The Bhasa or Vedic Sanskrit, the language of rigveda is avery scientific language. There is root for every word and there are fixed rules as how to create words related to the meaning of the root. If the meaning of a word given in a dictionary is not related to the meaning of the root, that meaning should be discarded in translating the Rigveda. It is unfortunate that many translators have used different meanings for the same word in different places. In my opinion it is absolutely wrong.
The meanings of all words in the Rigveda can not be found in the dictionaries. Many such words are in use in the dialects brijbhasa and Avadhi. Many words found in the Rigveda have disappeared from the Indian languages but are in use in some European languages. The Devas thrown out of India by Indra became migrants (Aryans ) and sought asylum in all countries of Europe. They gave Europeans their language, dress and the emblem of Garuda (the eagle ).
For translating the Rigveda, it is not sufficient for a translator to have good knowledge only of Sanskrit but also basic knowledge of e.g. Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Biology , medical science, technology etc. Earlier work on the Rigveda has been done mostly by the priests and missionaries and to hide their incompetence they declared the songs of Rigveda as “the songs of shepherds”.
The Cossack Aryans had only the working knowledge of Bhasa and after the occupation of India they cared little if they spoke it correctly with the result that Bhasa lost its scientific virtues. Yask in his book Nighantu mentions that certain words were used in thirty to forty different meanings. It was because of this degeneration of the language that in 800 B.C. Panini tried to restore the logical footing of the language and created the new version of Bhasa which got the name Sanskrit Bhasa ( purified Bhasa).
Another common assumption after Sayan is: that the Rigveda like Yajurveda is a collection of hymns to gods for the purpose of rituals. All translators have therefore tried to find a meaning which more or less agrees with this assumption.
Following are the reasons why the translators have failed:
1. The language of the Rigveda is simple. Unfortunately the roots of many words occurring in the Rigveda are missing and cannot be found in dictionaries. For example take the word ´Vedi´ which in India is believed to be related to the word Veda. The root of this word is missing. It is the same root from which the word Ved (the fire wood) in Swedish and wood in English have been derived. It is obvious that the word Vedi was used for fire-place. Further many words in Sanskrit do not have the same meaning as they had in bhasa. The following table shows some examples of the difference in the meanings of the same word in bhasa and in Sanskrit bhasa.
2. Meanings of the same word in bhasa and Sanskrit
word Bhasa Sanskrit
Prithvi Plains of North India earth
Swarg Himalaya Paradise
Antriksh Region between Himalaya and Planes Sky
Van Fields with growing crops Forest
Vanaspati Farmer Vegetation
Samudra Lake or pond Sea
Yagna Get-together Sacrifice
Sindhu River Sea
Hotri Caller for Yagna Priest
Potri One who filters Soma Priest
Netri One who welcomes the guests Priest
Ritvij Chairman of the Yagna Priest
Rasabh Source of ear-hurting noise Donkey
Vyom Lid or cover Sky
The use of Sanskrit meaning results in laughable translations such as “ the flying car of the Ashvins was drawn by a mighty ass in the sky ”.
Unfortunately in bhasa, proper noun is not written with capital letters and it is very difficult for a translator to know if a certain word refers to the name of a person. Indian names have meanings and one tends to add it to the translation rendering the translation ridiculous e.g. Agni the commander of the deva army becomes the fire god and Indra, the Cossak refugee becomes the sun-god.
In my opinion the editor of the Vedas had the same difficulty as the translators have today when he collected songs from the descendants of the families of the poets. Not knowing what the songs are about he edited songs of several generations of a poet’s family in the same chapter which leaves a translator completely confused. Under the circumstances he edited songs of the same family members in mandala 2-8. Those whose songs were only a few, he edited in mandal- 1. In mandal – 9, he collected songs which describe different preparations of Soma. In mandal- 10, he collected songs which were composed long after the Rigvedic period.
The songs are therefore not in order of the events and it is difficult to understand what the song is about. This requires circular study of the Rigveda. In fact the second mandal should have been the first mandal followed by the third mandal and then First mandal.
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