Ancient Sanskrit Online
Lesson 9
Karen Thomson and Jonathan Slocum
Study of the language of the
Rigveda, the earliest surviving Sanskrit text, shows that it is an anthology of poems that were composed over a period of many centuries. Some of its hymns are believed to date from the beginning of the second millennium BC, or even earlier according to some scholars.
The most detailed study of the internal chronology of these poems, based on an analysis of vocabulary, grammatical forms, and metre, was carried out by E. Vernon Arnold a century ago, building on the work of his nineteenth-century predecessors (see the reading list in section 9 of the Series Introduction). Arnold assigns the poems to five basic periods: Archaic (the earliest poems), Strophic, Cretic, Normal, and Popular, the last consisting of poems significantly later than the rest, most of which are found towards the end of Books I to IX, or in Book X. The periods of composition of the lesson texts are as follows:
- Archaic (Lessons 5, 6 and 10)
- Strophic (Lesson 4)
- Cretic (Lessons 1, 7 and 8)
- Normal (Lessons 2 and 3)
This lesson text consists of two poems, II, 42 (233), the penultimate poem in Book II, and X, 58 (884). Both belong to what Arnold termed the
Popular Rigveda, which he describes as later additions to the original collection.
Reading and Textual Analyis
II, 42 is in the triṣṭubh metre, like the last lesson text, while X, 58 is in anuṣṭubh, verses of four lines of 8 syllables each. Both clearly exhibit characteristics of the later language. The word pradíś'direction' in both poems is late, for example, as are the verbal adjectives bhávya 'future', and bhūtá'past' in the last verse of X, 58. Some words shifted in meaning over time: pitáras 'fathers' acquired the sense 'ancestors' (II, 42), and mánas 'understanding' the meaning 'spirit' (X, 58). The similiar change in meaning of sárva 'whole' to mean 'all' was mentioned in section 32 of Lesson 7. In the first verse of X, 58 yamá appears as a proper name, which is also characteristic of a late poem. In earlier poems yamá means 'twin': samānó vāṃ janitā[SUP]́[/SUP] bhrā[SUP]́[/SUP]tarā yuváṃ, yamā[SUP]́[/SUP]v [yamaú] ihéhamātarā(VI, 59, 2) '(Indra and Agni,) your parents are the same, you are brothers, twins whose mother is everywhere'.
The first poem, II, 42, is addressed to a bird of good omen, and has only three verses. The second, X, 58, to the wandering spirit, is twelve verses long, but only the first line changes - lines 2-4 are a repeated refrain. After the first verse of X, 58 therefore only the new first line of each verse is glossed.
[II, 42] - kánikradaj janúṣam prabruvāṇá
íyarti vā[SUP]́[/SUP]cam aritéva nā[SUP]́[/SUP]vam
sumaṅgálaś ca śakune bhávāsi
mā[SUP]́[/SUP] tvā kā[SUP]́[/SUP] cid abhibhā[SUP]́[/SUP] víśvyā vidat
- kánikradat -- participle; nominative singular masculine present active intensive participle of<√krand, krándati> cry out -- calling out repeatedly
- janúṣam -- noun; accusative singular masculine of <janús> descent, kind -- kind
- prabruvāṇás -- participle; nominative singular masculine present middle participle of<√brū, brávīti> say + preverb <prá> forth -- proclaiming
- íyarti -- verb; 3rd person singular active present of <√r̥, íyarti> go, send -- he urges
- vā[SUP]́[/SUP]cam -- noun; accusative singular feminine of <vā[SUP]́[/SUP]c> voice, speech -- his voice
- aritā[SUP]́[/SUP] -- noun; nominative singular masculine of <aritŕ̥> oarsman -- oarsman
- iva -- particle; <iva> like -- like
- nā[SUP]́[/SUP]vam -- noun; accusative singular feminine of <naú> boat -- a boat
- sumaṅgálas -- adjective; nominative singular masculine of <sumaṅgála> auspicious, bringing luck -- bringing luck
- ca -- conjunction; <ca> and -- if # A specialised use of ca, which accents the verb.
- śakune -- noun; vocative singular masculine of <śakúni> (a kind of bird) -- shakuni-bird
- bhávāsi -- verb; 2nd person singular active subjunctive of <√bhū, bhávati> be -- you will be
- mā[SUP]́[/SUP] -- particle; <mā[SUP]́[/SUP]> not, that not -- let not
- tvā -- personal pronoun; accusative singular enclitic form of <tvám> you -- you
- kā[SUP]́[/SUP] cit -- interrogative pronoun; nominative singular feminine of <kás, kā[SUP]́[/SUP], kát, kím> who, which, what? + particle <cit> even, all -- any
- abhibhā[SUP]́[/SUP] -- noun; nominative singular feminine of <abhibhā[SUP]́[/SUP]> lit. shining-against -- prying light
- víśvyā -- indeclinable; <víśvyā> anywhere -- anywhere # Like abhibhā[SUP]́[/SUP], this word occurs only in this passage, and its meaning and form are debated.
- vidat -- verb; 3rd person singular active aorist injunctive of <√vid, vindáti> find -- find
mā[SUP]́[/SUP] tvā śyená úd vadhīn mā[SUP]́[/SUP] suparṇó
mā[SUP]́[/SUP] tvā vidad íṣumān vīró ástā
pítryām ánu pradíśaṃ kánikradat
sumaṅgálo bhadravādī[SUP]́[/SUP] vadehá
- mā[SUP]́[/SUP] -- particle; <mā[SUP]́[/SUP]> not, that not -- let not
- tvā -- personal pronoun; accusative singular enclitic form of <tvám> you -- you
- śyenás -- noun; nominative singular masculine of <śyená> eagle -- the eagle
- út vadhīt -- verb; 3rd person singular active aorist injunctive of <√vadh> slay + preverb <út> up-- slay
- mā[SUP]́[/SUP] -- particle; <mā[SUP]́[/SUP]> not, that not -- let not
- suparṇás -- adjective; nominative singular masculine of <suparṇá> finely-plumed -- the fine-feathered one
- mā[SUP]́[/SUP] -- particle; <mā[SUP]́[/SUP]> not, that not -- let not
- tvā -- personal pronoun; accusative singular enclitic form of <tvám> you -- you
- vidat -- verb; 3rd person singular active aorist injunctive of <√vid, vindáti> find -- find
- íṣumān -- adjective; nominative singular masculine of <íṣumant> bearing arrows -- bearing arrows
- vīrás -- noun; nominative singular masculine of <vīrá> hero, man, strong son -- the man
- ástā -- noun; nominative singular masculine of <ástr̥> shooter, hunter -- hunter
- pítryām -- adjective; accusative singular feminine of <pítrya> of the fathers -- of the fathers
- ánu -- preposition; <ánu> after -- towards
- pradíśam -- noun; accusative singular feminine of <pradíś> direction, region -- in the direction
- kánikradat -- participle; nominative singular masculine present active intensive participle of<√krand, krándati> cry out -- calling out repeatedly
- sumaṅgálas -- adjective; nominative singular masculine of <sumaṅgála> auspicious, bringing luck -- bringing luck
- bhadravādī[SUP]́[/SUP] -- adjective; nominative singular masculine of <bhadravādín> of fortunate pronouncement -- speaking good fortune
- vada -- verb; 2nd person singular active imperative of <√vad, vádati> speak -- speak
- ihá -- adverb; <ihá> here, here on earth -- down to us
áva kranda dakṣiṇató gr̥hā[SUP]́[/SUP]ṇāṃ
sumaṅgálo bhadravādī[SUP]́[/SUP] śakunte
mā[SUP]́[/SUP] na stená īśata mā[SUP]́[/SUP]gháśaṃso
br̥hád vadema vidáthe suvī[SUP]́[/SUP]rāḥ
