a. The Pada might have better been left untranslated : the text is certainly corrupt, and especially dhisaza, mas- culine, imbedded as it is in half a dozen feminines, is open to suspicion. The Paippalada has nissalas dhishzyam dhishazam, and, since dhishwya means ‘seat of the priest,’ the suggestion arises that nis is to be separated from salam (=salam, ‘ house’)', and is to be taken with nasayamaz in Pada d, making some such sense as the following: ‘we drive out from the house, from the seat of the priest (dhish- mya), and from the fire-place (dhishava)*” Cf. the use of the hymn in Kaus. 72, 4; 82,14 above, and the Anukra- mavzi, salagnidevatyam. But the construction of nir ndasa- yama with the accusative of place from which is unheard of, and the change of all three words to ablatives would amount to an independent composition. Besides, the em- ployment of the Kausika, and the statement of the Anu- kramavzi, just mentioned, may be due to a more or less conscious, punning perversion of the syllables salam, for the purpose of extracting sala, ‘house,’ from them. Grill composes a new Pada, nis salavrzkyam dharshazim, ‘ out (do we drive) the bold Salavrzki.’. Weber, ‘ die dreiste, zahe, ausspringende (? correcting to dhishav4m) ;’ Ludwig—-who entitles the hymn, ‘Gegen die Sala ?’—translates, ‘die aus dem hause befindliche (die aus der sala hélle gekommene ?) freche verlangende, or, alternatively, ‘hinaus die sala, &c., and, once more, as a third possibility, ‘aus dem haus. hinaus die freche begerliche. Sayaza knows nothing about it:
’ Ch Isnt stevie rage: ? Cf. Hillebrandt, Soma und verwandte Gdtter, 175 ff., 181.
Ii, 14. Commentary. 301
nissal4 is either the name of a female demon, or sala a kind of a tree (vrikshaviseshad, tato nirgata nissala).
b. Sayawa to ekavddydm, ‘she who gives forth a single sound of gruff character.’
ce. Kanda is the name of a demon, 4m. Aey. in RV. and
AV., but frequently mentioned elsewhere, especially in
connection with Marka; see Sat. Br. IV, 2, I, 4. 9. 10. 14.
20. Sayaza, kruddhasya... papagrahasya.
d. sad4nva, ‘female demon,’ seems to be connected with
danu and danava. Sdyaza follows Nirukta VI, 30 in ex-
plaining it as ‘ever noisy, sada noniyamanaz.
b. Sayava takes aksha as ‘gambling-house’ (akshakri-
dasthana, dydtasala), and updnasd either as ‘granary’
(anasaZ samipam updanasam dhanyagvzham) or as ‘ wagon
full of grain’ (dhanyapairzam sakaftam). RV. X, 105, 4
does not render the word clear.
e. Nothing is known of the dm. Aey. magundi (Sayaza, kafana pisaki); cf. Weber’s combinations, |. c., p. 177.
Read duhitro (as in the dialects), and cf. our note on VII, 12, 1; also Ait. Br. VII, 13, 8.
a,b. The word adhardd, ‘below, alludes with double entente to hell (adhamad tamamsi). Sayama, patalalokossti; cf. Zimmer, p. 420. This class of writings are fond of con- juring diseases and misfortunes upon others, strangers and neighbours; cf. AV. V, 22, 4 ff.; RV. X, 155; and the common formulary expression, anydms te asmat tapantu hetaya#’ in the Yagus-texts.
The stanza occurs in another connection in the Paippa-
lada, and may not originally have stood here, since the
: ‘Heiliger Sanct Florian,
Schiitz unser haus ziind’ andre an!’
Cf. Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 345 ff.
32302 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
second book of the AV. in general consists of hymns of five stanzas. |
a. Sdyava glosses bhutapatir correctly, bhiitanasm palako
rudrak. The word bhita here suggests more narrowly
‘evil beings.’
d. indro is metrically superfluous, and may be spared from the context. Anukramazi, uparish/adviradd brzhati.
a. I have taken kshetriyAv4m in the sense which it ordinarily has in the AV. (II, 8 and 10; III, 7); Sayama, kshetrat parakshetrat matapitrzsarirad Agatandm . . . roga- nam. Weber and Ludwig, ‘coming from the field.’ Grill, ‘ob ihr zum wild des Felds gehort.’
b. In the MSS. the Padap. reads, asur gash¢Zam ivdsaran ; the edition emends gash/Z4m to kash¢/am, and we, with most translators and Sayama, read ivasaram. Sdayaza reads glashtham, glossing, paridhavanena glanaf# san yatra tish- thati sa glashzha (‘ goal, ‘resting-place’?). Cf. VI, 67, 1.
II, 25. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 36.
The plant przsniparzi (hemionitis cordifolia; Sayaza, kitraparzi oshadhiz) is here employed to off-set the activity of demons called kazva, of varied pernicious influence, but especially conceived as devourers of the embryo in the womb. According to Susruta I, 377, 7 it serves, mixed with milk, as a preventive against miscarriage (garbhasrave). Kesava, at Kaus. 26, 36, prescribes it as a far more general remedy, for one overtaken by misfortune, against mis- carriage, still-birth, and demons of various sorts. Darila says it destroys the demons called pisaka. The practice at Kaus. 26, 36 consists in smearing the plant mixed with the dregs of ghee upon the patient. The hymn is one of a list of six grouped together at Kaus. 26, 33 for all sorts of diseases (Sdyava in the introduction, sarvarogabhaisha-
Ii, 26. Commentary. 303
gyakarmazi), which the Gazamala (Ath. Paris. 32, 24)
describes as the gazakarmdgavo (! a list for collective prac-
tices). Kaus. 8, 25 mentions it further among the #ata-
nani, ‘ hymns with which demons are exorcised.’
The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud.
XIII, 187 ff.; Grill’, pp. 20, 92. The Anukramazi de-
scribes it as vanaspatyam.
For -yopana in this and the next stanza, see Amer. Journ.
Phil. XII, 414 ff. Cf. Il, 7, 1.
II, 26. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 142.
This is a hymn connected with a species of oblation (havis)', whose object is to concentrate (sassravya) wealth and prosperity upon the sacrificer. Cf. I, 15 and XIX, 1. Our hymn aims at prosperity in the stable, and accord- ingly it is rubricated along with III, 14; VII, 75; VI, 11, 3, at Kaus. 19, 14 ff. in a series of ‘stable-ceremonies’ (gosh¢hakarmAawzi), to wit: 19, 15. ‘He (the owner) drinks the new milk of a cow that has thrown her second calf, mixed with the spittle (of the calf)*, 16. He presents a cow (to the Brahman). 17. He pours out (into the stable) a vessel full of water. 18. Having swept together the (previously moistened dung), placing his left hand upon it, he scatters half of it with his right hand. 19. Having placed lumps of excrement, bdellium, and salt into milk from a cow with a calf of a colour identical with hers, he buries (the mixture) behind the fire. 20. On the fourth morning he eats of it. 21. If the milk has turned %, then (the performance) is a success.’
The hymn occurs also in the Paippalada ; it has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, p. 26 ff.; Ludwig,
? Cf. the introduction to VI, 39.
? Sayama, vatsalalamisritam. Cf. Khad. Grch. LI, 1, 47. 48.
* Cheap magic. The milk is sure to turn! Is vikrite to be emended to avikrite ?
304 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
Der Rigveda, III, 371; Grill’, pp. 64, 92 ff. Cf also
Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 138. The
Anukramazi designates it as pasavyam, the author being
Savitar.
Stanza l.
b. Vayu, the wind, the husband of the distant regions
(II, 10, 4), who goes in every direction, is naturally regarded
as the companion of the cattle, when away from home—
a truly poetic conception! Cf. Tait. Br. III, 2, 1, 4.
ce. ripadhéydani is taken by the Pet. Lex. as a copulative
compound, ‘form and colour.’ But the analogous bhaga-
dhéya and namadhéya do not favour such a construction.
Perhaps ‘formation’ is the safest rendering of the word.
Girelg. TaityS20565690, 20> Tait Bre H1 8; 14, 2.
e,d. Sinivali, the goddess of the new-moon, and Anumati, the goddess of the full-moon, as representatives of the bright part of the month, are fit to illumine the way home. They also preside over the act of procreation; cf. Zimmer, p. 352. Sdayaza, unsupported by MS. authority, comments upon anugate instead of anumate.
e. ‘ Poured together,’ i. e. ‘ united, or accumulated.’ The translation is stiffer than the original, where sam si#kami and samsiktaz play upon one another.
For the change of verb-form, cf. the note on II, 29, 5.
II, 27. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 137.
The history of the interpretation of this hymn is told
by the translator in Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda,
Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 479 ff. It is of interest, because it
marks very clearly the value and continuity of the Hindu
Ii, 27. Commentary. 305
tradition. It had been regarded previously by all inter- preters as a charm against robbers of provisions, until the obviously correct conception of D4rila in his comment on Kaus. 38, 18 ff. was presented. The translation of this passage, along with the bracketed commentary, is as fol- lows: 38, 18. ‘ While reciting AV. II, 27 (one approaches) the person against whom the debate is directed (from the north-east, while chewing) the root of the pazad-plant’. 19. He addresses (with the charm his opponent). 20. He ties on (the pa/d-root as a talisman). 21. He wears (upon his head) a wreath of seven leaves (of the pa7a).’ Cf. also Santikalpa 17 and 19%. Previous translations of the hymn: Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 190 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 461; Grill?, pp. 23, 93 ff. The Anukramavi designates the — hymn as vanaspatyam.
The Anukramavzt defines the purpose of this stanza cor-
rectly by arinirogastvam aprarthayat, ‘he desired absence
of strength in the enemy.’
a. Sdyava, incorrectly, takes pras as a noun of agency, prashZarasz vadinam *; see, however, Kaus. 38, 24, prasam Akhydsyan (D4r. pratiprasnam Akhydsyan; cf. Vait. Si. 37,23 38,6). Neither this word nor pratipras and prati- prasita (Kaus. 38, 18; Darila, prativadin) have any con- nection with root as, ‘eat,’ but are derivatives from the root pras, ‘ask.’
e. The construction of prasam pratipraso gahi is not quite certain. Sayaza takes both as accusatives, ‘the
* The paA is, according to Sdyawa at st. 4, identical with the later pacha (clypea hernandifolia); cf. Kaus. 37, 1; Azgvidhana IV, 12, 1 (MSS. pasha). See Ind. Stud. XVII, 266 (the passage quoted from Apastamba i is to be found Apast. Grih. III, 9,5). The word pa/4 is doubtless, like other words for plants (apAmérga, arundhatt), etymologically suggestive ; cf. the root paé, ‘tear..—For the words supplied by D4rila, cf. Kaus. 38, 17.
* Erroneously quoted by Sayaza as Nakshatrakalpa.
* But in st. 7 he falls into line with pratikQlaprasnaripam vakyam.
306 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
debater and the counter-debaters strike.’ We regard prati- praso as gen. sing. dependent upon prasam (cf. st. 7 a), in which case one should like to emend arasén in Pada d to arasim (cf. Ludwig). If not, pratipras is to be regarded as a collective, ‘the opposition.’ Possibly both are accusa- tives, ‘overcome the debate and the debaters.’
d. arasdn, with double entente, ‘without sap or moisture
(in their throats), and ‘without force.’ Sdayaza, sush-
kakauthan.
a, b. The same hemistich occurs at V, 14,1; cf. I, 24, 1. Sayama, suparvah ... vainateyaz, i.e. Garutmant, Garuda.
But there is no myth in all this: the eye of the eagle, and the nosing boar find the secret seat of the plant.
Sayaza, in the teeth of the Padapa¢ha, comments both
here and in the next stanza on taritave instead of staritave.
The Samhita may be construed either way.
a. sdkshe (Samhita and Padapa¢ha), probably for sakshye (Sat. Br. I, 3,3, 13); cf our note‘on TV, 20,°7.
b. Sayanza glosses sélavvzkén by arawyasvanaf, in accord-
ance with many other scholia, assembled by Weber, 1. c.,
p- 191. Doubtless jackals, as devourers of corpses, are
meant.
For galashabheshaga, see Contributions, Fourth Series,
Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, 425 ff., and cf. especially AV. VI,
44, 3.
d. Sdyaza, with some MSS., reads prasam for prasi
(prasam prash/aram vadinam mam uttaram .. . kuru).
II, 28. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 50.
The hymn is counted in the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 4,
as one of a list ‘calculated to bestow long life;’ see
Kaus. 54, 11 note. It is worked up more especially in the
Il, 28. COMMENTARY. 307
godana, the ceremony of shearing the first whiskers of a youth. Father and mother, while reciting the hymn, hand the boy over thrice to one another and feed him with dumplings, prepared with ghee (Kaus. 54, 13. 14). Cf. Sankh. Grzh. I, 28, 15, and Asv. Grzh. I, 4, 4, where the related stanzas RV. IX, 66, 19-21 are rubricated, and, in sencral, Maite <Si ll, 3,43 Tait S.nL]) 3,:10; 99 -Tait. Ar. II,5. The Anukramavzi designates it as garimayurdevatam, ‘devoted to the divinity which bestows life unto old age;’ cf. Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 341. Previous translations by Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 192 ff.; Grill’, pp. 48, 94 ff.
Stanza i.
b. The favourite formulary number for all possible varie-
ties of death is one hundred and one: AV. I, 30, 3; III,
11,5.7; VIII, 2,27; XI,6,16. The Pada is hypermetric,
and may be relieved by throwing out imam or anyé.
d. The play of words in mitra enam mitrifyadt cannot be reproduced in English; cf. RV. IV, 55, 5.