This and the following sections are written in Brahmava- prose. The present stanza seems to contain a mystic correlation of the parts of the lash with cosmic forces, all of which are obscure. For the embryo, cf. the note on st. 4. Here garbha, ‘embryo,’ seems to be a part of a real whip.
IX, 2. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 220.
In the cosmogonic hymn, RV. X, 129, 4=AV. XIX, 52, 1, desire (k4ma) is said to have been ‘the first seed (product) of the mind,’ which came from ‘the one’ after it had sprung into existence through creative fervour (tapas). In the philosophical hymns of the Atharvan, and in the disquisitions of the Upanishads, this Kama, the creative desire (not sexual love, as in AV. III, 25), takes a place among the very numérous primeval cosmic forces, and appears as one form of the tentative monotheistic per-
592 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
sonifications of primeval force; it then does not differ materially from ‘the one’ (ekam), ‘the being’ (sat), and the more vigorously personalised Brahma, Pragapati, Visva- karman, Svayambht, &c. The Greek mythology similarly connects Eros, the god of love, with the cre>tion of the universe ; see Plato's Symposium 6. Of such hymns the Atharvan has two, XIX, 52, in addition to the present. Cf. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, p. 402 ff.; Scherman, Philosophische Hymnen, p. 76 ff.
The personification of Kama as a supreme being suggests very quickly his power to protect those who worship him, and to destroy the enemies of the worshipper. The Atharvan naturally rings the changes upon these more ordinary divine qualities: the personal Kdma is dealt with much in the same spirit as Agni, many of whose attributes are conferred upon him. For the relation of Kama to Agni, see Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 225 ff. In the ritual the entire hymn, as well as single stanzas of it, is degraded into ordinary witchcraft charms against enemies, without special signi- ficance: see Kaus. 49, I; 48, 53 24, 29, and cf. 46, 9, note; Vait. Sa. 24,197. The hymn has been translated in full by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 529; Henry, Les livres VIII et IX de l’Atharva-véda, pp. 84, 118 ff. More or less frag- mentary translations are offered in the two works cited above; cf. also Hillebrandt’s Vedachrestomathie, p. 40 ff.
a,b. For the distinction between ghvita and agya, see
the Gvzhyasamgraha I, 106 (Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XXXV, p. 567).
This and the following stanza are rubricated along with certain other mantras in the du/svapnandsanagaza, a series of stanzas designed to obviate the effect of evil dreams, in the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 8. See Kaus. 46, 9, note.
* Quoted in the Ath. Parisish/as (e.g. 10) as kamasfiktam.
Ix, 2. Commentary. 593
b. Prof. Roth in the Pet. Lex., s.v. bhas, regards this passage as corrupt, and conjectures yasmad bibhatse yak ka nasbhinande, ‘ which I loathe and which I do not enjoy.’ The motive of the correction, in addition to the poor metre, is the usual transitive use of abhi nand, ‘take pleasure in, and the like; this does not seem to me to warrant so com- plete a transformation of the text.
ec. The Pada is hypermetric, and may be normalised by
reading muzka for mu#kami. But the imperative first sing.
act. without ni is not elsewhere known in the Atharvan.
b. asvagata occurs but one other time, AV. XII, 5, 40, asvagata pdrihvuta, a very obscure passage. The Pet. Lexs. translate ‘heimatslosigkeit ;’ Ludwig, ‘ unfreiheit’ (cf. Der Rigveda, III, 284); Henry, ‘dépendance.’ The adjective asvaga occurs in a closely parallel passage, XII, 5, 45, asvagam apragasam karoti; I would compare svastha and asvastha, ‘well’ and ‘unwell;’ svasthata and asvas- thata, ‘ well-being’ and ‘diseasedness.’ For dvarti Vag. S. XXX, 12 has avarizti, ‘ trouble’ (Ludwig, ‘ verarmung’); cf. perhaps Avestan hamvareti of opposite meaning, ‘ defence, courage.’
Vak Virag (cf. Khand. Up. I, 13, 2) is the same Vak who is designated RV. VIII, 100, 11, ‘as the milch-cow whom the gods begot;’ cf. AV. VIII, 9, 2, and Oldenberg, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XX XIX, 54 ff. In Pada d the metre is sensibly relieved by dropping pasavo (so also st. 16); nevertheless I should hesitate to correct, because the same RV. stanza states ‘that multiform animals (pasava/) speak her (vas). The argument may, of course, be turned the other way, by assuming that pasdvo is due to a reminiscence from that very stanza.
a,b. For indragni, nominative for vocative, coupled with kama, vocative, cf. Delbriick, Altindische Syntax, p. 105.
[42] Qq
594 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
The dual number of the verb in the next Pada may be due to the dual number of indragni.
d. This seems to be the full form of the Pada which occurs previously (st. 4) in a defective form.
The same stanza with one variant occurs in a different
connection at III, 6,7. This, as well as the next stanza,
seems to be interpolated.
It is impossible to reproduce the chain of puns in this
clap-trap stanza; yava-ydvano, moreover, is somewhat
ambiguous, as yavan may come either from yu, ‘ ward off’
(so we, with Whitney in the Index Verborum), or ya, ‘go’
(so Ludwig). The Pet. Lexs. do not analyse the word,
simply translating it ‘abwehrend.’ Cf. in a general way
the hymns II, 7; VI, 91.
Pada a ends at trivardtham (read sarma as three syllables) ; udbhu seems to be a gloss. Pada b is hypermetric, and may be relieved by casting out brahma and krztam (Henry). For Padas c, d, cf. st. 5 c,d, apparently the more original source of the passage.
At fsa Upanishad IV, the ‘one’ (ekam) is similarly lauded,
naisnad deva Apnuvan pirvam arshat (arsat). Cf. Ath
Paris. 48, 2.
Cf. Vag. S. XXIV, 25,903 AVL, os Vice NManyu is ‘courage,’ personified; cf. RV. X, 83, 84.
The purpose of the passage seems to be to ensure whole- some desires, fit and capable of realisation; evil thoughts,
Ix, 3. Commentary. 595
unfit for fulfilment, shall not trouble the suppliant. But
dhiyaX may refer perhaps to the hostile prayers of the
enemy, which shall not injure him that prays to Kama.
IX, 3. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 193.
The character of this hymn is such that its proper object did not reveal itself clearly, until. its application appeared plainly stated in the Kausika. Zimmer, p. 153 (cf. the translation, p. 151 ff.), supposes that the hymn is a charm to free one’s house from imaginary witchcraft practices,which have been placed as fetters upon it (cf. stanzas 5, 6, 24). Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 464 ff, translates the hymn under the title, ‘ Removal of a house, without stating the precise situation ; he comes very near the truth, yet misses the main point. Grill*, pp. 60, 188 ff., fails to find any reason for a removal, and construes the hymn (just as IIT, 12) as a dedicatory ceremony after the erection, and before occupation. And Henry, Les livres VIII et IX del’ Atharva- veda, pp. 87, 121 ff., seems to underrate the significance of its employment in the Sitra. He suggests that the hymn alludes to the building of a house, but accentuates the successive removals of the ancillary frame, the scaffolding, as the house advances from stage to stage.
The Kausika treats the hymn in 66, 22-30, and Kesava epitomises the treatment very well by designating the ceremony as sdlasavam, i.e. the solemn bestowal upon a priest of a house as dakshivd. See his comment on Kaus. 64-66, especially page 365, lines 1, 2, and cf. also the intro- duction to XI,1. The Kausika’s rather elaborate treatment is as follows: Sd. 22.‘ While reciting AV. IX, 3, that which is about to be given along with the house is (placed) within (the house) covered up. 23. It is recommended, moreover, that the objects mentioned in the hymn (be given as addi- tional gifts). 24. While reciting st. 18 the door is removed. 25. While reciting st. 22 they take up the water-vessel and the fire and enter the house. 26. That (water-vessel) is anointed with the dregs (of ghee) after they have arrived
Qq2
596 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
within (the house), while the (entire) hymn is being recited. 27. Having sprinkled the house (with water) from the anointed water-vessel, having recited the stanzas (of the hymn) over it, having addressed (the recipient), the giver, being made to speak (what?), presents (the house)?. 28. (The recipient) while reciting st.15 acceptsit. 29. While reciting the first stanza he loosens the objects mentioned in the stanza*. 30. Addressing them with st. 24 he carries them off.’
The Anukramavzi designates the hymn simply as sala- devatyam. For previous translations see above.
One may imagine that the upamit is a vertical post, the pratimit a slanting support to hold the house in position, the parimit a crossbeam connecting the vertical posts; but no certainty can be reached in words which are likely to be technically flavoured. Cf. Kaus. 66, 29, above.
Indra’s double Byzhaspati here slays Vala, as in RV. X, 67 and 68; cf. also ITI, 23, 18: II, 24, &c. Vala (Vretra) is often described as lying unloosened, undone, after Indra’s attack ; hence the comparison.
e. The Pada may be rendered, more concisely, ‘asa skilful butcher the joints (of an animal).’ Our rendering is based upon the conviction that the poet has in mind the ritual butcher. Cf. RV. I, 162, 18. 20, and Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVI IT, 556. The point of the stanza is, of course, that the parts of the house shall not be damaged in the course of their transfer to the priest.
” Cf. Kaus. 63, 22, which also leaves some of the terms in this Sfitra in the dark,
* The buttresses, supports, and connecting beams.
Ix, 3. Commentary. 597
Again the terms are technical, and not at all clear. I have rendered pakshd by ‘side,’ in deference to uldkapakshi (sc. sala) in Pazini, IV, 1, 55, and Mahabhashya, IV, 29b. Cf. AV. III, 7,3, Aatushpaksham khadth (Sayana, katushkozam), ‘roof with four sides or facades ;’ see also st. 21 of our hymn. Zimmer and Grill, ‘seitenpfosten;’ Ludwig, ‘zimmer ;’ Weber in his comment on ITI, 7, 3 (Ind. Stud. XVII, 210), ‘vierbeschwingtes dach ;’ Henry, ‘ chambranles.’
ce. For manasya patni, see our comment on III, 12, 5.
- Stanza 6.
a,b. The difficult expression in this hemistich is razyaya (kam), which is a Gm. Aey. when accented with the svarita on the last syllable. Ordinarily the word is raya, one of whose meanings when used as a noun is ‘pleasure, joy.’ This meaning is at the base of our translation ‘ for comfort ;’ but what are those ropes (sikyani) which are tied within for comfort? Non liquet. The Pet. Lexs. and Zimmer give it up. Ludwig translates etymologically, ‘dass die theile in ihrer lage verharren,’ and Grill follows the suggestion up by proposing the emendation rdmavzaya. Henry, ‘ pour (te) maitriser’ (cf. his note). The real difficulty is with sikyani, which is doubtless an obscure technical term.
e, d. The second half of the stanza, as it stands, disturbs the run of the metre (Anukr., pathydpankti), and possibly needs correction. By dropping manasya patni and uddhita the last Pada is restored as sivd nas tanvé bhava, in accord- ance with similar expressions in I, 12, 4; VIII, 1,5; 2,16. Cf. st. 21 c, d,e, which is similarly irregular, and also contains the expression mdnasya patnim.
The various designations of the house represent a fairly complete summary of the huts and other sheltered places
598 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
which are needed in the larger Vedic (srauta) sacrifices ; see the Pet. Lex. under each, Zimmer, p. 154, and cf. especi- ally Vag. S. XIX, 18; Tait. S. III, 2, 4, 3.4. The divergent metre of the stanza (8+8+12: Anukramazi, paroshzih), and the interruption which it occasions in the account of the breaking up of the house, render it very suspicious. The bestowal of sacrificial epithets upon the house are obviously intended to enhance its value in the eyes of the recipient.
Technical terms again render this stanza obscure. I imagine a covering of wicker-work, the openings in which suggest a thousand eyes, stretched across a beam and slant- ing down from it to both sides (vishfvati) in the manner of our roofs. The passage seems, perhaps, to harbour a com- parison of the roof with the head and the head-dress of a woman (cf. opasa and vishiivati, and see the note on VI, 138,1). Professor Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 136, renders the stanza: ‘die in der mitte als diadem ausgespannte tausendaugige befestigte aufgesesetzte stange losen wir durch besprechung.’ But what occasion is there for a pole with thousand eyes, i.e. countless holes!? Ludwig renders akshum opasam by ‘das locherige geflecht;’ Grill, ‘das ausgespannte flechtennetz ;’ Zimmer, l.c., and p. 265, ‘das netz das iiber den schopf (gespannt ist);’ Henry, ‘le réseau tendu.