Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1with 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. 5 The text, phalato: this seems to refer to the twenty-one barley-grains. 6 ' Apparently a kind of creeper or weed in grain- fields/ Darila, godhumavyadhi/^ ; Ke^ava, yavagodhfimavalli. See Kaurika, Intro- duction, p. xlvii. 7 Darila, kasturiklraka, ' musk ; ' Kcrava, pavika. I, 7. COMMENTARY. 237 RV. VI, 75, 15. Hence the repetition of the same expres- sion with four other gods is secondary and mechanical. The medicine man wants to make sure that he does not neglect and offend. Saya^a justifies the mention of Mitra and VaruTza by a reference to Tait. S. II, 4, 10, 2 ; of iTandra by saying, asya oshadhuatvat ^arasya pitr/tvena vyapade^a^ ; and of Surya by relying again upon Tait. S. II, 4, 10, z. Stanza 6. a. SayaTza explains gavtnyor by, dntrebhyo vinirgatasya mutrasya mutrlrayapraptisadhane panvadvayasthe na^yau gavinyau ity u^yate. The urethra and the ureter? Cf. the dual gavinyau in Tait. S. Ill, 3, 10, 1 ; and gavinike, AVI, 11,5; IX, 8, 7. b. The majority of the MSS. read sa^irutam ; but one of Shankar Pandit's MSS. has sawsrutam. For the root mi, 'flow/ see Bloomfield and Spieker, Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1886 (Journal, vol. xiii, p. cxx). For years I have had sa/^sritam written as a possible emendation on the margin of my copy of the text, and now Saya^a persis- tently (three times) comments upon the same reading. Stanza 7. b. The MSS. are divided between the readings vartram and vartam. Saya/za comments upon the latter, vartam vartate pravahati ^alam atre*ti varto marga^, and some of the MSS. of Kauj. 25, 16, a Sutra coined with evident reference to this stanza (vartim bibhetti, see the translation above), also read vartam. Darila comments, varta/0 mu- trabilam. I do not feel certain that this is not the correct word for the text : ' like the outlet of a lake.' For vartra, see Tait. S. I, 6, 8, 1 ; Maitr. S. I, 4, to. I, 7. Commentary to page 64. This and the following hymn are directed chiefly against the species of beings called yatudhana, a term which oscil- lates between the meaning ' human sorcerer ' and ' hostile 238 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. demon/ The entire tradition, Sutras and Commentaries, give the word the latter bent, but we can see from RV. V, 12, 2 ; VII, 104, 15, 16, that men might practise yatii, and, therefore, be yatudhana.
2rcerer ' and ' hostile 238 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. demon/ The entire tradition, Sutras and Commentaries, give the word the latter bent, but we can see from RV. V, 12, 2 ; VII, 104, 15, 16, that men might practise yatii, and, therefore, be yatudhana. Both hymns are catalogued in a series (ga#a) called £atana, ' driving away (demons, &c.)/ in Kaui". 8, 35, and the Ga^amala, Ath. Pari.?. 32, 3 (k&- tanaga^a) : for their employment, see Kaujika, Index B, under Htanani, and *Santikalpa 16. With the subject- matter of these hymns cf. in general RV. VII, 104, and III, 30, 14 ff. Both hymns have been rendered by Weber, Indische Studien, IV, 398 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 523 ; cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Vedique, p. 131 ff. Stanza 1. Throughout this and the next hymn Saya^a takes the root stu in its ordinary holy sense of ' praise/ a mistake which leads to the most contorted renderings, and to an utter disregard of grammatical construction, excused by assuming interchanges of inflections (vibhaktivyatyaya). He seems to be shy to attach any sinister sense to the root, or to connect it in any way with evil beings. For kimidin, see the note on IV, 3o, 5. Stanza 2. c. tailasya in the vulgata is an emendation of the MS. reading taulasya (Saya/za, tulavat huyamana-dravyasya). d. vf lapaya, ' make howl/ obviously includes as a double entente the other possible sense of the word ' annihilate/ as causative from the root It. Stanzas 4, 5. A great deal of stress is laid in these hymns upon the confession of the yatudhana himself. Half the battle is won when their true nature is made apparent. Cf. I, 8, 4 and the note on I, 2, 1. Hence the neat difference between the active pra bruhi in 5 b, said of Agni (cf. RV. X, 87, 8 = AV. VIII, 3, 8), and the middle prabruva//a/£ in 5 d, said of the yatudhana. Stanzas $-7 are perhaps of a later I, 9. COMMENTARY. 239 hand, since the hymns of the first book ordinarily present only four stanzas ; cf. the introduction to I, 1 2. I, 8. Commentary to page 65. For the employment of this hymn in the Atharvanic practices, and previous translations, see the introduction to the preceding hymn. Stanza 4. c. In order to obtain a trish/ubh line we may either resolve both ta^s or tvam, or insert £*ahi after tvam. I, 9. Commentary to page 116. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 456, and entitled ra^abhisheke, 'at the coronation of a king.' Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 163, renders it in the same spirit.
3^s or tvam, or insert £*ahi after tvam. I, 9. Commentary to page 116. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 456, and entitled ra^abhisheke, 'at the coronation of a king.' Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 163, renders it in the same spirit. The Kaurika, however, in its descrip- tion of the coronation (chapter 17), does not rubricate this hymn, but rather IV, 8 (cf. also Vait. Su. 36, 7), and the Ga//amala, Ath. Paris'. 32, 30, again only counts IV, 8 as the abhishekaga/za (see Kau^. 17, 1 note). Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 401, entitles it ' Segensspruch fur einen Fiirsten,' but this also seems to be too narrow : the Sutra, advisedly no doubt, employs it in practices designed to confer glory, lustre upon any one at all. At Kaus. 11, 19. 20, the hymn is employed along with I, 35 and V, 28 in a practice designed to make one success- ful (sawpatkarma), to wit : ' an amulet made of a pair of krzsh/zala-berries (abrus precatorius linnaeus) *, which has 1 Or the weight of two krzsh/zala in gold ? All the commentators explain yugmakrzshtfalam as 'gold/ Darila, raktike^ti (see Pet. Lex.) prasiddhabhidhana aya/# k& sauvar#ama#i^ ; Ke^ava, suvanza- ma«i^, hirazzyama/zi^ (here, and at Kaur. 52, 20). Cf. the word hirawya in I, 9, 2 ; 35, 1 ; V, 28, 6. A very similar performance undertaken with the same three hymns is stated at Kaor. 52, 20. 2 1, being a rite which bestows long life (ayushyakarma). See also 24O HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. been steeped (in honey during certain three days, Kauj. 7, 1 9), is tied on. Then a mess of porridge, cooked in the milk of a cow with a calf of the same colour, is shaped in the figure of a man, enriched during twelve days with the dregs of ghee, and consumed with -averted face 1. Further, at Kslus. 16, 27. 28, the hymn is associated with a practice intended to restore the loyalty of a disaffected people 2 : the king is given to eat a porridge prepared from an after-growth of rice 3, cooked in the milk of a cow with a calf of the same colour, upon a fire of kampfla-branches (crinum amaryllacee), which have grown out where they have been previously cut. A neat bit of symbolism : the milk of the cow with a calf of the same colour represents complete harmony ; the after-growth of rice and kampila represents the resumption of the sharply interrupted rela- tions between the king and his people. Once more the hymn is recited for obvious reasons at Kau^. 55, 17, along with a list of others at the investiture of the young ' twice-born' (cf.
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.
1with 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. 5 The text, phalato: this seems to refer to the twenty-one barley-grains. 6 ' Apparently a kind of creeper or weed in grain- fields/ Darila, godhumavyadhi/^ ; Ke^ava, yavagodhfimavalli. See Kaurika, Intro- duction, p. xlvii. 7 Darila, kasturiklraka, ' musk ; ' Kcrava, pavika. I, 7. COMMENTARY. 237 RV. VI, 75, 15. Hence the repetition of the same expres- sion with four other gods is secondary and mechanical. The medicine man wants to make sure that he does not neglect and offend. Saya^a justifies the mention of Mitra and VaruTza by a reference to Tait. S. II, 4, 10, 2 ; of iTandra by saying, asya oshadhuatvat ^arasya pitr/tvena vyapade^a^ ; and of Surya by relying again upon Tait. S. II, 4, 10, z. Stanza 6. a. SayaTza explains gavtnyor by, dntrebhyo vinirgatasya mutrasya mutrlrayapraptisadhane panvadvayasthe na^yau gavinyau ity u^yate. The urethra and the ureter? Cf. the dual gavinyau in Tait. S. Ill, 3, 10, 1 ; and gavinike, AVI, 11,5; IX, 8, 7. b. The majority of the MSS. read sa^irutam ; but one of Shankar Pandit's MSS. has sawsrutam. For the root mi, 'flow/ see Bloomfield and Spieker, Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1886 (Journal, vol. xiii, p. cxx). For years I have had sa/^sritam written as a possible emendation on the margin of my copy of the text, and now Saya^a persis- tently (three times) comments upon the same reading. Stanza 7. b. The MSS. are divided between the readings vartram and vartam. Saya/za comments upon the latter, vartam vartate pravahati ^alam atre*ti varto marga^, and some of the MSS. of Kauj. 25, 16, a Sutra coined with evident reference to this stanza (vartim bibhetti, see the translation above), also read vartam. Darila comments, varta/0 mu- trabilam. I do not feel certain that this is not the correct word for the text : ' like the outlet of a lake.' For vartra, see Tait. S. I, 6, 8, 1 ; Maitr. S. I, 4, to. I, 7. Commentary to page 64. This and the following hymn are directed chiefly against the species of beings called yatudhana, a term which oscil- lates between the meaning ' human sorcerer ' and ' hostile 238 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. demon/ The entire tradition, Sutras and Commentaries, give the word the latter bent, but we can see from RV. V, 12, 2 ; VII, 104, 15, 16, that men might practise yatii, and, therefore, be yatudhana.
2rcerer ' and ' hostile 238 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. demon/ The entire tradition, Sutras and Commentaries, give the word the latter bent, but we can see from RV. V, 12, 2 ; VII, 104, 15, 16, that men might practise yatii, and, therefore, be yatudhana. Both hymns are catalogued in a series (ga#a) called £atana, ' driving away (demons, &c.)/ in Kaui". 8, 35, and the Ga^amala, Ath. Pari.?. 32, 3 (k&- tanaga^a) : for their employment, see Kaujika, Index B, under Htanani, and *Santikalpa 16. With the subject- matter of these hymns cf. in general RV. VII, 104, and III, 30, 14 ff. Both hymns have been rendered by Weber, Indische Studien, IV, 398 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 523 ; cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Vedique, p. 131 ff. Stanza 1. Throughout this and the next hymn Saya^a takes the root stu in its ordinary holy sense of ' praise/ a mistake which leads to the most contorted renderings, and to an utter disregard of grammatical construction, excused by assuming interchanges of inflections (vibhaktivyatyaya). He seems to be shy to attach any sinister sense to the root, or to connect it in any way with evil beings. For kimidin, see the note on IV, 3o, 5. Stanza 2. c. tailasya in the vulgata is an emendation of the MS. reading taulasya (Saya/za, tulavat huyamana-dravyasya). d. vf lapaya, ' make howl/ obviously includes as a double entente the other possible sense of the word ' annihilate/ as causative from the root It. Stanzas 4, 5. A great deal of stress is laid in these hymns upon the confession of the yatudhana himself. Half the battle is won when their true nature is made apparent. Cf. I, 8, 4 and the note on I, 2, 1. Hence the neat difference between the active pra bruhi in 5 b, said of Agni (cf. RV. X, 87, 8 = AV. VIII, 3, 8), and the middle prabruva//a/£ in 5 d, said of the yatudhana. Stanzas $-7 are perhaps of a later I, 9. COMMENTARY. 239 hand, since the hymns of the first book ordinarily present only four stanzas ; cf. the introduction to I, 1 2. I, 8. Commentary to page 65. For the employment of this hymn in the Atharvanic practices, and previous translations, see the introduction to the preceding hymn. Stanza 4. c. In order to obtain a trish/ubh line we may either resolve both ta^s or tvam, or insert £*ahi after tvam. I, 9. Commentary to page 116. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 456, and entitled ra^abhisheke, 'at the coronation of a king.' Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 163, renders it in the same spirit.
3^s or tvam, or insert £*ahi after tvam. I, 9. Commentary to page 116. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 456, and entitled ra^abhisheke, 'at the coronation of a king.' Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 163, renders it in the same spirit. The Kaurika, however, in its descrip- tion of the coronation (chapter 17), does not rubricate this hymn, but rather IV, 8 (cf. also Vait. Su. 36, 7), and the Ga//amala, Ath. Paris'. 32, 30, again only counts IV, 8 as the abhishekaga/za (see Kau^. 17, 1 note). Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 401, entitles it ' Segensspruch fur einen Fiirsten,' but this also seems to be too narrow : the Sutra, advisedly no doubt, employs it in practices designed to confer glory, lustre upon any one at all. At Kaus. 11, 19. 20, the hymn is employed along with I, 35 and V, 28 in a practice designed to make one success- ful (sawpatkarma), to wit : ' an amulet made of a pair of krzsh/zala-berries (abrus precatorius linnaeus) *, which has 1 Or the weight of two krzsh/zala in gold ? All the commentators explain yugmakrzshtfalam as 'gold/ Darila, raktike^ti (see Pet. Lex.) prasiddhabhidhana aya/# k& sauvar#ama#i^ ; Ke^ava, suvanza- ma«i^, hirazzyama/zi^ (here, and at Kaur. 52, 20). Cf. the word hirawya in I, 9, 2 ; 35, 1 ; V, 28, 6. A very similar performance undertaken with the same three hymns is stated at Kaor. 52, 20. 2 1, being a rite which bestows long life (ayushyakarma). See also 24O HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. been steeped (in honey during certain three days, Kauj. 7, 1 9), is tied on. Then a mess of porridge, cooked in the milk of a cow with a calf of the same colour, is shaped in the figure of a man, enriched during twelve days with the dregs of ghee, and consumed with -averted face 1. Further, at Kslus. 16, 27. 28, the hymn is associated with a practice intended to restore the loyalty of a disaffected people 2 : the king is given to eat a porridge prepared from an after-growth of rice 3, cooked in the milk of a cow with a calf of the same colour, upon a fire of kampfla-branches (crinum amaryllacee), which have grown out where they have been previously cut. A neat bit of symbolism : the milk of the cow with a calf of the same colour represents complete harmony ; the after-growth of rice and kampila represents the resumption of the sharply interrupted rela- tions between the king and his people. Once more the hymn is recited for obvious reasons at Kau^. 55, 17, along with a list of others at the investiture of the young ' twice-born' (cf.
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.