1 dvitiyaya graham. Darila, ka/akabandha ity artha^, ' with the second stanza a rope is fastened (about' the patierit) ' ? Cf. agra- bham, and grz'twami in the mantra. The feminine gender of graham is peculiar. We should expect either graha^am, or dvitiya graham. Ke^ava, visha/rc na visarpati dejasthitazrc bhavati .rarire na sarpati vishastambhanaw bhavati.
426 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
apradakshmam). 4. He fastens a bunch of grass 1 to the border of the (patient's) tuft of hair.'
b. etasu, feminine, with reference to the numerous female reptiles in sts. 7 fT.
Kauj. 29, 5 : c With the third (stanza) he drives the poison forth.' Kcrava, da;/wad visham anyatra ga^Mati. In Pada a, vr/sha me rava/£ suggests perhaps the fire which is built to frighten away serpents; see RV. I, 94, 10 ; VII, 79, 4 ; X, in, 2. At RV. X, 146, 2 = Tait. Br. II, 5, 5, 6 vrzsharava is the designation of a croaking bird. Pada d echoes RV. I, 191, 8 : the rising sun symbolises the qui- escence or destruction of all harmful powers.
Kam\ 29, 6. 7 : { While reciting the fourth stanza, along with VII, 88 2, the (serpent's) bite is rubbed 3 with grass, and the grass thrown upon the serpent. 7. (Or in the absence of the serpent he throws it) where the biting took place.' Cf. Kaui*. 32, 25. The ceremony is an attempt at the complete realisation of the mantra.
Kaiu. 29, 8 : c With the fifth stanza he sprinkles the poisoned person with water heated by quenching in it
1 The virtue of this manipulation rests apparently in the pun between stamba and the root stambh, * fasten, confine ' !
2 ' Go away, thou art an enemy, an enemy surely art thou ! Thou hast mixed (thy) poison into poison, thou hast certainly mixed poison. To the serpent himself do thou go away. Him slay ! ' Cf. Ludwig, Rigvecja, III, 511; Henry, Le livre VII de FAtharva-ve'da, pp. 36, 106.
3 Ke^ava, pra^valya, ' heating the bite with burning grass/ This is due to confusion of this performance with Kaur. 32, 24, datfwma nitapya.
V, 13. Commentary. 427
burning reeds from a thatch x mixed with grains of sesame.' For ava^vala, cf. Kaus. 27, 29 (introduction to III, 7) ; Krus. 27, 33 (introduction to III, 11); 28, 2 (introduction to IV, 6). The punning symbolism which connects this practice with upatrz/zya, and perhaps also alika^ (as though it were valika) in the mantra, represents the low-water mark of banale attempts to construct a practice upon the indications of the mantra. The names of the serpents in this and the following stanzas are for the most part very obscure (cf. Zimmer, pp. 94, 95) : for kafrata, see X, 4, 14, for babhrii, VI, 56, 2. asita is a more common designation, VI, 56, 2 ; VII, 56, 1, &c, and cf. the note on VI, 56, 2.
c. stamanam, air. Key., we have rendered as though it
were sthamanam (masculine !). Cf. our remarks on the
interchange between surd aspirates and non-aspirates,
Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, pp. 436 ff., and Roth in the
Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morg. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 105 ff.
The Pet. Lex. under stha -I- api suggests srama/zam, without
interpreting the passage in this form.
Kaus. 29, 9 : ' With the sixth (stanza) a bowstring taken from the notched end of the bow is fastened upon the patient.' Again, the vaguest kind of symbolism in refer- ence to Pada d. For taimata, see V, 18, 4. The rendering of apodaka is very uncertain. Though in accord with the apparent meaning of the same word in st. 2, it jars here : we should rather expect another designation of serpents, ' one that does not live in the water (?).'
Kauj\ 29, 10: 'With the two next stanzas (7 and 8) the patient is given to drink water with the earth of a bee-hive.' (K e^ava, however, madhudvapa = madhuvrz'ksham/'z'ttika). The relation of the practice to the stanzas is profoundly obscure. Cf. the note on V, 5, 1.
1 Cf. the introduction to VI, 24.
428 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
b. We are tempted to change the instrumental asiknya
to the ablative asiknya^, 'born of the black serpent,' or
' born of the black night/
c. For pratankam, see our note on IV, 16, 2; cf. also
XII, 1, 46 ; Sat. Br. VII, 4, 1, 28 (ye va*va/eshu aerate),
and Ait. Br. VI, i , 3.
Kau^. 29, 1 1 : ' With the ninth (stanza) the patient is given to drink water containing the excrement of a porcu- pine. With a prick (of the porcupine) that has three white stripes he feeds meat to the patient1/ Cf. the closely cor- related RV. I, 191, 16.
a. The Pet. Lexs. and Zimmer, p>. 82, translate kan/a by 4 long-eared.' But has the porcupine long ears ? I have preferred to think of his pricks (.yalali) as giving rise to the somewhat fanciful adjective. The prickly porcupine may naturally not live on good terms with serpents, being hard to tackle.
b. ava^arantika^ left untranslated by the Pet. Lexs., in the
light of pravartamanaka^, RV. I, 193, 11, is obviously
a diminutive participle ; see our note on IV, 37, 10.
Kaui\ 29, 13: ' With the tenth (stariza) the patient is
given water to sip from a gourd.5 This looks as though
there was some connection in the mind of the Sutrakara
between tabiiva and alabu. At any rate t&buva, and tas-
tiiva in the next stanza, seem to be a cure for poison.
This and the next stanza are wholly problematic.
Kaui*. 29/, 14 : ' With the eleventh stanza he ties (a gourd)
to the navel of the patient.5 For tastiivam some MSS.,
according to Bohtlingks lexicon, read tasnivam.
1 Cf. Kaur. 10, 16, and the Grz'hya-sutras, where the prick with three stripes figures frequently ; see Stenzler's index, s. v. trye/zi.
V, 14. Commentary. 429
V, 14. Commentary to page 77.
The hymn is one of the kr/tyapratihara#ani, a series of hymns which counteract spells, given in the list at Kaur. 39, 7. See the introductions to IV, 17; V, 31 ; VIII, 5; X, 1, &c. The plant which figures prominently (sts. 1, 2, 4, 9) is not specified. It may be the apamarga, as in IV, 17-19; cf. the Anukrama^i, vanaspatyam. The hymn has been translated by Zimmer, p. 396 ff. ; Grill2, pp. 26 , 147 ff.
The first hemistich is repeated at II, 27, 2 ; see the note there.
In the course of the performances undertaken with the kr/tyaga^a at Kau.y. 39, 7-12 (cf. the introduction to IV, 17) this stanza is rubricated (Sutra 11), preceded by the words krztyaya*mitra£akshusha samikshan, which seems to be mantra, either entirely, or in part ; cf. Darila and Kcsava, p. 341. The sense of the Sutra, as much else in the same passage, is very obscure.
a. As a son goes to his father, thus do thou, O spell, return to thy father, i. e. to him that has prepared thee.
c, d. Grill, following Roth's lead, reads bandhum iva and translates, ' wie sich der fliichtling heimwarts kehrt, &c.' We do not feel constrained to accept the emendation, ava + kram ordinarily means 'overcome/ hence we have trans- lated avakram? by ' one who overcomes.' The comparison is as good, if not better. Zimmer, ' wie den Banden entfliehend eile zurlick &c.' — a forced construction of the accusative, bandham.
A doubtful stanza in changed metre (gayatri). It may have slipped in because of mrigam iva in the next stanza.
430 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
The sense seems to be : as surely as the antelope, shy- though she be, mates with the buck, so surely shall the spell strike him who prepares it. Cf. IV, 4, 7 = VI, 101, 3, and VII, 115, %. But abhiskandam is air. Aey. : we have followed Grill in referring it to the mounting buck. The Pet. Lex. regards it as a gerund, and Whitney, Index Ver- borum, emends to abhiskandan, a masculine participle, yielding a very problematic construction. Zimmer, ' wie die scheue Antilope, die Gazelle dem Angreifer (entflieht, so du, o Kranker, dem Zauber).'
V, 18. Commentary to page 169.
The object of the two hymns V, 18 and 19 is clearly to present in the most drastic language the danger which arises from th& oppression of Brahmans, and usurpation of their property1. Especially the cow of the Brahman, given to him as his sacrificial stipend (dakshmi ; cf. XII, 4), is sacred and inviolable. The point is accentuated by the practices connected with them. The two hymns are rubricated at Kaus\ 48, 13 fT. under the name brahma- gavyau (i.e. the two brahmagavi-hymns). The practices are intended to compass the death of him that robs or slays the cow of a Brahman; they are as follows : 13. ' (The Brahman) recites the two brahmagavi-hymns against (the robbers)2. 14. He recites them while the activity (of killing and cutting up the cow is being performed). 15. viirztati (Dar. uvadhye havi/£krzte*ty artha^). 16. (He recites the hymns) over the excrement within the entrails3. 17. And
1 This is the a^yeyata, 'freedom from oppression,' of the Brahman ; cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 60 ff.
2 Darila and Ke^ava add to this the related hymn XII, 5 (mixed prose and verse).
8 Excessively doubtful; Darila has the following as text and scholion: ka^ kriya anvaha, ubadhye, dveshyaz/z manasi (Cod. anasi) k/Ytva saptaminirde^at. Cf. XII, 5, 39, where the excrement of the cow is described as fit for sorcery-practices.
V, 1 8. Commentary. 43 1
also at a burial-ground 1. 18. Thrice he exclaims: " Slay those yonder." 19. While reciting the second (brahma- gavi-hymn) he hides a stone in the excrement. 20. Twelve nights does he rest observing every vow (of the brahma- £arin). 2 J. When the sun has risen twice (after the twelve days, the enemy) is laid low.' Cf. especially AV. XII, 4 and 5, and Sat. Br. XI V, 6, 7, 4 = Bnh. Ar. Up. Ill, 7, 1. The Anukrama^i designates the two hymns as brahma- gavidevatye.
Both hymns have been translated by Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, I2, 285 fif. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 447 ff., 451 ff. (cf. also 154); Zimmer, 199 ff. ; Grill2, 41, 148 ff. ; cf. also Hillebrandt's Vedachrestomathie, p. 42.
Ludwig very ingeniously suggests the change of ma to ya at the beginning of Pada c ; this yields a more concin- nate construction : ' Enveloped in her skin, as an adder with evil poison, sapless, unfit to be eaten is the cow of the Brahma;za.' Shankar Pandit with all MSS., sa.
This and the following stanza, as also 8, 9, and 13 are in
trish/ubh metre, and bear no reference to the cow of the
Brahman : they deal with the Brahman himself. Muir,
Ludwig, and Zimmer refer the verbs to the cow.
b. na £ittat, lit. 'not as the result of thought ; ' cf. a^ittya, V, 17, 12, and malva^, V, 18, 7.
b. The Paippalada reads agnek priyatama tanM, and the
Pet. Lex. suggests agne/i priya tanur iva; cf. st. 14, and
XII, 5. 41. 73-
c. Soma is the heir of the Brahman, i. e. Soma is bene- fited by the service of the priest ; or, perhaps, Soma is
1 Dar jmasane pakasthane ubadhyavat.
432 HYMNS OF THE ATHAfcVA-VEDA.
interested in the Brahman's cow (implied throughout the
hymn), because her milk is mixed with Soma; cf. st. 14.
See also Sat. Br. V, 4, 3, 3.
Cf. RV. X, 85, 34. ni^khidam, lit. ' to throw out.' Pro- fessor Roth suggests ni-khfdam, ' to get down.' ni^khid is certainly for. Aey. and might be for nishkhid==ni-shkhid, re- minding us of the MSS. of the Tait. S. which write khkhid in the interior of words (after augment and prepositions) ; see Ind. Stud. XIII, 106-7. But the statement, that the oppressor of Brahmans swallows the cow, and that he then cannot get her out again, because she sticks in his throat, is equally suitable.
b. The expression nadfika dantas tapasa * bhidigdha/^ seems to me to contain a double entente, ' his windpipe (shaft of the arrow), his teeth (points of the arrow), are bedaubed (like the arrow with poison) with holy fire/ A striking figure of speech, hardly to be misunderstood ! Muir, ' his windpipe is arrow-points smeared with fire ; ' Ludwig, ' die naaftka (speiserore oder luftrore ?) die zahne vom tapa^ bestrichen ; ' Zimmer, ' seine luftrohre mit Gluth bestrichne Pfeilspitzen ; ' Grill, ' die Luftrohr Pfeil- spitze, in des Eifers Gluth getauchet.'
d. vaitahavya, patronymic from vitahavya, a proper
name; cf. st. 11, and V, 19, 1. Zimmer, pp. 132, 200-1,
translates the word by ' die aus habsucht opfernden/ and
'die opfergierigen,' but the word per se has no disparaging
meaning ; cf. vitihotra.
c, d. Ludwig, ' die der Kesaraprabandha letztgeborene
gebraten.' This involves the emendation of £arama£*am to
^arama^am (sc. vatsam, ' calf), and makes Kesarapra-
bandha the name of a cow ; cf. prathama^d. That cows