Rg-Veda I.1.1

(9) 1 (®….1, +x…÷.1)@Ò!"…& ®…v…÷SUÙxn˘…& ¥…Ë#……!®…j…& UÙxn˘& M……™…j…“ n‰˘¥…i…… +!FÊ&$ +º!FÊ®…“!$‰ {…÷"Æ˙…‰!% »i…& ™… ºY…'™… » n‰º¥…®…fi "Œi¥…V… »®…¬ %˛…‰i…… »Æ&˙ Æ˙cʺv……i… »®…®…¬ 1

+º!FÊ& {…⁄¥…Ê!!¶…º@«Ò!"…»!¶…ºÆ˙“b˜¨ º…‰ x…⁄i… »x…ËØ˚ ºi… '… n‰ º¥……ƒ B%˛ ¥… »I…!i… 2 +º!FÊx…… » Æ˙ º!™…®…»3…¥… ºi{……‰"…»®…‰º¥… !nº¥…‰!n»¥…‰ ™…º(…'…&! ¥… º“Æ˙¥… »k…®…®…¬ 3 +Fʉº ™…& ™… ºY…®…»v¥… ºÆ&˙ !¥… º#…i… »& {…!Æ˙ º¶…⁄Æ˙!'… » '… <q‰ º¥…‰"…÷» M…SUÙ!i… 4 +º!FÊ%˛…Êi…… » E ºÚ!¥…G »Úi…÷& '… ºi™…!2…ºj…)…»¥…'i…®…& n‰º¥……‰ n‰ º¥…‰!¶… ºÆ˙… M… »®…i…¬ 5 ™…nºK" nº…(…÷"…‰º i¥…®…Fʉ! ¶…ºp&˘ E»Ú!Æ˙ º"™…!'…» i…¥…‰k…i'… ºi™…®… »!K"Æ˙& 6 ={…» i¥……Fʉ !nº¥…‰!n»¥…‰ º n˘…‰"……»¥…'i…Ãv… º™…… ¥… º™…®…¬ x…®… º…‰ ¶…Æ »xi… º B®… »!'… 7 Æ˙…V… »xi…®…v¥… ºÆ˙…h……&! M…º…‰{……®…fi"i…'™… º n˘“!n»!¥…®…¬ ¥…v…«!®……x…& º '¥…‰ n˘®…‰! 8 '… x… »& !{…ºi…‰¥… » '…⁄ "x…¥…‰%Fʉ! '…⁄{……™… ºx……‰ ¶… »¥… '…S… »'¥…… x…& '¥… º'i…™…‰! 9

2I magnify Agni the domestic priest, the divine ministrant of the sacri!ce,the invoker, best bestower of treasure …

Transliteration

1.001.01a agnim ÁËe purohitaÎ yajÈasya devam Ãtvijam |1.001.01c hotÀraÎ ratnadhÀtamam ||1.001.02a agniÏ pÂrvebhir ÃÍibhir ÁËyo nÂtanair uta |1.001.02c sa devÀÙ eha vakÍati ||1.001.03a agninÀ rayim aÌnavat poÍam eva dive-dive |1.001.03c yaÌasaÎ vÁravattamam ||1.001.04a agne yaÎ yajÈam adhvaraÎ viÌvataÏ paribhÂr asi |1.001.04c sa id deveÍu gachati ||1.001.05a agnir hotÀ kavikratuÏ satyaÌ citraÌravastamaÏ |1.001.05c devo devebhir À gamat ||1.001.06a yad aÇga dÀÌuÍe tvam agne bhadraÎ kariÍyasi |1.001.06c tavet tat satyam aÇgiraÏ ||1.001.07a upa tvÀgne dive-dive doÍÀvastar dhiyÀ vayam |1.001.07c namo bharanta emasi ||1.001.08a rÀjantam adhvarÀÉÀÎ gopÀm Ãtasya dÁdivim |1.001.08c vardhamÀnaÎ sve dame ||1.001.09a sa naÏ piteva sÂnave 'gne sÂpÀyano bhava |1.001.09c sacasvÀ naÏ svastaye ||

Pada Text

• When Sanskrit words are put together in sentences there are often changes inthe sounds at the beginnings and ends of the words owing to their contactacross word-boundaries.

• The phonological changes are called sandhi ‘joining’.

Some rules of sandhi 1. i, u → y, v before vowel2. a → Ø after a long vowel

• In order to ensure that the Vedas were transmitted without any errors, thebrahmins memorized not only the Veda in the version called saṃhitā (as itwas pronounced with sandhi), but also a second type of text, the padā text, inwhich each word is pronounced separately.

Agním īḷe purōhitaṃ Agni-ACC magnify-1sg house-priest-ACC

yajñásya devám rtvijaṃ sacri!ce-GEN divine-ACC ministrant-ACC

hōtāraṃ ratnadhātamaṃ invoker-ACC treasure-giver-ACC

Agním | īḷe | puráḥ | hitam | yajñásya | devám | rtvíjam |

hōtāraṃ | ratna |dhātaman

page 2

Vedic Meter

The Vedas are written in various poetic meters, which require particular patterns of heavy versus light syllables.

A light syllable is one with a short vowel and no coda.A heavy syllable is any other type.Onsets (segments preceding the syllable’s sonority peak) are irrelevant for calculating syllable weight.

Gayatrī meterx x x x | ⏑ — ⏑ x 3 times

Often a line is metrical only when the sandhi is ‘undone’.This suggests that the poems were !rst composed before the sandhi rules became part of the grammar of Vedic Sanskrit.

page 3

Rg-Veda 6.54.5

Pūṣā gā ánvetu naḥ Let Pushan go after our cows;Pūṣā rakṣatvárvataḥ Let Pushan protect our horses;Pūṣā vājaṃ sanōtu naḥ Let Pushan gain booty for us.

The !rst two lines are not metrical in the Gayatrī meter unless the sandhi is‘undone’:

One rule of sandhi:{i, u} → {y, v} before a vowel

— — — ⏑ ⏑ — ⏑ —Pūṣā | gā | ánu | ētu | naḥ— — — ⏑ ⏑ — ⏑ —Pūṣā | rakṣatu | árvataḥ

Pushan, solar deity

page 4