General Index to the 49 Volumes of the Sacred Books of the East (SBE Vol. 50; comp. M. Winternitz, 1910)

a. The Pet. Lexs. and Weber see in kar^apha and vls- apha (both air. Aey.) the designations of certain demons or diseases (Weber, * des Abmagernden, Durchdringenden '). Saya^a operates on the same line by means of character- istic etymologies, kar^aphasya (kara^aphasya) krzVa-s-aphasya

1 The commentators prescribe that the staff shall be anointed with the dregs of ghee and then be polished off, as in Kaar. 23, 11. The same treatment is also prescribed for the weapon.

340 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.

va .svapadasya vyaghrade^, vLsaphasya vigata^aphasya spardhamanapurushakalasarpade^ vispashza.yaphasya va kruragomahishade/z. But the statement that beneficent heaven and earth are father and mother of demons is startling l ; the usual Atharvanic way is to say that heaven and earth are the parents of some curative plant : III, 23, 6; VIII, 7, 2, &c. There is nothing in the way of such an interpretation, and it is to be noted that the amulet of aralu-wood, Kau^. 43, 1 (see above), is not otherwise indi- cated in the hymn. I do not venture to decide.

a. Saya/za with some MSS., both Saz/zhita and Padapa/^a, and the Paippalada read a.rleshma/za/z for afresh ma/za/z. Our translation is purely conjectural. Saya/za depends upon the practices of the Sutra : ' They (the people) carried the aralu-talisman, the staff, &c, being aj-leshma^a^, i. e. unaffected (a^lish/a/fc) by troubles, &c. ; ' or, ' the gods, being free from phlegmatic diseases (^leshmopalakshitatridosha- dushita^arirarahita/^), carried them/ The first of these suggestions, barring the precision of its application, appears to contain something of the truth.

a. Saya/za, quoting in support RV. II, 39, 4, and relying upon Bharatasvamin's interpretation, renders khr/galam by tanutra/zam, ' protection of the body,' and Kaurika's opera- tions seem to render this quite likely: he prescribes the fastening of an amulet by a reddish-brown thread. But in the RV., kh/'zgale^va visrasa/£, the word seems to mean ' crutch, support.'

c. Saya/za with some MSS., Sa//zhita and Pada, and the
Paippalada read ^ravasyam ; kabava is explained charac-
teristically as follows : kabu^ karburavanza^ krura/z pra/zi,
tatsa/zzbandhi vighna/£ kabava^.

1 It seems, however, to derive support from RV. I, 191, 6, which Sayawa quotes very aptly.

Ill, II. COMMENTARY. 34 1

d. bandhura^, apparently plural of bandhur, is hopelessly obscure ; our translation ' fastenings ' is no better than Saya/za's asmabhir baddha^, or his alternate bandhura/z asmabhir dharyama^a^ mamdaWadaya/&. The word ought to be identical with the stems vandhur, RV. I, 34, 9 (trayo vandhura^ ; cf. trivandhura), bandhura, and vandhiira, ' the seat of a wagon/ The matter is complicated still further by bandhura with discordant accent in st. 4.

The basis of this translation is again very unstable owing to the word bandhura which is lexically and grammatically obscure. Saya^a presents an entirely different result : ' O ye people who desire glory (by conquering the enemy), but go (into battle) bewildered as the gods by the wile of the Asuras, may your weapons (bandhur^ sa^baddha dhrzta khadgadirupd hetlk !) destroy the kabava as the ape the dog ! '

Saya/za upon the basis of many MSS. (both Sa^hita and
Padapa//za) reads bhatsy&mi (badhnami). Shankar Pandit
adopts this reading. In Pada d, Saya/za with some MSS.
reads ^arishyatha for sarishyatha ; cf. st. 4.

Ill, 11. Commentary to page 49.

This hymn, whose first four stanzas are essentially the same as RV. X. 161 = AV. XX, 96, 6-9, must have originally had the general value indicated by our title. But the Sutra (Kauj. 27, 32-33) specialises, and directs its employment against gramya (sc. vyadhi), 'venereal disease,' (Darila, mithunasawyogat). Kcrava prescribes it against children's diseases and venereal diseases (balarogagrzhite ka. maithunadoshabhaisha^y&ny u^yante . . . maithunara^a- yakshmam bhaisha^yam) ; Saya^a, against diseases of children, or disease contracted from women (b&lagraharoge nirantarastrisa;/zgati^anitayakshma//i ka). The practices

342 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.

are as follows : 27, 32. * While reciting the hymn the patient is given to eat a porridge containing rotten fish 1. 32. He is taken to the forest2, and (in the morning), when the constellations begin to fade, he is sprinkled with water which has been warmed by quenching in it burning sesame, hemp, cow-dung, and sacred firewood 3 (all gathered in the forest).'

The hymn figures in the takmana^anaga^a (Ath. ParLr. 32, 7), and the ayushyaga^a (ib. 32, 4) of the Ga^amala ; see Kauj. 26, 1 note; 54, 11 note. See also 58, 11, and Vait. Su. 38, 1. Stanza 4 is quoted in Ath. ParLy. 182, 1. The Anukrama/zi, aindragnam ayushyam. The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 231. There is no basis, as far as can be seen, for his caption, ' Bei schwerer Geburt.'

For the disease a^atayakshma (cf. AV. VI, 127, 3), and
ra^ayakshma, see Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 32 1 ff. ;
Grohmann, Ind. Stud. IX, 400 ; Zimmer, p. 375 ff.

d. Most of Shankar Pandit's and, apparently, all of Roth
and Whitney's MSS. read aspar^am. Saya/za, as the
vulgata, asparsham (prabala;^ karomi).

a. The divine attribute ' thousand-eyed,' predicated to Indra, Agni,Vish/m, &c. (see Pet. Lex. s. v. sahasraksha), is here transferred to the powerful oblation. Cf. the note on IV, 20, 4a.

1 For putuaphari, see Kamika, Introduction, p. lii.

2 In order to wipe away the effects of the dissolute habits of the village (gramya).

3 For^-vala, cf. Kaar. 27, 30 in our introduction to III, 7 (also Kauj. 28, 2 ; 29, 8). For janta, see Kauy. 8, 15. 16.

Ill, 12. COMMENTARY. 343

The correlation of the hymn with diseases of children
(Kcrava and Saya#a) is based upon this stanza. Kaiuika,
however, has other matters in mind.

Ill, 12. Commentary to page 140.

The hymn forms in the ritual a part of a ga/za or series entitled v&stoshpatiyani (sc. suktani), ' hymns pertaining to Vastoshpati, the lord of the homestead,' Kaui*. 8, 23 ff. (see index B, p. 384^ of the edition). More specifically it is employed in Kau^. 43, 8-1 1 as part of an extensive ceremony at the erection of a house entitled by the Atharva- Paddhati (see p. 118, note 11) as br/ha^Malakarma, cthe great ceremony of house-building,' in distinction from a less elaborate ceremony at Kaur. 23, 1 ff., entitled laghu- ^•alakarma (see p. 61, note 12).

The performances at Kaiu. 43, 3 ff . begin with an intro- ductory rite in connection with AV. VII, 41, designed to remove obstacles in the way of the builder; apparently this is known by the special name of ^yenayaga, or .syene^ya. See the discussion of this somewhat obscure point in the fifth series of our Contributions, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XVI, p. 12. Then the materials for building are brought on, and the excavation for the house is made, and next the actual work of erection is accompanied by the recitation of the stanzas of our hymn, to wit : 43, 8. ' The hymn AV. Ill, 12 is recited while the (central post1) is being fixed and erected. 9. Having anointed it, the sixth stanza of the hymn is recited while the act stated in it is being performed (i. e. while the cross- beam is being placed upon the post). 10. Having taken a pitcher of water, and the fire, they enter the house while reciting the eighth stanza. 11. (The house) is rendered

1 So according to Darila, madhyamasthurcam ; Ke^ava and Ath. Paddh., more generally ,^alam. Cf. Hir. Grih. I, 27, 2, dvarasthu- #am u^rayati ; also Apast. Grzh. VII, 17, 3.

344 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.

firm by reciting the two ' firm ' stanzas (dhruvabhyam, sts. i and 2). The ceremonies are concluded in Kaur. 43, 12-15 with sprinkling the house, the recitation of more mantras, an especial oblation to Vastoshpati, feeding the Brahmans, and final blessings.

The hymn has been treated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda,

III, 463; Zimmer, p. 150 ff. ; Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 234 ff. ; Grill2, pp. 59, 108 ff. ; cf. also Hillebrandt, Veda- chrestomathie, p. 45. The Anukrama;zi designates the hymn as .ydlisuktam, and vastoshpatualadaivatam. Similar themes are treated in Asv. Grih. II, 8 ; Par. Grih. Ill, 4 ; Sarikh. Grih. Ill, 2, 3 ; Hir. Grih. I, 27 ; Apast. Grih. VII, 17; Apast. Mantrabr. II, 15; Bh&radva^a's Grih. II, 3 ; cf. Oldenberg, Sacred Books of the East, vol. xxix, pp. 92, 212, 345 ff.

a, b. The words dhruv£;/z and ksheme convey each the idea of good settlement, and sound foundation ; cf. V&g. S. XVIII, 7 ; Tait. S. IV, 7, 3, 1, ksema.r ka, dhritis kay and RV. I, 73, 4; VII, 88, 7, dhruvasu kshitishu. Hence the renderings of Ludwig, Weber, and Hillebrandt ' im gliicke, in frieden,' &c, do not quite catch the point. Cf. also AV.

IV, 1, 4.

d. upa sim £arema seems to convey the idea of close
union. In the only other passage quoted by the Pet. Lex.
it refers to sexual intercourse, bharti,ram upasa^aret
(Brzhat-Sawhita 77, 26). Saya^a, vyavaharema.

The wording of the stanza is formulaic. In P&r. Grih.
II, 17, 9 Pada b is applied to the furrow of the field ; see
also the other Grzhya-texts, cited in the introduction.

For sfinr/tavati, 'full of abundance/ see Oertel in the Proceedings of the Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1891 (Journ., vol. xv, pp. xcv ff.), and our Contributions, Fifth Series, ib. XVI, p. 19. Ludwig, 'reich an treffiichkeit ;' Zimmer, ' reich an wonne ; ' Weber, ' reich an frohen liedern ; ' Hillebrandt, 1 reich an lieblicher rede ;' Grill, ' reich an herrlichkeiten.,

Ill, 12. COMMENTARY. 345

Hillebrandt and Grill regard the first two Padas as
defective, but they are anush/ubh, no poorer than many-
others in the AV. The Anukr., brzhati.

a. dhariiTzi! is in intentional relation with dhruva, hence ' a supporter ; ' cf. Tait. S. IV, 3, 7, 2. Grill, * vielfassend, vielbergend ; ' Zimmer and Hillebrandt, ' geraumig.' The Pada is catalectic.

b. brz'ha^Manda^, ' with broad roof.' The translation is
problematic, the word being a-n. key. Pandas does not by
itself ever occur in the meaning ' roof (Madis, Madman).
Some support may be derived from st. 5 c, trtnam vasana,
since in Hir. Grzh. the roof is smoothed with a stanza
containing the same Pada. The words there used are
£/zannam (sc. jalam) abhimrzVati. Saya^a, prabhuta£/za-
dana, mahadbhu Mandobhir devair upeta v&. For puti-
dhanya 1 of the text of the .Saunakiya-^akha, the Paippalada
reads putadhanya ; this underlies our translation. Cf.
pariputeshu dhanyeshu, Manu VIII, 331, and perhaps also
the expression krz'ta dhana^, RV. Ill, $$, J.

d. Cf. 6ankh. Grih. Ill, 3, 9, a syandanta/^ dhenavo
nityavats^. The majority of Shankar Pandit's MSS.
(both Padapa/^a and Sa^hita) read aspandamana^.

c. Most MSS., and the editio princeps, read u^Mantu ;
Saya;za, Shankar Pandit, with some MSS., and the Paippa-
lada, ukshantu, the basis of our translation. Again, our
translation presupposes the reading udna for unna of the
edition: the MSS. read utna (cf. VII, 45, 3; VII, 18, 1,
and the Index Verborum, p. 67). The Paippalada,
Shankar Pandit with some of his MSS., and Saya//a have
udna ; cf. RV. I, 85, 5, (maruta^) udabhir vy undanti
bhuma.

1 Saya//a, with desperate literalness, putigandhopeta^ir/zadhanya- yukta, i endowed with evil smelling, old, grain ! ' Ludwig suggests pratidhanya or pratidhanya, ' gut zu verschliessen/

346 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.

d. For ni tanotu, cf. AV. VII, 90, 3 ; VII, 31, 3, and the plant nitatni, used to prevent the falling out of hair at AV. VI, 136, 1. Saya^a, nitaraw karotu.

a. The words manasya patni are addressed directly to the house (.rala), as may be gathered from IX, 3, 21 ; the house, after it is erected, is deified, since the weal or woe of its inhabitants are now dependent upon its behaviour. Saya^a, mananiyasya vastupate/z patni, 'O wife of Vastupati who is to be honoured 1 ! ' Grill's etymological combinations are superfluous ; his comparison of Zend nmano-pathni and nmano-paiti (Gathic, demana) contrary to phonetic law. Ludwig and Weber, ' herrin des maasses ; ' Ludwig at IX, 3, 5 fT. (Der Rigveda, III, pp. 464-5), ' herrin des verweilens ; ' Zimmer and Hillebrandt, ' genie des baues ; ' Grill, ' hort der rast.'

b. Saya/za reads nirmita for nimita.