Saya/za also defines ^akadhuma as brahma/^a, but in a roundabout way. Primarily, according to his view, it is the fire in which lumps of dung have been placed, and from which the smoke rises (sskrtta/z sa;^bandhi dhumo yasminn agnau sa ^akadhuma/^ agni/£). But agni (e.g. according to Tait. S. V, 2, 8, 2) is identical with brahma/za; cf. his words, agnitvena sa/^kalpya, in the note above 1. In the brahmodya-stanza, RV. I, 164, 43 = AV. IX, 10, 25, occurs the expression sakamayam dhumam ; this is paraphrased in Katyayana's Sarvanukramam and in Sha^guru^ishya's comment (pp. 1 1, 97 of Macdonell's edition) by .yakadhuma, ' dung-smoke.' Possibly * the fire that gives forth dung- smoke ' (cf. Haug in the Proceedings of the Bavarian Academy, 1875, II, p. 506) forms the true mythic back- ground of these conceptions ; the Brahman interpreter may be secondarily called jakadhuma. Weber, 1. c, surmises that it may be the first morning fire, kindled while the stars are still shining, and indicating by its rising or falling smoke the weather of the breaking day ; cf. also the same author, In- dische Studien,V, 257 ; X, 65 ; Nakshatra, II, 272, note ; 393.
1 Sayarca continues, taw jakadhumaw brahma;/aw pura naksha- tram taraka^ ra^anaw ^andramasam akurvata. According to this the moon (fire) is the jakadhuma, the controller of the weather. This is good folk-lore : the Brahmawa may be the moon's repre- sentative on earth.
534 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
VI, 130. Commentary to page 104.
This and the following two hymns 1 are accompanied at Kaus. 36, 13-14 by the following practices: 'Bean-loves' (mashasmaran; Ke^ava and Saya/za simply 'beans,' mashan) are thrown (upon the head of the person whose love is de- sired 2). Then the points of arrows (^ara) are kindled and are cast in every direction about the effigy (of the desired person), its face fronting towards the performer. The bean (masha) is doubtless regarded as inflammatory food (cf. the Pythagorean prohibition), since it is forbidden at the fasts preliminary to holy practices, along with honey, salt, meat, and brandy; see Kaiu. 1,32, and note (and frequently elsewhere) : its fitness in a love-charm seems derivable from this notion. A similar practice with the effigy occurs at Kaiu. 35, 28 (see the introduction to HI, 35)-
The hymn has been interpreted by Weber, Indische
Studien, V, 244 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 515 ; Grill2,
pp.58, 174 ff.
The pada-MSS. read ratha^ite ymam ; Saya/za substi- tutes dhinam for this yinam. But the text of the Sa//zhita- MSS. justifies ratha^iteymam 3. Weber, 1. c, p. 345, note, refers by way of illustration of the present epithets of the Apsaras to the names sa;/^ayanti (IV, 38, 1), ugra^it, ugra^pa^ya, and rash/rabhrzt (VI, 118, 1. 2), and to the frequent warlike epithets of the Gandharvas, with whom they are associated closely (cf. e.g. Tait. S. Ill, 4, 7, 3). Grill, too daringly, emends to artha^-itam artha^itiham, supporting his theory by a reference to IV, 38, where the
1 Thus according to the commentators: 131 and 132 are not otherwise rubricated.
2 Thus Darila ; according to Ke^ava, upon his couch, house, or bed ; according to Sayawa, on the ground which he walks.
8 The hymn is wanting in the Paippalada.
Vi, 132. Commentary. 535
Apsaras are implored for help in gambling. He supposes that they ' gain their object ' both in play and in love.
VI, 131. Commentary to page 104.
For the practices connected with this hymn, see the
introduction to the preceding. Previous translations by
Weber, Indische Studien, V, 244 ff. ; Grill2, pp. 58, 175 ff.
Anumati is the goddess of favour and consent ; cf. the
play of words in anu manyasva (as in VII, 20). Akuti
is the goddess of schemes. In XIX, 4, 2 she is called
^ittasya mata, * mother of thought ' (' the wish is father to
the thought '). Cf. Ill, 8, 5 ; V, 8, 2, &c.
VI, 132. Commentary to page 104.
For the practices connected with this hymn, see the introduction to VI, 130. It has been translated by Weber, Indische Studien, V, 245, who supposes that it is the text of a brewing-charm (sudzauber), in which the person de- sirous of love boils some concoction that attracts irresistibly the coy beloved. But the absence of any such practice in connection with the hymn casts much doubt upon this interpretation. It seems rather to allude to some mythic touch (akhyayika). Saya//a suggests that the gods either poured love into the water, to quench him, or that they placed him into the atmospheric waters as ruler of all lovers. Varu/?a in the refrain is, of course, in the position of lord or controller of those waters, and varu/zasya dharma/za is not remote from the meaning ' by the permission or order of Varu/za.' The whole savours of the conception that the gods poured smara into the waters either by way of punishing him for his attacks upon themselves T, or in order
1 Cf. the stories of their burning Kama, ' love/ e. g. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts. I2, 112; IV2, 364. Or is there still a different notion, namely that the fruitful waters are the natural seat of love ?
536 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
to quench him, and that the person practising the charm kindles him anew with the permission of Varuz/a.
b. In Tait. S. Ill, 4, 7, 3, the Adhis, ' yearnings/ are
personified as the Apsaras, the wives of Kama, ' love,' the
Gandharva.
Indra/zi is the goddess of successful and happy conjugal
love ; see our Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschrift der
Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, XLVIII, 551 ff.
VI, 136. Commentary to page 31.
The plant nitatni, c she that takes root ' (cf. the note on III, 12, 4d, and Ait. Br. VII, 31, 3), is not mentioned else- where. In Tait. S. IV, 4, 5, 1 ; Ka//L S. XL, 4 ; Vish/zu, LXVII, 7, the word designates a personification of one of the bricks of the fire-altar (ish/aka) ; in Tait. Br. Ill, 1, 4, 1, one of the stars of the constellation krzttika. This and the next hymn are supplied with practices at Kaos*. 31, 28, to wit: The fruit of (the plant) mentioned in the mantra (i. e. the nitatni 1), together with the plants ^ivi and &l&ka 2, (are concocted into a solution) and poured (by the medicine-man) who is clothed in black and has eaten black food 3, in the early morning before the rise of the crows (upon the head of the person for whom the hair cure is undertaken). The exact virtue of these plants escapes
1 The scholiasts agree in defining this by ka£ama/£i. The word is not elsewhere quotable as the name of a plant, but is mentioned in Bohtlingk's Lexicon as a kind of spirituous liquor.
2 Cf. Kau^ika, Introduction, pp. xlv and 1. Saya^a has ^ivanti for g\v\, and bhrmgara^a for alaka. On p. xlv we have written alaka, but Darila has alaka. On the other hand Bohtlingk's Lexicon, vol. i, p. 294, mentions alaka = alarka, * calotropis gigantea/
3 That is sesame, beans, and the like ; cf. Kaorika, Introduction, p. xlix.
Vi, I38. Commentary. 537
our knowledge ; the black colour symbolises, perhaps, the (black) hair.
The hymn has been translated by Zimmer, Altindisches
Leben, p. 68 (cf. also p. 264); Grill2, pp. 50, 176. The
Anukrama/zi,vanaspatyam,by ke^avardhanakamaVitahavya
(VI, i37, 0-
b. For vrzsfcate the Pet. Lex. suggests vm^yate. So also Saya/za, Midyate. Cf. the note on XII, 4, 12.
VI, 137. Commentary to page 31.
For the employment in the ritual see the introduction to the preceding hymn. Previous translations by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 512 ; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 68 (cf. also p. 264) ; Grill2, pp. 50, 176. The Anukrama/zi, as in the preceding.
No further trace of this curious, probably ad hoc, legend (akhyayika) has been found. Saya/za cites no parallels. Camadagni is mentioned in connection with helpful charms at II, 32, 3 ; V, 28, 7 ; for Asita, cf. the note on I, 14, 4.
Zimmer renders abhmma, ' with the finger ; ' so also Saya/za with the Naigha/z/uka II, 4. 5, angulibhi/z. I do not feel altogether convinced that the Pet. Lex. (s. v. abhfou) is right in denying this meaning.
VI, 138. Commentary to page 108.
Unsavoury and obscure is the performance associated with the recital of this hymn at Kaui\ 48, 32-34. Urine and dung are put into the skin-bag that covers the tail of a calf, they are covered up with kaku^a-fruits 1, the entire
1 For jepya, ' skin of the tail,' see Kaorika, Introduction, p. liv ; for kaku&i, ibid, xlviii. The latter word, however, is explained by
538 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
mess is crushed and dug into the ground 1. Next (Sutra 33) the (same) skin-bag and a reed (are crushed and dug into the ground ?). Finally (Sutra 34) the reed is stuck into the skin-bag and again dug into the ground (?). The Sutras are extremely brief, and the scholiasts do not make clear these performances which reach the lowest plane even of Atharvanic doings.
The hymn has been rendered by Weber, Indische Studien,
V, 246 ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 470 ; cf. also Geldner,
Vedische Studien, I, 131 ; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben,
Index, p. 455 a.
d. The exact meaning of opa^inam escapes us, owing to the complete absence of graphic representations. The lexicons, Weber and Zimmer, ' gelockt ;' Ludwig, ' bezopft.' Sayawa, as the scholiasts in general, de'rives opa^a from the verb upai'ete, and arrives at the meaning ' one with female organs ' (strivya^anam). Geldner, I.e., has gone peculiarly astray in comparing the cuckold and translating 'with horns/ since in Maitr. S. II, 7, 5 = Tait. S. IV, 1, 5> 3 = Vag. S. XI, 56 the goddess Sinivali is described as suka- parda sukurira svopaj-a. All three epithets obviously refer to female methods of dressing the hair and the head. The notion here is that the eunuch shall develop hermaphroditic characteristics, and hence assume the head-gear of a woman. See stanzas % and 3, and cf. in addition AV. VIII, 6, j2; IX, 3, 8 ; Apast. Sr. X, 9, 5-7 ; Sat. Br. V, 1, 2, 14 ; 4, 1, 1 ; Katy. Sr. XIV, 1, 14; XV, 5, %i. The opa^a
Ke^ava in a very different way, namely, tasya (sc. vatsasya) vr/sha- ?zai^, i. e., the skin containing the mutrapurisham is covered up with the testicles of the calf.
1 The scholiasts say, marma/n nikhanati (cf. Kau^. 47, 51 ; 48, 4). The digging is supposed to take place, symbolically, in the vital spot of the rival.
2 The OTT. Aey. tiri/m in this passage is doubtless identical with the later kiri/in, and again refers to some feminine mode of dressing the head.
Vi, 139- Commentary. 539
seems to be some form of coiffure which has become at this stage of the literature a characteristic ornamentation of women ; its primary meaning may have been ' horn/ but this is by no means rendered certain by Tank. Br. XIII, 4, 3 (upon which Geldner relies), since it may be figurative in that sense.
Stanzas 2, 3.
The exact meaning of kunra (Saya//a, kcra^alam),
kurirm (Saya/?a, kuriraA kesak tadvanta//z kuru), and
kiimba (Saya//a, abhara7iam stri//am) is again uncertain,
but they all refer to female head-gear.
VI, 139. Commentary to page 102.
The present charm is apparently addressed to a plant
which is, however, not mentioned by name, unless nyastikd'
be a proper noun. The hymn is rubricated, along with
VI, T29 and VII, 38, at Kaus. 36, 12 : the person practising the charm digs up a suvar^ala-plant 1, with the ceremonies pertaining to the digging up of plants (cf. Kauj. ^, 9. J 6), fastens (its) white blossoms upon his head, and thus enters the village. Neither of the two other hymns (VI, 1 29 and
VII, 38) defines the plant more specifically2: the exactitude of the Sutra does not inspire confidence.
The hymn has been rendered by Weber, Indische Studien, V, 247 ; Ludwig,T)er Rigveda, III, 515.
For the formulaic numbers see the analogical parallels
mentioned by A. Kuhn in Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende
Sprachforschung, XIII, 135. The air. Aey. nyastika is
1 Darila, suvar^ald prasiddha trisawdhyasadrai (cf. the introduc- tion to IV, 20); Ke^ava has .rarikhapushpi and suryavela (cf. surya- valli) ; Saya^a, jahkhapushpika, ' andropogon aciculatus/
2 Cf. however the epithet mawpa^ya, VII, 38, 1, with the descrip- tion in IV, 20, 1. This again points to the plant trisa^dhya.
54-0 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
obscure : Kuhn and Ludwig incline to its construction as
a proper noun, and that may be correct. Saya/za, ('the
plant) that suppresses the characteristics of ill-luck.' Our
rendering is etymological, and equally guess-work.