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

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Stanza 1.

The Ruxamas are praised as liberal bestowers of dakshma
in RV. V, 30, 12-15 ; d. also RV. VIII, 3, 12 ; 4, 2. See
Zimmer, p. 129. The stanza is quoted Asv. Sr. VIII, 3,
10 ; Sankh. Sr. XII, 14, 1,

Stanza 2.

Cf. 5ankh. Sr. XII, 14, 2 ; RV. VIII, 5, 37 ; 6, 48 ; 46, 22 ; and Pischel, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XXXV, 712. The second hemistich is textually corrupt and obscure. The sense seems to be that the chariot presented by Kaurama as part of the dakshm£ is so high that it seems to just dodge the heavens which in their turn flee from its contact. I read ishama^a(/z) with the Pet. Lex., and Whitney in the Index. The MSS. have lshama/za(^) ; the edition ishama^a(A). The word upaspma^ I have taken as an ablative from the abstract upaspr/i", ' touch, contact.' The Pet. Lex. takes it as an adjective, 'the touching heavens as they recede/ The text of 5ankh. Sr. XII, 14, 2 has ^inflate for ^-ihishate.

B.

The next three stanzas are known in the ritual as raibhya/z (sc. rika/i) ; see Ait. Br. VI, 32, 7 ff. ; Kaush. Br. XXX, 5 ; Gop. Br. II, 6, 12. At Tait. S. VII, 5, it, 2 the commentator explains them as referring to Rebha (Agni), rebha^ sabdakrid agni^ tadvishaya rikah ; Saya^a at Ait.

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Br. — where, as well as at Gop. Br., the treatment of them suggests nothing — defines them more vaguely as rebha^abdopeta rikâh. Agni is unquestionably spoken of as rebha, e.g. RV. I, 127, 10; VI, 3, 6; 11, 3; it is therefore not easy to decide whether he, the divine chanter, is addressed here, or whether the poet, the human chanter, is urged to perform his function. I incline to the former view, having in mind especially the parallelism of st. 4 with RV. Ill, 6, 2. The text is very corrupt.

Stanza 4.

Cf. Sahkh. Sr. XII, 15, 1, and RV. Ill, 6, 2, diva^ kid agne mahina przthivya va^yantam te vahnaya^ sapta^ihva^, 'by the greatness (Ludwig, 307, along the greatness) of heaven and earth may thy seven-tongued flames disport themselves, O Agni ! ' For kshuro bhun^or, cf. the interesting kshuro bhrz^van, Tait. S. IV, 3, 12, 3 (bhr^van for bhuri^van, not in the lexicons), and Pischel in Vedische Studien, I, 240, 243.

Stanza 5,

Cf. Sankh. Sr. XII, 14, 4. I have translated rebhaso of the MSS. ; the edition has the vocative rebhaso. The text of the second hemistich is very corrupt ; its emended form in the edition is at the base of our rendering.

Stanza 6.

Cf. Sankh. Sr. XII, 14, 5, with important variants.

C.

The next four stanzas are known in the ritual as the parikshitya^ (sc.

aso. The text of the second hemistich is very corrupt ; its emended form in the edition is at the base of our rendering.

Stanza 6.

Cf. Sankh. Sr. XII, 14, 5, with important variants.

C.

The next four stanzas are known in the ritual as the parikshitya^ (sc. rika/i) ; see vSahkh. Sr. XII, 17 ; Ait. Br. VI, 32, 10 ff. ; Kaush. Br. XXX, 5 ; Gop. Br. II, 6, 12. The Ait. Br. and Gop. Br. advance as one of two expositions the theory that Agni is parikshit, ' since he lives about among the people, and the people live around him/ The text itself admits of no doubt : Agni Vaiwanara, the typical god of Brahmanical piety (5at. Br. I, 4, 1, 10-18), is a kindly ruler among men, and his presence secures the

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prosperity of the golden age. In the later legends Parikshit is propagated variously as a terrestrial king.

Stanza 7.

Cf. 5ankh. Sr. XII, 17, 1. In Pada d we have translated a' srwota. of the edition ; the MSS. read a sunota (cf. the Prakrit root su, ' hear ').

Stanza 10.

The first hemistich is problematic, the comparison of the overflow of the grain with the bursting forth of the light is bold, nay bizarre. The MSS. do not read sva^, as does the edition with .Sankh. Sr. XII, 17, 4. Perhaps svâk is to be read instead of sva^ (cf. Bloomfield and Spieker in the Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, ]886; Journ., vol. xiii, p. cxvii ff.) : ' On the morrow the ripe barley bursts forth from the opening of the ground,' i. e. grain planted to-day ripens on the morrow. The second hemistich occurs in a different connection at Vait. Su. 34, 9 ; here also the MSS. read edhati for edhate, as emended in the edition.

D.

The last four stanzas are designated in the ritual as karavya/^ (sc. rzkak), ' referring, or pertaining to the poet ; ' see Sankh. Sr. XII, 15, 2-4 ; Ait. Br. VI, 30, 16 ff. ; Kaush. Br. XXX, 5; Gop. Br. II, 6, 12. The expositions contain nothing but a worthless pun with derivatives of the root kar, 'make.' The general sense of the stanzas is clear. Stanza 12 occurs with variants at Hir. Grzh. I, 22, 9 ; Par. Grzh. I, 8, 10 ; Gobh. Grzh. II, 4, 6 (pratika) ; SV. Mantra-br. I, 3, 13.

Stanza 14.

d. For the skilfully emended £ano dadhishva, cf. Geldner,
Studien zum Avesta, p. 58 ff. ; Roth, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch.
Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, no.

I. INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Abhayagawa, a list of hymns that secure immunity from danger, pages 398, 486, 542, 571, 576, 663.

abortion, and abortionist, 165, 521,

524, 527.

udien zum Avesta, p. 58 ff. ; Roth, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, no.

I. INDEX OF SUBJECTS.

Abhayagawa, a list of hymns that secure immunity from danger, pages 398, 486, 542, 571, 576, 663.

abortion, and abortionist, 165, 521,

524, 527. adaptation of mantras, lxiii, 297, 365,

372, 380, 484, 525 n, 541, 548-9,

563, 665.
adhvaryu-priest, 184, 243 ; cf. ritvi^-.
Aditi, 50-1, 97, 166, 179, 181, 183,

186, 206, 212, 502, 610, 613, a 629,647.

Aditya, 126-7, 192, 499, 661 n.
Adityas (plural), 6, 12, 55, 57, 89,

116, 119, 135, 161, 163, 191,

230, 443-4- adr/shfa, and dr/sh/a, designations of worms, 315, 351.

A^a Ekapad, and Ekapada, 208,625,
664.

Agastya, a sage, 23-4, 33.

Agni, i, 3, 12, 14, 18, 24, 32, 35-6,
40, 42-3, 47-9, 50, 52-3, 55-6,
58, 60, 64-5, 75, 77-81, 85, 90,
94, 104-5, 109-10, 1 12-3, 1 16-7,
120-2, 126, 128, 134-5, 139?
141,146-9,151,154,160,163-6,
170, 173, 175, i79-8o, 182,
184-5, 188, 190, 192, 194-5,
201, 205, 208-11, 221-2, 226,

231, 241,249, 254, 270-2, 308-9,
323, 325-6, 328, 342, 353, 359,
365, 373,402,408,422,443,447,
449, 454, 475,478,485, 498, 501,
518, 525, 528, 533, 545 n, 552,
554, 580, 592, 600, 612 n, 620,
622, 627, 641, 645, 661, 664,
690, 691 ; Agnis, two, 216 ; cf.
Garhapatya, Gatavedas, and
Vaijvanara.

agnihotra-sacrifice, 84, 122, 145,

227. agnish/oma-sacrifice, 189, 226, 458,

589. a agrahayawi-ceremony, 365, 551, 639. Akuti, a goddess, 104, 535. alga»^/u, designation of worms, 22,

3H-5- aligi, designation of a serpent, 28; cf. viligi.

aliklava, designation of birds of prey, 124, 155.

All gods (vijve deva^), 6, 33, 39, 103,
105, 113, 116, 119, 184.

alliteration, 273, 345, 388, 576, 642, 646, 663 ; cf. puns, and double meaning.

awholihgaga«a, designation of certain lists of mantras, 321, 509, 600, 628.

amrita (ambrosia), 4, 6, 10, 26, 43,
53, 86, 135, 141, 147, 162, 185,
190, 229.

Awsa, a divinity, 160.

amulet of the antelope's skin and horn, 336; ofaralu, 339; of the ajvattha-tree, 334; of barley, 285, 507, 541, 546; of a bracelet, 96 ; of darbha-grass, 480 ; defensive, 394, 576 ; of the hairs of a Brahman, 477 ; of the ^angina-tree, 281,669; of gold, 63,668; of herbs, 4 2 ; of kariragrass, 452 ; of khadira-wood in the shape of a ploughshare, 84 ff., 608 ; of kr/'shwala-berries, 239; of licorice, 275, 276; of a lute-string, 561 ; to cause micturation, 236; of mud, 287 ; of mud sewn up in the skin of a newly-slain animal, 553 ; of

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HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.