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

and atman. See, e.g. Kaushitaki Up. II, 1, % ; III, % ; IV, 20 ; Tait. Up. Ill, 3. Very frequently Agni and Surya take the place of these abstractions, e. g. Maitri

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Up. VI, 1. 5. 9. 33 ; Pra^na Up. I, 5. 7. 8 ; II, 8. Pra/za is the personified breath of life, itself at the base of all existence (Ka//za Up. VI, 2), and fits naturally into the system of monotheistic-pantheistic thought which from the earliest beginnings of Hindu literature runs in a parallel current with polytheism. A noteworthy feature of this hymn is the predication to Pra/za of the qualities of a raingod (Par^anya). As such he quickens the life of plants and animals, and the account of this action of his is pursued with a great deal of detail and repetition. Equally remarkable is the outspoken identification of Pra/za in sts. 21 and 22 with the sun in the form of the ha^sa. This is a roundabout way of saying that pra/za (atman) is identical with brahma, brahma. See Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 393 ff. ; Scherman, Philosophische Hymnen aus der Rigund Atharva-veda-sa/^hit&, p. 69 ff., each of whom offers a partial translation.

In the ritual of the Atharvan the hymn figures as an ayushyam (sc. suktam), ' bestowing long life,' and therefore forms a part of the ^yushyaga^a in the Ga;^amal^, Ath. Pam. 32, 4 (see Kaiu. 54, 11, note). Cf. also Kau.y. 139, 7. At Kau.y. 55, 17 it is employed in the course of the investiture of the disciple with the holy cord; at Kaui*. 58, 3. 11 in certain special ceremonies (braiima/zoktam and rzshihasta/^, Su. 4), calculated to ensure longevity. The last stanza of the hymn is in our opinion constructed with this purpose directly in view : see the note on the passage. Cf. also 5antikalpa 15, 191.

Stanza 2.

The four component parts of a storm are wind, thunder, lightning, and rain; see our Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 569-70, and cf. especially the vayii krandadish/i, 'the wind hastening along with clamour' (RV. X, 100, 2). We have therefore assumed that kranda is the wind, ' the roarer/ par excellence. See also st. 15.

1 Erroneously quoted by Saya/za as Nakshatrakalpa.

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Stanzas 5, 6.

Cf. Tvasna. Up. II, io : ' When thou, O Pra/za, sprinklest the rain, then are these creatures full of joy ; (they think): " food shall we have according to wish." ' Pra/za here, as elsewhere in this composition, approaches closely to the character of Par^anya; see the hymn, RV. V, 83. For st. 5, cf. st. 17.

Stanza 7.

, then are these creatures full of joy ; (they think): " food shall we have according to wish." ' Pra/za here, as elsewhere in this composition, approaches closely to the character of Par^anya; see the hymn, RV. V, 83. For st. 5, cf. st. 17.

Stanza 7.

The verse is formulaic ; see, e. g. XI, 2, J 5.

Stanza 11.

Saya//a, ' by his going out he causes the death of all living beings.' For Pada b of this and the following stanza, cf. the similar sentiments assembled by Scherman, 1. c,

PP. 35, 59.

Stanza 13.

The epithet anaafvan, 'ox,' suggests AV. IV, 11, where supreme divine power is attributed to an ox. See Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 399, and Jacob's Concordance, s. v. ana^uh.

Stanza 16.

In the ritualistic literature the terms atharva/^a and angirasa are differentiated, so that the former means 'holy,' being the equivalent of ^anta, while the latter means * pertaining to sorcery,' being the equivalent of abhL£arika. Cf. Kaus. 47, 2. 12; Vait. Su. 5, 10; Gopatha-Br. I, 2, 18 Rig-vidhana IV, 6,4. See Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XI, 387 ff. Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 332, note; and the introduction to the present work. Especially in the passages quoted from the Vaitana-sutra and the Gopatha-Brahma^a this distinction is expressed clearly, and there seems to be no good reason to doubt that the writer here has it in mind. For angirasi^ (sc. oshadhi'^), see also AV. VIII, 5, 9 ; 7, 17. 24. Cf. also XIX, 39, 5.

Stanza 21.

Saya/za explains ha/^sa, alternately, as either the sun, or breath. The latter, if it withdraws from man, producesp. 625 death, and consequently annuls all distinctions of time. There can be no doubt that the former is the correct interpretation. The stanza contains a blend of two personifications of the sun. As ha/^sa the sun figures at AV. X, 8, 17; XIII, 3, 14; Tait. Ar. II, 15, 8; Tait. Br. Ill, 10, 9, 11 ; cf. the words ha^sa and paramaha;//sa in Jacob's Concordance to the principal Upanishads. The second conception of the sun underlies Pada a ; it is that of the a^a ekapad, or ekapada, for which see Roth, Yaska's Nirukta, Erlauterungen, p. 165; Bergaigne, La Religion Vedique, III, p. 20 ff. ; Henry, Les Hymnes Rohitas, p. 25. We would refer any one that doubts that a^a ekapad is the sun to Tait. Br. Ill, 1, 2, 8, 'A^a Ekapad has risen in the east, delighting all beings. At his urging (prasavam) all the gods go,' &c.

Stanza 22.

Saya/za again suggests that the human body, with breath as the dominating force, is the subject of the stanza.

un to Tait. Br. Ill, 1, 2, 8, 'A^a Ekapad has risen in the east, delighting all beings. At his urging (prasavam) all the gods go,' &c.

Stanza 22.

Saya/za again suggests that the human body, with breath as the dominating force, is the subject of the stanza. The human body, consisting of skin, blood, and six other elements, is eight-wheeled, and held in position by one felloe, breath. Doubtless, the sun is again presented mystically. At AV. X, 8, 7 (cf. Muir, I.e., I, 9 ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 395) the stanza occurs with the variant ekakakram for ash/a^akram. In this form it is obviously a continuation of st. 21 : we are at a loss to explain the mystic thought which underlies the change of eka to ash/a ; cf. ash/a'/£akra in AV. X, 2, 31. The stanza posits a theosophic riddle (brahmodya ; cf. Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 172 ff.); the second hemistich recurs in a different connection at AV. X, 8, 13.

Stanzas 24-26.

The last three stanzas impart to the hymn the character of a conjuration, in accordance with its employment in the Kaiuika. See the introduction. In the last stanza apa;/z garbha is 'fire' (cf. RV. I, 164, 52; Tait. S. IV, 2, 3, 3), either the fire in the body, or, perhaps more probably, the fire of which the Brahman disciple takes care. See 5ankh. [42] s s

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Grih. II, io ; Asv. Grih. I, 20, ic-21 ; Par. Grih. II, 4, 1 ff. ;
Gobh. Grih. II, 10, 46.

XI, 5. Commentary to page 214.

This hymn has been subjected to the treatment of a number of prominent scholars : see Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 399 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 111,452 ff. ; Scherman, Philosophische Hymnen aus der Rig- und Atharva-veda-Sanzhita, p. 84 ff. ; cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Vedique, p. 161 ff. Neither of these scholars seems to us to state quite correctly the origin of this peculiar type of speculation. In our Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 167 ff, we have endeavoured to show that RV. X, 136 contains the glorification of the sun as a muni, a solitary ascetic : the present hymn may be understood best from a similar starting-point. The sun, who contributes elsewhere many of his qualities to the speculations regarding the primeval principle of the universe, is here for the nonce imagined as a Brahma^arin, a Brahmanical disciple, engaged in the practice of his holy vows ; next, by an easy transition, all the functions and powers of the BrahmaMrin are made the basis of a momentary cosmogonic and philosophical account of the origin and existence of the universe.