The sense of the first hemistich is extremely obscure. According to Darila to Kau^. 16, 25, and Sayana on our passage, the .yitipadi' is a cow. But this fails to accord directly with the verbs asyati, Kau^. 16, 26, and sam patatu in stanza 20 of our hymn : they point to some missile, an arrow, or the like, and accordingly we have ^aravya in the present stanza. But what is a ' white-footed, four-footed arrow ? ' We can merely refer back to the solution proposed in the introduction to XI, 9 : apparently a white-footed cow is chased as a symbolic arrow into the camp of the enemy. Cf. Kau^. 34, %i where likewise a .ritipadi (Darila, meshi) is let go (avasr^ati, ordinarily employed with arrows). The latter Sutra evidently relates to AV. Ill, 19, 8, 'fly forth, O arrow, after thou hast been hurled/ Sayana reads in our stanza saw patatu for saw dyatu (diyatu, ' fly ' ?), and evades the difficult ' four-footed arrow ' by paraphrasing jaravya as an adjective agreeing with gaxxk, to wit, .yaravya saxxmam bananam samuha^ . . . jarasawhati- rupa bhutva (gau^) sam patatu .ratrun sawprapnotu. This resembles our own tentative explanation.
Cf. the notes on XI, 9, 7. 14. Possibly female demons,
or spectres rather than mourners are referred to. Sayana
refers dhumaksh? and krzdhukar/zi to the army of the
enemy ; this he supposes to be blinded by magic smoke,
and bewildered by the noise of battle (alpaiTOtra pa/aha-
dhvanina hata^rava^asamarthya).
Xii, I. Commentary. 639
Identical with AV. V, 8, 6. See the diverse translations of the passage in Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, pp. 439 and
c. The speckled ghee (ghee mixed with sour milk) is
embodied in the practices of the Kaiurika, 16, 22 ; see the
introduction to XI, 9.
Cf. the discussion of .ritipadi' in the note on stanza 6.
Saya/za explains a^man as ' vehicle/ rathadi yanam, which simplifies the sense. In Pada d he reads, desirably, abhihi- ta/z, ' bound/ for abhfhata^, ' slain/
c. kaka^-akrz'ta is an. Aey. The Pet. Lexs., etwa * zerfetzt ; ' Ludwig, ' zerstaubt ; ' Saya/^a, kutsita^anana vilola^anana va krz'ta.
a. Read marma-viddham. Supar/zai'r is out of construc- tion, and it seems natural to read supar/?a(/£). But the Pada as it stands is hypermetric, and the expulsion of the word leaves a good trish/ubh, ending at adantu. Then, to be sure, Pada b is short by two syllables.
XII, 1. Commentary to page 199.
This hymn is one of the most attractive and characteristic of the Atharvan, rising at times to poetic conception of no mean merit, and comparatively free from the stock artificialities of the Vedic poets. The relation of the real, visible earth to man, animals, and plants preponderates over the remoter mythological and mystic conceptions. The hymn and its individual stanzas are employed in the ritual freely and in a considerable variety of aspects. Its chief use is at the agrahaya;^i-ceremonies, the concluding ceremonies of the rites devoted to serpents, undertaken on
64O HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
the full-moon day of the month Margaiirsha (Kaiu. 24, 24 ff.1). The so-called drid/iikarmam 2, ' rites for rendering houses, villages, &c., firm, or well-established ' (Kaui". 38, 12 ff.), are also associated with this hymn, which on that occasion goes by the name of bhaumam (sc. suktam). At Kaui\ 98, 3 the hymn is employed in the course of the expiatory practices on the occasion of an earthquake. A considerable number of stanzas are worked up at the bhusa/zzskara, the preparation of the ground for the fire-altar (vedi) in Kaiu. 137. The Ga/zamala, Ath. Pam. 32, 5 (see Kaui\ 8, 23, note), counts it as one of the vastoshpatiyani (sc. suktani), ' hymns addressed to the genius of the home- stead;' the AtharvaTziya-paddhati at Kaiu. 19, i, enlists it among ' the stanzas that secure prosperity ' (push/ika mantra/z). Cf. also Vait. Su. 12, 6 ; Ath. Park. 10 ; 41, 1. The uses of single stanzas, or groups of stanzas, will be stated in the notes on the same, below.
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda,
in, 544 ff.
Cf. Kau.y. 137, 16. This and the preceding stanzas recur Maitr. S. I V, 14, 1 1 . The reading badhyato in st. 2 a is scarcely tenable, though supported by some MSS. and Ka.us. 137, 16. Many MSS. read madhyato, ' from the midst (of men).' The Maitr. S. has asa//zbadha ya madhyato manavebhya/£. As regards pravata^ in 2 b, Prof. Pischel, Vedische Studien, II, 63 ff. (cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 407), seems to us well justified in claiming that pravat many times means ' river,' (root pru) ; nevertheless we must assume another pravat (pra-vat) in the sense assumed above, formed like ud-vat, ni-vat, &c. Cf. especially RV. VIII, 6, 34, &c. (Pischel, 1. c, p. 67).
1 Cf. Asv. Grili. II, 3 ; Paras. Grih. Ill, 2 ; .Sankh. Grih. IV, 17. 18; Gobh. Grih. Ill, 9; Khad. Grih. Ill, 3, 6 ff.; Apast. Grih. VII, 19, 3 ff. ; 8 ff. ; Hir. Gnh. II, 17.
2 The reading of the word is not quite secure ; see the critical note, Kauy. 38, 12, and cf. Ke-rava.
Xii, I. Commentary. 64 1
Cf. Kaiw. 137, 17 ; Maitr. S. IV, 14, 11 (233, 15. 16). The Pet. Lex., vols. 1. 269; v. 1001 (s. v. anya), explains anya in Pada c as ' inexhaustibleness.' So also Ludwig. But the ordinary meaning of anya suffices as a pis-aller. Does the end of the word veil svapatya, ' ownership ? '
Stanzas 5-7.
Cf. Maitr. S. IV, 14, 11 (233, 14 ; ^34, 1 ; 233, 12), in part with important variants. Stanza 6 is rubricated at Kauj". 137, 28. For the expression bhumlm przthivim, cf. Avestan zam perethvim, Yasna X, 4. Doubtless pr/thivf is still (or anew) felt as an adjective.
For parallel statements, cf. the passages assembled by
Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV, 24 (note 58). Cf. also
Ludwig, 1. c, p. 320.
This and the next stanza are members of the svasty-
ayanaga/za of the Ga/zamala, Ath. Park. 32, 11 (Kauj. 25,
36, note). Cf. also Ath. ParLr. 10 ; 181, 1.
Cf. Vait. Su. 15, 8 ; Ath. Pam. 10. For parigrzh/zanti, cf.
the parigrzhya (sc. vedi), Kaus. 17, 2, and, in addition to
the passages cited in the Pet. Lex. (under pari grah 3),
Tait. S. II, 2, 10, 5 ; Maitr. S. I, 6, 3 (89, 14); Apast. Sr.
IV, 5, 4.
c. For purvakrztvari, cf. the note on purvakamakr/tvatie,
VII, 116, ib.
Stanzas 19-21.
The connection of these stanzas with the body of the hymn is a loose one : Agni, not the earth, is their primary subject; cf. Ill, 21, 1. 2. See Kaiu\ 2, 41 ; 120,5; 137,30; cf. also Ath. Paru\ 48, 2.
[42] T t
642 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
d. Ludwig, ' von svadha (opferspeise wol = I/a) und speise.' We with Pet. Lex. (p&a (dowi).
Stanzas 23-25. They are frequently cited in the Atharvan ritual as the gandhapravada// (sc. rik&h), ' stanzas that mention gandha (fragrance).' At Kau^. 13, 12 a king desirous of lustre is anointed with fragrant substances, the act being accom- panied by the recital of these stanzas. Similarly Kau^. 54) 5 (cf. also 24, 24, note) ; Vait. Su. 10, 5. The stanzas figure also in the second var£asyaga;za of the Ga/zamala, Ath. Parij. 32, 27 (Kauj. 12, 10, note), and are cited fre- quently in the Atharva-parLnsh/as, 4, 1. 3. 4 ; 6, 2 ; 17, 2 ; 22, 3 ; 44, 1. In st. 23, gandha and gandharva(/z) in allite- ration.
Cf. Vait. Su. 2, 8.
Cf. Kaui*. 24, 33 ; Ath. ParLr. 43, 3. Possibly ka is to be added to Pada b.
Cf. Kaar. 3, 8 ; 24, 28 ; 90, 15 ; 137, 40 ; Ath. ParLr. 39, 16.
See Kaus. 58, 7 (cf. 24, 24, note), and Vait. Su. 12, 6, both in connection with purification of the body.
Repeated with variants at Maitr. S. IV, 14, 11 (233, 16). This and the next stanza are members of the svasty- ayanaga^a of the Ga/zamala, Ath. Parij. 32, 11 (Kaui*. 25, 36, note).
See Kaus. 24, 33 ; Vait. Su. 27, 7.
See Kaar. 24, 30. It is curious that this charming verse
finds only secondary employment ; it does not even figure
among the du/£svapnana,yanani.
Xii, I. Commentary. 643
Stanza 35. See Kau.y. 46, 51 ; 137, 12 ; Ath. Pam. 44, 1. Cf. st. 61.
Stanza 36.
See Kails'. 137, 9 (cf. 137, 4, note). Cf. Tait. S. V, 7, 2, 4.
Stanzas 38-40.
Cf. Ka.us. 24, 37 (cf. 24, 24, note) ; Vait. Su. 10, 8 ; 15, 4 ;
22, 1. Stanza 38 is counted by the Atharvamya-paddhati
(Kaui*. 19, 1, note) among the pushrika mantra/2.
b. Cf. V, 20, 9, and the note.
See KaiLf. 24, 38 ; 137, 24.
Stanza 44.
Cf. Kam\ 24, 39 ; Ath. Pam. 10, 18, 2.
Stanza 46.
See Kaui". 50, 17 ; 139, 8; Vait. Su. 29, 10; Ath. Pam. 19, 5. Cf. also the raudraga/za of the Ga/zamala, Ath. Pam. 32, 17 (Kau.s\ 50, 13, note). The root^inv in Pada c, as in st. 3 c, seems to be intransitive, contrary to ordinary usage.
Stanza 47.
Cf. Kaiu. 50, 1 ; Ath. Pam. 19, 2. In Pada d panthanam is a metrically superfluous gloss.
Stanza 49.
For this and the next stanza, cf. Vkg. S. XXX, 8 ; 5at. Br. XIII, 2, 4, 2. 4. For Pada a, see AV. XI, 2, 24, and note. In P&da c, ula is quotable in addition only at Vag. S. XXIV, 31 ; Maitr. S. Ill, 14, 3 (Mahidhara, ' a kind of wild animal')1. Ludwig, I.e., pp. 166, 548, regards it as an adjective, 'howling/ Ludwig, to rzkshi'ka, 'barin(?).'
1 Cf. ula, Tait. S. V, 5, 12, 1, defined by the commentator in a variety of ways, indicative of perplexity.
T t 2
644 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
Stanza 51.
Pada b recurs at XI, 2, 24 b. Note the parenthesis in-
volved in Pada e. In the same Pada upavam is a gloss,
disturbing the metre.
Stanza 52.
See Kaur. 24, 41 ; i37> 23.
Stanza 53.
See Kau.r. 10, 20, in the rite for acquiring wisdom.
Stanza 54.
See Kauj. 38, 30. While reciting this stanza one who wishes to be victorious in debate approaches the assembly- hall from the north-easterly direction (apara^ita, ' the uncon- quered ' direction),
Stanza 58.
See Kauj. 24, 14; 38, 29. Recited by one who desires to please in the assembly : he addresses the assembly-hall with the mantra, and looks at it. Pada b is obscure : cf. Ke^ava to 38, 29, yak ^akshusha pa^yati tad vadan (Cammu MS. ida^) vigh&to na bhavati. Perhaps, 'when I look, then they delight in me.'
Stanza 59.
See Kauj. 24, 31 (cf. 3, 4, note).
Stanza 60.
For the 'mothers/ cf. the introduction to VI, in. The
earth herself is ' mother,' st. 63.
Stanza 61.
See Kauj. 46, 52 ; 137, 13. 14. Cf. for Pada a the brah-
modya, V&g. S. XXIII, 9. 10. 45. 46 ; Sat. Br. XIII, 2, 6,
13 ; Maitr. S. Ill, 12, 19 ; Tait. S. VII, 4, 18, 1. 2 ; Tait. Br.
Ill, 9, 5, 5, and the commentators. For the second hemistich,
cf. st. 35.
Stanza 62.
See Kau^. 50, 10 : a traveller starts on his journey.
Stanza 63.
See Kaus-. 24, 27; 58, 19, note; Vait. Su. 27, 8.
Xii, 3- Commentary. 645
XII, 3. Commentary to page 185.
This hymn treats of the brahmaudana, the preparation of the porridge for the B rah mans, more elaborately than XI, 1, with which it is worked up in Kaui*. 60-63. See the intro- duction to XI, 1.
Stanzas 1-4.
The sacrificer, his wife, and children step upon a skin, and seat themselves around a vessel full of water. Kaui". 60, 31 ff. : ' With stanza 1 (the priest) makes (the sacrificer) step upon the skin. 32. The wife (follows^ or takes hold of the husband) as he is calling 1t 33. With the third stanza 2 he calls for his children ... 35. With stanza 4 they along with the children seat themselves around (a vessel containing water which has been placed upon the skin, Sutra 34).'
a. ihi is wanting in the Paippalada. The Pada is improved by throwing it out and reading puman trisyllabically.