8. Indra’s warning to anyone who takes on too great an opponent or becomes careless.
9. Indra threatens those who take to themselves praise due to the gods. Soma due to the gods, or food due to the gods or priests.
Tilling of Vrtra The greatest of Indra’s heroic deeds was the slaying of the dragon Vrtra, an act which also symbolizes the releasing of the waters or rains which Vrtra had held back, the conquest' of the enemies of the Aryans, and the creation of the world out of the body of the dragon. The thimderbolt of Indra is a- INDR A INDR A dub ipbich, as a pballic symbolj is also a symbol of fertility, the source of seed as well as tain, sexual imagery also undet- hes the contrast between the castrated steer and tbe bull burst- ing with seed. Ram imagery is also prominent; Vrtra is a cloud pierced m his loms or m his beUies, for elsewhere he is said to have swallowed all the uiuvetse, which Indra must free from him, the cows to which the waters ate compared ate dsp ram-clouds "V^tta rhay^be imagmed as a shoulderless serpent or asX^ragon whose arms and legs Indra has just cut off; he IS primarily a symbol of danger, constriction, and loss The battle IS waged with magic as well as with weapons, Indra uses magic to make himself as thin as a horse’s hair, and Vytra uses magic to create hghtnmg and fog Indra wins, of course, and verse 14 refers to a similar feat of rescue performed by the eagle,! but only as a simile m the context of another myth; Indra is said to have fled after kilhng Vytra and to have been purushed for the crime of murder Ihis hymn, however, ends on a note of afffrmation for India’s victory.
r Let me now smg the heroic deeds of India, the first that the thunderbolt-wielder performed. He killed the dragon and pierced an openmg for the waters, he spht open the bellies of mountains a He killed the dragon who lay upon the mountam; va^pa fashioned the roaring thimderbolt for him. Like die flowmg waters rushed straight down to y wated like a bull, he took the Soma for himself an ra the extract from the three bowls m the thtcc- * Indra the Generous seized his bom of d'n it as a weapon; he killed the first- Indta, when you killed the first-born of dragons and < ^ niagic the magic of the magicians, at find ^ijpmcnt you brought forth the sun, the sky. Since then you have found no enemy to contpicrjou.
) With his great weapon, the thunderbolt, Indra killed tlic THE RIG VEDA shoulderless Vftra, his greatest enemy. Like the trunk of a tree whose branches have been lopped off by an axe, the dragon lies flat upon the ground.
6 For, muddled by drunkenness like one who is no soldier, Vrtra challenged the great hero who had overcome the mighty and who drank Soma to the dregs. Unable to withstand die onslaught of his weapons, he found Indra an enemy to conquer him and was shattered, his nose crushed.
7 Without feet or hands he fought against Indra, who struck him on the nape of the neck with his thunderbolt. The steer who wished to become the equal of the bull bursting with seed, Vrtra lay broken in many places.
8 Over him as he lay there like a broken reed the swelling waters flowed for man.^ Those waters that Vrtra had enclosed with his power — the dragon now lay at their feet.
$ The vital energy of Vrtra’s mother ebbed away, for Indra had hurled his deadly weapon at her. Above was the mother, below was the son;- Danu ® lay down like a cow with her calf.
10 In the midst of the channels of the waters which never stood still or rested, the body was hidden. The waters flow over Vrtra’s secret place; he who found Indra an enemy to conquer iiim sank into long darkness.
11 The waters who had the Dasa® for their husband, the dragon for their protector, were imprisoned like the cows imprisoned by the Pams.® When he killed Vrtra he split open the outlet of the waters that had been closed.
12 Indra, you became a hair of a horse’s tail when Vrtra struck you on the corner of the mouth. You, the one god, the brave one, you won the cows; you won the Soma; you released the seven streams so that they could flow.
No use was the lightning and thunder, fog and hail that he® had scattered about, when the dragon and Indra fought. Indra the Generous remained victorious for all time to come.
INDR A - Id mat aveaget of the dragon did you see, Thdra, that fear entered your heart "when you had killed him? Then crossed the nmety-nine streams hke the frightened eagle crossing the realms of earth and air. r j Indra, who wields the thunderbolt m his hand, is the king of that which moves and that which rests, of the tame and of the homed.8 He rules the people as their king, en- circling aU this as a nm encircles spokes.
NOTES 2 Tvastr IS the artisan of the gods, sometimes an enemy of Indra (cf. 4 i8) but here his ally.
4, Mann was the eponymous ancestor of mankmd, the verse may refer to the waters that flowed at the time of the great flood, when Manu alone was saved, or to the waters that flowed for the sake of mankind at the time of the piercmg of Vjtia (cf. 1 165 8). The latter seems mote hkely - or both at once - 5 DJnu IS the mother of Vrtra and of other demons called Dinavas, Dasa is another name for Vrtra and also, m the sense of slave’, for other human and demomc enemies of India, the Panis are a group of such enemies, said to have stolen and penned up the cous^umll Indra released them (sec j;i and 10 108) 6 He’ Is Vttra, trying his magic In vain agamst Indra’s (cf. v. 4), ^7. Possibly the eagle (Indra in disguise) that stole the Soma (4 26- 8. According to Siyana, the *tamc’ arc animals that do not attack, such as horses and donkeys, while the ‘homed’ are fierce animals HI c bufTalocs and bulls.
1/Jc Com w the Cave 3ndn split open the c.ivc where the co^vB were pent uc releasing them and winning them. This myth Lpress^ simultaneously the mcccssful cattle raids of the Ind^^ apamst the people ihev comiucrcd. the process of birth^ the vomh, the releasing of tiic waters (symbolized by cow THE RIG VEDA THE RIG VEDA pent Up by the demons of drought, the finding (and hence creating) of the dawn rays of the sun (also symbolized by cows), and the poet’s discovery and release of his own inspira- tions. The martial level of the myth is fleshed out by references to Indra’s assistants, simultaneously the Angiras priests (who thus tie the myth to the fourth level, the poet’s inspiration) and the Maruts or storm-clouds (tying it to the second level, the end of the drought). The theme of finding and creating the sun is expanded in the first three verses of the hymn, which describe the birth of fire in an obscure allegory of incest that also alludes to the winning of treasure (the wealth of cattle again).
/ The driver^ wise in the Law came, speaking devoutly as he chastened his daughter’s daughter.^ When the father strove to pour® into his daughter, his heart eagerly con- sented.
2 The son of the body did not leave the inheritance to the sister; he made her womb a treasure-house for the win- ner.^ When the mothers ® give birth to the driver,^ one of the two who do good deeds is the maker, and the other derives the gain.
^ Trembling with his tongue, Agni was born to honour the sons of the great rosy one.® Great was the embryo, great was their birth, and great the growth, through saci^ce, of the lord of bay horses.'^ ^ The conquerors surrounded the challenger; ® they brought forth great light out of darkness. The dawns recognized him and came to meet him; Indra became the only lord of cows.
/ The wise ones ® struck a path for those who were in the cave; the seven priests drove them on with thoughts pres- sing forward. They found all the paths of the right way; the one who knew was the one who entered them, bow- ing low. ' 6 If Sarama^ finds the breach in the mountain, she will complete her earlier great pathfinding. The swift-footed INDRA one led out the head of the tindymg syllables; knowing the-way, she was the first to go towards the cry.
The most inspired one came, behaving like a faend The mountam made ape the fruit of its womb for the one who performed great deeds The young hero, proving his generosity, won success with the youdas; thpti Angiras nght away became a smger of praise,’^® S The image of this creature and that creature, he knows all who are bom. Standing m the forefront; he killed §usna.i® Knowing the path of the sky, longing for cows he went before us, smgmg. The friend freed his friends from dishonour.
10 II 12 "With a heart longmg for cows they sat down while with their songs they made the road to immortality This is their very scat, still often used now, the lawful way by which they wished to wm the mont^ i’ ^ ^ Glancmg about, they rejoiced m their own possessions as they milked out the milk of the anaent sttd The^ shout heated the two worlds They arranged' the off- sptmg, dmdmg the cows among the men.^® He himself, Indra the killer of Vjtra. with songs tele.s..i Ae rosy cows together with the offspring and theSl ^ uons Sketching far, the cow was i^ked of ^ney-hke butter that she had held for him •Hicy made a seat for him as for a fkther *0 for deeds revealed a great, shining seat iv nr two parents apart with a pU^- sitrini/^ P‘^opped their the wild onc« high up. ^ ^^ey raised I Wlicn the abundant female®* determ? j the one Mho had grown great down U RO to the killer of Vrtm n help 24 Kavc come to the kindness of thJ^ord 'r ' we Ik good to us ns out shepherd ‘ ^'‘^'=>^ous fodta He won great land andLch wealth, and he ' *cnt the THE RIG VEDA booty to his friends. Radiant with his men, Indra gave birth to the sun, the dawn, motion, and fire.
1 6 Tliis house-friend has loosed into a single channel even the wide dispersed waters that shine widi many colours, die honeyed waters made clear by the inspired filters. Rushing along by day and night, they drive forward.^® ly The two dark bearers of treasure, worthy of sacrifice,^^ follow the sun with his consent, when your beloved, impetuous friends^® embrace your splendour to draw it to them.
i8 Killer of Vrtra, be the lord of lovely gifts, the bull who gives Hfe to songs of praise for a whole life-span. Come to us with kind and friendly favours, with great help, quickly, O great one.
jy Like Angiras I honour him and bow to him, making new for the ancient one a song that was born long ago.^® Thwart the many godless lies, and let us win the sun, generous Indra.
20 The mists that were spread about have become trans- parent;®® gtiide Us safely across them. You, our chario- teer, must protect us from injury. Soon, Indra, soon, make us winners of cows.
21 The killer of Vrtra as lord of cows has shown us cows; he went among the dark ones with his rosy forms.®^ Reveal- ing lovely gifts in the right way, he has opened up all his own gates.
22 For success in this batde where there are prices to be won, we will invoke the generous Indra, most manly and brawny, who listens and gives help in combat, who kills enemies and wins riches.
NOTES 1. Agni is here and in verse z referred to as the driver or trans- porter, the one who carries the oblation to the gods in his chariot.
2. The extended metaphor of the first three verses may represent the priest as the father, his daughter as the sacrificial butter held in the spoon, and the son as the fire ‘begotten’ (kindled) by the priest.
INDUA 3. The priest pours butter into tbe spoon, and the father pouts seed into his daughter, 4, The ■winner is the son or brother, who apparently marries his sister so that her inheritance (the treasure) passes back through him to his heirs. For incest with brother and father, cf, Pu5an -with his mother and sister (6 3 5). In the ritual metaphor, the inheritance is the butter which falls from the spoon (her ‘■womb’) into the fire, 3, The mothers of Agm ate the kindling-sticks or the hands that hold them, the two who do good deeds, also regarded as the mothers of Agm, ate the pnest who ‘makes’ the fire and the sacrl- ficet who derives the gam from it.
6 The Angiras priests, who tend Agni and own cows, ate bom of the rosy sky t 7, Indra is the lord of bay horses, ‘grown’ and aided in battle by the pnests (Angitascs) who feed him Soma m their sacrifices.
8. The Mamts and Angitases arc the conquerors who closely suttound Indra, the challenger not of them but of the cattle- thieves 9. The priests again.
10, ■^c noun 18 feminme. referring to tbe cows.
n. The bi^ of Indra, the swift-footed one who finds the way by Indm^*' " first part of this verse may be spoken Cf. 1.164^ cows arc explicitly identified with sacred speech.
the mspu^d oVc^^ttd h (called Angiras) may be friendship as Snrnm^i y <irinking Soma Cf lo io8,8. He feigns Indra, ’ fountain yielded its contents, the corvs, to 15, Angina praises T may be directly quotcd'ln'^i,*” strengthen him The song Indra the ttitnDth to Perform the sacrifice that will give lily, and to acquire the immortamonthi in tvhich the Jrr.11 monthly sacrifices or the list of ,8. Tbe mlik orthr^'!'^ 19 They distributed the milti Iwinp gd^is for the of calves and cous. the calves (as to. Indn U like a Jil'^ cr to the Angiraica. The scat is both his THE RIG VEDA icsting-place and a term for the special sacrifice {satira) performed by the Angirascs on Indra’s behalf. The priests separate the worlds, making a place for the sacrifice to Indra by revealing the space of the realm between sky and earth.
21. The sun, created here, as usual, by the propping apart of sky and earth, as well as by being ‘discovered’ in the cave.
22. An obscure term (Dbi§ana) designating the bowl df Soma, the bowl of sky or of earth, or a goddess of abundance. Here she inspires Indra.
23. Indra’s deed of freeing the cows from the cave is assimilated to his deed of killing Vftra (who grew great in one day) and releas- ing the waters.
24. The worshipper addresses Indra directly.
25. Perhaps the orbit of the sim, or the passing of time, or the course of the sacrifice.
26. That is, they drive (transitively) the horses who pull the chariots of the waters that mix with the Soma.
27. The dark ones are night and twilight.
28. ' The Maruts.
30. Cf. the dispersed mists of Vftra, 1.32. 13.
31. The dark ones arc the aboriginal enemies of the Aryans, or the dark forces of evil, illuminated by the rosy lights of the dawns/ Maruts/priests, as in verse 17.
10.108 Saramd and the Fanis This conversation takes place in the midst of a myth told in later texts at some length. The Panis are demons who hve in the sky on the other side of the river Rasa that separates the world of gods and men from the world of demons; the name also refers to tribal people who are the enemies of the Vedic people on earth. These Panis stole the cows of the Angirases and hid them in mountain caves; the sages joined with the gods - Indra, Soma, Agni, and Brhaspati - to get the cattle back.^ They sent Sarama, the bitch of Indra, to follow the trail of the cows, which she succeeded in doing. Reaching the hiding-place, she engaged in the conversation recorded in this hymn, one in which the Panis appear at first secure and sar- IN DR A cashc but sooa become womed and attempt, unsuccessfully, to bribe SatamL I?ants 'I "With wbat desire lias Sarama come to tbis place? The road stretches far mto distant lands What is your mission to us? How did you find your way here? And how did you cross the waters of the Rasa?’
2 [Sarama "J ‘I have journeyed here, sent as the messenger of Indra, and 1 desire your great treasures, O Pams. Because they feared being jumped across, diey® helped me to do it, thus 1 crossed the waters of the'Rjasa.’
3 [Pams ] ‘What is Indra like, Sarama? What is the appear- ance of him who sent you here as his messenger from afar? If he comes here, we will make friends with him, and he will be the herdsman of our cattle.’
4 [Sarama ] ‘1 know him as one who cannot be tricked; he tticks others, he who sent me here as his messenger from' afar The deep streams do not hide htm,^ you Pams will he there slam by Indra ’ / ‘These are the cows which you desire, lovely Sarama, havmg flown beyond the ends of the sl^. Who would release them to you without a fight? And we have sharp weapons ’ (f [Sarama ] ‘Your words, O'Pams, are no anmes. Your evil bodies may be proof against arrows, the path that goes to you may be impregnable, but Bthaspati will not spare you in cither case ’ 7 [Pams 1 ‘ Sarama. this ttcasurc-room full of cows, horses and nches is set firm m cliffs of rock. Pams who ate Good scn^ncls guard it. You have come m vain on this empty [Sarama ■-[ ‘The sages - Ayasyas, Angirascs, and Navan- Nas - roused by Soma will share this enclosed cave of «ulc among them Then the Pams will spit back r you have come here, compelled h> the force of the gods, v, c will make you our sistS! Do THE RIG VEDA not go back, fair one; we will give you a share of the cattle/ 10 [if arama:] * I know no brotherhood, nor sisterhood; Indra and the Angirases, who inspire terror, know them. When I left them, they seemed to me to be desirous of cattle. Panis, run far away from here.
11 ‘Run far into the distance, Panis. Let the cattle come out by the right path and disappear, the cattle which Brhas- pati, the inspired sages, the pressing-stones and Soma found when they had been hidden.’
NOTES 2. The waters. At the critical moment of ihe journey, the river Rasa was worried about losing her reputation as a great river if a dog could jump across her; so she helped Sarama by building a ford.
3. A possible reference to Vftra lying under the water, killed by Indra. Cf. 1.32.8, 1.32.10. For tricking the tricky, cf. 1.32.4.
4. Families of Vedic sages.
10.171 Indra Beheads the Sacrifice 1 You, Indra, helped forward the chariot of Itat, who pressed Soma; you heard the call of the man who offered Soma.
2 You severed from his skin the head of the rebellious Sacri- fice^ and went with it to the home of the man who offered Soma.
^ You, Indra, set loose in a moment the mortal Venya for Astrabudhna when he thought of it.^ 4 You, Indra, should bring to the East the sun that is now in the West, even against the wiU of the gods.® INDRA NOTES • An allusion to the myth, later expanded, that Indra in anger btheaded the sacrifice ■when it threatened the gods and became in- tstnate in human form.
Venya is known to the Rig Veda, but all else in this verse is obscure 3 •The sun was thought to travel from west to east by night, oadet the earth, Why the gods should oppose this is unclear.
‘If I jpere Ltke You, Indra’ t If I were like you, Indra, and all alone ruled over riches, the man who praised me would have the company of cows.
2 I would do my best for him, I would want to give things to the sage, O Husband of Power, if I were the lord of catde.
3 For the one who sacnfices and presses Soma your opu- ^ce IS a cow milked of the cattle and horses with which sweUs to overflowing.
4 ete is no one, neither god nor mortal, who obstructs your generosity, Indra, when you are praised and you ^sh to give nch gifts.
Indra grow greater when he rolled d We' V made the sky his own diadem.
^ ^ horn you Indra, you who have grown great 7 measures.
of of Soma, Indra spread out the middle realm those tVi t u' j Angitases, makmg visible bc.'idlong hcen hidden, and he hurled Vala down »o ihn^th Were made firm and fast by Indra, place. oannot be pushed away from their fixed to lake the tahiu.• Indta, hastens waters, your praise, your ecstasies have shone forth.
the rig VEDA 11 For tlie hymns of praise and the sopgs of praise make you grow great, Indra, and you bring happiness to the singer of praises.
12 Let the two long-maned bay horses bring Indra to drink Soma here at the sacrifice of the giver of rich gifts. / Jj? With the foam of the waters, Indra, you tore off the head of the demon who would not let go,^ when you con- quered all challengers.
^4 You whirled down the Dasyus who wanted to cHmb up to the sky, Indra, when they had crept up by using their magic speUs.^ You scattered to every side the ones that did not press Somaj as Soma-drinker you are supreme.
NOTES _ I. Vak is the demon who pens up the cows, as in 3.31 (though he IS not named m that hjmin). ^ v & 2. The demon Namuci.
W^ho is Indra?
As If to answet the challenges of the atheists, ot at least of of Indra (v.,), the poet iaevore.c concerns, and the verbal patterns used to (10 lai) ’ “^^P^^ted in a later hymn about the Creator ^ “'“S'"* moment he was boro, the before power of thought, SeTm^: hot breath the two worllhalves tremble at Sdrf ““ of hts manly powers - he, my people, is 2 inpra He who killed the serpent and loosed the seven rivers, who drove out the cows that had been pent up by Vala,i who gave birth to fire between two stones, * the winner of booty in combats - he, my people, is Indra, 4 He by whom all these changes were rung, who drove the race of Dasas^ down mto obscurity, who took away the flourishing wealth of the enemy as a winnmg gambler takes the stake - he, my people, is Indra.
; He about whom they ask, ‘Where is he? ’, or they say of him, the temble one, ‘He does not exist’, he who dimi- nishes the flourishing wealth of the enemy as gambling does - beheve m him I He, my people, is Indra.
6 He who encourages the weary and the sick, and the poor pncst who IS m need, who helps the man who harnesses the stones to press Soma, he who has bps fine for drink- ing - he, my people, is Indra.
7 He under whose command are horses and cows and vil- lages and all chanots, who gave birth to the sun and the dawn and led out the waters, he, my people, is Indra.
J He who IS mvoked by both of two armies, enemies locked in combat, on this side and that side, he who is even invoked separately by each of two men standmg on the -very same chariot,* he, my people, is Indra. y He without whom people do not conquer, he whom they call on for help when they arc fighting, who became the image of everything, who shakes the unshakeable - he my people, is Indra. ’ 10 11 11 He who killed with hts weapon all those who had com mined a great sin, even when they did not know it hi who do« not pardon the anogant man for his arroea^ee who IS the slayer of &e Dasyus. he. my people, isE' He V ho m the fometh autumn discovered Sambara ,n the mounuins.t who lolled the violent sem^t ^ Danu.o jis he lay tl,crc. he, my people, is Indra^ ’ He, the mighty bull who with his seven reins let loose tb set cn nt ers to flow, who with his lliundcrbolt in b ^ j hurled doun Rauhina’as he « climbing up to Ae il he. my people, is Indra. ^ ^ ^ THE RIG VEDA 13 Even Ae sky and Ac eatA bow low befo« Wm, wd the ^ mountains ate tetrified of his breaA: he whoj, known as the Soma-drinker, with Ae * neople, hand, with Ae Aundecbolt in As palm, he, my p P 14 He who helps wiA his favour Ae one who ^ Ae one who cooks.e the praiser and the for whom prayer is nourishment, for whom special gift, he, my people, is Indra^.
ij You 9 who furiously grasp the prize for lh presses and the one who cooks, you, L dear to you, Indra, aU our days, and let us speak as men of power in the sacrificial gathering» NOTES I. Vala is an enemy, human or demonic, who kept Ae cows from Thr&e^ktoAedby flLts, or the sun or lightning between the DSs'^ (ate mUed Dasyus, as in v. 10) ate Ae enemies of Ae Aryans, called ‘slavra’ and.j^d in the correspond- A The imaee of the two armies is expanucu -u mgh5Lno.iai.6. Thu two men on Ae same Aariot are the 5. Sambara was a demoa who kept me eema mountain fortresses; cf. 4.26.3.
. - 6. Vrtra. Cf. I.32-9- nothing but this is 7. A more obscure enemy, anou known. Cf. 8.14.14. cooks the Soma.
:: SmTeJoe” directly. dosAg wiA traAtional phrases.
GODS OF THE STORM Closely associated Y/ith India in his capacity as god of th thunderstorm, the Maruts are also linked to Rudra (1.85; d ^•53 and i 114) It is preasely the overlapping of their fianc tions -with those of Indra that underlies a senes of hymn debating their several rights to the sacnficial offermg (1.165 1.171); ultimately, Indra is affirmed to be supreme Indra is also mtimately connected with Parjanya the rain cloud, who IS, hke Indra, called a bull (3.83) hut is also calJec a cow (7.101). This androgyny appears elsewhere m the Rjj associated with sky and earth, and Soma and Agni, bu( ni later mythology it becomes an important charactenstic of Prajapati and Siva. Vata, the Gale, a less imponant but equally vivid aspect of the storm, is said to dnvc a chariot (10.168), like the sun and the sacrifice (1.164). Parjanya and Vata differ from tlie Maruts in being rclaavcly straightforward personifications of natural phenomena; the Maruts, hke Indra, «c multivalent, symbolizing \wirnors and acting as aids to niankind as well as btingmg fcrtibzmg storms.
1-85 The Maruts 1-85 The Maruts The Maruts are wind-gods portrayed always as a group, ^ a band of warnors who serve Indra Since Ructo is their father, they ate also' called Rudras, their mother is the dappled aow of earth, Pr^nn t The team of horses on the course, the Maruts, of Rudra, workers of marvels, adorned themsclv^ hke women and made the two world-halves pow strong. Trembling, the heroes dnnk to ecstasy m the ■a They have grown to greatness; the Ru s.
mmlion m Smgmg thm song “““S power of India,* they whose mother is the dappled cow d rnTr^iSme ones whose mother is. cow a^tn themselwes wtth their oroamenu, 'h'? P“' things on their bodies They drive away every attacker.
Butter flows all along th^ ^th 4 Good wamors who shine -ven those who shaking with you^Mlruts have yoked to cannot be shaken - whe 7, ^ thought, your chariots the ^ dappled gazelles to your / when you have to win the contest, ■« chanots, speeding the chestnut suollion.® then the streams arc let lo ^ ^v-iter Like a leather skin,® they v, „ you here. FI)mg 6 Let your swift-ghdmg fo^ard Sit down on swiftly hL Teen made for you SUrDrinK ineestw, f-",„,,rd up j The) grew 8'“* ^,Jc for ihemrelfe. a litnsd rrefwh» Via. l».?a die bull etelied b, imin tacred grats * THE RIG VEDA S Striding briskly like heroes ready to fight, like men eager for fame, they array themselves for battles. All creatures fear the Maruts; these men with terrible faces are like kings.
p When the artful Tvastr had turned ® the well-made golden thunderbolt with its thousand spikes, Indra took it to do heroic deeds. He killed Vrtra and set free the flood of waters.
TO They^® forced up the fountain with their power; they split open even the mountain on its solid base.^ Blowiag their reed-pipe, the Maruts who give fine gifts per- formed joyous deeds in the ecstasy of drinking Soma.
II They forced up the fountain in a stream that shot to the side; they poured out the spring for the thirsty Gotama. Shining brilliantly, they came to him with aid. They fulfilled the desire of the sage in their own ways.
iz The shelters that you have for the devout man - extend them threefold to the man who believes in you.^^ Give them to us, O Maruts, bulls. Give us the wealth of fine heroes.
NOTES r. As the poet gives power to Indra by singing the hymn, so the Maruts give themselves Indra’s powers by singing their howling storm songs.
2. Butter is here symbolic of rain and the sap “of life, as well as the ritual offering and the Soma that the Maruts love.
3. Unspecified female dappled animals pull the Maruts’ chariots; they could be mares, but other Rig Vedic evidence makes it more likely that they are gazelles.
4. The winds compete in hurling rocks and crushing boulders, as men compete in bowling or shot-put.
5. The rain is the sperm or urine of the horse of heaven — the doud or heaven itself. ^ 6. The image is that of a wineskin bag pouring out the ram (cf. this simile in the hymn to parjanya, 5-83-7); a secondary connota- tion might be the pouring down of water on to the earth likened to a skin being tanned with fluids.
GODS or THE STORM 7. That is, flapping your arms like ■wings to speed you faster.
8 The bull is Indra When Vijnu helped Indra In the fight against Vftra, the Maruts came and helped, too. But cf. 1.165 6.
9. Turned on his lathe.
10 The Maruts. A reference to a story told by the commentator: The sage Gotama was afflicted with thirst and prayed to the Maruts for water They made a fountain in the distance, brought it near him, gave it to him to drink from, and bathed him in it.
11. As Indra pierced the mountain to release the waters in the fight with Vrtra.
12. That IS, the poet singing the present hymn.
1 3 Literally, the wealth that consists m having fine heroes, but also, by implication, the wealth brought by fine heroes.
liidra, ihe Maruts, and Agasiya