sive urine, and even flow of blood, i.e. against excessive or unnatural flows from the body in general. The practices are as follows: 25, 6.‘ While reciting the two hymns I, 2 and II, 3 the (practising priest) ties the head of a stalk of mu#ga-reed (saccharum munja) with a cord (made from the same plant, as an amulet, upon the patient’). 7. Having ground up a natural lump of earth, and earth from an ant-mound 2, he gives (a solution of this to the patient) to drink. 8. He smears him with ghee. 9. He blows upon (the rectum of the patient °).’
The hymn has been translated and analysed by Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, pp. 394-5; and the present writer, in ‘Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda, Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, pp. 467-9. Cf. also Florenz in Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XIV, pp. 178 ff.; and, as a specimen of an interpretation which assumes that no Vedic passage has previously been correctly understood, Regnaud, L’Atharva-Véda et la méthode d’interprétation de M. Bloomfield, pp. 8-10.
a. Parganya is the god of rain (hence his epithet bhiri- dhayas), and his outpourings upon the earth seem to be compared with a shower of arrows; hence in RV. VI, 75, 15 the arrow is said to come from the semen of Parganya (pargdnyaretasa ishvai). Possibly, however, the arrow is Parganya’s child, because arrow-reeds (sara) grow in conse- quence of the rain. It seems further that the discharges from the body are compared with Parganya’s rain, and are therefore under his control; cf. I, 3, 1 below. Hence the
* The passage in brackets is derived from the Commentaries.
* For the role of the ant-mound, see the note on II, 3, 4, and more especially VI, roo.
® So according to Darila, apane dhamati; Kesava and Sayama, in accordance with their more liberal construction, cause the blow- ing to be performed upon the particular opening in the body from which the excessive discharge flows (Sayama, apanasisnanadivrana- mukhaném dhamanam). For apana, a euphemism for ‘rectum,’ see Kausika, Introduction, p. lv, bottom.
I, 3. Commentary. 235
double construction of this hymn as a battle-charm, and as a remedy against excessive discharges.— For the knowledge which imparts power and control, cf. VII, 12, 2; 76, 5, and elsewhere. Also Sat. Br. IX, 1, 1, 17, ‘no damage comes from him who has been recognised and addressed.’
b. The earth as mother of the plants yields the shafts
for the arrows.
| Stanza 2.
a. Weber's translation ‘ Bogenschnur! schlinge dich um
uns, is not in accordance with the quotable uses of the
verb pari nam. Sayama, quite correctly, asman parihrztya
. mam vihdya anyatra saram preraya. Cf. II, 13,4b; fait: 5. TV,6, 6, 4.
e. Sayaza, who throughout this hymn identifies Parga- | nya and Indra (cf. Biihler, Orient und Occident, I, p. 229 ; Bergaigne, III, p. 25), refers viduk to Indra. But it refers to the bowstring; cf. vidtl dyudha, RV. I, 39, 2; and similarly, RV. VI, 47, 26.
a. Literally, ‘when the cows embracing the tree.’ The singular or plural of the stem go for ‘sinew,’ and some word for tree in the sense of ‘bow, occur also RV. VI, 47, 26; Peete (ih) S9; 22.
b. Sdyaza, anusphuram pratisphurazam, sphur samka- lane... arkanti.. . prerayanti.
d. Cf. with this the tying of the amulet in the practices
of the Sitra. Sdyavza, muggeshika-nirmita ragguk. Cf.
the introduction to I, 12.
I, 3. COMMENTARY TO PAGE Io.
The Kausika prescribes this hymn against retention of urine and constipation; the stanzas themselves seem to refer to difficulties in micturation only, and very possibly, the Sfitra adds the other feature. The hymn is the pendant
236 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
to I, 2, which aims to obviate the opposite difficulties. The practices in Kaus. 25, 10-19 are as follows: Io. ‘While reciting AV. 1, 3 (the practitioner) ties on (as an amulet upon the patient) a substance promoting mictura- tion’ 11. He gives him to drink a solution of earth from a molehill, of pitika (a stinking plant, guilandina bonduc), of pulverised, dried pramanda?, each mixed with (wood-) shavings*®. 12. While reciting the last two stanzas of the hymn, he gives him an enema. 13. He makes him take a ride in a vehicle. 14. He shoots off an arrow. 15. He opens the urethra. 16. He probes the bladder*. 17. Having poured twenty-one barley-grains with water into a milk-pail, placing an axe behind (the patient), he pours the water from the grain® (upon the suffering part). 18. He gives him to drink a decoction of Ala ®, lotus-root, and ula’. 19. The same treatment is prescribed for one-suffer- ing from constipation.” The performances are in part therapeutic, in part symbolic (the shooting of the arrow). Cf. Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, pp. 364 ff.
The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. IV,
pp. 395-6. Cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique,
p. 130.
Cf. I, 2, 1 above. The expression satavrishuya refers
to the abundant semen (rain) of Parganya; cf. especially
‘ According to the commentators, harftaki, ‘ gall-nut,’ and kar- pura, ‘camphor,’ are such substances.
* Darila, at Kaus. 8, 17, glosses this with induka.
* The sense and the construction of the long compound in this Sfitra are not altogether clear. Cf. Kausika, Introduction, p. Ixii ff.
* According to Sdyava, in the introduction, he probes the bladder with a copper instrument. So also Kesava.
* The text, phalato: this seems to refer to the twenty-one barley-grains.
* “Apparently a kind of creeper or weed in grain-fields.’ Darila, godhimavyadhiz ; Kesava, yavagodhfimavallt. See Kausika, Intro- duction, p. xlvii.
” Darila, kasturikasdka, ‘musk ;’ Kesava, pavika.
I, 7- Commentary. 237
RV. VI, 75, 15. Hence the repetition of the same expres- sion with four other gods is secondary and mechanical. The medicine man wants to make sure that he does not neglect and offend. Sdayava justifies the mention of Mitra aneaVaruna bya seference to. Tait..S: I1)-4, | 10;<2:5: of Kandra by saying, asya oshadhisatvat sarasya pitrztvena vyapadesak; and of Sirya by relying again upon Tait. S. II, 4, 10, 2.
a. Sayavza explains gavinyor by, 4ntrebhyo vinirgatasya
mitrasya mutrasayapraptisadhane parsvadvayasthe nadyau
gavinyau ity ufyate. The urethra and the ureter? Cf.
the dual gavinyau in Tait. S. III, 3, 10, 1; and gavinike,
mVo4, 11, 6; EX, 8,7.
b. The majority of the MSS. read sdmsrutam; but one
of Shankar Pandit’s MSS. has sdmsrutam. For the root
sru, ‘flow, see Bloomfield and Spieker, Proc. Amer. Or. Soc.,
May, 1886 (Journal, vol. xiii, p.cxx). For years I have
had samsritam written as a possible emendation on the
margin of my copy of the text, and now Sayaza persis-
tently (three times) comments upon the same reading.
b. The MSS. are divided between the readings vartram and vartam. Sdyava comments upon the latter, vartam vartate pravahati galam atresti varto margak, and some of the MSS. of Kaus. 25, 16, a Sftra coined with evident reference to this stanza (vartis bibhetti, see the translation above), also read vartam. Darila comments, vartas mi- trabilam. I do not feel certain that this is not the correct word for the text : ‘like the outlet of a lake.’ For vartra, see Tait. S. I, 6, 8,1; Maitr. S. I, 4, 10.
I, 7. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 64.
This and the following hymn are directed chiefly against
the species of beings called y4tudhdana, a term which oscil-
lates between the meaning ‘ human sorcerer’ and ‘hostile
238 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. a ae i le eel ee ee demon. The entire tradition, Sitras and Commentaries, give the word the latter bent, but we can see from RV. V, 12, 2; VII, 104, 15, 16, that men might practise yatu, and, therefore, be yatudhdna. Both hymns are catalogued in a series (gama) called atana, ‘driving away (demons, &c.), in Kaus. 8, 25, and the Gavamalé, Ath. Paris. 32, 3 (ka- tanagava): for their employment, see Kausika, Index B, under #Aatandni, and Santikalpa 16. With the subject- matter of these hymns cf. in general RV. VII, 104, and III, 30, 14 ff. Both hymns have been rendered by Weber, Indische Studien, IV, 398 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 523; cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Vedique, pukgi il.
Throughout this and the next hymn Sayava takes the root stu in its ordinary holy sense of ‘praise,’ a mistake which leads to the most contorted renderings, and to an utter disregard of grammatical construction, excused by assuming interchanges of inflections (vibhaktivyatyaya). He seems to be shy to attach any sinister sense to the root, or to connect it in any way with evil beings. For kimidin, see the note on IV, 20, 5.
ce. tailasya in the vulgata is an emendation of the MS. reading tauldsya (Sadyaza, tulavat hiyamana-dravyasya).
d. vi lapaya, ‘make howl,’ obviously includes as a double entente the other possible sense of the word ‘ annihilate,’ as causative from the root li.
Stanzas 4, 5.
A great deal of stress is laid in these hymns upon the confession of the yatudhana himself. Half the battle is won when their true nature is made apparent. Cf. I, 8, 4 and the note on I, 2,1. Hence the neat difference between the active pra brihi in 5b, said of Agni (cf. RV. X, 87, 8 =AV. VIII, 3, 8), and the middle prabruvaw&h in 5d, said of the yatudhana. Stanzas 5-7 are perhaps of a later
I, 9. Commentary. 239
hand, since the hymns of the first book ordinarily present only four stanzas; cf. the introduction to I, 12.
I, 8. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 65.
For the employment of this hymn in the Atharvanic
practices, and previous translations, see the introduction to
the preceding hymn.
e. In order to obtain a trishtubh line we may either resolve both tas or tvdm, or insert gahi after tvam.
I, 9. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 116.
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, ITI, 456, and entitled ragAbhisheke, ‘at the coronation of a king. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 163, renders it in the same spirit. The Kausika, however, in its descrip- tion of the coronation (chapter 17), does not rubricate this hymn, but rather IV, 8 (cf. also Vait. Sd. 36, 7), and the Gamamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 30, again only counts IV, 8 as the abhishekagawa (see Kaus. 17, 1 note). Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 401, entitles it ‘Segensspruch fiir einen Fiirsten,’ but this also seems to be too narrow: the Sitra, advisedly no doubt, employs it in practices designed to confer glory, lustre upon any one at all.
At Kaus. 11, 19. 20, the hymn is employed along with I, 35 and V, 28 in a practice designed to make one success- ful (sawpatkarma), to wit: ‘an amulet made of a pair of krishvala-berries (abrus precatorius linnaeus)*, which has
* Or the weight of two krishvala in gold? All the commentators explain yugmakrzshvalam as ‘gold.’ Darila, raktikesti (see Pet. Lex.) prasiddhabhidhana ayam ka sauvarnamanih ; Kesava, suvarna- manih, hiranyamanih (here, and at Kaus. 52, 20). Cf. the word hiramya in I, 9, 2; 35,1; V, 28,6. A very similar performance undertaken with the same three hymns is stated at Kaus. 52, 20. 21, being a rite which bestows long life (4yushyakarma). See also
240 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
been steeped (in honey during certain three days, Kaus. 7, 19),is tied on. Then a mess of porridge, cooked in the milk of a cow with a calf of the same colour, is shaped in the figure of a man, enriched during twelve days with the dregs of ghee, and consumed with averted face *.
Further, at Kaus. 16, 27. 28, the hymn is associated with a practice intended to restore the loyalty of a disaffected people?: the king is given to eat a porridge prepared from an after-growth of rice®, cooked in the milk of a cow with a calf of the same colour, upon a fire of kampila-branches (crinum amaryllacee), which have grown out where they have been previously cut. A neat bit of symbolism: the milk of the cow with a calf of the same colour represents complete harmony; the after-growth of rice and kampila represents the resumption of the sharply interrupted rela- tions between the king and his people.
Once more the hymn is recited for obvious reasons at Kaus. 55,17, along with a list of others at the investiture of the young ‘twice-born’ (cf. also the scholiast at 17, 31), and it figures in one of the two varkasyagamas, ‘ series of hymns which confer lustre, in the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 10 (see Kaus. 13, 1 note).
The abrupt change of person in Pada c suggests the pos-
sibility of emending asmat to asmat, ‘inferior to him.’ But
cf. the same formula in st. 4 c.
Santikalpa 17 and 1g (quoted by Sayaza erroneously as Naksha- trakalpa). Cf. also Tait. Br. I, 3, 6, 7.
‘ As the porridge-man drips with ghee, thus the real man shall live in abundance.