Part 5-6 - Five names of Agni; Derivation of Agni

[Note: The five names of Agni are (1) Dravinodas, (2) Tanunapat, (3) Narasamsa, (4) Pavamana, (6) Jatavedas]

5. Five names of Agni. Derivation of Agni, Dravinodas, Tanunapat.—22. Now as to the hymns, the poets proclaim (in them) five names of Agni, twenty-six of Indra, and seven of Surya. suktani hdm'rbfk, suktesu 1 - sadvimsatisa hdbr, satih sati m'k.

23. The separate explanation, based on the functiona (of the god), of each of these here, do ye listen to as duly stated by me in its entirety. a With prthan-nirvacanam karmajam cp. vibhagam vibhuti-sthana-sambhavam in 20. 24. Because he was born at the beginning (ag-re) of beings, and because he is a leader (agra-ni)a at the sacrifice, or (because) he unites (his) body (angam sam-ni) b, he is praised by sages under the name of 'Ag-ni.' adhvare hm`r, athare bfk.-samnayate ml fk, sannayate hrb, santisthate 12 r 4. - vamgam hdm', vagam fk, camgam b, cagre rrt. These three etymologies are practically identical with those of Nirukta vii. 14: agranir bhavati, agram yajnesu praniyate, angam nayati samnamamanah; cp. above, i. 91. b Sam-nayate is doubtless meant to correspond to Yaska's nayati sam-namamanah. 25. Kutsa a observing the action by which he bestowed b dravina -wealth or d strength-proclaimed him as Dravino-das (1). vapi hmlrfk, va b, caiva 1114. - prayacchadyena 1, prayachadyena f, prayachedyena hdm', prayadvamdyena k, prayachedyena br'1*: cp. Rg-veda 1. 96. 8 pra yamsat (indicative aorist in form, but injunctive in sense). d s a In Rg-veda i. 96. 8. b The a in the majority of MSS. seems decisive in favour of prayachad as against prayached. Cp. Nirukta viii. I dhanam dravinam ucyate ... balam va dravinam. Though vapi gives one syllable too much to the line, it is probably original, as the rhythm at the end of the pada is normal (--), the two syllables at the beginning (dravi-) taking the place of one long one. For analogous irregularities in the Mahabharata, see Hopkins, The Great Epic of India, p. 52. 26. This (terrestrial) Agni is Tanunapat (2). For that (celestial) Agni is tanu from tanana (extending): from him the middle (Agni) was born, then from the middle one, in (his proper) place, this (terrestrial) one a. tananattanuh fr, tatanattanuh m', tanana tanuh k, tanattanuh b, tatarattanuh h, tapasa tanuh r'r ai.-jajne hm±r, yajne bfk.-sthane'yam hm'r, sthano'yam f, svano'yam kr", yava b, yascaiva r²r.-The end of the varga is here marked by c in hdm¹bfk. a Cp. below, iii. 64. 6. Narasamsa, Pavamana, Jatavedas. 27. The poets call an immediate a descendant (prajam) grandson (napat), and this (terrestrial) Agni is the grandson b of that (celestial) one; hence he is Tanunapat.

38 anantaram hbrºr 7 fk, anantaram dr. - krpanyavah hrb, krpanyavah m', dhupanyacah fk - amusya hmir, amucya b, amudhya 12, anudhya fk. a This expression is borrowed from Nirukta viii. 5: napad iti anantarayah prajaya namadheyam. 'Next after a son' is evidently the meaning here of anantara. b Yaska ' sense (cow, milk, sacrificial He also quotes Sakapuni's also explains Tanunapat as a grandson,' but in a different butter), as the word, according to him, designates the ajya. divergent explanation of Agni as a 'grandson' (atmospheric waters, plants, Agni). 6 28. Because he is individually (prthaktvena) lauded (sams) by men (nr) a combined at the sacrifice, therefore poets praise this (Agni) as Narasamsa (3) in Apri hymns. - prthaktvena hd m' f, prthaktena kr, prthakvena b. - samasaistu hr˚fm'kr'r'r', samastaistu b, samatvena 1. - yachasyate m'bfk, yachasyase hd, yacchasyate, yadvasyate 'r 2 (r± ? ). - karavah hdm 1 rbfk, surayah r'r 4. a This is evidently based on Saka puni's explanation of Narasamsa as Agni (Nirukta viii. 6): naraih prasasyo bhavati. Katthakya's explanation of Narasamsa as sacrifice (yajna) is given below, iii. 2. 29. And again because the terrestrial Agni purifies (punati) this universe, therefore he is praised by hermit seers as (the Purifier) a Pavamana (4). punati hr, puti b, janati fkr'. - tha ca hm'r, pya ca fkr", psavah b. - vaikhanasarsi- bhistena hmir, vaikhonasarisibhistena b, vaikhanasa rsistena 12, vaisanasa rsistena k, vausa ff. This sloka is omitted here, but added after 31, in a somewhat altered form, by r¹r 4. a Cp. above, i. 66. 30. Again, because when born (jata) he knows (veda) beings, he is spoken of as Jatavedas (5), and because he became one in whom knowledge (vidya) was produced (jata), or (because) when born (jata) he knows (adhi-vetti) wealth; jatavedatha kathyate hm'rfk, jatam vedatha vidyate b, jatairyadvatha vidyate r' 11 (cp. i. 92).-yaccaisa hm'kr, yathaisa b, yadvesa r' 14. - jatavidyo hm' r, jatavedyo bfk, jatam vedo r'r 4 r 7. - vittam hrm bir", vitta, vita k, vittva 1. dhivetti va hm`rb, dhiveti va r²r¹r³.-f¬¬ hr³m¹br²r, fk, tha vetti va 1114. - 31. or because when born (jata) again and again he is known (vidyate) by all beings, therefore he, as the Indra of the middle part (of the universe) a, is praised as Jatavedas b.

jatah hm`r, jatam k, jatam bfrr. - madhyabhagendro hr" m bfkr 2, madhyabhagindro After this (31) sloka, r'r add 29 in the following modified form: punati yadidam visvam hyeso'gnih parthivo'psu san | vaikhanasasritaistasmatpavamana iti stutah || The end of the varga is here marked by & in hbfk, not in m³. a b Cp. above, i. 99, where a hymn to Jata vedas means one addressed to the Middle Agni; cp. also i. 67. Two etymologies of Jatavedas have already been given in i. 92, jato vidyate and jatair vidyate, the former being identical with the fourth given in ii. 30, 31. There are thus five which correspond more or less to the five given in Nirukta vii. 19: three of these, jatavidya, jatavitta, jate jate vidyate, are followed by the second, third, and fourth in the above two slokas (30, 31), another, jatani veda, is partially followed by the first, while the fifth, jatani.. enam viduh, is followed by the second in i. 92 (jatair vidyate).