Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1stand with the sacred cord suspended from the right shoulder (pra/£inopavita), saying, ' O Pra^apati, watch over me ! ' The creatures (pra^a/z) watch over him, Pra^apati watches over him, that knoweth thus. EXTRACTS FROM THE RITUAL TEXTS AND COMMENTARY. I, 2. Commentary to page 8. The ritual application of this hymn is a twofold one. It is employed as a medical charm and, again, as a battle-charm, owing to the belief that certain diseases are inflicted upon mortals by the arrows of Par^anya, a belief which intro- duces into the context a large number of words redolent of battle, as well as some designations of diseases. Cf. with this the double treatment, e.g., of AV. I, 12. As a battle- charm the present hymn figures in Kaui*. 14, 7 in a lengthy list (ga/za) of hymns called sa/^gramikam (or apara^itaga^a) ; this list is employed in connection with warlike practices in the subsequent Sutras (14, 8-13, and more especially Sutra 13). Still more secondarily, the entire list (apara^*ita) is employed in Ka.us. 139, 7, along with certain other ga^as, at the ceremonies connected with the beginning of the study of the Veda (upakarma)1. Cf. also the 5&ntikalpa 17 and 18 2. In its medicinal construction the hymn is a charm against diarrhoea, being followed by AV. I, 3, a charm against dis- eases of the opposite character, constipation and retention of urine. It is handled in this sense at Kam\ 25, 6-9, along with AV. II, 3, in a practice which, according to Darila, is directed against diarrhoea (atisara) ; Ke^ava and Saya^a construe it more broadly as against fever, diarrhoea, exces- 1 See the introduction to VI, 97. 2 Quoted erroneously by Sayaraa as the Nakshatrakalpa. 234 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. sive urine, and even flow of blood, i.e. against excessive or unnatural flows from the body in general. The practices are as follows : 25, 6. c While reciting the two hymns I, 2 and II, 3 the (practising priest) ties the head of a stalk of mu«g*a-reed (saccharum munja) with a cord (made from the same plant, as an amulet, upon the patient *). 7. Having ground up a natural lump of earth, and earth from an ant-mound2, he gives (a solution of this to the patient) to drink. 8. He smears him with ghee. 9. He blows upon (the rectum of the patient 3).' The hymn has been translated and analysed by Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, pp. 394-5 ; and the present writer, in ' Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda,' Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, pp. 467-9. Cf. also Florenz in Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XIV, pp. 178 ff.
2of the patient 3).' The hymn has been translated and analysed by Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, pp. 394-5 ; and the present writer, in ' Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda,' Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, pp. 467-9. Cf. also Florenz in Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XIV, pp. 178 ff. ; and, as a specimen of an interpretation which assumes that no Vedic passage has previously been correctly understood, Regnaud, L'Atharva-Wda et la methode d'interpretation de M. Bloomfield, pp. 8-10. Stanza 1. a. Par^-anya is the god of rain (hence his epithet bhuri- dhayas), and his outpourings upon the earth seem to be compared with a shower of arrows ; hence in RV. VI, 75, 15 the arrow is said to come from the semen of Patg-anya (par^anyaretasa ishvai). Possibly, however, the arrow is Par^anya's child, because arrow-reeds (.yara) grow in conse- quence of the rain. It seems further that the discharges from the body are compared with Parg-anya's rain, and are therefore under his control ; cf. I, 3, 1 below. Hence the 1 The passage in brackets is derived from the Commentaries. 2 For the role of the ant-mound, see the note on II, 3, 4, and more especially VI, 100. 8 So according to Darila, apane dhamati ; Kcrava and Saya#a, in accordance with their more liberal construction, cause the blow- ing to be performed upon the particular opening in the body from which the excessive discharge flows (Saya^a, apana^wnana^ivrawa- mukhanam dhamanam). For apana, a euphemism for ' rectum/ see Kaurika, Introduction, p. lv, bottom. I, 3. COMMENTARY. 235 double construction of this hymn as a battle-charm, and as a remedy against excessive discharges. — For the knowledge which imparts power and control, cf. VII, 12, 2 ; 76, 5, and elsewhere. Also Sat. Br. IX, 1, 1, 17, * no damage comes from him who has been recognised and addressed.' b. The earth as mother of the plants yields the shafts for the arrows. Stanza 2. a. Weber's translation ' Bogenschnur ! schlinge dich um uns/ is not in accordance with the quotable uses of the verb pari nam. Sayana, quite correctly, asman paraVztya . . . mam vihaya anyatra saram preraya. Cf. II, 13, 4b ; Tait. S. IV, 6, 6, 4. e. Saya^a, who throughout this hymn identifies Varga- nya and Indra (cf. Biihler, Orient und Occident, I, p. 229 ; Bergaigne, III, p. 35), refers v\d\xk to Indra. But it refers to the bowstring; cf. vi^u ayudha, RV. I, 39, 2\ and similarly, RV. VI, 47, 26. Stanza 3. a. Literally, ' when the cows embracing the tree.' The singular or plural of the stem go for ' sinew,' and some word for tree in the sense of 'bow,' occur also RV.
3to the bowstring; cf. vi^u ayudha, RV. I, 39, 2\ and similarly, RV. VI, 47, 26. Stanza 3. a. Literally, ' when the cows embracing the tree.' The singular or plural of the stem go for ' sinew,' and some word for tree in the sense of 'bow,' occur also RV. VI, 47, 26; 75, II; X, 27, 22. b. Saya/?a, anusphura^ pratisphura/za;^, sphur samka- lane . . . ar^anti . . . prerayanti. Stanza 4. d. Cf. with this the tying of the amulet in the practices of the Sutra. Saya/za, mu^eshika-nirmita ra^u^. Cf. the introduction to I, 12. I, 3. Commentary to page io. The Kau^ika prescribes this hymn against retention of urine and constipation ; the stanzas themselves seem to refer to difficulties in micturation only, and very possibly, the Sutra adds the other feature. The hymn is the pendant 236 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. to I, 2, which aims to obviate the opposite difficulties. The practices in Ka.us. 25, 10-19 are as follows: 10. 'While reciting AV. i, 3 (the practitioner) ties on (as an amulet upon the patient) a substance promoting mictura- tion1. 11. He gives him to drink a solution of earth from a molehill, of putika (a stinking plant, guilandina bonduc), of pulverised, dried pramanda 2, each mixed with (wood-) shavings3. 12. While reciting the last two stanzas of the hymn, he gives him an enema. 13. He makes him take a ride in a vehicle. 14. He shoots off an arrow. 15. He opens the urethra. 16. He probes the bladder4. 17. Having poured twenty-one barley-grains with water into a milk-pail, placing an axe behind (the patient), he pours the water from the grain5 (upon the suffering part). 18. He gives him to drink a decoction of ala Q, lotus-root, and ula7. 19. The same treatment is prescribed for one suffer- ing from constipation.' The performances are in part therapeutic, in part symbolic (the shooting of the arrow). Cf. Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, pp. 364 ff. The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, pp. 395-6. Cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Vedique, p. 130. Stanza 1. Cf. I, 2, 1 above. The expression sativrishnya. refers to the abundant semen (rain) of Par^anya ; cf. especially 1 According to the commentators, haritaki, ' gall-nut/ and kar- pura, ' camphor/ are such substances. 2 Darila, at Kauj. 8, 17, glosses this with induka. 3 The sense and the construction of the long compound in this Sutra are not altogether clear. Cf. Kau^ika, Introduction, p. lxii ff. 4 According to Saya/za, in the introduction, he probes the bladder with a copper instrument. So also Ke^ava.
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.
1stand with the sacred cord suspended from the right shoulder (pra/£inopavita), saying, ' O Pra^apati, watch over me ! ' The creatures (pra^a/z) watch over him, Pra^apati watches over him, that knoweth thus. EXTRACTS FROM THE RITUAL TEXTS AND COMMENTARY. I, 2. Commentary to page 8. The ritual application of this hymn is a twofold one. It is employed as a medical charm and, again, as a battle-charm, owing to the belief that certain diseases are inflicted upon mortals by the arrows of Par^anya, a belief which intro- duces into the context a large number of words redolent of battle, as well as some designations of diseases. Cf. with this the double treatment, e.g., of AV. I, 12. As a battle- charm the present hymn figures in Kaui*. 14, 7 in a lengthy list (ga/za) of hymns called sa/^gramikam (or apara^itaga^a) ; this list is employed in connection with warlike practices in the subsequent Sutras (14, 8-13, and more especially Sutra 13). Still more secondarily, the entire list (apara^*ita) is employed in Ka.us. 139, 7, along with certain other ga^as, at the ceremonies connected with the beginning of the study of the Veda (upakarma)1. Cf. also the 5&ntikalpa 17 and 18 2. In its medicinal construction the hymn is a charm against diarrhoea, being followed by AV. I, 3, a charm against dis- eases of the opposite character, constipation and retention of urine. It is handled in this sense at Kam\ 25, 6-9, along with AV. II, 3, in a practice which, according to Darila, is directed against diarrhoea (atisara) ; Ke^ava and Saya^a construe it more broadly as against fever, diarrhoea, exces- 1 See the introduction to VI, 97. 2 Quoted erroneously by Sayaraa as the Nakshatrakalpa. 234 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. sive urine, and even flow of blood, i.e. against excessive or unnatural flows from the body in general. The practices are as follows : 25, 6. c While reciting the two hymns I, 2 and II, 3 the (practising priest) ties the head of a stalk of mu«g*a-reed (saccharum munja) with a cord (made from the same plant, as an amulet, upon the patient *). 7. Having ground up a natural lump of earth, and earth from an ant-mound2, he gives (a solution of this to the patient) to drink. 8. He smears him with ghee. 9. He blows upon (the rectum of the patient 3).' The hymn has been translated and analysed by Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, pp. 394-5 ; and the present writer, in ' Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda,' Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, pp. 467-9. Cf. also Florenz in Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XIV, pp. 178 ff.
2of the patient 3).' The hymn has been translated and analysed by Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, pp. 394-5 ; and the present writer, in ' Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda,' Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, pp. 467-9. Cf. also Florenz in Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XIV, pp. 178 ff. ; and, as a specimen of an interpretation which assumes that no Vedic passage has previously been correctly understood, Regnaud, L'Atharva-Wda et la methode d'interpretation de M. Bloomfield, pp. 8-10. Stanza 1. a. Par^-anya is the god of rain (hence his epithet bhuri- dhayas), and his outpourings upon the earth seem to be compared with a shower of arrows ; hence in RV. VI, 75, 15 the arrow is said to come from the semen of Patg-anya (par^anyaretasa ishvai). Possibly, however, the arrow is Par^anya's child, because arrow-reeds (.yara) grow in conse- quence of the rain. It seems further that the discharges from the body are compared with Parg-anya's rain, and are therefore under his control ; cf. I, 3, 1 below. Hence the 1 The passage in brackets is derived from the Commentaries. 2 For the role of the ant-mound, see the note on II, 3, 4, and more especially VI, 100. 8 So according to Darila, apane dhamati ; Kcrava and Saya#a, in accordance with their more liberal construction, cause the blow- ing to be performed upon the particular opening in the body from which the excessive discharge flows (Saya^a, apana^wnana^ivrawa- mukhanam dhamanam). For apana, a euphemism for ' rectum/ see Kaurika, Introduction, p. lv, bottom. I, 3. COMMENTARY. 235 double construction of this hymn as a battle-charm, and as a remedy against excessive discharges. — For the knowledge which imparts power and control, cf. VII, 12, 2 ; 76, 5, and elsewhere. Also Sat. Br. IX, 1, 1, 17, * no damage comes from him who has been recognised and addressed.' b. The earth as mother of the plants yields the shafts for the arrows. Stanza 2. a. Weber's translation ' Bogenschnur ! schlinge dich um uns/ is not in accordance with the quotable uses of the verb pari nam. Sayana, quite correctly, asman paraVztya . . . mam vihaya anyatra saram preraya. Cf. II, 13, 4b ; Tait. S. IV, 6, 6, 4. e. Saya^a, who throughout this hymn identifies Varga- nya and Indra (cf. Biihler, Orient und Occident, I, p. 229 ; Bergaigne, III, p. 35), refers v\d\xk to Indra. But it refers to the bowstring; cf. vi^u ayudha, RV. I, 39, 2\ and similarly, RV. VI, 47, 26. Stanza 3. a. Literally, ' when the cows embracing the tree.' The singular or plural of the stem go for ' sinew,' and some word for tree in the sense of 'bow,' occur also RV.
3to the bowstring; cf. vi^u ayudha, RV. I, 39, 2\ and similarly, RV. VI, 47, 26. Stanza 3. a. Literally, ' when the cows embracing the tree.' The singular or plural of the stem go for ' sinew,' and some word for tree in the sense of 'bow,' occur also RV. VI, 47, 26; 75, II; X, 27, 22. b. Saya/?a, anusphura^ pratisphura/za;^, sphur samka- lane . . . ar^anti . . . prerayanti. Stanza 4. d. Cf. with this the tying of the amulet in the practices of the Sutra. Saya/za, mu^eshika-nirmita ra^u^. Cf. the introduction to I, 12. I, 3. Commentary to page io. The Kau^ika prescribes this hymn against retention of urine and constipation ; the stanzas themselves seem to refer to difficulties in micturation only, and very possibly, the Sutra adds the other feature. The hymn is the pendant 236 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. to I, 2, which aims to obviate the opposite difficulties. The practices in Ka.us. 25, 10-19 are as follows: 10. 'While reciting AV. i, 3 (the practitioner) ties on (as an amulet upon the patient) a substance promoting mictura- tion1. 11. He gives him to drink a solution of earth from a molehill, of putika (a stinking plant, guilandina bonduc), of pulverised, dried pramanda 2, each mixed with (wood-) shavings3. 12. While reciting the last two stanzas of the hymn, he gives him an enema. 13. He makes him take a ride in a vehicle. 14. He shoots off an arrow. 15. He opens the urethra. 16. He probes the bladder4. 17. Having poured twenty-one barley-grains with water into a milk-pail, placing an axe behind (the patient), he pours the water from the grain5 (upon the suffering part). 18. He gives him to drink a decoction of ala Q, lotus-root, and ula7. 19. The same treatment is prescribed for one suffer- ing from constipation.' The performances are in part therapeutic, in part symbolic (the shooting of the arrow). Cf. Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, pp. 364 ff. The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, pp. 395-6. Cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Vedique, p. 130. Stanza 1. Cf. I, 2, 1 above. The expression sativrishnya. refers to the abundant semen (rain) of Par^anya ; cf. especially 1 According to the commentators, haritaki, ' gall-nut/ and kar- pura, ' camphor/ are such substances. 2 Darila, at Kauj. 8, 17, glosses this with induka. 3 The sense and the construction of the long compound in this Sutra are not altogether clear. Cf. Kau^ika, Introduction, p. lxii ff. 4 According to Saya/za, in the introduction, he probes the bladder with a copper instrument. So also Ke^ava.
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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