VI, 44. Commentary to page io.
Darila does not state what disease this hymn and the practice at Kaiu. 31, 6 are directed against. Kcrava (and Saya^a depending upon him) describes it as an apavada- bhaisha^yam, and his comment leaves no doubt that he regards it as a practice against calumniators \ It looks as though this obvious misconstruction stood in some connection with the word apavataya^ in the Sutra, which Kej-ava either fails to understand, or deflects by a pun into the channel of a usage with which neither hymn nor Sutra had anything to do in the first instance. Unless indeed Kcrava interprets the first stanza in the sense that the heavens, the earth, and all living beings have stood (stand), and that, therefore, the character of the person impugned will stand in spite of all aspersions. Or, again, the horn fallen by itself from the head of a cow, and that, too, a cow that has weaned her calf, symbolises, perhaps, the withdrawal of the good will of men. This might be employed homoeopathically to cure their hostility. Note also visha^a, ' horn/ which suggests vi sa, ' loosen ; ' cf. VI, 131,1. The practice is as follows : A horn
1 apavade bhaisha^yam u^yate, bahubhashawam adharme k& pra- vartane tasya apavada^ (!).
[42] I i
482 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
that has been shed by a cow whose calf has been weaned 1 is anointed with the dregs of ghee (is filled with water ; the patient is given the water to drink, and is also sprinkled with it) while the hymn is being pronounced in a low voice (cf. Kaui". 28, 1). Obviously Kau.rika interprets visha^aka in st. 3 as * horn/ and a horn that has curative power we have in III, 7, 2. 3 (cf. the Sutra in the introduction). But the statements in st. 3 seem to contain a fitting characterisa- tion of a plant, and in this sense we have interpreted the passage in our Contributions, Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, 426 ff. On the other hand, visha^aka is a air. Aey., and may after all be only the diminutive of vish&a, ' horn,' III, 7, 2. 3 ; VI, 121, 1. This seems on the whole the more conservative view, although Kau^ika's gojrmgena may be due either to misunderstanding, or to conscious symbolic manipulation. At any rate the hymn itself is of no uncertain character : being a remedial charm, it takes its place among the bhaisha^yakarma/zi in the first part of the fourth book of the Kaorika, and the terms for the diseases mentioned in it are fairly clear.
Previous translations by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 509
(cf. also 321, 343) ; Florenz, Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XII,
304 ff. Cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Vedique,
p. 151. The Anukramam, vLyvamitramantroktadevatyam 2
uta vanaspatyam.
1 The MSS. of the text read apav&taya^. Darila apagataya^, which he explains by, apagatd vatsavigalitasnehd ; cf. Kau^ika, Introduction, p. xlv. The opposite of apavata is abhivata, La7y. *Sr. VIII, 5, 3, ' a cow that nourishes her calf/ Cf. abhivanyavatsa, ' a cow that gives suck to a strange calf/ Ait. Br. VII, 2, 4 (cf. the commentary, p. 377 of Aufrecht's edition) ; apivanyavatsa, Kaur. 80, 25 ; 82, 22 (our edition, erroneously, api vanyavatsaya^), in the same sense ; and nivdnyavatsa (also nivanya) frequently in the *Sat. Br. in the same sense (see Pet. Lex.). See also Ludwigs note on RV. VI, 67 (no), Der Rigveda, IV, p. 113.
2 The word vfrvam, not vuvamitra, occurs in st. 1. In st. 2 we have vasishMarn. Some blundering manipulation of the two seems to have inspired the compiler of this futile tract.
Vi, 45- Commentary. 483
The first hemistich is formulaic ; see VI, 77, 1. Saya^a, his general interpretation of the hymn notwithstanding, is not prevented from interpreting roga and asrava (st. 2) by rudhirasrava or raktasrava, ' flow of blood.' In the intro- duction to I, 2, he interprets asrava more broadly as excessive discharge in general, diarrhoea, flow of urine, or of blood. The word vatikrztanaufani (see the note on st. 3) tends to narrow down this more general construction in accordance with our caption, but we must beware of ascrib- ing any too pointed diagnoses to these early physicians ; it is quite possible that excessive discharges of all sorts were exorcised with this charm. For the use of the aorists, cf. Delbriick, Syntaktische Forschungen, II, 87.
Cf. II, 3, 3.
a. For visha^aka, see the introduction. Possibly the word is identical with visha^ika, reported by the medical 6astras (cf. Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 146), and the lexicographers, as the name of a plant.
e. Cf. Wise, I.e., 250, bata byadhi (vatavyadhi), ' diseases produced by wind (in the body),' not ' wound,' as Zimmer has argued, Altindisches Leben, pp. 389 ff. Saya/za divides vatikrz'tana.yani in two, vati asravasya rogasya joshayitri ; kr/tana^ani, kritam rogasya nidanabhuta//z dushkarma, tasya najayitri. Cf. the note on VI, 109, 3, and the intro- duction to 1, 12.
VI, 45. Commentary to page 163.
This hymn (along with the next) is directed against bad dreams, an application due, perhaps, in the first instance, to the chance expression, ' awake or asleep/ in st. 2. It may be the case, however, that evil thoughts were conceived as returning in the form of annoying dreams. The practice
I i 2
484 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
at Kaus. 46, 9-10 is as follows: * With VI, 45 and 46 the person that has an (evil) dream rinses his mouth. If he has had an excessively frightful dream he offers a cake of mixed grain, and deposits a second in the territory of an enemy/ Kejava tells what constitutes an evil dream, mentioning the svapnadhyaya, probably Matsya-pura^a 242, as his authority. Cf. also Marka^eya-pura^a 43 ; Vayu- pura^a 19 ; Ait. Ar. Ill, 5, 16 ff. (Sacred Books, I, 262 ff.) ; Aufrecht, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch., XXXII, 574 ; and Hultzsch, Prolegomena zu des Vasantara£*a 5akuna, pp. 15 ff. Both hymns figure in the du/^svapnana- .sanaga/za of the Ga/zamala, Ath. Paris*. 32, 8 (Kaar. 46, 9, note) ; cf. also Ath. Paris*. 33, 1.
The present hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der
Rigveda, III, 443, and Florenz, Bezzenberger's Beitrage,
XII, 305 ff. The Anukrama^i, du^svapnanasanadevatyam.
a. Saya/za, contrary to the Padapaz^a, reads manas papa,
'O mind devoted to evil that hast become the cause of
dreams ; ' cf. the introduction. The text of the Pada
seems to be an Atharvanic contortion of RV. X, 164, 1 a,
ape * hi manasas pate.
Cf. RV. X, 164, 3 with the variant a.s*asa ni^asa*bhis*asa ; Tait. Br. Ill, 7, 12, 4, a^asa nirasa yat para^asa. The exact meaning of the words in our text is not easily definable ; Saya^a transcribes them all by compounds of ^asana = hi^sana, 'injury.' Ludwig leaves them untranslated, and regards them as various kinds of imprecations ; but compare his version of the RV. words (927, vol. ii, p. 552). Florenz, 1 durch unrecht verlangen, abweis, verwunschung.'
Cf. RV. X, 164, 4. Saya;za identifies the lightly personified
Pra^etas with Varu/za. The word is indeed a frequent
epithet of Varu/za. But the patronymic Angirasa suits
Vi, 5°- Commentary. 485
Brahma^aspati rather than Varu^a (so Grassmann, II, 501) ; Ludwig refers it to Agni.
VI, 46. Commentary to page 167.
The hymn is employed along with VI, 45 in the practice described at Kaor. 46, 9. 10 ; see the introduction to the preceding hymn. The last two stanzas of the present hymn are employed further, in the case of peculiarly oppressive dreams, in a cumulative performance embracing the acts of Kaiu. 46, 9. 10, as well as those of 46, 11. 12. The latter are undertaken in connection with AV. VII, ico and 101 : the dreamer turns over on his other side, and looks at real food if he has dreamt of eating food. Cf. also Ath. Pari.?. 8, 1 ; 33, 1.
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 498 ; Florenz, Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XII, 306.
Varimani is a variable term, either a personification of the waters (cf. Tait. S. V, 5, 4, 1), or of the night (see the passages in the Pet. Lex. under visum. 1 b, column 724, bottom). Here the latter function is in evidence ; cf. Ait. Ar. Ill, 4, 18. Araru is a personification of hostility and demoniac force ; cf. Tait. Br. Ill, 2, 9, 4.
Cf. RV. VIII, 47, 17; AV. XIX, 57, 1. Saya/za,
mechanically, ' as one removes claws and other parts that
have been injured by disease, or as wicked men transmit
their debts by tradition (inheritance)/ &c.
VI, 50. Commentary to page 142.
Ke^ava and Siya^a, in their introductions to the cere- monies prescribed in connection with this hymn at Kau^. 51, 17-22, mention a long line of pestiferous insects, but the rare and unknown words in the hymn are not elucidated.
486 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
The performances are as follows: 17. * While the hymn is being recited, the performer walks about the grain-field, hacking a piece of lead with an iron instrument1. 18. He scatters stones upon the field. 19. He ties a hair through the mouth of a tarda (insect) and buries him head down- ward into the middle of the field. 20. He performs the act which is to be done while walking 2. 21. He offers a bali- ofifering to Asa. (" region "), to A^apati (" lord of the regions "), to the two A-rvins, and to Kshetrapati (" lord of the field "). 22. On the day when he performs the ceremonies for these (divinities?) he shall remain silent up to the time of sunset/ The hymn is catalogued also in the first abhayaga/za (cf. st. 1) of the Ga/zamala, Ath. Pam. 32, 12 (cf. Ka,us. 16, 8, note). It has been rendered by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 499 fif. ; Florenz, Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XII, 312 ff. The Anukrama^t, a\?vinam abhayakama^.
The renderings of tardam and samankam are conjectured etymologically. For the latter, see the note on I, 1 2, 2 c.
The name lipakvasa is not even etymologically sugges-
tive. S&ya/za reads apakvasaA (a-pakvas),, glossing, adag-
dha^ santa^.
1 For Kamika's ayasa sisa#z karshan Saya^a reads aya^sisazrc gharshan, paraphrasing it by lohamaya#z sisaw gharshan. Possibly sisam is to be changed to sitam : the performance would then con- sist in ploughing a furrow with an iron (plough) about the field. Cf. Kau.s\ 50, 17.
2 Cf. Kaur. 51, 2 (in the introduction to IV, 3) : 'While walk- ing he offers thrice to the Awins (so Sayawa ; cf. st. 1 of our hymn) milk of a cow with a calf of the same colour as herself.' Saya/za reads for ^are, the word which we have rendered ' while walking/ £arau. By transcribing k&ve in Devanagari, and adding a vertical line after the r, the partial ambiguity will appear. Saya/za's statement is, ^arurn a^vibhya^^uhuyat. We are not convinced. Why should the MSS. of the Kau^ika write the diphthong au in this fashion in this instance, and never elsewhere ?
Vi, 5^. Commentary. 487
The two compounds with pati are ambiguous. The final long a of the stems preceding may be due to Vedic (metrical) lengthening : in that case, ' lord of the tarda,' &c, is the proper rendering. So Saya^a. For vyadhvara^ Shankar Pandit's edition, with most MSS. and Saya^/a, read vyad- vara/z ; cf. our notes on II, 31, 4 c ; III, 28, 2.
VI, 56. Commentary to page 151.
The terms of the hymn indicate a charm against serpents, of the general sort1, but Kau^. 50, 17-22 gives it a prag- matic turn ; the practice is designed to keep serpents away from the premises: 17. 'While reciting this hymn along with sundry other mantras, lines are scratched around the bed, the house, and the grain-field. 1 8. Grass that has been anointed with the dregs of ghee is fastened upon the door through a yoke-hole 2. 19. Dung from the entrails (of a cow) is crumbled (at the door). 20. It is dug into (the ground). 21. And laid on (the fire). 22. (The same performances as with the dung are undertaken with) the blossoms of the apamarga-plant (achyranthes aspera; cf. the introduction to IV, 17), the hoofs(!) of the kudriy£i-tree 3, the roots of them being turned away 4 (from the ground, fire, &c.) V
The hymn is also rubricated (with others) at Kaiu\ 139, 8, in the course of practices preparatory to the study of
1 Cf. Ke^ava, sarpadisvastyayanam.
2 Cf. AV. XIV, i, 40; Kaur. 76, 12, and Indische Studien, V,
3 Very doubtful: the word is kudri/fctaaphan. Kei'ava, guduki- padan, 'the feet of the gud&ki (cocculus cordifolius'). Saya^a simply, gudukim.
4 The text, para^inamulan. Neither Kcrava, nor Saya^a com- ments upon the word.
5 The aim of these performances is clear : the serpents are to be excluded by magic lines, and purifying substances and plants.
488 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
the Vedas. Cf. also Vait Su. 29, 10; Ath. Parly. 19, 5.
It has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 50a ;
Grill2, pp. 5, 162 ff.