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THE 


SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST 


[42] 


Bondon 


HENRY FROWDE 


OxFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE 
AMEN Corner, E.C. 


Mew Yors 


THE MACMILLAN CO., 66 FIFTH AVENUE 


THE 


SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST 


TRANSLATED 
BY VARIOUS ORIENTAL SCHOLARS 


AND EDITED BY 


F. MAX MULLER 
VOL. XLII 


Orford — 
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 


1897 


[All rights reserved ἢ 


Orford 
PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 


BY HORACE HART 
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY 


MG¢L 
ν 41 


HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA 


TOGETHER WITH 


EXTRACTS FROM THE RITUAL BOOKS 


AND THE COMMENTARIES 


TRANSLATED BY 


MAURICE BLOOMFIELD 


Orford 
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 


1897 


(AU nghis reserved) 


Digitized by Google 


bo: 
"446 
v.42 


CONTENTS. 

InTRODUCTION :— siked 
I. The names of the Atharva-veda and their meanings xvii 
II. The position of the Atharva-veda in Hindu Litera- 

ture in general. Ἢ . xxviii 
III. The Atharva-veda in the view of its Ritualistic 

Literature. : : ; ᾿ : : Iii 
Prefatory remarks . ; , mi Ms : : Ixxi 


Hymns, TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY :— 


I. Charms to cure diseases and possession by demons 
of disease (bhaishagy4ni). 


Book v, 22. Charm against takman ete) and 
related diseases. : 1, 441 
vi, 20. Charm against takman (fever) . . 3, 468 
i, 25. Charm against takman (fever) . : 3, 270 
vii, 116. Charm against takman (fever) : 4, 565 
v, 4. Prayer to the kush/fa-plant to ae 


takman (fever) . 4, 414 
xix, 39. Prayer to the kush/fa-plant to de- 
stroy takman (fever) and other ailments . 5, 676 


i, 12. Prayer to lightning, conceived as the 
cause of fever, headache, and cough : 7, 246 
i, 22. Charm against jaundice and related 


diseases . . . 7, 263 
vi, 14. Charm against the ἀἰοβᾶθε Ῥαϊᾶδα Σ 8, 463 
vi, 105. Charm against cough. 8, 513 
i, 2. Charm against excessive e dacharge from 

the body . : . 8, 233 


ii, 3. Charm against excessive discharges 
from the body, undertaken with spring- 
water . δ . . . . . 9, 277 


{8400 


Vili 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK 
vi, 44. Charm against excessive ae from 
the body 
i, 3. Charm against Sousdpalioa me réiention of 
urine . 
vi, 90. Charm against intemal pain (colic), due 6 
the missiles of Rudra . . ‘ ᾿ 
i, 10. Charm against dropsy F : : A 
vii, 83. Charm against dropsy β 
vi, 24. Dropsy, heart-disease, and kindred irialailles 
cured by flowing water 
vi, 80. An oblation to the sun, inceiied as one of 
the two heavenly dogs, as a cure for paralysis 
ii, 8. Charm against kshetriya, hereditary disease . 
ii, το. Charm against kshetriya, hereditary disease . 
iii, 7. Charm against kshetriya, hereditary disease . 
i, 23. Leprosy cured by a dark plant . 
i, 24. Leprosy cured by a dark plant 
vi, 83. Charm for curing scrofulous sores called 
apakit 
vii, 76. A. Charm for Ging oecrotaloilé sores ‘called 
apaéit : 
B. Charm for euring. ere éalled ayaa 
C. Stanza sung at the mid-day pressure of 
the soma . 
vii, 74. A. Charm for curing εὐτομίυ, sores ‘called 
apait . : 
B. Charm to Sopause jealous : ; 
C. Prayer to Agni, the lord of vows . 
vi, 25. Charm against scrofulous sores upon neck 
and shoulders 
vi, 57. Urine (galasha) as a cure for scrofulous 
sores . 
iv, 12. Charm with the plant afandhait (laksh4) Ἔ 
the cure of fractures. 
ν, 5. Charm with the plant silaéi (laksh4, srundhatt 
for the cure of wounds ὲ . 
vi, 109. The pepper-corn as a cure for wounds 
i, 17. Charm to stop the flow of blood. 
ii, 31. Charm against worms ᾿ 
ii, 32. Charra against worms in cattle . 


PAGES 


10, 481 
10, 235 


11, 506 
II, 241 
12, 562 


12, 471 


13, 500 
13, 286 
14, 292 
15, 336 
16, 266 
16, 268 


17, 503 


17, 559 
17, 560 


18, 562 


18, 557 
18, 559 
18, 559 


19, 472 
19, 488 
19, 384 
20, 419 
21, 516 
22, 257 


22, 313 
23) 317 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK 
v, 23. Charm against worms in children 
iv, 6. Charm against poison 
iv, 7. Charm against poison ; 
vi, 100. Ants as an antidote against poison ‘ 
v, 13. Charm against snake-poison 
vi, 12. Charm against snake-poison 
vii, 56. Charm against the poison of serpents scor- 
pions, and insects : . : 
vi, 16. Charm against oplchaliia: : . 
vi, 21. Charm to promote the growth of hair 
vi, 136. Charm with the plant nitatnt to promote 
the growth of hair : 
vi, 137. Charm to promote the growth of hair 
iv, 4. Charm to promote virility . Γ 
vi, 111. Charm against mania 
iv, 37. Charm with the plant agasringt to ative out 
Rakshas, Apsaras, and Gandharvas 
ii, 9. Possession by demons of disease, cured by an 
amulet of ten kinds of wood. . 
ix, 36. Charm against demons (pis#éa) conceived 
as the cause of disease . 
ii, 25. Charm with the plant ere ἀρλ πὰ the 
demon of disease called kanva 
vi, 32. Charm for driving away demons (Rakshas 
and Pisdéas) : 
ii, 4. Charm with an amulet δετῖνοά ἜΝ the 
gahgida-tree, against diseases and demons 
xix, 34. Charm with an amulet derived from the 
gahgida-tree, against diseases and demons 
xix, 35. Charm with an amulet derived from the 
gangida-tree, against diseases and demons 
vi, 85. Exorcism of disease by means of an amulet 
from the varama-tree . : 7 
vi, 127. The 4ipudru-tree as a nace. 
xix, 38. The healing properties of bdellium . 
a ee Barley and water as universal remedies 
ἡ. Hymn to all magic and medicinal ai 
ἐκ 59 as a universal remedy . ᾿ 
vi, 96. Plants as a panacea . ἢ 
ii, 33. Charm to secure perfect health . 


ix 

PAGES 
23, 452 
25, 373 
26, 376 
27, 511 


27, 425 
28, 461 


29, 552 
30, 464 
30, 470 
31, 536 
31, 537 
31, 369 
32, 518 
33, 408 
34, 290 
35, 407 
36, 302 
36, 475 
37, 280 
38, 669 
39, 674 
39, 505 
40, 530 
40, 675 
40, 507 
41, 518 


44, 509 
44, 321 


II. 


11. 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK 
ix, 8. Charm to procure immunity from all diseases 


ii, 29. Charm for obtaining long life and Bere 
by transmission of disease . ὃ 


Prayers for long life and health (4yushy4zi). 
iii, 11. Prayer for health and long life . 
ii, 28. Prayer for long life pronounced over a boy . 
iii, 31. Prayer for health and long life . : ὸ 
vii, 53. Prayer for long life . ᾿ . . 
viii, 1. Prayer for aca from the dangers of 


death . Ε ᾿ δ 
viii, 2. Prayer for ΡΣ Ἢ πρῶ the dangers of 
death . 


v, 30. Prayer for exemption festa diséage and death 

iv, 9. Salve (4#gana) as a protector of life and limb 

iv, ro. The pearl and its shell as an amulet bestow- 
ing long life and prosperity . 

xix, 26. Gold as an amulet for long life 


Imprecations against demons, sorcerers, and ene- 
mies (Abhifarik4mi and kr:tyapratiharazAni). 


i, 7. Against sorcerers and demons 

i, 8. Against sorcerers and demons 

i, 16. Charm with lead, against demons and sor- 
cerers : 

vi, 2. The ἘΞΕΡ ΤῊΣ duecied sgainat denmoins 
(rakshas) 

ii, 14. Charm against a anew of ἐμεῖς demons, 
conceived as hostile to men, cattle, and home 

iii, 9. Against vishkandha and k4bava (hostile 
demons) 

iv, 20. Charm with a βώδαια plant (sadampushp® 
which exposes demons and enemies 

iv, 17. Charm with the ap&amérga-plant, agin 
sorcery, demons, and enemies 

iv, 18. Charm with the ap&marga-plant, aginst 
sorcery, demons, and enemies 

iv, 19. Mystic power of the ae again 
demons and sorcerers . 


PAGES 


45, 600 


47, 308 


49, 341 
50, 306 


51, 364 
52, 551 
53. 569 


55) 513 


59, 455 
61, 381 


62, 383 
63, 668 


64, 237 
65, 239 


65, 256 
66, 458 
66, 298 
67, 339 
68, 398 
69, 393 
70, 396 


71, 397 


CONTENTS. 


xi 


IV. 


300K 

vii, 65. Charm with the ap&émérga-plant, against 
curses, and the consequence of sinful deeds . 

x, 1. Charm to repel sorceries or spells 

v, 31. Charm to repel sorceries or spells 

v, 14. Charm to repel sorceries or spells 

viii, 5. Prayer for protection addressed to a talis- 
man made from the wood of the sraktya-tree . 

x, 3. Praise of the virtues of an amulet derived 
from the varana-tree . ᾿ . . 

x, 6. Praise of the virtues of an amulet of khadira- 
wood in the shape of a ploughshare . 

iv, 16. Prayer to Varuna for protection against 


treacherous designs. ‘ Ἢ 
ii, 12. Imprecation against enemies thwarting holy 
work . < . . 7 . . 


vii, 70. Frustration of the sacrifice of an ΠῈΣ 

ii, 7. Charm against curses and hostile ΓΝ under- 
taken with a certain plant . : 

iti, 6. The asvattha-tree as a destroyer of enemies. 

vi, 75. Oblation for the suppression of enemies 
(nairbadhyam μὰν). . 

vi, 37. Curse against one that ΑΝ hostile 
charms. ; : . ᾿ 

vii, 13. Charm to deprive enemies of their strength 


Charms pertaining to women (strikarm4zi). 

ii, 36. Charm to obtain a husband : : 

vi, 60. Charm to obtain ἃ husband. : : 

vi, 82. Charm for obtaining a wife << 

vi, 78. Blessing for a married couple. 

vii, 36. Love-charm spoken by a bridal cunts 

vii, 37. Charm pronounced the bride over the 
bridegroom . . 

vi, 81. A bracelet as an winilat to ensure cece 
tion : 

iii, 23. Charm toe obtaining a son ; (ameavanaa) < . 

vi, 11. Charm for obtaining a son (pumsavanam) . 

vii, 35. An incantation to make a woman sterile . 

vi, 17. Charm to prevent miscarriage . 

i, 11. Charm for easy parturition Be Se 


PAGES 


72, 556 
72, 602 
76, 456 
11» 429 


19. 575 
81, 605 
84, 608 
88, 389 


89, 294 
9°, 557 


ΟἹ, 285 
91, 334 


92, 495 


93, 475 
93, 544 


94, 322 
95, 491 
95, 502 
96, 498 
96, 546 


96, 546 


96, 501 
91, 356 
97, 460 
98, 545 
98, 467 
99; 242 


xii 


V. 


CONTENTS. 
BOOK 
i, 34. Charm with ee to secure the love of a 
woman. 


ii, 30. Charm to secure eine ove of a woman 

vi, 8. Charm to secure the love of a woman. 

vi, 9. Charm to secure the love of a woman . 

vi, 102. Charm to secure the love of a woman 

iii, 25. Charm to arouse the passionate love of 
a woman 

vi, 139. Charm to arouse the passionate love ὁ 
a woman ὸ 

vii, 38. Charm to secure the love of aman . 

vi, 130. Charm to arouse the pee love of 
ἃ man 

vi, 131. Charm to arouse the passionate fore of 
a man ὃ 

vi, 132. Charm to arouse the passlonsié fove of 
a man . 

iv, 5. Charm at an ἀρίκδάθος 

vi, 77. Charm to cause the return of a int 
woman 

vi, 18. Charm to allay ΕΣ 

vii, 45. Charm to allay jealousy . 

i, 14. A woman’s incantation against her rival 

iii, 18. Charm of a woman against a rival or co-wife 

vi, 138. Charm for depriving a man of his virility . 

i, 18. Charm to remove evil bodily characteristics 
from a woman . 

vi, 110. Expiatory charm for a child ior ander an 


unlucky star ᾿ . 
vi, 140. Expiation for the sega ἀρῥῥλνά μος of 
the first pair of teeth . ; : ἢ 


Charms pertaining to royalty (ragakarm4zi). 
iv, 8. Prayer at the consecration of a king 
iii, 3. Charm for the restoration of an exiled king . 
iii, 4. Prayer at the election of a king . 
iii, 5. Praise of an amulet derived from the were 

tree, designed to strengthen royal power 

iv, 22. Charm to secure the superiority of a king . 
i, 9. Prayer for earthly and heavenly success 


PAGES 


99, 274 
100, 311 


100, 459 


IOI, 459 
IOI, 512 


102, 358 


102, 539 
103, 546 


104, 534 
104, 535 


104, 535 
105, 371 


106, 496 
106, 467 
107, 547 
107%, 252 
107, 354 
108, 537 


109, 260 
109, 517 
110, 540 
111, 378 
112, 327 
113, 33° 
114, 331 


115, 404 
116, 239 


CONTENTS. Xili 


BOOK ; PAGES 
vi, 38. Prayer for lustre and power. Ἢ . 116, 477 
vi, 39. Prayer for glory (yasas) . i 8 . 117, 478 
viii, 8. Battle-charm . . . 117, 582 


i, 19. Battle-charm against sche wounds ᾿ - 120, 262 
iii, 1. Battle-charm for confusing the enemy . . 121, 325 
iii, 2. Battle-charm for confusing the enemy . . 121, 327 
vi, 97. Battle-charm of a king ae the eve of 


battle . . 122, 510 
vi, 99. Battle-charm of a king ion the eve of 

battle . - 123, 510 
xi, 9. Prayer to Arbudi and 4 Nyarbudi foe help in 

battle . ὃ 123, 631 
xi, ro. Prayer to Trishamdhi for help ir in battle . 126, 637 
v, 20. Hymn to the battle-drum . ὃ 130, 436 
ν, 21. Hymn to the battle-drum, the terror of the 

enemy. . ὃ . : a4 - 131, 439 


VI. Charms to secure harmony, influence in the assem- 
bly, and the like (simmanasy4ni, &c.). 


iii, 30. Charm to secure harmony . . . 134, 361 
vi, 73. Charm to allay discord . . ᾿ . 138, 494 
vi, 74. Charm to allay discord . : . 135, 495 


vii, 52. Charm against strife and bloodshed . - 136, 550 
vi, 64. Charm to allay discord . ‘: . - 136, 492 
vi, 42. Charm to appease anger . : . + 136, 479 


vi, 43- Charm to appease anger . . 137, 480 
ii, 27. Charm against opponents in debate, ὙΠ 
taken with the paAi-plant . ὃ 137, 304 


vii, 12. Charm to procure influence in the assembly 138, 543 
vi, 94. Charm to bring about submission to one’s 
will. : ᾿ ὃ ᾧ ᾿ . . 138, 508 


VII. Charms to secure prosperity in house, field, cattle, 
business, gambling, and kindred matters. 
iii, 12. Prayer at the building of a house. - 140, 343 
vi, 142. Blessing during the sowing of seed . . 41,541 
vi, 79. Charm for procuring increase of grain . 141, 499 
vi, 50. Exorcism of vermin infesting grain in the 
field. . : . . 142, 485 
vii, 11. Charm to protect pais from lightning . 142, 543 


XiV 


CONTENTS, 


BOOK 
ii, 26. Charm for the prosperity of cattle 


iii, 14. Charm for the prosperity of cattle . ὃ 
vi, 59. Prayer to the plant arundhatt for ere 
to cattle 
vi, 70. Charm to secure the ἜΤ οἵ ὁ ἃ COW 
to her calf . 
iii, 28. Formula in expiation of the birth of iain 
calves . . 
vi, 92. Charm to endow a hore with swiftness 
iii, 13. Charm for conducting a river into a new 
channel . : 
vi, 106. Charm to ward off dager fom fire. . 
iv, 3. Shepherd’s charm aia wild beasts and 
robbers . 
iii, 15. A merchant’s payer . 
iv, 38. A. Prayer for success in ganiiting fin Oe 
B. Prayer to secure the return of calves that 
have strayed to a distance 
vii, 50. Prayer for success at dice : . 
vi, 56. Exorcism of serpents from the premises 


. . . e 


x, 4. Charm against serpents, invoking the horse — 


of Pedu that slays serpents . 

xi, 2. Prayer to Bhava and Sarva for protetion 
from dangers. 

iv, 28. Prayer to Bhava aud Sarva for pesca 
from dangers. 

vii, 9. Charm for finding lost Srapeey: 

vi, 128. Propitiation of the weather-prophet . 

xi, 6. Prayer for deliverance from calamity, ad- 
dressed to the entire pantheon 


VIII. Charms in expiation of sin and defilement. 


vi, 45. Prayer against mental delinquency 3 : 

vi, 26. Charm to avert evil . 

vi, 114. Expiatory formula for imperecton in the 
sacrifice . . ‘ . 

vi, 115. Expiatory formulas for sins 

vi, 112, Expiation for the precedence of a ἜΣΤΕ 
brother over an older . ‘ 4 % 

vi, 113. Expiation for certain heinous crimes . 


PAGES 
142, 303 
143, 351 
144, 490 
144, 493 


145, 359 
145) 507 


146, 348 


147, 514 


147, 366 
148, 352 
149, 412 


150, 413 
150, 548 
151, 487 
152, 605 
155, 618 
158, 406 
159, 542 
160, 532 


160, 628 


163, 483 
163, 473 


164, 528 
164, 529 


164, 521 
165, 527 


CONTENTS. XV 


BOOK PAGES 
vi, 120. Prayer for heaven after remission of sins. 165, 529 


vi, 27. Charm against aia oe as ominous 

birds . Ε . - 166, 474 
vi, 29. Charm against ominous piveons and cali: 166, 475 
vii, 64. Expiation when one is defiled by a black 

bird of omen. ὃ . . - 167, 555 
vi, 46. Exorcism of evil dreams . . - 167, 485 
vii, 115. Charm for the removal of evil ciavauers 

istics, and the acquisition of auspicious ones . 168, 564 


IX. Prayers and imprecations in the interest of the 


Brahmans. 
v, 18. Imprecation against the oppressors of Brah- 

mans . . 2 ᾿ " . . - 169, 430 
v, 19. re ia the oppressors of Brah- 

_™mans . 171, 433 
v, 7. Prayer to ἀρῥεδες Arti, the einen of erage 

and avarice ᾿ 172, 423 
xii, 4. The necessity of ening ee serie cows Ἢ 

the Brahmans. 174, 656 
xi, 1. The preparation of the iealinnnaden the 

porridge given as a fee to the Brahmans . 179, 610 


xii, 3. The preparation of the brahmaudana, the 

porridge given as a fee to the Brahmans . 1885, 645 
ix, 3. Removal of a house that has been presented 

to a priest as sacrificial reward. . . 193, 595 
vi, 71. Brahmanical prayer at the receipt of gifts . 196, 494 
xx, 127. A kuntépa-hymn . . . ὃ - 197, 688 


X. Cosmogonic and theosophic hymns. 
xii, 1. Hymn to goddess Earth . ὃ ἢ . 199, 639 
xiii, 1. Prayer for sovereign power addressed to the 
god Rohita and his female Rohiaf . . 207, 661 
xi, 5. Glorification of the sun, or the aie prin- 


ciple, as a Brahman disciple ᾿ 214, 626 
xi, 4. Ῥγᾶμα, life or breath, personified as the 
supreme spirit. 218, 622 


ix, 2. Prayer to Kama (love), peronfed asa pri 
mordial power . : : . . 220, 591 


XVi CONTENTS. 


BOOK 

xix, 53. Prayer to K4la (time), personified as a cas 
mordial principle . : . 

xix, 54. Prayer to K4la (time), personified asa ὮΣΕ 
mordial principle . 

xi, 7. Apotheosis of the whkhishéa, the ΓΝ οἵ 
the sacrifice . ‘ 

ix, 1. Hymn to the Honayslast οἵ the Astine: 


INDEXES :— 
I. Index of Subjects 
II. Index of Hymns in the orien of the Alhargacyeds 


Additions and Corrections . ‘ 


Transliteration of Oriental Alphabets adopted for the 
Translations of the Sacred Books of the East 


PAGES 
224, 681 
225, 687 
226, 629 
229, 587 


693 
709 
τι 


18. 


INTRODUCTION. 


I. THE NAMES OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA AND 
THEIR MEANINGS. 


THE fourth Veda is known in Hindu literature by an 

Thecom. Unusually large number of appellations. Of 

pound stem these the dvandva plural atharvangirdsad is old, 
atharvaagiras. ccurring AV. X, 7,20; it is the name found at 
the head of the Atharvan MSS. themselves. The appear- 
ance of this name in a given text has not unfrequently been 
made the basis—partly or entirely—for estimating the rela- 
tive chronology of that text. But this criterion can claim 
only negative value, since the designation occurs in a text 
as late as the Ausanasa-smrtti, III, 447. It is found in 
a great variety of texts of the Vedic literature, as may be 
seen in the subsequent account of the attitude of Hindu 
literature towards the fourth Veda (p. xxviii ff.), but at no 
period does it positively exclude other designations. 

The locative singular of this same compound occurs in 
a passage not altogether textually certain, Mah4bh. III, 
305, 20=17066, where the Bombay edition has atharvangi- 
rasi srutam, but the Calcutta, atharvasirasi srutam. The 
locative singular (apparently neuter) of the stem atharvangi- 
rasa occurs rarely, Yag#av. I, 312 (kusalam atharvangirase). 
A specimen of a derivative adjective from the compound 
may be seen at Manu XI, 33, atharvangirastz srutiz; cf. 
Mahabh. VIII, 40, 33=1848, krzty4m atharvangirasim. 


1 See Givananda’s Dharmasistrasamgraha, vol. i, p. 514. 


[42] b 


XViil HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


The name atharvan, with a great variety of derivatives, 
: is employed growingly as the designation of 
err the Veda; the name dnziras by itself is so 
Ἔτη seria rare as to arrest attention when it is met. 
At TS: VII, 5, 11, 2 = KAthaka Asvamedha- 
grantha, V, 2, occurs the formula angirobhyas svaha, pre- 
ceded by rigbhyak, &c. svah4: it is, as far as is known, 
the solitary occurrence of this designation of the Atharva- 
veda in a Vedic text!. Quite frequently, however, the 
members of the compound atharvangirasa# are separated 
so that each is mentioned by itself, but always in more 
or less close conjunction with one another. This shows 
that the compound is not a congealed formula, but that the 
texts are conscious of the fact that each has a distinct 
individuality, and a right to separate existence. In other 
words, the AV. actually consists of atharvan and angiras 
matter, and the question arises what elements in the make- 
up of this Veda these terms refer to. The answer, I believe, 
may now be given with a considerable degree of certainty : 
the term atharvan refers to the auspicious practices of the 
Veda, the bheshagdni (AV. XI, 6, 14), those parts of the 
Veda which are recognised by the Atharvan ritual and 
the orthodox Brahmanical writings, as s4nta, ‘holy,’ and 
paush/ika, ‘conferring prosperity ;’ the term angiras refers 
to the hostile sorcery practices of the Veda, the ydtu (Sat. 
Br. X, 5, 2, 20), or abhi#ara?, which is terrible (ghora). 

In an article entitled, ‘On the position of the Vaiténa- 
sdtra in the literature of the Atharva-veda,’ Journ. Amer. 
Or. Soc. XI, 387 ff., I pointed out that the above-mentioned 
distinction is clearly made at Vait. Sd. 5,10, where two 
lists of plants are differentiated, one as 4tharvazya, the 
other as A4ngirasyak. The same distinction is maintained 
at Gop. Br. I, 2,18. The former refers to the list of plants 


1 In texts not Vedic the term aigirasah occurs occasionally as an abbreviated 
form of atharvéigirasakA. Thus in the first superscription of the AV. Prati- 
sakhya, the Saunakfya Aaturadhy&yika, and in P&sini V, 2, 37. Cf. also 
Gop. Br. I, 1, 8. 

3 For the distinction between sinta and 4bhi#drika see Kaus. 3, 19, and note 5 
on p. 11 of our edition, 


INTRODUCTION. xix 


catalogued at Kaus. 8, 16, and there distinctly described as 
santah, ‘holy ;’ the second list is stated at Vait. 58. 5, 10 
itself to be Angirasa, in the obscure terms, kapurviparva- 
rodakavrikkAvatinad@anirdahantibhir AngirasibhiZ. These 
names are in general unknown, the text is not quite certain, 
but the designation of the last, nirdahanti, shows that the 
list is designed for unholy sorcery practices (Abhi#arika)'. 
The adjective 4ngirasa is in general in the ritualist texts of 
the AV. equivalent to 4bhi#arika. Thus sambhara 4ngi- 
rasak, Kaus. 47, 2, means ‘utensils for sorcery? ;’ danda 
angirasak, Kaus. 47, 12, means ‘staff for sorcery ;’ agnir 
aigirasak, Kaus. 14, 30, means ‘sorcery-fire®. The fifth 
kalpa of the AV., usually known as Angirasa-kalpa, bears 
also the names Abhi#ara-kalpa, and Vidh4na-kalpa, ‘ text- 
book of sorcery ;’ see ibid. XI, 376 ff. 
It is worth while to follow out this specific use of the 
Thetem [πη 4figirasa in non-Atharvan texts, lest it be 
aigirasin Suspected of being an Atharvanic refinement. 
non-Atharvan The Rig-vidhana IV, 6, 4, has the following 
texts. 
sloka: ‘He against whom those that are 
skilled in the Angirasakalpas practice sorcery repels them 
all with the Pratyangirasakalpa‘*.’ The term praty4ngirasa 
is the exact equivalent of pratyabhizdraza, ‘ counter-witch- 
craft®’ (AV. II, 11, 2), and the krityApratiharaz4ni, Ath. 
Paris. 32, 2 (cf. Kaus. 39, 7, note). The texts of the sort 
called 4tharvazapratyangirakalpam (!see Ind. Stud. I, 469) 
deal with the same theme, as does the Yagur-vidhana 
(Agni-puraza, 259, 1c) in the expression pratyangireshu 
(sc.karmasu). Cf. also the titles of works, pratyangiratatva, 
pratyangirapa#kanea, and pratyangirasikta, mentioned in 
Bohtlingk’s Lexicon, as probably dealing with the same 
theme. We may connect with this pejorative use of the 


1 Cf. AV. ITI, 2, 5; VII, 108, 2; IX, 2, 4; 5,31; XIV, 2, 48. 

* Darila, ghoradravy4vi. 

3 Kesava, Aagirasos gnih indalignih. 

* yam dagirasakal pais tu tadvido s bhigaranti sa pratydigirasakalpena sarvams 
tin pratibadhate. Cf. also the following slokas, and IV, 8, 3; Ath. Paris. 3, 
1; and see Rudolf Meyer’s preface to his edition of the Rig-vidhana, p. xxxi. 

5 Sayama, nivaryate parakritabhisdraganita krity4 anena iti pratyabhika- 
ranah. 


b2 


XX HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


word Angirasa the fact that the Vishzu-purdaza (Wilson’s 
translation, V, 383) and the Bhavishya-purdza count the 
Aagirasa as one of the four Vedas of the Parsis (Maga), the 
other three, Vada, Visvavada, and Vidut, also conveying 
thinly veiled disparagement of the religious books of an 
exotic religion; cf. Wilson in Reinaud’s Mémoire sur I’Inde, 
p. 394; Ind. Stud. I, 292, note; Weber, Ind. Lit.’, p.164, note. 

We may then regard it as certain that the words angiras 
and Angirasa are reflected by the ceremonial literature in the 
sense of abhifé4ra and 4bhifdrika. Far more important is 
the evidence of certain texts of greater antiquity, and higher 
dignity, which have occasion to mention the Atharvan inci- 
dentally, and enunciate clearly this twofold character of 
the Veda. They make the very same distinction between 
atharvan and angiras that appeared above in the ritualistic 
passage, Vait. SQ. 5,10 (Gop. Br. I, 2, 18). At Sankh. Sr. 
XVI, 2, 1 ff., on the occasion of the horse-sacrifice, recita- 
tions are made from the ordinary Vedic classes of literature, 
the rikah, yagdmshi, samani, and also the remoter literary 
categories which the Brahmazas and Sftras report, with © 
great unanimity and considerable variety, as having been 
in existence in their time: the itihdsa (4khydna), purdza, 
sarpavidya, &c.!. The Atharvan figures immediately after 
the Rik and Sdman, and that too twice, in its double 
character as Atharvan and Angiras, and, what is more im- 
portant, bheshagam, i.e. remedial charms, are recited from 
the Atharvan; ghoram, i.e. sorcery, 4bhié4rikam, from 
the Angiras?) The commentator regards bheshagam and 
ghoram as distinct works, bheshagagranthasy4-tharvani- 
kanam ... ghoram atharvamo granthak. The same subject 
is treated in almost identical terms in Asv. Sr. X, 7, 1 ff.: 
again atharvazo vedad and 4ngiraso veda are treated indi- 
vidually, and again the former is correlated with bheshagam, 
the latter with ghoram *. Once more this theme is handled 


' Cf. Max Miiller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 40 ff. 
- 2 atharvavedo vedas sosyam iti bheshagam nigadet ... 4igiraso vedo vedah 
soxyam iti ghoram nigadet. ν 

* Scholiast, ghoram iti abhiéaradipratipédakam ity arthaZ. Cf. RV. X, 34, 
14, ταῦ no ghoréva faratas bhi dhvishnu. 


INTRODUCTION, Xxi 


by the Sat. Br. XIII, 4, 3, 3 ff.: here also atharvan and 
aiigiras are recognised individually; the correlation with 
bheshagam and ghoram is wanting, but the individuality 
of the two categories is clearly implied in the behest to 
recite on the third and fourth days respectively one section 
each of the Atharvans and the Angiras, each of which are 
distinctly said to be a Veda?. 

Indirect, yet significant testimony that this double 
character of the AV. was clearly established in Brahman- 
ical times may be derived from the formation of the names 
of two apocryphal teachers. One is Bhishag Atharvana, 
Kath. 5. XVI, 3 (Ind. Stud. IIT, 459); the other is Ghora 
Angirasa, Kaush. Br. XXX, 6; Asv. Sr. XII, 13,1; Καὶ ἀπά. 
Up. III, 17, 6 (cf. Ind. Stud. I, 190, 293). The formation 
Bhishag Atharvama is illustrated further by Pa&#é. Br. XII, 
9, 10, bheshagam νὰ 4tharvav4ni; and XVI, 10, 10, bhesha- 
gam vai dévanam atharvazo bheshagydyai:va:rishtyai?; 
cf. also the expressions samyu Atharvama, personified as 
a sage, Gop. Br. I, 2,18, and atharvabhié santaz, Kaus. 
125,23, These names never, as far as is known, occur in 
inverted order : there is no Bhishag Afgirasa, and no Ghora 
Atharvana; they reflect perfectly the individual character 
and the individual function of the two members of the 
compound atharvangirasak. 

It seems now, further, that the texts of the Atharva- 

Ε ΕΝ 547 Π118 mark this same distinction with no 

sigirasin uncertain touch, At AV. XI, 6, 14, four 

pair Ned Vedic mantra-categories are indicated by the 

"expressions, r/kah, simAni, bheshag&(ni), and 
yagimshi. The choice of the word bheshagd4 is certainly 
eclectic and one-sided. The passage appeals to the auspi- 


1 atharvézo vedak ... atharvanim ekam parva vyasakshiaah; angiraso 
vedak ... aigirasim ekam parva vyakakshasah. Elsewhere, aside from the 
Atharvan texts, the component parts of the dvandva atharvangiras are drawn 
asunder, but without accessory statements; thus Tait. Br. III, 12, 9, 13 
Nrisimhap(iirvatapant Up. 5, 9. 

2 A converse statement like bheshagas v4 digirasni, is, if we judge the matter 
aright, a counter-sense, and unheard of anywhere in Hindu literature. 

2 So also Santi, as the wife of Atharvan; see Wilson’s translation of the 
Vishnu-purina, I, 110, 200; Bhagavata-purdsa III, 24, 24. 


xxii HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


cious side of the holy texts, and naturally chooses the 
auspicious aspect of the Atharvan also. Its precise com- 
plement is Sat. Br. X, 5,2, 20. Here, after correlating 
the adhvaryu-priests with the yagu/, the £Aandoga-priests 
with the sAman, the bahvrikas with the uktha (rzk), the 
author presents y4tu, ‘sorcery,’ and the yatuvidad, ‘those 
skilled in sorcery,’ as representatives of the fourth Veda. 
The bheshagd of the Atharvan passage, and the yatu of the 
present passage, make up together what is embraced in the 
name atharvangirasak (AV. X, 7,20). Moreover, the Sam- 
hita exhibits a decided predilection, bordering on rigorous 
distinction, for associating the term Angirasa with aggressive 
witchcraft, or the practice of spells (kvitya). Thus VIII, 
5, 9, kritya Angirast# ; X, 1, 6, pratt#ina angirasd’ ... pra- 
ttkiA krityd Akrftyaemin krityakrtto gahi; XII, 5, 52, 
adddanam Angirasi brahmagydm upa dasaya; cf. also VI, 
45, 3=RV. X, 164, 4. In XI, 4, 16 (cf. also VIII, 7, 17) 
the distinction between Atharvanic and Angirasic plants 
appears again, not, however, in any connection which con- 
veys of necessity the contrast between ‘holy’ and ‘ witch- 
craft’ plants. But it may do so. This, it will be remem- 
bered, is made in Vait. SQ. 5,10; it formed the starting 
point for the present enquiry, and the chain of evidence 
extending through the Atharvanic and Brahmanical litera- 
ture seems thus to be linked. We may add finally that the 
late Parisishta hymns, AV. XIX, 22 and 23, which are 
repeated in the tract entitled Vedavratasy4=desanavidhi, 
Ath. Paris. 46, 9 and 10, deal with and state subdivisions 
of 4ngirasa and 4tharvava-texts, each separately’, The 
statements are but faintly applicable to the existing redac- 
tions of the Atharvan, the Saunakiya, and Paippalada- 
sakh4s*, but we should be slow to condemn them as wholly 
apocryphal. The Gop. Br. I, 1, 5 and 8 also narrates in its 
own style of unbridled Brahmanical fancy the separate 
creation by Brahman of the Xishis Atharvan and Angiras, 


' Angirasfnam Adyaih pakanuvakaiA svaha (XIX, 2a, 1); sarvebhyo 
shgirobhyo vidagasébhyaA sv£h& (XIX, 22, 18) ; atharvan4ndm katurrikébhyahk 
svdha (XIX, 23, 1). 

3 Cf. Weber, Ind, Stud. IV, 433 ff. 


INTRODUCTION. Xxiit 


the subsequent emanation from these two of twenty Athar- 
vanic and Angirasic descendant sages ', and finally, the pro- 
duction by the Atharvans of the 4tharvaza veda, by the 
Afdgiras of angirasa veda. 

In another passage, I, 3, 4, the Gop. Br. also asserts the 
separate character of the Angiras and Atharvans; the latter 
are again associated with bheshagam, the former is made 
the base of a foolish etymology, to wit: bhdyishtsam 
brahma yad bhrigvangirasak, yestigiraso ye-ngiraso sa 
rasak, yextharvano ye-tharvazas tad bheshagam. 

As regards the chronology and cause of this differentia- 

tion of atharvan and angiras the texts are 
Cause of the Σ ΕΕ 
differentiation @pparently wholly silent. The association of 
of atharvan both names (and later of the name bhrigu 
and aigiras. Z eg 
also) with the texts and practices of the 
fourth Veda may be sought in the character of these 
mythic beings. They are fire-priests, fire-churners?, and 
the Atharvanic rites, as well as the house-ceremonies in 
general, centre about the fire, the oblations are into the 
fire. Fire-priests, in distinction from soma-priests, may 
have had in their keeping these homelier practices of 
common life. But whence the terrible aspect of the An- 
giras in contrast to the auspicious Atharvans? In the 
hymn about Saramé and the Pawis, RV. X, 108, 10, Sarama 
threatens the Pavis with the terrible Angiras, angirasas ka 
ghorés. This statement, wholly incidental as it seems to 
be, is, of course, not to be entirely discarded. More im- 
portant is the fact that Brzhaspati, the divine purodha 
(purohita), is distinctly 4ngirasa. In Kaus. 135, 9, Brzhas- 
pati Angirasa appears distinctly as the representative, or 
the divinity of witchcraft performances. In the Mahabha- 
rata he is frequently called angirasim sreshthak. In his 
function of body-priest of the gods it behoves him to 


2 Doubtless by way of allusion to the twenty books in the existing redaction 
of the Saunakfya-sikha. The expression vimsinoxhgirasahk is rep.ated PAs. 
V, 2, 37, as a designation of the twenty books of the Saunakfya-sikha in its 
present redaction. 

2 Avestan Atar-, fthra-van and Vedic athar-van may be derivatives from the 
root manth, math (mth) ‘chum,’ But the absence of the aspiration in Gtar- 
makes the doubtful derivation still more doubtful. 


XXIV HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


exercise against hostile powers those fierce qualities which 
are later in a broader sense regarded as Angirasic. Thus 
RV. X, 164, 4 = AV. VI, 45, 31, certainly exhibits this 
function of the divine purohita, and the composer of AV. 
X, i, 6, when he exclaims, ‘ Pratifina (“ Back-hurler”) the 
descendant of Angiras, is our overseer and officiator (puro- 
hita): do thou drive back again (prati#iz) the spells, and 
slay yonder fashioners of the spells, has also in mind the 
divine purohita?, The stanza foreshadows the later forma- 
tion pratyangiras, discussed above. We look in vain, how- 
ever, for statements of the reason why the word atharvan 
should be especially associated with s4nta and bheshaga, 
and must assume that this was accomplished by secondarily 
contrasting it with angiras after the sense of ghora, abhi#ara 
had incrustated itself over it®. The uncertainty of all this 
does not endanger the result that at a comparatively early 
time the terms atharvamaé, in the sense of ‘holy charms,’ 
and angirasaf, in the sense of ‘ witchcraft charms, joined 
the more distinctively hieratic terms rikah, yagimshi, and 
s4mAni, as characteristic types of Brahmanical literary 
performances. But this distinction was at a later period 
again abandoned; in the end the name atharvan and its 
derivatives prevail as designations of the practices and 
charms of the fourth Veda without reference to their 
strongly diversified character. 

The stem atharvan is modulated in a considerable variety 
of ways by derivative processes, the simple stem itself, or 
forms in the singular from it, being decidedly rare, and not 
at all early. I have noted Nrésimhapdrvatapani Up. I, 4, 
rigyaguksamatharvardpad sfrya#. Plural forms are less 
rare: atharvano vedak, Sat. Br. XIII, 4, 3,7; atharvandm, 


1 yad indra brahmasas pate-bhidrohds saramasi, prageté na Ahgirasd 
dvishat&m patv amhasah. ; 

3 RV. IV, 50, 7-9 prescribes that kings shall keep in honour (subhyitam) 
a brthaspati, i. ε. a Brahman purohita, in archaic language whose sense coincides 
completely with the later Atharvanic notions. Barring the diction the passage 
might stand in any Atharva-Parisish/a; cf. below, p. Ixviii, note, 

3 A dash of popular etymology may have helped the process : a-tharvan, 
‘not injuring ;’ cf. thurv in the sense of ‘injure,’ Dhatupas4a XV, 62, and 
perhaps Maitr. 5.11, 10,1 also the roots tirv and dhfirv with similar meanings. 


INTRODUCTION. XXV 


TB. III, 12, 9, 1; atharvanas, Ραῦξ. Br. XVI, 10,10. The 
derivative neuter plural 4tharvasni (sc. sdktani) is common, 
from AV. XIX, 23, 1; Pa#k. Br. XII, 9, το to Vriddhahaé- 
rita-samhita III, 45 (Givananda, vol. i, p. 213), and later. 
The same stem, Atharvaza, is used in the masculine singular, 
atharvanas (sc. vedaf) katurthak, KA4nd. Up. VII, 1, 2. 4; 
2,1; 7,1; in the plural, mantra Atharvaw44, R4m. II, 26, 21. 
The stem Atharvana (without vrzddhi of derivation) is found 
Nrisimhapirvatépani Up. II, 1, atharvazair mantraiz ; 
Mahaébh. III, 189, 14 = 12963, atharvanah (sc. veda). 
Still another derivative is atharvaza, in atharvaza-vid, 
Mahabh. XII, 342, 100=13259. The name atharva-veda 
appears about as early as the corresponding names of the 
other Vedic categories (rigveda, &c.), Sénkh. Sr. XVI, 2, 
10; Par. Greh. II, 1, 7; Hir. Grzh. II, 19,6; Baudh. Grzh. 
IV, 5,1. The form employed in the Gainist SiddhAnta is 
a(t)havvaza-veda (see below, p. lvi); that of thé Buddhist 
scriptures is Athabbama-veda (ibid.). 
In addition to the designations of the Atharvan discussed 
above there are still others, based upon different modes of 
Other Viewing this heterogeneous collection of Mantras. 
designations A single passage, Sat. Br. XIV, 8, 14, 1-4= 
ofthe AV. By sh. Ar. Up. V, 13, 1-4, seems to hint at the 
fourth Veda with the word kshatram. The passage is 
engaged in pointing out the merits of Vedic compositions, 
Stated in the series uktham (=7zk; cf. Sat. Br. X, 5, 2, 20), 
yagué, sima, kshatram. Inasmuch as the first three ob- 
viously represent the trayi vidya, it is possible to view 
kshatram as epitomising the Atharvan'. If so, the passage 
is of considerable interest, as it seems to view the fourth 
Veda as the Veda of the Kshatriyas. More precisely the 
passage substitutes the act of kshatra, i.e. the characteristic 
performances of the Kshatriya (through, or with the aid of 


‘Cf. also Prasna Up. II, 6, where brahma and kshatra figure. Both together 
represent in the epics the best outcome of the life of a kshatriya, ‘ piety ’ and 
‘prowess.’ It is possible to conceive the appearance of kshatra alone as an 
elliptic version of both brahma and kshatra, the two together being the ont- 
come of the trayt preceding, rather than a supplementary statement of additional 
Vedic types of composition ; cf. Prasna Up. IJ, 6. For brahma alone, see below, 
Ῥ. xxxi, note. 


XXVi HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


his purohita) as Atharvanic by distinction. Recently Pro- 
fessor Weber! has emphasised the marked relation of the 
Atharvan to the royal caste. 

The text of the Samhita abounds in ragakarm4zi, ‘royal 
practices, and Weber thinks that the name of Kausika, the 
author of the great Atharvan Satra, points to a Kshatriya 
connection, since Kusika is identical with Visvamitra, and 
the latter, as is well known, stands forth among the ancient 
Vedic heroes as the representative of royalty. None of 
these points can be regarded as more than possibilities *. 

Two other designations of the AV. differ from all the 
preceding in that they are the product of a later Athar- 
vanic literary age, neither of them being found in the 
Samhita, and both being almost wholly restricted to the 
ritual text of the Atharvan itself. They are the terms 
bhrvzgvangirasak and brahma-veda. 

The term bhrigvangirasak is, as far as the evidence of 
the accessible literature goes, found only in Atharvan texts. 
Though bhvigu takes in this compound the place of atharvan, 
the terms bhrigavak or bhriguveda do not occur. The 
term bhrigvangirasak, however, is the favourite designation 
of the Veda in the Atharvan ritual texts’: it makes a show, 
in fact, of crowding out the other designations. Thus the 
Kausika does not directly mention the Atharvan composi- 
tions by any other name (see 63, 3; 94, 2-4; cf. 137, 25; 
139, 6), although vaguer allusions to this Veda and its 
adherents are made with the stem atharvan (59,25; 73,123 


1 Episches im vedischen Ritual, Proc. of the Royal Academy at Berlin, 
July 23, 1891; nr. xxxviii, p. 785 ff. (especially 787, top); Ragasfya, pp. 4, 
23, note. 

* We may note also the prominence allowed in the AV. to the kind of 
performance called sava, These are elaborate and rather pompous bestowals of 
dakshin&, rising as high as the presentation of a house (salasava, IX, 3); or 
a goat with five messes of porridge, five cows, five pieces of gold, and five 
garments (agaudana, IX, 4). There are twenty-two kinds of these sava, and 
the eighth book of the Kausika is devoted to their exposition (Kesava 64-66 
presents a brief catalogue of them). Revenues of this kind are not likely to 
have been derived from lesser personages than rich Kshatriyas, or kings. 

3 In the SawhitA the stem bhyzgvangiras is never employed as the name of 
the Atharvan writings; in AV. V, 19, 1. 2 the terms bhvégu and aagirasa occur 
as the names of typical Brahman priests. 


INTRODUCTION. XXVil 


125, 2.) The term also occurs in Vait. Sd. 1, 5; Gop. Br. 
1,1, 39; 2, 18 (end); 3, 1. 2. 4, and it is common in the 
Parisishfas (see Weber, Omina und Portenta, p. 346 ff.; 
Verzeichniss der Sanskrit und Prakrit Handschriften, ITI, 
89 ff.), and the Anukramazi. No valid reason appears 
why the term bhrigu has succeeded in encroaching so far 
upon the term atharvan. The following may, however, be 
remarked. The three words atharvan, angiras, and bhrigu 
are in general equivalent, or closely related mythic names 
in connection with the production or the service of fire. 
Occasionally in the mantras (RV. X, 14, 6) they are found 
all together ', or bhvigu is found in company with atharvan 
(RV. X, 92, 10), or with angiras (RV. VIII, 43, 13). This 
interrelation of the three names continues in the Yagus and 
Brahmana-texts, but in such a way that the juxtaposition 
of bhyigu and afgiras becomes exceedingly frequent 2, 
broaching in fact on complete synonymy. The latter is 
reached in Sat. Br. IV, 1, 5, 1, where the sage Ayavana is 
designated either as a Bhargava or as an Angirasa®. It 
is conceivable that the frequency of this collocation sug- 
gested to the Atharvavedins a mode of freshening up the 
More trite combination atharvangirasak ; of any reason for 
a conscious preference of the word bhvigu the texts show 
no trace *. 

The term brahma-veda whose origin is discussed below 
(p. Ixv) likewise belongs to the sphere of the Atharvan 
ritual. Outside of the Atharvan there is to be noted only 
a single, but indubitable occurrence, Sankh. Grzh. I, 16, 3. 


' Cf. Weber, Verzeichniss, I1, 46. 

5 E.g. Tait. 5.1, 1,7, 2; Maitr.S.1,1,8; Vag. 5.1, 18; Tait. Br. J, 1, 4,8; 
IH, 2, 7,6; Sat. Br. I, 2,1, 13; Katy. Sr. 11, 4,38; Apast. Sr.1, 12,3; 23,6; 
Yaska’s Nigh.V, 5; Nir. XI, 18. The juxtaposition of bhrégu and atharvan 
is decidedly rarer in this class of texts (e.g. Apast. Sr. IV, 12, 10); that of 
bhrign and afgiras continues in the Mah@bharata, and later; see Pet. Lex. s.v. 
(col. 364, top). 

5 Cf. similarly Dadhya#é Atharvana, Tait. S. V,1, 4, 4, with Dadhyané 
Aagirasa, Pate. Br. ΧΙ], 8, 6. 

* A statement like that of the late X@lika Upanishad 10, that.the Bhrigu are 
foremost among the Atharvans (atharvano bhrigfittamaA), if it is taken 
seriously at all, reflects rather the result than the cause of the substitution of the 
name bhvign for atharvan. 


XXVIil HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Even in the Atharvan Upanishads the term is wanting '. 
The earliest occurrences of the word, aside from S4nkh. 
Grth., are Vait. Sd. 1, 5; Gop. Br. I, 2,16. The word is 
common in the Parisishfas. 

We may note finally the terms pa#kakalpa and pafka- 
kalpin. They do not refer directly to the Samhitas of the 
AV., but are both bahuvrihi-compounds designating ‘one 
who practises with the five kalpas of the ΑΝ... i.e. Atharvan 
priests. Thus the words were first explained by the author, 
Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XI, 378; Kausika, Introduction, 
p. vii. Cf. also Magoun, The Asuri-kalpa, Amer. Journ. 
Phil. X,169. They are very late: they do not occur in the 
Sdtras or Brahmaza of the AV., nor, as far as is known, 
in the literature proper of that Veda. They appear as the 
titles of scribes of Atharvan texts, see Kausika, Introduc- 
tion, p. ix; Weber, Verzeichniss der S-nskrit und Prakrit 
Handschriften, II, 96. But they are sufficiently attested 
outside of the Atharvan, in the expression, pa#kakalpam 
atharvaram, Mahabh. XII, 342, 99 = 13258, and in the 
Mahabhashya (Ind. Stud. XIII, 455). 


II. THe ΡΟΘΙΤΙΟΝ OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA IN 
Hinpu LITERATURE IN GENERAL. 


In addressing oneself to the task of characterising the 
estimate which the Hindus placed upon the Atharvan 
Statement texts and practices, it is especially needful to 
of the take a broad, if possible a universal view, of 
problem. the statements of the Vedic and mediaeval 
texts bearing upon the question. The Atharvan is 


' The word occurs in certain doubtful variants of the text of the Mundaka 
Up.; see Ind. Stud. I, 301, note. In Rim I, 65, 22 brahmaveda is contrasted 
with kshatraveda, just as at Mahabh. VII, 23, 39=988 brahma veda with 
dhanurveda. In such cases the word brahma is not to be referred pregnantly to the 
fourth Veda, but to Brahmanic religion in general represented by the first caste, 
the science of war being in the hands of the second, or warrior-caste. Cf. below, 
p. xlii. The word brahmavid, Mahabh. 111, 2625 (Nala 14, 18, brahmarshi), 
however, seems to mean ‘skilled in sorcery,’ and may contain an allusion to 
the AV. 


INTRODUCTION. ΧΧΙΧ 


ἃ sacred text in more than one respect: aside from 
the materials which it shares with the Rzg- and Yagur- 
vedas, many of its hymns and practices are benevolent 
(bhesbaga) and are in general well regarded, though even 
these, as we shall see, do not altogether escape the blight 
of contempt. Many hymns of the AV. are theosophic in 
character: on whatsoever ground they found shelter in the 
Atharvan collections they cannot have been otherwise than 
highly esteemed. The class of charms designed to establish 
harmony in family and village life and reconciliation of 
enemies (the so-called sAmmanasyéni, p. 134 ff.), and the 
royal ceremonies (ragakarm4zi), are obviously auspicious in 
their nature. Even the sorceries of the Atharvan neces- 
sarily show a double face: they are useful to oneself, harmful 
to others. According as they are employed objectively and 
aggressively, they :-are a valuable and forceful instrument 
for the benefit and aggrandisement of him that employs 
them ; according as one suffers from them subjectively and 
passively, they are dreadful and contemptible. This con- 
flict of emotions lasts throughout the history of the recorded 
Hindu thought ; the colour of the Atharvan remains change- 
able to the end, and is so described in the final orthodox 
and stereotyped view that it is used ‘to appease, to bless, 
and to curse!.’ The fact, however, is that there must have 
arisen in the long run a strong wave of popular aversion 
against the Veda, whose most salient teaching is sorcery. 
This appears from the discussions of the Hindus themselves 
as to the orthodoxy of that Veda*; from the conscious 
efforts of the later Atharvan writings to vindicate its char- 
acter and value; from the allegorical presentation of the 
Atharvan as ‘a lean black man, sharp, irascible, and 
amorous?;’ and many occasional statements of the Vedic 
and classical texts. The history of the relation of the 
Atharvan to the remaining Hindu literature is, however, 


1 santikapaush/ik4bhi#arAdipratipadaka, Madhus(danasarasvatt (Ind. Stud. 
I, 16); Kesava to Kaus. 1,1 ; Deva to Katy. Sr. XV, 7, 11, and elsewhere. 

2 According to Bumell, Vamsabrahmama of the Samaveda, p. xxi, the most 
influential scholars of Southem India still deny the genuineness of the Atbarvan. 

3 Ragendraldlamitra in the Introduction to the Gopatha-brahmaaa, p. 4. 


~ 


XXX HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


still unwritten, and the following pages aim to supply the 
necessary data. 
In the hymn to the Purusha, the primaeval cosmic man 
(RV. X, 90, 9), the three Vedic categories, rikak sAmAni 
tien foie Ξ yaguf, are mentioned; a fourth term, 
the AV. in andamsi, is generic, embodying the metrical 
eat Ne: canons, or the metrical compositions as a 
whole, but the opportunity to mention the 
Atharvan is neglected!. The names atharvan, angiras, 
and bhvigu, which occur frequently elsewhere in the RV., 
designate mythic personages, intimately connected with the 
production of the fire, and the soma-sacrifice ; nowhere do 
they seem to refer to any kind of literary composition. 
Even the expression brahmazi, used in connection with 
atharvan, RV. I, 80, 16, can claim no special interest, be- 
cause, as will appear later (p. xvi), the word brdhma is 
never used as a specific designation of Atharvan charms. 
No great importance is to be attached to this silence; the 
praises to the gods in connection with the great soma- 
sacrifices, with their prevailing mythical colouring, darkened 
very often by priestly mysticism, offer but scant occasion 
for the mention of sorcery, or the plainer practices of every- 
day life. Yet sorcery and house-practices there were in 
India at all times?. The failure of the Rig-veda to mention 
any systematic redaction of charms by a collective name 
like atharvangirasak must be gauged by the slenderness of 
its opportunities to mention the Veda as a generic name 
(cf. VIII, 19, 5), or Vedic collections or redactions in par- 
ticular (X, 90, 9)°. There is no proof that even the oldest 


1 For RV. X, 71, 11, which also hints at the three Vedic types, and the 
bréhma that embraces them all, see the full discussion below, p. lxiv ff. 

3 Cf. e.g., RV. I, 191; VII, 50, and especially VII, 104, τό. 

* The familiar mention of compositions called r##, saman, uktha, stotra, 
sastra, &c., does not, it is important to note, refer to collections at all, but to 
types of poetic productivity; they are moreover all of them such as were dis- 
tinctly connected with the soma-sacrifice. Their presence simply accentuates 
the preoccupation of the body of the Rig-vedic collection with the great priestly 
sacrifices, and the consequent absence of the more general terms for Vedic 
classes of writings. The stem yagu/, in the sense of collection of formulas of 
the Yagur-veda, occurs only in the above-mentioned passage, X, 90, 9. 


INTRODUCTION. ΧΧΧΙ 


parts of the RV., or the most ancient Hindu tradition 
accessible historically, exclude the existence of the class 
of writings entitled to any of the names given to the 
Atharvan charms ; there is no evidence that these writings 
ever differed in form (metre) or style from those in the 
existing Atharvan redactions; and, finally, there is no 
positive evidence—barring the argumentum ex silentio— 
that the names current in other texts as designations of 
Atharvan hymns (bheshag4ni, atharvazah, angirasak, &c.) 
were unknown at the earliest period of literary activity. 
On the other hand, the existing redactions of the AV. 
betray themselves as later than the RV. redaction by the 
character of the variants in those mantras which they share 
with the RV. 
As regards the AV., the stanza X, 7, 20 presents the 
four Vedic categories, rikahk, yaguh, sam&ni, and atharvan- 
Position of gitasad, the last the traditional name of the 
the AV.in Saunakiya-version. The same tetrad is intended 
Pee at XI, 6, 14, where the narrower term bhesha- 
Saunakiya- gA(ni) takes the place of atharvangirasak. At 
See XIX, 54, 5 the mention of atharvan and 
angiras, though not directly referable to the AV., certainly 
suggests it, because stanza 3 speaks in the same strain of 
the rikak and yaguh ; and in XIX, 22, 1; 23, 1 (parisishfa 
in character ; cf. above, p. xxii), the AngirasAni and Athar- 
vanni (sc. siktani) are mentioned separately. Otherwise 
this text also fails to present a fixed name for the type of 
literature known later as Atharvanic'. The Atharvan is 
very much in the same position as we shall find the Yagus- 
texts: the three Vedas are mentioned, often in connection 
with other more specific forms and designations of prayer 
and sacerdotal acts, but the Atharvan is omitted. The 
impression left in both cases is by no means that of con- 
scious neglect or contempt, but rather of esoteric restriction 
to the sphere of the great Vedic ritual (srauta)*. Thus 


1 The word brahma which is catalogued with the tray! at XI, 8, 23; XV. 6,3 
(cf. also XV, 3, 7) does not refer to the Atharvan, but is the broader and higher 
term for religious activity in general. Cf. RV. X, 71, 11, and see below, p. Ixvi. 

? E.g. in the very same hymn (X, 7, 14) in which the Atharvaigirasa’ are 


XXXil IIYMNS OF THE ATITARVA-VEDA. 


it augurs no contempt or neglect of the Atharvan, if in 
a charm constructed for the purpose of obtaining a know- 
ledge of the Vedas, AV. VII, 54 (Kaus. 42, 9), only rzk, 
sAman, yaguA, veda, and oblation (haviZ) are mentioned : 
the person who here desires Vedic learning is not in training 
for Atharvan priesthood, and therefore does not take care 
to include this specialistic learning '. And similarly a con- 
siderable number of additional Atharvan passages, IX, 6, 
1.2; XI, 7, 5.24; 8,23; XII, 1, 38; XV, 3, 6-8; 6, 3, in 
which the Atharvan is not mentioned with the other Vedic 
compositions, betray no sign of conscious exclusion or con- 
tempt of the Atharvan. On the other hand, this very 
omission ensures the interesting result that the Samhita 
of the AV., unlike its ritualistic adjuncts (see p. lvii ff.), 
is in no wise engaged either in self-glorification, or in 
polemics against the other Vedas. It seems altogether 
evident that the Atharvan diaskeuasts were totally uncon- 
scious of any disadvantages inherent in their text, or any 
contemptuous treatment on the part of the adherents of 
the other Vedas. 

In addition to the explicit designation of the Atharvan 
compositions as atharvangirasaz, bheshag4ni, Atharvazani, 
&c., there is to be noted in the Saunakiya-text of the 
hymns a decided advance in the association of the names 
Atharvan, Angiras, and Bhrigu with the practices and 
conditions which these hymns are aimed at. The older, 
broader, and vaguer mythic personality of all three which 
appears, e.g. in RV. VIII, 43, 13; X, 14,6 (=AV. XVIII, 
1, 58); X, 92, 10, is still continued in the Atharvan (VI, 
1,1; XI, 6,13; XVI, 8, 11-14): Atharvan, Angiras, and 
Bhrigu are at times simply semi-divine, or wholly divine 


mentioned as the fourth Veda the poet lapses into the more familiar traividya, 
in a stanza which, like st. 20, aims to state that the Vedas are derived from 
Skambha (Brahma), a monctheistic personification ; cf. Muir, Original Sanskrit 
Texts, V, 378. 

1 A similar passage in a Sitra of the RV. (Asv Grth. III, 3, 1-35, on the 
same occasion, namely, the study of the Veda, does not hesitate to include the 
Atharvan along with many other Vedic texts. This does not argue conscious 
preference, any more than the Atharvan passage indicates conscious exclusion ; 
cf, below, p. xliv. 


INTRODUCTION. | XXXlil 


beings, whose office is entirely non-Atharvanic. But on the 
other hand the Atharvans appear at IV, 37,1 as slayers 
of the Rakshas (similarly IV, 3, 7); the Atharvans and 
Angiras fasten amulets, and consequently slay the Dasyus, 
at X,6, 20; and the name Bhvigu appears at V, 19, 1 (cf. 
TS. I, 8, 18,1; TB. 1, 8, 2, 5) as the typical designation 
of a Brahmaaa, i.e. here, of an Atharvan priest. Such 
specialisations of these names are unknown in the RV. 
Especially noteworthy is the evident beginning of the asso- 
Cation of the name 4ngirasa with aggressive witchcraft or 
spells, and the somewhat less clear corresponding correla- 
tion of the stem Atharvaza with auspicious charms (see 
above, p. xviii ff.). Altogether the impression arises that 
the names Atharvan, Angiras, and Bhrigu, connected with 
the redaction of the AV., have in the text of that Veda 
assumed, or commenced to assume, the office which the 
diaskeuast and the ritualistic texts of the Atharvan have 
definitely and permanently bestowed upon them. 
In the domain of the sruti, exclusive of the Rig-veda, i.e. 
in the Yagus-samhitaés, and the Brahmazas, the position 
acs of the Atharvan is on the whole defined with 
the AV.in Sufficient clearness, It depends altogether on 
the restof_ the practical character of these texts as ex- 
le sruti, . . 
ponents of the great Vedic sacrifices, the 
stauta-performances: these, by their very nature, exclude 
any very direct interest in the systematic charms of the 
bheshagani and Abhiédrikazi, Such sorcery as is inter- 
woven with the srauta-performances has acquired inde- 
pendent expression in the metrical and prose formulas 
the Yagus-samhitas; it figures in the form and by the 
name of sacrificial formulas (yagQmshi) as part of the 
threefold Veda (trayi vidy4). Thus the subject-matter 
of formulas like the following: ‘I dig (pits) that slay the 
Rakshas, destroy the spells that belong to Vishzu; that 
spell here which my equal or unequal has dug into (the 
ground) do I cast out ; I make subject here my equal or 
my unequal that plans hostile schemes against me’ (Tait. S. 
I,3,2,1; VI, 2,11, 1.2; Maitr. S. I, 2, 10.11; Vag. 5. 
V, 23 ff.; Sat. Br. III, 5, 4, 8 ff.), is by its very terms 
[42] ς 


XXXIV HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Atharvanic, and the practices by which its recitation is 
supplemented might be described in the Kausika-sdtra. 
The formula γό asm4n dvéshzi yd ka vaydm dvishma, 
‘he that hates us and whom we hate’ (shall perish, or 
the like), occurs countless times in the Yagus-texts, as well 
as in the Atharvan charms. The aims and the acts of 
the Atharvan are present at the Vedic sacrifice, as well as 
at the practices of private life ; the difference lies in the 
degree of applicability, and the degree of prominence: in 
the sruti-literature the sphere of the Atharvan is restricted 
to matters that are incidental and subsidiary, intended 
merely to pave the way for the main issue, the successful 
dispatching of the sacrifice to the gods, and the undis- 
turbed gratification of the pricsts (the ishtam and the pdr- 
tam). Under these circumstances and at such a time 
pronounced hostility against the Atharvan would be a 
paradox, too silly even for the Yagus-texts and the Brah- 
mazas; no such hostility or repugnance is in evidence: 
that is reserved for a later and more reflective age. 

In the first place then, the mythic personages Atharvan, 
Angiras, and Bhvigu, whose proper names in the course 
of time are growingly restricted to the sphere of the 
Atharvan, continue in their pristine position of demi-gods. 
At Maitr. S. I, 6,1 the Angiras are still gods, angirasas 
tv4 devandm vratena:dadhe; similarly Tait. Br. I, 1, 4, 8, 
bhrighvam tvasngirasazz vratapate vratenasdadhami ; cf. 
also Tait. Br. III, 2, 7,6; Maitr. S. I, 1,8; Vag. S. I, 
18 (Sat. Br. I, 2, 1,13; Katy. Sr. II, 4,38); Apast. Sr. V, 
11,7. For Atharvan, see Tait. S. V, 1, 4, 3; 6, 6, 3; Tait. 
Br. I, 1, 10,4; Vag. S. VIII, 56; XI, 32. And so innu- 
merable other instances. Needless to say, the descendants 
of the three divinities, conceived eponymically as the 
founders of families of Rishis, the Atharvama, Angirasa, 
and Bhargava, enjoy the same rights, and hold the same 
position of honour as the other families of Rishis, it being 
reserved for the later Atharvan writings to extol them 
beyond measure, and to establish them as the typical 
teachers!, Thus Atharvan Daiva is the name of an ancient 


* Cf. Weber, Omina und Portenta, p. 347. 


INTRODUCTION. XXXV 


teacher, Sat. Br. XIV, 5, 5, 22; 7, 3, 28; Dadhyask 
Atharvana, Tait. S. V, I, 4,4; 6, 6, 3; Sat. Br. IV, 1, 5, 
18; VI, 4, 2, 3; the countless Angirasa, of which the RV. 
Anukramazi counts no less than 45, e.g. Sat. Br. IV, 1. 
5,1; Kaush. Br. XXX, 6; Ait. Br. VIII, 21, 13; Apast. 
Sr. V, 11,7; and the equally frequent Bhargava, Tait. S. 
I, 8, 18,1; Sat. Br. ib.; Ait. Br. VIII, 2, 1.5; Kaus. Br. 
XXII, 4. Occasionally, doubtless, even the sruti feels the 
connection that has been established between these names 
and the sphere of Atharvanic literary activity, as when the 
Kark. 5. XVI, 13 mentions a Rishi Bhishag Atharvaza ἢ 
(see Weber, Ind. Stud. III, 459); the Kaush. Br. XXX, 6, 
a Rishi Ghora Angirasa ; or when the Pa#é. Br. XII, 8, 6 
states that Dadhya%é Angirasa was the chaplain (puro- 
dhaniya) of the gods. 

The manner in which the hymns of the Atharvan are 
alluded to in the srauta-texts is as follows. Ordinarily the 
texts are preoccupied with the sacrificial literature in the 
narrower sense, and hence devote themselves to the men- 
tion and laudation of the trayi vidy4, either without recount- 
ing its specific literary varieties, or by fuller citation of 
the terms vk, siman, yagu#. For these are substituted not 
infrequently other terms like stoma, uktha, sastra, udgitha. 
&c., special liturgical varieties, also derived directly from 
the sphere of the srauta-performances, and, in fact, strictly 
dependent upon these performances for their existence. 
On the other hand, whenever the srauta-texts mention, or 
make draughts upon other literary forms like itihdsa, 
puraza, gatha, sitra, upanishad, and many others, the 
Atharvan literature is almost unfailingly included, and 
that too almost invariably in the following ‘order: the 
traividya is mentioned first, the Atharvan holds the fourth 
place, and next follow in somewhat variable arrangement 
the types itihasa, &c. 


1 Cf. Weber, Episches im vedischen Ritual, Sitzungsberichte der Kéniglich- 
Preussischen Akademie d. Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1891, p. 812 (46 of the 
reprint). 

2 The same apocryphal Rishi is reported by the Anukramanfs as the author 
of the oshadhistuti, ‘the hymn to the plants,’ RV. X, 97; Vag. S. XII, 75-S9. 


ς 2 


XXXVI HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Thus the Taittirtya-samhité mentions rzk, siman, and 
yaguk alone at II, 4, 12,7; 5,7, 1: VI, 1, 2,4; VII. 3, 
Thais 1,43 12,1; the same categories are alluded to 
the at II, 4,11,6,in the expressions sdmnak, yagu- 
Taittirlya- sh4m, and ukthamadan4m ; at III, 2, 9, 5. 6 
samhita. ᾿ 2 
in the expressions udgatvzv4m (with udgitha), 
ukthasamsinim (with rzkak), and adhvaryOwdm ; cf. also 
ish¢ayagushak, stutastomasya, sastokthasya at I, 4, 28, 1. 
The only mention of Atharvan literature is at VII, 5, 11, 2, 
under the designation angirasa% (without atharvazah 1), and 
here the text is as follows: rigbhyaé svaha, yagurbhyas 
svaha, simabhya’ svaha, angirobhyak svaha, vedebhyas 
svaha, gathaébhyaé svaha, narasamsibhyak svaha, raibhi- 
bhyad svaha. 
This also, in the main, is the nature of the references to 
the AV. in the Satapatha-brahmaza. Either the term 
_  trayt vidya is used, or rzk, siman, and yagué 
the are mentioned explicitly: I, 1, 4, 2. 3; II, 
Satapatha- 6, 4, 2-7; IV, 6, 7, 1. 23 V, 5, 5, 1.93 VIL, 
1, 1,8; 3,1, 10.11.20; VII, 5, 2,52; VIII, 5, 
2,4; IX, 5, 2,12; X, 4, 2, 21. 22; 5,2, 1.2; XI,5,4,18; 
8, 3-7; XII, 3, 3,23 4,9; XIV, 4,3,12; 8,15,2.9. In all 
these cases there is no mention of the Atharvan; but neither 
is there any mention of any other literary type that has 
a distinctive standing outside of the trayi vidya. On the 
other hand, the Atharvan is mentioned in a number of cases, 
every one of which presents also a lengthy list of addi- 
tional literary forms. Thus XI, 5, 6, 4-8, rikah, yagdmshi, 
samani, atharvangirasak, anusdsanAni, vidya, vakovakyam, 
itihdsapurazam, gatha narasamsyahk; XIII, 4, 3, 3 ff, riko 
vedak, yagimshi vedak, atharvano vedak, angiraso vedak, 
sarpavidya vedak, devaganavidya vedak, maya vedaf, 
itihdso vedak, purazam vedah, sAm4ni vedak ; XIV, 5, 4, 
10; 6, 10,6; 7,3, 51 (Ξ Βγέῃ. Ar. II, 4,10; IV, 1, 2; 
5, 11), rigvedo yagurvedak sAmavedostharvangirasa iti- 
hasak purazam vidy4 upanishadas sloké# sitrazy anuvya- 
khyAnani vyakhydn4ni; X, 5, 2, 20, adhvaryavad (yaguh), 


τ Ct. above, p. xviii. 


INTRODUCTION. XXXVI 


khandogah (siman), bahvrikah (uktham), yatuvidas (yAtu). 
sarpavidak . . . devaganavidak. Only a single Upanishad 
passage, XIV, 8, 14, 1-4 (=Brth. Ar. Up. V, 13, 1-4), 
seems to mention, or rather hint at, the Atharvan in con- 
nection with representatives of the trayi vidy4, without 
mentioning other texts’. The series is uktham, yagud, 
sima, kshatram; the passage possibly views the fourth 
Veda as the Veda of the Kshatriyas, or, more precisely, 
substitutes the act of kshatra, i.e. the performances of the 
kshatriya as Atharvanic by distinction. See, for this, p. xxv, 
above. 
The Taittiriya-brahmava mentions the Atharvan twice, 
once in accordance with the method described above, at 
ae III, 12, 8, 2, γίξο yagdmshi s4m4ni atharvé- 
the  nigirasak ... itihdsapurdgzam. In the other 
τε θήγει passage, III, 12, 9, 1, the Atharvan is men- 
tioned without the customary adjuncts, and 
that too before the Sama-veda, to wit, rikam pr&hi 
mahati dig ufyate, dakshizim Ahur yagusham ap4rdm, 
atharvanam angiras4m prati#i, simndm udifi mahati dig 
ukyate. But it is of interest to note that in the sequel, 
where sundry symbolic and mystic correlations of the 
Vedas with the sun, &c., are established, the Atharvan is 
wanting, and the operations take place with vedais tribhiz. 
Thus, rigbhif parvahne divi deva iyate, yagurvede tish//ati 
madhye ahna#, sdmaveden4sstamaye mahiyate, vedair 
asdnyas tribhir eti siryaz. We shall not err in judging 
that the fourth Veda is mentioned in a purely formulaic 
manner, only because it is needed to fill out the scheme of 
the four principal directions of space; the real theme at 
the heart of the author is the traividya, as, e.g. in III, 10,. 
11, 5.6. On the other hand, it would be altogether erro- 
neous to assume either hostility, or conscious discrimina- 
tion against the Atharvan. The Taittiriya-dArazyaka again 
falls into line in two passages, II, g and 10, presenting the 
texts in their most expansive form, rikah, yaghmeshi, 


1 Conversely the trayf is catalogued with other texts (vakovakyam itiha- 
sapurizam), but without the Atharvan, at XI, 5, 7, 6 ἢ. ; cf. the same list 
Sankh. Grsh. I, 24, 8. 


XXXVilil HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 
sdmani, atharvangirasa#, brahmavd4ni, itihdsan, purdzdni, 
kalpAn, gathas, naérasamsih. ᾿ 
The only mention of the Atharvan as a literary type in 
Sankhayana’s Srauta-sitra is at XVI, 2, 2 ff., again in the 
nena series, riko vedahk, yagurvedah, atharvavedak 
theremain- (in connection with bheshagam), Angiraso vedak 
i oka (in connection with ghoram), sarpavidyé, ra- 
kshovidy4, asuravidy4, itihdsavedas, purama- 
vedah, samavedad. Very similarly in Asvalayana’s Srauta- 
sitra X, 7, 1 ff, riko vedak yagurvedak, atharvanak 
vedas (with bheshagam), Angiraso vedak (with ghoram), 
vishavidy4, pisddavidyd4, asuravidy4, purazavidy4, itihdso 
vedak, sdmaveda#. These passages are essentially iden- 
tical with Sat. Br. XIII, 4, 3, 3 ff, above; their chief 
interest lies in the differentiation of atharvan and ahgiras, 
respectively as representatives of the auspicious (bheshagam) 
and terrible (ghoram = 4bhitarikam) activities of this Veda ; 
cf. above, p. xviii ff. In the Pa#éavinzsa-brahmamna, XII, 9, 
10; XVI, 10, 10, the Atharvan charms are mentioned 
favourably: bheshagam νὰ atharvavani, and bheshagasm 
vai devén4m atharv4no bheshagydyaisvdrrishtyai. Cf. 
also XXIII, 16,7; Kath. 5. XI, ὁ (cf. Ind. Stud. ITI, 463). 
The Vagasaneyi-saszhita mentions the traividya (or rzk 
and sdman without yaguf) frequently, IV, 1.9; VIII, 12; 
XVIII, 9. 29. 67; XX, 12; XXXIV, 5; XXXVI, 9; the 
Atharvan is nowhere mentioned in connection with the other 
three. Once at XXX, 15=Tait. Br. III, 4, 1, 11, a woman 
that miscarries (avatoka) is devoted to the Atharvans ; the 
reference, in the light of AV. VI, 17; Kaus. 35, 12 (a 
charm to prevent miscarriage), seems to be to Atharvan 
hymns or Atharvanic practices. Otherwise the word athar- 
van occurs in connections that admit of no special, or at 
any rate obvious, reference to the fourth Veda, VIII, 56 ; 
XI, 32. Neither is there, as far as is known, any mention 
of the Atharvan in the Maitrayavi-samhita, the Aitareya 
and Kaushitaki-brahmawas, or Katya4yana’s and Lartya- 
yana’s Srauta-sitras, 
The position of the Atharvan in the srauta-literature 
according to this evidence is what might be naturally 


INTRODUCTION. . XXXIX 


expected: there is no evidence of repugnance or exclu- 
siveness. Witchcraft is blended with every sphere of 
religious thought and activity, and the only 
Resumé of : 

the santa. Sane attitude on the part of these texts must 
breast ooeas be the recognition of the literary products 
which are by distinction the repositories 

of witchcraft. No one will expect rigid consistency: 
witchcraft blows hot and cold from the same mouth; 
according as it is turned towards the inimical forces, 
human and demoniac, or is turned by others against one- 
self, it is regarded as useful, or noxious. The AV. itself 
takes the same view by implication: the hymn, II, 12, 
hurls the bitterest invective against enemies that endeavour 
to thwart one’s holy work; this does not prevent one’s 
own endeavour to frustrate the sacrifice of an enemy 
(VII, 70); the hymn, II, 7, ensures protection against 
curses and hostile plots, but does not prevent the existence 
of fierce imprecations and curses issued forth subjectively 
for the ruin of another (VI, 13 and 37). It is a question 
throughout of my sorcery, or thy sorcery. The flavour of 
holiness and virginal innocency is necessarily absent, and 
this want crops out in connection with the performances 
of yatu even in the RV. (VII, 104, 15. 16), where the writer 
exclaims: ‘may I die to-day if I am a sorcerer,’ and com- 
plains against his enemy who calls him, though he is pure, 
a sorcerer, and against the real sorcerer who pretends that 
he is pure. Though yAtu (sorcery) is regarded here as 
devilish (cf. e.g. AV. I, 7 and 8), the writer at Sat. Br. X, 
5, 2, 20 is not prevented from placing the yatuvidad, ‘ those 
that are skilled in sorcery,’ in solemn array with the repre- 
sentatives of the holiest forms of literature, immediately 
after the bahvrzka#, as the characteristic exponent of 
Atharvanic activity. And on the other hand even bhe- 
shagam, ‘cure, medicine, the altruistic province of the 
Atharvan, though well regarded in general, does not come 
off without a sneer. The Tait. S. VI, 4, 9, 3 (cf. Maitr. S. 
IV, 6,2; Sat. Br. IV, 1, 5,14) says, brahmazena bhesha- 
gam na karyam, ‘a Brahman shall not practise medicine,’ 
the reason that is assigned being that the physician is 


xl HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


impure, that the practice entails promiscuous, unaristocratic 
mingling with men: ‘men run to the physician’ (MS. IV, 
6, 2, p. 80, 1. 1)4, And we may trust that the canons of 
social standing and literary appreciation of a people that 
had produced the best that is to be found in Vedic litera- 
ture could not fail altogether, when in the proper mood, to 
estimate at its right value the wretched hocus-pocus of the 
bheshagani themselves, though these were the best that 
the Vedic period had produced for the relief of bodily 
ailment. Yet the Veda without witchcraft would not be 
the Veda, and the srauta-texts are not in the position to 
throw stones against the Atharvan. Moreover it must 
not be forgotten that the Atharvan contains in its cosmo- 
gonic and theosophic sections more material that undertakes 
to present the highest brahmavidya than any other Vedic 
Samhita (cf. below, p. Ixvi); by whatever literary evo- 
lution this was associated with this sphere of literature and 
incorporated into the redaction, it doubtless contributed to 
the floating of the more compact body of sorcery-charms, 
and its higher valuation among the more enlightened of the 
people. At any rate, a sober survey of the position of the 
Atharvan in the traividya yields the result that this Veda, 
while not within the proper sphere of the greater concerns 
of Vedic religious life, is considered within its own sphere 
as a Veda in perfectly good standing; the question of its 
relative importance, its authority, and its canonicity is not 
discussed, nor even suggested. 
The position of the Atharvan in the Upanishads does not 
appear to differ from that in the sruti in general. Aside 
The AV. in from the Atharvan Upanishads, which are 
the Upani- naturally somewhat freer in their reference 
shade: to the AV., and in the mention of more or 
less apocryphal Atharvan teachers, it is introduced but 
rarely, and usually in the manner prevalent elsewhere 
in the srauta-literature, i.e. preceded by the trayi, and 


1 Cf. the contempt for the pigayag#iyas, ye pigan yagayanti, ‘those who 
sacrifice for a crowd,’ Manu III, 151; Mah&bh. I, 2883, and the grimayagin, 
Manu IV, 205, and gramayfgaka, Mahdbh. III, 13355. See also Vishnu 
LXXXII, 12; Gaut. XV, τό. 


INTRODUCTION. xli 


followed by a variable list of other literary types. Thus 
the passages quoted above from Sat. Br. XIV, 5, 4,10; 6, 
10,6; 7, 3, 11 = Brith. Ar. Up. II, 4,10; IV, 1,2; 5,11, 
and the Tait. Ar. II, 9 and 10, are of Upanishad character, 
and the Maitr. Up. VI, 32 repeats the list of texts stated at 
Sat. Br. = Brith. Ar. Up., just cited, in precisely the same 
order. The same text, Maitr. Up. VI, 33 (=Maha Up. 2: 
Atharvasiras 4), has the list vigyaguksdmatharvangirasa 
{πάσα puravam. The AAand. Up. III, 1-4 deals with 
rik, yaguk, s4man, atharvangirasad, and itihdsapurdv4ni ; 
the same text at VII, 1, 2.4; 2,1; 7, 1, has the same list, 
... Atharvavas aturthak itihdsapuravak pasikamah, to 
which are added a lengthy series of additional sciences 
(vidya). The Tait. Up.=Tait. Ar. VIII, 3, again, presents 
the Atharvan in a formulaic connection, tasya (sc. 4tmanaf) 
yagur eva sirak, rig dakshivak pakshak, simo-ttarah pa- 
kshad, Adesa Atm4, atharvangirasak pukkham'. There is, 
as far as is known, no additional mention of the Atharvan 
in the non-Atharvanic Upanishads, and it is evident that 
there is no marked change in the manner in which the 
fourth Veda is handled. Very much more numerous are 
the instances in which the trayi alone appears; see Jacob's 
Concordance to the principal Upanishads, under the words 
rigveda, rimmaya, rik; yagurveda, yagurmaya, yagus ; 
samaveda, smamaya, s4man. They show that the draughts 
upon the Atharvan and the subsequent literary forms are, _ 
in general, made under the excitement of formulaic solem- 
nity ; while on the other hand, needless to say, the Upani- 
shads with their eye aloft alike from hymn, sacrificial 
formula, and witchcraft charm, have no occasion to condemn 
the Atharvan, aside from that superior attitude of theirs 
which implies, and diplomatically expresses condemnation 
of the entire Veda that is not brahmavidya. 

Even in the Atharvan Upanishads there is sounded in 


1 This Upanishad belongs to a Yagus-school; hence the pre-eminence of the 
yagus. The Atharvan is here forced into a position of disadvantage, and it 
may be admitted that its mention after the Aadesa (Upanishad) is intentional. 
But there is really no other course open to the writer. The tenor of the entire 
passage excludes the notion of disparagement of any of the texts mentioned. 


xhi HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


general neither the polemic nor the apologetic note which 
characterises the ritualistic writings of the Atharvan. We 
__ find, to be sure, in the late Prazava Up. a spo- 

The AV. in ae ᾿ ἢ aie 
the radic, if not solitary, assumption of superiority 
aha on the part of the AV.!, and an interpolated 

panishads, ᾿ 

passage in the Prasna Up. V, 5 betrays the 
distinct tendency to secure at any cost the correlation 
of the Atharvan with the highest brahma*. The authority 
of Atharvanic teachers, Sanatkuméra, Angiras, Paippalada, 
&c., is, of course, cited with especial frequency in the 
Atharvan Upanishads, helping to confer upon them an 
esoteric school character. But in general, all that may be 
said is, that the Atharvan Upanishads mention the fourth 
Veda along with the other three more frequently than the 
corresponding tracts of the other schools, that the Atharvan 
is quietly added to the trayi, whether other literary forms 
like the itihdsapuravam, &c., appear in the sequel, or not. 
Even these Upanishads, however, occasionally lapse into 
the more frequent habit of the bulk of the Vedic literature, 
and fail to refer to the Atharvan, whether consciously or 
not, it seems impossible to tell. Thus the Muadaka Up. 
I, 1, 5 counts the four Vedas (Atharvan included) along 
with the Angas as the lesser science, above which towers 
the science of Brahma: rigvedo, yagurvedas, simavedo 
stharvaveda/ siksha, &c. But in II, 1, 6 the list is, γέξαξζ 
sima yagdmshi diksha yag#aska. The Prasna Up. II, ἃ 
says of the Prdaza, ‘life’s breath’ (personified), rishindm 
karitam satyam atharvangiras4m asi, which seemingly con- 
tains an allusion to the Atharvan writings, but in II, 6 we 
have, praze sarvam pratish/ditam riko yagdmshi s&mani 
yag#ah kshatram brahma ka*, See also Mahandrayana 
Up. 22. This betrays the usual preoccupation with the 
traividya, which is not quite effaced by the possible allusion 
to the Atharvan in II, 8. The Nrésimhapdrvatapani Up. 


" See Ind. Stud. I, 296; ΙΧ, 51. 

2 See Ind. Stud. I, 453, note, and cf. Péhtlingk’s critical edition of the 
Prasna in the Proceedings of the Royal Saxon Academy, November, 1890. 

5 It would have been casy to substitute for the last four words, atharvaa- 
girasas da ye, or the like. Cf. also Piasna V, 5, alluded to above. 


INTRODUCTION. xhii 


I, 2 has, rigyaguksamatharvanas katvaro vedah; I, 4, rig- 
yaguésamatharvaripad sirya#; II, 1 (=Nrisimhottarata- 
pani Up. 3; Atharvasikha Up. 1), rigbhis rigvedak, yagur- 
bhir yagurvedad, sAmabhiz sAmavedad, atharvanair mantrair 
atharvavedad; in V,9 it falls into the broader style of 
reference, rikah, yagimshi, sAmani, atharvazam, angirasam, 
sakhaé, purazani, kalpan, gathas, narasamsth, leading up 
finally to pranavam, the Om which embraces all (sarvam). 
But in V, 2 we have rigmayam yagurmayam sdmamayam 
brahmamayam amritamayam, where brahmamayam ob- 
viously refers to the brahmavidy4, the holy science, not to 
the fourth Veda, the Brahmaveda'. And thus the Brah- 
mavidya Up. 5 ff. recounts the merits of the traividya, 
culminating in the Om, without reference to the Atharvan. 
It seems clear that even the Atharvan Upanishads as a class 
are engaged neither in defending the Atharvan from attack, 
nor in securing for it any degree of prominence. Other 
references to the Atharvan occur in Atharvasiras 1, rig 
aham yagur aham sama-ham atharvangirasozham; Mu- 
ktika Up. 12-14, rigveda, yagu/, sAman, atharvava ; ibid. 1, 
atharvavedagatanam . ..upanishadim ; Maha Up. 3, gaya- 
tram khanda rigvedaf, traish‘ubham khando yagurvedas, 
gagatam khandah simaveda4, anushfubham kandostharva- 
vedak. Cf. also Kdlika Up. 10, 13, .14. 
On turning to the Grihya-sdtras it would be natural to 
anticipate a closer degree of intimacy with the Atharvan, 
and hence a more frequent and less formulaic 
inthe. reference to its writings. For the subject- 
Grihya- = matter of these texts is itself, broadly speak- 
ing, Atharvanic, besides being dashed strongly 
with many elements of vidhana or sorcery-practice, i.e. 
Atharvanic features in the narrower sense and by dis- 
tinction? Many verses quoted in the Gvzhya-s(tras are 


1 The Upanishads do not designate the fourth Veda as Brahmaveda, unless 
we trust certain doubtful variants and addenda, reported by Weber, Ind. Stud. 
I, 301, note. The earliest occurrence of Brahmaveda is at Sankh. Grsh. I, 16, 
13 (see above, p. xxvii). 

2 Οἷς, e.g. the use of roots, Par. I, 13, 5; Sahkh. 1, 19,1; 23, 1; the battle- 
charm, Asv. HI, 12 (cf. p. 117 ff. of this vclume); the bhaishagy4ni, 
‘remedial charms,’ Asv. III, 6, 3 ff.; Par. 1, 16, 24 ff.; HI, 6; Hir. I, 7; 


xliv HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


identical with, or variants of those contained in the Atharva- 
samhita. But even the Grthya-rites, popular, nay vulgar, 
as they must have been in their untrammelled beginnings, 
were, so to speak, Rishified, and passed through in due 
time a process of school-treatment which estranged them 
as far as possible from the specifically Atharvanic connec- 
tions, and assimilated them, as far as possible, to the Rig- 
veda, SAma-veda, and Yagur-veda, as the case may be. 
Thus the battle-charm, Asv. III, 12, instead of drawing 
upon the very abundant mantras of this kind, contained in 
the AV. (see p. 117 ff.), is decked out with the scattering 
material cf this sort that may be extracted from the RV. 
(see the notes to Stenzler’s and Oldenberg’s translations). 
In general the preference for mantras of the particular 
school is nearly if not quite as great as in the Srauta- 
sdtras. The anticipation of a marked degree of literary 
relationship with the Atharvan is not materialised. The 
Grihya-stras of the Sama-veda (Gobhila and KhAdira), 
and Apastamba!, do not seem to mention the Atharvan 
at all; Asvalayana (III, 3, 1-3), on the occasion of the 
svadhyaya, the daily recitation of the Veda, recommends 
the Atharvan, but the mention of this text is that which 
we have found to be the normal one in the Srauta-litera- 
ture, i.e. preceded by r7k, yagud, and siman; followed by 
brahmana, kalpa, gatha, narAsamsi, itihdsa, and purdma ?. 
Similarly Hirazyakesin (11, 19, 6), in connection with a 
long list of deities, mentions in order rigveda, yagurveda, 
samaveda, and itihasapuraza; in SAnkhayana I, 24, 8 the 
Atharvan is even omitted in a similar list, which catalogues 


Apast. VII, 18 (cf. p. 1 ff.) ; the simmanasyfni, ‘charms to secure harmony,’ 
Par. HI, 7; Apast. II], 9, 4 ff.; VIII, 23, 6. 7; Hir. I, 13, 19 ff. (cf. p. 
134 ff.), &c. See in general the list of miscellancous Grthya-rites in Olden- 
berg's index to the Grzhya-sitras, Sacred Books, vol. xxx, p. 306 ff. 

‘ This Sdtra mentions neither vik, sdman, nor atharvan, a probably un- 
conscious preoccupation with the yaguAé that must not be construed as intentional 
chauvinism against the other Vedas. The mantra-materials quoted and 
employed do not differ in their general physiognomy from those of the other 
Siitras, but they are always referred to as yagus. 

3 The passage contains in slightly different arrangement the list of Vedic 
texts presented by the Tait. Ar. HH, g and 10, above; cf. also Sat. Br. ΧΙ, 
5) 7) 5 9. 


INTRODUCTION. xlv 


rigveda, yagurveda, sAmaveda, vakovakyam, itihdsapurd- 
mam, and finally sarvan vedan (cf. the same grouping, Sat. 
Br. XI, 5, 7, 6ff.). But in Saakh. I, 16, 3 (brahmaveda) ; 
Hir. II, 3, 9 (atharvangirasah); II, 18, 3; 20, 9 (atharva- 
veda); Par. II, 10, 7 (atharvaveda) ; II, 10, 21 (atharvan4m) 
there is a distinct advance along the line of later develop- 
ment in the familiar mention of the fourth Veda; this is 
not balanced altogether by the restriction to the trayi, 
Sankh. I, 22,15; 24, 2; Hir. I, 5,13; IJ, 13,1, or the 
restriction to two Vedas, Gobh. I, 6, 19; III, 2, 48; Asv. 
I, 7, 6= Par. I, 6, 3= Sankh. I, 13. 4, because these passages 
are to a considerable extent quotations, or modifications 
of mantras derived from the sruti. The true value of this 
testimony is chronological, not sentimental: the Grihya- 
sitras, as much as their subject-matter is akin to the 
Atharvan, are not imbued with a sense of its especial value 
and importance, any more than the srauta-texts. They 
handle their materials in a self-centred fashion, without 
acknowledging any dependence upon the literary collections 
of the Atharvans; their more frequent reference to the 
fourth Veda is formulaic in every single instance, and the 
greater frequency with which it is mentioned marks the 
later chronology of the Grihya-sitras (cf. Oldenberg, Sacred 
Books, vol. xxx, pp. i and xvii ff.). 
The construction of the Vedic literature in general is, 
as we have seen, such as to forbid any genuine discrimi- 
The Av, Nation there against the Atharvan. In so 
inthe law- far as this Veda offers the means of defence 
eRene: against the ills of life (disease and posses- 
sion by demons); in so far as it presents the auspicious 
blessings pronounced at the sacramental points in the 
life of the individual, from conception to death, it is 
holy by its very terms. Even witchcraft is part of the 
religion; it has penetrated and has become intimately 
blended with the holiest Vedic rites; the broad current 
of popular religion and superstition has infiltrated itself 
through numberless channels into the higher religion that 
is presented by the Brahman priests, and it may be pre- 
sumed that the priests were neither able to cleanse their 


xl vi HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


own religious beliefs from the mass of folk-belief with which 
it was surrounded, nor is it at all likely that they found 
it in their interest to do so. But there is another field 
of literature whose roots also reach down to the Veda, in 
which judgment must be passed over the more unclean 
and sinister phases of Atharvanic activity. The broad 
arena on which men meet in daily contact is the true 
field for the golden rule. The need of doing unto others 
what one would have others do unto oneself, and leaving 
the opposite undone, is sure to be felt, and sure to gain 
expression in the proper literature. This literature is the 
legal literature (dharma), more narrowly that part of it 
which deals with the mutual rights and obligations of men, 
the vyavahdra-chapters of the legal Sdtras and Sastras. 
Here also the Atharvan retains in a measure its place by 
virtue of its profound hold upon popular beliefs, because 
indispensable sciences like medicine and astrology are 
Atharvanic by distinction, and because the Atharvan per- 
forms, especially for the king, inestimable services in the 
injury and overthrow of enemies. The king’s chaplain 
(purohita) was in all probability as a rule an Atharvan 
priest (cf. Yag#av. I, 312). But incantations, sorceries, and 
love-charms do work injury, and the dharma-literature 
pronounces with no uncertain voice the judgment that the 
Atharvan, while useful and indispensable under certain 
circumstances, is on the whole inferior in character and 
position, that its practices are impure, and either stand in 
need of regulation, or must be prohibited by the proper 
punishments. 

The Atharvan is not mentioned very frequently either 
in the Dharma-sitras, the older metrical Dharma-sdstras, 
or in the more modern legal Smritis. In Vishvu XXX, 37; 
Baudh. II, 5, 9, 14; IV, 3, 4; Yagéav. I, 44 (cf. Manu IT, 
107); 1011 (cf. Manu 11, 85); Ausanasa-smriti III, 44 (Giva- 
nanda, vol. i, p. 514), the Atharvan is mentioned in the 


‘In this passage, vedatharvapurazdni setihadsani, the Atharvan is kept 
distinct from the trayf, the veda by distinction ; cf. Weber, Indische Literatur- 
geschichte’, p. 165, note. 


INTRODUCTION. xl vii 


normal Vedic manner, i.e. preceded by the traividya, and 
followed by other literary types, especially the itihdsapu- 
ranam. It is worthy of note that in only three of the five 
cases (Baudh. II, 5, 9,14; Yag#av. I, 44; Aus. III, 44), 
the older name atharvangirasak appears; the other three 
have atharvaveda, or atharvan. But it seems altogether 
impossible to derive from this any chronological indications 
as to the date of a given legal text, since Usanas, or even 
YAgaiavalkya, is certainly later than Baudhayana and Vishau. 
At this time the names atharvaveda, atharvan, atharvana 
have established themselves as the equivalent of the older 
atharvangirasa#, but the older name crops out at times in 
a purely chance way. At YAagéav. I, 3 the fourth Veda is 
also implied as one of the fourteen foundations of know- 
ledge and law, without being mentioned by name; cf. also 
Ausanasa-smriti V, 66 (Givananda, vol. i, p. 531, bottom). 
The Atharvan, however, holds also the position of the 
fourth Veda in cases where no additional literature is men- 
tioned ; at Baudh. III, 9, 4 burnt oblations are offered to 
the four Vedas and many divinities ; at Baudh. IV, 5,1 the 
Saman, AXzk, Yagus, and Atharva-veda are mentioned in 
connection with oblations calculated to procure the special 
wishes of one’s heart (kamyeshfaya/). At Vas. XXII, 9 
the Samhitas of all the Vedas (sarvakhandahsamhitaA) are 
counted among the purificatory texts: the Atharvan is 
probably intended to be included, especially as the Athar- 
vasiras (see below) is explicitly mentioned. In the late 
Vriddhaharita-samhita III, 451 the Atharvaani (sc. sdktAni) 
are on a level with the rifo yagdmshi and samani. In the 
Ausanasa-smriti III, 86 (Givananda, vol. i, p. 518) the twice- 
born is recommended to read either a Veda, two Vedas, the 
Vedas, or the four Vedas, a distinction between the trayi 
vidya and the four Vedas, not explicitly stated elsewhere. 
The Atharvasiras, an Upanishad connected with the ΑΝ. 
is mentioned a number of times, Gaut. XIX, 12; Vas. XXII, 
9; XXVIII, 14; Ausanasa-smriti IV, 5; the same text is 
mentioned under the name of Siras at Baudh. IV, 1, 28; 


1 See GivanandavidyAsagara’s Dharmasastrasamgraha, vol. i, p. 213. 


xl viii HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Vas. XXI, 6-8 ; XXV,13; Vishwu LV, 9. Certain vows 
called Siras, Baudh. II, 8, 14, 2; Vas. XXVI, 12, also 
emanate from the sphere of Atharvanic practices; so 
Govinda at Baudh. loc. cit. More pointedly, and without 
the company of the traividya, the sacred texts of the 
Atharvan and Angiras (srutir atharvangirasiZ) are recom- 
mended as the true weapons with which the Brahmavza 
may slay his enemies, Manu XI, 33; the king must choose 
for his chaplain (purohita) one who is skilled in the Atharvan 
and Angiras (atharvangirase), Yag#av. I, 3121; and the 
same recommendation is implied at Gaut. XI,15.17, where 
the king is enjoined to take heed of that which astrologers 
and interpreters of omens tell him, and to cause the puro- 
hita to perform in his house-fire among other expiatory 
rites (sdnti), rites for prosperity (mangala), and witchcraft 
practices (abhi#4ra) against enemies. Such a purohita is 
eo ipso an Atharvan priest. In the Atri-samhita (Giva- 
nanda’s collection, vol. i, p. 45) gyotirvido ... atharvazaz, 
‘ Atharvan priests skilled in astrology’ are recommended 
for the performance of sraddhas and sacrifices (cf. Vishzu 
III, 75; Yag#av. I, 332). The sndtaka must not live in 
a country without physicians, Vishvu LX XI, 66, and the 
king should consult his physicians in the morning, Yag#av. 
I, 332. At Vishzu III, 87, the king himself is urged to 
be conversant with incantations dispelling the effects of 
poison and sickness, and at Manu VII, 217, the food of the 
king is rendered salubrious by sacred texts that destroy 
poison : these passages evidently refer to Atharvanic bhai- 
shagy4ni (cf. p. 25 ff.), and Atharvan priests skilled in their 
use. At Baudh. II, 8,15,4; Vishvu LXXIII,11; LXXXI, 
4, the demons called yatudhana are driven out by means 
of sesame, in perfect accord with AV. I, 7, 2. 

Thus far then the dharma-literature expresses regard for 
the Atharvan, and distinct dependence upon its literature 
and its practices. But the ever dubious quality of the fourth 
Veda sounds from notes pitched in a different key. In the 

1 The king himself is urged (ib. I, 310) to devote himself to the trayt. . 


3. This is the stereotyped summary of the functions of the AV., sAntapushféi- 
kabhikarika ; see p. xxix. 


INTRODUCTION. xlix 


first place we may remark that the conspicuous omission 
of this Veda which characterises the srauta-literature, with- 
out pronounced disapproval of the Atharvan, is continued in 
the dharma-texts. Thus notably in the prohibition of the 
recital of the other Vedas while the sound of the SAmans 
is heard, these texts mention only the rik and the yaguZ; 
see Gaut. XVI, 21; Vas. XIII, 30; Vishnu XXX, 26; 
Manu IV, 123. 124. At Baudh. IV, 5, 29; Manu XI, 
263-66, the recitation of the traividya is recommended as 
a most efficient means of purification and release from sin. 
In the cosmogonic account, Manu I, 23, only vik, yagué, 
and s4man are derived from the primeval creation. In 
Baudh. 11, 8, 14, 4. 5; Manu III, 145, the traividya and 
its adherents only appear at the funeral-offerings (sraddha), 
though the Atri-samzhit4 singles out Atharvans skilled in 
astronomy on that very occasion (see above, p. xlviii). At 
Manu XII, 112 (cf. Yag#av. I, 9) adherents of the three 
Vedas are recommended as an assembly (parishad) to decide 
points of law; at Yag#av. II, 211 punishment is declared for 
him that abuses one skilled in the three Vedas ; at Yagziav. 
I, 310 the king is urged to devote himself to the study of 
the tray? (vidy4); his chaplain, on the other hand, must be 
skilled in the manipulation of the atharvangirasam (ib. I, 
312). The inferiority of the Atharvan is stated outright 
at Apast. II, 11, 29, 10. 11, where it is said that the know- 
ledge of women and Sfidras is a supplement of the Atharva- 
veda (cf. Biihler, Sacred Books, vol. ii, p. xxix); and yet 
more brusquely Vishzu V, 191 counts him that recites a 
deadly incantation from the Atharva-veda as one of the 
seven kinds of assassins. 

Still more frequently, performances which imply the 
knowledge and use of the Atharvan are decried and 
punished, though the writings of the Atharvan are not 
expressly mentioned. Thus magic rites with intent to 
harm enemies, and sorceries and curses in general, cause 
impurity, and are visited with severe penances at Apast. I, 
9, 26,7; 10, 29, 15; Baudh. II, 1, 2, 16; Gaut. XXV, 7; 
Vishnu XX XVII, 26; LIV, 25; Manu IX, 290; XI, 198; 
Yagfav. 111, 289. Yet the other side of the coin is turned 


[42] d 


] HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


up at Manu XI, 33, where the Atharvan is recommended 
as the natural weapon of the Brahmava against his enemies 
(see above). Narada, V, 108, also betrays his hostile 
attitude towards sorcery when he remarks that the sage 
Vasish¢ka took an oath, being accused of witchcraft’. 
With especial frequency and emphasis the impurity of 
physicians is insisted upon, Apast. I, 6, 18, 20; 19, 153 
Vishnu LI, 10; LXXXII, 9; Gaut. XVII, 17; Vas. XIV, 
2.19; Manu III, 152. 180; IV, 212. 220; Yagaav. I, 162; 
III, 240: we gathered above (p. xxxix) that the practice of 
medicine is regarded in the same light in the Brahmazas ; 
the charge, of course, reflects upon the Atharvan. Astro- 
logy also, and fortune-telling, are impure occupations, 
Baudh. II, 1, 2, 16; Manu IX, 258; the practice of astro- 
logy is forbidden to ascetics, Vas. X, 21; Manu VI, 50; 
and the astrologer is excluded from the sraddha, Vishzu 
LXXXII, 7; Manu III, 162. That these practices were 
Atharvanie in character we may gather from AV. VI, 128; 
Kaus. 50, 15%. An especially pointed reflection against 
the AV. is implied in the prohibition of the malakriya or 
milakarma, ‘practices with roots*:’ at Vishnu XXV, 7 
wives are especially forbidden to engage in such practice ; 
at Manu IX, 290 magic rites with roots, practised by per- 
sons not related to him against whom they are directed, 
are regarded as sinful*; at Manu XI, 64 practices with 
roots in general are forbidden. Such practices abound in 
the AV. and its ritual; see I, 34; III, 18 (=RV. X, 745); 
V, 31,12; VI, 138.139; VII, 38, &c., and the performances 
connected with them (cf. p. 99 ff. and the commentary on 
these hymns). Though they are not wanting elsewhere, 
especially in the Gvzhya-sitras, the brunt of the charge is 
without doubt directed against the Atharvan. Finally, at 
Gaut. XV, 16; Vishzu LXXXII, 12; Manu III, 151; IV, 


1 He has in mind the asseveration of the poet, RV. VII, 104, 15, ady&% 
murtya yadi yatudhdno asmi, &c., ‘ may I die to-day if I am a sorcerer.’ 

* Cf. ‘Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda,’ Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 484 ff. 
(19 ff. of the reprint) ; the present volume, pp. 160, 532 ff. 

5. Cf. the same prohibition in the Mahabhfrata, below, p. liv. 

4 The commentator Narada states that they are permissible, if practised 
against a husband or relative. ; 


INTRODUCTION. li 


205, he who practises for a multitude (gramayagaka) is 
pronounced impure: we may presume that this kind of 
activity was largely, if not entirely in the hands of Athar- 
van-priests ; cf. the note on p. xl. 
The position of the Atharvan in the Mahabharata may 
be characterised in the single statement that its importance 
TheAV.in 28 4 Veda, and its canonicity, are finally and 
theMaha- completely established ; that its practices are 
ine familiarly known and, in general, not sub- 
jected to any particular criticism. There is no especial 
affinity between the great Epic and the srauta-literature, 
barring the continuance of a considerable quantity of 
the legendary materials (4khy4na) which are woven into 
the descriptions of the Vedic sacrifices in the Brahmauzas ; 
hence there is nothing in the Epic to induce preoccupa- 
tion with the trayi vidya. On the other hand, the great 
collection deals so largely with the interests of the 
Kshatriyas as to preclude any conscious discrimination 
against the fourth Veda, since this Veda also is to a very 
considerable extent engaged in the interest of the kings 
(ragakarm4mi, Kausika, chapters 14 to 17), and the prac- 
tices of their chaplains (purohita) are also largely Athar- 
vanic in character. It is true that the Mahabharata in 
common with all Hindu literature, the Atharvan literature 
not excluded, mentions frequently only the three Vedas by 
their distinctive names, or by the generic terms trayi vidya 
and trayo veda. Thus in the passages assembled in 
A. Holtzmann’s sufficiently exhaustive collectanea on this 
question in his work on the Epic, Das Mahabharata und 
seine Theile, vol. iv, p. 5, the prevailing Vedic habit of 
referring to the Vedas is continued. But there can be little 
question that this mode of reference has at this time, as 
doubtless in a measure also in the period of Vedic produc- 
tivity, become a stereotyped mechanical habit, continued 
from the tradition of earlier times; cf. Biihler, Zeitschr. d. 
Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XL, 701, who compares the 
German expression ‘die vier Erdtheile, and the like. There 
is no indication that the mention of the Atharvan is con- 
sciously avoided. 


d2 


lii HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


The main proof of the high regard for the Atharvan 
and its unchallenged position in the canon, are the quasi- 
cosmogonic passages in which the four Vedas figure in the 
primordial transactions of the creation of the world, and 
its affinity with the personified creator. Thus, at V, 108, 
10=3770 Brahman is said to have first sung the four 
Vedas; Brahman himself is called Xaturveda, III, 203, 15 
=13560, as similarly Vishzu at XIX, 238, 9 (Bhav.)= 
12884; at III, 189, 1412963; VI, 67, 6=3019 Vishzu 
himself declares that the four Vedas (atharvaza the fourth) 
have sprung from him. According to XIX, 14, 15 (Bhav.) 
= 11516, Brahman created first the tristich called Gayatri, 
the mother of the Vedas, and afterwards the four Vedas ; 
according to XIX, 53, 41 (Bhav.)=13210 he carries upon 
each of his four heads one of the Vedas, or, according to 
II, 11, 32= 449, the four Vedas dwell bodily in his palace. 
At XII, 347, 27=13476 malicious demons steal the four 
Vedas from Brahman, and Vishzu restores them. Accord- 
ingly the Brahman priest and the kings, both of whom 
owe it to themselves to be vedavid, are more specifically 
described as knowing and reciting the four Vedas, at I, 70, 
37 = 2880 ff.; VII, 9, 29=289; XIX, 142, 1 (Vish.)=7993, 
where a Brahmama is designated as katurveda/, just as the 
divinity Brahman, above. Other instances of the mention 
of the four Vedas, with or without other literary composi- 
tions, are I, 1, 21; I, 1, 264; II, 11, 32=450; III, 43,41 = 
1661 (4khyanapa#amair vedaih); III, 58, 9>=2247 (aturo 
vedan sarvan 4khy4napa#kaman); III, 64, 17=2417 (kat-~ 
varo vedas séngopangaz); III, 189, 14=12963; V, 44, 28 
=171T; VII, 59, 15=2238; VII, 149, 22=6470; XII, 236, 
1= 8613; XII, 335, 28=12723; XII, 339, 8=12872; XII, 
341, 8=13136 (rigvede ... yagurvede tathaisv4:tharva- 
sAmasu, puraze sopanishade); XII, 342,97=13256ff.; XII, 
347, 28=13476; XIII, 17, 91=1205 ff. (where the Athar- 
van appears first, atharvasirshak sAmasya riksahasramite- 
kshazak, yagukpadabhugo guhyaz); XIII, 111, 46= 5443; 
XIII, 168, 31=7736; XIX, 109, 5 (Vish.)=9491 (éatvaro 
sakhila veda sarahasy4A savistarak); XIX, 14, 15 (Bhav.) 
=11665. Cf. Holtzmann, l.c., p. 6. 


INTRODUCTION. 111 

By itself the Atharvan is mentioned numerous times: as 
atharvangiras (singular), atharvangirasa/ (plural), atharva- 
ngirasa, atharvan, atharvava, atharvaza, and atharva-veda. 
Invariably the statements presenting these names are either 
directly laudatory, or they exhibit the Atharvan in an in- 
disputable position of usefulness. At III, 305, 20=17066 
Kunti knows mantras, atharv4ngirasi! srutam, for com- 
pelling the gods to appear; at II, 11, 19=437 the athar- 
vangirasak, personified, are mentioned honorifically along 
with other Vedic Rishis; at V, 18, 5=548 ff. Angiras 
praises Indra with atharvavedamantraif, and Indra declares 
that this Veda shall henceforth have the name atharvangi- 
rasa. At XII, 342, 99=13258 ff. Pragapati declares that 
the sages skilled in the Atharvan (vipra atharvasavidas) 
fashion him into an Atharvan priest, devoted to the practice 
of the five kalpas (pa#éakalpam atharvazam). At V, 37, 
58=1391 Atharvan practitioners (atharvaz4h) are spoken 
of in a friendly way: ‘For him that has been wounded with 
the arrow of wit there are no physicians and no herbs, no 
sacrificial formulas, no amulets, no Atharvazas (conjurers), 
and no skilful remedies?’ See also I, 70, 4o= 2883; III, 
251, 24=15147; XIII, 14, 3c9=901; XIII, 94, 44=4590. 
In a number of places weapons are said to be as fierce 
and efficacious as the sorcery-practices of the Atharvan 
(kr#tyam atharvangirasim iva), VIII, 40, 33=1848; VIII, 
90, 4= 4625; VIII, 91, 48=4795; IX, 17, 44=907; XIII, 
98, 13=4706: the passages imply neither praise nor blame, 
but represent Atharvan practices as familiarly established 
among the customs of the people. 

It is scarcely to be expected that the Atharvan and its 
practices, notwithstanding their establishment in the good 
graces of the epic writers, shall come off entirely without 
criticism ; there must have been persons aching under its 
supposed inflictions, and moods awake to a full sense of its 
vulgarity. In such cases the Mahdbhdrata reflects entirely 
the spirit of the dharma-texts. Thus at XII, 36-28=1322; 


' In the Calcutta edition, atharvasirasi for atharvaagirasi. 
3 Cf. Béhtlingk, Indische Spriiche, 1497-8. 


liv HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


XIII, 90, 13=4282, physicians are declared to be impure 
(cf. above, p. 1). Practices undertaken by bad women 
with charms and roots (mantram(lapara stri... mdla- 
prakara) are inveighed against: the man that has a wife 
addicted to them would be afraid of her, as of a snake that 
had got into the house, III, 233, 13=14660 ff.; cf. the 
identical prohibition of the dharma-texts above, p. 1)?. 
Women are said at XIII, 39, 6=2237 ff. (cf. Bohtlingk’s 
Indische Spriiche *, 6407) to be skilled in the sorceries of the 
evil demons Namuéi, Sambara, and Kumbhinasi. Magic 
or sorcery is in general regarded as good. Thus krityA is 
regarded as the divinity of witchcraft (abhi#aradevat4) by 
the commentator on VII, 92, 54=3314, and krity4, abhi- 
kara, and m4y4 are in general allowable, but yet it is 
possible in the view of the Epic to bewitch right to make 
it wrong, to be a dharmabhifarin, XII, 140, 42= 5288, or 
to use foul may4, VII, 30, 15=1316 ff. (see above, p. xxix, 
and cf. Hopkins, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XIII, 312 ff.). 

- In the Ramayana the Vedas in general are mentioned 
very frequently ; special Vedic names appear to be rare, 
the SAma-veda (simaga/) being mentioned at IV, 27, 10, 
the Taittiriya (4#4ryas taittirilyavam) at II, 32, 7 (cf. Ind. 
Stud. I, 297). The Atharvan (mantras #4tharvaz4h) 
occurs at II, 26, 21. 

In the proverb-literature the Atharvan is scarcely men- 
tioned (cf. Mahabh. V, 37, 58=1391 in Bohtlingk’s Indische 
eae Spriiche?, 4216), but the mantras of the Athar- 
the later Van are in the minds of the poets, though 
jiterature they usually speak of mantras in general 
in general, . . 
without specification. Thus a comparison 
of proverbs 1497-8 with 4216 seems to call up the atmo- 
sphere of the Atharvan practices in their mention of ausha- 
dhani and mantrai; still more clearly rogaviyogamantra- 
mahima at 2538 refers to the bheshagdni of the AV., and 
sakyam vérayitum ... vyadhir bheshagasamgrahais ka 
vividhamantraprayogair visham, proverb 6348, both to the 


1 The sentiment has become proverbial; see Sang. Paddh., niti 76 ὃ 
(Bohtlingk’s Indische Spriiche*, 5260). 


INTRODUCTION. ‘lv 


bheshagéni and the charms against poison (see p. 25 ff.). 
The knowledge of sorcery, dreaded in women (see the 
prohibitions in the dharma, p. | above), is alluded to in 
proverbial form at 5260=Mahabh. III, 233, 13=14660; 
and 6407= Mahdabh. XIII, 39, 6=2237. 

In the Dasakuméra-farita the Atharvan is employed 
twice, once in an obvious sorcery practice, 4tharvavikena 
vidhina (chapter iii, p. 108, 13), where priests perform sacri- 
fices preliminary to transforming a person from one shape 
to another. Another time (chapter ii, p. 94) a marriage 
is celebrated with Atharvanic ceremonies (Atharvamena 
vidhind). Cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. I, 297; Ind. Streifen, 
T, 328. 

In the Kiratarguniya X, 10 (cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. I, 289; 
Muir, Orig. Sanskrit Texts I?, p. 395) there is a passage 
which shows that the potency of the Atharvan had not 
then waned: anupamasamadiptitagariyan kritapadapanktir 
atharvazena vedas, ‘he (Arguna), being through unparal- 
leled composure and fervour exceedingly powerful, as the 
Veda arranged by Atharvan 1. 

The Purazas always speak of the fourfold Veda”, and 
present the Atharvan in the advanced position of the ritual- 
istic literature of the AV. itself; cf. below, p. lvii ff. The 
Vishzu-purdaa, p. 276, assigns the four Vedas to the four 
priests of the srauta-ritual, the AV. to the Brahman. 
Similarly at Prasthana-bheda, p. 16, |. 10, there is the 
statement, paurohityam santipaushéikani rag#am atharva- 
vedena karayed brahmatvam ka; cf. Max Miiller, Ancient 
Sanskrit Literature, p. 476. The Bhagavata-purdza I, 4, 
19. 20 speaks of the fourfold Veda designed for the execu- 


' Mallindtha comments upon the passage, and cites an agama, to wit: samah 
santir abhyudayakande dtptita ugrata abbisarakamde atharvarA vasish¢hena krita 
rakita padanam panktir anupdrvo yasya sa vedas faturthaveda4, atharvanas tu 
mantroddharo vasish‘Zena krité ity agama4. The passage has a twofold 
interest: it reflects the ancient Atharvanic (abhyudaya) and Angirasic (abhi- 
4ara) components of the Veda, and it ascribes its redaction to Vasishfha ; cf. 
above, p. xviii, and below, p. Ixv. 

2 Cf. Colebrooke, Misccllancous Essays, vol. i, p. 10. See, e.g. Vishzu- 
pura#za I, 5 (Wilson's translation, vol. i, p. 85), where the Atharvan is said to 
be the northern mouth of Brahman. 


ἵν HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


tion of the sacrifice (yag#asamtatyai vedam ekam katur- 
vidham), mentioning them by name in the sequel. At VI, 
6, 19 figures the atharvangirasa veda. Also, the Matsya- 
puraza, as quoted by Sayama in the introduction to the 
AV., p. 6, orders that the purohita shall compass the 
Mantras and the Bréhmama of the AV.; and the M4r- 
kandeya-puraza claims that the king consecrated with the 
Mantras of the AV. enjoys the earth and the ocean ; see 
Sayaza, ibid. 

In the Gainist SiddhAnta, fifth anga (bhagavati), I, 441; 
“II, 246-7; upanga, I, 76; X, 3, the scope of Vedic or 

ἌΣ Brahmanical literature is stated as riuveda, 

the Gaina gaguveda, sdmaveda, ahavvavaveda (athav- 
op nee vana-), itihdsapamkamam ...; see Weber, 

“ς΄ Verzeichniss der Sanskrit- und Prakrit-Hand- 
schriften, II, 423-4; and Ind. Stud. XVI, pp. 238, 304, 
379, 423, 4741. According to Weber, ibid., p. 237, the 
Siddhanta is to be placed between the second and fifth 
centuries of our era. This mode of describing the Vedic 
literature we found above to prevail from the time of the 
Sat. Br. to the Mah4bharata. In the Sdtrakrztanga-sitra 
II, 27 (see Jacobi’s translation, Sacred Books, vol. xlv, 
Ρ- 366) the incantations of the Atharvan (atharvami) are 
naturally spoken of in condemnatory language. 

As specimens of the view of the Buddhist writings we 
may quote the A/¢thakavagga 14, 13 of the Sutta-nipata 
(Fausboll’s translation, Sacred Books, vol. x, part ii, p. 176), 
where the practice of the Athabbama-veda is forbidden. To 
the condemnation of practices essentially Atharvanic in 
character is devoted the Maha Silam, in the second chapter 
of the Tevigga-sutta; see Rhys Davids’ translation in the 
Sacred Books, vol. xi, pp. 196-200, similarly the Vinaya, 
Kullavagga V, 32, 2, ibid., vol. xx, p. 152. 


* Cf. also Kalpa-siitra, in Jacobi’s translation, Sacred Books, vol. xxii, 
p. 221. 


INTRODUCTION. ἵν}: 


III. Tue ATHARVA-VEDA IN THE VIEW OF ITS 
Ritua.istic LITERATURE. 


It is but natural to expect, and the expectation nowhere 
meets with disappointment, that the Atharvan texts in 
Gor acs general should allude with predilection, and 
imate of in terms of praise, to their own kind of com- 
eee positions, to the mythical sages who are 
their reputed authors, and to the priests 

devoted to the practices that went hand in hand with the 
recitation of the Atharvans and Angiras. We found above, 
(pp. xxxii, xlii), a sufficiently marked tendency on the 
part of the Samhita itself and the Atharvan Upanishads to 
do this; there was occasion to note, too, that this tendency 
was followed out naturally and with moderation. Certainly 
there is no indication in these texts of any systematic 
attempt to make battle against the ancient threefold Veda, 
or to enter into polemics against the priests devoted to 
their respective duties while reciting or chanting its mantras. 
Similarly the ritual texts of the AV. allude preferably, 
and yet incidentally, to their own Veda, and as occasion 
offers, bring to the front the priests schooled in it. Thus 
Kaus. 139, 6 an oblation is offered to Bhrigu and Angiras 
along with other divinities, without mention, however, of 
any specific representatives of the other Vedas. The 
expression, Kaus. 125, 2, vedabhigupto brahmava parivrito 
‘tharvabhif# santa‘, illustrates this passive preference for 
the Atharvan very well; cf. also 137, 25. Again, Kaus. 
63, 3, four priests descended from Aishis, skilled in the 
bhrigvangirasak, are employed very naturally, and simi- 
larly allusion is made to Atharvan priests and Atharvan 
schools, Kaus. 59, 25; 73,12; Vait. Sd.1, 5; Ath. Paris. 
46,2; 73,13 77,4. In the Atharva-parisishéas Bhrigu, 
Angiras, and Atharvan figure more frequently than any 


' The passage reflects also the Atharvanic connection of their Veda with 
Brahman and the brahma; cf. Ath. Paris. 2, 1, brahmane brahmavedfya . 
namaskrétya, and see below, p. lxii ff. 


ἵν} HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


other names: they have become the typical teachers of 
the trivialities which these texts profess. 
But over and above this the ritual texts raise certain 
special claims regarding the position of the Atharvan 
among the Vedas, and they further make the 
Nature of the : : . : 
especial claims demand with strident voice and obvious 
of the ritual polemic intention that certain offices shall be 
; reserved for the priests conversant with that 
Veda. The position of these texts may be stated under 
three heads. First, they are not content with the rather 
vacillating attitude of the non-Atharvanic texts which refer 
in general to a threefold Veda, reserving, as we have seen, 
the honorific mention of the fourth Veda to more or less 
well-defined occasions, especially to moods when it is felt 
desirable to call into requisition the entire range of Vedic 
literary composition in addition to the trayi vidya (e.g. 
itihasa, purava, gatha, &c.). Secondly, the office of the 
Brahman, the fourth priest at the srauta-ceremonies, who 
oversees and corrects by means of expiatory formulas 
(prayasitta) the accidents and blunders of hotar, udgatar, 
and adhvaryu, is said to belong to an Atharvavedin, and 
the Vaiténa-sdtra in fact exhibits the bhrgvangirovid in 
possession of that office. Thirdly, a similar claim is 
advanced in respect to the office of the purohita. Again 
and again it is stated that the purohita, guru, or brahman 
of a king, the chaplain or house-priest, shall be conversant 
with the Atharvan writings, shall be an Atharvan priest, and 
this claim, as we have seen above (p. xlvi), is supported 
to some extent by later Brahmanical treatises not derived 
from Atharvan schools. Cf. also below, p. Ixvii. 
The Gopatha-brahmaza, in its opcning chapters I, 1, 4— 
10, describes the cosmogonic origin of the universe and 
Exaltation the Vedas from the lone brahma. Unlike 
ofthe AV. other texts, which as a rule ignore the Athar- 
in general. Jan in these creative accounts, the atharvan 
and the angiras texts are placed at the head; the other 
Vedic texts (rik, yagu/, and sAman, I, 1, 6), as well as the 
subsidiary compositions (the five Vedas, called sarpaveda, 
pisa#aveda, asuraveda, itihasaveda, and purasaveda, I, 1, 


INTRODUCTION. lix 


10), are relegated to the rear. At Vait. Sa. 6, 1 the 
Atharvan is again placed at the head of the four Vedas. 
Gop. Br. I, 3, 4 lauds the Atharvan compositions as the 
greatest religious manifestation, etad vai bhiyishthan 
brahma yad bhrigvangirasak, and at I, 2, 16 (cf. I, 2, 18) 
the Atharvan figures as the fourth Veda by the name of 
Brahma-veda, being here correlated with the service of the 
Brahman-priest as the overseer at the srauta-ceremonies }. 
At I, 1, 9 there is quoted a stanza, thoroughly Upanishad 
in character, which shows that the Atharvanists correlated 
their Veda with the knowledge of brahma, the higher and 
subtler religious conception, which at all times is raised 
above any special knowledge of the constituent parts of 
the Vedic religion: ‘ The highest Veda was born of tapas, 
it grew in the heart of those that know the brahma®.’ 
The Atharvan ritual texts never cite the trayit vidya in 
formulary order without including the fourth Veda 3, differ- 
ing in this regard even from the text of the Samhita and 
the Atharvan Upanishads (see pp. xxxii, xiii). The first 
half of the Gop. Br. (I, 5, 25) ends with the assertion that they 
who study the trayi reach, to be sure, the highest heaven 
(trivishapas tridivam nakam uttamam), but yet the Athar- 
vans and Angiras go beyond to the great worlds of Brahma 
(ata uttare brahmaloka mahéntaA). 
As regards the Brahman, the overseer at the srauta- 
performances, the Vait. SQ. 1, 1 states that he must be 
AT conversant with the Brahma-veda, and in 1, 17. 
of Brahman 18 this priest is described as the lord of beings, 
in the ritual Jord of the world, &c. These expressions 
seem to indicate that he is the representa- 
tive at the sacrifice of the personified god Brahman. At 
11, 2 (cf. Gop. Br. I, 2, 16) the Brahman is again ordered 
to be conversant with the atharvangirasak, this time in 


' katasro va ime hotra, hautram adhvaryavam audgatram brahmatvam. 

* Thus according to the version of SAyava, Introduction to the AV., p. 5, 
stesh¢ho hi vedas tapaso sdhigato brahmagwanam hridaye sambabhiva. Ragen- 
dralalamitra's edition, sresh¢ho ha vedas tapaso « dhigato brahmegy4nam kshitaye 
sambabhilva, ‘it was created for the destruction of the oppressors of Brahmans.’ 

δ See especially Gop. Br. II, 2, 14, where the atharvangirasah are added 
every time in liturgical formulas to the ri#ah, yagQmshi, and simani. 


ΙΧ HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


expressed contrast with udgdtar, hotar, and adhvaryu 
(samaveda, régveda, yagurveda). At Gop. Br. I, 2, 18 (end) 
the Brahman is described with the words, esha ha vai 
vidvan sarvavid brahma yad bhvégvangirovid. The last 
statement is of especial interest as indicating the identifi- 
cation of the Atharvan with the sarvavidya which stands 
above the trayi vidya (cf. below, p. Ixiii). Especially at 
Gop. I, 3, t. 2 the futility of the sacrifice without a Brah- 
man skilled in the bhv¢gvangirasad is described vividly: 
a cow, a horse, a mule, a chariot cannot proceed with less 
than four feet, therefore the sacrifice, in order to succeed, 
must have four feet: the four Vedas, and the four priests. 
Especially characteristic is the following: At Tait. 5. III, 
5, 2, 1, ἄς. (cf. Ind. Stud. X, 34), the well-known legend is 
told, according to which Vasishtha ‘saw Indra clearly, 
though the Azshis (in general) did not see him clearly.’ 
Indra makes Vasish¢#a his Brahman (purohita), and con- 
fides to him moreover a mystery, the stomabhaga-verses. 
Since then men have Vasishtha for their purohita: there- 
fore a descendant of Vasish¢ha is to be chosen as Brahman. 
The same legend is repeated almost verbatim Gop. Br. II, 
2, 13, but the text demurs at the last clause. The Gop. Br. 
cannot say tasmad vasish¢4o brahmA kAryaz, because it has 
previously stated emphatically that a bhy¢gvangirovid is the 
only person fitted for that exalted office (I, 2, 18; 3, 1 ff). 
At Vait. Sd. 6,1 the garhapatya-fire is personified as a 
steed which is prepared by the four Vedas for the Brah- 
man, and by Pragapati for Atharvan: the equation brah- 
man=atharvan is implied. The passage, Vait. SQ. 37, 2, 
a brahmodya or theological contest between the Brahman 
and the Udgatar, betrays perhaps a certain insecurity and 
‘touchiness on the part of the Brahman in his assumed 
superiority to the other priests: ‘Not art thou superior, 
better than I, goest not before me. . . . Thou speakest 
these words that are worthy of being learned, (but) shalt 
not become equal to me.’ The superiority of the Brahman 
was occasionally disputed, and possibly the Atharvanic 


1 See Haug, Brahma und die Brahmanen, p. 10. 


INTRODUCTION. }xi 


Brahman felt that he stood in special need of asserting his 
dignity. 

Even more energetic are the demands of the liturgical 

texts in the matter of the office of purohita who is 
The office of Known also by the name of brahman and 
parohita in the guru. ‘The king who rules the country shall 
ritual texts. Seek a wise Brahman (brahmazam). He verily 
is wise that is skilled in the bhvzgu and angiras; for the 
bhrigu and angiras act as a charm against all ominous 
occurrences, and protect everything’ (Kaus. 94, 2-4; cf. 
126, 2). The equivalence of brahman, purohita, and 
guru is guaranteed by comparing with this Ath. Paris. 
3, 1, kulinam srotriyam bhrigvangirovidam ... gurum 
vriniyad bhdpatiZ; and 3, 3, tasma4d bhvigvangirovidam 
... kuryat purohitam. Cf. also 2, 2, brahmA tasmAd 
atharvavit. Conversely, ‘The gods, the Fathers, and the 
twice-born (priests) do not receive the oblation of the 
king in whose house there is no guru that is skilled in 
the Atharvan’ (2, 3). Cf. Weber, Omina und Portenta, 
Ῥ. 346 ff.; Ind. Stud. X, 138; SAyaza, Introduction to the 
AV., p. 6. In Kaus. 17, 4ff. the king and the purohita 
(Darila: rag4, purodhaz) are seen in active co-operative 
practice at the consecration of the king; and again 
(brahma raga fa) in 140, 4 ff. at the indramahotsava- 
festival. 

The Atharva-parisish/as are not content with these strong 
recommendations of their own adherents, but they would 
have the adherents of the other Vedas, yea even of certain 
branches (s4kh4) of the Atharvan itself, excluded from the 
purohiti: ‘The Atharvan keeps off terrible occurrences, 
and acts as a charm against portentous ones ... not the 
adhvaryu, not the k#andoga, and not the bahvrtka... . 
The bahvrzka destroys the kingdom, the adhvaryu destroys 
sons, the kAandoga dissipates wealth ; hence the guru must 
be an Atharvama. . . . A Paippaldda as guru increases hap- 
piness, sovereignty, and health, and so does a Saunakin 
who understands the gods and the mantras. . . . The king 
whose purodha is in any way a Galada or a Mauda is 
deposed from his kingdom within the year’ (Ath. Paris. 


}xii HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


2, 2-5)'. The Paippaladas, Saunakins, Galadas, and 
Maudas are alike representatives of Atharvan schools 
(see Kausika, Introduction, p. xxxiii ff.): the passage 
shows how eager the scramble for the office of purohita 
had become. That the Atharvans finally succeeded in 
making heard their clamorous demand for this office (see 
below, p. Ixvii) is probably due, as we shall see, to their 
superior, if not exclusive knowledge of witchcraft, which 
was doubtless regarded in the long run as the most prac- 
tical and trenchant instrument for the defence of king and 
people. 
In order to estimate at its correct value the claims of 
the Atharvanists that their own Veda is entitled to the 
Bue name Brahma-veda, and that the so-called 
leading apto Brahman-priests and the Purohitas must be 
τὰς ἐχϑι δ ῖοῃ adherents of the AV., we need to premise 
certain considerations of a more general nature. 
In the Vedic religious system, or we might say more 
cautiously religious evolution, three literary forms and 
correspondingly three liturgical methods of application of 
these forms to the sacrifice were evolved at a time prior to 
the recorded history of Hindu religious thought and action. 
They are the rzkak, sAmani, and yagimshi, known also by 
a variety of other designations, and characterised to a con- 
siderable extent by special verbs expressing the act of 
reciting or chanting them *. Correspondingly the priests 
who had learned one of these varieties of religious expres- 
sion and its mode of application to the sacrifice appear, 
again for aught we know from prehistoric times, as indi- 
vidual actors (hotar, udgatar, adhvaryu), in no wise qualified 
each by himself to shoulder the burden of literary know- 
ledge or liturgic technique. The Hindus were at all times 
well aware that these religious forms are fragmentary and 
parts of a whole. The Rig-veda contains countless expres- 
sions indicating the insufficiency of the rzkah to fulfil alone 


τ Cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. I, 296; the author, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XJ, 378, 
note, 

2 See Max Miiller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 489 ff.; 
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, ΠῚ, p. 25 ff. 


INTRODUCTION. ΙΧ 


the scheme of religious action, and the interdependence of 
the three Vedic types. There is a Rig-veda, but no Rig- 
vedic religion, as even recent writers on the religions of 
India unfortunately tend to assume: the absence of simans 
would in principle leave Vedic religion just as much muti- 
lated as the absence of viks; the categories are the three 
parts of a trio whose melody is carried by each in turn. 

A comprehensive vision was never wanting, though the 
search for a word for ‘religion, or religious practice, as 
a whole was at first not very successful. The Brahmasa- 
texts still struggle with the notion of the superiority of him 
that knows all the Vedas, and they consequently posit a 
sarvavidy4! which is superior to a knowledge of each of 
the Vedas. The most successful attempt at describing 
the religious literature and action as a whole is the word 
brdhma, and, correspondingly, he who knows: the religion 
as a whole is a brahmdn. Each of these words appears 
occasionally in the fourth place, brdhma after the trayi; 
brahman in company with the priests of the trayi. In 
a sense the brahma is a fourth Veda, but it is not co-ordinate 
with the other three ; it embraces and comprehends them 
and much else besides; it is the religious expression and 
religious action as a whole, and it is the learned esoteric 
understanding of the nature of the gods and the mystery 
of the sacrifice as a whole (brahma in brahmodya and 
brahmavddin). Needless to say, this fourth Veda, if we may 
so call it, has primarily no connection with the Atharvan, 
not even in the Atharva-samhita itself (XI, 8,23; XV, 3,7; 
6, 3), nor in the Upanishads of that Veda (e.g. Nrisimha- 
pirvatapani Up. V, 2): the claim that the Atharvan is the 
Brahma-veda belongs to the Atharvan ritual. In the 
Upanishads this brahma, still frequently contrasted with 
the ordinary Vedas, is taken up eagerly, extolled above all 
other knowledge, and in a way personified, so that it fur- 
nishes one of the main sources of the various conceptions 
which finally precipitate themselves in the pantheistic 


1 Tait. Br. II, 10, 11, 4; Tait. Ar. X, 47; cf. Sat. Br. XIV, 6, 7, 18; 
9, 4, 17. 


lxiv HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Brahman-Atman. The knowledge of this brahma consti- 
tutes the brahmavidy4, which is separated by the widest 
imaginable gap from the Brahma-veda in the Atharvanic 
sense ; cf. above, p. xliii. 

This broader religious knowledge exists again from 
earliest times, not only in the abstract, but centres in 
persons who grasped it in its entirety, in distinction from 
the technically qualified priests devoted to some speciality. 
What the brahma is to the trayi, that the brahmdn is to 
hotar, adhvaryu, &c. Thus the important stanza, RV. X, 
71, 11, depicts the activity of four priests at a srauta-sacri- 
fice, the hotar (77#4m pdésham Aste pupushv4n), the udgatar 
(gayatram gdyati sdkvarishu), the adhvaryu (yag#dsya 
m&tram νί mimite), and the brahmdn. The latter is de- 
scribed in the words, brahmda vadati gatavidy4m, ‘the Brah- 
man tells (his) innate wisdom '",’ The association of the first 
three priests with the three Vedic categories, zk, saman, 
and yaguh, is expressed with a degree of clearness com- 
mensurate with the character of the hymn, which is in the 
nature of a brahmodya. But the brahman has no peculiar 
Veda; certainly there is no allusion to the Atharvan. His 
knowledge is that of the entire Veda, the sarvavidya (Tait. 
Br. III, 10, 11, 4), religious knowledge as a whole. By 
means of this knowledge he is able to assume in the ritual 
practices the function of correcting the mistakes of the 
other priests, whose knowledge is more mechanical. The 
Brahman is as it were the stage-manager in the sacerdotal 
drama, the physician of the sacrifice when it is attacked by 
the disease of faulty execution (Sat. Br. XIV, 2, 2, 19); he 
is the mind of the sacrificer (Sat. Br. XIV, 6, 1,7)?. As 
such he is also conversant with the mystic aspects of the 
divine powers, the powers of nature, and the details of the 
sacrifice. In the expression, brahmd vaddati gatavidydm, 
the ‘own wisdom’ is the brdahma (neuter), and vddati gata- 
vidy4m foreshadows the brahmodya, ‘the holy, or theo- 


Cf RV. I, το, 1; H,1, 2; IV, 2a,1; VI, 38, 3. 43 VII, 33, 143 X, 52,23 
X, 91, 10. 

3. Cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 135 ff.; Haug, Brahma und die Brahmanen, 
p- 9 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 28 ff. 


INTRODUCTION. Ixv 


logical mystery, or riddle ', as well as the ritualist refine- 
ments which the Brahmaza and S(itra-texts introduce times 
without end with the closely-related expression, brahma- 
vadino vadanti. In the non-Atharvanic Vedic texts it is 
never suggested that the Atharvan is the specific equip- 
ment, above all other things, which shapes the faculties 
of this all-round Vedic theologian. On the contrary, the 
Kaush. Br. VI, 11 raises the rather one-sided claim that 
a Rig-veda scholar is the proper Brahman®. Vasishtka was 
a celebrated Brahman and Purohita, and the qualifications 
for this office were said for a time (probably by the descen- 
dants of Vasish##a themselves) to be especially at home in 
this family. But the Braéhmava-texts declare explicitly that 
this is an ‘ iiberwundener standpunkt,’ an obsolete custom : 
every one properly equipped may be a Brahman ; see Weber, 
Ind. Stud. X, 34. 35. 127. There is no original connection 
between Vasish¢#a and the Atharvan 3, and it is not going 
too far to assume that the distinguished abilities demanded 
by the theory of this office were rare enough to admit every 
one that had intrinsically valid claims, upon it. 

How, then, did the Atharvans come to raise the plea 
that the Brahman must be one of themselves, and that, 
consequently, the Atharva-veda was the Brahma-veda? 
Schematically this was suggested by an obvious proportion. 
As the hotar, &c., is to the Rig-veda, &c., so the Brahman 
is to the fourth Veda, and as the Atharvan is the fourth 
Veda, or rather a fourth Veda, it required no too violent 
wrench to identify it with that other comprehensive fourth 
Veda, the knowledge of the brahma. Thus the Atharvan 


1 See the author, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, pp. 172, 184 ff. 

2 A broader view, yet one that ignores the Atharvan claim, is taken by 
Apastamba, in the Yagla-paribhasha-s(itra 19. There the Brahman is said to 
perform with all three Vedas. Only the commentator admits that the Atharvan 
may be included. See Max Miiller, Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 470; 
Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. IX, p. xlvii; Sacred Books, vol. xxx, 
p- 321. Cf. also Sat. Br. ΧΙ, 5, 8, 7, and Madhusfdana’s statement of the final 
orthodox view, Max Miiller, ib. 445 ff.; Ind, Stud. I, 4. 14. 

3 The interesting association of Vasish¢ka with the redaction of the Atharvan, 
reported by Mallinatha in his comment on Kirat&arguntya X, 10, may be 
founded upon this very title to the office of purohita, and thus show that 
ptrohitas were naturally supposed to be Atharvavedins ; cf. above, p. lv. 


[42] e 


Ixvi HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


became the Brahma-veda. The fact that there was no 
systematic sharply-defined provision for the Atharvanists 
in the scheme of the hieratic religion must have been 
galling at first, until this arrangement was completed 
to their own satisfaction. They may have, though we 
do not know that they did, gathered courage for this 
tour de force by the frequent mention in the AV. itself 
of the word brahma in the sense of charm, prayer, e.g. 
I, 10, 1; 14, 44; 23, 4, &c. If this was done it was a 
proceeding both arbitrary and superficial: the word has 
in the AV. the meaning of charm only in so far and 
inasmuch as the hymns of that Veda happen to be charms ; 
the RV. employs the term freely to designate its own 
sdktani (e.g. V, 85, 1; VII, 28,1; 36,1; X,13, 13 61,1). 
One misses, too, the plural brahm4mi as the true Vedic type 
of designation for a special class of composition, on a level 
with rikak, simani, yagimshi, atharvangirasaz, or athar- 
vanak (bheshagani) and angirasak (Abhikarikaxi). We 
may also remember that the Atharvan of all Samhitds 
contains the largest collection of theosophic hymns which 
deal explicitly (X, 2), or implicitly (X, 7), with Brahman 
and the brahma!. This may, of course, have helped to 
suggest that the Atharvavedin was the truly superior theo- 
logian. In the Upanishads the knowledge of just such 
theosophic relations is styled the brahmavidy4. SAayaza 
in the Introduction to the AV., p. 4, argues that the 
AV. is known as Brahma-veda because it was revealed to 
Brahman who is called Atharvan®. His authority, however, 
is Gop. Br. I, 4 ff., a text that elsewhere identifies the AV. 
with that bhdyish¢am brahma which was produced by the 
tapas (cf. AV. VIII, 10, 25), pressing to an unwarranted 
degree the relationship of the Atharvan texts with the 
sphere of the Upanishads ὃ; cf. above, p. lix. 

It may be safe to assume that all these and other notions 


Cf. also the superabundant Upanishads, composed in Atharvanic schools. 

* atharvakhyena brahmaved drishéatvat tannamna ayam vedo vyapadisyate. 

3 Similarly the Vishzu-puraza VI, 5 (Wilson’s translation, vol. v, p. 210) : 
‘The AV. also states that there are two kinds of knowledge. By the one which 
is the supreme, God (akshara) is obtained ; the other is that which consists of 
X%k and other Vedas,’ 


INTRODUCTION. Ixvii 


flitted through the minds of the systematic theologians 

Relation of of the Atharvan schools as they continued 
the purohita to insist upon the name Brahma-veda for 

tothe AV their scriptures, and upon the office of Brah- 
man for their priests. A measure of substantiality may, 
however, come to their claim from another quarter at 
a comparatively early time, in this instance with the passive 
support of all Vedic schools. The matter concerns the 
office of the purohita, the spiritual and temporal aid of the 
king, his chaplain, and chancellor. One would again look 
in vain in the non-Atharvanic Samhitas, Brahmaaas, or 
Sitras for the direct declaration that the purohita either 
was, or should be, an adherent of the Atharvan. These 
texts do not mention the Atharvan in this connection any 
more than in connection with the office of the Brahman 
at the sacrifice. Yet it seems extremely unlikely that the 
knowledge of Atharvan practices should not have been 
considered a very valuable adjunct, if not a conditio sine 
qua non, of the purohiti. Purohitas, whether they are 
formal adherents of the AV. or not, are always engaging 
in Atharvanic practices, even against one another (cf. Max 
Miiller, Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 486). The interests 
of the king and his sovereignty (kshatriya and kshatram) 
are too obviously dependent upon magic rites to admit 
the likelihood that the pretensions to this office on the 
part of him that knew them should have been ignored. 
At all periods the safety of the king, the prosperity of his 
people, his ascendency over hostile neighbours, must have 
depended upon the skill of his purohita in magic. The 
description, Ait. Br. VIII, 24-28, of the purohita, his func- 
tions, and his relation to the king, transfer the reader to 
the sphere and spirit of the Atharvan. The purohita 
secures for the king royalty, strength, empire, and people 
(VIII, 24, 7). The purohita is a fire with five flaming 
missiles, dangerous when not properly propitiated ; but, 
duly honoured, he embraces the king, protecting him with 
his flames as the ocean the earth (VIII, 25, 1). His people 
do not die young, his own life's breath does not leave him 
before he has reached the full limits of his life, he lives to 

Ε 2 


Ixviii HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


a good old age, if a Brahmavza, imbued with this know- 
ledge, is his purohita, the shepherd of his kingdom. The 
subjects of such a king are loyal and obedient (VIII, 25, 
2. 3). The prescriptions regarding the purohita are fol- 
lowed (VIII, 25) by a magic rite, called brahmama/ pari- 
mara, designed to kill hostile kings, which might have 
found a place in the ritual of the Atharvan'. In later 
texts, as a matter of fact, the rule is laid down formally 
that the purohita should be an Atharvavedin. Thus in 
Gaut. XI,15.17; YAgé#av. I, 312 (cf. also Manu XI, 33); see 
p. xlviii, above. Sdyavza in the Introduction to the AV., 
pp. 5, 6, claims outright that the office of purohita belongs 
to the Atharvanists (paurohityam fa atharvavidaisva ka- 
ryam), and he is able to cite in support of his claim not 
only the rather hysterical dicta of the Atharvan writings, 
but also slokas from a number of Purdmas, the NitisAstra, 
&c.; cf. above, p. lvi2 In the Dasakuméara-farita magic 
rites, as well as the marriage ceremony, are in fact per- 
formed at the court of a king with Atharvan rites. athar- 
vanena (atharvazikena) vidhind, and the statement is the 
more valuable as it is incidental ; see above, p. lv. 

I do not desire to enter here upon a discussion of the 
question of the original relation between the purohita and 
the brahman, whose identity is baldly assumed in many 
passages of the earlier Hindu literature®. I believe that 
they were not originally the same, but that they were 
bound together by certain specific ties. They are similar, 


' Cf. the battle-charm, AV. III, 19: the purohita figures in it as well as in 
the accompanying performances, Kaus. 14, 22-23 (Darila). And RV. IV, 50, 
7-9, perhaps earlier, shows the brzhaspati (purohita) in essentially the same 
important relation to the king. 

? Cf. Deva at K&ty. Sr. XV, 7, 11, purohito yostharvavedavihitandm santi- 
kapaush/ik&bhitarakarmazdm karta. 

* Cf. Max Miiller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 485 ff.; 
Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 31 ff.; Ragasfya, p. 23, note; Haug, Brahma und die 
Brahmanen, p. 9 ff.; Geldner, Vedische Studien, II, 144 ff.; Oldenberg, Die 
Religion des Veda, pp. 374, 395 ff. Sayama at RV. VII, 33, 14 equates 
purohita and brahman, and Ait. Br. VII, 16, 1 exhibits Vasish¢ha, the typical 
purohita, in the office of brahman at a srauta-rite. At RV.IV, so, 7 ff. the 
activity of a purohita is sketched: the purohita, however, is called brzhaspati 
(= brahman), 


INTRODUCTION. Ixix 


above all, in this, that they have in charge, each in his 
own way, the general interests of their noble employers, 
whereas other priests are likely ordinarily to have had 
only subordinate charges, because of the technical charac- 
ter of their knowledge and occupation. RV. X, 71, 11 
expresses clearly the existence of broader theological in- 
terests than the mere knowledge of the recitation and 
chanting of hymns and the mechanical service of the 
sacrifice (hotar, udgatar, and adhvaryu). This is the Brah- 
manship which later forks into two directions, on one side 
the general knowledge of the procedures at the sacrifice 
(the Brahman as fourth priest), and the theological specula- 
tions attaching (brahmavddin); on the other, the higher 
theosophy which leads ultimately to the brahmavidy4 of 
the Upanishads. It is natural that a divine thus qualified 
should at a very early time assume permanent and con- 
fidential relations to the noble r4ganya in all matters that 
concerned his religious and sacrificial interests. His func- 
tions are those of chaplain and high-priest. It seems 
unlikely that this Brahman was in all cases; too, competent 
to attend to those more secular and practical needs of the 
king connected with the security of his kingdom, the fealty 
of his people, and the suppression of his enemies. These 
activities, ragakarm4mi, as the Atharvan writings call them, 
must have called for different training and different talents 
—they represent rather the functions of a chancellor, or 
prime-minister, than those of a chaplain—and there is no 
warrant to assume that every Brahman possessed these 
necessary qualifications in addition to his expertness in 
systematic theology. On the other hand, conversely, there 
must have been purohitas incapable of assuming the charge 
of their employers’ interests on the occasion of the more 
elaborate Vedic performances (srauta), unless we conceive 
that in such cases the Brahman was a mere figure-head 
and his office a sinecure. 

And yet precisely here is to be found the measure of 
truth which we may suspect in the Atharvanist claim that 
the supervising Brahman shall be an adherent of the AV. 
In many cases the tribal king, or rag4, might have had but 


€ 3 


Ixx HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


one body-priest, well capable of attending to the kingdom’s 
needs in all manner of charms and sorcery, and thus filling 
the paurohitya creditably with the entire armament of the 
Veda of charms and sorcery, himself an Atharvavedin. If 
the king had about him no systematic theologian re- 
splendent in his gatavidy4, if there was no adherent of that 
ideal fourth Veda, the sarvavidy4 that looms above the 
trayi vidya, the remoter applicability of the srauta-practices 
to the weal and woe of everyday life, or confidence in the 
ability of hotar, adhvaryu, &c., to perform their duties 
correctly of themselves, would lead him to entrust the 
general supervision of the Vedic performances (in the nar- 
rower sense) to his Atharvan purohita. Thus the sweeping 
claim of the Atharvan priests may be founded at least 
upon a narrow margin of fact, and later the Atharvan 
priests are likely to have equipped themselves with a sufhi- 
ciency of rather external and mechanical knowledge to 
perform the function of Brahman with a show of respecta- 
bility, witness the activity of the Brahman in the srauta- 
rites of the Vaiténa-sitra. In very late times the ability 
of Atharvan priests to practise srauta-rites, and the 
canonicity of their srauta-manual, the Vaitana-sdtra, were 
recognised by other Vedic schools, if the matter-of-fact 
references to that Sdtra on the part of the commentators 
to Katydéyana’s Srauta-sitras may be regarded as normal ; 
see Garbe in the preface to the edition of the Vait. Sa., 
Ῥ. vi. 
We may remark, however, that the entire question of 
the relation of the AV. to srauta-practices is a very obscure 
eaten point in the history of Vedic literature, it 
the AV.to being assumed generally that the Atharvan 
the srauta- had originally nothing to do with the larger 
, Vedic ritual. The assumption in this broad 
form is at any rate erroneous, or defective. The existing 
Samhités of the AV. contain mantras which could have 
had no sense and purpose except in connection with srauta- 
performances. A series of formulas, e.g. like AV. VI, 47 
and 48, has no meaning except in connection with the 
three daily pressures of soma (savana), and the Vait. 58. 


INTRODUCTION. Ixxi 


21, 7 exhibits them, properly no doubt, as part of an ordi- 
fary srauta-rite, the agnishfoma. It would seem then that 
the Atharvavedins possessed the knowledge of, and prac- 
tised srauta-rites prior to the conclusion of the present 
redactions of their hymns, and thus perhaps, after all, the 
purohita, in case of his being an Atharvan, was not 
altogether unequipped for taking a hand in the broader 
Vedic rites with the three fires and the usual assortment 
of priests. Again, the AV. contains hymns which are 
evidently expiatory formulas for faults committed at the 
sacrifice. Thus AV. VI, 114 presents itself in the light of 
an ordinary prayasitta- formula, and there are MSS. of the 
Vaitana-sitra which add six prayasitta chapters to the 
eight which make up the body of that text’. The Gop. 
Br., more frequently than other Brahmazas, refers to defects 
in the sacrifice (virishta, (na, yatay4ma) which are to be 
corrected (samdhana) by certain hymns, stanzas, and for- 
mulas; see I,1,13 and 22. Possibly the germs of the corre- 
lation of the Atharvan and the Brahman, in his function as 
supervisor and corrector of the sacrifice, may also turn out 
to be traceable to a period prior to the present redaction 
of the Samhitds. 


The present volume of translations comprises about one 
third of the entire material of the Atharva-veda in the text 
of the Saunaka-school. But it represents the contents and 
spirit of the fourth Veda in a far greater measure than is 
indicated by this numerical statement. The twentieth book 
of the Samhit4, with the exception of the so-called kunt4pa- 
siktani (hymns 127-1367), seems to be a verbatim repeti- 
tion of mantras contained in the Rig-veda, being employed 
in the Vaitana-sdtra at the sastras and stotras of the soma- 
sacrifice: it is altogether foreign to the spirit of the original 


' See Garbe, in the preface of his edition of the text, p. 5; Weber, Ver- 
zeichniss der Sanskrit und Prakrit Handschriften, II, 83; Kausika, Introduction, 
p. xxxiii. 

3 One of these, hymn 127, appears in the present volume, p. 197 ff. 


Ixxii HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Atharvan. The nineteenth book is a late addendum’, in 
general very corrupt; its omission (with the exception of 
hymns 26, 34, 35, 38, 39, 53, and 54) does not detract much 
from the general impression left by the body of the collec- 
tion. The seventeenth book consists of a single hymn of 
inferior interest. Again, books XV and XVI, the former 
entirely Brahmanical prose’, the latter almost entirely so, 
are of doubtful quality and chronology. Finally, books 
XIV and XVIII contain respectively the wedding and 
funeral stanzas of the Atharvan, and are largely coincident 
with corresponding mantras of the tenth book of the 
Rig-veda: they are, granted their intrinsic interest, not 
specifically Atharvanic®. Of the rest of the Atharvan 
(books I-XIII) there is presented here about one_ half, 
naturally that half which seemed to the translator the 
most interesting and characteristic. Since not a little of 
the collection rises scarcely above the level of mere verbiage, 
the process of exclusion has not called for any great degree 
of abstemiousness. 

These successive acts of exclusion have made it possible 
to present a fairly complete history of each of the hymns 
translated. The employment of the hymns in the Athar- 
vanic practices is in closer touch with the original purpose 
of the composition or compilation of the hymns than is 
true in the case of the other collections of Vedic hymns. 
Many times, though by no means at all times, the practices 
connected with a given hymn present the key to the correct 
interpretation of the hymn itself. In any case it is instruc- 
tive to see what the Atharvan priests did with the hymns 
of their own school, even if we must judge their performances 
to be secondary. 

I do not consider any translation of the AV. at this time 
as final. The most difficult problem, hardly as yet ripe for 
final solution, is the original function of many mantras, 


1 See Kausika, Introduction, p. xl ff. 

? Translated by Professor Aufrecht, Indische Studien, I, 130, 140. 

3 The fourteenth book has been rendered by Professor Weber, Indische 
Studien, V, p. 195 ff.; the eighteenth book by the same scholar in the Pro- 
ceedings of the Royal Prussian Academy, 1895, p. 815 ff. ; 1896, p. 253 ff. 


INTRODUCTION, )xxili 


after they have been stripped of certain adaptive modifica- 
tions, imparted to them to meet the immediate purpose 
of the Atharvavedin.. Not infrequently a stanza has to be 
rendered in some measure of harmony with its connection, 
when, in fact, a more original meaning, not at all applicable 
to its present environment, is but scantily covered up by 
the secondary modifications of the text. This garbled 
tradition of the ancient texts partakes of the character 
of popular etymology in the course of the transmission of 
words. New meaning is read into the mantras, and any 
little stubbornness on their part is met with modifications 
of their wording. The critic encounters here a very difficult 
Situation: searching investigation of the remaining Vedic 
collections is necessary before a bridge can be built from 
the more original meaning to the meaning implied and 
required by the situation in a given Atharvan hymn. Necd- 
less to say the only correct and useful way to translate 
a mantra in the Atharvan, is to reproduce it with the bent 
which it has received in the Atharvan. The other Vedic 
collections are by no means free from the same taint. The 
entire Vedic tradition, the Rig-veda not excepted, presents 
rather the conclusion than the beginning of a long period 
of literary activity. Conventionality of subject-matter, 
style, form (metre), &c., betray themselves at every step: 
the ‘earliest’ books of the RV. are not exempt from the 
same processes of secondary grouping and adaptation of 
their mantras, though these are less frequent and less 
obvious than is the case in the Atharva-veda. 

Obligations to previous translators : Weber, Muir, Ludwig, 
Zimmer, Grill!, Henry, &c., are acknowledged in the intro- 
duction to each hymn. I regret that the work was in the 
hands of the printer prior to the appearance of Professor 
Henry’s excellent version of books X-XII*% The late 
lamented Professor Whitney kindly furnished me with the 


' Grill’s work, entitled, Hundert Lieder des Atharva-veda, second edition 
(1888), is cited as ‘Grill.’ My own six series of Contributions to the Interpre- 
tation of the Veda, are cited for the sake of brevity as ‘Contributions.’ 

2 Les livres X, XI, et XII de l’Atharva-véda. Paris, 1896. 


Ixxiv HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


advance sheets of the late Shankar Pandurang Pandit’s 
scholarly edition of the AV. with Sayaza’s commentary, 
as also with many of the readings of the Cashmir text 
(the so-called Paippalada-sakh4) of the AV. Neither the 
Paippalada nor SAyaza sensibly relieves the task of its 
difficulty and responsibility. 


MAURICE BLOOMFIELD. 


Jouns Hopkins UNIVERSITY, 
BALTIMORE: April, 1896. 


HYMNS 


OF THE 


ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Digitized by Google 


HYMNS 


OF THE 


CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES AND POSSESSION BY 
DEMONS OF DISEASE (BHAISHAGYANI). 


V, 22. Charm against takman (fever) and 
related diseases. 


1. May Agni drive the takman away from here, 
may Soma, the press-stone, and Varuaa, of tried 
skill; may the altar, the straw (upon the altar), and 
the brightly-flaming fagots (drive him away)! Away 
to naught shall go the hateful powers ! 

2. Thou that makest all men sallow, inflaming 
them like a searing fire, even now, O takman, thou 
shalt become void of strength: do thou now go 
away down, aye, into the depths! 

3. The takman that is spotted, covered with 
spots, like reddish sediment, him thou, (O plant) of 
unremitting potency, driveraway down below! 

4. Having made obeisance to the takman, I cast 
him down below: let him, the champion of Sakam- 
bhara, return again to the Mahavr‘shas ! 

5. His home is with the Magavants, his home 


[42] Β 


2 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


with the Mahavvzshas. From the moment of thy 
birth thou art indigenous with the Balhikas. 

6. O takman, vy4la, vi gada, vydnga, hold off 
(thy missile) far! Seek the gadabout slave-girl, 
strike her with thy bolt! 

7. O takman, go to the Mfgavants, or to the 
Balhikas farther away! Seek the lecherous Sddra- 
female: her, O takman, give a good shaking-up ! 

8. Go away to the Mahdvy7shas and the Mdga- 
vants, thy kinsfolk, and consume them! Those 
(regions) do we bespeak for the takman, or these 
regions here other (than ours). 

g. (If) in other regions thou dost not abide, mayest 
thou that art powerful take pity on us! Takman, 
now, has become eager : he will go to the Balhikas. 

10. When thou, being cold, and then again de- 
liriously hot, accompanied by cough, didst cause the 
(sufferer) to shake, then, O takman, thy missiles were 
terrible: from these surely exempt us! 

11. By no means ally thyself with bal4sa, cough 
and spasm! From there do thou not return hither 
again: that, O takman, do I ask of thee! 

12. O takman, along with thy brother baldsa, 
along with thy sister cough, along with thy cousin 
paman, go to yonder foreign folk ! 

13. Destroy the takman that returns on (each) 
third day, the one that intermits (each) third day, 
the one that continues without intermission, and the 
autumnal one; destroy the cold takman, the hot, 
him that comes in summer, and him that arrives in 
the rainy season! 

14. To the Gandh§ris, the Magavants, the Angas, 
and the Magadhas, we deliver over the takman, like 
a servant, like a treasure! 


1. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES, 3 


VI, 20. Charm against takman (fever), 


1. As if from this Agni (fire), that burns and 
flashes, (the takman) comes. Let him then, too, 
as a babbling drunkard, pass away! Let him, the 
impious one, search out some other person, not 
ourselves! Reverence be to the takman with the 
burning weapon! 

2. Reverence be to Rudra, reverence to the 
takman, reverence to the luminous king Varuza! 
Reverence to heaven, reverence to earth, reverence 
to the plants! 

3. To thee here, that burnest through, and 
turnest all bodies yellow, to the red, to the brown, 
to the takman produced by the forest, do I render 
obeisance. 


I, 25. Charm against takman (fever), . 


1. When Agni, having entered the waters, burned, 
where the (gods) who uphold the order (of the 
universe) rendered homage (to Agni), there, they 
say, is thy origin on high: do thou feel for us, and 
spare us, O takman! 

2. Whether thou art flame, whether thou art 
heat, or whether from licking chips (of wood) thou 
hast arisen, Hrid@u by name art thou, O god of 
the yellow: do thou feel for us, and spare us, 
O takman! 

3. Whether thou art burning, whether thou art 
scorching, or whether thou art the son of king 
Varuza, Hraidu by name art thou, O god of the 
yellow: do thou feel for us, and spare us, O 
takman ! 

B2 


4 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


4. To the cold takman, and to the deliriously 
hot, the glowing, do I render homage. To him 
that returns on the morrow, to him that returns for 
two (successive) days, to the takman that returns 
on the third day, homage shall be! 


VII, 116. . Charm against takman (fever). 


1. Homage (be) to the deliriously hot, the 
shaking, exciting, impetuous (takman)! Homage to 
the cold (takman), to him that in the past fulfilled 
desires ! 

2. May (the takman) that returns on the morrow, 
he that returns on two (successive) days, the impious 
one, pass into this frog! . 


Ν, 4. Prayer to the kush/fa-plant to destroy 
takman (fever). 


1. Thou that art born upon the mountains, as 
the most potent of plants, come hither, O kush/a, 
destroyer of the takman, to drive out from here the 
takman ! 

2. To thee (that growest) upon the mountain, the 
brooding-place of the eagle, (and) art sprung from 
Himavant, they come with treasures, having heard 
(thy fame). For they know (thee to be) the de- 
stroyer of the takman. 

3. The asvattha-tree is the seat of the gods in 
the third heaven from here. There the gods pro- 
cured the kush¢da, the visible manifestation of 
amvzta (ambrosia). 

4- A golden ship with golden tackle moved upon 
the heavens. There the gods procured the kush/fa, 
the flower of amvzta (ambrosia). 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 5 


5. The paths were golden, and golden were the 
oars; golden were the ships, upon which they car- 
ried forth the kush¢/a hither (to the mountain). . 

6. This person here, O kushéha, restore for me, 
and cure him! Render him free from sickness 
for me! 

7. Thou art born of the gods, thou art Soma’s 
good friend. Be thou propitious to my in-breathing 
and my out-breathing, and to this eye of mine! 

8. Sprung in the north from the Himavant (moun- 
tains), thou art brought to the people in the east. 
There the most superior varieties of the kushésa 
were apportioned. 

9. ‘Superior,’ O kush/ha, is thy name; ‘superior’ 
is the name of thy father. Do thou drive out all 
disease, and render the takman devoid of strength! 

10. Pain in the head, affliction in the eye, and 
ailment of the body, all that shall the kush¢ka 
heal—a divinely powerful (remedy), forsooth ! 


XIX, 39. Prayer to the kushé/a-plant to destroy 
takman (fever), and other ailments. 


1. May the protecting god kush¢ka come hither 
from the Himavant: destroy thou every takman, 
and all female spooks! 

2. Three names hast thou, O kushéfa, (namely : 
kush¢a), na-gha-m4ra (‘forsooth-no-death’), and 
na-gha-risha (‘forsooth-no-harm’). Verily no harm 
shall suffer (na ghd... rishat) this person here, for 
whom I bespeak thee morn and eve, aye the (entire) 
day ! 

3. Thy mother’s name is gtvala (‘quickening’), 
thy father’s name is givanta (‘living’). Verily no 


6 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


harm shall suffer this person here, for whom I be- 
speak thee morn and eve, aye the entire day ! 

4. Thou art the most superior of the plants, as 
a steer among cattle, as the tiger among beasts of 
prey. Verily no harm shall suffer this person here, 
for whom I bespeak thee morn and eve, aye the 
entire day! 

5. Thrice begotten by the Sdmbu Angiras, thrice 
by the Adityas, and thrice by all the gods, this 
kush¢ka, a universal remedy, stands together with 
soma. Destroy thou every takman, and all female 
spooks ! 

6. The asvattha-tree is the seat of the gods in 
the third heaven from here. There came to sight 
the amvzta (ambrosia), there the kush¢sa-plant was 
born. 

7. A golden ship with golden tackle moved upon 
the heavens. There came to sight the amr‘?ta, there 
the kush¢/a-plant was born. 

8. On the spot where the ship glided down, on 
the peak of the Himavant, there came to sight the 
ambrosia, there the kush/Aa-plant was born. This 
kushéAa, a universal remedy, stands together with 
soma. Destroy thou every takman, and all female 
spooks ! 

9. (We know) thee whom Ikshv4ku knew of yore, 
whom the women, fond of kush¢4a, knew, whom 
V4yasa and MAtsya knew: therefore art thou a 
universal remedy. 

10. The takman that returns on each third day, 
the one that continues without intermission, and 
the yearly one, do thou, (O plant) of unremitting 
strength, drive away down below! 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 7 


1,12. Prayer to lightning, conceived as the cause 
of fever, headache, and cough. 


1. The first red bull, born of the (cloud-)womb, 
born of wind and clouds, comes on thundering with 
rain. May he, that cleaving moves straight on, spare 
our bodies; he who, a single force, has passed through 
threefold ! 

2. Bowing down to thee that fastenest thyself with 
heat upon every limb, we would reverence thee with 
oblations ; we would reverence with oblations the 
crooks and hooks of thee that hast, as a seizer, seized 
the limbs of this person. 

3. Free him from headache and also from cough, 
(produced by the lightning) that has entered his 
every joint! May the flashing (lightning), that is 
born of the cloud, and born of the wind, strike the 
trees and the mountains ! 

4. Comfort be to my upper limb, comfort be to 
my nether ; comfort be to my four members, comfort 
to my entire body! . 


I, 22. Charm against jaundice and related 
diseases. 


1. Up to the sun shall go thy heart-ache and thy 
jaundice : in the colour of the red bull do we envelop 
thee ! 

2. We envelop thee in red tints, unto long life. 
May this person go unscathed, and be free of yellow 
colour ! 

3. The cows whose divinity is Rohimt, they who, 
moreover, are (themselves) red (réhizi4)—{in their) 
every form and every strength we do envelop thee. 


8 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


4. Into the parrots, into the ropa#z4k4s (thrush) 
do we put thy jaundice, and, furthermore, into the 
haridravas (yellow wagtail) do we put thy jaundice. 


VI, 14. Charm against the disease baldsa. 


1. The internal disease that has set in, that 
crumbles the bones, and crumbles the joints, every 
baldsa do thou drive out, that which is in the limbs, 
and in the joints ! 

2. The baldsa of him that is afflicted with bala4sa 
do I remove, as one gelds a lusty animal. Its con- 
nection do I cut off as the root of a pumpkin. 

3. Fly forth from here, O baldsa, as a swift foal 
(after the mare). And even, as the reed in every 
year, pass away without slaying men ! 


VI, 105. Charm against cough. 


1. As the soul with the soul’s desires swiftly to a 
distance flies, thus do thou, O cough, fly forth along 
the soul's course of flight ! 

2. As a well-sharpened arrow swiftly to a distance 
flies, thus do thou, O cough, fly forth along the 
expanse of the earth! 

3. As the rays of the sun swiftly to a distance fly, 
thus do thou, O cough, fly forth along the flood of 
the sea! 


I, 2. Charm against excessive discharges from 


the body. 


1. We know the father of the arrow, Parganya, 
who furnishes bountiful fluid, and well do we know 
his mother, Przthivt (earth), the multiform ! 

2. O bowstring, turn aside from us, turn my body 


ι 
πως 
I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES, - 9 


into stone! Do thou firmly hold very far away the 
hostile powers and the haters ! 

3. When the bowstring, embracing the wood (of 
the bow), greets with a whiz the eager arrow, do 
thou, O Indra, ward off from us the piercing mis- 
sile ! 

4. As the point (of the arrow) stands in the way 
of heaven and earth, thus may the muéga-grass 
unfailingly stand in the way of sickness and (exces- 
sive) discharge ! 


II, 3. Charm against excessive discharges from 
the body, undertaken with spring-water. 


1. The spring-water yonder which runs down 
upon the mountain, that do I render healing for 
thee, in order that thou mayest contain a potent 
remedy. 

2. Then surely, yea quite surely, of the hundred 
remedies contained in thee, thou art the most superior 
in checking discharges and removing pain. 

3. Deep down do the Asuras bury this great 
healer of wounds: that is the cure for discharges, 
and that hath removed disease. 

4. The ants bring the remedy from the sea: that 
is the cure for discharges, and that hath quieted 
disease. 

5. This great healer of wounds has been gotten 
out of the earth: that is the cure for discharges, and 
that hath removed disease. 

6. May the waters afford us welfare, may the 
herbs be propitious to us! Indra’s bolt shall beat off 
the Rakshas, far (from us) shall fly the arrows cast 
by the Rakshas! 


10 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


VI, 44. Charm against excessive discharges from 
the body. 


1. The heavens have stood still, the earth has 
stood still, all creatures have stood still. The trees 
that sleep erect have stood still: may this disease 
of thine stand still ! 

2. Of the hundred remedies which thou hast, of 
the thousand that have been collected, this is the 
most excellent cure for discharges, the best remover 
of disease. 

3. Thou art the urine of Rudra, the navel of 
amztta (ambrosia). Thy name, forsooth, is vish4- 
nak4, (thou art) arisen from the foundation of the 
Fathers, a remover of diseases produced by the 
winds (of the body). 


I, 3. Charm against constipation and retention 
of urine. 


1. We know the father of the arrow, Parganya, of 
hundredfold power. With this (charm) may I render 
comfortable thy body : make thy outpouring upon the 
earth ; out of thee may it come with the sound bal! 
. We know the father of the arrow, Mitra, &c. 

. We know the father of the arrow, Varuma, &c. 
. We know the father of the arrow, Kandra, &c. 
. We know the father of the arrow, Sarya, &c. 

. That which has accumulated in thy entrails, in 
thy canals, in thy bladder—thus let thy urine be 
released, out completely, with the sound bal ! 

7. I split open thy penis like the dike of a lake— 
thus let thy urine be released, out completely, with 
the sound bal! 


ν 


Am «ἢ ὦ» 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES, 1 


8. Relaxed is the opening of thy bladder like the 
ocean, the reservoir of water—thus let thy urine be 
released, out completely, with the sound bal! 

9. As an arrow flies to a distance when hurled 
from the bow—thus let thy urine be released, out 
completely, with the sound bal ! 


VI, 90. Charm against internal pain (colic), due 
to the missiles of Rudra. 


1. The arrow that Rudra did cast upon thee, into 
(thy) limbs, and into thy heart, this here do we now 
draw out away from thee. 

2. From the hundred arteries which are distributed 
along thy limbs, from all of these do we exorcise 
forth the poisons. 

3. Adoration be to thee, O Rudra, as thou casteth 
(thy arrow); adoration to the (arrow) when it has 
been placed upon (the bow) ; adoration to it as it is 
being hurled; adoration to it when it has fallen 
down ! 


I, 10. Charm against dropsy. 


1. This Asura rules over the gods; the com- 
mands of Varuza, the ruler, surely come true. 
From this (trouble), from the wrath of the mighty 
(Varuza), do I, excelling in my incantation, lead out 
this man. 

2. Reverence, O king Varuza, be to thy wrath, 
for all falsehood, O mighty one, dost thou discover. 
A thousand others together do I make over to thee: 
this thy (man) shall live a hundred autumns! 

3. From the untruth which thou hast spoken, the 
abundant wrong, with thy tongue—from king Varusa 
I release thee, whose laws do not fail. 


12 ‘HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


4. I release thee from Vaisvanara (Agni), from the 
great flood. Our rivals, O mighty one, do thou cen- 
sure here, and give heed to our prayer! 


VII, 83. Charm against dropsy. 


1. Thy golden chamber, king Varuza, is built in 
the waters! Thence the king that maintains the 
laws shall loosen all shackles ! . 

2. From every habitation (of thine), O king 
Varuaa, from here do thou free us! In that we have 
said, ‘ye waters, ye cows;’ in that we have said, 
‘O Varuza,’ from this (sin), O Varusa, free us! 

3. Lift from us, O Varuaa, the uppermost fetter, 
take down the nethermost, loosen the middlemost! 
Then shall we, O Aditya, in thy law, exempt from 
guilt, live in freedom! 

4. Loosen from us, O Varuaa, all fetters, the 
uppermost, the nethermost, and those imposed by 
Varuza! Evil dreams, and misfortune drive away 
from us: then may we go to the world of the 
pious ! 


VI, 24. Dropsy, heart-disease, and kindred 
maladies cured by flowing water. 


1. From the Himavant (mountains) they flow 
forth, in the Sindhu (Indus), forsooth, is their as- 
sembling-place: may the waters, indeed, grant me 
that cure for heart-ache! 

2. The pain that hurts me in the eyes, and that 
which hurts in the heels and the fore-feet, the 
waters, the most skilled of physicians, shall put all 
that to rights! 

3. Ye rivers all, whose mistress is Sindhu, whose 


I, CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 13 


queen is Sindhu, grant us the remedy for that: 
through this (remedy) may we derive benefit from 
you ! 


VI, 80. An oblation to the sun, conceived as one of 
the two heavenly dogs, as a cure for paralysis. 


1. Through the air he flies, looking down upon 
all beings: with the majesty of the heavenly dog, 
with that oblation would we pay homage to thee! 

2. The three kalak4g%ga that are fixed upon the 
sky like gods, all these I have called for help, to 
render this person exempt from injury. 

3. In the waters is thy origin, upon the heavens 
thy home, in the middle of the sea, and upon the 
earth thy greatness. With the majesty of the 
heavenly dog, with that oblation would we pay 
homage to thee! 


II, 8. Charm against kshetriya, hereditary 
disease. 


1. Up have risen the majestic twin stars, the 
viéritau (‘the two looseners’); may they loosen the 
nethermost and the uppermost fetter of the kshetriya 
(inherited disease) ! 

2. May this night shine (the kshetriya) away, may 
she shine away the witches ; may the plant, destruc- 
tive of kshetriya, shine the kshetriya away ! 

3. With the straw of thy brown barley, endowed 
with white stalks, with the blossom of the sesame— 
may the plant, destructive of kshetriya, shine the 
kshetriya away ! 

4. Reverence be to thy ploughs, reverence to thy 


14 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


wagon-poles and yokes! May the plant, destructive 
of kshetriya, shine the kshetriya away ! 

5. Reverence be to those with sunken eyes (?), 
reverence to the indigenous (evils 9), reverence to 
the lord of the field! May the plant, destructive of 
kshetriya, shine the kshetriya away ! 


II, ro. Charm against kshetriya, hereditary 
disease, 


1, From kshetriya (inherited disease), from Nirrtti 
(the goddess of destruction), from the curse of the 
kinswoman, from Druh (the demon of guile), from 
the fetter of Varuza do I release thee. Guiltless 
do I render thee through my charm; may heaven 
and earth both be propitious to thee! 
ἐν Agni together with the waters be auspicious 
to thee, may Soma together with the plants be 
auspicious. Thus from kshetriya, from Nirzzti, from 
the curse of the kinswoman, from the Druh, from 
the fetter of Varuza do I release thee. Guiltless 
do I render thee through my charm; may heaven 
and earth both be propitious to thee! 

3. May the wind in the atmosphere auspiciously 
bestow upon thee strength, may the four quarters 
of the heaven be auspicious to thee, Thus from 
kshetriya, from Nirvzti &c. 

4. These four goddesses, the directions of space, 
the consorts of the wind, the sun surveys. Thus 
from kshetriya, from Nirvzti &c. 

5. Within these (directions) I assign thee to old 
age; forth to a distance shall go Nirrzti and disease! 
Thus from kshetriya, from Nirrzti &c. 

_ 6. Thou hast been released from disease, from 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES, 15 


mishap, and from blame; out from the fetter of 
Druh, and from Grdhi (the demon of fits) thou hast 
been released. Thus from kshetriya, from Nirrzti &c. 

7. Thou didst leave behind Ardti (the demon of 
grudge), didst obtain prosperity, didst enter the 
happy world of the pious, Thus from kshetriya, 
from Nirrzti &c. 

8. The gods, releasing the sun and the 7ztam (the 
divine order of the universe) from darkness and 
from Grahi, did take them out of sin. Thus from 
kshetriya, from Nirvzti &c. . . 


III, 7. Charm against kshetriya, hereditary 
disease. 


1. Upon the head of the nimble antelope a remedy 
grows! He has driven the kshetriya (inherited 
disease) in all directions by means of the horn. 

2. The antelope has gone after thee with his four 
feet. O horn, loosen the kshetriya that is knitted 
into his heart! . 

3. (The horn) that glistens yonder like a roof 
with four wings (sides), with that do we drive out. 
every kshetriya from thy limbs, 

4. The lovely twin stars, the viév7tau (‘the two 
looseners’) that are yonder upon the sky, shall 
loosen the nethermost and the uppermost fetter of 
the kshetriya! 

5. The waters, verily, are healers, the waters are 
scatterers of disease, the waters cure all disease: 
may they relieve thee from the kshetriya ! 

6. The kshetriya that has entered into thee from 
the prepared (magic) concoction, for that I know the 
remedy: I drive the kshetriya out of thee, 


16 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


7. When the constellations fade away, and when 
the dawn does fade away, (then) shall he shine away 
from us every evil and the kshetriya ! 


I, 23. Leprosy cured by a dark plant. 


1. Born by night art thou, O plant, dark, black, 
sable. Do thou, that art rich in colour, stain this 
leprosy, and the gray spots! 

2. The leprosy and the gray spots drive away 
from here—may thy native colour settle upon thee— 
the white spots cause to fly away! 

3. Sable is thy hiding-place, sable thy dwelling- 
place, sable art thou, O plant: drive away from 
here the speckled spots ! 

4. The leprosy which has originated in the bones, 
and that which has originated in the body and upon 
the skin, the white mark begotten of corruption, 
I have destroyed with my charm. 


I, 24. Leprosy cured by a dark plant. 


1. The eagle (suparza) that was born at first, his 
gall thou wast, O plant. The Asurt having conquered 
this (gall) gave it to the trees for their colour. 

2. The Asurt was the first to construct this remedy 
for leprosy, this destroyer of leprosy. She has 
destroyed the leprosy, has made the skin of even 
colour. 

3. ‘Even-colour’ is the name of thy mother; 
‘Even-colour’ is the name of thy father; thou, O 
plant, producest even colour: render this (spot) of 
even colour ! 

4. The black (plant) that produces even colour has 
been fetched out of the earth. Do thou now, pray, 
perfect this, construct anew the colours! 


I, CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 17 


VI, 832. Charm for curing scrofulous sores 
called apaéit. 


1. Fly forth, ye apaéit (sores), as an eagle from 
the nest! Sdrya (the sun) shall prepare a remedy, 
Kandramas (the moon) shall shine you away! 

2. One is variegated, one is white, one is black, 
and two are red: I have gotten the names of all 
of them. Go ye away without slaying men! 

3. The apa4it, the daughter of the black one, 
without bearing offspring will fly away; the boil 
will fly away from here, the galunta (swelling) will 
perish. 

4. Consume thy own (proper) oblation with grati- 
fication in thy mind, when I here offer svaha in my 
mind ! 


VII, 76. A. Charm for curing scrofulous 
sores called apaéit. 


1. Ye (sores) fall easily from that which falls 
easily, ye exist less than those that do not exist (at 
all); ye are drier than the (part of the body called) 
sehu, more moist than salt. 

2. The apaéit (sores) that are upon the neck, and 
those that are upon the shoulders; the apaéit that 
are upon the vigaman (some part of the body) fall 
off of themselves. 


B. Charm for curing tumours called gayanya. 


3. The gdyanya that crushes the ribs, that which 
passes down to the sole of the foot, and whichever 
is fixed upon the crown of the head, I have driven 
out every one. 

[42] ς 


18 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


4. The gay4nya, winged, flies; he settles down 
upon man. Here is the remedy both for sores not 
caused by cutting, as well as for wounds sharply 
cut! 

5. We know, O gayAnya, thy origin, whence thou 
didst spring. How canst thou slay there, in whose 
house we offer oblations ? 


C. Stanza sung at the mid-day pressure 
of the soma. 


6. Drink stoutly, O Indra, slayer of Vrztra, hero, 
of the soma in the cup, at the battle for riches! 
Drink thy fill at the mid-day pressure! Living in 
wealth, do thou bestow wealth upon us! 


VII, 74. A. Charm for curing scrofulous sores 
called apaéit. 


1. We have heard it said that the mother of the 
black apaéit (pustules) is red: with the root (found 
by) the divine sage do I strike all these. 

2. I strike the foremost one of them, and I strike 
also the middlemost of them; this hindmost one 
I cut off as a flake (of wool). 


B. Charm to appease jealousy. ~ 


3. With TvashZar’s charm I have sobered down 
thy jealousy; also thy anger, O lord, we have 
quieted. 


C. Prayer to Agni, the lord of vows. 


4. Do thou, O lord of vows, adorned with vows, 
ever benevolently here shine! May we all, adoring 
thee, when thou hast been kindled, O GAtavedas, be 
rich in offspring! 


I, CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES, 19 


VI, 25. Charm against scrofulous sores upon 
neck and shoulders. 


1. The five and fifty (sores) that gather together 
upon the nape of the neck, from here they all shall 
pass away, as the pustules of the (disease called) — 
apakit ! 

2. The seven and seventy (sores) that gather to- 
gether upon the neck, from here they all shall pass 
away, as the pustules of the (disease called) apaéit! 

3. The nine and ninety (sores) that gather together 
upon the shoulders, from here they all shall pass. 
away, as the pustules of the (disease called) apatit! 


VI, 57. Urine (gal4sha) as a cure for 
scrofulous sores. 


1. This, verily, is a remedy, this is the remedy of 
Rudra, with which one may charm away the arrow 
that has one shaft and a hundred points! 

2. With galasha (urine) do ye wash (the tumour), 
with gdlasha do ye sprinkle it! The gdldsha is 
a potent remedy: do thou (Rudra) with it show 
mercy to us, that we may live! 

4. Both well-being and comfort shall be ours, and 
nothing whatever shall injure us! To the ground 
the disease (shall fall): may every remedy be ours, 
may all remedies be ours! 


IV, 12. Charm with the plant arundhatt 
(laksh4) for the cure of fractures. 


1. Rohaat art thou, causing to heal (rohamt), the 
broken bone thou causest to heal (rohami): cause 
this here to heal (rohaya), O arundhati! 

c2 


20 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


2. That bone of thine which, injured and burst, 
exists in thy person, Dhatar shall kindly knit to- 
gether again, joint with joint! 

3. Thy marrow shall unite with marrow, and thy 
joint (unite) with joint; the part of thy flesh that 
᾿ has fallen off, and thy bone shall grow together 
again ! 

4. Thy marrow shall be joined together with 
marrow, thy skin grow together with skin! Thy 
blood, thy bone shall grow, thy flesh grow together 
with flesh ! 

5. Fit together hair with hair, and fit together 
skin with skin! Thy blood, thy bone shall grow: 
what is cut join thou together, O plant! 

6. Do thou here rise up, go forth, run forth, (as) 
a chariot with sound wheels, firm feloe, and strong 
nave; stand upright firmly ! 

7. If he has been injured by falling into a pit, or 
if a stone was cast and hurt him, may he (Dhatar, 
the fashioner) fit him together, joint to joint, as the 
wagoner (Azbhu) the parts of a chariot! 


Ν, 5. Charm with the plant silaé#t (laksha, 
arundhatt) for the cure of wounds. 


1. The night is thy mother, the cloud thy father, 
Aryaman thy grandfather. Silaé1, forsooth, is thy 
name, thou art the sister of the gods. 

2. He that drinks thee lives; (that) person thou 
dost preserve. For thou art the supporter of all 
successive (generations), the refuge of men. 

ἃ. Every tree thou dost climb, like a wench 
lusting after a man. ‘ Victorious,’ ‘firmly founded,’ 
‘saving,’ verily, is thy name. 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 21 


4. The wound that has been inflicted by the club, 
by the arrow, or by fire, of that thou art the cure: 
do thou cure this person here! 

5. Upon the noble plaksha-tree (ficus infectoria) 
thou growest up, upon the asvattha (ficus religiosa), 
the khadira (acacia catechu), and the dhava (grislea 
tomentosa) ; (thou growest up) upon the noble nya- 
grodha (ficus indica, banyan-tree), and the parza 
(butea frondosa). Come thou to us, O arundhatt! 

6. O gold-coloured, lovely, sun-coloured, most 
handsome (plant), mayest thou come to the fracture, 
Ocure! ‘Cure,’ verily, is thy name! 

7. O gold-coloured, lovely, fiery (plant), with hairy 
stem, thou art the sister of the waters, O laksh4, the 
wind became thy very breath. 

8. Silaét is thy name, O thou that art brown as 
a goat, thy father is the son of a maiden. With 
the blood of the brown horse of Yama thou hast 
verily been sprinkled. 

9. Having dropped from the blood of the horse 
she ran upon the trees, turning into a winged brook. 
Do thou come to us, O arundhatt! 


VI, 109. The pepper-corn as a cure for wounds. 


1. The pepper-corn cures the wounds that have 
been struck by missiles, it also cures the wounds 
from stabs. Anent it the gods decreed: ‘ Powerful 
to secure life this (plant) shall be!’ 

2. The pepper-corns spake to one another, as 
they came out, after having been created : ‘ He whom 
we shall find (as yet) alive, that man shall not suffer 
harm!’ 

3. The Asuras did dig thee into the ground, the 


22 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


gods cast thee up again, as a cure for disease pro- 
duced by wind (in the body), moreover as a cure for 
wounds struck by missiles. 


I, 17. Charm to stop the flow of blood. 


1. The maidens that go yonder, the veins, clothed 
in red garments, like sisters without a brother, bereft 
of strength, they shall stand still! 

2. Stand still, thou lower one, stand still, thou 
higher one; do thou in the middle also stand still! 
The most tiny (vein) stands still: may then the 
great artery also stand still! 

3. Of the hundred arteries, and the thousand 
veins, those in the middle here have indeed stood 
still, At the same time the ends have ceased (to 
flow). 

4. Around you has passed a great sandy dike: 
stand ye still, pray take your ease ! 


I], 31. Charm against worms. 


1. With Indra’s great mill-stone, that crushes all 
vermin, do I grind to pieces the worms, as lentils 
with a mill-stone. 

2. I have crushed the visible and the invisible 
worm, and the kurfru, too, I have crushed. All the 
algazdu and the saluna, the worms, we grind to 
pieces with our charm. 

3. The algandu do I smite with a mighty weapon: 
those that have been burned, and those that have 
not been burned, have become devoid of strength. 
Those that are left and those that are not left do I 
destroy with my song, so that not one of the worms 
be left. 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 23 


4. The worm which is in the entrails, and he that 
is in the head, likewise the one that is in the ribs: 
avaskava and vyadhvara, the worms, do we crush 
with (this) charm. 

5. The worms that are within the mountains, 
forests, plants, cattle, and the waters, those that 
have settled in our bodies, all that brood of the 
worms do I smite. 


II, 32. Charm against worms in cattle. 


1. The rising sun shall slay the worms, the setting 
sun with his rays shall slay the worms that are 
within the cattle! 

2. The variegated worm, the four-eyed, the 
speckled, and the white—I crush his ribs, and 1 tear 
off his head. 

3. Like Atri, like Kava, and like Gamadagni do 
I slay you, ye worms! With the incantation of 
Agastya do I crush the worms to pieces. 

4. Slain is the king of the worms, and their viceroy 
also is slain. Slain is the worm, with him his mother 
slain, his brother slain, his sister slain. 

5. Slain are they who are inmates with him, slain 
are his neighbours; moreover all the quite tiny worms 
are slain. 

6. I break off thy two horns with which thou 
deliverest thy thrusts; I cut that bag of thine which 
is the receptacle for thy poison. 


V, 23. Charm against worms in children. 


1. 1 have called upon heaven and earth, I have 
called upon the goddess Sarasvati, I have called 


24 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


upon Indra and Agni: ‘they shall crush the worm,’ 
(I said). 

2. Slay the worms in this boy, O Indra, lord of 
treasures! Slain are all the evil powers by my 
fierce imprecation ! 

3. Him that moves about in the eyes, that moves 
about in the nose, that gets to the middle of the 
teeth, that worm do we crush. 

4. The two of like colour, the two of different 
colour; the two black ones, and the two red ones; 
the brown one, and the brown-eared one ; the (one 
like a) vulture, and the (one like a) cuckoo, are 
slain. 

5. The worms with white shoulders, the black 
ones with white arms, and all those that are varie- 
gated, these worms do we crush. 

6. In the east rises the sun, seen by all, slaying 
that which is not seen; slaying the seen and the unseen 
(worms), and grinding to pieces all the worms. 

7. The yevdsha and the kashkasha, the egatka, 
and the sipavitnuka—the seen worm shall be slain, 
moreover the unseen shall be slain! 

8. Slain of the worms is the yev4sha, slain further 
is the nadaniman; all have I crushed down like 
lentils with a mill-stone. 

9. The worm with three heads and the one with 
three skulls, the speckled, and the white—I crush 
his ribs and 1 tear off his head. 

το. Like Atri, like Kasva, and like Gamadagni 
do I slay you, ye worms! With the incantation of 
Agastya do I crush the worms to pieces. 

11. Slain is the king of the worms, and their 
viceroy also is slain. Slain is the worm, with him 
his mother slain, his brother slain, his sister slain. 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 25 


12. Slain are they who are inmates with him, slain 
are his neighbours; moreover all the quite tiny 
worms are slain. 

13. Of all the male worms, and of all the female 
worms do 1 split the heads with the stone, I burn 
their faces with fire. 


IV, 6. Charm against poison. 


1. The Brahmaza was the first to be born, with 
ten heads and ten mouths. He was the first to 
drink the soma; that did render poison powerless. 

2. As great as heaven and earth are in extent, as 
far as the seven streams did spread, so far from here 
have I proclaimed forth this charm that destroys 
poison. 

3. The eagle Garutmant did, O poison, first 
devour thee. Thou didst not bewilder him, didst 
not injure him, yea, thou didst turn into food for 
him. . 

4. The five-fingered hand that did hurl upon thee 
(the arrow) even from the curved bow—from the 
point of the tearing (arrow) have I charmed away 
the poison. 

5. From the point (of the arrow) have I charmed 
away the poison, from the substance that has been 
smeared upon it, and from its plume. From its 
barbed horn, and its neck, I have charmed away the 
poison. 

6. Powerless, O arrow, is thy point, and powerless 
is thy poison. Moreover of powerless wood is thy 
powerless bow, O powerless (arrow) ! 

7. They that ground (the poison), they that 
daubed it on, they that hurled it, and they that let 


26 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


it go, all these have been rendered impotent. The 
mountain that grows poisonous plants has been 
rendered impotent. 

8. Impotent are they that dig thee, impotent art 
thou, O plant! Impotent is that mountain height 
whence this poison has sprung. 


IV, 7. Charm against poison. 


1. This water (var) in the (river) Varaz4vatt shall 
ward off (varayatai)! Am*yzta (ambrosia) has been 
poured into it: with that do I ward off (varaye) 
poison from thee. 

2. Powerless is the poison from the east, power- 
less that from the north. Moreover the poison from 
the south transforms itself into a porridge. 

3. Having made thee (the poison) that comes from 
a horizontal direction into a porridge, rich in fat, and 
cheering, from sheer hunger he has eaten thee, that 
hast an evil body: do thou not cause injury! 

4. Thy bewildering quality (madam), O (plant ?) 
that art bewildering (madavati), we cause to fall like 
areed. Asa boiling pot of porridge do we remove 
thee by (our) charm. 

5. (Thee, O poison) that art, as it were, heaped 
about the village, do we cause to stand still by (our) 
charm. Stand still as a tree upon its place; do not, 
thou that hast been dug with the spade, cause 
injury ! 

6. With broom-straw (?), garments, and also 
with skins they purchased thee: a thing for barter 
art thou, O plant! Do not, thou that hast been dug 
with the spade, cause injury! 

7. Those of you who were of yore unequalled in 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 27 


the deeds which they performed—may they not 
injure here our men: for this very purpose do I 
engage you! 


VI, too. Ants as an antidote against poison. 


1. The gods have given, the sun has given, the 
earth has given, the three Sarasvatts, of one mind, 
have given this poison-destroying (remedy) ! 

2. That water, O ants, which the gods poured for 
you into the dry land, with this (water), sent forth 
by the gods, do ye destroy this poison ! 

3. Thou art the daughter of the Asuras, thou art 
the sister of the gods. Sprung from heaven and 
earth, thou didst render the poison devoid of 


strength. 


V, 13. Charm against snake-poison. 


1. Varuna, the sage of heaven, verily lends (power) 
to me. With mighty charms do I dissolve thy 
poison. The (poison) which has been dug, that 
which has not been dug, and that which is inherent, 
I have held fast. As a brook in the desert thy 
poison has dried up. 

2. That poison of thine which is not fluid I have 
confined within these (serpents ?). I hold fast the sap 
that is in thy middle, thy top, and in thy bottom, too. 
May (the sap) now vanish out of thee from fright! 

3. My lusty shout (is) as the thunder with the 
cloud: then do I smite thy (sap) with my strong 
charm. With manly strength I have held fast that 
sap of his. May the sun rise as light from the 
darkness ! 

4. With my eye do I slay thy eye, with poison 


28 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


do I slay thy poison. O serpent, die, do not live ; 
back upon thee shall thy poison turn! 

5. O kairata, speckled one, upatv¢zya (grass- 
dweller ?), brown one, listen to me; ye black re- 
pulsive reptiles, (listen to me)! Do not stand upon 
the ground of my friend; cease with your poison 
and make it known (to people ?) ! 

6. I release (thee) from the fury of the black 
serpent, the taimata, the brown serpent, the poison 
that is not fluid, the all-conquering, as the bow- 
string (is loosened) from the bow, as chariots (from 
horses). 

7. Both Aligt and Viligt, both father and mother, 
we know your kin everywhere. Deprived of your 
strength what will ye do? 

8. The daughter of urugdla, the evil one born 
with the black—of all those who have run to their 
hiding-place the poison is devoid of force. 

9. The prickly porcupine, tripping down from the 
mountain, did declare this: ‘Whatsoever serpents, 
living in ditches, are here, their poison is most 
deficient in force.’ 

10. Tabuvam (or) not tabuvam, thou (O serpent) 
art not tabuvam. Through taébuvam thy poison is 
bereft of force. 

11. Tastuvam (or) not tastuvam, thou (O serpent) 
art not tastuvam. Through tastuvam thy poison is 
bereft of force. 


VI, 12. Charm against snake-poison. 


1. As the sun (goes around) the heavens I have 
surrounded the race of the serpents. As night (puts 
to rest) all animals except the hamsa bird, (thus) do 
I with this (charm) ward off thy poison. 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 29 


2. With (the charm) that was found of yore by 
the Brahmans, found by the Azshis, and found by 
the gods, with (the charm) that was, will be, and is 
now present, with this do I ward off thy poison. 

3. With honey do I mix the rivers; the moun- 
tains and peaks are honey. Honey are the rivers 
Parushwi and Sipal4. Prosperity be to thy mouth, 
prosperity to thy heart! 


VII, 56. Charm against the poison of serpents, 
scorpions, and insects. 


1. The poison infused by the serpent that is 
striped across, by the black serpent, and by the 
adder ; that poison of the kankaparvan (‘with limbs 
like a comb,’ scorpion) this plant has driven out. 

2. This herb, born of honey, dripping honey, 
sweet as honey, honied, is the remedy for injuries ; 
moreover it crushes insects. 

3. Wherever thou hast been bitten, wherever 
thou hast been sucked, from there do we exorcise 
for thee the poison of the small, greedily biting 
insect, (so that it be) devoid of strength. 

4. Thou (serpent) here, crooked, without joints, 
and without limbs, that twisteth thy crooked jaws— 
mayest thou, O Brzhaspati, straighten them out, as 
a (bent) reed! 

5. The poison of the sarkoéa (scorpion) that 
creeps low upon the ground, (after he) has been 
deprived of his strength, Ε have taken away; more- 
over I have caused him to be crushed. 

6. There is no strength in thy arms, in thy head, 
nor in the middle (of thy body). Then why dost 
thou so wickedly carry a small (sting) in thy tail ? 


30 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


7. The ants devour thee, pea-hens hack thee to 
pieces. Yea, every one of you shall declare the 
poison of the sarko¢a powerless ! 

8. Thou (scorpion) that strikest with both, with 
mouth as well as tail, in thy mouth there is no 
poison: then what can there be in the receptacle 
in thy tail Ὁ 


VI, 16. Charm against ophthalmia. 


1. O Abayu, (and even if) thou art not Abayu, 
strong is thy juice, O 4bayu! We eat a gruel, 
compounded of thee. 

2. Vihalha is thy father’s name, Madavatt thy 
mother’s name. Thou art verily not such, as to 
have consumed thy own self. 

3. O Tauvilika, do be quiet! This howling one 
has become quiet. O brown one, and brown-eared 
one, go away! Go out, O 4la! 

4. Alas4l4 thou art first, sila#galal4 thou art the 
next, ntlagalas4l4 (thou art third ?)! 


VI, 21. Charm to promote the growth of hair. 


1. Of these three earths (our) earth verily is the 
highest. From the surface of these I have now 
plucked a remedy. 

2. Thou art the most excellent of remedies, the 
best of plants, as Soma (the moon) is the lord in 
the watches of the night, as Varuza (is king) among 
the gods. 

3. O ye wealthy, irresistible (plants), ye do 
generously bestow benefits. And ye strengthen the 
hair, and, moreover, promote its increase. 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 31 


VI, 136. Charm with the plant nitatni 
to promote the growth of hair. 


1. As a goddess upon the goddess earth thou 
wast born, O plant! We dig thee up, O nitatni, that 
thou mayest strengthen (the growth) of the hair. 

2. Strengthen the old (hair), beget the new! 
That which has come forth render more luxurious! 

3. That hair of thine which does drop off, and 
that which is broken root and all, upon it do 
I sprinkle here the all-healing herb. 


VI, 1327. Charm to promote the growth of hair. 


1. The (plant) that Gamadagni dug up to promote 
the growth of his daughter's hair, Vitahavya has 
brought here from the dwelling of Asita. 

2. With reins they had to be measured, with out- 
stretched arms they had to be measured out. May 
thy hairs grow as reeds, may they (cluster), black, 
about thy head! 

3. Make firm their roots, draw out their ends, 
expand their middle, O herb! May thy hairs grow 
as reeds, may they (cluster), black, about thy head! 


IV, 4. Charm to promote virility. 


1. Thee, the plant, which the Gandharva dug up 
for Varuza, when his virility had decayed, thee, that 
causest strength!, we dig up. 

2. Ushas (Aurora), Sdrya (the sun), and this charm 
of mine; the bull Pragdpati (the lord of creatures) 
shall with his lusty fire arouse him! 


1 The original, more drastically, sepaharshazim. By a few 
changes and omissions in stanzas 3, 6, and 7 the direct simplicity 
of the original has been similarly veiled. 


32 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


3. This herb shall make thee so very full of 
lusty strength, that thou shalt, when thou art excited, 
exhale heat as a thing on fire! 

4. The fire of the plants, and the essence of the 
bulls shall arouse him! Do thou, O Indra, con- 
troller of bodies, place the lusty force of men into 
this person! 

5. Thou (O herb) art the first-born sap of the 
waters and also of the plants. Moreover thou art 
the brother of Soma, and the lusty force of the 
antelope buck! 

6. Now, O Agni, now, O Savitar, now, O goddess 
Sarasvati, now, O Brahmamaspati, do thou stiffen 
the pasas as a bow! 

7. I stiffen thy pasas as a.bowstring upon the 
bow. Embrace thou (women) as the antelope buck 
the gazelle with ever unfailing (strength) ! 

8. The strength of the horse, the mule, the goat 
and the ram, moreover the strength of the bull 
bestow upon him, O controller of bodies (Indra) ! 


VI, 111. Charm against mania. 


1. Release for me, O Agni, this person here, 
who, bound and well-secured, loudly jabbers!| Then 
shall he have due regard for thy share (of the offer- 
ing), when he shall be free from madness! 

2. Agni shall quiet down thy mind, if it has been 
disturbed! Cunningly do I prepare a remedy, that 
thou shalt be freed from madness. 

3. (Whose mind) has been maddened by the sin 
of the gods, or been robbed of sense by the Rakshas, 
(for him) do I cunningly prepare a remedy, that he 
shall be free from madness. 

4. May the Apsaras restore thee, may Indra, may 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 33 


Bhaga restore thee; may all the gods restore thee, 
that thou mayest be freed from madness! 


IV, 37. Charm with the plant agasvzigt to drive 
out Rakshas, Apsaras and Gandharvas. 


1. With thee, O herb, the Atharvans first slew 
the Rakshas, with thee Kasyapa slew (them), with 
thee Kazva and Agastya (slew them). 

2. With thee do we scatter the Apsaras and Gan- 
dharvas. O agasringi (odina pinnata), goad (aga) 
the Rakshas, drive them all away with thy smell! 

3. The Apsaras, Guggulf, Ptl4, Naladi, Auksha- 
gandhi, and Pramandani (by name), shall go to the 
river, to the ford of the waters, as if blown away! 
Thither do ye, O Apsaras, pass away, (since) ye 
have been recognised ! 

4. Where grow the asvattha (ficus religiosa) and 
the banyan-trees, the great trees with crowns, thither 
do ye, O Apsaras, pass away, (since) ye have been 
recognised ! 

5. Where your gold and silver swings are, where 
cymbals and lutes chime together, thither do ye, 
O Apsaras, pass away, (since) ye have been recog- 
nised. 

6. Hither has come the mightiest of the plants 
and herbs. May the agasvzngt arA¢akt pierce ὙΠ 
her sharp horn (tikshmasvzngt) ! 

7. Of the crested Gandharva, the husband of the 
Apsaras, who comes dancing hither, I crush the 
two mushkas and cut off the sepas. 

8. Terrible are the missiles of Indra, with a hun- 
dred points, brazen; with these he shall pierce the 
Gandharvas, who devour oblations, and devour the 
avak4-reed. 


[42] D 


34 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


g. Terrible are the missiles of Indra, with a hun- 
dred points, golden; with these he shall pierce the 
Gandharvas, who devour oblations, and devour the 
avak4-reed. 

10. All the Pis&éas that devour the avak4-reeds, 
that burn, and spread their little light in the waters, 
do thou, O herb, crush and overcome! 

11. One is like a dog, one like an ape. As 
a youth, with luxuriant locks, pleasant to look upon, 
the Gandharva hangs about the woman. Him do 
we drive out from here with our powerful charm. 

12. The Apsaras, you know, are your wives; ye, 
the Gandharvas, are their husbands. Speed away, 
ye immortals, do not go after mortals! 


11,9. Possession by demons of disease, cured 
by an amulet of ten kinds of wood. 


1. O (amulet) of ten kinds of wood, release this 
man from the demon (rakshas) and the fit (grahi) 
which has seized upon (gagraéha) his joints! Do 
thou, moreover, O plant, lead him forth to the world 
of the living! 

2. He has come, he has gone forth, he has joined 
the community of the living. And he has become 
the father of sons, and the most happy of men! 

3. This person has come to his senses, he has 
come to the cities of the living. For he (now) has 
a hundred physicians, and also a thousand herbs. 

4. The gods have found thy arrangement, (O 
amulet); the Brahmans, moreover, the plants. All 
the gods have found thy arrangement upon the earth. 

5. (The god) that has caused (disease) shall per- 
form the cure; he is himself the best physician. 


I, CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 35 


Let him indeed, the holy one, prepare remedies for 
thee, together with the (earthly) physician ! 


IV, 36. Charm against demons (ρίζα) conceived 
as the cause of disease. 


1. May Agni Vaisvanara, the bull of unfailing 
strength, burn up him that is evil-disposed, and 
desires to harm us, and him that plans hostile deeds 
against us! 

2. Between. the two rows of teeth of Agni Vais- 
vanara do I place him that plans to injure us, when 
we are not planning to injure him; and him that 
plans to injure us, when we do plan to injure him. 

ἃ. Those who hound us in our chambers, while. 
shouting goes on in the night of the new moon, and 
the other flesh-devourers who plan to injure us, all 
of them do I overcome with might. 

4. With might I overcome the Pisdéas, rob them 
of their property; all evil-disposed (demons) do 
I slay: may my device succeed! 

5. With the gods who vie with, and measure their 
swiftness with this sun, with those that are in the 
rivers, and in the mountains, do I, along with my 
cattle, consort. 

6. I plague the Pisééas as the tiger the cattle- 
owners. As dogs who have seen a lion, these do 
not find a refuge. 

7. My strength does not lie with Pisdéas, nor 
with thieves, nor with prowlers in the forest. From 
the village which I enter the Pisééas vanish away. 

8. From the village which my fierce power has 
entered the Pis&#as vanish away; they do not devise 
evil, 

D2 


36 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


9. They who irritate me with their jabber, as 
(buzzing) mosquitoes the elephant, them I regard as 
wretched (creatures), as small vermin upon people. 

10. May Nirvzti (the goddess of destruction) take 
hold of this one, as a horse with the halter! The 
fool who is wroth with me is not freed from (her) 
snare. 


II, 25. Charm with the plant przsniparat against 
the demon of disease, called kazva. 


1. The goddess Przsniparmt has prepared pros- 
perity for us, mishap for Nirvzti' (the goddess of 
destruction). For she is a fierce devourer of the 
Kazvas: her, the mighty, have I employed. 

2. The Pvrisniparzi was first begotten power- 
ful; with her do I lop off the heads of the evil 
brood, as (the head) of a bird. 

3. The blood-sucking demon, and him that tries 
to rob (our) health, Kazva, the devourer of our 
offspring, destroy, O Przsniparmi, and overcome! 

4. These Kazvas, the effacers of life, drive into 
the mountain; go thou burning after them like fire, 
O goddess Prisniparai ! 

5. Drive far away these Kazvas, the effacers of 
life! Where the dark regions are, there have 
I made these flesh-eaters go. 


VI, 32. Charm for driving away demons (Rakshas 
and Pisdéas). 


1. Do ye well offer within the fire this oblation 
with ghee, that destroys the spook! Do thou, O 
Agni, burn from afar against the Rakshas, (but) our 
houses thou shalt not consume! 


I, CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES, 37 


2. Rudra has broken your necks, ye Pisdéas: 
may he also break your ribs, ye spooks! The plant 
whose power is everywhere has united you with 
Yama (death). 

3. Exempt from danger, O Mitra and Varuma, 
may we here be; drive back with your flames the 
devouring demons (Atrin)! Neither aider, nor 
support do they find; smiting one another they go 
to death. 


II, 4. Charm with an amulet derived from the 
gangida tree, against diseases and demons. 


1. Unto long life and great delights, for ever 
unharmed and vigorous, do we wear the gangida, as 
an amulet destructive of the vishkandha. 

2. From convulsions, from tearing pain, from 
vishkandha, and from torturing pain, the gangida 
shall protect us on all sides—an amulet of a thousand 
virtues ! 

3. This gangida conquers the vishkandha, and 
smites the Atrin (devouring demons); may this all- 
healing gangiaa protect us from adversity ! 

4. By means of the invigorating gangida, bestowed 
by the gods as an amulet, do we conquer in battle 
the vishkandha and all the Rakshas. 

5. May the hemp and may the gangida protect me 
against vishkandha! The one (gangida) is brought 
hither from the forest, the other (hemp) from the 
sap of the furrow. 

6. Destruction of witchcraft is this amulet, also 
destruction of hostile powers: may the powerful 
gangida therefore extend far our lives! 


38 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


XIX, 34. Charm with an amulet derived from the 
gangida-tree, against diseases and demons. 


1. Thou art an Angiras, O gangida, a protector 
art thou, O gangida. All two-footed and four-footed 
creatures that belong to us the gangida shall protect ! 

2. The sorceries fifty-three in number, and the 
hundred performers of sorcery, all these having lost 
their force, the gangida shall render bereft of 
strength! 

3. Bereft of strength is the gotten-up clamour, 
bereft of strength are the seven debilitating (charms). 
Do thou, O gangida, hurl away from here poverty, 
as an archer an arrow! 

4. This gangida is a destroyer of witchcraft, and 
also a destroyer of hostile powers. May then the 
powerful gangida extend far our lives! 

5. May the greatness of the gangida protect us 
about on all sides, (the greatness) with which he has 
overcome the vishkandha (and) the samskandha, 
(overcoming) the powerful (disease) with power! 

6. Thrice the gods begot thee that hast grown up 
upon the earth. The Brahmamas of yore knew thee 
here by the name of Angiras. 

7. Neither the plants of olden times, nor they of 
recent times, surpass thee; a fierce slayer is the 
gangida, and a happy refuge. 

8. And when, O gangida of boundless virtue, thou 
didst spring up in the days of yore, O fierce (plant), 
Indra at first placed strength in thee. 

9. Fierce Indra, verily, put might into thee, O 
lord of the forest! Dispersing all diseases, slay thou 
the Rakshas, Ὁ plant! 

10. The breaking disease and the tearing disease, 


I, CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 39 


the balasa, and the pain in the limbs, the takman 
that comes every autumn, may the gangida render 
devoid of force! 


XIX, 35. Charm with an amulet derived from the 
gangida-tree, against diseases and demons. 


1. While uttering Indra’s name the seers bestowed 
(upon men) the gangida, which the gods in the 
beginning had made into a remedy, destructive of 
the vishkandha. 

2. May that gangida protect us as a treasurer his 
treasures, he whom the gods and the Brahmazas 
made into a refuge that puts to naught the hostile 
powers ! 

3. The evil eye of the hostile-minded, (and) the 
evil-doer I have approached. Do thou, O thousand- 
eyed one, watchfully destroy these! A refuge art 
thou, O gangida. 

4. May the gangida protect me from heaven, 
protect me from earth, protect (me) from the atmos- 
phere, protect me from the plants, protect me from 
the past, as well as the future; may he protect us 
from every direction of space! 

5. The sorceries performed by the gods, and also 
those performed by men, may the all-healing gangida 
render them all devoid of strength ! 


VI, 85. Exorcism of disease by means of an amulet 
from the varaza-tree. 


1. This divine tree, the varava, shall shut out 
(varayAtai). The gods, too, have shut out (avivaran) 
the disease that hath entered into this man! 

_2, By Indra’s command, by Mitra’s and by 


40 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Varuna’s, by the command of all the gods do we 
shut out thy disease. 

3. As Vrttra did hold fast these ever-flowing 
waters, thus do I shut out (vdraye) disease from 
thee with (the help of) Agni Vaisvanara. 


VI, 127. The Atpudru-tree as a panacea. 


1. Of the abscess, of the baldsa, of flow of blood, 
O plant; of neuralgia, O herb, thou shalt not leave 
even a speck! 

2. Those two boils (testicles) of thine, O baldsa, 
that are fixed upon the arm-pits—I know the remedy 
for that: the Atpudru-tree takes care of it. 

3. The neuralgia that is in the limbs, that is in 
the ears and in the eyes—we tear them out, the 
neuralgia, the abscess, and the pain in the heart. 
That unknown disease do we drive away downward. 


XIX, 38. The healing properties of bdellium. 


1. [Neither diseases, nor yet a curse, enters this 
person, O arundhatt!] From him that is pene- 
trated by the sweet fragrance of the healing bdellium, 
diseases flee in every direction, as antelopes and as 
horses run. 

2. Whether, O bdellium, thou comest from the 
Sindhu (Indus), or whether thou art derived from the 
sea, I have seized the qualities of both, that this 
person shall be exempt from harm. 


VI, 91. Barley and water as universal remedies. 


1. This barley they did plough vigorously, with 
yokes of eight and yokes of six. With it I drive off 
to a far distance the ailment from thy body. 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 41 


2. Downward blows the wind, downward burns 
the sun, downward the cow is milked: downward 
shall thy ailment pass ! 

3. The waters verily are healing, the waters chase 
away disease, the waters cure all (disease): may 
they prepare a remedy for thee! 


VIII, 7. Hymn to all magic and medicinal plants, 
used as a universal remedy. 


1. The plants that are brown, and those that are 
white; the red ones and the speckled ones; the 
sable and the black plants, all (these) do we invoke. 

2. May they protect this man from the disease 
sent by the gods, the herbs whose father is the 
sky, whose mother is the earth, whose root is the 
ocean. 

3. The waters and the heavenly plants are fore- 
most; they have driven out from every limb thy 
disease, consequent upon sin. 

4. The plants that spread forth, those that are 
bushy, those that have a single sheath, those that 
creep along, do I address; I call in thy behalf the 
plants that have shoots, those that have stalks, those 
that divide their branches, those that are derived 
from all the gods, the strong (plants) that furnish 
life to man. 

5. With the might that is yours, ye mighty ones, 
with the power and strength that is yours, with that 
do ye, O plants, rescue this man from this disease ! 
1 now prepare a remedy. 

6. The plants givala (‘quickening’), na-gh4-risha 
(‘forsooth-no-harm’), gtvantt (‘living’), and the arun- 
dhatt, which removes (disease), is full of blossoms, 


42 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


and rich in honey, do I call to exempt him from 
injury. 

7. Hither shall come the intelligent (plants) that 
understand my speech, that we may bring this man 
into safety out of misery! 

8. They that are the food of Agni (the fire), the 
offspring of the waters, that grow ever renewing 
themselves, the firm (plants) that bear a thousand 
names, the healing (plants), shall be brought hither ! 

9. The plants, whose womb is the avaka (blyxa 
octandra), whose essence are the waters, shall with 
their sharp horns thrust aside evil! 

10. The plants which release, exempt from Varuza 
(dropsy), are strong, and destroy poison ; those, too, 
that remove (the disease) bal4sa, and ward off witch- 
craft shall come hither! 

11. The plants that have been bought, that are 
right potent, and are praised, shall protect in this 
village cow, horse, man, and cattle! 

12. Honied are the roots of these herbs, honied 
their tops, honied their middles, honied their leaves, 
honied their blossoms ; they share in honey, are the 
food of immortality. May they yield ghee, and 
food, and cattle chief of all! 

13. As many in number and in kind the plants 
here are upon the earth, may they, furnished with 
a thousand leaves, release me from death and 
misery ! 

14. Tiger-like is the amulet (made of) herbs, 
a saviour, a protector against hostile schemes: may 
it drive off far away from us all diseases and the 
Rakshas ! 

15. Asif at the roar of the lion they start with 
fright, as if (at the roar) of fire they tremble before 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 43 


the (plants) that have been brought hither. The 
diseases of cattle and men have been driven out by 
the herbs: let them pass into navigable streams! 

16. The plants release us from Agni Vaisvanara. 
Spreading over the earth, go ye, whose king is the 
tree! 

17. The plants, descended from Angiras, that 
grow upon the mountains and in the plains, shall be 
for us rich in milk, auspicious, comforting to the 
heart ! 

18. The herbs which I know, and those which 
I see with my sight; the unknown, those which we 
know, and those which we perceive to be charged 
with (power),— 

19. All plants collectively shall note my words, 
that we may bring this man into safety out of mis- 
fortune,— 

20. The asvattha (ficus religiosa), and the darbha 
among the plants; king Soma, amrzta (ambrosia) 
and the oblation; rice and barley, the two healing, 
immortal children of heaven! 

21. Ye arise: it is thundering and crashing, ye 
plants, since Parganya (the god of rain) is favouring 
you, O children of Prisni (the spotted cloud), with 
(his) seed (water). 

22. The strength of this amvzta (ambrosia) do 
we give this man to drink. Moreover, I prepare 
a remedy, that he may live a hundred years! 

23. The boar knows, the ichneumon knows the 
healing plant. Those that the serpents and Gan- 
dharvas know, I call hither for help. 

24. The plants, derived from the Angiras, which 
the eagles and the heavenly raghaé¢s (falcons) know, 
which the birds and the flamingos know, which all 


44 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


winged (creatures) know, which all wild animals 
know, I call hither for help. 

25. As many plants as the oxen and kine, as many 
as the goats and the sheep feed upon, so many plants, 
when applied, shall furnish protection to thee! 

26. As many (plants), as the human physicians 
know to contain a remedy, so many, endowed with 
every healing quality, do I apply to thee! 

27. Those that have flowers, those that have 
blossoms, those that bear fruit, and those that are 
without fruit, as if from the same mother they shall 
suck sap, to exempt this man from injury! 

28. I have saved thee from a depth of five 
fathoms, and, too, from a depth of ten fathoms; 
moreover, from the foot-fetter of Yama, and from 
every sin against the gods, 


VI, 96. Plants as a panacea. 


1. The many plants of hundredfold aspect, whose 
king is Soma, which have been begotten by Brz- 
haspati, shall free us from calamity! 

2. May they free us from (the calamity) conse- 
quent upon curses, and also from the (toils) of 
Varuza; moreover, from the foot-fetter of Yama, 
and every sin against the gods! 

3. What laws we have infringed upon, with the 
eye, the mind, and speech, either while awake, or 
asleep—may Soma by his (divine) nature clear these 
(sins) away from us! 


II, 32. Charm to secure perfect health. 


1. From thy eyes, thy nostrils, ears, and chin— 
the disease which is seated in thy head—from thy 
brain and tongue I do tear it out. 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 45 


2. From thy neck, nape of the neck, ribs, and 
spine—the disease which is seated in thy fore-arm— 
from thy shoulders and arms I do tear it out. 

3. From thy heart, thy lungs, viscera, and sides; 
from thy kidneys, spleen, and liver we do tear out 
the disease. 

4. From thy entrails, canals, rectum, and .abdo- 
men; from thy belly, guts, and navel I do tear out 
the disease. 

5. From thy thighs, knees, heels, and the ips of 
thy feet—from thy hips I do tear out the disease 
seated in thy buttocks, from thy bottom the disease 
seated in thy buttocks. 

6. From thy bones, marrow, sinews and arteries ; 
from thy hands, fingers, and nails I do tear out the 
disease. | 

7. The disease that is in thy every limb, thy 
every hair, thy every joint; that which is seated in 
thy skin, with Kasyapa’s charm, that tears out, to 
either side we do tear it out. 


IX, 8. Charm to procure immunity from all 
diseases. 


1. Headache and suffering in the head, pain in 
the ears and flow of blood, every disease of the 
head, do we charm forth from thee. 

2. From thy ears, from thy kankdshas the ear- 
pain, and the neuralgia—every disease of the head 
do we charm forth from thee. 

3. (With the charm) through whose agency disease 
hastens forth from the ears and the mouth—every 
disease of the head do we charm forth from thee. 

4. (The disease) that renders a man deaf and 


46 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


blind—every disease of the head do we charm forth 
from thee. 

5. Pain in. the limbs, fever in the limbs, the 
neuralgia that affects every limb—every disease of 
the head do we charm forth from thee. 

6. (The disease) whose frightful aspect makes 
man tremble, the takman (fever) that comes every 

autumn, do we charm forth from thee. 

7. The disease that creeps along the thighs, and 
‘then enters the canals, out of thy inner parts do we 
charm forth. 

8. If from the heart, from love, or from disgust, 
it arises, from thy heart and from thy limbs the 
bal4sa do we charm forth. 

9. Jaundice from thy limbs, diarrhoea from within 
thy bowels, the core of disease from thy inner soul 
do we charm forth. 

10. To ashes (Asa) the baldsa shall turn; what is 
diseased shall turn to urine! The poison of all 
diseases I have charmed forth from thee. 

11. Outside the opening (of the bladder) it shall 
run off; the rumbling shalt pass from thy belly! 
The poison of all diseases I have charmed forth 
from thee. 

12. From thy belly, lungs, navel, and heart—the 
poison ofall diseases I have charmed forth from thee. 

13. (The pains) that split the crown (of the 
head), pierce the head, without doing injury, with- 
out causing disease, they shall run off outside the 
opening (of the bladder) ! 

14. They that pierce the heart, creep along the 
ribs, without doing injury, without causing disease, 
they shall run off outside the opening (of the 
bladder) ! 


I. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. 47 


15. They that pierce the sides, bore along the ribs, 
without doing injury, without causing disease, they 
shall ran off outside the opening (of the bladder)! 

16. They that pierce crosswise, burrow in thy 
abdomen, without doing injury, without causing 
disease, they shall run off outside the opening (of 
the bladder)! 

17. They that creep along the rectum, twist the 
bowels, without doing injury, without causing disease, 
they shall run off outside the opening (of the bladder)! 

18. They that suck the marrow, and split the 
joints, without doing injury, without causing dis- 
ease, they shall run off outside the opening (of the 
bladder) ! 

19. The diseases and the injuries that paralyse 
thy limbs, the poison of all diseases I have charmed 
forth from thee. 

20. Of neuralgia, of abscesses, of inflation, or of 
inflammation of the eyes, the poison of all diseases 
I have driven forth from thee. 

21. From thy feet, knees, thighs, and bottom ; 
from thy spine, and thy neck the piercing pains, 
from thy head the ache I have removed. 

22. Firm are the bones of thy skull, and the beat 
of thy heart. At thy rising, O sun, thou didst 
remove the pains of the head, quiet the pangs in 
the limbs. 


II, 29. Charm for obtaining long life and pros- 
perity by transmission of disease. 


1. In the essence of earthly bliss, O ye gods, in 
strength of body (may he live)! May Agni, Sdrya, 
Brthaspati bestow upon him life’s vigour ! 


48 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


2. Give life to him, O G4Atavedas, bestow in 
addition progeny upon him, O Tvashéar; procure, 
O Savitar, increase of wealth for him; may this one, 
who belongs to thee, live a hundred autumns! 

3. May our prayer bestow upon us vigour, and 
possession of sound progeny; ability and property 
do ye two, (O heaven and earth), bestow upon us! 
May he, conquering lands with might, (live), O Indra, 
subjecting the others, his enemies ! 

4. Given by Indra, instructed by Varuma, sent by 
the Maruts, strong, he has come to us; may he, in 
the lap of ye two, heaven and earth, not suffer from 
hunger and not from thirst ! 

5. Strength may ye two, that are rich in strength, 
bestow upon him; milk ‘may ye two, that are rich 
in milk, bestow upon him! Strength heaven and 
earth did bestow upon him; strength all the gods, 
the Maruts, and the waters. — 

6. With the gracious (waters) do I delight thy 
heart, mayest thou, free from disease, full of force, 
rejoice! Clothed in the same garment do ye two 
drink this stirred drink, taking on as a magic form 
the shape of the two Asvins! 

7. Indra, having been wounded, first created this 
vigour, and this ever fresh divine food: that same 
belongs to thee. By means of that do thou, full of 
force, live (a hundred) autumns; may it not flow out 
of thee: physicians have prepared it for thee! 


Il. 


PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH 
(AYUSHYANI). 


III, 11. Prayer for health and long life. 


1. I release thee unto life by means of (my) 
oblation, from unknown decline, and from consump- 
tion. If Grahi (seizure) has caught hold (gagraha) 
of this person here, may Indra and Agni free him 
from that! 

2. If his life has faded, even if he has passed 
away, if he has been brought to the very vicinity of 
death, I snatch him from the lap of Nirvzti (the 
goddess of destruction): I have freed him unto a 
life of a hundred autumns. 

3. I have snatched him (from death) by means of 
an oblation which has a thousand eyes, hundredfold 
strength, and ensures a hundredfold life, in order 
that Indra may conduct him through the years across 
to the other side of every misfortune. 

4. Live thou, thriving a hundred autumns, a hun- 
dred winters, and a hundred springs! May Indra, 
Agni, Savitar, Brzhaspati (grant) thee a hundred 
years! I have snatched him (from death) with an 
oblation that secures a life of a hundred years. 

5. Enter ye, O in-breathing and out-breathing, as 
two bulls a stable! Away shall go the other deaths, 
of which, it is said, there are a hundred more! 

6. Remain ye here, O in-breathing and out- 

[42] E 


50 “HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


breathing, do not go away from here; do ye carry 
anew to old age his body and his limbs! 

7. To old age I make thee over, into old age 
I urge thee; may a happy old age guide thee! 
Away shall go the other deaths, of which, it is said, 
there are a hundred more! 

8. Upon thee (life unto) old age has been deposited, 
as a rope is tied upon a bull. That death which has 
fettered thee at thy birth with a firm rope, Brzhas- 
pati with the hands of the truth did strip off from 
thee. 


IJ, 28. Prayer for long life pronounced over 
a boy. 


1. For thee alone, O (death from) old age, this 
(boy) shall grow’ up: the other hundred kinds of 
death shall not harm him! Like a provident mother 
in her lap Mitra shall befriend him, shall save him 
from misfortune ! 

2. May Mitra or Varuma, the illustrious, co- 
operating, grant him death from old age! Then 
Agni, the priest, who knows the ways, promulgates 
all the races of the gods. 

3. Thou, (O Agni), rulest over all the animals of 
the earth, those which have been born, and those 
which are to be born: may not in-breathing leave 
this one, nor yet out-breathing, may neither friends 
nor foes slay him! 

4. May father Dyaus (sky) and mother Prithivi 
(earth), co-operating, grant thee death from old 
age, that thou mayest live in the lap of Aditi a 
hundred winters, guarded by in-breathing and out- 
breathing ! 

5. Lead this dear child to life and vigour, O Agni, 


1. PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH. 51 


Varuza, and king Mitra! As a mother afford him 
protection, O Aditi, and all ye gods, that he may 
attain to old age! 


III, 31. Prayer for health and long life. 


1. The gods are free from decrepitude; thou, 
O Agni, art removed from the demon of hostility. 
I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite 
thee with life. 

2. (VAyu), the purifying (wind), shall free thee 
from misfortune, Sakra (Indra) from evil sorcery ! 
I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite 
thee with life. 

3. The tame (village) animals are separate from 
the wild (forest animals); the water has flowed 
apart from thirst. I free thee from all evil and 
disease, (and) unite thee with life. 

4. Heaven and earth here go apart; the paths 
go in every direction. I free thee from all evil and 
disease, (and) unite thee with life. 

5. ‘Tvashéar is preparing a wedding for his 
daughter,’ thus (saying) does this whole world pass 
through. I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) 
unite thee with life. 

6. Agni unites (life's) breaths, the moon is united 
with (life's) breath. I free thee from all evil and 
disease, (and) unite thee with life. 

7. By means of (life’s) breath the gods aroused 
the everywhere mighty sun. I free thee from all 
evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life. 

8. Live thou by the (life’s) breath of them that 
have life, and that create life; do not die! I free 
thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with 
life. 

E 2 


52 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


9. Breathe thou with the (life’s) breath of those 
that breathe; do not die! I free thee from all evil 
and disease, (and) unite thee with life. 

10. Do thou (rise) up with life, unite thyself with 
life, (rise) up with the sap of the plants! I free 
thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with 
life. 

11. From the rain of Parganya we have risen up, 
immortal. I free thee from all evil and disease, 
(and) unite thee with life. 


VII, 53. Prayer for long life. 


1, When, O Brzhaspati, thou didst liberate (us) 
from existence in yonder world of Yama, (and) 
from hostile schemes, then did the Asvins, the 
physicians of the gods, with might sweep death 
from us, O Agni! 

2. O in-breathing and out-breathing, go along 
with the body, do not leave it: may they be thy 
allies here! Live and thrive a hundred autumns ; 
Agni shall be thy most excellent shepherd and 
overseer ! 

3. Thy vital force that has been dissipated afar, 
thy in-breathing and thy out-breathing, shall come 
back again! Agni has snatched them from the lap 
of Nirvzti (the goddess of destruction), and I again 
introduce them into thy person. 

4. Let not his in-breathing desert him, nor his 
out-breathing quit him and depart! I commit him 
to the Seven Azshis: may they convey him in 
health to old age! 

5. Enter, O in-breathing and out-breathing, like 
two bulls into a stable: this person shall here 
flourish, an unmolested repository for old age!. 


II. PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH. 53 


6. Life’s breath we do drive into thee, disease we 
do drive away from thee. May this excellent Agni 
endow us with life from every source! 

7. Ascending from the darkness of death to the 
highest firmament, to Sdrya (the sun), the god 
among gods, we have reached the highest light. 


VIII, 1. Prayer for exemption from the dangers 
of death. 


1. To the ‘Ender,’ to Death be reverence! May 
thy in-breathing and thy out-breathing remain here! 
United here with (life’s) spirit this man shall be, 
sharing in the sun, in the world of immortality 
(amzzta) ! 

2. Bhaga has raised him up, Soma with his rays 
(has raised) him up, the Maruts, the gods, (have 
raised) him up, Indra and Agni (have raised) him 
up unto well-being. 

3. Here (shall be) thy (life's) spirit, here thy in- 
breathing, here thy life, here thy mind! We rescue 
thee from the toils of Nirvzti (destruction) by means 
of our divine utterance. 

4. Rise up hence, O man! Casting off the foot- 
shackles of death, do not sink down! Be not cut off 
from this world, from the sight of Agni and the sun! 

5. The wind, MAtarisvan, shall blow for thee, the 
waters shall shower amvzta (ambrosia) upon thee, 
the sun shall shine kindly for thy body! Death 
shall pity thee: do not waste away! 

6. Thou shalt ascend and not descend, O man! 
Life and alertness do I prepare for thee. Mount, 
forsooth, this imperishable, pleasant car; then in 
old age thou shalt hold converse with thy family! 


54 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


7. Thy mind shall not go thither, shall not dis- 
appear! Do not become heedless of the living, do 
not follow the Fathers! All the gods shall preserve 
thee here! 

8. Do not long after the departed, who conduct 
(men) afar! Ascend from the darkness, come to the 
light! We lay hold of thy hands. 

9. The two dogs of Yama, the black and the 
brindled one, that guard the road (to heaven), that 
have been despatched, shall not (go after) thee! 
Come hither, do not long to be away; do not tarry 
here with thy mind turned to a distance! ‘ 

10. Do not follow this path: it is terrible! I speak 
of that by which thou hast not hitherto gone. 
Darkness is this, O man, do not enter it! Danger 
is beyond, security here for thee. 

11. May the fires that are within the waters 
guard thee, may (the fire) which men kindle guard 
thee, may G&tavedas Vaisvanara (the fire common 
to all men) guard thee! Let not the heavenly (fire) 
together with the lightning burn thee! 

12. Let not the flesh-devouring (fire) menace 
thee: move afar from the funeral pyre! Heaven 
shall guard thee, the earth shall guard thee, the sun 
and moon shall guard thee, the atmosphere shall 
guard thee against the divine missile ! 

13. May the alert and the watchful divinities 
guard thee, may he that sleeps not and nods not 
guard thee, may he that protects and is vigilant 
guard thee! 

14. They shall guard thee, they shall protect 
thee. Reverence be to them. Hail be to them! 

15. Into converse with the living Vayu, Indra, 
Dhatar, and saving Savitar shall put thee; breath 


1. PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH. 55 


and strength shall not leave thee! Thy (life's) 
spirit do we call back to thee. 

16. Convulsions that draw the jaws together, 
darkness, shall not come upon thee, nor (the demon) 
that tears out the tongue (?)! How shalt thou then 
waste away? The Adityas and Vasus, Indra and 
Agni shall raise thee up unto well-being! 

17. The heavens, the earth, Pragdpati, have 
rescued thee. The plants with Soma their king 
have delivered thee from death. 

18. Let this man remain right here, ye gods, let 
him not depart hence to yonder world! We rescue 
him from death with (a charm) of thousandfold 
strength. 

19. I have delivered thee from death. The 
(powers) that furnish strength shall breathe upon 
thee. The (mourning women) with dishevelled 
hair, they that wail lugubriously, shall not wail 

over thee! 

20. I have snatched thee (from death), I have 
obtained thee; thou hast returned with renewed 
youth. O thou, that art (now) sound of limb, for 
thee sound sight, and sound life have I obtained. 

21. It has shone upon thee, light has arisen, 
darkness has departed from thee. We remove from 
thee death, destruction, and disease. 


VIII, 2. Prayer for exemption from the dangers 
of death. 


1, Take hold of this (charm) that subjects to 
immortality (life), may thy life unto old age not be 
cut off! I bring to thee anew breath and life: go 
not to mist and darkness, do not waste away ! 


56 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


2. Come hither to the light of the living; I rescue 
thee unto a life of a hundred autumns! Loosing the 
bands of death and imprecation, I bestow upon thee 
long life extended very far. 

3. From the wind thy breath I have obtained, 
from the sun thine eye; thy soul I hold fast in thee : 
be together with thy limbs, speak articulating with 
thy tongue! . 

4. With the breath of two-footed and four-footed 
creatures I blow upon thee, as on Agni when he is 
born (as on fire when kindled). I have paid rever- 
ence, O death, to thine eye, reverence to thy breath. 

5. This (man) shall live and shall not die: we 
rouse this man (to life)! I make for him a remedy : 
O death, do not slay the man! 

6. The plant givala (‘quickening’), na-gh4-risha 
(‘forsooth-no-harm’), and givantt (‘living’), a victo- 
rious, mighty saviour-plant do I invoke, that he may 
be exempt from injury. 

7. Befriend him, do not seize him, let him go, 
(O death); though he be thy very own, let him 
abide here with unimpaired strength! O Bhava and 
Sarva, take pity, grant protection; misfortune drive 
away, and life bestow! 

8. Befriend him, death, and pity him: may he from 
here arise! Unharmed, with sound limbs, hearing 
perfectly, through old age carrying a hundred years, 
let him get enjoyment by himself (unaided) ! 

9. The missile of the gods shall pass thee by! 
I pass thee across the mist (of death); from death 
I have rescued thee. Removing far the flesh- 
devouring Agni, a barrier do I set around thee, 
that thou mayest live. 

10. From thy misty road that cannot be withstood, 


II. PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH. 57 


O death, from this path (of thine) we guard this 
(man), and make our charm a protection for him. 

11. In-breathing and out-breathing do I prepare 
for thee, death in old age, long life, and prosperity. 
All the messengers of Yama, that roam about, dis- 
patched by Vivasvant’s son, do I drive away. 

12. Arati (grudge), Nirvzti (destruction), Grahi 
(seizure), and the flesh-devouring Pisdgas (do we 
drive) away to a distance, and hurl all wicked 
Rakshas away into darkness as it were. 

13. I crave thy life’s breath from the immortal, 
life-possessing Agni GAtavedas. That thou shalt 
not take harm, shalt be immortal in (Agni’s) com- 
pany, that do I procure for thee, and that shall be 
fulfilled for thee! 

14. May heaven and earth, the bestowers of hap- 
piness, be auspicious and harmless to thee; may 
the sun shine, and the wind blow comfort to thy 
heart; may the heavenly waters, rich in milk, flow 
upon thee kindly! 

15. May the plants be auspicious to thee! I have 
raised thee from the lower to the upper earth: there 
may both the Adityas, the sun and the moon, pro- 
tect thee. 

16. Whatever garment for clothing, or whatever 
girdle thou makest for thyself, agreeable to thy 
body do we render it; not rough to thy touch shall 
it be! 

17. When thou, the barber, shearest with thy sharp 
well-whetted razor our hair and beard, do not, while 
cleansing our face, rob us of our life! 

18. Rice and barley shall be auspicious to thee, 
causing no baldsa, inflicting no injury! They two 
drive away disease, they two release from calamity. 


58 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


19. Whatever thou eatest or drinkest, the grain 
of the plough-land or milk, whatever is or is not to 
be eaten, all that food do I render for thee free 
from poison. 

20. To day and to night both do we commit thee : 
from the demons that seek to devour, do ye preserve 
this (man) for me! 

21. A hundred years, ten thousand years, two, 
three, four ages (yuga) do we allot to thee; Indra 
and Agni, and all the gods without anger shall 
favour thee! 

22. To autumn thee, to winter, spring and summer, 
do we commit; the rains in which grow the plants 
shall be pleasant to thee! 

23. Death rules over bipeds, death rules over 
quadrupeds. From that death, the lord of cattle, 
do I rescue thee: do not fear! . 

24. Free from harm thou shalt not die; thou 
shalt not die: do not fear! Verily, they do not 
die there, they do not go to the nethermost dark- 
ness ;— 

25. Verily, every creature lives there, the cow, 
the horse, and man, where this charm is performed, 
as the (protecting) barrier for life. 

26. May it preserve thee from sorcery, from thy 
equals and thy kin! Undying be, immortal, exceed- 
ingly vital; thy spirits shall not abandon thy body ! 

27. From the one and a hundred deaths, from 
the dangers that are surmountable, from that Agni 
Vaisvanara (the funeral pyre ?) may the gods deliver 
thee! 

28. Thou, the remedy called pdtudru, art the body 
of Agni, the deliverer, slayer of Rakshas, slayer of 
rivals, moreover thou chasest away disease. 


II. PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH. 59 


V, 30. Prayer for exemption from disease and 
death. 


1. From near thy vicinity, from near thy distance 
(do I call): remain here, do not follow; do not 
follow the Fathers of yore! Firmly do 1 fasten thy 
life’s breath. 

2. Whatever sorcery any kinsman or stranger has 
practised against thee, both release and deliverance 
with my voice do I declare for thee. 

3. If thou hast deceived or cursed a woman or 
a man in thy folly, both release and deliverance 
with my voice do I declare for thee. 

4. If thou liest (ill) in consequence of a sin com- 
mitted by thy mother or thy father, both release 
and deliverance with my voice do I declare for 
thee. 

5. Fight shy of the medicine which thy mother 
and thy father, thy sister and thy brother let out 
against thee: I shall cause thee to live unto old 
age | 

6. Remain here, O man, with thy entire soul; do 
not follow the two messengers of Yama: come to 
the abodes of the living! 

7. Return when called, knowing the outlet of the 
path (death), the ascent, the advance, the road of 
every living man! 

8. Fear not, thou shalt not die: I shall cause 
thee to live unto old age! I have charmed away 
from thy limbs the disease that wastes the limbs. 

9. The disease that racks and wastes thy limbs, 
and the sickness in thy heart, has flown as an eagle 
to a far distance, overcome by my charm. 


60 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


10. The two sages Alert and Watchful, the sleep- 
less and the vigilant, these two guardians of thy 
life’s breath, are awake both day and night. 

11. Agni here is to be revered; the sun shall rise 
here for thee: rise thou from deep death, yea from 
black darkness! 

12. Reverence be to Yama, reverence to death; 
reverence to the Fathers and to those that lead (to 
them) [death’s messengers ?]! That Agni who knows 
the way to save do I engage for this man, that he 
be exempt from harm! 

13. His breath shall come, his soul shall come, 
his sight shall come, and, too, his strength! His 
body shall collect itself: then shall he stand firm 
upon his feet ! 

14. Unite him, Agni, with breath and sight, pro- 
vide him with a body and with strength! Thou 
hast a knowledge of immortality: let him not now 
depart, let him not now become a dweller in a house 
of clay! 

15. Thy in-breathing shall not cease, thy out- 
breathing shall not vanish; Sdrya (the sun), the 
supreme lord, shall raise thee from death with his 
rays! 

16. This tongue (of mine), bound (in the mouth, 
yet) mobile, speaks within: with it 1 have charmed 
away disease, and the hundred torments of the 
takman (fever). 

17. This world is most dear to the gods, uncon- 
quered. For whatever death thou wast destined 
when thou wast born, O man, that (death) and we 
call after thee: do not die before old age! 


1. PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH. 61 


IV, 9. Salve (4%gana) as a protector of life and 
limb. 


1. Come hither! Thou art the living, protecting 
eye-ointment of the mountain, given by all the gods 
as a safeguard, unto life. 

2. Thou art a protection for men, a protection 
for cattle, thou didst stand for the protection of 
horses and steeds. 

3. Thou art, O salve, both a protection that 
crushes the sorcerers, and thou hast knowledge of 
immortality (amzzta). Moreover, thou art food for 
the living, and thou art, too, a remedy against 
jaundice. 

4. From him over whose every limb and every 
joint thou passest, O salve, thou dost, as a mighty 
intercepter, drive away disease. 

5. Him that bears thee, O salve, neither curse, 
Nor sorcery, nor burning pain does reach; nor does 
the vishkandha come upon him. 

6. From evil scheme, from troubled dream, from 
evil deed, and also from foulness; from the evil eye 
of the enemy, from this protect us, O salve! 

7. Knowing this, O salve, I shall speak the truth, 
avoid falsehood. May I obtain horses and cattle, 
and thy person, O serving-man ! 

8. Three are servants of the salve: the takman 
(fever), the baldsa, and the serpent. The highest 
of the mountains, Trikakud (‘ Three-peaks’) by 
name, is thy father. 

g. Since the salve of Trikakud is born upon the 
Himavant, it shall demolish all the wizards and all 
the witches. 


62 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


10. Whether thou art derived from the (mountain) 
Trikakud, or art said to come from the (river) 
Yamun4, both these names of thine are auspicious : 
with these, O salve, protect us! 


IV, 10. The pearl and its shell as an amulet 
bestowing long life and prosperity. 


1. Born of the wind, the atmosphere, the light- 
ning, and the light, may this pearl shell, born of 
gold, protect us from straits! 

2. With the shell which was born in the sea, at 
the head of bright substances, we slay the Rakshas 
and conquer the Atrins (devouring demons). 

3. With the shell (we conquer) disease and 
poverty; with the shell, too, the Sadanv4s. The 
shell is our universal remedy; the pearl shall pro- 
tect us from straits! 

4. Born in the heavens, born in the sea, brought 
on from the river (Sindhu), this shell, born of gold, 
is our life-prolonging amulet. 

5. The amulet, born from the sea, a sun, born 
from Vvztra (the cloud), shall on all sides protect 
us from the missiles of the gods and the Asuras! 

6. Thou art one of the golden substances, thou 
art born from Soma (the moon). Thou art sightly 
on the chariot, thou art brilliant on the quiver. 
[May it prolong our lives !] 

7. The bone of the gods turned into pearl ; that, 
animated, dwells in the waters. That do I fasten 
upon thee unto life, lustre, strength, longevity, unto 
a life lasting a hundred autumns. May the (amulet) 
of pearl protect thee! 


11. PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH. 63 


XIX, 26. Gold as an amulet for long life. 


1. The gold which is born from fire, the immortal, 
they bestowed upon the mortals. He who knows 
this deserves it; of old age dies he who wears it. 

2. The gold, (endowed by) the sun with beautiful 
colour, which the men of yore, rich in descendants, 
did desire, may it gleaming envelop thee in lustre! 
Long-lived becomes he who wears it! 

3. (May it envelop) thee unto (long) life, unto 
lustre, unto force, and unto strength, that thou shalt 
by the brilliancy of the gold shine forth among 

ple! 

4. (The gold) which king Varuza knows, which 
god Brzhaspati knows, which Indra, the slayer of 
Vritra, knows, may that become for thee a source 
of life, may that become for thee a source of lustre! 


III. 


IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, SORCERERS, 
AND ENEMIES (ABHIXARIKANI AND 
KRITYAPRATIHARAMANI). 


I, 7, Against sorcerers and demons. 


1. The sorcerer (yatudhéna) that vaunts himself, 
and the Kimfdin do thou, O Agni, convey hither! 
For thou, O god, when lauded, becomest the de- 
stroyer of the demon. 

2. Partake of the ghee, of the sesame-oil, O Agni 
GAatavedas, that standest on high, conquerest by 
thyself! Make the sorcerers howl! 

3. The sorcerers and the devouring (atrin) Kimt- 
din shall howl! Do ye, moreover, O Agni and 
Indra, receive graciously this our oblation ! 

4. Agni shall be the first to seize them, Indra 
with his (strong) arms shall drive them away! 
Every wizard, as soon as he comes, shall proclaim 
himself, saying, ‘I am he’! 

5. We would see thy might, O GAtavedas; dis- 
close to us the wizards, O thou that beholdest men! 
May they all, driven forth by thy fire, disclosing 
themselves, come to this spot! 

6. Seize hold, Ὁ G&tavedas: for our good thou 
wast born! Become our messenger, O Agni, and 
make the sorcerers howl! 

7. Do thou, O Agni, drag hither the sorcerers, 
bound in shackles; then Indra with his thunderbolt 
shall cut off their heads! 


Il. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 65 


I, 8. Against sorcerers and demons. 


1. May this oblation carry hither the sorcerers, as 
a river (carries) foam! The man or the woman 
who has performed this (sorcery), that person shall 
here proclaim himself! 

2. This vaunting (sorcerer) has come hither: 
receive him with alacrity! O Byvzhaspati, put him 
into subjection; O Agni and Soma, pierce him 
through! 

3. Slay the offspring of the sorcerer, O soma- 
drinking (Indra), and subject (him)! Make drop 
out the farther and the nearer eye of the braggart 
(demon) ! 

4. Wherever, O Agni G4tavedas, thou perceivest 
the brood of these hidden devourers (atrin), do thou, 
mightily strengthened by our charm, slay them: slay 
their (brood), O Agni, piercing them a hundredfold! 


I, 16. Charm with lead, against demons and 
sorcerers, 


1. Against the devouring demons who, in the 
night of the full-moon, have arisen in throngs, may 
Agni, the strong, the slayer of the sorcerers, give us 
courage ! 

2. To the lead Varuma gives blessing, to the lead 
Agni gives help. Indra gave meé the lead: unfail- 
ingly it dispels sorcery. 

3. This (lead) overcomes the vishkandha, this 
smites the devouring demons (atrin); with this I 
have overwhelmed all the brood of the Pisdéas. 

4. If thou slayest our cow, if our horse or our 


[42] F 


66 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


domestic, we pierce thee with the lead, so that thou 
shalt not slay our heroes. 


VI, 2. The soma-oblation directed against 
demons (rakshas). 


1. Press the soma, ye priests, and rinse it (for 
renewed pressing), in behalf of Indra who shall 
listen to the song of the worshipper, and to my 
call! 

2. Do thou, O doughty (Indra), whom the drops 
of soma enter as birds a tree, beat off the hostile 
brood of the Rakshas! 

3. Press ye the soma for Indra, the soma-drinker, 
who wields the thunderbolt! A youthful victor and 
ruler is he, praised by many men. 


II, 14, Charm against a variety of female demons, 
conceived as hostile to men, cattle, and home. 


1. Niss4lé, the bold, the greedy demon (ἢ dhi- 
shava), and (the female demon) with long-drawn 
howl, the bloodthirsty ; all the daughters of Kanda, 
the Sadanvds do we destroy. 

2. We drive you out of the stable, out of the axle 
(of the wagon), and the body of the wagon; we 
chase you, O ye daughters of Magundi, from the 
house. 

3. In yonder house below, there the grudging 
demons (arayt) shall exist; there ruin shall prevail, 
and all the witches! 

4. May (Rudra), the lord of beings, and Indra, 
drive forth from here the Sadanvds; those that are 
seated on the foundation of the house Indra shall 
overcome with his thunderbolt! 


III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 67 


5. Whether ye belong to (the demons) of inherited 
disease, whether ye have been dispatched by men, 
or whether ye have originated from the Dasyus 
(demon-like aborigines), vanish from here, O ye 
Sad4nvis! 

6. About their dwelling-places I did swiftly 
course, as if on a race-course. I have won all 
contests with you: vanish from here, O ye Sa- 
danvas ! 


III, 9. Against vishkandha and k4bava (hostile 
demons), 


1. Of karsapha and visapha heaven is the father 
and earth the mother. As, ye gods, ye have 
brought on (the trouble), thus do ye again re- 
move it! 

2. Without fastening they (the protecting plants ?) 
held fast, thus it has been arranged by Manu. The 
vishkandha do I render impotent, like one who 
gelds cattle. 

3. A talisman tied to a reddish thread the active 
(seers) then do fasten on: may the fastenings render 
impotent the eager, fiery kabava ! 

4. And since, O ye eager (demons), ye walk like 
gods by the wile of the Asuras, the fastening (of the 
amulet) is destructive to the kdbava, as the ape to 
the dog. 

5. 1 revile thee, the kA4bava, unto misfortune, 
(and) shall work harm for thee. Accompanied with 
curses ye shall go out like swift chariots! 

6. A hundred and one vishkandha are spread out 
along the earth; for these at the beginning they 
brought out thee, the amulet, that destroys vi- 


shkandha. 
F 2 


68 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


IV, 20. Charm with a certain plant (sadampushp4) 
which exposes demons and enemies. 


1. He sees here, he sees yonder, he sees in the 
distance, he sees—the sky, the atmosphere as well 
as the earth, all that, O goddess, he sees. 

2. The three heavens, the three earths, and these 
six directions severally; all creatures may I see 
through thee, O divine plant! 

3. Thou art verily the eyeball of the divine 
eagle; thou didst ascend the earth as a weary 
woman a palanquin. 

4. The thousand-eyed god shal] put this plant 
into my right hand: with that do I see every one, 
the Sadra as well as the Arya. 

5. Reveal (all) forms, do not hide thy own self; 
moreover, do thou, O thousand-eyed (plant), look 
the Kimidins in the face! 

6. Reveal to me the wizards, and reveal the 
witches, reveal all the Pisé#as: for this purpose do 
I take hold of thee, O plant! 

7. Thou art the eye of Kasyapa, and the eye of 
the four-eyed bitch. Like the sun, moving in the 
bright day, make thou the Pisééa evident to me! 

8.1 have dragged out from his retreat the sor- 
cerer and the Kimidin. Through this (charm) do I 
see every one, the Sddra as well as the Arya. 

9. Him that flies in the air, him that moves across 
the sky, him that regards the earth as his resort, 
that Pisa#a do thou reveal (to me)! 


III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 69 


ΙΝ, 17. Charm with the apam4rga-plant, against 
sorcery, demons, and enemies. 


1. We take hold, O victorious one, ‘of thee, the 
mistress of remedies. I have made thee a thing of 
thousandfold strength for every one, O plant! 

2. Her, the unfailingly victorious one, that wards 
off curses, that is powerful and defensive; (her and) 
all the plants have I assembled, intending that she 
shall save us from this (trouble) ! 

3. The woman who has cursed us with a curse, who 
has arranged dire misfortune (for us), who has taken 
hold of our children, to rob them of their strength— 
may she eat (her own) offspring ! 

4. The magic spell which they have put into the 
unburned vessel, that which they have put into the 
blue and red thread, that which they have put into 
raw flesh, with these slay thou those that have 
prepared the spell! 

5. Evil dreams, troubled life, Rakshas, gruesome- 
ness, and grudging demons (ardyt), all the evil- 
named, evil-speaking (powers), these do we drive 
out from us. 

6. Death from hunger, and death from thirst, 
poverty in cattle, and failure of offspring, all that, 
O ap4mérga, do we wipe out (apa mvzgmahe) with 
thee. 

7- Death from thirst, and death from hunger, 
moreover, ill-luck at dice, all that, O ap&marga, do 
we wipe out with thee. 

8. The apamarga is sole ruler over all plants, 
with it do we wipe mishap from thee: do thou then 
live exempt from disease ! 


70 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


IV, 18. Charm with the apam4rga-plant, against 
sorcerers and demons. 


1. Night is like unto the sun, the (starry) night is 
similar to day. The truth do I engage for help: 
the enchantments shall be devoid of force! 

2. He, O ye gods, who prepares a spell, and 
carries it to the house of one that knows not (of it), 
upon him the spell, returning, shall fasten itself like 
a suckling calf upon its mother ! 

3. The person that prepares evil at home, and 
_desires with it to harm another, she is consumed by 
fire, and many stones fall upon her with a loud 
crash. 

4. Bestow curses, O thou (ap4mérga), that hast 
a thousand homes, upon the (demons) visikha 
(‘crestless’), and vigriva (‘crooked-neck’)! Turn 
back the spell upon him that has performed it, as 
a beloved maid (is brought) to her lover ! 

5. With this plant I have put to naught all spells, 
those that they have put into thy field, thy cattle, 
and into thy domestics. 

6. He that has undertaken them has not been 
able to accomplish them: he broke his foot, his toe. 
He performed a lucky act for us, but for himself 
an injury. 

7. The apdm4rga-plant shall wipe out (apa 
mA4rsh¢u) inherited ills, and curses; yea, it shall 
wipe out all witches, and all grudging demons 
(arayi) ! 

8. Having wiped out all sorcerers, and all grudg- 
ing demons, with thee, O apdmarga, we wipe all 
that (evil) out. 


11, IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 71 


IV, 19. Mystic power of the apamarga-plant, 
against demons and sorcerers. 


1. On the one hand thou deprivest of kin, on the 
other thou now procurest kinfolk. Do thou, more- 
over, cut the offspring of him that practises spells, 
as a reed that springs up in the rain! 

2. By a Bréhmaza thou hast been blest, by 
Kazva, the descendant of Nvzshad. Thou goest 
like a strong army; where thou hast arrived, O 
plant, there there is no fear. 

3. Thou goest at the head of the plants, spread- 
ing lustre, as if with a light. Thou art on the one 
hand the protector of the weak, on the other the 
slayer of the Rakshas. 

4. When of yore, in the beginning, the gods drove 
out the Asuras with thee, then, O plant, thou wast 
begotten as apam4rga (‘ wiping out’). 

5. Thou cuttest to pieces (vibhindatt), and hast 
a hundred branches; vibhindant (‘cutting to pieces’) 
is thy father’s name. Do thou (turn) against, and 
cut to pieces (vi bhindhi) him that is hostile to- 
wards us! 

6. Non-being arose from the earth, that goes to 
heaven, (as) a great expansion. Thence, verily, 
that, spreading vapours, shall turn against the per- 
former (of spells)! 

7. Thou didst grow backward, thou hast fruit 
which is turned backward. Ward off from me all 
curses, ward off very far destructive weapons | 

8. Protect me with a hundredfold, guard me with 
a thousandfold (strength)! Indra, the strong, shall 
put strength into thee, O prince of plants! _ 


72 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


VII, 65. Charm with the apamarga-plant, against 
curses, and the consequences of sinful deeds. 


1. With fruit turned backward thou verily didst 
grow, O apamarga: do thou drive all curses quite 
far away from here! 

2. The evil deeds and foul, or the sinful acts 
which we have committed, with thee, O apAméarga, 
whose face is turned to every side, do we wipe them 
out (apa mvzgmahe). 

3. If we have sat together with one who has 
black teeth, or diseased nails, or one who is de- 
formed, with thee, O apamarga, we wipe all that 
out (apa mvigmahe). 


X, 1. Charm to repel sorceries or spells. 


1. The (spell) which they skilfully prepare, as 
a bride for the wedding, the multiform (spell), 
fashioned by hand, shall go to a distance: we drive 
it away ! 

2. The (spell) that has been brought forward by 
the fashioner of the spell, that is endowed with 
head, endowed with nose, endowed with ears, and 
multiform, shall go to a distance : we drive it away! 

3. (The spell) that has been prepared by a Sddra, 
prepared by a Raga, prepared by a woman, prepared 
by Brahmans, as a wife rejected by her husband, 
shall recoil upon her fabricator, (and) his kin! 

4. With this herb have I destroyed all spells, that 
which they have put into thy field, into thy cattle, 
and into thy men. 

5. Evil be to him that prepares evil, the curse shall 
recoil upon him that utters curses: back do we hurl 


Ill. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 73 


it against him, that it may slay him that fashions 
the spell. 

6. Pratiétna (‘ Back-hurler’), the descendant of 
Angiras, is our overseer and officiator (purohita) : 
do thou drive back again (prati#tZ) the spells, and 
slay yonder fashioners of the spells ! 

7. He that has said to thee (the spell) : ‘go on’! 
upon that enemy, that antagonist do thou turn, 
O spell: do not seek out us, that are harmless! 

8. He that has fitted together thy joints with 
skill, as the wagoner (Azbhu) the joints of a chariot, 
to him go, there is thy course: this person here 
shall remain unknown to thee! 

9. They that have prepared thee and taken hold 
of thee, the cunning wizards—this is what cures it, 
destroys the spell, drives it back the opposite way : 
with it do we bathe thee. 

10. Since we have come upon the wretched (spell), 
as upon (a cow) with a dead calf, flooded away (by 
a river), may all evil go away from me, and may 
possessions come to me! 

11. If (thy enemies) have made (offerings) to thy 
Fathers, or have called thy name at the sacrifice, 
may these herbs free thee from every indigenous 
evil! : 

12. From the sin of the gods, and that of the 
fathers, from mentions of (thy) name, from (evil 
schemes) concocted at home, may the herbs free 
thee with might, through (this) charm, (and these) 
stanzas, (that are) the milk of the /shis! 

13. As the wind stirs up the dust from the earth, 
and the cloud from the atmosphere, thus may all 
misfortune, driven by my charm, go away from me! 

14. Stride away (O spell), like a loudly braying 


74 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


she-ass, that has been loosened (from the tether) ; 
reach those that have fabricated thee, driven from 
here by (my) forceful charm! 

15. ‘ This is the way, O spell,’ with these words 
do we lead thee. Thee that hast been sent out 
against us do we send back again. Go this way 
like a crushing army, with heavy carts, thou that art 
multiform, and crowned by a crest (?)! 

16. In the distance there is light for thee, hither- 
ward there is no road for thee; away from us take 
thy course! By another road cross thou ninety 
navigable streams, hard to cross! Do not injure, 
go away! 

17. As the wind the trees, crush down and fell 
(the enemy), leave them neither cow, nor horse, nor 
serving-man! Turn from here upon those that 
have fabricated thee, O spell, awaken them to 
childlessness ! 

18. The spell or the magic which they have 
buried against thee in the sacrificial straw (barhis), 
in the field, (or) in the burial-ground, or if with 
superior skill they have practised sorcery against 
thee, that art simple and innocent, in thy house- 
hold fire,— 

19. The hostile, insidious instrument which they 
have brought hither has been discovered ; that which 
has been dug in we have detected. It shall go 
whence it has been brought hither; there, like a 
horse, it shall disport itself, and slay the offspring of 
him that has fashioned the spell ! 

20. Swords of good brass are in our house: we 
know how many joints thou hast, O spell! Be sure 
to rise, go away from hence! O stranger, what 
seekest thou here ? 


Ill, IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 75 


21. I shall hew off, O spell, thy neck, and thy 
feet: run away! May Indra and Agni, to whom 
belong the children (of men), protect us! 

22. King Soma, who guards and pities us, and 
the lords of the beings shall take pity on us! 

23. May Bhava and Sarva cast the lightning, the 
divine missile, upon him that performs evil, fashions 
a spell, and does wrong ! 

24. If thou art come two-footed, (or) four-footed, 
prepared by the fashioner of the spell, multiform, 
do thou, having become eight-footed, again go away 
from here, O misfortune! 

25. Anointed, ornamented, and well equipped, go 
away, carrying every misfortune! Know, O spell, 
thy maker, as a daughter her own father! 

26. Go away, O spell, do not stand still, track 
(the enemy) as a wounded (animal)! He is the 
game, thou the hunter: he is not able to put thee 
down. 

27. Him that first hurls (the arrow), the other, 
laying on in defence, slays with the arrow, and while 
the first deals the blow, the other returns the blow. 

28. Hear, verily, this speech of mine, and then 
return whence thou camest, against the one that 
fashioned thee! 

29. Slaughter of an innocent is heinous, O spell: 
do not slay our cow, horse, or serving-man! 
Wherever thou hast been put down, thence thee do 
we remove. Be lighter than a leaf! 

30. If ye are enveloped in darkness, covered as if 
by a net—we tear all spells out from here, send them 
back again to him that fashioned them. 

31. The offspring of them that fashion the spell, 
practise magic, or plot against us, crush thou, O spell, 


76 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


leave none of them! Slay those that fashion the 
spell! 

32. As the sun is released from darkness, abandons 
the night, and the streaks of the dawn, thus every 
misery, (every) device prepared by the fashioner of 
the spell, (every) misfortune, do I leave behind, as 
an elephant the dust. 


V, 31. Charm to repel sorceries or spells. 


1. The spell which they have put for thee into an 
unburned vessel, that which they have put into 
mixed grain, that which they have put into raw 
meat, that do I hurl back again. 

2. The spell which they have put for thee into 
a cock, or that which (they have put) into a goat, 
into a crested animal, that which they have put into 
a sheep, that do 1 hurl back again. 

3. The spell which they have put for thee into 
solipeds, into animals with teeth on both sides, that 
which they have put into an ass, that do I hurl back 
again. 

4. The magic which they have put for thee into 
moveable property, or into personal possession, the 
spell which they have put into the field, that do 
I hurl back again. 

5. The spell which evil-scheming persons have put 
for thee into the g4rhapatya-fire, or into the house- 
fire, that which they have put into the house, that 
do I hurl back again. 

6. The spell which they have put for thee into 
the assembly-hall, that which (they have put) into 
the gaming-place, that which they have put into the 
dice, that do I hurl back again. 


“III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 77 


7. The spell which they have put for thee into 
the army, that which they have put into the arrow 
and the weapon, that which they have put into the 
drum, that do I hurl back again. 

8. The spell which they have placed down for 
thee in the well, or have buried in the burial-ground, 
that which they have put into (thy) home, that do 
I hurl back again. 

9. That which they have put for thee into human 
bones, that which (they have put) into the funeral 
fire, to the consuming, burning, flesh-eating fire do 
I hurl that back again. 

to. By an unbeaten path he has brought it (the 
spell) hither, by a (beaten) path we drive it out from 
here. The fool in his folly has prepared (the spell) 
against those that are surely wise. 

11. He that has undertaken it has not been able 
to accomplish it: he broke his foot, his toe. He, 
luckless, performed an auspicious act for us, that 
are lucky. 

12. Him that fashions spells, practises magic, digs 
after roots, sends out curses, Indra shall slay with 
his mighty weapon, Agni shall pierce with his hurled 
(arrow) ! 


V, 14. Charm to repel sorceries or spells. 


1. An eagle found thee out, a boar dug thee out 
with his snout. Seek thou, O plant, to injure him 
that seeks to injure (us), strike down him that pre- 
pares spells (against us)! 

2. Strike down the wizards, strike down him that 
prepares spells (against us); slay thou, moreover, 
Ὁ plant, him that seeks to injure us! 


78 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


3. Cutting out from the skin (of the enemy) as 
if (from the skin) of an antelope, do ye, O gods, 
fasten the spell upon him that prepares it, as (one 
fastens) an ornament! 

4. Take hold by the hand and lead away the 
spell back to him that prepares it! Place it in his 
very presence, so that it shall slay him that prepares 
the spell ! 

5. The spells shall take effect upon him that 
prepares the spells, the curse upon him that pro- 
nounces the curse! As a chariot with easy-going 
wheels, the. spell shall turn back upon him that 
prepares the spell! 

6. Whether a woman, or whether a man has pre- 
pared the spell for evil, we lead that spell to him as 
a horse with the halter. 

7. Whether thou hast been prepared by the gods, 
or hast been prepared by men, we lead thee back 
with the help of Indra as an ally. 

8. O Agni, gainer of battles, do thou gain the 
battles! With a counter-charm do we hurl back the 
spell upon him that prepares the spell. 

9. Hold ready, (O plant,) thy weapon, and strike 
him, slay the very one that has prepared (the spell) ! 
We do not whet thee for the destruction of him that 
has not practised (spells). 

10. Go asa son to his father, bite like an adder 
that has been stepped upon. Return thou, O spell, 
to him that prepares the spell, as one who over- 
comes his fetters ! 

11. As the shy deer, the antelope, goes out to 
the mating (buck), thus the spell shall reach him that 
prepares it! 

12. Straighter than an arrow may it (the spell) fly 


III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC, 79 


against him, O ye heaven and earth; may that spell 
take hold again of him that prepares it, as (a hunter) 
of his game! 

13. Like fire (the spell) shall progress in the teeth 
of obstacles, like water along its course! As a 
chariot with easy-going wheels the spell shall turn 
back upon him that prepares the spell ! 


VIII, 5. Prayer for protection addressed to a talis- 
man made from wood of the sraktya-tree. 


1. This attacking talisman, (itself) a man, is 
fastened upon the man: it is full of. force, slays 
enemies, makes heroes of men, furnishes shelter, 
provides good luck. 

2. This talisman slays enemies, makes strong 
men, is powerful, lusty, victorious, strong ; as a man 
it advances against sorceries and destroys them. 

3. With this talisman Indra slew Vvztra, with it 
he, full of device, destroyed the Asuras, with it he 
conquered both the heaven and earth, with it he 
conquered the four regions of space. — 

4. This talisman of sraktya assails and attacks. 
With might controlling the enemies, it shall protect 
us on all sides! 

5. Agni has said this, and Soma has said this; 
Brthaspati, Savitar, Indra (have said) this. These 
divine purohitas (chaplains) shall turn back for me 
(upon the sorcerer) the sorceries with aggressive 
amulets! 

6. I have interposed heaven and earth, also the 
day, and also the sun. These divine purohitas 
(chaplains) shall turn back for me (upon the sorcerer) 
the sorceries with aggressive amulets! 


80 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


7. (For) the folk that make an armour of the 
talisman of sraktya—like the sun ascending the sky, 
it subjects and beats off the sorceries. 

8. With the amulet of sraktya, as if with a seer of 
powerful spirit, I have gained all battles, I slay the 
enemies, the Rakshas. 

9. The sorceries that come from the Angiras, the 
sorceries that come from the Asuras, the sorceries 
that prepare themselves, and those that are prepared 
by others, both these shall go away to a distance 
across ninety navigable streams! 

to. As an armour upon him the gods shall tie the 
amulet, Indra, Vishzu, Savitar, Rudra, Agni, Praga- 
pati, ParameshZAin, Virag, Vaisvanara, and the seers all. 

11. Thou art the most superb of plants, as if a 
steer among the cattle, as if a tiger among beasts 
of prey. (The amulet) that we did seek, that have 
we found, a guardian at our side. 

12. He that wears this talisman, verily is a tiger, 
a lion as well, and, too, a bull; moreover a curtailer 
of enemies. 

13. Him slay not the Apsaras, nor the Gan- 
dharvas, nor mortal men; all regions does he rule, 
that wears this talisman. 

14. Kasyapa has created thee, Kasyapa has pro- 
duced thee. Indra wore thee in human (battle) ; 
wearing thee in the close combat he conquered. 
The gods did make the talisman an armour of 
thousandfold strength. 

15. He that plans to harm thee with sorceries, 
with (unholy) consecrations and sacrifices—him beat 
thou back, O Indra, with thy thunderbolt that hath 
a hundred joints! 

16. This talisman verily does assail, full of might, 


III, IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 81 


victorious. Offspring and wealth it shall protect, 
provide defence, abound in luck! 

17. Remove our enemies in the south, remove 
our enemies in the north; remove, O Indra, our 
enemies in the west: light, O hero, place in front 
(east) of us! 

18. An armour for me be heaven and earth, an 
armour day, an armour the sun! An armour for me 
be Indra and Agni; Dhatar shall bestow (dadhAtu) 
an armour upon me! 

19. The armour of Indra and Agni, that is thick 
and strong, all the gods united do not pierce. This 
great (armour) shall protect my body on all sides, 
that I may obtain long life, and reach old age! 

20. The divine talisman has ascended upon me 
unto complete exemption from injury. Assemble 
about this post that protects the body, furnishes 
threefold defence, in order to (secure) strength ! 

21. Into it Indra shall deposit manliness: do 
ye, O gods, assemble about it for long life, for 
life lasting a hundred autumns, that he may reach 
old age. 

22. May Indra who bestows welfare, the lord of 
the people, the slayer of Vvztra, the controller of 
enemies, he that conquereth and is unconquered, 
the soma-drinking bull that frees from danger, fasten 
the amulet upon thee: may it protect thee on each 
and every side, by day and by night! 


X, 3. Praise of the virtues of an amulet 
derived from the varava-tree. 

1. Here is my varava-amulet, a bull that destroys 
the rivals: with it do thou close in upon thy enemies, 
crush them that desire to injure thee! 

[42] α 


82 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


2. Break them, ‘crush them, close in upon them: 
the amulet shall be thy van-guard in front! With 
the varaza the Devas (gods) did ward off (avara- 
yanta) the onslaught of the Asuras (demons) day 
after day. 

3. This thousand-eyed, yellow, golden varaza- 
amulet is a universal cure; it shall lay low thy 
enemies: be thou the first to injure those that hate 
thee ! 

4. This varaza will ward off (varayishyate) the 
spell that has been spread against thee; this will 
protect thee from human danger, this will protect 
thee from all evil! 

5. This divine tree, the varava, shall shut out 
(varayatai)! The gods, too, have shut out (avivaran) 
the disease that has entered into this (man). 

6. If when asleep thou shalt behold an evil 
dream; as often as a wild beast shall run an 
inauspicious course; from (ominous) sneezing, and 
from the evil shriek of a bird, this varaza-amulet 
will protect thee (varayishyate). 

7. From ArAti (grudge), Nirrvzti (misfortune), from 
sorcery, and from danger; from death and over- 
strong weapons the varaza will protect thee. 

8. The sin that my mother, that my father, that 
my brothers and my sister have committed; the sin 
that we (ourselves) have committed, from that this 
divine tree will protect us. 

9. Through the varava are confused my enemies 
and my (rival) kin. To untraversed gloom they have 
gone: they shall go to the nethermost darkness! 

10. (May) I (be) unharmed, with cows unharmed, 
long-lived, with undiminished men! This varama- 
amulet shall guard me in every region (of space) ! 


III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 83 


11. This vara“a upon my breast, the kingly, 
divine tree, shall smite asunder my enemies, as Indra 
the Dasyus, the Asuras (demons)! 

12. Long-lived, a hundred autumns old, do I wear 
this varaza: kingdom and rule, cattle and strength, 
this shall bestow upon me! 

13. As the wind breaks with might the trees, the 
lords of the forest, thus do thou break my rivals, 
those formerly born, and the latter born! The 
varaza Shall watch over thee! 

14. As the wind and the fire consume the trees, 
the lords of the forest, thus do thou consume my 
rivals, those formerly born, and the latter born! 
The varaza shall watch over thee! 

15. As, ruined by the wind, the trees lie prostrate, 
thus do thou ruin and prostrate my rivals, those 
formerly born, and the latter born! The varaza 
shall watch over thee! 

16. Do thou cut off, O varavza, before their 
appointed time and before old age, those that aim 
to injure him in his cattle, and threaten his sove- 
reignty ! 

17. As the sun is resplendent, as in him brilliance 
has been deposited, thus shall the amulet of varaza 
hold fast for me reputation and prosperity, shall 
sprinkle me with brilliance, and anoint me with 
splendour ! 

18. As splendour is in the moon, and in the sun, 
the beholder of men, thus shall the amulet of varaza 
hold fast, &c. 

19. As splendour is in the earth, as in this GAta- 
vedas (the fire), thus shall the amulet of varaza hold 
fast, &c. 

20. As splendour is in the maiden, as in this 

G2 


84 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


appointed chariot, thus shall the amulet of varana 
hold fast, &c. 

21. As splendour is in the soma-draught, as splen- 
dour is in the honey-mixture (for guests), thus shall 
the amulet of varaza hold fast, &c. 

22. As splendour is in the agnihotra-oblation, as 
splendour is in the call vasha¢, thus shall the amulet 
of varaza hold fast, &c. 

23. As splendour is in the sacrificer, as (splendour) 
has been deposited in the sacrifice, thus shall the 
amulet of varaza hold fast, &c. 

24. As splendour is in Pragapati, as in this Para- 
mesh/¢fin (the lord on high), thus shall the amulet of 
varama hold fast, &c. 

25. As immortality is in the gods, as truth has 
been deposited in them, thus shall the amulet of 
varaza hold fast, &c. 


X, 6. Praise of the virtues of amulet of khadira- 
wood in the shape of a ploughshare. 


1. The head of the hostile rival, of the enemy 
that hates me, do 1 cut off with might. 

2. This amulet, produced by the ploughshare, 
will prepare an armour for me: full of stirred drink 
it has come to me, together with sap and lustre. 

3. If the skilful workman has injured thee with 
his hand or with his knife, the living bright waters 
shall purify thee from that, (so that thou shalt be) 
bright ! 

4. This amulet has a golden wreath, bestows 
faith and sacrifice and might; in our house as a 
guest it shall dwell! 

5. Before it (the amulet as a guest) ghee, surd 


III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 85 


(liquor), honey, and every kind of food we place. 
The amulet having gone to the gods shall, as a 
father for his sons, plan for us growing good, more 
and more day after day! 

6. The amulet which Brzhaspati tied, the ΕΠ 
share dripping with ghee, the strong khadira, unto 
strength, that Agni did fasten on; that yields him 
ghee more and more day after day: with it those 
that hate me do thou slay! 

7. This amulet which Bvzhaspati tied . .. that 
Indra did fasten on, for strength and heroism; that 
yields him might more and more, &c. 

8. The amulet which Bvzhaspati tied . .. that 
Soma did fasten on unto perfect hearing and seeing ; 
that verily yields him lustre more and more, &c. 

9. The amulet which Brzhaspati tied . . . that 
Sarya did fasten on, with that he conquered these 
directions of space; that yields him prosperity more 
and more, &c. 

10. The amulet which Brzhaspati tied ... wear- 
ing that amulet Aandramas (the moon) conquered 
the golden cities of the Asuras and the Danavas; 
that yields him fortune more and more, &c. 

11. The amulet which Brvzhaspati tied for swift 
Vata (wind), that yields him strength more and 
more, &c. 

12. The amulet which Brzhaspati tied for swift 
Vata, with that amulet, O Asvins, do ye guard this 
plough-land; that yields the two physicians (the 
Asvins) might more and more, &c. 

13. The amulet which Brzhaspati tied for swift 
VAta, wearing that, Savitar through it conquered 
this light; that yields him abundance more and 
more, &c. 


86 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


14. The amulet which Brzhaspati tied for swift 
Vata, wearing that, the waters ever run undimin- 
ished; that verily yields them ambrosia more and 
more, &c. 

15. The amulet which Brzhaspati tied for swift 
Vata, that comforting amulet king Varuza did 
fasten on; that verily yields him truth more and 
more, &c. 

' 16. The amulet which Bvzhaspati tied for swift 
Vata, wearing that the gods did conquer all the 
worlds in battle;. that verily yields them conquest 
more and more, &c. : 

17. The amulet which Bvzhaspati tied for swift 
‘Vata, that comforting amulet the divinities did 
fasten on; that verily yields them all more and 
more, &c. 

18. The seasons did fasten it on; the divisions 
(of the year) did fasten it on. Since the year did 
fasten it on, it guards every being. 

19. The intermediate directions did fasten it on; 
the directions did fasten it on. The amulet created 
by Prag4pati has subjected those that hate me. 

20. The Atharvans did tie it on, the descendants 
of the Atharvans did tie it on; with these allied, 
the Angiras cleft the castles of the Dasyus. With 
it those that hate me do thou slay! 

21. That Dhatar did fasten on: (then) he shaped 
the being. With it those that hate me do thou slay! 

22. The amulet which Brzhaspati tied for the 
gods, destructive of the Asuras, that has come to 
me together with sap and lustre. 

23. The amulet ... has come to me together 
with cows, goats, and sheep, together with food and 
offspring. 


III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 87 


24. The amulet ... has come to me together 
with rice and barley, together with might and pros- 
perity. 

25. The amulet... has come to me with a stream 
of honey and ghee together with sweet drink. 

26. The amulet ... has come to me together 
with nourishment and milk, together with goods and 
fortune. 

27. The amulet ... has come to me together 
with brilliance and strength, together with glory and 
reputation. 

28. The amulet .. . has come to me together 
with all kinds of prosperity. 

29. This amulet the gods shall give me unto 
prosperity, the mighty amulet that strengthens 
sovereignty and injures the rivals! 

30. An (amulet) auspicious for me thou shalt 
fasten upon (me), together with brahma (spiritual 
exaltation) and brilliance! Free from rivals, slaying 
rivals, it has subjected my rivals. 

31. This god-born amulet, the sap milked from 
which these three worlds revere, shall render me 
superior to him that hates me; it shall ascend upon 
my head unto excellence ! 

32. The amulet upon which the gods, the Fathers, 
and men ever live, shall ascend upon my head unto 
excellence! 

33. As the seed grows in the field, in the furrow 
drawn by the ploughshare, thus in me offspring, 
cattle, and every kind of food shall grow up! 

34. Upon whom, O thou amulet that prosperest the 
sacrifice, I have fastened thee (that art) propitious, 
him, O amulet, that yieldest a hundredfold sacrificial 
reward, thou shalt inspire unto excellence! 


88 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


35. This fire-wood that has. been laid on together 
with the oblations do thou, Agni, gladly accept: 
may we in this kindled Gatavedas (fire), through 
(this) charm, find favour, well-being, offspring, sight, 
and cattle! 


IV, 16. Prayer to Varuza for protection against 
treacherous designs. 


1. The great guardian among these (gods) sees 
as if from anear. He that thinketh he is moving 
stealthily—all this the gods know. 

2. Ifa man stands, walks, or sneaks about, if he 
goes slinking away, if he goes into his hiding-place ; 
if two persons sit together and scheme, king Varuza 
is there as a third, and knows it. 

3. Both this earth here belongs to king Varuza, 
and also yonder broad sky whose boundaries are far 
away. Moreover these two oceans are the loins of 
Varuna; yea, he is hidden in this small (drop of) 
water. 

4. He that should flee beyond the heaven far 
away would not be free from king Varuza. His 
spies come hither (to the earth) from heaven, with 
a thousand eyes do they watch over the earth. 

5. King Varuaa sees through all that is between 
heaven and earth, and all that is beyond. He has 
counted the winkings of men’s eyes. As a (winning) 
gamester puts down his dice, thus does he establish 
these (laws). 

6. May all thy fateful toils which, seven by seven, 
threefold, lie spread out, ensnare him that speaks 
falsehood: him that speaks the truth they shall 
let go! 


Ill. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 89 


7. With a hundred snares, O Varuza, surround 
him, let the liar not go free from thee, O thou 
that observest men! The rogue shall sit, his belly 
hanging loose, like a cask without hoops, bursting 
all about! 

8. With (the snare of) Varuza which is fastened 
lengthwise, and that which (is fastened) broadwise, 
with the indigenous and the foreign, with the divine 
and the human,— 

9. With all these snares do I fetter thee,O N. N., 
descended from N. N., the son of the woman N. N.: 
all these do I design for thee. 


11,12. Imprecation against enemies thwarting 
holy work. 


1. Heaven and earth, the broad atmosphere, the 
goddess of the field, and the wonderful, far-striding 
(Vishzu) ; moreover, the broad atmosphere guarded 
by V4ta (the wind): may these here be inflamed, 
when I am inflamed! 

2. Hear this, O ye revered gods! Let Bharad- 
vaga recite for me songs of praise! May he who 
injures this our plan be bound in the fetter (of 
disease) and joined to misfortune! 

3- Hear, O soma-drinking Indra, what with 
burning heart I shout to thee! I cleave, as one 
cleaves a tree with an axe, him that injures this 
our plan. 

4. With (the aid of) thrice eighty sAman-singers, 
with (the aid of) the Adityas, Vasus, and Angiras— 
may our father’s sacrifices and gifts to the priests 
aid us—do I seize this one with fateful fervour. 

5. May heaven and earth look after me, may all 
the gods support me! O ye Angiras, O ye fathers 


gO HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


devoted to Soma, may he who does harm enter into 
misfortune ! 

6. He who perchance despises us, O ye Maruts, 
he who abuses the holy practice which is being 
performed by us, may his evil deeds be firebrands 
to him, may the heavens surround with fire the 
hater of holy practices! 

7. Thy seven in-breathings and thy eight mar- 
rows, these do I cut for thee by means of my charm. 
Thou shalt go to the seat of Yama, fitly prepared, 
with Agni as thy guide! 

8. I set thy footstep upon the kindled fire. May 
Agni surround thy body, may thy voice enter into 
breath ! 


VII, 70. Frustration of the sacrifice of an enemy. 


1. Whenever yonder person in his thought, and 
with his speech, offers sacrifice accompanied by 
oblations and benedictions, may Nirrzti (the goddess 
of destruction), allying herself with death, smite his 
offering before it takes effect! 

2. May sorcerers, Nirvzti, as well as Rakshas, mar 
his true work with error! May the gods, despatched 
by Indra, scatter (churn) his sacrificial butter; may 
that which yonder person offers not succeed ! 

3. The two agile supreme rulers, like two eagles 
pouncing down, shall strike the sacrificial butter of 
the enemy, whosoever plans evil against us! 

4. Back do I tie both thy two arms, thy mouth 
I shut. With the fury of god Agni have I destroyed 
thy oblation. 

5. I tie thy two arms, I shut thy mouth. With the 
fury of terrible Agni have I destroyed thy oblation. 


Ill. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. gI 


II, 7. Charm against curses and hostile plots, 
undertaken with a certain plant. 


1. The god-begotten plant, hated by the wicked, , 
which wipes away the curses (of the enemies), like 
water a foul spot it has washed away all curses 
from me. ὁ 

2. The curse of the rival and the curse of the 
kinswoman, the curse which the Brahman shall utter 
in wrath, all that (do thou put) under our feet! 

3. From heaven her root is suspended, from the 
earth it rises up; with her that has a thousand 
shoots do thou protect us on all sides! 

4. Protect me, protect my offspring, protect our 
goods; let not ill-will overcome us, let not hostile 
schemes overcome us! 

5. The curse shall go to the curser; joint pos- 
session shall we have with the friend. Of the 
enemy who bewitches with (his) eye we hew off 
the ribs. 


III, 6. The asvattha-tree as a destroyer of 
enemies. 


1. A male has sprung from a male, the asvattha 
(ficus religiosa) from the khadira (acacia catechu). 
May this slay my enemies, those whom I hate and 
those who hate me! 

2. Crush the enemies, as they rush on, O asvattha, 
‘displacer,’ allied with Indra, the slayer of V7ztra, 
(allied) with Mitra and Varuna! 

3. As thou didst break forth, O asvattha, into the 
great flood (of the air), thus do thou break up all 
those whom I hate and those who hate me! 

4. Thou that goest conquering as a conquering 


92 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


bull, with thee here, O asvattha, may we conquer 
our rivals! 

5. May Nirrzti (the goddess of destruction), 
_ O asvattha, bind in the toils of death that cannot 
be loosened those enemies of mine whom 1 hate 
and who hate me! 

6. As thou climbest up the trees, O asvattha, and 
renderest them subordinate, thus do thou split in two 
the head of my enemy, and overcome him! 

7. They (the enemies) shall float down like a 
ship cut loose from its moorings! There is no 
returning again for those that have been driven out 
by the ‘displacer.’ 

8. I drive them out with my mind, drive them 
out with my thought, and also with my incantation. 
We drive them out with a branch of the asvattha- 
tree. 


VI, 75. Oblation for the suppression of enemies 
(nairbadhyam havih). 


1. Forth from his home do I drive that person 
yonder, who as a rival contends with us: through 
the oblation devoted to suppression Indra has 
broken him to pieces. 

2. Indra, the slayer of Vrztra, shall drive him to 
the remotest distance, from which in all successive 
years he shall not again return! 

3. He shall go to the three distances, he shall 
go beyond the five peoples; he shall go beyond 
the three ethers, whence he shall not again in all 
successive years return, while the sun is upon the 
heavens! 


III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 93 


VI, 37. Curse against one that practises hostile 
charms. 


1. The thousand-eyed curse having yoked his 
chariot has come hither, seeking out him that curses 
me, as a wolf the house of him that owns sheep. 

2. Avoid us, O curse, as a burning fire (avoids) 
a lake! Strike here him that curses us, as the 
lightning of heaven the tree! 

3. He that shall curse us when we do not curse, 
and he that shall curse us when we do curse, him 
do I hurl to death as a bone to a dog upon the 
ground. 


VII, 13. Charm to deprive enemies of their 
strength. 


1. As the rising sun takes away the lustre of the 
stars, thus do I take away the strength of both the 
women and the men that hate me. 

2. As many enemies as ye are, looking out against 
me, as I come on—of those that hate me do I take 


away the strength, as the sun takes away the strength - 


of persons asleep (while it rises). 


Nu 


IV. 
CHARMS PERTAINING TO WOMEN (STRIKARMAAI). 


II, 36. Charm to obtain a husband. 


1. May, O Agni, a suitor after our own heart 
come to us, may he come to this maiden with our 
fortune! May she, agreeable to suitors, charming 
at festivals, promptly obtain happiness through a 
husband ! 

2. Agreeable to Soma, agreeable to Brahma, 
arranged by Aryaman, with the unfailing certainty 
of god Dhatar, do I bestow upon thee good fortune, 
the acquisition of a husband. 

3. This woman shall obtain a husband, since king 
Soma makes her lovely! May she, begetting sons, 
become a queen; may she, going to her husband, 
shine in loveliness! 

4. As this comfortable cave, Ὁ Maghavan (Indra), 
furnishing a safe abode, hath become pleasing to ani- 
mals, thus may this woman be a favourite of fortune 
(Bhaga), beloved, not at odds with her husband! 

5. Do thou ascend the full, inexhaustible ship of 
Bhaga (fortune); upon this bring hither the suitor 
who shall be agreeable (to thee) ! 

6. Bring hither by thy shouts, O lord of wealth, 
the suitor, bend his mind towards her; turn thou the 
right side of every agreeable suitor towards (her)! 

7. This gold and bdellium, this balsam, and 


IV. CHARMS PERTAINING TO WOMEN. 95 


Bhaga (fortune), too; these have prepared thee for 
husbands, that thou mayest obtain the one that is 
agreeable. 

8. Hither to thee Savitar shall lead the husband 
that is agreeable! Do thou, O herb, bestow (him) 
upon her! 


VI, 60. Charm for obtaining a husband. 


1. This Aryaman (wooer) with loosened crest 
of hair comes hither in front (of the procession), 
seeking a husband for this spinster, and a wife for 
this wifeless man. 

2. This maid, O Aryaman, has wearied of going 
to the wedding-feasts of other women. Now shall, 
without fail, O Aryaman,: other women go to her 
wedding-feast ! 

3. Dhatar (the creator) supports (d4dh4ra) this 
earth, Dhatar supports the heavens, and the sun. 
May Dhatar furnish this spinster with a husband 
after her own heart! 


VI, 82. Charm for obtaining a wife. 


1. I call the name of him that comes here, that 
hath come here, and is arriving; I crave (the name) 
of Indra, Vvtra’s slayer, the V4sava of hundred- 
fold strength. 

2. The road by which the Asvins carried away 
as a bride Sdry4, Savitar’s daughter, ‘by that road,’ 
Bhaga (fortune) told me, ‘thou shalt bring here a 
wife’! 

3. With thy wealth-procuring, great, golden hook, 
O Indra, husband of Saft, procure a wife for me 
that desireth a wife! 


96 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


VI, 78. Blessing for a married couple. 


1. Through this oblation, that causes prosperity, 
may this man flourish anew; may he excel the wife 
that they have brought to him with his sap! 

2. May he excel in strength, excel in royalty! 
May this couple be inexhaustible in wealth that 
bestows thousandfold lustre ! 

3. Tvashéar begot (for thee) a wife, Tvash/ar 
for her begot thee as a husband. May Tvashéar 
bestow upon you two a thousand lives, may he 
bestow upon you long life! 


VII, 36. Love-charm spoken by a bridal couple. 


The eyes of us two shine like honey, our foreheads 
gleam like ointment. Place me within thy heart ; 
may one mind be in common to us both! 


VII, 37. Charm pronounced by the bride over 
the bridegroom. 


I envelope thee in my garment that was produced 
by Manu (the first man), that thou shalt be mine 
alone, shalt not even discourse of other women ! 


VI, 81. A bracelet as an amulet to ensure 
conception. 


1. A holder art thou, holdest both hands, drivest 
off the Rakshas. An acquirer of offspring and 
wealth this bracelet hath become! 

2. O bracelet, open up the womb, that the embryo 
be put (into it)! Do thou, O limit (-setting bracelet), 


IV. CHARMS PERTAINING TO WOMEN, 97 


furnish a son, bring him here (ἃ gamaya), thou that 
comest here (Agame)! 

3. The bracelet that Aditi wore, when ste desired 
a son, Tvash/ar shall fasten upon this woman, intend- 
ing that she shall beget a son. 


III, 23. Charm for obtaining a son (pumsavanam). 


1. That which has caused thee to miscarry do we 
drive away from thee, that very thing do we deposit 
outside of thee, away in a far place. 

2. Into thy womb shall enter a male germ, as an 
arrow into a quiver! May a man be born there, 
a son ten months old! 

3. A male son do thou produce, and after him 
a male shall be born! Thou shalt be the mother 
of sons, of those who are born, and those whom 
thou shalt bear! 

4. By the effective seed which bulls put forth do 
thou obtain a son; be a fruitful milch-cow! 

5. Pragdpati’s (the lord of creatures) work do 
I perform for thee: may the germ enter into thy 
womb! Obtain thou, woman, a son who shall bring 
prosperity to thee, and bring thou prosperity to him! 

6. The plants whose father was the sky, whose 
mother the earth, whose root the (heavenly) ocean 
—may those divine herbs aid thee in obtaining 
a son! 


VI, 11. Charm for obtaining a son (pumsavanam). 


1. The asvattha (ficus religiosa) has mounted the 
samt (mimosa suma): then a male child was pro- 
duced. That, forsooth, is the way to obtain a son; 
that do we bring to (our) wives. 


[42] Η 


98 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.. 


2. In the male, forsooth, seed doth grow, that is 
poured into the female. That, forsooth, is the way 
to obtain a son; that has been told by Pragdpati. 

3. Pragapati, Anumati, and Sintv4lt have fashioned 
him. May he (Pragapati) elsewhere afford the birth 
of a female, but here he shall bestow a man! 


VII, 35. An incantation to make a woman 
sterile. 


1. The other enemies conquer with might; beat 
back, O G&tavedas, those that are not yet born! 
Enrich this kingdom unto happiness, may all the 
gods acclaim this man! 

2. Of these hundred entrails of thine, as well as 
of the thousand canals, of all these have I closed the 
openings with a stone. 

3. The upper part of the womb do I place below, 
there shall come to thee neither offspring nor birth! 
I render thee sterile and devoid of offspring ; a stone 
do I make into a cover for thee. 


VI, 17. Charm to prevent miscarriage. 


1. As this great earth conceives the germs of the 
beings, thus shall thy embryo be held fast, to produce 
a child after pregnancy! 

2. As this great earth holds these trees, thus 
shall thy embryo be held fast, to produce a child 
after pregnancy ! 

3. As this great earth holds the mountains and 
the peaks, thus shall thy embryo be held fast, to 
produce a child after pregnancy ! 

4. As this great earth holds the animals scattered 


IV. CHARMS PERTAINING TO WOMEN. 99 


far, thus shall thy embryo be held fast, to produce 
a child after pregnancy ! 


I, 11. Charm for easy parturition. 


1. Aryaman as active hotar-priest shall utter for 
thee the vashaé-call at this (soma-) pressing, O 
Pashan! May (this) woman, (herself) begotten in 
the proper way, be delivered, may her joints relax, 
that she shall bring forth! 

2. Four directions has the heaven, and also four 
the earth: (from these) the gods created the embryo. 
May they open her, that she shall bring forth! 

3. May Sfshan open: her womb do we cause 
to gape. Do thou, O Sdshaza, loosen the womb, 
do thou, O Bishkala, let go (the embryo) ! 

4. Attached not at all to the flesh, nor to the fat, 
not at all to the marrow, may the splotched, moist, 
placenta come down to be eaten by a dog! May 
the placenta fall down! 

5. I split open thy vagina, thy womb, thy canals ; 
I separate the mother and the son, the child along 
with the placenta. May the placenta fall down! 

6. As flies the wind, as flies the mind, as fly the 
winged birds, so do thou, O embryo, ten months 
old, fall along with the placenta! May the placenta 
fall down ! 


I, 34. Charm with licorice, to secure the love 
of a woman. 


1. This plant is born of honey, with honey do we 
dig for thee. Of honey thou art begotten, do thou 
make us full of honey ! 

2. At the tip of my tongue may I have honey, at 
my tongue’s root the sweetness of honey! In my 

H 2 


100 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


power alone shalt thou then be, thou shalt come up 
to my wish! 

3. Sweet as honey is my entrance, sweet as honey 
my departure. With my voice do I speak sweet as 
honey, may I become like honey! 

4. I am sweeter than honey, fuller of sweetness 
than licorice. Mayest thou, without fail, long for 
me alone, (as a bee) for a branch full of honey! 

5. I have surrounded thee with a clinging sugar- 
cane, to remove aversion, so that thou shalt not be 
averse to me! 


II, 30. Charm to secure the love of a woman. 


1. As the wind tears this grass from the surface 
of the earth, thus do I tear thy soul, so that thou, 
woman, shalt love, shalt not be averse to me! 

2. If ye, O two Asvins, shall unite and bring 
together the loving pair—united are the fortunes of 
both of you (lovers), united the thoughts, united the 
purposes! 

3. When birds desire to chirp, lustily desire to 
chirp, may my call go there, as an arrow-point upon 
the shaft ! 

4. What is within shall be without, what is with- 
out shall be within! Take captive, O herb, the 
soul of the maidens endowed with every charm! 

5. Longing for a husband this woman hath come, 
I have come longing for a wife. As a loudly neigh- 
ing horse I have attained to my good fortune! 


VI, 8. Charm to secure the love of a woman. 


1, As the creeper embraces the tree on all sides, 
thus do thou embrace me, so that thou, woman, 


IV. CHARMS PERTAINING TO WOMEN. IOI 


shalt love me, so that thou shalt not be averse 
to me! 

2. As the eagle when he flies forth presses his 
wings against the earth, thus do 1 fasten down thy 
mind, so that thou, woman, shalt love me, so that 
thou shalt not be averse to me. 

3. As the sun day by day goes about this heaven 
and earth, thus do I go about thy mind, so that 
thou, woman, shalt love me, so that thou shalt not 
be averse to me. 


VI, 9. Charm to secure the love of a woman. 


1. Hanker thou after my body, my feet, hanker 
after my eyes, my thighs! The eyes of thee, as 
thou lustest after me, and thy hair shall be parched 
with love! . 

2. I make thee cling to my arm, cling to my 
heart, so that thou shalt be in my penst shalt come 
up to my wish! 

3. The cows, the mothers of the phe who lick 
their young, in whose heart love is planted, shall 
make yonder woman bestow love upon me! 


VI, 102. Charm to secure the love of a woman. 


1. As this draught animal, O ye Asvins, comes 
on, and proceeds, thus may thy soul come on, and 
proceed to me! 

2. I draw to myself thy mind, as the leading 
Stallion the female side-horse. As the stalk of 
grass torn by the wind, thus shall thy mind fasten 
itself upon me! 

3. A coaxing mixture of salve, of sweet wood, of 
kush¢ha, and of spikenard, do I deftly pick out with 
the hands of Bhaga (good fortune). 


[ΟΖ HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


III, 25. Charm to arouse the passionate love 
of a woman. 


1. May (love), the disquieter, disquiet thee; do 
not hold out upon thy bed! With the terrible 
arrow of Kama (love) do I pierce thee in the heart. 

2. The arrow, winged with longing, barbed with 
love, whose shaft is undeviating desire, with that, 
well-aimed, K4ma shall pierce thee in the heart! 

3. With that well-aimed arrow of Kama which 
parches the spleen, whose plume flies forward, which 
burns up, do I pierce thee in the heart. 

4. Consumed by burning ardour, with parched 
mouth, do thou (woman) come to me, pliant, (thy) 
pride laid aside, mine alone, speaking sweetly and 
to me devoted! 

5. I drive thee with a goad from thy mother and 
thy father, so that thou shalt be in my power, shalt 
come up to my wish. 

6. All her thoughts do ye, O Mitra and Varuaa, 
drive out of her! Then, having deprived her of her 
will, put her into my power alone! 


VI, 139. Charm to arouse the passionate love 
of a woman. 


1. Clinging to the ground thou didst grow, (O 
plant), that producest bliss for me; a hundred 
branches extend from thee, three and thirty grow 
down from thee: with this plant of a thousand 
leaves thy heart do I parch. 

2. Thy heart shall parch (with love) for me, and 
thy mouth shall parch (with love for me)! Languish, 


IV. CHARMS PERTAINING TO WOMEN. ¥03 


moreover, with love for me, with parched mouth 
pass thy days! 

3. Thou that causest affection, kindlest (love), 
brown, lovely (plant), draw (us) together; draw 
together yonder woman and myself, our hearts make 
the same! 

4. As the mouth of him that hath not drunk dries 
up, thus languish thou with love for me, with 
parched mouth pass thy days! 

5. As the ichneumon tears the serpent, and joins 
him together again, thus, O potent (plant), join 
together what hath been torn by love! 


VII, 38. Charm to secure the love of a man. 


1. This potent herb do I dig out: it draws toward 
me the eye, causes (love’s) tears. It brings back 
him who has gone to a distance, rejoices him that 
approaches me. 

2. By (the plant) with which the Asurt allured 
Indra away from the gods, by that do I subject thee, 
that I may be well-beloved of thee! 

3. Thy face is turned towards Soma (the moon), 
thy face is turned towards Sfrya (the sun), thy face 
is turned towards all the gods: ‘tis thee here that 
we do invoke. 

4. My speech, not thine, (in this matter) hath 
weight: in the assembly, forsooth, do thou speak! 
To me alone shalt thou belong, shalt not even 
discourse of other women ! 

5. Whether thou art beyond the haunts of men, 
or whether across the river, this very herb, as if 
a captive bound, shall bring thee back to me! 


104 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


VI, 130. Charm to arouse the passionate love 
of a man. 


1. This yearning love comes from the Apsaras, 
the victorious, imbued with victory. Ye gods, send 
forth the yearning love: may yonder man burn 
after me! 

2. My wish is, he shall long for me, devoted he 
shall long for me! Ye gods, send forth the yearning 
love : may yonder man burn after me! 

3. That yonder man shall long for me, (but) I for 
him nevermore, ye gods, send forth the yearning 
love: may yonder man burn after me! 

4. Do ye, O Maruts, intoxicate him (with love) ; 
do thou, O mid-air, intoxicate him; do thou, O Agni, 
intoxicate him! May yonder man burn after me! 


VI, 131. Charm to arouse the passionate love 
of a man. 


1. From thy head unto thy feet do I implant 
(love's) longing into thee. Ye gods, send forth the 
yearning love: may yonder man burn after me! 

2. Favour this (plan), Anumati; fit it together, 
Akati! Ye gods, send forth the yearning love: 
‘may yonder man burn after me! 

3. If thou dost run three leagues away, (or even) 
five leagues, the distance coursed by a horseman, 
from there thou shalt again return, shalt be the 
father of our sons! 


VI, 132. Charm to arouse the passionate love 
of a man. 


1. Love's consuming longing, together with yearn- 


IV. CHARMS PERTAINING TO WOMEN. 105 


ing, which the gods have poured into the waters, 
that do I kindle for thee by the law of Varuza! 

2. Love’s consuming longing, together with yearn- 
ing, which the all-gods (visve devas) have poured 
into the waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law 
of Varuna! 

3. Love’s consuming longing, together with yearn- 
ing, which Indramt has poured into the waters, that 
do I kindle for thee by the law of Varuza! 

4. Love’s consuming longing, together with yearn- 
. ing, which Indra and Agni have poured into the 
waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of 
Varuna ! 

5. Love’s consuming longing, together with yearn- 
ing, which Mitra and Varuza have poured into the 
waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of 
Varuna ! 


IV, 5. Charm at an assignation. 


1. The bull with a thousand horns who rose out 
of the sea, with the aid of him, the mighty one, do 
we put the folks to sleep. 

2. The wind. blows not over the earth. No one 
looks on. Do thou then, befriended of Indra, put 
all women and dogs to sleep! 

3. The women that lie upon couches and upon 
beds, and they that rest in litters, the women all 
that exhale sweet fragrance, do we put to sleep. 

4. Every moving thing I have held fast. Eye 
and breath I have held fast. I have held fast all 
limbs in the deep gloom of the night. 

5. Of him that sits, and him that walks, of him 
that stands and looks about, of these the eyes we do 
shut, just as these premises (are shut). 


106 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


6. The mother shall sleep, the father shall sleep, 
the dog shall sleep, the lord of the house shall sleep! 
All her relations shall sleep, and these people round 
about shall sleep! 

7. O sleep, put thou to sleep all people with the 
magic that induces sleep! Put the others to sleep 
until the sun rises; may I be awake until the dawn 
appears, like Indra, unharmed, uninjured ! 


VI, 77. Charm to cause the return of a truant 
woman. 


1. The heavens have stood, the earth has stood, 
all creatures have stood. The mountains have 
stood upon their foundation, the horses in the stable 
I have caused to stand. 

2. Him that has control of departure, that has 
control of coming home, return, and turning in, that 
shepherd do I also call. 

3. O G§&tavedas (Agni), cause thou to turn in; 
a hundred ways hither shall be thine, a thousand 
modes of return shall be thine: with these do thou 
restore us again! 


VI, 18. Charm to allay jealousy. 


1. The first impulse of jealousy, moreover the 
one that comes after the first, the fire, the heart- 
burning, that do we waft away from thee. 

2. As the earth is dead in spirit, in spirit more 
dead than the dead, and as the spirit of him that 
has died, thus shall the spirit of the jealous (man) 
be dead! 

3. Yon fluttering little spirit that has been fixed 


1V. CHARMS PERTAINING TO WOMEN. 107 


into thy heart, from it the jealousy do I remove, as 
air from a water-skin. 


VII, 45. Charm to allay jealousy. 


1. From folk belonging to all kinds of people, 
from the Sindhu (Indus) thou hast been brought 
hither: from a distance, I ween, has been fetched 
the very remedy for jealousy. 

2. As if a fire is burning him, as if the forest-fire 
burns in various directions, this jealousy of his do 
thou quench, as a fire (is quenched) with water ! 


I, 14. A woman’s incantation against her rival. 


1. I have taken unto myself her fortune and her 
glory, as a wreath off a tree. Like a mountain with 
broad foundation may she sit a long time with her 
parents ! 

2. This woman shall be subjected to thee as thy 
wife, O king Yama; (till then) let her be fixed to 
the house of her mother, or her brother, or her 
father ! 

3. This woman shall be the keeper of thy house, 
O king (Yama), and her do we make over to thee! 
May she long sit with her relatives, until (her hair) 
drops from her head! 

4. With the incantation of Asita, of Kasyapa, and 
of Gaya do I cover up thy fortune, as women cover 
(something) within a chest. 


III, 18. Charm of a woman against a rival or 
co-wife. 


1. I dig up this plant, of herbs the most potent, 
by whose power rival women are overcome, and 
husbands are obtained. 


108 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


2. O thou (plant) with erect leaves, lovely, do 
thou, urzed on by the gods, full of might, drive 
away my rival, make my husband mine alone! 

3. He did not, forsooth, call thy name, and thou 
shalt not delight in this husband! To the very 
farthest distance do we drive our rival. 

4. Superior am I, O superior (plant), superior, 
truly, to superior (women). Now shall my rival be 
inferior to those that are inferior ! 

5. I am overpowering, and thou, (O plant), art 
completely overpowering. Having both grown full 
of power, let us overpower my rival! 

6. About: thee (my husband) I have placed the 
overpowering (plant), upon thee placed the very 
overpowering one. May thy mind run after me as 
a calf after the cow, as water along its course ! 


VI, 138. Charm for depriving a man of his 

virility. 

1. As the best of the plants thou art reputed, 
O herb: turn this man for me to-day into a eunuch 
that wears his hair dressed ! 

2. Turn him into a eunuch that wears his hair 
dressed, and into one that wears a hood! Then 
Indra with a pair of stones shall break his testicles 
both ! 

3. O eunuch, into a eunuch thee I have turned; 
O castrate, into a castrate thee I have turned; 
O weakling, into a weakling thee I have turned! 
A hood upon his head, and a hair-net do we place. 

4. The two canals, fashioned by the gods, in 
which man’s power rests, in thy testicles ...... 
Be GE ese I break them with a club. 


IV. CHARMS PERTAINING TO WOMEN. 109 


5. As women break reeds for a mattress with 
a stone, thus do I break thy member. . . 


pele o 4 


7 es © ee 


I, 18. Charm to remove evil bodily characteristics 
from a woman. 


1. The (foul) mark, the lalamt (with spot on the 
forehead), the Arati (grudging demon), do we drive 
out. Then the (signs) that are auspicious (shall 
remain) with us; (yet) to beget offspring do we 
bring the Arati! 

2. May Savitar drive out uncouthness from her 
feet, may Varuza, Mitra, and Aryaman (drive it) 
out from her hands; may Anumati kindly drive it 
out for us! For happiness the gods have created 
this woman. ; 

3. The fierceness that is in thyself, in thy body, 
or in thy look, all that do we strike away with our 
charm. May god Savitar prosper thee! 

4. The goat-footed, the bull-toothed, her who 
scares the cattle, the snorting one, the vilidét (the 
driveling one), the lalamt (with spot on the fore- 
head), these do we drive from us. 


VI, 110. Expiatory charm for a child born 
under <1 unlucky star. 


1. Of yore, (O Agni), thou wast worthy of sup- 
plication at the sacrifice; thou wast the priest in 
olden times, and now anew shalt sit (at our sacrifice) ! 
Delight, O Agni, thy own body, and, sacrificing, 
bring good fortune here to us! 

2. Him that hath been born under the (constella- 
tion) gyesh¢daghni (‘she that slays the oldest’), or 


110 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


under the vigrzt4u (‘they that uproot’), save thou 
from being torn up by the root by Yama (death)! 
May he (Agni) guide him across all misfortunes to 
long life, to a life of a hundred autumns ! 

3. On a tiger (-like) day the hero was born ; born 
under a (good) constellation he becometh a mighty 
hero. Let him not slay, when he grows up, his 
father, let him not injure the mother that hath 
begotten him! 


Vi; 140. Expiation for the irregular appearance 
of the first pair of teeth. 


1. Those two teeth, the tigers, that have broken 
forth, eager to devour father and mother, do thou, 
O Brahmamzaspati Gatavedas, render auspicious! 

2. Do ye eat rice, eat barley, and eat, too, beans, 
as well as sesamum! That, O teeth, is the share 
deposited for your enrichment. Do not injure 
father and mother! 

3. Since ye have been invoked, O teeth, be ye in 
unison kind and propitious! Elsewhere, O teeth, 
shall pass away the fierce (qualities) of your body! 
Do not injure father and mother! 


Vi 


CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY 
(RAGAKARMAND). 


IV, 8. Prayer at the consecration of a king. 


1. Himself prosperous (bhdto), he does put strength 
into the beings (bhfteshu) ; he became the chief lord 
of the beings (bhaté4nim). To his consecration 
death does come: may he, the king, favour this 
kingdom! 

2. Come forth hither—do not glance away—as 
a mighty guardian, slayer of enemies! Step hither, 
thou who prosperest thy friends: the gods shall 
bless thee ! 

3. As he did step hither all (men) did attend 
him. Clothed in grace, he moves, shining by his 
own lustre. This is the great name of the manly 
Asura; endowed with every form (quality) he 
entered upon immortal (deeds). 

4. Thyself a tiger, do thou upon this tiger-skin 
stride (victorious) through the great regions! All 
the clans shall wish for thee, and the heavenly 
waters, rich in sap! 

5. The heavenly waters, rich in sap, flow joyously, 
(and too) those in the sky and upon the earth: with 
the lustre of all of these do I sprinkle thee. 

6. They have sprinkled thee with their lustre, 
the heavenly waters rich in sap. May Savitar thus 
fashion thee, that thou shalt prosper thy friends! 


112 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


7. (The waters) thus embracing him, the tiger, 
promote him, the lion, to great good fortune. Him, 
the leopard in the midst of the waters, as though 
standing in the ocean, the beneficent (floods, or the 
vigorous priests) cleanse thoroughly ! 


III, 3. Charm for the restoration of an exiled 
king. 


1. (Agni) has shouted loud: may he here well 
perform his work! Spread thyself out, O Agni, over 
the far-reaching hemispheres of the world! The all- 
possessing Maruts shall engage thee: bring hither 
that (king) who devoutly spends the offering ! 

2. However far he be, the red (steeds) shall urge 
hither Indra, the seer, to friendship, since the gods, 
(chanting) for him the gayatri, the brzhatt, and the 
arka (songs), infused courage into him with the 
sautramazi-sacrifice ! 

3. From the waters king Varuza shall call thee, 
Soma shall call thee from the mountains, Indra shall 
cite thee to these clans! Turn into an eagle and fly 
to these clans! 

4. An eagle shall bring hither from a distance 
him that is fit to be called, (yet) wanders exiled in 
a strange land! The Asvins shall prepare for thee 
a path, easy to travel! Do ye, his kinfolk, gather 
close about him! 

5. Thy opponents shall call thee; thy friends have 
chosen thee! Indra, Agni, and all the gods have 
kept prosperity with this people. 

6. The kinsman or the stranger that opposes thy 
call, him, O Indra, drive away; then render this 
(king) accepted here! 


Vv. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY. 113 


1Π|,4. Prayer at the election of a king. 


1. (Thy) kingdom hath come to thee: arise, en- 
dowed with lustre! Go forth as the lord of the 
people, rule (shine) thou, a universal ruler! ΑἹ] the 
regions of the compass shall call thee, O king; 
attended and revered be thou here! 

2. Thee the clans, thee these regions, goddesses 
five, shall choose for empire! Root thyself upon 
the height, the pinnacle of royalty: then do thou, 
mighty, distribute goods among us! 

3. Thy kinsmen with calls shall come to thee; 
agile Agni shall go with them as messenger! Thy 
wives, thy sons shall be devoted to thee; being 
a mighty (ruler) thou shalt behold rich tribute! 

4. The Asvins first, Mitra and Varuza both, all 
the gods, and the Maruts, shall call thee! Then fix 
thy mind upon the bestowal of wealth, then do thou, 
mighty, distribute wealth among us! 

5. Hither hasten forth from the farthest distance ; 
heaven and earth, both, shall be propitious to thee! 
Thus did this king Varuza (as if, ‘the chooser’) 
decree that; he himself did call thee: ‘come thou 
hither’! 

6. O Indra, Indra, come thou to the tribes of 
men, for thou hast agreed, concordant with the. 
Varumas (as if, ‘the electors’). He did call thee to 
thy own domain (thinking): ‘let him revere the 
gods, and manage, too, the people’ ! 

7. The rich divinities of the roads, of manifold 
diverse forms, all coming together have given thee 
a broad domain. They shall all concordantly call 


[42] I 


114 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA, 


thee; rule here, a mighty, benevolent (king), up to 
the tenth decade (of thy life) ! 


III, 5. Praise of an amulet derived from the parza- 
tree, designed to strengthen royal power. 


1. Hither hath come this amulet of parza-wood, 
with its might mightily crushing the enemy. (It is) 
the strength of the gods, the sap of the waters: may 
it assiduously enliven me with energy! 

2. The power to rule thou shalt hold fast in me, 
O amulet of parza-wood; wealth (thou shalt hold 
fast) in me! May I, rooted in the domain of royalty, 
become the chief! 

3. Their very own amulet which the gods de- 
posited secretly in the tree, that the gods shall give 
us to wear, together with life! 

4. The parza has come hither as the mighty 
strength of the soma, given by Indra, instructed by 
Varuza. May I, shining brilliantly, wear it, unto 
long life, during a hundred autumns! 

5. The amulet of parza-wood has ascended upon 
me unto complete exemption from injury, that I. may 
rise superior (even) to friends and alliances! 

6. The skilful builders of chariots, and the inge- 
nious workers of metal, the folk about me all, do 
thou, O parva, make my aids! 

7. The kings who (themselves) make kings, the 
charioteers, and leaders of hosts, the folk about me 
all, do thou, O para, make my aids! ὰ 

8. Thou art the body-protecting parza, a hero, 
brother of me, the hero. Along with the brilliancy 
of the year do I fasten thee on, O amulet! 


Vv. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY. 15 


IV, 22. Charm to secure the superiority of 
a king. 


1. This warrior, O Indra, do thou strengthen for 
me, do thou install this one as sole ruler (bull) of 
the Vis (the people); emasculate all his enemies, 
subject them to him in (their) contests! 

2. To him apportion his share of villages, horses, 
and cattle; deprive of his share the one that is his 
enemy! May this king be the pinnacle of royalty ; 
subject to him, O Indra, every enemy! 

3. May this one be the treasure-lord of riches, may 
this king be the tribal lord of the Vis (the people) ! 
Upon this one, O Indra, bestow great lustre, devoid 
of lustre render his enemy! 

4. For him shall ye, O heaven and earth, milk 
ample good, as two milch-cows yielding warm milk! 
May this king be favoured of Indra, favoured of 
cows, of plants, and cattle! 

5. I unite with thee Indra who has supremacy, 
through whom one conquers and is not (himself) 
conquered, who shall install thee as sole ruler of the 
people, and as chief of the human kings. 

6. Superior art thou, inferior are thy rivals, 
and whatsoever adversaries are thine, O king! 
Sole ruler, befriended of Indra, victorious, bring 
thou hither the supplies of those who act as thy 
enemies ! : 

7. Presenting the front of a lion do thou devour 
all (their) people, presenting the front of a tiger do 
thou strike down the enemies! Sole ruler, befriended 
of Indra, victorious, seize upon the supplies of those 
who act as thy enemies! 

12 


116 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


I,9. Prayer for earthly and heavenly success. 


1. Upon this (person) the Vasus, Indra, Pdshan, 
Varuma, Mitra, and Agni, shall bestow goods (vasu)! 
The Adityas, and, further, all the gods shall hold 
him in the higher light! 

2. Light, ye gods, shall be at his bidding : Sdrya 
(the sun), Agni (fire), or even gold! Inferior to us 
shall be our rivals! Cause him to ascend to the 
highest heaven ! 

3. With that most potent charm with which, 
O GAtavedas (Agni), thou didst bring to Indra the 
(soma-) drink, with that, O Agni, do thou here 
strengthen this one; grant him supremacy over his 
kinsmen ! 

4. Their sacrifice and their glory, their increase 
of wealth and their thoughtful plans, I have usurped, 
O Agni. Inferior to us shall be our rivals! Cause 
him to ascend to the highest heaven! 


VI, 38. Prayer for lustre and power. 


1. The brilliancy that is in the lion, the tiger, 
and the serpent; in Agni, the Brahmaza, and Sdrya 
(shall be ours)! May the lovely goddess that bore 
Indra come to us, endowed with lustre! 

2. (The brilliancy) that is in the elephant, panther, 
and in gold; in the waters, cattle, and in men (shall 
be ours)! May the lovely goddess that bore Indra 
come to us, endowed with lustre! 

3. (The brilliancy) that is in the chariot, the dice, 
in the strength of the bull; in the wind, Parganya, 
and in the fire of Varuza (shall be ours)! May the 


V. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY. 117 


lovely goddess that bore Indra come to us, endowed 
with lustre ! 

4. (The brilliancy) that is in the man of royal 
caste, in the stretched drum, in the strength of the 
horse, in the shout of men (shall be ours)! May the 
lovely goddess that bore Indra come to us, endowed 
with lustre ! 


VI, 39. Prayer for glory (yasas). . 


1. The oblation that yields glory, sped on by 
Indra, of thousandfold strength, well offered, pre- 
pared with might, shall prosper! Cause me, that 
offers the oblation, to continue long beholding 
(light), and to rise to supremacy ! 

2. (That he may come) to us, let us honour with 
obeisance glory-owning Indra, the glorious one with 
glory-yielding (oblations)! Do thou (the oblation) 
grant us sovereignty sped on by Indra; may we in 
thy favour be glorious! 

3. Glorious was Indra born, glorious Agni, glorious 
Soma. Glorious, of all beings the most glorious, 
am 1. 


VIII, 8. Battle-charm. 


1. May Indra churn (the enemy), he, the churner, 
Sakra (mighty), the hero, that pierces the forts, so 
that we shall slay the armies of the enemies a 
thousandfold! 

2. May the rotten rope, wafting itself against 
yonder army, turn it into a stench. When the 
enemies see from afar our smoke and fire, fear shall 
they lay into their hearts! 

3. Tear asunder those (enemies), O asvattha 


118 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA, 


(ficus religiosa), devour (kh4da) them, O khadira 
(acacia catechu) in lively style! Like the tagad- 
bhanga (ricinus communis) they shall be broken 
(bhagyant4m), may the vadhaka (a certain kind of 
tree) slay them with his weapons (vadhaiZ)! 

4. May the knotty 4hva-plant put knots upon 
yonder (enemies), may the vadhaka slay them with 
his weapons! Bound up in (our) great trap-net, 
they shall quickly be broken as an arrow-reed ! 

5. The atmosphere was the net, the great regions 
(of space) the (supporting) poles of the net: with 
these Sakra (mighty Indra) did surround and scatter 
the army of the Dasyus. 

6. Great, forsooth, is the net of great Sakra, who 
is rich in steeds: with it infold thou all the enemies, 
so that not one of them shall be released ! 

7. Great is the net of thee, great Indra, hero, that 
art equal to a thousand, and hast hundredfold might. 
With that (net) Sakra slew a hundred, thousand, - 
ten thousand, a hundred million foes, having sur- 
rounded them with (his) army. 

8. This great world was the net of great Sakra: 
with this net of Indra I infold all those (enemies) 
yonder in darkness. 

9. With great dejection, failure, and irrefragable 
misfortune ; with fatigue, lassitude, and confusion, 
do I surround all those (enemies) yonder. 

10. To death do I hand them over, with the 
fetters of death they have been bound. To the evil 
messengers of death do I lead them captive. 

11. Guide ye those (foes), ye messengers of death; 
ye messengers of Yama, infold them! Let more 
than thousands be slain; may the club of Bhava 
crush them! , 


Vv. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY, 119 


12. The Sddhyas (blessed) go holding up with 
might one support of the net, the Rudras another, 
the Vasus another. (Still) another is upheld by the 
Adityas. 

13. All the gods shall go pressing from above 
with might; the Angiras shall go on the middle (of 
the net), slaying the mighty army! 

14. The trees, and (growths) that are like trees, 
the plants and the herbs as well; two-footed and 
four-footed creatures do I impel, that they shall slay 
yonder army! 

15. The Gandharvas and Apsaras, the serpents 
and the gods, holy men and (deceased) Fathers, the 
visible and invisible (beings), do I impel, that they 
shall slay yonder army! 

16. Scattered here are the fetters of death; when 
thou steppest upon them thou shalt not escape! 
May this hammer slay (the men) of yonder army by 
the thousand! 

17. The gharma (sacrificial hot drink) that has 
been heated by the fire, this sacrifice (shall) slay 
thousands! Do ye, Bhava and Sarva, whose arms 
are mottled, slay yonder army ! 

18. Into the (snare of) death they shall fall, into 
hunger, exhaustion, slaughter, and fear! O Indra and 
Sarva, do ye with trap and net slay yonder army! 

19. Conquered, O foes, do ye flee away; repelled 
by (our) charm, do ye run! Of yonder host, re- 
pulsed by Brzhaspati, not one shall be saved! 

20. May their weapons fall from their (hands), 
may they be unable to lay the arrow on (the bow)! 
And then (our) arrows shall smite them, badly 
frightened, in their vital members! 

21. Heaven and earth shall shriek at them, and 


120 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


the atmosphere, along with the divine powers! 
Neither aider, nor support did they find; smiting 
one another they shall go to death! 

22. The four regions are the she-mules of the 
god’s chariot, the purod4sas (sacrificial rice-cakes) 
the hoofs, the atmosphere the seat (of the wagon). 
Heaven and earth are its two sides, the seasons 
the reins, the intermediate regions the attendants, 
νὰ (speech) the road. ; 

23. The year is the chariot, the full year is the 
body of the chariot, Virag the pole, Agni the front 
part of the chariot. Indra is the (combatant) stand- 
ing on the left of the chariot, Xandramas (the moon) 
the charioteer. 

24. Do thou win here, do thou conquer here, 
overcome, win, hail! These here shall conquer, 
those yonder be conquered! Hail to these here, 
perdition to those yonder! Those yonder do I 
envelop in blue and red! 


I, 19. Battle-charm against arrow-wounds. 


1. The piercing (arrows) shall not hit us, nor 
shall the striking arrows hit us! Far away from 
us, O Indra, to either side, cause the arrow-shower 
to fall! 

2. To either side of us the arrows shall fall, those 
that have been shot and shall be shot! Ye divine 
and ye human arrows, pierce ye mine enemies! 

3. Be he our own, or be he strange, the kinsman, 
or the foreigner, who bear enmity towards us, those 
enemies of mine Rudra shall pierce with a shower 
of arrows! 

4. Him that rivals us, or does not rival us, him 


V. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY. 12! 


that curses us with hate, may all the gods injure: 
my charm protects me from within ! 


Ill, 1. Battle-charm for confusing the enemy. 


1. Agni shall skilfully march against our oppo- 
nents, burning against their schemes and _ hostile 
plans; G&tavedas shall confuse the army of our 
opponents and deprive them (of the use) of their 
hands ! 

2. Ye Maruts are mighty in such matters: ad- 
vance ye, crush ye, conquer ye(the enemy)! These 
Vasus when implored did crush (them). Agni, 
verily, as their vanguard shall skilfully attack ! 

3. O Maghavan, the hostile army which contends 
against us—do ye, O Indra, Vrttra’s slayer, and 
Agni, burn against them! 

4. Thy thunderbolt, O Indra, who hast been 
driven forward swiftly by thy two bay steeds, 
shall advance, crushing the enemies. Slay them 
that resist, pursue, or flee, deprive their schemes of 
fulfilment ! 

5. O Indra, confuse the army of the enemy; with 
the impact of the fire and the wind scatter them to 
either side! 

6. Indra shall confuse the army, the Maruts shall 
slay it with might! Agni shall rob it of its sight; 
vanquished it shall turn about ! 


III, 2. Battle-charm for confusing the enemy. 


1. Agni, our skilful vanguard, shall attack, burn- 
ing against their schemes and hostile plans! Gata- 
vedas shall bewilder the plans of the enemy, and 
deprive them (of the use) of their hands! 

2. This fire has confused the schemes that are in 


122 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


your mind; it shall blow you from your home, blow 
you away from everywhere! 

3. O Indra, bewildering their schemes, come 
hither with thy (own) plan: with the impact of the 
fire and the wind scatter them to either side! 

4. Oye plans of theirs, fly ye away; O ye schemes, 
be ye confused! Moreover, what now is in their 
mind, do thou drive that out of them! 

5. Do thou, O (goddess) Apva, confusing their 
plans, go forth (to them), and seize their limbs! 
Attack them, burn with flames into their hearts; 
strike the enemy with fits, (strike our) opponents 
with darkness! 

6. That army yonder of the enemy, that comes 
against us fighting with might, do ye, O Maruts, 
strike with planless darkness, that one of them shall 
not know the other! 


VI, 97. Battle-charm of a king upon the eve of 
battle. 


1. Superior is the sacrifice, superior Agni, superior 
Soma, superior Indra. To the end that I shall be 
superior to all hostile armies do we thus, offering 
the agnihotra, reverently present this oblation ! 

2. Hail be, ye wise Mitra and Varuaa: with 
honey swell ye our kingdom here, (so that it shall) 
abound in offspring! Drive far to a distance mis- 
fortune, strip off from us sin, even after it has been 
committed ! 

3. With inspiration follow ye this strong hero; 
cling close, ye friends, to Indra (the king), who 
conquers villages, conquers cattle, has the thunder- 
bolt in his arm, overcomes the host arrayed (against 
him), crushing it with might! 


Vv. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY. 123 


VI, 99. Battle-charm of a king on the eve of 
battle. 


1. I call upon thee, O Indra, from afar, upon thee 
for protection against tribulation. I call the strong 
avenger that has many names, and is of unequalled 
birth. 

2. Where the hostile weapon now rises against us, 
threatening to slay, there do we place the two arms 
of Indra round about. 

3. The two arms of Indra, the protector, do we 
place round about us: let him protect us! O god 
Savitar, and king Soma, render me of confident 
mind, that I may prosper! 


XI, 9. Prayer to Arbudi and Nyarbudi for help 
in battle. 


1. The arms, the arrows, and the might of the 
bows; the swords, the axes, the weapons, and the 
artful scheme that is in our mind; all that, O Arbudi, 
do thou make the enemies see, and spectres also 
make them see! 

2. Arise, and arm yourselves; friends are ye, O 
divine folk! May our friends be perceived and 
protected by you, O Arbudi (and Nyarbudi) ! 

3. Arise (ye two), and take hold! With fetters 
and shackles surround ye the armies of the enemy, 
O Arbudi (and Nyarbudi)! 

4. The god whose name is Arbudi, and the lord 
Nyarbudi, by whom the atmosphere and this great 
earth has been infolded, with these two companions 
of Indra do I pursue the conquered (king) with my 
army. 


124 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


5. Arise, thou divine person, O Arbudi, together 
with thy army! Crushing the army of the enemy, 
encompass them with thy embraces! 

6. Thou, Arbudi, makest appear the sevenfold 
spectral brood. Do thou, when the oblation has 
been poured, rise up with all these, together with 
the army! 

7. (The female mourner), beating herself, with 
tear-stained face, with short (mutilated ?) ears, with 
dishevelled hair, shall lament, when a man has been 
slain, pierced by thee, O Arbudi! 

8. She curves her spine while longing in her 
heart for her son, her husband, and her kin, when 
(a man) has been pierced by thee, O Arbudi! 

9. The aliklavas and the gashkamadas, the vul- 
tures, the strong-winged hawks, the crows, and the 
birds (of prey) shall obtain their fill! Let them 
make evident to the enemy, when (a man) has been 
pierced by thee, O Arbudi! 

10. Then, too, every wild beast, insect, and worm 
shall obtain his fill on the human carcass, when 
(a man) has been pierced by thee, O Arbudi! 

11. Seize ye, and tear out in-breathing and out- 
breathing, O Nyarbudi (and Arbudi): deep-sounding 
groans shall arise! Let them make it evident to 
the enemy, when (a man) has been pierced by thee, 
O Arbudi! 

12. Scare them forth, let them tremble; bewilder 
the enemies with fright! With thy broad embrace, 
with the clasp of thy arms crush the enemies, O 
Nyarbudi! 

13. May their arms, and the artful scheme that is 
in their mind be confused! Nota thing shall remain 
of them, pierced by thee, O Arbudi! 


V. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY. 125 


14. May (the mourning women) beating them- 
selves, run together, smiting their breasts and their 
thighs, not anointed, with dishevelled hair, howling, 
when a man has been slain, has been pierced by 
thee, O Arbudi! 

15. The dog-like Apsaras, and also the Ropakds 
(phantoms), the plucking sprite, that eagerly licks 
within the vessel, and her that seeks out what has 
been carelessly hidden, all those do thou, O Arbudi, 
make the enemies see, and spectres also make 
them see! 

16. (And also make them see) her that strides 
upon the mist, the mutilated one, who dwells with 
the mutilated ; the vapoury spooks that are hidden, 
and the Gandharvas and Apsaras, the serpents, and 
other brood, and the Rakshas! 

17. (And also) the spooks with fourfold teeth, 
black teeth, testicles like a pot, bloody faces, who 
are inherently frightful, and terrifying! 

18. Frighten thou, O Arbudi, yonder lines of the 
enemy ; the conquering and the victorious (Arbudi 
and. Nyarbudi), the two comrades of Indra, shall 
conquer the enemies ! 

19. Dissolved, crushed, slain the enemy shall lie, 
O Nyarbudi! May victorious sprites, with fiery 
tongues and smoky crests, go with (our) army! 

20. Of the enemies repulsed by this (army), O | 
Arbudi, Indra, the spouse of Sa4t, shall slay each 
picked man: not a single one of those yonder shall 
escape ! 

21. May their hearts burst, may their life’s breath 
escape upward! May dryness of the mouth over- 
take (our) enemies, but not (our) allies! 

22. Those who are bold and those who are 


126 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


cowardly, those who turn (in flight) and those who 
are deaf (to danger ?), those who are (like) dark 
goats, and those, too, who bleat like goats, all those, 
do thou, O Arbudi, make the enemies see, and 
spectres also make them see! 

23. Arbudi and Trishamdhi shall pierce our 
enemies, so that, O Indra, slayer of Vvztra, spouse 
of Sa&t, we may slay the enemy by thousands! 

24. The trees, and (growths) that are like trees, 
the plants and the herbs as well, the Gandharvas 
and the Apsaras, the serpents, gods, pious men, and 
(departed) Fathers, all those, O Arbudi, do thou 
make the enemies see, and spectres also make 
them see! 

25. The Maruts, god Aditya, Brahmamaspati did 
rule over you; Indra and Agni, Dhatar, Mitra, and 
Pragapati did rule over you; the seers did rule over 
you. Let them make evident to the enemies when 
(a man) has been pierced by thee, O Arbudi! 

26. Ruling over all these, rise ye and arm your- 
selves! Ye divine folk are (our) friends: win ye 
the battle, and disperse to your various abodes! 


XI, 10. Prayer to Trishamdhi for help in 
battle, 


1, Arise and arm yourselves, ye nebulous spectres 
together with fiery portents; ye serpents, other 
brood, and Rakshas, run ye after the enemy! 

2. He knows how to rule your kingdom together 
with the red portents (of the heavens). The evil 
brood that is in the air and the heaven, and the 
human (powers) upon the earth, shall be obedient to 
the plans of Trishamdhi! 


V. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY. 127 


3. The brazen-beaked (birds of prey), those with 
beaks pointed as a needle, and those, too, with 
thorny beaks, flesh-devouring, swift as the wind, 
shall fasten themselves upon the enemies, together 
with the Trishamdhi-bolt (the bolt with three 
joints)! 

4. Make away with, O GAtavedas Aditya, many 
carcasses! This army of Trishamdhi shall be de- 
voted to my bidding ! 

5. Arise thou divine person, O Arbudi, together 
with thy army! This tribute has been offered to 
you (Arbudi and Trishamdhi), an offering pleasing 
to Trishamdhi. 

6. This white-footed, four-footed arrow shall 
fetter (?). Do thou, O magic spell, operate, together 
with the army of Trishamdhi, against the enemies! 

7. May (the mourning woman) with suffused eyes 
hurry on, may she that hath short (mutilated ?) ears 
shout when (a man) has been overcome by the army 
of Trishamdhi! Red portents shall be (visible)! 

8. May the winged birds that move in the air and 
in the sky descend ; beasts of prey and insects shall 
seize upon them; the vultures that feed upon raw 
flesh shall hack into (their) carcasses ! 

9. By virtue of the compact which thou, O Bvz- 
haspati, didst close with Indra and Brahman, by 
virtue of that agreement with Indra, do I call 
hither all the gods: on this side conquer, not over 
yonder ! 

10. Brzhaspati, the‘ descendant of Angiras, and 
the seers, inspired by (our) song, did fix the three- 
jointed (Trishamdhi) weapon upon the sky for the 
destruction of the Asuras. 

11. Trishamdhi, by whom both yonder Aditya 


128 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


(the sun) and Indra are protected, the gods did 
destine for (our) might and strength. 

12. All the worlds the gods did conquer through 
this oblation, (and) by the bolt which Brzhaspati, 
the descendant of Angiras, did mould into a weapon 
for the destruction of the Asuras. 

13. With the bolt which Brzhaspati, the descendant 
of Angiras, did mould into a weapon for the destruc- 
tion of the Asuras do I, O Brzhaspati, annihilate 
yonder army: I smite the enemies with force. 

14. All the gods that eat the oblation offered 
with the call vasha¢ are coming over. Receive this 
' oblation graciously ; conquer on this side, not over 
yonder ! 

15. May all the gods come over: the oblation 
is pleasing to Trishamdhi. Adhere to the great 
compact under which of yore the Asuras were 
conquered ! 

16. Vayu (the wind) shall bend the points of the 
enemies’ bows, Indra shall break their arms, so that 
they shall be unable to lay on their arrows, Aditya 
(the sun) shall send their missiles astray, and Kan- 
dramas (the moon) shall bar the way of (the enemy) 
that has not (as yet) started! 

17. If they have come on as citadels of the gods, 
if they have constituted an inspired charm as their 
armour, if they havc gathered courage through the 
protections for the body and the bulwarks which 
they have made, render all that devoid of force! _ 

18. Placing (our) purohita (chaplain), together with 
the flesh-devourer (Agni) and death, in thy train, do 
thou, O Trishamdhi, go forth with thy army, conquer 
the enemies, advance ! 

19. O Trishamdhi, envelop thou the enemies in 


ν. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY. 129 


darkness; may not a single one of those, driven 
forth by the speckled ghee, be saved! 

20. May the white-footed (arrow ?) fly to yonder 
lines of the enemy, may yonder armies of the 
enemies be to-day put to confusion, O Nyarbudi ! 

21. The enemies have been confused, O Nyar- 
budi: slay each picked man among them, slay them 
with this army! 

22. The enemy with coat-of-mail, he that has no 
coat-of-mail, and he that stands in the battle-throng, 
throttled by the strings of their bows, by the fasten- 
ings of their coats-of-mail, by the battle-throng, they 
shall lie! 

23. Those with armour and those without armour, 
the enemies that are shielded by armour, all those, 
O Arbudi, after they have been slain, dogs shall 
devour upon the ground! 

24. Those that ride on chariots, and those that 
have no chariots, those that are mounted, and those 
that are not mounted, all those, after they have 
been slain, vultures and strong-winged hawks shall 
devour ! 

25. Counting its dead by thousands, the hostile 
army, pierced and shattered in the clash of arms, 
shall lie! 

26. Pierced in a vital spot, shrieking in concert 
with the birds of prey, wretched, crushed, prostrate, 
(the birds of prey) shall devour the enemy who 
attempts to hinder this oblation of ours directed 
against (him)! 

27. With (the oblation) to which the gods flock, 
which is free from failure, with it Indra, the slayer 
of Vritra, shall slay, and with the Trishamdhi-bolt 
(the bolt with three joints) ! 

[42] K 


130 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


V, 20. Hymn to the battle-drum. 


1. High sounds the voice of the drum, that acts 
the warrior, the wooden (drum), equipped with the 
skin of the cow. Whetting thy voice, subduing the 
enemy, like a lion sure of victory, do thou loudly 
thunder against them! 

2. The wooden (instrument) with fastened (cover- 
ing) has thundered as a lion, as a bull roars to the 
cow that longs to mate. Thou art a bull, thy 
enemies are eunuchs; thou ownest Indra’s foe- 
subduing fire! 

3. Like a bull in the herd, full of might, lusty, do 
thou, O snatcher of booty, roar against them! 
Pierce with fire the heart of the enemy; with 
broken ranks the foe shall run and scatter ! 

4. In victorious battles raise thy roar! What 
may be captured, capture; sound in many places! 
Favour, O drum, (our deeds) with thy divine voice ; 
bring to (us) with strength the property of the 
enemy ! 

5. When the wife of the enemy hears the voice of 
the drum, that speaks to a far distance, may she, 
aroused by the sound, distressed, snatch her son 
to her arms, and run, frightened at the clash of 
arms! 

6. Do thou, O drum, sound the first sound, ring 
brilliantly over the back of the earth! Open wide 
thy maw at the enemies host; resound brightly, 
joyously, O drum! 

7. Between this heaven and earth thy noise shall 
spread, thy sounds shall quickly part to every side! 
Shout thou and thunder with swelling sound; make 


Vv. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY. 1321 


music at thy friend’s victory, having (chosen) the 
good side! 

8. Manipulated with care, its voice shall resound! 
Make bristle forth the weapons of the warriors ἢ 
Allied to Indra do thou call hither the warriors ; 
with thy friends beat vigorously down the enemies! 

9. A shouting herald, followed by a bold army, 
spreading news in many places, sounding through 
the village, eager for success, knowing the way, do 
thou distribute glory to many in the battle! 

10. Desiring advantage, gaining booty, full mighty, 
thou hast been made keen by (my) song, and 
winnest battles. As the press-stone on the gather- 
ing skin dances upon the soma-shoots, thus do thou, 
O drum, lustily dance upon the booty! 

11. A conqueror of enemies, overwhelming, foe- 
subduing, eager for the fray, victoriously crushing, 
as a speaker his speech do thou carry forth thy 
sound; sound forth here strength for victory in 
battle! 

12. Shaking those that are unshaken, hurrying to 
the strife, a conqueror of enemies, an unconquerable 
leader, protected by Indra, attending to the hosts, 
do thou that crusheth the hearts of the enemies, 
quickly go! 


V, 21. Hymn to the battle-drum, the terror 
of the enemy. 


1. Carry with thy voice, O drum, lack of heart, 
and failure of courage among the enemies! Dis- 
agreement, dismay, and fright, do we place into the 
enemies: beat them down, O drum! 

2. Agitated in their minds, their sight, their 

K 2 


132 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


hearts, the enemies shall run, frightened with terror, 
when our oblation has been offered! 

3. Made of wood, equipped with the skin of the 
cow, at home with every clan, put thou with thy 
voice terror into the enemies, when thou hast been 
anointed with ghee ! 

4. As the wild animals of the forest start in fear 
from man, thus do thou, O drum, shout against the 
enemies, frighten them away, and bewilder their 
minds ! 

5. As goats and sheep run from the wolf, badly 
frightened, thus do thou, O drum, shout against the 
enemies, frighten them away, and bewilder their 
minds ! 

6. As birds start in fear from the eagle, as by 
day and by night (they start) at the roar of the 
lion, thus do thou, O drum, shout against the 
enemies, frighten them away, and bewilder their 
minds ! 

7. With the drum and the skin of the antelope 
all the gods, that sway the battle, have scared away 
the enemies. 

8. At the noise of the beat of the feet when 
Indra disports himself, and at his shadow, our 
enemies yonder, that come in successive ranks, 
shall tremble ! 

9. The whirring of the bowstring and the drums 
shall shout at the directions where the conquered 
armies of the enemies go in successive ranks ! 

10. O sun, take away their sight; O rays, run 
after them; clinging to their feet, fasten your- 
selves upon them, when the strength of their arms 
is gone! 

11. Ye strong Maruts, Pvzsni’s children, with Indra 


V. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY. 133 


as an ally, crush ye the enemies; Soma the king 
(shall crush them), Varuza the king, Mahddeva, and 
also Mvztyu (death), and Indra! 

12. These wise armies of the gods, having the 
sun as their ensign, shall conquer our enemies! 


Hail! 


VI. 


CHARMS TO SECURE HARMONY, INFLUENCE IN 
THE ASSEMBLY, AND THE LIKE 
(SAMMANASYANI, ETC). 


III, 30. Charm to secure harmony. 


1. Unity of heart, and unity of mind, freedom from 
hatred, do I procure for you. Do ye take delight 
in one another, as a cow in her (new-) born calf! 

2. The son shall be devoted to his father, be of 
the same mind with his mother ; the wife shall speak 
honied, sweet, words to her husband! 

3. The brother shall not hate the brother, and the 
sister not the sister! Harmonious, devoted to the 
same purpose, speak ye words in kindly spirit! 

4. That charm which causes the gods not to dis- 
agree, and not to hate one another, that do we 
prepare in your house, as a means of agreement for 
your folk. 

5. Following your leader, of (the same) mind, do 
ye not hold yourselves apart! Do ye come here, 
co-operating, going along the same wagon-pole, 
speaking agreeably to one another! I render you 
of the same aim, of the same mind. 

6. Identical shall be your drink, in common shall 
be your share of food! I yoke you together in the 
same traces: do ye worship Agni, joining together, 
as spokes around about the hub! 

7. I render you of the same aim, of the same 


VI. CHARMS TO SECURE HARMONY, ETC. 135 


mind, all paying deference to one (person) through 
my harmonising charm. Like the gods that are 
guarding the ambrosia, may he (the leader) be well- 
disposed towards you, night and day! 


VI, 73. Charm to allay discord. 


1. Hither shall come Varuza, Soma, Agni; Bvz- 
haspati with the Vasus shall come hither! Come 
together, O ye kinsmen all, of one mind, to the 
glory of this mighty guardian ! 

2. The fire that is within your souls, the scheme 
that hath entered your minds, doI frustrate with my 
oblation, with my ghee: delight in me shall ye take, 
O kinsmen! 

3. Remain right here, go not away from us; (th 
roads) at a distance Pashan shall make impassable 
for you! V4Astoshpati shall urgently call you back : 
delight in me shall ye take, O kinsmen! — 


VI, 74. Charm to allay discord. 


1. May your bodies be united, may your minds 
and your purposes (be united)! Brahmamzaspati here 
has brought you together, Bhaga has brought you 
together. 

2. Harmony of mind (I procure) for you, and also 
harmony of heart. Moreover with the aid of 
Bhaga’s exertions do I cause you to agree. 

3. As the Adityas are united with the Vasus, as 
the fierce (Rudras), free from grudge, with the 
Maruts, thus, O three-named (Agni), without grudge, 
do thou render these people here of the same 
mind! 


. 136 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


VII, 52. Charm against strife and bloodshed. 


1. May we be in harmony with our kinfolk, in | 
harmony with strangers; do ye, O Asvins, establish | 


here agreement among us! 


2. May we agree in mind and thought, may we | 
not struggle with one another, in a spirit displeasing 


to the gods! May not the din of frequent battle- 


carnage arise, may the arrow not fly when the day 
of Indra has arrived! 


VI, 64. Charm to allay discord. 


1. Do ye agree, unite yourselves, may your minds 
be in harmony, just as the gods of old in harmony 
sat down to their share! 

2. Same be their counsel, same their assembly, 
same their aim, in common their thought! The 
‘same’ oblation do I sacrifice for you: do ye enter 
upon the same plan! 

3. Same be your intention, same your hearts! 
Same be your mind, so that it may be perfectly in 
common to you! 


VI, 42. Charm to appease anger. 


1. As the bowstring from the:bow, thus do I take 
off thy anger from thy heart, so that, having become 
of the same mind, we shall associate like friends ! 

2. Like friends we shall associate—I take off thy 
anger. Under a stone that is heavy do we cast 
thy anger. 

3. I step upon thy anger with my heel and my 
fore-foot, so that, bereft of will, thou shalt not speak, 
shalt come up to my wish! - 


{ 4 


VI. CHARMS TO SECURE HARMONY, ETC. 137 


VI, 43. Charm to appease anger. 


1. This darbha-grass removes the anger of both 
kinsman and of stranger. And this remover of 
wrath, ‘ appeaser of wrath’ it is called. 

2. This darbha-grass of many roots, that reaches 
down into the ocean, having risen from the earth, 
‘appeaser of wrath’ it is called. 

3. Away we take the offensiveness that is in thy 
jaw, away (the offensiveness) in thy mouth, so that, 
bereft of will, thou shalt not speak, shalt come up 
to my wish! 


II, 27. Charm against opponents in debate, 
undertaken with the p4/4-plant. 


1. May the enemy not win the debate! Thou art 
mighty and overpowering. Overcome the debate 
of those that debate against us, render them devoid 
of force, O plant! 

2. An eagle found thee out, a boar dug thee out 
with his snout. Overcome the debate of those 
that debate against us, render them devoid of force, 
O plant! 

3. Indra placed thee upon his arm in order to 
overthrow the Asuras. Overcome the debate of 
those that debate against us, render them devoid 
of force, O plant! 

4. Indra did eat the p4/4-plant, in order to over- 
throw the Asuras. Overcome the debate of those 
that debate against us, render them devoid of force, 
O plant! 

5. By means of thee I shall conquer the enemy, 


- 


we: 


138 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


as Indra (conquered) the Salavv7kas. Overcome 
the debate of those that debate against us, render 
them devoid of force, O plant! 

6. O Rudra, whose remedy is the urine, with 
black crest of hair, performer of (strong) deeds— 
overcome thou the debate of those that debate 
against us, render them devoid of force, O plant! 

7. Overcome thou the debate of him that is 
hostile to us, O Indra! Encourage us with thy 
might! Render me superior in debate! 


VII, 12. Charm to procure influence in the 
assembly. 


1. May assembly and meeting, the two daughters 
of Pragdpati, concurrently aid me! May he with 
whom I shall meet co-operate with me; may I, O ye 
Fathers, speak agreeably to those assembled ! 

2. We know thy name, O assembly: ‘mirth,’ 
verily, is thy name; may all those that sit assem- 
bled in thee utter speech in harmony with me! 

3. Of them that are sitting together I take to 
myself the power and the understanding: in this 
entire gathering render, O Indra, me successful ! 

4. If your mind has wandered to a distance, or 
has been enchained here or there, then do we turn 
it hither: may your mind take delight in me! 


VI, 94. Charm to bring about submission to 
one’s will. 


1. Your minds, your purposes, your plans, do we 
cause to bend. Ye persons yonder, that are devoted 
to other purposes, we cause you to comply! 

2. With my mind do I seize your minds: do ye 


VI. CHARMS TO SECURE HARMONY, ETC. 139 


with your thoughts follow my thought! I place 
your hearts in my control: come ye, directing your 
way after my course! 

3. I have called upon heaven and earth, I have 
called upon the goddess Sarasvati, I have called 
upon both Indra and Agni: may we succeed in this, 
O Sarasvatt! 


VII. 


CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY IN HOUSE, FIELD, 
CATTLE, BUSINESS, GAMBLING, AND KINDRED 
MATTERS. 


III, 12. Prayer at the building of a house. 


1. Right here do I erect a firm house: may it 
stand upon a (good) foundation, dripping with ghee! 
Thee may we inhabit, O house, with heroes all, 
with strong heroes, with uninjured heroes! 

2. Right here, do thou, O house, stand firmly, 
full of horses, full of cattle, full of abundance! Full 
of sap, full of ghee, full of milk, elevate Be unto 
great happiness ! 

3. A supporter art thou, O house, with broad 
roof, containing purified grain! To thee may the 
calf come, to thee the child, to thee the milch-cows, 
when they return in the evening ! 

4. May Savitar, Vayu, Indra, Bxzhaspati cunningly 
erect this house! May the Maruts sprinkle it with 
moisture and with ghee; may king Bhaga let our 
ploughing take root! 

5. O mistress of dwelling, as a sheltering and 
kindly goddess thou wast erected by the gods in 
the beginning; clothed in grass, be thou kindly dis- 
posed; give us, moreover, wealth along with heroes! 

6. Do thou, O cross-beam, according to regulation 
ascend the post, do thou, mightily ruling, hold off 
the enemies! May they that approach thee rever- 


VII. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. 14! 


ently, O house, not suffer injury, may we with all 
our heroes live a hundred autumns! 

7. Hither to this (house) hath come the tender 
child, hither the calf along with (the other) domestic 
animals; hither the vessel (full) of liquor, together 
with bowls of sour milk! 

8. Carry forth, O woman, this full jar, a stream 
of ghee mixed with ambrosia! Do thou these 
drinkers supply with ambrosia; the sacrifice and 
the gifts (to the Brahmans) shall it (the house) 
protect ! 

g. These waters, free from disease, destructive of 
disease, do I carry forth. The chambers do I enter 
in upon together with the immortal Agni (fire). 


VI, 142. Blessing during the sowing of seed. 


1. Raise thyself up, grow thick by thy own might, 
O grain! Burst every vessel! The lightning in the 
heavens shall not destroy thee! 

2. When we invoke thee, god grain, and thou 
dost listen, then do thou raise thyself up like the 
sky, be inexhaustible as the sea! 

3. Inexhaustible shall be those that attend to 
thee, inexhaustible thy heaps! They who give thee 
as a present shall be inexhaustible, they who eat 
thee shall be inexhaustible! 


VI, 79. Charm for procuring increase of grain. 


1. May this bounteous Nabhasaspati (the lord of 
the cloud) preserve for us (possessions) without 
measure in our house! 

2. Do thou, O Nabhasaspati, keep strengthening 


142 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


food in our house, may prosperity and goods come 
hither! 

3. O bounteous god, thou dost command thou- 
sandfold prosperity: of that do thou bestow upon 
us, of that do thou give us, in that may we share 
with thee! . 


VI, 50. Exorcism of vermin infesting grain in 
the field. 


1. Slay ye the tarda (‘borer’), the samanka 
(‘hook’), and the mole, O Asvins; cut off their 
heads,’and crush their ribs! Shut their mouths, that 
they shall not eat the barley; free ye, moreover, 
the grain from danger ! 

2. Ho tarda (‘borer’), ho locust, ho gabhya 
(‘snapper’), upakvasa! As a Brahman (eats not) an 
uncompleted sacrifice, do ye, not eating this barley, 
without working injury, get out! 

3. O husband of the tarda (-female), O husband 
of the vagh4 (-female), ye of the sharp teeth, listen 
to me! The vyadvaras (‘rodents’) of the forest, 
and whatever other vyadvaras (there are), all these 
we do crush. 


VII, τι. Charm to protect grain from lightning. 


With thy broad thunder, with the beacon, elevated 
by the gods that pervade this all, with the lightning 
do thou not destroy our grain, O god; nor do thou 
destroy it with the rays of the sun! 


II, 26. Charm for the prosperity of cattle. 


1. Hither shall come the cattle which have 
strayed to a distance, whose companionship Vayu 


VII. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. 143 


(the wind) enjoys! (The cattle) whose structure of 
form Tvashéar knows, Savitar shall hold in place in 
this stable! 

2. To this stable the cattle shall flow together, 
Brzhaspati_ skilfully shall conduct them hither! 
Sintv4lt shall conduct hither their van: do thou, 
O Anumati, hold them in place after they have 
arrived ! 

3. May the cattle, may the horses, and may the 
domestics flow together; may the increase of the 
grain flow together! I sacrifice with an oblation 
that causeth to flow together! 

4. I pour together the milk of the cows, I pour 
together strength and sap with the ghee. Poured 
together shall be our heroes, constant shall be the 
cows with me the owner of the cows! 

5. I bring hither the milk of the cows, I have 
brought hither the sap of the grain. Brought 
hither are our heroes, brought hither to this house 
are our wives! 


III, 14. Charm for the prosperity of cattle. 


1. With a firmly founded stable, with wealth, with 
well-being, with the name of that which is born on— 
a lucky day do we unite you (O cattle) ! 

2. May Aryaman unite you, may Pdshan, Bvz- 
haspati, and Indra, the conqueror of booty, unite 
you! Do ye prosper my possessions ! 

3. Flocking together without fear, making ordure 
in this stable, holding honey fit for soma, free from 
disease, ye shall come hither! 

4. Right here come, ye cows, and prosper here 
like the sak4-bird! And right here do ye beget 
(your young)! May ye be in accord with me! 


144 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


5. May your stable be auspicious to you, prosper 
ye like the s4ri-birds and parrots! And right 
here do ye beget (your young)! With us do we 
unite you. 

6. Attach yourselves, O cows, to me as your pos- 
sessor; may this stable here cause you to prosper ! 
Upon you, growing numerous, and living, may we, 
increasing in wealth, alive, attend! 


VI, 59. Prayer to the plant arundhatt for pro- 
tection to cattle. 


1. Thy foremost protection, O Arundhatt, do thou 
bestow upon steer and milch-kine, upon (cattle of) 
the age when weaned from their mother, upon (all) 
four-footed creatures ! 

2. May Arundhatt, the herb, bestow protection 
along with the gods, render full of sap the stable, 
free from disease our men! 

3. The variegated, lovely, life-giving (plant) do 
I invoke. May she carry away for us, far from the 
cattle, the missile hurled by Rudra! 


VI, 70. Charm to secure the attachment of a 
cow to her calf. 


1. As meat, and liquor, and dice (abound) at the 
gambling-place, as the heart of the lusty male 
hankers after the woman, thus shall thy heart, O 
cow, hanker after the calf! 

2. As the elephant directs his steps after the 
steps of the female, as the heart of the lusty male 
hankers after the woman, thus shall thy heart, O 
cow, hanker after the calf! 

3. As the felloe, and as the spokes, and as the 


VII. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. 145 


nave (of the wheel is joined) to the felloe, as the 
heart of the lusty male hankers after the woman, 
thus shall thy heart, O cow, hanker after the calf! 


III, 28. Formula in expiation of the birth of 
twin-calves. 


1. Through one creation at a time this (cow) was 
born, when the fashioners of the beings did create 
the cows of many colours. (Therefore), when a 
cow doth beget twins portentously, growling and 
cross she injureth the cattle. 

2. This (cow) doth injure our cattle : a flesh-eater, 
devourer, she hath become. Hence to a Brahman 
he shall give her; in this way she may be kindly 
and auspicious ! 

3. Auspicious be to (our) men, auspicious to (our) 
cows and horses, auspicious to this entire field, 
auspicious be to us right here! 

4. Here be prosperity, here be sap! Be thou 
here one that especially gives a thousandfold! 
Make the cattle prosper, thou mother of twins! 

5. Where our pious friends live joyously, having 
left behind the ailments of their bodies, to that 
world the mother of twins did attain: may she not 
injure our men and our cattle! 

6. Where is the world of our pious friends, where 
the world of them that sacrifice with the agnihotra, 
to that world the mother of twins did attain: may 
she not injure our men and our cattle! 


VI, 92. Charm to endow a horse with swiftness. 


1. Swift as the wind be thou, O steed, when 
joined (to the chariot); at Indra’s urging go, fleet as 
[42 L 


146 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


the mind! The Maruts, the all-possessing, shall har- 
ness thee, Tvashéar shall put fleetness into thy feet! 

2. With the fleetness, O runner, that has been 
deposited in thee in a secret place, (with the fleetness) 
that has been made over to the eagle, the wind, and 
moves in them, with that, O steed, strong with 
strength, do thou win the race, reaching the goal in 
the contest ! 

3. Thy body, O steed, leading (our) body, shall 
run, a pleasure to ourselves, delight to thyself! 
A god, not stumbling, for the support of the great, 
he shall, as if upon the heaven, found his own light! 


II1, 13. Charm for conducting a river into a new 
channel. 


1. Because of yore, when the (cloud-) serpent was 
slain (by Indra), ye did rush forth and shout (ana- 
data), therefore is your name ‘shouters’ (nadyak 
‘rivers’): that is your designation, ye streams! 

2. Because, when sent forth by Varuma, ye then 
quickly did bubble up; then Indra met (4pnot) you, 
as ye went, therefore anon are ye ‘meeters’ (A4pak 
‘waters ’)! 

3. When reluctantly ye flowed, Indra, forsooth, 
did with might choose (avivarata) you as his own, 
ye goddesses! Therefore ‘choice’ (var ‘ water ’) has 
been given you as your name! 

4. One god stood upon you, as ye flowed accord- 
ing to will. Up breathed (ud 4nishud) they who 
are known as ‘the great’ (mahiZ). Therefore ‘ up- 
breather’ (udakam ‘ water’) are they called! 

5. The waters are kindly, the waters in truth were 
ghee. These waters, truly, do support Agni and 


VII. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. 147 


Soma. May the readily flowing, strong sap ofthe 
honey-dripping (waters) come to me, together with 
life's breath and lustre! 

6. Then do I see them and also do I hear them ; 
their sound, their voice doth come to me. When, 
ye golden-coloured, I have refreshed myself with 
you, then I ween, ambrosia (am7tta) am I tasting! . 

7. Here, ye waters, is your heart, here is your 
calf, ye righteous ones! Come ye, mighty ones, by 
this way here, by which I am conducting you here! 


VI, 106. Charm to ward off danger from fire. 


1. Where thou comest, (O fire), and where thou 
goest away, the blooming darvé-plant shall grow: 
a well-spring there shall rise up, or a lotus-laden pool ! 

2. Here (shall be) the gathering place of the 
waters, here the dwelling-place of the sea! In the 
midst of a pond our house shall be: turn, (O fire), 
away thy jaws! 

3. With a covering of coolness do we envelop 
thee, O house ; cool as a pond be thou for us! Agni 
shall furnish the remedy ! 


ΙΝ, 3. Shepherd’s charm against wild beasts and 
robbers. 


1. Three have gone away from here, the tiger, 
man, and wolf. Out of sight, forsooth, go the 
rivers, out of sight (grows) the divine tree (the 
banyan-tree 9) : out of sight the enemies shall retreat ! 

2. The wolf shall tread a distant path, and the 
robber one still more distant! On a distant path 
shall move the biting rope (the serpent), on a distant 
path the plotter of evil! 

L2 


148 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


3. Thy eyes and thy jaw we crush, O tiger, and 
also all thy twenty claws. 

4. We crush the tiger, the foremost of animals, 
armed with teeth. Next, too, the thief, and then 
the serpent, the wizard, and also the wolf. 

5. The thief that approacheth to-day, crushed to 
pieces he goeth away. Where the paths are preci- 
pitate he shall go, Indra shall slay him with his 
bolt ! 

6. The teeth of the wild beast are dulled, and 
broken are his ribs. Out οὗ thy sight the dragon 
shall go, down shall tumble the hare-hunting 
beast ! 

7. The (jaw, O beast,) that thou shuttest together, 
thou shalt not open up; that which thou openest up, 
thou shalt not shut together !—Born of Indra, born 
of Soma, thou, (my charm), art Atharvan’s crusher 
of tigers. 


III, 15. A merchant's prayer. 


1. Indra, the merchant, do I summon: may he 
come to us, may he be our van; driving away the 
demon of grudge, the waylayers, and wild beasts, 
may he, the possessor, bestow wealth upon me! 

2. May the many paths, the roads of the gods, 
which come together between heaven and earth, 
gladden me with milk and ghee, so that I may 
gather in wealth from my purchases ! 

3. Desirous do I, O Agni, with firewood and 
ghee offer oblations (to thee), for success and 
strength; according to ability praising (thee) with 
my prayer, do I sing this divine song, that I may 
gain a hundredfold! 

4. (Pardon, O Agni, this sin of ours [incurred 


VIf. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. 149 


upon] the far road which we have travelled!) May 
our purchases and our sales be successful for us; 
may what I get in barter render me a gainer! May 
ye two (Indra and Agni) in accord take pleasure in 
this oblation! May our transactions and the accru- 
ing gain be auspicious to us! 

5. The wealth with which I go to purchase, de- 
siring, ye gods, to gain wealth through wealth, may 
that grow more, not less! Drive away, O Agni, in 
return for the oblation, the gods who shut off gain! 

6. The wealth with which I go to purchase, de- 
siring, ye gods, to gain wealth through wealth, may 
Indra, PragApati, Savitar, Soma, Agni, place lustre 
into it for me! 

7. We praise with reverence thee, O priest (Agni) 
Vaisvanara. Do thou over our children, selves, 
cattle, and life’s breath watch! 

8. Daily, never failing, shall we bring (oblations to 
thee), O GAtavedas, (as if fodder) to a horse stand- 
ing (in the stable). In growth of wealth and nutri- 
ment rejoicing, may we, O Agni, thy neighbours, 
not take harm! 


IV, 38. A. Prayer for success in gambling. 


1. The successful, victorious, skilfully gaming 
Apsaré, that Apsara who makes the winnings in the 
game of dice, do I call hither. 

2. The skilfully gaming Apsara who sweeps and 
heaps up (the stakes), that Apsara who takes the 
winnings in the game of dice, do I call hither. 

3. May she, who dances about with the dice, 
when she takes the stakes from the game of dice, 
when she desires to win for us, obtain the advantage 


150 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


by (her) magic! May she come to us full of abun- 
dance! Let them not win this wealth of ours! 

4. The (Apsaras) who rejoice in dice, who carry 
' grief and wrath—that joyful and exulting ApsarA, do 
I call hither. 


B. Prayer to secure the return of calves that 
have strayed to a distance. 


5. They (the cattle) who wander along the rays 
of the sun, or they who wander along the flood of 
light, they whose bull (the sun), full of strength, from 
afar protecting, with the day wanders about all the 
worlds—may he (the bull), full of strength, delight- 
ing in this offering, come to us together with the 
atmosphere ! ᾿ 

6. Together with the atmosphere, O thou who 
art full of strength, protect the white (karki) calf, 
O thou swift steed (the sun)! Here are many drops 
(of ghee) for thee; come hither! May this white 
calf (karki) of thine, may thy mind, be here! 

7. Together with the atmosphere, O thou who 
art full of strength, protect the white (karki) calf, 
O thou swift steed (the sun)! Here is the fodder, 
here the stall, here do we tie down the calf. What- 
ever (are your) names, we own you. Hail! 


VII, 50. Prayer for success at dice. 


1. As the lightning at all times smites irresistibly 
the tree, thus would I to-day irresistibly beat the 
gamesters with my dice! 

2. Whether they be alert, or not alert, the fortune 
of (these) folks, unresisting, shall assemble from all 
sides, the gain (collect) within my hands! 


VII. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. 151 


3.1 invoke with reverence Agni, who has his 
own riches; here attached he shall heap up gain 
for us! I procure (wealth) for myself, as if with 
chariots that win the race. May I accomplish au- 
spiciously the song of praise to the Maruts! 

4. May we by thy aid conquer the (adversary’s) 
troop; help us (to obtain) our share in every con- 
test! Make for us, O Indra, a good and ample 
road ; crush, O Maghavan, the lusty power of our 
enemies ! 

5. I have conquered and cleaned thee out (?); 
I have also gained thy reserve. As the wolf plucks 
to pieces the sheep, thus do I pluck thy winnings. 

6. Even the strong hand the bold player conquers, 
as the skilled gambler heaps up his winnings at 
the proper time. Upon him that loves the game 
(the god), and does not spare his money, (the game, 
the god) verily bestows the delights of wealth. 

7. Through (the possession of) cattle we all 
would suppress (our) wretched poverty, or with 
grain our hunger, O thou oft implored (god)! May 
we foremost among rulers, unharmed, gain wealth 
by our cunning devices ! 

8. Gain is deposited in my right hand, victory in 
my left. Let me become a conqueror of cattle, 
horses, wealth, and gold! 

g. O dice, yield play, profitable as a cow that is 
rich in milk! Bind me to a streak of gain, as the 
bow (is bound) with the string ! 


VI, 56. Exorcism of serpents from the premises. 


1. May the serpent, ye gods, not slay us along 
with our children and our men! The closed (jaw) 


152 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


shall not snap open, the open one not close! Rever- 
ence (be) to the divine folk! 

2. Reverence be to the black serpent, reverence 
to the one that is striped across! To the brown 
svaga reverence ; reverence to the divine folk ! 

3. I clap thy teeth upon thy teeth, and also thy 
jaw upon thy jaw; I press thy tongue against thy 
tongue, and close up, O serpent, thy mouth. 


X, 4. Charm against serpents, invoking the 
horse of Pedu that slays serpents. 


1. To Indra belongs the first chariot, to the gods 
the second chariot, to Varuza, forsooth, the third. 
The serpents’ chariot is the last: it shall hit a post, 
and come to grief! 

2. The young darbha-grass burns (the serpents ?), 
the tail of the horse, the tail of the shaggy one, the 
seat of the wagon (burns the serpents ἢ). 

3. Strike down, O white (horse), with thy fore- 
foot and thy hind-foot! As timber floating in water, 
the poison of the serpents, the fierce fluid, is devoid 
of strength. 

4. Neighing loudly he dived down, and, again 
diving up, said: ‘As timber floating in water, the 
poison of the serpents, the fierce fluid, is devoid of 
strength.’ 

5. The horse of Pedu slays the kasaratla, the 
horse of Pedu slays the white (serpent), and also 
the black. The horse of Pedu cleaves the head of 
the ratharvi, the adder. 

6. O horse of Pedu, go thou first: we come after 
thee! Thou shalt cast out the serpents from the 
road upon which we come! 

7. Here the horse of Pedu was born; from here 


VII. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. 153 


is his departure. Here ate the tracks of the serpent- 
killing, powerful steed ! 

8. May the closed (serpent’s jaw) not snap open, 
may the open one not close! The two serpents in 
this field, man and wife, they are both bereft of 
strength. 

9. Without strength here are the serpents, those 
that are near, and those that are far. With a club 
do I slay the vrzskika (scorpion), with a staff the 
serpent that has approached. 

1o. Here is the remedy for both the agh4sva and 
the svaga! Indra (and) Pedu’s horse have put to 
naught the evil-planning (agh4yantam) serpent. 

11. The horse of Pedu do we remember, the 
strong, with strong footing: behind lie, staring forth, 
these adders. 

12. Deprived are they of life’s spirit, deprived of 
poison, slain by Indra with his bolt. Indra hath 
slain them: we have slain them. 

13. Slain are they that are striped across, crushed 
are the adders! Slay thou the one that produces 
a hood, (slay) the white and the black in the darbha- 
grass! 

14. The maiden of the KirAta-tribe, the little one 
digs up the remedy, with golden spades, on the 
mountain's back. 

15. Hither has come a youthful physician: he 
slays the speckled (serpent), is irresistible. He, 
forsooth, crushes the svaga and the vrzskika both. 

16. Indra did set at naught for me the serpent, 
(and so did) Mitra and Varuma, Vata and Parganya 
both. 

17. Indra did set at naught for me the serpent, 
the adder, male and female, the svaga, (the serpent) 


154 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


that is striped across, the kasarzila, and the 
dasonasi. 

18. Indra slew thy first ancestor, O serpent, and 
since they are crushed, what strength, forsooth, can 
be theirs ὃ 

19. I have gathered up their heads, as the fisher- 
man the karvara (fish). I have gone off into the 
river’s midst, and washed out the serpent’s poison. 

20. The poison of all serpents the rivers shall 
carry off! Slain are they that are striped across, 
crushed are the adders! 

21. As skilfully I cull the fibre of the plants, as 
I guide the mares, (thus), O serpent, shall thy poison 
go away! 

22. The poison that is in the fire, in the sun, in 
the earth, and in the plants, the kanda4-poison, the 
kanaknaka, thy poison shall go forth, and come! 

23. The serpents that are sprung from the fire, 
that are sprung from the plants, that are sprung 
from the water, and originate from the lightning ; 
they from whom great brood has sprung in many 
ways, those serpents do we revere with obeisance. 

24. Thou art, (O plant), a maiden, Taudt by 
name; Ghvztaét, forsooth, is thy name. Underfoot 
is thy place: I take in hand what destroys the 
poison. 

25. From every limb make the poison start ; shut 
it out from the heart! Now the force that is in thy 
poison shall go down below! 

26. The poison has gone to a distance: he has 
shut it out; he has fused the poison with poison. 
Agni has put away the poison of the serpent, Soma 
has led it out. The poison has gone back to the 
biter. The serpent is dead! 


VII. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. 155 


XI, 2. Prayer to Bhava and Sarva for protection 
from dangers. 


1. O Bhava and Sarva, be merciful, do not attack 
(us); ye lords of beings, lords of cattle, reverence be 
to you twain! Discharge not your arrow even after 
it has been laid on (the bow), and has been drawn! 
Destroy not our bipeds and our quadrupeds ! 

2. Prepare not our bodies for the dog, or the 
jackal; for the aliklavas, the vultures, and the black 
birds! Thy greedy insects, O lord of cattle (pasu- 
pate), and thy birds shall not get us to devour! 

3. Reverence we offer, Ὁ Bhava, to thy roaring, 
to thy breath, and to thy injurious qualities ; 
reverence to thee, O Rudra, thousand-eyed, im- 
mortal ! 

4. We offer reverence to thee from the east, from 
the north, and from the south; from (every) domain, 
and from heaven. Reverence be to thy atmosphere! 

5. To thy face, O lord of cattle, to thy eyes, 
O Bhava, to thy skin, to thy form, thy appearance, 
(and to thy aspect) from behind, reverence be! 

6. To thy limbs, to thy belly, to thy tongue, to 
thy mouth, to thy teeth, to thy smell (nose), 
reverence be! 

7. May we not conflict with Rudra, the archer 
with the dark crest, the thousand-eyed, powerful one, 
the slayer of Ardhaka ! 

8. Bhava shall steer clear from us on all sides, 
Bhava shall steer clear from us, as fire from water ! 
May he not bear malice towards us: reverence be 
to him! 

9. Four times, eight times, be reverence to Bhava, 


156 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


ten times be reverence to thee, O lord of cattle! 
To thy (charge) have been assigned these five 
(kinds of) cattle: cows, horses, men, goats and 
sheep. 

10. Thine, O strong god (ugra), are the four 
regions, thine the sky, thine the earth, and thine 
this broad atmosphere; thine is this all that has 
a spirit and has breath upon the earth. 

11. Thine is this broad, treasure-holding receptacle 
within which all worlds are contained. Do thou 
spare us, O lord of cattle: reverence be to thee! 
Far from us shall go the jackals, evil omens, dogs ; 
far shall go (the mourning women) who bewail mis- 
fortune with dishevelled hair ! 

12. Thou, O crested (god), carriest in (thy hand), 
that smites thousands, a yellow, golden bow that slays 
hundreds; Rudra’s arrow, the missile of the gods, 
flies abroad: reverence be to it, in whatever direc- 
tion from here (it flies) ! 

13. The adversary who lurks and seeks to over- 
come thee, O Rudra, upon him thou dost fasten 
thyself from behind, as (the hunter) that follows the 
trail of a wounded (animal). 

14. Bhava and Rudra, united and concordant, 
both strong (ugrau), ye advance to deeds of heroism: 
reverence be to both of them, in whatever direction 
(they are) from here! 

15. Reverence be to thee coming, reverence to 
thee going; reverence, O Rudra, be to thee standing, 
and reverence, also, to thee sitting! 

16. Reverence in the evening, reverence in the 
morning, reverence by night,reverence by day ! I have 
offered reverence to Bhava and to Sarva, both. 

17. Let us not with our tongue offend Rudra, who 


VII. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. 157 


rushes on, thousand-eyed, overseeing all, who hurls 
(his shafts) forward, who is manifoldly wise! 

18. We approach first the (god) that has dark 
horses, is black, sable, destructive, terrible, who 
casts down the car of Kesin: reverence be to him! 

19. Do not hurl at us thy club, thy divine bolt; 
be not incensed at us, O lord of cattle! Shake over 
some other than us the celestial branch! 

20. Injure us not, interpose for us, spare us, be 
not angry with us! Let us not contend with thee! 

21. Do not covet our cattle, our men, our goats 
and sheep! Bend thy course elsewhere, O strong 
god (ugra), slay the offspring of the blasphemers! 

22. He whose missile, fever and cough, assails 
the single (victim), as the snorting of a stallion, who 
snatches away (his victims) one by one, to him be 
reverence ! 

23. He who dwells fixed in the atmosphere, smit- 
ing the blasphemers of the god that do not sacrifice, 
to him be reverence with ten sakvari-stanzas ! 

24. For thee the wild beasts of the forest have 
been placed in the forest: flamingoes, eagles, birds 
of prey, and fowls. Thy spirit, O lord of cattle, is 
within the waters, to strengthen thee the heavenly 
waters flow. 

25. The dolphins, great serpents (boas), purikayas 
(water-animals), sea-monsters, fishes, ragasas, at 
which thou shootest—there exists for thee, O Bhava, 
no distance, and no barrier. Ata glance thou lookest 
around the entire earth; from the eastern thou 
slayest in the northern ocean. 

26. Do not, O Rudra, contaminate us with fever, 
or with poison, or with heavenly fire: cause this 
lightning to descend elsewhere than upon us! 


158 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


27. Bhava rules the sky, Bhava rules the earth ; 
Bhava has filled the broad atmosphere. Reverence 
be to him in whatever direction from here (he 
abides) ! 

-28. O king Bhava, be merciful to thy worshipper, 
for thou art the lord of living beasts! He who 
believes the gods exist, to his quadruped and biped 
be merciful ! 

29. Slay neither our great nor our small; neither 
those of us that are riding, nor those that shall ride ; 
neither our father, nor our mother. Cause no injury, 
O Rudra, to our own persons ! 

30. To Rudra’s howling dogs, who swallow their 
food without blessing, who have wide jaws, I have 
made this obeisance. 

31. Reverence, O god, be to thy shouting hosts, 
reverence to thy long-haired, reverence to thy 
reverenced, reverence to thy devouring hosts! May 
well-being and security be to us! 


IV, 28. Prayer to Bhava and Sarva for 
protection from calamities. 


1, O Bhava and Sarva, I am devoted to you. 
Take note of that, ye under whose control is all this 
which shines (the visible universe)! Ye who rule 
all these two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver 
us from calamity ! 

2. Ye to whom belongs all that is near by, yea, 
all that is far; ye who are known as the most skil- 
ful archers among bowmen; ye who rule all these 
two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from 
calamity ! 

3. The thousand-eyed slayers of Vrztra both do 


VII. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. 159 


I invoke. I go praising the two strong gods (ugrau) 
whose pastures extend far. Ye who rule all these 
two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from 
calamity ! 

4. Ye who, united, did undertake many (deeds) of 
old, and, moreover, did visit portents upon the 
people; ye who rule all these two-footed and four- 
footed creatures, deliver us from calamity ! 

5. Ye from whose blows no one either among 
gods or men escapes; ye who rule all these two- 
footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from 
calamity ! 

6. The sorcerer who prepares a spell, or manipu- 
lates the roots (of plants) against us, against him, 
ye strong gods, launch your thunderbolt! Ye who 
rule all these two-footed and four-footed creatures, 
deliver us from calamity. 

7. Ye strong gods, favour us in battles, bring into 
contact with your thunderbolt the Kimtdin! I praise 
you, O Bhava and Sarva, call fervently upon you in 
distress : deliver us from calamity ! 


VII, 9. Charm for finding lost property. 


1. On the distant path of the paths Paishan was 
born, on the distant path of heaven, on the distant 
path of the earth. Upon the two most lovely places 
both he walks hither-and away, knowing (the way). 

2. Pfishan knows these regions all; he shall lead 
us by the most dangerless (way). Bestowing well- 
being, of .radiant glow, keeping our heroes undi- 
minished, he shall, alert and skilful, go before us! 

3. O Pfishan, under thy law may we never suffer 
harm: as praisers of thee are we here! 

4. Pfshan shall from the east place his right hand 


160 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


about us, shall bring again to us what has been 
lost: we shall come upon what has been lost! 


VI, 128. Propitiation of the weather-prophet. 


1. When the stars made Sakadhdma their king 
they bestowed good weather upon him: ‘ This shall 
be his dominion,’ they said. 

2. Let us have good weather at noon, good 
weather at eve, good weather in the early morning, 
good weather in the night ! 

3. For day and night, for the stars, for sun and 
moon, and for us prepare good weather, O king 
Sakadhima! 

4. To thee, O Sakadhfima, ruler of the stars, that 
gavest us good weather in the evening, in the night, 
and by day, let there ever be obeisance! 


XI, 6. Prayer for deliverance from calamity, 
addressed to the entire pantheon. 


1. To Agni we speak and to the trees, to the 
plants and to the herbs; to Indra, Brzhaspati, and 
Sarya: they shall deliver us from calamity ! 

2. We speak to king Varuza, to Mitra, Vishzu 
and Bhaga. To Amsa and Vivasvant do we speak : 
they shall deliver us from calamity ! 

3. We speak to Savitar, the god, to Dhatar, and to 
Pashan ; to first-born Tvashéar do we speak: they 
shall deliver us from calamity ! 

4. We speak to the Gandharvas and the Apsaras, 
to the Asvins and to Brahmazaspati, to the god 
whose name is Aryaman: they shall deliver us from 
calamity ! 

5. Now do we speak to day and night, to Sdrya 


VII. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. 161 


(sun) and to Kandramas (moon), the twain; to all 
the Adityas we speak: they shall deliver us from 
calamity ! 

6. We speak to VAta (wind) and Parganya, to the 
atmosphere and the directions of space. And to all 
the regions do we speak: they shall deliver us from 
calamity ! 

7. Day and night, and Ushas (dawn), too, shall 
deliver thee from curses! Soma the god, whom they 
call Kandramas (moon), shall deliver me! 

8. To the animals of the earth and those of heaven, 
to the wild beasts of the forest, to the winged birds, 
do we speak: they shall deliver us from calamity! 

9. Now do we speak to Bhava and Sarva, to Rudra 
and Pasupati; their arrows do we know well: these 
(arrows) shall be ever propitious to us! 

10. We speak to the heavens, and the stars, to 
earth, the Yakshas, and the mountains; to the seas, 
the rivers, and the lakes: they shall deliver us from 
calamity ! 

11. To the seven Azshis now do we speak, to the 
divine waters and Pragdpati. To the Fathers with 
Yama at their head: they shall deliver us from 
calamity ! 

12. The gods that dwell in heaven, and those that 
dwell in the atmosphere; the mighty (gods) that 
are fixed upon the earth, they shall deliver us from 
calamity ! , 

13. The Adityas, Rudras, Vasus, the divine Athar- 
vans in heaven, and the wise Angiras: they shall 
deliver us from calamity ! 

14. We speak to the sacrifice and the sacrificer, to 
the vzks, the sAmans, and the healing (Atharvan) 
charms; we speak to the yagus-formulas and the 


[42] M 


162 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


invocations (to the gods): they shall deliver us from 
calamity ! 

15. We speak to the five kingdoms of the plants 
with soma the most excellent among them. The ™ 
darbha-grass, hemp, and mighty barley: they shall 
deliver us from calamity ! ᾿ 

16. We speak to the Ardyas (demons of grudge), 
Rakshas, serpents, pious men, and Fathers; to the 
one and a hundred deaths: they shall deliver us 
from calamity ! 

17. To the seasons we speak, to the lords of the 
seasons, and to the sections of the year; to the half- 
years, years, and months: they shall deliver us from 
calamity ! 

18. Come, ye gods, from the south and the west ; 
ye gods in the east come forth! From the east, from 
the north the mighty gods, all the gods assembled : 
they shall deliver us from calamity ! 

19, 20. We speak here to all the gods that hold to 
their agreements, promote the order (of the universe), 
together with all their wives: they shall deliver us 
from calamity ! 

21. We speak to being, to the lord of being, and 
also to him that controls the beings; to the beings 
all assembled: they shall deliver us from calamity ! 

22. The five divine regions, the twelve divine 

seasons, the teeth of the year, they shall ever be 
propitious to us! 
_ 23. The amrzta (ambrosia), bought for the price of 
a chariot, which MAtali knows as a remedy, that Indra 
stored away in the waters: that, O ye waters, furnish 
ye as a remedy! 


VIII. 
CHARMS IN EXPIATION OF SIN AND DEFILEMENT. 


VI, 45. Prayer against mental delinquency. 


1. Pass far away, O sin of the mind! Why dost 
thou utter things not to be uttered? Pass away, 
I love thee not! To the trees, the forests go on! 
With the house, the cattle, is my mind. 

2. What wrongs we have committed through 
imprecation, calumny, and false speech, either awake, 
or asleep—Agni shall put far away from us all 
offensive evil deeds! 

3. What, O Indra Brahmazaspati, we do falsely— 
may Pragetas (‘care-taker’) Angirasa protect us 
from misfortune, and from evil! 


VI, 26. Charm to avert evil. 


1. Let me go, O evil; being powerful, take thou 
pity on us! Set me, O evil, unharmed, into the 
world of happiness ! 

2. If, O evil, thou dost not abandon us, then do 
we abandon thee at the fork of the road. May evil 
follow after another (man) ! 

3. Away from us may thousand-eyed, immortal 
(evil) dwell! Him whom we hate may it strike, and 
him whom we hate do thou surely smite! 

M 2 


164 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


VI, 114. Expiatory formula for imperfections in 
the sacrifice. 


1. The god-angering (deed), O ye gods, that we, 
the (Bratman) gods, have committed, from that do 
ye, O Adityas, release us, by virtue of the order of 
the universe ! 

2. By virtue of the οἰδῥε of the universe do ye, 
O reverend Adityas, release us here, if, O ye carriers 
of the sacrifice, though desirous of accomplishing 
(the sacrifice), we did not accomplish (it) !— 

3. (If), when sacrificing with the fat (animal), when 
᾿ offering oblations of ghee with the spoon, when 
desiring to benefit you, O all ye gods, we have 
contrary to desire, not succeeded ! 


VI, 115. Expiatory formulas for sins. 


1. From the sins which knowingly or unknowingly 
we have committed, do ye, all gods, of one accord, 
release us! 

2. If awake, or if asleep, to sin inclined, I have 
committed a sin, may what has been, and what shall 
be, as if from a wooden post, release me! 

3. As one released from a wooden post, as one in ᾿ 
a sweat by bathing (is cleansed) of filth, as ghee is 
clarified by the sieve, may all (the gods) clear me 
from sin! 


VI, 112. Expiation for the precedence of a 
younger brother over an older. 


1. May this (younger brother) not slay the oldest 
one of them, O Agni; protect him that he be not 
torn out by the root! Do thou here cunningly 


VIII. CHARMS IN EXPIATION OF SIN ETC. 165 


loosen the fetter of Grdhi (attack of disease); may 
all the gods give thee leave! 

2. Free these three, O Agni, from the three fetters 
with which they have been shackled! Do thou 
cunningly loosen the fetters of Grahi; release them 
all, father, sons, and mother ! 

3. The fetters with which the older brother, whose 
younger brother has married before him, has been 
bound, with which he has been encumbered and 
shackled limb by limb, may they be loosened; since 
fit for loosening they are! Wipe off, O Pishan, the 
misdeeds upon him that practiseth abortion ! 


VI, 113. Expiation for certain heinous crimes. 


1. On Trita the gods wiped off this sin, Tvzta 
wiped it off on human beings ; hence if Grahi (attack 
of disease) has seized thee, may these gods remove 
her by means of their charm! 

2. Enter into the rays, into smoke, O sin; go into 
the vapours, and into the fog! Lose thyself on 
the foam of the river! Wipe off, O Pdshan, the 
misdeeds upon him that practiseth abortion ! 

3. Deposited in twelve places is that which has 
been wiped off Trzta, the sins belonging to humanity. 
Hence if Graéhi has seized thee, may these gods 
remove her by means of their charm! 


VI, 120. Prayer for heaven after remission of 
sins. 


1. If air, or earth and heaven, if mother or father, 
we have injured, may this Agni Garhapatya (house- 
hold fire) without fail lead us out from this (crime) 
to the world of well-doing ! 


166 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


2. The earth is our mother, Aditi (the universe) 
our kin, the air our protector from hostile schemes. 
May father sky bring prosperity to us from the world 
of the Fathers; may I come to my (departed) kin, 
and not lose heaven! 

3. In that bright world where our pious friends live 
in joy, having cast aside the ailments of their own 
bodies, free from lameness, not deformed in limb, 
there may we behold our parents and our children ! 


VI, 27. Charm against pigeons regarded as 
ominous birds. 


1. O ye gods, if the pigeon, despatched as the 
messenger of Nirvzti (the goddess of destruction), 
hath come here seeking (us out), we shall sing his 
praises, and prepare (our) ransom. May our two- 
footed and four-footed creatures be prosperous! 

2. Auspicious to us shall be the pigeon that has 
been despatched ; harmless, ye gods, the bird shall 
be to our house! The sage Agni shall verily take 
pleasure in our oblation; the winged missile shall 
avoid us! 

3. The winged missile shall not do us injury: 
upon our hearth, our fireplace he (the pigeon) takes 
his steps! Propitious he shall be to our cattle and 
our domestics; may not, ye gods, the pigeon here 
do harm to us! 


VI, 29. Charm against ominous pigeons and owls. 


1. Upon those persons yonder the winged missile 
shall fall! If the owl shrieks, futile shall this be, or 
if the pigeon takes his steps upon the fire! 


VIII. CHARMS IN EXPIATION OF SIN ETC. 167 


2. To thy two messengers, O Nirvzti, who come 
here, despatched or not despatched, to our house, to 
the pigeon and to the owl, this shall be no place to 
step upon! 

3. He shall not fly hither to slaughter (our) men; 
to keep (our) men sound he shall settle here! Charm 
him very far away unto a distant region, that (people) 
shall behold you (i.e. him) in Yama’s house devoid of 
strength, that they shall behold you bereft of power! 


VII, 64. Expiation when one is defiled by a 
black bird of omen. 


1. What this black bird flying forth towards (me) 
has dropped here—may the waters protect me from 
all that misfortune and evil! 

2. What this black bird has brushed here with thy 
mouth, O Nirvzti (goddess of misfortune)—may Agni 
GArhapatya (the god of the household fire) free me 
from this sin! 


VI, 46. Exorcism of evil dreams. 


1. Thou who art neither alive nor dead, the 
immortal child of the gods art thou, O Sleep! 
Varuz4nt is thy mother, Yama (death) thy father, 
Araru is thy name. 

2. We know, O Sleep, thy birth, thou art the son 
of the divine women-folk, the instrument of Yama 
(death)! Thou art the ender, thou art death! Thus 
do we know thee, O Sleep: do thou, O Sleep, protect 
us from evil dreams! 

3. As one pays off a sixteenth, an eighth, or an 
(entire) debt, thus do we transfer every evil dream 
upon our enemy. 


168 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


VII, 115. Charm for the removal of evi! character- 
istics, and the acquisition of auspicious ones. 


1. Fly forth from here, O evil mark, va~ish from 
here, fly forth to yonder place! Upon him that 
hates us do we fasten thee with a brazen hook. 

2. The unsavoury mark which flying has alighted 
upon me, as a creeper upon a tree, that mayest thou 
put away from us, away from here, O golden-handed 
(golden-rayed) Savitar (the sun), bestowing goods 
upon us! 

3. Together with the body of the mortal, from 
his birth, one and a hundred marks are born. 
Those that are most foul do we drive away from 
here; the auspicious ones, O Gétavedas (Agni), do 
thou hold fast for us! 

4. These (marks) here I have separated, as cows 
scattered upon the heather. The pure marks shall 
remain, the foul ones I have made to disappear! 


IX. 


PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS IN THE INTEREST 
OF THE BRAHMANS. 


V, 18. Imprecation against the oppressors of 
Brahmans. 


1. The gods, O king, did not give to thee this 
(cow) to eat. Do not, O prince, seek to devour the 
cow of the Brahmawa, which is unfit to be eaten! 

2. The prince, beguiled by dice, the wretched 
one who has lost as a stake his own person, he may, 
perchance, eat the cow of the Brahmaaa, (thinking), 
‘let me live to-day (if) not to-morrow’! 

3. Enveloped (is she) in her skin, as an adder 
with evil poison; do not, O prince, (eat the cow) 
of the Brahmaza: sapless, unfit to be eaten, is 
that cow! 

4. Away does (the Brahmama) take regal power, 
destroys vigour; like fire which has caught does 
he burn away everything. He that regards the 
Brahmaza as fit food drinks of the poison of the 
taim4ta-serpent. 

5. He who thinks him (the Brahman) mild, and 
slays him, he who reviles the gods, lusts after 
wealth, without thought, in his heart Indra kindles 
a fire; him both heaven and earth hate while he 
lives. 

6. The Brahmamza must not be encroached upon, 


170 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


any more than fire, by him that regards his own body! 
For Soma is his (the Brahmaza’s) heir, Indra protects 
him from hostile plots. 

7. He swallows her (the cow), bristling with a 
hundred hooks, (but) is unable to digest her, he, 
the fool who, devouring the food of the Brahmans, 
thinks, ‘I am eating a luscious (morsel).’ 

8. (The Brahman’s) tongue turns into a bow- 
string, his voice into the neck of an arrow; his 
windpipe, his teeth are bedaubed with holy fire: 
with these the Brahman strikes those who revile 
the gods, by means of bows that have the strength 
to reach the heart, discharged by the gods. 

9. The Brahmazas have sharp arrows, are armed 
with missiles, the arrow which they hurl goes not 
in vain; pursuing him with their holy fire and their 
wrath, even from afar, do they pierce him. 

10. They who ruled over a thousand, and were 
themselves ten hundred, the Vaitahavya, when they 
devoured the cow of the Brahmama, perished. 

11. The cow herself, when slaughtered, came 
down upon the Vaitahavyas, who had roasted for 
themselves the last she-goat of Kesaraprabandha. 

12. The one hundred and one persons whom the 
earth did cast off, because they had injured the 
offspring of a Brahmawza, were ruined irretrievably. 

13. As areviler of the gods does he live among 
mortals, having swallowed poison, he becomes more 
bone (than flesh). He that injureth a Brahmaza, 
whose kin are the gods, does not reach heaven by 
the road of the Fathers. 

14. Agni is called our guide, Soma our heir, 
Indra slays those who curse (us): that the strong 
(sages) know. 


IX. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS. 171 


15. Like a poisoned arrow, O king, like an 
adder, O lord of cattle, is the terrible arrow of the 
Brahmaza: with that he smites those who revile 
(the gods). 


V, 19. Imprecation against the oppressors of 
Brahmans. 


1. Beyond measure they waxed strong, just fell 
short of touching the heavens. When they in- 
fringed upon Bhyzgu they perished, the Srz#gaya 
Vaitahavyas. 

2. The persons who pierced BvzhatsAman, the 
descendant of Angiras, the Brahmaza—a ram with 
two rows of teeth, a sheep devoured their offspring. 

3. They who spat upon the Brahmaza, who desired 
tribute from him, they sit in the middle of a pool of 
blood, chewing hair. 

4. The cow of the Brahman, when roasted, as far 
as she reaches does she destroy the lustre of the 
kingdom ; no lusty hero is born (there). 

5. A cruel (sacrilegious) deed is her slaughter, 
her meat, when eaten, is sapless; when her milk 
is drunk, that surely is accounted a crime against 
_ the Fathers. 

6. When the king, weening himself mighty, de- 
sires to destroy the Brahmama, then royal power is 
dissipated, where the Brahmaza is oppressed. 

7. Becoming eight-footed, four-eyed, four-eared, 
four-jawed, two-mouthed, two-tongued, she dispels 
the rule of the oppressor of the Brahman. 

8. That (kingdom) surely she swamps, as water 
a leaking ship; misfortune strikes that kingdom, in 
which they injure a Brahmaza. 

9. The trees chase away with the words: ‘do not 


172 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


come within our shade,’ him who covets the wealth 
that belongs to a Brahmaza, O Narada! 

10. King Varuza pronounced this (to be) poison, 
prepared by the gods: no one who has devoured 
the cow of a Brahmamza retains the charge of a 
kingdom. 

11. Those full nine and ninety whom the earth 
did cast off, because they had injured the offspring 
of a Brahmaaa, were ruined irretrievably. 

12. The kddt-plant (Christ’s thorn) that wipes 
away the track (of death), which they fasten to the 
dead, that very one, O oppressor of Brahmans, the 
gods did declare (to be) thy couch. 

13. The tears which have rolled from (the eyes 
of) the oppressed (Brahman), as he laments, these 
very ones, O oppressor of Brahmans, the gods did 
assign to thee as thy share of water. 

14. The water with which they bathe the dead, 
with which they moisten his beard, that very one, 
O oppressor of Brahmans, the gods did assign to 
thee as thy share of water. 

15. The rain of Mitra and Varuma does not 
moisten the oppressor of Brahmans; the assembly 
is not complacent for him, he does not guide his 
friend according to his will. 


V, 7. Prayer to appease ArAti, the demon of 
grudge and avarice. 


1. Bring (wealth) to us, do not stand in our way, 
O Ar&ti; do not keep from us the sacrificial reward 
as it is being taken (to us)! Adoration be to the 
power of grudge, the power of failure, adoration to 
Arati! 


IX. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS. 173 


2. To thy advising minister, whom thou, Arti, 
didst make thy agent, do we make obeisance. Do 
not bring failure to my wish! 

3. May our wish, instilled by the gods, be fulfilled 
by day and night! We go in quest of ArAti. 
Adoration be to ArAti! 

4. Sarasvatt (speech), Anumati (favour), and Bhaga 
(fortune) we go to invoke. Pleasant, honied, words 
I have spoken on the occasions when the gods were 
invoked. 

5. Him whom I implore with Νὰ Sarasvatt (the 
goddess of speech), the yoke-fellow of thought, faith 
shall find to-day, bestowed by the brown soma! 

6. Neither our wish nor our speech do thou frus- 
trate! May Indra and Agni both bring us wealth! 
Do ye all who to-day desire to make gifts to us 
gain favour with Arati! 

7. Go far away, failure! Thy missile do we 
avert. I know thee (to be) oppressive and piercing, 
O Arati! 

8. Thou dost even transform thyself into a naked 
woman, and attach thyself to people in their sleep, 
frustrating, O Arati, the thought and intention of 
man. 

9. To her who, great, and of great dimension, 
did penetrate all the regions, to this golden-locked 
Nirrzti (goddess of misfortune), I have rendered 
obeisance. 

10. To the gold-complexioned, lovely one, who 
rests upon golden cushions, to the great one, to 
that Arati who wears golden robes, I have rendered 
obeisance. 


174 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


XII, 4. The necessity of giving away sterile 
cows to the Brahmans. 


1. ‘I give,’ he shall surely say, ‘the sterile cow to 
the begging Brahmans’—and they have noted her— 
that brings progeny and offspring ! 

2. With his offspring does he trade, of his cattle 
is he deprived, that refuses to give the cow of the 
gods to the begging descendants of the /vshis. 

3. Through (the gift of) a cow with broken horns 
his (cattle) breaks down, through a lame one he 
tumbles into a pit, through a mutilated one his 
house is burned, through a one-eyed one his property 
is given away. 

4. Flow of blood attacks the cattle-owner from 
the spot where her dung is deposited: this under- 
standing there is about the vasa (the sterile cow) ; 
for thou (sterile cow) art said to be very difficult to 
deceive ! 

5. From the resting-place of her feet the (disease) 
called viklindu overtakes (the owner, or the cattle). 
Without sickness breaks down (the cattle) which she 
sniffs upon with her nose. 

6. He that pierces her ears is estranged from 
the gods. He thinks: ‘I am making a mark (upon 
her), (but) he diminishes his own property. 

7. If any one for whatsoever purpose cuts her 
tail then do his colts die, and the wolf tears his 
calves. 

8. If a crow has injured her hair, as long as she 
is with her owner then do his children die: decline 
overtakes them without (noticeable) sickness. 

g. If the serving-maid sweeps together her dung, 


IX. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS. 175 


that bites as lye, there arises from this sin disfigure- 
ment that passeth not away. 

10. The sterile cow in her very birth is born for 
the gods and Brahmazas. Hence to the Brahmans 
she is to be given: that, they say, guarantees the 
security of one’s own property. 

11. For those that come requesting her the cow 
has been created. by the gods. Oppression of 
Brahmans it is called, if he keeps her for himself. 

12. He that refuses to give the cow of the gods 
to the descendants of the Aishis who ask for it, 
infringes upon the gods, and the wrath of the 
Brahmazas. 

13. Though he derives benefit from this sterile 
cow, another (cow) then shall he seek! When kept 
she injures (his) folk, if he refuses to give her after 
she has been asked for! 

14. The sterile cow is as a treasure deposited for 
the Brahmazas : they come here for her, with whom- 
soever she is born. 

15. The Brahmamzas come here for their own, 
when they come for the sterile cow. The refusal of 
her is, as though he were oppressing them in other 
concerns. 

16. If she herds up to her third year, and no 
disease is discovered in her, and he finds her to be 
a sterile cow, O N4rada, then must he look for the 
Brahmazas. 

17. If he denies that she is sterile, a treasure de- 
posited for the gods, then Bhava and Sarva, both, 
come upon him, and hurl their arrow upon him. 

18. Though he does not perceive upon her either 
udder, or tits, yet both yield him milk, if he has 
prevailed upon himself to give away the sterile cow. 


176 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


19. Hard to cheat, she oppresses him, if, when 
asked for, he refuses to give her. His desires are 
not fulfilled, if he aims to accomplish them without 
giving her away. 

20. The gods did ask for the sterile cow, making 
the Brahmama their mouthpiece. The man that 
does not give (her) enters into the wrath of all of 
these. 

21. Into the wrath of the cattle enters he that 
gives not the sterile cow to the Brahmaazas; if he, 
the mortal, appropriates the share deposited for the 
gods. 

22. Even if a hundred other Brahmazas beg the 
owner for the sterile cow, yet the gods did say 
anent her: ‘The cow belongs to him that knoweth 
thus.’ 

23. He that refuses the sterile cow to him that 
knoweth thus, and gives her to others, difficult to 
dwell upon is for him the earth with her divinities. 

24. The gods did beg the sterile cow of him with 
whom she was born at first. That very one Narada 
recognised and drove forth in company with the 
gods. 

25. The sterile cow renders childless, and poor in 
cattle, him that yet appropriates her, when she has 
been begged for by the Brahmamas. 

26. For Agni and Soma, for K4ma, for Mitra, and 
for Varuma, for these do the Brahmazas beg her: 
upon these he infringes, if he gives her not. 

27. As long as the owner does not himself hear 
the stanzas referring to (the giving away of) her, 
she may herd among his cattle; (only) if he has not 
heard (them) may she pass the night in his house. 

28. He that has listened to the stanzas, yet has 


IX. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS, 177 


permitted her to herd among the cattle, his life’ and 
prosperity the angry gods destroy. 

29. The sterile cow, even when she rambles freely, 
is a treasure deposited for the gods. Make evident 
thy true nature when thou desirest to go to thy 
(proper) stable ! 

30. She makes evident her nature when she 
desires to go to her (proper) stable. Then indeed 
the sterile cow puts it into the minds of the Brahmans 
to beg (for her). 

31. She evolves it in her mind, that (thought) 
reaches the gods. Then do the Brahmans come to 
beg for the sterile cow. 

32. The call svadh4 befriends him with the 
Fathers, the sacrifice with the gods. Through the 
gift of the sterile cow the man of royal caste incurs 
not the anger of (her), his mother. 

33. The sterile cow is the mother of the man of 
royal caste: thus was it from the beginning. It is 
said to be no (real) deprivation if she is given to the 
Brahmans. 

34. As if he were to rob the ghee ladled up for 
Agni (the fire) from the (very) spoon, thus, if he 
gives not the sterile cow to the Brahmans, does he 
infringe upon Agni. 

35. The sterile cow has the purodasa (sacrificial 
cake) for her calf, she yields plentiful milk, helps in 
this world, and fulfils all wishes for him that gives 
her (to the Brahmans). 

36. The sterile cow fulfils all wishes in the king- 
dom of Yama for him that gives her, But they say 
that hell falls to the lot of him that withholds her, 
when she has been begged for. 

37. The sterile cow, even if she should become 


[42] N 


178 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


fruitful, lives in anger at her owner: ‘since he did . 
regard me as sterile (without giving me to the 
Brahmans), he shall be bound in the fetters of 
death !’ 

38. He who thinks that the cow is sterile, and 
(yet) roasts her at home, even his children and 
grandchildren Brzhaspati causes to be importuned 
(for her). 

39. Fiercely does the (supposed) sterile cow burn 
when she herds with the cattle, though she be a 
(fruitful) cow. She verily, too, milks poison for the 
owner that does not present her. 

40. It pleases the cattle when she is given to the 
Brahmans; moreover, the sterile cow is pleased, 
when she is made an offering to the gods (Brahmans). 

41. From the sterile cows which the gods, re- 
turning from the sacrifice, created, Narada picked 
out as (most) terrible the viliptt. 

42. In reference to her the gods reflected: ‘Is she 
a sterile cow, or not?’ And NAfrada in reference to 
her said: ‘ Of sterile cows she is the most sterile!’ 

43. ‘How many sterile cows (are there), O N&- 
rada, which thou knowest to be born among men ?’ 
About these do I ask thee, that knowest : ‘Of which 
may the non-Braéhmamza not eat ?’ 

44. Of the vilipti, of her that has born a sterile 
cow, and of the sterile cow (herself), the non-Brah- 
maza, that hopes for prosperity, shall not eat! 

45. Reverence be to thee, O Narada, that knowest 
thoroughly which sterile cow is the most terrible, by 
withholding which (from the Brahmans) destruction 
is incurred. 

46. The viliptt, O Brzhaspati, her that has be- 
gotten a sterile cow, and the sterile cow (herself), 


IX, PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS. 179 


the non-Brahmama, that hopes for prosperity, shall 
not eat! 

47. Three kinds, forsooth, of sterile cows are 
there: the vilipti, she that has begotten a sterile 
cow, and the sterile cow (herself). These he shall 
give to the Brahmans; (then) does he not estrange 
himself from Prag&pati. 

48. ‘This is your oblation, O Brahmamas,’ thus 
shall he reflect, if he is supplicated, if they ask him 
for the sterile cow, terrible in the house of him that 
refuses to give her. 

49. The gods animadverted in reference to Bheda 
and the sterile cow, angry because he had not given 
her, in these verses—and therefore he (Bheda) 
perished. 

50. Bheda did not present the sterile cow, though 
requested by Indra: for this sin the gods crushed 
him in battle. 

51. The counsellors that advise the withholding 
(of the sterile cow), they, the rogues, in their folly, 
conflict with the wrath of Indra. 

52. They who lead the owner of cattle aside, then 
say to him: ‘do not give,’ in their folly they run 
into the missile hurled by Rudra. 

53. And if he roasts the sterile cow at home, 
whether he makes a sacrifice of her, or not, he sins 
against the gods and Brahmazas, and as a cheat 
falls from heaven. 


XI, 1. The preparation of the brahmaudana, the 
porridge given as a fee to the Brahmans. 


1. O Agni, come into being! Aditi here in her 
throes, longing for sons, is cooking the porridge 
for the Brahmans. The seven Aizshis, that did 

N 2 


180 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


create the beings, shall here churn thee, along with 
progeny ! 

2. Produce the smoke, ye lusty friends ; unharmed 
by wiles go ye into the contest! Here is the Agni 
(fire) who gains battles, and commands powerful 
warriors, with whom the gods did conquer the 
demons. 

3. O Agni, to a great heroic deed thou wast 
aroused, to cook the Brahman’s porridge, O GAta- 
vedas! The seven Xishis, that did create the beings, 
have produced thee. Grant her (the wife) wealth 
together with undiminished heroes ! 

4. Burn, O Agni, after having been kindled by 
the firewood, bring skilfully hither the gods that are 
to be revered! Causing the oblation to cook for 
these (Brahmans), do thou raise this (sacrificer) to 
the highest firmament! 

5. The threefold share which was of yore assigned 
to you (belongs) to the gods, the (departed) Fathers, 
and to the mortals (the priests). Know your shares! 
I divide them for you: the (share) of the gods shall 
protect this (woman) ! 

6. O Agni, possessed of might, superior, thou 
dost without fail prevail! Bend down to the ground 
our hateful rivals!—This measure, that is being 
measured, and has been measured, may constitute 
thy kin into (people) that render thee tribute! 

7. Mayest thou together with thy kin be endowed 
with sap! Elevate her (the wife) to great heroism ! 
Ascend on high to the base of the firmament, which 
they call ‘ the world of brightness’! 

8. This great goddess earth, kindly disposed, 
shall receive the (sacrificial) skin! Then may we 
go to the world of well-doing (heaven) ! 


IX. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS, 181 


g. Lay these two press-stones, well coupled, upon 
the skin; crush skilfully the (soma-) shoots for the 
sacrificer! Crush down, (O earth), and beat down, 
those who are hostile to her (the wife); lift up high, 
and elevate her offspring ! 

10. Take into thy hands, O man, the press-stones 
that work together: the gods that are to be revered 
have come to thy sacrifice! Whatever three wishes 
thou dost choose, I shall here procure for thee unto 
fulfilment. 

11. This, (O winnowing-basket), is thy purpose, 
and this thy nature: may Aditi, mother of heroes, 
take hold of thee! Winnow out those who are 
hostile to this (woman); afford her wealth and un- 
diminished heroes! 

12. Do ye, (O grains), remain in the (winnowing-) 
basket, while (the wind) blows over you; be separated, 
ye who are fit for the sacrifice, from the chaff! May 
we in happiness be superior to all our equals! I bend 
down under our feet those that hate us. 

13. Retire, O woman, and return promptly! The 
stable of the waters (water-vessel) has settled upon 
thee, that thou mayest carry it: of these (the waters) 
thou shalt take such as are fit for sacrifice; having 
intelligently divided them off, thou shalt leave the 
rest behind! 

14. These bright women, (the waters), have come 
hither. Arise, thou woman, and gather strength! 
To thee, that art rendered by thy husband a true 
wife, (and) by thy children rich in offspring, the 
sacrifice has come: receive the (water-) vessel ! 

15. The share of food that belongs to you of yore 
has been set aside for you. Instructed by the Xzshis 
bring thou (woman) hither this water! May this 


182 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


sacrifice win advancement for you, win protection, 
win offspring for you; may it be mighty, win cattle, 
and heroes for you! 

16. O Agni, the sacrificial pot has settled upon 
thee: do thou shining, brightly glowing, heat it with 
thy glow! May the divine descendants of the zshis, 
assembled about their share (of the porridge), full of 
fervour, heat this (pot) at the proper time ! 

17. Pure and clear may these sacrificial women, 
the waters bright, flow into the pot! They have 
given us abundant offspring and cattle. May he 
that cooks the porridge go to the world of the pious 
(heaven) ! 

18. Purified by (our) prayer, and clarified by the 
ghee are the soma-shoots, (and) these sacrificial 
grains. Enter the water; may the pot receive you! 
When ye have cooked this (porridge) go ye to the 
world of the pious (heaven) ! 

19. Spread out far unto great extent, with a thou- 
sand surfaces, in the world of the pious! Grand- 
fathers, fathers, children, grandchildren—I am the 
fifteenth one that did cook thee. 

20. The porridge has a thousand surfaces, a hun- 
dred streams, and is indestructibles it is the road of 
the gods, leads to heaven. Yonder (enemies) do | 
place upon thee: injure them and their offspring ; 
(but) to me that brings gifts thou shalt be merciful ! 

21. Step upon the altar (vedi); make this woman 
thrive in her progeny; repel the demons; advance 
her! May we in happiness be superior to all our 
equals! I bend down under our feet all those that 
hate us. : 

22. Turn towards her with cattle, (thou pot), 
face towards her, together with the divine powers! 


IX. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS. 183 


Neither curses nor hostile magic shall reach thee; 
tule in thy dwelling free from disease! 

23. Properly built, placed with care, this altar (vedi) 
has been arranged of yore for the Brahmans porridge. 
Put it, O woman, upon the purified amsadhrt; place 
there the porridge for the divine (Brahmazas) ! 

24. May this sacrificial ladle (srué), the second 
hand of Aditi, which the seven Aizshis, the creators 
of the beings, did fashion, may this spoon, knowing 
the limbs of the porridge, heap it upon the altar! 

25. The divine (Brahmamzas) shall sit down to 
thee, the cooked sacrifice: do thou again descending 
from the fire, approach them! Clarified by soma 
settle in the belly of the Brahmazas; the descend- 
ants of the Azshis who eat thee shall not take harm ! 

26. O king Soma, infuse harmony into the good 
Bréhmazas who shall sit about thee! Eagerly do 
I invite to the porridge the Azshis, descended from 
Rishis, that are born of religious fervour, and gladly 
obey the call. 

27. These pure and clear sacrificial women (the 
waters) I put into the hands of the Brahmazas 
severally. With whatever wish I pour this upon 
you, may Indra accompanied by the Maruts grant 
this to me! 

28. This gold is my immortal light, this ripe fruit 
of the field is my wish-granting cow. This treasure 
I present to the Brahmazas: I prepare for myself 
a road that leads to the Fathers in the heavens. 

29. Scatter the spelt into Agni GAtavedas (the 
fire), sweep away toa far distance the chaff! This 
(chaff) we have heard, is the share of the ruler of the 
house (Agni), and we know, too, what belongs to 
Nirvzti (destruction) as her share. 


184 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


30. Note, (O porridge), him that takes pains, and 
cooks and presses the soma; lift him up to the 
heavenly road, upon which, after he has reached the 
fullest age, he shall ascend to the highest firmament, 
the supreme heavens! 

31. Anoint (with ghee), O adhvaryu (priest), the 
surface of this sustaining (porridge), make skilfully 
a place for the melted butter; with ghee do thou 
anoint all its limbs! I prepare for myself a road 
that leads to the Fathers in the heavens. 

32. O sustaining (porridge), cast destruction and 
strife among such as are sitting about thee, and are 
not Brahmazas! (But) the descendants of the A7shis, 
that eat thee, being full of substance, spreading forth, 
shall not take harm! 

33. To the descendants of the Xzshis I make thee 
over, O porridge ; those who are not descended from 
Rishis have no share in it! May Agni as my 
guardian, may all the Maruts, and all the gods watch 
over the cooked food! 

34. Thee (the porridge) that milkest the sacrifice, 
art evermore abundant, the male milch-cow, the seat 
of wealth, we beseech for immortality of offspring 
and long life with abundance of wealth. 

35. Thou arta lusty male, penetratest heaven: go 
thou to the Azshis, descended from Aishis! Dwell 
in the world of the pious: there is a well-prepared 
(place) for us two! 

36. Pack thyself up, go forth! O Agni, prepare 
the roads, that lead to the gods! By these well- 
prepared (roads) may we reach the sacrifice, standing 
upon the firmament (that shines) with seven rays! 

37. With the light with which the gods, having 
cooked the porridge for the Brahmazas, ascended 


IX. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS. 185 


to heaven, to the world of the pious, with that would 
we go to the world of the pious, ascending to the 
light, to the highest firmament! 


XII, 3. The preparation of the brahmaudana, the 
porridge given as a fee to the Brahmans. 


1. (Thyself) a male, step thou upon the hide of the 
male (steer): go, call thither all that is dear to thee! 
At whatever age ye two formerly did first unite (in 
marriage), may that age be your common lot in 
Yama’'s kingdom ! 

2. Your sight shall be as clear (as formerly), your 
strength as abundant, your lustre as great, your 
vitality as manifold! When Agni, the (funeral-) 
pyre, fastens himself upon the corpse, then as a pair 
ye shall rise from the (cooked) porridge! 

3. Come ye together in this world, upon the road 
to the gods, and in Yama’s realms! By purifica- 
tions purified call ye together the offspring that has 
sprung from you! 

4. Around the water united, sit ye down, O 
children ; around this living (father) and the waters 
that refresh the living! Partake of these (waters), 
and of that porridge which the mother of you two 
cooks, and which is called amrzta (ambrosia) ! 

5. The porridge which the father of you two, and 
which the mother cooks, unto freedom from defilement 
and foulness of speech, that porridge with a hundred 
streams (of ghee), leading to heaven, has penetrated 
with might both the hemispheres of the world. 

6. In that one of the two hemispheres and the 
two heavenly worlds, conquered by the pious, which 
especially abounds in light, and is rich in honey, in 


186 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


that do ye in the fulness of time come together with 
your children ! 

7. Keep ever on in an easterly direction: this is 
the region that the faithful cling to! When your 
cooked porridge has been prepared on the fire, hold 
together, O man and wife, that ye may guard it! 

8. When ye shall have reached the southerly 
direction, turn ye to this vessel! In that Yama, 
associated with the fathers, shall give abundant 
protection to your cooked porridge ! 

9. This westerly direction is especially favoured : 
in it Soma is ruler and consoler. To this hold, 
attach yourselves to the pious: then as a pair ye 
shall rise from the cooked porridge ! 

10. The northerly direction shall make our realm 
the very uppermost, in offspring uppermost! The 
purusha is the metre pankti: with all (our kin), 
endowed with all their limbs, may we be united! 

11. This ‘firm’ direction (nadir) is Virag (bril- 
liancy): reverence be to her; may she be kind to 
my children and to me! Mayest thou, O goddess 
Aditi, who holdest all treasures, as an alert guardian 
guard the cooked porridge! 

12. As a father his children do thou, (O earth), 
embrace us; may gentle winds blow upon us here 
onearth! Then the porridge which the two divini- 
ties (the sacrificer and his wife) are here preparing 
for us shall take note of our religious fervour and 
our truth! 

13. Whatever the black bird, that has come 
hither stealthily, has touched of that which has 
stuck to the rim, or whatever the wet-handed slave- 
girl does pollute—may ye, O waters, purify (that) 
mortar and pestle! 


IX. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS., 187 


14. May this sturdy press-stone, with broad bot- 
tom, purified by the purifiers, beat away the Rakshas ! 
Settle upon the skin, afford firm protection; may 
man and wife not come to grief in their children! 

15. The (pestle of) wood has come to us together 
with the gods: it drives away the Rakshas and 
Pisédas. Up it shall rise, shall let its voice resound: 
through it let us conquer all the worlds! 

16. The cattle clothed itself in sevenfold strength, 
those among them that are sleek and those that 
are poor. The thirty-three gods attend them: 
mayest thou, (O cattle), guide us to the heavenly 
world! 

17. To the bright world of heaven thou shalt lead 
us; (there) let us be united with wife and children! 
I take her hand, may she follow me there ; neither 
Nirstti (destruction), nor Arati (grudge), shall gain 
mastery over us! 

18. May we get past the evil Grahi (seizure)! 
Casting aside darkness do thou, (O pestle), let thy 
lovely voice resound; do not, O wooden tool, when 
raised, do injury; do not mutilate the grain devoted 
to the gods! 

19. All-embracing, about to be covered with ghee, 
enter, (O pot), as a co-dweller this space !—Take hold 
of the winnowing-basket, that has been grown by 
the rain: the spelt and the chaff it shall sift out! 

20. Three regions are constructed after the 
pattern of the Brahmaza: yonder heaven, the earth, 
and the atmosphere.—Take the (soma-) shoots, and 
hold one another, (O man and wife)! They (the 
shoots) shall swell (with moisture), and again go 
back into the winnowing-basket ! 

21. Of manifold variegated colours are the 


188 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


animals, one colour hast thou, (O porridge), when 
successfully prepared.—Push these (soma-) shoots 
upon this red skin; the press-stone shall purify 
them as the washer-man his clothes! 

22. Thee, the (pot of) earth, I place upon the 
earth: your substance is the same, though thine, 
(O pot), is modified. Even though a blow has 
cracked or scratched thee, do not therefore purse: 
with this verse do I cover that up! 

23. Gently as a mother embrace the son: I unite 
thee, (pot of) earth, with the earth! Mayest thou, 
the hollow pot, not totter upon the altar, when thou 
art pressed by the tools of sacrifice and the ghee! 

24. May Agni who cooks thee protect thee on the 
east, Indra with the Maruts protect thee on the south! 
May Varuma on the west support thee upon thy foun- 
dation, may Soma on the north hold thee together! 

25. Purified by the purifiers, the (waters) flow pure 
from the clouds, they reach to the spaces of heaven, 
and of the earth. They are alive, refresh the living, 
and are firmly rooted: may Agni heat them, after 
they have been poured into the vessel ! 

26. From heaven they come, into the earth they 
penetrate; from the earth they penetrate into the 
atmosphere. May they, now pure, yet purify them- 
selves further; may they conduct us to the heavenly 
world! 

27. Whether ye are over-abundant or just suff- 
cient, ye are surely clear, pure, and immortal : cook, 
ye waters, instructed by the husband and wife, 
obliging and helpful, the porridge! 

28. Counted drops penetrate into the earth, com- 
mensurate with the breaths of life and the plants. 
The uncounted golden (drops), that are poured into 


IX. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS, 189 


(the porridge), have, (themselves) pure, established 
complete purity. 

29. The boiling waters rise and sputter, cast up 
foam and many bubbles. Unite, ye waters, with 
this grain, as a woman who beholds her husband in 
the proper season ! 

30. Stir up (the grains) as they settle at the 
bottom: let them mingle their inmost parts with 
the waters! The water here I have measured with 
cups; measured was the grain, so as to be according 
to these regulations. 

31. Hand over the sickle, with haste bring 
promptly (the grass for the barhis); without giving 
pain let them cut the plants at the joints! They 
whose kingdom Soma rules, the plants, shall not 
harbour anger against us! 

32. Strew a new barhis for the porridge: pleasing 
to its heart, and lovely to its sight it shall be! Upon 
it the gods together with the goddesses shall enter ; 
settle down to this (porridge) in proper order, and 
eat it! 

33. O (instrument of) wood, settle down upon the 
strewn barhis, in keeping with the divinities and the 
agnishéoma rites! Well shaped, as if by a carpenter 
(Tvashéar) with his axe, is thy form. .Longing for 
this (porridge) the (gods) shall be seen about the 
vessel ! 

34. In sixty autumns the treasurer (of the porridge) 
shall fetch it, by the cooked grain he shall obtain 
heaven ; the parents and the children shall live upon 
it. Bring thou this (man) to heaven, into the presence 
of Agni! 

35. (Thyself) a holder, (O pot), hold on to the 
foundation of the earth: thee, that art immoveable 


190 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


the gods (alone) shall move! Man and wife, alive, 
with living children, shall remove thee from the 
hearth of the fire! 

36. Thou hast conquered and reached all worlds ; 
as many as are our wishes, thou hast satisfied them. 
Dip ye in, stirring stick and spoon! Place it (the 
porridge) upon a single dish! 

37. Lay (ghee) upon it, let it spread forth, anoint 
this dish with ghee! As the lowing cow her young 
that craves the breast, ye gods shall greet with 
sounds of satisfaction this (porridge) ! 

38. With ghee thou hast covered it, hast made 
this place (for the porridge): may it, peerless, spread 
afar to heaven! Upon it shall .est the mighty 
eagle; gods shall offer it to the divinities ! 

39. Whatever the wife cooks aside from thee, 
(O husband), or the husband (cooks) unbeknown of 
thee, O wife, mix that together: to both of you it 
shall belong ; bring it together into a single place! 

40. As many of her children as dwell upon the 
earth, and the sons that have been begotten by him, 
all those ye shall call up to the dish: on shall come 
the young knowing their nest ! 

41. The goodly streams, swelling with honey, 
mixed with ghee, the seats of ambrosia, all these 
does he obtain, ascends to heaven. In sixty autumns 
the treasurer (of the porridge) shall fetch it! - 

42. The treasurer shall fetch this treasure: all 
outsiders round about shall not control it! The 
heaven-directed porridge, that has been presented 
and deposited by us, in three divisions has reached 
the three heavens. 

43. May Agni burn the ungodly Rakshas; the 
flesh-devouring Pis&ééa shall have nothing here to 


1X. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS. IQI 


partake of! We drive him away, hold him afar from 
us : the Adityas and Angiras shall stay near it! 

44. To the Adityas and the Angiras do I offer 
this (food of) honey, mixed with ghee. Do ye two, 
(man and wife), with clean hands, without having 
injured a Brahmaza, performing pious deeds, go to 
that heavenly world! 

45. I would obtain this highest part of it (the 
porridge), the place from which the highest lord 
permeates (the all). Pour butter upon it, anoint it 
with plentiful ghee: this here is our share, fit for 
the Angiras! 

46. For the sake of truth and holy strength do 
we make over ‘tis porridge as a hoarded treasure 
to the gods: it shall not be lost to us in gaming or 
in the assembly; do not let it go to any other 
person before me! 

47. I cook, and I give (to the Brahmans), and so, 
too, my wife, at my religious rite and practice.— With 
the birth of a son the world of children has arisen 
(for you): do ye two hold on to a life that extends 
beyond (your years) ! 

48. In that place exists no guilt, and no duplicity, 
not even if he goes conspiring with his friends. 
This full dish of ours has here been deposited: the 
cooked (porridge) shall come back again to him that 
cooks it! 

49. Kind deeds we shall perform for our friends : 
all that hate us shall go to darkness (hell) !—As 
(fruitful) cow, and (strong) steer, they (man and 
wife) shall during every successive period of their - 
lives drive away man-besetting death ! 

50. The fires (all) know one another, that which 
lives in plants, and lives in the waters, and all the 


192 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


(light-) gods that glow upon the heaven. The gold 
(here) becomes the light of him that cooks (the 
porridge). 

51. This (naked skin) among the hides is born 
upon man (alone), all other animals are not naked. 
Clothe yourselves, (ye Brahmans), in sheltering 
garments: (even) the face of the porridge is a home- 
spun garment! 

52. What falsehood thou shalt speak at play 
and in the assembly, or the falsehood that thou 
shalt speak through lust for gain—put on together, 
(O man and wife), this same garment, deposit upon 
it every blemish! 

53. Produce rain, go to the gods, let smoke arise 
from (thy) surface; all-embracing, about to be 
covered with ghee, enter as a co-dweller this 
place! 

54. In many ways heaven assumes within itself 
a different form, according to circumstances. It (the 
heaven) has laid aside its black form, purifying itself 
to a bright (form); the red form do I sacrifice for 
thee into the fire. 

55. Thee here we hand over to the eastern direc- 
tion, to Agni as sovereign lord, to the black serpent 
as guardian, to Aditya as bowman: do ye guard it 
for us, until we arrive! To the goal here he shall 
lead us, to old age; old age shall hand us over to 
death: then shall. we be united with the cooked 
(porridge) ! 

56. Thee here we hand over to the southern 
direction, to Indra as sovereign lord, to the serpent 
that is striped across as guardian, to Yama as bow- 
man: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive! To the 
goal here, &c. 


IX. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS. 193 


57. Thee here we hand over to the western direc- 
tion, to Varuza as sovereign lord, to the przdaku- 
serpent as guardian, to food as bowman: do ye guard 
it for us, until we arrive. To the goal here, &c. 

58. Thee here we hand over to the northern 
direction, to Soma as sovereign lord, to the svaga- 
serpent as guardian, to the lightning as bowman: 
do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. To the goal 
here, &c. 

59. Thee here we hand over to the direction of the 
nadir, to Vishzu as sovereign lord, to the serpent 
with black-spotted neck as guardian, to the plants 
as bowmen: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. 
To the goal here, &c. 

60. Thee here we hand over to the direction of 
the zenith, to Brzhaspati as sovereign lord, to the 
light-coloured serpent as guardian, to the rain as 
bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. 
To the goal here, &c. 


ΙΧ, 3. Removal of a house that has been presented 
to a priest as sacrificial reward. 


1. The fastenings of the buttresses, the supports, 
and also of the connecting beams of the house, that 
abounds in treasures, do we loosen. 

2. O (house) rich in all treasures! the fetter 
which has been bound about thee, and the knot 
which has been fastened upon thee, that with my 
charm do I undo, as Brzhaspati (undid) Vala. 

3. (The builder) has drawn thee together, pressed 
thee together, placed firm knots upon thee. Skil- 
fully, as the priest who butchers (the sacrificial 
animal), do we with Indra’s aid disjoint thy limbs. 

[42] O 


194 - HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


4. From thy beams, thy bolts, thy frame, and 
thy thatch; from thy sides, (O house) abounding in 
treasures, do we loosen the fastenings. 

5. The fastenings of the dove-tailed (joints), of 
the reed (-covering), of the frame-work, do we loosen 
here from the ‘ mistress of dwelling.’ 

6. The ropes which they have tied within thee 
for comfort, these do we loosen from thee; be thou 
propitious to our persons, © mistress of dwelling, 
after thou hast (again) been erected ! 

7. A receptacle for Soma, a house for Agni, a seat 
for the mistresses (of the house),a seat (for the priests), 
a seat for the gods art thou, O goddess house! 

8. Thy covering of wicker-work, with thousand 
eyes, stretched out upon thy crown, fastened down 
and laid on, do we loosen with (this) charm. 

9. He who receives thee as a gift, O house, 
and he by whom thou hast been built, both these, 
O mistress of dwelling, shall live attaining old age! 

10. Return to him in the other world, firmly 
bound, ornamented, (thou house), which we loosen 
limb by limb, and joint by joint! 

11. He who built thee, O house, brought together 
(thy) timbers, he, a Pragapati on high, did construct 
thee, O house, for his progeny (prag4yai). 

12. We render obeisance to him (the builder); 
obeisance to the giver, the lord of the house; 
obeisance to Agni who serves (the sacrifice); and 
obeisance to thy (attendant) man! 

13. Reverence to the cattle and the horses, and 
to that which is born in the house! Thou that hast 
produced, art rich in offspring, thy fetters do we 
loosen. 

14. Thou dost shelter Agni within, (and) the 


IX, PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS, 195 


domestics together with the cattle. Thou that hast 
produced, art rich in offspring, thy fetters do we 
loosen. 

15. The expanse which is between heaven and 
earth, with that do I receive as a gift this house of 
thine; the middle region which is stretched out 
from the sky, that do I make into a receptacle for 
treasures; with that do I receive the house for 
this one. 

16. Full of nurture, full of milk, fixed upon the 
earth, erected, holding food for all, O house, do 
thou not injure them that receive thee as a gift! 

17. Enveloped in grass, clothed in reeds, like 
night does the house lodge the cattle; erected 
thou dost stand upon the earth, like a she-elephant, 
firm of foot. 

18. The part of thee that was covered with 
mats unfolding do I loosen. Thee that hast been 
enfolded by Varuza may Mitra uncover in the 
morning ! 

19. The house built with pious word, built by 
seers, erected—may Indra and Agni, the two 
immortals, protect the house, the seat of Soma! 

20. Chest is crowded upon chest, basket upon 
basket; there mortal man is begotten from whom 
all things spring. 

21. In the house which is built with two facades, 
four facades, six facades; in the house with eight 
facades, with ten facades, in the ‘mistress of dwell- 
ing,’ Agni rests as if in the womb. 

22. Turning towards thee that art turned towards 
me, O house, I come to thee that injurest me not. 
For Agni and the waters, the first door to divine 
order, are within. 

02 


196 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


23. These waters, free from disease, destructive 
of disease, do I bring here. The chambers do 
I enter in upon in company with the immortal 
Agni (fire). 

24. Do thou not fasten a fetter upon us; though 
a heavy load, become thou light! As a bride do we 
carry thee, O house, wherever we please. 

25. From the easterly direction of the house 
reverence (be) to greatness, hail to the gods who 
are to be addressed with hail! 

26. From the southerly direction of the house, &c. ! 

27. From the westerly direction of the house, &c. ! 

28. From the northerly direction of the house, &c. ! 

29. From the firm direction (nadir) of the 
house, &c. ! 

30. From the upright direction (zenith) of the 
house, &c. ! , 

31. From every direction of the house reverence 
(be) to greatness, hail to the gods who are to be 
addressed with hail! ᾿ 


VI, 71. Brahmanical prayer at the receipt of 
gifts. 


1. The varied food which I consume in many 
places, my gold, my horses, and, too, my cows, goats, 
and sheep: everything whatsoever that I have re- 
ceived as a gift—may Agni, the priest, render that 
an auspicious offering ! 

2. The gift that has come to me by sacrifice, or 
without sacrifice, bestowed by the Fathers, granted 
by men, through which my heart, as it were, lights 
up with joy—may Agni, the priest, render that an 
auspicious offering! 

3. The food that I, O gods, improperly consume, 


IX. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS FOR BRAHMANS. 197 


(the food) I promise, intending to give of it (to the 
Brahmans), or not to give of it, by the might of 
mighty Vaisvanara (Agni) may (that) food be for 
me auspicious and full of honey! 


XX, 127. A kuntdpa-hymn. 
A. 


1. Listen, ye folks, to this: (a song) in praise of 
a hero shall be sung! Six thousand and ninety 
(cows) did we get (when we were) with Kaurama 
among the Rusamas,— 

2. Whose twice ten buffaloes move right along, 
together with their cows; the height of his chariot 
just misses the heaven which recedes from its touch. 

3. This one (Kaurama) presented the seer with 
a hundred jewels, ten chaplets, three hundred steeds, 
and ten thousand cattle. 


B. 


4. Disport thyself, O chanter, disport thyself as 
a bird upon a flowering tree; thy tongue glides 
quickly over the lips as a razor over the strop. 

5. The chanters with their pious song hurry on 
blithely as cows; at home are their children, and at 
home the cows do they attend. 

6. Bring hither, O chanter, thy poem, that which 
earns cattle and earns good things! Among the 
gods (kings) place thy voice as a manly archer his 
arrow | 

C. 

7. Listen ye to the high praise of the king who 
rules over all peoples, the god who is above mortals, 
of Vaisvanara Parikshit ! 


198 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


8. ‘ Parikshit has procured for us a secure dwell- 
ing, when he, the most excellent one, went to his 
seat. (Thus) the husband in Kuru-land, when he 
founds his household, converses with his wife. 

g. ‘What may I bring to thee, curds, stirred 
drink, or liquor?’ (Thus) the wife asks her husband 
in the kingdom of king Parikshit. 

10. Like light the ripe barley runs over beyond 
the mouth (of the vessels). The people thrive 
merrily in the kingdom of king Parikshit. 


Ὁ. 


11. Indra has awakened the poet, saying: ‘Arise, 
move about, and sing ; of me, the strong, verily, sing 
the praises; full every pious one shall offer thee 
(sacrificial reward) !’ 

12. Here, O cattle, ye shall be born, here, ye 
horses, here, ye domestics! And Pdshan also, who 
bestows a thousand (cows) as sacrificial reward, 
settles down here. 

13. May these cattle, O Indra, not suffer harm, 
and may their owner not suffer harm; may the 
hostile folk, O Indra, may the thief not gain posses- 
sion of them! 

14. We shout to the hero with hymn and song, 
we (shout) with a pleasing song. Take delight in 
our songs; may we not ever suffer harm! 


X. 
COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 


XII, τ. Hymn to goddess Earth. 


1. Truth, greatness, universal order (vzta), strength, 
consecration, creative fervour (tapas), spiritual ex- 
altation (brahma), the sacrifice, support the earth. 
May this earth, the mistress of that which was and 
shall be, prepare for us a broad domain! 

2. The earth that has heights, and slopes, and 
great plains, that supports the plants of manifold 
virtue, free from the pressure that comes from the 
midst of men, she shall spread out for us, and fit 
herself for us! 

3. The earth upon which the sea, and the rivers 
and the waters, upon which food and the tribes of 
men have arisen, upon which this breathing, moving 
life exists, shall afford us precedence in drinking! 

4. The earth whose are the four regions of space, 
upon which food and the tribes of men have arisen, 
which supports the manifold breathing, moving 
things, shall afford us cattle and other possessions 
also! 

5. The earth upon which of old the first men 
unfolded themselves, upon which the gods overcame 
the Asuras, shall procure for us (all) kinds of cattle, 
horses, and fowls, good fortune, and glory! 

6. The earth that supports all, furnishes wealth, 


200 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


the foundation, the golden-breasted resting-place of 
all living creatures, she that supports Agni Vaisva- 
nara (the fire), and mates with Indra, the bull, shall 
furnish us with property ! 

7. The broad earth, which the sleepless gods 
ever attentively guard, shall milk for us precious 
honey, and, moreover, besprinkle us with glory ! 

8. That earth which formerly was water upon 
the ocean (of space), which the wise (seers) found 
out by their skilful devices; whose heart is in the 
highest heaven, immortal, surrounded by truth, shall 
bestow upon us brilliancy and strength, (and place 
us) in supreme sovereignty ! 

9. That earth upon which the attendant waters 
jointly flow by day and night unceasingly, shall 
pour out milk for us in rich streams, and, moreover, 
besprinkle us with glory! 

10. The earth which the Asvins have measured, 
upon which Vishzu has stepped out, which Indra, 
the lord of might, has made friendly to himself; she, 
the mother, shall pour forth milk for me, the son! 

11. Thy snowy mountain heights, and thy forests, 
O earth, shall be kind to us! The brown, the black, 
the red, the multi-coloured, the firm earth, that is 
protected by Indra, I have settled upon, not sup- 
pressed, not slain, not wounded. 

12. Into thy middle set us, O earth, and into thy 
navel, into the nourishing strength that has grown 
up from thy body; purify thyself for us! The earth 
is the mother, and I the son of the earth; Parganya 
is the father; he, too, shall save us! 

13. The earth upon which they (the priests) in- 
close the altar (vedi), upon which they, devoted to 
all (holy) works, unfold the sacrifice, upon which 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 201 


are set up, in front of the sacrifice, the sacrificial 
posts, erect and brilliant, that earth shall prosper us, 
herself prospering ! 

14. Him that hates us, O earth, him that battles 
against us, him that is hostile towards us with his 
mind and his weapons, do thou subject to us, 
anticipating (our wish) by deed! 

15. The mortals born of thee live on thee, thou 
supportest both bipeds and quadrupeds. Thine, 
O earth, are these five races of men, the mortals, 
upon whom the rising sun sheds undying light with 
his rays. . 

16. These creatures all together shall yield milk for 
us; do thou, O earth, give us the honey of speech ! 

17. Upon the firm, broad earth, the all-begetting 
mother of the plants, that is supported by (divine) 
law, upon her, propitious and kind, may we ever 
pass our lives! 

18. A great gathering-place thou, great (earth), 
hast become; great haste, commotion, and agitation 
are upon thee. Great Indra protects thee unceas- 
ingly. Do thou, O earth, cause us to brighten as if 
at the sight of gold: not any one shall hate us! 

19. Agni (fire) is in the earth, in the plants, the 
waters hold Agni, Agni is in the stones; Agni is 
within men, Agnis (fires) are within cattle, within 
horses. 

20. Agni glows from the sky, to Agni, the god, 
belongs the broad air. The mortals kindle Agni, 
the bearer of oblations, that loveth ghee. 

21. The earth, clothed in Agni, with dark knees, 
shall make me brilliant and alert ! 

22. Upon the earth men give to the gods the 
sacrifice, the prepared oblation; upon the earth 


202 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


mortal men live pleasantly by food. May this earth 
give us breath and life, may she cause me to reach 
old age! 

23. The fragrance, O earth, that has arisen upon 
thee, which the plants and the waters hold, which 
the Gandharvas and the Apsaras have partaken 
of, with that make me fragrant: not any one shall 
hate us! 

24. That fragrance of thine which has entered 
into the lotus, that fragrance, O earth, which the 
immortals of yore gathered up at the marriage of 
Sarya, with that make me fragrant: not any one 
shall hate us! . 

25. That fragrance of thine which is in men, the 
loveliness and charm that is in male and female, 
that which is in steeds and heroes, that which is in 
the wild animals. with trunks (elephants), the lustre 
that is in the maiden, O earth, with that do thou 
blend us: not any one shall hate us! 

26. Rock, stone, dust is this earth; this earth is 
supported, held together. To this golden-breasted 
earth I have rendered obeisance. 

27. The earth, upon whom the forest-sprung trees 
ever stand firm, the all-nourishing, compact earth, do 
we invoke. 

28. Rising or sitting, standing or walking, may 
we not stumble with our right or left foot upon the 
earth ! 

29. To the pure earth I speak, to the ground, the 
soil that has grown through the brahma (spiritual 
exaltation). Upon thee, that holdest nourishment, 
prosperity, food, and ghee, we would settle down, 
O earth! 

30. Purified the waters shall flow for our bodies; 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS, 203 


what flows off from us that do we deposit upon him 
we dislike: with a purifier, O earth, do I purify 
myself! 

31. Thy easterly regions, and thy northern, thy 
southerly (regions), O earth, and thy western, shall 
be kind to me as I walk (upon thee)! May I that 
have been placed into the world not fall down! 

32. Do not drive us from the west, nor from the 
east; not from the north, and not from the south! 
Security be thou for us, O earth: waylayers shall 
not find us, hold far away (their) murderous weapon! 

33- As long as I look out upon thee, O earth, 
with Sdrya (the sun) as my companion, so long shall 
my sight not fail, as year followeth upon year! 

34. When, as I lie, I turn upon my right or left 
side, O earth; when stretched out we lie with our 
ribs upon thee pressing against (us), do not, O earth, 
that liest close to everything, there injure us! 

35. What, O earth, I dig out of thee, quickly 
shall that grow again: may I not, O pure one, 
pierce thy vital spot, (and) not thy heart! 

36. Thy summer, O earth, thy rainy season, thy 
autumn, winter, early spring, and spring; thy decreed 
yearly seasons, thy days and nights shall yield us 
milk ! 

37. The pure earth that starts in fright away 
from the serpent, upon whom were the fires that 
are within the waters, she that delivers (to destruc- 
tion) the blasphemous Dasyus, she that takes the 
side of Indra, not of Vrztra, (that earth) adheres to 
Sakra (mighty Indra), the lusty bull. 

38. Upon whom rests the sacrificial hut (sadas) 
and the (two) vehicles that hold the soma (havir- 
dhane), in whom the sacrificial post is fixed, upon 


204 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


whom the Brahmamas praise (the gods) with viks 


and sAmans, knowing (also) the yagur-formulas; upon 
whom the serving-priests (vztvig) are employed so 
that Indra shall drink the soma ;— 

39. Upon whom the seers of yore, that created 
the beings, brought forth with their songs the cows, 
they the seven active (priests), by means of the satra- 
offerings, the sacrifices, and (their) creative fervour 
(tapas) ;— 

40. May this earth point out to us the wealth 
that we crave; may Bhaga (fortune) add his help, 
may Indra come here as (our) champion! 

41. The earth upon whom the noisy mortals sing 
and dance, upon whom they fight, upon whom re- 
sounds the roaring drum, shall drive forth our 
enemies, shall make us free from rivals! 

42. To the earth upon whom are food, and rice 
and barley, upon whom live these five races of men, 
to the earth, the wife of Parganya, that is fattened 
by rain, be reverence! 

43. The earth upon whose ground the citadels 
constructed by the gods unfold themselves, every 
region of her that is the womb of all, Pragdpati 
shall make pleasant for us! 

44. The earth that holds treasures manifold in 
secret places, wealth, jewels, and gold shall she give 
to me; she that bestows wealth liberally, the kindly 
goddess, wealth shall she bestow upon us! 

45. The earth that holds people of manifold 
varied speech, of different customs, according to 


their habitations, as a reliable milch-cow that does 


not kick, shall she milk for me a thousand streams 
of wealth! 
46. The serpent, the scorpion with thirsty fangs, 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS, 205 


that hibernating torpidly lies upon thee; the worm, 
and whatever living thing, O earth, moves in the 
rainy season, shall, when it creeps, not creep upon 
us: with what is auspicious (on thee) be gracious 
to us! 

47. Thy many paths upon which people go, thy 
tracks for chariots and wagons to advance, upon 
which both good and evil men proceed, this road, 
free from enemies, and free from thieves, may we 
gain: with what is auspicious (on thee) be gracious 
to us! 

48. The earth holds the fool and holds the wise, 
- endures that good and bad dwell (upon her); she 
keeps company with the boar, gives herself up to 
the wild hog. 

49. Thy forest animals, the wild animals homed 
in the woods, the man-eating lions, and tigers that 
roam; the ula, the wolf, mishap, injury (7zkshika), 
and demons (rakshas), O earth, drive away from us! 

50. The Gandharvas, the Apsaras, the Ardyas 
and Kimtdins; the Pisd#as and all demons (rakshas), 
these, O earth, hold from us! 

51. The earth upon whom the biped birds fly 
together, the flamingoes, eagles, birds of prey, and 
fowls; upon whom M€tarisvan, the wind, hastens, 
raising the dust, and tossing the trees—as the wind 
blows forth and back the flame bursts after ;— 

52. The earth upon whom day and night jointly, 
black and bright, have been decreed, the broad 
earth covered and enveloped with rain, shall kindly 
place us into every pleasant abode! 

53- Heaven, and earth, and air have here given 
me expanse; Agni, Sdrya, the waters, and all the 
gods together have given me wisdom. 


206 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


54. Mighty am I, ‘Superior’ (uttara) by name, 
upon the earth, conquering am I, all-conquering, 
completely conquering every region. 

55. At that time, O goddess, when, spreading 
(pratham4na) forth, named (przthivi ‘broad’) by 
the gods, thou didst extend to greatness, then pros- 
perity did enter thee, (and) thou didst fashion the 
four regions. 

56. In the villages and in the wilderness, in the 
assembly-halls that are upon the earth; in the 
gatherings, and in the meetings, may we hold forth 
agreeably to thee! 

57. As dust a steed did she, as soon as she was 
born, scatter these people, that dwelt upon the 
earth, she the lovely one, the leader, the guardian 
of the world, that holds the trees and plants. 

_ 58. The words I speak, honied do I speak them: 

the things I see they furnish me with. Brilliant 
I am and alert: the others that rush (against me) 
do I beat down. 

59. Gentle, fragrant, kindly, with the sweet drink 
(kilala) in her udder, rich in milk, the broad earth 
together with (her) milk shall give us courage! 

60. She whom Visvakarman (the creator of all) 
did search out by means of oblations, when she had 
entered the surging (flood of the) atmosphere, she, 
the vessel destined to nourish, deposited in a secret 
place, became visible (to the gods) and the (heavenly) 
mothers. 

61. Thou art the scatterer of men, the broadly 
expanding Aditi that yields milk according to wish. 
What is wanting in thee, PragApati, first-born of the 
divine order (rzta), shall supply for thee ! 

62. Thy laps, O earth, free from ailment, free 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 207 


from disease, shall be produced for us! May we 
attentively, through our long lives, be bearers of 
bali-offerings to thee! 

63. O mother earth, kindly set me down upon > 
a well-founded place! With (father) heaven co- 
operating, O thou wise one, do thou place me into 
happiness and prosperity ! 


XIII, τ. Prayer for sovereign power addressed to 
the god Rohita and his female Rohit. 


1. Rise up, O steed, that art within the waters, 
enter this kingdom, rich in liberal gifts! Rohita 
(the red sun) who has begotten this all, shall keep 
thee well-supported for sovereignty ! 

2. The steed that is within the waters has risen 
up: ascend upon the clans that are sprung from 
thee! Furnishing soma, the waters, plants, and cows, 
cause thou four-footed and two-footed creatures to 
enter here! ; 

3. Do ye, strong Maruts, children of Prsni (the 
cloud), allied with Indra, crush the enemies! Rohita 
shall hear you, that give abundant gifts, the thrice 
seven Maruts, who take delight in sweet (nourish- 
ment) ! 

4. Rohita has climbed the heights, he has 
ascended them, he, the embryo of women, (has 
ascended) the womb of births. Closely united with 
these women they found out the six broad (direc- 
tions); spying out a road he has brought hither 
sovereignty. 

5. Hither to thee Rohita has brought sovereignty; 
he has dispersed the enemies: freedom from danger 
has resulted for thee. To thee heaven and earth 


208 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


together with the revatt and sakvart-stanzas shall 
yield gifts at will! 

6. Rohita produced heaven and earth; there 
Paramesh/Zin (the lord on high) extended the thread 
(of the sacrifice). There Aga Ekapada (the one- 
footed goat, the sun) did fix himself; he made firm 
the heavens and earth with his strength. 

7. Rohita made firm heaven and earth, by him 
the (heavenly) light was established, by him the 
firmament. By him the atmosphere and the spaces 
were measured out, through him the gods obtained 
immortality. 

8. Rohita did ponder the multiform (universe) 
while preparing (his) climbings and advances. Having 
ascended the heaven with great might, he shall 
anoint thy royalty with milk and ghee! 

g. All thy climbings, advances, and all thy ascents 
with which thou, (Rohita, the sun), fillest the 
heavens and the atmosphere, having strengthened 
thyself with their brahma and payas (spiritual and 
physical essence) do thou keep awake (do thou 
watch over) among the people in the kingdom of 
the (earthly) Rohita (the king)! 

10. The peoples that have originated from thy 
tapas (heat, or creative fervour), have followed here 
the calf, the gayatri. They shall enter thee with 
kindly spirit; the calf Rohita with its mother shall 
come on! 

11. High on the firmament Rohita has stood, 
a youth, a sage, begetting all forms. As Agni he 
shines with piercing light, in the third space he did 
assume lovely (forms). 

12, A bull with a thousand horns, Gatavedas 
(fire), endowed with sacrifices of ghee, carrying 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 209 


soma upon his back, rich in heroes, he shall, when 
implored, not abandon me, nor may I abandon thee: 
abundance in cattle and abundance in heroes procure 
for me! 

13. Rohita is the generator of the sacrifice, and 
its mouth; to Rohita I offer oblations with voice, 
ear, and mind. To Rohita the gods resort with 
glad mind: he shall cause me to rise through eleva- 
tion derived from the assembly ! 

14. Rohita arranged a sacrifice for Visvakarman ; 
from it these brilliant qualities have come to me. 
Let me announce thy origin over the extent of the 
world! 

15. Upon thee have ascended the brzhati and the 
pankti (metres), upon thee the kakubh with splendour, 
O Gé&tavedas. Upon thee the vashaé-call, whose 
syllables make an ushzih4, has ascended, upon thee 
Rohita with his seed has ascended. 

16. This one clothes himself in the womb of the 
earth, this one clothes himself in heaven, and in 
the atmosphere. This one at the station of the 
brown (sun) did attain unto the worlds of light. 

17. O VA&kaspati (lord of speech), the earth shall 
be pleasant to us, pleasant our dwelling, agreeable 
our couches! Right here life's breath shall be to 
our friend; thee, O Parameshédin, Agni shall 
envelop in life and lustre! 

18. O Vakaspati, the five seasons that we have, 
which have come about as the creation of Visva- 
karman, right here (they and) life’s breath shall be 
to our friend; thee, O Paramesh/Ain, Rohita shall 
envelop in life and lustre! 

19. O Vakaspati, good cheer and spirit, cattle in 
our stable, children in our wombs beget thou! Right 

[42] Ρ 


210 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


here life’s breath shall be to our friend; thee, O 
Paramesh/Z&in, I envelop in life and lustre. 

20. God Savitar and Agni shall envelop thee, 
Mitra and Varuaa surround thee with lustre! Tread- 
ing down all powers of grudge come thou hither: 
thou hast made this kingdom rich in liberal gifts. 

21. Thou, O Rohita, whom the brindled cow, 
harnessed at the side, carries, goest with brilliance, 
causing the waters to flow. 

22. Devoted to Rohita is Rohit his mistress, 
with beautiful colour (complexion), great, and lustrous: 
through her may we conquer booty of every descrip- 
tion, through her win every battle! 

23. This seat, Rohizi, belongs to Rohita; yonder 
is the path on which the brindled (female) goes! 
Her the Gandharvas and the Kasyapas lead forth, 
her the sages guard with diligence. 

24. The radiant bay steeds of the sun, the im- 
mortal, ever draw the delightful chariot. Rohita, 
the drinker of ghee, the shining god, did enter the 
variegated heavens. 

25. Rohita, the sharp-horned bull, who surpasses 
Agni and surpasses Sfrya, who props up the earth 
and the sky, out of him the gods frame the creations. 

26. Rohita ascended the heaven from the great 
flood; Rohita has climbed all heights. 

27. Create (the cow) that is rich in milk, drips 
with ghee: she is the milch-cow of the gods that 
does not refuse! Indra shall drink the Soma, there 
shall be secure possession; Agni shall sing praises : 
the enemies do thou drive out! 

28. Agni kindled, spreads his flames, fortified by 
ghee, sprinkled with ghee. Victorious, all-conquering 
Agni shall slay them that are my rivals! 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 2II 


29. He shall slay them, shall burn the enemy that 
battles against us! With the flesh-devouring Agni 
do we burn our rivals. 

30. Smite them down, O Indra, with the thunder- 
bolt, with thy (strong) arm! Then have I over- 
powered my rivals with Agni’s brilliant strengths. 

31. O Agni, subject our rivals to us; confuse, 
O Brzhaspati, the kinsman that is puffed up! O 
Indra and Agni, O Mitra and Varuma, subjected they 
shall be, unable to vent their wrath against us! 

32. Do thou, god Sirya (the sun), when thou 
risest, beat down my rivals, beat them down with 
a stone: they shall go to the nethermost darkness ! 

33. The calf of Virag, the bull of prayers, carry- 
ing the bright (soma) upon his back, has ascended 
the atmosphere. A song accompanied by ghee they 
sing to the calf; himself brahma (spiritual exalta- 
tion) they swell him with their brahma (prayer). 

34. Ascend the heavens, ascend the earth; 
sovereignty ascend thou, and possessions ascend 
thou! Offspring ascend thou, and immortality ascend 
thou, unite thy body with Rohita! 

35. The gods that hold sovereignty, who go 
about the sun, with these allied, Rohita, kindly 
disposed, shall bestow sovereignty upon thee! 

36. The sacrifices purified by prayer lead thee 
forth ; the bay steeds that travel upon the road carry 
thee: thou shinest across the swelling ocean. 

37. In Rohita who conquers wealth, conquers 
cattle, and conquers booty, heaven and earth are 
fixed. Of thee that hast a thousand and seven 
births, let me announce the origin over the extent 
of the world! 

38. Glorious thou goest to the intermediate direc- 

P 2 


212 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


tions and the directions (of space), glorious (in the 
sight) of animals and the tribes of men, glorious in 
the lap of the earth, of Aditi: may I like Savitar 
be lovely ! 

39. Being yonder thou knowest (what takes place) 
here; being here thou beholdest these things. Here 
(men) behold the inspired sun that shines upon the 
sky. 

40. A god thou praisest the gods, thou movest 
within the flood. They kindle (him), a universal 
fire; him the highest sages know. 

41. Below the superior (region), above the inferior 
(region) here, the cow has arisen supporting (her) 
calf by the foot. Whither is she turned; to which 
half (of the universe), forsooth, has she gone away; 
where, forsooth, does she beget? Verily not in this 
herd! 

42. One-footed, two-footed, four-footed is she; 
eight-footed, nine-footed became she, the thousand- 
syllabled (consisting of thousand elements) pankti 
(quinary stanza) of the universe: the oceans from 
her flow forth upon (the world). 

43. Ascending the heaven, immortal, receive 
kindly my song! The sacrifices purified by prayer 
lead thee forth; the bay steeds that travel upon the 
road carry thee. 

44. That do I know of thee, O immortal, where 
thy march is upon the sky, where thy habitation is 
in the highest heaven. 

45. Sdrya (the sun) surveys the sky, ϑᾶγγα the 
earth, Sdrya the waters. Sdrya is the single eye of 
being: he has ascended the great heavens. 

46. The broad (directions) where the fagots that 
fence in (the fire), the earth turned itself into a fire- 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 213 


altar. There Rohita laid on for himself these two 
fires, cold and heat. 

47. Laying on cold and heat, using the moun- 
tains as sacrificial posts, the two fires of Rohita who 
knows the (heavenly) light, into which (the fires) 
rain (flowed) as ghee, carried out the sacrifice. 

48. The fire of Rohita who knows the (heavenly) 
light is kindled by prayer. From it heat, from it 
cold, from it the sacrifice was produced. 

49. The two fires swelling through prayer, in- 
creased through prayer, sacrificed into with prayer ; 
the two fires of Rohita who knows the (heavenly) 
light, kindled through prayer, carried out the 
sacrifice. 

50. One is deposited in truth, the other is kindled 
in the waters. The two fires of Rohita who knows 
the (heavenly) light, kindled through prayer, carried 
out the sacrifice. 

51. The fire which the wind brightens up, and 
that which Indra and Brahmazaspati (brighten up), 
the two fires of Rohita who knows the (heavenly) 
light, kindled through prayer, carried out the 
sacrifice. 

52. Having fashioned the earth into an altar, 
having made the heavens (his) sacrificial reward, 
then having made heat into fire, Rohita created all 
that has breath through rain (serving) as ghee. 

53. Rain fashioned itself into ghee, heat into fire, 
the earth into an altar. Then Agni by (his) songs 
fashioned the high mountains. 

54. Having fashioned by means of songs the high 
(mountains), Rohita spake to the earth: In thee all 
shall be born, what is and what shall be. 

55. The sacrifice first, (and then) what is and 


214 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


what shall be was born. From that this all was 
born, and whatever here appears, brought hither by 
the sage Rohita. 

56. He who kicks a cow with his foot, and he 
who micturates towards the sun—of thee do I tear 
out the root; thou shalt henceforth not cast a 
shadow! 

57. Thou that passest across me, casting thy 
shadow against me, between me and the fire—of 
thee do I tear out the root; thou shalt henceforth 
not cast a shadow! 

58. He, O god Sarya, that to-day passes between 
thee and me, upon him our evil dream, our foulness, 
and our misfortunes do we wipe off. 

59. May we not miss our way, may we not, O 
Indra, miss the sacrifice of him that presses the 
soma; may not the powers of grudge intercept us! 

60. The (guiding) thread stretched out among the 
gods, that accomplishes the sacrifice, that, by pour- 
ing oblations, may we attain! 


XI, 5. Glorification of the sun, or the primeval 
principle, as a Brahman disciple. 


1, The BrahmaZérin (Brahmanical disciple) moves 
inciting both hemispheres of the world; in him the 
gods are harmonised. He holds the heavens and 
the earth, he fills the teacher with creative fervour 
(tapas). 

2. The fathers, the divine folk, and all the gods 
severally follow the Brahmaf4rin; the Gandharvas 
did go after him, six thousand three hundred and 
thirty-three. He fills all the gods with creative 
fervour. 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 215 


3. When the teacher receives the Brahmaférin 
as a disciple, he places him as a foetus inside (of 
his body). He carries him for three nights in his 
belly: when he is born the gods gather about to 
see him. 

4. This earth is (his first) piece of firewood, the 
heaven the second, and the atmosphere also he fills 
with (the third) piece of firewood. The Brahma- 
Aarin fills the worlds with his firewood, his girdle, 
his asceticism, and his creative fervour. 

5. Prior to the brahma (spiritual exaltation) the 
Brahma£érin was born; clothed in heat, by creative 
fervour he arose. From him sprung the brahmazam 
(Brahmanic life) and the highest brahma, and all the 
gods together with immortality (amrzta). 

6. The Brahmaé#4rin advances, kindled by the 
firewood, clothed in the skin of the black antelope, 
consecrated, with long beard. Within the day he 
passes from the eastern to the northern sea; gather- 
ing together the worlds he repeatedly shapes them. 

7. The Brahmaéérin, begetting the brahma, the 
waters, the world, Pragapati Paramesh/¢Ain (he that 
stands in the highest place), and Virag, having 
become an embryo in the womb of immortality, 
having, forsooth, become Indra, pierced the Asuras. 

8. The teacher fashioned these two hemispheres 
of the world, the broad and the deep, earth and 
heaven. These the Brahmaé4rin guards with his 
creative fervour (tapas): in him the gods are har- 
monised. 

g. This broad earth and the heaven the Brahma- 
Aarin first brought hither as alms. Having made 
these into two sticks of firewood he reveres them; 
upon them all beings have been founded. 


216 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


10. One is on the hither side, the other on the 
farther side of the back of the heavens; secretly are 
deposited the two receptacles of the brahmazam 
(Brahmanic life). These the Brahmaéérin protects 
by his tapas (creative fervour); understandingly he 
performs that brahma (spiritual exaltation) solely. 

11. One on the hither side, the other away from 
the earth, do the two Agnis come together between 
these two hemispheres (of the world). To them 
adhere the rays firmly; the Brahmaé4rin by his 
tapas (creative fervour) enters into the (rays). 

12. Shouting forth, thundering, red, white he 
carries a great penis along the earth. The Brahma- 
&érin sprinkles seed upon the back of the earth; 
through it the four directions live. 

13. Into fire, the sun, the moon, MAtarisvan (wind), 
and the waters, the BrahmaA4érin places the firewood; 
the lights from these severally go into the clouds, 
from them come sacrificial butter, the purusha 
(primeval man), rain, and water. 

14. Death is the teacher, (and) Varuza, Soma, the 
plants, milk ; the clouds were the warriors: by these 
this light has been brought hither. 

15. Varuza, having become the teacher, at home 
prepares the ghee solely. Whatever he desired 
from Pragapati, that the Brahmaé4rin furnished, as 
Mitra (a friend) from his own 4tman (spirit, or 
person). 

16. The BrahmaAérin is the teacher, the Brahma- 
Aarin Pragapati. Pragdpati rules (shines forth, vi 
ragati); Virag (heavenly power, or light) became 
Indra, the ruler. 

17. Through holy disciplehood (brahmaééryam), 
through tapas (creative fervour), the king protects 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS, 217 


his kingdom. The teacher by (his own) brahma- 
karyam (holy life) seeks (finds) the Brahma4érin. 

18. Through holy disciplehood the maiden obtains 
a young husband, through holy disciplehood the 
steer, the horse seeks to obtain fodder. 

19. Through holy disciplehood, through creative 
fervour, the gods drove away death. Indra, forsooth, 
by his holy disciplehood brought the light to the gods. 

20. The plants, that which was and shall be, day 
and night, the tree, the year along with the seasons, 
have sprung from the Brahmaéarin. 

21. The earthly and the heavenly animals, the . 
wild and the domestic, the wingless and the winged 
(animals), have sprung from the Brahma#érin. 

22. All the creatures of Pragapati (the creator) 
severally carry breath in their souls. All these 
the brahma, which has been brought hither in the 
Brahmaéarin, protects. 

23. This, that was set into motion by the gods, 
that is insurmountable, that moves shining, from it 
has sprung the brahmazam (Brahmanical life), the 
highest brahma, and all the gods, together with 
immortality (amz‘ta). 

24,25. The Brahmaéérin carries the shining 
brahma: into this all the gods are woven. Pro- 
ducing in-breathing and out-breathing, as well as 
through-breathing ; speech, mind, heart, brahma, and 
wisdom, do thou furnish us with sight, hearing, glory, 
food, semen, blood, and belly! 

26. These things the BrahmaZArin fashioned upon 
the back of the (heavenly) water. He stood in the 
sea kindled with tapas (creative fervour). He, when 
he has bathed, shines vigorously upon the earth, 
brown and ruddy. 


218 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


XI, 4. PrAza, life or breath, personified as the 
supreme spirit. 


1. Reverence to Praza, to whom all this (universe) 
is subject, who has become the lord of the all, on 
whom the all is supported ! 

2. Reverence, O Prdza, to thy roaring (wind), 
reverence, O PrAza, to thy thunder, reverence, O 
Prdza, to thy lightning, reverence, O Pr4za, to thy 
rain ! 

3. When Pr&za calls aloud to the plants with his 
thunder, they are fecundated, they conceive, and 
then are produced abundant (plants). 

4. When the season has arrived, and Praza calls 
aloud to the plants, then everything rejoices, what- 
soever is upon the earth. 

5: When Prdwa has watered the great earth with 
rain, then the beasts rejoice ; (they think): ‘strength, 
forsooth, we shall now obtain.’ 

6. When they had been watered by Praaa, the 
plants spake in concert: ‘thou hast, forsooth, pro- 
longed our life, thou hast made us all fragrant.’ 

7. Reverence be, O Prama, to thee coming, reve- 
rence to thee going; reverence to thee standing, 
and reverence, too, to thee sitting ! 

8. Reverence be to thee, O Prdza, when thou 
breathest in (prazate), reverence when thou breath- 
est out! Reverence be to thee when thou art turned 
away, reverence to thee when thou art turned 
hither: to thee, entire, reverence be here! 

9. Of thy dear form, O Praza, of thy very dear 
form, of the healing power that is thine, give unto 
us, that we may live! 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 219 


10. Praza clothes the creatures, as a father his 
dear son. Prdma, truly, is the lord of all, of all that 
breathes, and does not breathe. ΄ 

11. Prawa is death, Ῥγάμα is fever. The gods 
worship Praza. Prdma shall place the truth-speaker 
in the highest world! 

12. Praza is Virag (power, lustre), Praza is Deshért 
(the divinity that guides): all worship Praza. Prana 
verily is sun and moon. They call Praga PragApati. 

13. Rice and barley are in-breathing and out- 
breathing. Praza is called a steer. In-breathing, 
forsooth, is founded upon barley; rice is called out- 
breathing. 

14. Man breathes out and breathes in when within 
the womb. When thou, O Prdéza, quickenest him, 
then is he born again. 

15. They call Prava Métarisvan (the wind); 
Prana, forsooth, is called Vata (the wind), The 
past and the future, the all, verily is supported upon 
Prana. 

16. The holy (4tharvaza) plants, the magic (4ngi- 
rasa) plants, the divine plants, and those produced 
by men, spring forth, when thou, O Prama, quick- 
enest them. 

17. When Praza has watered the great earth with 
rain, then the plants spring forth, and also every sort 
of herb. 

18. Whoever, O Pr4za, knows this regarding 
thee, and (knows) on what thou art supported, to 
him all shall offer tribute in yonder highest world. 

19. As all these creatures, O Prdvza, offer thee 
tribute, so they shall offer tribute (in yonder world) 
to him who hears thee, O far-famed one! 

20. He moves as an embryo within the gods; 


220 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


having arrived, and being in existence, he is born 
again. Having arisen he enters with his mights the 
present and the future, as a father (goes to) his son. 

21. When as a swan he rises from the water he 
does not withdraw his one foot. If in truth he were 
to withdraw it, there would be neither to-day, nor 
to-morrow, no night and no day, never would the 
dawn appear. 

22. With eight wheels, and one felloe he moves, 
containing a thousand sounds (elements), upward in 
the east, downward in the west. With (his) half he 
produced the whole world: what is the visible sign 
of his (other) half? 

23. He who rules over this (all) derived from 
every source, and over everything that moves— 
reverence be to thee, O Prdma, that wicidest a swift 
bow against others (the enemies) ! 

24. May Praza, who rules over this (all) derived 
from every source, and over everything that moves, 
(may he) unwearied, strong through the brahma, 
adhere to me! 

25. Erect he watches in those that sleep, nor does 
he lie down across. No one has heard of his sleep- 
ing in those that sleep. 

26. O Prdma, be not turned away from me, thou 
shalt not be other than myself! As the embryo of 
the waters (fire), thee, O Praza, do bind to me, that 
I may live. 


IX, 2. Prayer to K4ma (love), personified as 
a primordial power. 


1. To the bull that slays the enemy, to Kama, do 
I render tribute with ghee, oblation, and (sacrificial) 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 221 


melted butter. Do thou, since thou hast been ex- 
tolled, hurl down my enemies by thy great might! 

2. The evil dream which is offensive to my mind 
and eye, which harasses and does not please me, 
that (dream) do I let loose upon my enemy. 
Having praised Kama may I prevail! 

3. Evil dreams, O Kama, and misfortune,O K4ma, 
childlessness, ill-health, and trouble, do thou, a strong 
lord, let loose upon him that designs evil against us! 

4. Drive them away, O K4ma, thrust them away, 
O K4ma; may they that are my enemies fall into 
trouble! When they have been driven into the 
nethermost darkness, do thou, O Agni, burn up 
their dwelling-places ! 

5. That milch-cow, O K4ma, whom the sages 
call Vaé Vitag (ruling, or resplendent speech), is 
said to be thy daughter; by her drive away my 
enemies ; breath, cattle, and life shall give them 
a wide birth! 

6. With the strength of Kama, Indra, king 
Varuza, and Vishau, with the impelling force (savena) 
of Savitar, with the priestly power of Agni, do 
I drive forth the enemies, as a skilled steersman 
a boat. 

7. My sturdy guardian, strong K4ma, shall pro- 
cure for me full freedom from enmity! May the 
gods collectively be my refuge, may all the gods 
respond to this, my invocation! 

8. Taking pleasure in this (sacrificial) melted 
butter, and ghee, do ye, (O gods), of whom Kama 
is the highest, be joyful in this place, procuring for 
me full freedom from enmity! 

9. O Indra and Agni, and K4ma, having formed 
an alliance, do ye hurl down my enemies; when 


222 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


they have fallen into the nethermost darkness, do 
thou, O Agni, burn up after them their dwelling- 
places ! 

10. Slay thou, O Kama, those that are my ene- 
mies, hurl them down into blind darkness. Devoid 
of vigour, without sap let them all be; they shall 
not live a single day! 

11. Kdma has slain those that are my enemies, 
a broad space has he furnished me to thrive in. 
May the four directions of space bow down to me, 
and the six broad (regions) carry ghee to me! 

12. They (the enemies) shall float down like a 
boat cut loose from its moorings! There is no 
returning again for those who have been struck by 
our missiles. 

13. Agni is a defence, Indra a defence, Soma a 
defence. May the gods, who by their defence ward 
off (the enemy), ward him off! 

14. With his men reduced, driven out, the hated 
(enemy) shall go, shunned by his own friends! And 
down upon the earth do the lightnings alight; may 
the strong god crush your enemies ! 

15. This mighty lightning supports both move- 
able and immoveable things, as well as all thunders. 
May the rising sun by his resources and his majesty 
hurl down my enemies, he the mighty one! 

16. With that triple-armoured powerful covering 
of thine, O Kama, with the charm that has been 
made into an invulnerate armour spread (over thee), 
with that do thou drive away those who are my 
enemies; may breath, cattle, and life give them a 
wide berth ! 

17. With the weapon with which the god drove 
forth the Asuras, with which Indra led the Dasyus 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 223 


to the nethermost darkness, with that do thou, 
O K4ma, drive forth far away from this world those 
who are my enemies! 

18. As the gods drove forth the Asuras, as Indra 
forced the demons into the nethermost darkness, 
thus do thou, O K4ma, drive forth far away from 
this world those who are my enemies ! 

19. K4ma was born at first; him neither the gods, 
nor the Fathers, nor men have equalled. To these 
art thou superior, and ever great; to thee, O K4ma, 
do I verily offer reverence. 

20. As great as are the heavens and earth in 
extent, as far as the waters have swept, as far as 
fire; to these art thou superior, &c. 

21. Great as are the directions (of space) and the 
intermediate direction on either side, great as are 
the regions and the vistas of the sky; to these art 
thou superior, &c. 

22, As many bees, bats, kurfru-worms, as many 
vaghas and tree-serpents as there are; to these art 
thou superior, &c. 

23. Superior art thou to all that winks (lives), 
superior to all that stands still (is not alive), superior 
to the ocean art thou, O Kama, Manyu! To these 
art thou superior, &c. 

24. Not, surely, does the wind equal Kama, not 
the fire, not the sun, and not the moon. To these 
art thou superior, &c. 

25. With those auspicious and gracious forms of 
thine, O K4ma, through which what thou wilst 
becometh real, with these do thou enter into us, and 
elsewhere send the evil thoughts! 


224 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


XIX, 53. Prayer to K4la (time), personified as 
a primordial power. 


1. Time, the steed, runs with seven reins (rays), 
thousand-eyed, ageless, rich in seed. The seers, 
thinking holy thoughts, mount him, all the beings 
(worlds) are his wheels. 

2. With seven wheels does this Time ride, seven 
naves has he, immortality is his axle. He carries 
hither all these beings (worlds). Time, the first 
god, now hastens onward. 

3. A full jar has been placed upon Time; him, 
verily, we see existing in many forms. He carries 
away all these beings (worlds) ; they call him Time 
in the highest heaven. 

4. He surely did bring hither all the beings 
(worlds), he surely did encompass all the beings 
(worlds). Being their father, he became their son; 
there is, verily, no other force, higher than he. 

5. Time begot yonder heaven, Time also (begot) 
these earths. That which was, and that which shall 
be, urged forth by Time, spreads out. 

6. Time created the earth, in Time the sun burns. 
In Time are all beings, in Time the eye looks 
abroad. 

7. In Time mind is fixed, in Time breath (is 
fixed), in Time names (are fixed); when Time has 
arrived all these creatures rejoice. 

8. In Time tapas (creative fervour) is fixed; in 
Time the highest (being is fixed); in Time brahma 
(spiritual exaltation) is fixed; Time is the lord of 
everything, he was the father of Pragapati. 

9. By him this (universe) was urged forth, by him 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 225 


it was begotten, and upon him this (universe) was 
founded. Time, truly, having become the brahma 
(spiritual exaltation), supports Paramesh/Ain (the 
highest lord). 

10. Time created the creatures (prag4%), and Time 
in the beginning (created) the lord of creatures 
(Pragdpati); the self-existing Kasyapa and the tapas 
(creative fervour) from Time were born. 


XIX, 54. Prayer to K4la (time), personified as 
a primordial power. 


1. From Time the waters did arise, from Time 
the brahma (spiritual exaltation), the tapas (creative 
fervour), the regions (of space did arise). Through 
Time the sun rises, in Time he goes down again. 

2. Through Time the wind blows, through Time 
(exists) the great earth; the great sky is fixed in 
Time. In Time the son (Pragdpati) begot of yore 
that which was, and that which shall be. 

3. From Time the Azks arose, the Yagus was 
born from Time; Time put forth the sacrifice, the 
imperishable share of the gods. 

4. Upon Time the Gandharvas and Apsarases 
are founded, upon Time the worlds (are founded), 
in Time this Angiras and Atharvan rule over the 
heavens. 

5. Having conquered this world and the highest 
world, and the holy (pure) worlds (and) their holy 
divisions; having by means of the brahma (spiritual 
exaltation) conquered all the worlds, Time, the 
highest God, forsooth, hastens onward. 


[42] Q 


226 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


XI, 7. Apotheosis of the u#&ishZa, the leavings 
of the sacrifice. 


1. In the uééhishéa are deposited name (quality) 
and form, in the ué#ishéa the world is deposited. 
Within the u#éfishéa Indra and Agni, and the all 
are deposited. 

2. In the uééhish¢éa heaven and earth, and all 
beings, are deposited ; in the u#&Aishéa are deposited 
the waters, the ocean, the moon, and the wind. 

3. In the ué&Aishéa are both being and non-being, 
death, strength (food), and Pragdpati. The (creatures) 
of the world are founded upon the uééhishéa ; (also) 
that which is confined and that which is free, and the 
grace in me. 

4. He who fastens what is firm, the strong, the 
leader, the brahma, the ten creators of the all, the 
divinities, are fixed on all sides to the ué#/ishéa as 
the (spokes of the) wheel to the nave. 

5. Azk, Saman, and Yagus, the singing of the 
sAmans, their introductions, and the stotras are in 
the ué&dishéa. The sound ‘him’ is in the uééhishéa, 
and the modulations and the music of the sdman. 
That is in me. 

6. The prayer to Indra and Agni (aindragnam), 
the call to the soma, as it is being purified (pAva- 
mAnam), the mahandmnit-verses, the singing of the 
mahAvrata, (these) divisions of the service are in the 
uékhishéa, as the embryo in the mother. 

7. The ceremony of the consecration of the king 
(ragasiya), the vagapeya, the agnishfoma, and the 
cattle-sacrifice belonging to it, the arka and the 
horse-sacrifice, and the most delightful (sacrifice) for 
which fresh barhis is strewn, are in the u&é/ishéa. 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 227 


8. The preparation of the sacred fire (agny4- 
dheyam), the consecration for the soma-sacrifice 
(diksha), the sacrifice by which (special) wishes are 
fulfilled, together with the metres, the sacrifices that 
have passed out, and the extended sacrifices (satra), 
are founded upon the u#é4ishéa. 

9. The agnihotra, faith, the call vasha¢, vows and 
asceticism, sacrificial rewards, what is sacrificed (to 
the gods) and given (to the priests) are contained in 
the u#éAishéa. 

10. The (soma-sacrifice) that lasts one night 
(ekarAtra), and that which lasts two nights (dvirAtra), 
the (condensed soma-sacrifice called) sadya#kri, and 
(that which is called) prakri, the (songs called) ukthya, 
are woven and deposited in the ué#éAish¢a; (also 
the parts) of the sacrifice subtle through (higher) 
knowledge. 

11. The soma-sacrifice that lasts four nights 
(Aatratra), five nights (pa#éaratra), six nights 
(shadratra), and along (with them) those that last 
double the time; the sixteenfold stotra (shodasin), 
and the soma-sacrifice that lasts seven nights 
(saptaratra), all the sacrifices which were founded 
upon immortality (amvzta), were begotten of the 
ukkhishéa. 

12. The pratihdra-passages (in the sAman-songs), 
and their final syllables, the (soma-sacrifices called) 
visvagit and abhigit, the soma-sacrifice that ends 
with the day (sdhna), and that which lasts into 
the next day (atiratra), are in the uééish‘a—the 
soma-sacrifice also that lasts twelve days. That is 
in me. 

13. Liberality, accomplishment, possession, the 
call svadha, nurture, immortality (amvzta), and might, 

Q2 


228 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


all inner desires are satisfied according to wish in 
the usAhishéa. 

14. The nine earths, oceans, heavens, are founded 
upon the ué&Aishéa. The sun shines in the udéhishéa, 
and day and night also. That is in me. 

15. The (soma-sacrifice called) upahavya, the offer- 
ing on the middle day of a sacrifice lasting a year 
(vishOvant), and the sacrifices that are secretly pre- 
sented, U#£Aishéa, the sustainer of the universe, the 
father of the generator (PragApati), supports. 

16. Uskhishéa, the father of the generator, the 
grandson of the spirit (asu), the primal ancestor 
(grandfather), the ruler of the universe, the lusty 
bull dwells upon the earth. 

17. Order (rzta), truth (satya), creative fervour 
(tapas), sovereignty, asceticism, law and works; 
past, future, strength, and prosperity, are in the 
ukkhishfa—force in force. 

18. Success, might, plans, dominion, sovereignty, 
the six broad (regions), the year, libation (id4), the 
orders to the priests (praisha), the draughts of soma 
(graha), oblations (are founded) upon the u£é/ish/éa. 

19. The (liturgies called) Aaturhotarak, the 4pri- 
hymns, the triennial sacrifices, the (formulas called) 
nivid, the sacrifices, the priestly functions, the cattle- 
sacrifice and the soma-oblations connected with it, 
are in the u&&hishéa. 

20. The half-months and months, the divisions 
of the year together with the seasons, the resounding 
waters, thunder, the great Vedic canon (sruti) are in 
the u#&hishéa. 

21. Pebbles, sand, stones, herbs, plants, grass, 
clouds, lightning, rain, are attached to, and are 
founded upon the ué&Aishéa. 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 229 


22. Success, attainment, accomplishment, control, 
greatness, prosperity, supreme attainment, and well- 
being rest upon, rest in, have been deposited in the 
ukkhishéa. 

23. Whatever breathes with breath, and sees with 
sight, all gods in the heavens, founded upon heaven, 
were born of the u#éAishZa. 

24. The viks and the sAmans, the metres, the 
ancient legends (pur4zam) together with the yagus, 
all gods in the heavens, founded upon heaven, were 
born of the ué£hishéa. 

25. In-breathing and out-breathing, sight, hearing, 
imperishableness and perishableness, all gods in the 
heavens, founded upon heaven, were born of the 
ukkhishfa. 

26. Joys, pleasures, delights, jubilation and merri- 
ment, all gods in the heavens, founded upon heaven, 
were born of the ué&hishéa. 

27. The gods, the (deceased) Fathers, men, 
Gandharvas and Apsaras, all gods in the heavens, 
founded upon heaven, were born of the ué#&Aishéa. 


IX, 1. Hymn to the honey-lash of the Asvins. 


1. From heaven, from earth, from the atmosphere, 
from the sea, from the fire, and from the wind, 
the honey-lash hath verily sprung. This, clothed in 
amrita (ambrosia), all the creatures revering, acclaim 
in their hearts. , 

2. Great sap of all forms (colours) it hath—they 
call thee moreover the seed of the ocean. Where 
the honey-lash comes bestowing gifts, there life's 
breath, and there immortality has settled down. 


230 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


3. Men severally, contemplating it profoundly, 
behold its action upon the earth: from the fire and 
from the wind the honey-lash hath verily sprung, the 
strong child of the Maruts. 

4. Mother of the Adityas, daughter of the Vasus, 
breath of life of created beings, nave of immortality, 
the honey-lash, golden-coloured, dripping ghee, as 
a great embryo, moves among mortals. 

5. The gods begot the lash of honey, from it 
came anembryo having all forms (colours). This, as 
soon as born, (while yet) young its mother nourishes; 
this, as soon as born, surveys all the worlds. 

6. Who knows it and who perceives it, the inex- 
haustible, soma-holding cup that has come from the 
heart of it (the honey-lash)? ’Tis the wise priest: 
he shall derive inspiration from it! 

7. He knows them, and he perceives them, the 
inexhaustible breasts of it (the honey-lash), that yield 
a thousand streams. Nourishment they pour out 
without recalcitration. 

8. The great (cow) that loudly gives forth the 
sound ‘him,’ that bestows strength, and goes with 
loud shouts to the holy act, bellowing with lust for 
the three (male) gharmas (fires), she lows, and drips 
with (streams) of milk. 

g. When the waters, the mighty bulls, self-sove- 
reign, wait upon (the cow), swollen with milk, (then) 
they, the waters, pour nourishment (upon her), and 
cause her to pour nourishment at will for him that 
knoweth this. 

10. The thunder is thy voice, O Pragdpati; as 
a bull thou hurlest thy fire upon the earth. From 
the fire, and from the wind the honey-lash hath 
verily sprung, the strong child of the Maruts. 


X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS. 231 


11. As the soma at the morning-pressure is dear 
to the Asvins, thus in my own person, O Asvins, 
lustre shall be sustained ! 

12. As the soma at the second (mid-day) pressure 
is dear to Indra and Agni, thus in my own person, 
O Indra and Agni, lustre shall be sustained ! 

13. As the soma at the third pressure (evening) 
is dear to the Azbhus, thus in my own person, 
O Ribhus, lustre shall be sustained! 

14. May I beget honey for myself; may I obtain 
honey for myself! Bringing milk, O Agni, I have 
come: endow me with lustre! 

15. Endow me, O Agni, with lustre, endow me 
with offspring and with life! May the gods take 
note of this (prayer) of mine; may Indra together 
with the Azshis (take note of it)! 

16. As bees carry together honey upon honey, 
thus in my own person, O Asvins, lustre shall be 
sustained ! 

17. As the bees pile this honey upon honey, thus 
in my own person, O Asvins, lustre, brilliance, 
strength, and force shall be sustained! 

18. The honey that is in the mountains, in the 
heights; in the cows, and in the horses; the honey 
which is in the sura (brandy) as it is being poured 
out, that shall be in me! 

19. O Asvins, lords of brightness, anoint me 
with the honey of the bee, that I may speak forceful 
speech among men! 

20. The thunder is thy speech, O Pragdpati; as 
a bull thou hurlest thy fire upon earth and heaven. 
All animals live upon it (the earth), and she with it 
(Prag4pati’s fire) fills nourishment and food. 

21. The earth is the staff, the atmosphere the 


232 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


embryo, the heaven the whip (itself ?), the lightning 
the whip-cord ; of gold is the tip (of the whip ?). 

22. He that knoweth the seven honies of the whip 
becomes rich in honey; (to wit), the Brahmaza, the 
king, the cow, the ox, rice, barley, and honey as the 
seventh. 

23. Rich in honey becomes he, rich in honey 
become his appurtenances, worlds rich in honey does 
he win, he that knoweth thus. 

24. When in a bright sky it thunders, then Praga- 
pati manifests himself to (his) creatures (prag&Z). 
Therefore do I stand with the sacred cord suspended 
from the right shoulder (pra#inopavita), saying, 
“Ὁ Pragdpati, watch over me!’ The creatures 
(praga#) watch over him, Prag&pati watches over 
him, that knoweth thus. 


EXTRACTS FROM THE RITUAL 
TEXTS AND COMMENTARY. 


—_—_—_—_o— 


I, 2, COMMENTARY TO PAGE 8. 


THE ritual application of this hymn is a twofold one. It is 
employed as a medical charm and, again, as a battle-charm, 
owing to the belief that certain diseases are inflicted upon 
mortals by the arrows of Parganya, a belief which intro- 
duces into the context a large number of words redolent of 
battle, as well as some designations of diseases. Cf. with 
this the double treatment, e.g., of AV. I, 12. Asa battle- 
charm the present hymn figures in Kaus. 14, 7 in a lengthy 
list (gaza) of hymns called sAmgramik4xi (or aparagitagama) ; 
this list is employed in connection with warlike practices in 
the subsequent Sitras (14, 8-13, and more especially Sdtra 
12). Still more secondarily, the entire list (aparagita) is 
employed in Kaus. 139, 7, along with certain other ganas, 
at the ceremonies connected with the beginning of the study 
of the Veda (upakarma)!. Cf. also the Santikalpa 17 
and 183, 

In its medicinal construction the hymn is a charm against 
diarrhoea, being followed by AV. I, 3, a charm against dis- 
eases of the opposite character, constipation and retention of 
urine. It is handled in this sense at Kaus. 25, 6-9, along 
with AV. II, 3, in a practice which, according to Darila, is 
directed against diarrhoea (atiséra); Kesava and Sdyana 
construe it more broadly as against fever, diarrhoea, exces- 


’ See the introduction to VI, 97. 
* Quoted erroneously by Séyava as the Nakshatrakalpa. 


234 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


sive urine, and even flow of blood, i.e. against excessive or 
unnatural flows from the body in general. The practices 
are as follows: 25, 6.‘ While reciting the two hymns I, 2 
and II, 3 the (practising priest) ties the head of a stalk of 
mufiga-reed (saccharum munja) with a cord (made from the 
same plant, as an amulet, upon the patient!). 7. Having 
ground up a natural lump of earth, and earth from an 
ant-mound?, he gives (a solution of this to the patient) 
to drink. 8. He smears him with ghee. 9. He blows 
upon (the rectum of the patient ).’ 

The hymn has been translated and analysed by Weber, 
Ind. Stud. IV, pp. 394-5; and the present writer, in ‘Seven 
Hymns of the Atharva-veda,’ Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 
pp. 467-9. Cf. also Florenz in Bezzenberger’s Beitrige, 
XIV, pp. 178 ff.; and, as a specimen of an interpretation 
which assumes that no Vedic passage has previously been 
correctly understood, Regnaud, L’Atharva-Véda et la 
méthode d’interprétation de M. Bloomfield, pp. 8-10. 


Stanza 1. 


a. Parganya is the god of rain (hence his epithet bhiri- 
dhayas), and his outpourings upon the earth seem to be 
compared with a shower of arrows; hence in RV. VI, 75, 
15 the arrow is said to come from the semen of Parganya 
(pargdnyaretasa {shvai). Possibly, however, the arrow is 
Parganya’s child, because arrow-reeds (sar4) grow in conse- 
quence of the rain. It seems further that the discharges 
from the body are compared with Parganya’s rain, and are 
therefore under his control ; cf. I, 3, 1 below. Hence the 


1 The passage in brackets is derived from the Commentaries. 

3 For the role of the ant-mound, see the note on II, 3, 4, and 
more especially VI, roo. 

* So according to Darila, apane dhamati; Kesava and Sayama, 
in accordance with their more liberal construction, cause the blow- 
ing to be performed upon the particular opening in the body from 
which the excessive discharge flows (Sayaza, apAnasisnanadivrana- 
mukhaném dhamanam). For apfna, a euphemism for ‘rectum,’ 
see Kausika, Introduction, p. lv, bottom. 


I, 3. COMMENTARY. 235 


double construction of this hymn as a battle-charm, and as 
a remedy against excessive discharges.—For the knowledge 
which imparts power and control, cf. VII, 12, 2; 76, 5, and 
elsewhere. Also Sat. Br. IX, 1, 1, 17, ‘no damage comes 
from him who has been recognised and addressed.’ 

b. The earth as mother of the plants yields the shafts 
for the arrows. 

Stanza 2. 


8. Weber's translation ‘ Bogenschnur! schlinge dich um 
uns,’ is not in accordance with the quotable uses of the 
verb pari nam. S4yama, quite correctly, asm4n parihvitya 

-. mam vihaya anyatra saram preraya. Cf. II, 13, 4b; 
Tait. S. IV, 6, 6, 4. 

ec. Sdyaza, who throughout this hymn identifies Parga- 
nya and Indra (cf. Biihler, Orient und Occident, I, p. 229; 
Bergaigne, ITI, p. 25), refers vidik to Indra. But it refers 
to the bowstring; cf. vid 4yudh4, RV. I, 39, 2; and 
similarly, RV. VI, 47, 26. 


Stanza 3. 


a. Literally, ‘when the cows embracing the tree. The 
singular or plural of the stem go for ‘ sinew,’ and some word 
for tree in the sense of ‘bow,’ occur also RV. VI, 47, 26; 
75,113 X, 27, 22. 

b. Sayaza, anusphuram pratisphuranam, sphur samka- 
lane... arkanti.. . prerayanti. 


Stanza 4. 


d. Cf. with this the tying of the amulet in the practices 
of the Satra. S4yaza, mud#geshiké-nirmitaé ragguhk. Cf. 
the introduction to I, 12. 


I, 3. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 10. 


The Kausika prescribes this hymn against retention of 
urine and constipation; the stanzas themselves seem to refer 
to difficulties in micturation only, and very possibly, the 
Sitra adds the other feature. The hymn is the pendant 


236 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


to I, 2, which aims to obviate the opposite difficulties. 
The practices in Kaus. 25, 10-19 are as follows: 10. 
‘While reciting AV. 1, 3 (the practitioner) ties on (as an 
amulet upon the patient) a substance promoting mictura- 
tion’. 11. He gives him to drink a solution of earth 
from a molehill, of pfitika (a stinking plant, guilandina 
bonduc), of pulverised, dried pramanda?, each mixed with 
(wood-) shavings?. 12. While reciting the last two stanzas 
of the hymn, he gives him an enema. 13. He makes him 
take a ride in a vehicle. 14. He shoots off an arrow. 15. 
He opens the urethra. 16. He probes the bladder‘. 17. 
Having poured twenty-one barley-grains with water into 
a milk-pail, placing an axe behind (the patient), he pours 
the water from the grain® (upon the suffering part). 18. 
He gives him to drink a decoction of Ala δ, lotus-root, and 
ula’. 19. The same treatment is prescribed for one suffer- 
ing from constipation.’ The performances are in part 
therapeutic, in part symbolic (the shooting of the arrow). 
Cf. Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, pp. 364 ff. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 
pp. 395-6. Cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, 
Pp. 130. 

Stanza 1. 

Cf. I, 2, τ above. The expression satavrishzya refers 

to the abundant semen (rain) of Parganya; cf. especially 


' According to the commentators, haritakf, ‘ gall-nut,’ and kar- 
para, ‘camphor,’ are such substances. 

® Darila, at Kaus. 8, 17, glosses this with induka. 

* The sense and the construction of the long compound in this 
Sftra are not altogether clear. Cf. Kausika, Introduction, p. lxii ff. 

‘ According to Sayava, in the introduction, he probes the 
bladder with a copper instrument. So also Kesava. 

* The text, phalato: this seems to refer to the twenty-one 
barley-grains. 

* ‘ Apparently a kind of creeper or weed in grain-fields.’ DaArila, 
godhamavy4dhiA ; Kesava, yavagodhfmavallf. See Kausika, Intro- 
duction, p. xlvii. 

7 Darila, kasturikfsdka, ‘musk ;’ Kesava, pAvika. 


I, 7. COMMENTARY. 237 


RV. VI, 75, 15. Hence the repetition of the same expres- 
sion with four other gods is secondary and mechanical. 
The medicine man wants to make sure that he does not 
neglect and offend. S4yama justifies the mention of Mitra 
and Varuna by a reference to Tait. 5. II, 4, 10, 2; of 
Kandra by saying, asya oshadhisatvat sarasya pitritvena 
vyapadesak ; and of Sdrya by relying again upon Tait. 5. 
II, 4, 10, 2. ; 
Stanza 6. 

a. Sdyana explains gavinyor by, 4ntrebhyo vinirgatasya 
mAatrasya mitrdsayapraptisidhane parsvadvayasthe nadyau 
gavinyau ity uéyate. The urethra and the ureter? Cf. 
the dual gavinyau in Tait. S. III, 3, 10, 1; and gavinike, 
AV. I, 11,5; IX, 8, 7. 

b. The majority of the MSS. read sdmsrutam ; but one 
of Shankar Pandit’s MSS. has sdmsrutam. For the root 
sru, ‘flow,’ see Bloomfield and Spieker, Proc. Amer. Or. Soc., 
May, 1886 (Journal, vol. xiii, p.cxx). For years I have 
had sdmsritam written as a possible emendation on the 
margin of my copy of the text, and now Sdyaza persis- 
tently (three times) comments upon the same reading. 


Stanza 7. 


b. The MSS. are divided between the readings vartram 
and vdrtam. Sdyaza comments upon the latter, vartam 
vartate pravahati galam atre=ti varto marga#, and some of 
the MSS. of Kaus. 25, 16, a Sdtra coined with evident 
reference to this stanza (vartim bibhetti, see the translation 
above), also read vartam. Dérila comments, vartam τηῦ- 
trabilam. I do not feel certain that this is not the correct 
word for the text : ‘like the outlet of a lake.’ For vartra, 
see Tait. S. I, 6, 8, 1; Maitr. S. I, 4, ro. 


I, 7. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 64. 


This and the following hymn are directed chiefly against 
the species of beings called y4tudhdna, a term which oscil- 
lates between the meaning ‘ human sorcerer’ and ‘hostile 


238 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


demon. The entire tradition, Sitras and Commentaries, 
give the word the latter bent, but we can see from RV. 
V, 12,2; VII, 104, 15, 16, that men might practise yAtu, 
and, therefore, be yatudh4na. Both hymns are catalogued 
ina series (gana) called £atana, ‘driving away (demons, &c.),’ 
in Kaus. 8, 25, and the Gamaméla, Ath. Paris. 32, 3 (#4- 
tanagava): for their employment, see Kausika, Index B, 
under fatan4ni, and S4ntikalpa 16. With the subject- 
matter of these hymns cf. in general RV. VII, 104, and 
III, 30, 14ff. Both hymns have been rendered by Weber, 
Indische Studien, IV, 398 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 
523; cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, 
p- 131 ff. : 
Stanza 1. 


Throughout this and the next hymn Sayama takes the 
root stu in its ordinary holy sense of ‘praise, a mistake 
which leads to the most contorted renderings, and to an 
utter disregard of grammatical construction, excused by 
assuming interchanges of inflections (vibhaktivyatyaya). 
He seems to be shy to attach any sinister sense to the root, 
or to connect it in any way with evil beings. For kimidin, 
see the note on IV, 20, 5. 


Stanza 2. 


ce. taildsya in the vulgata is an emendation of the MS. 
reading tauldsya (Sayaaa, tulavat hiyam4na-dravyasya). 

d. vi lapaya, ‘make howl, obviously includes as a double 
entente the other possible sense of the word ‘ annihilate,’ as 
causative from the root Ii. 


Stanzas 4, 5. 


A great deal of stress is laid in these hymns upon the 
confession of the yatudhdna himself. Half the battle is 
won when their true nature is made apparent. Cf. I, 8, 4 
and the note on I, 2,1. Hence the neat difference between 
the active pra brdhi in 5 Ὁ, said of Agni (cf. RV. X, 87, 8 
=AV. VIII, 3, 8), and the middle prabruva#d&é in 5 d, said 
of the yatudhdna. Stanzas 5-7 are perhaps of a later 


I, 9. COMMENTARY. 239 


hand, since the hymns of the first book ordinarily present 
only four stanzas ; cf. the introduction to I, 12. 


Ι, 8. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 65. 


For the employment of this hymn in the Atharvanic 
practices, and previous translations, see the introduction to 
the preceding hymn. 


Stanza 4. 


e. In order to obtain a trish¢ubh line we may either 
resolve both tams or tvdm, or insert gahi after tvam. 


I, 9. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 116. 


The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
IIT, 456, and entitled ragA4bhisheke, ‘at the coronation of 
a king.’ Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 163, renders it 
in the same spirit. The Kausika, however, in its descrip- 
tion of the coronation (chapter 17), does not rubricate this 
hymn, but rather IV, 8 (cf. also Vait. SQ. 36, 7), and the 
Ganamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 30, again only counts IV, 8 as 
the abhishekagama (see Kaus. 17, 1 note). Weber, Ind. 
Stud. IV, 401, entitles it ‘Segensspruch fiir einen Fiirsten,’ 
but this also seems to be too narrow: the Sdtra, advisedly 
no doubt, employs it in practices designed to confer glory, 
lustre upon any one at all. 

At Kaus. 11, 19. 20, the hymn is employed along with 
I, 35 and V, 28 in a practice designed to make one success- 
ful (sampatkarma), to wit: ‘an amulet made of a pair of 
krishvala-berries (abrus precatorius linnaeus)1, which has 


1 Or the weight of two krishzala in gold? All the commentators 
explain yugmakrishaalam as ‘gold.’ Dérila, raktike=ti (see Pet. 
Lex.) prasiddhabhidhana ayam ka sauvarnamanih ; Kesava, suvarna- 
mazih, hiranyamanih (here, and at Kaus. 52, 20). Cf. the word 
hirazya in I, 9, 2; 35, 1; V, 28,6. A very sihilar performance 
undertaken with the same three hymns is stated at Kaus. 52, 20. 
21, being a rite which bestows long life (4yushyakarma). See also 


240 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


been steeped (in honey during certain three days, Kaus. 7, 
19), is tied on. Then a mess of porridge, cooked in the milk 
of a cow with a calf of the same colour, is shaped in the 
figure of a man, enriched during twelve days with the 
dregs of ghee, and consumed with averted face !. 

Further, at Kaus. 16, 27. 28, the hymn is associated with 
a practice intended to restore the loyalty of a disaffected 
people?: the king is given to eat a porridge prepared from 
an after-growth of rice, cooked in the milk of a cow with 
a calf of the same colour, upon a fire of kampila-branches 
(crinum amaryllacee), which have grown out where they 
have been previously cut. A neat bit of symbolism: the 
milk of the cow with a calf of the same colour represents 
complete harmony; the after-growth of rice and kampila 
represents the resumption of the sharply interrupted rela- 
tions between the king and his people. 

Once more the hymn is recited for obvious reasons at 
Kaus. 55,17, along with a list of others at the investiture of 
the young ‘twice-born’ (cf. also the scholiast at 17, 31), 
and it figures in one of the two varkasyagamas, ‘ series of 
hymns which confer lustre,’ in the Gavamala, Ath. Paris. 
32, 10 (see Kaus. 13, 1 note). 


Stanza 2. 


_ The abrupt change of person in Pada c suggests the pos- 
sibility of emending asmat to asméat, ‘inferior to him.’ But 
cf. the same formula in st. 4 c. 


Santikalpa 17 and 19 (quoted by Sayava erroneously as Naksha- 
trakalpa). Cf. also Tait. Br. I, 3, 6, 7. 

' As the porridge-man drips with ghee, thus the real man shall 
live in abundance. 

? rash/ravagamanam. Dérila, ganapada’ tasy4svagamanakaram 
ον anuragakaram. Sdyana, ‘a performance designed to restore 
a king, driven from his kingdom by an enemy.’ Cf. the hymns 
Ill, 3 and 4. 

* The commentators state explicitly that rice which has grown 
anew upon the place, where it has previously been cut, is to be used. 
See D4rila, Kesava, and Sayaza (Idnapunarutthitagam odanam). 


I, 10. COMMENTARY. 241 


Stanza 3. 


Allusion seems to be made here to the rape of the soma 
in Indra’s behalf by Agni, the heavenly eagle (syena). 
According to our interpretation, in Contributions, Fifth 
Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XVI, 1 ff., this Agni, the 
eagle, is the lightning. 


I, 10. COMMENTARY TO PAGE II. 


Varuza punishes crime, especially falsehood (cf. AV. IV, 
16; Tait. Br. I, 7, 2, 6, &c.), with his disease, the ‘ water- 
belly,’ dropsy?. The performance of the Kausika is 
purely symbolic: 25, 37. ‘While reciting the hymn (the 
priest) sprinkles the patient over the head (with water) by 
means of twenty-one tufts of darbha-grass together with 
reeds taken from the thatch of a house.’ The water in the 
body is supposed to be washed out by the water sprinkled 
upon it (attractio similium). 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 
403-4; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 445; cf. also Bergaigne 
et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 133. 


Stanza 1. 


b. Weber regards vasa as fem. sing.; Whitney, in the 
Index Verborum, as nom. plur. masc. ; Sdyaaa, as neut. plur., 
vas4 vasini. Varuza and Asura are, of course, the same 
divinity. 

c. Weber, ‘durch mein gebet von da herauss dich reis- 
send ;’ Ludwig, ‘mit meinem brahma hervor mich tuend ;’ 
Sayama, brahma#4 mantrena ... sdsad4na# atyartham 
tikshnak .. . praptabala’. 


Stanza 2. 


c,d. The passage is a reverberation from the legend of 
Sunaksepa ; cf. Ait. Br. VII, 15. 


1 Varuna is the lord of the waters (see the note on IV, 16, 3): 
the dropsy is therefore conceived to be due to his infliction. 


[42] R 


242 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


ἃ. For tavasyam, cf. VIII, 2, 20d. Ludwig suggests 
that the sufferer, being a kshatriya, is said to be the man 
of Varuaa, the king (kshatriya). Weber construes it as 
though it were an ethical dative, ‘dieser lebe dir (i.e. durch 
deine gnade) hundert Herbste.’ Sdyama, identically the 
same way, tava anugrahat. 


Stanza 4. 


a, b. Ludwig, rendering ‘von dem grossen meere Vais- 
vanara,’ thinks that the lower regions are alluded to, since 
death overtakes him that has -been seized by Varuma. 
Sayava over-ingeniously connects vaisvanara with the 
digestive fire (gatharAgni), i.e. in this connection, digestive 
disturbance. But AV. VIII, 2, 27 shows that nothing 
more is intended than the funeral fire. Cf. for the entire 
stanza, Vait. Sd. 38, 1. 


I, 11. COMMENTARY TO PAGE gg. 


The ceremonies connected with this hymn are described 
in Kaus. 33, 1 ff. They are in part intended to procure 
easy and natural parturition, but the attention of the sdtra- 
kara seems to be engrossed even more by certain oracles 
which shall tell whether the woman is in danger, and 
whether or not she will give birth to a male child. As 
the practices, in spite of their unusual length, do not ex- 
hibit any very close connection with the hymn, we may 
only present the first six SQtras, as follows: 1. ‘While 
reciting AV. 1,11, four portions of the dregs of ghee are 
poured into a water-pail, and four musga-reeds are plucked 
(and placed) eastward upon the head (of the pregnant 
woman!). 2. The sheaths (of the muzga-reeds) are placed 
westward. 3. If (these reeds and stalks) should break, 
there is danger. 4. (The practitioner) washes her with 
warm water, beginning with the braid of hair to the right. 


1 Cf. the four directions mentioned in the second stanza of the 
hymn. 


I, II. COMMENTARY. 243 


5. The joints of the house are loosened!. 6. On both 
sides of her a cord and a wagon-rope is fastened.’ The 
remaining S(tras are not all of them clear; they seem to 
be devoted wholly to oracles for finding out whether it is 
to be a boy or not. 

Practices similar to the above, in part built up upon 
mantra-materials of a similar character, are known in the 
Grthya-sitras and elsewhere by the name of soshyanti- 
karma; see Sat. Br. XIV, 9, 4, 22=Brth. Ar. VI, 4, 23; 
Par. Grth. I, 16, 1 ff.; Sankh. Grth. I, 23; Gobh. Grzh. II, 
7, 13 ff.; Kh4d? Grth, II, 2, 28 ff.; Hir. Grth. II, 2, 8 ff; 
Apast. Grih. VI, 14, 13 ff. 

The hymn has been treated by Roth, Ueber den Atharva- 
veda (Tiibingen, 1856), pp. 15 ff.; Weber, Indische Studien, 
IV, 404-5; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 478. 


Stanza 1. 


a,b. The point of the first hemistich is the punning 
comparison of the birth (siti) with the act of pressing the 
soma. This makes of it a sacrifice; Aryaman, as the 
hotar-priest, utters the vasha¢-call for Pashan who is, as 
it were, the adhvaryu-priest ; cf. Ind. Stud. X, 324. Lud- 
wig’s surmise that Sdshan is to be read for Pdshan (cf. 
stanza 3) is untenable. The association of the two in 
matters connected with marriage (RV. X, 85, 36, 37) is 
well known*, For hdét4 vedhd&, see Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, pp. 223-4; vedh4é, however, is not derivable from 
the root vidh, but is equal to Avestan vazdanh (Geldner, 
Studien zum Avesta, p. 58). 

5. The P&da is very difficult. Roth emends freely, sisri- 
tam nary ritapragato, ‘(a child) begotten at the proper time 
shall detach itself, O woman!’ He compares, for this use 
of sisritam, Vag. 5. VIII, 28, evdsyam dasamAsyo asrat, 


1 Symbolic action calculated to loosen the foetus; cf. in general 
AV. IX, 3. 
3 The mantra quoted in Kaus. 33, 7 is also based upon the 
same hymn, RV. X, 85, 40 (the sdrya-sfkta). 
R2 


244 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


where asrat is, however, to be derived from srams, ‘fall.’ 
Weber regards ndry ritapragdt4 as parenthetic, and com- 
bines sisratam with pdrvazi, ‘lass nachgeben—mig die frau 
richtig gebaut sein!—lass weichen die glieder!’ Ludwig, 
‘es ldse sich die frau als eine richtig gebarende. We have 
adhered closely to the text, but sisratam as a third singular 
middle imperative is problematic, and perhaps Roth’s emen- 
dation (sisritam) is to be adopted. Possibly some deriva- 
tive of srass stood in place of the word (s{srasat, ‘may 
she cause the child to fall’?). 


. 


Stanza 2. 


ἃ. The editio princeps reads tm vy(drvuvantu sfitave ; 
Shankar Pandit, following the minority of his MSS. and 
Sayama, reads tam, which was also proposed by Roth, l.c., 
p- 15, and adopted by Weber, l.c., p. 405. I have trans- 
lated tam, because the womb and not the foetus (cf. AV. 
IV, 2, 8) is opened at birth. 


Stanza 3. 


a. We shall, in all probability, never be able to unravel 
the tangle of mixed, punning notions which have given rise 
here to the dz. Aey., the proper name Sishan. Ludwig is 
impressed with it so much as to endow the entire hymn 
with the title SQshan. In the first place it is a modification 
of Pdshan, suggesting the future or desiderative of the root 
sd, ‘beget ;’ cf. sishyanti, RV. V, 78, 5. Then, there is 
surely an allusion to ush4(4) vydravati in RV. I, 92, 11, 
that is, sdsh4 is dimly felt to be su + ushd, ‘ beautiful Ushas;’ 
cf. Tait. 5. IV, 7, 3, 2. Sdyavza plainly and mechanically 
offers this as one of three explanations, sobhana ushah 
sishé. And again the words su ‘well’ and san ‘obtain’ 
may also have flitted before the eyes of the versifex, cf. 
sishaze in Pada c. SAyaza offers two explanations in addi- 
tion to the above, sfisha savitrt praganayitri devat4, and 
suvam sanotisti sisha. The Pada is catalectic, but scarcely 
stands in need of emendation; cf. Oldenberg, Die Hymnen 
des Rigveda, pp. 34 ff. 


I, II. COMMENTARY. 245 


b. Cf. RV. V, 78, 5; Ait. Br. V, 15, 4. 

9. Sishave (ὅπ. Aey. as sish4 in Pada a) may be a voca- 
tive from either sishawi or sdshav4. SAyama, he sfshaze, 
suvam sanoti prayakkAati .. . sukhaprasavakdrini devata. 

ἃ. Still more problematic is bishkale. SAyana explains 
it as either from bishka, an imitative word, and the root 
14 ‘ take’ or ‘make,’ or else from a combination of the roots 
vish ‘permeate’ and kal ‘go!’ According to the Sabda- 
kalpadruma, bishkala is the domestic sow (gramyasikara) 
called bahv-apatya, ‘ having abundant offspring,’ on account 
of its prolificness. 


Stanza 4. 


Cf. Par. Grth. I, 16, 2; Hir. Grth. II, 3, 3. Sayana, 
supported by some MS. authority, reads m4msena, as does 
Paraskara. Sdyaa quotes from an unquotable Vedic text 
(nigam4ntaram)another form of this mantra, svavity/(!) avapa- 
dyasva na mdmseshu na sn4vasu na baddham asi maggasu. 

9. Sévalam is problematic. The scholiast to Paraskara 
renders it ‘moist, slimy,’ and the Petersburg lexicon’s sus- 
picion that this is a purely etymological rendering based 
upon the name of the water-plant saivala is fully borne out 
by SAyaza’s statement, sevalam galasyoparisthitasaivalavat 
Antar4vayav4sambaddham. Roth, l.c, p. 16, suggests 
kevalam, ‘alone ;’ cf. for the interchange between s and k, 
Bloomfield and Spieker in the Proc. Amer. Or. Soc. for 
May, 1886 (Journ., vol. xiii, p. cxxi). 


Stanza 5. 


Cf. Tait. 5. III, 3, 10,1; AV. I, 3,6. ϑάγαπα, gavinike 
yoned parsvavartinyau nirgamanapratibandhike nadyau. 


Stanza 6. 


Cf. RV. V, 78, 7. 8; Sat. Br. XIV, 9, 4, 22; Vag. S. 
VIII, 28; Nirukta III, 15; Hir. Grth. II, 3, τ; Apast. 
Mantrabr. II, 11, 15; Bhar. Gvth. I, 21; Baudh. Grzh. 
Parisishéa IT, 2. 


246 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


I, 12. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 7. 


The history of the interpretation of this hymn is of 
uncommon interest, because it illustrates forcibly the par— 
ticular closeness of relation between the hymns of the 
Atharvan and the practices reported in connection with 
them. Professor Weber, Indische Studien, IV, p. 405, 
translated the hymn under the caption ‘Gegen hitziges 
fieber, and, guided especially by the more immediate 
meaning of garayugd/, ‘the product of the placenta, after- 
birth, he thought that the hymn referred to puerperal 
fever, or the fever of a child. Ludwig, Der Rigveda, ITI, 
Ρ- 343, surmised that the hymn was directed against inflam- 
mation, and Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 390, refers to 
it in connection with the word vata in the first stanza, 
which he would translate by ‘wound;’ he a.sv identifies 
vata with ‘wound’ etymologically. The compound vdta- 
bhragd4s in the first stanza, as he understands, means 
‘suffering from wound-fever.’ But Zimmer's theory that 
the word vata ever means ‘wound’ has not sustained 
itself: vata is ‘wind in the body;’ vatikrztandsani (VI, 44, 
31) is ‘destroyer of the disease which comes from wind 
(of the body) ;’ cf. bata byddhi (vatavy4dhi), ‘ diseases pro- 
duced by wind (in the body), in Wise’s Hindu System of 
Medicine, p. 250, and see Contributions, Fourth Series, 
Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 427. 

In Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda, l.c., VII, pp. 
469 ff., I presented a full discussion of the hymn, and, 
aided by the indications of the Kausika-sQtra, showed that 
the hymn referred to lightning, which is regarded as pro- 
ductive of certain diseases mentioned in the context, to 
wit, fever (cf. the word sof#isha in st. 2), headache, and 
cough. The pivotal word in the hymn is garayugdaf, and 
it is interesting to note why it is especially misleading. 
The first book of the Atharvan is a miscellaneous collec- 


' Cf. the note there, at VI, 109, 3, and IX, 8, 20. 


I, 12. COMMENTARY. 247 


tion of hymns containing for the most part, though not 
unfailingly, four stanzas each (cf. AV. XIX, 23,1; Atharva- 
nukramaai I, 1,13; Ath. Paris. 48, 9 and 10; Gop. Br. I, 
1,8; Ind. Stud. IV, 433; XVII, 178). There is no definite 
order in the arrangement of the hymns within the book, 
but there appears a marked tendency to group together 
two or even three having the same or a similar subject. 
This concerns especially hymns 11-13. The eleventh is 
a charm for easy delivery in childbed. The last three 
stanzas end with the refrain, 4va gardyu padyatdm, ‘may 
the placenta come down;’ in addition to this the word 
garayu occurs thrice more in the course of the last three 
verses. Now, there can be no doubt that the redactor 
placed our hymn (I, 12) after I, 11 simply because it begins 
with the word gar4yugd#'. This does not argue that he 
misunderstood the true nature of the hymn; on the con- 
trary it ie .piite clear that he recognised its association 
with lightning, because he has placed after it I, 13, a hymn 
which is evidently a prayer to lightning (ndmas te vidyute, 
&c.). He placed I, 12 after I, 11 simply because the word 
garayugah offered as good a point of linkage as any other 
at hand, the fundamental difference in its value notwith- 
standing. But it is natural that European readers should 
have seized upon this erroneous suggestion, so as to be 
influenced by it in deciding the purpose of the hymn. 

The native treatment of the hymn exhibits considerable 
divergence, owing to its duplex character. It is a hymn 
to lightning ; and, on the other hand, the diseases attributed 
to lightning present even more salient and practical points, 
destined to bé prominent in its designation and ritual 
application. So the Anukramami describes it as a yaksh- 
mandsanam siktam, ‘a hymn which cures consumption’ 
(cf. the word kdsds ‘from cough’ in st. 3); in the Gana- 
mala, Ath. Paris. 32, 7, it is one of the takmandsanagaza, 


' Note the words st4na/ and stanayitnur respectively, in VII, 10 
and VII, 11, as the probable, and even more inane reason for the 
juxtaposition of the two hymns in the redaction. 


248 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


‘a group of hymns designed to cure takman, fever’ (cf. 
Kaus. 26, 1, note). Kausika employs it twice, presenting 
its two main characteristics. In 38, I-7 it is used in a 
charm against thunderstorms, preceding the employment 
in a similar charm of AV. I, 13 and VII, 11, both of which 
are palpably hymns addressed to lightning. But in 26, 
1-9 it is employed further in a performance which is dis- 
tinctly described by Darila as a sirorogabhaishagyam, ‘cure 
for headache’ (cf. mu#ka sirshaktyd in st. 4 4), and by 
Kesava as, atikdse sirshaktisirovedanayam ka karmani, ‘rites 
against excessive cough and pains in the head.’ 

The latter practice is as follows: 1. ‘While reciting AV. 
I, 12 (the priest) lets (the patient) drink of fat}, honey, 
ghee, and sesame-oil. 2. (The patient), his head covered 
with a turban made of mugga-grass? (saccharum munja 
roxburgiense), goes along carrying in his left hand parched 
grain® in a sieve, from which he scatters it with his left 
hand. 3. (The patient then goes on, carrying) in his left 
hand the sieve and the turban, in his right hand a bow- 
string and an axe. 4. The (patient goes) in front of the 
priest who gives the orders‘. 5. On the spot where the 
disease seizes upon him he puts down the sieve and 
the turban. 6. And (also) the bowstring. 7. He returns 
home. 8. (The patient) puts ghee up his nose. 9g. (The 
priest) while supporting the patient’s head with a staff (of 
bamboo) having five knots mutters (the hymn).’ The 
sense of these practices, obscure though they are in many 


1 Kesava, mamsameda. 

* Kaus. maufga-prasna; Darila, prasna ushatsham; Kesava, 
maufiga-induka (cf. indva in the Pet. Lex., and especially in Kaus. 
26, 30). 

3. Kaus. piilyani; Kes. agin. Symbolic scattering of the fever. 

4 Kesava here is the least obscure of the commentators, vy4- 
dhitam agre kritva. 

5 The text of the Sftra is very obscure. One MS. of the text 
reads 4vraganam; the rest, 4vragatam. Daérila has Avragam twice 
(see notes 7 and ro on p. 71 of the edition); this may be for the 
participle avragan, and has served as the basis of the translation. 


1, 12. COMMENTARY. 240 


details, is clearly a symbolic act of drawing the disease 
out of the head, and depositing it where it is supposed to 
’ have come from; cf. the introduction to VI, 26. One is 
tempted, at first sight, to accuse the medicine man of the 
banalité of employing mufiga-grass simply because it puns 
with mu#a, ‘release, and this would be no more than 
Atharvanesque. Possibly, however, there is a little more 
contained in the practice. In Sat. Br. VI, 3, 1, 26 we have 
the following legend: ‘Agni went away from the gods, he 
entered the mufga-grass. Therefore that is hollow, and 
for that very reason it is as it were disfigured by smoke. 
The mufga is the womb here of Agni.’ In that case we 
have here the usual attractio similium. The mufga is 
employed in drawing off the effect of lightning, because 
it is the natural home of fire (lightning). Cf. also Sat. Br. 
VI, 6, 1, 23. 

Uncanny is the rite which the Kausika prescribes in 
connection with the hymn at 38, 1-7. It is directed against 
stormy weather, durdina, the relation of which to lightning, of 
itself obvious, is stated explicitly in the Harivamsa 9609, 
tumulam durdinam ξᾷ -- 514 vidyutstanayitnumat, ‘and there 
arose a crashing storm accompanied by lightning and 
thunder.’ The passage of the Stra may be translated as 
follows: 1. ‘When one goes against a storm he faces it! 
while reciting AV. I, 12. 2. Stanza by stanza (he faces 
the storm hurling) jets of water? (against it). 3. (And he 
faces it) with a sword, a firebrand, and a club®. 4. (And 
he faces it) naked while wiping his forehead. 5. Into 
a coal-pan which he has removed outside (of the house) 
he makes an oblation of (the leaves of) the horse-radish 


? Kesava, durdinam abhimukham upatish/Aate. 

5 udavagraik: the Brahmamas have innumerable times the ex- 
pression vagro va dpa, e.g. Sat. Br. VII, 2, 1, 17. 

5. kishkuru (with variants) is unknown elsewhere, but Kesava in 
glossing it with laku/‘a=laguda is clearly well-informed. The word 
is doubtless identical with kishku, which the scholiast at Pa#é. Br. 
VI, 5, 12 glosses with danda, 


250 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


tree! and pebbles. 6. He puts on (fagots of) the ker? 
and arka (calotropis gigantea) plants. 7. Beaten by the 
rain, with dishevelled hair ®, going thrice around a pit he 
quickly buries into it the arka-wood.’ The symbolism of 
this performance is not altogether transparent; the use 
of the arka is doubtless founded upon a double entente: 
arka is ‘flash of lightning,’ and its cessation is coaxed by 
burying the arka-wood in the pit. . 


Stanza L 


a. For garayu-ga, ‘ born of the (cloud-)womb,’ cf. abhra-ga 
in st. 3, and such expressions as vidyun meghdasakhé, ‘ the 
lightning whose companion is the cloud,’ in the Suparm#a- 
khy4na 3, 2. The more literal meaning of the word is 
‘placenta-born,’ an idea thoroughly Indic. Cf. Sat. Br. 
VI, 5, 3, 5, trivréd dhi pragati# pita mata putro-tho garbha 
ulbam garayu. Cf. also VI, 6, 1,24. Professor Kern some 
years ago was good enough to impart to me his own some- 
what different view: ‘As to garayugd-, I think that is 
what the Norse skalds called a kenning, an oratorical peri- 
phrasis of vatsa, and this is a veiled expression for light- 
ning ; cf. apdm vatsa as denoting the fire of lightning, and 
the srivatsa, the lightning figure on the breast of Vishzu.’ 
(Letter of May 10, 1887.)—For the epithet vr/shan as 
applied to lightning see now my article on sishma, Con- 
tributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Mor- 
genlandischen Gesellschaft, XLVIII, 565 ff. The entire 
passage has a good parallel in RV. IX, 74, 3, tse yd 
vrishzér ita usriyo vrfsh4 apdm netd ya itadtir rigm{ya4, 
where Soma is obviously compared with lightning. 

b. The edition reads vatabhrag4(/), but the text is not 
absolutely certain, as Sayaza comments upon vatavragah*. 


1 Darila, sigrupatrazi. 

3 Darila, keraparaisti γᾶ surashé/re pumdarikesti; Kesava, paser- 
akasamidhaA. ; 

5 pratilomakarshitas is explained in the light of keseshu karshité 
in the Mrikkhakafiké 16, 25. 

4 Sayama refers the entire stanza to Aditya, ‘the sun.’ 


I, 12. COMMENTARY. 251 


Both readings are worthless; I have substituted in my 
article on the Seven Hymns, vata-abhra-gds. It is 
refreshing to see for once an emendation rendered abso- 
lutely certain by a later discovery. The entire Pada 
presents the stereotyped four component parts of a storm, 
vata, abhra, stanayitnu, and vrish#i; in this way they are 
catalogued in a variety of Vedic texts; see the article on 
sushma just quoted, 1]. ς., pp. 569-70. 

c. Read tanvargugé with crasis of sandhi-hiatus. The 
juxtaposition of rigugé and rugan is of the punning order. 

ἃ. Read trayadh4!.—Cf. the statements about Vishzu, 
who himself single passes through three regions, e.g. RV. 
VIII, 29, 7, trizy éka urugdyé vi kakrame. Resting upon 
this parallelism I have taken ékam dgas as in apposition 
with the subject of the clause. 


Stanza 2. 


a. sokis, the salient symptom of fever, AV. I, 25, 2, 4; 
V, 22,2; VI, 20, 3. 

9. I have translated ankd as ‘crook’ and samanka 
synonymically as ‘hook.’ Both translations are purely 
tentative ; anka may mean ‘hook,’ and at present any ren- 
dering of samanka is an enfant perdu. The word occurs 
once more in the Atharvan, VI, 50, 1, apparently as the 
name of some pestiferous insect, or animal which destroys 
grain. I do not know how to mediate between the two 
uses of the word. S4yaza, ankan a#kanasilan sdryasya 
anugaran samankd4n sama#kanasilan samipe vartaman4n 
antaranhgan api parivarabhdtan devan. 

ἃ. The text of the Samhita reads asyA, the Padap4tha, 
asya. If the latter is correct in its interpretation, this is 
the only instince in the Rig and Atharvan-vedas of asya 
as a masculine. Looked at purely by itself asy4 grabhita 
may stand for asy4(%) grdbhitaé, and this opens out the 


' Cf. my article, On certain irregular Vedic subjunctives or 
imperatives, Amer. Journ. Phil. V, p. 27 (12 of the reprint). 


252 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


possibility that the stanza stood originally in some other 
connection where a feminine was appropriate. 


Stanza 3. 


The stanza, in accordance with its context, is employed 
in Kaus. 27, 34, along with the so-called mrig4ra-siktani, 
in a more general remedial charm, designated by Darila as 
a sarvabhaishagyam. 

a. sirshakti, probably for sirshasakti with haplology ; see 
Proceedings of the American Oriental Society, 1893 
(Journal, vol. xvi), p. xxxv. The poet puns upon the 
word in Pada d with sakatém, although sakti is more likely 
to come from sa%g, rather than sak. 

b. The masculine yé is difficult. I have referred it to 
the lightning (usriyo vrésh4, or sishma’), which involves 
a considerable ellipsis, indicated by the parenthesis in the 
translation. But it seems to me possible to refer γό to 
kasd(#) in Pada a, and to translate more simply, ‘ Release 
him from headache, and also from cough, which has entered 
every joint of him.’ Namely kds, feminine, jostles with its 
thematic pendant k4sd4, masculine, in AV. V, 22, 10 and 
11 (kasd, instrumental feminine in 10; but ka4sdm, accusa- 
tive masculine in 11). It requires no violent stretch of the 

grammatical imagination to suppose that the poet uncon- 
ἢ sciously has shifted his position from the feminine in Pada a 
to its masculine doublet k4s4 in Pada Ὁ. The masculine 
form prevails in the classical period. 

ce. For sishmo, see the article on the word, cited above, 
where several close parallels to this passage are assembled. 


I, 14. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 107. 


The history of the interpretation of this hymn is of 
interest. Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 408 (cf. also V, 218); 
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 459; and Zimmer, Altin- 
disches Leben, p. 314, translated and interpreted the hymn 
as a marriage-hymn. Zimmer thought that the stanzas 
were spoken at the end of the ceremony, as the bridegroom 


I, 14. COMMENTARY. 253 


assumed charge of the bride. The present writer, following 
the indications of the practices connected with the hymn in 
the Kausika (36, 15-17), thought that it was a charm of 
a woman against a rival, and dealt with the hymn and the 
ritual in this sense in an article devoted to the subject in 
Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda, Amer. Journ. Phil. 
VII, pp. 473-6. It is of interest to find now that Sayana 
construes the hymn in the very same spirit. 

The proceedings in the Kaus. are somewhat as follows : 
36, 15. ‘ While reciting AV. I, 14, the wreath, pillow (?), 
tooth-brush, and hair (of the woman against whom the 
charm is undertaken are placed) into the skin of a cow 
slain by Rudra, or of a funeral cow, and buried in the cavity 
of a mortar under a pile of three stones'. 16. The hymn 
is recited while the wreath is being ground up. 17. Three 
tufts of hair are tied (each) with a black thread (and buried 
under) a pile of three stones, the stones each alternately 
above (each tuft).’ Then follows in Satra 18 a subsidiary 
rite for digging the ‘fortune’ up again (Kesava), saubhagya- 
karazam : ‘ Then one digs her fortune up with the formula, 
“ That fortune of thine which they have buried into a pile 
of three stones, or four stones, that we now dig up, along 
with offspring and wealth.”’ 

Throughout the hymn and the ritual the spirit of fierce 
hatred manifests itself in allusions to the burial rites. Thus 
in the ritual the anustaravi; in stanzas 1, 3, the word pitz¢shu, 
translated above ‘ with her relatives, may also mean (with 


1 The Sftra bristles with difficulties; nishpramanda has been 
translated by ‘pillow,’ because Sayama says, tadupabhuktamalya- 
kandukadantadhavanakesaném. . . (ni)khananadikarm4zi. But the 
word nishpramanda is none too certain; some MSS. and Kesava 
read nipramanda, and Darila’s comment on the word is unintel- 
ligible (kridAyavarg4gendukaA; cf. pramanda=indukad, Kaus. 8, 
173 25,113 32, 29, and Kausika, Introduction, p. lii). I trans- 
late kosa by ‘skin,’ because Kesava says, fsinahata tasyh karmana 
szveshfya (the passage is not extracted in the edition). But cf. 
the word anta/kos4m in st. 4c. Both Darila and Kesava explain 
fsanahatd, ‘slain by Rudra,’ as=gvarahatd, ‘killed by fever.’ 


254 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


double entente) ‘among the Fathers or manes.’ The first 
hemistich of the third stanza, considered by itself, might be 
readily interpreted as being uttered at the funeral of a 
maiden; indeed, it seems possible that material of this 
sort has been worked over for the occasion. The secondary 
employment of stanzas, composed primarily for the burial 
service, is possibly to be assumed for stanzas 2-4 of RV. 
VII, 55 (see Aufrecht, Ind. Stud. IV, 342), and for AV. II, 
12, 7-8 (q.v.). The Anukramami makes the following curious 
statement in regard to our hymn: namas te astu (I, 13), 
bhagam δεγὰ (I, 14), iti sdkte vaidyute dve Anushtubhe, 
prathamam vaidyutam param varunam vo-ta yamyam va, 
prathamena vidyutam astaud, dvitiyena tadartham: yamam. 
There seems to be no reason for associating these hymns, 
nor for regarding I, 14 as having any relation to lightning !. 


Stanza 1. 


Padas a and o, apparently each hypermetric, may be 
restored by reading, with elision and crasis, bhagdsy4, and 
mah&budhneva. 

d. pitr/shu, ‘ with her relatives,’ as stated more explicitly 
in st. 2. So also Sdéyava. Cf. the words pitrishad and 
amA4gur in the lexicons. But there seems to be intended, 
too, an allusion to the manes, i.e. to death; cf. the intro- 
duction. 

Stanza 2. 

a, Ὁ. S4yaza, here and in the next stanza, refers ragan to 
Soma, supporting his hypothesis by a reference to RV. X, 
85, 40, where Soma is said to have been the first to woo 
the maiden, being followed by Gandharva, Agni, and man. 
Cf. also Vas. Dharm. XXVIII, 5. 

ο, d. It depends upon circumstances whether the girl 
lives with her (widowed) mother, or her father, or, after the 
decease of her parents, with her brother; cf. for the latter 
contingency, AV. I, 17, 1. 


> Unless the word fsfnahata, Kaus. 36, 15, has misled the author 
of that very late and bungling performance. 


I, 14. COMMENTARY, 255 


Stanza 3. 


a. Sdyava comments upon kulapa instead of kulap4(%) of 
the Samhit4 and Padapazha. 

ἃ. The MSS. unanimously have this Pada in the form 
ἅ sirshuak samépy at (Padap., sam épyat). Sayava emends to 
samopyat, commenting, sirasak samvapanat bhimau sampa- 
tanat, ‘until her head sinks to the ground.’ This coin- 
cides with the reading of the Paippalada, and is accepted 
by Shankar Pandit and Whitney ; see Festgruss an Rudolf 
von Roth, p. yo. For the interchange between s and 8, see 
our article in the Proc. Amer. Or. Soc., May, 1886 (Journal, 
vol. xiii, p. cxx). The text in this form might mean ‘until 
she scatters from her head,’ i.e. ‘ until she becomes bald.’ 
Even after the authority of the Paippalada I venture to 
repeat, very hesitatingly, my suggestion (Amer. Journ. Phil. 
VII, p. 476), that 4 sirshvas késam ὀργᾶϊ may have been 
the original text of the Saunakiya-sékha. ‘Let her scatter 
her hair from her head,’ or ‘let her scatter the hair of her 
head,’ either by growing bald, or as a sign of mourning (cf. 
Contributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, pp. 
336 ff.). Opya as a noun is very strange, and sam+4+ 
upyat (precative) would seem to require an expressed 
object in the accusative. We are reminded, too, of the 
expression késén pra vapanti, ‘they let down their hair, 
AV. XIX, 32, 2, as a sign of mourning. 


Stanza 4. 


a,b. The juxtaposition of Kasyapa and Gaya reminds 
one of Kasyapa of Gaya, who plays a conspicuous part in 
the Buddha legend. Asita is another worthy in the same 
narrative. See the words in the Pet. Lex., and cf. our note 
on IV, 20, 7. 

9. gami, in the broader sense of the word in the later 
language, ‘female relatives of the householder.’ S4yama, 
striyak ; cf. Nirukta III, 6. 


256 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


I, 16. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 65. 


The Kausika, 47, 23-4, presents this hymn in the sixth 

book, devoted to the witchcraft practices (A4bhi#4rikami), as 
follows : 23. ‘While reciting AV. 1, 16 he who performs 
the practice collects ground lead, and puts it into the food 
(of his enemy), or upon the ornaments (upon his person). 
24. With a staff, made from a decayed bamboo-reed, as 
long as an arm, and ornamented ', he strikes (the enemy).’ 
According to the Paribhdsh4-sitra, Kaus. 8, 18, the word 
‘lead’ in these practices is to be construed very broadly, 
including both lead itself, ‘ river-lead ’ (i.e. according to the 
commentators, river-foam), iron-filings, and the head of 
a lizard. In Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. 
Soc. XV, pp. 157 ff, I have endeavoured to show that 
this class of practices is founded upon the famous legend of 
Indra and NamuAi, in which Indra slays Namuéi with the 
‘foam of the waters.’ The other substances seem to be 
substituted for practical reasons, being more easily obtained 
and more readily handled. They may, of course, have 
been regarded as available for this purpose for other 
reasons, that escape us. 
- The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 
409; Grill*, pp. 1, 75. The Anukramani describes the 
hymn as £atanam, ‘ charm to chase away with,’ and accord- 
ingly it figures in the series called Aatanagaza in the 
Ganamla, Ath. Paris. 32, 3; see Kaus. 8, 25 note. 


Stanza 1. 


a. In Apastamba’s Dharmasitra I, 11, 31, 21 we have: 
‘ During the day the sun protects the creatures, during the 
night the moon. Therefore let him eagerly strive to pro- 
tect himself on the night of the new-moon by purity, con- 


- 


1 The term alamkrita here seems to mean technically ‘anointed 
(with ghee) ;’ see D&rila at Kaus. 48, 3, and cf. Kaus. 47, 40. 44. 


I, 17. COMMENTARY. 257 


tinence, and rites adapted to the season.’ Cf. also AV. IV, 
36, 3; Tait. 5. II, 2, 2,2; Maitr. S. II, 1,11. The accu- 
sative rdtrim is not favoured by the metre, and we should 
expect rdtryam. Sayama, sarvasy4m ratrau udasthuZ uttish- 
thanti. 

b. Sayama reads bhragam for vragam, to wit: ratrism 
raganim bhragam bhragam4n4m ; or again, bhr4gamanam 
ον purusham himsitum udasthu#. He repeats this read- 
ing when quoting the stanza in his comment on II, 9, 1. 
Cf. also the note on vatabhrag4Z, I, t2, 1°. 

ο. Sdayana takes turfya in the sense of ‘ fourth,’ as allud- 
ing to the well-known legend of the three older brothers of 
Agni who were worn out in the sacrificial service before the 
present Agni; see RV. X, 51 and 52; Sat. Br. I, 2, 3,1; 
Tait. 5. II, 6,6; Mahabh. III, 222, 7=14214, &c. (cf. 
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, V, 504-5). But turtya is the equiva- 
lent of turd, e.g. RV. VIII, 52, 7. 


Stanza 2. 


For the uses of lead in the ritualistic texts, see Weber, 
l. c., p. 410, and our article on Indra and NamuéAi, quoted 
above in the introduction. 


Stanza 8. 


For a full discussion of vishkandha, either some disease, 
or, as seems to us more likely, a kind of demon, see the 
note on IT, 4, 1. 


I, 17. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 22. 


This charm against flow of blood is the only one of the 
kind in the Atharvan. Kesava specifies that it is employed 
against internal and external flow of blood and (excessive) 
menstruation, atha lohita vahati sariramadhye bahis ka 

.. rudhiravraze ... striragasostipravartane bhaishagyam 
rudhirapravahe fa. The Kausika attaches to it the fol- 
lowing performances at 26, 10-13: ‘While reciting AV. I, 
17 (the practitioner) strews dust and sand around (the 
wound) with a bamboo-staff containing five joints (accord- 


[4] 8 


238 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


ing to Kesava he places the staff upon the wound [cf. Kaus. 
26, 9, samstabhya], and then strews the dust and sand '). 
11. He ties on mud from a marsh? 12. He gives (the 
patient a solution of it) to drink. 13. He (also) gives (him) 
to drink a mixture of curds and ground sesame, along with 
four tips of millet-grass.’ The chief point of relation be- 
tween the practices and the hymn is the application of 
a bandage or poultice of dust and sand which seems indi- 
cated in the fourth stanza with the words sfkatavati 
dhanir. 

The first stanza of the hymn is quoted with variants in 
YAska’s Nirukta, III, 4, from an unknown source; the 
Anukramai designates the hymn as yoshiddevatyam. 
Previous translations by Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 441; Lud- 
wig, Der Rigveda, III, 508; Grill?, pp. 16, 76; cf. also 
Hillebrandt’s Vedachrestomathie, p. 46. 


Stanza 1. 


In YAska’s Nirukta, III, 4, the stanza occurs in the fol- 
lowing version: amir y4 yanti gdmayaz sarvé lohitavdsasad : 
abhratara iva yoshas tish¢/anti (Durga, tish//antu) hata- 
vartmanak. Durga declares this to be an Atharvan-stanza, 
and says that the women are the blood-vessels (nadyah) 
which shall standestill, like brotherless maidens, debarred 


1 The word pamsusikat&ébhif, which I have translated as a copu- 
Jative compound, ‘dust and sand,’ is regarded by the commen- 
tators as a descriptive. Dérila, pamsuvat slakshmadhiliz sikaté 
valuka ; Kesava, rathyay44 p&mstin. 

* It is not quite clear whether the armakapélik4 is tied on as an 
amulet or as a bandage upon the wound: usually badhnati is the 
terminus technicus for the tying on of an amulet. Nor are the 
commentators agreed as to the meaning of the word; Kes. keda- 
ramrittika, and pahkamrittika. But the word occurs also in Tait. 
Ar. V, 2, 13 (cf. also Tait. S. V, 1, 6, 2), and in the commentary 
on the Tait. Ar., p. 394, it is explained as ‘ potsherds deposited in 
the decayed portion of the village,’ Airamtane girnagrimadese 
avasthita bhazdamsik. Sayama to our passage, sushkapankamrit- 
ΚΑ kedaramrittika va. 


1,17. COMMENTARY. 259 


from the samtanakarma and the pizdadana (ancestral rites) 
practised by the family of their husband. In AV. I, 14, 2 
the girl who has lost her father and mother is depicted as 
living in the house of her brother. Cf. Roth’s comment, 
Ρ- 25, and Zimmer, p. 328. The exact point of the com- 
parison is not quite clear, and Zimmer's translation of hata- 
varkas as ‘deprived of support or protection’ seems to 
import an occidental idea not in the text. See RV. I, 124, 
7; IV, 5, 5, and especially the statement, n4-bhratrim 
upayakfeta, ‘one may not marry a brotherless girl,’ in the 
commentary on Nirukta III, 5; Manu III, 11 ; Yag#avalkya 
I, 53; Vasishtkha XVII, 16; Gautama XXVIII, 20. 

Ὁ. lohita, with double entente, ‘red’ and ‘blood.’ 

ce. Read abhrdtareva ; the Anukramani, upon the strength 
of the apparently additional syllable, designates the stanza 
as a bhurig. 

Stanza 3. 


b. Ludwig rather whimsically translates sahdsrasya hira- 
mim ‘von den tausend gelben.’ It would seem as though 
the stanza intends to bring out a distinction between hird and 
dhamani, the former being the smaller and the latter the 
larger blood-vessels. Accordingly, ‘veins’ and ‘arteries.’ 
And yet in VII, 35, 2 (see the note there) both hird and 
dhamdni apparently have the more general sense of ‘ inte- 
rior canals,’ such as entrails, vaginal passage, and the like. 
Naturally, the knowledge of internal physiology is of the 
vaguest sort. For hir&, see Aufrecht in Kuhn’s Zeitschrift, 
III, 199 ; Weber, Omina und Portenta, p. 346. 


Stanza 4. 


Our translation of this stanza derives its main support 
from the practices above, which seem to imply that sand is 
put upon or about the wound. S4yana gives the passage 
a totally different bent ; he takes sfkatavatt dhandr brzhatf 
as the designation of one of the canals in the body which 
contains the sand that results in calculi in the bladder, 
sikaté ragdmsi tadvati n4ai, ‘sikat4, i.e. sand, the canal 
containing that.’ He says, further, that it is the canal 

52 


260 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


(n4di) which generates calculi (asmari), and finally describes 
it more explicitly as a ‘kind of canal crooked like a bow, 
and the seat of the urine,’ dhandr dhanurvad vakro mitra- 
sayo nadiviseshak. And he quotes a similar statement from 
a Smriti, mdtr4sayo dhanur vakro vastir ity abhidhiyate '. 
It would seem accordingly that he imagines the bladder, 
or some similar vessel, capable as it is of producing sand or 
calculi, a fitting agent to stop the flow of blood—an inter- 
esting conceit at any rate! Grill thinks that the entire 
stanza is a later addition. But Kausika, at any rate, 
found it where it is, and the original diaskeuasis of the 
AV. postulates four or more stanzas for each hymn of 
the first book; see Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda, 
Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 470 ff. Against this, there is only 
the deviation in the metre. 
9. The Pada is a formula; see RV. I, 191, 6. 


I, 18. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 109. 


Sayama, in the introduction to the hymn, describes the 
practices associated with it at Kaus. 42, 19-21 as designed 
to remove the blemishes of a woman afflicted with the 
evil characteristics mentioned in the s&mudrika-treatises. 
These blemishes are supposed to be on her face, hands, 
feet, and other members, mukhahastapad4dyangeshu s4mu- 
drikoktadurlakshamayuktéy4% striy4s taddoshanivrittaye. 
The sAmudrika-books (treatises on chiromancy) treat of 
both good and evil characteristics, for in his comment on 
st. 1c he says, yani sAmudrikasdstraprasiddhani .. . sau- 
bhagyakarawi Aihn4ni santi. Cf. Pet. Lex. under 2. sAmu- 
dra, and Kesava to Kaus. 42, 19, simudrike strilakshavam 
vyakhyatam, and note also Kaus. 18, 38, samudra ity 
Akakshate karma. 

The practices of the Kausika are as follows: 42, 19. 
‘While reciting AV. I, 18, the face of the woman afflicted 


1 Cf. with these statements Sdyaza’s comment on vastf, I, 3, 6, 
dhanurdékéro mf@trasayo vastir ufyate. 


1, 18. COMMENTARY. 261 


with evil characteristics is sprinkled after each verse, com- 
mencing at the braid of hair at the right. 20. Having 
made an offering of chaff from a vessel made of the wood 
of a palasa-tree (butea frondosa), he pours the rest (of the 
chaff) after (the first oblation). 21. Chaff, husks, refuse of 
grain, and shavings are placed upon the heel of her left 
foot.’ 

There are good and evil characteristics (lakshmi = lak- 
shama, cf. AV. VII, 115), and the main point of the prac- 
tices is their removal by washing, and by placing all kinds 
of offal where it will easily drop from the person under 
treatment, and cause symbolically the removal of the bad 
points. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. 
IV, 411 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 498 (cf. also 338) ; 
and Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, pp. 313 ff., where the 
charm is interpreted erroneously as directed against the 
house-cat. Cf. our brief criticism in the Journ. Am. Or. 
Soc. XV, 153, note. 


Stanza 1. 


a. SAyava reads lakshmam for lakshmyam, commenting, 
asaubhagyakaram kihnam. To lalamyam he _ remarks, 
lalame bhavam tilakasthanagatam. 

ἃ. The PAda is hypermetric, unless we read pragdyAratim 
with double sandhi. Ludwig would cure the passage by 
substituting nir for pragdyai, but the latter word seems 
guaranteed by AV. V, 25, 8, pragdyai tvd (tva 4) naydmasi, 
and possibly this is the original reading (cf. Geldner, l.c., 
314). In adhering to the traditional text I have supposed 
the meaning to be that she who has the character of an 
Arati is rendered fit for marriage and child-birth by the 
charm. Very problematic this is, to be sure. Sdyaza 
takes pragdyai with Pada c, yani... saubhAgy4ni Aihn4ni 
... tani... asmakam pragdy4i... bhavantu,... yani pdr- 
vam niksaritani asaubhagyakarazi £ihnéni... aratio satrum 
... prapaydma! 


262 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 2. 


a. drazim is ἅπ. Aey., reminding us of drama, ‘strange,’ 
dranya, ‘waste, forest,’ and arany4m{ (-πἴ), the personified 
goddess of the forest, RV. X,146. SAyaza reads arazim, 
commenting, aramazim alakshmim daurbhagyakaram kih- 
nam ... yadva aramanim sarvada parya/anakariazim 4rti- 
karim νὰ alakshmim. Shankar Pandit retains the reading 
of the MSS., savishak (for savishat in our edition), but 
Sayana reads sdvishat. Cf. the Vag. 5. in the Kanva- 
sakha X, 2,1; XX, 1, 1 (=IX, 5; XVIII, 30 of the 
Madhyamdina-sakha), and Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 248, 412; 
XIII, 108. See also Apast. Sr. XIII, 7, 13. 


Stanza 4. 


Sayaza treats all these epithets as referring directly to 
a woman ; we prefer to regard them as personifications of 
evil qualities, imagined as dwelling within the person whose 
characteristics are foul. SAyana, vrishasye=va danté yas- 
γᾶ 88 vrishadati sthiladantaé nari... gaur iva sedhati 
gakkhatisti gosedha stri...vikvstam dhamati sabdayate 
iti vidhama, phatkaradivividhasabdakariai . . . lalamyam 
lalamasth4ne lala¢aprante bhavam ... vilidkyam viseshena 
lidham vilidham, vilidkham iva sthitam kesanam prAtilo- 
myardpam. Our rendering of vilidhyam is not at all 
certain. 


I, 19. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 120. 


The hymn is one of a list of battle-charms, sAmgrami- 
κἀπὶ (sc. sdktani), rubricated in Kaus. 14, 7, and associated 
with ceremonies of a general character, preparatory to 
going to battle. The Gazaméla, Ath. Paris. 32, 13, has 
a similar list, somewhat more extensive, which is entitled 
aparagitagaza: see the note at Kaus. 14, 7, and cf. the 
introduction to I, 2. The hymn is also employed against 
certain portentous occurrences, as when Brahmazas carry 
arms (Kaus. 104, 3), when images of the gods dance, shake, 
laugh, sing, or indulge in other freaks (Kaus. 105, 1), or 


I, 22. COMMENTARY. 263 


when a bull sucks a cow (Kaus. 113, 3). Cf. also Ath. 
Paris. 17, 2. The hymn has been translated by Weber, 
Indische Studien, IV, 413; cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, 
Manuel Védique, p. 134. 


Stanzas 3, 4. 


These two stanzas are an expanded version of RV. VI, 
75,19. The latter part of that hymn contains suggestions 
which have been freely utilised in the battle-charms of the 
Atharvan. 


I, 22. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 7. 


The proceedings of the practitioner, Kaus. 26, 14-21, 
are entirely symbolic; the main effort is to banish the 
yellow colour to yellow creatures and objects (the sun), 
where it properly belongs, and to derive for the patient 
redness from that quarter where it is peculiarly at home, 
namely a red bull; cf. RV. I, 62,9, and Aufrecht in the 
introduction to his edition of the Rig-veda, vol. ii, p. xvii. 
The practices are as follows: 

26, 14. ‘While reciting AV. I, 22 (the priest) gives (the 
patient water) to sip, which is mixed with hair from (a red 
bull) the object mentioned in the mantra (st. 1). 15. And 
having poured (water) upon the back of the bull (he lets 
the patient drink it). 16. He ties on as an amulet upon 
the (patient) sitting upon the skin of a bull (the piece of 
skin) pierced by the peg with which it is fastened (when it 
is spread out)!, after having steeped it in cow’s milk and 
anointed it with the dregs of ghee*. 17. He gives (the 
patient the milk) to drink. 18. He feeds (the patient) with 


1 The words ‘the piece of skin,’ &c. are all of them a tentative 
rendering of sankudhanam, to which Dérila, farmano vistaraya 
kilakabandhaA sankustha4panam. S4yama, in the introduction to 
the hymn, raktagokarmagAidramanim . . . tanmazibandhanam. 
Kesava, go raktakarmakhidramanzim. Cf. also Kaus. 27, 29, to AV. 
Ill, 7, 1. 

3 Cf. Kaus. 7, 15. 


264 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


porridge made of haridra (turmeric, or curcuma, a yellow 
plant), daubs him from head to foot both with the remnants 
of the porridge and (additional porridge) from which he has 
not eaten, (places him upon a couch), ties the (three birds) 
mentioned in the mantra! by their left legs to the foot of 
the couch, and washes (the patient) off (upon the birds). 
19. He makes the patient step forward (after having first 
given him a stirred drink, mantha, in accordance with the 
paribhasha at Kaus. 7, 18). 20. He makes (the patient) 
address (with the hymn) the chattering (birds). 21. Having 
glued together with lac the hairs from the breast (of the 
red bull) and getting them covered with gold (the patient 
ties that on as an amulet).’ 

_ Sayaza in his introduction defines the purpose of the 
hymn as against heart-disease and jaundice, hridrogak4- 
miladirogopasdntaye ; Kesava advances a broader construc- 
tion, according to which it cures in addition epilepsy and 
fainting (vismaya?), apasmara-vismaya-hyidroga-kama- 
lakarohivakani bhaishagy4ni. Adalbert Kuhn, in Kuhn’s 
Zeitschrift, XIII, 113 ff., has assembled from Greek, Roman, 
and Teutonic sources notions and practices analogous to 
those elaborated by Kausika. The principle that the yellow 
disease belongs by right to yellow objects, birds, and plants, 
is there again applied practically, with a touch, here and 
there, of similia similibus curantur. In addition to 
Kuhn’s translation we note Weber’s, Ind. Stud. IV, 415 ff.; 
cf. also Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 343; Bergaigne et Henry, 
Manuel Védique, pp. 134-5; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 
p. 388; Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, 247 ff. (espe- 


} The suka, ropanaka, and haridrava mentioned in st. 4. Sayama, 
in his introduction, sukak4sh/Aasukagopftanak4khy4ném pakshi- 
nim. Darila defines héridravaA by haridravarnds kifakak. Kesava, 
συκᾶλ k&sh/ha(mu)sukam (!) 4a gopftilakima fa. They seem to 
refer respectively to the parrot, the thrush, and the yellow wagtail, 
all doubtless birds prevailingly yellow. The yellow jaundice of the 
patient, accentuated by his coat of yellow curcuma, is washed 
down upon the yellow birds, where it belongs. Cf. the notes on 
st. 4, and the introduction to VII, 116. 


I, 22. COMMENTARY. | 265 


cially 249, where turmeric still appears prominent among 
the curative agencies). Stanzas similar to I, 22 occur, 
RV. I, 50, 11-12; Tait. Br. III, 7, 6, 22-23; Apast. Sr. 
IV, 15, 1. 

Stanza 1. 


b. For hriddyotd the RV., Tait. Br., and Apast. Sr. have 
hridroga (cf. Ridraga, Wise 321); see also AV. V, 20, 12; 
VI, 24,1. Still another name is hvidayamayda, AV. V, 30, 
9; VI, 14,1; 127, 3. For the root dyut, cf. AV. IV, 12, 
2; XII, 3, 22: hrid-dyotd literally means ‘heart-break ;’ 
S4yana takes it as ‘heart-burning, hridayam samtapayati 
(cf. Lat. splendida bilis). 

ο. The Vedic Hindu is deeply impressed with the red- 
ness of the cow, which is contrasted with its white milk, 
RV. I, 62, 9, &c. ‘Osage mir wie geht es zu, gibt weisse 
milch die rothe kuh.’ Perhaps we have here, too, an allu- 
sion to the divine Rohita in the thirteenth book of the 
AV.; see Henry, Les Hymnes Rohitas, and our Contribu- 
tions, Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, 429 ff. 


Stanza 2. 


The anacoluthon in Padas c, d, seems to be occasioned 
by aydm, which is a sort of vox media fit for both second 
_ and third persons singular. , 


Stanza 3. 


a. I have followed Bergaigne and Henry, Manuel Vé- 
dique, p. 135 note, in emending the unintelligible réhiir 
devatyd(4) to réhinidevaty4(Z), ‘the cows whose divinity 
is Rohini.’ I differ from these scholars in co-ordinating it 
with gdvo, rather than supplying r/kak; see the above- 
mentioned Contributions, p. 437. Rohizit is the female 
of Rohita, a personification of the red, ascending (ruh), 
ruling sun. The stanzas devoted to Rohii occur AV. 
XIII, 1, 22 ff. SAyaza’s comment on Paédas a, b, is, deva- 
ty4/ devatésu bhava#... uktavarw (sc. rohinik) yak ka- 
madhenvadayo gava/ santi, uta api γὰλ manushyasam- 


266 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


bandhinyo τοίη rohizyah lohitavarza gavah santi tabhid 
ubhayavidhabhir gobhid. 


Stanza 4. 


b. ropav&ka is glossed by Sayana at RV. I, 50, 12 by 
sarik4, ‘thrush ἢ SAyaza on our hymn, twice, kash¢/asuka 
(harit pakshi: the word is not in the lexicons). Darila at 
Kaus. 26, 20. haridravarz4s kitak&k (not in the lexicons ; 
cf. kikkika, RV. X, 146, 2). Kesava, kash¢ka(mu)sukam (!), 
and kash¢sasu(sh)kagandana (! a kind of sandal). The com- 
mentators seem therefore to waver between a bird and 
a plant. 

9. hdridrava is glossed by SAyana at RV. VIII, 35, 7 
by pakshin, but the same work at I, 50, 12, as also the 
scholiast at Tait. Br. III, 7, 6, 22, has haritaladrumeshu 
(a kind of tree!). Sdyaza on our hymn, twice, gopitana- 
kakhya haridvarz4h pakshizak (gopitanaka is not in the 
lexicons, but gopita is ‘ wagtail’); Darila, ib., pitas itakak ; 
Kesava, twice, gopitilaka. 


I, 23. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 16. 


The practices connected with this and the next hymn 
are defined by the commentators as a cure for white 
leprosy, svetakush‘#4panodanaya (Sayaza), svetakush¢ha- 
bhaishagy4ni (Kesava). They are stated at Kaus. 26, 22-- 
24, as follows: 22. ‘While reciting AV. I, 23 and I, 24 (the 
priest) having rubbed dung (upon the sores) until they are 
red, smears upon them the substances, mentioned in the 
mantras!, 23: He cuts off the white (scurf). 24. (The 
patient ?), having been covered, performs the rites to 
the Maruts.’ The latter, described at Kaus. 41, 1-7, are 


1 Kesava and ϑᾶγαμα mention bhriigaraga (eclipta prostata ; 
note the pun between raga and ragani, &c. in I, 23, 1), haridra 
(yellow sandal, or yellow turmeric), indravaruzi (colocynth), and 
nilikaé. Darila has a somewhat different statement, too corrupt to 
be reported here. 


I, 23. COMMENTARY. 267 


primarily designed to produce rain, and their employment 
here, secondarily, may be intended to put the patient into 
a sweat. The point is problematic and not cleared up by 
the scholiasts. 

The entire hymn is repeated with variants at Tait. Br. 
II, 4,4,1.2. The third stanza of the next hymn is there 
added to the charm. 

Both this and the next hymn have been translated by 
Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, pp. 416 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 506, 509; Grill?, pp. 19, 77 ff.; cf. Wise, Hindu Sys- 
tem of Medicine, pp. 258 ff.; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 
Pp. 391; and Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 135. 
The Anukramani designates I, 23 as vanaspatyam, and 
I, 24 as asurivanaspatidevatyam. 


Stanza 1. 


Sayama refers the adjectives dark, &c., to the plants, 
indicated by Kausika’s commentators. The word ragani 
(as well as all others designating night) has also the mean- 
ing ‘curcuma longa.’ Cf. the scholiast at Tait. Br. II, 4, 
4, 1, ra#ganakshame oshadhe ...atra haridra ragani-ti 
ke&it. The two meanings are blended with the idea of 
‘rich in colour, by virtue of which the word puns with 
ragaya. 

Stanza 2. 


b. A considerable number of MSS., here as well as in 
3 ἃ, followed by SAyava, read prtthak for prfshat, which 
also makes good sense. The Tait. Br. also reads préshat. 

c. This seems to be addressed to the patient: his natural 
colour shall return to him. Grill takes offence at the 
parenthesis! and proposes to refer sva# to the plant; cf. 
also Ludwig, and Bergaigne et Henry, I.c., note. But the 
plants are of a colour different from the leper’s spots (hence 
their virtue), and sva/ is inappropriate. Sdyava, as in our 
translation, he rugza...svakiya# prag avasthito varzah. 


1 Cf. Aufrecht, Festgruss an Otto von Béhtlingk, p. 3. 


268 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


And still more explicitly the scholiast at Tait. Br., dehasya 
svakiyad parvasiddho vara. 


I, 24. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 16. 


For the application of the hymn in the ritual, and 
previous translations, cf. the introduction to I, 23. Stanza 3 
is repeated at Tait. Br. IT, 4, 4, 2. 


Stanza 1. 


Sayana states the little legend (A4khy4yika) as follows: 
The dark plant here in question was the gall (pitta, dosha) 
of the primordial bird suparza (garutm4n). The Asuri 
(asuravam maya kakana stri) engaged in battle with him 
and conquered. The gall captured in the battle she 
embodied into the form of trees (nili, and so forth). This 
neat story would commend itself at once but for the word 
gitd, which does not mean ‘ she conquered ’ (Sdy., gitavati), 
but ‘ she was conquered.’ The story is so pat as to tempt 
to the emendation gitvd, or (as Ludwig suggests) gitdm. 
In general, af course, asura in the Atharvan, as elsewhere, 
stands for the hostile powers conquered by the Devas, 
e.g. AV. IT, 27, 3.4; IV, 19,4; VI, 7,2; VIII, 5,33 ΙΧ, 
2,137.18; X,3, t1; 6,22-8; XI, 5,7; 10,10.15; XII, 
1, 15. But a different tone prevails occasionally. In 
VI, 108, 3 the Asuras are said to know wisdom; in 
VI, 100, 3 the ant (upagika), which is employed as an 
antidote against poison, is called the daughter of the 
Asuras; in II, 3, 3; VI, 109, 3 they dig remedies into 
the ground, and finally, in VII, 38, 2, the Asuri attracts to 
herself Indra from the company of the gods, so that, 
according to Kash. 5. XIII, 5, he lives with the Asuras (cf. 
Ind. Stud. III, 479; V, 250, 453). The sense of Sayana’s 
stury is therefore not irrelevant. Note also that Asuri itself 
is the name of a magic plant (cf. Magoun, Asuri-kalpa, 
Amer. Journ. Phil. X, 165 ff.). If, on the other hand, gité 
of the text is retained, it is hard to see how she possessed 
herself of the gall of the suparv#d, unless by way of revenge, 


I, 24. COMMENTARY. 269 


or theft. Hence we have, hesitatingly, adopted the emen- 
dation gitva. A later transcriber, shocked by the imputation 
that the Asuri was victorious, might easily have made the 
change. 

Weber, |. c., p. 418, regards supar#a as the sun and Asurf 
as the night, who, having been conquered by the sun, with- 
draws into the forest and assumes the form of trees: ‘ Der 
vogel, der zuerst erstand, dessen gall’ du gewesen bist. 
Die Asuri im kampf besiegt machte die baum’ zu ihrer 
form. But there is scarcely any occasion here for a 
mythical eagle: the eagle and the boar naturally find 
plants, the one with his eye, the other with his snout (see 
II, 27, 2; V, 14, 1), and the legend must in some way rest 
upon this natural fact. This translation, too, establishes no 
connection between the first and second parts of the stanza. 
Very similarly Grill. 

ἃ. For vdnaspatin the Paippalada has vdnaspdati# in 
accordance with the common usage of the Brahmazas, 
e.g. asvo ripam kritva, Tait. Br. 111, 8, 12,2; Apast. Sr. 
V, 2,4; krishno ripam kritv4, Tait. Br. III, 7,4, 8. See 
Delbriick, Altindische Syntax, p. 103 ; Pet. Lex. s.v. rapa 
(column 421); Ind. Stud. XIII, 111. This makes a decidedly 
better construction: ‘having assumed the form of a tree.’ 
Ludwig, translating the Saunakiya-text, ‘(die Asurt) hat es 
zur farbe der biume gemacht,’ and similarly Sayava, gayena 
labdham tat pitta rdpam kakre, oshadhy4tmana sevyam 
akaram aké4rshit, tad eva rtpam 4ha, vanaspatin nilyddin. 
I have followed their lead, though I am for my part 
unacquainted with any such construction of kar (with three 
accusatives ; note also the middle, 4akre). 


Stanza 2. 


a,b. Sadyava treats idam as follows: idam suparzapittena 
nirmitam nilyadikam, which corresponds with his and our 
interpretation of st. 1. In the later literature Asurt is 
a branch of medicine; see the Pet. Lex. under suri 3) and 
manusha. The metre of the two Padas is irregular: idam 
kilasandsanam seems to be a gloss. 


270 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 4. 


a. The European edition reads sim&, which Ludwig puts 
- forth as the title of the hymn. The Paippalada, as also 
two of Shankar Pandit’s MSS., have sy4mé (cf. simaka = 
syamaka, Kaus. 8, 11); this is undoubtedly correct, and 
corresponds with ragani in I, 23, 1. 


I, 25. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 3. 


The practice which Kausika reports for this hymn is 
similar in character, but totally different in detail from 
those connected with AV. V,22 and VI,20. The practising 
priest, according to Sitra 26, 25, has an axe heated; then 
the axe is quenched in water, and the water thus heated is 
poured upon the patient: yad agnir iti parasum gapams 
tapayati kvathayaty avasi#éati. Darila renders this quite 
clear, parasunad kvathayaty udakam ... taptenodakend 
=vasimkati rogizam. The heated water is supposed doubt- 
less to draw the heat of the fever out of the patient, as it 
flows from him (attractio similium). Kesava describes the 
performance as a gvarabhaishagyam, nityagvare velagvare 
satatagvare ekAntaritagvare Aaturthikagvare 4a ritugvare 
ka; cf. stanza 4.c,d. Similarly Sayama in the introduction, 
aikéhikadisitagvarasamtatagvaravelagvaradisantaye. The 
hymn has been treated by Weber, Indische Studien, IV, 
419 ff. ; Grohmann, ib. IX, 384 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 511; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, pp. 381, 384; 
Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 136. It is 
quoted also at Kaus. 26,1 note, as one of the takman4- 
sanagaza of the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 7. 


Stanza 1. 


The stanza is not quite clear, Sayama refers to the 
practices in the Sftra, which are, of course, themselves 
based upon suggestions derived from the mantra. ‘When 
Agni having entered the waters burned’ refers doubtless to 
the circle of well-known legends that deal with Agni’s escape 
to the waters. Two hymns of the Rig-veda, X, 51 and 


I, 25. COMMENTARY. 271 


52, deal with this subject, and it is one of the stock-legends, 
with protean variations, in the Brahmamas (cf. Indische 
Studien, III, 467), e.g. Sat. Br. I, 2, 3, 1; 3, 3, 13-16; 
Tait. S. II, 6, 6, 1 ff.; VI, 2,8, 4 ff. For later forms of the 
same legend, see Adolf Holtzmann’s essay, Agni nach den 
Vorstellungen des Mahabharata, p. 11, and especially 
Mahdébh. III, 14214 ff.=222, 7 ff. The basis of these 
legends is the plain observation that lightning comes from 
the clouds, that is, the waters (cf. Nirukta VII, 23), and 
perhaps, again, that it strikes the water upon earth, and 
disappears in it. This again connects the takman with 
lightning, which is conceived as a cause of fever, &c. See 
our introductions to V, 22, and I, 12. It is perhaps not 
going too far to suppose that the connection of fever with 
lightning is another way of saying that fever is associated 
especially with the rainy season, and that indeed seems to 
be the purport of the stanza: the period of the lightning is 
the time when the takman originates. Cf. Grohmann, l.c., 
p. 403; Zimmer, l.c., p. 384. 

a. Apo, the nominative for the accusative, especially in 
the AV., as conversely apd# the accusative appears as 
nominative; see Whitney’s Sanskrit Grammar, § 393 a. 
The expression 4po .. . pravisya, as in RV. X, 51, 1, 
pravivésitha = pad. 

b. dharma-dhvftak with alliteration. The expression 
does not refer to pious men, as is assumed by Weber, 
Grohmann, and Zimmer; and that too, although their 
translation would seem to receive support from RV. X, 51,5, 
éhi madnur devayur yag#idkama/, ‘come (O Agni), pious 
men desire to sacrifice.’ The meaning of the first two 
Padas would according to this be as follows: When Agni 
hid himself in the waters, and men being thus deprived of 
the carrier of the sacrifice approached him humbly, with 
the purpose of inducing him to resume his functions!... But 


1 Weber, l.c., to be sure, quite differently, refers the humble 
attitude of the pious to the dread of the supposed consequence of 
Agni’s action, namely, the fever. 


272 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


dharma-dhrétad cannot refer to men, and Ludwig is quite 
correct in his view, ‘die erhalter der satzungen (die gotter).’ 
The dhdrman is upheld by the gods; so, e.g. Vishzu is 
described as dharm4mi dhardyan in RV. I, 22, 18; Indra 
as dharma-kr/t in VIII, 98, 1; cf. also the epithet dhrzta- 
vrata as applied to Varuza at AV. VII, 83, 1. Reference 
is therefore made to the suppliant attitude of the gods, as 
they induce Agni by promises to come forth from the 
waters and attend to his business. 

c. Weber translates tatra . . . paramam gani{tram ‘ dort is 
hauptsichlich dein Entstehen, and Grohmann and Zimmer 
adopt this very pregnant rendering. Ludwig, on the other 
hand, says, ‘da war deine erste geburt.’ It seems to me 
that neither translation is correct. The Pada is formulaic ; 
in RV. I, 163, 4 (the hymn to the horse, asvastuti) we have, 
yatra ta ἀμύλ paramdm ganitram, and Ludwig translates 
(902), ‘wo man sagt, dass dein héchster geburtsort.’ Cf. 
also paramé ganitre in X, 56,1. The expression paramdm 
ganitram, moreover, is the equivalent of paramé ganman in 
RV. II, 9, 3, which is contrasted with avaré sadhdsthe. 
The former obviously refers to Agni, the lightning, and, 
as the takman is the effect of that Agni, the same origin 
is assumed for him. Hence I have translated the expres- 
sion by ‘ origin on high.’ 

Stanza 2. 

b. Literally, ‘or whether thy origin is a splinter-seeking 
one,’ a bold figure as applied to the takman. But throughout 
this hymn the parallelism betwcen fire and the takmdan is 
uppermost in the mind of the poet, and the phenomenon of 
Agni’s growth, as he eagerly licks the split wood, is meta- 
phorically transferred to his disease. Weber translates 
prettily, ‘sei Splitterfeuer, ziingelndes, dein geburtsort.’ 
Zimmer, less vividly, ‘oder wenn deine geburtsstatte glim- 
mend ist.’ Ludwig does not comment upon his obscure 
result, ‘oder mag spitze stachel suchend (stechend) deine 
geburt scin ;’ he, at any rate, unnecessarily abandons the 
metaphor of the fire. S&yana, sakalyam dahyam kAshtha- 
samOham ikfati sakalyet agnik. 


I, 25. COMMENTARY. 273 


c. I have left the word hr(idu! untranslated, as I have 
not been able to discover any basis for the existing trans- 
lation, ‘cramp,’ which Weber, 1. c., p. 420, proposes, and 
Ludwig adopts. Weber’s result is derived from etymo- 
logical considerations of insufficient cogency, and the 
recorded symptoms of the takmdn or the gvara fail to 
include cramps. The word occurs only in this hymn, in 
evident alliteration with haritasya, and I should not wonder 
if the word would yet turn out to have some connection 
with ‘yellow.’ For haritasya deva, see the note on V, 
22, 2 ἃ. 


Stanza 8. 


b. The ἰακηιάῃ as a son of Ναγιιλια presents a snatch of 
that broader and deeper view of the origin of disease, 
according to which it is due to the violation of the laws 
of Varuza, who has in his charge the order of the universe, 
and punishes the sinner by his ‘fetters’ of disease, especially 
the dropsy ; see, e.g. AV. IV, 16, 6, 7%. In general, to be 
sure, the lower view prevails in the Atharvan: possession 
by demons, and the witchcraft of enemies, are the causes of 
sickness. 

Stanza 4. 


The metre is irregular: P4da a, anush/ubh; Ὁ and c, 
trishfubh ; ἃ, gagati. 

b. For τῦγά, see the note on V, 22, 10 ἃ. 

6. γό anyedyur . . . abhyéti (see also VII, 116, 2) refers 
to a fever which attacks, »>r becomes highest, every twenty- 
four hours ; cf. perhaps the velagvara, mentioned by Kesava 


* Some MSS., according to Weber, read hriidu, and Whitney, 
Index Verborum, 8. v., reports also σα, hrffdru, and γάζα. Sayana 
reads ridhuh (rohakad purushasarire utpadaka&). Shankar Pandit 
notes still other variants. 

‘I prefer this view to another suggested by Grohmann, l.c., 
p. 406 ff., according to which the malarial takm4n in marshy (i.e. 
watery) regions is especially pointed out. Varuna, being the god 
of the sea (water), this variety of takm4n might thus be regarded as 
his son. This seems rather far-fetched. 

[42] τ 


274 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


to Kaus. 26,25. Such is the interpretation of all authorities 
(Grohmann, p. 387; Zimmer, p. 382), and Wise, p. 232, 
describes the Anyegyuka (Susruta’s anyedyushka) as 
follows: ‘If the paroxysm of fever recurs at the same 
hour daily, it is called Anyegyuka.’ It is therefore equiva- 
lent to the rhythmus quotidianus. Sdyama, anye- 
dyud anyasmin paradine yah sitagvarah abhyeti—y6... 
ubhayadyur abhyéti, ‘he who returns for two successive 
days, i.e. with the implication that the next day (as we 
should say, the third day) is free from fever’. Grohmann, 
p. 388. and Zimmer, p. 382, identify this with the rhythmus 
quartanuscomplicatus, a form of the disease in which the 
attacks repeat themselves on two successive days, the third 
day being exempt. This would remind us of the ekantarita 
mentioned by Kesava, |.c. But it seems to fit also the 
Aaturthaka viparyaya. Wise, 1. ς., says, ‘In Chdaturthaka 
the paroxysms of this fever occur every fourth day. When 
the paroxysm continues for two days, the fever is that 
called Chdturthaka Bipargyaya.’ None of these construc- 
tions, however, is certain. Sayava here says, ubhayadyuz 
ubhayasmin dvittye-hani ... Ay4ti, and, still more ex- 
plicitly at VII, 116, 2, yas &a ubhayedyu&(!) ubhayor 
divasayoé, atitayor iti seshak, abhyeti, £4turthikagvara ity 
artha#Z. This means a kind of fever that omits two days 
and returns on the third day, and would thus be identical 
with the trétiyaka, according to the current construction 
(see Pada d). But see the Pet. Lex. under ubhayadyt% 
and ubhayedyuté. 
ἃ. For t7/tiyaka, see the note on V, 22, 13 ἃ. 


I, 34. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 99. 


This hymn belongs to a quite extensive class of Atharvan 
charms, the object of which is either to generate love in 
a person of the opposite sex, or restore alienated affection. 
In general, charms of this class are rubricated in the second 


1 Cf. our not altogether certain interpretation of vitritfy4, V, 
22,134. 


I, 34. COMMENTARY. 275 


part of the fourth book of the Kausika (32, 28-36, 40). 
This is designated by the commentators as strikarmAni, 
‘women’s rites,’ and presents the greatest variety of prac- 
tices connected with the life of women and their relations 
to men; see Kausika, Introduction, p. Ιχν, and cf. the fol- 
lowing hymns. Yet this particular hymn is not mentioned 
in the book in question, though it is otherwise worked up 
three times, Kaus. 38, 17; 76, 8. 9; 79, 10. In the first 
of these passages, 38,17, the hymn is employed in a simple 
practice uttered by an intending disputant before entering 
upon a debate in the sabha or parishad, the village assembly : 
‘While reciting AV. I, 34 he approaches the assembly 
from the north-east, chewing licorice. The commen- 
tators do not quite agree as to the special purpose of the 
practice. Kesava says that it produces victory in disputa- 
tion (vivade gayakarmav4m vidhik); Darila, more mildly, 
says that it is an expiatory performance to wipe out the 
guilt incurred in defeating an opponent (in debate), praty- 
arthagayadoshasamanam! prayaskittam. Either of these 
manipulations of the hymn is reasonable if we regard 
kamini in stanza 5 as referring to the parishad or sabha?, 
and there is therefore no absolute guarantee that the hymn 
had originally anything to do with sexual love. Cf. how- 
ever II, 30, 1. 

In Kaus. 76, 8. 9 the bridegroom, while reciting this 
hymn, ties to his little finger an amulet of licorice-wood 
(madugha), fastening it with thread coloured red with lac, 


1 The MSS. have pratyarthagapa-, but this does not yield good 
sense. The correction was suggested by Professor Cowell in a 
kind note. Correct accordingly our treatment of the passage in 
Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda, Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 481 
(Ρ. τό of the reprint). 

* There is, too, a bare possibility that the fifth stanza is of later 
origin, especially if we attach any weight to the tradition that the 
first book of the AV. consisted of hymns of four stanzas each; see 
the introduction to I, 12 (p. 247). The meaning of that tradition 
seems, however, rather to be that each hymn consisted of at least 
four stanzas, or more, since many of them, in fact, consist of more. 


T2 


276 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


and placing it so that the amulet is on the outside of the 
finger, the knot within (the hand). In Sdtra τὸ he leads 
the bride forth, and the amulet is, therefore, obviously 
intended to make him attractive to the bride. This in- 
volves the construction of the hymn which we have pre- 
sented in our translation, i.e. the bridegroom, by means of 
the amulet, secures the love of the bride!. 

Once more, in Kaus. 79, 10, at the consummation of the 
marriage, a ceremony, involving this hymn, is enacted by the 
married couple. The bridegroom takes hold of the amulet 
of licorice (which he has put on previously, Kaus. 76, 8. 
9), puts it into bull’s grease, and while reciting the pre- 
sent hymn and AV. XIV, 2, 71. 72, they embrace one 
another. Kesava, more explicitly, states that the amulet is 
first ground up, madughamawim pish¢va aukshe? prakshipya 
abhimantrya parasparam varavadhvau samalabhete. The 
purpose of the performance is not quite clear; it seems 
to be designed to render the affection mutual’. Cf. AV. 
II, 36, 7, and our discussion there. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 
429 (cf. V, 218); Grill*, pp. 52, 78. The Anukramawi 
designates it as madughamazisiktam, ‘the hymn of the 
amulet of licorice.’ 


1 Dr. Haas in the Indische Studien, V, 386, makes the bride- 
groom fasten the amulet upon the bride’s finger. There is nothing 
to indicate this proceeding, which is contrary to the context of the 
hymn, Dr. Haas, to be sure, erroneously refers the pratika iyam 
virudh to AV. VII, 56, 2; hence he did not see that the bridegroom 
desires to make himself lovable in the sight of the woman (see I, 
34) 5). 

* For aukshe, see our note on II, 36, 7. 

* Professor Weber in his translation of this passage, Ind. Stud. 
V, 401, takes madughamami to mean ‘hymen,’ for reasons not 
apparent to me. I fancy that Kesava’s pish‘va removes the possi- 
bility of such a construction, and the madughamaziprayaséitta 
quoted by the same scholar on p. 404, refers simply to the loss of 
the amulet here in question ; this is restored by making another 
amulet from the pittudaru (devadaru)-tree. 


1, 3. COMMENTARY. 277 


Stanza 1. 


Honey is the symbol of personal agreeableness from 
earliest times. Cf. eg. RV. X, 40, 6, ‘From you, O 
Asvins, the bee took honey in its mouth, as a woman 
goes (with honey in her mouth) to an assignation.’ The 
digging of the plant with honey is not to be taken too 
literally, as Saéyama does, madhurdpeva khanitradin4, or 
madhureza prakareva, but rather, ‘ with the influence of the 
sweetness of honey, prompting or supporting him who digs 
after the licorice-root.’ Cf. AV. VII, 56, 2. 


Stanza 2. 


The second half is a formula, being repeated almost 
literally at III, 25, 5 and VI, 9, 2; Pada d, at VI, 42, 3; 


43, 3- 
Stanza 4. 

c,d. The passage contains an elliptic comparison, as indi- 
cated by the brackets in our translation. Without the 
ellipsis supplied there is no good sense: Weber, ‘mich 
allein drum du lieben magst wie einen honigsiissen zweig ;’ 
Grill, ‘so sei denn ich das liebste dir, gleich einem honig- 
siissen zweig.’ But what human being regards a branch 
sweet as honey as the most precious possession ? 


Stanza 5. 


a. The clinging sugar-cane is used here metaphorically 
for sweetness and attractiveness; no practice of this cha- 
racter is indicated anywhere. 

c,d. The passage is a formula; see II, 30,1; VI, 8, 1-3. 


II, 3. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 9. 


The hymn is joined with I, 2 at Kaus. 25, 6-9, in a 
charm against excessive discharges from the body; see the 
treatment at 1,2. The particular part of Kausika’s prac- 
tices, which is based on our hymn, is contained in SOtra 


+ A different interpretation is suggested by Bergaigne, La syntaxe 
des comparaisons védiques (Mélanges Renier, p. 89). 


278 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


25,7. It is founded upon the conception that ants are 
endowed with the faculty of producing water, and that, too, 
healing-water, wherever they appear, and consequently 
whenever they are applied as a remedy. Hence they are 
here given to the patient to be drunk in water. For 
fuller statements of this belief, see the introduction to VI, 
100, and Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda, Amer. 
Journ. Phil. VII, pp. 482-4. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. 
XIII, 138 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 507 ; Grill®, pp. 17, 
79 ff. The Anukramazi designates it as bhaishagy4yurdha- 
nvantaridaivatam. 

Stanza 1. 


b. The difficult word here is avatkd. In the Paippalada 
XIX, 8, 2 (see Bohtlingk’s lexicon s.v.) occur the two 
hypermetric Padas, avatakam mama bheshagam avatakam 
parivaganam. Here the metre suggests emendation to 
avatka, but at the same time shows pretty clearly that the 
word is a derivative of avata, ‘spring.’ SAyama is very mis- 
leading. Having in mind the performances of the Sftra, he 
identifies avatka with mudfgasira# in Kaus. 25, 6, and the 
mountain mentioned in the stanza with the Muggavat, to 
wit: atra parvatasabdena mu#gavan nama parvato viva- 
kshitak! . . . tasmat ada& viprakrishéam γαῖ prasiddham 
avatkam vyddhiparihdreza rakshakam mufgasirah ava- 
dhavati avaruhya bhimau dhavati. This involves an im- 
possible rendering of avadhavati, and leaves out of sight 
the possibility that this hymn may have nothing to do with 
the mufga-reed, being concerned rather with the healing 
water, procured by the ants; see the introduction. 

c,d, The passage as it stands in the text, and our trans- 
lation, can be sustained only on the supposition that the 
water is added to some other substance, not indicated in 
the stanza. Ludwig, feeling this difficulty, emends sibhe- 
shagam to subheshago, ‘so that you (the patient) may have 
a powerful remedy.’ A simpler emendation is to change 


? Cf. the note on V, 22, 5. 


Il, 3. COMMENTARY, 279 


dsasi to dsati, ‘that do I make into a remedy for you, so 
that it may contain goodly remedy.’ But the next stanza, 
as it stands, seems also to point to a mixed remedy; hence 
I have adhered to the text. Sdyaza comments against 
sense and grammar. 

Stanza 2. 


I have adhered to the unanimous reading of the MSS.; 
the Paippalada offers no help, 4d anga skatam(!) yad bhe- 
shagani-te sahasram νὰ gha yAni te (cf. also VI, 44,2). The 
sense of the passage, as it stands, seems to be that all 
the remedial substances which are combined with the 
avatkd are, after all, inferior in healing capacity to the 
avatka itself. This is much as ϑάγαηα construes it, tava 
sambandhini sagatiy4ni satam ... yAni ... bheshagani 
teshim bheshaganam madhye tvam uttamam utkrishfata- 
mam asi. Ludwig and Grill emend te to me ‘dann wird’s 
doch wohl geschehen, dass von meinen hundert Arzenei’n 
du selbst die allerbeste bist’ (Grill). I am not convinced 
that this is right. 

a. 4d angd, ‘then surely;’ kuvid ang, ‘ yea, quite surely ;’ 
the latter phrase is a rhetorical question (‘art thou) surely?’ 
Cf. Yaska’s Nigh. I, 3, and Nirukta IV, 15. 


Stanza 3. 


a. The Asuras, the demons, here either hide away the 
remedies by burying them deep in the ground (cf. VI, 109, 
3), or they bury them for secure keeping, so that they may 
become available on occasion (cf. I, 24, 2). See in general 
the note on I, 24, 1. 

b. aru(h)srdézam is emended well by Ludwig to aru(Z)- 
sranam, from root sr4, ‘cook. The Dhatupazha, 22, 22, 
has sr4 (srayati) pake, and Sayaza also avails himself 
of this root in one explanation of the word, aru/ srayati 
pakvam bhavati anena; and (under st. 5), arusho vrazasya 
pa#anam. That is ‘a remedy which causes the wound to 
ripen or heal.’ We seem to have here the very source for 
the root sra of the Dhatupa¢za. For the interchange of 
the sibilants, see Bloomfield and Spieker, Proc. Amer. Or. 


280 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Soc., May, 1886 (Journ., vol. xiii, pp. cxvii ff.). Possibly 
the word Asrava may have had something to do with the 
change of -srava to -srama. 

ἃ. SAyawa reads asisamat for aninasat ; cf. st. 4. 


Stanza 4. 


For upagikah, ‘ants,’ see the introduction to VI, 100. 
Sdyana, valmikanishpadika vamryad. 


Stanza 6. 


The stanza consists of 12+11+11 syllables; the last 
word rakshas4m, obviously a gloss, is metrically super- 
fluous. For Pada c, cf. I, 19, 1. 


II, 4. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 37. 


The plant called gangida illustrates very perfectly the 
absence of any boundary line between disease and demon- 
ology in the Atharvan. On the one hand it is employed 
against a variety of diseases, fever (takmdan), internal sores 
(baldsa), and other minor manifestations, or symptoms, 
designated as gambha, νίρατά and visarika, &sarika, and 
prishtyamaya (II, 4, 2; XIX, 34, 10), receiving therefore 
the epithet visvabheshaga, ‘all-healing,’ XIX, 35, 5; it is 
moreover the specific against rheumatic troubles, if vi- 
shkandha and samskandha (II, 4,1 ff.; XIX, 34,1.5; 35,1) 
shall turn out ultimately to have this meaning (see the note 
on st.1 c). On the other hand it obviates all the dangers 
arising from hostile demons and sorceries, as is expressly 
stated in all the three hymns devoted to its praise (II, 4 ; 
XIX, 34 and 35). The plant is not mentioned outside of 
the Atharvan which, in lieu of description, indulges in the 
customary vague rhodomontades. The gods themselves 
have thrice produced the gangida, Indra has put strength 
into it, and (XIX, 34, 6) the seers of yore are said to have 
known it by the name of Angiras—a very pretty conceit, 
but for the fact that it harbours nothing more than a stolid 
pun (gangid4s and dngirfs). From the Kausika and its 
commentaries we learn at least one thing that it is a tree. 
In the Sftra, 8, 15, it occurs in a list of ‘holy’ (santa) 


Il, 4. COMMENTARY. 281 


trees, as is expressly stated by Kesava, atha santavriksha 
uéyante. Darila at 8,15; 42, 23 describes it as a white 
tree growing in the Dekkhan, argunak akala iti dakshina- 
tyak ; Kesava at 8,15, and Sayama at II, 4, 1 say that it 
is familiar in Benares, varavasy4m prasiddhak. SAyaaa, in 
the introduction to our hymn, as also to AV. XIX, 34, has 
gahgidavriksha, and in the commentary at XIX, 34, 1 he 
places the home of the tree in the north, uttaradese pra- 
siddhad, all of which would seem to show that the tree is 
known in many parts of India. 

The following is the literature on the gangid4: Groh- 
mann, Indische Studien, IX, 417 ff.; Weber, ib. XIII, 141; 
Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 65. 

The hymn II, 4 is employed, Kaus. 42, 23, in a practice 
which, according to D§rila, is destined to drive away 
demons (pis4#afatana) ; according to Kesava—I state the 
text literally—it is, purushahave (cod. purusho have; cf. 
XIX, 34, 3) ak4ryakarazena vighnasamanakarma; and 
further, krity4ddshamarthe (cod. kritva-) Apydyati vigh- 
nasamanarakshékaranak vighnak viskandhe(!) ya (the 
latter passage is not printed in my extracts from that 
authority in the edition). The practice consists in tying on 
as an amulet the substance mentioned in the hymn: dir- 
ghayutvaye:ti mantroktam badhnati. Darila says gangi- 
damanim, and Kesava more explicitly states that an amulet 
derived from the gangida be tied on with a thread of hemp, 
gangidamanim sanasitrena badhva sampaty4:bhimantrya 
badhnati. The hemp refers to stanza 5, and it seems to me 
quite likely that Kesava is right in thus describing the 
association of the hemp with the gangida as altogether 
external. The hymn has been translated by Weber, 
Indische Studien, XIII, p. 140 ff. 


Stanza 1. 


This hymn, as many others, begins with an irregular 
stanza, two trishfubh and two anushtubh Pddas; cf. RV. 
VII, 103; AV. IV, 12; VI, 111, &c. 

b. Sdyana reads rakshamdnak for ddkshamanah. 


282 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


ce. The meaning of vishkandha, I regret to say, is not 
clear. Both ancients and moderns have etymologised upon 
the word, and in all instances have arrived at the conclusion 
that the word refers to some disease. But the results, 
though consistent in the one point of disease, betray their 
weakness in differing as to its special nature. The scho- 
liast at Tait. S. VII, 3, 13, 1—the only known occurrence 
of the word outside of the Atharvan literature (cf. also Gop. 
Br. I, 5, 25)—explains it by virdpa(4) skandh4dyavayava 
yasya tad vishkandham (sc. sariram), ‘the body whose 
members, shoulders, and so forth, are deformed is vish- 
kandha.’ Sdayana, at AV. I, 16, 3 (and similarly here) 
says, gatipratibandhakam rakshaApisakAdikritam vighna- 
gatam, ‘a disease which hinders from walking, produced by 
Rakshas, Pisdkas, &c., instigated by (some hostile) disturb- 
ance. The same fatuous authority, however, at XIX, 
35, 5 says, vishkandham vislishtaskandham evamn4manam 
vatavisesham mahdrogam, ‘vishkandha, a serious disease of 
that name, caused by wind (in the body), producing dislo- 
cation of the shoulders.’ Professor Weber is the author 
of the modern interpretation of the word, ‘drawing the 
shoulders apart, rheumatism’ (see Indische Studien, IV, 
410; XIII, 141; XVII, 215, and cf. the Pet. Lex. ; Zimmer, 
1. c., 390; Grill?, p. 75). I have been struck by the fact 
that both Darila and Kesava in their comments upon Kaus. 
42, 23; 43, 1. 2, the SGtras which rubricate AV. II, 4 and 
III, 9, the principal sources of our knowledge of the vish- 
kandha, omit all mention of disease of any kind. To begin 
with, these passages of the Stra are not part of the bhai- 
shagyani (Kaus. 25, 1-32, 27). Further, Darila speaks only 
of pisdkandsanam and pisdkakatanam, Kesava of vigh- 
nasamanam and vishkandhavighnasamano (mazik). Ob- 
servation has taught me that the commentators’ knowledge 
of the practices is superior to their knowledge of the mean- 
ings of words—all India is in this regard an easy prey to 
its perverse etymological habits!—and I should think it 


* I recommend a continuous reading of YAska’s Nirukta to any 


ll, 4. COMMENTARY. 283 


more conservative for the present to hold that vishkandha, 
as well as the opportunistic sdmskandha at AV. XIX, 34, 5, 
are designations of hostile demoniac forces. One may 
easily be convinced, by examining, with the aid of Whit- 
ney’s Index Verborum, all the passages in which the word 
occurs, that the latter meaning suits as well as the former. 
Of course the boundary-line between disease and possession 
by demons is an evanescent one in all Atharvan writings. 
The formation vishkandha, moreover, suggests vydmsa 
(RV. I, 32, 5, &c.) and vigriva (RV. VIII, 4, 24), both of 
them designations of demons (cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. IV, 
410). Thus it has seemed best to leave the word untrans- 
lated for the present. 


Stanza 2. 


a. gambha, ‘convulsions, cramps, or colic.’ The transla- 
tion is reasonably certain. Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 142, 
describes the trouble as an infantile disease, perhaps teeth- 
ing; cf. also Zimmer, 1. c., 392, and Henry, Le livre VII de 
l Atharva-véda, p. 53. The etymology of the word, and the 
epithet s4mhanu, ‘shutting the jaws,’ at AV. VIII, 1, τό, 
seem to lend themselves at first sight to such an interpreta- 
tion, but it is after all too narrow. S4yaza, gambhat 
himsakat krityadeZ, yad va gambha iti dantaviseshasya 
Akhy4, rakshasadantaviseshakr7tat kh4danat. See, how- 
ever, his very different interpretation at VIII, 1,16. At 
Kaus. 32, 1; 35, 15 occurs the word gambhagrthita. 
Darila at 32, 1 defines it as gambho raksha4, tena grzhitad ; 
according to Kausika and Kesava, the patient is an infant 
which is put to the mother’s breast and fed with rice 
and fennel steeped in πὴ κ᾽, All this would still pass 
readily as a cure οὗ diseases connected with teething. But 
in Kaus, 35, 12-15 we have the following performance: 


one who wishes to know how much grain may be found among the 
chaff. And Y4ska is the high priest; how much worse are the 
epigoni! 

? Kaus. gambhagrthitiya (Kes. balakéya) stanam prayathati, 
priyangutandulan abhyavadugdh4n payayati. 


284 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


... garbhadrimhanani, gambhagrthitaya ... gy4m trir ud- 
gtathya badhnati. losh/4n anvrikam prasayati. sydmasi- 
katabhiZ sayanam parikirati. The scene here is child-birth, 
the passage is part of the strikarm4zi, ‘ women’s rites’ (32, 
28-36, 40), and the gambha has seized the baby or the 
foetus, either at the moment of birth, or prematurely. 
Hence the title of the ceremony, ‘ performances for steady- 
ing the womb or foetus.’ According to Darila, the woman 
herself receives the treatment, being tied about with a three- 
fold bowstring (gambhena grzhito garbho yasyé striyak 
tasya gyam triguz4m krztva badhnati), fed with lumps of 
earth (gambhagrzhitam [!] prAsayati), and having her bed 
strewed about with black sand. Here gambhad seems to 
refer to some irregular behaviour of the foetus ; cf. Wise, 
Hindu System of Medicine, pp. 423 (middle), and 421 
(bottom), and the introduction to VI, 17. The word has 
at any rate no special connection with the teeth, as may be 
seen, too, from Tait. S. IV, 5, 11, 2. 

Our translation of visard by ‘tearing pain’ (Say. 
sariravisarazat) is of the etymologising sort. The Pet. 
Lex., more cautiously, regards it as the name of a demon. 
Cf. visarika at XIX, 34, το, which Sayaza glosses by 
visesheza himsakam. 

Stanza 5. 


I am quite agreed with Kesava and Sayama (maniban- 
dhanasitraprakrstibhdtaZ) in not regarding the juxtaposition 
of the hemp with the gangidd as due to some biological 
relationship, or therapeutic virtue (cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. 
XIII, 142). The hemp represents the thread with which 
the amulet of gangidd was tied on. A thread, or rope of 
hemp is mentioned also at Kaus. 25, 28; 72,15. See the 
introduction to the hymn. The hemp, of course, comes 
from the sap of the furrow; gangidd, the tree, from the 
forest. 

Stanza 6. 
The same stanza with variants occurs at AV. XIX, 34, 4. 


The last Pada is a formula, occurring in addition at IV, 10, 
6; XII, 2,13; XIV, 2, 67. 


Il, 7. COMMENTARY. 285 


II, 7. COMMENTARY TO PAGE QI. 


Sayaaa (and similarly Kesava) define the purpose of this 
hymn as a charm to obviate curses, evil eye, and danger 
from the attack of demons: laukikavaidikakrosayor brah- 
mamasape krirafakshudpurushadrishéinipate pisd#aya- 
kshadibhaye. According to Kaus. 26, 35 the procedure 
consists in investing the person threatened with (an amulet 
made of) the substance mentioned in the mantra. The 
commentators define this as yavamazi, ‘an amulet of barley!’ 
The word yava is not mentioned in the hymn, the nearest 
approach to it is sapatha-ydpani, ‘wiping out curses.’ As 
o and ava have almost identical phonetic valuesin the Veda 
(cf. our statement of the facts, Amer. Journ. Phil. V, pp. 25 ff), 
we must suppose that ydva has been read by the ritualists 
out of the syllable γό- of ydpani; cf. too, the synonym 
sapatha-y4vani at IV, 17, 2, and the well-known formula 
yavo:si yavaydssmad dveshaé, ‘ barley art thou, ward off 
hatred from us’ (Tait. S. I, 3, 1, 1; Sat. Br. III, 6,1, 11; 
Hirazyak. Sr. IV, 2, 42, in addition to the places mentioned 
in Kausikasdtra, index C). Upon this basis the word and 
the article γάνα are suggested. The pun is so familiar as 
to leave no room for doubt in the mind of the Hindu 
acquainted with this style of literature. Cf. the intro- 
duction to VI, 91; and the note to IX, 2, 13. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. 
XIII, 148 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, ITI, 508 ; Grill?, pp. 24, 
81 ff. The Anukramazi, bhaishagyayurvanaspatidaivat- 
yam. Cf. also Santikalpa τὸ *. 


Stanza 1. 


At Apast. Sr. VI, 20, 2 the stanza occurs in the following 
corrupt form: atharvyushé devagita vidu khapathagam- 
bhaniZ: Apo malam iva prdzigann asmatsu sapathai adhi. 
Cf. II, 25, 4. 5. 


1 Sdyaza, however, commenting on virddh in st. 1, dirva yavo va. 
3 Cited erroneously by Sdyana as Nakshatrakalpa. 


286 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 2. 


b. We may note Grill’s ingenious emendation of gamy4&% 
to gamya#, an adjective from gam{f. But no such form 
occurs. Cf. AV. II, το, 1; RV. IV, 4, 5. Sdyamna, 
gamy4hk gamif sahottpanna bhagini. 


Stanza 3. 


A number of the attributes stated in this and the pre- 
ceding stanzas are repeated at VI, 43, 1.2; XIX, 32,1. 3.7 
in connection with the holy darbha-grass. The terms are 
too general and fabulous to permit definite conclusions as 
to the plant which the poet here has in mind. 


Stanza 4. 

a. The MSS. are divided between the readings pdri 
sm4&m (so our edition) and pdri m&m. I have followed 
Sdyaza and Shankar Pandit in adopting the latter version. 

c,d. The metre is irregular (Anukr. virad uparishtadbrz- 
hati): c is a catalectic Pada; d has ten syllables, one of 
which may be suppressed by reading tarshur. 


Stanza 5. 
Ὁ. For the sentiment cf. Tait. Ar. II, 6, 2. Sayama, yak 
purushad suhart .. . tena suhvzdayena mitrema saha nak 


asmakam, sukham bhavatu iti sesha/, ‘we together with our 
friend shall be happy.’ I am not convinced that this is 
correct. Are we to read, γάζ suhart téna ναγάπι saha? 

ec. kakshurmantra, ‘he who bewitches with his eye,’ also 
in XIX, 45,1. Sayama separates akshur from mantrasya, 
explaining the latter by guptam bh4shamamasya pisunasya, 
‘the calumniator who speaks secretly.’ But cf. the ‘ thou- 
sand-eyed curse’ at VI, 37, 1; amitrakakshus at Kaus. 
39, 11; and ghordm kakshus, ‘ evil eye,’ at IV, 9,6; XIX, 


35> 3: 
II, 8. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 13. 


The word kshetriyd is interpreted by the Atharvavedins 
quite unanimously as ‘ inherited disease.’ Three hymns, 


11, 8. COMMENTARY. 287 


II, 8 and 10; III, 7 (cf. also IV, 18, 7; V, 30, 4), are 
designed to drive it out, and the Kausika rubricates all of 
them among the medical charms (bhaishagyAni), 26, 41-27, 4; 
27,7-8; 27, 29-31. Darila at 26, 43 defines it as ‘family 
disease, kaulo vyadhiz; Kesava at 27, 41 as, pitrzparyagatah 
kshetriyarogak kush¢kakshayarogak grahawidoshah sarva- 
sarirasphosak4rak ; similarly Sdy. at II, 8,1. The scholiast 
at Tait. Br. II, 5, 6, 3 (p.628) has kshetraw garbhasthanam 
tatrotpannatvat, i. e. ‘disease which has arisen while in the 
womb’ (rather differently at II, 5, 6, 1, pp. 626-7). The 
practices connected with these hymns are obscure in detail, 
and their application is remote. 

Kaus. 26, 41-27, 4 deals with our hymn, to wit: 41. 
‘While reciting AV. II, 8, 1 (the practitioner) washes the 
patient outside (of the house). 42. While reciting AV. 
II, 8, 2 (he washes him outside of the house) at dawn. 
43. While reciting AV. II, 8, 3 he pulverises the plants 
mentioned in the stanza (see the translation), as also natural 
mud, and mud from an ant-hill, sews this up into the skin 
of a living animal! (freshly slain), and fastens it (as an 
amulet upon the patient). 27,1. While reciting IT, 8, 4 he 
places a plough with its span of cattle over the head of the 
patient 3 and pours water over it. 2. While reciting AV. 
II, 8, 5 he pours. the dregs of ghee into (a vessel full of) 
water (placed) within an empty house. 3. He pours more 
(dregs of ghee) into an old ditch into which grass from the 
thatch of the house has been placed. 4. Placing the patient 
into this ditch he gives him of the water to drink, and rinses 
him with 11. The symbolism of these practices is not clear, 
but they seem at any rate to be built up on the derivation 
of the word kshetriyd from kshétra in the sense of ‘field,’ 
rather than in the sense of ‘womb.’ See especially the last 


1 For givakoshani see Kausika, Introduction, p. 1. Other sub- 
stances derived from living animals occur at K4ty. Sr. IX, 2, τό; 
Par. Grth. Ill, 7, 2. 

* That is, he puts the patient under the plough with its span, 
vrishabhayuktasya halasya adhastad vyadhitam avasthapya (Sayama 
in the introduction to the hymn). 


288 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


stages of the performance, Sitra 27, 1 (the plough and the 
span of cattle), and Sitras 27, 3. 4, which aim to wash off 
the illness into the very ground, whence (according to this 
conception) it has been derived. And the hymn itself is 
redolent of fields, plants, ploughing, &c., and calls upon 
(st. 5) ‘the lord of the field’.’ Thus Professor Weber was 
led repeatedly to look upon this hymn as a charm to 
counteract injuries to fields? ; see Ind. Stud. V, 145 note ; 
XIII, 149; Nakshatra II, 292. And yet, I think, all this 
‘is mere play upon the two meanings of kshétra, ‘ field,’ and 
‘womb ?;’ the poet, thinking that the disease derives its 
name from the field, conjures with the properties of the 
field, or, perhaps, adapts secondarily stanzas constructed 
originally for practices in the field. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. 
XIII, 149 ff.; and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 513. The 
Anukramami describes it as vanaspatyam yakshmandsana- 
daivatyam. 

Stanza 1. 


The last three Padas are repeated at III, 7, 4; the 
first half in VI, 121, 3. The point in all these cases 
is the supposed etymology of the constellation viksttau 
(later mdlabdrhami, and τὴ 14) from vi rit, ‘loosen ;’ this 
enables the word to figure wherever there is question of 
the ‘fetters’ of disease. Cf. in general, Weber, Nakshatra 
II, 292, 310, 374, 389; Zimmer, pp. 356, 392. For an 
opposite construction of the function of the vikr/tau, see 
the note on VI, 110, 2. 


1 See, however, the note on this expression below. 

3. Cf. also Pazini V, 2, 92, and commentaries ; Ind. Stud. V, 145 
note; XIII, 159 note; XVII, 208 note; Zimmer, 391 ff. 

* Note especially the passage from K4sh. S. cited by Weber, 
Ind. Stud. XIII, 150 note. The expression svakrsia irine does not 
prove that a field is in the view of a performer. A spot where there 
is a natural rift in the ground is frequently, in witchcraft, made the 
theatre of the performance, without any such special end in view. 
Cf. the passages in the Pet. Lex., and the paribhfsh4 to the abhi- 
kara performances, Kaus. 49, 6. 


11, 8. COMMENTARY. 289 


Stanza 2. 


a,b. I have translated dpa uéAatu transitively ; cf. III, 7,7; 
RV. I, 48, 8, &c. Weber and Ludwig, contrary to ordinary 
usage, take it intransitively: ‘hinschwinden mége jetzt die 
nacht,’ and ‘ weg geh mit ihrem liechte diese nacht.’ Sdyana, 
in agreement with our version, ‘the night at the time of 
dawn (usha/kalin4 ratri) shall chase away (vivasayatu).’ In 
Pada Ὁ I read, for the same reason, with one of Shankar _ 
Pandit’s MSS., 4pokatu for d4pokdantu, making it govern 
abhikrétvariz. Weber, ‘die zauberspinnerinnen (mégen 
schwinden) hin ;’ Ludwig, ‘weg gehn sollen die bezau- 
bernden.’ Sdyaza, retaining the plural, forces, it seems to 
me, the meaning of abhikvétvariz in translating it by abhitak 
rogasantim kurv44, ‘working a cessation of disease all 
about.’ And recognising the futility of the first, he also, 
alternatively, takes 4poé/antu as an intransitive,. . . pisd- 
kyah apagakhantu! Cf. the note on III, 7, 7. 


Stanza 3. 


a,b. According to our translation the words babhrdér 
argunak4zdasya qualify y4vasya; Kesava (and Sayaza who 
repeats Kesava’s substance) make the two words represent an 
independent plant: argunakash¢Zam yavabusam tilapifgikam 
ka ekatra trizi baddhvé. And Darila also recognises three 
plants, the first of which he describes as babhruvarnasya 
=gunasya tasya kamdasesham (1 for kazdavisesham). Ac- 
cording to these constructions the first substance is a branch 
from the tree (SAyama in commenting on the word in our 
stanza, argundkhyavrikshaviseshakash¢kasya) arguna (ter- 
minalia arjuna). But the construction renders this extremely 
unlikely, and we prefer to render the text philologically. 

b. The word te, ‘thy, would seem at first sight to refer 
to a field, and, as stated in the introduction, this would 
show that the poet here looks upon kshetriyd as a derivative 
of kshétra, ‘ field, and that he therefore introduces the para- 
phernalia of the field in his incantation. But this cannot 
stand against the ordinary value of the word, nor is it 


[42] υ 


290 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


impossible to imagine the introduction of these substances 
simply on the ground of the supposed (etymological) deri- 
vation of the name of the disease. At any rate we have 
Kausika on our side. 

Stanza 5. 


a. sanisrasdkshd is ἅπ. Aey. ; sanisras4 occurs once at AV. 
V, 6,4 as a designation of the intercalary month (cf. AV. 
XIII, 3, 8; Weber, Nakshatra II, p. 336 note). Our 
translation is conjectural and etymological ; the only sup- 
port I find is in srastaksha (Susruta I, 115, 7), ‘with sunken 
eyes. SAyama leans with his full weight on the Kausika’s 
employment of the stanza (27, 2; see the translation of it 
above), in which an ‘empty house’ figures, and he identifies 
the word with sdnyagrzhas (sanisrasyam4n4ni atisayena 
visramsamanani visiryam4m#4ni akshami gavakshadidvarani 
yesham te sanisrasakshad, sinyagrzha ity artha’), i.e. in 
brief, ‘the decayed doors of the empty house.’ Credat 
Judaeus! Does ‘ with sunken eyes’ refer to the demon of 
the disease ? 

b. The difficulty is much increased by the unintelligible 
samdesyébhyad which Sayama, who reads samdesebhyah, 
again identifies with the garatkhata, ‘the old ditch,’ in the 
Stra, 27, 3.4: sam disyante tyagyante tadgatamrzdd4danene 
=ti samdes4h garadgarték! The word seems to refer to 
some kind of evil (papa) at AV. X, 1, 11.12; in IV, 16, 8 
(where it is contrasted with videsya, ‘ foreign’) it refers to 
the ‘fetter of Varuma,’ i.e. disease. Weber, ‘den auftrig’ 
ausfiihrenden verneigung sei ;’ Ludwig, ‘anbetung den zu 
beauftragenden (sich fiigenden).’ The entire stanza is 
highly problematic; its relation to the Stra very obscure. 


II, 9. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 34. 


The disease which the hymn is designed to exorcise is, 
according to Dérila, possession by the kind of demons 
called Pisdka. Kesava (followed by Sdéyama) describes it 
as due to brahmagraha, a word hitherto not quoted from 
any text, but reported by the lexicons as equal to brah- 


1, 9. COMMENTARY. 29! 


marakshasa. The practices connected with the hymn at 
Kaus. 27, 5. 6 are as follows: 5. ‘While reciting AV. II, 9 
a talisman consisting of splinters (from ten kinds of wood is 
fastened upon the patient). 6. Ten friends (of the patient) 
while muttering the hymn rub him down.’ The commen- 
tators (cf. Kaus. 13, 5; 26, 40) understand the word sdkala 
to mean ‘a talisman made of ten kinds of holy wood,’ and 
these are derived from the list of holy trees catalogued at 
Kaus. 8,15. Cf.also the splinters from the (holy) kAmpila- 
wood, Kaus. 27, 7 (see the introduction to II, 10), used 
against kshetriyd (hereditary disease). For similar Germanic 
uses of nine kinds of wood to allay disease, see Wuttke, Der 
Deutsche Volksaberglaube der Gegenwart, §§ 121, 538; 
Mannhardt, Baumkultus der Germanen, p. 18. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. 
XIII, 153 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 506; Grill’, pp. 8, 
82 ff.; cf. also the author in Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 478, 
and Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 137. The 
hymn figures in the takmandsanagama of the Gazamdla, 
Ath. Paris. 32, 7 (see Kaus. 26,1 note); the Anukramani 
describes it as vanaspatyam yakshmandsanadaivatam. The 
Paippalada presents the hymn, the stanzas arranged as 
follows: 1, 5, 4, 2, 3- 


Stanza 1. 


The metre is irregular, pankti (Anukr., virat prastara- 
pankti). The Paippalada has the first half as follows: 
dasavriksha muf#ikemam ahimsro grahyds ha. 


Stanza 3. 


a. For adhitir the Paippalada reads adhitam. Sdyaza, 
‘the Vedas, which he has read formerly, or their meaning, 
which is to be remembered, he has recalled!’ Cf. K#4nd. 
Up. VI, 7. Ludwig emends adhiter, and translates ‘from 
insensibleness he has come away,’ but the translation con- 
flicts with the meaning of adhi g4; cf. RV. IT, 4, 8. 

c,d. The Sfitra embodies the indefinite large numbers 
100 and 1000 in the amulet of ten kinds of wood, and the 

U2 


292 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


ten friends (Brahmans according to the scholia) who attend 
the patient. 
Stanza 4. 


The word 4itim occurs only in this stanza, and is very 
problematic. The Pet. Lex. and Weber, ‘ sammeln ;’ 
Ludwig, ‘pfliickung ;’ Sdyana, ‘covering.’ We are con- 
necting the word with Aindti in the sense of ‘ arrange, build 
up, having in mind the peculiar amulet or remedy dasa- 
vriksha, ‘ consisting of ten woods,’ in st.1. The sense then 
would be that the gods have found out the magic arrange- 
ment of the woods, while the Brahmans contribute the 
practical knowledge of the woods which are endowed with 
the healing property. Cf. Grill’s similar exposition. 


Stanza 5. 


I have followed SAyaza who, relying alternatively upon 
RV. II, 33, 4, and Tait. S. IV, 5, 1, 2, makes isvaraf, ‘lord, 
the subject of the sentence, isvara eva he rugza tubhyam 
idanimtanabhishagripeza bheshagani karotu. But the text 
of Pada ἃ is awkward, and rendered somewhat doubtful by 
the Paippalada, whose version of c,d is, sa eva tubhyam 
bheshagam kak4ra bhishagati a. Upon the basis of this 
reading Grill suggests for Pada d, krizavad bhishagati ka. 
Ludwig suggests suki, Vedic accus. plur. neut. in agreement 
with bheshagdni ; Weber, bhishagam for bhishag&. Sdyana 
thinks also of sukina for sukiz. I have translated the 
unanimous text of the Saunakiya-school. 


II, 10. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 14. 


The practice associated with this hymn at Kaus. 27, 7. 8 
is colourless: 7. ‘While reciting AV. II, 10 (the prac- 
titioner) fastens upon the limbs (of the patient who has 
been placed) upon a cross-road? splinters of kampila-wood 
(crinum amaryllacee), and washes him off with (water 


1 The favourite place to divest oneself of evil influences ; see the 
note in the introduction to VI, 111. 


Il, 10. COMMENTARY. 293 


dipped out) by means of a bunch of grass. 8. (Or) he 
sprinkles (him in the same way).’ Cf. the practices under 
II, 8. A closely parallel mantra-passage occurs at Tait. 
Br. II, 5, 6, 1-3; this the commentator on the authority of 
Baudhayana (see p. 628, bottom) connects with the cere- 
monies at the birth of a child (gatakarma). According to 
Baudh. Grih. II, 1 and 7, the child is bathed with these 
stanzas, and this prescription is borne out by Hir. Grth. 
II, 3, 10 ff, where the same stanzas are quoted. They 
occur also in Apast. Mantrabr. II, 12, 6 (cf. Apast. Grth. 
VI, 15, 4). This usage does not really conflict with the 
Atharvanic employment of the hymn, since it aims to free 
the child from diseases and troubles derived from the womb 
of the mother. The conception borders closely on that of 
original sin. That the Atharvavedins regarded the kshe- 
triya in this hymn as a disease may be gathered from the 
.employment of the hymn among the bhaishagy4ni in the 
Kausika; it figures also in the takmanasanagama, ‘the list 
of hymns destructive of fever, in the Gazam4l4; see Kaus. 
26, 1 note. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. 
XIII, 156 ff., and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, ITI, 513. 


Stanza 1. 


a. gamisamsa is equivalent to gimy4d sapathad in IT, 7, 2; 
the word recurs at AV. IX, 4, 15, and Tait. Br. IT, 5, 6, 3 
(where it is glossed by Alasyaprakhyd4pakat). Sayama, 
bandhavo gamayaé, apraptabhilashitanam tesham samsanat 
Akrosaganitat papat. 

Stanza 3. 


The sense of this and the following two stanzas is 
interrupted by the refrain; Pada 3 Ὁ is in catenary con- 
struction with Pada 4a. The other version of the hymn 
(Tait. Br.) does not exhibit the refrain, and the connection 
of the passages appears undisturbed. 

a. Sdyaaa reads vayodh&d for vayo dha&, glossing it by 
vayasim pakshinam dhata dhérayita. 


294 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 8. 


The stanza alludes to the well-known legend which 
makes the demon Svarbhanu smite with darkness (eclipse) 
the sun, who is then freed by Indra and Atri; see RV. 
V, 40, 5-9; Tait. S. II, 1, 2,1; Καχά. 5. ΧΙ], 13; Sat. Br. 
V, 3, 2,2; Pa#k. Br. IV, 5,1; XIV, 11,14; XXIII, 16, 2 ; 
Sankh. Br. XXIV, 3. 4. The moralising cause of the sun’s 
mishap, his énas (sin), is not expressed distinctly anywhere, 
nor is it to be taken au grand sérieux. By comparison it 
is treated as a disease, and, like disease or misfortune in 
general, ascribed to some moral delinquency, requiring 
expiation (prayaséitti); cf. st. 1. 


I], 12. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 80. 


The essays on the interpretation of this hymn form 
an interesting chapter in the history of Vedic study, and 
we have devoted to the subject an article in the second 
series of our Contributions, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 330 ff., 
entitled ‘On the so-called fire-ordeal hymn, AV. II, 12.’ 
The hymn was first interpreted in the sense of a fire-ordeal 
by Emil Schlagintweit, in an address before the Royal 
Bavarian Academy in 1866, entitled ‘Die Gottesurtheile 
der Indier ;’ this interpretation was adhered to by Weber, 
Ind. Stud. XIII, 164 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 445; 
Zimmer, p. 183 ff.; cf..aleo Kaegi, ‘Alter und Herkunft 
des germanischen Gottesurtheils,’ Festschrift zur Begriis- 
sung der XX XIX. Versauimlung deutscher Philologen und 
Schulminner in Ziirich (1887), p. 51... The interpretation 
which is presented here is founded upon our above-men- 
tioned article, where Kausika’s significant employment of 
the hymn was first brought forward; in essential agree- 


1 See also Stenzler, ‘Die Indischen Gottesurtheile,’ Zeitschrift der 
Deutschen Morgenlindischen Gesellschaft, IX, 661-82. 


II, 12. COMMENTARY. 295 


ment with it is the translation and exposition in Grill’, 
PP. 47, 85 ff. 

The hymn is employed in the sixth book of the Kausika 
which professes to deal with abhi#ara, ‘witchcraft.’ At 
47,12 it is designated as the bharadvagapravraska, ‘the 
hewer, or cleaver of Bharadvaga’ (the reputed author; cf. 
II, 12,2): ‘ With the cleaver of Bharadvaga one cuts a staff 
for practices pertaining to witchcraft.’ A staff so procured 
is then employed variously in Kaus. 47, 14. 16.18; 48, 22. 
The direct ritual application of the hymn is indicated in 
Kaus. 47, 25-29, to wit: 25. ‘While reciting the hymn 
II, 12, one cuts the foot-print of an enemy, as he runs in 
a southerly! direction with a leaf from a parasu-tree*. 
26. He cuts three (lines) along (the length of the foot- 
print of the running enemy), and three (lines) across (the 
same). 27. akshrzay4 samsth4pya*®. 28. He ties dust 
derived from the cut foot-print into a leaf of the palasa-tree 
(butea frondosa), and throws it into a frying-pan. 29. If 
the dust crackles (in the pan) then (the enemy) has been 
overthrown.’ The Sftra then proceeds to prescribe still 
more elaborate and potent charms for the purpose of down- 
ing the enemy. Of any connection with the fire-ordeal the 
tradition makes no mention. There are points of contact 
between our hymn and RV. VI, 52; VII, 104. The Anu- 
kramazi describes the hymn as nanadevatyam, composed 
by Bharadvaga. 


Stanza 1. 
d. Schlagintweit, ‘may these be burned here, if I am 


burned.’ So also Weber, Luc..’g, and Zimmer. Grill 
correctly, ‘die sollen glithen jetzt, wenn ich ergliihe.’ Cf. 


1 South is the region of Yama and the departed, i.e. of death. 

3. Or, with the blade of an axe. At any rate symbolically. The 
commentators differ as to the meaning of parasupalasena; see 
Kausika, Introd. p. li, bottom. Sayama, as usual, follows Kesava. 
See also the note on Kaus. 30, 14 in the introduction to VI, 25. 

5 The text of this Sfttra is not altogether secure, its meaning and 
the scholia are obscure. 


296 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


RV. X, 34, 10; 95,17; AV. XIX, 56, 5. Sayama, mayi 
abhifdrake tapyamane dikshaniyamena upavas4dina klisya- 
mane sati tapyant4s samtapt4 bhavantu. That is, heaven 
and earth shall participate in the consecration (diksh4) of 
the performer for the sorcery-practices against his enemy. 
The appeal to heaven and earth in Pada a, and the mis- 
interpreted fourth Pada, are really the sole cause of the 
hypothesis of a fire-ordeal. An appeal to heaven and 
earth is in occidental minds associated inseparably with 
asseverations of innocence. A similar construction of it for 
India is apparently unwarranted. 


Stanza 2. 


b. For Bharadvaga, see IV, 29,5; XVIII, 3, 16; XIX, 
48, 6; and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, pp. 128 ff. 

ἃ. Schlagintweit, ‘der diesen (unsern) geist beschidigt 
(i.e. schwur bezweifelt).’ Weber, ‘wer diesen meinen sinn 
beschadigt, i.e. meinen schwur antastet, mein wort bezwei- 
felt.’ Ludwig, ‘der diesen meinen sinn anklagt (verlaum- 
det).’ All these renderings are founded upon the theory 
of the fire-ordeal. Sdyaza, pirvam sanmargapravrittame 
manak manasam hinasti. There is no lack of evidence 
that religious performances were at times the object of 
enmity and the butt of abuse; cf. stanza 6; RV. VI, 56, 
and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, IV, 219 ff. 


Stanza 3. 


a. The first Pada is defective, but occurs in the same 
form in the Paippalada. It may be corrected by reading 
somapavan, somap4yin, somap4 tvdm, or the like. But 
Atharvan metres are so generally capable of improvement, 
that we are in danger of singing our own, rather than 
Atharvan hymns, when we apply ourselves to the task of 
improving them. 

Stanza 4. 


a. Professor Weber, ]. c., pp. 167-8, has assembled some 
interesting statements in reference to the connection of the 


1, 12. COMMENTARY. 297 


number 80 with the fire-ritual. ϑάγαηα attaches a certain 
significance to the number three, which he connects with 
the trikas of the SAma-samhitas. The number is solemn 
and formulary. 

6. A clear instance of a Vedic parenthesis; cf. Aufrecht, 
Festgruss an Otto von Bohtlingk, pp. 2 ff. For ish/a- 
partdm, see Windisch, ib., pp. 115 ff. Cf. also RV. X, 14, 
8; AV. III, 12, 8. 

ἃ. Schlagintweit supplies ‘firebrand’ in the last Pada, 
and translates, ‘nehme ich jenen (feuerbrand) an mich mit 
gottlicher inbrunst.’ Weber, in still more direct adherence 
to the hypothesis of a fire-ordeal, supplies with amim 
‘gliihendes beil,’ and translates, ‘mit géttlicher gluth nehme 
ich diesen an mich.’ Ludwig, ‘jenen (den verlaumder) 
erfasse ich mit der géttlichen glut.’ Zimmer, ‘halte ich 
jenen (?feuerbrand, ?axt) mit géttlichem griff. Sayama 
properly refers amuim to the enemy, and takes hdaras in 
the sense of krodha (hdras etymologically = θέρος ; cf. II, 
2, 2). 


Stanza 5. 
a. didhith4m for didhiyatham. Saya#a, adipte bhavatam. 


Stanza 6. 


Recurs with variants at RV. VI, 52, 2; the connection 
there is less pregnant. 

oc. Sdyana differently, tapdwshi tapakani tegdmsi A4yu- 
dhani va vriganani vargak4ni badhakani santu, i.e. ‘may 
our zealous deeds or weapons be destructive to him.’ 
Perhaps this is simpler. 


Stanza 7. 


This and the following stanza seem to be adapted from 
the funeral ritual (see Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 476; XI, 
335, 336 ff.). Such as they are they occur also in the same 
connection in the Paippalada; cf. RV. X, 14, 13; 16, 2. 
Stanzas of this character lend themselves naturally to 


298 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


imprecation and incantation. Here the poet takes the 
offensive against the thwarting enemy. 

a. For βαρίά praxz4n, cf. Tait. Br. I, 2, 3, 3. Shankar 
Pandit, on the basis of a considerable number of his MSS. 
(both Samhita and Padapa¢ha), reads manydah for πιασῆάλ. 
So also Sayama, manya# dhamanyak kanfhagata nadivi- 
seshak. The MSS. frequently write y for g, especially in 
connection with nasals (anaymi and yunaymi for anagmi 
and yunagmi); cf. Maitr. S. I, 3, 35 (p. 42, note 4), and 
Ind. Stud. IV, 271 note. On general textual and exege- 
tical grounds the reading mag#a& is preferable. 


Stanza 8. 


Schlagintweit translates PAdas c, d, ‘(entweder) soll das 
feuer in deinen leib einkehren, (oder) deine rede gehe zu 
leben.’ The sense he imagines to be: ‘If the word of the 
accuser is true, then he shall remain unharmed; if not he 
shall be injured by fire.’ Essentially in the same spirit are 
Weber's, Zimmer’s, and Kaegi’s renderings. Cf. RV. X, 
15, 14. 


II, 14. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 66. 


It is regretable that this textually and exegetically 
difficult hymn is illumined but very little by its abundant 
employment in the practices of the Atharvavedins. In its 
more general aspects it figures as one of the #atan4ni (sc. 
siktani), ‘hymns designed to chase away (demons and 
diseases),’ at Kaus. 8, 25; next, it occurs in another cycle 
(gama) of hymns of a somewhat problematic character, 
called mrigarasOktAni or mrigarAzi, ‘ purificatory hymns’ (?), 
at Kaus. 9, 1 (cf. 27, 34). In this sense it is employed 
twice, Kaus. 72, 4; 82,14, to purify the entrance to a house, 
nissalam iti sélanivesanas samprokshya. If we could only 
trust that punning juxtaposition of -sdlam and sala-, it 
would remove one of the chief cruxes in its interpretation! 

As regards its narrower application, it is associated dis- 
tinctly with difficulty in bearing offspring: at Kaus. 34, 
3-11 it is employed in a charm for preventing miscarriage ; 


Il, 14. COMMENTARY. 299 


at 44, 11 ff. it forms part of an elaborate practice to obviate 
sterility in cattle. The first of these practices is as follows: 
34, 3. ‘While reciting II, 14 (the practitioner) pours dregs 
of ghee into water (in tubs standing) in three huts which 
have doors to the east and doors to the west (cf. Kaus. 24, 
3), in behalf of the woman afflicted with miscarriage, she 
being dressed in a black garment. 4. Additional (dregs of 
ghee he pours) upon lead! placed into (the leaf of) a palasa- 
tree (butea frondosa). 5. Placing (the woman) over the 
lead he washes her (with the above-mentioned water). 
6. Having deposited the black garment (where she has 
been washed) she goes. 7. The Brahman kindles the hut. 
8. The same performances take place in the two easterly 
(huts)? in connection with materials brought on separately 
(for each hut). 9. He performs the practices with the 
branches, mentioned (above, Sd. 1: he pours consecrated , 
water over her head as she is seated upon branches of sism- 
sapa [dalbergia sisu ; cf. Kaus. 8, 16] by the side of a body 
of water). 10. Having put down to the west of the fire 
two reeds upon a stalk (? kande ishike), over the two doors 
(of the huts)®, he causes firewood derived from an udum- 
bara-tree (ficus glomerata) to be put on the fire. 11. To 
the woman as she comes home last (of those returning ?), 
cakes of rice, and ornaments of pramanda (cf. Kausika, 
Introduction, p. lii), anointed with the dregs of ghee, are 
given (cf. Kaus. 32, 29; 34, 1).’ 

At Kaus. 44, 1 ff. there is an elaborate practice of the 
expiatory kind (prayaséitta), in which a sterile cow is sacri- 
ficed to remove the blemish of sterility from the house. 
After the cow has been slain, ‘(the priest) while reciting 
II, 14 carries a firebrand (around her) thrice from right to 
left without moving (the firebrand) around himself’ (Sa. 
44,21). Later on ‘he stops her breath’ while reciting II, 


’ Cf. AV. I, 16, and the practices connected with it. 

3 The practices up to this point therefore have taken place in 
that one of the three huts furthest to the west. 

* Extremely problematic; cf. dhAyine, Kausika, Introduction, 
p. li, and the scholiasts. 


300 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


14, 5 (Sd. 44,15). All this is too general in character, 
and fails to cast light on the real difficulties of the hymn. 
Cf. also Ath. Paris. 17,2. The Anukramant classifies it as 
salagnidevatyam uta mantroktadevatyam. For previous 
translations, see Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 175 ff.; Ludwig, 
Der Rigveda, III, 522; Grill?, pp. 1, 89 ff. 


Stanza 1. 


a. The P4da might have better been left untranslated : 
the text is certainly corrupt, and especially dhisdza, mas- 
culine, imbedded as it is in half a dozen feminines, is open 
to suspicion. The Paippalada has nissalam dhishzyam 
dhishazam, and, since dhishzya means ‘seat of the priest,’ 
the suggestion arises that nis is to be separated from salam 
(=s4lam, ‘house’)', and is to be taken with nasay4mad’ in 
- Pada d, making some such sense as the following: ‘we 
drive out from the house, from the seat of the priest (dhish- 
nya), and from the fire-place (dhishawa)*.’ Cf. the use of 
the hymn in Kaus. 72, 4; 82,14 above, and the Anukra- 
maxi, sdlagnidevatyam. But the construction of nir nasa- 
yama with the accusative of place from which is unheard 
of, and the change of all three words to ablatives would 
amount to an independent composition. Besides, the em- 
ployment of the Kausika, and the statement of the Anu- 
kramazi, just mentioned, may be due to a more or less 
conscious, punning perversion of the syllables salam, for 
the purpose of extracting 5414, ‘house,’ from them. Grill 
composes a new PAda, nis sdlavrikyam dharshdzim, ‘out 
(do we drive) the bold Sal4vrzki.’ Weber, ‘ die dreiste, zahe, 
ausspringende (? correcting to dhishaw4m) ;’ Ludwig—who 
entitles the hymn, ‘Gegen die S4l4?’—translates, ‘die aus 
dem hause befindliche (die aus der 8418 hélle gekommene ?) 
freche verlangende,’ or, alternatively, ‘hinaus die sala,’ &c., 
and, once more, as a third possibility, ‘aus dem haus hinaus 
die freche begerliche. Sd&yaza knows nothing about it: 


» Cf. I, 18, 1; VI, 14, 2. 
3 Cf. Hillebrandt, Soma und verwandte Gdtter, 175 ff., 181. 


II, 14. COMMENTARY. 301 


niss4l4 is either the name of a female demon, or sala a kind 
of a tree (vrikshaviseshaf, tato nirgata niss4la). 

b. Sayama to ekav4dydm, ‘she who gives forth a single 
sound of gruff character.’ 

ce. Kanda is the name of a demon, ἅπ. Aey. in RV. and 
AV., but frequently mentioned elsewhere, especially in 
connection with Marka; see Sat. Br. IV, 2, 1, 4. 9. 10. 14. 
20. Sdyana, kruddhasya. .. papagrahasya. 

ἃ. sadanvd, ‘female demon,’ seems to be connected with 
da4nu and danava. Sdyaza follows Nirukta VI, 30 in ex- 
plaining it as ‘ever noisy, 8844 nondyamana. 


Stanza 2. 


b. Sayaza takes dksha as ‘gambling-house’ (akshakri- 
dasthana, dydtasdla), and updnasd4 either as ‘granary’ 
(anasak samipam up4nasam dhdnyagrzham) or as ‘ wagon 
full of grain’ (dhanyapirzam sakafam). RV. X, 105, 4 
does not render the word clear. 

6. Nothing is known of the ἅπ. Aey. magundi (Sdyaza, 
Κάξαπα pisafi); cf. Weber’s combinations, I. c., p. 177. 

Read duhitro (as in the dialects), and cf. our note on 
VII, 12, 1; also Ait. Br. VII, 13, 8. 


Stanza 3. 


a,b. The word adhar4d, ‘below,’ alludes with double 
entente to hell (adhamd tamdmsi). SAyaza, patdlalokossti; 
cf. Zimmer, p. 420. This class of writings are fond of con- 
juring diseases and misfortunes upon others, strangers and 
neighbours; cf. AV. V, 22, 4 ff.; RV. X, 155; and the 
common formulary expression, any4ms te asmat tapantu 
hetdyak? in the Yagus-texts. 


Stanza 4. 


The stanza occurs in another connection in the Paippa- 
lada, and may not originally have stood here, since the 
: ‘Heiliger Sanct Florian, 
Schtitz unser haus ziind’ andre an!’ 
Cf. Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 345 ff. 


302 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


second book of the AV. in general consists of hymns of 
five stanzas. 

a. Sayana glosses bhutapatir correctly, bhitandm p4lako 
rudrak. The word μία here suggests more narrowly 
‘evil beings.’ 

ἃ. indro is metrically superfluous, and may be spared 
from the context. Anukramazi, uparish“dvirdd brthati. 


Stanza 5. 


a. I have taken kshetriy4vz4m in the sense which it 
ordinarily has in the AV. (II, 8 and 10; III, 7); Sdyaza, 
kshetrat parakshetrat matdpitrésarirad A4gatandm .. . roga- 
nam. Weber and Ludwig, ‘coming from the field.’ Grill, 
‘ob ihr zum wild des Felds gehort.’ 


Stanza 6. 


b. In the MSS. the Padap. reads, 4sur g4sh¢#4m ivAsaran ; 
the edition emends gdsh¢h4m to k&sh¢him, and we, with 
most translators and Sayama, read ivasaram. SAyama reads 
glash¢kam, glossing, paridh4dvanena glana% san yatra tish- 
thati sa glashzha (‘ goal,’ ‘resting-place’?). Cf. VI, 67, 1. 


II, 25. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 36. 


The plant ργέρη!ραγηῖ (hemionitis cordifolia; Sayama, 
kitraparni oshadhiZ) is here employed to off-set the activity 
of demons called kava, of varied pernicious influence, 
but especially conceived as devourers of the embryo in the 
womb. According to Susruta I, 377, 7 it serves, mixed 
with milk, as a preventive against miscarriage (garbhasr4ve). 
Kesava, at Kaus. 26, 36, prescribes it as a far more general 
remedy, for one overtaken by misfortune, against mis- 
carriage, still-birth, and demons of various sorts. Dérila 
says it destroys the demons called pisA#a. The practice at 
Kaus. 26, 36 consists in smearing the plant mixed with 
the.dregs of ghee upon the patient. The hymn is one of 
a list of six grouped together at Kaus. 26, 33 for all sorts 
of diseases (SAyana in the introduction, sarvarogabhaisha- 


II, 26. COMMENTARY. 303 


gyakarmani), which the Gamamala (Ath. Paris. 32, 24) 
describes as the gazakarm4gano (! a list for collective prac- 
tices). Kaus. 8, 25 mentions it further among the £ata- 
n4ni, ‘hymns with which demons are exorcised.’ 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. 
XIII, 187 ff.; Grill?, pp. 20, 92. The Anukramazi de- 
scribes it as vanaspatyam. 


Stanza 4. 


For -yépana in this and the next stanza, see Amer. Journ. 
Phil. XII, 414 ff. Cf. II, 7, 1. 


II, 26. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 142. 


This is a hymn connected with a species of oblation 
(havis)', whose object is to concentrate (samsravya) wealth 
and prosperity upon the sacrificer. Cf. I, 15 and XIX, 1. 
Our hymn aims at prosperity in the stable, and accord- 
ingly it is rubricated along with III, 14; VII, 75; VI, 11, 
3, at Kaus. 19, 14 ff. in a series of ‘stable-ceremonies’ 
(gosh¢kakarmazi), to wit: 19, 15. ‘He (the owner) drinks 
the new milk of a cow that has thrown her second calf, 
mixed with the spittle (of the calf)? 16. He presents 
a cow (to the Brahman). 17. He pours out (into the 
stable) a vessel full of water. 18. Having swept together 
the (previously moistened dung), placing his left hand 
upon it, he scatters half of it with his right hand. 19. 
Having placed lumps of excrement, bdellium, and salt into 
milk from a cow with a calf of a colour identical with hers, 
he buries (the mixture) behind the fire. 20. On the fourth 
morning he eats of it. 21. If the milk has turned 8, then 
(the performance) is a success.’ 

The hymn occurs also in the Paippalada; it has been 
translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, p. 26 ff.; Ludwig, 


1. Cf. the introduction to VI, 39. 

* SAyana, vatsalalamisritam. Cf. Khad. Grch. III, 1, 47. 48. 

δ᾽ Cheap magic. The milk is sure to turn! Is vikrite to be 
emended to avikrite ἢ 


304 ᾿ HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Der Rigveda, III, 371; Grill®, pp. 64, 92 ff. Cf. also 
Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 138. The 
Anukramazi designates it as pasavyam, the author being 
Savitar. 

Stanza 1. 


b. Vayu, the wind, the husband of the distant regions 
(II, 10, 4), who goes in every direction, is naturally regarded 
as the companion of the cattle, when away from home— 
a truly poetic conception! Cf. Tait. Br. III, 2, 1, 4. 

ce. ripadhéy4ni is taken by the Pet. Lex. as a copulative 
compound, ‘form and colour.’ But the analogous bhaga- 
dhéya and namadhéya do not favour such a construction. 
Perhaps ‘formation’ is the safest rendering of the word. 
Cf. e.g. Tait. S. I, 5, 9,1; Tait. Br. IIT, 8, 11, 2. 


Stanza 2. 


ο, ἃ. Sinivali, the goddess of the new-moon, and Anumati, 
the goddess of the full-moon, as representatives of the 
bright part of the month, are fit to illumine the way home. 
They also preside over the act of procreation; cf. Zimmer, 
Pp. 352. SAyava, unsupported by MS. authority, comments 
upon anugate instead of anumate. 


Stanza 4. 


6. ‘ Poured together,’ i. 6. ‘united, or accumulated.’ The 
translation is stiffer than the original, where sam si#k&mi 
and sdmsikt4h play upon one another. 


Stanza 5. 
For the change of verb-form, cf. the note on II, 29, 5. 


II, 27. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 137. 


The history of the interpretation of this hymn is told 
by the translator in Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda, 
Amer. Journ, Phil. VII, 479 ff. It is of interest, because it 
marks very clearly the value and continuity of the Hindu 


Il, 27. COMMENTARY. 305 


tradition. It had been regarded previously by all inter- 
preters as a charm against robbers of provisions, until the 
obviously correct conception of D4rila in his comment on 
Kaus. 38, 18 ff. was presented. The translation of this 
passage, along with the bracketed commentary, is as fol- 
lows: 38, 18. ‘ While reciting AV. II, 27 (one approaches) 
the person against whom the debate is directed (from the 
north-east, while chewing) the root of the pa¢a-plant?. 10. 
He addresses (with the charm his opponent). 20. He ties 
on (the paé4-root as a talisman). 21. He wears (upon his 
head) a wreath of seven leaves (of the paéa).’ Cf. also 
S4antikalpa 17 and 193, Previous translations of the hymn: 
Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 190 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, ITI, 
461; Grill?, pp. 23, 93 ff. The Anukramami designates the 
hymn as vanaspatyam. 


Stanza 1. 


The Anukramazi defines the purpose of this stanza cor- 
rectly by arinirogastvam aprarthayat, ‘he desired absence 
of strength in the enemy.’ 

a. Sayama, incorrectly, takes prds as a noun of agency, 
prash‘4ram vadinam ὃ; see, however, Kaus. 38, 24, prasam 
Akhydsyan (Daér. pratiprasnam Akhydsyan; cf. Vait. Sd. 
37,2; 38,6). Neither this word nor prdtipras and prati- 
prasita (Kaus. 38, 18; Darila, prativadin) have any con- 
nection with root as, ‘eat,’ but are derivatives from the 
root pras, ‘ask.’ 

9. The construction of praésam sited gahi is not 
quite certain. SAyaza takes both as accusatives, ‘the 


1 The pa is, according to Sayama at st. 4, identical with the 
later pasha (clypea hernandifolia); cf. Kaus. 37,1; Azgvidhana IV, 
12, 1 (MSS. pasha). See Ind. Stud. XVII, 266 (the passage quoted 
from Apastamba is to be found Apast. Grth. III, 9, 5). The word 
pai is doubtless, like other words for plants (apam4rga, arundhatf), 
etymologically suggestive ; cf. the root pa/, ‘tear.’.—For the words 
supplied by Darila, cf. Kaus. 38, 17. 

* Erroneously quoted by Sdyaza as Nakshatrakalpa. 

5. But in st. 7 he falls into line with pratikilaprasnarQpam vakyam. 


[42] Χ 


306 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


debater and the counter-debaters strike.’ We regard prati- 
praso as gen. sing. dependent upon prdsam (cf. st. 7 a), in 
which case one should like to emend arasdn in Pada ἃ to 
arasim (cf. Ludwig). If not, pratipras is to be regarded 
as a collective, ‘the opposition.’ Possibly both are accusa- 
tives, ‘overcome the debate and the debaters.’ 

ἃ. aras&n, with double entente, ‘without sap or moisture 
(in their throats), and ‘without force.’ Sdya#a, sush- 
kakan?¢han. 

Stanza 2. 

a, Ὁ. The same hemistich occurs at V, 14,1; cf. I, 24, 3. 
Sayana, suparnak . .. vainateyah, i.e. Garutmant, Garuda. 
But there is no myth in all this: the eye of the eagle, and 
the nosing boar find the secret seat of the plant. 


Stanza 3. 


Sayaza, in the teeth of the Padap4z/a, comments both 
here and in the next stanza on taritave instead of stdritave. 
The Samhita may be construed either way. 


Stanza 5. 

a. sikshe (Samhita and Padap4¢ha), probably for sakshye 
(Sat. Br. I, 3, 3, 13); cf. our note on IV, 20, 7. 

b. SAyava glosses sAlavrikin by aranyasvanad, in accord- 
ance with many other scholia, assembled by Weber, 1. c., 
p- 191. Doubtless jackals, as devourers of corpses, are 
meant. 

Stanza 6. 

For galashabheshaga, see Contributions, Fourth Series, 
Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, 425 ff, and cf. especially AV. VI, 
44, 3. 


Stanza 7. 
ἃ. Séyaza, with some MSS., reads prasam for prasf 
(prasam prash/4ram vadinas mdm uttaram .. . kuru). 


II, 28. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 50. 
The hymn is counted in the Gazam4la, Ath. Paris. 32, 4, 
as one of a list ‘calculated to bestow long life;’ see 
Kaus. 54, 11 note. It is worked up more especially in the 


11, 28. COMMENTARY. 307 


god4na, the ceremony of shearing the first whiskers of 
a youth. Father and mother, while reciting the hymn, hand 
the boy over thrice to one another and feed him with 
dumplings, prepared with ghee (Kaus. 54, 13. 14). Cf. 
Sankh. Grth. I, 28, 15, and Asv. Grth. I, 4, 4, where the 
related stanzas RV. IX, 66, 19-21 are rubricated, and, in 
general, Maitr. S. II, 3, 4; Tait. S. II, 3, 10,3; Tait. Ar. 
II, 5. The Anukramazi designates it as garima4yurdevatam, 
“devoted to the divinity which bestows life unto old age;’ 
cf. Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 341. Previous translations 
by Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 192 ff.; Grill?, pp. 48, 94 ff. 


Stanza 1. 


b. The favourite formulary number for all possible varie- 
ties of death is one hundred and one: AV. I, 30, 3; III, 
11, 5-7; VIII, 2,27; XI,6,16. The Pada is hypermetrtic, 
and may be relieved by throwing out imam or anyé. 

ἃ. The play of words in mitra enam mitriyat cannot be 
reproduced in English; cf. RV. IV, 55, 5. 


Stanza 2. 


a. risdd4 is not analysed by the Padap4¢s/a, being repro- 
duced by most MSS. as risd4k, by some as risdd4 (dual, 
agreeing both with Mitra and Varuna? cf. Vag. 5. XXXIII, 
72). Sayama takes it as nom. sg., hi#sakandm atta, and the 
scholiasts generally, beginning with Yaska, Nirukta VI, 14, 
though they differ in their etymological analysis, arrive at 
similar interpretations. Aufrecht, in Bohtlingk’s Lexicon, 
VI, 305, and Grill, p. 95, take it to mean ‘very distin- 
guished, the latter scholar comparing it with épixvdjs. One 
would fain look for das, ‘giving,’ in the last part of the 
word. At Maitr. S. I, 10, 2 (p. 140, 1]. 10)=Tait. S. I, 8, 
3, 1, the expression marito yag#avahasahk occurs as the 
version of martto risddasak in Vag. 5. III, 44; this may 
be noted for future reference. I have surrendered the 
version of the native etymologists in favour of Aufrecht 
and Grill, though the latter has failed to convince me with 
his fascinating etymological combination. 

xX 2 


308 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


6, ἃ. The relation of this hemistich to the preceding is 
obscure; it seems to have been introduced secondarily and 
loosely. Agni purifies life (RV. IX, 66, 19): so far he fits 
in with the preceding. But Agni also knows all the races 
of the gods (RV. IV, 2, 18=AV. XVIII, 3, 23): this, the 
major part of the hemistich, belongs to a different sphere of 
conceptions ; see the author in Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XVI, 
16 ff. P&da d is obviously formulary, being repeated liter- 
ally in a different connection at IV, 1, 3. For vayunani, 
see Pischel, Vedische Studien, I, 295 ff.; Ludwig, Uber 
Methode bei Interpretation des Rigveda, pp. 31 ff. Sayama, 
here as elsewhere, in accordance with YAska, Nir. V, 14, &c., 
prag#dnamai = tat, iha tu simarthyat prag#4tavyani vidvan, 
ἄς. 

Stanza 8. 

b. The edition of Roth and Whitney has ganitv4A, which 
is the Paippalada reading. Most MSS. used by Shankar 
Pandit read ganitrak; so also Sdyana, ganitraz ganish- 
yamanak. But ganitra is not quotable as an adjective: 
I accept the more recondite reading ganitvak. 


Stanza 5. 


The last stanza occurs in Tait. S. II, 3, 10, 3; Maitr. S. 
II, 3, 4; Tait. Ar. II, 5, 1 (the last two with variants). 


II, 29. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 47. 


. The tenor of the hymn is vague, and it exhibits strong 
traces of patch-work, being compiled from a variety of 
sources. In the ritual it is applied chiefly as a remedial 
charm against a disease in which thirst plays a prominent 
réle (trishz4grthita ; cf. st. 4). It is described at Kaus. 
27, 9-13, as follows: 9. ‘While reciting II, 29 (the per- 
former) at sunrise seats (the patient and a healthy person) 
back to back. 10. Having seated upon branches the patient 
with his face to the east, and the healthy person with his 
face to the west, having churned a stirred drink in a cup 
made of vetasa-reed by means of two (vetasa-reeds, used as) 
stirrers, upon the head of the person afflicted with thirst, he 


Π, 29. COMMENTARY. 309 


presents it to the person not suffering from thirst. 11. 
(Thus) to him he transfers the thirst. 12. (To the patient) 
he gives water (freshly) drawn to drink". 13. While re- 
citing the second half of st. 6 he does as there stated (i.e. 
he covers them with one and the same garment, and lets 
them drink of the stirred drink). The performance implies 
the transference (vaguely suggesting the modern trans- 
fusion) of the disease upon some friend or menial. Cf. 
Kaiyaéa to Paxini V, 2, 92, as cited by Weber, Ind. Stud. 
XIII, 159 note. In the Teutonic folk-practices, transfer- 
ence of disease takes place without knowledge of the 
healthy; cf. Wuttke, Der deutsche Volksaberglaube, 
δ 492 ff. The nature of the disease which harasses the 
patient with thirst is not stated; it is, of course, likely to 
have been febrile in character. 

The hymn figures also at Kaus. 54, 18 in the £ddakarana, 
the ceremony of tonsure. This in its character as a life- 
giving hymn (4yushya; cf. sts. 1, 2). The third stanza, 
a familiar Yagus-formula, is quoted at Vait. SQ. 22, τό. 
Previous translations: Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 194 ff. ; 
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 493. 


Stanza 2. 


The special quality of Agni as a bestower of life is 
alluded to very frequently, e.g. II, 13, 1; 28, 1; cf. the 
parallels cited in the introduction to the latter hymn. 
Pada d is repeated elsewhere, e. g. I, 10, 2d. 


Stanza 3. 


The stanza, quoted at Vait. Su. 22, 16, is repeated with 
variants in Maitr. S. IV, 12, 3; Kazk. S.V, 2; Tait. S. III, 
2, 8,5; Katy. Sr. X. 5, 3. The second hemistich also in 
Kaz. 5. XXXII, 2. In all these the difficult duals dhattam 
and sdfetasau are replaced by the singulars dadh4tu and 
sd4varkasam (K4és. sivarkasam), and all these texts under- 
stand Asir to be the nominative of the stem 4sir, ‘milk added 
to soma;’ see especially Vait. Sd. and Katy. Sr., ]. c. (4siram 


' Cf. stanzas 5 and 6 of the hymn. 


310 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


in the text of the Sdtra). This construction fails here, and 
we have, as also Sdyana (alternatively), and the former 
interpreters, taken 4si% from stem Asis, ‘ prayer.’ The dual 
dhattam in Pada Ὁ seems to refer proleptically to dyava- 
prithivi in st. 4, as S&yaza assumes without hesitation. 
The entire stanza is adapted secondarily ; we must in such 
cases follow the adaptation sympathetically, not the original 
sense which is entirely out of keeping with the situation. 

6. gdyam in the MSS. (Samhita and Padap4tha) seems to 
stand for gayan (the other versions samgdayan). Sdyana 
takes gdyam as the noun, ‘victory and lands obtaining,’ &c. 
This, too, is possible. 

ἃ. For any&n sapatnan, cf. Nala, I, 13, 14; III, 2, and 
expressions like πολιτῶν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ξένων, very common 
in Greek; see the author in Amer. Journ. Phil. VIT, 101. 


Stanza 5. 


The transition from the praying modal form in Padas 
a, b to the prophetic aorist in c, d, is a common one in the 
Atharvan, e.g. II, 26, 5. 

Stanza 6. 

e, ad. Cf. the Sdtra in the introduction above. It seems 
difficult to conceive this hemistich in any other connection 
than that indicated by the Satra. There it fits admirably. 
The patient and the healthy person clothed in the same 
garment assume a magically deceptive identity, like that 
of the Asvins', so that the disease passes from one to the 
other. And yet this may not be a sautra mantra, but an 
adaptation of materials, originally composed in a different 
connection for a different purpose! Sayama, here as else- 
where, follows the Sdtra through thick and thin. 


Stanza 7. 


a. ϑάναμα says that Indra was struck by the demons, 
Vritra, &c., but does not refer to any particular narrative. 


1 The Asvins, moreover, are the heavenly physicians, presumably 
conceived as being themselves free from disease. Thus both 
persons engaged in the practice are symbolically made healthy, 


Il, 230. COMMENTARY. 311 


Cf. RV. I, 32, 12.14; Tait.S. VI, 5, 5,2. Weber suggests 
that the mention of Indra’s injury indicates that the patient's 
thirst is due to fever consequent upon wounds. 


II, 30. COMMENTARY TO PAGE I00. 


The practices in the Kausika (part of the strikarm4wi, 
32, 28-36, 40) are stated at 35, 21. They seize upon and 
embody with rather delicate symbolism the comparisons 
and metaphors which naturally appear in such poems. The 
performances are, however, not built up upon this hymn 
alone, but upon three others, VI, 8, 9, and 102, as follows: 
‘While reciting the four hymns just mentioned, he places 
between two chips, taken respectively from a tree and 
a creeper which embraces it, an arrow}, sthakara-powder?, 
salve, kush¢ka (costus speciosus), sweet-wood, and a stalk 
of grass which has been torn by the wind ; he mixes them 
with melted butter and anoints (the woman he loves) 3,’ 
Cf. the following stanzas of the hymns: VI, 8,1; II, 30,3; 
VI, 102, 3; II, 30,1; and VI, 102, 2. The paraphernalia 
and emotions of love are concretely embodied in a mixture, 
and drastically transferred upon the woman. 

Previous translations: Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 218; XIII, 
197 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 517; Grill’, pp. 52, 
97 ff. The Anukramazi, k4minimano:bhimukhikaraza- 
kama. 

Stanza 1. 


b. The use of the root manth suggests the later man- 
matha, ‘ god of love.’ 


1 This represents, of course, Kama’s, the love-god’s, arrow. Cf. 
Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 225; XVII, 290. 

3. No less than four forms of this word occur, sthakara, sthagara, 
tagara (-ri), and takarf. It is a fragrant powder; see, e.g Tait. 
Br. II, 3, 10, 1-3; Gobh. Grth. IV, 2, 29. 

5. So Sayama, striya angam anulimpet. Differently Kesava, 
ahgam samalabhet ruéyartham, i.e. ‘he anoints himself so as to 
make himself attractive.’ 


312 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


d,e. The two Padas are formulary ; see I, 34, 5; VI, 8, 
1-3. 

Stanza 2. 

a, Ὁ. Weber, Ludwig, and Grill regard kamina as dual, 
‘the loving pair. I have adopted this, and not followed 
Sayava in construing it as instrumental singular. The 
sense would then be, ‘if ye shall unite her with (me), her 
lover. The two Asvins, who woo Sarya for Soma (RV. 
X, 85, 8. 9. 14. 15), play here the part of gods of love; cf. 
AV. XIV, 1, 25. 36; 2, 5. 6; VI, 102, 1. The anacolu- 
thon between the two hemistichs is reproduced in the 
translation. 

6. bhdgdso, ‘fortunes, good fortunes, possibly with a 
double entente (bhaga = vulva); cf. st. 5. The Pada, 
moreover, suggests secondary adaptation; vam seems to 
refer primarily to the Asvins, ‘your fortunes (i.e. the good 
fortune bestowed by you) have arrived.’ 


Stanza 3. 


The sense seems to be that the time of the birds’ amorous 
chirping, when they call to one another to mate, is the 
proper time for the lover's call to his mistress. Weber, 
Ind. Stud. V, 219, and Ludwig suggest, however, that the 
cry of the birds is regarded as a good omen. Sdyana, 
vaktum ikfavo bhavanti. In speaking of the arrow-point 
and the shaft, the poet has in mind the arrow as the 
weapon of the god of love; see III, 25,1. 2; Ind. Stud. V, 
225; XVII, 290; Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. 
XIV, 40, 269. 

Stanza 4. 


a,b. The entire mental condition of the maiden, and 
perhaps also her utterances, shall be altered: the passage 
is formulary. Sayama, ‘by this the conflict between her 
speech and her thought is removed.’ 

6. ϑάγαηα on visvardp4z4m, ‘having limbs full of fault- 
lessness, and not previously enjoyed (in sexual love).’ But 
the word may mean simply ‘of all sorts.’ 


Il, 31. COMMENTARYS "313 


Stanza 5. 


ἃ. πάρα here seems to be used in a double meaning 
(Ἢ fortune,’ and ‘ vulva’); it is to be noted that Sdyaza does 
not paraphrase the word. Cf. XX, 136, 5. The Anukra- 
mavi, dampatf parasparam manograhavam akurut4m. 


II, 31. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 22. 


The Atharvan contains three charms against worms, II, 
31 and 32; Ν, 24΄. The first of these seems to be of the 
general sort; the second is directed against worms in 
cattle; the third is intended to cure worms in children. 
We must not, in my opinion, suppose that the assumption 
of the presence of worms was preceded by acute diagnosis. 
Professor A. Kuhn, in his admirable treatise on the con- 
nection between Teutonic and Vedic medicinal charms 
(Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprachforschung, XIII, pp. 
49 ff.; 113 ff.), has shown that the greatest variety of 
diseases are regarded in the naive view of folk-medicine 
as due to the presence of worms (see pp. 135 ff.); doubtless 
similar conceptions are at the base of the Hindu formulas. 
This accounts for ‘worms in the head’ (II, 31, 4); ‘the 
variegated worm, the four-eyed’ (II, 32, 2), and the like. 
Cf. also Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, pp. 98, 393; Wise, 
Hindu System of Medicine, pp. 307, 348 ff.; and Mann- 
hardt, Der Baumkultus der Germanen, pp. 12 ff. Less 
certain is the same scholar’s view that the similarity of the 
conceptions in this matter points back to proethnic charms, 
since the equal endowment of the two peoples (Hindus and 
Germans) may of itself suffice to account for the parallel 
results. But I must say that the more modern scepticism 


1 Cf. elsewhere, Tait. Ar. IV, 36; Apast. Sr. XV, 19, 5; Gobh. 
Grth. IV, 9, 19; Mantrabrahmaza of the SAma-veda II, 7; also 
Maitr. S. ITI, 14, 11; Tait. S. V, 5. 11,1; Vag. 5. XXIV, 30; 
and the correlated hymn, RV. I, τοι. 


314 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


which stoutly denies the possibility of such productions in 
Indo-European times is at the present time more dogmatic 
than is at all warranted by the evidence. It is likely 
a priori that some of these folk-notions had crystallised 
in prehistoric times; if there was an Indo-European people 
—some will deny even that—there was also a crude Indo- 
European folk-lore. Cf. also the introduction to IV, 12. 

Kausika implicates this hymn in a rather elaborate and 
difficult practice, 27, 14-20, as follows: 14. ‘While reciting 
AV. IT, 31 he makes an oblation of black lentils', the kind 
of worms called algazdu? and hanana, (all) mixed with ghee. 
15. The young (of worms: Darila, kvimizo balan*) he 
winds about from right to left upon a black-spotted arrow 
(Dar., kalm4shavarse sare), and then smashes (the arrows)- 
16. He roasts (the worms in the fire). 17. He then lays 
on (the worms with the arrow as firewood in the fire: Dar., 
tan balan sasaran). 18. With his left hand, his face turned 
to the south, he throws up dust and scatters it (over the 
patient, Kesava). 19. He (the patient) grinds up (the dust). 
20. He then lays (ordinary) firewood on the fire.’ The 
unsavoury practice, introduced by Kesava with the words 
arushi-udaragawdulaka-bhaishagyany uéyante*, comports 
well with the fierce imprecation: the acts symbolise the 
destruction of the imaginary worms in the patient, and 
contain various allusions to the wording of the hymn. 

The hymn has been translated by Kuhn, l.c. 137; Weber, 
Indische Studien, XIII, 199 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 
323; Grill*, pp. 6, 98. The Anukramazi describes the 
divinity to which the hymn is addressed as mahidevatyam 


* The word khalvanga, thus translated, is not altogether clear. 
It is discussed in Kausika, Introduction, p. xlix. 

3. Thus, not al4mdu; see Kausika, Additions and Corrections, and 
cf. the note on AV. II, 31, 3. 

5. But Kesava very differently, govala(m) Aitritam sarasamdhyam 
parivesh/ya, i.e. the hair of a cow’s tail is wound about an arrow! 
Cf. Satra 26, and the introduction to II, 32. Cf. also Kesava’s 
explanation of Kaus. 29, 20. Sayama follows Kesava. 

4 For gandulaka, cf. perhaps algandu, above, and in stanza 2. 


Il, 31. COMMENTARY. 315 


(!cf. the word mahi in st. 1) uta Aandram; its author is 
Kazva. 
Stanza 1. 

a. In RV. VII, 104, 22 = AV. VIII, 4, 22, Indra is called 
upon to crush the Rakshas as with a mill-stone: the present 
passage seems to realise the comparison, so that indirectly 
Indra’s bolt (vagra) is in the mind of the poet; cf. also 
asman and parvata in st. 19 of the same hymn. 

d. Cf. the symbolic crushing of lentils in the practice, 
Kaus. 27, 14, where khalvanga takes the place of khalva; 
so also in Kaus. 27, 26 (cf. Kausika, Introduction, p. xlix). 
Kesava defines both khalvanga and khdlva as krishnaka- 
nakah. Read here metri gratia khdluan. Cf. also V, 23, 
ὃ c,d. 

Stanza 2. 

a. At V, 23, 6. 7 advfshéa is an epithet of krémi; adr/shfa 
by itself is used substantivally in AV. VI, 52, 2 (=RV. I, 
191, 4), and 3; cf. also RV. I, 191, 9 = AV. VI, 52, 1 and 
AV. V, 23,6, where the sun is designated as the slayer, 
advishéahdn, of unseen (vermin); cf. Zimmer, p. 98. In 
AV. VIII, 8,15 both dvzsh¢4 and adrfshéa also occur as 
designations of vermin, and it seems quite likely that 
drish/4 is an afterthought in the style of sura after asura ; 
diti after aditi, and the like. 

Ὁ. The Paippalada and SAyama read kuriram for kurt- 
rum; the latter defines it, kuriram gdlam tadvad antar 
avasthitam krimikulam. 

c. The MSS., both of the hymn and the SAtra, hesitate 
between the two writings algazdu and aldzdu, and I had 
decided in the Additions and Corrections to the Kausika 
(p. 76, SQ. 14) in favour of algavdu. This is the reading 
adopted by Sayaza and Shankar Pandit. In the Nagari- 
character the two forms are almost identical (Iga is 14 as 
soon as the g-stroke is prolonged downward); hence the 
confusion. Sdyaza, sonitamamsaddshakan gantin. Sayaza 
has salgdn for salinan. Here, as in st. 4 c, d, krimin is 
obviously a gloss; the Anukramazi, uncritically, defines 
the metre of the stanza as uparish¢adviraddbrihati. 


316 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 3. 


a,b. The mighty weapon is the charm which is called 
outright ‘thunderbolt’ (vagra) in VI, 134 and 135. Perhaps 
the fire of the symbolic bolt is supposed to burn them 
(dan@ d4dQnaz). The ritual (Sdtras 16 and 17, above) em- 
bodies the idea in practice, and we are not in the position 
to say but what this particular act was associated with the 
stanza from the start—a question of principle which seems 
destined for ever to divide the doctors. ϑάγνασα obviously 
has in mind paritapati in SQ. 16 in his gloss paritapta 
aparitaptaZ. 

c,d. To render doubly certain the complete destruction 
of the disease, even those which are prima facie already 
driven out are submitted to this phase of the charm. 


Stanza 4. 


a, Ὁ. Read Anvantriam sirshavfam dtha ἃ, &c. Cf. with 
this Mantrabrahmama (of the S4ma-veda) II, 7, 2, krimissz 
ha vaktratodinam krimim Antranufarinam. Sdyana (with 
some MSS.) reads parshveyam, ‘in the heel,’ and Ludwig, 
rather arbitrarily, translates ‘im Riicken,’ as though p4rsh- 
theyam stood in the text. 

6. avaskava, like most of the names in the charm, is 
ἅπ. Aey. Weber, l.c. 201, and Zimmer, p. 393, define it as 
‘he who peels, pares off.’ Sdyaa, aviggamanasvabhavam. 
By the side of vyadhvard (this form twice in VI, 50, 3)? 
we have vyadvara in Sat. Br. VII, 4, 1, 27 (defined by the 
scholiast as adanasilo dandasikadiz) and vyddvari (with 
different accent) in AV. III, 28,2. One or the other is 
a folk-etymological modification: vyadhvarda, ‘piercing,’ 
and vyadvara, ‘gnawing.’ The Padap4sha divides vi adh- 
vara (most futile), and Ludwig in his translation of VI, 50, 3 


1 So the vulgata. Sdyama and Shankar Pandit with most of his 
MSS. vyadvaré. See the note there. 

* Here Sayama reads vyadhvart (duskhahetur dush/amargah 
tadvatt) ; see the note on the passage. 


II, 32. COMMENTARY. 317 


has arrived at the same result, ‘abseits vom wege’ (Der 
Rigveda, III, 500). The same analysis in Sayaza to our 
stanza, vividhamargopetam, nanddvarani kritva tatra gakh- 
antam.—krimin here, as in 2 ο, is a gloss, misunderstood 
by the Anukramazi, as above. 


Stanza 5. 


6. Sayana reads te for γέ and tanvas for tanvam. 


II, 32. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 23. 


This charm against worms in cattle (Kesava, gokrimi- 
bhaishagy4ni) elicits the following treatment in the Kausika 
27, 21-26: ‘(The performer) chants the hymn at sunrise, 
and pronounces the name of the cow, “O thou, N. N.”? 
At the end of the hymn, while exclaiming “the (worms) are 
slain,’ he throws darbha-grass (upon the cow). He goes 
through the same performance at noon. In the afternoon 
he (throws the darbha-grass) upon the cow, her face turned 
to the west 5. Having cut off a tuft of the (cow’s) tail he 
continues as in Sitra 14 (the performance in connection 
with AV. II, 31, which see).’ 

Charms closely related with this are found in Tait. Ar. 
IV, 36 (cf. Apast. Sr. XV, 19, 5). where verses similar to 
stanzas 3 and 4 are employed to relieve the cow who yields 
the milk for the gharma, if she is sick with worms ; further 
in the Mantrabrahmama of the SAma-veda II, 7 (see the 
Calcutta Journal Usha, vol. i, fasc. 7) 5, and in Gobh. Grth. 
IV, 9, 19. 20, where the stanzas of Mantrabr. are employed 
to destroy worms both in man and cattle. 

The hymn has been translated by A. Kuhn, in Kuhn's 


τ Cf. Gobh. Grh. III, 8, 3; Lary. Sr. IT, 6, 3; and Katy. Sr. 
XXVI, 5, 1, where id is mentioned as the typical name of a cow. 

3 The implication is that in the preceding steps of the ceremony 
the cow’s head is turned to the east; cf. Darila, p. 77, note 7. 

δ The same work has also been printed in Serampore (saka 
1794=A.D. 1872). ᾿ 


318 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Zeitschrift, XIII, 138 ff.; Weber, Indische Studien, XIII, 
201 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 500; Grill?, pp. 7, 100; 
cf. also Hillebrandt’s Vedachrestomathie, p. 47. The 
Anukramazi, Adityadevatyam, anenos ktarshir (i.e. Kazva: 
cf. the introduction to II, 31) uktakriyam akarot. 


Stanza 1. 


The removal of hantu in Pada 1 restores a good gayatri 
stanza (read, Aditfaz). The Anukramawi designates it as 
tripad bhuriggayatri. 

a. The rising sun and Ushas, the dawn, are especially 
calculated to dispel the evils associated primarily with 
night, and then, generally, misery and disease; cf. RV. 
I, 50, 11, 13; AV. I, 22, 1; V, 23, 6; IX, 2, 15; 8, 22; 
XII, 1, 32. 

, Stanza 2. 


The stanza is repeated at V, 23, 9 with the variants 
trisirshdzam trikakidam in Pada 1; these readings com- 
bined show that the poet in designating the worms has in 
mind the demon Visvardpa who is familiarly known to 
have had three heads. Cf. also Mantrabr. II, 7, 2. krimis 
dvisirsham argunam dvisirsham ka katurhanum. Professor 
Kuhn, |. c. 147, lays especial stress upon the agreement of 
the Vedic and Teutonic charms, in that they point out the 
colours of the worms. 

a. Sayana, visvaripam nanakaram; Ludwig, ‘den voll- 
gestaltigen.’ The epithet ‘four-eyed’ is originally at home 
with the four-eyed dogs of Yama, and is due, primarily, 
to some mythological conception; cf. our note on IV, 
20,7. But in the view of the Hindus ‘ four-eyed’ means 
‘with spots over the eyes;’ see Contributions, Third 
Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 165 note. Sdyana, 
Aaturnetram. 

b. The Pet. Lexs. render séranga by ‘bunt, scheckig ;’ 
Weber, ‘schwarzlich;’ Ludwig, ‘braunlich.’ The native 
explanations of the word are stated by Prof. Weber, Indische 
Studien, VIII, 275. 

c. The Péda is a catalectic anush¢ubh. 


If, 32. COMMENTARY. 319 


Stanza 3. 


The stanza recurs in V, 23, το. The Tait. Ar. IV, 36, 
and Mantrabr. II, 7,1. 2 have similar stanzas: atrind tva 
krime hanmi kazvena gamadagnin4, visvavasor brahmaz& 
(Tait. Αγ); and, hatas te atriz4 krimir hatas te gamadag- 
nina, gotamena tinikrzto:traizva tva krime brahmavadyam 
avadya. bharadvagasya mantreza samtinomi krime tva 
(Mantrabr.) Reliance upon the great seers of the past is 
a common-place expression in charms and exorcisms ; cf. 
e.g. I, 14, 4; IV, 20, 7. 

ce. Hillebrandt and Grill regard va# as a gloss. But it 
is written also in V, 23, 10, and its expulsion does not effect 
good metre, the final cadence being υ -- -- ὐὶ 


Stanza 4. 


Recurs in V, 23, 11. The Tait. Ar. reads at IV, 36, 
hatak krimizam raga, apy esh4m sthapatir hatas, atho 
mata=tho pita, atho sthara atho kshudra%, atho krishna 
atho svetas#, atho 4satika! hata, svetabhiZ saha sarve 
hataz; cf. also the next stanza of ourhymn. For sthdpati, 
see Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 202 ff.; Uber den Vagapeya, 
9, 10 (769, 770), Sitzungsberichte der Kéniglich Preussischen 
Akademie, XX XIX (1892); Uber die Konigsweihe, p. 65 
(Transactions of the same Academy, 1893). Sayama, sakivah. 
The scholiast at Tait. Ar. has anyo:pi r4gavyatiriktas 
prabhuk. The etymologies suggested are unsatisfactory 
(see Pet. Lex. and Weber, I.c.); it has occurred to me 
that possibly the word might be a loan-word with folk- 
etymological modification, being Avestan shoithrapaiti (cf. 
Achemenian khshatrap4van), ‘satrap,’ a word which later 
again finds its way into Indo-Scythian coins in the form 


1 Scholiast, 4gatya styaman4’ asmabhir eva badhyamanas. Cf, 
with this also Mantrabr. II, 7, 4. krimim indrasya bahubhy4m 
avistham p&tayAmasi, haték krimayaA s4satikaA sanflamakshikas. 
The scholiast defines s4satiki# by Asdtikay4 (! for astikay4 ?) saha 
vartaman4h. 


320 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


kshatrapa ; cf. Zeitschrift fiir die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 
III, 161; IV, 186, 200, 


Stanza 5. 


Repeated in V, 23, 12. The Mantrabr. II, 7, 3 presents 
a passage which concerns stanzas 4-6 of our hymn, μαῖα 
kriminam kshudrako hata maté hata pita, athaissham 
bhinnakaZ kumbho ya esham vishadhanakah. 

a, Ὁ. Sayava, without regard to the oxytone accent of 
vesds (nomen agentis), renders vesdso . . . pdrivesasak as 
follows, nivesasthanani mukhyagrzhak .. . paritad sthitad 
samipagrthak. Weber renders the two words by ‘diener’ 
and ‘umdienenden ;’ Grill by ‘hérige’ and ‘zugehérige ;’ 
Ludwig and Hillebrandt by ‘hérige’ and ‘der hérigen 
horige.’ , 

Stanza 6. 


The metre of the stanza is quite irregular; the Anukra- 
mami describes it at Aatushp4n nivrédushzik. The first 
and third PAdas are catalectic ; in the second Pada yabhyam 
is y&bhidm, or the like; the fourth Pada may also be 
sustained as a catalectic anushfubh by substituting tava for 
te, or resolving te into taf or taya. 

c,d. The Paippalada reads, atho bhinadmi tayz kumbhamm 
yasmin te nihatam (!for nihitaw?) visham; cf. also the 
parallel stanza RV. I, 191, 15. Sayama substitutes shu- 
kambham for kushimbham, and he has the support of 
some MSS. His comment is avayavavisesha, ‘some part 
of the body.’ Ludwig translates kushumbham by ‘tail, 
but the parallel passages of the Paippalada and Mantrabr. 
obviously point to some word like ‘receptacle.’ This word 
as well as kusumbha and kusumbha, ‘ water-pitcher of 
hermits,’ seem to me to be extensions of kumbha by 
popular etymology, introducing the influence of kosha, 
kosa, ‘basket,’ and perhaps in the case of kusumbha the 
stem sumbha-, ‘ purify.’ Direct etymological analysis of 
such words is difficult because they become so readily the 
play-ball of kindred notions; cf. Weber, I. c. 204. 


II, 33. COMMENTARY. 321 


II, 33. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 44. 


The commentators fitly treat this charm as a cure for all 
diseases (sarvabhaishagyam). The practices at Kaus. 27, 
27-8 are of the simplest sort, and their symbolic relation 
to the hymn superficially obvious: 27. ‘ The stanzas of the 
hymn are recited over the patient while (fetters with which 
he has been bound) are being torn off. 28. He is sprinkled 
with water mixed with the dregs of ghee from a water- 
vessel.’ The hymn figures also in a list designed to bestow 
long life (4yushyagama) in the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 4; 
see Kaus. 54,11 note. According to Sd4yaza the hymn is 
also a member of the asholingagaza, ‘a list characterised 
by (driving away) distress,’ consisting of II, 33; III, 11; 
IV, 13; V, 30; .X,8. But the GazamAla, Ath. Paris. 32, 31, 
strings together a very different group under the same 
caption; see Kaus. 32, 27 note. Cf. also Vait. Sd. 38, 1; 
Ath. Paris. 33, 3. 

The hymn recurs with variants, RV. X, 163 ; AV. XX, 96, 
17-22; the first stanza at Par. Gvzh. III, 6, 2. In its Rig- 
veda form it constitutes also a part of the Apast. Mantra- 
br&hmaza I, 17, 1-6, employed at- Apast. Grth. III, 9, 10; 
see Winternitz, Das Altindische Hochzeitsritual, p. 99. 
The many, often perplexing designations of the parts of 
the body are paralleled in the catalogues of the parts of the 
horse’s body, at the horse-sacrifice, TS. V, 7, 11 ff. (cf. also 
I, 4, 36; VII, 3, 16); Maitr. 5. III, 15, 1 ff; Vag. 5. 
XXV,1ff. Cf. also AV. X, 2; XI, 8. . 

The hymns in question have been translated and com- 
pared with certain Teutonic charms by Adalbert Kuhn in his 
ever-charming work on ‘ Indische und germanische Segens- 
spriiche, Kuhn’s Zeitschrift, XIII, 63 ff. These-comparisons 
are of permanent interest for folk-psychology, even though 
the genetic relationship of the charms may be doubted. 
The Atharvan version has been rendered in addition by 
Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII, 205 ff.; for RV. X, 163 see 
Ludwig’s and Grassmann’s translations. 


[43] Y 


322 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 2. 


a. Sayama here defines ushz{habhyad etymologically as, 
Qrdhvam snigdhabhyad rakt&dind utsn4taébhyo va n&di- 
bhyaf, but at RV. snadyubhya# for nddibhyas. Cf. AV. 
VI, 134, 13 IX, 8, 21; X, 10, 20, and the schol. at Pazini 
ITI, 2, 59. 

Stanza 3. 


b. hdlikshvAt is obscure: Sdyama, tatsambandhad (tat 
refers to klomnas) mdmsapindaviseshat, ‘a ball of flesh 
adjoining the lungs.’ The word may possibly be related 
to hird, ‘canal, vein.’ 


Stanza 5. 


c,d. The tautological use of bhasadyam and bhdsadam 
is justified in the mind of the Atharvan poet, because it 
heightens the effect of the cumulative pun upon bhdmsasa. 
RV. X, 163, 4 exhibits but two of these stems. 


Stanza 7. 


ἃ. kasydpasya vibarhena (sc. bradhmav4). For Kasyapa, 
see the notes on I, 14, 4; IV, 20, 7. 


II, 36. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 94. 


The practices associated with this hymn are part of the 
‘women’s rites’ (Kaus. 32, 28-36, 40), and they are pre- 
sented under the special rubric of pativedandni (Kesava, 
patilabhakarm4zi), ‘ practices by which a husband is ob- 
tained, Kaus. 34, 12-16 (cf. also Kaus. 75, 7), as follows: 
13. ‘While reciting the hymn the maiden is given to eat 
a pudding of rice and sesame, such as is cooked for guests. 
14. Upon an altar, made out of clay from a cave inhabited 
by animals (cf. stanza 4), are placed the substances recited 
in the hymn (gold, bdellium, &c.; cf. st. 7); these are 
anointed with the dregs of ghee, and given to the maiden 


II, 36. COMMENTARY. 323 


at the door’. 15. Having sacrificed by night rice and 
barley from a copper vessel to Gami?, the maiden walks 
forth with her right side turned towards (the vessel ; cf. 
st. 6). The maiden, having been washed and cleaned to 
the west of the fire, while stanza 5 of the hymn is being 
recited, is made to do what is told in the stanza (upon 
a ship) anointed with the dregs of ghee (i.e. she is made 
to ascend the ship).’ After that follow certain oracles to 
decide whether the maiden shall succeed in obtaining the 
husband or not. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. 
V, 219 ff.; XIII, 214 ff.; Ludwig, Rigveda, III, 476; 
Grill’, pp. 55, 102 ff.; cf. also Zimmer, p. 306. 


Stanza 1. 


a. Literally, ‘may a suitor come to our favour,’ i.e. 
a suitor who shall gain our favour. Sdyaza, sobhandm 
buddhim ἃ gamet . . . kalydzim buddhim prapya. Cf. 
Saakh. Grth. I, 6, 1 ff.; Apast. Grih. I, 2, τό; 4, 1-23 
Ind. Stud. V, 276, 291 ff. 

b. The suitor comes‘ with our fortune,’ since the betrothal 
of a daughter is regarded in that light. 

c. Sayama, samaneshu samdnamanaskeshu ... yad va 
samanam manyamaneshu sahridayeshu. 

ἃ. Sayaza reads sham for oshdm, and glosses, dsham 
fishati rugati apanudati duskhagatam iti dsham sukha- 
karam. 


Stanza 2. 


a,b. Cf. RV. X, 85, 40. 41, where Soma, Gandharva, and 
Agni are said to be the mythical first husbands of every 
maiden. SAayaza has in mind the same passages, since he 
glosses brahma with gandharva, and identifies Aryaman 
with Agni, leaning upon the slender support of Asv. Grzh. 


1 So that she may adorn and anoint herself with them. 
3 The personified goddess of femininity, or maternity; Darila, 
gamika (?) matvka. Cf. AV. V, 1, 4, and Kaus. 34, 20. 


Y2 


324 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


I,7, 13. Cf. AV. XIV, 1, 31, which shows that samebhrztam 
alludes consciously to samzbhala in st. 1. 

e. Dhatar, the god of divine order and creation, just as 
the three gods in the first hemistich, is especially charged 
with the arrangement of marriage ; see VI, 60, 3. 


Stanza 4. 


SAyanza, with one of Shankar Pandit’s MSS., reads 
maghavan (mamhaniyabhogyapadarthayukta/), in agree- 
ment with 4khard/ ; also abhirddhayanti, which he glosses 
by abhivardhayanti, yad va. . . putrapasvadibhiz samviddha 
bhavanti. For the juxtaposition of Indra and Bhaga, cf. 
VI, 82. For Bhaga in relation to matters of love, VI, 102, 3. 


Stanza 6. 


a, b. Judging from IV, 22, 3; V, 23, 2; X, 10, 11, the 
divinity addressed as ‘lord of wealth’ is Indra (Maghavan 
in st. 4). 

c,d. The sense is: Every suitor who approaches her 
shall indicate his esteem, or admiration, so that the event 
shall not fail to result auspiciously. Cf. the symbolic 
realisation of this arrangement in Kaus. 34, 15, above. 


Stanza 7. 


a. Some MSS. read gulgulu for guggulu (Sayaza, 
dhdpanadravyavisesha). 

b. aukshd, ‘balsam, according to ϑᾶναα = pralepana- 
dravyam. It seems to be simply ‘ bull’s grease ;’ see the 
sloka quoted by Kesava at Kaus. 34, 14 (repeated by 
Sayaza on our passage), as also by Darila, Kesava, and 
Ath. Paddh. at Kaus. 79, 9 (in elucidation of the word 
aukshe), and cf. our introduction to AV. I, 34. See also 
the analogous passage AV. VI, 102, 3, and aukshagandhi 
as the name of an Apsaras, IV, 37, 3. 

ce. For the plural patibhyaZ, see Ind. Stud. V, 205 ff., 221. 

ἃ. pratikamdya is emended by the Pet. Lex. to prati- 
kamydya (cf. sts. 5, 6, 8, and VI, 60, 3); SAyaza, endm 
kany4m kamayamanam. The Paippaldda reads patikamaya, 


Ill, I. COMMENTARY. 325 


which makes good sense, ‘in order to obtain the love of 
a husband.’ 
Stanza 8. 


The second nayatu seems superfluous, derived, perhaps, 
from some parallel expression in which nayatu was the last 
word. The entire stanza is loosely connected with the 
hymn; the plant addressed seems to have no reference to 
the proceedings in hand. Cf. AV. ITI, 18. 


III, 1. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 121. 


In accordance with our title for this and the following 
hymn is their designation in the ritual as mohanAni (sc. 
sdktdni), ‘charms for causing bewilderment ;’ see Kaus. 14. 
17. With them go in the subsequent Sdtras (18-21) the 
following performances: 18. ‘Chaff (of rice), underlaid with 
porridge, is sacrificed from a mortar. 19. (Or) in the same 
way small grain! (is offered). 20. Twenty-one pebbles are 
shaken (in a winnowing-basket *) against (the enemy). 21. 
(A pot of rice) is offered to the goddess Apva.’ The sym- 
bolism is obvious: the chaff or the small grain symbolises 
the dispersion of the enemy; the pebbles shaken against 
them the destructive attack of the sacrificing king. An 
offering is made to the goddess of evacuation (from the 
body). See the note on III, 2, 5. The present hymn has 
been rendered by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 518; Weber, 
Ind. Stud. XVII, 180 ff. The Anukramazi, senamohanam. 


Stanza 1. 


Agni, the fire, figures largely as the typical leader of the 
vanguard of armies, e.g. in the battle-hymn, RV. X, 84, 2, 
and in Tait. S. I, 8, 9, 1; Tait. Br. I, 7, 3,4. A special 
‘army-fire,’ sendgni, is mentioned at Kaus. 60, 5, and in the 


 Darila, kazikvikas; Kesava, kanikak; Sayama, kanikikam. 
? Cf. Darila and Kesava on the Sftra, and emend sfirye in both 
texts to sfirpe. 


326 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


scholion to Paraskara’s Grzhya-sitra I, 10. The preparation 
of such a fire is described at Kaus. 16, 9 ff. Professor 
Weber, |. c., suggests that the name of the war-god Kumara 
(Skanda) is in reality one of the manifestations (marti) of 
Agni-Siva-Rudra ; cf. our introduction to XI, 2. 


Stanza 2. 


Professor Aufrecht in Kuhn’s Zeitschrift, XXVII, 219, 
advances very good reasons for believing that this stanza 
is constructed awkwardly out of Rig-veda reminiscences. 
Especially noteworthy is his emendation of amimrizan to 
amimrzdan, ‘they have taken pity,’ in the light of RV. II, 
29,4; VI, 50,5; X, 34, 3. Yet we must question whether 
the Atharvan versifex did really compose that ideal stanza, 
suggested by Aufrecht, or the more uncouth performance, 
handed over to us by the redactors. I incline to the latter 
view, and have rendered the text as reported unanimously 
in the Saunakiya-tradition !, though fully conscious that 
amimridan is the better reading in the abstract. The 
stanza puns upon marut and the base mriza. 


Stanza 3. 


The anacoluthon in the two hemistichs can be removed, 
as Sayama does, by emending tdn in Pada c to tim. Magha- 
van in Pada a, in reality goes with Indra in Pada c. 


Stanza 4. 


Repeated with variants at RV. III, 30,6. Sayaza com- 
"ments upon the Rig variant pra s{{ ta (te), not upon prdsditak 
(Padapatha). In Pada d, I have emended (independently 
from Weber) vishvak saty4m to vishvaksatyam, literally, 
‘having fulfilment away,’ i.e. ‘ bereft of fulfilment.’ 


' The Paippalada also has amfmrzzan. 


Ill, 2. 3. COMMENTARY. 327 


III, 2. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 121. 


For the employment of the hymn in the practices, see 
the introduction to the preceding. Previously translated 
by Weber, Indische Studien, ITI, 183 ff.; cf. also Bergaigne 
et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 139 ff. The Anukramazi, 
senamohanam. 

Stanza 5. 


Repeated with variants at RV. X, 103, 12. For the 
variants pratimohayanti and pratilobhayanti see Contri- 
butions, Fourth Series, Amer, Journ. Phil. XII, 422 ff. The 
goddess Apva (metrically apuva), ‘impurity, is a drastic 
embodiment of ‘defecation from fear. The enemy shall 
not contain themselves from fear. Cf. udarabhedi bhayam 
at Bhagavata Purdza, III, 15, 33, and passages like Tait. 5. 
VI, 2, 2, 5; 3, 2,3. YWAska, Nirukta IX, 33, as restored by 
Weber, clearly explains the word in this way. See in 
general Ind. Stud. IX, 482; XVII, 184; and AV. IX, 8, 9. 


III, 3. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 112. 


This and the following hymn are made the basis, at 
Kaus. 16, 30-33, of a performance that ensures the restor- 
ation of a king who has been driven out from his kingdom 
by a hostile king (parara4gena, according to Darila), to wit : 
30. ‘In the domain of the kingdom, from which the king 
has been driven out, a rice-cake in the form of a couch 
(sayanavidham)! is placed upon darbha-grass, and sub- 
merged in water. 31. A lump of earth taken from that 


? This reading is not quite certain: most MSS. of the Stra, and 
Darila read sayanavidhim. Kesava, however, and after him Sayaaa, 
read sendvidham (senakaram), ‘having the form of an army;’ cf. 
for the interchange between aya and e our remarks in Amer. Journ. 
Phil. V, p. 27. Either reading makes good sense: the couch would 
symbolise permanent, peaceful possession of the kingdom; the 
army, its conquest by force of arms. 


328 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


(region) is spread over the fire-place', and (the king) con- 
sumes a mess of porridge, mixed with milk. 32. The 
utensils are taken from the same place as the lump of 
earth. 34. On the morning of the fourth day (the king) 
eats the (submerged) rice-cake, and then he is called (to 
his kingdom).’ Professor Weber remarks that an exiled 
potentate could scarcely expect to be restored by any more 
simple device. The symbolism of the practice is obvious : 
especially the bed and the clod of earth from the native 
sod (‘heimathsscholle’) are suggestive. Cf. Kausika’s rite 
at 16, 27. 28 in connection with AV. I, 9 (introduction). 
Stanzas 1 and 2 are rubricated at Vait. SQ. 9, 2 and 30, 27. 
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 441 ff.; Weber, Indische Studien, XVII, 185; cf. also 
Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 140 ff. The 
Anukramazi, nanadevatyam uté::gneyam. 


Stanza 1. 


Agni figures here as the war-god, capable of bringing vic- 
tory to the cause of the dethroned king. Cf. III, 1 and 2. 
With him are united the fighting Maruts who hitch up 
Agni that he may bring (vah) the king. SAyaza, curiously, 
makes the king subject of a#ikradat (cf. RV. X, 45, 4), ‘the 
king calls(!) upon thee that he may again enter his king- 
dom.’ In Pada d amum is perhaps replaced by the name 
of the king, in the manner of the ritual; cf. e.g. Vag. S. 
IX, 40; Tait. Br. ITI, 2, 3, 7. 


Stanza 2. 


The stanza is difficult and full of double intent. The 
crucial word seems to us to be sautramanyd. This is a 
sacrifice originally devised by the gods to cure Indra from 
the effects of over-indulgence in soma; see our Contribu- 
tions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 153 δ; 
Oldenberg, Nachrichten von der Koniglichen Gesellschaft 


? The Sftra, gyotirayatanam ; Dérila, gyotisha 4yatanam sthanam 
uttaravedim avakirya. 


ΠΙ, 3. COMMENTARY. 429 


der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen, 1893, p. 342. But 
secondarily this rite is also employed by an exiled king, 
who is also shaky, as it were (mankur iva ξαξᾶγα, like the 
somatipita, Sat. Br. V, 4,11, 13). Throughout this stanza 
Indra is both the god, and the dethroned king; the gods 
are the heavenly physicians (the Asvins and Sarasvati), as 
well as the Brahmans who are engaged in the restoration 
of the king. We have therefore rendered sautramanyd 
dadhrvishanta by ‘infuse courage with the sautramavi-sacri- 
fice.” The veiled sense of the entire passage is : ‘ However 
far the king (Indra) is he shall come back to friendly 
relations with his people, when the priests (dev4%) chant 
their songs and apply the sautramazi to his restoration. 
Indra is the typical king, AV. IV, 6,11; VI, 98,1; Tait. S. 
II, 2, 11,6; the Brahmavas are the human devas, times 
without end, Sat. Br. II, 2, 2,6; Tait. S.I, 7, 3,1; Maitr. 
S. I, 4,6; Kaus. 6, 26; cf. Indische Studien, IX, 152; X, 
16, 35, 36. 


Stanza 3. 


Varuna’s relation to water appears here as in IV, τό, 3 
(see the note there); Soma grows upon the mountains 
(Veda and Avesta). The sense is: Even if the exiled king 
is separated by mountain and sea from his people, let him 
quickly, untrammelled by such restraints, as an eagle, come 
to them. 


Stanza 4. 


a. The accent of havydm is suspicious: we should 
expect havyam. It is either to be emended, or indicates 
that the Pada has been adapted from a different sphere. 
The eagle brings the soma from a distance to be offered to 
Indra. For such adaptations, cf. e.g. the hymn I, 2. 


1 For the sautramazf in general, see Weber, Indische Studien, X, 
349, and especially the same author's recent treatise, ‘Uber die 
Konigsweihe (ragasfiya),’ in the Transactions of the Royal Academy 
at Berlin, 1893, p. gt ff. 


330 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 6. 


ἃ. We have rendered ἄνα gamaya, ‘render accepted,’ 
because the word does not mean elsewhere ‘ bring down’ 
(Weber). Our authority is Darila on Kaus. 16, 27, avaga- 
mana = anurdga, ‘affection ;’ see the introduction to I, 9. 
Sayama, imam raganam asmin rdsh¢re bodhaya (similarly 
Ludwig). 


III, 4. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 113. 


The Sdtra treats this hymn along with the preceding as 
a charm for the restoration of a king ; see the introduction 
to III, 3. Support for such a construction may be derived 
from st. 5. This, however, is not borne out by the text 
of the stanzas themselves. These are more general in 
character, and seem to indicate as their theme the election 
of a chief. See Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 250; Zimmer, 
Altindisches Leben, p. 162 ff. Note especially st. 2, and 
the play upon the word varuma (as if from root var, ‘ choose ’) 
in sts. 5, 6. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, 
III, 252; Zimmer, p 164; Weber, Indische Studien, XVIT, 
190 ff.; cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, 
p- 141 ff. The Anukramazi, aindram. 


Stanza 1. 


The first hemistich is hypermetric, and Weber, Zimmer, 
and Bergaigne-Henry each differ in their attempts at 
restoration. We are not at all certain that this need is 
urgent: Pada a is a good gagati-line, ending at ud ihi; for 
Pada Ὁ see Oldenberg, Die Hymnen des Rigveda, pp. 66, 
67. If the pruning-knife must be used pdtir in b is most 
easily spared, and a most natural interpolation. 

a. gan is vox media, either injunctive, or perfect-aorist. 
The latter in its sense of prophetic aorist is in the Atharvan 
stylistically very close to the injunctive: often things 
desired are stated as having been already accomplished. 
Sce e.g. I, 23, 4. 


ΠῚ, 5. COMMENTARY. 331 


Stanza 2. 


Recurs with marked variants at Tait. S. III, 3, 9, 2; 
Maitr. S. IT, 5, 10. 
Stangas 5, 6. 


The expression aydm γάρ νάτυπαλ in st. 5a is too pointed 
to signify merely ‘that king Varuza:’ vdruza is used here 
with false etymological intent as ‘chooser ;’ the word plays 
upon the sense of ahvat, and vrivatém in st. 2. Similarly 
varunaix in the next stanza means (Indra), with the remain- 
ing gods (Varuza, Mitra, &c.), all choosing the king, and 
again, with double entente: ‘Come on, O king, thou hast 
come to an agreement with the leaders of thy people who 
are the electors’ (cf. III, 5, 7). All this is thoroughly 
Atharvanesque. 

Stanza 7. 


Cf. Vait. SQ. 13, 2, where this stanza is employed in con- 
nection with a personified Pathy4 Svasti, the wife of Pashan 
(ib. 15, 3), ‘the prosperous path, as an embodiment of 
success and well-being. Cf. also ib. 24, 8; 37, 20, and the 
Pet. Lex. under pathya 4. In Pada d most MSS., both of 
the Samhit4 and Padap4/fa, read vasa, ‘rule;’ some MSS., 
SAyana, and the Western authorities, vasa, ‘dwell.’ Cf. AV. 
XII, 4, 27. For the interchange of s and s, see the present 
writer in the Proc. Amer. Or. Soc., May, 1886 (Journ., vol. 
xiii, p. cxvii ff.). Cf. also the note on V, 19, 5. 


III, 5. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 114. 


The paraa-tree figures in many sacerdotal performances, 
being identical with the pal4sa (butea frondosa). Its 
branches and especially its wood are employed directly, 
and in the form of utensils, at most sacrifices (cf. Zimmer, 
Altindisches Leben, p. 59); its sanctity is accentuated by 
myths which derive the plant directly from heaven, and 
that, too, in connection with the descent of the soma (cf. 
st. 4). A divine archer, who guards the soma, shoots at 


332 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


the eagle that robs the soma; the eagle looses a feather 
(parva), which alights upon the earth and becomes the 
parva-tree. See RV. IV, 26 and 27, and the extensive legen- 
dary material attaching thereunto, and cf. Adalbert Kuhn, 
Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Gottertranks, pp. 148, 
192; Contributions, Fifth Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. 
XVI, 20, 24. 

No very specific instructions are recorded in the ritual 
regarding the manipulation of the hymn. At Kaus. 19, 22, 
in the course of the so-called pushéikarmazi, ‘ practices 
designed to engender prosperity’ (Kaus. 18, 19-24, 46), we 
have the mere statement that this and other hymns, dealing 
with amulets, are recited, while the amulet in question 
(mantrokta), after it has been steeped in sour milk and 
honey for three days (Kaus. 7, 19), is fastened on the 
person desiring its protecting influence’. Accordingly, 
the Atharvamiya-paddhati (Kaus. 19, 1 note) mentions it 
in a long list of pushfika mantra%. Cf. also Santikalpa 
17, and τοῦ. The Anukramami describes it as saumyam 
(cf. st. 4) . . - (etena) parzamamim uktarshir (i.e, Athar- 
van) astaut. Translated by Weber, Indische Studien, 
XVII, 194 ff. 

Stanza 1. 


ἃ. For 4prayavan of the vulgata, read Aprayavam (gerund) 
with the Index Verborum; cf. XIX, 55, 1, and Vag. S. 
XI, 75. 

Stanza 4. 


For the relation of the parva to soma, see the introduc- 
tion above. 

In Pada c Weber emends priyasam to bhriydsam, and 
Sayaza hovered on the edge of the same correction, priy4- 
sam bhriydsam dharayeyam. It is, however, not certain, 
for in Laty. Sr. III, 2, 10 (also Drahyayaza) we have manas 
tandshu piprataZ, parallel to manas tandshu bibhrata#, RV. 


1 Sayama, tegobal4yurdhanadipush/aye. 
* Cited erroneously by Saéyaza as Nakshatrakalpa. 


II, 5. COMMENTARY. 423 


X, 57,6; Vag. ITI, 56; Kaus. 89, τ; Tait. Br. 11,4, 2,7. Nay, 
we have the passage with piprata# in another place in the 
Tait. Br. (III, 7, 14, 3) itself, and it would seem, therefore, 
that pipratak (Pet. Lex. ‘ erhalten’) has a meaning closely 
analogous to that of bibhrataz. 


Stanza 5. 

Both Weber and SAyaza cite in illustration of the meaning 
‘friend’ for aryaman the passage Tait. 5. II, 3, 4, 1, ‘he, 
verily, who gives, is a friend (aryaman).’ Weber renders 
Pada d, ‘iiber die gunst des freundes selbst,’ a rendering 
which rather forces the meaning and position of utd. 


Stanzas 6, 7. 

The two stanzas prove conclusively that the hymn belongs 
to the sphere of practices connected with the consecration 
of a king, and the firm establishment of his royalty. The 
four classes of persons whose aid is regarded as desirable 
for the king belong to the so-called ratna, ‘jewels, of the 
court, i.e. they are honoured and indispensable members 
of his household. Their number altogether is about a 
dozen, and according to Tait. Br. I, 7, 3, 1 ff., they are the 
‘givers and takers of royalty (rash¢rasya pradataraf, rash- 
trasyas padataraz).’ As a preliminary to the consecration 
of a king they must be conciliated, and an oblation is 
offered in the house of each. See for the entire subject 
Professor Weber’s notes on the two stanzas, and his still 
more elaborate exposition of this interesting theme in his 
monograph, Uber die Konigsweihe, p. το ff.; cf. also Zim- 
mer, Altindisches Leben, p. 252; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 246, 249, 251. 

7a. Weber in the note on this passage, and Uber die 
KoGnigsweihe, p. 22 ff, presents serious evidence in favour 
of reading yésragano (aragano) for γέ rfgano, ‘they who 
make kings, though themselves not kings:’ see Sat. Br. 
III, 4, 1, 7. 8; XIII, 2, 4, 18. Certainly this suits the 
character of the sfitd and gramavf better than the title raga. 
Nevertheless minor potentates, influential in the choice of 
a greater king, may be alluded to here ; cf. the expressions 


334 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


τἄρα varuzah and vdrumaik in III, 4, 5. 6, and our note to 
the passage. Weber himself has not embalmed his sugges- 
tion in the translation, ‘die kén’ ge kénigsmacher auch.’ 


III, 6. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 91. 


The asvattha-tree (ficus religiosa) is a strong tree of hard 
wood whose branches grow into other trees, resulting in 
their destruction’. On the other hand the union of the 
two trees is regarded as sexual (VI, 11), and emblematic of 
strength. In this hymn, as well as in the associated prac- 
tices, the asvattha is employed to destroy enemies. At 
Kaus. 48, 3-6, the hymn is worked up in the following 
sorcery-practice (A4bhi#arika): 3. ‘While reciting III, 6 (the 
performer) ties on as a talisman the substance mentioned 
in the hymn (i.e. wood from an asvattha-tree which has 
fastened itself upon a khadira-tree), after an oblation has 
been poured upon it, and it has been anointed (with ghee). 
- 4. As many enemies (as this practice is aimed at) so many 
fetters, anointed with ingida-oil*, besmeared with the dregs 
(of that same oil?), (the performer), having recited the 
hymn over them, (places) along with the threads* into 
a soma-vessel, and digs them into the vital spot* (of the 
enemies). 5. While reciting st.8 of this hymn along with 
IX, 2, 4 (q.v.), he pushes off what is mentioned in the 
stanza (namely, a boat) by means of a branch (of the 
asvattha-tree). 6. While reciting st. 7 he causes (the fetters) 
to float down (the water)’ The practices are not quite 
clear, nor do the commentators seem to understand them 
at all points. Cf. also Santikalpa 19 ὅ. 


1 Cf, Kash. 5. XIX, 10, esha (sc. asvattho) vai vanaspatinam 
sapatnasahad. 

3 The oil of ingida takes the place of ghee (Agya) in witchcraft ; 
see the paribhash4, Kaus. 47, 3, and cf. 14, 28; 25, 30. 
- ὃ Which threads? Darila, sitreza sambandham kritva. 

* This presupposes an effigy of the enemy who is thus reached 
by proxy. Cf. 47, 51. 

5 Erroneously quoted by ϑᾶγαπα as Nakshatrakalpa. 


III, 6. COMMENTARY. 335 


The hymn has been translated by Kuhn, Die Herab- 
kunft des Feuers!, p. 224 ; Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 204 ff.; 
Grill?, pp. 21, 104 ff.; cf. also Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 
pp: 58, 257. The Anukramazi, vanaspatydsvatthade- 
vatyam. 

Stanza 1. 

Both asvattha and khadird are masculines, i.e. males; 
hence the virility of the asvatthd is, as it were, in the second 
power. The asvattha, moreover, is intimately related with 
the production of fire (cf. Tait. Br. I, 1, 3, 9), being in fact 
an embodiment of the lightning. Hence its special fitness 
for aggressively hostile practices ; see Weber's note, lL. c. 


Stanza 2. 


b. Sdyaza reads vaibadha dodhata without support from 
the MSS. (Samhita or Padapazka). We have adopted this 
emendation which is indeed self-evident in the light of 
st. 7. It is of interest to note that the Pet. Lexs., Weber, 
and Grill felt constrained to resort to the same remedy. 
The name ‘ displacer’ for the asvattha becomes clear in the 
light of the natural history of the tree ; see the introduction 
above, and Lassen, Indische Altertumskunde 15, 304 ff. 
S4yana takes vaibadha as ‘sprung from the vibadha, i e. 
the khadira, the latter being so-called because it strikes 
with its thorns (kaz¢akair badhate). 


Stanza 3. 


a. Sayaza with the Paippalada reads nir abhinad (nir- 
bhidya utpannossi); some of Shankar Pandit’s MSS. (both 
Padap4tha and Samhita) support this by reading nirdbhinno 
(ni# abhinna&) ; cf. Pada c. 

b. Sayama, correctly, arzave antarikshe; cf. RV. VIII, 
26,17; TS. IV, 5, 41, 1. 

ce. Sayaza, the Paippalada, and some of Shankar Pandit’s 
MSS., nir bhinddhi; cf. Pada a. 


Stanza 4. 


a. Sayama, the Paippalada, and some of Shankar Pandit's 
MSS., Aarati. 


336 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 7. 


The stanza is repeated at IX, 2, 12 with the variant 
s4yakapranutt4ndm for vaibAdhadprazuttanam. The similes 
in this and the next stanza are put into practice in the rites 
of the Sdtra; see the introduction above. 


III, 7. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 15. 


This hymn and the practices connected with it harbour 
the peculiar conception that the horn and the skin of the 
antelope have the power to drive out inherited disease. 
Kaus. 27, 29-31 we have the following performances: 29. 
‘While reciting AV. ITI, 7 (the practitioner) fastens (an 
amulet made from the horn of an antelope upon the patient), 
gives him (water) to drink, lets him rinse himself (with 
water), and at the time when the stars fade away (at dawn) 
he sprinkles him with water which has been warmed by 
quenching in it the kindled piece of antelope’s skin pierced 
by the peg with which it is fastened (when it is spread out)". 
30. From a heap of undetermined measure he offers as 
much barley (cf. AV. II, 8, 3) as can be taken up by a 
single grasp (of the hand). 31. He gives food (to the 
patient). The relation of the antelope and the practices to 
the kshetriya are extremely obscure. Again as in II, 8 it 
seems to rest upon a rapprochement with kshetra, ‘ field,’ at 
least if we trust the vague suggestion of the obscure stanzas, 
Vag. 5. XXIII, 30. 31; Maitr. 5. IIT, 13, 1; Tait. 5. VII, 
4,19, 2; cf. also Tait. Br. III, 9, 7,2; Sat. Br. XIII, 2, 9, 
8. Here the antelope is said to eat grain (yad dharinz6 
yavam atti; cf. yava in Kaus. 27, 30). But we are 


1 The words ‘he sprinkles him, &c.’ to the end of the sentence 
are all of them a paraphrase with the help of the scholiasts of the 
words sankudh4nagvalena ... avasi#kati. For sankudh4na, see 
Kaus. 26, 16, as explained in the introduction to I, 22 (p. 263); for 
avagvala, cf. also Kaus. 28, 2, in the introduction to IV, 6 (p. 374), 
and Kaus. 27, 33; 29, 8; 30, 8; 32, 10. 


III, 7. COMMENTARY, 337 


attempting to explain obscurum per obscurius. Perhaps the 
swiftness of the animal (st. 1) symbolises the rapid removal 
of the disease. The skin of the antelope is used for an 
amulet at Kaus. 16, 3, the horn at Sat. Br. III, 2, 2, 
20; Apast. Sr. X, 9, 173 Santikalpa 17, and 19. We 
must not forget, of course, that vish44, ‘horn,’ suggests 
vi shyati, ‘loosen,’ and that the entire employment of the 
horn may therefore be in its capacity as a ‘loosener’ of 
disease (cf. the introduction to VI, 44). The hymn puns 
freely upon these words; cf. sts. 1, 2. In general there are 
many points of contact between Kausika’s practices and the 
stanzas. The first two stanzas occur (with variants) at 
Apast. Sr. XIII, 7, 16; the second ib. X, 10, 3. The 
hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 
208 ff.; Grill?, pp. 8, 105 ff. The Anukramam? has, sap- 
tarkam yakshmandsanadevatam uta bahudevatyam, Anush- 
fubham, bhvigvangira 4dy4bhis tisrzbhir harizam astaut, 
parayaé (st. 4) tarake, parayé (st. 5)=paf, parabhyam (sts. 6, 
7) yakshmandsanam. 
Stanza 1. 


a. At Apast. Sr. XIII, 7, 16 most MSS. read raghush- 
yato, genitive of the participle raghushyant, but two MSS. 
report the reading of our text. 

9, d. vishavzay4 vishdéinam are in punning alliteration 
with one another and with vi shyati, ‘loosen’ (understood ; 
cf. vishaze vi shya in st. 2). 


Stanza 2. 


b. For padbhis the Apast. Sr., ib., reads padbhis ; see 
our Contributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. 
XI, 350 ff. (cf. also Sat. Br. XIII, 2, 7, 6), and especially 
PP. 352-3, where we have endeavoured to prove that the 
expression ‘ with (four) feet’ has come to have the general 
value of ‘quickly, nimbly, briskly.” The fact that human 
beings have but two feet, the swifter animals four, is of far 
greater salience to the Hindu mind than to ours; cf. 
Maitr. S. I, 5, 10 (p. 78, 1. 12), Ait. Br. ITI, 31, 13, and 
especially Tait. S. V, 4, 12, I. 

[42] Ζ 


338 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


c. Two of Shankar Pandit’s MSS. have gulphitém for 
gushphitam; they are supported by Sayaza (gulphitam 
gulphavad grathitam), and the unanimous reading of the 
MSS. at Apast. Sr. X, 10, 3; XIII, 7, 16. Another 
variant of the word is gushéitam, Sat. Br. ITI, 2, 2, 20. 


Stanza 3. 


b. ‘The roof with four wings (sides) ’ alludes vaguely to 
the antlers of the antelope, compared with the roof upon 
a house; the exact meaning of paksha, as part of a house, 
is not clearly defined; see our notes on AV. IX, 3, 4. 21. 
Sayaa, katushkozam éadir iva. Possibly Grill is right in 
translating ‘a roof which rests upon four posts ;’ he thinks 
that the four feet of the animal (st. 2) are compared with 


posts. 
Stanza 4. 


The stanza is closely parallel with II, 8,1; see “the dis- 


cussion there. 
Stanza 5. 


Parallel passages, at RV. X, 137, 6; AV. VI, οἱ, 3, 
mark the stanza as formulaic; its connection with the rest 
of the stanza is probably purely liturgical, The hymns of 
the third book are theoretically entitled to six stanzas only 
(or to six stanzas at least); see AV. XIX, 23, 3, and cf. 
the literature cited in Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 470 (bottom). 


Stanza 6, 


a. Weber translates 4suté4, ‘through the act of propaga- 
tion.’ This would comport well with hereditary disease, 
but does not accord with the use of the word and the root 
4su in general. SAyaza, strikriyaman4y4 Asuted, Asdyate 
asifyate ity Asutir dravibhdtam annam. 

Ῥ, ἃ. Note the alliteration between vyanasé and nasayami, 


Stanza. 7. 


a. I have, very hesitatingly, construed ἄρα ... ukfatu 
transitively, in accordance with the usual force of the ex- 


(II, 9. COMMENTARY. 339 


pression, and the close parallelism with 11, 8, 2 c, d (cf. also 
VI, 83, 1), where kshetriydm is an accusative dependent upon 
ἄρα... uédatu. For the subject of the verb cf. sa in st. 1. 
Perhaps apavasé in PAdas a, b is also to be taken transitively, 
‘when the constellations shine away (as they fade out in 
the morning the evil powers of night), &c.’ Sayama, as the 
Pet. Lex. s.v. dpa vas, construes all the derivatives from 
root vas in this stanza intransitively ; cf. our note on II, 8, 2. 


III, 9. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 67. 


The hymn, one of the most perplexing in the AV., is 
directed against a variety of bodily disorders, or demon- 
jacal forces, among which vishkandha and kabava stand 
out most clearly. For vishkandha see our discussion in the 
introduction, and in the note on the first stanza of IT, 4. 
The Kausika rubricates the hymn at 43, 1, 2, where Darila 
describes the performance as a pisédanasanam, Kesava (and 
S4yava in his introduction) as a vighnasamanam, to wit: 
43, 1. ‘While reciting III, 9, an amulet of aralu (calosan- 
thes indica, a tree) is fastened (to the sufferer) by a red- 
dish brown thread (cf. st. 3); he is given a staff to carry 
(cf. st. 2), and he also carries a weapon. 2. He is fumi- 
gated with (the smoke of burning) grain-chaff.’ 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. 
XVII, 215 ff. The Anukramani designates it as dyAvapri- 
thiviyam uta vaisvadevam. 


Stanza 1. 


a. The Pet. Lexs. and Weber see in karsdpha and vis- 
apha (both ἅπ. Aey.) the designations of certain demons or 
diseases (Weber, ‘des Abmagernden, Durchdringenden’). 
Sayana operates on the same line by means of character- 
istic etymologies, karsaphasya (karasaphasya) krisasaphasya 


1 The commentators prescribe that the staff shall be anointed 
with the dregs of ghee and then be polished off, as in Kaus. 23, 11. 
The same treatment is also prescribed for the weapon. 


Z2 


340 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


νὰ svapadasya vyaghrade#, visaphasya vigatasaphasya 
spardhaménapurushakdlasarpade# vispash¢asaphasya va 
kriragomahishaded. But the statement that beneficent 
heaven and earth are father and mother of demons is 
startling '; the usual Atharvanic way is to say that heaven 
and earth are the parents of some curative plant: III, 23, 6; 
VIII, 7, 2, &c. There is nothing in the way of such an 
interpretation, and it is to be noted that the amulet of 
aralu-wood, Kaus. 43, 1 (see above), is not otherwise indi- 
cated in the hymn. I do not venture to decide. 


Stanza 2. 


a. Sayaza with some MSS., both Samhita and Padapa/a, 
and the Paippalada read asleshm&zahk for asreshmazah. 
Our translation is purely conjectural. Sdyavza depends 
upon the practices of the Sdtra: ‘They (the people) carried 
the aralu-talisman, the staff, &c., being asleshm4zaé, i.e. 
unaffected (aslish¢a%) by troubles, &c. ;’ or, ‘the gods, being 
free from phlegmatic diseases (sleshmopalakshitatridosha- 
dashitasarirarahitas), carried them.’ The first of these 
suggestions, barring the precision of its application, appears 
to contain something of the truth. 


Stanza 3. 


a. Sdyava, quoting in support RV. II, 39, 4, and relying 
upon Bharatasvamin’s interpretation, renders khv/galam by 
tanutra#am, ‘ protection of the body,’ and Kausika’s opera- 
tions seem to render this quite likely: he prescribes the 
fastening of an amulet by a reddish-brown thread. But in 
the RV., khvégalesva visrdsa#, the word seems to mean 
‘crutch, support.’ 

ο. Sayaza with some MSS., Samhit4 and Pada, and the 
Paippalada read sravasydm; kAbava is explained charac- 
teristically as follows: kabu# karburavarnad krirah prani, 
tatsambandhi vighnak kabavas. 


1 It seems, however, to derive support from RV.1, 191, 6, which 
Sdyana quotes very aptly. 


Ill, 11. COMMENTARY. 341 


ἃ. bandhira4, apparently plural of bandhur, is hopelessly 
obscure; our translation ‘fastenings’ is no better than 
SAyaza’s asmabhir baddha#, or his alternate bandhura’ 
asmabhir dharyam4n4h manidandadayahk. The word ought 
to be identical with the stems vandhur, RV. I, 34, 9 (trayo 
vandhirak ; cf. trivandhurda), bandhura, and vandhira, ‘the 
seat of a wagon.’ The matter is complicated still further 
by bdndhurd with discordant accent in st. 4. 


Stanza 4. 


The basis of this translation is again very unstable owing 
to the word bdndhuré which is lexically and grammatically 
obscure. SAyama presents an entirely different result : 
«Ὁ ye people who desire glory (by conquering the enemy), 
but go (into battle) bewildered as the gods by the wile of 
the Asuras, may your weapons (bandhura sambaddha 
dhr7ta khadgadiriipa hetiZ!) destroy the kabava as the ape 
the dog!’ 

Stanza 5. 


SAyana upon the basis of many MSS. (both Samhita and 
Padap4¢ha) reads bhatsyami (badhn4mi). Shankar Pandit 
adopts this reading. In Pada d, Sayaza with some MSS. 
reads sarishyatha for sarishyatha ; cf. st. 4. 


III, 11. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 49. 


This hymn, whose first four stanzas are essentially the 
same as RV. X. 161 = AV. XX, 96, 6-9, must have 
originally had the general value indicated by our title. 
But the Satra (Kaus. 27, 32-33) specialises, and directs its 
employment against gramya (sc. vyddhi), ‘venereal disease,’ 
(Darila, mithunasamyogat). Kesava prescribes it against 
children’s diseases and venereal diseases (balarogagrthite ka 
maithunadoshabhaishagyany ufyante . . . maithunardga- 
yakshmazi bhaishagyam); Sayama, against diseases of 
children, or disease contracted from women (balagraharoge 
nirantarastrisamgatiganitayakshmami ka). The practices 


342 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


are as follows: 27, 32. ‘While reciting the hymn the patient 
is given to eat a porridge containing rotten fish’. 32. He 
is taken to the forest*, and (in the morning), when the 
constellations begin to fade, he is sprinkled with water 
which has been warmed by quenching in it burning sesame, 
hemp, cow-dung, and sacred firewood ὃ (all gathered in the 
forest).’ : 

The hymn figures in the takmandsanagama (Ath. Paris. 
32, 7), and the d4yushyagaza (ib. 32, 4) of the Gazaméla ; 
see Kaus. 26, 1 note; 54, 11 note. See also 58,11, and 
Vait. SQ. 38, 1. Stanza 4 is quoted in Ath. Paris. 18%, 1. 
The Anukramazi, aindragnam 4yushyam. The hymn has 
been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 231. There is 
no basis, as far as can be seen, for his caption, ‘Bei schwerer 
Geburt.’ 


Stanza 1. 


For the disease ag#atayakshma (cf. AV. VI, 127, 3), and 
ragayakshma, see Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 321 ff. ; 
Grohmann, Ind. Stud. IX, 400; Zimmer, p. 375 ff. 


Stanza 2. 


d. Most of Shankar Pandit’s and, apparently, all of Roth 
and Whitney’s MSS. read dspérsam. SAyaza, as the 
vulgata, dsparsham (prabalam karomi). 


Stanza 3. 


a. The divine attribute ‘thousand-eyed, predicated to 
Indra, Agni, Vishzu, &c. (see Pet. Lex. 5. v. sahasraksha), is 
here transferred to the powerful oblation. Cf. the note on 
IV, 20, 4%. 


' For pfitisapharf, see Kausika, Introduction, p. lii. 

* In order to wipe away the effects of the dissolute habits of the 
village (grémya). 

5. For gvala, cf. Kaus. 27, 30 in our introduction to III, 7 (also 
Kaus. 28, 2; 29, 8). For santé, see Kaus. 8, 15. 16. 


Ill, 12. COMMENTARY. 343 


Stanza 8. 


The correlation of the hymn with diseases of children 
(Kesava and Sayama) is based upon this stanza. Kausika, 
however, has other matters in mind. 


III, 12, COMMENTARY TO PAGE 140. 


The hymn forms in the ritual a part of a gama or series 
entitled vastoshpatiy4ni (sc. sikt4ni), ‘hymns pertaining to 
VAstoshpati, the lord of the homestead,’ Kaus. 8, 23 ff. 
(see index B, p. 384°, of the edition). More specifically it 
is employed in Kaus. 43, 8-11 as part of an extensive 
ceremony at the erection of a house entitled by the Atharva- 
Paddhati (see p. 118, note 11) as brihak&halakarma, ‘the 
great ceremony of house-building,’ in distinction from a 
less elaborate ceremony at Kaus. 23, 1 ff, entitled laghu- 
salakarma (see p. 61, note 12). 

The performances at Kaus. 43, 3 ff. begin with an intro- 
ductory rite in connection with AV. VII, 41, designed to 
remove obstacles in the way of the builder; apparently 
this is known by the special name of syenaydga, or 
syenegya. See the discussion of this somewhat obscure 
point in the fifth series of our Contributions, Journ. 
Amer. Or. Soc. XVI, p. 12. Then the materials for 
building are brought on, and the excavation for the 
house is made, and next the actual work of erection is 
accompanied by the recitation of the stanzas of our hymn, 
to wit: 43, 8. ‘The hymn AV. III, 12 is recited while the 
(central post") is being fixed and erected. 9. Having 
anointed it, the sixth stanza of the hymn is recited while 
the act stated in it is being performed (i.e. while the cross- 
beam is being placed upon the post). 10. Having taken 
a pitcher of water, and the fire, they enter the house while 
reciting the eighth stanza. 11. (The house) is rendered 


1 So according to D4rila, madhyamasthfiz4m ; Kesava and Ath, 
Paddh., more generally, . slim. Cf. Hir. Grth. I, 27, 2, dvarastht- 
nam ufkhrayati ; also Apast. Grth. VII, 17, 3. 


344 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA, 


firm by reciting the two ‘ firm’ stanzas (dhruvabhy4m, sts. 
1 and 2). The ceremonies are concluded in Kaus. 43, 
12-15 with sprinkling the house, the recitation of more 
mantras, an especial oblation to VAstoshpati, feeding the 
Brahmans, and final blessings. 

The hymn has been treated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 463; Zimmer, p. 150 ff.; Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 
234 ff.; Grill*, pp. 59, 108 ff.; cf. also Hillebrandt, Veda- 
chrestomathie, p. 45. The Anukramazt designates the 
hymn as sAl4sktam, and vastoshpatisaladaivatam. Similar 
themes are treated in Asv. Grih. I], 8; Par. Grth. III, 4; 
Sankh. Gvth. III, 2, 3; Hir. Grth. I, 27; Apast. Grth. VII, 
17; Apast. Mantrabr. II, 15; Bh4radvaga’s Grth. II, 3; 
cf. Oldenberg, Sacred Books of the East, vol. xxix, pp. 92, 
212, 345 ff. 

Stanza 1. 


a, Ὁ. The words dhruvdm and kshéme convey each the 
idea of good settlement, and sound foundation; cf. Vag. 
5. XVIII, 7; Tait. S. IV, 7, 3,1, ksémas 4a dhrttis ka, and 
RV. I, 73, 4; VII, 88, 7, dhruv&su kshitfshu. Hence the 
renderings of Ludwig, Weber, and Hillebrandt ‘im gliicke, 
in frieden, &c., do not quite catch the point. Cf.also AV. 
IV, 1, 4. 

ἃ. upa sam karema seems to convey the idea of close 
union. In the only other passage quoted by the Pet. Lex. 
it refers to sexual intercourse, bhartdram upasaméaret 
(Brzhat-Samhitaé 77, 26). Sayama, vyavaharema. 


Stanza 2. 


The wording of the stanza is formulaic. In Par. Grzh. 
II, 17, 9 Pada Ὁ is applied to the furrow of the field; see 
also the other Gvthya-texts, cited in the introduction. 

For sfinr#tavati, ‘full of abundance,’ see Oertel in the 
Proceedings of the Amer. Or. Soc., May, 1891 (Journ., vol. 
Xv, pp. xcv ff.), and our Contributions, Fifth Series, ib. XVI, 
p. 19. Ludwig, ‘reich an trefflichkeit ;’ Zimmer, ‘reich an 
wonne;’ Weber, ‘reich an frohen liedern;’ Hillebrandt, 
‘reich an lieblicher rede ;’ Grill, ‘ reich an herrlichkeiten.’ 


Ill, 12, COMMENTARY. 345 


Stanza 3. 


Hillebrandt and Grill regard the first two PAdas as 
defective, but they are anushéubh, no poorer than many 
others inthe AV. The Anukr., brzhati. 

a. dharuzf is in intentional relation with dhruv4, hence 

‘a supporter ;’ cf. Tait. S. IV, 3, 7, 2. Grill, ‘ vielfassend, 
vielbergend ;’ Zimmer and Hillebrandt, ‘geriumig.’ The 
Pada is catalectic. 
- Ὁ) brthdkkhandas, ‘ with broad roof.’ The translation is 
problematic, the word being ἅπ. Aey. hdndas does not by 
itself ever occur in the meaning ‘ roof’ (k/adis, £hadman). 
Some support may be derived from st. 5 c, tr{nam vasAnA, 
since in Hir. Grth. the roof is smoothed with a stanza 
containing the same Pada. The words there used are 
kAannam (sc. salam) abhimrisati. Sayana, prabhitaksa- 
dana, mahadbhis k£Aandobhir devair upeta νᾶ. For piiti- 
dhany4! of the text of the Saunakiya-sakha, the Paippalada 
reads pfitadhany4; this underlies our translation. Cf. 
paripdteshu dhanyeshu, Manu VIII, 331, and perhaps also 
the expression krit4 dhandaf, RV. III, 35, 7. 

d. Cf. Sankh. Grth. III, 3, 9, ἃ syandantém dhenavo 
nityavatsaZ. The majority of Shankar Pandit’s MSS. 
(both Padapa¢ka and Samhita) read 4spandamanad. 


Stanza 4. 


o. Most MSS., and the editio princeps, read ukk/antu ; 
Sayaza, Shankar Pandit, with some MSS., and the Paippa- 
lada, ukshantu, the basis of our translation. Again, our 
translation presupposes the reading udnd for unnd of the 
edition: the MSS. read υἱπᾶ (cf. VII, 45,2; VII, 18, 1, 
and the Index Verborum, p. 67). The Paippalada, 
Shankar Pandit with some of his MSS., and Sayaza have 
udn4; cf. RV. I, 85, 5, (martta#) uddbhir vy undanti 
bhfima. 


1 Sayana, with desperate literalness, pftigandhopetagirzadhanya- 
yukt4, ‘ endowed with evil smelling, old, grain!’ Ludwig suggests 
pratidhany4 or pratidhany4, ‘ gut zu verschliessen.’ 


346 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


ἃ. For ni tanotu, cf. AV. VII, 90, 3; VII, 31, 3, and the 
plant nitatni, used to prevent the falling out of hair at AV. 
VI, 136, 1. Sayama, nitaram karotu. 


7 Stanza 5. 


a. The words manasya patni are addressed directly to 
the house (s4l4), as may be gathered from IX, 3, 21; the 
house, after it is erected, is deified, since the weal or woe of 
its inhabitants are now dependent upon its behaviour. 
Sayaza, mananiyasya vastupated patni, ‘O wife of Vastupati 
who is to be honoured?!’ Grill’s etymological combinations 
are superfluous ; his comparison of Zend nm4né-pathni and 
nmané6-paiti (Gathic, demana) contrary to phonetic law. 
Ludwig and Weber, ‘herrin des maasses ;’ Ludwig at IX, 
3, 5 ff. (Der Rigveda, ITI, pp. 464-5), ‘ herrin des verweilens ;’ 
Zimmer and Hillebrandt, ‘ genie des baues ;’ Grill, ‘hort der 
rast.’ 

b. SAyava reads nirmita for nimita. 


Stanza 6. 


a, Ὁ. The expression 4 roha, ‘ascend, harbours two double 
ententes, borrowed from other well-known events in life. 
First, sexual connection, in a manner similar to the union 
of the two sticks with which fire is churned (see e.g. VI, 
11, 1, and cf. III, 6,1); secondly, the various acts of ascend- 
ing which form parts of the consecration of a king, the 
ragashya (cf. Kaus. 17, 3.9; AV. IV, 8). The rule of the 
king is indicated clearly in the next Pada (cf. AV. I, 10, 1), 
and in the anointing of the post, prescribed at Kaus. 43, 
10. The word virdgan in Pada Ὁ, which we have rendered 
‘ruling,’ again suggests the alternate meaning, ‘shining ;’ 
cf. ‘the shining roof’ in AV. III, 7, 3. The vamsa is a 
very important part of the house ; sometimes it splits, and 
elaborate performances are prescribed in Kaus. 135 to meet 
that misfortune. 


1 Still worse is the alternate interpretation, miyam&nam dh4n- 
yadikam manam tasya patni pAlayitrz. 


Ill, 12., COMMENTARY. 347 


ο, ἃ. Both Padas are hypermetric; the first may be 
mended by excluding gr#h44m (so in our version), which 
seems to have crept in from st.gc; the second by chang- 
ing sdrvaviras to suviras or saviraZ. The translators render 
upasattdro, erroneously, by ‘inmates;’ this is certainly 
incorrect, as may be gathered from Vag. 5. XXVII, 2. 4, 
m4 a rishad upasattd te agne; AV. II, 6, 2, m4 te rishann 
upasatt4ro agne. Sdyavza, upavadanakartaérak;~ Ludwig, 
fancifully, ‘nicht sollen dich verletzen die belagerer der 
hiuser!’ 


Stanza 7. 


Occurs with many variants in the Grihya-sitras of Asv., 
Par., Sankh., Hir., Apast., Bharadvaga, MAnava; see the 
introduction, and Professor Kirste’s edition of the Hiranya- 
kesin, p. 54, notes. 

b. The reading gagat4 saha, also in Hir. and Bhar. ; 
Man. has gagadé saha; Par. gagadaid# saha; the other 
texts show still greater differences. For gagat, see Zimmer, 
p- 150, and AV. IX, 3,17. Oldenberg in the Sacred Books, 
vol. xxix, pp. 345, 395, and xxx, p. 205, renders both gagat 
and gagada by ‘companion;’ Ludwig, ‘mit dem lebenden;’ 
Weber, ‘nebst allem was sich riihrt.’ The others, as above. 
Sayama, gamanasilena gavadina saha. 

ο, ἃ. Sayaza has kumbha’ which approaches the reading 
of SAnkh., kumbhy4/; and kalasir, like Apast. and Bhar. 
The last seems preferable to kalasair of our texts; cf. the 
note on VI, 59, 2b. 


Stanza 8. 


In the Paippaldda this stanza is wanting here, appear- 
ing (with variants) in another hymn; Grill in his transla- 
tion places it before stanza 7, without a statement of his 
motive. Cf. Kaus. 43, 10; Vait. Sd. 16, 1 (with the vikara, 
adhvaryo for n4ri), and in general AV. IX, 3, 22,and Kaus. 
66, 25. 

6. Sayama reads patrim and samindhi (samdiptén kuru). 
Shankar Pandit, with most of his MSS., reads im&m pAtrfn, 
referring im&m to the house. 


348 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


ἃ. Weber emends, abhi ksharaty en4n, but neither change 
is necessary. See II, 12, 4, ish¢apirt4m avatu na. 


Stanza 9. 


Identical with AV. IX, 3, 23, and quoted frequently in 
the Atharva-Parisishfas (16; 19%, 3, &c.). 


III, 13. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 146. 


The first six stanzas of this hymn recur in Tait. S. V,6, 1, 
2-4; Maitr. S. II, 13, 1, in connection with certain oblations 
of water (kumbheshéak4Z, or ap4sm grah4£), and they are evi- 
dently originally at home in the Yagus-ritual. The etymolo- 
gical puns, heaped up in the first four stanzas, explain the 
various names of water quite in Nirukta and Brahmaza-style. 
The seventh stanza does not occur in the Yagus-samhitds ; it 
is the one that is characteristically Atharvanic : it narrows 
down the general subject of the praise of the waters to 
the special subject in hand, the deflection of a river from 
its course’, The Kausika, 40, 1-6, supplies the very inter- 
esting practices engaged in for the same purpose, to wit: 
‘1. He who desires that a river shall go a certain way, walks 
along that way, pouring out water, while reciting the pre- 
sent hymn. 2. He sticks up the (kinds of grass or reeds 
called) kAsa, dividhuvaka, and vetasa®. 3. While reciting 
st. 7 a, he places gold upon the mouth of the river (that is, 
the point from which the river shall branch into the desired 
channel). 4. With st. 7 Ὁ he ties a frog, striped like the 
reed-plant ishika, through the arm-pits (pits of the fore- 
feet) with two threads, one red and the other blue? (and 
places him into the outlet). 5. With st. 7 c he envelopes 


1 For its employment in the Vaiténa-sfitra, see the note on the 
stanza. 

3 For the explanation of these varieties of water-plants, see 
Darila and Kesava. Sayama, kasasaivalapaserakavetasasAkhak. 

* Cf. the introduction to VII, 116, and the notes on IV, 17, 4; 
VIII, 8, 24. 


1Π, 13. COMMENTARY. 249 


the frog in an avak4-plant (blyxa octandra)?. 6. With st. 
7 ἃ he pours water (over the frog)?’ 

The symbolism of these performances is unmistakable : 
they anticipate the presence of the water with all its life. 
The gold (40, 3) reflects ‘the golden-coloured, clear, pure 
waters ’ (AV. I, 33, 1: see also st. 6 of our hymn); the river 
grasses and reeds symbolise the river-vegetation. Above 
all the frog, securely tied so that he cannot leap away, 
and the water-bringing avak4 affiliate this practice with 
one of the most interesting practices of Vedic common life; 
see our article, ‘On a Vedic group of charms for extin- 
guishing fire by means of water-plants and a frog,’ in the 
second series of Contributions, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 342 ff. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Indische 
Studien, XVII, 240 ff.; cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, 
Manuel Védique, p. 143. The Anukramazi, varuzam (cf. 
Kaus. 40, 7), uta sindhvabdaivatam. 


Stanza 1. 


The etymologies in this and the next three stanzas are 
dominated by that punning spirit which has made etymo- 
logy by far the feeblest product of the linguistic endeavours 
of the Hindus. In the present instance, however, the deri- 
vation of nadi, ‘river, from nad, ‘roar,’ is likely enough. 
The mythological event alluded to is the well-known rush 
of the waters over the dead body of the (cloud-) dragon 
Vritra, slain by Indra; cf. e.g. RV. I, 32. 


Stanza 2. 


Varuna (and Mitra) are also instrumental in procuring 
water, but it is rather the quiet streaming down of refresh- 


1 Cf. Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 349, and add Sat. Br. XIII, 8, 
3,13; Lay. Sr. III, 5, 13 ff. 

2 Kaus. 40, 7-10 continues with an expiatory performance, con- 
sisting chiefly of oblations to Varuna, the god of the waters, in case 
this new watercourse should threaten the surrounding country with 
an inundation. The hymn is employed further with many others 
at Kaus. 41, 12 for sprinkling certain oblations, offered by one 
about to start upon a business tour. Cf. also Ath. Paris. ro. 


350 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


ing rain, than the storm-flood at the time of the monsoon. 
The notion of conquest by thunderbolts, as weapons used 
against demon serpents, is not present. See Bergaigne, La 
Religion Védique, III, 122 ff. (especially pp. 125-6). The 
root valg, which here represents the motion of the waters, 
seems to contain an almost playful touch: it is used of the 
gamboling of animals. The allusion to Indra’s ‘meeting of 
the waters as they went’ is obscure. The Maitr. S. reads 
samprakyuta for yat préshita. 


Stanza 3. 


b. The lexicons and the translators derive avivarata from 
var, ‘enclose.’ SAyaza, correctly, it seems to us, from var, 
‘choose,’ avivarata vritavan yushm4n svatmasat kartum 
aikkhat. What sense is there in saying of Indra that he 
hindered the waters, and when did the waters flow against 
his will (‘contre le gré d’Indra, Bergaigne)? An obvious 
paradox. Soma is said, RV. IX, 94, 1, to purify himself by 
acting wisely in choosing the waters: apo vrinanak pavate 
kaviyan; cf. also V, 48,1. Indra here is said to appro- 
priate the waters for his purpose, the benefaction of men. 

Stanza 4. 

The exact mythic attitude of this stanza is not clear. Is 
Indra the subject of apy atish¢at or some god hindering, 
or trying to hinder? Cf. RV. VIII, 6, 16: ‘ He, O Indra, 
who lay confining thy great waters, him didst thou smite.’ 
Cf. also RV. I, 32, 12, where one god, or a certain god 
(deva éka/), resists Indra. The verb dpy atishtat means 
either to stand upon (so Sdyaza, adhyatish//at), or ‘ stand 
in the way’ (Pet. Lex.). We incline to the former view. 
The way in which the word mahir in Pada c is utilised is 
somewhat obscure: it seems to be brought in partly for the 
sake of furnishing an etymological basis (sit venia verbo) 
for the m of udakdm, and partly (note the iti), to infuse 
a dash of archaism into the reminiscence. 


Stanza 7. 


This seems to be distinctly ritualistic (sautra) in charac- 
ter. The calf may be the frog of the Satra above. Cf. 


IlI, 14. COMMENTARY, 351 


also its use in Vait. Sf. 29, 13, for which see the introduc- 
tion to VI, 106. The waters are cows, because the frog, 
the water-animal, is their child. Or the new river-bed may 
be the calf; cf. RV. III, 33, 1. 


III, 14. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 143. 


For the employment of the hymn in the ritual, see our 
introduction to II, 26. Cf. also Ath. Paris. 16. The Anu- 
kramani, nanddevatyam uta goshtkadevatékam. Previous 
translations: Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 469 ; Weber, Ind. 
Stud. XVII, 244 ff. ; Grill?, pp. 64, 112 ff. 


Stanza 1. 


ο, ἃ. Sayama defines ahargdta by ahany-ahani gdyate. 
The expression occurs once more, V, 28, 12, and ‘aus- 
picious’ comes very near to its sense. Its opposite is 
anahargata, Sankh, Sr. XIV, 51, 2-5, ‘born on an unlucky 
day ’=pApanakshatre gata#, Kaus. 46, 25, and elsewhere. 
Cf. Weber, Nakshatra, II, 314-15 note. Either it is, 
‘born on a good (pusya) day,’ or ‘ born by day in distinction 
from night’ (cf. naktamgatd, I, 23,1). The word adréshéa, 
II, 31, 2; RV. I, 191, 1 ff., &c., would then approach the 
opposite meaning. Cf. aharbhdg and ahardrfs. ‘ With 
the name’ may mean ‘with the kind, or species;’ cf. V, 
4, 8. 

Stanza 3. 

Both milk and honey are frequently added to the Soma. 
Hence the milk is here spoken of as honey, Soma being the 
middle term as it were. Cf. Hillebrandt, Soma und ver- 
wandte Géotter, pp. 219, 238 ff. 


Stanza 4. 


b. sdke=va (Padap. sdka iva) has occasioned unnecessary 
discussion, The word is not treated at all independently 
in the lexicons. The Western authorities generally regard 
it as acc. plur. neut. of sakvit, saknds, ὅς. Sdyana’s saka 


352 HYMNS OF THE AFHARVA-VEDA. 


makshika has good support in the literature. At Tait. 5. 
V, 5,12,1; Maitr. S. III, 14,13; Vag. S. XXIV, 32 the 
word occurs in connection with other animals (Mahidhara, 
sakunti ; Madhava, saké makshike-ty eke, dirgha-karno 
mvrigavisesha ity apare), and as the word is preceded or 
followed there by suka, ‘parrot,’ and sari (see the note 
on st. 5), there is no doubt but what Sdyawa has hit the 
point. I should not be surprised to find the saka identical 
with the krisa, mentioned at Kaus. 10, 2, along with suka 
and sarika. Cf. also Tait. 5. V, 5, 18, 1, and commentary. 
Grill suggests an improbable remedy, sikeva =sAka(m) iva 
or saka iva, ‘like vegetables’ (cf. German, ‘ wie ’s unkraut’). 


Stanza 5. 


Ὁ. sarisdkeva (Padap. sdrisdk4 iva) is doubtful. Sayama, 
helplessly, kshazena sahasraso =bhivardhamanaé prdzivi- 
seshahk ; the suggestion seems incredible even from Sdyana. 
sari (=s4ri, sfrika, and s4rik4) is a certain bird which, like 
the parrot (suka), imitates the human voice; see Tait. S. V, 
5, 12, 1; Maitr. 5. III, 14,14; Vag. 5. XXIV, 33. It 
appears there in connection with suka, ‘parrot, and saka (cf. 
st. 4). It seems hardly possible that our passage does not 
harbour these very two words, and accordingly I have 
emended to sérisukeva (= sdrisuk4/ iva, with double sandhi). 
Cf. also Kaus. 10, 2. The translators have again endea- 
voured to find sdkrit, saknds in the second part of the 
word. For further suggestions, all of which seem to me 
to be silenced by the considerations advanced in this and 
the preceding notes, see Grill, 1. c. 


III, 15. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 148. 


The Satra rubricates the hymn in various non-significant 
practices. At Kaus. 50, 12 the merchant, while reciting 
the hymn, sets up (or, loads up) his ware (or, his shop), 
after it has been anointed with the dregs of ghee. At 59, 6 
the person who desires merchandise recites the hymn. Cf. 
Gobh. IV, 8, 19 ff.; Khad. IV, 3,7. The hymn is also 


1Π, 15. COMMENTARY. 353 


worked up in the comparatively late indramaha or indra- 
mahotsava festival, Kaus. 140,16; Ath. Paris. 191; and sts. 
7, 8, which are scarcely connected with the body of the 
hymn, are rubricated in Kaus. 70, 13.14. The Anukramazi, 
vaisvadevam utaisndragnam ; the author is pasyakamo 
stharva. 

Previous translations: Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 215; 
Zimmer, p. 258; Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 247 ff.; Grill?, 
pp. 69, 113 ff. Cf. also Hillebrandt’s Vedachrestomathie, 
p. 38. 

Stanza 1. 

Indra who gathers in the stakes at all contests (dhana- 
git, dhanamgaya) is their possessor (isna), and hence in the 
position to bestow wealth (dhanad4). The same attributes 
are given to Agni in various passages of the RV., justifying 
the appeal to him in the sequel (st. 3 ff.). 


Stanza 2. 


The first two PAdas are repeated in a different connec- 
tion at VI, 55, 1; cf. Tait. S. V, 7, 2, 3. 


Stanza 3. 


Cf. RV. III, 18, 3, where the stanza occurs in its proper 
connection. The word ikkam4no doubtless suggested its 
adaptability for the present mixtum compositum. 


Stanza 4. 


The brackets about the two first P4das are designed to 
show the looseness of the connection with the rest; but 
there is no reason for doubting that they were put here by 
the Atharvan poet. They were put here because they 
speak of the ‘far road which we have travelled.’ SAdyana 
treats them as an independent (fourth) stanza, and then 
continues with the following divisions, thoroughly subver- 
sive of good sense: our 4 b-f and 5 a, Ὁ (six Padas)=5; our 
5 ¢,d and 6 a, b=6; our 6c,d=7; our 7=8; our 8=9. 

a. Weber emends sarda#im to sard#im, translating, ‘ Diesen 
Weg du glattestest uns, o Agni!’ 

[42] Aa 


354 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


e. The Paippalada reads, samrarav4 havir ida gusha- 
ntam. But the plural is vague. 

f. karitam and utthitam are rendered in accordance with 
Grill and SAyava, karitam Akaritam vikrayddikam utthi- 
tam tasm4d vyavaharad utpannam labhayuktamw dhanam. 
The other translators, flatly, ‘our going and our departure.’ 


Stanza 5. 


ἃ. devan is metrically superfluous: the sense, too, ‘devas 
who shut off gain,’ has an Avestan rather than a Vedic ring. 
The word is a gloss, suggested by deva/ in Pada ὃ. 


Stanzas 7, 8. 


The two stanzas seem to have no connection with the 
rest of the hymn. They are Yagus-formulas (st. 8, with 
variants in Tait. S. IV, 1, 10,1; Maitr. S. II, 7,7; Κα. 5. 
XVI, 7; Vag. 5. XI, 75), and are employed fittingly as 
puronuvakya and yagya in connection with a pdr#zahuti at 
Kaus. 70, 13. 14, on the occasion of the ceremony of build- 
ing the householder’s fire (agnyadhanam). The Atharvan 
tradition regards six stanzas as the normal number for the 
hymns of the third book (see AV. XIX, 22 and 23, and 
Ath. Paris. 46, 9. 10). 


III, 18. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 107. 


This hymn is a repetition with variants of RV. X, 145. 
The Anukramani there gives it the name indrazy-upanishad 
(Shadgurusishya, indrazyrishika; Sayama, indraaya ar- 
sham)?. It constitutes also a part of the Apast. Mantra- 
brahmama I, 15, 1-6, and the stanzas are employed at 
Apast. Grth. III, 9, 5. 6 (cf. Kaus. 33, 7; Gobh. Grsh. IT, 
6, 6 ff.) in a charm practised with the p4/4-plant (clypea 


1°Cf. for the relation of Indrazi to marital life, our Contribu- 
tions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morg. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 


551 ff.; 579. 


ΠΙ, 18. COMMENTARY. 355 


hernandifolia ; cf. our introduction to II, 27). The prac- 
tices of Kausika (36, 19-21) differ entirely from those of 
Apastamba. The plant which is used there is the bav4- 
parni (so also Kaus. 36, 38). Dérila glosses, sarapunkha ; 
Kesava, masika (cf. Kausika, Introduction, p. liii)}, It 
seems to have been suggested to the ritualist by the epithet 
uttanaparza4 in stanza 2, but Sayava there has in mind 
again the p4/4, since he quotes AV. II, 27, 4, and in his 
comment on st. 1 says outright, pas#akhy4m oshadhim. 
Kausika’s performance is as follows: 36, 19. ‘ While 
reciting III, 18, a bax4parzi-plant is mashed, mixed with 
a spray (of milk) from a red she-goat, and scattered round 
about the bed (of the rival woman). 20. While reciting 
stanza 6 a, a leaf (of the plant) is fastened beneath the bed. 
21. While reciting stanza 6 Ὁ (a leaf) is thrown upon the 
(bed).’ We would draw especial attention to the totally 
different employment of the stanzas in Apast. Grth. III, 9, 
5. 6, in illustration of the loose, subjective symbolism which 
governs their manipulation. The general purpose of the 
practice is. however, there the same as with Kausika. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 
222; XVII, 264 ff; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 307. 
The Rigveda version by Ludwig (932) and Grassmann in 
their well-known works?; the version of the Apast. Man- 
trabr. by Winternitz, Das altindische Hochzeitsrituell, p. 98. 
The Ath. Anukramazi, atharv4=nena sfiktena sapatni- 
prazuttyai vazaparz4im oshadhim astaut. 


Stanza 2. 


a. Sayama here and at ΕΝ. uttanaparve uttanani drdhva- 
mukhdani par#ani patrani yasy4. 


1 According to the Pet. Lex. the common name for this plant is 
umhilt, similar to the indigo-plant ; it is also known as sQryavams?. 
Both bazAparni and sarapunkh4 seem to mean ‘having arrow-form 
leaves.’ , 

2 The RV. version seems on the whole secondary to that of the 
AV.: dhama for nuda in st. 2c; kuru for krdhi in 2 d. 


Aa2 


356 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 4. 


6. I read adha, ‘now,’ upon the basis of adha in some 
MSS., Sdyaza’s adha, and with reference to dth4 in the 
RV. Most MSS. read adhaé (‘low shall be my rival,’ &c.) ; 
this is the text adopted by the vulgata, and Shankar 
Pandit. 

Stanza 5. 


A very similar stanza occurs XII, 1, 54; Sdyasza is 
seduced by its pratika, ahdm asmi sdham4na(Z), to confuse 
it with the present, and to suppose that Kaus. 38, 30 quotes 
it, instead of XII, 1, 54. 


Stanza 6. 


The Sidtra does not place the plant about and upon the 
husband, but about and upon the rival. Sdyaxa follows 
through thick and thin. Apast. Grth. III, 9, 6 correlates 
the stanza with the husband: ‘she embraces the hus- 
band with her arms,’ with the stanza alluding to the word 
upadhana (Mantrabr. I, 15, 6). 


III, 23. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 97. 


This hymn furnishes the mantras for the well-known 
house-practice, called pussavanam in the Grzhya-sitras 1, 
The Atharvanic form of it is described in Kaus. 35, 1-4, as 
follows: 1. Now the rites for producing a son. 2. (They 
are made) in behalf of the woman after she has laid aside 
the linen soiled by her menses, under a male constellation. 
3. While reciting III, 23 an arrow is broken to pieces over 
her head, and (a piece of the arrow) is fastened (upon her 
as an amulet). 4. Into a cup made from a plough (the 
practitioner) puts milk of a cow which has a calf of a colour 
identical with her own, and rice and barley, mashes it up, 
adds to the mixture two adhyazd4 plants, or leaves from 
a great palasa (butea frondosa) and a vidart (batatas pani- 


1 Cf. Sankh. I, r9. 20; Asv. 1, 13; Par. I, 14; Gobh. II, 6; 
Khad. II, 2, 17 ff.; Hir. II, 2; Apast. VI, 14, 9. 


ΠῚ, 23. COMMENTARY. 357 


culata), and does with the mixture as in the case of the 
paidva-ceremony (i.e. he puts it up the right nostril of 
the woman with his right thumb; cf. Kaus. 32, 21, in the 
introduction to X, 4)}. 

Stanzas 2-4 are repeated with variants in SAnkh. Grzh. 
I, 19, 6; stanzas 2, 4, 5 (entire or in part) in Hir. Grzh. I, 
25, 1. The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. 
V, 223; XVII, 285 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 477 ff. ; 
Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 319. The Anukramazi, 
Randramasam uta yonidevatyam, brahm4snena putram 
prarthayad yonim abhish¢iya pragayé iti. 


Stanza 2. 


ἃ. Ten Junar months reconcile this statement with the 
biological facts; see Weber, Nakshatra, II, 313; Zimmer, 
366. 

Stanza 4. 

Hir. Grzh. I, 25, 1, yani prabhdai viryazy rishabha gana- 
yantu nah, tais tvam garbhizi bhava... prasir dhenugd 
bhava, SAankh. Grth. I, 19, 6, purusha# for rishabh&Z. 


Stanza 5. 

a. Ludwig, ‘das pragdpatyam vollziehe ich dir;’ Zim- 
mer, ‘ich verschaffe dir Zeugungsfahigkeit ;> Weber, ‘ich 
thu dir an das Zeugungswerk’ (Ind. Stud. XVII, 286); 
‘ich schaff dir Zeugungsfahigkeit’ (ib. V, 224); Sdyaza, 
pragapatina ... nirmitam pragotpattikaram karma. 


Stanza 6. 


Cf. VIII, 7, 2, and perhaps III, 9, 1. The plants are 
undefined ; see the Sdtra, and SAnkh. Grth. I, 19, 1; 20, 


3. 4. 


1 The complicated practice is not clear in every detail. For 
ph4lasamasa and adhyande, see Kausika, Introduction, pp. lii and 
xlv, and Sankh. Grzh. I, 19, 1 ff. The Grzhya-texts, cited in the 
preceding note, contain quite a number of parallels. There seems 
to be a cheap symbolism in the choice of the names of the two 
plants, adhyanda: anda, ‘egg,’ and vidari: vi dar, ‘burst, cleave.’ 


‘ 


258 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


III, 25. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 102. 


The practices of the Sdtra, Kaus. 35, 22-28, embody 
symbolically a large portion of the statements and similes 
of the hymn, to wit: 22. ‘While reciting the hymn he 
(who wishes to subject a woman) pushes her with his 
thumb (cf. st. 1). 23. He puts on (the fire) twenty-one 
(pieces of kfdi-wood)', with their thorns to the east (or 
forward ; cf. st. 3), adorned (i.e. anointed with ghee), over 
which the hymn has been pronounced. 24. (Then he puts 
on the fire) the twenty-one tips of the kddi, together with 
threads (which have been wound about them). 25. For 
a period of three days (literally, nights) he burns thrice 
each day kush/fa (costus speciosus) dipped in butter. 26. 
Having put the mattress (?) of his couch face downward he 
sleeps upon it (three nights)?. 27. He places warm water 
into a tripod, fastens® it to the foot (of his bed), and lies 
agitating it with his great toes. 28. By means of a bow 
which is darbhydsha (? cf. Kaus. 32, 8, in the introduction 
to VII, 74, and Kausika, Introduction, p. li), and has 
a bowstring of hemp, with an arrow whose barb is a thorn, 
whose plume is derived from an owl, whose shaft is made 
of black 4la-wood (see Kausika, Introduction, p. xlvi), he 


1 The word kdi is to be supplied from the next Sfttra. For 
kadi= badarf, ‘Christ’s thorn,’ see Kausika, Introduction, p. xliv. 
Darila observantly sees in this practice the symbolic realisation of 
st. 3, ya plihanam iti lingat. 

® This translation of the Sftra is a doubtful paraphrase of 
Kesava’s and Sayama’s statements. The Sfitra is: dirghotpale 
svagrihya samvisati. Dérila, mamékakese (!? ma#kakam) adhad 
krita (? kritva) tatra samvisati; Kesava, khafvam adhomukhapa/- 
fikam grrhitva ...svapiti; Sdyaza, kha¢vay4 adhomukhapasfikam 
grthitva triratram svapiti. The practice refers symbolically to 
st. 1b, ‘do not hold out upon thy bed.’ All this does not explain 
dirghotpale; cf. the equally difficult utpale, Kaus. 36, 7 (see the 
introduction to IV, 5). 

5. Read, apparently, with Sdyava and one MS. prabadhyé- for 
prabaddha-. 


Ill, 28. COMMENTARY. 359 


pierces the heart of an effigy’ made of potter's clay’ (ibid. 
p. xlvii). The last Satra embodies st. 2. 

For Kama in general as a cosmic force, see the introduc- 
tion to IX, 2. For Kama as the god of love, Weber, Ind. 
Stud. V, 225; Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 407; 
Zimmer, p. 300. In both forms he is brought into close 
relation with Agni (fire); cf. Hir. Grzh. I, 3, 7. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 
224; XVII, 290 ff.; Muir, l.c., p. 407; Ludwig, Der Rig- 
veda, III, 516; Zimmer, p. 307; Grill’, pp. 53, 115 ff.; cf. 
also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 144. The 
Anukramazi, maitravarunam kameshudevatakam ka. 


Stanza 1. 


b. Sayana reads drithah, glossing, sayanavishayam Ada- 
ram ma kArshiZ, ‘have no regard for matters connected 
with the bed (sleep).’ 

Stanza 2. 

b. samkalpa, literally ‘determination.’ SAdyaza, with 
naive picturesqueness, idavt me syad idam me sydd iti 
bhogavishayasamkalpanam. Cf. Tait. S. III, 4, 7, 3. 


Stanza 4. 


6. Grill regards nfmanyu# as the equivalent of n{rman- 
yuh, ‘versdhnt.’ The word seems, however, to have a 
slightly different meaning, lit. ‘having laid down your 
pride or anger.’ SAdyaza, nyakk:taprazayakalaha. 


Stanza 5. 


c,d. The passage is formulary, being repeated at I, 34, 
2; VI, 9, 2; Pada d is repeated at VI, 42, 3; 43, 3. 


III, 28. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 145. 


Contrary to modern superstitions which regard the birth 
of twins as auspicious, and prize animals born in pairs, 
the prevailing Hindu view is that the birth of twins is an 


Cf. Kaus. 36, 14 in the introduction to VI, 130. 


360 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


ominous occurrence to be expiated by diverse performances, 
and that the cattle itself is, as a ‘rule, to be given to the 
Brahmans. But there are not wanting indications that 
a favourable view of such events also existed, and one may 
suspect shrewdly that the thrifty Brahmans, who stood 
ever ready to gather in all sorts of odds and ends (cf. the 
elaborate oratio pro domo, XII, 4, in connection with the 
vasa), gave vigorous support to any tendency towards 
superstitious fear which might show its head in connection 
with such occurrences. Weber, Indische Studien, XVII, 
298 ff., has assembled quite a number of passages which 
represent the Hindu attitude towards twins. Cf. also Tait. 
S. IT, 1, 8, 4. 

The hymn is rubricated thrice in the Kausika, in the 
thirteenth book, which is devoted to expiatory perform- 
ances (prayaséitti), in connection with all sorts of omens 
and portents. It is employed in chapters 109, 5; 110, 4; 
111, 5, on the occasion of the birth of twins from cows, 
mares, asses, and women. The practices consist in cook- 
ing a porridge in the milk of the mother, offering ghee, 
pouring the dregs of the ghee into a water-vessel and upon 
the porridge. Then the animal and its young are made to 
eat of the porridge, to drink of the water, and they are 
also sprinkled with the same water. The mother is then 
given to the Brahmans, and in the case of the human 
mother a ransom ‘according to her value, or, in accordance 
with the wealth (of the father), is paid. Cf. Weber, Omina 
und Portenta, p. 377 fff. 

The hymn has been. translated by Weber, Indische 
Studien, XVII, 297 ff. The Anukramami, yaminyam... 
brahm4-nena yaminim astaut pasuposhamaya. 


Stanza 1. 


. Since the mother of the twins was born under an arrange- 
ment which made a separate act of creation necessary for 
each individual, the birth of two at a time is apartu, ‘un- 
seasonable, portentous.’ Pada Ὁ is hypermetric and may 
be relieved in a measure by throwing out bhitakr/to, but 


III], 30. COMMENTARY. 361 


even this does not yield good metre. In PAda d, riphati, 
‘ growling,’ is not altogether certain. Sdyama, upon the basis 
of the Dhatup4é/a (riph rinph, hissiydm), renders it by 
bhakshayanti, ‘eating.’ In Apast. Sr. XII, 22,7 the root 
occurs in the sense of rikh, likh, ‘scratch, which suits the 
context quite as well. For the interchange of gutturals 
and labials, see Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. 
Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 557 note, and the 
note on XI, 2, 25. 
Stanza 2. 


Cf. XII, 4, 5. 10-12. In Pada b, vyddvari, ‘devouring,’ 
looks very well by the side of kravydd, ‘flesh-eating.’ In 
the form vyadvard the word occurs also at Sat. Br. VII, 4, 
1, 27, and the scholiast derives it from ad, ‘eat.’ But at 
II, 31, 4; VI, 50, 3 (twice) we have vyadhvard', and 
Sayama reads vyadhvari in our stanza (‘causing misfortune, 
afflicted with an evil way’), duskhahetur dush¢amargah 
tadvati. The two words are blended and diversified by 
popular etymology, and it may be that one of them only 
is original. Cf. the note on II, 31, 4. 


Stanzas 5, 6. 


The mother of twins is invited to enter the world of the 
blissful which is described in all its attractiveness, and yet, 
implicitly, is not desired, for the time being, by the owner 
of the cow. In yamini, ‘mother of twins,’ there is a pun 
‘fit for Yama, the god of heaven, and death:’ this makes 
it still more appropriate that she shall go there. The first 
hemistich is formulaic: see VI, 120, 3. Cf. also XVIII, 2, 
243 3,9 


III, 30. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 134. 


In Kaus. 12, 5 this hymn heads a ρα or series of seven 
Atharvan charms (III, 30; V,1, 5; VI, 64; 733 743 943 
VII, 52), which are designated as sA4mmanasyani (sc. sdk- 


* Thus the vulgata. Shankar Pandit’s edition with Sayama and 
most MSS., vyadvar4, 


362 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


tani), ‘designed to produce harmony.’ The practices which 
are undertaken with them are stated in the sequel, Kaus. 
12, 6-9, as follows: 6. ‘A jar full of water, anointed with 
the dregs of ghee, is carried about the (quarrelling) throng 
and poured out in their midst. 7. The same proceedings 
are undertaken with a jar full of brandy (sura). 8. (They 
who desire peace) are given to eat the pickled flesh of a 
young cow three years old. 9. Food, brandy, and water 
from the (public?) drinking-place are anointed with the 
dregs of ghee (and consumed). In justification of this 
translation, see the commentaries here, and at Kaus. 35, 
19: the relation of the proceedings to the charm are not 
clear in every detail; see especially st. 6, and VI, 70, 1. 

The hymn has been treated previously by Muir, Original 
Sanskrit Texts, V, 439; Metrical Translations, p. 139; 
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 256, 516; Zimmer, p. 316; 
Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 306 ff.; Grill?, pp. 30, 116 ff.; 
Hillebrandt, Vedachrestomathie, p. 45. The Anukramazi 
designates the hymn as #4ndramasam sasmmanasyam, its 
author being Atharvan. The Atharvan abounds in such 
songs of harmony ; they occur also outside of the Athar- 
van literature, e.g. RV. X, 191; Maitr. S. II, 2,6; Kath. 
S. X, 12; Tait. Br. II, 4, 4, 4 ff. See also the charm 
against family quarrels (kule kalahini) in Kaus. 97, and cf. 
in general Zimmer, p. 316. 


Stanza 1. 


Sayava reads s4zzmanushyam in Pada a, and aghnyds in 
Pada d. 
Stanza 2. 


The opposite of this picture of peace is portrayed vividly 
at Sat. Br. IV, 1, 5, 3 ff., where a certain tribe is described 
as not living in peace: ‘father fought with son, and brother 
with brother.’ See also the story of Xyavana as told in 
the Gaiminiya-Brahmaza, Proc. Amer. Or. Soc., 1883 
(Journal, vol. xi, p. cxlv): ‘then neither did mother know 
son, nor son mother.’ 

b. Sayama reads mata for matrd. 


III, 30. COMMENTARY. 263 


e. Our edition has santivan; Shankar Pandit and the 
Paippalada, santivim, which is obviously the correct read- 
ing, and is at the base of Sayawa’s comment, sukhayuktam. 


Stanza 3. 
a. Sayava reads dvishyt for dvikshat. 


Stanza 4. 


a. Sayana, indradayas . .. vimatim na _ prapnuvanti. 
Prof. Weber suggests that the gods here referred to are 
the Brahmans; this is not necessary since the gods are 
frequently endowed with human foibles: see the note on 
VI, 111, 3. The point is, that a charm, strong enough to 
prevent even the bickerings of the gods, will surely produce 


harmony among men. 
Stanza 5. 


a. Sayava glosses gydyasvantas by gyesh¢hakanishtha- 
bhavena parasparam anusarantas, i.e. following one another . 
in the order of age, the younger after the older. Ludwig, 
p- 256, renders it ‘vorziiglich ;’ p. 516, ‘iiberlegen.’ For 
Aittinak I am tempted to suggest ‘of the (same) mind,’ 
cf. sahd Zittam esham in AV. VI, 64,2; RV. X, 191, 3; 
Maitr. S. II, 2, 6 (p. 20, 1. 12): Tait. Br. II, 4, 4, 5. 

b. Our translation of samradhdyantak agrees with Sa- 
yana’s, samanasamsiddhikas, samanakary44.— Going along 
the same wagon-pole, i.e. pulling at the same wagon like 
a team. 

d. Cf. Vag. 5. VII, 25 c. The Pada is hypercatalectic ; 
the Anukramazi designates the stanza on this account as 
viradgagati. Weber suggests sadhri#in, by way of cure; 
Grill, the omission of va#, or a change to sadhriko; cf. 
st. 7. 

Stanza 6. 

The stanza is irregular (Anukr., prastarapankti), the 
second half being an anush¢ubh. Since stanzas 5 and 7 
are connected by concatenation (Pada 5 d=7 a), stanza 6 
might be regarded as a very early intrusion. But Kausika 
employs it particularly for his practices (see above), and 


364 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


thus the criticism must be made for a very early period, to 
say the least. The stanza may, however, have stood in 
a different position in the hymn. 


Stanza 7. 


The stanza concatenates with 5; cf. e.g. the relation of 
RV. II, 38, 7 and 9, where st. 8 interrupts a similar relation. 

b. Sayana reads ekasnushZin. On p. 256 Ludwig emends 
samvananena to savanena, but on p. 516 he adheres to the 
text and translates it by ‘verséhnungsspruch.’ SAy., vasi- 
karamena anena sammanasyakarmama. 

6. In RV. I, 71, 9, Mitra and Varuaa are said to be 
guarding the amrita. 

ad. Ludwig on p. 516 emends saumanasé to saumanasdm, 
but this is unnecessary if we remember that the leader or 
chief is referred to in gy4yas-, in st. 5 a, and eka-, in 7 b. 
Moreover at Tait. S. IV, 7, 3, 1, saumanasd/, masc., is an 
abstract = saumanasdm. 


III, 31. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 51. 


This extraordinary composition makes draughts upon 
a variety of mythological and philosophical (psycho- 
physical) conceptions for the purpose of accentuating the 
desired separation from misfortune, and union with life. 
Accordingly each of its eleven stanzas ends in a refrain 
which states this desire distinctly. Further the hymn is 
divisible into two halves, the first of which (sts. 1-4) has 
for its key-note the subject of separation illustrated by 
cosmic examples ; the second (6-11) illustrates union with 
the principles of life. The intermediate stanza is more 
problematic; it has been discussed by the translator in 
connection with his treatment of the marriage of Saranyd 
in the third series of his Contributions, Journ. Amer. Or. 
Soc. XV, pp. 181 ff. 

The principal employment of the hymn in the ritual is in 
connection with the initiation (upanayana) of the young 
Aryan into the. Brahmanical community. At Kaus. 58, 3 


III, 31. COMMENTARY. 365 


the hymn is recited in the presence of the young man, in 
connection with a list of kindred hymns. The last two 
stanzas are employed at Kaus. 24, 31, along with others, on 
the occasion of the solemn rising from a couch, at the cere- 
mony of the full-moon of the month 4grahayaza. Cf. also 
Vait. Sd. 13,10. The Gavzam4la, Ath. Paris. 32, 6, counts 
this hymn as one of three which make up the papmagaza 
and are papmahan; see Kaus. 30, 17 note. Similarly the 
Anukramani (papmahddevatyam). It has been translated 
by Weber, Ind. Stud. XVII, 306 ff. 


Stanza 1. 


a. The MSS. read avritan, which Roth and Whitney 
have emended to akritan. SAayana reads vyavritam (viyo- 
gayatam), and takes dev4 correspondingly as vocative dual 
(devau asvinau). This reading with m I find also in the 
papmagaza of the Ganamla, cited above, and one wonders 
whence it comes from. I would suggest the emendation 
avritran (avritram), literally ‘the gods have separated 
themselves from old age.’ The gods are agdra,‘ free from 
old age,’ and Agni is mentioned particularly RV. VI, 68, 9 
(cf. Pada b). The middle passive of vi+vart in this sense 
governs the instrumental ; see Pet. Lex., vol. vi, col. 775. 
The metre, however, does not favour the suggestion. 


Stanza 4. 


b. The paths are the heavenly paths, travelled by the 
gods (devayanaZ); cf. III, 15, 2; VI, 55, 1; Tait. S. V, 
7, 2, 3: 

Stanza 5. 

Cf. RV. X, 17,1; AV. XVIII, 1, 53. The passage as 
it appears here is doubtless the product of adaptation. 
Prof. Weber has interpreted it as an additional instance of 
thorough separation, the motif of the first four stanzas. 
According to his view Tvashzar is making preparations to 
marry his own daughter, and everybody (tout Je monde) 
is scattering in consternation at the unholy proceeding. 
1 have subjected Prof. Weber’s construction to a detailed 


366 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


criticism in my essay quoted above. The chief difficulty 
is in vi yati, which means ‘pass through,’ not ‘go apart, 
scatter, The passage seems to mean that the whole world 
on the occasion of the marriage of Tvashéar's daughter to 
Vivasvant—not to himself—pass through (a given point of 
observation) to witness the marriage. Thus they might 
illustrate separation from their ordinary places of abode. 
Or, a still more literal and philological translation of the 
passage would be: ‘“ Tvash/éar is preparing a marriage for 
his daughter,” thus saying (or noting) he (who? Tvash¢ar or 
Vivasvant?) passes through the entire world.’ But the 
other versions read sam eti, and all the following stanzas 
(6-11) have for their theme union with the principle of life. 
Since, now, vi occurs no less than thirty times in the entire 
hymn, it is possible that sm has given place to it, and the 
passage would thus revert to its original meaning in RV. 
X,17,1; AV. XVIII, 1, 53. Sayava takes vi yati in the 
sense of going asunder, vahatum ... prasth4payati iti bud- 
dhya tasya avakasam datum idam visvam bhuvanam prithi- 
vyantariksh4diripas vi yati parasparam vigatas bhavati. 


Stanza 6. 


a,b. Or, ‘ Agni bestows life’s breaths.’ Agni is frequently 
identified in the Upanishads with the breaths of life: see 
Maitri-Upanishad VI, 5. 9. 33; Prasna-Upanishad I, 7. 
Sayama, ‘the Agni of the belly, the cause of the digestion 
of food and drink.’ Similarly the sun (cf. the next stanza) 
in Maitri-Up. VI, 1. 5; Prasna-Up. I, 5; II, 8; Tait. Ar. 
I, 14, 1. 

Stanza 11. 

For vrishtyéd (Padap§fha, vrishtyd ud) read vrishty4() 
ud with Roth, Zeitschrift d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. 
XLVIII, 684. 


IV, 3. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 147. 


At Kaus. 51, 1-6 the following practices are prescribed : 
1. ‘While reciting AV. IV, 3 (the shepherd) follows the 
cattle, (alternately) raising and digging into (the ground) 


IV, 3. COMMENTARY. 367 


a pole of khadira-wood (acacia catechu, a hard wood), which 
has been anointed with the dregs of ghee’. 2. He pours 
out water, sweeps together the (moistened dust)?; then he 
offers, while walking, thrice to Indra milk of a cow with 
a calf of the same colour as herself. 3. He offers the bali 
(tribute offering) to the (four) regions. 4. He reveres each 
of the regions*. 5. In the middle (between the four 
regions) he offers a fifth bali-offering. 6. The remainder 
he pours down (upon the ground).’ The hymn is one of 
the raudragaza in the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 17; see 
Kaus. 50, 13 note. The Anukramami accordingly desig- 
nates it as raudram uta vyd4ghradevatyam. It has been 
translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 499; Grill? 
Pp- 33, 118 ff. 


Stanza 1. 


Sayana suggests, very properly, that the man (purusha) 
in question is the robber mentioned below. Pada d is 
difficult; Ludwig compares RV. I, 24, 7, which according 
to Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 113 ff., refers to the ban- 
yan-tree (nyagrodha, vafa). The branches of that tree take 
root anew, are nifina, or nihita, and therefore grow until they 
are out of sight (hfruk, an antarhitanamadheyam, a word 
for ‘out of sight’ according to Y4ska’s Naighaztuka, III, 
25). Prof. Roth, as quoted by Grill, p. 118, suggests an 
arrow, or spear, but the expression devé vanaspatir (cf. VI, 
85, 1) is favourable to the other construction. Sayama, 
helplessly, vanandm adhish¢#ata devas tatr4:ntarhito var- 
tate tadvad vyaghradayo: pi antarhita bhavantu. 


1 The symbolism is transparent : he pierces the imaginary track 
of the dreaded hostile creatures, and thus pierces the creatures 
themselves. 

* According to Kesava and S&yana he then places his left hand 
upon the dust and with his right scatters half of it. The words 
ninayanam samuhya refer back to the practice at Kaus. 19, 17. 18 ; 
see the introduction to II, 26, p. 303. 

5. According to Kesava he recites in this connection AV. III, 26 ; 
cf. Kaus. 14, 25. 


368 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 2. 


6. ‘The rope full of teeth, by familiar figure of speech, 
the serpent ; cf. VII, 108, 1; XIX, 47, 7.8 (partially verbal 
parallelism with our stanza); Sat. Br. IV, 4, 5, 3. 


Stanza 5. 


6. Literally, ‘let him go on the falling down of the paths,’ 
i.e. ‘where the paths are precipitate.’ Sayama arrives at 
a similar result, even though he handles his text very 
freely, sa ka pathdm madhye dhvamsena dhvamsakena 
kashzena margeza apa gakhatu. Ludwig, ‘wo die pfade 
abbrechen ;’ Grill, ‘auf nachstem wege pack’ er sich.’ 


Stanza 6. 


b. Sayana reads api sirshnah, glossing, sirasi bhava hism- 
sakak sringddayak avayavé api mid4 bhavantu, ‘the de- 
structive members of the body on the head, horns, &c., 
shall be dulled,’ 

6. All translations, including our own, are mere guesses. 
nimruk, ‘sunset,’ is not found except in connection with the 
setting of the sun. Sdyaza’s drishéivishayo na bhavati has 
suggested our ‘ out of sight shall go.’ Grill has in mind 
the root marf, ‘injure,’ something like nimrzkto, ‘ injured, 
destroyed ;’ but there is no such word. godhd (Pet. Lex. 
‘sinew’) is equally difficult. Sayama, ‘a kind of wild beast.’ 
As it has also the meaning ‘large lizard,’ we have said 
‘dragon,’ a pure conjecture. Ludwig's ‘in der tiefe soll das 
krokodil gehn’ does not differ materially. Grill, ‘ mit lah- 
mer sehne geh’s zu grund.’ 

d. sasayur (da. Aey.) mrigd# is also not clear. Sdyama, 
‘the evil beast inclined to lie down.’ Ludwig, ‘tief hinab- 
springend geht das wild.’ We have adopted with profound 
misgivings the translation of the Pet. Lex., Grill, and 
Zimmer (p. 79). The latter regards sasayur as an epithet 
of the tiger (cf. sts. 1, 3, 4, 7); cf., however, sasaghatin, and 
sasida, names of birds of prey. Prof. Roth, however, as 
quoted by Grill, holds now a different opinion, ‘a bird of 
prey which swoops down from on high.’ 


IV, 4. COMMENTARY. 369 


Stanza 7. 


a, Ὁ. Cf. VI, 56,13; X, 4, 8, a similar formula calculated 
to regulate the snapping of the serpent’s mouth. The Pa- 
dap4zha treats samydmas both times as a noun-compound, 
but it is easier to construe it as sam ydmad, an injunctive 
aorist. The sense is the same. Sayama treats vi yamak 
also both times as a noun, samyamah samyamanam samyag 
vyaghradinadm mantrasdmarthyena niyamanam yad asti na 
«5811 viyamak viruddhayamanam bhavati, &c. The passage 
seems to refer to the jaws of the wild beasts. 

e, ἃ. This may either refer to brdhma, ‘charm,’ or to 
some plant or amulet, of which the Satra, to be sure, makes 
no mention. The hemistich is hypermetric, fairly curable 
by throwing out Atharvazdm. The Anukramast, kakum- 
mati garbhoparish“adbrzhati. 


IV, 4. COMMENTAR\ TO PAGE 31. 


A characteristic mixture of pharmaceutical applications 
and drastic symbolism constitutes the practices of the 
ritual, Kaus. 40, 14 ff, as follows: 14. ‘The hymn IV, 4, 
and, in addition, the following mantra is recited: “ Bulls 
have dug thee up, thou art a bull, O herb! Thou art 
a bull, full of lusty force; in behalf of a bull do we dig 
thee up!” During these recitals the plants uk&sushma 
and parivyadha! are dug up with an iron instrument (Darila, 
a ploughshare). 15. Two decoctions are made from these 
plants, poured into milk, a drawn bow is placed into the 
lap, and then the decoctions are drunk’. 16. (The same 


1 Dérila and Kesava, uééhushma kapika&éfu (mucuna pruritus) 
parivyadhad suravalakaf (or, sfikaravalaka#); Sdyaza -mentions 
only one plant, kapitthakamfilam, the root of feronia elephantum. 
For uékhushmé, cf. st. 4. 

3 We now correct Sfitra 15 as follows, dugdhe phan/iv adhigyam 
(sc. dhanur) upastha Adhaya pibati. Cf. Kausika, Introduction, 
p. lviii ff. The symbolism is quite apparent; see stanzas 6 and 7 
of the hymn. 


[42] Bb 


370 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


performance takes place) while he sits upon a stake or 
a pestle!’ (generous suggestions! cf. VII, 90, 3). For 
hymns (and their collateral practices) dealing with the 
same subject, see VI, 72; 101; VII, go; Kaus. 40, 16-18; 
36, 35-7: 

Stanza 1. 

The Gandharvas, the divine libertines (IV, 37, 11), who 
enjoy themselves in the company of the heavenly nymphs, 
the Apsaras, are peculiarly likely to stand in need, and have 
a knowledge of regenerating plants. Hence the Gandharva 
digs them up. But why should Varuza need an aphro- 
disiac? At VII, 90, 2,a charm for inhibiting the redundant 
sexual power of an enemy, the divine law of Varuna 
‘withers excessive fire.’ The paradox may be only a 
seeming one. Varuma, as is well known, not infrequently 
appears in opposition to Indra, and his name even is occa- 
sionally, by etymological play (root var), assimilated to 
Vritra, the demon, whom Indra at RV. I, 32, 7 turns in 
a castrate (vddhri); cf. RV. 1V, 42, 7; X, 124, 4. 5, and 
Bergaigne, La Religion Védique, III, 144 ff. Sayana does 
not comment upon this extraordinary imputation against 
Varuna, the most highly respected of all the gods. 


Stanza 2. 


ec. I have followed S4yana in regarding ud egatu as 
transitive, udvrittam karotu, and, utkrishfaviryayuktam 
karotu. Cf. the similar double use of the root ud ar (ud 
iyarti), and the simple root ir. The Pet. Lex., ‘sich riihren, 
sich erheben.’ This translation fits poorly for Pada c. 


Stanza 3. 
a, b. Sdyaza with some MSS. (Samhita and Padapdsha) 


reads virohito for virdhato, and construes it as an epithet of 
the penis, putrapautradirdpeza virohazasya nimittam pum- 


1 The first part of Sftra 16 in the edition is to be regarded with 
Kesava as an independent Sfitra. Kesava was not at hand until 
the body of the text was in print. 


IV, 5. COMMENTARY. 371 


vyafiganam. The sense is changed very little. Our trans- 
lation of abhitaptam ivd=nati by ‘exhales heat like a thing 
on fire’ is somewhat uncertain, since 4nati means ‘ breathe.’ 
The Pet. Lexs., ‘nach luft schnappen, lechzen;’ accord- 
ingly ‘longs for cooling like a thing on fire.’ 


Stanza 4. 


a, Ὁ. SAyava supplies irayatu with ud. This is at least 
approximately correct, as may be learned from RV. X, 97, 
8, ἀξ khishma dshadhinam g4vo goshzhdd ivessrate. The 
only question is whether the simple verb, rather than the 
causative, is to be supplied: ‘The fire of the plants &c. 
shall arise. The ritual embodies with stereotyped sym- 
bolism the words ἐξ 2#ushmé in the plant uéAsushmé ; see 
the introduction. 

c,d. Sayana, supported by a few MSS., reads samepdsham 
and tandvasam, glossing, samyak poshayitriz4m oshadhinam 
sambandhi yad vrishnyam viryam asti tad asmin purushe 
tandvasam sariradhinam kritva dhehi. 


Stanza 7. 


Repeated at VI, 101, 3; cf. the practice, Kaus. 40, 15, 
above. 

ἃ. SdAyava, with one of Shankar Pandit’s MSS., reads 
anu valgiyataé (nrityaté manas4). The Pet. Lexs. and 
Whitney, Index Verborum, regard sddé as the instrumental 
of a ἅπ. λεγ. 844, ‘mounting.’ But such a root-abstract is 
naturally feminine, and the participle anavagl4yaté is 
neuter, agreeing with pdsasé supplied from Pada a. Sayana 
correctly takes sad4 as ‘ ever.’ 


IV, 5. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 105. 


The purpose of this hymn, regarded from within, is clear, 
and its position in the ritual in connection with one of the 
strikarm4zi (Kaus. 32, 28-36, 40) makes it certain that the 
Atharvavedins dealt with it in the light indicated by our 

Bb2 


372 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


title. Four of its stanzas (1, 3, 5,6) appear in a different 
arrangement, and in connection with other material, in RV. 
VII, 55, and, as usual, the Atharvan recension smacks of 
adaptation to a particular purpose’. The Rigveda form 
itself, however, is open to the same suspicion ; both ver- 
sions may have draughted into service materials whose 
original connection in olden times (puraza) has passed out of 
sight. Professor Aufrecht, Ind. Stud. IV, 337 ff., presented 
as early as 1858 a peculiarly lucid interpretation of both 
hymns (cf. Zimmer, pp. 149, 308), and more recently Pro- 
fessor Pischel, Vedische Studien, II, 55 ff., has made a 
determined attempt—in our opinion unsuccessful—to vin- 
dicate the interpretation of the Rigveda version as under- 
taken by Shadgurusishya and the Brihaddevataé. Accord- 
ing to Pischel, Vasishta entered the house of Varuaa after 
he had fasted three days in order to steal food, and 
employed this charm to put all waking persons and dogs 
to sleep 3. 

There is at any rate no question as to the purpose of the 
stanzas as arranged by the Atharvan diaskeuasts. Darila 
describes it as maithunakarazavighnandsakartar, ‘ removing 
obstacles in the way of an assignation.’ The practices are 
stated at Kaus. 36, 1-4, as follows: 1. ‘While reciting 
IV, 5 a sleeping-charm is performed. 2. The house is 
sprinkled with water from a vessel which has been anointed 
with the dregs of ghee, and the rest is poured upon the 
inside of the door. 3. The same act is repeated naked. 
4. Then a mortar ® is addressed (with the hymn); next, the 
northern corner (of the house), the southernmost foot of the 


1 Note especially asyai in st. 6 of the AV. for sdrve in st. 5 of 
RV. ; also sv4ptu for sAstu (archaic) in the same stanzas. 

2 Pischel argues that Brahmans are known to have committed 
thefts in later times (Mrikkhakafika 46, 10, &c.; see also Rig- 
vidhana I, 26, 2; Manu XI, 251). On the same principle it 
might be argued that Vedic Rishis acted as clowns (vidshaka) and 
even cooks, as in modern times. Cf. also Pa#é. Br. XXI, 11, 2. . 

5 Does the mortar symbolise the vulva, just as the pestle the 
membrum virile, Kaus. 40, 16 (see IV, 4, introduction)? 


Iv, 6. COMMENTARY. 373 


woman’s bed, and the ropes (of the bed).’ The hymn is 
rubricated also in Ath. Paris. 8, 1, and it has been trans- 
lated by Aufrecht, l.c.; Grill?, pp. 53, 119 ff. The Anu- 
kramazi, varshabham. 

Stanza 1. 


a. ‘Having a thousand horns,’ of Agni, RV. V, 1, 8; 
Tait. Br. III, 7, 2, 7; AV. XIII, 1, 12 (cf. RV. V, 2, 9). 
Sayama, both here and at RV. VII, 55, 7, suggests Sarya, 
the sun; Aufrecht, 1. c., p. 344, the moon, the father of 
sorcery; Grassmann, in his translation of the Rigveda, 
I, 343, the starry heaven. In RV. I, 154, 6 the stars are 
said to be bhiiri-sr:nga, ‘ having many horns;’ this seems 
to fortify Grassmann’s view. Agni is also fitted for this 
epithet, since his flames and sparks may be viewed as 
horns. But fire (light) little befits the occasion. 


Stanza 3. 


6. Sayama, puxyagandhayak  sobhanagandhayukta/. 
Pischel, |. c., p. 57 ff., adduces proof that the Hindus of 
later times imagined that their women gave forth fragrance 
during intercourse ; hence, that the women here mentioned 
are awaiting their lovers. This narrow construction of the 
word is hardly necessary in the light of Manu V, 130; 
Markandeya Puréza XXXV, 12, quoted by Pischel himself. 


Stanza 5. 


ἃ. Sayana, idam drisyaménam harmyam yathd darsa- 
nasaktisdnyam tath4, ‘as these premises, though seen, are 
(themselves) devoid of the power of seeing.’ 


IV, 6. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 25. 


According to the commentators, D4rila, Kesava, and 
S4yana, the performances for removing poison at Kaus. 28, 
1-4 include the recitation of this as well as the next hymn 
(IV, 7). Kausika, however, rubricates only IV, 6, as fol- 
lows: 1. ‘ While reciting IV, 6, in a low voice, and making 


374 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


obeisance to Takshaka!, the patient is made to sip water 
and is sprinkled with water. 2. The same performance 
takes place with water into which has been put a branch 
of the ky¢muka-tree, which has been ground to pieces, and 
then the patient is sprinkled with water warmed by quench- 
ing in it a heated old garment®, or a heated old skin of 
an antelope, or a heated wisp of a broom 5. 3. In a water- 
vessel which has been smeared with the dregs of ghee 
a mixed drink is stirred by means of two arrows (whose 
points) have been daubed (with poison ; cf. st. 7), and whose 
points are upward ‘; then lumps of earth® are broken into 
it (while the hymns are being recited) stanza by stanza, 
and the mixture is drunk until vomiting takes place. 4. 
Then the patient is given to drink yellow curcuma in ghee 
(cf. IV, 7, 2, and especially 3). 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rig- 
veda, ITT, 512. 


Stanza 1. 


For the cosmogonic conception in the first hemistich, cf. 
Muir, Orig. Sanskrit Texts, I?, p. 21. In the Ramayana 
(cf. IV, 10, 22), the demon Ravana is represented as a 


1 Takshaka Vaisdleya, a serpent-god ; cf. Kaus. 29, 1; 32, 20; 
56, 13, and Ind. Stud. I, 35. 

2 Darila, girnavisah; Kesava, dunnakaf, or dullakaZ. The 
passages are not given in the edition. 

5. The Stra abounds in subtle syml:olic allusions. The krimuka- 
tree embodies the bow (kA4rmuka) ; cf. sts. 4,6. The garment, and 
the old antelope-skin refer to 1V, 7,6. For gv&la cf. Kaus. 27, 29, 
in the introduction to III, 7. Darila glosses ἀνάκατα by ukura- 
“ikatr’nani; Kesava by ukaridiké marganikatrinam; Sdyana has 
patitamarganikasakalaif ; cf. Kausika, Introduction, p. xlv, bottom. 

* For frdhvaphalabhyam see Kausika, Introduction, p. lii, s.v. 
phala. The poisoned arrows with their points upward symbolise 
the flight of the poison away from the patient ; cf. sts. 4, 5. 

5 Darila glosses rayidhframapindan by bhimis tanmay4n pindan. 
But Kesava (and Séyaza with him, as usual) has madanaphalani, 
‘fruit from the madana-plant.’ And Kesava remarks anent this 
plant, yatha Afardayati. 


ΙΝ, 6. COMMENTARY. 375 


Brahmaaa with ten heads. Sdyaaa identifies the Brahmana 
with Takshaka, in accordance with the SAtra, above. 


Stanza 2. 


Cf. Vag. 5. XXXVIII, 26, and for the seven rivers, 
Max Miller, Chips from a German Workshop, I, 63; 
Muir, l.c, p. 490, note; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 


p- 21. 
Stanza 3. 


The poison is evidently a plant (Sayava, kandavisha), 
since the eagle is constantly associated with the origin and 
functions of medicinal and magic plants; see I, 24, 1; 11, 
27,2; IV, 20, 3; V, 14, 1, and especially our note on IV, 
20, 3. For amimada’ in Pada c, cf. madavati in IV, 7, 4 ἃ. 


Stanza 4. 


c. The rendering of apaskambha is mere conjecture. 
Neither the root skambh nor stambh occurs with the pre- 
position ἄρα. The Pet. Lexs., and Zimmer, 1. c., p. 300, 
‘the fastening of the point upon the shaft of the arrow ;’ 
Ludwig, ‘widerhaken.’ Sayama has two explanations neither 
of which is satisfactory, apaskabhyate vidharyate antarikshe 
iti apaskambhad kramukavrzkshad (cf. Kaus. 28, 2, above) 
tasya sdly4d sakalat ... yadvd avaskabhyate dhanushi 
dharyate iti apaskambho baza#. Our own ‘tearing (arrow)’ 
is based upon the supposition that apa+skambh may 
mean ‘uproot,’ or the like, as opposite of skambh. 


Stanza 5. 


For the parts of the arrow as described here, sec 
Zimmer, I.c., p. 300. Sdyasa, pra#ganat pralepat .. . 
apash/kat apakrish¢avasthad etatsamg#ad vishopadanat. 
We have translated apash¢s4k khrtagat, ‘from its barbed 
horn, deriving apAsh¢/a from the root as in dsri, ‘ corner ;’ 
cf. ash¢Aivantau, ‘ the knees.’ 

Sayaza ascends the dizziest height of absurdity in his 
rendering of kulmalat, to wit: kutsitaprazimalak ka yad 


376 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


udbhutam visham, ‘the poison sprung from the filth of 
loathsome animals.’ 
Stanza 7. 


SAayaza agrees with all Western authorities in deriving 
Apishan from the root pish, to wit : aushadham apimshan. 
He glosses vishagir{f by kandamdladivishofpattihetud par- 
ναΐδλ. 


IV, 7. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 26. 


The practices, Kaus. 28, 1-4, obviously refer to this 
hymn as well as IV, 6. See the introduction to the pre- 
ceding hymn. Translations are offered by Ludwig, Der 
’ Rigveda, ITI, 201 ; Grill?, pp. 28, 121 ff. The Anukramavi, 
vanaspatyam. 

Stanza 1. 


All Western interpreters regard varan4vati as a river ; 
cf., in addition to the authorities given above, Zimmer, 
Altindisches Leben, p. 20. S&yava, varaz4 ndma vriksha- 
viseshak te asym santi-ti varaz4vati; cf. varamd (crataeva 
roxburghii), AV. VI, 85,1; X, 3, 2 ff., where the same 
puns upon derivatives of the root var are displayed. The 
formation of the word varazdvati might be compared 
with sitikavatt and hladikavati in RV. X, 16, 144=AV. 
XVIII, 3, 60; see our Contributions, Second Series, 
Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 341 ff. Cf. also mad&vati in 
st. 4 (cf. IV, 6, 3c), as a designation of the poisonous plant. 
varavdvati would then be the name of the curative plant, 
the antidote, ‘affording protection.’ But the ceremonies in 
the Sitra (28, 1) begin with the use of water, and the 
appearance of var in Pada a also points to the name of 
a river. 

Stanza 2. 


ἃ. Cf. RV. I, 187, 10; Apast. Sr. XII, 4, 14. Cf. for 
this and the next stanza the ritual, above, Kaus. 28, 4. 
Stanza 3. 


a. In deciding upon the meaning of tiryam we have had 
in mind the evident concatenation of st. 2 with 3a,b. The 


IV, 7. COMMENTARY. 377 


thought is continued, and, as is customary in catenary con- 
structions, a new motif is added, tiryam (sc. visham) in 
addition to the prafyam, &c. of stanza 2. Since pra#yam, 
&c. indicate directions, we have regarded tiryam in the 
same light, ie. as a variant of tirya#k; cf. X, 2, 11. 24. 25. 
28; 8,19; ΧΙ; 4, 25; XV, 3, 6. Sdyana also attributes 
tiryam to vishdm, but in the sense of ‘secret, hidden,’ tiro- 
bhavam prakkannatvena prayuktam. This rendering is 
certainly possible. The Western translators all err because 
they attribute the word to karambhdm: Pet. Lexs. and 
Zimmer=tilya, ‘made from sesame;’ Ludwig, ‘ einen 
breiten kuchen;’ Grill emends to atiriya (=ati+ riya), 
‘ overflowing.’ 

b. The vulgate reads ptbasphakdm (Padapatha in Whit- 
ney’s Index, pibak+phakam). Shankar Pandit’s MSS. 
read pibaspakam (Padap. piba#+p4kam); Sayama, piva- 
spakam, ‘a rich mess.’ For udarathim, see RV. I, 187, 10. 
The Pet. Lexs., and Grill, ‘dampfend ;’ Ludwig, ‘ hoch- 
aufgegangen ;’ SAyama, ‘ prosperous’ (udriktartiganakam). 
Our own translation, ‘cheering,’ is equally conjectural. 


Stanza 5. 


Far from clear (cf. VI, 44, 1). Ludwig, ‘ wie einen wall 
(eine aufschiittung) um das dorf richten wir auf;’ Grill, 
upon the basis of the Pet. Lex., ‘als wie mit einer heeres- 
schaar umstellen wir dich mit dem wort.’ Sayama, ‘the 
poison which is heaped up like a throng of people’ (gana- 
samdiham iva upakitam visham). He adds that the com- 
parison with the throng suggests the power of the poison 
(gramadyish/4ntena vishasya prabalyam uktam), and thus 
nearly meets our own rendering, which, to be sure, suggests 
the frequency of the poison, rather than its strength. 


Stanza 6. 


a, Ὁ. The Sitra (28, 2) ought to be helpful here. Three 
articles are mentioned there, dirsa, agina, and avakara, two 
of which are given here in the same terms. It would seem 
to follow that the third, avakara, is identical with pavdsta, 


378 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


and accordingly Sayaza says outright, pavastaiz# pavanaya 
astaiz sammAarganitrinaik. All this may be correct: the 
implication appears to be that the poisonous plant, itself 
worthless, is bartered for worthless things, stray wisps of 
broom-straw, old garments, and worn-out skin. But the 
word garat, ‘old, is not mentioned in the hymn, and the 
symbolism of the Sitra is obscure; we cannot therefore 
regard all this as in any way secure. Moreover the diffi- 
cult task of making this interpretation fit the only other 
occurrence of pavasta (dual, pavaste), RV. X, 27, 7, remains. 
Sayaza quotes the passage and glosses the dual by dy4va- 
prithivi, here as well as in the RV. 


Stanza 7. 


Repeated at V, 6, 2 in an equally obscure connection. 
Sayama, ‘those enemies, O people, who were hostile to you 
in the witchcraft-practices which they performed, may they 
not by these practices injure our men here.’ 


IV, 8. COMMENTARY TO PAGE III. 


This hymn is founded upon certain practices, well known 
in connection with the consecration of a king throughout 
the Vedic literature. Professor Weber has recently devoted 
to this subject a characteristically excellent treatise, ‘ Uber 
die Konigsweihe, den Ragasfya,’ Transactions of the Royal 
Prussian Academy of Sciences, 1893. Two noteworthy 
performances are indicated in the hymn: the king is 
sprinkled with water, derived from holy rivers, and mixed 
with the essence of holy plants (santyudakam: see Kaus. 
17, 1, and 9, 1 ff.); and he steps upon a tiger-skin. Both 
practices figure prominently in the descriptions of the 
ragasuya in the Yagus-samhitds, Brahmazas, and Sitras: 
see the index to Weber's treatise under ‘salbung,’ and 
‘tiger-fell.’ The hymn reflects throughout the spirit of 
antique popular institutions, and a genuine appreciation 
of the dignity of royalty. 

The Atharvan ritual presents it in connection with a 


Iv, 8. COMMENTARY, 379 


double treatment of the r4gasdya, either as a more solemn 
and elaborate priestly srauta-practice, or a more popular 
and direct grzhya-practice. The former is given at Vait. 
Sd. 36, 1-13: it presents in a compendious form the 
practices current in other srauta-works, with particular 
attention to the chronology of the months. The sprinkling 
(abhisheZaniya) and the tiger-skin figure as the prominent 
points. The more popular phase of the practice is stated 
in a double form at Kaus. 17, 1-29. The first (Kaus. 17, 
1-10) is the simplest. Only the king and his chaplain 
(purohita) are here actively engaged: 1. ‘While reciting 
the hymn he who is about to sprinkle a king prepares at 
the banks of a great river! “holy water” from the ingre- 
dients prescribed (in st. 5; cf. Kaus. 9). 2. He causes 
a porridge to be cooked, and sprinkles the king who stands 
upon darbha-grass on the south-side of the vedi (called) 
parigrzhy4*. 3. He seats the king upon a couch (placed) 
on a bull’s skin®. 4. They (the king and the purohita) fill 
for one another a water-vessel (with water). 5. They 
exchange them. 6. The Brahman says: “In common to 
us be the good we do, in common the bad.” 7. (The king 
says): “ He (of us two) who shall do evil, his may the evil 
be; the good deed alone shall belong to both of us.” 
8. (The purohita) gives the porridge (to the king) to eat. 
9. Then he causes him to mount a horse, and turn to the 
north-eastern direction (aparagita, “the unconquered”). 


1 According to Dérila near the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, or 
Sarasvatf. 

3 Darila, parigrzhy4 parigrihyavediA parigrahanam, sa yogo (ἢ). 
Cf. Tait. S. II, 2, 10, 5; Maitr. S. I, 6, 3 (p. 89, 1. 14); Apast. 
Sr. IV, 5, 4, and AV. XII, 1, 13. 

5.1 fail to see why Professor Weber (I. c., p. 140, note 5) ignores 
my obvious emendation of talparshabham to talpa (i. 6. talpe) 
Arshabham. The bull’s skin takes here the place of the tiger-skin. 
The more elaborate ceremony (mah&bhisheka), described in the 
sequel (Kaus. 17, 11 ff.), brings in the tiger-skin. The present 
form of the τᾶραβθγα is the ‘simple one’ (laghu, laghvabhisheka), 
according to Kesava and Sayana. 


380 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


10. A thousand (cows), or a choice village, is the fee for 
the priest.’ 

The Kausika continues further with another mode of 
consecration for an ekardga, ‘sole ruler’ In this the 
tiger-skin takes the place of the bull’s skin. Four princes 
and a number of servants and subjects participate in this. 
See Weber, |. c., p.141 ff. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 458; Weber, 1. ς., 139. By itself it figures as the 
abhishekagaza in the GazamAla, Ath. Paris. 32, 30. 


Stanza 1. 


c,d. The king is all-powerful. But there is yet another 
king, more powerful than he, death. Death is present in 
person now, as at all times, but he shall assent to the rule 


of the king. 
Stanza 3. 


This stanza recurs in a hymn to Indra, RV. III, 38, 4. 
The manly Asura is primarily Indra. Since Indra is the 
typical king (kshatriya), stanzas in praise of Indra lend 
themselves readily to adaptation to praises and beatifica- 
tion of royalty; cf. III, 1, 4; 2, 5, and elsewhere. 


Stanza 4. 


The tiger, as well as the lion (st. 7), is the king of animals : 
Sat. Br. V, 5, 4, 10; XII, 7, 1, 8; hence his skin is a mark 
of royalty. Control of the regions is a sine qua non of 
royalty; cf. e.g. Maitr. S. II, 1, 12, and the dig-vydsth4- 
pana-mantrad at Tait. S. I, 8, 13,1.2; Tait. Br.I, 7, 7,1. 2. 


11 am inclined to think that ‘ sole ruler,’ and not ‘simple king,’ 
as Weber (p. 141) renders it, is the meaning of ekaraga; cf. 
ekar&g in Ait. Br. VIII, 15, 1 (scholiast, eka eva rag&); AV. III, 
4,1; RV. VIII, 37, 3, and ekavrish4, AV. IV, 22, 1. 5, a hymn 
which is rubricated in the sequel of this description (Kaus. 17, 28). 
Kesava, moreover, introduces Sfitra 11 with the words, maha- 
bhishekavidhim vakshyamaA. The entire passage Kaus. 17, 11-29 
deals with this more pompous ceremony. 


IV, 9. COMMENTARY. 381 


See in general, Contributions, Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. 
Phil. XII, 432. 

ἃ. The heavenly waters are the very ones with which 
the king is consecrated. By a bold figure of speech they, 
as they are about to moisten him, are said to long for 
him! ; 

Stanza 6. 


a. Some MSS. and Sdyava read abhi ... asvigan for 
abhi... asi##an. Sayama glosses, Abhimukhyena samsrig- 
antu. 

Stanza 7. 


c,d. The passage is not quite clear: subhivas may refer 
to the waters, or to the attendant priests (so Sayama, seva- 
kaganaz). The word dvipinam harbours a double entente : 
dvipa is ‘island.’ Vaguely, the position of the king, as he 
is surrounded by the consecrating water, suggests an island 
in the ocean. 


IV, 9. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 61. 


The hymn is rubricated at Kaus. 58, 8 in a practice 
calculated to bestow long life upon the young Aryan, after 
he has been invested with the holy cord (cf. Hir. Gvzh. I, 
11, 5), to wit: ‘While reciting IV, 9, an amulet of salve is 
fastened (upon the youth).’ See also Santikalpa 17 and 
19'; Ath. Paris. 4,1. A persistent tradition has it that 
the mountain Trikakud (‘Three-peaks’), in more modern 
times Triki#a or Trikota, between the Penja4b and the 
Himalayas, is the source from which the salve is derived. 
See the Pet. Lex. under Agana, trikakud, and traikakuda, 
and Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, pp. 29,69. The Anu- 
kramazi describes the hymn as traikakudag#ganadaivatam ; 
it has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 507 ; 
Grill’, pp. 35, 123 ff, and exhibits noteworthy points of 
contact with RV. X, 97. 


1 Erroneously quoted by Sayaza as Nakshatrakalpa. 


382 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 1. 


b. The majority of Shankar Pandit’s MSS. read akshyam ; 
this he has taken into the text. Other MSS. read a4kshyam. 
But there is also MS. authority for 4ksham, the reading of 
the vulgate, and SAyaza, who glosses it by kakshué, ‘eye.’ 
But aksham does not mean ‘eye, and akshyam is other- 
wise unquotable. Nevertheless, we have translated akshyam, 
for the passage seems to be a tantalising reverberation of 
‘Sat. Br. III, 1, 3, 12. ‘When Indra slew Vritra, he trans- 
formed that eye of his (Vritra's) into the mount Trikakud_ 
The reason, then, why (ointment) from mount Trikakud (is 
used) is that he thereby puts eye into eye.’ This seems 
to show that the ointment was applied about the eye', and 
apparently silences Professor Roth’s objection, as reported 
by Grill, that this is too narrow a view of the usefulness of 
the ointment. Cf. also Maitr. S. ITI, 6, 3; Tait. S. VI, 1, 
I, 5, which are equally pertinent. 


Stanza 3. 


ο, ἃ. The Paippalada reads, utasmritatvasye:zsisha uta 
ssak pitubhoganam. Pd§da e looks like an appendage ; 
cf. XIX, 44, 2. 

Stanza 4. 


Cf. RV. X, 97, 12= Vag. 5. XII, 86. The difficult word 
of the stanza is madhyamasir, all the renderings of which, 
both native and western, are mere conjectures. Sayama, 
here, either ‘wind’ (i.e. who dwells in the middle region), 
Or, arir mitram arer mitram iti nitisdstroktamandalama- 
dhyavarti raga. The gloss at RV. is similar to the latter 
interpretation. Still more fanciful is Mahidhara at Vag. 5. 


Stanza 5. 


Cf. II, 4, 2, and for the meaning of vishkandha, see the 
note on IT, 4, 1. 


' Sayama on st. 3, anakti Aakshushf anene«ti 44ganam. 


IV, 10. COMMENTARY. 383 


Stanza 7. 


a. We have taken pirusha in the sense which it fre- 
quently has in the Veda, namely, ‘menial, servitor. Cf. 
RV. X, 97,4; AV. X. 1,17; Sat. Br. VI, 3, 1, 22; and 
probably also RV. VI, 39, 5 (discussed erroneously by 
Pischel, Vedische Studien, I, 43). Ludwig, ‘ und dein leben, 
o mensch ;’ Grill, ‘auch deinen lebensgeist, du mann!’ 
Sayawa reads pirushas with some MSS. (both Samhita and 
Padap§ffa), all of which, however, present the word as an 
enclitic without udétta. With the nominative the sense is, 
‘may I as thy servitor (O salve) obtain horses, &c.’ 


Stanza 8. 


For baldsa, see the discussion in the note on V, 22, 11. 
The poison of the serpent is considered as a disease; hence 
it is mentioned along with takman and bal&sa. 


Stanza 9. 
Cf. Tait. Ar. VI, 10, 2; Hir. Grth. I, 11, 5. 


IV, 10. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 62. 


The hymn is employed at Kaus. 58, 9 in connection with 
a practice for bestowing long life and prosperity upon the 
young Brahmanical disciple after the investiture: ‘While 
reciting IV, 10 an amulet of pearl is fastened (upon the 
youth).’ Cf. also Santikalpa in the introduction to XIX, 34. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rig- 
veda, III, 462; Grill?, pp. 36, 124 ff. Cf. also Pischel in 
Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morg. Gesellsch. XXXVI, 135 ff. The 
Anukramazi, sankhamazisiktam. 


Stanza 1. 


In this and the subsequent stanzas the fanciful sources 
of the pearl, some of which become commonplace in the 
later literature, are paralleled with great fidelity in the 
imaginations of Arabic and classical writers; see Pischel, 
l.c. The glint on the surface of both pearl and shell 


384 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


suggests gold; and the changes are rung upon this com- 
parison. See also Y4ska’s Nighawtu I, 2, where krisana is 
put among the names for gold; cf. especially st. 6. 


Stanza 2. 


a. SAyana, rokananam rokamandnam bhasvaranam nak- 
shatradinam. He has in mind, doubtless, the beautiful 
stanza RV. X, 68, 11,‘as a black steed with pearls, thus 
‘did the Fathers stud the sky with stars.’ 


Stanza 3. 


b. For sad&nvaz, see our note on ITI, 14, 1d. 


Stanza 5. 


b. Sdyana, ‘from the body of Vritra, or from the cloud.’ 
The latter alternative hits the point. According to the 
familiar Hindu notion, the pearl is a drop of rain, and thus 
it here breaks through the cloud, like the sun, itself a small 
sun. 

Stanza 6. 


Pada a accounts for the presence of the word krisana 
among the names for gold, Yaska’s Nigh. I, 2. With Pada c 
cf. RV. I, 35,4. The extra fifth Pada is formulaic, and 
betrays its character as an appendage by the change of 
person (tarishat) ; see the note on II, 4, 6. 


Stanza 7. 


e. The MSS. available for the vulgate read karsanas ; 
so also the majority of Shankar Pandit’s MSS. The 
emendation of the Pet. Lex. to kdrsanas is now substan- 
tiated by Sayava (karsanak krzsanasambandht mazik), and 
a minority of Shankar Pandit’s MSS. 


IV, 12. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 19. 


The purport of this hymn is manifest both from its 
wording, and its function in the ritual. It is to cure 
external lesions, and fractures of bones. The Kausika 


IV, 12. COMMENTARY. 385 


deals with it twice, 28, 5. 6, and 28, 14. The practice 
described in the former place is assigned by Kesava to the 
healing of broken bones, wounds, and flow of blood caused 
by weapons (asthibhange rudhirapravahe sastrabhighatadau 
bhaishagyam). It consists in sprinkling the patient at dawn 
when the stars fade (with a decoction of the laksh4-plant, 
Kesava adds), then giving him to drink a so-called prish4- 
taka1, a mixture of ghee and milk (so Darila; cf. Kaus. 
49, 15), and finally anointing him with it: 28, 5. rohavisty 
avanakshatre:vasi#kati. 6. prishatakam payayaty abhy- 
anakti. At Kaus. 28, 14 the performance is very similar, 
lakshalingabhir (sc. vigbhir) dugdhe phAz/an payayati, ‘while 
reciting the stanzas characterised by the mention of the 
laksha-plant (according to the commentators, AV. V, 5 in 
addition to our hymn) he gives the patient to drink a decoc- 
tion (of the plant) in milk. Dérila distinctly describes this 
as a cure for wounds (arusho bhaishagyam), while with 
Kesava the scope of the charm is broader, namely, ‘against 
wounds from knives, clubs, stones, burns, in fact all wounds 
of the body.’ 

The name lAksh4, under which the plant addressed in this 
hymn goes consistently in the ritual books, does not occur 
in our hymn, but instead arundhatf. In AV. V, 5,7 the 
l4ksha is mentioned—apparently a ἅπ. Aey. in the Mantras 
—and it there appears distinctly as an alternate designation 
of the creeper called arundhatt, or sila#i?, a parasitic plant 
which grows up on the stems of many trees (V, 5, 5), and 
which is otherwise described in the same hymn; cf. also 
Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 67. Since the plant is 
employed to cure wounds (arus), the student of the Atharvan 
need hardly be warned that there is a punning symbolic 
connection between the disease and the simple ; cf. Darila’s 


For prishataka, see Gobh. Grzh. III, 8, 1 ff.; Grihyasamgraha 
II, 59, and my note on the same, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch, Morgenl. 
Gesellsch. XXXV, p. 580. 

3 Possibly also r6hani; see the note on stanza 1. Sdyana at VI, 
59, 1 explains arundhatf as sahadevi (cf. the text.of VI, 59, 2). 


[42] cc 


386 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


statement, arusho bhaishagyam, at Kaus. 28, 14, and the 
doubtless conscious mention of aris and arundhat? in V, 
5, 4-53 cf. also VIII, 7,6. The word is, however, likely 
to be a-rundhati, a feminine present participle with a priva- 
tive; so Sayaza at VI, 59, 2. 

Adalbert Kuhn, Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprach- 
forschung, XIII, 58 ff.; 151 ff., has compared the hymn 
with the Merseburg charm, and a considerable variety of 
related materials from German, Scandinavian, and English 
sources. And, having in view more particularly AV. V, 
5,8. 9, he believes that the creeper was used primarily to 
heal the fractured limbs of horses—a construction which 
seems to me too narrow. Any kind of genetic connection 
between the Hindu and the German charm is none too 
certain, since the situation may have suggested the same 
expressions independently. Yet as a strongly-marked line 
in the folk-psychological character of the peoples in question, 
the parallels are extremely valuable and instructive. The 
hymn has also been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
ITI, 508, and Grill?, pp. 18 and 125 ff.; cf. also Hillebrandt, 
Vedachrestomathie, p. 48. The Anukramazi designates 
the hymn as vanaspatyam, ‘devoted to Vanaspati,’ its author 
being Rzbhu (cf. st. 7). 

Stanza 1. 


a, b. I take it that the three occurrences of the word 
réhami in the stanza are intended to convey the same word 
in at least a double meaning. The plant is a creeper 
growing upon trees, as is stated distinctly in AV. V, 5, 3, 
vriksham-vriksham 4 rohasi, ‘ every tree thou doest ascend.’ 
The poet is very likely to have in mind this meaning of 
the root ruh in addition to the more direct one, ‘ cause to 
grow, at least in connection with the first occurrence of the 
word. It seems necessary to construe one of the two 
réhami in the first Pada as a proper name; Ludwig in his 
translation goes farther than that, and seems to take one of 
them as vocative, ‘ Rohazi[, die wachsen macht,] bist du, 
o Rohazi, &c.’ The passage with its three identical nomi- 
natives has a parallel in the traditional text of XLX, 35, 1, 


IV, 12. COMMENTARY. 387 


gangidéssi gangidé rakshitassi gangiddh (so the MSS. ; the 
edition corrects to 4ngir4 asi gangida, &c.). The tempta- 
tion in both cases is to change at least one of the nomi- 
natives to a vocative; see the note on XIX, 35,1. Grill 
translates the two réhazi in Pada a by two synonymic 
expressions, ‘Verheilung wirkst du, ja du heilst.’ This 
simply veils the difficulty. It may be worth noting that 
the MSS. of the Kausika in quoting the hymn at 28, 5 read 
unanimously rohit; this is the reading of Sayama, and of 
the Paippalada for all three occurrences of the word, and 
it suggests ‘red, a quality which is borne out by certain 
epithets of the plant, hirazyavarz4, ‘ golden-coloured,’ in 
V, 5,6. 7; sdryavarna, ‘sun-coloured,’ in V, 5, 6; sushmé, 
‘ fiery,’ in V, 5,7. The name of the plant, lakshA, ‘ lac-dye’— 
cf. the Pet. Lex. s. v. 2—also suggests ‘red,’ and this may 
be a third thought which runs through the mind of the 
versifex while composing the stanza. I attach no text- 
critical significance to the metre of the stanza (gayatrt), 
which differs from that of sts. 2-5 on the one hand, and 
6 and 7 on the other; cf. e.g. RV. VII, 103; AV. II, 4; 
VI, 111, &c. 


Stanza 2. 


b. I have reluctantly refrained from emending dsti to 
Asthi?, ‘bone.’ The rather superfluous copula at the begin- 
ning of the Pada is suspicious, and the translation of pésh- 
fram by ‘bone’ is not at allcertain. Both the related pisita 
and pesi mean ‘flesh, and that, not ‘bone, may be the 
meaning of péshtram. This fits here as well as at AV. 
VI, 37, 3, the only other place where the word occurs, and 
Hillebrandt in the vocabulary of his Vedachrestomathie 
states a similar view, ‘losgeschlagenes stiick fleisch, fleisch- 
fetzen,’ although his derivation from the root pish, ‘crush,’ 
separates needlessly our word from pisité and pes?. With 
this change, Padas a, Ὁ should be translated ‘what bone and 
flesh in thy person has been injured and burst, (may Dhatar, 


1 By way of illustrating the easy confusion of these two words 
‘we may mention that Sayama at IV, 10, 7 a, reads asti for Asthi, 


cc2 


388 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


&c.).’ Note, too, the parallelism which is thus established 
with PAdas c,d in st. 3 (Asthi in both stanzas, and pésh4am 
=mAdmsasya). S4yana comments upon preshtham instead 
of pésh¢ram. 

e, ἃ. dhaté in alliteration with dadhat. 


Stanza 3. 


Almost every feature of the detailed account of the parts 
“ of the body, here and in the following two stanzas, may be 
paralleled from the Teutonic charms, e.g. Kuhn, I. c., p. 51: 


‘ben zi bena bluot zi bluoda 
lid zi geliden sose gelimida sin,’ 
The Norwegian charm mentioned on the same page 
recites marrow, bones, and flesh: 
‘marv i marv, been i been, kjéd i kjéd.’ 
A charm from the Orkneys recites (l.c., p. 54): 
‘Sinew to sinew, joint to joint, 


Blood to blood, and bone to bone, 
Attend thou in God’s name!’ 


a. As the Pada stands it is hypercatalectic. The Paippa- 
l4da omits te, which may have crept in from Pada c. But 
even this leaves a bad final cadence: perhaps bhavatu is to 
be read dissyllabically (bhotu, in the manner of the Prakrit 
hodu). For the metrical equivalence of ava and o, see the 
author’s article, ‘On certain irregular Vedic Subjunctives, 
Amer. Journ. Phil. V, 25 ff.(p. 10 ff. of the reprint). Sayaza 
reads sam for sam in each of the four Padas. 


Stanza 6. 


The metre is very irregular ; the Anukramazi describes 
the stanza as tripadd yavamadhyé bhuriggayatri, not a bad 
characterisation, as the middle Pda is larger than the other 
two. By reading sottish¢#a we obtain a good octosyllabic 
Pada a; Ὁ is atrish¢ubh, and c is a catalectic anushtubh (read 
ardhud&). Hillebrandt and Grill assume that this and the 
following stanza are later accretions, and both metre and 
sense seem to bear them out. But these matters are so 


Iv, 16, COMMENTARY. 389 


very subjective! Ludwig does not construe Pada b as 
a comparison, but translates ‘ gutes rad, gute felge, gute 
nabe hat der wagen.’ Evidently, he also has in mind an 
exoteric origin of the stanza. 


Stanza 7. 


Cf. RV. VI, 54,7. The stanza consists of two eleven- 
syllable and two octosyllabic Padas. The first Pada may 
be righted by reading patitud, or possibly y4di vA kartdm, 
&c. (cf. yadi νὰ in Pada Ὁ). The Anukramaai baldly counts 
thirty-six syllables as they stand, without resolution, and 
designates the stanza as brzhatt. 

c,d. The subject of sam dadhat seems to me (as to 
Grill) to be Dhatar, the fashioner in st. 2; ribh belongs 
to the comparison, as in X, 1,8. The Azbhus are known 
to have constructed the chariot of the Asvins, but they are 
not counted among the divine physicians (Rudra, the Asvins, 
the waters, and Sarasvati). Kuhn and Ludwig make ribhi 
the subject of sdvz dadhat, but the former regards it as an 
epithet of Dhatar. 


IV, 16. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 88. 


Professor von Roth, who first treated this hymn in his 
well-known essay, entitled ‘ Abhandlung iiber den Atharva- 
veda’ (Tiibingen, 1856), remarks on p. 30: ‘There is no 
other hymn in the entire Vedic literature which presents 
divine omniscience in terms so emphatic, and yet this 
beautiful fabric has been degraded to serve as an introduc- 
tion to an imprecation. One may surmise, however, in 
this case as well as in the case of many other parts of this 
Veda, that fragments of older hymns have been utilised to 
deck out charms for sorcery.’ 

We may remark, however, that the stanzas of this hymn 
do not occur in any other connection, and there is no 
tangible evidence that they were constructed for any other 
purpose than that before us. Certainly the Atharvavedins 
had nothing better in view, and accordingly the hymn is 
rubricated in the sixth book of the Kausika which is 


390 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


devoted to sorcery (4bhif4rika). At Kaus. 48, 7 the con- 
juring enemy, as he comes on, is met by the recital of this 
hymn; at 127, 3 the third stanza, in praise of Varuaa, 
figures in an expiatory rite when the constellation, ‘the 
seven Rishis’ (the dipper), is ominously obscured by some 
nebulous mass, or comet (yatra dhdmaketu/ saptarshin 
upadhdpayati). The Anukramami describes the hymn as 
satyAnvitanvikshazasOktam, ‘a hymn which searches out 
truth and untruth,’ 

There are many translations of the piece: Roth, ].c., 
pp. 29 ff.; Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morg. Gesellsch. VII, 607 ; 
Max Miiller, Chips from a German Workshop, I, 40 ff. ; 
Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 63 ff. (cf. also II, 451); 
Metrical Translations, p. 163; Kaegi, Der Rig-veda?, 
p- 89 ff. (p. 65 ff. of Arrowsmith’s translation) ; Ludwig, Der 
Rigveda, III, 388; Grill, pp. 32, 126 ff.; cf. also Hille- 
brandt’s Vedachrestomathie, p. 38 ff.; Bergaigne et Henry, 
Manuel Védique, p. 146 ff. 


Stanza 1. 


Cf. Psalms xxxiii. 13; cxiii. 5 ; cxxxviii. 6 ; cxxxix. 2; Jer. 
xxiii. 23, and see for scriptural parallels to the next stanzas 
the notes to Kaegi’s translation. Sdya#a refers esham to 
the enemies ; most translators, to the human race in general. 
We supply devénam from dev&% in Pada d. Some MSS. 
of the Padap4//a read taydt and fdrat ; the latter is adopted 
by Sayana, faranasilam ka nasvaram ka vastu manyate. 


Stanza 2. 


a. Sdyana explains vd#kati by kauéilyena pratdrayati, 
‘leads astray by means of guile. Cf the formula, namo 
vatikate, pariva#kate, stayindm pataye namaé, Mait. S. IT, 
9,3; Tait. S. IV, 5,3,1; Vag. 5. XVI, 21, addressed as 
part of the satarudriya-litany to god Rudra in his capacity 
of master-thief (Mahidhara also, va#éati pratarayati). The 
Paippalada reads, yas tish¢/ati manas4 yas ka va#kati, sup- 
porting in a measure Sayama’s and Mahidhara’s glosses. 

Ὁ. The Padapacha reads nisldyan, a participle, not a 


IV, 16. COMMENTARY. 391 


gerund ; pratankam is left as an accusative dependent upon 
kar, a verb of motion. The meaning ‘hiding-place’ for 
pratdnka suits its only other occurrence, AV. V, 13, 8: ‘the 
poison of all (serpents) who have run into their hiding- 
place is ‘without force. Cf. also pratdkvan, Maitr. S. I, 2, 
12; Tait. S. I, 3,3, 1; Vag. S. V, 32, and Pet. Lex. (epithet 
of a pit). Sayavza reads nilayam, and glosses pratahkam 
with prakarsheza krikkhragivanam prapya. The Paippa- 
lada has pralayam, absolutive, in the place of pratankam. 


Stanza 3. 


ο, ἃ. The last two Padas foreshadow Varuva’s later func- 
tion as Neptune (ap4m patix); cf. RV. II, 38, 8; AV. III, 
3, 4; Maitr. 5. II, 6,8; Tait. S. I, 8,12,1; V, 6, 1,13 
Vag. 5. X, 7, and Weber, RAgastiya, p. 44, note 1. “The 
two oceans are the heavenly and earthly oceans; cf. RV. 
X, 136, 5; AV. XI, 2, 25; 5, 6. 


Stanza 4. 


Varuna’s spies are the stars, ‘the eyes of night’ (RV. X, 
127, 1), ‘the beholders of men,’ AV. XIX, 47, 3 ff. Cf. our 
Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 
Ρ. 170. 

Stanza 5. 

b, ο. Sayana reads purast4t for pardstat, and construes 
samkhyat4 as the nom. of the stem samkhyatar (pramana- 
yita). 

ἃ. The Pada is exceedingly difficult. nf minoti has the 
sanction of all MSS., and is apparently the reading of the 
Paippalada also. The gamester throws down (ni vapati, 
Kaus. 41, 13) his dice, and it is implied here, of course, that 
it is done successfully, that the player obtains the stakes 
(kritam, see Pet. Lex., s.v. kritd 3 c), because για 
cannot be otherwise than successful. As the player plants 
down these (successful dice) thus does Varuza establish 
these laws (tani, sc. vratani?). Sayava, who did not 
primarily influence our conclusion, in part approaches the 
same interpretation, tani papindm sikshakarmawi tattatpa- 


392 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


panusdreva ni minoti ni kshipati ... yatha kitava# akshan 
4tmano gayartham nikshipati. The Pet. Lex. (V, 764; 
VII, 409) emends to nf Ainoti and vi &inoti without real 
gain, tempting as the emendation is in the light of RV. X, 
42,9 = AV. VII, 50, 6, and AV. IV, 38, 2. Grill suggests 
πί minoti (or minati) in the sense of ‘ reducing, causing to 
vanish the strength of men’ (cf. Sdyama), but neither 
expression will bear such an {interpretation (ni minati does 
not occur). The translators offer the greatest variety of 
versions, without, as a rule, adhering closely to the text. 


Stanza 6. 


Sdyana reads visita and rushantad (so also the Paippa- 
lada). For sinantu of the vulgate the MSS. have &Ainantu, 
khinattu, and sinantu (Sayama, &Ainattu kAindantu). 


Stanza 7. 


8. varuva is metrically superfluous, an obvious gloss. 

6. The MSS. read sramsayitvd and sramsayitva. SAyana, 
correctly, sramsayitva (galodararogena srastam kritva). 

ad. Sayaza, followed by Shankar Pandit, reads abandhds 
for abandhra#. The Pet. Lex. 85. ν. 2 kart, ‘like a leaking 
tub wound about with rags’ (to stop the leakage). Sdyama, 
aseh kosa iva parikrityamanah (kriti kAedane), ‘like the 
broken sheath of a sword.’ 


Stanza 8. 


Literally, ‘with Varuza who is fastened lengthwise, &c.’ 
The word vdruzahk could be well spared from all three 
Padas, if it were not for the metrical symmetry with the 
next stanza. Or it might be changed to the vocative 
varuza. For samamyod and vyamyo, cf. AV. XVIII, 4, 70: 
the words are clear. Ludwig and Sayama erroneously 
connect them with Amaya, ‘disease.’ videsya is naturally 
derived from videsa, ‘foreign country ;’ in that case sam- 
desya is an artificially formed opposite ‘native, indigenous.’ 
So Sayaza. Both wordsare &z.Aey. An alternate possibility 


IV, 17. COMMENTARY. 393 


is to render samdesya, ‘subject to command ;’ then videsya 
is ‘exempt from command.’ Or, again, each may be 
translated independently: samdesya, ‘subject to command ;’ 
videsya, ‘foreign:’ their juxtaposition in a magic formula 
may be of the punning order. For samdesya, cf. our note 
on II, 8, 5 Ὁ. The divine and the human (noose of) Varuza 
refers either to divine and human disease (so, apparently, 
SAyaza), or to diseases instigated by gods and men. The 
formula grovels in the lowest bathos of hocus-pocus. 


IV, 17. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 69. 


This and the two following hymns are addressed to the 
ap4méarga-plant (achyranthes aspera)?. It is employed to 
ward off all kinds of evil and witchcraft, and its qualifica- 
tions in that direction are guaranteed to the Atharvanic 
Hindu by its real or supposed etymology. The name is 
hardly ever mentioned without bringing in its trail the verb 
apa marg, ‘to wipe out.’ The pun assumes the most lively 
reality: diseases, enemies, demons, and sins are wiped out 
by its influence. See Zimmer, p. 66 ff.; our Contribu- 
tions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 161; 
Weber, Ragasiya, p. 18. Cf. also Sat. Br. XIII, 8, 4, 4. 

The three hymns figure at Kaus. 39, 7 in a list which is 
almost identical with the kvity4pratiharawAni (sc. siktani), 
or the krity4gana, a series of hymns designed to counteract 
sorcery, in the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 2. 

The Kausika, 39, 7-12, prescribes in connection with 
these hymns a lengthy procedure, which begins with ‘the 
pouring of the great consecration’ (mahdsantim Avapate). 
Cf. Kaus. 39, 27; 43,53 44,6; 46,7; Sankh. Grsh. V, 
11,2. The mahasdnti consists in pouring together ‘holy 
water’ (santyudakam) during the recitation of the four 
gamzas of hymns, described in Kaus. 8, 23-9, 6. The ‘holy 
water’ itself is prepared at Kaus. 9, 8 ff. with elaborate 
ceremonies, the chief of which is the placing of ‘holy plants’ 


1 Sayama regularly glosses the word by sahadevi. 


394 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


(Kaus. 8, 16) into the water. Obviously the meaning of all 
these performances is purification, and the warding off of 
impure influences. Then follow in Sdtras 39, 8-12 a variety 
of rather complicated practices, too lengthy and obscure 
for exposition in this connection. They concern more 
narrowly some such hymn, belonging to the kvétyaprati- 
harazdni, as X, 1; see the introduction tothat hymn. The 
fifth stanza of IV, 17 naturally figures in the dud/svapna- 
ndsanagama, ‘series of hymns calculated to drive away evil 
dreams,’ of the GazamalA4; see Kaus. 46, 9, note. 

The hymn has been translated by Zimmer, p. 66; Grill?, 
pp. 37, 130 ff. The Anukramami, apAm4rgavanaspatideva- 
tyam. Cf. also Ath. Paris. 18%, 4. 


Stanza 2. 


a. Sdyaza with one MS. reads for sapathaydvanim the 
synonymous sapathaydépanim ; cf. II, 7, 1. 

b. The epithet puna/sard does not somehow seem to me 
to be so clear as to the editors of the Pet. Lexs., Zimmer, 
and Grill. They render it by ‘zuriickgeschlagene bliithen 
habend.’ This is based upon the statement at IV, 19, 7, 
‘thou didst grow backward, thou hast fruit which is turned 
backward’ (cf. VII, 65,1; Sat. Br. V, 2, 4, 20), and the 
epithets par4kpushpi, pratyakpushpi, and pratyakparni in 
native lexical works. In RV. VII, 55, 3 puna/sard is an 
epithet of the barking dog, ‘running back and returning 
again (to the attack).’ The two other occurrences of the 
word, AV. VI, 129, 3; X, 1,9, are not disposed of satis- 
factorily by the renderings of the Pet. Lexs. It seems to 
me that ‘ attacking’ or ‘defending’ is better, and that the 
word pratisara, ‘defensive amulet}, is closely related to it. 
Cf. Sat. Br. V, 2, 4, 20, and Seven Hymns, Amer. Journ. 
Phil. VII, 478 ff. Sayaza, similarly, punaZpunak Abhi- 
kshzyena bahutaravydadhinivrittaye sarati. 


1 The pratisara turns the spell as a boomerang upon him who 
performs it. See AV. VIII, 5, 5, prati#id krity&A pratisarafr 
agantu, and cf. the note on VIII, g, 1. 


IV, 17. COMMENTARY. 395 


Stanza 3. 


Identical with I, 28, 3. The Pet. Lexs. Zimmer, and 
Grill regard mfram = malam, ‘root (of an injurious plant).’ 
Sayaza, mdrkhapradam. PdAdas c,d perhaps rather, ‘she 
who has taken in hand the (magic substances) created to 
rob strength...’ 


Stanza 4. 


Cf. V, 31, 1, and the note on Kaus. 39, 31. The unburned 
vessel seems to symbolise the fragility, destructibility (Sat. 
Br. XII, 1, 3, 23) of the person upon whom enchantments 
are practised. At Sat. Br. XIV, 9, 4, 11 = Brzh. Ar. VI, 
4, 12 it figures in a sorcery practice against a wife’s para- 
mour. The compound nilalohita is also connected with 
sorcery from the first. It occurs in RV. X, 85, 28 = AV. 
XIV, 1, 26 = Apast. Mantrabr. I, 6, 8 (Apast. Grzh. II, 5, 
23)=Baudh. Grvzh. I, 8; AV. VIII, 8, 24. The Atharvan 
ritual, Kaus. 16, 20 (rubricating AV. VIII, 8, 24d); 32, 17; 
40, 4; 48, 40; 83, 4, leaves little room for doubt that in its 
view a dark blue and a red thread are here intended. This 
is also the tradition of Apast. Grth. II, 5, 23, and similarly 
Sankh. Grth. I, 12, 8 prescribes, in connection with RV. 
X, 85, 28, a red and black cord upon which amulets are 
fastened. Only Baudh. I, 8 treats the compound as a 
symbolic representation of night and day; see Winternitz, 
Das Altindische Hochzeitsrituell, pp. 6, 12, 67. It is, of 
course, possible to conclude that this is the true source of 
the symbolism: day and night rendered concrete by these 
two colours. SAyaza seems to have lost his grip upon 
Atharvan tradition when he says to our passage, ‘the fire 
which is black from the rise of smoke and red from its 
flame.’ Zimmer and Grill both co-ordinate nilalohité with 
Amé patre, ‘an das ungebrannte’ and ‘am rotgebrannten,’ 
obviously against the spirit of the Atharvan tradition. Cf. 
also the introduction to VII, 116, and Tait. S. IV, 5, 10, 1. 

c. Raw meat is eaten by demons, and therefore realises 
symbolically their presence ; see V, 29, 6; VIII, 6, 23. 


396 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 5. 

Identical with VII, 23. I have translated abhvam by 
‘gruesomeness,’ because it has occurred to me at various 
times that it, as well as 4bhu (cf. RV. X, 129, 3), is related 
to ndbhas, ‘fog, cloud,’ being in the current terms of 
comparative grammar = nbhyo-, and Abhi from root nebh. 
For this and the following two stanzas, cf. RV. V, 36, 3; 
VII, 1, 19 ff. 

Stanza 6. 

b. The clever emendation of the Pet. Lex. anapatydtém, 
for anapadydatam, as is the reading of the MSS. of the vulgate, 
is now authenticated by quite a number of Shankar Pandit’s 
MSS., and Sdyaza (apatyaraéhityam); cf. the words apra- 
gasta and apragdstva. 


IV, 18. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 70. 


For the treatment of this hymn in the ritualistic texts, 
see the introduction to IV, 17. The hymn has been trans- 
lated by Grill®, pp. 25, 131 ff. 


Stanza 1. 

The Atharvanist loves to point to cosmic correspond- 
ences and harmonies as the foundation of his own righteous 
undertakings. This harmony furnishes the satyam, the 
unfailing basis (cf. rétam) for his own operations against 
the powers of evil. Professor Roth, as quoted by Grill, 
refers gydtif to the light of the moon (cf. gyotsna), thus 
establishing a closer parallelism between Padas a and b. 
I doubt whether the text will bear this strain. SAyana 
literally, ‘the light of thee (the apamarga-plant) ;’ cf. IV, 
19, 3. The night is frequently viewed as illumined, starry 
(RV. X, 127; AV. XIX, 47, 1; 49, 6. 8). 

b. kritvarif either ‘enchantments’ or ‘ witches.’ 


Stanza 3. 


In our view the solution of the difficulty here lies in the 
assumption of a change of gender from yds in Pada b (the 


’ Correct ‘ Night’ at the beginning of the stanza to ‘ Light.’ 


IV, 19. COMMENTARY. - 397 


male sorcerer) to tasyAm (the witch) in Pada c. The entire 
second hemistich describes the punishment of sorcerers, for 
which cf. V, 23, 13. If we were to change tdsy4m dag- 
dh4y4m to tdsmin dagdhé the sense would be obvious. 
Cf. V, 14, 6, yadi str? yadi va piman kritydm kakdra pap- 
mdne. Grill emends am4 to 4m&ydm (sc. sthalydm) with 
a result somewhat as follows: ‘He who practises sorcery 
in an unburned véssel and then puts it upon the fire to 
bake, his magic vessel cracks as though hit by great stones.’ 
Sayana deprives himself of possible helpfulness by reading 
dugdhay4m for dagdh4y4m (pratikareva riktikritayam ... 
krity4y4m, ‘upon his sorcery rendered impotent by the 
counter-charm ’). 
Stanza 4. 

b. The vulgate’s vigrivam A#hapaya (Padapatza, vigrivan 
sApaya) is at the base of our rendering. Shankar Pandit’s 
MSS. seem to read unanimously é/ayayé (sdyaya), ‘lay.’ 
Sayama, kshayaya (kshayam prapaya). Cf. RV. VII, 
104, 24. 

Stanza 6. 

The first three PAdas are identical with the first three of 

V, 31, 11. 


IV, 19. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 71. 


For the employment of this hymn in the ritualistic texts, 
see the introduction to IV, 17. It has been translated by 
Grill?, pp. 34, 132 ff. Cf. Zimmer, pp. 66-67. 


Stanza 1. 

The sense of the first hemistich seems to be that the 
plant in its dual réle of destroyer of enemies and protector 
of friends depletes and increases families or clans. Sayaza 
erroneously derives -kvzt from root kart, ‘cut,’ to wit, satra- 
nam kartakah...gamayas sahagf/ satravak tesham api 
kartayita asi. For Pada d, cf. VI, 14, 3¢. 


Stanza 2. 


The words kdzvena n4rshadéna (RV. X, 31, 11) seem to 
be a gloss upon brahmazéna; cf. IV, 37,1; VI, 52, 3, &c. 


398 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


SAyama regards the ἅπ. Aey. pdryukt4 as = pdriyukta (vini- 
yukt4 ssi); cf. our remarks on haplology, Proc. Amer. Or. 
Soc., April, 1893 (Journ., vol. xvi, p. xxxiv ff). But pari 
yug is not quotable elsewhere. The stanza figures in one 
of the abhayagana of the Gazam4l4; see Kaus. 16, 8, note. 


Stanza 4. 


The order of the statement here is really to be reversed : 
when thou, O plant, wast begotten as apamarga (‘ wiping 
out’), then the gods drove out the Asuras with thee. 


Stanza 5. 


For ‘thy father’s name,’ cf. the note on V, 5,1. For 
pratydk, see pratydi and prati#inaphalas in st. 7, and the 
note on IV, 17, 2. 

Stanza 6. 


A cosmogonic brahmodya, pressed into the service 
of incantation! Cf. Contributions, Third Series, Journ. 
Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 172 ff. We have presented a purely 
philological translation of the stanza without attempting to 
bend it to the situation any further than is warranted by 
the wording.’ Grill takes dsat in the sense of ‘wrong, and 
similarly Sayama, asatkalpam krity4rpam. But a glance 
at the word in Jacob’s Concordance to the principal Upani- 
shads reveals the subjective character of the proceeding. 
The dsat is simply ‘chaos,’ manipulated as one of the 
primary cosmic forces: the sat, tad, satyam, or v#tam 
would apparently have done just as well. For kartaram 
in the sense of ‘ evil-doer,’ cf. V, 14, 11. 


IV, 20. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 68. 


The hymn is addressed to a magic plant which is sup- 
posed to impart the power to expose hidden demons, 
wizards, and their hostile practices. The attributes of the 
plant are not stated in the hymn with sufficient clearness 
to enable us to point out its place in the redundant Indian 


IV, 20. COMMENTARY. 399 


flora. The Kausika, 28, 7, mentions the name of the plant 
as sadampushpa ; this is glossed by Darila with trisasm- 
dhy4 and by Kesava with samdhyd4 (probably a corruption 
of trisamdhy4). The Stra reads: ἃ pasyatisti sadam- 
pushpamazim badhnati, ‘with AV. IV, 20 he ties on as an 
amulet the plant sadampushp4.’ The plant is mentioned 
again along with others in a charm directed against witch- 
craft in 39, 6, and Sayama defines it in agreement with 
Kausika, he devi sadampushpakhye oshadhe; cf. also 
sadapushpi in the lexicons. The plant seems to be the 
calotropis gigantea; cf. Karaka-samhité I, 4, 3. For 
amulets derived from the vegetable kingdom see Seven 
Hymns of the Atharva-veda, Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 478, 
and for amulets in general Kaus. 7, 19. The hymn is 
rubricated further in the list of stanzas designated as £ata- 
nani (sc. sikténi), ‘hymns to chase away with,’ in Kaus. 
8, 25, and the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 4, adds it also to 
the three hymns which Kaus. 8, 24 describes as the matv7- 
naméni (sc. siktani). The reason for this classification is 
the expression devy (oshadhe) in stanzas 1 and 2. See the 
note at Kaus. 8, 24, and cf. for the matvigaza our remarks 
in the introduction to VI, 111. The Anukramazi follows 
these secondary considerations, designating the hymn as 
matrinamadaivatam, its author being Matrinamarshi. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rig- 
veda, III, 525, and Grill*, pp. 2, 133; cf. also Hillebrandt’s 
Vedachrestomathie, p. 48. 


Stanza 1. 


For the description of the plant in this stanza, cf. mam- 
pasya in VII, 38,1, and see the introduction to VI, 139. 
I have upheld in my translation the text of the edition, 
guaranteed as it is by the unanimous tradition of the MSS. 
of the Saunakiya-sikh4. ΑἹ] corrections, including the 
important variant pasyasi for pasyati throughout the stanza 
in the Paippalada, seem to me in this instance to amount 
to the substitution of a better literary performance for a 
poorer one; they do not bring with them the proof that 


400 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


the priests of our school ever had any other text, or, what 
is more to the point, that the original versifex had com- 
posed differently. The merit of the Paippaldda’s pasyasi 
is so obvious that it may be due to a conscious improve- 
ment on the part of its author. The metre of the stanza 
is irregular (Anukramani, svar4g) ; the first Pada is hyper- 
catalectic, the third Pada may be sustained by reading, 
with elision and crasis, d{vAntdriksham for d{vam antd- 
riksham. Hillebrandt’s suggestion, accepted by Grill, that 
4d be thrown out seems to me unnecessarily violent. 

a. Hillebrandt would restore the Pada: pdsyati prati 
pasyati; Grill (with the help of the Paippaldda), 4 pasyasi 
pra pasyasi, continuing with pasyasi throughout. Sdyana 
retains the third person, referring the stanza to the person 
who wears the amulet: he devi sadampushpAkhye oshadhe 
tvadvikaramanidharakosyam ganas tvatprasidéd Apasyati 
ag4mibhayakaranam pratihartum ganati, ‘O goddess plant, 
sadampushpa by name, this person here, who wears an 
amulet fabricated out of thee, by thy favour perceives the 
cause of approaching danger, and knows how to repel it’ 
The emendation of prati to pra (Grill) is especially unde- 
sirable, as the same expression occurs in a closely parallel 
situation, AV. VII, 13, 2. 

b. Grill suspects the second pasyati, and imagines oshadhe 
in its place. 

d. The temptation to emend the vocative devi to the 
nominative devi is great. The sense then would be that 
the amulet itself sees all dangers. Grill, as we have seen 
above, adopts the Paippalada reading pasyasi, is thus 
enabled to retain devi, and also obtains essentially the 
same sense. 

Stanza 2. 


a. Read prithviz. The three heavens are well known; 
see, e.g. AV. V, 4,3; VI, 95,1; XVIII, 2, 48; XIX, 39, 
6 (cf. the note on V, 4, 3). For the three earths see RV. 
I, 108, 9; II, 27,8; III, 56, 2; AV. VI, 21,1, and Muir, 
Original Sanskrit Texts, V, p. 305, note; Zimmer, Altin- 
disches Leben, p. 357; Bergaigne, La Religion Védique, I, 


IV, 20. COMMENTARY. 401 


239. Cf. also Yasna XI, 7: madhemé thrishvé ainhdo 
zem6, ‘in the middle third of this earth.’ 


Stanza 3. 


a, Ὁ. divydsya suparndsya...kaninika is rendered by 
Ludwig, ‘dises himlischen adlers kleine tochter ;’ by Grill, 
‘der Augenstern des Adlers, der am Himmel ist.’ Sdyaza 
glosses suparzd by garutmant, which suggests RV. I, 164, 
46. Grill follows the Pet. Lex. [s.v. 2 a). a)] in regarding 
the divine eagle as the sun. But perhaps the lightning-fire 
is in the mind of the poet. At V4g. 5. XVII, 72; XVIII, 
51; Sat. Br. IX, 2, 3, 34; 4, 4, 3, the divinity addressed, 
suparvo:si garutm4n, is treated distinctly as Agni, and 
Mahidhara states this plainly. In Maitr. S. I, 2, 5; Vag. 
S. IV, 32; Tait. S. VI, 1, 7, 3, ‘the eye-ball (kanfnika, 
kaninaka) of Agni’s eye’ is spoken of. The expression 
divya suparzd may be the exact equivalent of divaé syéna, 
and that, I believe I have proved, is Agni, the lightning, 
personified as a divine eagle; see Contributions, Fifth 
Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XVI, 1 ff. The descent of 
this eagle, or the G4yatri, as the Brahmawas have it, is 
frequently disturbed by a heavenly archer Krzsinu who 
wounds the eagle, so that he loses a feather which falls to 
the earth, and grows up as a plant or tree. See Adalbert 
Kuhn, Die Herabkunft des Feuers und des Gottertranks, 
p- 148 (first edition). The use of the word supar#a in our 
edition is, in my opinion, intended to convey a double 
entente, ‘bird’ and ‘having beautiful leaves.’ Cf. Tait. S. 
VI, 1, 1, 5, where Vritra’s eye-ball (kanfnika) flies away 
after he had been slain by Indra, and turns into salve 
(a#%ganam). Ludwig does not comment upon his transla- 
tion of kanfnika by ‘kleine tochter, rather than ‘eye-ball ;’ 
it may possibly turn out correct when RV. X, 40, 9 yields 
up its meaning. We have there as follows: ganishfa 
yoshé patdyat kaninaké vi 44:ruhan viridhad, a passage 
which suggests the situation in our stanza completely and 
yet vaguely. But it is interpreting obscurum per obscurius 


[43] pd 


402 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


to bring the RV. stanza into play. Cf. also our note at 
V, 5, 8. 

6. Sdyana, gagadrakshartham oshadhiripeza bhimav 
avatirna: si. 

Stanza 4. 

a. ‘The thousand-eyed god.’ In X, 3, 3 an amulet 
derived from the varama-tree is designated as sahasraksha ; 
in XI, 2, 3. 7.17; Sat. Br. IX, 1,1, 6 Rudra is so called ; 
in IV, 28, 3 Bhava-Sarva; in IV, 16, 4 Varuza’s spies; in 
RV. I, 23, 3 Indra and Vayu; in Tait. 5. 11, 3, 14, 4 
Indra. Further, we have the ‘thousand-eyed papman, 
evil,’ in AV. VI, 26, 3; sapatha, ‘curse,’ in VI, 37, 1. 
Grill fancies that the god of the plant here in question is 
meant, but this seems faint after the plant herself has been 
personified as a goddess, devy oshadhe, in st. 2. Perhaps 
rather Agni, said to be ‘thousand-eyed’ with especial 
frequency, is meant; see RV. I, 79, 12; Vag. 5. XVII, 
71 (XIII, 47); Sat. Br. VII, 5, 2, 32; IX, 2, 3, 32; Apast. 
Sr. VI, 25, 10. Agni particularly chases away evil spirits, 
agni rékshAmsi sedhati, RV. VII, 15, 10; AV. VIII, 3, 26; 
Tait. Br. II, 4, 1, 6; agnir hi rakshasim apahanta, Sat. 
Br. XIV, 3, 1, 11. 

Ὁ. & dadhat. Zimmer, |.c., 204, construes this as an 
augmentless imperfect. In the Samhita the augmented 
form would not differ, ddadhat. The sense is satisfactory 
either way. 

c. Séyaza comments upon tvayé instead of tay4, as in st. 2. 

ἃ. ‘The Sddra and the Arya, i.e. every kind of person, 
as we should say in America ‘black and white. The 
phrase is formulaic, as may be seen from the compound 
sidraryau (Mahidhara, stidravaisyau), Vag. 5. XIV, 30; 
Sat. Br. VIII, 4, 3, 12. See in general Muir, Original 
Sanskrit Texts, II, 368; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 212; 
Zimmer, l.c., 117 ff., 204, 216, 435. 


Stanza 5. 


a, b. rip&#i and 4tm4nam are antithetical: rdpa#i, ‘the 
outer forms of things ;’ 4tmanam, ‘thy own nature.’ It is 


IV, 20. COMMENTARY. 403 


a controlling characteristic of Vedic conceptions that the 
inner, true nature of any divinity, or instrument of power, 
must be understood in order to control its influence or 
power: ya evam veda, and ya evam vidvan in the Brah- 
mamas are crystallisations of this idea; cf. AV. I, 13, 3; 
VI, 46,2; VII, 12, 2, ἄς. 

6. sahasrakaksho, here, and XIX, 35, 3, as epithet of the 
plant gangida, is a vocative from a stem sahasra-kakshu. 
The beginnings of a stem Aakshu, a pendant of éakshus in 
the ablative #akshos, RV. X, 90, 13. Transition forms 
between the us- and u-declensions (as also between the 
is- and i-declensions) are not uncommon in the Veda; see 
Lanman, in the Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. X, 568 ff. 

d. For the class of demons called kimidin, see AV. I, 7; 
Ι, 28; II, 24; VIII, 3, 25; 4,2; 6,21; XII, 1, 50. 


Stanza 6. 
For yatudh4na, -nf, and pisa#a, see the hymns I, 7 and 8. 


Stanza 7. 


a. Kasyapa is a name to conjure with in the Atharvan 
writings; amulets and charms handled by him are peculiarly 
powerful (e.g. I, 14, 4; IV, 37, 1; VIII, 5, 14). He rises 
to the dignity of the supreme self-existing (svayas-bha) 
being in AV. XIX, 53, 10; cf. also Tait. S. V, 6, 1, 1, 
and see the Pet. Lex. s.v. 2 Ὁ. He is also intimately 
related with forms of the sun, Sdrya and Savitar, as is 
stated expressly in Tait. Ar. I, 7,1; see also Tait. Ar. I, 8, 
6, and compare Tait. S. V, 6,1, 1 with AV. I, 33,1b. This 
fact may by itself account for the expression kasydpasya 
Rakshur asi. In fact kasydpa is the sun as a tortoise, that 
creeps its slow course across the sky; cf. the conceptions 
of the sun as a hermit, and a Brahman disciple, XI, 5, 
introduction. Only we must not forget that these writings 
neglect no opportunity of being guided in their construc- 
tions by puns, even of the most atrocious sort, and kasydpa 
surely suggests pasyaka, ‘seer, to the Atharvan mind, as is 
written distinctly in Tait. Ar. I, 8, 8, kasyapak pasyako 

pd 2 


404 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


bhavati yat sarvam paripasyati. The name kasydpa is in 
some special relation to the Atharvan writings, not as yet 
fully cleared up; cf. the author in the ie Amer. Or. Soc. 
XI, p. 377. 

b. The MSS. read aturaksh4&, but Sdyaza fitly com- 
ments upon aturakshy4&, the form as emended in Roth 
and Whitney’s edition ; cf. akshés for akshyds in AV. V, 
4, 10 (see the note). The ‘ four-eyed bitch’ is Saram4 the 
mother of the two four-eyed dogs of Yama!, Sy4ma and 
Sabala, which I have explained as the sun and the moon; 
see Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 163 ff. The epithet ‘ four- 
eyed ’ seems possibly to be derived from the same view, 
namely the capacity of the two dogs to see both by day 
(the sun), and by night (the moon). The Paippalada as 
quoted by Grill?, p. 135, makes the notable statement 
that ‘the four-eyed dog (obviously the moon) overlooks 
by night the sphere of the night, yatha sv4 saturaksho 
ratrim nakt4=:tipasyati. In practice the fiction of a four- 
eyed dog is materialised both by the Hindus and Iranians 
in the form of a dog with marks over the eyes; see 
my article, l.c., p. 165, note 1,and Kaegi in the Philolo- 
gische Abhandlungen fiir Heinrich Schweizer-Sidler, p. 64, 
note 57. 

6. vidhré, lit. ‘in the clear sky ;’ Ludwig, ‘im hellen;’ 
Grill, ‘heiteren tags.’ s(iryam iva is to be read as three 
syllables, as frequently elsewhere, either sfiryeva or siryam 
va. 

Stanza 8. 


6. téna may be either masculine, referring to the divinity 
in st. 4, or neuter, agreeing with brahma, ‘ charm.’ 


IV, 22. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 115. 


The hymn is employed twice in the so-called ragakarmazi, 
‘the royal practices, Kaus.14-17. The first is characterised 
by the scholiasts, Kesava and Sayama, as a battle-charm 


‘In RV. I, 29, 3 the two messengers (dogs) of Yama are per- 
sonified as females. 


IV, 22. COMMENTARY, 405 
(gayakarma, samgramagay4rtham), and its rather colourless 
proceedings are as follows: 14, 24. ‘While reciting IV, 22 
and 23 he performs the ceremonies which culminate in 
the presentation (of the bow to the king).’ These are 
described in Sitras 8-11 of the same chapter, to wit: 8. 
‘An oblation of ghee and grits is poured out. 9. Upon 
a fire made of bows a bow is laid on as a fagot. 10. Like- 
wise an arrow (is laid on) upon a fire made of arrows. 
11. The bow (of the king), smeared with the dregs of the 
ghee, is presented to him.’ 

The other performance, Kaus. 17, 28-9, is part of the 
consecration of a chief ruler (ekaraga, Kaus. 14, 11; cf. 
ekavrishd in our hymn, sts. 1, 5, 6, 7). The special solem- 
nities of the consecration have been absolved, but every 
morning the royalty of the king has to be renewed, to wit : 
28. ‘Every morning the hymn IV, 22 (or its first stanza?) 
is recited to the king (by the purohita, the house-priest). 
29. They (the king and the purohita) then perform the 
above-mentioned pouring of water (each into a vessel), and 
the exchange (of the vessels).’ This refers to Sdtras 4 and 5 
of the same chapter; cf. the introduction to IV, 8, and 
Professor Weber’s discussion of the passage in his treatise, 
Uber die Konigsweihe, p. 140 (Transactions of the Royal 
Prussian Academy, 1893). The hymn, further, is one of 
a cycle (gama) devoted to the gain of royal power (rash¢ra- 
samvarga). grouped together in the indramahotsava, Ath. 
Paris. 19, 1 (cf. Kaus. 140, 6, note). See also Ath. Paris. 
4, I and 16. The fanciful analysis of the hymn by the 
Anukramani may be seen in Grill’s introduction. 

The hymn appears again in Tait. Br. II, 4, 7, 7 ff.; it 
has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 457; 
Zimmer, 165; Grill®, 67, 135 ff.; cf. Hillebrandt’s Veda- 
chrestomathie, p. 43. 

Stanza 1. 


The speaker is the purohita, the house-priest, or chaplain 
of the king; he figures prominently in all the ra4gakarmazi, 
Kaus. 14-17. 

Ὁ. Sayava with one of Shankar Pandit’s MSS. reads 


406 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


vrisham ekavrisham, and glosses, sekanasamarthanam virya- 
vatam purushaz4m madhye imam raganam . . . mukhya- 
sektaram asahayasiram. .. kuru; cf. our note on ITI, 5, 7. 

6. nir akshzuhi, lit. ‘castrate,’ continuing the picture of 
the preceding Pada: the king is to be a bull, his enemies 
castrated. Cf. RV. I, 33,6; Sat. Br. IV, 4, 2, 133; XIII, 
4, 2, 5, and the word mahanirash¢a. Ludwig, ‘ drive out ;’ 
Zimmer, ‘ zerstreue ;’ SAyaza, samkufitaprabh4van kuru. 

ἃ. Sayava divides aham uttareshu, with the result, ‘I 
(the purohita) put him among the highest rulers. Cf. 
XII, 4, 50. 

Stanza 2. 


c. The Tait. Br. II, 4, 7, 7, the Paippalada, and Sayama 
read varshman, loc. sing. I see no cogent reason for giving 
up (with Zimmer, Hillebrandt, and Grill) the reading of our 
MSS., varshma. 


IV, 28. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 158. 


Bhava and Sarva, two of the well-known forms (marti) 
of Rudra (cf. especially their epithet ἀρτά in sts. 3, 6, 7)}, 
are implored by virtue of their cosmogonic powers to afford 
protection against calamity, and, with the familiar Athar- 
vanic specialisation, to destroy sorceries and demons. The 
ritual, Kaus, 28, 8, regard the hymn as medicinal (sarva- 
vyadhibhaishagyam, ‘a remedy for all diseases’). Seven 
cornucopias are made from (leaves of) the kampila (crinum 
amaryllacee), filled with water, and anointed with the 
dregs of ghee. With the right hand the water is poured 
upon the patient, and the cornucopias are thrown behind 
the patient. The connection between the prayer and the 
practice is not manifest. The hymn is rubricated also in 
takmandsanagama of the Ganamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 7; see 
Kaus. 26, 1, note. It has been translated by Muir, l.c., 
P- 332. 


1 See the introduction to XI, 2 for the Vedic texts, and the 
Western literature, dealing with this subject. 


Iv, 36. COMMENTARY. 407 


Stanza 3. 


b. The periphrastic expression stuvann emi is so strange 
to the padak4ra as to induce him to divide it into stuvdn 
nemi. SAyana blunders still further, reading stuvan nemi 
(stuvan prasamsan ... nemak ardham balam asyassti-ti 
nemi). 

Stanza 6. 

a. mOlakrét, ‘manipulator of roots,’ is so characteristic 
a feature in sorcery-practice, as to give rise to specific 
prohibition of the act; see Vishzu-smriti XXV, 7; Manu 
IX, 290, and cf. Narayaza on the latter passage in Biihler’s 
translation of Manu, Sacred Books of the East, X XV, 394. 


IV, 36. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 35. 


The hymn is one of the A4tan4ni (sc. sikt4ni), ‘hymns 
which drive away demons and diseases,’ Kaus. 8, 25. The 
entire list (gaza) is employed at Kaus. 25, 22, among the 
bhaishagy4ni, ‘remedial charms,’ against bhita and pisdka ; 
the performance connected with the recital of the gaa is 
identical with the so-called apanodanAni, ‘ practices to drive 
away, described at Kaus. 14, 14 ff. They consist chiefly 
in burning chaff, spelt, offal of grain, and wood shavings, 
symbolizing, doubtless, rapid consumption or destruction. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
ITI, 526; Grill’, pp. 3, 136 ff. The Anukramami, satyau- 


gasam 4gneyam (cf. st. 1). 


Stanza 3. 

The first hemistich is not at all clear, Agaré being az. Aey. 
and uncertain. We have taken it with the Pet. Lexs. and ἡ 
Ludwig as=4gara, and it is to be noted that two MSS. of 
SAyava’s commentary (S Kd) read Agaro for 4garo. Cf. 
also agara at Asv. Grth. I, 7, 21. SAyana etymologises, 
agiryate samantéd bhagyate m4msasonitadikam atresti 
Agaro yuddharanga’. Grill, supported by a more recent 
utterance of Roth, renders ‘ unter rufen.’ In that case 4gara 
would be ‘shouting to’ (cf. Akrosa, Kesava, p. 327, and 


408 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


often elsewhere), pratikrosa, ‘shouting back,’ i.e. ‘ under 
shouting and counter-shouting.’ We have taken amavasya 
as an adjective =AmavAsya, ‘in the night of the new moon’ 
(Panini IV, 3, 30. 31). Cf. our note on I, 16,1. Sdyana 
aptly quotes from the Apast. Sr. the following passage : 
‘In the night of the new moon one shall offer to Agni, the 
- slayer of Rakshas, a rice-cake in twelve cups.’ Note the 
concatenation between this and the following stanza. 


Stanza 5. 


The sense is that the superior gods who vie with the sun 
(RV. I, 98, 1; 123,12; V,4, 4; IX, 27, 5) shall afford pro- 
tection against the Pis&é#as to man and beast. 


Stanza 7. 


Note the pun between pisd#aiz and saknomi, and thc 
concatenation with the following stanza. For gréma, sec 
the note on VIII, 7, 11. 


Stanza 9. 


a. Sayana with some MSS. reads lipita# (upadigdha’ 
samkrantaéz), and Whitney in the Index, guided perhaps by 
the pada-MSS., which read lapitd without visarga, suggests 
lapitvd. But the text seems well enough as it stands. 

ἃ. alpasaydn is uncertain: Sayama, alpakayah . . . kita, 
and we accordingly. Ludwig (c, d), ‘mein ich, sind sie 
ungliicklich, nur kurze zeit mer im volke verweilend’ (cf. 
RV. I, 31, 2; III, 55, 6; IV, 18, 12). 


IV, 37. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 33. 


The plant agasringi', or, as it is called synonymously by 
Darila, meshasringi, ‘ goat’s horn’ (Sayama, again synonym- 
ously, vishazi), is the odina pinnata; see Zimmer, p. 68. 
The hymn is directed against Pisd#as, Apsaras, and Gan- 


Δ In stanza 6 it has the additional obscure epithet ard/akf. 
Sayama, ara... d/ayati udsAtayati. 
ya y 


IV, 37. COMMENTARY. 409 
dharvas, and, according to Darila at Kaus. 28, 9-11, it is em- 
ployed in a remedial charm against one possessed by Pis&kas 
(pisdkagrshita). Kesava and Séyana, more broadly and 
correctly, sarvabhitagrahabhaishagyam. The practices are 
stated as follows: 9. ‘ While pronouncing IV, 37 the prac- 
titioner takes pulverised sami (i.e. the pulverised leaves, or 
fruit, of the prosopis spicigera) from a basket (and puts it) 
into the food (of the patient). 10. (He puts it also) into the 
cosmetics (of the patient). 11. He scatters (the pulverised 
sami) around the house (of the patient)®.’” The hymn is 
also rubricated among the 4atan4ni (sc. skt4ni) ‘hymns to 
drive away with, Kaus. 8,25. Cf. Santikalpa 17 and 21 ὅ. 

Adalbert Kuhn, in Zeitschr. f. verg]. Sprachf. XIII, 118 ff., 
has translated this hymn and compared it with parallel 
conceptions in the Teutonic folk-lore. Especially good 
are the parallels drawn between the Apsaras, who, from the 
time of RV. X, 95 onwards, are engaged in enticing heroes 
and divine seers ἢ, with the Germanic elfs who fascinate the 
wanderer at night with their dance. The hymn has also 
been rendered by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 352. 


Stanza 3. 


The description of the natural abode of the Apsaras in 
this and the following stanzas is in accord with the Brah- 
manical view from earliest times. Cf. the ἀργᾶ ydsha. 
‘water-woman, RV. X, 10, 4; Bergaigne, La Religion 
Védique, IT, 35, 40, 96; III, 65 ff.; A. Holtzmann, Zeitschr. 
d. Deutsch. Morg. Gesellsch. XX XIII, 631 ff. The fanciful 
list of names embodies largely a superficial personification 
of fragrant cosmetics and ointments: bdellium, spikenard, 
fragrant salve, &c. 


2 According to Kesava and ϑᾶγαπα he puts pulverised leaves of 
samf into a samf-fruit, and feeds the patient upon that. Cf. Kaus. 
47, 23: 

? As there is no mention of the samt in the hymn, one is almost 
tempted to identify the agasringt with it. 

5. Shankar Pandit, erroneously, Nakshatrakalpa 17 and 21. 

* Cf. our note on VI, 111, 4. 


410 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


For aukshagandhi, cf. aukshdm in our note on II, 36, 7, 
and in the introduction to I, 34; pramandanf reminds us 
of pramanda, Kausika, Introduction, p. lii. See also Kuhn, 
lic, 127. 

Ὁ. Bohtlingk, in his lexicon, proposes avasvase, dative 
infinitive, ‘to blow away. S4yaza and the Paippaldda 
read iva svasam for avasvasam. The former glosses, 
sush¢ku naupreragzakusalam yatha titirshavo gana upaga- 
khanti. 

f. Sayama reads pratibaddha% for prdtibuddh4é (nirud- 
dhagataya) in this and the subsequent stanzas. 


Stanza 4. 


We have adopted Shankar Pandit’s arrangement of 
sts. 4-6, to wit: his st. 4 is made up of vulgata 4 a,b+3 e,f, 
which is repeated by all his MSS.; his st. 5 is the rest of 
vulg. 4; and his st. 6 is vulg. 5+6. Sdyawa does not 
insert the additional hemistich, but he also differs from the 
vulgate in his arrangement. 

b. The Pet. Lex. suggests sikhadinif, vocative, ‘crested,’ 
as an epithet of the Apsaras ; cf. the same epithet of the 
Gandharva in st. 7. Sayaza simply ‘peacocks.’ We prefer 
the poetic figure: the crowns of the great trees are likened 
unto crests. 

Stanza 7. 


a. For the epithet 4nzétyatad, cf. the parinzétyati apsard 
in IV, 38, 3. 
Stanza 8. 


c,d. The epithet avakada, ‘ devouring avak4-reeds’ (blyxa 
octandra), is clear. The Gandharvas live on the shores of 
waters, and the avak4 is the typical water-plant. See 
our Contributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 
342 ff. (especially 349 ff.) ; Roth, in Festgruss an Otto von 
Bohtlingk, p. 97 ff. Less certain is havirada, ‘ devouring 
oblations. The sense of the hemistich might be taken 
pregnantly: The Gandharvas who devour our oblation, 
though their natural food is the dvakd-reed, ὅς. But 


IV, 37. COMMENTARY. 411 


I have in mind RV. X, 95, 16, where the Apsaras Urvasi 
exclaims that upon eating a drop of ghee her appetite was 
cloyed for ever (cf. Harivamsa 1377; Vishnu-puraza IV, 
6, 28, and Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, pp. 263, 282). 
The Atharvan is reminiscent, and fond of generalising 
salient features of legends. It seems possible that the 
Gandharvas are substituted for the Apsaras who represent 
the Apsaras par excellence, Urvasi. SAyana on the AV. 
evinces his customary and astonishing talent of dodging 
difficulties by means of bad variant readings, to wit: abhi- 
hradan abhigatahladan praptagalasayAn va. 


Stanza 10. 


Professor von Roth in Festgruss an Otto von Boht- 
lingk, pp. 97 ff., proposes to read gyotayamdmak4n (Pada- 
patha, gyotaya m4mak4n) as one word, and interprets the 
word in his inimitably ingenious manner as= pisdkadipiké, 
‘will οὐ the wisp, Jack οὐ lanthorn.’ Yet we have adopted 
the simpler solution of the difficulty, proposed by Whitney 
in Festgruss an Rudolf von Roth, p. 91. He proposes 
gyotayamanak4n, comparing pravartamanaka, RV. I, 191, 
16. In both cases the suffix ka is truly diminutive, indi- 
cating that the action of the verb is undertaken by a dimi- 
nutive agent; cf. also avakarantika, AV. V, 13, 19 (see the 
note there), and the Mantrabrahmana of the Sama-veda 
II, 7, 3, athaisshas (sc. krimiz4m) bhinnakaZ kumbhad/. 
‘Little shiner’ would be the literal translation of gyotaya- 
mAanakdn, and Roth’s comparison with the will οὐ the wisp 
may yet hold good. 


Stanza 11. 


b. The epithet sarvakesakd reminds one of hairiness as 
a sign of sexual power, RV. I, 126, 7; X, 86, 16, a very 
suitable attribute of the Gandharva; cf. also kapi in 
vrishdkapi in X, 86. But the word for ‘hair’ in both 
these passages is roma, while sarvakesaka naturally refers 
to the hair of the head; RV. X, 136, 6. Yet the two 
conceptions may be connected. 


412 HYMNS OF THE ATITARVA-VEDA. 


IV, 38. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 149. 


Both the internal evidence of the stanzas themselves 
(including the metre), and their employment in the ritual 
prove the composite character of this hymn. The Anu- 
kramazi, too, significantly describes the hymn as dvideva- 
tyam. <A gambling song of four stanzas is combined with 
cattle-charm of three stanzas, apparently for the purely 
formal reason that every hymn of the fourth book must 
consist of at least seven stanzas ; cf. AV. XIX, 23,4; Gop. 
Br. I, 1, 8; Ath. Paris. 46, 9. 10; Ind. Stud. IV, 433; 
XVII, 178; Kausika, Introduction, p. xli. Sdya#a is the 
only authority that makes a blend of the two parts. He 
comments upon y&s4m rishabhd, &c., in st. 5, as follows: 
yasdm apsarasam . . . sekanasamarthaZ pati. 


A. 


The practices connected with the gambling-song are 
reported at Kaus. 41, 10-13, as follows: ro. ‘ Under the 
constellation parva ashad#ik} the gambler digs a pit (in 
the gambling-house). 11. Under the constellation uttara 
ashadhah he (again) fills up the pit. 12. He smoothes 
the place where the play takes place. 13. While reciting 
IV, 38, 1-4; VII, 50; and VII, 109 he throws dice which 
have been steeped (in curds and honey during the three 
nights [and days] beginning with the thirteenth day of the 
month ; see Kaus. 7, 19).’ 

This part of the hymn has been rendered by Muir, 
Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 430; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 454; Grill?, pp. 71, 140 ff.; cf. also A. Holtzmann, 
Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morg. Gesellsch. XX XIII, 631 ff. 


1 The name ashadhdh means ‘ invincible.’ Here, as frequently 
elsewhere, its symbolic suggestiveness is utilised to secure success 
or victory for the person who performs under the two constellations 
of that name; cf. Weber, Nakshatra, Il, 374, 389. 


IV, 38. COMMENTARY. 413 


Stanza 1. 


Cf. Zimmer, pp. 283-5. The kritam, or the krit&ni in 
Pada c (cf. sts. 2 c and 3b), are either the winnings, or the 
winning numbers, or combinations, of the dice. Cf. Apast. 


Sr. V, I, 20. 
Stanza 2. 


a. Sayaza, vikinvatim ekatra nirbadhe kosh¢/e tri#aturan 
akshan visesheza samuffinvatim samghikurvatim. Muir, 
‘who collects and scatters;’ Ludwig, ‘die aufhaufende, 
zuschiittende.’ These technical terms are very obscure: 
the scholiasts are untrustworthy because they have in mind 
different games and different times. 


Stanza 3. 


Sayava combines Padas e and f with 4 a, b, making his 
fourth stanza, and then continues as follows: 4c¢,d+5 a,b= 
5; 5c—f=6; 6=7; 7=8. His comment on this stanza 
is rendered very problematic through bad readings: 4da- 
dhanas for 4dad4n4; seshanti (avaseshayanti) for sishdti; 
prahan for prahdm. For parinrétyati, cf. anrétyatak .. . 
gandharvasya, IV, 37, 7. We have assumed with great 
reluctance that sishati is a desiderative participle from 
sa=san, ‘gain.’ 

Stanza 4. 

We read praméddate for pramdédante with SAyana and two 
of Shankar Pandit’s MSS., and bfbhratt for bibhrati. The 
anacoluthon in the second hemistich is thus easily removed. 


B. 


The three stanzas are designated at Kaus. 21, 11 as 
karkipravadah (sc. rikak), ‘the stanzas that mention the 
word karki (cf. sts. 6, 7).’ They are employed in a rite, 
designed, according to the scholiasts, to secure the pros- 
perity of cattle (Sayaza, gopushéikarma; Kesava, gosanti), 
as follows: ‘The karkipravada stanzas are recited over 
a young cow, upon which are placed twelve halters, and 
which is anointed with the dregs of ghee. Then, while 


414 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


pronouncing Padas 7c and 7d, the things indicated in (these) 
mantras are done (i.e. fodder is given to the young cow, 
and she is fastened with the halters).’ In consideration of 
these practices, and the statements of the stanzas them- 
selves, we have thought that the purport of the hymn is 
a more special one, to wit, to secure the return of the 
young cows from pasture, and have formulated the caption 
accordingly. The stanzas are also employed at Kaus. 66, 
13 at a so-called sava, or formal bestowal of the dakshiva : 
a karki (young white cow), together with an andbandhya, 
a cow designed for the cattle-sacrifice, are given to the 
priests as a particular kind of reward. 

This part of the hymn has been rendered by Ludwig, 
Der Rigveda, ITI, 455. 

Stanza 5. 


Because the Tait. S. III, 4, 7, 1 mentions an Apsaras by 
the name of mari#i, SAyaza connects this stanza with the 
preceding gambling charm. The true sense seems to be 
that the cows which wander ‘in den tag hinein’ are in 
charge of the daily sun; as he comes daily without fail, so 
do the young cows return. But the text is vague and 
fanciful, marred moreover by an anacoluthon. 


Stanza 6. 


S4yana explains karki by karkavarz4 subhra iyam gauk. 
Accordingly we, ‘ white calf.’ 


V, 4. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 4. 


Next to the soma-plant the kush¢Aa is one of the most 
valued members of the Vedic flora. According to the 
medical books it is costus speciosus, or arabicus. The 
word is not mentioned in the Rig-veda, but is common in 
the Atharvan where three hymns, V, 4; VI, 95; XIX, 39, 
are devoted to accounts of its origin and its healing 
properties. It is the prince of remedies, like unto the steer 
among domestic animals, and the tiger among the beasts 
of prey. Like the soma, his good friend and companion, 


V, 4. COMMENTARY. 415 


he grows upon the mountains, especially upon the high 
peaks of the Himalaya. In fact both soma and kush¢ha 
came from the third heaven; the kush¢sa grew originally 
under that wonderful asvattha-tree (ficus religiosa), under 
whose shelter the gods themselves are accustomed to 
assemble. A pretty myth tells how a golden ship (soma, the 
moon ἢ), with golden tackle and oars, descends from heaven, 
and alights upon the Himavant mountains, bringing kush/fa, 
the visible embodiment of the heavenly ambrosia. The 
use of the plant is varied, its effect most reliable. Hence 
it is designated as visvabheshaga, ‘all-cure,’ and visvadha- 
virya, ‘ potent at all times.’ Headache, consumption, and 
afflictions of the eye are cured by it. But especially it 
seems to have been regarded as the specific against fever 
(takman) in all its forms. It seems to have been a fragrant 
plant since in AV. VI, 102, 3 it is employed in a love-charm 
in connection with salve, licorice, and spikenard. The 
kush¢ha itself must have been prepared as a salve, since 
in Kaus. 28, 13 the patient is anointed with a mixture of 
ground kush¢Aa with butter; cf. especially Kesava’s gloss 
to the passage. Curiously enough in the later literature 
kush¢ha is the ordinary designation of leprosy, doubtless 
a species of euphemism; cf. Wise, Hindu System of 
Medicine, p. 258 ff. Excellent accounts of the kush7/a- 
plant are given by Grohmann, Indische Studien, IX, 
Ρ. 419 ff., and Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 63 ff. 

The employment of this hymn in the Kausika-sdtra is of 
a general character: all the stanzas of the Atharvan which 
contain the word kush¢ha are classed together at 28, 13 as 
kush/Aalingah (sc. rikahk); while they are being recited the 
patient is anointed with kushé4a, ground up with butter, 
which is rubbed in without pressure (apratihdram: see Pet. 
Lex. s.v. har with prati, and Bohtlingk’s Lexicon, vol. ii. 
p- 290c). Dérila describes this, quite precisely, as a cure 
for fever, while Kesava sets it up for a variety of diseases, 
ragayakshma (a kind of consumption; see Zimmer, ]. c., 
P- 375), headache, leprosy (kush¢/a), and pain in all limbs. 
The Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 7, counts the hymn as 


416 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


takmandsana, ‘destructive of takman’ (see Kaus. 26, 1, 
note), but the Anukramazi describes it as yakshmanasana- 
kush/Aadaivatyam, the author being Bhvigu-Angiras. The 
hymn has been translated by Grohmann, Lc., 419 ff.; 
Zimmer, |.c., 63 ff., and Grill?, pp. 9, 141. 


Stanza 2. 


b. Himavant is identical with Himalaya. 

9. Professor Roth, cited by Grill in his note, suspects 
srutvé and suggests srutvd. The latter seems more difficult, 
and I am at a loss to appreciate why the reputation of the 
kush¢ka among men might not be so stated. 


Stanza 3. 


The entire verse is repeated in AV. VI, 95,1; and with 
a single variant in XIX, 39, 6. 

a. A tree as the seat of the gods occurs in RV. X, 135, I, 
yasmin vrikshé supal4sé ἀεναίζ sampibate yaméA, ‘ the tree 
of beautiful foliage within which Yama drinks with the 
gods ;’ cf. also RV. I, 164, 20. 22, and Kuhn, Die Herab- 
kunft des Feuers und des Gottertrankes!, pp. 126 ff. 

Ὁ. trittyasy4m ité divi indicates the parallelism which 
this myth establishes between the kusht#a and the soma. 
The asvattha-tree is elsewhere said to drip with soma 
(Kuhn, I.c., 128). The same expression is employed for 
soma at Tait. S. VI, 1, 6,1; Tait. Br. I, 1, 3, 10; III, 
2, 1,13; cf. our Contributions, Fifth Series, Journ. Amer. 
Or. Soc. XVI, 11; also the Pet. Lex. s.v. div. 1, c, and 
tridiva. 

6, ἃ. For amréftasya kakshavam, cf. RV. I, 13, 5. The 
Pada is replaced in AV. XIX, 39, 6. 7 by tata kush¢so 
agayata; the word avanvata is rendered variously: Roth, 
in Grill’s note, ‘(dorthin) wollten haben ;’ Grohmann, p. 421, 
‘ spendeten ;’ Zimmer, p. 64, ‘dort besassen ;’ Grill, ‘dort 
ward den Gottern zu teil.’ 


Stanza 4. 


6. The vulgata here and at VI, 95, 2, which is a repeti- 
tion of this stanza, reads pishyam. We have rendered 


V, 4. COMMENTARY. 417 


pushpam, with some of the MSS., and Whitney, Index 
Verborum, s.v. If we retain pishyam the sense would not 
be changed materially; the two words .are hopelessly 
. blended, since the writing of Devanagari MSS. in such 
a case is totally unreliable. 


Stanza 5. 


a. The Anukramazi designates the stanza as bhurig, on 
account of the apparently hypermetrical first Pada. This 
may be corrected so as to yield an anushtubh, either by 
crasis of panth4na 4san, or by substituting the older form 
pantha(s). The former is the more conservative alternative, 
since the nominative plural panthas does not occur in the 
Atharvan. 

d. nirdvahan with its two prepositions indicates vividly 
the two chief features of the myth: nir, ‘ forth (from heaven) ;’ 
ἃ, ‘to (the mountain upon which it grows).’ 


Stanza 6. 


The stanza, both by its metre (gayatri), and subject 
matter, betrays its character as an interruption of the 
mythological history of the kush/#a. It seems, too, in 
a measure, modelled after VI, 95, 3, with which it shares 
its last Pada. Nevertheless I would not go as far as Grill 
does, and print the stanza at the end of the hymn, because 
it may have been composed as a liturgical interruption of 
the mythological account. To say that it was inserted 
because of the assonance of 4 vaha in Pada Ὁ with nirdvahan 
in 5d is begging the question, since this assonance may be 
part of the original endeavour. To be sure, the redactors 
of the Atharvan are quite capable of such bétises, but they 
should not be charged with them except for good cause! 

b. ἅ vaha, ‘restore,’ literally, ‘bring hither.’ The word 
is not otherwise quotable in this sense. Similar expres- 
sions, however, are employed to indicate the restoration of 
a disturbed mind; here, perhaps, with reference to the 
delirious ravings of the fever-patient; cf. punar da, AV. 
VI, 111, 4, and perhaps 4 ga and ud g§, II, 9,2. The sense 


[42] Ee 


418 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


is fairly secure owing to its juxtaposition with n{sh kar (cf. 
st. 10, and II, 9, 5, &c.). 


Stanza 7. 


b. Cf. AV. XIX, 39, 5. 8 for sémasya sakha. 

ἃ. kakshushe, ‘to my eye,’ not in the sense of the oculist, 
there being no implication of disease of the eye, as is the 
case in the expression upahaty4m akshds in st. 10. The 
poet has in mind that eye with which ‘to see the sun’ 
(siryam drisé, drisaye siiry4ya, or svar drisé) is the poetic 
prayer for life. This is quite clear. The eye here is that 
which finally does go to the sun, sfiryam #akshur gakkf/atu, 
RV. X, 16, 3; cf. with this and the preceding Pada the 
formula at the animal sacrifice, e.g. Ait. Br. II, 6, 13. 
‘may thy eye go to the sun; may thy breath unite with 
the wind.’ 

Stanza 8. 

6, ἃ. ndmany uttam4ni: literally, ‘highest names;’ cf. 
AV. XIX, 39, 2, where the names are stated with much 
fancy. 

Stanza 9. 

For the diction of this stanza, cf. AV. VI, 95, 3; XIX, 

39, 3-43 and V, 22,2; XIX, 34, το. 


Stanza 10. 


The stanza is rubricated separately as ἃ member of the 
takmandsanagava in the Gamamal4; see Kaus. 26, 1, note. 
The Anukramami designates it as ushviggarbha niérit 
(nivrit), because Pada Ὁ seems defective. By reading 
akshiéds tantivo the defect is remedied: akshdés here, as 
well as in part of the MSS. at XIX, 60, 1, stands for 
akshyés with defective presentation of the sound-group 
kshy as ksh. See also IV, 20, 7, where all MSS. read 
katurakshds for Aaturakshyds. The case is the same as 
appears in meksh4mi for mekshy4mi, AV. VII, 102, 1; 
sikshe for sAkshye, II, 27, 5; vibhunksham4za- for -kshya- 
mana-, Kaus. 23, 9; 38, 26, and more remotely like sim& 
for σγϑιηᾶ, AV. I, 24, 4, and simaka for sy4maka, Kaus. 


V, 5. COMMENTARY. 419 


74, 16. Morphological deductions, such as Professor 
Hopkins, Amer. Journ. Phil. XIII, 21 ff., bases upon 
these defective writings, are therefore subject to the gravest 
suspicion. In general, Devanagari MSS. must be watched 
very closely for the loss of y, especially if preceded by two 
consonants; cf. especially the hopeless confusion between 
the words arghya and argha. 


V, 5. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 20. 


The only mention of this hymn in the practices of the 
Kausika is the one implied in 28, 14, laksh4lingabhir (sc. 
vigbhir) dugdhe phaz/an payayati, where the commentators 
agree in presenting our hymn along with AV. IV, 12, as 
‘the stanzas characterised by the mention of the laksha- 
plant.’ For the practices connected with the plant that 
goes by the names Arundhati, Sil4#i, Laksha (possibly 
also Rohavzi), see the introduction to IV, 12, and the note 
on its first stanza. 

The hymn has been translated by Zimmer, Altindisches 
Leben, p. 67; Grill*, pp. 10, 143; the last two stanzas by 
Kuhn, Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprachforschung, XIII, 
p- 61. The Anukramami designates it as l4kshikam, ‘ per- 
taining to the laksha-plant.’ 


Stanza 1. 


a. The Atharvan poets signalise with great predilection 
their knowledge of the power of any substance which they 
employ by stating that this knowledge extends to the 
father, mother, and other relatives of the substance. Or, 
again, they indicate their control over any disease, or hostile 
force, by assuming the same knowledge of their kindred. 
Of the latter class are the boasts made in V, 13, 7; VI, 61, 
1, and VII, 74,1. The former class concerns plants exclu- 
sively. Dyaus, the heaven, and Prithivi, the earth, are 
father and mother of plants, III, 23,6; VIII, 7, 2, and 
perhaps also III,9,1- Fanciful names are given to the 
parents of plants: I, 24, 3, sdrdpa ndma te mat& sdrdpo 
n&ma te pita (cf. Kaus. 26, 22, note); VI, 16, 1, vihdlhondma 

Ee2 


420 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


te pitd mad4vati ndma te mat (of the plant 4bayu, mus- 
tard); XIX, 39, 2, givald néma te matd givantéd ndma te 
pita (of the plant kush¢ha) ; V, 4, 9, uttamé ndma te pitd 
(of the same plant). The names of the ancestors in our 
stanza are peculiarly fanciful and heterogeneous. 

ο. 5:14 7, only in this hymn; cf. sildagala (silaaga + Ala), 
VI, 16, 4; Kaus. 51, 161, ‘a creeper or weed growing in 
grain-fields,” See Kausika, Introduction, p. xlv, and cf. also 
our note on st. 9c. 

Stanza 2. 


ἃ. For nyd#kani, cf. nyd#éanam, AV. IV, 36, 6, and RV. 
VIII, 27, 18, where SAyaza explains the word by nitaram 
gamanam. 

Stanza 3. 


a. Cf. with this the designation of the plant in IV, 12, 1, 
rohaai (réhizi), and the note there. 

Ὁ. kanydla here and XIV, 2, 52; the suffix -l4 with dis- 
paraging function as in vréshala. 

ce. gayanti occurs also as the proper designation of a plant, 
equal to the common givanti: see the lexicons. 

d. sparazi calls to mind Lat. pro-sper and spés, but 
sphird and the root sphai (I. E. sphéj) have a better claim 
upon these words. 


Stanza 4. 


b. harasa is translated by Zimmer, ‘durch einen schlag 
(griff) ;’ by Grill, ‘ mit gewalt.’ This is a possible alterna- 
tive. There are two hdras in the Veda, one from the root 
har, ‘take,’ and the other from ghar. The latter is θέρος ; 
cf. Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprachforschung, XX V, 80, 
133 note, 168. Examples of the latter are AV. VIII, 3, 
4ff.; XVIII, 2, 36.58; 3,71; XIX, 65 and 66; and espe- 
cially II, 19, 2; 20, 2; 21,2; 22,23; 23, 2, where the word 
occurs in the series tapas, hdras, ar&{s, so#is, and tégas. 


1 The MSS. of the Kausika read silé#g4l4 with palatal s. By 
changing silAAi to sildAf we obtain the possible etymology ‘she that 
creeps upon stones.’ 


V, 5. COMMENTARY. 421 


Stanza 7. 


For the epithets of the plant in this and the preceding 
stanza, see the note on IV, 12, 1. 

b. For sushme, see Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeit- 
schrift der Deutschen Morgenlindischen Gesellschaft, 
XLVIII, 565 ff.; for lomasavakshaze, Pischel, Vedische 
Studien, I, 178. 

d. (ΕΝ, 9,7; RV. X, 16, 3; Ait. Br. II, 6,13; Sat. Br. 
XIV, 6, 2, 13, &e. 

Stanza 8. 


a, b. I have translated the passage with strict adherence 
to the text which is certainly not above suspicion. The 
Paippal4da offers no help. Inasmuch as the father is 
mentioned, it seems likely that both parents are somehow 
contained in the passage, and the change from kAnind to 
kaning has suggested itself to all translators (Pet. Lex., 
Zimmer, Grill). The first Pada would then be, ‘ Silasi 
by name art thou, daughter of a maiden.’ I would draw 
attention here, as at IV, 20, 3, to RV. X, 40, 9, gdnishta 
yosh4 patayat kaninak6 vi #4*ruhan viridhas (cf. also RV. 
X, 3,2 and AV. XII, 3, 47?), where the origin of plants 
occurs somehow in connection with a woman and a kani- 
πακά. But the passage is buried in obscurity for the 
present. If the emended kAnind is taken to refer to the 
mother of the plant, it would certainly seem natural to see 
in dgababhru the father. The word as it stands can be 
nothing but a vocative from a formally and lexically un- 
quotable feminine agababhra; Grill suggests the change 
to the nominative masculine agdbabhrus, an emendation 
which Zimmer’s translation also implies. Grill, too, thinks 
that the mother and father thus reconstructed for these 
passages must be identical with those in st. 1, namely, night 
and cloud—a conclusion which, in our opinion, is not at all 
coercive. He points out that night is designated in X1X, 
48, 2 as‘ mother,’ and in XIX, 49, 1 as a blooming young 
woman (ishirf yésha yuvat{%) ; as regards 4gababhru he has 
in mind the goat of Pdshan in his relation to sunset and 


422 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


dawn (cf. RV. VI, 55, 1, and Ludwig’s note, vol. iv, 147). 
All this is possible, but excessively problematic. 

e, ἃ. The cloudy allusions of the preceding Padas are 
obfuscated further by the statement here that the plant 
has been sprinkled with the blood of the brown horse of 
Yama, an expression which may also harbour an allusion 
to night (cf. syavi, RV. I, 71,1; III, 55, 11; Naighastuka 
I, 7). Elsewhere the horses of Savitar (RV. I, 35, 5), Agni 
(RV. II, 10, 2), Rudra (AV. XI, 2, 18) are designated as 
syava. The Padap4sha reads Asnd,‘ by the mouth,’ and 
Zimmer adopts this reading, against the Pet. Lex., Kuhn 
(p. 61), Whitney in the Index Verborum, and Grill. The 
Padapaf¢fa itself has asna# in the next stanza—an obvious 
inconsistency. I cannot rid myself of the impression that 
there is some connection between this and a statement in 
the Maitr. S. IV, 9, 19; Tait. Ar. IV, 29, asrinmukho 
rudhirez4sbhyakto yamasya dita4, ‘the messenger of Yama 
bloody-mouthed, bedaubed with blood;’ if so the brown 
horse of Yama may be a variant of the two dogs of Yama 
called syama and sabala, ‘ sun and moon,’ or ‘ day and night’ 
(cf. Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 
163 ff.), and this would again lead back to the word r&tri 
in st. 1. Non liquet. Grill: ‘It is conceived that the plant 
has absorbed the blood of a divine animal with which it has 
been sprinkled, and has acquired thereby corresponding 
strength and virtue.’ 


Stanza 9. 


a, b. Zimmer: ‘aus des rosses maul (cf. the preceding 
note) herausgefallen lief sie an die baume;’ Kuhn: ‘vom 
blut des rosses hergeeilt, glitt sie sogleich den baumen zu ;’ 
Grill: ‘entsprungen aus des pferdes blut lief diese zu den 
baumen hin.’ sdmpatita is not altogether satisfactory ; the 
Pet. Lex. translates it ‘zusammengeflossen, zusammenge- 
ronnen. The entire picture is vague, and is not rendered 
less so by the next Pada. 

ο. The meaning of this Pada is by no means established. 
It is formulary in character and always employed in con- 
nection with plants. In the oshadhistuti, RV. X, 97, 9; 


V, 7. COMMENTARY. 423 


Vag. 5. XII, 83 the version is sirdA# patatrizi sthana; Tait. 
S. IV, 2, 6,2; Maitr. S. II, 7, 13, sara# patatrini#Z sthana; 
Kath. 5. XVI, 13, βαστᾶ patatriniz stha; Kap. 5. XXV, 4, 
surah patatriniz sthana (so also a variant of Maitr. S.). 
Sayaza at RV. explains the word by sarazasilak, while 
Mahidhara at Vag. 5. suggests no less than three other 
interpretations in addition to that of Sayava, none of them 
usable. Note also sird (pattrasira), RV. I, 121, 11, which 
may fairly claim relationship with this group; cf. also the 
expression apdm asi svds4 in st. 7. Kuhn, I. c., p. 61, had 
in mind sara in his translation ‘ befliigelt wurde sie ein 
pfeil.” Certainly a ‘winged brook’ strains the limits of 
common sense. But I have no better suggestion to make. 
The word sard seems to contain a punning allusion to the 
name of the plant silaéi. 


V, 7. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 172. 


The Veda, especially the Atharvan, is much given to 
personify evil qualities as female divinities, e.g. nirriti, 
arAddhi, ἄτι, arayi, and particularly arati. The present 
hymn aims to appease the powers of avarice and grudge 
personified as Arati; more particularly the poet has in 
mind the dakshiva of the priest; that shall not be with- 
held, but shall accrue abundantly. Cf. st. 1; Kazs. Up. 
I, 1. The S4stras expressly forbid the withholding of the 
dakshivé, e.g. Vishzu-smvzti LIV, 15. See also in general 
RV. X, 107; AV. V, 18; 19; XII, 5; Gop. Br. I, 5, 25. 
In the Atharvan rites our hymn figures in a variety of 
connections. At Kaus. 18, 14,in the course of the so-called 
nirrztikarm4ai (18, 1-18), grain is offered to the goddess of 
misfortune while the hymn is being recited. At Kaus. 41,8 
a person about to engage in a business venture makes an 
offering (upadadhita ') while pronouncing our hymn, as well 
as III,20 and VII,1. The intention is to remove obstacles. 


1 For the meaning of this technical term, see Kesava to Kaus. 6 
(Ρ. 309 of the edition). The upadhana according to this consists 
in offering one of thirteen different kinds of havis. 


424 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Once more in Kaus. 46, 6 he who has a request to make, 
recites sts. 5-10 along with VII, 57, in order that his request 
shall not be refused. The hymn has been translated by 
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 305; Grill*, pp. 39, 145 ff. 


Stanza 2. 


a, Ὁ. purodhatsé, lit. ‘dost make thy agent or purohita ;’ 
purusha, ‘servant, minister ;’ parirAp{n, ‘suggesting, prompt- 
ing, advising ;’ cf. XII, 4, 51. 


Stansa 5. 


The sraddh& is ‘faith, religious zeal,’ that makes the 
sacrificer liberal to the priests. Cf. D4rila to Kaus. 46, 6. 
It is the same sraddhd which entered Nakiketas, K4zh. Up. 
I, 2 ff., to such an extent that he desired to be given himself 
as sacrificial reward to his priests. This zeal is naturally 
bestowed by the brown soma, i.e. in the course of solemn 
sacrifice, and through the inspiration that comes from the 
hymns (Vaé Sarasvati), sung while drinking the soma. The 
previous translations seem to me to miss the point wholly: 
Ludwig, ‘den (anteil, den) ich verlange ...den soll heute 
Sraddha finden.’ But ydm refers to the person supplicated, 
not to favours asked. Grill, ‘ wen ich angehe mit dem spruch 
. .. der werd heut inne mein vertraun, und nehm den 
braunen soma hin.’ Cf. also Zimmer, p. 272. 


Stanza 6. 


d. The Pet. Lex. suggests for this single occurrence of 
prdti hary the meaning ‘verschmahen, zuriickweisen,’ 
though the word ordinarily means ‘delight in, long for.’ 
The passage seems to contain the euphemistic iasinuation 
that Ardti when sufficiently cajoled is favourable to 
generosity. Or, those who desire to be generous must 
curry favour with Arati; otherwise she frustrates their 
intentions. Cf. I, 8, 2. 

Stanza 8. 


Arti is here connected with nightmare. Her appear- 
ance as a naked woman recalls the German ‘alp,’ or ‘mahre’ 


V, 13. COMMENTARY. 425 


which also manifests itself as a woman; see A. Kuhn, 
Zeitschr. f. vergl. Sprachf. XIII, 125 ff. For the spirit of 
this and the subsequent stanzas, cf. the description of the 
Apsaras, IV, 37. 


V, 13. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 27. 


This charm against snake poison claims interest chiefly 
from its designations of serpents, mostly of obscure mean- 
ing, and reaching down to the bed-rock of folk-lore. Kau- 
sika’s performances 29, I-14 are very explicit: they follow 
the hymn stanza by stanza. But they are not as instruc- 
tive as they might be owing to their symbolism, and their 
own obscurity. They begin with the performances in 
honour of Takshaka, described at 28, 1-4 in connection 
with IV, 6 and 7 (see the introduction to IV, 6), and con- 
tinue with additional doings, based upon each stanza of our 
hymn. These will be referred to’ most profitably under the 
head of each separately. The hymn exhibits noteworthy 
points of contact with RV. I,-191. 


Stanza 1. 


Cf. RV. I, 191, 7.11. We have translated saktim by 
‘what has been fastened ;’ cf. RV. I, 191, 10. The Pet. 
Lex. s. v. sa%g 4), ‘inherent.’ 


Stanza 2. 


Kaus. 29, 2-4: ‘ With the second (stanza) the act of con- 
fining (the poison) takes place. 3. The (priest) walks 
about (the patient) towards the left (Kesava, savyam= 


1 dvitiyaya grahami, Αγ], ka/akabandha ity artha4, ‘ with the 
second stanza a rope is fastened (about the patient)’? Cf. agra- 
bham, and grthnémi in the mantra. The feminine gender of 
grahant is peculiar. We should expect either grahazam, or ἀν γᾶ 
grahami. Kesava, visham na visarpati desasthitam bhavati sarire 
na Sarpati vishastambhanam bhavati.: 


426 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


apradakshizam). 4. He fastens a bunch of grass! to the 
border of the (patient’s) tuft of hair.’ 

Ὁ. et&su, feminine, with reference to the numerous female 
reptiles in sts. 7 ff. 


Stanza 3. 


Kaus. 29, 5: ‘With the third (stanza) he drives the 
poison forth.’ Kesava, damsdd visham anyatra gakkAati. 
In Pada a, vrisha me ravah suggests perhaps the fire which 
is built to frighten away serpents; see RV. I, 94,10; VII, 
59,4; X,111,2. At RV. X, 146, 2=Tait. Br. IT, 5, 5,6 
vrisharava is the designation of a croaking bird. Pada ἃ 
echoes RV. I, 191, 8: the rising sun symbolises the qui- 
eScence or destruction of all harmful powers. 


Stanza 4. 


Kaus. 29, 6. 7: ‘ While reciting the fourth stanza, along 
with VII, 88%, the (serpent’s) bite is rubbed 5 with grass, 
and the grass thrown upon the serpent. 7. (Or in the 
absence of the serpent he throws it) where the biting took 
place. Cf. Kaus. 32, 25. The ceremony is an attempt 
at the complete realisation of the mantra. 


Stanza δ. 


Kaus. 29, 8: ‘With the fifth stanza he sprinkles the 
poisoned person with water heated by quenching in it 


? The virtue of this manipulation rests apparently in the pun 
between stamba and the root stambh, ‘ fasten, confine ’! 

* “Go away, thou art an enemy, an enemy surely art thou! 
Thou hast mixed (thy) poison into poison, thou hast certainly 
mixed poison. To the serpent himself do thou go away. Him 
slay!’ Cf. Ludwig, Rigveda, III, 511; Henry, Le livre VII de 
l’Atharva-véda, pp. 36, 106. 

5 Kesava, pragvalya, ‘ heating the bite with burning grass.’ This 
is due to confusion of this performance with Kaus. 32, 24, damsma 
nitapya. 


Vv, 13. COMMENTARY. 427 


burning reeds from a thatch ! mixed with grains of sesame.’ 
For avagvala, cf. Kaus. 27, 29 (introduction to III, 7); 
Kaus. 27, 33 (introduction to III, 11); 28, 2 (introduction 
to IV, 6). The punning symbolism which connects this 
practice with upatvzzya, and perhaps also ἀϊ κά (as though 
it were valika) in the mantra, represents the low-water 
mark of banale attempts to construct a practice upon the 
indications of the mantra. The names of the serpents in 
this and the following stanzas are for the most part very 
obscure (cf. Zimmer, pp. 94, 95): for kafrata, see X, 4, 14, 
for babhru, VI, 56,2. asitd is a more common designation, 
VI, 56, 2; VII, 56, 1, &c., and cf. the note on VI, 56, 2. 

c. stimanam, az. Aey., we have rendered as though it 
were sthdm&nam (masculine!). Cf. our remarks on the 
interchange between surd aspirates and non-aspirates, 
Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, pp. 436 ff, and Roth in the 
Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morg. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 105 ff. 
The Pet. Lex. under stha+ api suggests sramdzam, without 
interpreting the passage in this form. 


Stanza 6. 


Kaus. 29, 9: ‘ With the sixth (stanza) a bowstring taken 
from the notched end of the bow is fastened upon the 
patient.’ Again, the vaguest kind of symbolism in refer- 
ence to Padad. For taimata, see V, 18, 4. The rendering 
of 4podaka is very uncertain. Though in accord with the 
apparent meaning of the same word in st. 2, it jars here: 
we should rather expect another designation of serpents, 
‘one that does not live in the water (?).’ 


Stanza 7. 


Kaus. 29, 10: ‘With the two next stanzas (7 and 8) the 
patient is given to drink water with the earth of a bee-hive.’ 
(Kesava, however, madhQdvapa=madhuvrtkshamrittika). 
The relation of the practice to the stanzas is profoundly 
obscure. Cf. the note on V, 5, 1. 


1 Cf. the introduction to VI, 24. 


428 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 8. 

b. We are tempted to change the instrumental dsiknya 
to the ablative dsikny44/, ‘born of the black serpent,’ or 
‘born of the black night.’ 

9. For pratdnkam, see our note on IV, 16, 2; cf. also 
XII, 1, 46; Sat. Br. VII, 4, 1, 28 (ye v4+vaveshu serate), 
and Ait. Br. VI, 1, 3. 

Stanza 9. 

Kaus. 29, 11: ‘With the ninth (stanza) the patient is 
given to drink water containing the excrement of a porcu- 
pine. With a prick (of the porcupine) that has three white 
stripes he feeds meat to the patient’. Cf. the closely cor- 
related RV. I, 191, 16. : 

a. The Pet. Lexs. and Zimmer, p. 82, translate Καγηᾶ by 
‘long-eared.’ But has the porcupine long ears? I have 
preferred to think of his pricks (salali) as giving rise to the 
somewhat fanciful adjective. The prickly porcupine may 
naturally not live on good terms with serpents, being hard 
to tackle. 

b. avakarantikd, left untranslated by the Pet. Lexs.,in the 
light of pravartamanakd&, RV. I, 193, 11, is obviously 
a diminutive participle; see our note on IV, 37, 10. 


Stanza 10. 


Kaus. 29, 13: ‘ With the tenth (stanza) the patient is 
given water to sip' from a gourd.’ This looks as though 
there was some connection in the mind of the Sdtrakara 
between t4biiva and al4bu. At any rate ἰἀδάνα, and tas- 
tuva' in the next stanza, seem to be a cure for poison. 
This and the next stanza are wholly problematic. 


Stanza 11. 


Kaus. 29, 14: ‘ With the eleventh stanza he ties (a gourd) 
to the navel of the patient.’ For tastivam some MSS., 
according to Béhtlingk’s lexicon, read tasrivam. ᾿ 


1 Cf. Kaus. το, 16, and the Ογίηγα-βθίτα5, where the prick with 
three stripes figures frequently ; see Stenzler’s index, s. v. tryent. 


ν, 14. COMMENTARY. 429 


V, 14. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 77. 


The hymn is one of the kvity4pratiharavAni, a series of 
hymns which counteract spells, given in the list at Kaus. 
49,7. See the introductions to IV, 17; V, 31; VIII, 5; 
X, 1, &c. The plant which figures prominently (sts. 1, 2, 
4, 9) is not specified. It may be the δρᾶιηᾶγρα, as in IV, 
17-19; cf. the Anukramami, vanaspatyam. The hymn 
has been translated by Zimmer, p. 396 ff.; Grill?, pp. 
26,147 ff. 

Stanza 1. 


The first hemistich is repeated at II, 27, 2; see the note 
there. 
Stanza 9. 


In the course of the performances undertaken with the 
krityagama at Kaus. 39, 7-12 (cf. the introduction to IV, 
17) this stanza is rubricated (Sdtra 11), preceded by the 
words krvityaya:mitragakshusha samikshan, which seems 
to be mantra, either entirely, or in part; cf. Darila and 
Kesava, p. 341. The sense of the Sitra, as much else in 
the same passage, is very obscure. 


Stanza 10. 


a. As a son goes to his father, thus do thou, O spell, 
return to thy father, i.e. to him that has prepared thee. 

e, ἃ. Grill, following Roth’s lead, reads bandhim iva and 
transtates, ‘wie sich der fliichtling heimwarts kehrt, &c.’ 
We do not feel constrained to accept the emendation. ava + 
kram ordinarily means ‘overcome,’ hence we have trans- 
lated avakrami by ‘one who overcomes.’ The comparison 
is as good, if not better. Zimmer, ‘wie den Banden 
entflichend eile zuriick &c.’—a forced construction of the 
accusative, bandham. 


Stanza 11. 


A doubtful stanza in changed metre (gayatri). It may 
have slipped in because of mrigdm iva in the next stanza. 


430 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


The sense seems to be: as surely as the antelope, shy 
though she be, mates with the buck, so surely shall the 
spell strike him who prepares it. Cf. IV, 4, 7=VI, 101, 3. 
and VII, 115, 2. But abhiskandam is ἅπ. λεγ.: we have 
followed Grill in referring it to the mounting buck. The 
Pet. Lex. regards it as a gerund, and Whitney, Index Ver- 
borum, emends to abhiskandan, a masculine participle, 
yielding a very problematic construction. Zimmer, ‘ wie 
die scheue Antilope, die Gazelle dem Angreifer (entflieht, 
so du, o Kranker, dem Zauber).’ 


V, 18. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 169. 


The object of the two hymns V, 18 and 1g is clearly to 
present in the most drastic language the danger which 
arises from the oppression of Brahmans, and usurpation of 
their property’. Especially the cow of the Brahman, 
given to him as his sacrificial stipend (dakshix4 ; cf. XII, 
4), is sacred and inviolable. The point is accentuated by 
the practices connected with them. The two hymns are 
rubricated at Kaus. 48, 13 ff. under the name brahma- 
gavyau (i.e. the two brahmagavi-hymns). The practices 
are intended to compass the death of him that robs or 
slays the cow of a Brahman; they are as follows: 13. ‘(The 
Brahman) recites the two brahmagavi-hymns against (the 
robbers)*. 14. He recites them while the activity (of killing 
and cutting up the cow is being performed). 15. viérstati 
(Dar. dvadhye havikkrite»ty arthaz). 16. (He recites the 
hymns) over the excrement within the entrails®. 17. And 


1 This is the agyeyaté, ‘freedom from oppression,’ of the 
Brahman ; cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 60 ff. 

3 D4rila and Kesava add to this the related hymn XII, 5 (mixed 
prose and verse). 

δ Excessively doubtful; Darila has the following as text and 
scholion: ka# kriy4 anvaha, fibadhye, dveshyam manasi (Cod. 
anasi) krztva saptaminirdesat. Cf. XII, 5, 39, where the excrement 
of the cow is described as fit for sorcery-practices. 


v, 18. COMMENTARY. 431 


also at a burial-ground?. 18, Thrice he exclaims: “ Slay 
those yonder.” 19. While reciting the second (brahma- 
gavi-hymn) he hides a stone in the excrement. 20. Twelve 
nights does he rest observing every vow (of the brahma- 
karin). 21. When the sun has risen twice (after the twelve 
days, the enemy) is laid low.’ Cf. especially AV. XII, 4 
and 5, and Sat. Br. XIV, 6, 7, 4=Brth. Ar. Up. III, 7, 1. 
The Anukramazi designates the two hymns as brahma- 
gavidevatye. 

Both hymns have been translated by Muir, Original 
Sanskrit Texts, 12, 285 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 
447 ff., 451 ff. (cf. also 154); Zimmer, 199 ff.; Grill?, 41, 
148 ff. ; cf. also Hillebrandt’s Vedachrestomathie, p. 42. 


Stanza 3. 


Ludwig very ingeniously suggests the change of m4 to 
γᾶ at the beginning of Pada c; this yields a more concin- 
nate construction: ‘Enveloped in her skin, as an adder 
with evil poison, sapless, unfit to be eaten is the cow of the 
Bréhmava.’ Shankar Pandit with all MSS., s4. 


Stanza 4. 

This and the following stanza, as also 8, 9, and 13 are in 
trishfubh metre, and bear no reference to the cow of the 
Brahman: they deal with the Brahman himself. Muir, 
Ludwig, and Zimmer refer the verbs to the cow. 


Stanza 5. 


b. na Aittat, lit. ‘not as the result of thought ;’ cf. azitty4, 
V, 37,12, and malvas, V, 18, 7. 


Stanza 6. 
b. The Paippalada reads agneé priyatama tan(Z, and the 
Pet. Lex. suggests agnésé priya ἰδηΐν iva; cf. st. 14, and 


XII, 5, 41. 73. 
e. Soma is the heir of the Brahman, i. e. Soma is bene- 
fited by the service of the priest; or, perhaps, Soma is 


1 D4r. sm&sine pakasthane dbadhyavat. 


432 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


interested in the Brahman’s cow (implied throughout the 
hymn), because her milk is mixed with Soma; cf. st. 14. 
See also Sat. Br. V, 4, 2, 3. 


Stanza 7. 


Cf. RV. X, 85, 24. nizkhidam, lit. ‘to throw out.’ Pro- 
fessor Roth suggests ni-khidam, ‘to get down.’ nitkhid is 
certainly ἅπ. Aey. and might be for nishkhid=ni-shkhid, re- 
minding us of the MSS. of the Tait. S. which write khkhid 
in the interior of words (after augment and prepositions) ; 
see Ind. Stud. XIII, 106-7. But the statement, that the 
oppressor of Brahmans swallows the cow, and that he then 
cannot get her out again, because she sticks in his throat, 
is equally suitable. 
. Stanza 8. 


b. The expression nadik& ddntés tdpas4: bhidigdhaz 
seems to me to contain a double entente, ‘his windpipe 
(shaft of the arrow), his teeth (points of the arrow), are 
bedaubed (like the arrow with poison) with holy fire’ A 
striking figure of speech, hardly to be misunderstood ! 
Muir, ‘his windpipe is arrow-points smeared with fire ;’ 
Ludwig, ‘die nadika (speiserére oder luftrére?) die zahne ἡ 
vom tapak bestrichen;’ Zimmer, ‘seine luftrdhre mit 
Gluth bestrichne Pfeilspitzen;’ Grill, ‘die Luftréhr Pfeil- 
spitze, in des Eifers Gluth getauchet.’ 


Stanza 10. 


ἃ. vaitahavyd, patronymic from vitahavya, a proper 
name; cf. st. 11, and V,19, 1. Zimmer, pp. 132, 200-1, 
translates the word by ‘die aus habsucht opfernden,’ and 
‘die opfergierigen, but the word per se has no disparaging 
meaning ; cf. vitihotra. 

Stanza 11. 


c,d. Ludwig, ‘die der Kesaraprabandha letztgeborene 
gebraten.’ This involves the emendation of faram4g4m to 
karamagém (sc. vatsam, ‘calf’), and makes Kesarapra- 
bandhé ‘the name of a cow; cf. prathamaga. That cows 


V, 19. COMMENTARY. 433 


had names may be seen from our introduction to II, 32, 
but this name, ‘ having her hair braided,’ is clearly that of 
a woman. Apparently the iniquity of the Vaitahavyas 
reaches its height, when they do not spare the only goat of 
the poor woman. If the text were only as sound as the 
moral ! 

Stanza 12. 


a. Cf. V, 19, 11, where the number 99 takes the place of 
101. Both are formulaic. 


Stanza 14. 


Cf. st. 6 and XII, 5, 4. 58. 

9. hdntabhisasténdras ought, in the light of stanza 6, to 
mean ‘Indra slays the curser,’ or ‘Indra destroys curses.’ 
Accordingly the Pet. Lex. proposes hant4sbh{sastim (cf. 
Whitney, Sanskrit Grammar’, δῷ 271 d, 946); hanta 
sbhisaster is equally possible (cf. I. c., δ 1182 d). The text 
might possibly be sustained by reading hant4-bhisasta 
(acc. plur. neut.). Ludwig takes both words as nomina- 
tives of tar-stems, ‘Indra todter flucher.’ Zimmer, still 
differently, reads hant4=bh{sastam. 

ἃ. For vedhas, cf. our note on I, 11, 1b. 


V, 19. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 171. 


For the employment of this hymn in the ritual, and other 
general considerations, see the introduction to V, 18. 


Stanza 1. 


ο. Bhrégu is a typical name for an Atharvan priest ; cf. 
Angirasd in st. 2; bhvigvangiras, like atharvangiras, is a 
name of the Atharva-veda itself; see Kaus. 63, 3; 94, 3. 4. 
Like Atharvan and Angiras, the Bhryzgu are connected 
with the production of fire ; cf. Ludwig, IIT, 140. 

For the Srifigayas, see Weber, Ind. Stud. I, 208 ff., 232; 
Ludwig, III, 154; Zimmer, 132; Weber, ‘Episches im 
vedischen Ritual,’ Sitzungsberichte der Kéniglich Preu- 
ssischen Akademie, July 23, 1891, vol. xxxviii, p. 797 


[4] Ff 


434 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


(p. 31 of the reprint). The legend which is alluded to here 
(and in V, 18, 10. 11) is not to be found elsewhere. One 
may fairly question whether it is not, in a measure at least, 
trumped up in deference to a supposed etymology : -gaya 
in srfaigaya suggests ‘conquer, oppress’ (cf. giyate in st. 6, 
and brahmagydsya in st. 7); the syllable srin (Padapatka 
srinsgaya) is not above the suspicion of having suggested 
sringin, ‘horned animal,’ RV. I, 32, 5, &c.; cf. the later 
writing svi#gaya, Vishzu-puraza, &c. Note however Tait. 
S. VI, 6, 6, 2, and Sat. Br. XII, 9, 3, 1 ff., in both of which 
places the Svi#gayas come to grief. 


Stanza 2. 


c. The text has ubhay4dam, which we have emended 
(with Grill) to ubhayddann, ‘having two rows of teeth.’ 
The ram is ordinarily a harmless animal; but, just as he 
portentously devours a lioness at RV. VII, 18, 17, so he 
here appears armed with extra teeth, and capable of doing 
mischief. Possibly, however, ubhayd4dam is an accusative 
from ubhay&da = ubhayddant, ‘horse,’ and ‘the goat de- 
voured the horse’ is another way of marking the ominous 
destruction of the property of oppressors. Cf. RV. X, 90, το, 
and the Pet. Lexs., s.v. ubhaydtodant, ubhaydtodanta, ubha- 
y4dant. 

Stanza 3. 


b. I have accepted Professor Weber’s not altogether 
certain emendation of suklam to sulkdm (Ind. Stud. XVII, 
304). This is based upon Muir’s perfectly secure parallel 
correction at III, 29, 3 (Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 310). 
These two passages are the only ones upon which the Pet. 
Lex., s. v. 2d, bases the meanings ‘auswurf, schleim, rotz’ 
for sukld ; otherwise the word means ‘white.’ It must be 
conceded, however, that the reading sulkdm disturbs the 
parallelism between P4das a and Ὁ, and that the construc- 
tion of ish with the locative of the person from whom 
something is desired is strange. The text as it stands 
would yield, ‘who threw slime upon him.’ 

c,d. This punishment broaches upon the later infernal 


Vv, 19. COMMENTARY. 435 


fancies of the Markandeya-purana ; see Scherman, Roman- 
ische Forschungen, V, 539 ff.; Materialien zur Geschichte 
der Indischen Visionsliteratur (Leipzig, 1892), and Féer, 
Journal Asiatique, Eighth Series, vol. xx, p. 185 ff.; Ninth 
Series, vol. i, p. 112 ff.; cf. also Zimmer, 420 ff. 


Stanza 4. 


b. ‘ As far as she reaches or penetrates,’ i.e. wherever she 
is distributed and eaten (?). Ludwig, ‘wohin sie iiberhaupt 
gewandelt,’ i.e. wherever she has been during her life-time. 
Zimmer (and similarly Grill), ‘wahrend sie noch unter dem 
beile zuckt.’ 

Stanza δ. 


b. I read asyate for asyate with Zimmer and Grill; cf. 
V,18,3d. See also the note on III, 4, 7, and Proc. Amer. 
Or. Soc., May, 1886 (Journ., vol. xiii, p. cxvii ff.). 


Stanza 7. 


The last word, brahmagydsya, is a gloss (Anukr. upari- 
sh/adbrthati). The cow is described as portentous, hence 
she forebodes destruction ; cf. VIII, 6, 22. 


Stanza 9. 


c. The Pet. Lex., s.v. man with abhi, reads tad dhanam 
for sid dhanam. The emendation is not urgent. 

ἃ. Narada is the typical interlocutor in the Purds#as; in 
AV. XII, 4, 16. 24. 41 ff., he is especially engaged in pro- 
curing the brahmagavi. ἡ 


Stanza 11. 


Cf. V, 18,12. For ndva navatdyas, see Whitney, Sk. Gr.* 
ᾧ 477 d. 

Stanza 12. 

A favourite method of imprecation in the Atharvan 
consists in threatening with the ceremonies of funeral, or 
even employing stanzas and formulas originally constructed 
for burial; cf. the introduction to I, 14, and the note on 
II, 12, 7. The present stanza, as well as sts. 13, and 

Ff 2 


436 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


XII, 5, 47 ff., contain such threats against the oppressor 
of Brahmans; cf. our Contributions, Second Series, 
Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 336 ff. (especially pp. 339 ff). 
In this stanza reference is made to the custom of tying 
a kddi-plant (according to DArila at Kaus. 21, 2. 13, &c.= 
badari, ‘ Christ’s thorn ;’ cf. Kaus. Introduction, p. xliv) to 
the dead, so that it trails after him and effaces the track of 
death: death shall not find the path again and turn upon 
his trail for further victims. Cf. Antoninus Liberalis 23, 
ἐξῆπτε δὲ ἐκ τῆς οὐρᾶς πρὸς ἕκαστον ὕλην, ὡς ἂν τὰ ἴχνη τῶν 
βοῶν ἀφανίσῃ. To this rough embrace, symbolic of death, 
the oppressor is here assigned. See Roth in Festgruss an 
Bohtlingk, pp. 98-9; and the present translator, Amer. 
Journ. Phil. XI, 338; XII, 416. 


Stanza 14. 


Cf. Asv. Sraut. VI, 10,2; Asv. Grih. IV, τ, 16; Max 
Miller, ‘Die Todtenbestattung bei den Brahmanen,’ Zeitsch. 
_d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. IX, p. ii. 


Stanza 15. 


a. For the relation of Mitra and Varuxa to rain, see 
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 314. 

ο. Cf. VI, 88, 3; Khad. Grth. III, 1, 6; and Ludwig, 
l.c., p. 256. 


V, 20. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 130. 


The purpose of the hymn is obvious. At Kaus. 16, 1, it 
is rubricated along with VI, 126, 1, and accompanied by 
the following solemnities. All musical instruments are 
washed, dipped into a mixture which contains the fragrant 
substances tagara (powder of the tabernaemontana coro- 
naria) and usira (the root of andropogon muricatus); they 
are next anointed with the dregs of ghee (cf. V, 21, 3), and 
finally the chaplain (purohita) of the king sounds them 
thrice and hands them over to the warriors as they go forth 
to battle. Cf. also Vait. Sd. 34, 11; Ath. Paris. 5, 4. 


V, 20. COMMENTARY. 437 


The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
111, 460 ff.; Grill?, pp. 68, 153 ff. Cf. Zimmer, p. 289. 
The Anukramazi, vanaspatyadundubhidevatyam . . 
sapatnasenaparagayAya devasenavigay4ya. 


Stanza 1. 


Cf. V, 21, 3. The Padapdasha satvand-ydn, ‘going with, 
or to, the warriors.’ Grill, ‘wann sie in den kampf ruft.’ 
As regards the resonance of the wood, Tait. S. VI, 1, 4, 1 
has the following pretty conceit: ‘V4, speech, once upon 
a time escaped from the gods, and settled in the trees. 
Her voice still resounds in wooden instruments.’ 


Stanza 2. 


8. druvaya (cf. XI, 1, 12), with an obscure suffix vaya, 
perhaps = maya; cf. our remarks on the interchange of 
v and m in the Proc. Amer. Or. Soc., May, 1886 (Journ., 
vol. xiii, pp. xcvii ff.)1. Ludwig, ‘an beiden hélzern nach 
beiden seiten befestigt.’ 

b. The MSS. read vasitdm, emended in the vulgate to 
vasitim. This we have translated. Ludwig also adopts 
vasit&m, but renders ‘ losbriillend wie ein stier auf die kiihe.’ 
Cf. VIII, 6, 12;-XI, 9, 22. 


Stanza 3. 


ce. Possibly vi vidhya is to be read for vidhya (haplology ; 
cf. Proc. Amer. Or. Soc., April, 1893; Journal, vol. xvi, 
p. xxxiv ff.); see I, 8,2; VI, 66,1; XI, 9, 23. 

ἃ. hitva gr4mA4n, ‘with broken yankee? or, ‘having aban- 
doned the villages’ (so Pet. Lex. and Ludwig). 


Stanza 7. 


6. For utpipdnak, see our discussion, Contributions, 
Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, p. 441 ff. 
ἃ. In the light of satrutirya and vritrat(irya one is 


1 Perhaps, however, druv-4ya, formed upon a denominal verb- 
stem ; cf. gav-ay4, ‘bos gavaeus:’ go, ‘cow.’ 


438 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


tempted to read amitratiry4ya, notwithstanding the metre. 
The sense would be the same in the end. svardhf (stem 
sv-ardhin), ἅπ. dey., we have translated philologically 
‘having the good side;’ cf. RV. II, 27, 15. The Pet. 
Lexs. and Grill, ‘ein guter parteigenosse (kampfgenosse),’ 
but the word is certainly a bahuvrihi. Ludwig's ‘sinnend 
auf liecht (gewinn)’ presupposes svar-dhff, but there is no 
reason for the loss of the visarga. 


Stanza 8. 


a. The metre suggests for ἀμ! ἢ ὦ the synonymous dhiti- 
bhiZ ; cf. RV. 1,161, 7 with III, 60,2. Likewise, vad4si for 
vadati would harmonise better with Pada b. 

c. Ludwig takes satvano as nominative of satvana, ‘Indra- 
freund und held lass dich nennen.’ 


Stanza 9. 


Treated by Roth, Festgruss an Otto von Bohtlingk, p. 99. 
His translation implies that the drum heralds the return of 
the warriors after the battle, and announces the respective 
merits of the participants'. This breaks the connection, 
and imports over-pregnant sense into Padas c, d, ‘das 
verdienst sachverstandig abschatzend (but vayinani vidvan 
is a mere formula 1), teile vielen lob aus im kriege,’ i.e. ‘ fiir 
ihre haltung im kriege (for their conduct in battle)” For 
dviraga, cf. duellum, bellum. 


Stanza 10. 


c,d. A blurred comparison. The press-stones are placed 
over the skin into which the juice trickles, adhishd4vazam 
(sc. Aarma)?; cf. Hillebrandt, Soma und verwandte Gotter, 
p. 181 ff. They dance upon (beat down upon) the stems 


1 Note XII, 1, 41, &krand6 ydsy4m vAdati dundubh{Z, ‘upon 
whom (sc. the Earth) resounds the roaring drum.’ 

3. adhish4vazam by itself means the pressing-board, and so it 
may be understood here without altering the sense materially. Only 
the simile in that case is still further diluted. 


V, 21. COMMENTARY. 439 


of the plant over the skin. Thus the drum-sticks beating 
upon the skin for victory, as it were, dance upon (beat 
upon) the booty. The Pet. Lex. and Grill change ddri to 
adhri, apparently as though it were the MS. reading (‘man 
kénnte an eine verwechselung mit ddri denken,’ Pet. Lex. 
5. ν. adhri). But there is no word adhri, and according to 
the Index Verborum the MSS. read ddri4. The expression 
gr&va ddrik seems to be a composite phrase, ‘ press-stone ;’ 
cf. Hillebrandt, l.c., 152 ff. 


Stanza 12. 


6. For vidath4 niffkyat cf. RV. IV, 38, 4. It seems to 
mean ‘like a leader (puroet&) attending to the troops.’ 
Ludwig, ‘der opferversammlungen gedenkend ;’ cf. Der 
Rigveda, III, 259 ff. I believe that viddtha primarily 
means ‘family ;’ cf. su-vidatra, 2. védana (pativédana), pari 
vid, &c. 


V, 21. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 131. 


The practice connected with this hymn at Kaus. 16, 2. 3 
is as follows: ‘(The purohita) while reciting the hymn 
makes an offering aloud, and swings the sacrificial spoon 
about high in the air*. Then he sews a soma-branch upon 
(a piece) of the skin of an antelope, and fastens it (as an 
amulet) upon the king.’ The performance on high sym- 
bolises the shrill sound of the drum (cf. V, 20, 1); the 
amulet seems to be a blended, vague embodiment of the 
soma-shoot in V, 20, 10, and the antelope’s skin in V, 21, 7. 
Stanza 12 of our hymn is rubricated in the aparagitagana 
of the Gavam4la, Ath. Paris. 32,13. The hymn has been 
translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, ITI, 373-4. 


Stanza 7. 


b. The skin of the antelope seems thus to have been 
used for the covering of the drum just as the skin of the 


1 Some of Shankar Pandit’s MSS. do, however, read Adhri. 
* D4rila, Ordhvam parivartayan ... Lomas fa udfaih. 


440 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


cow (V, 20,1; 21, 3). But the matter is not altogether 
clear, since in the Satra above the antelope’s skin is com- 
bined with a soma-shoot. This points, rather, to some use 
of it either at the soma-pressing, or, perhaps, at some 
preparatory stage (diksh4). The black antelope’s skin is 
regularly employed at the diksha; cf. Ait. Br. I, 3, 17; 
Lindner, Die Diksha, p. 27 ff.; Oldenberg, Die Religion 
des Veda, pp. 87, 399 ff. 


Stanza 8. 


The first hemistich is altogether obscure. One may 
imagine that the poet desires to accentuate Indra’s (and 
implicitly the king’s) power by stating that the enemies 
are frightened at the beat of his feet, even when he is 
amusing himself; cf. Mah4bh. III, 14882, yadi prakridate 
sarvair devaik saha satakratué, ‘if (Indra), of hundredfold 
power, disports himself in the company of the gods.’ The 
words &#ayayé sahd would naturally mean ‘in the company 
of £hay4,’ and one is almost tempted to suspect sd#ya (sakia), 
‘in the company of Saéi.’ But it is possible to extract the 
meaning, ‘the enemies are frightened at the beat of Indra’s 
feet and at his shadow.’ Ludwig, ‘mit denen Indra spilet 
mit dem fussgerausch und seinem schatten ’(!). 


Stanza 9. 


Ludwig, ‘nur wie der laut einer bogensene sollen die 
dundubhi herschreien, von den heeren der feinde, welche 
besigt sind, und mit ihrer front nach allen weltgegenden 
gehn. But gyAghosh&% is not a possessive compound, 
witness the accent, and the sense of abh{ krosantu must 
be the same as that of abhi krand in V, 20, 2.7; 21, 4-6. 


Stanza 10. 


The picture is that of interference of the sun and its rays 
with the operations of the enemy. patsanginir, ‘ clogging 
their feet,’ is not quite clear. Ludwig may be right in 
regarding it as an independent noun, ‘schlingen,’ ‘traps ;’ 
cf. Kaus, 16, 16. 


V, 22. COMMENTARY. 441 


V, 22. COMMENTARY TO PAGE I. 


The word takmdan is not mentioned at all in the Rig- 
veda, but occurs very frequently in the Atharvan. Four 
hymns, I, 25; V, 22; VI, 20; VII, 116, are devoted 
exclusively to its cure!; the word is mentioned frequently 
elsewhere in the Atharvan; and there are descriptions of 
diseases, such as are stated in AV. I, 12, which are very 
closely allied in character to the takmdn, but the word is 
not mentioned in the text. The Gawam4la, the 32nd 
of the Atharva-Parisish/as, presents in its seventh paragraph 
a series (gama) of no less than nineteen hymns, supposed 
to be devoted to the cure of this disease (takmandsana) ; 
see Kaus. 26,1, note. Sdyaza to AV. XIX, 34, 10 explains 
takman as follows: krikkhragivanakartéram yasmin sati 
krikkhrena givanam bhavati. Professor Roth in his famous 
tract, ‘Zur Litteratur und Geschichte des Veda’ (p. 39), 
published in 1846, thought that the takmdn referred to 
leprosy because the name of the plant kush¢sa (costus 
speciosus), the specific against takman, is in the later 
medical writings also a designation of leprosy. Adolphe 
Pictet in an article entitled ‘Die alten Krankheitsnamen 
der Indo-Germanen,’ published in Kuhn's Zeitschrift, V, 
337, thought he found etymological support for this view 
in Persian takhtah and Erse tachas, tochas, both of which 
refer to leprosy, or the like. Professor Weber, judging 
from the symptoms described in AV. I, 25, recognised 
fever as the chief feature of the takmdn (see Indische 
Studien, IV, 119); after him Dr. Virgil Grohmann published 
in the same Journal, IX, 381 ff., a careful and exhaustive 
essay which corroborated Weber’s view. This was still 
further supported by Professor Zimmer in his Altindisches 
Leben, p. 379 ff., and now Darila and Kesava, the com- — 
mentators of the Kausika-sdtra, everywhere gloss the word 


1 Cf. also the hymns to the ktish/Aa-plant, V, 4 and XIX, 39. 


442 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


by gvara!. The descriptions of gvara as offered by the 
Hindu medical Sdstras are such as to leave no doubt that 
the two diseases are essentially the same. Just as the word 
takman is lost in the later literature, the word gvara is 
_totally wanting in the Atharvan: the two words comple- 
ment one another. Only one must not expect to find 
lucidly expressed diagnosis and consistent therapeutics in 
Atharvan writings; the descriptions are frequently vague, 
being blended with that of other diseases, and the treat- 
ment frequently symbolic. In many passages, moreover, 
the takmdn is a person, and belongs to the same class of 
demoniacal manifestations as graha, amiva, rakshas, and 
the like. 

Briefly, the disease is described as having for its chief 
symptom the change between heat and chills; inter- 
mittency, arriving either every day at the same time, 
every third day, or omitting every third day *; jaundice, 
which suggests true malarial fever, especially during the 
rainy season ; and the association with a variety of other 
diseases, some of which are none too clear in character. 
Headaches, coughs are alluded to unmistakably ; in addition 
the diseases called baldsa (AV. IV, 9, 8; XIX, 34, 10), and 
his ‘brother's son, the pamdn (V, 22, 12). Almost all 
diseases in India show a tendency to be accompanied by 
febrile symptoms, and the frequency of malarial fevers is 
notorious. Susruta designates fever as ‘the king of diseases;’ 
fever is present when man comes into the world, and it is 
also present when he leaves the world. Gods and men alone 
survive its ravages (Susruta, Uttaratantra, chapter 39). No 
wonder, then, that the burning weapons of Takman are 
dreaded so much in the Atharvan. The effort is made to 
drive him out, either with polite words (I, 25; VI, 20); 
with potent charms (IX, 8, 6); or with plants used as 
specifics, especially the kush¢/a (costus speciosus), which is 


1 We may mention also that Dr. Muir translated the word by 
‘consumption :’ Original Sanskrit Texts, IV, p. 280. 
* Cf. AV. I, 25, 4; VII, 116, 2. 


V, 22, COMMENTARY. 443 


therefore designated as takmandsana (V, 4, I. 2), and the 
gangid4, an unexplained member of the Indian flora’. In 
V, 22 the gods, Agni, Soma, Varuza, the Adityas, and the 
deified press-stones (pressing the soma) are appealed to for 
help. Cf. in addition to the authorities mentioned above, 
Edmund Hardy, Die Vedisch-Brahmanische Periode, p. 198, 
and, for detailed descriptions of fever and its treatment in 
the medical Sdstras, Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, 
p. 219 ff. 

The treatment of AV. V, 22 in the ritual, Kaus. 29, 18. 
19, is as follows : ‘(The priest) gives (the patient) gruel made 
of roasted grain to drink. The dregs (of the gruel) he 
pours from a copper vessel over the head (of the patient) 
into fire derived from a forest-fire? The treatment is 
intensely symbolical, being based upon the attractio si- 
milium, with a touch of homoeopathy. The roasted grain 
represents heat and therefore fever; the copper vessel 
(lohitapatra), with the other meaning of lohita, ‘red,’ in 
mind, again suggests heat and fever, and the forest fire, 
davagni, figures in preference to ordinary fire because it is 
occasioned by lightning, and lightning is conceived as the 
cause of fever and its related diseases. See our treatment 
of AV. I, 12, and cf. Seven Hymns of the Atharva-veda, 
Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 469 ff. (p. 4 ff. of the reprint). 
Note also the very parallel treatment which the fever 
patient undergoes at the hands of Kausika in 25, 26, in 
connection with AV. I, 25. 

The hymn has been translated many times, either entirely 
or in part. See Roth, 1. c., p. 38; Grohmann, Indische 


1 Dérila at Kaus. 8, 15, gahgidosrguna akala iti dakshisdtyah. 
Kesava, ib., gahgido varanasyam prasiddhahk. It is the name of 
a tree in any case; see XIX, 34 and 35. 

3 Kausika’s language is of the most concise Sfitra sort: 18... 
lagin p4yayati. 19. dAve lohitapatreza mrdhni samp4t4n Anayati. 
The translation above is with the help of D4rila. The employment 
of the dregs after the act of Aplavana is technical; see the Pari- 
bhash4-sitra Kaus. 7, 15. For the sampata, see also Grihyasam- 
graha I, 113. 


444 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Studien, 1X, p. 381 ff. (especially pp. 411-12); Ludwig, 
Der Rigveda, III, 510; Zimmer, |. c., pp. 380ff.; Grill’, 
pp. 12, 153 ff. ; cf. also Hillebrandt, Vedachrestomathie, p. 49. 
The Anukramavi designates it as a takmandsanadevatyam 
(se. sdktam) ; Bhrzgu-Angiras are the authors. 


Stanza 1. 


a. Because the first Pada is a gagati followed by three 
trish¢ubh Padas the Anukramazi designates the stanza as 
a bhurig. It is possible, however, to obtain a trishtubh by 
reading dpabadhatetd/ with elision and crasis; cf. Roth in 
Kuhn’s Zeitschrift, XXVI, 5o0ff. I prefer to retain the 
gagati, because it frequently appears in trish¢ubh stanzas, 
without the possibility of a change. 

b. pitadaksh4d (stem piitddakshas) is not easily rendered. 
Roth, I.c., ‘von unversehrter kraft ;’ the Petersburg lexicons, 
Grohmann, and Grassmann, ‘von reiner gesinnung ;’” Hille- 
brandt, ‘ von gelauterter gesinnung ;’ Grill, ‘lautern sinnes ;’ 
Ludwig, ‘von geheiligter kraft;’ Max Miiller, Vedic 
Hymns, Sacred Books of the East, vol. xxxii, p. 493, 
‘endowed with pure strength.’ But ‘lautere gesinnung’ 
idealises over much, and ‘ pure strength’ is vague. Perhaps 
after all our translation ‘ of tried skill or strength’ comes 
nearest to the true sense of the original. Cf. RV. III, 1, 5, 
kratum ρυπᾶπάλ kavibhiz pavitraid, ‘ purifying his intellect 
by wise means of purification.” The epithets pitd-daksha 
and piita-dakshas are employed very frequently in connec- 
tion with the Adityas, singly or collectively, and it is 
perhaps significant that Daksha is one of the Adityas. 

da. Ludwig takes the words amuyd bhavantu in their 
plainest sense, ‘sollen nach jener seite hinweggehn.’ But 
amuy4 frequently has a sinister, contemptuous meaning, 
‘in that well-understood, suitable, evi] manner;’ it is a kind 
of euphemism like English ‘ gone,’ German (slang) ‘ caput.’ 
Cf. amuy4 sdy4nam, RV. I, 32, 8; papdya-muyd, RV. I, 
29, 5, ἅς. ; and Grill’s note, p. 155. 


V, 22. COMMENTARY. 445 


Stanza 2. 


ἃ. In India malarial fever is frequently accompanied by 
jaundice ; cf. AV. VI, 20, 3, ‘thou that makest all forms 
yellow, and I, 25, 2. 3, where the takman is designated as 
haritasya deva, ‘the god of the yellow (colour). Cf. 
Grohmann, ib. 393. 

b. Between the expression agnir iv4sbhidunvan and 
the davagni of the ritual practice (Kaus. 29, 19) there is 
a thread of symbolic connection. Cf. AV. I, 25, 2. 3; VI, 
20, 1. 

d. nyan and adhar&a are synonymous to such an extent 
as to render it difficult to preserve the flavour of the original: 
literally, ‘do thou go away down, or lower!’ 


Stanza 3. 


a. For parushd and pa4rusheya, Ludwig reads arusha and 
4rusheya, and translates ‘der rot ist von rotem’—an un- 
necessarily severe handling of the text. 

b. avadhvamsa is ἅπ. λεγ., but the meaning is fairly clear ; 
cf. the expression Adrmair avadhvams in the Pet. Lex., s.v. 
dhvams. The eruption (Grohmann, 394) produces roughness 
of the skin’s surface, and the Hindus look upon such super- 
ficial changes as coming from without; cf. Contributions, 
Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 323 (5 of the reprint). 

ce. visvadh4virya would seem to refer to the kush?ha- 
plant, if we consult AV. XIX, 39, 10. But the ritual does 
not indicate its employment. 


Stanza 4. 


a, b. Note the concatenation between this and the pre- 
ceding stanza, effected by Padas 3d and 4a. The expres- 
sion ndmaf kritvdé indicates a polite modification of the 
power of the charm, calculated to engage the co-operation 
of the demon Takman himself. PAda a is trochaic; in Ὁ 
read kritud. 

6. Literally, ‘the fist-fighter of Sakasbhara,’ i.e. the 
champion carrier of excrement, or the chief of diarrhoea 


446 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


producing diseases: sakambhara seems to be the personifica- 
tion of abnormal evacuation. 


Stanza 5. 


I do not consider the versifier incapable of a certain kind 
of punning intention in the choice of ethnic communities to 
which he would relegate the takman: mahdavrtshda, here, 
and elsewhere in the hymns, may suggest to him ‘a very 
strong’ tribe, better fitted to cope with the ravages of the 
disease; balhika surely suggests to his mind bahika and 
bahis, ‘ without,’ i.e. not his own people!; and even miiga- 
vant may suggest mufga-grass, the plant which figures 
among Kausika’s remedies for the disease ; see the intro- 
duction to I, 12, and cf. muggavant in YAska’s comment at 
Nirukta IX, 8, as the equivalent of magavant®. Rigorous 
geographical deductions derived from the juxtaposition of 
these names are therefore to be avoided. They are, how- 
ever, as also the Gandhari, Anga, and Magadha in the 
sequel, true ethnical designations ; see Roth, Zur Literatur 
und Geschichte des Weda, p. 39 ; Zimmer, pp. 29, 129, 431, 
433, and Weber’s article, ‘ Uber Bahli, Bahlika,’ Proceed- 
ings of the Berlin Academy of November, 1892, vol. xlvii, 
p. 985 ff. 

a,b. Note the concatenation with 4d. 

ο, a. The Anukramani designates the stanza as vira¢ pathya 
brthati, but takmams is in all probability interpolated. Its 
removal ensures a fairly good anushfubh.—nyoéara is ἅπ. 
Aey., its form being perhaps twisted in some measure in 
deference to the obvious pun with dkas in a, b (‘ gelegen- 
heitsbildung ’); it also suggests doubtless in its suffix the 


1 Cf. especially, Zimmer, p. 433, top. 

* The name mffgavant, however, is typical for a region far dis- 
tant; see Tait. S. I, 8, 6,2; V4g. S. III, 61, and Sat. Br. II, 6, 2, 
17, in all of which Rudra with his destructive bow is entreated to 
depart beyond the Mfgavants: esha te πιάτα bhigad... tena 
svasena paro migavatostishy avatatadhanva, &c. ‘Here is thy 
share, O Rudra; provisioned with it go beyond the Magavants 
with thy bow strung, &c.’ 


V, 22. COMMENTARY. 447 


word fara, ‘going. Ludwig's translation is very literal, 
‘wie gross du auch geboren bist, so gross bist du heimisch 
bei den Bahlikas.’ 

Stanza 6. 


a,b. I really see no present possibility of translating the 
words vydla vi gada vyanga ; everything suggested is mere 
guess-work. A brief history of the interpretation of the 
words may be given in lieu of any personal conviction as 
regards their meaning. vydla, according to the lexicons, 
means either ‘ malicious, wily,’ or ‘serpent,’ or some other 
ferocious animal, any of which meanings might be given to 
the demon of a severe disease. Ludwig translates it 
‘schlange,’ a rendering which is supported in a measure 
by vyanga, ‘limbless ;’ Grill and Hillebrandt prefer ‘ tiick- 
isch.’ The text of the Samhita and the Padap4¢a both 
have vi gada, which is doubtless felt to be an imperative. 
Accordingly Ludwig translates it ‘sprich heraus ;’ Grill in 
the first edition of his ‘ Hundert Lieder,’ pp. 11, 63, emended 
vi gadha, and rendered ‘lass los.’ Whitney in his Index 
Verborum, s.v. gad and vigada, as also in his ‘ Roots, Verb- 
Forms,’ &c., under root gad suggests the reading vigada, 
vocative, and this is now accepted by Grill in the second 
edition, who renders it ‘stumm,’ and Hillebrandt, s. v. 
vigada, who entertains the same view : etwa ‘ wort-, sprach- 
los.’ With this emendation in mind the word might also 
be translated ‘O chatterer,’ referring to the delirium of 
the patient. One may be permitted, too, to consider the 
possibility that gada, ‘sickness,’ is at the bottom of the 
word : vigada, ‘ free from sickness ’ (euphemistic address to 
the demon of the disease); cf. Bohtlingk’s Lexicon, s.v. 
In that case vigada would be synonymous with agada, ‘free 
from disease,’ and this would remind us strongly of RV. 
X, 16,6; AV. XVIII, 3, 55; Tait. Ar. VI, 4, 2, yat te 
krishndh sakund atutédda pipilaz sarpd utd va svdpadas, 
agnish fad visvéd agaddm krinotu, ‘If the black bird 
(vulture) has bitten thee, the ant, the serpent, or even 
the wild animal, may all-devouring Agni restore (agadam 
krinotu) that.’ And further, we may remember that the 


448 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


kush¢Aa-plant, the specific against takman, renders agada 
a person suffering from takman in AV. V, 4,6; VI, 95, 3. 
vyanga again calls up a variety of possibilities. If we 
translate vydla by ‘serpent,’ we will not fail to remember 
that vyanga, ‘limbless, occurs in AV. VII, 56, 4 as an 
epithet of the serpent, and render accordingly. So Ludwig 
and Grill in the second edition. Hillebrandt more vaguely, 
‘korperlos.’ The Petersburg Lexicons, and Grillin the first 
edition, translate it by ‘fleckig’ (vi+a#g), which might be 
justified by some symptom of the disease. Non liquet.— 
With bhidri yAvaya we have supplied vagram from Pada d. 

9. nish¢dkvarim with the following pun in mind: nish 
takmdnam (suva, or the like), ‘drive out the takman.’ The 
word is dz. λεγ., but fairly clear as a synonym of prakirza', 
pumskali, vipravragini, bahukarizi, &c. Such a person is 
correlated with the cross-roads; see the citations in our 
edition of the Grzhyasamgraha II, 23, note 3 (Zeitschr. d. 
Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XX XV, 573), and add Kaus. 
37. 9. 

Stanza 7. 

Ὁ. The etymology of balhika in the mind of the poet 
(bahika ‘externus;’ cf. note on st. 5) accounts for para- 
stardm ‘farther away.’ The statement may not be utilised 
for geographical purposes. 

ἃ. νῖτνα dhundhi, ‘shake her through as it were’ with 
humorous intent. The symptom referred to is ague, and it 
is paralleled by the use of the root vip in st. £0 (cf. also 1X, 
8, 6). 

Stanza 8. 


b. I have translated in accordance with the vulgata, 
bandhv addhi parétya, but not without a strong temptation 
to emend to bandhv ddhi parétya, and translate, ‘ having 
passed over to thy kinfolk, the Mahavrishas and the Miga- 
vants.’ ‘Eat your kinfolk’ seems exceedingly crude even 
for the present production. The MSS. exhibit indigestible 
variants. 


Δ Schol. at Grihyasamgraha II, 22, grzhe-grihe gamanasila. 


V, 22. COMMENTARY. 449 


d. anyakshetrdzi va im seems to refer to other countries, 
nearer to the speaker than those mentioned in the stanza; 
perhaps, as Grill remarks, the Anga and Magadha men- 
tioned in st. 14. 


Stanza 9. 


The exact connection between the various statements 
made in this stanza is not easy to find. Perhaps as fol- 
lows: Takman does not take pleasure in the other regions 
(near by), that is, he remains in the country of the person 
praying ; therefore he seems to be implored not to damage 
him personally, but to seek out other victims. But (after 
all?) Takman has got himself ready and will go to the 
remotest region, that of the Balhikas, that being the final 
outcome announced by the priest in charge of the exorcism. 
Ludwig translates anyakshetré ‘ in andrer leib ;’ neither his, 
nor Grill’s translation makes clear the sequence of thought. 

Ὁ. The Pada is formulaic=VI, 26, 1 b. 

9. The translations of prérthas, our own included, are 
practically guess-work. The Pet. Lexicons, ‘ausriistung zur 
reise ;’ Ludwig, ‘ begirig nach der ferne ;’ Grill, in the same 
spirit, ‘schon riistet Takman sich zur reis;’ Hillebrandt, 
‘bereitwillig.’ I have translated simply upon the basis of 
the denominative prarthayati, ‘ desire, demand.’ The metre 
demands pra-arthas. 


Stanza 10. 


a. We have translated rdrd by ‘ deliriously hot.’ In the 
Atharvan it occurs only as a form of the takmdn (see st. 13, 
and I, 25, 4; VII, 116, 1, and cf. Tait. S. II, 5, 2, 3), but in 
the Tazdya-Brahmaza VII, 5, 10 it occurs as an epithet of 
Agni, and the scholiast is pretty nearly right in commenting, 
rarQ iti sabdayam4no dahatt=ti rdraz. The word is indeed 
to be derived from the root ru, ‘ howl, and it expresses both 
the heat and delirium of the fever. Foragnir rira, cf. also 
the mantra in Kaus. 71, 6, addressed to Agni, m4 no ruro&, 
&c. Sayama at AV. I, 25, 4, sitanantarabhavine gvaraya. 

Ὁ. For avepayad, cf. the note on stanza 7d. Read kasd 
Avepayak. 


[42] Gg 


450 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 11. 


Ὁ. We have not rendered baldsa by ‘consumption,’ with 
most of the authorities, on account of our distrust of the 
commentators: Mahidhara at Vag. 5. XII, 97, kshaya- 
vyadhi ... balam asyati kshipati,and Sayaza at AV. XIX, 
34, 10, balasya asanakartéram balakshayakérakam. The 
explanations are of the etymologising sort, and the utter- 
ances of the texts as gathered by Zimmer, p. 385 ff., are not 
conclusive. The strongest evidence in favour of the identity 
or similarity of baldsa and consumption is the parallel- 
ism of VI, 14, 1 with V, 30, 9, but even that is not conclu- 
sive. Further, the formal parallelism with kilasa, which 
means ‘some kind of eruption, or leprosy, points to a 
similar conclusion, ‘sore, or swelling, for baldésa. Such, 
indeed, was Grohmann’s view, Ind. Stud. IX, 396 ff. (cf. 
also Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, pp. 296 and 311), 
and we do not see that it is supported by a lesser array of 
intrinsic evidence. The question is still sub judice, and is 
not likely to be settled until the medical SAstras reveal 
their treatment of the disease more fully. We have there- 
fore not undertaken to translate the word for the present. 
Ludwig renders it by ‘dropsy,’ upon what authority, we 
fail to see.—Note the masculine thematic form kasdm fol- 
lowing closely upon the fem. kas& in st. 10 Ὁ ; we may, of 
course, resort to a correction of the accent (kdsam), but see 
our note on I, 12, 3b. udyuga is ἅπ. Aey., and might per- 
haps better have been left untranslated. We are permitting 
the word udyoga, ‘exertion,’ and Ludwig's rendering of 
udyuga by ‘angestrengter husten’ to entice us. Grill 
retains the original, ‘mit Schwindsucht, Husten, Udyuga ;’ 
Zimmer, p. 384, ‘den Baldsa und den sich anschliessenden 
Ka4sa.’ 

Stanza 12. 


6. For paman, see Grohmann, I. c., p. 401 ff.; Zimmer, 
l. c., p. 388, and Wise, l.c., p. 261. The latter describes 
the disease in accordance with Xaraka’s teachings as fol- 
lows: ‘Small tubercles in great numbers of a dark or 


V, 22. COMMENTARY. 451 


purplish hue with a copious bloody discharge accompanied 
with burning and itching.’ In the AV. the word is dz. Aey. 
The schol. at Sat. Br. III, 2, 1, 31 renders pamd by vikar- 
Aika, ‘scurf, eruption.’ 

Stanza 13. 

a. Zimmer, |. c., 382, suggests upon rather slender evi- 
dence another explanation of tr/tiyaka, ‘he who produces 
death after the third paroxysm.’ SAyaza at AV. XIX, 39, 
10 comments upon the traditional text sirshalokdm tr/tiya- 
kam (which Roth and Whitney have emended in their 
edition to sirshasokam triétiyakam), with the result, ‘Thy 
head (O kush¢fa-plant) is in the third heaven,’ thus omit- 
ting an opportunity to tell us what trétiyakais. At I, 25,4, 
however, he has, tvztiyadivase 4gakkhkate. Without doubt 
the takman tritiyaka is identical with gvara tritiyaka, Su- 
sruta 11, 404,7; 405, 14, trztiyakas tritiye=hni (pravartate), 
i.e. the rhythmus tertianus. Wise, ]-c., p. 232, says, 
rather obscurely, ‘When the fever returns at an interval of 
one day it is called Tritiyaka.’—vitrztiya is ἅπ. Aey. and not 
altogether clear. Grohmann, I. c., p. 388, regards this as 
equivalent to the tertiana duplicata, consisting of daily 
attacks which, however, correspond in every other day as 
regards the time of day in which they take place, or as 
regards their intensity. But vitritiya translated philolo- 
gically means ‘leaving aside the third day,’ and there is no 
evidence to connect it with the tertiana duplicata. Ac- 
cording to our construction the vitritiya would appear to 
be identical with the takman of whom it is said, yo... 
ubhayadyur abhyéti, I, 25, 4 (see the note there), and VII, 
116, 2. 

b. sadamdi is probably the equivalent of the sastata- 
£vara, or satata-gvara (Wise, I. c., 231), a kind of fever which 
continues without interruption for a longer period, seven, 
ten, or twelve days, is then followed by an interval, and 
again occurs and remains for several days, Sdyana at AV. 
XIX, 39, 10 blunderingly refers sadamdi to the kushtha- 
plant, and renders it by sad4 rogdz4m khandayita, ‘the 
constant crusher of diseases.’ He has in mind no doubt 

Gg2 


452 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 

the root 3. da, ‘divide,’ and in this sense it may be an 
epithet of the takmdn, ‘always cutting. The Pet. Lex. 
suggests derivation from 2. da, ‘fiir immer fesselnd, 
which is no less apt an etymology than the preceding. 
Zimmer's suggestion, 1. c. 383, note, is ingenious and 
enticing. He would see in the word an abbreviation of 
*sadam-dina, made like madhyam-dina, and meaning there- 
fore ‘belonging to every day’;’ this etymology may per- 
haps now be supported by sadadi (adverb), ‘commonly,’ 
which occurs quite frequently in the Maitrayani-samhita, I, 
5, 12 (80, 18); I, 10, 9 (£49, 15), &c.—sarada here, along 
with grafshma and varshika in the next Padas show that 
the takman raged at various seasons; it seems, however, 
to be associated most persistently with the autumn, at least 
if we may trust the adjective visvasdrada! in AV. IX, 8, 6; 
XIX, 34, 10. Wise, 1. c., p. 233, remarks: ‘The type of 
fever varies according to the season of the year.’ 


Stanza 14. 


e. Read gdnam iva as three syllables, either ganeva (cf. 
Roth, Kuhn’s Zeitschrift, XXVI, 45 ff.), or ganam va, with 
reference to the Prakritic form.—sevadhim, i.e. they shall 
hold on to the takman like a treasure, that he may not 
return. 


V, 23. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 23. 


The practice connected with this hymn at Kaus. 29, 20- 
26 is an amplification of that described in Kaus. 27, 14-20 
in conjunction with AV. II, 31, being supplemented by 
a distinct therapeutical treatment of the patient, as follows: 
20. ‘ While reciting AV. V, 23 the practitioner uses the root 
of a (reed-grass called) karira 2, performing the rite described 
in connection with the arrow (at Kaus. 27, 15) upon a cer- 


' Sayama at AV. XIX, 34, το glosses the word with, sarvasya 
sarvadé va visaranakartéram ! 

* According to Kesava he ties it on as an amulet, but according 
to Kaus. 27, 14 he offers it as an oblation (guhoti). ; 


V, 23. COMMENTARY. 453 


tain part of it’. 21. The dust (which forms part of the 
performance in 27, 18) he takes from the village (using it 
the same way as in Kaus. 27, 18.19). 22. He places (the 
sick child) upon the lap of its mother to the west of the fire, 
and with the bottom of a pestle (heated in the fire, and) 
greased with butter, he warms the palate (of the child) by 
thrice pressing upon it. 23. He anoints it with (a mix- 
ture of the leaves? of a) horse-radish tree and butter. 24. 
He takes twenty-one (dried) usira-roots (andropogon muri- 
catus 3), pronounces over them the hemistich V, 23, 13 c,d, 
and performs upon them the acts mentioned therein (i.e. 
he mashes the roots and burns their surfaces with fire, 
Kesava). 25. He presents the usira-roots (to the patient), 
26. He pours water (upon the patient) along with the 
twenty-one (usira-roots).’ The practice is by no means 
clear in every detail, Sdtra 20 being especially obscure. 

The hymn has been translated by Kuhn, Zeitsch. f. vgl. 
Sprachforsch. XIII, 140 ff., and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 501. Cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, 
p- 148. 

Stanza 1. 

Cf. VI, 94, 3. The meaning of the stem dta- (4 uta-) is 
not altogether certain; see Whitney, Roots, p. 11, under u, 
‘proclaim.’ But I do not see how the meaning of the stem 
can be derived from the root va, ‘ weave,’ and the preposi- 
tion 4 (cf. the Pet. Lex. under 5. v4), as Whitney suggests. 
Cf. Sayava in the note on VI, 94, 3. Heaven and earth 
are called upon in a general way to protect against enmity 
and trouble, cf. II, 12, 1, and especially V1, 3, 2. The 


1 That is, according to D4rila and Kesava he winds the young 
of worms around a certain spot of the karfra-stalk (Dar. kariraika- 
desam), mashes the stalk, roasts the worms in the fire, and places 
the stalk upon the fire (correct D4rila’s vratapatyadadhati simply to 
pratapaty Adadhati). 

2 Cf. Darila at 38, 5, sigrupatrazi. 

5. The roots are dried (girza, garant): see Darila to the passage, 
and the Paribhash4-sdtra, Kaus. 8,17. D4rila to the latter passage 
describes them as an odorous substance (gandhadravyam). 


454 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


goddess Sarasvati is invoked perhaps as the heavenly phy- 
sician; Indra and Agni as driving away evil spirits. Cf. 
also the Mantrabrahmaaa of the SAma-veda, II, 7, 4, 
krimim indrasya bahubhy4m ava#kam patayami, and Indra’s 
mill-stone, AV. II, 31, 1. 


Stanza 2. 
b. Indra as king of the gods, like the earthly king, is the 
guardian of treasures ; cf. IV, 22, 3, where the king is called 
dhanapatir dhananim. 


Stanza 3. 

a. A parallel to worms in the eye, in Teutonic folk- 
lore, is cited by Prof. Kuhn, 1. c., p. 150. In the medical 
S4stras a disease of the eye is known under the name kri- 
migranthi, ‘ sty ;’ this may be related to the disease which 
is here imagined rather fancifully. 

96. ‘The worm which gets to the middle of the teeth’ 
is similarly described in the later medicinal works as kri- 
midantaka, ‘ caries’ (Pet. Lex.), and dantéda (krimi), Wise, 
Ρ. 349; cf. also the krzmiddshitas dantavarzam, by which 
the Azk-Pratisikhya XVII, 10 describes syava ; see Reg- 
nier’s edition, III, 189. 


Stanza 4. 

For the fanciful descriptions of forms, colours, and names 
in this and the following stanzas, see Kuhn, ]. c., p. 147, and 
cf. the note on II, 32, 2. 

6. The formula babhruis 4a babhrikarzas ka is repeated 
in VI, 16, 3c: the hymn is described by the commentators 
at Kaus. 30, 1 ff, as a charm against ophthalmia. It is 
there also implicated in a fanciful list of personified 
diseases. 

ἃ. For koka, cf. VIII, 6, 2, where Sayama glosses the 
word by éakravaka. 

Stanza 5. 

a,b. For the epithets sitikaksha and sitibahu, cf. Vag. 5. 
XXIV, 2. 4.7; Tait. S. V, 5, 20,15; 6, 13, 1; Maitr. 5. III, 
4,3. 5. 8. 


V, 30. COMMENTARY. 455 


Stanza 6. 


See the notes on II, 32, 1 and 2, and cf. especially AV. 
VI, 52, 1=RV. I, 191, 9. 


Stanza 7. 


a, Ὁ. All designations are obscure. The Kazs. 5. has 
a pendant yavasha, perhaps a popular modification of 
yévasha, in deference to yava, ‘barley !;’ kashkasha, egatkda, 
and sipavitnuka are dm. λεγε: A natural explanation for 
egatka suggests itself, ‘ active, mobile.’ 


Stanza 8. 


b. nadaniman, ‘roaring, or buzzing.’ This, again, is az. 
λεγ. 

(e. mashmash4 kr? recurs in the K4zh. 8. XVI, 7; the 
Maitr. S. II, 7, 7 (p. 84, 1. 3) has mrzsmrisa (var. mrzsmrésa) 
in its place; the Tait. S. IV, 1, 10, 3, and some of the 
MSS. of the Vag. S. XI, 80 (supported by the Pratisakhya, 
V, 37) read masmasA, an interesting onomatopoetic aggre- 
gation. 

ἃ, The P4da is repeated at IT, 31, 1. 


Stanza 9. 


With the exception of the first Pada this stanza is iden- 
tical with II, 32, 2; so also the next three stanzas repeat, 
without change, II, 32, 3-5. See the notes there. 


V, 30. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 59. 


The present hymn is of essentially the same character as 
VIII, 1 and 2, and its manipulation in the ritual texts, 
Kaus. 58, 3. 11, and the Ayushyagaza (Kaus. 54, 11, note), 
coincides with both of these. See the introduction to 
VIII, τ. Previous renderings by Muir, Original Sanskrit 
Texts, V, 441 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 494 ff. 


? Cf. Contributions, Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, 429. 
note 2. 


456 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 1. 

The first hemistich is verbose and obscure. Muir, ‘from 
thy vicinity, from thy vicinity, from a distance, from thy 
vicinity (I call) to thee;’ Ludwig, without construing, 
“deine nahe nihe, deine ferne πᾶμε We have taken the 
two Padas as quasi-intensive expressions, equivalent respec- 
tively to 4vatas te, and paravatas te. 


Stanza 2. 
Cf. for Pada Ὁ the Italian proverb :— 


Da chi mi fido, guarda mi, Dio, 
Da chi mi non, mi guarderd io.— 


Stanza 5. 

Cf. Ath. Paris. 4,1. We have regarded the stanza, not 
without hesitancy, as a plea of the professional medicine- 
man in behalf of his art, and against domestic remedial 
expedients (‘hausmittelchen’). The expression pratydk 
sevasva looks as though it meant ‘refuse with thanks,’ and 
our rendering of sargatak aims to reproduce the supposed 
satirical flavour of the passage. 


Stanza 10. 
Cf. VIII, 1, 13, and the note on the passage. 


Stanza 12. 

b. The construction of the Pada is not quite clear. 
Ludwig, ‘anbetung denen die zu den vatern fiihren;’ Muir. 
‘reverence to the Fathers, and to those who guide us.’ 
Both renderings are non-committal; we have in mind the 
dogs of Yama as the subject of uta γέ nayanti. 


Stanza 13. 
Cf. Ath. Paris. 13, 3. 


V, 31. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 76. 


The hymn belongs to the krzty4pratiharamAni, a series of 
hymns designed to repel spells. It is closely similar in 
character to X, 1, together with which it is employed in the 


V, 31. COMMENTARY. 457 


practices described at Kaus. 39, 7 ff.; see the introduction 
to X,1. The particular point of interest in this hymn is 
the full catalogue of animate and inanimate objects within 
which spells were instituted. It seems that these objects, 
through which the prosperity of an enemy was attacked, 
went in the ritual by the name of marmzi, ‘ vital spots ;’ 
see Kaus. 39, 28. 31. The notion appears to be that a man 
is vulnerable through his belongings as well as his own 
person. Cf. in general, Maitr. S. III, 3, 8 (106, 11); Tait. 
S. VI, 2, 11, 1; Sat. Br. ITI, 5, 4, 2. 


Stanza 1. 


For the entire stanza, cf. IV, 17, 4, and our notes there. 

a. An unburned vessel figures also in a witchcraft 
practice, Sat. Br. XIV, 9, 4, 11 = Brth. Ar. Up. VI, 4, 12. 
The symbolic aspect of an unburned vessel, namely its 
fragility, is in evidence at Sat. Br. XII, 1, 3, 23; Manu III, 
179. We would remark in passing that the Padapasha’s 
yad yamam kakrur at VI, 116, 1 is to be emended to yddy 
4mdm kakrir. Correct accordingly the Index Verborum. 


Stanza 2. 


b. It is difficult to decide whether kuririni refers to some 
individual animal, ‘a crested animal,’ perhaps ‘ peacock,’ or 
whether it is to be regarded as an epithet of ‘goat’ in Pada 
a. Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 130, renders it ‘horned,’ but 
this is based upon a misinterpretation of VI, 138, 2; see 
the note there. Cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 91. 


Stanza 3. 


The solipeds, horse, ass, &c., have one hoof, and incisors 
above and below, in distinction from the animals called 
anyatodant, ‘those that have incisors only in the lower 
jaw. They are contrasted with the pasture-animals in the - 
preceding stanza. See Zimmer, l.c., pp. 74, 75. 


Stanza 4. 


a,b. The meaning of amald4y4m and naraéféyd4m (vanaré- 
ky&m ?) is problematic. Our translation is of the etymological 


458 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


sort, and the feminine gender of the words is difficult to 
account for. But the suggestion of the Pet. Lexs. that 
both are designations of plants does not commend itself. 
See the passages cited under amila. 


Stanza 9. 


6. mroka and ηἰγάδῃά are designations of two kinds of 
destructive fire; cf. XVI, 1, 3. Our rendering of both 
words is purely tentative. 


Stanza 10. 


6. maryddhirebhyad is very obscure. The Padapaczha, 
mary4-dhirebhyad, as a compound. At Maitr. S. I, 4,8 
(56, 18) we have maryddhairyema, and the absence of the 
vriddhi of the first syllable suggests that marya may be an 
independent word, the enclitic mary, for which see Pischel, 
Vedische Studien, I, 61 ff. We might then translate, ‘ The 
fool verily has prepared (the spell) against the wise.’ But 
Pischel’s treatment of the word is not altogether con- 
vincing. 

Stanza 11. 

The first three Padas are identical with the corresponding 
Padas of IV, 18, 6. 

Stanza 12. 


Ὁ. malin, ‘he that practises witchcraft with the roots of 
plants:’ mdlakriy4, Vishvu XXV, 7; mdlakarman, Manu 
IX, 290; XI, 64; Mahdabh. III, 233, 13=14660 ff. Cf. 
Winternitz, Das Altindische Hochzeitsrituell, p. 98. 


VI, 2. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 66. 


The hymn is employed at Vait. Sd. 16, 13 in the course 
of the agnishtoma. The second stanza is made the pivot 
of a small charm against Rakshas (rakshobhaishagyam) at 
Kaus. 29, 27. ‘While reciting AV. VI, 2, 2 the performer 
eats milk-porridge that has been cooked upon a fire built 
up of birds’ nests.’ The symbolic connection with the 
stanza is apparent. 


VI, 9. COMMENTARY. 459 


The hymn has been translated by Florenz, Bezzenberger’s 
Beitrage, XII, 251. 

Stanza 1. 

b. & dhavata (cf. RV. VII, 32, 6) is not altogether clear. 
Sdyana, 4dhavanam nama adabhyagrahartham grehitasya 
vasativarigalasya (cf. Vait. SQ. 16, 1)... yad va... 
dasAdpavitrevza sarvatak sodhayata. 


Stanza 3. 
The first hemistich is identical with RV. VII, 32, 8 a, b. 


VI, 8. COMMENTARY TO PAGE !00. 


The rites connected with this charm are stated in the 
introduction to II, 30, above. The hymn has been trans- 
lated by Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 261 ff.; Florenz, Bezzen- 
berger’s Beitrige, XII, 257; Grill*, pp. 54, 158 ff. The 
Anukramazi designates it as kamatmadaivatam. 


Stanza 1. 


Cf. RV. X, 10, 14. The formulaic refrain occurs also at 
I, 34, 5; II, 30, 1. 

Stanza 2. 

‘ Large birds, as they start to fly, beat the ground with 
their wings, unable, as it were, to get off. Thus the mind 
of the woman shall not be able to free itself from her lover.’ 
See Professor Roth, as quoted by Grill, and cf. VI, 18, 3; 
70, 1. 


VI, 9. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 101. 


For the practices connected with this charm, see the 
introduction to 11, 30, above. Previous translations: Weber, 
Ind. Stud. V, 264 ff.; Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XIT, 
10. The Anukramazi, kamatmadaivatam. 


Stanza 1. 
Cf. III, 25, 3. 4, and the spirit of that hymn in general. 


460 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 2. 


The second hemistich is formulaic; see I, 34, 2; III, 25, 
5; the last Pada at VI, 42, 3; 43, 3. 


Stanza 3. 


a. Literally, ‘whose relations are a licking,’ i.e. ‘ whose 
young furnish constant occasion for licking.’ Licking the 
young is typical for fond maternity, e.g. AV. V, 1, 4. 


VI, 11. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 97. 


The hymn is employed in a ceremony calculated to 
ensure the birth of a male child (Kesava and Darila, 
pumsavanam) at Kaus. 35, 8-10, to wit: 8.‘ While reciting 
the hymn a fire is churned from the (two kinds of wood 
sami and asvattha) mentioned in the hymn, the fire is 
thrown into ghee (prepared from the milk) of a cow with 
a male calf, and then the ghee is treated like the paidva 
(i.e., it is put with the right thumb up the nose into the 
right nostril of the pregnant woman)". 9. (Casting the fire) 
into a stirred drink with honey it (the stirred drink) is given 
to the woman to drink. 10. (The fire) is surrounded with 
the wool of a male animal?, and the wool is tied (as an 
amulet) upon the woman.’ The symbolism of these acts is 
in general very clear. In the act of churning the fire sami 
is the female, and asvattha the male; cf. Ad. Kuhn, Die 
Herabkunft des Feuers!, p. 71 ff.; Zimmer, Altindisches 
Leben, pp. 58, 59. 

The hymn has been rendered by Weber, Indische Studien, 
V, 264 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 477; Zimmer, |.c., 


1 Cf. Kaus. 32, 21 in the introduction to X, 4. 

7 We emend krishnornAbhiA to vrishua Qraabhis with double 
samdhi; cf. Kausika, Introduction, p. lviii ff. Some MSS. read 
vrishno-, and vishvo-, and there is apparently no sense in black 
wool; on the other hand the wool of a male animal is exceedingly 
suggestive. 


VI, 12. COMMENTARY. 461 


319; Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrige, XII, 260 ff. The 
Anukramazi, retodevatyam uta mantroktadevatyam. 


Stanza 1. 


b. ‘ The male child’ is the fire, which plays, therefore, an 
important part in the practices stated above. 


Stanza 2. 


d. Pragapati, the god of procreation, is, of course, the 
prime authority in these matters ; they are, therefore, said 
to be of his dictation. 

Stanza 3. 


Sinivalt and Anumati are two of the personifications of 
the four phases of the moon. They all preside over the act 
of procreation, and special rites in their behalf are practised 
by those desirous of offspring. See Weber, |. c., p. 228 ff. ; 
Zimmer, l.c., p. 352. 


VI, 12. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 28. 


According to the text of Kaus. 29, 28. 29 in our edition 
the performances connected with this hymn consist in 
quickly (sibham) giving the patient honey to drink, and 
then continuing with the practices described in connection 
with IV, 6 at Kaus. 28, 2 ff.; see the introduction to IV, 6. 
But Kesava and Sayama (who regularly bases his presenta- 
tion of the ritual upon Kesava) have madhukridam for 
Kausika’s madhu sibham!; Dérila’s full text is, mamda- 
kam (‘broth’) siktasya karm4bhimantrya payayati. It 
seems likely, therefore, that madhusibham is to be regarded 
as a compound meaning some kind of honey mixture. 
Shankar Pandit prints accordingly madhusibham as a 
compound 3, 


' Kesava reads also once, madhus4mtam. 

> For gapams ka, Kaus. 29, 29, Sayana reads gapAdims ka. This 
does not commend itself: since the passage refers to the rites 
described in Kaus. 28, 2 we should expect gapAdini (sc. karm4zi) 4a. 


462 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rig- 
veda, III, 501 ff.; Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XII, 
262 ff. Cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, 
p.149. The Anukrama#i, takshakadaivatam (cf. Kaus. 28, 
1; 29, 1, and the introduction to IV, 6). 


Stanza 1. 


Imperfect metaphors. In the second half the notion is 
that night puts a stop to all activity, and thus the physician 
stops the action of the poison. In Padac the notion seems 
to be that the hamsd is awake at night ; cf. Zimmer, Altin- 
disches Leben, p. 90. Sdyava takes hamsd in the sense of 
4tman, soul (cf. brahmdn = paramahamsa), ‘as the entire 
body, but not the soul, is at rest.’ Perhaps hamsa is here, as 
frequently elsewhere, the sun. Can we trust the present 
poet to know that the sun is at work by night in another 
hemisphere? The sense would then be that every creature 
but the hamsa (i.e. the sun) is at rest. Cf. RV. X, 136, 5. 
Ludwig, ‘ wie die nacht das iibrige lebende tétet (? dhvan- 
581), or, ‘as night separates the remaining living things 
from the sun (hamsa).’ 

Stanza 2. 


ce. Asanvat (Padap. 4san-vat) is ἅπ. Aey., literally ‘that 
which hasa mouth. S4yav#a, A4syayuktam. In effect the 
word seems to mean ‘the present’ (‘that which can speak, 
or breathe?’ highly and grotesquely poetic, if true). The 
Pet. Lex. suggests that it is either an obscure derivative of 
root as, ‘be,’ or a corruption of A4sannam. Does it stand for 
asthanvat, ‘corporeal ;’ cf. Avestan astvat? The change 
of asthan to 4san may have crept in from Asné in 3d. Or 
possibly, 4Atmanvat. The Paippalada has Asunvat. 


Stanza 8. 


6. Parushni is the name of a river: Zimmer, l.c., p. 11. 
Sitp4l4 seems to be a fanciful, typical river, or lake, named 
after the water-plant sipala, avak4 (blyxa octandra), ib., 
p. 71. The avaka quenches fire, see Contributions, Second 
Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 342 ff. The entire stanza 


VI, 14. COMMENTARY. 463 


contains the statement that the poet with his song is 
sweetening all waters and (the plants of) the mountains. 
In the practice honey is added to water and other 
ingredients, as a potion for the invalid, 


VI, 14. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 8. 


For the nature of the disease baldsa, see our discussion in 
the note at V, 22, 11, and cf. VI, 127. This particular 
charm is defined by Kesava (and SAyaza) as a sleshma- 
bhaishagyam, ‘cure for phlegm, in agreement with the 
medical S4stras; cf. Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, 
p- 311. We may suppose that it refers to some virulent 
swelling of the throat. The indications of the Kausika, 29, 
30, are not helpful: the practice is purely symbolic. A reed 
is placed into the water (of a river) and then the patient is 
washed with water by means of a branch from a ‘holy’ 
tree (D4rila, sintavrzkshasakalena ; cf. Kaus. 8, 15), so that 
the water flows down upon the reed. The perishable reed 
upon which the disease has been washed out of the patient 
is supposed to float away ; cf. sts. 3c, d. 

The hymn has been translated by Florenz, Bezzenberger’s 
Beitrage, XII, 265 ff. The Anukramazi, balasadevatyam. 


Stanza 1. 


Cf. the parallel stanza, V, 30, 9, where very similar 
qualities are ascribed to consumption, yakshma. But we 
must not, on that account, go so far as to identify baldsa 
outright with yakshma. 

a, Ὁ. Note the alliteration between asthi- and Asthitam. 


Stanza 2. 


a, Ὁ. The Paippalada has krizomi for kshinomi. The 
Pet. Lex. suggests, most ingeniously, the reading nir.. . 
akshzomi for nir... kshizomi (cf. IV, 22, 1, and for the 
sense in general III, 9, 2). But perhaps the 4m. λεγ., nik 
kshiaomi, ‘remove, destroy, simply suggests the other 
verb by way of zeugma. Sdyasa with the Paippalada 


464 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


escapes the difficulty by reading pushkaram, ‘as a lotus 
that has grown up in a great lake thus it is torn up by the 
root.’ Possibly this is the true solution. Cf. also VI, 
127, 2. 

o,d. Cf. RV. VII, 59, 12. The Paippalada, mQlam ulvalvo 
yatha. 


Stanza 3. 


b. SAyama reads susuka&, ‘as a wild animal of that name 
(susuka) runs to a distance.’ The word is not quotable. 
The Pet. Lexs., on the other hand, suggest that asumga is 
the name of some bird. Neither suggestion commends 
itself. 

c. For the reed that passes away in a year’s time, cf. 1V, 
19, 1. On the other hand reeds grow profusely and quickly, 
VI, 137, 2. 3. Sayana reads ita for {ta. 


VI, 16. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 30. 


This hymn, full of hocus-pocus and singular diction, 
represents the extreme Atharvanesque manner, and for this 
reason alone is worth reproducing. All details are ex- 
ceedingly obscure, and the rather full elaboration of it in 
the ritual is not very helpful. The commentators agree in 
regarding it as a charm against ophthalmia (akshirogabhai- 
shagyam); the performances, Kaus. 30, 1-6, are as follows : 
1. ‘ While reciting the hymn (an amulet derived from the 
mustard-plant), anointed with the dregs of mustard-oil 1, is 
fastened (to the patient). 2. (And) the stem (of the mus- 
tard-plant) smeared with (mustard-oil is also fastened upon 
him as an amulet). 3. The leaf (of the mustard-plant) 
mixed (with the oil) is given (to the patient)*. 4. (Then) 
four fruits of the sdka-tree (tectona grandis) are given (to 


1 We would now read sarshapatailasampatam in accordance with 
the comments of Darila, Kesava, and Sayaza. The latter sarsha- 
patailena samp4titam. 

3 Sdyana, sirshapatailena bhrish/am sarshapapatrasikam saksh(- 
rogagrastaya prayakshet. 


VI, 16. COMMENTARY. 465 


the patient). 5. A paste made from the sap of the plant 
is smeared (upon the eyes of the patient)’. 6. (The 
patient) eats (of the sap).’ We are permitted to judge 
from these practices that the mustard-plant, and perhaps 
other plants (the séka-tree) are referred to in the hymn, 
but the identification is uncertain. ; 

The fourth stanza is rubricated at Kaus. 51, 15. 16 in 
a practice that seems to be calculated to remove weeds 
‘from a field (4labheshagam)*. The practice consists in 
burying three tips of the sila#gAla-plant (cf. Kausika, In- 
troduction, p. xlv) into the middle of a furrow. 

The hymn has been translated by Florenz, Bezzenber- 
ger’s Beitrage, XII, 268 ff The Anukramazi, mantrokta- 
devatyam uta £andramasam. 


Stanza 1. 


Sayama reads 4vayo and andvayo, which he derives from 
avayati, ‘eat, and accordingly, with complete dependence 
upon the Sdtra, ‘O mustard that art being eaten, and, 
O mustard-stalk that art not eaten.’ It must be admitted 
that there is a punning correlation between these two words 
and Avaya’ in st. 2d, which SAyava renders, bhakshitam 
akaro# ; it is quite likely, too, that 4bayu is more or less 
identical with the mustard-plant. But here our guesses 
end. Sdyaza glosses karambhdm again after the Satra, 
sarshapatailamisrabhvish¢am tatpatrasikam (Kaus. 30, 3). 


Stanza 2. 


a, b. The mention by name of the father and mother of 
a plant is typical and formulaic; cf. the note on V, 5, I. 
Shankar Pandit reads vihdhlo; SAdyaza, vihamlakhyak 
kasit pité. For mad&vati, cf. IV, 7,4, and the note on 
varavavati, IV, 7, 1. 

e,d. For hf na of the vulgata Shankar Pandit with the 


1 Sayama, mQlakshfram abhimantrya vyadhitasya akshiat afgyét. 
3 For ala, see Kausika, Introduction, p. xlvii. But Sayama reads 
annabheshagam, ‘curing of food:’ annasvastyayanakamas tisrah 
sasyavallir abhimantrya kshetramadhye nikhanet. Cf. also Kesava. 


[42] Hh 


466 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


majority of his MSS., both Samhita and Padapaéha, reads 
hi na (both enclitic). The sense of the extremely obscure 
passage seems to be, that the plant does not consume itself 
in vain, but confers the benefits expected from it. So also 
Sdyava, Atmano hanim prapy4pi paropakaraparo bhavasi, 
‘even when thou hast arrived at thy own destruction thou 
hast for thy highest aim the benefaction of others.’ 


Stanza 3. 


Sdyama regards tauvilika as the name of a female demon 
that causes disease. And thus also babhri and babhri- 
karma are two personified rogaheth?. We have rendered 
ailabak by ‘howling one’ (Sayama, rogavisesha) ; better, 
‘howl’ (abstract): cf. XII, 5, 47. In Pada d the Pada- 
pacha reads ni# 4la as two separate words, and we have 
taken 4la as a vocative. The word, according to Darila 
to Kaus. 25, 18 (cf. the introduction to I, 3, p. 236), seems 
to mean ‘a kind of weed.’ Whitney in the Index Ver- 
borum suggests a verb nir ala from a root ἃ], comparing 
vy 4la, V, 22, 6 (obscurum per obscurius). Sdyaza, he 
nirala etatsamg#a roga, again regards the entire word as 
the name of a disease. 


Stanza 4. 


All that we know of the names in this stanza is that they 
are plants, and, probably, compounds of 4la (st. 3), though 
the Padapazka does not divide them as compounds*. At 
Kaus. 51, 16 sila#gala occurs as the name of a plant 
(Kesava, sasyavalli ; cf. Kausika, Introduction, p. xlv), and 
Sayaza says, doubtless correctly, of all three, tisrat samg7ias 
tisrin4m sasyavallinim. But the true value of the formula 
seems beyond reach. 


1 Pada c is formulaic: it recurs at V, 23, 46; see the note 
there. 

? alasa means ‘dull, sluggish ;’ for silé#gala, cf. silaAf, V, 5, 1.8. 
The MSS. of Kaus. 51, 16 read silé#g4l4, suggesting the presence 
of the word sila, ‘stone,’ in the first member. Sdyana, salé#gala 
(sasyamafigart). 


VI, 18. COMMENTARY. 467 


VI, 17. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 98. 


The Kausika, 35, 12-15, has a performance entitled 
garbhadrimhazaAni, ‘ performances for steadying the womb, 
or foetus, which rubricates, in addition to our hymn, AV. 
V, 1,1, and a mantra whose pratika is akyutA (probably 
the hymn given in full at Kaus. 98, 21). It is as follows: 
35,,13, ‘A bowstring, thrice knotted, is tied about (the 
foetus) that has been seized by convulsions. 14. (The 
woman) is fed upon lumps of earth. 15. Black pebbles 
are scattered about her couch.’ For the character of 
gambha, ‘convulsions,’ see the note on II, 4, 2, and cf. 
especially the references there given to Wise, pp. 421-3. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 477; Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XII, 269 ff. 
The Anukramazi, garbhadv7mhanadevatyam. 


VI, 18. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 106. 


The performances at Kaus. 36, 25 ff. involve the use of 
this hymn in company with VII, 45, and the third stanza 
of VII, 74. They picture a woman engaged in symbolic 
acts calculated to appease a jealous man, and to remove the 
jealousy from his body, to wit: 25. ‘The practising woman 
mutters the above-mentioned mantras against (the jealous) 
man, presents to him (a stirred drink with grits, Kaus. 7, 7), 
and touches (his person). 26. With the first (of these 
hymns) she performs upon his body the act described in 
the hymn (i.e. she blows out fire held over his body *). 
27. While reciting VII, 45, 2 (see the stanza) [she gives 
him to drink] water, warmed by pouring it over a heated 
axe.’ Soothing the jealous man, and the symbolic removal 
of the fire of his jealousy, are therefore the points of the 
practice. 


1 Kesava, atyuta dyaur iti. Dérila, sakhdntarfyashktam. 
3 Darila, hridayesgninirvapazam mantroktatvat. Kesava, kafipra- 
dese . . . dhamati. 
Hh2 


468 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


The present hymn has been rendered by Weber, Indische 
Studien, V, 235 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 514; Florenz, 
in Bezzenberger’s Beitrige, XII, 270 ff.; Grill”, pp. 28, 
159 ff. The Anukramani, irshy4vindsanadevatyam. 


Stanza 3. 


b. For manaskam patayishvukam, cf. RV. I, 163, 11; 
VI, 9, 5. Ludwig renders patayishwukdm by ‘zu falle 
bringend,’ but that would require p4tayishzukdm, since the 
Vedas discriminate between the stems pataya and pataya, 
the former being simple, the latter alone causative. Weber 
also causatively, ‘was dir den sinn entfallen macht.’ 

d. nvfter is untranslatable, though Ludwig renders the 
Pada, ‘ wie die erhitzung eines tinzers.’ The Paippalada 
reads triter; this supports in a measure Weber's and the 
Pet. Lexs.’ emendation to drifter, ‘as heat from a pot,’ or, 
‘as the exhalation from a (water-carrier’s) skin.’ Similarly 
also SAdyava, with the approval of Shankar Pandit, yatha 
dritek karmamayyé bhastrik4y4# sak4s4t tanmadhyavarti- 
nam dshmazam svdsavad antaAptritam vayum. 


VI, 20. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 3. 


The Kausika offers by way of practice to be performed 
in connection with this charm a part of that reported for 
AV. V, 22. The exceedingly terse Stra, 31, 7, agner 
ivesty uktas dave, is to be translated, ‘With AV. VI, 20 he 
does what has been said in connection with the forest-fire,’ 
i.e. according to Darila, what is prescribed in Stra 29, 19 
{and by implication also what is prescribed in 29, 18). 
Namely, he pours the dregs of gruel, which the patient has 
imbibed previously, from a copper vessel over his head into 
fire derived from a forest-fire. See the introduction to V, 22. 
The practice is again symbolic, aiming by attractio similium 
to obviate the symptoms of heat and fire incidental to the 
disease. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der 
Rigveda, III, 511; Zimmer, p. 380; and Florenz, in Bezzen- 
berger’s Beitrage, XII, 273 ff.; and it is quoted also in the 


VI, 20. COMMENTARY. 469 


takman4sanagama of the Gazam4l4, Ath. Paris. 32, 7 (Kaus. 
26,1, note). The Anukramawi designates it as yakshma- 
nasanadaivatam, and describes its authorship and purpose as 
follows: bhrigvangiré#... anena mantroktan sarvan devan 
astaut. 

Stanza 1. 

a. A gagatt Pada may be construed if one syllable is sup- 
pressed. Probably agnér iva is to be read as three syllables 
with elision of r and crasis (cf. Pet. Lex., s.v. iva 4c), or 
by reading va in the manner of the Prakrit. Florenz, 1. c., 
makes different propositions. The Anukramani designates 
the stanza as atigagati. 

sushmin is a derivative from sishma, whose fundamental 
meaning seems to be ‘lightning,’ from which ‘strength’ is 
derived secondarily; see Contributions, Sixth Series, 
Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 565 ff. 

b. matté vildpan; cf. the words unmadité and lélapiti 
in AV. VI, 111, 1. 

ο. Ludwig and Florenz propose to emend avratds to 
avratdm, because the epithet ‘impious’ does not seem to 
suit the takman ; cf. RV. I, 132, 4. A glance at AV. VII, 
116, 2 exhibits the takman with the same epithet under 
circumstances which admit of no doubt, showing the danger 
of subjective reasoning on matters connected with foreign 
folk-psychology. Ludwig renders ‘irgend einen werklosen.’ 


Stanza 2. 


a. Note the concatenation with Pada 1d: tadpurvadha in 
1d suggests Rudra in 2 a, and takmane is repeated. 

c,d. The diction lapses into formulary prose, which does 
not however deter the Anukramami from assigning the 
entire stanza to the metre kakummati prastérapankti. 


Stanza 8. 


The metre is very rough, according to the Anukramazi, 
satakpankti. P4da a is a trochaic anushfubh if we read 
sbhiso#ayishaur; Ὁ is a trish¢tubh; c is a hypercatalectic 
anushéubh; d a gagatt. 


470 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


a, Ὁ. In close parallelism with V, 22, 2 a,b: see the note 
on the passage. 

o. The epithet babhri calls to mind Latin febris from 
febrv-is, which would then be the ‘ brown, sallow disease.’ 

d. The meaning of vanya, ‘silvestris, seems fairly certain. 
The Pet. Lex. suggests ‘greenish,’ in order to establish 
a parallelism with aruda and babhru in the preceding Pada. 
Grohmann, I. c., p. 385, translates ‘dem wilden (wasserge- 
borenen?) Takman.’ If the word means ‘forest-born’ 
then it must refer to the malarial fever of the rainy season 
which is caused by the decay of the tropically prolific flora. 
Cf. the takmdn varshika in AV. V, 22, 13. Living in 
wooded, ill-ventilated valleys is, according to Wise, I. c., 
Pp. 220, one of the causes of fever. Sayava, samsevy4ya, ‘to 
him that is to be adored.’ 


VI, 21. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 30. 


This interesting hymn is accompanied by equally in- 
teresting symbolic practices, at Kaus. 30, 8-10, part of 
which passage is unfortunately very obscure: 8. ‘ While 
reciting the hymn the person that desires the growth of 
hair (Sayama, kesavriddhikamam) is rinsed off with water 
heated by burning plants! that grow upon the earth under 
trees. 9. His head is rinsed off with an effusion prepared 
by heating dice in water. το. (And also with an effusion 
prepared) from two nika/4-plants?(?).” The.symbolism of 
the first practice is quite clear: as the head of the earth is 
clothed with plants (cf. st. 1), as the crown of the tree 
is full of leaves, so shall the person practising the charm 
be luxuriantly hirsute. But the dice (the fruit of the 
vibhitaka-tree) and the nika¢a are left unexplained. 


1 Cf. the note on Kaus. 27, 29, in the introduction to III, 7 
(p. 336, note). 

* Very doubtful. Kesava, daruharidraharidre (!) 4a dvabhyam 
kvathayitva avasi#kati. Sayama, haridrakvathodakena avasiféet. 
According to these authorities nika‘i would then be the yellow 
curcuma. 


VI, 24. COMMENTARY. 471 


The hymn has been translated by Florenz, Bezzenber- 
ger’s Beitrage, p. 275 ff.; Grill?, pp. 50, 160 ff. Cf. also 
Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 150. The Anu- 
kramaai, £andramasam (cf. st. 2). 


Stanza 1. 


For the conception of the three earths, see the note on 
IV, 20, 2. Sayama refers tvaké in Pada c to the real earth, 
which is the skin of the other earths, tasdm prithivinam 
tvakah tvag iva upari vartam4na ya bhdmiz tasy4A. 


VI, 24. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 12. 


Rubricated at Kaus. 30, 142. Darila prescribes it against 
dropsy ; Kesava, more explicitly, as a cure for pain in the 
heart, dropsy and jaundice (cf. the introduction to I, 22). 
Kausika’s performance is as follows: ‘ While reciting VI, 
24 water is drawn from a stream along its current!; (the 
water is warmed with burning) grass from a thatch (and 
sprinkled upon the patient)®.’? It seems quite possible that 
the ritualist has in mind the particular disease dropsy: the 
water (Varuza’s infliction) shall flow from the body like 
a running stream. The word hriddyota (st. 1) would 
accord with dropsy, since diseases of the heart are fre- 
quently associated with it. But st. 2 seems to point to 
a more general and vague conception on the part of the 
hymn, and accordingly we have expanded the caption. 
See also Kaus. 9, 2; 18, 3, note; 41,14; Ath. Paris. 41, 1. 

The hymn has been translated by Florenz, Bezzenber- 
ger’s Beitrage, XII, p. 279 ff.; Grill’, pp. 13, 161 ff. 


1 anvipam: Pet. Lex. ‘am wasser gelegen’(?). The word 
means ‘along the course,’ i.e. the water must not be drawn against 
the current. Cf. Maitr. S. IV, 4, 1, and Kesava, anulomam. ‘The 
opposite of anvipam is pratipam, ‘against the current.’ 

3 The supplied passages are indicated, it seems, by Kaus. 29, ὃ ; 
see the note on V, 13, 5. Kausika is at times so terse as to render 
necessary the memorising of the entire Satra. 


472 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 1. 
d. For hriddyota, see the note on I, 22, 1. 


VI, 25. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 19. 


Adalbert Kuhn, in Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprach- 
forschung, XIII, 128 ff., treated the hymn under the head 
of ‘Seven and seventy-fold disease,’ comparing with it Ger- 
manic formulas directed against fever and other diseases ; 
these are often described as being of seventy-seven varieties. 
Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrige, XII, 281 ff., suggests 
that some febrile disease, accompanied by eruptions, is in 
question. In Contributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. 
Phil. XI, 327 ff., we assumed that the hymn with its ritual 
represent a charm against a disease, similar to the scrofu- 
lous swellings called apa&{t (VI, 83; VII, 74, 1-2; 76, 
1-2), and this is now fully corroborated by Kesava and 
Sayaza who define the present charm as a cure for ganda- 
m4la, ‘scrofula.’ Cf. also the interesting ‘Manskunder’ 
(πιάηγὰλ and skandhy& in sts. 1, 3 of the hymn), defined 
as ‘tumours of the neck’ in the previously quoted passage 
of Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 316. The Anu- 
kramazi, mantroktamany4vinasanadevatyam. 

The practices are stated at Kaus. 30, 14-16, as follows: 
14. ‘While reciting the hymn, fifty-five leaves of the 
parasu’ (plant or tree?) are kindled by means of pieces 
of wood. 15. (The sap of the leaves) which has boiled 
forth into a cup is smeared with a stick of wood (upon 
the sores). 16. (The sores are then smeared) with a (pul- 
verized) shell, and with the saliva of a dog, and subjected 
to the bites of leeches, gnats, and so forth (cf. Kesava’s 


1 The word parastparn4n is not altogether clear, Dfrila’s and 
Kesava’s (gop4sQlikam?) glosses being corrupt. Kaus. 47, 25 
presents the obviously parallel parasupal4sa which Kesava glosses 
by parsuvrzkshapatram, and this we have adopted as the sense 
here. But D&rila at 47, 25 has ku/dramukham, ‘the blade of an 
axe!’ Cf. the note on Kaus. 47, 25 in the introduction to II, 12. 


VI, 26. COMMENTARY. 473 


comment upon this Sdtra at Kaus. 31, 16, and our remarks 
in the above-cited Contributions, pp. 325-6). 


Stanzas 1-3. 


ἃ. The word vak4 in the refrain is translated by Kuhn 
as ‘swarms,’ by the Pet. Lexs. and Florenz as ‘buzzing.’ 
But the apafit are not insects (see VI, 83). and Sdyana’s 
vakaniya doshaz designates the low water-mark of his 
hermeneutical capacity. As it seems impossible to retain 
the word, we may perhaps resort to the emendation pakdZ, 
remembering the well-known confusion in the MSS. of v 
and ρ΄. The sense would then be ‘ may they (the tumours) 
pass away like the pustules of the apafit.’. The implication 
would then be that the tumours in question are ‘hard and 
large’ (Wise, l.c., 316), and that the apaAft are more easily 
brought to the point of breaking open. 


VI, 26. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 163. 


The ritual treats this as a remedial charm, fit to remove 
all diseases (sarvarogabhaishagyam). The performances, 
Kaus. 30, 17. 18, are as follows: By night the hymn is 
recited, parched grains of corn are poured into a sieve, and 
then cast away. On the next day three bali-offerings are 
thrown into the water for Sahasraksha (‘the thousand-eyed 
divinity,’ cf. st. 3), and (three) puddings of rice are thrown 
and scattered upon the cross-roads?. The ceremony is 
symbolic for the most part: the sieve is always the tangi- 
ble expression of passing through and out (cf. Kaus. 26, 2 
in the introduction to I, 12), and general dispersion is the 
salient motif. The hymn is also rubricated in the Santi- 
kalpa, chapter 15, in a rite directed against the goddess of 


’ Cf. upolava and upolapa, Kausika, Introduction, p. xlviii. 

3 Cf. the sentiment in st. 2 of the hymn: the cross-roads are the 
most convenient spot at which to part company. For the character 
of the cross-roads in general, see the note on p. 519 in the introduc- 
tion to VI, 111. 


474 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


misfortune (nirrztikarma), and in the papmagaza and the 
takmandsanagama of the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 7. 12 
(cf. Kaus. 26, 1; 30,17, notes). It has been translated by 
Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitraige, XII, 282. The Anu- 
kramazi, papmadevatakam. 


Stanza 1. 
b. The P&da is formulaic, being repeated at V, 22, 9 Ὁ. 


Stanza 3. 


b. For the epithet sahasr4ksha, see the note on IV, 20, 4. 
‘ Thousand-eyed’ here refers to the power of infallibly spy- 
ing out victims; cf. especially the ‘thousand-eyed curse’ 
at VI, 37, 1. 


VI, 27. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 166, 


The pigeon as a bird of omen is well known in Teutonic 
mythology ; cf. Gothic hrafvadubé, literally ‘carcass-dove,’ 
as the name of the turtle, and see Grimm, Deutsche Mytho- 
logie, p. 659 ff. The present hymn is the Atharvanic 
equivalent of RV. X, 165, 1-3, and the archaic locative 
Ashérf in 4 Ὁ (cf. Ath. Pratiskhya I, 74) seems to indicate 
a certain superiority of the Atharvan text, which is, how- 
ever, not borne out by 2b and 3c, whose Rig-vedic form 
is metrically preferable. Cf. Adbhuta-Brahmama 6 and 8 
(Weber, Omina und Portenta, pp. 325, 330); Hultzsch, 
Prolegomena zu des Vasantaraga S4kuna, p. 7. At Kaus. 
46, 7 this and the two following hymns are recited while 
the ‘great consecration’ (mahdsAnti) is being poured (cf. 
Kaus. 9, 6, note). The Anukramazt defines the three 
hymns as yamyd4ny uta nairritani. The present hymn has 
been treated by Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrige, XII, 
p. 282 ff. 

Stanza 2. 


b. The RV., gvzhéshu for grtham nak. The Atharvan 
reading almost looks as though anag4(Z) were understood 
in the sense of ‘not arriving’ (an-4-gaz). The accent of 


VI, 37. COMMENTARY. 475 


the stem is both anfgds and dn4gas, and the Padapa/sha 
does not divide it, thus apparently indicating its own doubt 
as to the character of the word. SAyana, anaparadhakaz. 


VI, 29. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 166. 


For the general character of this hymn and its treat- 
ment in the ritual, see the introduction to VI, 27. It has 
been treated by Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrige, XII, 
p- 287 ff. 


VI, 32. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 36. 


The practice connected with this hymn at Kaus. 31, 3 
consists in digging a ditch near the fire, filling it with hot 
water, and in sacrificing into it a rice-cake after circum- 
ambulating it thrice and muttering the hymn. The hot 
water near the fire is doubtless emblematic of the well- 
known properties of Agni as the most obvious enemy of 
spooks and uncanny hostile forces. Darila, pisaAanasanam. 
The hymn figures also in the £4tanagaza, ‘list of hymns with 
which (demons, &c.) are chased away’ in the Gavaméla, 
Ath. Paris. 32, 3 (cf. Kaus. 8, 25, note). It has been trans- 
lated by Florenz, Bezzenberger's Beitrage, XII, 291 ff. 


Sawa - στ {-ς -Φ ING Ce ae ΄ 


Stanza 3. 


The second hemistich is repeated at VIII, 8,21. Sayana 
renders g#atéram by abhig#am sv4minam, ‘experienced 
master.’ Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 528, bottom, ‘der sie 
kennt.’ 


VI, 37. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 93. 


The hymn is rubricated at Kaus. 48, 23-26, in prac- 
tices designed to repel the sorcery-practices of enemies. 
A white lump (of earth)! is given to a dog (cf. st. 3), an 


1 So Kesava and Sayaaa, svetamrittika. 


476 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


amulet of téréfa' is put on, an oblation (of ingida-oil, 
Kaus. 47, 3) is poured, and fagots (of vadhaka-wood, 
Kaus. 47, 13; cf. AV. VIII, 8, 3) are laid on the fire. The 
practice is based upon symbolic realisations of suggestions 
contained in the hymn 2. 

Previous translations: Grill’, pp. 25, 161 ff.; Florenz, 
Bezzenberger’s Beitriige, XII, 297. The Anukramazi, 
Aandramasam. 

Stanza 1. 


a. For the epithet ‘thousand-eyed,’ see the note on IV, 
20, 4, and especially VI, 26, 3. Sdyasa identifies it out- 
right with Indra, indrak sapathak sApakriyaya% karta. 


Stanza 2. 


ἃ. The sentiment of this Pada and of the first hemistich 
of the next stanza are worked up anew in VII, 59. That 
mantra is accompanied, Kaus. 47, 37, by an interesting 
practice: wood from a tree struck by lightning is put on 
the fire, to symbolise the destruction of the enemy by 
lightning. 

Stanza 8. 


c. pésh‘ram may mean ‘flesh’ rather than ‘bone,’ in 
accordance with our note on IV, 12, 2. Sdayaza reads 
peshzam (pishtamayam khadyam). For 4vakshamam (Pada- 
patha, dva-kshamam) we have ventured a new interpreta- 
tion, ‘down upon the ground,’ from ava and kshaman 
‘ground.’ Sayaza, avadagdham; Pet. Lex., ‘abfindung’ 
(‘sop’); Grill, ‘brocken ;’ Florenz, ‘knochenrest ;’ Boht- 


1 According to D4rila ‘an amulet consisting of a bone’ (? asthi- 
kamazi ; cf. péshfram in st. 3); according to Kesava and Sdyana 
‘an amulet of palasa-wood.’ Cf. the mantra in Kaus. 13, 12. 

? SAyana thinks that st. 3 is referred to in Kaus. 47, 37 under 
the pratika, γό nah spat. But the lightning is not mentioned in 
st. 3, but rather in st. 2. Hence the little hymn VII, 59 is doubt- 
less the one intended at Kaus. 47, 37: it consists of sentiments 
contained in VI, 37, 3 and 2, and begins also with the words, γό 
nak spit. 


VI, 38. COMMENTARY. 477 


lingk’s Lexicon, ‘lean ;? Whitney in the Index Verborum 
shelters the word under the root ksham with ἄνα. Cf. XI, 
10, 23. 


VI, 38. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 116. 


This and the next hymn are worked up in the course of 
the royal rites (ragakarmazi, Kaus. 14-17). The object 
of both the hymn and the practices connected with it is to 
endow a king with varkas, ‘lustre, and more particularly 
to transfer to him the vargas inherent in men, animals, and 
brilliant substances. The practice, Kaus. 13, 3-6, is as 
follows: While reciting VI, 38 and 39, hairs from the 
navel of a snataka', a lion, a tiger, a goat, a ram, a bull, 
or a king, are pasted together with lac, covered with gold, 
and fastened on as an amulet. Also an amulet prepared 
from the splinter of ten kinds of (‘holy’) wood is put on 
(sce the introduction to II, 9). While reciting the same 
two hymns, and in addition III, 16 ; VI, 69, and IX, 1, the 
seven vital organs? (of a lion or any of the other animals 
mentioned above), mixed with a mess of rice, are eaten. 
The relation of these performances to VI, 38 are obvious. 

Both hymns are rubricated further in the course of the 
practices at the initiation of pupils to the study of the 
Vedas, Kaus. 139,15, and they hold membership in the two 
varkasyaganas of the Gazaméla, Ath. Paris. 32, 10 and 27 
(see Kaus. 12, 10 and 13, I, notes). Cf. also Ath. Paris. 4, 
1; 187,12. 

The two hymns have been translated by Ludwig, Der 
Rigveda, III, 240; Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XII, 
297 ff. The Anukramami: ime brihaspatidevatye varkas- 
kamak ... rishir apasyat. 


’ A Brahmana who has performed the ceremony of ablution, 
required on finishing the period of his disciplehood (brahmaéérya), 
before entering the second period of his life, that of a house- 
holder (grthastha). This embodies in practice the word bréh- 
mazé in st. 38, 1 Ὁ. : 

* Darila defines these as padamadhy4ni nabhihr:dayam mfrdha a. 


478 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 1. 


The relation of the two hemistichs of each stanza of the 
hymn is anacoluthic. It seems best in translation to supply 
some such expression as na astu from na étu in Pada d. 

b. The rendering of brahmazé by ‘in the Brahmaza’ is 
rendered certain by the word snataka in the Sdtra above. 
Florenz, erroneously, ‘im Brahman Agni.’ 

d. The mention of Indra in all sorts of royal charms is 
due to the most prominent characteristic of the god, namely 
strength. Indra is the heavenly ragan, par excellence. His 
ever-shadowy mother also is personified strength. Indra 
is putrdd sdvasak and sdvasak sdnik (RV. VIII, 92, 14; 
IV, 24,1). See Perry, Journ, Amer. Or. Soc. XI, 130 ff. ; 
Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschrift der Deutschen 
Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, XLVIII, 548. 


Stanza 2. 


Cf. the related passage from the varfasya-hymn, IX, 1, 
18, 

Stanza 4. 

a, Ὁ. Ludwig renders dundubh4v d4yatay4m ‘in der pauke, 
der langezogen ténenden.’ This receives a certain support 
from Sdyaza, 4tadyam4ndy4m, but we prefer to compare 
dyata as used of the tightened bowstring, e.g. XI, 2, 1. 
For purushasya mayau, cf. XIX, 49, 4. 


VI, 39. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 117. 


For the employment of this hymn in the ritual, and pre- 
vious translations, see the introduction to VI, 38. The 
keynote of the present hymn is ydsas (cf. VI, 58), that of 
the preceding, vdrkas. The word ydsas seems to be 
technically the name of the oblation which must have 
accompanied the recital of the hymn ; see sts. 1a and 2a. 


Stanza 1. 


a. Ludwig, ‘als herrlichkeit gedeihe das havis (das yaso- 
havis) ;’ Florenz, ‘zur ehr’ gedeih das havis mir;’ Sayama, 


VI, 42. COMMENTARY, 479 
yasaso hetutvat. It seems difficult to construe ydsas as 
a nominative, in co-ordination with havis, but cf. the bha- 
tam havis, VI, 781. We may, of course, either emend to 
yasohavir, or take ydso as an instrumental; cf. Lanman, 
Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. X, 562. But, I believe, the con- 
struction as it stands is technical. 

b. Sayama has for sibhvztam the rather more acceptable 
reading suvritam (sush¢ku vartam4nam). 


Stanza 2. 


a. yasobhir seems to refer directly to the havis in st. 1; 
see the introduction. Sdyaaa, evasively, kirtibhit. 


VI, 42. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 136, 


According to the text of the mantra this is a charm to 
appease wrath in general. But the Kausika, 36, 28-31, 
deals with it in the course of the so-called ‘ women’s rites’ 
(strikarm4zi, 32, 27-36 end), and the commentators are 
agreed in regarding it as an instance of conflict between 
two persons of opposite sex. According to Kesava and 
Sayana the charm is practised by a woman against an 
angry man (her husband, or lover); Dérila, on the other 
hand, more naturally ascribes the acts to a man trying to 
appease an angry woman. These nicer specifications are 
therefore in all probability secondary. The practice is as 
follows : The person who desires to appease wrath takes up 
a stone while reciting st. 1. He places the stone upon the 
ground while reciting st. 2. He spits around the stone 
while reciting st. 3. Finally he lays an arrow on a bow 
while standing in the shadow (of the wrathful person). The 
last executes the sentiment of st. 1, with rather vague 
symbolism. The hymn is also recited, at Vait. SQ. 12,13, by 


1 So also abhfvarténa havisha, RV. X, 174, 1. Ordinarily these 
havfs are accompanied by an adjective, e. g. samsravyam havis, II, 
26, 3; nairbadhyam hav{s, VI, 75,1. Cf. also VI, 64, 2; VI, 87, 
3, and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 371 ff. 


480 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


one who is consecrated for the performance of the soma- 
sacrifice (dikshita), if he has been guilty of an outburst of 
wrath. 

Previous translations by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 515; 
Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrige, ΧΙ], 302 ff.; Grill*, 29, 
162. The Anukramazvi, mantroktamanyudevatyam. 


Stanza 3. 


The elaboration of this stanza in the Satra above shows 
how vaguely punning the connection of the two channels of 
literature, mantra and s(tra, may be at times: the words 
abhi tish¢#4mi of the stanza seem to have suggested abhi- 
nish/Aivami in the Sdtra. Cf. e.g. S4akh. Gvzh. where the 
mantra word akshan, ‘they have eaten, is employed as 
though it meant aksham, ‘axle.’ This is symbolism gone 
to seed, but we should err in supposing that the performers 
of the practices really misunderstood the mantras to that 
extent. It is the extreme outgrowth of the habit of con- 
sciously turning to immediate use, in any way at all, 
materials whose real value is something quite different, and 
whose true sense may have been well understood. 

ἃ. The Pada is formulaic; see I, 34, 2; ITI, 25,5; VI, 
9,23 43, 3- The entire second hemistich is repeated in 
VI, 43, 3- 


VI, 43. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 137. 


The magic power of darbha-grass (cf. XIX, 32) is here 
employed to appease wrath. According to Kaus. 36, 32, 
the grass is dug up (in the manner prescribed at Kaus. 
33, 9; cf. Kesava), and fastened on as a talisman. The 
Kausika, in working up this hymn among the ‘ women’s 
rites’ (cf. the introduction to the preceding hymn), is com- 
mitted to the view that the hymn deals with a conflict 
between a man anda woman. The text of the hymn, how- 
ever, reveals no such specific purpose. The hymn has been 
translated by Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XII, 303 ; 
Grill?, pp. 30, 162. The Anukramazi, mantroktamanyusa- 
manam. 


VI, 44. COMMENTARY. 481 


Stanza 1. 


For Pada b, cf. RV. VI, 75,19. The text of Pada c seems 
untenable. For vimanyukasya: yam, Grill suggests viman- 
yukas £4:ydm, Florenz, vimanyuko aydm, either of which 
yields the sense of our translation. Possibly mdnor viman- 
yukasy4:ydm may be the true reading: ‘the appeaser of 
wrath of the man that is free from wrath it is called ;’ cf. 
Sayavza, manyok manyumataZ purushasya. 


Stanza 3. 


For the second hemistich, and for Pada d, cf. the note on 
VI, 42, 3. 


VI, 44. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 10. 


Darila does not state what disease this hymn and the 
practice at Kaus. 31, 6 are directed against. Kesava (and 
SAayaza depending upon him) describes it as an apavdda- 
bhaishagyam, and his comment leaves no doubt that he 
regards it as a practice against calumniators!. It looks as 
though this obvious misconstruction stood insome connection 
with the word apavatay4A in the Satra, which Kesava either 
fails to understand, or deflects by a pun into the channel of 
a usage with which neither hymn nor Sdtra -had anything 
to do in the first instance. Unless indeed Kesava interprets 
the first stanza in the sense that the heavens, the earth, and 
all living beings have stood (stand), and that, therefore, the 
character of the person impugned will stand in spite of all 
aspersions. Or, again, the horn fallen by itself from the 
head of a cow, and that, too, a cow that has weaned her calf, 
symbolises, perhaps, the withdrawal of the good will of men. 
This might be employed homoeopathically to cure their 
hostility. Note also vishd#4, ‘horn, which suggests vi s4, 
‘loosen;’ cf. VI, 121,1. The practice is as follows: A horn 


1 apavade bhaishagyam ufyate, bahubh4shazam adharme 4a pra- 
vartane tasya apavadaA (!). 


[42] i 


482 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


that has been shed by a cow whose calf has been weaned! 
is anointed with the dregs of ghee (is filled with water; the 
patient is given the water to drink, and is also sprinkled 
with it) while the hymn is being pronounced in a low voice 
(cf. Kaus. 28, 1). Obviously Kausika interprets vishazakd 
in st. 3 as ‘horn, and a horn that has curative power we 
have in III, 7, 2. 3 (cf. the Sdtra in the introduction). But 
the statements in st. 3 seem to contain a fitting characterisa- 
tion of a plant, and in this sense we have interpreted the 
passage in our Contributions, Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. 
Phil. XII, 426 ff. On the other hand, vishavaké is a ἅπ. Aey., 
and may after all be only the diminutive of vish4#4, ‘horn,’ 
III, 7, 2.3; VI,121,1. This seems on the whole the more 
conservative view, although Kausika’s gosritgena may be 
due either to misunderstanding, or to conscious symbolic 
manipulation, At any rate the hymn itself is of no 
uncertain character: being a remedial charm, it takes its 
place among the bhaishagyakarm4zi in the first part of the 
fourth book of the Kausika, and the terms for the diseases 
mentioned in it are fairly clear. 

Previous translations by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 5¢g 
(cf. also 321, 343) ; Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XII, 
304 ff. Cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, 
p- 151. The Anukramazi, visvamitramantroktadevatyam ? 
uta vanaspatyam. 


1 The MSS. of the text read apavatay4#. Da&rila apagatéya, 
which he explains by, apagat& vatsavigalitasneh4; cf. Kausika, 
Introduction, p. xlv. The opposite of apavata is abhivaté, Lasy. 
Sr. VIL, 5, 3, ‘a cow that nourishes her calf.’ Cf. abhivanyavats4, 
‘a cow that gives suck to a strange calf,’ Ait. Br. VII, 2, 4 (cf. the 
commentary, p. 377 of Aufrecht’s edition); apivanyavatsa, Kaus. 80, 
25; 82, 22 (our edition, erroneously, api vanyavats4y4A), in the 
same sense; and nivanyavatsa (also nivany4) frequently in the Sat. 
Br. in the same sense (see Pet. Lex.). See also Ludwig’s note on 
RV. VI, 67 (x10), Der Rigveda, IV, p. 113. 

3 The word visvam, not visvamitra, occurs in st. 1. In st. 2 we 
have vdsish‘ham. Some blundering manipulation of the two seems 
to have inspired the compiler of this futile tract. 


VI, 45. COMMENTARY. 483 


Stanza 1. 


The first hemistich is formulaic; see VI, 77, 1. Sayama, 
his general interpretation of the hymn notwithstanding, is 
not prevented from interpreting τόρα and AsrAva (st. 2) by 
rudhirasrava or raktasrAva, ‘flow of blood.’ In the intro- 
duction to I, 2, he interprets 4srdva more broadly as 
excessive discharge in general, diarrhoea, flow of urine, or 
of blood. The word vAtikrztandsani (see the note on st.-3) 
tends to narrow down this more general construction in 
accordance with our caption, but we must beware of ascrib- 
ing any too pointed diagnoses to these early physicians; 
it is quite possible that excessive discharges of all sorts 
were exorcised with this charm. For the use of the 
aorists, cf. Delbriick, Syntaktische Forschungen, II, 87. 


Stanza 2. 
Cf, IT, 3, 2. 


Stanza 3. 


a. For vishazaka&, see the introduction. Possibly the 
word is identical with vish4vik4, reported by the medical 
SAstras (cf. Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 146), and 
the lexicographers, as the name of a plant. 

9. Cf. Wise, I.c., 250, bata byddhi (vatavy4dhi), ‘ diseases 
produced by wind (in the body), not ‘wound,’ as Zimmer 
has argued, Altindisches Leben, pp. 389 ff. Sayama divides 
vatikritandsani in two, vatt 4sravasya rogasya soshayitri ; 
krvitanasani, kritam rogasya nidanabhitam dushkarma, 
tasya nasayitri. Cf. the note on VI, 109, 3, and the intro- 
duction to I, 12. 


VI, 45. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 163. 


This hymn (along with the next) is directed against bad 
dreams, an application due, perhaps, in the first instance, to 
the chance expression, ‘awake or asleep,’ in st. 2. It may 
be the case, however, that evil thoughts were conceived as 
returning in the form of annoying dreams. The practice 

112 


484 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


at Kaus. 46, 9-10 is as follows: ‘With VI, 45 and 46 the 
person that has an (evil) dream rinses his mouth. If he has 
had an excessively frightful dream he offers a cake of 
mixed grain, and deposits a second in the territory of an 
enemy. Kesava tells what constitutes an evil dream, 
mentioning the svapnadhydya, probably Matsya-puraza 242, 
as his authority. Cf. also Markamdeya-purdza 43; Vayu- 
puraza το; Ait. Ar. III, 5, τό ff. (Sacred Books, I, 262 ff.); 
Aufrecht, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch., XXXII, 
5743; and Hultzsch, Prolegomena zu des Vasantaraga 
Sakuna, pp. 15 ff. Both hymns figure in the du/svapnana- 
sanagava of the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 8 (Kaus. 46, 9, 
note); cf. also Ath. Paris. 33, 1. 

The present hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der 
Rigveda, III, 443, and Florenz, Bezzenberger’s - Beitrage, 
XII, 305 ff. The Anukramazt, dussvapnanasanadevatyam. 


Stanza 1. 


a. SAyana, contrary to the Padap4¢sa, reads manas papa, 
“Ὁ mind devoted to evil that hast become the cause of 
dreams ;’ cf. the introduction. The text of the Pada 
seems to be an Atharvanic contortion of RV. X, 164, 1 a, 
ἄρε hi manasas pate. 

Stanza 2. 


Cf. RV. X, 164, 3 with the variant 4sas4 niksds4 = bhisdsa ; 
Tait. Br. III, 7, 12, 4, 4sasa nisds4 γάϊ parasds4. The exact 
meaning of the words in our text is not easily definable ; 
Sayaza transcribes them all by compounds of sasana= 
himsana, ‘injury.’ Ludwig leaves them untranslated, and 
regards them as various kinds of imprecations ; but compare 
his version of the RV. words (927, vol. ii, p. 552). Florenz, 
‘durch unrecht verlangen, abweis, verwiinschung.’ 


Stanza 3. 


Cf. RV. X, 164, 4. Sayaaa identifies the lightly personified 
Pragetas with Varuza. The word is indeed a frequent 
epithet of Varuza. But the patronymic Angirasa suits 


VI, 50. COMMENTARY. 485 


Brahmazaspati rather than Varuza (so Grassmann, II, 501) ; 
Ludwig refers it to Agni. 


VI, 46. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 167. 


The hymn is employed along with VI, 45 in the practice 
described at Kaus. 46, 9. 10; see the introduction to the 
preceding hymn. The last two stanzas of the present 
hymn are employed further, in the case of peculiarly 
oppressive dreams, in a cumulative performance embracing 
the acts of Kaus. 46, 9. 10, as well as those of 46, 11. 12. 
The latter are undertaken in connection with AV. VII, 100 
and 101: the dreamer turns over on his other side, and 
looks at real food if he has dreamt of eating food. Cf. also 
Ath. Paris. 8,1; 33, 1. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 498 ; Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrige, XII, 306. 


Stanza 1. 


Varuzant is a variable term, either a personification of 
the waters (cf. Tait. S. V, 5, 4, 1), or of the night (see the 
passages in the Pet. Lex. under vdruma 1 b, column 724, 
bottom). Here the latter function is in evidence ; cf. Ait. 
Ar. III, 4, 18. Araru is a personification of hostility and 
demoniac force; cf. Tait. Br. III, 2, 9, 4. 


Stanza 3. 


Cf. RV. VIII, 47, 17; AV. XIX, 57, 1. Sayama, 
mechanically, ‘as one removes claws and other parts that 
have been injured by disease, or as wicked men transmit 
their debts by tradition (inheritance),’ &c. 


VI, 50. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 142. 


Kesava and Sayaaa, in their introductions to the cere- 
monies prescribed in connection with this hymn at Kaus. 
51, 17-22, mention a long line of pestiferous insects, but 
the rare and unknown words in the hymn are not elucidated. 


486 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


The performances are as follows: 17. ‘While the hymn is 
being recited, the performer walks about the grain-field, 
hacking a piece of lead with an iron instrument'. 18. He 
scatters stones upon the field. 19. He ties a hair through 
the mouth of a tarda (insect) and buries him head down- 
ward into the middle of the field. 20. He performs the act 
which is to be done while walking *. 21. He offers a bali- 
offering to As4 (“region”), to AsApati (“lord of the regions”), 
to the two Asvins, and to Kshetrapati (“lord of the field ”). 
22. On the day when he performs the ceremonies for these 
(divinities?) he shall remain silent up to the time of sunset.’ 

The hymn is catalogued also in the first abhayagava (cf. 
st. 1) of the GawamAla, Ath. Paris. 32, 12 (cf. Kaus. 16, 8, 
note). It has been rendered by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 
499 ff.; Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrage, XII, 312 ff. The 
Anukramami, Asvinam abhayakamaz. 


Stanza 1. 


The renderings of tarddm and samankam are conjectured 
etymologically. For the latter, see the note on I, 12, 2 c. 


Stanza 2.- 


The name upakvasa is not even etymologically sugges- 
tive. Sayaza reads apakvasah (a-pakvas), glossing, adag- 
dha santak. 


‘ For Kausika’s ayasa sisam karshan Sayama reads ayahstsam 
gharshan, paraphrasing it by lohamayam stsam gharshan. Possibly 
sisam is to be changed to sftim: the performance would then con- 
sist in ploughing a furrow with an iron (plough) about the field. 
Cf. Kaus. 50, 17. 

* Cf. Kaus. 51, 2 (in the introduction to IV, 3): ‘While walk- 
ing he offers thrice to the Asvins (so Sayama; cf. st. 1 of our hymn) 
milk of a cow with a calf of the same colour as herself’ SAyana 
reads for Aare, the word which we have rendered ‘ while walking,’ 
karau. By transcribing Aare in Devanagari, and adding a vertical 
line after the r, the partial ambiguity will appear. Sayava’s statement 
is, Aarum asvibhyam guhuyat. Weare not convinced. Why should 
the MSS. of the Kausika write the diphthong au in this fashion in 
this instance, and never elsewhere ? 


. | | | 
Vl, 56. COMMENTARY... _ 487 


Stanza 8. 


The two compounds with pati are ambiguous. The final 
long 4 of the stems preceding may be due to Vedic (metrical) 
lengthening: in that case, ‘lord of the tarda, &c., is the 
proper rendering. So Sdyava. For vyadhvaré4 Shankar 
Pandit’s edition, with most MSS. and Sayama, read vyad- 
vara ; cf. our notes on II, 31, 4c; III, 28, 2. 


VI, 56. COMMENTARY TO PAGE I5I1. 


The terms of the hymn indicate a charm against serpents, 
of the general sort}, but Kaus. 50, 17-22 gives it a prag- 
matic turn; the practice is designed to keep serpents 
away from the premises: 17. ‘While reciting this hymn 
along with sundry other mantras, lines are scratched around 
the bed, the house, and the grain-field. 18. Grass that has 
been anointed with the dregs of ghee is fastened upon the 
door through a yoke-hole*. 19. Dung from the entrails 
(of a cow) is crumbled (at the door). 20. It is dug into 
(the ground). 21. And laid on (the fire). 22. (The same 
performances as with the dung are undertaken with) the 
blossoms of the apAmérga-plant (achyranthes aspera; cf. 
the introduction to IV, 17), the hoofs(!) of the kudrifi-tree °, 
the roots of them being turned away‘ (from the ground, 
fire, &c.) 5,’ 

The hymn is also rubricated (with others) at Kaus. 139, 
8, in the course of practices preparatory to the study of 


1 Cf. Kesava, sarpadisvastyayanam. 

2 Cf. AV. XIV, 1, 40; Kaus. 76, 12, and Indische Studien, V, 
199, 387. 

5. Very doubtful: the word is kudrifisaphan. Kesava, guddsi- 
padan, ‘the feet of the gudQéf (cocculus cordifolius’). SAayana 
simply, gudQéim. : 

* The text, para4inamflan. Neither Kesava, nor Séyana com- 
ments upon the word. 

5 The aim of these performances is clear: the serpents are to be 
excluded by magic lines, and purifying substances and plants. 


488 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


the Vedas. Cf. also Vait. Sd. 29, 10; Ath. Paris. 19, 5. 
It has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 502: 
Grill, pp. 5, 162 ff. 

Stanza 1. 


The second hemistich recurs at X, 4, 8 (cf. also IV, 3, 7) 
without the formula n4mo devaganébhya#. This may 
therefore have been borrowed from the end of st. 2. The 
divine folks are the serpents themselves, cf. XI, 9, 2. 5. 26; 
10, 5, and the sarpadevaganak, Vag. 5. XXX, 8. See also 
Sat. Br. VII, 4, 1, 28. 

Stanza 2. 


For different designations of serpents, see Zimmer, Altin- 
disches Leben, pp. 94 ff. For asita (Sayama, krishnavarna) 
and tiraskiragi (Sayama, tiryag avasthita ... valayo yasya), 
see III, 27,12; VII, 56,1; X, 4, 5 ff.; XII, 3, 55 ff, and 
the note to the last-mentioned passage. See also the note 
on V, 13, 5, and TS. V, 5, 10,1. 2. The Hindu commen- 
tators explain svagd als ‘self-born.’ Sayama, svayam eva 
gayate karazAntaranairapekshyeza utpadyate ; cf. the gloss, 
Tait. S.V, 5, 14,1. The Pet. Lex., ‘ vivipara,’ or ‘the em- 
bracer.. Weber at Tait. S., 1.c., also derives it from svag, 
‘enfold.’ 

Stanza 3. 


Cf. A. Kuhn, Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprachfor- 
schung, XIII, 60. 

The third Pada may refer to the forked tongue of the 
serpent (Sdyaza, sarpasya hi dve gihve). But perhaps, 
more likely, it is a strong way of saying, ‘I shut up thy 
tongue,’ continuing under the impetus of the first hemistich. 
Cf. Pada d. 


VI, 57. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 19. 


The practices of the Kausika, 31, 11-15, contribute not 
a little towards the elucidation of this medicinal charm. 
In the hymn the disease is merely designated as the arrow 
of Rudra, but in the Satra it is called akshata; the remedy 
is akshatavrazabhaishagyam (Kesava), and Sayana explains 


VI, 57- COMMENTARY. 489 


it as a ‘wound without opening’ (mukharahitavraza ') ; 
cf. also Darila at Kaus. 32, 11. 12. In Contributions, 
Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 321 ff., we have 
shown that the disease in question is a tumour or a boil, 
and in Contributions, Fourth Series, ib. XII, 425 ff., we 
have assumed on the basis of the ritual that the remedy 
designated in the hymn (st. 2) as galashd, the particular 
remedy of Rudra, is identical with mitra, ‘urine,’ of the 
Sftra®. The practice consists in moistening the tumour 
with the foam of (cow’s) urine, throwing the urine itself 
upon it; next, washing it off, then, smearing it with scour- 
ings from the teeth, and with the pollen from bunches of 
grass. The disease is probably much the same as the 
gandamala, ‘scrofula ;’ cf. AV. VI, 83; VII,74; VII,76, 4, 
and the introductions to these hymns. 

The third stanza is rubricated in the list of purificatory 
mantras, Kaus. 9, 2 (cf. the brzhakkhantigaza of the 
Gazamila, Ath. Paris. 32, 26), and in a similar list, Kaus. 
41, 14. 

Stanza 1. 

e, ἃ. The arrow here described is Rudra’s arrow that in- 
flicts disease. Fittingly, Rudra’s own remedy the galasha 
is employed as a cure. The very rare word galashabhe- 
shaga occurs also in the Nilarudra-Upanishad 3, esha ety 
aviraha rudro galashabheshagahk (see Jacob’s Concordance). 


Stanza 2. 
For galasha Sayavza reads four times galasha; cf. our 
discussion of the forms of the word in Contributions, 
Fourth Series, |. c., 425. 


Stanza 3. 
c,d. Cf. RV. VIII, 20,26; X, 59, 8-10. The last Pada 


' Kesava, yasya gandadushfsya rudhiram na vahati. 

3 Professor Windisch, in a review of the above-mentioned essay 
(Literarisches Centralblatt, 1892, No. 51, col. 1836), refers to a 
treatise of E. Wilhelm, ‘On the use of beef’s urine’ (Bombay, 
1889). This is not at hand, but see Wise, Hindu System of 
Medicine, p. 117. 


490 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


is formulaic ; see AV. XVIII, 5, 23, and note the variant, 
RV. X, 59, 8-10. 


VI, 59. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 144. 


This hymn, obviously a cattle-charm, is employed, along 
with a great variety of other mantras, rather indifferently, 
at Kaus. 50,13. The practice is that of a merchant who 
starts out upon his business: in Kaus. 50, 13 he offers? 
a variety of substances with the list of hymns in question. 
Cf. the introductions to III, 15; VI, 128, and XI, 2. It is 
rubricated further in the list of purificatory mantras, Kaus. 
9, 2 (cf. the brzhakkAantigana of the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 
32, 26), and in a similar list, Kaus. 41, 14; it has been ren- 
dered by Grill?, pp. 65,163. For the character of the plant 
arundhati, see the introduction to IV, 12. 


Stanza 1. 


Sdyama defines arundhati as sahadevi, a common name 
for plants, but the interpretation is not to be trusted 
because he reads sahadevi for sahd devir in st. 2b. Cf. 
the introduction to ΓΝ, 12. In Pada c, Grill emends vayase 
unnecessarily to avayase, ‘was nicht erstarkt ist.’ Sayana, 
quite correctly, ‘at the age beyond five years when weaned 
from the mother.’ Cf. the quotations in the Pet. Lex. 
under 3. vayas 2); the passage, ekahdyanaprabhrity 4- 
pa#ikahayanebhyo vayAmsi, quoted from Apastamba at Tait. 
Br. III, 12, 5, 9, is referred to by Sdyawa also. 


Stanza 2. 


b. For saha devir we read sahd devafr; cf. the reading 
kalasir for kaldsair in the note on III, 12,7, and, more 
generally, the note on XII, 3, 32c. Grill, similarly, the 


‘! The word upadadhita there and elsewhere is a technical term, 
‘lay upon.’ Kesava, at the end of Kaus. 6 (see p. 309, middle, of the 
edition), defines it as the act of offering one of thirteen offerings 
(havimshi), very varied in character ; cf. the word upadhéna in the 
Paribhash4-sutré 8, 17. 


vI, 60. COMMENTARY. 491 


compound sahdadevi (cf. XII, 4, 23); Sayava, sahadevyakhya 
arundhati abhilashitaphalasya avdrayitrt oshadhif (avd4ra- 
yitri=arundhati). 

Stanza 3. 


b. givald as epithet of arundhati occurs also, VIII, 7, 6. 
See the note there, and at XIX, 39, 3. 


VI, 60. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 95. 


The prescription for the use of this hymn at Kaus. 34, 
22-24 is to pour an oblation (of ghee) for Aryaman (in the 
morning) before the crows rise, and to place bali-offerings 
within the corners of the house. (The wooer is, then, sure 
to come) from the direction from which (the crows) come 
flying. The charm is, therefore, an oracle (pativedanam *) ; 
it is not employed in the marriage-ritual, Kaus. 75, where 
the actual arrival of the bridegroom is described, unless, 
indeed, it is implied in the word pativedanam (75, 6). But 
the Paddhatis refer to Kaus. 34, 13, a rite performed in con- 
nection with AV. II, 36, rather than to our performance. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Indische Stu- 
dien, V, 236 ff.; Grill?, pp. 56, 164; Zimmer, Altindisches 
Leben, p. 306. 

Stanza 1. 


a, b. Aryaman is the typical wooer or bridegroom; cf. 
AV. XIV, 1, 34 (=RV. X, 85, 23). 39; 2, 5 (=RV. X, 40, 
12). Weber and Grill join purdstad to vishitastupad, ‘ with 
crest laosened in front ;’ Sd&yama, ‘from the east.’ We are 
having in mind a bridal procession consisting of many 
wooers (cf. AV. XI, 8,1. 2, and Kaus. 75,13). See also 
Indische Studien, V, 380, bottom. 


Stanza 2. 


da. The plural any&% and the singular 4:yati do not 
agree. Weber would read 4yantu or dyanti; Grill, anya. 


1 Cf. Kaus. 34, 125 75, 6. 


492 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


The latter change results in the best metre. Sdyama, coolly, 
ayati prapnuvanti. 


VI, 64. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 136. 


This hymn is rubricated in the gaaa, or series, entitled 
sammanasyani in Kaus. 12, 5, and the practices are the 
same as those employed in connection with III, 30, above. 
The entire hymn is repeated with many variants in RV. X, 
191, 2-4, in Maitr. 5. II, 2, 6, and in Tait. Br. II, 4, 4, 4 ff. 
It has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 372 ; 
Grill®, pp. 31, 164; cf. also Zimmer, p. 175, and the well- 
known translations of RV. X, 191. 


Stanza 1. 


a. The RV. and Tait. Br. read, sd gakkhadhvam sdme 
vadadhvam ; the Maitr. S., sam gakkhadhvam sdm gani- 
dhvam. 

ἁ. Cf. Paw. Br. II, 2, 4; δεν. Sr. II, 11, 10. 


Stanza 2. 


Of the four texts, cited above, no one has precisely the 
same readings, though the sense is essentially the same in 
all. For the samAnam havi, cf. the introduction to VI, 39, 
and the foot-note on VI, 39, 1. 


Stanza 3. 


d. All the texts read yathA vad susahdssati; the Pada- 
pathas of the RV. and AV. resolve sisaha dsati. This 
leaves upon our hands a compound adverb susaha, which 
T have translated ‘ perfectly in common.’ Ludwig resolves 
susahd asati, translating ‘that you may have easy victory.’ 
It is possible, too, to ignore the Padakdra, and read si 
saha dsati, and translate again as we have done. I had 
thought also of emending ydtha vdsu sah4 «8411, ‘that you 
may have possessions in common,’ and found later that the 
Padapatha of the Maitr. 5. had something similar in mind, 
reading, vas sahd Asati. Cf. also the simple sah&«sati at 
AV. VII, 36. 


VI, 70. COMMENTARY, 493 


VI, 70. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 144. 


Darila, Kesava, and Sayama explicitly defme the per- 
formance in connection with this hymn at Kaus. 41, 18-20 
as designed to effect harmony between cow and calf. 
Sayana, govatsayor anyonyavirodhasantirdpe sdsmanasya- 
karmani. Kausika himself designates the rite as vananam; 
cf. the note on the word apavat4 in the introduction to VI, 
44 (p. 482, note). 

The practice consists in washing the calf, sprinkling it 
with the cow’s urine, leading it thrice around (the cow), 
and tying it (near her), while the hymn is being recited. 
It is then recited once more over the head and ears of 
the calf. The symbolic force of these acts is apparent. 
The hymn has been translated by Grill?, pp. 65,165. The 
Anukramami, 4ghnyam. 


Stanza 1. 


a, Ὁ. Sdyava, ‘as meat is liked by the eater, as brandy is 
most welcome, and as dice are most welcome at the 
gaming-place.’ Grill connects mamsdm and sura rather too 
closely, ‘as sura goes with meat.’ But cf. RV. VII, 86, 6; 
AV. XIV, 1, 35. 36; XV, 9,1. 2, where sur4 and gambling 
are associated. All three, being forbidden fruit, inspire 
" strong attachment in their devotees. Cf. the practices in 
the introduction to ITI, 30 (Kaus. 12, 6-9). 


Stanza 3. 


The interrelation of the parts of the wheel are not clear: 
pradhi and upadhi may be respectively the outer felloe 
(Sayaza, rathakakrasya πε), and a second circular part 
closely joined to the felloe (Sayava, nemisambaddhad aranam 
sambandhako valayat). They may be, respectively the 
tire (ordinarily pavi), and the felloe; or, the felloe, and some 
inner connective circle next to the felloe. We have, how- 
ever, followed the Pet. Lex. and Zimmer, Altindisches 
Leben, p. 248, in regarding upadh{ as the spokes, taken 
collectively. Sdyana takes ndbhyam in this latter sense, 


494 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


nabhyam nabhaye hitam rathakakramadhyaphalakam pra- 
dhav adhi nemidese samzbadhnati. 


VI, 71. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 196. 


An expiatory prayer (prayaskittam) to obviate any im- 
propriety, such as greed and worldliness, on the part of the 
Brahman who receives gifts, or the absence of sacredness 
in the gift itself. At Kaus. 45, 17 it is recited along with 
other mantras upon the receipt of the dakshiv4; at Kaus. 
57, 29-30 the begging Brahman disciple offers, while re- 
citing the hymn, the fruits of his mendicancy: the firewood 
which he has begged is put on the fire in the evening and 
in the morning, while reciting this hymn. At Vait. Sd. 4, 
16 the Brahman consumes with it his share of the rice-cakes 
at the new-moon and full-moon sacrifices. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 433; Grill*, pp. 66,165. The Anukramazi, brahma& 
=sgneyam. 


Stanza 3. 


This seems to be spoken by a non-Brahmanical sacrificer 
(yagamana), to make sure that the fruits of his sacrifice 
shall not fail him. For the second hemistich the Dasa 
Karmazi (paddhati) at Kaus. 57, 29 substitutes the second 
hemistich of VI, 53, 2. 


VI, 73. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 135. 


This is one of the sA4mmanasy4ni (sc. skt4ni), ‘charms 
designed to produce harmony,’ treated at Kaus. 12, 5 ff. 
See the introduction to III, 30 for the practices connected 
with these hymns. The charm seems to be undertaken by 
the patriarchal head of a community ; cf. Sat. Br. IV, 1, 5, 
3 ff. The hymn is rubricated also among the vastosh- 
patiyani (sc. siktani), ‘hymns to Vastoshpati’ (cf. st. 3, note), 
at Kaus. 8, 23, and note; the third stanza in the course of 
ceremonies connected with the building of a house, Kaus. 


VI, 75. COMMENTARY. 495 


23,6. Cf. also the push/ika mantra, in the note on Kaus. 
10, I. 
Stanza 2. 

ce. The MSS. are divided between tém khrivayAmi, tén 
khri-, and t&n sri- (Padap4sha, tén sri-). The vulgate has 
tam khri-, emended in the Index Verborum to t&m sri-. 
Shankar Pandit adopts Sdyaza’s rather vapid sivayami 
(tam vividham 4katim balam ka... parasparasambaddham 
karomi). 

Stanza 3. 

Both Pdshan, the guardian of the distant ways, and 
VA4stoshpati, the genius of home, are invited to co-operate 
with the person desiring adherents, in order to put a stop 
to dissension and disintegration. 


VI, 74. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 135. 


This is one of the sdsmanasy4ni (sc. sOktAni), ‘charms 
designed to produce harmony,’ treated at Kaus. 12, 5. See 
the introduction to III, 30 for the practices connected with 
these hymns. 

Stanza 2. 


ἃ. The word srantédm seems suspicious. Possibly sintdém 
is intended ‘with the peace of Bhaga.’ The root sam is 
used with words for ‘strife,’ vigraha, Kathdsaritsagara 56, 
96; vaira, Mahabh. XIV, 2509. 


Stanza 8. 


Cf. Tait. 5. II, 1, 11, 3, with the variant rudr&% for 
ugrah (Sayava = rudrah). Sayama explains trizdman as 
the threefold fire of the earth, lightning, and sun, or, as 
the threefold fire of the sacrifice (g4rhapatya, &c.). Cf. the 
gloss at Tait. S., l.c. 


VI, 75. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 92. 


This hymn is an 4bhi#arika-hymn, and is, accordingly, 
rubricated twice in the sixth adhydya of the Kausika, 
which is devoted to hostile (witchcraft) practices. The 


496 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


so-called samsthitahoméA, ‘final oblations,’ in the case of 
auspicious (sAnta) performances, are undertaken while VII, 

97 is being recited. Thus according to Kaus. 6, 3 (cf. also 

3, 19, note). But in the case of 4bhi#arika-practices, accord- - 
ing to the Paribh4sha-sitra 47, 10, a sinister turn is given 

to the samsthitahom4z by reciting the present hymn with 

them!. The more special practice attached to this hymn 

is at Kaus. 48, 29-31. The sacrificial straw is spread with 

the thumb. Reed-grass (or an arrow, sara?) is thrown 

upon it from baskets made of kadvindu?. By means of 
a leaf of the red asvattha an oblation® (of ingida-oil; 47, 3), 

dashed with poison, is offered. There is no special rapport 

between the hymn and the ceremony. 

Previous translations by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 373; 
Grill?, pp. 22, 165 ff. The Anukramazi, mantroktade- 
vatyam aindram sapatnakshayakama#. The entire hymn 
recurs with variants, and markedly different arrangement 
of the Padas, at Apast. Sr. III, 14,2; cf. also Tait. S. V, 
I, 10, 3 fff. 


VI, 77. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 106. 


This charm is obviously a patchwork of mantras of 
various original values. The first hemistich of stanza 1 is 
identical with VI, 44,1 a,b. The second hemistich of st. 3 
is also formulaic (cf. Vag. S. XII, 8), and fits poorly into 
the present conception of the hymn. The second stanza 
(= RV. X, 19, 5) is clearly derived from a charm calculated 
to bring stray cattle home. As the hymn stands it would 
answer this purpose quite well, but the Kausika, 36, 5-9, 
as explained by the commentaries, treats it as a charm for 
capturing a runaway woman, or holding in check a woman 


1 The oblations in the latter case, implicitly, are not of ghee, 
but of ingida-oil ; cf. 47, 3. 

3 Cf. 47,1; Tait. S. II, 1, 5.7. Our rendering of the am. Aey. 
kadvindukosh/Aais is conjectural. 

8. This is the nairbadhydm havfs (st. 1). For these especially 
pointed havfs, see the note on VI, 39, 1. 


VI, 77. COMMENTARY. 497 


disposed to run away. The proceedings consist in fasten- 
ing a band down the cross-beam of the house and then 
fastening it to the middle post?. Then the foot of the 
(woman’s) bed is fastened to an utpala-plant (nymphaea) 8. 
Further it is fastened to an Akyishfa‘*. Finally sesame is 
offered by means of a coal-rake (4karsha: cf. D4rila). The 
two words 4krishza and 4karsha both contain the root 
karsh with ἃ, ‘drag back;’ cf. Akrishfimantra, ‘charm for 
drawing a person to one’s self,’ Hitopadesa, book I, sloka 
go. There can be no doubt as to the meaning of the 
performances: they are intended to hold fast, or to compel 
the return of a person that has gone off. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 468, under the heading asv4h (‘ horses’). 


Stanza 1. 


For the use of the aorists in this and the following stanza, 
cf. Delbriick, Syntaktische Forschungen, II, 87. To our 
feeling presents would be preferable to the aorists, and we 
might perhaps have better so rendered. In Pada d Sdéyana 
supplies iva (luptopamam) with asvan, and striyam with 
atish¢Aipam, in slavish adherence to the Satra. See the 
introduction. 

Stanza 3. 


Padas b, c are formulaic: cf. Vag. S. XII, 8. 


1 Sayama, palfyanasilay4A striya nirodhanakarmazi. The posi- 
. tion of the charm in the second part of the fourth adhydya of the 
Sfitra, among the strikarmazi (Kaus. 32, 28-36, end), shows that 
Kausika himself regards it as a practice concerning women. 

? The symbolism is obvious. For the parts of the house, cf. III, 
12, 6, and the introduction to III, 12. See also Zimmer, Altin- 
disches Leben, p. 153. 

5. This is very doubtful. The word utpale here, as at Kaus. 35, 
26 (see the introduction to III, 25), is very problematic. Sayana 
has upale, ‘to a stone.’ Apparently a specious, easier reading. 

* Whatever that may be. Darila, akr¢sh/ah matrrkesti prasi- 
ddhabhidhanas tasmin sayanapadam badhnati. See Pet. Lex. under 
matr7k4. 


[42] Kk 


498 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


VI, 78. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 96. 


In the light of the words bhaténa (st. 1 a), and rash/réva 
(st. 2 b) it would seem as though this blessing related to the 
marriage of a royal personage (kshatriya). The central 
idea of this charm is the bhitam havis, ‘oblation that 
produces power;’ cf. especially IV, 8, 1, and the ydso havis, 
‘oblation that yields glory, VI, 39. The latter forms also 
part of the practices of a king (see the introduction to VI, 
38). But there is nothing in the treatment of the hymn, 
Kaus. 78, 10. 14-16, to show that it refers to a royal 
couple, though that is not conclusive as regards its original 
intent. The practices consist in pouring the dregs of ghee 
upon the heads of the couple, after they have come home 
(a kind of consecration, abhisheka) ; in causing them to eat 
together of fluid food (rasa; cf. st. 1 d) and porridge; and, 
finally, in offering as much barley mixed with ghee as can 
be held in the two hands placed side by side. 

The hymn has been translated by Weber, Indische 
Studien, V, 238 ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 371 ff.; Grill 3, 
pp. 57, 166. The Anukramazi to the first two stanzas, 
kandramasyau (cf. 4 pydyatam, st.1; abhi vardhatam, st. 
2)... gaydbhivriddhyai Zandramasam astaud rayim ka 
dampatyor aprarthayat; to the third stanza, tvashéri. 


Stanza 1. 


a, Ὁ. For bhdténa the Paippalada reads bhitasya; Grill 
suggests bhaityena. But the use of the noun in apposition, 
rather than the attributive adjective, seems to be idiomatic 
in connection with these pregnantly employed havis: see 
yaso havis, VI, 39, 1 (cf. the note there), and abhivartdm 
havis, RV. X, 174, 1. Weber regards Agni as the subject 
of ἃ pydyatém ; Sdyaza, the bridegroom. The latter is 
correct, but it would seem as though the passage alluded 
to the moon (cf. the Anukramaz/i), the typical bridegroom ; 
cf. RV. X, 85, 6 ff. = AV. XIV, 1, 6 ff. 

d. The Paippalada has 58 rasenabhi vardhatam. The 
rendering of the Pada is not at all certain ; the word rdsena 


VI, 79. COMMENTARY. 499 


(and payasa in st. 2) surely alludes to sexual sap (cf. RV. 
I, 105, 2): some such sense as ‘he causes the wife to 
increase with his semen’ is to be expected. But vardhatam 
is not causative, and we have given a purely philological 
rendering. Cf. also RV. Χ, 174,14; AV.I,29,1d. Weber, 
‘das (weib) még’ umwachsen er mit kraft ;’ Ludwig, ‘die 
soll er mit dem besten gedeihen machen (vardhatém);’ 
Grill, ‘fiir’s weib ... nehm er an zeugungskraften zu.’ 


VI, 79. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 141. 


The performance which accompanies this charm at Kaus. 
21,7 consists in placing a stone upon a grain-bag (cf. st. 2 δ), 
sprinkling it, laying upon it a handful of grain with each 
of the three stanzas, and letting (another person also) lay 
on (three hands full). The hymn is also rubricated at Vait. 
Sd. 31,4; Gop. Br. II, 4, 9, where nabhasaspati is explained 
as vayu, ‘wind,’ and deva samsph4na as Aditya, ‘sun.’ The 
Atharvantya-paddhati (Kaus. 19, 1, note) counts the hymn 
among the push¢ika mantraZ, ‘hymns that produce pros- 
perity.’ The hymn recurs with notable variants at Tait. 5. 
ITI, 3, 8, 2-3; cf. also III, 3, 8, 6. 


Stanza 1. 


c. The Padap4zha does not analyse dsamatim, either here 
or at RV. X, 60, 2. 51. The Pet. Lex. renders it by 
‘incomparable.’ Béhtlingk, in the smaller lexicon, emends 
it to dsamarti, ‘exemption from injury;’ cf. dsamartyai in 
the passage cited above from the Tait. S. We with 
Sayaza, matir manam parikk/edas tena saha vartata iti 
samatif, tadvaiparityam asamatiz. 


Stanza 3. 


e. The Pada is formulaic: Tait. Br. III, 7, 5, 7, tasyas te 
bhakshivazak sy4ma; Maitr. 5. I, 4, 3; 5, 3. 10; Apast. 


' The later tradition regards asamati as a proper name; cf. 
Sayama on RV., and Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 33. 


Kk2 


500 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Sr. IV, 13, 7, tasy4s (tasya) bhaktivino bhdyasma; cf. 
Whitney, Sanskrit Grammar?, § 462d. 


VI, 80. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 13. 


The subject matter of this hymn is identical with a 
Brahmaza legend, told at Maitr. S. I, 6,9; Kazs. S. VIII, 
1; Tait. Br. I, 1, 2, 4-6 (cf. also Sat. Br. II, 1, 2, 13-16). 
The substance of the story is that certain demons (asura) 
called kalakafga piled up a fire-altar in order to ascend by 
it to heaven. Indra joined them, adding a brick of his own. 
When they had climbed to heaven, Indra pulled out his 
brick and they tumbled down. They became spiders, all 
but two who flew up and became the two heavenly dogs. 
In our essay, ‘The two dogs of Yama in a new réle,’ printed 
in the third series of Contributions, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. 
XV, 163 ff.}, it has been shown that the two heavenly dogs, 
otherwise the two dogs of Yama, are the sun and the 
moon. The mythic character of the kélak4fga is altogether 
uncertain. We have surmised (l.c., p. 169) that they are 
either the galaxy, or the stars in general, conceived as 
spiders. Possibly some especial group of stars, three in 
number (cf. st. 2 of our hymn), is intended. 

All this is embalmed in the present hymn in a technical 
‘oblation (havis; cf. the note on VI, 39, 1) which is 
designated ‘the majesty of the heavenly dog,’ i. e. presum- 
ably, ‘the majesty of the sun.’ This and an appeal to the 
three kalaka#ga are the central points of the hymn, and 
the ritual, in a fashion altogether obscure, manipulates the 
prayer as a cure for paralysis (pakshahatabhaishagyam, 
Darila and Kesava)*. But the sense of the Sitras, Kaus. 


1 Cf. also the note on IV, 20, 7 Ὁ. 

? Cf. Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, pp. 253, 256. Accord- 
ing to SAyana, kakakapotasyenAdipakshihatam, it would seem as 
though paralysis was supposed to be inflicted by strokes of the 
wings of crows, pigeons, eagles, and other birds (cf. also Kesava),. 
Apparently purely symbolic: pakshin, ‘ winged, bird,’ and paksha, 
‘side, half’ (hemiplegia). 


v1, 81. COMMENTARY. 501 


31, 18. 19 is also not at all clear. With the help of the 
commentators some such practice as the following seems to 
be restorable. The paralysed part of the body is rubbed 
with earth taken from the footprint of a dog, while keeping 
in quick motion. Then the part is fumigated by burning 
an insect (taken from a dog). The dog—the word occurs 
only in the commentaries, not in the Sitra itself—refers, of 
course, to the ‘heavenly dog’ in the mantra; the quick 
motion is opposed to the palsy of the patient; the use of 
the insect seems to symbolise the fate of the kalakaaga, 
who in the legend become spiders. Cf. the article cited 
above, p. 166. 

The third stanza is employed also in a nondescript 
fashion at Vait. Sd. 23,20; Ath. Paris. 39, 1 (tad@4gadividhi) 
and 42, 3 (snanavidhi). The hymn has been translated by 
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 373. 


Stanza L 


The stanza cannot be addressed to anything else but the 
sun, judging from the identity of its first hemistich with 
RV. X, 136, 4 a, Ὁ, which clearly refers to the sun (cf. Con- 
tributions, l.c., pp. 167-8, and Tait. 5. IV, 6, 3, 4, uksha 
samudro, &c.). Sayama, along totally different lines: ‘ The 
bird, crow, pigeon, &c., looking down upon all beings with 
a desire to injure, flies down upon the limbs of men. In 
order to remove its injury we honour thee, O Agni, with 
the oblation, that is the majesty of the heavenly dog.’ Cf. 
the note on st. 3. Ludwig's rendering ignores te in Pada 
ἃ, ‘des himlischen hundes grésse der méchten wir dienen 
mit disem havis.’ 

Stanza 3. 

Here even Sayaza feels compelled to recognise the 
presence of the sun, heagne. . . dyuloke tava Adityatmanah 
sahasthanam. 


VI, 81. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 96. 


The practice connected with this hymn at Kaus. 35, 11 is 
restricted to the tying on of the (bracelet) mentioned in the 


502 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


mantra. No ceremony of this sort is found in the Grthya- 
sitras (cf. Paraskara, I, 13), and the word parihasta seems 
to occur here alone (cf. parihataka in the Pet. Lex.). The 
hymn has been rendered by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 
477; Weber, Indische Studien, V, 239. Cf. also Bergaigne 
et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 153. 


Stanza 2. 


The second hemistich is exceedingly obscure: marydde 
seems to be the vocative of marydd4, and our rendering is 
a pis-aller. The idea of ‘limit’ may refer to the confine- 
ment within the womb ; cf. SAyaza in the foot-note. The 
Pet. Lex., simply, ‘ designation of an amulet.’ If it could 
be construed as a locative singular masculine! (marydde 
for mary4de; cf. V, 1, 8) it might be translated ‘ within 
proper limits of time ;’ cf. shazmasam4ry4dayA, ‘ within six 
months,’ Brthat-samhité 4,24. The sense would then be 
that the child shall be born within ten months; see Par. 
Grih. I, 16,1; Saakh. Grth. I, 19,6; Hir. Grih. I, 25, 1; 
II, 2,5. Again, A4game is not at all clear; it may possibly 
refer to the circular shape of the bracelet, ‘that comes back 
upon itself. 

Stanza 3. 

Aditi is the typical mother that desires a son; cf. RV. 
X, 72,8; AV. VIII, 9, 21; Maitr. 5. I], 1,12; Sat. Br. 
III, 1, 3,2. Nowhere else have we met with the statement 
that her desire was promoted by a bracelet furnished by 
Tvashéar. The latter, however, fashions the embryo in the 
womb; cf. Ludwig, I. c., p. 334. 


VI, 82. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 95. 


In the Kausika the hymn is employed in a twofold man- 
ner. Αἱ 59, 11 a person who desires a wife sacrifices and 


1 Cf. Sayara, maryade mary44 marazadharméno manushy4h 
tair AdfyAmfne svotpattyartham svikriyam4ze sth4ne garbhasaye 
he gAye tvam putram 4 dhehi, i. e. ‘O woman, place a son into thy 
womb, the place appropriated by men for reproducing themselves!’ 


vI, 83. COMMENTARY. 503 


prays with it to Indra. At 78, 10 the hymn is recited with 
sundry other mantras (cf. VI, 78) while dregs of ghee are 
being poured upon the heads of the bridal couple, after 
they have come home. The hymn has been translated by 
Weber, Indische Studien, V, 239 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 470; Grill?, pp. 57, 167. The Anukramazi, aindram, 
composed by gayakamo bhaga&. 


Stanza 2. 


The marriage of Sary4, the daughter of Savitar, to Soma, 
the moon, is the typical heavenly marriage. The Asvins 
acted as wooers. Cf. RV. X, 85, 6 fL=AV. XIV, 1,7 ff.; 
Ait. Br. IV, 7,1. For a large number of correlated pas- 
sages, see Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. 
Soc. XV, 186. To these may be added Maitr. 5. II, 2, 7; 
IV, 2, 12; Kath. 5. XI, 3 (Indische Studien, III, 467); 
Tait. Br. II, 3, 10, 1 ff. Sury4 is probably identical with 
Ushas; the Asvins are frequently conceived as her hus- 
bands, rather than wooers in behalf of Soma. 


Stanza 3. 


According to RV. VIII, 17, 10, Indra is conceived as 
having a long hook or rake with which he heaps together 
goods: here he is implored to furnish with its aid a wife 
(and, implicitly, property also). At II, 36,6 he is addressed 
as ‘lord of wealth.’ The word sakipate is to be taken here 
in its secondary, legendary sense, not in its primary sense, 
‘lord of might ;’ cf. Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. 
d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 548. 


VI, 83. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 17. 


The two Petersburg Lexicons; Adalbert Kuhn in Zeit- 
schrift fiir vergleichende Sprachforschung, XIII, 155 ; Lud- 
wig, Der Rigveda, III, 342, 500; Zimmer, Altindisches 
Leben, 54, 97; and Florenz, Bezzenberger’s Beitrige, XII, 
280 regarded the apa&it as a certain noxious insect. 
In Contributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ, Phil. XI, 


504 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


320 ff., we assumed for it the meaning ‘ sore, pustule, boil,’ 
or the like, and this is now fully borne out by Kesava and 
SAyaza who render the word by gamdamila, ‘scrofula.’ 
The apatit is a scrofulous sore, from root 4i and apa, ‘ pick 
_off;’ cf. Lat. scabies, scabere, Germ. die schabe, schaben, 
Engl. scab. The word is identical with apa&t in the medical 
SAstras. The hymn is rubricated along with the first part of 
VII, 76 at Kaus. 31, 16. 17; the practices prescribed are 
in part those undertaken in connection with VI, 25 (Kaus. 
30, 16), for which see above: the sores are smeared with 
a (pulverised) shell, and with the saliva of a dog, and sub- 
jected to the bites of leeches, gnats, &c.!. The practice is 
then continued: tock-salt is ground up, placed upon the 
sore, and spat upon. Cf. the strikingly similar perform- 
ances, reported by Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, 
p. 315, in connection with the cure of ‘ scrofulous swellings’ 
(gandamAla, ἀραὶ). 

The second hemistich of st. 3 is accompanied by an 
independent practice at Kaus. 31, 20: it is identical with 
the one described in the introduction to VI, 57 for the cure 
of the akshata. And the fourth stanza, again, is prescribed 
against wounds (sores, arus) of unknown origin, at Kaus. 
31, 21: the wound is sprinkled with ‘holy water’ (santyu- 
daka), and, while the nature of the disease is revolved in 
the mind, with the dregs of ghee® . 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 500. 


Sayama, rudhiramokshartham, ‘to relieve the congestion by 
letting blood.’ 

ἢ Kausika seems to express this in the curiously condensed 
Statement, manasd sampAtavata (cf. the stanza). SAyana (after 
Kesava) 4gyam hutvé manas& samkalpya vrane sampatdn Anayet. 
Sdyaza, by the way, connects st. 4 with the following hymn 
(VI, 84), which he supposes to be included in these perform- 
ances. But VI, 84 appears in a totally different function at 
Kaus. 52, 3, of which Sayava makes no mention. Cf. also Vait. 
Sf. 38, 1. 


vI, 85. COMMENTARY. 505 


Stanza 1. 


The conception that a disease flies forth from the patient 
occurs also at RV. X, 97, 13, ‘O yakshma, fly forth, fly 
with the blue jay, fly with the current of the wind. See, 
also AV. V, 30, 9; VI, 40, 3. The converse notion that 
sores fly on to the body occurs at AV. VII, 76, 4. 


Stanza 3. 


Sayaza, glauk varmaganito (Shankar Pandit, vrama-) har- 
shakshayak ... galuntak gandam4lodbhavavikarena tatra- 
tatra hastapadadisamdhishu udbhdt4n gadin tasyati (!) 
upakshapayati-ti gadunta#. Wise, 1. c, p. 311, has, 
‘Gilin. The swelling in this disease is like the swelling of 
a plum, not painful, but hard; and is produced by diseased 
phiegm, and blood.’ Cf. gilayu, ‘a hard boil in the throat,’ 
Pet. Lex. The correspondence with either is uncertain. 


Stanza 4. 


The formula seems to correspond perfectly with its use 
in the practice (Kaus. 31, 21) above: whatever oblation 
suits thee, that do thou comfortably enjoy, while I am 
mentally making an offering with the auspicious svahd. 
The disease is uncertain, hence the exact character of the 
offering is left undefined.. 


VI, 85. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 39. 


The varaza-tree (crataeva roxburghii) is extolled very 
highly for its medicinal and magic qualities. See the 
longer hymn, X, 3, and cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 
p. 60 ff. Apparently the sole basis for this belief is the 
supposed derivation of the word from the root var, ‘shut 
off;’ cf. the similar puns upon dsvattha, khadird, tagdd- 
bhanga, vadhaka at VIII, 8, 3; sara (srinati), vibhidaka 
(bhinatti) at Tait. 5. II, 1, 5,7, and many more. At Kaus. 
26, 33. 37 the practice prescribed consists simply in tying 
on an amulet derived from the varaza-tree. The hymn is 
also rubricated in the takmandsanagaza of the GazamiAlé, 


506 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Ath. Paris. 32, 7 (Kaus. 26, 1, note). The first hemistich 
of st. 2 recurs in a different connection, Kaus. 6,17. In 
st. 3 Ὁ Sayama reads visvadhayaniz for visvadha yatta. 


VI, 90. COMMENTARY TO PAGE II. 


It is far from easy to determine the exact disease which 
this charm aims to mitigate. The text of the hymn sug- 
gests rheumatism, but this presupposes perhaps too acute 
a diagnosis. At any rate it is some kind of sharp internal 
pain, either rheumatism, neuralgia, or colic, and that is the 
view of the ritualist. The hymn is rubricated at Kaus. 31, 7, 
as follows: ‘While pronouncing VI, go a spear (-amulet)? 
is fastened upon him who suffers pain as if from a spear 
(or who has, as it were, a spear sticking in him).’ Kesava 
describes the symptoms as follows: atha udare νὰ hridaye 
vasnge νὰ sarvange va sile ytpanne. The disease sila, 
and he who suffers from it (sdlin) are well known in the 
medical Sdstras. Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, 
p. 341 ff, identifies it with colic (gastro-periodynia), and 
reports it as due to the deadly trisQla or trident of Siva 
(Rudra). This seems to establish a fairly firm connection 
between the hymn (cf. st. 1) and the later medical tradi- 
tion. In the Srauta-practices the hvzdayasdla, the spit 
upon which the heart of the sacrificial animal is roasted 
(Tait. S. VI, 4, 1,4; Apast. Sr. VII, 8, 33 23,10; 27,153 
XI, 20,15; Sat. Br. III, 8, 5,8; VI, 2, 2, 38; IX, 5, 4,41; 
Katy. Sr. V, 11, 26; VI, 7, 14; 10,15; Vait. SQ. 10, 22; 
Laty. Sr. V, 4, 6), is always connected symbolically with 
pain (hridayam sug rikhati): the connection between spear 
and pain is most natural. 

The hymn has been translated by Grill*, pp. 14, 168. 
The Anukramazi, raudram. 


Stanza 2. 


a. dhamanayaz, perhaps, more broadly ‘interior canals, 
or vessels ;’ see the notes on I, 17, 3, and VII, 35, 2. 


 Kesava, slam lohamazih pash4no va. 


VI, 92. COMMENTARY. 507 


VI, 91. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 40. 


The supposed etymology of ydva, ‘barley,’ from root yu, 
‘ward off, is a fruitful source for the application of barley 
in charms to cure disease and ward off demons. See the 
introduction to 11,7. The present hymn consists of three 
loosely connected stanzas (st. 2= RV. X, 60,11; st. 3=III, 
7,5; RV. X, 137, 6), in praise of the barley and the waters ; 
the liturgical texts and the collateral practices define it as 
a cure for all diseases (sarvabhaishagyam). Kausika’s rite 
(28, 17-20) avails itself of these indications, to wit: 17. 
‘ While reciting V, 9 and VI, 91 four portions of the dregs 
of ghee are poured into a pail of water. 18. Two (portions) 
are poured upon the earth (cf. V, 9, 2.6.7). 19. These 
two are gathered up again (into the afore-mentioned pail of 
water) and (the patient) is washed off with (the resulting 
mixture). 20. (And putting dregs of ghee into a pail full 
of barley ') an amulet of barley 2 is fastened (to the patient) 
while pronouncing the second of the two hymns (VI, 91).’ 

The hymn is rubricated also in the takmandsanagama, 
Ath. Paris. 32, 7 (see Kaus. 26, 1, note); the Anukramazi, 
yakshmandsanadevatyam. It has been translated by 
Grill?, pp. 14, 168. 

Stanza 1. 


Cf. Zimmer, p. 237. vyaye (in relation to ydva) hazily 
satisfies the inordinate craving of the Atharvanist for puns. 
One wonders why yavay4mi is not worked in instead (cf. 
the introduction to I, 7). 


VI, 92. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 145. 


The materials from which this hymn is compounded are, 
apparently, not original with the Atharvanist. St. 3 occurs 
with variants at RV. X, 56, 2; sts. 1, 2 in the writings of 


1 sayave. Kesava, yavasahite udapatre. The passage is not 
excerpted in our edition. 
3 Cf. Kaus. 19, 27 in the introduction to VI, 142. 


508 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


the White Yagur-veda: Vag. 5. IX, 8. 9, and the cor- 
responding passage of the Kazva-sdkha (each with inde- 
pendent readings); Sat. Br. V, 1, 4, 9. 10. The stanzas 
seem to belong in the first place to the vagapeya-ceremony ; 
see Weber, Uber den Vagapeya, Sitzungsberichte der 
K6niglich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1892, 
p. 788 (28 of the reprint). At Kaus. 41, 21-25 they are 
worked up in a ceremony which D4rila designates as asvasya 
vidhikarma, Kesava and Sayava as asvasdnti!. The cere- 
mony consists in pouring dregs of ghee over the horse, 
after it has been bathed ; pouring more dregs of ghee upon 
(fragrant substances) that have been ground up, and been 
placed into a leaf; giving drink to the horse, washing it off, 
and scattering the ground substance upon it. Cf. also Vait. 
Sd. 36, 18; Ath. Paris. 4, 1; 15. The hymn has been 
rendered by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, ITI, 459. 


Stanza. 3. 


The variants of this stanza here, as compared with RV. 
X, 56, 2, betray themselves readily as secondary inspirations 
to suit the practical application of the hymn as a charm. 


VI, 94. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 138.: 


The key-note of this charm is the word sam-nam, ‘to 
bend to one’s will.” The’ idea is a common one, having 
assumed a somewhat stereotyped and technical character in 
the works of the Yagus and Brahmaaa literature ; see, e.g. 
Maitr. S. I, 4, 14; Tait. 5. ITI, 4, 4,1; VII, 5,23, 1; Tait. 
Br. ITI, 8, 18, 5; Par. Grzh.I, 5,9. In the Atharvan the 
hymn IV, 39 (cf. Kaus. 5, 8; 68, 37; 72, 37) is the most 
elaborate production of this sort. In the Kausika (12, 5 ff.) 
the present hymn comes under the head of s4mmanasyAni 
(sc. sdktani), ‘charms designed to procure harmony;’ for 
the practices associated with these hymns, see the introduc- 


? Kesava, ‘horses are rendered by it consecrated, brilliant, safe 
from accidents, swift, healthy.’ 


VI, 96. COMMENTARY. 509 


tion to III, 30. The first two stanzas of this hymn recur at 
III, 8, 5.6; the third is almost identical with V, 23, 1. 
Translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 514. 


Stanza 2. 


b. éte in the vulgata is a misprint (not accounted for in 
the Index Verborum because of the statement on p. 3). 
Shankar Pandit with all MSS., éta (Padapatha, 4 ita), as in 
IIT, 8, 6. 

Stanza 3. 


For the stem ὀΐα (Padapazha, 4 uta), cf. the note on V, 
23, 1. Sayana derives uta from the root v4, to wit: ote 
abhimukhyena samtate parasparam sambaddhe va. But 
how about Sarasvati in Pada b? 


VI, 96. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 44. 


Darila at Kaus. 31, 22-25 prescribes this charm for one 
seized by evil (papagvzhita). Kgesava for the same, or for 
a dropsical person. Sdyaza for one attacked by the curse 
of a Brahmava (brahmazakrose ; cf. st. 2.8), or for a drop- 
sical person. The stanzas and padas, however, betray the 
most undefined character, being compiled from various 
spheres (cf. RV. X, 97, 15. 16. 18; Tait. 5. IV, 2, 6,4; 
Vag. S. XII, 90. 92; cf. also AV. VIII, 7, 28; XI, 6,7; 
RV. X, 164, 3=AV. VI, 45, 2=Tait. Br. III, 7, 12, 4; 
Baudh. Dharmas. II, 4, 7,18): the compilation is, in effect, 
a panacea. The practice of the Kausika consists in fumi- 
gating the sufferer with (the soma-branch) mentioned in the 
mantra (st. 1), which is burned, together with other plants ; 
in giving him to drink a mixture of honey and udasvit 
(water and curds), a mixture of milk and udasvit, and, 
again, both these messes combined. The hymn is counted 
as one of the amholingagama (cf. st. 1) in the Gazaméla, 
Ath. Paris. 32, 32 (cf. Kaus. 32, 27, note); it has been 
translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 506; Grill*, 38, 
168. The Anukramasi, vanaspatyam. 


510 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 2. 
ἃ. For devakilbishat, cf. the note on VIII, 7, 28. 


VI, 97. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 122. 


This and the two following hymns figure among the ἡ 
‘battle-charms,’ the samgramika#i (sc. sQktani), or the 
aparagitagama, as it is designated by the Gazam4la, Ath. 
Paris. 32, 13. The practices connected with the list are 
treated at Kaus. 14, 8-11. They consist in offering obla- 
tions of ghee and grits; placing bows as fagots upon a fire 
built of bows; next, placing arrows as fagots upon a fire 
built of arrows ; and in the presentation (to the king by the 
chaplain, the purohita) of a bow that has been anointed 
with the dregs of ghee, and has been polished off. The 
entire list of hymns is further employed at the ceremonies 
connected with the beginning of the study of the Veda 
(upakarma) at Kaus. 139, 7; the hymns VI, 97-99, at the 
indramaha-festival, Kaus, 140, 10. 


Stanza 3. 


Repeated at XIX, 13, 6, and with variants, RV. X, 103, 
6; SV. EI, 1204; Maitr. S. II, 10, 4; Tait. S. IV, 6, 4, 2; 
Vag. S. XVII, 38. The stanza is primarily addressed to 
Indra, but Indra and king are at this stage of Vedic litera- 
ture perfectly synonymous; cf. the note on III, 3, 2, and 
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 251. 


VI, 99. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 123. 


In the Kausika the hymn is employed along with, and 
in precisely the same situations as VI, 97; see the intro- 
duction there, and cf. also Vait. SQ. 18, 16. Previously 
translated by Grill*, pp. 18, 168 ff. The Anukramazi, 


aindram. 
Stanza 1. 


ο, ἃ. Cf. RV. X, 128, 9, which suggests by its word adhi- 
rag4m the possibility that ekagdm in our stanza is some 


VI, 100. COMMENTARY. 511 


sort of a secondary product of ekaragdm. But this is not 
favoured by the metre, and we may compare, in support 
of our rendering, ekaganman, as the designation of a king, 
‘of singular birth,’ quoted by the Pet. Lex. from the Tri- 
k4ndasesha. 

Stanza 2. 


The first hemistich is formulaic ; cf. I, 20, 2. 


VI, 100. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 27. 


The equivalence of the word upagfk& with upagtihvika, 
upadikaé, and upadipika!, and its meaning of ‘ant,’ was 
established by the present translator in ‘Seven Hymns of 
the Atharva-veda,’ Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 482 ff. The 
upagika are a kind of ants, fancied to be endowed with the 
power of digging up beneficent, healing water: according 
to sts. 1, 2 the gods themselves furnished them with this 
quality. They are, accordingly, brought into contact with 
the bodies of poisoned persons in every possible manner. 
According to Kaus. 31, 26, a lump from an ant-hill is 
fastened (as an amulet) upon the poisonéd person; he is 
given some of it to drink (in water); is made to rinse his 
mouth with the same mixture; and is besmeared with a 
solution of it in warm water. Cf. also the introduction to II, 
3. In addition to the numerous passages bearing upon this 
subject, that have been cited in the above-mentioned article, 
see also Vag. 5. XXXVII,4; Κάϊν. Sr. XXVI, 1,6; Tait. 
Br. I, 1, 3,43 2, 1,3; Tait. Ar. IV, 2,3; Apast. Sr. V, 1, 
7; XV, 2,1; 16,5; Ath. Paris. 67, 2 (cf. Weber, Omina 
und Portenta, p. 324); Y.aska’s Nighazfavas III, 29 = 
Kautsavaya 67 (cf. Roth’s Erlauterungen, p. 35); and the 
scholiast at Tait. S. I, 1, 3 (p. 19 of the edition of the Bib- 
liotheca Indica). For upakika, &c., the ῬΑ] forms of the 
word, see Morris in the London Academy οἱ of Nov. 19, 1892, 
vol. xlii, p. 462. 


1 Cf. also dehik&, uddehika, and upadehik4, ‘names of ants that 
throw up earth,’ and see Grill’, p. 81, note. And again, cf. υἱρᾶ- 
dik4 (with variants), Pet. Lex. 8. v. utpadaka 3. 


512 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 511 (cf. also pp. 343, 507). See also Bergaigne et 
Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 353. 


Stanza 1. 

6. The Pet. Lex. suggests three rivers named Sarasvati, 
or perhaps simply three rivers in general. But some per- 
sonified group of divinities is more likely to be in the mind 
of the writer, probably three of the Apri divinities, Saras- 
vati, Ida, Bharat?. This conclusion was arrived at before 
inspecting SAyava, who has, sarasvatyas trayirdpaz!, yad 
va id& sarasvati bharati. See Oldenberg, Die Religion des 


Veda, p. 243. 
Stanza 2. 


The vulgate erroneously emends upagik4(Z) of the MSS. 
to upagika(&); cf. ‘Seven Hymns &c.,’ p. 483 (18 of the 
reprint). SAyaza manipulates the text still further: he 
devak vak yushmakam sambandhinyak upagikaé... niru- 
dake sthane ...udakam . . . aksh4rayan. 


VI, 102, COMMENTARY TO PAGE 101. 


For the practices connected with this hymn, see the 
introduction to II, 30, above. The rites of Kausika (35, 
21) seek especially to realise in practice the similes of this 
hymn (sts. 2, 3). The Anukramamt designates it as Asvi- 
nam, spoken by one who is abhisaszmanaskamak. It has 
been translated by Weber, Ind. Stud. V, 243 ff.; Grill’, 
ΡΡ. 54, 169 ff. 

Stanza 1. 

The comparison seems to be derived from the practices 
in ploughing. Cf. RV. IV, 57, 4. 8; AV. III, 17, 5. 6. 
The Asvins play a part in agriculture ; see RV. I, 117, 21. 


Stanza 2. 


a,b. Both τἄσϑενάζ and prishty4m are problematic. 
Sayava, yatha asvasreshthak prishtyam sankubaddham 


' Cf. Oldenberg, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. 
XXXIX, 54 ff. 


VI, 105. COMMENTARY. 513 


sabandhanaraggum lilay4 4khidati unmdlayati tadvat, ‘as 
a noble horse uproots with ease the halter fastened to a 
peg. Altogether unlikely. Roth, as quoted by Grill, and 
Bohtlingk’s Lexicon, s.v. prvish¢y4, regard the latter as 
related to (in fact a feminine of) prdshdi, ‘side-horse,’ and 
accordingly we have translated, without any feeling of 
certainty. Cf. X,°8, 8. But prishtyd may possibly be 
identical with prishfivah (asva), XVIII, 4, 10, ‘the horse 
which carries burdens upon its back,’ and ragdsvaé simply 
the ‘horse of the king.’ The point then would be that 
ordinary horses follow the royal stallion on expeditions, or 
processions. 

c. The edition of Roth and Whitney reads trézma. But 
many MSS. read trénam; this is accepted by Whitney in 
the Index Verborum, and is rendered certain by Kaus. 
45, 21. 

Stanza 8. 

The ingredients of the love-mixture are worked up in 
the Kausika; the sweetwood figures especially in charms 
of this sort; cf. I, 34,4. In Padac Sdyaza regards turd 
as a genitive of tur, agreeing with bhagasya, tvaramazasya 
saubhagyakarasya devasya. 


VI, 105. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 8. 


_The practice attached to this hymn in Kaus. 31, 27 is 
designated by Darila as a cure for coughs, and by Kesava 
as a cure for coughs and expectoration (kdse sleshma- 
patane fa). The Satra is as follows: γαῖμα manosva diva 
ity arishéena, ‘While reciting AV. VI, 105 and VII, 107 
he performs the practice prescribed (for the cure of the 
disease called arish/a).’ This latter disease seems to be 
a nervous trouble in the nature of epilepsy or St. Vitus 
dance (Darila, arishéam . . . angaspandanakalahalabhatadi, 
see Kausika, Introduction, p. xlv). The practice accord- 
ing to Kaus. 28, 15 consists in making the patient take 
a few steps away from his house (Darila, kanifit padani 
grthan nishkramayati [cod. nisrdmayati]), after having 
previously, in accordance with the Paribhasha-sitras, Kaus. 


[42] L1 


514 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


7, 18 and 7, 7 (cf. also Kes. at 28,15; 31, 27), fed him 
with a churned drink and porridge. The patient, as he 
leaves his habitual place, is, doubtless, supposed to leave 
the disease behind him. 

AV. VII, 107, which appears in company with the 
present hymn, is a formula, consisting of a single stanza, 
to wit, ‘May the seven rays of the sun bring down (the 
waters?) from heaven: the waters, the floods of the sea, 
have caused thy pangs to leave thee (literally, have caused 
the point, or arrow, to fall out of thee).’ 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 510; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 385; cf. also 
Hillebrandt, Vedachrestomathie, p. 50. 


Stanza 1. 


b and sequel. The force of the adverbial suffix -mat is 
similar to that of dialectic -like in ‘quicklike’ and similar 
expressions. 

ἃ. pravayyam, ἅπ. Aey., literally, ‘the course along which 
the wind blows ;’ see, e.g. RV. V, 83, 4, pra vata vanti. 
Sayava, pragantavyam avadhim; the Pet. Lexs., etwa 
‘fliichtigkeit ;’ Zimmer, ‘fittig ;’ Ludwig, ‘wehen ;’ Hille- 
brandt, ‘ flugbahn.’ 


VI, 106. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 147. 


The present charm forms a link in a long chain of prac- 
tices for quenching fire by means of water-plants (cf. 
αὔτνδλ in st. 1) and a frog (cf. the Vaitana-sdtra, below). 
This line of conceptions has been assembled and treated 
by the translator in Contributions, Second Series, Amer. 
Journ. Phil. XI, p. 342 ff., where the present hymn is also 
treated’. Allied with it most closely is the passage, RV. 


1 The numerous passages assembled in that article may be 
supplemented further by Maitr. 5. III, 3, 3.6; Tait. S. V, 4, 2, 
1; Sat. Br. IX, 1, 2,20 ff.; XIII, 8, 3, 13; Lasy. Sr. Il, 5, 13 ff; 
cf. also Indische Studien, IX, 414, and our introductions to III, 13 
and VII, 116. 


VI, 106. COMMENTARY. 515 


X, 142, 7,8; anent this, the Rigvidhana, IV, 11, 1, states 
that it is also employed against danger from conflagrations 
(agnibhaye sati); see Oldenberg, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. 
Morgenl. Gesellsch. XXXIX, 79, and cf. Shadgurusishya 
(ed. Macdonell), p. 163. 

The practices at Kaus. 52, 5-9 present the hymn in the 
somewhat general character of a samanam, ‘ quieting force,’ 
operative against danger from fire in the first place, but, 
further, intended to appease curses (mental fire) and to 
quiet the pain of one that has been burned by fire: 
5. ‘While reciting the present hymn a practice to quiet 
(fire) is performed within a pond. 6. (The same ceremony 
is performed) in a ditch dug inside of the house. 7. The 
house is covered with an avaka-plant (a water-plant, blyxa 
octandra; cf. the article cited above, p. 349). 8. To a 
person who is being cursed (a stirred drink and porridge *) 
are offered. A person who has been burned is washed 
(with water).’ The third and second stanzas are employed, 
along with III, 13, 7 and XVIII, 3, 5 (6), at Vait. Sd. 29, 
13, to scatter the fire upon the altar by means of a frog, 
an avaka-plant, and reed-plants; see our article, p. 345. 

The hymn has been treated previously by Grill’, pp. 63, 
170. The Anukramani, dirvas4ladevatyam. 


Stanza 1. 


The darva-plant, a kind of a millet (panicum dactylon), 
figures from early times (RV. X, 16, 13, &c.) in these fire- 
charms; see our article, pp. 342-3, and Zimmer, Altin- 
disches Leben, p. 70. The stanza is repeated with variants 
at RV. X, 142, 8. 

Stanzas 2, 3. 

Cf. RV. X, 142, 7; Maitr. 5.11, 10, 1; Tait. S. IV, 6, 1, 

3; Vag. S. XVII, 7; Asv. Sr. II, 12,2. P&da 3d occurs 


1 According to Kesava water is poured into the pond, as a pro- 
tection against fire. 

3 Thus if we trust the Paribhash4-s(tra, Kaus. 7, 7. But Sayana 
(after Kesava), taptam4shake divye tailadikam abhimantrya sapatha- 
kartre (!) prayathet. 

Ll2 


516 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


frequently in the Yagus-texts, &c., in the form agnir 
himasya bheshagam: Tait. S. VII, 4, 18, 2; Maitr. S. III, 
12, 19; Vag. S. XXIII, 10; Asv. Sr. X, 9, 2; cf. Tait. 
Br. III, 9, 5, 4. The present version seems adapted for 
the occasion. 


VI, 109. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 21. 


The hymn is rubricated at Kaus. 26, 33 along with five 
others! in a series which is designated gazakarm4gaza (!) 
by the GawvamAla, Ath. Paris. 32,24. Its particular employ- 
ment is indicated at 26, 38: the patient is given pepper- 
corns to eat. Darila defines the practice as kshiptabhai- 
shagyam, and Kesava (and Sdyaza) clearly regard it as 
a cure for wounds. Cf. the note on st. 3. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 509; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 389. Cf. also 
_ Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 154. 


Stanza 1. 


SAyana has alternate renderings for kshiptabheshag?, and 
atividdhabheshag?, in effect, ‘throwing aside, and suppressing 
(other) remedies.’ Hardly probable: note the accents. 


Stanza 3. 


a. For the réle of the Asuras in connection with curative 
plants, see the introduction to I, 24, and cf. especially II, 
3: 3: 

ο. Zimmer, l.c., p. 389, has endeavoured to show that 
vatikréta means ‘produced by wounds. Kesava (and 
Sayama) here (not however at VI, 44, 3) seem to agree with 
this construction of the word. Sdyaza, in the introduction, 
must have this word in mind when he defines the charm as 
dhanurvata - kshiptavatadi - krztsnavatavyAdhisantyartham, 
and he seems to take vata in the sense of ‘wound.’ Yet 
we would adhere to the ordinary sense of vata, ‘wind of 
the body,’ in the medical Sastras ; cf. Wise, Hindu System 


11,7; 25; VI, 85; 127; VIII, 7. 


VI, I10. COMMENTARY. 517 


of Medicine, p. 250. Zimmer’s quotation from Wise, p. 323, 
is based upon a misunderstanding of the English words. 
The words, ‘ or throw pieces of wood or stone,’ mean that 
the consumptive shall not exert himself by throwing, not, 
that his consumption has been brought on by throws (on 
the part of some other person) of pieces of wood or stone. 


VI, 110. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 100. 


The Kausika, 46, 25, very intelligently, prescribes this 
charm for one born under an inauspicious constellation 
(papanakshatre gataya). The sense of the Satra is obscure?. 
The word milena refers to some performance undertaken 
elsewhere either ‘under the constellation mdla’—this is 
identical with the viérétau, st. 2—, or ‘with a root.’ Curiously 
enough, it would seem as though this referred to some per- 
formance described in the Nakshatrakalpa, if we are to 
trust Kesava, who says: ‘ This rite is performed under the 
constellation mala. He shall perform the rite mentioned 
in the Nakshatrakalpa ... He eats milk-porridge over 
which dregs of ghee have been poured ... In this rite 
sacrificial straw with the roots (samdla) is spread?; fagots 
with the roots attached are laid on. the fire...’ The 
entire practice according to Kesava (and Sayaza) consists 
in washing off and sprinkling (the child, or the parents), 
and in eating the above-mentioned porridge (cf. Kaus. 
46, 26) ὃ. 

The hymn has been treated by Weber, Die vedischen 
Nachrichten von den Nakshatra, II, 291; Ludwig, Der 
Rigveda, III, 431 (under the caption, ‘ Segensgebet fiir den 
opferer’); Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 321. 


1 The full text is, pratno hi=sti papanakshatre gétaya milena. 

2 Cf. Kaus. 1, 22. 23 and the scholiasts. Of course the word 
‘root’ throughout symbolises the constellation mila. 

3 The practice thus coincides largely with that undertaken in 
connection with VI, 112 (see the introduction) and, since the word 
mfla occurs also in its first stanza, milena in Kaus. 46, 25 perhaps 
simply refers to the practices in Kaus. 46, 26 ff. 


518 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 1. 

Repeated with variants at RV. VIII, 11, 10; Tait. Ar. 
X, 1 (st. 69). In Pada c Sdyava with these texts reads 
piprayasva (sariram ... pfraya) for piprdyasva. The mean- 
ing of the latter is at any rate in doubt, either ‘ delight’ 
(from root pri) or ‘fill’ (from root pra 1). 


Stanza 2. 

For the character of the constellations gyesh‘aghnf 
(thus, not gyaish‘Zaghni, the MSS.) and viérftau, see 
Weber, Nakshatra, II, pp. 292, 310, 374, 389; Zimmer, 
” Le, pp. 356, 392. In Pada Ὁ (formulaic, see VI, 112, 1 Ὁ) the 
expression mGlabdrhazat plays upon two alternate names 
of the vikvétau, namely, milla, and mdlabdrhazt?. The 
name vikrftau is here felt to be ‘ entanglers, ensnarers ;’ 
elsewhere in the AV. and in other texts, the word is rather 
regarded auspiciously, ‘they that loosen the bonds of 
disease,’ and the like. See the note on II, 8, 1. The 
change of person in the second hemistich is noteworthy, 
but Agni seems to be the subject in both. 


Stanza 3. 
For vyaghréshni, cf. vy4ghr4u dantau VI, 140,1. The 
tiger, thus early, typifies danger to life, as even to this day 
he claims thousands of victims annually in India. 


VI, 111. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 32. 


The hymn is one of the three m4trzn4mAni (sc. sdkt4ni), 
‘hymns that contain the names of the mothers,’ Kaus. 8, 24. 
They are II, 2 and VIII, 6 in addition to the present, and 
appear to have been so designated because they contain 
the words dpsaras (II, 2, 3.5; VI, 111, 4), and matar (VIII, 


1 So Whitney, doubtfully, in the Index Verborum, p. 195 b (cf. 
also 382). The form piprayasva is not quoted in the same author’s 
Roots, Verb Forms, &c., either under pra and pri (p. 102), or 
under pri (p. 100). 

2 Cf. also the foot-note on VI, 112,1 ἃ, Ὁ. 


VI, III. COMMENTARY. 519 


6, 1'); cf. Kausika, Introduction, p. lviii. The matrznamani 
are mentioned frequently in the Kausika (see Index B) ; 
the employment which bears most closely upon the sense 
of the present hymn is at Kaus. 26, 29-32, a rite which, 
according to the scholiasts, cures a person possessed by 
demons. Pulverised fragrant substances, mixed with ghee, 
are sacrificed, and the patient is anointed with what 
remains. The patient is next placed upon a cross-roads 2, 
a wicker-work of darbha grass, containing a coal-pan, upon 
his head ; and upon the coal the previously mentioned frag- 
rant substances are again offered. The patient going into 
a river against the current throws the same substances 
into a sieve’, while another person from behind washes 
him off. Pouring more of the fragrant substances into an 
unburned vessel, moistening the substances (with ghee), 
placing the vessel into a three-footed wicker-basket made 
of muzga-grass he ties it to a tree in which there are birds’ 
nests. The complicated ceremony is largely symbolic : it 
aims to purify, and indicate the passing out of the unhealthy 
conditions. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 512; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 393; Grill 3, 
pp. 21, 170; cf. also Hillebrandt, Vedachrestomathie, 
p. 50; Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 279 ff. The 
Anukramazi, 4gneyam. 


Stanza 1. 


The Anukramazi designates the first stanza as para- 
nush¢up trishfubh. A considerable variety of textual 
emendations, none of which seems warranted by the 
exigencies of the case, are suggested by Grill*, p. 170. 
The stanza consists of three trish¢ubh PAédas, the second of 


1 Cf. also XII, 1, 60, and the introduction to IV, 20. 

2 The favourite place to divest oneself of evil influences ; cf. 
Kaus. 27, 7, in the introduction to II, 10; Kaus. 30, 18, in the 
introduction to VI, 26, &c. See in general Oldenberg, Die Religion 
des Veda, p. 267, and the index under ‘ kreuzweg.’ 

3 For the sieve, see the introduction to VI, 26. 


520 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


which is hypermcetric, and seems to suggest a slurred 
reading of the five syllables preceding the caesura, perhaps 
ém γό baddhak for aydm γό baddhak (cf. Avestan aém). 

b. baddhdd and styata# may refer either simply, or with 
double entente to the mental condition of the patient, 
‘bound and checked by the fetters of the dementia.’ 

6. Zimmer, p. 393, ‘dann wird er dir deinen antheil 
darbringen.’ But ddhi kar does not seem to bear any such 


interpretation. 
Stanza 3. 


a. Zimmer renders devainasa by ‘sin against the gods;’ 
Ludwig, ‘von befleckung (where is there a corresponding 
word in the original ?), siinde gegen die gétter, der wan- 
sinnig. It does not seem that the gods madden him that 
offends against them, a mere sight of them suffices: see 
Mahabh. III, 14501, ‘the man who, awake or asleep, 
beholds the gods quickly becomes mad ; that is known as 
possession by the gods.’ Our translation, too, preserves 
the parallelism between the first two Padas. Indeed, 
devainas4 seems to mean outright ‘the sins committed by 
the gods.’ See the introduction to VI, 112, and Proc. Amer. 
Or. Soc., March, 1894 (Journal, vol. xvi), p. cxix ff., and 
cf. especially Apast. Sr. XIII, 17, 9; Pa#é. Br. I, 6, 10 
(devakritasyaixnasak). Thus also Sayama, devakritam 
enas...devakritét papad upaghatéd unmaditam. Cf., 
perhaps, also VITI, 7, 28. 

b. Read yath4nunmadit6 for yad4nunmadito : the corrup- 
tion is due to1d. 

Stanza 4. 


a. At AV. II, 2, 5 the Apsaras are designated as the 
‘ mind-bewildering’ wives of the Gandharvas ; at Tait. S. 
III, 4, 8, 4, ‘the Gandharvas and Apsaras render mad him 
that is mad.’ In the sequel of the latter passage it is stated 
that it is necessary to quiet them (samayati, cf. st. 2 8). 
The expression punar da is used in the sense of ‘ give back, 
give up possession,’ rather than in the derived sense, ‘ make 
well, restore.’ All this seems to be well founded in the 
early Hindu view; in RV. X, 11, 2 the Gandharvi and the 


VI, 112. COMMENTARY. . 521 


woman of the waters (ἄργᾷ ydéshan4) perform a similar 
service: ‘And the Gandharvi, the woman of the water, 
spake; when the reeds rustle may she protect my mind?! 
Primarily, the madness which the Gandharvas and Apsaras 
can cause, and which they are called upon to remove, is, in 
accordance with the general character of these divinities, the 
madness of love; cf. the story of Urvasi and Pur(ravas 
(RV. X, 95, especially st. 14). 


VI, 112. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 164. 


This and the following hymn reflect a cycle of legends to 
which the translator has devoted an article in the Proc. 
Amer. Or. Soc., March, 1894 (Journal, vol. xvi, p. cxix ff.), 
entitled, ‘ Trita, the scapegoat of the gods.’ Without the 
light of the conceptions there alluded to the hymns are 
hardly intelligible 2, and a brief statement of them here will 
not be out of place. At Maitr. 5. IV, 1, 9, it is stated that 
the gods did not find a person upon whom they might be 
able to wipe off from themselves the bloody part of the 
sacrifice, i.e. their guilt. Agni spat upon the waters, and 
successively three personages, Ekata, Dvita, and Trita, were 
born. The gods wiped off their guilt upon them; they in 
turn wiped themselves upon one who was overtaken by the 
rising sun, i.e. one over whom the sun had risen while he 
was asleep; this one wiped himself upon one who was over- 
taken by the setting sun; he upon one afflicted with brown 
teeth ; he upon one with diseased nails; he upon one that 
had married a younger sister, before the older was married ; 
he upon one whose younger brother had married before 
himself; he upon one who had married before his older 
brother; he upon one who had slain a man; he upon one 
who had committed an abortion. ‘Beyond him who has 
committed an abortion the sin does not pass.’ 

In Tait. Br. III, 2, 8, 9 ff. the same story is told with 


1 Cf. Pischel, Vedische Studien, I, 188. 
2 Cf. Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 
163; Fifth Series, ib. XVI, 3. 


522 HYMNS OF THE ATHAKVA-VEDA. 


variants, the chief difference being that the culminating 
sin is the slaying of a Brahman: ‘ Beyond the slayer of 
a Brahman the sin does not pass.’ Still other versions 
occur in the Kash. 5. XXXI, 7; Kap. 5. XLVII, 7 (cf. 
also Sat. Br. I, 2, 2,8; Katy. Sr. II, 5, 26; Mahidhara to 
Vag. S. I, 23; Apast. Sr. I, 25, 15); and similar lists of 
sinful personages are to be quoted from a variety of Sdtras, 
and later Smarta-texts; see Delbriick, Die Indoger- 
manischen Verwandtschaftsverhaltnisse, in the Transac- 
tions of the Royal Saxon Society, vol. xi, nr. v, p. 578 ff. 
(200 ff. of the reprint); cf. also Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 
Ρ. 315. All those mentioned in the lists are obviously 
regarded as burdened with guilt (énas); and the legend 
clearly marks them as persons upon whom, therefore, the 
guilt of others may be unloaded. 4 

In another version of the legend, Sat. Br. I, 2, 3,1 ff., 
Trita and his two shadowy companions Ekata and Dvita 
roam about with Indra, and when the latter slays Visvardpa, 
the son of Tvashéar, they are saddled with this crime, 
equivalent to the murder of a Brahman, because they ‘knew 
about his going to be killed.’ The truth is this: Indra’s 
drastic performances upon the great variety of demons 
whom he slays, coupled as they are at times with wiles and 
treachery, have not failed to arouse the compunctions of 
a certain school of Vedic moralists (see, e.g. TS. VI, 5, 1, 
1-3; Tait. Br. I, 7,1, 7.8; Pa#k. Br. XII, 6,8; XX, 15,6; 
Maitr. S. IV, 3,4; 5, 6), and they have given rise to the 
notion of misdeeds on the part of the gods in general 
(devainasé, AV. VI, 111, 3; X, 1,12). It was natural, 
now, that some personage closely associated with Indra— 
a personage, moreover, who could be construed as sub- 
servient, or at least ancillary to him—should be picked out 
for the unenviable position. For this Trita seems fitted in 
an eminent degree. Trita is the double of Indra in his 
struggle with the demons (RV. I, 187, 1), or his coadjutor 
(RV. I, 52,5; V, 86, 1; VIII, 7, 24, and especially X, 8, 8). 
Whether we regard him as the faded predecessor of Indra 
in the réle of a demiurge, being, as it were, the Indo-Iranian 


VI, 112. COMMENTARY. 523 


Hercules (cf. the Avestan Thraétaona Athwya); whether 
we regard him as Indra’s lieutenant (see the passages of 
the RV. just cited); or whether we follow Bergaigne, La 
Religion Védique, II, 326, 330, in viewing him as a divine 
sacrificer; in each case the moralising fancy, which would 
whitewash the cruelties incidental upon Indra’s valued 
services, naturally alights upon Trita, and makes him bear 
the burden of his superior’s misdeeds. And this again has 
been generalised so that in AV. VI, 113 the gods in general, 
without specification, are said to have wiped off their guilt 
upon Trita. He in his turn passes off his guilt upon the 
sinners among men. 

The rites within which AV. VI, 112 and 113 are embedded 
in Kaus. 46, 26-9 have for their object the removal of the 
sin of him whose younger brother marries first, as also of 
the prematurely married younger brother. Symbolically 
the sin is again removed, this time to a non-living object, 
to wit: ‘While reciting VI, 112 and 113 (the performing 
priest) ties fetters of muf#ga-grass upon the limbs of the 
parivitti and the parivividina}, as they sit at the edge of 
a body of water (a river), washes them by means of bunches 
of grass, and rinses them off. Placing other fetters upon 
the foam (in the river) he lets them flow away while reciting 
the hemistich, VI, 113, 2 c,d. And having entered the 
dwelling (the priest) sprinkles them while reciting all the 
hymns to the waters (see Kaus. 7, 4, note). 

The treatment of the Kausika embraces but one aspect 
of the hymn, in employing it in connection with the ex- 


1 Darila, ‘the younger brother along with the unmarried older 
brother.’ Kesava somewhat differently, ‘an expiatory performance 
for him who marries, sets up the fire, and is consecrated for the 
soma-sacrifice, while the older brother is living.’ Cf. the sins of 
the paryddh4tar and the paryahita, ‘the younger brother who sets 
up the fire, and the older brother who is passively implicated in 
the same sin;’ and the pariyash/ar and the parishéa, ‘the younger 
brother who is consecrated for the sacrifice before the older, and 
the older brother who is passively implicated in the same sin.’ See 
Delbrtick, l.c., pp. 580-1 (202-3). 


524 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


piatory performances of the parivitta and the parivividana. 
It seems that this is too narrow, and that the hymns were 
constructed to cover all the crimes in the catalogues con- 
nected with the legend of Trita, as mentioned above. This 
at least is in Kesava’s mind; see the foot-note. Further, 
the text of both hymns (VI, 112, 3; 113, 2) states distinctly 
that the sins in question shall be wiped off upon the abor- 
tionist, the bhrigzahdn, whose crime figures as a most 
shocking one at the end of the lists. This indicates that 
the entire list of sins is inthe mind of the poet, even though 
he intends to direct his charm against some special part of 
them. Finally, the expression dvddasadh4 in VI, 113, 3, 
refers, in my opinion, again to the list of crimes which are 
stated variously as from 9-1} in number, the use of the 
numeral 12 being due to its formulary and solemn character. 
From all this it seems to me that the hymns have in mind 
at least all those sins that arise from the inversion of the 
order of precedence as between the younger and older 
brothers, and probably the rest also. 

The hymns have been translated by Ludwig, Der Rig- 
veda, IIT, 469, 444; Grill?, pp. 15,171; Hardy, Die Vedisch- 
brahmanische Periode, p. 201. Cf. also Zimmer’s luminous 
allusion to VI, 113, Altindisches Leben, p. 315; and Ber- 
gaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 154. Ludwig intro- 
duces VI, 112 with the caption ‘Heirat. Fiir vater mutter 
sohn,’ and defines it (I. c., p. 470) as follows : ‘Der bruder 
der vor seinem Altern geheiratet hat, oder (so the text) der 
altere, der den jiingern friiher hat heiraten lassen, hat 
dadurch trockenheit verursacht. Er wird gebunden, seine 
frau, sein kind, bisz der regen ihn erlést.’ Support for this 
statement is wanting, and the author has not defined his 
motives. Grill treats both hymns rather too vaguely under 
the caption ‘krankheit’ (p. 8 ff.). The Anukramani defines 
VI, 112 as Agneyam ; VI, 113 as paushzam. 


Stanza 1. 


a, b. Our reference of the pronoun aydm to the delin- 
quent younger brother, the parivividéna or parivettar, while 


VI, 112. COMMENTARY, 525 


not altogether certain, seems better than Grill’s to some 
disease, a conception which leads him to emend the word 
to iydm (sc. gr&hiz). Both Ludwig and Grill, moreover, 
refer gyesh/am to ‘ the father,’ who, to be sure, is mentioned 
in st. 2 in a general way, along with the mother and the 
sons, ‘release them all, father, sons, and mother.’ This is 
simply another way of saying, ‘release the entire family 
from the consequences of the sin committed by a single 
member.’ The point of the hymn is stated in the first 
Pada, and their rendering of gyesh¢zam causes them to 
miss it}. 

I do not know whether the selection of Agni as the 
helping agent is of the general sort, or whether it refers 
to the legends reported above, in all of which Agni plays 
a part. In the versions of the Maitr. S. and Tait. Br. Agni 
helps the gods to free themselves from their pollution, and 
he is introduced also in the narrative of the Sat. Br. But 
in general Agni chases away evil demons, protects against 
poverty, straits, and enmities (RV. IV, 11, 5); especially 
does he remove the consequences of sin, vy éndmsi sisratho 
vishvag agne (RV. IV, 12, 5). 

e. Grahi is the attack of disease personified as a female 
demon. Since the word is derived from the root grah, 
‘seize, she is supposed to fetter the sick person (cf. the 
second stanza), and the medicine man’s practices take 
the turn of freeing him from them symbolically; see the 
Kausika above, and cf. RV. X, 161,1; AV. II, 9, 1. 

ἃ. ‘ May all the gods give thee leave, i.e. may they 
support thee in thy undertaking, as e.g. Agni is supported 
by a train of gods when he drives out fever in AV. V, 
22,1. 


1 The entire hemistich, however, may have been secondarily 
adapted to the present situation: gyesh/h4m vadhit reminds us of 
gyesh/haghnf, the designation of a certain constellation (VI, 110, 2), 
and Pada b repeats formulaically VI, 110, 2 b, which obviously 
alludes to the constellation mila. Cf. the introduction to that 
hymn and the note on its second stanza. 


526 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 2. 


b. The use of the number three is formulary and solemn. 
I. see no possibility of pointing out any three persons of 
the family, especially subject to the consequences of the 
illegal marriage, since primarily only the parivitta and the 
parivividana are involved. The cataloguing of father, sons, 
and mother in Pada d simply expands the notion contained 
in the solemn number three. 


Stanza 8. 


a. For pdarivitta the Kausika (46, 26) substitutes the 
synonymous parivitti. Ludwig’s suggested emendation to 
parivetta, ‘the younger brother who marries before the 
older’ (=parivividana in the Kaus., |. c.), is unnecessary, 
since both brothers alike are affected by the sin, wherever 
these conceptions crop out, and the mention of the older 
is as appropriate as that of the younger; cf. the monograph 
of Prof. Delbriick cited above, p. 578 ff. (200 ff.). 

ce. vimuko hi sdnti is difficult to translate ; literally, ‘they 
are loosenings,’ i.e. the fetters are subject in their very 
nature to the charm instituted to loosen them. Grill, in 
his note, paraphrases prettily, but not quite in accordance 
with the situation, ‘denn sie sind Stricke der Ausspannung.’ 
Ludwig, rather vaguely, ‘denn es sind die befreier da 
(oder: denn es ist regen gekommen).’ Possibly vimuzo 
is genitive singular, and the expression is to be rendered 
‘ for they belong to release,’ i.e. are subject to release. The 
poet sacrifices rigorous logic to the pun which is secured 
by introducing vimuso after vi mukantam. The word 
νἱπχύζο, moreover, foreshadows the statement about Pdishan 
in Pada d, since he is designated in RV. I, 42, 1; VI, 55,1 
as vimu&o napat, ‘the son of release,’ i.e. ‘the releaser’ par 
excellence (cf. sdhaso napat, and the like), and in RV. VIII, 
as vimoéana, ‘the liberator.’ 

d. The Pada is very characteristic in that it assigns quite 
definitely the conceptions at the base of the hymn to the 
cycle of ideas which are worked up in the legends reported 


VI, 113. COMMENTARY. 527 


in the introduction. Ῥύβῃδη is asked to wipe off (mrikshva, 
from root marg, the technical verb in those legends) the 
sin upon the abortionist (bhrizahdn), his sin being greatest : 
‘ beyond him that has committed an abortion the sin does 
mot pass ;’ see Maitr.S.1V, 1,9, and the corresponding 
passages of the K4¢zaka and Kapish/¢dala Samhitds, as 
quoted by Prof. Delbriick, |. c., pp. 579 (201) ff. Cf. also VI, 
113, 2d. 


VI, 113. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 165. 


For the conceptions at the base of this hymn, see the 
introduction to VI, 112. The statements here are more 
general than in the preceding, but the sins consequent upon 
the precedence of the younger brother are especially in the 
mind of the poet, at least if we trust the tradition of the 
ritual ; cf. the discussion of this point, above. 


Stanza 1. 


b. It is not absolutely necessary to emend enam to enan 
(i.e. enad) with the Pet. Lex., 5. v., trita b), and Grill’, p. 171, 
since the masculine enam may refer to papmanam, abstracted 
from papman in 2a. Read mamrége, and cf. Kiihnau, Die 
Trishtubh-Jagati-Familie, pp. 69-71, and Oldenberg, Die 
Hymnen des Rig-veda, p. 477. 

c, ἃ. Read tua grahir, in order to obtain a gagati-pAda 
in the midst of a trishfubh stanza, and cf. Oldenberg, |. c., 
p. 115 ff. Note the pun between A4nasé and ndsayantu; 
cf. III, 7,6. Both Padas are repeated in st. 3. 


Stanza 2. 


For the first hemistich, cf. Tait. Br. II, 2, 9, 2. 

e. Cf. I, 8, 1; VI, 14, 3; X, 1, 10; 4, 20; RV. X, 
155, 3: 

ἃ. The identity of Padad with VI, 112, 3 d elicits certain 
text-critical remarks from Dr. Grill, which are, to say the 
least, premature. The repetition of the Pada does not 
suffice for the basis of textual manipulations, and the 


528 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


appearance of Pdshan, in addition to Agni, upon the scene 
is sufficiently accounted for by the suggestion of the root vi 
mué; cf. our note on VI, 112, 3 Ὁ. 


Stanza 3. 


a. The expression, ‘deposited in twelve places is that 
which has been wiped off Trzta, contains a distinct refer- 
ence in round number to the list of delinquencies, stated 
variously as being from nine to eleven, through which 
Trita’s sin passes as it is transferred among men, from one 
sin to another ; see the introduction above. S4yanza makes 
out the count by counting the gods as one, the three Aptyas 
as three, and eight human sinners: he who is caught asleep 
by the rising sun, and seven others. 

b. Read manushyaénasani in accordance with the divi- 
sion of the Padap4tha, or manushiyainasani. 

6, d. Identical with 1 ς, d. 


VI, 114. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 164. 


In accordance with the general character of its contents 
this hymn is employed, in connection with one or more of 
those following, on a considerable number of occasions. 
At Kaus. 46, 30-32 the entire anuvaka beginning with our 
hymn is employed in expiatory rite at the death of one’s 
teacher; at 46, 33-35 in connection with an expiatory 
offering from one’s store of grain and provisions; at 46, 
36-40 in connection with the discharge of one’s debts on 
the death of the creditor’. Still more secondary is the 
use of these hymns at Kaus. 60, 7; 67, 19 (here only VI, 
114, 115, 117), in connection with the sava or brahmaudana, 
the solemn presentation of the priest’s rewards; and at 
Vait. Sd. 22, 15; 23,12; 30,22; Santikalpa 17,18; Ath. 
Paris. 22,4; 39,11. Similar formulas to those contained 


1. So according to Darila: Kesava and Sdyaza with better reason 
perhaps restrict the recitation to VI, 117-119, three hymns that 
deal with debt (r74) explicitly. 


VI, 120. COMMENTARY, 529 


in this and the next hymn occur in RV. X, 37, 12; Maitr. 
S. ITI, 11, 10; IV, 14,7; Vag. 5. XX, 14-20; Tait. Br. II, 
4, 4,8; 6,6,1; Tait. Ar. II, 3,13 7,3 
The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 443; Grill?, pp. 45, 172. The Anukramami, vaisva- 
devam. 
Stanza 1. 


For the designation of the Brahmans as gods, see the 
note on XII, 3, 38. 
Stanza 3. 


8. médasvata (sc. pasund); cf. Tait. 5. VI, 3,11,5. The 
point is felt by Sayaza who supplies pasund. Not so 
Darila at Kaus. 46, 30, note, medasvata sruska:gyam guhoti. 
According to this construction it would be proper to emend 
to médasvatya. 


VI, 115. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 164. 


In general the employment of this hymn coincides with 
that of the preceding, as far as the Kausika and Vaitana- 
sfitra are concerned; see the introduction there. The 
additional employment in Vait. Sa. 8, 7, and (of st. 3) in 
30, 23 is without special significance. See also Ath. Paris. 
39, 11. For parallel passages in other texts, see the intro- 
duction to the preceding hymn. Previous translations by 
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 443; Grill*, pp. 46, 172 ff. ; cf. 
also Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 182. The Anukra- 
mai, vaisvadevam. 

Stanza 2. 

Sdyana, on the strength of Tait. Br. III, 8,18, 5, suggests 
that bhitd4m and bhdvyam may refer to this and the next 
world. Cf. VI, 12,2; XI, 4, 20, and II, 28, 3. 


VI, 120. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 165. 


The employment of this hymn in the ritual takes place 
on the same occasions as VI, 114; see the introduction to 
that hymn, and cf. Darila’s corrupt gloss on Kaus. 46, 30 

[42] Mm 


530 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


(note 5). Previous translations by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 442; Grill?, pp. 72,173; cf. Muir, Original Sanskrit 
Texts, V, pp. 299, 41, 306. The Anukramazi, mantrokta- 
devatyam. 

Stanza 1. 


Cf. Maitr. S. I, 10,3; IV, 14,17; Tait. S. I, 8, 5, 33 
Tait. Br. III, 7, 12, 4; Tait. Ar. II, 6, 8. 


Stanza 2. 


b. The Paippaldda has trata for bhr&t4, hardly an im- 
provement in the light of the connection. 


Stanza 3. 


The first hemistich recurs at III, 25, 8 a,b; cf. Muir, 1. c., 
13, 385, note. 


VI, 127. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 40. 


The hymn is rubricated at Kaus. 26, 33 along with five 
others (II, 7; 25; VI, 85; 1¢9; VIII, 7) in a series which 
the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 24, designates as gazakarma- 
gana. Inthe sequel the Kausika prescribes its employment 
twice: at 26, 34 it is recited while the patient is being 
anointed (with the powder obtained by pulverizing a chip 
of) palasa-wood of the width of four fingers!; at 26, 39 it 
is employed while dregs of ghee are being poured upon 
the head of one afflicted with dropsy. Darila regards both 
treatments as cures for dropsy; Kesava and Sdyaza con- 
struct them more broadly as universal remedies? It would 
seem as though the chip of pal4sa-wood (butea frondosa) 
is intended to reflect the #ipudru in st. 2 of the hymn. 
A previous translation by Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 


p. 386. 


1 Sdyama, Aaturangulam paldsasakalam pishfva abhimantrya 
vyadhitasariram limpet. 
5 Sayana, galodaravisarpdisarvarogabhaishagyartham. 


VI, 127. COMMENTARY. 531 


Stanza 1. 


For vidradha, see Grohmann, Indische Studien, IX, 397; 
Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 386; and Wise, Hindu 
System of Medicine, pp. 210, 284, 288, 362. ϑᾶγαπα, 
vidaranasilasya vramaviseshasya. For balasa, see the note 
on V, 22, 11. Not at all clear is ldhita: it is either ‘flow 
of blood,’ or ‘inflammation.’ Sdyaza suggests both (visar- 
pakaviseshasya nd4ma, yad va... rudhirasravatmakasya 
rogasya). Cf. vilohitam IX, 8,1; XII, 4, 4. Shankar 
Pandit and Sdyama read visdlpakasya'; cf. their readings 
at XIX, 44, 2 (in the note on IX, 8, 2). Finally, the sense 
of pisitam, ordinarily ‘flesh,’ is by no means clear in this 
connection: we have taken it in the attenuated meaning 
‘piece, bit, speck.’ The Pet. Lex. suggests that it is for 
*pishitam= pish/am, but that would be equally problematic 
in any such sense as is demanded by the connection. 
Sayana, literally, nidanabhdtasz dushfam m4msam, i.e. 
(with a change of construction: accusative for genitive), 
‘the plant shall not leave the diseased flesh which is the 
root of the afore-mentioned diseases,’ Very unlikely. 


Stanza 2. 


The mushkait are likely to be bag-like swellings. Accord- 
ing to Grohmann, |. c., p. 399, Susruta designates certain 
swellings on the neck as mushkavat, ‘similar to testicles.’ 
Cf. also VI, 14,2. In Pada d sipidrur of the vulgata is 
faulty: the MSS. and Shankar Pandit read Aipudrur ; 
Sdyana, Aipadrur (etatsamg#io drumaviseshah). The word 
occurs nowhere else ; cf. the introduction. 


Stanza 3. 


The last two Padas may be an afterthought. For 
agfatam yakshmam the compound ag#atayakshmd occurs 
III,11, 1= RV. X,161,1. Cf. Zimmer, |. c., p. 377, who tries 


1 SAyana, vividham sarpati nadimukhena sarirasya antarvy4pnott 
sti visarpakah, 
Mm2 


532 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


to define it—though by its very terms it is undefinable—as 
the name of a certain disease. 


VI, 128. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 160. 


The present hymn, and the custom which it harbours, 
have been treated by the writer in ‘Seven Hymns of the 
Atharva-veda,’ Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 484 ff. According 
to the indications of the ritual the hymn is in praise of 
sakadhfma, which, as a possessive compound, means ‘he 
of the dung-smoke, i.e.‘ he that prophesies from the smoke 
of cow-dung.’ The sakadhfima predicts the weather for 
a person about to start on a journey; see below. As 
weather-prophet he very naturally comes, like our ‘Old 
Probabilities, or ‘weather-clerk,’ to be regarded at the 
same time as controlling the weather for good or bad— 
in short, as a weather-maker. Control of the weather, as 
a delegated power, comes most naturally from the stars: 
hence these are said, in st.1, to have made him their king. 

In the Paribhdsha-sitra, Kaus. 8,17, we have the clear 
statement that the sakadhiima is an old Brahman. Ac- 
cording to the Dasa Karmaxi, and the Atharvaniya-pad- 
dhati, at Kaus. 76, 19, one (or four) sakadhdmas recite at 
a certain stage of the wedding-practices the sdrya-hymn 
(RV. X, 85). In Kaus. 50, 15. 16, in the course of the 
practices of a merchant about to start on an expedition, 
the merchant, while reciting this hymn, places lumps of 
dung (sakritpizdan) upon the joints of a Brahman friend, and 
asks the sakadhima: ‘What sort of a day shall we have 
to-day?’ He answers: ‘A fair day, a very auspicious one *.’ 


 sQryap4/ham kurvanti. The sense of this expression is not 
altogether certain. It may mean simply, ‘they read the sun,’ i.e. 
for indications of weather. Kesava in the same place has vrisha- 
kapibrahmaz4’ sfiryam pashanti, a most curious statement. Does 
vrishakapibrahmaza mean ‘sun-Brahmaaa, astrologer,’ and does 
sQryam refer to the vr.shikapi-hymn, RV. X, 86? 

3 Sayama, sighram kartukaémaf ... brahmamasya samdhishu 
gomayapizdan nidh4ya agnitvena samkalpya abhimantrya sfitrokt- 
aprakfrema prasnaprativagane kuryat. 


' VI, 128. COMMENTARY. 533 


Once more the hymn is prescribed, Kaus. 100, 3, in a pra- 
yaskitti for an eclipse of the moon, probably on account 
of the prayer in the third stanza; cf. also SAntikalpa 15. 
For st. 3, see Kaus. 138, 8. 

The hymn, with the addition of sundry other stanzas, is 
repeated in an appendix to the Nakshatrakalpa, and has 
been presented in our afore-mentioned article, p. 485 ff. ; 
cf. Weber’s translation of it in his Omina und Portenta, 
Ρ. 353. The vulgata form of the hymn has been rendered 
by Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 353; cf. also Ludwig, 
Der Rigveda, III, 187. 


Stanza 1. 


Sayama also defines sakadhfima as br4hmama, but in a 
roundabout way. Primarily, according to his view, it is 
the fire in which lumps of dung have been placed, and from 
which the smoke rises (sakritak sambandhi dhGmo yasminn 
agnau sa sakadhdma’ agniz). But agni (e.g. according 
to Tait. S. V, 2, 8, 2) is identical with brahmaza,; cf. his 
words, agnitvena samkalpya, in the note above’. In the 
brahmodya-stanza, RV. I, 164, 43=AV. IX, 10, 25, occurs 
the expression sakamdyam dhimdam; this is paraphrased 
in Katydyana’s Sarvanukramami and in Shadgurusishya’s 
comment (pp. 11, 97 of Macdonell’s edition) by sakadhfima, 
‘dung-smoke.’ Possibly ‘the fire that gives forth dung- 
smoke’ (cf. Haug in the Proceedings of the Bavarian 
Academy, 1875, II, p. 506) forms the true mythic back- 
ground of these conceptions; the Brahman interpreter may 
be secondarily called sakadhtma. Weber, |. c., surmises that 
it may be the first morning fire, kindled while the stars are 
still shining, and indicating by its rising or falling smoke the 
weather of the breaking day; cf. also the same author, In- 
dische Studien, V, 257; X,65; Nakshatra, II, 272, note; 393. 


1 Sayana continues, tam sakadhimam brahmanam pura naksha- 
trani tarakaA régnam kandramasam akurvata. According to this 
the moon (fire) is the sakadhfma, the controller of the weather. 
This is good folk-lore: the Brahmava may be the moon’s repre- 
sentative on earth, 


534 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


VI, 130. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 104. 


This and the following two hymns! are accompanied at 
Kaus. 36, 13-14 by the following practices: ‘ Bean-loves’ 
(mashasmaran; Kesava and Sdyaza simply ‘beans,’ mashan) 
are thrown (upon the head of the person whose love is de- 
sired?), Then the points of arrows (sara) are kindled and 
are cast in every direction about the effigy (of the desired 
person), its face fronting towards the performer. The 
bean (masha) is doubtless regarded as inflammatory food 
(cf. the Pythagorean prohibition), since it is forbidden at 
the fasts preliminary to holy practices, along with honey, 
salt, meat, and brandy; see Kaus. 1, 32, and note (and 
frequently elsewhere): its fitness in a love-charm seems 
derivable from this notion. A similar practice with the 
effigy occurs at Kaus. 35, 28 (see the introduction to 
III, 25). 

The hymn has been interpreted by Weber, Indische 
Studien, V, 244 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 515; Grill?, 
pp. 58, 174 ff. 

Stanza 1. 


The pada-MSS. read ratha:gite yinam ; SAyama substi- 
tutes dhinam for this yfnam. But the text of the Samhita- 
MSS. justifies rathagiteyinam *. Weber, I. c., p. 345, note, 
refers by way of illustration of the present epithets of the 
Apsaras to the names samgdyanti (IV, 38, 1), ugragit, 
ugrampasyd, and rdsh¢rabhrit (VI, 118, 1. 2), and to the 
frequent warlike epithets of the Gandharvas, with whom 
they are associated closely (cf. e.g. Tait. S. III, 4, 7, 3). 
Grill, too daringly, emends to arthagitim 4rthagitinam, 
supporting his theory by a reference to IV, 38, where the 


1 Thus according to the commentators: 131 and 132 are not 
otherwise rubricated. 

* Thus Darila; according to Kesava, upon his couch, house, or 
bed ; according to SAyama, on the ground which he walks. 

* The hymn is wanting in the PaippalAda. 


VI, 122. COMMENTARY. 535 


Apsaras are implored for help in gambling. He supposes 
that they ‘gain their object’ both in play and in love. 


VI, 131. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 104. 


For the practices connected with this hymn, see the 
introduction to the preceding. Previous translations by 
Weber, Indische Studien, V, 244 ff.; Grill’, pp. 58, 175 ff. 


Stanza 2. 


Anumati is the goddess of favour and consent; cf. the 
play of words in 4nu manyasva (as in VII, 20). Akati 
is the goddess of schemes. In XIX, 4, 2 she is called 
kittasya matd, ‘mother of thought’ (‘the wish is father to 
the thought’). Cf. III, 8, 5; V, 8, 2, &c. 


VI, 132. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 104. 


For the practices connected with this hymn, see the 
introduction to VI, 130. It has been translated by Weber, 
Indische Studien, V, 245, who supposes that it is the text 
of a brewing-charm (sudzauber), in which the person de- 
sirous of love boils some concoction that attracts irresistibly 
the coy beloved. But the absence of any such practice in 
connection with the hymn casts much doubt upon this 
interpretation. It seems rather to allude to some mythic 
touch (4khy4yik4). Sdyava suggests that the gods either 
poured love into the water, to quench him, or that they 
placed him into the atmospheric waters as ruler of all lovers. 
Varuna in the refrain is, of course, in the position of lord 
or controller of those waters, and vdruzasya dharmava is 
not remote from the meaning ‘ by the permission or order 
of Varuma.’ The whole savours of the conception that the 
gods poured smard into the waters either by way of 
punishing him for his attacks upon themselves ', or in order 


1 Cf. the stories of their burning KAma, ‘love,’ 6. g. Muir, Original 
Sanskrit Texts, I?, 112; IV*, 364. Or is there still a different notion, 
namely that the fruitful waters are the natural seat of love? 


536 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


to quench him, and that the person practising the charm 
kindles him anew with the permission of Varuza. 


Stanza 1. 


b. In Tait. S. III, 4, 7, 3, the Adhis, ‘yearnings, are 
personified as the Apsaras, the wives of Kama, ‘love,’ the 
Gandharva. 

Stanza 3. 


Indr4zi is the goddess of successful and happy conjugal 
love; see our Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschrift der 
Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, XLVITI, 551 ff. 


VI, 136. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 31. 


The plant nitatni, ‘she that takes root’ (cf. the note on 
III, 12, 4d, and Ait. Br. VII, 31, 3), is not mentioned else- 
where. In Tait. S. IV, 4, 5,1; Κα. 5. XL, 4; Vishzu, 
LXVII, 7, the word designates a personification of one of 
the bricks of the fire-altar (ishtak4); in Tait. Br. III, 1, 
4,1, one of the stars of the constellation kvittika. This 
and the next hymn are supplied with practices at Kaus. 31, 
28, to wit: The fruit of (the plant) mentioned in the 
mantra (i.e. the nitatni'), together with the plants givi and 
alaka 3, (are concocted into a solution) and poured (by the 
medicine-man) who is clothed in black and has eaten 
black food 3, in the early morning before the rise of the 
crows (upon the head of the person for whom the hair cure 
is undertaken). The exact virtue of these plants escapes 


1 The scholiasts agree in defining this by ka&amaéi. The word 
is not elsewhere quotable as the name of a plant, but is mentioned 
in Béhtlingk’s Lexicon as a kind of spirituous liquor. 

? Cf. Kausika, Introduction, pp. xlv and |. Sayama has givantt 
for givi, and bhringardga for 4laka4. On p. xlv we have written 
alak4, but Darila has 4lak4. On the other hand Boéhtlingk’s Lexicon, 
vol. i, p. 294, mentions alaka=alarka, ‘calotropis gigantea.’ 

3 That is sesame, beans, and the like; cf. Kausika, Introduction, 
Ρ. xlix. 


VI, 138. COMMENTARY. 537 


our knowledge; the black colour symbolises, perhaps, the 
(black) hair. : 

The hymn has been translated by Zimmer, Altindisches 
Leben, p. 68 (cf. also p. 264); Grill?, pp. 50, 176. The 
Anukramazi, vanaspatyam, by kesavardhanakama Vitahavya 
(VI, 137, 1). 


Stanza 3. 


Ὁ. For vriskdte the Pet. Lex. suggests vriskydte. So 
also Sayama, khidyate. Cf. the note on XII, 4, 12. 


VI, 137. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 31. 


For the employment in the ritual see the introduction to 
the preceding hymn. Previous translations by Ludwig, 
Der Rigveda, III, 512; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 68 
(cf. also p. 264); Grill?, pp. 50,176. The Anukramavi, as 
in the preceding. 

Stanza 1. 


No further trace of this curious, probably ad hoc, legend 
(4khyayiké) has been found. SAyava cites no parallels. 
Gamadagni is mentioned in connection with helpful charms 
at IT, 32, 3; V, 28, 7; for Asita, cf. the note on I, 14, 4. 


Stanza 2. 


Zimmer renders abhisuna, ‘with the finger ;’ so also 


Sayana with the Naighav/uka II, 4. 5, angulibhiZ. I do 
not feel altogether convinced that the Pet. Lex. (5. v. abhisu) 
is right in denying this meaning. 


VI, 138. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 108. 


Unsavoury and obscure is the performance associated 
with the recital of this hymn at Kaus. 48, 32-34. Urine 
and dung are put into the skin-bag that covers the tail of 
a calf, they are covered up with kakufa-fruits}, the entire 


' For sepya, ‘skin of the tail,’ see Kausika, Introduction, p. liv ; 
for kakufa, ibid. xlviii. The latter word, however, is explained by 


538 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


mess is crushed and dug into the ground!. Next (Satra 33) 
the (same) skin-bag and a reed (are crushed and dug into 
the ground?). Finally (Satra 34) the reed is stuck into 
the skin-bag and again dug into the ground(?). The 
Sitras are extremely brief, and the scholiasts do not make 
clear these performances which reach the lowest plane even 
of Atharvanic doings. 

The hymn has been rendered by Weber, Indische Studien, 
V, 246; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 470; cf. also Geldner, 
Vedische Studien, I, 131; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, 
Index, p. 455 ἃ. 


Stanza 1. 


d. The exact meaning of opasinam escapes us, owing to 
the complete absence of graphic representations. The 
lexicons, Weber and Zimmer, ‘ gelockt ;’ Ludwig, ‘ bezopft.’ 
Sayama, as the scholiasts in general, derives opasd from the 
verb upasete, and arrives at the meaning ‘one with female 
organs’ (strivya%ganam). Geldner, |.c., has gone peculiarly 
astray in comparing the cuckold and translating ‘with 
horns,’ since in Maitr. 5. II, 7, 5=Tait. S. IV, 1, 5, 3= 
Vag. 5. XI, 56 the goddess Sinivali is described as suka- 
pard4 sukurir4 svopasa. All three epithets obviously refer 
to female methods of dressing the hair and the head. The 
notion here is that the eunuch shall develop hermaphroditic 
characteristics, and hence assume the head-gear of a woman. 
See stanzas 2 and 3, and cf. in addition AV. VIII, 6, 73; 
IX, 3, 8; Apast. Sr. X, 9, 5-7; Sat. Br. V, 3, 2, 143 
4, 1, 1; Katy. Sr. XIV, 1, 14; XV, 5, 22. The opasd 


Kesava in a very different way, namely, tasva (sc. vatsasya) vrisha- 
naih, i.e., the skin containing the mftrapurisham is covered up 
with the testicles of the calf. 

1 The scholiasts say, marmani nikhanati (cf. Kaus. 47,513; 48, 4). 
The digging is supposed to take place, symbolically, in the vital 
spot of the rival. 

3 The dz. dey. tirf/in in this passage is doubtless identical with 
the later kirffin, and again refers to some feminine mode of dressing 
the head. 


VI, 139. COMMENTARY. 539 


seems to be some form of coiffure which has become at 
this stage of the literature a characteristic ornamentation 
of women; its primary meaning may have been ‘horn,’ 
but this is by no means rendered certain by Pa#é. Br. XIII, 
4, 3 (upon which Geldner relies), since it may be figurative 
in that sense. 


Stanzas 2, 3. 


The exact meaning of kurfra (Sayaxa, kesagdlam), 
kuririn (Sdyava, kurirak kesa4 tadvantam kuru), and 
kimba (Sdyawa, 4bharazam strivdm) is again uncertain, 
but they all refer to female head-gear. 


VI, 139. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 102. 


The present charm is apparently addressed to a plant 
which is, however, not mentioned by name, unless nyastik& 
be a proper noun. The hymn is rubricated, along with 
VI, 129 and VII, 38, at Kaus. 36,12: the person practising 
the charm digs up a suvaréal4-plant ', with the ceremonies 
pertaining to the digging up of plants (cf. Kaus. 33, 9. 16), 
fastens (its) white blossoms upon his head, and thus enters 
the village. Neither of the two other hymns (VI, 129 and 
VII, 38) defines the plant more specifically 3: the exactitude 
of the Sdtra does not inspire confidence. 

The hymn has been rendered by Weber, Indische Studien, 
V, 247; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 515. 


Stanza 1. 


For the formulaic numbers see the analogical parallels 
mentioned by A. Kuhn in Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende 
Sprachforschung, XIII, 133. The ἅπ. λεγ. nyastikd is 


1 DArila, suvardal4 prasiddh4 trisamdhy&sadrist (cf. the introduc- 
tion to IV, 20); Kesava has sankhapushpi and sfiryavelé (cf. shrya- 
vallf) ; Sayaza, sankhapushpiké, ‘ andropogon aciculatus.’ 

* Cf. however the epithet mampasy4, VII, 38, 1, with the descrip- 
tion in IV, 20, 1. This again points to the plant trisamdhya. 


540 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


obscure: Kuhn and Ludwig incline to its construction as 
a proper noun, and that may be correct. Sdyama, (‘the 
plant) that suppresses the characteristics of ill-luck.’ Our 
rendering is etymological, and equally guess-work. 


Stanza 3. 


a. Most of Shankar Pandit’s MSS. read samushpala for 
samushyala. SAyaza also, samushpala samyak uptaphala 
sati. The Pet. Lexs. derive the word (a ἅπ. Aey.) from 
a root ush=us, the weak form of vas, ‘arousing love ;’ 
Ludwig, doubtfully, ‘ procuress.” We, with Weber (‘ zusam- 
men uns brennend’), derive the word from ush, ‘burn.’ 
Everything is uncertain. 


Stanza 5. 


The hostility of the ichneumon and the serpent is known 
in Hindu literature from earliest to latest times'. The 
putting together of the serpent by the ichneumon refers 
perhaps to the cat-like antics of the animal over his prey. 
It is a lame comparison at the best. 


VI, 140. COMMENTARY TO PACE 110. 


‘When the upper two teeth come before the lower, then 
there is danger of death to the parents, and the following 
expiatory rite is prescribed, says Kesava at Kaus. 46, 
43-46. The performance consists in scattering or offering 
(rice, barley, or sesame: cf. Kaus. 7, 5); in making the 
child bite some of the kinds of grain indicated in the 
mantra (st. 2); in giving him some of the same grain 
cooked in ‘holy water’ (Kaus. 9, 8 ff.) to eat; finally, in 
making the parents eat of the same dish. 

The hymn has been rendered by Zimmer, Altindisches 
Leben, p. 321; Grill*, pp. 49, 176 ff. (cf. also Weber, 
Indische Studien, V, 224; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 343). 
These interpreters construe the hymn as a charm for avert- 


1 Cf. Vag. S. XXIV, 26, 32; Tait. S. V, 5, 12, 21. 


VI, 142. COMMENTARY. ᾿ 541 


ing danger from the first pair of teeth in general, without 
reference to any irregularity in their appearance. Possibly 
this broader construction is the more original, Kausika’s 
being a later refinement. 


Stanza 1. 


For vy4ghrau, cf. the note on VI, 110, 3; for the com- 
bination Brahmawaspati (Brihaspati) Gatavedas (Agni), the 
note on VII, 53, 1. 


VI, 142. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 141. 


At Kaus. 24, 1, this hymn is recited while barley (or 
grain in general, yava), mixed with ghee, is swept into 
a furrow in the grain-field by means of the plough; then 
(three) handfuls of seed are poured (into the furrow) 1, one 
with each stanza of the hymn, and these finally are covered 
(with earth). Stanza 3 is recited at Kaus. 19, 27, while an 
amulet of barley is being fastened on a person to ensure 
him prosperity (cf. Kaus. 28, 20 in the introduction to VI, 
91) The hymn is one of the class designated by the 
Atharvaniya-paddhati (at Kaus. 19,11) as push#ikaé man- 
trad, ‘stanzas that ensure prosperity.’ 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 463; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 237; Grill®, 
pp. 66, 177 ff. Cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel 
Védique, p. 156. The Anukramaai, yavyam. 


Stanza 1. 


ο. Ludwig, and, independently, Aufrecht in Kuhn’s Zeit- 
schrift, XX VII, 218, read préihi, ‘fill,’ for mrzzihf. Sayaza,. 
vrinihi, which he also explains, ‘with a change of a letter,’ 
as prixihi phraya. Sensible suggestions these, but they do 
not prove that the Saunakiya-poet did not make use of 
the bold yet natural figure of speech involved in mrinihi{ 
(‘full unto bursting,’ ‘zum bersten voll’). Cf. the note on 
ITI, 3, 2. 


1 Cf. RV. VIII, 78, το. 


542 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA, 


Stanza 3. 


a. Sdyana, upasadak upasattarak (cf. III, 12, 6c) upagan- 
taérad karmakara’. This is essentially correct. The western 
translators take the word as an abstract noun, ‘stores ;’ 
Ludwig, ‘ ansatze’ (? ‘ aufspeicherungen’). 


VII, 9. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 159. 


The prayer is addressed to Pdshan, the sun that watches 
over the ways, and is accompanied by characteristic prac- 
tices at Kaus, 52, 12-14: They who seek lost property 
have their hands and feet washed and anointed; their 
right hands are then scoured, and they are started upon 
the search. The same performance is undertaken with 
dregs of the ghee, and the right hands are again scoured 
off!. Then twenty-one pebbles are thrown scatteringly 
upon a cross-roads. The last practice is an interesting 
instance of attractio similium: the scattering of the pebbles 
upon the cross-roads symbolises the lost objects, and at the 
same time counteracts their lost condition*. The second 
stanza is enlisted in the first abhayagama, a series designed to 
secure immunity from danger, in the GazamAla, Ath. Paris. 
32, 12 (cf. Kaus. τό, 8). See also Vait. Sa. 8,13. Stanza 1 
is repeated in RV. X, 17, 6=Tait. Br. II, 8, 5, 3; st. 4 in 
RV. VI, 54, 9= Vag. 5. XXXIV, 41=Tait. Br. IT, 5, 5, 5. 
Previously rendered by Henry, Le livre VII de l’'Atharva- 


véda, pp. 2. 
ae Stanza 4. 
Professor Henry cites the following interesting Alsatian 
charm :— 
Hailcher anténius von patua 
Schick mer was i verlére ha 
Ter teifel wert’s en sine kloye δᾶ, 
‘Holy Antony of Padua, send to me what I have lost; the 
devil must have it in his claws.’ 


* The word nimrigya at the beginning of Sftra 14 seems to 
belong to the end of Sftra 13. 
3 For the cross-roads, see the note in the introduction to VI, rrr. 


VII, 12. COMMENTARY. 543 


VII, 11. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 142. 


The hymn is rubricated together with I, 13 at Kaus, 
38, 8 ina somewhat obscure practice which concerns rather 
I, 13 than the present. It is employed once more at the 
up4karma, the initiation to the study of the Veda, Kaus. 
139, 8. Cf. also Santikalpa 15. Previous translations by 
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 463 ; Grill?, pp. 66,178; Henry, 
Le livre VII de lAtharva-véda, pp. 5, 54. The Anukra- 
mazi, sarasvatam. 


VII, 12, COMMENTARY TO PAGE 138. 


For the general aspects of the subject of this hymn, see 
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 253 ff.; Zimmer, Altindisches 
Leben, 172 ff. Kesava prefaces his exposition of the short 
performance connected with this hymn at Kaus. 3%, 27. 28 
as follows, atha sabh4gayakarmazy ufyante, sabh4stam- 
bhanam karma gayakarma tad4 sabhasadadharmddhikara- 
nAdi gayate, ‘here are told the performances which procure 
victory in the assembly; it is a rite which lends stability 
to the assembly, procures victory, then promotes the judicial 
acts, and so forth, of those who sit in the assembly.’ The 
practices are as follows: 38, 27. ‘While reciting AV. VII, 
12, the performer eats (a milk-porridge ; cf. Kaus. 7, 6). 
28. He takes hold of the pillars of the assembly-hall, and 
pays his respects to (the assembly-hall).’ 

The hymn is translated in Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, 
V, 438; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 253; Zimmer, l.c., 1733 
Grill?, pp. 70, 178 ff.; Henry, Le livre VII de l’Atharva- 
véda, pp. 5, 55; cf. also Hillebrandt, Vedachrestomathie, 
p- 44. The Anukramam? designates the entire hymn as 
sabhyam ; st. 1 as dvidevatyo-ta pitry4; st. 2 as sabhya; 
st. 3 as aindri; st. 4 as mantroktadevatya, 


Stanza 1. 


The metre of PAdas a, b, d is irregular (Anukr., bhurik- 
trishtubh) ; a is catalectic, Ὁ hypercatalectic ; but we may 


544 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


read duhitrau (cf. Amer. Journ. Phil. V, p. 27). Similarly 
d may be perfected by reading pitrah. 
d. For the appeal to the Fathers for help, cf. II, 12, 4. 


Stanza 2. 


a. For vidmad of the Saunakiya school the Paippalada 
reads véda vai, and Grill and Hillebrandt adopt this 
version for metrical reasons. But the metre is not really 
improved by the change. 

b. narfsh¢4, ‘mirth’ (cf. XI, 8, 24), refers to the social 
not the political side of the sabha, which, in addition to 
being the meeting of the council, is also the occasion and 
place for gaming (cf. AV. XII, 3, 46), and social intercourse 
(cf. RV. VI, 28, 6). The word, too, perhaps conveys a 
double entente, nar, ‘man,’ and sth, ‘place,’ or suggests 
a quasi-superlative, ‘most favourable to men” Thus the 
variant form nar{ish¢#4, Vag. 5. XXX, 6, presents the effect 
of this kind of folk-etymology upon the word. Sayaza 
(as if the word were a compound na-r{sh/4), ahismsita parair 
anabhibhavya. 


VII, 13. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 93. 


‘According to Kaus. 48, 35-36, the hymn is spoken 
against the enemies that are to be deprived of power, 
the second stanza while fixing one’s regard upon them. 
Cf. also S4ntikalpa 153. The hymn has been rendered 
by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 241; Grill’, pp. 23, 1793 
Henry, Le livre VII de l'Atharva-véda, pp. 5, 56. The 
Anukramazi, saumyam. 


Stanza 2. 


Cf. Ludwig, I. c., p. 265. That the sun takes away the 
strength of those who are asleep while it rises or sets, is 
a notion abundantly elaborated in connection with all holy 
practices. Such persons are designated as sdry4bhyudita, 
and sdryabhinimrukta (-mlukta, -mlupta), and they are 


1 Quoted erroneously by Séyaza as Nakshatrakalpa. 


VII, 35. COMMENTARY. 545 


' regarded as being guilty of one of the ‘deadly’ sins. See 
the writer in the Proceedings of the American Oriental 
Society, 1894 (Journal, vol. xvi, p. cxix), and cf. Maitr. S. 
IV, 1,9; Tait. Br. III, 2, 8,11; Ait. Br. I, 3, 14; Gobh. 
Grih. III, 3, 343 Apast. Dh. II, 5, 12, 13. 14, and else- 
where. 


VII, 45. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 98. 


At Kaus. 36, 33-34 there is a composite charm for pre- 
venting a woman from begetting a son, or from begetting 
offspring at all. If it is intended that a certain woman 
shall not beget a male son the hymn VII, 34 is recited! ; 
if she shall not beget a child at all the hymn VII, 35 is 
recited: in either case the urine of a she-mule is rubbed 
with two stone disks, and put into the food or the cos- 
metics of the woman. And the person practising the 
charm looks at the parting in the hair of the woman. 
The charm is full of symbolism. The she-mule is sterile: 
‘She-mules do not propagate’ (Tait. S. VII, 1,1, 3; Ait. Br. 
IV, 9,1; cf. Adbhuta-brahmaza 7). The rubbing between 
two stones is symbolic castration. The eyes are fixed with 
evil intent upon the woman’s parting in the hair (simanta) : 
this seems to be the obverse of the simantonnayana, the 
well-known ceremony during a woman’s pregnancy, in- 
tended to ensure successful issue. Cf. also Ath. Paris. 7. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rig- 
veda, III, 477; and by Henry, Le livre VII de l’Atharva- 
véda, pp. 13, 67. 

Stanza 1. 


The stanza seems hardly in touch with the remaining 
two, or with the construction imparted to the whole by 
the Sdtra. Ludwig omits it in his rendering of the hymn. 


Its sense, taken by itself, is that of a battle-song. Pada Ὁ 
is identical with VII, 34, 1 b. 


Ὁ Agni, drive away the rivals of mine that are already born ; 
drive away, O Gatavedas, those that are not yet born. Place under 
my feet those that fight against me. May we, exempt from guilt, 
live in thy freedom |’ 


[42] Nn 


546 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 2. 


The rendering of the words hirdZ and dhamanié is 
necessarily vague: see the note on I, 17, 3, and cf. VI, 
90, 2. Ludwig, ‘darme,’ and ‘adern.’ Sayava, very pre- 
cisely, ‘small veins, and ‘thick arteries. That may be 
‘the correct philological interpretation of the words, but in 
that case the stanza must have been originally constructed 
as a charm to stop flow of blood from the body. 


VII, 36-37. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 96. 


Both stanzas are recited at the ‘rites of the fourth day’ 
(4aturthikarma), the performances immediately preceding 
the consummation of marriage. At Kaus. 79, 2 bride and 
bridegroom anoint one another while reciting VII, 36; at 
79, 7 the bride’ envelops the bridegroom in her robe while 
reciting VII, 37. 

Previous renditions by Weber, Indische Studien, V, 248 ; 
Grill, pp. 55,179; Henry, Le livre VII de Atharva-véda, 
pp. 13, 67. The Anukramani (VII, 36), mantroktakshi- 
devatyam ; (VII, 37), lingoktadevatyam. 


Stanza 1. 


a, b. The sense is: ‘ May our eyes with their brightness, 
our faces with their freshness, inspire us with love for one 
another !’ 

Stanza 2. 

For manugata, cf. XIV, 2,41. The second hemistich is 

nearly identical with VII, 38, 4 c, d. 


VII, 38. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 103. 


For the practices associated with this hymn, see the 
introduction to VI, 139. The charm is there undertaken 
by a woman, here by a man. It has been translated by 


? Not so the Paddhatis, vastren4=#Addayati tau, i.e. the priest 
envelops the two. But this is contrary to the context of the stanza. 


VII, 45. COMMENTARY. 547 


Weber, Indische Studien, V, 249; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 515; Grill?, pp. 59, 179; Henry, Le livre VII de 
l'Atharva-véda, pp. 14, 68. The Anukramazi, vanas- 
patyam. 

Stanza 1. 

b. For mampasydm, cf. IV, 20, 1, and note. The abso- 
lutely literal translation of the word is ‘the plant that sees 
me’, but the formation is so artificial that it may also 
mean ‘the he-sees-me-plant,’ i.e., in effect, the plant that 
draws his attention towards me. The epithet abhirorudam 
suggests that the plant may in reality be so strongly 
scented as to draw tears. 


Stanza 2. 


For legends of Indra’s seduction by a female demon, see 
S4nkh. Br. XXIII, 4; Kazz. 5. XIII, 5 (Indische Studien, 
III, 479; V, 249, 453); cf. the note on I, 24, 1. 


Stanza 4. 


The sense is: In this affair of our love my voice shall 
rule; thine shall rule in the assembly, where it is fitting that 
a man’s voice shall be listened to. PAdas c,d are nearly 
identical with VII, 37 c,d. Cf. Maitr. S. IV, 7,4 (p. 97, 1. 15). 


VII, 45. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 107. 


For the practices connected with this hymn, see the 
introduction to VI, 18. It has been translated previously 
by Weber, Indische Studien, V, 250; Ludwig, Der Rig- 
veda, III, 514; Grill?, pp. 29, 180; Henry, Le livre VII 
de I Atharva-véda, pp. 16, 72 ff. The Anukramazi, irshy4- 
panayanam. 

Stanza 1. 

There is no allusion in the ritual to any precious sub- 

stances gotten from a distance. The description here 


1 In this spirit Sayaza, mam eva narim pasyat mamaiva.nukd- 
lam. But he offers also our rendering as an alternative, mam eva 
patye pradarsayat. 

Nn 2 


548 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


given would suit either saindhavam, ‘salt, or guggulu, 
‘bdellium’ (cf. XIX, 38, 2). Perhaps, however, it simply 
tries to magnify the cost and potency of some ordinary 
substance (Kaus. 36, 25) by deriving it fictitiously from an 
unknown country far away. 


Stanza 2. 


Note the subtle symbolism of Kaus. 36, 27: the jealous 
man drinks water which has actually cooled the heated axe. 


VII, 50. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 150. 


For the practices associated with this hymn, see the 
introduction to the first part of IV, 38. Stanzas 1, 2, 5, 
8,9 seem to have been composed directly with reference 
to the situation!: st. 3 (=RV. V, 60, 1); st. 4(=RV. I, 
102, 4); and stanzas 6. 7 (= RV. X, 42, 9. 10) are adapted 
secondarily to the purpose in hand; see the notes below. 
Previous renderings by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 455; 
Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 285; Grill?, pp. 71, 180; 
Henry, Le livre VII de !’Atharva-véda, pp. 18, 75 ff. Cf. 
also Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 430. The Anukra- 
mani, aindram, composed by kitavabandhanakamo-agirah 
(cf. st. 1). 

Stanza 1. 

ἃ. badhydsam is ambiguous. SAdyana reads vadhy4sam 
(hanishyami); the Anukramazi, above, has in mind the 
root bandh, ‘bind.’ Of Western translators, Grill, ‘fahn’ 
(fangen); the rest, ‘slay.’ 


Stanza 3. 


Adapted from a hymn to the Maruts, RV. V, 60,1; 
Maitr. S. IV, 14,11; Tait. Br. I], 7, 12.4. Pada Ὁ con- 
tains the words v{ ξαγαὶ kritdm nak, derived from the 
sphere of the gamester’s speech. Note the word kritam 
in the preceding stanza. 


1 In the case of the second stanza this is not altogether certain : 
it savours of the Maruts. One may imagine Indra as the speaker. 


VII, 50. COMMENTARY. 549 


Stanza 4. 


Adapted from an Indra-hymn; cf. RV. I, 102, 4. The 
words vaydm gayema ... bhdre-bhare render the stanza 
usable on the present occasion. 


Stanza 5. 


The words sdmlikhitam and samridham are hopelessly 
obscure. I have rendered sdmlikhitam as though it meant 
‘scratched clean,’ ‘cleaned out.’ The rendering of sam- 
rudham is purely etymological. Sdyaza, loke hi kitavas 
asmin pade pratikitavam akshasalakadibhiz samrotsyami:sti 
ankan kurvanti tatraisva 4a samrundhanti. tadrisaz prati- 
kitavostra sambodhyate, he kitava samlikhitase padeshu 
samyag ankan likhitavantam api tvam agaisham ... sam- 
roddharam api tvam agaisham gay4mi. yadva samlikhi- 
tam samyag likhitam ihnitam padam abhilakshya tvds 
gayami, uta api 4a samrudiam.. . tadrisam sth4nam abhi- 
lakshya tvam gayami. The Pet. Lexs. regard both words 
as obscure termini of the game. Ludwig, ‘ich hab dir 
abgewonnen das zusammengekratzte, ich hab dir abge- 
wonnen das zusammengescharrte.’ Grill, ‘was du ein- 
streichst,’ and, ‘was du zuriickbehieltst.’ Henry, ‘(je t’ai) 
gratté de fond en comble(?), et j'ai gagné l’enjeu total (?).’ 


Stanza 6. 


Adapted from an Indra-hymn, RV. X, 42, 9= AV. XX, 
89, 9 (cf. also RV. X, 43, 5), where the gamester and the 
game appear by way of comparison. In Pada c, devakamo 
is felt in our version to have the double sense ‘loving play,’ 
and ‘loving the gods.’ It may be questioned whether the 
same intention is present in the RV. 


Stanza 7. 

Adapted from RV. X, 42, το, &.=AV. XX, 17, 10, ἅς. 
Its juxtaposition in the RV. with the preceding stanza, 
and the occurrence of gayema, have brought it into the 
Atharvan compilation. 


550 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


VII, 52. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 136. 


This hymn is catalogued in the gava or series called 
sAmmanasyani in Kaus. 12, 5, and is accompanied by the 
practices described at AV. III, 30. It is rubricated further 
at Kaus. 9, 2, in the series designated by the Gazamala, Ath. 
Paris. 32, 26, as the great santigaza. The first stanza of 
the hymn is found, with variants, Maitr. S. II, 2,6; Tait. 
Br. II, 4, 4,6. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig. 
Der Rigveda, III, 428 (cf. also p. 344); Grill, pp. 31, 
181 ff.; Henry, Le livre VII de l’Atharva-véda, pp. 19, 79. 
The Anukramazi designates it as sismanasyam 4svinam. 


Stanza 1. 


The first stanza is described by the Anukramazi as 
kakummaty anush/ubh, but the irregularity vanishes, if we 
read suébhiak ... arazebhiak. The Tait. Br.—but not the 
Maitr. S.—substitutes the classical forms ναί and dravaih, 
thus disguising the metre still further. 


Stanza 2. 


a. Cf. the parallel Pada, RV. X, 30, 6 c. 

b. The text as it stands! yields the following transla- 
tion: ‘may we not struggle with one another in fateful 
spirit.’ But a suggestion of Grill seemed to me too fasci- 
nating to resist, he emends manas4 daivyena to mdnas4- 
daivyena= manasa ddaivyena, and our translation presup- 
poses this text. At RV. II, 23, 12 we have, d4devena 
manasa yo rishazyati . . . gighdmsati, ‘he who attacks in 
a spirit displeasing to the gods .. . (and) desires to murder.’ 
Prof. Henry’s rendering, ‘ne point lutter contre l’esprit 
divin,’ though possible grammatically, imposes upon manas 


' Shankar Pandit, with Sayava and many MSS., reads yushmahi 
for yutsmahi. ϑᾶγαπα, ma viyukté bhima. Another variant yués- 
mahi is nothing but a misspelling of yutsmahi ; cf. Kausika, Intro- 
duction, p. Ixi, and variant forms like kaputsala and kapuéfala 
(BGhtlingk’s Lexicon). 


VII, 53. COMMENTARY. 551 


the meaning of ‘law, decree,’ and the like, and has an 
un-Vedic flavour according to my judgment. 

6, ἃ. Literally, ‘may the noises not arise when there is 
frequent (continuous) slaughter}, &c. 

It is not at all clear what the day of Indra has to do with 
the cessation of carnage. Is it that Indra by fighting his 
battle removes all need of fighting enemies? Or, is the 
day of Indra simply the battle-day? The latter seems 
more natural. The word dhani seems to harbour one of 
the inevitable puns, suggesting ‘non-slaying,’ i.e. perhaps 
‘the end of any need of fighting on the part of men.’ See 
also Prof. Henry’s careful discussion of the passage. 


VII, 53. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 52. 


The hymn belongs to the class of 4yushy4vi, ‘hymns 
designed to prolong life;’ cf. the 4yushyagaza, Ath. Paris. 
32, 4, at Kaus. 54, 11, note, and the Anukramazi, d4yu- 
shyam uta barhaspatyam 4svinam. The 4yushya-hymns 
are very uniform in character; the present one exhibits 
especially noteworthy points of contact with VIII, 1. Kaus. 
55,17 prescribes its employment, along with many more of 
a similar character, at the ceremony of investiture (upana- 
yana)*. The seventh stanza, familiar in the Samzhitas and 
the ritual, is employed at Kaus. 24, 32 on rising from sleep 
during the 4grah4yazi, the spring-festival at the full-moon 
of the month agrahayawa, or margasirsha. At Vait. Sd. 
24, 4 it is spoken in stepping out of the bath (symbolic 
application: as the sun rises from the celestial sea; cf. 
XI, 5, 26). Cf. also Kaus. 55, 15, note; 58, 18, note, and 
Ath. Paris. 43, 1. 

The hymn has been translated by Muir, Original San- 


! Sayana reads vinihrute, and glosses, kauéilye nimitte ghoshaA 
vaimanasyanibandhanaA sabdaA .. . utthitd ma bhdvan, yadva 
bahulasabdena tamo vivakshyate . . . viseshena stainyddikaufsilya- 
nimitte bahule tamasi .. . ghosh44 ma bhfvan. 

2 Cf. also Santikalpa 17, 18, which is quoted by Sayana 
erroneously as Nakshatrakalpa. 


552 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


skrit Texts, V, 443; Grill?, pp. 15, 182 ff.; Henry, Le 
livre VII de l’Atharva-véda, pp. 20, 80 ff. Cf. also Ludwig, 
Der Rigveda, III, 341. 


Stanza 1. 


Repeated with variants at Vag. 5. XXVII, 9; Maitr. 5. 
If, 12,5; Tait. 5. IV, 1,7, 4; Tait. Ar. X, 48 (Andhra- 
version). Brihaspati and Agni are here one and the 
same divinity; see VI, 140, 1, and Bergaigne, La Religion 
Védique, I, 300 ; ITI, 84.174. Agni figures prominently in 
the Ayushya-hymns. See II, 28,2; III, 11, 4; 31,1. 6; 
VIII, 1, αι. 

Stanza 3. 


Cf. VIII, 1, 1. 3. Pada Ὁ is a gagati in the midst of 
trish¢ubh Padas, as frequently elsewhere. Read tadv. The 
Anukramaxi, bhurig. 

Stanza 4. 


a, Ὁ. The Paippalada reads, m4 tv4 pravo hasid yas tve 
pravishto ma:p4nosvahaya para gat. For Pada b, cf. 
Maitr. S. I, 6, 1 (p. 86, 1.1): Tait. S. V, 7, 9,1. Pada a is 
a trish¢ubh ; Ὁ acatalectic anushtubh. The Anukramazi, 
ushwikgarbh4:rshi panktiZ. Problematic attempts at cor- 
rection are made by Grill and Henry. 


Stanza 7. 


Cf. RV. I, 150, 10, &c. See the index to v. Schroeder’s 
edition of the Maitr. S., and the introduction to the present 
hymn. 


VII, 56. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 29. 


A series of shallow therapeutical practices are prescribed 
by Kaus. 32, 5-7, to wit: 5.‘ While reciting the hymn (the 
patient is given to eat the sweetwood) mentioned in the 
mantra!. 6. Natural mud, and mud from an ant-hill are 


1 Cf. st. 2. Thus Kesava, gyesh/#imadhu=yashAmadhu (cf. the 
introduction to I, 34, and Kaus. 38, 17). Dérila, madhddvapa, 
‘earth from a bee-hive ’ (cf. Kaus. 29, 10 in the note on V, 13, 7). 


VU, 56. COMMENTARY. 553 


pulverised, (sewed up in the skin of a living animal [freshly 
slain] and fastened as an amulet upon the patient)?. 
7. He is given to drink (yellow curcuma in ghee) *.’ 

Stanza 5 is rubricated, along with sundry mantras against 
serpents and other disturbing forces, at Kaus. 140, 8, in 
the course of practices, preparatory to the study of the 
Vedas. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 502; Grill*, pp. 5, 183 ff.; Henry, Le livre VII de 
l’Atharva-véda, pp. 21, 82 ff. The Anukramazi, man- 
troktavréskikadevatakam. 


Stanza 1. 


For tiraskiragi and dsita, see the note on VI, 56, 2; for 
pridaku® (cf. πάρδαλις, πόρδαλις, and πάρδος), see Zimmer, 
Ρ. 94. Grill’s sturdy attempt to determine the specific 
character of the prédaku yields no acceptable result. The 
meaning of kankdparvan, ‘ Scorpion’ (? Sayava, damsaka- 
viseshat), can merely be conjectured. Kesava and the 
Anukramazi describe the entire charm as a cure for the 
bite of scorpions, vriskikabhaishagyam. The Paippalada 
has angaparvavo. See kdnkata, satindkankata, and pra- 
kankata, RV. I, 191, 1. 7. 


Stanza 2. 


Cf. I, 34,1; VII, 7,12; RV. I, 191, 10.13. madhiZ, 
ἅπ. λεγ., is apparently made for the occasion (type vadhf), 
to ensure completer assonance with the preceding madhu ; 
the ordinary madhv{f would be less agreeable. But the 
Atharvan presents quite a list of such feminines; see 
Lanman, Noun-Inflection, pp. 402, 406. 


τ Cf. Kaus. 26, 43, in the introduction to II, 8. Ants especially 
are a famous antidote against poison ; see the introduction to VI, 
100, and cf. st. 7. 

2 Thus according to Darila who refers to Kaus. 28, 4 (see the 
introduction to IV, 6, also a charm against serpents). 

3 Sayama, pardayati kutsitam sabdayati. 


554 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 3. 


a. For γάϊο dashfdm, cf. the formulaic yato dashéah, 
Kaus. 28,7 ; 32, 5 (see the note on V, 13, 4). The expres- 
sion tripradamsin suggests asutr¢?p, RV. X, 14, 12, &c.; 
Ludwig, ‘ bitter-zanig.’ 


Stanza 4. 


Ludwig suggests krizoti for krizoshi, but this sort of 
anacoluthon is common in the Atharvan. The appeal to 
Brthaspati is natural as soon as we substitute Brahmazas- 
pati, and remember that brahma is the ordinary Athar- 
vanic word for ‘hymn. Or, again, Brzhaspati, as the 
companion and double of Indra and Agni, represents their 
constant hostility towards all vicious forces. Sdyaza refers 
the stanza to the victim of the serpent: the contortions of 
his body and face are supposed to be described in the first 
hemistich, the cure in the second. Very plausible, but we 
are cautioned by such an expression as vrztram viparvam, 
RV. I, 187, 1, which is favourable to the construction of 
viparur as an epithet of the serpent. 


Stanza 5. 


In the Paippalada these stanzas are wanting; they have 
the character of a production somewhat independent of the 
preceding stanzas. To such a view also points the sepa- 
rate quotation of this stanza (and the rest?) in the late 
(parisishta) chapter Kaus. 139 (see above, and cf. Kausika, 
Introduction, p. xxv ff.). 

a. The Pet. Lexs. and Zimmer, p. 95, deal with sarkdéza 
as a serpent, Grill and Henry as ‘scorpion.’ The former 
compares karka/a and karkafaka, ‘crab,’ but more signifi- 
cant seem to me to be karkoéa and karko/aka, both of 
which are mentioned as names of serpents. There is, how- 
ever, in the mind of the Atharvan writer but little difference 
between both kinds of vermin (cf. AV. XII, 1,463; 4, 9. 15), 
and the description in the sequel favours the scorpion. Cf. 
for the interchange of s and k, Kuhn’s Zeitschrift, XXV, 


Vil, 64. COMMENTARY. 555 
125, Proc. Amer. Or. Soc., May, 1886 (Journal, vol. xiii, 
Pp. xxi); see also Kuhn’s Zeitschrift, XXIII, 94. 


Stanza 6. 


ἃ. arbhakd (cf. pué/adhi in st. 8) suggests forcibly the 
kushimbha of II, 32, 6; RV. I, 191, 15, and kumbha of 
the Sama-veda Mantra-brahmaza II, 7,3. See the notes on 
II, 32, 5. 6. Ludwig, simply ‘kleines;’ Grill, ‘ winziges 
ding ;’ Henry ‘ menu (dard).’ 


Stanza 7. 


For the ants, cf. the introduction, and VI, 100; for 
maytirya#, RV. I, 191, 14, and Zimmer, p. 90. 


VII, 64. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 167. 


At Kaus. 46, 47. 48 this hymn is recited while washing 
off a person who has been struck by something dropped by 
a black bird (crow, or the like). If he has been defiled! 
(by the mouth of the bird) a fire-brand is carried around 
him. The two performances refer respectively to the two 
stanzas of the hymn. Previous translations by Grill, pp. 
41, 186 ; Henry, Le livre VII de l’Atharva-véda, pp. 25, 
88 ; cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 88. The Anukra- 
mazi, mantroktadevatyam uta nairrztam. 


Stanza 1. 


The Paippalada in much the same sense, yad asmat 
krishnasakuner nishpatato na 4nase. Henry’s criticism of 
the reading abhinishpdtan of the text is over severe: 
SAyana, quite correctly, abhimukham . . . 4kasamargad 
avapatan. The Pada is hyper-catalectic. 


1 The MSS. upamrishfam and apamrishfam. Kesava, apa- 
mrish/am. Sdyana,avamrishfam; οὗ, avamrikshat of the text. But 
Sayama in the quotation of Kausika’s text, apamrish/am. 


556 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 2. 


b. The Paippalada, mukhena nirrzte tava. The bird of 
misfortune is identified with the goddess of misfortune 
herself. 


VII, 65. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 72. 


Employed at Kaus. 46, 49 as a purificatory charm for 
cleansing one’s self from evil deeds and defiling contact. 
Fagots derived from the apdmarga-tree are placed into 
a fire built of wood from the same tree. For the apamarga, 
see in general the introduction to IV, 17. Stanzas 1, 2 are 
rubricated in the krityAgaza of the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 
32, 2 (see Kaus. 39, 7, note). Cf. also Ath. Paris. 19, 4. 
Previous translations by Grill®, pp. 38, 186; Henry, Le 
livre VII de l’ Atharva-véda, pp. 25, 89. The Anukramazi, 
apam4rgaviruddaivatam. 


Stanza 1. 


For prati#fnaphala, see IV, 19, 7, and the note on IV, 
17,2. SAayana, agrad 4rabhya phalasya mdlaparyantam 
4tmabhimukham sparsane kavz¢akaréhityadarsanat pratifi- 
naphalatvam. The second hemistich is nearly identical with 
IV, 19, 7 ς, d. 

Stanza 2. 


6. Sayava, visvatomukha sarvatak prasritasakhayukta. 
Perhaps, however, ‘looking in every direction, because the 
fruit turns one way, the branches another. The epithet is, 
too, of more general scope (fire and sun), and may refer to 
watchfulness against hostile influences. 


Stanza 3. 


Befouling contact with deformed persons is a standard 
subject in Vedic texts, and in the law-books: see Maitr. 
S. IV, 1, 9 (cf. the corresponding passages from the Καλά. 
S. and the Kapishzs. S.); Tait. Br. III, 2, 8,11; Apast. 
Sr. IX, 12,11; Apast. Dh. II, 5, 12, 22; Gaut. XV, 16; 
Vas. 1, 18; cf. the introductions to VI, 112 and 113, and 


VII, 74. COMMENTARY. 557 


Delbriick, Die Indogermanischen Verwandtschaftsnamen, 
p. 201 ff. 


VII, 70. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 90. 


The following sorcery-practice (abhifdra) is associated 
with the present hymn (together with VI, 54) at Kaus. 48, 
27-28. A counter-offering is made, hostile to the person 
who has built a fire (for offering)’. Chaff is offered by 
means of a leaf of middling size?. The offering of chaff is 
the typical hostile sacrifice (Kaus. 14, 15; 63, 7); the 
sacrifice to the gods is thus frustrated by a sacrifice to 
the Rakshas (see Ait. Br. II, 7,1), who destroy the enemy 
(cf. st. 2, and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 295). 

The hymn has been rendered by Ludwig, ibid., p. 374; 
Grill?, pp. 46,187; Henry, Le livre VII de l’ Atharva-véda, 
pp. 26, 91. The Anukramazi, mantroktadevatyam uta 
syenadevatakam (cf. st. 3). The hymn is largely identical 
with the passage Tait. Br. II, 4, 2, 1 ff. 


Stanza 3. 


a. SdAyama, mrityuditau; the Pet. Lex., Mvityu and 
Nirriti. Possibly, Mitra and Varuma, the typical heavenly 
rulers. 


VII, 74. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 18. 


The hymn is tripartite, but no reason for the juxta- 
position of sts. 3 and 4 with 1 and 2 can be found. Ρτο- 
fessor Henry’s suggestions regarding this matter (Le livre 
VII de l’Atharva-véda, pp. 29, 95 ff.) are interesting. The 
norm of the seventh book is a single stanza for each hymn 
(cf. the quotations regarding this matter in the introduc- 
tions to I, 12 and IV, 38), but, after all, some diaskeuastic 
convenience must be at the bottom of the grouping. 


1 Cf. Tait. S. I], 2, 9, 4; Tait. Br. I, 7, 3, 7. 
* Cf. madhyamaparzena, Maitr. S. I, 10, 20. The meaning of 
the expression is uncertain. 


558 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


A. 


For the history of the interpretation of the apafit-hymns, 
see the introduction to VI, 83 (cf. also VI, 25 and VII, 76). 
The practice connected with this part of the hymn is 
described at Kaus. 32, 8-10, to wit: 8.‘ With a bow made 
of bamboo, which is darbhydsha! (Ὁ cf. Kaus. 35, 28 in the 
introduction to III, 25, and Kausika, Introduction, p. li), 
and has a bowstring made of black wool, with black arrows 
that have bunches of wool (tied?) to their points (the pus- 
tules are hit), while the (two first stanzas of) the hymn are 
being recited. 9. With the fourth stanza (?)? the bow is 
brought near (the pustules) and they are hit (with the 
arrows). 10. (The patient is then washed off at the time 
when the stars fade away [at dawn] with water) which has 
been warmed by quenching in it a burning bunch of wool 5.’ 
The arrow of bamboo in the practice symbolises the root 
(found by) the divine sage in st. 1; the flake of black wool 
embodies the statement in st. 2 d. 


Stanza 1. 


Cf. for the colours mentioned here, VI, 83, 2. 3, and 
more generally I, 23 and 24. 


) Sayana, darbhdsha. 

2 This can hardly be the fourth stanza of the present hymn, which 
belongs to a totally different sphere. Kesava fuses VII, 74, 1. 2 
with VII, 76, 1. 2, and thus obtains a hymn of four stanzas. As 
extraordinary as this seems it may yet be true, and we may note 
that VII, 76, 1. 2 are also endowed with independent individuality, 
being separated in the ritual from the remainder of the hymn. See 
the introduction to VII, 76. But the matter is rendered uncertain 
on account of Kaus. 31, 16, where we have apafita ἃ susrasa iti, i.e. 
the pratikas of VI, 83, and VII, 76, rubricated together. Kesava’s 
hypothesis may be based upon a confusion of the two prattkas 
apatitak (VI, 83), and apafitim (VI, 74). Sayama in his introduc- 
tion to VII, 76 makes this very blunder, reading, apasitim ἃ 
susrasah for Kausika’s (31, 16) apaéita 4 susrasah. 

* For the rendering of this Satra, see Kaus. 27, 29 in the intro- 
duction to III, 7. 


Vu, 76. COMMENTARY. 559 


B. 


Stanza 3 is rubricated at Kaus. 36, 25 along with VI, 18 
and VII, 45; see the introduction to VI, 18 for the prac- 
tices against jealousy. 


ς. 


Stanza 4 is rubricated at Kaus. 1, 34; Vait. 1,13. He 
who enters upon the performance of the new-moon and 
full-moon sacrifices recites the stanza while placing faggots 
upon the fire. Cf. also Ath. Paris. 10. 


VII, 76. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 17. 


The hymn is tripartite, the first two parts being closcly 
related in subject matter. The third part (st. 6) appears 
in this connection for reasons— perhaps diaskeuastic — 
altogether obscure. The entire hymn has been rendered 
by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 500 ; Henry, Le livre VII de 
l’'Atharva-véda, pp. 30, 97 ff. 


A. 


For the history of the interpretation of the apa#it-hymns, 
see the introduction to VI, 83 (cf. also VI, 25 and VII, 74). 
The practices connected with the first part of the hymn are 
described at Kaus. 31, 16-17, where it is rubricated along 
with VI, 83: see the introduction to that hymn. Sdyava 
blunderingly quotes the pratika at Kaus. 31, 16 as apasitam 
(!for apakita: VII, 74 for VI, 83); see the note to the 
introduction to VII, 74, p. 558. 


Stanza 1. 


a. Our purely verbal translation savours of mere verbiage. 
In Contributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 
324, we suggested, with a view to both metre and sense, 
4 susrdso susrastara/, ‘they fall off more easily than the 
easily falling one’ (i.e. they fall off most easily)!. Professor 


1 Ludwig, ‘leichter stiirzend als das leicht stitrzende.’ 


560 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Henry, l.c., p. 97, very justly points out that this leaves 4 in 
the air, and himself suggests, very ingeniously, 4 susraso 
sisraso, ‘thou hast made fall those who fall easily.’ This 
makes good sense, and fills out the metre. Yet I am not 
convinced : the first person asisrasam, or the third, asisrasat, 
rather than the second person, asisrasa#, would be in accord- 
ance with the ordinary tone of such incantations, and, after 
all, the parallelism of each of the remaining three Padas 
seems to demand an ablative dependent upon a compara- 
tive. SA&yana reads Asusrasah, and glosses, susrasad atyar- 
tham sravantyad sarvadé piyadisravamasilak . . . Asusrasak 
ἃ samantad niravasesham sravavasila bhavantu. The Paip- 
palada, ndmannasam svayamsrasann asatibhyo vasattara! 
For the sense in general, cf. Bhagavadgita I, 30, ρα. νὰ 
sramsate hastat. 

6. The word séhu is quotable in addition only Κα. 5. 
XXXIV, 12 (sehus ka pliha ka), where it obviously desig- 
nates some part of the body. The Pet. Lexs., ‘a certain 
dry substance ;’ Ludwig, ‘rosin.’ Professor Henry makes 
the Pada over into aras&d arasdtara, but I cannot believe 
that our lectio difficillima is at fault. The Hindus must 
have associated dryness with this organ. Sayaza, sehok 
sehur nama viprakirz4vayavak atyantam nifsdras tdla- 
dirdpa#, apparently, ‘a substance whose parts are scattered 
exceedingly dry, having the form of cotton-wool, or the 
like.’ 

Stanza 2. 

ο. vigiman, ‘a part of the body.’ S4yama, ‘genital 
organs :’ viseshexa gdyate apatyam atre-ti vigdam4 guhya- 
pradesai'. The Pet. Lexs., ‘members of the body which 
are in pairs : this seems to be the meaning at Sat. Br. III, 
6, 2,1. Ludwig, ‘ankle.’ 

B. 

For the nature of the disease gay4nya, and the general 

character of this charm, see Contributions, Second Series, 


* Sdéyaza at RV. VII, 50, 2, (vigdman pérushi), vividhaganmani 
parushi. 


vul, 76. COMMENTARY. 561 


Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 320 ff. Kesava and Sayaza define 
the disease as ra4gayakshma, identifying it with the gayénya 
in the story told at Tait. 5. II, 3, 5, 1-3. The practice 
associated with this part of the hymn at Kaus. 32, 11 is 
very obscure ; it seems to consist in tying on the patient an 
amulet consisting of the string of a lute; in tying on with 
(this) string some other part of a lute (?); and tying on three 
fragments of the viriza-plant (andropogon muricatus) that 
have fallen down of themselves'. I am tempted to regard 
the gaydnya as syphilis, etymologically either congenital 
disease (root gan), or venereal disease (gaya, ‘ woman’)?: 
in that case the musical instruments may refer to the nautch- 
girls, and the disease is cured homoeopathically (attractio 
similium) and symbolically by the realisation of their 
presence by means of the amulets. Cf. in addition to the 
renderings mentioned above, Kuhn in Zeitschrift fiir ver- 
gleichende Sprachforschung, XIII, 155, and Zimmer, Altin- 
disches Leben, p. 377. 
Stanza 3. 


Cf. Contributions, Second Series, I. c., XI, 328 ff. ; Fourth 
Series, 1.6. XII, 438 ff.; Johansson, Indogermanische 
Forschungen, II, 22; Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprach- 
forschung, XXXII, 435 ff. Sayaza explains talidya as 
follows, talid iti antikandma, antike bhavam talidyam .. . 
asthisamipagatam mamsam. For nir dstam (Padap&tha, 
nik &stam), which we correct to nfr Astham 3, SAyava reads 
nirhaf tam (nirharatu). Shankar Pandit accepts this read- 


1 Sdyana condenses the performance as follows, vindtantri- 
khandam vadyakhandam sankhakhandam va sampatya abhimantrya 
badhniyat. 

? Cf. Henry, |. c., p. 98. viriza seems to allude to manhood. 

* Instances of the stem astha-, in addition to those quoted in 
Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, 438, are, sa te m4sth4t, for sa te m4 sthat in 
Maitr. S. I, 1, 2 (von Schroeder's edition). The expression means 
‘he shall not hurl at thee.’ The same express:on at Tait. Br. III, 
2, 2, 8, and Apast. Sr. I, 4,14. Αἱ Tait. Br. the formula is pro- 
nounced ahimsdyai, ‘in order to be exempt from injury.’ This 
favours the connection of astha- with the root as, ‘ throw.’ 


[42] (ome) 


562 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


ing because SAyava ‘has doubtless preserved the genuine 
reading. We can see nothing in this but an unusually 
clever emendation, which, however, leaves in tam an awkward 
remnant. 

Stanza 4. 

For the conception of the flight of disease to and from the 
body, cf. RV. X, 97,13; AV. VI, 83, 1. 2, and Amer. Journ. 
Phil. XI, 322-3. In the second hemistich we have emended 
Akshitasya to d4kshatasya on the strength of the Sdtra and 
its commentators (e.g. Kaus. 31, 11). Sayaza, on the 
other hand, reads sukshitasya for sukshatasya (akshitasya 
Airak4lavasthanarahitasya...sukshitasya firakalam avasthi- 
tasya). There can be no doubt that the indication of the 
Satra is to be preferred. 


Stanza 5. 


The g4ydnya is here personified as an evil being, the 
knowledge of whose nature or origin (perhaps with reference 
to the story in Tait. 5. II, 3, 5, 2) confers exemption from 
his attacks. See the note on I, 2, 1. Note the fourfold 
alliteration in the first hemistich: it cannot be reproduced 
in translation. 

38 

For the ritual application of st. 6 (=RV. VI, 47, 6), 
sce Vait. Si. 16,14. In Pada c, ἅ vrishasva with double 
entente, ‘manifest thy lusty strength;’ cf. the common 
formula, atra pitaro madayadhvam yathabhagam 4vrishaé- 
yadhvam (Kausika, Index C), with the same double meaning 
starting from the opposite point of view. 


VII, 83. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 12. 


At Kaus. 32, 14-15 a hut is built at a point of land 
between two rivers that flow into one another?, and in it 
the dropsical patient is washed by means of bunches of 
grass, and then rinsed off. For the meaning of the practice 
see the introduction to I, 10. At Kaus. 127, 4 the hymn is 


2 Cf. Kaus. 18, 22. 


vil, 83. COMMENTARY. 563 


recited, more secondarily, while an offering is made from an 
animal devoted to Varusa (cf. Sd. 2): the offering is part 
of a performance for obviating the evil consequences of the 
obscuration of the constellation, ‘the seven Rzshis’ (ursus 
major), by a comet. Cf. also Vait. SQ. το, 22; Naksha- 
trakalpa 14; Ath. Paris. 13, 3. The hymn is a mixtum 
compositum ; st. 2 seems to belong originally to a different 
sphere (see the note), and its bearing here is not at all clear. 
The hymn has been rendered by Henry, Le livre VII de 
l’ Atharva-véda, pp. 35, 104. 


Stanza 2. 


See Vag. S. VI, 22; Katy. Sr. VI, 10, 5; Tait. S. I, 3, 
11,1; Tait. Br. II, 6, 6, 2; Maitr. S. III, 11, 10; Asv. Sr. 
III, 6, 24; Sankh. Sr. VIII, 12, 11. The vulgate’s 
emendation of dh4mno-dhémno to démno-dAmno, as suit- 
able as it is to the sense, is not supported by any of the 
parallel passages. Mahidhara at Vag. 5. VI, 22 has much 
the same thing in mind, when he says, yasmad-yasmat 
tvadiyapasasamanvitat sthanét'. All the parallel texts 
read sdpdmahe for fi#ima, and in some iti is wanting after 
aghnya&. Pdda c seems to contain the expression of an 
oath, or curse, which is regarded as sinful. According as iti 
after aghnya is read or omitted, it contains two oaths, or one 
oath. The passage savours of the notion that it is impious 
to take in vain the holy name of Varuza, or his waters. 
Sayavza, he 4pad he aghny4zZ iti he varuva iti yad O#ima yaé 
khapavakyam avokdma, yak khapavakyavakanena pdpam 
argitam tasmad api muz#kesti sambandhak...ato deva- 
tanamadheyakirtanarQpasapathakaramaganitapapdd asman 
mofaya. Cf. also the glosses to Vag. 5. and Tait. Br. 


Stanza 3. 


The stanza is repeated at RV. I, 24,5; AV. XVIII, 4, 
69; Maitr. S. I, 2, 18, &c. (see the index to the Maitr. S.). 
Cf. also Vait. SQ. 28, 17; Ath. Paris. 17, 2. 


1 Sdyana here, sarvasmad rogasthanat. 
002 


564 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 4. 


b. varuvZ represents an awkward attempt to vary the 
diction: it might be designated as a rhetorical dha or 
vikara. The true completion of the expression requires 
madhyamé4. 


VII, 115. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 168. 


The symbolic rites which attach themselves to this hymn 
are described in Kaus. 18, 16-18, to wit: 16. ‘Having 
fastened a hook to the left leg of a raven, and a rice-cake to 
the hook (the performing priest), while reciting AV. VII, 
115, 1, lets (the crow go) so that he does not return ?. 
17. Having put on a blue garment, having covered that 
with a red one’, having wound about a white cloth (as 
a turban), while reciting the second stanza of the hymn, he 
sets down the turban by means of a hook, and with his left 
hand casts it, together with the hook, into the water. 
18, While reciting the third stanza of the hymn (he throws) 
the covering ὃ (red) garment (into the water) ; while reciting 
the fourth stanza the (under, blue) garment.’ Cf. also 
Santikalpa 4; Ath. Paris. 33, 3. 

The hymn, which is related to I, 18, has been translated 


1 This part of the performance executes in practice the state- 
ment in RV. X, 95, 14 where Purfravas threatens to fly away with- 
out returning, throwing himself into the lap of Nirrsti, the goddess 
of misfortune; cf. nirrztyabhimukho in Kesava’s comment, and 
anavritam iti prapatanaviseshazam in Darila’s, with the diction of 
the RV.stanza. The black bird is fit to shoulder the evil (attractio 
similium), as in AV. I, 22, 1. 4; Kaus. 26, 18. 

3 For the colours blue and red, cf. the introduction to VII, 116; 
the notes on IV, 17, 4; VIII, 8, 24; and Kaus. 32,17; 40, 4; 
48, 40. Cf. also nilalohita in the Pet. Lex., and Winternitz, Das 
Altindische Hochzeitsrituell, pp. 6, 12, 23, 67. 

5 I now propose to read tretfyay4é4annam, i.e. trziiyayd 4éfan- 
nam, instead of trztiyaya £hannam, in deference to 4é#adya in SO. 17. 
Even then the translation ‘ covering garment’ for 444annam is pro- 
blematic, and based upon our interpretation of Kesava’s comment. 
It means naturally ‘the covered (blue garment).’ 


Vil, 116. COMMENTARY. 565 


by Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 348; Ludwig, Der 
Rigveda, III, 499 (cf. also 338); Grill?, pp. 41, 187 ff.; 
Henry, Le livre VII de l’Atharva-véda, pp. 45,124. The 
Anukramani, savitram gatavedasam. 


Stanza 2. 


a. pataydldr is da. Aey. Ludwig, ‘die zum fall bringende 
(Lakshmi) ;’ but note the short a in the first syllable: 
pataydmi in the RV. is the causative of pat, not pataydmi, 
which is a simple present. 


Stanza 3. 


Rubricated at Ath. Paris. 7. 

a. The number ΟῚ is regularly inauspicious, occurring 
in connection with diseases, varieties of death, &c.; cf. AV. 
III, 9,6; V, 18, 12; VIII, 2, 27; XI, 6, τό; XIX, 46, 5. 


VII, 116. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 4. 


The chief interest of this charm against takmdan is its 
reference to the ancient Hindu custom of quenching fire— 
here its representative the fever—by a frog. I have else- 
where assembled from the Vedic writings a considerable 
number of passages which become intelligible in the light 
of this custom ; see my article entitled, ‘On a Vedic group 
of charms for extinguishing fire by means of water-plants 
and a frog,’ Contributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. 
XI, 342 (24 of the reprint) ff! The réle of the frog here 
is distinctly the same, and is especially significant for the 
identification of fire and fever which is indeed superficially 
obvious in all the hymns and practices connected with the 
takman. The quaint performance of the Kausika-sitra, 
32, 17, is as follows: namo rdrayesti sakunin ive=shikaagi- 
mazdikam nilalohitabhy4m sitrabhy4s sakakshas bad- 
dhva ”, ‘while reciting AV. VII, 116, he does as in the case 


1 See also the introduction to VI, 106. 
2 Shankar Pandit’s reproduction of this Sfitra, in the introduction 
to the hymn in Sayana’s commentary, is decidedly free. 


566 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


of the birds, i.e. he ties a frog that has stripes like reeds 
(upon his body) by means of a blue and a red thread by 
the arm-pits (to a low couch upon which the patient is 
made to recline, and besprinkles him).’ In order to under- 
stand this difficult Sitra we must follow the commentaries. 
Darila says, sakunin ive karoti, mantroktaén! adhastalpe 
haritasfitreza savyaganghasu baddhverty Adivat, ‘He does 
as in the case of the birds, i.e, as in the performance 
indicated in Kaus. 26, 18 with the words mantroktAn adhas- 
talpe, &c.’ The practice in question centres about AV. 
I, 22, a charm directed against jaundice. In the course of 
it the patient is seated upon a couch beneath which the 
yellow birds are tied with a yellow thread by their left 
legs; then the patient is washed off, and his jaundice is 
supposed to settle upon the yellow birds where, as it were, 
it is naturally at home; see the introduction to I, 22. In 
accordance with that performance, Darila continues to 
expand and explain the suggestion of the practice in Sdtra 
32, 18, which is connected with the present hymn: ishike=va 
rekha yasya sa ishika#giz, tam nilasitreva? lohitena fa 
siitreva saha kakshabhy4 baddhva sakunin iva karoti, ‘he 
who has a line like a reed he is a reed-marked (frog); him 
he ties with a blue and a red thread by the arm-pits and 
treats as he does the birds.’ See also Kesava on the 
passage, and cf. Kaus. 40, 4; 48, 40. 

From all these statements it becomes clear that the fever 
(Dérila, gvarabhaishagyam) is washed from the patient 
down upon the frog, but apparently with this difference, 
that the birds—homoeopathically as it were—take up the 
jaundice because they are themselves yellow, while the 
frog, allopathically, quenches the fever (fire) of the patient, 


1 The MSS. of Darila read mantroktén; this appears in the 
edition as mantroktam, because I did not know at the time that the 
passage is a quotation of part of Kaus. 26, 18, which see. 

3. Cod. somewhat indistinctly tatrilasQitreza, obviously for tin 
nilasftreza, and that again for tam (sc. manddkam) nflasftrema, the 

-plural tan being a corruption derived from the plural mantroktan 
in 26, 18. 


VII, 116. COMMENTARY. 567 


being himself cold and moist. I would also draw attention 
to RV. X, 166, 5, where in the course of a hostile charm 
occurs the expression, 4 vo mairdhénam akramim, adhas- 
padén ma ud vadata mazd{{ka ivo=dakdt, ‘I have stepped 
upon your head ; from under my feet do ye speak up to me 
like frogs from the water?.’ A touch of this idea also is 
perhaps worked up symbolically in the present practice, and 
even more clearly in the related performance at Kaus. 48,40. 

The combination of the colours blue and red is associated 
everywhere with hostile witchcraft. In RV. X,85,28=AV. 
XIV, 1, 26 (cf. Saikh. Grth. I, 12, 8; Apast. Grzh. I, 5, 23) 
the bridal garment polluted during the consummation is 
spoken of as, nilalohitasz bhavati krityd:saktir vy agyate, 
‘blue and black it is; the sorcery, the inherent (evil) ἢ, is 
driven out.’ In AV. IV, 17, 4 (see our note on that stanza) 
a hostile charm is made in a blue-red vessel, and red and 
blue threads are spread out against enemies in AV. VIII, 
δ, 24 (cf. Kaus. 16, 20). This sinister employment of red 
and blue renders it unlikely that the use of the same colours 
in German wedding-practices is in any way to be connected 
with the Hindu conception; see Weber, Indische Studien, 
V, 308, note 4; Winternitz, Das altindische Hochzeitsrituell 
nach dem Apastambiya-Grihyas(tra (Imperial Academy 
of Vienna, vol. xl), p. 67; Hillebrandt, Mitteilungen der 
Schlesischen Gesellschaft fiir Volkskunde (1894-95), I, 39 ff. 
Why, now, is blue and red fit for Hindu sorcery practices? 
Is nilalohita night and day ? 

On the other hand it seems difficult to dissociate from 
the present practice the Bohemian frog-charm which Groh- 
mann, l.c., reports as a cure against fever: ‘In Bohemia the 
practice is to cure chills and fever (kaltes fieber) by catching 
a green frog at the time of the morning dews on the day 
preceding that of St. George. This is sewn into a bag 
which is hung about the neck of the patient without his 


1 Cf. the Stra 26, 20 in connection with the jaundice cure, 
vadata (sc. sakunin) upasth4payati, and Kesava’s comment thereon. 
3 For Asaktf, see Ludwig’s excellent remark, Der Rigveda, vol. v, 


Ρ. 398. 


568 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


knowing its contents. Then the patient must pronounce 
the lord’s prayer nine times on nine days before sunrise. 
On the ninth day he must go with prayer to the river, cast 
the bag into the water, and return home praying and without 
turning his face.’ 

The hymn has been translated and expounded by Groh- 
mann, l.c., pp. 386, 414; Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 381; 
and Victor Henry, Le livre VII de l’Atharva-véda, pp. 45, 
124. The hymn is quoted also as one of the takmana- 
sanagava in the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 7 (Kaus. 26, 
1, note). 

Stanza 1. 

As the verse stands the first half is hopeless prose, and 
yet the second half is a good gagati-pada. Henry, l.c., 
p- 125, makes the exceedingly ingenious and plausible 
suggestion that the first half consisted originally also of 
two gagati-padas, and stood, 


ndmo rfrféya ἀγάναηδγα dhrishndve, 
namo rr&ya Aédandya dhrishnave. 


These were then by a species of haplology' fused, so as 
to yield ndmo rardya kydvandya kddandya dhrishvave. 
Still we would not go as far as Henry himself does, and 
make this reconstruction the basis of a translation, especially 
as either the word γάναπᾶγα, or #édandya (more probably 
the latter), might have entered the text as a gloss. The 
expulsion of either yields a good gagati-pada, and the 
tradition may at any rate be respected as long as it does 
not interfere with good sense. 

a. For rirdya, see the note to V, 22, 10a, and cf. I, 25,4; 
for kédand4ya, Shankar Pandit with SAyava and some MSS. 
reads ndédandya. 

b. pdrvakamaksétvane is obscure. The Pet. Lexs. trans- 
late it, ‘alte wiinsche erfiillend ;’ Grohmann and Zimmer, 
‘nach altem tricbe thatig.’ Grohmann supposes that the 


1 For haplology in Vedic Sanskrit, see the author in the 
Proceedings of the American Oriental Society for 1893 (Journal, 
vol. xvi, p. xXxxiv). 


VIII, I. COMMENTARY. ~  §69 


word refers to the periodicity of the attacks of fever. Henry 
thinks that the word is to be divided as a compound into 
pirva-kamakvitvan rather than pfrvakama-kritvan, and 
accordingly translates, ‘qui, des temps immémorial, agit a 
sa guise.’ Sayava, pirveshdm abhildshavam kartitre £/ettre, 
as if -kvitvane were derived from root krit,‘cut.’ The com- 
bination k4mam kar occurs*RV. X, 61, 6, kimam 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 (k4ma) 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. 


Stanza 2. 


For anyedyu% and ubhayadyus, see the notes on I, 25,44; 
for avratd/, the note on VI, 20, 1c. 


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. sfiktam), 
‘a hymn that bestows long life ;’ accordingly it holds mem- 
bership in the 4yushyagava of the Gavzamala, 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 (brahmazoktam, and rzshihastah, SQ. 4) 


570 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


calculated to ensure longevity. Cf. also SAntikalpa 24}; 
Ath. Paris. 37, 2. 

The hymn has been rendered by Muir, Original Sanskrit 
Texts, V, 443 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, IIT, 495 ff.; Henry, 
Les livres VIII et IX de l'Atharva-véda, pp. 1, 35 ff. 


Stanza 1. 


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. 


Stanza 2. 


The expression s6mo amsum4n 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. 


Stanza 6. 


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. SAyana suggests 
the senses and the body. In Pada d Sdyama has agirvik 
for girviz 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; cf. AV. XIV, 1, 21; RV. X, 85, 27. For 
vidatham, cf. the note on V, 20, 12. 


Stanza 8. 


The word ἐπὶ at the end of P4da c is metrically super- 
fluous. SAyava seems to follow a redaction which does 
not exhibit it, since he neglects to comment upon it. 


? Cited erroneously, as usual, by Sayaza as Nakshatrakalpa. 


VIII, I. COMMENTARY. 571 


Stanza 9. 


a. Sayana does not comment upon préshitau, but supplies 
(iti sesha) the verb badhatam. The word is at any rate 
suspicious, being readily derivable from the language that 
belongs to the myth of the two dogs (cf. RV. X, 14, 11b, 
12b). Henry, after stating the difficulty very clearly, changes 
it to pishatam, fairly similar in sound, but quotable only at 
AV. IV, 6, 7, and not very suitable in meaning. We have 
retained préshitau, and have supplied ‘go after’ (Anu ar, 
RV. X, 14, 12b) from sheer conservatism’, recognising, 
however, quite clearly that the original text is disfigured by 
reminiscences from the RV., and that some other word 
is very likely to have been thrown out by the glossarial 


préshitau. 
Stanza 10. 


Cf. the abhayagaza of the GavamAla, Ath. Paris. 32, 12, 
excerpted in Kaus. 16, 8, note. 


Stanza 11 


Frequently rubricated in the Ath. Parisishfas: 13, 1; 
15; 17,1; 18%,1.13. The fires in the waters are the 
lightning in the clouds; cf. RV. VIII, 43, 9, and the parallel 


versions. 
Stanza 18. 


The adjectives and participles are momentarily per- 
sonified in the manner of Roman divinities like Fabulinus, 
Edusa, Potina, and the like. Bodha and Pratibodha, Asva- 
pna and GAgrivi are said to be Réshis at AV. V, 30, 10, 
and Sayama here speaks of all six personifications as 
Rishis. 

Stanza 16. 

Bohtlingk’s lexicon, Whitney in the Index Verborum, and 
Sayaza (glossing the word by sammodaya) propose sam- 
mide for samide. As natural as this correction seems, it 
is nevertheless not unavoidable: samiud in the sense of 


1 The Paippalida 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 ἅπ. Aey. 


Stanza 16. 


a. Sayavza renders gambhask 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 m4 gihvd (Padap4/ha, 
gihvé 4) barht/ 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. Sdyaza, barhir iva 
ayamavist4ropeta uhyamané gihva raksha/prabhrited sarm- 
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 unexpectcd 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 gihv4-4barhiZ: see the root 1. barh with a. 
Non liquet. 

Stanza 19. 

For Pada Ὁ, cf. VIII, 2, 4; for c,d, Contributions, Second 

Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 336 ff. 


Stanza 20. 


The stanza recurs with variants at RV. X, 161, 5, and 
AV. XX, 96, το. 
Stanza 21. 
Sayana glosses vy avat with vyauskfat, 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 gambhad asthdladanto 
mé 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 (ayushyam), 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 (namakaraza): (the child is placed 
upon the lap of the mother) and an uninterrupted stream 
of water (aviéAinnam ; cf. 4kkidyam4nam 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 (samsk4ra) in the child’s 
life: they will be noted below. Cf. also SAntikalpa 17. 
19. 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. 


Stanza 1. 


a. Shankar Pandit’s MSS., and Sdyawa, read snish‘im 
for srish¢im of the vulgate (cf. the note on III, 30, 7). 
Sayaza glosses, snush¢im prasnutim ...upakramasva... 
yadva kumé4rasya haste aviéAinnadm udakadharam ninayed 
(cf. Kaus., above)... tasya snush¢im. 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 pftadru 
and pitudaru in the lexicons. 


574 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


(amrfta) ;’ but our own rendering (cf. VIII, 1, 7. 8) is pro- 
blematic. The Pet. Lex. (s.v. srishéi), ‘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 srishéi. 


Stanza 6. 


For the character of the epithets in this stanza, see the 
notes on VIII, 7,6; XIX, 39, 2. 


Stanza 9. . 
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. 


Stanza 11. 


b. For garam mrityim I read gardmrityum ; cf. II, 13, 2; 
28, 2. 4. 
Stanza 12. 
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. 


Stanza 14. 


Employed variously in the practices connected with 
childhood and youth: at the nirzayaza, the ceremony of 
taking the child out of the house for the first time, Kaus. 
58, 18; at the £dd4karama, ‘the making of the crest,’ Kaus. 
54,17; cf. also the Paddhatis in the note on Kaus. 58, 17. 
For abhisriyau, cf. Bergaigne, Etudes sur le lexique du 
Rig-véda, p. 108 ff.; Pischel, Vedische Studien, I, 53 ff. 
Sdyana reads adhisriyau (praptasrike sriprade stam). 


Stanza 16. 
Cf. Kaus. 58,17; Vait. Sd. 10,6; Ath. Paris. 33, 4. 


Stanza 17. 


See Kaus. 53, 19 (godana) ; 55, 3 (upanayana) ; and also 
the Paddhatis at Kaus. 58,17. Cf. AV. VI, 68. 


VIII, 5. COMMENTARY. 575 


Stanza 18. 


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. 


Stanza 20. 


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. 


Stanza 22. 
See Kaus. 58, 21, and cf. 58, 19, note. 


VIII, 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 
pushdkarmAzi, ‘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-sitra 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 


1 The Atharvastya-paddhati at Kaus. 19, 1 mentions it in a long 
list of push/ika mantra4. 


576 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


18 and Ig are catalogued (Kaus. 25, 36, note) in the svas- 
tyayanagava (‘stanzas productive of welfare’) of the Gaza- 
mala, Ath. Paris. 32, 11; st. 22 in the first of the two 
abhayagama, ‘stanzas that procure freedom from danger,’ 
Ath. Paris. 32, 12; see Kaus. 16, 8, note. Cf. also Santi- 
kalpa 191; Ath. Paris. 6, 1. 

The hymn has been rendered by Henry, Les livres VIII 
et IX de l’Atharva-véda, pp. 14, 50 ff. 


Stanza 1. 


In the prose literature (e.g. Sat. Br. VII, 4, 1, 33) prati- 
sara is ‘amulet.’ Its literal meaning is ‘going against, 
attacking,’ and so it is ordinarily to be rendered. Sayaza, 
‘he that practises sorcery him it attacks.’ In II, 11, 2 it is 
used synonymously with pratyabhifdraza. 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. 

Stanza 3. 


In Pada ς, either ubhé or imé is metrically superfluous ; 
the former, perhaps, is to be thrown out. 


Stanza 4. 


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 pratisard in the sense 
of ‘assailing.” Sayava, pratimukham vartayaty anena. 


Stanza 9. 


For the connection of the name Angiras with unholy 
(4ngirasa=Abhifarika) 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 navyd#. So also X, 1, 16. 


1 Cited erroneously by Séyana as Nakshatrakalpa. 


VIII, 5. COMMENTARY. 577 


Stanza 11. 


The first three Padas are repeated at XIX, 39, 4. In 
Pada e, S4yawa has pratisp4sinam (abhifaratah prati- 
mukham badhakam, ‘striking against the sorcerers’), The 
MSS. read antitam ; the vulgate and the Index Verborum 
anti tam. Sdyawa offers both alternatives, antitam atyan- 
tasamnihitam, athava tam ... dveshfiram anti antike 
avidama. Perhaps antikam is to be substituted in the 
text for antitam. Sayaza understands the passage as 
follows: ‘Him (the enemy) that we did seek, we have 
found lurking near by.’ But see Tait. S. V, 7, 3, 1, where 
pratispas4 surely means ‘guarding;’ cf. also AV. VII, 
38, I. 

Stanza 14. 

For Kasyapa, see the note on IV, 20, 7. In Pada d, 
Sayava reads samsreshane and glosses ‘in the battle which 
causes close contact (samsleshaza) with one another.’ 
Whether we accept this sensible emendation, or not, the 
meaning is clear. 

Stanza 16. 

Pada a may be improved into an anushtubh by throwing 
out the first yds tva. The dikshds and the yag#dh here 
referred to are of course unholy (A4bhifdrika) ; cf. X, 1, 11, 
and Kesava at Kaus. 47, 12. 14-16. Sayama, dikshabhiz 
yagviyair vagyamanadiniyamaviseshaiz .. . yag#aihk himsa- 
sadhanaik syeneshvadibhir! yagais. The two hemistichs 
are loosely correlated (anacoluthon): we should expect ma 
for tva in PAdas a, b. 

Stanza 17. 


Cf. Tait. S. V, 7, 3,1; RV. X, 171, 4. 


Stanza 18. 
The first hemistich is repeated at XIX, 20, 4 a, b. 


1 The syeneshu seems to be a witchcraft practice, otherwise 
unknown. The Angirasakalpa, if it ever turns up, is ΚΕΙ͂Σ to 
furnish the necessary information. 


[42] ΡΡ 


578 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 20. 


6, ἃ. The passage is highly metaphorical. According to 
Pagk. Br. XIII, 9,17, methf (meth) is the post to which 
cattle is fastened with a rope (raggu). The amulet with its 
cord (cf. II, 4, 5) seems to be likened to it: the tertium 
comparationis is the protective quality of each. As the 
cattle is secure when attached to the post, thus the pre- 
sence of the amulet affords security. Possibly the passage 
is derived secondarily from a different practice and a dif- 
ferent sphere of conceptions. 


Stanza 22. 
Cf. RV. X, 152, 2, almost identical with this stanza. 


VIII, 7. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 4I. 


This compilation of stanzas in diverse metres, in praise 
of the curative qualities of plants, is analogous to the so- 
called oshadhi-stuti, RV. X, 97; Maitr. S. II, 7, 13; Tait. 
S. IV, 2,6; Vag. 5. XII, 75-96. Its employment in the 
ritual is as a universal remedy (sarvabhaishagyam). At 
Kaus. 26, 33 it is rubricated along with five other hymns 
in a series (gaza) which is styled gazakarm4gana(!) in the 
Ganamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 24. Its particular function is 
indicated at Kaus. 26, 40: while it is being recited an 
amulet consisting of chips from ten kinds of (holy) wood, 
described at Kaus. 27, 5 in connection with AV. II, 9 (cf. 
also Kaus. 13, 5), is fastened upon the patient. See the 
introduction to II, 9.. At Vait. Sd. 30, 6, similarly, the 
hymn is employed while the curative sura (spirituous 
liquor) for the sautramazi-ceremony is being mixed with 
herbs. Cf. Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. 
Soc. XV, 153-154; Oldenberg, Nachrichten von der Kénig- 
lichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen, 1893, 
no. 9, p. 342 ff.; Weber, Ragasfya, p. 100 ff. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
ΠῚ, 504 ff.; Henry, Les livres VIII et IX de |’Atharva- 
véda, pp. 20, 58 ff. 


VIII, 7. COMMENTARY. 579 


Stanza 2. 


e,d. Cf. III, 9, 1 and III, 23, 6 a, Ὁ, with which this hemi- 
stich coincides word for word. The ocean represents both 
the heavenly and terrestrial waters, from which the plants 
derive their nourishment and origin. 


Stanza 4. 


Cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 57. I agree with 
Professor Henry in assuming that no systematisation, 
however rudimentary, is intended: salient qualities are 
embalmed in epitheta ornantia. The same scholar’s ren- 
dering of aszsumatif, ‘ pourvues de suc, pourvues de séma,’ 
is strained. 

Stanza 6. 


For arundhati, see the introduction to IV, 12. The first 
hemistich also at VIII, 2, 6: cf. VI, 59, 3; XIX, 39, 2. 3, 
and see the notes on the last-mentioned two stanzas. 
Professor Henry’s explanation of nagha in naghdarishim 
as=agha, ‘evil,’ will probably appear unnecessary in the 
light of these notes. The solitary form pushydm is sus- 
picious, since the MSS. confuse the syllables shya and shpa 
hopelessly ; cf. st. 27, and the note on V, 4, 4. 


Stanza 9. 


This is an especial appeal to aquatic plants, the ἀνακὰ 
being the most characteristic representative of that class ; 
cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 71; Contributions, 
Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 349 ff. 


Stanza 10. 
In Pada d, kritya- in the vulgate is a misprint for 
kritya-. For baldsa, see the note on V, 22, 11. 


Stanza 11. 


Rare herbs were doubtless bought, and brought from 
a distance. The word ‘village’ is characteristic, as being 
Pp2 


580 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


the proper scene of Atharvanic performances; cf. IV, 36, 
7; IX,5,19; XVIII, 2, 27; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 28. 


Stanza 12. 

ἃ. gé-purogavam does not differ materially from expres- 
sions like gav-4di, and the like. The Pet. Lexicons, ‘die 
Kuh zum Anfiihrer habend,’ and Henry’s, ‘(la nourriture) 
a laquelle préside la vache, are rather too literal and 
pregnant; they miss, perhaps, the idiomatic force of the 
expression. 

Stanza 15. 

ἃ. Cf. I, 8,1; VI, 113, 2; VIIL, 5, 9. The flowing water 

of the running stream shall carry them off. 


Stanza 16. 


For a, Ὁ, cf. I, 10, 4; VIII, 2, 27, and our note on the 
first of these passages. Agni Vaisvanara seems to repre- 
sent here the funeral fire. It would be convenient to read 
(with Henry) the vocative oshadhayo for the nominative. 
Ludwig construes mumufan4& as passive, ‘losgegeben von 
Agni Vaisvanara.’ But on what occasion does Agni confine 
the plants? 

Stanza 17. 

Cf. st. 24; VIII, 5,9; XIX, 39, 5, and especially our 
note on XI, 4, 16. But it is questionable whether Angi- 
rasiZ is to be taken here in its ritualistic sense=Abhi#4- 
rika, ‘ pertaining to witchcraft.’ 


Stanza 23. 

Cf. I, 24,1; II, 27,2; V,14, 1, and the notes on the 
passages, for this and the following stanza. It is rather 
curious to find the serpents and their old time enemy the 
ichneumon (cf. VI, 139, 5) peacefully together, as dis- 
coverers of remedies. But the serpents here are mythic, 
not the poisonous individuals. 


Stanza 24. 


Ὁ. raghd/o is ἅπ. Aey. The Pet. Lex. suggests plausibly 
raghavo, ‘swift.’ The flight of the heavenly eagle who 


VIII, 7. COMMENTARY. 581 


robs the Soma, results in the growth of the parza-tree; cf. 
Ad. Kuhn, Die Herabkunft des Feuers (index 5. v. parma). 
The eagle might therefore be said to be acquainted with 
the parva-tree. But the passages cited in the preceding 
note show that the keen sight of certain birds of prey fits 
them, in the mind of the poet, for the task of finding the 
rare and secreted plants. 


Stanza 26. 


a, b. The human physicians in contrast from the divine 
doctors, Rudra, the Asvins, Sarasvati, &c. 


Stanza 27. 


Cf. the Atharvaziya-paddhati and Dasa Karm4xzi in the 
note on Kaus. 36, 5. 

a,b. Cf. RV. X, 97,3; Maitr. S.II, 7, 13 (93, 5); Tait. 5. 
IV, 2,6,1; Vag. 5. ΧΙ]. 77. 

e. Ludwig renders sammatdrak by ‘vereinte miitter;’ 
Henry proposes to read sam matdraf, as previously in AV. 
XIII, 2, 13 (see his Les Hymnes Rohitas, pp. 10 and 40), 
a very doubtful passage. The plants are called mothers, 
RV. X, 97,4; Maitr. 5. II, 7, 13 (93, 6); Tait. S. IV, 2, 6, 
1; Vag. 5. XII, 77, but the word sammatdara (dual) stands 
unquestioned at Maitr. S. II, 5, 4 (52,1). 1 think that the 
text is to be sustained by all means: the sense is excellent. 
The plants, as though calves sucking the same mother, 
shall each yield the same sap, that heals disease; cf. RV. 
VII, 101, 1, where duhre (as duhram here) is middle, not 
passive. 

Stanza 28. 


Cf. RV. X, 97, 16. I have translated pd#hasalad, &c., 
by ‘from a depth of five fathoms,’ &c. This is not a little 
insipid. Perhaps, after all, Ludwig is correct: ‘from him 
that wields five arrows,’ &c. Cf. Sk. pa#kasara, ‘he who 
has five arrows, as an epithet of Kama.—devakilbishat, 
‘sin against the gods,’ or, perhaps, ‘sin committed by the 
gods.’ This is conceived as being passed off (wiped off) on 
men. See VI, 111, 3; the introduction to VI, 112 and 


582 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


113; and Proc. Amer. Or. Soc., May, 1894 (Journ., vol. 
xvi, p. cxix ff.). Cf. especially Apast. Sr. XIII, 17, 9; 
Pazé. Br. I, 6, το. 


VIII, 8. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 117. 


This battle-song deals especially with the obstacles that 
are placed in the way of an advancing enemy. Traps and 
nets are constructed to capture and destroy: see stanzas 
5 ff. The Kausika, 16, 9-20, rubricates a number of the 
stanzas among the practices of the king (ragakarmaxi, 
chapters 14-17), to wit: 16, 9. ‘With stanza 1 (or rather 
the entire hymn) the fire is churned. 10. With stanza 2 
a rotten rope is put down (upon the fire-place). 11. The fire 
is churned with (two sticks, one of) asvattha-wood, (the 
other of) badhaka-wood?. 12. With Padas c, d of stanza 
2 the smoke of the fire is addressed. 13. With the same 
two Pddas, beginning at the word agni, the fire (is 
addressed). 14. Upon this fire (which is removed) into 
the forest, sticks of wood that destroy enemies, namely, 
asvattha, badhaka, tagadbhanga, 4hva, khadira, and sara 2, 
are placed. 15. The snares mentioned (in Kaus. 14, 28: 
they are prepared of bhanga, “hemp” [bhagg, “ break!”’], 
and mudaga, “reed”) are cast. 16. Hammers made out of 
asvattha-wood, and nets of hemp are placed. 17. (Also) 
staffs of badhaka-wood (bAdh, “oppress!”). 18. With the 
exclamation, “ Hail to these here” (st. 24 c), an offering is 
made for the friends (one’s own army). 19. With the 
exclamation, “ Perdition to those yonder ” (ibid.), an offering 
is made, with the left hand, of ingida-butter* into fire built 
out of badhaka-wood. 20. To the north of the fire a 


1 The symbolism of these acts is clear: the stench of the old 
rope (Darila, girvaraggu) in the fire, and the etymological qualities 
of the two kinds of wood, delineated in st. 3, shall operate against 
the enemy, each in its own way. 

* For the real and symbolic meanings of these names, see the 
notes On sts. 3-5. 

* ingida is the typical substance that takes the place of ghee 
(Aagya) in hostile practices. See the Paribh4sh4-sftra, Kaus. 47, 3. 


vill, 8. COMMENTARY. 583 


branch of red asvattha is fixed (in the ground), enveloped 
with a blue and a red thread, and then removed to the 
south while stanza 24 d is being rezited!.’ The entire 
practice is redolent of fierce hostility: cf. in general the 
introduction (paribhasha) to the 4bhi#drika (witchcraft) 
practices in Kaus. 47, 1 ff. 

The hymn has been rendered by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 527 ff.; Henry, Les livres VIII et IX de l’Atharva- 
véda, pp. 23, 61 ff. Cf. also Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, 
V, pp. 87, 405, note. 


Stanza 1. 


The root manth is employed in connection with Indra’s 
feats only on the occasion of his churning the head of the 
demon Namufi: the present statement is doubtless a 
reminiscence of that performance. See Contributions, 
Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 156 ff. The 
Satra, however, takes manth in its more common sense of 
churning a fire, and embodies it in a corresponding per- 
formance on the part of the ritualist: see the introduction 
above. 


Stanza 2. 


It may be reasonably doubted whether the ritual, which 
takes pAtiraggu in its literal and etymological sense (Kaus. 
16, 10, above), has fathomed the meaning of the word. 
But it is a reasonable construction, and we are, for the 
present, driven to accept it. In the second hemistich 
amitra is metrically superfluous: it may readily have crept 
in as a gloss from st. 1 d. 


Stanza 3. 


The plants are chosen with reference to the punning 
etymologies that may be extracted from them. Even the 
juxtaposition of asvattha and syizihi is intentional. For 
tagadbhanga, see Kausika, Introduction, p. xliv. Its pro- 
blematic accentuation (Padap4¢ha, tagddbhanga) is prob- 


1 For the blue and the red threads, see the note on the stanza. 


584 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


ably to be changed to tagadbhanga (cf. Kaus. 16,14). Ety- 
mologically the word means ‘ breaking suddenly.’ The plant 
vadhaka, badhaka (also vadhaka, badhaka) is defined by 
the commentators as girimala, girimalaka, krzmim4laka, 
karim4laka, itself of unknown meaning; see Kausika, 
Introduction, p. xliv, and Pet. Lex., s. v. badhaka 2. 


Stanga 4. 


a. The Pet Lex., s. v. parushd 2) a, endorsed by Henry, 
renders ‘may the reed turn them into reeds, i.e. make 
them fragile as reeds. This is rendered very doubtful, 
because parushd does not elsewhere mean ‘reed,’ and 
because Darila at Kaus. 16, 14 renders 4hva by palasa. 
Ludwig, having at the time no access to the Sftra, renders 
‘diser rauhen feinde schlachtruf mach er heiser,’ which 
seems to us intrinsically and grammatically impossible. If 
any one should be sceptical about ahva in the list of fire- 
woods, Kaus. 16, 14, the passage would then have to be 
rendered ‘may (our) disjointed cry render the enemies 
disjointed,’ or something similar. The Pada is hypermetric, 
but Henry’s suggestion that parushahva/ in the sense of 
‘parusha (reed) by name’ is a gloss, deprives the passage 
of its subject, and its best point. 


Stanza 5. 


ἃ. Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 140, renders ApAvapat 
by ‘hat gefischt.’ This is excellent sense, as far as the 
present passage is concerned, but conflicts with the natural 
etymology and the clearest instances of the occurrence of 
the word: AV. XIX, 36, 4 (Sayava, apavapatu ndsayatu) ; 
Tait. S. III, 3, 7, 3. 

Stanza 7. 


The second hemistich is hypermetric. Professor Henry 
proposes to eliminate satam? and dasyfnd4m, leaving per- 
fect metre. Unfortunately such corrections suggest them- 


' The word does not appear in the quotation of the stanza, 
Muir, l.c., p. 87. 


Vill, 8. COMMENTARY. 585 


selves so frequently as to render one another nugatory. 
An uneasy sense is left that we all know how to make 
better verse-lines than those that have somehow got to 
be in vogue among the Atharvan writers; carried out to 
its full consequences this would eliminate one of the more 
marked peculiarities that render the Atharvan what it is. 
Doubtless the present translator has at times fallen into 
the same error. 
Stanza 11. 


Cf. XI, 2,19, where the matyam is also Bhava’s weapon. 
Ludwig, here, ‘entschluss (satyam?)’ but at XI, 2, 19 
(p. 550) ‘ erfindung.’ 

Stanza 12. 


For the Sadhyas, see Weber, Indische Studien, IX, 6 ff. ; 
Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, I?, 10, note. 


Stanzas 14, 15. 


The first hemistich of st. 14 is repeated at XI, 9, 24; 
see the note there. With it goes 15 a, b, as the second 
hemistich of XI, 9, 24. The phrases are formulaic, being 
worked over into prose form at Kaus. 73, 5. In 15 b the 
pusyagan4h are the sukritas, ‘ pious deceased,’ who enjoy 
themselves with Yama and the Fathers. Cf. Journ. Amer. 
Or. Soc. XVI, 27. 

Stanza 16. 


ad. The meaning of k(izam is not altogether certain. The 
Pet. Lexs., Ludwig, and Henry, ‘horn ;’ this is unlikely 
because of Kaus. 16, 16: horns of asvattha-wood would 
be very strange. Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 139, ren- 
ders it by trap, which is tempting on account of the seem- 
ing parallelism of the two halves of the stanza. This is the 
rendering I had in mind in the treatment of the expression 
asvatthani kd/4ni in Kaus. 16, 16. Darila says unintel- 
ligibly, kd¢amz khadanam, and my comparison of the word 
khada (according to Darila at Kaus. 38, 7=svabhavagah 
garta#, ‘a natural cavity’) was undertaken in the belief 
that the word meant something like ‘ pitfall.’ But now 


586 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


I prefer to rely upon the expression, tasya na ki/ena 
praghnanti in Sat. Br. III, 8, 1, 15 (cf. also Ait. Br. VI, 
24, 12), rather than the general parallelism. Cf. Contri- 
butions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deustch. Morgenl. Ge- 
sellsch. XLVIII, 546 ff. 


Stanza 17. 


ο. The Pet. Lexs. take présnibahud as an independent 
noun, ‘a certain mythical being.’ But fanciful colours are 
attributed with great predilection to Rudra and all his 
forms (see the introduction to XI, 2). Cf. the epithet 
‘gold-armed’ in the Satarudriya, Vag. 5. XVI, 17, and in 
general Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV?, p. 322 ff. 
I have taken the word with sdrva (nominative with voca- 
tive): cf. RV. IV, 50, 10. 


Stanza 18. 


a. For dsham of the edition the MSS. present 4&sham. 
In the Index Verborum, p. 383, 1. 1, the word is still 
further corrected to oshdm, ‘quickly.’ This leaves the 
genitive mvityér without governing word, and we have 
supplied ‘ fetter, according to well-known parallels (mrityér 
pa&sam?). One may also think of oshdm in the sense of 
‘fire, agony’ (of death). 

ce. Our translation of akshu is little more than a guess. It 
seems hard to acquiesce in Geldner’s proposition (endorsed 
. by Henry), Vedische Studien, I, 136, that akshu means 
‘ pole’ (cf. sts. 5, 12), as long as this involves a ‘thousand- 
eyed pole’ in AV. IX, 3, 8 (see the note there). However 
salient a pole may be in the construction of a house, the 
epithet sahasraksha is decidedly far-fetched. Further, we 
should expect the reverse order in the compound (galakshd), 
since the poles are accessory in their rdle of supporters of 
the net'. Non liquet. 

Stanza 21. 


The second hemistich recurs at VI, 32, 3 (see the note 
there); cf. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 181. Perhaps 


1 The word is not mentioned in Goldstiicker’s Sanskrit Lexicon. 


IX, 1. COMMENTARY. 587 


Ludwig’s simple rendering of g#4tdram, ‘der sie kennt,’ is 
preferable. 
Stanza 22. 

The remainder of the hymn is prose in the style of the 
Brahmazas. The stanza is rubricated along with a number 
of others at Kaus. 15, 11: the king and his charioteer are 
made to step upon the war-chariot, preparatory to battle. 
The renderings are necessarily problematic, owing to want 
of knowledge of the real properties of the chariot (cf. 
Zimmer, p. 251): the pakshasi which are compared with 
heaven and earth are themselves equal to rddasi, ‘the two 
hemispheres,’ an allusion doubtless intentional. For pari- 
rathyam I have followed Nilakaztha’s gloss to parirathyé4, 
Mahdabh. VIII, 1487, a very reasonable rendering. Ludwig, 
‘wagenrand,’ 

Stanza 24. 

Cf. Kaus. 16, 18-20 in the introduction above. From 
the time of RV. X, 85, 28 onwards ‘ blue and red’ are magic 
colours. At Vag. 5. XVI, 47; Maitr. 5. II, 9,9; Tait. 5. 
IV, 5, 10, 1, they are the colours of Rudra. Cf. AV. IV, 
17, 4; the introduction to VII, 116; Kaus. 32,17; 40,43 
48, 40; 83, 4. See also the passages quoted by Winternitz, 
Das Altindische Hochzeitsrituell, p. 67, and especially 
Baudhayana’s (I, 8) implied explanation of the two 
colours as representations of night and day, which prob- 
ably forms the true basis of the conception. 


IX, 1. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 229. 


The drink called madhu, ‘honey,’ is associated from 
earliest times with the cult of the Asvins1, and a more 
specific conception endows them with a honey-lash (md- 
dhumati kas4 or madhukas4), which instils sweetness, food, 
and strength into the sacrifice and into men. The allu- 


' See Hillebrandt, Soma und verwandte Gdtter, p. 239 ff. Cf. 
also the madhubrahmazam (madhukdada, madhuvidya), imparted 
to the Asvins by Dadhya#&: Sat. Br. 1V, 1, 5,18; XIV, 1,1, 18 ff.; 
5, 5) 17 ff.; Ind. Stud. I, 290; Sacred Books, XII, p. xxxiv. 


588 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


sions of the Rig-veda and the Srauta-literature to this 
honey-lash are of the incidental sort; neither the texts nor 
the commentaries elucidate the point in any way. The 
Atharvan, however, devotes to it an independent effort’, 
and that too in the cosmogonic-theosophic style of mock 
profundity, which allows the writer to attribute to the 
honey-whip creative and sustaining power, and places men 
in the attitude of deeply speculative reverence towards it. 
The apotheosis of the honey-lash resembles therefore that 
of the uekhishta, AV. XI, 7 (cf. the introduction there), or 
the manipulation in the Brahmamas of specific features of 
the sacrifice or sacrificial implements as divine beings. 

The mythic or realistic background of the honey-lash is 
not at all manifest. The Pet. Lex., under madhukas4, 
suggests some implement with which the honey was beaten 
at the sacrifice, but the very slender use of the honey in 
the ritual (cf. Hillebrandt, l.c., 241) fails to reveal either 
the act or the occasion. Henry, Les livres VIII et IX de 
l’Atharva-véda, p. 115, assumes ‘an evident allegory of 
the lightning which whips the clouds and produces the 
rain. This in itself very reasonable explanation is pro- 
blematic because the whip belongs to Asvins, and their 
connection with natural phenomena of this sort does not 
accord with their character in general. And yet, certain 
allusions in the first ten stanzas of this hymn (cf. especially 
stanzas 10 and 20) seem to lend support to a construction 
not very far removed from this. At RV. V, 83, 3 Par- 
ganya sends his rain-messengers, as a charioteer who whips 
his horses with the Jash. The patter and the streaming 
down of the rain (honey) may have suggested the compari- 
son with the lash*. Bergaigne, La Religion Védique, IT, 


1 Cf. RV. 1X, 11, 2, where it is stated that the Atharvans mixed 
milk with honey. 

? Yaska’s Nighan/avas exhibit kasi among the words for voice 
(vak); cf. Nirukta 1X, 19. Sdyama at RV. I, 157, 4 has rain 
distinctly in his mind, but rather in reference to the word mddhu- 
matya (madhu, udakandma, Nigh. I, 12) than the word kasd. 
Oldenberg, Die Religion des Veda, p. 209, note, denies this con- 


IX, 1. COMMENTARY. 589 


433, has collected a sufficient number of passages in which 
the Asvins set the waters in motion, and cause the heavenly 
rivers to flow: madhukasd may therefore amount simply 
to ‘ the honey (the water) that lashes.’ 

In the Atharvan ritual the hymn is known as the madhu- 
siktam, ‘honey-hymn.’ Under this designation it is em- 
ployed while mixing honey with milk in the course of the 
agnishZoma (Vait. SQ. 16,12). In the Kausika and the sub- 
sidiary texts the hymn is simply a varkasyam (sc. siktam), 
‘designed to bestow lustre’ (cf. sts. 11-14, 16, 17); see 
Kaus. 10, 24; 12,153; 13, 6, and the second varkasyagana 
of the Gavamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 27 (Kaus. 12, 10, note). 


Stanza 4. 


d. The great embryo which is mentioned here, and which 
figures in the sequel, is apparently described in st. 21 as 
a part of the honey-lash; in st. 5 the embryo is said to 
come from the honey-lash. The embryo suggests the 
lightning (fire’, which seems therefore to be viewed here as 
a child of the waters, represented by the honey-lash, 
coinciding thus with the conception of the ap&m napat 
(cf. Oldenberg, 1. ς., pp. 99, 118 ff.). But the intolerable 
mysticism of sts. 5 ff. leaves everything in doubt. 


Stanza 6. 


In Pada Ὁ kalasak may be thrown out as a gloss which 
disturbs the metre (gagati). Cf. with Pada c the statement 
of the use of the madhugraha, ‘ portion of honey,’ which is 
given to the Brahmans, Katy. Sr. XI, 4, 17. 18; see Hille- 
brandt, Soma, p. 242. 

Stanza 7. 

By a characteristic leap of fancy the fluid-yielding lash is 
now regarded as a milch-cow, and the rhetorical properties 
usually connected with her ecstatic praise are exploited. 
For Pada d, cf. XII, 1, 45; RV. IV, 42, 10; VI, 48, 11; 
VIII, 69, 10. 


nection with the moisture of the clouds, and suggests the morning 
dew. 


590 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 8. 


Cf. AV. IX, 10, 6=RV. I, 164, 28, and AV. VIII, 9, 13. 
For the three gharmas (RV. VII, 33, 7), see the discussions 
of Geldner, Vedische Studien, II, 139; Henry, l.c., p. 68. 
I am disposed to think that there is here at least an allusion 
to the ritual gharma, either the hot milk, or the pot in 
which the hot milk is cooked ; cf. Vag. 5. XX XVIII, 6 ff., 
and Haug, Vedische Rathselfragen, p. 40. 


Stanza 9. 


Cf. the interesting formula at La¢y. Sr. ITI, 5, 15, . . 
pita upatish¢/anta Apo ye sakvara rishabha ye svaragas te 
arshantu te varshantu te krimvantv isham urgas rayaspo- 
sham tad videya. The words sdkvar&/ and svaragas allude 
incidentally to the groups of siman-stanzas of that name. 
In Pada ἃ ἄρα may possibly be accusative (Whitney, 
Sanskrit Grammar’, ὃ 393 a), co-ordinated with firgam. 


Stanza 10. 


b. Cf. Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. 
Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 566. 


Stanzas 11-13. 


Rubricated at Vait. Sd. 21, 7, together with other 
formulas (VI, 47 and 48), designed for the three daily 
pressures of the soma. (Cf. in general Bergaigne, Re- 
cherches sur l'histoire de la liturgie Védique, Journal 
Asiatique, vol. xiii (1889); Contributions, Fifth Series, 
Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 3 ff. More secondary is the 
employment of the stanzas, Kaus. 139, 15, at the introduc- 
tion of the pupil to the study of the Vedas, which rests upon 
the occurrence of the word vargas in the stanzas. Cf. the 
first varkasyagawa in the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 10 (Kaus. 
13, I, note). 

Stanza 14. 

For vamsishiya, read vamsishiya with Whitney, Index 
Verborum; cf. Proc. Amer. Or. Soc., May, 1886 (Journ., 
vol. xiii, p. cxviii). 


IX, 2. COMMENTARY. 591 


Stanza 15. 
Identical with RV. I, 23, 24; AV. VII, 89, 2; X, 5, 47. 


Stanza 18. 


Cf. XIV, 1, 35, and Hillebrandt, Soma, p. 251. In Vait. 
Sa. 30, 13, the stanza figures at the sautramazi-rite, as is 
suggested by the presence of the word sura. Cf. Contri- 
butions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 148 ff. ; 
Oldenberg, Nachrichten der Gottingischen Gesellschaft der 
Wissenschaften, 1893, p. 342 ff. 


Stanza 19. 


Repeated almost identically at VI, 69,2; cf. Hillebrandt, 
l.c., p. 240. 

Stanza 20. 

ec, d. In Pada Ὁ divi seems to stand secondarily for ddhi 
in st. 10. At any rate tim in Pada c and ἄ in d seem to 
refer to bhfimy4m in Ὁ. Very differently Henry in his 
note. 

Stanza 21. 

This and the following sections are written in Brahmaza- 
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 (kdma) 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 numerous 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, Svayambhi, &c. The Greek mythology similarly 
connects Eros, the god of love, with the creation 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.; Sn 
Philosophische Hymnen, p. 76 ff. 

The personification of Kama as a supreme being ἜΝ 
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 K4ma 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, 1; 48, 5; 24, 29, and cf. 46, 9, note; 
Vait. Sd. 24,101. The hymn has been translated in full by 
Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 529; Henry, Les livres VIII et 
IX de |’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. 


Stanza 1. 
a, Ὁ. For the distinction between ghrvit4 and Agya, see 
the Grihyasamgraha I, 106 (Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. 
Gesellsch. XXXV, p. 567). 


Stanza 2. 

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 Gazam4la, Ath. Paris. 32, 8. See Kaus. 46, 9, 
note. 


1 Quoted in the Ath. Parisish/as (e.g. 10) as kamasfktam. 


IX, 2. COMMENTARY. 593 


b. Prof. Roth in the Pet. Lex., s.v. bhas, regards this 
passage as corrupt, and conjectures yasm4d 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. 

ce. The Pada is hypermetric, and may be normalised by 
reading mu#ka for mu#kami. But the imperative first sing. 
act. without ni is not elsewhere known in the Atharvan. 


Stanza 3. 


b. asvagatA occurs but one other time, AV. XII, 5, 40, 
asvagata pdrihnuta, a very obscure passage. The Pet. 
Lexs. translate ‘heimatslosigkeit ;” Ludwig, ‘ unfreiheit’ 
(cf. Der Rigveda, III, 284); Henry, ‘dépendance.’ The 
adjective dsvaga occurs in a closely parallel passage, XII, 
5, 45, asvagam dpragasam karoti; I would compare svastha 
and asvastha, ‘well’ and ‘unwell;’ svasthata and asvas- 
thatd, ‘ well-being’ and ‘diseasedness.’ For avarti Vag. 5. 
XXX, 12 has avaritti, ‘ trouble’ (Ludwig, ‘ verarmung’); cf. 
perhaps Avestan hamvareti of opposite meaning, ‘ defence, 
courage.’ 

Stanza 5. 


Vak Virag (cf. KAand. Up. I, 13, 2) is the same V4k 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 (pasdva%) speak her (vdé). The argument may, 
of course, be turned the other way, by assuming that pasdvo 
is due to a reminiscence from that very stanza. 


Stanza 9. 


a,b. For indragni, nominative for vocative, coupled with 
kAma, vocative, cf. Delbriick, Altindische Syntax, p. 105. 


[42] 94 


594 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


The dual number of the verb in the next Pada may be due 
to the dual number of indragnf. 

d. This seems to be the full form of the Pada which 
occurs previously (st. 4) in a defective form. 


Stanza 12. 


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. 


Stanza 13. 


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 γᾶ, ‘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. 


Stanza 16. 


Pada a ends at trivardtham (read sdrma as three syllables) ; 
udbhu seems to be a gloss. PAda b is hypermetric, and may 
be relieved by casting out brdhma and kritim (Henry). 
For Padas ς, d, cf. st. 5 c,d, apparently the more original 
source of the passage. 

Stanza 19. 


At fsa Upanishad IV, the ‘one’ (ekam) is similarly lauded, 
naisnad deva Apnuvan p(rvam arshat (arsat). Cf. Ath. 
Paris. 48, 2. 

Stanza 22. 


Cf. Vag. S. XXIV, 25, 29; AV. II, 31, 2; VI, 50, 3. 
Stanza 23. 
Manyu is ‘courage,’ personified ; cf. RV. X, 83, 84. 


Stanza 25. 


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 
dhiyak 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 III, 
12) as a dedicatory ceremony after the erection, and before 
occupation. And Henry, Les livres VIII et IX del’ Atharva- 
véda, pp. 87, 121 ff., seems to underrate the significance of 
its employment in the δαῖτα. 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 sdldsavam, i.e. the solemn bestowal upon a 
priest of a house as dakshina. 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: SQ. 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 

442 


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 Anukramami designates the hymn simply as sala- 
devatyam. For previous translations see above. 


Stanza 1. 


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. 


Stanza 2. 


Indra’s double Brzhaspati here slays Vala, as in RV. X, 
67 and 68; cf. also IT, 23, 18; 11,24, ἅς. Vala(Vritra) is 
often described as lying unloosened, undone, after Indra’s 
attack ; hence the comparison. 


Stanza 3. 


c. 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. XLVIII, 
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. 


1 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 


Stanza 4. 


Again the terms are technical, and not at all clear. I have 
rendered paksha by ‘side,’ in deference to uldkapakshi (sc. 
sala) in Panini, IV, 1, 55, and Mahabhdshya, IV, 29 Ὁ. Cf. 
AV. III, 7, 3, £atushpaksham khad{h (Sayana, katushkonam), 
‘roof with four sides or facades ;’ see also st. 21 of our hymn. 
Zimmer and Grill, ‘seitenpfosten;’ Ludwig, ‘zimmer ;’ 
Weber in his comment on III, 7, 3 (Ind. Stud. XVII, 210), 
‘vierbeschwingtes dach ;’ Henry, ‘chambranles.’ 


Stanza 5. 


6. For mdnasya patni, see our comment on III, 12, 5. 


Stanza 6. 


a,b. The difficult expression in this hemistich is rany&ya 
(kam), which is a ἅπ. Aey. when accented with the svarita 
on the last syllable. Ordinarily the word is rdzya, 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 (siky@ni) 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 ramawdya. Henry, ‘ pour (te) 
maitriser’ (cf. his note). The real difficulty is with siky4ni, 
which is doubtless an obscure technical term. 

e, ἃ. The second half of the stanza, as it stands, disturbs 
the run of the metre (Anukr., pathy4pankti), and possibly 
needs correction. By dropping m4dnasya patni and uddhita 
the last PAda is restored as siv4 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 m&nasya patnim. 


Stanza 7. 


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, ἢ. 154, and cf. especi- 
ally Vag. 5. 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. 


Stanza 8. 


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 (vishGvati) 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. opasd and vishdvati, 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 lésen wir 
durch besprechung.’ But what occasion is there for a pole 
with thousand eyes, i.e. countless holes!? Ludwig renders 
d4kshum 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.’ 
Stanza 10. 


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. 
Stanza 165. 


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 akshug&l&bhy4m does not prove 4kshu to mean ‘ pole, club :’ 
that which catches the enemy may be imagined to slay him; cf. 
also st. 7. Sdyana at RV. I, 180, 5, divides 4-kshu, ‘ not perishing.’ 


ΙΧ, 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, γό antari- 
kshe ragaso vimdnak; cf. also RV. VI, 7,7; 69,5; AV. 
IV, 25, 2. 

e. The Pada is de trop in form and sense (Anukr., trya- 
vasina pa#kapada:stisakvari). If it originally stood here at 
all, it is spoken by an agent of the recipient who receives 
the house for him (tasmai). Or tdsmai is an ethical dative, 
‘in the interest of him (the donor).’ 


Stanza 17, 


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¢ubh Padas, tr/xair vdsina ratri 
«νὰ sal4 gagannivésani. This amounts to independent com- 
position, not very good at that, since it leaves the first Pada, 
a good trish¢ubh, in bad shape. 


Stanza 20. 


a,b. With vi gdyate and pragdyate, cf. vigavati pragévati 
in stanzas 13, 14. ᾿ 
Stanza 21. 


Ludwig here, as in st. 4, translates paksha by ‘room:’ 
‘das zweizimmerig, vierzimmerig, &c. gebauet wird;’ the 
Pet. Lex., Zimmer, and Grill, ‘ pfosten.’ But see the note 
on st. 4, and cf. Kaus. 135, 9 (p. 287, 1. 5), ash¢asthizo 
dasapaksha, showing that paksha and sthdwa cannot both 
mean ‘pillar, post.’ The exact meaning of the word is after 
all not clear. Cf. Henry’s note on the passage. 

6. For agnir garbhe, see Contributions, Fifth Series, Journ. 
Amer. Or. Soc. XVI, pp. 15, 16. 


600 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 22. 


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, 10. 

ἃ. 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 ritdsya prathamagdz, 
ritasya garbhak ; ritasya dhdrshdd; see Grassmann’s Lexi- 
con, under ritasya. 

Stanza 238. 

Is identical with AV. III, 12,9; see the note on the 
passage. 

Stanza 24. 

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 Séyava at II, 33 the hymn is a member of the 
amholingagama, ‘a series designed to drive away distress ;’ 
see the introduction to II, 33. 

The hymn has been translated by Zimmer, Altindisches 
Leben, p. 378 ff.; Henry, Les livres VIII et IX de l’Atharva- 
véda, pp. 105, 141 fff. 

Stanza 1. 

For vilohita, see the note on XII, 4,4; for karasdla, 
Wise, Hindu System of Medicine, p. 287, and the introduc- 
tion to VI, go. 


Ix, 8. COMMENTARY. 601 


Stanza 2. 


kankdsha is a ἅπ. Aey. of unknown meaning. For visd- 
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 visalpakahk ; Sayama at VI, 127, visalpakad ; at XIX, 
44, 2, visarpaka% (vividham saravasilo vranaviseshaA, ‘a run- 
ning wound’). See Zimmer, p. 386; and cf. Wise, p. 414. 


Stanza 4. 


The rendering of pramota (47. Aey.) is Zimmer's con- 
jecture. It may be rendered ‘dumb’ with equal propriety 
and equal uncertainty. Cf. Sk. mika, Lat. matus. The 
Pet. Lex., ‘eine bestimmte krankheit.’ All renderings are 
based upon the suggestion of the passage itself. 


Stanzas 6-8. 


For udvepdyati, cf. V, 22,7.10; for visvasdrada, cf. XIX, 
34,10; for gavinike, I, 3, 6 ; for baldsa, V, 22,11. Inst.7¢ 
antar 4ngebhyo is suspicious, as is also antdr Atmdno in 
st.gc. Both are probably to be emended to antarangebhyo 
and antdratmano (or possibly with oxytonesis, cf. Whitney, 
Sk. Gr.?, § 1289). Accordingly our translation. 


Stanza 9. 


For a-pvd4, ‘impurity ’ (par excellence), ‘ diarrhoea,’ cf. the 
note on the goddess Apva in III, 2, 5; for δηϊάγ 4tmano, 
the note on antar d4ngebhyo in st. 7c. 


Stanza 11. 


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. 

Stanza 19. 


The word maddyanti (not madayanti; cf. patdya-, ‘fall:’ 
pataya-, ‘fell’) is not altogether clear. Perhaps ‘madden’ 


602 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


is nearer the truth. Bdéhtlingk, ‘ betauben ;’ Zimmer, ‘ lah- 
men. Cf. the root ram in its two meanings of ‘delight’ 
and ‘rest.’ 

Stanza 20. 

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 alagf (Wise, p. 296, alaghi'), see Zimmer, 
p. 390. Henry’s bdlagi is scarcely due to oversight: he 
seems to have in mind some children’s disease, bAla-gi. 


Stanza 2]. 
For ushvihabhya, see the note on II, 33, 2. 


Stanza 22. 


For vidhi, ‘ beat,’ cf. vidhukranta, a designation of a cer- 
tain musical bar, For the second hemistich, cf. the note on 
II, 32, 1. 


X,1. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 72. 


This hymn belongs to the class called krzty4pratiharavni, 
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 


1 Cf. also andhidlag, Pet. Lex. and Wise, p. 412. 
3 The holy water, or the turban? Darila, samsk4ranim ape 
kshepad. 


X, I. COMMENTARY. 603 


next Sftra (11) is obscure; cf. the note on V, 14,9. For 
Sdtra 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, 
ΠῚ, 520 ff. Cf. the closely related hymn V, 31. 


Stanza 1. 


The spell is in the nature of some terrifying, evil-working 
figure (bugbear, bogey, bogle; German popanz), not merely 
a magical rite. See the performances in the Satra, above. 


Stanza 6. 


The first hemistich is not easy to render, owing to the 
plays upon the words, and their ad hoc personifications. 
It might be rendered, ‘ Pratiéina (“ Back-hurler”) is our 
magic priest (4ngirasd), Adhyaksha (“Overseer”) our 
officiator. The word Angirasd 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- 
vana, santa): see the introduction to this volume; the note 
on XI, 4,16; and cf. VIII, 5,9. Note also the pun between 
krityd(A) and 4krétya, and cf. V, 8, 7. 


Stanza 8. 
Cf. IV,12,7. Here, as there, vibhu may be either appel- 
lative, or refer to the mythic ARibhu. 
Stanza 10. 


a. The image of things floating down a river is employed 
with great predilection to indicate loss of power, harmless- 
ness: e.g. I, 8,1; VI, 113, 2; X, 4, 3. 


Stanza 11. 


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 Pdda Ὁ 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 samdesy4t, here and in the next stanza, see the notes 
on II, 8, 5b and IV, 16, 8. 


Stanza 12. 


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. 

Stanza 15. 


ἃ. kurddni, translated by ‘crowned with a crest,’ is in 
truth a ἅπ. Aey. of unknown value. The Pet. Lexs. suggest 
its equivalence with kiri¢in, ‘ornamented with a diadem.’ 
Cf. also kurfra and kuririn, the latter in the closely related 
hymn, V, 31, 2. Hemaéandra also reports a word kurudin, 
‘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 tiri¢in, VIII, 6, 7. 


Stanza 18. 

With the first hemistich cf. the little legend at Maitr. S. 
III, 8, 8 (106, 11); Tait. 5. VI, 2, 11,1; Sat. Br. III, 5, 
4, 2. 

Stanza 22. 

The ‘lords of the beings’ allude to Rudra, who is called 
bhatapati; cf. Bhava and Sarva in the concatenating next 
stanza, and see the introduction to XI, 2. 


Stanza 26. 


b. Cf. the perfect parallel, Manu VIII, 44, yatha nayati 
asrikpatair mrigasya mrigayuk padam, ‘as the hunter 
tracks the (wounded) animal by its drops of blood.’ 


Stanza 27. 


A metaphorical description of the fate of him that prac- 
tises witchcraft. The counter-charm (krityapratiharava) is 


X, 4. COMMENTARY. 605 


sure to prevail in the end. For pratyaddya read pratyé- 
dh4ya 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 one 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/svapnandsanagaza, a list 
of hymns designed to remove the effect of evil dreams, in 
the Gazam4la, 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. 


Stanza 3. 


Ὁ. 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 Védique, 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- 


1 Cf. also Kaus. 35, 4. 8, and the introductions to VI, 11 and 17. 
3 Cf. Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 
158; Kausika, Introduction, p. xliv ff. 


606 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


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, III, 520 ff. 


Stanza 1. 

6, ἃ. apamd (the Padap4¢ha in perplexity, apa-m4) 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 apamd. 
4rad and arishat (! with some MSS.) are prophetic aorists: 
lit.‘ it has hit a post and come to grief.’ 


Stanza 2. 
a. The general sense of this passage seems fairly clear, 
’ Dut it is full of obscure details, and the metre so much dis- 
turbed as to cast suspicion upon the text. The Pet. Lexs. 
identify tarfizakam with taruvaka in darbhataruzaké, ‘a 
young shoot of darbha-grass;’ it seems therefore best to 
place tardzakam 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. Grth. IV, 6, 11, the darbha-shoots are 
employed in the ritual; possibly its purificatory power is 


1 The paidva is some kind of insect. Most clearly Kesava at 
Kaus. 32, 22, paidvam hiranyavarnasadrisah kifas fitrito va sa 
paidva ity udyate. 


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 arushdsya, relying upon the oft 
emphasised whiteness (sveta) of Pedu’s horse (RV. I, 116, 6; 
118, 9; 119, 10; X, 39, 10). 


Stanza 3. 


e. Cf. st. 20, and I, 8, 1; VI, 14, 3; 113, 23 X, 1,10; 
RV. X, 155, 3: things that float away on the water are 
harmless and powerless. 

ἃ. The vulgata reads var, enclitic; Whitney in the Index © 
Verborum, vér. 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.’ But inthe 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 vér ugrdm, being metrically 
superfluous, are merely a gloss to visham. 


Stanza 4. 


Our rendering of the ἅπ. 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. 

Stanza 5. 


For kasarvila, the TS. I, 5, 4, 1 has kasarzird (kadraveya), 
as the name of a personified serpent-rishi. ratharv? is a 
ἅπ. λεγ. of unknown connection. Ludwig suggests that the 
word means ‘die die radform liebt.’ Both are wanting in 
the list of serpent divinities, Pa##. Br. XXV, 15, 3. 


608 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 8. 


The first hemistich recurs at VI, 56, 10¢,d; cf. the note 
there. 
Stanza 10. 


a. aghdsva seems here to be the designation of a serpent. 
In RV. I, 116, 6 aghasva 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. 


Stanza 22. 


6. kandavisham and kandknakam are ἅπ. dey.; 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. 


Stanza 24. 


a, Ὁ. taid? and ghrité&i 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. ghvitdpAdt 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. 


1 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’ 
(phala#ibuk4). This must have been made of wood, since 
of it might be made a vessel having the form of a soma-cup 
(Darila, ibidem). ΑἹ] 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 daruaa, ‘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; 
Vag. XII, 71; Tait. S. IV, 2, 5,6; Maitr. S. II, 7, 12, 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 (kh4d) 
the enemies’ (cf. AV. VIII, 8, 3). 

The hymn is rubricated at Kaus. 19, 22 ff. In Sd. 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. hirazyasrag in st. 4); they are 
then bent, and put on each three times. In SQ. 24 fire is 


1 Not so Kesava, khadirapalasamasim, ‘an amulet from the 
leaves of the khadira-tree.’ ἡ 

3 Cf. the mantra in Kaus. 20, 5. 

> Daérila, uktamanes Aatasrah suvarmasragmanigatutvam nitva. 

4 Cf. Sat. Br. XII, 3, 4, 2. 


[4] 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. Sd. 22), and (again) fastened while 
reciting st. 30. Cf. also Vait. SG. 10, 2. 3, and Ath. Paris. 
37,1, rubricating stanzas 1 and 3. St. 4 is rubricated at 
Ath. Paris. 13, 1; st. 35 at 22, 3; 46, 2. 


Stanza 6. 


The formula, yam dabadhnad brthaspatiz, which is repeated 
many times, indicates the presence of the purohita, the king's 
chaplain. As Brthaspati, the divine purohita, fastens the 
amulet upon the gods, so the king’s chaplain serves the 
king. 

Stanza 34. 

A delicate oratio pro domo. The significant words are 
yag#avardhana and satadakshina (ishfa and pirta). 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 (Sayaza), or brahmaudanasava (odanasava in 
Séyaaa’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 dakshiza. Both the sacri- 
ficer and his wife (pdtni) 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, 611 


Stanza 1. 


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 (y4gamdna). 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 pdrve is 
to be inserted before bhdtakr/tah, if we consult VI, 133, 5; 
XIT, 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, ddroghavita (Padap4¢/a, ddrogha avita: some MSS. 
avitaz) vakam akkha, which the Paippaldda varies by read- 
ing, adrogha vit4 vatasz matsa. Sdya#za comments, adroha- 
kérivam sukaritranam yagamananam avité rakshita vagam 
akkha mathyamanagne/ stutyartham andéyamanam rig- 
ripam vakam abhilakshya. The corresponding passage, 
RV. III, 29, 9, reads, 4sredhanta itana vigam ἀξέλα, and 
it, with the Paippalada, suggests the reading Adrogha vita 
vagam akkha, or 4drogh4 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. 


Stanza 8. 
Kaus. 60, 23: The incipient fire is addressed with this 
stanza. For PAda d, cf. st. 11 d, and RV. IV, 50, 10d. 
Stanza 4. 


Kaus. 60, 24: The blazing fire is thus addressed. For 
Pada d, cf. I, 9, 2; XVIII, 3,4; Vag. 5. XII, 63. 


Stanza 5. 


The text of Pada a seems forced. The Paippalada with 
marked improvement, tredha bhago nihito gatavedah. 
Perhaps the words γάῤ pura vo are imported from st. 15. 

Rr2 


612 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


In Pada d the Paippalada reads imam, i.e. the sacrificer', 
for im&m, 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. 

Stanza 6. 


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 (afigali); bending his right knee, turned to 
the north-east, or with his body inclined ; reciting stanza 6 
(of this hyma).’ 

Stanza 7. 

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. 6 Ὁ still further suggests en4n, establishing a natural 
antithesis between ni#o ny ubga in 6 Ὁ, and ud ubgaisnan 
(sc. sagatan) jn st. 7 Ὁ. 

Stanza 8. 


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. 


Stanza 9. 


Kaus. 61, 18 rubricates Pada a of this stanza along with 
ΧΙ], 3, 14: ‘the mortar and pestle, and the scrubbed 
winnowing-basket are placed upon the skin. The Satra 
seems to substitute mortar and pestle for the two press- 
stones. P&da Ὁ is rubricated at 61, 22, along with XII, 3, 
18, avahanti. Pada ἃ along with XII, 3, 19 at 61, 24, uda- 


* Or perhaps even more primarily, the porridge ; ‘the share of 
the gods this (Agni) shall bring over to them.’ Cf., however, the 
feminine enfm in st. 7b. 


XI, I. COMMENTARY. 613 


hantim (sc. patnim anumantrayate). The construction of 
the second hemistich is not altogether clear. We have 
referred the action to the earth in st. 8. See also st. 11. 
Sayana refers it to the patni (cf. Kaus. 61, 24, above), and 
construes imam chiastically with pragdm, to wit: he patni 
avahananam kurvati nibadhasva imam Atmiydm pragdm 
hantum ye satravah vartante tan ni gahi. This is obviously 
forced. The construction of imd as im4n (but Padapazha, 
im4 !), or its emendation to imam (sc. y4gam4nam) would 
render Sayaza’s and Kausika’s (61, 24) view more natural. 
Cf. the notes on sts. 5 and 7 for similar suggestions. 


Stanza 10. 


Kaus. 60, 19: grihdna gravanav ity ubhayam grzhnati. 
Sdyana, ardharfena ulfikhalamusalam avahananartham 
patnim grahayet?, Kaus. 61, 15-17: ‘With the second 
hemistich (the priest) addresses the sacrificer, saying, 
“Choose three gifts.” (The sacrificer) chooses the first 
wish, saying: “ May I by this rite become superior.” The 
wife chooses the other two gifts.’ Sdyana, trayo varah ity 
ardhargena nirvapananantaram varam vrinantau (sc. anu- 
mantrayate). 

a. We have translated the doubtful az. Aey. sakrétau, for 
which the Paippalada has the equivalent sayugau. Some 
MSS. used by Shankar Pandit have sukr/tau, an easier 
reading, suspicious on account of its facility. 


Stanza 11. 


Kaus. 61, 23: ‘While reciting the first hemistich of this 
stanza along with the second hemistich of XII, 3, 19 (the 
sacrificer) takes hold of the winnowing-basket.’ Kaus. 61, 
25: ‘With the second hemistich of this stanza and the first 
of XII, 3, 19 he addresses (the wife) as she winnows.’ 
Aditi in the stanzas and the patni in the practice are regu- 
larly correlated ; cf. st. 1. For Pada d, cf. 3 d. 


1 Sayama obviously violates the sense of the stanza: patnim 
grahayet collides with grihand ... vira in Pada a. 


614 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 12. 


Kaus. 61, 29: The winnowing is performed while this 
stanza is recited. 

a. Our translation of upasvasé, ‘while (the wind) blows,’ 
i.e. ‘in the draught,’ is wholly conjectural. The Pet. Lexs. 
‘dréhnend.’ Sdyava, with many MSS., reads upasvase 
dhruvaye (for upasvasé druvaye of the editions), and com- 
ments as follows: dhruvaye dhruvaya sthiraya satyaphalaya 
karmaze he tazdul4# yushm4n upasvase upa samipe 4svasa- 
yami prabhatén karomi. Nothing usable may be derived 
from this manipulation of the stanza. For druvdye, see the 
note on V, 20, 2. 

Stanza 18. 


Kaus. 60, 25: ‘With stanza 13 he sends (the wife), 
guarded and ornamented, to fetch water.’ Sdyaza, udakam 
dharantis patnim sampreshayet. This act precedes in the 
ritual the winnowing, being one of the first features of the 
ceremonial. 

Stanza 14. 


Kaus. 60, 26-28: ‘ With the first Pada he addresses (the 
wife) as she brings the water (Sayava, prathamapddena 
Agakkhantim patnim anumantrayate). With the second 
and third Padas he calls upon the wife (to rise). With the 
words, “take the water-vessel,” she takes it. But Sayana 
refers the action in the fourth Pada to the sacrificer 
himself: ἃ tvasgan yag#ah iti padaikadesena galakumbha- 
ἀδιγῖ patni kartaram preshayet, prati kumbham grvibhaya 
iti ardhapAdena patni galakumbham grahayet kartéram. 

a. Sayava regards the yoshitak simbhamané/ not as 
‘pure waters,’ but as the women who bring them, sobhana- 
lamkarayukté ima yoshitaX udakahartrya’ striyak. But 
cf. sts. 17, 27. 

b. Sayaza reads tava samrabhasva, and the Paippalada 
tavak samrabhasva. The Pdda as it stands in the editions 
is not defective: yet tavdsam sam rabhasva (haplographia) 
may have been the original reading. We have at any rate 
translated tavdsam as an abstract. 


XI, I. “COMMENTARY. 615 


Stanza 15. 


Kaus. 60, 29: ‘(The sacrificer) puts (the vessel) down 
while reciting the first Pada.’ Sdyaza, prathamapddena 
galakumbham bhdmau nidadhyat. Kaus. 60, 34: ‘With 
the remaining three Padas he places the water-vessel upon 
the skin.’ Cf. also Kaus. 61, 33. 

a. Our rendering of Pada a leaves some misgivings. 
A more natural translation of it is, ‘the share of food that 
has of yore been set aside for you.’ But this leaves it 
hanging in mid-air. 

Stanza 16. 

Kaus. 61, 31: The pot is placed upon the fire; cf. also 
Kaus. 2, 7. 

Stanza 17. 

Kaus. 61, 34. 35: The purifying two blades of darbha- 
grass are placed over the pot, and water is poured in; cf. 
also Kaus. 2,8. The Paippalada read in Pada c, dadat 
pragam bahulam Asin (pasfn Ὁ) me. 


Stanza 18. 


Kaus. 61, 36: With this stanza and XII, 3, 28 the grain 
is washed in water, and poured into the pot. Cf. also 
Kaus. 2, 9. 

Stanza 19. 

Kaus. 61, 37: With this stanza and XII, 3, 29 the 
porridge is allowed to cook. 

d. For paktvd in the vulgata, Shankar Pandit, following 
most of his MSS. and Sayama, reads pakt4; this we have 
translated. Cf. also the Index Verborum, 5. ν. paktr#. The 
corruption is due to st. 18 d. Note the alliteration. 


Stanzas 21, 22. 


Kaus. 61, 41. 42: With stanza 21 and XII, 3, 35 the 
porridge is taken off the fire. With st. 22 the pot is turned 
to the right. 

Stanza 23. 

Kaus. 61, 44 rubricates only the second hemistich, 

amsadhrim (some MSS. amsadrim) ity upadadhati. The 


616 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


difficult word in the stanza is the az. Aey. which the vulgata 
presents in the form amsadhrim. The MSS. present in 
addition the forms amsaddhrifm, amsadrim, and amsaddrim. 
Shankar Pandit chooses amsadrim; Sayaza amsadhrim, 
glossing as follows: amsan bhagan devamanushyapitrisas- 
bandhino dharayati:ti amzsadhri tave ...vedim. The only 
point that seems worth saving is the statement that the 
word refers to the vedi, not to the pot, as the Pet. Lexs. 
have it: ‘vielleicht ein gefiiss mit handhaben, henkeln auf 
beiden seiten.’ 

ἃ. daivénam (sc. brahmav4nam). Read perhaps deva- 
tandm, metri gratia; cf. st. 25, and III, 3, 2; VI, 13, 13 
XII, 3, 38; Vag. 5. XV, 50. 


Stanza 24. 


Kaus. 62, 1: With st. 24 and XII, 3, 36 the performance 
indicated in the mantra is made, i.e. the srué is placed upon 
the altar (Sayava, srukam vedydm sAdayet). 

a. The feminine hastém is an opportunist formation, 
made to suit the feminine srugam. Some MSS., the Paip- 
palada, and Sayava read hastam, a facile emendation which 
is, however, discredited by the universal reading dvitfyam. 


Stanza 25. 


Kaus. 63, 3: Four descendants of the Rishis who know 
the Bhvigu-Angiras texts (i.e. the Atharvan writings) are 
seated. Sdyava, 4sane upavesayet. Cf. also Kaus. 65, 13. 

Ῥ. Sayama, punar εἴδη pra sida prapnuhi. This meaning 
of pra sad is not well authenticated: perhaps ‘favour 
them’ is the true sense. 


Stanza 26. 


Not rubricated in the Kausika, but S4yamza, in the intro- 
duction, supplies the action, Aatura 4rsheyAn ritvigo yaga- 
. mana ahvayet. Not so, however, in the commentary upon 
the text, suhava sobhanahvana patni 4rshey4n ... punas- 
punar 4hvaydmi. Whitney, in the Index Verborum, re- 
gards suhava as instrumental ‘ with efficient call,’ at III, 26, 
6; VII, 47,1; 48,1, in addition to our passage. But if we 


XI, I. COMMENTARY. 


compare AV. VII, 48, 1 with its parallel in RV. II, 32, 4, 
rakdm aha suhavam (so RV. ; suhava, AV.) sush¢ut? huve, 
it seems hard to refrain from emending suhava4 in our 
stanza to suhavam = suhdvan. This we have done, sup- 
ported further by RV. VII, 44,2; 82,4; 93,13; X,141, 4. 


Stanza 27. 


Kaus. 63, 4: The action indicated in the stanza is per- 
formed. S4yaza, teshAm ritvigam hastaprakshélanartham 
udakam dadyat. The stanza is nearly identical with VI, 
122, 5; cf. also st. 17, and X, 9, 27. 


Stanza 28. 


Kaus. 62, 22: With stanza 28 and XII, 3, 50 he places 
gold upon the porridge (Sdyavza, odane hiranxyam nida- 
dhyat). Kaus. 63,5: With Pada b and XII, 3, 53 he sets 
it aside (Ὁ Sayava, ishat karshayet). 

a. For the relation of light and gold, cf. I, 9, 2. 

b. For pakvam kshétrat, cf. vrzksham pakvam, RV. III, 
45, 4; pakvé s&kha, RV. I, 8, 8. 


Stanza 29. 


Kaus. 63,6. 7: With Pada a the chaff is poured into the — 
fire (Sdyaza, agnau tushan guhuyat). With Pada Ὁ the 
refuse is swept aside with the left foot. The precise differ- 
ence between tusha and kamb(tka is not clear. Sdyana 
glosses the former by, brahmaudanarthatazdulebhyak pri- 
thakkritan ; both Kausika and Sayava render kambika by 
phalikaraza. These indications we have followed. The 
fire obtains the more valuable and nutritious part of the 
refuse ; Nirrzti, the goddess of destruction, has the refuse 
pushed to her as a sop, uncannily, with the left foot. 


Stanza 30. 


Kaus. 63, 19. 20: Either with the entire hymn, or with 
the part of it that begins here, he first anoints the porridge 
with the dregs of ghee. Cf. especially st. 31. 

a. I have taken the words srdmyatak &c. as genitives 


618 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


singular, dependent upon viddhi. See Delbriick, Altin- 
dische Syntax, p. 159. Sdya#a, as accusatives plural: 
diksh4ripam tapas tapyam4n4n, &c. 


Stanza 31. 


Kaus. 62, 15-17: With the first hemistich of our stanza 
and XII, 3, 45 he makes a cavity (for ghee) on the top of 
the porridge (Sadyaza, gartam kurydt). The stanza is 
varied by substituting the word brahman for adhvaryo, if 
a priest other than the Adhvaryu is addressed. With the 
second hemistich of each of the two stanzas he floods the 
porridge with ghee. 

Stanza 32. 


For purishizak Sayaza quotes to the point Tait. 5. IT, 6, 
4,3: praga vai pasavak purisham, pragayaisvaisnam pasu- 
bhiZ purishavantam karoti. Cf. sts. 26a, b; 25d. 


XI, 2. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 155. 


The hymn is addressed to Rudra (Siva-Agni), under the 
large variety of names or embodiments (mdrti) customary 
with that divinity. These vary from seven to nine in 
number, most of which, namely Rudra, Bhava, Sarva, 
Pasupati, Ugra (cf. also the word ise in st. 27, as reflecting 
the name fs4na!), occur in the hymn either as full proper 
names, or as standing epithets. Connected lists of these 
names occur frequently, e.g. AV. XV, 5; Vag. S. XXXIX, 
8.9; Kaush. Br. VI, 2 ff.: Sat. Br. VI, 1, 3, 10-17; Sankh. 
Sr. IV, 18,5; Kaus. 51,8; Par. Grih. III, 8,6; Asv. Grth. 
IV, 8,19; Hir. Grch. II, 8, 6.7; Markandeya-purana, 52, 
4 ff.: cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. II, 302; XVII, 130; Omina 
und Portenta (Royal Academy of Berlin, 1858), p. 400 ff ; 
Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV?, 343, 403 fff. 

The hymn is a prayer to Rudra, in his various aspects, 


1 Sayana cites the following versus memorialis: sarvam pasu- 
patim ko» gram rudram bhavam athessvaram, mahAdevam fa 
bhimam 4a. 


XI, 2. COMMENTARY. 619 


for protection and mercy, and it is rubricated, accordingly, 
at Kaus. 50, 13. 14 in the course of the performances of 
a merchant who starts out upon his business. See the in- 
troductions to the hymns III, 15; VI, 59; and 128. Further, 
in a performance undertaken by a traveller in a lonely place, 
at Kaus. 51, 7 ff., and again, when an ominous bird of prey 
holding flesh in its beak alights, Kaus. 129, 3 (cf. stanzas 
2, 24 of the hymn). See also Vait. SQ. 29,10. The hymn 
figures also in the raudragama of the GawzamAla, Ath. Paris. 
32,17. It has been translated by Muir, Original Sanskrit 
Texts, IV, 335 ff., and Ludwig, Der Rigveda, ITI, p. 549 ff.; 
cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, Manuel Védique, p. 157 ff. 


Stanza 2. 


The metrical tradition of the stanza is corrupt: avishya- 
vak at the end of the first hemistich seems to belong to 
Pada c, which ends at pasupate. Accordingly our transla- 
tion. Sayama, in Pada b, reads, pampering his etymology, 
aviklabebhya%, and glosses, viklaba adhrvish7ak katards tad- 
viparitebhya, ‘to those who are the reverse of viklaba 
(cowardly),’ i.e. ‘bold ;’ cf. the note on XI, 9, 9. 


Stanza 8. 


Sayana, ropayah ropayitryo mohayitryas tanvak. Cf. V, 
30, 16, and Rudra’s relation to diseases in st. 22. The 
epithet ‘thousand-eyed’ accentuates the relation between 
Rudra and Agni; see the note on IV, 20, 4. 


Stanza 4. 

One is tempted to emend antarikshaya in Pada d to 
antdrikshat, ‘from the atmosphere reverence be to thee.’ 
The change of the ablative to the dative may be due to 
st. 5 ἃ, prati#inaya te ndmad. 


Stanza 7. 


ce. The MSS. read unanimously ardhakaghatina, but 
there is no Ardhaka to slay. Sayama, ‘he whose habit it 
is to slay half of the (hostile) army, an insipid pis-aller. 


620 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


A demon by the name of Andhaka is in the epics a familiar 
victim of Siva, who is styled andhakaghatin in Maha- 
bharata XII, 10356, and Siva is the later representative of 
Rudra. The Paippaléda reads adhvagaghatin, ‘the slayer 
of the wayfarer.’ This suits admirably, since the hymn is 
intended as a prayer for protection against the dangers of 
a journey ; cf. st. 4, and the practices (in the introduction). 
But its very suitableness lays it open to the suspicion of 
being an easy reading which shirks the difficulty involved 
in the less familiar ardhaka (andhaka). 


Stanza 11. 


For the last PAda, cf. XI, 9, 7.14; 10, 7, and our Con- 
tributions, Second Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, 339 ff. 
The female mourners indicate, of course, the presence of 


death. 
Stanza 12. 


b. The MSS. read sahasraghnim, -ghnydm, and -ghni. 
The vulgate has adopted the impossible -ghnim ; Sdyaza, 
-ghnydm ; and Shankar Pandit, -ghnf. We have translated 
the latter, as a locative singular from -han, with haste, 


understood. 
Stanza 13. 


Cf. X, 1, 26; Sat. Br. XIV, 4, 2, 18: padanf means 
‘tracking the steps,’ not ‘leading the steps’ (Pet. Lex.), as 
may be seen especially in the passage of the Sat. Br., where 
vindate is the synonym of ni. 

Stanza 14. 

b. The text has farato, not £aratho: change the con- 

struction accordingly to the third person. 
Stanzas 15, 17. 

St. 15 is formulaic: see, e.g. XI, 4,7. St. 17 is rubri- 
cated in Ath. Paris. 33, 3. 

Stanza 18. 


In the epic literature, Kesin is a demon slain by Krishna. 
In RV. I, 164, 44, three Kesin are mentioned: they are 
Agni, Sarya, and Vayu; further, RV. X, 136 is a hymn to 


XI, 2. COMMENTARY. 621 


Kesin, the sun, typified as a solitary hermit (muni); see 
Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 
167. Possibly the chariot of the sun is the object of 
Rudra’s attack. The entire stanza may, however, be taken 
differently: ‘The crushing chariot of the long-haired (kesin, 
i.e. Rudra)... we approach first.’ Sayava advocates the 
construction which we have put into the text. 


Stanza 24. 


Cf. XII, 1, 49. 51. In Pada a, vane may be a metrically 
superfluous gloss suggested by drazy&k. In Pada c, ya- 
kshdm is not quite clear: ‘thy spirit, or ‘thy reflection, 
image.’ S4yava adopts the hackneyed etymological ex- 
planation of the word, pigyam svardpam. 


Stanza 25. 


a, b. Sdyama, ‘ simsumara isa kind of crocodile, agagara 
a kind of serpent, pulikaya and the rest varieties of water 
animals,’ The last word occurs in the form pulikaya at 
Maitr. 5. III, 14, 2 (between matsya and nakra); in the 
corresponding passage, Vag. S. XXIV, 21, in the form 
kulipaya (Mahidhara, galaga), and at Tait. S. V, 5, 13,1 in 
the form kulikdya (commentary, bahup4n matsyavisesha“). 
For the interchange between gutturals and labials, see 
Contributions, Sixth Series, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgen. 
Gesellsch. XLVIII, p. 557, note!, For the obscure ragas4 
(Padap4tha, ragasdh) Sayama reads rdgas4 (Atmiyena tegas). 

ἃ. Many MSS. βάγνδη. SAyaza with some MSS. reads 
s4rvam for sdrvan, the obviously correct form which we 


have in the vulgate. 
Stanza 26. 


Though Rudra here threatens men with poison, he is 
elsewhere reported as himself drinking it. So clearly in 
the Bh4gavata-puraza X, 31, and apparently also RV. X, 


1 Add the following possible cases of the correlation of gutturals 
and labials: riph=rikh; stupa=stuka ; and cf. Καρυῤάλαϊα, ‘ back- 
hair’ (cf. Lat. caput), with kakubh, kakudh. 


622 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA, 


136, 7, if we take visha in its ordinary sense. The trans- 
lators here generally render it by ‘water, fluid’ (cf. st. 1 of 
the same hymn). See Muir, I.c., IV’, pp. 50, 320. 


Stanza 27. 


c. The vulgata reads tdsyai. This is corrected in the 
Index Verborum to tdsmai. Some of Shankar Pandit’s 
MSS. now exhibit this obviously correct reading, which is 
also the basis of Sayaza’s comment. 


Stanza 28. 


6. Parallels to this interesting passage, together with 
a valuable discussion of the position of sraddhé, ‘faith,’ in 
the Veda, are presented in Ludwig's work, Der Rigveda, 
III, 263 ff. 

Stanza 29. 

b. The stanza is repeated, RV. I, 114,7; Vag. S. XVI, 
15; Tait. 5. IV, 5,10, 2; the second Pada appears there 
in the more desirable form, m& na ukshantam utd m4 na 
ukshitam, ‘do not cause injury to our growing and grown 
up (children).’ The Atharvan reading seems to be due to 
a misunderstanding of the meaning of the root uksh, as 
being derived from vah, ‘carry.’ Sdyava, bharavahana- 
kshamasz madhyavayaskam, ‘the middle-aged man capable 
of carrying burdens,’ and vakshata‘(!) kvtavahanavy4- 
paran. Ludwig, ‘der uns faret... die uns faren werden.’ 
Our own translation is a makeshift. 


Stanza 30. 
b. The Pet. Lexs. and Muir translate asams(ktagild- 
bhyad by ‘devouring unchewed food.’ We with Sayana 
and Ludwig. 


XI, 4. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 218, 


In the Upanishads, pra, ‘ breath,’ is frequently identified 
with brdhma and 4tmdn. See, e.g. Kaushitaki Up. II, 1, 
2; III,2; IV, 20; Tait. Up. III, 3. Very frequently Agni 
and Sfrya take the place of these abstractions, e.g. Maitri 


XI, 4. COMMENTARY. 623 


Up. VI, 1. 5. 9- 333 Prasna Up. I, 5.7.8; II, 8. Pravza is 
the personified breath of life, itself at the base of all 
existence (Katha Up. VI, 2), and fits naturally into the 
system of monotheistic-pantheistic thought which from the 
earliest beginnings of Hindu literature runs in a parallel 
current with polytheism. A noteworthy feature of this 
hymn is the predication to Prawa of the qualities of a rain- 
god (Parganya). As such he quickens the life of plants 
and animals, and the account of this action of his is pursued 
with a great deal of detail and repetition. Equally remark- 
able is the outspoken identification of Prava in sts. 21 and 
22 with the sun in the form of the hamsa, This is a round- 
about way of saying that prazd (4tmdan) is identical with 
brdhma, brahm&. See Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 
393 ff.; Scherman, Philosophische Hymnen aus der Rig- 
und Atharva-veda-samhit4, p. 69 ff., each of whom offers a 
partial translation. 

In the ritual of the Atharvan the hymn figures as an 
ayushyam (sc. siktam), ‘ bestowing long life,’ and therefore 
forms a part of the 4yushyagawva in the GavamAla, Ath. 
Paris. 32, 4 (see Kaus. 54, 11, note). Cf. also Kaus. 139, 7. 
At Kaus. 55, 17 it is employed in the course of the investi- 
ture of the disciple with the holy cord; at Kaus. 58, 3. 11 
in certain special ceremonies (brahmavoktam and rishi- 
hasta#, 58. 4), calculated to ensure longevity. The last 
stanza of the hymn is in our opinion constructed with this 
purpose directly in view: see the note on the passage. 
Cf. also SAntikalpa 15,191. 


Stanza 2. 


The four component parts of a storm are wind, thunder, 
lightning, and rain; see our Contributions, Sixth Series, 
Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 569-70, 
and cf. especially the vayu krandadishii, ‘the wind hastening 
along with clamour’ (RV. X, 100, 2). We have therefore 
assumed that kranda is the wind, ‘the roarer,’ par excel- 
lence. See also st. 15. 


1 Erroneously quoted by Sayaza as Nakshatrakalpa. 


624 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanzas 5, 6. 


Cf. Prasna Up. II, 10: ‘When thou, O PrAza, sprinklest 
the rain, then are these creatures full of joy ; (they think): 
“food shall we have according to wish.”’ Prava here, as 
elsewhere in this composition, approaches closely to the 
character of Parganya; see the hymn, RV. V, 83. For 
st. 5, cf. st. 17. 

Stanza 7. 


The verse is formulaic; see, e.g. XI, 2, 15. 


Stanza 11. 


Sayama, ‘by his going out he causes the death of all 
living beings.’ For Pada b of this and the following stanza, 
cf. the similar sentiments assembled by Scherman, l.c., 


PP- 35; 59. 
Stanza 13. 

The epithet anadv4n, ‘ox,’ suggests AV. IV, 11, where 
supreme divine power is attributed to an ox. See Muir, 
Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 399, and Jacob’s Concordance, 
8. v. anaduh. 

Stanza 16. 

In the ritualistic literature the terms atharvaza and angi- 
rasa are differentiated, so that the former means ‘holy, 
being the equivalent of sAnta, while the latter means ‘ per- 
taining to sorcery,’ being the equivalent of Abhi#arika. Cf. 
Kaus. 47, 2. 12; Vait. SQ. 5, 10; Gopatha-Br. I, 2, 18; 
Rig-vidhana IV, 6,4. See Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XI, 387 ff.; 
Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 332, note; and the introduction 
to the present work. Especially in the passages quoted from 
the Vaitana-sftra and the Gopatha-Brahmaza this distinction 
is expressed clearly, and there seems to be no good reason 
to doubt that the writer here has it in mind. For Angirasté 
(sc. oshadhif), see also AV. VIII, 5,93 7, 17.24. Cf. also 
XIX, 39, 5. 

Stanza 21. 

S4yana explains hamsd, alternately, as either the sun, or 

breath. The latter, if it withdraws from man, produces 


XI, 4. COMMENTARY. 625 


death, and consequently annuls all distinctions of time. 
There can be no doubt that the former is the correct inter- 
pretation. The stanza contains a blend of two personifica- 
tions of the sun. As hasmsa the sun figures at AV. X, 8, 
17; XIII, 3, 14; Tait. Ar. II, 15, 8; Tait. Br. III, 10, 9, 
11; cf. the words hamsa and paramahamsa in Jacob’s 
Concordance to the principal Upanishads. The second 
conception of the sun underlies Pada a; it is that of the 
aga ekapad, or ekapada, for which see Roth, Yaska’s 
Nirukta, Erlauterungen, p. 165; Bergaigne, La Religion 
Védique, III, p. 20 ff.; Henry, Les Hymnes Rohitas, p. 25. 
We would refer any one that doubts that aga ekapad is the 
sun to Tait. Br. III, 1, 2, 8, ‘Aga Ekapad has risen in 
the east, delighting all beings. At his urging (prasavam) 
all the gods go,’ &c. 
Stanza 22. 


Sayavza again suggests that the human body, with breath 
as the dominating force, is the subject of the stanza, The 
human body, consisting of skin, blood, and six other 
elements, is eight-wheeled, and held in position by one 
felloe, breath. Doubtless, the sun is again presented mys- 
tically. At AV. X, ὃ, 7 (cf. Muir, 1. ς., 1,9; Ludwig, Der 
Rigveda, III, 395) the stanza occurs with the variant éka- 
kakram for ash/dkakram. In this form it is obviously 
a continuation of st. 21: we are at a loss to explain the 
mystic thought which underlies the change of eka to δϑῃ δᾶ ; 
cf. ash¢4#akra in AV. X, 2, 31. The stanza posits a theo- 
sophic riddle (brahmodya ; cf. Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 
172 ff.); the second hemistich recurs in a different connec- 
tion at AV. X, 8, 13. 


Stanzas 24-26. 


The last three stanzas impart to the hymn the character 
of a conjuration, in accordance with its employment in the 
Kausika. See the introduction. In the last stanza apdm 
garbha is ‘fire’ (cf. RV. I, 164, 52; Tait. S. IV, 2, 3, 3), 
either the fire in the body, or, perhaps more probably, the 
fire of which the Brahman disciple takes care. See Sankh. 


[42] 55 


626 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Grih. II, 10; Asv. Grth. I, 20, 10-21 ; Par. Grth. II, 4,1 ff.; 
Gobh. Grzh. II, 10, 46. 


XI, 5. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 214. 


This hymn has been subjected to the treatment of a 
number of prominent scholars: see Muir, Original Sanskrit 
Texts, V, 399 ff. ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, ITI, 452 ff. ; Scher- 
man, Philosophische Hymnen aus der Rig- und Athar- 
va-veda-Samhita, p. 84 ff.; cf. also Bergaigne et Henry, 
Manuel Védique, p. 161 ff. Neither of these scholars seems 
to us to state quite correctly the origin of this peculiar type 
of speculation. In our Contributions, Third Series, Journ. 
Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 167 ff., we have endeavoured to show 
that RV. X, 136 contains the glorification of the sun as a 
muni, a solitary ascetic: the present hymn may be under- 
stood best from a similar starting-point. The sun, who con- 
tributes elsewhere many of his qualities to the speculations 
regarding the primeval principle of the universe, is here 
for the nonce imagined as a Brahmaéarin, a Brahmanical 
disciple, engaged in the practice of his holy vows; next, 
by an easy transition, all the functions and powers of the 
Brahmaédrin are made the basis of a momentary cosmo- 
gonic and philosophical account of the origin and existence 
of the universe. This allegory is carried out with all the 
feeble consistency that characterises Hindu speculations of 
this sort, and the more gladly so, as it offers a good oppor- 
tunity for the apotheosis of Brahmanism, and the Brahmanic 
caste. The purely physical qualities of the sun peep out 
in a variety of stanzas, especially 1, 5, 6, 11, 23, and 26. 
Cf. the manipulation of the first stanza at Gop. Br. I, 2, 1. 


Stanza 3. 

Sayama fitly quotes Apastamba’s Dharmasitra, I, 1, 1, 
15-17. Cf. also Gautama I, 8; Vishwu XXX, 44-45; 
Vasishtha II, 3-5; Manu II, 146-8. See also Kaus. 55, 
18, note; Sat. Br. ΧΙ, 5, 4, 12. 


Stanza 4, 
It is not easy to differentiate the synonyms prinati and 


XI, 5. COMMENTARY. 627 


piparti at the end of the two hemistichs. Sayama, prinati 
porayati ... piparti pQrayati palayati va. Ludwig and 
Scherman render piparti by ‘ fordern.’ 


Stanza 6. 


c. This Pada is peculiarly suggestive of the sun: cf. RV. 
X, 136, 5. In the preceding Pada the apparently trivial 
dirghdsmasru&, ‘with long beard, probably refers to the 
rays of the sun. 

Stanza 7. 

For the identification of the brahma, or some kindred 
primeval principle, with Indra, cf. AV. X, 7, 29 ff. See also 
stanza 16. 

Stanza 11. 


The two Agnis are explained by Sayama, correctly, we 
believe, as the fire of the sun and the terrestrial fire, eko 
sgniz anudyatsdryatmako vartate, apara% parthivo-gnidz 
prithivya upari vartate. And further: ‘The combined 
rays of this (terrestrial) fire and the sun, exceedingly strong 
in their fusion, expand upon heaven and earth.’ 


Stanza 12. 
Sayama regards Varuma (cf. stanzas 14, 15) as the subject 
of the first hemistich, abhikrandan . .. megheshu stanitam 


gargitam kurvan syatinga# (!Shankar Pandit; the MSS. 
have syamtigahk) syetavarnam galapiraam praptak evam- 
bhato varuzak. There is no reason for thus separating 
the two hemistichs. Sdyava is squeamish about endowing 
a BrahmaZérin with a brihak khépahk; but he enacts here 
the réle of Pragapati, and the predication of a penis is as 
natural as that of the more commonplace semen (rétas). 


Stanza 13. 


d. Ludwig, ‘ihr 4gya ist der mensch, regen und wasser.’ 
We have translated with Sayaza. Cf. RV. X, 51, 8, ghritam 
ka=pdm pirusham s#atsshadhindm, which carries the note 
of a vague relationship with our passage, but does not 
remove the obscurity. 

552 


628 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 24. 
For bradhma bhr&gat (again the sun), cf. Kaus. 97, 8 (p. 253). 


XI, 6. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 160, 


The hymn is rubricated, Kaus. 9, 2. 4, in the two so-called 
santigawas (cf. Ath. Paris. 32, 26. 27). These are lists of 
purificatory hymns and stanzas, employed especially at the 
preparation of the sintyudaka, ‘holy water’ (Kaus. 9, 8 ff.). 
According to the GazamAla, Ath. Paris. 32, 32 the hymn, 
with the exception of stanzas 7, 9, 22, and 23, which strike 
a different key, is a member of the amholingagaza, a list 
of stanzas characterised by the presence of the word amhas, 
‘ misfortune, calamity ;’ cf. Kaus. 32,27. The chief interest 
of the hymn lies in the clear and fairly complete presenta- 
tion of the pantheon of the time. This is very much on the 
plane of the Yagus-texts and the Brahmazas. 


Stanza 9. 


For the group of divinities addressed in this stanza, see 
the introduction to XI, 2. 


Stanza 14. 


For the use of the word bheshagdni as an equivalent 
of ‘holy’ Atharvan charms, cf. Sankh. Sr. XVI, 2,9; Asv. 
Sr. X, 7,3; Pa#k. Br. XII, 9, 10. See the introduction to 
the present volume. 

Stanza 15. 


Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 72, assumes that saha 
is the designation of a plant, and this view may be supported 
from the Hindu lexicographers. In the Index Verborum 
the word figures under the stem sdhas. Our rendering 
implies the adjective saha, ‘mighty.’ 


Stanza 17. 


The entire stanza and certain turns of its expression are 
formulaic; see III, 7, 9. 10, and cf. the Pet. Lex. under 
artava. 


XI, 7. COMMENTARY. 629 


Stanzas 19, 20. 

The two are identical, except that sdrvan and sarvabhik 
are substituted in 20, for visvan and visvabhi# in 19. 
Cf. Kaus. 56, 13; 74, 3. 

Stanza 23. 


The little story (4khyAyika) here alluded to is not, to our 
knowledge, illumined by the rest of the literature. MaAtalt 
is mentioned once more, RV. X, 14, 3, in a totally different 
connection. Cf. Kaus. 58, 25, and Kausika, Index D, under 
the stanza. 


XI, 7. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 226. 


The Vedic writings are extremely shifty in assigning to 
a first cause the creation and maintenance of the universe, 
in the course of their cosmogonic speculations. There are 
purely philosophical abstractions like sat (being) and asat 
(non-being), tad (that), eka (the only) ; cosmic forces like 
brahma, k4la (time), kama (love), praza (breath) ; and per- 
sonal creators like Pragdpati, Purusha, Visvakarman, Hira- 
nyagarbha, and Paramesh¢Ain. But further, in the course 
of the speculations of the Brahmazas, universal or special 
cosmogonic power is attributed to all sorts of trivial circum- 
stances, even down to the special features and implements 
of the sacrifice. The priestly power (cf. XI, 5), and the 
priestly activity, are made to stand for the cosmic force 
with which they aim to establish relations. SAyava is quite 
right, therefore, in correlating the present hymn with such 
a statement as is made in Tait. Br. I, 1, 9, 1 (cf. also 
Mait. S. II, 1, 12), where divinities are born of the leavings 
of the brahmaudana (see XI, 1; XII, 3) which had been 
eaten by Aditi. The hymn is nothing but a momentary 
symbolic transfer of the divine, or pantheistic attributes to 
a certain ritualistic feature made prominent for the time 
being. The writer knows that he is simply transferring 
his most fulsome cosmogonic conceptions in order to accen- 
tuate a to him important ritualistic act, the consumption of 
the leavings of the sacrifice. The veil is thin; everything 


630 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


that is said here fits the brahma, or some other embodi- 
ment, and Sayama boldly establishes the equation u&khishza 
=brahma. Accordingly, too, in at least two stanzas (15, 16) 
the uzkhishfa is personified as the masculine u#éA/ishéas, 
quite in the manner of the relation of the neuter brahma to 
the masculine brahmdn. We may note, however, that the 
road for this drastic transfer is opened in a measure by the 
philosophical position of the word anna, ‘food.’ This is 
a prominent link in the chain that unites man to the 
universe. See, e.g. Tait. Up. III, 3, and the stately array 
of passages in Jacob’s Concordance to the principal Upani- 
shads, s.v. The interest of the hymn lies rather in the 
attempt which it makes to exploit exhaustively the chief 
concerns of Brahmanical existence and belief. Except 
for its metrical form it belongs to Brahmama literature. 
See Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, vol. v, p. 396 ff., and 
Scherman, Philosophische Hymnen aus der Rig- und 
Atharva-veda-Samhita, p. 87 ff., where partial translations 
of the hymn are essayed. 


Stanza 3. 

d. The translation of Pada d is mere guess-work. Since 
ντά means ‘ throng,’ dra would seem to mean the converse ; 
cf. the root dra, ‘run:’ ‘that which is assembled and that 
which is scattered,’ i.e. ‘that which is confined and that 
which is free, or the like. Sdyava, vrak varako varuzah 
ἀγα dravakak amritamayak somak, The difficulty is in- 
creased by the appearance of another mystic monosyllable, 
nya in st. 4a. The Pet. Lex. suggests that all three are 
artificial abbreviations. 


Stanza 4. 


a. This Pada is again nearly hopeless. The vulgate reads 
drimha sthird6, and Whitney in the Index Verborum classifies 
drvimha as an imperative. But an imperative is out of place 
in this hymn which is throughout descriptive. Shankar 
Pandit with the Padapa‘/a and Sayama reads drimhasthird 
as a compound (Sayama, drimhanena sthirikrito loka). 
I have thought of drzdkadrimha(h), ‘he who fastens that 


XI, 9. COMMENTARY, 631 


which is firm:’ it is a mere guess. Cf. bhdmidvimha, V, 
28,14; XIX, 33, 2. Sdyavza glosses nydk by netdrah, 
‘leaders,’ but we should then at least expect nya# with the 
circumflex. I have preferred the singular; cf. vra# and 


draé in 3d. 
Stanza 5. 


Information regarding the great variety of terms con- 
nected with the liturgy and the sacrifice in this and the 
following stanzas is to be obtained every time from the 
Pet. Lex. For this stanza, cf. Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 
25. For the obscure expression tan mdayi in Pada ἃ, cf. 
sts. 12, 14, and srir mdayi in st. 1. 


Stanza 6. 

The beginning of the mahandmni-verses is given by 
Sayaza, as follows: vida maghavan vida gatum anu samsisho 
disak (Ait. Ar. IV,1). Cf. Proc. Berl. Acad. 1868, p. 244. 

Stanza 11. 

b. The expression ubhdya’ saha has been rendered, not 
without grave misgivings, upon Sayava’s authority, ubhaya 
ity anena fatdratradinam dviguzitatvam vivakshitam. 

Stanza 14. 

Three earths and three heavens are mentioned frequently ; 
see Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, vol. v, p. 304 ff., and the 
note on IV, 20, 2. Nine are unique. 


Stanza 19. 
According to Sayama the mantras called Adturhotdrak 
are Tait. Ar. III, 1-5. Cf. the Pet. Lex. s.v. 


Stanza 21. 

d. We have followed Sdyava, who reads samsritah sritah. 
The error which extends to the Padap4za seems to be due 
to the singulars dhité nfhita hitd at the end of the next 
stanza. 


XI, 9. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 123. 


Arbudi and Nyarbudi, two divinities, friends of Indra 
(indramedinau, sts. 4 and 18), are implored to help in 
battle, and destroy the enemy. These two are associated 


632 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


in XI, 9, and especially XI, 10 with a third, Trishaszdhi, 
‘ Three-joints, who is evidently the personification of a 
three-jointed weapon (vagreva trishamdhina in XI, 10, 3 and 
27). Cf. the trishamdhi ishu, or the trika#wd4 ishu, ‘three- 
jointed arrow,’ in Ait. Br. I, 25, 5; III, 33, 5; Sat. Br. II, 
1,2, 9. Further, the employment of the two hymns (XI, 
g and 10) in the Kausika renders it possible to assume that 
all three divinities are personifications of peculiar weapons, 
or machines employed in the rough warfare of the time. 
The warlike practices in question (Kesava and Sdyaza, 
gayakarmani) are described, Kaus. 16, 21-26, as follows : 
21. ‘With the two hymns, XI, 9 and 10 (the king’s 
chaplain, the purohita), exhorts (the warriors) in accordance 
with the indications (of the hymns). 22. For sacrifice he 
employs “speckled ghee’.” 23. He next performs the 
practices which end with the act of handing over (the bow), 
and the practices of scattering (snares and traps in the way 
of the enemy *). 24. Along with the scattered (snares, &c.) 
he places three-jointed weapons (trishamdhini), weapons 
that have the form of bolts (vagrardpami), and weapons 
that have the form of arbudi*. 25. A white-footed (cow) 
is anointed with the dregs of ghee and fastened with a 
rope of darbha-grass to the staff which serves the king to 
rest upon(?). 26. A second (white-footed cow) is driven 
(toward the enemy).’ The last two Sitras bristle with 


Cf. XI, 10, 19, ‘Speckled ghee’ is ghee mixed with sour milk. 
See the Pet. Lex. s.v. prishadagya. 

3 They are given in detail, respectively at Kaus. 14, 8-11 (cf. 
the introduction to VI, 97), and 14, 28-9. 

5. Darila: The trishamdhini are for cutting (&#eddya), the vagra- 
riipaai are for breaking (bhedaya), the arbudirQp4zi are for bringing 
to fall (pataya). To these vague statements may be added the 
following, vagrarfipani pamduramgakapAlakartr’ka shashAfatu- 
shkam arbuder eva rpam yesham vartuldni. And further ‘all are 
made of brass, all are tied with ropes.’ They would seem to be 
destructive instruments placed in the way of the enemies’ attack. 
S4yaza explains trisamdhini (!) as lohamay4ni patraai, ‘ brazen 
vessels.’ Kesava offers nothing of consequence. 


XI, 9. COMMENTARY. 633 


difficulties. SAyavza says sitipadis gam, ‘a white-footed 
cow,’ but Darila at Kaus. 14, 22 (cf. AV. III, 19) has me- 
shim, ‘a white-footed she-goat.’ At AV. XI, το, 6 (see the 
note on the passage, and cf. also XI, 10, 20) a white-footed, 
four-footed arrow is spoken of ; this seems to indicate that 
the white-footed animal is let loose as a symbolic arrow, to 
find its way into the camp of the enemy (scape-goat ?): in 
this way Sitra 26 obtains sense. Further, the word up4- 
sanga is obscure. We have translated tentatively and 
doubtfully according to Darila’s indication, visramazArtho- 
rdhvagadandah; Kesava has simply rag#o (Cod. rag#a) 
dandah ; Sayana, ragtas kihnitaketudazde rahasyam ba- 
dhniyat, ‘he shall secretly tie (the cow) to the staff of the 
characteristic banner of the king.” The Pet. Lex. assumes 
for upasanga the meaning ‘ vicinity,’ but the word ordinarily 
means ‘ quiver.’ Is there a ‘staff of the quiver?’ 

We have no information in the Veda itself regarding 
Arbudi and Nyarbudi, aside from this and the next hymn. 
Sayama says that they were serpents (see st. 5), the sons 
of that Serpent-Rishi Arbuda (K4draveya, the son of 
Kadrd), to whom tradition ascribes the composition of RV. 
X, 94 and 175; cf. Asv. Sr. V, 12, 9. 23; X, 7. Four 
words are concerned in the elucidation of this matter, 
arbuda (4rbuda), and nyarbuda, arbudi and nyarbudi, and 
their manifold meanings do not bridge over to our subject 
with any degree of firmness. Only one point I would 
suggest: the forms with the prefix ni are in all probability 
the result of a verbal misconstruction. Arbuda in the 
Rig-veda is a demon-serpent whom Indra is bound to slay. 
At RV. II, 11, 20 we have ny arbudam vavridhano astah, 
‘thou (Indra), having waxed mighty, didst prostrate Arbuda ;’ 
similarly VIII, 32, 3, ny arbudasya vishfdpam varshmanam 
brthatas tira, ‘ pierce the high resting-place of great Arbuda ;’ 
cf. also I, 51,6; II, 14, 4. I believe that nyarbuda and 
nyarbudi owe their intrinsically meaningless prefix ni to such 
verbal juxtapositions which could be easily misunderstood. 
A still greater curiosity is the friendly relation of Arbudi 
and Nyarbudi, as ancillary war-gods, with Indra, notwith- 


634 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


standing Indra’s hostility to Arbuda in the RV. Note 
also the apparent epithet of Indra, nardabuda, at TS. III, 
3, 10,1. Whether it is in any way connected with this cycle 
of ideas it is impossible to say. 
The present hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der 
Rigveda, III, 530-1. 
Stanza 1. 


Sdyana, ‘Make manifest to the enemy our equipments 
for battle, so that fear shall arise in their minds.’ For 
udardn Sd4yaza proposes either ‘demons in the air,’ udgatan 
antariksha#aran rakshaApisa#Adin, or ‘ fiery portents, sirya- 
rasmiprabhava ulkaddaya AntarikshyA utpata%. For amf- 
trebhya# Ludwig proposes a different construction, ‘make 
all that visible with the enemy,’ i.e. may their weapons 
and plans not remain hidden from us! 


Stanza 2. 


b. For the construction of this Pada (repeated in st. 
26 c), cf. Delbriick, Altindische Syntax, p. 106. 

5, ἃ. The Padap4sha reads sdmdrish¢a and guptd, neuters 
plural in agreement with mitra#i. Sayaza comments upon 
samdrishtak and gupt&, 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. 

Stanza 5. 


ἃ. The word bhogébhid, ‘ with (thy) curves,’ would seem 
to indicate that Arbudi is primarily a serpent ; cf. RV. VI, 
75,14; Tait. 5.11, 1, 4, 5.6; V, 4, 5, 4. But it may also 
refer to some snare-like machine, similar to a serpent. 
Sayaza, sarpasariraiz pariveshéaya. 


Stanza 7. 


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 kridhukarzi, ‘ 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 Sdyaza’s naively ingenious explanation of 
kridhukarnzf by ‘short-eared, because all ear-ornaments 
have been removed.’ Ludwig is relieved by making a 
proper name of the word. 


Stanza 8. 

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. Sadyana 
offers nothing usable. Ludwig’s translation is not clear, 
‘die abreisst den riickenwirbel, wahrend sie im geist den 
sohn sucht,’ &c. 

Stanza 9. 

Sayama presents futile etymologies for alfklava’ and 
gashkamadda. Pada d, amitreshu samikshdyan is cut of 
construction, and superfluous: samikshdyan 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 drésé kuru, in stanzas 1, 15, 22, and 24. 


Stanza 12. 


6. Sayana reads drugrahaik (Griw4m grahawaih), and 
bahuvankai# (bahun& vakrabandhanaif), i.e. ‘with thy 
thighs and arms. The parallelism is noteworthy, and 
(iru- may be the correct reading. Conversely, of course, 
Sdyana may have accentuated an incidental parallelism. 


1 aliklabaA visishfaklaibyayukt& viklab&A tadviparfta aliklabaA, 
‘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. 


Stanza 14. 


Cf. the essay quoted in the note on stanza 7 (especially 
Ρ. 340, note). For pa¢aurav of the vulgata, Shankar Pandit, 
following Sayaza and some MSS., has substituted pa¢arav. 
Sayaza on Pada b, urad vakshadsthalam pafirau tatpra- 
desau (4a) Aghnan4%. Here, doubtless, belongs too 
paira in Tait. S. V, 7, 21,2; 22, 1, a designation of a 
part of the body, described by the commentator as ‘ribs 
in the back. The translation of the ἅπ. Aey. aghariziz in 
Pada c is that of the Pet. Lex., and purely etymological. 
Sayaaa, ‘distressed by the grief due to the loss of their 
husbands’ (aghena. . . Art4/). 


Stanza 15. 


a, b. All the matter pertaining to the female demons is 
extremely problematic. SAyaza takes svanvati# literally, 
‘accompanied by the dog Sérameya as a playmate. He 
explains r(ipakas as ‘ ghostly armies which by the force of 
magic are perceptible in outline merely ’ (maydvasat keva- 
lax rapamatreza upalabhyam4nas sendrOpakas). The 
word γὔρακα suggests the root rup, ‘injure ;’ cf. XI, 2, 3. 

6, ἃ. Sdyaza garbles his text, and comments as follows, 
patre anta# madhye rerihati#e puna/-punar lihatim durnihi- 
taishizim dushéanikshiptam itkhantim vasam (!) gam. 


Stanza 16. 


a. Our rendering of khad{{re reflects simply our own and 
Sayana’s perplexity, ddrabhOta kha khaddram (!) akase 
diradese. 

Stanza 22. 


Much in this is obscure and bizarre. SAyana does not 
help much, except that he agrees with the Pet. Lexs. in 
reading -vAs{na/ for -va4s{nak in Pada d; see bastavasinak 
for bastavasinad in VIII, 6, 12, and cf. V, 20,2 Ὁ. 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 


Stanza 23. 

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. 


Stanza 24. 


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. 


Stanza 25. 


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, 22. It has been 
translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 531 ff. 


Stanza 1. 


For ketu, see the passages and the literature quoted by 
the Pet. Lex. s.v. 7); Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, 15, 
Ῥ. 32, note 51. Both Sayavza and Ludwig render the word 
here, as in stanzas 2 and 7, by ‘ flag.’ 


Stanza 2. 


a, b. The vulgata, depending upon the Padapa¢xa, con- 
strues vedarf4gyam as a compound, it is difficult to say in 
what sense. We have taken is&sm# veda in the sense of 
a quasi periphrastic perfect (cf. Whitney, Sanskrit Gram- 


638 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


mar?, §1070, c). Similarly Sayaza, ts4m veda isitavyatvena 
ganatu(!). The word trishamdhe is metrically superfluous 
and grammatically unassimilable: it has been omitted in 
our translation. At best it must be emended to trishasdhir. 
The construction of Pada Ὁ is problematic ; perhaps it is 
to be put with what follows, ‘may the evil brood, &c., 
together with the red portents, &c.’ The arundh ketavak 
are personified as evil forces in this hymn; see the matter 
referred to in stanza I. 
Stanza 6. 


The sense of the first hemistich is extremely obscure. 
According to Πάτα to Kaus. 16, 25, and Sayaza on our 
passage, the sitipad? is a cow. But this fails to accord 
directly with the verbs asyati, Kaus. τό, 26, and sim patatu 
in stanza 20 of our hymn: they point to some missile, an 
arrow, or the like, and accordingly we have saravy4 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, 9: 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 (avasvigati, ordinarily employed with 
arrows). The latter Sdtra evidently relates to AV. ITI, 
19, 8, ‘fly forth, O arrow, after thou hast been hurled.’ 
Sayava reads in our stanza sam patatu for sam dyatu 
(diyatu, ‘fly’ ?), and evades the difficult ‘ four-footed arrow’ 
by paraphrasing saravy4 as an adjective agreeing with gauZ, 
to wit, saravyA sardz4m bandnam samthak ... sarasamhati- 
ripa bhadtva (gau%) sam patatu satrin samprapnotu. This 
resembles our own tentative explanation. 


Stanza 7. 


Cf. the notes on XI, 9, 7.14. Possibly female demons, 
or spectres rather than mourners are referred to. Sdyana 
refers dhimakshi and kridhukar#f to the army of the 
enemy ; this he supposes to be blinded by magic smoke, 
and bewildered by the noise of battle (alpasrotr4 pafaha- 
dhvanina hatasravaz4s4marthya). 


ΧΙ, 1. COMMENTARY. 639 


Stanza 17. 


Identical with AV. V, 8,6. See the diverse translations 
of the passage in Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, pp. 439 and 


532. 
Stanza 19. 

e. The speckled ghee (ghee mixed with sour milk) is 
embodied in the practices of the Kausika, 16, 22; see the 
introduction to XI, 9. 

Stanza 20. 


Cf. the discussion of sitipadi in the note on stanza 6. 


Stanza 22. 
Sayama explains dgman as ‘vehicle,’ rathadi yanam, which 
simplifies the sense. In Pada d he reads, desirably, abhihi- 
tah, ‘bound, for abhihata4, ‘slain.’ 


Stanza 25. 

9. kakagdkrita is ἅπ. Aey. The Pet. Lexs., etwa ‘zerfetzt;’ 
Ludwig, ‘ zerstaubt ;’ Sayaza, kutsitaganana vilolaganana 
va krita. 

Stanza 26. 

a. Read marma-viddham. Suparaair is out of construc- 
tion, and it seems natural to read supar#4(#). 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 Ὁ 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 4agrahayawi-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 dridhikarmaxi?, ‘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 
bhidsamskara, 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 vastoshpatiy4ni 
(sc. sdktani), ‘hymns addressed to the genius of the home- 
stead ;’ the Atharvaziya-paddhati at Kaus. 19, 1, enlists 
it among ‘the stanzas that secure prosperity’ (pushfika 
mantrak). 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. 


Stanza 2. 


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 madhyatd, ‘from the midst (of men).’ 
The Maitr. 5. has asasmbadhd yd madhyaté manavébhyad. 
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-vdt, 
ni-vat, &c. Cf. especially RV. VIII, 6, 34, &c. (Pischel, 
l.c., p. 67). 


cf. Asv. Grth. I], 3; Paras. Grzh. III, 2; Sankh. Grth. IV, 
17.18; Gobh. Grsh. III, 9; Kh&d. Grth. III, 3, 6 ff.; Apast. 
Grih. VI, 19, 3 ff.; 8 f.; Hir.Grch. 1], 17. 

3 The reading of the word is not quite secure; see the critical 
note, Kaus. 38, 12, and cf. Kesava. 


XII, I. COMMENTARY. 641 


Stanza 4. 


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 anya suffices as a pis-aller. 
Does the end of the word veil svapatyd, ‘ownership δ᾽ 


Stanzas 5-7. 

Cf. Maitr. 5. 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 bhiimim przthivim, cf. Avestan 
z4m perethvim, Yasna X, 4. Doubtless prithivi is still (or 
anew) felt as an adjective. 


Stanza 8. 


For parallel statements, cf. the passages assembled by 
Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV, 24 (note 58). Cf. also 
Ludwig, l.c., p. 320. 

Stanza 11. 


This and the next stanza are members of the svasty- 
ayanagaza of the Gamamalé, Ath. Paris. 32, 11 (Kaus. 25, 
36, note). Cf. also Ath. Paris. 10; 181, 1. 


Stanza 18. 


Cf. Vait. Sd. 15,8; Ath. Paris. το. For parigrzhzanti, cf. 
the parigrihya (sc. vedi), Kaus. 17, 2, and, in addition to 
the passages cited in the Pet. Lex. (under pari grah 3), 
Tait. 5. II, 2, 10, 5; Maitr. S. I, 6, 3 (89, 14); Apast. Sr. 
IV, 5, 4. 

Stanza 14. 

6. For parvakritvari, cf. the note on pdrvakamakr#tvane, 
VII, 116, 1b. 

Stanzas 19-21. 

The connection of these stanzas with the body of the 
hymn is a loose one: Agni, not the earth, is their primary 
subject; cf. III, 21,1.2. See Kaus. 2, 41; 120, 5; 137,303 
cf. also Ath. Paris. 48, 2. ᾿ 


[42] Te 


642 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 22. 
d. Ludwig, ‘von svadha (opferspeise wol = I/4) und 
speise. We with Pet. Lex. (ῥεῖα ζώουσι). 


Stanzas 23-25. 

They are frequently cited in the Atharvan ritual as the 
gandhapravadaz (sc. rikak), ‘stanzas that mention gandha 
(fragrance).’ At Kaus. 13, 12 a king desirous of lustre is 
anointed with fragrant substances, the act being accom- 
panied by the recital of these stanzas. Similarly Kaus. 
54, 5 (cf. also 24, 24, note); Vait. SQ. 10,5. The stanzas 
figure also in the second varkasyagaza of the Gavaméla, 
Ath. Paris. 32, 27 (Kaus. 12, 10, note), and are cited fre- 
quently in the Atharva-parisishéas, 4, 1. 3.4; 6,2; 17,23 
22,33; 44,1. Inst. 23, gandha and gandharva(A) in allite- 
ration. 


Stanza 27. 
Cf. Vait. Sa. 2, 8. 


Stanza 28. 
Cf. Kaus. 24, 33; Ath. Paris. 43, 3. Possibly 2a is to be 


added to Pada b, 
Stanza 29. 


Cf. Kaus. 3, 8 ; 24, 28; 90,15; 137,40; Ath. Paris. 39, 16. 


Stanza 30. 
See Kaus. 58, 7 (cf. 24, 24, note), and Vait. 58. 12, 6, both 
in connection with purification of the body. 


Stanza 31. 

Repeated with variants at Maitr. S. IV, 14, 11 (233, 16). 
This and the next stanza are members of the svasty- 
ayanagaza of the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 11 (Kaus. 25, 
36, note). 

Stanza 33. 

See Kaus. 24, 33; Vait. Sd. 27, 7. 


Stanza 34. 
See Kaus. 24, 30. It is curious that this charming verse 
finds only secondary employment; it does not even figure 
among the dudsvapnan4sanani. 


XII, I, COMMENTARY, 643 


Stanza 35. 
See Kaus. 46, 51; 137,12; Ath. Paris. 44,1. Cf. st. 61. 


Stanza 36. : 
See Kaus. 137, 9 (cf. 137, 4, note). Cf. Tait. S. V, 7, 2, 4. 


Stanzas 38-40. 


Cf. Kaus. 24, 37 (cf. 24, 24, note); Vait. Sa. 10,8; 15,4; 
22,1. Stanza 38 is. counted by the Atharvaziya-paddhati 
(Kaus. 19,1, note) among the push/iké mantra, 


Stanza 41. 
b. Cf. V, 20, 9, and the note. 


Stanza 42. 
See Kaus. 24, 38; 137, 24. 


Stanza 44. 
Cf. Kaus, 24, 39; Ath. Paris. 10, 18, 2. 


Stanza 46. 

See Kaus. 50, 17; 139, 8; Vait. Sd. 29, 10; Ath. Paris. 
19, 5. Cf. also the raudragana of the Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 
32, 17 (Kaus. 50, 13, note). The root ginv in Pada c, as in 
st. 3c, seems to be intransitive, contrary to ordinary usage. 


Stanza 47, 
Cf. Kaus. 50,1; Ath. Paris. 19, 2. In Pada d pdnthanam 
is a metrically superfluous gloss. 


Stanza 49. 

For this and the next stanza, cf. Vag. S. XXX, 8; Sat. 
Br. XIII, 2, 4,2. 4. For Pada a, see AV. XI, 2, 24, and 
note. In PAda c, ula is quotable in addition only at Vag. 5. 
XXIV, 31; Maitr. S. III, 14, 2 (Mahidhara, ‘a kind of wild 
animal’)'. Ludwig, l.c., pp. 166, 548, regards it as an 
adjective, ‘howling.’ Ludwig, to rékshiké, ‘ barin (?).’ 


1 Cf. a4, Tait. 5. V, 5, 12, 1, defined by the commentator in a 
variety of ways, indicative of perplexity. 
Tt2 


644 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 51. 


Pada Ὁ recurs at XI, 2, 24b. Note the parenthesis in- 
volved in Padae. In the same Pada upavdm is a gloss, . 
disturbing the metre. 


Stanza 53. 

See Kaus. 24, 41; 137, 23. 
Stanza 53. 

See Kaus. 10, 20, in the rite for acquiring wisdom. 
Stanza δά. 


See Kaus. 38, 30. While reciting this stanza one who 
wishes to be victorious in debate approaches the assembly- 
hall from the north-easterly direction (aparagitd, ‘ the uncon- 


quered’ direction). 
Stanza 58. 


See Kaus. 24, 14; 38, 29. Recited by one who desires 
to please in the assembly : he addresses the assembly-hall 
with the mantra, and looks at it. P&da b is obscure: cf. 
Kesava to 38, 29, yak kakshush4 pasyati tad vadan (Gammu 
MS. idam) vighato na bhavati. Perhaps, ‘when I look, 
then they delight in me.’ 


Stanza 58. 
Sce Kaus. 24, 31 (cf. 3, 4, note). 


Stanza 60. 
For the ‘mothers,’ cf. the introduction to VI, 111. The 
earth herself is ‘ mother,’ st. 63. 


Stanza 61. 

See Kaus. 46, 52; 137, 13.14. Cf. for Padaa the brah- 
modya, Vag. 5. XXIII, 9. 10. 45. 46; Sat. Br. XITI, 2, 6, 
13; Maitr. 5. III, 12,19; Tait. S.VIJ, 4,18,1.2; Tait. Br. 
IIT, 9, 5, 5,and the commentators. For the second hemistich, 


cf. st. 35. 
35 Stanza 62. 


See Kaus. 50, 10: a traveller starts on his journey. 


: Stanza 63. 
See Kaus. 24, 27; 58, 19, note; Vait. Sd. 27, 8. 


XII, 3. COMMENTARY. 645 


XII, 3. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 185, 


This hymn treats of the brahmaudana, the preparation of 
the porridge for the Brahmans, more elaborately than XI, 1, 
with which it is worked up in Kaus. 60-63. See the intro- 
duction to XI, 1. 

Stanzas 1-4. 

The sacrificer, his wife, and children step upon a skin, and 
seat themselves around a vessel full of water. Kaus. 60, 31 ff. : 
‘With stanza 1 (the priest) makes (the sacrificer) step upon 
the skin. 32. The wife (follows, or takes hold of the husband) 
as he is calling’. 33. With the third stanza ? he calls for 
his children... 35. With stanza 4 they along with the 
children seat themselves around (a vessel containing water 
which has been placed upon the skin, Satra 44) 


Stanza 1. 


a. ihi is wanting in the Paippalada. The Pada is improved 
by throwing it out and reading pumAn trisyllabically. 


Stanza 2. 


édhas at the end of the third Pada may perhaps be 
regarded as an instrumental : ‘When Agni with his flame, 
&c. ;’ cf. Lanman, Noun-Inflection in the Veda, p. 562. The 
second hemistich seems to refer to widow-burning (cf. st. 17, 
and RV. X, 18, 7). The word pakvdt, rendered ‘ from the 
(cooked) porridge,’ seems to harbour something of a double 
entente: ‘from the cooked remains of the body, after it 
has been burned upon the funeral-pyre.’ The well-cooked 
porridge anticipates symbolically the successful conclusion 
of life, to be followed by a happy life hereafter. Cf. also 
stanzas 7-9, 11, &c. 


1 The translation of this Satra is by no means clear, and does not 
agree with Kesava’s treatment, tatra hvayasva iti padena patnim 
(Gammu MS. patnf) ahvayfta. 

2 Kesava, ‘with the third Pada:’ yAvantdv agre prathamam iti 
pAdena apaty4ni anvahvayfta. But how can tritiyasy4m mean with 
the third Pada? 


646 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 4. 


We read givadhanyak (accented) with some MSS. and 
RV. I, 80, 4. But the vocative is not impossible: ‘ around 
this living (father), ye (children) that refresh the living.’ 
The children might be so called in the sense that they 
continue the life of the parents. In the fourth Pada vam 
ganitri either refers to two children, or the parents: ‘the 
mother (female) of the two parents.’ See also the next 
stanza. vad could be easily corrected to vo. 


Stanzas 7-10. 


Kaus. 61, 1.2: ‘While reciting stanza 7 the act indicated 
in the mantra is performed (i.e. they turn to the east). With 
the four mantras (7-10) they go around the water-vessel 
(turning towards each direction 1). 


Stanza 9. 


Cf. Kaushitaki-Upanishad I, 2, 3, where it is said that 
all those who depart from this world go to the moon (soma), 
the moon being the door of the world of light. Therefore 
shall man and wife turn to Soma’s region where the pious 
(sukr¢taz) departed dwell. Cf. upon this point, Contributions, 
Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 168. In Pada ἃ 
the double meaning of pakva, alluded to in the note on st. 2, 
seems to gain special prominence: pakva is at once the 
cooked porridge, and the cooked ashes of the deceased 
couple. 

Stanza 10. 


a,b. Note the threefold play upon the word ud, in uttaram, 
uttardvat, and udifi. 

6. The purusha (cosmic man) is the pankti; that is to say, 
like the metre pankti he consists of five constituent parts. 
Cf. Ait. Br. II, 14,7: ‘Man is composed of five parts, hair, 
skin, flesh, bones, and marrow.’ This statement about the 
purusha appears to be solely for the purpose of bridging 


1 Kesava, pradim-pradim iti Aatasribhir rigbhif pratidisam upa- 
tish/Aate mantroktam. 


XII, 3. COMMENTARY. 647 


over to the virdg who is identified in the next stanza with 
the fifth direction, the nadir (dhruv4). 


Stanza 11. 


Kaus. 61, 3: ‘While reciting the stanza (the sacrificers) 
face reverently every direction. Apparently the nadir, as 
it were, embraces all the other directions. For dhruv4 as 
a designation of the fifth direction, see III, 26,5; 27, 5, &c. 
Virag obviously has reference to the metre of that name ; 
she is, too, the daughter of Purusha (cf. Pet. Lex. under 
virdg 3), who is said to be the metre pankti in st. το. 
A complicated chain of symbolism. 

c,d. Aditi is called upon to protect the porridge, for she 
is the cooker of the porridge, by distinction: cf. the legends 
in Maitr. S. II, 1,12; Tait. Br. III, 7, 11, 2, and the note 
on XI, 1, 1. 

Stanzas 12, 13. 


According to Kaus. 61, 4 (cf. Kesava) the water-vessel is 
next, with stanza 12, taken from the skin and placed upon 
the ground, and the water contained in the vessel is used 
throughout the ceremony. The sacrificer and his wife 
doubtless come down from the skin; hence (the earth) is 
called upon to embrace them, &c. In stanza 13 the water 
is implored to purify the sacrificial vessels from impure 
contact (as indicated by the Paribh4sh4-sdtra, Kaus. 8, 14). 
For the connection of the non-Aryan das? with the sacrifice, 
see Ludwig, Der Rigveda, p. 212. 


Stanzas 14, 15. 


At Kaus. 61, 18 the mortar and pestle, and the scrubbed 
winnowing basket, are placed upon the (afore-mentioned) 
skin, while stanza 14, along with Pada a of XI, 1, 9, is 
being recited. Cf. the note on XI, 1, 9 for the substitution 
of mortar and pestle in the place of the two press-stones. 
With stanza 15 the pestle is placed upright (in the mortar : 
Kaus. 61, 21, musalam ué#éfrayati). It is also rubricated 
in Ath. Paris. 10. 


648 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanzas 16, 17. 


At Kaus. 61, 13. 14 the employment of stanzas 16 and 17 
is prescribed, without adhering to their order in the Sashita : 
‘With stanza 16 the sacrificer, his wife, and children (sapat- 
yau) touch the grain (which has previously been poured into 
a pot, Sdtra 11). With the second hemistich of stanza 17 
the sacrificer takes hold of his wife’s hand.’ 


Stanza 16. 


Judging from the Kausika’s employment of the stanza 
the presence of real sacrificial cattle at this stage of the 
ceremony seems doubtful: the grain that goes to make the 
porridge seems to be likened to cattle ; cf. stanzas 18,21. In 
Pada Ὁ the Paippalada reads medhasvdn for gyétishm4n, in 
Pada c tam for tén; according to the Index Verborum most 
MSS. read t&m for tén, but the present reading seems 
preferable. 

Stanza 17. 

Stanzas which similarly promise the reunion of families 
in the next world are AV. VI, 120, 3; IX, 5, 27; XVIII, 
3,23. The second hemistich seems to come from the mouth 
of the departed, who perhaps is conceived to desire that his 
wife shall follow him to the funeral-pyre ; cf. st. 2. These 
statements are, however, hardly definite enough to permit 
us to connect them with the formalised later rite of Suttee. 


Stanza 18. 


This is rubricated along with XI, 1, 9b at Kaus. 61, 22: 
avahanti, ‘the pestle is beaten down (upon the grain)’ As 
it comes down it smites and drives off the hostile powers, 
but at the same time, as in the case of the axe which slays 
the sacrificial animal (cf. Contributions, Sixth Series, 
Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 556), 
the fiction is kept up that it does not really injure the 
grain. The statement strengthens the impression that the 
grain is viewed in the light of sacrificial cattle, as in stanzas 
16, 21. 


XII, 3. COMMENTARY. 649 


Stanza 19. 


For the employment of this stanza in the Sdtra, see the 
notes on XI, 3,11,and 9. The grain which is to form the 
porridge is addressed, as though it were the cooked por- 
ridge that spreads in the dish, and is enriched with ghee. 
The second hemistich shows this to be anticipatory, for 
the act of the stanza is the winnowing of the grain. Cf. 
stanza 53. In Pada c varshdvriddham shows that the 
basket is made of reeds, not of dead wood; cf. Zimmer, 
Altindisches Leben, p. 238. 


Stanzas 20, 21. 


Kaus. 61, 26-28: ‘ With stanza 21 the wife as she 
removes (the husks) is addressed. With stanza 20 the 
husband and wife touch (the husks) after they have been 
removed. With part of stanza 20d (the grain) is again 
poured into the winnowing-basket.’ There is no mention 
of the preparation of soma which is suggested by amstin in 
stanza 20c: the word must therefore refer to some part of 
the ceremony which the Sitra ignores, unless the grain is 
figuratively called soma. 


Stanza 20. 


The meaning of the first hemistich is far from clear. 
The Bréhmaaa is either the priest (cf. XX, 2, 3), or some 
holy text. Perhaps sdmmita brdhmazena means ‘have 
been measured out by the Brahmaza;’ cf. stanzas 28 
and 33. 

Stanza 21. 

It seems again as though the animals here refer to the 
grain, as in stanzas 16 and 18: the grain is varied in colour ; 
the porridge when cooked is solid in colour. In Padac 
the Padap4ssa reads tém, but we have taken tém=t4n. 


Stanzas 22-24. 


Kaus. 61, 31: ‘ With stanza 22 the pot is anointed.’ As 
the Satra does not rubricate the next stanza (23), where 
the anointing is mentioned, by itself, we must understand 


650 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


that stanza 23 is included in the quotation. ‘With stanza 
24 he places fire about (the pot).’ In st. 22 ἃ brahmaza 
seems to be a gloss. 


Stanza 25. 
Kaus. 61, 34. 35: ‘With this stanza and XI, 1, 17 the 
two purifying blades of darbha-grass are placed over the 
pot, and water is poured upon the grain.’ 


Stanzas 28, 29. 


Cf. XI, 1, 18. 19, and see the notes there for the practices 
that go with the stanzas. 


Stanza 30. 

Pada a may be addressed either to the fire, or some 
officiating person, perhaps the wife. In Pada b the sin- 
gular 4tm4nam is peculiar: the word seems, either to have 
reached the extreme limit of pronominal usage, or, as we 
have translated, refers to the interior of each grain of corn, 
which is to be penetrated by the water. In Pada d the 
Paippalada has pradiso yathaim4m, upon the basis of which 
we would propose prad{so ydthe= mdz, ‘ according to these 
regulations. Or, perhaps, the Pada is to be rendered 
(with the same emendation) : ‘measured was the grain as 
these regions of space (were measured). It is possible, too, 
to imagine prad{so as a verb, and read prad{so yathe-mam 
in still closer accord with the Paippaldda, ‘as thou didst 
order this (woman).’ The word pradiso is mentioned under 
pradis in Whitney’s Index Verborum for this passage. 


Stanzas 31, 32. 


Kaus. 61, 38-40. <A barhis (seat of darbha-grass) is 
prepared for the porridge: with 31 a the sickle is handed 
over to him who shall cut the grass, with part of 31 b he 
cuts it, with 32 the grass is strewn. Cf. Kaus. 1, 24. 25; 
8, 11. 

Stanza 31. 

ἃ. dmanyuté (Padap4zha, dmanyuta) is to be regarded 

either as a homophonous instrumental from the abstract 


XII, 3. COMMENTARY. 651 


amanyuta (better amanyuta), or a denominative participle 
in ta (Whitney, Sk. Gr2, §1176 Ὁ). The latter is the more 
probable construction. Possibly, however, we must read 
amanyu t4Z, ‘without anger they,’ Amanyu being an adverb. 
The word y&s4m in Pada c seems indeed to demand ta in 
Pada d. 

Stanza 32. 

c,d, The Paippalada has, tatra devas saha devair visantu, 
and dakshizato for ritibhir. Pada c stands sorely in need 
of correction: we propose tasmin devatf saha devir visantu. 
But for the metre tasmin dev4/ saha devibhir visantu would 
be even simpler. Cf. in a general way VI, 59, 2, note. 


Stanza 33. 


Kaus. 61, 43. A wooden platter is placed upon the 
barhis. In Pada c tvdsh/ra is used consciously for tash/ra: 
the conceptions of the earthly carpenter, and the heavenly 
carpenter, Tvash/ar—sukr/t and rdpakr#t are his standing 
epithets—are blended into one. The difficult word in 
this stanza is vanaspate, which along with the statements 
in the first three Padas (agnish¢oma) seem to refer origin- 
ally to the yOpa, the post to which the sacrificial animal is 
tied. See, e.g. Sat. Br. III, 6, 4,1 ff. There is no occa- 
sion here, as far as can be seen, for a ydpa, and Kausika 
makes no mention of one. It looks very much as though 
a stanza concerned with the yipa had been secondarily 
adapted. Similarly at Kaus. 15,11 our stanza figures in 
connection with a chariot, which is also secondary. 


Stanza 34. 


Kaus. 62,9. The porridge is put down to the west of the 
fire. The meaning of the ‘sixty autumns,’ as indeed the 
sense of the entire passage, is extremely obscure; cf. stanzas 
41,42. The point of the stanza may again lie in the double 
meaning of pakva (cf. stanza 2): in sixty years, that is at 
the end of his life, the sacrificer shall reach heaven by the 
pakva, in the double sense of the porridge he has offered 
to the Brahmans, and the cooked ashes of the funeral-pyre. 


652 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 35. 


Employed along with XI, 1, 21 at Kaus. 61, 41; see the 
note on XI, 1, 21, and cf. Vait. Sd.10,9. Inthe order of the 
Satra this stanza precedes stanza 34. Cf. XVIII, 3, 29. 


Stanza 36. 


Employed along with XI, 1, 24 at Kaus. 62, 1 ff.; see 
the note on XI, 1, 24. The ladle is placed upon the altar, 
and in the sequel the porridge is dipped out, as indicated 
in the second hemistich of the present mantra (cf. Kaus. 62, 
6.7). See also AV. IV, 14, 7. 


Stanzas 37, 38. 


Kaus. 61, 45.46. With stanza 37 the porridge is covered 
with ghee; with stanza 38 the porridge is addressed. Both 
acts in the Sitra precede correctly and naturally the dip- 
ping out of the porridge, indicated in stanza 36. In stanza 
38 the mighty eagle seems to be the sun which shines upon 
the porridge ; cf. XIII, 2, 32. 33. Both ἀενᾶλ and deva- 
tabhiz seem to refer to the Brahmamas: the acting priests 
shall give the porridge to the priests for whom the porridge 
is prepared as a fee. Cf. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, I 4, 
262; Weber, Indische Studien, X, 35, and see Kaus. 6, 
26 ff. 

Stanza 39. 


Kaus. 62, 11 ff.: ‘ With stanza 39 the act indicated in the 
stanza is performed (i e. both husband and wife place the 
porridge in one dish?). The wife takes hold of the hus- 
band. The subsequent performances are undertaken while 
husband and wife have hold of one another.’ In Padaa 
the second paras which is rather superfluous may perhaps 
be emended to pate, corresponding to gaye in Pada b. 


Stanza 40. 


b. We read asmat for asmat to correspond with asy&/ in 
Pada a: man and wife are correlated. 


XII, 3. COMMENTARY. 653 


Stanza 41. 

Kaus. 62,18: ‘ With stanzas 41 and 44 juices are poured 
upon (the porridge).’ The fourth Pada which is identical 
with 34 a (see its explanation there) seems out of place; 
it may have crept in owing to 42a. In Pada Ὁ amrttasya 
naébhayas# may mean, ‘the navels of immortality.’ 


Stanza 42. 

Kaus. 62, 10: ‘With this stanza the porridge is divided 
into three sections.’ Cf. XI, 1, 6, and the corresponding 
passage, Kaus. 61, 8-11. In Pada a ‘the treasure’ is the 
porridge itself; cf. st. 34. 


Stanza 43. 

Kaus. 62,14: § With this stanza the fire is carried around 
(the porridge).’ Cf, 6.5. RV. VII, 15, 10; AV. VIII, 
3, 26. 

Stanza 45. 

Employed along with XI, 1, 31 at Kaus. 62, 15.173; see 
the note at XI,1, 31. In Padad the rare singular angiraso 
is to be changed to the adjective 4ngirasd, or, equally well, 
to the vocative plural angiraso. 


Stanza 46. 

The three stanzas beginning here are quoted in the 
course of another version of the brahmaudana practices 
(Kaus. 67 and 68), in Satra 68,27. The devdtés in Pada a 
are again, in all likelihood, the Brahmamas ; cf. st. 38. 


Stanza 47. 

b. The passage may perhaps be rendered, ‘and (so does) 
my wife at my doing and instigation.’ The second hemi- 
stich is evidently spoken by the priest in a sort of response 
to the speech of the sacrificer in the first two PAdas. 


Stanza 48. 

a. Adharé is very doubtful: the Pet. Lex., ‘ riickhalt’ (?). 
Perhaps ‘support, or protection in guilt’ is nearer to the 
true sense. Perhaps, again, an emendation to d4dharmo, 
‘lawlessness,’ would not lead too far afield. 


654 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA, 


Stanza 49. 

Kaus. 62, 18.19. A cow and utensils for milking are 
placed to the north of the fire, the cow is milked during 
the recitation of a certain hymn, and the milk poured upon 
the porridge. P4da a is short by two syllables: supply 
karma, or the like? 

Stanzas 60, 51. 

Kaus. 62, 22. 23: ‘With stanza 50 (and XI, 1, 28) gold 
is placed upon (the porridge); with stanza 51 a homespun 
garment accompanied by gold is put down in front of it.’ 
These, of course, are additional gifts (piéce de résistance). 


Stanza 50. 

Ordinary fire in wood, lightning in the (cloud-)waters, 
and the fire of the heavenly luminaries, are reflected in the 
gold, presented by him that cooks the porridge: in giving 
the gold he becomes luminous, illustrious. Cf.I,9,2; XI, 
1, 28. 

Stanza 61. 

Since all animals have skins, nay even the porridge has 
a self-made garment, it is fit that the Brahman should also 
have one. In Pada c kshatréva seems to mean ‘covering,’ 
and it may stand for kdatrexa from kad, ‘ cover,’ though 
khatra ordinarily means ‘umbrella.’ Cf. the variants ahi- 
kshetra and ahikshatra for ahi#satra, ‘mushroom,’ i.e. 


‘ serpent’s umbrella.’ 
Stanza 62. 


Kaus. 63, 1. 2: ‘ With this stanza they clothe themselves 
in the same garment. A second garment (which they put 
on) becomes a garment (that carries off) evil: that, accord- 
ing to some authorities, is given to a human being of the 
lowest character.’ Cf. Kaus. 18, 1. 4, where a black gar- 
ment (krishvakailam), symbolic of misfortune, is put on, and 
afterwards dropped into the water, in order that the mis- 


fortune may depart. 
Stanza 53. 


Cf. the note on XI, 1, 28. For Pédas ς, d, cf. stanzas 19 
a, ἢ. The point of the stanza is not altogether clear: it 


XII, 3. COMMENTARY. 655 


scems as though the smoke rising from the porridge (the 
earth) symbolises a cloud, and thus procures rain. 


Stanza 54. 

At Kaus. 63, 8 ‘other chaff of grain (phalikaraza in 
Stra 7) is thrown (into the fire) while reciting this stanza.’ 

Previously, in Sdtras 6 and 7, similar substances (tusha 
and kambfka) have been thrown into the fire, and cast aside 
with the left foot; see the note on XI, 1, 29. The stanza 
is extremely obscure, and I have lost confidence in the 
interpretation of it advanced in Contributions, Sixth Series, 
Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVIII, 576. 
Its purpose seems to be, rather, to cause the fire to blaze 
up anew, perhaps, in order to drive away demons. As the 
sky can assume different colours, and, especially in the 
morning, can drive away its blackness for the brightness 
of the dawn (Pada c), so the fire may be enlivened unto 
redness by sacrificing (chaff) into it. RV. X, 3, 1d is 
almost identical with our Padac. The Paippalada, suit- 
ably to the metre, reads 4tmany in Pada Ὁ, and rusantim in 
c; for apagait, see the passage in the Contributions, cited 
above. 

Stanza 55 ff. 

With the remaining stanzas the bestowal of the brah- 
maudana and the concomitant gifts takes place (Kaus. 63, 
22). The series of formulas beginning here are closely 
related to the sarpahuti, AV. III, 27; Maitr. S. I, 13, 21; 
Tait. S. V, 5, 10, 1 ff.; cf. Weber, Indische Studien, XVII, 
295 ff. For the names of the serpents, see the notes on 
VI, 56; VII, 56, and Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 94 ff. 
The expression gard mrityave in the third line of the for- 
mula reminds us of the bahuvrihi gardmrityu, XIX, 24, 8 ; 
26,1; 30,1. This suggests here a tatpurusha garamrityu, 
‘death from old age ;’ the passage would then mean, ‘ may 
he lead us to death from old age.’ In stanza 59 the asso- 
ciation of Vishvu with the dhruvd dfs is remarkable: we 
should expect the drdhva. For the association of Indra 
(not Yama) with the southern direction, see Weber, l. c., 
Ρ. 296. 


656 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


XII, 4. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 174. 


The hymn is an elaborate plea of the Brahmans for one 
of the numerous sources of income which they managed to 
devise. Especially all sorts of ominous occurrences are set 
down as occasions for expiatory performances (prayaséitti), 
at which the performing Brahman comes in for his dakshiza 
(see the thirteenth book of the Kausika), and every kind of 
irregularity in the birth of a domestic animal is amended 
by ceremonies in which the animal finally expiates its 
own existence by going over into the possession of the 
Brahman. See, for instance, AV. ITI, 28, and Kaus. 109-111. 
A cow which after a certain time (see st. 16) is discovered 
to be sterile (vasd) is viewed in this light: she belongs to 
the Brahmans, and the present hymn recounts in picturesque 
language, accompanied by fierce threats, the urgency of pass- 
ing her on to the Brahmans whom nothing hurts. Similarly 
in Tait. S. II, 1, 2, 2, a sterile sheep is said to be ‘cattle for 
the gods’ (i.e. in effect, for the Brahmazas) ; cf. also Tait. 
Br. I, 2, 5, 2, and see in general Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 61 ff. 
In Kaus. 44 and 45 the ceremonies for slaughtering a vasd 
are described ; it seems according to 45, 17 that they are 
wound up by giving the animal away. The present hymn 
is rubricated in Kaus. 66, 20 along with X, 10; nothing is 
stated except that she is bestowed upon the Brahmans, 
after having been solemnly sprinkled while the hymns are 
recited. Cf. in general Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 272, 
and the same scholar’s translation of the hymn, ibid. 
448 ff. The metre of this composition is regular anu- 
shtubh ; this, together with the style and contents, betrays 
the late character of the hymn. 


Stanza 1. 

The parenthetic expression, ‘and they have noted her,’ is 
admonitory: the Brahmans do not fail to know that a sterile 
cow exists; they are sure to claim their own! Ludwig 
suggests abhatsata or abhantsata for dbhutsata, ‘and those 
who have bound her,’ but there is no relative pronoun, and 
the sense resulting is strained. 


XII, 4. COMMENTARY. 657 


Stanza 8. 


a. For kGdd, cf. Geldner, Vedische Studien, I, 138. asya 
seems to refer to gévah, understood from the context. 

b. Κἀλάπι ardati is difficult: k&¢4m is unquestionably 
a Prakritic form for kartam, AV. IV, 12, 7 (cf. similarly 
kévafe, RV. VI, 54,7). For ardati one would expect some 
word for ‘fall,’ or ‘ push,’ but the word means ‘ burst, go to 
pieces. Perhaps k4¢dm is the subject, ‘the deep ground 
bursts’ (cf. RV. IV, 17, 2; AV. XIX, 9, 8, descriptive of 
earthquakes), but this does not quite do justice to ka¢am. 

ἃ. The Paippalada has for diyate the preferable reading 
giyate, ‘his property is wrung (from him).’ For the inter- 
change of the sound-groups di and gi (dy and gy), see the 
writer in Amer. Journ. Phil. VII, 482. 


Stanza 4. 


a. vilohita, designation of some disease, also IX, 8, 1; 
perhaps, ‘flow of blood from the nose.’ Henry, Les livres 
VIII et IX de l Atharva-véda, pp. 105, 142, ‘décomposition 
du sang.’ Both translations are purely etymological, but 
we may note that the word occurs in connection with other 
ailments of the head at IX, 8,1. Cf. also Iéhita VI, 127, 1, 
note. 

6, ἃ. The passage is not quite clear. sdsmvidyam, ἅπ. Aey., 
may mean ‘possession.’ Ludwig, ‘name. At any rate 
there seems to be an attempt to etymologise upon, or 
explain, vas as a derivative from the root vas, ‘control :’ 
the character of the vas4, quasi ‘controller,’ is such that she 
cannot be deceived (duradabhnd). We should expect 
ukyate for u#yase: the Paippalida also reads ufyase. 
The Pet. Lexs. translate duradabhn4 (also st. 19), by 
‘getting the better of gates,’ i.e. ‘not to be confined.’ This 
is ingeniously improbable, and contrary to the more usual 
rendering of the perfect passive participle. The prefixes 
dur- and a- represent a double negative for emphasis ; the 
word is a stronger version of dfi-dabha. 

Stanza 4 may be suspected of having stood originally 


[42] uu 


658 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


after 5, because its second hemistich seems to summarise 
the statements made in the remaining three hemistichs of 
the two stanzas, 

Stanza 5. 


b. viklindu, am. Aey., perhaps ‘catarrh;’ cf. vikleda (root 
klid), ‘ moisture.’ 

ἃ. Ludwig emends γᾷ to y4n, but the feminine is un- 
objectionable (supply, dhenf{Z, or the like). 


Stanza 6. 


For the custom of marking cattle, see Zimmer, Altin- 
disches Leben, p. 234. The sense of 4 sku is not quite 
certain. For Sat. Br. I, 2, 1, 5. 8, Bodhtlingk’s Lexicon 
renders it ‘durch stochern zerkleinern;’ Eggeling, Sacred 
Books, XII, 33, ‘ pull towards oneself ;’ Pet. Lex., ‘ divide 
off. For & vriskate, see the next note. 


Stanza 12. 


c,d. If we compare 4 vréskanti in st. 28, and Sat. Br. 
XII, 1, 3, 22, it seems possible that the passive 4 vriskyate 
must be substituted in one or another case (stanzas 6, 12, 
26, 34) for 4 vriskate; cf. the parallel roots skyut and skut, 
and the note on VI, 136, 3. The Pet. Lex. s.v. suggests 
the same correction for a number of passages in other texts. 
The dative manydve, in that case, involves zeugma: here 
the middle of the same verb, in the sense of ‘ infringe upon,’ 
is certainly required, as is shown by st. 51. 


Stanza 16. 


For Narada in this and several of the following stanzas, 
see the note on V, 19, 9. 


Stanza 18. 


The sense is as follows: Though he did not perceive her 
udder, because a young and sterile cow is deficient in this 
mark of prospective maternity, yet when he gives her away, 
she becomes a fruitful source of blessings. 


XII, 4. COMMENTARY. 659 


Stanza 22. 7 
ἃ. The cow belongs not even to every ordinary Brahmaza, 
but only to him that knows all her mystic properties ; cf. 
the numberless occurrences in the Brahmamas of the expres- 
sions, ya evam veda, &c., and ya evam vidvan, &c. 


Stanza 23. 
The divinities that belong to the earth are in all pro- 
bability the Brahmavas themselves; cf. the note on XII, 
3, 38. The stanza betrays sharp competition between the 


Brahmaaas. 
Stanza 24. 


ce, d. Ludwig proposes to read either vidvén for vidyAn, 
or narada for nérada#. Neither seems necessary : vidyAt is 
the optative of narration, a moderated form of categorical 
statement. A better way to ease the construction is to 
read sa ha for saha in Pada d. 


Stanza 27. 

The statement is significant: it seems as though stanzas 
of a more antique and floating character respecting the 
vasd existed prior to the Atharvan redaction. For vaset 
read, of course, vaset with the Index Verborum; cf. the 
note on III, 4, 7. 

Stanzas 29, 30. 

d. Ludwig suggests gigh4msasi, and this is correct as 
far as the change of the third person to the second person 
is concerned. The attraction of the proper third person in 
st. 30 has operated. But I have furthermore changed both 
stems to gig4msa- from the root gam: the sense is much 
simplified. In st. 30d read yak#ydya with the Index Ver- 
borum. 

Stanza 31. 

Cf. the interesting parallel stanza Sat. Br. ITI, 4, 2, 7. It 
may be questioned whether the real gods are supposed to 
mediate between the vasé and the Brahmans, or whether 
deva and brahmdn are used synonymously. Cf. the notes 
on st. 23 and st. 40. 

Uu2 


660 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 82. 


a,b. The call svadha is the ordinary and typical exclama- 
tion in connection with formulas addressed to the Fathers, 
in distinction from sv4h4, the call to the gods. The con- 
struction of the hemistich involves a zeugma. If we 
compare expressions like 4 sfiry4ya vriskyate, Tait. Br. 
II, 1, 2, 10; 4 vriskyantém dditaye durévé#, RV. X, 87, 
18, it would seem as though the datives pitr¢bhyo and 
devatabhyak are to be construed with nd 4 vriskyate 
(vriskate), derived from the sense of Pada 4; cf. also st. 28d. 
See in general the note on st. 12. 


Stanza 38. 


Brzhaspati is the divine representative of the Brahmans: 
he undertakes to collect the debt incurred by the un- 
righteous owner of the vas from his descendants by causing 
the priests to dun them for the debt. 


Stanza 41. 


For viliptydm (MSS. also viliptfm) the Paippalada has 
vilaptim (for vilapatim?). Neither form seems to suggest 
anything usable. Perhaps vilupti, ‘miscarrying, a deriva- 
tive of vilupta, ‘destroyed, in the neuter ‘ dead offspring’ 
is the true reading, of which the extant forms are perplexed 
popular etymologies (vilipti, ‘soiled ;’ vilapati, ‘ whining’). 
Only it does not appear clear why vilupti should have been 
misunderstood ; hence the suggestion is very problematic. 


Stanza 42. 


e. The Paippalada reads tén for tim: ‘And Narada 
replied to them ’’—a more facile reading. 


Stanzas 438-47. 


There seems to be considerable disorder in the arrange- 
ment of these stanzas. We should naturally expect 47 
immediately after 43. This may have been displaced by 
44: the concordance of kdsy4(4) in 43, and viliptya& in 44 


XIII, I. COMMENTARY. 661 
(cf. vilipt? γᾶ in the otherwise identical st. 46) renders 
stanza 44 suspicious. The original order, throwing out 44, 
may have been 43, 47, 46, 45. 


XIII, 1. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 207. 


The thirteenth book of the Atharvan consists of four 
hymns devoted to the worship of a divinity called Rohita, 
and his female Rohizi. There can be no doubt that ‘the 
red’ sun and his accompanying female, who in the course 
of the literature is designated as Ushas, Sfryd4, Sarya 
Savitri, or Dyu?, are primarily in the mind of the poet. 
Rohita accordingly is identified with Agni (stanzas 1, 11. 12), 
Sirya (stanzas I, 32. 45; 2,1) and other manifestations of 
the sun?, But there is also another equally obvious side 
to the composition: it represents an allegorical exaltation 
of a king (rag4) and his queen (mahishi). The heavenly 
Rohita and his female are called upon to protect and exalt 
the king and queen; the names of the divinities, réhita and 
rohizi, are felt by the Atharvan poet to furnish especially 
good ground for calling upon them to undertake this pro- 
tection, since they afford an inexhaustible mine for puns 
with words that mean ‘rise, ascend’ (cf. st. 4a). In the 
royal ceremonies (ragakarma4zi) the king frequently ascends 
(ἃ ruh, or ἃ kram), a throne, or skin, or horse; the act, of 
course, symbolises every time the moral ascendency of 
the potentate. Cf. Vait. Sd. 36,7; Kaus. 17, 3. 9. 13. 22; 
Ait. Br. VIII, 6, 12; and the ragasdya at Vag. 5. X, 1 ff, 

1 Cf. Contributions, Third Series, Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XV, 
186. 

2 The word ‘identified’ is perhaps too strong. The composition 
of this book is by no means a unit; it is indeed at times very 
difficult to see upon what ground the various stanzas have been 
compiled evidently with the main purpose of glorifying Rohita. But 
at any rate the compiler finds it especially natural to adapt stanzas 
in praise of other sun-divinities, and to glide over into the diction 
familiar to them. At Kaus. 24, 42 rohita is explained directly as 
the sun (Aditya). Another relation of Rohita is Agni with two red 
steeds (rohitabhyam), Lasy. Sr. I, 4, 2 ff. 


662 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


where the verb 4 ruh occurs with especial frequency. In 
general the relationship of many stanzas of the present 
hymn with those in vogue at the ragashya, the ceremonies 
at the consecration of a king, is very close; they have been 
collected and discussed in our remarks on the Rohita-book ; 
see the article cited below. 

In the Tait. Br. II, 5, 2, 1-3 a considerable number of 
the stanzas at the beginning of this hymn recur with 
variants which betray the fact that the Taittirtya-version is 
older and better than that of the Atharvan!, The com- 
mentator (p. 600) explains the rdhita as the horse employed 
at the asvamedha, the horse-sacrifice, and we may regard 
it as possible that certain stanzas in this compilation were 
originally composed for this purpose (cf. the note on 
st. 22). 

7 hymns of book XIII are designated at AV. XIX, 
23, 237, and Kaus. 99, 4 as rohitani (sc. sdkt4ni), Neither 
the Kausika, nor the Vaitana, each of which rubricates 
individual stanzas, contributes anything of consequence 
towards the elucidation of the hymn*, In Ath. Paris. 13, 2 
(Hirazyagarbhavidhi) the first two hymns of the book are 
employed. This is distinctly a royal rite, intended to ward 
off all evil (sarvapapanodana). Stanzasi1,12; 2, 36. 37 are 
employed in another ragakarma, called the Ghritavekshazam, 
Ath. Paris. 8,1. Nowhere is there anything calculated to 
define these hymns more narrowly. 

The present hymn has been rendered by Ludwig, Der 
Rigveda, III, 536 ff.; cf. also Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, 
V, 395 ff. The entire Rohita-book has been translated and 
expounded by Henry, Les Hymnes Rohitas (Paris, 1891); 
cf. Contributions, Fourth Series, Amer. Journ. Phil. XII, 


‘ AV. XIII, 1, 1 in Tait. Br. 11, 5, 2, 1; AV. 3 in Tait. 3; 
AV. 4 in Tait. 1; AV. 5 in Tait. 1; AV. 6 in Tait. 3; AV.7 in 
Tait. 3; AV. 8in Tait. 2; AV. 10 in Tait. 2. 

3. Cf. Indische Studien, ΓΝ, 433. 

5 At Kaus. 99, 4 the rohita-hymns are addressed to the sun 
during an eclipse. 


XIII, I. COMMENTARY. 663 


429 ff.; Regnaud, Le Rig-Veda et les Origines de la Mytho- 
logie Indo-Européenne, p. 315 ff. 


Stanza 1. 


In Pada d the Tait. Br. reads na& for tva; the latter 
seems due to secondary adaptation. The stanza in its 
Atharvan form clearly bespeaks protection for a king from 
Rohita. Its first hemistich is addressed, very secondarily, 
at Kaus. 49, 18, in a witchcraft-practice to a sinking ship. 


- Stanza 3. 

The appearance here of a stanza that deals with Indra 
and the Maruts is not as arbitrary as it may seem to be 
at first sight. In a certain sense Péda 3 a is in catenary 
construction with 2b. The Maruts are the vis, the people ; 
Indra is the typical king. And, with a quick turn in the 
second hemistich of the present stanza, Rohita again sug- 
gests the king, who listens to the people (the vis, the 
Maruts): the word svadusammudad conveys between the 
lines the prayer, ‘so that they (the people) shall be de- 
lighted with the sweet gifts of royalty.’ 


Stanza 4. 

Cf. XIII, 3, 26 d, and the introduction, for the allitera- 
tions in Pada a. The Taittiriya version of Pada c, t&bhiz 
sdmrabdho avidat shad urvth, has correct metre, and the 
aorist third singular avidat is in accord with the tenses and 
numbers of the verbs immediately following. Ludwig evades 
the syllepsis in the plural avindan, rendering, ‘von disen 
(frauen) erfasst haben die sechs weiten ihn aufgefunden.’ 


Stanza 5. 


The present stanza, together with 4 a, b, exhibits a very 
pronounced allusion to practices akin to the ragasdya ; cf. 
the dig-vyAsthapana-mantra4, Tait. S. I, 8, 13, 1-2, and see 
for details our article cited above, p. 432. For the form 
Asthan (Aasthat), ib. 438 ff. Cf. the first abhayagawa of the 
Gazamala, Ath. Paris. 32, 12 (Kaus. 16, 8, note). 


664 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Stanza 6. 

The Taittirilya version again has the mark of priority 
(aga ékap4d for aga ékapada). The aga ékapad is cer- 
tainly the sun; cf. Tait. Br. III, 1, 2, 8, ‘the one-footed 
goat (with double entente, “driver,” and again, “non-born”?) 
has risen in the east, delighting all gods; at his urging all 
the gods go.’ Cf. the note at XI, 4, 21. 


Stanza 10. 

The gayatri, the rhythmic measure of Agni, is his repre- 
sentative upon earth (cf. RV. I, 61,8; Journ. Amer. Or. 
Soc. XVI, 9). The assimilation of Rohita and Agni, which 
appears frequently in the sequel, begins here. Note the 
variants, Tait. Br. II, 2, 5, 2. 


Stanza 11. 

ἃ. Repeated at RV. X, 123, 8d, where the Pada appears 
to be secondary, since the word rdp4&zi, supplied here from 
Pada Ὁ, is there wanting. Cf. similarly the inferiority of 
RV. VI, 58, 1a to Tait. Ar. I, 10, 1 (3 8). 


Stanza 12. 

6. νὰ is metrically superfluous, and hardens the sense. 
Without it, ‘he shall not abandon me, lest I abandon (him).’ 
Our rendering of n4thité, ‘when implored,’ is uncertain: 
ordinarily (e.g. III, 1, 2) it means ‘in distress.’ The sense 
would then be, ‘ may I not in distress abandon thee.’ 


Stanza 14. 
c. Repeated in st. 37d. The rendering is conjectural 
owing to the obscurity of the word magmani, which occurs 
here only. Cf. RV. I, 143, 4. 


Stanza 15. 

6. I am inclined to think that Ludwig is correct in 
emending the 4m. Aey. ushvihaksharé to ushz{hakshdro = 
ushvziha aksharo, and in rendering aksharo by om (the 
prazava); cf. δάκῃ. Sr. I, 1, 36 (prazavo ye yagamahe 
vashafkarak). For other suggestions, cf. Henry’s careful 
discussion in his note (l.c., p. 27 ff.). 


1 Cf. Bergaigne, La Religion Védique, III, 23. 


XIII, I. COMMENTARY. 665 


Stanza 16. 


The five stanzas beginning here are rubricated at the 
godana-ceremony, the trimming of the youth’s beard at 
the time of puberty, Kaus. 54, 10. Their connection with 
the rest of the hymn is problematic. In stanza 18d Rohita, 
as a variant of Agni in 17d, is mentioned, and this alone 
may have induced the diaskeuasts to place the entire 
series here. 

Stanza 17. 


This and the next two stanzas exhibit the word vakaspati. 
They, along with other stanzas containing the same word, 
are known in the ritual (Kaus. 41, 15) as vakaspatilingah 
(sc. rikak), and are employed at practices designed to 
ensure gain in business, while addressing the rising sun. 

ἃ. The word paramesh¢din seems to refer for the nonce 
to the young man, who, during the moment of his consecra- 
tion, assumes in the exorbitant language of his environment 
the réle of the lord on high. 


Stanza 18. 


According to the Index Verborum the MSS. read nau 
for no (both times ?). 
Stanza 21. 


Here begin the stanzas devoted to Rohiai. Cf. RV. I, 
39,6; VIII, 7,28. Both these passages have the nomi- 
native réhita#, so that he himself appears as the side horse, 
the speckled mares or cows of the sky being the main 
draught-animals. The Atharvan form smacks of adapta- 
tion, decidedly. For, apparently, Rohita is here in the car, 
and the speckled female is the side-horse. The gloss on 
this stanza, Kaus. 24, 42. 43, which states distinctly that 
rohita is the sun, p7¢shati the sky (dyu), conceives of the 
latter as a cow}, rather than a mare, as one would expect 
in the case of the female of the red steed. This is quite 


' The stanza is cited by the Ath. Paddhati (Kaus. 1g, 1, note), 
as one of the push/ika mantrad. 


666 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


in accord with the usual description of the dawn; cf. RV. 
I, 113, 2; V, 64,7; 80, 2-4. 


Stanza 22. 


The word sfri, very common as a masculine, is here, and 
here alone, feminine. It seems chosen, with conscious 
straining, for the purpose of alluding to Sdryd, the female 
of the sun. We should not forget in this connection the 
fact that there is another Rohizi, the constellation of that 
name, corresponding to another male divinity of light, the 
moon ; see Tait. S. II, 3, 5,1; Tait. Br. III, 1,1,23 4, 2 (cf. 
also Tait. S.1I,1,7,7). It is not unlikely that the existence 
of one of these pairs stimulated the completion of the other. 
These notions are plastic, and elusive in their multiplicity. 


Stanza 23. 


Cf. the similar mantra, Vait. SQ. 36, 27. For a possible 
relation of this stanza and the rohisi-episode of the hymn 
to a certain part of the ceremonies at the horse-sacrifice, 
see our above-cited essay, p. 435 ff. 


Stanza 25. 


This and the next stanza are recited at the Aitrakarma, 
a rite designed to procure prosperity, during the full moon 
of the month aitra ; see Kaus. 18, 25. 


Stanza 27. 

Addressed at the 4gyatantra, Kaus. 137, 10, to him that 
constructs the fire-altar (vedi). The adjectives payasvatim, 
&c., refer doubtless primarily to the earth, the cosmic altar 
(cf. st. 46). 

Stanza 31. 


b. For utp{panam, cf. our discussion, l.c., 441 ff. 


Stanza 32. 


6. The Paippalada reads rasmibhiZ for dsman4; this 
suggests rasmind, ‘with his ray,’ but the singular instru- 
mental is rare, and in this connection doubtful. 


XI, I, COMMENTARY. 667 


Stanza 33. 


The Virdg is another personification of the shining female 
heaven (dawn), and the male sun is viewed here as her calf 
rather than her husband. The ‘bull of prayers’ again must 
refer to the sun: it seems to mean ‘he to whom prayers 
are chiefly directed, a conception which is fortified imme- 
diately by the epithet sukrdprishzha, which I take to be an 
equivalent of sémaprish¢ha (st. 12). In Padac it would 
seem natural to read ghrzténaktdm, ‘anointed with ghee,’ 
for ghvzténarkdm, establishing thus a certain balance be- 
tween this expression and brdhma sdntam in Pada d. But 
the construction of abhi aré with two accusatives is secure, 
eg. AV. VII, 14,13; 72, 1, and at Tait. Br. II, 8, 8, gc we 
have, tam arkair abhy arantivatsdm. Each reading seems 
equally good under the circumstances. 


Stanza 39. 


ἃ. The Paippalada reads vipasyantam for vipaskitam ; 
the reading is not favoured by the metre, and seems in 
every way inferior. 

Stanza 40. 


a. The text as it stands can hardly be sustained. The 
Paippalada reads, devo devam arkayasi. Henry, without 
a knowledge of this, emends to devé devan arkayasi ; cf. 
our remarks, I.c., p. 427. We have finally accepted this in 
our rendering: the extant Saunakiya reading must have 
arisen on the basis of the reading devéd devammarkayasi 
with anticipatory anusvara. 


Stanza 41. 


A cosmic charade (brahmodyam)=AV. IX, 9, 17, and 
RV. I, 164,17 (with the variant antd/ for asmin in Pada d). 
The subject of the riddle is the dawn. Her calf is the sun, 
as in st. 33. The disappearance of the dawn at sunrise 
is depicted prettily, though rather mystically in the second 
hemistich. The meaning of PAdad is that though a cow 
she does not beget her calf in this earthly herd : her calf 


668 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA, 


is heavenly. Cf. Haug, Vedische Rathselfragen und Rath- 
selspriiche, p. 24, for other explanations that seem to us 
decidedly strained. 

Stanza 42. 


Another, profoundly mystic, charade, essentially identical 
with IX, 10, 21 and RV. I, 164, 41. Whatever the inde- 
pendent solution may be (cf. Haug, l.c., p. 47 ff.), the presence 
of the stanza here seems to be in some way due to the word 
pad& in 41 Ὁ. There the word indicates the part of the body; 
here, with characteristic jugglery, the metrical ‘foot.’ The 
varying light or rays (feet) of the dawn may have suggested 
the metres with their varying feet, even if the brahmodyam 
was not really constructed primarily with a view to the 
answer ‘dawn.’ It has at any rate no direct bearing upon 
Rohita, and seems to appear here by way of expanding the 
laudation of the female divinity of the preceding stanza. — 


Stanza 45. 


Beginning here Sdrya appears in the rdéle of a cosmic 
sacrificer, and the elements of the sacrifice familiar in the 
liturgies are boldly projected into the visible universe. 
With all the extravagance of the fancies they are on the 
whole intelligible, and at times not wanting in beauty. 


Stanza 56. 


Employed at Kaus. 49, 26 in a conjuration against an 
enemy. Pada Ὁ, μὴ πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ὀμιχεῖν, Hes. Ἐργὰ καὶ 
ἡμέραι 725. 


XIX, 26. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 63. 


The hymn is not employed in the Kausika!, It is quoted 
by Sdyava from the SAntikalpa 17%, as follows: agned 
pragatam iti sdktena 4gneyim agnibhaye sarvakamasya 4a. 
This Sdyaza expounds, iti vihitayam Agneyydkhydy4m 


Cf. Kausika, Introduction, p. xl. 
3. Sayana regularly substitutes Nakshatrakalpa for Santikalpa. 


XIX, 34. COMMENTARY, 669 


mahdasantéu hirazyanirmitam kundaladikam abhimantrya 
badhniyat. According to this he who is afraid of fire, or 
desires everything in general, performs ‘the great rite of con- 
secration for Agni, and puts on earrings and so forth, made 
of gold.” For mahdsdnti, see Kaus. 39, 27; 43,53 44,6; 
46, 7, and the note on Kaus. 9, 5. Sdyava further quotes 
Santikalpa 19, in which the hymn is again rubricated: 
agned pragdtam pari yad dhiravyam iti hirayyam 4gney- 
yam, and comments, karnamadhye &/idravad dhirastya- 
kundalam ity arthaZ. Once more the hymn is rubricated 
in the Tulapurusha, Ath. Paris. 11, 1, along with other 
mantras: agne gobhi#, agnesbhyavartin (Kaus. 72, 13), 
agnek pragatam iti saspatan udapatra 4niya =bhishekakala- 
seshu ninayet. The performances are secondary throughout. 
The hymn has been translated by Grill*, pp. 49, 192; the 
Anukramavi designates it as 4gneyam hairazyam. 


Stanza 1. 


Cf. Tait. Br. I, 2,1, 4; Apast. Sr. XIV, 11,2. In Padac 
enam refers either to mai or some other masculine designa- 
tion of a jewel. Sdyana, hirazyardpam padartham arhati. 


Stanza 2. 


For prag&vanto mdnava/, see Bhagavadgita X, 6. The 
majority of the MSS. read ishiré for ishiré, and Whitney, 
Index Verborum, and Roots of the Sanskrit Language, seems 
to derive the word from ish, ‘send.’ SAyana, ishire pra- 
ptavantas, 


XIX, 34. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 38. 


The hymns, AV. XIX, 34 and 35, are not rubricated in 
either of the Sitras, Kausika or VaitA4na, and this is in 
accordance with the general character of the nineteenth 
book as a paralipomenon in the text of the Saunaka school ; 
see Kausika. Introduction, p. xl ff. According to the SAnti- 
kalpa 17 and 19, both hymns are employed in a mahasAnti, 
‘great consecration’ (cf. Kaus. 9, 6, note), pertaining to 
Vayu, the wind. In reference to this Sayava has the fol- 


670 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


lowing: pa#kame-nuvake dvadasa siktani, tatra ‘ gangido 
ssi’ iti prathamadvitiyabhyam siktabhyam ‘ vAyavyam 
vatavatydyam ’! iti (Santikalpa 17”) vihitayam vayavyé- 
khy4y4m mahdsantau gangidavrikshanirmitas manim ba- 
dhniyat, tatha nakshatrakalpe (! for sAntikalpe) sidtritam, 
‘“vatag gatak” (IV, 10) iti sankham varunydm, “gangido 
ssi gangido rakshita:si” (XIX, 34) iti gangidam vayavy- 
4y4m’ iti (Santikalpa 19). A number of stanzas have been 
commented upon by Zimmer, Altindisches Leben: see the 


index, p. 457. 
Stanza 1. 


a, b. The text of our translation of the first two PAdas 
is that of the vulgate. This differs from the MS. reading 
so much as to amount to an independent composition on 
the part of the editors. They read, dngira (cf. st. 6) asi 
gangida rakshita=si gangida ; the MSS. unanimously pre- 
sent, gangido:si gangidé rakshita:si gangidah. I am far 
from feeling that the editors have restored the ancient 
text. The difficulty with the MS. reading is the absence 
of any adjective or noun gangida with appellative meaning, 
and the cumulation of nominatives. The latter difficulty 
is paralleled closely by AV. IV, 12, 1, and it would seem 
almost as though in both passages the nominative had 
assumed the function of vocative. Neither difficulty exists 
for Sayava, who translates the second gangidé as vocative 
and paraphrases the first as an agent noun, as follows: 
he gangida mane gangido-si yato gatanam krityandm 
krityakritam ka nigaramakarta:si (one MS. nigiraza-) ato 
gangida ity uéyate... gam girati iti gangirak ...yad va 
gangamyate satrin badhitum iti gangidaz. I must say 
that I do not think it impossible that the original text had 
in mind some pun on the root gar, ‘ swallow,’ in connection 
with the first gangida, or perhaps some other root, say, 
gagri, ‘wake.’ The latter suggestion would yield good 


1 My copy of the Santikalpa reads vatav4ty4dy4m. 
? Shankar Pandit, erroneously, here and in the following quota- 
tion, substitutes Nakshatrakalpa for Santikalpa. 


XIX, 34. COMMENTARY. 671 


sense, the first gangidé, ‘wakeful,’ being parallel with ra- 
kshita in the second Pada. 


Stanza 2. 


a. The MSS. at the basis of Roth and Whitney’s edition 
read gagritsyds tripa#kasth, and the editors, inspired doubt- 
less by RV. X, 34, 8, have emended akshakrityds tripa#éa- 

sik, ‘the sorceries with dice, fifty-three in number.’ But 
the parallelism of the Rig-veda passage is every way 
doubtful (Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 284; Weber, 
Uber die Kénigsweihe, Transactions of the Royal Prussian 
Academy of Sciences, 1893, p. 72 of the reprint) ; the bold 
emendation is at any rate not warranted by any too 
desperate condition of the text. The majority of the MSS. 
used in Shankar Pandit’s edition (both Samhita and Pada- 
patha) have g4gritsyds, which the editor, with Sdyava, has 
changed to y&(4) grétsyas; this might mean ‘the thieving 
female demons’ (Saéyana, ya gritsyak gardhanasila yas... 
krityah); cf. gritsak at Vag. 5. XVI, 25, and Mahidhara’s 
scholium. Notwithstanding that gritsyas is the unanimous 
lectio difficillima of the MSS., perchance yet destined to 
be sustained, I have restored simply y4h kritydh!; cf. for 
the juxtaposition of krztyd and krityakrét (Pada b), AV. 
IV, 17, 4; V, 14, 3. 4. 5. 8. 10. 12.13; X, 1, 6. 31; XIX, 
45, 1. The Padapasha divides tripa#ka-asth, ‘devouring 
fifteenfold, which would comport well with the reading 
grftsyas. The meaning ‘consisting of fifty-three’ assumed 
for pa#4sa, 2. in the Pet. Lex., in our translation, and by 
Sayana (tryadhikapa#kdsatsamkhyak4A), thus rests upon 
a fragile basis; perhaps the Padapatha is right; or, per- 
haps, the word means simply ‘fifteenfold, an adjectivised 
tripaza-sas, with the well-known adverbial suffix -sas, 
‘fold 2” 


1 Sayama describes the krity# concretely as a figure, or the like, 
made of mud, wood, &c., mriddarvadin4 nirmitaputtalyadi. 

3 Cf. the Avestan fractional numeral adjectives thrishva- ‘a third,’ 
kathrushva- ‘a fourth,’ &c., which, in our opinion, are adjectivised 
locatives plural, thrishu, &c., ‘that which is in three.’ 


672 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


e. The MSS. of the vulgate read sarvan vinaktatégaso, 
for which the edition substitutes vinashfa-. This is SAyana’s 
reading (vinashéategasa# hataviry4n), and with a slight 
alteration (vinish¢a-) that of one of the MSS. used by 
Shankar Pandit. The latter recites all the readings of his 
manuscripts ; they are (besides vinakta-), bhanakti, bhinakti, 
minaktu, vinakti, and vinaktu. He has chosen the last, 
making the PAda, sarvan vinaktu tégasah, ‘may (the gan- 
gid4) expel all strength’ (note, however, the ordinarily 
neuter gender of tégas). We prefer the text of the editio 
princeps and Sayama. 


Stanza 3. 


a. Sayana, abhifarata utpaditasz nadam dhvanim, ‘the 
noise got up by the person practising witchcraft (against 
any one);’ cf. Kesava’s purushahava in the introduction to 
II, 4 (p. 281). The MSS., Samhita and Padapasha, read 
kritrim anna-adam ! 

Ὁ. Our translation of sapta visrasak by ‘ seven debilitating 
(charms)’ is a purely etymological conjecture; cf. expres- 
sions like visrastanga, ‘ lax of limb,’ visrastaketana, ‘lax in 
mind, and the like. Sayama, visramsanak ... mdrdhani- 
shtheshu nasdrandhradvaya-éakshurgolakadvaya-srotrakhi- 
dradvaya-mukhakuhara-ropeshu saptasu #Aidreshu abhi- 
Aarata utpadita sapta nishyandaé, i.e. ‘discharges from the 
seven openings of the head, induced by one practising 
witchcraft.’ 

Stanza 4. 


The same stanza with variants occurs at AV. II, 4, 6. 


Stanza 5. 


9. The text of the vulgate has sdsahé, a reading which is 
now supported by one of the MSS. at the base of Shankar 
Pandit’s edition. The MSS. in general have sA4saha, Pada- 
patha sasaha, each with a considerable variety of accentua- 
tions. Sayava comments upon the following text for 
Padas c, d, vishkandham ogas4 saha samskandham oga 
ogasd. For his explanation of vishkandha, see the note on 
II, 4, 1 ς (p. 282); his comment upon sdmskandha is as 


XIX, 24. COMMENTARY, 673 


follows: yena rogevza skandha/ samnata/ samlagno bhavati 
sa rogak samskandhak. This etymological rendering coin- 
cides with that in the minds of the occidental interpreters : 
the Pet. Lex., ‘name of a demon or disease ;’ Bohtlingk, 
‘name of a disease ;’ and Zimmer, l.c., p. 391, ‘contracting 
the shoulders, a disease.’ See, however, our note on II, 
4,017 ς (p. 283). 
Stanza 6. 

a. The MSS. of both Samhita and Padap4sha read 
trishtvd ; we with both editions trish ¢va. Sdyawa, trishu 
lokeshu avasthanaya. 

6. The name angirds for the plant seems to be trumped 
up to pun with gangidas. 


Stanza 8. 


a. Roth and Whitney’s edition reads, d4tho yad& sama- 
bhavo, the basis of our translation: the MSS. have dtho 
pad& na bhagavo (PadapééAa, dtho iti pad& πά bhagavad). 
Shankar Pandit, upon the basis of SAyaza’s comment, 
restores atho:padana bhagava#. The explanation is, he 
upadana upddiyate svikriyate krityanirharazAdivy4pareshv 
iti upadinaz. The meaning seems to be something like 
‘thou who art pressed into service for the purpose of 
driving out sorceries. I do not believe in either the 
restoration, or the explanation. 

6.1 have again translated the text as restored by Roth 
and Whitney (cf. XIX, 35,1). The MSS. of the Samhita 
read pura ta ugra grasata (upa), and those of the Pada- 
pasha are divided in reading ugr4# and ugré. With the . 
latter we might have the following sense, ‘formerly a fierce 
(female demon?) ate of thee.’ Sdyaza, te tvam (!) ugrak 
prazinak pura grasate bhakshayanti (! plural). I feel by 
no means certain that the vulgate has restored the original 
text. 

Stanza 10. 

a. Asarika and visarika are translated upon the basis of 
their etymology simply. Sdyava, asarikam sarvato him- 
sakam etanndmanam rogam tatha visarikam visesheza 


[42] ae 


674 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


himsakam etannamdnam ka balasam. To visarikam, cf. 
our note on II, 4, 2 (p. 284). 

b. For baldsam, see the note on V, 22, 11. 

e. For visvasdradam, see the note on V, 22, 13. 


XIX, 35. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 39. 


For the employment of this hymn in the ritual texts, 
see the introduction to XIX, 34. Sfyava defines it as 
gangidamanibandhane. It has been translated by Groh- 
mann, Indische Studien, IX, p. 418 ff.; and Zimmer, Altin- 
disches Leben, p. 65. 

Stanza 3. 


a. The MSS., both Sawhité and Padapftha, read dur- 
hardak sdmghoram kakshu#, and Sdyava explains the 
otherwise unknown compound sdmghoram by atyanta- 
kriram. I have refused the text as emended by Roth 
and Whitney (durhardas tvam ghoram) ; cf. IV, 9, 6. 

Ὁ. 4gamam, ‘I have approached’ with sinister intention ; 
Sayaza, Agatam (!) hantuz praptam. But several MSS. 
read 4dabhan (for A4dabhan ?), ‘destroying,’ and this is worth 
considering. Grohmann and Zimmer translate dgamam as 
an adjective, ‘der herzutritt,’ ‘den herantretenden.’ 

e. For sahasraéaksho, see the note on IV, 20, 5. 

e. The extra Pada, making a pankti out of the anush¢ubh, 
is rather suspicious. The MSS. read ganhgidak; we, with 
the vulgate, gangida ; cf. the note on XIX, 34, I. 


Stanza 4. 
6. The majority of the MSS., both of the Samhita and 


the Padap4¢ha, read bhavydd. Both editions follow the 
minority of the MSS. in adopting the regular bhavy4d. 


Stanza 5. 


a. The edition of Roth and Whitney has γέ kr/tvano, 
an emendation of yak krishzdvo of the MSS., both Sam- 
hita and Padap4¢a. Sdyavza comments upon ya rishndvo 
(devair nishpaditad . . . gantaro himsak4# purush4A), and 


XIX, 38. COMMENTARY. 675 


this reading has been adopted by Shankar Pandit. I know 
not how to improve upon the suggestion of the occidental 
editors. 

Ὁ. The western editors have restored yd υἱό martye- 
bhya, the basis of our translation. The MSS. have ya utd 
vabhritenyah (vabhriteny4Z), and vabhrithenyak. Sayana’s 
text has yd utd vavritésnyaf, upon which he comments 
as follows, ye anye manushyddiprerita badhaka vavrite va- 
vritire (! why does he comment, in the teeth of the grammar, 
upon the plural, instead of the singular, which would 
make equally good sense ?). Shankar Pandit has adopted 
Sayaza’s text. 


XIX, 38. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 40. 


The matter of this little hymn, the guggult or bdellium, 
has been made the subject of an exhaustive investigation 
by Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde, I?, 339; cf. also 
Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, p. 28. Sayama here defines 
it as, surabhiZ ghravasamtarpako gandha; cf. also his 
comment at II, 36,7. The ritual of the Kausika makes 
no mention of the hymn, but it is rubricated in an unim- 
portant way in Ath. Parisishfas 4, 3. 41; 17,2. A previous 
translation is that of Grill’, pp. 39, 193. The Anukramazi, 
mantroktagugguludevatakam. 


Stanza 1. 


In most of the MSS. the bracketed hemistich forms the 
first half of st. 17; next, the last hemistich of our first 
stanza, together with the first of st. 2, makes up the second ; 
and, finally, the second hemistich of our st. 2 figures inde- 
pendently as a third stanza. Some MSS., however, make 
one stanza of the three last hemistichs (a tryavasané, sc. 
vik). The bracketed passage is obviously secondary, though 
it stood in its present place at the time of the composition 


1 Cf. the introduction to XIX, 39, note. 
3. Thus also both editions. 


XX 2 


676 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


of the Parisishzas. It seems to have been attracted to its 
present place by the word yakshm4Z in st. 2 ἃ of the text. 

a. For arundhate, see IV, 12; V, 5; VI, 59, in these 
translations. SAayaza overcomes the embarrassing presence 
of the word by turning it into a verb, rodham na kurvanti 
na pidayanti (!), and Whitney in the Index, in the same 
vein, emends the word to arundhata, though it is followed 
by the present asnute. The MSS. with accent, drundhate. 

f. The MSS. have, mrzg4 asva ive: rate, which we have 
translated. Roth and Whitney emend mrigdd résy4 ive=rate, 
‘as antelopes flee from the wild beast.’ 


XIX, 39. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 5. 


Neither the Kausika, nor Darila and Kesava, make any 
mention of this hymn, though it might. but for the com- 
mentaries, be understood to be included in the kush- 
thalingah (sc. rikak) in Kaus. 28, 13. It is not, moreover, 
included in the takmandsanagava of the Gazamal4, Ath. 
Paris. 32, 7: see Kaus. 26, 1, note. Its failure to appear 
in the latter is fortuitous, since the Gazamala, like other 
Atharvan Parisishtas, draws freely upon the nineteenth 
book; Kausika’s silence, on the other hand, is in accord 
with the general attitude of this Sdtra towards the nine- 
teenth (and twentieth) books of the Samhita ; see Kausika, 
Introduction, p. xl. Sayavza in his introduction to the 
hymn says that the hymn is employed in the Ratrikalpa?, 
on the occasion when incense of kush ἦα is offered (to whom ?) 
in connection with AV. XIX, 34, etu deva# iti shash/ham 
siktam (sc. pa#zamesnuvake) asya ratrikalpe kush¢sapra- 
dane viniyoza# pirvasdiktasamaya (XIX, 38) uktah. 

The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, 
III, 198 ff.; cf. also Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, Index, 
p- 457b. For the nature of the kush/ha, see the introduc- 
tion to V, 4. 


* The quotation occurs neither in the Pish/arairyah Kalpa (Ath. 
Paris. 6), nor in the Aratrika (Ath. Paris. 7), but in the Purohita- 
karma (Ath. Paris. 4, 4), where it is quoted together with XIX, 38. 


XIX, 39. COMMENTARY. 677 


Stanza 2. 


b, ec. The two PAadas are translated in accordance with 
the text of the edition, which emends the MS. readings 
with great ingenuity, as follows: nagham4ré nagharishé nd 
ghaydm purusho rishat. For the two syllables naghd the 
MSS. everywhere present nady4; so also Shankar Pandu- 
rang Pandit’s MSS. of the text with Sayava’s commentary, 
and the Padap&tha (nadya). The Devanagari MSS. confuse 
badly, in the case of doubtful words, the characters for dya 
and gha ; see, e.g. the writings vamdya for vamgha, Kaus. 
8, 14, and apddya for ap4gha, 36, 22; 42,22; 82,4. Thus 
far the emendation seems therefore well founded, an impres- . 
sion which is strengthened by Sdyaza’s abortive attempts 
to get sense out of nady4 by correlating it with nadi, ‘ river,’ 
and even worse. As regards nagh4rishd of the edition, 
Shankar Pandit’s MSS. waver between nadydrishd, nad- 
yayushdé, and nadydyidshd, and the Ῥαάαρᾶζάα between 
nadyd-rishd# and nadyd-dyushak; the element Ayusha 
seems to be due to a secondary effort to contrast the word 
with mara in the preceding, and thus strain sense out of 
it. The formation nagh4risha is guaranteed by AV. VIII, 
2,6; 7,6, where it is also an epithet of a curative plant. 
By the side of purusho rishat the MSS. have also puru- 
shorshat and purusho vishat (Padapa//a: purushaé rishat, 
and purushas rishat). These emendations may be regarded 
as a specimen of the best that can be done with the corrupt 
text of the nineteenth book.—‘ Three names hast thou,’ 
i.e. na-gha-m4ra (‘forsooth-not-death’), and na-gha-risha 
(‘forsooth-not-harm’), in addition to the ordinary name 
kushzha. This refers to varieties of the plant (cf. V, 4, 8), 
which, in the common manner of the Atharvan, justify 
opportunistic formations, coined with the freest fancy, and 
expressive of salient qualities. 


Stanza 3. 
a. givald, ‘vivida, ‘quickening,’ or ‘full-of-life,’ is the 


honorific epithet of an independent plant (AV. VI, 59, 3; 
VIII, 2, 6; 7,6), probably the arundhati (see the introduc- 


678 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


tion to IV, 12). The Atharvan has a way of formulating 
qualities as father, mother, brother, &c. of the object they 
are attributed to; see the note on V, 5, I. 

b. I have not followed the edition in emending givanto, 
the unanimous reading of the MSS., to givalé. A glance 
at VIII, 2,6; 7, 6 shows givalém by the side of givantfm ; 
and givanta, givanti, givantika are sufficiently authenticated 
as names of remedial plants. The emendation seems entirely 
groundless, For another father of the plant, see V, 4, 9 b. 


Stanza 4. 


a. Cf. VI, 5,11; Ν, 4, 9 8, Ὁ, and alsorb. The fulsome 
praise in the manner of kathenotheism. When another 
plant is employed the expressions are no less exorbitant ; 
cf. e.g. VI, 15, 1. 


Stanza 5. 


a. The MSS. have tri simbubhyo dngirebhyas, or angi- 
reyebhyas, for which the vulgate substitutes boldly, trir 
bhv/gubhyo angirobhyas. I have followed it, not without 
some misgivings, in translating angirobhyas ; the text, how- 
ever, may possibly disguise some patronymic derivative of 
4ngiras. Sdyava comments upon angireyebhyas, with the 
words, afgirasim apatyabhditebhya/ s4mbubhyad. But 
I could not go so far as to substitute trir bhrigubhyo for 
triz simbubhyo, the lectio difficilior, apparently for the 
reason merely that the Bhyigu and Angiras are frequently 
mentioned together. Sambu and especially its patronymic 
SAmbavya are well authenticated, the latter being a school- 
name of a sautra-sikhé. The SAmbavya-gvzhyasatra is 
a version closely related to the Sankh4yana-grihyasiatra ; 
cf. Indische Studien, XV, 4 and 154. 

9. sikdm somena tish¢hati (cf. V, 4, 7b): both séma and 
kushz#a are mountain-plants; the former has the epithet 
girishzA4, ‘ dwelling upon the mountain,’ RV. IX, 18, 1, &c., 
and the mountains are called sémaprish/4a, ‘having soma 
upon their backs,’ AV. ITI, 21,10. For kish¢#a as a moun- 
tain-plant, see V, 4,1; VI, 95, 3. 


XIX, 39. COMMENTARY. 679 


Stanza 6. 


The same stanza at V, 4, 3; VI, 95,1, with the variant 
fourth Pada, ἀενά kushzkam avanvata; see the notes at 
V, 4,3. In Shankar Pandit’s edition with Sayaza’s com- 
mentary the last four Padas of the preceding stanza are 
here added at the end, as a refrain. 


Stanza 7. 

The same Stanza at V, 4,4; VI, 95, 2, with pushpath 
(pishyam) for #4kshavam in Pada 3, and dev4/ kush?dam 
avanvata in Pada 4; see the notes at V, 4,4. In Mr. Pandit’s 
edition the same refrain as in the preceding stanza; 


Stanza 8. 

a, b. It seems difficult to abstain from comparing with 
this passage certain features of the well-known legend of 
Manu and the flood. In the Sat. Br. I, 8,1, 6 the northern 
mountain upon which Manu’s ship settled is styled ‘ Manu’s 
descent, manor-avasarpazam, and in the version of the 
flood-legend in the Mahabharata I, 12795 (cf. also the 
Matsyopakhyana 49) it is called nau-bandhana. If the 
vulgate is correct in its restoration of the word {kshvako to 
ikshvdkor in the next stanza (y), ‘ the ancestor of Ikshvaku,’ 
i.e. Manu, may be imagined as landing with his ship upon 
the mountain, and finding the remedy. The Rig-veda, 
II, 33, 13, speaks of pure, most wholesome, and strengthen- 
ing remedies which ‘ Father Manu’ chose, and it seems 
altogether likely that the two independent legends should 
blend here in the mind of the poet, and that he should 
have in mind when speaking of the descent of his golden 
heavenly ship upon the Himalaya the very spot where 
Manu descended. Nevertheless it may be fairly questioned 
whether navaprabhramsana here is a proper name, and does 
not mean simply, ‘ where the (heavenly) ship descended.’ 
The character of the word as a compound is not at all 
secure. The majority of the MSS. of the Samhita read 
n&vaprabhrdmsanam with two accents, and one of Shankar 
Pandit’s MSS. has πᾶναλ prabhramsanam. The MSS. of 


680 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


the Padapda¢#a are divided between na ava: prabhramsanam 
and na ava prasbhrdmsanam. At any rate the ship which 
brings down the kush¢Za (Soma, the moon ?), and Manu’s 
ship, may have nothing to do with one another except 
their mutual suggestion. Pdda a seems to have stood ori- 
ginally, γάϊγα πᾶνάζ prabhramsanam. See Weber in Kuhn 
and Schleicher’s Beitrage zur vergleichenden Sprachfor- 
schung, IV, 288; Grohmann, Indische Studien, IX, 423 ; 
Zimmer, lI.c., p. 30; Eggeling, Sacred Books of the East, 
vol. xii, p. 218, note. 


Stanza 9. 


a. We have not translated the text of the vulgate, yas 
tva véda plirva ikshvakor, a by no means certain restora- 
tion, since the MSS. of the Samhita have ikshvako ({shvako), 
and those of the Padapa¢/a ikshvakak (ishvakak). SAyaza 
comments upon the nominative, puratana ikshvakd τὰ σᾶ, 
and that presupposes a more natural reading, yam tva véda 
ptirva ikshvakur, the one adopted for our version. Although 
this handles the text more severely, I could not get myself 
to feel certain that pfirva ikshvako/# could mean ‘the ancestor 
of Ikshvaku,’ as useful as this result is for the current inter- 
pretation of the preceding stanza!. 

b. The text is doubtful, the MSS. read kush¢#a kamyah 
(kamy&h). Accordingly Sayava takes kush¢/a as vocative 
and translates kamya/ as a patronymic, ‘the son of Kama.’ 
I could not follow him, but the treatment of the words in 
the vulgate as a compound, kush¢kakamya, ‘ women fond 
of kushZha,’ is also doubtful. Perhaps the use of the plants 
in unguents (AV. VI, 102, 3) is in the mind of the poet. 
Professor Whitney in the Index Verborum assumes a nomi- 
native singular masculine kush¢kakamyas. Ludwig, ‘ der 
den kushzha liebt (besser, der sohn derer, die den kushtha 
liebt).’ 

6. The text as translated is, yam vayasé yam matsyds. 


' Ludwig in the same sense suggests ρυϊγά f{kshvakor, ‘the son 
of Ikshvaku,.’ But why should this lectio facillima have been 
completely lost ? 


XIX, 53. COMMENTARY. 681 


The MSS. have yam va vaso (or v4so) yam Atsyas. Sayana, 
moreover, comments upon yamasya4, as follows: yamasya 
asyam iva 4syam yasya sa tadriso (vasak) etannadma devo 
veda. Métsya is the name of a royal sacrificer in Sat. Br. 
XIII, 5, 4, 9, and of a Rishi skilled in special practices in 
Tait. Br. I, 5, 2,1; and Vayasa, though not quotable as a 
proper name, might yet be such a one. But vayasa ordi- 
narily means ‘large bird,’ and matsya suggests matsya, 
‘fish.’ I see nothing good to be done with this suggestion. 
The translation of the Pada is altogether problematic. 


Stanza 10. 


a. The vulgate emends sirshalokam to sirshasokam, ‘ that 
burns the head’ (inadvertently omitted in the text). To 
be convinced, we need but watch Sdyaza’s contortions, 
when once he is misguided by the traditional text. He 
refers sirshalokam to the kushfha-plant instead of the tak- 
man : ‘ your head (O kush/a) is in the third heaven.’ But 
every epithet in PAdas a, Ὁ refers to the takman, as may be 
seen by comparing V, 22, 13; see the note to the passage. 

Ὁ. For sadamd{, see the note on V, 22, 13 b. hayana 
either sums up the varieties of the takman which are 
described in V, 22, 13 as sfradd, grafshma. and varshika, 
and would then have to be translated ‘occurring through 
the year ;’ or it means simply ‘yearly,’ i.e. occurring (at a 
given time) every year ;’ cf. visvasdrada at IX, 8,6; XIX, 
34, 10. Involuntarily one thinks, too, of Zend zayana, 
‘winter’ (Yasna 64, 20, Yasht 13, 8), and asks whether Vedic 
hayand does not primarily mean ‘ winter’ and ‘wintery ;’ 
afterwards poetically ‘year’ and ‘yearly.’ Then hayana 
here might be added as a fourth variety of the takman to 
the sarada, graishma, and varshika. Scarcely probable. 

6. For visvadhavirya, see V, 22, 3. 


XIX, 53. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 224. 


This and the following hymn, being theosophic and 
cosmogonic in character, play no part in the practices of 
the Atharvan, except that they are recited (under the 


682 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


designation kdlasdkta) along with the kamasdkta (AV. 
IX, 2), and the purushasikta (AV. XIX, 6=RV. X, go) in 
the tenth Atharva-parisishfa, the BhOmidana. Sdyaza has 
the following statement in his introduction to this and the 
following hymn: ‘kalo asvo vahati’ iti siktadvayasya sau- 
varzabhimidane 4gyahome viniyogas#, uktam hi parisish/e, 
anvarabhy4:tha guhuyét kamasdktam kdlasiktam purusha- 
sdktam (Ath. Paris. 10, 1). 

The hymn has been treated many times: Muir, Original 
Sanskrit Texts, V, 407; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 191; 
Monier Williams, Indian Wisdom, p. 25; Lucian Scher- 
man, Philosophische Hymnen aus der Rig- und Atharva- 
Veda-Sanhita (Strassburg, 1887), p. 78 ff.; Grill*, pp. 73, 
193 ff.; cf. also Hillebrandt’s Vedachrestomathie, p. 41. 
The Anukramazi ascribes the authorship of the hymn to 
Bhrigu, and defines stanzas 6-10 as, mantroktasarvatmaka- 
kéladevatya anush¢ubha iti. 


Stanza 1. 


ἃ. Sdyaza imagines the seven rays as being tied to the 
mouth, neck, and feet of the steed, and explains them as 
being the six seasons, each of two months, the thirteenth 
(lunar) month of the intercalary year being the seventh!. 
This is the same explanation as is offered by Sdyana at 
RV. I, 164, 2 for sdpta yuaganti, and Séyana to our pas- 
sage offers further in support of his interpretation RV. I, 
164, 15, where the thirteenth month is probably described ; 
see Haug, Vedische Riathselfragen und Rathselspriiche, 
p. 23 (Proceedings of the Bavarian Academy, 1876). 
Sayana here, as well as at RV. I, 164, 2, suggests the seven 
rays of the sun (cf. AV. VII, 107; X, 8,9; XIII, 3, 10) as 
an alternate explanation, relying upon YAska’s Nirukta 
IV,27. The occidental interpretations of this expression— 


1 For the thirteenth month, see Sat. Br, II, 2, 3, 27, and Professor 
Eggeling’s note on his translation, Sacred Books, vol. xii, p. 321, 
note 6. Also, especially, Professor Weber’s learned note in ‘ Die 
vedischen Nachrichten von den Nakshatra,’ II, p. 336, note. 


XIX, 53. COMMENTARY. 683 


none of them satisfactory—are enumerated by Scherman, 
pp. 78, 81, and Grill, p.193. I am inclined to believe in 
the kinship of our passage with RV. I, 164, 2, and also in 
a semi-lucid blending of the attributes of time with those 
of the sun. Cf. AV. XIII, 2, 39, where Rohita, a form of 
the sun, is identified with time; see Henry, Les Hymnes 
Rohitas, pp. 13, 44, and Contributions, Fourth Series, Amer. 
Journ. Phil. XII, p. 430. The Maitri-Upanishad states 
distinctly that the sun is the source of time, sdryo yonik 
kalasya (VI, 14). 

b. sahasraksha is an attribute of a great variety of divini- 
ties, and it does not, therefore, contribute to the definition 
of the passage, see the note on IV, 20,4; Sayama, saha- 
srakirazopetak, i.e. the sun. agara and bh(rireta% are 
attributes of the two Ushas at AV. VIII, 9, 12. The 
latter, in the RV., only of heaven and earth; the former, 
again, of an almost complete assortment of divinities. -One 
must not be too insistent with a later Atharvan production, 
the poet makes draughts upon the entire stock of mythic 
and cosmogonic ideas ; the poetic past is his kimadhuk ; 
he cares not for nicety of distinction. 

9. Sayaza: ‘The Rishis mount (i.e. control) time, 
svadhinam kurvanti, svadhinakél4 bhavanti. 


Stanza 2. 


a. The MSS. have éakr4n which Roth and Whitney 
emend to #akr&é; Shankar Pandit adheres to the MS. 
reading. SAyaza comments upon AakrAtnu vahati (sapta 
ritin anu anukramexa ... dhdarayati). The seven wheels 
occur again at RV. I, 164, 3. 12, where Sayama refers them 
to the seven modes of subdividing the year. But the 
scholiast to the present passage, again, as in st. 1, has in 
mind the seven seasons (sapta r7tin), i.e., the six seasons 
and the intercalary month. A wagon with seven wheels 
occurs also at RV. II, 40, 3, where it is employed by Soma 
and Pashan to carry the gods. Cf. also the Brihaddevata, 
IV, 32. 

b. Sayaza comments upon amritam tanv akshaé, to wit: 


684 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


asya aksha/# ἴδηι samtatam sikshmam amritam amaraza- 
dharmakam avinasvaram tattvam. 

ce. The MSS. have amgat, amgat (enclitic), and anyat. 
Shankar Pandit relying upon Sayaza adopts a#gat, which 
the latter renders by a#gan . . . vyaktikurvan. I do not 
see how we can well escape Roth and Whitney's emenda- 
tion to arvdn in the light of pratyan in the next stanza, and 
in that case it seems desirable to supply vahati, ‘carries,’ 
from Pada a, But we may render also, ‘he turns towards 
all these beings.’ Muir, ‘he is at present all these worlds ;’ 
Grill, ‘er fahrt herbei mit jenen wesen allen ;’ Ludwig, ‘er 
(fahrt) herwarts alle dise welten ;’ Scherman, ‘er (fahrt) 
herwirts kommend alle diese wesen.’ 

ἃ. All translators, except Scherman, render iyate as 
a verb of motion (Sdyaza, ix gatau)!; Scherman, ‘ Kala 
wird als der erste gott angefleht.’ Cf. Tait. Br. III, 12, 
g, 1, vigbhik pdrvahne divi deva fyate (schol. gakkhati), 
yagurvede tish¢kati madhye ahna#, simavedends stamaye 
mahiyate. Read seyate with crasis. 

Stanza 3. 

a. Ludwig explains the full jar as the sun: Sdyaza, 
better, as the year with its days and nights, months and 
seasons. The PAda is an irregular gagati (read ρῦγπάλ as 
three syllables). 

b. The MSS. of the vulgate, sdnta#, which is emended 
to sdntam. Shankar Pandit gives santas (accent!) as the 
reading of both Samhita and Padapd//a ; Sayana translates 
it by ‘good men,’ satpurusha#. The emendation can be 
avoided : ‘ him we sec being in many places’ 

6. Ludwig, ‘er (fiihrt) hinweg alle dise welten ;’ Scher- 
man, ‘er (K4la) [fahrt] zuriickgewandt alle diese Wesen.’ 
The Pada is antithetical to st. 2 c, and indicates decay and 
death as over against life and growth. Cf. Mait. Up. VI, 
14 (end), ‘From Time all beings flow, from Time they 
grow, and into Time they set.’ Possibly we may render, 
‘he turns away from all these beings.’ 


1 So also Ludwig here, but in the almost identical passage, X1X, 
54, 6, ‘wird angefleht.’ It seems impossible to decide. 


XIX, 53. COMMENTARY. 685 


Stanza 4. 


a,b. In both Pddas the caesura is after evd, the pas- 
sage before the caesura being defective; the first Pada is 
a gagati. Grill, p. 195, by way of amending the metre, 
goes far in the direction of composing the Padas anew. 
Ludwig reads san for sd in both Padas, and his suggestion 
is supported by one of Shankar Pandit’s MSS. of the Pada- 
pacha. He translates: ‘er allein ist, und als solcher hat 
er die welten gebracht, er allein ist, und als solcher kam er 
um alle welten herum.’ 

6. The caesura again after the first three syllables. 


Stanza 5. 


The metre is irregular, especially in the first Pada: the 
Anukramazi, nivrit (nifrit) purastadbrzhati. Read prithvir 
in Pada b, and possibly divaganayat in Pada a. 

b. The ‘three earths’ are meant; see IV, 20, 2, and_ 
our note on the same. Sdyawa, sarvapravyadhérabhatas 
prithiviz ; he also quotes RV. I, 108, 9. 

ce. The MSS., both Sashité and Padap4sha, kAlé ha. 
I follow Roth and Whitney in reading kAléna. 

ἃ. The MSS. unanimously, havis tisht#ate, which is 
emended by the same editors to ha vi tish¢kate. In this 
they were forestalled by Sdayaza, vi tisht#ate visesheva 
Asritam vartate. Grill, ‘auf grund des K4la steht es fest,’ 
a translation that seems less probable than ours. 


Stanza 6. 

a. The MSS. have bhitfm which Roth and Whitney 
have changed to bhfimim. Sayaza also comments upon 
bhatim, but he approaches closely to the value of bhamim, 
bhavanavag gagat. We with the vulgate. 


Stanza 7. 

In Tait. Ar. IX, 3-6=Tait. Up. III, 3 ff. the funda- 
mental principles praza, manas, vig#4na (similar to ndma 
in this stanza), and Ananda are described ; cf. especially 
the expression, 4nand4d dhy eva khalv im4&ni bhitani 


686 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


gayante with the second half of our stanza. See also 
AV. XI, 4, 4 ff., and Scherman, l.c., Ρ. 71. For the posi- 
tion of nama in philosophical cosmogony, cf. also Tait. Ar. 
111, 12, 7. 

Stanza 8. 

For discussions of tapas and brdhma, see Scherman, I.c., 
p. 2 (note on RV. X, 129, 3), and Grill, p. 196, both con- 
taining references to previous efforts in behalf of these 
words. SAyaza well translates tapas by, gagatsargana- 
vishayam paryalokanam. In explanation of gyéshtham he 
has, hirazyagarbhakhyam tattvam. His translation for 
brahma is mechanical: s4ngo veda#, ‘the Veda and its 
Angas.’ For PAda d, cf. our notion of ‘ Father Time.’ 


Stanza 9. 


ἃ. Paramesh/in is one of the numerous designations of 
the supreme being, almost monotheistic in character, which 
serves to form a transition stage from the earlier poly- 
theism to the pantheism of the Upanishads. Essentially 
the same idea is incorporated above in the term gyéshéha, 
which Sayawa fitly explains as hirazyagarbha, ‘golden 
embryo, another embodiment of the same idea. Simi- 
larly visvakarman, ‘ fabricator of the universe,’ svayambha, 
‘ self-existing ;’ cf. the next stanza, and AV. X, 7, 17. 


Stanza 10. 


ἃ. Kasyapa is a divine being identical or parallel with 
Pragdpati. This style of literature is likely ever to have 
in mind the pun of the Tait. Ar. I, 8, 8, kasyapak pasyako 
bhavati, ‘ Kasyapa is a seer,’ and this leads to the suspicion 
that the name is merely a personification of the sun; cf. 
our note on AV. IV, 20, 7. The epithet ‘self-existing ” 
must not be taken too literally: svayambhf{ is one of the 
many names of the supreme being (see the preceding note), 
and as such is mentioned along with the others. Muir, 
l.c., p. 408, note, suggests in the light of this passage the 
unlikely theory that, ‘this word must therefore be regarded 
as not necessarily meaning anything more than one who 


XIX, 54. COMMENTARY. 687 


comes into existence in an extraordinary and supernatural 
manner.’ 


XIX, 54. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 225. 


The hymn has been rendered by Muir, Original Sanskrit 
Texts, V, 408; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 191; Scherman, 
Philosophische Hymnen, pp. 80, 82. Cf. also the introduc- 
tion to XIX, 53. 

Stanza 1. 

See the Ka¢#a-Upanishad IV, 9: ‘ Both whence the sun 
rises, and where he sets—on him all the gods are placed ; 
no one whatsoever goes beyond that. This truly is that.’ 
Cf. also AV. X, 8,16; Sat. Br. XIV, 4, 3, 34=Brih. Ar. 
Up. I, 5, 23; and Tait. Ar. VIII, 8. 


Stanza 2. 


The MS. tradition reports this stanza as consisting of 
three (gayatri) Padas. But a better division of the re- 
mainder of the hymn results if we add two PAdas of the 
third stanza (making a pankti), fuse the remaining two 
Padas of stanza 3 with the first two of stanza 4, and the 
remaining two of stanza 4 with the first two of stanza 5. 
This leaves the last two (trish¢ubh) Padas of stanza 5 to 
make up one (our fifth) stanza, along with the two (trish¢ubh) 
Padas printed in Roth and Whitney’s edition as the sixth 
stanza'—an arrangement in form and sense manifestly 
superior to the traditional one. Sayaza makes this arrange- 
ment and deserves credit for it. 

d,e (=3a, bin the MSS.). The MSS. have kalé ha 
bhatdm bhavyam ka putré aganayat purad (one of Shankar 
Pandit’s Pada-MSS. pur4). Roth and Whitney emend, 
kalé ha bhitd bhavyam ka mdantro aganayat purd. We 
adopt this text with the exception of mdntro, for which 
we have retained the original putré. Sdyasa reads and 


1 Not so in Shankar Pandit’s MSS. of the text, where the 
arrangement is that of the vulgata, except that the last two trishfubh 
Padas are added to stanza 5, making it to consist of six Padas. 


688 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


comments, kalenaisva pitrd prerakeza putrak pragdpatiz 
bhatam, &c. 
Stanza 3. 


Made up of st. 3 c,d and 4 ἃ, Ὁ in the MSS. With it 
cf. Tait. Br. III, 12, 9, 1 and AV. XIX, 6, 13=RV. X, go, 
g= Vag. S. XXXI, γε: Ταῖς. Ar. III, 12, 4. 

ce (=4 a in the MSS.). The MSS. read kAlé yag#am 
sam airayan; one MS. of the Padap&¢ha corrects airayan to 
airayat, as also Sdyava, who reads and comments, sam- 
airayat udapadayat. Shankar Pandit adopts this reading, 
and it is at the base of our translation. Roth and Whitney, 
on the other hand, restore k4lé yag#4m sdm airayan, which 
is the text translated by all our predecessors. 


Stanza 4. 


Made up of 4 c, ἃ and 5 a, b of the MSS. 

ὁ (=5 a of the MSS.). SAyaza reads devé for divé, 
which leaves kalé to depend upon ddhi tish¢/ataZ, to wit: 
angira nama devas ...so*yam atharva atharvavedasrash/a 
devas ka kdle svaganake adhi tish/Aati. Shankar Pandit 
adopts Sayama’s text. 

Stanza 5. 


Made up of 5 c, d and 6 of the vulgata. 

b. vidhritiz is translated by Sayana futilely, lokadharakan. 
Muir’s ‘ ordinances’ is untenable in the light of the remain- 
ing occurrences of the word (cf. Pet. Lex.); Ludwig, ‘ die 
reinen vidhriti (zwischenraume, weltgegenden).’ Scherman 
cites KAand. Up. VIII, 4,1 and AV. IV, 35, 1 in support 
of the rendering ‘zwischenraume.’ Perhaps ‘ boundary- 
line’ comes nearest to the sense of the original. 

d. For iyate, cf. the note on XIX, 54, 2 d. 


XX, 127. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 197. 


The Vedic hymns furnish the germs of a not inconsider- 
able part of the themes of the later epic narratives, notably 
in the Mahabharata and the Purdzas. Especially the 
danastutis, ‘gift-praises,’ either independent hymns, or 


XX, 127. COMMENTARY, 689 


stanzas at the end of hymns, lauding the generosity of 
kings or sacrificers to the officiating Brahmans, appear as 
preliminary stages in the development of epic narratives 
in praise of warlike kings and heroes. Closely allied 
with these are the so-called gAth4 ndrasamsyas', ‘ stanzas 
which sing the praises of men,’ slokas which occur in the 
Brahmava-texts, dealing with this theme in exorbitant 
terms. The Brahmanical authorities agree in assigning the 
so-called kuntapa-hymns, XX, 127-136, to this kind of 
literature, and the opening stanza of XX, 127 leaves no 
room for doubting their correctness. The Ait. Br. VI. 
32 ff.? works up the material of the kuntapa-hymns at the 
sattras, the ‘soma-sessions, or prolonged soma-sacrifices, 
at which seventeen priests perform their functions. See 
Roth, Uber den Atharva-veda (Tiibingen, 1856), p. 6 ff.; 
Max Miller, History of Sanskrit Literature, p. 493; 
Haug’s translation of the Ait. Br., p. 430 ff, and Weber, 
Episches im vedischen Ritual, Proceedings of the Royal 
Prussian Academy, July 23, 1891, XXXVIII, p. 770 ff. 
(p. 4 ff. of the reprint). 

AV. XX, 127 consists of four pieces, dealing with dif- 
ferent themes ; the ritual employs each of them distinc- 
tively under the names nardsamsi, raibhi, parikshitt, and 
kéravy4. Two of these names, n4rasamsi and raibhi, occur 
as early as RV. X, 85, 6; Tait. 5. VII, 5, 11, 2. Quite 
a number of the stanzas of kuntapa-hymns are quoted in 
the Brahmazas, exhibiting essentially the same textual 
corruption as the Atharvan version. The S4nkh. Sr. XII, 
14 ff. exhibits them in full: AV. XX, 127= Sankh. Sr. XII, 


14-17. 


1 Sometimes gathaA (indragath4’) and nérasamsyah are differen- 
tiated, being mentioned separately, Tait. S. VII, 5, 11, 2; Kaush. 
Br. XXX, 5; Ait. Br. VI, 32, 3. 25; Sat. Br. XI, 5, 6,8; Asv. 
Grth. III, 3, 1 ff.; Yag#av. 1, 45. The Brrhaddevata, III, 154, 
states explicitly that the narfsamsi-verses are of the nature of 
danastutis. 

* Cf also Kaush. Br. XXX, 5; Sankh. Sr. XII, 14; Asv. Sr. 
VIII, 3, 7 ff.; Vait. SQ. 32, 19 ff.; Gop. Br. II, 6, 12 ff. 


[42] ae 


690 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


A. 

The first three stanzas, known in the ritual (Ait. Br. VI, 
32, 4 ff.; Kaush. Br. XXX, 5; Gop. Br. II, 6, 12) as the 
narasamsyah (sc. rikah), contain a danastuti. Their appli- 
cation, especially in the Ait. Br., contributes nothing to 
their elucidation. At Tait. S. VII, 5, 11, 2 the commen- 
tator defines them as manushyavishay4khyanapara rikak, 
‘stanzas devoted to the narration of human affairs.’ But 
narasamsa can scarcely fail to allude in some manner to 
narasdamsa (Agni); cf. the next two parts. 


Stanza 1. 


The Rusamas are praised as liberal bestowers of dakshiza 
in RV. V, 30, 12-15; cf. also RV. VIII, 3.12; 4,2. See 
Zimmer, p. 129. The stanza is quoted Asv. Sr. VIII, 3, 
10; S&nkh. Sr. XII, 14, 1. 


, 


Stanza 2. 


Cf. Sankh. Sr. XIT, 14, 2; RV. VIII, 5, 37; 6, 483 46, 
22; and Pischel, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. 
XXXV, 712. The second hemistich is textually corrupt 
and obscure. The sense seems to be that the chariot pre- 
sented by Kaurama as part of the dakshiv4 is so high that 
it seems to just dodge the heavens which in their turn flee 
from its contact. I read isham4w4(z) with the Pet. Lex., 
and Whitney in the Index. The MSS. have ishamawa(Z) ; 
the edition fsham4za(#). The word upasprésak I have 
taken as an ablative from the abstract upaspr/s, ‘touch, 
contact. The Pet. Lex. takes it as an adjective, ‘the 
touching heavens as they recede.’ The text of Sankh. Sr. 
XII, 14, 2 has gihilate for gihishate. 


B. 


The next three stanzas are known in the ritual as 
raibhya (sc. rikah); see Ait. Br. VI, 32, 7 ff.; Kaush. Br. 
XXX, 5; Gop. Br. II, 6,12. At Tait. S. VII, 5, 11, 2 the 
commentator explains them as referring to Rebha (Agni), 
rebhad sabdakrid agnif tadvishay4 rikak; Sayana at Ait. 


XX, 127. COMMENTARY. 6901 


Br.—where, as well as at Gop. Br., the treatment of them 
suggests nothing—defines them more vaguely as rebhasa- 
bdopetd rikak. Agni is unquestionably spoken of as rebha, 
e.g. RV. I, 127, 10; VI, 3, 6; 11, 3; it is therefore not 
easy to decide whether he, the divine chanter, is addressed 
here, or whether the poet, the human chanter, is urged to 
perform his function. I incline to the former view, having 
in mind especially the parallelism of st. 4 with RV. ITI, 
6,2. The text is very corrupt. 


Stanza 4. 


Cf. Saakh. Sr. XII, 15, 1, and RV. III, 6, 2, divas Rid 
agne mahind prithivyd vakyantam te vahnayad saptagihvad, 
‘by the greatness (Ludwig, 307, along the greatness) of 
heaven and earth may thy seven-tongued flames disport 
themselves, O Agni!’ For kshuré bhurigor, cf. the interest- 
ing kshuro bhrigv4n, Tait. 5. IV, 3, 12, 3 (bhvzgvan for 
bhurigvan, not in the lexicons), and Pischel in Vedische 
Studien, 1, 240, 243. 

Stanza 5. 

Cf. Sankh. Sr. XII, 14,4. I have translated rebhdso of 
the MSS.; the edition has the vocative rebhaso. The 
text of the second hemistich is very corrupt; its emended 
form in the edition is at the base of our rendering. 


Stanza 6. 
Cf. Sankh. Sr. XII, 14, 5, with important variants. 


Cz 


The next four stanzas are known in the ritual as the 
parikshityah (sc. rékahk); see Sankh. Sr. XII. 17; Ait. Br. 
VI, 32, 10 ff.; Kaush. Br. XXX, 5; Gop. Br. II, 6,12. The 
Ait. Br. and Gop. Br. advance as one of two expositions 
the theory that Agni is parikshit, ‘since he lives about 
among the people, and the people live around him.’ The 
text itself admits of no doubt: Agni Vaisvanara, the typi- 
cal god of Brahmanical piety (Sat. Br. I, 4, 1, 10-18), is 
a kindly ruler among men, and his presence secures the . 

Yy2 


692 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


prosperity of the golden age. In the later legends Pari- 
kshit is propagated variously as a terrestrial king. 


Stanza 7. 


Cf. Sankh. Sr. XII, 17,1. In Pada d we have trans- 
lated 4 srinot4 of the edition; the MSS. read 4 sunéta (cf. 
the Prakrit root su, ‘ hear’). 


Stanza 10. 


The first hemistich is problematic, the comparison of the 
overflow of the grain with the bursting forth of the light is 
bold, nay bizarre. The MSS. do not read svak, as does 
the edition with Sa4akh. Sr. XII, 17, 4. Perhaps σνά is to 
be read instead of sva& (cf. Bloomfield and Spieker in 
the Proc. Amer. Or. Soc., May, 1886; Journ., vol. xiii, 
p. cxvii ff.): ‘On the morrow the ripe barley bursts forth 
from the opening of the ground,’ i. e. grain planted to-day 
ripens on the morrow. The second hemistich occurs in 
a different connection at Vait. SQ. 34, 9; here also the 
MSS. read edhati for edhate, as emended in the edition. 


D. 


The last four stanzas are designated in the ritual as 
karavy4h (sc. rikah), ‘ referring, or pertaining to the poet ;’ 
see Sankh. Sr. XII, 15, 2-4; Ait. Br. VI, 30, 16 ff.; Kaush. 
Br. XXX, 5; Gop. Br. II, 6,12. The expositions contain 
nothing but a worthless pun with derivatives of the root 
kar, ‘make.’ The general sense of the stanzas is clear. 
Stanza 12 occurs with variants at Hir. Grth. I, 22, 9; 
Par. Grzh. I, 8, 10; Gobh. Grzh. II, 4, 6 (prattka); SV. 
Mantra-br. I, 3, 13. 


Stanza 14. 


d. For the skilfully emended 44no dadhishva, cf. Geldner, 
Studien zum Avesta, p. 58 ff.; Roth, Zeitschr. d. Deutsch. 
Morgenl. Gesellsch. XLVITI, 110. 


I. INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 


Abhayagaza, a list of hymns that 
secure immunity from danger, 


pages 398, 486, 542, 571, 576, 
663. 


abortion, and abortionist, 165, 521, 
524, 527. 

adaptation of mantras, lxiii, 297, 365, 
372, 380, 484, 525 N, 541, 548-9, 
563, 665. 

adhvaryu-priest, 184, 243; cf. ritvig. 

Aditi, 50-1, 97, 166, 179, 181, 183, 
186, 206, 212, 502, 610, 613, 

_ ., 629, 647. 

Aditya, 126-7, 192, 499, 661 ἢ. 

Adityas (plural), 6, 12, 55, 57, 89, 
116, 119, 135, 161, 163, 191, 
230, 443-4. 

adrishéa, and drishta, designations of 
Worms, 315, 351. 

Aga Ekapad, and Ekap§da, 208, 625, 
664. 

Agastya, a sage, 23-4, 33. 

Agni, 1, 3, 12, 14, 18, 24, 32, 35-6, 
40, 42-3, 47-9, 50, 52-3, 55-6, 
58, 60, 64-5, 75, 77-81, 85, 90, 
94, 104-5, 109-10, 112-3, 116-7, 
120-2, 126, 128, 134-5, 139, 
141, 146-9, 151, 154, 160, 163-6, 
170, 173, 175, 179-80, 182, 
184-5, 188, 190, 192, 194-5, 
201, 205, 208-11, 221-2, 226, 
231, 241,249, 254, 270-2, 308-9, 
323, 325-6, 328, 342, 353, 359, 
365, 373, 402, 408,422,443, 447, 
449, 454, 475,478,485, 498, 501, 
518, 525, 528, 533, 545 0, 552, 
554, 580, 592, 600, 612 n, 620, 
622, 627, 641, 645, 661, 664 
690, 691; Agnis, two, 216; cf. 
Garhapatya, Gatavedas, and 
Vaisvanara. 


agnihotra-sacrifice, 84, 122, 145, 
227. 

agnishtoma-sacrifice, 189, 226, 458, 
589. 


agrahayani-ceremony, 365, 551, 639. 
Akfiti, a goddess, 104, 535. : 
algandu, designation of worms, 22, 


314-5. 
Aligi, designation of a serpent, 28; 
cf, viligt. 
aliklava, designation of birds of prey, 


124, 155. 

All gods (visve deva), 6, 33, 39, 193, 
105, 113, 116, 119, 184. 

alliteration, 273, 345, 388, 576, 642, 
646, 663; cf. puns, and double 
meaning. : 

amholingagaa, designation of certain 
lists of mantras, 321, 509, 600, 
628. 

amrita (ambrosia), 4, 6, 10, 26, 43, 
53, 86, 135, 141, 147, 162, 185, 
190, 229. 

Amsa, a divinity, 160. 

amulet of the antelope’s skin and 

- horn, 336; of aralu, 339; of the 

asvattha-tree, 334; of barley, 
285, 507, 541, 546; of a brace- 
let, y6; of darbha-grass, 480; 
defensive, 394, 576; of the hairs 
of a Brahman, 477; of the 
gahgida-tree, 281, 669; of gold, 
63, 668; of herbs, 42; of karira- 
grass, 452; of khadira-wood in 
the shape of a ploughshare, 
84 ff., 608; of krishnala-berries, 
239; of licorice, 275, 276; of 
a lute-string, 561; to cause 
micturation, 236; of mud, 287 ; 
of mud sewn up in the skin of 
a newly-slain animal, 553; of 


694 HYMNS OF THE 


mufiga-grass, 234; of the parza- 
tree, 114, 332; of the par4-plant, 
305; Of pearl, 62, 383; of the 
patudru-tree, 573; of the 
sadampushpa-plant, 339; of 
salve, 381; of the skin of a bull 
pierced by a peg (?) 263; of 
the sraktya-tree, 79, 575; of 
a spear, 506; of γέλα, 476; 
of ten kinds of holy wood, 34, 
ag ff., 477, 578; of a thread 
that is red, 67; of the varaza- 
tree, 81, 402, 505, 605. 

Andhaka (Ardhaka), 155, 619. 

Angas, a people, 2, 446, 449. 

anger, charms against, 136 ff., 
479 ff. 

Angiras and Angirasa, mythic per- 
sonages, xxx ff., 38, 43, 73, 80, 
86, 89, 119, 127-8, 161, 163, 
171, 191, 225, 280, 433, 484, 
576, 673, 678; special meaning 
in contrast with Atharvan and 

tharvana, xviii ff., xxi ΕΣ, xxiii 
ff. xxxi, 219, 576, 580, 603, 
624. 

Angirasaé,designation of the Atharva- 
veda, xviii, xxxi; cf, Atharvan- 
girasas, Bhrigvangirasas, 

annaprasana, ceremony at the first 
feeding of a child, 575. 

antelope, buck, 32; horn of, 15, 336; 
skin of, 132, 215, 336, 439. 

ants (and earth from an ant-hill, 
cure poison), 27, 234, 287, 511, 
852 ff.; produce water (‘ piss- 
ant’), 9, 278 ; devour scorpions, 
30. 

Anumati, a female divinity, 98, 104, 
109, 143, 173, 304, 461, 535. 

Apim napat, a divinity, 589. 

aphrodisiaca, 370. 

Apri-hymns, 228. 

Apsaras and Apsar4§, 32, 80, 104, 119, 
125-6, 149, 160, 202, 205, 225, 
229, 324, 370, 408 ff, 414, 425, 
518, 520-1, 534-6; names of, 

. 33, 409 fF, 534. 

Aptyas, three water-divinities, 521 ff. 

Apva, divinity of evacuation from 
fright, 122, 325-7, 601; cf. 
Sakambhara. 

Araru, a divinity, 167, 485. 

Arati, demon of avarice and grudge, 
15, 57, 82, 109, 172 ff, 187, 
261, 423. 


ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Araya and Arayi, male and female 
demons, 66, 69, 70, 162, 205. 

Arbudi, name of a battle-divinity, 
123 ff., 631 ff.; cf. Nyarbudi. 

Ardhaka (Andhaka), 155, 619. 

arka and arka-songs, 112, 226. 

arrow, of love, 102, 358; parts of, 
4323 poisoned, as a homoeopa- 
thic cure for poison; ‘white- 
footed, four-footed,’ 127, 129; 
-wounds, charm against, 120. 

arteries, 11, 22, 259. 

Arya, 68, 72, 402. 

Aryaman, 20, 94-5, 99, 109, 143, 
160, 243, 323, 333, 491. 

Asa and Asapati, divinities, 486. 

Asita, a sage, 31, 107. 255. 

assembly and assembly-hall, 136, 
138, Igt-2, 206; charm to 
obtain influence in, 134 ff., 138, 
5433 spell in, 76. 

assignation, charm at, 105, 371. 

astrologers and fortune-tellers, |. 

Asura (sing.), 111, 241, 380 (Indra) ; 
Asuri (fem.), 16, 103 (Siren), 
268 ff.; Asuras (plural), 9, 11, 
21, 27, 62, 67, 71, 79, 80, 82-3, 
85-6, 127-8, 137, 199, 215, 
222-3, 268, 279, 341, 398, 500, 
516, 572. 

Asvins, 48, 52, 85,95, 100-1, 112-13, 
142, 160, 200, 229 ff., 310, 312, 
329, 389, 486, 503, 512, 581, 
587-9. 

Atharvan and Atharvanza, mythic 
sages, xxx ff., 148, 225, 588 n, 
688 ; Atharvans (plural), 33, 86, 
161; special meaning in contrast 
with Adgiras and Angirasa 
xviii ff., xxiii ff, xxxi, 219, 
603, 624; derivatives from the 
stem atharvan, xxiv; schools, 
relation of to one another, Ixi; 
teachers, xlii, lviii. 

Atharvingirasad, designation of the 
AV., xvii, xxx, xxxii, xlvii, 433; 
cf. Angirasaé, Bhrigvangirasad. 

Atharva-veda, names of and their 
meanings, xvii; position of in 
Hindu literature, xxviii; in the 
RV., xxx ff.; in the Saunakiya- 
samhit&, xxxi ff.; in the sruti in 
general, xxxiii; in the Tait. S., 
xxxvi; in the Sat. Br., xxxvi; 
in the Tait. Br., xxxvii; in the 
Upanishads, xl ff.; in the Grihya- 


v 


INDEX OF SUBJECTS, 


695 


sfitras, xliii ff. ; in the law-books, 
xlv ff.; in the Mahabh., li ff.; in 
classical literature in general, 
liv ff.; in Gaina and Bauddha- 
texts, lvi; in its own ritual 
literature, Ivii; relation of to 
the tray? vidya, xxxi, xxxv, 
lvi ff; srauta-practices in, Ixx. 

Atri, a sage, 23-4, 294, 319. 

Atrin, devouring demon, 37, 62, 
64-5. 

attractio similium, 241, 249, 270, 
443, 468, 542, 561, 564; cf. 
homoeopathy. 

auksha, a salve, 276, 324, 410; cf. 
the next. 

Aukshagandhi, name of an Apsaras, 
33, 324, 410, 

avarice against priests condemned, 
423. 


Balhikas, a people, 2, 446, 449. 

bali-offerings, 367, 473, 491. 

balsam, 94. 

barber, 57. 

barley, 13, 40, 43, 57, 87, 110, 162, 
204, 219, 232, 540; aS an 
amulet, 285; with water as 
a universal remedy, 507, 

battle-charms (samgramikazi), xliiin, 
xliv, 117 ΕἾ, 233, 262, 404, 510, 
545, 582; addressed to Arbudi 
and Nyarbudi, 631 ff.; to 
Trishamdhi, 637; -fire 325; 
-machines, 632-4. 

bdellium (guggulu), 94, 303, 322, 324, 
409, 548; healing properties of, 
40, 675; cf. Gugguld. 

beans, 110, 536 n; inflammatory, 
534; ‘bean-loves,’ 534. 

beasts of prey, 155-7, 161. 

Bhaga, a god, 33, 53, 94-5, 101, 135, 
140, 160, 173, 204, 312-13, 324, 


495. 

Bharadvaga, a sage, 89, 295 ff., 
319; -pravraska, ‘cleaver of 
Bharadvaga,’ designation of a 
staff aed, in witchcraft, 295. 

Bharatasvamin, a scholar, 340. 

Bharati, a female divinity, 512. 

Bhava, a god, 56, 75, 118-9, 155 ff., 
175, 402, 406, 585, 624, 618. 

Bheda, a royal sacrificer, 179. 

bheshagani, designation of the au- 
spicious parts of the Atharva- 
veda, xviii, xxi, xxxi ff., 628. 


Bhishag Atharvana in contrast with 
Ghors Abhgirasa, xxi. 

Bhrigu, a mythic personage, xxx ff, 
xxxii, χχχῖν, 171, 433. 

Bhrigvangirasas, designation of the 
Atharva-veda, xxvi, 433,616; cf. 
Angirasaé and Atharvangirasad. 

bhfisamskira, a ceremony, 640. 

birds of prey, 124-9, 155, 157, 2053 
nests, fire made of, 458; omi- 
nous and defiling, 82, 166 ff., 
186, 

Bishkala, 99, 245. 

‘biting rope’ (serpent), 147, 368. 

black food,’ 536. 

blood, charms against the flow of, 22, 
45,174, 234, 257, 385, 483, 531. 

blue and red (threads), magic colours, 
69, 120, 348, 395, 564, 566-7, 
583, 587. 

boar (finds plants), 43, 77, 137, 306. 

bodily characteristics, auspicious and 
evil, 109, 168, 260, 564. 

bracelet, as an amulet to secure 
conception, 96, 501-2. 

brahma, spiritual exaltation (neut.), 
87, 199, 202, 208, 211, 215-7, 
220, 224-6, 623, 627-30, 686. 

brahma-graha and brahma-rakshasa, 
designations of demons, 290-1. 

Brahmadarin (Brahmanic disciple), 
deified and glorified, 214, 626. 

Brahman, the god, 94, 127, 592. 

Brahmaaa, cosmic, 25. 

Brahmanaspati, a divinity: see Bri- 
haspati. 

brahmazoktam (ceremony), 569, 623. 

Brahman-priests, designated as gods, 
529, 616, 652, 659; as thieves(?), 
3723 prayers in the interest of, 
169 ff.; invective against op- 
pressors of, 169 ff., 430 ff., 5223 
inviolableness of their cows, 
169 ff., 430 ff. ; as fourth priests 
in the Vedic sacrifices, lviii, Ixii, 
Ixy, Ixviii. 

brahmaudana (Brahman'’s porridge), 
preparation of, 179 ff., 185 ff., 
528, 610, 645 ἢ, 653. 

Brahma-veda, designation of the 
Atharva-veda, xxvii, xliii n, lix, 
lxii ff. 

brahmodya, Vedic charades, Ix, Ixiv, 
398, 625, 644, 667-8. 

brandy (sura), 84, 231, 362, 493, 
534, 578, 591; cf. liqucr. 


696 


HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


breath of life, deified, 218 ff., 622 ff., 
629; cf. Prana. 

bridal couple, love charms spoken 
by, 96, 546; cf. wedding. 

-Brihaspati (Brahmanaspati), a god, 
XXili, 29, 32, 44) 47, 49) 50, 52, 
63, 65, 79, 85 ff, I10, 119, 
126-8, 135, 140, 143, 160, 163, 
178, 193, 211, 213, 485, 541, 
552, 554, 596, 610, 660. 

Brihatsiman, a Brahman, 171. 

broom-straw (?), 26. 

brotherless maidens, 22, 258. 

bull's skin, 379 ff. 

burial ground, practices at, 77, 431. 

business, practices preparatory to, 
148, 349, 352, 490, 532, 619. 


Calamity, protection against, 158, 
406; charm against, addressed 
to the Vedic pantheon, 160, 
628; cf. misfortune. 

calf: see cows. 

calumny, charm against, 481. 

castration, 406, 545. 

cattle, charms for their prosperity, 
142 ff., 303, 351, 412 Hf, 490; 
charm to restore strayed, 150, 
496; marking of, 174, 658; 
naming of, 3173 sacrifice of, 
226, 228; worms in, 3173 cf, 
cows. 

cave of animals, 322. 

chariot, divine, 120; -builder, 144; 
cf. wagon. 

child-birth, ceremonies at (gata- 
karma), 293. 

chiromancy (samudrika), 260. 

cleft ground, scene of witchcraft, 


288 ἢ. 

conception, charm to secure it, 96, 
501. 

consecration: see king; for the 


soma-sacrifice, 498. 

‘consecration, great:’ see maha- 
santi. 

constellation, lucky, 110; unlucky, 
109, 517; charm for a child 
born under an unlucky, 109, 
517; Male, 356; fading away 
of (symbolic fading of disease), 
16. Names of: ashadbah, 412 ; 
gyeshthaghni, 109; m@la and 
mfilabarhami, 288, 517-8, 525; 
vikritau, 13, 15,110, 288, 517-83 


saptarshayab, 52, 161, 179 ff., 
390, 563. 

cosmogonic hymns, 199 ff. 

couch, symbolic of possession, 327. 

cows, charm to secure their return, 
150, 414; of the Brahmans 
inviolable, 169 ff., 430 ff.; kick- 
ing of sinful, 214; slain by 
Rudra (fsénahata), 253; and 
calves attached to each other, 
108, 144, 190, 493; with a calf 
of the same colour, 240, 303, 
356, 367; cf. cattle. 

creators, ten, 226. 

creeper, symbol of a loving woman, 
100. 

cross-roads, 292, 448, 473, 519, 5425 
cf. fork of the road. 

curses, charms to obviate them, 91, 


93, 285, 556. 


Daksha, 444. 

Danavas, 85. 

dancing sprites, 33, 149, 410, 413- 

danger, protection from, 155 ff., 160, 
618 ff. 

dasi, non-Aryan servant-woman : 
see slave-girl. 

Dasyus, 67, 83, 86, 203, 222. 

death, from hunger and thirst, 69 ; 
messengers of (cf.dogsof Yam2), 
118; of a teacher, expiation of, 
528; personified as a teacher, 
216; tracks of effaced, 436. 

debate, charm to secure success in, 
137, 275, 304 ff, 644. 

debts, discharge of, 528. 

defilement by black birds, 167, 555. 

demons, charms to drive them away, 
I fi., 33-9, 64 ff., 66, 290, 298, 
339, 407-8, 669 ff.; female, 
varieties of, 636, 638. 

Deshéri, a goddess that guides, 219. 

desires, charms for their fulfilment: 
see wishes. 

Dhiatar, a god, 20, 54, 81, 86, 94-5, 
126, 160, 324, 387, 389. 

dice, 88, 116, 144, 149-51, 169, 391, 

“ 470, 493; ill-luck at, 69; cf. 
gambling. 

diksha, consecration for sacrifice, 
227. 

directions, and regions of space, 14, 
39, 86, 161, 203, 223, 225, 380, 
647, 650, 655; enumerated, 188, 


INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 


192, 196; four, 120, 156, 199, 
206, 216, 222, 3673 five, 113, 
1623; six, 68, 207, 222; inter- 
mediate, 120, 212, 223 ; distant 
regions, 304; distances, three, 
92; of heaven and earth, 99; 
north-eastern direction (apara- 
gita), 305, 379, 644. 

disaffected people, loyalty of re- 
stored, 240. ᾿ 

discord : see strife. 

diseases, charms against, 1 ff. Enu- 
meration οἵ: abscess (vidradha), 
40,47. 531,602; ag#atayakshma, 
‘unknown disease,’ 40, 342,531} 
ague, 448; akshata (tumour), 
488, 562; alagi, 602; apakit 
(scrofula), 17 ff, 472 ff, 503, 
558-9; arishta, 513; Asarika, 
280, 637; Asrava (excessive dis- 
charges), 483; balasa, 2, 8, 39, 
40, 42, 46, 57, 61, 280, 383, 
442, 450, 463, 531, 575, 601, 
674; blood, flow of, 40, 531, 
657; ‘breaking disease,’ 38; 
of children, 341, 343; colic, 11, 
283, 506; constipation, 10, 233, 
235; consumption, 49, 247, 415, 
442 N, 450, 463; convulsions, 
37, 55, 283, 467; cough, 2, 7, 
8, 247-8, 442, 513; deformity, 
72; demons of disease, 33-9, 
339; diarrhoea, 46, 233, 325, 
327) 445, 483, 601; discharges, 
excessive, 8 ff., 277, 481, 6723 
dropsy, 11 ff., 42, 89, 241, 450, 
471, 509, 530, 562; ear-ache, 
40, 44-5; epilepsy, 264, 513; 
of the eye, 5, 12, 24, 30, 40, 
47, 415, 454, 464: fever (tak- 
man; cf, takmanasana), of all 
sorts, 1 ff., 39, 46, 60, 157, 218, 
233, 246, 270, 273 ff., 280, 415, 
441-2, 445, 451, 468, 470, 569, 
676, 681; fractures (cf. wounds), 
19, 384; galunta (swelling), 17, 
505; gambha, 280, 283, 467, 
572; gayanya (tumour), 17, 
560-1; gout (in heels and toes), 
12; grahi (fit, seizure): see the 
word; head-ache (sirshakti), 5, 
7, 45-6, 248, 252, 415, 442, 
657; heart-disease, 7, 12, 40, 
264, 471; hemiplegia, 500 n; 
hereditary disease (kshetriya), 
13 ff, 47, 67, 286 ff, 293, 302, 


697 


336; inflammation, 531; jaun- 
dice, 7, 8, 46, 61, 263, 442, 445, 
471, 5663; leprosy (kilasa), 16, 
266, 415, 441, 450; mania: see 
the word; of nails, 521; neu- 
ralgia, 40, 45-7, 506; paman 
(eruption), 2, 442, 450; para- 
lysis, 13, 5003 préshtyamaya, 
280; ragayakshma, ‘ king’s evil’ 
(syphilis ?), 342, 415, 5613 rheu- 
matism, 282, 506; samskandha 
(disease or demon), 38, 280, 
283, 672; scrofula and scrofu- 
lous sores (cf. apaéit), 17 ff., 
472, 488 ff, 503 ff, 558-9; 
spasm, 2; St. Vitus dance, 513; 
transmission of, 47, 309; of 
teeth, 24, 72, 454, 521; tu- 
mours, 17, 19; udyuga, 450; 
vatikara, vatikrita (inflation, 
winds), 10, 22, 246, 483, 516, 
602; venereal disease, 341; vi- 
klindu, 174, 658; vilohita, 600, 
657; visara, visarika, 280, 284, 
673; visarpaka (visalpaka), 531, 
601; vishkhanda (cf. sam- 
skandha), 37-9, 61, 65, 67, 257, 
280, 282, 339, 382,672; worms 
in all parts of the body, 22-24, 
313 ff.; worms in children, 23, 
452; wounds (cf. fractures), 
20-1, 419, 516; yakshma, 247, 
291, 337, 416, 463, 468, 505,507. 

dogs, 106 (watch-dog ?); as beasts 
of prey, 129; heavenly (sun and 
moon), 13, 500; bitch, four- 
eyed, 68; of Rudra, 158; of 
Yama (messengers, four-eyed), 
54, 59, 60, 167, 318, 404, 422, 
500, 571. 

double meaning, 238, 250, 254, 259, 
306, 313, 346, 381, 386, 544, 
549, 645, 664; cf. alliteration 
and puns. 

dreams, evil, 12, 61, 69, 82, 167, 
221, 394, 483 ff, 592, 605, 642. 

dridbikarmani, a ceremony, 640. 

driveling woman, 109. 

Druh, demon of deceit, 14-5. 

drum (hymns to), 117, 130 ff., 204, 
436 ff.; spell in, 77. 

Dvita, a water-god, 521-2. 

‘dwelling, mistress of,’ 140, 194-5, 
346; cf. house. 

Dyu, a sky-god, 50; female of Srya, 
661, 665. 


698 HYMNS OF THE 


Eagle, 16, 77, 132, 137, 146, 190, 
306; finds healing plants, 306, 
375; heavenly (lightning), 68, 
241, 401, 581. 

ears of cattle, pierced, 174, 658. 

earth, mother of plants, 235; god- 
dess, 180, 199 ff, 639 ff.; lump of 
(curative), 234, 287, 475, 552: 
froin a bee-hive, 427; from a 
mole-hill, 427; -quake, 640; 
carths, three in number, 30, 68, 
400, 471, 631, 686; earths, nine 
in number, 228, 631. 

eclipse of moon, 5333; of sun, 294, 
662 τ. 

effigy, human, in witchcraft, 72, 359, 


534. 

Ekata, a water god, 521--2. 

elephant, 76, 116, 144, 195 (female), 
202. 

enema, 236. 

enemies, charms against, 89, 92-3, 
325, 334, 484, 544, 557. 

eunuch, 108, 130, 538. 

evil, charms against, 163, 5093 eye, 
61, 91, 285-6, 474 (cf. papma- 
gaza); deposited in a garment, 
654; qualities, personified as 
divinities, 423 ; thoughts, elimi- 
nation of, 594. Cf. sin. 


Fathers, 10, 54, 59, 69, 73, 87, 119, 
126, 138, 161-2, 166, 170-1, 
175, 180, 183-4, 186, 196, 223, 
229, 254, 384, 456, 544, 585, 
603-4, 612, 660. 

fire, charm for security against, 147, 
514; battle-fire (senagni), 325 ; 
ina battle-charm, 121; digestive 
(gatharigni), 242; ftorest-fire, 
107, 443, 468; funeral-fire, 77. 

fish and fishermen, 154. 

five peoples (1uces), 92, 201, 204. 

fork of the road, 163; cf. cross-roads. 

fortune, charm to procure it, 253. 

frog (symbol of water and coolness), 
4, 348, 350, 514-5, 565. 

funeral practices in sorcery and 
imprecations, 254, 297, 4353 
funeral-fire, spell in, 77; tuneral- 
cow (anustarami), 253. 


Gamadagni, a sage, 23-4, 31, 319. 

Gambling, gamester, and gambling- 
Place, 76, 88, 144, 149-50, 191, 
391, 412, 544, 548; cf. dice. 


ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Gimi, a goddess, 323. 

Gandhiri, a people, 2, 446. 

Gandharvas, 31, 33-4, 43, 80, τῷ, 
125-6, 160, 202, 205, 210, 214, 
225, 229, 254, 323, 370, 408 ff, 
413, 520-1, 534, 536; hamesot, 
5343 Gandharvi, 520-1. 

Garhapatya (Agni), 165, 167. 

Garuda and Garutmant, 25, 268 ff, 
306, 401; cf. eagle. 

Gatavedas (Agni), 18, 54, 57, 64-5, 
83, 88, 98, 106, tro, 116, 121, 
149, oe 180, 183, 208, 541, 
5450; (A ditya), 127. 

gatha nardsamsyab, a class of man- 
tras, 689. 

Gaya, a sage, 107, 255. 

gayatri,a metre, 112, 208; in relation 
to Agni, 664. 

gharma, 119; three gharmas, 230, 
590. 

Ghora Angirasa in contrast with 
Bhishag Atharvama, xxi. 

gifts, prayer at the receipt of, 196 ; 
praise of him that b-stows them 
(danastuti), 197, 688; three, 
181, 613. 

glory, prayer for, 117, 478; cf. lustre. 

goat-footed woman, 109. 

godina-ceremony, 307, 574, 665. 

gods, ageless, 365; sinful: see sin; 
sleepless, 200. 

gold, 94, 116, 183, 192, 196, 264, 
322, 348, 384, 477, 617, 654, 
668 ff.; as an amulet, 63 

golden age, 198, 692. 

golden ship (soma, the moon?), 4, 
6, 415, 680. 

Gotama, a sage, 319. 

gourd used in charm against ser- 
pents, 428. 

Grihi (fit, seizure), a female demon, 
15, 34, 49, 57) 165, 187, 525. 

grain, charm to produce increase 
of, ee 499; expiatory offering 
of, 528. 

gramayégin, -yagaka, and pfigaya- 
giiya, an inferior kind of priest, 
xl n, li, 580. 

greed and worldliness, expiation of, 


494. 
Guggulfi,an Apsaras, 33; cf.bdellium. 


Hair, charms to promote the growth 
of, 30 ff., 470, 536. 


INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 


699 


aS 


hamsa, a bird (the sun), 28, 462. 

haplology, 398. 

happy kingdom, 198, 692. 

haridrava, yellow wagtail, 8, 266, 

harmony, agreement, peace, charms 
to secure them (sammanasy4ni), 
xxix, xliv n, 134 ff, 492, 494-5, 
508, 550; between cow and 
calf, 493. 

havis (technical), 479, 492, 496 n, 
498, 500. 

health, charms to secure it, 44-5, 


49 ff 

heat, fever cured by (attraction), 
270. 

heavens, three, 68, 400, 416, 631; 
nine, 228, 631; cf. oceans, 
nine. 

hell (nethermost darkness), 177, 191, 
211, 221-3, 242, 301. 

hemp (fastens amulets), 37, 162, 281, 
284, 582. 

herald, 131. 

hermit, personification of the sun, 
403. 

Himavant-mountains  (Himilaya), 
4-6, 12, 61, 415, 679. 

Hiranyagarbha, the supreme. god, 
629, 686. 

holiness and beneficence, female 
personifications of, 602. 

holy work thwarted, 89; ‘ holy 
water,’ 379, 393, 504, 540, 

homoeopathy, 264, 443, 481, 506, 
566; cf. attractio similium. 

honey, mixture of, for guests, 84; 
symbol of agreeableness, 277 
(cf. licorice, and sugar-cane) ; 
honey-lash of the Asvins, hymn 
to, 229, 587. 

hook, to rake in wealth with, 503. 

horse, charm to endow it with 
swiftness, 145, 507; of Pedu, 
152 ff., 605, 607 (cf. Pedu, and 
Paidva-ceremony); sacrifice of, 
662, 666; of Yama, 21, 422. 

hostile powers, charm for exposing 
hidden, 398. 

house, prayers and practices at the 
building of, 140, 343, 494; 
parts of, 140, 193 ff, 243, 343, 
497, 596-8; purification of the 
entrance of, 298; presented as 
a gift to Brahmans, 193, 595, 
598; removal of, 193, 5953 
varieties of, 597. 


Hrfidu, designation of fever, 3, 27 3. 
human sacrifice, ransomed, 360. 
hundred and one, 50, 162, 168, 170, 
397, 433, 565; cf. ninety-nine. 
husband, charms to obtain one 
(pativedanani), 94-5, 217, 322, 


491. 
hymns of the Atharva-veda, arrange- 
ment of, 247. 


Ichneumon (and serpent), 43, 103, 
540, 580; cf. porcupine, 

Ida, a goddess, 512. 

ftkshvaku, a king, 6, 679-80, 

Indra, 18,22, 24, 32-4, 38-9, 48-9, 
51, 53-5, 58, 63-6, 71, 75, 
77-81, 85, 89-92, 95, 103, 105-6, 
108, 112-17, 119-23, 125-33, 
136-40, 143, 145-6, 148-9, 
151-3, 160, 162-3, 169-70, 173, 
179, 183, 188, 192-3, 195-6, 
198, 200-1, 203-4, 207, 210, 
213-15, 217, 221-3, 226, 231, 
241, 256-7, 268, 280, 294, 311, 
315, 324, 328-9, 331, 342, 349-- 
5°, 353, 367, 370, 380, 402, 
433, 440, 454, 476, 478, 500, 
503, 522, 547-9, 551, 554, 583, 
596, 627, 633, 655, 663; Indra 
Brahmanaspati, 163; seduced 
by an Asuri, 103, 268, 547; his 
mother, 116, 478. Cf. Magha- 
van, and Sakra. 

indramaha and -mahotsava, a festival, 
353, 405, 510. 

Indrani, 105, 354, 536; indranzya 
rsham, and indrany-upanishad, 


354. 
ingida, and ingida-oil, used in sorcery, 
. 334, 476, 496, 582. , 
insects, in the field, 142, 485; poison- 
ous, 29. 
intercalary month and year, 682-3. 
inundation, charm to prevent. it, 
349 
investiture with the holy cord 
(upanayana), 240, 364, 381, 383, 
551, 569, 574, 623. 
fsana, a god, 253 ἢ, 618. 
ishta-pfirtam, 297. 


Jackal, 306. 
jealousy, charms against, 18, 106 ff., 


467, 547, 559. 
‘jewels’ of the king’s court, 333. 


700 HYMNS OF THE 


Kabava (demon ἢ), 67, 339-40. 

kairata, designation of a serpent, 28, 
427; cf. Kirata-maiden. 

Kala (time) personified, 224 ff., 629, 
681, 687. 

kAlakafga, three (heavenly phenome- 
non), 13, 500. 

Kama, love personified, 102, 175, 
220 ff., 311, 359, 591, 629, 682; 
myth of, 535. 

kanaknaka, designation of poison, 
154, 608. 

Kanda, a demon, 66, 301. 

kAndi-poison, 154, 608. 

Kandra, and Kandramas (moon-god), 
10, 17, 85, 120, 128, 161. 

kankaparvan (scorpion), 29, 553. 

Kanva, demon of disease, 36, 3023 
name of a sage, 23-4, 33, 71, 
315, 318-9, 397. 

karavyas, designation of certain 
stanzas, 689 ff. 

karki, designation of a white calf, 
150, 413-4. 

karsapha (a demon ?), 67, 339. 

kasarnila (kasarzira), designation of 
a serpent and serpent-rishi, 152, 
607. 

Kasyapa, a sage, 33, 45, 80, 107, 
225, 255, 322, 577) 686; eye of 
(the sun), 68, 403; Kasyapas 
(plur.), 210, 

daturthi-karma, a wedding-practice, 
276, 546. 

Kaurama, a tribe, 197. 

Kesaraprabandha, a woman, 170, 


432. 

Kesin, a divinity, 157, 620. 

kilala, a sweet drink, 206, 

Kimidin, a kind of demon, 64, 68, 
205, 238, 403. 

king, practices pertaining to the, li, 
111 ff., 404, 477 (cf. sovereign 
power) ; consecration of (raga- 
siya), 111, 226, 239, 333, 346, 
378, 405, 661, 663; election of, 
113, 3303 restoration of an 
exiled, 112, 327, 330; marriage 
of, 498; charm to ensure him 
superiority, 115, 404; compared 
with Indra, 112; with a leopard, 
112; with a lion and tiger, 115; 
and purohita, mutual rites be- 
tween, Ixi, 379. 

kinswoman, curse of, 14. 

Kirata-maiden, 153; cf. kairdta, 


ATHARVA-VEDA. 


Aitrakarma, a ceremony, 666. 

krisa, designation of a bird, 352. 

Krisanu, a heavenly archer, 401. 

kshatram, represents the Atharvan 
and its practices (?), xxv. 

Kshetrapati, a divinity, 486. 

AGdakarana, a ceremony, 309, 574. 

Kumira, a god, 326; cf. Skanda. 

kuntapa-hymn, 197, 688. 

Kuru, a country, 198. 


Lakshmi, 261, 565. 

Lalamt (woman with spot on the 
forehead), 109, 261-2. 

lash (whip), parts of, 231 ff., 591. 

lead, in sorcery, 65, 256 ff., 299. 

legends, 268 ff., 270 ff., 535, 537, 
604, 629, 679. 

leopard, 112. 

licking the young, sign of-affection, 
101. 

licorice (imparts attractiveness, and 
persuasiveness), 99, 101, 275—6, 
311, 415, 552; cf. honey, and 
sugar-cane. 

lightning, 193; charm to protect 
grain from, 142, 543; cause of 
fever, &c., 7, 246; cures fever 
(attraction), 271; as ‘honey- 
lash,’ 588. 

lion, 112, 115-6, 139, 132, 205, 380, 
477. 

liquor, 141, 144; cf. brandy, and 
kilala. 

locust, 142. 

longevity, charms and prayers to 
secure it, 49 ff., 52, 55-6, 58, 
60, 114, 239 N, 306, 309, 321, 
342, 418, 455, 551-2, 569 ff, 
573, 623, 668. 

lost property, charm to find it, 159, 
542. 

lotus, lotus-root, 147, 236. 

love-charms, 99 ff., 103 ff., 274, 311, 
358, 4155 459, 512, 534 ff, 539. 

lustre and strength, charms to secure 
them, 116, 477, 642. 


Madhubrahmaza, 587 n. 
madhugraha, 589. 

madhusfikta, 589. 

Magadha, a country and tribe, 2, 


446, 449. 
Maghavan (Indra), 94, 121, 151, 
324. 


INDEX OF 


magic identification of two persons, 
310. 
Magundi, daughters of (demons), 66, 


301. 

Mahadeva (Rudra), 133. 

mahanamni-verses, 226, 631. 

mahiasAnti, ‘ great consecration,’ 393, 
446, 448, 474, 602, 669. 

Mahiavrisha, a tribe, 1, 2. 

maiden, mythical first husbands of, 


323. 

male child, rite for begetting one 
(pumsavana), 97, 356, 460. 

mania, charms to secure it, 32, 417, 
518. 

Manmatha, god of love, 311. 

Manu, 67, 96, 679. 

Manyu, wrath personified, 223, 594. 

Mariéi, an Apsaras, 414. 

Marka, a demon, 301. 

marks of the body, good and evil: 
see bodily characteristics. 

married couple, blessing for, 96, 
546. 

marrows, eight, go. 

Maruts, 48, 53,90, 104,112-3, 121-2, 
126, 132, 135, 140, 146, 151, 
183-4, 188, 207, 230, 266, 328, 
548, 663. 

Ma§tali, 162, 629. 

Matarisvan, 53, 205, 216, 219. 

matrmamani and matrigaza, desig- 
nation of certain mantras, 399, 
518-9; cf. mothers. 

Matsya, a sage, 6, 681. 

messengers of death, two, 167; cf. 
dogs. 

metal-worker, 114. 

metres, 112, 186, 208-9, 227, 345, 
664. 

micturation towards the sun, sinful, 
214, 668, 

miscarriage, charms to prevent it, 
97-8, 298, 302. 

misfortune, removal of, 364; cf. 
calamity. 

Mitra, 10, 37, 39, 50-1, 91, 102, 105, 
109, 113, 116, 122, 126, 153, 
160, 172, 175, 195, 210-1, 216, 
331, 349, 436, 557. 

mixed grain, spell in, 76. 

mole, 142; mole-hill, earth from, 
427. 

mosquitoes, buzzing of, 36. 

‘ mothers,’ divinities, 644; cf. ma- 
trinamani, 


SUBJECTS, 701 


mourners, female, 55, 124-5, 127, 
156, 634, 638. 

mrigirasfiktani, designation of cer- 
tain hymns, 252, 298. 

Mrityu, death personified, 133. 

Mfigavant, a tribe, 1, 2, 446, 448. 

mule, symbolic of sterility, 120, 
545. 

Mufgavant, a mountain, 278. 

mustard against ophthalmia, 464. 


Nabhasaspati, a god, 142, 499. 

nadi, ‘river,’ etymology of, 349. 

nakedness of man, 192. 

Nasdiketas, 424. 

Naladt, name of an Apsaras, 33. 

name-giving (namakarana), cere- 
mony of, 573. 

Namuii, a demon, liv, 256-7, 583. 

Nar a sage, 172,175 ff., 435, 658, 
660. . 

narasamst, designation of certain 
stanzas, 689 ff. 

Nardabuda, 634; cf. Nyarbudi. 

N§rshada, a patronymic, 397; cf. 
Nrishad. 

new-moon, night of, fit for sorcery, 
256, 408. 

new-moon and full-moon sacrifices, 


559- 

Night, personified, 20. 

ninety-nine, 172, 433; cf. hundred 
and one. 

nirmayana-ceremony, §74. 

Nirriti, demon of destruction and 
misfortune, 14 ff., 36, 49, 52-3, 
57, 82, 90, 92, 166 ff, 173, 183, 
187, 423, 474, 556-7, 564, 617. 

Nissala, a female demon (?), 66, 
300. 

nivid-formulas, 228. 

Nrishad, a sage, 71; cf. Narshada. 

Nyarbudi, a battle-god, 123 ff., 631 ff; 
cf. Nardabuda, and Arbudi. 


Oceans, nine, 228 ; 
nine. 

ominous birds, charms against, 166, 
474 ff., 619; ominous sneezing, 
$2. 


cf. heavens, 


oracles, 243, 295, 303, 323, 491. 
ordeals, with fire, 294 ff. 
ox (anadv4an), apotheosized, 624. 


Paidva-practice, 357, 460, 605 ff.; 
cf. Pedu, and horse of Pedu. 


702 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


panaceas, 40-1, 252, 302, 321, 406, 
473, 597, 509, 530, 578, 600. 

pawkakalpa, and -kalpin, a priest 
who practices Atharvan sorcery, 
xxviii, liii, 

pankti, a metre, 186, 209, 212. 

pantheon, Vedic, addressed in prayer, 
160, 628. 

panther, 116. 

papmagana, a certain list of mantras, 


474. 

Paramesh¢din, the supreme god, 80, 
84, 208-10, 215, 225, 629, 665, 
686. 

Parganya, a rain-god, 8, 10, 43, 52, 
116, 153, 161, 200, 204, 233-6, 
588, 623-4. 

parigrihya, designation of a fire-altar 
(vedi), 379, 641. 

Parikshit, a king (Agni), 197 ff, 
όοι ff. 

parikshiti, designation of certain 
stanzas, 689 ff, 

parrots, 8, 144, 264 n. 

parturition, charm to make it easy, 
99, 242. 

Parushzi, a river, 29, 462. 

Pasupati, a form of Rudra, 155 ff, 
161, 618. 

Pathya Svasti, a divinity that pro- 
tects travel, 331; cf. roads. 
pea-hen (devours serpents), 30, 555. 
pearl and its shell as an amulet, 62, 

383 ff. 

pebbles, 250. 

Pedu, a king, 152 ff., 605, 607; cf. 
horse, and Paidva-ceremony. 

physician, social position of, xxxix, 
xlviii, 1, liv; divine, 389, 454. 

pigeon, bird of omen, 474. 

Pila, name of an Apsaras, 33. 

pindadana, a ceremony, 259. 

Pisikas, a class of demons, 34-7, 

57-8, 65, 68, 187, 190, 205, 
281~2, 290, 302, 339, 407-9, 
475; Pisaki, the female, 301. 

plants and trees, in general, as heal- 
ing agents, 41 ff, 44, 578; used 
in sorcery, xix; against a rival 
woman, 107; to deprive of vi- 
rility, 108 ; arouses love, 102-3 ; 
five kingdoms of, 162; names 
of their fathers and mothers, 
419, 421. Names and epithets: 
Abayu (mustard ἢ), 30, 465; 
adhyanda, 356; agasrihgi (me- 


shasringi), 33, 408; Ahva, 118; 
582, 584; ala, 30, 236, 358; 
41ak4, 536; alasala, 30; am@ila(?), 
4573; apdmarga, 69 ff., 305 ἢ, 
393 fF, 429, 487, 556; aradraki 
(agasrifgi), 33; arka-tree, 250; 
arundhati, 19-21, 40-1, 144, 
289, 305 ἢ, 385, 419, 490-1, 
579, 676-7; Asuri-tree, 267 ; 
asvattha-tree, 4, 6, 21, 33, 43, 
91, 97, 117, 334 ff, 415-6, 460, 
496, 505, 582 ff., 585; avaka- 
reed, 33-4, 42, 349, 410, 462, 
515, 579; bamboo (staff of), 
248, 256-7; Ὀῆπαραγπῖ, 355; 
banyan-tree (nyagrodha), 21, 
33, 147, 367; barley: see the 
word; beans: see the word; 
camphor, 236 ἢ;  curcuma, 
yellow (haridra), 374; darbha- 
Brass, 43, 137, 153-3, 162, 241, 
286, 317, 480, 519, 606, 6153 
dark plant, cures leprosy, 
16, 267, 270; dhava-tree, 21; 
‘displacer’ (vaibidha), epithet 
of the asvattha-tree, 91-2, 
3353  dividhuvaka (reed), 348; 
dfirva-plant (millet), 147, 258, 
515; ‘even-colour,’ epithet of 
a plant to cure leprosy, 16; 
gaigida-tree, 37-9, 280 ff., 403, 
443, 670 ff; gayanti, 420; 
ghritaéi (?), 154, 608; givala, 5, 
41, 56, 491, 677; givanta, 5, 
678; givanti, 41, 56, 420, 536 n; 
givi, §36; gourd, 428; haridra: 
see curcuma; haritaki, ‘ gall- 
nut,’ 236n; induka=pramanda, 
236 n; kadvindu (reed ?), 496; 
kaéamaéi (?), 536 n; kampila 
and kampila, 240, 292, 4063 
karira (reed), 452; kasa (reed), 
348; kerf-tree, 250; khadira- 
tree, 21, 84, 91, 118, 334 ff, 
367, 505, 582, 608; khalva and 
khalvanga, ‘ lentils,’ 314-5; 4i- 
pudru-tree, 40, 530ff.; krimuka- 
tree, 374; krishnala-berries, 
239; kQdi-plant, 172, 358; 
kudriéi-tree (gudfii), 487; ku- 
shtha-plant, ‘costus speciosus,’ 
4 ff., ror, 311, 358, 414-5, 436, 
441 ff, 448, 451, 676; laksha, 

lac, 19-21, 385, 387, 4195 
madavati, an epithet, 26, 30, 
374-5, 465; mampasya, an epi- 


INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 


703 


thet, 399; millet: see dfrva; 
mufiga-grass, 9, 234-5, 242, 
248, 278, 519, 523; mustard, 
464; naghamara and naghirisha, 
epithets of the kush¢éa-plant, 
5, 41, 56, 677; naraai (?), 4575 
nikasa (2), 4795 nilagalasala, 305 
nirdahanti, xix; nitatni, 31, 346, 
536; nyastika 2) 5393 palasa- 
tree, 295, 299, 356, 530, 584; 
parasu (tree, or plant ἢ), 295, 
4723 parivyadha-plant, 369; 
parna-tree, 331 ff., 581 ἢ para- 
plant, 137, 305, 354; pavika= 
ula, 236 ἢ; pepper, 21, διό: 
plaksha-tree, 21; pramanda, 
236, 253 n, 4103 prisniparzi, 
36, 302; pfitika, 236; pQtudru- 
tree, 58, 573; reeds (vetasa), 
various sorts of, 308, 348, 464; ὃ 
rice: see the word ; rohani, 19, 
385-6 ; sadampushpa, 67, 399 ; 
sahadevi, 490; saivala, a water- 
plant, 245; saka-tree, 464; 
sami, a creeper, 97, 409, 460; 
sankhapushpi, 539 n;  sara- 
punkha, 355; sesame: see the 
word; sigru-tree, 250, 4533 
silaki, 20-1, 385, 419 ff.; si- 
la#gala, 30, 420, 465-63 sims- 
apa, 299; soma, the plant, 6, 
43-4; Sraktya-tree, 79, 5753 
sGryavalli, 539n; suvaréala, 539; 
syama (sama), a black plant, 
270; tagadbhahga-tree, 118, 
505, 582 ff.; tarkba=palisa, 
476 ; taudi (plant ἢ), 154, 608; 
tilaka-tree, 575; trisamdhy3, 
399, 539 ἢ ; udumbara-tree, 
299; uskbushmé-plant, 369; 
ula, 205, 236; usira, 436, 453; 
utpala (?), 497; vadhaka-tree, 
118, 476, 505, 582, 5843 varana- 
tree, 39, 81, 505; vibhidaka- 
tree (vibhitaka), 470, 5053 vi- 
bhindant, and vibhindati, 71; 
vidari, 356; vihalha, 30, 465; 
virina, 561; vishanaka (?), 10, 
482 ff. 

plough and ploughshare, 84, 287 ff., 
356, 608-9, 

poison, charms against, 25 ff., 27 ff., 
42, 154, 373 ff, 511. 

porcupine, hostile to serpents, 28, 
428; cf. ichneumon. 

porridge (gruel), 26, 30; for the 


Brahmans, preparation of,179 ff., 
185 ἢ, 610 Β΄, 645 ff.; porridge- 
man, 240 ἢ. 

portentous occurrences, 262. 

post, sacrificial, 201, 203, 213. 

Prag§pati, 31, 55, 84, 97-8, 126, 138, 
149, 161, 179, 194, 204, 206, 
215-9, 224-8, 230-2, 461, 592, 
627, 629, 686. ᾿ 

Pragetas (Angirasa), a divine per- 
sonification, 163, 484. 

Pramandani, an Apsaras, 33, 4103 
cf. pramanda, under plants. 

Prana: see breath of life. 
Prati#ina (Angirasa), a divine per- 
sonification, xxiv, 73, 603. 
pratyangirasa, ‘ counter-witchcraft,’ 
xix, xxiv; cf, angiras. 

precedence of younger brother, 
expiation of, 164, 521. 

pridaku, a kind of serpent, 553. 

prishataka, mixture of ghee and 
milk, 385. 

Prisni, a goddess, 43,132, 207. 

Prithivi (earth), personified, 8, 50. 

prosperity, ΤῊΣ to procure it, 
140 ff, 

protection boar sorcery and hostility, 
prayer for, 575. 

pliigayagéiya : see gramayagin. 

puns, 95, 97, 116-8, 146, 153, 194, 
205-6, 216, 218, 221, 225, 232, 
243-4, 247 N, 249, 251-2, 266 ἢ, 
267, 280, 285, 287-8, 298, 322, 
326, 336-7, 348 ff, 361, 370, 
385, 393, 403, 408, 426 n, 427, 
434, 446, 448, 480-1, 497, 505, 
507, 518, 527, 551, 561 Ὦ, 575, 
582-3, 594, 603, 609, 657, 661, 
670, 673, 692; cf. alliteration, 
and double meaning. 

puraza, ancient legends, 228. 

purification of the body, 642. 

purikaya (with variants), a water- 
animal, 157, 621. 

purodasa, sacrificial rice-cake, 120, 
177. 

oarohies (chaplain of the king), 128 ; 
office and character of, Iviii, 
Ixi, lxii ff. ; relation of to the 
Atharva-veda, Ixvii; relation of 
to the Brahman (fourth priest), 
Ixviii. 

Purfiravas, a mythical king, 521, 
564 ἢ. 

Purusha, cosmic man, 186, 216, 629, 


704 


HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


646-7; hymn to (purushasfikta), 
XXX, 682. 

Pfishan, 99, 116, 135, 143, 159-60, 
165, 198, 243-4, 331, 421, 495, 
526-8, 542. 


Races of men (peoples), five, 92, 
201, 204. 

ragasa (a water-animal?), 157, 621. 

raghat (falcon ?), 43, 580. 

raibhi, designation of certain stanzas, 
689 ff.; cf. Rebha. 

rain-charm, addressed to the Maruts, 
267. 

Rakshas (demons), 9, 32-4, 36-8, 
42, 57, 62, 66, 69, 71, 80, 90, 
96, 125-6, 162, 187, 190, 205, 
282-3, 315, 408, 442, 458, 557, 
572. 

ratna, ‘jewels of the king’s court,’ 


raudragana, designation of certain 
mantras, 367, 619, 643. 

Ravana, a demon, 374. 

raw meat, eaten by demons, 395; 
spell in, 76. 

teats ae strop (kshuro bhrigvan), 


Rebha ἌΝ; 690. 

rectum, 47, 234. 

red colour, cures jaundice, 263. 

revati-stanzas, 208. 

Ribhus, a kind of divinities, 20, 73, 

_ 231, 389, 603. 

rice, 43, 57, 87, 110, 204, 219, 232, 
540. 

Rik, 161, 204, 225-6, 229. 

rishihasta, a certain ceremony, 569, 
623. 

Rishis, personifications of qualities, 
571; seven: see constellations. 

rita, order of the universe, 15, 228. 

ritvig, a priest, 204; ct. adhvaryu. 

rival, woman’s incantation against, 
107, 253, 355. 

river, charm for conducting it into 
a new channel, 146, 348; navi- 
gable, 74, 80. 

roads, divinities of, 113; cf. Pathya 
Svasti. 

robbers, charm against, 147. 

Rohini, designation of female divi- 
nities, 7, 207, 210, 265, 661 ff., 
665-6. 

Rohita, a sun-god, 207 ἢ, 
661 ff., 683. 


265, 


rohitani (sc. sGktani), designation of 
the hymns to Rohita, 662. 

roots, practices with, xliii n, 1, liv, 
407, 458. 

ropanaka, thrush, 8, 264 n, 266. 

rope full of teeth (serpent), 368. 

rotten fish, cures certain diseases, 
342. 

rotten grain, 345. 

rotten rope in battle-practices, 117, 
582. 

Rudra, 3, 10, 11, 19, 37, 66, 80, 120, 
138, 144, 155 ff., 161, 179, 253, 
302, 326, 389-90, 402, 406, 422, 
446 n, 488-9, 495, 506, 581, 
586, 604, 618-9, 621, 637; Ru- 
dras (plural), 119, 135, 161. 

runaway woman, charm to capture 
her, 106, 496. 

Rfipakas, certain phantoms, 125, 
636. 

rfira, epithet of takman (fever), 273, 
449, 568. 

Rusamas, a people, 197, 690. 


Sacrifice, of an enemy frustrated, 
9°, 557; expiation of imper- 
fections in, 164, 528; human 
ransomed), 360; leavings of 
udkébishra) apotheosized, 226 ff., 
588, 629 ff.; sacrifices and litur- 
gical terms catalogued, 226 ff., 
631; sacrificial post (yfipa), 201, 
203, 213; Sacrificial seat (sadas), 
203, 210. 

Sadanvas, demons, 62, 66-7, 301, 


384. 
Sadhyas, certain divine beings, 119, 


585. 

Sees god, 473; cf.thousand- 
eyed. 

saka-bird, 143, 351 ff. 

Sakadhima (weather- prophet), 160, 
532. 

Sakambhara, personification of ab- 
normal evacuation, 1, 445; cf. 
Apvi. 

Saki, Indra’s female, 95, 125-6, 440, 
503. 

Sakra, 117-8, 203; cf. Indra, Ma- 
ghavan, and Mahadeva. 

sakvari-stanzas, 157, 208. 

salasava, ceremony of giving away a 
house, 595; cf. house, and sava. 

Salavrikas, jackals, 138, 306. 

salt (rock-salt), 303, 504, 534, 548. 


INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 


795 


salve (€gana), 61, 101, 311, 381, 
401, 409, 415. 

Siman, 161, 204, 226-7, 229; singers 
of, eighty-three, 89. 

Sambu (Angiras), and Sambavya, 6, 
678. 

sasasravya (havis), 303. 

samsthitahom4y, final oblations, 496. 

samtanakarma, a certain rite, 259. 

samudra and samudrika (chiro- 
mancy), 260. 

Sarama, 404; cf. dogs of Yama. 

Sarameya, 636; cf. dogs of Yama, 

Sarazyfi, marriage of, 364. 

Sarasvati, 23, 32, 139, 173, 329, 389, 
424, 454, 512, 581 ; Sarasvatis, 
three, 27, 512. 

sari-birds (sarika), 144, 266, 352. 

sarkofa: see scorpion, 

sarpaihuti, a certain ceremony, 655. 

Sarva, a god, 56, 75, 119, 155 ff, 
161, 175, 402, 406, 604, 618. 

sasayur mrigab, a wild animal (?), 
368. 

Satarudriya, a litany, 586. 

satra-offerings, 204, 207. 

sautramani-sacrifice, 112, 328, 578, 
591. 

sava and savayagiia (solemn bestowal 
of dakshin&), 414, 528, 595, 610; 
cf. salasava. 

Savitar, a god, 32, 48-9, 54, 79, 80, 
85, 95, 109, 111) 123, 140, 143, 
149, 160, 168, 210, 212, 221, 
403, 422, 503. 

scorpion (sarkota), 29, 30, 153, 
553. 

sea-animals and monsters, 157, 621. 

seasons, five, 209; six, 203; and 
their lords, 162. 

seduction of Indra by.an Asuri, 103, 
268, 547. 

serpents (snakes), charms against, 
151 ff, 425, 461, 487, 552 ff, 
605; rites to on the full-moon 
day of the month M4rgasirsha, 
640; names and varieties of, 
27-9, 152-4, 192, 193, 425, 437, 
488, 553, 608, 655; as gods, 43, 
119, 126, 162 (cf. Takshaka) ; 
rope full of teeth, 147. 

sesamum, sesame-oil, as a remedy, 
and against demons, x\lviii, 13, 
64, 110, 238, 248, 258, 427, 540. 

seven priests, 204; seven Rishis: 
see constellations. 


[42] 


shavings of wood, 236, 261. 

shepherd’s charm against wild beasts 
and robbers, 147, 366. 

ship of fortune, 94; golden, 4, 6, 415, 
680 (soma, the moon ἢ). 

shouting, hostile, 408. 

sieve (scatters disease symbolically), 
248, 473, 519. 

simantonnayana, a ceremony, 545. 

sin, expiation and prayer for- re- 
mission of, 122, 163 ἢ, 165; 
‘deadly sins,’ 521: ff, 5453 
mental, 163; ‘ original,’ 293; 
sins of relatives, 59, 82; sins of 
the gods, 73, 363, 520 ff, 581, 
604. Cf. evil. 

Sindhu (Indus), a river, 12, 40, 62, 


107, 

Sinivalf, a goddess, 98, 143, 304, 
461, 538. 

Sipala, a river, 29, 462. 

Siva, a god, 326, 506, 620. 

Skanda, a god, 326; cf. Kumara. 

slave-girl, 2, 174, 186, 448, 647. 

sleeping-charm, 106, 372. 

sneezing, ominous, 82. 

soma, three daily pressings of, 590 ; 
midday-pressing of, 562; rape 
of, 241; king of the plants, 55. 
Cf. ship. 

Soma, a god, 1, 5, 14, 30, 32, 535 
62, 65, 75, 79) 85) 90, 94, 103, 
112,117, 122-3, 133, 1355 147-9, 
154, 161, 170, 175, 183, 186, 
188-9, 193-5, 216, 222, 250, 
254, 312, 323, 329, 350, 431) 
443, 503, 570. 

sons, rite for begetting them: see 
male child (pussavana). 

sorcerers and sorceries, charms and 
practices against, xxii, 13, 38, 
42, 58-9, 61, 64-5, 82, 159, 
237-8, 280, 285, 393 ff., 403, 
475, 495, 592, 602; consecration 
for, 296. 

soshyantt-karma, a ceremony, 243. 

sovereign power, prayer for, 207, 
661; cf. king. 

sowing of seed, blessing during, 141, 
541. 

speckled ghee, 129, 632, 639. 

spectres and spooks, 5, 6, 125-6. 

spells (krityA), charms to counteract 
them, 70 ff., 393, 429, 456, 556 
602, 604; objects living and 
lifeless into which they are put 


ZZ 


706 


HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


(marmazi, 457), 69, 72, 74, 76-75 
spell-figures of mud, wood, &c., 
671 n. 

spies of Varuna, 88, 391, 402; cf. 
thousand-eyed spies. 

spikenard, rot, 415. 

splinters of wood, 292. 

spot on the forehead of a woman, 
109. 

spring-water, cures excessive dis- 
charges (homoeopathy), 9, 12, 


277, 471. 

sraddha, defined as faith and works, 
424. 

srauta-practices in the Atharva-veda, 


Ixx. 

Srifigaya, a people, 171, 433 ff. 

stable, rites for prosperity in: see 
cattle. 

staff for witchcraft, 295. 

stars, Varuna’s spies, 391. 

sterile cows, necessity of giving 
them to the Brahmans, 174 ff., 
360, 656 ff. ; varieties of, 178 ff.; 
sterility, charm to cause it, 98, 
545; Sterility of cattle obviated, 


299. 

sthakara-powder (with variant forms), 
311) 436. 

sthapati, derivation of, 319. 

storm, four component parts of, 251, 
623; charm against, 248 ff. 

streams, navigable, 74, 80. 

strife, charms to allay it, 135 ff, 
362. 

St. Vitus dance, 513. 

submission to one’s will, charm to 
bring it about, 138, 508. 

success, prayer and practice to obtain 
it, 116, 239. 

Sfidra, 68, 72, 402; -women, 2. 

sugar-cane, symbolic of attractive- 
ness, 100, 277; cf. honey, and 
licorice. : 

suitor, 94. 

sun, personified as aga ekapad, 625, 
664; as an eagle, 652; as 
a hamsa-bird, 28, 462, 623-5; 
as a hermit, 403, 621, 626; as 
a Brahman disciple, 214, 403, 
626 ff. ; as Rohita (cf. the word), 
661 ff.; as a tortoise, 403; sun 
and moon as two heavenly dogs 
(dogs of Yama), 13, 404, 5003 
related to time, 683, 686; to 
brahma, 628; sun-charades, 212, 


220 (stanza 21; cf. brahmodya) ; 
sun’s steed, personified as the 
white horse of Pedu, 605. 

Sunadsepa, legend of, 241. 

Suparna: see Garuda and Garutmant. 

Sfirya, 10, 17, 31, 47, 53, 60, 85, 
103, 116, 160, 203, 205, 210—- 
12, 214, 373, 403, 620, 622, 
668; sfirya-stikta, 243 n; Sfirya, 
the sun-female (Savitri), 95, 
202, 312, 503, 661, 666. 

S@shan (Sfishava), a divinity of 
parturition, 99, 243-5. 

svaga, designation of a serpent, 152- 


3, 193. 

Svarbhanu, demon of eclipses, 294. 

svastyayanagana, a certain list of 
mantras, 641. 

Svayambhf, the supreme being, 592, 
686. 


syenayaga, or syenegy4, a certain 
rite, 343. 

syeneshu, a witchcraft practice, 
577 0. 

symbolism, 236, 240-1, 243 ἢ, 248-- 
9, 261, 263, 277, 287, 311, 321, 
324-5, 327 N, 355, 357 D, 367 n, 
369, 371-2, 374, 407, 412, 425, 
427, 443, 445, 457, 460, 467-8, 
470, 473, 476, 479, 481, 497, 
500 ἢ, 501, 519, 537, 545, 548, 
551, 558, 561, 564, 567, 582 n. 


TAabuva, a remedy against snake- 
poison, 28, 428; cf, tastuva. 

tagara: see sthakara. 

taimata, designation of a serpent, 28, 
169. 

takmanasana and takmanasanagana, 
a series of hymns against fever 
and kindred diseases, 247, 291, 
293, 342, 406, 416, 418, 441, 


443-4, 469, 474, 505, 507, 568, 
676; cf. fever. 


Takshaka (Vaisaleya), a serpent-god, 
374, 425, 462, 606. 

tapas (creative fervour), 199, 204, 
208, 214-7, 224-5, 228, 686. 

tarda (tarda), an insect of the field, 
142, 486. 

tastuva, a remedy against snake- 
poison, 28, 428; cf. tabuva. 

Tauvilika, a certain female demon 
of disease, 30, 466. 

teeth, diseases of, 24, 72, 454, 5213 


INDEX OF SUBJECTS. 


expiation of irregular appear- 
ance of, 110, 540. 

ten friends (Brahmans), 291-2. 

theosophic hymns, 199 ff. 

thieves, 198, 205. 

thirst, charm against, 308. 

thirty-three gods, 187. 

thousand-eyed divinities and objects, 
68, 82, 88, 93, 155, 157-8, 163, 
224, 286, 342, 402-3, 473-4, 
476, 586, 598, 605, 619, 683 ; 
cf. Sahasraksha. 

Thraétaona Athwya, an Avestan 
divinity, 523; cf. Trita. 

Three-named (Agni), 135, 495. 

tiger, 111, 115-6, 205, 368, 380, 477, 
518; tiger-like day, 110; tiger- 
like first teeth, 110; tiger-skin, 
111, 378 ff. 

Time, personified: see Kala. 

tonsure, ceremony of preparation : 
see Aidakarana. 

tortoise, personification of the sun, 
403. 


r transference of disease, 47, 309. 


/ traps and nets in battle, 118-9, 582, 
632. 

traveller's charm, 644. 

treachery, protection against, 88, 

389. 

Trikakud, a mountain, 61-2, 381. 

Trishamdhi, a battle-god, 126 ff., 
632, 637 ff. 

Trita, a divine being, 165, 521-2, 
528. 

Tvashtar, a god, 18, 48, 51, 96-7, 
143, 146, 160, 189, 365-6, 502, 
522, 651. 

twin-calves, expiation of their birth, 
145, 360. 


Udasvit, a certain mixture of food, 


509. 

Ugra, a god (Rudra), 156 ff., 618. 

ufééishta, apotheosis of: see sacrifice. 

unburned vessel, sorceries with, 69, 
75, 395) 397, 457. 

upagika (with many variants), a 
certain kind of ant, 268, 280, 


511. 
upakvasa, a certain field-insect, 142, 
486. 
upatrinya, a kind of serpent, 28, 


427. 
urine, as a cure for sores, 19, 489; 
Rudra’s remedy, 138, 306; ex- 


707 


cessive, 234; retention of, 10, 
233, 235; cf. micturation. 
urugila, a serpent, 28. 
Urvasi, a divine female, 411, 521. 
Ushas (Aurora), 31, 161, 318, 503, 
661. 


Vagapeya-ceremony, 226, 508. 
vagha, designation of an animal, 
223; vagha, its female, 142. 

Vaisaleya: see Takshaka. 

Vaisvanara (Agni), 12, 54, 58, 80, 
149, 197, 200, 242, 580, 691. 

Vaitahavya, a people, 170-1, 432 ff.; 
cf. Vitahavya. 

Vak (speech personified), 120, 4373 
Vak Sarasvati, 173, 424; Vak 
Virag, 221, 593; Vaeaspati, the 
lord of speech, 209, 665. 

Vala, a cloud demon, 193, 596; cf. 
Vritra, 

Varan§vati, a river, 26, 375. 
varhkasyagana, designation of certain 
mantras, 477, 589-90, 642. 
Varuna, a god, 1, 3, 1c-2, 14, 27, 
30-1, 37, 40, 42, 44, 48, 50-1, 
63, 65, 86, 88, 91, 102, 105, 109, 
112-4, 116, 122, 133, 135, 146, 
152-3, 160, 172, 175, 188, 193, 
195, 210-1, 216, 221, 241-2, 273, 


290, eo 334, 349, 379) 
390 ff, 402, 436, 443, 484-5, 
535-6, 557, 663, 627; Varunas 


(plural), 113; Varuzant, his 
female, 167, 485. 

vasa: see sterile cow. 

Vasava (Indra), 95; cf. Vasu. 

vashaf-call, 84, 99, 128, 209, 243. 

Vasishtha, a sage, 372; relation of to 
the Atharva-veda, lv ff., ἰχν. 

Vastoshpati, genius of homestead, 
135, 343 ff., 494-5, 640. 

Vasu, a class of deities, 5.5, 89, 116, 
119, 121, 135, 161, 2303 cf. 
Vasava. 

Vata, god of wind, 85 ff., 89, 153, 
161, 319; cf. Vayu. 

Vayasa, a sage, 6, 681. 

Vayu, personification of the wind, 
51, 54, 128, τ4ο, 142, 304) 402, 
499, 620, 669; ᾽ ata. 

Veda, practices nlepatatory to the 
study of, xliv, 233, 477, 487, 
510, 543, 590, 606; relation of 
the three Vedas to the Athar- 
van, xxxi ff., xxxv ff., li ff., lv ff, 


222 


708 


lxi; Vedic literary categories, 
XXXV ff. 

vedi, fire-altar, 200 ; cf. parigrihy4. 

veins, 22, 259. 

vermin in the field, exorcism of, 
142, 485; cf. worms. 

vigriva, a demon, 70. 

viligi, designation of a serpent, 28 ; 
cf, ligi. 

village, the scene of Atharvan per- 
formances: see gramay4gin. 

Virag, a female divinity, 80, 120, 
186, 211, 215-6, 219, 221, 593, 
647, 667. 

virility, charm to increase it, 31, 
369; charm to deprive a man 
of it, 108, 537. 

visapha (a demon ἢ), 67, 339. 

Vishnu, a god, 80, 89, 160, 193, 200, 
221, 251, 342, 655. 

visikha, a demon, 70. 

Visvakarman, the supreme god, 206, 
209, §92, 629, 686. 

Visvarfipa, son of Tvashtar, 318, 
522. 

Visvavasu, a demon, 319. 

Vitahavya, a people, 31; 
havya. 

Vivasvant, a god, 57, 160, 366. 

vomiting as a cure for poison, 374. 

vrishakapi-Brahmans, 532 0. 

Vritra, a cloud-demon, 18, 40, 62-3, 
79, 81, 91-2, 95, 121, 126, 129, 
158, 203, 310, 349, 370, 382, 
384, 596; his eye becomes 
mount Trikakud, 382. 


cf. Vaita- 


Wagon, parts of, 587; cf. chariot. 

washerman, 188. 

waters (divine), 14-5, 161; water, 
healing, 4o~1, 48; produced by 
ants, 27; as a remedy against 
jealousy, 107; for the conse- 
cration of a king, 111; -animals, 
varieties of, 157, 621; -plants, 
514, 579; -skin, 107; -sprites, 


409. 
weather - prophet, 
159) 532. 


propitiation of, 


HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 


wedding, charms used at, 502, 546 ; 
ceremony at the consummation, 
276, 546; of a royal personage, 

8 


498. 

weeds, charm to remove them, 465. 

wheel, parts of, 493. 

white-footed arrow, 633, 638; cow 
or she-goat, ibid. 

wife, charm to obtain one, 95, 502 ff. ; 
of the sacrificer, 180 ff., 185 ff., 
610 ff, 645 ff.; wives of the 
gods, 162, 167. 

wild beasts, charm against, 147, 366. 

will o’ the wisp, 411. 

wishes, charm for obtaining one’s, 
Pale 605; three wishes, 181, 

13. 

wolf and calves, 174; wolves and 
sheep, 132, 151. 

woman, of the waters, 621; truant, 
charm to bring her back, 106, 
496; women with evil bodily 
characteristics, 109, 260; fond 
of the kushréa-plant, 6, 680 ; 
sleeping women, described, 105; 
charms pertaining to women 
(strikarmavi), 94 ff., 275, 311, 
371, 479-80. 

womb, performances for steadying 
it, 284, 467. 

worms of all sorts, in human beings 
and animals, 22-4, 223, 314 ἢ, 
351. 


Yagus, 161, 204, 225-6, 229. 

Yakshas, a kind of divinities, 161. 

Yama, god of death, 37, 44, 52, 54, 
57) 59, 60, 90, 107, rro, 118, 
161, 167, 177, 185-6, 192, 195, 
318, 361, 404, 416, 422, 456, 
500 585, 655; horse of, 21: 
cf. dogs of Yama. 

Yamuni, a river, 62. 

yatu, yatuvid, and yatudhana: see 
sorcerers and sorceries, 

yellow birds and objects for the 
cure of jaundice, 264. 

younger brother's precedence over 
an older, expiation of, 164, 523. 


II. 


Il, 


ΠῚ, 


INDEX OF HYMNS IN THE ORDER 


oe eo we 


«- Os we: 0 Cer ez ἃ ἃ 


ee ee oe 


OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. . 


PAGES 
8, 233 
10, 235 
64, 237 
65, 239 
116, 239 
11,241 
99, 242 
7, 246 
107, 252 
65, 256 
22, 257 
109, 260 
120, 262 
7, 263 
16, 266 
16, 268 
3, 270 
99, 274 
9, 277 
37, 280 
91, 285 
13, 286 
34, 290 
14, 292 
89, 294 
66, 298 
36, 302 


. 142, 303 
+ 137, 304 


50, 306 
47, 308 


. TOO, 311 


22, 313 
23, 317 
44, 321 
945 322 

121, 325 

121, 327 

112, 327 


IH, 


IV, 


ee © © © 8 8 


eo 8 «© © © © oe 


PAGES 


113, 330 


. 14, 331 


91, 334 
15, 336 
67, 339 
49, 341 
140, 343 


. 146, 348 
. 143, 351 
. 148, 352 


107, 354 
97, 356 
102, 358 
145, 359 
134, 361 
51, 364 
147, 366 
31, 369 
105, 37! 
25, 373 
26, 376 
111, 378 
61, 381 
62, 383 
19, 384 
88, 389 
69, 393 
70, 396 
71, 397 
68, 398 


+ 115, 404 


158, 406 
35, 407 
33, 408 

149, 412 

4414 
20, 419 

172, 433 

27, 425 


Vv, 


VI, 


14 
18 
19 
20 


PAGES 
77.) 429 
169, 430 


+ I7T, 433 
+ 130, 436 
+ 131, 439 


1, 441 
23, 452 
59, 455 
76, 456 
66, 458 


» 100, 459 


Tot, 459 
97, 460 
28, 461 

8, 463 
30, 464 
98, 467 


« 106, 467 


3, 468 
30, 470 
12, 471 
19, 472 


- 163, 473 


166, 474 


. 166, 475 


ee © © e © 


. 


36, 475 
93, 475 
116, 477 
117, 478 
136, 479 
137, 480 
To, 481 
163, 483 
167, 485 


. 142, 485 
. 151, 487 


. 


19, 488 
144, 490 
95, 491 


710 


VI, 64 
70 
71 
73 
74 
75 
77 
78 
79 
80 
81 
82 
83 
85 
go 
9! 
92 
94 
96 
97 


99 
100 


102 
105 
106 
109 
110 
111 
112 
113 
114 
115 
120 


HYMNS OF THE 


PAGES 


+ 136, 492 
+ 144, 493 
+ 196, 494 
+ 135, 494 
+ 135, 495 


92, 495 
106, 496 


96, 498 


. 141, 499 


13, 500 
96, 501 
95, 502 
17, 503 
39, 505 
11, 506 
40, 507 

145, 507 


. 138, 508 


44, 509 


. 122, 510 
. 123, 510 


27, 511 


. IOI, 512 


oe @ we we ew 


.8, 513 
147, 514 
21, 516 
109, 517 
32, 518 
164, 521 
165, 527 


. 164, 528 


. 


164, 529 
165, 529 


VI, 127 
128 
130 
131 
132 
136 
137 
138 
139 
140 
142 
VII, 9 
1 
12 
13 
35 
36 
37 


ATHARVA-VEDA. 


PAGES 
40, 530 ΓὙΊΠ], 
. 160, 532 
« 104, 534 
104, 535 
104, 535 ΙΧ, 
31, 536 
31, 537 
. 108, 537 
102, 539 XxX, 
. I10, 540 
141, 541 
159, 542 
142, 543 XI, 
138, 543 
93, 544 
98, 545 
96, 546 
- 96, 546 
. 103, 546 
107, 547 
. 150, 548 
. 136, 550 
532) 551 
. 29,552 XIII, 
- 167,555 XIX, 
» 73, 556 
+ 90, 557 
. 18, 557 


+ 17, 559 
12, 562 


168, 564 
. 4) 565 XX, 
53, 569 


oe ce ee 


‘al 

— 

= 
ῳ 


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hw me OMON AUD DH AR τ COW D mw ONT WD 


ΝΥ 


ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. 


Page 2, stanza 7: Forthe Mfgavants as the type of a distant people, see 


P. 
P. 
P. 


moh 


ὋὌ υν Ὁ Ὁ Ὁ Ὁ "Ὁ 


Ὁ Ὁ 


Sat. Br. II, 6, 2, 17. 

5, Stanza 2: read ‘na-gha-mara’ for ‘ na-gha-mara.’ 

6, stanza 10: insert the words ‘that burns the head ’ after ‘takman.’ 
16, hymns I, 23 and 24: for symbolic removal of leprosy by the 
sacrifice of a white cow, see Katy. Sr. XV, 3, 37. 

20, stanza 6: read ‘ felloe’ for ‘ feloe.’ 

28, stanzas 10, 11: cf. Weber, Proceedings of the Berlin Academy, 
1896, pp. 681 ff., 873 ff. 

37, line 8: read ‘did’ for ‘do.’ 

44, bottom: read ‘II, 33’ for ‘II, 32.’ 


. 49, title: read ‘ayushy4ni’ for ‘ Ayushyani.’ 


64, title: read ‘ bhisarikani’ for ‘ abhiéarikani.’ 

70, stanza 1: read ‘Light’ for ‘ Night.’ 

84, in the title of X, 6: read ‘ of an amulet ’ for ‘of amulet.’ 
100, line 10: insert the words ‘ woman, shalt love,’ after ‘ thou.’ 
136, hymns VI, 42 and 43: cf. Sat. Br. XI, 6, 1, 13. 

173, line 2: read ‘ dost’ for ‘ didst.’ 


. 178, stanza 44: insert ‘O Brihaspati’ after ‘ vilipti.’ 


190, line 6: read ‘ stirring-stick ’ for ‘ stirring stick.’ 


. 238, stanza 2: cf. Baudh. Dh. II, 8, 15,4; Vishwu-smriti LX XIII, εἰ. 
. 239, in the second line of the introduction to I, 9: read ‘consecra- 


tion’ for ‘ coronation.’ 


. 253, note: ‘nishpramanda-dantadhavana’ may mean ‘ tooth-wash 


without the fragrant substance pramanda.’ A symbolic interpreta- 
tion of nishpramanda, ‘ bereft of delight,’ seems to be implied with 
double meaning. 


. 307, stanza 1: cf. Susruta I, 22, ro. 
. 531, stanza 1: for vidradh4 cf. RV. 1V, 32, 23 (Ludwig’s commentary, 


vol. v, p.93); AV.IX, 8, 20; Roth, Nirukta, Erlauterungen, p. 42 ff. 


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SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST 


TRANSLATED BY 


VARIOUS ORIENTAL SCHOLARS 


AND EDITED BY 


F MAX MULLER. 


εἰς This Series ts published with the sanction and co-operation of the Secretary of 
State for India in Council, 


REPORT presented to the ACADEMIE DES INSCRIPTIONS, May 11, 
1883, by M. BRNEST RENAN. 


‘M. Renan présente trois nouveaux 
volumes de la grande collection des 
“Livres sacrés de 1’Orient” (Sacred 
Books of the East}, que dirige ἃ Oxford, 
avec une si vaste érudition et une critique 
si sfire, le savant associé de l’Académie 
des Inscriptions, M. Max Miiller.... La 
premiére série de ce beau recueil, com- 

os¢e de 24 volumes, est presque achevee, 

. Max Miiller se propose d’en publier 


une seconde, dont V’intérét historique et 
religieux ne sera pas moindre. M. Max 
Miiller a su se procurer la collaboration 
des savans les plus éminens d’Europe et 
d’Asie. L’'Université d’Oxford, que cette 
grande publication honore au plus haut 
degré, doit tenir ἃ continuer dans les plus 
larges proportions une ceuvre aussi philo- 
sophiquement congue que savamment 
exécutée.’ 


BETERACT from the QUARTERLY REVIEW. 


‘We rejoice to notice that a second 
series of these translations has been an- 
nounced and has actually begun to appear. 
The stones, at least, out of which a stately 
edifice may hereafter arise, are here being 
brought together. Prof. Max Miiller has 
deserved well of scientific history. Not 
a few minds owe to his enticing words 
their first attraction to this branch of 
study. But no work of his, not even the 


great edition of the Rig-Veda, can com- 
pare in importance or in usefulness with 
this English translation of the Sacred 
Books of the East, which has been devised 
by his foresight, successfully brought so 
far by his persuasive and organising 
power, and will, we trust, by the assist- 
ance of the distinguished scholars he has 
gathered round him, be carried in due 
time to a happy completion.’ 


Professor B. HARDY, Inaugural Lecture in the University of Freiburg, 1887. 


‘Die allgemeine vergleichende Reli- 
gionswissenschaft datirt von jenem gross- 
artigen, in seiner Art einzig dastehenden 
Unternehmen, zu welchem auf Anregung 
Max Miillers im Jahre 1874 auf dem 


internationalen Orientalistencongress_ in 
London der Grundstein gelegt worden 
war, die Ubersetzung der heiligen Biicher 
des Ostens’ (the Sacred Books of the 
East). 


The Hon. ALBERT 8. G. CANNING, ‘Words on Bxisting Beligions.’ 


‘ The recent publication of the “ Sacred 
Books of the East” in English is surely 


a great event in the annals of theological 
literature.’ 


Orford 


AT THE CLARENDON 


PRESS 


LONDON: HENRY FROWDE 
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AMEN CORNER, ΕΟ. 


2 SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST: 


FIRST SERIES. 


Vou. I. The Upanishads. 


Translated by F. Max Mixrer. Part I. The AA#andogya- 
upanishad, The Talavakara-upanishad, The Aitareya-franyaka, 
The Kaushftaki-brahmaza-upanishad, and The V&gasaneyi- 
samhité-upanishad. 8vo, cloth, ros. 6d. 


The Upanishads contain the philosophy of the Veda. They have 
become the foundation of the later Vedénta doctrines, and indirectly 
of Buddhism. Schopenhauer, speaking of the Upanishads, says : 
‘In the whole world there ts no study so beneficial and so elevating 
as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life, it will 
be the solace of my death. 


{See also Vol. XV.] 


von. 11. The Sacred Laws of the Aryas, 
As taught in the Schools of Apastamba, Gautama, VAsishéfa, 
and Baudhayana, Translated by Georg Βύημεκ. Part 1. 
Apastamba and Gautama. Second Edition. 8vo, cloth, 10s. 6d. 
The Sacred Laws of the Aryas contain the original treatises on 
which the Laws of Manu and other lawgivers were founded. 


[See also Vol. XIV.]} 


Vou. 111. The Sacred Books of China. 
The Texts of Confucianism. Translated by James Lucce. 
Part I. The ShQ King, The Religious Portions of the Shih 
King, and The Hsiéo King. 8vo, cloth, 125. 6¢. 
Confucius was a collector of ancient traditions, not the founder of 
a new religion. As he lived tn the stxth and fifth centuries B.C. 
his works are of unique interest for the study of Ethology. 
[See also Vols. XVI, XXVIII, XXVIII, XXXIX, and XL.] 


Vou. Iv. The Zend-Avesta. 


Translated by James DarmesTETER. Part I. The Vendfdad. 
Second Edition. 8vo, cloth, 145. 


The Zend-Avesta contains the relics of what was the religion of 
Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes, and, but for the battle of Marathon, 


- EDITED BY F. MAX MULLER. 3 


might have become the religion of Europe. It forms to the present 
day the sacred book of the Parsis, the so-called fire-worshippers. 
Two more volumes will complete the translation of all that ἐς left us 
of Zoroaster’s religion. 

(See also Vols. XXIII and ΧΧΧΙ.} 


vou. Vv. Pahlavi Texts. 
Translated by E. W. West. Part I. The Bundahis, Bahman 
Yast, and Shayast l4-shayast. 8vo, cloth, ras. 6d. 
The Pahlavi Texts comprise the theological literature of the revival 
of Zoroaster's religion, beginning with the Sassanian dynasty. They 
are important for a study of Gnosiicism. 


Vous. VI ΑΝῸ 1X. The Qur’dn. 
PartsI and II. ‘Translated by Ε, Η. Parmer. 8vo, cloth, 21s. 


This translation, carried out according to his own peculiar views 
of the origin of the Qur’dn, was the last great work of E. H. Palmer, 
before he was murdered in Egypt. 


Vou. vir. The Institutes of Vishzu. 
Translated by Jutius Jotty. 8vo, cloth, ros. 6d. 


A collection of legal aphorisms, closely connected with one of the 
oldest Vedic schools, the Kathas, but considerably added to in later 
time. Of importance for a critical study of the Laws of Manu. 


Vou. Vill. The Bhagavadgita, with The Sanatsugatiya, 
and The Anugité. 
Translated by KAsninAtH Trimpak TELaNnG. 8vo, cloth, 
Tos. 6d. 
The earliest philosophical and religious poem of India. It has been 
paraphrased in Arnold’s ‘Song Celestial. 


vou. X. The Dhammapada, 
Translated from Pali by F. Max Murer; and 
The Sutta-Nipata, 


Translated from Pali by V. Fauspéii; being Canonical Books 
of the Buddhists. 8vo, cloth, τος. 6d. 


The Dhammapada contains the quintessence of Buddhist morality. 
The Sutia-Nipdta gives the authentic teaching of Buddha on some 
of the fundamental principles of religion. 


4 SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST: 


Vou. XI. Buddhist Suttas. 
Translated from Pali by Ἰ' W. Ruys Davips. 1. The Maha- 
parinibbana Suttanta ; The Dhamma-/akka-ppavattana 
Sutta. 3. The Tevigga Sutanta 4. The Akankheyya Sutta ; 
5. The Xetokhila Sutta; 6. The Maha-sudassana Suttanta ; 
ἡ. The Sabbasava Sutta. 8vo, cloth, τος. 6d. 


A collection of the most important religious, moral, and philosophical 
discourses taken from the sacred canon of the Buddhists. 


Vou. ΧΙ. The Satapatha-Brahmamza, according to the 
Text of the Madhyandina School. 


Translated by Jutius Eecrrine. Part I. Books I and II. 
8vo, cloth, 125. 6d. 


A minute account of the sacrificial ceremonies of the Vedic age. 
It contains the earliest account of the Deluge in India. 
[See also Vols. XX VI, XLI.} 


Vou. XII. Vinaya Texts. 
Translated from the Pali by T. W. Ruys Davips and HERMANN 
Oxpenzerc. Part I. The Patimokkha. The Mahavagga, I-IV. 
8vo, cloth, ros. 6d. 
The Vinaya Texts give for the first time a translation of the moral 
code of the Buddhist religion as settled in the third century B.C. 


[See also Vols. XVII and XX.] 


Vou. XIV. The Sacred Laws of the Aryas, 
As taught in the Schools of Apastamba, Gautama, VAsish¢ha, 
and Baudhayana. Translated by Geore Biincer. Part 11. 
Vasish/ha and Baudhayana. 8vo, cloth, τος. 6d. 


vou. xv. The Upanishads. 
Translated by F. Max Muuier. Part II. The Kasha-upanishad, 
The Mundaka-upanishad, The Taittiriyaka-upanishad, The 
Brihadaranzyaka-upanishad, The Svet&svatara-upanishad, The 
Prasfia-upanishad, and Tbe Maitréyana-bréhmana-upanishad. 
8vo, cloth, τος. 6d. 


vou. xvi. The Sacred Books of China. 
The Texts of Confucianism. Translated by James ΓΈΘΟΕ. 
Part 11. The Yi King. 8vo, cloth, τος. δ. 
(See also Vols. XX VII, ΧΧΨΗ͂Σ. 1 


Vou. XVII. Vinaya Texts. 
Translated from the Pali by T. W. Ruys Davips and Hermaxn 
Oxpenperc. Part II. The Mahavagga, V-X. The Xullavagga, 
1-111. 8vo, cloth, τος. 6d. 


EDITED BY F. MAX MULLER. 5 


vou. Xvirt. Pahlavi Texts. 


Translated by E. W. West. Part II. The D&distén-f Dintk 
and The Epistles of Manfséthar. 8vo, cloth, 12s. 6d, 


Vou, XIx. The Fo-sho-hing-tsan-king. 
A Life of Buddha by Asvaghosha Bodhisattva, translated from 
Sanskrit into Chinese by Dharmaraksha, a.p. 420, and from 
Chinese into English by Samurt Brat. 8vo, cloth, ros. 6d. 
This life of Buddha was translated from Sanskrit into Chinese, 
A.D.420. It contains many legends, some of which show a certain 
similarity lo the Evangelium infanttae, gc. 


Vou. xXx. Vinaya Texts. 


Translated from the Pali by T. W. Ruys Davins and Hersaxn 


Oxpenserc. Part III. The Xullavagga,1V-XII. 8vo, cloth, 
10s. 6d. 


Vou, XXI. The Saddharma-puzdartka ; or, The Lotus 
of the True Law. 


Translated by H. Kern. 8vo, cloth, 125. 6d. 
‘The Lotus of the true Law, a canonical book of the Northern 
Buddhists, translated from Sanskrit, There ts a Chinese transla- 
tion of this book which was finished as early as the year 286 A.D. 


VoL, XXII. Gaina-Sftras. 
Translated from Prakrit by Hermann Jacost. Part I. The 
Ak4rAnga-Sttra and The Kalpa-Sftra. 8vo, cloth, ros. 6d. 


The religion of the Gainas was founded by a contemporary of Buddha. 
Lt still counts numerous adherents in India, while there are no 
Buddhists left in India proper. 


[See Vol. XLV.J 


Vou. XXIII, The Zend-Avesta. 


‘Translated by James DarmesteTteR. Part II. The Sirézahs, 
Yasts, and Nydyis. 8vo, cloth, τος. 6d, ᾿ 


Vou. XXIV. Pahlavi Texts. 


Translated by E. W. West. Part III. Dfn4-? Matndg- 


Khirad, Sikand-gimanik Vigér, and Sad Dar. 8vo, cloth, 
105. 6d. 


6 SACRED BOOKS OF THE EAST: 


SECOND SERIES. 


Vou, xxv. Manu. 


Translated by Gzorc Biter. 8vo, cloth, 21s. 
This translation is founded on that of Sir William Jones, which has been 
carefully revised and corrected with the help of seven native Commentaries. 
An Appendix contains all the quotations from Manu which are found in the 
Hindu Law-books, translated for the use of the Law Courts in India, 
Another Appendix gives a synopsis of parallel passages from the six 
Dharma-siittras, the other Smrttis, the Upanishads, the Mah4bharata, &c. 


Vou. XXvI. The Satapatha-Brahmaza. 


Translated by Jutius Eccetine. Part 11. Books III and IV. 
8vo, cloth, 125. 6d. 


Vous. XXVII anp XXVIII. The Sacred Books of China. 
The Texts of Confucianism. Translated by James Lecce. Parts 
IIIand1V. The Li Ai, or Collection of Treatises on the Rules 
of Propriety, or Ceremonial Usages. 8vo, cloth, 25s. 


vou. XxIx. The Gvzhya-Sitras, Rules of Vedic 
Domestic Ceremonies. 
Part I. Sankhayana, Asvalayana, Paraskara, Khadira. Trans- 
lated by Hermann OLDENBERG. 8vVvo, cloth, 125. 6d. 


These rules of Domestic Ceremonies describe the home life of the ancient 
Aryas with a completeness and accuracy unmatched in any other literature. 
Some of these rules have been incorporated in the ancient Law-books. 


vou. xxx. The Gvrzhya-Sitras, Rules of Vedic 
Domestic Ceremonies. : 
Part I. Gobhila, Hirayyakesin, Apastamba. Translated by 
Hermann Ocvenserc. Apastamba, Yagéa-paribh4sh4-sitras. 
Translated by F. Max Miixier. 8vo, cloth, 12s. 6d. 


Vou. XxxI. The Zend-Avesta. . 
Part III. The Yasna, Visparad, Afrinagin, Gahs, and 
Miscellaneous Fragments. Translated by L. H. Mitzs. 8vo, 
cloth, 125. 6d. 


Vou, XXxII. Vedic Hymns. 
Translated by F. Max Miter. Part I. 8vo, cloth, 18s. 6d. 


’ EDITED BY ΡΣ. MAX MULLER. 7 


Vou. Xxx11r. The Minor Law-books. 
Translated by Jutius Jotty. Part I. Narada, Brshaspati. 
8vo, cloth, τος. 6d. 


Vou. XxxIv. The Vedanta-Sitras, with the Com- 
mentary by Sankar4#arya. Part I. 
' Translated by G. Tursaut. 8vo, cloth, 125. 6d. 


VoLs. XXXV νυν XXXVI. The Questions of King 
Milinda. 
Translated from the Pali by T. W. Ruys Davins. 
Part I. 8vo, cloth, ros. 6d. Part II. 8vo, cloth, ras. 6d. 


VoL. XXXvVII. The Contents of the Nasks, as stated 
in the Eighth and Ninth Books of the Dinkard. 
Part I. Translated by E. W. West. 8vo, cloth, 1 55. 


Vou. XxxviIr, The Veddnta-Sitras. Part II. 8vo, 
cloth, with full Index to both Parts, 12s. 6d. 


Vous. XXXIX anp XL. The Sacred Books of China. 
The Texts of Taoism. Translated by James Leccr. 8vo, 
cloth, 21s. 


Vou, XLI. The Satapatha-Brahmaza. Part III. 
Translated by Jutius Eccerine. 8vo, cloth, 12s. 6d. 


Vou. XLII, Hymns of the Atharva-veda. 
Translated by M. Broomrretp. 8vo, cloth, 215. 


Vous, XLIII anp XLIV. The Satapatha-Braéhmaza. 
Parts 1V and V. [Zn preparation.] 


vou. XLV. The Gaina-Sitras. 
Translated from Prakrit, by Hermann Jacosr. Part Il. The 
Uttarddhyayana Stra, The Satrakriténga Stra. 8vo, cloth, 
125. 6d. 


Vou. XLVI. Vedic Hymns. Part II. 8vo, cloth, 14s. 


Vou, XLVII. The Contents of the Nasks. Part II. 
[Jn preparation.| 
VoL. XLVIII. ᾿ 


Vou. XLIX. Buddhist Mahayana Texts. Buddha- 
Aarita, translated by E. B. Cowetr. Sukh4vati-vyfha, Vagratshe- 
dika, &c., translated by F. Max Mirrer. Amit&yur-Dhy4na- 
Sfira, translated by J. Taxakusu.  8vo, cloth, 125. 6d. 


οο 


RECENT ORIENTAL WORKS. 


Anecdota Oxoniensia. 
ARYAN SERIES. 


Buddfist Texts from Fapan. 1. Vagrakkhedik&; The 
Diamond-Cutter. 
Edited by F. Max Mitter, M.A. Small 4to, 35. 6d.. 


One of the most famous metaphysical treatises of the Mahayana Buddhists. 


Buddhist Texts from Fapan. 11. Sukhavati-Vydha : 

Description of Sukhévati, the Land of Bliss. 
Edited by F. Max Mijtrer, M.A., and Buwyiu Nanyro. With 
two Appendices: (1) Text and Translation of Sahghavarman’s 
Chinese Version of the Poetical Portions of the Sukhdvati- 
Vy@ha ; (2) Sanskrit Text of the Smaller Sukhavati-Vytha. 
Small 4to, 75. 6d. 
The editio princeps of the Sacred Book of one of the largest and most 
influential sects ot Buddhism, numbering more than ten millions of followers 
in Japan alone. 

Buddhist Texts from Fapan, 111. The Ancient Palm- 
Leaves containing the Pragiia-Paramita-Hrzdaya- 
Sitra and the Ushnisha-Vigaya-Dhérazi. 

” Edited by F. Max Miicrer, M.A., and Bunyiv Nanyio, M.A. 
With an Appendix by G. Βύηκεκ, C.L-E. With many Plates. 
Small 4to, ros. 

Contains facsimiles of the oldest Sanskrit MS, at present known. 


Dharma-Samgraha, an Ancient Collection of Buddhist 


Technical Terms. 


Prepared for publication by Kenjyru Kasawara, a Buddhist - 
Priest from Japan, and, after his death, edited by F. Max 
Mixrer and H. Wenzert. Small 4to, 7s. 6d. 


Katydyana’s Sarvanukramami of the Azgveda. 
With Extracts from Shadgurusishya’s Commentary entitled 
Vedarthadipika. Edited by A. A. Macpongtt, M.A., Ph.D. 16s. 


Orford 
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 


LONDON: HENRY FROWDE 
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AMEN CORNER, E.C. 


Ge