Part 9 - Deities of Rigveda VIII.1-21

40. There are four hymns addressed to Indra (beginning) 'Not at all' (ma cit: viii. 1-4) in the stanza 'Downward his mighty' (anv asya sthuram: viii. 1. 34), Sasvati, daughter of Angiras, living (vasanti) a as his wife (nari) b, praised her husband c. b vasanti hdm' 1, vasamtau kr", vasatau bfr. a That is, living with him as his wife, though he had been turned into a woman. On Sasvati and nari, see above, ii. 83 and note. s Cp. Sarvanukramani: patni casya angirasi sasvati pumstvam upalabhya enam prita antyaya tustava.

viii. 4 41. The seer turned that Asanga, who had been a woman, into a man (again) a. With the four b stanzas Praise' (stuhi: viii. 1. 30-33) his own gift (to the seer) is proclaimed (by Asanga). tamasamga stutavan hdm', tamasangah stutavan , tam masamtam krtavan bir", tam masam krtam krtavan cha, tam masam krta krtavan k. - svasya A tasya B. - stuhityrgbhiscaturbhih pari- kirtitam all MSS. (stuhi stuhiti catasrbhih S ). a b Cp. Sarvanukramani on Rg-veda viii. I asango yah stribhutva puman abhut sa medhyatithaye danam dattva stuhi stuhiti catasrbhir atmanam tustava. The story of Asanga is related by Sayanda on Rg-veda viii. 1. I and 34. Asanga, son of king Playoga, was, he relates, owing to a curse of the gods, turned into a woman, but afterwards was, by the favour of Medhyatithi, restored to manhood by the power of penance. He consequently bestowed much wealth on the seer (30-33) and was praised by his wife Sasvati, daughter of Angiras (34). See also Sadgurusisya, p. 137; Sieg, Sagenstoffe, pp. 40, 41. Though caturbhih is, as we have seen, frequently used alone as an alternative for catasrbhih (cp. next sloka), it seems hardly possible that rgbhis caturbhih could have been the original reading. I was therefore much tempted to emend the MSS. reading to catasrbhih prakirtitam. With reference to this passage (Rg-veda viii. 1. 30-33) the Sarvanukramani has catasrbhih, the Nitimanjari rgbhis catasrbhih (Sieg, p. 41), and the Arsanukramani rcam catasrnam. In the Ramayana, however, caturbhih occurs in juxtaposition and agreement with a feminine noun. (see St. Petersburg Dictionary, under catur). 42. But with the two stanzas Bestow' (siksa: viii. 2. 41, 42) that of Vibhindu, king of Kasi (kasya)a, is proclaimed, while with the four b (stanzas) 'Which' (yam: viii. 3. 21-24) the (gift) of the liberal Pakasthaman is praised. kasyasya hbr, kasyasya d, kamasya ik. - pakasthamnastu hm`r, °sthamnasca br'r", °sthanesca fk.-bhojasya hm'r, bhojasca b, bhojasva, bhojesca . a Cp. Sarvanukramani on Rg-veda viii. 2: antyabhyam medhatithir vibhindor danam tustava. b See note b on 41. 43. The two pragatha couplets (beginning) Forth' (pra: viii. 4. 15-18) Sakatayana thinks are addressed to Pusan a; Galava, however, (thinks) the former (15, 16) is addressed to Indra only, the latter (17, 18) to Pusan. dvau hm`rs, tu B.-uttaram hm'r, uttaram b, uttamam fkr°. ab a 43 is quoted by Sadgurusisya on Rg-veda viii. 4. 44. In the last triplet of the last of the Indra hymns here (viii. 4. 19-21), the gift of king Kurunga is praised (with the words) 'Abundant wealth' (sthuram radhah: 19).

222 aindranamiha hm'r, nam tviha k, sam tvida, nam nviha b. - The end of the varga is here marked by e in m'bfk, not in hd.