Riddles from Rig Veda

[mskmoorthy]

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A supplementary reading material on the solution to last riddle may be found in
Chinmaya Mission (This is a word document and when I viewed it I could not see proper Sanskrit fonts )
http://goo.gl/qNWhc

 

[vikrama]

Here comes our next riddle. This is from RV 3.56.2 Griffith's translation is given. Try to find out what the one, six, three and two mean.

One, moving not away, supports six burthens: the Cows proceed to the rtam, the Highest. Near stand three Mighty Ones who travel swiftly: Two are concealed from sight, one is apparent.

 

[zebra16]

Here comes our next riddle. This is from RV 3.56.2 Griffith's translation is given. Try to find out what the one, six, three and two mean.

One, moving not away, supports six burthens: the Cows proceed to the rtam, the Highest. Near stand three Mighty Ones who travel swiftly: Two are concealed from sight, one is apparent.

I have not verified the original mantra.... but this is my guess:

One refers to the sun; six refers to the six ritus (generally explained as spokes of the wheel), three refers to the three sandhyas and the two may refer to the two ayans (uttarayan and dakshinayan) or day and night (ahO-rAtre)

 

[saidevo]

namaste shrI Vikrama and others.

This book looks at the Vedas from the point of view of meteor showers:
http://www.themeaningofvedas.com/

As I am not sufficiently familiar with RgVeda, I have not gone through the book, except for a quick glance at the chapter contents. How far is the book relevant in its approach to solving the riddles of life and history of the times of the Rgveda? Or is it just another purukkaraDi--new bear round the corner?

Some youtube video clips on meteor showers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbXWTVpCAEc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHH8cXM4_n4

 

[vikrama]

namaste shrI Vikrama and others.

This book looks at the Vedas from the point of view of meteor showers:
http://www.themeaningofvedas.com/

I went to the site and read only the hypothesis. As you said, this seems only a new bear. However I will go through the entire book before giving my final opinion.

 

[vikrama]

Sayana's explanation for the riddle is- one refers to the YEAR. Six- rtus. three- earth, mid-air and heaven. one visible is the earth. the invisible two are mid-air and heaven.
I think Sri Zebra16's answer for one=sun is more convincing.

 

[vikrama]

I am giving hereunder two mantras about the birth of Vasishta. For convenience, the padapatha, not the original, form of the mantra, is given. What comes below each is the commentary of Sayana.

ते | इत् | निण्यम् | हृदयस्य | प्र-केतै: | सहस्र-वल्शम् | अभि | सम् | चरन्ति | यमेन | ततम् | परि-धिम् | वयन्त: | अप्सरस: | उप | सेदु: | वसिष्ठा: // RV_7,33.9 //
Vasishta, with the wisdom of heart traverses the hidden thousand branched world. The Apsaras (Urvasi) sat down wearing[SUP]*[/SUP] the vesture spread out by Yama. (Sayana takes the word Vasishtas to mean in singular.)

स: | प्र-केत: | उभयस्य | प्र-विद्वान् | सहस्र-दान: | उत | वा | स-दान: | यमेन | ततम् | परि-धिम् | वयिष्यन् | अप्सरस: | परि | जज्ञे | वसिष्ठ: // RV_7,33.12 //
He, the sage, cognizant of both the worlds, was the donor of thousands. He was verily the donation. Wearing[SUP]*[/SUP] the vesture spread out by Yama, the Apsaras gave birth to Vasishta.

* The word वयऩ्तः and वयिष्यऩ् from the root वे is taken by Sayana to mean wearing. It literally means weaving.

Now the riddle is -

What is meant by wearing/weaving the vesture spread out by Yama?

(Honestly, I do not know the answer and I hope to be guided by the wisdom of our learned members. I will be back after a week.)

 

[zebra16]

I

ते | इत् | निण्यम् | हृदयस्य | प्र-केतै: | सहस्र-वल्शम् | अभि | सम् | चरन्ति | यमेन | ततम् | परि-धिम् | वयन्त: | अप्सरस: | उप | सेदु: | वसिष्ठा: // RV_7,33.9 //


स: | प्र-केत: | उभयस्य | प्र-विद्वान् | सहस्र-दान: | उत | वा | स-दान: | यमेन | ततम् | परि-धिम् | वयिष्यन् | अप्सरस: | परि | जज्ञे | वसिष्ठ: // RV_7,33.12 //

Do these rks repeat anywhere in krishna yajurveda samhita or brahmana oraranyaka? If yes, can u please give the mantra/prapathaka/khanda no.?

Regards

 

[vikrama]

Do these rks repeat anywhere in krishna yajurveda samhita or brahmana oraranyaka? If yes, can u please give the mantra/prapathaka/khanda no.?

As far as I have seen, these two riks are not repeated in K.Y.V.

 

[vikrama]

Let us try to find the answer for the last riddle. Mine is a wild guess. It is for the readers to declare whether it is in agreement with logic and common sense.

Urvasi, the Apsaras, the mother of Vasishta was wearing the vesture spread by Yama. Vasishta was born and he began to traverse the world with its manifold activities, with his wisdom. - That is the meaning given by Sayana.

Yama does not mean the God of death as is understood today. It means the controller, that is God.

vayantaH means weaving.

Paridhi is taken to mean vesture by Sayana. I prefer to take it as enclosure, another meaning given in the dictionary. In this context it may be taken to mean the outer boundary.

Those who have seen the process of hand loom weaving will understand the following better.

From the bundle of yarn, threads of equal length are cut, collected and tied at one end. The other ends are made to pass through a board consisting of slits and holes alternately, each thread in a hole with the next thread in a slit.
Now the other end of the threads is tied. This arrangement is known as warp. This is fixed in the loom.

A flying shuttle with thread passes through the warp and this makes the cloth.

The length and breadth of the warp determines the outer limit/ length and breadth of the cloth to be woven.

The period of pregnancy is the warp fixed by Yama/ God. The mother is abiding her time which is represented as weaving, passing each thread of the woof is like spending each day in anticipation of the delivery.

So it means that Urvasi was spending days, one after the other, in anticipation of her delivery. The time limit being set by the controller/ Yama.

Please comment on the above interpretation.

 

[mskmoorthy]

Some links and pointers:
In the process of helping with a hymn from Rig Veda, I found the text and English translation/interpretation ( Ralph T.H. Griffith) available on line
You can get both Sanskrit/phonetic notation avialable

Links
Rig Veda Index

Here is a rich trove of texts available (all of them are written by western authors)

Sacred-Texts: Hinduism

 

[vikrama]

The Footless Maid precedes footed creatures. Who marks, Mitra-Varuna, this your doing? The Babe Unborn supports this world's burden, fuIfils law (diffuses truth- Sayana) and overcomes falsehood.1.152.3

The riddle is who is the footless maid and who is the unborn babe?

 

[renuka]

The Footless Maid precedes footed creatures. Who marks, Mitra-Varuna, this your doing? The Babe Unborn supports this world's burden, fuIfils law (diffuses truth- Sayana) and overcomes falsehood.1.152.3

The riddle is who is the footless maid and who is the unborn babe?

Dear Vikrama Ji,

Aruna is the charioteer of Surya and Aruna is supposed to be without lower limbs.
But Aruna is a male..so he can not be called a maid.

So who is the footless maid?

 

[zebra16]

Dear Vikrama Ji,

Aruna is the charioteer of Surya and Aruna is supposed to be without lower limbs.
But Aruna is a male..so he can not be called a maid.

So who is the footless maid?

May be it could be uSas

 

[vikrama]

May be it could be uSas

Yes. It is Ushas. Ushas comes before the footed creatures begin to stir. The unborn babe is Surya, who is still unborn when ushas appears.