History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v6.c81.46

v6.c81.46

It is not necessary to examine separately each of the verses in which the word ‘vrata’ occurs and Prof Apte's interpretations thereof. The preceding discussion is sufficient to show what vrata means in almost all passages in the Ṛgveda In his zeal to buttress up his theory, Prof. Apte commits mistakes in the construction and translation of some verses On p. 420 (section 29) he renders Ṛg. VIII. 94. 2²⁰ as ‘she (Pṛśni) in whose lap all the gods maintain their vratas, the Sun and the Moon also, in order that they may be seen’, explains that the Sun and the Moon are seen only when they keep their vratas and concludes that vratas must mean tracks followed by the Sun. Prof. Apte takes ‘sūryāmāsā’ as the subject of ‘Dhārayante’ along with Viśve-devāḥ’, but ‘Sūryāmāsā’ is in the objective case in relation to ‘dṛśe’, the proper translation being ‘in the lap of whom (i. e. of Pṛśni, the mother of Maruts), all the gods uphold their laws in order that (people) may see the Sun and the Moon’. What is meant is that the Sun and the Moon rise at the proper times because the gods uphold their ordinances If we compare VIII. 94.2 with I 23.21 (=X.9.7), I. 50.1, I. 52.8, X. 57 4, X. 60 5 it would be clear that my translation is the only correct one and if that be so no question of ‘tracks of light’ will arise.