word refers to the periodicity of the attacks of fever. Henry thinks that the word is to be divided as a compound into pirva-kamakvztvan rather than pfirvakama-krztvan, and accordingly translates, ‘ qui, des temps immémorial, agit a sa guise. Sadyaza, pirvesham abhilashav4m kartitre £ettre, as if -kvztvane were derived from root krit,‘ cut.’ The com- bination k4mam kar occurs RV. X, 61, 6, kamam krinvané pitari yuvatydm, ‘when the father was satisfying his desire on the young daughter’ (cf. stanza 7), and this, when strictly applied to the compound, might yield the result ‘having formerly satisfied his (sexual) love,’ i.e. ‘the takmdn due to (excessive) sexual intercourse.’ According to Susruta sexual love (kama) is one of the causes of fever (cf. Groh- mann, p. 386, note). But we must not omit the comparison of the (itself doubtful) word pirvakritvari, XII,1, 14.c, which seems to mean ‘ anticipating (wishes) by deeds.’ The present — epithet may aim to conciliate the takman by extravagant praise of this sort. I have, however, adopted the rather non-committal rendering, ‘he who in the past fulfilled desires.’ This may refer to excesses, or to willingness.
For anyedyuz and ubhayadyus, see the notes on I, 25,44; for avrata/, the note on VI, 20, Ic.
VIII, 1. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 53.
This is an almost impassioned prayer for long life: the heavenly powers, the vital principles, and the human being for whom the prayer is made are implored alike to co- operate in bringing about the result. In the ritual the hymn figures therefore as an ayushyam (sc. siktam), ‘a hymn that bestows long life ;’ accordingly it holds mem- bership in the ayushyagava of the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 4 (Kaus. 54,11, note; cf. also 139,7). At Kaus. 55,17 it is employed in the course of the investiture of the young Brahman with the holy cord; at Kaus. 58, 3. 11 in certain special ceremonies (brahmavoktam, and rishihasta%, Sd. 4)
570 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
calculated to ensure longevity. Cf. also Santikalpa 23°; Ath: (Barisy37, 2
The hymn has been rendered by Muir, Original Sanskrit
Texts, V, 443 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 495 ff.; Henry,
Les livres VIII et IX de | Atharva-véda, pp. 1, 35 ff.
The obeisance to death is in the nature of indemnification for the loss of his victim. For Pada b,cf. AV. VII, 53, 2-6; for Pada d, RV. X, 66, 2.
The expression s6mo amsuman has a double meaning
that cannot be reproduced in translation. Soma (the moon)
with his rays, or soma (the plant) with its shoots. The
former meaning is likely to have been uppermost in the
mind of the writer who is here dealing with personified
gods. Cf. Hillebrandt, Soma, p. 300, note 3.
M. Henry points out very properly that Padas a and c allude to the sun: as the sun ascends, so shall the young Brahman ascend to life, and mount the very chariot of the sun, in order to reach the zenith of his life. Sayaza suggests the senses and the body. In Pada d Sayaza has agirvih for girvid in Shankar Pandit’s MSS. (the same MSS. at XIV, 1, 21 also read girvir for givrir). The sense with this reading is quite as good as that in the text: ‘then without decaying thou shalt hold converse, &c.’ The passage is formulaic’; “th “AV XIV, 1, 212° RV. cog, oe vidatham, cf. the note on V, 20, 12.
The word éhi at the end of Pada c is metrically super-
fluous. Sdyavza seems to follow a redaction which does
not exhibit it, since he neglects to comment upon it.
* Cited erroneously, as usual, by Sayaa as Nakshatrakalpa. —
Viii, I. Commentary. 571
préshitau.
Cf. the abhayagaza of the Gavamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 12, excerpted in Kaus. 16, 8, note.
Frequently rubricated in the Ath. Parisishzas: 13, 1;
15;°17,1; 187,1.13. The fires in the waters are the
lightning in the clouds; cf. RV. VIII, 43, 9, and the parallel
versions. Stanza 138.
The adjectives and participles are momentarily per- sonified in the manner of Roman divinities like Fabulinus, Edusa, Potina, and the like. Bodha and Pratijbodha, Asva- pna and Gagrzvi are said to be Azshis at AV. V, 30, 10, and Sdyavza here speaks of all six personifications as Rishis.
Bohtlingk’s lexicon, Whitney in the Index Verborum, and
Sayama (glossing the word by sammodaya) propose samz-
thade for samide. As natural as this correction seems, it
is nevertheless not unavoidable: samud in the sense of
' The Paippalada has the same word, préshitau.
572 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
‘conversation’ makes excellent sense in the light of st. 6d and VIII, 2, 3d. The word in either form is Gm. Aey.
a. Sayava renders gambhad sdmhanur by ‘the Asura Gambha with shut teeth!’ and it may be that nothing more specific than some such folk-lore notion is contained in the word. See, however, our full discussion of the word at AV. II, 4,2. Ludwig, ‘der zahn mit den kiefern.’
b. The rendering of the expression mé& gihvd (Padapatha, gihva 4) barhiz is mere guess-work. It would seem as though the words at any rate depicted some evil influence, parallel with gambha and tdmas in Pada a. S&yawa, barhir iva ayamavistaropeté uhyamanéa gihva rakshazprabhritehk sam- bandhini, ‘the tongue of the Rakshas, or the like, spread wide as the sacrificial straw. Ludwig suggests, gihva abarhiz, ‘nicht (soll) die zunge an sich reissen.’ Henry, ‘the tongue (of the fire) shall not gain hold of the barhis (but only of the libation)’—an unexpected ritual statement, unlikely in this connection, aside from the difficulty of sup- plying a fitting verb with the preposition 4. The verb that is required is vidat (Pada a). Our rendering is based upon a compound gihva-abarhiZ: see the root 1. barh with a, Non liquet.
For Pada b, cf. VIII, 2, 4; for c,d, Contributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 336 ff.
The stanza recurs with variants at RV. X, 161, 5, and AV. XX, 96, 10.
Sayava glosses vy avat with vyaukkfat, thus obviously
deriving the word from the root vas, ‘shine. An extra-
ordinary instance of grammatical insight in the midst of
" He offers also alternately, samhatahanur gambha asthOladanto ma vindatu ... bhaksayitum.
Viii, 2. Commentary. 573
numberless inaptitudes. Whitney, in the Index Verborum, doubtfully suggests the same correct derivation.
Viii, 2. Commentary to Page 55.'
This hymn, like the preceding, is a prolonged prayer designed to ensure long life (€yushyam), and, accordingly, it is employed in the ritual on all occasions that demand the use of VIII, 1. But the last stanza (28) adds a special feature to the present hymn which it does not share with the preceding. From this it appears that the life-bestowing element which the poet has in mind is (an amulet of) the pitudru-tree!, and, accordingly, the hymn is employed independently, at Kaus. 58, 14 ff, in the ceremony of giving a name to a child (ndmakarava): (the child is placed upon the lap of the mother) and an uninterrupted stream » of water (avié/innam ; cf. akkidyamanam in st. 1 b) is turned upon it. Then an amulet derived from the pfitudru-tree is fastened upon it, and it is given drink. Individual stanzas of the hymn are employed in other ceremonies connected with the sacramental moments (samskara) in the child’s life: they will be noted below. Cf. also Santikalpa 17. 1g. 23.
The hymn has been translated by Muir, Original Sanskrit
Texts, V, 447 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 496 ff.; Henry,
Les livres VIII et IX de l’Atharva-véda, pp. 4, 39 ff.
a. Shankar Pandit’s MSS., and Sayawza, read snish¢im for srush¢#im of the vulgate (cf. the note on III, 30, 7).
Sayaza glosses, snush¢im prasnutim...upakramasva...
yadva kumarasya haste avifdinnadm udakadharam ninayed
(cf. Kaus., above)... tasya snushfim. All this can only
mean, insipidly, ‘take hold of this heap of immortality
1 The Atharvanists gloss the word with devadaru (pinus deodora) ; so also the gloss at Apast. Sr. VII, 5, 6. The Atharvaniya- paddhati at Kaus. 58, 15, sala (vatica robusta). Cf. also pfitadru and pitudaru in the lexicons.
574 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
a a (amréta);’ but our own rendering (cf. VIII, 1, 7. 8) is pro- blematic. The Pet Lex. (s.v. srish¢i), ‘fasse vertrauen zum nichtsterben ;’ Muir, ‘this boon of immortality ;’ Ludwig and Henry, ‘this composition about immortality.’ None of these renderings do justice to the meaning of srushdi.
For the character of the epithets in this stanza, see the nores'on Vill, Oe os LN, 20.2.
The second hemistich occurs in a different connection at
Kaus. 97, 6, in a practice destined to restore peace in a
quarrelling family. For Pada d, cf. RV. X, 18, 4.
b. For garam mrztyim I read garamrztyum ; cf. II, 13, 2;
bh ge doe IP
This and the following stanza are again employed in
a general way in course of the practices at Kaus. 97, 3; cf.
the note on st. 9. See also Santikalpa 15.
Employed variously in the practices connected with childhood and youth: at the nirvzayava, the ceremony of taking the child out of the house for the first time, Kaus. 58, 18; at the £idakarama, ‘the making of the crest, Kaus. 54, 17; cf. also the Paddhatis in the note on Kaus. 58, 17. For abhisrifyau, cf. Bergaigne, Etudes sur le lexique du Rig-véda, p. 108 ff.; Pischel, Vedische Studien, I, 53 ff. Sayava reads adhisriyau (praptasrike sriprade stam).
Cf. Kaus. 58,173. Vait. Sd.:to, 6; Ath. Paris-99."4;
See Kaus. 53, 19 (godana) ; 55, 3 (upanayana) ; and also the Paddhatis at Kaus. 58,17. Cf. AV: VI, 68.
Viii, 5. Commentary. 575
Employed at the annaprasana, the ceremony at which the child is given solid food for the first time, Kaus. 58, 19; cf. also 58, 17, note. For baldsa, see the note on V, 22, 11.
See Kaus. 58, 20, and cf. 58, 17, note. Also Ath. Paris. 4,4. For imam me, cf. AV. I, 10, 2d; VIII, 2, 20 d.
See Kaus. 58, 21, and cf. 58, 19, note.
WITld) 5. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 79.
The hymn is addressed to an amulet made of the srak- tya-tree, defined by the commentators with great unanimity as the tilaka-tree (clerodendrum phlomoides). <A briefer hymn, II, 11, is addressed to the same amulet. The appli- cation of both in the ritual is of the general sort, and does not cast light upon the special properties of the tree, that fitted it for such use. Some etymological allusion, or other, is likely to have been considered in its application, perhaps a punning derivation, more or less vague, from srakti, ‘ corner,’ i. e. ‘ bristling.’ Cf. for the sraktya-amulet in general, Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda, Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, p. 477 ff.
The hymn is rubricated at Kaus. 19, 22 among the pushdikarmavi, ‘rites which beget prosperity 1, along with a list of others devoted to amulets. Nothing is prescribed there except the orthodox tying on of the amulet in accordance with the general rule laid down in the Pari- bhasha-siitra 7, 19. At Kaus. 39, 7 it is treated along with a list designed to repel witchcraft: see the introduc- tion to IV, 17; cf. also Kesava at Kaus. 47,9. Stanzas
' The Atharvaniya-paddhati at Kaus. 19, 1 mentions it in a long list of push/ika mantraZ.
576 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. pein en i a rea 18 and 19 are catalogued (Kaus. 25, 36, note) in the svas- tyayanagama (‘stanzas productive of welfare’) of the Gazza- mala, Ath. Paris. 32, 11; st. 22 in the first of the two abhayagava, ‘stanzas that procure freedom from danger, Ath. Paris. 32, 12; see Kaus. 16, 8, note. Cf. also Santi- kalpa 191; Ath. Parts. 6, 1.
The hymn has been rendered by Henry, Les livres VIil et IX de l’'Atharva-véda, pp. 14, 50 ff.
Stanza l.
In the prose literature (e.g. Sat. Br. VII, 4, 1, 33) prati- sard is ‘amulet.’ Its literal meaning is ‘going against, attacking, and so it is ordinarily to be rendered. Sayama, ‘he that practises sorcery him it attacks.’ In II, 11, 2 it is used synonymously with pratyabhi#drava. Cf. also the note on IV, 17,2. The Pet. Lex. and Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, explain the word in a different, it seems to me, erroneous way.
In Pada c, either ubhé or imé is metrically superfluous ; the former, perhaps, is to be thrown out.
The term prativarta occurs only in this hymn (4 and 16).
The Pet. Lex. renders it by ‘in sich zuriicklaufend ;’
Zimmer, l.c., by ‘cord;’ Henry, ‘knot.’ Without doubt
the word is closely synonymous with pratisara in the sense
of ‘assailing. Sdayaza, pratimukham vartayaty anena.
For the connection of the name Angiras with unholy
(Angirasa=Abhivarika) practices, see the notes on XI, 4,
16, and X, 1,6, and the introduction to this volume. For
Pada f, cf. VIII, 7, 15, and note the strained alliteration
between navatim and navyaz. So also X, 1, 16.
' Cited erroneously by Sayama as Nakshatrakalpa.
Viii, 5. Commentary. a |
Stanza ll.