2 According to Kcrava he ties it on as an amulet, but according to Kauj. 27, 14 he offers it as an oblation (^uhoti).
V, 23. Commentary. 453
The hymn has been translated by Kuhn, Zeitsch. f. vgl.
Sprachforsch. XIII, 140 ff., and Ludwig, Der Rigveda,
III, 501. Cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Vedique,
p. 148.
Cf. VI, 94, 3. The meaning of the stem ota- (a uta-) is not altogether certain; see Whitney, Roots, p. 11, under u, ' proclaim.' JBut I do not see how the meaning of the stem can be derived from the root va, ' weave,' and the preposi- tion a (cf. the Pet. Lex. under 5. va), as Whitney suggests. Cf. Saya^a in the note on VI, 94, 3. Heaven and earth are called upon in a general way to protect against enmity and trouble, cf. II, J 2, i, and especially VI, 3, 2. The
1 That is, according to Darila and Kesava he winds the young of worms around a certain spot of the karira-stalk (Dar. kariraika- de-ram), mashes the stalk, roasts the worms in the fire, and places the stalk upon the fire (correct Darila' s vratapatyadadhati simply to pratapaty adadhati).
2 Cf. Darila at 38, 5, jigrupatram.
3 The roots are dried (gima, ^arant) : see Darila to the passage, and the Paribhasha-siitra, Kam. 8, 17. Darila to the latter passage describes them as an odorous substance (gandhadravyam).
454 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
goddess Sarasvati is invoked perhaps as the heavenly phy- sician ; Indra and Agni as driving away evil spirits. Cf. also the Mantrabrahma^a of the Sama-veda, II, 7, 4, krimim indrasya bahubhyam ava#£a;/z patayami, and Indra's mill-stone, AV. II, 31, 1.
b. Indra as king of the gods, like the earthly king, is the guardian of treasures ; cf. IV, 22, 3, where the king is called dhanapatir dhananam.
a. A parallel to worms in the eye, in Teutonic folk- lore, is cited by Prof. Kuhn, 1. c, p. 150. In the medical Sastras a disease of the eye is known under the name krz- migranthi, ' sty ; ' this may be related to the disease which is here imagined rather fancifully.
c. ' The worm which gets to the middle of the teeth ' is similarly described in the later medicinal works as kri- midantaka, ' caries ' (Pet. Lex.), and dantada (krzmi), Wise, p. 349 ; cf. also the krz'midushitaw dantavar^a^/, by which the i?/k-Pratij"akhya XVII, 10 describes syava, ; see Reg- nier's edition, III, 189.
For the fanciful descriptions of forms, colours, and names in this and the following stanzas, see Kuhn, 1. c, p. 147, and cf. the note on II, 32, 2.
c. The formula babhrui" ka. babhrukama^ ka. is repeated in VI, 16, 3 c: the hymn is described by the commentators at Ka.us. 30, 1 ff., as a charm against ophthalmia. It is there also implicated in a fanciful list of personified diseases.
d. For koka, cf. VIII, 6, 2, where Saya//a glosses the word by ^akravaka.
a, b. For the epithets .sitikaksha and jitibahu, cf. Va£\ S. XXIV, 2. 4. 7 ; Tait. S. V, 5, 20, 1 ; 6, 13, 1 ; Maitr. S. Ill, 3, 3- 5. 8.
V, 3°. Commentary. 455
See the notes on II, 32, 1 and 2, and cf. especially AV. VI, 52, t = RV. I, 191, 9-
a. b. All designations are obscure. The Ka/^. S. has
a pendant yavasha, perhaps a popular modification of
yevasha, in deference to yava, ' barley * ;' kashkasha, e^atka,
and .yipavitnuka are a-n. Aey. A natural explanation for
e^atka suggests itself, ' active, mobile.'
b. nadaniman, 'roaring, or buzzing.' This, again, is ctar. Aey.
c. mashmasha kri recurs in the Katk. S. XVI, 7 ; the Maitr. S. II, 7, 7 (p. 84, 1. 3) has mrismrzsa. (var. mnsmrwa) in its place ; the Tait. S. IV, 1, to, 3, and some of the MSS. of the Va^\ S. XI, 80 (supported by the Pratuakhya, V, 37) read masmasa, an interesting onomatopoetic aggre- gation.
d. The Pada is repeated at II, 31, 1.
With the exception of the first Pada this stanza is iden- tical with II, 32, 2 ; so also the next three stanzas repeat, without change, II, 32, 3-5. See the notes there.
V, 30. Commentary to page 59.
The present hymn is of essentially the same character as
VIII, 1 and 2, and its manipulation in the ritual texts,
Kaui*. 58, 3. 11, and the ayushyaga/za (Kauj-. 54, 11, note),
coincides with both of these. See the introduction to
VIII, 1. Previous renderings by Muir, Original Sanskrit
Texts, V, 441 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 494 ff.
1 Cf. Contributions, Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, 429. note 2.
456 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
The first hemistich is verbose and obscure. Muir, ' from thy vicinity, from thy vicinity, from a distance, from thy vicinity (I call) to thee;' Ludwig, without construing, ' deine nahe nahe, deine feme nahe.' We have taken the two Padas as quasi-intensive expressions, equivalent respec- tively to avatas te, and paravatas te.
Cf. for Pada b the Italian proverb : —
Da chi mi fido, guarda mi, Dio, Da chi mi non, mi guarderd io. —
Cf. Ath. Pam. 4, 1. We have regarded the stanza, not without hesitancy, as a plea of the professional medicine- man in behalf of his art, and against domestic remedial expedients (' hausmittelchen '). The expression pratyak sevasva looks as though it meant ' refuse with thanks,' and our rendering of sar^ata^ aims to reproduce the supposed satirical flavour of the passage.
Cf. VIII, 1, 13, and the note on the passage.
b. The construction of the Pada is not quite clear.
Ludwig, ' anbetung denen die zu den vatern fiihren ; ' Muir.
'reverence to the Fathers, and to those who guide us/
Both renderings are non-committal ; we have in mind the
dogs of Yama as the subject of uta ye nayanti.
Cf. Ath. Parii*. 1 3, 3.
V, 31. Commentary to page 76.
The hymn belongs to the krztyapratihara;zani. a series of hymns designed to repel spells. It is closely similar in character to X, 1, together with which it is employed in the
V, 31- Commentary. 457
practices described at Kauj. 39, 7 fT. ; see the introduction to X, 1. The particular point of interest in this hymn is the full catalogue of animate and inanimate objects within which spells were instituted. It seems that these objects, through which the prosperity of an enemy was attacked, went in the ritual by the name of marmam, ' vital spots ; ' see Kau.y. 39, 28. 31. The notion appears to be that a man is vulnerable through his belongings as well as his own person. Cf. in general, Maitr. S. Ill, 3, 8 (106, 11) ; Tait. S. VI, 2, 11, 1 ; Sat. Br. Ill, 5, 4, 2.
For the entire stanza, cf. IV, 17, 4, and our notes there.
a. An unburned vessel figures also in a witchcraft practice, Sat. Br. XIV, 9, 4, 11 = Brzh. Ar. Up. VI, 4, 12. The symbolic aspect of an unburned vessel, namely its fragility, is in evidence at Sat. Br. XII, 1, 3, 23 ; Manu III, 179. We wTould remark in passing that the Padapa/^a's yad ykvcxkm ^akriir at VI, it 6, 1 is to be emended to yady amk >£akrur. Correct accordingly the Index Verborum.
b. It is difficult to decide whether kuririm refers to some individual animal, ' a crested animal/ perhaps * peacock/ or whether it is to be regarded as an epithet of ' goat ' in Pada a. Geldner,Vedische Studien, 1, 130, renders it ' horned/ but this is based upon a misinterpretation of VI, 138, 2; see the note there. Cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 91.
The solipeds, horse, ass, &c, have one hoof, and incisors
above and below, in distinction from the animals called
anyatodant, c those that have incisors only in the lower
jaw/ They are contrasted with the pasture-animals in the
preceding stanza. See Zimmer, 1. c, pp. 74, 75.
a, b. The meaning of amulayam and nara^yam (vanara- kyann ?) is problematic. Our translation is of the etymological
458 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
sort, and the feminine gender of the words is difficult to
account for. But the suggestion of the Pet. Lexs. that
both are designations of plants does not commend itself.
See the passages cited under amula.
c. mroka and nirdaha are designations of two kinds of
destructive fire ; cf. XVI, i, 3. Our rendering of both
words is purely tentative.
c. maryadhirebhya^ is very obscure. The Padapa//£a, marya-dhirebhya^, as a compound. At Maitr. S. I, 4, 8 (56, 18) we have maryddhairye^a, and the absence of the vrzddhi of the first syllable suggests that maryd may be an independent word, the enclitic marya, for which see Pischel, Vedische Studien, I, 61 ff. We might then translate, ' The fool verily has prepared (the spell) against the wise.' But Pischel's treatment of the word is not altogether con- vincing.
The first three Padas are identical with the corresponding PadasoflV, 18,6.
b. mulin, * he that practises witchcraft with the roots of
plants : ' mulakriya, Vishnu XXV, 7 ; mulakarman, Manu
IX, 290; XI, 64; Mahabh. Ill, 233, 13 = 14660 ff. Cf.
Winternitz, Das Altindische Hochzeitsrituell, p. 98.
VI, 2. Commentary to page 66.
The hymn is employed at Vait. Su. 16, 13 in the course of the agnish/oma. The second stanza is made the pivot of a small charm against Rakshas (rakshobhaisha^yam) at Kaur. 29, 27. * While reciting AV. VI, 2, 2 the performer eats milk-porridge that has been cooked upon a fire built up of birds' nests/ The symbolic connection with the stanza is apparent.
Vi, 9- Commentary. 459
The hymn has been translated by Florenz, Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XII, 251.
b. a dhavata (cf, RV. VII, 32, 6) is not altogether clear. Saya/za, adhavanaz/z nama adabhyagrahartha/^ grzhitasya vasativari^alasya (cf. Vait. Su. 16, 1) . . . yad va . . . da^apavitre^a sarvata^ jodhayata.
The first hemistich is identical with RV. VII, 32, 8 a, b.
VI, 8. Commentary to page ioo.
The rites connected with this charm are stated in the
introduction to II, 30, above. The hymn has been trans-
lated by Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 261 ff. ; Florenz, Bezzen-
berger's Beitrage, XII, 257; Grill2, pp. 54, 158 ff. The
Anukrama/zi designates it as kamatmadaivatam.
Cf. RV. X, 10, i§. The formulaic refrain occurs also at
* Large birds, as they start to fly, beat the ground with their wings, unable, as it were, to get off. Thus the mind of the woman shall not be able to free itself from her lover.' See Professor Roth, as quoted by Grill, and cf. VI, 18,3; 70, 1.
VI, 9. Commentary to page ioi.
For the practices connected with this charm, see the introduction to II, 30, above. Previous translations : Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 264 ff. ; Florenz, Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XII, 10. The Anukrama^i, kamatmadaivatam.
Cf. Ill, 25, 3. 4, and the spirit of that hymn in general.
460 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
The second hemistich is formulaic ; see I, 34, % ; III, 25, 5 ; the last Pada at VI, 42, 3 \ 43> 3-
a. Literally, ( whose relations are a licking/ i. e. ' whose young furnish constant occasion for licking.' Licking the young is typical for fond maternity, e. g. AV. V, 1,4.
VI, 11. Commentary to page 97.
The hymn is employed in a ceremony calculated to ensure the birth of a male child (Ke^ava and Darila, pu^savanam) at Kauj. 35, 8-1 o, to wit : 8. ' While reciting the hymn a fire is churned from the (two kinds of wood .rami and a^vattha) mentioned in the hymn, the fire is thrown into ghee (prepared from the milk) of a cow with a male calf, and then the ghee is treated like the paidva (i. e., it is put with the right thumb up the nose into the right nostril of the pregnant woman) x. 9. (Casting the fire) into a stirred drink with honey it (the stirred drink) is given to the woman to drink. 10. (The fire) is surrounded with the wool of a male animal2, and the wool is tied (as an amulet) upon the woman.' The symbolism of these acts is in general very clear. In the act of churning the fire .rami is the female, and a^vattha the male ; cf. Ad. Kuhn, Die Herabkunft des Feuers1, p. 71 ff. ; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, pp. 58, 59.
The hymn has been rendered by Weber, Indische Studien, V, 264 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 477 ; Zimmer, 1. c,
1 Cf. Kaiu. 32, 21 in the introduction to X, 4.