forms the rite to Takshaka (described at Kaus. 28,1; see the introduction to IV, 6). 21. Having ground up the paidva‘, he puts it with his right thumb up the nose in his right nostril. 22. If afraid of serpents he hides (the paidva) away in the seam of his garment. 23. While st. 25 of the hymn is being recited (the patient suffering from a snake- bite) is rubbed from (his head) to the tips of his feet. 24. Having heated the bitten spot while reciting the last stanza of the hymn, he throws (the torch with which the heating is done) upon the serpent. 25. (In the absence of the serpent he hurls it upon the spot) where he was bitten.’ The hymn is also cited. along with other mantras against serpents, at Kaus. 139, 8, in the course of practices pre- paratory to the study of the Veda. It has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, ITI, 520 ff.
c,d. apama (the Padap4¢z/a in perplexity, apa-ma) seems untenable, unless we admit an irregular change of final as to 4 before r; cf. Joh. Schmidt, Die Pluralbildungen der Indogermanischen Neutra, p. 124 ff. We emend to apaméd. drad and arishat (! with some MSS.) are prophetic aorists: lit. ‘it has hit a post and come to grief.’
a. The general sense of this passage seems fairly clear, but it is full of obscure details, and the metre so much dis- turbed as to cast suspicion upon the text. The Pet. Lexs. identify tarizakam with taruwvaka in darbhataruzaka, ‘a young shoot of darbha-grass;’ it seems therefore best to place tarfzakam in apposition with darbha%.- But it is not quite clear what kind of grass is meant, nor what it is meant to do. According to Ait. Br. VII, 33, 1; Sat. Br. III, 1, 2,7, &c.; Asv. Grih. IV, 6, 11, the darbha-shoots are employed in the ritual; possibly its purificatory power is a
* The paidva is some kind of insect. Most clearly Kesava at
Kaus. 32, 22, paidvam hiramyavarmasadrisahk kifas kitrito va sa paidva ity ufyate.
X, 4. Commentary. 607
engaged against the serpents, as a flame which burns them.
Or, perhaps the young darbha-grass in which the serpent
lurks (cf. st. 13 d) is invoked against the serpent.
b. The horse of Pedu is meant, it seems: even its tail burns the serpents. For the unintelligible parushdsya we are tempted to substitute arushasya, relying upon the oft emphasised whiteness (sveta) of Pedu’s horse (RV. I, 116, 6; 118, 9; 119, 10; X, 39, 10).
eee se a0, And [5 6,°r V1, 14,3; 113, 2; X, 1, 10°
RV. X, 155, 3: things that float away on the water are
harmless and powerless.
d. The vulgata reads var, enclitic; Whitney in the Index Verborum, var. But many MSS., both here and in the next > stanza, have var. According to Pischel, Vedische Studien, II, 74 ff., this is the true reading: injunctive of the s-aorist, second person singular (avarsham, avar, avar) from root var, ‘ward off, hinder, obstruct.’ The sense would be, ‘ward off the fierce poison of the serpent (so that it be) devoid of strength.’ Butin the next stanza var would need to be construed as the third singular aorist indicative, ‘he did ward off, &c.,’ which renders this construction proble- matic. Perhaps the words var ugram, being metrically superfluous, are merely a gloss to visham.
Our rendering of the dz. Aey. aramghusho is purely ety-
mological, and very doubtful. Ludwig manipulates it as
a proper noun. Perhaps it is the designation of some
serpent-killing bird.
For kasarvila, the TS. I, 5, 4, 1 has kasar#ira (kadraveya), as the name of a personified serpent-vishi. ratharvi is a am. Xey. of unknown connection. Ludwig suggests that the word means ‘die die radform liebt.’ Both are wanting in the list of serpent divinities, Pazk. Br. XXV, 15, 3.
608 Hymns of the Atharva-Veda
Pci ara Fe I 9 ES a en
The first hemistich recurs at VI, 56, 1¢, d; cf. the note there.
a. aghdsva seems here to be the designation of a serpent. In RV. I, 116, 6 aghdsva with different (bahuvrihi) accent seems to be Pedu, the possessor of the serpent-killing horse ; cf. Bergaigne, l.c., p. 451. The relation of the two is very obscure. For svagd and the subsequent designations of serpents, see the note on VI, 56, 2.
e. kAndavisham and kanadknakam are 4m. Aey.; it is not
even certain that the latter refers to a particular substance :
the word may be an adjective qualifying kandavisham. It
seems to be an intensive formation from root kan.
a, b. taudi and ghrztaki seem to be fanciful names of plants, ‘the piercer,’ and ‘ dripping with ghee.’ The latter is personified in many ways, as night (AV. XIX, 48, 6);, Sarasvati (RV. V, 43, 11); cf. ghvztdpadi as an epithet of Ida (e.g. Sat. Br. I, 8, 1, 26).
Stanza 25 Rubricated at Ath. Paris. 33, 3.
X,6. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 84.
The chief interest of this rather banale production lies in the practice which it harbours. From st. 2 we gather that the hymn is addressed to an amulet prepared from the ploughshare. In st. 6 the amulet itself is spoken of as a ploughshare’, but in addition it is said to be ‘strong khadira-wood’ (acacia catechu). From Darila at Kaus.
' Cf. also the allusions to the ploughshare in sts. 12 and 33.
X, 6. Commentary. 609
35, 4, we may gather that there was a part of the plough- share which was called ‘the chin of the ploughshare’ (phalafibuka). This must have been made of wood, since of it might be made a vessel having the form of a soma-cup (Darila, ibidem). All doubt is dispelled by the same com- mentator’s glosses on Kaus. 19, 22. 23 (p. 53, notes 10 and 12 of our edition). Here it is stated with direct reference to st. 6 of the present hymn, that ‘the chin’ of the plough was made of khadira-wood, and that an amulet fashioned out of khadira-wood in the likeness of the plough is the object extolled in the present hymn!. The khadira is a very hard wood (cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 58); at Sat. Br. XIII, 4, 4, 9 it is said to be daruma, ‘hard,’ and is compared with the bones of the body. The chin of the ploughshare can scarcely be anything else than the point - of the instrument, and we are thus brought face to face with the primitive wooden plough. The metal ploughshare seems to have been known as well, if pavira, AV. III, 17, 3; Nees mat, ge Lalit. 9. IV 2, 5 Os: Maite All, 4,77, has that meaning (cf. Zimmer, |.c., p. 236). The appropriate- ness of the embodiment of ‘the chin of the plough, made of khadira-wood, into an amulet lies on the one hand in the character of the plough and the ploughshare as emblems of prosperity (cf. stanzas 127 and 33); on the other, in the qualifications of the khadira, ‘the wood that chews up (khad) the enemies’ (cf. AV. VIII, 8, 3).
The hymn is rubricated at Kaus. 19, 22 ff. In Sf. 22 the amulet is tied on in the manner described at Kaus. 7, 19 (cf. the introduction to X, 3). In the obscure next Sitra (23) the four amulets? mentioned in Sitra 22 seem to be passed along the cords (with which they are fastened) * by means of a chip of gold (cf. hirawyasrag in st. 4); they are then bent, and put on each three times. In Sd. 24 4 fire is
1 Not so Kesava, khadirapalasamazim, ‘an amulet from the leaves of the khadira-tree.’
2 Cf. the mantra in Kaus. 20, 5.
* Dérila, uktamanes fatasrah suvarnasragmamigatutvam nitva.
‘Cf. Sat. Br. XII, 3, 4, 2. [42] Rr
610 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
built while reciting st. 35; in Sd. 25 the amulet is taken out of the substances in which it has (again) been steeped while reciting st. 29 (cf. Sa. 22), and (again) fastened while reciting st. 30. Cf. also Vait. Sa. 10, 2. 3, and Ath. Paris. 37,1, rubricating stanzas 1 and 3. St. 4 is rubricated at Ath Paris:,59, 3-3 st..95 at'22, 33.46; 3.
The formula, yam abadhnad br¢haspatiz, which is repeated many times, indicates the presence of the purohita, the king's chaplain. As Brzhaspati, the divine purohita, fastens the amulet upon the gods, so the king’s chaplain serves the king.
A delicate oratio pro domo. The significant words are yagw#avardhana and satadakshivza (ish¢a and pfirta). The real meaning of the stanza is: ‘as I, the priest, have by means of this amulet made thy sacrifice successful, thus do thou, the king, permit thyself to be inspired to reward me, the priest, by a gift of a hundred cows!’
XI, 1. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 179.
The preparation of the brahmaudana, otherwise called savayag#a (Sdyavza), or brahmaudanasava (odanasava in Sayaza’s introduction to Tait. Br. II, 7, 7, page 772), is described at full length in Kaus. 60-63. It consists of the solemn combination of a soma-sacrifice with the cooking of a porridge for the Brahman’s dakshiwa. Both the sacri- ficer and his wife (patni) participate in the ceremonious details of the performance. The ceremony works up quite completely the stanzas of XII, 3, in addition to the present hymn. Wherever the ritual is suggestive or explanatory, its gist will be given in connection with the stanzas in question. There are, however, many signs of a secondary and forced employment of the stanzas in the ritual, and the stanzas themselves exhibit occasionally secondary changes which arouse the suspicion that their form and their group- ing here are not altogether primary and original.
Xi, I. Commentary. Oi!
At Tait. S. VI, 5, 6,1; Tait. Br. I, 1, 9, 1, the preparation of the porridge is correlated with a legend that tells of Aditi and the birth of her sons. Cf. the note on XII, 3, 11. Aditi in our hymn symbolises the pdtni, the wife of the sacrificer (yagamana). According to Kaus. 60, 19, the stanza is spoken while both of them are engaged in churn- ing the fire. The third Pada is defective: perhaps piirve is to be inserted before bhitakr/tak, if we consult VI, 133, 5; XII, 1, 39.
Stanza 2,
According to Kaus. 60, 22 this stanza is addressed to the smoke as it rises from the churning-sticks. The third Pada reads, adroghavita (Padapazha, ddrogha avita: some MSS. avitaz) vikam akkha, which the Paippalada varies by read- ing, adrogha vita vatasz matsa. Sdyavza comments, adroha- karizam sukaritravam yagamananam avita rakshité vakam akkha mathyamanagne/ stutyartham andi#yamanam 7zg- ripam vakam abhilakshya. The corresponding passage, RV. III, 29, 9, reads, dsredhanta itana vagam akkha, and it, with the Paippaldda, suggests the reading adrogh4 vita vagam akkha, or adrogha aveta, &c., the sense being the same in either case. This has been made the basis of our rendering: the Saunakiya-text scarcely yields sense.
Kaus. 60, 23: The incipient fire is addressed with this stanza. For Pada d, cf. st. 11d, and RV. IV, 50, 1od.
Kaus. 60, 24: The blazing fire is thus addressed. For Pada d, cf. I, 9, 2; XVIII, 3,4; Vag. S. XII, 63.
The text of Pada a seems forced. The Paippalada with
marked improvement, tredhd bhago nihito gatavedas.
Perhaps the words ya purd vo are imported from st. 15.
Rr 2
612 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
In Pada d the Paippalada reads imam, i.e. the sacrificer', for imdém, the patni, the wife; cf. st.4d. See Kaus. 61, 8, from which it would appear that three heaps of rice, from which the brahmaudana is to be prepared, are addressed
with this stanza.
Kaus. 61, 9-11: ‘ With the share of grain that has been divided off for the fathers he performs a sraddha. With the one that has been divided off for men he feeds the Brahmans. The share that belongs to the gods he pours into a jar, with closed fist, or open palm, or with the hollow of his two hands (a#gali); bending his right knee, turned to the north-east, or with his body inclined ; reciting stanza 6 (of this hymn)’
According to Kaus. 61, 20, this stanza is recited while the rice is being poured into the mortar. Possibly the words ud ubga &c. are addressed to the mortar. The Paippalada has enam for enam; cf. st. 5. A comparison with st. 6b still further suggests endn, establishing a natural antithesis between nifo ny ubga in 6 b, and ud ubgai=-nan (sc. sagatdn) in st. 7 b.
Kaus. 60, 30: The sacrificial skin, its neck turned to the east, the hair turned upward (as usual in ritual perform- ances), is spread out while reciting this stanza.