Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 46.djvu/19

 butter. The footsteps of the goddess Idâ drip with butter. The words 'agnim îde' seem to me, consequently, originally to convey the idea of celebrating Agni by pouring sacrificial butter into the fire. There is a number of passages in the Rig-veda which, in my opinion, show clear traces of this original meaning of the verb. Thus we read X, 53, 2. yágâmahai yagñíyân hánta devâ´n î´làmahai î´dyân â´gyena, 'let us sacrifice (yag) to the gods to whom sacrifice is due; let us magnify (îd) with butter those to whom magnifying is due.' V, 14, 3. tám hí sásvantah î´late srukâ´ devám ghritaskútâ agním havyâ´ya vólhave, 'for all people magnify this god Agni with the butter-dripping sacrificial spoon that he may carry the sacrificial food.' V, 28, I. devâ´n î´lânâ havíshâ ghritâ´kî, 'magnifying the gods with sacrificial food, (the spoon) filled with butter.' Comp. also I, 84, 18; VI, 70, 4; VIII, 74, 6; X, 118, 3. Then, by a gradual development, we find the verb îd or the noun îlenya connected with such instrumentals as girâ´ or gîrbhíh, 'to magnify by songs,' or stómaih 'by praises,' námasâ by 'adoration,' and the like. The Rig-vedic texts, however, show us very clearly that even in such phrases the original meaning of îd was not quite forgotten. For the word is not used indifferently of any praise offered to any god whatever. No god of the Vedic Pantheon is praised so frequently and so highly by the poets of the Rig-veda as Indra. Yet, with very few exceptions, the word îd is avoided in connection with this god. The whole ninth Mandala contains nothing but praises of Soma Pavamâna. Yet the word Id occurs, in the whole of this Mandala, in two passages only (5, 3; 66, 1) of which one is contained in an Âprî verse transferring artificially to Soma such qualifications as belong originally to Agni. On the other hand, in the invocations addressed to Agni, this verb and its derivatives are most frequently used. We may conclude that the idea of celebration, as conveyed by these words, had a connotation which qualified them for the employment with regard to Agni, the god nourished by offerings of butter, much better than for being addressed to Indra, the drinker of the Soma juice, or to the god Soma himself.