Rudram, anuvāka 9 — the salt-flat, the cowshed, the bed, and the hearts of the gods
The popular claimThe last of the litany bows to Rudra in the desert and in the house, in the dust and in the leaves — and ends with the hearts of the gods.
Nine sections in, the litany has covered the directions, the trades, the thieves, the scales of size and age, the waters and the sky. The ninth goes into the house and out onto the salt-flat, and then stops listing.
Places
Nama iriṇyāya ca prapathyāya ca. — To the one in the salt-flat and the one on the long road. Iriṇa — barren, saline ground where nothing grows; prapatha — the far road, the journey.
Namaḥ kiṁśilāya ca kṣayaṇāya ca. — To the one in stony ground and the one in the dwelling-place. Kiṁśila — Sāyaṇa: land of small stones; kṣayaṇa — a habitation.
Namaḥ kapardine ca pulastaye ca. — To the braided one and the one whose hair stands forward. Pulasti — with hair worn in front; also a sage's name, which the commentators note.
Namo goṣṭhyāya ca gṛhyāya ca. — To the one in the cowshed and the one in the house. Goṣṭha — where the cows stand; gṛha — the home. The domestic fire's own word — gṛhya — is here as an epithet of Rudra.
Namas talpyāya ca gehyāya ca. — To the one in the bed and the one in the dwelling. Talpa — the couch. Rudra in the bed.
Namaḥ kāṭyāya ca gahvareṣṭhāya ca. — To the one in the pit and the one in the cave. Gahvara — the deep hollow, the hiding-place.
Namo hradayyāya ca niveṣpyāya ca. — To the one in the deep pool and the one in the dew. Hrada — a deep lake; niveṣpa — Sāyaṇa: the fine drops, the mist.
Namaḥ pāṁsavyāya ca rajasyāya ca. — To the one in the dust and the one in the dirt. Pāṁsu — coarse dust; rajas — fine dust, and the word for passion in the later guṇa scheme; here it is dust.
Namaḥ śuṣkyāya ca harityāya ca. — To the one in the dry and the one in the green.
Namo lopyāya colapyāya ca. — To the one in hard ground and the one in the grass. Lopya — Sāyaṇa: land difficult to walk; ulapa — soft grass.
Nama ūrvyāya ca sūrmyāya ca. — To the one in the earth and the one in the flowing. Ūrvī — the wide earth; sūrmi — Sāyaṇa: the river, or a tube of water.
Namaḥ parṇyāya ca parṇaśadyāya ca. — To the one in the leaves and the one in the fallen leaves. Parṇa-śada — leaves that have dropped. The last of the paired places, and the gentlest.
The form breaks
Namo'paguramāṇāya cābhighnate ca. — To the one who raises the weapon and the one who strikes.
Nama ākhkhidate ca prakhkhidate ca. — To the one who wounds and the one who wounds deeply. Two more violent pairs, after the leaves, so that the section does not end soft.
Namo vaḥ kirikebhyo devānāṁ hṛdayebhyaḥ. — Obeisance to you, scatterers, hearts of the gods. Kirika — Sāyaṇa: those who scatter, who pour out wealth; devānāṁ hṛdayebhyaḥ — to the hearts of the gods. The Rudras are the gods' hearts.
Namo vikṣīṇakebhyaḥ. — To the destroyers.
Namo vicinvatkebhyaḥ. — To the gatherers, the discerners. Vicinvat — who sort out, who choose.
Nama ānirhatebhyaḥ. — To the strikers-down. Ānirhata — Sāyaṇa: those who slay.
Nama āmīvatkebhyaḥ. — To the tormentors, the afflicters. Āmīvat — who bring āmīvā, disease.
What the ending does
The paired litany, which began in the fifth anuvāka with Bhava and Rudra, ends with fallen leaves — and then the text refuses to let the ending be gentle, adds two clauses of striking and wounding, and bows finally to the Rudras as the hearts of the gods, the destroyers, the sorters, the slayers and the afflicters. The last word of the litany is disease. The tenth anuvāka, which follows, is the petition that answers it.
What this page does not say
It does not make the cowshed-and-bed clauses a doctrine of immanence — they are places in a list — and it does not soften the last five clauses, which Sāyaṇa did not. It opens the twenty-four names of the ninth anuvāka so that the litany's end is heard the way it was written: in the house, in the leaves, and then in the hearts of the gods.
Source — Taittiriya Samhita 4.5.9 (Namakam, ninth anuvaka), Krishna Yajurveda; Sayana's bhashya on the Taittiriya; Bhattabhaskara's commentary on the Rudram
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