a. Ludwig, ‘als herrlichkeit gedeihe das havis (das yaso- havis) ;' Florenz, ‘zur ehr’ gedeih das havis mir ;’ Sayaza,
Vi, 42. Commentary. 479
yasaso hetutvat. It seems difficult to construe ydsas as
a nominative, in co-ordination with havis, but cf. the bha-
tam havis, VI, 781. We may, of course, either emend to
yasohavir, or take yaso as an instrumental; cf. Lanman,
Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. X, 562. But, I believe, the con-
struction as it stands is technical.
b. Sadyaza has for subhvztam the rather more acceptable reading suvyztam (sush¢Zu vartamanam).
@. yasobhir seems to refer directly to the havis in st. 1; see the introduction. Sayama, evasively, kirtibhiz.
VI, 42. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 136.
According to the text of the mantra this is a charm to appease wrath in general. But the Kausika, 36, 28-31, deals with it in the course of the so-called ‘ women’s rites’ (strikarmazi, 32, 27-36 end), and the commentators are agreed in regarding it as an instance of conflict between two persons of opposite sex. According to Kesava and Sayaza the charm is practised by a woman against an angry man (her husband, or lover); Darila, on the other hand, more naturally ascribes the. acts to a man trying to appease an angry woman. ‘These nicer specifications are therefore in all probability secondary. The practice is as follows : The person who desires to appease wrath takes up a stone while reciting st. 1. He places the stone upon the ground while reciting st. 2. He spits around the stone while reciting st. 3. Finally he lays an arrow on a bow while standing in the shadow (of the wrathful person). The last executes the sentiment of st. I, with rather vague symbolism. The hymn isalso recited, at Vait. Sd. 12,13, by
? So also abhivarténa havisha, RV. X, 174, 1. Ordinarily these havfs are accompanied by an adjective, e. g. samsravyam havis, II, 26,3; nairbadhyam havis, VI, 75,1. Cf. also VI, 64, 2; VI, 87, 3, and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, LI, 371 ff.
480 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
one who is consecrated for the performance of the soma-
sacrifice (dikshita), if he has been guilty of an outburst of
wrath.
Previous translations by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, ITI, 515;
Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XII, 302 ff.; Grill?, 29,
162. The Anukramazi, mantroktamanyudevatyam.
The elaboration of this stanza in the Sitra above shows how vaguely punning the connection of the two channels of literature, mantra and sitra, may be at times: the words abhi tish¢#dmi of the stanza seem to have suggested abhi- nish¢#ivami in the Sditra. Cf., e.g. SAankh. Grzh. where the mantra word akshan, ‘they have eaten, is employed as though it meant aksham, ‘axle.’ This is symbolism gone to seed, but we should err in supposing that the performers of the practices really misunderstood the mantras to that extent. It is the extreme outgrowth of the habit of con- sciously turning to immediate use, in any way at all, materials whose real value is something quite different, and whose true sense may have been well understood.
d. The Pada is formulaic; see I, 34, 2; III, 25,5; VI,
9,2; 43, 3. The entire second hemistich is repeated in
VI, 43, 3-
VI, 43. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 137.
The magic power of darbha-grass (cf. XIX, 32) is here employed to appease wrath. According to Kaus. 36, 32, the grass is dug up (in the manner prescribed at Kaus. 33, 9; cf. Kesava), and fastened on as a talisman. The Kausika, in working up this hymn among the ‘ women’s rites ° (cf. the introduction to the preceding hymn), is com- mitted to the view that the hymn deals with a conflict between a man anda woman. The text of the hymn, how- ever, reveals no such specific purpose. The hymn has been translated by Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XII, 303 ; Grill’, pp. 30, 162, The Anukramavi, mantroktamanyusa- manam.
Vi, 44. Commentary. 481
For Pada b, cf. RV. VI, 75,19. The text of Pada c seems untenable. For vimanyukasy4-syam, Grill suggests viman- yukas asyam, Florenz, vimanyuko ayam, either of which yields the sense of our translation. Possibly mdnor viman- yukasydsyam may be the true reading: ‘the appeaser of wrath of the man that is free from wrath it is called ;’ cf. Sayaza, manyo manyumata/ purushasya.
For the second hemistich, and for Pada d, cf. the note on Via thn: 3-
VI, 44. COMMENTARY TO PAGE Io.
Darila does not state what disease this hymn and the practice at Kaus. 31, 6 are directed against. Kesava (and Sayaza depending upon him) describes it as an apavdda- bhaishagyam, and his comment leaves no doubt that he regards it as a practice against calumniators’. It looks as though this obvious misconstruction stood insome connection with the word apavataya/ in the Satra, which Kesava either fails to understand, or deflects by a pun into the channel of a usage with which neither hymn nor Sttra had anything to do in the first instance. Unless indeed Kesava interprets the first stanza in the sense that the heavens, the earth, and all living beings have stood (stand), and that, therefore, the character of the person impugned will stand in spite of all aspersions. Or, again, the horn fallen by itself from the head of a cow, and that, too, a cow that has weaned her calf, symbolises, perhaps, the withdrawal of the good will of men. This might be employed homoeopathically to cure their hostility. Note also vishava, ‘horn, which suggests vi sa, ‘loosen;’ cf. VI,121,1. The practice is as follows: A horn
1 apavade bhaishagyam ufyate, bahubhashazam adharme 4a pra- vartane tasya apavadad (!).
482 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
that has been shed by a cow whose calf has been weaned ? is anointed with the dregs of ghee (is filled with water; the patient is given the water to drink, and is also sprinkled with it) while the hymn is being pronounced in a low voice (cf. Kaus. 28,1). Obviously Kausika interprets vishavaka in st. 3 as ‘horn, and a horn that has curative power we have in III, 7, 2. 3 (cf. the Saitra in the introduction). But the statements in st. 3 seem to contain a fitting characterisa- tion of a plant, and in this sense we have interpreted the passage in our Contributions, Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, 426 ff. On the other hand, vishavaké is a Gz. dey., and may after all be only the diminutive of vishaza, ‘horn,’ III, 7, 2.3; VI,121,1. This seems on the whole the more conservative view, although Kausika’s gosrzigena may be due either to misunderstanding, or to conscious symbolic manipulation. At any rate the hymn itself is of no uncertain character: being a remedial charm, it takes its place among the bhaishagyakarmavzi in the first part of the fourth book of the Kausika, and the terms for the diseases mentioned in it are fairly clear.
Previous translations by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 5cy
(cf. also 321, 343); Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XII,
304 ff. Cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique,
p- 151. The Anukramazi, visvamitramantroktadevatyam *
uta vanaspatyam.
* The MSS. of the text read apavataya#. Darila apagatayaA. which he explains by, apagata vatsavigalitasneha; cf. Kausika, Introduction, p. xlv. The opposite of apavata is abhivata, Lary. Sr. VIII, 5, 3, ‘a cow that nourishes her calf’ Cf. abhivanyavatsa, ‘a cow that gives suck to a strange calf,’ Ait. Br. VII, 2, 4 (cf. the commentary, p. 377 of Aufrecht’s edition) ; apivanyavatsa, Kaus. 80, 25; 82, 22 (our edition, erroneously, api vanyavatsayaA), in the same sense; and nivanyavatsa (also nivanya) frequently in the Sat. Br. in the same sense (see Pet. Lex.). See also Ludwig’s note on RV. VI, 67 (110), Der Rigveda, IV, p. 113.
? The word visvam, not visvamitra, occurs in st. 1. In st. 2 we have vasish‘ham. Some blundering manipulation of the two seems to have inspired the compiler of this futile tract.
Vi, 45. Commentary. 48 3
The first hemistich is formulaic; see VI, 77, 1. Sayama, his general interpretation of the hymn notwithstanding, is not prevented from interpreting rdga and Asrdva (st. 2) by rudhirasrava or raktasrava, ‘flow of blood.’ In the intro- duction to I, 2, he interprets asrdva more broadly as excessive discharge in general, diarrhoea, flow of urine, or of blood. The word vatikryztanasani (see the note on st. 3) tends to narrow down this more general construction in accordance with our caption, but we must beware of ascrib- ing any too pointed diagnoses to these early physicians: it is quite possible that excessive discharges of all sorts were exorcised with this charm. For the use of the aorists, cf. Delbriick, Syntaktische Forschungen, II, 87.
Rote Bey 4,52.
a. For vishazaka, see the introduction. Possibly the word is identical with vishavika, reported by the medical Sastras (cf. Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 146), and the lexicographers, as the name of a plant.
e. Cf. Wise, ].c., 250, bata byadhi (vatavyadhi), ‘ diseases produced by wind (in the body), not ‘wound,’ as Zimmer has argued, Altindisches Leben, pp. 389 ff. Sdyaza divides vatikrztandsani in two, vati a4srdvasya rogasya soshayitri ; kritanasani, krztam rogasya nidanabhttasz dushkarma, tasya ndsayitri. Cf. the note on VI, 109, 3, and the intro- duction to I, 12.
VI, 45. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 163.
This hymn (along with the next) is directed against bad dreams, an application due, perhaps, in the first instance, to the chance expression, ‘awake or asleep, in st. 2. It may be the case, however, that evil thoughts were conceived as returning in the form of annoying dreams. The practice
484 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. at Kaus. 46, 9-10 is as follows: ‘ With VFI, 45 and 46 the person that has an (evil) dream rinses his mouth. If he has had an excessively frightful dream he offers a cake of mixed grain, and deposits a second in the territory of an enemy. Kesava tells what constitutes an evil dream, mentioning the svapnadhyaya, probably Matsya-purava 242, as his authority. Cf. also Markazdeya-purava 43; Vayu- puravza 19; Ait. Ar. III, 5, 16 ff. (Sacred Books, I, 262 ff.); Aufrecht, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch., XXXII, 574; and Hultzsch, Prolegomena zu des Vasantaraga Sakuna, pp. 15 ff. Both hymns figure in the du/svapnana- sanagawa of the Gawamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 8 (Kaus. 46, 9, note); cf. also Ath. Paris. 33, 1.
The present hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der
Rigveda, III, 443, and Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrage,
XII, 305 ff. The Anukramazi, du/svapnanasanadevatyam.
a. Sadyava, contrary to the Padapa¢/a, reads manas papa,
‘O mind devoted to evil that hast become the cause of
dreams ;’ cf. the introduction. The text of the Pada
seems to be an Atharvanic contortion of RV. X, 164, 1 a,
apes hi manasas pate.
Cf. RV. X, 164, 3 with the variant Asasa nihsdsd=bhisdsa : Tait. Br. III, 7, 12, 4, asdsa nisdsA ydt parasdsA. The exact meaning of the words in our text is not easily definable; Sayava transcribes them all by compounds of sasana= himsana, ‘injury.’ Ludwig leaves them untranslated, and regards them as various kinds of imprecations ; but compare his version of the RV. words (927, vol. ii, p. 552). Florenz, ‘durch unrecht verlangen, abweis, verwiinschung.’
Cf. RV. X, 164, 4. Sayaza identifies the lightly personified
Praketas with Varuva. The word is indeed a frequent
epithet of Varuva. But the patronymic Angirasa suits
Vi, 50. Commentary. 485
Brahmazaspati rather than Varuza (so Grassmann, II, 501) : Ludwig refers it to Agni.
VI, 46. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 167.
The hymn is employed along with VI, 45 in the practice described at Kaus. 46, 9. 10; see the introduction to the preceding hymn. The last two stanzas of the present hymn are employed further, in the case of peculiarly oppressive dreams, in a cumulative performance embracing the acts of Kaus. 46, 9. 10, as well as those of 46, 11. 12. The latter are undertaken in connection with AV. VII, 1co and 101: the dreamer turns over on his other side, and looks at real food if he has dreamt of eating food. Cf. also. Ath. Paris. 8,1; 33, I.
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 498; Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XII, 306.
Stanza l.
Varuvani is a variable term, either a personification of the waters (cf. Tait. S. V, 5, 4, 1), or of the night (see the passages in the Pet. Lex. under varuvza 1 b, column 724. bottom). Here the latter function is in evidence ; cf. Ait. Ar. III, 4,18. Araru is a personification of hostility and demoniac force; cf. Tait. Br. III, 2, 9, 4.
es LER, ATs il ts FAN lds 479 1a, OAV AMA,
mechanically, ‘as one removes claws and other parts that
have been injured by disease, or as wicked men transmit
their debts by tradition (inheritance),’ &c.
VI, 50. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 142.
Kesava and Sayava,in their introductions to the cere- monies prescribed in connection with this hymn at Kaus. 51, 17-22, mention a long line of pestiferous insects, but the rare and unknown words in the hymn are not elucidated.