Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1eber, bhisha^a^ for bhisha^a. Saya^a thinks also of i-u^ina for s\xk\h. I have translated the unanimous text of the 5aunakiya-school. II, io. Commentary to page 14. The practice associated with this hymn at Kaor. 27, 7. 8 is colourless: 7. 'While reciting AV. II, 10 (the prac- titioner) fastens upon the limbs (of the patient who has been placed) upon a cross-road * splinters of kampila-wood (crinum amaryllacee), and washes him off with (water 1 The favourite place to divest oneself of evil influences ; see the note in the introduction to VI, in. IT, IO. COMMENTARY. 293 dipped out) by means of a bunch of grass. 8. (Or) he sprinkles (him in the same way).' Cf. the practices under II, 8. A closely parallel mantra-passage occurs at Tait. Br. II, 5, 6, 1-3 ; this the commentator on the authority of Baudhayana (see p. 628, bottom) connects with the cere- monies at the birth of a child (^atakarma). According to Baudh. Grih. II, 1 and 7, the child is bathed with these stanzas, and this prescription is borne out by Hir. Grih. II, 3, 10 ff., where the same stanzas are quoted. They occur also in Apast. Mantrabr. II, 12, 6 (cf. Apast. Grih. VI, 15, 4). This usage does not really conflict with the Atharvanic employment of the hymn, since it aims to free the child from diseases and troubles derived from the womb of the mother. The conception borders closely on that of original sin. That the Atharvavedins regarded the kshe- triya in this hymn as a disease may be gathered from the employment of the hymn among the bhaisha^yani in the Kau^ika ; it figures also in the takmana^anaga^a, ' the list of hymns destructive of fever,' in the Ga^amala. ; see Ka.us. 26, 1 note. The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, T56 ff.3 and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 513. Stanza 1. a. gamisanisa is equivalent to^amya^ ^apatha^ in II, 7, 2; the word recurs at AV. IX, 4, 15, and Tait. Br. II, 5, 6, 3 (where it is glossed by alasyaprakhyapakat). Sayawa, bandhavo ^amaya^, apraptabhilashitana/^ teshaw ^a^sanat akro^a^anitat papat. Stanza 3. The sense of this and the following two stanzas is interrupted by the refrain ; Pada 3 b is in catenary con- struction with Pada 4 a. The other version of the hymn (Tait. Br.) does not exhibit the refrain, and the connection of the passages appears undisturbed. a. Saya^a reads vayodha^ for vayo dha£, glossing it by vayasa//z pakshma/zz dhata dharayita. 294 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. Stanza 8.
2her version of the hymn (Tait. Br.) does not exhibit the refrain, and the connection of the passages appears undisturbed. a. Saya^a reads vayodha^ for vayo dha£, glossing it by vayasa//z pakshma/zz dhata dharayita. 294 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. Stanza 8. The stanza alludes to the well-known legend which makes the demon Svarbhanu smite with darkness (eclipse) the sun, who is then freed by Indra and Atri ; see RV. V, 40, 5-9 ; Tait. S. II, 1, 2, 1 ; Ka//z. S. XII, 13 ; Sat. Br. V, 3, 2, 2 ; Fank. Br. IV, 5, 1 ; XIV, 11,14; XXIII, 16, % ; vSankh. Br. XXIV, 3. 4. The moralising cause of the sun's mishap, his enas (sin), is not expressed distinctly anywhere, nor is it to be taken au grand s^rieux. By comparison it is treated as a disease, and, like disease or misfortune in general, ascribed to some moral delinquency, requiring expiation (praya^itti) ; cf. st. 1. II, 12. Commentary to page 89. The essays on the interpretation of this hymn form an interesting chapter in the history of Vedic study, and we have devoted to the subject an article in the second series of our Contributions, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 330 ff., entitled 'On the so-called fire-ordeal hymn, AV. II, J 2.' The hymn was first interpreted in the sense of a fire-ordeal by Emil Schlagintweit, in an address before the Royal Bavarian Academy in 1866, entitled ' Die Gottesurtheile der Indier ;' this interpretation was adhered to by Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 164 ff . ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 111,445; Zimmer, p. 183 ff . ; cf. also Kaegi, 'Alter und Herkunft des germanischen Gottesurtheils,' Festschrift zur Begrus- sung der XXXIX. Versammlung deutscher Philologen und Schulmanner in Zurich (1887), p. 51 \ The interpretation which is presented here is founded upon our above-men- tioned article, where Kau^ika's significant employment of the hymn was first brought forward ; in essential agree- 1 See also Stenzler, * Die Indischen Gottesurtheile/ Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, IX, 661-82. II, 12. COMMENTARY. 295 merit with it is the translation and exposition in Grill2, pp. 47, 85 ff. The hymn is employed in the sixth book of the Kaurika which professes to deal with abhLfcara, 'witchcraft.' At 47, 12 it is designated as the bharadva^apravraska, 'the hewer, or cleaver of Bharadva^a ' (the reputed author ; cf. II, 12, 2) : ' With the cleaver of Bharadva^a one cuts a staff for practices pertaining to witchcraft/ A staff so procured is then employed variously in Kau^. 47, 14. 16. 18; 48, 22. The direct ritual application of the hymn is indicated in Kaor.
3uthor ; cf. II, 12, 2) : ' With the cleaver of Bharadva^a one cuts a staff for practices pertaining to witchcraft/ A staff so procured is then employed variously in Kau^. 47, 14. 16. 18; 48, 22. The direct ritual application of the hymn is indicated in Kaor. 47, 25-29, to wit : 25. ' While reciting the hymn II, 1 2, one cuts the foot-print of an enemy, as he runs in a southerly1 direction with a leaf from a para su- tree 2. 26. He cuts three (lines) along (the length of the foot- print of the running enemy), and three (lines) across (the same). 27. aksh/zaya sa^/sthapya3. 28. He ties dust derived from the cut foot-print into a leaf of the pala^a-tree (butea frondosa), and throws it into a frying-pan. 29. If the dust crackles (in the pan) then (the enemy) has been overthrown/ The Sutra then proceeds to prescribe still more elaborate and potent charms for the purpose of down- ing the enemy. Of any connection with the fire-ordeal the tradition makes no mention. There are points of contact between our hymn and RV. VI, 52 ; VII, 104. The Anu- kramam describes the hymn as nanadevatyam, composed by Bharadva^a. Stanza 1. d. Schlagintwreit, ' may these be burned here, if I am burned.' So also Weber, Ludwig, and Zimmer. Grill correctly, ' die sollen gluhen jetzt, wenn ich ergliihe.' Cf. 1 South is the region of Yama and the departed, i.e. of death. 2 Or, with the blade of an axe. At any rate symbolically. The commentators differ as to the meaning of parampalasena ; see Kaurika, Introd. p. li, bottom. Sayawa, as usual, follows Ke^ava. See also the note on Kaus. 30, 14 in the introduction to VI, 25. 8 The text of this Sutra is not altogether secure, its meaning and the scholia are obscure. 296 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. RV X, 34, 10; 95, 17 ; AV. XIX, 56, 5. Saya?2a, mayi abhi^arake tapyamane dikshaniyamena upavasadina kluya- mane sati tapyanta^ sa^tapta bhavantu. That is, heaven and earth shall participate in the consecration (diksha) of the performer for the sorcery-practices against his enemy. The appeal to heaven and earth in Pada a, and the mis- interpreted fourth Pada, are really the sole cause of the hypothesis of a fire-ordeal. An appeal to heaven and earth is in occidental minds associated inseparably with asseverations of innocence. A similar construction of it for India is apparently unwarranted. Stanza 2. b. For Bharadva^a, see IV, 39, 5; XVIII, 3, 16; XIX, 48, 6 ; and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, pp. 128 ff. d. Schlagintweit, 'der diesen (unsern) geist beschadigt (i. e. schwur bezweifelt).' Weber, 'wer diesen meinen sinn beschadigt, i. e.
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.
1eber, bhisha^a^ for bhisha^a. Saya^a thinks also of i-u^ina for s\xk\h. I have translated the unanimous text of the 5aunakiya-school. II, io. Commentary to page 14. The practice associated with this hymn at Kaor. 27, 7. 8 is colourless: 7. 'While reciting AV. II, 10 (the prac- titioner) fastens upon the limbs (of the patient who has been placed) upon a cross-road * splinters of kampila-wood (crinum amaryllacee), and washes him off with (water 1 The favourite place to divest oneself of evil influences ; see the note in the introduction to VI, in. IT, IO. COMMENTARY. 293 dipped out) by means of a bunch of grass. 8. (Or) he sprinkles (him in the same way).' Cf. the practices under II, 8. A closely parallel mantra-passage occurs at Tait. Br. II, 5, 6, 1-3 ; this the commentator on the authority of Baudhayana (see p. 628, bottom) connects with the cere- monies at the birth of a child (^atakarma). According to Baudh. Grih. II, 1 and 7, the child is bathed with these stanzas, and this prescription is borne out by Hir. Grih. II, 3, 10 ff., where the same stanzas are quoted. They occur also in Apast. Mantrabr. II, 12, 6 (cf. Apast. Grih. VI, 15, 4). This usage does not really conflict with the Atharvanic employment of the hymn, since it aims to free the child from diseases and troubles derived from the womb of the mother. The conception borders closely on that of original sin. That the Atharvavedins regarded the kshe- triya in this hymn as a disease may be gathered from the employment of the hymn among the bhaisha^yani in the Kau^ika ; it figures also in the takmana^anaga^a, ' the list of hymns destructive of fever,' in the Ga^amala. ; see Ka.us. 26, 1 note. The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, T56 ff.3 and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 513. Stanza 1. a. gamisanisa is equivalent to^amya^ ^apatha^ in II, 7, 2; the word recurs at AV. IX, 4, 15, and Tait. Br. II, 5, 6, 3 (where it is glossed by alasyaprakhyapakat). Sayawa, bandhavo ^amaya^, apraptabhilashitana/^ teshaw ^a^sanat akro^a^anitat papat. Stanza 3. The sense of this and the following two stanzas is interrupted by the refrain ; Pada 3 b is in catenary con- struction with Pada 4 a. The other version of the hymn (Tait. Br.) does not exhibit the refrain, and the connection of the passages appears undisturbed. a. Saya^a reads vayodha^ for vayo dha£, glossing it by vayasa//z pakshma/zz dhata dharayita. 294 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. Stanza 8.
2her version of the hymn (Tait. Br.) does not exhibit the refrain, and the connection of the passages appears undisturbed. a. Saya^a reads vayodha^ for vayo dha£, glossing it by vayasa//z pakshma/zz dhata dharayita. 294 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. Stanza 8. The stanza alludes to the well-known legend which makes the demon Svarbhanu smite with darkness (eclipse) the sun, who is then freed by Indra and Atri ; see RV. V, 40, 5-9 ; Tait. S. II, 1, 2, 1 ; Ka//z. S. XII, 13 ; Sat. Br. V, 3, 2, 2 ; Fank. Br. IV, 5, 1 ; XIV, 11,14; XXIII, 16, % ; vSankh. Br. XXIV, 3. 4. The moralising cause of the sun's mishap, his enas (sin), is not expressed distinctly anywhere, nor is it to be taken au grand s^rieux. By comparison it is treated as a disease, and, like disease or misfortune in general, ascribed to some moral delinquency, requiring expiation (praya^itti) ; cf. st. 1. II, 12. Commentary to page 89. The essays on the interpretation of this hymn form an interesting chapter in the history of Vedic study, and we have devoted to the subject an article in the second series of our Contributions, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 330 ff., entitled 'On the so-called fire-ordeal hymn, AV. II, J 2.' The hymn was first interpreted in the sense of a fire-ordeal by Emil Schlagintweit, in an address before the Royal Bavarian Academy in 1866, entitled ' Die Gottesurtheile der Indier ;' this interpretation was adhered to by Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 164 ff . ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 111,445; Zimmer, p. 183 ff . ; cf. also Kaegi, 'Alter und Herkunft des germanischen Gottesurtheils,' Festschrift zur Begrus- sung der XXXIX. Versammlung deutscher Philologen und Schulmanner in Zurich (1887), p. 51 \ The interpretation which is presented here is founded upon our above-men- tioned article, where Kau^ika's significant employment of the hymn was first brought forward ; in essential agree- 1 See also Stenzler, * Die Indischen Gottesurtheile/ Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, IX, 661-82. II, 12. COMMENTARY. 295 merit with it is the translation and exposition in Grill2, pp. 47, 85 ff. The hymn is employed in the sixth book of the Kaurika which professes to deal with abhLfcara, 'witchcraft.' At 47, 12 it is designated as the bharadva^apravraska, 'the hewer, or cleaver of Bharadva^a ' (the reputed author ; cf. II, 12, 2) : ' With the cleaver of Bharadva^a one cuts a staff for practices pertaining to witchcraft/ A staff so procured is then employed variously in Kau^. 47, 14. 16. 18; 48, 22. The direct ritual application of the hymn is indicated in Kaor.
3uthor ; cf. II, 12, 2) : ' With the cleaver of Bharadva^a one cuts a staff for practices pertaining to witchcraft/ A staff so procured is then employed variously in Kau^. 47, 14. 16. 18; 48, 22. The direct ritual application of the hymn is indicated in Kaor. 47, 25-29, to wit : 25. ' While reciting the hymn II, 1 2, one cuts the foot-print of an enemy, as he runs in a southerly1 direction with a leaf from a para su- tree 2. 26. He cuts three (lines) along (the length of the foot- print of the running enemy), and three (lines) across (the same). 27. aksh/zaya sa^/sthapya3. 28. He ties dust derived from the cut foot-print into a leaf of the pala^a-tree (butea frondosa), and throws it into a frying-pan. 29. If the dust crackles (in the pan) then (the enemy) has been overthrown/ The Sutra then proceeds to prescribe still more elaborate and potent charms for the purpose of down- ing the enemy. Of any connection with the fire-ordeal the tradition makes no mention. There are points of contact between our hymn and RV. VI, 52 ; VII, 104. The Anu- kramam describes the hymn as nanadevatyam, composed by Bharadva^a. Stanza 1. d. Schlagintwreit, ' may these be burned here, if I am burned.' So also Weber, Ludwig, and Zimmer. Grill correctly, ' die sollen gluhen jetzt, wenn ich ergliihe.' Cf. 1 South is the region of Yama and the departed, i.e. of death. 2 Or, with the blade of an axe. At any rate symbolically. The commentators differ as to the meaning of parampalasena ; see Kaurika, Introd. p. li, bottom. Sayawa, as usual, follows Ke^ava. See also the note on Kaus. 30, 14 in the introduction to VI, 25. 8 The text of this Sutra is not altogether secure, its meaning and the scholia are obscure. 296 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. RV X, 34, 10; 95, 17 ; AV. XIX, 56, 5. Saya?2a, mayi abhi^arake tapyamane dikshaniyamena upavasadina kluya- mane sati tapyanta^ sa^tapta bhavantu. That is, heaven and earth shall participate in the consecration (diksha) of the performer for the sorcery-practices against his enemy. The appeal to heaven and earth in Pada a, and the mis- interpreted fourth Pada, are really the sole cause of the hypothesis of a fire-ordeal. An appeal to heaven and earth is in occidental minds associated inseparably with asseverations of innocence. A similar construction of it for India is apparently unwarranted. Stanza 2. b. For Bharadva^a, see IV, 39, 5; XVIII, 3, 16; XIX, 48, 6 ; and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, pp. 128 ff. d. Schlagintweit, 'der diesen (unsern) geist beschadigt (i. e. schwur bezweifelt).' Weber, 'wer diesen meinen sinn beschadigt, i. e.
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.