Part 1 - Deities of Rigveda VII.50-66

1. Now with the hymn Guard me' (a mam: vii. 50) the deities are praised in successive stanzas: B Mitra-Varuna (1), and Agni (2), the (All)-gods (3), as well as the Rivers (4). m'r, fb, kod is not found in A, but only in B and m¹. It must be original as the detailed statement of the Sarvanukramani is founded on it: a mam: maitravaruny, agneyi, vaisvadevi, nadistutih. 2. Two triplets (vii. 51, 52) have the Adityas for their deities. The triplet which (begins) Forth' (pra: vii. 53. 1-3) is to the Two Worlds (rodasi). There are (then) four (stanzas: vii. 54. 1-3, 55. 1) addressed to Vastospati; the seven (following: vii. 55. 2-8) are traditionally held to be lullaby stanzas a. - °devatyau bfkdr, °devatyo m', 'daivatyau h. vastospatyas hd, vastospatyahs b, vastospatyas ', vastospatim ik. - catasrastu Am', catasrasca fkr, catasa syuh b. - prasvapanya rcah smrtah B (prasvapanyo mrcah b, prasvapatyo mrca f, pasvapatyo mrcah k, praskhapinya rcah r ), tvastau prasvapini smrtah A ( pani smrtah 12 13 14 19, °pini smrtah hd), sapta prasvapini smrtah m. 3 Cp. Sarvanukramani on vii. 55: astau: vastospatyadya.. Sesah prasvapinya upanisat. The reading of B is too vague, 'there are stanzas traditionally held to be lullabies,' while the reading of A would include the first stanza, eight are traditionally held to be a lullaby.' The reading of m¹ alone gives the correct sense clearly: 'seven are traditionally held to be a lullaby.' perhaps dropped out owing to the following syllables, being then supplied in A and in B.-In Rgvidhana ii. 26. 5 this hymn is described as prasvapanam. 3. After this there are four hymns addressed to the Maruts (beginning) 'Who, pray?' (ka im: vii. 56-59); the last stanza of these (vii. 59. 12) praises Tryambaka a, the divine father. param Am', tatah B. a There is no mention of Tryambaka in the Sarvanukramani, which describes this stanza as raudri mrtyuvimocuni. 4. With the seven hymns beginning 'When' (yat: vii. 60-66) Mitra-Varuna are praised; but with the following eight (beginning) 'To meet your' (prati vam: vii. 67-74) the divine Asvins. stutau tu br, stutau mu fk, stutau tau hm'. - parair Am', stutau B.

212 5. (In) 'When to-day' (yad adya: vii. 60) one (1), (in) 'Aloft the sun' (ut suryah: vii. 62) three (1-3), (in) 'Aloft he goes' (ud veti: vii. 63) four and a half (1-5 ab) are addressed to Surya, while (in) 'That eye' (tac caksuh: vii. 66. 16) a the eye (of the sun) is sung as the deity. yadadyaikotsuryastisra hm bfk (yadyadai ° fk), yadadyotsurya iti tisra . - sauryas hdm', saurya 1, tadvattu bfr±rr 7, tadvatu . - iti tu hdr, iti (no tu ) bfkrr°r 7 m e.-The end of the varga is here marked by 9 in m'bfk, not in hd. There is no statement about this stanza in the Sarvanukramani. Cp. below (9).