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

OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.

&c.).' Note, too, the parallelism which is thus established with Padas c, d in st. 3 (asthi in both stanzas, and pesh/ram = ma^sasya). Sayana comments upon presh^am instead of p^shfram.

c, d. dhata in alliteration with dadhat.

Stanza 3.

Almost every feature of the detailed account of the parts of the body, here and in the following two stanzas, may be paralleled from the Teutonic charms, e.g. Kuhn, 1. c, p. 51 :

' ben zi bena bluot zi bluoda lid zi geliden sose gelimida sin/

The Norwegian charm mentioned on the same page recites marrow, bones, and flesh :

'marv i marv, been i been, kjod i kjod/
A charm from the Orkneys recites (1. c, p. 54) :

' Sinew to sinew, joint to joint,
Blood to blood, and bone to bone,
Attend thou in God's name ! '

a. As the Pada stands it is hypercatalectic. The Paippalada omits te, which may have crept in from Pada c. But even this leaves a bad final cadence : perhaps bhavatu is to be read dissyllabically (bhotu, in the manner of the Prakrit hodu). For the metrical equivalence of ava and o, see the author's article, ' On certain irregular Vedic Subjunctives,' Amer. Journ. Phil. V, 25 ff. (p. 10 fT. of the reprint). Saya/za reads jam for sam in each of the four Padas.

Stanza 6.

The metre is very irregular ; the Anukrama?n describes the stanza as tripada yavamadhya bhuriggayatri, not a bad characterisation, as the middle Pada is larger than the other two. By reading sottish/^a we obtain a good octosyllabic Pada a; b is a trish/ubh, and c is a catalectic anush/ubh (read urdhua^). Hillebrandt and Grill assume that this and the following stanza are later accretions, and both metre and sense seem to bear them out. But these matters are sop. 389 very subjective! Ludwig does not construe Pada b as a comparison, but translates ' gutes rad, gute felge, gute nabe hat der wagen.' Evidently, he also has in mind an exoteric origin of the stanza.

Stanza 7.

Cf. RV. VI, 54, 7. The stanza consists of two elevensyllable and two octosyllabic Padas. The first Pada may be righted by reading patitua, or possibly yadi v& kartam, &c. (cf. yadi va in Pada b). The Anukramam baldly counts thirty-six syllables as they stand, without resolution, and designates the stanza as brzhati.

c, d. The subject of sim dadhat seems to me (as to Grill) to be Dhatar, the fashioner in st. 3 ; r/bhii belongs to the comparison, as in X, 1, 8.

mam baldly counts thirty-six syllables as they stand, without resolution, and designates the stanza as brzhati.

c, d. The subject of sim dadhat seems to me (as to Grill) to be Dhatar, the fashioner in st. 3 ; r/bhii belongs to the comparison, as in X, 1, 8. The 7^/bhus are known to have constructed the chariot of the A^vins, but they are not counted among the divine physicians (Rudra, the A^vins, the waters, and Sarasvati). Kuhn and Ludwig make rzbhu the subject of sam dadhat, but the former regards it as an epithet of Dhatar.

IV, 16. Commentary to page 88.

Professor von Roth, who first treated this hymn in his well-known essay, entitled ' Abhandlung iiber den Atharvaveda' (Tubingen, 1856), remarks on p. 30: 'There is no other hymn in the entire Vedic literature which presents divine omniscience in terms so emphatic, and yet this beautiful fabric has been degraded to serve as an introduction to an imprecation. One may surmise, however, in this case as well as in the case of many other parts of this Veda, that fragments of older hymns have been utilised to deck out charms for sorcery.'

We may remark, however, that the stanzas of this hymn do not occur in any other connection, and there is no tangible evidence that they were constructed for any other purpose than that before us. Certainly the Atharvavedins had nothing better in view, and accordingly the hymn is rubricated in the sixth book of the Kaujika which isp. 390 devoted to sorcery (abhiMrika). At Kaiw. 48, 7 the conjuring enemy, as he comes on, is met by the recital of this hymn; at 127, 3 the third stanza, in praise of Varu/za, figures in an expiatory rite when the constellation, 'the seven Rishis ' (the dipper), is ominously obscured by some nebulous mass, or comet (yatra dhumaketu/z saptarshin upadhupayati). The Anukrama/n describes the hymn as satyanrztanviksha/zasuktam, 'a hymn which searches out truth and untruth/

There are many translations of the piece : Roth, 1. c, pp. 29 ff ; Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morg. Gesellsch. VII, 607 ; Max Muller, Chips from a German Workshop, I, 40 ff. ; Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 63 ff. (cf. also II, 451); Metrical Translations, p. 163 ; Kaegi, Der Rig-veda2, p. 89 ff. (p. 65 ff. of Arrowsmith's translation) ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 388; Grill2, pp. 32, 126 ff; cf. also Hillebrandt's Vedachrestomathie, p. 38 ff; Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Vedique, p. 146 ff.

Stanza 1.

Cf. Psalms xxxiii. 13; cxiii. 5 ; cxxxviii. 6 ; cxxxix. 2; Jer. xxiii.

owsmith's translation) ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 388; Grill2, pp. 32, 126 ff; cf. also Hillebrandt's Vedachrestomathie, p. 38 ff; Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Vedique, p. 146 ff.

Stanza 1.

Cf. Psalms xxxiii. 13; cxiii. 5 ; cxxxviii. 6 ; cxxxix. 2; Jer. xxiii. 23, and see for scriptural parallels to the next stanzas the notes to Kaegi's translation. Sayana refers esham to the enemies ; most translators, to the human race in general. We supply, devanam from deva/z in Pada d. Some MSS. of the PadapazVb. read tayat and £arat ; the latter is adopted by Saya/za, kaxaxxasWam ka nasva.ra.rn ka vastu manyate.

Stanza 2.

a. Saya;za explains vankati by kau/ilyena pratarayati, ' leads astray by means of guile/ Cf. the formula, namo vacate, pariva££ate, stayuna;/z pataye nama/£, Mait. S. II, 9, 3 ; Tait. S. IV, 5, 3, 1 ; Vag. S. XVI, 21, addressed as part of the ^atarudriya-litany to god Rudra in his capacity of master-thief (Mahidhara also, vankati pratarayati). The Paippalada reads, yas tish//£ati manasa ya^ ka vankatx, supporting in a measure Saya/za' s and Mahidhara's glosses.

b. The Padapazvfo. reads nulayan, a participle, not aIV, 1 6. COMMENTARY. 39 1 gerund ; pratankam is left as an accusative dependent upon £ar, a verb of motion. The meaning 'hiding-place' for pratanka suits its only other occurrence, AV. V, 13, 8 : ' the poison of all (serpents) who have run into their hidingplace is without force.' Cf. also pratakvan, Maitr. S. I, 2, 12 ; Tait. S. I, 3, 3, 1 ; Va^. S. V, 32, and Pet. Lex. (epithet of a pit). Saya;za reads nilayam, and glosses pratankam with prakarshe^a krzM/zra^-ivana/^ prapya. The Paippalada has pralayam, absolutive, in the place of pratankam.

Stanza 3.

c, d. The last two Padas foreshadow Varu/za's later function as Neptune (apa^ pati/£) ; cf. RV. II, 38, 8 ; AV. Ill, 3, 4 ; Maitr. S. II, 6, 8 ; Tait. S. I, 8, 12, 1 ; V, 6, 1, 1 ; Vâg: S. X, 7, and Weber, Ra^asuya, p. 44, note 1. The two oceans are the heavenly and earthly oceans ; cf. RV. X, 136,5.; AV. XI, 2, 25; 5,6.

Stanza 4.

Varu/m's spies are the stars, ' the eyes of night ' (RV. X,
127, 1), ' the beholders of men,' AV. XIX, 47, 3 fT. Cf. our
Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV,
p. 170.

Stanza 5.

b, c. Saya^a reads purastat for parastat, and construes sa//zkhyata as the nom. of the stem sa//zkhyatar (prama^ayita).

d. The Pada is exceedingly difficult, ni minoti has the sanction of all MSS., and is apparently the reading of the Paippalada also. The gamester throws down (ni vapati, Kaiu.