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

ead silangzla with palatal s. By changing sila^f to silaki we obtain the possible etymology ' she that creeps upon stones/

V, 5- COMMENTARY. 42 I

Stanza 7.

For the epithets of the plant in this and the preceding stanza, see the note on IV, 12, 1.

b. For jushme, see Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, XLVIII, 565 ff. ; for loma^avaksha^e, Pischel, Vedische Studien, I, 178.

d. Cf. V, 9, 7; RV. X, 16, 3; Ait. Br. II, 6, 13 ; Sat Br. XIV, 6, 2, 13, &c.

Stanza 8.

a, b. I have translated the passage with strict adherence to the text which is certainly not above suspicion. The Paippalada offers no help. Inasmuch as the father is mentioned, it seems likely that both parents are somehow contained in the passage, and the change from kanino to kanina has suggested itself to all translators (Pet. Lex., Zimmer, Grill). The first Pada would then be, ' Sila^i by name art thou, daughter of a maiden.' I would draw attention here, as at IV, 20, 3, to RV. X, 40, 9, ^-anishfe y6sha patayat kaninako vi £a*ruhan vinidha^ (cf. also RV. X, 3, -2 and AV. XII, 3,47?), where the origin of plants occurs somehow in connection with a woman and a kaninaka. But the passage is buried in obscurity for the present. If the emended kanina is taken to refer to the mother of the plant, it would certainly seem natural to see in a^ababhru the father. The word as it stands can be nothing but a vocative from a formally and lexically unquotable feminine a^ababhru ; Grill suggests the change to the nominative masculine a^*ababhrus, an emendation which Zimmer's translation also implies. Grill, too, thinks that the mother and father thus reconstructed for these passages must be identical with those in st. 1, namely, night and cloud — a conclusion which, in our opinion, is not at all coercive. He points out that night is designated in XIX, 48, 2 as ' mother,' and in XIX, 49, 1 as a blooming young woman (ishiri' yosha yuvati^) ; as regards a^*ababhru he has in mind the goat of Pushan in his relation to sunset and4-2 2 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. dawn (cf. RV. VI, $$, I, and Ludwig's note, vol. iv, 147). All this is possible, but excessively problematic.

c, d. The cloudy allusions of the preceding Padas are obfuscated further by the statement here that the plant has been sprinkled with the blood of the brown horse of Yama, an expression which may also harbour an allusion to night (cf. i-yavi, RV. I, 71, 1 ; III, 5$> 11 ; Naigha^/uka I, 7). Elsewhere the horses of Savitar (RV. I, 35, 5), Agni (RV.

re that the plant has been sprinkled with the blood of the brown horse of Yama, an expression which may also harbour an allusion to night (cf. i-yavi, RV. I, 71, 1 ; III, 5$> 11 ; Naigha^/uka I, 7). Elsewhere the horses of Savitar (RV. I, 35, 5), Agni (RV. II, 10, 2), Rudra (AV. .XI, 2, 18) are designated as syâvi. The Padapa/^a reads asna, ' by the mouth,' and Zimmer adopts this reading, against the Pet. Lex., Kuhn (p. 61), Whitney in the Index Verborum, and Grill. The Padapa^a itself has asna>£ in the next stanza — an obvious inconsistency. I cannot rid myself of the impression that there is some connection between this and a statement in the Maitr. S. IV, 9, 19 ; Tait. Ar. IV, 29, asrmmukho rudhire^a^bhyakto yamasya duta/z, ' the messenger of Yama bloody-mouthed, bedaubed with blood ; ' if so the brown horse of Yama may be a variant of the two dogs of Yama called syama and cabala, ' sun and moon/ or ' day and night ' (cf. Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 1 63 ff.), and this would again lead back to the word ratri in st. i . Non liquet. Grill : ' It is conceived that the plant has absorbed the blood of a divine animal with which it has been sprinkled, and has acquired thereby corresponding strength and virtue/

Stanza 9.

a, b. Zimmer : * aus des rosses maul (cf. the preceding note) herausgefallen lief sie an die baume ; ' Kuhn : ' vom blut des rosses hergeeilt, glitt sie sogleich den baumen zu ; ' Grill : * entsprungen aus des pferdes blut lief diese zu den baumen hin/ sa;/zpatita is not altogether satisfactory ; the Pet. Lex. translates it ' zusammengeflossen, zusammengeronnen/ The entire picture is vague, and is not rendered less so by the next Pada.

c. The meaning of this Pada is by no means established. It is formulary in character and always employed in connection with plants. In the oshadhistuti, RV. X, 97, 9 ;

p. 423

Va£\ S. XII, 83 the version is sira/£ patatrim sthana ; Tait. S. IV, 2, 6, 2 ; Maitr. S. II, 7, 13, sara^ patatrf/zi^ sthana; Ka//*. S. XVI, 13, sara^ patatri/zi/z stha ; Kap. S. XXV, 4, sura/z patatn'/zi/j sthana (so also a variant of Maitr. S.). Saya/^a at RV. explains the word by sarana.rila$, while Mahidhara at Vâg. S. suggests no less than three other interpretations in addition to that of Saya;za, none of them usable. Note also sira (pattrasira), RV. I, 121, 11, which may fairly claim relationship with this group; cf. also the expression apam asi svasa in st. 7. Kuhn, 1. c, p.

ts no less than three other interpretations in addition to that of Saya;za, none of them usable. Note also sira (pattrasira), RV. I, 121, 11, which may fairly claim relationship with this group; cf. also the expression apam asi svasa in st. 7. Kuhn, 1. c, p. 61, had in mind j-ara in his translation ' beflligelt wurde sie ein pfeil.' Certainly a 'winged brook' strains the limits of common sense. But I have no better suggestion to make. The word sara seems to contain a punning allusion to the name of the plant silaK.

V, 7. Commentary to page 172.

The Veda, especially the Atharvan, is much given to personify evil qualities as female divinities, e.g. nfrWti, araddhi, arti, arayi', and particularly arati. The present hymn aims to appease the powers of avarice and grudge personified as Arati ; more particularly the poet has in mind the dakshma of the priest ; that shall not be withheld, but shall accrue abundantly. Cf. st. 1 ; Ka//z. Up. I, 1. The 5astras expressly forbid the withholding of the dakshma, e.g. Vish/zu-smWti LIV, 15. See also in general RV. X, 107; AV. V, 18 ; 19 ; XII, 5 ; Gop. Br. I, 5, a5. In the Atharvan rites our hymn figures in a variety of connections. At Kaas\ 18, 14, in the course of the so-called nirrz'tikarmam (18, 1-18), grain is offered to the goddess of misfortune while the hymn is being recited. At Kaui\ 41, 8 a person about to engage in a business venture makes an offering (upadadhita *) while pronouncing our hymn, as well as III, 20 and VII, 1. The intention is to remove obstacles.

1 For the meaning of this technical term, see Ke^ava to Kauj. 6 (p. 309 of the edition). The upadhana according to this consists in offering one of thirteen different kinds of havis.

p. 424

Once more in Kaur. 46, 6 he who has a request to make, recites sts. 5-10 along with VII, 57, in order that his request shall not be refused. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 305 ; Grill 2, pp. 39, 145 ff.

Stanza 2.

a, b. purodhatse, lit. 'dost make thy agent or purohita;' purusha, ' servant, minister ; ' parirâpfn, * suggesting, prompting, advising ;' cf. XII, 4, 51.

Stanza 5.

The ^raddha is 'faith, religious zeal/ that makes the sacrificer liberal to the priests. Cf. Darila to Kau5\ 46, 6. It is the same jraddh£ which entered Naâketas, Kk/k. Up. I, 2 ff., to such an extent that he desired to be given himself as sacrificial reward to his priests. This zeal is naturally bestowed by the brown soma, i.e.