Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1as 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. Professor Henry proposes to eliminate ^atam x and dasyunam, leaving per- fect metre. Unfortunately such corrections suggest them- 1 The word does not appear in the quotation of the stanza, Muir, I.e., p. 87. VIII, 8. COMMENTARY. 585 selves so frequently as to render one another nugatory. An uneasy sense is left that we all know how to make better verse-lines than those that have somehow got to be in vogue among the Atharvan writers ; carried out to its full consequences this would eliminate one of the more marked peculiarities that render the Atharvan what it is. Doubtless the present translator has at times fallen into the same error. Stanza 11. Cf. XI, 2, 19, where the matyam is also Bhava's weapon. Ludwig, here, 'entschluss (satyam?)' but at XI, 2, 19 (P- 55°) ' erfmdung.' Stanza 12. For the Sadhyas, see Weber, Indische Studien, IX, 6 ff. ; Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, I2, io, note. Stanzas 14, 15. The first hemistich of st. 14 is repeated at XI, 9, 24 ; see the note there. With it goes 15 a, b, as the second hemistich of XI, g, 24. The phrases are formulaic, being worked over into prose form at Kaui". 73, 5. In 15 b the pu/zya^ana^ are the sukri'ta^, ' pious deceased,' who enjoy themselves with Yama and the Fathers. Cf. Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XVI, 27. Stanza 16. d. The meaning of ku/am is not altogether certain. The Pet. Lexs., Ludwig, and Henry, 'horn;' this is unlikely because of Kaay. 16, 16: horns of a^vattha-wood would be very strange. Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 139, ren- ders it by trap, which is tempting on account of the seem- ing parallelism of the two halves of the stanza. This is the rendering I had in mind in the treatment of the expression a^vatthani ku/ani in Kauj\ 16, 16. Darila says unintel- ligibly, kufam khadanam, and my comparison of the word khada (according to Darila at Kaiu. 38, 7 = svabhava^a/^ garta/z, 'a natural cavity') was undertaken in the belief that the word meant something like ' pitfall.' But now 586 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. I prefer to rely upon the expression, tasya na ku/ena praghnanti in 5at. Br. Ill, 8, 1, 15 (cf. also Ait. Br. VI, 24, 12), rather than the general parallelism. Cf. Contri- butions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deustch. Morgenl. Ge- sellsch. XLVIII, 546 ff. Stanza 17. c. The Pet. Lexs.
2the expression, tasya na ku/ena praghnanti in 5at. Br. Ill, 8, 1, 15 (cf. also Ait. Br. VI, 24, 12), rather than the general parallelism. Cf. Contri- butions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deustch. Morgenl. Ge- sellsch. XLVIII, 546 ff. Stanza 17. c. The Pet. Lexs. take pr/^nibahu^ as an independent noun, ' a certain mythical being.' But fanciful colours are attributed with great predilection to Rudra and all his forms (see the introduction to XI, 2). Cf. the epithet 'gold-armed' in the 6atarudriya, Va£\ S. XVI, 17, and in general Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV2, p. 322 ff. I have taken the word with jarva (nominative with voca- tive) : cf. RV. IV, 50, 10. Stanza 18. a. For osham of the edition the MSS. present asham. In the Index Verborum, p. 383, 1. 1, the word is still further corrected to osham, 'quickly.' This leaves the genitive mrztyor without governing word, and we have supplied ' fetter,' according to well-known parallels (mrztyor param ?). One may also think of osham in the sense of * fire, agony ' (of death). c. Our translation of akshu is little more than a guess. It seems hard to acquiesce in Geldner's proposition (endorsed by Henry), Vedische Studien, I, 136, that akshu means ' pole' (cf. sts. 5, 12), as long as this involves a 'thousand- eyed pole' in AV. IX, 3, 8 (see the note there). However salient a pole may be in the construction of a house, the epithet sahasraksha is decidedly far-fetched. Further, we should expect the reverse order in the compound (^alakshu), since the poles are accessory in their role of supporters of the net 1. Non liquet. Stanza 21. The second hemistich recurs at VI, 32, 3 (see the note there); cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 181. Perhaps 1 The word is not mentioned in Goldstucker's Sanskrit Lexicon. IX, I. COMMENTARY. 587 Ludwig's simple rendering of ^/zataram, ' der sie kennt,' is preferable. Stanza 22. The remainder of the hymn is prose in the style of the Brahma/zas. The stanza is rubricated along with a number of others at Kauy. 15, 11 : the king and his charioteer are made to step upon the war-chariot, preparatory to battle. The renderings are necessarily problematic, owing to want of knowledge of the real properties of the chariot (cf. Zimmer, p. 251): the pakshasi which are compared with heaven and earth are themselves equal to rodasi, ' the two hemispheres,' an allusion doubtless intentional. For pari- rathyam I have followed Nilaka/zMa's gloss to parirathya, Mahabh. VIII, 1487, a very reasonable rendering. Ludwig, ' wagenrand.' Stanza 24. Cf. Kaui*. 16, 18-20 in the introduction above.
3rodasi, ' the two hemispheres,' an allusion doubtless intentional. For pari- rathyam I have followed Nilaka/zMa's gloss to parirathya, Mahabh. VIII, 1487, a very reasonable rendering. Ludwig, ' wagenrand.' Stanza 24. Cf. Kaui*. 16, 18-20 in the introduction above. From the time of RV. X, 85, 28 onwards * blue and red ' are magic colours. At Ykg. S. XVI, 47 ; Maitr. S. II, 9, 9 ; Tait. S. IV, 5, 10, 1, they are the colours of Rudra. Cf. AV. IV, 17, 4; the introduction to VII, 116; Kauj. 32, 17; 40,4; 48, 40 ; 83, 4. See also the passages quoted by Winternitz, Das Altindische Hochzeitsrituell, p. 67, and especially Baudhayana's (I, 8) implied explanation of the two colours as representations of night and day, which prob- ably forms the true basis of the conception. IX, 1. Commentary to page 229. The drink called madhu, 'honey/ is associated from earliest times with the cult of the Ai'vins \ and a more specific conception endows them with a honey-lash (ma- dhumati kaj-a or madhuka^a), which instils sweetness, food, and strength into the sacrifice and into men. The allu- 1 See Hillebrandt, Soma und verwandte Gotter, p. 239 if. Cf. also the madhubrahmaraam (madhukaWa, madhuvidya), imparted to the A^vins by Dadhya^ : Sat. Br. IV, 1, 5, 18 ; XIV, 1, 1, 18 ff. ; 5, 5, 17 ff. ; Ind. Stud. I, 290; Sacred Books, XII, p. xxxiv. 588 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. sions of the Rig-veda and the Srauta- literature to this hoaey-lash are of the incidental sort ; neither the texts nor the commentaries elucidate the point in any way. The Atharvan, however, devotes to it an independent effort *, and that too in the cosmogonic-theosophic style of mock profundity, which allows the writer to attribute to the honey-whip creative and sustaining power, and places men in the attitude of deeply speculative reverence towards it. The apotheosis of the honey-lash resembles therefore that of the ukkkishtdi, AV. XI, 7 (cf. the introduction there), or the manipulation in the Brahma^as of specific features of the sacrifice or sacrificial implements as divine beings. The mythic or realistic background of the honey-lash is not at all manifest. The Pet. Lex., under madhuka^a, suggests some implement with which the honey was beaten at the sacrifice, but the very slender use of the honey in the ritual (cf. Hillebrandt, I.e., 241) fails to reveal either the act or the occasion. Henry, Les livres VIII et IX de l'Atharva-veda, p.
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.
1as 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. Professor Henry proposes to eliminate ^atam x and dasyunam, leaving per- fect metre. Unfortunately such corrections suggest them- 1 The word does not appear in the quotation of the stanza, Muir, I.e., p. 87. VIII, 8. COMMENTARY. 585 selves so frequently as to render one another nugatory. An uneasy sense is left that we all know how to make better verse-lines than those that have somehow got to be in vogue among the Atharvan writers ; carried out to its full consequences this would eliminate one of the more marked peculiarities that render the Atharvan what it is. Doubtless the present translator has at times fallen into the same error. Stanza 11. Cf. XI, 2, 19, where the matyam is also Bhava's weapon. Ludwig, here, 'entschluss (satyam?)' but at XI, 2, 19 (P- 55°) ' erfmdung.' Stanza 12. For the Sadhyas, see Weber, Indische Studien, IX, 6 ff. ; Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, I2, io, note. Stanzas 14, 15. The first hemistich of st. 14 is repeated at XI, 9, 24 ; see the note there. With it goes 15 a, b, as the second hemistich of XI, g, 24. The phrases are formulaic, being worked over into prose form at Kaui". 73, 5. In 15 b the pu/zya^ana^ are the sukri'ta^, ' pious deceased,' who enjoy themselves with Yama and the Fathers. Cf. Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XVI, 27. Stanza 16. d. The meaning of ku/am is not altogether certain. The Pet. Lexs., Ludwig, and Henry, 'horn;' this is unlikely because of Kaay. 16, 16: horns of a^vattha-wood would be very strange. Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 139, ren- ders it by trap, which is tempting on account of the seem- ing parallelism of the two halves of the stanza. This is the rendering I had in mind in the treatment of the expression a^vatthani ku/ani in Kauj\ 16, 16. Darila says unintel- ligibly, kufam khadanam, and my comparison of the word khada (according to Darila at Kaiu. 38, 7 = svabhava^a/^ garta/z, 'a natural cavity') was undertaken in the belief that the word meant something like ' pitfall.' But now 586 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. I prefer to rely upon the expression, tasya na ku/ena praghnanti in 5at. Br. Ill, 8, 1, 15 (cf. also Ait. Br. VI, 24, 12), rather than the general parallelism. Cf. Contri- butions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deustch. Morgenl. Ge- sellsch. XLVIII, 546 ff. Stanza 17. c. The Pet. Lexs.
2the expression, tasya na ku/ena praghnanti in 5at. Br. Ill, 8, 1, 15 (cf. also Ait. Br. VI, 24, 12), rather than the general parallelism. Cf. Contri- butions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deustch. Morgenl. Ge- sellsch. XLVIII, 546 ff. Stanza 17. c. The Pet. Lexs. take pr/^nibahu^ as an independent noun, ' a certain mythical being.' But fanciful colours are attributed with great predilection to Rudra and all his forms (see the introduction to XI, 2). Cf. the epithet 'gold-armed' in the 6atarudriya, Va£\ S. XVI, 17, and in general Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV2, p. 322 ff. I have taken the word with jarva (nominative with voca- tive) : cf. RV. IV, 50, 10. Stanza 18. a. For osham of the edition the MSS. present asham. In the Index Verborum, p. 383, 1. 1, the word is still further corrected to osham, 'quickly.' This leaves the genitive mrztyor without governing word, and we have supplied ' fetter,' according to well-known parallels (mrztyor param ?). One may also think of osham in the sense of * fire, agony ' (of death). c. Our translation of akshu is little more than a guess. It seems hard to acquiesce in Geldner's proposition (endorsed by Henry), Vedische Studien, I, 136, that akshu means ' pole' (cf. sts. 5, 12), as long as this involves a 'thousand- eyed pole' in AV. IX, 3, 8 (see the note there). However salient a pole may be in the construction of a house, the epithet sahasraksha is decidedly far-fetched. Further, we should expect the reverse order in the compound (^alakshu), since the poles are accessory in their role of supporters of the net 1. Non liquet. Stanza 21. The second hemistich recurs at VI, 32, 3 (see the note there); cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 181. Perhaps 1 The word is not mentioned in Goldstucker's Sanskrit Lexicon. IX, I. COMMENTARY. 587 Ludwig's simple rendering of ^/zataram, ' der sie kennt,' is preferable. Stanza 22. The remainder of the hymn is prose in the style of the Brahma/zas. The stanza is rubricated along with a number of others at Kauy. 15, 11 : the king and his charioteer are made to step upon the war-chariot, preparatory to battle. The renderings are necessarily problematic, owing to want of knowledge of the real properties of the chariot (cf. Zimmer, p. 251): the pakshasi which are compared with heaven and earth are themselves equal to rodasi, ' the two hemispheres,' an allusion doubtless intentional. For pari- rathyam I have followed Nilaka/zMa's gloss to parirathya, Mahabh. VIII, 1487, a very reasonable rendering. Ludwig, ' wagenrand.' Stanza 24. Cf. Kaui*. 16, 18-20 in the introduction above.
3rodasi, ' the two hemispheres,' an allusion doubtless intentional. For pari- rathyam I have followed Nilaka/zMa's gloss to parirathya, Mahabh. VIII, 1487, a very reasonable rendering. Ludwig, ' wagenrand.' Stanza 24. Cf. Kaui*. 16, 18-20 in the introduction above. From the time of RV. X, 85, 28 onwards * blue and red ' are magic colours. At Ykg. S. XVI, 47 ; Maitr. S. II, 9, 9 ; Tait. S. IV, 5, 10, 1, they are the colours of Rudra. Cf. AV. IV, 17, 4; the introduction to VII, 116; Kauj. 32, 17; 40,4; 48, 40 ; 83, 4. See also the passages quoted by Winternitz, Das Altindische Hochzeitsrituell, p. 67, and especially Baudhayana's (I, 8) implied explanation of the two colours as representations of night and day, which prob- ably forms the true basis of the conception. IX, 1. Commentary to page 229. The drink called madhu, 'honey/ is associated from earliest times with the cult of the Ai'vins \ and a more specific conception endows them with a honey-lash (ma- dhumati kaj-a or madhuka^a), which instils sweetness, food, and strength into the sacrifice and into men. The allu- 1 See Hillebrandt, Soma und verwandte Gotter, p. 239 if. Cf. also the madhubrahmaraam (madhukaWa, madhuvidya), imparted to the A^vins by Dadhya^ : Sat. Br. IV, 1, 5, 18 ; XIV, 1, 1, 18 ff. ; 5, 5, 17 ff. ; Ind. Stud. I, 290; Sacred Books, XII, p. xxxiv. 588 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. sions of the Rig-veda and the Srauta- literature to this hoaey-lash are of the incidental sort ; neither the texts nor the commentaries elucidate the point in any way. The Atharvan, however, devotes to it an independent effort *, and that too in the cosmogonic-theosophic style of mock profundity, which allows the writer to attribute to the honey-whip creative and sustaining power, and places men in the attitude of deeply speculative reverence towards it. The apotheosis of the honey-lash resembles therefore that of the ukkkishtdi, AV. XI, 7 (cf. the introduction there), or the manipulation in the Brahma^as of specific features of the sacrifice or sacrificial implements as divine beings. The mythic or realistic background of the honey-lash is not at all manifest. The Pet. Lex., under madhuka^a, suggests some implement with which the honey was beaten at the sacrifice, but the very slender use of the honey in the ritual (cf. Hillebrandt, I.e., 241) fails to reveal either the act or the occasion. Henry, Les livres VIII et IX de l'Atharva-veda, p.
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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