the White Ya^ur-veda: Vkg. S. IX, 8. 9, and the cor- responding passage of the Kd^va-^akha (each with inde- pendent readings) ; 6at. Br. V, 1, 4, 9. 10. The stanzas seem to belong in the first place to the va^apeya-ceremony ; see Weber, Uber den Va^apeya, Sitzungsberichte der Koniglich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1892, p. 788 (28 of the reprint). At Kaui\ 41, 21-25 they are worked up in a ceremony which Darila designates as a^vasya vidhikarma, Ke^ava and Saya/za as a^va^anti \ The cere- mony consists in pouring dregs of ghee over the horse, after it has been bathed ; pouring more dregs of ghee upon (fragrant substances) that have been ground up, and been placed into a leaf; giving drink to the horse, washing it off, and scattering the ground substance upon it. Cf. also Vait. Su. 36, 18; Ath. Pam. 4, 1; 15. The hymn has been rendered by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 459.
The variants of this stanza here, as compared with RV. X, 56, 2, betray themselves readily as secondary inspirations to suit the practical application of the hymn as a charm.
VI, 94. Commentary to page 138.
The key-note of this charm is the word sa^-nam, ' to bend to one's will' The idea is a common one, having assumed a somewhat stereotyped and technical character in the works of the Ya^us and Brdhma^a literature ; see, e. g. Maitr. S. I, 4, 14; Tait. S. Ill, 4, 4, 1 ; VII, 5, 23, 1 ; Tait. Br. Ill, 8, 18, 5 ; Par. Grzh. I, 5, 9. In the Atharvan the hymn IV, 39 (cf. Kau.y. 5, 8 ; 68, 37 ; 72, 37) is the most elaborate production of this sort. In the Kau^ika (12, 5 ff.) the present hymn comes under the head of sa/^manasyani (sc. suktani), c charms designed to procure harmony ; ' for the practices associated with these hymns, see the introduc-
1 Ke^ava, ' horses are rendered by it consecrated, brilliant, safe from accidents, swift, healthy/
Vi. 96. Commentary. 509
tion to III, 30. The first two stanzas of this hymn recur at III, 8, 5. 6; the third is almost identical with V, 23, 1. Translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 514.
Stanza 2,
b. ete in the vulgata is a misprint (not accounted for in the Index Verborum because of the statement on p. 3). Shankar Pandit with all MSS., eta (Padapa///a, a ita), as in III, 8, 6.
For the stem ota (PadapaV^a, a uta), cf. the note on V,
23, 1. Saya/za derives uta from the root va, to wit : ote
abhimukhyena sa^tate parasparaz^ sa^baddhe va. But
how about Sarasvati in Pada b ?
VI, 96. Commentary to page 44.
Darila at Kaor. 31, 22-25 prescribes this charm for one seized by evil (p&pagrzhita). Kejava for the same, or for a dropsical person. Saya^a for one attacked by the curse of a Brahma/za (brahma/zakroje ; cf. st. 2 a), or for a drop- sical person. The stanzas and padas, however, betray the most undefined character, being compiled from various spheres (cf. RV. X, 97, 15. 16. 18 ; Tait. S. IV, 2, 6, 4 ; Va^\ S. XII, 90. 92 ; cf. also AV. VIII, 7, 28 ; XI, 6, 7 ; RV. X, 164, 3 = AV. VI, 45, 3 = Tait. Br. Ill, 7, 12, 4; Baudh. Dharmai". II, 4, 7, 18) : the compilation is, in effect, a panacea. The practice of the Kaurika consists in fumi- gating the sufferer with (the soma-branch) mentioned in the mantra (st. 1), which is burned, together with other plants ; in giving him to drink a mixture of honey and uda^vit (water and curds), a mixture of milk and uda^vit, and, again, both these messes combined. The hymn is counted as one of the a^holingaga^a (cf. st. 1) in the Ga^amala, Ath. Paris*. 32, 32 (cf. Kaus. 32, 27, note) ; it has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 506 ; Grill2, 38, 168. The Anukrama^t, vanaspatyam.
5IO HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
d. For devakilbishat, cf. the note on VIII, 7, 28.
VI, 97. Commentary to page 122.
This and the two following hymns figure among the ' battle-charms, ' the sa^gr&mikam (sc. suktani), or the apara^-itaga^a, as it is designated by the Ga^amala, Ath. ParLr. 32, 13. The practices connected with the list are treated at Kaus. 14, 8-1 1. They consist in offering obla- tions of ghee and grits ; placing bows as fagots upon a fire built of bows ; next, placing arrows as fagots upon a fire built of arrows ; and in the presentation (to the king by the chaplain, the purohita) of a bow that has been anointed with the dregs of ghee, and has been polished off. The entire list of hymns is further employed at the ceremonies connected with the beginning of the study of the Veda (up&karma) at Kaur. 139, 7; the hymns VI, 97-99, at the indramaha-festival, Kaus. 140, 10.
Repeated at XIX, 13, 6, and with variants, RV. X, 103, 6; SV. II, 1204; Maitr. S. II, 10, 4; Tait. S. IV, 6, 4, 2; V&g. S. XVII, 38. The stanza is primarily addressed to Indra, but Indra and king are at this stage of Vedic litera- ture perfectly synonymous; cf. the note on III, 3, 2, and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 251.
VI, 99. Commentary to page 123.
In the Kaiuika the hymn is employed along with, and
in precisely the same situations as VI, 97 ; see the intro-
duction there, and cf. also Vait. Su. 18, 16. Previously
translated by Grill2, pp. 18, 168 ff. The Anukrama/zi,
aindram.
e, d. Cf. RV. X, 128, 9, which suggests by its word adhi- ra^am the possibility that eka^am in our stanza is some
Vr, IOO. COMMENTARY. 5II
sort of a secondary product of ekara^am. But this is not favoured by the metre, and we may compare, in support of our rendering, eka^anman, as the designation of a king, ' of singular birth,' quoted by the Pet. Lex. from the Tri- ka/z^a^esha.
The first hemistich is formulaic ; cf. I, 20, 2.
VI, 100. Commentary to page 27.
The equivalence of the word upa^ika with upa^ihvika, upadika, and upadipika1, and its meaning of 'ant/ was established by the present translator in ' Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda,' Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 482 ff. The upa^ikd are a kind of ants, fancied to be endowed with the power of digging up beneficent, healing water : according to sts. i, 2 the gods themselves furnished them with this quality. They are, accordingly, brought into contact with the bodies of poisoned persons in every possible manner. According to Kaor. 31, 26, a lump from an ant-hill is fastened (as an amulet) upon the poisoned person ; he is given some of it to drink (in water) ; is made to rinse his mouth with the same mixture; and is besmeared with a solution of it in warm water. Cf. also the introduction to II, 3. In addition to the numerous passages bearing upon this subject, that have been cited in the above-mentioned article, see also Va£*. S. XXXVII, 4 ^ Katy. Sv. XXVI, 1, 6 ; Tait. Br. I, 1, 3, 4 ; 2, i, 3 5 Tait- Ar. IV, 2, 3 ; Apast. Sr. V, 1, 7 ; XV, 2, i ; 16, 5 ; Ath. Paru. 67, 2 (cf. Weber, Omina und Portenta, p. 324) ; Yaska's Nigha/z/avas III, 29 = Kautsavaya 67 (cf. Roth's Erlauterungen, p. 35) ; and the scholiast at Tait. S. I, 1, 3 (p. 19 of the edition of the Bib- liotheca Indica). For upadika, &c, the Pali forms of the word, see Morris in the London Academy of Nov. 19, J 892, vol. xlii, p. 462.
1 Cf. also dehika, uddehika, and upadehika, * names of ants that throw up earth/ and see Grill2, p. 81, note. And again, cf. utpa- dika (with variants), Pet. Lex. s. v. utpadaka 3.
512 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda,
III, 51 J (cf. also pp. 343, 507). See also Bergaigne et
Henry, Manuel Vedique, p. 153.
c. The Pet. Lex. suggests three rivers named Sarasvati, or perhaps simply three rivers in general. But some per- sonified group of divinities is more likely to be in the mind of the writer, probably three of the Apri divinities, Saras- vati, Ida, Bharati. This conclusion was arrived at before inspecting Saya/za, who has, sarasvatyas trayirupa^1, yad va Ida sarasvati bharati. See Oldenberg, Die Religion des Veda, p. 243.
The vulgate erroneously emends upa^ika^) of the MSS.
to upa^ika(A) ; cf. ' Seven Hymns &c.,' p. 483 (18 of the
reprint). Saya^a manipulates the text still further : he
deva/z vah yushmaka^z sawbandhinya^ upa^ika^ . . . niru-
dake sthane . . . udakam . . . aksharayan.
VI, 102. Commentary to page 101.
For the practices connected with this hymn, see the introduction to II, 30, above. The rites of Kau^ika (35, 21) seek especially to realise in practice the similes of this hymn (sts. 2, 3). The Anukramam designates it as asvi- nam, spoken by one who is abhisa^/manaskama^. It has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 243 fif. ; Grill2,
PP- 54, i^9 ff-
The comparison seems to be derived from the practices
in ploughing. Cf. RV. IV, 57, 4. 8; AV. Ill, 17, 5. 6.
The A^vins play a part in agriculture ; see RV. I, 117, 21.
a, b. Both ragaLSvak and prishlyam are problematic. Saya/za, yatha asvasveshtfca/t przshfyam ^ankubaddha/zz
1 Cf. Oldenberg, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XXXIX, 54 ff.
Vi, Io5. Commentary. 513
sabandhanaraggri/^ lilaya akhidati unmulayati tadvat, cas
a noble horse uproots with ease the halter fastened to a
peg.' Altogether unlikely. Roth, as quoted by Grill, and
Bohtlingk's Lexicon, s.v. przsh/ya, regard the latter as
related to (in fact a feminine of) prash/i, ' side-horse/ and
accordingly we have translated, without any feeling of
certainty. Cf. X, 8, 8. But przshtya may possibly be
identical with przsh/ivah (arva), XVIII, 4, 10, 'the horse
which carries burdens upon its back,' and ra^cLyva/^ simply
the 'horse of the king/ The point then would be that
ordinary horses follow the royal stallion on expeditions, or
processions.
c. The edition of Roth and Whitney reads tr/^ma. But
many MSS. read tr/nam ; this is accepted by Whitney in
the Index Verborum, and is rendered certain by Kau^.
The ingredients of the love-mixture are worked up in the Kaorika; the sweetwood figures especially in charms of this sort ; cf. I, 34, 4. In P&da c Sayazza regards turo as a genitive of tiir, agreeing with bhagasya, tvarama/msya saubhagyakarasya devasya.
VI, 105. Commentary to page 8.
The practice attached to this hymn in Kauj. 31, 27 is designated by Darila as a cure for coughs, and by Ke^ava as a cure for coughs and expectoration (kase j-leshma- patane ka). The Sutra is as follows : yatha mano*va diva ity arish/ena, 'While reciting AV. VI, 105 and VII, 107 he performs the practice prescribed (for the cure of the disease called arish/a).' This latter disease seems to be a nervous trouble in the nature of epilepsy or St. Vitus dance (Darila, arish/am . . . angaspandanakalahalabhutadi, see Kaorika, Introduction, p. xlv). The practice accord- ing to Kaur. 28, 15 consists in making the patient take a few steps away from his house (Darila, kani^it padani grz'han nishkr&mayati [cod. nusramayati]), after having previously, in accordance with the Paribhasha-sutras, Kau^. [42] L 1
514 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
7, 18 and 7, 7 (cf. also Kes. at 28, 15; 31, 27), fed him with a churned drink and porridge. The patient, as he leaves his habitual place, is, doubtless, supposed to leave the disease behind him.
AV. VII, 107, which appears in company with the present hymn, is a formula, consisting of a single stanza, to wit, ' May the seven rays of the sun bring down (the waters ?) from heaven : the waters, the floods of the sea, have caused thy pangs to leave thee (literally, have caused the point, or arrow, to fall out of thee)/
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda,
III, 510; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 385; cf. also
Hillebrandt, Vedachrestomathie, p. 50.
b and sequel. The force of the adverbial suffix -mat is
similar to that of dialectic -like in ' quicklike ' and similar
expressions.
d. pravayyam, air. Aey., literally, c the course along which the wind blows;' see, e.g. RV. V, 83, 4, pra vata vanti. Saya/za, pragantavyam avadhim ; the Pet. Lexs., etwa ' fllichtigkeit ;' Zimmer, 'fittig;' Ludwig, 'wehen;' Hille- brandt, 'flugbahn.'
VI, 106. Commentary to page 147.