2 We emend kr/sh;/or«abhi^ to vrzshns. ur/zabhi^ with double sazrcdhi ; cf. Kaurika, Introduction, p. lviii ff. Some MSS. read vrzshno-, and vish/zo-, and there is apparently no sense in black wool ; on the other hand the wool of a male animal is exceedingly suggestive.
Vi, 12. Commentary. 46 1
319; Florenz, Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XII, 260 ff. The Anukrama/zi, retodevatyam uta mantroktadevatyam.
b. ' The male child ' is the fire, which plays, therefore, an important part in the practices stated above.
d. Pra^-apati, the god of procreation, is, of course, the prime authority in these matters ; they are, therefore, said to be of his dictation.
Sinivali and Anumati are two of the personifications of the four phases of the moon. They all preside over the act of procreation, and special rites in their behalf are practised by those desirous of offspring. See Weber, 1. c, p. 228 ff. ; Zimmer, I.e., p. 352.
VI, 12. Commentary to page 28.
According to the text of Kaui*. 29, 28. 29 in our edition the performances connected with this hymn consist in quickly (^ibham) giving the patient honey to drink, and then continuing with the practices described in connection with IV, 6 at Katu. 28, 2 ff. ; see the introduction to IV, 6. But Kcrava and Saya/za (who regularly bases his presenta- tion of the ritual upon Ke^ava) have madhukri^am for Kau^ika's madhu jibham1; Darila's full text is, ma^a- kam (' broth ') suktasya karmabhimantrya payayati. It seems likely, therefore, that madhu^ibham is to be regarded as a compound meaning some kind of honey mixture. Shankar Pandit prints accordingly madhu^ibham as a compound 2.
1 Kcrava reads also once, madhu^awtam.
2 For gapams k&, Kauy. 29, 29, Saya^a reads gapMims fa. This does not commend itself: since the passage refers to the rites described in Kau^. 28, 2 we should expect ^apadini (sc. karmam) k&.
462 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rig-
veda, III, 501 ff. ; Florenz, Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XII,
26% ff. Cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Vedique,
p. 149. The Anukramam, takshakadaivatam (cf. Kaui". 28,
1 ; 29, 1, and the introduction to IV, 6).
Imperfect metaphors. In the second half the notion is that night puts a stop to all activity, and thus the physician stops the action of the poison. In Pada c the notion seems to be that the ha//zsa is awake at night ; cf. Zimmer, Altin- disches Leben, p. 90. Saya/za takes ha;;^sa in the sense of atman, soul (cf. brahman = paramahaz/zsa), ' as the entire body, but not the soul, is at rest/ Perhaps ha//zsa is here, as frequently elsewhere, the sun. Can we trust the present poet to know that the sun is at work by night in another hemisphere ? The sense would then be that every creature but the ha^sa (i. e. the sun) is at rest. Cf. RV. X, 136, 5. Ludwig, ' wie die nacht das iibrige lebende totet (? dhvan- sat),' or, 'as night separates the remaining living things from the sun (ha/^sa).'
c. asanvat (Padap. asan-vat) is air. Xey., literally 'that which has a mouth.' Saya/za, asyayuktam. In effect the word seems to mean ' the present ' (' that which can speak, or breathe ? ' highly and grotesquely poetic, if true). The Pet. Lex. suggests that it is either an obscure derivative of root as, ' be/ or a corruption of asannam. Does it stand for asthanvat, ' corporeal ; ' cf. Avestan astvat ? The change of asthan to asan may have crept in from asne in 3 d. Or possibly, atmanvat. The Paippalada has asunvat.
c. Parush/zi is the name of a river : Zimmer, 1. c, p. 11. »Sipala seems to be a fanciful, typical river, or lake, named after the water-plant jipala, avaka (blyxa octandra), ib., p. 71. The avaka quenches fire, see Contributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 342 ff. The entire stanza
Vi, 14. Commentary. 463
contains the statement that the poet with his song is
sweetening all waters and (the plants of) the mountains.
In the practice honey is added to water and other
ingredients, as a potion for the invalid.
VI, 14. Commentary to page 8.
For the nature of the disease balasa, see our discussion in the note at V, 22, u, and cf. VI, 127. This particular charm is defined by Ke^ava (and Saya/za) as a ^leshma- bhaisha^yam, ' cure for phlegm,5 in agreement with the medical 5astras ; cf. Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 311. We may suppose that it refers to some virulent swelling of the throat. The indications of the Kau^ika, 29, 30, are not helpful : the practice is purely symbolic. A reed is placed into the water (of a river) and then the patient is washed with water by means of a branch from a ' holy ' tree (Darila, jantavr/ksha^akalena ; cf. Kam\ 8, 15), so that the water flows down upon the reed. The perishable reed upon which the disease has been washed out of the patient is supposed to float away ; cf. sts. 3 c, d.
The hymn has been translated by Florenz, Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XII, 265 ff. The Anukrama/zi, balasadevatyam.
Cf. the parallel stanza, V, 30, 9, where very similar
qualities are ascribed to consumption, yakshma. But we
must not, on that account, go so far as to identify balasa
outright with yakshma.
a, b. Note the alliteration between asthi- and asthitam.
a, b. The Paippal&da has krmoml for kshi/zomi. The ret. Lex. suggests, most ingeniously, the reading nir . . . aksh;zomi for nir . . . kshmomi (cf. IV, 22, 1, and for the sense in general III, 9, 2). But perhaps the air. \ey.y mh kshi^omi, ' remove, destroy/ simply suggests the other verb by way of zeugma. Saya^a with the Paippalada
464 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
escapes the difficulty by reading pushkaram, ' as a lotus that has grown up in a great lake thus it is torn up by the root.5 Possibly this is the true solution. Cf. also VI, 127, 2-
c, d. Cf. RV. VII, 59, 1 2. The Paippalada, mulam ulvalvo yatha.
b. Saya^a reads susukak, ' as a wild animal of that name
(mmka) runs to a distance.' The word is not quotable.
The Pet. Lexs., on the other hand, suggest that asuniga. is
the name of some bird. Neither suggestion commends
itself.
c. For the reed that passes away in a year's time, cf. IV, 19, 1. On the other hand reeds grow profusely and quickly, VI, 137, 2. 3. Saya/za reads ita for l/a.
VI, 16. Commentary to page 30.
This hymn, full of hocus-pocus and singular diction, represents the extreme Atharvanesque manner, and for this reason alone is worth reproducing. All details are ex- ceedingly obscure, and the rather full elaboration of it in the ritual is not very helpful. The commentators agree in regarding it as a charm against ophthalmia (akshirogabhai- sha^yam) ; the performances, Kaus\ 30, 1-6, are as follows : 1. ' While reciting the hymn (an amulet derived from the mustard-plant), anointed with the dregs of mustard-oil 1, is fastened (to the patient). 2. (And) the stem (of the mus- tard-plant) smeared with (mustard-oil is also fastened upon him as an amulet). 3. The leaf (of the mustard-plant) mixed (with the oil) is given (to the patient)2. 4. (Then) four fruits of the .raka-tree (tectona grandis) are given (to
1 We would now read sarshapatailasa/wpatam in accordance with the comments of Darila, Ke^ava, and Sayaraa. The latter sarsha- patailena sazrcpatitam.
2 Sayawa, sarshapatailena bhr/sh/a#z sarshapapatra^akam £akshu- rogagrastaya praya£^et.
Vi, 1 6. Commentary. 465
the patient). 5. A paste made from the sap of the plant
is smeared (upon the eyes of the patient) *. 6. (The
patient) eats (of the sap)/ We are permitted to judge
from these practices that the mustard-plant, and perhaps
other plants (the raka-tree) are referred to in the hymn,
but the identification is uncertain.
The fourth stanza is rubricated at Kaar. 51, 15. 16 in
a practice that seems to be calculated to remove weeds
from a field (alabhesha^am) 2. The practice consists in
burying three tips of the sila^ala- plant (cf. Kau^ika, In-
troduction, p. xlv) into the middle of a furrow.
The hymn has been translated by Florenz, Bezzenber-
ger's Beitrage, XII, 268 ff. The Anukramam, mantrokta-
devatyam uta £&ndramasam.
Saya/za reads avayo and anavayo, which he derives from avayati, ' eat/ and accordingly, with complete dependence upon the Sutra, 'O mustard that art being eaten, and, O mustard-stalk that art not eaten.' It must be admitted that there is a punning correlation between these two words and £vaya/£ in st. 2d, which Saya^a renders, bhakshitam akaro^ ; it is quite likely, too, that abayu is more or less identical with the mustard-plant. But here our guesses end. S&ya;za glosses karambham again after the Sutra, sarshapatailamiirabhrzshfe;;/ tatpatra^akam (Kau^. 30, 3).
a, b. The mention by name of the father and mother of
a plant is typical and formulaic; cf. the note on V, 5, 1.
Shankar Pandit reads vihahlo ; Saya^a, viha/zzlakhya/;
kaskit pita. For madavati, cf. IV, 7, 4, and the note on
vara/zavati, IV, 7, 1.
c, d. For hi na of the vulgata Shankar Pandit with the
1 Sayawa, mulakshiram abhimantrya vyadhitasya akshim a^yat.
2 For ala, see Kaurika, Introduction, p. xlvii. But Saya/za reads annabhesha^am, ' curing of food : ' annasvastyayanakama^ tisra^ sasyavallir abhimantrya kshetramadhye nikhanet. Cf. also Ke^ava.
[42] H h
466 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
majority of his MSS., both Sa/^hita and Padapa/^a, reads hi na (both enclitic). The sense of the extremely obscure passage seems to be, that the plant does not consume itself in vain, but confers the benefits expected from it. So also Saya?/a, atmano hanim prapya*pi paropakaraparo bhavasi, ' even when thou hast arrived at thy own destruction thou hast for thy highest aim the benefaction of others/
Saya/za regards tauvilika as the name of a female demon that causes disease. And thus also babhrii and babhrii- kar/m are two personified rogahetu 1. We have rendered ailaba^ by ' howling one ' (Saya^a, rogavijesha^) ; better, 'howl' (abstract): cf. XII, 5, 47. In Pada d the Pada- pa/^a reads ni/t ala as two separate words, and we have taken ala as a vocative. The word, according to Darila to Kaoy. 25, 18 (cf. the introduction to I, 3, p. 236), seems to mean 'a kind of weed.' Whitney in the Index Ver- borum suggests a verb nir ala from a root al, comparing vy ala, V, 22, 6 (obscurum per obscurius). Saya^a, he nirala etatsa/^£7za roga, again regards the entire word as the name of a disease.
All that we know of the names in this stanza is that they are plants, and, probably, compounds of ala (st. 3), though the Padapa//za does not divide them as compounds 2. At Kauj-. 51, 16 sila^ala occurs as the name of a plant (Ke^-ava, sasyavalli ; cf. Kaiuika, Introduction, p. xlv), and Saya?za says, doubtless correctly, of all three, tisra/z s^mgnks Wsrinkm sasyavallinam. But the true value of the formula seems beyond reach.
1 Pada c is formulaic: it recurs at V, 23, 4c; see the note there.
2 alasa means ' dull, sluggish ; ' for sila%-ala, cf. sila^f, V, 5, 1. 8. The MSS. of Kaor. 51, 16 read sMngala, suggesting the presence of the word jila, ' stone,' in the first member. Sayazza, ,rala%-ala (sasyama%ari).
Vi, 1 8. Commentary. 467
VI, 17. Commentary to page 98.
The Kau^ika, 35, 12-15, has a performance entitled garbhadr//^ha/zani, ' performances for steadying the womb, or foetus/ which rubricates, in addition to our hymn, AV. V, 1, 1, and a mantra whose pratika is a^yuta (probably the hymn given in full at Kau^. 98, 2 1). It is as follows : 35, 13, *A bowstring, thrice knotted, is tied about (the foetus) that has been seized by convulsions. 14. (The woman) is fed upon lumps of earth. 15. Black pebbles are scattered about her couch.' For the character of ^ambha, * convulsions,' see the note on II, 4, 2, and cf. especially the references there given to Wise, pp. 421-3.
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda,
III, 477 ; Florenz, Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XII, 269 ff.
The Anukrama/zi, garbhadrz/^hanadevatyam.
VI, 18. Commentary to page 106.