Sayaza, ‘Make manifest to the enemy our equipments for battle, so that fear shall arise in their minds.’ For udaran Sayama proposes either ‘ demons in the air, udgatan antarikshakaran raksha/pisakadin, or ‘ fiery portents, sirya- rasmiprabhava ulkadaya Antarikshyé utpataz. For ami- trebhyak Ludwig proposes a different construction, ‘make all that visible with the enemy, i.e. may their weapons and plans not remain hidden from us!
b. For the construction of this Pada (repeated in st. 26 c), cf. Delbriick, Altindische Syntax, p. 106.
c,d. The Padapazha reads sdemdrishza and gupt4, neuters
plural in agreement with mitrézi. Sdayaza comments upon
sdmdrishtak and gupté&, supplying ‘ warriors’ with it:
this does not change the sense. Ludwig, ‘erblickt soll
euer verborgenes werden, so vile unsere freunde sind, o
Arbudi.’ For the eliptic vocative singular, arbude, cf.
stanzas 3 and 11.
a. The word bhogébhiZ, ‘ with (thy) curves,’ would seem
to indicate that Arbudi is primarily a serpent ; cf. RV. VI,
75%4 5 Tait. Soil, 4p 500 F Ve ass, ae Duets may also
refer to some snare-like machine, similar to a serpent.
Sayama, sarpasariraiz pariveshéaya.
For women as mourners over the dead, and their con-
ventional practices, see our essay on the subject, Contribu-
tions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 336 ff. Our
Xi, 9. Commentary. 635
explanation of krzdhukarvz?, ‘ with short (mutilated) ears,’ is very doubtful, and on p. 340 of the essay just quoted I have asked whether the entire stanza does not perchance refer to demons of the battle-field. I do not place great confidence in Sayama’s naively ingenious explanation of krzdhukarnvi by ‘short-eared, because all ear-ornaments have been removed.’ Ludwig is relieved by making a proper name of the word.
a. The Pada is problematic: our translation implies that the women, bereft of their relatives who have fallen in battle, sit in a bent attitude longing for their lost kin. It would be possible to imagine another situation: with bent back the women who miss their relatives seek them on the battle-field, where Arbudi has pierced them. Sdyaza offers nothing usable. Ludwig’s translation is not clear, ‘die abreisst den riickenwirbel, wahrend sie im geist den sohn sucht,’ &c.
Sayavza presents futile etymologies for aliklava' and gashkamada. Pada d, amitreshu sarmikshayan is cut of construction, and superfluous: samikshayan is in reality the nominative singular masculine of the participle (as in st. 6b). The expression has assumed the character of a refrain (cf. stanzas 11 and 25), and is similar to the equally formulaic amitrebhyo dvzsé kuru, in stanzas I, 15, 22, and 24.
e. Sayava reads trugrahaiz (arivam grahavaiz), and
bahuvankaiZ (bahuna vakrabandhanai/), i.e. ‘with thy
thighs and arms. The parallelism is noteworthy, and
firu- may be the correct reading. Conversely, of course,
Sayavza may have accentuated an incidental parallelism.
' aliklabaA visishfaklaibyayukté viklab4h tadviparita aliklabad, ‘viklabas are creatures afflicted by extraordinary impotence ;’ the converse of that are aliklabas (!); cf. the note on XI, 2, 2.
636 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
Cf. the essay quoted in the note on stanza 7 (especially p- 340, note). For paéaurav of the vulgata, Shankar Pandit, following Sayavza and some MSS., has substituted pa/drav. Sayaza on Pada b, ura# vakshafsthalam pafirau tatpra- desau (fa) Aghnanas. Here, doubtless, belongs too pafira in Tait. S. V, 7, 21,2; 22, 1, axdesignation,eime part of the body, described by the commentator as ‘ ribs in the back. The translation of the am. Aey. aghariziz in Pada c is that of the Pet. Lex., and purely etymological. Sayama, ‘distressed by the grief due to the loss of their husbands’ (aghena... artaZ).
a, b. All the matter pertaining to the female demons is extremely problematic. SAyaza takes svanvatihz literally, ‘accompanied by the dog Sdrameya as a playmate. He explains ripakaz as ‘ ghostly armies which by the force of magic are perceptible in outline merely ’ (mayavasat keva- lam ripamdatreza upalabhyamanaZ senaripakaz). The word rfipaka suggests the root rup, ‘injure ;’ cf. XI, 2, 3.
c,d. Sayaza garbles his text, and comments as follows,
patre anta# madhye rerihatiz punad-punar lihatiz durnihi-
taishizim dush/anikshiptam ikkdantive vasdm (!) gam.
a. Our rendering of khadtire reflects simply our own and
Sayaza’s perplexity, dirabhitam kha khadiram (!) akase
daradese.
Much in this is obscure and bizarre. Sdyawa does not help much, except that he agrees with the Pet. Lexs. in reading -vasinak for -vdsina# in Pada d; see bastavasinak for bastavasinak in VIII, 6, 12,and cf. V, 20,2 b. Accord- ingly our rendering. The entire stanza seems to depict a blend of a human and demoniac army (‘das wilde heer’), altogether fit to strike terror into the heart of the enemy.
Xi, 10. Commentary. 637
Sayaza: ‘ Trishamdhi is a certain god who routs armies, or designates a weapon, a club which has three joints ;”’ cf. our remarks in the introduction to the hymn. The natural- istic basis of the quasi-divinity is (Rudra’s) lightning.
Even the trees and other vegetation, as well as animate beings, may exercise their powers to the destruction of the enemy, as is stated unambiguously in the closely parallel stanzas VIII, 8, 14. 15, where the arrangement of the first two hemistichs is a different one. Cf. also Kaus. 73, 5.
For the loosely construed refrain at the end of this verse, see the note on stanza 9.
XI, 10. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 126.
The hymn continues the subject of XI, 9, but the appeals
for help to Arbudi and Nyarbudi are subordinated ; Tri-
shamdhi is here the prominent figure: his momentous
powers are engaged for the destruction of the enemy. For
the employment of the hymn in the Atharvanic practices
and the meaning of Trishamdhi, see the introduction to the
preceding hymn, and the note on XI, 9, 23. It has been
translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 531 ff.
For ketu, see the passages and the literature quoted by
the Pet. Lex. s.v. 7); Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, I?,
p. 32, note 51. Both Sayawva and Ludwig render the word
here, as in stanzas 2 and 7, by ‘ flag.’
a, b. The vulgata, depending upon the Padapa ¢/a, con- strues vedardgyam as a compound, it is difficult to say in what sense. We have taken isém veda in the sense of a quasi periphrastic perfect (cf. Whitney, Sanskrit Gram-
638 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
mar?, § 1070, c). Similarly Sayama, isda veda isitavyatvena ganatu (!).. The word trishazzdhe is metrically superfluous and grammatically unassimilable: it has been omitted in our translation. At best it must be emended to trishamdhir. The construction of Pada b is problematic; perhaps it is to be put with what follows, ‘may the evil brood, &c., together with the red portents, &c.’ The aruvaz ketavah are personified as evil forces in this hymn; see the matter referred to in stanza I.
The sense of the first hemistich is extremely obscure. According to D§arila to Kaus. 16, 25, and Sayava on our passage, the sitipad? is a cow. But this fails to accord directly with the verbs asyati, Kaus. 16, 26, and saz patatu in stanza 20 of our hymn: they point to some missile, an arrow, or the like, and accordingly we have saravya in the present stanza. But what is a ‘white-footed, four-footed arrow?’ Wecan merely refer back to the solution proposed in the introduction to XI, 9g: apparently a white-footed cow is chased as a symbolic arrow into the camp of the enemy. Cf. Kaus. 14, 22 where likewise a sitipadi (Darila, meshi) is let go (avasrzgati, ordinarily employed with arrows). The latter Siitra evidently relates to AV. III, 19, 8, ‘fly forth, O arrow, after thou hast been hurled’ Sayava reads in our stanza saw patatu for sam dyatu (diyatu, ‘ fly’ ?), and evades the difficult ‘ four-footed arrow’ by paraphrasing saravyéa as an adjective agreeing with gauh, to wit, saravya sardzdm bazanam samthak ... sarasashati- rapa bhaitva (gauZ) sam patatu satrin sasprapnotu. This resembles our own tentative explanation.
Cf. the notes on XI, 9, 7.14. Possibly female demons,
or spectres rather than mourners are referred to. Sdyaza
refers dhimakshi and kriédhukarzi to the army of the
enemy ; this he supposes to be blinded by magic smoke,
and bewildered by the noise of battle (alpasrotra pafaha-
dhvanina hatasravazds4marthya).
Xii,. I. Commentary. 639
Identical with AV. V, 8,6. See the diverse translations of the passage in Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, pp. 439 and
e. The speckled ghee (ghee mixed with sour milk) is
embodied in the practices of the Kausika, 16, 22; see the
introduction to XI, g.
Cf. the discussion of sitipadi in the note on stanza 6.
Sayaza explains 4gman as ‘vehicle,’ rathadi yanam, which
simplifies the sense. In Pada d he reads, desirably, abhihi-
taf, ‘bound, for abhihatad, ‘ slain.’
e. kakagakrita is da. Aey. The Pet. Lexs., etwa ‘zerfetzt;’ Ludwig, ‘ zerstaubt ;’ Sdyaza, kutsitaganana vilolaganana va krzta.
a. Read marma-viddham. Suparmair is out of construc- tion, and it seems natural to read suparza(Z). But the Pada as it stands is hypermetric, and the expulsion of the word leaves a good trish¢ubh, ending at adantu. Then, to be sure, Pada b is short by two syllables.
XII, 1. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 199.
This hymn is one of the most attractive and characteristic of the Atharvan, rising at times to poetic conception of no mean merit, and comparatively free from the stock artificialities of the Vedic poets. The relation of the real, visible earth to man, animals, and plants preponderates over the remoter mythological and mystic conceptions. The hymn and its individual stanzas are employed in the ritual freely and in a considerable variety of aspects. Its chief use is at the 4grah4yazi-ceremonies, the concluding ceremonies of the rites devoted to serpents, undertaken on
640 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
the full-moon day of the month Margasirsha (Kaus. 24, 24 ff.1). The so-called dridhikarmani’”, ‘rites for rendering houses, villages, &c., firm, or well-established’ (Kaus. 38, 12, ff.), are also associated with this hymn, which on that occasion goes by the name of bhaumam (sc. siktam). At Kaus. 98, 3 the hymn is employed in the course of the expiatory practices on the occasion of an earthquake. A considerable number of stanzas are worked up at the bhiisaszskara, the preparation of the ground for the fire-altar (vedi) in Kaus. 137. The Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 5 (see Kaus. 8, 23, note), counts it as one of the vdstoshpatiyani (sc. siktani), ‘hymns addressed to the genius of the home- stead ;’ the Atharvaziya-paddhati at Kaus. 19, 1, enlists it among ‘the stanzas that secure prosperity’ (push/ika mantraz). Cf. also Vait. Sd. 12,6; Ath. Paris. 10; 41, 1. The uses of single stanzas, or groups of stanzas, will be stated in the notes on the same, below.
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 544 ff.
Cf. Kaus. 137,16. This and the preceding stanzas recur Maitr.S.IV,14,11. The reading badhyato in st. 2 a is scarcely tenable, though supported by some MSS. and Kaus. 137, 16. Many MSS. read madhyato, ‘from the midst (of men).’ The Maitr. S. has asaszbadha ya madhyatd, manavébhya’. As regards pravatak in 2b, Prof. Pischel, Vedische Studien, II, 63 ff. (cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 407), seems to us well justified in claiming that pravat many times means ‘ river,’ (root pru); nevertheless we must assume another pravat (pra-vat) in the sense assumed above, formed like ud-vat, ni-vat, &c. Cf. especially RV. VIII, 6,°34, &c. (Pischel, eats oie oy
‘Cf. Asv. Grah. II, 3; Paras. Grch. II, 2; Sankh. Grzh. IV, 17.18; Gobh. Grzh. III, 9; Khad. Grch. III, 3, 6 ff.; Apast. Grihs VI, 19; 9 tis; °O'. sta: Gree ite
* The reading of the word is not quite secure; see the critical note, Kaus. 38, 12, and cf. Kesava.
Xii, I. Commentary. 641
Cf. Kaus. 137, 17; Maitr. S. IV, 14, 11 (233, 15. 16). The Pet. Lex., vols. i. 269; v. 1001 (s.v. Anya), explains anya in Padac as ‘inexhaustibleness.’ So also Ludwig. But the ordinary meaning of dnya suffices as a pis-aller. Does the end of the word veil svapatyd, ‘ ownership ?’
Stanzas 5-7. :
Cf. Maitr. S. IV, 14, 11 (233,143 234,13 233,12), in part with important variants. Stanza 6 is rubricated at Kaus. 137,28. For the expression bhtiimism przthivim, cf. Avestan zim perethvim, Yasna X, 4. Doubtless przthivi is still (or anew) felt as an adjective.
For parallel statements, cf. the passages assembled by
Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV, 24 (note 58). Cf. also
Ludwig, I.c., p. 320.
This and the next stanza are members of the svasty-
ayanagamza of the Gamwamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 11 (Kaus. 25,
36, note). Cf. also Ath. Paris. 10; 181, 1.
Cf. Vait. SO. 15,8; Ath. Paris. 10. For parigrzhvanti, cf. the parigrzhya (sc. vedi), Kaus. 17, 2, and, in addition to the passages cited in the Pet. Lex. (under pari grah 3), Tait. S. II, 2, 10, 5; Maitr. S. I, 6, 3 (89, 14); Apast. Sr. IV, 5, 4:
e. For pirvakrztvari, cf. the note on pirvakamakr/tvane, VII, 116, 1b.
Stanzas 19-21.