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

e l'Atharva-veda, PP- I3> 67. The Anukrama/zi (VII, $6), mantroktakshidevatyam ; (VII, 37), lihgoktadevatyam.

Stanza 1.

a, b. The sense is: ' May our eyes with their brightness, our faces with their freshness, inspire us with love for one another ! '

Stanza 2.

For manu^ata, cf. XIV, 2, 41. The second hemistich is nearly identical with VII, 38, 4 c5 d.

VII, 38. Commentary to page 103.

For the practices associated with this hymn, see the introduction to VI, 139. The charm is there undertaken by a woman, here by a man. It has been translated by

1 Not so the Paddhatis, vastre^ax^adayati tau, i. e. the priest envelops the two. But this is contrary to the context of the stanza.

p. 547

Weber, Indische Studien, V, 249 ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 515; Grill2, pp. 59, 179; Henry, Le livre VII de l'Atharva-veda, pp. 14, 68. The Anukrama;n, vanaspatyam.

Stanza 1.

b. For mawpa^yam, cf. IV, 20, 1, and note. The absolutely literal translation of the word is ' the plant that sees me1/ but the formation is so artificial that it may also mean ' the he-sees-me-plant,' i. e., in effect, the plant that draws his attention towards me. The epithet abhirorudam suggests that the plant may in reality be so strongly scented as to draw tears.

Stanza 2.

For legends of Indra's seduction by a female demon, see
Sahkh. Br. XXIII, 4; Ktth. S. XIII, 5 (Indische Studien,
III, 479 ; V, 249, 453) J cf. the note on I, 24, 1.

Stanza 4.

The sense is : In this affair of our love my voice shall rule; thine shall rule in the assembly, where it is fitting that a man's voice shall be listened to. Padas c, d are nearly identical with VII, 37 c, d. Cf. Maitr. S IV, 7, 4 (p. 97, 1. 15).

VII, 45. Commentary to page 107.

For the practices connected with this hymn, see the introduction to VI, 18. It has been translated previously by Weber, Indische Studien, V, 250; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 514; Grill2, pp. 29, 180; Henry, Le livre VII de l'Atharva-veda, pp. J 6, 72 ff. The Anukrama/zi, irshyapanayanam.

Stanza 1.

There is no allusion in the ritual to any precious substances gotten from a distance. The description here n n 2p. 548 given would suit either saindhavam, ' salt/ or guggulu, ' bdellium ' (cf. XIX, 38, 2). Perhaps, however, it simply tries to magnify the cost and potency of some ordinary substance (Katu.

1 In this spirit Sayawa, mam eva nari/^ pa^yat mamai*va*nukulam. But he offers also our rendering as an alternative, mam eva patye pradawayat.

ive, mam eva patye pradawayat.

n n 2p. 548 given would suit either saindhavam, ' salt/ or guggulu, ' bdellium ' (cf. XIX, 38, 2). Perhaps, however, it simply tries to magnify the cost and potency of some ordinary substance (Katu. 36, 25) by deriving it fictitiously from an unknown country far away.

Stanza 2,

Note the subtle symbolism of Kaus. 36, 27 : the jealous man drinks water which has actually cooled the heated axe.

VII, 50. Commentary to page 150.

For the practices associated with this hymn, see the introduction to the first part of IV, 38. Stanzas t, 2, 5, 8, 9 seem to have been composed directly with reference to the situation1: st 3 (==RV. V, 60, 1) ; st. 4 ( = RV. I, 102, 4) ; and stanzas 6. 7 ( = RV. X, 42, 9. 10) are adapted secondarily to the purpose in hand ; see the notes below. Previous renderings by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 455; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 285; Grill2, pp. 71, 180; Henry, Le livre VII de l'Atharva-veda, pp. 18, 75 ff. Cf. also Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 430. The Anukrama/zi, aindram, composed by kitavabandhanakamo*ngira/z

(cf. st. 1).

Stanza 1.

d, badhyasam is ambiguous. Saya^a reads vadhyasam (hanishyami) ; the Anukrama^i, above, has in mind the root bandh, ' bind.' Of Western translators, Grill, 'fahn' (fangen) ; the rest, ' slay.'

Stanza 3.

Adapted from a hymn to the Maruts, RV. V, 60, 1 ; Maitr. S. IV, 14, 11 ; Tait. Br. II, 7, 12. 4. Pada b contains the words vi £ayat kritam na/z, derived from the sphere of the gamester's speech. Note the word kriti.ni in the preceding stanza.

1 In the case of the second stanza this is not altogether certain : it savours of the Maruts. One may imagine Indra as the speaker.

p. 549

Stanza 4.

Adapted from an Indra-hymn ; cf. RV. I, 102, 4. The words vayam ^ayema . . . bhare-bhare render the stanza usable on the present occasion.

Stanza 5.

The words saz/zlikhitam and saz/zrudham are hopelessly obscure. I have rendered sa//zlikhitam as though it meant ' scratched clean/ ' cleaned out/ The rendering of sa?#- rtidham is purely etymological. Saya/za, loke hi kitava/i asmin pade pratikitavam aksha^alakadibhi^ sa/^rotsyami*ti ankan kurvanti tatrai * va ka sa//zrundhanti. tadrzsak pratikitavo*tra sa//zbodhyate, he kitava samlikhltam padeshu samyag ankan likhitavantam api tvam a^-aisham . . . sawroddharam api tvam a^aisha/zz ^ayami. yadva sa;^likhita;// samyag likhita/^ kihrntam padam abhilakshya tvaw ^ayami, uta api ka sa/;zrudrram . . . tadrtsam sthanam abhilakshya tvam ^-ayami. The Pet. Lexs.

samyag ankan likhitavantam api tvam a^-aisham . . . sawroddharam api tvam a^aisha/zz ^ayami. yadva sa;^likhita;// samyag likhita/^ kihrntam padam abhilakshya tvaw ^ayami, uta api ka sa/;zrudrram . . . tadrtsam sthanam abhilakshya tvam ^-ayami. The Pet. Lexs. regard both words as obscure termini of the game. Ludwig, ' ich hab dir abgewonnen das zusammengekratzte, ich hab dir abgewonnen das zusammengescharrte., Grill, ' was du einstreichst,' and, c was du zuriickbehiertst.' Henry, ' (je t'ai) gratte de fond en comble (?), et j'ai gagne l'enjeu total (?).'

Stanza 6.

Adapted from an Indra-hymn, RV. X, 42, 9 = AV. XX, 89, 9 (cf. also RV. X, 43, 5), where the gamester and the game appear by way of comparison. In Pada c, devakamo is felt in our version to have the double sense 'loving play/ and ' loving the gods.5 It may be questioned whether the same intention is present in the RV.

Stanza 7.

Adapted from RV. X, 42, io, &c. = AV. XX, 17, 10, &c.
Its juxtaposition in the RV. with the preceding stanza,
and the occurrence of ^ayema, have brought it into the
Atharvan compilation.

p. 550

VII, 52. Commentary to page 136.

This hymn is catalogued in the ga;za or series called
sa;//manasyani in Kaiu. 1 2, 5, and is accompanied by the
practices described at AV. Ill, 30. It is rubricated further
at Kaus1. 9, 2, in the series designated by the Ga^amala, Ath.
Parii*. 32, 26, as the great jantiga/za. The first stanza of
the hymn is found, with variants, Maitr. S. II, 2, 6 ; Tait.
Br. II, 4, 4, 6. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig,
Der Rigveda, III, 428 (cf. also p. 344) ; Grill2, pp. 31,
181 ff. ; Henry, Le livre VII de l'Atharva-veda, pp. 19, 79.
The Anukrama/zi designates it as sa/zzmanasyam a^vinam.

Stanza 1.

The first stanza is described by the Anukrama/zi as kakummaty anush/ubh, but the irregularity vanishes, if we read suebhia^ . . . ara/zebhia^. The Tait. Br. — but not the Maitr. S. — substitutes the classical forms svai'^ and ara/zai/z, thus disguising the metre still further.

Stanza 2.

a. Cf. the parallel Pâda, RV. X, 30, 6 c.

b. The text as it stands1 yields the following translation : ' may we not struggle with one another in fateful spirit/ But a suggestion of Grill seemed to me too fascinating to resist, he emends manasa daivyena to manasadaivyena^ manasa adaivyena, and our translation presupposes this text. At RV. II, 23, 12 we have, adevena manasa yo risha/zyati . . . ^-fgha/zzsati, ' he who attacks in a spirit displeasing to the gods . . . (and) desires to murder/ Prof.