The Atharvan contains three charms against worms, II, 31 and 32 ; V, 23 \ The first of these seems to be of the general sort ; the second is directed against worms in cattle; the third is intended to cure worms in children. We must not, in my opinion, suppose that the assumption of the presence of worms was preceded by acute diagnosis. Professor A. Kuhn, in his admirable treatise on the con- nection between Teutonic and Vedic medicinal charms (Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprachforschung, XIII, pp. 49 ff. ; 113 ff.), has shown that the greatest variety of diseases are regarded in the naive view of folk-medicine as due to the presence of worms (see pp. 135 ff.) ; doubtless similar conceptions are at the base of the Hindu formulas. This accounts for 'worms in the head' (II, 31, 4); 'the variegated worm, the four-eyed ' (II, 32, 2), and the like. Cf. also Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, pp. 98, 393 ; Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, pp. 307, 348 ff. ; and Mann- hardt, Der Baumkultus der Germanen, pp. 12 ff. Less certain is the same scholar's view that the similarity of the conceptions in this matter points back to proethnic charms, since the equal endowment of the two peoples (Hindus and Germans) may of itself suffice to account for the parallel results. But I must say that the more modern scepticism
1 Cf. elsewhere, Tait. Ar. IV, 36; Apast. St. XV, 19, 5; Gobh. Gr/h. IV, 9, 19 ; Mantrabrahmawa of the Sama-veda II, 7 ; also Maitr. S. Ill, 14, 11; Tait. S. V, 5. 11, 1 ; Va^. S. XXIV, 30; and the correlated hymn, RV. I, 191.
314 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VFDA.
which stoutly denies the possibility of such productions in Indo-European times is at the present time more dogmatic than is at all warranted by the evidence. It is likely a priori that some of these folk-notions had crystallised in prehistoric times ; if there was an Indo-European people — some will deny even that — there was also a crude Indo- European folk-lore. Cf. also the introduction to IV, 12.
Kaurika implicates this hymn in a rather elaborate and difficult practice, 27, 14-20, as follows : 14. ' While reciting AV. II, 31 he makes an oblation of black lentils1, the kind of worms called algandu 2 and hanana, (all) mixed with ghee.
15. The young (of worms: Darila, krimino balan3) he winds about from right to left upon a black-spotted arrow (Dar., kalmashavar/ze ^are), and then smashes (the arrows)*
16. He roasts (the worms in the fire). 17. He then lays on (the worms with the arrow as firewood in the fire : Dar., tan balan sa.ra.ran). 18. With his left hand, his face turned to the south, he throws up dust and scatters it (over the patient, Ke.ra.va). 19. He (the patient) grinds up (the dust). 20. He then lays (ordinary) firewood on the fire.' The unsavoury practice, introduced by Ke.ra.va with the words arushi-udaraga/z^ulaka-bhaisha^yany u/kyante 4, comports well with the fierce imprecation : the acts symbolise the destruction of the imaginary worms in the patient, and contain various allusions to the wording of the hymn.
The hymn has been translated by Kuhn, I.e. 137 ; Weber,
Indische Studien, XIII, 199 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III,
323 ; Grill2, pp. 6, 98. The Anukrama^i describes the
divinity to which the hymn is addressed as mahidevatyam
1 The word khalvahga, thus translated, is not altogether clear. It is discussed in Kaurika, Introduction, p. xlix.
2 Thus, not ala#^u ; see Kaurika, Additions and Corrections, and cf. the note on AV. II, 31, 3.
3 But Kcrava very differently, govala(^) ^itritaw ^arasa^dhyaw parivesh/ya, i. e. the hair of a cow's tail is wound about an arrow ! Cf. Sutra 26, and the introduction to II, 32. Cf. also Ke^ava's explanation of Kaur. 29, 20. Saya/za follows Ke^ava.
4 For ga/z</ulaka, cf. perhaps alga/^u, above, and in stanza 2.
It, 31. Commentary. 315
(!cf. the word mahi in st. 1) uta £andram; its author is Ka/zva.
a. In RV. VII, 104, 22 = AV. VIII, 4, 22, Indra is called upon to crush the Rakshas as with a mill-stone : the present passage seems to realise the comparison, so that indirectly Indra's bolt (vagra) is in the mind of the poet; cf. also a^man and parvata in st. 19 of the same hymn.
d. Cf. the symbolic crushing of lentils in the practice, Kau.y. 27, 14, where khalvariga takes the place of khalva ; so also in Kaas*. 27, 26 (cf. Kaujika, Introduction, p. xlix). Kcrava defines both khalvahga and khalva as krzsh//a£a- nak&k. Read here metri gratia khaluan. Cf. also V, 23, 8 c, d.
a. At V, 23, 6. 7 adr/sh/a is an epithet of kr/mi ; adr/sh/a by itself is used substantially in AV. VI, 52, 2 (=RV. I, 191, 4), and 3 ; cf. also RV. I, 191, 9 = AV. VI, 52, 1 and AV. V, 23, 6, where the sun is designated as the slayer, adrzsh/ahan, of unseen (vermin) ; cf. Zimmer, p. 98. In AV. VIII, 8, 15 both drzsh^a and adr/sh/a also occur as designations of vermin, and it seems quite likely that drzsh/a is an afterthought in the style of sura after asura ; diti after aditi, and the like.
b. The Paippalada and Saya^a read kuriram for kuru-
rum; the latter defines it, kuriram galam tadvad antar
avasthita//z krzmikulam.
c. The MSS., both of the hymn and the Sutra, hesitate between the two writings algandu and alandu, and I had decided in the Additions and Corrections to the Kau^ika (p. 76, Su. 14) in favour of alga/zdii. This is the reading adopted by Saya^a and Shankar Pandit. In the Nagari- character the two forms are almost identical (lga is la as soon as the g-stroke is prolonged downward) ; hence the confusion. Saya^a, .romtama/zzsadushakan ^antun. Saya^a has i-algan for jalunan. Here, as in st. 4 c, d, krimin is obviously a gloss ; the Anukrama/zi, uncritically, defines the metre of the stanza as uparish/advinu/brzhati.
3 16 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
a, b. The mighty weapon is the charm which is called outright ' thunderbolt ' (va^ra) in VI, 134 and 135. Perhaps the fire of the symbolic bolt is supposed to burn them (duna aduna/j). The ritual (Sutras 16 and 17, above) em- bodies the idea in practice, and we are not in the position to say but what this particular act was associated with the stanza from the start — a question of principle which seems destined for ever to divide the doctors. Saya^a obviously has in mind paritapati in Su. 16 in his gloss paritapta aparitapta//.
c, d. To render doubly certain the complete destruction
of the disease, even those which are prima facie already
driven out are submitted to this phase of the charm.
a, b. Read anvantriam jirshamam atha u, &c. Cf. with
this Mantrabrahma/2a (of the Sama-veda) II, 7, 2, krimlm
ha vaktratodina^ krimim antranu&irmam. Saya^a (with
some MSS.) reads parsh/zeyam, 'in the heel/ and Ludwig,
rather arbitrarily, translates ' im Riicken,' as though parsh-
/^eyam stood in the text.
c. avaskava, like most of the names in the charm, is an, Aey. Weber, I.e. 201, and Zimmer, p. 393, define it as ' he who peels, pares off.' Saya^a, avaggamanasvabhavam. By the side of vyadhvara (this form twice in VI, 50, 3) x we have vyadvara in Sat. Br. VII, 4, 1, 27 (defined by the scholiast as adana^ilo danda.rukadi^) and vyadvari (with different accent) in AV. Ill, 28, 22. One or the other is a folk-etymological modification : vyadhvara, ' piercing,' and vyadvara, * gnawing.' The Padapa/^a divides vi adh- vara (most futile), and Ludwig in his translation of VI, 50, 3
1 So the vulgata. Saya/za and Shankar Pandit with most of his MSS. vyadvara. See the note there.
2 Here Sayawa reads vyadhvari (du^khahetur dush/amarga^ tadvati) ; see the note on the passage.
Ii, 32- Commentary. 3 1 7
has arrived at the same result, c abseits vom wege' (Der Rigveda, III, 500). The same analysis in Saya^a to our stanza, vividhamargopetam, nanadvara/zi krz'tva tatra gakk- antam. — krfmin here, as in 2 c, is a gloss, misunderstood by the Anukrama/zi, as above.
c. Saya/za reads te for ye and tanvas for tanvam.
II, 32. Commentary to page 23.
This charm against worms in cattle (Ke^ava, gokrani- bhaisha^yani) elicits the following treatment in the Kau^ika 27, 21-26: ' (The performer) chants the hymn at sunrise, and pronounces the name of the cow, " O thou, N. N." 1 At the end of the hymn, while exclaiming " the (worms) are slain," he throws darbha-grass (upon the cow). He goes through the same performance at noon. In the afternoon he (throws the darbha-grass) upon the cow, her face turned to the west 2. Having cut off a tuft of the (cow's) tail he continues as in Sutra 14 (the performance in connection with AV. II, 31, which see).'
Charms closely related with this are found in Tait. Ar. IV, 36 (cf. Apast. Sr. XV, 19, 5), where verses similar to stanzas 3 and 4 are employed to relieve the cow who yields the milk for the gharma, if she is sick with worms ; further in the Mantrabrahma;za of the Sama-veda II, 7 (see the Calcutta Journal Usha, vol. i, fasc. 7)3, and in Gobh. Grih. IV, 9, 19. 20, where the stanzas of Mantrabr. are employed to destroy worms both in man and cattle.
The hymn has been translated by A. Kuhn, in Kuhn's
1 Cf. Gobh. Grili. Ill, 8, 3 ; La/y. St. Ill, 6, 3 ; and Katy. Sr. XXVI, 5, 1, where i</a is mentioned as the typical name of a cow.
2 The implication is that in the preceding steps of the ceremony the cow's head is turned to the east; cf. Darila, p. 77, note 7.
8 The same work has also been printed in Serampore (jaka i794 = a.d. 1872).
318 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
Zeitschrift, XIII, 138 ff. ; Weber, Indische Studien, XIII, 201 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 500 ; Grill2, pp. 7, 100 ; cf. also Hillebrandt's Vedachrestomathie, p. 47. The Anukramam, adityadevatyam, aneno*ktarshir (i.e. Ka//va : cf. the introduction to II, 31) uktakriyam akarot.
The removal of hantu in Pada 1 restores a good gayatri
stanza (read, ctditia/^). The Anukrama?/i designates it as
tripad bhuriggayatri.
a. The rising sun and Ushas, the dawn, are especially
calculated to dispel the evils associated primarily with
night, and then, generally, misery and disease ; cf. RV.
I, 50, 11. 13; AV. I, 22, 1 ; V, 23, 6; IX, 2, 15; 8, 22;
XIII, 1, 32.
The stanza is repeated at V, 23, 9 with the variants trlsirshamm trikakiidam in Pada 1 ; these readings com- bined show that the poet in designating the worms has in mind the demon Vuvarupa who is familiarly known to have had three heads. Cf. also Mantrabr. II, 7, 2. krimi^ dvmrsham argunam dvisirshaz/z ka. ^aturhanum. Professor Kuhn, 1. c. 147, lays especial stress upon the agreement of the Vedic and Teutonic charms, in that they point out the colours of the worms.
a. Saya^a, vuvarupaw nanakaram; Ludwig, 'den voll-
gestaltigen.' The epithet * four-eyed ' is originally at home
with the four-eyed dogs of Yama, and is due, primarily,
to some mythological conception ; cf. our note on IV,
20, 7. But in the view of the Hindus ' four-eyed' means
* with spots over the eyes ; ' see Contributions, Third
Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 165 note. Saya^a,
£aturnetram.
b. The Pet. Lexs. render saranga by ' bunt, scheckig ; '
Weber, ' schwarzlich ; ' Ludwig, * braunlich/ The native
explanations of the word are stated by Prof. Weber, Indische
Studien, VIII, 275.
c. The Pada is a catalectic anush/ubh.
Ii, 32. Commentary. 319
The stanza recurs in V, 23, 10. The Tait. Ar. IV, 36, and Mantrabr. II, 7, 1. 2 have similar stanzas: atri/za tva. krime hanmi ka/zvena ^amadagnina, vuvavasor brahma^a (Tait. Ar.) ; and, hatas te atri^a krimir hatas te ^amadag- nina, gotamena tinikrzto*trai*va tva krime brahmavadyam avadya. bharadva^asya mantre#a sa/^tinomi krime tva (Mantrabr.) Reliance upon the great seers of the past is a common-place expression in charms and exorcisms ; cf. e.g. I, 14,4; IV, 20, 7.
c. Hillebrandt and Grill regard va^ as a gloss. But it
is written also in V, 23, 10, and its expulsion does not effect
good metre, the final cadence being ^ — v.