Sāmaveda 1:6 Translation

त्वं नो अग्ने महोभिः पाहि विश्वस्या अरातेः उत द्विषो मर्त्यस्य (Sāmaveda 1:6)

Vigraha & Anvaya

त्वम् नः महोभिः पाहि अग्ने विश्वस्या अरातेः उत मर्त्यस्य द्विषः 

Agni, protect us with [through] your might, from all adversity/malignity [and] from the enmity/hatred of mortals.

अग्ने - vocative - addressing Agni

त्वम्  - you

नः - us (this is a short form for अस्मान् =हम को) 

महोभिः - ablative plural पञ्चमी विभक्ति बहुवचन of Might (महन् neuter noun)  = might or great deeds से*. The ablative has a sense of source =from, as a result of 

पाहि - protect (Imperative - You protect [us])

विश्वस्या - of the world/universe=all (feminine genitive singular adjective agreeing with अरातेः

अरातेः - from adversity/malignity (ablative singular of feminine noun अराति = adversity, malignity. Declines like शक्ति)

उत - and, even

मर्त्यस्य - of mortals (masculine, genitive, singular)

द्विषः - Enemies, hatred (nominative, plural of द्विष् m/n) 

* could also be ablative plural of मह (neuter noun meaning great deeds)

Samskrit or Sanskrit? The Mighty anusvāra

Last week, we had a bit of a flutter on the English spelling of संस्कृत in our Twitter group. Some people spell it Sanskrit, others Samskrit or Samskrut. I think this is the perfect opportunity to revisit the अनुस्वार (anusvāra), which, as you know, is the dot above the line in a Devanagari word. It marks a nasal sound (anunāsika). For example in संस्कृत, कंकर, गंगा, चंचू  रंजन, दंत, पंपा I I'd like you to study this table* before we proceed:

The confusion is caused by the way Sanskrit is transliterated/romanised. The anusvāra is represented by an m with a dot underneath it - 'ṃ'. This is pronounced according to its surroundings. When it precedes consonants from the five rows of stops i.e क varga, च, ट, त & प varga - it is pronounced as the 'varga' nasal - which means गंगा is गङ्गा,  चंचू  is चञ्चू ,  रंजन is रञ्जन, दंत is दन्त and पंपा is पम्पा I 

In academic writing if you leave the dot out from under the m, your marks will be cut for making a spelling mistake. But outside the classroom, it doesn't seem to matter so much. Hence the confusion.

As you can see from the table above, स, श, ष and ह are also assigned to the five vargas by ancient grammarians. Since the anusvāra precedes a स in "Sanskrit", and स belongs to the त varga, the anusvāra denotes a न, not a मI So you know right away that 'Samskrit' is incorrect. The English/romanised spelling with 'm' is a misguided attempt to represent the anusvāra of the Devanagari spelling - but without a dot below the 'm' it neither corresponds to the spelling, nor to the pronunciation.  

Now coming to 'kri' vs 'kru' for कृ।  The syllabic ṛ was lost in India by the time of the Pali language long before the common era. It has been  pronounced either ri in North and East India, and ru in Western and Southern usage. So the verb गृह्णामि (I sieze/grab) is pronounced gruhṇāmi in some parts of the country, and grihṇāmi in others. So too, with Sanskrit vs Sanskrut. In the sense that it is attested local pronunciation, kri vs kru is neither right nor wrong. It's just what you grow up with.

I would like to thank @kishoredattu for raising this question, and  @thinkeron and @deshrajeev  for contributing their thoughts and response to it.

It is also an opportunity to revisit transliteration in general. Pl see the table here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Alphabet_of_Sanskrit_Transliteration)

I am guilty of simplification myself. Throughout this post I have spelt this famous past participle as 'Sanskrit' for reasons of convenience, because we are used to it. Really it should be saṃskrita. Also because the त at the end is actually त् + अ  like अनुस्वार is anusvāra  not anusvār. 

Talking of which, please also see: http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7261097102178676559#editor/target=post;postID=388453601051482365 on the all important 'a' in Sanskrit.

*The table is taken from Robert & Sally Goldman's Sanskrit Primer.

I'm eternally grateful to Dr. Renate Sӧhnen-Thieme not just for her help in understanding this topic, but for helping me realise how precise Sanskrit is.

Translation of Sāmaveda hymn Bk1 vs3

When exploring the possibility of doing my M.A in Hindu Studies, I asked Dr. Lynn Thomas (Roehampton University) if it was possible for me to do so without learning Sanskrit. She said "Yes, of course - but you'll have to read at least 5 translations of a text before you can begin to approximate what the original means!" I'm grateful to her for her advice. She was instrumental in my decision to learn Sanskrit. The journey continues...

अग्निन् दूतम् वृणीमहे होतारम् विश्ववेदसम् अस्य यज्ञ्यस्य सुक्रतुम्  

(http://www.astrojyoti.com/pdfs/DevanagariFiles/Samaveda.pdf)

(वयम्) वृणीमहे - We choose 

अग्निन् accusative, sing, masc (अग्नि को) 

दूतम्  - envoy, consul: accusative, sing, masc (उस अग्नि को जो दूत है) 

होतारम् -  priest (office of hotṛ): accusative, sing, masc (उस अग्नि को जो होत्र है) 

विश्ववेदसम्* - omniscient: accusative, sing, masc (उस अग्नि को जो सब जानता है)  √vid

अस्य यज्ञ्यस्य - genitive, sing, masc (of this sacrifice) 

सुक्रतुम्  - skillful: accusative, masc adjective for Agni. From√kṛ

(We have to supply अस्ति, as very often in Sanskrit - Agni 'is' all these things)

Translation:

(That) Agni (who is our) envoy (to the gods), priest (of the sacrifice), omniscient, (and) skillful (with regard to) this sacrifice, We choose (that Agni)

*This translation stems from a question mark I raised on Griffith's interpretation of विश्ववेदसम् as "possessor of all wealth" after a Twitter exchage with Wayne McEvilly:

"Agni we choose as envoy, skilled performer of this holy rite, Hotar, possessor of all wealth." (http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/sv.htm)

The attested and most widely used definition of  'vedas' is knowledge, or science. 'vedas' also means property or wealth. (http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/) 

If we take viśvavedas as a genitive tatpuruṣa compound - we get (Agni who is) a) knowledge of the world, or b)wealth of the world. Grammatically, both a and b are correct. So we have to second guess the ancients. At the time of the composition of this hymn, were Vedic Indians still overwhelmingly materialistic, or had they begun the transition to an overriding love of knowledge which finds its fruition in the Upaniṣads? 

A lot of translators have taken it as possessor of wealth. Wayne then informs me that S.V Ganapati's translation is:

‏@waynemcevilly

@RohiniBakshi 2 "Agni! You preside over yajna (life activity) bestow desire4welfare on the home&support homes of men eagerly thru 

This version reflects a lot of cultural overlay. Yes Agni presides over the yajña, and yes he bestows welfare on homes etc. But that is information coming to us from other verses, other sources, other myths. This particular verse does not specifically mention any of this. The thing is, just as Ganapati chooses his interpretation, I might just as easily add 'Agni, you who give us heaven' because when the yajña is properly done, the sacrificer attains heaven. But it doesn't say that explicitly in the verse, does it? Neither does it talk about bestowing and presiding. So, learn Sanskrit, read the text, read the translations, then make up your own mind!

Daśaratha kills a brahmin's son (Tweeted 22.11.12)

(Ramlila picture from Google images)

The purpose of such study material is that the aspirant begins automatically to make connections, and starts to comprehend and enjoy Sanskrit without the grind. I'll post these as often as I can. I hope to hear from you if you find such input useful. Unless otherwise specified, all passages are from Robert & Sally Goldman's Primer Devavaṇipraveśikā. In case you missed the passage on Twitter, here it is again.

The translation is a bit clunky because I've stuck to the grammar. I recommend http://www.learnsanskrit.org/grammar if you want to come up to speed at your convenience. If you have problems with the sandhi, please leave a comment and I'll reply.

There is (asti) a king named Daśaratha. That extremely righteous king lives happily. "The king is not unhappy," say the people. Once Daśaratha goes to the forest. In that forest, lives the son of a brahmin. The king thinks, "O! I see a beautiful deer (paśyāmi)!" And kills the boy with a sharp arrow. The bramhin comes and sees the killed son. He becomes extremely angry. And curses the king. "Hey Fool! Why have you killed my son? (Because of) your bad deed, I feel (anubhavāmi) sadness. I will not live without (my) son. You too, like me, (will) feel sorrow caused by a son." The king said, "Oh my! I am destroyed." Afflicted by pain, he returns home. 

Kalidasa's Raghuvamsa Chapter 4 Verse 17 "Autumn"

Diwali sometimes brings Rama's role as a husband into question. Feminists criticise him fiercely, while devotees defend him staunchly. That Rama told Sita after (defeating Ravana) that she was as impure as a sacrificial oblation licked by a dog & was free to go her own way, is the eye of the storm. 

But let's leave the controversy to the feminists and the devotees. I'd like to salute the season with a beautiful verse from Kalidasa. The splendour of Autumn is described in this verse from chapter 4 of Kalidasa's Raghuvamsa, comparing it to Raghu, who is Rama's ancestor. Autumn tries to imitate Raghu's 'Shri' (splendour) but fails so resplendent is the 'dharmavijayi' & 'digvijayi' ancestor of Rama. 

The verse: 

 पुण्डरिकातपत्रस्तं विकसत्काश्चामरः रितुर्विडंबायमास न पुनः प्राप तच्छ्रीयम् 

(By the way it's a long ई in pundareeka, but I just couldn't fix it. Sorry)

(With these attributes) पुण्डरीक lotus आतपत्रः umbrella विकसत् blossomed काश grass (as) चामरः chowrie  ऋतुः the season (Autumn) तम् Him (Raghu) विडंबयमास imitated न पुनः प्राप still did not obtain तत् His (Raghu's) श्रियम् splendour.

What's beautiful about this verse is that the umbrella and the chowrie are royal insignia and would be carried by Raghu, and they also mark the Autumnal lotuses and white grass which blossoms in that season. 

Parvati’s Spring

Please welcome back Nardeep Singh Dahiya, who enchanted us with his trek to Tungnath in the Himalayas some months ago. If you haven't been to the majestic mountains recently, this is sure to motivate you. It's a bit cold, I know, but, hey! That's the whole point of the hot spring!! Here's a picture of Nardeep in the tank at Kheerganga. Read on to follow his enchanting journey. I'm totally envious, and grateful to him for sharing this with us. All the pictures in this article are Nardeep's own.

The bathing tank at Kheerganga

At 3,000-odd metres (over 9,000 feet) above sea level, Kheerganga is the site of a natural hot spring deep in the Parvati Valley of Himachal Pradesh. The Parvati is a short but incredibly vigorous river that feeds into the Beas near Kullu’s Bhuntar Airport.  

Rudranag, en route Kheerganga

The Kheerganga myth is a skein of many colours: some say this where Lord Shiva meditated for 3,000 years; others say it was his son Kartikeya who meditated and the spring emerged when the Lord struck the ground with his trident to command the forest and its denizens into silence for his child; residents of the nearest villages believe the spring is the kheer Parvati made for her son, presumably to feed him after his millennia-long samadhi. A local guide told me that generations ago, people from his village would come and take away the kheer—delicious  as well as divine—by the bucket. I asked him what kheer it was, and he was taken aback for only for a moment before saying ‘chawal ki kheer’.  

The path after Rudranag

I guess the white sulphur that the hot spring carries must be getting added somewhere near the source, thus making the water look like hot kheer there. Or even if the sulphur comes from deeper down, it may have been reduced to more or less uniform granules by natural processes at the point of origin. But the kheer cannot have been edible in any case. The power of the fantastic is usually a lie amplified at every perpetuation till it petrifies as legend in fearful minds.

The water that emerges at Kheerganga spring is milky, and that’s because of its high sulphur content. In any case, visitors are not permitted to go to the source of the spring, which is somewhere in a cleft of the forested mountain wall that provides a dramatic backdrop to the temple. Even if they were, the climb is daunting enough to put off all but the craziest. I guess those old-timers must have really liked that kheer. 

Trek to Bershaini

The trek to Kheerganga is about 10 km long. It starts from the upstream side of a dam under construction at the mountain town of Bershaini. To get to Bershaini one has to go to Kasol first, perhaps the only town outside Israel where Israeli backpackers outnumber the natives. The road to Kasol is just about a decade old, with one branch taking off roughly halfway from Bhuntar to the ancient Greek village of Malana, where the children have blond hair and green eyes and must marry within the village to retain their pure bloodline. 

Malana, reachable after a stiff walk from yet another dam project at a place called Jari, is the home of the greatest cannabis plant in the world. This is where the Malana Cream that features so prominently on Amsterdam cafe menus comes from. It’s the Lord’s plant, Shankar ji ki booti, and the valley belongs to the Lord’s wife. So there. It all makes perfect sense, but nowadays, sadly only in dollars, euros and shekels. From being the localised stuff of a socially endured habit, Parvati Valley hash has gone international, and a deadly drug mafia is now entrenched in this otherwise peaceful part of the Indian Himalayas.

Back to Bershaini, reached by a 45-minute bus ride from Kasol. The preferred mode of travel is on the roof of a bus, holding on to the bars of its luggage carrier as it bucks and barrels up the steep road. The valley is supremely beautiful; the Parvati storming ceaselessly through pine-draped mountains that have very little human habitation.

Bridge over the Tosh Nullah

From Bershaini, one descends to the Tosh Nullah on the other side of the dam. The Tosh Nullah is best described as fearsome, such is the ferocity of the water that comes down like some CGI-crafted special effect from a science fiction movie. A narrow cement bridge crosses the nullah, and a short, sharp climb gives way to an undulating walk through pristine Himalayan terrain. It’s all along the right bank of the Parvati. Midway is the waterfall of Rudra Nag, the scooped rock terminus of a very long and near-vertical rivulet from where the water leaps up much like the hood of a cobra.  

Parvati just after Rudranag

Just after Rudra Nag, one has cross the Parvati at its narrowest, across a bamboo bridge resplendent with slippery moss. And no handrail. Looking upstream from the middle of the bridge, the river is at eye level only 100 yards away. It’s a wall of frothing water coming at you with a sound that fills the valley as well as every corner of your consciousness. Crossing this 50-foot bridge is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and one learns that the heart can be accommodated in the mouth for short periods without any adverse effect.

Approaching Kheerganga

It’s a stiff climb along a rocky path then through dense Himalayan forest to the mountaintop meadow of Kheerganga. The hillside is alive with little waterfalls and streams at every turn. The temple sits at one end of the meadow, which is hemmed in by mountains all around.

The hot spring has been channelled through a man-made tank just below the temple, and soaking in the hot water removes every trace of exhaustion in a matter of minutes. The bearably hot water doesn’t dry the skin; it leaves one moisturised all over.

It’s so quiet at Kheerganga that ordinary eardrums zing in protest. But as night falls, it becomes easier to understand why this Himalayan amphitheatre where trillions of stars are a hand-length away was chosen by Lord Shiva’s son as a meditation spot, and why the valley is named for his mother.   

Dharma: etymology and a brief account of its evolution

Dharma is undisputed as the most central and pivotal concept in Indian, particularly Hindu culture. Etymologically, it  derives from the root √dhṛ meaning to bear, to support, to uphold. From the same root we get dharti, dhāri, dhruva, dhartṛ, and dhāraṇā, dhīra and dhairya. It is notoriously difficult to translate into English, and it takes a range of words to convey its meaning as understood within Indian culture context: righteousness, religion, law, morals, ethics, correctness, duty, upholding faith etc.

So it may come as a surprise, that for the first 1,200 years (apprx) of textual history, from the earliest strata of the Ṛgveda to the Brāhmaṇas (2000 BCE to 800 BCE) it was not a central term, in fact one could say it was even marginal. In the RV it appears as a neuter noun, dharman and occurs merely 67 times; in the Atharvaveda 13 times; in the corpus of the Yajurveda brāhmaṇas (the three main ones being Aitareya,Taittirīya, and Śatapatha) it occurs 11 times; In the corresponding Araṇyakas only three times.. And in the earliest upaniṣads that are written in prose (Bṛhadaraṇyaka, Chāndogya, Aitareya and Taittirīya) it occurs in only 9 passages.

In the early Vedic  period dharman is associated with Mitra-Varuṇa operated in the ritual and ethical sphere, carrying the meaning of a command, rule or law. It’s application in sacrifices related to royal consecration is significant – especially the rājasūya. The connection with Varuṇa, and the duties of a king in maintaining social order based on a divine law are evident.

Moving on to  the period when the earliest Dharmasūtras are written (6^th to 2^nd century BCE), dharma has moved from the periphery to become the central concept in the Brāhminical religious vocabulary. How this change came about, the socio-political causes behind this transformation are complex  and of tremendous interest to historians of Hinduism. 

Sufficeth to say that from about the 2^nd cen BCE, when pivotal Hindu texts were being crystallised  especially the epics and the dharmaśāstras, dharma was indeed centre stage, and included all aspects of proper individual and social behaviour as demanded by one’s role in society and in keeping with one’s social identity according to age, gender, caste, marital status and order of life – best exemplified by the sva-dharma the Bhadvad Gita expounds in the instruction of Arjuna.

Today the ‘dharma’ we understand is an amalgamation of 4000 years of a rich and variant religious tradition. It is not merely about caste laws, civil & criminal law, or the duty of a king, a prince or a householder. It has sensitivity at its core; deep and significant moral-ethical tones about how we conduct ourselves and treat our fellow beings, brought to the forefront by pivotal ancient śramaṇa movements, by the yoga tradition (yama-niyama) and very importantly the Bhakti movement.

Hinduism has grappled with dharma for centuries, most richly depicted in the Mahabharata. For a modern perspective, I recommend “The Difficulty of Being Good”, By Gurcharan Das. | ISBN-10: 0670083496 | ISBN-13: 978-0670083497

Bibliography:

Material for this blog post has been taken from the following sources:

http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/

http://spokensanskrit.de/

“Between the Empires: Society in India 300BCE to 400CE,” Oxford University Press, 2006

“Dharmasutras: The Law Codes of Ancient India,” trans, Olivelle, Oxford University Press, 1999

Hitopadesha verse: Indefinite suffixes cit/cana

This verse helps us fix the application of suffixes cit, and cana both of which show that something non-specific is being referred to. It corresponds to the indefinite article in English. 'a' rather than 'the' or 'that'. Please use this verse to refresh some sandhi rules. The table for किम्  is at the bottom of the page.

Sandhi note: 

Before kasya, t remains t

Before mitram t becomes n

Before ripu t becomes d

Before tathaa the visarga becomes s
Before cit the visarga becomes sh

न कश्चित् कस्यचिन्मित्रं न कश्चित् कस्यचिद्रिपुः 

व्यवहारेण जायन्ते मित्राणि रिपवस्तथा 

na kaścit kasyacin mitram na kaścit kasyacid ripuḥ

vyavahāreṇa jāyante mitrāṇi ripavas tatha 

No one is anyone's friend, no one is anyone's enemy

By means of behaviour, friends and enemies are born.

Vigraha:

न कश्चित् कस्यचित् मित्रम् न कश्चित् कस्यचित् रिपुः

व्यवहारेण जायन्ते मित्राणि रिपवः तथा 

न not 

कश्चित् someone, anyone

कस्यचित् of someone/anyone (note genitive form)

मित्रम् friend, (neut., sing.)

न not 

कश्चित् someone/anyone 

कस्यचित् of someone/anyone

रिपुः enemy (masc., sing)

व्यवहारेण by means of conduct/behaviour (instrumental, sing., of vyavahāra)

जायन्ते are born (ĀP, 3rd person plural √jan)

मित्राणि friends, nominative plural of mitram

रिपवः enemies nominative plural of ripuḥ

तथा and

Adding the 'kim' masculine table for those of you who prefer the traditional way of study. As you can see, kaḥ is the nominative singular, meaning Who[He]. That is what is forming कश्चित्  kaḥ + cit (visarga becomes श्  before the च्  of cit) And kasya is the genitive singular Of whom/किस का Here's the table: 

Subhaṣitāni - optative mood practice

Today's subhaṣitam is from the Sanskrit Daily 'Sudharma':

http://sudharma.epapertoday.com/category/subhashitam/

त्यजेद्धर्मं दयाहीनं विद्याहीनं गुरुं त्यजेत्‌ । 

त्यजेत्क्रोधमुखीं भार्यां निःस्नेहान बान्धवांस्त्यजेत्‌ ।। 

tyajed dharmaṃ dayā hīnaṃ vidyā hīnaṃ guruṃ tyajet

tyajet  krodhamukhīṃ bhāryāṃ niḥsnehān bāndhavān tyajet

Sandhi note: t becomes a d before dharmam

Here's the vigraha, although I'm sure you got already!
त्यजेत्  धर्मम् दया हीनम् विद्या हीनम् गुरुम् त्यजेत् 
त्यजेत् क्रोधमुखीम् भार्याम्  निःस्नेहान् बान्धवान् त्यजेत् 

त्यजेत् tyajet is the 3rd person sing. optative (विधि लि*) form of  त्यज्  to abandon, to give up. It means he/she/it ought to be given up. 

Here is a table of the verb भू including the optative form at the bottom, starting with bhavet. Please familiarise yourself with it. (Sorry about the finger and poor clarity but this is the best I could do!! Think it's clear enough. Sorry about the size, but it's more important that you be able to read it.)

त्यजेत्  ought to be abandoned
दया+हीनम् धर्मम् faith that is devoid of mercy. Note noun/adj agreement)

विद्या+हीनम् गुरुम् guru ko - accusative sing. Why? Because you are the doer, and you are doing something to him. You are abandoning him.
त्यजेत् 

त्यजेत् क्रोधमुखीम् भार्याम् lit. angry-faced wife (also in accusative)

निःस्नेहान् बान्धवान् (accusative plural) unloving relatives ko

त्यजेत् 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

यथा एकेन चक्रेण न रथस्य गतिः भवेत्

एवं पुरुषकारेण विना दैवं न सिध्यति 

Yathā ekena cakreṇa rathasya gatiḥ na bhavet

Evam puruṣakāreṇa vina daivam na sidhyate

Just as a chariot cannot move with one wheel, thus without human effort Fate cannot be successful.

यथा As, like 

एकेन (by) one (instrumental singular adj. agreeing with चक्रेण)

चक्रेण (by) wheel (instrumenal sing. noun, by means of [a] wheel)

न not

रथस्य of (a) chariot (genitive sing.)

गतिः speed, movement (nom., fem., noun)

भवेत् - could be/would be/should be - optative (विधि लिङ्)

एवं - in this manner

पुरुषकारेण - by means of human effort

विना - without

दैवं - fate, neuter noun, lit. given by Gods

न not

सिध्यति is achieved, is successful