Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1neck as mushkavat, ' similar to testicles.' Cf. also VI, 14, 4. In Pada d .ripudrur of the vulgata is faulty: the MSS. and Shankar Pandit read /^ipudrur ; Saya^a, ^ipadrur (etatsa^^o drumavuesha/*). The word occurs nowhere else ; cf. the introduction. Stanza 3. The last two Padas may be an afterthought. For d,gndXwn yakshma;/z the compound a^/zatayakshma occurs III, 11, i = RV. X, 161, 1. Cf. Zimmer, 1. c, p. 377, who tries 1 Saya«a, vividhaw sarpati naflftmukhena ^arirasya antarvyapnoti *ti visarpaka^. m m 2 532 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. to define it — though by its very terms it is undefinable — as the name of a certain disease. VI, 128. Commentary to page 160. The present hymn, and the custom which it harbours, have been treated by the writer in 'Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda/ Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 484 ff. According to the indications of the ritual the hymn is in praise of .yakadhuma, which, as a possessive compound, means ' he of the dung-smoke/ i. e. ' he that prophesies from the smoke of cow-dung/ The ^akadhuma predicts the weather for a person about to start on a journey ; see below. As weather-prophet he very naturally comes, like our ' Old Probabilities,' or ' weather-clerk,' to be regarded at the same time as controlling the weather for good or bad — in short, as a weather-maker. Control of the weather, as a delegated power, comes most naturally from the stars : hence these are said, in st. 1, to have made him their king. In the Paribhasha-sutra, Kau^. 8, 17, we have the clear statement that the j-akadhuma is an old Brahman. Ac- cording to the Dasa Karma/n, and the Atharvamya-pad- dhati, at Kslus. 76, 19, one (or four) .rakadhumas recite at a certain stage of the wedding-practices the surya-hymn (RV. X, 85) \ In Kaiu. 50, 15. 16, in the course of the practices of a merchant about to start on an expedition, the merchant, while reciting this hymn, places lumps of dung (i-akrztpi//^an) upon the joints of a Brahman friend, and asks the j-akadhuma : ' What sort of a day shall we have to-day ? ' He answers : ' A fair day, a very auspicious one V 1 suryapa/yfem kurvanti. The sense of this expression is not altogether certain. It may mean simply, ' they read the sun/ i. e. for indications of weather. Ke^ava in the same place has vrz'sha- kapibr&hma^a^ surya;/z pa/^anti, a most curious statement. Does vr/shakapibrahmawa mean l sun-Brahmaraa, astrologer/ and does suryam refer to the v/Vshakapi-hymn, RV. X, 86? 2 Saya«a, sighram kartukama^ . . .
2tions of weather. Ke^ava in the same place has vrz'sha- kapibr&hma^a^ surya;/z pa/^anti, a most curious statement. Does vr/shakapibrahmawa mean l sun-Brahmaraa, astrologer/ and does suryam refer to the v/Vshakapi-hymn, RV. X, 86? 2 Saya«a, sighram kartukama^ . . . brahmaraasya sa^zdhishu gomayapi/zdan nidhaya agnitvena sazrckalpya abhimantrya sutrokt- aprakarewa pra-maprativa/eane kuryat. VI, I 2 8. COMMENTARY. 533 Once more the hymn is prescribed, Kaiu-. ico, 3, in a pra- yasfcitti for an eclipse of the moon, probably on account of the prayer in the third stanza ; cf. also iantikalpa i5- For st. 3, see Kau.r. 138, 8. The hymn, with the addition of sundry other stanzas, is repeated in an appendix to the Nakshatrakalpa, and has been presented in our afore-mentioned article, p. 485 ff. ; cf. Weber's translation of it in his Omina und Portenta, p. 353. The vulgata form of the hymn has been rendered by Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 353 ; cf. also Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 187. Stanza 1. Saya/za also defines ^akadhuma as brahma/^a, but in a roundabout way. Primarily, according to his view, it is the fire in which lumps of dung have been placed, and from which the smoke rises (sskrtta/z sa;^bandhi dhumo yasminn agnau sa ^akadhuma/^ agni/£). But agni (e.g. according to Tait. S. V, 2, 8, 2) is identical with brahma/za; cf. his words, agnitvena sa/^kalpya, in the note above 1. In the brahmodya-stanza, RV. I, 164, 43 = AV. IX, 10, 25, occurs the expression sakamayam dhumam ; this is paraphrased in Katyayana's Sarvanukramam and in Sha^guru^ishya's comment (pp. 1 1, 97 of Macdonell's edition) by .yakadhuma, ' dung-smoke.' Possibly * the fire that gives forth dung- smoke ' (cf. Haug in the Proceedings of the Bavarian Academy, 1875, II, p. 506) forms the true mythic back- ground of these conceptions ; the Brahman interpreter may be secondarily called jakadhuma. Weber, 1. c, surmises that it may be the first morning fire, kindled while the stars are still shining, and indicating by its rising or falling smoke the weather of the breaking day ; cf. also the same author, In- dische Studien,V, 257 ; X, 65 ; Nakshatra, II, 272, note ; 393. 1 Sayarca continues, taw jakadhumaw brahma;/aw pura naksha- tram taraka^ ra^anaw ^andramasam akurvata. According to this the moon (fire) is the jakadhuma, the controller of the weather. This is good folk-lore : the Brahmawa may be the moon's repre- sentative on earth. 534 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. VI, 130. Commentary to page 104. This and the following two hymns 1 are accompanied at Kaus.
3the jakadhuma, the controller of the weather. This is good folk-lore : the Brahmawa may be the moon's repre- sentative on earth. 534 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. VI, 130. Commentary to page 104. This and the following two hymns 1 are accompanied at Kaus. 36, 13-14 by the following practices: 'Bean-loves' (mashasmaran; Ke^ava and Saya/za simply 'beans,' mashan) are thrown (upon the head of the person whose love is de- sired 2). Then the points of arrows (^ara) are kindled and are cast in every direction about the effigy (of the desired person), its face fronting towards the performer. The bean (masha) is doubtless regarded as inflammatory food (cf. the Pythagorean prohibition), since it is forbidden at the fasts preliminary to holy practices, along with honey, salt, meat, and brandy; see Kaiu. 1,32, and note (and frequently elsewhere) : its fitness in a love-charm seems derivable from this notion. A similar practice with the effigy occurs at Kaiu. 35, 28 (see the introduction to HI, 35)- The hymn has been interpreted by Weber, Indische Studien, V, 244 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 515 ; Grill2, pp.58, 174 ff. Stanza 1. The pada-MSS. read ratha^ite ymam ; Saya/za substi- tutes dhinam for this yinam. But the text of the Sa//zhita- MSS. justifies ratha^iteymam 3. Weber, 1. c, p. 345, note, refers by way of illustration of the present epithets of the Apsaras to the names sa;/^ayanti (IV, 38, 1), ugra^it, ugra^pa^ya, and rash/rabhrzt (VI, 118, 1. 2), and to the frequent warlike epithets of the Gandharvas, with whom they are associated closely (cf. e.g. Tait. S. Ill, 4, 7, 3). Grill, too daringly, emends to artha^-itam artha^itiham, supporting his theory by a reference to IV, 38, where the 1 Thus according to the commentators: 131 and 132 are not otherwise rubricated. 2 Thus Darila ; according to Ke^ava, upon his couch, house, or bed ; according to Sayawa, on the ground which he walks. 8 The hymn is wanting in the Paippalada. VI, 132. COMMENTARY. 535 Apsaras are implored for help in gambling. He supposes that they ' gain their object ' both in play and in love. VI, 131. Commentary to page 104. For the practices connected with this hymn, see the introduction to the preceding. Previous translations by Weber, Indische Studien, V, 244 ff. ; Grill2, pp. 58, 175 ff. Stanza 2. Anumati is the goddess of favour and consent ; cf. the play of words in anu manyasva (as in VII, 20). Akuti is the goddess of schemes. In XIX, 4, 2 she is called ^ittasya mata, * mother of thought ' (' the wish is father to the thought '). 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.
1neck as mushkavat, ' similar to testicles.' Cf. also VI, 14, 4. In Pada d .ripudrur of the vulgata is faulty: the MSS. and Shankar Pandit read /^ipudrur ; Saya^a, ^ipadrur (etatsa^^o drumavuesha/*). The word occurs nowhere else ; cf. the introduction. Stanza 3. The last two Padas may be an afterthought. For d,gndXwn yakshma;/z the compound a^/zatayakshma occurs III, 11, i = RV. X, 161, 1. Cf. Zimmer, 1. c, p. 377, who tries 1 Saya«a, vividhaw sarpati naflftmukhena ^arirasya antarvyapnoti *ti visarpaka^. m m 2 532 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. to define it — though by its very terms it is undefinable — as the name of a certain disease. VI, 128. Commentary to page 160. The present hymn, and the custom which it harbours, have been treated by the writer in 'Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda/ Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 484 ff. According to the indications of the ritual the hymn is in praise of .yakadhuma, which, as a possessive compound, means ' he of the dung-smoke/ i. e. ' he that prophesies from the smoke of cow-dung/ The ^akadhuma predicts the weather for a person about to start on a journey ; see below. As weather-prophet he very naturally comes, like our ' Old Probabilities,' or ' weather-clerk,' to be regarded at the same time as controlling the weather for good or bad — in short, as a weather-maker. Control of the weather, as a delegated power, comes most naturally from the stars : hence these are said, in st. 1, to have made him their king. In the Paribhasha-sutra, Kau^. 8, 17, we have the clear statement that the j-akadhuma is an old Brahman. Ac- cording to the Dasa Karma/n, and the Atharvamya-pad- dhati, at Kslus. 76, 19, one (or four) .rakadhumas recite at a certain stage of the wedding-practices the surya-hymn (RV. X, 85) \ In Kaiu. 50, 15. 16, in the course of the practices of a merchant about to start on an expedition, the merchant, while reciting this hymn, places lumps of dung (i-akrztpi//^an) upon the joints of a Brahman friend, and asks the j-akadhuma : ' What sort of a day shall we have to-day ? ' He answers : ' A fair day, a very auspicious one V 1 suryapa/yfem kurvanti. The sense of this expression is not altogether certain. It may mean simply, ' they read the sun/ i. e. for indications of weather. Ke^ava in the same place has vrz'sha- kapibr&hma^a^ surya;/z pa/^anti, a most curious statement. Does vr/shakapibrahmawa mean l sun-Brahmaraa, astrologer/ and does suryam refer to the v/Vshakapi-hymn, RV. X, 86? 2 Saya«a, sighram kartukama^ . . .
2tions of weather. Ke^ava in the same place has vrz'sha- kapibr&hma^a^ surya;/z pa/^anti, a most curious statement. Does vr/shakapibrahmawa mean l sun-Brahmaraa, astrologer/ and does suryam refer to the v/Vshakapi-hymn, RV. X, 86? 2 Saya«a, sighram kartukama^ . . . brahmaraasya sa^zdhishu gomayapi/zdan nidhaya agnitvena sazrckalpya abhimantrya sutrokt- aprakarewa pra-maprativa/eane kuryat. VI, I 2 8. COMMENTARY. 533 Once more the hymn is prescribed, Kaiu-. ico, 3, in a pra- yasfcitti for an eclipse of the moon, probably on account of the prayer in the third stanza ; cf. also iantikalpa i5- For st. 3, see Kau.r. 138, 8. The hymn, with the addition of sundry other stanzas, is repeated in an appendix to the Nakshatrakalpa, and has been presented in our afore-mentioned article, p. 485 ff. ; cf. Weber's translation of it in his Omina und Portenta, p. 353. The vulgata form of the hymn has been rendered by Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 353 ; cf. also Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 187. Stanza 1. Saya/za also defines ^akadhuma as brahma/^a, but in a roundabout way. Primarily, according to his view, it is the fire in which lumps of dung have been placed, and from which the smoke rises (sskrtta/z sa;^bandhi dhumo yasminn agnau sa ^akadhuma/^ agni/£). But agni (e.g. according to Tait. S. V, 2, 8, 2) is identical with brahma/za; cf. his words, agnitvena sa/^kalpya, in the note above 1. In the brahmodya-stanza, RV. I, 164, 43 = AV. IX, 10, 25, occurs the expression sakamayam dhumam ; this is paraphrased in Katyayana's Sarvanukramam and in Sha^guru^ishya's comment (pp. 1 1, 97 of Macdonell's edition) by .yakadhuma, ' dung-smoke.' Possibly * the fire that gives forth dung- smoke ' (cf. Haug in the Proceedings of the Bavarian Academy, 1875, II, p. 506) forms the true mythic back- ground of these conceptions ; the Brahman interpreter may be secondarily called jakadhuma. Weber, 1. c, surmises that it may be the first morning fire, kindled while the stars are still shining, and indicating by its rising or falling smoke the weather of the breaking day ; cf. also the same author, In- dische Studien,V, 257 ; X, 65 ; Nakshatra, II, 272, note ; 393. 1 Sayarca continues, taw jakadhumaw brahma;/aw pura naksha- tram taraka^ ra^anaw ^andramasam akurvata. According to this the moon (fire) is the jakadhuma, the controller of the weather. This is good folk-lore : the Brahmawa may be the moon's repre- sentative on earth. 534 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. VI, 130. Commentary to page 104. This and the following two hymns 1 are accompanied at Kaus.
3the jakadhuma, the controller of the weather. This is good folk-lore : the Brahmawa may be the moon's repre- sentative on earth. 534 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. VI, 130. Commentary to page 104. This and the following two hymns 1 are accompanied at Kaus. 36, 13-14 by the following practices: 'Bean-loves' (mashasmaran; Ke^ava and Saya/za simply 'beans,' mashan) are thrown (upon the head of the person whose love is de- sired 2). Then the points of arrows (^ara) are kindled and are cast in every direction about the effigy (of the desired person), its face fronting towards the performer. The bean (masha) is doubtless regarded as inflammatory food (cf. the Pythagorean prohibition), since it is forbidden at the fasts preliminary to holy practices, along with honey, salt, meat, and brandy; see Kaiu. 1,32, and note (and frequently elsewhere) : its fitness in a love-charm seems derivable from this notion. A similar practice with the effigy occurs at Kaiu. 35, 28 (see the introduction to HI, 35)- The hymn has been interpreted by Weber, Indische Studien, V, 244 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 515 ; Grill2, pp.58, 174 ff. Stanza 1. The pada-MSS. read ratha^ite ymam ; Saya/za substi- tutes dhinam for this yinam. But the text of the Sa//zhita- MSS. justifies ratha^iteymam 3. Weber, 1. c, p. 345, note, refers by way of illustration of the present epithets of the Apsaras to the names sa;/^ayanti (IV, 38, 1), ugra^it, ugra^pa^ya, and rash/rabhrzt (VI, 118, 1. 2), and to the frequent warlike epithets of the Gandharvas, with whom they are associated closely (cf. e.g. Tait. S. Ill, 4, 7, 3). Grill, too daringly, emends to artha^-itam artha^itiham, supporting his theory by a reference to IV, 38, where the 1 Thus according to the commentators: 131 and 132 are not otherwise rubricated. 2 Thus Darila ; according to Ke^ava, upon his couch, house, or bed ; according to Sayawa, on the ground which he walks. 8 The hymn is wanting in the Paippalada. VI, 132. COMMENTARY. 535 Apsaras are implored for help in gambling. He supposes that they ' gain their object ' both in play and in love. VI, 131. Commentary to page 104. For the practices connected with this hymn, see the introduction to the preceding. Previous translations by Weber, Indische Studien, V, 244 ff. ; Grill2, pp. 58, 175 ff. Stanza 2. Anumati is the goddess of favour and consent ; cf. the play of words in anu manyasva (as in VII, 20). Akuti is the goddess of schemes. In XIX, 4, 2 she is called ^ittasya mata, * mother of thought ' (' the wish is father to the thought '). 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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