Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1r Pandit, with most of his MSS., reads ima//z patrzn, referring imam to the house. 348 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. d. Weber emends, abhf ksharaty enan, but neither change is necessary. See II, 12, 4, ish^apurtam avatu na^. Stanza 9. Identical with AV. IX, 3, 23, and quoted frequently in the Atharva-ParLrish/as (16 ; 19 3, 3, &c). Ill, 13. Commentary to page 146. The first six stanzas of this hymn recur in Tait. S. V, 6, 1, 2-4 ; Maitr. S. II, 13, 1, in connection with certain oblations of water (kumbhesh/aka/^, or apa?/z graha^), and they are evi- dently originally at home in the Ya^us-ritual. The etymolo- gical puns, heaped up in the first four stanzas, explain the various names of water quite in Nirukta and Brahma;za-style. The seventh stanza does not occur in the Ya^us-sa^hitas ; it is the one that is characteristically Atharvanic : it narrows down the general subject of the praise of the waters to the special subject in hand, the deflection of a river from its course1. The Kau^ika, 40, 1-6, supplies the very inter- esting practices engaged in for the same purpose, to wit : ' 1. He who desires that a river shall go a certain way, walks along that way, pouring out water, while reciting the pre- sent hymn. 2. He sticks up the (kinds of grass or reeds called) ka^a, dividhuvaka, and vetasa 2. 3. While reciting st. 7 a, he places gold upon the mouth of the river (that is, the point from which the river shall branch into the desired channel). 4. With st. 7 b he ties a frog, striped like the reed-plant ishika, through the arm-pits (pits of the fore- feet) with two threads, one red and the other blue 3 (and places him into the outlet). 5. With st. 7 c he envelopes 1 For its employment in the Vaitana-sutra, see the note on the stanza. 2 For the explanation of these varieties of water-plants, see Darila and Ke^ava. Sayaraa, ka^a^aivalapa/erakavetasa^akha^. 3 Cf. the introduction to VII, 116, and the notes on IV, 17, 4 ; VIII, 8, 24. Ill, 13. COMMENTARY. 349 the frog in an avaka-plant (blyxa octandra) 1. 6. With st. 7 d he pours water (over the frog) 2.' The symbolism of these performances is unmistakable : they anticipate the presence of the water with all its life. The gold (40, 3) reflects * the golden-coloured, clear, pure waters ' (AV. I, ^ 1 : see also st. 6 of our hymn) ; the river grasses and reeds symbolise the river-vegetation.
2mances is unmistakable : they anticipate the presence of the water with all its life. The gold (40, 3) reflects * the golden-coloured, clear, pure waters ' (AV. I, ^ 1 : see also st. 6 of our hymn) ; the river grasses and reeds symbolise the river-vegetation. Above all the frog, securely tied so that he cannot leap away, and the water-bringing avaka affiliate this practice with one of the most interesting practices of Vedic common life ; see our article, ' On a Vedic group of charms for extin- guishing fire by means of water-plants and a frog,' in the second series of Contributions, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 343 ff. The hymn has been translated by Weber, Indische Studien, XVII, 240 ff. ; cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Vedique, p. 143. The Anukramam, varu«am (cf. Kauj. 40, 7), uta sindhvabdaivatam. Stanza 1. The etymologies in this and the next three stanzas are dominated by that punning spirit which has made etymo- logy by far the feeblest product of the linguistic endeavours of the Hindus. In the present instance, however, the deri- vation of nadi", ' river/ from nad, * roar/ is likely enough. The mythological event alluded to is the well-known rush of the waters over the dead body of the (cloud-) dragon Vrztra, slain by Indra ; cf. e.g. RV. I, 32. Stanza 2. Varu^a (and Mitra) are also instrumental in procuring water, but it is rather the quiet streaming down of refresh- 1 Cf. Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 349, and add -Sat. Br. XIII, 8, 3, 13; La/y. St. Ill, 5, 13 ff. 2 Kam. 40, 7-10 continues with an expiatory performance, con- sisting chiefly of oblations to Varuwa, the god of the waters, in case this new watercourse should threaten the surrounding country with an inundation. The hymn is employed further with many others at Kauj. 41, 12 for sprinkling certain oblations, offered by one about to start upon a business tour. Cf. also Ath. Pam. 10. 350 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. ing rain, than the storm-flood at the time of the monsoon. The notion of conquest by thunderbolts, as weapons used against demon serpents, is not present. See Bergaigne, La Religion Vedique, III, 12% fif. (especially pp. 125-6). The root valg, which here represents the motion of the waters, seems to contain an almost playful touch : it is used of the gamboling of animals. The allusion to Indra's ' meeting of the waters as they went ' is obscure. The Maitr. S. reads sa//zpra£yuta for yat preshita. Stanza 3. b.
3represents the motion of the waters, seems to contain an almost playful touch : it is used of the gamboling of animals. The allusion to Indra's ' meeting of the waters as they went ' is obscure. The Maitr. S. reads sa//zpra£yuta for yat preshita. Stanza 3. b. The lexicons and the translators derive avivarata from var, ' enclose.' Saya/za, correctly, it seems to us, from var, 'choose,' avivarata vrztavan yushman svatmasat kartum 3\kkkd£. What sense is there in saying of Indra that he hindered the waters, and when did the waters flow against his will (' contre le gre d' Indra,' Bergaigne)? An obvious paradox. Soma is said, RV. IX, 94, 1, to purify himself by acting wisely in choosing the waters : apo vrmanik pavate kaviyan; cf. also V, 48, 1. Indra here is said to appro- priate the waters for his purpose, the benefaction of men. Stanza 4. The exact mythic attitude of this stanza is not clear. Is Indra the subject of apy atish/^at or some god hindering, or trying to hinder? Cf. RV. VIII, 6, 16: < He, O Indra, who lay confining thy great waters, him didst thou smite.' Cf. also RV. I, 32, 12, where one god, or a certain god (deva eka^), resists Indra. The verb apy atish/^at means either to stand upon (so Saya^a, adhyatish/Zzat), or ' stand in the way' (Pet. Lex.). We incline to the former view. The way in which the word mahir in Pada c is utilised is somewhat obscure : it seems to be brought in partly for the sake of furnishing an etymological basis (sit venia verbo) for the m of udakam, and partly (note the iti), to infuse a dash of archaism into the reminiscence. Stanza 7. This seems to be distinctly ritualistic (sautra) in charac- ter. The calf may be the frog of the Sutra above. Cf. Ill, 14. COMMENTARY. 35 1 also its use in Vait. Su. 29, 13, for which see the introduc- tion to VI, 106. The waters are cows, because the frog, the water-animal, is their child. Or the new river-bed may be the calf; cf. RV. Ill, 3% 1. Ill, 14. Commentary to page 143. For the employment of the hymn in the ritual, see our introduction to II, 26. Cf. also Ath. Pam. 16. The Anu- krama/zi, nanadevatyam uta gosh^adevatakam. Previous translations: Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 469; Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 244 ff. ; Grill 2, pp. 64, 112 ff. Stanza 1. c, d. Saya^a defines ahar^ata by ahany-ahani ^ayate. The expression occurs once more, V, 28, 12, and 'aus- picious* comes very near to its sense. Its opposite is anahar^ata, 6ankh. Sr. XIV, 51, 2-5, 'born on an unlucky day' = papanakshatre ^ata^, Kaor. 46, 25, and elsewhere. Cf.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1r Pandit, with most of his MSS., reads ima//z patrzn, referring imam to the house. 348 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. d. Weber emends, abhf ksharaty enan, but neither change is necessary. See II, 12, 4, ish^apurtam avatu na^. Stanza 9. Identical with AV. IX, 3, 23, and quoted frequently in the Atharva-ParLrish/as (16 ; 19 3, 3, &c). Ill, 13. Commentary to page 146. The first six stanzas of this hymn recur in Tait. S. V, 6, 1, 2-4 ; Maitr. S. II, 13, 1, in connection with certain oblations of water (kumbhesh/aka/^, or apa?/z graha^), and they are evi- dently originally at home in the Ya^us-ritual. The etymolo- gical puns, heaped up in the first four stanzas, explain the various names of water quite in Nirukta and Brahma;za-style. The seventh stanza does not occur in the Ya^us-sa^hitas ; it is the one that is characteristically Atharvanic : it narrows down the general subject of the praise of the waters to the special subject in hand, the deflection of a river from its course1. The Kau^ika, 40, 1-6, supplies the very inter- esting practices engaged in for the same purpose, to wit : ' 1. He who desires that a river shall go a certain way, walks along that way, pouring out water, while reciting the pre- sent hymn. 2. He sticks up the (kinds of grass or reeds called) ka^a, dividhuvaka, and vetasa 2. 3. While reciting st. 7 a, he places gold upon the mouth of the river (that is, the point from which the river shall branch into the desired channel). 4. With st. 7 b he ties a frog, striped like the reed-plant ishika, through the arm-pits (pits of the fore- feet) with two threads, one red and the other blue 3 (and places him into the outlet). 5. With st. 7 c he envelopes 1 For its employment in the Vaitana-sutra, see the note on the stanza. 2 For the explanation of these varieties of water-plants, see Darila and Ke^ava. Sayaraa, ka^a^aivalapa/erakavetasa^akha^. 3 Cf. the introduction to VII, 116, and the notes on IV, 17, 4 ; VIII, 8, 24. Ill, 13. COMMENTARY. 349 the frog in an avaka-plant (blyxa octandra) 1. 6. With st. 7 d he pours water (over the frog) 2.' The symbolism of these performances is unmistakable : they anticipate the presence of the water with all its life. The gold (40, 3) reflects * the golden-coloured, clear, pure waters ' (AV. I, ^ 1 : see also st. 6 of our hymn) ; the river grasses and reeds symbolise the river-vegetation.
2mances is unmistakable : they anticipate the presence of the water with all its life. The gold (40, 3) reflects * the golden-coloured, clear, pure waters ' (AV. I, ^ 1 : see also st. 6 of our hymn) ; the river grasses and reeds symbolise the river-vegetation. Above all the frog, securely tied so that he cannot leap away, and the water-bringing avaka affiliate this practice with one of the most interesting practices of Vedic common life ; see our article, ' On a Vedic group of charms for extin- guishing fire by means of water-plants and a frog,' in the second series of Contributions, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 343 ff. The hymn has been translated by Weber, Indische Studien, XVII, 240 ff. ; cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Vedique, p. 143. The Anukramam, varu«am (cf. Kauj. 40, 7), uta sindhvabdaivatam. Stanza 1. The etymologies in this and the next three stanzas are dominated by that punning spirit which has made etymo- logy by far the feeblest product of the linguistic endeavours of the Hindus. In the present instance, however, the deri- vation of nadi", ' river/ from nad, * roar/ is likely enough. The mythological event alluded to is the well-known rush of the waters over the dead body of the (cloud-) dragon Vrztra, slain by Indra ; cf. e.g. RV. I, 32. Stanza 2. Varu^a (and Mitra) are also instrumental in procuring water, but it is rather the quiet streaming down of refresh- 1 Cf. Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 349, and add -Sat. Br. XIII, 8, 3, 13; La/y. St. Ill, 5, 13 ff. 2 Kam. 40, 7-10 continues with an expiatory performance, con- sisting chiefly of oblations to Varuwa, the god of the waters, in case this new watercourse should threaten the surrounding country with an inundation. The hymn is employed further with many others at Kauj. 41, 12 for sprinkling certain oblations, offered by one about to start upon a business tour. Cf. also Ath. Pam. 10. 350 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. ing rain, than the storm-flood at the time of the monsoon. The notion of conquest by thunderbolts, as weapons used against demon serpents, is not present. See Bergaigne, La Religion Vedique, III, 12% fif. (especially pp. 125-6). The root valg, which here represents the motion of the waters, seems to contain an almost playful touch : it is used of the gamboling of animals. The allusion to Indra's ' meeting of the waters as they went ' is obscure. The Maitr. S. reads sa//zpra£yuta for yat preshita. Stanza 3. b.
3represents the motion of the waters, seems to contain an almost playful touch : it is used of the gamboling of animals. The allusion to Indra's ' meeting of the waters as they went ' is obscure. The Maitr. S. reads sa//zpra£yuta for yat preshita. Stanza 3. b. The lexicons and the translators derive avivarata from var, ' enclose.' Saya/za, correctly, it seems to us, from var, 'choose,' avivarata vrztavan yushman svatmasat kartum 3\kkkd£. What sense is there in saying of Indra that he hindered the waters, and when did the waters flow against his will (' contre le gre d' Indra,' Bergaigne)? An obvious paradox. Soma is said, RV. IX, 94, 1, to purify himself by acting wisely in choosing the waters : apo vrmanik pavate kaviyan; cf. also V, 48, 1. Indra here is said to appro- priate the waters for his purpose, the benefaction of men. Stanza 4. The exact mythic attitude of this stanza is not clear. Is Indra the subject of apy atish/^at or some god hindering, or trying to hinder? Cf. RV. VIII, 6, 16: < He, O Indra, who lay confining thy great waters, him didst thou smite.' Cf. also RV. I, 32, 12, where one god, or a certain god (deva eka^), resists Indra. The verb apy atish/^at means either to stand upon (so Saya^a, adhyatish/Zzat), or ' stand in the way' (Pet. Lex.). We incline to the former view. The way in which the word mahir in Pada c is utilised is somewhat obscure : it seems to be brought in partly for the sake of furnishing an etymological basis (sit venia verbo) for the m of udakam, and partly (note the iti), to infuse a dash of archaism into the reminiscence. Stanza 7. This seems to be distinctly ritualistic (sautra) in charac- ter. The calf may be the frog of the Sutra above. Cf. Ill, 14. COMMENTARY. 35 1 also its use in Vait. Su. 29, 13, for which see the introduc- tion to VI, 106. The waters are cows, because the frog, the water-animal, is their child. Or the new river-bed may be the calf; cf. RV. Ill, 3% 1. Ill, 14. Commentary to page 143. For the employment of the hymn in the ritual, see our introduction to II, 26. Cf. also Ath. Pam. 16. The Anu- krama/zi, nanadevatyam uta gosh^adevatakam. Previous translations: Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 469; Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 244 ff. ; Grill 2, pp. 64, 112 ff. Stanza 1. c, d. Saya^a defines ahar^ata by ahany-ahani ^ayate. The expression occurs once more, V, 28, 12, and 'aus- picious* comes very near to its sense. Its opposite is anahar^ata, 6ankh. Sr. XIV, 51, 2-5, 'born on an unlucky day' = papanakshatre ^ata^, Kaor. 46, 25, and elsewhere. Cf.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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