Hymns of the Atharva-Veda — SBE Vol. 42 (Clarendon Press, 1897) — second scan

Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.

1ra^ayate, cf. vi^avati pra^avati in stanzas 13, 14. Stanza 21. Ludwig here, as in st. 4, translates paksha by ' room : ' 'das zweizimmerig, vierzimmerig, &c. gebauet wird;' the Pet. Lex., Zimmer, and Grill, ' pfosten.' But see the note on st. 4, and cf. Kaur. 135, 9 (p. 287, 1. 5), ash/asthu?/o dai-apaksha/^, showing that paksha and struma cannot both mean ' pillar, post.' The exact meaning of the word is after all not clear. Cf. Henry's note on the passage. c. For agnfr garbhe, see Contributions, Fifth Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XVI, pp. 15, 16. 600 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. Stanza 22. The expressions ' turned towards ' imply friendly recep- tion on the part of the house, and eagerness on the part of the future possessor ; hence at Kauj. 66, 2,5 the house is entered along with water and fire. Cf. Ill, 12, 8, and Kau^. 43, 10. d. The waters and Agni are the door of the order, or the law of the universe, i. e. they are the primal elements. Hence Agni is styled frequently r/tasya prathama^a/*, rz'tasya garbha^ ; rztasya dhurshad ; see Grassmann's Lexi- con, under rztasya. Stanza 23. Is identical with AV. Ill, 12, 9; see the note on the passage. Stanza 24. According to Kau^. 66, 30 the house is actually carried off at this stage; the stanza offers especial security that Kaiuika construes the hymn aright. Cf. with his construc- tion the rather forced interpretations of Grill, p. 192, and Henry, p. 128. IX, 8. Commentary to page 45. This is a charm against diseases in general (sarvabhai- sha^yam), without indication as to remedies, either in the form of drugs, or talismans. At Kaui\ 32, 18. 19 the patient is taken hold of while the hymn is being recited. During the recital of the last two stanzas the sun is faced reverently. According to Saya/za at II, ^ the hymn is a member of the a;^holingaga^a, ' a series designed to drive away distress ; ' see the introduction to II, ^. The hymn has been translated by Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 378 ff. ; Henry, Les livres VIII et IX de l'Atharva- veda, pp. 1 05, 141 ff. Stanza 1. For vilohita, see the note on XII, 4,4; for kar/zajula, Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 287, and the introduc- tion to VI, 90. IX, 8. COMMENTARY. 6oi Stanza 2. karikusha is a air. Aey. of unknown meaning. For visa- lyaka, cf. sts. 5, 20, and VI, 127, 1. 3 ; XIX, 44, 2. In the last two hymns, and in the present hymn, Shankar Pandit reads visalpaka^ ; Saya/za at VI, 127, visalpaka// ; at XIX, 44, 2, visarpaka/& (vividhaw sara^a^ilo vra/zavi^esha/^, ' a run- ning wound'). See Zimmer, p.

25, 20, and VI, 127, 1. 3 ; XIX, 44, 2. In the last two hymns, and in the present hymn, Shankar Pandit reads visalpaka^ ; Saya/za at VI, 127, visalpaka// ; at XIX, 44, 2, visarpaka/& (vividhaw sara^a^ilo vra/zavi^esha/^, ' a run- ning wound'). See Zimmer, p. 386 ; and cf. Wise, p. 414. Stanza 4. The rendering of pramota (air. Aey.) is Zimmer's con- jecture. It may be rendered ' dumb ' with equal propriety and equal uncertainty. Cf. Sk. muka, Lat. mutus. The Pet. Lex., * eine bestimmte krankheit.' All renderings are based upon the suggestion of the passage itself. Stanzas 6-8. For udvepayati, cf. V, 22, 7. 10 ; for vuvirarada, cf. XIX, 34, 10 ; for gavihike, I, 3, 6 ; for balasa, V, 22, 1 1. In st. 7 c antar angebhyo is suspicious, as is also antar atmano in st. 9 c. Both are probably to be emended to antarangebhyo and antaratmano (or possibly with oxytonesis, cf. Whitney, Sk. Gr.2, § 1289). Accordingly our translation. Stanza 9. For a-pva, ' impurity ' (par excellence), ' diarrhoea/ cf. the note on the goddess Apva in III, 2, 5 ; for antar atmano, the note on antar angebhyo in st. 7 c. Stanza 11. Pada a is directly joined in sense to 10 b: the bilam is identical with vastibilam, ' opening of the bladder/ in 1,3,8. The plain sense is that disease shall pass off in the form of urine from the bladder, in the form of faeces from the belly. Stanza 19. The word madayanti (not madayanti ; cf. pataya-, ' fall : ' pataya-, ' fell ') is not altogether clear. Perhaps c madden ' 602 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. is nearer the truth. Bohtlingk, ' betauben ; ' Zimmer, ' lah- men.' Cf. the root ram in its two meanings of ' delight ' and ' rest.' Stanza 20. For vidradha, cf. Grohmann, Indische Studien, IX, 397 ; Zimmer, p. 386, and Wise, pp. 210, 284, 288, 362 ; for vati- kara, see Contributions, Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, 427 ; the notes on VI, 44, 3 ; 109, 3, and the introduc- tion to 1, 12 ; for akg-i (Wise, p. 296, alaghi x), see Zimmer, p. 390. Henry's bala^i is scarcely due to oversight : he seems to have in mind some children's disease, bala-^i. Stanza 21. For ush/n'habhya//, see the note on II, ^} 2. Stanza 22. For vidhii, ' beat,5 cf. vidhukranta, a designation of a cer- tain musical bar. For the second hemistich, cf. the note on X, 1. Commentary to page 72. This hymn belongs to the class called kr/tyapratihara;^ani, a series of hymns * which repel sorceries or spells,' assembled in the list at Kau^. 39, 7. The practices associated with this group of hymns, Kaui*. 39, 7-12, are obscure.

31. Commentary to page 72. This hymn belongs to the class called kr/tyapratihara;^ani, a series of hymns * which repel sorceries or spells,' assembled in the list at Kau^. 39, 7. The practices associated with this group of hymns, Kaui*. 39, 7-12, are obscure. They begin with ' the pouring of the great consecration ' (see the introduction to IV, 17). The performer then takes the holy water obtained by the ' great consecration,' and at night takes off his shoes, puts on a turban, and proceeds to the place where the spell is supposed to have been in- stituted, sprinkling the holy water as he goes. A formula is recited indicating that the holy water is sprinkled for certain female personifications of holiness and beneficence (yatayai, &c, Kaui*. 39, 9). If no spell is found he casts away (the materials with which he is performing 2 ?). The 1 Cf. also andhalag-i, Pet. Lex. and Wise, p. 412. 2 The holy water, or the turban ? Darila, sa/^skarawam apa- kshepa^. X, I. COMMENTARY. 603 next Sutra (11) is obscure; cf. the note on V, 14, 9. For Sutra 12, see Kaiuy. 35, 28 in the introduction to III, 25. Various single stanzas and Padas of the hymn (20 c ; 2 1 c, d ; 25 ; 32) are employed in other phases of witchcraft in Kaos*. 39 ; see the index. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 520 ff. Cf. the closely related hymn V, 31. Stanza 1. The spell is in the nature of some terrifying, evil-working figure (bugbear, bogey, bogle ; German popanz), not merely a magical rite. See the performances in the Sutra, above. Stanza 6. The first hemistich is not easy to render, owing to the plays upon the words, and their ad hoc personifications. It might be rendered, ' Prati^ina (" Back-hurler ") is our magic priest (angirasa), Adhyaksha (" Overseer ") our officiator.' The word angirasa at any rate implies an allusion to that use of the word which couples it especially with witchcraft, and contrasts it with holy practices (athar- va/za, ^anta) : see the introduction to this volume ; the note on XI, 4, 16 ; and cf. VIII, 5, 9. Note also the pun between kritya(/i) and akr/tya, and cf. V, 8, 7. Stanza 8. Cf. IV, 12, 7. Here, as there, rz'bhii may be either appel- lative, or refer to the mythic JZibhu. Stanza 10. a. The image of things floating down a river is employed with great predilection to indicate loss of power, harmless- ness : e.g. I, 8, 1 ; VI, 113, 2 ; X, 4, 3. Stanza 11.

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.