The hymn has been translated by Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 67; Grill2, pp. 10, 143 ; the last two stanzas by Kuhn, Zeitschrift fur vergleichende Sprachforschung, XIII, p. 61. The Anukrama^t designates it as lakshikam, ' per- taining to the l&ksha-plant.'
a. The Atharvan poets signalise with great predilection their knowledge of the power of any substance which they employ by stating that this knowledge extends to the father, mother, and other relatives of the substance. Or, again, they indicate their control over any disease, or hostile force, by assuming the same knowledge of their kindred. Of the latter class are the boasts made in V, 13, 7; VI, 61, 1, and VII, 74, 1. The former class concerns plants exclu- sively. Dyaus, the heaven, and Przthivi, the earth, are father and mother of plants, III, 23, 6; VIII, 7, 2, and perhaps also III, 9, 1. Fanciful names are given to the parents of plants : I, 34, 3, sarupa nama te mata sarupo nama te pita (cf. Kaiu. 26, 33, note) ; VI, 16, 1, vihalho nama
E e 2
420 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
te pita madavati nama te mata (of the plant abayu, mus-
tard) ; XIX, 39, 2, ^ivala nama te mata ^ivanto nama te
pita (of the plant kiish/^a) ; V, 4, 9, uttamo nama te pita
(of the same plant). The names of the ancestors in our
stanza are peculiarly fanciful and heterogeneous.
c. sila^f, only in this hymn ; cf. sil&z^ala (sil&nga. + ala), VI, 16, 4; Kaiu. 51, 16 1) 'a creeper or weed growing in grain-fields/ See Kaurika, Introduction, p. xlv, and cf. also our note on st. 9 c.
d. For ny&nkant, cf. nya?X£anam, AV. IV, 36, 6, and RV.
VIII, 27, 18, where Saya/^a explains the word by nitanb/z
gamanam.
a. Cf. with this the designation of the plant in IV, 12, 1, roham (rohi;n), and the note there.
b. kanyala here and XIV, 2, 52 ; the suffix -la with dis- paraging function as in vrzshala.
c. ^ayanti occurs also as the proper designation of a plant, equal to the common ^fvanti : see the lexicons.
d. spara/zi calls to mind Lat. pro-sper and sp£s, but
sphira and the root sphai (I. E. sphei) have a better claim
upon these words.
b. harasS, is translated by Zimmer, ' durch einen schlag (griff) ; ' by Grill, ' mit gewalt.' This is a possible alterna- tive. There are two haras in the Veda, one from the root har, 'take,' and the other from ghar. The latter is 6epos ; cf. Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprachforschung, XXV, 80, 133 note, 168. Examples of the latter are AV. VIII, 3, 4 ff ; XVIII, 2, 36. 58 ; 3, 71 ; XIX, 65 and 66 ; and espe- cially II, 19, 2 ; 20, 2 ; 21, 2 ; 22, 2 ; 23, 2, where the word occurs in the series tapas, haras, arMs, sokis, and teg-as.
1 The MSS. of the Kaurika read silangzla with palatal s. By changing sila^f to silaki we obtain the possible etymology ' she that creeps upon stones/
V, 5- Commentary. 42 I
For the epithets of the plant in this and the preceding stanza, see the note on IV, 12, 1.
b. For jushme, see Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeit-
schrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft,
XLVIII, 565 ff. ; for loma^avaksha^e, Pischel, Vedische
Studien, I, 178.
d. Cf. V, 9, 7; RV. X, 16, 3; Ait. Br. II, 6, 13 ; Sat Br. XIV, 6, 2, 13, &c.
a, b. I have translated the passage with strict adherence to the text which is certainly not above suspicion. The Paippalada offers no help. Inasmuch as the father is mentioned, it seems likely that both parents are somehow contained in the passage, and the change from kanino to kanina has suggested itself to all translators (Pet. Lex., Zimmer, Grill). The first Pada would then be, ' Sila^i by name art thou, daughter of a maiden.' I would draw attention here, as at IV, 20, 3, to RV. X, 40, 9, ^-anishfe y6sha patayat kaninako vi £a*ruhan vinidha^ (cf. also RV. X, 3, -2 and AV. XII, 3,47?), where the origin of plants occurs somehow in connection with a woman and a kani- naka. But the passage is buried in obscurity for the present. If the emended kanina is taken to refer to the mother of the plant, it would certainly seem natural to see in a^ababhru the father. The word as it stands can be nothing but a vocative from a formally and lexically un- quotable feminine a^ababhru ; Grill suggests the change to the nominative masculine a^*ababhrus, an emendation which Zimmer's translation also implies. Grill, too, thinks that the mother and father thus reconstructed for these passages must be identical with those in st. 1, namely, night and cloud — a conclusion which, in our opinion, is not at all coercive. He points out that night is designated in XIX, 48, 2 as ' mother,' and in XIX, 49, 1 as a blooming young woman (ishiri' yosha yuvati^) ; as regards a^*ababhru he has in mind the goat of Pushan in his relation to sunset and
4-2 2 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
dawn (cf. RV. VI, $$, I, and Ludwig's note, vol. iv, 147). All this is possible, but excessively problematic.
c, d. The cloudy allusions of the preceding Padas are obfuscated further by the statement here that the plant has been sprinkled with the blood of the brown horse of Yama, an expression which may also harbour an allusion to night (cf. i-yavi, RV. I, 71, 1 ; III, 5$> 11 ; Naigha^/uka I, 7). Elsewhere the horses of Savitar (RV. I, 35, 5), Agni (RV. II, 10, 2), Rudra (AV. .XI, 2, 18) are designated as sy&vi. The Padapa/^a reads asna, ' by the mouth,' and Zimmer adopts this reading, against the Pet. Lex., Kuhn (p. 61), Whitney in the Index Verborum, and Grill. The Padapa^a itself has asna>£ in the next stanza — an obvious inconsistency. I cannot rid myself of the impression that there is some connection between this and a statement in the Maitr. S. IV, 9, 19 ; Tait. Ar. IV, 29, asrmmukho rudhire^a^bhyakto yamasya duta/z, ' the messenger of Yama bloody-mouthed, bedaubed with blood ; ' if so the brown horse of Yama may be a variant of the two dogs of Yama called syama and cabala, ' sun and moon/ or ' day and night ' (cf. Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 1 63 ff.), and this would again lead back to the word ratri in st. i . Non liquet. Grill : ' It is conceived that the plant has absorbed the blood of a divine animal with which it has been sprinkled, and has acquired thereby corresponding strength and virtue/
a, b. Zimmer : * aus des rosses maul (cf. the preceding note) herausgefallen lief sie an die baume ; ' Kuhn : ' vom blut des rosses hergeeilt, glitt sie sogleich den baumen zu ; ' Grill : * entsprungen aus des pferdes blut lief diese zu den baumen hin/ sa;/zpatita is not altogether satisfactory ; the Pet. Lex. translates it ' zusammengeflossen, zusammenge- ronnen/ The entire picture is vague, and is not rendered less so by the next Pada.
c. The meaning of this Pada is by no means established.
It is formulary in character and always employed in con-
nection with plants. In the oshadhistuti, RV. X, 97, 9 ;
V, 7- Commentary. 423
Va£\ S. XII, 83 the version is sira/£ patatrim sthana ; Tait. S. IV, 2, 6, 2 ; Maitr. S. II, 7, 13, sara^ patatrf/zi^ sthana; Ka//*. S. XVI, 13, sara^ patatri/zi/z stha ; Kap. S. XXV, 4, sura/z patatn'/zi/j sthana (so also a variant of Maitr. S.). Saya/^a at RV. explains the word by sara#a.rila$, while Mahidhara at V&g. S. suggests no less than three other interpretations in addition to that of Saya;za, none of them usable. Note also sira (pattrasira), RV. I, 121, 11, which may fairly claim relationship with this group; cf. also the expression apam asi svasa in st. 7. Kuhn, 1. c, p. 61, had in mind j-ara in his translation ' beflligelt wurde sie ein pfeil.' Certainly a 'winged brook' strains the limits of common sense. But I have no better suggestion to make. The word sara seems to contain a punning allusion to the name of the plant silaK.
V, 7. Commentary to page 172.
The Veda, especially the Atharvan, is much given to personify evil qualities as female divinities, e.g. nfrWti, araddhi, arti, arayi', and particularly arati. The present hymn aims to appease the powers of avarice and grudge personified as Arati ; more particularly the poet has in mind the dakshma of the priest ; that shall not be with- held, but shall accrue abundantly. Cf. st. 1 ; Ka//z. Up. I, 1. The 5astras expressly forbid the withholding of the dakshma, e.g. Vish/zu-smWti LIV, 15. See also in general RV. X, 107; AV. V, 18 ; 19 ; XII, 5 ; Gop. Br. I, 5, a5. In the Atharvan rites our hymn figures in a variety of connections. At Kaas\ 18, 14, in the course of the so-called nirrz'tikarmam (18, 1-18), grain is offered to the goddess of misfortune while the hymn is being recited. At Kaui\ 41, 8 a person about to engage in a business venture makes an offering (upadadhita *) while pronouncing our hymn, as well as III, 20 and VII, 1. The intention is to remove obstacles.
1 For the meaning of this technical term, see Ke^ava to Kauj. 6 (p. 309 of the edition). The upadhana according to this consists in offering one of thirteen different kinds of havis.
424 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
Once more in Kaur. 46, 6 he who has a request to make,
recites sts. 5-10 along with VII, 57, in order that his request
shall not be refused. The hymn has been translated by
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 305 ; Grill 2, pp. 39, 145 ff.
a, b. purodhatse, lit. 'dost make thy agent or purohita;' purusha, ' servant, minister ; ' parir&pfn, * suggesting, prompt- ing, advising ;' cf. XII, 4, 51.
The ^raddha is 'faith, religious zeal/ that makes the sacrificer liberal to the priests. Cf. Darila to Kau5\ 46, 6. It is the same jraddh£ which entered Na&ketas, Kk/k. Up. I, 2 ff., to such an extent that he desired to be given himself as sacrificial reward to his priests. This zeal is naturally bestowed by the brown soma, i.e. in the course of solemn sacrifice, and through the inspiration that comes from the hymns (Va£ Sarasvati), sung while drinking the soma. The previous translations seem to me to miss the point wholly : Ludwig, 'den (anteil, den) ich verlange . . . den soil heute .Sraddha finden.' But yam refers to the person supplicated, not to favours asked. Grill, ' wen ich angehe mit dem spruch . . . der werd heut inne mein vertraun, und nehm den braunen soma hin/ Cf. also Zimmer, p. 272.
d. The Pet. Lex. suggests for this single occurrence of
prati hary the meaning ' verschmahen, zuriickweisen,'
though the word ordinarily means 'delight in, long for.'
The passage seems to contain the euphemistic insinuation
that Arati when sufficiently cajoled is favourable to
generosity. Or, those who desire to be generous must
curry favour with Arati ; otherwise she frustrates their
intentions. Cf. I, 8, 2.
Arati is here connected with nightmare. Her appear- ance as a naked woman recalls the German ' alp/ or 'mahre'
V, 13. Commentary. 425
which also manifests itself as a woman; see A. Kuhn, Zeitschr. f. vergl. Sprachf. XIII, 125 ff. For the spirit of this and the subsequent stanzas, cf. the description of the Apsaras, IV, 37.
V, 13. Commentary to page 27.
This charm against snake poison claims interest chiefly from its designations of serpents, mostly of obscure mean- ing, and reaching down to the bed-rock of folk-lore. Kau- jika's performances 29, 1-14 are very explicit : they follow the hymn stanza by stanza. But they are not as instruc- tive as they might be owing to their symbolism, and their own obscurity. They begin with the performances in honour of Takshaka, described at 38, 1-4 in connection with IV, 6 and 7 (see the introduction to IV, 6), and con- tinue with additional doings, based upon each stanza of our hymn. These will be referred to most profitably under the head of each separately. The hymn exhibits noteworthy points of contact with RV. I, 191.
Cf. RV. I, 191, 7. 11. We have translated saktam by
'what has been fastened;' cf. RV. I, 191, 10. The Pet.
Lex. s. v. sa^* 4), ' inherent.'
Kaui*. 29, 2-4 : * With the second (stanza) the act of con-
fining (the poison) takes place1. 3. The (priest) walks
about (the patient) towards the left (KeJrava, savyam =