Rigveda 10.117 – Teachings of a Bhikṣu
Devatā: “Dasyat” – “selfless generosity”
Metre: Jagatī, Triṣṭubh
Sage : Bhikṣu Āṅgirasa
Rigvedic sages are diverse in their clans, their social status and lifestyle. And let us listen to this Āṅgirasa sage who was a bhikṣu, literally meaning “one who begs” (if the word “beggar” has any unpleasant connotation today) who has this sūkta to teach us something from his life experiences. Usually, the title Āṅgirasa signifies two things – either it refers to one belonging to the lineage of Aṅgiras (who is himself one of the oldest sages, already legendary and of a remote past, in Rigveda) or it refers to divine brahman sages whose words have the power to “stir” humans and masses, and to “effect” a ritual. One should remember that Indra as Bṛhaspati breaks the Vala’s cave of ignorance with the help of the verses of Aṅgirases.
Just like another divinely seen child poet called Śiśu Āṅgirasa of ninth maṇḍala, the Bhikṣu who composed this sūkta is also regarded as an Āṅgirasa – whose words have the power to stir.
Devatā: “Dasyat” – “selfless generosity”
Metre: Jagatī, Triṣṭubh
Sage : Bhikṣu Āṅgirasa
Rig Veda. Mandala 10. Sukta 117
ná vā́ u devā́ḥ kṣúdham íd vadhám dadur
utā́śitam úpa gacchanti mṛtyávaḥ ǀ
utó rayíḥ pṛṇató nópa dasyaty
utā́pṛṇanmarḍitā́ram ná vindate ǁ
yá ādhrā́ya cakamānā́ya pitvó
’nnavāntsánraphitā́yopajagmúṣe ǀ
sthirám mánaḥ kṛṇuté sévate
purótó citsá marḍitā́ram ná vindate ǁ
sá ídbhojó yó gṛháve dádāty
ánnakāmāya cárate kṛśā́ya ǀ
áramasmai bhavati yā́mahūtā
utā́parī́ṣu kṛṇute sákhāyam ǁ
ná sá sákhā yó ná dádāti sákhye
sacābhúve sácamānāya pitváḥ ǀ
ápāsmātpréyānná tádóko asti
pṛṇántamanyámáraṇam cidicchet ǁ
pṛṇīyā́dínnā́dhamānāya távyān
drā́ghīyāṃsamánu paśyeta pánthām ǀ
ó hí vártante ráthyeva cakra
-́anyám anyamúpa tiṣṭhanta rā́yaḥ ǁ
mógham ánnam vindate ápracetāḥ
satyám bravīmi vadhá ítsá tásya ǀ
nā́ryamáṇam púṣyati nó sákhāyam
kévalāgho bhavati kevalādī́ ǁ
kṛṣánn ít phā́la ā́śitam kṛṇoti yán
nádhvānamápa vṛṅkte carítraiḥ ǀ
vádan brahmā́vadato vánīyān
pṛṇánnāpírápṛṇantamabhí ṣyāt ǁ
ékapād bhū́yo dvipádo ví cakrame
dvipā́ttripā́damabhyéti paścā́t ǀ
cátuṣpādeti dvipádāmabhisvaré
sampáśyanpaṅktī́rupatíṣṭhamānaḥ ǁ
samáu ciddhástau ná samám viviṣṭaḥ
sammātárā cinná samám duhāte ǀ
yamáyościnná samā́ vīryā́ṇi
jñātī́ citsántau ná samám pṛṇītaḥ ǁ
Translation :-
No, Devas didn’t give hunger as the only weapon to kill,
Various forms of death do approach the well-fed.
Neither the wealth of the gratifier ever exhausts off.
Neither the non-gratifier ever finds anyone to comfort him.
When to someone weak, trembling, broken,
Who has approached the man with food, who eats,
If the man makes his mind hard, “he is the one I helped before”
Indeed, neither he finds anyone to comfort him.
He is the generous one – who gives
To the weak, roaming, beggar wanting food.
He becomes the answer for the cry for help,
He makes a friend for the future.
He is not a friend, who doesn’t give food to his friend –
To the one who has followed him in his company.
Let one turn away from him, his is not a home,
Let one seek a gratifier, even if a stranger.
Let the strong really satisfy the one crying for help.
Let him take a look along the longer path.
For riches, like chariot wheels, roll over.
They stay with one after another.
The soulless man finds fruitless food.
I speak the truth – of that would be his destruction.
Neither a nobleman makes him prosperous, nor a friend.
The lone eater becomes the lone sinner.
Only through agriculture does plough feed,
Only through walking does one cover the tracks.
Thus the speaking formulator poet gains much than the silent one.
The one who gratifies would be greater than the one who doesn’t.
The single-footed has strode over the two-footed,
The two-footed approaches the three-footed later.
The four-footed comes at the call of two-footed,
While overseeing the five-fold staying by him.
Despite hands being similar, their activities aren’t.
Despite having same mother, cows don’t milk equally.
Deeds of even twins are not the same,
Even two men, sharing kinship, don’t donate the same way.
The tone of this sūkta is very emotional (as Āṅgirasa verses usually are) and hard-hitting. It also has a lot to teach – about how morality should come from within, (as you see, no Deva or a Karmic rebirth is the motivating factor here, )how one should see and understand that differences occur naturally in among people. How he should discern and strive, and selflessly help people, looking it empathetically, as the chariot of riches doesn’t stay with anyone forever. In the second-last verse, the ekapād (one-footed) is the sun, the “self” called Aja ekapād, the two-footed are the humans who walk about, the three-footed is the old man with staff, and the four-footed is dog/horse that looks after the five-fold herd. All these relationships have both sides, and that is the reality of existence.
The last verse celebrates diversity, and asks us not to judge anyone or expect from anyone.
*Please note that I could not find a better single word for translating pṛṇat – the one who fulfills the want. I have used “gratifier” in the sense of its actual meaning as derived from Latin, as one who pleases someone who is wanting. It is not just about “giving off” but also giving so as to please, gratify a person.
Aja ekapad
Aja means unborn. It refers to the unborn sun who slowly rises through the horizon. It has this association with enlightenment and rising of knowledge, the “propping up” of “heavens” and “lights” in our life. The reason for goat being aja is different, but as Vedic wordsmiths like to pun, they pun it with goat to bring something else. Like for example, in the Aśvamedha where the horse which is the “moving sun”, the “flying Ātman” is “sacrificed” only after the “aja” moves before.
how come this Sage is a Bhikshu?
Bhikṣu simply means “one who begs”. It was not part of any religious order, indeed.
Perhaps the sage here was unfortunate enough to be deserted by a patron chief that he was reduced to streets. I would like to think instead, that an anonymous sage composed this sūkta being in his shoes.
Sanatana Dhara 