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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1may be characterised in the single statement that its importance Th AV in as a Veda, an<^ *ts canonicity, are finally and the Maha- completely established ; that its practices are familiarly known and, in general, not sub- jected to any particular criticism. There is no especial affinity between the great Epic and the ^rauta-literature, barring the continuance of a considerable quantity of the legendary materials (akhyana) which are woven into the descriptions of the Vedic sacrifices in the Brahma/zas ; hence there is nothing in the Epic to induce preoccupa- tion with the trayi vidya. On the other hand, the great collection deals so largely with the interests of the Kshatriyas as to preclude any conscious discrimination against the fourth Veda, since this Veda also is to a very considerable extent engaged in the interest of the kings (ra^-akarmam, Kaimka, chapters 14 to 17), and the prac- tices of their chaplains (purohita) are also largely Athar- vanic in character. It is true that the Mahabharata in common with all Hindu literature, the Atharvan literature not excluded, mentions frequently only the three Vedas by their distinctive names, or by the generic terms trayi vidya and trayo veda//. Thus in the passages assembled in A. Holtzmann's sufficiently exhaustive collectanea on this question in his work on the Epic, Das Mahabharata und seine Theile, vol. iv, p. 5, the prevailing Vedic habit of referring to the Vedas is continued. But there can be little question that this mode of reference has at this time, as doubtless in a measure also in the period of Vedic produc- tivity, become a stereotyped mechanical habit, continued from the tradition of earlier times ; cf. Biihler, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XL, 701, who compares the German expression * die vier Erdtheile,' and the like. There is no indication that the mention of the Atharvan is con- sciously avoided. Hi HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. The main proof of the high regard for the Atharvan and its unchallenged position in the canon, are the quasi- cosmogonic passages in which the four Vedas figure in the primordial transactions of the creation of the world, and its affinity with the personified creator. Thus, at V, 108, 10=3770 Brahman is said to have first sung the four Vedas ; Brahman himself is called Ayurveda, III, 203, 15 = 13560, as similarly Vish/zu at XIX, 238, 9 (Bhav.) = 12884; at III, 189, 14=12963; VI, 67, 6 = 3019 Vishnu himself declares that the four Vedas (atharva/za the fourth) have sprung from him.
2g the four Vedas ; Brahman himself is called Ayurveda, III, 203, 15 = 13560, as similarly Vish/zu at XIX, 238, 9 (Bhav.) = 12884; at III, 189, 14=12963; VI, 67, 6 = 3019 Vishnu himself declares that the four Vedas (atharva/za the fourth) have sprung from him. According to XIX, 14, 15 (Bhav.) = 11516, Brahman created first the tristich called Gayatri, the mother of the Vedas, and afterwards the four Vedas ; according to XIX, 53, 41 (Bhav.)=i32io he carries upon each of his four heads one of the Vedas, or, according to II, it, 32 = 449, the four Vedas dwell bodily in his palace. At XII, 347, 27 = 13476 malicious demons steal the four Vedas from Brahman, and Vish/zu restores them. Accord- ingly the Brahman priest and the kings, both of whom owe it to themselves to be vedavid, are more specifically described as knowing and reciting the four Vedas, at I, 70, 37 = 2880 ff. ; VII, 9, 29=289; XIX, 142, 1 (Vish.) = 7993, where a Brahma;za is designated as ^aturveda^, just as the divinity Brahman, above. Other instances of the mention of the four Vedas, with or without other literary composi- tions, are 1, 1, 21 ; 1,1,264; 11,11,32 = 450; IH,43»4i = 1661 (akhyanapa/z^amair vedai/z) ; III, 58, 9 = 2247 (£aturo vedan sarvan akhyanapa^aman) ; III, 64, 17 = 2417 (£at- varo vedak sangopanga^) ; III, 189, 14=12963; V, 44, 28 = 1711; VII, 59, 15 = 2238; VII, 149,22 = 6470; XII, 236, 1 = 8613; XII, 335, 28 = 12723; XII, 339, 8=12872; XII, 341, 8 = 13136 (rzgvede . . . ya^urvede tathai*va*tharva- samasu,pura7zesopanishade); XII, 342,97 = 13256 ff.; XII, 347, 28 = 13476; XIII, 17, 9i = T2o5 ff. (where the Athar- van appears first, atharva^irsha^ samasya rz"ksahasramite- ksha;za/£, ya^u^padabhu^o guhya/z) ; XIII, 11 1, 46 = 5443; XIII, 168, 31=7736; XIX, 109, 5 (Vish.) = 949i (£atvaro sakhila vedaA sarahasya^ savistara/z) ; XIX, 14, 15 (Bhav.) = 11665. Cf. Holtzmann, I.e., p. 6. INTRODUCTION. liil By itself the Atharvan is mentioned numerous times: as atharvangiras (singular), atharvangirasa/z (plural), atharva- ngirasa, atharvan, atharva/za, atharva;za, and atharva-veda. Invariably the statements presenting these names are either directly laudatory, or they exhibit the Atharvan in an in- disputable position of usefulness. At III, 305, 20=17066 Kunti knows mantras, atharvarigirasi * .mitam, for com- pelling the gods to appear; at II, 11, 19 = 437 the athar- vahgirasa/£, personified, are mentioned honorifically along with other Vedic ^shis ; at V, 18, 5 = 548 ff.
3n of usefulness. At III, 305, 20=17066 Kunti knows mantras, atharvarigirasi * .mitam, for com- pelling the gods to appear; at II, 11, 19 = 437 the athar- vahgirasa/£, personified, are mentioned honorifically along with other Vedic ^shis ; at V, 18, 5 = 548 ff. Angiras praises Indra with atharvavedamantrai/&, and Indra declares that this Veda shall henceforth have the name atharvangi- rasa. At XII, 342, 99 = 13258 ff. Pra^apati declares that the sages skilled in the Atharvan (vipra atharva/zavidas) fashion him into an Atharvan priest, devoted to the practice of the five kalpas (pa/^akalpam atharva/zam). At V, 37, 58 = 1391 Atharvan practitioners (atharva/za/£) are spoken of in a friendly way : ' For him that has been wounded with the arrow of wit there are no physicians and no herbs, no sacrificial formulas, no amulets, no Atharva^as (conjurers), and no skilful remedies2.' See also I, 70, 40 = 2883; III, 251, 24=15147 ; XIII, 14, 309 = 901 ; XIII, 94, 44 = 4590. In a number of places weapons are said to be as fierce and efficacious as the sorcery-practices of the Atharvan (krztyam atharvangirasim iva), VIII, 40, 33=1848; VIII, 90, 4=4625 ; VIII, 91, 48 = 4795 5 IX, 17, 44 = 9°7 ; XIII, 98. 13 = 4706 : the passages imply neither praise nor blame, but represent Atharvan practices as familiarly established among the customs of the people. It is scarcely to be expected that the Atharvan and its practices, notwithstanding their establishment in the good graces of the epic writers, shall come off entirely without criticism ; there must have been persons aching under its supposed inflictions, and moods awake to a full sens* of its vulgarity. In such cases the Mah&bharata reflects entirely the spirit of the dharma-texts. Thus at XII, 36-28 = 1322 ; In the Calcutta edition, atharva^irasi for atharvangirasi. Cf. Bohtlingk, Indische Spruche, 1497-8. liv HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. XIII, 90, 13 = 4282, physicians are declared to be impure (cf. above, p. 1). Practices undertaken by bad women with charms and roots (mantramulapara stri . . . mula- pra^ara) are inveighed against : the man that has a wife addicted to them would be afraid of her, as of a snake that had got into the house, III, 233, 13 = 14660 fT. ; cf. the identical prohibition of the dharma-texts above, p. I)1. Women are said at XIII, 39, 6 = 2237 fT. (cf. Bohtlingk's Indische Spriiche 2, 6407) to be skilled in the sorceries of the evil demons Namu^i, vSambara, and Kumbhinasi. Magic or sorcery is in general regarded as good.
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.
1may be characterised in the single statement that its importance Th AV in as a Veda, an<^ *ts canonicity, are finally and the Maha- completely established ; that its practices are familiarly known and, in general, not sub- jected to any particular criticism. There is no especial affinity between the great Epic and the ^rauta-literature, barring the continuance of a considerable quantity of the legendary materials (akhyana) which are woven into the descriptions of the Vedic sacrifices in the Brahma/zas ; hence there is nothing in the Epic to induce preoccupa- tion with the trayi vidya. On the other hand, the great collection deals so largely with the interests of the Kshatriyas as to preclude any conscious discrimination against the fourth Veda, since this Veda also is to a very considerable extent engaged in the interest of the kings (ra^-akarmam, Kaimka, chapters 14 to 17), and the prac- tices of their chaplains (purohita) are also largely Athar- vanic in character. It is true that the Mahabharata in common with all Hindu literature, the Atharvan literature not excluded, mentions frequently only the three Vedas by their distinctive names, or by the generic terms trayi vidya and trayo veda//. Thus in the passages assembled in A. Holtzmann's sufficiently exhaustive collectanea on this question in his work on the Epic, Das Mahabharata und seine Theile, vol. iv, p. 5, the prevailing Vedic habit of referring to the Vedas is continued. But there can be little question that this mode of reference has at this time, as doubtless in a measure also in the period of Vedic produc- tivity, become a stereotyped mechanical habit, continued from the tradition of earlier times ; cf. Biihler, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XL, 701, who compares the German expression * die vier Erdtheile,' and the like. There is no indication that the mention of the Atharvan is con- sciously avoided. Hi HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. The main proof of the high regard for the Atharvan and its unchallenged position in the canon, are the quasi- cosmogonic passages in which the four Vedas figure in the primordial transactions of the creation of the world, and its affinity with the personified creator. Thus, at V, 108, 10=3770 Brahman is said to have first sung the four Vedas ; Brahman himself is called Ayurveda, III, 203, 15 = 13560, as similarly Vish/zu at XIX, 238, 9 (Bhav.) = 12884; at III, 189, 14=12963; VI, 67, 6 = 3019 Vishnu himself declares that the four Vedas (atharva/za the fourth) have sprung from him.
2g the four Vedas ; Brahman himself is called Ayurveda, III, 203, 15 = 13560, as similarly Vish/zu at XIX, 238, 9 (Bhav.) = 12884; at III, 189, 14=12963; VI, 67, 6 = 3019 Vishnu himself declares that the four Vedas (atharva/za the fourth) have sprung from him. According to XIX, 14, 15 (Bhav.) = 11516, Brahman created first the tristich called Gayatri, the mother of the Vedas, and afterwards the four Vedas ; according to XIX, 53, 41 (Bhav.)=i32io he carries upon each of his four heads one of the Vedas, or, according to II, it, 32 = 449, the four Vedas dwell bodily in his palace. At XII, 347, 27 = 13476 malicious demons steal the four Vedas from Brahman, and Vish/zu restores them. Accord- ingly the Brahman priest and the kings, both of whom owe it to themselves to be vedavid, are more specifically described as knowing and reciting the four Vedas, at I, 70, 37 = 2880 ff. ; VII, 9, 29=289; XIX, 142, 1 (Vish.) = 7993, where a Brahma;za is designated as ^aturveda^, just as the divinity Brahman, above. Other instances of the mention of the four Vedas, with or without other literary composi- tions, are 1, 1, 21 ; 1,1,264; 11,11,32 = 450; IH,43»4i = 1661 (akhyanapa/z^amair vedai/z) ; III, 58, 9 = 2247 (£aturo vedan sarvan akhyanapa^aman) ; III, 64, 17 = 2417 (£at- varo vedak sangopanga^) ; III, 189, 14=12963; V, 44, 28 = 1711; VII, 59, 15 = 2238; VII, 149,22 = 6470; XII, 236, 1 = 8613; XII, 335, 28 = 12723; XII, 339, 8=12872; XII, 341, 8 = 13136 (rzgvede . . . ya^urvede tathai*va*tharva- samasu,pura7zesopanishade); XII, 342,97 = 13256 ff.; XII, 347, 28 = 13476; XIII, 17, 9i = T2o5 ff. (where the Athar- van appears first, atharva^irsha^ samasya rz"ksahasramite- ksha;za/£, ya^u^padabhu^o guhya/z) ; XIII, 11 1, 46 = 5443; XIII, 168, 31=7736; XIX, 109, 5 (Vish.) = 949i (£atvaro sakhila vedaA sarahasya^ savistara/z) ; XIX, 14, 15 (Bhav.) = 11665. Cf. Holtzmann, I.e., p. 6. INTRODUCTION. liil By itself the Atharvan is mentioned numerous times: as atharvangiras (singular), atharvangirasa/z (plural), atharva- ngirasa, atharvan, atharva/za, atharva;za, and atharva-veda. Invariably the statements presenting these names are either directly laudatory, or they exhibit the Atharvan in an in- disputable position of usefulness. At III, 305, 20=17066 Kunti knows mantras, atharvarigirasi * .mitam, for com- pelling the gods to appear; at II, 11, 19 = 437 the athar- vahgirasa/£, personified, are mentioned honorifically along with other Vedic ^shis ; at V, 18, 5 = 548 ff.
3n of usefulness. At III, 305, 20=17066 Kunti knows mantras, atharvarigirasi * .mitam, for com- pelling the gods to appear; at II, 11, 19 = 437 the athar- vahgirasa/£, personified, are mentioned honorifically along with other Vedic ^shis ; at V, 18, 5 = 548 ff. Angiras praises Indra with atharvavedamantrai/&, and Indra declares that this Veda shall henceforth have the name atharvangi- rasa. At XII, 342, 99 = 13258 ff. Pra^apati declares that the sages skilled in the Atharvan (vipra atharva/zavidas) fashion him into an Atharvan priest, devoted to the practice of the five kalpas (pa/^akalpam atharva/zam). At V, 37, 58 = 1391 Atharvan practitioners (atharva/za/£) are spoken of in a friendly way : ' For him that has been wounded with the arrow of wit there are no physicians and no herbs, no sacrificial formulas, no amulets, no Atharva^as (conjurers), and no skilful remedies2.' See also I, 70, 40 = 2883; III, 251, 24=15147 ; XIII, 14, 309 = 901 ; XIII, 94, 44 = 4590. In a number of places weapons are said to be as fierce and efficacious as the sorcery-practices of the Atharvan (krztyam atharvangirasim iva), VIII, 40, 33=1848; VIII, 90, 4=4625 ; VIII, 91, 48 = 4795 5 IX, 17, 44 = 9°7 ; XIII, 98. 13 = 4706 : the passages imply neither praise nor blame, but represent Atharvan practices as familiarly established among the customs of the people. It is scarcely to be expected that the Atharvan and its practices, notwithstanding their establishment in the good graces of the epic writers, shall come off entirely without criticism ; there must have been persons aching under its supposed inflictions, and moods awake to a full sens* of its vulgarity. In such cases the Mah&bharata reflects entirely the spirit of the dharma-texts. Thus at XII, 36-28 = 1322 ; In the Calcutta edition, atharva^irasi for atharvangirasi. Cf. Bohtlingk, Indische Spruche, 1497-8. liv HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. XIII, 90, 13 = 4282, physicians are declared to be impure (cf. above, p. 1). Practices undertaken by bad women with charms and roots (mantramulapara stri . . . mula- pra^ara) are inveighed against : the man that has a wife addicted to them would be afraid of her, as of a snake that had got into the house, III, 233, 13 = 14660 fT. ; cf. the identical prohibition of the dharma-texts above, p. I)1. Women are said at XIII, 39, 6 = 2237 fT. (cf. Bohtlingk's Indische Spriiche 2, 6407) to be skilled in the sorceries of the evil demons Namu^i, vSambara, and Kumbhinasi. Magic or sorcery is in general regarded as good.
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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