b. harasa is translated by Zimmer, ‘durch einen schlag (griff);’ by Grill, ‘ mit gewalt.’ This is a possible alterna- tive. There are two haras in the Veda, one from the root har, ‘take, and the other from ghar. The latter is Oé€pos ; cf. Zeitschrift ftir vergleichende Sprachfoischung, X XV, 80, 132 note, 168. Examples of the latter are AV. VIII, 3, 4 ff.; XVIII, 2, 36.58; 3,71; XIX, 65 and 66; and espe- cially TI, '19,'23 20, '23 27, 23° 22.2 5 9909. Where te ee occurs in the series tapas, haras, aris, sokis, and tégas.
* The MSS. of the Kausika read sila#gala with palatals. By changing silaff to sila? we obtain the possible etymology ‘she that creeps upon stones.’
V, 5. Commentary. - 421
For the epithets of the plant in this and the preceding stanza, see the note on IV, 12, J.
b. For sushme, see Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeit-
schrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft,
XLVIII, 565 ff.; for lomasavakshaze, Pischel, Vedische
Studien, I, 178.
Botton O97: Vs X10, 96 Att BDrotl 6, 13 ;. Sat, .Br. bE a ET RR Mi aT 2
a, b. I have translated the passage with strict adherence to the text which is certainly not above suspicion. The Paippalada offers no help. Inasmuch as the father is mentioned, it seems likely that both parents are somehow contained in the passage, and the change from kanino to kanina has suggested itself to all translators (Pet. Lex., Zimmer, Grill). The first Pada would then be, ‘ Silafi by name art thou, daughter of a maiden.’ I would draw attention here, as at IV, 20, 3, to RV. X, 40, 9, gdnishéa yosha patayat kaninaké vi #4sruhan virddhaz (cf. also RV. X, 3,2 and AV. XII, 3, 47?), where the origin of plants occurs somehow in connection with a woman and a kani- naka. But the passage is buried in obscurity for the present. If the emended kanina is taken to refer to the mother of the plant, it would certainly seem natural to see in agababhru the father. The word as it stands can be nothing but a vocative from a formally and lexically un- quotable feminine agababhrij; Grill suggests the change to the nominative masculine agababhrus, an emendation which Zimmer's translation also implies. Grill, too, thinks that the mother and father thus reconstructed for these passages must be identical with those in st. 1, namely, night and cloud—a conclusion which, in our opinion, is not at all coercive. He points out that night is designated in XIX, 48, 2 as ‘mother,’ and in XIX, 49, 1 as a blooming young woman (ishiré yosha yuvatiZ) ; as regards agababhru he has in mind the goat of Pashan in his relation to sunset and
422 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
dawn (cf. RV. VI, 55, 1, and Ludwig’s note, vol. iv, 147). All this is possible, but excessively problematic.
e.d. The cloudy allusions of the preceding Padas are obfuscated further by the statement here that the plant has been sprinkled with the blood of the brown horse of Yama, an expression which may also harbour an allusion to night (cf. syavi, RV. I, 71, 1; III, 55, 11; Naighazzuka I, 7). Elsewhere the horses of Savitar (RV. I, 35, 5), Agni (RV. II, 10, 2), Rudra (AV. XI, 2, 18) are designated as syava. The Padapasda reads asna, ‘by the mouth,’ and Zimmer adopts this reading, against the Pet. Lex., Kuhn (p. 61), Whitney in the Index Verborum, and Grill. The Padapaéva itself has asnak in the next stanza—an obvious inconsistency. I cannot rid myself of the impression that there is some connection between this and a statement in the Maitr. S. IV, 9, 19; Tait. Ar. IV, 29, asrzimukho rudhirevza=bhyakto yamasya dita/, ‘the messenger of Yama bloody-mouthed, bedaubed with blood;’ if so the brown horse of Yama may be a variant of the two dogs of Yama called syama and sabala, ‘ sun and moon, or ‘ day and night’ (cf. Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 163 ff.), and this would again lead back to the word ratri inst. 1. Non liquet. Grill: ‘It is conceived that the plant has absorbed the blood of a divine animal with which it has been sprinkled, and has acquired thereby corresponding strength and virtue.’ :
a,b. Zimmer: ‘aus des rosses maul (cf. the preceding note) herausgefallen lief sie an die biume;’ Kuhn: ‘vom blut des rosses hergecilt, glitt sie sogleich den baumen zu ;’ Grill: ‘entsprungen aus des pferdes blut lief diese zu den baumen hin.’ saszpatita is not altogether satisfactory; the Pet. Lex. translates it ‘zusammengeflossen, zusammenge- ronnen. ‘The entire picture is vague, and is not rendered less so by the next Pada.
e. The meaning of this Pada is by no means established.
[t is formulary in character and always employed in con-
nection with plants. In the oshadhistuti, RV. X, 97, 9;
V, 7- Commentary. 423
Vag. S. XII, 83 the version is siraZ patatrizi sthana; Tait. S. IV, 2, 6,2; Maitr. S. II, 7, 13, saréZ patatrizizZ sthana; Kazh. S. XVI, 13, sara patatriviz stha; Kap. S. XXV, 4, sura/# patatriziz sthana (so also a variant of Maitr. S.). Sayava at RV. explains the word by sarazasilaz, while Mahidhara at Vag. S. suggests no less than three other interpretations in addition to that of Sayava, none of them usable. Note also sird (pattrasira), RV. I, 121, 11, which may fairly claim relationship with this group; cf. also the expression apam asi svasad in st. 7. Kuhn, 1. c., p. 61, had in mind sara in his translation ‘ befliigelt wurde sie ein pfeil. Certainly a ‘winged brook’ strains the limits of common sense. But I have no better suggestion to make. The word saré seems to contain a punning allusion to the name of the plant silat.
V, 7. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 172.
The Veda, especially the Atharvan, is much given to personify evil qualities as female divinities, e.g. nirrzti, araddhi, 4rti, aradyi, and particularly drati. The present hymn aims to appease the powers of avarice and grudge personified as Arati; more particularly the poet has in mind the dakshiva of the priest; that shall not be with- held, but shall accrue abundantly. Cf. st.1; Kazz. Up. I,1. The Sdastras expressly forbid the withholding of the dakshiva, e.g. Vishzu-smrzti LIV, 15. See also in general Miers Avs Vi IS: 30; XII, 5°: Gop.-Br. I, 5, 25. In the Atharvan rites our hymn figures in a variety of connections. At Kaus. 18,14,in the course of the so-called nirrztikarm4i (18, 1-18), grain is offered to the goddess of misfortune while the hymn is being recited. At Kaus. 41,8 a person about to engage in a business venture makes an offering (upadadhita') while pronouncing our hymn, as well as III,20 and VII,1. The intention is to remove obstacles.
‘+ For the meaning of this technical term, see Kesava to Kaus. 6 (p. 309 of the edition). The upadhana according to this consists in offering one of thirteen different kinds of havis.
424 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
Once more in Kaus. 46, 6 he who has a request to make,
recites sts. 5-10 along with VII, 57, in order that his request
shall not be refused. The hymn has been translated by
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 305; Grill*, pp. 39, 145 ff.
a, b. purodhatsé, lit. ‘dost make thy agent or purohita ;’ purusha, ‘servant, minister ;’ parirapin, ‘suggesting, prompt- ing, advising ;’ cf. XII, 4, 51.
The sraddha is ‘faith, religious zeal,’ that makes the sacrificer liberal to the priests. Cf. Darila to Kaus. 46, 6. It is the same sraddha which entered Nakiketas, Kazk. Up. I, 2 ff., to such an extent that he desired to be given himself as sacrificial reward to his priests. This zeal is naturally bestowed by the brown soma, i.e. in the course of solemn sacrifice, and through the inspiration that comes from the hymns (Vaz Sarasvati), sung while drinking the soma. The previous translations seem to me to miss the point wholly: Ludwig, ‘den (anteil, den) ich verlange...den soll heute Sraddha finden.’ But ydm refers to the person supplicated, not to favoursasked. Grill, ‘ wen ich angehe mit dem spruch ... der werd heut inne mein vertraun, und nehm den braunen soma hin.’ Cf. also Zimmer, p. 272.
d. The Pet. Lex. suggests for this single occurrence of
prati hary the meaning ‘verschmahen, zuriickweisen,’
though the word ordinarily means ‘delight in, long for’
The passage seems to contain the euphemistic insinuation
that Arati when sufficiently cajoled is favourable to
generosity. Or, those who desire to be generous must
curry favour with Arati; otherwise she frustrates their
intentions. Cf. I, 8, 2.
_ Arati is here connected with nightmare. Her appear- ance as a naked woman recalls the German ‘alp,’ or ‘mahre’
V, 13. Commentary. 425
which also manifests itself as a woman; see A. Kuhn, Zeitschr. f. vergl. Sprachf. XIII, 125 ff. For the spirit of this and the subsequent stanzas, cf. the description of the Apsaras, IV, 37.
V, 13. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 27.
This charm against snake poison claims interest chiefly from its designations of serpents, mostly of obscure mean- ing, and reaching down to the bed-rock of folk-lore. Kau- sika’s performances 29, I-14 are very explicit: they follow the hymn stanza by stanza. But they are not as instruc- tive as they might be owing to their symbolism, and their own obscurity. They begin with the performances in honour of Takshaka, described at 28, 1-4 in connection with IV, 6 and 7 (see the introduction to IV. 6). and con- tinue with additional doings, based upon each stanza of our hymn. These will be referred to most profitably under the head of each separately. The hymn exhibits noteworthy points of contact with RV. I, 191.
Cf. RV. I, 191, 7.11. We have translated saktam by
‘what has been fastened ;’ cf. RV. I, 191, 10. The Pet.
Lex. s. v. sa%g 4), ‘inherent.’
Kaus. 29, 2-4: ‘ With the second (stanza) the act of con-
fining (the poison) takes place’. 3. The (priest) walks
about (the patient) towards the left (Kesava, savyam=
' dvitiyaya grahami, Dérila, ka/akabandha ity artha/, ‘ with the second stanza a rope is fastened (about the patient)’? Cf. agra- bham, and grzhvami in the mantra. ‘The feminine gender of grahami is peculiar. We should expect either grahamvam, or dvittyA grahami. Kesava, visham na visarpati desasthitam bhavati sarire na sarpati vishastambhanam bhavati.
426 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
apradakshivam). 4. He fastens a bunch of grass’ to the border of the (patient’s) tuft of hair.’
b. etdsu, feminine, with reference to the numerous female reptiles in sts. 7 ff.
Kaus. 29, 5: ‘With the third (stanza) he drives the poison forth.” Kesava, damsad visham anyatra gsakkhati. In Padaa, vrisha me ravah suggests perhaps the fire which is built to frighten away serpents; see RV. I, 94,10; VII, ros g5 Mp pis. AP RMIT A6, YT at Br Lee 6 vrisharava is the designation of a croaking bird. Pada d echoes RV. I, 191, 8: the rising sun symbolises the qui- escence or destruction of all harmful powers.
Kaus. 29, 6. 7: ‘ While reciting the fourth stanza, along with VII, 882, the (serpent’s) bite is rubbed * with grass, and the grass thrown upon the serpent. 7. (Or in the absence of the serpent he throws it) where the biting took place.’ Cf. Kaus. 32, 25. The ceremony is an attempt at the complete realisation of the mantra.
Kaus. 29, 8: ‘ With the fifth stanza he sprinkles the poisoned person with water heated by quenching in it
1 The virtue of this manipulation rests apparently in the pun between stamba and the root stambh, ‘ fasten, confine’ !
* *Go away, thou art an enemy, an enemy surely art thou! Thou hast mixed (thy) poison into poison, thou hast certainly mixed poison. ‘To the serpent himself do thou go away. Him slay!’ Cf. Ludwig, Rigveda, III, 511; Henry, Le livre VII de l Atharva-véda, pp. 36, 106.
° Kesava, pragvalya, ‘ heating the bite with burning grass.’ This is due to confusion of this performance with Kaus. 32, 24, damsma nitapya.
V, 13. COMMENTARY. 427 burning reeds from a thatch! mixed with grains of sesame.’ For avagvala, cf. Kaus. 27, 29 (introduction to III, 7); Kaus. 27, 33 (introduction to III, 11); 28, 2 (introduction to IV, 6). The punning symbolism which connects this practice with upatrzzya, and perhaps also alika# (as though it were valika) in the mantra, represents the low-water mark of banale attempts to construct a practice upon the indications of the mantra. The names of the serpents in this and the following stanzas are for the most part very obscure (cf. Zimmer, pp. 94, 95): for kairata, see X, 4, 14, for babhru, VI, 56,2. asita is a more common designation, VI, 56,2; VII, 56, 1, &c., and cf. the note on VI, 56, 2.
ce. stimadnam, dz. Aey., we have rendered as though it
were sthdmanam (masculine!). Cf. our remarks on the
interchange between surd aspirates and non-aspirates,
Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, pp. 436 ff, and Roth in the
Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morg. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 105 ff.
The Pet. Lex. under stha+ api suggests sramazam, without
interpreting the passage in this form.
Kaus. 29, 9: ‘ With the sixth (stanza) a bowstring taken
from the notched end of the bow is fastened upon the
patient.’ Again, the vaguest kind of symbolism in refer-
ence to Padad. For taimata, see V, 18, 4. The rendering
of apodaka is very uncertain. Though in accord with the
apparent meaning of the same word in st. 2, it jars here:
we should rather expect another designation of serpents,
‘one that does not live in the water (?).’