Part 6 - Vanaspati; The Svahakrtis

26. Now he whom they proclaim as Vanaspati is this (ayam) Agni a as Lord of the Wood; for this (Agni) is lord (pati) of woods as (their) protector (pata), or because he guards (palayati) them b. palayatiti va hm' r' r 4 r° bfk, palayatiti ca r. a Vanaspati as an Apri deity is here (Rg-veda i. 13. 11) identified with the terrestrial Agni; but above (i. 66), where the three forms of Agni are distinguished, Vanaspati represents the middle Agni, as Jatavedas does in i. 67. Cp. Nirukta viii. 3: vananam pata va palayita va. b 27. This (ayam) Agni is also lauded as Vanaspati by Grtsamada in the third (stanza) a of the hymn 'Enjoy' (mandasva: ii. 37), which contains six stanzas. •ufaftat° hm², •ufaaz bfkr.-faa: b, ofHa: fk, °fga: hm¹r.-HZOTU bfkr, mandaskheti ca hm rrr'. - suktasya bfkr, suktena m', sukte ca hrs. - mm², aThis stanza is commented on by Yaska (Nirukta viii. 3) as an example for Vanaspati. He quotes four others (viii. 17-20) in connexion with Vanaspati as an Apri deity (x. 110. 10; iii. 8. 1; and two stanzas not from the Rg-veda). 28. But an occasional (prasangaja) praise of him (Vanaspati), as a sacrificial post a and as a tree, with the whole b hymn, 'They anoint' (anjanti: iii. 8), is (to be found) in the third Mandala. - yasya hm`rbr±r 7, yatra 1, ya fk. - sarvenanjanti hm' r' fkr r 5, sarvenam yati 17, sarvesam joti b, samastenaiva r. a Cp. below, iv. 100. b Yaska in his comment on Rg-veda iii. 8. I merely remarks (Nirukta viii. 16) regarding Vanaspati: agnir iti sakapunih. But in commenting on Rg-veda x. 110. 10 (Nirukta viii. 17) he observes: tat ko vanaspatih? yupa iti katthakyah, agnir iti sakapunih. 29. As to the Svahakrtis-the views of the learned have been various. It is, however, a certain conclusion that all that (viz. which is meant by the term) a is simply (a form of) this Agni b.

86 °krtayo'nekasca hm' r' fkr' r' r', 'krtaskhasamkhyastu '11", krtisvasamkhyastu . - tvayam r³br³r 7, hm¹, r, omitted in fk. b Cp. a Cp. the various explanations of the term given in Nirukta viii. 20. Yaska's remark (Nirukta viii. 22) after stating the various deities with which the prayajas and the anuyajas had been identified: agneya iti tu sthitih, bhaktimatram itarat, 'it is, however, certain that they represent Agni; everything else is merely an attribute.' 30. For he is the maker (karta) of oblations (svaha); the making (krti) of them, (that is to say,) here is of a single nature (ekaja) a it is he who is the source (prasuti) of living beings, the imperishable (source) of all of them. hi karti m rrrr 7, ha karti hbfk, karti ca . - svahanam hmr 3 bfkr±rr 7, devanam r. -krtistasam hbfk, sa krtistam 1. - sarvesam hr bfkr 2 rr 7, sa tesam r. - The end r.-The of the varga is here marked by & in hdm¹bfk. r. a In this etymology krti is explained by karty: while there are many svahas, there is only one maker of them, that is Agni, the source of all beings (cp. i. 61).