Pedagogía de la ternura

Kaṇva Ghaura

8 verses: br̥hatī alternating with satobr̥hatī, arranged in pragāthas

Brahmaṇaspati, “Lord of the Sacred Formulation,” is addressed in this hymn, but this divine figure with his transparent name is only a means to accomplish other ends. As the patron deity of ritual speech, Brahmaṇaspati will make the poet’s speech effective enough to bring the other gods, especially Indra, to our sacrifice (vss. 1–2). In the second pragātha (vss. 3–4) the poet seeks Brahmaṇaspati’s indirect

help. If the poet’s efforts on behalf of the sacrifice are successful, his patron stands to gain (see esp. vs. 4cd), and the patron then should give liberal rewards to the singer (vs. 4a). It is striking that the patron is here called a “hero” and promised, in the famous inherited phrase, “imperishable fame”—not for his exploits on the battlefield, but for his generosity to his poet.

The test comes in the following pragātha (vss. 5–6):  the new mantra under the patronage of Brahmaṇaspati is pronounced both by Brahmaṇaspati and by the human actors at the ritual. If it is a properly formulated mantra, it will bring the desired success. Judging from the final pragātha (vss. 7–8), ritual success was achieved, and this success is expressed in strikingly sexual terms: both the patron’s dwelling place and his power to rule are infused with productive sexuality (vss. 7d, 8a). He also gains the gods as his allies (8a), and, most surprising of all, becomes identified as the god Indra himself (8cd), via the very last word in the hymn, vajrín

“wielder of the mace,” a qualifier otherwise only of Indra.

1. Rise up, o Lord of the Sacred Formulation. Seeking the gods, we beseech you:

let the Maruts of good drops come forth; o Indra, swelling with strength, keep (them) company.

2. For it is just you, o son of strength [=Indra], that the mortal implores when the stake is set.

O Maruts, whoever loves you, he would acquire the possession of good heroes and good horses.

3. Let the Lord of the Sacred Formulation go forth, let the goddess Liberality go forth

to the hero belonging to men, whose gifts come in fives. Let the gods lead our sacrifice.

4. Who gives to the cantor liberal goods, he acquires imperishable fame;

for him we win through sacrifice faultless refreshment bringing good heroes and advancing well.

5. Now the Lord of the Sacred Formulation proclaims the mantra worthy to be spoken,

in which Indra, Varuṇa, Mitra, Aryaman, and the gods have made their home.

6. Just that would we speak at the rites—the faultless mantra that brings good fortune, o gods.

And if you gladly receive this speech, o noble men [=gods], it will attain all things of yours worth winning.

7. Who can attain to the man who seeks the gods, and who to the man whose ritual grass has been twisted?

The pious man has advanced ever further through his abodes; he has made his own dwelling place pregnant.

8. He should inseminate his dominion. Together with the kings [=Ādityas], he smites: even in peril he has established a good dwelling for himself.

There exists no one to obstruct, no one to overcome the one who wields the mace, be the stake great or small.

I.41 Varuṇa, Mitra, Aryaman (1–3, 7–9), Ādityas (4–6)

Kaṇva Ghaura

9 verses: gāyatrī, arranged in tr̥cas

For most of its short compass, this hymn is a simple celebration of the rewards and protection the Ādityas grant to their devotee. The only notable aspect of these verses is the pervasive imagery of journeys and their potential risks.

It is only the last two verses (8–9) that introduce interesting complications. This last tr̥ca begins (vs. 7) with a deliberative question—how shall we make our praise of the gods succeed? The advice in the next two verses seems to be (translated into modern American political parlance) “Don’t go negative!” In verse 8 the poet for-swears responding directly to a rival behaving with hostility and affirms his inten-tion to use only positive means to win the gods. The first two pādas of verse 9 depict the rivalry in terms of the ever-popular ancient Indian dice game (see esp. X.34), counseling the poet that you can never tell what your opponent has up his sleeve until all the cards are on the table. (We have recast this vignette into the language of modern card-playing, which works remarkably well—even to the holding of the four winning tokens, aces in our recasting, which in the Indian dice game would be a handful of vibhītaka nuts divisible by four.) The lesson seems to be that, given the possibility that your opponent might have some successful tricks of his own, you should engage him as little as possible and concentrate on your positive praises of the gods.

1. Whom they guard—the attentive Varuṇa, Mitra, and Aryaman—

that person is never deceived.

2. The mortal whom they carry across as if in their arms and protect from harm,

he thrives, unharmed and whole.

3. The kings [=Ādityas] smash apart the hard places, apart the hostilities in front of them;

they lead across difficult ways.

4. The path is easy to go on and harmless to men for the one going to truth.

There is no fissure there for you.

5. The sacrifice that you lead along the straight path, o superior men, Ādityas,

that will reach you for insight.

6. That mortal attains to treasure and to goods, to a whole lineage along with his life,

as one who cannot be laid low.

7. O comrades, how shall we bring to success our praise song for Mitra and Aryaman,

a great delight for Varuṇa?

8. Let me not respond to the man who smites or curses you, (as if) to one devoted to the gods;

by benevolent thoughts alone will I seek to win you.

9. (A gambler) should be afraid, right up till (the cards) are laid on (the table), that (his opponent) may be holding four (aces).

One should not go eagerly after evil speech.

I.42 Pu ̄ṣan

Kaṇva Ghaura

10 verses: gāyatrī, arranged in tr̥cas, with a final verse

Like other Pūṣan hymns, this one has an informal tone and imaginative depictions of the circumstances in which Pūṣan can render us aid. In the first part of the hymn the god is asked to rid our paths of potential enemies (esp. vss. 2–4), while in the latter part he is to lead us along these roads, now rendered safe, to prosperity (esp. vss. 7–8). The nine verses of tr̥cas are consistently addressed to Pūṣan in the 2nd person, and all those verses but 5 contain imperatives; note especially the final explosion of five abrupt, object-less imperatives in 9ab, the final verse of the hymn proper. In the final summary verse (10) Pūṣan is in the 3rd person, the object of our attentions and our requests.

1. Traverse the roads with (us), Pūṣan, and (release) constraint from (us), o child of release.

Go forth before us to victory, o god.

2. The evil, malevolent wolf that will set his sights on us, o Pūṣan, smite him away, as always, from the path.

3. Drive away this highwayman, the robber who knows the crooked ways, to a distance far from our route.

4. The double-dealing utterer of evil, whoever he is—

with your foot stamp on his scorching (weapon).

5. We choose that help of yours, o wondrous counselor Pūṣan, with which you spurred on our forefathers.

6. Now then, o you who bring every good fortune, who are the foremost wielder of the golden axe,

make the stakes easy for us to win.

7. Lead us across the parched places. Make easy passages, easy pathways for us.

– Pūṣan, here you will find the resolve.

8. Lead us to good pasture, with no new suffering on the road.

– Pūṣan, here you will find the resolve.

9. Strive! Give and proffer! Sharpen up! Fill the belly!

– Pūṣan, here you will find the resolve.

10. We do not oppose Pūṣan; we greet him with hymns.

We beg the wondrous one for goods.

I.43 Rudra (1–2, 4–6), Rudra, Mitra and Varuṇa (3), Soma (7–9)

Kaṇva Ghaura

9 verses: gāyatrī, except anuṣṭubh 9, arranged in tr̥cas

There is only one other R̥gvedic hymn dedicated jointly to Rudra and Soma, gods who have little apparent in common. In VI.74 the two are invoked together, in a dual dvandva, but aside from generic divine descriptions only Rudra’s characteristics are mentioned. Here the two gods are confined to separate tr̥cas; in fact, as Oldenberg suggests, it may have originally been two hymns: verses 1–6 Rudra, 7–9 Soma.

In contrast to other Rudra contexts the depiction of Rudra here is resolutely posi-tive; there is no trace of the dangerous or vengeful Rudra. One might in fact consider the pile-up of flattering adjectives in the opening question in verse 1 a poetic insur-ance policy, making it clear to the god that there will be no caviling from us. The rest of the two Rudra tr̥cas focuses on the god’s power to provide for the welfare of both humans and livestock, along with Aditi (vs. 2) and the principal Ādityas (vs. 3).

The first two verses (7–8) of the tr̥ca to Soma are straightforward and generic, with no particularly somian features. The final verse (9), in a different meter, is syn-tactically complex and lexically formal, and has given rise to a number of compet-ing interpretations. In our view it depicts Soma, as often, as extendcompet-ing from earth to heaven, and he finds the gods in both places, in heaven, which is their abode, and on the ritual ground, because they have come to drink soma at the sacrifice. Both the relevance of this verse to the rest of the tr̥ca and the connection of the Rudra and Soma portions of the hymn escape us.

1. What might we say to Rudra, the provident, the most generous, the very powerful;

what might we say that is most wealful to his heart?

2. So that for our livestock and men Aditi will create Rudrian power, likewise for our kine,

likewise for our offspring.

3. So that Mitra and Varuṇa will be attentive to us, likewise Rudra, likewise all (the gods) in concert.

4. To the lord of songs, the lord of ritual offerings, to Rudra whose remedies are healing [?]

we plead for the favor of luck and lifetime.

5. He who shines like the blazing sun, like gold, as the best of the gods, as the good one

6. Will make weal for our steed and easy passage for our ram and ewe, for our men and women, for our cow.

7. Upon us, Soma, set down the glory of a hundred men, great, powerfully manly fame.

8. Let neither obstructions nor hostilities deflect us, Soma.

O drop, give us a share in the prize.

9. The creatures [=gods] that belong to you, the immortal one—as their head you seek them in the highest domain of truth [=heaven]

and in the navel (of the earth?) [=ritual ground], Soma. You will know them as the ones who attend upon (you), Soma.

The next group of hymns (I.44–50), attributed to Praskaṇva Kāṇva, the poet also of VIII.49 (the first Vālakhilya hymn) and IX.95, has the defining feature that all the hymns are related to a particular ritual litany, the Prātaranuvāka or “Early-Morning Recitation” (on which see Eggeling Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa 2: 229 n. 2; Hillebrandt 1897: 128; Keith 1925 I: 328). The gods to whom these Praskaṇva hymns are dedi-cated are those mentioned in the litany: Agni, particularly in his capacity as illumi-nator of the early morning and conveyor of the dawn divinities, the Aśvins, Dawn, and the rising Sun.