[Advaita-l] manyu sUkta - as per dvaita siddhAnta

[Anand Hudli]

The nirukta of yAskAchArya says: manyurmanyater dIptikarmaNaH krodhakarmaNo
vadhakarmaNo vA (10-29). Accordingly, the word manyu originates from the
dhAtu, man, and has the meanings- shine, be angry, or kill. While
commenting on "manyumIH" in Rigveda 1.100.6, skanda svAmin says, citing an
itihAsa, "atretihAsamAcakShate| prajApateH putro manyurnAma| taM prajApatiH
senApatye niyuktavAn| tena sahendro nijaghAna iti|"  PrajApati had a son
named Manyu. PrajApati appointed him as the commander-in-chief (of the army
of gods). With Manyu's help, Indra killed his enemies.

Further, the shatapatha brAhmaNa, "prajApatervisrastAddevatA
udakrAmanstameka  eva devo nAjahAnmanyureva ...sa eva shatashIrShA rudraH
samabhavat sahasrAkShaH shateShudhiH" (9.1.1.6), tells a story about
Prajapati. When all his other sons deserted him, only his son Manyu
remained with him. Prajapati wept. His tears fell on Manyu, upon which he
became Rudra with a hundred heads, thousand eyes, and a hundred quivers (of
arrows). Thus, the brAhmaNa identifies Manyu with Rudra.

The Viniyoga and Phalashruti of the two sUktas yaste manyo and tvayA manyo
(Rigveda 10.83-84) are found in shaunakokta RigvidhAna (3.77-78):
yaste manyo iti sadA sapatnaghne tvime japet|
ghRtenAbhihutaM dvAbhyAm dhArayedAyasam maNim||
juhuyAdAyasam shankumAbhyAmeva chaturdashIm|
khAdiredhmasamiddhe .agnau sapatnAn pratibAdhate||
One who desires victory over enemies should perform a homa, with an
offering of ghee and iron beads for each mantra of the two sUktas. He
should then wear the iron beads on his body. By offering khAdira sticks and
iron nails (or arrow tips) for each of the 14 mantras of the two sUktas, he
will torment his enemies.

Other such viniyogas are described in the RigvidhAna, which is a practical
application manual of Rigvedic mantras. sAyaNabhAShya on manyu sUkta says
the sUkta should be recited as a nividdhAna sUkta in an abhichAra related
Yajna called ajira (ajiranAmnyabhichArasAdhane yajna etatsUktaM
nividdhAnam, sUtritaM cha), which is also described by the AshvalAyana
shrauta sUtra (9.7), "tvayA manyo yaste manyo".

I have also seen other Rigvedic mantra collection books mention that the
manyu sUkta is used in abhichAra (harming enemies) karmas, which could
explain its connection with tantric practices.

For narasiMha upAsana, there is a famous narasimha anuShtup mantra
(beginning with ugraM vIraM...) that is also described in the
narasiMhapUrvatApinyupanishad.

Anand