Note [3:5:5:1]1. All this is very enigmatical. In the parallel passage, IV, 5, 8, we have, instead of ripah agram, the reading rupah agram, which is confirmed by verse 7 of the same hymn (agre rupah) and by X, 13, 3 (panka pada'ni rupah anu aroham); in support of the reading ripah, on the other side, the verse, X, 79, 3 (ripah upasthe antah), may be quoted. The meaning of rup is unknown; rip means 'deceit' and 'deceiver:' but what is the summit of the deceiver? Bergaigne (Religion Vedique, II, 77 seq.) has tried to solve the riddle, but it is really hopeless.--The meaning of the following words, padam veh, is not quite so obscure; there is at least some probability that the bird is Agni himself (cf. below, III, 7, 7), or possibly the sun. The latter explanation is advocated by Prof. Max Muller, who writes: 'May it not be a description of sunrise? priyam ripah agram I do not understand; but padam veh is the place of the bird, as in I, 130, 3. veh na garbham, the nest of the bird or of the sun. This nest is covered by a stone, is in fact the vraga, which has to be opened to let out the light of day. It is also the yoni or the altar. Ripah agram may possibly be the summit of the Pani or of Vritra, X, 79, 3.'

Note [3:5:5:2]2. See above, I, 36, 1, note 2.

Note [3:5:5:3]3. Sapta-sirshan ('seven-headed') occurs again in two other passages of the Rig-veda (VIII, 51, 4, and X, 67, 1); in both it is an epithet of words which signify 'hymn' or 'prayer' (arka, dhi'). Possibly a similar word should be supplied here. But why are the prayers called 'seven-headed?' Does this refer to unknown technicalities of the Vedic liturgy? Does it stand in connection with the seven tones of the scale, with the expression sapta dhitayah, with the number of the seven Hotris? 'Celui qui a sept tetes est sans doute un personnage equivalent a lui seul au

groupe des sept pretres,' says Bergaigne (II, 145), which is very ingenious, but should not be given as a doubtless fact.--Prof. Max Muller observes that saptasirshan may be, like saptasya, the vraga of Pani, opened by Agni, IV, 51, 4, and that Brihaspati is called saptasya, IV, 50, 4, and saptagu, X, 47, 6.

Verse 6.

Note [3:5:6:1]1. Agni is here called Ribhu in his quality as a skilful artisan. See Bergaigne, Religion Vedique, II, 408.