the hymn is recited in the presence of the young man, in connection with a list of kindred hymns. The last two stanzas are employed at Kaus. 24, 31, along with others, on the occasion of the solemn rising from a couch, at the cere- mony of the full-moon of the month 4grahayaza. Cf. also Vait. Sa. 13, 10. The Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 6, counts this hymn as one of three which make up the papmagama and are padpmahan; see Kaus. 30, 17 note. Similarly the Anukramazi (papmahadevatyam). It has been translated by Weber, Ind?‘Stud. XVII, 306 ff.
a. The MSS. read avvztan, which Roth and Whitney have emended to a&rztan. Sdayava reads vyavrztam (viyo- gayatam), and takes deva correspondingly as vocative dual (devau asvinau). This reading with m I find also in the papmagava of the Gazamala, cited above, and one wonders whence it comes from. I would suggest the emendation avritran (avritram), literally ‘the gods have separated themselves from old age.’ The gods are agara, ‘free from old age, and Agni is mentioned particularly RV. VI, 68, 9 (cf. Pada b). The middle passive of vi+vart in this sense governs the instrumental ; see Pet. Lex., vol. vi, col. 775. The metre, however, does not favour the suggestion.
b. The paths are the heavenly paths, travelled by the
gods (devaydnaZ); cf. III, 15, 2; VI, 55, 1; Tait. S. V,
7 25 3
Cf; RV. X, 17,1; AV. XVIII, 1, 53. The passage as it appears here is doubtless the product of adaptation. Prof. Weber has interpreted it as aa additional instance of thorough separation, the motif of the first four stanzas. According to his view Tvashéar is making preparations to marry his own daughter, and everybody (tout le monde) is scattering in consternation at the unholy proceeding. I have subjected Prof. Weber’s construction to a detailed
366 IIYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
criticism in my cssay quoted above. The chief difficulty is in vi yati, which means ‘pass through, not ‘go apart, scatter. The passage seems to mean that the whole world on the occasion of the marriage of Tvash/ar’s daughter to Vivasvant—not to himself—pass through (a given point of observation) to witness the marriage. Thus they might illustrate separation from their ordinary places of abode. Or, a still more literal and philological translation of the passage would be: ‘“ Tvash¢ar is preparing a marriage for his daughter,’ thus saying (or noting) he (who? Tvash/¢ar or Vivasvant ?) passes through the entire world.’ But the other versions read sam eti, and all the following stanzas (6-11) have for their theme union with the principle of life. Since, now, vi occurs no less than thirty times in the entire hymn, it is possible that sam has given place to it, and the passage would thus revert to its original meaning in RV. X,17,1; AV. XVIII, 1, 53. SAyawa takes vi yati in the sense of going asunder, vahatum .. . prasthd4payati iti bud- dhya tasya avakasasz datum ida visvas bhuvanamm przthi- vyantarikshadiripazz vi yati parasparazz vigatam bhavati.
a,b. Or, ‘ Agni bestows life's breaths.’ Agni is frequently identified in the Upanishads with the breaths of life: see Maitri-Upanishad VI, 5. 9. 33; Prasna-Upanishad I, 7. Sayana, ‘the Agni of the belly, the cause of the digestion of food and drink.’ Similarly the sun (cf. the next stanza) in Maitri-Up. VI, 1. 5; Prasna-Up. I, 5; II, 8; Tait. Ar. L, 14543
For vrishtyod (Padapazha, vrishtya ud) read vrishtya(Z)
uid with Roth, Zeitschrift d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch.
XLVIII, 684.
IV, 3. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 147.
At Kaus. 51, 1-6 the following practices are prescribed : 1. ‘While reciting AV. IV, 3 (the shepherd) follows the cattle, (alternately) raising and digging into (the ground)
Iv, 3. Commentary. 267
a pole of khadira-wood (acacia catechu, a hard wood), which has been anointed with the dregs of ghee!. 2. He pours out water, sweeps together the (moistened dust)”; then he offers, while walking, thrice to Indra milk of a cow with a calf of the same colour as herself. 3. He offers the bali (tribute offering) to the (four) regions. 4. He reveres each of the regions®. 5. In the middle (between ‘the four regions) he offers a fifth bali-offering. 6. The remainder he pours down (upon the ground).’ The hymn is one of the raudragava in the Gavzamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 17; see Kaus. 50, 13 note. The Anukramazi accordingly desig- nates it as raudram uta vydghradevatyam. It has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 499; Grill ?,
pp- 33, 118 ff. :
Stanza l.
Sayawa suggests, very properly, that the man (purusha) in question is the robber mentioned below. [Pada d is difficult; Ludwig compares RV. I, 24, 7, which according to Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 113 ff., refers to the ban- yan-tree (nyagrodha, vaza). The branches of that tree take root anew, are nifina, or nihita, and therefore grow until they are out of sight (hiruk, an antarhitandmadheyam, a word for ‘out of sight’ according to Yaska’s Naighaz/uka, ITI, 25). Prof. Roth, as quoted by Grill, p. 118, suggests an arrow, or spear, but the expression devé vanaspatir (cf. VI, 85, 1) is favourable to the other construction. Sdayava, helplessly, vananam adhish¢#ata devas tatrasntarhito var- tate tadvad vyaghradayos pi antarhita bhavantu.
1 The symbolism is transparent: he pierces the imaginary track of the dreaded hostile creatures, and thus pierces the creatures themselves.
? According to Kesava and Sayama he then places his left hand upon the dust and with his right scatters half of it. ‘The words ninayanam samuhya refer back to the practice at Kaus. 19, 17. 18 ; see the introduction to II, 26, p. 303.
* According to Kesava he recites in this connection AV, III, 26 ; cf, Kaus. 14, 25.
368 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
ce. ‘The rope full of teeth, by familiar figure of speech, the serpent; cf. VII, 108, 1; XIX, 47, 7.8 (partially verbal parallelism with our stanza); Sat. Br. IV, 4, 5, 3- |
e. Literally, ‘let him go on the falling down of the paths,’ i.e. ‘where the paths are precipitate.’ Sdyava arrives at a similar result, even though he handles his text very freely, sa ka patham madhye dhvamsena dhvamsakena kash¢ena margeva apa gakdatu. Ludwig, ‘wo die pfade abbrechen ;’ Grill, ‘auf nachstem wege pack’ er sich.’
b. Sadyava reads api sirshva, glossing. sirasi bhava hizz-
sakak sringadayak avayava api mfda bhavantu, ‘the de-
structive members of the body on the head, horns, &c.,
shall be dulled.’
e. All translations, including our own, are mere guesses. nimruk, ‘sunset,’ is not found except in connection with the setting of the sun. Sayaza’s dvzshzivishayo na bhavati has suggested our ‘out of sight shall go.’ Grill has in mind the root maré, ‘injure, something like nimrzkto, ‘injured, destroyed;’ but there is no such word. godha (Pet. Lex. ‘sinew’) is equally difficult. Sayawa, ‘a kind of wild beast.’ As it has also the meaning ‘large lizard, we have said ‘dragon,’ a pure conjecture. Ludwig's ‘in der tiefe soll das krokodil gehn’ does not differ materially. Grill, ‘mit lah- mer sehne geh’s zu grund.’
d. sasayur (am. Aey.) mrzigah is also not clear. Sdyawa, ‘the evil beast inclined to lie down.’ Ludwig, ‘tief hinab- springend geht das wild.’ We have adopted with profound misgivings the translation of the Pet. Lex., Grill, and Zimmer (p. 79). The latter regards sasayur as an epithet of the tiger (cf. sts. 1, 3, 4, 7); cf., however, sasaghatin, and sasada, names of birds of prey. Prof. Roth, however, as quoted by Grill, holds now a different opinion, ‘a bird of prcy which swoops down from on high.’
Iv, 4. Commentary. 369
a, b. Cf. VI, 56,1; X, 4, 8, a similar formula calculated to regulate the snapping of the serpent’s mouth. The Pa- dapazha treats samydmak both times as a noun-compound, but it is easier to construe it as saz ydma, an injunctive aorist. The sense is the same. Sayama treats vi yamah also both times as a noun, samyamak samyamanam samyag vyaghradinam mantrasdmarthyena niyamanam yad asti na ssau Viyamak viruddhayamanam bhavati, &c. The passage seems to refer to the jaws of the wild beasts.
ce, d. This may either refer to brahma, ‘charm,’ or to some plant or amulet, of which the Sitra, to be sure, makes no mention. The hemistich is hypermetric, fairly curable . by throwing out atharvazam. The Anukramazi, kakum- mati garbhoparish/adbrzhati.
IV, 4. COMMENTAR\ TO PAGE 3I.
A characteristic mixture of pharmaceutical applications and drastic symbolism constitutes the practices of the ritual, Kaus. 40, 14 ff., as follows: 14. ‘The hymn IV, 4, and, in addition, the following mantra is recited: “ Bulls have dug thee up, thou art a bull, O herb! Thou art a bull, full of lusty force; in behalf of a bull do we dig thee up!” During these recitals the plants us&fushma and parivyadha! are dug up with an iron instrument (Darila, a ploughshare). 15. Two decoctions are made from these plants, poured into milk, a drawn bow is placed into the lap, and then the decoctions are drunk?. 16. (The same
? Darila and Kesava, ukkhushma kapikak&kshu (mucuna pruritus) parivyadhah suravalakah (or, sfikaravalakah); Sayama .mentions only one plant, kapitthakamfilam, the root of feronia elephantum. For usshushma, cf. st. 4.
? We now correct Siitra 15 as follows, dugdhe phaz/av adhigyam (sc. dhanur) upastha 4dhaya pibati. Cf. Kausika, Introduction, p. lviii ff. The symbolism is quite apparent; see stanzas 6 and 7 of the hymn.
[42] Bb
370 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
we ee ee ee eee
performance takes place) while he sits upon a stake or
a pestle?’ (generous suggestions! cf. VII, 90, 3), Fas
hymns (and their collateral practices) dealing with the
same subject, see VI, 72; 101; VII, 90; Kaus. 40, 16-18 ;
36, 35-7:
The Gandharvas, the divine libertines (IV, 37, 11), who enjoy themselves in the company of the heavenly nymphs, the Apsaras, are peculiarly likely to stand in need, and have a knowledge of regenerating plants. Hence the Gandharva digs them up. But why should Varuvza need an aphro- disiac? At VII, 90, 2,a charm for inhibiting the redundant sexual power of an enemy, the divine law of Varuza ‘withers excessive fire. The paradox may be only a seeming one. Varuza, as is well known, not infrequently appears in opposition to Indra, and his name even is occa- sionally, by etymological play (root var), assimilated to Vritra, the demon, whom Indra at RV. I, 32, 7 turns in a castrate (vddhri); cf. RV. IV, 42, 73 X, 124, 4. 5, and Bergaigne, La Religion Védique, III, 144 ff. Sayaza does not comment upon this extraordinary imputation against Varuza, the most highly respected of all the gods.
e. I have followed Sadyaza in regarding ud egatu as
transitive, udvrzttam karotu, and, utkrzshZaviryayuktasm
karotu. Cf. the similar double use of the root ud ar (ud
iyarti), and the simple root ir. The Pet. Lex., ‘sich riihren,
sich erheben.’ This translation fits poorly for Pada c.
a,b. Sdyavza with some MSS. (Samhité and Padapazha) reads virohito for virdhato, and construes it as an epithet of the penis, putrapautradirdpeva virohavzasya nimittam pum-
* The first part of Stra 16 in the edition is to be regarded with Kesava as an independent Sfitra. Kesava was not at hand until the body of the text was in print.
IV, 5. COMMENTARY, a71
vya#ganam. The sense is changed very little. Our trans- lation of abhitaptam ivasnati by ‘exhales heat like a thing on fire’ is somewhat uncertain, since anati means ‘ breathe.’ The Pet. Lexs., ‘nach luft schnappen, lechzen;’ accord- ingly ‘longs for cooling like a thing on fire.’
a, b. Sdyava supplies irayatu with ud. This is at least approximately correct, as may be learned from RV. X, 97, 8, uk khishma oshadhinam gdvo gosh¢hdd ivessrate. The only question is whether the simple verb, rather than the causative, is to be supplied: ‘The fire of the plants &c. shall arise.’ The ritual embodies with stereotyped sym- bolism the words u& kAushma in the plant ukkhushma ; see the introduction. : .
e,d. Sayaza, supported by a few MSS., reads samzpisham
and tanivasam, glossing, samyak poshayitrizam oshadhinawz
sambandhi yad vrzshzyam viryam asti tad asmin purushe
tantivasam sariradhinasm krztva dhehi.
Repeated at VI, 101, 3; cf. the practice, Kaus. 40, 15, above.
d. Sayava, with one of Shankar Pandit’s MSS., reads
anu valgtiiyata (nvztyata manasd). The Pet. Lexs. and
Whitney, Index Verborum, regard sada as the instrumental
of a dz. Aey. sad, ‘mounting. But such a root-abstract is
naturally feminine, and the participle anavaglayata is
neuter, agreeing with pasasd supplied from Padaa. Sayama
correctly takes sada as ‘ever.’
IV,'5. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 105.
The purpose of this hymn, regarded from within, is clear, and its position in the ritual in connection with one of the strikarmami (Kaus. 32, 28-36, 40) makes it certain that the Atharvavedins dealt with it in the light indicated by our
Bb2
Ve HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.