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But we should be careful before we say so, and realise that the
definiteness of his meaning is illustrative and in no way
exhaustive. In this translation such situations have been
appreciated and the meaning has been kept open ended, inclusive
of the meanings given by Swami Dayananda, as suggested by
Yaska and the etymology of the terms. In short, this translation
has been done with cautious reference to Sayana, under the
guidance of Swami Dayananda, with respect for Pundit
Satavalekara and with very careful observance of the western
anglers.
Pundit Satavalekara comes in between Sayana and swami
Dayananda for his excellent syntactic structures of mantra
meanings in continuous Hindi. But he explains words such as
Indra,Agni,Ashwins, Vrtra, Trita, Bhujyu, Kashyapa, Jamadagni,
etc. as proper names so that the mantra appears to be a mythical
or historical statement of either fact or fiction. But Swami
Dayananda interprets these terms in the yaugic manner and
explains them as scientific terms of the forms, functions, orders
and attributes of the powers of existence representing the
manifestive diversity of one Divinity and one Prakrti in the state
of objective existence. These words are not historical names,
because the time context of the creation of the Vedas remains
unknown beyond history and imagination as even Max Muller
confessed in his Gifford lectures in 1890.
This translation respects the entire tradition of Vedic
interpretation, and under the guidance of this tradition takes Vedic
interpretation to the original level of scientific rationality in the
context of modern consciousness, modern language and global
culture, a message both sanatan and, at the same time, modern
(ref. Atharva, 10,8,23).
Take just one example of the problem I have faced, with
the solution I have suggested: Yajurveda (36, 23) says, if we take
the literal meaning in the ordinary sense: “May the waters, pranic
energies and herbs be friendly to us and may they be enemies to
those who hate us and whom we hate.” How can we accept this?
How can the same waters, tonics and herbs be good friends to us
and enemies to those we hate or those who hate us? Medicine is
medicine after all. This is excellent stuff for a translator who
( xxiv )
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