VRATA DIVINE AND HUMAN IN THE EARLY VEDA.pdf

7/27/2019 VRATA DIVINE AND HUMAN IN THE EARLY VEDA.pdf

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Vrat Divine and Human in the Early Veda

Author(s): Timothy LubinReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 121, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 2001), pp. 565-579Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/606499 .

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Journal of the American Oriental Society 121.4 (2001)

findings in a long article. He notes first that even thevratas of the classical literature are not properlycalled'vows' (despite similaritieswith Christianvows, and theubiquity of this gloss in translations).Although the ele-ment of "act, service, or way of life" for a divine pur-pose representsthe later idea of vrata well enough, theword "vow" preeminentlydenotes the promise or decla-rationof intent.The vrataper se consists in a set of regu-lar activities, and the verbal or mental declaration ofintent-when it is mentionedat all-is designatedas thesamkalpa, which is "what makes a series of actions orabstentionsinto a vrata."3I would carry Hacker'sobjections on this point a bitfurther. In Classical Greek and Latin usage, a "vow"(e6iXi, votum) was a promise to make an offering to adivinity, contingent upon first receiving a god's help-Marcel Mauss' do ut des. This contingency, in particu-lar, is quite foreign to the Indian notion, which regardsthe actual regimen-and not the declaration of inten-tion, or promise-as essential to producingthe result. Infact, the "contingentvow" is attestedin modern times inthe Rajasthani bolari, bolma, or votand, and the Marathinavas, all of which are distinguishedfrom vrata.4Joel Brereton has adjudicatedthis debate, finding inHacker'sfavor. He arguesthata vrati is (1) a command-ment, implying an obligation (and not a promise, asSchmidtclaimed); (2) "an action which is governed by a

3 PaulHacker,Vrata,NachrichtenerAkademie erWissen-schaft n Gottingen, hil.-hist.KI.,no. 5 (Gottingen:Vanden-hoeck&Ruprecht,973).Raghunandana,kddaistattva,uotedinP.V.Kane,History fDharmasastraPoona:Bhandarkarri-entalResearchnstitute, 974),5: 30, n. 63: samkalpa-visaya-tat-tat-karmaivavratam("Avrata is the ritual action definedbyanintention").4 See, e.g., Ann GrodzinsGold, FruitfulJourneys: The Waysof RajasthaniPilgrims Berkeleyand Los Angeles:Univ.ofCaliforniaress,1988),142,186-87;LindseyHarlan,ReligionandRajputWomenBerkeley ndLosAngeles:Univ.of Cali-forniaPress,1992),48-49. GoldglossestheRajasthaniermsas "pledge"or "vow"(the termsare derived rom verbs ofspeaking).Thesevows usuallyarepromiseso go on pilgrim-age,orto performertain iteswhileonpilgrimage.MaryMc-Gee("Desired ruits:MotiveandIntentionn theVotiveRitesof Hindu Women," n Roles and Ritualsfor Hindu Women,ed.J. Leslie [Rutherford, .J.:FairleighDickinsonUniv.Press,1991],80-81) explainsnavasas a "kindof votiverite,whichIcall 'contractual'or 'conditional'..." One of McGee's infor-mants xplained:Avrata s service o Godwithout nyexpec-tations; a navas puts God on the spot" (navas devds sankatghdlne; vrat nirapeks seva karne [McGee's trans.]).

commandmentand so is consideredanexpressionof thatcommandment";and (3) "'authority', he power to com-mand, to oblige someone to do something."5He showsthat the vratas of the gods are authoritative: hey deter-mine the order of all things andbeings in the world, andimply the idea of man's moral obligation to adhere todivine models. Although Hackeralso stresses this point,he resists equating vrata with 'commandment', or thisword points to the assertion of authoritywhich is never(in the Rg Veda) directly referredto, and obscures thefact that divine will-represented by the vrati-is em-bodied in paradigmaticdivine actions. Thus, he says, agod's vrata "is established through[thatgod's] concreteactivity, i.e., not throughan act of lawgiving."6It is anorder or pattern, arisingdirectly out of divine precedent,that is continually actualized in the world, such thatcreatures and things adaptthemselves to it, and complywith it. The verbs taking vrata as their object most fre-quently in the Rg Vedadefine a coherent set of actions:on the one hand, the upholding or protection of, andcompliance with, vratis; on the other, the destructionorviolation of them. Hacker observes7that in most casesthe vrati is something the gods follow ([anu-]sac-,anu-i-, [anu-]car-, etc.), keep (raks-,pa-, dhr-), violate([pra-]mi-), or deceive (dabh-); he supposes "that thewordoriginallyandproperlybelongs to the sphereof thegods, and that the human vratas are so called perhapsonly by analogy to those of the gods."8I will show that the Rg Vedadoes sometimes envisionthe vrataas a regularcourse of ritual observance corre-sponding to the particular haracterof the deity to whomthe rites pertain.This indicates a semantic extension ofthe termvrata from 'rule' n the sense of 'governance'or'ordinance' o "rule of ritualaction'. This paves the wayfor later,more narrowapplications of the word to desig-nate specific, initiatory regimens required for worshipand Veda study. This semantic development shows that

5 Joel Brereton,TheRgvedicAdityas,AmericanOrientalSeries, no. 63 (New Haven: AmericanOrientalSociety,1981),70f.6Hacker,121.

7Ibid.,121-22.8 Ibid., 116. T. Elizarenkova (Language and Style of theVedicRsis[Albany: tateUniv.of New YorkPress,1995),52-53) sees this dualusageas a broadpatternn Rigvedic an-guage, n which hesignificancef wordsdepends n whetherthecontext s one of divineor human ctivity.Sheglossesthetermas "(god's)behest" r "divine aw" n the firstcase,and"(worshipper's)ow" in the second. Her arguments worthconsidering,utshedoes notexplain herelationshipetweenthe two sensesadequately.

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the usual gloss 'vow' or 'Geliibde'is not apt, since a rit-ual vrata is a rule adopted,not a promisemade.9In whatfollows, I will review selected passages to illustratetherangeof applications of the term, the ways in which di-vine vratas are distinctive of the gods to whom they be-long, and ways in which the vratas of certain gods areclosely associated with a course of ritual observance in-cumbentupon those "descendantsof Manus"who haveestablished a relationshipwith the gods.

THE GENERAL SENSE OF VRATA IN EARLY SOURCES

Before turningto passages in which a vratafiguresasa law governing divine or ritual action (which might becalled religiously "marked"usage, insofar as vratd be-comes a technical term), we should note the contexts inwhich it appears to mean 'rule','standard mode of ac-tion', in a general sense. In such an unmarkedcontext,there seems to be little sense of moralobligation; ratherthe vrata is what is characteristicof someone or some-thing. The word vratd often has this meaning when itoccurs in final position in adjectival (bahuvrihi) com-pounds.10 "Let Heaven and Earth-they who driphoney, who milk out honey, whose rule is honey (i.e.,sweet)-prepare honey for us" (mddhu no dyavaprthivimimiksatam madhuscutdmadhudu'ghemddhuvrate [RV6.70.5ab]). "Let this bull, who follows the rule of thebull, purifying himself, striking those who curse (us),make riches for the worshiper" (esd v.sd vr'savratahpdvamdno asastiha I kdrad vdsuni dis'iuse [9.62.11])."Whofollows the rule of the bull"means "who acts likea bull," who is virile by nature, or, perhaps more pre-cisely, who, as a rule, is fecundating.Agni is known by his golden demeanor: "Here thegods have set... shining Agni of the shining chariot,ofthe yellow rule of conduct (hdrivratam) .. impatient,very splendid... " (candrdmagnim candrdrathamhdri-vratam .. bhurnim devasa iha susrlyam dadhuh [RV3.3.5ad]). Hdrivratam is virtually glossed by the adjec-tives candrdm, candrdratham,and susrfyam, which alldescribe Agni's apparent form and action. The termsvivrata and sdvrata are antonyms meaning "followingdivergent rules, discordant" and "following the same

9 Despitehefact hat heetymon f vratidenotedomethingspoken,I preferto avoid Brereton's loss 'commandment',whichseems oemphasize ndulyhespeechcomponent,incetheRgVedaneveralludes o thepronouncingrdeclaring f avrata.10See Schmidt,93-101 (substitutingor "Geliibde"asnecessary).

rule, concordant,"respectively.1 These compounds in-vrata constitute a fixed idiomatic usage, in which themeaning of vratd is relatively constricted: 'rule' as anexpression of authority is reduced to 'tendency' or'manner'.Numerous verse mantras from post-Rg Veda sourcesuse vratd alongside words for interior,mental and psy-chological, states, which suggests that vratacrystallizesan act of will. Some of these verses are applied in therite of initiation into Veda study, at the moment whenthe teachertouches the student'sheart,e.g., RVkh3.15:

mama vrate h.dayam te dadhami mama cittdm dnu cittdmte astumama vdcdm ekavratd12usasva brhdspatis tvd ni yunaktu

mdhyam13I place yourheartundermyrule(vrata).Letyourthoughtfollowmy thought.Takedelightnmywordas one whohasa single rule (eka-vratd)14 or: ingle-minded [eka-manas]).LetBrhaspatioin youto me.

In the initiation,the preceptor speaks these words so thatthe initiate will become amenable to his will. Almost thesame words areuttered n the wedding ceremonyto sub-ordinate the bride to the groom (e.g., PGS 1.8.6-8); in-deed, the marriagehas frequentlybeen styled the Vedicinitiation of a woman, and she stands in the same rela-tion to her husband as the student to the teacher-one ofabsolute obedience and humility. In the latter ritual ap-plication, the name of the "lord of progeny,"Prajapati,is inserted in place of the name of the "lordof prayer,"Brhaspati,since Prajapatis moredirectlyconcerned withthe purposes of marriage,while Brhaspatigoverns thestudy of Veda.These ritual contexts reinforce the impression givenby the mantra tself: the speakeraims at bringing aboutconformity in the "heart," hat is, the seat of cognition(mdnas)and will, of another. Vrata here is the authority

11 vivrata: RV 8.12.15, 10.55.3; AV 3.8.5 = 6.94.1. sdvrata:RV3.30.3, 3.54.6,6.70.3, 10.65.8.12 Other texts have in place of ekavrata: ekavrato;or (AGS,JGS):ekamand.13SGS 2.4.1; AGS 1.21.7; PGS 2.2.16; MB 1.2.21 (te hr-

dayam dadhdtu); GGS 2.1.24; KhGS 1.3.31; JGS 1.12:11.15-16 (mayi vrate ... ).14 ekavrata, although probably a bahuvrihi, shows anoma-lous accent and case ending (as if from eka-vratds-, cf. JGSs

ekamana[h]). However it might also be a karmadhdrayawiththe rare instrumental singular in -d, but with regular accent,which would translate as "with a single rule."

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wielded by the teacher (or husband) over the thoughtsof the student (or wife). Mama vacam ("my word, myvoice"), in a rarejuxtaposition with vratdm,may evokethe etymological sense of "command."Yet the variantreading points the other way: the variantreadingsin thetextual sources of ekamanah("having only one thought,single-minded") and ekavratd ("having only one rule"or "with one rule"), in the same position in the sentencemay reflect a perceived synonymy. Since manas andvrata occur side-by-side in several similar mantras(seebelow), their alternationsuggests that in such usage theyare close in meaning. In referringto one who is obedi-ent or amenable, their similarity probably lies in theirevocation of the initiate'sinterior,volitional disposition.The reading ekavratahnicely suggests the convergenceof two vratas: the initiate's will is subordinatedto-becomes one andthe same as-the master's.

The Atharva Veda is particularlyrich in passages inwhich vratd occurs parallel to mdnas, cetas, cittd, hr-daya, and/or dkiti (e.g., 2.30.2, 6.64.2 and 3 [= RV10.191.3 and 4, MS 2.2.6, TB 2.4.4.4-5]). AV 3.8.5-6 (=6.94.1-2) is worthnoting, especially since these versesare prescribed for use in the upanayana (e.g., KausS55.17-18), which introduces the vrata of brahmacarya:

sdm vo mdnamsisdm vrata sdm dkutir namamasiami ye vfvrata(h)sthdna tan vah sdm namaydmasi15 (5)ahdm grbhnami mdnasa mdndmsi mdma cittdm dnu citte-bhir etamama vdsesu hidayani vah krnomi mdmayatdm dnuvarta-mana eta (6)We bend together your thoughts, your rules (vratd), yourintentions;we make hose of youtherewho arediscordant(vivrata) end yourwills)together.I grasp(your)mindswith(my)mind; ollowmy thoughtwithyour houghts; put yourheartsn my powers; o andfollowalongmy way.

The vivid language of coercion reinforces the idea thatvratd is an interiorphenomenon akin to thought and in-tention. Moreover,a comparisonof RVkh3.15a (above)with AV3.8.6c shows vrate in a context nearly parallelto (plural) vdsesu ("in [my] will").

15 vivrata's missing visarga is found in MS 2.2.6 and manyAV manuscripts (W. D. Whitney, tr., Atharva-Veda Sarihita,HOS7-8 [Cambridge,Mass.:Harvard niv.Press,1905],97).Othervariants:MS2.7.1 ab, TS4.2.5.lab, VS 12.58ab.

THE DIVINE LAWS

If vrata' n the generic sense means 'rule'in the senseof a fixed, characteristicmode of behaviorthatmanifestsone's will (whether or not the idea is present that it re-sults from or is expressed in a command), what of thevratas of the gods? In this context, we shall see that thegeneralnotionof rule is developedinto anidealof divinegovernance. The Vedic poet-theologian takes perennialempirical"facts"as evidence of the gods' authorityoverthe world, an authoritymade real throughtheiraction inthe world.The ubiquityandapparentpersistenceof suchfacts are made the basis for a notion of immutable andeternallaw.

Moreover, although we may speak broadly of divinevrataisas an aspect of Vedic views of divinity, we mustalso recognize thatthey do not compose a homogeneousgroup. Each deity's vratd defines its natureand role inthe world. Likewise, differentdeities play differingrolesin the context of worship;thus, a survey of the vratasofthe various gods will throw light also on the ritualvratas.We must begin by observing that some gods aremore noted for theirvratdsthanothers.Vratds are attrib-uted to most of the gods at some point in the Rg Vedacorpus, but when we can ascertain the divine agent ofthe vratd-about half of the time-it is most frequentlyVaruna twenty-fourinstances, including eight instancesjointly with Mitra, and once jointly with Mitra andSavitr), Agni (fifteen, plus two jointly), Soma (twelve),Indra (twelve, plus two jointly), Savitr (ten), and the"All Gods" (Visve Devah) (seventeen).16Relative to thenumber of hymns and mentions each of them receivesin the corpus, it seems that the vratas of Varuna andSavitr (and the Visve Devah) get disproportionate at-tention. This has led some scholars, especially Liiders,Thieme, and Brereton,to link the concept of vratd his-torically andconceptuallyto the Adityas, in general,andto Varuna, n particular.17Varuna

In his study of the group of deities called Adityas,Brereton defends the claim that vrata and vdruna are16TabulationsromSchmidt,15-16, slightlyadjusted.17 See, e.g., Heinrich Liiders, Varuna, 2 vols. (Gottingen:Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht,1951-59). In the Rg Veda,Varuna sthe main addresseeof barely ten hymns (togetherwith Mitra,inanother twenty-three; with Indra, in six); Savitr gets only

eleven; the Vigve Devaih receive about sixty-five full hymns.Compare this with Indra's two hundredfifty-odd hymns, andAgni's two hundred,and Soma's one hundred wenty.

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etymologically related, and indeed that they mean virtu-ally the same thing: "commandment" or "authority."18Thus, he defines Varuna as the god of commandments,preeminent among the group of personified abstract prin-ciples called the "Children of Innocence (Aditi)," who arethe heavenly sponsors and defenders of the rules of goodconduct, and the punishers of offense (agas) against thoserules. Whether or not we fully accept this etymologicalargument, or this understanding of Varuna's name, it islikely that the Vedic poets made this connection.Varuna governs first the primordial disposition ofspace (as Indra is even more frequently said to do): ver-tically, by propping apart the two firmaments, heavenand earth, to create the mid-space; laterally, by extendingthe earth outward (hence its epithets, prth[i]vt and urv{,'the wide, extensive'). Within this matrix, he ordains forall things a position and an ambit:

dstabhnad dydm dsuro visvdvedd dmimita varimanamprthivyahdsidad visva bhuvandni samrad visvet tani vdrunasyavratani (8.42.1)

The all-knowing lord propped up the sky; he measured outthe breadth of the earth.The sovereign has taken his seat before all creatures. Allthese are Varuna's aws (vratd).

Varuna's vratds-the things he has willed-constitute(despite the lack of any formal utterance) a sort of law,an ordainment by action. His vratds likewise determinethe proper alternation of night and day:

18Brereton, 83-92; this etymological relation goes back toA. Meillet, "Le dieu indo-iranien Mitra,"Journal asiatique10(10) (1907): 143-59. Georg von Simson ("Vom Ursprungder Gotter Mitraund Varuna," ndo-IranianJournal 40 [1997]:1-35) has arguedthat the deities Mitra and Varunawere origi-nally one, with the title *mitrd (raja) vdrunas (cf. the oddvocative mitrardjanavaruna of 5.62.3b, which he deems a laterreanalysis of the misunderstoodtitle). The last word he sees asa genitive form of a proposed substantive *vdru ('wide space',cf. uru and Av. vouru, 'wide'), surviving only in this fixed for-mula, where it was misunderstood as a nominative and as-signed to a separate deity. The title would mean "mediatorof the wide space," and was applied, he claims, to the planetVenus, in its dual role as morning- (Mitra) and evening-star(Varuna). However, an anonymous reviewer for the Journalpoints out an importantgrammaticalobjection to von Simson'stheory: "the -n extension in the oblique of neutern-stems is notall that old and so such a form is unlikely to form part of afixed, old collocation."

ami yd rksanihitasa uccd ndktamdddrsre kuhacid diveyuhddabdhdnivdrunasya vratdni vicdkasac candrdma ndktameti (1.24.10)Those stars, which, fixed above, shine at night, must gosomewhere by day-Varuna's laws (vratd) are not vio-lated!-the moon goes shining brightly at night.

The establishment of order in complementary opposi-tion is Varuna's primary concern: thus, day and nightare the white and black garments that Varuna makes forhimself to wear, "according to his ordinances" (dnuvratd, 8.41.10).

Similarly, just as Varuna and Mitra together establishthe basic order (rtad)of the cosmos (e.g., 5.62.3), they arealso the source of the social order in its broadest sense:"By (your) rule, you have made a secure abode (for hu-manity); by (your) establishment, you make the peoplesoccupy their (proper) places" (vratena stho dhruvaksemidhdrmana yitaydjjana, 5.72.2ab). Here, vratd (a crystal-lization of authority) and dhdrman (lit., 'that which isestablished or upheld') are complementary manifesta-tions of the gods' authority: their paradigmatic acts cre-ated the habitable world for mankind; the moral aspectof their rule-a corollary to the cosmogonic aspect-determines the proper and harmonious organization ofsociety. The parallelism here suggests to me a conver-gence in meaning.19Besides his role as benevolent ruler, Varuna, whomonitors human action20 and who cannot be deceived(ddabdha, e.g., 7.60.5), punishes those who deceitfullyviolate his vratds. Brereton notes that while the Adityasas a group are praised for upholding righteousness (rtd)and punishing transgressors, Varuna alone tends to beinvoked when the transgressor himself prays for mercy(7.87.7, 88.6, 89.5).21 Here, the wrongdoer-no longerportrayed as some "other," a rival-acquires a voice andadmits his fault:

ydc cid dhi te viso yatha prd deva varunavratdm minlmdsidydvi-dyavima no vadhdya hatndve jihilandasyariradhah / ma` hr-nadndsyamanydve(1.25.1-2)

19 Hacker in fact proposes that the relationship betweenvratd anddhdrmancan be explained by the use of forms of theverb dhr- with vratd, especially in the bahuvrlhi compounddhrtdvrata,which he interpretsas "who has laid down a vratd"(Hacker, 127-33).20 RV 1.25.11; 1.50.6; 6.68.3; 7.60.3, 61.5, 65.1; 8.25.9; bymeans of spies: 1.25.13; 6.67.5; 7.61.3, 87.3.21 Brereton,96-97.

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Even though we violate your ordinance (vratd) day afterday, O god Varuna,as the people (violate a king's), do notsubject us to the deadly weapon of the enraged, nor to thefury of one who is angry.

The poet enters a guilty plea in hopes of a suspendedsentence from the judge. He acknowledges his guilt, butinsists that he has erred through human nature, that suchbehavior is typical of human beings. By thus diffusingthe responsibility, he hopes to incline the god towardpatience and mercy. But these passages definitely sug-gest that humans, of all creation, are most inclined todeviate from divine vratas, a theme that recurs in pas-sages that discuss other gods' vratds as well.Similar prayers for forgiveness are addressed to othergods too. (See 4.54.3 to Savitr, and 8.48.9 and 10.25.3to Soma, all cited below.) Yet these other gods showmercy merely by not withholding their gifts to men;Varuna, as god of Order (rtd), is more vividly describedas moved to anger and penal retribution. Varuna pun-ishes by binding the guilty. Even then, the bound pris-oner may apply for parole, affirming that he willhenceforth "stay clean" by adhering to Varuna's will, byfollowing his law:

td uttamdm varunapasam asmdd dvddhamdmvi madhya-mdmsrathdyadthdvaydmadityavratetdvanagaso dditayesydma(1.24.15)Loosen up the uppersnare from us, O Varuna, oosen downthe lower, loosen away the middle one. Then may we be un-der your rule (vratd), 0 Aditya, guiltless so that we may beunbound(dditaye).

Renewed conformity to the divine vratd restores one toa state of "freedom from fetters" (dditi).22Varuna's ordinances (vratd) are thus the standard of anethical order as well as of the cosmic order: they governthe broadest range of activities, although ritual obliga-tions are sometimes specified. By adhering to his ordi-nances one can overcome typically human weaknesses.Savitr

Savitr in the Rg Veda wields the power of instigationor impulse. He is invoked especially at sunset,23 as in the22 Brereton goes further, translating dditi as "innocence."This clarifies an importantaspect of the term's meaning, butobscures the central imagery of punishmentand forgiveness as

binding and release: dditi as a noun denotes the absence ofbonds or restrictions.23 HarryFalk ("Savitrund die Savitri,"WienerZeitschriftfiirdie Kunde Siidasiens 32 [1988]: 5-33) argues not only that

beautiful hymn 2.38, in which the god's vratd is men-tioned five times. Here, "Savitr, has divided the speciesaccording to their places" (sthaso jdanmdni savita vyakah [7c]): the aquatic creatures in the waters, the wildanimals on the dry land, the birds in the woods, the herdsin the paddock (vv. 7-8). Yet even more prominent is hisrole as bringer of rest at the end of the day: "Stirring, hehas risen (and) divided up the set times (rtu)" (at samha-ydsthdd vy rtumrradardhar [4c]). He comes at dusk, andneither nature nor humanity can resist him:

visvasya hi srustdye devd irdhvdh prd bahdva prthulpanihsisartiapas cid asya vratd d nimrgra aydm cid vato ramate

pdrijman (2)adsubhis id ydn vi mucdti nundmdriramad dtamanamcidetohahydrsunamcin ny aydm avisyam dnu vratdm savitur mdky

agat (3)samavavarti visthito jigistur vifvesaim kamas cdratamamabhutsdsvadmdpo vikrtam hitvy dgid dnu vratdm savitur

daivyasya (6)Since to have the obedience of everyone, the high, broad-palmed god stretches forth his arms,24 under his rule(vratd) even the waters are still, even this wind rests in itscirculation.Even the one who goes with swift (horses) now unharnesses(them); he has made even the wanderer rest from his jour-neying; he has checked the eagerness even of those whodart like snakes (? ahydrsu): in accordance with Savitr'srule (vratd), the Release25 has come.

Savitr in the Rg Veda must be distinguished from the sun, butthat "der Schwerpunkt der Aktivitat Savitrs liegt also zuBeginn der Nacht" (ibid., 13), as Bergaigne also observed (seen. 1). Falk identifies Savitr with the Milky Way, as it touchesthe horizon in India around twilight at the summer solstice,which links Savitr with the rainy season and the opening of theperiod of Veda study.

24 In this image of two extended arms, Falk sees the twohalves of the Milky Way rising from the horizon at dusk at thesummer solstice (as he calculates that they did in north Indiain the second millennium B.C.), signalling the start of the rainyseason.25 m6kl, lit., "release" (hapax legomenon); generally under-stood to mean 'nightfall'. Falk (ibid., 28-29) sees a double-entendrethroughoutthe verse. The first line refers to the windin the midspace, andalso to the rapacious vratyasas they desistfrom their raids at the start of the monsoon. Likewise, the

ahydrsu "SchlangenspieBer")s bothpeacockandvratyabearing

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The adventurer jigisu) who has gone far away turnsback;the desire of all who wanderhas turnedhomeward.26Every-one has come back, leaving his work unfinished, in accor-dance with the rule (vrata) of the divine (daivya) Savitr.He rules over all things, and none-not even thoseinclined to lawlessness, not even the gods themselves(v. 9)-violate these vratas (cf. 7cd).The special character of Savitr's vrata is indicated byhis name. He is generally called Deva Savitr, which,though it serves as a name, is clearly a descriptive title:"heavenly impeller" or "impeller god." This literal sensewas recognized by the poets, who frequently adjoinedother forms of the root su- ("impel, stimulate, arouse")to the name, as in the very first line of the present hymn:"The Impeller God (Deva Savitr), the Driver (vdhni),has gotten up to give impulse, as is continually his task"(id u syd devdh savita savaya sasvattamdm tddapd vdh-nir asthat [lab]).27Brereton has noted that the terms (pra)savd and sdvi-man seem to function as synonyms for vratd, especiallyin the context of Savitr.28 I would rather say that theseterms clarify the particular nature of Savitr's vrata: toimpel. Savitr's impulse is not merely inspiration or stim-ulation; it is an enlivening energy that propels things andbeings to action and brings them to rest in good time.Yet even if this energy is virtually irresistible, it is notexactly the same as vrata in general-compelling prin-ciple, law, or authority-since, for instance, it is neversaid to be violated or followed.29 On the other hand, Sa-vitr's epithet satydsava points to the nature of his vrata,indicating that his impulse is efficacious: "Whatever hewith his lovely fingers set in motion (si-) upon thebreadth of the earth and on heaven's height, that (ef-fect) of his is real (satydm asya tat)" (ydt prthivya vd-rimann a svahgurir vdrsman divdah uvdti satydm asya tdt[4.54.4cd]). By his impulse, the Impeller, like Varuna in1.25.1, has the power to remove the guilt of human error:the staff tied with snake-skin. He notes that mdki can then sug-gest the "Befreiung"from the vrata (ritual rule of conduct) towhich they normally adhere. All this is in line with his in-terpretationof the hymn as an evocation of the onset of therainy season.26 Falk (ibid., 30) takes this line to have the vratya as itssubject, and sees double meanings throughoutthe verse.27 A. A. Macdonell, VedicMythology (Strassburg:Trubner,1898), 34.28 Brereton, 308-14.29 For this reason, I would avoid Brereton's translations of(pra)savd and sdviman as "compulse" or "compelling com-mandment,"which obscure the distinctive aspects of Savitr'sactivity by assimilating it fully to the notion of vrata.

dcitti ydc cakrmadaivye jane dinair ddksaihprdbhFtipiru-satvdtidevesu ca savitar manusesu ca tvdmno dtra suvatad and-

gasah (4.54.3)If we have acted thoughtlessly before the divine folk, by(our) weak intelligence, by (our feeble) power, (our mere)humanness, among both gods and men, O Savitr, impel us(si-) (to become) guiltless here.

Savitr's regular advent correlates with specific ritualobligations on the part of worshipers30 (the offspring ofManu), which, when fulfilled, entitle men to a share ofwhat the gods enjoy:

dbhad devdh savita vdndyo nd na iddnim dhna upavacyonrbhihvi y6 rdtnd bhdjati manavebhyah srestham no dtra drdvi-

nam ydtha dddhatdevebhyohi prathamdmyajiiyebhyo 'mrtatvdm uvdsi bha-gdm uttamdmd id damanam savitar vy urnuse 'nicina jivita manu-sebhyah (4.54.1-2)

Arisen is the Impeller God whom we should praise, whommen should address at this time of the day-who distributeswealth to the offspringof Manu-so that he may lay beforeus here the best goods.While, first, you send (su-) immortality, as the highestshare, for the venerable gods, then, O Savitr, you reveal(your) gift to humans: lives upon lives.31

Savitr gives to religiously observant men a gift onlyslightly less wonderful than what he has already giventhe gods, an idea found also in 2.38.1: "While now hedistributes wealth to the gods, so he provides theoffering-maker a share in well-being (svastf)" (nind.mdevebhyo vi hi dhdti rdtnam dthdbhajad vltihotram sva-stau); and in verse 5ab of 4.54, where Savitr providesmountains for the gods and houses for men.32Man's ritual obligation is suggested in verse 6ab:"Your thrice-daily impellings (savd), which send (a-su-)

30 By "worshiper" mean the yajamana,the sponsorof Vedicrites.31 I.e., the regular succession of generations, from father toson, which is the early Vedic conception of worldly immortal-ity. This ideal is enunciatedin a series of wisdom verses in AiB7.13 (33.1).32 In a somewhat elliptical verse: indrajyesthan brhddbhyahpdrvatebhyah ksdyami ebhyah (sc. men) suvasi pastyavatah.See Brereton, 94-96, n. 45; Ralph L. Turner,A ComparativeDictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages (London: OxfordUniv. Press, 1979), s.v. 8017.

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good fortune day by day..." (ye te trir dhan savitahsavaso dive-dive saubhagam dsuvdnti). This verse con-tains a word-play:savd is both 'impelling'and '[soma-]pressing',so Savitr'simpellings correspondto the timesfor pressing the soma. Both 2.38 and 4.54 begin bypointing to the evening, at the third soma pressing, asthe time when Savitr arrives to provide a share of thegods' wealth. In this case, verse 2 quantifiesthis gift interms of life: just as he brings about immortality(amr-tatvd) for the gods, he gives to "the descendants ofManu" (manusa, i.e., the community of worshipers)"lives in due sequence" (ancinad jivitdh), that is, theunending sequence of generations.In this hymn, the poet expresses many of Savitr's ac-tions by the verb sii- (the root of savd, etc.): he stimu-lates, impels, and sets gifts in motion to gods and men.And this activity produces enduring,real (satyd) effects(v. 4): the gods he directsto reside in the mountains;hu-mans, in their households. The assignment of a properplace to each being, which other gods accomplish byothermeans (thatembody theirvratas),is here the resultof Savitr's impulse (savd) (v. 5).Agni

If Varunaand Savitr rule from on high, Agni's vratas,while no less grand and world-shaping, spring from amuch nearer and more tangible source: the fire itself,Agni's body.Agni's householdpresence is invoked at thetime of Savitr's evening savd (2.38.5ab): "In varioushouses, a whole life long, stands forth Agni's mighty,household flame" (nanaiukdmsi dturyo visvam ayur vitisthate prabhavdh soko agneh). Agni's own vratasmanifest his krdtu (intention), which gives rise to hischaracteristicactivities:

vratd te agne mahatdmahani tdva krdtvar6dasi a tatanthatvdmduto abhavojayamdnas tvdmnetd vrsabhacarsaninam(3.65)The aws(vratd) f you,thegreatone,aregreat,OAgni:byyourwill youhavespannedhe two worlds.As you werebeingborn,Obull,youbecame hemessenger,he eader fthepeoples.

Agni's characteristicact is to move between heaven andearth, providing a conduit for men's offerings to reachthe world of the gods. Agni willingly serves as the wor-shiper's messenger to the gods, bringing invitation tothe sacrifice."[Whenyou were] being born(jayamana)"suggests a primordialmoment when he "became (abha-vah)"messenger andleader,when his vratas were estab-lished. But it also points to the fact that Agni is born

again and again on earth whenever fire is lit, whenevera sacrifice is prepared.Agni is not just the effective agent of sacrificialoffering;he is also the luminous signal of worship, indi-cating the occasion andplace of worship: "Agniappearswith pious intention(dhf) as the ancientbeacon of wor-ship, for his aim is to cross (between the worlds)"(agnirdhiya sd cetati ketdr yajndsya purvydh / drtham hy asyataradni3.11.3]). Agni's shining flame is emblematic ofthe worshiper'sardentwish to please the gods-he em-bodies dhl, inward vision or insight that leaps up ininspiredwords of praise.It is this dual ritual role in the household-of embod-ying the prayer and carrying the offering, conveyingthem both to heaven-that justifies his being called "theundeceivable leader, the swift ever-new chariot of thetribes of the descendants of Manus" (ddibhyah pura-eta visam agnir manusinam / turmnrdthah sddi ndvah[3.11.5]). We shall see below that, because his divineactivity (his serving as messenger between earth andheaven) belongs so fully to the ritual sphere, his vratasoften must be understoodas rules governingmen'sritualduties as well. These rules are what distinguishthe tribesof Manu from the Dasyus, the pious from "those notgovernedby the rules of worship"(avratd, dpavrata).33Indra

The rushing waters are girls (yuvat), ever young,united in Indra'srule:sanat sdnild avdnir avdtd vrata raksanteamrtah sdhobhihpurd sahdsra janayo nd pdtnir duvasydnti svdsaro dhra-

yanam (1.62.10).From of old the immortal, unquenched,sibling streams,by(their) orce,havekepttheordinances;hemany housandsisters, ike marriedwomen,aredevoted o theboldone.

The "bold one" is Indra,by whose authoritythe watersflow as they do. Their powers (sdhas) are the force oftheir currents,34 nd these demonstratethe zeal of their33Schmidt, 3-98, surveyspassageswiththeseterms.34 K. F Geldner (Der Rig-Veda aus dem Sanskrit ins Deut-sche ibersetzt. HOS 33-35 [Cambridge,Mass.: HarvardUniv.Press, 1951] [= RVU], 1: 82) construes this verse differently:"Seit alters halten die verschwisterten Str6me, die unsterbli-

chen, die durchkeine Gewalten bezwungen werden, seine Ge-bote. Viele tausend Schwestern beeifern sich (um ihn) wievermahlte Frauenum den nicht Schiichteren." Sayana glossesavdnih with "the fingers," i.e., the fingers of the offerer that

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devotion to the god. As it happens,several verses clearlyshow that Indra's vratas govern the waters (1.101.3,2.24.12, 7.47.3, 8.40.8), but this is also sometimes saidof the vratds of othergods (e.g., of Soma in 9.82.5). Infact, the obedience of the waters might be considered atropeused of divine vratdsin general.The special character of Indra'svratas emerges moreclearly in verses that recall his heroism. In particular,the soma-offerer is keen to invite him "who alone ispreeminent by his wondrous deeds, great and mightyby his vratas" (yd eko dsti damsdnd mahami ugrd abhivrataih [8.1.27ab]), "Indra, whose great manlinessHeaven and Earth (strengthen),35n whose rule (vratd)are Varuna and Surya, whose rule the rivers follow"(ydsya dyavdprthivf paiumsyam mahdd ydsya vratevdruno ydsya suryah / ydsyendrasya sindhavah sa's'cativratdm[1.101.3abc]). These verses set vratda arallel, inpoetic phrasing, with Indra's marvelous activity (dam-sdnd) and virility (paumsya). This parallelism clarifiesthe special natureof Indra'svrata, much as it helped usconnect Savitr's vratds with his impulse ([pra]savd).Soma

Soma, who is both god and the plant thatprovides thedrinkof immortality, is generally described in the con-text of the ritual of pressingthe plants,offeringthejuicein sacrifice, and drinking it. Thus, when the poet says,"King Soma, have mercy on us with (your) blessing;know that we areyour devotees,"he speakson behalf ofhimself and othergood worshiperswho are dedicatedtoSoma's ordinanceor ritualobservance(8.48.8ab). In thephrase tdva smasi vratyas tdsya viddhi, vratya denotes onewho follows Soma's vratd.But what sort of vratais that?The answer appears when we consider the wholethought:

s6ma rajan mrldya nah svasti tdva smasi vratyas tdsyaviddhialarti ddksa utd manytirindo md no aryo anukmdampdradahtvdm hi nas tanvah soma gopa gatre-gatre nisasdtthdnrcdksdhydt te vaydmpraminadma ratani sd no mrla susakhd deva

vdsyah (8.48.8-9)assist him in making offerings, a common idea in ritual dis-cussions. Given Sayana's assumption that the vratas are "ritesconnected with Indra" indrasambandhinikarmdni), this read-ing is reasonable.35 Sc. vardhatah; cf. 8.15.8, etc. I thank a reviewer for theJournal for this reference.

KingSoma,have mercyon us with yourblessing;knowthatwe areyourdevotees. ntelligenceddksa)andexcite-ment manyt)arestirringwithinus),ODrop;do not handus overcapriciouslyo thestrangeri.e.,ourrival).Sinceyou,OSoma,protectorf ourbody,havesatdown neach imb as an overseernrcdksas),f we violateyouror-dinances, avemercyon uskindly, s a goodfriend,Ogod.

The second line of stanza 8 describes the effect of drink-ing the soma juice, which probably constitutes Soma'sblessing (svasti). Drinking soma presupposes pressingthe soma ritually, a complex gesture of homage to thegod Soma. Stanza 9 clarifies the relationship betweenthe soma-presserand the god. The humansoma-drinkeris subject to King Soma's laws because Soma, by per-vading the whole body of the devotee andfilling it withvital energy, becomes governor of that body. Soma ob-serves men (nrcdksas) from an intimate vantage point.Whereas Varuna and Mitra and Savitr are said to su-pervise men from heaven, Soma does so from withinthe body itself!36 If the devotee then violates Soma'slaws, we should note (recalling 1.25.1) that the violationarises from a typical humanfailing in the face of divinevratas in general, and not from a singular occurrence:"Indeed, I violate your ordinances throughsimpleness,O Soma. So be merciful to us, as a father to a son" (utdvratani soma te prdhdm mindmi pdkya / ddha piteva si-ndve ... mrladno abhi. .. [10.25.3abce]).The bulk of the Rigvedic hymns to Soma are those ofMandala9, which addressSoma Pavamana,Soma as hepurifies himself (as the pressedjuice flows throughthewoolen strainer).These hymns form an explicitly "litur-gical" text, a hymnal for the soma-pressing ceremony.Inthis context,Soma, like Agni, crosses between the realmsof the gods andof men:

Is'nd imd bhtivananiviyase yujind indo haritah suparnyahta2s e ksarantu mddhumadghrtdmpdyas tdva vrate somatisthantukrstdyah(9.86.37)As masteryou traversethese worlds, O Drop, yoking (your)fine-wingedbay mares.May the peoples pour out the

36Cf.9.70.4d,whereSoma husoverseesbothgodsandmen:"as overseer (nrcdksas), (Soma) supervises both the tribes (i.e.,divine and human)" (ubhe nrcdksa dnu pasyate visau). Trans-lations of the adjective nrcdksas vary: Whitney: "surveyor ofmen";Geldner:"mitHerrscheraugen";enou:"auregarddemaitre"(Etudesvddiqueset pdnineennes, 18 vols. [Paris:Insti-tut de civilisation indienne, 1955-69] [= EVP]). "Overseer" s acompromise.

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honeyedghee(and) he milk for you; may theyremainnyourrule(vratd), Soma.Remaining underthe rule of Soma means making sac-rificial offerings in the soma rites. Rule as governancetakes concrete form as a rule of conduct, a ritualpreceptincumbentupon the five peoples (lit., "plowings,"krstiO.If all the gods delight in Soma's vrata(9.102.5), it is be-cause this means drinkingthe soma-drink that is offeredto them in worship. In 9.61.24 Soma Pavamanais en-couraged to be vigilant over (jdgrhi) his vratas; he isenjoined in 9.53.3 to smash him who attacks his vratas,which are "not to be challenged by the evil-minded"(nddhr'se.. . dudhya); in 9.70.4 he protects "the vratasof the lovely ambrosia":especially the latter passage,which alludes to the soma-drink,suggests that the vratasmeant in such verses are ritual institutions, ratherthanabstractcosmic laws. Finally, the movement of the flow-ing soma-juice as it is pressed and strained in the ritesprovides the basis for three overlapping analogies:

isur nd dhdnvan prdti dhiyate matir vatso nd mdtdr tupasarjy ddhaniuriudhdrevaduhe dgra ayaty dsya vratesv dpi sdma isyate(9.69.1)

As an arrowuponthebow,thethought s placed; t is letloose, as a calf to its mother's dder; s a (cow)of broadstreams,omingat thehead of theherd),he givesmilk-to/inthis(worshiper)'sbservancesvratd),oo,does Somagush.37

When soma stalks areplaced upon the pressing stones, athought, a prayer,an intention is conceived-embodiedphysically in the plant, the potential offering. As thejuice is pressed, the arrow(the prayer) is set in motiontoward its mark, and, in another sense, Soma hastenstoward the sacrifice like a hungry calf to the cow. Fi-nally, the poet likens the pressing of the stalks to themilking of a "broad-streamed"ow that eagerly rushesto.be milked. In the last line, the poet "translates" heseimages for us: Soma eagerly flows toward his vratds,which we must again take to mean-most immediately,anyway-the ritual observances themselves.37Padad hasgivenrise to divergent nterpretations.eld-ner, RVU, 3: 59: "Zu den Werken dieses [in a footnote: "desDichters oder des Opfernden?"] ist der Soma erwiinscht";Renou, EVP, 9: 18: "le soma se met-en-marche vers les obli-

gations-rituelles de (l'officiant que) voici" (cf. note, p. 77).Note thatbothauthorities ssumea ritualmeaning orvratesu.Thelocativecouldalso mean"inhis observances."

In none of the verses and hymns to Soma are we everfar from the actions of the sacrificial ritual. The vratdfollowed by the vratyi of 8.48.8 (above) implies notmerely some abstract conception of the god Soma'sagency in the world, but the regularobservance of therules of soma ritual,by means of which Soma's divinepotential is activated on behalf of men. In a hymn(10.57) entreatingthe gods and ancestors for long life,on the occasion of a soma sacrifice (v. 3), the poet be-gins: "Let us not depart from the path, nor from sacri-fice of the soma-offerer, O Indra"(ma prd gdma pathdvaydm ma yajdnd indra somfnah ... [lab]). The hymnends (v. 6): "May we, O Soma, follow in your ordinance(vratd), bearing mind in (our) bodies (and) havingoffspring" (vaya'm soma vrate tdva mdnas tanusu bibh-ratah/prajavantah sacemahi). The ritual context makesit clear that Soma's vrata implies the offering of somasacrifices. The ideal of following in the vrata is expli-catedby the first verse: not strayingfrom the path,whichis the worshipritual (yajid) of the soma-offerer.Summary

The vratas of the gods constitute a manifestation ofdivine will in the "natural"patterns and processes ofphenomena (such as the flow of water) in the observableworld. The "way the world is" then is seen as a con-firmation of divine agency. More particularly, he vratasof individual gods reflect the primaryattributeor specialfunction associated with each deity. Hence, Varuna'svrata makes him protectorof what is right andtrue,andpunisher of wrong-doers;Savitr'svrata is perceived inhis instigation of activity and in all things in the world,as well as its suspension at set times; Agni's vrata is toserve as a link between men and the gods, between earthand heaven; Indra's vratd is to display manly strengthand power; Soma's is to fill the earth and the worshiperwith Indra-like bodily vigor and quasi-immortality byflowing in the ritual. RV 9.112.1 recognizes that vratas(human, but also divine) naturally differ:

nanandmvd u no dhiyo vi vratanijdndndmtdksa ristdm rutam bhisdg brahmd sunvdntamichatindra-yendo pdri sravaOurthoughts are various; the rules (vratd) of men diverge:thecarpentereeks what s broken;hedoctor,a sickman;thepriest,a soma-presser; Drop, lowroundorIndra!

Vratdhere is a habitual occupation,profession, or regu-lar pursuit. It is a function of will, but of a mundanerather than divine or pious sort. The opening lines have

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the sound of a maxim, illustratinga truism of commonexperience. And the refrain,providing the transition to adivine context, encourages Soma Pavamana-Soma be-ing purifiedfor offering-to follow his own inclinationandprofession: to flow for Indra.

VRATA AS RITUAL OBSERVANCE

In the passages examined so far, the vrata has been apatternof divine agency andauthoritydistinctiveof eachgod's character.Collectively, they define a cosmic andsocial order that calls for a human response: for righ-teousness and ritualpiety, in general.In many cases, es-pecially in hymns to Agni and Soma, the word vratdtakes on a ritual significance, although we still have notreachedits late-Vedicmeaning:a class of specific obser-vances ancillaryto the business of ritualworship(yajia).Yet we may identify even in the Rg Vedasome passagesthat anticipatethatmeaningby explicitly associatingthevratawith a concrete set of rites.38These passages oftentake the form of a more or less formulaic reference to adivine vrata that is juxtaposed with a specific ritual ac-tivity, such that the parallelism appears to explain thevrata. We have seen this alreadyin the hymns to Soma:"May the peoples pour out the honeyed ghee (and) themilk for you; may they remain in your rule (vratd), 0Soma" (tas te ksarantumddhumadghrtdm pdyas tdvavratesoma tisthantukrstdyah[9.86.37cd]).Similarly, the poet of RV 2.8.3 speaks of a vrata ofregular ritual service when he invokes Agni, "who ispraised for his beauty in houses at dusk and dawn,whose ordinance s not violated... " (yd u sriya ddmesua doso6sdsi prasasyate / ydsya vratd'm nd mfyate). Thisline points to the agnihotra(or its archaicprototype),thesimple offering into the fire at the morning and eveningtwilights. The vrata here is not simply a distant, heav-enly matter, but is fulfilled ddmesu, in households,which is where Agni carries out much of his work. RV3.3.9 poetically illustrates the reciprocity between thegods and men that inheres in ritual practice:

vibhdvd devdh surdnah pdri ksitir agnir babhava sdvasasumddrathah

tdsya vratani bhariposino vaydm upa bhisema ddma asuvrktibhih

38In fact, scholasticauthoritiesrequently egarded ratdvirtually s a synonymorkdrman, eginningwithYaska,whogives thisgloss consistently:Nirukta2.13 (onRV3.59.2 and1.24.15= VS 12.12), 11.23 (on RV 10.64.5), 12.32 (on RV9.73.3), 12.45(onRV5.46.7=AV.49.1).

Thejoyful god Agni with his chariot mbraceshebrightdwellings with might.

May we, in (our) home, attend with well-turned verses tothevratdsof himwhonourishesmany.Agni's governing and beneficent presence (pari-bhu-)"with his might" in every human habitation is cited asthe justification for men to attend to (upa-bhus-) hisvratas with the fruits of their mental powers, the "well-turnedverses." The domestic setting, in both halves ofthe verse, points to the centrality of the fire service asthe basis of this reciprocity.When Agni is acting in his priestly capacity,his vratais spoken of as a course of ritual that he proceeds to(pra-i-) (cf. the later use of upa-i- with vrata):

eti prd htad vratdm asya maydyordhvamdddhdnah 'tici-pesasam dhiyamabhi srucah kramatedaksinavrtoyd asya dhamaprathamdmha nfmsate (1.144.1)

Thepriest Agni]goesforth o his observancevratd)with(divine) ability, sending up his brightly adornedthought;heapproachesthe rightward-turningadles, which are the veryfirst to kiss his [Agni's] dwelling-place.

Agni's vratahere is at once his ordaineddivine functionand the mundanepriestly function.39Agni himself is stillthe (divine) actor here, but the vrati should be under-stood as the regularprogramof worship.Otherpassagesmake explicit the idea that the deity's vratabelongs alsoto those who perform services of worship to that deity.In 1.128.1, Agni's vrata is twinned with the humanritualist's vrata, which reflects and mimics its divineprototype:

ayd'm ayata mdnuso dhdrimani h6ta ydjistha usijim dnuvratdmagnih svdm dnu vratdmvisvdsrustihsakhiyate rayir iva sravasyateddabdhoh6td ni sadad ilds pade pdrivita ilds padeHe wasborn n Manus' stablishmentdhdriman)40-Agni,best-worshiping offering-priest (hotr) according to the rule(vratd) of those who are zealous, accordingto his own rule

39 Sayana understands a humanpriest here, but also consid-ers the possibility that Agni himself is being called the hotr-priest n thathe is the invokerahvatr) f thegods.40 dhdriman here may refer concretely to Manus' ritualarena, which he has "set up" (a reading supported by padas fand g), or more abstractlyto the ritual institutions that Manusembraces.

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(vratd).He whohas the obedience f all41 comes) o himwho seeks his friendship, s wealth(comes)to one whoseeksglory.The undeceivableffering-priestas satdownat theplaceof libation id),enrobedwith heparidhis?) ttheplaceof libation.Agni's vratdis placed in appositionto the vrataof "thezealous ones" (usfj)-those who arewilling andeager topraise and sacrifice. Indeed, Agni himself is elsewheredescribed with this word (RV 1.60.4; 3.2.4, 9; 3.3.7, 8;3.27.10; 10.45.7): "He is the immortal offering-bearer,the eager (usij), well-disposed messenger . . " (sd hav-yaval dmartyausfg dutds cdnohitah [3.11.2]). Vedic rit-ualists, the descendants of Manus, carryon the age-oldtradition (viz., the dhdriman) of fire-offering (see be-low), made possible by Agni's exemplary and benevo-lent service as the best of offering-makers(h6tr), forwhich he is often praised.Adhering to Agni's vrata becomes a criterion ofbelonging to the society of those who are obedient toAgni and who seek his friendship (1.128.1c). Thosewho adhere to Agni's ritual rule by performing sacri-fices (yajia)-namely, Manus' tribes, mdanusoisah)-receive his aid, while those who do not adopt this ruleare overcome:

agnim hataram llateyajinsu mdnusovisahnand hy agne 'vase spdrdhante rdyo arydhturvantoddsyum tydvo vrataih s'ksanto avratdm(6.14.2cd-3)

Manus' ribesvenerateAgni the offering-priestn (their)worshipervices yajfid).For n variouswaystherichesof thestrangerie for(your)aid, O Agni. The Ayus overcome he Dasyu, seekingtodefeat the vratd-less with vratds.

In this passage, the avratd Dasyu is defined by his lackof theritualobservance that is the basis of the success ofthose who revere Agni.In recognitionof his indispensableritualrole, Agni isregarded as the god in charge of all the divinely or-dained rules ("all the fixed rules [vratd] that the godsmade meet in you," tve visva sdmgatani vrata dhruvayani devaldkrnvata[1.36.5]), as well as the pious man's41 Renou ranslates isvda'rustihs "pretantreille a touteschoses" EVP,12:30),andGeldnerRVU,1:178)andSchmidt(p. 66) read"allerh6rend"followingH. Grassmann,Worter-buchzumRigveda Leipzig:F A. Brockhaus, 872-75], col.,1305), but I think we must understand it in the context of2.38.1 and1.69.7,where rustiseemsto denote"compliance"or"obedience."

guide ("the one has appearedwho is best at finding theway to go, in whom [the gods] set the rules," ddarsigatuvittamo ydsmin vratani ddadhiuh[8.103[93].lab]).Agni will be confirmed in this role in later mantraandbrahmana exts, where the scope of the vrata is radicallynarrowed to apply only to the yajamdna, the "wor-shiper"who sponsors the yajia. The worshiperdeclar-ing his adoption of the vrataregimen for an isti serviceinvokes the aid of Agni "Vratabhrt"Bearerof Vratas),and declares his intention to Agni "Vratapati" Lord ofthe Vrata):"OAgni, Lordof the Regimen, I will take upthe regimen. We declare it to you; guardit for us. Maywe be equal to it" (dgne vratapate vratdmalapsye tdt teprdbrtmas tdn no gopiya tani sakeyam [MS 1.4.1; cf.TS 1.6.7, KS 31.15, MS 1.4.5, SB 1.1.1.2]).42 A similarformulais used by the new brahmacirin duringhis ini-tiation into the vrata of brahmacarya (e.g., MB 1.6.10-14): "Agni, Lord of the Regimen, I will follow theregimen (vratamcarisyami). . ."In verses addressed to Soma or Indra, the ritual di-mensions of vrati are often those of the soma pressing.We have seen that Soma's vratas are discussed so fullywithin the rubricof the ritual that it is difficultto form amore abstract idea of them. Standing in Soma's lawmeans making offerings (9.86.37); following in Soma'sordinance implies sticking to the path of the soma-sacrificer (10.57.1-6). The soma-juice itself rusheseagerly to the vratais-that is, the ritualobservances-ofthe soma-sacrificer,like a cow eager to be milked, likea calf eagerto suckle, like an arrow off the bow (9.69.1).The vratya of 8.48.8-the observer of Soma's vrata--is the soma-sacrificer; ndeed, this word comes close tovratacdrin(firstappearance:RV7.103.1). Indra'svratas,in turn, are typically mentioned in connection with theSoma rites, for the soma drinkis a key factor in Indra'smanliness, and is a source of strengthand immortalityfor the humanritualist,as in 1.83.3:

ddhi dvdyor adadha ukthyamvdco yatdsruca mithundydsaparydtah

dsamyatto vrate te kseti pisyati bhadrd saktir ydjamdnayasunvateYou have placeda speech full of praiseon thetwo, the couplewhowaiton(you),holding utthe adle;unopposed,elivesand hrives nyourrule vratd);your) oodpowers fortheworshiperwho presses (soma for you).

Living in Indra'svrata here implies pressing the somaandmaking offeringsof it. Fromthis regularobservance42 The Padapatha reads: tdt I sakeyam; KS 4.14 has tdc

chakeyam and singular verbs.

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of the ritual,the worshiperpartakesof the god's blessedpower, his manliness and vigor.There are besides these a few exceptional cases wherethe word vratd is (or may be) meant in one of the tech-nical senses in which it occurs in the ritual codes. Thefamous "Frog Hymn" at the end of Mandala 7 of theRg Veda, begins by comparing the frogs revived bythe monsoon rains to "brahmins following a vratd"(brahmana vrataciarnah,7.103.1), alluding both to thebeginning of the "school year" (v. 5) and to the com-mencing of a Soma sacrifice (using the technical termatirdtrd in v. 7). Both these events call for the obser-vance of a vrata:that of the brahmacarinand thatof thediksita, respectively. The hymn can hardly be referringto anything else, although this is the only unambiguouscase of the term used in this sense in the Rg Veda.Another stanza praises the cow thatprovides milk forthe offerings as vrata-ni:

yd gaur vartanim paryeti niskrtdmpdyo duhana vratantravardtahsa prabruvand vdrundya dgsuse devebhyo dasad dhavisivivdsvate (10.65.6)The cow that travels the pathto the appointed place, givingmilk, bringing the vratd hither, let her, announcing (theoffering) to Varuna [and] to the worshiper, offer worshipwith the oblation to the gods, to Vivasvat.

Of course, vratd in this compound may simply be "di-vine ordinance" in the abstract, but the concrete, ritualsetting, and the juxtaposition with milk-giving, providea basis for interpreting the compound as "carrying outthe rule" of the worship service (as Geldner suggests). Itis quite conceivable that in this instance vratd mightdesignate the milk-preparation allotted to the diksita ashis sole sustenance during the course of the sacrifice-milk which is supposed to be taken from a designatedcow. In any case, the verb ni- is not otherwise used withvratd to mean "carry out" or "follow."43 This would notbe the only case of a term known otherwise from thesrauta ritual literature making a rare appearance in the

43 Geldner (RVU, 3: 238) and Renou (EVP, 5: 57) readvrata-ni as "die Vorschrift ausfiihrend" and "qui conduit levoeu (divin)," respectively. Schmidt (p. 69) points out that ni-never means "ausfiihren"and so rejects Geldner'sreading.ThePetersburgdictionary (0. von Bohtlingk and R. von Roth, San-skrit-Worterbuch,7 vols. [St. Petersburg:Buchdruckerei derKaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1855-75], s.v.)offers "die Vrata-milch ftihrend" as a possibility for vratani,but Schmidt, who considers the phrase "ganz ungewiB," s in-clined to doubt that this technical usage goes back so far.

Rg Veda; atiratrd (7.103.7) is another, more obviousexample. Moreover, it makes sense to speak of the low-ing cow as announcing the imminent offerings both tothe gods and to the yajamana (the disvds): her lowingas she is brought to be milked signals the start of theyajamana's diksd fast, which, in turn, marks the start ofthe soma ritual. Her milk might normally be offered inthe daily Agnihotras; the vrata-milk is equated with theAgnihotra oblation, and actually replaces it during thesoma performance.44 Figuratively speaking, by provid-ing this milk she herself becomes a worshiper making anoblation of her own (ddsad dhavisd)!A (probably later) hymn from the Atharva Veda men-tions a vrata that seems to be a specific ritual. In AV4.11, the sun, addressed metaphorically as the draft-ox(anadvdh), surveys the cattle (i.e., all living creatures?);"milks out" all beings, past, present, and future (bhutadmbhavisydd bhuvand duhdnah); and supports, measuresout, and pervades "the three paths" (earth, midspace,and heaven) (vv. 1-2). It thereby "follows all the vratasof the gods" (sdrvd devand.m carati vratdni) (v. 2). Whatis important here is that the sun/draft-ox is also called a"heated hot milk pot" (gharmds taptdh) (v. 3), indeed,"that gharmd which is four-footed" (gharmdm ... yata-mds cdtuspat) (v. 5). The gharmd is the clay pot that isheated on a fire, filled with milk, and then poured out inoffering (mixed cow's and goat's milk for the Asvins,and then curds for Indra) during the Pravargya rite.45The gharmd is mentioned in the Rg Veda; it was probably

44 On the vrata-cow and the vrata-milk,see, for example, SB3.2.2.7-19, BSS 6.6-7, BhSS 10.9.11-10.11.14; on the vrata-milk = Agnihotra, see KB 7.3.45 Forthe Pravargyarite, see J. A. B. van Buitenen, The Pra-vargya: An Ancient Indian Iconic Ritual Described and Anno-tated (Poona: Deccan College, 1968); Stella Kramrisch,"TheMahavira Vessel and the Plant Putika,"JAOS 95 (1975): 222-35; Jan Houben, The Pravargya Brdhmana of the TaittiriyaAranyaka (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1991), 21-25 (esp. nn.39-41), 34-35, 131, n. 153; and idem, "On the Earliest Attest-able Forms of the PravargyaRitual:Rg-Vedic references to theGharma-Pravargya,Especially in the Atri-family Book (Book5)," Indo-IranianJournal 43 (2000): 9-33. The heating of thevessel capturesthe heat andbrightnessof the sun, andtransfersit to the worshiper.The Pravargyamantrasandbrahmana-alsoknownby the older name sukriyani n the Taittiriyacorpus-area part of the saumya kanda, study of which itself requirestheobservance of the sukriya vrata. Thus, study of the Pravargyapassages requireda double strengtheningof the brahmacarya.(This avantaradlksd is distinct from that the soma sacrifice,which is an intensification of the diksa regimen before the ac-tual soma pressing.)

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an independentrite, but was later made ancillary to thesoma ritual. This hymn mentions a vratai"of the hot-milk pot" and "of the draft-ox":yena devah svar druruhurhitva sdriramam.tasya ndbhimtena gesma sukrtdsya lokdm gharmdsya vratena tdpasd

yasasydvah (6)dvddasa vd eta ratrirvrdtyaahuhprajdpatehtdtrdpabrdhmay6 veda tdd vd anaduho vratdm (11)By meansof whom he godsascended o heaven,quittingthebody, o thenavelof theimmortal, y himmaywe godesiring lory o the worldof well-donedeeds,bymeansofthe regimenof the hot-milk-potgharmdsya ratena),bymeansof fervor tdpasa).They say that these regimen-nightsf Prajapatirdtrirvrdtydh)re welve;he whoknows hatbrahmans in that-that s the"regimenf thedraft-oxanaduho ratdm)."

If the gharmd/draft-ox s a divinity, then the meaningof'divine law' might apply. But the juxtaposition with td-pas, 'fervor',encourages us to envision a ritual context,since tdpas is the product of strenuous activity, espe-cially sacrificial activity. But what ritual context? Doesthe gharmdhere pertainto the Pravargyarite (or its pre-srauta ancestor)?The threemilkings mentioned in verse12, on the other hand, correspond to the three soma-pressings. Consideringthat the draft-ox has earlier beenidentified with Indra,there is reason to think the somasacrifice is meant.Here, perhaps,the vratai s not simply commitment toritual practice, but a formal ritualized consecration for

worship-viz., the diksd observed by the soma wor-shiper for the duration of the ceremonies. The four-teenth-centurycommentatorSayanaglosses tapas as that"which arises from observing the rules of diksd, etc.,and from fasting and so forth" (tapasa diksadiniyama-janitena anasanadind ca). He quotes TS 5.6.7.1 and KS23.6 as evidence that the consecration lasts twelvenights-hence, the twelve nights of the "draft-ox'svratd"(v. 11). Alternatively,there is Jan Houben'ssug-gestion that this gharmdsya vratd refers to the avan-taradiksd, an intensificationof the Veda student'sgen-eral vrata of brahmacarya and the required regimenprescribed for studying the mantras and brahmana ofthe Pravargya. Considering that none of the particularascetic characteristics of either of those regimens ismentioned, the "draft-oxvratd"may simply be a fixedtwelve-day sequence of gharmdofferings, aimed at gen-erating tdpas and earning divine favor. But it may stillbe considered a step toward the isti-vrata and soma-

diksa of the srauta system insofar as it is a vratalinkedwith a specific offering.These latterregimenspurifyandsymbolically divinize the worshiperthrough his obser-vance of ascetic discipline so that he may approachthegods in the yajna. Like the brahmacdrin'svrata,they arerules overseen by Agni Vratapati,who is invoked to wit-ness and aid the practitioner'spious toil.46

CONCLUSION

In the Rg Vedawe encounterthe vratd as a fundamen-tal attribute of divine authority,a law determiningtheshapeandpatternsof the physical and social world.Eachdeity's vratds are distinctive, manifesting that deity'scharacteristicactivity. Divine vratas also call for con-formity in human behavior, particularlyin the form ofritualobservance. Certainverses-particularly those de-voted to Agni, Soma, and Indra,the primary recipientsof sacrificial offerings-require a reading of vrata as aroutinepracticeof sacrificialservice which the patronofthe offering has an obligation to perform.Moreover, insuch verses (examinedin the last section) the vrata is therule of performingspecific rites, such as Agnihotra(inthe case of Agni) and the soma sacrifice (for IndraorSoma). To be in the god's vrat--and therebyto receivehis blessings (and avert his wrath)-is to follow the pre-scribed course of worship.In most cases (i.e., except inRV 7.103 and perhaps 10.65), there is still no indicationof what this observance requires beyond the offeringsthemselves, but the idea is there thatyajia entails con-formity to a divine model, a conformity that must beconsciously adopted and maintained as an act of alle-giance and obedience to the deity. In the Rg Veda, theritual vrata appears to apply to all ritual participants,and is not restricted to the yajamdna until the periodrepresented n the literatureof the YajurVeda.In AV 4.11.6 and 11, the vrata attains a form resem-bling the "classical" one, namely, a temporaryasceticregimen serving as a consecrationfor making a particu-lar type of oblation, a regimen resembling the vrata ofbrahmacarya (attested amply in AV 11.5 and SB 11.5.4)and the srauta vrata and diksd as described in the YajurVeda. In these last texts, the term vrata becomes theritual technical term that it remains thereafter. In retro-spect, what the early Veda contributes to the later-

46SeeKS23.1-6, 31.15-32.7;MS1.4.10,3.6.1-7; TS1.6.7,6.1.1-5; SB 1.1.1.1-11, 3.1.1-3.2.2, 11.5.4; etc. I analyzethese regimens in chs. 3 and 4 of The Uses of Asceticism: Rulesof Discipline in the Emergence of Classical Hinduism (to bepublished).

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attested ascetical rules is the basic idea that observing arule (vratd)of ritual service can put a humanworshiperin accordance with divine laws (vratd)andtherebycon-fer divine blessings. The Atharva Vedaand the variousbrahmana texts combine this premise with the notion

that the observance of such rules requiressustained ex-ertion (srama) and fervid dedication to fasting and celi-bacy (i.e., tapas). The ascetical vrataof the srauta ritualregularizesthe notion of conformityby speaking of theritual divinization of the yajamana.

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