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

the above-mentioned porridge (cf. Kaus. 46, 26) 3.

The hymn has been treated by Weber, Die vedischen Nachrichten von den Nakshatra, II, 291 ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 431 (under the caption, ' Segensgebet fur den opferer ') ; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 321.

1 The full text is, pratno hi*ti papanakshatre ^atay a mulena.

2 Cf. Kaur. 1, 22. 23 and the scholiasts. Of course the word
' root ' throughout symbolises the constellation mula.

3 The practice thus coincides largely with that undertaken in connection with VI, 112 (see the introduction) and, since the word mula occurs also in its first stanza, mulena in Kaur. 46, 25 perhaps simply refers to the practices in Kam. 46, 26 ff.

p. 5

Stanza 1. Repeated with variants at RV. VIII, n, io; Tait. Ar. X, i (st. 69). In Pada c Saya?za with these texts reads piprayasva (^ariram . . . puraya) for piprayasva. The meaning of the latter is at any rate in doubt, either ' delight ' (from root pri) or ' fill ' (from root pra *).

Stanza 2.

For the character of the constellations ^yesh/Zzaghni' (thus, not ^yaish^aghm, the MSS.) and vi£r/tau, see Weber, Nakshatra, II, pp. 292, 310, 374, 389 ; Zimmer, I.e., pp. 356, 392. In Pada b (formulaic, see VI, 1 12, 1 b) the expression mulabarha/zat plays upon two alternate names of the vikr/tau, namely, mula, and mulabarha/zi 2. The name vi^rztau is here felt to be ' entanglers, ensnarers ; ' elsewhere in the AV. and in other texts, the word is rather regarded auspiciously, ' they that loosen the bonds of disease/ and the like. See the note on II, 8, 1. The change of person in the second hemistich is noteworthy, but Agni seems to be the subject in both.

Stanza 3.

For vyaghre^hni, cf. vyaghrau dantau VI, 140, 1. The tiger, thus early, typifies danger to life, as even to this day he claims thousands of victims annually in India.

VI, in. Commentary to page 32.

The hymn is one of the three matrznamani (sc. suktani),
' hymns that contain the names of the mothers,' Kau^. 8, 24.
They are II, 2 and VIII, 6 in addition to the present, and
appear to have been so designated because they contain
the words apsaras (II, 2, 3. 5 ; VI, in, 4), and matar (VIII,

1 So Whitney, doubtfully, in the Index Verborum, p. 195 b (cf. also 382). The form piprayasva is not quoted in the same author's Roots, Verb Forms, &c, either under pra and pri (p. 102), or under pr/ (p. 100).

2 Cf. also the foot-note on VI, 112, 1 a, b.

VI, III. COMMENTARY. 5 1 Q

6, i a) ; cf. Kanaka, Introduction, p. lviii.

orm piprayasva is not quoted in the same author's Roots, Verb Forms, &c, either under pra and pri (p. 102), or under pr/ (p. 100).

2 Cf. also the foot-note on VI, 112, 1 a, b.

VI, III. COMMENTARY. 5 1 Q

6, i a) ; cf. Kanaka, Introduction, p. lviii. The matrznamani are mentioned frequently in the Kausika (see Index B) ; the employment which bears most closely upon the sense of the present hymn is at Kaus. 26, 29-32, a rite which, according to the scholiasts, cures a person possessed by demons. Pulverised fragrant substances, mixed with ghee, are sacrificed, and the patient is anointed with what remains. The patient is next placed upon a cross-roads 2, a wicker-work of darbha grass, containing a coal-pan, upon his head ; and upon the coal the previously mentioned fragrant substances are again offered. The patient going into a river against the current throws the same substances into a sieve3, while another person from behind washes him off. Pouring more of the fragrant substances into an unburned vessel, moistening the substances (with ghee), placing the vessel into a three-footed wicker-basket made of mu%-a-grass he ties it to a tree in which there are birds' nests. The complicated ceremony is largely symbolic : it aims to purify, and indicate the passing out of the unhealthy conditions.

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda,
III, 512; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 393; Grill2,
pp. 21, 170; cf. also Hillebrandt, Vedachrestomathie,
p. 50 ; Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 279 ff. The
Anukrama^i, agneyam.

Stanza 1.

The Anukramam designates the first stanza as paranushAip trish/ubh. A considerable variety of textual emendations, none of which seems warranted by the exigencies of the case, are suggested by Grill2, p. 170. The stanza consists of three trish/ubh Padas, the second ofp. 520 which is hypermctric, and seems to suggest a slurred reading of the five syllables preceding the caesura, perhaps e//z yo baddha/z for aya//z yo baddha/£ (cf. Avestan aem).

1 Cf. also XII, 1, 60, and the introduction to IV, 20.

2 The favourite place to divest oneself of evil influences ; cf. Kauj. 27, 7, in the introduction to II, 10; Kaur. 30, 18, in the introduction to VI, 26, &c. See in general Oldenberg, Die Religion des Veda, p. 267, and the index under 'kreuzweg.'

3 For the sieve, see the introduction to VI, 26.

b. baddha/z and siiyata^ may refer either simply, or with double entente to the mental condition of the patient, ' bound and checked by the fetters of the dementia.'

c. Zimmer, p.

the caesura, perhaps e//z yo baddha/z for aya//z yo baddha/£ (cf. Avestan aem).

b. baddha/z and siiyata^ may refer either simply, or with double entente to the mental condition of the patient, ' bound and checked by the fetters of the dementia.'

c. Zimmer, p. 393, cdann wird er dir deinen antheil darbringen.' But adhi kar does not seem to bear any such interpretation.

Stanza 3.

a. Zimmer renders devainasa by ' sin against the gods ; ' Ludwig, ' von befleckung (where is there a corresponding word in the original?), siinde gegen die gotter, der wansinnig.' It does not seem that the gods madden him that offends against them, a mere sight of them suffices : see Mahabh. Ill, 1450T, ' the man who, awake or asleep, beholds the gods quickly becomes mad ; that is known as possession by the gods.' Our translation, too, preserves the parallelism between the first two Padas. Indeed, devainasa seems to mean outright ' the sins committed by the gods.' See the introduction to VI, 11 2, and Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, March, 1894 (Journal, vol. xvi), p. cxix ff., and cf. especially Apast. Sr. XIII, 17, 9; Pa/2£. Br. I, 6, 10 (devakrztasyaUnasa/z). Thus also Saya/za, devakrztam enas . . . devakrztat pipad upaghatad unmaditam. Cf., perhaps, also VIII, 7, 28.

b. Read yathanunmadito for yadanunmadito : the corruption is due to 1 d.

Stanza 4.

a. At AV. II, 2, 5 tne Apsaras are designated as the ' mind-bewildering ' wives of the Gandharvas ; at Tait. S. Ill, 4, 8, 4, 'the Gandharvas and Apsaras render mad him that is mad.' In the sequel of the latter passage it is stated that it is necessary to quiet them (^amayati, cf. st. 2 a). The expression piinar da is used in the sense of ( give back, give up possession/ rather than in the derived sense, ' make well, restore/ All this seems to be well founded in the early Hindu view; in RV. X, n, % the Gandharvi and theVI, 112. COMMENTARY. 52 1 woman of the waters (apyd yosha/za) perform a similar service : ' And the Gandharvi, the woman of the water, spake; when the reeds rustle may she protect my mind V Primarily, the madness which the Gandharvas and Apsaras can cause, and which they are called upon to remove, is, in accordance with the general character of these divinities, the madness of love ; cf. the story of Urvasi and Pururavas (RV. X, 95, especially st. 14).

VI, 112. Commentary to page 164.

This and the following hymn reflect a cycle of legends to
which the translator has devoted an article in the Proc.
Amer. Or. Soc, March, 1894 (Journal, vol. xvi, p.