Moon and Soma Book Nine
Before returning to the glyphs, this will be another look at the Sanskrit Moon by ejecting later material.
We have gotten to 2,300 as the epoch of the oldest known Soma Presses, and the Pleiades Equinox that matches the Krttika-first list of Naksatras.
Of course, there is probably something to both of those that antedates these facts, but those are fairly concrete evidence, and quite germane to Sanskrit.
Book Nine of Rg Veda is often called "Soma Mandala" although its main focus is probably Pavamana (purification). It's not really a quest for raw materials, but, a physical filtration combined with a magical charge-up. As far as we can tell, this is identical to not just IVC Unicorn but the whole milieu of Monumental Objects. However it may not be in Kot Diji "pre-script", it may not be an archaic Iranian diffusion, it may be an Afghan concoction, or Pamiri or Kopet Dag, from within the Bronze Age. It could be from the Sivaliks, Aravallis, or Vindhyas in the same way. It could even be from the plains with a preference for mountain varieties.
Enigmatically, the Moon does not turn out to be obvious in IVC script, and, it is not obvious in the Veda either, even though tracking it is the basis for the Naksatras, and it is one of the most basic things for any culture to speak of.
We found that candra is frequently an adjective, but candramas designates a mobile orb, understood as Soma:
Quote:
At times, Soma is the celestial Moon described in Atharva Veda 10 & 11.6.9 which says “Soma; whom the learned men call Chandrama the Moon making all delight” and “The Supreme Being keeps making Soma, the eternal delight”
This is clear. But there are so many instances of "Soma", does anyone have a grasp on its meanings?
These are a few more cited suggestions:
Quote:
Soma is the home of ṛta RV1.43, Soma is also the juice of a plant used in Yagna as a substitute for Amṛta.
This amṛta significantly applies to Soma and Rudra, later to Agni RV7.4.6 and the Maruts; but in a few instances, it applies to Mitra-Varuna as they are the deliverers of Soma. Soma and amṛta signify truth, medicines, knowledge, health, and immortality which are the same as Rudra, as he is pra-jāḥ amṛtasya “immortals family possessing the amṛta” and parasmin dhāman ṛtasya “home to the highest truth (ṛtasya)” RV1.43.
Like all Devas is Rudra also offered Soma? It is on very rare occasions that Rudra is offered Soma, in those rare occasions it’s in a metaphorical sense because Soma is already conjoined with Rudra, why? Because Soma-Rudra becomes conceptually one entity in many hymns and the very first homage to Rudra is conjoined with Soma RV1.43, but this duality soon becomes one in Rig Veda 6.74
Soma is also used as a synonym for amṛta and it is this Soma that the Devas compete RV1.108
Here's another one. From a study that adds the epithet Vanaspati, this is perhaps similar to Contest Heroine:
Quote:
The charm to crush the tigers belongs to Atharvan and is born of Soma. The strength of Soma is at the basis of such power of the charm.
- AV IV.3.7
As a form of Giriksita:
Quote:
The Soma plant is once in the Rigveda described as maujavata, which according to later statements would mean produced on Mount Mujavat. Soma is also several times described as dwelling in the mountains (giristha) or growing in the mountains (parvatavridh).
Twenty-four varieties are recorded, beginning:
Amshuman, Munjavan, Candramah...
crafted into multiple recipes:
Quote:
The purified (unmixed) Soma juice is often called Suddha (pure), but much oftener sukra, or suci, ‘bright’. This unmixed Soma is offered almost exclusively to Vayu and Indra, the epithet sucipa ‘drinking clear (Soma)’ being distinctive of Vayu, but is admixed with milk for Mitravaruna and with honey for the Ashvins.
Soma is identified in the Rigveda as having three classes of admixture (tryasir), with milk (gavasir), sour milk (dadhyasir) and barley (yavasir). The admixture is figuratively called a garment (vastra, vasas, atka) or a shining robe (nirnij).
Three Mountains:
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The abode (sadhastha) of Soma is referred to frequently and once, however, mention is made of three, which he occupies when purified, the epithet ‘trisadhastha’, having three abodes, being also applied to him. These three abodes may already designate the three tubes used at the Soma ritual. The epithet ‘tripristha’ three backed is peculiar to Soma.
It is really "three backs" or "three roofs".
The Veda does to some extent continue a "horns" motif:
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Soma being so frequently called a bull (ukshan, vrishan, vrishabha) is sharp-horned (tigmashringa), an epithet especially applied to the Moon in Yajurveda which in five of its six occurrences in the Rigveda is associated with a word meaning bull.
It is an immortal stimulant I.84.4
Soma is immortal and the Gods drank him for immortality IX.106.8
He confers immortality on the Gods and on men VIII.48.3
He places his worshippers in the everlasting and imperishable world where there is eternal light and glory and makes him immortal where king Vaivasvata lives I.113.7
Soma is the ‘soul of Sacrifice’ IX.2.10
rishikrit, ‘the maker of seers’ IX.96.18
The closest thing I can find to one of those last references is Vivasvatis invited to a Soma Offering. I.113 is something else.
There is no dispute about its connotation of "Amrta", but the rest of these need to be reviewed.
If it is supposed to be "early", I.43 is by Kanva Ghaura, and interestingly it is a Kad or "when" hymn, whereas we have seen "Ka" and "Ko" more prevalently, these being mostly what we call "rhetorical" questions. Then it seeks to cause Aditi to give us the gifts of Rudra. The quotes that were attributed to Rudra are really from the first line addressed to Soma. The two seem "closely related", but there isn't anything technically explaining this. It's typical for a hymn to switch deities from line to line, which in itself is not enough to show identity, relation, etc., although here, you certainly get a sense of the same work continuing.
This is much more basic.
VI.74 was horribly understated. First of all the dualization has been reversed:
somārudrā dhārayethām asuryam
Suddenly that's the order of two Naksatras, and we are asking them for the One Power called Asura. Moreover, the entirety of my current ethos is summed up by their unknown possessions we call the Seven Jewels of Enlightenment:
sapta ratnā dadhānā
There are a few brief normal invocations, and then the introduction of a catharsis or spiritual crisis, where in reality we are guilty of something, which causes us mental anguish. Therefor we are seeking Liberation from Sin which is called:
varuṇasya pāśād
The Noose of Varuna.
We would associate it with control of the Underworld. Here we find it in an unmistakable duality of the Old Books.
Saunaka says after the Seven Jewels, it is supposed to be Cakravartin Abhyavartin which is why in the last hymn of Book Six, Payu does a sort of Brahma Varma with limited use of deities, but including:
“May the brāhmaṇas, the progenitors presenters of the Soma, the observers of truth, protect us; may the faultless heaven and earth be propitious to us; may Pūṣan preserve us from misfortune, let no calumniator prevail over us.”
may Soma speak to us encouragement
somas tvā rājāmṛtenānu vastām |
and so even there it soaked us in Amrta. The hymn sanctifies arrows and other "things", and is not clearly about a person or deity, but does show Soma as important for success. Besides Indra, it is the only thing regularly attributed with defeating enemies.
On the other hand, Buddha Gavisthira Atreyi says that Agni brings the Seven Jewels into every house.
I think that is the point of the Veda. Something that was originally unknown and brought in by force, becomes stable throughout all communities. The Seven Jewels are iterated by one of the earlier Rishis, and then by Atreya's daughter, spanning some eighty per cent of the content.
In IX.2 by Medhatithi, Indu is the original Atma of the Yajna. Close to, but not exactly the remark given. I have not tried to finesse the vocabulary in this book, mainly because it's not easy to distinguish "soma" as a proper or common noun, or "indu", but of course the practice overall is based on Soma Offering, which in some way must be differentiated from that of the IVC times.
Candramas arises in some lore standards:
Lament of Trita Aptya
Water Moon
There, it is just a term, not quite deified. The Moon is not clearly, or at least not vividly, deified in the Veda, which doesn't add up, compared to how the sun is. This can be fixed immediately. A subtle juxtaposition is seen in the verses of Surya Savitri as first for "the two":
Devatā (deity/subject-matter): somārkau
then:
Devatā (deity/subject-matter): candramāḥ
“New every day (the moon) is born; the manifester of days he goes on front of the Dawns; he distributes their portion to the gods as he goes; the moon protracts a long existence.”
The Mansions of the Moon impart qualities or attributes to Usas, and fastens them to the Deva Loka. This suggests that its house at sunrise is more significant than its transit during the day, but all we can be sure of is he is acting like a mirror. At any rate, we can be sure he has mantras, which, here, follow the trend of "Soma" being used in combinations, and Candramas by itself.
At that, examples such as Agnisoma are proliferous, while so far there is *one* Somarka and *one* Somarudra.
We found an interesting comment where someone thinks Book Two "starts" the Rg Veda. This isn't so chronologically, however I would agree it is true in terms of an entering wedge that we do not have for IVC. It is the most concise and important synopsis, almost to the extent of a textbook, for a headstart on how everything works. As mentioned, the pure historical Veda goes back to fragments (which are partially solvable); but everything known about the practice stems from Ten Rishi Gotras, identifiable not by founders but by Apri Hymns, and here we get something that originates with Dirghatamas.
He did not call it that and probably did not know there was such a thing; it is a style of hymn that refers to most of the main ritual components. The other Apri Hymns repeat this convention while changing the phrasing mildly. These can be "layered" fairly easily.
His first one is nearly unattributed, since it is remembered as the Apri of Angiras Gotra.
But then he has one of the first attested descriptions of a 360-degree circle, and so he has been noted for a few things, but not given a clear picture.
His group of hymns is like a continuous strand; I.162 certainly superficially looks like a Horse Sacrifice, but, if we probe it for symbolic meanings, the deity or subject is Reality Source Mitradayo.
This is the same expression we still use, an ending with -daya, and moreover when he calls Soma "udaka" this is the very same as in Vajrodaka or Vajra Udaka Tantra. This archaic guy with no lineage named after him, has all of the linguistic foundation. But he is effectively the transmitting Angiras Rishi, of whom everyone else is a minor modification.
In a strand of deities emitted through Mitra, there is an unusual compound with Life:
aryamāyur
we find the generic meaning of "Vidathin":
vidathe < vidatha
[noun], locative, singular, neuter
“meeting; wisdom; council.”
Aside from the Horse, the Goat comes in as a Visvarupa:
...the various-coloured goat going before him, bleating, becomes an acceptable offering to Indra and Pūṣan.
A black goat is also dedicated to pūṣan, along with soma (Yajus. xxix.58)
Quote:
“This goat, the portion of Puṣan fit for all the gods, is brought first with the fleet courser, so that Tvaṣṭā may prepare him along with the horse, as an acceptable preliminary offering for the (sacrificial) food.”
It is exactly here the Goat is given the apparent "Hotr" role also simply that of Agni:
Quote:
...the goat, the portion of Pūṣan, goes first, announcing the sacrificer to the gods.
atrā pūṣṇaḥ prathamo bhāga eti yajñaṃ devebhyaḥ prativedayann ajaḥ ||
If we tend to think the Horse updates prior mythology, then again, this role of Goat could be a carry-over from IVC. The capability of Tvastr to mantrify it may be as well. Pusan may be a little harder to detect, but might occur with Ghee.
From the translations, one misses Rtu and the other, Tvastr:
Of Tvastar's Charger there is one dissector, -- this is the custom-two there are who guide him.
There is one immolator of the radiant horse, which is Time; there are two that hold him fast
ekas tvaṣṭur aśvasyā viśastā dvā yantārā bhavatas tatha ṛtuḥ |
In actuality, the hymns go on to something about a Magic Horse:
Quote:
“Your great birth, O Horse, is to be glorified; whether first springing from the firmament or from the water inasmuch as you have neighed (auspiciously), for you have the wings of the falcon and the limbs of the deer.”
“Trita harnessed the horse which was given by yama; Indra first mounted him, and gandharva seized his reins. Vasus, you fabricated the horse from the sun.”
The translations again have difficulty expressing it as a Samaya with Soma:
Quote:
“You horse are Yama and you are Āditya; you are Trita by a mysterious act; you are associated with Soma. The sages have said there are three bindings of you in heaven.”
Yama art thou, O Horse; thou art Aditya; Trita art thou by secret operation.
ási yamó ásy ādityó arvann ási tritó gúhyena vraténa
ási sómena samáyā vípṛkta āhús te trī́ṇi diví bándhanāni
This is no mundane topic, it's completely mystic:
Quote:
Thyself from far I recognized in spirit, -- a Bird that from below flew through the heaven.
I saw thy head still soaring, striving upward by paths unsoiled by dust, pleasant to travel.
ātmā́naṃ te mánasārā́d ajānām avó divā́ patáyantam pataṃgám
šíro apašyam pathíbhiḥ sugébhir areṇúbhir jéhamānam patatrí
Sayana says this is a "mane", but the text actually says Horse with Horns:
hiraṇyaśṛṅgo
Horns made of gold hath he: his feet are iron: less fleet than he, though swift as thought, is Indra.
híraṇyašṛňgó 'yo asya pā́dā mánojavā ávara índra āsīt
fleet as thought, Indra is his inferior (in speed)
the first who mounted the horse was Indra.
Further along is some very difficult conceptualization about Horses and Cars:
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“They yoke the seven (horses) to the one-wheeled car; one horse, named seven, bears it along; the three-axled wheel is undecaying, never loosened, and in it all these regions of the universe abide.”
“The seven who preside over this seven-wheeled chariot (are) the seven horses who draw it; seven sisters ride in it together, and in are deposited the seven forms of utterance.”
This may be a clearer expression of numerology:
Quote:
what is that one alone, who has upheld these six spheres in the form of the unborn?
The one sole (sun), having three mothers and three fathers
Three mothers and three fathers: the three worlds, earth, sky, heaven; and the three deities presiding over them: agni, vāyu, sūrya
Expressions of The Year:
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“The twelve-spoked wheel, of the true (sun) revolves round the heavens, and never (tends) to decay; seven hundred and twenty children in pairs, Agni, abide in it.”
“They have termed the five-footed, twelve-formed parent, Puriṣin, when in the further hemisphere of the sky; and others have termed it Arpita, when in the hither (portion of the sky); shining in his seven-wheeled (car), each (wheel) having six spokes.”
“He who knows the protector of this (world) as the inferior associated with the superior, and the superior associated with the inferior, he is, as it were, a sage; but who in this world can expound (it); whence is the divine mind in its supremacy engendereḍ ”
Well, it is very rarely the Rishis push us to a vocabulary lesson, so we should perhaps take a look at what sounds like the Solstice tracks.
Purīṣin (पुरीषिन्).—[adjective] dwelling in or on the earth
This has another Vedic parallel where it may be riverine:
sarayuḥ purīṣiṇy
The next expression "Arpita" has meanings such as "to place", "insert", "offer", which seems generic but this has some very specific and limited applications in Rg Veda. For instance, it is the Mundane Egg placed upon the Navel of the Unborn:
ajasya nābhāv adhy ekam arpitaṃ
Goat rider Pusan placed over the whole world:
ajāśvaḥ paśupā vājapastyo dhiyaṃjinvo bhuvane viśve arpitaḥ |
Then we will find it in one of the largest hymns, from Book Nine, as used by three different authors, although it is the same phrase in each case.
Sikata Nivavari:
drāpiṃ vasāno yajato divispṛśam antarikṣaprā bhuvaneṣv arpitaḥ | svar jajñāno nabhasābhy akramīt pratnam asya pitaram ā vivāsati ||
He, clad in mail that reaches heaven, the Holy One, filling the firmament stationed amid the worlds,
Knowing. the realm of light, hath come to us in rain: he summons to himself his own primeval Sire.
Three Sages:
indo bhúvaneṣv árpitaḥ
placed upon the waters
Indu, mid the worlds of life
Atri:
vimāno ahnām bhuvaneṣv arpitaḥ |
placed in the firmament as the measure of days
Dweller in floods, King, foremost, he displays his might, set among living things as measurer of days.
Distilling oil he flows, fair, billowy, golden-hued, borne on a car of light, sharing one home with wealth.
We will just cite those and note the "Bhuvaneshvar" connotation. Atri seems to have used it twice.
For Dirghatamas, the main subject was again translated as Soul of the Year between Surya and Sarasvati in I.164.48:
Devatā (deity/subject-matter): saṃvatsarātmā kālaḥ
which is where he introduces the Sadhya class of deities:
yatra pūrve sādhyāḥ santi devāḥ ||
Thus, the Sadhyas are not a Puranic contrivance; both they and the Rbhus are quite prominent in Vedic lore, in importance if not frequent appearance. Just like IVC, something may only be seen one or three times, but the point is it is following the same ruleset. Dirghatamas "introduces" many things to us, but I'm not sure he invented any.
In VI.44, Samyu literally refers to "Soma" in verse 20, and re-iterates it in synonyms such as Madhu and Amrta:
Quote:
ayam akṛṇod uṣasaḥ supatnīr ayaṃ sūrye adadhāj jyotir antaḥ | ayaṃ tridhātu divi rocaneṣu triteṣu vindad amṛtaṃ nigūḻham ||
“This Soma made the dawns happily wedded to the sun; this Soma placed the light within the solar orb; this (Soma) has found the threefold ambrosia hidden in heaven in the three bright regions.”
Lost in translation, the Atharva Veda reference in Sanskrit to "Tiger" uses the downflow of Sindhu and Vanaspati as the direction of falling. The translation garbled that into Celestial Tree. It's not, it's Vanaspati flowing downwards like rivers.
This adversary is Mrga:
Let the beast's teeth be broken off, shivered and shattered be
his ribs!
Slack be thy bowstring: downward go the wild beast that
pursues the hare!
and it is a dual power:
Indra's and Soma's child, thou art Atharvan's tiger-crushing
charm.
This "hare" is indicated by:
cʰaśayúr
in this sense:
Quote:
...in the Atharva Veda, a few unspecified animals were described as Sasayu in the sense that they lurk to catch hares as prey. The Satapata Brahmana (XI. I. 5. 3), a commentary on the Sukla Yajur Veda, and Jaiminiya Brahmana (I. 2. 8) of the Sama Veda mention the presence of the hare in the moon. The Aaranyaparva of the Mahabharata also mentions the hare as a breakfast item, a lake named Sesa Tirtha, and also the rabbit-bearing moon (III. 226. 2). Further, Sanskrit names like Sasadhara and Sachin mean ‘marked by hare’ i.e., the moon.
The Rg Veda has a single Hare:
The hare grasps the assailing beast of prey
śaśaḥ kṣuram pratyañcaṃ
Kṣuram= a long hard, sharp claw, like a razor, belonging to lion, tiger, etc., i.e., a strong fierce wild beast
That one is a "reverse" about the weak overcoming the strong, pebbles smash mountains, as if this hare had Atharvan's Tiger Charm.
I see a progression of metaphors. The Tiger is defeated first because it is the fastest and most dangerous thing. But this is rare enough as to be unrealistic. The more expected adversaries are the Wolf and the Thief, which are widely distributed across a number of Rg Vedic hymns, and the Tiger is not.
That remains similar to Contest Heroine if it has any connotation of "solves all problems", like the first domino.
I don't think anyone ever stood in the road making attacking tigers expire by singing.
I do think it is a realistic metaphor about taking care of the quickest and most obvious things first, while the true challenges like to hide and keep coming back up. Those, in turn, represent the inner meaning of most Vedic hymns, or, their usage is to make examples for things to be understood as symbolic of angst and struggle.
The Rg Veda has some clans that have not been studied that are its story. In terms of objective history or its relative chronology, the Varsagiras are hugely important in the wake of whatever happened to Sudas or his successor. This, so to speak, re-instates Ikshvaku priests or promotes them. In terms of the knowledge base or inner meaning, a very important group is the Vatarasanas, identified by their followers as joint composers of X.136 and self-named in the mantra:
munayo vātaraśanāḥ
A Vedic Muni is a rare spawn, a follower of Wind Family. This is also known by Vasistha.
Now, it will force a linguistic float, because its only other mention is by Irimbithi Kanva:
vāstoṣ pate dhruvā sthūṇāṃsatraṃ somyānām | drapso bhettā purāṃ śaśvatīnām indro munīnāṃ sakhā ||
He asks for Indra's friendship to the Munis. He is speaking self-inclusively as a follower of something known to Vasistha.
The line before this is subject to mis-interpretation, if thought of as individual people. This is an entire Indra hymn, so it is talking about his metaphorical parent:
yas te śṛṅgavṛṣo napāt praṇapāt kuṇḍapāyyaḥ | ny asmin dadhra ā manaḥ ||
“(Indra), who was the offspring of Śṛṅgavṛṣa, of whom the kuṇḍapāyya rite was the protector, (the sages) have fixed (of old) their minds upon this ceremony.”
There, we have something quite possibly Dravidian:
Kunda Apayya
and yet he has framed it in the past tense.
As we have seen, Kunda becomes applied to Auriga, which is not a constellation definable by Nakshatras. It's not a word otherwise known to the Rg Veda.
Wind Family has only potentially a couple of named descendants in Book Ten:
168 Anila VAtAyana
186 Ula VAtAyana
This is going to get a little weird. It's the Unicorn. In folklore, we have Ekasrnga also called Rishi Asrnga. And in the Veda we find important uses of Horns -- and Soma rushing through the Filter is sharpening its Horns -- but there is no Unicorn. In fact, the closest thing we can find is a version of the Anukramani that individually names the Vatarasanas:
Ṛṣya-śṛṅga, Etaśa, Karikrata, Jūti, Vāta-jūti, Vipra-jūta, and Vṛṣāṇaka
This is done just before a hymn attributed to Seven Sages, X.137, which does not name them.
Seven Sages are also credited with Soma Pavamana IX.107, and not known personally.
I don't know if the named Vatarasanas should automatically be impressed to the anonymous Seven Sages that follow them, because I am not sure that phrase is reducible to anything specific. Instead, I take them as a kind of IVC-like riddle; if there were seven, you could say of any of them, "he was first" and it is technically true. On the other hand, it might be one person with seven aliases.
The only thing that is not terribly obscure about this is Etasa.
In fact, he was brought into the fold right in the line after Pipru vs. Rjisvan:
“Indra, the granter of wished-for felicity, compelled the many-fraudulent Etaśa and Dasoṇi, Tūtuji, Tugra and Ibha, always to come submissively to (the rājā) Dyotana, as a son (comes before a mother).”
they were guilty of:
daśamāyaṃ
i. e., craft or maya of the Dasas. And so here we see it is possible to confess or repent, etc., and not just be obliterated due to birth. Consequently, Tugra is very famous.
Etasa is known in a certain way, which is confusing for Surya -- Sun, but properly sorted by Nodha:
Indra has defended the pious sacrificer Etaśa when contending with Sūrya, the son of Svaśva.
Surya is a person, and the crisis as described by Kaksivan:
having driven those who offer no sacrifices to the opposite bank of the ninety rivers
It sounds like the side Etasa was on, or, he has literally switched sides as this "expulsion region" is being formed.
So it is probably not "the sun" as translated in the following statements from Vamadeva:
for the sake of a mortal, discomfited the sun, and have protected Etaśa
Medhatithi and Medhyatithi:
“When Sūrya harassed Etaśa, Śatakratu conveyed (to his aid) Kutsa, the son of Arjuni, with his two prancing horses (swift) as the wind, and stealthily approached the irresistible Gandharva.”
Gauriviti:
“Then, for this exploit, all the gods gave you Maghavan, in succession, the Soma beverage; whence you have retarded, for the sake of Etaśa, the advancing horses of the sun.”
Grtsamada:
“The divine Indra, when lauded (by Etaśa), humbled the Sun (in behalf) of the mortal who offered to him the libation; for the munificent Etaśa presented him with mysterious and inestimable riches; as (a father gives) his portion (to a son).”
Vamadeva:
“He has hurled the wheel (of the chariot) of the sun, and has stopped Etaśa going forth to (battle); the dark undulating cloud bedews him, (staying) at the root of radiance in the regions of its waters.”
The better explanation is probably not from later commentaries, but a single Vedic mantra. It's not the sun. It's a person of that name.
Book Nine is really the Kasyapas' book. It begins with a "composers' nucleus" similar to Book One and Book Eight. It is by force an accumulation, as it goes through the Kasyapas and maybe to "the end", but it also has archaic parts.
The nucleus is immediately visible from an Anukramani chart:
1
Madhucchandas Vishwamitra
2
Medhatithi Kanva
3
Sunahshepa Ajigarti
4
Hiranyastupa Angiras
That's the condensed version of the very beginning of the current Rg Veda redaction. Book Eight is a little different, as it places several non-Kanva authors around the middle, such as Kasyapa Marica of Book Nine and so on.
This book uses Indra regularly, and has limited or single references to allied forces like Vishnu. Its only mention of "Gva" is from the backstoried Uru Angiras:
By whom Dadhyac Navagva opens fastened doors, by whom the sages gained their wish,
By whom they won the fame of lovely Amrta in the felicity of Gods.
who has followers in Book Ten:
ANga Aurava: X.138
HavirdhAna ANgi: X. 11 -12
"Son of Uru" is not the same as Vedic Aurva:
aurvabhṛguvac
So it is breadcrumbed, using a minor reference by Uru to infer something expressed in greater detail elsewhere.
In other areas, it does a particular form of its own construction.
Another one who might as well be called the Architect is Ucathya. I started noticing that Book Nine has a large amount of quotes in it. In fact, it is practically built by various sages randomly quoting others. It begins to display a familiar Sanskrit technique of inter-textuality by having the same line appear in another time and place. Book Nine does this with an unusually large number of couplets. And in one case, it quotes an entire Gayatri.
The presumably Ucathya original IX.50.4 copied by Dhrulacyuta Agastya:
09.025.06a 8 ā́ pavasva madintama
09.025.06b 8 pavítraṃ dhā́rayā kave
09.025.06c 8 arkásya yónim āsádam
the other repetitions in Ucathya:
09.050.03b (ditto 09.26.5b) [Idhmavaha Dharlacyuta]
09.050.05c (ditto 09.30.5c) [Bindu Angiras]
09.051.01b (ditto 09.16.3b) [Asita Kasyapa]
09.051.05c (ditto 09.1.4c) [Madhucchandas Vaisvamitra]
09.052.01c (ditto 09.6.3b) [Asita Kasyapa]
Sapta Rishis/Pavitra Angiras quote, among other things, Ucathya:
09.067.09b (ditto 09.50.3c)
pávamānam madhušcútam
the purified honey-dropping heroic Soma
as said by Gotama; but this is arguably too common to be very noticeable. In many of these cases, we might expect a small phrase to be the same. Most of the rest of IX.50.3-4 is copied by Agastyas in IX.25-6. The "ditto" areas are just a machine algorithm lightening its data load, i. e., one of the main basic computing tasks, to reduce repetition by using small markers, such as perhaps also found in IVC script. There is probably a PhD in evaluating those statistically and figuring out the direction of copying. Ucathya is among the oldest Rishis, so he sets the tone.
Asita Kasyapa uses the Dirghatamas "Apri" technique, copies Ucathya, and forms the basis of this book.
5-24 are composed by Asita (or Devala) Kasyapa.
The rest of Book Nine is weighted towards them:
53-60 Avatsara Kasyapa
63 Nidhruvi Kasyapa
64 Kasyapa Marica
93 Kasyapa Marica
99-100 Rebhasunu Kasyapa
113-114 Kasyapa Marica
(end)
Marica is only in Atharva Veda and Ayurveda. Kasyapa's main discipleship was outside the priesthood.
While the number of Atris is throttled:
32 Syavasva Atreya
101 Andhigu Syavasvi with Yayati, Nahusa, Manu Samvarana, and Prajapati Vaisvamitra
There are more representatives of Book Six:
Rjisvan
Kasu Bharadvaja
Pratardana Daivodasi
Ananata Parucchepa -- Divodasa's grandson
Rjisvan with Vasisthas and Angirases.
If Rjisvan enters Arjika country--Soma territory, which most likely is the Beas, his co-author is Uru Angiras.
As per the importance of Book Four:
Tryaruna Trivrsna and Trasadasyu Paurukutsa -- probably the main figures of the entire effort
There is also a cluster following Bharga Pragatha.
"Aurva Bhrgu" was referred to by:
prayoga bhārgava
Those names are always distinguishable, but a lot of old reviews have lost this. Bhrgva and Bhargava are distinct like Aurva and Aurava.
The word Soma, which occurs thousands of times in the
hymns of the Rigveda, is found in the name of only one
composer RSi: SomAhuti BhArgava.
That would be Book Two.
In Book Nine:
47-49 Kavi Bhargava
62, 65 Jamadagni Bhargava
75-79 Kavi Bhargava
85 Vena Bhargava
and in the samhita we see:
bhṛ́gavaḥ
a few outstanding characters:
106 Caksu Manu, Manu Apsava
Agni Dhisnya Aishvarya
following Trita and Dvita, Parvata and Narada have the epithet:
śikhaṇḍinyau vā kāśyapyāvapsarasau
Kasyapa and the Apsaras.
It sounds like a continuity from Vasistha and Urvashi.
The phrase "deva soma" is used a few times in Book Nine, indicating he is of the same nature as any of them, but "Candra" and "Rudra" are not found.
IX.54:
sómo devó ná sū́ryaḥ
Soma, a God as Surya is
IX.28:
mánasas pátiḥ
The text of Book Nine is relatively uninteresting, since it is all basically the same subject, and, it keeps using an eight-syllable pattern. The interest is in how it is collected from a wide variety of sources.
The chart I linked may not be 100% perfect but, in the published Rg Veda, the credits are damaged for the first part of Book Three until it corrects at Ghora Angiras in III.36.
Combining the resources, the chart can let you find an example such as Ayasya quickly turn to his section we find he first offers to:
bhagāya vāyave
Unlike the chart, the published version does not use the epithet "Seven Sages" for IX.67 but gives the composers individually:
bharadvāja
kaśyapa
gotamoḥ
atri
viśvāmitra
jamadagni
vasiṣṭha
pavitra vasiṣṭha vobhauḥ
On the other hand, it just has Usana for 87-89, rather than the Grtsamada-based cluster which seems unlikely.
Of course, we think there was an attempt to monopolize Grtsamada by "Saunaka", along with confusions over *bharg-/*bhrg-, *aur-/*-aurav, when attempting to re-read something that was forgotten, i. e. a domain where Tugra and others were current news.
I don't see a difficulty if something like the above was collated, i. e. if it is unlikely that Bharadvaja and Kasyapa lived and worked together, you can still splice the hymn accordingly. For instance, Atri has Goat-rider Pusan, which is remarkably distinct from the rest of the hymn, giving it a pieced-together feel. This is especially easy if the sources were all metered similarly. And then we see the proliferous amount of copying in Book Nine -- a testament to this very thing. If Ucathya said something in relatively ancient times, it is remembered and repeated by others; that seems to be the case. The lack of attribution is not plagiarism, but "goes without saying".
Sama Veda is mostly just a ruleset on how to quote the Rg Veda in order to make songs accompanied by Gandharva Veda (music). Since this is a rather specific school, it can probably accurately be attributed to Bharadvaja.
In that sense, it is possible IVC might refer to Gandharva Veda, since there seem to be remains of what were perhaps lyres. Most likely it also had Samans of some kind, but clearly the Vedic ones are new.
The idea here has been to press the language and hence ideas conveyed by that language to their most primordial aspect. The IVC script and Book Nine are to some extent the same.
The Veda does not have animal totems in the manner of IVC, rather, it uses them as various and sundry representatives of their obvious traits. Here is a Book Nine Elephant Ibho:
He, when the people deck him like a docile king of elephants.
Sits as a falcon in the, wood.
Does it have anything to say about Mrga, yes, the obvious speed of a deer.
"Like a bull" should again be Mrgo:
Soma hath sought the beakers while they cleansed him, and like a wild bull, in the wood hath settled.
Again the original is Mrga:
Brahman of Gods, the Leader of the poets, Rsi of sages, Bull of savage creatures,
Falcon amid the vultures, Axe of forests, over the cleansing sieve goes Soma singing.
This is "the sprinkler" Vrsa:
Indu is Indra
That's the Apri Hymn. Sounds familiar. Indu is very common such as in IX.12:
In close embraces Indu holds Soma when
poured within the jars.
Indu conveys a Garbha to cattle.
Perhaps discovering Rodasi Manavi and:
devó devī giriṣṭhā́
But sixty some-odd times in Book Nine, Indu is flowing out of the Filter, Indra's Vajra is the sound of the Soma, Indu does not seem to include the first mashing. It does not seem difficult to find the appropriate blend of meanings for Indu:
1) The moon; दिलीप इति राजेन्दुरिन्दुः क्षीरनिधाविव (dilīpa iti rājendurinduḥ kṣīranidhāviva) R.1.12 (indu is said to mean in the Veda a drop of Soma juice, a bright drop or spark; sutāsa indavaḥ Ṛgveda 1.16.6).
2) The मृगशिरस् (mṛgaśiras) Nakṣatra.
The latter seems to be the case at least from a version that has become adulterated:
Narada Purana 56.178
Mrgasira (Indu)
That is to say, some of its information was forgotten or altered, while it has simply chosen a synonym for "Moon".
So, if we think basic ideas for the stars is pre-Vedic, then, is the Moon a Vedic deity. No. There is no reason the moon, itself, should be much different in the pre-Vedic era. It may not have had detailed cycle counts, but it is next to impossible to dismiss basic observations such as months, fortnights, and weeks, and as far as we can tell, days of the Moon.
In that case, it is relevent to consider some colloquial or regional variants for Mrigasira Naksatra, from a page informing us that its sacred plant is Khadira or Acacia Catechu:
https://barbarapijan.com/bpa/bpa_gra...ia_catechu.jpg
śaśi-daiva
= शशिन् shashin containing a hare , i.e., the Moon ++ दैव daiva deity
indu-bha
= इन्दु indu Earthen Moon + भ bha star-station, nakshatra
cāndra-masa
Atmaja
Invaka = Indubha
This is true to the extent that if Indu is the presiding deity, Aindava names the asterism.
In that logic, it seems likely that Child of the Waters refers to Ardra. In the atmospheric sense it is lightning, but if we look at Trita Aptya or Apam Napat, or possibly some kind of Raudras, it may work.
Ancient Voice makes a concordance of proper names in translated verses. Indu is in everything except Books Three and Five, yet is in Nine an outrageous amount of times.
I personally work from the versions with Anukramani and the one with raw text. The whole Book-Nine-on-one-page could be seen for instance on:
Dharmapedia
Theasis
As soon as we look outside, such as X.142, we run into a forced translation:
This immortal Soma...
ayaṃ hi te amartya indur
Indu has a pivotal or quintessential hymn in II.22. But even there, "Indu" is rendered as "Soma".
Also, considering the lineage:
Pragatha Kanva --> Bharga Pragatha --> the Bhargavas
Indu is significantly figured in, but again clouded over, in Pragatha's Soma VIII.48:
Soma, enjoying the friendship of Indra
indav indrasya sakhyaṃ
That Soma which, drunk into our hearts, has entered, immortal, into us mortals...
yo na induḥ pitaro hṛtsu pīto 'martyo martyām̐
O Soma, rejoicing with your protecting powers...
tvaṃ na inda ūtibhiḥ sajoṣāḥ pāhi
Soma is perhaps the preferred name, up to the level Soma Raja. Calling it Indu is almost indistinguishable, but obviously that is the term actually used many times.
They even keep doing it to Pusan X.26:
Pūṣan, is cognizant of such excellent praises; like Soma he is the showerer (of benefits)
sa veda suṣṭutīnām indur na pūṣā vṛṣā |
Again mistakenly put, Indu not Indra in Soma I.91, which appears equal to Vrsa and Vanaspati; Indu not Soma in I.121.
And so we are trying to be careful not to take "Indu is Indra" out of context. That is a weird Apri Hymn. It simply doesn't fit. It barely connects to the standard components; and has turned it all into a thing Soma does. Like others, this is more of the sense of that once Indra has imbibed the Soma, he is equal to it, while in the next verse, it is requested to consecrate or anoint (anghi, a conjugation of anjana) Vanaspati. However, most other material would equate/identify Soma with Vanaspati.
Since the end of the Book is the beginning, its steady refrain from Kasyapa:
indrāyendo
is used in the command, "Flow, Indu, for Indra". So obviously, they were not the same to start with.
Moreover, this is really IX.113 where we find:
rājā vaivasvato
which refers to Svar Loka.
He alludes to Rjisvan's geography of Himachal Pradesh and an incident with Usas, and is following the Dirghatamas-alike reverence for the third world. Curiously, he credits Gandharva with adding Rasa to the Soma:
gandharvāḥ praty agṛbhṇan taṃ some rasam
and ends by mentioning Seven Directions of Various Suns and Seven Adityas.
This additive, "rasa", is very generically water, juice, etc., and has to be shaped by context. Ostensibly, it is one of the major rivers, in fact the one crossed by Sarama according to Divo Daksinya Prajapatya and The Panis.
It may even be synonymous to the Soma itself; however, as an additive, the most likely candidate appears where a comment to Haryata Pragatha suggests it is goat's milk.
“The daughter of Sūrya brought the vast Soma large as a rain-cloud; the gandharva seized upon it and placed the juice in the Soma; flow, Indu, for Indra.”
or:
Hither hath Surya's Daughter brought the wild Steer whom Parjanya nursed.
Gandharvas have seized bold of him, and in the Soma laid the juice. Flow, Indu, flow for Indra's sake.
While tricky at the beginning, either way has Gandharva adding Rasa to Soma. It could be internally, i. e. water into a plant, or it may be milk; Kasyapa ends by saying "your juices come together". This seems to have to do with the "thousand streams" of purification.
So, metaphorically, if this is an invigorating substance, then yes of course you attribute it with strength and power and say it is the king and active agent. It may illumine the mind, but this is verily a literal description in IX.61:
pavamāna rasas tava dakṣo vi rājati dyumān | jyotir viśvaṃ svar dṛśe ||
“Purified Soma, your juice as it increases shines bright; it (makes) a pervading universal light to be seen.”
That's not mistakable. It's not sukra or suci, many fluids might be "bright" or "shiny", but how many drinks make their own light?
It doesn't say "Soma", it says "Pavamana, when your Rasa increases..."
Here are multiple expressions bundled together in IX.67:
kakuháḥ somyó rása índur índrāya pūrvyáḥ
āyúḥ pavata āyáve
For Indra floweth excellent Indu, the noblest Soma juice
The Living for the Living One.
So, I think, the Moon may be heavily deified, as there are nearly two hundred instances of "Indu". But they are both the moon and juice, depending on context; and Candrama is also Soma. Is it Moon Juice because it really does give off light?
The most straightforward thing I can come up with is that the Manas of Purusha produces a Manasapati, which is the Moon, which further extends its name to something made by man. The subtle counter-point is that the juice that is pressed and consumed is not "the real Soma".
This is my explanation. I've tried searching outside reviews, and a bunch of targeted and aggregate browsing. I haven't seen this. I found it by spending time trying to understand what Rg Veda says for itself. And the first sign of weirdness came from Apala Atreyi:
Quote:
“A young woman going to the water found Soma in the path; as she carried it home she said, I will press you for Indra, I will you for Śakra.”
...drink this Soma pressed by my teeth together with fried grains of barley, the karambha, cakes and hymns."
In actuality, this will show us the Black and White Veda at the same time.
Surya Savitri begins with several verses on Soma:
Quote:
“Earth is upheld by truth; heaven is upheld by the sun; the Ādityas are supported by sacrifice, Soma is supreme in heaven.”
“By Soma the Ādityas are strong; by Soma the earth is great; Soma is stationed in the vicinity of these Nakṣatras.”
“He who has drunk thinks that the herb which men crush is the Soma; (but) that which the Brāhmaṇas know to be Soma,, of that no one partakes...
...no terrestrial being partakes of you.”
Vāyu is the guardian of Soma, the maker of years and months.
So, at least part of that hymn is the basis for the current Indian marriage rite. The entirety of it is very subtle and quite complex; for marriage, there is a shorter, simplified version ported through Sukla Yajur Veda. This text is smaller than Rg Veda and more focused. It is "white" because it is organized, straightforward, and relatively easy to follow. You soon find that Waters are a major factor in the invocation for domestic and community well-being.
The "Rivers Hymn" is unlikely to be literal, or, it has real rivers mixed with imaginary:
Arjikiya with Susoma
This is where we uncover the Black Veda.
Note that we just observed "copistry", where we get an example similar to IVC statistics. Copied phrases can perhaps be divided into random and intentional; but there are copied couplets which show intent; and then there is an entire Gayatri which must be hugely selective.
The statistically-largest copying in the Rg Veda is four lines, similar to an IVC tetragram.
That this also pertains to Waters should be apparent from the Rishi:
triśirāstvāṣṭraḥ sindhudvīpo vāmbarīṣaḥ
it still has revertable translations:
“Give us to partake in this world of your most auspicious Soma, like affectionate mothers.”
śivatamo rasas
It just said Rasa is the Most Shiva. This may not be a "Vedic name" but it is certainly a word.
The statistical fact has been seen by others in X.9:
Quote:
This and the following ṛcas of the sūkta are repetitions from RV.1. 23, 20-23; in maṇḍala 1, Soma speaks to Kaṇva; in this present maṇḍala, Soma speaks to Āmbarīṣa Sindhudvīpa, a rājā
I.23 is really Medhatithi, and is essentially a copy of four verses from one hymn to the other.
Again, we think this is probably backwards. Medhatithi liked what he found, and added a verse to Indra. He changed the meter and extended the first verse with a mirrorlike phrase. We are told the first *half* of the hymn has been kept for daily use.
Medhatithi is the nucleus of Books One, Eight, and Nine, and my impression is he collated most of the Rg Veda. I think he made these patterns artistically and probably compiled about eighty per cent of what we see, leaving it "open" for a few later Rishis to contribute, without affecting the circuitry.
This is the part he took from Sindhudvipa:
Quote:
“Soma has declared to me; all medicaments, as well as Agni, the benefactor of the universe, are in the waters.”
“Waters, bring to perfection, all disease-dispelling medicaments for the good of my body, that I may behold the Sun.”
“Waters, take away whatever sin has been (found) in me, whether I have (knowingly) done wrong, or have pronounced imprecations (against holy men), or have spoken untruth.”
“I have this day entered into the waters; we have mingled with their essence. Agni, abiding in the waters approach, and fill me (thus bathed) with vigour.”
Sindhudvipa Ambarisa is a follower of Ambarisa Varsagira, who is re-done in the Puranas, but they are a different story here.
This is a daily purification hymn.
Soma can claim both the three- and four-line large copies.
If you look "forwards", you find this copied into Book One to Sukla Yajur Veda, and if you look "backwards" then there is more in Book Ten and it is conjoined to the lost Vedic saga.
"Waters" are not quite the same as "Man with plough" representing Betelgeuse -- Ardra. There is, however, a startling epithet about this by
Kutsa:
mandhātā́raṃ kṣáitrapatyeṣv
It's Mandhata so it doesn't necessarily sound agricultural -- although it may sound like the Solstice:
Quote:
Wherewith ye made Rasa swell full with water-floods, and urged to victory the car without a horse;
Wherewith Trisoka drove forth his recovered cows, -- Come hither unto us, O Asvins, with those aids.
Wherewith ye, compass round the Sun when far away, strengthened Mandhatar in his tasks as lord of lands,
And to sage Bharadvaja gave protecting help, -- Come hither unto us, O Asvins, with those aids.
The title is outright deified in Vamadeva IV.57:
Devatā (deity/subject-matter): kṣetrapatiḥ
“Lord of the field, bestow upon us sweet abundant, (water), as the cow (yields her) milk, dropping like honey, blend as butter; may the lords of the water make us happy.”
The deity is dual:
Śuna and Sīra
and we find a very telling agricultural goddess:
Auspicious Sītā
May Indra take hold of Sītā; may Pūṣan guide her
She is definitely a ploughed furrow.
With a different phrasing, he also applies *ksetra- to Trasadasyu.
"Ksetrapati" is used by Vasukarna Vasukra, who finishes by clearly identifying descendants of Vasistha.
So far, "Ksetrapati" is heavily skewed to Mandhata, Trasadasyu, and Vaisistha, or Ikshvakus.
It is used formulaicly by Vasistha; he also uses Ksetra as the dwelling Vishnu prepares for the Manusas.
It is deified in one more area from Manu Vaivasvata on Dampati:
agniṃ vaḥ pūrvyaṃ girā devam īḻe vasūnām | saparyantaḥ purupriyam mitraṃ na kṣetrasādhasam ||
I glorify with song, for wealth, Agni the God, the first of you.
We honour as a well-loved Friend the God who prospereth our fields.
It seems to have an "original human" in Atharva Veda Viraj VIII.10 after Vamadevya Saman provides Waters:
Prithi the son of Vena was her milker: he milked forth hus-
bandry and grain for sowing.
The "ksetrapati" actually has a rather interesting geometric performance, which involves another title as well; the very beginning of the whole Atharva Veda is for Vacaspati, followed by a verse on Munja grass.
The very last hymn, Aswins XX.143, must be subsequent to the Rg Veda events:
Car praised in hymns, most ample, rich in treasure, fitted with
seats, the car that beareth Sūryā.
Ksetrapati reprise:
Sweet be the plants for us, the heavens, the waters, and full of
sweets for us be air's mid-region!
May the Field's Lord for us be full of sweetness, and may we
follow after him uninjured.
Asvins, that work of yours deserves our wonder, the Bull of
firmament and earth and heaven;
Yes, and your thousand promises in battle. Come near to all
these men and drink beside us.
So the Atharva Veda is contained by Vacaspati and Ksetrapati. Viraj contains the latest Vedic characters such as Prahlada and Dhritarashtra which means this hymn is much more influential to the Puranas than anything in the Rg Veda. The Ksetrapati is really a Madhu doctrine, which of course translators are not sensitive to. It has units of time cycles and what look like "creations", which on behalf of the Seven Sages, uses Mantra and Tapas as Food:
King Soma was her calf. the Moon her milk-pail. Brihaspati
Āngirasa, her milker,
Drew from her udder Prayer and Holy Fervour. Fervour and
Prayer maintain the Seven Rishis.
We just mentioned Manu Vaivasvata has a hymn dedicated to Dampati, that is, started as the Yajamana or the concept that a person at home can validly practice spirituality. it then layers this up to Married Couple.
Therefor it is all a type of consecration towards householders, using various deities, beginning:
Parvata, Nadi, Vishnu, Pusan the sinless Aditya
The Nadi Sukta is half symbolic "rivers", and, Waters is categorically one of the most-shared things into the Sukla Yajur Veda along with Marriage in terms under Surya Savitri. This is all about getting Devas to work by Mantras in your home life.
Yajur Veda with Anukramani shows that Vacaspati and Visvakarman or Vishvakarman "the husband" are nearly the whole subject of this work.
Brahmanaspati <--> Visvakarma in the last reference by Grtsamada. That makes sense since both are "son of Tvastr".
It uses Vacaspati Visvakarma by Shasa and Bhuvanputro Vishvakarma; Prajapati also says:
brhaspataye vacaspataye
Vachaspati also receives a flow of Soma, "whatever name you have".
YV only has one "ksetrapati", Rudra. Kutsa 18:
namo namo rudrayatatayine ksetranam pataye
In that sense, it does appear that Ksetrapati is the deity of Ardra.
You don't think of Mandhata and Trasadasyu as farmers, so, it quite possibly means ownership of land in those cases, and in Ikshvaku terms, Mandhata had something that Trasadasyu restored.
Human Sacrifice YV 30 contains some interesting dedications:
Yama, Atharvan, the years of the Yuga, then:
for the Ribhus a hide dresser; for the Sadhyas a currier; 16 For Lakes...
and goes on to various Waters. And there is a very unusual appearance:
for the Man tiger a madman
The long list includes people such as Bhils who really have this Weretiger practice.
So there are two primordial utterances about Rudra:
Somarudra
Rudra Kshetrapati
If we negate "Rudra" as a personal name designated by the Veda, then, we would be left with two attributes quite possibly relevant to IVC. And they are near the beginning of the Naksatras in the same relevant way. Deductively, this reaches to 2,300, and, inductively, the plough to Kalibangan 2,800.
