V, 19. Commentary. 433
had names may be seen from our introduction to II, 32, but this name, ' having her hair braided,' is clearly that of a woman. Apparently the iniquity of the Vaitahavyas reaches its height, when they do not spare the only goat of the poor woman. If the text were only as sound as the moral !
a. Cf. V, 19, ii, where the number 99 takes the place of 101. Both are formulaic.
Cf. st. 6 and XII, 5, 4. 58.
c. hant^bhuastendras ought, in the light of stanza 6, to mean { Indra slays the curser,' or * Indra destroys curses/ Accordingly the Pet. Lex. proposes hanta. ^bhfoastim (cf. Whitney, Sanskrit Grammar2, §§ 271 d, 946); hanta, ^bhuaster is equally possible (cf. 1. c, § 1182 d). The text might possibly be sustained by reading hanta *bhuasta (ace. plur. neut.). Ludwig takes both words as nomina- tives of tar-stems, c Indra toter flucher.' Zimmer, still differently, reads hanta ^bhuas tarn.
d. For vedhas, cf. our note on I, it, 1 b.
V, 19. Commentary to page 171.
For the employment of this hymn in the ritual, and other general considerations, see the introduction to V, 18.
c. Bhr/gu is a typical name for an Atharvan priest ; cf. angirasa in st. 2; bhWgvangiras, like atharvangiras, is a name of the Atharva-veda itself; see Kaiu. 63, 3 ; 94, 3. 4. Like Atharvan and Ahgiras, the Bhrzgu are connected with the production of fire ; cf. Ludwig, III, 140.
For the SrzV^ayas, see Weber, Ind. Stud. I, 208 ff., 232 ;
Ludwig, III, 154; Zimmer, 132; Weber, * Episches im
vedischen Ritual,' Sitzungsberichte der Koniglich Preu-
ssischen Akademie, July 23, 1891, vol. xxxviii, p. 797
[42] F f
434 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
(p. 31 of the reprint). The legend which is alluded to here (and in V, 18, 10. 11) is not to be found elsewhere. One may fairly question whether it is not, in a measure at least, trumped up in deference to a supposed etymology : -^aya in sringa-ya. suggests ' conquer, oppress ' (cf. ^iyate in st. 6, and brahmagyasya in st. 7) ; the syllable srzn (Padapa/^a sr/n ^aya) is not above the suspicion of having suggested srihgin, 'horned animal,' RV. I, 32, 5, &c. ; cf. the later writing srmga,ya, Vish/m-pura#a, &c. Note however Tait. S. VI, 6, 6, 2, and 5at. Br. XII, 9, 3, 1 ff., in both of which places the Sringayas come to grief.
c. The text has ubhayadam, which we have emended (with Grill) to ubhayadann, ' having two rows of teeth.' The ram is ordinarily a harmless animal ; but, just as he portentously devours a lioness at RV. VII, 18, 17, so he here appears armed with extra teeth, and capable of doing mischief. Possibly, however, ubhayadam is an accusative from ubhayada = ubhayadant, ' horse/ and ' the goat de- voured the horse ' is another way of marking the ominous destruction of the property of oppressors. Cf. RV. X, 90, 10, and the Pet. Lexs., s.v. ubhayatodant, ubhayatodanta, ubha- yadant.
b. I have accepted Professor Weber's not altogether certain emendation of .mklam to .yulkam (Ind. Stud. XVII, 304). This is based upon Muir's perfectly secure parallel correction at III, 29, 3 (Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 310). These two passages are the only ones upon which the Pet. Lex., s.v. 2d, bases the meanings ' auswurf, schleim, rotz' for .9ukla ; otherwise the word means ' white.' It must be conceded, however, that the reading ^ulkam disturbs the parallelism between Padas a and b, and that the construc- tion of ish with the locative of the person from whom something is desired is strange. The text as it stands would yield, 'who threw slime upon him.'
c, d. This punishment broaches upon the later infernal
V, 19. Commentary. 435
fancies of the Marka^eya-pur^^a ; see Scherman, Roman- ische Forschungen, V, 539 ff. ; Materialien zur Geschichte der Indischen Visionsliteratur (Leipzig, 1892), and Feer, Journal Asiatique, Eighth Series, vol. xx, p. 185 ff. ; Ninth Series, vol. i, p. 112 fif. ; cf. also Zimmer, 420 ff.
b. * As far as she reaches or penetrates/ i.e. wherever she is distributed and eaten (?). Ludwig, ' wohin sie uberhaupt gewandelt,' i. e. wherever she has been during her life-time. Zimmer (and similarly Grill), ' wahrend sie noch unter dem
beile zuckt'
b. I read aiyate for asyate with Zimmer and Grill ; cf. V, 18, 3 d. See also the note on III, 4, 7, and Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1886 (Journ., vol. xiii, p. cxvii ff.).
The last word, brahma^yasya, is a gloss (Anukr. upari-
sh/adbrzhati). The cow is described as portentous, hence
she forebodes destruction ; cf. VIII, 6, 22.
c. The Pet. Lex., s. v. man with abhi, reads tad dhanam for sad dhanam. The emendation is not urgent.
d. Narada is the typical interlocutor in the Pura^as ; in AV. XII, 4, 16. 24. 41 ff., he is especially engaged in pro- curing the brahmagavi'.
Cf. V, 1 8, 1 2. For nava navataya^, see Whitney, Sk. Gr.2
A favourite method of imprecation in the Atharvan consists in threatening with the ceremonies of funeral, or even employing stanzas and formulas originally constructed for burial ; cf. the introduction to I, 14, and the note on II, 12, 7. The present stanza, as well as sts. 13, and
F f 2
436 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
XII, 5, 47 ff., contain such threats against the oppressor of Brahmans ; cf. our Contributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 336 ff. (especially pp. 339 ff.). In this stanza reference is made to the custom of tying a kudi-plant (according to Darila at Kauj. 21, 2. 13, &c.= badari, ' Christ's thorn ; ' cf. Kaur. Introduction, p. xliv) to the dead, so that it trails after him and effaces the track of death : death shall not find the path again and turn upon his trail for further victims. Cf. Antoninus Liberalis 23,
fio&v a<f)avL(rr}. To this rough embrace, symbolic of death,
the oppressor is here assigned. See Roth in Festgruss an
Bohtlingk, pp. 98-9 ; and the present translator, Amer.
journ. Phil. XI, 338 ; XII, 416.
Cf. Asv. Sraut. VI, lo, 2 ; Asv. Grih. IV, 1, 16 ; Max
Miiller, 'DieTodtenbestattung bei den Brahmanen,' Zeitsch.
d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. IX, p. ii.
a. For the relation of Mitra and Varu//a to rain, see Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 314.
c. Cf. VI, 88, 3; Khad/Gr/h. Ill, 1, 6; and Ludwig, 1. c, p. 256.
V, 20. Commentary to page 130.
The purpose of the hymn is obvious. At Kau.y. 16, 1, it is rubricated along with VI, 126, 1, and accompanied by the following solemnities. All musical instruments are washed, dipped into a mixture which contains the fragrant substances tagara (powder of the tabernaemontana coro- naria) and u.rira (the root of andropogon muricatus) ; they are next anointed with the dregs of ghee (cf. V, 21, 3), and finally the chaplain (purohita) of the king sounds them thrice and hands them over to the wrarriors as they go forth to battle. Cf. also Vait. Su. 34, 11 ; Ath. Paris*. 5, 4.
V, 20. Commentary. 437
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 460 ff. ; Grill2, pp. 68, 153 ff. Cf. Zimmer, p. 289. The Anukramam, vanaspatyadundubhidevatyam . . . sapatnasenapara^ayaya devasenavi^ayaya.
Cf. V, 21, 3. The Padapa/^a satvana*yan, 'going with, or to, the warriors.5 Grill, ' wann sie in den kampf ruft.' As regards the resonance of the wood, Tait. S. VI, 1, 4, 1 has the following pretty conceit : ' Va£, speech, once upon a time escaped from the gods, and settled in the trees. Her voice still resounds in wooden instruments.'
a. druvaya (cf. XI, 1, 12), with an obscure suffix vaya,
perhaps = maya ; cf. our remarks on the interchange of
v and m in the Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, May, 1886 (Journ.,
vol. xiii, pp. xcvii ff.) 1. Ludwig, ' an beiden holzern nach
beiden seiten befestigt.'
b. The MSS. read vasitam, emended in the vulgate to
vlritam. This we have translated. Ludwig also adopts
vasitam, but renders ' losbrullend wie ein stier auf die kiihe.'
Cf.VIII, 6, 12; XI, 9, 22.
e. Possibly vi vidhya is to be read for vidhya (haplology ;
cf. Proc. Amer. Or. Soc, April, 1893; Journal, vol. xvi,
p. xxxiv ff.) ; see I, 8, 2 ; VI, 66, 1 ; XI, 9, 23.
d. hitva grarnan, ' with broken ranks/ or, ' having aban- doned the villages ' (so Pet. Lex. and Ludwig).
c. For utpipana^, see our discussion, Contributions, Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, p. 441 ff.
d. In the light of ^atruturya and vr/traturya one is
1 Perhaps, however, druv-aya, formed upon a denominal verb- stem ; cf. gav-aya, ' bos gavaeus : ' go, ' cow/
438 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
tempted to read amitratilryaya, notwithstanding the metre. The sense would be the same in the end. svardrn (stem sv-ardhin), air. Aey., we have translated philologically ' having the good side;' cf. RV. II, 27, 15. The Pet. Lexs. and Grill, ' ein guter parteigenosse (kampfgenosse)/ but the word is certainly a bahuvrihi. Ludwig's ' sinnend auf liecht (gewinn) ' presupposes svar-dhiv^, but there is no reason for the loss of the visarga.
a. The metre suggests for dhibhi^ the synonymous dhiti-
bhi^ ; cf. RV. 1, 161, 7 with III, 60, 2. Likewise, vadasi for
vadati would harmonise better with Pada b.
e. Ludwig takes satvano as nominative of satvana, ' Indra- freund und held lass dich nennen.'
Treated by Roth, Festgruss an Otto von Bohtlingk, p. 99. His translation implies that the drum heralds the return of the warriors after the battle, and announces the respective merits of the participants 1. This breaks the connection, and imports over-pregnant sense into Padas c, d, ' das verdienst sachverstandig abschatzend (but vayiinani vidva'n is a mere formula !), teile vielen lob aus im kriege,' i.e. 'fur ihre haltung im kriege (for their conduct in battle)/ For dvira^a, cf. duellum, bellum.
c, d. A blurred comparison. The press-stones are placed over the skin into which the juice trickles, adhishava^am (sc. £arma)2 ; cf. Hillebrandt, Soma und verwandte Gotter, p. 181 ff. They dance upon (beat down upon) the stems
1 Note XII, 1, 41, akrando yasyazrc vadati dundubhf^, 'upon whom (sc. the Earth) resounds the roaring drum.'
2 adhishava^am by itself means the pressing-board, and so it may be understood here without altering the sense materially. Only the simile in that case is still further diluted.
V, 21. Commentary. 439
of the plant over the skin. Thus the drum-sticks beating upon the skin for victory, as it were, dance upon (beat upon) the booty. The Pet. Lex. and Grill change adri to adhri, apparently as though it were the MS. reading (' man konnte an eine verwechselung mit adri denken,' Pet. Lex. s. v. adhri). But there is no word adhri, and according to the Index Verborum the MSS. read adri1. The expression grava adriyfc seems to be a composite phrase, ' press-stone ; ' cf. Hillebrandt, 1. c, 152 ff.
c. For vidatha nLfo'kyat cf. RV. IV, 38, 4. It seems to
mean * like a leader (puroeta) attending to the troops.'
Ludwig, ' der opferversammlungen gedenkend ; ' cf. Der
Rigveda, III, 259 fif. I believe that vidatha primarily
means 'family/ cf. su-vidatra, 2. vedana (pativedana), pari
vid, &c.
V, 31. Commentary to page 131.
The practice connected with this hymn at Kau^. 16, 2. 3 is aS follows : ' (The purohita) while reciting the hymn makes an offering aloud, and swings the sacrificial spoon about high in the air 2. Then he sews a soma-branch upon (a piece) of the skin of an antelope, and fastens it (as an amulet) upon the king.' The performance on high sym- bolises the shrill sound of the drum (cf. V, 20, 1) ; the amulet seems to be a blended, vague embodiment of the soma-shoot in V, 20, 10, and the antelope's skin in V, 21, 7. Stanza 13 of our hymn is rubricated in the apara^itaga^a of the Ga^amala, Ath. Pam. 32, 13. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 373-4.
b. The skin of the antelope seems thus to have been used for the covering of the drum just as the skin of the
1 Some of Shankar Pandit's MSS. do, however, read adhri.
2 Darila, urdhvazra parivartayan . . . homaj ^a u^ai^.
440 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
cow (V, 20, i ; 21, 3). But the matter is not altogether clear, since in the Sutra above the antelope's skin is com- bined with a soma-shoot. This points, rather, to some use of it either at the soma-pressing, or, perhaps, at some preparatory stage (diksha). The black antelope's skin is regularly employed at the diksha; cf. Ait. Br. I, 3, 17; Lindner, Die Diksha, p. 27 ff. ; Oldenberg, Die Religion des Veda, pp. 87, 399 ff