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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 28 of 1027

Mandala 1: HYMN XXVIII. Indra, Etc.

1.THERE where the broad-based stone raised on high to press the juices out, O Indra, drink with eager thirst the droppings which the mortar sheds.

2.Where, like broad hips, to hold the juice the platters of the press are laid, O Indra, drink with eager thirst the droppings which the mortar sheds.

3.There where the woman marks and leans the pestle’s constant rise and fall, O Indra, drink with eager thirst the droppings which the mortar sheds.

4.Where, as with reins to guide a horse, they bind the churning-staff with cords, O Indra, drink with eager thirst the droppings which the mortar sheds.

5.If of a truth in every house, O Mortar thou art set for work, Here give thou forth thy clearest sound, loud as the drum of conquerors.

6.O Sovran of the Forest, as the wind blows soft in front of thee, Mortar, for Indra press thou forth the Soma juice that he may drink.

7.Best strength-givers, ye stretch wide jaws, O Sacrificial Implements, Like two bay horses champing herbs.

8.Ye Sovrans of the Forest, both swift, with swift pressers press to-day Sweet Soma juice for Indra’s drink.

9.Take up in beakers what remains: the Soma on the filter pour, and on the ox-hide set the dregs.

Asked of Guide

Why does the hymn keep telling Indra to “drink with eager thirst the droppings which the mortar sheds” so insistently?

The hymn repeats that line to make the household Soma-press into a living altar for Indra: the pressing scene — the stone, platters, pestle, cords — becomes the ritual body that produces the god’s strength. Repetition turns mundane action into sacred sound; each command “drink with eager thirst” draws attention to the pressed juice as divine prize and to the implements as agents of consecration.

This chapter treats tools and motions as participants: the Mortar is asked to “give forth thy clearest sound” and the implements are “best strength-givers,” so the hymn sanctifies labor through voice and address. The same tactic appears in other early hymns that personify implements and offerings; compare how Hymn I.24 similarly animates sacrificial objects to enact communion with the gods.

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