan in 4 c. āvís: see p. 266, b.

See Page Number 146, Hymn Number 9 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 9

  deváhitiṃ jugupur dvādaśásya:
• ṛtúṃ náro ná prá minanti eté.
• saṃvatsaré, prāvṛ́ṣi á̄gatāyāṃ,
• taptá̄ gharmá̄ aśnuvate visargám.

They have guarded the divine order of the twelvemonth: these men infringe not the season. In a year, the rain time having come, the heated milk-offerings obtain release.

deváhitim: on the accent see p. 456, 2 a. jugupur: pf. of gup protect. dvādaśásya: note the difference of accent and inflexion between dvá̄daśa twelve (104) and dvādaśá consisting of twelve, twelfth (107); supply saṃvatsarásya from c. In the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa the year, saṃvatsara, is called dvādaśa consisting of twelve months and caturviṃśa consisting of twenty-four half-months. The gen. naturally depends on deváhitim, as being in the same Pāda. Prof. Jacobi understands dvādaśásya as the ordinal twelfth supplying má̄sasya month, and making it depend on ṛtúm in the next Pāda. This interpretation is then used as evidence to show that the beginning of the year was held in the period of the RV. to commence with the rainy season at the time of the summer solstice, and taken in conjunction with another reference in the RV. to the rainy season at the period to furnish an argument for the very early date of the RV. But there is no trace here of any reference to the end of the year: saṃvatsaré in c denotes ‘in the course of the year at the rainy season’. náras: here again no particle of comparison. minanti: from mī damage; cp. 7 c, d. saṃvatsaré: cp. 203, 3 a. prāvṛ́ṣi á̄gatāyām: loc. abs. as in 3 b. taptá̄ gharmá̄ḥ is meant to be ambiguous: heated milk-pots with reference to the priests (cp. adhvaryávo gharmíṇaḥ in 8 c) and dried up cavities with reference to the frogs (cp. tṛṣyá̄vatas in 3 b). aśnuvate (3. pl. Ā. pr. of aṃś obtain) visargám obtain release or discharge, i. e. the milk-pots are emptied (and become cool), and the cavities in which the frogs are hidden let them out (and are cooled by the rain), cp. āvír bhavanti in 8 d.

See Page Number 147, Hymn Number 10 in PDF for Sanskrit Version

• 10

  gómāyur adād, ajámāyur adāt,
• pṛ́śnir adād, dhárito no vásūni.
• gávāṃ maṇḍú̄kā dádataḥ śatá̄ni,
• sahasrasāvé prá tiranta á̄yuḥ.

He that lows like a cow has given us riches, he that bleats like a goat has given them, the speckled one has given them, and the yellow one. The frogs giving us hundreds of cows prolong our life in a thousandfold Soma pressing.

gómāyus &c. (cp. 6 a): the various kinds of frogs are here represented as taking the place of liberal institutors of sacrifice in giving bountiful gifts. dádatas: N. pl. of pr. pt. of dā give(cp. 156). sahasrasāvé: loc. of time like saṃvatsaré in 9 c; the term probably refers to a Soma sacrifice lasting a year with three pressings a day (amounting roughly to a thousand). d is identical with iii. 53, 7 d.

[P. 142, last line, and p. 143, line 11,]for anyó read anyṓ.

[P. 144, head-line,]for MAṆḌŪKAS read MAṆḌŪKĀS.