a. He that bestows a house in this world gets it back again in heaven. Ludwig, ‘in jener welt (soll) es ihm entgegen- kommen.’ Kausika’s construction of the hymn renders the meaning very clear.
At this point the recipient of the house (cf. Kaus. 66, 28,
above) begins to see to it that the house shall produce for
' The employment at AV. VIII, 8, 18, of the root han, ‘slay,’ with akshugalabhyam does not prove 4kshu to mean ‘ pole, club :’ that which catches the enemy may be imagined to slay him; cf. also st.7. Sdyava at RV. I, 180, 5, divides 4-kshu, ‘not perishing.’
Ix, 3. Commentary. 599
him all expected benefits, and he does not hesitate to ‘take his mouth full.’ The picture is a vivid one.
e. Similar and yet different is RV. X, 121, 5, yo antari-
kshe ragaso vimana; cf. also RV. VI, 7;7; 69,5; AV.
LY, 25, 2.
e. The Pada is de trop in form and sense (Anukr., trya- vasana pa#kapada:tisakvari). If it originally stood here at all, it is spoken by an agent of the recipient who receives the house for him (tasmai). Or tasmai is an ethical dative, ‘in the interest of him (the donor).’
b. A bold and beautiful comparison this, between the house and night who gathers to her bosom all creatures. In the hymn to night, RV. X, 127, 5, we have: ‘ The throngs (of beings) have gone to rest, those who go on foot and fly by wing ; gone to rest have the preying eagles.’ Cf. also AV. III, 12, 5. Grill applies the pruning-knife to this and the preceding Pada (11+12: Anukr., prastarapankti), in order to exact two anush/fubh Padas, trézair vasdna rdtri sva sél4 gagannivésant. This amounts to independent com- position, not very good at that, since it leaves the first Pada, a good trish¢ubh, in bad shape.
a,b. With vi gdyate and pragayate, cf. vigavati pragavati
in stanzas 13, 14.
Stanza 21,
Ludwig here, as in st. 4, translates paksha by ‘room:’ ‘das zweizimmerig, vierzimmerig, &c. gebauct wird;’ the Pet. Lex., Zimmer, and Grill, ‘ pfosten.’ But see the note on st. 4, and cf. Kaus. 135, 9 (p. 287, |. 5), ash¢asthtio dasapakshaZ, showing that paksha and sthtiva cannot both mean ‘pillar, post. The exact meaning of the word is after all not clear. Cf. Henry’s note on the passage.
ce. For agnir garbhe, see Contributions, Fifth Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XVI, pp. 15, 16.
600 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
The expressions ‘turned towards’ imply friendly recep- tion on the part of the house, and eagerness on the part of the future possessor ; hence’at Kaus. 66, 25 the house is entered along with water and fire. Cf. III, 12, 8, and Kaus. 43, Io.
d. The waters and Agni are the door of the order, or the
law of the universe, i.e. they are the primal elements.
Hence Agni is styled frequently vztdsya prathamagdah,
ritasya garbhak ; rztasya dhirshad; see Grassmann’s Lexi-
con, under rztasya.
Is identical with AV. III, 12,9; see the note on the passage.
According to Kaus. 66, 30 the house is actually carried off at this stage; the stanza offers especial security that Kausika construes the hymn aright. Cf. with his construc- tion the rather forced interpretations of Grill, p. 192, and Henry, p. 128.
IX, 8. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 45.
This is a charm against diseases in general (sarvabhai- shagyam), without indication as to remedies, either in the form of drugs, or talismans. At Kaus. 32, 18.19 the patient is taken hold of while the hymn is being recited. During the recital of the last two stanzas the sun is faced reverently. According to Sayaza at II, 33 the hymn is a member of the amholingagazza, ‘a series designed to drive away distress ;’ see the introduction to IT, 33.
The hymn has been translated by Zimmer, Altindisches
Leben, p. 378 ff.; Henry, Les livres VIII et 1X de l’Atharva-
veda, pp. 105, 141 ff.
For vilohita, see the note on XII, 4,4; for karmasdld,
Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 287, and the introduc-
tion to VI, go.
Ix, 8. COMMENTARY. 601
kankisha is a dz. Aey. of unknown meaning. For visa- lyaka, cf. sts. 5, 20, and VI, 127, 1. 3; XIX, 44,2. In the last two hymns, and in the present hymn, Shankar Pandit reads visalpakak ; Sayava at VI, 127, visalpakaz ; at XIX, 44, 2, visarpakaX (vividham sarazasilo vravaviseshaf, ‘a run- ning wound’). See Zimmer, p. 386; and cf. Wise, p. 414.
The rendering of pramota (az. Aey.) is Zimmer's con-
jecture. It may be rendered ‘dumb’ with equal propriety
and equal uncertainty. Cf. Sk. mika, Lat. miitus. The
Pet. Lex., ‘eine bestimmte krankheit.’ All renderings are
based upon the suggestion of the passage itself.
Stanzas 6-8.
For udvepayati, cf. V, 22,7.10; for visvasarada, cf. XIX, 34,10; for gavinike, I, 3,6; for bala4sa, V, 22,11. Inst. 7¢ antar angebhyo is suspicious, as is also antdr 4tmano in st.gc. Both are probably to be emended to antarangebhyo and antaratmano (or possibly with oxytonesis, cf. Whitney, Sk. Gr.?, §. 1289). Accordingly our translation.
Pada a is directly joined in sense to 10b: the bilam is identical with vastibildm, ‘opening of the bladder,’ in I, 3,8. The plain sense is that disease shall pass off in the form of urine from the bladder, in the form of faeces from the belly.
The word madayanti (not mAddyanti; cf. pataya-, ‘ fall :’ patdya-, ‘fell’) is not altogether clear. Perhaps ‘ madden ’
602 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
is nearer the truth. Bohtlingk, ‘ betauben ;’ Zimmer, ‘ lah-
men. Cf. the root ram in its two meanings of ‘delight’
and ‘ rest.’ |
For vidradha, cf. Grohmann, Indische Studien, IX, 397; Zimmer, p. 386, and Wise, pp. 210, 284, 288, 362; for vati- kara, see Contributions, Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, 427; the notes on VI, 44, 3; 109, 3, and the introduc- tion to I,12; for alagi (Wise, p. 296, alaghi'), see Zimmer, p. 390. Henry’s balagi is scarcely due to oversight: he seems to have in mind some children’s disease, bala-gi.
For ushzihabhyaZ, see the note on IIT, 33, 2.
For vidhu, ‘ beat,’ cf. vidhukranta, a designation of a cer-
tain musical bar. For the second hemistich, cf. the note on Ih,'32, 1.
X, 1. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 72.
This hymn belongs to the class called krztyapratiharaAni, a series of hymns ‘ which repel sorceries or spells, assembled in the list at Kaus. 39, 7. The practices associated with this group of hymns, Kaus. 39, 7-12, are obscure. They begin with ‘the pouring of the great consecration’ (see the introduction to IV, 17). The performer then takes the holy water obtained by the ‘great consecration, and at night takes off his shoes, puts on a turban, and proceeds to the place where the spell is supposed to have been in- stituted, sprinkling the holy water as he goes. A formula is recited indicating that the holy water is sprinkled for certain female personifications of holiness and beneficence (yatayai, &c., Kaus. 39, 9). If no spell is found he casts away (the materials with which he is performing??). The
’ Cf. also andhalagt, Pet. Lex. and Wise, p. 412.
* The holy water, or the turban? Darila, samskarémam apa- kshepad.
X, I, Commentary. 603
next Sitra (11) is obscure; cf. the note on V, 14,9. For Sitra 12, see Kaus. 35, 28 in the introduction to III, 25. Various single stanzas and Padas of the hymn (20c; 21 c,d; 25; 32)are employed in other phases of witchcraft in Kaus. 39; see the index.
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 520 ff. Cf. the closely related hymn V, 31.
Stanza l.
The spell is in the nature of some terrifying, evil-working figure (bugbear, bogey, bogle; German popanz), not inerely a magical rite. See the performances in the Sitra, above.
The first hemistich is not easy to render, owing to the plays upon the words, and their ad hoc personifications. It might be rendered, ‘ Pratizina (“ Back-hurler’’) is our magic priest (4ngirasa), Adhyaksha (“Overseer”) our officiator. The word Angirasé at any rate implies an allusion to that use of the word which couples it especially with witchcraft, and contrasts it with holy practices (Athar- vaza, santa): see the introduction to this volume; the note on XI, 4,16; andcf. VIII, 5,9. Note also the pun between kritya(Z) and akrétya, and cf. V, 8, 7.
Cf. IV,12,7. Here, as there, 7zbhu may be either appel- lative, or refer to the mythic Azbhu.
a. The image of things floating down a river is employed
with great predilection to indicate loss of power, harmless-
ness: e.g. 1, 8,1; VI, 113,25; X, 4, 3-
Stanza 1l.
The gift of an outsider to the Fathers must either have been regarded as a defilement, or as an attempt to alienate their affection and protecting care. In PAda b the sacrifice is the hostile sacrifice as in VIII, 5,15; the name of the
604 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
enemy is frequently called out in hostile formulas and prayers, e.g. IV, 16, 9; Kaus. 47, 10. 22. For the difficult word samdesyat, here and in the next stanza, see the notes on II, 8, 5b and IV, 16, 8.
For the conception of the sins of the gods, see the notes on VI, 111, 3; 113,1, and Proc. Amer. Or. Soc., March, 1894 (Journal, vol. xvi), p. cxix ff. Ludwig’s rendering, ‘sin against the gods, and against the Fathers,’ is perfectly admissible, but the other seems to us more pregnant and probable.
d. kurdZini, translated by ‘crowned with a crest,’ is in truth a dz. Aey. of unknown value. The Pet. Lexs. suggest its equivalence with kiri¢in, ‘ornamented with a diadem.’ Cf. also kurira and kuririn, the latter in the closely related hymn, V, 31, 2. Hemagandra also reports a word kuru/in, ‘horse, and Ludwig, apparently on this basis, translates ‘mit rossen.’ The head of the bogey may have been orna- mented in some fanciful way with a crest. But the point is altogether problematic. Cf. also tirt#in, VIII, 6, 7.
With the first hemistich cf. the little legend at Maitr. S.
HI, 8;:8(106,{11)5 Tait Sukblp 2,32, b;< Saeee
4, 2.
The ‘ lords of the beings’ allude to Rudra, who is called
bhitapati; cf. Bhava and Sarva in the concatenating next
stanza, and see the introduction to XI, 2.
b. Cf. the perfect parallel, Manu VIII, 44, yatha nayati
asvikpatair mrzgasya mrigayuk padam, ‘as the hunter
tracks the (wounded) animal by its drops of blood.’
A metaphorical description of the fate of him that prac- tises witchcraft. The counter-charm (krztyapratiharama) is
X, 4. Commentary. 605
sure to prevail in the end. For pratyaddya read pratya-
dhdya with the Pet. Lex. and Roth, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch.
Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 681.
X, 3. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 81.
At Kaus. 19, 22 there is a performance which is supposed to result in the fulfilment. of every desire (Kesava, sarva- k4ma). It consists simply in reciting ore of four hymns in praise of certain amulets, while fastening the amulet extolled in the hymn, after having steeped it for certain three nights ina mixture of sour milk and honey (in accordance with the Paribhasha-sitra, Kaus. 7, 19). For the character of the amulet derived from the varava-tree, as treated. by the Atharvan poet, cf. the introduction to VI, 85. The third stanza naturally figures in the du/svapnandsanagamza, a list of hymns designed to remove the effect of evil dreams, in the Gawamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 8 (Kaus. 46, 9, note). Cf. also Santikalpa 17.and 19.~ The hymn has been translated by Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 60 ff.
b. For the epithet, ‘thousand-eyed, cf. the note on IV, 20, 4.
X, 4. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 152.
The central feature of this charm against serpents is the frequent allusion to the white horse of Pedu (Paidva): from earliest times onwards, this is said to be a slayer of serpents. For its mythic origin, see Bergaigne, La Religion Véedique, IT, 451-2, 498, who identifies it plausibly with the steed of the sun. In the practices of the Atharvan, Kaus. 32, 20 ff.}, some insect is substituted for the unattainable mythical horse”. The hymn is employed at Kaus. 32, 20-25, as follows: 20. ‘ While reciting X, 4 the (person bitten) per-
* Cf. also Kaus. 35, 4. 8, and the introductions to VI, 11 and 17. 2 Cf. Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 158; Kausika, Introduction, p. xliv ff.
606 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.