Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1erefore be said to be acquainted with the par/2a-tree. But the passages cited in the preceding note show that the keen sight of certain birds of prey fits them, in the mind of the poet, for the task of finding the rare and secreted plants. Stanza 26. a, b. The human physicians in contrast from the divine doctors, Rudra, the Ajvins, Sarasvati, &c. Stanza 27. Cf. the Atharvamya-paddhati and Da^a Karma/zi in the note on Kauj. 36, 5. a, b. Cf. RV. X, 97, 3 ; Maitr. S. II, 7, 13 (93, 5) ; Tait. S. IV, 2, 6, 1 ; Wig. S. XII. 77. c. Ludwig renders sa//zmatara/& by ' vereinte mutter ; ' Henry proposes to read sam matara/^, as previously in AV. XIII, 2, 13 (see his Les Hymnes Rohitas, pp. 10 and 40), a very doubtful passage. The plants are called mothers, RV. X, 97, 4 ; Maitr. S. II, 7, 13 (93, 6) ; Tait. S. IV, 2, 6, 1 ; Y&g. S. XII, 77, but the wrord sa//*matara (dual) stands unquestioned at Maitr. S. II, 5, 4 (52, 1). I think that the text is to be sustained by all means : the sense is excellent. The plants, as though calves sucking the same mother, shall each yield the same sap, that heals disease ; cf. RV. VII, 10 r, 1, where duhre (as duhram here) is middle, not passive. Stanza 28. Cf. RV. X, 97, 16. I have translated pa^a^alad, &c, by ' from a depth of five fathoms,' &c. This is not a little insipid. Perhaps, after all, Ludwig is correct : c from him that wields five arrows,' &c. Cf. Sk. pa££a.yara, 'he who has five arrows,' as an epithet of Kama. — devakilbishat, 4 sin against the gods,' or, perhaps, ' sin committed by the gods.' This is conceived as being passed off (wiped off) on men. See VI, 111, 3; the introduction to VI, 112 and 582 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 1x3; and Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1894 (Journ., vol. xvi, p. cxix ff.). Cf. especially Apast. Sr. XIII, 17, 9; Tank. Br. I, 6, 10. VIII, 8. Commentary to page 117. This battle-song deals especially with the obstacles that are placed in the way of an advancing enemy. Traps and nets are constructed to capture and destroy : see stanzas 5 ff. The Kaiuika, 16, 9-20, rubricates a number of the stanzas among the practices of the king (ra^akarma/zi, chapters 14-17), to wit: 16, 9. * With stanza 1 (or rather the entire hymn) the fire is churned. 10. With stanza 2 a rotten rope is put down (upon the fire-place). 11. The fire is churned with (two sticks, one of) ai'vattha-wood, (the other of) badhaka-wood 1. 12. With P&das c, d of stanza 2 the smoke of the fire is addressed. 13.
2the fire is churned. 10. With stanza 2 a rotten rope is put down (upon the fire-place). 11. The fire is churned with (two sticks, one of) ai'vattha-wood, (the other of) badhaka-wood 1. 12. With P&das c, d of stanza 2 the smoke of the fire is addressed. 13. With the same two Padas, beginning at the word agni, the fire (is addressed). 14. Upon this fire (which is removed) into the forest, sticks of wood that destroy enemies, namely, ai-vattha, badhaka, ta^adbhanga, ahva, khadira, and jara 2, are placed. 15. The snares mentioned (in Kaui*. 14, 28 : they are prepared of bhariga, " hemp " [bha;^, " break ! "], and mu^-a, " reed ") are cast. 16. Hammers made out of a^vattha-wood, and nets of hemp are placed. 17. (Also) staffs of badhaka-wood (badh, " oppress ! "). 18. With the exclamation, " Hail to these here" (st. 24 c), an offering is made for the friends (one's own army). 19. With the exclamation, " Perdition to those yonder " (ibid.), an offering is made, with the left hand, of ingk/a- butter 3 into fire built out of badhaka-wood. 20. To the north of the fire a 1 The symbolism of these acts is clear : the stench of the old rope (Darila, gunaraggu) in the fire, and the etymological qualities of the two kinds of wood, delineated in st. 3, shall operate against the enemy, each in its own way. 2 For the real and symbolic meanings of these names, see the notes on sts. 3-5. 3 ingida is the typical substance that takes the place of ghee (&gya) in hostile practices. See the Paribhasha-sutra, Kaos\ 47, 3. VIII, 8. COMMENTARY. 583 branch of red a^vattha is fixed (in the ground), enveloped with a blue and a red thread, and then removed to the south while stanza 24 d is being recited1/ The entire practice is redolent of fierce hostility: cf. in general the introduction (paribhasha) to the abhi^arika (witchcraft) practices in Kau.y. 47, 1 ff. The hymn has been rendered by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 527 ff. ; Henry, Les livres VIII et IX de l'Atharva- veda, pp. 23. 61 ff. Cf. also Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, pp. 87, 405, note. Stanza 1. The root manth is employed in connection with Indra's feats only on the occasion of his churning the head of the demon Namu^i : the present statement is doubtless a reminiscence of that performance. See Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 156 ff. The Sutra, however, takes manth in its more common sense of churning a fire, and embodies it in a corresponding per- formance on the part of the ritualist : see the introduction above, Stanza 2.
3See Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 156 ff. The Sutra, however, takes manth in its more common sense of churning a fire, and embodies it in a corresponding per- formance on the part of the ritualist : see the introduction above, Stanza 2. It may be reasonably doubted whether the ritual, which takes putira^u in its literal and etymological sense (Kaui-. 16, ic, above), has fathomed the meaning of the word. But it is a reasonable construction, and we are, for the present, driven to accept it. In the second hemistich amitra is metrically superfluous : it may readily have crept in as a gloss from st. 1 d. Stanza 3. The plants are chosen with reference to the punning etymologies that may be extracted from them. Even the juxtaposition of a^vattha and srzmhi is intentional. For ta^adbhanga, see Kau^ika, Introduction, p. xliv. Its pro- blematic accentuation (PadapaMa, ta^adbhanga/z) is prob- 1 For the blue and the red threads, see the note on the stanza. 584 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. ably to be changed to ta^adbhanga (cf. Kau^. 16, 14). Ety- mologically the word means ' breaking suddenly.' The plant vadhaka, badhaka (also vadhaka, badhaka) is defined by the commentators as girimala, girimalaka, krzmimalaka, karimalaka, itself of unknown meaning ; see Kaorika, Introduction, p. xliv, and Pet. Lex., s. v. badhaka 2. Stanza 4. a. The Pet Lex., s. v. parusha 2) a, endorsed by Henry, renders ' may the reed turn them into reeds,' i. e. make them fragile as reeds. This is rendered very doubtful, because parusha does not elsewhere mean ' reed/ and because Darila at Kaus. 16, 14 renders ahva by pala^a. Ludwig, having at the time no access to the Sutra, renders 6 diser rauhen feinde schlachtruf mach er heiser,' which seems to us intrinsically and grammatically impossible. If any one should be sceptical about ahva in the list of fire- woods, Kaoy. 16, 14, the passage would then have to be rendered ' may (our) disjointed cry render the enemies disjointed/ or something similar. The Pada is hypermetric, but Henry's suggestion that parushahva^ in the sense of ' parusha (reed) by name ' is a gloss, deprives the passage of its subject, and its best point. Stanza 5. d. Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 140, renders apavapat by ' hat gefischt.' This is excellent sense, as far as the present passage is concerned, but conflicts with the natural etymology and the clearest instances of the occurrence of the word : AV. XIX, 36, 4 (Saya^a, apavapatu mLrayatu) ; Tait. S. Ill, 3, 7, 3- Stanza 7. The second hemistich is hypermetric.
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.
1erefore be said to be acquainted with the par/2a-tree. But the passages cited in the preceding note show that the keen sight of certain birds of prey fits them, in the mind of the poet, for the task of finding the rare and secreted plants. Stanza 26. a, b. The human physicians in contrast from the divine doctors, Rudra, the Ajvins, Sarasvati, &c. Stanza 27. Cf. the Atharvamya-paddhati and Da^a Karma/zi in the note on Kauj. 36, 5. a, b. Cf. RV. X, 97, 3 ; Maitr. S. II, 7, 13 (93, 5) ; Tait. S. IV, 2, 6, 1 ; Wig. S. XII. 77. c. Ludwig renders sa//zmatara/& by ' vereinte mutter ; ' Henry proposes to read sam matara/^, as previously in AV. XIII, 2, 13 (see his Les Hymnes Rohitas, pp. 10 and 40), a very doubtful passage. The plants are called mothers, RV. X, 97, 4 ; Maitr. S. II, 7, 13 (93, 6) ; Tait. S. IV, 2, 6, 1 ; Y&g. S. XII, 77, but the wrord sa//*matara (dual) stands unquestioned at Maitr. S. II, 5, 4 (52, 1). I think that the text is to be sustained by all means : the sense is excellent. The plants, as though calves sucking the same mother, shall each yield the same sap, that heals disease ; cf. RV. VII, 10 r, 1, where duhre (as duhram here) is middle, not passive. Stanza 28. Cf. RV. X, 97, 16. I have translated pa^a^alad, &c, by ' from a depth of five fathoms,' &c. This is not a little insipid. Perhaps, after all, Ludwig is correct : c from him that wields five arrows,' &c. Cf. Sk. pa££a.yara, 'he who has five arrows,' as an epithet of Kama. — devakilbishat, 4 sin against the gods,' or, perhaps, ' sin committed by the gods.' This is conceived as being passed off (wiped off) on men. See VI, 111, 3; the introduction to VI, 112 and 582 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 1x3; and Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1894 (Journ., vol. xvi, p. cxix ff.). Cf. especially Apast. Sr. XIII, 17, 9; Tank. Br. I, 6, 10. VIII, 8. Commentary to page 117. This battle-song deals especially with the obstacles that are placed in the way of an advancing enemy. Traps and nets are constructed to capture and destroy : see stanzas 5 ff. The Kaiuika, 16, 9-20, rubricates a number of the stanzas among the practices of the king (ra^akarma/zi, chapters 14-17), to wit: 16, 9. * With stanza 1 (or rather the entire hymn) the fire is churned. 10. With stanza 2 a rotten rope is put down (upon the fire-place). 11. The fire is churned with (two sticks, one of) ai'vattha-wood, (the other of) badhaka-wood 1. 12. With P&das c, d of stanza 2 the smoke of the fire is addressed. 13.
2the fire is churned. 10. With stanza 2 a rotten rope is put down (upon the fire-place). 11. The fire is churned with (two sticks, one of) ai'vattha-wood, (the other of) badhaka-wood 1. 12. With P&das c, d of stanza 2 the smoke of the fire is addressed. 13. With the same two Padas, beginning at the word agni, the fire (is addressed). 14. Upon this fire (which is removed) into the forest, sticks of wood that destroy enemies, namely, ai-vattha, badhaka, ta^adbhanga, ahva, khadira, and jara 2, are placed. 15. The snares mentioned (in Kaui*. 14, 28 : they are prepared of bhariga, " hemp " [bha;^, " break ! "], and mu^-a, " reed ") are cast. 16. Hammers made out of a^vattha-wood, and nets of hemp are placed. 17. (Also) staffs of badhaka-wood (badh, " oppress ! "). 18. With the exclamation, " Hail to these here" (st. 24 c), an offering is made for the friends (one's own army). 19. With the exclamation, " Perdition to those yonder " (ibid.), an offering is made, with the left hand, of ingk/a- butter 3 into fire built out of badhaka-wood. 20. To the north of the fire a 1 The symbolism of these acts is clear : the stench of the old rope (Darila, gunaraggu) in the fire, and the etymological qualities of the two kinds of wood, delineated in st. 3, shall operate against the enemy, each in its own way. 2 For the real and symbolic meanings of these names, see the notes on sts. 3-5. 3 ingida is the typical substance that takes the place of ghee (&gya) in hostile practices. See the Paribhasha-sutra, Kaos\ 47, 3. VIII, 8. COMMENTARY. 583 branch of red a^vattha is fixed (in the ground), enveloped with a blue and a red thread, and then removed to the south while stanza 24 d is being recited1/ The entire practice is redolent of fierce hostility: cf. in general the introduction (paribhasha) to the abhi^arika (witchcraft) practices in Kau.y. 47, 1 ff. The hymn has been rendered by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 527 ff. ; Henry, Les livres VIII et IX de l'Atharva- veda, pp. 23. 61 ff. Cf. also Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, pp. 87, 405, note. Stanza 1. The root manth is employed in connection with Indra's feats only on the occasion of his churning the head of the demon Namu^i : the present statement is doubtless a reminiscence of that performance. See Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 156 ff. The Sutra, however, takes manth in its more common sense of churning a fire, and embodies it in a corresponding per- formance on the part of the ritualist : see the introduction above, Stanza 2.
3See Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 156 ff. The Sutra, however, takes manth in its more common sense of churning a fire, and embodies it in a corresponding per- formance on the part of the ritualist : see the introduction above, Stanza 2. It may be reasonably doubted whether the ritual, which takes putira^u in its literal and etymological sense (Kaui-. 16, ic, above), has fathomed the meaning of the word. But it is a reasonable construction, and we are, for the present, driven to accept it. In the second hemistich amitra is metrically superfluous : it may readily have crept in as a gloss from st. 1 d. Stanza 3. The plants are chosen with reference to the punning etymologies that may be extracted from them. Even the juxtaposition of a^vattha and srzmhi is intentional. For ta^adbhanga, see Kau^ika, Introduction, p. xliv. Its pro- blematic accentuation (PadapaMa, ta^adbhanga/z) is prob- 1 For the blue and the red threads, see the note on the stanza. 584 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. ably to be changed to ta^adbhanga (cf. Kau^. 16, 14). Ety- mologically the word means ' breaking suddenly.' The plant vadhaka, badhaka (also vadhaka, badhaka) is defined by the commentators as girimala, girimalaka, krzmimalaka, karimalaka, itself of unknown meaning ; see Kaorika, Introduction, p. xliv, and Pet. Lex., s. v. badhaka 2. Stanza 4. a. The Pet Lex., s. v. parusha 2) a, endorsed by Henry, renders ' may the reed turn them into reeds,' i. e. make them fragile as reeds. This is rendered very doubtful, because parusha does not elsewhere mean ' reed/ and because Darila at Kaus. 16, 14 renders ahva by pala^a. Ludwig, having at the time no access to the Sutra, renders 6 diser rauhen feinde schlachtruf mach er heiser,' which seems to us intrinsically and grammatically impossible. If any one should be sceptical about ahva in the list of fire- woods, Kaoy. 16, 14, the passage would then have to be rendered ' may (our) disjointed cry render the enemies disjointed/ or something similar. The Pada is hypermetric, but Henry's suggestion that parushahva^ in the sense of ' parusha (reed) by name ' is a gloss, deprives the passage of its subject, and its best point. Stanza 5. d. Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 140, renders apavapat by ' hat gefischt.' This is excellent sense, as far as the present passage is concerned, but conflicts with the natural etymology and the clearest instances of the occurrence of the word : AV. XIX, 36, 4 (Saya^a, apavapatu mLrayatu) ; Tait. S. Ill, 3, 7, 3- Stanza 7. The second hemistich is hypermetric.
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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