Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1a 1. At Apast. vSr. VL 20, 2 the stanza occurs in the following corrupt form : atharvyush/a deva^*uta vWu ^//apatha^-am- bhani/z : apo malam iva pra^i^ann asmatsu ^apathah adhi. Cf. II, 25, 4- 5. 1 Sayawa, however, commenting on virudh in st. 1, durva yavo va. 2 Cited erroneously by Sayawa as Nakshatrakalpa. 286 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. Stanza 2. b. We may note Grill's ingenious emendation of gkmydih to ^amya/z, an adjective from g&mL But no such form occurs. Cf. AV. II, 10, i ; RV. IV, 4, 5. Saya/za, ga,mykk gamik sahottpanna bhagini. Stanza 3. A number of the attributes stated in this and the pre- ceding stanzas are repeated at VI, 43, 1. % ; XIX, 32, 1. 3. 7 in connection with the holy darbha-grass. The terms are too general and fabulous to permit definite conclusions as to the plant which the poet here has in mind. Stanza 4. a. The MSS. are divided between the readings pari ^m&'m (so our edition) and pari mam. I have followed Saya/za and Shankar Pandit in adopting the latter version. c, d. The metre is irregular (Anukr. vir&d uparish/adbrz- hati) : c is a catalectic Pada ; d has ten syllables, one of which may be suppressed by reading tarshur. Stanza 5. b. For the sentiment cf. Tait. Ar. II, 6, i. Saya/za, ya^ purusha^ suhart . . . tena suhrzdayena mitre/za saha na^ asmakam, sukha^z bhavatu iti ^esha/z, ' we together with our friend shall be happy/ I am not convinced that this is correct. Are we to read, ya^ suhart tena vayam saha ? c. £akshurmantra, * he who bewitches with his eye,' also in XIX, 45, 1. Saya^a separates £akshur from ma(ntrasya, explaining the latter by gupta^z bhashama/zasya pLrunasya, ' the calumniator who speaks secretly/ But cf. the ' thou- sand-eyed curse' at VI, 37, 1; amitra^akshus at Kaui". 39, 11 ; and ghoram >£akshus, ' evil eye/ at IV, 9, 6 ; XIX, 35, 3- II, 8. Commentary to page 13. The word kshetriya is interpreted by the Atharvavedins quite unanimously as ' inherited disease/ Three hymns, II, 8. COMMENTARY. 287 II, 8 and 10; III, 7 (cf. also IV, 18, 7; V, 30, 4), are designed to drive it out, and the Kaorika rubricates all of them among the medical charms (bhaisha^yani), 26, 41-27, 4; 2jy 7_8 ; 27, 29-31. Darila at 26, 43 defines it as 'family disease,' kaulo vyadhi/z ; Kcrava at 27, 4 1 as, pitrzparyagata^ kshetriyaroga^ kush//*akshayaroga^ graha^idosha^ sarva- .yariraspho/akarav£ ; similarly Say. at II, 8, 1. The scholiast at Tait. Br. II, 5, 6, 3 (p. 628) has kshetra^ garbhasthanaw tatrotpannatvat, i. e.
2disease,' kaulo vyadhi/z ; Kcrava at 27, 4 1 as, pitrzparyagata^ kshetriyaroga^ kush//*akshayaroga^ graha^idosha^ sarva- .yariraspho/akarav£ ; similarly Say. at II, 8, 1. The scholiast at Tait. Br. II, 5, 6, 3 (p. 628) has kshetra^ garbhasthanaw tatrotpannatvat, i. e. ' disease which has arisen while in the womb' (rather differently at II, 5, 6, 1, pp. 626-7). The practices connected with these hymns are obscure in detail, and their application is remote. Kau^. 26, 41-27, 4 deals with our hymn, to wit : 41. 'While reciting AV. II, 8, 1 (the practitioner) washes the patient outside (of the house). 42. While reciting AV. II, 8, 2 (he washes him outside of the house) at dawn. 43. While reciting AV. II, 8, 3 he pulverises the plants mentioned in the stanza (see the translation), as also natural mud, and mud from an ant-hill, sews this up into the skin of a living animal1 (freshly slain), and fastens it (as an amulet upon the patient). 27, 1. While reciting II, 8, 4 he places a plough with its span of cattle over the head of the patient 2 and pours water over it. 2. While reciting AV. II, 8, 5 he pours the dregs of ghee into (a vessel full of) water (placed) within an empty house. 3. He pours more (dregs of ghee) into an old ditch into which grass from the thatch of the house has been placed. 4- Placing the patient into this ditch he gives him of the water to drink, and rinses him with it.' The symbolism of these practices is not clear, but they seem at any rate to be built up on the derivation of the word kshetriya from kshetra in the sense of 'field/ rather than in the sense of ' womb.' See especially the last 1 For £-ivakosham see Kaimka, Introduction, p. 1. Other sub- stances derived from living animals occur at Katy. Sr. IX, 2, 16; Par. GrA. Ill, 7, 2. 2 That is, he puts the patient under the plough with its span, vrzshabhayuktasya halasya adhastad vyadhitam avasthapya (Sayawa in the introduction to the hymn). 288 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. stages of the performance, Sutra 27, 1 (the plough and the span of cattle), and Sutras 27, 3. 4, which aim to wash off the illness into the very ground, whence (according to this conception) it has been derived. And the hymn itself is redolent of fields, plants, ploughing, &c, and calls upon (st. 5) ' the lord of the field V Thus Professor Weber was led repeatedly to look upon this hymn as a charm to counteract injuries to fields2; see Ind. Stud.V, 145 note ; XIII, 149; Nakshatra II, 293.
3edolent of fields, plants, ploughing, &c, and calls upon (st. 5) ' the lord of the field V Thus Professor Weber was led repeatedly to look upon this hymn as a charm to counteract injuries to fields2; see Ind. Stud.V, 145 note ; XIII, 149; Nakshatra II, 293. And yet, I think, all this is mere play upon the two meanings of kshetra, ' field,' and ' womb 3 ; ' the poet, thinking that the disease derives its name from the field, conjures with the properties of the field, or, perhaps, adapts secondarily stanzas constructed originally for practices in the field. The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 149 ff. ; and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 513. The Anukramam describes it as vanaspatya/^ yakshmana^ana- daivatyam. Stanza 1. The last three Padas are repeated at III, 7, 4; the first half in VI, 131, 3. The point in all these cases is the supposed etymology of the constellation vikritau (later mulabarham, and mula) from vi krit, ' loosen;5 this enables the word to figure wherever there is question of the ' fetters ' of disease. Cf. in general, Weber, Nakshatra II, 292, 310, 374, 389; Zimmer, pp. 356, 392. For an opposite construction of the function of the vikrhau, see the note on VI, no, 2. 1 See, however, the note on this expression below. 2 Cf. also Pacini V, 2, 92, and commentaries ; Ind. Stud.V, 145 note; XIII, 159 note; XVII, 208 note; Zimmer, 391 ff. 3 Note especially the passage from KaM. S. cited by Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 1 50 note. The expression svakr/ta iri7ze does not prove that a field is in the view of a performer. A spot where there is a natural rift in the ground is frequently, in witchcraft, made the theatre of the performance, without any such special end in view. Cf. the passages in the Pet. Lex., and the paribhasha to the abhi- yfcara performances, Kaur. 49, 6. II, 8. COMMENTARY. 289 Stanza 2. a, b. I have translated apa uMatu transitively ; cf. Ill, 7, 7 ; RV. I, 48, 8, &c. Weber and Ludwig, contrary to ordinary usage, take it intransitively : ' hinschwinden moge jetzt die nacht,' and ' weg geh mit ihrem liechte diese nacht.' Saya/za, in agreement with our version, ' the night at the time of dawn (usha/zkalina ratri) shall chase away (vivasayatu).' In Pada b I read, for the same reason, with one of Shankar Pandit's MSS., apo^atu for apo^antu, making it govern abhikr/tvan^.
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.
1a 1. At Apast. vSr. VL 20, 2 the stanza occurs in the following corrupt form : atharvyush/a deva^*uta vWu ^//apatha^-am- bhani/z : apo malam iva pra^i^ann asmatsu ^apathah adhi. Cf. II, 25, 4- 5. 1 Sayawa, however, commenting on virudh in st. 1, durva yavo va. 2 Cited erroneously by Sayawa as Nakshatrakalpa. 286 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. Stanza 2. b. We may note Grill's ingenious emendation of gkmydih to ^amya/z, an adjective from g&mL But no such form occurs. Cf. AV. II, 10, i ; RV. IV, 4, 5. Saya/za, ga,mykk gamik sahottpanna bhagini. Stanza 3. A number of the attributes stated in this and the pre- ceding stanzas are repeated at VI, 43, 1. % ; XIX, 32, 1. 3. 7 in connection with the holy darbha-grass. The terms are too general and fabulous to permit definite conclusions as to the plant which the poet here has in mind. Stanza 4. a. The MSS. are divided between the readings pari ^m&'m (so our edition) and pari mam. I have followed Saya/za and Shankar Pandit in adopting the latter version. c, d. The metre is irregular (Anukr. vir&d uparish/adbrz- hati) : c is a catalectic Pada ; d has ten syllables, one of which may be suppressed by reading tarshur. Stanza 5. b. For the sentiment cf. Tait. Ar. II, 6, i. Saya/za, ya^ purusha^ suhart . . . tena suhrzdayena mitre/za saha na^ asmakam, sukha^z bhavatu iti ^esha/z, ' we together with our friend shall be happy/ I am not convinced that this is correct. Are we to read, ya^ suhart tena vayam saha ? c. £akshurmantra, * he who bewitches with his eye,' also in XIX, 45, 1. Saya^a separates £akshur from ma(ntrasya, explaining the latter by gupta^z bhashama/zasya pLrunasya, ' the calumniator who speaks secretly/ But cf. the ' thou- sand-eyed curse' at VI, 37, 1; amitra^akshus at Kaui". 39, 11 ; and ghoram >£akshus, ' evil eye/ at IV, 9, 6 ; XIX, 35, 3- II, 8. Commentary to page 13. The word kshetriya is interpreted by the Atharvavedins quite unanimously as ' inherited disease/ Three hymns, II, 8. COMMENTARY. 287 II, 8 and 10; III, 7 (cf. also IV, 18, 7; V, 30, 4), are designed to drive it out, and the Kaorika rubricates all of them among the medical charms (bhaisha^yani), 26, 41-27, 4; 2jy 7_8 ; 27, 29-31. Darila at 26, 43 defines it as 'family disease,' kaulo vyadhi/z ; Kcrava at 27, 4 1 as, pitrzparyagata^ kshetriyaroga^ kush//*akshayaroga^ graha^idosha^ sarva- .yariraspho/akarav£ ; similarly Say. at II, 8, 1. The scholiast at Tait. Br. II, 5, 6, 3 (p. 628) has kshetra^ garbhasthanaw tatrotpannatvat, i. e.
2disease,' kaulo vyadhi/z ; Kcrava at 27, 4 1 as, pitrzparyagata^ kshetriyaroga^ kush//*akshayaroga^ graha^idosha^ sarva- .yariraspho/akarav£ ; similarly Say. at II, 8, 1. The scholiast at Tait. Br. II, 5, 6, 3 (p. 628) has kshetra^ garbhasthanaw tatrotpannatvat, i. e. ' disease which has arisen while in the womb' (rather differently at II, 5, 6, 1, pp. 626-7). The practices connected with these hymns are obscure in detail, and their application is remote. Kau^. 26, 41-27, 4 deals with our hymn, to wit : 41. 'While reciting AV. II, 8, 1 (the practitioner) washes the patient outside (of the house). 42. While reciting AV. II, 8, 2 (he washes him outside of the house) at dawn. 43. While reciting AV. II, 8, 3 he pulverises the plants mentioned in the stanza (see the translation), as also natural mud, and mud from an ant-hill, sews this up into the skin of a living animal1 (freshly slain), and fastens it (as an amulet upon the patient). 27, 1. While reciting II, 8, 4 he places a plough with its span of cattle over the head of the patient 2 and pours water over it. 2. While reciting AV. II, 8, 5 he pours the dregs of ghee into (a vessel full of) water (placed) within an empty house. 3. He pours more (dregs of ghee) into an old ditch into which grass from the thatch of the house has been placed. 4- Placing the patient into this ditch he gives him of the water to drink, and rinses him with it.' The symbolism of these practices is not clear, but they seem at any rate to be built up on the derivation of the word kshetriya from kshetra in the sense of 'field/ rather than in the sense of ' womb.' See especially the last 1 For £-ivakosham see Kaimka, Introduction, p. 1. Other sub- stances derived from living animals occur at Katy. Sr. IX, 2, 16; Par. GrA. Ill, 7, 2. 2 That is, he puts the patient under the plough with its span, vrzshabhayuktasya halasya adhastad vyadhitam avasthapya (Sayawa in the introduction to the hymn). 288 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. stages of the performance, Sutra 27, 1 (the plough and the span of cattle), and Sutras 27, 3. 4, which aim to wash off the illness into the very ground, whence (according to this conception) it has been derived. And the hymn itself is redolent of fields, plants, ploughing, &c, and calls upon (st. 5) ' the lord of the field V Thus Professor Weber was led repeatedly to look upon this hymn as a charm to counteract injuries to fields2; see Ind. Stud.V, 145 note ; XIII, 149; Nakshatra II, 293.
3edolent of fields, plants, ploughing, &c, and calls upon (st. 5) ' the lord of the field V Thus Professor Weber was led repeatedly to look upon this hymn as a charm to counteract injuries to fields2; see Ind. Stud.V, 145 note ; XIII, 149; Nakshatra II, 293. And yet, I think, all this is mere play upon the two meanings of kshetra, ' field,' and ' womb 3 ; ' the poet, thinking that the disease derives its name from the field, conjures with the properties of the field, or, perhaps, adapts secondarily stanzas constructed originally for practices in the field. The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 149 ff. ; and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 513. The Anukramam describes it as vanaspatya/^ yakshmana^ana- daivatyam. Stanza 1. The last three Padas are repeated at III, 7, 4; the first half in VI, 131, 3. The point in all these cases is the supposed etymology of the constellation vikritau (later mulabarham, and mula) from vi krit, ' loosen;5 this enables the word to figure wherever there is question of the ' fetters ' of disease. Cf. in general, Weber, Nakshatra II, 292, 310, 374, 389; Zimmer, pp. 356, 392. For an opposite construction of the function of the vikrhau, see the note on VI, no, 2. 1 See, however, the note on this expression below. 2 Cf. also Pacini V, 2, 92, and commentaries ; Ind. Stud.V, 145 note; XIII, 159 note; XVII, 208 note; Zimmer, 391 ff. 3 Note especially the passage from KaM. S. cited by Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 1 50 note. The expression svakr/ta iri7ze does not prove that a field is in the view of a performer. A spot where there is a natural rift in the ground is frequently, in witchcraft, made the theatre of the performance, without any such special end in view. Cf. the passages in the Pet. Lex., and the paribhasha to the abhi- yfcara performances, Kaur. 49, 6. II, 8. COMMENTARY. 289 Stanza 2. a, b. I have translated apa uMatu transitively ; cf. Ill, 7, 7 ; RV. I, 48, 8, &c. Weber and Ludwig, contrary to ordinary usage, take it intransitively : ' hinschwinden moge jetzt die nacht,' and ' weg geh mit ihrem liechte diese nacht.' Saya/za, in agreement with our version, ' the night at the time of dawn (usha/zkalina ratri) shall chase away (vivasayatu).' In Pada b I read, for the same reason, with one of Shankar Pandit's MSS., apo^atu for apo^antu, making it govern abhikr/tvan^.
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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