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The Upanishads, Part 1

By Max Müller

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I, 4, 1

FOURTH ADHYÂYA.
FIRST KHANDA.
1. Next comes the Sûdadohas 1 verse. Sûdadohas is breath, and thereby he joins all joints with breath.

2. Next follow the neck verses. They recite them as Ushnih, according to their metre 2.

3. Next comes (again) the Sûdadohas verse. Sûdadohas is breath, and thereby he joins all joints with breath.

4. Next follows the head. That is in Gâyatrî verses. The Gâyatrî is the beginning of all metres 3; the head the first of all members. It is in Arkavat verses (Rv. I, 7, 1-9) 4. Arka is Agni. They are nine verses. The head consists of nine pieces. He recites the tenth verse, and that is the skin and the hairs on the head. It serves for reciting one verse more than (the nine verses contained in) the Stoma 5.

These form the Trivrit Stoma and the Gâyatrî metre, and whatever there exists, all this is produced after the production of this Stoma and this metre. Therefore the recitation of these head-hymns serves for production.

5. He who knows this, gets offspring and cattle.

6. Next comes the Sûdadohas verse. Verily, Sûdadohas is breath, and thereby he joins all joints with breath.

7. Next follow the vertebrae 1 (of the bird). These verses are Virâg (shining). Therefore man says to man, 'Thou shinest above us;' or to a stiff and proud man, 'Thou carriest thy neck stiff.' Or because the (vertebrae of the neck) run close together, they are taken to be the best food. For Virâg, is food, and food is strength.

8. Next comes the Sûdadohas verse. Sûdadohas is breath, and thereby he joins all joints with breath.

Footnotes
187:1 The Nishkevalya-sastra is represented in the shape of a bird, consisting of trunk, neck, head, vertebrae, wings, tail, and stomach. Before describing the hymns which form the neck, another hymn has to be mentioned, called Sûdadohas, which has to be recited at the end of the hymns, described before, which form the trunk. Sûdadohas is explained as 'yielding milk,' and because that word occurs in the verse, the verse is called Sûdadohas. It follows on the Nada verse, Rv. VIII, 69, 3. Cf. Ait. Âr. I, 5, 1, 7.

187:2 They occur in another sâkhâ, and are to be recited such as they are, without any insertions. They are given by Saunaka, Ait. Âr. V, 2, 1.

187:3 It was created from the mouth of Pragâpati.

187:4 They are called so, because the word arka occurs in them.

187:5 The chanters of the Sâma-veda make a Trivrit Stoma of this hymn, without any repetitions, leaving out the tenth verse. The reciters of the Rig-veda excel them therefore by reciting a tenth verse. This is called atisamsanam (or -nâ).

188:1 Vigavas may be a singular, and the commentator seems to take it as such in his first explanation. The text, tâ virâgo bhavanti, proves nothing, because it could not be sa virâgo bhavanti, nor even sa virâd bhavati. Possibly the word may occur in both forms, vigu, plural vigavah, and vigavah. In a somewhat similar way we find grîvâ and grîvâh, folia and la feuille. On p. 109, the commentator speaks of vigavabhâga, and again, p. 110, pakshamûlarûpâ vigavâ abhihitâh. He, however, explains its meaning rightly, as the root of the wings, or rather the lower bones of the neck. Grîvâh, plural, were originally the vertebrae of the neck. The paragraph, though very empty, contains at least some interesting forms of language. First vigu, vertebrae, then the participles duta and sambâlhatama, and lastly the verb pratyak, the last probably used in the sense of to bring near, to represent, with the superlative adverb annatamâm (Pân. V, 4, 11), i. e. they are represented as if they brought the best food.