The exact mythic attitude of this stanza is not clear. Is Indra the subject of apy atish¢Zat or some god hindering, or trying to hinder? Cf. RV. VIII, 6, 16: ‘ He, O Indra, who lay confining thy great waters, him didst thou smite.’ Cf. also RV. I, 32, 12, where one god, or a certain god (deva éka), resists Indra. The verb apy atish¢Zat means either to stand upon (so Sayawa, adhyatish/¢fat), or ‘ stand in the way’ (Pet. Lex.). We incline to the former view. The way in which the word mahir in Pada c is utilised is somewhat obscure: it seems to be brought in partly for the sake of furnishing an etymological basis (sit venia verbo) for the m of udakdm, and partly (note the iti), to infuse a dash of archaism into the reminiscence.
This seems to be distinctly ritualistic (sautra).in charac- ter. The calf may be the frog of the Sitra above. Cf.
Iii, 14. Commentary. 351
also its use in Vait. Si. 29, 13, for which see the intreduc- tion to VI, 106. The waters are cows, because the frog, the water-animal, is their child. Or the new river-bed may be'the calf; cf. RV: U1, 33, 1.
III, 14. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 143.
For the employment of the hymn in the ritual, see our
introduction to II, 26. Cf. also Ath. Paris. 16. The Anu-
kramavi, ndnddevatyam uta goshfdadevatakam. Previous
translations: Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 469; Weber, Ind.
Stud. XVII, 244 ff. ; Grill”, pp. 64, 112 ff.
c,d. Sdyava defines ahargata by ahany-ahani gdayate. The expression occurs once more, V, 28, 12, and ‘aus- picious’ comes very near to its sense. Its opposite is anahargata, Sankh. Sr. XIV, 51, 2-5, ‘born on an unlucky day ’=papanakshatre gatak, Kaus. 46, 25, and elsewhere. Cf. Weber, Nakshatra, II, 314-15 note. LEither it is, ‘born on a good (puvya) day,’ or ‘ born by day in distinction from night’ (cf. naktamgAta, I, 23, 1). The word adréshaa, II, 31, 2; RV. I, 191, 1 ff., &c., would then approach the opposite meaning. Cf. aharbhdg and ahard7/s. ‘With the name’ may mean ‘with the kind, or species;’ cf. V, 4, 8.
Both milk and honey are frequently added to the Soma.
Hence the milk is here spoken of as honey, Soma being the
middle term as it were. Cf. Hillebrandt, Soma und ver-
wandte Gdotter, pp. 219, 238 ff.
b. sdke«va (Padap. saka iva) has occasioned unnecessary discussion. The word is not treated at all independently in the lexicons. The Western authorities generally regard it as acc. plur. neut. of sdkrit, saknds, &c. Sdyama’s saka
352 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. makshika has good support in the literature. At Tait. S. V, 5,12, 13. Maitr. S.. ITI,,44,.13 5. Vagy S. KXIVG 32 the word occurs in connection with other animals (Mahidhara, sakunti; Madhava, sakaé makshikesty eke, dirgha-karzo mvigavisesha ity apare), and as the word is preceded or followed there by suka, ‘parrot,’ and sari (see the note on st. 5), there is no doubt but what Sdyava has hit the paint I should not be surprised to find the saka identical with the kvzsa, mentioned at Kaus. 10, 2, along with suka and sarika. Cf. also Tait. S. V, 5, 18, 1, and commentary. Grill suggests an improbable remedy, sékeva=sdka(m) iva or saké iva, ‘like vegetables’ (cf. German, ‘ wie ’s unkraut’).
b. sdrisdkeva (Padap. sarisaka iva) is doubtful. SAyavza, héiplessly, kshazena sahasraso =bhivardhamanaZ prazivi- seshak ; the suggestion seems incredible even from Sayaza. sari (=sari, sarika, and sarika) is a certain bird which, like the parrot (suka), imitates the human voice; see Tait. S. V, 5, 12,.15Maitr.°S. TIT, 14,445 Vag. Si: KAD eee appears there in connection with suka, ‘parrot,’ and saka (cf. st. 4). It seems hardly possible that our passage does not harbour these very two words, and accordingly I have emended to sarisukeva (= sarisukah iva, with double sandhi). Cf. also Kaus. 10, 2. The translators have again endea- voured to find sakvzt, saknds in the second part of the word. For further suggestions, all of which seem to me to be silenced by the considerations advanced in this and the preceding notes, see Grill, 1. c.
III, 15.. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 148.
The Satra rubricates the hymn in various non-significant practices. At Kaus. 50, 12 the merchant, while reciting the hymn, sets up (or, loads up) his ware (or, his shop), after it has been anointed with the dregs of ghee. At 59, 6 the person who desires merchandise recites the hymn. Cf. Gobh. IV, 8, 19 ff.; Khad. IV, 3, 7. The hymn is also
Ill, 15. COMMENTARY. 353
worked up in the comparatively late indramaha or indra-
mahotsava festival, Kaus. 140,16; Ath. Paris. 1g1!; and sts.
7, 8, which are scarcely connected with the body of the
hymn, are rubricated in Kaus. 70, 13.14. The Anukramazi,
vaisvadevam utaisndragnam ; the author is pazyakamo
stharva.
Previous translations: Ludwig, Der Rigveda, II1, 215 ;
Zimmer, p. 258; Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 247 ff.; Grill’,
pp. 69, 113 ff. Cf. also Hillebrandt’s Vedachrestomathie,
p. 38.
Stanza 1,
Indra who gathers in the stakes at all contests (dhana- git, dhanamgaya) is their possessor (Tsana), and hence in the | position to bestow wealth (dhanada). The same attributes are given to Agni in various passages of the RV., justifying the appeal to him in the sequel (st. 3 ff.).
The first two Padas are repeated in a different connec- TMEV al SS, Lo Glo balks, Se My J yciter Se
Cf. RV. III, 18, 3, where the stanza occurs in its proper
connection. The word ikkamdno doubtless suggested its
adaptability for the present mixtum compositum.
a. Weber emends sarazim to sarazim, translating, ‘ Diesen Weg du glattestest uns, o Agni!’
[42] Aa
354 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
e. The Paippalada reads, samrarava havir ida gusha- ntam. But the plural is vague.
f. karitim and utthitam are rendered in accordance with
Grill and. Sayaza, faritam Axaritam vikrayadikam utthi-
tas tasmad vyavaharadd utpannas labhayuktam dhanam.
The other translators, flatly, ‘our going and our departure.’
d. devdn is metrically superfluous: the sense, too, ‘devas who shut off gain, has an Avestan rather than a Vedic ring. The word is a gloss, suggested by devaz in Pada b.
Stanzas 7, 8.
The two stanzas seem to have no connection with the rest of the hymn. They are Yagus-formulas (st. 8, with variants in Tait. SelV, 1,10) 25° Mattri Slit, 7) 93" Rae XVI, 7; Vag. S. XI, 75), and are employed fittingly as puronuvakya and yagya in connection with a ptrzahuti at Kaus. 70, 13. 14, on the occasion of the ceremony of build- ing the householder’s fire (agnyadhanam). The Atharvan tradition regards six stanzas as the normal number for the hymns of the third book (see AV. XIX, 22 and 23, and Ath. Paris. 46, 9. 10).
III, 18. COMMENTARY TO PAGE I07.
This hymn is a repetition with variants of RV. X, 145. The Anukramavzi there gives it the name indrazy-upanishad (Shadgurusishya, indrazyrishika; Sayavza, indrawya 4ar- sham)!. It constitutes also a part of the Apast. Mantra- brahmavza I, 15, 1-6, and the stanzas are employed at Apast. Grih. III, 9, 5. 6 (cf. Kaus. 33,7; Gobh. Grzh. II, 6, 6 ff.) in a charm practised with the pasd-plant (clypea
1 Cf. for the relation of Indrazt to marital life, our Contribu- tions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morg. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 551 ff.; 579. |
111, 18. Commentary. 355
hernandifolia ; cf. our introduction to II, 27). The prac- tices of Kausika (36, 19-21) differ entirely from those of Apastamba. The plant which is used there is the bavd- parzi (so also Kaus. 36, 38). Darila glosses, sarapunkha : Kesava, masika (cf. Kausika, Introduction, p. liii)!. It seems to have been suggested to the ritualist by the epithet uttanaparvza in stanza 2, but Sayava there has in mind again the pa7a, since he quotes AV. II, 27, 4, and in his comment on st. I says outright, pa¢akhydam oshadhim. Kausika’s performance is as follows: 36, 19. ‘ While reciting III, 18, a bavdparvi-plant is mashed, mixed with a spray (of milk) from a red she-goat, and scattered round about the bed (of the rival woman). 20. While reciting stanza 6 a, a leaf (of the plant) is fastened beneath the bed. — 21. While reciting stanza 6 b (a leaf) is thrown upon the (bed).’ We would draw especial attention to the totally different employment of the stanzas in Apast. Grzh. III, 9, 5. 6, in illustration of the loose, subjective symbolism which governs their manipulation. The general purpose of the practice is, however, there the same as with Kausika.
The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. V,
222; XVII, 264 ff.; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 307.
The Rigveda version by Ludwig (932) and Grassmann in
their well-known works?; the version of the Apast. Man-
trabr. by Winternitz, Das altindische Hochzeitsrituell, p. 98.
The Ath. Anukramavzi, .atharvadsnena siktena sapatni-
pravuttyai vazaparvam oshadhim astaut.
a. Sayava here and at RV., uttanaparve uttanani irdhva- mukhani parvdni patrazi yasyaz.
? According to the Pet. Lex. the common name for this plant is umhali, similar to the indigo-plant ; it is also known as sfiryavamst. Both ban4parni and sarapunkha seem to mean ‘having arrow-form leaves.’
2 The RV. version seems on the whole secondary to that of the AY.: dhama for muda in st. 2 c; kuru for krzdhi in 2 d.
Aa 2
356 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
a EEE
e. I read ddha, ‘now,’ upon the basis of adha in some
MSS., Sdyava’s adha, and with reference to Atha in the
RV. Most MSS. read adha& (‘low shall be my rival,’ &c.) ;
this is the text adopted by the vulgata, and Shankar
Pandit.
A very similar stanza occurs XII, 1, 54; Sdayava is seduced by its pratika, ahdm asmi sdhamdna(/), to confuse it with the present, and to suppose that Kaus. 38, 30 quotes it, instead of XII, 1, 54.
The Sitra does not place the plant about and upon the
husband, but about and upon the rival. Sdyava follows
through thick and thin. Apast. Grzh. III, 9, 6 correlates
the stanza with the husband: ‘she embraces the hus-
band with her arms, with the stanza alluding to the word
upadhana (Mantrabr. I, 15, 6).
III, 23. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 97.
This hymn furnishes the mantras for the well-known house-practice, called puszsavanam in the Grzhya-sitras?. The Atharvanic form of it is described in Kaus. 35, 1-4, as follows: 1. Now the rites for producing a son. 2. (They are made) in behalf of the woman after she has laid aside the linen soiled by her menses, under a male constellation. 3. While reciting III, 23 an arrow is broken to pieces over her head, and (a piece of the arrow) is fastened (upon her as an amulet). 4. Into a cup made from a plough (the practitioner) puts milk of a cow which has a calf of a colour identical with her own, and rice and barley, mashes it up, adds to the mixture two adhyavda plants, or leaves from a great palasa (butea frondosa) and a vidart (batatas pani-
1 Ch ankh, 1 to. ger Asy. I, 13; Par. I ga: Gone ii: Khad. IT, 2, 24 8.5 Hir. Ty Ages os
Ill, 23. COMMENTARY. Sr
culata), and does with the mixture as in the case of the
paidva-ceremony (i.e. he puts it up the right nostril of
the woman with his right thumb; cf. Kaus. 32, 21, in the
introduction to X, 4)}.
Stanzas 2-4 are repeated with variants in Sankh. Grzh. I, 19,6; stanzas 2, 4, 5 (entire or in part) in Hir. Grzh. I, 25,1. The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 223; XVII, 285 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 477 ff.; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 319. The Anukramazi, Rkandramasam uta yonidevatyam, brahm4snena_ putraz prarthayad yonim abhish¢iya pragdayaé iti.
d. Ten Junar months reconcile this statement with the biological facts; see Weber, Nakshatra, II, 313; Zimmer,
Hir. Grzh. I, 25, 1, yani prabhizi viryaxy rzshabha gana-
yantu na, tais tvam garbhizi bhava... prasir dhenuga ~
bhava. Sdankh. Grzh. I, 19, 6, purushaZ for rzshabhaZ.
a. Ludwig, ‘das pragapatyam vollziehe ich dir ;’ Zim-
mer, ‘ich verschaffe dir Zeugungsfahigkeit ;’ Weber, ‘ich
thu dir an das Zeugungswerk’ (Ind. Stud. XVII, 286);
‘ich schaff dir Zeugungsfahigkeit’ (ib. V, 224); Sayaza,
pragapatina ... nirmitasz pragotpattikaraz karma.
Cf. VIII, 7, 2, and perhaps III, 9, 1. The plants are
undefined ; see the Siitra, and Sankh. Gvzh. I, 19, 1; 20,
ive
* The complicated practice is not clear in every detail. lor phalakamasa and adhyande, see Kausika, Introduction, pp. lii and xlv, and Sankh. Grzh. I, 19, 1 ff. The Grvhya-texts, cited in the preceding note, contain quite a number of parallels. There seems to be a cheap symbolism in the choice of the names of the two
plants, adhyanda: anda, ‘egg, and vidari: vi dar, ‘burst, cleave.’
358 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
III, 25. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 102.