Post No. 10,416
Date uploaded in London – – 6 DECEMBER 2021
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There is a very interesting poem/hymn on house, house warming and a traveller in the Atharvana Veda. This fourth Veda contains poems and statements on various subjects. One would be amazed to see that the Vedic seers have sung such poems in Sanskrit on various themes before Greek, Tamil Hebrew, Chinese , Persian and Latin literature appeared on the horizon. Though we have Old Testament , Zend Avesta and fragments of Chinese and old Greek matter on certain things none of them is dated before 1000 BCE, the date given to Atharvana Veda (AV) even by the conservative foreigners who translated Vedas.
Since most of the foreigners have no first-hand knowledge of Hindu way of life, their translation and interpretation are not correct. Moreover, they looked at them with a critical eye rather than appreciative.
I have given Ralph TH Griffith’s translation here. If we compare it with Tamil poet Bharati’s poem on House, who was well versed in Vedic literature it would bring out the meaning in a better light. Bharati has appreciated all that is in the Vedas and asked every one to beat the Vedic drum so that it would roar in all the eight directions on earth.
What are the words we find in AV hymn?
Delightful Houses, Rich in Power, Glad and Joyful,
Store of Milk, Replete with Wealth, Standing firm, Dwellers with Friendly Heart, Delightful Sweets, Friends, Freedom from Hunger, Freedom from Thirst, Kind Greetings, Cattle, Food, Peasant Drink, Full of Refreshment, Full of Charms, Full of Laughter, Full of Felicity, Ever free from Hunger, Ever free from Thirst, Happy Fortune, Abundant Growth
In one sentence A Heaven where there is happiness,food and water.
Even if you are asked to give a speech at a House Warming Party or Inauguration of a New Housing Block in your city, you may not remember all these positive words.
It is amazing to see that one community in the world known as Brahmins have passed them from one generation to another for thousands of years! One must be grateful to them for ever and it is Hindu’s duty to carry these positive thoughts to generations to come.
xxxx
Read the Vedic poem and then the poem by Tamil poet Bharati
Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895], at sacred-texts.com
HYMN LX, Book 7, AV (Suktam No.375)
A parting traveller’s address to the houses of his village
1.I, prudent, bringing power, a treasure-winner, with amicable
eye that strikes no terror,
Come, praising and kind-thoughted, to these houses: be not
afraid of me, be glad and joyful.
2.Let these delightful Houses that are rich in power and store of
milk,
Replete with wealth and standing firm, become aware of our
approach.
3.These Houses we invoke, whereon the distant exile sets his
thought, p. a296
Wherein dwells many a friendly heart: let them beware of our
approach.
4.Thus greeted, ye of ample wealth, friends who enjoy delightful
sweets.
Be ever free from hunger, free from thirst! Ye Houses, fear us
not.
5.Kind greeting to the cattle here, kind greeting to the goats and
sheep!
Then, of the food within our homes, kind greeting to the plea-
sant drink!
6.Full of refreshment, full of charms, of laughter and felicity,
Be ever free from hunger, free from thirst! Ye Houses, fear us
not.
Stay here, and come not after me: prosper in every form and
shape.
With happy fortune will I come! Grow more abundant still
through me!
xxx
This poem is interpreted in two ways.
The footnote says – The hymn is used as a charm to inaugurate the construction of a house and on starting a journey.
But I would interpret it as a House Warming Speech and saying Good Bye to visitors who travelled long way to attend the Grahap Pravesa Ceremony (HOUSE ENTERING CEREMONY)
More in my comments at the end.
Xxx
Tamil Poem by Poet Bharati; Translated into English
A Plot of Land
1.A plot of land – Parasakti
A plot of land I beg to thee;
With pillars beautiful and bright
And rising stories gleaming white
Build thou for me a castle there ;
May coconut trees wave their green leaves fair,
And their delicious milk supply
While springs refreshing gurgle by .
2. Gren coconut trees, these do I require
Some ten or twelve beside me there;
And like a soft and pearly shower
Bright moonbeams send thou me, (Great Power)
And cause within my ears to fall
The distant cuckoo’s gentle call ;
Do thou send me evening breeze
That softly fans, my heart to please.
3.A faithful wife give thou to me ,
In all my songs to mingle free;
And bring us poetry divine,
That our delights it may refine;
In that most solitary space
Great Mother guard us with thy grace
And grant that my gift of song
My sceptre over the world be strong
—Translated by Professor Hepzibah Jesudasan
Though it is not a word by word translation we get the exact meaning.
In short, a house where one will have happiness and water and milk/food in plenty.
So the Vedic thoughts are echoed in this poem, though it came many thousand years after the Vedic seers. I have underlined the words to highlight the same positive thoughts found in the AV.
Xxxx
My Comments:–
Only a Hindu would understand it!
A Hindu’s House Entering Ceremony known as ‘Gruha Pravesam’ consists of several rituals:-
He has to consult an astrologer or a priest to choose an auspicious day and auspicious time.
The family enters the house using their right foot first .
The house is decorated with Rangolis/Kolam with auspicious signs.
The house has festoons with Mango leaves, Banana Plants and other auspicious flowers.
An oil lamp in front of God’s pictures is lighted by the women folk, who is married and living with her husband.
A cow is asked to enter the house first. Its dung and urine are considered very auspicious.
If anyone is interested in rituals, they hire a priest and he recites mantras for purification with water.
In all auspicious Hindu ceremonies Hindu women make Palikai, i.e. a certain number of pots filled with grains/seeds are sprinkled with water. When they grow and the little seedlings come out, they are taken to the river or village pond or well, they are dissolved there. This is how the propagation of plants was done in the olden days.
In South India, coconut, arecanut, betel leaves are available in plenty and they are also used .
Also note that neither the Vedic Rishi/seer nor Bharati was greedy; they say what is needed for a small family.
XXXX
BHARATI’S POEM IN TAMIL
காணி நிலம் வேண்டும் – பராசக்தி
காணி நிலம் வேண்டும், – அங்கு
தூணில் அழகியதாய் – நன்மாடங்கள்
துய்ய நிறத்தினதாய் – அந்தக்
காணி நிலத்தினிடையே – ஓர்மாளிகை
கட்டித் தரவேண்டும் – அங்கு
கேணியருகினிலே – தென்னைமரம்
கீற்று மிளநீரும்.
பத்துப் பன்னிரண்டு – தென்னைமரம்
பக்கத்திலே வேணும் – நல்ல
முத்துச் சுடர்போலே – நிலாவொளி
முன்பு வரவேணும், அங்கு
கத்துங் குயிலோசை – சற்றே வந்து
காதிற் படவேணும், – என்றன்
சித்தம் மகிழ்ந்திடவே – நன்றாயிளந்
தென்றல் வரவேணும்.
பாட்டுக் கலந்திடவே – அங்கேயொரு
பத்தினிப் பெண்வேணும் – எங்கள்
கூட்டுக் களியினிலே – கவிதைகள்
கொண்டுதர வேணும் – அந்தக்
காட்டு வெளியினிலே – அம்மா! நின்றன்
காவலுற வேணும், – என்றன்
பாட்டுத் திறத்தாலே – இவ்வையத்தைப்
பாலித்திட வேணும்.
—மகாகவி பாரதியார்.
–subham–
tags- House, Atharva Veda, Bharati, House warming, Gruha Pravesa,
Tamil and Vedas 