TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
TRACING VEDIC DIALECTS - People.fas.harvard.edu
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
The results of the last section can now be counter-checked with the evidence<br />
provided by some of the formulaic sentences so frequently found in the<br />
Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas, notably, the standard phrase: "The gods and the<br />
Asuras were in contest...."<br />
This means that materials are discussed now which could be understood as a<br />
mere matter of style. It will be seen, however, that even in such traditional<br />
formulas, the gradual development of the Vedic language asserts itself. These<br />
sentences provide useful indications as to the tenacity of the hieratic language<br />
of the Brahmins on one hand, and the general changes in Old Indo-Aryan and<br />
the underlying Middle Indo-Aryan (Prākṛt) on the other.<br />
The use of the perfect tense in narrative passages during the late Brāhmaṇa<br />
period affected even the traditional sentence, "The gods and the Asuras were<br />
in contest," which begins so many tales. It is found in the following versions:<br />
devāś cāsurāś ca aspṛdhanta/saṃyattā āsan:: ... paspṛdhire, saṃyattā<br />
āsuḥ 140<br />
This phrase occurs in the oldest Saṃhitā texts (MS, KS, TS), and there it is<br />
invariably told in the imperfect, which is normal for narrative passages in<br />
these early texts. However, there is a slight difference in style; MS uses the<br />
old Indo-European word spṛdh, 141 while KS and TS use sam.yat, lit. "to form<br />
a line (as in battle)." 142<br />
MS: devāś cāsurāś cāspṛdhanta<br />
KS: devāś cāsurāś ca sayattā āsan<br />
TS: " " " " "<br />
Later texts change even this standard phrase to perfect tense:<br />
ŚBMo 1-5 devāś cāsurāś ca paspṛdhire<br />
n 11-14 " " "<br />
KB devāś cāsurās ca saṃyattā āsur<br />
ABn 6-8 " " " saṃyetire<br />
140<br />
Note that other school particularities of style are retained as far as word usage is<br />
concerned, see below, §§ 7-8.<br />
141<br />
Engl. sport, German (sich) spurten, cf. in Iranian, GAv. spəәrəәd Y 53.4<br />
142<br />
Note the case in the Saṃh., where the gods search for the hidden Agni. They take each<br />
others' hands, form a 'police line'; see P.Thieme, Mon. Nyberg, 431 sqq.: "to take a firm<br />
position".<br />
52