[INDOLOGY] Vedic verse in Ortega y Gasset

Tue Jan 27 15:50:32 UTC 2015

Please read my note not as 'dhiyoh' but as ,dhiyah.'

On Tue, Jan 27, 2015 at 4:22 AM, George Thompson <gthomgt at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Michael,
>
> Of course, you are right [as are Jamison and Brereton] that dhimasi in the
> gayatri mantra is derived from the root dhaa-, but the following word in
> this mantra is "dhiyoh."
>
> This suggests to me that the author of RV 3.62.10 was engaged in some kind
> of word-play, or a wrong etymology.  In any case, it has been a memorable
> move.
>
> On Mon, Jan 26, 2015 at 9:57 PM, Michael Witzel <witzel at fas.harvard.edu>
> wrote:
>
>> Regarding the correct translation of the Gāyatrī, RV 3.62.10, see:
>>
>> *(*1) *Witzel-Gotō, Vd*WR*, Dec. 2013 (sent to publisher already in the
>> Summer of 2009 !):
>>
>> "Dieses, des Gottes Savitar,
>> wünschenswerte Licht möchten wir (in uns) setzen,
>> der unsere Eingebungen antreiben soll."
>>
>> = "We wish to put (into us) this desirable light of God Savitar, who
>> shall instigate our insights."
>>
>>
>> (2) *Jamison-Brereton,* OUP,  (April 2014):
>>
>> "Might we make our own that desirable effulgence of god Savitar, who will
>> rouse forth our insights."
>>
>>
>> Both recent translations take *dhīmah*i as Optative, as K. Hoffnann has
>> indicated in his *Injunktiv *long ago (1967)*:* *dhīmahi* is definitely
>> not, as usually translated so far and also just now on this list, to be
>> taken from *dhī* "think deeply"; later: "meditate"…
>>
>> The subjunctive *pracodayāt* allows both translations:  "will / shall".
>> The choice is up to interpretation.
>>
>> * VdWR; = Verlag de Weltreligionen, Frankfurt/Berlin: *Der Rig-Veda*,
>> 1st vol 2007, 2nd vol. 2013; two more vols. to follow in due course; vols.
>> Include detailed notes/commentary.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Michael
>>
>>
>> On Jan 26, 2015, at 3:08 PM, Patrick Olivelle wrote:
>>
>> The latest and great translation by Joel Brereton and Stephanie Jamison
>> translates: "Might we make our own that desirable effulgence of god
>> Savitar, who will rouse forth our insights."
>>
>> Patrick Olivelle
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Jan 26, 2015, at 1:45 PM, George Hart <glhart at berkeley.edu> wrote:
>>
>> It seems to me that the relative in the third line must make this one
>> sentence, but I am not a Vedicist.  More interesting would be to know why
>> the Gāyatrī became so important and omnipresent.  (One might also remark
>> that it is emended to refer to Ganesha and other deities in almost every
>> puja).  It’s rather nice, but there are many other Vedic verses that are
>> just as nice.  What set this apart?  And why?  George
>>
>>
>> On Jan 26, 2015, at 11:38 AM, Nagaraj Paturi <nagarajpaturi at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> Prof. Dipak Bhattacharya's response was :
>>
>> A distant reflection of RV 3.62.10 : 'I meditate upon that adorable
>> brilliance of the Begetter who may inspire our thoughts' ?
>>
>> The lines quoted were :
>>
>> *Lord, awaken us in a happy ** mood, and give us knowledge!*
>>
>>
>> The Savitri/Gayatri mantra (excluding PraNava and vyAhritis) is :
>>
>> *tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ**bhárgo devásya dhīmahi**dhíyo yó naḥ
>> prachodáyāt *
>>
>> Prof. Dipak's translation takes this as a single complex sentence with a
>> relative clause. The quoted lines have two different sentences. Taking
>> Savitri/Gayatri mantra as made up of two different sentences is found in
>> Ralph T H Griffith.
>>
>> I contributed the analysis of various meanings given to Gayatri mantra in
>> the page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayatri_Mantra. There, I showed
>> that taking the mantra as sAyaNa's  approach and taking it as two different
>> sentences as Griffith's approach.
>>
>> I tabulated the analysis as follows :
>>
>> *author**year**paraphrase**note*Sir William Jones
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Jones_(philologist)>1807"Let us
>> adore the supremacy of that divine sun, the god-head who illuminates all,
>> who recreates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we
>> invoke to direct our understandings aright in our progress toward his holy
>> seat."[14] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayatri_Mantra#cite_note-14>Savita
>> is taken as the Sun, Like Sayana <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayana>
>> the whole mantra is taken as one single sentence with a relative clause
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_clause>.William Quan Judge
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Quan_Judge>1893"Unveil, O Thou who
>> givest sustenance to the Universe, from whom all proceed, to whom all must
>> return, that face of the True Sun now hidden by a vase of golden light,
>> that we may see the truth and do our whole duty on our journey to thy
>> sacred seat."[15]
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayatri_Mantra#cite_note-15>Sir William
>> Jones <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_William_Jones> is followedSivanath
>> Sastri (Brahmo Samaj <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmo_Samaj>)1911"We
>> meditate on the worshipable power and glory of Him who has created the
>> earth, the nether world and the heavens (i.e. the universe), and who
>> directs our understanding."[16]
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayatri_Mantra#cite_note-16>Bhur Bhuvuh
>> Svah is taken as part of the Mantra, Like Sayana
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayana> the whole mantra is taken as one
>> single sentence with a relative clause
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_clause>.Swami Vivekananda
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda>1915"We meditate on the
>> glory of that Being who has produced this universe; may He enlighten our
>> minds."[17]
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayatri_Mantra#cite_note-Vivekananda-17>Like
>> Griffith, takes the mantra as made up of two different sentences unlike
>> Sayana <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayana> or Sir William Jones
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_William_Jones>S. Radhakrishnan
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S._Radhakrishnan>1947, 1953
>>
>>    1. " We meditate on the effulgent glory of the divine Light; may he
>>    inspire our understanding."[18]
>>    <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayatri_Mantra#cite_note-Radhakrishnan_1947-18>
>>    2. "We meditate on the adorable glory of the radiant sun; may he
>>    inspire our intelligence."[19]
>>    <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gayatri_Mantra#cite_note-19>
>>
>> Like Griffith, takes the mantra as made up of two different sentences
>> unlike Sayana <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayana> or Sir William Jones
>> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_William_Jones>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Prof.Nagaraj Paturi
>> Hyderabad-500044
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>>
>> ============
>>
>> Michael Witzel
>> witzel at fas.harvard.edu
>> <www.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/mwpage.htm>
>> Wales Prof. of Sanskrit,
>> Dept. of South Asian Studies, Harvard University
>> 1 Bow Street,
>> Cambridge MA 02138, USA
>>
>> phone: 1- 617 - 495 3295, fax 617 - 496 8571;
>> direct line:  617- 496 2990
>>
>>
>>
>>
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