It is far from easy to determine the exact disease which this charm aims to mitigate. The text of the hymn sug- gests rheumatism, but this presupposes perhaps too acute a diagnosis. At any rate it is some kind of sharp internal pain, either rheumatism, neuralgia, or colic, and that is the view of the ritualist. The hymn is rubricated at Kaus. 31, 7, as follows: ‘While pronouncing VI, 90 a spear (-amulet)? is fastened upon him who suffers pain as if from a spear (or who has, as it were, a spear sticking in him).? Kesava describes the symptoms as follows: atha udare va hvzdaye vasnge va sarvange va stile utpanne. The disease sila, and he who suffers from it (silin) are well known in the medical Sdstras. Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 341 ff., identifies it with colic (gastro-periodynia), and reports it as due to the deadly trisdila or trident of Siva (Rudra). This seems to establish a fairly firm connection between the hymn (cf. st. 1) and the later medical tradi- tion. In the Srauta-practices the hvzdayasila, the spit upon which the heart of the sacrificial animal is roasted (Tait. S. VI, 4,1, 4; Apast. Sr. VII, 8, 3; 23, 10; 27, 15; XI, 20, 15; Sate Beall :8; 5/85 Vip, 2,38; 1 ae Katy... Sr. V, tn, 264. VI. 7, 143 10,0: Vale ee Laty. Sr. V, 4, 6), is always connected symbolically with pain (hyzdayam sug rzkhati): the connection between spear and pain is most natural.
The hymn has been translated by Grill?, pp. 14, 168. The Anukramazi, raudram.
a. dhamanayak, perhaps, more broadly ‘interior canals, or vessels ;’ see the notes on I, 17, 3, and VII, 35, 2.
* Kesava, siilam lohamanif pashano va.
Vi, 92. Commentary. 5o7
VI, 91. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 40.
The supposed etymology of yava, ‘barley,’ from root yu, ‘ward off, is a fruitful source for the application of barley in charms to cure disease and ward off demons. See the introduction to II, 7. The present hymn consists of three loosely connected stanzas (st. 2=RV. X, 60,11; st. 3=III, 7,53; RV. X, 137, 6), in praise of the barley and the waters ; the liturgical texts and the collateral practices define it as a cure for all diseases (sarvabhaishagyam). Kausika’s rite (28, 17-20) avails itself of these indications, to wit: 17. ‘While reciting V, 9 and VI, 91 four portions of the dregs of ghee are poured into a pail of water. 18. Two (portions) — are poured upon the earth (cf. V, 9, 2.6.7). 19. These two are gathered up again (into the afore-mentioned pail of water) and (the patient) is washed off with (the resulting mixture). 20. (And putting dregs of ghee into a pail full of barley ') an amulet of barley ? is fastened (to the patient) while pronouncing the second of the two hymns (VI, 91).’
The hymn is rubricated also in the takmandasanagaza,
Ath. Paris. 32, 7 (see Kaus. 26, 1, note); the Anukramavi,
yakshmandsanadevatyam. It has been translated by
Grill”, pp. 14, 168.
| Stanza 1.
Cf. Zimmer, p. 237. vyaye (in relation to yava) hazily satisfies the inordinate craving of the Atharvanist for puns. One wonders why yavaydmi is not worked in instead (cf. the introduction to II, 7).
VI, 92. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 145.
The materials from which this hymn is compounded are, apparently, not original withthe Atharvanist. St. 3 occurs with variants at RV. X, 56, 2; sts. 1, 2 in the writings of
* sayave. Kesava, yavasahite udapatre. The passage is not
excerpted in our edition.
* Cf. Kaus. 19, 27 in the introduction to VI, 142.
508 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
the White Yagur-veda: Vag. S. IX, 8. 9, and the cor- responding passage of the K4évva-sdkha (each with inde- pendent readings); Sat. Br. V, 1, 4, 9. 10. The stanzas seem to belong in the first place to the vagapeya-ceremony ; see Weber, Uber den Vagapeya, Sitzungsberichte der Koniglich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1892, p. 788 (28 of the reprint). At Kaus. 41, 21-25 they are worked up in a ceremony which Darila designates as asvasya vidhikarma, Kesava and Sdyawa as asvasanti’. The cere- mony consists in pouring dregs of ghee over the horse, after it has been bathed ; pouring more dregs of ghee upon (fragrant substances) that have been ground up, and been placed into a leaf; giving drink to the horse, washing it off, and scattering the ground substance upon it. Cf. also Vait. Si... 36, 18> Ath. Paris 4-12, 55.) he juvain hae ees rendered by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 459.
The variants of this stanza here, as compared with RV. X, 56, 2, betray themselves readily as secondary inspirations to suit the practical application of the hymn as a charm.
VI, 94. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 138.
The key-note of this charm is the word samw-nam, ‘to bend to one’s will. The idea is a common one, having assumed a somewhat stereotyped and technical character in the works of the Yagus and Brahmawa literature; see, e.g. Maitr. 5. I, 4,143; Fait... ITT, 4,451; Vil, 5,2e98bs aro Br. III, 8, 18, 5; Par. Grzh. I, 5,9. In the Atharvan the hymn IV, 39 (cf. Kaus. 5,8; 68, 37; 72, 37) is the most elaborate production of this sort. In the Kausika (12, 5 ff.) the present hymn comes under the head of sAsmanasyani (sc. siktani), ‘charms designed to procure harmony;’ for the practices associated with these hymns, see the introduc-
* Kesava, ‘horses are rendered by it consecrated, brilliant, safe from accidents, swift, healthy.’
Vi. 96. Commentary. 509
tion to III, 30. The first two stanzas of this hymn recur at III, 8, 5.6; the third is almost identical with V, 23, 1. Translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 514.
b. éte in the vulgata is a misprint (not accounted for in. the Index Verborum because of the statement on p. 3). Shankar Pandit with all MSS., éta (Padapa¢/a, 4 ita), as in Eat, 86.
For the stem ota (Padapa‘¢ha, & uta), cf. the note on V,
23, 1. Sayaza derives uta from the root va, to wit: ote
abhimukhyena samtate parasparam sambaddhe va. But —
how about Sarasvati in Pada b?
VI, 96. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 44.
Darila at Kaus. 31, 22-25 prescribes this charm for one seized by evil (papagrvzhita). Kesava for the same, or for a dropsical person. Sdyava for one attacked by the curse of a Brahmaza (brahmazdkrose; cf. st. 2a), or for a drop- sical person. The stanzas and padas, however, betray the most undefined character, being compiled from various spheres (cf. RV. X, 97, 15. 16. 18; Tait. S. IV, 2, 6, 4; Vag: S. XIT; 90. 92; cf. also AV. VIII,.7, 28; XI, 6,7; ee 2. 104, Se AV. VI, 45. 2 TaitaBs Ty 7,219)43 Baudh. Dharmas. II, 4,7,18): the compilation is, in effect, a panacea. The practice of the Kausika consists in fumi- gating the sufferer with (the soma-branch) mentioned in the mantra (st. 1), which is burned, together with other plants ; in giving him to drink a mixture of honey and udasvit (water and curds), a mixture of milk and udasvit, and, again, both these messes combined. The hymn is counted as one of the amholingagama (cf. st. 1) in the Gawamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 32 (cf. Kaus. 32, 27, note); it has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 506; Grill?, 38, 168. The Anukramavzi, vanaspatyam.
510 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
d. For devakilbishat, cf. the note on VIII, 7, 28.
VI, 97. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 122.
This and the two following hymns figure among the ‘battle-charms,’ the sdmgramikazi (sc. siktani), or the aparagitagama, as it is designated by the Gavamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 13. The practices connected with the list are treated at Kaus. 14, 8-11. They consist in offering obla- tions of ghee and grits; placing bows as fagots upon a fire built of bows; next, placing arrows as fagots upon a fire built of arrows ; and in the presentation (to the king by the chaplain, the purohita) of a bow that has been anointed with the dregs of ghee, and has been polished off. The entire list of hymns is further employed at the ceremonies connected with the beginning of the study of the Veda (upakarma) at Kaus. 139, 7; the hymns VI, 97-99, at the indramaha-festival, Kaus. 140, Io.
Repeated at XIX, 13, 6, and with variants, RV. X, 103, 6; SV. IT, 1204; Maitr. S. II, 10, 4; Tait. S. IV, 6, 4, 2; Vag. S. XVII, 38. The stanza is primarily addressed to Indra, but Indra and king are at this stage of Vedic litera- ture perfectly synonymous; cf. the note on III, 3, 2, and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 251.
VI, 99. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 123.
In the Kausika the hymn is employed along with, and
in precisely the same situations as VI, 97; see the intro-
duction there, and cf. also Vait. SQ. 18, 16. Previously
translated by Grill’, pp. 18, 168 ff£ The Anukramazi, aindram.
e, d. Cf. RV. X, 128, 9, which suggests by its word adhi- ragam the possibility that ekagdm in our stanza is some
Vi, 100. Commentary. Sii
sort of a secondary product of ekaragam. But this is not favoured by the metre, and we may compare, in support of our rendering, ekaganman, as the designation of a king, ‘of singular birth,’ quoted by the Pet. Lex. from the Tri-
kazdasesha.
The first hemistich is formulaic; cf. I, 20, 2.
VI, 100. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 27.
The equivalence of the word upagika with upagihvika, upadika, and upadipika1, and its meaning of ‘ant, was established by the present translator in ‘Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda, Amer. Journ. Phil. VIJ, 482 ff. The upagika are a kind of ants, fancied to be endowed with the power of digging up beneficent, healing water: according to sts. I, 2 the gods themselves furnished them with this quality. They are, accordingly, brought into contact with the bodies of poisoned persons in every possible manner. According to Kaus. 31, 26, a lump from an ant-hill is fastened (as an amulet) upon the poisoned person; he is given some of it to drink (in water); is made to rinse his mouth with the same mixture; and is besmeared with a solution of itin warm water. Cf. also the introduction to II, 3. In addition to the numerous passages bearing upon this subject, that have been cited in the above-mentioned article, see also Vag. S. XXXVII,4; Katy. Sr. XXVI, 1,6; Tait. peas 2, 8, 4; 3, 1, 33 Tait. Ar. IV, 2, 7 Apast. Ste Vad, 7; XV,2,1; 16,5; Ath. Paris. 67, 2 (cf. Weber, Omina und Portenta, p. 324); Ydska’s Nighaw/avas III, 29 = Kautsavaya 67 (cf. Roth’s Erlauterungen, p. 35); and the scholiast at Tait. S. I, 1, 3 (p. 19 of the edition of the Bib- liotheca Indica). For upakika, &c., the Pali forms of the word, see Morris in the London Academy of Nov. 19, 1892, vol. xlii, p. 462.
1 Cf. also dehika, uddehika, and upadehik4, ‘names of ants that throw up earth,’ and see Grill’, p. 81, note. And again, cf. utpa- dika (with variants), Pet. Lex. s.v. utpddaka 3.
512 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda,
III, 511 (cf. also pp. 343, 507). See also Bergaigne et
Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 153.
ce. The Pet. Lex. suggests three rivers named Sarasvati, or perhaps simply three rivers in general. But some per- sonified group of divinities is more likely to be in the mind of the writer, probably three of the Apri divinities, Saras- vati, Ida, Bharati. This conclusion was arrived at before inspecting Sayavza, who has, sarasvatyas trayiripaz?, yad va ida sarasvati bharati. See Oldenberg, Die Religion des Veda, p. 243.
The vulgate erroneously emends upagika(Z) of the MSS.
to upagika(&); cf. ‘Seven Hymns &c.,’ p. 483 (18 of the
reprint). Sayava manipulates the text still further: he
devak vah yushmakam sambandhinyad upagikad . . . niru-
dake sthane ...udakam... akshdrayan.
VI, 102. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 101.
For the practices connected with this hymn, see the
introduction to II, 30, above. The rites of Kausika (35,
21) seek especially to realise in practice the similes of this
hymn (sts. 2, 3). The Anukramavzi designates it as Asvi-
nam, spoken by one who is abhisaszmanaskamaz. It has
been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 243 ff.; Grill?,
Pp. 54, 169 ff.
The comparison seems to be derived from the practices
in ploughing. Cf: RV. IV, 57, 4.08; “A Vi lly eae.
The Asvins play a part in agriculture ; see RV. I, 117, 21.
a,b. Both ragasvak and prishty4m are problematic. Sayava, yatha asvasreshthah prishtyam sankubaddham
' Cf. Oldenberg, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XXXIX, 54 ff.