Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1uka^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. 115, assumes 'an evident allegory of the lightning which whips the clouds and produces the rain/ This in itself very reasonable explanation is pro- blematic because the whip belongs to A^vins, and their connection with natural phenomena of this sort does not accord with their character in general. And yet, certain allusions in the first ten stanzas of this hymn (cf. especially stanzas 10 and 20) seem to lend support to a construction not very far removed from this. At RV. V, 83, 3 Par- £*anya sends his rain-messengers, as a charioteer who whips his horses with the lash. The patter and the streaming down of the rain (honey) may have suggested the compari- son with the lash2. Bergaigne, La Religion Vedique, II, 1 Cf. RV. IX, ii, 2, where it is stated that the Atharvans mixed milk with honey. 2 Yaska's Nigha/z/avas exhibit ka^a among the words for voice (vak); cf. Nirukta IX, 19. Saya^a at RV. I, 157, 4 has rain distinctly in his mind, but rather in reference to the word madhu- matya (madhu, udakanama, Nigh. I, 12) than the word ka.ra. Oldenberg, Die Religion des Veda, p. 209, note, denies this con- IX, I. COMMENTARY. 589 433, has collected a sufficient number of passages in which the A sv'ms set the waters in motion, and cause the heavenly- rivers to flow : madhuka^a may therefore amount simply to ' the honey (the water) that lashes.' In the Atharvan ritual the hymn is known as the madhu- suktam, ' honey-hymn.' Under this designation it is em- ployed while mixing honey with milk in the course of the agnish/oma (Vait. Su. 16, 12). In the Kau^ika and the sub- sidiary texts the hymn is simply a var^asyam (sc. suktam), 'designed to bestow lustre' (cf. sts. 11-14, 16, 17); see Kaui". io, 24 ; 12,15; 13, 6, and the second var/£asyaga/za of the Ga;/amala, Ath. Parii*. 32, 27 (Kau^. 12, 10, note). Stanza 4. d. The great embryo which is mentioned here, and which figures in the sequel, is apparently described in st. 21 as a part of the honey-lash ; in st. 5 the embryo is said to come from the honey- lash. The embryo suggests the lightning (fire\ which seems therefore to be viewed here as a child of the waters, represented by the honey-lash, coinciding thus with the conception of the apa//z napat (cf. Oldenberg, I.e., pp. 99, 118 ff.). But the intolerable mysticism of sts. 5 ff.
2sts the lightning (fire\ which seems therefore to be viewed here as a child of the waters, represented by the honey-lash, coinciding thus with the conception of the apa//z napat (cf. Oldenberg, I.e., pp. 99, 118 ff.). But the intolerable mysticism of sts. 5 ff. leaves everything in doubt. Stanza 6. In Pada b kslasa/i may be thrown out as a gloss which disturbs the metre (^agati). Cf. with Pada c the statement of the use of the madhugraha, 'portion of honey,' which is given to the Brahmans, Katy. Sr. XI, 4, 17. 18 ; see Hille- brandt, Soma, p. 242. Stanza 7. By a characteristic leap of fancy the fluid-yielding lash is now regarded as a milch-cow, and the rhetorical properties usually connected with her ecstatic praise are exploited. For Pada d, cf. XII, 1, 45 ; RV. IV, 42, 10 ; VI, 48, u ; VIII, 69, 10. nection with the moisture of the clouds, and suggests the morning- dew. 590 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. Stanza 8. Cf. AV. IX, 10, 6 = RV. I, 164, 28, and AV. VIII, 9, 13. For the three gharmas (RV. VII, 33, 7), see the discussions of Geldner, Vedische Studien, II, 139 ; Henry, I.e., p. 68. I am disposed to think that there is here at least an allusion to the ritual gharma, either the hot milk, or the pot in which the hot milk is cooked ; cf. Vkg. S. XXXVIII, 6 ff., and Haug, Vedische Rathselfragen, p. 40. Stanza 9. Cf. the interesting formula at lAty. Sy. Ill, 5, 15, . . . pita upatish//£anta apo ye ^akvara ^zsha-bha ye svara^as te arshantu te varshantu te krmvantv isham xxxg&m rayaspo- sha/^ tad videya. The words j-akvara^ and ^vara^as allude incidentally to the groups of saman-stanzas of that name. In Pada d apa^ may possibly be accusative (Whitney, Sanskrit Grammar2, § 393 a), co-ordinated with ui^am. Stanza 10. b. Cf. Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 566. Stanzas 11-13. Rubricated at Vait. Su. 31, 7, together with other formulas (VI, 47 and 48), designed for the three daily pressures of the soma. Cf. in general Bergaigne, Re- cherches sur l'histoire de la liturgie Vedique, Journal Asiatique, vol. xiii (1889) ; Contributions, Fifth Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 3 ff. More secondary is the employment of the stanzas, Ka.us. 139, 15, at the introduc- tion of the pupil to the study of the Vedas, which rests upon the occurrence of the word var^as in the stanzas. Cf. the first var>£asyaga/za in the Ga/^amala, Ath. Parij. 33, 10 (Kau.y. 13, 1, note). Stanza 14. For va^^ishiya, read va^sishiya with Whitney, Index Verborum; cf. Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1886 (Journ., vol. xiii, p. cxviii).
3of the word var^as in the stanzas. Cf. the first var>£asyaga/za in the Ga/^amala, Ath. Parij. 33, 10 (Kau.y. 13, 1, note). Stanza 14. For va^^ishiya, read va^sishiya with Whitney, Index Verborum; cf. Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1886 (Journ., vol. xiii, p. cxviii). IX, 2. COMMENTARY. 59 1 Stanza 15. Identical with RV. I, 23, 24 ; AV. VII, 89, 2 ; X, 5, 47. Stanza 18. Cf. XIV, ], 35, and Hillebrandt, Soma, p. 251. In Vait. Su. 30, 13, the stanza figures at the sautrama/zi-rite, as is suggested by the presence of the word sura. Cf. Contri- butions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 148 ff. ; Oldenberg, Nachrichten der Gottingischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, 1893, p. 342 ff. Stanza 19. Repeated almost identically at VI, 69, 2 ; cf. Hillebrandt, I.e., p. 240. Stanza 20. c, d. In Pada b divi seems to stand secondarily for adhi in st. 10. At any rate tarn in Pada c and sa in d seem to refer to bhumyam in b. Very differently Henry in his note. Stanza 21. This and the following sections are written in Brahma/za- prose. The present stanza seems to contain a mystic correlation of the parts of the lash with cosmic forces, all of which are obscure. For the embryo, cf. the note on st. 4. Here garbha, ' embryo/ seems to be a part of a real whip. IX, 2. Commentary to page 220. In the cosmogonic hymn, RV. X, 129, 4 = AV. XIX, 52, 1, desire (kama) is said to have been 'the first seed (product) of the mind/ which came from ' the one' after it had sprung into existence through creative fervour (tapas). In the philosophical hymns of the Atharvan, and in the disquisitions of the Upanishads, this Kama, the creative desire (not sexual love, as in AV. Ill, 25), takes a place among the very numerous primeval cosmic forces, and appears as one form of the tentative monotheistic per- 592 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. sonifications of primeval force ; it then does not differ materially from ' the one ' (ekam), ' the being ' (sat), and the more vigorously personalised Brahma, Pra^apati, Vi^va- karman, Svaya^bhu, &c. The Greek mythology similarly connects Eros, the god of love, with the creation of the universe ; see Plato's Symposium 6. Of such hymns the Atharvan has two, XIX, 52, in addition to the present. Cf. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, p. 402 ff. ; Scherman, Philosophische Hymnen, p. 76 ff. The personification of Kama as a supreme being suggests very quickly his power to protect those who worship him, and to destroy the enemies of the worshipper.
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.
1uka^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. 115, assumes 'an evident allegory of the lightning which whips the clouds and produces the rain/ This in itself very reasonable explanation is pro- blematic because the whip belongs to A^vins, and their connection with natural phenomena of this sort does not accord with their character in general. And yet, certain allusions in the first ten stanzas of this hymn (cf. especially stanzas 10 and 20) seem to lend support to a construction not very far removed from this. At RV. V, 83, 3 Par- £*anya sends his rain-messengers, as a charioteer who whips his horses with the lash. The patter and the streaming down of the rain (honey) may have suggested the compari- son with the lash2. Bergaigne, La Religion Vedique, II, 1 Cf. RV. IX, ii, 2, where it is stated that the Atharvans mixed milk with honey. 2 Yaska's Nigha/z/avas exhibit ka^a among the words for voice (vak); cf. Nirukta IX, 19. Saya^a at RV. I, 157, 4 has rain distinctly in his mind, but rather in reference to the word madhu- matya (madhu, udakanama, Nigh. I, 12) than the word ka.ra. Oldenberg, Die Religion des Veda, p. 209, note, denies this con- IX, I. COMMENTARY. 589 433, has collected a sufficient number of passages in which the A sv'ms set the waters in motion, and cause the heavenly- rivers to flow : madhuka^a may therefore amount simply to ' the honey (the water) that lashes.' In the Atharvan ritual the hymn is known as the madhu- suktam, ' honey-hymn.' Under this designation it is em- ployed while mixing honey with milk in the course of the agnish/oma (Vait. Su. 16, 12). In the Kau^ika and the sub- sidiary texts the hymn is simply a var^asyam (sc. suktam), 'designed to bestow lustre' (cf. sts. 11-14, 16, 17); see Kaui". io, 24 ; 12,15; 13, 6, and the second var/£asyaga/za of the Ga;/amala, Ath. Parii*. 32, 27 (Kau^. 12, 10, note). Stanza 4. d. The great embryo which is mentioned here, and which figures in the sequel, is apparently described in st. 21 as a part of the honey-lash ; in st. 5 the embryo is said to come from the honey- lash. The embryo suggests the lightning (fire\ which seems therefore to be viewed here as a child of the waters, represented by the honey-lash, coinciding thus with the conception of the apa//z napat (cf. Oldenberg, I.e., pp. 99, 118 ff.). But the intolerable mysticism of sts. 5 ff.
2sts the lightning (fire\ which seems therefore to be viewed here as a child of the waters, represented by the honey-lash, coinciding thus with the conception of the apa//z napat (cf. Oldenberg, I.e., pp. 99, 118 ff.). But the intolerable mysticism of sts. 5 ff. leaves everything in doubt. Stanza 6. In Pada b kslasa/i may be thrown out as a gloss which disturbs the metre (^agati). Cf. with Pada c the statement of the use of the madhugraha, 'portion of honey,' which is given to the Brahmans, Katy. Sr. XI, 4, 17. 18 ; see Hille- brandt, Soma, p. 242. Stanza 7. By a characteristic leap of fancy the fluid-yielding lash is now regarded as a milch-cow, and the rhetorical properties usually connected with her ecstatic praise are exploited. For Pada d, cf. XII, 1, 45 ; RV. IV, 42, 10 ; VI, 48, u ; VIII, 69, 10. nection with the moisture of the clouds, and suggests the morning- dew. 590 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. Stanza 8. Cf. AV. IX, 10, 6 = RV. I, 164, 28, and AV. VIII, 9, 13. For the three gharmas (RV. VII, 33, 7), see the discussions of Geldner, Vedische Studien, II, 139 ; Henry, I.e., p. 68. I am disposed to think that there is here at least an allusion to the ritual gharma, either the hot milk, or the pot in which the hot milk is cooked ; cf. Vkg. S. XXXVIII, 6 ff., and Haug, Vedische Rathselfragen, p. 40. Stanza 9. Cf. the interesting formula at lAty. Sy. Ill, 5, 15, . . . pita upatish//£anta apo ye ^akvara ^zsha-bha ye svara^as te arshantu te varshantu te krmvantv isham xxxg&m rayaspo- sha/^ tad videya. The words j-akvara^ and ^vara^as allude incidentally to the groups of saman-stanzas of that name. In Pada d apa^ may possibly be accusative (Whitney, Sanskrit Grammar2, § 393 a), co-ordinated with ui^am. Stanza 10. b. Cf. Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 566. Stanzas 11-13. Rubricated at Vait. Su. 31, 7, together with other formulas (VI, 47 and 48), designed for the three daily pressures of the soma. Cf. in general Bergaigne, Re- cherches sur l'histoire de la liturgie Vedique, Journal Asiatique, vol. xiii (1889) ; Contributions, Fifth Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 3 ff. More secondary is the employment of the stanzas, Ka.us. 139, 15, at the introduc- tion of the pupil to the study of the Vedas, which rests upon the occurrence of the word var^as in the stanzas. Cf. the first var>£asyaga/za in the Ga/^amala, Ath. Parij. 33, 10 (Kau.y. 13, 1, note). Stanza 14. For va^^ishiya, read va^sishiya with Whitney, Index Verborum; cf. Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1886 (Journ., vol. xiii, p. cxviii).
3of the word var^as in the stanzas. Cf. the first var>£asyaga/za in the Ga/^amala, Ath. Parij. 33, 10 (Kau.y. 13, 1, note). Stanza 14. For va^^ishiya, read va^sishiya with Whitney, Index Verborum; cf. Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1886 (Journ., vol. xiii, p. cxviii). IX, 2. COMMENTARY. 59 1 Stanza 15. Identical with RV. I, 23, 24 ; AV. VII, 89, 2 ; X, 5, 47. Stanza 18. Cf. XIV, ], 35, and Hillebrandt, Soma, p. 251. In Vait. Su. 30, 13, the stanza figures at the sautrama/zi-rite, as is suggested by the presence of the word sura. Cf. Contri- butions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 148 ff. ; Oldenberg, Nachrichten der Gottingischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, 1893, p. 342 ff. Stanza 19. Repeated almost identically at VI, 69, 2 ; cf. Hillebrandt, I.e., p. 240. Stanza 20. c, d. In Pada b divi seems to stand secondarily for adhi in st. 10. At any rate tarn in Pada c and sa in d seem to refer to bhumyam in b. Very differently Henry in his note. Stanza 21. This and the following sections are written in Brahma/za- prose. The present stanza seems to contain a mystic correlation of the parts of the lash with cosmic forces, all of which are obscure. For the embryo, cf. the note on st. 4. Here garbha, ' embryo/ seems to be a part of a real whip. IX, 2. Commentary to page 220. In the cosmogonic hymn, RV. X, 129, 4 = AV. XIX, 52, 1, desire (kama) is said to have been 'the first seed (product) of the mind/ which came from ' the one' after it had sprung into existence through creative fervour (tapas). In the philosophical hymns of the Atharvan, and in the disquisitions of the Upanishads, this Kama, the creative desire (not sexual love, as in AV. Ill, 25), takes a place among the very numerous primeval cosmic forces, and appears as one form of the tentative monotheistic per- 592 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. sonifications of primeval force ; it then does not differ materially from ' the one ' (ekam), ' the being ' (sat), and the more vigorously personalised Brahma, Pra^apati, Vi^va- karman, Svaya^bhu, &c. The Greek mythology similarly connects Eros, the god of love, with the creation of the universe ; see Plato's Symposium 6. Of such hymns the Atharvan has two, XIX, 52, in addition to the present. Cf. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, p. 402 ff. ; Scherman, Philosophische Hymnen, p. 76 ff. The personification of Kama as a supreme being suggests very quickly his power to protect those who worship him, and to destroy the enemies of the worshipper.
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.