1 Cf. Kaur. 36, 14 in the introduction to VI, 130.
360 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
ominous occurrence to be expiated by diverse performances, and that the cattle itself is, as a rule, to be given to the Brahmans. But there are not wanting indications that a favourable view of such events also existed, and one may suspect shrewdly that the thrifty Brahmans, who stood ever ready to gather in all sorts of odds and ends (cf. the elaborate oratio pro domo, XII, 4, in connection with the va^a), gave vigorous support to any tendency towards superstitious fear which might show its head in connection with such occurrences. Weber, Indische Studien, XVII, 298 ff., has assembled quite a number of passages which represent the Hindu attitude towards twins. Cf. also Tait. S. II, i, 8, 4.
The hymn is rubricated thrice in the Kaorika, in the thirteenth book, which is devoted to expiatory perform- ances (praya^itti), in connection with all sorts of omens and portents. It is employed in chapters 109, 5; no, 4; in, 5, on the occasion of the birth of twins from cows, mares, asses, and women. The practices consist in cook- ing a porridge in the milk of the mother, offering ghee, pouring the dregs of the ghee into a water-vessel and upon the porridge. Then the animal and its young are made to eat of the porridge, to drink of the water, and they are also sprinkled with the same water. The mother is then given to the Brahmans, and in the case of the human mother a ransom ' according to her value, or, in accordance with the wealth (of the father)/ is paid. Cf. Weber, Omina und Portenta, p. 377 ff.
The hymn has been translated by Weber, Indische
Studien, XVII, 397 ff. The Anukrama^i, yaminyam . . .
brahma*nena yaminim astaut pa^uposha/zaya.
Since the mother of the twins was born under an arrange-
ment which made a separate act of creation necessary for
each individual, the birth of two at a time is apartii, ' un-
seasonable, portentous.' Pada b is hypermetric and may
be relieved in a measure by throwing out bhutakr/to, but
Ill, 30. COMMENTARY. 36 1
even this does not yield good metre. In Pada d, riphatf, ' growling,' is not altogether certain. Saya^a, upon the basis of the Dhatupa//&a (riph rinph, hiwsayam), renders it by bhakshayanti, ' eating.' In Apast. Sr. XII, 22, 7 the root occurs in the sense of rikh, likh, ' scratch,' which suits the context quite as well. For the interchange of gutturals and labials, see Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 557 note, and the note on XI, 2, 25.
Cf. XII, 4, 5. 10-12. In Pada b, vyadvari, ' devouring/ looks very well by the side of kravyad, 'flesh-eating.' In the form vyadvara the word occurs also at .Sat. Br. VII, 4, t, 27, and the scholiast derives it from ad, 'eat' But at II, 31, 4; VI, 50, 3 (twice) we have vyadhvara1, and Saya?za reads vyadhvari in our stanza (' causing misfortune, afflicted with an evil way'), du^khahetur dush/amarga^ tadvati. The two words are blended and diversified by popular etymology, and it may be that one of them only is original. Cf. the note on II, 31,4.
The mother of twins is invited to enter the world of the blissful which is described in all its attractiveness, and yet, implicitly, is not desired, for the time being, by the owner of the cow. In yamini, ' mother of twins,' there is a pun 'fit for Yama, the god of heaven, and death:' this makes it still more appropriate that she shall go there. The first hemistich is formulaic: see VI, 120, 3. Cf. also XVIII, 2, 24 ; 3> 9.
Ill, 30. Commentary to page 134.
In Kaui". 12, 5 this hymn heads a ga/za or series of seven
Atharvan charms (III, 30; V, 1, 5; VI, 64; 73; 74; 94;
VII, 52), which are designated as sawmanasyani (sc. suk-
1 Thus the vulgata. Shankar Pandit's edition with Saya^a and most MSS., vyadvara.
362 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
tani), ' designed to produce harmony/ The practices which are undertaken with them are stated in the sequel, Kau.r. \%, 6-9, as follows: 6. ' A jar full of water, anointed with the dregs of ghee, is carried about the (quarrelling) throng and poured out in their midst. 7. The same proceedings are undertaken with a jar full of brandy (sura). 8. (They who desire peace) are given to eat the pickled flesh of a young cow three years old. 9. Food, brandy, and water from the (public?) drinking-place are anointed with the dregs of ghee (and consumed).' In justification of this translation, see the commentaries here, and at Kaor. 35, 19: the relation of the proceedings to the charm are not clear in every detail ; see especially st. 6, and VI, 70, 1.
The hymn has been treated previously by Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 439 ; Metrical Translations, p. 139 ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 256, 516; Zimmer, p. 316; Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 306 ff. ; Grill2, pp. 30, 116 ff. ; Hillebrandt, Vedachrestomathie, p. 45. The Anukrama/zi designates the hymn as £andramasa//z sawmanasyam, its author being Atharvan. The Atharvan abounds in such songs of harmony ; they occur also outside of the Athar- van literature, e.g. RV. X, 191 ; Maitr. S. II, 2, 6; Kat/i. S. X, 12 ; Tait. Br. II, 4, 4, 4 ff. See also the charm against family quarrels (kule kalahini) in Kaus. 97, and cf. in general Zimmer, p. 316.
Saya?za reads sa/#manushyam in Pada a, and aghnyas in Pada d.
The opposite of this picture of peace is portrayed vividly at vSat. Br. IV, 1, 5, 3 ff., where a certain tribe is described as not living in peace : ' father fought with son, and brother with brother.' See also the story of A"yavana as told in the Caiminiya-BrahmaTza, Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, 1883 (Journal, vol. xi, p. cxlv) : 'then neither did mother know son, nor son mother.'
b. Saya^a reads mata for matra.
Ill, 30. COMMENTARY. 363
c. Our edition has .rantivan ; Shankar Pandit and the Paippalada, jantivam, which is obviously the correct read- ing, and is at the base of Saya^a's comment, sukhayuktam.
a. Saya^a reads dvishyat for dvikshat
a. Saya^a, indradayas . . . vimatiw na prapnuvanti.
Prof. Weber suggests that the gods here referred to are
the Brahmans ; this is not necessary since the gods are
frequently endowed with human foibles: see the note on
VI, in, 3. The point is, that a charm, strong enough to
prevent even the bickerings of the gods, will surely produce
harmony among men.
a. Saya^a glosses ^yayasvantas by ^yesh/^akanish/^a- bhavena parasparam anusarantas, i.e. following one another in the order of age, the younger after the older. Ludwig, p. 256, renders it ' vorzuglich ; ' p. 516, ' iiberlegen.' For kittindik I am tempted to suggest 'of the (same) mind/ cf. saha £ittam esham in AV. VI, 64, 2 ; RV. X, 191, 3 ; Maitr. S. II, 2, 6 (p. 20, 1. 12): Tait. Br. II, 4, 4, 5.
b. Our translation of sa;/zradhayanta^ agrees with Sa- ya/za's, samanasa//zsiddhika/&, samanakarya^. — ' Going along the same wagon-pole,' i. e. pulling at the same wagon like a team.
d. Cf. Va£\ S. VII, 25 c. The Pada is hypercatalectic ;
the Anukramam designates the stanza on this account as
vira.dg3Lg3.tu Weber suggests sadhri^in, by way of cure;
Grill, the omission of va/i, or a change to sadhri£o ; cf.
st. 7.
The stanza is irregular (Anukr., prastarapankti), the second half being an anush/ubh. Since stanzas 5 and 7 are connected by concatenation (Pada 5 d — 7 a), stanza 6 might be regarded as a very early intrusion. But Kauj-ika employs it particularly for his practices (see above), and
364 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
thus the criticism must be made for a very early period, to
say the least. The stanza may, however, have stood in
a different position in the hymn.
The stanza concatenates with 5 ; cf. e. g. the relation of RV. II, 38, 7 and 9, where st. 8 interrupts a similar relation.
b. Saya^a reads ekajnushtfn. On p. 256 Ludwig emends sa^/vananena to savanena, but on p. 516 he adheres to the text and translates it by { versohnungsspruch.' Say., va.n- kara/zena anena saMmanasyakarma^a.
c. In RV. I, 71, 9, Mitra and Varu/za are said to be guarding the amrzta.
d. Ludwig on p. 516 emends saumanas6 to saumanasam, but this is unnecessary if we remember that the leader or chief is referred to in £*yayas-, in st. 5 a, and eka-, in 7 b. Moreover at Tait. S. IV, 7, 3, 1, saumanasa^, masc, is an abstract = saumanasam.
Ill, 31. Commentary to page 51.
This extraordinary composition makes draughts upon a variety of mythological and philosophical (psycho- physical) conceptions for the purpose of accentuating the desired separation from misfortune, and union with life. Accordingly each of its eleven stanzas ends in a refrain which states this desire distinctly. Further the hymn is divisible into two halves, the first of which (sts. 1-4) has for its key-note the subject of separation illustrated by cosmic examples ; the second (6-11) illustrates union with the principles of life. The intermediate stanza is more problematic ; it has been discussed by the translator in connection with his treatment of the marriage of Sara^yu in the third series of his Contributions, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, pp. 181 ff.
The principal employment of the hymn in the ritual is in
connection with the initiation (upanayana) of the young
Aryan into the Brahmanical community. At Kaor. 58, 3
Ill, 31. COMMENTARY. 365
the hymn is recited in the presence of the young man, in connection with a list of kindred hymns. The last two stanzas are employed at Kaiu. 24, 31, along with others, on the occasion of the solemn rising from a couch, at the cere- mony of the full-moon of the month agrahaya//a. Cf. also Vait. Su. 13, 10. The Ga/zamala, Ath. Paru\ 33, 6, counts this hymn as one of three which make up the papmaga^a and are papmahan ; see Kaus. 30, 17 note. Similarly the Anukrama/zi (papmahadevatyam). It has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 306 ff.
a. The MSS. read avrztan, which Roth and Whitney have emended to akrttan. Saya/za reads vyavr/tam (viyo- ^"ayatam), and takes deva correspondingly as vocative dual (devau a^vinau). This reading with m I find also in the papmaga/^a of the Ga;zamala, cited above, and one wonders whence it comes from. I would suggest the emendation avrztran (avrztram), literally 'the gods have separated themselves from old age.' The gods are a^ara, ' free from old age,' and Agni is mentioned particularly RV. VI, 68, 9 (cf. Pada b). The middle passive of vi + vart in this sense governs the instrumental ; see Pet. Lex., vol. vi, col. 775. The metre, however, does not favour the suggestion.
b. The paths are the heavenly paths, travelled by the
gods (devayana//) ; cf. Ill, 15, 2 ; VI, 55, 1 ; Tait. S. V,
Cf. RV. X, 17, 1; AV. XVIII, 1, 53. The passage as it appears here is doubtless the product of adaptation. Prof. Weber has interpreted it as an additional instance of thorough separation, the motif of the first four stanzas. According to his view Tvash/ar is making preparations to marry his own daughter, and everybody (tout le monde) is scattering in consternation at the unholy proceeding. I have subjected Prof. Weber's construction to a detailed
366 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
criticism in my essay quoted above. The chief difficulty is in vi yati, which means ' pass through,' not ' go apart, scatter/ The passage seems to mean that the whole world on the occasion of the marriage of Tvash/ar's daughter to Vivasvant — not to himself — pass through (a given point of observation) to witness the marriage. Thus they might illustrate separation from their ordinary places of abode. Or, a still more literal and philological translation of the passage would be : ' " Tvash/ar is preparing a marriage for his daughter/' thus saying (or noting) he (who ? Tvash/ar or Vivasvant?) passes through the entire world/ But the other versions read sam eti, and all the following stanzas (6-i i) have for their theme union with the principle of life. Since, now, vi occurs no less than thirty times in the entire hymn, it is possible that sam has given place to it, and the passage would thus revert to its original meaning in RV. X, 17, i ; AV. XVIII, 1, 53. Saya^a takes vi yati in the sense of going asunder, vahatum . . . prasthapayati iti bud- dhya tasya avaka^a;;^ datum ida//z visvam bhuvana^ prz'thi- vyantarikshadirupa;^ vi yati paraspara^ vigata;/z bhavati.
a, b. Or, ' Agni bestows life's breaths/ Agni is frequently
identified in the Upanishads with the breaths of life : see
Maitri-Upanishad VI, 5. 9. 33 ; Pra^na-Upanishad I, 7.