Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1contain such threats against the oppressor of Brahmans ; cf. our Contributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 336 ff. (especially pp. 339 ff.). In this stanza reference is made to the custom of tying a kudi-plant (according to Darila at Kauj. 21, 2. 13, &c.= badari, ' Christ's thorn ; ' cf. Kaur. Introduction, p. xliv) to the dead, so that it trails after him and effaces the track of death : death shall not find the path again and turn upon his trail for further victims. Cf. Antoninus Liberalis 23, k£f)7TT€ h€ €K TTJS OVpCLS 7T/0OS €KCL(TTOV vk7]V, 0)9 CLV TCL lx.V7l T®V fio&v a<f)avL(rr}. To this rough embrace, symbolic of death, the oppressor is here assigned. See Roth in Festgruss an Bohtlingk, pp. 98-9 ; and the present translator, Amer. journ. Phil. XI, 338 ; XII, 416. Stanza 14. Cf. Asv. Sraut. VI, lo, 2 ; Asv. Grih. IV, 1, 16 ; Max Miiller, 'DieTodtenbestattung bei den Brahmanen,' Zeitsch. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. IX, p. ii. Stanza 15. a. For the relation of Mitra and Varu//a to rain, see Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 314. c. Cf. VI, 88, 3; Khad/Gr/h. Ill, 1, 6; and Ludwig, 1. c, p. 256. V, 20. Commentary to page 130. The purpose of the hymn is obvious. At Kau.y. 16, 1, it is rubricated along with VI, 126, 1, and accompanied by the following solemnities. All musical instruments are washed, dipped into a mixture which contains the fragrant substances tagara (powder of the tabernaemontana coro- naria) and u.rira (the root of andropogon muricatus) ; they are next anointed with the dregs of ghee (cf. V, 21, 3), and finally the chaplain (purohita) of the king sounds them thrice and hands them over to the wrarriors as they go forth to battle. Cf. also Vait. Su. 34, 11 ; Ath. Paris*. 5, 4. V, 20. COMMENTARY. 437 The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 460 ff. ; Grill2, pp. 68, 153 ff. Cf. Zimmer, p. 289. The Anukramam, vanaspatyadundubhidevatyam . . . sapatnasenapara^ayaya devasenavi^ayaya. Stanza 1. Cf. V, 21, 3. The Padapa/^a satvana*yan, 'going with, or to, the warriors.5 Grill, ' wann sie in den kampf ruft.' As regards the resonance of the wood, Tait. S. VI, 1, 4, 1 has the following pretty conceit : ' Va£, speech, once upon a time escaped from the gods, and settled in the trees. Her voice still resounds in wooden instruments.' Stanza 2. a. druvaya (cf. XI, 1, 12), with an obscure suffix vaya, perhaps = maya ; cf. our remarks on the interchange of v and m in the Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1886 (Journ., vol. xiii, pp. xcvii ff.) 1.
2. Her voice still resounds in wooden instruments.' Stanza 2. a. druvaya (cf. XI, 1, 12), with an obscure suffix vaya, perhaps = maya ; cf. our remarks on the interchange of v and m in the Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1886 (Journ., vol. xiii, pp. xcvii ff.) 1. Ludwig, ' an beiden holzern nach beiden seiten befestigt.' b. The MSS. read vasitam, emended in the vulgate to vlritam. This we have translated. Ludwig also adopts vasitam, but renders ' losbrullend wie ein stier auf die kiihe.' Cf.VIII, 6, 12; XI, 9, 22. Stanza 3. e. Possibly vi vidhya is to be read for vidhya (haplology ; cf. Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, April, 1893; Journal, vol. xvi, p. xxxiv ff.) ; see I, 8, 2 ; VI, 66, 1 ; XI, 9, 23. d. hitva grarnan, ' with broken ranks/ or, ' having aban- doned the villages ' (so Pet. Lex. and Ludwig). Stanza 7. c. For utpipana^, see our discussion, Contributions, Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, p. 441 ff. d. In the light of ^atruturya and vr/traturya one is 1 Perhaps, however, druv-aya, formed upon a denominal verb- stem ; cf. gav-aya, ' bos gavaeus : ' go, ' cow/ 438 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. tempted to read amitratilryaya, notwithstanding the metre. The sense would be the same in the end. svardrn (stem sv-ardhin), air. Aey., we have translated philologically ' having the good side;' cf. RV. II, 27, 15. The Pet. Lexs. and Grill, ' ein guter parteigenosse (kampfgenosse)/ but the word is certainly a bahuvrihi. Ludwig's ' sinnend auf liecht (gewinn) ' presupposes svar-dhiv^, but there is no reason for the loss of the visarga. Stanza 8. a. The metre suggests for dhibhi^ the synonymous dhiti- bhi^ ; cf. RV. 1, 161, 7 with III, 60, 2. Likewise, vadasi for vadati would harmonise better with Pada b. e. Ludwig takes satvano as nominative of satvana, ' Indra- freund und held lass dich nennen.' Stanza 9. Treated by Roth, Festgruss an Otto von Bohtlingk, p. 99. His translation implies that the drum heralds the return of the warriors after the battle, and announces the respective merits of the participants 1. This breaks the connection, and imports over-pregnant sense into Padas c, d, ' das verdienst sachverstandig abschatzend (but vayiinani vidva'n is a mere formula !), teile vielen lob aus im kriege,' i.e. 'fur ihre haltung im kriege (for their conduct in battle)/ For dvira^a, cf. duellum, bellum. Stanza 10. c, d. A blurred comparison. The press-stones are placed over the skin into which the juice trickles, adhishava^am (sc. £arma)2 ; cf. Hillebrandt, Soma und verwandte Gotter, p. 181 ff.
3ege (for their conduct in battle)/ For dvira^a, cf. duellum, bellum. Stanza 10. c, d. A blurred comparison. The press-stones are placed over the skin into which the juice trickles, adhishava^am (sc. £arma)2 ; cf. Hillebrandt, Soma und verwandte Gotter, p. 181 ff. They dance upon (beat down upon) the stems 1 Note XII, 1, 41, akrando yasyazrc vadati dundubhf^, 'upon whom (sc. the Earth) resounds the roaring drum.' 2 adhishava^am by itself means the pressing-board, and so it may be understood here without altering the sense materially. Only the simile in that case is still further diluted. V, 21. COMMENTARY. 439 of the plant over the skin. Thus the drum-sticks beating upon the skin for victory, as it were, dance upon (beat upon) the booty. The Pet. Lex. and Grill change adri to adhri, apparently as though it were the MS. reading (' man konnte an eine verwechselung mit adri denken,' Pet. Lex. s. v. adhri). But there is no word adhri, and according to the Index Verborum the MSS. read adri1. The expression grava adriyfc seems to be a composite phrase, ' press-stone ; ' cf. Hillebrandt, 1. c, 152 ff. Stanza 12. c. For vidatha nLfo'kyat cf. RV. IV, 38, 4. It seems to mean * like a leader (puroeta) attending to the troops.' Ludwig, ' der opferversammlungen gedenkend ; ' cf. Der Rigveda, III, 259 fif. I believe that vidatha primarily means 'family/ cf. su-vidatra, 2. vedana (pativedana), pari vid, &c. V, 31. Commentary to page 131. The practice connected with this hymn at Kau^. 16, 2. 3 is aS follows : ' (The purohita) while reciting the hymn makes an offering aloud, and swings the sacrificial spoon about high in the air 2. Then he sews a soma-branch upon (a piece) of the skin of an antelope, and fastens it (as an amulet) upon the king.' The performance on high sym- bolises the shrill sound of the drum (cf. V, 20, 1) ; the amulet seems to be a blended, vague embodiment of the soma-shoot in V, 20, 10, and the antelope's skin in V, 21, 7. Stanza 13 of our hymn is rubricated in the apara^itaga^a of the Ga^amala, Ath. Pam. 32, 13. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 373-4. Stanza 7. b. The skin of the antelope seems thus to have been used for the covering of the drum just as the skin of the 1 Some of Shankar Pandit's MSS. do, however, read adhri. 2 Darila, urdhvazra parivartayan . . . homaj ^a u^ai^. 440 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. cow (V, 20, i ; 21, 3). But the matter is not altogether clear, since in the Sutra above the antelope's skin is com- bined with a soma-shoot.
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.
1contain such threats against the oppressor of Brahmans ; cf. our Contributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 336 ff. (especially pp. 339 ff.). In this stanza reference is made to the custom of tying a kudi-plant (according to Darila at Kauj. 21, 2. 13, &c.= badari, ' Christ's thorn ; ' cf. Kaur. Introduction, p. xliv) to the dead, so that it trails after him and effaces the track of death : death shall not find the path again and turn upon his trail for further victims. Cf. Antoninus Liberalis 23, k£f)7TT€ h€ €K TTJS OVpCLS 7T/0OS €KCL(TTOV vk7]V, 0)9 CLV TCL lx.V7l T®V fio&v a<f)avL(rr}. To this rough embrace, symbolic of death, the oppressor is here assigned. See Roth in Festgruss an Bohtlingk, pp. 98-9 ; and the present translator, Amer. journ. Phil. XI, 338 ; XII, 416. Stanza 14. Cf. Asv. Sraut. VI, lo, 2 ; Asv. Grih. IV, 1, 16 ; Max Miiller, 'DieTodtenbestattung bei den Brahmanen,' Zeitsch. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. IX, p. ii. Stanza 15. a. For the relation of Mitra and Varu//a to rain, see Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 314. c. Cf. VI, 88, 3; Khad/Gr/h. Ill, 1, 6; and Ludwig, 1. c, p. 256. V, 20. Commentary to page 130. The purpose of the hymn is obvious. At Kau.y. 16, 1, it is rubricated along with VI, 126, 1, and accompanied by the following solemnities. All musical instruments are washed, dipped into a mixture which contains the fragrant substances tagara (powder of the tabernaemontana coro- naria) and u.rira (the root of andropogon muricatus) ; they are next anointed with the dregs of ghee (cf. V, 21, 3), and finally the chaplain (purohita) of the king sounds them thrice and hands them over to the wrarriors as they go forth to battle. Cf. also Vait. Su. 34, 11 ; Ath. Paris*. 5, 4. V, 20. COMMENTARY. 437 The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 460 ff. ; Grill2, pp. 68, 153 ff. Cf. Zimmer, p. 289. The Anukramam, vanaspatyadundubhidevatyam . . . sapatnasenapara^ayaya devasenavi^ayaya. Stanza 1. Cf. V, 21, 3. The Padapa/^a satvana*yan, 'going with, or to, the warriors.5 Grill, ' wann sie in den kampf ruft.' As regards the resonance of the wood, Tait. S. VI, 1, 4, 1 has the following pretty conceit : ' Va£, speech, once upon a time escaped from the gods, and settled in the trees. Her voice still resounds in wooden instruments.' Stanza 2. a. druvaya (cf. XI, 1, 12), with an obscure suffix vaya, perhaps = maya ; cf. our remarks on the interchange of v and m in the Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1886 (Journ., vol. xiii, pp. xcvii ff.) 1.
2. Her voice still resounds in wooden instruments.' Stanza 2. a. druvaya (cf. XI, 1, 12), with an obscure suffix vaya, perhaps = maya ; cf. our remarks on the interchange of v and m in the Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1886 (Journ., vol. xiii, pp. xcvii ff.) 1. Ludwig, ' an beiden holzern nach beiden seiten befestigt.' b. The MSS. read vasitam, emended in the vulgate to vlritam. This we have translated. Ludwig also adopts vasitam, but renders ' losbrullend wie ein stier auf die kiihe.' Cf.VIII, 6, 12; XI, 9, 22. Stanza 3. e. Possibly vi vidhya is to be read for vidhya (haplology ; cf. Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, April, 1893; Journal, vol. xvi, p. xxxiv ff.) ; see I, 8, 2 ; VI, 66, 1 ; XI, 9, 23. d. hitva grarnan, ' with broken ranks/ or, ' having aban- doned the villages ' (so Pet. Lex. and Ludwig). Stanza 7. c. For utpipana^, see our discussion, Contributions, Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, p. 441 ff. d. In the light of ^atruturya and vr/traturya one is 1 Perhaps, however, druv-aya, formed upon a denominal verb- stem ; cf. gav-aya, ' bos gavaeus : ' go, ' cow/ 438 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. tempted to read amitratilryaya, notwithstanding the metre. The sense would be the same in the end. svardrn (stem sv-ardhin), air. Aey., we have translated philologically ' having the good side;' cf. RV. II, 27, 15. The Pet. Lexs. and Grill, ' ein guter parteigenosse (kampfgenosse)/ but the word is certainly a bahuvrihi. Ludwig's ' sinnend auf liecht (gewinn) ' presupposes svar-dhiv^, but there is no reason for the loss of the visarga. Stanza 8. a. The metre suggests for dhibhi^ the synonymous dhiti- bhi^ ; cf. RV. 1, 161, 7 with III, 60, 2. Likewise, vadasi for vadati would harmonise better with Pada b. e. Ludwig takes satvano as nominative of satvana, ' Indra- freund und held lass dich nennen.' Stanza 9. Treated by Roth, Festgruss an Otto von Bohtlingk, p. 99. His translation implies that the drum heralds the return of the warriors after the battle, and announces the respective merits of the participants 1. This breaks the connection, and imports over-pregnant sense into Padas c, d, ' das verdienst sachverstandig abschatzend (but vayiinani vidva'n is a mere formula !), teile vielen lob aus im kriege,' i.e. 'fur ihre haltung im kriege (for their conduct in battle)/ For dvira^a, cf. duellum, bellum. Stanza 10. c, d. A blurred comparison. The press-stones are placed over the skin into which the juice trickles, adhishava^am (sc. £arma)2 ; cf. Hillebrandt, Soma und verwandte Gotter, p. 181 ff.
3ege (for their conduct in battle)/ For dvira^a, cf. duellum, bellum. Stanza 10. c, d. A blurred comparison. The press-stones are placed over the skin into which the juice trickles, adhishava^am (sc. £arma)2 ; cf. Hillebrandt, Soma und verwandte Gotter, p. 181 ff. They dance upon (beat down upon) the stems 1 Note XII, 1, 41, akrando yasyazrc vadati dundubhf^, 'upon whom (sc. the Earth) resounds the roaring drum.' 2 adhishava^am by itself means the pressing-board, and so it may be understood here without altering the sense materially. Only the simile in that case is still further diluted. V, 21. COMMENTARY. 439 of the plant over the skin. Thus the drum-sticks beating upon the skin for victory, as it were, dance upon (beat upon) the booty. The Pet. Lex. and Grill change adri to adhri, apparently as though it were the MS. reading (' man konnte an eine verwechselung mit adri denken,' Pet. Lex. s. v. adhri). But there is no word adhri, and according to the Index Verborum the MSS. read adri1. The expression grava adriyfc seems to be a composite phrase, ' press-stone ; ' cf. Hillebrandt, 1. c, 152 ff. Stanza 12. c. For vidatha nLfo'kyat cf. RV. IV, 38, 4. It seems to mean * like a leader (puroeta) attending to the troops.' Ludwig, ' der opferversammlungen gedenkend ; ' cf. Der Rigveda, III, 259 fif. I believe that vidatha primarily means 'family/ cf. su-vidatra, 2. vedana (pativedana), pari vid, &c. V, 31. Commentary to page 131. The practice connected with this hymn at Kau^. 16, 2. 3 is aS follows : ' (The purohita) while reciting the hymn makes an offering aloud, and swings the sacrificial spoon about high in the air 2. Then he sews a soma-branch upon (a piece) of the skin of an antelope, and fastens it (as an amulet) upon the king.' The performance on high sym- bolises the shrill sound of the drum (cf. V, 20, 1) ; the amulet seems to be a blended, vague embodiment of the soma-shoot in V, 20, 10, and the antelope's skin in V, 21, 7. Stanza 13 of our hymn is rubricated in the apara^itaga^a of the Ga^amala, Ath. Pam. 32, 13. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 373-4. Stanza 7. b. The skin of the antelope seems thus to have been used for the covering of the drum just as the skin of the 1 Some of Shankar Pandit's MSS. do, however, read adhri. 2 Darila, urdhvazra parivartayan . . . homaj ^a u^ai^. 440 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. cow (V, 20, i ; 21, 3). But the matter is not altogether clear, since in the Sutra above the antelope's skin is com- bined with a soma-shoot.
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.
No commentary for this page.