The stanza cannot be addressed to anything else but the sun, judging from the identity of its first hemistich with RV. X, 136, 4 a, b, which clearly refers to the sun (cf. Con- tributions, 1. c, pp. 167-8, and Tait. S. IV, 6, 3, 4, uksha samudro, &c). Saya^a, along totally different lines : c The bird, crow, pigeon, &c, looking down upon all beings with a desire to injure, flies down upon the limbs of men. In order to remove its injury we honour thee, O Agni, with the oblation, that is the majesty of the heavenly dog.' Cf. the note on st. 3. Lud wig's rendering ignores te in Pada d, ' des himlischen hundes grosse der mochten wir dienen mit disem havis.'
Here even Saya^a feels compelled to recognise the
presence of the sun, he agne . . . dyuloke tava adityatmana//
sahasthanam.
VI, 81. Commentary to page 96.
The practice connected with this hymn at Kauj". 35, 1 1 is restricted to the tying on of the (bracelet) mentioned in the
502 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
mantra. No ceremony of this sort is found in the Gnhya- sutras (cf. Paraskara, I, 13), and the word parihasta seems to occur here alone (cf. pariha/aka in the Pet. Lex.). The hymn has been rendered by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 477 ; Weber, Indische Studien, V, 239. Cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Wdique, p. 153.
The second hemistich is exceedingly obscure : maryade seems to be the vocative of maryada, and our rendering is a pis-aller. The idea of ' limit ' may refer to the confine- ment within the womb ; cf. Sdya^a in the foot-note. The Pet. Lex., simply, c designation of an amulet/ If it could be construed as a locative singular masculine1 (maryade for maryade; cf. V, 1, 8) it might be translated 'within proper limits of time ; ' cf. sha/zmasamaryadaya, ' within- six months/ Brzhat-sa//zhita 4, 24. The sense would then be that the child shall be born within ten months ; see Par. Grzh. I, 16, 1 ; vSlnkh. Grih. I, 19, 6 ; Hir. Grzh. I, 25, 1 ;
II, 2, 5. Again, agame is not at all clear ; it may possibly refer to the circular shape of the bracelet, c that comes back upon itself.'
Aditi is the typical mother that desires a son ; cf. RV. X, 72, 8 ; AV. VIII, 9, 21 ; Maitr. S. II, 1, 12 ; Sat. Br.
III, 1, 3, 2. Nowhere else have we met with the statement that her desire was promoted by a bracelet furnished by Tvash/ar. The latter, however, fashions the embryo in the womb ; cf. Ludwig, 1. c, p. 334.
VI, 82. Commentary to page 95.
In the Kauiika the hymn is employed in a twofold man- ner. At 59, 11 a person who desires a wife sacrifices and
1 Cf. Saya/za, maryade marya^ mara^adharmano manushya/z tair adiyamane svotpattyarthaw svikriyamawe sthane garbhajaye he ^aye tvazrc putram a dhehi, i. e. ' O woman, place a son into thy womb, the place appropriated by men for reproducing themselves !'
Vt, 83. Commentary. 503
prays with it to Indra. At 78, 10 the hymn is recited with sundry other mantras (cf. VI, 78) while dregs of ghee are being poured upon the heads of the bridal couple, after they have come home. The hymn has been translated by Weber, Indische Studien, V, 239 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda,
III, 470; Grill2, pp. 57, 167. The Anukramam, aindram, composed by ^ayakamo bhaga/£.
The marriage of Surya, the daughter of Savitar, to Soma, the moon, is the typical heavenly marriage. The A^vins acted as wooers. Cf. RV. X, 85, 6 ff. = AV. XIV, 1, 7 ff. ; Ait. Br. IV, 7, 1. For a large number of correlated pas- sages, see Contributions, Third Series, Jo urn. Araer. Or. Soc. XV, 186. To these may be added Maitr. S. II, 2, 7 ;
IV, 2, 12 ; Ka//fc. S. XI, 3 (Indische Studien, III, 467) ; Tait. Br. II, 3, 10, 1 ff. Surya is probably identical with Ushas ; the A^vins are frequently conceived as her hus- bands, rather than wooers in behalf of Soma.
According to RV. VIII, 17, 10, Indra is conceived as having a long hook or rake with which he heaps together goods : here he is implored to furnish with its aid a wife (and, implicitly, property also). At II, 36, 6 he is addressed as ' lord of wealth/ The word ^a/^ipate is to be taken here in its secondary, legendary sense, not in its primary sense, 'lord of might;' cf. Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 548.
VI, 83. Commentary to page 17.
The two Petersburg Lexicons ; Adalbert Kuhn in Zeit- schrift fiir vergleichende Sprachforschung, XIII, 155 ; Lud- wig, Der Rigveda, III, 342, 500; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 54, 97 ; and Florenz, Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XII, 280 regarded the apa^it as a certain noxious insect. In Contributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI,
504 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
320 ff., we assumed for it the meaning ' sore, pustule, boil,' or the like, and this is now fully borne out by Ke^ava and Saya^a who render the word by ga^amala, ' scrofula.' The apa^it is a scrofulous sore, from root ki and apa, ' pick off;' cf. Lat. scabies, scabere, Germ, die schabe, schaben, Engl. scab. The word is identical with apa£i in the medical 5astras. The hymn is rubricated along with the first part of VII, 76 at Kaui". 31, 16. 17 ; the practices prescribed are in part those undertaken in connection with VI, 25 (Kau^.
30, 16), for which see above: the sores are smeared with a (pulverised) shell, and with the saliva of a dog, and sub- jected to the bites of leeches, gnats, &C.1 The practice is then continued : rock-salt is ground up, placed upon the sore, and spat upon. Cf. the strikingly similar perform- ances, reported by Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 315, in connection with the cure of ' scrofulous swellings' (ga^amala, apa^i).
The second hemistich of st. 3 is accompanied by an independent practice at Kaui". 31, 20: it is identical with the one described in the introduction to VI, 57 for the cure of the akshata. And the fourth stanza, again, is prescribed against wounds (sores, arus) of unknown origin, at Kau^.
31, 21 : the wound is sprinkled with 'holy water' (.rantyu- daka), and, while the nature of the disease is revolved in the mind, with the dregs of ghee 2.
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 500.
1 Saya^a, rudhiramokshartham, ' to relieve the congestion by letting blood/
2 Kaimka seems to express this in the curiously condensed statement, manasa sa^patavata (cf. the stanza). Saya/za (after Ke^ava) a^-yaw hutva manasa sawkalpya vrarce sa/rcpatan anayet. Saya;za, by the way, connects st. 4 with the following hymn (VI, 84), which he supposes to be included in these perform- ances. But VI, 84 appears in a totally different function at Kaus. 52, 3, of which Saya/za makes no mention. Cf. also Vait. Su. 38, 1.
Vi, 85. Commentary. 505
The conception that a disease flies forth from the patient occurs also at RV. X, 97, 13, ' O yakshma, fly forth, fly with the blue jay, fly with the current of the wind.' See also AV. V, 30, 9 ; VI, 40, 3. The converse notion that sores fly on to the body occurs at AV. VII, 76, 4.
Saya/za, glauk var/za^anito (Shankar Pandit, vra/za-) har- shakshaya^ . . . galunta^ ga/^amalodbhavavikare^a tatra- tatra hastapadadisa^dhishu udbhutan gadun tasyati (!) upakshapayati*ti gadxxntak. Wise, 1. a, p. 311, has, ' Gilin. The swelling in this disease is like the swelling of a plum, not painful, but hard ; and is produced by diseased phlegm, and blood.5 Cf. gilayu, ' a hard boil in the throat/ Pet. Lex. The correspondence with either is uncertain.
The formula seems to correspond perfectly with its use
in the practice (Kau^. 31, 21) above: whatever oblation
suits thee, that do thou comfortably enjoy, while I am
mentally making an offering with the auspicious svaha.
The disease is uncertain, hence the exact character of the
offering is left undefined.
VI, 85. Commentary to page 39.
The vara/za-tree (crataeva roxburghii) is extolled very highly for its medicinal and magic qualities. See the longer hymn, X, 3, and cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 60 ff. Apparently the sole basis for this belief is the supposed derivation of the word from the root var, ' shut off;' cf. the similar puns upon a^vattha, khadira, ta^ad- bhanga, vadhaka at VIII, 8, 3; .yard (srin&ti), vibhTdaka (bhinatti) at Tait. S. II, 1, 5, 7, and many more. At Kauj. 26, 33. 37 the practice prescribed consists simply in tying on an amulet derived from the vara/za-tree. The hymn is also rubricated in the takmana^anaga/za of the Ga;zamala,
506 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
Ath. Pam. 32, 7 (Kaiii*. 26, 1, note). The first hemistich of st. 2 recurs in a different connection, Kaui*. 6, 17. In st. 3 b Saya^a reads vLsvadhayanU for vi^vadha yatik.
VI, 90. Commentary to page ii.
It is far from easy to determine the exact disease which this charm aims to mitigate. The text of the hymn sug- gests rheumatism, but this presupposes perhaps too acute a diagnosis. At any rate it is some kind of sharp internal pain, either rheumatism, neuralgia, or colic, and that is the view of the ritualist. The hymn is rubricated at Kauj. 31,7, as follows : ' While pronouncing VI, 90 a spear (-amulet) x is fastened upon him who suffers pain as if from a spear (or who has, as it were, a spear sticking in him)/ Kei'ava describes the symptoms as follows : atha udare va hrzdaye v&*nge va sarvange va jule utpanne. The disease sula, and he who suffers from it (sulin) are well known in the medical Sastras. Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 341 ff., identifies it with colic (gastro-periodynia), and reports it as due to the deadly tmula or trident of Siva (Rudra). This seems to establish a fairly firm connection between the hymn (cf. st. 1) and the later medical tradi- tion. In the .Srauta-practices the hr/daya^ula, ' the spit upon which the heart of the sacrificial animal is roasted (Tait. S. VI, 4, 1, 4 ; Apast. Sr. VII, 8, 3 ; 23, 10 ; 37, 15 ; XI, 20, 15 ; Sat. Br. Ill, 8, 5, 8 ; VI, 2, 2, 38 ; IX, 5, 4,41 ; Katy. Sr. V, 11, 26 ; VI, 7, 14 ; 10, 1 ; Vait. Su. 10, 22 ; La/y. Sr. V, 4, 6), is always connected symbolically with pain (hrzdaya/^ .rug rikkdXi) : the connection between spear and pain is most natural.
The hymn has been translated by Grill2, pp. 14, 168. The Anukrama^i, raudram.
a. dhamanaya^, perhaps, more broadly 'interior canals, or vessels ;' see the notes on I, 17, 3, and VII, 35, 2.
1 Ke^ava, s&fom lohamam^ pashawo va.
Vi, 92' Commentary. 507
VI, 91. Commentary to page 40.
The supposed etymology of yava, ' barley/ from root yu, ' ward off,' is a fruitful source for the application of barley in charms to cure disease and ward off demons. See the introduction to II, 7. The present hymn consists of three loosely connected stanzas (st. 2 = RV. X, 60, 11 ; st. 3 = 111, 7, 5 ; RV. X, 137, 6), in praise of the barley and the waters ; the liturgical texts and the collateral practices define it as a cure for all diseases (sarvabhaisha^yam). Kaujika's rite (28, 17-20) avails itself of these indications, to wit: 17. ' While reciting "V, 9 and VI, 91 four portions of the dregs of ghee are poured into a pail of water. 18. Two (portions) are poured upon the earth (cf. V, 9, 2. 6. 7). 19. These two are gathered up again (into the afore-mentioned pail of water) and (the patient) is washed off with (the resulting mixture). 20. (And putting dregs of ghee into a pail full of barley l) an amulet of barley 2 is fastened (to the patient) while pronouncing the second of the two hymns (VI, 91)/
The hymn is rubricated also in the takmana^anaga^a,
Ath. Pan\y. 32, 7 (see Kaus. 26, i, note) ; the Anukrama/zi,
yakshmana\ranadevatyam. It has been translated by
Grill2, pp. 14, 168.
Cf. Zimmer, p. 237. vyaye (in relation to yava) hazily satisfies the inordinate craving of the Atharvanist for puns. One wonders why yavayami is not worked in instead (cf. the introduction to II, 7).
VI, 92. Commentary to page 145.
The materials from which this hymn is compounded are, apparently, not original with the Atharvanist. St. 3 occurs with variants at RV. X, 56, 2 ; sts. i, 2 in the writings of
1 sayave. Kcrava, yavasahite udapatre. The passage is not excerpted in our edition.
2 Cf. Kaur. 19, 27 in the introduction to VI, 142.
508 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.