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GRUNDRISS OER INDO-ARISCHEN PHILOLOeiE UNO Kltertuiskunoe
(ENCYCLOPEDIA OF INDO-ARYAN RESEARCH)
begrCndet von g. bOhler, fortgesetzt von f. kielhorn.
ir. BAND, I. HEFT, B.
THE ATHARVAVEDA
BY
M. BLOOMFIELD.
STRASSBURG
VERLAG VON KARL J. TRUBNER
1899.
TK
BS6
GRUNDRI88 DER INDO-ARISCHEN PHILOLOGIE UND ALTERTUMSKUNDE
(ENCYCLOPEDIA OF INDO -ARYAN RESEARCH)
BEGRUNDET VON G. BOHLER, FORTGESETZT VON F. KIELIIORN.
II. BAND, I. HEtT B.
THE ATHARVA-VEDA
AND THE GOPATHA-BRAHMANA
BY
MAURICE BLOOMFIELD.
PART I. THE ATHARVA-VEDA IN GENERAL.
A. CHARACTER AND CHRONOLOGY OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA,
§ I. External comparison with the other Vedas. — The Atharva-
Veda is a collection of 730 hymns containing some 6000 stanzas, divided
into 20 books. About one sixth of the mass, including two entire books (15
and 16), is written in prose, similar in style and language to the Brahmanas*;
the rest is poetry in the usual Vedic metres. The latter, however, are handled
with great freedom^ often betraying either ignorance or disregard of the Vedic
metrical canons as applied to the poetry of the Rig- Veda*. Genuine tradition
as to the authorship of the hymns there is none; the hymns themselves are
silent; the reports of the Sarvanukramanika -J of the AV. are in this respect
absolutely fatuous. Unlike the Rik^ Saman, and Yajus — the Vedas respectively
of hymn of praise, chanted song, and sacrificial verses and formulas — the
names of the AV. do not in the first place reflect the nature of the contents,
or the manner of employment of its hymns. The name Brahma-Veda is very
late, and does not in the main designate 'Veda of charms and incantations',
but rather 'Veda of the brahma' (holy word, or religion): the name was arrived
at in a round-about fashion'*. Other descriptive names, such as bhesajaniy ydtUy
etc., are only partial descriptions, and, though familiar enough, were never used
extensively. Instead, Ae association of this Veda is with mythic fire-priests of
prehistoric antiquity, Atharvan and Angiras (later also Bhrgu), resulting in the
names Atharvaiigirasah, Bhrgvangirasah and finally AtharvavedaS. It has been
assumed that this association is entirely secondary, due to the natural desire
to adorn these otherwise almost nameless compositions with an antiquity and
dignity which do not belong to them°. But the names atharvan and angiras
are well ingrained in the poems themselves, in a sense very much the same
as that of the oldest title of the AV. {atharvdtigirasah)^ , Hence it may be
well to remember that the Atharvanic rites as well as the Hindu ceremonies
connected with home-Hfe {gr/iya) centre about the fire, in distinction from
the greater Vedic ceremonies {srauta) which are in the main concerned with
oblations of soma. It is therefore possible to believe that the Vedic Hindus,
when they said of these charms that they were atharvdnaJi and ahgirasah^
meant 'fire-charms', i. e., charms pronounced when some oblation, not soma,
was poured or thrown into the fire^.
Indo-arische Philologie. II. 1b. \
2 II. LlTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
§ 2. Relative chronology of the popular and hieratic litera-
tures.— Anyhow this difference of nomenclature between the three Vedas on
the one side and the Atharvan on the other is an important and profound
one in the history of Vedic hterature. Leaving aside the beginnings of specu-
lative theosophic literature which are represented freely in both types (RV.
and AV.), we are lead to two main divisions of Vedic literature, the three
Vedas with their soma-sacrifices, and the AV. with the house-ceremonies
igrhya)^ i. e., respectively, the hieratic and the popular religion. The statement
put in this form is of importance for the relative chronology of the Atharvan
writings: it becomes evident at once, and from the ethnological point of view
a fortioi-e^ that there can have been no period of Vedic history in which
j house-customs and mantras of essentially Atharvanic character were wanting,
; while at the same time the more elaborate hieratic mantras and soma-sacri-
\ fices were present. In fact, in some form or other both are prehistoric. The
' hieratic religion joins the Avestan /^dr^wrt^-worship ; the Atharvanic charms and
practices are very likely rooted in an even earlier, perhaps Indo-European,
antiquity'^. At least, he who does not regard the analoga between Atharvanic
charms and practices and those of the Teutonic and other I. E. peoples as
entirely accidental (anthropological) must hesitate to ascribe all the mantras
of the AV. and Grhyasutras to a late Vedic period ^°. In the case of some,
e. g. the wedding-charms and the funeral hymns, this is manifestly impossible;
it is not less so in the case of at least some hymns embodied in the AV.
Samhitas alone, as, e, g. 4. 12. This point of view gains much firmness
from a complete survey of the vast armory of charms, blessings, and curses
contained in the AV., such as may be gained by reading over the analysis
of the vulgate as given in this book (Part III). What is the nature of the
impulse which created ex nihilo^ at a late period so strong and popular a
need, and with it such elaborate means of satisfaction; what were the conditions
which exempted the earher and therefore more primitive Vedic time from
these needs and their gratification? It has been assumed that the more
intimate blending of the Vedic people with the barbarous aborigines of India
may have contributed much to the vulgarization of the beliefs and literature
of the Vedic Hindus. This is certainly true to some extent, but it does not
account for a literature of such extent and character as the Atharvan. This
is, after all, only to a limited extent suggestive of aboriginal barbarism:
demonolatry with all other things that are hideous and uncanny make up only a
part of fhe AV. and the related Grhya-literature; nor is it possible to demon-
strate that even all that is borrowed from outside sources. Contrariwise, Athar-
vanic charms are often pervaded by a more genuine 'Aryan' spirit than the
more artistic prayers to the gods of the Rigvedic pantheon (e.g. 3. 12; 3,30;
4. 8; 7. 36 and 37). That the differences in language, style, and metre
between AV. and RV. are by no means always to be interpreted as chrono-
logical but rather as dialectic; and that the songs of the lower grades of the
people were sure to be composed in a language slightly different from that
of the higher priestly families will be shown below (§38 and 42).
( § 3. Chronology of the Atharvan redaction. — Yet there can be
no doubt that the existing collections of the Atharvan are the final product
of a redactioral activity much later than that of the RV., and that many
hymns and prose pieces in the AV. date from a very late period of Vedic
productivity. The Atharvan hymns as well as the Grhya-rites present them-
selves in a form thoroughly Rishified and Brahmanized; even the mantras
and rites of the most primitive ethnological flavor have been caught in the
drag-net of the priestly class and made part of the universal Vedic religion.
I. The Atharva-Veda in General. — A. Character and Chronology. 3
Thus the AV. with its popular beliefs poses outwardly in the same attitude
of dignity as the RV. with the soma-rites, i. e. Brahmanical priests handle
charm and hocus-pocus as religion, not as superstition. As a natural con- j
sequence the Vedic pantheon is brought down and made to participate in the '
common people's customs and superstitions. JJut one feels the difference; '
they are employed mechanically, they have become sterile, and only rarely
develop their character beyond the point at which the RV. leaves them. ,
Agni, Indra, the Maruts, Bfhaspati, etc., are mentioned most always in series
which show that the Vedic gods have become indifferently of equal value.
Being of old slayers of demons, they are needed, of course, against the darkling
brood of demons, goblins, wizards, and witches which rise above the horizon
from the lowest depths of the folks consciousness: demon-slayers they are in
the AV., and little else. Even ethical Varuna with his spies, by virtue of j
his unrivaled facilities for ferreting out hostile, i. e., eo ipso sinful, schemes of 1
enemies and sorcerers, figures familiarly. Such criticisms as are called out
by this inherently difficult and paradoxical condition of things in the midst
of a people capable of higher thought, belong to a rather late time. While
all this has been going on speculative theosophic thought which seems never
to have been wanting in India, has also moved from such beginnings as are
found in the RV. to a greater degree of subtlety and mysticism: the subli- I
mated pantheism of the Upanisads has been reached nearly, if not quite. \
Everything is grist to the mill of the Atharvan : not only are entire theosophic
hymns fitted out as weapons against the hated enemy and wizard, but
individual speculative formulas and theosophic entities have joined the clap-
trap that is supposed to be effective against ^him that hates us and whom we
hate'. This explains the extraordinary fact that a hymn like 8. 6, resting
upon the lowest bathos of folk-lore, can exist peaceably by the side of such
fine-spun theosophic lucubrations as the two hymns to Skambha 'Support*
(10. 7 and 8) which present the knowledge of brahma and atman as the
highest goal; or that asat 'non-being', the perplexing cosmogonic conception,
may be turned against performers of spells (4. 19. 6)". From such pheno- \
mena as these, rather than the word-forms, or demonological contents of the
hymns, the evidence of a later time must be extracted: the concurrent use
of popular, hieratic, and philosophical themes for practical purposes, often
manifestly secondary, betokens a highly reflective, manipulating period of
Brahmanical activity.
" — ^ § 4. Relation of the AV. to the Brahmanas, and the Dharma-
texts. — Indeed the word Brahmanical which has just now been used is to
be taken, it seems, in its narrower sense, namely, the period of the compo-
sition of the Brahmana-texts. The observant reader of a commentary on the
AV., such as has been published by the author in SBE., vol. XLII, will find
abundant evidence that the spirit of the Brahmana-texts — I refrain from
saying Brahmana period because there never was a period devoted exclusively
to the composition of Brahmanas — asserts itself mightily in the collection.of
the AV. as a whole. Above all, these hymns run the whole gamut of the
pretensions and demands of the Brahmana priesthood in the style of the
Brahmana-texts themselves. The Brahmans in the AV., as in the Brahmana-
texts, call themselves deva^ *gods'^^; their claims reach the highest pitch.
A comparison of Weber's 'Collectanea on the Castes' *3 with the chapter in
this book on the 'Prayers and imprecations in the interest of Brahmans'
(§ 56) fixes pretty definitely the lower limit in the relative chronology of the
Atharvan diaskeuasis: it belongs to an advanced period of Brahmanical literary
activity; there is nothing in the way of assuming that the composition
4 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
of such texts as AB. and SB. preceded the redactions of the Atharvan Sam-
hitas. The sparse geographical data of the AV., especially the mention of the
rivers Yamuna and Varanavati and the regions of the Ahgas and Magadhas^'*,
point to an acquaintance with India far enough to the east and south-east
to accommodate the scene of action of the Brahmana-texts. Among zoographic
facts pointing in the same direction the most conspicuous is the Atharvan's
familiarity with the tiger, the inhabitant of the swampy forests of Bengal^
perhaps more narrowly the region about Benares ^2. The inevitable and
doubtless prehistoric (Indo-Iranian) distinction, on the one hand, between priests,
chieftains, and free commoners, all three drya^ and the aboriginal servitor-
class {dasyu, sudrd) has advanced in the AV., so that the line is drawn sharply
not only between the two {drya and sudra) but also between the first three,
brdhniana^ ksatriya and vaisya^^. The knowledge of anatomy, human and
animal, has advanced nearly if not quite so far as in the Brahmanical accounts
of the asvamedha and pttrusamedha^T . The hymn 11. 7 which deifies the
leavings of the porridge {ucchistd) is not only full of hair-splitting scholastic
theosophy, but also contains a long catalogue of the j->a?//^-sacrifices and
the technical forms of recitation of hymns and liturgic chant. The combination
of the two gods Tvastar and Savitar and their assimilation to Prajapati reflects
the spirit of the Brahmanas (see 2. 26. i ; 3. 8. 2; 7. 17. 4). In another direction
the AV. reaches an advanced period of literary activity, namely in the marked
development of expiatory hymns {prdyascitta); the entire tract of hymns,
AV. 6. no — 121, deals with sin {pdpa, enas^ kilbisa^ etc.) very much in the
same spirit as the Vidhana-texts and the Dharma-texts. Thus the chapter of
this book on 'Expiation of sin and defilement' (§ 58) touches at many points
the paragraph entitled 'Religious delinquencies' in Jolly's 'Recht und Sitte'
p. ii5ff.; as also the prdyas'ciUa-chsipters, Svidh. i.5ff. Especially noteworthy
are 6. 117 — 119 which apparently aim to salve the conscience for unpaid
debts {rnd)^ in part gambling-debts; and 6. 112 and 113 which deal with
the class of sins 'wiped off' by the gods from themselves upon the 'scape-
god' Trita, sins like the marriage of a younger brother before the older,
abortion, and murder of Brahmans^^. This class of hymns together with the
closely related so-called kusmdnda^^, TA. 2. 3 — 6, mark, as has hardly been
noticed, the longest line of contact between mantra and dharma, and the
matter is of some importance in determining the relative chronology of the
Atharvan redaction as very late. Of course dates, real dates, in Vedic literature
prior to Buddha and the Epic are still 'pins set up only to be bowled dovyn
again'. So true is this that fortunately no knowing attempts have been made
as yet to fix either the date of the composition of the individual hymns or
the redaction. This much is clear that the chronology of each hymn, and
each antiquarian and institutional theme, must be viewed from an ever
changing critical position, and with a particularly constant regard of the
related facts of the whole Vedic tradition: to mass the testimony of the AV.
at. any one point, to speak, except for occasional convenience, of the period
of the AV., seems an even more pernicious error than the bundling together
of the facts of the so-called 'Rigvedic' period into one package, separate
from all the rest of the early Brahmanic antiquity.
MadhusudanasarasvatI, Prasthanabheda, IS. I, 16 (Deussen, Allgemeine Ge-
schichte der Philosophic, vol. I, part i, p. 50); Say ana, Introduction to his com-
mentary ontheAV.; Alberuni, India (Sachau's translation), p. I29ff. ; Colebrooke,
Essays 2, vol. I, p. 13, 80 ff.; Bohlen, Das alte Indien, vol. I, p. 128; Lassen,
Tndische Alterthumskunde, vol. I, p. 523; Roth, Zur Litteratur und Geschichte des
Weda, p. 5, 13, 37 ff.; Atjhandlung iiber den Atharva-Veda (Tiibingen 1856); Der
Atharva-Veda in Kaschmir (Tiibingen 1875); Max Muller, HASL. p. 446fi[.; Chips
I. The Atharva-Veda in General. — B. Historical Character. 5
from a German Workshop, vol.1, p. gff.; Weber, IS. I, 289, 294 ff.; XIII, 33 iff.;
Indische Literaturgeschichte', p. 11, 161 ff.; Whitney, JAOS. I\', 254; OLS. I,
p. 18 ff.; Sanskrit Grammar, p. xvi; Ludwig, Der Rig-Veda, vol- III, p. 28, 341 ff.;
L. V. Schroeder, Indien's hiteratur und Cultur, p. 170 ff.; Kaegi, The Rig-Veda
(Arrowsmith's translation), p. 4, 97; R. T. II. Griffith, Hymns of the Atharva-
veda (translation), in the preface; Hardy, Die Vedisch-brahmanische Periode,
p. 190 ff.; Oldenberg, Die Religion des Veda, p. 17 ff.; Hopkins, Religions of
India, p. 151 ff.; Bloomfielu, Hymns of the Atharvaveda, SBE. XLII, Introduction;
Anonymus, The Atharva-Veda described, London and Madras 1897 (missionary tract).
I Book 16 contains, however, some passages which are written in cadenccd
prose from which it is possible to extract at least single metrical pSdas. This is
true of much other prose material in the AV. (as also in the YV.), so that it is
not unfrequently difficult to decide whether a given hymn or stanza is prose or
poetry: prose and loose verse are mixed up in the AV. to an extent not quite
reached in any other class of Vedic writings. Cp. Whitnky, Index Verborum,
p. 5- — * ^ee below, S 38. — 3 Below, S 19. — 4 Below, % 9 and 33, and more
fully, SBE. XLII, p. i.viii, and Lxv ff. — 5 See S 8 and 9. — «> Weber, IS. I, 295;
Omina und Portenta, p. 347; WL.2, p. 164; Whitney, OLS. I, 18. — 7 SBE. XLII,
p. XXI and XXXI ff. — « The connection of atharvan with fire is Indo-Iranian
(Avestan athravatt); cp. Spiegel, Eranische Alterthumskunde, III, p. 559; Die arische
Periode, p. 232; Haug, Essays on the Parsis, p. 280, 294; Geiger, Civilization of
the Eastern Iranians, vol.11, p. 48 ff. ; and many other writers. Haug's attempt to
show that the Avesta is acquainted with some Atharvan collection under the name
apZm aivisfis has only historical interest: see, Brahma und die Brahmanen, p. 43ff. ;
Essays, p. 182. — 9 Cp. Knauer, Festgruss an Roth, p. 64 ff.; Winternitz,
The Mantrapatha of the Apastambins, p. XLiv. — »<> Adalbert Kuhn, KZ. XIII,
p. 49-74; 113 — 157; SBE. XLII, p. 313, 386, 454. Cp. Stenzler, Uber die Sitte,
Appendix to his translation of AG.; Hillebrandt, Ritual-Litteratur, p. 2. — " See
S 59. — " See 5. II. II; 6. 13. I; 114. i; ii. i. 23; 12. 3. 38; 4. 23; 19.62. I.
Cp. ZiMMER, p. 205 ff.; SBE. XLII, Index, under, 'Brahman-priests'. — U IS. X,
1 — 160. — 14 Zimmer, p. 5, 20, 31; the interpretation of varaniiva/t is, however,
quite doubtful: SBE. XLII, p. 376. — i5 Zimmer, p. 79. — ' 16 See, 5. 17. 9;
6. 13. i; 7. 103. i; 12. 5. 46; 15. 8. iff.; 19. 32. 8; 62. i. — 17 vSee, 9. 6 and 7;
10. 2, etc. — j8 See Bloomfield, Contributions. Seventh Series. AJPh. XVII,
430 ff.; Jolly, p. 116. — 19 vSee S 58, note 3.
B. HISTORICAL CHARACTER OF THE ATHARVAN, AND ITS
RELATION TO THE HOUSE-BOOKS.
S 5. The mutual relations of the AV. and the Grhya-sutras, and
their historical value. — Ancient India, as is well known, has no history in
theord[nary sense, no secular history. In lieu thereof the history of its religion
and the history of its institutions are unrivaled among the peoples of olden times
in their continuity and completeness. Especially the obscurer and more sluggish
currents of ordinary daily life, a knowledge of which is so important for the
true estimate of a people, are laid bare to the eye of the historian by an
altogether unusual kind of tradition. We are not left to reconstruct a picture
of the private life of the Vedic Hindu from scattered, incidental statements
of their ancient literature alone. Valuable as such statement are, more trustworthy
perhaps, as far as they go, than intentional descriptions, they are yet certain
to be fragmentary, and to yield but a hazy outline of the subject In addition
to such incidental statements Vedic literature has preserved native systematic
treatises on home-life which have searched out and stated systematically a
well-defined body of facts connected with the every-day existence of the
individual and the family. These are the Grhya-sutras, or house-books, composed
as formal treatises at a comparatively late Vedic period % but reporting
practices and prayers of great antiquity^. This class of texts owe their
existence to the religious view which the Hindus were led to take of the
entire course of their lives. In its even daily course, as well as in its crucial
moments, the life of the Hindu is surrounded by a plethora of religious forms;
6 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GOPATHA-BraHMANA.
it is, as it were^ sacramental throughout. The beliefs of the folk did not
forever flow in a separate undercurrent beneath the open-air religion, scorned
by the latter as superstition, but they were at an early time imbedded within
the religion. The Grhya-sutras, as in a measure also the Srauta-sutras 3,
resulted from a codification of popular beliefs undertaken by the Brahmans
at a time when these beliefs had been completely harmonized with the
Brahmanical order of things, as well as with the divine law and the personal
needs and demands of the gods.
It is not to be doubted that the simple practices which are at the bottom
of the systematic house-books were at all times accompanied by prayers to
such gods, genii, and demons as peopled the fancy of the simple folk'^. To
be sure the Grhya-sutras in their finished form are later redactorial products
of schools of Vedic learning, and as such participate to a large extent in the
entire stock of hymns, stanzas, and liturgic prayers of their particular school
without careful regard to the original purpose for which these hymns, stanzas,
etc., were composed ^ In other words, as- the practice of home-rites passed
more and more into the hands of the Brahmans, the latter did not stint them
their spiritual learning; they decked out the practices with mantras often
ludicrously misapplied to the situation. We may also suppose that many
ancient prayers were remodelled by the Brahmans to accord better with their
own religious ideas and literary habits. Yet it is impossible to believe that
marriage-ceremony, burial-rite, medical charm, exorcism and the like can ever
have been carried on without prayer, and it will be ultimately a distinct task
of Vedic study to find out what are the original grhya-mantras and grhya-
formulas in distinction from the later importations. Such a body of prayers
would be even more fit to be trusted as a report of early customs than the
Sutras themselves, they would cancel for themselves all suspicion that we are
dealing with individual trumped up fancies. The prayers of the Grhya-sutras
are either woven into the account of the practices themselves, or they are
preserved as separate collections {ma7itra-brdhmana^ mantra-pdthd) : the Sam-
hitas of the AV. are, as it were, Mantra-pathas on a large scale, broader in
scope and freer from school-influence than those of the house-books proper.
We may expect to find in their hymns a picture of the private antiquities of
ancient India, painted on a large canvass with no particular choice of favored
subjects placed in the fore-ground; a picture such as cannot be furnished by
the Grhya-sutras, because they limit themselves eclectically to good or pious
subjects in the main. The light and the shadows, the good and the evil in
the life of this ancient people must appear in due proportion.
§ 6. Scope of the AV. as a record of ancient life. — This expectation
the hymns of the AV. fulfil quite amply. Supported by its own ritual book,
the Sutra of Kausika, which reports the practices connected with these hymns
in a way that is on the whole trustworthy, the AV. furnishes an almost com-
plete picture of the ordinary life of the Vedic Hindu. The AV. deals with
the themes of the house-books proper and is, of course, supplemented by
these interesting and important treatises. The fife of the average Arya from
the cradle to the funeral-pyre is depicted by the AV. with greater freedom
and completeness than in the house-books; the difference, as I have said
before, is that the AV. is not at all squeamish in the choice of its themes,
and exhibits the ordinary Hindu not only in his aspect of devout and virtuous
adherent of the Brahmanic gods, and performer of pious practices, but also
as the natural semi- civilized man: rapacious, demon and fear-ridden, hateful,
lustful, addicted to sorcery. The variety of practices and beliefs connected
with house and home, field and cattle, love and marriage, trade and village-
I. The Atharva-Veda in General. — C The Names of the Atharva-Veda. 7
politics, is also far greater in the AV. than in the house-books. But it con-
tains in addition much that is wanting or barely touched upon in the Grhya-
sutras. The analysis of the AV. which forms the third part of this work ex-
hibits this difference even in the headings of its separate paragraphs. Thus
the medical charms (8 50) present a complete picture of primitive Hindu
medicine, a theme that is hardly indicated in any other department of Vedic
literature. The house-books have nothing that corresponds to the theme,
'Prayers and imprecations in the interest of Brahmans' (S 56); very little that
corresponds to the 'Royal rites' (8 55): these two chapters hold the earliest
fairly systematic account of the two superior castes, the Brahmans and the
K§atriyas. The 'Women's rites' (8 53), the 'Charms to secure harmony, in-
fluence in the village- assembly' (8 54), and many other less prominent themes,
though not entirely absent in the house-books, are also characteristically
Atharvan. It may be said fairly that the house-books are excerpts from the
broad sphere of life with all its realities, excerpts which were begun in a
certain mood that governed the choice of subjects, and that this choice
became traditional in all non-Atharvanic Vedic schools. Thus all Grhya-sutras
present in the main the same selections, their many differences notwith-
standing^: the circle or endless chain of human existence : birth, con6rraation,
Brahman disciplehood, arrival at man's estate, marriage, householdership and
again birth, etc , with many intermediate rites. Other matters are treated only
incidentally and in a subsidiary way. Not only are the Grhya-sutras restricted to
the more pious and orderly aspects of daily life, but they deal also in the main
with those practices which are of a regular, permanent, or periodic character
— nityakarfndni as the theologians call them — whereas the AV. is engaged
largely with occasional and optional practices {naimittika, kdmya). To this
the AV. owes its flavor of romance and unexpectedness. As the reader
works his way hymn by hymn through the Atharvan collections, arranged
with a degree of gaucherie hardly to be excelled 7, he is surprised and
bewildered by the number and variety of subjects, by the insistent way in
which the obscurer relations and emotions of human life are brought to the
surface and exploited. And there is left finally the definite impression that
the precious literary diligence of the Hindus has in this instance preserved
a document of priceless value for the institutional history of early India as
well as the ethnological history of the human race, that in this respect the
AV. is a document as precious as is the RV. on the side of mythology and
formal priestly religion.
I See Oldenberg, SBE. XXX, p. xvu fi". — 2 Note in this connection, e. g.,
the way in which the proper noun atUhigva, 'presenting a cow to guests', in the
RV., has embalmed an essential feature of the arghya, the rites at the reception of
an honored guest; see Contributions. Seventh Series. AJI'h. XVII, 424. — 3 Hille-
BRANDT, Ritual-Litteratur, p. 1 ff. — 4 Quite the opposite view is advocated by
Oldenberg, I.e., p. x: it has been criticized by Wlnternitz, The Mantrapatha of
the Apastambins, p. XLIV. — 5 Cp. E. W. Fay, Johns Hopkins University Circulars,
May, 1890, vol. IX, nr. 81, p. 74; SBE. XLII, p. XLUi ff. — 6 For a comprehensive
view of the themes of the Grhya-sQtras see Oldenberg's synopsis, SBE. XXX,
p. 300—307; for a description in detail, Hillebrandt, 1. c, p. 41 ff. — 7 See S 36 ff.
C. THE NAMES OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA AND THEIR MEANLNGS^
S 7. The compound Atharvangirasah and the meaning of its
two members, Atharvan and Angiras. — The oldest name of the fourth
Veda is the dvandva-plural atharvangirasah ^{hS. 10. 7. 20), the name found
at the head of the manuscripts of the Saunakiya-Samhita. More or less
secondary and irregular forms and derivatives, such as occur in the expressions
8 11. LlTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
atharvdngirasi s'rutam, Mahabh. 3.305.20^17066^; kusalam atharvdngirase,
Yajn. I. 312; krtydm atharvdiigirasim^ Mahabh. 8. 40. 2)Z = 1848; atharvd-
ngirasih s'rutih, Manu 11.33; atharvdngirasam tarpaydmi^ Baudh. Dh. 2. 5. 9. 14,
are of later growth. The name atharvaji and its derivatives are employed
growingly throughout the literature, whereas the name angiras by itself occurs
but in a single Vedic passage, TS. 7. 5. 11. 2 = Kathaka Asvamedhagrantha
{angirobhyah svdhd)^ as the designation of the fourth Veda 3. Quite frequently,
however, the members of the compound atharvdrigirasah are separated so
that each is mentioned by itself, but always in more or less close vicinity to
one another, showing that the Atharvans and Angirases had a separate existence,
and that the AV. consists of these two component parts. In fact, in a con-
siderable range of the literature especially of older times the term atharvaji
refers to the auspicious practices of the Veda, the hhesajdni (AV. 11. 6. 14),
those parts of the Veda which are recognized by the Atharvan ritual and the
orthodox Brahmanical writings as sdnta^ 'holy', and paiistika^ ^auspicious'; the
term angiras refers to the hostile sorcery practices of the Veda, the ydtu (SB.
10- 5. 2. 20), or abhicara^ which is terrible {g/iora).
This view of the double character of the AV. is expressed most plainly
and familiarly in the Gopathabrahmana. Thus i. 2. 21 and i. 5. 10, rci
yajusi sdmni sdnte 'tha g/iore; in the last-named case GB. substitutes these
five Vedas for the trayJ in the corresponding passage, SB. 12. 3. 3. 2, upon
which GB. is based. These two Atharvanic Vedas assume such reality in the
mind of the author of GB. as to be furnished each with an independent
vydhrti, to match bhur^ bhuvahj svah of the trayl, namely, oni for the Atharvan
= sdnta; janat for the Angiras = g/iora: GPJ. i. 2. 24 and i. 3. 3. In i. 3. 3
the vydhrtis of the trayl are sandwiched in between om dj\^ Janat for protection
{gup: see GB. i. i. 13). Cp. also i. i. 5, 8 and i. 3. 4. In the ritual practices,
Vait. 5. 10; GB. I. 2. 18 the same distinction is maintained in behalf of two
classes of plants, one of which is described as sdnta, or dtkarvana; the other,
used in hostile sorcery, as dngirasa. The latter word has assumed in the
Kausika the meaning of dbhicdrika or gkora, and the fifth Kalpa of the AV.
goes by the names Angirasa-kalpa, Abhicara-kalpa, and Vidhana-kalpa. The
words dngirasa = dbhicdrika, and pratydhgirasa as referring to 'counter-
witchcraft' {pratyabhicarana) are also used in Vidhana-texts outside of the AV.,
in fact as designations of such texts, e. g. Rig-vidhana 4. 6. 4"^; with this
pejorative use of the word we may perhaps also connect the fact that the
Puranas count the Angirasa-Veda as one of the four Vedas of the Parsis
(Maga), the other three, Vada, Visvavada, and Vidut, also conveying thinly
veiled contempt for the religious books of a foreign religion 5. What is even
more significant, the distinction between Atharvana-Veda and Angirasa-Veda
is also recognized by the non-Atharvanic Brahmanas and Sutras, and also
associated by them in explicit, terms respectively with sdnta and gkora. At
SB. 13.4.3.3^; AS. 10. 7. iff.; SS. 16. 2.9ff.,- on the occasion oi t\\Q pariplaya,
at the horse-sacrifice, sections from these two Vedas are recited: AS. and SS.
specify that a bhesajam {sdntam) be recited from the Atharvana-Veda, 2. ghoram
{dbhicdrikam) from the Angirasa-Veda. Cp. also PB. 12.9. 10; 16. 10. 10, and
the names of apocryphal sages and, divinities like Bhisaj Atharvana, in con-
trast with Ghora Angirasa, as also Sarnyu Atharvana and Santi, the wife of
Atharvan^. Possibly the assumed inferiority of the Angiras in the Brahmana-
legends of the contests between the Adityas and Angiras also points to the
uncanny, devilish character of the latter, and may be derived from the
same sphere of conceptions: the Angiras regularly appear as vanquished
victims, similar to the Asuras in their struggles with the Devas^.
„.L The Atharva-Veda in Generau — C. The Names of the Atharva-Veda. 9
The AV. Saiphita marks the same distinction very clearly. At 11. 6. 14
four Vedic mantra-categories are indicated by the expressions rcah^ sdmdni,
bhesajd^ and yajumsi\ here the choice ,of the word bhesajd is eclectic and
one-sided. Its precise complement is SB. 10. 5. 2. 20, where ydtu and the
ydtuvidafj. are placed by the side of the three Vedas and their representative
priests. That bhesaja and ydtu are complements of one another appears
from AV.6.13.3, namas te (sc. mrtyoh) ydtudhdnebhyo^ nomas te bhesajebhyah.
The bhesajd of AV.11.6. 14 and the ydtu of the SB. passage make up together
what is embraced in the name atharvdiigirasah ( A V. 10. 7.20). The Samhita
also associates markedly tlie term dngirasa with aggressive sorcery and the
practice of spells {krtyd). Thus ^.^.<), krtyd dngirasih-, 10. i. 6, praticina dngi-
rasah ... prafid/i krtyd dkrtyd 'mun krtydkrto jahi\ cp. also 12. 5. 52, and
6- 45- 3 = S.V. 10. 164.4. And the distinction between Atharvanic and Ahgirasic
plants appears also in 11. 4. 16 (cp. 8. 7. 17), probably in the same sense as
in the Atharvan ritual, i.e. in the sense, respectively, of 'holy' and 'witchcraft*
plants. Finally the late Parisista hymns, AV. 19. 22 and 23, repeated in the
Uttamapatala, Ath. Paris. 46. 9 and 10, deal with and state subdivisions of
dngirasa and dtharvana texts, each separately; cp. GB. i. i. 5, 8, and i. 3. 4.
§ 8. Cause of the distinction between Atharvan and Ahgiras. —
As regards the chronology and cause of this differentiation of atharvan and
ahgiras the texts offer but scant information. The association of both names
(and later of the name bhrgu also) with the texts and practices of the fourth
Veda may be sought in their character of mythic fire-priests, or fire-churners :
the homely practices of the AV. may have been in charge of human fire-
priests in distinction from soma-priests ^. As regards the terrible aspect of the
Angiras as compared with the Atharvans, we may point to RV. 10. 108. 10,
where Sarama threatens the Panis with the ahgirasah . . . ghordh. More im-
portant is the Angirasic character ofBrhaspati, the divine Purohita: in Kaus,
135. 9 Brhaspati Ahgirasa appears as the representative, or the divinity of
sorcery; in the Mahabh. he is frequently called ahgirasdvi sresthah. In his
function of body-priest of the gods he exercises against hostile powers those
fierce qualities which are later regarded as Angirasic in the broader sense, cp.
RV. 10. 164.4 = AV.6.45.3, where Brhaspati figures as Pratlclna ('Back-hurler')
Angirasa. Still less obvious are the reasons why the word atharvan should be
particularly associated with sdnta and bhesaja) perhaps this was accompHshed
by simply contrasting it with ahgiras^ after the latter had assumed its sinister
sensed. In any case at an early time the terms atharvdnah in the sense of
'holy charms', and ahgirasah in the sense of 'witchcraft charms', joined the
more distinctively hieratic terms rcah, yajumsi, and sdmdni^ as characteristic
types of Brabmanical literary performances. But this distinction was at a later
period again abandoned; in the end the name atharvan and its derivatives
{atharvdnah^ dtharvandni, dtharvandh, dtharvanika, atharvana, atharvdna, and,
finally, atharva-veda) '° prevail as designations of the charms and practices of
the fourth Veda, without reference to their strongly diversified character.
§9. The terms Bhrgvahgirasah, Brahmaveda, and the designa-
tions of Atharvan priests. — Two other designations of the AV. differ from
the preceding in that they are the product of a later Atharvanic literary age;
neither of them are found in the Samhita, both are almost wholly restricted
to the ritual texts of the Atharvan itself. They are the names bhrgvahgirasah
and brahma-veda- The term bhrgvahgirasah^ as far as is known, occurs only
in Atharvan texts. Though bhrgu in this compound takes the place of atharvan,
the terms bhrgavah or bhrguveda do not occur, except that the Culika-Up. 1 1
designates the Atharvan collection of mantras as bhrguvistara (schol., bhdrgava-
lO n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
grajithdJi). The term b/irgvangiras, almost always in the compound bhrgv-
angirovid, is the favorite designation of the AV. in the Atharvan ritual texts;
it makes a show, in fact, of crowding out designations based upon the stem
atharvan^^. And there is an indefinable tendency to magnify the importance
of the term bhrgu at the expense of the others, as when the cosmogony GB.
I. I. 3 creates Bhrgu before Atharvan; or when GB. i. 2. 22 says that the
Atharvans and Ahgiras are the eyes of Bhrgu; or when the Culika-Up. 10
says that the Bhrgus are foremost among the Atharvans {atharvdno bhrgiltta-
mdJi): if this is taken seriously at all it reflects rather the result than the
cause of the substitution of the name bhrgu for atharvan. There is indeed
no valid reason why the term bhrgu has succeeded in encroaching so far upon
the term atharvan. The following may, however, be remarked. The three
words atharvan^ arigiras, and bhrgu are in general equivalent, or closely
related mythic names, concerned with the production, or the service of the
fire. Occasionally in the mantras (RV. 10. 14. 6) they are found all together,
or bhrgu is found in company with atharvan (RV. 10.92.10), ox y^'iiki angiras
(RV. 8. 43. 13). This inter-relation continues in the Yajus and Brahmana-
texts^^ in such a way that the juxtaposition of bhrgu and angiras becomes
exceedingly frequent, broaching on the complete synonymy reached in SB.
4. I. 5. I, where the sage Cyavana is designated either as a Bhargava, or as
an Angirasa. Perhaps the frequency of this collocation suggested to the
Atharvavedins a mode of freshening up the more trite compound atharvd-
figirasa/r, of any more conscious reason for the preference of the word bhrgu
the texts show no trace.
The term brahma-vcda whose origin is discussed below (§ 2iZ) likewise
belongs to the sphere of the Atharvan ritual. Outside of the Atharvan there
is but a single unquestionable occurrence, SG. 1.16.3. Even in the Atharvan
Upanisads the term is wanting, curiously enough '3. The earliest occurrences,
aside from SG., are Vait. i. i; GB. i. i. 22; 2. 16, 19; 5. 15, 19; 2. 2. 6. The
word is common in the Parisistas ^'^. The supposition that SB. 14.8. 14. i — 4
= Brh. Up. 5. 13. I — 4 with its series, uktham (= rk), yaj'uh, sdma, ksatra7n,
alludes to the Atharvan as the Veda of the Ksatriyas is at present no more
likely than when it was advanced by the author, SBE. XLII, p. xxv ff. Cp.
also Weber, Verz. II, p. 1203. The RV. Pratisakhya 16. 54 (55) mentions
a Vedic book or collection by the name of subhesaja, 'collection of remedial
charms', probably only another way of saying bhesajd?ti, i. e. the auspicious
Atharvan charms; cp. the expression saubhesajain chandah^ GB. i. 5. 23 (p. 85,
bottom). Curious is Alberuni's statement (India, Sachau's translation, vol. I,
p. 129) that the AV. does not consist of the same compositions as the Rik
and Yajus, but of a third kind called bhara 'song of praise' (RV.).
Designations of priests devoted to the AV. are wanting in the Samhitas,
unless the terms bhrgu and angirasa, AV. 5. 19. i, 2 are intended as such.
The Atharvan ritual texts use brahman and bhrgvangirovid, in addition to
derivatives from the stem atharvan. Very late is the use of the bahuvrihis
paticakalpa and paficakalpin, 'one who practices with the five Kalpas of the
AV.': Mahabh. 12. 342. 99 = 13258; 13. 14. 309 = 901; Mahabhasya (IS.
XIII. 455); and as titles of scribes of Atharvan ritual texts ^5. Whether the word
mdtrkalpika in the Mahabhasya bears any relation to the AV. is still an un-
settled point: see Kaus. Introd. p. lviii.
I The present chapter is an abstract of the essay on this subject, SBE. XLII,
p. xvii— xxvin, with certain not unimportant corroborative additional details that
have come to hand since the date of that publication. Cp. Hillebrandt, Ritual-
Litteratur, p. 169. — 2 Bombay ed., atharvangirasi iruiam; Calcutta, however.
I. The Atharva-Veda in General. — D. The Schools of the A.-V. i i
atharvasiraii 'rittam. — 3 Later this designation crops out in grammatical writings,
in the superscription of Ath. Prati^., and in the Mahabhflsya to Pai?ini 5. 2. 37 (cp.
IS. XIIJ.433). — ^ Bloomfield, JAOS. XL 387 ff.; SBE. XLII, p. xviii ff. — 5 Cp.
Wilson in Reinaud's Memoire sur i'lnde, p. 394; Weber, LS. I, 292, note; WL.»
164, note. — 6 SUE. XLII, p. xxi. — 7 Cp. Weber, IS. L 291 {i.\ and below,
S 52, note 3.-8 Cp. Knauer, Fcstgruss an Roth, p. 64 ff. — 9 A dash of
popular etymology may have helped the process : a-tharvan 'not injuring' ; cp. thurv
in the sense of 'injure', Dhatupatha 15. 62, and perhaps MS. 2. 10. I; also the
roots turv and dhurv with similar meanings. — «o SBE. XLII, p. xxv. — x« See
KauiJ. 63. 3; 94. 3, 4 (cp. 137. 25; 139. 6); Vait. I. $; GB. I. 1. 28, 39; 2. 9, 18
(end); 3. 1, 2, 4. The term is familiar in the Pari^is^as and in the AV. Anukra-
manl; cp. Weber, Omina und Portenta, p. 346 ff.; Weber, Vcrz. 11. 89 ff.; SBE.
XLII, p. XXVI ff. — " See the passages cited SHE. XLII, p. xxvii, note. — »3 See
ih. p. xxviii, note. — H See Weber, Verz. II, 88 ff. — «5 SBE. XLII, p. xxviii;
Weber, Verz. II. 96 (cp. also 919 and 921).
D. THE SCHOOLS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
S 10. Character and sources of the reports on the schools of
the AV. — Hindu tradition has fixed upon the number nine as expressing the
extent to which the Atharvanic collections of hymns, or their employment in
the hands of the Atharvanic practitioners was diversified by differences of
treatment in Atharvanic schools {sdkhd, carana^ bhedd). Numerical statements
of this sort are apt to be apocryphal; and the differences which represent to
the Hindu mind sufficient reason for positing an independent sdkhd vary
greatly in scope and importance. They may be due to genuine differences
in the extent and arrangement of the hymn-collections themselves; to differ-
ences of ritualistic employment of one and the same hymn-collection {sutra-
s'dk/id); to the existence of independent Upanisads among the votaries of
the same //-/^//-products in all other respects; or to other more trivial points,
at times of great obscurity ^ These differences great and small are lumped
together in the traditional Atharvanic count of nine sakhas, without perspective
or sense of proportion; their analysis, moreover, is rendered somewhat un-
certain owing to the modulations which the names of the sakhas have been
subjected to in the course of time, inside and outside of the Atharvan, and
even more by the portentous amount of blundering report on the part of the
scribes unacquainted with these names.
The reports on the Atharvan sakhas are from the following sources:
1. The two Caranavyuhas : one, counted as the fifth Parisista of the White
Yajur-Veda, registers the schools of the AV. in chapter one ; another, figuring
as the 49'^ Parisista of the AV., treats the same subject in briefer form. —
2. Incidental mention in Panini, the Mahabhasya, and other grammatical litera-
ture. — 3. The very late over-systematic reports of the Puranas, and other
late literature, e. g. the Samskaraganapati of Ramakrsna. — 4. Incidental
mention throughout the literature of the Atharvan, to which may be added
Sayana's list of the sakhas in the introduction to his commentary to the AV.,
p. 25^ — Sayana's statement coincides with that of the AV. Caranavyuha,
and it would seem that these two authorities present a correct list of the
sakhas as known in their day: the different versions of other texts are due
to blunders, and more or less conscious malformations and additions on the
part of writers farther removed from the sphere of the Atharvan. Accordingly
the traditional nine sakhas are as follows:
S II. The nine sakhas of the AV. — i. The Paippalada (also, Paip-
paladaka, Paippaladi, Pippalada, Paippala, Paippalayana, &c.), a patronymic
derived from the name of a teacher Pippaladi. In the Atharvan literature
itself these names do not appear prior to the Parisistas and the Upanisads -J,
I 2 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
being unknown even in Kaus., Vait, and GB. The name occurs as the
designation of a group of mantras which figure as an appendix to the Na-
ksatrakalpa, whenever that text figures as the first Parisista; these mantras
are in fact derived from AVP'^. Again, AV. 19. 56 — 58 in the Saunaklya
are designated as paippaldda-mantrdh at the end of Ath. Paris. 8. This is
significant in the hght of the close relationship of book 1 9 of AV. with AVP.
The so-called pippalddi-sdnti-gana^ Ath. Paris. 34. 20, begins with the pratika,
sain no devT (vulgata i. 6) which is in all probability the opening verse of
the Kashmirian sakha. Further Ath. Paris. 2. 3, 6; 23. 10; 24. 14; 41. Caland,
Ahnencult, p. 96, 107, 243 ff., has reconstructed a considerable part of a
Paippalada-sraddhakalpa, and surmises that the school of the Paippalada is
older than the Saunaklya. The tradition of the Atharvan Upanisads distributes
them largely, and very secondarily, among the two more important schools,
the Saunaka and the Paippalada; one of the older Upanisads, the Prasna, is
regularly and probably with good reason assigned to the Paippalada 5. Cp.
also the ^end of Garbha-Up. The Brahma-Up. opens with a conversation
between Saunaka and Pippalada. The name occurs also frequently in the
colophons of Atharvanic writings, and is contained in all systematic reports
of the sakhas, Atharvanic and otherwise^.
2. The Tauda or Taudayana, written frequently, Stauda and Staudayana.
Appears in the literature itself only Ath. Paris. 23. 3, a skandhdd tiraso vd 'pi
'ti stauddyanaih smrtd (sc. aranih). The sakha-reports have propagated this
name with a brood of variants, often of the most ignorant character, contri-
buting nothing to the real history of the name 7.
3. The Mauda or Maudayana are mentioned several times m the Pari-
sistas. Especially, an interesting passage, 2.4, declares that only Saunaka and
Paippalada priests are fit to be Purohitas, whereas the kingdom whose spiritual
care is in the hands of priests of the Jalada or Mauda schools rapidly goes
to destruction ^ Otherwise the names occur Ath. Paris. 23. 3 {mauda)^ and
24. 10 {maudayana), and in all systematic accounts of the sakhas with the
usual corruptions 9.
4. The Saunaklya or Saunakin. The term Saunakin occurs by the side
of Devadarsin, Kaus. 85. 8. At Vait. 43. 25 a saMnaka-sa,cnf\ce is prescribed
for such as desire to become adepts in sorcery {saunakayajfio 'bhicdrakdmasya) :
the force and originality of this testimony^ is somewhat impaired by the occurrence
of a similar statement KB. 4. 7 (cp. SS. 3. 10. 7), as we may not be sure that
the RV. Brahmana has in mmd an Atharvan doctor. In Ath. Paddh. at Kaus.
I. 6 the Vait. is cited as Saunaklya-sutra; the title of the published Prati-
sakhya of the AV. (vulgata) is Saunaklya Caturadhyayika^°: and the terms
saunaka, saunaki, and saunaklya ^ are common in the AV. Parisistas. The
Atharvan Upanisads also regard Saunaka as one of their great teachers
(Mundaka 1.1.3; Brahma i); one of them appears under the name of Saunaka-
Upanisad (Shavank, in Anquetil's translation)", and the commentators on
these texts are apt to ascribe them for the most part either to the school of
Saunaka or to that of Paippalada. Finally all the systematic reports of the
sakhas present the name, though often corrupted almost beyond recognition ^^
5. The Jajala. The form of this name, which is obscured by the usual
blunders in the systematic reports, may be considered as established on the
strength of the unequivocal statement Ath. Paris. 23. 2, bdhumdtrd devadarsair
jdjalair urumdtrikd (sc. aranih)', cp. Sayana, Introduction, p. 25. The deary a
eponymous of the school seems to have been Jajali, as reported by the Maha-
bhasya^^.
6. The Jalada, mentioned in the polemic statement, Ath. Paris. 2. 4,
I. The Atharva-Veda in General. — D. The Schools of the A.-V. 13
reported above under Mauda. In addition jaladdyanay Ath. Paris. 23. 2, jala-
ddyafiair vitastir va (sc. araniJi) soclaie 7/ tu bhdrgavah.
7. The Brahmavada. Not found in Atharvan literature outside of the
Caranavyuha; the outside reports of the sakhas all present the name, mostly
with variants more or less corrupt.
8., The Devadarsa or Devadarsin. They occur Kaus. 85. 7, in opposition
to the Saunakin; in the grammatical gana saunaka in the form devadars'aninah;
and in Ath. Paris. 23. 2, see above under 5. The sakha-lists in spite of great
corruption intend the same name.
9. The Caranavaidya. Mentioned by Kesava at Kaus. 6. 37, and Ath.
Paris. 23. 2: cdranavaidyair janghe ca maudend ' stdtiguldni ca (length of the
arani). The sakha-lists all have the name.
S 12. Estimate of the historical value of the sakhas, and their
relation to the teachers of the Sutras. — Aside from a difference of
opinion on the part of the Saunakin and Devadarsin in a trivial matter of
measurements at Kaus. 85.7,8; and the polemic confrontation of the Saunakin
and Paippalada with the Mauda and Jalada (above under 3), the only direct
statement as to the belongings of these sakhas is, that Kausika's Sutra was
used by four of them, the Saunakiya, Jajala, Jalada, and lirahmavada*^. With
the exception of the names Saunaka (°kin) and Devadarsa ("sin) neither Kaus.,
Vait, nor GB. include these sakha-names among those of the teachers to whom
they have occasion to refer ^5. The Rishis and teachers of GB. are largely
non-Atharvanic and wholly unusable for a reconstruction of Atharvan literary
history, owing to the licentious way in which this late text has pilfered the
entire Brahmanic literature'^. Those of Kaus. and Vait, on the other hand,
have the true ring: Kausika, Yuvan Kausika, Bhagali, Mathara, Saunaka
(Kaus. and Vait.), Gargya, Parthasravasa, Kankayana, Paribabhrava, Jatikayana,
Kaurupathi, Isuphali and Devadarsa (Kaus.). In addition Kaus. 140. 18 and
Vait. I. 3; 5. 13; 7. 16 mention dcdrydh in the plural; both texts refer also
to nameless authorities {eke^ ity ahuhy\ The absence of these names from
the sakha-list of itself stamps the latter as an exceedingly late evolution,
quite as late or later than the theory of the five Atharvanic Kalpas. Just
as it is impossible to explain the elevation of the insignificant Santikalpa to
a place among the five Kalpas by the side of the real Sutras of the AV.,
whereas the equally trivial Asurikalpa must content itself with a place among
the Parisistas'^, so it is impossible to say why the Caranavaidya, Mauda, and
Jalada figure as sakhas whereas the Bhargava who are mentioned with them,
Ath. Paris. 23. 2, are excluded from this honor. Several of the sakha-names
are not patronymics; they seem to point to professional phases of Atharvanic
life rather than to school-differences. Thus the Brahmavada seem to allude
to the function of Atharvan theologians as Brahmans (fourth priests) at the
Srauta-ceremonies^^. the Caranavaidya to the profession of wandering medicine-
men; and Jalada (*water-giver') to the exceedingly common sorceries with
water ^°. Anyhow, the sakha-list is a medley of things of very different im-
portance, and the tradition that the Kaus. is the book of rites {samhita-vidhi)
of four of these sakhas indicates pretty clearly that these 'school'-differences
did not extent in every case to the Samhitas themselves, nor even to different
Sutras of the same Sarnhita.
S 13. The two Samhita-sakhas, the Saunakiya and the Paip-
palada.— At this date there have been found no texts representing either
Samhita-sakhas, or Sutra-sakhas, in addition to the vulgate Sarnhita and the
Kashmirian Sarnhita. That the vulgate, together with Kaus., Vait, and GB.,
belongs to the school of Saunaka may be regarded as certain. The AV. Prati-
1 4 n. LlTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
sakhya bears the title Saunakiya Caturadhyayika: it is the phonetic manual of
the vulgate, and no other text^\ The Ath. Paddh., at Kaus. i. 6, designates
Vait. as the SaunakTya-sutra; the dependence of Vait. upon Kaus. is certain:
the Kaus. is therefore also a Sutra of the Saunakin^^. The tradition alluded
to above, that Kaus. is catasrsu sdkhdsic saunakddisu samhitdvidhih points to
the same conclusion ^ independently, as does also Kaus. 85. 7^ 8 where the
Sutra sides with the Saunakin against the Devadarsin. Again the Kaus. cites
the initial hymn of the vulgate {ye trisaptdli) as purvam (or, trisaptiyani) sTiktam,
and in general cites its hymns by pratika, reproducing occasional orthogra-
phical or textual blunders: the school-correspondence of the two texts is quite
complete ^3. On the other hand Kaus. as well as Vait, quote hymns from the
Kashmirian version in full {sakaiapdtha)^^; they cannot therefore belong to
the Paippalada. Being themselves Saunakiya, the vulgata is by this perfect
correspondence also stamped as Saunakiya, as there is no evidence that this
term was the designation of a special Sutra-sakha.
Hardly less conclusive is the evidence that the Kashmirian Sarnhita
belongs to the school of the Paippalada, in accordance with the statements
in the colophons of the Tubingen MS. of that Veda ^2. The text is there
described as dtharvanikd-paippaldda-sdkhd. The evidence of the Parisistas on
this point is given above under Paippalada (p. 12): especially significant is
the pippalddi sdntigana, Ath. Paris. 34. 20 (Kaus. 9. 7, note), doubtless so
called because it begins with the pratika sain no devl^ the probable opening
verse of AVP. The fact that the name paippalada is found associated rather
loosely with Atharvan productions in general ^^ is paralleled frequently in the
history of the Vedic sakhas and is not sufficient to cast doubt upon this con-
clusion. Neither Brahmana nor Sutras seem to have been preserved in this
school; at least neither Vedic nor Atharvan literature have the least thing to
say about any such works. The discovery of this sakha in a single birch bark
MS. was due to the ingenuity and the efforts of Roth : the reasons which led
this scholar to surmise its existence, a history of its discovery, and a brief
comparison of it with the vulgate was published by him in a Tubingen Pro-
gramme in 1875, entitled 'Der Atharvaveda in Kaschmir'; cp. the same
author in the Atti del IV. Congresso Internazionale degli orientalisti, vol. II,
p. 89 — 96. A photographic reproduction of the Tubingen MS. is proposed
by the present author ^7. The readings of the Paippalada texts in those parts
of the Veda which correspond with the Saunakiya are to be p/esented in
Whitney's posthumous translation and critical apparatus of the Saunakiya 2^.
Connected passages of AVP. are occasionally cited in full in Kaus. and Vait;
the Paippalada form of AV. 11.2 appears in a Rcaka of the Kathaka school,
described by von Schroeder ^9. Sayana in his commentary to the Saunakiya
occasionally adopts readings from the Paippalada^".
^§ 14. Brief account of the Paippalada-sakha. — The AVP. like
the Saunakiya is divided into 20 books, subdivided into anuvakas and suktas;
the latter, like the books themselves, are sometimes designated as kandas.
The relation of AVP. to the vulgata (represented in the sequel by the num-
bers in brackets) is as follows: the opening stanza of AVP. was in all proba-
bility the stanza sam no^ devJ (i. i. 6), as was surmised by Roth, p. 16; the
opening stanza of the Saunakiya, ye trisaptdh, heads the second anuvaka of
the first book of AVP. 3^ The pratlkas of the remaining books are: 2. arasain
prdcyain (4. 7. i); 3. d tvd gan (3. 4. i); 4. hiranyagarbhas (4. 2. 7);
5. pisangabdhvai sindkujdtdyai ; 6. tad id dsa (5. 2. i); 7. suparnas tvd (5. 14. i);
8. kathd diva asurdya (5. 11. i); 9. urdhvd asya (5. 27. i); 10. na tad vido
yad) II. vrsd te'ham\ 12. imavi stoniam arhate (20.13.3); ^S- (^gnis takmdnam
L The Atharva-Veda in General. — E. Brief Sketch of A. Literature, i 5
(5. 22. i); 14. indrasya nu (2. 5. 5); 15. samyag digbhyaJ}\ 16. antakdya
(8. i.i); 17. satyam brhad rtam (12. i. i); 18. satyenottabhita {1^^.1.1) \
19. doso gaya (6. i. i); 20. dhltl vd ye (7. i. i).
Books I — 7 of the Saunaklya reappear for the most part in AVP.; 8 — 14
almost completely. Of 15 there is only the beginning; 16 and 17 appear
for the most part. On the other hand the funeral-hymns, book 18, are
wanting entirely. Of the two supplementary books, 19 and 20, the latter
including the kuri^d/a-hymns is wanting in AVP., except those stanzas which
are not kuntdpa and are not borrowed from the RV. 3»; book 19 with the
exception of about 12 of its^72 hymns is scattered through the AVP., showing
that this supplement to the Saunaklya is largely derived from its sister-sakha.
The arrangement of^ the two Vedas is to a certain extent on parallel lines:
books I — 5 of the Saunaklya are contained in i — 9 of AVP.; books 8 — 11
in the large book 16; book 12 in 17; books 13, 14, 16, 17 in 18: the one
notable divergence concerns 6 and 7 of the Saunaklya: they appear in 19
and 20 of AVP. The variations between the two texts range all the way
from inconsiderable variants to complete change of sense. Perfect textual
correspondence between parallel stanzas and hymns of the two sukhas is
comparatively rare. About one eighth or one ninth of AVP. is original, being
found neither in the Saunaklya nor in any other of the accessible collections
of mantras ^3.
I Cp. Oldenberg, Die Hymnen des Rig-Veda, p. 430 AT. — 2 See, Max MOller,
IIASL. p. 371; Weber, IS. I. 152, 296; III. 277— 8; XIII. 434—5; Omina und
Portenta, p. 412—3; WL.2 p. 170; RAjENDRAi.ALAMrrRA in the introduction to the
Gopatha-lJrahmana, p. 6; Sabdakalpadruma, s. v. veda\ RoTii, Der AV. in Kaschmir,
p. 24ff. ; Simon, Beitraege ziir Kenntniss der vedischen Schulen, p. 31; Bloomfield,
JAOS. XI. 377—8; Kausika, Introduction, p. xxxiff. — 3 See Jacob's Concordance,
under pippatada^ and paippalada. — 4 See Roth, AV. in Kaschmir, p. 12; the
mantras are printed in, Bloomfield, Seven Hymns of the AV., AJPh. VII, 486— 7.
— 5 See CoLEBRooKE, Essays Iz, p. 93; Deussen, Sechzig Upanishad's, pp. 531,
559. — 6 See Kaus., Introd., p. xxjcui. — 7 See, ibid. p. xxxiv. — 8 JAOS. XI.
378 note. — 9 Kaus., ibid. — 10 Whitney, JAOS. VIL 333 ff. — " Deussen,
Sechzig Upanishad's, p. 867 ff. — " Kaus., ibid. xxxv. — 13 IS. XIII. 435. —
M Sayana, Introduction, p. 25, and Kesava and Atharvapaddhati in their respective
introductions. — i5 JAOS. XI. 3S5; Gopathabrahmana, List of proper names, at the
beginning of the edition. — 10 See below S 65, 66. — ^7 See the indexes, especially Kaus.
p. 373. — 18 JAOS. XT. 378 ff. ; Kaus. Introd. p. xxxvi; Magoun, Asurlkalpa, AJPh. X.
165 ff. ; cp. below, S 16. — i9 See below, § 33. — 20 Cp. SBE. XLII, Index, under 'waters';
and the items, apZim sukiani, abhisekagana, jlvahy mahasUttti, sambhumayobhil, salilani^
etc. in Kaus., Index B, p.383 ff. — 2 1 The Kaus. follows some of the orthoepic peculiarities
of the vulgate as described by AV. Pratis.; see Kaus., Introd., p. XXXVUL — 22 The GB.
is in turn dependent upon Vait. and exhibits no independent school-traits; see
below S 64. — 23 Kaus. Introd. p. xxxvniff. — 24 Kaus. 72; 91 ; 107; 111;; Vait.
10. 17; 14. I; 24. I : see RoTH, AV. in Kaschmir, p. 23; Garbe, VaitSna-Sutra
(text), p. vii; JAOS. XI. 377. — 25 Roth, ibid. p. 12; Kaus. Introd. p. xxxiiL —
26 So, e. g., the Prasna-Upanisad, because the teacher Pippaladi figures in it; see
above, p. 12; Kaus. ibid.; Whitney, Index verborum, p. 2, note. — 27 JAOS.
Vol. XX, p. 184 ff. — 28 See, JAOS. XV, p. CLXXUI. — 29 See note 24; v. Schroe-
der, Die Tiibinger Katha-Handschriften, p. 14 ff. (SWAW. 1898, vol. CXXXVII,
part IV; cp. IS. XVIII. 417). Some stanzas of AVP. are quoted also in GB.: see
Roth, ibid. p. 23. — 3o Whitney, Festgruss an R. v. Roth, p. 92. — 3> Cp. Kaus.
Introd. p. XXXVII. — 32 See Whitney, Index Verborum, p. 2; cp. below S 62. —
^i See, Roth, ibid. p. 15—20.
E. BRIEF SKETCH OF ATHARVANIC LITERATURE.
§ 15. The Samhitas, Sutras, and Brahmana. — The literature of
the Atharvan comprises the two collections of hymns connected by tradition
respectively with the schools of Saunaka and Paippalada*. The latter exists
only in a single hitherto unpublished sarnhita-manuscript without pada-patha
I 6 11. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. 1 B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
or commentary; the former in numerous mss. of both samhita and pada-
patha, except that no pada-text of the so-called kuntapa-\i^vixw% has as yet
come to light ^; it probably does not exist at all. It has been edited by
Roth and Whitney (Berlin 1855). The pada-patha of the Saunakiya is
characterized in relation to other pada-texts by Weber, IS. XIII. 6 ff. It is
particularly blundering in the corrupt book 19, but also liable to serious error
elsewhere; e.g., it divides stuvannemi into stuvan nemi^ m?,\.Q2i6. oi stuvan?i emi
(4. 28.3^), or yadydmam into yad yqmam^ instead oi yady dmam (6. 116. i^"*).
A fragmentary commentary on the Saunakiya with an elaborate introduction,
containing a valuable sketch of the more important accessory Atharvan texts,
and an Atharvanic view of the character and importance of the AV., is as
usual ascribed to Sayana; this commentary is now in the course of publica-
tion^. The most important accessory text of the AV. is the Sutra of Kausika^.
It comprises, along with a good deal of peculiar matter, the themes ordinarily
treated in the Grhya-sutras, and, in addition, what may be called an Atharva-
Sutra proper, or a Vidhana-Sutra : cp. the frequent designation of the text as
samhitd-vidhi^. The Kaus. belongs to the Saunakiya-school, or to a school
deviating from the Saunakiya only in minor matters; there is however a later
tradition that it was used as the Sutra of four of the Atharvanic schools or
sakhas, the Saunakiya at the head^. In addition to the commentary of Darila,
the Paddhati of Kesava, and other minor Paddhatis, the Kaus. seems also to
have been commented upon by Bhadra and Rudra 7 ; judging from quotations
of these writers (Kaus. p. 312, 338, and 352) their works are composed in
slokas of a late Smrti- character. The Atharvan has also a Srauta-sutra, the
authorless Vaitana-Sutra which also belongs to the school of Saunaka; the
published text contains eight adhyayas^: an appendix called Yajiiaprayascitta-
sutra, or Vaitayana, consists of six adhyayas which are as yet unedited 9.
Shankar Pandit in the introduction to AV. 11. 2 mentions a commentary on
Vait, called Aksepa by Somaditya. The relation of Vait. to Kaus. and the
AV. Sarnhita is quite peculiar as compared with the inter-relation of the cor-
responding^ texts in other schools. As a rule the Grhya-siitras are dependent
upon the Srauta-sutras; they refer to them familiarly, and do not describe a
second time performances which have been treated in the Srauta-sutras. The
two Atharvan Sutras reverse this relation: there is no point in which Kaus.
depends upon Vait; on the other hand the dependence of Vait. upon Kaus.
is apparent at almost every step. The Vait. treats the Kaus. as though it
were a Sarnhita; the ritual practices and independent mantras of Kaus. are
taken for granted, and alluded to as understood by and known to the srauta-
priests practicing with Vait. From the point of view of the other Srauta-sutras the
Vait. may be judged as follows: it is not the product of practices in srauta-
ceremonies which have slowly and gradually developed in a certain high
priestly school, but a somewhat conscious product, rnade at a time when the
Atharvavedins began to feel the need of a distinctive Srauta-manual to support
their claim that the AV. is a canonical Veda of independent and superior char-
acter. Vait. I. 8 acknowledges its dependence upon the Yajur-Veda^°. To the
Saunaka-school belongs also the single Brahmana of the AV., the Gopatha-
brahmana which is in turn later than and dependent upon the Vaitana: see § 64.
§ 16. The Kalpas and the Parisistas. — With the above-mentioned
Sutras three other texts of slight intrinsic importance are associated: Hindu
tradition persistently states that the ritual literature attached to the AV. con-
sists of five Kalpas". The {purva-)?mmdr) sd-tt?ic\iQx Upavarsa^^ goes so far
as to assert that these five are sruti ivedatulyd)^ contrasting them with others
that are smrtitulya'^^. Priests practicing with these five kalpas are known as
L The Atharva- Veda in General. — E. Brief Sicetch or A. Literature, i 7
pahcakalpa or pancakalpin '"*. The rather variable nomenclature of these texts
is: I. The Kausika-sutra, or Samhita-vidhi, or Sai^ihita-kalpa. 2. TheVaitana-
sutra, or Vitana-kalpa '5. 3. The Nak^atrakalpa. 4. The Santi-kalpa. 5. The
Angirasa-kalpa, or Abhicara-kalpa, or Vidhana-kalpa. The last three are
Parisi§tas, intrinsically not at all more interesting than many of the
numerous Atharvan texts of that class: why they should have been deemed
worthy of a place by the side of the real Sutras does not appear. No
mss. of the Angirasa-kalpa have as yet come to hand, nor are there any
announced in the ms. catalogues: our previous surmise that the text would
bear upon the sixth book of Kaus. is rendered probable by Sayana's brief
summary of its contents (introd. p. 28). The Nak§atrakalpa is called a Pari-
si§ta outright, and is frequently found^ at the head of the Parisi$ta-mss.; this
text, as well as the still more trivial Santikalpa are in the main of an astro-
nomic-astrologic character'^. The Parisi§tas, according to Hatfield's count
72 in number^', deal with a great variety of subjects; leaving aside the Na-
k§atrakalpa (nr. i) and its appendix, the so-called Paippalada Mantrah (nr. i*;,
they begin with a considerable number of texts in the nature of rdjakarmdni
(royal rites), and end with a little less numerous a class of adbhutdni (omens
and portents), thus continuing in these, as in other cases, the tradition of the
Kaus. (14 — 17, and adhyaya XIII). A considerable number of these texts are
devoted to grammatical, text-historical, or astronomical subjects, of a degree
of interest that calls for a critical edition of the entire collection. Quite a
number of them are even now edited or adequately discussed: the Paippalada
Mantrah (i^) have been reproduced by Bloomfield ^^\ the Indramahotsava (19)
is very similar to the corresponding chapter, Kaus. 140; the Skandayaga or
Dhurtakalpa (20), a kind of a thieves' manual, has been edited and trans-
lated by Goodwin ^9- the Ganamala (32) is worked up in connection with
the corresponding groups in the Kaus.^°; the Asurlkalpa (35), a witch-craft
practice undertaken with the ^j/^rl-plant, has been edited and translated, with
the aid of a native commentary, by Magoun^^; the Sraddhakalpa (44) has
been edited and translated by Caland"; the Uttamapatala (46) is treated
in part by Weber ^j; the Kautsavya-(or, Kautsavaya-)niruktanighantu (48) has
been commented upon and compared with Yaska's Nighantu by Bloomfield '•» ;
the Caranavyuha (49) is discussed by Weber *5. the Grahayuddha (51) has
been edited by Weber ^^; the Adbhutasanti (67) is for the most part repro-
duced and translated by Weber ^'; the Ausanasadbhutani has been edited
and translated by Hatfield ^^ Aside from Parisi§tas and Paddhatis there
exist also mss. of certain prayer and ritual books of a yet slighter im-
portance and probably later date than the Parisistas; e. g. an Atharva-
tarpanam; the Atharvanapramitaksara of Vasudeva; the Sodasopacarapujl; and
r(2/z^J7^-texts ^9. Hemadri in the Vratakhanda of the Caturvargacintamani
presents an Atharvakavidhana^ '. For an Atharvavedoktam jyotisam \vritten by
a pancakalpin see Weber, Verz. II, p. 96; for a similar text called Aranyaka
jyotisam, Haug, IS. IX. 174.
§ 17. On the Smrti of Paithlnasi. — The question raised by the pre-
sent author 3^ as to whether Paithlnasi, the reputed author of a work on dharma,
belongs to the AV., has been answered in the affirmative by Pischel^', Ca-
land ^3, Jolly •5'^, and Hillebrandt^s. Pischel regards Paithlnasi as the author
of a Dharma-sastra in mixed prose and slokas; Caland and Jolly as the
author of a Dharmasutra. And Caland C9ncludes that Paithlnasi was at any
rate an Atharvanic writer, because the Sraddhakalpa of this author recon-
structed from Hemadri's citations, is related to the Atharvan srdddAa-ttxts'^^.
It would seem possible, however, that there existed more than one PaithinasL
Indo-arische Philologie. II. IB. o
1 8 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
The Atharvaniya-paddhati describes him as an author of a Paddhati; the
citations in the Atharvanic commentaries 37 seem to point to a knowledge of
special Atharvanic rites so particular as to make it seem quite Ukely that
some Paithinasi was the author of a very late metrical text, dependent directly
upon the Kausika. Paithinasi in the Parisistas is called Mausallputra; he seems
also not likely to have been the author of the dkanna-itxt in question. At any
rate it will be well to remember that if all references to Paithinasi are intended
for the dkarma-wx'itex it will not be easy to assign to him too late a date.
§ 1 8. The Atharvan Upanisads. — With the AV. are associated
traditionally the great mass of the Upanisads ^^, in fact all except those that
belong definitely to schools of the other three Vedas. Some of these, even,
appear in Atharvanic recensions, e. g., the Kena (SV.), BhrguvallT, Ananda-
valli (Taittiriya-Upanisads = TA. 8 and 9), and Brhannarayana (= Mahana-
rayana = TA. loj^^^ What ought to be an authoritative statement of the
number and names of the Atharvan Upanisads is the list of 2 7 presented by
the 49'^ Parisista, the Caranavyuha'^°; they are: i. Mundaka. 2. Prasna.
3. Brahmavidya. 4. Ksurika. 5. Culika. 6. iVtharvasiras. 7. Atharvasikha.
8. Garbha. 9. Maha. 10. Brahma. 1 1 . Pranagnihotra. 12. Mandukya. 13. Nada-
bindu. 14. Brahmabindu. 15. Amrtabindu. 16. Dhyanabindu. 17. Tejobindu.
18. Yogasikha. 19. Yogatattva. 20. Nilarudra. 21. Pancatapini (°tapanlya).
2 2.Ekadandisamnyasa. 23. Aruni. 24. Hamsa. 25. Paramahamsa. 26. Narayana.
27. Vaitathya. The majority of the names in this list require no explanation:
the Pancatapaniya is doubtless the Nrsimhapurvatapani; one ms. reads Dvita-
panTya, having in mind probably the additional Nrsimhottaratapanl. The term
Ekadandisamnyasa is otherwise unknown as a designation of an Upanisad:
the stem ekadaniin (cp. schol. to PB. 19. 4. 7) occurs in Brahma 3; Parama-
hamsa 3; and Gopichandana 5; cp. the ms. listed as a Dharmasastra under
the title Ekadandisamnyasavidhih, by Saunaka, in Stein's Catalogue of Sanskrit
MSS. at Jammu, p. 84. I do not venture to assume that the text is identical
with the well-known Samnyasa-Upanisad. The Vaitathya is the independent
name of the second of the four parts of Gaudapada's Karika to the Mandukya,
all of which are usually counted as independent Upanisads '^\ The presence
in this list of the work of a personal author makes for the belief that it,
like all other Upanisad lists, is late and eclectic, representing the learning of
some particular scholar or coterie of scholars. It does not coincide with any
other historical collection, as, e. g., the collection of the Muktika-Upanisad ;
the Persian translation of the Oupnekhat in Anquetil-Duperron's Latin trans-
lation; Narayana's collection; Colebrooke's collection; or the lists of the
Chambers collection 42. Jivananda's 'Atharvanopanishaf (Calcutta 1891), to
be sure, contains 29 Upanisads, but they are copied, apparently, from the
unfinished edition in five fasciculi, printed in the Bibliotheca Indica. They
also are the result of an independent selection of the minor Upanisads, differing
from that of the Parisista in the choice and order of the texts. There is in
fact no complete collection of Upanisads, because the term Upanisad does
not represent a closed canon but an indefinitely extensible type of literature
'which has not been formally concluded and which may yet be continued in
the present or the future'. The number of Upanisad-names counted by Weber
in 1876 "^^ was all in all 235, including apocrypha; even a Moslemic Allopanisad
figures among them. The judgment of the intrinsic and historical value of
the Atharvan Upanisads does not therefore depend upon any one collection;
their value — in the first instance their historical value — depends upon the
degree of regularity with which they occur in the collections. Even so it is
obvious that literary products of the most diversified character (cp., e. g., the
I. The Atharva-Veda in General. — E. Brief Sketch of A. Literature, i 9
Garuda, a snake-charm) have found their way into the principal collections,
all of which are probably relatively late, so that finally the chronology and
the value of each Upanisad will have to be determined by its style, contents
and other inner criteria ^'*.
Deussen, extending and developing a suggestion of Weber, divides the
Atharvan-Upani§ads into five clearly defined classes <5: i. Pure Vedanta-Upani-
§ads, i. e., such as continue the Vedanta doctrines of the older texts without
undue development of the notions oiyoga (concentration, and abstraction from
all mundane matters), samnydsa (asceticism), or Sivaitic or Vi§nuitic S3rmbolism,
beyond where these ideas had developed in the older Upani§ads. 2. Yoga-Upani-
§ads, i. e., such as presuppose the Vedanta ideas, and in addition advise con-
centration upon the morae of the sound om^ especially its last half mora
{nddd). 3. Sarnnyasa-Upani§ads, i. e., those which recommend and describe
a life of asceticism as the practical result of the doctrines , of the Upanl^ads.
4. Siva-Upanisads, i. e., such as interpret the popular god Siva or one of his
murtis (Isana, Mahesvara, Mahadeva, etc.) as a personification of the Atman.
5. Visnu-Upani§ads, i. e., those which similarly transform Vi§nu or one of his
ayatdras (Narilyana, Nrsimha, Rama, Krsna) into human manifestations of the
Atman. Of these classes the first (cp. AV. 10. 7 and 8; 11. 4 and 8), the
third (cp. AV. 11. 5) and the fourth (cp. AV. 4. 28; 11. 2) might be expected
to be in organic touch with the hymns of the AV. But this is not the case:
the Atharvan Upanisads are connected with the AV. Sarnhita by ties that
are but little more close than those that connect them with the Vedic man-
tras in general. There is one notable exception, the Culika, which presents
(sloka 10 ff.) characteristically as ''mantropanisad' an almost complete catalogue
of the cosmogonic and theosophic hymns of the AV., naming them by well-
selected catch-words, such as braJunacdrin (11. 5), skambha (10. 7 and 8),
ucc/iista (11. 7), etc.^^ Otherwise the Atharvan hymns are cited only sporad-
ically, not more frequently or familiarly than mantras of the other Vedas^ 7. in
addition the relation of these texts to the AV. is of the loosest sort: they
are apt to add the name of the AV. to that of the trayJ more regularly than
the older Upani^ads-*^, and the names of their holy Rishis are to a con-
siderable extent those of earlier as well as later Atharvanic tradition: Atharvan,
Angiras (from which Mundaka i. i. 2 abstracts Angir), Bhrgu, Saunaka, Pippa-
ladi. The last two are the names of two Atharvan schools, being the only
names of the traditional sakhas that are mentioned in the AV. Upanisads.
With one or the other of these two school-names the commentators are apt to
associate loosely and inconsistently the individual Upanisads as special school-
products ^9; CoLEBROOKE, e. g., reports that the first fifteen in his count belong
to the Saunaka-school; or the colophon of the Prasna states that itself belongs
pippaldddtharvane sdkhdydmiS)^''. But, aside again from the Culika which
distinctly refers to the Saunaklya, there is little or nothing in the texts them-
selves that binds them to one or the other Atharvan school, or for that
matter, to the AV. itself, as a whole. This is rather striking at the first glance,
because the theosophic hymns of the AV. seem to herald the Upanisad specu-
lations more loudly than the theosophic mantras of the other Vedas, and
because the later ritual literature of the AV., notably the GB., professes to
be devoted to a knowledge of the brahma. The GB., moreover, notably in
its first prapathaka, resembles the Upanisads in diction and style; especially
its speculations on the syllable om remind one of the j/^.^^-^-class of Upanisads.
Indeed one of the treatises of GB., the <?w-cosmogony5^ was regarded as an
Upanisad by the Persian translators: the Pranou (Pranava) in Anquetil's
translation is almost identical with GB. i. i. 16—30, a fact which will be of
20 11. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMAXA.
especial interest to Weber and Deussen^^. Another treatise, that on the
gdyatrt (GB. i. i. 31 — 38)53 describes itself at the end as an Upanisad: it
also suggests, without being at all like it, the Shavank of Anquetil's Oupne-
khat54. But there was probably, nevertheless, a greater break in time between
Mantra and Upanisad in the AV. than in the other Vedas: the older AV.
Upanisads doubtless grew up in priestly communities that practiced with the
AV.j the more secondary and recent ones are the products of later mystic,
ascetic^ and sectarian speculations which were compelled to associate them-
selves also with the AV., because less rigid school discrimination obtained
at all times in the AV., and because the canons of the other Vedic schools
were definitely closed. As it is texts like the Jabala or the Nilarudra (cp.
VS. 16 and 13) are in some aspects paradoxical members of a collection
that professes to be Atharvanic. The bibliography and contents of the
Atharvan Upanisads may now be studied conveniently, aside from Weber's
pioneer treatment, in connection with Deussen's excellent translations with
introductions (Sechzig Upanishad's, p. 531 ff.).
§ 19. Grammatical and text-historical treatises. — Of gramma-
tical and text-historical books the most important is the AV. Pratisakhya, the
so-called Saunaklya Caturadhyayika, in Whitney's careful edition ^5. Buhler
has reported on another AV. Pratisakhya different from the preceding s^. A
grammatical text called Atharvanasutra by Paniniya seems to have been
known to Trikandamandana ^7. The so-called Nirukta-nighantu of Kautsavya
or Kautsavaya (Ath. Paris. 48) is a collection of glosses similar to Yaska's
Nighantu, not a nirukta-tQxt at all 5^. Note also the Varnapatala, Ath. Paris.
47. The Caranavyuha and the Uttamapatala, interesting for the history of
Atharvan texts, have been mentioned above (p. 17). The unpublished Brhat-
sarvanukramanika of the AV. is a very late and secondary text of that sort; its
statements, especially those on the authorship of the hymns (mostly gods
or semi-divine beings) are of minimal value ^9. The Paiicapatalika is another
text of the nature of an Anukramanl, mostly metrical ^'^. The Caranavyuha
mentions four related texts as Uaksanagrant/idh\ namely, caturadhyayika
prdtisdkhyam pajicamapatelikd{\) damtyosthavidhir brhatsarvdnukramani ca^^.
A work on accentuation, the Svara-sastra was known traditionally to one of
the Pandits of Shankar Pandit's acquaintance ^^
Weber, Verz. I. 82 ff. ; 11. 79 fif. ; WL.2, p. 161 ff. ; Bloomfield, JAOS. XI. 375 ff.;
HiLLEBRANDT, Ritual-Litteratur, p. 35 ff.
I Some data on the Paippalada (AVP.) are presented (on Roth's authority) above,
p. Hff; for the Saunaklya see the entire second part of this book. — 2 gee Roth,
AV. in Kaschmir, p. 8; Whitney, Index Verborum, p. 4; the kuntajfa-hyran?. are
analyzed below, § S"^. — 3 See the introductory notes below p. 40. — 4 The Kau-
sika-Sutra of the Atharva-Veda, with extracts from the commentaries of Darila and
Kesava. Edited by Maurice Bloomfield (Vol. XIV of JAOS.); cp. Hillebrandt,
Ritual-Litteratur, p. 36. — 5 WiNDiscH, Literarisches Centralblatt, Nov. 21, 1891,
column 1663 ff. — t- See above, p. 13; cp. Pischel, GGA., April 15, 1891, nr. 8,
p. 283. — 7 JAOS. XI, p. 376; Kaus. Introd. p. xv and xvn. — ^ Edited and
translated by Richard Garbe, respectively, London, 1878, and, Strassburg, 1878.
The Vait. begins with the words, atha viianasya. On a remote possibility of con-
necting the Vaitana with the name Kasyapa, see JAOS. XI. 377. — 9 See Garbe,
Introd. to his edition, p. v; Weber, Verz. II, p. 83; Eggeling, Cat. nr. 367;
Bloomfield, AJPh. XVIII, 352. — 1° JAOS. XL 379 ff.; Hillebrandt, 1. c. p. 36
(AJPh. ibid.j. — n JAOS. ibid. 376 ff.; Hillebrandt, 1. c. — 12 Colebrooke,
Essays IIj, 319 ff. — ^3 The latter class is represented probably by Parisista-texts
like the Asurl-kalpa, or the Dhurta-kalpa (Skandayaga). — ^4 See above, p. 10. —
15 Occasionally the name Saunaklya-sutra may be expected to turn up: cp. JAOS.
ibid. p. 377, note 3. — 16 JAOS., ibid. p. 378; Kaus. Introd. p. xix. Summaries
■of both texts are given by Sayana, Introduction, p. 27 fif. ; Weber, Naksatra II,
p. 392 ff. The Naks. is occasionally referred to by its initial words krttika rohinl,
I. The Atharva-Veda in General. — F. A.-V. is Hindu Literature. 2 1
Weber, Verz. II, p. 89, 1. 7- — '7 JAOS. XIV, p. CLViff.; cp. Weber, Vcrz. I,
p. 89 ff.; II, p. 87 ff. - x8 AJPh. VII, p. 485 ff. - «9 JAOS. XV, p. vff. - 20 See
Index B, p. 383 ff. — 21 Baltimore Dissertation: AJPh. X. 165—197. —22 Ahnen-
kult, p. 95, 240 ff. This Sraddhakalpa belongs to the school of .^aunaka. Out of
Hemadri's Caturvargacintamani Caland, ibid. p. 243 ff., has reconstructed a Sraddha-
kalpa belonging to the Paippalada-school ; he also presents fragmenU from the
same source of iruMAa-ceTemonics according to the smrfi of Paithlnasi (p. 109 ff.);
cp. the next paragraph. — 23 Weber, IS. IV. 431 ff. —H JAOS. XV, p. XLvmff.
Cp. also the curious /r/f-4rt;////-like passage, TB. 3. 10. i, — 25 WI..*, p. 170 (cp.
IS. III. 247 ff.); Weber, Verz. I. 92; II. 88. — 26 is. X. 3i7ff. — 27 Omina und
Portenta, p. 320 ff. — 28 JAOS. XV. 207 ff. — 29 For a list of such texts see J-\OS.
XI, p. ci.xxi, and cp. Aifrecht's Catalogus Catalogorum. The Atharvatarpanam
is, of course, likely to be the same as Ath. Pari§. 43. — y* Weber, Verz. I, p. 332.
— 31 JAOS. XI. 376; KsLuL Introd. p. xxii ff. — 32 GGA., 1891, nr. 8, p. 283. —
33 Ahnenkult, p. 99, 109 ff. — 34 Recht und Sitte, p. 12 ff. — 35 Ritual-Litteratur,
p. 36. — 36 Caland, ibid. 95, 107 ff. — 37 KauL Introd. p. xviiff. — 3« MHA.SL.,
p. 328 ff; Max Muller, ZDMG. XIX. i37ff.; Weber, IS. I. 247 ff., 38off.; II. iff.,
i7off.; III. 324ff.; IX. iff; IStr. II. 135; III. sSsff.; WL.2 i7off. (especially p. 171,
note 3); Deussen, Sechzig Upanishad's, p. 531 ff. — 39 WL.2, p. 172 ff.— 40 Weber,
Verz. II. 88; Hatfield, JAOS. XIV, p. clx. — 4« Deussen, ibid. p. 575, 583 ff. —
42 Ibid. p. 532ff.; Weber, Verz. I. 95. — 43 WI .2, p. 171, note 3. — 44 Deussen,
ibid. — 45 IS. 251; WL.', p. 173; Deussen, p. 543. — 46 See below, % 59. —
47 E. g. AV. 3. 20. 1 : Jabala 4; AV. 4. i. i : Atharvasiras i ; AV. 4. 4. i : Samnyisa 1 ;
AV. 6. 96. I: Pranagnihotra i; AV. lo. 2. 26 — 27: Atharvasiras 6 ; AV. 10. 8. 27:
Atharvasiras I; AV. II. 4 to be compared with PraSna 2. 7ff.; AV. ii. 4. 13:
Mundaka 2. i. 7; AV. II. 8: Samnyasa 3, and Kanthasruti 5; AV. 18: SamnyOsa I.
— 4« Cp. below, S 24. — 49 Deussen, ibid. p. 531. — 50 Kausika, Introduction,
p. xxxiii. — 51 See below, S 68.— 52 IS. IX. 49 ff- ; Sechzig Upanishad's, p. 858ff.
The Pranavopanisad is catalogued by Burnell, Sk. MSS. in the palace of Tanjore,
33^; Stein, Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts at Jammu, p. 31; Catalogue of
the Oriental Manuscript Library in Madras, p. 52; cp. also Taylor, Catalogue of
Oriental MSS. in Fort St. George, II, 472. — 53 See below, S 69. — 54 Deussen,
p. 867 ff. — 55 JAOS. VII. 333—615; X. 156-171; cp. IS. IV. 79 ff.; V. 451 ff-;
IStr. II. 23off ; WL.2, p. 168. — 56 SPAW. 1871, p. 77. — 57 Bhandarkar, Report
1883—4, p. 30. — 5» Bloomfield, JAOS. XV, p. XLviiiff. — 59 Weber, Verz. II.
79 ff.; and in the introductions of his translations of AV., books 3 — 5, IS. XVIL
I77ff.; XVIII. iff.; Shankar Pandit in his edition of the AV. vol. I, Critical note,
p. I7ff. — 60 See the passages extracted by Shankar Pandit, ibid. p. 18—23; cp*
JAOS. XI. 376.— 61 Weber, Verz. II. 89.— ^2 Shankar Pandit, ibid. p. 15 (top.).
F. THE POSITION OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA IN HINDU
LITERATURE IN GENERAL.^
§ 20. General estimate of the AV. — The Atharvan is a sacred text
in more than one respect: aside from the materials which it shares with the
other Vedas the majority of its hymns are benevolent or highly religious
(theosophic); these cannot at any time have been received with any other
sentiment than esteem. Even the sorceries of the AV. necessarily show a
double face: they are useful to oneself, harmful to others. Thus there arises
a conflict of emotions which lasts throughout the history of recorded
Hindu thought and is summed up in the final orthodox and stereotyped view
that the Atharvan is used 'to appease, to bless, and to curse' ^ In the long
run there arose withal a strong wave of popular aversion against the Veda
whose most pointed teaching is after all sorcery. This appears from the
discussions of the Hindus themselves as to the orthodoxy of that Veda -J;
from the conscious efforts of the later Atharvan writings to vindicate its
character and value; from' the allegorical representation of the Atharvan as
'a lean black man, sharp, irascible, and amorous'*; and from occasional
statements of the Vedic and Classical texts.
S 21. The Atharvan in the RV. — The RV. has no specific designa-
2 2 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GOPATHA-BrAHMANA.
tion for Atharvan charms, although it contains a goodly number of such
charms. No great importance is to be attached to this silence; the praises
to the gods in connection with the great soma-sacrifices offer but scant occa-
sion 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 5. The failure
of the RV. to mention such charms by a collective name like atharvdngirasah
must be gauged by the slenderness of its opportunities to mention the Veda
as a generic name (cp. 8. 19. 5), or Vedic collections or redactions in par-
ticular (10.90.9)^. There is no proof that even the oldest 'Rigvedic period',
or the most ancient Hindu tradition accessible historically, excluded writings
which would be entitled to the name of Atharvan-charms by their subject-
matter, form (metre), or style: even the absence of generic names, such as
bhesajdni^ at/iarvdnah, aiigirasah^ for such compositions may be due to acci-
dental silence. The existing redactions of the AV., to be sure, betray them-
selves as later than the RV. redaction in many ways, especially by the
character of the variants in those mantras which they share with the RV.7;
certainly also a good many of existing Atharvan hymns are later than the
bulk of the RV. Nevertheless, we cannot escape the conclusion that hymns
of the Atharvanic type were composed simultaneously with, or even prior to
those of the Rigvedic {srauta) type^.
§ 22. The Atharvan in the AV. itself. — The AV. alludes to its
own class of compositions but rarely: 10. 7. 20 {atharvdngirasah); 11. 6. 14
{bhesaja); cp. also 19. 54. 5, and 19. 22. i; 23. 1 9. There is to be noted
also a decided advance in the association of the names Atharvan, Angiras
and Bhrgu with the practices and the conditions which these hymns are aimed
at: e. g. 4. 37. i where the Atharvans appear as slayers of the Raksas; see
also 4. 3. 7; 5. 19. i;, 10. 6. 20. Especially noteworthy is the evident asso-
ciation of the word diigirasa with sorcery and spells, and the somewhat less
clear corresponding correlation of dtharvana with auspicious charms (see
above, p. 8). Otherwise the attitude of the AV. is much the same as
that of the Yaj US-texts: the three Vedas are often mentioned without tlie fourth
by way of esoteric restriction to the sphere of the great Vedic {srauta) ritual.
Thus it augurs no contempt or neglect of the Atharvan, if in a charm con-
structed for the purpose of obtaining a knowledge of the Vedas (7. 54: Kaus.
42. 9), only rk^ sdman, yajuh, veda, and oblation {havih) are mentioned: the
person who here desires Vedic learning is not in training for Atharvan priest-
hood, and therefore does not take care to include this special branch of
learning. A similar passage in a RV. Sutra (AG. 3. 3.1 — 3) does not hesitate
to include the AV. on the same occasion. Even the GB. which certainly
cannot be accused of Atharvaphoby (see § 66) is caught napping once or
twice, and omits the AV. from systematic statements of Vedic compositions:
I. I. 23 and 24. In fact this very omission shows that the AV. Samhita,
unlike its rituaHstic adjuncts (see § 30), is in no wise engaged either in self-
glorification, or in polemics against the other Vedas: the Atharvan poets
certainly are quite unconscious of any disadvantages inherent in their text, or
of any contemptuous view of the AV. on the part of the adherents of the
other Vedas.
§ 23. The Atharvan in the Srauta-texts. — The position of the AV.
in the srauta-Y\\.QX2ii\iit in general depends altogether on the practical char-
acter of these texts as exponents of the great Vedic sacrifices: these, by their
very nature, exclude direct interest in the systematic charms of the bhesajdni
and dbhicdrikdni. Such sorcery as is interwoven with the //-(^^//^-performances
obtains independent expression in metrical stanzas and prose formulas {yaj'us)
I. The Atharva-Veda in General. — F. A.-V. in Hindu Literature. 23
which are thoroughly Atharvanic *°. But in the iruti 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 dispatch of the sacrifice to
the gods, and the undisturbed gratification of the priests {isfi and purti). Under
these circumstances pronounced hostility against the AV., such as crops out
at a later and more reflective age, would be a paradox, too silly even for
the Yajus-texts and the Brahmanas. Rigid consistency is, of course, not to
be expected; 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 oneself, it is regarded as useful or noxious. The AV. takes
the same view by implication, as may be gathered from a comparison of 2.12
with 7. 70, or 2. 7 with 6. 13 and 37. It is a question throughout of my
sorcery or thy sorcery. The poet of RV. 7. 104. 15, 16 exclaims *May I die
to-day if I am a sorcerer', and makes complaint against his enemy who calls
him, though he is pure, a sorcerer, and against the real sorcerer who pretends
that he is pure. Though ydtu here, as at AV. i. 7 and 8, is regarded as
devilish, the writer of SB. 10. 5. 2. 20 is not prevented from placing the
ydtuvidah, 'those that are skilled in sorcery', in solemn array with the repre-
sentatives of the holiest forms of literature, the bahvrcah etc. On the other
hand even bhesajam 'cure, medicine*, the altruistic province of the Atharvan,
though well regarded in general, does not come off without a sneer": we
may trust that the canons of social standing and literary appreciation of a
people that produced the better types of Vedic literature could not fail, in
the proper mood, to estimate at its right value the wretched hocus-pocus of
the bhesajdni^ though these were the best that the Vedic period had produced
for the relief of bodily ailment. Yet the Veda without charms and sorcery
would not be the Veda, and the /r^zz/^-texts are not in the position to throw
stones at the Atharvan. Anyhow a sober survey of the position of the AV.
in the sruii shows that this Veda, while not within the proper sphere of the
greater concerns of Vedic religion, 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.
Accordingly the mythic personages Atharvan, Angiras, and Bhrgu, and their
descendants (Atharvana etc.), whose proper names in the course of time are
restricted more and more to the sphere of the Atharvan, continue in the
^ruti to be designations of demigods and Rishis". These names are held
in honor no more and no less than other eponyms, it being reserved for the
later Atharvan writings to extol them beyond measure, and to claim for them
a special position as typical Vedic saints. And this is true although the sruti
occasionally feels the connection between these names and the sphere of the
Atharvan, as when KS. 16. 13 mentions a Rishi Bhisaj Atharvana, the KB.
30. 6 a Rishi Ghora Angirasa^^; or when PB. 12. 8. 6 states that Dadhyanc
Angirasa was the chaplain {purodhatilyd) of the gods. Even more clearly
does this appear from the way in which the hymns of the AV. are alluded
to in the sruti. Ordinarily the texts are preoccupied with the sacrificial hte-
rature in the narrower sense, and hence devote themselves to the mention
and laudation of the trayi vidyd. On the other hand, whenever the srauia-
texts mention, or draw upon other literary forms like itihasa^ pur ana ^ gdthd,
siitra, upanisad, and many others, the Atharvan is regularly included, and
that too, almost invariably in the following order: the three Vedas occupy
the first three places; the AV. holds the fourth place, and next follow in
variable arrangement the types itihdsa etc. Typical examples are: TS.
7. 5. II. 2 = KS., Asvamedhagrantha, 5. 2 {angiras alone); SB. 10. 5. 2. 10;
24 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. IB. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GOPATHA-BrAHMANA.
II. 5. 6. 4—8; ,13- 4. 3- 3ff-; TB. 3. 12. 8. 2; TA. 2. 9. 2; 10. 7. 8; 11. 2;
AS. 10. 7. iff.; SS. 16. 2. 2fr.
§ 24. The Atharvan in the Upanisads. — The position of the AV.
in the Upanisads is much the same as in the sruti in general. Aside from
the Atharvan Upanisads, which refer more freely to the AV., it is introduced
but rarely, and in the same way as in the Srauta- texts, i. e., preceded by the
tray'i^ and followed by a variable list of other types of composition: e. g.
BrhU. 2.4. 10; 4. I. 2; 5. 11; ChU. 3. i — 4; 7. i. 2, 4; 2. i; 7. i; MU. 6. 32 and
-^^i' Very much more numerous are the cases in which the trayi alone
occurs ^'^, showing that the draughts upon the AV. and the subsequent literary
compositions are, in general, made under the excitement of formulaic solemnity.
Needless to say, the Upanisads with their eye aloft alike from hymn, sacri-
ficial formula, and witchcraft-charm, have no occasion to condemn the AV.,
aside from that superior attitude of theirs which implies and diplomatically
expresses condemnation of the entire Veda that is not brahmavidyd. Even
the Atharvan Upanisads do not in general sound either the polemic or the
apologetic note of the rituahstic writings of the AV. The late Pranava (Pranou)
assumes the superiority of the AV.^s^ but the Pranava is a part ot the Gopatha-
Brahmana (§ d'^). Besides this there is only an interpolated passage in the
Prasna that tries to secure at any cost the correlation of the Atharvan with
the highest brahma ^^. The authority of Atharvan teachers, Sanatkumara,
Angiras, Paippalada, etc. is, of course, invoked, by way of imparting to those
texts an esoteric school-character. But in general, all that may be said is,
that these tracts mention the fourth Veda along with the other three more
frequently than the Upanisads of other schools, that the AV. is quietly added
to the trayl^ whether other literary forms like the iti/idsapurdnam, etc., appear
in the sequel or not. Thus the four Vedas alone: Nrsimhapurvatapani i. 2
and 4; 2. i; Atharvasiras i; Muktika 12 — 14; Maha 3; the four Vedas with
other literary categories: Mundaka i. i. 5; Nrsimhapurvatapani 5. 9. Even
these Upanisads, however, occasionally lapse into the more frequent habit of
the bulk of the Vedic literature, and fail to refer to the AV., whether con-
sciously or unconsciously, it seems impossible to say: Mundaka 2. i. 6; Prasna
2. 6; NrsimhatapanT 5. 2; Brahmavidya 5 if. As a class the Atharvan Upani-
sads are engaged neither in defending the AV. from attack, nor in securing
for it any special degree of prominence.
§ 25. The Atharvan in the Grhya-sutras. — In the Grhyasutras one
would expect a greater degree of intimacy with the Atharvan, and hence a
more frequent and less formulaic reference to its writings, since in more than
one sense the Grhyasutras are themselves Atharvanic. Many of their mantras
are identical with, or variants of those contained in the AV. But even the
Grhya-rites, popular, nay vulgar, as they must have been in their untrammeled
beginnings were, so to speak, Rishified, and in time passed through a process
of school-treatment which enstranged them from the Atharvan, and assimilated
them, as far as possible, to the RV., SV., and YV., as the case may be.
Thus the battle-charm AG. 3. 12, instead of drawing upon the very abundant
mantras of this kind in the AV.'7^ is decked out with the scattering material
of this class in the RV. Nowhere is there a marked degree of literary rela-
tionship with the AV. Sometimes the Atharvan is mentioned in the manner
which is normal in the s'ruii, i. e., preceded by the trayJ, and followed by
other varieties of composition: AG. 3. 3. i — 3; SG. i. 24. 8; HG. 2. 19. 16.
But in SG. I. 16. 3 {brahmavedd) \ PG. 2. 10. 7 [atharvaveda); 2. 10. 21
{atharvandm)) HG. 2. 3. 9; 18. 3; 20. 9 {atharvavedd) there is a distinct
advance along the line of later development in the more distinct and familiar
I. The Atharva-Veda in General. — F. A.- V. in Hindu Literature. 2 5
mention of the fourth Veda; this is not balanced altogether by the cases of
restriction to the trayi (SG. i. 22. 15; 24. 2; HG. i. 5. 13; 2. 13. i), or
to twoVedas (AG. i. 7. 6 = SG. i. 13. 4 = PG. i. 6. 3; GG. i. 6. 19; 3.2.48),
because these passages are to a considerable extent quotations, or modified
mantras from the iruti. The true value of this testimony is chronological, not
sentimental: the Grhyasutras, as much as their subject-matter is akin to the
AV,, are not imbued with a sense of its especial value and importance, any
more than the s'rau^a- texts. They handle their materials in a self-centred
fashion; their reference to the AV. is formulaic in every single instance; and
the greater frequency with which it is mentioned marks the later chronology
of the composition of the Grhyasutras into formal treatises **. This is illustrated
significantly by the list of Rishis at the tarpatia in the Grhyasutras of the RV.*':
here Sumantu whom very late tradition designates as the source of Atharvan-
lore'°, but who figures not at all in Atharvan texts, is given a prominent
place. From such a late period of Atharvanic development do the Grhya-
sutras derive their consciousness of the AV.
S 26. The Atharvan in the law-literature (dharma). — There is
yet another field of literature whose roots also reach down to the Veda,
namely that of the law-books (dharma)'. in the legal Sutras, Sastras, and
Smrtis, especially in their so-called z^^z/^^^ra-chapters, judgment must be
finally passed on the unclean and sinister phases of Atharvanic activity.
Here the golden rule must come up for consideration. 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 expressed. In the d/tarma-tt\ts also
the AV. 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 priest performs, especially
for the king, inestimable services in the injury and overthrow of enemies. The
king's chaplain [ptwohitd) was in all probability as a rule an Atharvan priest
(cp. Yajnav. i. 312). But incantations, sorceries, love-charms and the like do
work injury, and the d/tarma-t&xts pronounce with no uncertain voice the
judgment that the Atharvan, useful or indispensable as it is under certain cir-
cumstances, is on the whole inferior in character and position, that its practices
are impure, and must be either strictly regulated, or prohibited by the proper
punishments.
The AV. is not mentioned by name very frequently in the Dharma-texts^'.
A number of times it presents itself in the normal and formal Vedic manner,
i. e. preceded by the iraividya, and followed by other literary types, especially
the iti/iasapurdfiam, e. g. ViDh.30.37; BDh. 2.5. 9. 14; Yajnav. 1.44; Ausanasa
3. 44; Karmapradlpa 2. 5, 10. A little less frequently it holds the position of
the fourth Veda in cases where no subsidiary literature is mentioned: BDh.
3. 9. 4; 4. 5. i; VaDh. 22. 9; Ausanasa 3. 86; Vj-ddha-Harlta 3. 45. The
Atharvasiras (Siras), an Upanisad connected with the AV., is often mentioned,
with respect of course, e. g. GDh. 19, 12; VaDh. 22. 9; BDh. 4. i. 28; ViDh.
55. 9; Ausanasa 4. 5. More pointedly the sacred texts of the AV. are re-
commended as the true weapons with which the Brahmana may slay his ene-
mies, Manu II. 33 {srutir athan'dngirasih)\ the king must choose as his Puro-
hita one skilled in the Atharvan and Arigiras (i7///^rz/(Z//^ra;j'^), Yajnav. 1.312;
the same behest is implied GDh. 11. 15, 17, where the king is enjoined to
take heed of that which astrologers and interpreters of omens tell him, and
to cause the Purohita to perform in his house-fire expiatory rites {sdnti)^ rites
for prosperity {tnangala)^ and witchcraft-practices against enemies {abhicara) *^
Such a Purohita is co ipso an Atharvan priest. At BDh. 2. 8. 15. 4; ViDh.
2 6 II. Litter ATUR u. Geschichte. ib. Atharva-Veda and Gopatha-Brahmana.
73. ii; 81. 4 the demons called ydtudhdna are driven out by means of
sesame, in perfect accord with AV. i. 7. 2. In the Atri-Samhita (JTvananda's
collection, vol. i, p. 45) Atharvan priests skilled in astrology are recommended
for the performance of sraddhas and sacrifices. Cp. also ViDh. 3. 75; 71. 66;
Manu 7. 217; Yajnav. i. 332.
Thus far the dharma-X.^yX's, express regard for the AV. and conscious
dependence upon its literature and its practices. But the dubious quality of
the fourth Veda sounds from notes pitched in a different key. In the first
place the omission of the AV. from Vedic lists which characterizes the si'aiita-
texts, is continued in the d/iarma-ttxts, here as there without pronounced
disapproval. Thus notably in the prohibition of the other Vedas while the
sound of the Samans is heard, only RV. and YV. are mentioned: GDh. 16. 21;
VaDh. 13. 30; ViDh. 30. 26; Manu 4, 123, 124. Other cases in which the
traividya is mentioned without reference to the AV. are BDh. 2. 8. 14. 4, 5;
4. 5. 29; Manu I. 23; 3. 145; II. 263 — 6; 12. 112; Yajnav. 2. 211. The in-
feriority of the AV. is stated outright at^ApDh. 2. 11. 29. 10, 11, where it is
said that the knowledge of women and Sudras forms a supplement to the
AV.^J; yet more brusquely ViDh. 5. 191 counts him that recites a deadly in-
cantation from the AV. as one of the seven kinds of assassins. More fre-
quently performances which imply the use of the AV. are decried and punished,
though the Veda is not mentioned by name. Magic rites with intent to harm
enemies, and curses in general cause defilement: they are visited with severe
penances, e. g. ApDh. i. 9. 26. 7; BDh. 2. i. 2. 16; GDh. 25. 7; ViDh. 37. 26;
Manu 9, 290; Yajiiav. 3. 289 (contrariwise Manu 11. -^Z)- The practice ot
medicine is emphatically described as impure here as in the Brahmanas ^'♦j
e. g. ApDh. I. 6. 18. 20; ViDh. 51. 10; GDh. 17. 17; VaDh. 14. 2, 19; Manu
3. 152; Yajnav. i. 162: the charge, of course, reflects upon the AV. Astrology
and fortune-telling are impure professions, e. g. BDh. 2. i. 2. 16; ViDh. 82. 7;
VaDh. 10. 21; Manu 3. 162: that these occupations were Atharvanic seems to
follow from AV. 6. 128; Kaus. 50. 15 (cp. Atri-samhita, above). An especially
pointed reflection against the AV. is implied in the prohibition of 7nulakriyd
or 7nulakartnan^ 'practises with roots', ViDh. 25. 7; Manu 9. 290; 11. 64: the
brunt of this charge is without doubt directed against the AV. (see, e. g.
I. 34; 6. 138), though practices of this kind are not wanting outside of that
Veda (cp. RV. 10. 145, and the Grhyasutras). Finally, GDh. 15. 16; ViDh.
82. 12; Manu 3. 151; 4. 205, he that sacrifices for the common herd {grdma-
ydjakd) is impure: we may presume that this kind of activity was largely, if
not entirely in the hands of Atharvan priests; cp. SBE. XLII, p. xl, note.
§ 27. The Atharvan in the Mahabharata. — The position of the
AV. in the Mahabharata is characterized by the single statement that its
importance as a Veda, and its canonicity, are finally and completely estab-
lished; that its practices are famiHarly known and, in general, not subjected
to any particular criticism. The great collection deals so largely with the
interests of the Ksatriyas as to preclude any conscious discrimination against
the AV., since this Veda also is largely engaged in the interest of the kings
{rdjakar7nani) ^5. Frequently, to be sure, the prevailing Vedic habit of speaking
of the threefold Veda is continued mechanically^^, but the high regard for
the Atharvan and its unchallenged position in the canon are proved by the
quasi-cosmogonic passages in which the four Vedas figure in close affinity
with the personified creator. Thus, at 5. 108. 10 = 3770 Brahman is said
to have first sung the four Vedas, and at 3. 203. 15 = 13560 Brahman has
the epithet Caturveda; and similarly much else of this sort ^7. By itself the
AV. is mentioned frequently either with direct praise, or in a position of
I. The Atharva-Veda in General. — F. A.-V. in Hindu Literature. 2 7
indisputable usefulness. E. g. at 2. 11. 19 = 437 the athan'dhgirasah perso-
nified, are mentioned honorifically along with other Vedic Rishis; at 5. 18.5
= 548 ff. Angiras praises Indra with mantras of the AV., hence Indra declares
that this Veda shall thenceforth have the name atharvdhgirasa. At 12. 342.
99 == 132586". Prajapati declares that Atharvan sages fashioned him into
an Atharvan priest devoted to the practice of the five kalpas {paiicakalpam
atharvdnam) \ at 3.305.20=17066 Kunti knows Atharvan mantras {atharvd-
iigirasi'^'^ s'rutam) which compel the gods to appear; and so on*^ It is, of
course, not to be expected that the Atharvan and its practices, notwithstanding
their establishment in the good graces of the Epic writers, shall come oflf
entirely without criticism; there must have been persons aching under its
supposed inflictions, and moods alive to a full sense of its vulgarity. In such
cases the Epic reflects entirely the spirit of the dharma-it\\s. Thus physicians
are declared to be impure, 12. 36. 28 = 1322; 13. 90. 13 *= 4282; or,
practices of bad women with charms and roots are condemned, 3. 39. 6 =
2237 ff. Magic or sorcery is in general regarded as good, but yet it is possible
in the view of the Epic to bewitch right so as to make it wrong, to be a dharmd-
bhicdrin (12. 140. 42 = 5288), or to use foul rndyd (7. 30. 15 = I3i6ff.):
the Atharvan duplicity is ineradicable.
§ 28. The Atharvan in Sanskrit, Jaina, and Bauddha literature. —
In Sanskrit literature in general the AV., though not mentioned very frequently,
is just as firmly established as in the Mahabharata. The Ramayana refers to
the AV. but once (2. 26. 21); but the Dasakumaracarita (twice, chap. 2, p. 94,
and chap. 3, p. 108), the Kirataijuniya 10. 10, and the proverbs here and
there, exhibit it in undiminished usefulness and respect. Susruta's Ayurveda
is naturally acquainted with the oldest source of Hindu medicine: i. 89. 19;
122. 10. The Puranas always speak of the fourfold Veda, and present the
AV. in the exalted position given it in its own ritualistic literature (see the
next chapter): paurohityam sdntipausiikdni raj nam atharvavedetia kdrayed
brahmatvam ca (Visnu-Purana, Prasthanabheda, p. 16, 1. 10). The Matsya, as
quoted by Sayana in the introduction to the AV., p. 6, orders that the Puro-
hita shall compass the mantras and the Brahmana of the AV.; and the Mar-
kandeya claims that the king consecrated with its mantras enjoys the earth
and the ocean (Sayana, ibid.) 3°. On the other hand the Jainist and Buddhist
literatures naturally cap their small esteem of the Veda in general with occa-
sional express condemnation of the practices of the AV. Thus the Sutra-
krtanga-sutra 2. 27 forbids the incantations of the Atharvan {athanam);
or the Atthakavagga 14. 13 of the Sutta-nipata forbids the practice of the
Athabbana-Veda. To the condemnation of practices essentially Atharvanic is
devoted the Maha Silam in the second chapter of the Tevijja-sutta; similarly
the Vinaya, Kullavagga 5. 32. 2 ^\
S 29. The Atharvan in grammatical, lexical, and text-historical
works. — In grammatical, lexical, and text-historical treatises the Atharvan
still occupies a somewhat uncertain position. Panini 4. 3. 133; 6. 4. 174 has
dtharvanika (cp. the ga7ia to 4. 2. 63), withput defining its position j^; the
Mahabhasya not only mentions its Samhita (Saunakiya or Paippalada) by the
term vimsino 'ngirasah^\ but is peculiar in placing it, or rather its opening
stanza, sa7n no devJ, at the head of the hst of Vedic writings ■>'^ : the scholiast
explains this unusual position of the AV. on the ground that all sacrifices
begin with the expulsion of demons {raksas and pisdca) from the sacrificial
ground. Weber prefers to think that the Vedas of the srauta {traividyd)
had at that time become obsolete and were only mentioned for form's sake.
Perhaps the growing importance of the office of the Brahman, the fourth
2 8 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
type of priest, at the Vedic sacrifice, and the growingly frequent tenure of
this office by Atharvan priests^ accounts for the unusual attitude of Patanjali35.
Or we may bear in mind the special practical importance of this Atharvan
stanza as a purificatory prayer in the morning, manifested by the fact that it
is placed at the head of many Saunakiya-MSS. where it does not originally
belong^^ The Atharvanika are also cited respectfully in the Anupada (3.12)
and Nidana Sutras (2. 12) of the SV.37 in connection with teachers of other
Vedic schools; similarly Sayana to Mahanarayana Up. (IS. 11. 100, note 2).
The Caranavyuhas treat the AV. as the fourth Veda, on the same plain as
the other Vedas^^; the Brhaddevata 5. 15 knows the atharvdngirasdh mantrdh
in active practice. Of lexical texts the Amarakosa does not mention the AV.;
in the Medinikosa Atharvan figures as the name of the Veda ^9. But a writer
as late as Hemacandra, 249, may still describe the AV. as an extract
{uddkrti) from the traividya^^.
I This chapter is a revised abstract of the investigation on this subject printed
by the author, SEE. XLII, p. xxvjii — LVi; the paragraph at the end, on the position
of the AV. in the grammatical and kindred literature, is added to tlie original
treatment of the subject. — 2 Madhusudanasarasvati (IS. I. 16); Kes'ava to Kaus.
I. 1; Deva to KS. 15. 7. II, and elsewhere,— 3 Alberuni, India (Sachau's trans-
lation), vol. I, p. 129, reports that the AV. is less in favor with the Hindus than
the other Vedas. According to Burnell, Vamsabrahmana oftheSV., p. xxi, the most
influential scholars of Southern India still deny the genuineness of the AV. —
4 Rajendralalamitra, in the introduction to GB., p. 4. — 5 Cp., e. g. RV. 1. 191 ;
7. 50; 7. 104; 10. 128; and see Aufrecht's edition of the RV., vol. 11, p. 670 ff.
— 6 See SEE. XLII, p. xxx, note 3.-7 See above, S 3; below, § 42. —
8 Knauer, Festgruss an Roth, p. 64 ff., and in opposition to our view, Oldenberg,
DLZ. March 13, 1897 (p. 366 ff.). On the metrical and linguistic criteria for the
relative dates of RV. and AV. poetry see below, § 38, 42. — 9 The word braJuna
which is catalogued with the irayl, 11. 8. 23; 15. 6. 3 (cp. also 15. 3.7) does not
refer to the AV., but is the broader and higher term for religion in general; cp.
RV. 10. 71. II, and see below, S ZZ- — ^° E. g., 'I dig (pits) that destroy the
Raksas etc.': TS. i. 3. 2. 1 ; MS. 1. 2. 10; VS. 5. 23; SB. 3. 5. 4. 8. — " E. g.
TS. 6. 4. 9. 3; MS. 4. 6. 2; SB. 4- i- 5- I4- — '^ SEE. XLII, p. xxxivff. —
'3 Cp. above, p. 8. — 14 See Jacob's Concordance, s. vs. rgveda, rhmaya, rc\
yajurveda, yajurmaya, yaj'us; samaveda, satnawaya, samatt. — ^5 IS. I. 296; IX. 51. —
16 SEE. XLII, p. XLII, note 2. — ^7 Ibid. p. ii7ff. — 18 OldExNBERG, SEE. XXX,
p. I and xvnff. — ^9 AG. 3. 4. 4; SG. 4. 10, 3; Sambavya-Grhya, IS. XV. 153.
Cp. IS. XIV. 441 ; WL.2, p. 165. — 20 Roth, AV. in Kaschmir, p. 28. — 21 For
detailed statements see SEE. XLII, p. xlvi ff. — 22 This is the stereotyped summary
of the functions of the AV., saniapiistikabhicarika; see p. 8. — 23 Cp. EuHLER,
SEE. II, p. XXIX. — 24 SEE. XLII, p. xxxixff. — 25 SEE. XLII, p. 111 ff.; Kaus.,
chapters 14 to 17. — 26 See A. Holtzmann, Das Mahabharata, vol. IV, p. 5. —
^1 SEE. XLII, p. LH. — 28 Calcutta ed., aiharvasirasi. — 29 Ibid. Liil. — 3Q Ibid.
Liv fT. — 31 Ibid. LVI. — 32 IS. V. 77. For Panini's acquaintance with the so-called
hrdya, see below S 53- — 33 Cp. TS. 7. 5. II. 2 = Kathaka Asvamedhagrantha,
and the superscription of the Ath. Pratisakhya. — 34 IS. XIII. 431 ff.; XIV. 441 ;
WL.2, p. 165, note 3. — 35 See next chapter, § 33. — 36 Kaus. Introd. p. xxxviL —
37 IS. L 43» 45; Xm. 144, 146; WL.2, p. 90, 165. — 38 IS. III. 277 ff. — 39 Pet.
Lex. s. V. atharvan, 2. — 4° IS. I. 297, bottom.
G. THE ATHARVA-VEDA IN THE VIEW OF ITS RITUALISTIC
LITERATURE \
5 30. The attitude of the ritual texts towards the Atharvan
and its priests. — From the preceding chapter we may gather that the Sam-
hita of the AV. and the Atharvan Upanisads allude with predilection and in
terms of praise to their own kind of compositions, to the mythical sages who
are their reputed authors, and to Atharvanic priests. Of any systematic
attempt to make battle against the ancient threefold Veda or its adherents
there is no sign. Similarly the ritual texts of the AV. allude preferably, and
I. The Atharva-Veda in General. — G. A.-V. in its Ritual Literature. 29
yet incidentally, to their own Veda, and as occasion offers, bring to the front
the priests schooled in it: e. g. Kaiis. 63. 3; 139. 6; Vait i. 5; Ath. Paris.
46. 2, etc. But over and above this the ritual texts raise certain special
claims regarding the position of the AV. among the Vedas, and they demand
with obvious polemic intention that certain offices shall be reserved for Atharvan
priests. 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 restrict the honorific mention of the fourth Veda to more or less
well-defined occasions, especially to moods when it appears desirable to call
into requisition the entire range of Vedic literary compositions in addition to
the traylvidyd (e.g. itihasa^ purdna^ etc.). Secondly, the office of the Brahman,
the fourth priest at the /r^z//^-ceremonies, is said by them to belong to an
Atharvavedin, and Vait. and GB. in fact exhibit the bhrgvangirovid in possession
of that office. Thirdly, a similar claim is advanced in respect to the office
of the Purohita; the king must choose an Atharvan priest conversant with the
Atharvan writings as his chaplain or house-priest: purohita, guru, or bra/iman,
as he is variously called. The latter claim is supported, as has been shown,
to some extent by later Brahmanical treatises not derived from Atharvan
schools ^
§31. Exaltation of the Atharvan, and the office of the Brahman
in the ritual texts. — As regards the first point, the GB. i. i. 4 — 10 de-
scribes the cosmogonic origin of the universe and the Vedas from the lone
braJwia. Vedic texts in general ignore the AV. in these creative fancies, but
in the GB. the Atharvan and Angiras texts are placed at the head: the other
Vedic texts (i. i. 6) as well as the subsidiary compositions {sarpaveda etc.,
I. 1. 10) are relegated to the rear. GB. i. 3. 4 lauds the AV. as the most
important religious manifestation {etad vai bhuyistham brahma yad bhrgif-
angirasah); GB. i. 5. 25 ends v/ith the assertion that the students oiihttrayl
reach, to be sure, the highest heaven, but that the Atharvans and Angiras go
even beyond to the great worlds of Brahma {ata uttare brahmalokd mahdntah).
In fact the leading theme at the heart of the composers of the GB. is to
carry to the front the AV. and its adherents^, and only rarely, as if by
mistake, does this text omit the AV. from its Vedic lists (above, S 22;. And
in the same way Vait. 6. i places the AV. at the head of the four Vedas,
not to speak of the even more energetic exaltation of the Atharvan in the
Parisistas. As regards, secondly, the Brahman, the overseer of the srauta-
sacrifices^ Vait. i. i; 11. 2 (GB. i. 2. 16) state that he must be conversant
with the Brahma-Veda, or Atharvahgirasah, in the latter passage in expressed
contrast with udgdtar, /wtar, and adhvaryu of the trayl. At GB. 1.2. 18 (end)
the Brahman is described with the words, esa ha vai vidvdn sarvavid brahmd
yad bhrgvangirovid, indicating the identification of the AV. with the sarva-
vidyd which stands above the ti'ayJ (below, § 33); GB. i. 3. i, 2 describes
vividly the futility of the sacrifice without a Brahman skilled in the bhrgv-
afigirasa/r, as a cow, horse, mule, or chariot cannot proceed with less than
four feet, so the sacrifice must have four feet: the four Vedas and the four
priests. Cp. especially GB. 2. 2. 13 with its source, TS. 3. 5. 2. i, where the
GB. demurs at the statement of the TS., tastndd vdsistho brahmd kdryah^ the
GB. being committed emphatically to the bhrgvangirovid.
S 32. The office of the Purohita in the ritual texts. — Even more
energetic are the demands of the liturgic texts in the matter of the office of
\ht purohita {brahman, guru): 'The king who rules the country shall seek a
wise Brahman {brahmdnam). He verily is wise that is skilled in the bhrgu
and angiras; for the bhrgu and angiras act as a charm against all ominous
30 II. LlTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
occurrences, and protect everything' (Kaus. 94. 2 — 4; cp. 126. 2). The equi-
valence of brahman^ purohita, and guru is guaranteed by comparing Ath.
Paris. 3. I, kulmam srotriyam bhrgvangirovidam . . . gurum vrnlydd bhupatiJi;
and Z- Tit tcismdd bhrgvangirovidam . . . kurydt purohitam. Cp. also 2. 2,
bra/und tasjuad 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 skilled in the Atharvan' (2. 3)'^. Kaus. 17. i4ff.; 140. 4ff.
exhibit king and Purohita in active cooperation. The Parisistas are not content
with such strong recommendations of the adherents of their Veda; they would
have the adherents of the other Vedas, yea even of certain branches (Jdkhd)
of the AV. itself, excluded from the /z^r^/^///: 'The Atharvan keeps off terrible
occurrences, and acts as a charm against portentous ones ... not the Adhvaryu,
not the Chandoga, and not the Bahvrca ... The Bahvrca destroys the kingdom,
the Adhvaryu destroys sons, the Chandoga dissipates wealth; hence the guru
must be an Atharvana ... A Paippalada as guru increases happiness, sovereignty,
health, and so does a Saunakin who understands the gods and the mantras ...
The king whose purodhd is in any way a Jalada or a Mauda is deposed from
his kingdom within the year, (Ath. Paris. 2. 2 — 5)5. The last four names are
alike representatives of Atharvan schools (above, p. iiff.): the passage shows
how eager was the scramble for the office of Purohita. That the Atharvans
finally succeeded in making heard their clamorous demand for this office (see
below, § 34), is probably due to their superior, if not exclusive, knowledge
of witchcraft, which was doubtless regarded in the long run as the most
practical and trenchant instrument for the defence of king and people.
§ 33. Causes leading up to the exaltation of the Atharvan and
its priests. — In order to estimate these claims of the Atharvanists at their
correct value the following needs to be considered. In the Vedic religion, or
perhaps better religious evolution, three literary forms and correspondingly
three liturgic 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 well-known- types rcah^ sdmdni^ 2:cA yajumsi, and
their priestly exponents, hotar^ udgatar^ and adhvaryu. These literary forms
taken individually are mere fragments of religious activity; these priests are
only individual actors, not qualified each by himself to shoulder the burden
of the literary knowledge or liturgic technique. The Hindus were at all times
aware that these religious forms are fragmentary and phases of a whole. The
RV. contains countless expressions indicating the insufficiency of the rcah to
fulfill alone the scheme of religious action: the absence of sdmdni would in
principle leave Vedic religion just as much mutilated as the absence of rcah;
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 Brahmana- texts ^ use sarvavidyd for knowledge of all the
Vedas, but the most successful attempt at describing the religious literature
and action as a whole is the word brdhma, and, correspondingly, he that
knows the religion as a whole is a brahman. Each of these words appears
occasionally in the fourth place, brdhma after the trayi', brahman in company
with the priests of the trayJ. Thus the TS. (7. 3. i. 4) can say: parimitd vd
rcah, pari?nitdni sdmdni^ parimitdni yajumsi; athdi 'tasydi 'vd 'nto nd 'sU yad
brahma. In a sense the brdhma is a fourth Veda, but it is not coordinate
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 the
learned esoteric understanding of the nature of the gods and the mystery of the
I. The Atharva-Veda in General. — G. A.-V. in its Ritual Literature. 3 1
sacrifice as a whole {brahma in brahmodya and brahmaiddin). In the Upani-
§ads this brahma^ frequently contrasted with the ordinary Vedas, is extolled
above all other knowledge, and in a way personified, becoming one of the
main conceptions which finally precipitate themselves in the pantheistic
Brahman- A tman. The knowledge of this brahma there constitutes the nbrahma-
vidydvi. Needless to say this fourth Veda, if we may so call it, in all its aspects
has primarily no connection with the AV., not even in the Sarphita (i 1.8. 23;
15- 3- 7; 6. 3; cp. AB. I. 22. 15), nor in the Upani§ads of that Veda (e.g.
NrsimhapurvatapanT 5. 2): the claim that the Atharvan is the Brahma-Veda
belongs to the Atharvan ritual 7.
This broader religious knowledge exists again from earliest times, not
only in the abstract, but centres in persons who grasped it as a whole, in
distinction from the technically qualified priests devoted to some specialty.
What the brahma is to the trayl^ that the brahman is to hotar^ udgdtar, and
adhvaryu. RV. 10. 71. 11 depicts the activity of the four priests, the first
three handling their respective literary productions (rcah etc.). The fourth
priest is described in the words, brahma vadati jdtavidydm^\ he has no special
Veda, certainly there is no allusion to the AV. In RV. 7. 7. 5 the god Agni
appears chosen as a Brahman at a sacrifice which suggests the later sattra
{agnir brahma nrsddane vidharia). In the expression, brahmd vadati jdtavidydm,
the 'own wisdom' is the brahma (neuter), and vadati jdtavidydm foreshadows
the brahmodya 'the holy, or theological mystery, or riddle', as well as the
ritualist refinements which the Srauta-texts introduce so often with the related
expression, brahmavddino vadanti. In the non-Atharvanic Vedic texts it is
.never suggested that the Atharvan is of all other things the specific equipment
which shapes the faculties of this all-around Vedic theologian. On the con-
trary the KB. raises the one-sided claim that a RV. scholar is the proper
Brahman; Apastamba, Yajnaparibhasasutra 19, more liberally, permits the
Brahman to perform with all three Vedas, yet even he ignores the AV.^
Vasistha was a celebrated Brahman and Purohita, and these qualifications were
said for a time (probably by the descendants of Vasistha themselves) to be
hereditary in this family. But the Brahmanas say explicitly that this is an ob-
solete custom, every one properly equipped may be a Brahman **". Anyhow
there is no original connection between Vasistha and the AV.", 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 everyone that had intrinsic-
ally valid claims upon it.
Doubtless the Atharvanists, plea that the Brahman must be one of them-
selves, and that, consequently, the AV. was the Brahma-Veda was suggested
by an obvious schematic proportion. As the Hotar, etc., is to the RV., etc.,
so the Brahman is to the fourth Veda, and as the AV. 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 tlie brahma. Thus
the Atharvan became the Brahma- Veda, and GB. i. 2. 18, end, can say: esa
ha vai vidvdn sarvavid brahmd yad bhrgvangirozdd (cp. 1.5. 11, 15,19, always
with the idea of the sarvam). The fact that there was no systematic, sharply
defined place for the Atharvanist in the scheme of the hieratic {srauta)
religion — witchcraft formulas at the sacrifice being handled as yajus by the
Adhvaryu — must have been galling in the long run, 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 from the frequent
mention in the AV. itself of the word brahma in the sense of charm, prayer,
e. g. I. 10. i; 14. 44; 23. 4, etc. If this was done it was a proceeding both
3 2 11. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
arbitrary and superficial: the word has in the AV. the meaning of charm only
in so far as the hymns of that Veda happen to be charms; the RV. employs
the term freely to designate its own suktdni (e. g. 5. 85. i; 7. 28. i). One
misses, too, in the AV. the plural brahmdni as the true Vedic type of de-
signation for a special class of compositions, on a level with rcah^ sd^ndni^
yajumsi, atharvdngirasah, or, athai^vdnah {bhesajdni)^ and angirasah \dbhicdri-
kdni). The Atharvanists doubtless 'also remembered that the AV. of all Sam-
hitas contains the largest collection of theosophic hymns which deal explicitly
(10. 2), or impHcitly (10. 7), with the divine Brahman and the b?'dhma^^\
hence, to some extent at least, the later association of the superabundant
Upanisads with Atharvan schools. In the Upanisads, as we have seen, the
knowledge of just such theosophic relations is styled brahmavidyd.
§34. Connection of the Purohita with the AV., and interrelation
ofPurohita and Brahman. — To these Atharvanic pretensions there came
from another quarter a measure of substantiality, probably 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. To be sure the non-Atharvanic Samhitas,
Brahmanas, and Sutras do not mention the AV. in this connection any more than
in connection with the office of the Brahman at the jV^z^/^-sacrifice. Yet it seems
very unlikely that the knowledge of Atharvan practices should not at all times
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 ^-3.
The interests of the king and his sovereignty {ksatriya and ksatrani) are too
obviously dependent upon magic rites to admit the likelihood that the pre-
tensions 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 neighbors, must have depended upon his Puro-
hita's skill in magic. The description, AB. 8. 24 — 28, of the Purohita, his
functions, and his relation to the king, transfers the reader to the sphere
and spirit of the AV.; the same text (8. 25) describes a magic rite, called
brahmanah parimdra, designed to kill hostile kings, which might be an extract
from the ritual of the Atharvan ^'^. In later texts (GDh. 11. 15, 17; Yajnav.
I. 312; cp. also Manu 11. 33), as a matter of fact the rule is laid down
formally that the Purohita should be an Atharvavedin. Sayana, Introd. to
AV., p. 5, 6, makes the same claim outright {paurohityam cd 'thai'vavidai
'va kdryam); he is able to cite in support not only the rather hysterical
dicta of the Atharvan writings themselves, but also slokas from the Puranas,
the Nitisastra, etc. ^5. in the Dasakumaracarita the marriage ceremony, as
well as magic rites, are in fact performed at the court of a king with Atharvan
rites, dtharvanena {dt/mrvanikena) vidhind: the statement is the more valuable
as it is incidentals^.
Not quite so well-defined are the practical realities in favor of the claim
that the Brahman (fourth priest) must be an Atharvavedin, but we may
assume that the growing affinity between the AV. and the pu?^o/iiti contri-
buted at least something to the partial success which doubtless attended that
claim. It is not necessary for the purpose in hand to establish at all points
the original relation between the Purohita and the Brahman whose identity is
baldly assumed in many passages of the earlier Hindu literature ^7. A com-
plete survey of the character of each, as well as their respective names
establishes a fortiori genuine differences in their character. There is, how-
ever, one striking point of similarity between them, namely this, that they
I. The Atharva-Veda in General. — G. A.-V. in its Ritual Literature. 33
have in charge, each in his own way, the general interests of their noble
employers. On the other hand all priests having other names, at a very
early period, certainly at a period prior to the Atharvanic assumption, had
in ordinary practice only subordinate charges, because of the technical char-
acter of their knowledge and occupation. RV. 10. 71. 11 (cp. 7. 7. 5) ex-
presses clearly the existence of broader theological interests than mere expert-
ness in the recitation and chanting of hymns, and the mechanical service of
the sacrifice {hotar, udgatar and adhvaryu). This is the Brahmanship 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
speculations attaching {brahmavddin)) on the other, the higher theosophy
which ultimately leads to the brahmavidyd of the Upani§ads. It is natural
that a divine thus qualified should at a very early time have assumed per-
manent and confidential relations to his noble r^T/Vz/zya-employer, in all matters
that concerned his religious and sacrificial interests. His functions are those
of a 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, rdjakarmdrii^ as the Atharvan
writings call them^**, must have called for different training and different
talents — they represent rather the functions of a chancellor and fighting
chaplain, than those of a high-priest — and there is no reason to believe
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 intelligent charge of the more
elaborate Vedic performances {srautd)^ unless we conceive that in such cases
the Brahman was a mere figure-head and his office a sinecure. 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 rdjd, might have had but 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 resplendent in his Jdiavidyd,
if there was no adept in that ideal fourth Veda, the sarvavidyd that looms
above the trayJ vidyd, the remoter applicability of the /raw/^-practices to
real life, or confidence in the ability of hotar^ adhvaryu^ etc., to perform
their duties correctly of themselves, would lead him to entrust the general
supervision of the //-^zz/^-performances to his trusty Atharvan Purohita. Thus
the sweeping claim of the Atharvan priests may be founded at least upon a
narrow margin of fact; later the Atharvan priests are likely to have equipped
themselves with enough external and mechanical knowledge to perform the
function of Brahman with a show of respectability, witness the activity of the
Brahman in the Vait In very late times the ability of the Atharvans to
practise sraula-iltes, and the canonicity of the Vait. were recognized by other
Vedic schools, if the matter-of-fact references to that Sutra on the part of
the commentators to KS. be regarded as normal *9. However the entire
question of the relation of the AV. to srauta-pTa.cticQS is a rather obscure
point in the history of Vedic literature, it being assumed generally that the AV.
had originally nothing to do with the larger Vedic ritual. The assumption
in this broad form is at any rate too sweeping. The existing Samhitas of
the AV. contain mantras which could have had no sense and purpose except
in connection with sraufa--peTfoTma.\\cQS. A series of formulas, e. g. like AV.
Indo-arische Philologie II, 1b. 3
34 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
6. 47 and 48, has no meaning except in connection with the three daily
savanas'. Vait. 21. 7 exhibits them, properly no doubt, as part of the agni-
stoma. Or AV. 6. 114 is evidently an expiatory formula for faults committed
at the sacrifice ^°. This last is the special sphere of the Brahman. The GB.,
more frequently than other Brahmanas, refers to defects in the sacrifice
{virista, una^ ydtaydj?ia) which are to be corrected {samdhdna) by mantras
(i. I. 13 and 22), and there are mss. of the Vait. which add six prayascitta-
chapters to the body of that text^\ Some knowledge of /r^z^/^-matters,
though not very extensive perhaps, the Atharvans must have had at a very
early time, and thus the germs of the correlation of the Atharvan and Brahman
may even rest upon some slender basis of very ancient tradition.
I Abstract of the essay on this subject, SEE. XLII, p. Lvii ff. — 2 Cp. above,
§ 26, and below, §34- — ^ See below S 66, and note especially GB. 2. 2. 14,
where the aiharvangirasah are added every time in liturgical formulas to the rcah,
yajunisi, and samani. — 4 Cp. Weber, Omina und Portenta, p. 346 ff. ; IS. X, 138;
Sayana, Introd. to the AV., p. 6. — s Weber, IS. I. 296; Bloomfield, JAOS. XI.
378, note. — 6 TB. 3. 10. u. 4; TA. 10. 47; cp. SB. 14. 6. 7. 18; 9. 4. 17. —
7 SBE. XLII, p. XLUI. — ^ Cp. ibid. p. Liv, note i. — 9 The commentary admits
that the AV. may be included: MHASL,, p. 470 ; ZDMG. IX, p. XLVU; SBE.
XXX, p. 321; cp. ibid. XLII, p. Lxv, note 2. — 10 Weber, IS. X. 34, 35, 137.—
II SBE. XLII, p. LV, note i; lxv, note 3. Cp. also Roth, Abhaudlung, p. 9;
MuiR, OST. 1,395. — 12 Cp. the mantra, GB. 1. 1.9; Sayana, Introd. to AV., p. 4;
Visnu-Purana 6. 5 (Wilson's translation, vol. V, p. 210}. — 13 MHASL., p. 486. —
M Cp. AV. 3. 19; Kaus. 14. 22—23; RV. 4. 50. 7—9. — 15 Cp. Deva at KS. 15.
7. 11. _ 16 See above, S 28; SBE. XLII, p. lxvul — 17 E. g. RV. 4. 50. 7 ff.,
where the Purohita is called Brhaspati, i. e. the divine brahman. For the litera-
ture on the subject see SBE. XLII, p. Lxvni, note 3. — 18 See below § 55. —
19 Garbe in the preface to the edition of Vait., p. vl — 20 See the analysis of
these two classes of hymns, below, § 58 and 60. — 21 See Garbe, ibid. p. v;
Weber, Verz. II, p. 83; Kaus. Introd. p. xxxiiL
PART II. THE REDACTION AND EXTERNAL FORM OF
THE ATHARVA-VEDA IN THE SCHOOL OF SAUNAKA.
A. DIVISION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE HYMNS.
^§ 35. The division of the Sarnhita into 20 books. — The AV. in
the Saunaklya-sakha is divided into 20 books, a number which is upheld to
some extent by tradition. Thus GB. i. i. 5 and 8 speaks of 20 mythical sages
descended from Atharvan and Ahgiras, and Patanjali in the Mahabhasya
to Pan. 5. 2. 37, cites the example, vimsino 'ngirasa/i^. General state-
ments of this sort cannot, however, be regarded as conclusive for the original
number of the Saunaklya-books, because AVP. also has 20 books whose
genuineness is unimpeachable ^ Indeed it would seem as though the original
collection of the Saunakins consisted of a lesser number of books, and that
it was later swelled by the addition of a number of books sufficient to bring
it into accord with the traditional number, that is, to assimilate it to AVP.,
or to some other redaction in 20 books. There is no doubt that the 20'^
book is a late addition compiled for the most part from the RV. for ritualistic
purposes of an advanced character (see below, § 62). The concluding prayer
at the end of book 19 (hymn 72) shows in fact that the collection was at
some time conceived as having come to a full stop with book 19. But the
latter book is hardly less doubtfully a secondary appendage, for the following
reasons: It is exceedingly corrupt; it does not harmonize with the plan of
arrangement of the hymns in the first 18 books, which, in spite of certain
II. The A.-V. in the School of Saunaka. — A. Division and Arrangement. 35
obscurities, or even puerilities, is on the whole a consistent one ^; AVP. contains
the 72 hymns of book 1 9 (with the exception of about a dozen) scattered throughout
that collection, making it seem probable that the supplementary book 1 9 of the
vulgata is in the main gathered from that very source*; AV. 19. 7 and 8 are
repeated in full in Xak§atrakalpa 10 and 26, which would seem to show that at
the time of the composition of that text these hymns did not belong to the vul-
gata, as in the contrary case they would have been quoted by their pratikas^;
AV. 19. 22 and 23, a fanciful catalogue, or table of contents, of the Samhitu,
are of obvious Parisi5ta-character°, and certainly do not refer to book 19 7,
although they seem to refer continously (19. 23. 23 — 28) to books 13 — 18;
the Kaus., by quoting only a few mantras of book 19 by pratika^ and pre-
senting others in full {sakalapdtha), seems to assign to it something like aa inter-
mediate position between a collection fully established within the Sarnhita of
its school, and a body of mantras conceived as belonging to another school*;
finally both books 19 and 20 are not treated in the Pratisakhya of the AV.,
or included in the analysis of the Sarnhita as given by the Pancapatalika',
a fact which is perhaps self-explanatory as regards book 20, but which stamps
book 19 as a stranger at the time of the composition of the Pratisakhya.
Remarkable but not finally significant is the reference of the Uttamapatala,
Ath. Paris. 46. 4 — 6, to the constituency of the AV. According to this text
the Saunaklya ended with book 16, unless it were assumed that reference is
made in it to another sdkhd ^". Inasmuch however as this tract indulges in
oddities in connection with the remaining Vedic Sarnhitas, and because its
account has in view specific ritualistic purposes, it is not necessary to assume
that books 17 and 18 were added after the composition of this Parisi§ta, or
are in any sense the product of a later redaction than that of books i — 16.
Book 18, to be sure, is wanting in AVP.; book 17, however, is for the most
part included in it".
The AV. is divided into kdncia 'books', anuvdka 'lessons', and sukta
'hymns'. Another continuous division into prapdthaka extends in Roth and
Whitney's edition through the first 18 books (38 in all), but does not con-
tinue through books 19 and 20. In addition to sukta there is also a par-
allel division of each kdnda in arthasukta 'hymns divided off according to
sense*, and parydyasiikta, briefer subdivisions into groups of verses, usually
ten a group. The latter subdivision is to be compared with the Rigvedic
varga, beside the sukta. Beginning with book 7 Shankar Pandit's divisions
in accordance with his authorities differ somewhat from those of the vulgate
edition ^^. In Sayana's commentary the briefer hymns are combined into
larger hymns in accordance with the traditional recitation; e. g. in the case
of book 6 two hymns {trca) are fused into one^^. The Kaus. is acquainted
with the terms adhydya (= kdnda)., anuvdka., sukta 3.nd pa rydy a ^\ SB. 13.
4. 3. 7, 8 mentions the term parvan in connection with the recital of sections
from the atharvdnah on the one hand and the angirasah on the other; the
statement is on the face of it exoteric and fanciful, similar to the loose use
oi parvan in RV. 7. 103. 5; PG. 2. 10. 20 '5. The entire collection as printed
in the vulgate numbers 731 hymns, aggregating about 6000 stanzas.
§36. Arrangement of the books according to hymns of differ-
ent length. — Leaving aside book 20 whose arrangement like that of the
srauta-QoVi^Q.\XQri% of the Yaj us- sarnhitas is liturgical, and the supplementary
book 19 whose arrangement is apparently hap-hazard, and at any rate not
to be discussed without reference to AVP., the first iS books disclose the
following redactorial scheme ^^. The first seven books consist each of num-
erous hymns (respectively 35, 36, 31, 40, 31, 142, and 118) of not very
36 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
many stanzas each, 18 at the utmost (5. 17). The hymns of each book are
regulated by a lower limit in the number of their stanzas. First, ascendingly,
the hymns of books i — 5, each containing about the same number of hymns,
have respectively at least 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 stanzas; this ascending scale seems
to be repeated in a way inside of book 5, the norm of whose first two
anuvakas (hymns i— 10) seems to be 8 or 9 stanzas followed in the rest of
the book by hymns consisting at least of 11, and rising as high as 18
stanzas (hymn 17). After book 5 there is an obvious break in the arrange-
ment: the number of hymns increases vastly but the scale of stanzas de-
scends; book 6 contains 142 hymns of at least 3 stanzas each; book 7 con-
tains 118 hymns of two, or even as. low as one stanza each. The lower limit
of stanzas in the hymns of each book may therefore be regarded in a cer-
tain sense as the normal number of stanzas of that book ^7^ suggesting critical
operations in connection with those hymns that have more than the normal
number. In such cases the question arises whether stanzas were not added
by a later hand. It is also possible to surmise that certain hymns which
originally fell short of the normal number of a given book were brought up
to the norm by later additions. Systematic investigations of this sort have
been carried on by Bergaigne and Oldenberg on the RV. with interesting
side-glimpses at the AV^^. Thus the normal number of stanzas in the first
book is 4, interrupted only by hymns 3 (9 stanzas), 7 (7 stanzas), 11 (6 stanzas),
29 (6 stanzas), and 34 (5 stanzas). Hymn 3 suggests the throwing out
of the Uturgically repeated stanzas 2 — 5, leaving 5 stanzas, but there is no
reason further to suspect any of the remaining. In hymn 7 the first four
stanzas are anustubh, interrupted by a tristubh (stanza 5); it is therefore
possible to imagine that the stanzas 5 — 7 were added later. Yet these stanzas
are original, and there is no reason to suspect them on intrinsic grounds.
In hymn 1 1 of 6 stanzas the last two may be suspected because they repeat
the pada, ava jardyu padyatdm^ as a refrain. Hymn 29 suggests by com-
parison with RV. 10. 174 a critical manipulation which shall do justice to
the original diaskeuastic intention of both collections. By cutting out AV.
29. 4 and 5 we have left 4 stanzas = RV. 10. 174. i — 3 and 5, and if we
assume that RV. 10. 174. 4= 10. 159. 4 is also secondary we obtain the original
4 stanzas of the hymn in both RV. andAV^9. Finally AV. 1.34 has 5 stanzas,
of which the last may possibly be later, since its second hemistich is for-
mulaic; then the first 4 stanzas might be looked upon as a debating charm,
turned into a love charm by the appendage of stanza 5 ^°. Conversely it
is no less easy to breed in one's mind distrust of certain final stanzas of the
hymns of four stanzas as indeed of the final stanzas of many Vedic hymns
in general. This is so not only because additions are naturally made at the
end, but also because final stanzas frequently disclose the true point of a
hymn to which the initial stanzas, themselves of a preparatory, or ornamental
character, as it were, work their way. E. g. in RV. 7. 103, a prayer to the
frogs for rain, or AV. 4. 16, an imprecation against an enemy, or AV. 3. 13,
a charm to conduct a river into a new channel, the initial stanzas work their
way to the climax (or rather anti-climax) in the last stanza of each hymn^^.
Therefore there is quite frequently a break in the sense just before the last
stanza. Thus, unless we be warned by these considerations, AV. i. 2 may
be plausibly regarded as a battle-charm consisting of the first 3 stanzas, but
adapted later to a charm against diarrhoea by the added fourth verse ^^
Next AV. I. 5 and 6 contain 4 stanzas each, together 8 stanzas; the corres-
ponding hymn, RV. 10. 9, consists of 9 stanzas. Seven stanzas are common
to both texts. Now the scheme of the RV. favors 7 stanzas for 10. 9: shall
II. The a.- V. in the School of Saun ak a. — A. Division and Arrangement. 3 7
we say that RV. 10. 9. 8 and 9, as well as AV. i. 6. 4 are later appendages,
and that the last- mentioned stanza was added in the AV. to bring the hymn
I. 6 up to the normal number of 4 stanzas? The same question may be
asked anent AV. i. 17. 4 which looks a bit patchy (pada c=RV. i. 191. 6*=),
and differs in metre from the rest. Certainly according to the ritual stanza
4 is important, and contains the very point of the practices connected with
the hymn. Then what is the meaning of the diaskeuastic manoeuvre in AV.
I. 29 and 21? The two hymns are patchwork: stanza 20. i -= TB. 3. 7. 5. 12
(ApS. 2. 20. 6); stanza 20. 2 occurs with variants AS. 5. 3. 22; the next, stanza
20. 3, seems original. From that point on the two hymns (20. 4 — 21. 4) are
the same as RV. 10. 152, in 5 stanzas. Shall we say that a single hymn of
5 stanzas was inflated by the Atharvanist into two hymns of 4 stanzas each,
in order to fit it to the external scheme of his arrangement? This would
accord in principle with the previous critical acts. Once again, 5 stanzas of
the two hymns i. 23 and 24, dealing with the same subject (leprosy), are repeated
TB. 2. 4. 4. I — 2. Has the AV. taken once more a hymn of 5 stanzas, and
swelled it out to two of 4 stanzas each, in order to pamper its scheme?
The danger and difficulty of such operations may be seen best in hymn 1.4 —
RV. 1.23. 16 — 19. According to Oldenberg, 1. c, p. 225, RV. 1.23 consists of
6 trcas (stanzas i — 18) which form a ritual series, stanzas 19 — 24 being an
appendix. Now, unless the AV. borrowed its four stanzas (= RV. 16 — 19)
directly from the redactorially finished RV. — a very unlikely assumption —
these criteria lose something of their force as applied to the RV. itself; if
their stringency in the RV. is not above suspicion, little confidence can be
placed in similar operations in the AV., because they are in general depen-
dant upon Rigvedic data. Without going so far as to say that the verse-
norms of the Atharvanic books should be ignored in judging the historical
make-up of the hymns, extreme scepticism is for the present the proper frame
of mind. I say, for the present, because the prospect of having the other
Atharvan Sarnhita, the Paippalada, in our hands soon is now very good:
certainly even the most enthusiastic believer in these studies will be in favor
of deferring them until the Saunaklya's sister-samhita discloses its treasure
of facts. Hence similar observations for the remaining books will not be here
undertaken: they would indeed require the freedom and space of an inde-
pendent essay ^3. We must not, however, fail to draw attention to the fact
that the ritual of the Atharvan, as that of the RV., generally recognizes hymns
that are clearly composite by employing each part independently with a true
sense of its proper value. Hillebrandt has discussed and illustrated this
point for the RV.^'^; the present writer for the AV.^s. Composite hymns of
this sort are 4. 28 in two parts; 7. 56 in two parts, stanzas 5 ff. wanting in
AVR, and rubricated separately Kaus. 139. 8; the two hymns 7. 74 and 7. 76
are tripartite and consist of heterogeneous stanzas which are employed pro-
perly in the Sutra '^; finally the checkered J^u/iMJfa-hymns are divided pro-
perly in the ritual tradition of all schools that take occasion to introduce
them (see below, § 63).
We have seen that the first seven books are arranged on the basis of
the number of stanzas in the hymns; the numbers ascend from book i — 5,
descend from book 6 — 7. Books 8 — 18, with the exception of 15 and 16,
consist of long hymns; the shortest hymn (8. i) in these is longer than the
longest in the first seven books (hymn 5. 17 of 18 stanzas). We may note
also that the shortest hymn, again barring books 15 and 16, stands at the
beginning of the entire series; the longest at the end (hymn 18. 4 with 89
stanzas). Further, books 8 — 11 consist of 10 hymns each; after that the numbers
38 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
descend in book 12 (5 hymns), 13 (4 hymns); 14 (2 hymns), and 17 (one
hymn); cf. the arrangement according to anuvakas, below. Again, book 8
has the shortest hymns with an average of 25. 8 stanzas to a hymn; next,
book 9 with an average of 30. 5 stanzas to a hymn; next, book 10 with an
average of 35 stanzas to a hymn. But book 11 interrupts this ascending
scale with an average of 31. 3 stanzas to a hymn, and after that this cri-
terion, if it be more than an accident, is no longer appHcable. Instead,
another element of division rules the arrangement of the books, namely the
division into anuvakas: the books are arranged from 8 — 17 according to the
number of anuvakas in a descending scale. Books 8 — 13 have 5 anuvakas
each; book 13 has 4; books 14 — 16 have two each; and book 17 has i
anuvaka. Book 18, to be sure, again disturbs this descending scale with its
4 anuvakas. As far as books 13 — 18 are concerned, the prominence of the
anuvaka-arrangement which plays no role in the first 7 books at all, is brought
into view by the plural, duals, singular, and then again plural in the catalogue of
these books, AV. 19. 23. 23 — 28: rohitebhyah svdhd^ plural (book 13);
surydbhydm svdkd, dual (book 14); vrdtydb/iydvi svd/id, dual (book 15);
prdjdpatydbhydm svdhd (why this designation?), dual (book 16); visdsahyai
svd/id, singular (book 17); and, mangalikebhyah svdhd, plural (book 18)^?.
§ 37. Arrangement of the hymns within the books. — Within
a given book the hymns are on the whole not arranged at all, but seem to
follow one upon the other pell-mell, with Httle reference to their subject
matter, or any other discernible criterion. The numerical scheme of each
book, to begin with, prevents the grouping of all related hymns. Thus 7. 65
is too short to take its place by the side of the hymns to the apdmdrga-
plant, 4. 17 — 19; the hymn 12. 5, on the other hand, is too long to figure
by the side of 5.17 — 19, though they are all curses against the oppressors of
Brahmans. Similarly 5.23 is prevented by its length from joining the charms
against worms (2. 32, t^^. Yet a considerable amount of the material is
obviously arranged according to subject matter: tv/o, three, four, and rising
from that to as high as twelve hymns, dealing with quite or nearly the same
theme, are grouped in the same place. The last-mentioned number is the
highest, being exhibited by 6. no — 121, all of which deal with expiation
{jprdyascittd) of sins^^. The next largest number, seven, is represented by
the so-called mrgdraAxymn^^ 4.23 — 29 (see §S 45» 57); the group 2.18 — 23
contains 6 imprecations against enemies. Book 3 begins with an anuvaka in
5 hymns connected with royal practices (i — 5); in a certain sense the five
hymns of entire anuvaka 4.16 — 20, dealing with witchcraft, are made of the
same stuff. Four groups of 4 hymns each are 7. 35 — 38 (women's charms);
7. 46 — 49 (divinities of the moon and heavenly wives); 19. 40 — 43 {brahma,
tapas, diksd); and 19. 47 — 50 (Night). Very much more frequent are groups
of three: i. 4 — 6 (water-charms); i. 19 — 21 (battle-charms); i. 22 — 24 (skin-
diseases); 2. 15 — 17 (prose-formulas to secure long life); 4. 17 — 19 (charms
with the apdmdrga-^l^nt); 5. 17 — 19 (against oppressors of Brahmans); 6.
22 — 24 (water); 6. 27 — 29 (ominous birds); 6.34 — 2>^ (Agni-hymns) ; 6. 39 — 41
{kavis-hymxis: see § 60, end); 6. 65 — 67 (battle- charms); 6. 86 — 88 (rulership);
6. 97 — 99 (battle-charms); 6. 130 — 132 (love-charms); 7. 14 — 16 (Savitar);
7. 17 — 19 (Dhatar); 7. 79 — 81 (lunar); 12. 3 — 5 (in the interest of Brahmans);
19. 9 — II {sdnta and satn); 19. 14 — 16 (freedom from danger); 19. 17 — 19
(prose litanies for protection); and 19. 28 — 30 (amulet of darbha). And then
there are in addition some sixty or more pairs of hymns more or less allied
in subject-matter: in general their connection is too obvious to require special
statement; at times it needs to be watched for rather closely, as, e. g. in the
II. The A.-V. in the School of Saunaka. — A. Division and Arrangement. 39
case of 2. 1, 2 (Vena and Gandharva); 4. i, 2 {brahma and ka)\ 7. i, 2
{manas and vdc)\ 7. 8, 9 (journey and road);" 6. 47, 48 (the three savanas);
7. 27, 28 and 98, 99 (ritualistic pairs); 7. 76 (end) and 77 (Indra and Maruts);
II. 7, 8 (both theosophic, sharing the padas: 7. 25=*^ = 8. 4*^ 26*^ and 7.
26^^ = 8. 24**^). Of special importance for the future final history of the
Samhita is the undoubted prehistoric and organic connection of some of the
groups; they appear together many times not only because they deal with
the same theme, but because a given group in an earlier period of mantra-
production made up one and the same hymn, or two or more hymns bearing
upon the same theme and the same occasion. Thus the mrgdra-group
(4. 23 — 29) is undoubtedly built up on a rather slender tradition oi yajus-
materials; the first and last stanzas are almost always directly derived from
some Yajus-collection, the interior five stanzas are the original product of the
Atharvanist's muse*^. Of the group 2. 19 — 23 the first seems also originally
yajus-mdcXX^ix (MS. i. 5. 2; ApS. 6. 21. i): out of these passages the entire
litany is produced by a kind of Atharvanic inflation ^°. There is a similar
historic and organic connection between the four hymns 7. 46 — 49; the three
hymns i. 4 — 6; 6. 27 — 29; 7. 39—41; and 7. 79 — 81; the two hymns 1.20,
21; 24, 25; 2.32, 33; 4.31, 32; 6.87, 88; 125, 126; 9.9, 10; 19. 7, 8; 22, 23
and 60, 61. A more complete sifting of the mantras will disclose other groups
of this kind, and on the other hand the record of some connections of this
sort is sure to have perished (e. g., perhaps, in the case of i. 7, 8; 6. 103,
1 04; 10. 7, 8 ; 1 1. 9, 10, etc.). Not infrequently the hymns are grouped for reasons
that are far more superficial and hap-hazard than those just mentioned. The
present writer drew attention to facts of this sort in connection with the
first book, as did later Henry in connection with the seventh book 3*; they
appear sporadically throughout the Samhita. In the first place, just as the
introductory hymn i. i and the closing hymn of book 19 hold their places
because of their subject-matter, so there is design in the opening-hymns of
books 2, 4, 5, and 7, all of which begin with a theosophic or brahmodya-\iyxcv^
in loftier diction. The grouping of 9. 5 — 7 seems to be due to the large
patch oi brd/wiana-^YOSt contained in them. Hymns i. 2, 3 and 7. 6, 7 (Aditi
and Diti) deal in each pair with opposite rather than same themes. Above
all verbal correspondences, at times so vague as to cast doubt upon one or
the other of the following observations, seem to be the sole cause of the
juxtaposition of hymns. Thus i. 9, 10 are not connected by theme, but each
contains the word varuua in the opening hemistich. Hymns 11 — 13 are
linked by subtle correspondences: hymn 11 is a charm for easy dehvery in
childbed, ending with the refrain, ava jardyii padyatdm; hymn 12 begins
with the word jardyujah^ its theme being the 'cloud-placenta-born' lightning;
then follows hymn 13 also addressed to lightning (root stan in 12. i and
13. 1)32. The word vajra links externally 6. 134 and 135; the \foxA<s, stana
and stanayitnu 7. 10 and 11; ava inrj and apa mrj 7. 64 and d^; prajdvantah
zxid. praJdvatTh 7. 74 and 75; vrkau and vrkkau 7. 95 and 96; stem ka^
felt to be the same diS pj-ajdpati, 7. 100 and loi; stem raksohan 8. 2. 28
and 3. I ; stem prdna 11. 3. 54 ff. and n. 4; sam and sam (as occasionally
in parallel versions of the same mantra) 19. i, 2; sdnta and sam 19. 9 — 11.
The group 7. 88 — 90 seems to be linked by a cumulation of verbal corre-
spondences: they begin respectively with the words api, apo^ and api\ 88 and
89. I contain the root pre; and sepe in 89. 3 is perhaps correlated with sepo
in 90. 3. In the group 7. 113 — 115 such an external correspondence can
be made critically helpful: 7. 113 and 114. i obviously treat the same subject,
whereas 114. 2 is foreign to their theme, and may have gotten this berth
40 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA. •
because its words preto yaniu, as well as its sense, concatenate plausibly with
7. 115. I which begins, pra patetah\ cp. below, § 40.
The Samhita-text of the AV. in the Saunakiya-school was published in 1855 by R.
Roth and W. D. Whitney under the title, Atharva Veda Sanhita: the edition is
occasionally spoken of as the vulgate by the present and other writers. This was
followed by a number of subsidiary publications by "Whitney: an alphabetic list
oi praitkas , or verse-beginnings, in IS. IV. pfif.; the edition of the Atharva-Veda-
Pratisakhya, or Saunaklya Caturadhyayika in JAOS. VII. 333—615 (addenda, JAOS.
X, 156 ff.); and an Index Verborum to the published text which at the same time
reproduces the readings of the pada-text (JAOS. XII). Whitney's posthumous
work, containing other indexes, critical notes to the text, and a translation is now
in the press of the Harvard Oriental Series (ed. C. R. Lanman): see JAOS. XV.
CLXXi ff. Another edition of the same Veda in both satuhita and pada-iorxn, with
a fragmentary commentary ascribed to Sayana, is partly published and wholly in
the press, under the title Atharvavedasamhita (Bombay 1895); it is from the pen
of the late Shankar Pandurang Pandit. The value of the commentary is stated
critically by Whitney, Festgruss an Rudolf von Roth, p. 89 ff. For the Kashmirian
version of the AV., the so-called Paippalada-Sakha (above p. 11), see Roth, Der
Atharva -Veda in Kaschmir (Tiibingen 1875): it is now proposed by the present
author to publish a photographic reproduction of the unique manuscript of that
Veda; see the circular to that effect issued by the Johns Hopkins University in 1898,
and JAOS. XX. 184 ff.
I Weber, IS. XIII. 433; WL.2, p. 161, note. The statements of both GB. and
Mahabhasya refer in this matter to an Atharvanic tradition broader than that of
the Saunaklya, since both texts present sam no devi [i. i. 6) as the initial stanza.
This probably suits the AVP. ; see Kausika, Introduction, p. xxxvii ff. — 2 The
beginnings of the books of AVP. and their relation in general to the books of the
Saunaklya are stated above, p. 14, on the authority of Roth, Der AV. in Kaschmir,
p. 15 ff., 18. — 3 See below, SS 36 and 37.-4 Roth, ibid. p. 18. AV. 19.56—58
are directly designated as faippaladamautrah, Ath. Paris. 8. 2: see above p. 12. —
5 Weber, IS. IV. 433, note 2.-6 They occur, in fact, in full text, at the end of
the Uttamapatala, Ath. Paris. 46 ; cp. Weber, ib. 433. — 7 The expression, brakviane
svaha^ which Weber, ib. 433, note 3, suspects as referring to book 19, is a mere
general ending to both lists 19. 22. 20 and 23. 29: it invokes brahma, prayer, in
general; cp. the metrical sts. at the end of each chapter. — 8 See Kaus. Introd.
p. XL, and cp. Pischel, GGA., April 1891, p. 283.— 9 Whitney, JAOS. VII. 334,
581; Shankar Pandit's edition, vol. I, Critical Notice, p. 24.— 10 weber, IS. IV.
432. — _" Roth, ibid. p. 18. — 12 Shankar Pandit, ibid. p. 16 ff. — 13 asniin
kande prayena sarvani suktani ircatmakdny eva tathdpi adhyTipakasampradayanurodhena
h'cadvayam eklkrtya suktatvena vyavahriyate (Sayana, vol. II, p. 2). — ^4 See Indexes,
p. 382. The paryaya are also alluded to in the late Parisisia-hymn 19. 22. 7. The
date of AV. 19. 22 and 23 canbe fixed as later than the Kausika. In 22. II — 13
the formulas Jipotlamebhyah svaha, iitlamebhyah svaha, and Jiitarebhyah svaha allude
without doubt to the frequent citations in Kaus. of hymns and stanzas which have been
previously stated in groups. See for upottaina^ Kaus. 26. 34; for Jittama, Kaus. 26. 40;
41. 15; 50. 14; for uitara, Kaus. 48. 36. — ^5 Differently Weber, IS. I. 295; II. 396;
IV. 434; V. 22, 77;SPAW. 1891, p. 770, note i; WL.2 137, 165; cp. SEE. XLII, p. xxi. —
16 Cp. Bergaigne, Recherches sur I'histoire de laSamhitadu Rig-Veda, I, p. 4 and
75 (JA. 1886;; Weber, IS. XVII. 178; XVIII. i, 154. — ^7 The Anukramani of the
AV. designates this lower limit as the norm {prakrti) of the books, the deviations
as vikrii; see Weber, 1. c. — ^8 Bergaigne, 1. c; Oldenberg, Die Hymnen des
Rig -Veda, p. 243 flf. — 19 Oldenberg, 1. c. — 20 Cp. SEE. XLII. 274 ff. —
21 Bloomfield, JAOS. XVII. 178; Weber, IS. XVIIL 66; SBE. XLIL 348. —
22 Cp. SBE. XLII. 233 ff. — 23 As further specimens of hymns that invite such
criticism we may mention 2. 3, 4 (last sts.); 2. 10 (cp. TB. 2. 5. 6. i; HG. 2.3. 10;
ApMB. 2. 12. 6); 2. 12 (last 3 sts.; cp. SBE. XLII. 297) ; 2. 14 (st. 4; cp. ibid. 301);
3. 15, 19, 29 (last two sts.); 3. 30 (the irregular st. 6 interrupts the concatenation
of 5 and 7; but see SBE. XLIL 363); 4. 2 (last st); 4. 16 (last two sts.); 4. 17
(st. 5, rather extraneous = 7. 23); 5. 17 (Bergaigne, 1. c, p. 22; Oldenberg, 1. c,
p. 244). — 24 BB. Vm. 195 ff.; ZDMG. XL. 708 ff. ; cp. Weber, SPAW. 1891,
p. 798. — 25 Kausika, Introduction, p. xll — 26 SBE. XLIL 554, 557, 559- —
27 Cp. Bergaigne, 1. c, p. 75, note. — 28 in a less specific way all the hymns
19. 26 — 39 deal with amulets of some sort, and therefore represent a still larger
group of 14 hymns. — 29 See below, SS 45 and 57. — 3° In accordance Avith notions
very prominent in GB. The Rig-Vedic cosmic triad, Agni, Vayu, Sflrya, is there
II. The A.-V. in the School of Saunaka. — B. Metres of the Atharvan. 41
swelled out to a tetrad by the addition of Candra and Apah (the moon with the
waters) to provide for the AV., the other three being correlated with the members
of the trayt vidya\ see S 45- — ^^ Seven Hymns of the AV'., AJPh. VII. 470 ff,;
Le Livre VII de I'AV., p. ix. — 32 The first 13 hymns of book l seem to be
arranged continuously in groups; after that the regularity of the scheme breaks
down; cp. Seven Hymns, ibid.
B. THE METRES OF THE ATHARVAN AND THEIR RELATION TO
THE CRITICAL RESTORATION OF THE TEXT.
S 38. The metres, with special reference to the Atharvanic
(popular) anu$tubh. — The metres of the original parts of the AV. are in
the main still the common Vedic metres, gayatrl, anusfubh, pankti, in, short
metre; tristubh, and jagatl, in long metre. A considerable part of the Sauna-
kiya-text, notably book 15 and most of book 16, are in prose'; metrical
and prose matter are a good deal mixed up^, so that it is frequently difficult
to determine whether a passage is merely cadenced prose, or doggerel metre,
or originally good metre spoiled by interpolations and additions which at
times distinctly betray themselves as glosses. The Brhatsarvanukramanl, in
the course of its struggles with these defective metres, enriches the metrical
terminology with new varieties: the words, nicrt, bhurij, -garbhd (e.g. virdd-
garbhd bhurik)^ drsJ, etc. figure frequently 3. The metres vary in the same
hymn more than is customary in the RV.: it would seem as though this
variation was in a measure felt to be a stylistic or literary device*. E. g., it
is hardly mere accident that many hymns open with a (to our feeling) livelier
anustubh stanza (short metre), and continue with tristubh-stanzas (long metrej;
see I. 13; I. 18; 2. 29; 4. 16; 6. 3. 1^^ 6. 49; 7. 68; 7. 72 (cp. RV. 7. 103).
Occasionally an anustubh-hymn opens in still livelier gayatri: 2. 32; 4. 12.
Conversely some effect, perhaps the opposite effect of solemnity, seems also
to be intended when a short-metre hymn is introduced by a tri§tubh:
2. 4; 3. 5; 5. 7; 6. III. It is perhaps no accident that the Vedic wedding-
stanzas are prevailingly anustubhs, the funeral-stanzas tristubhs. The metres
of the AV. are on a level with those of the Grhyasutras. Aside from the
greater freedom and irregularity of all types this is shown by applying Olden-
berg's test of the anustubh s. The original Atharvanic anu§tubh stanzas, L e.
those that do not coincide with the hieratic RV. stanzas, differ from the
Rig- Vedic anustubh on the one hand, and from the Epic and Buddhistic
sloka on the other. Whereas in the RV. the first pada of the anustubh
hemistich regularly ends in a diiambus, or second paeon (^ — -> — ), and
in the Epic and Buddhistic sloka still more regularly in a first epitrite or
antispast (w ^), the first pada of the Atharvan and Grhya hemistich
permits these as well as all other possible feet of four syllables. The hymns
that were tested for this purpose are: i. i; i. 2; i. 7; i. 8; 5. 19; and 12. 4.
1—20, in addition to single stanzas of many other hymns. The Atharvanic
and Grhya anustubh may be designated as the popular anu§tubh in distinction
from the hieratic anustubh of the soma-hymns in the RV. : a hymn like RV.
10. 85 is, of course, in popular anustubh. Considering the absolute quan-
titative freedom of the eight-syllable line of the Younger Avesta^, we have
reason to assume that the popular and freer anustubh is structurally and
chronologically earlier than the better regulated hieratic (somic) anustubh, an
assumption which is no wise disproved by the parallel grammatical and lexical
criteria of the two types of literature (see below, § 42). The theory that the
development of the popular foot took place from v^_^^, through b:^^^^
to ^ >^ is on its face implausible : in the light of the trend of all Hindu
42 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
metrical development the change from the regulated type w _ v^ ^^ to the
free type )^ -^ ■^ ■^ is unparalleled and unintelligible. Instead we may assume
that the Aryan free octosyllabic lines^ grouped into two hemistichs of i6
syllables developed the iambic cadence at the end of each hemistich in pre-
historic Vedic times, and continued so in the more popular poetry until the
beginnings of the Epic and Buddhistic sloka. At the same time a more
exquisite treatment at the hands of the hieratic poets developed the Rig-Vedic
anustubh on a parallel line, by repeating the final cadence of the hemistich
before the caesura in the middle of it 7.
§ 39. On the critical restoration of Atharvan metres. — 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. 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^ Yet it is impossible to abstain entirely: such abstemiousness
would suggest the equally mistaken view that all Atharvan stanzas are before
us in the form in which they were originally composed. Great tact and a
keen sense of where to draw the line are particularly required in amending
the text: in any case the critic upon whom this task is forced may not hope
to escape error altogether. In the very opening hymn (i. i. 4^) it seems
necessary to throw out the entirely unmetrical hvayatdm^ although what remains
is by no means perfect. But there are far more certain cases: in 2. 3. 6^
raksasdm is surely a gloss; so also kriniin in 2. 31. 4''. In 2. 33. 5^ '^ bhdsadam
is certainly superfluous, being derived from the parallel version, RV. 10. 163. 4.
Quite certain are the following cases of interpolations and glosses: devdn in
3. 15. 5"^; brahmajyasya in 5. 19. 7^; tak?na7ns in 5. 22. 5^"; havisd in 6. 40.
i'^; svasti in 6. 40. 2^\ diso in 6. 98. 3^ (cf TS. 2. 4. 14. i; MS. 4. 12. 2);
dantau in 6. 140. 3^; pitru in 7. 21. i^; devd in 7. 70. 2^ (cf TB. 2. 4. 2, 2);
a?mtrd in 8. 8. 2^^; arsamr in 9. 8. 21^; visvasya in 9, 10. 14"^ (cf RV. i. 164.
35^; VS. 23. 62^; LS. 9. 10. 14^); duskrte in 10. i. 23^; vdr ugram in 10.4.
3^, 4^^ (cf 7. 56. 3^, 7^j; indtarisvd in 10. 9. 26^; either tcbhe or ime in 11.
5. 2>; pri/iivydJH in 11. 5. 12"^^; catasrah in 19. i. 2>^. Less certain is the dis-
position oi patir in 3. 4. i^; grhdnam in 3. 12. 6; gandharvdn in 4. 37. 8*^;
amum in 5. 8. 8^; sacetasah in 6. 6'^. i'^'^; manasd in 6. Z-^. 4^; adharo in 6.
134. 2^; kalasah in 9. i. 6^; bhiksdm in 11. 5. 9*^. And there are, of course,
cases in which corrections of other sorts strengthen the impression that the
metres may be improved by critical restorations. Thus the defective pada
9. 2. 4^ is followed in the same hymn, pada 9^, by what reads like its own
correction; or, the temptation to make over into good metre 9. 5. i^^ so as
to read, a naya etam anv d rabhasva^ sukrtdm lokam gachatu prajdnan, is
very great. Similarly 11. 2. 2 may be much improved by transferring avisyavah
at the end of the first hemistich (so also AVP.) to the second hemistich 9.
On the other hand there are not wanting instances in which inferior metre
is on second thought proved to be just what the Atharvavedin wrote. Thus
9. 4. 2 2*^*^ consists of two defective padas; the first being short, the second
ending in a wrong cadence: dyur asmabhyam dadhat prajdm ca, rdyas ca
posair abhi nah sacatdtn. All attempts to better this hemistich are wasted,
because it is nothing but a secondary transfer from the plural to the singular
of the perfectly good hemistich 18. 4. 62, dyur asmabhyam dadhatah prajdm
ca, rdyas ca posair abhi nah sacadhva?n. Or, one might be tempted to amend
the short pada 2. 4. 6^, atho ardtidusih^ especially as it is repeated in a
n. The A.-V. in the School of Saunaka. — B. Metres op the Atharv an. 4 3
metrically preferable fonn in 19. 34. 4'', atho ardtidusanah. But the entire
character of the last hymn is inferior and its version of the pada is probably
in the nature of a secondary Uctio facilior-. the catalectic line, 2, 4. 6^, had
best be left undisturbed, as such lines must be in many other instances*".
Anyway there are almost countless cases in the AV. in which corrections
at the hand of the metre would really amount to independent composition,
cases like 3. 28. i; 4. 11. 4^ 6^^; 4. 17. 3<^d. 5. 7. jcd. ^ 134.3; 7. 76. 5^; they
not only point out the need of extreme caution in general, but tend to shake
confidence in all but the most unavoidable emendations.
8 40- Order of stanzas and concatenation as critical aids. —
Of distinct strophic arrangement of stanzas there is little or nothing in the
AV.; the arrangement of the hymns in the various books according to the
number of their stanzas is also carried out in a very crude and superficial
manner". Hence there is very little basis for a critique of the arrangement
of the stanzas in a given hymn, or the distinction between original stanzas
and such as may have been added by a later hand Nevertheless the existing
text is open to improvement in these respects, although subjective impression
is here more easily than in other forms of criticism confounded with historical
reality. To begin with, some hymns are certainly composite, as may be readily
gathered from their context and their employment in the ritual books; e. g.
4. 38; 7. 74; 7. 76 '^ For no visible reason, but yet certainly, 6. 48. 2 and
3 have changed places: Vait. 17. 10 and the parallel versions have them in
the right order ^\ The long hymn 12. 4 shows traces of confusion in the
order of its stanzas: the fourth may be suspected of having stood originally
after the fifth, because the second hemistich of st. 4 seems to summarize the
statements made in the remaining three hemistichs of the two stanzas. Simil-
arly there seems to be considerable confusion in the order of stanzas 43 — 47:
cf. the rearrangement proposed by the author ^+. When we find in the midst
of the wedding-stanzas of the suryd-sukta (14. i. 1 ff. = RV. 10. 85. i ft.) the
stanza 14. i. 17, which is evidently RV. 7. 59. 12 in a form adapted to the
marriage-rites {aryamanam substituted for trya?nbakam), we may judge at least
that it did not belong to the original stock of the wedding-stanzas; on the
other hand the concatenation of its second hemistich with 18^^ would seem
to show that it was adapted to serve in the very place where it occurs in
the AV. Similar considerations will show that the stanza 14. i. 43, in con-
catenation with 44, although also of secondary workmanship — it occurs
nowhere else — yet holds its place by rights in the AV. Concatenation is
a very common feature in the AV. ^^, and to a certain extent guarantees the
order of stanzas in the Samhita. Thus all three stanzas of 6.42 and 6. 118
concatenate, so that we may feel fairly sure that the Atharvan composer
placed them in this order, whatever may have been their pre-history, whether
they were original with the Atharvanist, or first composed in another quarter
ofVedic activity. So also the first two stanzas of 6. i iS occur again MS. 4. 14.
17; TA. 2. 4. I (cp. TB. 3. 7. 12. 3), the third seems original with the Athar-
vanist; yet it is not therefore in any sense a stranger to the Atharvan redac-
tion. The same rhetorical device of concatenation may at times point to
the exclusion of one of the connected stanzas; e. g. the irregular stanza 5.
14. II, containing the expression vtrglva^ may have sHpped in because of
mrgam iva in stanza 12; or 5. 4. 6, also irregular, containing the words a
va/ia, may have been placed where it is, because of nirdvahan in stanza 5.
Again, a verse that interrupts two concatenating stanzas may be suspected;
^' %' 3- 3°- 6, interrupting stanzas 5 and 7; or 2. 3. 4, interrupting stanzas 3
and 5; cp. also our remark on 7. 114. 2, above, S 37? end. In the commentary to
44 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
our translation, SEE. XLII, we have never treated such cases as anything
more than possibiHties: such criteria rarely seem coercive, as we have no
reason to rely much on the conscious directness of purpose, or certainty of
touch of the Atharvan poets in any such matters.
I A compact list of the prose passages is printed by Whitney, Index Verborum,
p. 5ff. — 2 Cp. e. g., 4. 3. 7cd; 4. II. 7dj 4. 12. 6; 5. 29. 14; 6. 16. 3; 6. 76. 3c;
7. 81. 4, 5, 7. 82. 2; 8. 2. II; 10. 6. 35. — 3 Cp. the extracts from the Anukra-
mani in Weber's translations of AV. 3—5, IS. XVII. 177 ff.; XVIII, iff. —
4 Bloomfield, JAOS. XVII. 176, note. — 5 ZDMG. XXXV. 181 ff.; XXXVII. 62 ff.;
Die Hymnen des Rig-Veda, p. 26 ff.; SEE. XXX, p. xi fg., xxxvff.; cp. Jacobi, IS.
XVII. 442 ff. — 6 Geldner, Metrik des jiingeren Avesta, p. viff., 60 ff. — 7 Cp.
WiNTERNiTZ, The Mantrapatha, Introd. p. XLiv. — « Bloomfield, SEE. XLII, p. 296,
584; Oldenberg, DLZ. March 1897, p. 370. — 9 SEE. XLII. 619. — 10 Cp. WmxNEY,
Index Verborum, p. 5, — " See above, § 37. — 12 Kaus. Introd., p. XLiff.; cp.
above, § 36. — 13 See Bloomfield, Contributions. Fifth Series. JAOS. XVL 5,
note 3; cp. in the Samhita itself the proper arrangement of the corresponding
stanzas 6. 47. 2 and 3. ' — M SEE. XLII, p. 660. — iS E. g. I. 23. I, 2; 4. i.
4b, 4c; 4. 8. 4, 5, 6; 4. 29. I, 2; 4. 36. 3, 4; 4. 37- 9, 10; 5. 11. 7, 8, 9;
5. 14. I, 2; 5. 20. I, 2; 5. 22. 3, 4, 5; 5. 22. 8, 9; 5. 29. 2, 3; 5. 29. 12, 13;
5. 30. 8, 9; 6. 15. I, 2; 6. 63. 2, 3; 6. 99. 2, 3; 6. 117. 2, 3; 6. 123. I, 2;
6. 138. I, 2; 8. 2. 7, 8; 9. 2. 9, 10; 9. 5. 21, 22; 9. 5. 23, 24; 10. 8. 22, 23;
12. 3. 5, 6; 12. 3. 41, 42; 12. 3. 43, 44; 13. I. 6, 7; 13. I. 53, 54.
C. THE RELATION OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA TO THE REMAINING
HYxMN-COLLECTIONS.
§ 41.^ Special features of the Atharvan collection; its connection
with ApS. and TB. — The relation of the text of the AV. in the Sauna-
klya-version to the other collections of Vedic mantras is both intimate and
intricate. A complete survey of these relations can be obtained only by
means of such a concordance of these mantras as has been gathered up by
Whitney for his posthumous work on the AV., now passing through the press
in the Harvard Oriental Series \ A yet more perfect insight into the relation-
ships of the Atharvan mantras will result from the pada-concordance of the
entire body of Vedic mantras which is being compiled by the present writer ^
The Atharvan is very reminiscent: in unexpected places, often in hymns that
are on the whole original with the AV., a shorter or longer passage^ fre-
quently only a single pada, appears to have been borrowed from another
connection, or, to state it more cautiously, to coincide with another collection.
Thus in the very first hymn pada 3^= RV. lo. 166. 3^; in the second hymn
padas 2^^ are variants of RV. 6. 75. 12^^, pada 2^= RV. 3. 16. 5"^. Other
instances of fragmentary correspondences are AV. i. 17. 4*^= RV. i. 191. 6^;
AV. 1.26.1^= RV. I. 172.2^; AV. 2. 2. 2^= RV. 8. 48. 2^; AV. 2. 12. 4^ =
RV. 7. 44. 4^; AV. 4. 4. 4^ = RV. 10. 97. 8^ (et al.); AV. 4. 5. 7^ = RV. 10.
166. 2^; AV. 4. 10. 6^ (formulaic appendage = 2. 4. 6^; 12. 2. 13^; 14. 2.
67^) is common in the entire mantra-literature; AV. 5. 20. 8^= RV. 10. 103.
10^ (cp. 10^); AV. 5. 21. 11^^ (= 13. I. 3^b) = TB. 2. 5. 2. 3^^; AV. 6.
80. i^^ = RV. 10. 136. 4^^; AV. 8. 7. 27^= RV. 10. 97. 3^; AV. 10. i. 6^ =
RV. 10. 164. 4^; AV. 10. 8. 40'='^ = RV. 8. loi. 14'=^; AV. 10. 9. 27^ = RV.
4. 50. 6^ (et al.); AV. 10. 10. 32^^ = RV. 10. 154. i^^; AV. 11. i. 3^ ii^ =
RV. 4. 50. 10^; AV. 13. I. ii^= RV. 10. 123. 8^; and many other instances.
These correspondences fade out into mere reminiscences or echoes, as when,
e. g., AV. 3. 1.2 is made up from a variety of RV. motives (Aufrecht, KZ.
XXVII. 219; Bloomfield, SBE. XLII. 326). Similarly AV. 3. 3. 2^, 5^ reminds
one of RV. 10. 103. 6; or AV. 4. 7. 2, 3 of RV. 10. 187. 10; or AV. 5, 23
of RV. 10. 191; or AV. I. 26 of RV. i. 172; or AV. 2. 3 of TB. 2. 5. 6. 4.
11. The A.-V. IN THE School ofSaunaka. — C. Relation to other Collections. 45
In this connection are to be mentioned a number of interesting or curious
points of contact of the Atharvan mantras with the remaining body of the
Vedic hymns and formulas. AV. i. 17. i is quoted by Yaska, Nirukta 3. 4,
in a variant form which is not derived from AVP.; Durga to Nir. 6. 1 2 quotes
AV. 12. 2. 28 with variants (perhaps those of AVP.): see Roth, Erlauterungen,
p. 80. The JB. quotes in full AV. 5. 19. i with variants. AV. 4. 16 is un-
known in the other collections, except that its sixth stanza is modulated
interestingly SS. i. 6. 3. A formula LS. 3. 5. 15 reproduces AV. 9. i. 9, and
a mantra inVait. 36. 27 contains marked features derived from AV. 13. i. 23.
The prose formula AV. 19. 55. 5* is a variant form of MS. 3. 9. 4 (p. 120,
I. 17), and the formulas AV. 20. 2 are somewhat independent versions of ApS.
II. 9. 8; KS. 9. 8. 9 ff. The fifth st. of AV. 3. 4 is quoted with a variant
pratlka, a prehi paramasydh pardvatd {iti ydjydnuvakye) at MS. 2. 2. 11 (p. 24,
1. 3), but no such two stanzas are quotable elsewhere in the Maitrayanl, or
anywhere else in the literature: the pratlka at MS. is employed in connection
with a royal rite similar to that at the base of the Atharvan hymn. Quite a
number of those sts. of the SV. which are not derived from the RV. occur
also in the AV., as may be seen readily in Aufrecht's Hst of these sts. in
the Introduction to the second edition of »Die Hymnen des Rig-Veda«,
p. XLV ff. The correspondences of Atharvan and Grhya-stanzas are very ex-
tensive, and often disguised by corruptions and secondary manipulations of
the original text: both varieties of mantras perform their share of these pro-
cesses, but the mantras of the Grhyasutras are even more corrupt than those
of the AV. Cp. as examples AV. 5. 25. 8 with SG. i. 19. 11; AV. 3. 10. i
with SMB. 2. 8. i; or AV. 8. 6. 26 with HG., i. 19. 7. Noteworthy, above all,
are the special correspondences of the ApS. with the AV., showing depen-
dence of the Sutra upon the AV.: the variants of the ApS. are generally^ of
inferior quality. Thus AV. 2. 7. i is reproduced in a corrupt form ApS. 6.
21. 2; the two sts. AV. 3.7. 1,2 appear, with inferior variants, ApS. 13. 7.16;
the opening sts. of AV. 5. 6 recur secondarily ApS. 16. 18. 7; part of the
formula AV. 5. 9. 8 occurs at the beginning of ApS. 6. 21; the st. AV. 7. 27
recurs with variants ApS. 4. 13.4; AV. 8. 5.19 appears with essential dififerences
in ApS. 16. 19. I, and similarly AV. 9. 5. 2 in ApS. 7. 17. 2, or AV. 12. i. 55
in ApS. 5. 9. 11; the two sts. AV. 12. 2. 13, 14 are varied even more ApS. 9.
3. 22; especially noteworthy is the reproduction of the obscure formulas AV.
16. 2. 4 in ApS. 6. 20. 2 (end). We may also note that ApS. 16. 16. i re-
produces with variants some of the slokas in Kaus. 97. 8, as a sign of con-
nection between the two spheres of mantra-tradition. Quite a considerable
number of Atharvan hymns and stanzas recur in TB. and, apparently, nowhere
else: e. g., AV. i. 23, 24 in TB. 2. 4. 4. i, 2; AV. 2. 10 in TB. 2. 5. 6. i ff.;
AV. 4. 8 in TB. 2. 7. 15 and 16; AV. 4. 22 in TB.,2. 4. 7. 7ff.; AV. 6. 38 in
TB. 2. 7. 7. iff.; AV. 6. 75 in TB. 3. z. w. z (ApS. 3. 14. 2); AV. 7. 70 in
TB. 2. 4. 2. I ff.; AV. 7. 99 in TB. 3. 7. 6. i; AV. 7. no in TB. 2. 4. 5. 7;
AV. 13. I (in part) in TB. 2. 5. 2. i ff. Since the TB. is the Brahmana of
ApS. this marked relationship of both these texts with the AV. may possibly
not be without significance; it seems to reach decidedly beyond that general
connection which may be expected in all mantra-collections: no such degree
of intimacy exists, e. g., between the AV. and the c9rresponding texts attaching
themselves to the White Yajur-Veda, namely the SB. and KS.
S 42. Relation of the language of the AV. to that oftheRV. —
All discussions of the relation of the Saunakiya-Samhita to the other Vedic
collections must be regarded as provisional as long as the text of the AVP.
remains inaccessible. Still certain general statements as to the relationship of
46 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GOPATHA-BrAHMANA.
the Saunaklya-collection with the RV. on the one hand, and the Yajur-Vedas
on the other, are not Hkely to be subject to great change upon the accession
of new materials. With the RV. the Saunakiya shares about one seventh of
its material, if we leave aside the hymns of book 20 that are borrowed
directly from the RV. ^. Considerably more than one half of the RV. sts.
which correspond to the AV. belong to the tenth book of the RV., largely
the last anuvaka of that book; about one sixth to the first book; about one
tenth to the seventh book; about one eighth to all the other books put
together 4. In the overwhelming number of cases, aside from the wedding
stanzas (AV. 14), and the funeral stanzas (AV. 18), the material common to
the two Samhitas is Atharvanic in character, i. e. it consists of charms friendly
or hostile; on the other hand the more general prayers which have for their
theme the adoration of a given divinity, rather than the attainment of a spe-
cific object, are rarely shared by the two collections. The two styles of hymns
may be conveniently designated as popular or Atharvanic on the one hand,
and hieratic or ritualistic on the other. The language of the former class is
related more closely to that dialect or dialects which are at the base of the
language of the Brahmanas, Sutras, and the later literary forms in general.
For reasons that are nearly always one-sided and subjective, sometimes
patently erroneous, the language of the popular or Atharvanic hymns is gene-
rally regarded as chronologically later than that of the hieratic hymns, and
thus every Vedic hymn that deals with popular matters is condemned on
account of its language to a berth in the 'later Vedic period'. The scope
of the present work does not permit the full discussion of this important
question: suffice it to say that many linguistic forms that are looked upon as
indications of late date are in reality as old, sometimes older, than the entire
individual period of the Aryan language in India. Thus the dual in -au, and
the instrumental plural m-ais^ though dealt with in such discussions as signs
of a later time are Indo-European forms (Goth. ahtau\ Lith. vilkais); similarly
the 'late' forms, stems, or roots hvaydmi^ karomi-kiiru^ panthdnani, sarva (as
compared with vis'va), rajju, iub/i, svap for sas^ which have been regarded
as signs of late date are each of them prehistoric 5. The question is there-
fore largely one of degree of closeness to the popular dialect or style of
diction: this is the primary point of view from which the language of what
we have called Atharvanic, or popular hymns can be compared with the
hieratic hymns. A given form is not necessarily of recent origin because it
begins to crop out in the tenth book of the RV., appears still more frequently
in the popular Vedic collection of the AV., and is the regular form of the
post-mantric language; nor, consequently, are hymns necessarily late because
they abound in words and forms that are strangers to the diction of the
hieratic hymns. A necessary preliminary to a final study of the relative
chronology of the Vedic hymns is their separation into at least two classes
which grew up along parallel lines, the hymns connected with the soma-
worship and the hymns connected with popular practices. They are largely
synchronous: each is addicted to its own dialect, differing from the other in
lexicon, grammar, style, and metrical habits °.
That the purely linguistic data alone are a broken reed in support of
the chronological fixation of a given hymn may be illustrated by a comparison
of AV. 3. 18 with RV. 10. 145. The second st. of the RV. ends in kuru for
which AV. reads krd/ii \ novf kuru is 'late', and krd/ii is 'old', i. e. it belongs
to the hieratic sphere of diction. To suppose therefore that the Atharvan form
of the hymn is older than that of the RV. would at first sight be the orthodox
conclusion, but in st. 5 AV. reads 'late' bhutvd for RV. bhutvl^ and the RV.
II. The A.-V. in the School ofSaunaka. — C. Relation to other Collections. 47
readings, para dhaina for para yuda (st. 2); athd sapatnl (RV. 3) for adhah
sapatJil (AV. 4); grbhndmi (RV. 4) iox jagrdha (AV. 3); ^M^ tvam for aM^
/z'^w (st. 5)7 make a better impression, and a decidedly strong case for the
RV., rather than for the AV., as representing the original version of the hymn
at the back of both redactions. The AV. has slipped into the hieratic diction
in the case of krdhi^ whereas kuru was quite natural in a popular hymn
from the very earliest times, although, of course, it is also possible that kuru in
the RV. was substituted in a popular mood for krdhi. All this is as though a
preacher in the pulpit glided in and out of biblical diction in the course of
his sermon: at one moment he may be employing the language of Isaiah or
the Psalms; at another the most, forceful popular speech of the day. The
proximity of the language of the genuine Atharvanic hymns to that of the
Brahmarias and Classical Literature is no chronological criterion: only when
what we have called hieratic hymns are modulated over into Atharvanic
diction does the presumption of late date stand justified. Especially desirable
is cumulative evidence: bad metre, obvious adaptation to secondary purposes,
disjointedness of stanzas, and the like: they are the true Atharvan char-
acteristics.
With a view to all these considerations there can be no doubt that the
redaction of the AV. is of later date than that of the RV.; that its external
presentation by the diaskeuastae is less scholarly, or rather more ignorant
than that of the RV.; that the secondary application of old hymnal material
— a kind of popular etymology exercised upon the stanzas, as it were —
is more common than in the RV.; that possibly some materials are directly
derived from the ready made Rig-Vedic collection; and, finally, that a good
part of the AV. was composed at a very late time. On the other hand it
is equally certain that the main current of Atharvan tradition, the Atharvanic
or popular hymns by distinction, goes back to a head-spring quite as far away
and as high up in antiquity — if not more so — than the hieratic or rituahstic
hymns. A hymn like AV. 4. 16, representing the better type of Atharvanic
effort, is quite as archaic as any RV. hymn of related character; a hymn
like AV. 4. 1 2 seems even to be rooted in prehistoric antiquity. The assumption,
e. g., that none of the numerous medicinal charms of the AV., notably the
charms against takman (fever), existed prior to the redaction of the RV. is
not warranted, as we have seen, by linguistic criteria, and contrary to sound
ethnological consideration. Precisely these and kindred hymns contain most
abundantly the evidence of prehistoric origin: see, e. g., AV. 7. 116 (SBE.
XLII, p. 4 and 565). That the RV. picked up quite a considerable number
of Atharvanic charms (see Aufrecht's edition, vol.^II, p. 670 ff.) and passed
by others, is due to its prevailing character of a Srauta Mantrapatha, so to
say. The hieratic hymns were the theme that really concerned the Rigvedin's
interest: of other material he took what was conveniently at hand, without
aiming at and without being able to reach exhaustiveness.
S 43. The various readings of the RV. and the AV. — The following
selection of examples may illustrate the interrelation of the materials common
to RV. and AV. In AV. i. 4. 4 the fourth pada is an Atharvanic addendum
as compared with RV. i. 23. 19, and more particularly the other versions
VS. 9. 6, etc. : the Atharvanist clinches the statement of pada c, ah^d bhavatha
vdjinah, by adding the otherwise unknown pada, ^czz-^ bhavatha vdjitilh. In 1.29
vianind for havisd in RV. 10. 174, and the substitution of abhi vardh for
abhi vart seem to represent later Atharvanic intensity. In 2. 12. 6 ativa is
inferior to ati vd, RV. 6. 52. 2. In 2. n. ^""^ the metrically superfluous
bhdsadam is certainly a gloss derived from the RV. version, 10. 163. 4.
48 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
AV. 6. 91. 3^ as compared with RV. 10. 137. 6*^ has the variant visvasya for
sarvasya : it is possible therefore to conceive of the Atharvan version of the
St. as the older, though a 'hieratic' reminiscence may be all there is at the
bottom of visvasya. But what is truly significant for the date of the Atharvan
redaction is the occurrence of the same stanza in AV.3.7.5 with the last pada
altered from, tds te krnvantu hhesajam, to, ids tvd muncantu ksetriydt, indi-
cating the adaptation of the stanza at an unquestionably later time to a
secondary purpose. In AV. 3. 11. 3"^^^, 4^^^ we may safely assume a later
handling of the padas that appear RV. 10. 161. 3*^^^, 4^^; especially AV. 4*^,
satam ta indro agnih savitd brhaspatih, must be later than RV. 4^=, satam
indrdgni savitd brhaspatih. AV. 3. 15. 3- occurs identically in its proper
connection RV. 3. 18. 3: the word ichamdno suggested its adaptability for the
Atharvanic mixtum compositum; the following hemistich of AV. is also second-
ary (RV. I. 31. 16^^), gathered in by the Atharvanist because it speaks of
the 'far road which we have travelled', an expression too suitable to a
merchant's charm not to be recruited into it^. In RV. 7. 41 we have pada
1^ havdmahe, but in padas i^, 2^ huvema; AV. 3. 16. i, 2 flattens them all
out to havdmahe: without any prejudice against the stem haz'a- as 'later' it
may be safely assumed that this old hieratic hymn was by these changes
brought nearer to the popular diction at a later time. In 3. 17. 2^^ virdjah
for gird ca, and, a yavan for ay at or eyat^ RV. 10. loi. 3 and the Yajur-
versions, are both odd and secondary. AV.3.31.5 is surely a mere mouthing
over of RV. 10. 17. i (cp. AV. 18. i. 53). The theosophic hymn {hiranya-
garbka) AV.4.2 is described by Weber, IS. XVIII. 9, as a disguised, altered,
and mutilated version of RV. 10. 121 (et al.), adapted by the Atharvanist to
the very use in which it appears Kaus. 45. iff.: when a vasd, i. e., a suppos-
edly sterile cow, is slain, and it turns out that she was pregnant, then this
hymn is employed and adapted as a prdyascitta. Similarly a comparison of
AV. 5. 2 with RV. 10. 120; of AV. 5. 3 with RV. 10. 128; of AV. 6. 126
with RV. 6. 47. 29 — 31 will reveal every time better tradition on the part of
RV. AV. 4. 9. 4 is an evident adaptation of st. 12 of the osadhistidi^ RV.
10. 97 (et al.). In AV. 4. 21. 5^ ichdd is a modern corruption of achdn
(3^^ sg. of ^--aorist from root chand)^ RV. 6. 28. 5; cp. 'snute for RV. asnute
in St. 4. The three hymns AV. 6. 27 — 29 represent RV. 10. 165 with inter-
polations and corruptions: AV. 27. 3^ is metrically inferior to RV. 3"^; AV.
29. i^ to RV. 4 {vd in AV. is superfluous); AV. 28. i"^ has prd paddt pdthi-
sthah for RV. 5^, prd patdt pdtisthaJy. the false accent of AV. pdthisthah (it
should be pathi-sthdh, if it meant 'standing upon the road') betrays the se-
condary character of the x\tharvan version; cp. also AV. 28. i*^, samlobhayanto,
popular, for RV. 5^ samyopayanto^ hieratic, which are illustrated interestingly
by the relation of AV. 12. i. 29"^ {yup) to Kaus. 71. 19 {lup). In AV.6.92.3^
dhdvatu for dhdtu^ RV. 10. 56. 2°, is a sign of secondary adaptation: the
Atharvan version is part of a charm to endow a horse with swiftness. AV.
7. 39, as compared with RV. i. 164. 52; TS. 3. i. 11. 3 (cp. also Suparna-
khyana 17.4), is secondary in it readings, and in pada d exhibits adaptation
to a practical purpose. The pada, AV. 7. 89. i^ (10. 5. 46^), apo divya
acdyisam, is scarcely to be recognized as the opening of that well-known
stanza which begins in other Vedic texts (RV. i. 23. 23^ et al.) with the
padas, dpo (or, apd) adydnv acdrisam, and, apo anv acdrisam: there can be
no doubt about the secondary character of the AV. reading. In AV. 7.91. i""
nah is metrically superfluous, and wanting in all other versions of the St.,
RV. 6. 47. 12; 10. 131. 6; AV. 20. 125. 51, etc. The st. AV. 7. 97. 2 is full
of changes from the hieratic to popular diction as compared with RV. 5.42.4,
II. The A.-V. in the School of Saunaka. — C. Relation to other Collections. 49
and partly also with the Yajur-versions (VS. 8. 15, etal.): no for no; nesa for
nesi; harivan for harivah; svastyd for srasti; cp. also the con\i\)t bra/imandm
in pada c, assimilated to dei'dndm in pada d, for the correct brahmand of
the parallel texts. AV.8. 7.28 is a secondary working over of RV. 10. 97. 16,
notwithstanding that AV. has in pada d the more hieratic visvasmdd for RV.
sarvasmdd. To these examples may be added those pointed out by Olden-
berg, especially from the 14'*^ and 18'** books of the AV.9: they also show
the constant removal of the Atharvan stanzas from the more archaic hieratic
form and thought sphere to the plainer habits of speech and thought of the
people. Of especial significance for the chronology of the AV. seem to me
to be certain cases in which that Veda employs one or more stanzas that
coincide with the RV. as a theme which is expanded or beaten out, either
into several stanzas, or into an entire hymn. Thus the two sts. AV. 1. 19.3, 4
seem to be nothing more than RV. 6. 75. 19 spun out, and rendered more
typically Atharvanic by introducing Rudra and his arrows. AV. i. 22 cor-
responds in its first and fourth stanzas to RV. i. 50.11, 12: the interior stanzas,
absolutely original, seem to modulate and expand the theme set by sts. i
and 4. Similarly AV. 3. 24. i = 10. 17. 14 (et al.) looks as though it had
been picked out as the theme which a later poet might fitly develop into a
song of the harvest. Again AV. 14. 2. 17, representing RV. 10. 85. 44, is
followed by the similar st. 1 8 which is original with the Atharvanist, is linked
verbally with 17, but does not add anything of consequence to the thought.
A diaskeuastic performance like AV. 7. 50 in which the anu§tubh stanzas are
original, the tristubhs common property, with distinct signs of adaptation to
the aim in hand (gambling-charm), lends support to such analyses. The force
of these necessarily subjective observations is increased a good deal by the
unquestionable fact that the AV. handles stanzas seemingly original in the
Yajus-Sarnhitas in the same way, the most notable instances being the two
chains of hymns 2. 19 — 23, and 4. 23 — 29 (the so-called mrgdra-\\yxa!css>). See
below, § 45.
§ 44. Traces of superior tradition in the AV. as compared
with the RV. — As regards direct evidence that the AV. reaches in some
respects behind the tradition of the RV. to that floating mass of mantra-
materials from which all redactions flowed, it must be admitted to be weak
in force in comparison with the evidence just presented. Bergaigne and
Oldenberg have assumed that such evidence may be gathered from certain
groupings of stanzas, and arrangements of hymns in bothVedic schools, and
we have felt compelled, without denying the possible force of their observ-
ations, to suspend judgment upon them, at least until the evidence of the
Paippalada is in^°. Such inferences as may be gathered from the metres,
sense, and linguistic forms are rarely of such a nature as to prove the superior
tradition of the AV. Occasional instances like AV. krdhi for RV. kuru; AV.
visva for RV. sar-va, noted above, are almost forceless. An archaism (attrac-
tion) such as is contained in AV. 14. i. 46^, may ah patibhyo janaye parisvaje,
where RV. 10. 40. lo'^ xt2,d& janayah^ looks a little affected, because the
plural to match patibhyo seems really to be demanded by the sense, and the
general forai of the obscure stanza seems more trustworthy in RV. than AV.
In AV. 6. 27. 3^ the form dstrl (padap. dstri iti), for dstrydm^ RV. 10. 165. 3,
is an archaic locative (Ath. Prat. I. 74) which seems to indicate a certain
superiority of the Atharvan text: this is, however, not borne out by padas
2^ and 3*^ whose Rigvedic form is metrically preferable. Again AV. 8. 3. 7*^
utdrabdhdn sppiuhi jdtaveda utdrebhdndm rstibhir ydtud/idndn, as compai^ed
with RV. 10.87.7^^, utdlabdham sprnuhi jdtaveda dlebhandd rstibhir ydtu-
Indo-arische Philologie. XL 1b. 4
50 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA,
dhdndt, contains twice the 'old' form rabh where the RV. has 'late' lab/i, but
pada b is metrically superior in RV., and the sense of the RV. is also more
compact (see Ludwig's translation, nr. 430). Less assailable is the superiority
of the reading AV. 3. i. 4*^, visvaksatyam krnuhi cittam esdm, 'deprive their
schemes of fulfilment', for the senseless version, RV. 3. 30. 6^, visvam satyam
krnuhi vistam astu, even though pada a in RV. is distinctly superior to AV.^^
And so the reading avisvavinndm, in contrast to vis'vavidam^ AV. 9. 9. 10^,
is not only superior to avis'vaminvdm, RV. i. 164. 10: it is of the kind
that cannot be explained as due to later correction, but represents the original
tradition of the stanza ^^ Cp. 2X^0 pariskrtd^ AV. 14. i. 7^, \)t\X^T\ki2.T\pariskrtam^
RV. 10. 85. 6^; Jafidni anu, AV. 14. 2. 10^, for the senseless jandd anu, RV. 10.
85. 31^. Occasionally, too, there are to be found here, as in the inter-relation of
all Sarnhitas, independent variants whose language and general impression seems
equally good in both sources. Thus the little hymn AV. 6. 2 is related to
RV. 7. 32. 6, 8, but its character is so independent and archaic, as to suggest
original workmanship of no mean quality and age. Or the subtle modulation
of RV. 6. II. 4 (MS. 4. 14. 15) in AV. 3. 3, i, in spite of certain adaptive
traits in AV. {dmum naya, in pada d), is not easily accounted for as a working
over of the RV. form; it represents rather an independent effort in the same
sphere of ideas, whose language and date as compared with RV. cannot be
said to be inferior. And there are, of course, throughout the AV., hymns
and stanzas of a totally independent character that suggest very old work-
manship, not only such as are of purely Atharvanic character and popular
diction, but such as are written in good hieratic language. Thus the hymn
to the battle-drum, 5. 20, may be later than the oldest parts of the RV.,
but there is in it nothing that suggests late composition, later, e. g., than
the stanzas addressed to the drum, RV. 6. 47. 29 — 31 (AV. 6. 126, et al).
Or the language of the theosophic hymn 5. i, which is original with the
exception of stanza 6 = RV. 10. 5. 6, is not of such a character as to justify
the beHef that a later versifex might have so completely immersed himself
in the style and mode of thought of the early Rishis as to be able to pro-
duce stanzas as good — or as bad, according to the point of view. Cf.
also such a hymn as 6. 61. On the whole therefore the AV. is the bearer
of old tradition not only in the line of the popular charms; but also to some
extent, albeit slight, its hieratic materials are likely to be the product of
independent tradition that has eluded the collectors of the other Vedas, the
RV. not excepted ^3.
I Cp. JAOS. XV, p. CLXXii. — 2 Cp. ibid., p. CLXXUI ff . — 3 See below, S 62.
— 4 Cp. Whitney's tables, IS. II. 347. — 5 hvayami is Avestan zbayemi; for the
dissyllabic roots in u see Bloomfield, JAOS. XVI, p. CLViiiff.; BB. XXIII. 107 ff.;
panthanam is Avestan panianem; sarva is Avestan haurva, etc.; rajju is not separable
from Lith. rezgh 'braid'. Cp. Hillebrandt, GGA. 1889, p. 401; Bloomfield, JAOS.
XVII, p. 175, note 5.-6 For the literature on this subject see Arnold, JAOS.
XVIII. 204 ff. ; cp. Roth, Abhandlung, p. 22 ff. — 7 aiho at the beginning of padas
is a favorite Atharvan expression. — 8 Cp. SBE. XLII. 353. — 9 Die Hymnen des
Rig-Veda, p. 320 ff. — 10 See above § 36. — ^ SBE. XLII. 326. — 12 Oldenberg,
1. c. 323, following LuDWiG, V. 447. — u Cp. Hillebrandt, GGA. 1889, p. 404 ff.
§ 45. Adaptation and expansion of Yajus-themes for Athar-
vanic purposes. — The preceding analysis of the relation of the AV. to
the RV. has been on the whole in the nature of support to existing views
on the subject: it does not seem at all likely that these will ever be materially
changed. As regards the relation of the AV. to the Yajus-Sarnhitas the im-
pression exists among scholars — to what extent it is not easy to say, because
of the absence of definitive statements — that the AV. is entitled to a prior
II. The A.-V. in the School of Saunaka. — C. Relation to other Collections. 5 1
position and date of final redaction as compared with the collections of
mantras in the YV. Such a view, if it exists at alP, is not sustained by the
facts in the case: on the contrary an extended comparison of the two classes
goes to show that the redaction of the AV. holds much the same place
compared with the redactions of the YV. as when compared with the RV.
The materials common to the two Vedas appear in the main in better form
and more original application in the Yajus than in the AV.; the special habit
of the AV. to adapt and to group stanzas for secondary purposes is fully
in evidence. Here again the Atharvan redactors may, in fact are likely to
have gathered up some materials that escaped the scrutiny of the Yajus-
redactors, or that had passed out of active use before the conclusion of these
redactions, but the Atharvan redaction cannot well be assumed to have pre-
ceded the Yajus. The best evidence for this is not so much the general
superiority of the readings of the Yajus as certain drastic methods by which
the AV. forces purely liturgical stanzas into its own service of low folk-lore
and witch-craft. The Atharvan in such cases has not in view incidental
features of larger aims and performances, as is the case with the sorcery
stanzas and formulas of the Yajus, but it makes the Yajus-stanzas in question
the basis of an independent, self-centred act of the usual Atharvanic sort.
It will be worth while to dwell in detail upon a few cases of this kind by
way of establishing the presumption that this habit exists in the AV. on a
larger scale.
In MS. I. 5. 2; ApS. 6. 21. I we have five formulas addressed to Agni
in which he is implored to attack with his manifold fiery qualities 'him that
hates us and whom we hate'. These same five formulas appear AV. 2. 19,
but this is followed by four other hymns in which Vayu, Surya, Candra, and
Apah (the waters) are addressed in the same terms. To speak of the fiery
qualities, tapas, haras, arcis, s'ocis, tejas, of Vayu or the waters is of course
possible in the course of the development of the later liturgic litanies, where
everything is possible on a pinch. Yet it may not be doubted that the
restriction in the srauta-iQxts of these five appeals to Agni marks the original
status: out of this the AV. has developed a formidable pentad in the second
degree (25 formulas) which are prescribed, correctly no doubt, Kaus. 47, at
the introductory oblations in dngirasa-'^xdiCticts (hostile sorcery). But further,
the pentad of divinities is most characteristically Atharvanic. ^Vhereas the
Brahmanical texts in general present times without end a cosmic- Vedic triad:
Agni-PrthivT-Rigveda, etc.; Vayu-Antariksa-Yajurveda, etc., Surya-Dyu-Samaveda,
etc., the Atharvan writings, craving a cosmic base for their Veda, expand this
into a tetrad or pentad, by the addition of Candramas, or Candramas and
the waters^: Kaus. 119. 2, 3; GB. i. i. 17 — 20, 29; 2. 16, 24; 3. 24, etc.
There can be no doubt that the old fire-formulas were an original stock of
Yajus, and that the AV. has expanded them to accord with notions of its own
whose date cannot have been as early as that of the existing Yajus-collections.
Closely and characteristically similar is the history of the so-called
mrgdra-suktdni^ AV. 4. 23 — 2 9 3. In the first place we may note that this
litany consists of seven hymns of seven stanzas each, i. e., a heptad in the
second degree; this numerical symmetry, in itself suspicious, points to second-
ary handling, just as in the preceding pentads. The entire litany aims, as
its refrain-padas clearly show, to drive out calamity {niuc ajnhasaJi). The
structure of these hymns is as follows: barring 4.28, the first and last stanza
of each hymn consists of Yajur-mantras which are employed in the Yajus-
samhitas as ydjydpuronuvdkyds, TS. 4. 7. 15; MS. 3. 16. 5; KS. 22. 15; on the
other hand the intervening stanzas in the AV. are in the main original. Now
4*
5 2 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
it were possible to imagine that the Yajus-stanzas were picked out of longer
hymns, though there is no special reason for such a supposition. That they
were not gathered from the Atharvan hymns in question may be regarded
as certain: why should the choice have fallen every time upon stanzas i and 7?
More important, nay conclusive, however, is the fact that the intervening
stanzas (2 — 6) in the AV. are obviously secondary padding. This may be
seen best in 4. 2 9 : stanzas i and 7 are of ordinary mantra-character, praising
Mitra and Varuna in language that does not arrest attention. Stanza 2, on
the other hand, in its first hemistich chews over padas b and d of stanza i,
adding nothing but the beginning of a list of old Rishis whom Mitra and
Varuna are supposed to have helped out of difficulties in the days of yore:
they are the traditional worthies Babhru, Angiras, Agasti, Jamadagni, Atri,
etc. The dulness of the epigonal author betrays itself throughout: in stanzas
3 and 4 he repeats Atri's name, the whole is veritable clap-trap. It will
not require close inspection of the intermediate stanzas of the remaining
hymns to convince one that there also the outer stanzas are the 'leitmotiv',
the rest the muse of a late author who relies in the main upon his own
mediocrity, but occasionally gathers in some existing mantra or pada. On
the other hand the one ^altogether original hymn of the series, 4. 28, is
addressed to Bhava and Sarva: these popular divinities must not be wanting
in the AV. in any continuous invitation of mm d-chsLrdcter, addressed to the
Vedic pantheon (cf. AV. 11. 2). Along with its originality 4. 28 exhibits also
its particular Atharvanic character (^rtydM SLXid mulakrt'va stanza 6; kimidin
in stanza 7): the hymn is clearly an intruder in the sphere of ideas from
which these ;;2/'^-^r^-stanzas are derived, lending itself conveniently to the
building out of the numerical scheme, as well as to the Atharvanic idea of
the proper way of making an exhaustive appeal to the most important members
of the pantheon of that time.
We may in fact safely present the statement as the outcome of the
preceding analysis, that the AV. handles the prose formulas of the YV. in a
decidedly secondary fashion, and that both Yaj us -formulas and Yajus-stanzas
are frequently used as themes to which the Atharvanist has added new matter
to suit his own devices. For instance 10. 5 is an incantation to the waters,
being a long and weary litany, partly in Yajus-prose, partly in poor metre.
In it occur as themes that are beaten out beyond endurance such formulas
as, indrasyauja stha (VS. 37. 6), or visnoh kramo ^si (TS. 4. 2. i). There is
not the slightest chance that these formulas were borrowed by the YV. from
the AV., nor can there be any doubt that the AV. got hold of these themes
at a time when they were already perfectly familiar in their liturgical applic-
ation to special acts of the //'^/^/dx-sacrifice. Similary AV. 5. 24 is an over-
long litany engaging the help of the pantheon, asmin brahmany asfnin kar-
many asydm purod/idydm etc.: according to Kaus. 17.30 the piece is recited
on entering upon the duties of the purohiti, a rather secondary and Athar-
vanic restriction. Anyhow, the Atharvanic handling of this theme is secondary
to that of the YV.: TS. 3. 4. 5; MS. 2. 6. 6; TB. 3. 11. 4; SS. 4. 10. 1—3;
PG. I. 5. 10; HG. I. 3. 10, 11; if nothing else, asmin brak?nany of the AV.,
as against asmin braJunann of the YV., points to later redaction and the
passage out of the hieratic sphere to the popular. Similarly a prose hymn
like AV. 2. 17, consisting of formulas of the type, ojo 'si, ojo me ddh svdkd,
presupposes existing Yajus-formulas, developed into a litany for specific pur-
poses; cf. VS. 19. 9; TB. 2. 6. I. 5, etc. As regards the use of one or two
Yajus-stanzas as a theme for an entire hymn there are quite a number of
unquestionable cases. Thus AV. i. 31 begins with the well-known stanza,
11. The A.-V. intheSchool ofSaunaka. — C. Relationto other Collections. 53
didnam dsdpaUbhyah, TB. 2. 5. 3. 3; 3. 7. 5. 8; AS. 2. 10. 18; ApS. 4. 11. i,
etc., but the remaining stanzas of the hymn do not occur outside of AV.
One needs but look at the stanza 2^^ to eliminate the possibility that the
YV. borrowed its stanzas from the AV: it is the latter that beats out the
theme of the first stanza in good stupid Atharvan fashion. And the others
are no better: the case is most convincing. Similar, though not quite so
certain, is the structure of AV. i. 35, addressed to the ddksdyana-dcoiwXtV. the
first two stanzas occur VS. 34. 51, 52; RV. Khila 10. 128. 8, 9; the last two
are original, except that 4'=*^ is formulaic (AV. 8. 2. 21). Here also it would
seem as though the Atharvanist had borrowed an existing theme in order
to build up a more substantial hymn suitable to his own devices. Again AV.
3. 19 begins with a stanza that occurs also VS. 11. 81; TS. 4. i. 10. 3; MS.
2. 7. 7 (et al.), followed in the sequel, stanza 3*=^, by two padas that repre-
sent the continuation of the Yajus-texts. The very mixed character of the
Atharvan stanzas makes at once for the supposition that the hymn is a
mere elaboration of a pair of well-connected Yajus-stanzas : stanza 2 is hack-
neyed; stanza 3*^ substitutes a tristubh, whose metre disturbs, and whose
tone is secondarily Atharvanic, for the regular anustubh Yajus-padas; above
all the introduction oi idam in pada i^ which makes the pada falsely regular,
ending in w b:>, and changes the sense {idam bralnna 'this charm', for
brahtna 'brahmanhood') — all these points are well accounted for if we regard
the AV. hymn as a compilation, with the Yajus-stanzas as the main motive;
it would be a total perversion to assume that the Yajus-texts selected and
varied the two stanzas i and 3. The same kind of theory is applicable
to AV. 6. 62 whose first stanza = MS. 3. 11. 10; TB. i. 4. 8. 3, may have
served as the theme: the other two stanzas seem to occur nowhere else,
and they are not of such a kind as to exclude the notion of late origin by
way of variations to the theme, even though they fall very well into the tone
of the hieratic language. Or again, AV. 7. 20 begins with two anustubh stanzas
that are familiar in the Yajus, TS. 3. 3. 11; MS. 3. 16. 4; the hymn continues
with four tristubh stanzas that are original. Again it would seem as though
the Yajus-stanzas were the theme: the variant mama in AV. i'^ for mayah
of the Yajus favors the assumption. A little different is the case of AV. 1.20
and 21, two battle-charms which are built up in the main upon mantra-stock
that occurs also RV. 10. 152. The circumstances are as follows: the two
hymns making together 8 stanzas coincide in their last 5 stanzas with the
RV. hymn. The first three stanzas are patchwork, stanza i = TB. 3. 7. 5. 12;
ApS. 2. 20. 6; stanza 2 = AS. 5. 3. 22; one can not say here exactly that
the first stanza is the theme of the entire hymn, but certainly when the
Atharvan compilation took place its first stanza existed as a Yajus: whence-
soever the Yajus-text derived it, it was not borrowed from Atharvan sources;
the reverse is altogether more likely.
S 46. The various readings of the AV. and the Yajus-Sarn-
hitas. — Extensive comparison of the readings of AV. as compared with the
Yajus show the former to be on the whole inferior to the latter: the tradition
of the AV. is . less pure in every way. The metres are more irregular, the
grammatical forms and constructions less intelligible, the adaptive touches
very frequent. Thus AV. 2. 6. recurs VS. 27. i ff.; TS. 4. i. 7. i fif.; MS. 2.
12. 5, on the whole with insignificant variants, until we arrive at st 4. Here
AV. has in the middle of a tristubh the non-descript pada c, sajdtdndm
madhyamesthd^ for which MS. has, sajatdndm madhyamestheydya^ in good metre
and excellent sense; the AV., in addition to the metrical irregularity, places
madhyamesjhdh into agreement with Agni whom it does not fit nearly as
54 11. LiTTERATURU. Geschichte. I b. Atharva-Veda AND Gopatha-Brahmana.
well as the person making the prayer: it is he that wishes to stand (superior)
in the midst of his rivals. The other Yajur-versions have sajdtdndm viadhya-
masthd edhi which is also possible metre^ though not absolutely convincing;
pada b is superior in all the Yajus. In AV. 2. 28. 5^ nay a for krdhi of all
other versions marks the popular strain: see^ TS. 2. 3. 10. 3; MS. 2. 3. 4;
TB. 2. 7. 7. 5; TA. 2. 5. I. The st. AV. 2. 29. 3, quoted Vait^ 22. 16, is
repeated with variants MS. 4. 12. 3; KS. 5. 2; TS. 3. 2. 8. 5; KS. 10. 5. 3.
In all these the difficult duals d/iattam and sacetasaii are replaced by singulars,
dadhdtit. and savarcasam (KS. suvarcasani); and they all regard dsir as the
nom. sg. of the stem dsir 'milk added to soma'; see especially Vait. and
KS. {dsiram). This construction fails in the AV. where dsir is the nom. sg.
of dsis 'prayer'. The dual dhattam in pada b seems to refer proleptically
to dydvdprthivl in st. 4, as Sayana assumes unhesitatingly. Note also saupra-
jdstvam (AV.) for suprajdstvam (YV); the former is a monstrosity. The entire
St. of AV. is adapted secondarily to two persons who are engaged in the
practice of transmitting disease one from the other: the Yajur-version has
nothing of the kind, and its originality is not to be doubted '^. In AV. 2. 34. i,
ya ise pasupatih pasimdm is metrically inferior to yesdm Is'e, TS. 3. i. 4. 1,
as also in st. 2, praimmcanto bhicvanasya reto^ to TS._, pramunca77idnah etc.
AV. 3. 13 adapts a number of fanciful stanzas to the practice of conducting
a river into a new channel: the first six sts. recur in TS. 5. 6. i. 2 — 4; MS.
2. 13. I in connection with certain oblations of water {kumbhestakdh^ or apdm
grahdJi)^ being evidently at home in the Yajur-ritual. As frequently elsewhere
in the AV., the body of the hymn is mere ornamentation or solemn verbiage,
the seventh and last st. is original, turning forth the point of the hymn and
the practice. Accordingly pada 5^, a md prdnena sahd varcasd garnet^ a
jagati in the midst of tristubhs^ is more modern and inferior to a md prdnena
saha varcasd gan ivarcasdgan) of the Yajus. The version of AV. 3. 14. 2, 3
seems inferior to that of MS. 4. 2. 10, where the gayatrl-form instead of the
anustubhs of AV. and sundry readings, posd for pusd^ avihrutdh for abibhyu-
sJh, and purlsimh for karJsinlh, make a better impression. No hymn illu-
strates better the impurity, one might say the stupidity, of the rendering of Yajus-
material in the AV. than the 4?>r2-hymn, 5. 27, which is repeated in all Yajus-
samhitas, VS. 27. 11 — 22; TS. 4. i. 8; MS. 2. 12. 6; KS. 18. 17; KapS. 29. 5.
Whereas these texts agree in the main, the Atharvan version is verbally and
metrically so corrupt as to be scarcely translatable. Notably the first pada
of the second st. appears in the AV. as the fourth pada of the first St., thus
depriving the second st. of its necessary iz/r7-divinity, tanunapdt, and over-
loading St. I with two, the samidh and taiiunapdt) sts. 10 — 12 are mere hodge-
podge as regards metrical arrangement. The version of AV. 6. 38 in TB. 2.
7. 7. I presents on the whole more primary readings in TB.: dgan for elu in
the refrain; krandye for vdje in 4^, the former being the archaic lectio diffi-
cilior, and in close parallelism to 7ndyau; AV. 2*^, tvisir apsu gosu yd puru-
sesu^ is an obvious verbal and metrical corruption as compared with TB.,
tvisir asvesu purusesu gosu: to be sure contrariwise AV. 4^, rdjanie seems
better than yd rdjanye of TB. The sense and the wording of AV. 6. 74. 3
is inferior to TS. 2. i. 11. 3: the entire AV. hymn is patchwork; especially
2,^ exhibits the usual adaptive touches, to make the st. directly and pract-
ically serviceable. AV. 6. 98. 3^^ reads, prdcyd disas tvam ifidrdsi rdjoto-
dicyd diso vrtraha7n chatruho ^si, for TS. 2. 4. 14. i ; MS. 4. 12. 2, prdcydfu
disi tvafn indrdsi rdjotodicydin vrtrahan vrtrakdsi: not only is diso in AV.,
pada b, metrically superfluous, but the AV. version is altogether slipshod.
AV. 7. 3. i*^, svayd tanvd tanvain airayat, is a miserable pada in a tristubh
IL The A.-V. in the School of Saunaka. — C. Relation to other Collections. 5 5
St.: all other versions, TS. i. 7. 12. 2; MS. i. 10. 3; AS. 2. 19. 32; SS. 3. 17. i;
KS. 25. 6. 10, are better. In AV. 7. 4 suhute is inferior to svabhute of all
other versions, and especially viyugb/iir, in the sense of 'unhitching*, replacing
niyudb/iir, and coined for the nonce to match vi mutica^ exhibits the stanza
in a corrupt and adapted form: see VS. 27. 33; MS. 4. 6. 2; SB. 4. 4. i. 15;
TA. I. II. 8; AS. 5. 18. 5; SS. 8. 3. 10. In the tri§tubh st. AV. 7. 6. 2 pada
b is a jagatl, because AV. has substituted popular havdmahe for hieratic
huvema pi all other versions: VS. 21. 5; TS. i. 5. 11. 5; MS. 4. 10. i; AS. 2.
I. 29; SS. 2. 2. 14. The fondness of the AV. for havdmahe in place of
huvema has beguiled it elsewhere into the same irregular proceeding: e. g. in
7. 40. i'^, compared with TS. 3. i. 11. 3; MS. 4. 10. i (cp. also RV. i. 164.
52^); or, compare AV. 7. d^. i^, ukthair havdmahe paramdt sadhastdt^ with
the parallel padas, agiiim huvema etc., TA. 10. 2. i (68)'', and ugram huvema
etc., Mahanarayana Up. 6. d^. In AV. 7. 14 2^ the reading krpdt of both
published editions and the mss. in sarnhita and padapafha is nonsensical:
Sayana reads and comments upon krpd in accordance with all the other
numerous versions, SV. i.,464; VS. 4,-, 25; VSK. 4. 8. 3; TS. i. 2. 6. i; MS.
I. 2. 5; SB. 3. 3. 2. 12; AS. 4- 6. 3; SS. 5. 9. 7. The comparison of AV, 7.15
with the parallel versions, MS. 2. 10. 6, et al., reveals secondary readings and
adaptation in AV.; in 7. 16 the AV. reads vardhaya for bodhaya of the other
texts (MS. 2. 12. 5, etal), and to bodhaya^ curiously enough, the ritual, Kaus.
59. 18; Vait. 5. 9, responds with its verb bodhayati^; in AV. 7. 47. i^ suhavd
is inferior to suhavdm of the other versions, MS. 4. 12. 6, et al. That the
AV. version of the /-(^///V^-stanzas at the beginning of book 13 is inferior to
that of TB. 2. 5. 2, and the result of adaptation has been shown by the writer,
Contributions, Fourth Series, AJPh. xii. 430 ff.
§ 47. The various readings of the AV. and the Srautasutras. —
The comparisons just stated have shown incidentally that the mantras in the
Srautarsutras share in general the superiority of the Yajus-samhitas as com-
pared with the AV. This seems to be true also of those cases in which AV.
and Srauta-sutras present materials of the hieratic quality which do not occur
in either RV. or Yajus-samhitas. As early as 1856 Roth did not shrink
from exposing the secondary manipulations and inferior readings of AV, 2, 5
as compared vvith AS. 6. 3. i^; he might have added, if the text had been
accessible, SS. 9. 5. 2. The liturgical form of these sts. in the Srauta-sutras,
manifest from the insertion of secondary phrases, is disregarded and corrupted
in the AV. to such an extent that the sts. are in reality untranslatable in its
version. A detailed comparison of AV, 6. i with AS. 8, i. 18 (= SV. i. 177;
AB. 5. 13.8) exhibits the little hymn in what may be regarded as at least a more
original form in AS. both in sense and metre. The hymn begins AS., doso
dgdd brhad gdya^ 'now evening hath arrived, sing thou merrily'; for this AV.
reads, doso gdya brhad gdya, 'now sing in the evening, sing thou merrily*:
the first gdya seems a mere repetition of the second, Pada 2* in AS., tarn
u stuhy antahsindhum, is corrupted metrically in AV,,- tam u stuhi yo ajttah
sindhau; and pada 3^^ in AS., sdvisad vasupatih, is also more trustworthy than
AV., sdvisad amrtdni bhuri. Again AV.^ 6.33 whose first two sts. are scarcely
translatable in our version appears SS, 18. 3, 2 in a form which at least
makes a show of intelligibility; cf. also AA. 5. 2. i. 2 — 4; ArS. i. 3. Similarly
compare AV. 6. 35 with AS. 8, 11. 4; SS. 10. 9, 17, especially the senseless
pada 2*=, agnir ukthesv amhasu, with, agnir ukthena vdhasd of the Srauta-
texts. The distinction between hieratic and popular mantras is to be
observed here as elsewhere: we may expect popular stanzas in as gpod or
better form in the AV,; see especially the parallels between ApS, and
56 11. LiTTERATURU. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
AV. grouped together above, § 41; or cf. the corrupt version of AV. 10. 3. 5
in TA. 6. 9. 2.
S 48. Traces of superior tradition in the AV. as compared
with the Yaj us- texts. — Here and there, but rarely, the AV. seems to
present superior readings; more frequently, the Atharvan readings seem no
better and no worse than those of the Yajus-texts. Pischel^ has made out
a good case for the superiority of AV. 6. 22. 3 over TS. 3. i. 11. 7: especially
pada b in AV. is superior to TS. which seems to be borrowed from RV.
5. 58. 3. In AV. 3. 4. 2 the first pada, ivdm viso vrnatdm rdjydya, is almost
certainly superior to the adapted, tvdm gdvo ^vrnata rdjyaya^ TS. 3. 3. 9. 2 ;
MS. 2. 5. 10, although the Yajur-version of the remaining padas is at least as
good as the Atharvan. In AV. 6. 5. 3'' krnmo is an instance of an occasional
hieratic form for popular kurmo of the Yajus (VS. 17. 52; TS. 4. i. i. 2;
MS. 2. 10. 4^), but this instance of superiority is at once reduced to the
proper proportion on observing that pada 2^^ in AV., jivdtave jarase nay a,
is unmetrical, and the result of adaptation to 4>'2^jr>'«-purposes, as compared
with the Yajus-pada, sajdtdndfn asad vast. AV. 2. 10, notwithstanding the
secondarily introduced refrain, is based upon a quite as good or better source
than TB. 2. 5. 6. i ff.: see padas i^, 3^, and pada 2^, sain somah sahausa-
dhlbhih^ which is also better than TB., sam dydvdprthivi sahausadJiibhih) in
the latter dydvdprthivl is out of keeping, borrowed from the preceding stanza,
apparently to equalize the metre. AV. 3. 10. i impresses one as at least
as good as its parallel, TS. 4. 3. 11. 5; in fact duhdm in pada 3 is an archaism
as compared with dhuksva in TS. Nevertheless the entire hymn in the AV.
is a mixtum compositum, as may be seen especially in st. 7 which consists
of an original gayatrl-pada, followed by a rather formulaic, imitative tristubh-
pada9, and concludes with a common anustubh-hemistich (VS. 3. 49; TS. i.
8. 4. i; MS. I. 10. 2). Instances in which the quality of the readings seems
equally good as those of the Yajus are AV. 6. 47. i, as compared with TS.
3. I. 9. i; KS. 9. 3. 21 (MS. I. 3. 36 is inferior); or AV. 6. 55. i, as compared
with TS. 5. 7. 2. 3, where indeed pada c in AV. is smoother, though probably
not more original than TS. And in a case like the little hymn AV. 6. 79,
as compared with TS. 3. 3. 8. 2, it seems equally impossible to establish
chronological relation on the ground of the variants. Neither these nor other
sporadic instances of intelligent handhng of mantra-themes are likely ever to
change the main proposition, namely that the collection and redaction of the
AV. took place at a time when the main body of Yajus -stanzas and formulas
were in existence in essentially their present forms and present application.
The fuller knowledge in the future of the Yajus-tradition likely to come
especially with the pubHcation of the Kathaka and Kapisthala Samhitas will
not change this, even granted that here and there an inferior reading regarded
at present as of Atharvanic origin may in reality have come from a source
outside of that Veda: in the majority of cases the Atharvan variants of the
hieratic mantras are original with that Veda and inferior to the tradition of
the Yajus, no less than to that of the Rig-Veda.
I Cp. Whitney, JAOS. XII, p. 3, bottom. — 2 in the latter case Candramas
is the divinity, corresponding e. g. to Agni; the waters are the element, corre-
sponding e. g. to Prthivl. — 3 See below, § 57. — 4 Cp. SBE. XLII. 309. —
5 Cp. Henry, Le Livre VII, p. 58. — 6 Abhandlung uber den Atharva-Veda, p. 1 1 ff. —
7 Ved. Stud. I. 84 ff. — 8 Cp. also krdhi, AV. st. 2% for naya in YV. — 9 Cp. AV.
6. 47. 2d; TS. 3. 1. 9. 2ci.
III. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakIya-Schooi- 57
PART III. CONTENTS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA
IN THE SAUNAKlYA-SCHOOL.
S 49. Classification of the hymns. — The classification of a body
of 731 Vedic hymns is not an altogether easy matter. The question what
a given hymn is about is not always to be answered in certain tones, even
in the case of Atharvan hymns, although prayer and action are more closely
allied in this than in any other Veda. All scholars are agreed now that the
Sutra of Kausika frequently furnishes valuable hints towards making out the
situation within which many hymns were conceived, by furnishing the mise-
en scene^ as it were, of a given hymn; but all scholars are also agreed that
the Sutra draws in a large measure upon the independent tradition of folk-
customs and practices in general, interweaving the Atharvan hymns as prayers
applicable to the situation with more or less fitness. The Atharvan hymns
themselves, as the hymns of the Veda in general, are open to the charge
of secondary adaptation of the floating body of Vedic stanzas to purposes
different from those which were in the mind of the original composers; see
SBE. XLii, Introduction, p. lxiii ff., and the Index under, 'adaptation of mantras'.
In such cases, of course, the Atharvanic view is the one that primarily con-
cerns the interpreter of the AV. A large number of hymns are hard to
classify because of the variety of themes and objects presented in them.
The arrangement of the hymns into ten classes, attempted for the first time
by the author in his 'Hymns of the Atharva-Veda', SBE. XLII, has upon closer
inspection proved quite tenable; it is made the basis of the following analysis.
But in addition the materials that did not come within the scope of that
volume had to be taken into account here; the result altogether is stated
under 14 heads: i) Charms to cure diseases and possession by demons
{bhaisajydni). — 2) Prayers for long life and health {dyusydni). — 3) Imprec-
ations against demons, sorcerers, and enemies {dbhicdrikdni and krtydprati-
haranani). — 4) Charms pertaining to women {strlkarmdni). — 5) Charms
to secure harmony, influence in the assembly, and the like {sd)imianasyd?ii,
etc.). — 6) Charms pertaining to royalty {rdjakarmdni). — 7) Prayers and
imprecations in the interest of Brahmans. — 8) Charms to secure prosperity
and freedom from danger (paustikdni). — 9) Charms in expiation of sin and
defilement {prayascittdni). — 10) Cosmogonic and theosophic hymns. —
11) Ritualistic and general hymns. — 12) The books dealing with individual
themes (books 13 — 18). — 13) The twentieth book. — 14) The kuntapa-
hymns. —
The only complete translation of the AV. is that of the Anglo-Indian scholar
R. T. H. Griffith, entitled, Hymns of the Atharva-Veda (Benares, Lazarus & Co.).
Whitney's posthumous translation of the entire collection is going through the
press, to be published in the Harvard Oriental Series (ed. C. R. L.vnman}. A large
number of hymns have been translated by A. LuDWiG in the third volume of his
great work, Der Rig-Veda, p. 428 ff., as also scatteringly through the same volume;
cp. the Index to the entire work, vol. VI p. 57 ff. A hundred selected hymns
were translated by JULlUS Grill under the heading, * Hundert Lieder des Atharva-
Veda', in the 'Programm des Seminars Maulbronn', Tiibingen 1879; published in a
second edition as an independent volume, Tiibingen 1888. About one third of the
hymns were selected by the present author for his volume * Hymns of the Atharva-
Veda, together with Extracts from the Ritual Books and the Commentaries', SBE.
XLII (ed. M.\x MiJLLER). A considerable quantity of Atharvan matter is treated by
Roth, Abhandlung iiber den Atharva-Veda, Tiibingen 1856; and in the 'Festgruss
an Otto von Bohtlingk', p. 95 ff.; by J. MuiR in OST. (see the indexes to vols. I,
IV, and V); by H. Zimmer, Altindisches Leben (see the indexes p. 453); by Scher-
58 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. 1 B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GOPATHA-BrAHMANA.
MAN, Philosophische Hymnen aus der Rig- und Atharva-Veda-Samhita, p. 4 iff.;
by Bloomfield, in 'Seven Hymns of the AV.', and the six series of 'Contributions
to the Interpretation of the Veda' (the places of publication are stated AJPh. XVII,
P- 399> note); by Paul Deussen, Allgemeine Geschichte der Philosophic, vol. I,
part 1 ; and scatteringly by many authors throughout the Oriental and Philological
Journals and treatises. Many translations of individual books exist: Books i — 5
by Weber, IS. IV. 393 ff., XIII. 129 ff., XVII. 177 ff., XVIIL iff.; book 6, hymns
I — 50 by C. A. Florenz, BB. XII. 249 ff. ; books 7 — 13 by Victor Henry (Paris,
Maisonneuve, 1891—96); book 14 by Weber, IS. V. 195 ff.; book 15 by Aufrecht,
IS. I, 130 ff.; book 18 by Weber, SPAW. 1895, p. 815 ff.; 1896, p. 253 ff. — A
translation of the AV. into Persian is said to have been made by Brahmans for
the emperor Akbar, but it has not as yet turned up; see Abu Fazl's Ain-i-Akbarl
in Blochmann's translation, Bibliotheca Indica, 1868, p. 105 (a.d. 1575). Cp. Weber,
SPAW., 1890, p. 787, note.
§ 50. Class i). Charms to cure diseases and possession by
demons (bhaisajyani). — The medicinal charms of the AV. go by the
name of bhesajam 'remedy'^ the healing plant is bhesaji^ the waters are bhesajlh.
The term is not restricted altogether to medicine; it includes also exorcism
of demons^ and approaches closely to the conception of sdfiti in distinction
from abhicdra^ embracing thus everything that comes under negative, defensive,
pious magic ^ The derivative bhaisajya occurs neither in RV. nor AV; it
appears later in connection with the more advanced and technical medicinal
practices as laid down in the /^/^^/j-^j^^-chapters of the Kausika-sutra (25 — 32),
and found scatteringly in the Brahmanas and Sutras ^ The practices there
involve a more extensive materia medica and more elaborate therapeutics,
but it is difficult to define in detail the extent to which practices similar to
those of the Sutras must be presupposed from the start with the charms of
the AV. Action of some sort is likely to have accompanied nearly all of
them; frequently otherwise unintelligible statements of the hymns are clarified
by the practices in the Sutras 3. At any rate the charms of the AV. along
with such practices as went with them represent quite the most complete
account of primitive medicine preserved in any literature. The limited number
of RV. hymns which deal with the same subjects are of essentially the same
character and period (RV. 10. 137, 161, 163; cp. also i. 191; 7. 50; 8.
91; 10. 57 — 60, and other sporadic utterances). The existence of such charms
and practices is guaranteed moreover at least as early as the IndoTranian
(Aryan) period by the stems baesaza and baesazya {niafithra baesaza^ and
baesazya; haoma baesazya), and by the preeminent position of water and
plants in all prayers for health and long life-^. Adalbert Kuhn has pointed
out some interesting and striking resemblances between Teutonic and Vedic
medicinal charms, especially in connection with cures for worms and fract-
ures. These may perhaps be mere anthropological coincidences, due to the
similar mental endowment of the two peoples. But it is no less Hkely that
some of these folk-notions had crystallized in prehistoric times, and that these
parallels reflect the continuation of a crude Indo-European folk-lore that
had survived among the Teutons and Hindus. The opposite view is now
ordinarily asserted with a degree of dogmatism not at all warranted by the
evidence ^.
The connection of the Atharvanic medical charms with the later Hindu
medicine of classical times (Ayur-veda) has never failed to impress itself both
upon the Hindus themselves who regard the Ayur-veda as an upaveda ('after-
Veda') of the Atharvan; Western scholars also were not slow to correlate
the two strata of medical literature — to the advantage of the understanding
of both. The diagnosis of fever {takman in the AV., jvara in the later
medicine), especially of intermittent fever; of wasting pulmonary diseases
III. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 59
{yaksma)y and of a considerable number of other diseases is almost the same
in both. The present author has more recently identified the dsrdva of the
AV. with later atisdra 'diarrhoea*; the apacit of the AV. with later apacT
'scrofulous sores', and the Atharvanic disease which is described (AV. 6. 25)
as many a and skandhya with the 'Manskunder' (also a scrofulous affection),
as reported upon the basis of the classical .Sastras by Wise, Hindu Medicine,
p. 316^. From the other side the gap between classical and Atharvanic
medicine, still a wide one, has also narrowed very materially. The early
views of European scholars as to the fabulous antiquity of the Ayur-veda
(1000 B.C.) was criticized especially by Haas and Zimmer, but their dispos-
ition of the chronology of classical medicine seems to have erred almost
as much in the direction of too great a modernness as the earlier view in
the direction of an impossible antiquity 7. The recent discovery of the Bower
ms. exhibits medical science at about the the fifth century A. D. in much the
same condition and the same degree of development as in the medical Sastras
of Susruta and Caraka, presupposing an evolution which must have lasted
some centuries when compared with even the later Atharvanic medicine of
the Kausika^ The presence of foreign, especially Greek, influence in Hindu
medicine has also been assumed on the ground of rather sparse points of
resemblance 9, whereas on the other hand the influence of Hindu medicine
upon early Arabic medicine, and through it upon European medicine in
general, is guaranteed beyond peradventure. Jolly's forthcoming elaboration
of Hindu Medicin in this Encyclopedia will doubtless tlirow additional light
on these and kindred questions ^°.
The classification of the medical hymns of the AV. is difficult for various
reasons: the meaning of the names of the diseases is often obscure;
a great variety of unrelated diseases are often grouped in the same
charm; the line between disease and possession by demons and demoniac
influences is not drawn sharply; and the curative influences that are employed
are either of the symbolic order, or consist of amulets instead of healing
substances. These amulets are largely derived from the vegetable kingdom,
the designation of the plants being again generally quite obscure. Good
illustrations of the symbolic treatment are offered by the charm to cure
jaundice (i. 22), and the brief charm against /^y^w^^ 'fever' (7. 116). In the
former the yellow color of the patient is sent where it naturally belongs, to )
the yellow sun and yellow birds, the red color of the cow being substituted/
for the yellow; in the latter the hot fever is sent to the cool frog who may
be supposed to find it enjoyable. On the other hand the /^//////^-plant that',
is implored to help against fever (5. 4; 19. 39), or the pepper-corn that is/
employed in the quaint charm against wounds (6. 109) cannot be supposed
to owe their presence in these surroundings to any real medicinal properties.
For all that a classification of the hymns yields a picture in vague outline
of that same Hindu medicine that is treated so bulkily in the Sastras and
their descendant works. Clearest in expression are the hymns against takman^
or fever, the jvara of the later medicine. The word takman does not occur
outside ofthe AV. Four hymns, i. 25; 5. 22; 6. 20; and 7. 116, are devoted
to its cure; two others, 5. 4 and 19. 39, are addressed to the plant kustha
with special reference to the cure of this disease. Just as Susruta designates
fever as 'the king of diseases' so the takman seems in Atharvanic times to
have been the most dreaded ailment. Its diagnosis seems to have "been fairly
searching and exact: the chief symptom is the alternation between heat and
chills; it is intermittent, arriving either every day at the same time, every
third day, or omitting every third day; and it is accompanied by jaundice which
6o 11. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
suggests true malarial fever, especially during the rainy season. It is assoc-
iated with a variety of other diseases, headache, cough, baldsa, udyuga,
and pdma7i 'itch' (also in the Avesta), the takmaiis 'brother's son'. Its most
salient symptom, heat, suggests Agni 'fire' as the cause. It is generally cured
by prayer and conjuration to which the Kausika adds symbolic practices;
the plant kustha and the tree jafigida furnish amulets against it. Once (7.
116. 2) the cooling frog is suggested in the mantra, and applied in the
corresponding practice of the Sutra". Closely associated with the takman-
hymns is i. 12, an interesting charm addressed to lightning (Agni) conceived
as the cause of fever, headache, and cough ^2. To the cure of jaundice,
frequently mentioned along with fever, i. 22 is devoted independently; the
symbolic proceedings indicated above are executed energetically in the pract-
ices of the Sutra ^^.
The ancient Vedic disease dropsy {ja/odara, 'water-belly'), the infliction
of Varuna in punishment of moral delinquency {anrta), is represented by
three hymns, i. 10; 7. 83; and 6. 24. In the latter it seems coupled with
heart-disease, an instance of good diagnosis. The cure indicated both in the
hymns and sutras is water which is used symbolically and with a touch of
homoeopathy ^4. Again, in another disease which suggests the presence of
overabundant humors, water and water-procuring ants ('piss-ants') figure as
the remedy, in the same symbolic-homoeopathic way (attractio similium) as
in the case of dropsy. The disease in question, dsrdva, is treated in i. 2;
2. 3; and 6. 44; the commentators define it as atisdra 'diarrhoea' which is
correct in the main, although perhaps excessive micturation and other excessive
discharges may have been included primarily. One of these charms (i. 2)
seems to have been originally a battle-charm, adapted by adding st. 4 to
its present use ^5. Another (6. 44) appeals for help to an object called
visdnakd, either a plant or a horn (at any rate with punning intention : vi sd
'loosen') ^^. The converse of excessive discharges, namely constipation and
retention of urine^ is cured by i. 3, and is accompanied by an interesting
medical practice in Kaus. 25. 10 — 19. A disease whose vague description
suggests either rheumatism or colic, due to the missiles of Rudra, is driven
out with 6. 90: to this Kaus. 31. 7 adds homoeopathically a spear-amulet to
counteract the pains that seem as if from a spear. Diseases of the pul-
monary order are exorcised in 6. 14, addressed to baldsa'^T^ and to cough
{kdsa) in 6. 105; 7. 107. The terms yaksma, rdjayaksma, and ajtidtayaksma
(also pdpayaksma in TS.) are in the later medicine appHed to pulmonary
diseases'^; for the Vedic period this definition seems too narrow: AV. 2. 33
(RV. 10. 163); 3. 11; 9. 8; 19. 36; 44, etc. point to the more general meaning
'wasting disease', or 'disease in general'. Very curious and problematic is
6. 80, accompanying an oblation {havis in the technical sense: see below,
S 60, end) to the sun, conceived as one of the two heavenly dogs. In the
ritual this is treated as a cure for paralysis ipaksahata^ hemiplegia) ^9, Three
charms are directed against ksetriya 'inherited disease' (2. 8; 10; 3. 7); the
symptoms of the ksetriya are not described: the disease may have been of
the scrofulous or syphilitic order. Other internal diseases are alluded to
incidentally, or grouped in the panaceas {sarvabhaisajya of the commentators),
especially in 2. 33; 9. 8; and 19. 44: cf. for these Zimmer, P- 378 ff., and the
item 'diseases' in the Index to SBE. XLII. 697.
To the cure of ills of a more external character, especially skin-diseases, a
considerable number of charms address themselves. Leprosy {kildsa) is cured
in I. 23 and 24 by applying black plants, rajanl 2Ci\A sydmd, (allopathic sym-
bolism); abcesses {vidradha) are mentioned with other diseases in 6. 127. i;
in. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 6i
9. 8. 20 *^ Of particular interest are the charms directed against scrofulous
sores called apacit (later apaci)^ and related diseases: 6. 25; 6. 57; 7.74. i, 2;
7. 76. I, 2; 7-76. 3- Their character was misunderstood prior to the author's
essay on this theme ^^ The sores, tumors, and pustules apparent in this
disease are conjured in the hymns themselves to fall off, or fly away, because
in the naive view of the folk they were supposed to have settled like birds
upon the afflicted person. The Sutra, however, treats the disease by drastic
applications, and in one instance (6. 57) the famous remedy of Rudra, the
jdlasa (urine), is indicated as the remedy by the mantras themselves *^ The
cure of wounds and fractures is accomplished by two hymns (4. 12; 5. 5)
which appeal to the plant called variously arundhati, Idksd, or siidcl: the
name arundhati points towards a punning symbolic connection between the
disease {arus 'wound') and the simple. The first of these two hymns has
been compared by A. Kuhn with the Merseburg charm, and many other
similar productions from various Teutonic and Slavic sources ^^. The pepper-
corn {pippali) curiously figures in 6. 109 as a cure or preventive of the same
trouble. Flow of blood is charmed to a stop by the pretty hymn 1. 17 which
seems (st. 4) to indicate the use of a bandage or compress filled with sand *+.
The Brahmanas and Sutras mention types of Vedic lore designated as sarpa-
vidyd and visavidyd * science of serpents and of poisons' ^5. These so-called
sciences similarly to ydtuvidyd, raksovidyd^ etc., are referable in the main to
the AV. which presents many charms not only to keep serpents from the
premises (below, S 57), but also for the cure of their poisonous bites. Such
charms are 5. 13; 5. 16; 6. 12; 7. 56; and 7. 88; of these 5. 13 is of especial
interest as containing many words founded upon the bed-rock of folk-lore,
among others the word tdbuvam which Weber has identified with * taboo',
not, however, failing to recognize the attendant difficulties^^. The importance
of this particular phase of witchcraft is shown by the existence of the Garuda-
Upanisad which is nothing more than a charm against snake-bites, put into
the mouth of Brahman, and elevated to the position of brahmavidyd^f. In
the Bengal Presidency alone the number of deaths from serpents bites in 1876
amounted to 11416^^. And there are also charms directed against poison
not derived from serpents, 4.6 (poisonous arrows); 4.7; and 6.100. In these
cases water seems to be depended upon as a cure; of especial interest is
6. 100 in which the water-producing ants {upajikd) yield the healing fluid ^^.
The ritual reinforces these poison-charms with appeals to Taksaka (Vaisaleya),
the serpent-good 3°. To the cure of worms {krimi) three charms are devoted:
2. 31 (worms in general); 2. 32 (worms in cattle); and 5. 33 (worms in
children). Identical^ or similar stanzas appear in many other texts, especially
TA. and SV. Mantrabrahmana: A. Kuhn has shown that the greatest variety
of diseases are regarded in the naive view of folk-medicine as due to the
presence of worms. This accounts for 'worms in the head' (2. 31. 4) 'the
variegated worm, the four-eyed' (2. 32. 2), and the like3\ The Sutra presents
complicated practices. The charm 6. 16, addressed to a substance called
dbayti, which Kausika identifies with mustard, is directed against ophthalmia;
a disease of the eye, a/aj'i, known in the later medicine ^% is mentioned
9. 8. 20. In the same hymn and elsewhere diseases of the ear are also
mentioned (9. 8. i, 2). Three lively, picturesque charms, 6. 21; 136; 137,
cause hair to grow luxuriantly: 'With reins they had to be measured, with
outstretched arms they had to be measured out. May thy hair grow as
reeds, may it (cluster), black, about thy head!' (6. 137. 3). One of these
charms (6. 136) is performed with the otherwise unknown plant nitatnl^ 'she
that takes root'; all three are accompanied in the Sutra by fanciful symbolic
62 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
practices. Three charms, 4. 4; 6. 72; and 6. loi, in language not at all
veiled, profess to promote virility {sepaharsana).
A maniac 'who, bound and well-secured, loudly jabbers' is exorcised in
6. 1 1 1. Insanity is due to possession by demons, especially the mind-bewildering
Gandharvas and Apsaras^^. At this point especially Atharvanic medicine
passes over into demonology: the boundary-line between the two is rarely
well-defined 34. This class of hymns, therefore, is in close contact with those
treated here in the third category. The rather romantic charm 4. 37 appeals
to the plant 'goats-horn' {ajasrngi: comms., mesasrngi, and visdm) to drive
Raksas, Apsaras, and Gandharvas out of a possessed person. The choice of
this particular plant is probably due in part or entirely to its meaning (etymo-
logical symbolism). Raksas and fits igrdhi) are driven out in 2. 9 with an
amulet made from ten different kinds of holy {s'dnta) wood; demons and
diseases in 19. 36 with another composite hundred-fold amulet. The last
three charms have suggested analogies from Teutonic folk-lore ^5. Raksas and
Pisacas are also exorcised in 4. ^6 and 6. 32. The ^l^mt prs'fiiparnT is con-
jured, 2. 25, against the demon of disease called kanva, conceived especially
as the devourer of the embryo in the womb. Susruta still recommends the
prsniparfii as a preventive against miscarriage {garbhasrave)^^ . Three charms,
2. 4; 19. 34; 35, addressed to an amulet derived from the y^;/^/^^-tree, are
directed against diseases and demons.
At another point the remedial charms pass over by imperceptible degrees
into the class of the 'life-giving' charms {ayusydni) of our second category.
Special substances, or water and the plants in general, are implored
for complete exemption from sickness {sarvarogabhaisajya, i. e., panaceas).
Thus the varana-XxtQ (z'^r 'protect') in 6. 25; the plant kustha in 6. 95; the
clpudru-XxQQ in 6. 127; bdellium in 19. 38; barley and water in 6. 91; an
amulet of salve {dnjand) in 19. 44. Or Soma and Rudra are appealed to
in 7. 42 (RV. 6.74. 2,3); Vata, the wind, in 4. 13 (RV.io. 137), the so-called
samtdtiya-\i^'im\. Hymns and stanzas addressed to the waters, often not
original in the AV., are used as panaceas (i. 4 — 6), or against some special
disease, e. g., 6. 22, which the Sutra prescribes against dropsy. Plants are
similarly appealed to in 6. 96, and especially in the long hymn 8. 7 which
counts upon the virtue of all possible magic and medicinal plants (analogous
to the so-called osadhi-stuti, RV. 10. 97). Or, again, a hymn or stanza of
general character is adapted as a bhaisajyam, as e. g. 7. 10 (RV. i. 164. 49)
which is prescribed for a child seized by the demon Jambha (convulsions)
as it is being nursed by its mother (note the word stana in the st.). And
there are hymns which aim to secure immunity from all diseases, real or
fanciful, by simply driving them out by conjuration, naming them one after
another, until the list is exhausted: 2. 33 (RV. 10. 163 = AV. 20. 96) and
9. 8 (cp. also 19. 44). We may finally note 2. 29, a charm for securing long
life {dyusya)^ which Kaus.27.9 — 13 employs in a practice designed to transmit
the disease of one seized by thirst {trmdgrhltd) upon another person. St. 6
seems to accord with this transference, vaguely suggesting modern trans-
fusion ^7.
Roth, Zur Litteratur und Geschichte des Weda, p. 37; Grohmann, IS. IX. 38 iff.;
"WL.2, 33 (cp. 283 ff.); Weber, Die Griechen in Indian, SPAW., 1890, p. 924 ff.;
LUDWIG, Der RV., III. 343; Zimmer, p. 374 ff. (cp. Kaegi, Jahrbiicher fiir classische
Philologie, 1880, p. 464 ff.); Bloomfield, SBE. XLII, p. I — 48, and the notes cor-
responding; WiNTERNlTZ, Folk-Medicine in Ancient India, Nature, vol. LVIII, p. 233 ff.
(July 7, 1898).
I This definition touches upon the important division of the Atharvan into two
Vedas, Atharvana {santa, bhesaja), and Angirasa {ghora^ abhicarika)\ see above, p. 8ff.;
III. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 63
SBE. XLII, p. xviiiff. ; Hillebrandt, Ritual-Litteratur, p. 169, 177. Good and evil
magic are distinguished at all limes, e. g., in the Mahahharata: Hopkins, JAOS.
XIII. 312, 365. By the side of this stands the three-fold distinction of the ritualistic
manuals: TibhicTirika^ santika, and pauftika; see MadhusOdanasarasvatI, IS. I. i6;
Bloomfield, Seven Hymns, AJPh. VII. 477; Hillebrandt, ibid. p. 169; cp. Rig-
vidhana i. 1. 3, and, Meyer, Introduction, p. xu. — a Hillebrandt, 1. c. i8i.
Cp. Meyer, Rig-vidhana, Introduction, p. xiu. — 3 Bloomfield, Seven Hymns,
AJFh. VII. 467 ff. ; Contributions, Second Series, AJPh. XL 320 ff. — 4 See Vend.
20—22 (especially 20. 4; SBE. IV. 221, note); Spiegel, Die Arische Periode, p. 97,
155, 170, 204; Geiger, Civilization of the Eastern Iranians, p. 215 ff. Avestan
faman = Ved. faman 'itch' is the apparently solitary instance of the identical
nomenclature of a disease. — 5 A. Kuhn, KZ. XIII, pp. 49 — 74, and 113 — 157;
L. V. Schroeder, Indien's Litteratur, p. 175 ff.; SBE. XLII, p. 313, 386, 454; cp.
PiCTET, KZ. V. 337 (antiquated*. The use of the frog against fever may also reach
back to prehistoric beginnings; see Grohmann, IS. IX. 386, 414; SBE XLIL56sfr.;
JAOS. XVIL 173. — 6 AJPh. VIL 467 ff.; XL 320 ff. — 7 Haas, ZDMG. XXX.
617 ff.; XXXI. 647 ff.; ZiMMER, 374 ff-; WI .2, 286 (and, Nachtrag, p. 13 ff.); L. V.
Schroeder, 1. c. 730 ff.; Weber, SPAW., 1890, p. 924 ff. — 8 Hoernle, PBAS.,
April 1890; JBAS., 1891, p. 139 ff.; Roth.WZKM. V. 303; Buhler, ibid. 102 ff., 302ff.;
Jolly, Festgruss an Roth, p. 18; WZKM. XL 164 ff. — 9 Roth, ZDMG. XXVL
448; Weber, SPAW., 1890, p. 29. — 10 Connected treatises on classical Hindu
Medicine: WL.2, p. 283 ff.; v. Schroeder, 1. c. 729 ff. The most convenient digest
of Hindu Medicme based upon native literature is still. Wise, Commentary on the
Hindu System of Medicine 2, i860 (regrettably without an index). For purposes of
comparison see the list of diseases and plants (many medicinal) in the index of
SBE. XLII, p. 697 and 702. — " Weber, IS. IV. 119; Grohmann, IS. IX. 381 ff.;
Zimmer, p. 379 ff.; Hardy, Die Vedisch-Brahmanische Periode, p. 198; Bloomfield,
SBE. XLII, p. 441 ff., 565 ff.; cp. Wise, p. 219 ff.— 12 AJPh. VII, p. 469 ff.; SBE.
XLIL 7, 246 ff. — 13 SBE. XLIL 263 ff. — 14 SBE. XLIL n ff, 241, 471, 562,
and cp. Index, under *attractio similium', and, 'homoeopathy'. — 15 SBE. XLIL
233 (cp. AJPh. VIL 467). — 16 AJPh. XIL 426 ff.; SBE. XLIL 481. — »7 SBE.
XLIL 450 shows that the exact nature of balZisa is not defined by the texts. —
18 Wise, p. 210, 321 ff.; Grohmann, IS. IX. 400; Zimmer, p. 376 ff. — 19 JAOS.
XV. 163 ff.; SBE. XLIL 500 ff. — 20 Zimmer, p. 386; Wise, p. 210. — 21 Con-
tributions. Second Series, AJPh. XL 320 ff. Cp. the commentary on these stanzas
in SBE. XLIL — 22 Contributions. Fourth Series, AJPh. 425 ff. ; SBE. XLIL 489. —
23 See^note 5. — 24 gt. i with interesting variants occurs in Yaska's Nirukta 3. 4.
— 25 SB. 10.5.2.20; 13. 4. 3. 9; SS. 16. 2. 15; AS. 10. 7. 5; Chand. Up. 7. l. 2 ff.
Cp. RV. 7. 50, and, Rig-vidhana l. 2. 5; 27. I; 28." I— 3. — 26 SPAW. 1896,
p. 681—4; 873— S; Festschrift fiir A. Basiian, p. 361— 6. Cp. now IS. XVIII. 215. —
27 Jacob, Eleven Atharvana-Upanisads, p. 83—88; Weber, IS. XVIL 161 ff. ; Deussen,
Sechzig Upanishad's, p. 627 ff. — 28 Weber, ibid. p. 167. — 29 Bloomfield, Seven
Hvmns of the AV., AJPh. VIL 482 ff.; SBE. XLIL 511. — 3^ SBE. XLU. 374;
Weber, SPAW., 1896, p. 684 note, 875. — 31 A. Kuhn, KZ. XUL 49 ff., ii3ff.;
Zimmer, p. 393; SBE. XLIL 22 ff., 313 ff.; cp. W'ise, p. 307, 348 ff. — 32 Wise,
p. 296; Zimmer, p. 390. — li See the note on 6. iii. 4, SBE. XLII. 520. Cp.
IS. I. 217, note. — 34 Cp. Susruta l. 89. 19, daivabalapravrtta ye devadrohad
abhis'astaka atharvakrta upasargakrias ca (yyadhaya/i). — 35 SBE. XLII. 409 and 29 1.
— 36 Ibid. 302. — il Ibid. 308, 310.
§ 51. Class 2). Prayers for long life and health {dyusydni). — The
second class of hymns to which tradition fittingly assigns the name dyusydni
(sc. suktd7ii)^ is not separated by hard and fast lines from the medicinal
charms. Thus 19. 44, though it exhibits in the main the characteristics of
an dyusyam, mentions specifically a considerable list of diseases; or 3. 11 which
also mentions diseases is employed, Kaus. 27.32 — 2>Z^ in an interesting sym-
bolic practice directed against grdmya vydd/ii: the commentators pretty con-
sistently explain this as venereal disease ^ Throughout the srauta and grhya-
texts are found in enormous quantity formulas and stanzas which pray for
life {ayus)^ life's breath {prdna, etc.). and incidentally for all other desiderata,
such as varcas, baia, yasas, kirti (strength and glory), cattie and other pro-
perty. In the forthcoming Vedic Concordance the formulas and padas
beginning alone with the words dyus and dtrgha (dyus), or derivatives from
64 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
these words, number 200 or more^. The characteristic feature of such formulas,
as also of the dyusydni in the AV., is not so much prayer for the cure of disease
as the eager endeavor to secure life unto the ideal old age of a hundred
years '^ for a person, either a sacrificer, or still more frequently, a boy entering
adult life through the various ceremonial stages attendant upon the develop-
ment of the young Hindu from birth to confirmation {upanayana). Hence
these hymns are employed very properly in the Atharvan ritual under the
rubric of dyusydni (sc. karmdni), beginning Kaus. 52. 18, and containing the
ceremonies of tonsure icudakarman). shearing of the beard {goddna), and the
upanayana. The Grhya-sutras exhibit them in much the same way on the
same occasions: the Atharvan materials show little originality and frequently
coincide with the mantras of the other Sarahitas. A survey of one or two
of these charms, e.g. 2. 28 or 3. 11, discloses at once the very familiar
catch-words of the entire class: they ask for life yayus^ jivana^ asu, prdnd-
pdnaii)) it shall last a hundred years {satasdrada, satam himdh, satdyus);
death shall not come until old age {Jaras, Jard, j'ariman, jardmrtyu, jarad-
asti); the charm shall protect against the regrettably large number of deaths,
100 or more {mrtyavo ... satam ye, 2. 28. i; anye mrtyavo ydn dhur itardni
ckatam, 3. 11. 7; ekasatam, 8. 2. 27): loi deaths are still remembered by
Susruta (Ayur-veda i, 122. 10) as a characteristic conception of the AV.,
ekoitaram mrtyusatajti atharvdnah pracaksate (cp. SBE. XLII, p. 307); finally,
Yama, Mrtyu, Antaka, Nirrti, etc. are cajoled with politenesses and obeisance.
Of course this technique is by no means restricted to the dyusydni; not only
is it exhibited a fortiore by the medicinal charms, but also the charms for
prosperity in general and the witchcraft-charms naturally avail themselves of
it. Yet it is unmistakably the specialty of this class: the Sutra and the
Atharvan scholiasts deserve credit for defining it schematically and presenting
the employment of the hymns in question in the very situations to which they
owed their composition at least in a large measure.
A noteworthy characteristic of these hymns is the special prominence of
Agni, whereby hangs a bit of ancient mythological history. Agni himself is
Ayu 'alive'; the personal Ayu of the myths and legends, notably Ayu, the son
of Pururavas and Urvasi, is not likely ever to divulge his true nature without
the same naturalistic back-grounds. Hence the dyusya-\\ymYi'i place life in
the special charge of Agni, without, of course, excluding other divinities. In
the Yajus-texts, Grhya-sutras, and Upanisads also Agni is frequently associated
with life's breaths^. Typical for the AV. is 7. 53. 6, dyur no visvato dadhad
ay am agnir varenyah. The hymns 2. 13; 28; 29; 7. 32 and other scattered
stanzas furnish illustrations of this point. Otherwise the absence of salience
of these hymns is relieved only by the association with them of life-bestowing,
and life-protecting amulets which are in the main truly Atharvanic. The
golden amulet which the Daksayanas, rich in the possession of gold, fastened
upon Satanika (i. 35) is such a one 7; an amulet of gold is used also with
19. 26. Salve {dfijand) figures in 4. 9; 19. 44; 45; the pearl and its shell in
4. 10; the puhidru-tTtt in 8. 2; an amulet addressed as astrta 'unconquered' ^
in 19. 46. Similarly the sacred girdle {mekhald) furnishes the basis of an
dyusyam in 6.133; ^^^^ the shearing of the beard is turned into a life-giving
ceremony in 6. 68. Quaintly does the hymn 3. 31 solder together a mixtum
compositum to the same end out of a variety of psycho-physical and mytho-
logical reminiscences 9. The hymns 8. i and 2, employed Kaus. 58. 3, 11 in
special ceremonies called brdhmanoktam and rsihasta (parts of the upanayana)^
are Atharvanesque by virtue of their impassioned fervor and great length.
The relationship of this type with the prose formulas of the Yajus and the
III. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakIya-School. 65
Grhyas betrays itself in the so-called hymns 2.15 — 17; 5.9; the prose form-
ulas that go to make up 19. 51; 60; 61; 67 occur in these texts also***.
The remaining dyi^sya-hymns are devoid of either mythological or antiquarian
interest (i. 30; 3. 11; 5. 28; 30; 6. 41; 53; 19. 24; 27; 58; 70), and glide
over imperceptibly into a style of hymn which is not strictly dyusya, being
regarded otherwise {paustika: our class 8, S 57) by the Sutra. They are in
reality not different in their general purpose (i.3i;4. i3;6. 5; 13; 16. 4;
19. 30; 32; 2fZ'y see also the long so-called visdsahi-hymn^ book 17).
» See SBE. XLII. 49 ff., and notes; Kauiika, Index B, p. 383", s.v. ayufj/lni; cp.
Meyer, Rig-vidhana, Introduction, p. xii, under the heading 'longa vita'; Svidh.
2. 1; PG. 1. 16. 5 ff- — 2 SBE. XLII. 341. — _ 3 We refer to the formulas of the
type, ayur m ■• dehi\ aytth pranani me dhiikfva ; ayufpa a^ne ^sy ayur me pahi\ dirgha-
yutvaya s'alasaradaya ; etc. — 4 Weber, IS. XVII. 193 ff.; Festgruss an Rudolf von
Roth, p. 137. — 5 Bergaigne, I.a Religion Vedique, I. 59 ff.; II. 91 ff.; RV. 4. 2. 18,
marllnam cid urvastr akrpran vrdhe cut arya uparasyayoh 'for mortals even many
Urva^ls ('fire-sticks') were prepared (root krp ^ kip) unto the production of the
noble Ayu ('fire') below'. Pururavas and Urvak suggest the fire-sticks; Ajni is their
son: VS. 5. 2; TS. i. 3. 7. i; 6. 3. 5. 3; MS. I. 2. 7; 3. 9. 5; SB. 3. 4. i. 22;
KS. 5. I. 30; ApS. 7- 12. 13; Kau§. 69. 20. The expression bahavo me samanah,
used by Ayu, MS. I. 6. 12, refers to the many individual productions of fire; cp.
the brothers of Agni. See nowBLOOMFiELD, JAOS. XX. 180 fi". Differently GELDNER,Ved.
Stud. I..243ff., especially 283. — 6 E. g. VS. 3. 17; TS. i. 5. 5. 3; 7. 4; SB. 2. 3.
4. 19; SS. 2. II. 3; PG. 2. 4. 8; Prasna Up. 1. 7; Maitri Up. 6. 5, 9, 33; cp. SBE.
XLII. 366. — 7 SB. 6. 7. 4- 2; Weber, IS. IV. 358, 430. Cp. Rvidh. 4. 9. 1. —
8 Sayana, asfrtanamakhyaman-. — 9 JAOS. XV. i8lff.; SBE. XLII. 364 ff. —
10 Hymns 19.* 60 and 61 in tS. 5. 5- 9. 2; GB. 2. i. 3; TA. (Andhra) 10. 72; ApS.
3. 20. 3; PG. 1. 3. 25; Vait. 3. 14. Hymn 6^ frequently in the Grhya-sQtras.
§ 52. Class 3). Imprecations against demons, sorcerers, and
enemies {dbhicdrikdni and krtydpratiharandni). — The third class of
hymns is directed against demons, sorcerers, and enemies': between hostile
human sorcerers and dangerous demons the Atharvanic Hindu knows no
distinction, as may be seen from 2.18, where the bhrdtrvya, sapatna^ ardya,
pisdca, and saddnvd are successively placed under the same ban. The de-
limitation of this class is again somewhat uncertain and subjective. On the
side of demonology it touches upon the first class, because the remedial
charms are not unfrequently directed against possession by demons. In so
far as it is composed of imprecations and sorceries against enemies it con-
catenates with the royal rites (class 6, § 55) whose battle-charms assail the
enemy in essentially identical terms; with the imprecations of Brahmans against
those that neglect and oppress them (class 7, S 56); with the love-practices
of women, in so far as they are calculated to undermine rivals (class 4, S 53);
and with the charms designed to secure influential position in the community
and superiority in general (class 5, § 54), inasmuch as here also rivalry is
expressed or implied. The present class covers however the central ground
of what is known as abhicdra and ydtuvidyd {raksovidyd)^ the terrible side
{gkord) of this Veda. A wide-spread tradition reaching back to the Vedic
hymns themselves associates this part of the Veda with the semi-divine race
of the Angiras: such charms are known as the angirasah, the second part of
the old designation of the AV. {atharvdhgirasah)\ the term Angirasa-veda
also occurs^. All this in distinction from the atharvdnah (Atharvana-veda)
which refers to the auspicious charms and practices {bhesaja^ sdnta^ and
paustika)^. The term abhicdra is generic; the Atharvan and other Vedic
texts know in addition krtyd 'spell', valaga 'secret spell', and mula-karman
{-kriyd) 'practices with the roots of plants', performances undertaken more
drastically with tangible objects: magic or spells are placed or hidden in
places where they may most injure. The hymn 10. i represents the krtyd
Indo-arische Philologie. II. 1 b. 5
66 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. IB. Ath ARVA-VeD A AND G OPATHA-BraHMANA.
as an elaborate effigy (bogey) with head, nose, and ears; the ritual is well
acquainted with similar artful devices '^. The Vedic texts, and more schemat-
ically the later Vidhana-literature, present terms, which assume growingly a
technical flavor, for a variety of special phases of sorcery: sapatnabddhana,
nairbddha^ vindsana, pTdana, mdrana, vastkarana, vidvesana^ mohana, sta-
mbhana, cdtana, uccdtana, etc.; these are grouped variously as the systematic
subdivisions oi abhicdra^. TheAtharvan makes further the important distinction
between sorcery which takes the initiative {abhicdrd)^ and defensive^ or retal-
iative sorcery; the latter merely repels the practices undertaken by others
(pratyabkicararia, pratisara, and prativarta). In the later systematization
(e. g. Rig-vidhana 4. 6. 4; 8. 3) the term dfigirasa == dbhicdrika is modulated
similarly into praty dfigirasa = pratyabhicarana^.
All India is pervaded by sorcery from the RV. (7. 104; 10. 84; 128;
155) through the Yajus-literature, and, curiously enough, also the Upanisads 7,
through the systematic Vidhana^texts to the Tantras of the worshippers of
Sakti. Especially the Yajus and Srauta-texts frequently abandon for a moment
their main theme in keen remembrance of 'him that hates us and whom we
hate'^. This is done either by imparting to one or another sacrificial act a
sinister turn by a conscious symbolic modification of the practice, or in the
course of the so-called kdmyesiayah, many of which are directed against
enemies. Thus the formulas of the ritual-literature are quite frequently iden-
tical with, or similar to prose passages of the abhicara-hymn?, of the A V. : in
addition to the formula, yo asmdn dvesti yam ca vayam dvismah, we may
mention especially those of the type, idam aham tam valagam ut kird?ni'^,
or the very common form, idam aham amwn dmusydyanam amusydh putram
(etc., with sinister close) ^^ Thus the ^MzV^rdt-litany AV.2.19 — 23 is developed
secondarily in accordance with specific Atharvanic cosmogonic ideas ^ ^ out of
formulas in MS. i. 5. 2; ApS. 6. 21. i. In judging the chronology of the
Atharvan collection in its finished aspect it is important to note that these
formulas certainly existed in Vedic literature outside of Atharvanic schools,
and prior to any Atharvan redaction. The practice of sorcery, if not its im-
precations, goes back at least to Indo-Iranian times (Avestan ydtiS) ^^.
The class of abhicdra-hymns in which the offending power is rather
of the demoniac sort is represented by the following: i. 7; 8; and 28 are
directed against Yatudhana, Kimidin (Atrin), Pisaca, etc.; in the first two the
incantation endeavours especially to make the Yatudhanas come out and pro-
claim their true character: as soon as they reveal their nature they become
innocuous. The demoniac brood is attacked i . 1 6 with lead which is regarded
as especially offensive to demons ^^. Lead figures also in the elaborate exorc-
ism of Agni Kravyad, the funeral fire, personified as a demon, 12. 2. On
founding a family, or when the domestic fire is lighted after the funeral of
the father, Agni Kravyad is conjured by assigning to him his own proper sub-
stances: lead, reeds, a black sheep, and beans (Kaus. 71. 6 ff.). A similar rite
is untertaken with sts. 13, 14 in a variant form at ApS. 9.3. 22; cp. the use
of beans, Ovid. Fast. 429 — 444 ^'^. Here belongs also the elaborate conjuration
of numerous obscure evil demons (hocus-pocus of the lowest bathos) 8. 6,
designed apparently to secure safe delivery of women (see below, § 53).
Demons (or diseases) called viskandha and kdbava are exorcised in 3. 9 with
a certain amulet which Kausika derives from the aralu-\xtt, and which is
fastened by a reddish-brown thread. A variety of female demons {saddnvd\
cp. RV. 10. 155), very obscure as to their individual designations, are con-
ceived as hostile to men, cattle, and home; they are driven out by means of
2. 14. An amulet derived from a certain keen-sighted, keen-eyed plant in
III. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 67
the nature of a sun-flower, known to the ritual as sadampuspd^ makes visible,
ergo impotent, all sorts of demons in 4. 20: it 'sees here, sees yonder, sees
in the distance, sees'..., and therefore 'drags out from his retreat the sorcerer
and the Kimidin' *5. The apamdrga-'^X'xviKy by virtue of its superficial etymology
{apa marj *wipe out'), as well as certain peculiarities of its natural history,
here as in the Srauta-texts *^, is appealed to against the same uncanny powers:
three charms, 4.17 — 19 (cp. also 7.65), are addressed to it More conventional
are 6. 2; 34; and 52, directed against Rak§as: they recur for the most part
in the RV. and elsewhere. The prose hymns 2. 18 and 2. 19 — 23 (see above)
efface the hazy boundary-line between demons and human enemies.
Charms directed against human enemies are more numerous: they are
at times quite general and colorless; more frequently they are specialized by
addressing some definite divinity, or some plant or other substance in the
nature of a protective amulet, or instrument of attack. Thus 6. 37; 7. 13
and 59 are mere curses; 5. 29; 7. 34; 8. 3 (= RV. 10. 87, to Agni Rak^ohanj;
19. 65; 66 are addressed to Agni; 7. no to Indra and Agni (battle-gods);
7. 31 to Indra; 7. 91; 92 to Indra Sutraman; 7. 51 to Indra and Brhaspati;
8. 4 to Indra and Soma (RV. 7. 104); 6.6 to Brhaspati and Soma; 7. 75 to
the Marut Sarntapanas (RV. 7. 59; TS. 4. 3. 13. 3): the sts. of these hymns
recur largely in the other Samhitas and are conventionally Vedic, not especi-
ally Atharvanic. More pointed are those with amulets and other instruments :
I. 29, secondarily made up of sts. from RV. i. 174 and 159, attacks the
enemy abhtvartena manind^^ 'with the victorious amulet"; similarly 6.75 with
nairbadhyam havis 'the oblation of suppression'; and 3. 6 with an amulet of
asvattha which has the epithet vaibddha 'displacer'. A certain plant 'god-
begotten, hated by the wicked, which wipes out the curses (of enemies)* is
conjured in 2. 7; the talds'd-XxQQ similarly in 6. 15; the varanaXxtt {var
'defend'; cp. 6.85) in the long hymn 10.3; an amulet formed in the likeness
of a plough out of the hard khadira-trtt, which was used also in the manu-
facture of real plough-shares ^^, is implored both for prosperity and destruction
of enemies in 10. 6; and darbha-gxdjs& serves the same end, 19. 28; 29; 30;
32; 2>Z' I^ 6. 134 a staff {vajra) is used in sorcery against enemies; and
6. 135 conjures one's own food and drink 'to drink away' and 'swallow up'
the life's breath of the enemy. Very characteristic, though somewhat obscure,
are the two imprecations 7. 95 and 96, directed against the two kidneys of
an enemy: the point seems to be to stop their action so as to cause reten-
tion of urine. The second of these charms (7. q6) seems however to have
been composed originally as a medical charm for the cure of a movable
kidney, having been adapted secondarily to a hostile purpose ^9. Decidedly
loftier in tone and original in the AV. is the famous, oft-translated hymn
4. 16, a prayer to Varuna for protection against treacherous designs, whose
fervor and ethical coloring suggests irresistibly scriptural parallels, especially
from the Psalms ^°; equally interesting is 2. 12, known in the ritual as 'the
cleaver of Bharadvaja". This was for a long time misunderstood as depicting
a fire-ordeal, but it is in reality an imprecation against an enemy thwarting
holy work^^ Conversely, 5.8 and 7.70 engage in this very impious practice,
namely the frustration of the sacrifice of an enemy: 'Nirrti, allying herself with
death, shall smite his offering before it takes effect' (7.70.1). Closely related
with these is the so-called vihavya-\i\xi\xi 5.3 (= RV. 10. 128; TS. 4.7.14"):
its name is derived firom the word vihava^ translated in the lexicons rather
loosely by 'call'. It means 'call in different directions', 'conflicting call'; the
hymn is a good specimen of an early witchcraft practice, designed to attract
the gods away from others to one's own sacrifice. In the srauta-x\\.yiA the
5*
68 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
same notion is present vividly in the conflict of sacrifices called samsava, or
vispardhd^^. An especially Atharvanic flavor attaches to 7. 5 which is devoted
to the extravagant praise of this same {vihanya) hymn. The gods performed
the human sacrifice i purusajnedha)^ but mightier than that is the vihavya-
sacrifice: in vain^+ did they sacrifice a dog, in vain the limbs of a cow, the
vihavya alone availed them (sts. 4, 5). Very characteristic, too, is the blend
of witchcraft with original theosophic conceptions in the hymn to Kama, 'the
bull that slays the enemy', 9. 2: kama 'love' is originally a cosmic force
(RV. 10. 129. 4 = AV. 19. 52. i), but its personification as a supreme being
suggests very soon his power to protect those who worship him^ and to destroy
the enemies of the worshipper (cp. below, § 59).
The class of 'counter-witchcraft' charms {krtydpratiharand)^^ is char-
acterized especially by the word prati and derivatives and compounds from
it, e. g. pratyabhicarana 2. 11. 2; pratisara and pratlvarta^ 8.5.1,4; pratyahc
2.xA praticlna 10. 1.6. The persons against whom these defensive charms are
directed are designated, 5. 31. 12, as krtydkrt 'he that fashions spells', valagin
'he that digs for magic purposes', muliii 'he that digs after roots', and sapa-
theyya 'he that emits curses' (cp. 4. 9. 5). A good specimen of the style of
these defensive charms is 10. i. 6: 'Pratlclna {'Back-hurler'), the descendant
of Angiras, is our overseer and Purohita: do thou drive back {pratidh) the
spells, and yonder fashioners of the spells!' Two of these charms (2.11; 8.5)
are undertaken with the sraktya-d^myAtX.^ derived from the sraktya-\xt^ (schol.
tilaka)^^; another (5. 14) is addressed to a plant whose name is not stated;
yet another, 2. 24, names four male kimJdin and four female kimldinl^iX^ curious,
at times euphemistic designations, and calls upon their sorceries to turn against
themselves, that is, against the perpetrators of the.>e sorceries. Especially forceful
is 5.31, containing a long catalogue of homely animate or inanimate objects
within which spells were instituted: an unburned vessel, grain, raw meat; the
cock, goat, and other animals; \^q. gdrhapatya-^it, house-fire, house, assembly-
hall, gaming-place; the army, the drum, the arrow, and the weapon; the well,
and the burial-place. A spell in the nature of a terrifying, evil-working figure
(bug-bear, bogey, bogle; German popanz) 'endowed with nose, endowed with
ears, and multiform', 'prepared by a Raja, prepared by a woman, prepared
by Brahmans', is driven out, under protestation of great loathing and fear,
in 10. I. Prose formulas similar to those enumerated Kaus. 49. 7 ff. are
banded together as hymns for the same purposes in 4. 40 and 5. 10. Curse
personified is invoked against him that curses in 6. 37 and 7. 59.
I LuDWiG, Der Rig-Veda, III. 338 fiF.; Burnell, Samavidhana-Brahmana, Intro-
duction, p. XXII ff.; Meyer, Rig-vidhana, Introduction, p. xmff.; Hardy, Die
Vedisch-Brahmanische Periode, p. 193 ff.; Oldenberg, Die Religion des Veda,
p. 262 ff.; 476 ff.; HiLLEBRANDT, Ritual-Litteratur, p. 167 ff.; I74ff. ; Bloomfield,
SBE. XLII, p. 64ff., and notes; Magoun, AJPh. X. 165 ff.; Winternitz, Witchcraft
in Ancient India, New World, September 1898. — 2 See the elaboration of this
view, SBE. XLII, p. xvm ff. ; above, p. 8ff.; cp. Hillebrandt, I.e. 169. — 3 The
frequent legends in the Brahmanas, narrating the conflict between the Angiras and
the Adityas in_connection with sacrificial performances, generally (not so AB. 6. 34 ff.) re-
present the Adityas as the pious, ultimately successful sacrificers, whereas the
Angiras appear in a light similar to the Asuras in the so-called daivasurani (sc. akhya-
ndni), i.e. they are worsted in the conflict: Weber, IS. I. 292; IStr. III.'So; SPAW,
1891, p. 8uff". This also reflects perhaps, in a roundabout way, the wizard, im-
pious character of the Angiras, and correspondingly the connection of holy rites
with the Adityas. Cp. the suklani yajwnsi = adityani in the SB. (Weber, 1. c.
p. 812, note 2). In the Yajus-formulas, however, both Angiras and Adityas are
venerable: MS. i. 6. i (86. 7); i. 6. 2 (87. 3); ApS. 5. ii. 7; Kaus. 70. 6. —
4 See Kausika, Introduction, p. XLVii, s. v. avalekhant {pratikrli), and SBE. XLII,
Index, under 'effigy'. Cp. Hillebrandt, 1. c. 177. Practices with roots are ex-
III. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 69
pressly forbidden in the Dharma-texts, and execrated in the Mahabharata; SBE.
XLII, p. L, i.iv (cp. above, % 26, 27). — 5 GoldstOcker, Sanskrit Dictionary, s. v.
abhicara\ Mf.yer, Rig-vidhSna, Introduction, p. 13 ff.; Weber, IS. III. 156; Verz.
1. 27off.; II. 318, 1184; HiLLEBRANDT, 1. c. 177, notc I. — 6 Scc AV. 2. II. l;
KauSika, Index B, s. v. krtyapratiharanani (cp. AV. 5. 14). For pratisara and prail-
varta see SBE. XLII. 576; Weber, APAW. 1893, p. 18; {ox pratyaitgirasa, SBE.
XLII, p. XIX, and above, p. 8.-7 See .^B. 14. 9. 4. 10 = Bfh. Ar. Up. 6. 4. 12; and
cp. the Ganuiopanisad. — « Burnell, 1. c. xxiii; L. v. Schroeder, Indiens Litte-
ratur, p. 121(1. — 9 VS. 5. 23; TS. 1. 3. 2. I; MS. I. 2. 10; Ap.^. 11. 11. 8, etc.
— JO E. g. MS. 4 7. 9 (io6. 3); ApS. 14. 6. 12. — " See above, S 45- —
— »2 Spiegel, Die Arische Periode, p. 218 ff.; Geiger, Civilization of the Eastern
Iranians, I. 160 ff. — n SBE. XLII. 256. — h Ludwig, Der Rig-Veda, IIL 479;
Henry, LesLivres X— XII, p. 188 ff, 227 ff. Cp. SBE. XLII. Index, under 'beans' and
'sesame'. — '5 SBE. XLII. 68, 398 ff.; Contributions. Seventh Series, AJPh. XVIL
402 ff. — »6 VS. 35. II; SB. 13. 8. 4. 4. Cp. e. g. the apamarga-homa at the
Rajasuya: Weber, APAW., 1893, p. I7ff., and the indexes to Oldenberg, Religion
des Veda {apamarga^^ and SBE. XLII ('plants and trees'). — J" RV. l. 174. I,
abhlvartena havisa. It is not easy to decide which reading is older, as does Weber,
IS. IV. 423, note, in favor of havifi-. both mafii and havis are characteristically
Atharvanic. See for the /^<iz//j-hymns, below, S 60, end. The hymn is known as
the abhlvartam (sc. suktam\ ApS. 14. 19. 6; 20. i; AG. 3. 12. 12; Kaus. 16. 29. —
18 See the authorities for this construction, SBE. XLII. 608 ff. — ^9 Ludwig, Der
Rig-Veda, IIL 343, 344, 517; Henry, Le livre VII, p. 38 ff., 109 ff. Differently,
Weber, IS. V. 247. — 2" SBE. XLII, p. 88, 389 ff. — sx Contributions. Second
Series, AJPh. XL 330 ff.; SBE. XLIL 89, 244 ff. — 22 Also vihavlya, KS. 25. 14. 18.
See TS. 3. 1. 7. 3; PB. 9. 4. 14; LS. 4. 10. 8. In" Kaus. 38. 26 this hymn is
recited secondarily but significantly by a father w^ho is about to divide his prop-
erty, so that no quarrels shall ensue. — 23 gee Hillebrandt, Soma, p. Il9ff.;
Ritual-Litteratur, p. 166; Garbe, Vaitana, Translation, 16.6; 17.7, notes. Cp. TS.
2. 4. I — 3. — 24 Henry's emendation of mvgdha to luurdhna (Le livre VII, p. 2,
49) thus becomes unnecessary. — 25 SBE. XLII. 70—80, and the notes on the
hymns there rendered. Cp. Kaus. 39. 7, and Hillebrandt, Ritual-Litteratur, p. 178.
— 26 Seven Hymns, AJPh. VII. 477 «"• ; SBE. XLIL 575.
§ 53. Class 4). Charms pertaining to women (strlkarmani). —
The scheme of the Atharvan ritual makes provision for a class of practices
aptly designated as 'womens' rites' {strikarmdni) : they are treated connect-
edly in the second half of the fourth book of Kausika (32. 28 to the end
of the book). The practices there work up very intelligently a quite con-
siderable number of hymns scattered through the first seven books of the
AV. (in addition only 8. 6); these are sufficiently marked to entitle them to
treatment in a class by themselves \ In the centre of these hymns stand the
wedding- stanzas of the suryd-sukta (RV. 10. 85) whose superior length and
importance, however, calls for a separate presentation and a separate account
of the practices connected with them, in the 14^^ book of the AV. and the
10^^ book of Kausika^. The eventful life of women before, during, and after
marriage has given rise to many practices and charms which are naturally
ignored by the main current of Vedic tradition, the Srauta-literature, but are
fitly embodied in the Atharvan and the Grhya-sutras. The RV. in addition
to the wedding-stanzas (10. 85; also 10. 40, and elsewhere) has a number
of such charms in the 10'^ book (145, 159, 162, 183); in the Srauta-literature
passages like TS. 2. 3. 9. i; MS. 2. 3. 2; TB. 2. 3. 10 (love-charms), or SB.
14. 9. 4 = Brh. Ar. Up. 6. 4, devoted to women, attract attention by their rareness
and comparative incompatibility with their surroundings. The Grhya-rites are
also restricted in the main to the more normal auspicious feminine practices:
v/edding ceremonies, and the holy performances {samskdras) connected with
pregnancy and child-birth. A sorcery-practice like ApG. 3. 9. 4 ff. (Mantrapatha
I. 15 = RV. 10. 145 = AV. 3. 18), designed to cut out the co-wives or rivals
of a woman, is rare and has quite the Atharvanic flavor. Similarly HG. i.
14. 7j ApG. 8. 23. 3. The later Vidhana-literature, on the other hand, repro-
70 11. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. T B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
duces and systematizes the sorcery-rites of women, doubtless in direct con-
tinuation of practices especially common in the Atharvan schools. Panini
4. 4. 96 still describes as rsau^ i. e. as Vedic, the kind of mantra which he
calls hrdya^ according to the scholiast in the sense of hrdayasya bandhanah
'captivating the heart', or vasikaranamantrah\ doubtless he has in view
both the love-charms of the present category, and the more general concil-
iatory hymns of the following class ^. The Rig-vidhana employs the terms
hrdya, samvanana, and vasikarana for both these kinds of charms: i. 2. 5;
2. 35- 2; 3. 15. 2 ff.; 19. 3 ff.; 21. 4, etc.'^; the Samavidhana-brahmana treats
the corresponding matters in 2. 5 and 6, where Sayana has also frequent
occasion to employ the verb vasikar\ they are also known in the Tantric
sorcery-books {strivas'ya, pativasya^ etc.) 5.
The majority of the hymns in question are devoted to the relation of
the two sexes. Especially common are philtres or love-charms performed by
men as well as women: i. 34; 2. 30; 3. 25; 6. 8; 9; 89; 102; 129; 130 — 132;
139J 7- Z'^'y i^ these various plants and other substances, herbs, licorice, salve,
kustha^ spikenard, etc., are invoked to lend charm to the person performing
the philtre. Or the activities of animal-Hfe and nature in general that are
analogous to the emotions of love, are called upon to reproduce themselves
in the beloved object: T draw to myself thy mind as the leading stallion
the female side-horse' (6. 102. 2); 'the cows who lick their young, in whose
heart love is planted, shall make yonder woman bestow love upon me'
(6- 9. 3); 'as the wind tears this grass from the surface of the earth, thus do
I tear thy soul' (2. 30. i);''as the creeper embraces the tree on all sides,
thus do thou embrace me' (6. 8. i); 'thy heart shall parch with love of me,
and thy mouth shall parch with love of me' (6. 139. 2); 'we inflame thy
heart, we inflame thy mind' (6. 89. 2). With the last passage cf. %t feriatis
et incendiatis cor et mentem N. in amorem meum'^ The arrow of the god
of love figures 3. 25. 2: 'the arrow, winged with longing, barbed with love,
whose shaft is unswerving desire, with that, well-aimed, Kama shall pierce
thee in the heart' 7. The formulaic hemistich, or its second pada, jj'fX//^^ mama
kratdv aso, mama cittam updyasi^ 'in order that thou shalt be at my bidding,
shalt follow my thought', recurs frequently: i. 34. 2; 3. 25. 5; 6. 42. 3; 43. 3;
similarly, yathd mam kdminy aso, yathd man 7idpagd asah, i. 34. 5; 2. 30. i;
6. 8. I. These expressions are indicative of a certain mechanical technique
in the production of these philtres: they must have had a considerable market,
but they certainly are not the worst that the Atharvan has preserved. Closely
related with these philtres is another group aiming at the discomfiture or
destruction of rivals in love, or co-wives {sapatmbddhana, Rvidh. 4. 12. i, 3).
Two hymns of this sort are found RV. 10. 145 (AV. 3. 18; ApMB. i. isl-
and 10. 159 (ApMB. I. 16)^. The Atharvan has i. 14 (misunderstood by
the earlier interpreters as a marriage hymn 9); 3. 18; 7. 35; 113; and 114:
with fierce denunciation and uncanny practices one woman endeavors to rob
another of her attractiveness, her bhaga (luck in love), or her fecundity. Still
more drastic are two charms to deprive men of their virility, 6. 138 and
7. 90: 'O herb, turn this man for me to-day into a eunuch that wears his
hair dressed . . ., that wears a hood! Then Indra with a pair of stones shall
break his testicles both! ... A hood upon his head and a hair-net do we
place' (6. 138). The converse of the preceding hymns are the charms to
allay jealousy, aiming to quench the fire, the heart-burning of love: 6. 18;
7. 45; and 7. 74. 3. To the domain of romantic love belongs also ^. "j^j^ a
charm to cause the return of a truant woman, furnished with significant sym-
bolic practices, Kaus. Tyd. 5 — 9; and 4. 5, a sleeping-charm preparatory to an
III. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 7 1
assignation, working up (perhaps with secondary adaptation) a number of
stanzas of RV. 7. 55.
The remaining hymns of this class belong to the calmer sphere of con-
jugal life. The charm i. 18 (cp. 7. 115) aims to remove evil bodily charac-
teristics and to drive out Arati from a woman, apparently that she may
afterwards bear offspring (st. i'^). These evil characteristics suggest those that
are to be avoided when choosing a bride, in the Grhya-sutras and Dharma-
sastras^°: the present hymn seems to be in the nature of a /r^^^jV/VAz calcu-
lated to render such a woman fit for marriage. Next come the so-called
pativedandni^ 'charms to obtain a husband (or wife)': 2. 36; 6. 60; and 6.82.
Here the serene, auspicious gods Aryaman and Bhaga figure especially: the
coloring is that of the wedding-stanzas and ceremonies. Similar is the position
of 6. 78, a blessing upon a married (royal) couple; of 7. 37, a stanza in
which the bride says to the bridegroom: *I envelop thee in my garment
that was produced by Manu, that thou shalt be mine alone, shalt not even
discourse of other women!'; and 7. 36, a love-charm spoken by the 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!*
Finally the post-marital interests of conception, child-birth, and child-life are
represented by a sufficient number of hymns: they are in close touch with
the corresponding samskaras of the Grhya-sutras, which reproduce with more
or less variation a considerable number of the stanzas of these hymns. The
four lunar divinities Anumati, Raka, Sinlvali, and Kuhu are invoked N\ith
great predilection; Prajapati, Tvastar, Dhatar figure frequently. The garbhd-
dhdna is represented by the robust epithalamium 5. 25, and by the more
peculiarly Atharvanic charm 6. 81, in which a bracelet, ^a holder', called
parihasta^ is invoked to secure conception : 'The bracelet that Aditi wore, when
she desired a son, god Tvastar shall fasten upon this woman, intending that
she shall bear a son'. To obviate sterility Kaus. 34. i ff. prescribes a practice
centering about AV. i. 32, an original cosmic hymn in praise of heaven,
earth, and especially the atmosphere {antariksd): the relation of the hymn to
the practice is obscure. The protection of the embryo in the womb, i. e.,
the prevention of miscarriage, is secured by the recital of 6. 17, along with
5. I. I, and the hymn contained in Kaus. 98. 2". The elaborate conjuration
of evil demons with the greatest variety of unheard-of names, 8. 6, is used,
Kaus. 35.20, in a rite which Kesava describes as the slmanta-karma^^. Charms
to secure the birth of a son {pumsavand) are 3. 23; 6. 11; 7. 17; and 7. 19.
A clap-trap god Susan, made from the root su 'beget' after the pattern of
Ptisan, is invoked in the lively hymn i.ii to secure safe delivery: it belongs
to the sphere of the sosyanti-karma, as it is called in the Grhya-sutras and
elsewhere ^^. If the child is born under an unlucky star the expiatory charm
6. no is recited: »Him that hath been born under (the constellation) jyestha-
ghrii ('she that slays the oldest'), or under the vicrtau ('they that uproot'),
save thou (O Agni) from being torn up by the root by Yama . . . On a tiger-
like day the hero was born . . . Let him not slay, when he grows up, his
father, let him not injure the mother that hath begotten him«. Finally the
appearance, perhaps the irregular appearance, of the first pair of teeth 'the
two tigers' calls for the expiatory hymn, 6. 140.
I Weber, IS. V. 177—266; Zimmer, p. 305ff.; SBE. XLII, p. 94—110, and the
notes on the hymns there treated. — 2 gge below, S 61. — 3 Weber, IS. V. 78,
note; XVII. 215. — 4 See Meyer's Introduction, p. xiv, xxxul Panini's state-
ment above is probably based directly on Rig-vidh5na 3. 15. 3: the V//' referred
to is RV. 10. 83 and 84 = AV. 4. 31 and 32. — 5 Weber, Verz. L 270 ff.; II.
318, 1184; IS. III. 156. — 6 Weinhold, Die deutschen Frauen, p. 148; Weber,
7 2 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
IS. V. 243. — 7 SEE. XLII. 359. — 8 They are employed ApG, 3. 9. 6 and 9. —
9 See, Seven Hymns, AJPh. VII. 473—6; SEE. XLII. 252 ff. — 10 AG. i. 5; SG.
I. 5. 5ff. ; Kaus. 37. 7_ff._; GG. 2. i. iff.; ApG. i. 3. 11 ; HG. 1. 19. 4 ff-; Grhya-
samgraha 2. 21 — 23 {daralaksana); Manu 3. 4ff.; Yajnav. i. 52. Cp. Haas, IS. V.
288; Eloomfield, ZDMG. XXXV. 573; V^intermtz, AW AW., 1892, vol. XL. 33 ff.;
HlLLEBRANDT, Ritual-Litteratur, p. 64. — n These hymns are c^Wed garbhadr?nhanani,
Kaus. 35. 12; the one whose pratika is aryuta (Kaus. 98. 2) is said by Darila to
be from another sakha [sakhantailyaiuktani): we may expect it in AVP. Cp. SG'
1. 21 ; AG. I. 13. I. — 12 Weber, 1?. 5. 251 ff.; Ludwig, Der Rig-Veda, III, 523 ff ;
Henry, Les Livres VIII et IX, p. 17, 54 ff. — 13 See SEE. XLIL 99, 242 ff.
S 54. Class 5). Charms to secqre harmony, influence in the
assembly, and the like (sammanasyani, etc.). — The present class of
hymns ^ exhibits many points of contact with the preceding, differing from it
most conspicuously by the absence of the element of romantic, sexual love.
The boundary between the two classes is hard to set: a conciliatory charm
like I. 34 may be, and is employed to secure the love of a person of the
opposite sex (Kaus. 76. 8, 9; 79. 10), or it may be recited by one who wishes
to gain the ear of the sabhd^ the village assembly (Kaus. 38. 17). Or, the
hymn 6.42 aims to appease anger without specifying the enraged person (cp.
HG. I. 15. 3); it may however have been constructed originally to end the
conflict between a woman and her husband or paramour (Kaus. 36. 28 — 31).
The later tradition harbors both classes of charms and practices within the
terms hrdya^ samvanana, and vasikarana (see above, § 53), blending the
two in its literary presentations ^ The Srauta-texts are also acquainted with
practices of this sort which figure among the kdmyd istayah; e. g. SS. T)- ^' i,
and the so-called mitravindd, SS. 3. 7; AS. 2. 11; KS. 5. 12. 13. The key-
note of the present class is harmony {sammanas^ sdmmanasya, sauma?tasa,
samjndnd); harmony, of course, from the point of view of the person prac-
tising the charm; harmony that agrees with his personal views and desires,
and leaves him in the position of arbiter and superior. The Brahmana-story
of Cyavana the Bhargava, or Angirasa, vividly portrays family dissensions as
a curse: 'Father fought with son, and brother with brother'. 'Then neither
did mother know son, nor son mother'^. Quarrels in the family {kule kala-
hini) yatraitat kulam kalahi bhavati) are regarded as portentous, the family
has been attacked by Nirrti: they require elaborate expiation^. This, then,
is the theme of one group of hymns in this class: the stilling of wrath and
discord, and the estabHshment of harmony between contending persons or
parties. The other group, more subjectively, aims at success, prominence,
or superiority in social and political Hfe: favor among men, influence in the
assembly, success in debate, and subordination to one's will. None of these
themes are entirely unknown in Vedic literature in general, but nowhere are
they treated as prominently or distinctly as in the Atharvan. The RV. has
two hymns of this sort, 10. 166 and 191 (cp. RV. Khila 10.^191); similar
stanzas occur MS. 2. 6. 6; TB. 2. 4. 4. 4. ff.; cp. also VS. 7. 25; SB. 4. 2. 4. 23.
Practices bearing upon such hymns are described Kaus. 12. 5 ff.; 2>^. i2ff.;
97. I fl".; HG. I. 13. 19 ff.; 15. 2 ff.; ApG. 8. 22. 19 ff.; Svidh. 2. 5; Rvidh. 4.
20. 3; 24.4.
Two hymns, 6.42 and 43, are constructed to appease anger; the latter
charm is reinforced by the use of ^^rM^-grass which for the nonce wears
the title 'appeaser of wrath' {tnanyusamana). They are the converse of the
two hymns 4. 31 and 32 (= RV. 10. 84 and Z:^ in which Wrath personi-
fied is conjured to destroy enemies^. Four hymns, 6. 64; 73; 74; 7. 52, allay
disord, suspend strife and bloodshed. Especially fervent and picturesque is
the appeal for harmony in the family, 3. 30: 'Unity of heart, and unity of
III. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakIya-School. 73
mind, freedom from hatred do I procure for you. Do ye take delight in
one another, as a cow in her new-born calf! 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! 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!' Another charm, 3. 8, is employed specifically at the
upanayana^ Kaus. 55. 17^ 18, to ensure harmony between teacher and pupil ^;
the stanza 7. 44 (= RV. 6. 69. 8) is adapted deftly, Kaus. 42. 6, as a charm
for the reconciliation of two enemies. Of the charms to secure influence in
the assembly 2. 27 and 7. 12 are the most significant. The former under-
takes with the aid of a talisman of the /<7/<z-plant to overcome the debate
ipras) of a hostile disputant ipratiprdi)'^\ the latter addresses 'assembly and
meeting, the two daughters of Prajapati': they shall aid him to capture the
power and understanding of those that are sitting in council. Very similar
to the last is the tenor of 6. 94 whose key-note is the technical word sam-
nam 'to bend to one's will'. This word and its derivative samtiati i-homdh)
is used elsewhere to bend the heavenly powers to one's will^ More or less
connected with these themes are also the hymns i. 34 (see above;; 5. 15;
6. 15; 7. 94, and the sts. 5. i. 5; 19. 62. i.
I SEE. XLII, p. 134—139; cp- Kaus. 12. 5; Ludwig, Der Rig- Veda, III. 253 ff.,
344; ZiMMER, p. 172; Weber, IS. XVII. 212, 307. — 2 ApG. 8. 22. 19—23. 6;
HG. I. 14. 6—15. 8; Svidh. 2. 5 and (). — l SB. 4. I. 5. 3ff.; cp. the version of
the JB., as rendered by Whitney, JAOS. XI, p. cxlv. — 4 Kaus. 97 ; SB. 5.3 =
Adbhuta-Br. i. 3; Adbhuta^anti, Alh. Pari§. 67. 4 (Weber, Omina und Portenta,
p. 317, 320); cp. also SS. 3. 6. — 5 Used as battle-charms, below, % 55, end. —
t> Weber, IS. XVII. 212. — 7 Seven Hymns, AJPh. VII. 479 ff.; SBE. XLII. 137,
304 ff. — 8 Cp. AV. 4. 39; Kaus. 5. 8; 59. 16; 68. 37; 72. 37; TS. 3. 4. 4. 1;
7. 5. 23. i; MS. I. 4. 14; TB. 3. 8. 18. 5; ApS. 20. 12. 8; PG. I. 5. 10; cp. IS.
XVII. 214; SBE. XLII. 508.
§ 55. Class 6). Charms pertaining to royalty (rajakarmani). —
The Atharvan moves in social extremes. On the one hand the practitioners
of this Veda catered largely to the wants and fears of the poor villagers of
India; hence later the scornful epithets grdmaydjin and pugayajhiya^. On
the other hand the most practical interests of the higher classes, the kings
and priests, were also largely dependent upon Atharvanic priests and rites.
The interests of the priests are expounded in the hymns of the next class;
the spiritual specialties of their religion {brahmd) figure also, to be sure in
a peculiarly exaggerated and confused form, in the theosophic hymns (class 10):
it is not to be doubted that the presence of these elements contributed to
the claim of the Atharvanic ritualists that their Veda was the Brahma-Veda ^
With scarcely less show of justice the Atharvan might have assumed the
designation ksatra-veda^ had it been advantageous to name it so. Indeed Prof.
Weber and the writer have pointed out certain circumstances and literary
statements, not altogether unambiguous, which make it seem that the Atharvan
was in certain moods regarded as the Veda of the Ksatriyas^. Such it was
without doubt to a considerable extent, but other phases of the same Veda
succeeded in impressing themselves still more vigorously. In this matter
the attitude of the Atharvan schools may be said to be significant for the
development of Hindu religion, after the Vedic {srautd) ritual had passed
its halcyon days. But for the overwhelming interest in theosophic specul-
ations of the Upanisad variety the later Atharvans would not have found it
to their advantage to spin out treatises on the brahma and the om (Atharvan
Upanisads), but would have confined themselves more to the worldly ad-
vantages derivable from their profession. In practice their aspirations found
74 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
during all this period, down to the times of the Dasakumaracarita, their most
profitable field in the service of kings as Purohitas and chaplains on the
field of battle^. The basis for these functions are the hymns of the present
class: they deal with the assumption of royalty (consecration and election);
with the development and aggrandisement of its strength and lustre; with the
defence of king and country against enemies from outside; in a measure also
they aim to bestow upon the Purohita the spiritual force necessary for his
effectiveness as the prime coadjutor of the kingS. AH these subjects are
alluded to scatteringly in the RV. and the other Samhitas (cp. especially RV.
lo. 103; 152; 173; 174, and 6. 47. 26 ff; 6. 75), but the AV. manifests itself
here, as elsewhere, in closer touch with real popular life in presenting the
largest number of hymns of this sort. They are supported by a long section
of so-called rdjakarmdni ('royal rites') in the Kausika (14 — 17)^. The in-
herent importance of these subjects accounts for the presence in the Srauta-
ritual of a very large number of practices intimately connected with the wel-
fare of the Ksatriyas, such as rdjasuya^ vdjapeya^ sautrdmam^ and asvamedka,
all of which were elaborated by the priests out of existing pof)ular practices.
Also the kamyesfayah, the sacrifices designed to secure the fulfilment of spec-
ial desires, incidentally and trustworthily reflect the frequency and familiarity
of royal practices: e. g. in the offering to Indra and Brhaspati, the heavenly
king and his Purohita, designed to remedy the decadence of sovereignty
{saktistambhananivdraka), TS. 2. 4. 13; MS. 2. i. 12; or in the sacrifices of
him that desires conquest (jayakdma), TS. 2. i. 13; MS. 2. 5. 3, 8, 9. The
Grhya-sutras have little, if anything, of this sort (e. g. the battle-charms, AG.
3. 1 2), whereas the Vidhana-literature and the AV. Parisistas abound in rdja-
karmdni: Rvidh. 2. 22. i; 24. 3 — 5; 4. 2. 3; 8. I, 2; 14. 5; 21. iff.; Svidh.
3. 5 and 6; Yvidh., Agni-Purana, adhyaya 259, sts. 66 — 73; Ath. Paris. 2 ff.
That the existence of similar practices is presupposed by the Dharma-texts,
the Epic, and thence through classical times, has been shown above 7. Throughout
these hymns Indra, the king, is the heavenly prototype of the earthly king,
admitting complete identification or merging of the two (3. 3. 2; 4. 6); King
Varuna figures similarly, suggesting occasionally, with a pun on the name,
the electoral power {var 'choose': 3. 4. 5, 6). Brhaspati or Brahmanaspati,
of course, represents the Purohita (11. 10. 10 ff.).
The consecration of a king has elicited the hymn 4. 8, composed with
true appreciation of the dignity of royalty, and reflecting genuine popular
institutions. In perfect accord with the descriptions of the rdjasuya in the
Srauta-texts two prominent acts are indicated: the king is sprinkled with holy
water mixed with the essence of auspicious plants; and he steps upon a
tiger-skin^. Conceived in a similar high spirit is 3. 4, a prayer at the elect-
ion of a king: the god Varuna, himself a heavenly king, figures as the divine
elector, his name being for the nonce derived from the root var 'choose' 9.
The restoration of an exiled king is accomplished with t^. -t^^ reinforced by
Kausika with significant symbolic practices. Quite a number of hymns are
designed to ensure to a king superiority over other kings, sole rulership, and
royal power generally: 4. 22; 6. 54; 86 — 88; 7. 84. An amulet of parna-
wood is praised as the strengthener of sovereignty in 3. 5. Quite a number
of hymns are engaged in securing to a monarch specific qualities befitting
such a personage: 'the strength {varcas) that is in the lion, the tiger, the
serpent; in Agni, the Brahmana, and Surya . . .; the strength that is in the
elephant, panther, and in gold; in the waters, cattle, and in men' (6. 38; cp.
I- 9; 19- 37)' To the acquisition of the strength of an elephant {hastivarcas)
a special hymn, 3. 22, is devoted. Glory {yasas) is another quality ardently
III. Contents OF THE Atharv A- Veda IN THE SaunakTya-School. 75
bespoken for a king, 6. 39, as also for the Brahmans themselves (6. 58; 69).
And 6. 61 seems to be a piece of self glorification on the part of a king (or
Brahman): it sounds as though it were adapted from, or patterned after a
hymn representing Indra engaged in self-praise; but it does not occur else-
where. The hymns to Rohita and RohinI (book 13) are at least related to
the present class; they represent this pair of divinities allegorically as king
and queen (see below, $61), and the terms in which they are exalted reflect
the praise and adulation of terrestrial monarchs. The ritual connected with
the royal hymns, as also the rajasuya in the Srauta-texts, represents the king
and his Purohita in mutual interdependence*": without successful /z^/-^/^/// there
can be no sound ksatra. With pardonable self-consciousness, considering the
temper of the times, the Purohita assumes responsibility for the king's success
in 3. 19: 'Keen (sharpened) is this prayer of mine, keen my manly force and
strength; keen therefore shall be the rule, and imperishable, of him whose
victorious Purohita I am". Similarly the stanza 7. 16. In humbler spirit the
prose litany 5. 24 contains prayers addressed to the pantheon for success in
the function of Purohita; and 19. dz (RV. i. 40. i) is adapted as an exhort-
ation addressed to a Purohita (Brahmanaspati), to captivate the gods and
make powerful the king iyajamdnd).
In their extent and vigor, and in their eager exploitation of details
elsewhere unknown, the war and battle charms of the Atharvan constitute
also a decided peculiarity of that Veda". The armament of weapons, snares,
traps, nets'^, and the stench produced by a rotten rope burned in the fire,
in order to bewilder and bring to fall the enemy (8. 8), bear the earmarks
ot the Veda of the ghorain. The battle-charms appear generally in pairs, or
groups of three: i. 19 is a charm against arrow-wounds, followed by i. 20
and 21, battle-charms in general. The group 6. 65 — 67 is of similar import;
in the first two the words nirhasta and nairhasta figure prominently: hand-
less the scheming enemy shall be, his arms shall be broken. Still other groups
are 3. i, 2, battle songs addressed to Agni to confuse the enemy; 4. 31, 32
(RV. 10. 84, '^Ty) addressed to Manyu, 'Wrath', as the victorious spirit of battle
(cp. 6. 65); 6. 97 — 99, prayers of the king to Agni, Indra, (Sec. upon the eve
of battle; 6. 103 — 104 charms to paralyse the enemy {samddna, dddna).
Especially fierce and prolongued is the attack upon the foe undertaken with
II. 9 and 10, addressed to the battle-demons Arbudi, Nyarbudi, and Tri-
samdhi, who are regarded as allies of Indra. The god Trisamdhi, 'Three-
joints', is evidently a personification of the three-pointed bolt of Indra (11. 10.3);
Arbudi and Nyarbudi are pretty certainly derived from the myth of the demon
Arbuda, the cloud-serpent, whom Indra slays: Nyarbudi seems to owe its
intrinsically meaningless prefix nl to verbal juxtapositions such as, ny arbudam
vdvrd/idfw astah^ RV. 2. 11. 20^^. Henry regards Arbuda as originally a
mythic double of Indra; we may preferably suppose that the friendly relation
of Indra and these secondary precipitates from Arbuda are due to a later
view of Arbudi and Nyarbudi as serpent-gods who are by these very terms
auspicious. The earlier import of the myth has passed out of sight^*. Another
pair of hymns, 5. 20 and 21, representing the better grade of Atharvanic
literary endeavor, are addressed to the battle-drum, the terror of the enemy:
'When the wife of the enemy hears the voice of the drum that speaks to a
far distance, may she, starting up at the sound, distressed, snatch her child
to her arms and run, frightened at the clash of arms'. Cp. also 6. 126 (RV.
6. 47. 29 — 31). Still other specialties are dealt with in 19. 20, the prayer
of a king while putting on his armor (cp. the st. 7. 118 = RV. 6. 75. 18);
in 6. 125 (RV. 6. 47. 26 — 28) and 7. 3, prayers of a king as he mounts his
76 n. Litter ATUR u. Geschichte. i b. Aiharva-Veda and Gopatha-Brahmana.
war-chariot. Finally there belong to this class the Atharvan version of the
famous opratiraiha-sukta^ i9- 13 (RV. 10. 103), and the hymns more vaguely
redolent of war, 6. 13; 7. 86; 91; 92; 93; 108; and no.
I See above, § 26; SEE. XLII, p. XL note, li. — 2 Above, § 33; SEE. XLII,
p. xxvii, Lxiiff. — 3 Weber, SPAW., 1891, p. 785—7; APAW., 1893, p. 4, 23 note,
143; Eloomfield, see. XLII, p. xxvflT. ; above, p. 10. — 4 SEE. XLII, p. Lv,
■ LXiiff.; above, § 26—28. — 5 SEE. XLII, p. ill — 133; cp. Weber, IS. X. 26 ff. ;
LUDWIG, Der Rig-Veda, III, 248 ff. ; Zimmer, p. 158 ff. Cp. the rastrasamvarga-
hymns, Kaus., p. 299, note 7. — ^ Cp. also the Parisista-like indramahotsava, Kaus.
140; Ath. Paris. 19 (Kausika, Introd. p. xxvi). — "l See S 26 ff.; SEE. XLII,
p. XLvni, LI. — 8 Weber, Rajasuya (APAW., 1893), Index, under 'salbung', and
' tiger-fell '. — 9 See RV. 10. 173, and cp. Ludwig, ibid., p. 250; Zimmer,
162 ff.; SEE. XLIL 331. — 10 Kaus. 17. 6, 7; Weber, Rajasuya (APAW., 1893), p. 4,
140 — 143. — "The Kausika designates the battle-charms as iamgramikafti [i^.'j);
special varieties are known as apanodanani (14. 14"*, and mohanani (14. 17). The
Ganamala, Ath. Paris. 34. 13, presents in the aparajita-gana a similar collection.
Cp. Svidh. 3. 6, and the terms mohar.a and sendstambhana in Tantric texts : Weber,
Verz. I, 270; II. 1184. — 12 Cp. the indrajala-vidhdfia, Weber, Verz. I. 270, with
AV. 8. 8. 5—8. — 13 Cp. also RV. i. 51. 6; 2. 14. 4; 8. 32. 3. — u SEE. XLIL
631 ff.; Henry, Les Livres X, XI, et XII, p. 164 ff.
§ 56. Class 7). Prayers and imprecations in the interest of
Brahmans. — The claims and prerogatives of the Brahmans^ have reached
in the AV. their highest pitchy excepting that the hyperbolic amounts of live
stock and other property, reputed to have been given them^ as daksind in
the ddiiastutis^ ndrdsamsyah, and the incidental reports of the Srauta-literature,
is restricted within more reasonable bounds in the numerous daksindAxymn's,
of the AV. The Brahmans bestow upon themselves freely the epithet deva
'god'^, which is after all perhaps, at least in the beginning, nothing more
than a bit of awkward logic, derived from the perception that the sacrifice
and the priestly reward {istd-puriain) are both sanctified acts which therefore
must each address themselves to a divine being. They are further fully con-
scious of being in charge by virtue of their function as Purohitas of the sover-
eignty of kings and the safety of countries; in addition^ all blessings of the
private folk flow from the Brahmans as the middle-men between the human
race and the gods. The social and economic conditions of the Brahmanas
in the AV. are very much the same as those elicited from statements in
the Srauta-literature such as have been gathered by Weber in his 'Collectanea
on the Castes', IS. X. i — 160. Especially pronounced is their claim of
'inviolability' {ajyeyatd, ahadhyatd^^ and the still exorbitant demand of daksind^
moderate as it seems compared with the lies of the ddnasititi^. The Athar-
vanic element appears in the former class in the shape of imprecations, fierce
beyond anything known elsewhere in the literature: oppression and murder
of Brahmans is the sin against the holy ghost. The hymns describing the
bestowal of daksind are quite unique: the performances are treated, some-
times at great length, as independent sacrificial acts delineated with the most
pains-taking detail; they are correlated with all that is holy or mystic in
nature and theosophic speculation {brahmd). This is one of the marked
specialties of these hymns : when a goat {ajd) is the piece de resistance of a
daksind it is both goat and the divine Aja Ekapad; when a steer, it is both
sacrificial animal and divine steer {anacivdn) 5. Thus it is difficult in individual
cases to decide whether a theosophic chain — often a jumble — of state-
ments has been adapted to the daksind^ or whether the daksind is the original
theme, being merely decked out with the famiHar mock-profundities of the
brahma.
The inviolability of Brahmans and their belongings is the subject of four
of the most graphic hymns of the AV. (5. 17 — 19; 12. 5). The first of these
ni. Contents OF THE Atharva- Veda IN THE SauxakTva-Schcx)l. 77
occurs fragmentarily in RV. 10. 109, which presents only 7 stanzas, but occurs
in a position in the RV. redaction pointing to a fuller version of 11 sts.,
perhaps identical with the first 11 sts. of AV. The last 7 sts. of AV. may
therefore, as also for intrinsic reasons, be regarded as later than the first 1 1 ^
The entire hymn is an imprecation against the violator of the wife of a
Brahman: kings or arrogant nobles (sts. 3, 10) seem to be the culprits in the
mind of the poet. Even king Soma ceded his mythical prerogative as the
first husband of every woman in favor of the Brahmans, the gods themselves
conducted the wedding ceremonies. Woe betide the king and country where
a Brahman's spouse is injured. Prosperity vanishes, children are not bom,
portentous occurrences terrify the people. The other three hymns' are di-
rected against the oppressors of Brahmans, especially agiinst those that rob
(withhold j their cattle**: 'That kingdom verily she (the cow) swamps, as water
a leaking ship; misfortune smites that kingdom in which they injure a Brah-
mana. The trees chase away with the words: "do not come within our
shade", him that covets the wealth that belongs to a Brahmana, O Narada*
(5. 19. 8, 9). The vials of the Brahman's wrath are not thus emptied; fiercely
they consign their oppressor to death, accentuating their theme by suggestive
references to the harrowing details of the funeral-practices: 'The ^ut/i-p\aint
that wipes away the track (of death) 9, which they fasten to the dead, that
very one, O oppressor of Brahmans, the gods did declare thy couch* . . .
'The water with which they bathe the dead, with which they moisten his
beard, that very water, O oppressor of Brahmans, the gods did assign to thee
as thy share of water' (5. 19. 12, 14),
On the positive side the Brahmans assert the importance and power of
the purohiti (3. 19; 5. 24; 7. 16; 19. 63, above, p. 75). But above all the
AV., as almost every other phase of Vedic literature ^^, pleads not at all
shame-facedly but with the wholesome courage of its convictions for the per-
quisites of the Brahmans. The ddnastuti which narrates fabulous feats of
giving, doubtless by way of stimulus to future givers, is to be sure almost
entirely absent". In this matter the attitude of the Atharvan is rather pre-
scriptive or didactic than quasi-historical. Or, the witchery of magic formula
and prayer is applied, to exorcise avarice and conjure liberality. The pretty
hymn 5. 7, addressed to the demon 'Grudge' {ardti) cajoles her, though she
be 'golden-complexioned, lovely, resting upon golden cushions', quite an
Apsaras or 'schoene Teufelinne' in her fascinations, to go away. Instead,
'him whom I implore with Vac Sarasvati (holy speech), the yoke-fellow of
thought, Sraddha (faith that expresses itself in works, sc. in daksind) shall find
to-day, bestowed by the brown Soma' (st. 5)^'. The same result is craved
in the following rather plaintive ejaculation, showing that even a Brahman
might be /pyjojxoa-JVTQ x' etxoDV xal oxucsipfj ttsvitq: *What king, desirous of
more possessions, will get us out of this wretched misery? Who is desirous
of sacrifice, and who of (getting the heavenly reward of) presents (to the
Brahmans)? Who seeks for long life from the gods?' (7. 103; cp. 7. 104)^3.
Within this sphere belongs also 5. ii, a conversation between Varuna and
Atharvan (the typical priest) about a wonderful cow bestowed by the former
upon the latter. Varuna tries to take it back, but is induced by Atharvan
to desist ^4. Aside from the regular daksind the thrifty Brahmans stood ready
to gather in all sorts of odds and ends. Thus the birth of twin-calves (3. 28),
contrary to modem superstition which regards animals bora in pairs as
auspicious, is made to appear as a portentuous occurrence requiring expiation,
part of which consists in making over 'the growling and cross cow that
injufeth the cattle' to the Brahmans *s. A cow which after a certain time is
78 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GOPATHA-BraHMANA.
discovered to be sterile {vas'a) is viewed in a similar light: the long anustubh-
hymn 12. 4 recounts in picturesque language, accompanied by fierce threats,
urgent reasons for passing her on to the Brahmans whom nothing hurts. But
the brunt of the Athar van's activity in this line is directed towards the com-
position of elaborate hymns which are obviously intended to accompany the
bestowal of substantial dakshms, and, what is more singular, to elevate the
ceremonies connected therewith to the position of independent sacral acts of
great formality and dignity. These daksinds are designated by Kausika as
sava {savdn da 'to give savas^) — the word sava in this sense does not
occur in the text of the Samhita; see, however, RV. i. 126. i. The Srauta-
texts are acquainted with savas which are accounted as forms of the ekaha;
they are solemn consecrations {abhiseka) for special ceremonies of consider-
able variety ^^. TB. 2. 7 recounts seven of these, one being styled odanasava
(2.7.7), performed by an armddyakdma: Kausika specializes this idea altogether
in the direction of the bestowal of daksind, devoting to his savas the entire
eighth adhyaya. Two versions of the savas are there presented, one 60 — 66,
the other in the nature of a Parisista, 67—68. Both the sacrificer and his
wife ipatm) participate in the ceremonious details of these performances as
kartdrau; special utensils {sdvikdh sambhdrdh, 67. i) are employed. Kesava,
p. 364^ summarizes these %avas, stating their number as 22. The most pro-
nounced type of these appears in the two hymns 11. i and 12.3 w^hich Kes.
designates respectively as brahmaudana and svargaudana. They represent the
stanzas chanted at a solemn combination of a soma-sacrifice with the pre-
paration of porridge for the Brahmans' daksiiid. Presents of gold and clothes
II. I. 28; 12. 3. 51) are also hinted at; nevertheless there is something real
and homely about these performances in which the wife takes part, and which
are spoken of (11.1.19) as a practice of long standing in the family : 'Grand-
fathers, fathers, children^ grandchildren — I am the fifteenth that did cook
thee (O porridge)'! They are far removed from the suspicious bluster of the
ddnastuti. Allied to these is 11. 3, an allegoric liturgic exaltation of the
oda7ia., in Brahmana-prose: in sts. 50 ff. the porridge is assimilated to the sun.
A goat {aja, assimilated, as a matter of course, to Aja Ekapad), garnished
with five odanas {aja pancaudana) is the subject of 9. 5 (cp. 4. 14); a cow,
accompanied by a hundred odanas {sataudana), similarly correlated with the
pantheistic heavenly cow, is bestowed in 10. 9. An odana whose main motive
is escape from death {ati tardni nirtymnY^ is dealt with in 4. 35; another,
prepared with succulent sauces and called vistdrin 'spreader', is described in
mystic cosmogonic language as conducive to happiness in the other world.
And 6. 123 also represents explicitly the doctrine that presents to the Brahmans
are a treasure laid up in heaven. Many of these savas centre around an
animal: 10. 10 a vasd', 9. 4 an rsabha, assimilated to the various celestial
bulls (Rohita, Indra, Tvastar, etc.); 4. 11 (adapted secondarily) an anadvan\
7. 22, corrupt and unintelligible formulas occurring elsewhere ^^, 2. go-sava\
6. 31, a hymn to the rising sun {gauh prs'nih), a prsni-sava\ 3. 29. i — 6 an
avi-sava, followed in sts. 7, 8 by a prdyascitta to expiate for its acceptance
(IS. 10. 55); 6. 30. I, in praise of grain {yava) mixed with honey, is called
paunahsila madhumantha (Kaus. 66. 15). Kesava's list of 22 savas exhibits
yet other hymns and stanzas recited, at times quite secondarily, in connection
v^'i'Cn daksind\ e.g. i. 31, a prayer to the regions of space {dsdJi) for health
and prosperity, at a catuhsardva-sava (Kaus. 64. i). Decidedly the most
interesting of all these daksinas is depicted in 9. 3 [sdlasava): a house is
gradually taken apart; like a living thing it is handled very gingerly during
the process; then it is made over to the Brahman who receives it with solemn
III. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 79
prayers for his own future well-being in it, and finally takes it to his own
place of residence '9. Of importance also is the distinct presence of the
notion, more or less like those of the Dharmasastras etc., that the gift of water
to Brahmans, either independently, or as part of a more substantial daksind,
is a holy act: 6. 122 (10. 9. 27; 11. i. 17, 27)***. The occasional squeamish-
ness of the Brahmans which arises from the feeling that they are too much
'on the make', or are receiving improper gifts, gains expression in the expia-
tory prayer 6. 71, or in the formulas 3. 29. 7, 8; cp. Weber's collections, IS.
10. 55 ff.
The chapter of the greed and self-assertion of the Brahmans is relieved
considerably here, as throughout Brahmanical literature, by opposite currents
of thought and feeling. The redemptory note of their character is their con-
sciousness of 7ioblesse oblige. A Brahman must be well-regarded among men
and therefore well-qualified for his holy office. Two prayers (6. 58 and 69)
signalize their craving for the esteem of men^^ To gain this end they must
be wise, illumined, spiritually pure, firmly rooted in holy learning. Very pro-
perly then the famous hymn aham rudreb/iir, in praise of Vac, 4. 30 (RV.
10. 125), even in modern times one of the mainstays of the samnydsin, is
employed in a rite to beget wisdom, or at the study of the Vedas^^ More
directly 6. 108 (cp. RVKh. 10. 151) is an explicit prayer for 7ned/id, 'wisdom';
19. 4 for dkuti 'perception'; 19. 41 — 43 are prayers for brahma 'spiritual
elevation', and diksd 'consecration'; and 19. 64 is a prayer for wisdom and
other more worldly advantages on the part of a Brahmacarin as he builds
the fire. Related with these, though of a more general character, are three
prayers for purification, 6. 19; 51; and 62. Devotion to Vedic learning -j is
at the base of such compositions as 7. 105 and 19. 68, stanzas introductory
to the teaching of the Veda; 7. 54 and 7. 61, prayers for success in the study
of the Veda; 7. 66 and 67, prayers for regaining holy learning; and 19.71,
the praise of the gdyatri-''. Cp. also the very late matter 19.21 — 23 (S3 7,
note 14). The opening hymn of the Samhita (i. i) is a prayer to Vacaspati,
the ' lord of speech', for comprehension and retention of the sruta^ the holy
learning following in the Samhita: 'the tlirice seven (sounds or syllables)
wearing all forms, their powers the lord of speech shall make mine to-day* '5,
A similar stanza at the end of book 19 (72) contains a blessing at the con-
clusion of this Veda, confirming the theory of the late and secondary char-
acter of book 20 (§ 35).
I SEE. XLII. 169—198, and the notes thereto; cp. Weber, IS. X. iff.; Lud-
wiG, Der Rig-Veda, III. 268 ff. ; Zimmer, 168 ff., I95ff. — 2 AV. 3. 3. 26; 6. 13. i;
58. 2; 11. 1. 23; 12. 3. 38: cp. Weber, IS. 10. 35 ff. ; above, p. 3. — 3 Weber,
1. c, p. 60 ff.; Zimmer, 197 ff. — 4 Weber, il)., p. 53; SPAW., 1891, p. 771; below
S 63, end. — 5 AV. 4. 1 1 ; cp. Jacob, Concordance to the Upanishads, s. v. ana-
duh. — 6 Oldenberg, Die Hymnen des Rig-Veda, p. 240 ff. — 7 St. i of 5. 19
occurs with variants JB. l. 152; the hymn 12. 5 is mixed prose and quasi-poetry.
Cp. Svidh. 1. 6. — 8 Hence 5. 18 and 19 are designated as brahmagavl, Kaus. 48.
13 ff. — 9 Roth, Festgruss an Bohtlingk, p. 98 — 99, quotes a similar Hellenic
custom from Antoninus Liberalis 23; cp. SBE. XLII. 436. — 10 Cp. RV. 1, 125.
4 — 7; and 8. 31. — " Excepting the «ar5jawj7-stanzas of the kuntdpa-Yi-^varx 20.
127. 1—3. — 12 SBE. XLII. 172, 423 ff.; Bloomfield, AJPh. XVIL 411; Olden-
berg, ZDMG. L. 423 ff. The little hymn 7. 57 seems also a charm to secure
daksma (cp. prnad ghrtena\ but it appears to have been adapted secondarily from
another sphere.' — ^3 Bloomfield, AJPh. XVIL 408 ff. — m Roth, Abhandlung,
p. i; MuiR, OST. I2. 395; cp. AV. 7. 104. — i5 Kau§. 109—111. — i6 Pet. Lex.,
s. V. sava; SS., Index, s. v. Jrtz/« ; Hillebrandt, Ritual-Litteratur, p. 140. — 17 Kaus.,
atimrtyw, Kes. and Say. aiimrtyusava. — 18 SV. i. 458; ApS. 21.9. 15; PB. 4- 9- I ;
Svidh. 1. 6. 2; 3. 1. 4; Kaus. 66. 14; Vait. 13. 8. — 19 SBE. XLII. 193 ff., 593 ff.
— 20 Cp. Manu 3. 244; 4. 229; 6. 7; 9. 168, 186; Xarada 5. 41; Sakuntala, ^loka
155 (ed. Bohtlingk). — 21 This is the domain oi yasas and brahmavarcasat IS. X.
8o II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. IB. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
105 ff.; Svidh. 2. 7. — 22 Kaus. lo. 16; 139. 15 — 23 Cp. IS. X. illff. — 24The
MSS. read vedamdtd for which the viilgate substitutes vandamdnd. Sayana, ^dyatrl,
Cp. GB. I. 1. 38, end. — 25 Whitn£y, Festgruss an Roth, p. 94. Cp. Kaus. Index B,
p. 385, under visvakarma.
% 57. Class 8). Charms to secure prosperity and freedom from
danger (paustikani). — In a sense the entire Veda is a long-drawn cry for
prosperity, beginning with the word ratnadhdtama, RV. i. i. i, and running
through almost every hymn and ceremony. The province of the Atharvan is
to provide for individual desires and special exigencies, very much in the
manner of the kdmyesti of the Srauta-literature, and in a measure also of the
Grhya-literature ^, but to an extent and with a degree of thoroughness else-
where unknown. Nowhere does the exceeding practicality ofVedic literature
appear in a stronger light. In the later systematization this type of activity
receives the name pustikarma {paustikani karmdTii)^^ a pendant to bhesaja
and abhicdra^ terms that are also in the main precipitates from the Atharvan
literature. House and home, field and river, grain and rain, cattle and horses,
trading and gambling, journeying and returning, serpents and vermin, furnish
the special themes for these prayers and charms. And over it all is the still
more persistent outcry after wealth and progeny; exemption and protection
from calamity and danger 3. Such is the impression gained from this class
which, barring the 20'^ book, forms rather more than one fifth of the hymns
of the Sanihita. We may follow conveniently the order indicated above in
the brief characterization of the materials herein concerned.
The rite of house-building is represented by 3. 12, stanzas of which occur
in almost all the Grhya-sutras in connection with the same practice ^. A certain
accessory ceremony called syenaydga or syenejyd, unearthed by the present
writers, takes place in connection with 7. 41. The hymn is addressed to the
divine eagle (lightning): according to the commentators at Kaus. 43. 3 the
ceremony is performed on the ground upon which a new house is to be
built, or within the new house after its completion, its purpose being to fore-
fend untoward circumstances. Apparently the house shall not be struck by
lightning: 'the eagle looking for a resting-place shall come hither kindly
{siva) together with his friend Indra'. Other charms to conciliate the 'goddess
lightning' and to cause her to spare the stores of grain, are i. 13 and 7. 11.
Protection from conflagrations is secured by means of 6. 106, accompanied
by significant practices with water-plants and a frog^, whereas 3. 21 more
broadly aims to quiet the destructive force of all sorts of fires, especially the
funeral-fire. A charm for conducting a river into a new channel, 3. 13, is
built up upon six stanzas of a general character, in praise of the waters; the
seventh stanza points in the direction of the underlying practices: Kaus. 40.
I — 6 adds exceedingly interesting details^. The field is ploughed while reciting
the very composite hymn 3. 17, which is supported by further mantras and
significant^ practices in Kaus. 20. (cp. RV. 4. 57). The little hymn to Indra
6. 33 (SS. 18. 3. 2 with variants) is also prescribed, Kaus. 23. 17, at a
ploughing ceremony; it is followed by a blessing over the seed as it is being
sowed, 6. 142. Charms to procure abundance or increase of grain are 3.24
and 6. 79, the latter with notable variants, TS. 3.3.8.2—3; the very original
hymn 6. 50 exorcises the vermin which infests the grain in the field. Of
charms to secure rain, that greatest desideratum of the Hindu agrarian, there
are three: 4. 15; 6. 22; and 7. 18; of these the first contains original mater-
ials, and is partly in close touch with the frog-hymn, RV. 7. 103, also a
rain-charm^ Quite common are charms connected with cattle: 2.26; 3. 14;
4. 21; and 7. 75, to secure prosperity of cattle; 6. 59, a prayer to the plant
m. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 8i
arundhati for the protection of cattle. The three sts. 4. 38. 5 — 7, designated,
Kaus. 21. II, as karkipravdddh (sc. rcah), according to the scholiast ensure
the prosperity of cattle: we have interpreted thera more particularly as a
prayer to secure the return of calves that have strayed to a distance 9. Of
special interest are 6. 70, a charm to secure the attachment of a cow to her
calf; 6. 141, a prayer pronounced while marking the ears of cattle (cp. 12.
4. 6)^**; and 4. 3, a very forceful shepherds, charm against wild beasts and
robbers (tiger, man, wolf, and serpent). The time-honored love for racing
gains expression in 6. 92, a charm to endow a horse with fleetness: the
stanzas seem to have originated in connection with the z/^/'df/O'^-ceremony";
similarly perhaps 19. 25. Trading and travelling are closely allied: 3. 15 is
a lively merchants prayer to 'Indra the merchant' for a safe journey and
abundant gain; 6. 55; 7. 8; and 7. 55 are stanzas adapted as prayers for a
safe journey; and the rather indefinable mixtum compositum 5. 6 seems to
be an oracle to find out whether one will survive a journey '^. On returning
from a journey there is the prayer, 7. 60, to the house, to remove from it
fear of the owner, and to make it prosperous ^^. Of especial interest is
6. 128, the propitiation of the weather-prophet who predicts the weather for
a person about to start on a journey (Kaus. 50. 15, 16): 'When the stars
made Sakadhuma (he who predicts the weather from the smoke of burning
dung) their king, they bestowed g9od weather upon him: "This shall be his
dominion", they said'. Whether Sakadhuma is really originally the human
weather-prophet or some mythical conception is not to be made out with
certainty ^4. The special danger besetting both traveller and householder in
India are serpents: 6.56 seems to be an exorcism of serpents from the prem-
ises; whereas the so-called digyukte {sc.sukte), 3-26 and 27, seem to have
in mind the danger from serpents when abroad, as they mention all directions
of the compass '^ Especially noteworthy is 10.4, a long charm against serp-
ents, invoking the white horse of Pedu, probably the horse of the sun^^; in
practice an insect that has come by the name of Paidva is substituted for
the unattainable horse (Kaus. 32. 20 ff.). The hymn 7. 9, mLxed stanzas ad-
dressed to Pusan^7, makes up a charm for finding lost property; and there
are finally three or four prayers for success in gambling at dice, 4. 38. i — 4;
7.50; 7.109; and perhaps also 2. 2, addressed especially to Apsara (Apsaras)
who otherwise also bears an unsavory reputation: the passion for gambling
is quite as fierce as it is depicted in the classical complaint of the gambler
who would reform, RV. 10. 34.
The remaining hymns of this class are more general in character, divisible
into two classes: one designed to procure health, wealth, and prosperity; the
other to ward off danger and calamity. Three hymns, 1.15; 2.26; and 19. i,
centre about the so-called sdmsrdvya havis, an oblation which secures the
'flowing together' of all possible wealth ^^ (see S 60, end); the hymns 4. 13;
7. 69; 19. 9 — II are prayers for s'am 'prosperity'; the prose formulas 4. 39,
known as samnafi^^, are designed to bend the heavenly powers to one's
desire for all the good things of life; the st. 7. 24 is a prayer to the gods
to engage personally in procuring prosperity; 1.31 is a prayer to the regions
of space for health and prosperity; i. 32 and 6. 10 are cosmic stanzas or
formulas similarly designed; 3. 16 (RV. 7. 41) and 3. 20 (RV. 10. 141), ad-
dressed to Agni, are morning prayers for prosperity; similar is the purpose of
19. 55. The udumbara-XxQt furnishes an amulet to secure prosperity, 19. 31.
The members of the Vedic pantheon are called upon individually to furnish
prosperity, the stanzas frequendy coinciding with those of other texts, with
the presumption in favor of their origin outside of the AV.: Indra in 19. 5
Indo-arische Philologie II. 1b. 6
82 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. IB. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GOPATHA-BrAHMANA.
(RV. 7. 27, 3); Agni in 7. 82 and 19. 3 (TB. i. 2. i. 21 ff.); Agni Vaisvanara
in 6. 35 and 36 (AS. 8. 11. 4; SS. 10. 9. 17; SV. 2. 1058 — 6oj; Savitar in
6. I (AS. 8. I. 18), 7. 14 (SV. I. 464^-), and 7. 15 (MS. 2. 10. 6); Usas in
19. 12 (RV. 10. 172. 4, and 6. 17. 15); SarasvatI in 7. 68 (MS. 4. 12. 6j;
Sarasvant in 7. 40 (TS. 3. i. 11. 3); the divine eagle in 7.39 (RV. 1.164. 52J;
Tarksya Aristanemi in 7. 85 (RV. 10. 178. i); the devapatnyah in 7.49 (RV.
5. 46. 7, 8). Especially the personified phases of the moon, amdvdsyd, pau-
rnamdsl, darsa (7. 79 — 81), and the female genii of these phases, Anumati
(7.20), Sinivall (7.46), Kuhu (7.47), Raka (7. 48)^°, are implored for wealth
and, especially, offspring; the very late hymns 19. 7, 8 engage the favor of
the constellations {naksatra)^^; finally the hymn 3.10 to Ekastaka, a personi-
fied lunar day near the beginning of the year^^, viewed as the wife, or
epitomized equivalent of the year, is implored to make the year prosperous.
The hymns designed to ward off" calamity and danger exhibit many
points of contact with the charms against witchcraft, as well as with the
battle-charms, sorcery and war being conspicuous sources of danger. Of these
the most notable are the group 4.23 — 29, known as the mrgdrdju, or mrgdra-
suktdni^^. They were obviously compiled by the Atharvanist for purification
and against misfortune: the refrain contains throughout the expression muc
amhasah ^release from misfortune'. The hymns are a curious expansion of
the so-called mrgdresii of the Yajus-texts ^^^ to which they are unquestionably
secondary (see S 45J- The first and the last stanzas of most of these hymns
are derived from the Yajus; the intervening stanzas are padding. Only 4. 28
does not seem to occur in the Yajus at all; the theme, prayer to Bhava and
Sarva, marks it as Atharvanic by distinction (cp. 11. 2): these gods were not
to be omitted from such an appeal to the pantheon. Note also the contents:
krtyakrt and mulakrt in St. 6; kimidin in st. 7. Very similar to the mrgardni^
and having the same refrain, is 11. 6, a prayer for deliverance from calamity,
addressed to the pantheon: the clear and fairly complete list of divinities,
very much on the plain of the Yajus-texts, imparts to the hymn its chief
interest; cp. also i. 26; 6. 3, 4, 7; 7. 112. The divinity to whom this class
of prayers is addressed most frequently is Rudra (Siva- Agni), under the large
variety of names of embodiments {77iurii) customary with that divinity ""5. in
addition to 4. 28 the long prayer 11. 2, to Bhava and Sarva, two of the
embodiments of Rudra, is conspicuous for its intensity; cp. also 6.93 and 7.87.
Other divinities and personifications are occasionally appealed to individually:
Agni Samtapana in 6. 76; personified Death by weapons wielded by Brahmans
{deva), Ksatriyas, Vaisyas, etc. in 6. 13^^; Soma, the slayer of demons, in 6.7;
Aditi, the universe, and therefore the universal protector, in 7. 6 (cp. 7. 7);
Night, the protector against the robbers, wild animals, and demons that infest
her, in the late hymns 19. 47 — 49 (cp. RV. 10. 12 7); and the shallow though
characteristic personifications Visvajit, Trayamana, Kalyani, and Sarvavid in
the prose-formulas 6.107. ^^ the manner of the ^r^^r^ -hymns, which accent-
uate the idea of release from calamity {fnuc amhasah) ^t, other hymns employ
other catch-words to gain similar results: the word abhaya ^freedom from
danger' ^^ is the keynote of 6.40; 19.14 and 15 (followed by similar trashy
matter in 19. 17 — 19); the hymn 4. 33 (RV. i. 97, et al.) with its refrain,
apa nah sosucad ag/iam, the so-called apdgka-hymn^^, figures as a matter of
course; the prose-formulas 5. 10 harp upon the word asmavarma 'protection
firm as stone', being exploited practically in that sense Kaus. 5. 14^°. Finally
there is to be mentioned the singular charm i. 27 in which danger is warded
off by an amulet made from the skin of a moulting serpent, the serpents in
this condition symbolizing the powerless enemy. The amulet is homoeopathic,
in. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 83
as it were3^ The hymns to the waters (see 8 50, end), though very general
in character, are also in close touch with this class.
» See the list of the kdniya ifUiyak in Weber's edition of the TS., vol. II,
P- 343 ; Oldenberg, SBE. XXX, p. 303 ff., 306. Cp. Meyer, Rig-vidhana, Introd.,
p. xu; Svidh. 3. i ff. — 2 Cp. HlLLEBRANDT, Ritual-Litteratur, p. 169. — 3 SBE.
XLII, p. 140—162, and the notes on these hymns. — 4 See Oldenberg's citations,
SBE. XXX, p. 303, bottom; cp. Hillebrandt, 1. c, p. 80. — 5 JAOS. XVI. I2fr.;
cp. Colebrooke, Essays I. 319. — 6 Contributions. Second Series, AJPh. XI. 342 ff. ;
SEE. XLII, p. 147, 5i4fr. — 7 SBE. XLII, p. 146, 348 IT. — 8 Hillebrandt, GGA.,
1889, p. 406; Bloomfield, JAOS. XVII. I73ff. Cp. RV. 7. 1 01 — 105; 10. 98, and
the hymns to Parjanya in general. — 9 SBE. XLII, p. 150, 413. — »o Delbruck,
Gurupujakaumudi, p. 48. — " Weber, SPAW., 1892, p. 788; Bloomfield, SBE.
XLII, p. 508. — »2 Cp. Kau§. 15. 12; 18. 27: the hymn is especially related to
ApS. 16. 18. 7 ff. — >3 A number of these stanzas occur in the Gfhya-sQtras and
elsewhere; cp. in general Kau§. 89. 12. — M Seven Hymns, AJPh. VII. 484 ff.;
SBE. XLII, p. 160, 532 fT. — '5 Cp. the so-called sarpTihuti, TS. 5. 5. 10. 1—5;
MS. 2. 13. 21; ApMB. 2. 17; Weber, IS. XVH. 291 ff. — »6 Weber, IS. L 292;
Bergaigne, La Religion Vedique, IL 451— 2, 498; SBE. XLIL 152, 605 ff. —
17 RV. 10. 17. 6, 5, and 6.54.9, 10. — '» Ludwig, Der Rig-Veda, III. 371 ; Hille-
brandt, Ritual-Litteratur, p. 114. — 19 See % 54, note 8. — 20 Cp. Kaus. 1.29,30;
GB. 2. 1. 10. — 21 Naksatrakalpa 10 presents them in full, not by pratlka, showing
that these pieces did not figure in the Saunaklya-Sanihita at the time of the com-
pilation of the Naksatrakalpa. — 22 Weber, IS. XVII. 218 ff.; Hillebrandt, Ritual-
Litteratur, p. 94. — 2j Kaus. 9. 1; 27. 34; cp. also 32. 27, note. The \sox^ mrgxra
seems to be from marj 'purify', but that is not certain. Cp. the mrgara-vrala^ Kes.
to Kaus. 42. 12 ff.; Ath. Paddh. to Kau^. 57. 32. — 24 TS. 4- 7- 15; ^^S. 3. 16. 5;
cp. IS. III. 395, — 25 Most of the others appear in the hymn incidentally; cp. SBE.
XLII. 618. — 26 Closely related, of course, to the battle-charms, and employed m
that function, Kaus. 14. 25; 15. 6. — 27 See Kausika, Index B, under, amhoHngah
(p. 383). — 28 See ibid. — 29 See ibid. — 3o Read, sraktisu 'pary with Bu. for
srakti§!t fary in Kaus.; cp. the parallel formulas Kaus. 49. 7 ff. — 3» Webkr, LS.
IV. 42 1; cp. SBE. XLII, Index, under 'homoeopathy'.
§ 58. Class 9). Charms in expiation of sin and defilement
(prayascittani). — The Hindu conceptions of sin are very complex. Not
only is sin an individual, conscious act in violation of the laws of the gods
and the universe, but it exists as an independent morbid substance or entity
which may fasten itself upon man without his conscious participation, or at
least without his choice or sanction. In this sense sin or evil, enas^ pdpman^
etc., assume the character of an almost physical deficiency or disease. Sin,
too, is transferable from man to man, from father to son, yea from gods to
men; the sin of the gods plays no mean part in endangering the peace of
men': e. g. in 6. in. 3 mania is produced by sins of the gods. He who is
seized by sin (^pdpmagrhlta) is deprived of his strength by Indra and held
captive in Varuna's toils (TS. 2. 3. 13). Personal defects and mishaps, evil
dreams, aspersion of one's character, ominous and portentous occurrences in
the sphere within which one lives, or in nature about one, and, a fortiore,
irregularities and mishaps in the course of religious ceremonies are conceived
as closely allied, and confluent with sin and personal offences; they all re-
quire expiation, correction, or cure : prdyascitti or prdyascitta '. Neither of
these words occur in the RV., the former only once in AV. 14. i. 30, but
expiatory stanzas are common throughout the mantra-literature^. They are
supported moreover by countless practices in the Srauta-texts in connection
with faults in the sacrifice"^, or in the kdttiya istayah of persons attacked by
sin, calumny, and misfortune 5; in the extensive sections on prdyascitta in the
d/iarma-\.Q.x\s; in the Grhya-sutras, where they are not very common^; and
in the Vidhana-texts 7. A special variety oi prdyascitta^ namely those connected
with omens and portents {adb/iutd)^ has passed through a somewhat independent
development, so as to assume the character of a special and extensive class
6*
■84 n. LlTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GOPATHA-BraHMANA.
of literature; the most notable compositions of this sort are the 13'^ book of
the Kausika and the so-called Adbhuta-Brahmana (SB. 5)^.
More than 40 hymns of the AV. are devoted to this class of subjects '',
quite a considerable part of them covering a single tract, 6. no — 121. It
is worthy of note that these hymns, with the exception of 6. 114 and per-
haps also 19. 59, do not expressly deal Wiih. prdyas'citfas for defects in the
sacrifice. The late Gopatha-Brahmana in whose view the fourth priest at a
Vedic sacrifice, the so-called Brahman, must be an Atharvavedin, repeatedly
assigns to him ex officio the correction of blunders in the ritual, the samdhdna
of what is virista'^°. Nevertheless //-^y^jr/Z/^-mantras that pertain directly to
the events of the ritual, such as those of Vait. 12. 8, 9; GB. i. 2. 7, are pre-
sented by these texts in sakalapatha, and do not occur in the Sarnhita, which
in this as in all other respects touches but lightly upon the sphere of the
/r^z^^/^-practices, although it does not fail entirely to take cognizance of them
(see below § 60). That rituaUstic prdyascitta became later very prominent
in the Atharvan schools we may gather from the existence of the unpublished
six prdyascitta-Qki2c^X.^x's> of the Vaitana ' ^ The largest number of these hymns
address themselves in general terms to the expiation and consequent release
from sin, frequently cataloguing a variety of misdemeanors, but not specifying
what particular one it is that burdens the conscience; identical or similar
stanzas frequently recur in the other Samhitas, most especially in TA. 2. 3 — 6.
Thus 6. 45 (cp. RV. 10. 164) is in expiation of mental delinquency {ma?tas-
fdpa); 6. 26 is directed against pdpman^ ^evil', personified as a 'thousand-
eyed immortal'; 6. 115 against sin, this time called enas) 6. 119 and 120 are
prayers to Agni Vaisvanara for remission of sins and ultimate paradise; 6. 121
aims at release fromVaruna's fetters of sin. Three of these hymns 6. 117 —
119 harp upon the word rna 'debt', carrying with it the notion of debts in-
curred, but not paid; especially 6. 118, addressed to the two Apsaras suggests
gambling-debts. Another, 6. 116, exhibits a conscience afflicted by the sin of
sorcery-practice, yady dmam cakrur nikhanantaJf^. The boundary-line between
sin and misfortune inirrti) is evanescent: hymns like 6. 63 and 84 do not
differ much in spirit and diction from the preceding. Similarly curses from
the outside and sin are correlated in 7.65 and 112, and the rather obscure stanza
7. 43, rubricated Kaus. 46. i in a practice to avert calumnious accusation,
may also be of this sort. Also the general purificatory charms, 6. 19; 51;
and 62 (above § 56, end), contain certain touches of expression which ally
them to this sphere. Frequently, on the other hand, the fault requiring
prdyascitta is stated more or less clearly: 6. 114 seems to be an expiatory
formula to correct imperfections in the sacrifice (cp. 19. 59); 7. 106 is a
prayer to Agni to forgive sins due to forgetfulness (in religious matters);
19. 40 seems to be Xht prdyascitta of one consecrated for the soma-sacrifice
{diksita) who has committed a disturbing fault (anger;; 7. 66 and 67 seem
to be prayers for regaining one's holy learning {brdkmanam), perhaps after
it has been lost through some sin; 7. 102 is 2i prdyascitta for urinating while
standing erect, addressed to the offended deities ([av)o' dvi' tjsXioo Tsipafi-
|xsvo^ 6p(>6? otiixeiv, Hes. Erga, v. 727); cp. 13. i. 56. The obscure mixtum
compositum, 6. 49, is recited Kaus. 46. 14 by a Brahmacarin at the death of
his teacher, whereas ApS. 14. 29. 3 puts the first two stanzas in the mouth
of a diksita who has fallen from grace {yadi diksito 'vakiret)^^. That the
receipt of gifts by the Brahmans is occasionally looked upon as an act re-
quiring penance (3. 29. 7, 8; 6. 71; 7. 57) has been shown above (§ 56).
Related with these last is 2. 35 (TS. 3. 2. 8. 3; MS. 2. 3. 8), an expiatory
hymn recited to atone for the sin of depriving them that are justly
III. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya -School. 85
entitled to it of their share of food. Thus in TS. at the sattra^ when all
participants are entitled to daksind, but do not receive it*^. See the
stanza about the kevaladin whose food is in vain {mogham annam, TB.
2. 8. 8. 3), or sinful {agha, Manu 3. 118). In Kaus. 38. 22 the hymn is
recited by one who eats alone in company, in defence against the evil eye
of those that do not participate. The slaughter of cattle is constantly looked
at askant by the Hindus; hence every bloody sacrifice is overlaid with the
fiction that the proper execution of the animal can be performed without
injury to it, and even with its consent '5. The hymn 2. 34 is in the nature
of an atonement for a sacrifice in which the victim is conceived as in reality
ransomed from death, and following the sinless sacrificer to heaven *^ One of
the greatest crimes of ancient India, affecting both injurer and injured, is the
precedence of the younger brother before the older on various solemn
occasions in life, especially in the matter of marriage {pari vid). Two hymns,
6. 112 and 113, atone for this sort of sin, which, like sundry others, is looked
upon as having originated with the gods who 'wiped it off' on their scape-
goat, the god Trita, by whom it was in turn passed on to men*7.
But, as stated before, the notion of expiation extends also to circum-
stances inherent or accidental which cannot and do not involve personal
responsibility. Here expiation assumes the character of cure or correction of
inauspicious conditions and accidents, naturally broaching upon the domain
of bhesaja 'cure''^. The conception of the goddess Nirrti 'misfortune' (6.63
and 84) is founded largely upon these ideas '9. Thus 7. 115 is a charm for
the removal of evil characteristics {pdpi laksnil) and the acquisition of
auspicious ones {puny a laksmt)\ cp. i. 18. The puzzling composite stanzas
6.30.2,3 are prescribed, Kaus. 31. i, for one whose hair has been cut by a
sanii and one who has evil characteristics {sam'ilunapdpalaksanayoJi). St. 2
seems to allude to drunkenness which might cover the ground oi pdpalaksana;
the sanii would then appear in some way responsible for drunkenness, or
perhaps merely the drunken dishevelled appearance of him whose hair has
been cut with an instrument of saml: st. 3 seems to be addressed to such
an instrument, used for hair-cutting. It is implored not to harm the hair, in
the manner in which the razor {ksurd) is elsewhere addressed (8. 2. 17). The
juxtaposition of the two sts. may be merely redactorial, due to the occurrence
of sattii and kesa in each: their metres are different^". Atonement for personal
mishaps is the motive also of 6. 1 1 o, a prdyascitta for a child born under an
unlucky star; and 6. 140 for the irregular appearance of the first pair of
teeth (see § 53, end). Again the birth of twins or the appearance of a
sterile cow in the herd (3. 28; 12. 4) require their own peculiar atonements
(S 56): they belong to the domain of adbhuta (omens and portents). Of this
sort also are the so-called sdkuna^ charms against pigeons, owls, and other
black birds whose appearance or contact forebodes evil, or defiles: 6. 27 — 29
(RV. 10. 165), and 7. 64^'; and similarly 6. 124, recited by one who has
been struck ominously from above (water from heaven, or fruit from a tree);
cp. TS. 3. 1. I. 2. Finally there belong here the charms against evil dreams,
or nightmares, 6.46; 7. 23; 100; loi; 16. 5ff.; 19. 56; 57, as also sundry
stanzas (e. g. 10. 3. 3) scattered throughout the Samhita".
I SBE. XLII. 59, 82, 293, 520, 521, 581, 604. — 2 Stenzler, On the Hindu
doctrine of expiation, Proc. Second International Congress of Orientalists, p. 22 f. ;
BuRNELL, Samavidhanabrahmana, p. XX; Hardy, Vedisch-Brahmanische Periode,
p. 189; Oldenberg, Religion des Veda, p. 287 ff., 317 flF.; Konow, vSamavidhana-
brahmana, p. 4; Jolly, Recht und vSitte, p. 115 ff.; Hillebrandt, Ritual-Litteratur,
p. 166. — 3 E. g. RV. 7. 89. 5; 10. 164. 3; VS. 20. 14—16; TS. 3. 3. 8. I; MS.
4. 14. 17; TB. 2. 4. 4. 8; and especially the mantras connected with the so-called
86 II. LiTTERATUR U. GESCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
kusmandahoma , TA. 2. 3—6. These kusvianda are used later to an enormous extent,
especially in the dharma^\.^y^.%', e. g. Vas. Dh. 22. 9; Vis. Dh. 86. 22; Gaut. Dh. 19. 12;
Baudh. Dh. 3. 10. 10; Manu 8. 106; Yajnav. 3. 304; Laghu-Atri Dh. 2. 4; Vrddha-Atri
Dh. 3. II ; Vrddha-HarltaDh. 8. 270, etc., cp. MG. 2. 14. 27. — 4 See the references,
HlLLEBRANDT, 1. c. — 5 Cp., e. g., \\\.& papmoTia ^rhllasyesti, TS. 2. 3. 13; the
ahhh'astisti, TS. 2. 2. 5. I ; the yajnavibhrastesti, TS. 2. 3. 3. 1—2. — 6 See Oldenberg,
SEE. XXX. 307, for the citations. — 7 Rig-vidhana, Meyer's Introduction, p. xiii;
under santih; Svidh. I. 2 ff . — 8 Weber, Omina und Portenta, APAW., 1859; Hat-
field, The Ausanasadbhutani, JAOS. XV. 207 ff, (with bibliographical notices in the
foot-note on p. 208, and parallels from classical sources on p. 220); Hillebrandt,
ibid. p. 182. — 9 SEE. XLII. 163—168, and the notes on these hymns; Ludwig,
Der Rig-Veda, III. 442 ff. — 10 i. i. 14^ i^^ 22, etc. Cp. M. Muller, HASL.
p.450; Bloomfield, see. XLlI,p.LXXi; cp. below, g 67 end, and ff. — n See Garbe,
in the preface to the edition of the text, p. 5; Weber, Verz. II. 83; Kausika,
Introduction, p. xxxili. These chapters are probably identical with the Yajha-
prayascittasutra, called Vaitayana, Eggeling, Catalogue, nr. 367 ; cp. Hillebrandt,
Ritual-Litteratur, p. 36, note, i; and above, p. 16. — 12 The padapatha erroneou.sly,
ydd yamdm etc. (there is no oxytone ji/a;«c) ; the passage means, 'if they have made
a spell of an unburned (vessel) digging it down'. See 5.31.1, and cp.' SEE. XLII.
457* — ^^ Cp. PG. 3. 12. — 14 ydvanto vai sadasyds te sarve daksinyds, iebhyo yo
daksindm tia nayed aibhyo vrscyeia, yad vaisvakarmandni jiihoti sadasydn eva tat prlndli
(cp. LuDWiG, Der Rig-Veda, V. 601). — ^5 Contributions. Sixth Series, ZDMG. XLVIII.
556. — 16 Roth, Abhandlung, p. 14; Weber, IS. XIII. 207; Ludwig, ibid. IIL 433.
Cp. the similar hymn AVP. = Vait. lo. 17 (GB. i. 1. 12). — i? Contributions.
Seventh Series, AJPh. XVIL 430 ff.; SEE. XLIL 164, 521 ff. — ^8 Cp. Darila to Kaus.
31. I (note 8). — 19 Cp. the nirrtikarmdni, Kaus. 18. — 20 Ludwig, ibid. Ill 512; Zimmer,
60, 274; and Florenz, BE. XII. 288, do not throw light upon the situation. —
21 Adbhuta-Bvahmana 6 and 8 (SB. 5. 6, 8); cp. Hultzch, Prolegomena zu des
Vasantaraja Sakuna; SEE. XLIL 474. — 22 See Kaus., Index E, p. 384., s. v.
duhsvapnaudsandni; SEE. XLII. 484, and. Index, p. 697, under 'dreams'; Rig-vidhana,
Introduction, p. XIII [ivfaiista somnid).
% 59. Class 10). Cosmogonic and theosophic hymns.- — The presence
in the AV. of a considerable number of cosmogonic-theosophic hymns ^, marking
in a way the extreme distance from the ordinary witchcraft-formula, is not
readily explained. The common village-practitioner is not likely to have had
much use for them, and even the Purohita in his ordinary offices in the
rdjakarmdni might well have dispensed with them. Though they occur for
the most part, barring the opening-hymns of several of the first books (2.1;
4. I, 2; 5. 1, 2; 7. I, 2)2, in the books 8 — 19, yet there is no reason to
regard them as late on the whole. Their greater length excluded them from
the first seven books, in accordance with the requirements of the redactors.
But it is not saying too much that some of them at least, say the Dlrgha-
tamas brahmodya^ 9.9 and 10 (RV. i. 164), were adopted at a time when the
adherents of the atharvdnah and afigirasah had coquetted for some time with
the notion that their true place in the Vedic economy was the brahma as a
whole, in distinction from the individual Vedic types of the trayi within which
there was for them no place. In other words, that consciousness which later
led to the name Brahma-Veda for the Atharvan is likely to have been to a
certain extent a stimulus productive of just such compositions as would tend
to strengthen this consciousness still further 3. But it would be a mistake to
suppose that theosophic speculation is foreign to the Atharvan, and inorganic;
or, that all hymns of this sort are loosely attached to the main body of its
compositions. On the contrary, there is evidence that theosophic ideas and
formulas had to some extent worked their way into the very tissue of its
composition. The charm 4. 19 with the apdmarga-'^\dSi\ has for its sixth
stanza: 'Non-being {asat) arose from the earth; that goes to heaven, (as) a
great expansion. Thence, verily, that, spreading vapours, shall turn against
the performer (of spells)!' The hymn 9. 2 presents in an ordinary witchcraft
charm a personalized god Kama as a destroyer of enemies, not very different
UL Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaukakTva-School. 87
from Agni; yet this Kama is not to be separated entirely from that kdma which
is the 'first seed (product) of the mind' that came from 'the one', after it
had sprung into existence through creative fervor {tapas)\ RV. 10. 129.4 (cp.
AV. 19. 52)'*. Even more intricate is the blend of theosophic conceptions
and material purposes in the hymns to Rohita (book 13): in the third hymn
of this book the sun-principle is exalted in the best theosophic diction, often
in the very formulas characteristic of this style, but the refrain exhibits the
hymn in the service of the doctrine of the inviolability {ajyeyatd) of the
Brahmans: Rohita is here the wrathful god who punishes the persecutors of
Brahmans iyo bralimdnam jinati)-, they are the theme and object of his dis-
})leasure and wrath {agas^ (ivaj^sjia)^. Or, the first part of the first hymn
(13. I. I — 35) correlates consciously with obvious puns the terrestrial Rohita,
i. e., the king, with the divine Rohita; the king and his queen {ntahisi) are
exalted allegorically to the position of Rohita and his female RohinI: the
fusion of the two is so thorough-going that it is at times difficult to decide
which, the king or the god, is in the mind of the versifex^. The attentive
reader of the Atharvan will frequently encounter this transition from philosophy
to sophistry; philosophical ideas gone to seed, half decomposed, mixed and
coagulated, bandied about and transferred in the relentless desire to produce
some magic effect, or to exalt some divinity or ritualistic object far beyond
its proper sphere (e. g. 7. 20. 6; 18. 4. 5; 19. 32. 9). The most notable
medium for the culture of these false and excessive philosophemata are, as
has been hinted above (§ 56), the numerous daksind or sava-\iyiDXi%. Every
animal offered as daksind is both itself and a cosmic power of the first rank:
the gift of a goat, aja (4. 14; 9. 5) introduces Aja Ekapad with his mystic
punning attributes; in 9. 4 a bull {rsabha) is exalted beyond bounds, 'he
carries all forms in his body", 'he was at the beginning of things the counterpart
of the waters' (sts. 1,2); but after all it is naught but an ordinary sacrificial
bull. Similarly the devoted vasd^ 10. 10, provokes metaphysical disquisitions
so fleeting, disjointed, and unsteady, that it is a relief to reassure one's self
with the aid of st. i that, it is after all a cow with hoofs and a tail. Here and
there, as e. g., in hymn 4. 11, to the steer {anacivdn), doubt remains as to
whether we are facing a theosophical hymn, or a sava (Kaus. 66. 12).
Similarly, but even more boldly naive, because unsupported by any kind of
prior naturalistic conceptions, the bralunaudana, the porridge cooked . for the
Brahmans, is made the vehicle of theosophy (4. 34 and 35; cp. 11. 3. 21);
the hrahniaudana is pertly identified with the 'Ding an sich', or the supreme
creative and sustaining principle (4.35.3,5). Within this sphere of conceptions
arose the famous hymn 11. 7, to the ucchista^ the leavings of the brahmaudana'' ^
with its momentary symbolic transfer of the highest divine or pantheistic
attributes to an intrinsically most trivial ritualistic circumstance. It is well to
remember that another high sphere of thought, the ethical, has similarly been
pressed into the service of ordinary concerns: the noble hymn to Varuna,
4. 16, apparently quite original in the AV., is in reality a witchcraft charm,
betraying its purpose in the gross curse at the end — /// cauda venmutn.
In general this class of hymns in the AV. is not devoid of a certain
kind of originality and independence which isolates them to a considerable
extent from the theosophic mantras of the RV. and the other Samhitas, as
well as from the speculations of the Upanisads. It is not saying too much
that the Atharvan hymns are characterized by an even greater degree of
garishness, unsteadiness, and gaucherie; of mock-profundity, and impotent
reaching out after the inexpressible, than the corresponding hymns of the
RV. To this is to be added a growing mechanicalness in the handUng of
88 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
these ideas: the important theosophic attributes are taken out of pigeon-
holes, as it were, and applied to the particular subject in hand, not without
syncretism and awkward muddling. Occasionally the whole trick is to sub-
stitute one name for another: one and the same pada and stanza is predicated
in effect to different subjects of speculation. Cp. e. g. the Rohita-stanzas, AV.
13. I. 45 — 55 with the Purusa-hymn, RV. 10. 90 = AV. 19. 6; or the even
more literal equation, AV. 4. 11. i = 10. 7. 35. And these subjects have in-
creased in number and variety. The AV. shares with the RV. the brahmodya-
stanzas of Dirghatamas, 9. 9, 10 (RV. i. 164), which present in the form of
theological charades the doctrine of the essential oneness of the universe, of
its laws, and also of the nature of the sacrifice; the division of the stanzas
into two hymns corresponds in general with the division of the subject matter:
the second part (AV. 9. 10 = RV. i. 164. 23 ff.) deals more directly with the
relation of the sacrifice and its attributes (metres, priests, holy speech) to the
universal order, whereas the first part deals with the manifestations of the
universal one in the universe. The purusa-Yiy^ixm^ RV. 10. 90, reappears here,
AV. 19. 6 (as also in other texts), with some variations that ease the sense,
and point to later handling^. Two independent Athar van-hymns (10.2; 11. 8)
owe their origin at least in part to suggestions derived from the purusa-sukta\
10. 2 is a mystic meditation, in the form of question {kd)^ of the origin, form,
parts of the body, and biological character of the purusa^ the primeval
cosmic man, who is, of course, described in the terms of the natural man.
The questions introducing the stem ka allude to Prajapati-Brahman, and
assimilate the hymn furthermore to the famous hiranyagarbha-sukta^ RV. 10.
121, of which the AV. also presents a poor version, 4. 2. Another even more
mystic derivation oi purusa in his double cosmic and human aspect is con-
tained in 1 1 . 8 ; the purusa is derived from a cosmic marriage in the manner
of the wedding-hymn {suryd-sukta^ AV. 14 = RV. 10.85), ^ut all the parties
concerned are psychological and reHgious forces: Manyu (^WilP) leads x\kuti
('Intellect') from the house of Samkalpa (^Determination'); Tapas and Karman
are the woers, Brahman the woer-in- chief. It is a kind of a soul-marriage: Manyu
is identified further on with ten psycho-physical forces, prdna, apdna, cakmh^
srotram, etc., and it is they that produce ikio. purusa. Thus in reality Brahman
and the psychic and rehgious forces connected with him express themselves
in the . soul-life of the purusa. On the other hand the Vedic gods, Indra,
Agni, and even Brhaspati, occupy a very subordinate position, being regarded
(st. 10) as 'children', each born out of himself, Indra from Indra, Agni from
Agni, etc., Devas from Devas; to them the world is made over. The hymn
seems to postulate distinctly enough the identity of soul {dtmari) with b7'ahma^
clearly expressed in the Upanisads, though the word atman does not occur
in it9. The conception of the dtman appears also in the hymn to Prana
(11. 4), life or breath personified as the supreme spirit; and the two pec-
uliarly abstract and involved hymns to Skambha 'Support' (10. 7 and 8),
which seem to reach out after an even more subtle formulation of the last
cause of things than that contained in Purusa or Brahma, wind up after all
in sts^ 10. 8. 43, 44 with a statement that presents the knowledge of Brahma
and Atman as the highest goaP°. Related with this hymn is the brahmodya
5. I. The brakma, prayer (Veda), as supreme principle, is modulated in the
greatest variety of keys: in 4. i it appears in its own neuter character as
'the first born brakma begotten of yore', but passes over quickly (st. 2) into
the related conception of Vac 'speech', i. e. holy speech embodied in the
Veda, and in this form it is represented especially by the hymn to Vac, 4. 30
(RV. 10. 125), and in the brahmodya-sXdi'nzdiS 7. i. The trngvndXic bra/imodya-
III. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 89
hymn 8. 9, addressed to Viraj, has also in mind Vac Viraj (9. 2. 5); in startl-
ing language st. 7 asserts the paradox, 'they call Viraj (female) the father
of Brahma'. She in turn acts as the creative principle, her two calves (sun
and moon) came forth from the waters (st. i). The following piece, 8. 10,
recites in Brahmana-prose the curious migrations and metamorphoses of Viraj,
posited as the first principle {virdd vd idam agra dsit)\ the pervasive quality
of Viraj (holy speech) culminates in the truly Atharvanic anti-climax at the
end of the hymn, 30 — -i^'t^^ which betrays the bathos and specious mysticism
of both hymns (9 and 10): they are an intellectual exercise preparatory to
counter-witchcraft; if one merely says, 'in my mind do I repel sorcery', he
does (by that mere statement) repel it. The conception of prayer or holy
knowledge as the spiritual light that causes and reveals the world gradually
roots itself within more concrete individual facts and entities of the universe.
Thus St. 7 of the above-mentioned hymn 4. i, from its Atharvanic point of
view, passes the brahma on to its typical priest, the Atharvan (Bfhaspati),
who henceforth takes the place, or is intimately associated with Brahma,
Prajapati, and the creative principle: AV. 7. 2". This is in reality the
Atharvanic version of the change of hrdhma to brahma. But especially the
dominant power of the visible world, the sun, is blended so inextricably with
the conception of the brahma^ beginning with the famous gayatrl-stanza, RV.
3. 62. 10 ^^ as to justify the statement that there is scarcely any theosophic
hymn which does not more or less distinctly, primarily or secondarily, have
in mind the great heavenly body.
Thus the hymn to Vena *the lovely', 2. i, is founded upon the epithet
vena^ attributed to the sun, RV. i. 83. 5, and more particularly to the Gan-
dharva, the child of the sun (the rainbow?), RV. 10. 123 and 139. This
Vena appears as the first cause of things in AV. 2. i, but no longer simply
as the sun, or the Gandharva, but as a seer of the divine revelation, i. e. as
a personification of the brahma^ the spiritual light that reveals the world '3.
Less subtly, but defaced by all sorts of secondary, often grossly practical
lucubrations, the red ('ascending') sun, Rohita, figures as creator and preserver
of the world in the Rohita-book, AV. 13 (TB. 2. 5. 2. \—Zy^. Rohita, or
any other solar or creative principle, measures and pervades time (AV. 13.
2-39);, cp. the familiar chain brahtna-prajdpati-samvatsara in the Brahmanas
(e. g. SB. I. 5. I. 16; II. I. 6. 13). Hence in 19. 53 and 54 Kala 'Time',
'Father Time' (53. 8), the first of the gods, creates heaven and earth and all
they contain; even the otherwise primordial principles, tapas, jyestham (the
highest), brahma are fixed in time. A little to one side of this chain of
developments, yet clearly within the sphere of conceptions that correlate the
brahma with the sun, is 1 1 . 5 ; here a Brahman disciple {brahmacdrin) in the
full glory of his holy functions and monastic habits is treated as an incarnation
of the brahma: from him the brahma springs, and in his holy life {brdhmanam)
the brahma is glorified. Yet at the same time it is the shining brahma
{brahma bhrdjat^ st. 24); or, the brahmacdrin 'that moves inciting both hemi-
spheres of the world' (st. i), who 'within the day passes from the eastern to
the northern sea' (st. 6); cp. also sts. 11, 23, 26, and GB. i. 2. i. Similarly
RV. 10. 136 glorifies the sun as a solitary ascetic ^^^ Underneath and along
with the conception of the brahma there is always the more concrete and
monotheistic personification of the personal creator, Prajapati 'the lord of
creatures'. This more direct and popular conception also allies itself familiarly
with the solar divinities as the lusty creative principle of the world: hence
the familiar identification in the Brahmanas of Prajapati %vith Savitar and
Tvastar. As a whole this propagative force is symbolized still more tangibly
90 11. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
as a bull, steer, or cow; the bestowal of such animals as daksind {savd)
especially elicits this animal-symbolism; to such an extent is this true, that
the victim is animal and pantheistic-monotheistic divinity at the same time.
Thus the bull, rsabha, in 9. 4 is assimilated in turn to the various celestial
bulls, Rohita, Indra, Tvastar etc.; or 9.7, a pantheistic meditation in Brahmana-
prose, compares each limb or part of the bull senselessly with a divinity or
cosmic force. The sava of a steer {anadvdn, 4- 11) furnishes occasion with
equal facility to make the steer the exponent of the same sublime conditions
as the very much more abstract Skambha; cp. 4. 11. i with 10. 7. 35 (see
above). The gift of a goat, afa (4. 14; 9. 5), finds in the divine Aja Ekapad
a convenient peg to fasten theosophic disquisitions upon. And finally when
occasion arises for the bestowal of the female vas'd (p. 87) it requires but
little more sophistry and oddity to make her the wife of Parjanya, the guardian
of heaven and earth (12. 4. 4, 6). We have seen above that the purely
ritualistic hrahmaudana and especially its leavings iticchistd) also appear in
the light of the universal pantheistic force: we may suspect this to be an
extension of the treatment of the zmm2X-savas. To the same sphere of con-
ceptions, but more liturgic in tone, is 9. 6, in praise of the mystic merits of
hospitality {arghyd); the details of its acts are compared with a sacrifice in
which the host {atithipati) as sacrificer {yajamdnd) virtually accomplishes a
sacrifice, providing he understands the mystic purport of his own acts.
In striking contrast with the vigorous though peculiar development of
theosophic speculations in the AV. is its barrenness on the side of purely mytho-
logical fancy. The RV. deals with the gods of nature as the theme of its
poetry: the Atharvan cultivates the more homely genii like Aryaman, Anumati,
etc., or substitutes demonology. The character of the leading divinities of
the RV., Agni, Indra, Surya, is scarcely developed at all, barring the un-
doubtedly popular advance of that fusion of Agni with Rudra in the direction
which finally produces the god Siva'^. The hymns and stanzas addressed to
the mythological gods are in the main borrowed from outside sources; thus
when we encounter the long Indra-hymn, 5. 2, it is in reality RV. 10. 120
(employed as a battle-charm, Kaus. 15. i), or the still longer hymn to Agni,
8. 3 (RV. 10. 87), is addressed to Agni in the character of Raksas-killer. Like
a fresh breath of wind upon the sultry atmosphere of both demonology and
theosophy comes the singular and exceptional hymn 12. i, addressed to
Goddess Earth. This is one of the most attractive compositions of the AV.,
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 wholesomely over the
remoter mythological and mystic conceptions ^7. Somewhat in the same vein,
though decidedly inferior, is 9. i, the so-called viadhiisukta, a hymn to the
'honey-lash' of the Asvins {madhukasa). The mythic or realistic back-ground
of the honey-lash may possibly be 'the honey (the heavenly water) that lashes',
or the lightning which whips the clouds and produces rain. The hymn sym-
bolizes prosperity in its widest aspect {varcasyd)'^'^ . The cosmic hymn 1.32,
dealing in praise of the physical atmosphere {antariksd)^ also deserves mention
in this connection.
I Cp. the interesting i'repertory of the theosophic hymns of the AV. in the
Culika Up. iiff. ; and see, Muller, HASL. p. 556 ff.; Mum, OST., V. 35° ff.;
LUDWIG, Der Rig- Veda, III. 393 ff. ; Scherman, Philosophische Hymnen, p. 44—88 ;
V. ScHROEDER, Indien's Litteratur, p. 79 ff.; Hardy, Vedisch-Brahmanische Periode,
p. 207 ff.; Deussen, Allgemeine Geschichte der Philosophie, vol. I, part i, p. 209 ff.;
Bloomfield, see. XLII, p. 199—232, and the notes to these hymns. See also the
translations of nearly all these hymns in Henry, Les Livres VIII et IX de I'AV. ;
IIL Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 9 1
Les Livres IX, X, et XI de I'AV. ; and Les Hymnes Rohitas (livrc XIII). — 2 See
on this point S 37- — ^ f*p. above S 33- — •♦ SBE. XI. 1 1. 591. — 5 See above,
S 56; cp. Deussen, p. 216. — 6 Bloomfikld, Contributions. Fourth Series, AJPh.
Xil. 430 ff- — 7 Cp. Tli. I. I. 9. I ; MS. 2. I. 12. — 8 Cp. Deussen, p. 150. —
9 The hymn is unquestionably very late and paradoxical, but it is not therefore
necessary to assume with Deussen (p. 270) that its author deals disrespectfully with
earlier traditions, except in the sense in which all theosophic speculations attach
inferior importance to all divinities and relitjious acts, except the search after and
knowledge of the fundamental cause, the one being. — »o Cp. Deussen, p. 310 ff.
— II Cp. GB. I. 1. 4ff.; Mundaka Up. 1. i. 2; Nyasa Up. I. — «» *The light of
Savitar which impels our holy thought'. Cp. RAjendralai.a Mitra in the intro-
duction to the GB., p. 24. — 13 See Weber, IS. XIII. 129; Ixdwig, I.e. 111. 393;
Scherman, p. 82; Deussen, p. 252(7. Hillebrandt, Soma, p. 322 ff., regards vena
as the moon. — 14 MuiR, OST. V. 395 ; He.nry, Les Hymnes Rohitas ; Bloomfield,
AJPh. XII. 429 ff-; Deusse.n, p. 212 ff. — X5 SBE. XLII. 214, 626 ff.; He.nrv, Les
Livres X, XI, et XII, p. 114, 150 ff.; Deussen, p. 277. The z^<i/va-sections, book 15,
exalt an outcast, or vagabond, who has however entered into th,- Brahmanical life,
as the supreme being (Brahma); see S 61. — >6 See especially AV. 4. 28 and 11.2;
cp. SBE. XLII. 406, 618. — 17 LuDwiG, I.e. III. 544 ff.; SBE. XLII. 199, 639; He.nry,
1. c. 179, 215 ff. — 18 Henry, Les Livres VIII et IX, p. 81, 115 ff.; SBE. XLII,
p. 229, 587 ff.
§ 60. Class 11). Ritualistic and general hymns. — The question
arises whether the AV. contains hymns which owe their^ presence in the
collection from the start to the existence of Atharvanic Srauta-rites. Since
the Srauta-manual of the AV., the Vaitana-sutra, is late^, the appearance in
it of many hymns of the Saunaklya-sakha is non-significant and otiose. The
Vait rubricates practically the entire 20^^ book of the AV., but this is itself
a late Srauta-supplement to the collection, proving nothing for its original
scope and intention^. In addition the Vait. employs many scattered hymns
and stanzas, especially of the sixth and seventh books, in a manner more or
less befitting its own subject matter, and frequently coincident with the em-
ployment of the same kind of stanzas in other Srauta-works. But, as it
happens, the same stanzas are as a rule worked up in the Kausika as well;
they may therefore owe their presence in the AV. originally to circumstances
and practices such as the Kausika has in mind; the Vait. may have later
taken them up anew in a sense suitable to its own sphere of activity. The
inner content of a hymn or stanza is under these circumstances not calculated
to decide as to the original intention of the diaskeuasis: a secondary employ-
ment of a hymn in Kaus. may be chronologically anterior to the more pri-
mary in Vait, providing we trust, as we well may, the author of the Vait
with a sufficient knowledge of the habits of the Srauta-practices to recognize
the obvious and correct applicability of such hymns to Srauta-practices. Thus
the hymn 6.1, a seemingly inferior version of AS.8. 1.18, is an evening-song
to Savitar, rubricated three times, Kaus. 23. 2; 50. 13; 59. 25: its employment
in all three places is secondary and very general. Notwithstanding this, and
granting its intrinsic Srauta-character in more or less close correspondence
with its employment at Vait 17. 2, there is no^ proof that it was originally
incorporated into the AV. in its capacity as a Srauta-hymn: some such use
as is manifested in one or the other of its occurrences in Kausika may have
been the original one with the Atharvavedins, or its employment both in Kaus.
and Vait. may be different from and secondary to the original intention.
Recognizing these cautionary circumstances we may nevertheless say
outright that the AV. is acquainted with pretty much the entire sphere of Srauta-
rites 3, and, what is more important, that some of its hymns cannot be imagined
have been composed or absorbed from other Vedic sources ^without direct
reference to practices which are ordinarily treated in the Srauta-manuals.
Thus the rudiments at least of the agnistoma^ possibly in some simpler form
92 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
than that exhibited by the kalpa-^orks of the trayl, are represented by 6. 47
and 48. The first of these is not mentioned in Kaus. at all^ but appears
altogether suitably in connection with the three savanas, Vait. 21. 7. These
stanzas, probably not original with the AV., can hardly have been absorbed
in the redaction except for the reason that they were at that time in vogue
at the three savanas^ as practiced by adherents of the AV. The second of
these hymns (6. 48) consists of Yaj us -formulas differing more or less from the
corresponding formulas of the Srauta-texts ^ ; it is quoted in Kaus. 56. 4; 59.
26, 27 under circumstances that betray unmistakably its secondary employment.
Here also by the very force of their contents it seems unlikely that they
owe their Atharvanic composition to anything else than the savanas. The
Vait. employs them accordingly, 17. 10; 21. 7, and that too in the order of
the three sts. demanded by their context and the parallel formulas: in this
instance the ritualistic tradition surpasses that of the Sarnhita, either reaching
behind it, or correcting it by superior information 5. Again, the loosely attached
St. 7. "jd. 6 (RV. 6. 47. 6), addressed to Indra at the mddhyanidina-savana^ is
not mentioned in Kaus., whereas it appears in a proper place, Vait. 16. 14.
Add to this the familiarity with the savanas betrayed by incidental allusions,
such as in 9. i. 11 — 13 (cp. also 7. 72. 3), or the elaborate invitations to
Indra to partake of soma, 2. 5; 6 (cp. also 7. 58 and 117), and it is not
too much to say that the Atharvans knew and practised soma-rites prior to
the redaction of the Sarnhita. Whether this was carried on in the spirit and
with the equipment of the Vedic schools of the trayi, or in some more
elementary form that did, above all, not require a variety of priests, can
hardly be discerned^ The same kind of enquiry is suggested by the two
^/n-hymns, 5. 12 (RV. 10. no, et al.), and 5.27 (VS. 27. 11 ff.; MS. 2. 12.6;
TS. 4. I. 8). The Vait., 10. 11 ff., exhibits them^ in accordance with the original
intention of ^n-hymns at iht pasuband/ia, a Srauta-performance; Kaus. 45.8
at the sacrifice of the vas'd as daksina (cp. AV. 10. 10; 12. 4), a kind of
practice which the AV. at any rate has elaborated independently of Srauta-
types as a sacrifice with one priest and one fire. It is impossible to judge
from this whether the pasubandha represents the original Atharvanic intention
of these hymns, or whether the Vait. has merely revamped them according
to other Srauta-models. Similar questions may be asked in connection with
a considerable list of ritualistic hymns: the hymn 2. 6 (VS. 27. iff.; MS. 2.
12. 5; TS. 4. I. 7) is employed Vait. 28. 4, 10 in accordance with its original
intention, at the agnicayana^ whereas Kaus. 59. 15; 102. 4 presents it under
obviously secondary aspects (cp. also 7. 62; dy, and 78); the hymn 7. 73 is
a prayer to the Asvins while offering hot milk (cp. the ghar7na-\iym^ from
the A VP. in Vait. 14. i); the hymn 7.97 consists of Yajus- stanzas and formulas
(VS. 8. i5ff. ; MS. i. 3. 38; TS. i. 4. 44), addressed to Agni, Indra, and other
gods. Of marked ritualistic character are further 7.27, a stanza to Ida (Vait.
3. 15; cp. SB. I. 8. I. 7ff.); 7. 28, addressed to certain sacrificial instruments
(Vait. 4. 12; 13. 2; cp. TS.3.2,4. i); 7.30, a st. pronounced while annointing;
7.98, while annointing the barhis\ 7.99 while preparing the vedi (cp. TB. 3. 7.
6. i); 7. ZZ while sprinkling (TA. 2. 18. i); 7. 71, paryagnikarana (RV. 10. 87.
22, et al.); 7.74.4, to Agni, lord of vows; 6.10, prayer to the cosmic triad^;
7.89, sts. to the waters and Yajus-formulas to the fagots (repeated in almost all
Vedic collections) ^ Cp. also such hymns as 7. 25; 26; 29, and many others,
especially in books 6 and 7, that are addressed to members of the pantheon,
regarding which it is impossible to say whether their originally ritualistic
function, or some secondary use {pausiika) secured them a place in the
Sarnhita. The same doubt is suggested by the numerous hymns to the waters,
III. Contents op the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 93
I. 4 — 6; ss; 6. 23; 7. 89; 16. i; 19. 2; 69; and especially the long composite
rigmarole, 10. 5. Cp. the apdf/i siiktdniy Kausika, Index B, p. 383; the salildni,
ib. 385; and the gana, Kaus. 41. 14.
A special ritualistic flavor attaches to a considerable number of hymns
of varying import all of which state distinctly that they are accompanied by
an oblation, or havis. This havis is preceded by an adjective or noun which
expresses tersely the purpose of the hymn. Thus i. 15; 2. 26; and 19. i
are accompanied by sdmsravya havis 'that causes the flowing together of
wealth'; 6.39 h^^ yaso havis 'that confers glory'; 6.40 by saptarfmdni havis
"oblation to the Seven Rishis (that frees from danger)'; 6. 64 by samdna
havis 'that makes harmonious'; 6.65 (and 66) by //ar/r/zflj/a /^^wV that makes
(the enemy) handless'; 6.75 by nairbddhya havis 'that suppresses (the enemy);
6. 78 by bhiita havis 'that produces power'; 6. 80 by suno divyasya mahas
havis 'that contains the majesty of the heavenly dog'; 6.87 (and 88j; 7.94
by dhruva havis 'that makes stable'; cp. also the less clearly defined havis
in I. 31; 6. 41; 7. 70; 77; the guhya ghrta in 7.29, and the pratrdsa djya in
5. 21. 2. Once, in i. 29. i, the AV. substitutes characteristically abhJvarta
mani for abhlvarta havis ^ RV. 10. 174. i. The RV. mentions such special
havis in hymns of Atharvanic character: rathavdhana havis m 6."]^^.^] dhruva
havis in 10. 173. 6 (AV. 7. 94). Ludwig, who first invited attention to this
feature and its peculiar development in the AV.9, fitly describes it as a 'teil-
cserimonie for a special purpose: it may be defined further by describing it
as the hymnal correspondent of the kdmyd istayah of the Srauta-literature.
In the course of other practices a special libation for a purpose, aside per-
haps from the main action, might be naturally introduced. Since this action
bore upon matters of ordinary life it insinuated itself more particularly into
the prayers and performances of the Atharvans, assuming there a more
independent and technical form.
I Garbe, Vaitana Sutra, Preface, p. vu; Bloomfield, JAOS. XI. 375ff.; Hille-
BRANDT, Ritual-Litteratur, p. 35. — 2 See below, S 62. — 3 The sautrdmanl is
mentioned in 3. 3. 2; an almost exhaustive catalogue of sacrifices and liturgical
terms is presented in 11.5. 5 ff.— 4 JAOS. XV. 3, 4.-5 Ibid. p. 5, note. — 6 The
tri^avana-vrata mentioned in the late Atharvanic manual, Ath. I'addh. to Kaus.
57. 32, is not likely to bear directly upon this sacrifice; cp. BRW. s. v., and IIlLLE-
BRANDT, Ritual-Litteratur, p. 58. — 7 The GB. regularly substitutes an Atharvanic
tetrad or pentad in such cases: 1. 1. 17—20, 29; 2. 16, 24; 3. 24, etc.; AV. 2.
19—23; Kau^. 119. 2, 3. — 8 RV. I. 23. 22—24, et al. — 9 Der Rig-Veda, III.
371 ff.; cp. SBE. XLII, in the notes on these hymns, especially p. 479, 498,
and 500.
S 61. Class 12). The books dealing with individual themes
(books 13 — 18). — The six books 13 — 18 are devoted to special themes.
Book 13' contains four long hymns addressed to a form of the sun-god
called Rohita 'The Red', with constant puns on the root ruh^ as though,
'he that has been led up (to the sky)'; his female RohinT (Surya, Usas)^
figures also. Rohita is not merely the heavenly body or its divinity, but he is
swelled out by means of theosophic notions, so as to appear as the creator
and preserver of the universe, a form of Prajapati. A considerable part of
.the book, however, is either not connected with the main theme at all, or
exhibits the main theme in secondary application^. The first 35 sts. of the
first hymn, apparently the main stock of the entire book, correlate Rohita
with an earthly king whose kingdom is given him, and whose kingdom is
preserved by Rohita. Sts. 36 — 44 are a mystic presentation of the wonders
connected with the appearance and disappearance of the sun; sts. 45 — 55
present Rohita (sun, fire) as a Rishi who kindles with his prayers the two
94 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
sacrificial fires, winter and summer, upon which the life of nature is founded.
The remaining sts. of this hymn are even more extraneous. The second
hymn is addressed to the sun in his more general aspects; only sts. 25 — 26
and 39 — 41 deal directly with Rohita. The third hymn presents Rohita as
the avenger of the oppressors of Brahmans; the fourth hymn, partly prose,
engages in praise of the god in hackneyed terms.
Book 14 contains the wedding-stanzas of the Atharvans^. They coincide
largely, though by no means entirely^ with the suryd-sukta, RV. 10.85. Other
stanzas of the RV., notably 10.40. i off., and scatteringly still others, reappear;
yet a considerable number are not found in the RV. In the Grhya-sutras
most of these stanzas recur with many variants. The chronology and inter-
relation of the wedding-stanzas in all these texts is a subject for special
investigation: none of the existing collections of these stanzas present them
in anything like their primary aspect.
Book 15 in Brahmana-prose is devoted to the mystic exaltation of the
vrdiya^. In the list of theosophic subjects which the CulikaUp. 11 ascribes
to the AV. the vrdtya figures between the Brahmacarin (AV. 11. 5) and
Skambha (AV. 10. 7,8)^. There can be no doubt that the theme is in reality
Brahma, but section 5 which introduces the inurtis of Rudra shows it to be
under Sivaitic influence. The vrdtya {vrdtlna) seems to be a kind of a
Brahmacarin, or at any rate one who has entered the Brahmanical community
after having been converted from an Aryan^ but non-Brahmanical tribe.
This is the theme of the so-called vrdtyastomdh^ described especially in the
Srauta-books of the SV. (PB. 17. i; LS. 8. 6)7; these rites make it possible
for an unholy, half-savage, community {11a hi brahmacaryam caranti na krsun
na vanij'ydm, PB. 17. i. 2) to become Brahmans. The connection between
the vrdtya-hooV and the vrdtyastoma is not to be questioned: in 15. 2 the
statement that 'faith has become his paramour, holy words {mantra) his
Magadha (outcaste associate)' clearly refers to the conversion of the vrdtya;
the occurrence of such words as usnlsa^ pratoda^ and vipatha in AV. 15. 2,
as well as in PB. 1 7.1. 14, clinches the connection still further I l^\\t vrdtya,
having become holy through his acquired brahmacaryam is emphatically the
representative of brahma; like the Brahmacarin (11. 5) he is apotheosized.
The mention of a large number of Samans in the book seems to point
to some sort of a connection with the schools of the Sama-Veda. The
contents are too abstruse and too absurd for analysis. The book is wanting
in AVR
The sixteenth book contains two distinct parts not related in any way.
AV. 19. 23. 26 seems to refer to them in the expression prdjdpatydbhyd^n
svdhd. The first four pieces (first anuvaka) consist of prose-formulas, running
into metre occasionally (4. 2); they are designated, Ath. Paris. 10, as abhise-
kamafitrdh. They clearly consist of ritualistic formulas dealing to some extent
with the praise of the waters 9. Their purpose however is not quite clear,
even in the light of Kausika's employment of them. Section 2 recurs ApS.
6. 20. 2 with interesting variations. The rest of the book^ 5 — 9 (second
anuvaka) is an elaborate conjuration against nightmare which is driven out
from one's self and imposed upon enemies. Why these two sections have
been gathered up in a separate book does not appear.
Nor is it possible to point out the reason why the single hymn, book 1 7,
should have reached the distinction of a separate book for itself. The hymn,
known as the visdsahi (AV. 19. 23. 27), is one of the most prominent of
the dyusydni (class 2) and figures especially in the rites connected with the
life of the young Arya^°. Kesava to Kaus. 42. 12 ff., and Ath. Paddh. to
III. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-Schoou 95
Kaus. 57. 32 mention a visdsa/ii^raia^^ from the same sphere of practices;
doubtless this hymn figured prominently in it
Book 18 in four hymns (each an anuvaka) contains the funeral-stanzas,
being pretty certainly a later version of the corresponding materials in RV. X.
This is evident especially from the incorporation into the AV. of RV. X.
10 — 12; sts. I — 39 of AV. 18. I contain these three hymns in the same
order as the RV., omitting only six stanzas. The reappearance of RV. 10.10
in the AV. is natural, because the hymn contains the famous dialogue between
Yama and Yaml, whereas RV. 10. 11 and 12 which have no direct relation
to Yama or the funeral-practices, are incorporated in the AV. in deference
to the redaction of the RV. All 39 sts. are ignored by Kausika. The
remaining sts. of hymn 1 and the whole of hymn 2 repeat in totally changed
order sts. from RV. 10. 14 — 17, introducing occasionally other RV. sts., or
such as do not appear in RV. at all. Of the 73 sts. of the third hymn only
32 are found in RV.; the rest are peculiar to the AV. and theYajus (TA. 6).
Still more original is hymn 4: only 12 of its 89 sts. are recruited from various
books of the RV., and only 7 others coincide with the funeral stanzas of
TA. 6 ". The Atharvan version of this subject is to some extent original,
and is not in complete accord with the practices of Kausika which in turn
present many individual traits elsewhere unknown. A single original funeral
stanza, 7. 21, is stranded outside of the main collection, being seemingly
employed, Kaus. 2>6. 16, in a connection which does not bear upon its con-
tents. Very valuable side-lights upon the funeral-practices are afforded by
numerous Atharvan conjurations which allude to details freer and more con-
vincing than many that are codified either in the funeral-stanzas or in the Sutras;
thus the practices of mourning-women which are alluded to in many passages*^.
For other suggestions of this kind see SBE.XLII, Index, under 'funeral practices'.
Alberuni, India (Sachau's translation), vol. I, p. 129, remarks that the AV.
contains injunctions regarding the dead, and what is to be done with them.
I MuiR, OST. V. 395 ; Henry, Les Hymnes Rohitas ; Bloomfield, AJIh. XII.
429 ff. ; Regnaud, Le Rig-Veda et les origines de la mythologie indo-europeenne,
p. 3uff.; Deussen, Allgemeine Geschichte der Philosophic, vol.1, part i, p. 209ff.
— 2 JAOS. XV. 186; AJPh. XII. 430. — 3 Cp. above, S 59- — ^ Translated by
Weber, IS. V. 195 flf. — 5 A tentative translation by Aufrecht, IS. I. 130 ff. —
6 Cp. also Prasna Up. 2. ii. — 7 Cp. AS. 9. 8. 25; KS. 12. 1. 2; 22. 4. 1,27;
Yajnav. I. 34. — » Aufrecht, IS. I. 138; Weber, IS. I. 33, 52, 445 note; WL^.
73. 85 ff., 122—4, 163, 196; Hillebrandt, Ritual-Litteratur, p. 140, 168, 179. The term
vralya is probably derived from compounds like anyavrata^ apavratOj etc. 'having
different customs'. — 9 See Kaus. 9. 9; 2. 18, and the Index of Citations, p. 410.
— 10 See Kausika, Index of Citations, p. 410. — " Cp. Hillebrandt, Ritual-
Litteratur, p. 58. — 12 Book 18 has been translated, explained, and analysed by
Weber, SPAW., 1895, p. 8i5ff; 1896, p. 253ff.; cp. also his remark, SPAW., 1891,
p. 786. For tlie literature and criticism of the funeral-ceremonies see Caland,
Die Altindischen Todten- und Bestattungsgebrauche, in the Transactions of the
Amsterdam Academy, 1896, especially the introduction and p. 163 ff.; Hillebrandt,
Ritual-Litteratur, p. 87 ff. — 13 Bloomfield, Contributions. Second Series, AJPh.
XL 336 ff.
§ 62. Class 13). The twentieth book.. — Of the 143 hymns of book 20
only 13 are in any way peculiar to the AV., namely 2, 48, 49, 127 — 136;
in addition the sts. 34. 12, 16, 17, and 107. 13 = 13. 2. 34 ^ Of these the
so-called kuntdpa-suktdni^ 127 — 136, in their Atharvanic form and extent are
original, and no pada-text of them appears to exist; they are wanting in AVP.
The other hymns and stanzas, just catalogued, are borrowed from AVP.^
The remaining hymns of the book, mostly addressed to Indra, are derived
bodily, without a single variant, from the RV., largely the eighth mandala.
Thus, e. g., RV. 10. 163 is repeated verbatim AV. 20. 96. 17 — 22, although
96 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. IB. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
its Atharvan version with the usual variations has occurred previously, 2. 33.
Compare similarly AV. 5. 2 with RV. 10. 120 = AV. 20, 107. 4 — 12. The
book is known as the sastrakdnda^ being largely rubricated in Vait, beginning
with 19. 6 (in the course of the agnistomd)^ and extending through to the
end of that text. It was compiled for use of the Brahman-priest, or more
particularly his Atharvanic assistent^ the Brahmanacchairsin, at the sastras and
stotras of the soma-sacrifices ^, at a time when the Atharvans had adopted
systematic and extensive Srauta-rites in imitation of the other Vedic schools;
its ritualistic character may be observed especially in connection with the
kuntdpa-hymn?, which are preceded and followed by the RV. hymns in the
order in which they are called for by the ritual as described in the Brahmanas
and Sutras '*. The AV. Pratisakhya does not take it into account (any more
than book 19)^; it would seem therefore that these books did not at that
time form part of the Saunaklya-Sarnhita, although, of course, this may be
due to conscious neglect, induced on the one hand by the exceeding corruption
of the Atharvanic parts of these books; on the other by the knowledge that
the Rig-Vedic parts of book 20 belong to another sakha, were therefore not
pratisakhya. Of the Atharvanic materials hymn 2 consists of Yajus-formulas
recited in connection with the rtii-grahas at the agnistoma, Vait. 19. 23^; the
three Indra-stanzas 34. 12^ 16, 17 are original; hymns 48 and 49 are not even
rubricated in Vait. All these are from AVP. The single st. 107.13 = 13.2.34
is a later modification of 13. 2. 35 (= RV. i. 115. i, et al). The kujitdpa-
hymns call for a separate and more searching statement of their contents,
purpose, and relation to the ritual, since their Atharvan version seems to be
the fullest and most original in existence.
I Whitney, Index Verborum, p. 2 ; Oldenberg, Die Hymnen des RV., 348 ff.
— 2 Roth, AV. in Kaschmir, p. 23. — 3 Roth, Abhandlung, p. 21 ; AV. in Kaschmir,
1. c; WL.2 162, note; Garbe, Vaitana-Sutra, Preface, p. b, and the notes on the
translation of Vait. 25. il; 26. lo; 27. 28, 29; Weber, SPAW,, 1891, p. 787, note;
APAW., 1893, P- 5; Oldenberg, ibid. p. 346. — 4 See below, S 63, near the end.
5 Whitney, JAOS. VII. 334, 581 ; cp. WL.2, p. 168, note. — 6 Similar formulas,
KS. 9. 8. 9ff.; ApS. ii. 9. 8 (cp. SB. 4. 6. 6. 5).
§ ^2i' Class 14). The kuntapa-hymns. — AV. 20. 127 — 136 are de-
signated in the mss. as kuntdpasiiktani'^ ^ being introduced and concluded by
the expressions, atha kuntdpasuktdfii, and, iti kuntdpasuktdni samdptdtii. The
exact scope of the designation kuntdpa is not certain. Sayana at AB. 6.32.1;
33. I defines as the ku7itdpa-}\ymn the thirty stanzas, equal to the first two
hymns of the kuntdpa-samhitd^ as given in the AV. (20. 127 and 128), but
the whole collection also figures in his view as a supplementary book {khila)
with the name kuntdpa"^. This seems also to be the view of the Vait. 32. 19,
which assigns the name to the first two hymns, and employs ^the designations
aitasapraldpa, etc. for the following hymns (32. 20 ff.). In SS. 12. 13. 7 (cp.
12. 6. 13) the term kuntdpa seems to be restricted to a part of the collection,
as given in that Sutra (12. 14 — 16 = AV. 20. 127. i — 6, 11 — 13; 128. 12,
13) 15; 135- 13) II) 12). But inasmuch as all parts of the collection, including
those just mentioned, have specific names in addition to the generic kuntdpa
(see below), the latter word may after all have been used by Sankhayana
(as also by Vait.) at the beginning of his presentation of the kuntdpa-Y^dXtxxdX^
as a name for the whole to the neglect of the specific names {ndrdsamsyah^
raibhyah^ etc.) 3, until he arrived (12. 17) at thQ pdriksityah. This view is
born out by KB. 30. 5. Similarly AS. 8. 3. 7 the word kuntdpa is used by
way of introduction to these materials, none of the subsidiary designations
appearing until the bhutechadah-^X.2x\z2.^ (AV. 20. 135. 11 ff.) are reached, sutra
27. Again, GB. 2. 6. 12 begins with, atha kuntdpam sainsati^ neglecting the
III. Contents op the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 97
subsidiary name nardianisyah for the opening passage, idam jand upa ^ruta
(AV. 20. 127. I — 3), but introducing the following subdivisions with their
proper designations, atha raibhlh iaihsati^ vyacasva etc. (A V. 20.127.4 — 6).
On the whole it seems quite clear that the name kuntdpa is understood to
belong to the whole collection which varies somewhat in extent and arrangement
in each of the texts that employ it, but that the name was sometimes em-
ployed for one or two of the initial hymns; in the latter case the specific
designations of the opening hymns were more or less suppressed, alUiough
they were probably well known in each of the schools.
In addition^ to AV. only SS. gives the kuntdpa-mzX.tx\2X% in full: the other
texts (AB. GB. AS. Vait.) give only the pratlkas, with an occasional stanza in fiiU;
the KB. does not even cite the pratlkas but mentions the subdivisions under
their specific designations {ndrdsamsyaJ^^ etc.). The ^un/dpa-ttx.ts in the SS.
(12. 14 ff.) read like an extract from the AV. in an arrangement markedly
different; this version also underlies the statements of KB. 30.^5 ff.*, being
therefore the traditional material in vogue in the school of the Sankhayanas
or KausTtakins. All the stanzas, riddles, and answers of the SS. appear also
in the much larger collection of the AV., excepting the bracketed st. 7 in
SS. 12. 21. I, which occurs on the margin of some mss.,, being omitted by
others altogether 5. In many cases the readings of the SS. mss. agree with
those at the basis of the vulgata: Hillebrandt has frequently adopted
the corrections proposed by the editors of the vulgata ^ The remaining texts,
AB. GB. AS. Vait., presuppose a version nearly if not quite identical with the
AV.: the few differences are almost entirely in the nature of variant readings
whose substantiality however is often rendered suspicious by the exceeding
corruption of the text of the kuntdpa"*. In some respects the, AS. handles
its materials, as might be expected, rather in ^accordance with SS. than AV.,
e. g., in its treatment of the aitasapraldpa, AS. 8. 3. 14 — 17 (see below).
The liturgic tradition of the kuntdpa-sastra corresponds obviously to the
natural subdivisions according to subject-matter in the kuntdpa-\i^xi\Xi% themselves:
their treatment therefore from the combined points of view of hymns and
ritual is imperative. The following division of the hymns as reported in the
AV. appears to be founded upon their intrinsic contents as well as their
use in the sastras : , ^
I. AV. 20. 127. I — 3 = SS. 12. 14. I — 3. St. I in AS. 8. 3. 10; its
pratika, GB. 2. 6. 12; Vait. 32. 19. The AB. 6. 32. 3ff. (cp. also i), KB. 30. 5,
as also the commentators generally (e. g. at SS. 12. 16. i), designate these
stanzas as ndrdsamsyah (sc. rcaJi). The subject is a fabulous ddnastuti in
praise of Kaurama, a prince of, the Rusamas^ See SBE. XLU. 197, 690.
II. AV. 20. 127. 4 — 6 •= SS. 12. 14. 4 — 15. I (in different order). The
pratika in GB. 2. 6. 12. The GB., AB. 6. 32. 7 ff. (cp. also i), KB. 30. 5,
and the comms. designate them as raibhyah. The theme is the praise of
Rebha (Agni) who bestows cattle and wealth, or an exhortation to a human
chanter (poet) to perform his functions. A comparison of the chanter with
Agni is involved in any case. See SBE. XLU. 197, 690 ff.
III. AV. 20. 127. 7—10= SS. 12. 17. I. I — 4., The pratika in GB.
2. 6. 12. The GB., AB. 6. 32. 10 ff. (cp. also i), SS., KB. 30. 5, and the
comms. designate them as pdriksitydh. Praise of Agni Parik§it, the typical god
of Brahmanical piety 9. See SBE., XLU. 197, 691 ff.
IV. AV.20.127.il — 14 = SS. 12. 15.2 — 4*°. The pratika in GB. 2.6. 12.
The GB., AB. 6. 32. i6ff. (cp. also i), KB. 30. 5, and the comms. designate
them as kdravydh. Exhortation of the poet by Indra who, as reward for a song
of praise, grants wealth and destroys enemies. See SBE. XLII. 198, 692.
Indo-arlsche Philologie. II. IB. 7
98 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
V. AV. 20. 128. I — 5 = SS. 12. 20. I. I — 5. The pratika in GB. 2.6.12.
The GB., AB. 6. 32. 19 ff., KB. 30.7, SS., and the comms. designate them as
disdffi klptayah, 'arrangement of the directions of space, orientation'. The
paragraph consists of didactic stanzas {riiti), in which certain kinds of conduct
are correlated with the five directions of space, prdk^ adhardk, udak, apdk^
and, apparently, urdhvam as the fifth, implied in the words, divam iva ga-
tvdya, in st. 5. Proper conduct seems to be associated in i, 3, 5 with prdk^
udak, and urdhvam) improper conduct in 2, 4 with adhardk^ and apdk. The
possible pejorative sense of the last two in contrast to the good sense of the
other three seems to be the ^ main point of these wise saws, but the untrust-
worthiness of the text (cp. SS.) renders this entire construction problematic.
St. i: 'The man of good house, of rich establishment, who presses (the soma)
and brings sacrifices, as well as yonder sun, the illustrious gods fixed as
east'". The opposite kind of a man (a stingy one) is correlated in st. 4
with 'west' {apdk).
VI. AV. 20. 128. 6— II = SS. i2.,2i. 2. I — 6. The pratika in GB. 2. 6. 1 2.
The GB., AB. 6. 32. 23 ff., KB. 30. 7, SS., and the comms. designate them as
janakalpdh^ 'containing the classification of folk', or the like. The subject is
didactic and related to the preceding: desirable and undesirable folks are
compared in classes. E. g. sts. 8, 9: 'A lake without watering-place, a rich
man who is stingy, and an unseductive, ugly maid are of like character; of
like character (on the other hand are also) a lake with a good watering-
place, a liberal rich man, and a seductive, beautiful maid'. The classification
in sts. 10, II of the parivrktd mahisi and the vdvdtd mahisT, of a slow and a
swift horse, and the obscenity which appears here, as also frequently in the sequel,
suggest conditions similar to the notorious practices at the asvamedha ^ndipuru-
samedha. Indeed the three abusive stanzas {aslllabhdsanam) 10,8,6 (inverse order),
are employed SS. 16. 13. 10 in the course oi t\\t purusafned/ia; cp. Vait. 38. 2.
VII. AV. 20. 128. 12 — 16 = SS. 3 2. 15. I. 5 — 12. 16. I. 2 (sts. 14, 16
of AV. wanting in SS.). The pratika in GB. 2. 6. 12. The GB., AB. 6. 32.
25 ff., KB. 30.5, and the comms. designate them 2.^ indragdthdh. The theme
is praise of Indra, the conqueror of demons and enemies.
VIII. AV. 20. 129—132. SS. has only a limited number of these padas:
AV. 20. 129. I — 10 = SS. 12. 18. I. I — 9; AV. 20. 132. 2 — 7, 9, II, 12 =
SS. 12. 18. I. 10 — 18; AV. 20. 131. 10, II = SS. 12. 18. I. 19, 20. The AS.
8. 3. 14 — 17 presents the same three groups of stanzas as appear in SS.,
giving as pratikas SS. 12. 18. i. i and 10, followed by 19 and 20 in full^^
In AB. 6. -liZ- 2; GB. 2. 6. 13; Vait. 32. 20 the pratika appears; AB., GB.,
SS., KB. 30. 5, and the comms. designate it as aitasapraldpa (or etasa'') 'the
chatter of Aitasa"^. The Brahmana-texts present mystic, apologetic legends
in explanation of this chatter of the sage Aitasa, designed to show its great
liturgic power. But there is certainly no basis in the text itself for a sage
Aitasa. Either the name was abstracted verbally from the initial words etd
as'vd, or the variegated horse of the sun, etasa, is supposed to underlie the
enigmatic {brahmodyd) nonsense of the text^'^. The first part has been rendered
tentatively and without explanation by Zimmer, p. 131.
IX. AV. 20. i33 = SS. 12. 22, where an additional riddle, without answer
is added by some mss. (st. 7). The pratika, GB. 2. 6. 13; AS. 8. 3. 18; Vait.
32. 21. The answers to these riddles are inserted in AV., are stated separately
AS. 8. 3. 19; Vait. 32.^25, but are altogether absent from SS. The GB., AB. 6.
33. 16, KB. 30. 7, SS., and the comms. designate them as pravalhikdh'^'^,
'riddles'; Jby propounding them the gods {a la Sphinx) g.ot_tlie_-l)etter_oflthe
Asuras. In the AV. the riddle is given first, then the answer, and finally a
III. Contents of the Atharva-Veda in the SaunakTya-School. 99
curious refrain, addressed apparently to an (innocent) girl who is thus instructed
in these jeux d'esprit. In the sastra the riddles seem to be chanted by the
Hotar, the answers figuring as pratigaras in the mouth of the Adhvaryu who
addresses the Hotar as jaritar. These riddles are either obscene or naive
folk productions. Of the latter sort are 3 and 4: *By drawing two little ears
to oneself they are gotten out in the middle (: what is it?/. Answer: 'The
tying of a knot in a rope'. *In what lies stretched out there is hidden that
which stands (: what is it?)'. Answer: 'The foot in the shoe'.
X. AV. 20. 134 = SS. 12. 23. I, where, only four of , these riiidlfis are
given (i — 3, 6 of AV.'^): the answers in SS. 12. 23. 3. AS. ^. i. 20 has the
pratika of the hymn : the answers to the same four as appear in SS. are
given as pratigaras in 8. 3. 21. Vait 32. 22 has the pratika: the answers to
all six in the order i*— 3, 6, 5, 4 in 32. 25. The pratika also in GB. 2. 6. 13.
The GB., AB. 6. 33. i8ff. (omitted in KB. 30. 7), and the comms. designate
them as djijndsenydh 'puzzles'. They are riddles derived from the vegetable
and mineral kingdoms. Riddle 4: 'Well, here it is, east, west, north, and
south; as soon as you touch it it melts (or vanishes: what is it?)'. Answer:
'A drop'.
XI. AV. 20. 135,1 — 3 = SS. 12. 23. 2 with the answers {pratigaras)
in 3. The pratika, AS. 8. 3. 22: the answers in 23; the pratika, Vait. 32.23:
the answers in 25; the pratika also, GB. 2. 6. 13. The GB., AB. 6. ^tZ' ^9*
KB. 30. 7, SS., and the comms. designate them as prgjirddka 'hindrance^
handicap'. They are three riddles from the animal and vegetable kingdoms,
typifying the actions of quick arrival, swift disappearance, and firm standing.
Riddle i: ^Bounce, he has come (: what is it?). Answer: 'The dog'. 2. 'Whist,
it is gone (: what is it?)'. Answer: 'The fall of the leaf. 3. 'Bang, it has-
trodden (: what is it?)'. Answer:, 'The hoof of an ox'.
XII. AV. 20. 135. 4, 5 = SS. 12. 23. 4, 5. The pratika, AS. 8. 3. 23:
the pratigaras in 24. The pratika, Vait. 32. 26: the pratigaras in 27. The
pratika also, GB. 2. 6. 13. The GB., AB. 6. 33. 20, KB. 30. 7, and the comms.
designate it as ati^mJa 'nnffalkmg> Seems also to be a riddle or tvvo with
obscene answers (cp. AV. 20. 136. 4, et al.).
XIII. AV. 20. 135. 6—10 = SS. 12. 19. i~5 = AB. 6. 35. 5 ff. = GB.
2. 6. 14^7. The pratika, AS. 8. 3. 25 '». Vait. 32. 28. The AB., GB. designate
it as devaiiitha; the SS., KB. 30. 6, as dditydngirasyah^'>. The subject seems
to be an interesting dkhydna, indicated fragmentanly in the stanzas, but fitting
well in to the story as told in the Brahmanas. According to this the Angiras,
ordinarily inferior and hostile to the Adityas^", once helped them at a soma-
sacrifice. For this the Adityas gave to the Angiras the white horse of the
sun as sacrificial reward. The devamtha is therefore a heavenly ddnastuti.
XIV. AV. 20. 135. II — 13 = SS. 12. 16. I. 3 — 5 in changed order (st.
13 of AV. also AG. 2. 9. 4). The pratika, GB. 2. 6. 14; AS. 8. 3. 27; Vait.
32. 30. The GB., AB. 6. T^d. i ff., KB. 30. 5, and the comms. designate them
as bhutechadah (AB., asurdndm bhutayn chddayitvd). The passage is in praise
of Indra.
XV. AV. 20. 136 = SS. 12. 24. 2 (sts. 4, I, 2, II, 10, 9, 6, 15 of AV.,
to which are added AV. 20. 137, 2 and i). The pratika, GB. ,2,. 6. 15; AS.
8. 3. 28; Vait. 32. I. The GB., AB. 6. 36. 4 ff., KB. 30. 5, SS., and .the
comms. designate them as dhanasyd^ (10 in number according to A,B., SS. ;
cp. schol. AS. 8. 3. 31). Sts. I and 4 occur also VS. 23. 28, 29; LS. 9. 10.
5, 6, in the course of the asvamedha^ and the theme of the ahanasydh,
'lechery' {dhanasydd vai retah sicyate^ AB. 6. 36. 5), is an even more out-
spolcen variety of aslilabhdsanam than that familiar at the asvavtedha^^ . In
lOO II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GOPATHA-BrAHMANA.
Rig-vidhana 3. 24. 4 the dhanasydh are recited over a woman who runs about
with other men; cp. Meyer's introduction, p. xv, xvii.
The kuntdpa-hymns are preceded in the AV. by the vrsdkaJ)i-h.yYCin (126)
and followed by the ddd/nkra-?>t2inz2i?, (137. 3 ff.), exactly as in the Brahmanas
and Sutras. Their preservation is therefore due to the presence in the sastra-
kanda (book 20) of the hymnal material recited primarily in the RV. schools
on the sixth day of the prstkyasaciaka, a sacrificial week of six days belonging
to the so-called ^/^/"/z^-sacrifices, lasting from 2 to 1 2 days. The prsthyasadaha
is a part of the dvddasdha^^. The entire series of hymns in question, the
so-called silpas 'works of art' (AB. 6. 27 ff.) bear a popular character. As
regards the kuntdpa-^iQCQs^ their presence in the ritual is taken with the
utmost seriousness by the ritualists, though not without apologies for their
disgusting, fooHsh, and obscene character. Thus GB. 2. 6. 12 etymologizes upon
kuntdpa as kutsitam ... yat tapati 'loathsome and offensive', and the nonsense
of the aitasapraldpa is whitewashed by Hturgic legends (see above). The
entire material bears the impress of a fossil in the midst of an honest serious
performance: it is something which must have stood outside in a prehistoric
period of the sacrifice, being connected with it at first by looser, more accid-
ental ties, until the rigid formalism of which the existing texts are the final
expression had placed everything upon the same footing of sanctity. The
nursery-charade and the song of the brothel cannot reasonably be supposed
to have found its way into the Srauta-ritual in any other way. Traces of
such extra-Brahmanical doings occur in connection with many other Srauta-
sacrifices, notably the rdjasuya, asvamedha, and purusamedha^^-. they, as
indeed most other sacrifices, mark the presence of popular customs and
festivities encrusted within Brahmanical solemnities. One source of the more
natural human element in the sacrifice was unquestionably the daksind, the
priests' reward. The ddnastutis even in the RV. betray the exhilarated frame
of mind of those that received the daksind. The exaggerated statements of
gifts received were not only intended to stimulate future givers, but mark the
note of festivity. Closely related to the ddnastutis are the gdthd ndrdsamsyah,
or gdthdh and ndrdsamsyah, 'stanzas which sing the praises of generous men',
in the Brahmanas and Sutras ^^. They sing them so loudly that the texts in
their soberer moments decry them as a?irtam 'Hes' (KS. 14. 15), diwd s'amaiam
'pollution' (TB. i. 3. 2. 6)^'\ In the last-mentioned place the reciter of the
gdthd ndrdsamsi, and the man drunk with surd are placed on the same level:
they are polluted, their gifts must not be accepted. Now the merry and
unsavory literature of the kuntdpa-YdiUQiy is likely to have been associated
with ddnastuti, ndrds'amsj, and dkhydna (see already RV.i. 126, and 8. i.3off.),
just as the obscene practices — in part to be sure symbolic — of the
asvamedha follow upon the great and festive slaughter of cattle customary
on that occasion. And it is noteworthy that both asvamedha and purusa-
niedha are the special repositories of ndrdsa7hsa-X\\.^\2XvLY^^^ .
The ddnastutis and ndrdsamsis are therefore one of the more hilarious
elements which tended to bridge over from the solemn acts of the sacrifice
to what for lack of a better term we might call a kind of liturgic ^saukneipe'.
Plainly speaking, the bestowal of the daksind in many instances must have
lead to gormandizing and drunkenness, and these were probably in turn
followed — the practice is not entirely unknown in our days — by shallow
witticisms, by obscene talk, and worse. This we must not imagine to have taken
place uninterruptedly without sporadic recollection of the religious character of
the event (cp. the theosophic and cosmogonic brahmodya at the asvamedha)^' ;
in the main however social jollification was the motive, until, in the course of the
IV. Gopatha-BrAhmana. — A. Relation to A.-V. and Vedic Literature, ioi
ossification of the ritual, even the most trivial moments marched past in the
procession of the sacrifice, misunderstood and suspected, but now as sacred
and ineradicable as the most thoughtful prayer to the gods.
> Roth, Abhandlung, p. 7, 21, 32; AV. inKaschmir, p. 6, 8, 23; Haug, Aita-
reya-Brahmana, Translation, p. 430, note; WL.?, p. 162, note. The kuntdpasuktani
are wanting in the AVI*., and are the only hymns of which a pada-version docs
not exist. — 2 kuntaf>akhyam suktam khiU kutitripatiTunake granthe samatnnatam
trimsadrcam fAB. 6. 32. l); kuntapanamakam trimsadrcam suktam (AB. 6. 33. l). —
3 The commentary at SS. 12. 16 is however well acquainted with the terms ndra-
samsyah, etc., as is also KB. 30. 5 which defines them explicitly as subdivisions of
the kuntapa. — 4 The order narasathsl^ raihhl, kiiravya, indtagTuhd^ bhiitechadah, etc.,
KB. 30. 5, is precisely that of the j/»w^//J-version, .*^S. 12. 14 ff. — 5 See IllLLE-
brandt's edition, vol. I, p. 261; vol. ill, p. 165. —6 See ibid. I, p. 259; cp. Roth,
Abhandlung, p. 7.-7 Thus AB. 6. 35, 15 ff. omits the pada, idam radho vibhu prabhu^
which appears AV. 20. 135.9^; GB. 2.6. )4«^. The first of the two pratigaras to the
so-called ^//z/5^/a-stanza, AV. 20. 135. 4; SS. 12. 23. 4: GB. 2. 6. 13 ; S^. 8. 3. 23; Vait-
32.26, are given in the forms, patnl yiyapsyamTind^ S.S. 12. 23. 5; pattii ylyapsyaU, A.S.
8.3. 24; fatni yad drsyate, Vait. 32. 27: the formulas are omitted by the editors, AV.
20. 135. 5. — 8 Cp. ZiMMER, p. 129,259. —9 Possibly only a human king: Zimmer,
p. 131; Oldenberg, DLZ, 1897, col- 37o. — »° St. 14 of AV. is wanting there,
but it is alluded to AS. 8. 3. 8 and 12 (the commentary quotes it corruptly as,
tipa vo nara enamasH). Stanza 12 is common: AB. 8. II. 5; IS. 3. 3. 2; Ap<>. 9.
17. I; SMB. I. 3. 13; GG. 2. 4. 6; ApMB. I. 9. i (ApG. 2. 6. 10); cp. also PG.
I. 8. 10; HG. 1. 22. 9. — " PiscHEL, Ved. Stud. I. 302 ; Bloomfield, JAOS. XTX.
18. — 12 According to AS. and Say. to AB. 6. 33. I this passage (the aitasapraidpd)
consists of 70 padas, sakhantare. A.S. 8. 3. 15 reports as an alternative 18 padas
(doubtless = SS. 12. 3. 18. 1 — 18), or even the first 9 (doubtless = .S.S. 12. 3. 18.
1 — 9). The AB. 6. 33. 6 is also acquainted with aitasapralapas of different extent;
cp. the schol. ibid. — ^3 KB. 30. 5;^ SS. 12. 7. 3 write etasa, — M Cp. the /^arr-
plavani akhyanam of the asvamedha^ SB. 13. 4. 3. 2—15; AS. 10. 6. 10 ff.; SS. 16.
1. 22 ff.; LS. 9.9. 10 ff, which, however, is not nonsense. — ^5 Cp. the samvatsara-
pravalha in the course of the asvamedha, A.S. 10.5.7; SS. 16.26.4, and the riddle-
hymn RV. 8. 29, known as manupravalha. — 16 In the Atharvan mss. sts. 4, 5 of
the vulgata seem to have formed part of hymn 135: see the note in the edition.
— 17 These stanzas occur also JB. 2. ii6ff. — 18 AS. estimates the passage as
consisting of 17 padas which corresponds with the subdivision of the devanltka^ as
given in Aufrecht's edition of the AB. — 19 So I would emend the unintelligible
expression aditya angirasya (eva/ia) in IIillebrandt's edition, SS. 12. 19. 5. —
20 See Weber, IS. I. 176, 292; IStr. II. 470; III. 80; SPAW. 1891, p. 811 ff. —
21 Cp. Weber, IS. IX. 307; Geldner, Ved. Stud. I. 280. — 22 See Hillebrandt,
Ritual-Litteratur, p. 148, 155. — 23 See Weber, Rajasuya, APAW., 1893, p. 4, 67
of the reprint; Hillebrandt, Festgruss an Otto von Bohtlingk, p. 40 ff.; Ritual-
Litteratur, p. I49 ff. — 24 Cp. Brhaddevata 3. 154, where ddnastuti and narasamsl are
correlated. Both narasamsl and gatha as early as RV. 10. 85. 6, et al. Elsewhere,
e. g. TS. 7. 5. II. 2; SB. II. 5. 6. 8; PB. 10. 6. 6; AG. 3. 3. iff.; Yajnav. i. 45;
cp. SBE. XIJI, p. 688—9. — 25 Weber, Episches etc., ibid. p. 771 (5 of the re-
print). — 26 Weber, ibid. p. 772 ff., 776 ff. (p. 6, 10 of the reprint). — 27 Cp. Olden-
berg, Religion des Veda, p. 248, 475.
PART IV. THE GOPATHA-BRAHMANA.
A. RELATION OF THE TEXT TO THE ATHARVA-VEDA
AND ITS POSITION IN VEDIC LITERATURE.
§ 64. General remarks \ — The GB. like the Vaitana-Sutra does not
favor us with a report of the name of its author or authors. It is divided
into two parts, the purva-brahmana in five prapathakas, and the uttara-
brdhmana in six prapathakas^. The purva shows considerable originality,
especially when it is engaged in the glorification of the Atharvan and its
priests; this is indeed its main purpose. Its materials are by no means all of
the usual Brahmana-character; they broach frequently upon the domain of
1 02 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
Upanisad; indeed one passage, GB. i. i. i6 — 30, is practically identical with
the Pranou (Pranava) Upanisad in Anquetil-Duperron's Latin translation of
the Persian Oupnekhat; another, GB. i. i. 31 — 38, itself claims the title of
Upanisad (i. 1.38^ end); see §§i8 and 68ff. Nor are they presented in accord
with and in the order of the sacrifice [yajhakramd) either in Vait. or any other
Srauta-text. The uttara, on the other hand, follows in the main the order of
Vait. by compiling from various sources a fairly connected Brahmana to
accompany the action of Vait. This is attended inevitably by Atharvanic
adaptations, sporadic, hap-hazard, and imperfect, both as regards subject-
matter and mantras: the scrappy character of the product is evident on the
surface. In a general way the uttara in its relation to Vait. may be compared
with the relation of the first nine books of SB, to the original nucleus of the
VS. (books I— 18); the purva being comparable with (as it is to some extent
dependent upon) the remaining five books of SB. ^ Both parts, however, are
very late productions, one cannot say from how recent a century; both parts
were composed after Vait, resting upon a most slender basis of ancient Athar-
vanic tradition : the uttara, moreover, leaves the impression of a date still later
than the purva. Thus the usual chronological relations in the redaction of
Brahmana, Srauta-sutra, and Grhya-sutra are turned about in ^ the Atharvan: the
Kausika (Grhya-sutra) was composed before the Vaitana (Srauta-sutra) "*, the
Vaitana before the GB., — the cone is inverted and balances upon a mere point
of genuine Atharvanic tradition as far as both Vait. and GB. are concerned.
^ 65. The Uttara-Brahmana. — The history of this production is well
illustrated by its treatment of the cdturmdsydni^ or seasonal offerings, sections
2. I. 19 — 26 of GB. These are purloined with shght modifications from KB.,
being its fifth book in toto. The Vait. treats this subject in 8. 8 — 9. 27, and
there are, of course, correspondences between it and GB., due to the sameness
of the subject. Thus Vait. 8. 8 is hterally identical with the opening of GB.
2. I. 19. The GB. does not mention the mantras of Vait, except that it
works in the two formulas, om svadhd^ and, astu svadhd (Vait 9. 11), in
2. I. 24. The adaptation is most superficial; at any rate there can be no
question that this part of GB. was composed subsequently to both Vait and
KB. Even more characteristic is the treatment of the atirdtra (soma-sacrifice),
GB. 2. 5. I — 5. This is compiled from two sources, AB. 4. 5 and 6, and
KB. 17. 7 — 9, baldly put down, one after another, without any attempt to
harmonize. Thus the three paryayas (periods) of the atirdtra are explained
twice as typifying the successive expulsion of the Asuras from the three
periods of the night, once in the words of AB. 4. 5, the second time in the
words of KB. 17. 8. Very striking, too, is GB. 2. 3. 11, illustrating in the
course of the agnistoma the passage Vait 21. 3. 4: the Brahmana is
copied with shght alterations from KB. 1 1 . 4 and 5 ; the compiler is not even
at pains to expunge the expression, iti ha smdha kausitakih, which of itself
betrays its origin. Indeed throughout the text the Atharvavedin borrows the
Rishis along with the passages in which they figure. Again, cases of un-
disguised pilfering are the three kdmyestayah, GB. 2.1.13 — 15, which reproduce
almost verbatim MS. 2. i. 10, and the statement about the anvdhdrya, GB.
2. I. 6, taken from MS. i. 4. 6 (p. 54, 1. 3 ff.). These are specimen cases: the
uttara exploits especially AB. and KB., but other Brahmanas, SB., TS., MS.,
and even PB., are not exempt from depredation.
Stated numerically, about 80 of the 123 sections of the uttara owe their
materials either entirely or largely to older texts, as far as is known now.
Doubtless future search will reveal still other instances of the dependence of
GB., since there are at present no regular channels for investigations of this
rv. Gopatha-BrAhmana. — A. Relation to A.-V. and Vedic Literature. 103
kind. The correspondences stated in the order of the uttara are: 2. i. i :
KB. 6. 13; — 2. I. 3 (latter half): KH. 6. 14 (beginning); — 2. i. 4: TS. 2.
6. 9; — 2. I. 6: MS. I. 4. 6 (p. 54, 1. 3 ff.); — 2. i. 9, very similar to TS.
2. 5. 5. iff.; — 2. I. 10 (beginning): Kaus. i. 29, 30; — 2. i. 11: TS. 2. 5.
5. 2ff.; — 2. I. 13—15: MS. 2. I. 10;— 2. I. 18: MS. 3. 3. 7 (p. 40, 1. 2ff.);
— 2. I. 19 — 26: KB. 5 (entire); — 2. 2. 2 — 4: TS. 6. 2. 2. i ff.; — 2. 2. 6:
AB. I. 18; — 2. 2. 13: TS. 3. 5. 2. i; — 2. 2. 20 — 22: AB. 6. 10 (complete),
6. II. 6 ff., and 6. 12. 6ff.; — 2. 3. 1—6: AB. 3. 5 — 8; — 2. 3. 6 (latter
half): AB. 7. 33. 5ff.; 2. 3. 7, 8: AB. 2. 29, and 6. 14. 5; — 2. 3. 10:
AB. 3. 12; — 2. 3. 11: KB. II. 4, 5; — 2. 3. 12: AB. 3. 14; — 2. 3. 17—19:
MS. 4. 8. 3; — 2. 3. 20, 21: AB. 3. 23; — 2. 3. 22: AB. 3. 24; — 2. 4. 5:
AB. 6. 3. 8— 11; — 2. 4. 6: KB. 18. 7, 8; — 2. 4. 8: TS. 3. 3. 8. 2 ff.; —
2. 4. 9: TS. 3. 3. 8. 4ff.; — 2. 4. 10: AB. 3. 44; — 2. 4. 19: AB. 4. i.,5— 8;
— 2. 5. 1—3: AB. 4. 5,^ 6; — 2. 5. 4—5: KB. 17. 7 — 9; -- 2. 5. 6: SB. 12.
8. 3. I, 2; — 2. 5. 7 : SB. 12. 8. 3. 23—28; — 2. 5. 8: PB. 18. 7; — 2. 5. 11:
AB. 6. 17. I, 2, and 6. 5; — 2. 5. 12: AB. 6. 6; — 2. 5. 13: AB. 6. 7; —
2. 5. 14: AB. 6. 8; — 2. 5. 15: AB. 6. 18. 4ff, introduced by a sentence from
AB. 6. 17. 2, and ending in a passage from AB. 6. 17. 3, 4; — finally of the
16 sections of the sixth prapathaka all except one and a half (2. 6. 6, and
the first half of 2. 6. 7) are entirely or largely dependent upon the fifth and
especially the sixth book of AB. These 80 sections do not mark the limit
of the materials in the uttara that can lay no claim to originality. Thus GB.
2. I. 16; 2. 9; and 2. 12 are apparently nothing but Brahmanized extracts
from Vait. itself, respectively, 11. i; 15. 3; and 16. 15 — 17; there are also
other verbal correspondences between Vait. and GB. which suggest the super-
ficial creation of Brahm ana-matter directly out of the sutras of Vait. Again,
quite a considerable number of sections, dealing with the sastras of the three
daily savanas (2. 3. 13 — 15; 2. 4. i — 3; and 2. 4. 11 — 8) seem to be little
more than the statements of the RV.-sutras worked over slightly into Brahmana
form; cp., e. g., GB. 2. 4. i — 3 with SS. 7. 22 — 24; AS. 7. 4. iff. Future in-
vestigations on the part of a second editor of GB. will doubtless narrow
down the limits of the original matter of the uttara to a minimum.
Just as the uttara presupposes the older Brahmanas, so it is no less
certainly based upon the existing text of the Vaitana. One may say, in
accordance with the paradoxical inter-relation of these secondary Atharvan
texts, that to some extent the Vait. figures, as it were, as the Sanihita of GB.
Thus original mantras of Vait., or, at any rate, mantras stated in full, are
frequently cited in the uttara by their pratlka. The Brahmana is not consistent
in these matters: the long yajus, Vait. 3. 20, is repeated in full GB. 2. i. 7,
but the formulas, Vait. 3. 14; 4. 16, are cited by pratlka, GB. 2. i. 3 and 4.
Similarly the gharma-sukta from AVP. is given in full Vait 14. i, but its
pratlka only appears GB. 2. i. 6. Note especially GB. 2. 2. 12 and 18 where
the mantras ofVait. 16. 17 and 18. 11 are cited fragmentarily, with explanations
in the manner of SB. when engaged in expounding mantras of VS. Very
characteristic, too, for the priority of Vait. is GB. 2. i. 16 which treats its
theme out of order and connection, whereas in Vait. 11. i it properly intro-
duces the agnistoma.
Nevertheless the uttara has certainly some, though probably very few original
sections. Thus the //-^j-V/rai-legend, GB. 2.1.2, though based upon materials from
older texts, betrays itself as an Atharvanic fabrication by the introduction of the
clap-trap Rishis, Idhma Angirasa, and Barhi Angirasa, leading up to Brhaspati
Angirasa who, of course, represents the Atharvanic (foiurth) priest. Section 2.2.5
starts with an explanation of the word makha in Nirukta-manner, leading up
I04 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
to one of those disquisitions on the defects of the sacrifice (common in the
purva) which can be corrected only by the glorified Bhrgvangirovid. Cp.
also certain touches in 2. i. 17; 2. 6, 14, 15; 3. 9, etc. In addition the
originality of the uttara consists in a certain freedom in transfusing the diction
of the Brahmanas which it has borrowed; in assimilating some — though by
no means all — of their sayings to Atharvanic conditions; and, above all^
in changing in no small measure the mantras cited in these Brahmanas to
those in vogue with the Atharvans. Thus in 2. i. i, a passage borrowed
from KB. 6. 13, the formula, idam aham arvavasoh^ is changed to, idam aham
arvdgvasoh (Kaus. 3. 7; 137. 39); in the stomabkdga-\Qgtn^, TS. 3. 5. 2. i,
the GB. 2. 3. 13 omits, tasmdd vdsistho brahtna kdryah, because its ideal of
a Brahman-priest is a Bhrgvangirovid. Other adaptations of this sort, at times
quite clever, more often superficial and bungling, will appear in the analysis
of the text that is to follow.
%66. The Purva-Brahmana. — The most conspicuous feature of the
first part of the GB. is that it does not follow at all the order {yajnakramd)
of theVait., nor is its object in the main the illustration of the normal kinds
of Srauta-sacrifices. It is, to begin with,^ also a large borrower, but the source
drawn upon is almost exclusively the Satapatha-Brahmana (books 1 1 and 1 2).
From the beginning of the fourth prapathaka through to i. 5. 22 the text
seems to be nothing but a secondary mouthing over of a considerable part of
the 12*^ book of SB. The subject is a mystic, theosophic treatment of the
sattra of the year and other forms of the soma-sacrifice. Though there is
some degree of independence on the part of GB., both in the wording, and
in an occasional mantra, there can be in this part no question of independent
Atharvan school-tradition; nor can the subject as treated by both texts be
referred to a common earlier source. The GB. purloins the materials of the
SB. quite undisguisedly ; occasionally only it infuses into them those special
Atharvanic traits which that text affects: the praise of the fourth Veda, the
mention of Atharvan, Angiras, Bhrgu, etc.; see, e. g., GB. 1.4. 24; 5. 10, 11,
15, 19. The dependence in general of the Vait. upon the school of the
white YV. ensures a certain correspondence with the treatment of the sattra
in Vait. 31 — 34; but this is no more in the nature of close companionship
than is the case in the relation of SB. 12 to its Samhita (VS.). Aside from
this, only the eleventh book of SB. and a section or two of the AB. have
been exploited by GB. : i. 3. 2: AB. 5. 32. 3ff.; — i. 3. 3: AB. 5. 32. 5 —
ZZ' 4;,— I. 3. 4: AB. 5. 31. iff.; — I. 3. 6—10: SB. II. 4.1; — I. 3. II,
12: SB. II. 5. 3. 1—7; — I. 3. 13, 14: SB. II. 5. 3. 8 fif.; — I. 3. 18: AB.
7. I. I 5.
The last three sections of the purva are metrical, and not far removed
from the type of Parisista; they are, apparently, not from one and the same
hand. They do not bear upon the individual acts of the ritual, but seem
to be a statement of the position and beliefs of the Atharvans in regard to
the general aspects of Vedic lore and sacrifice, with the special purpose of
defining and glorifying the AV. This, indeed, is the leading theme of the
purva as a whole; to this it adheres throughout the considerable variety of
subjects which are handled in the first three prapathakas, whether they are
cosmogonies, speculations in Upanisad style, comments on sacrificial details,
grammatical disquisitions (i. i. 24 — 28), or even statements in the manner of
the Caranavyuha (i. i. 29). To carry to the front the AV. and the fourth
priest (the so-called Brahman), who must be an Atharvangirovid, and to point
to failure and discomfiture in all holy concerns managed without the fourth
Veda, is beyond question the original motive underlying the production of
IV.TheGopatha-BrAhmana.— A. Relation to A.-V. andVedic Literature, i 05
the Atharvan Brahmaria. Every tetrad is a veritable god-send to the author
or authors. Whether it be the four-footed animal (i. 2. 24); four metres
(often); the sacred syllable om^ divided artificially into four moras (i. i. 16);
the cosmic tetrads, earth and fire; atmosphere and wind; heaven and sun:
moon and waters (i. i. 29, et al.); or psycho-physical tetrads like speech,
breath, sight, and mind (1. 2. 11; 3. 14): they are all pressed into service to
show the inherent need and primordiality of the caturveday as stated most
formally i. i. 16. Occasionally, yet quite familiarly (i. 2. 21, 24; 5. 10; cf.
also I. I. 7 and i. 3. 3), the fourfold Veda is expanded into the Atharvanic
pentad by dividing the AV. into two, santa =- atharvan, and ghora = angiras
(see p. 8). These two assume such reality in the mind of the author as to
be furnished each with an independent vydhrti, om for the Atharvan, janat
for the Angiras: between these two the vydhrtis of the trayl {bhuh^ bhuvah,
svah) are placed for protection {gup)^. Very neat manipulations are carried on
to this end, ^ as when GB. i. 4. 24 substitutes catvdro veddh for catuspadaft
pasavah in SB. 12. 2. 2. 20, or when GB. i. 5. 10 assumes the above-ment-
ioned five Vedas for three in SB. 12. 3. 3. 2. That the GB. clearly associates
the AV. and its functionaries with brdhma in the sense of universal religion
{sarvavidyd)^ and brahmd in the sense of universal theologian {sarvavid)
may be gathered from i. 2. 18; 5. 11, 15, 19: see SBE. XLII, p. uiff.;
above, § ZZ-
Though the purva, in distinction from the uttara, impresses one with a
certain elemental, energetic independence in style and subject-matter; though it
does not borrow as much and as bare-facedly as the uttara; though it does
not make it its business to follow and illustrate any other Atharvan text;
yet it is without question an exceedingly late production, and also presupposes
Kaus. and Vait., as well as the Saunaklya-samhita in 20 books". Nor are
its materials at all from the same hand, as may be seen on comparing, e. g.,
the opening cosmogony, i. i. i — 15, with the second part, i. i. 1^6 — 30, the
so-called Pranava-Upanisad. Section i. 2. 8 mentions the god Siva and is
Pauranic. Section i. i. 28 mentions an evil divinity Dosapati, who figured
as a Rishi at the beginning of the dvapara-Sigt, reminding us of Dusin, a
name of the Buddhist devil Mara^. Sections i. i. 25 — 27 contain grammat-
ical matters of an advanced type; i. i. 29 is in the nature of a Carana-
vyuha, certainly very late. The proof that the purva came after Vait., just
as Vait. is later than Kaus., can be stated definitely and technically. In
Vait. 5. 10 two classes of plants, one Atharvanic (blessed, holy), the other
Angirasic (terrible, sorcery-plants), are mentioned; the latter, unknown to
Kaus., is catalogued in full; the former, having been stated, Kaus. 8. 16, is
merely alluded to with the words, cityddibhir dt/iarvanib/iih^. GB. i. 2. 18,
in its turn, having both Kaus. and Vait. behind it, is content to allude to
both classes with the vague words dtharvanlbhi^ cdiigiraslbhis ca : they would
be unintelligible but for their reference to the preceding texts. Again,
as in the case of the uttara, the purva at times treats Vait. as its Sam-
hita, as far as the mantras are concerned. Thus GB. i. i. 12 quotes the
pada, agnir yajtiain irivriam saptatantum, from the Paippalada-hymn given
in full, Vait. 10. 17; and GB. i. 2. 18 (end) quotes by pratlka the five
stanzas, Vait. 6. i. Finally, aside from the general correspondence of subject-
matter and terminology, as when, e. g., GB. i. 3. 11, 12 shares with Vait.
important words unknown elsewhere ^°, the GB. occasionally presents Bra-
hmanas which read like late notes on Vait. Thus GB. i. 3. 17, describing
the variety of agnisjoma called ekagu^ is scarcely more than an after-
thought to Vait. 24. 20; or GB. i. 2. 18 (second half) contains an Atharv-
I o6 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
anic legend clearly built upon Vait. 5. 10, and^ more remotely, upon Kaus.
8 and 9.
Yet the purva is not devoid of a certain originality. The cosmogony,
I. I. I — 15; the Pranava-Upanisad, i. i. 16 — 30; the Gayatrl-Upanisad, i. i.
31 — 38; the sections on the duties of the Brahmacarin (rubricating AV. 11. 5)
in I. 2. I — 9; the Brahmana of the * fire-footed horse' at the agnyddhdna in
I. 2. 18 — 21, with quite a number of original words at the end of i. 2. 21;
and other sections seem to represent a form of scholastic activity unknown
elsewhere in this precise form. The list of subsidiary writings in i. 2. 10
(i. 2. 9 of the edition), though again late in character, does not occur else-
where in this arrangement and extent ^\ A somewhat independent statement
of the yajnakrama is presented in i. 5. 7. No Vedic text is wanting in
independent mantras and formulas, or fails to introduce independent variants
into such as are paralleled by other texts. In this regard the purva is much
like other Brahmanas : i . i . 9 contains a mantra of Up anis ad-character [srestho
ha vedas), repeated with variants by Sayana in his introduction to the AV.^
p. 5, but otherwise unknown. In 1.1.39 the pratika^ dpo garbhainjanayantih,
seems to be a version (Paippalada?) of AV. 4. 2. 8. In i. 2. 7 an expiatory
mantra, recited by Brahmacarins in case they happen to step upon a burial-
ground, is added to other prdyascitta-^\.d,nz2.^ which GB. shares with Vait.
12. 8, 9. At the end of the same section (i. 2. 7) AV. 11. 5. 23 in its Paippa-
lada form is presented in sakalapdtha\ similarly the mantra, catvdri srngds
(for srngd, RV. 4.58.3, et al), in 1.2.17^^ In i. 2. 9 the mantra, aiitarikse
pathibhir etc., shows marked variants as compared with its parallel, RV. 10.
168. 3; the formulas in i. 3. 13, do not occur in Vait., and differ from those
in the corresponding passage, SB. 11. 5. 3. 8ff.;^the two stanzas at the end
of I. 5. 5 also present variants as compared with SB. 12. 3. 2. 7 — 8, occurring
nowhere else. Above all, the typical mantras at the three daily soma- offerings
{syeno "j-/ ^etc.) in i. 5. 12 differ not only from those of the corresponding
passage, SB. 12.3.4. 3 — 5, but also from those of the Saunaklya-samhita (AV.
6. 48), and, as far as known, from all other versions of these formulas ^3.
And throughout the text, aside from the three metrical chapters 1.5.23 — 25,
there are slokas and other metrical passages so clearly Atharvanic in
character that they may not be expected to turn up in older texts (e. g.
I. I. 32, end; cp. 2. 2. 5): their Parisista- character and their originality are
equally obvious.
The following brief account of the contents of the GB. follows the text
section by section. The more or less original themes of the text are dealt
with at greater length; the parts which are extracted with or without modi-
fications and adaptations from other Brahmanas are dealt with very lightly:
frequently a mere reference to the source from which the GB. has derived
its material was found sufficient.
The Gopatha-Brahmana of the Atharva-Veda. Edited by Rajendralala Mitra
and Haracandra VroVABHUSANA, Calcutta 1872. Critical remarks on the text of
this edition: Otto v. Bohtlingk, BKSGW., April, 1896, p. I2ff. of the reprint;
Bloomfield, JAOS. XIX, p. I ff. The first account of the contents and character
of the GB. appeared in Max Muller, HASL., p. 445 — 455; cp. Colebrooke, Essavs,
12. 82; WL.2, p. 167.
I This and the following two paragraphs are based on the author's article on
the GB., JAOS. XIX, p. 3 — 11. — 2 tatra gopathah sataprapathakam {V) brahmanam
dslt, tasyavasiste dve brahmane purvam uttaram ca\ Caranavyuha, Ath. Paris. 49.
The existing text contains a total of only 1 1 prapathakas. — 3 Cp. WL.2,
p. 118 and 130 ff. — 4 Bloomfield, JAOS. XI, p. 375 ff.; Hillebrandt, Ritual-
Litteratur, p. 35 ff. — 5 Note also the passage beginning with, iad yatha lavanena,
GB. I. I. 14, which seems borrowed from Chand. Up. 4. 17. 7; and GB. i. 5. 11
IV. The Gopatha-BrAhmana. — B. Contents op the POrva-BrAhmana. 107
end = Kau5. 94. 3, 4. — 6 See the remark on Janata below, S 67, note 9. For
the Atharvans as goptarah, see GIJ. i. i. 13. — 7 Cp. GB. I. I. 4, 5, 8, which
allude in a cloudy way to the finished diaskeuasis in 20 books (see % 35). Note
the contrast between ream mandalaih (RV.) and ream kandaih (AV.) in I. 2. 9.
That the late Caranavyflha-passage, i*. 1. 29, presents' jJ;///*«<7 dcv'tfi (AV. i. i. 6)
as the initial stanza of the AV. does not militate against the view that the GB.
belongs to the school of Saunaka, rather than to the Paippalada; see p. 14. The
GB. is, however, not unacquainted with the Paippalada; see below. — » WiNDlsCH,
Buddha und Mara, p. 151. Cp. also the asura papman^ as a personification of the
evil principle, in Nrsiniliottaropanisad 6. — 9 Bloomfield, JAOS. XI. 387. — «« Cp.
for other cases of this kind, JAOS. XIX. 10, note 3. — »« Cp. similar lists in
I. I. 10, 21, 23, 24; 3. 3. Cp. also 2. 2. 6. — «2 Cp. Roth, Der -W. in Kaschmir
p. 23, and see note 6 on p. 113. — u See Bloomfield, JAOS. XVI. i ff.
B. CONTENTS OF THE PURVA-BRAHMANA.
§ 67. First Prapathaka: i. i. i — 15. An Atharvanic cosmogony
in Upanisad manner^ — The lonely Brahma decides to create a second
god. By means of tapas sweat {svedd) is produced upon the Brahma's brow;
this it punningly and mystically^ regards as good knowledge {suvedd)^
alluding perhaps in this way to the Brahmaveda (i). Through continued
tapas more sweat breaks in streams {dhdrd) from the Brahma's hair-sockets
on account of which the Brahma proposes to sustain {dhdrayisydtni)^ create
ijanayisydmi), and obtain {dpsydmi) this all. Through a chain of more or
less irrelevant additional puns the creation of the waters {dpa/t, punning with
dpsydmi) takes place. The waters are the element of the Atharvan throughout,
just as its divinity is the moon 3 (2). In these waters he beholds his own
reflection; his seed falls into the water. The Brahma belabors the waters
until they are divided into two, the saline undrinkable ocean, and the sweet
waters. The latter being heated, the seed in it is dried up {abhrjyata)^ and,
lo, we have the Atharvanic sage Bhrgu (3). The Brahma vanishes; Bhfgu
starts after it in various directions futilely, until the voice of the wind (Vata)
tells him to look for it below {athdrvdn) in these waters. Therefore that
became Atharvan and was exactly like Brahma (4). Brahma elaborates
Atharvan into 10 Atharvan Rsis, respectively ekarca, diyrca, etc., and 10
Atharvana Arseyas, respectively ekddaia^ dvddasa^ etc. (symbolizing the 20
books of the AV.)^. From these the AV. is elaborated; from the latter the
syllable om which (in the manner of the Upanisads) can be made to assume
the function and virtue of the entire AV. (5). After the creation of the Veda
of Atharvan comes the regulation cosmogonic act whose final outcome is
the trayl vidyd with its divinities, elements, and vyd/irtis, e. g., Rig-Veda,
earth, Agni, and d/ii/h^ (6). Just as the seed in the sweet waters produced
Bhrgu and in the sequel Atharvan, thus, next, the saline waters by successive
cosmogonic acts (with puns) are made to yield the ocean {samudra),
Varuna, Mrtyu (Mucya), and by extracting from the limbs (anga) of Mrtyu
their sap {rasa) the final result, Angiras, is reached^ The origin of Angiras
from the bitter waters of the ocean, next from Varuna who is taken here
without doubt in his occasional sinister demoniac sense (as if Vrtra)7, and
finally from Mrtyu, is intended to turn forth the terrible side of the Angirasa-
Veda in contrast with the auspicious Atharvan and Atharvana-Veda, derived
above through Blirgu. The latter is more particularly the substitute of
Atharvan: bhrgvangirasah = atharvdt'igirasah (7). From the sage Angiras the
Brahma elaborates 20 Angiras Rsis^ and from them 10 Afigirasa Arseyas, the
latter correlated respectively with 16, 18, 12, i, 3, 4, 5, 6, 2, and 7 rcah. This
again alludes to the diaskeuasis of the Veda, but why these numbers, and why
io8 II. Litter ATUR u. Geschichte. ib. Atharva-Veda and Gopatha-Brahmana.
this order? From the Angirasa-Veda comes the word janat which is the
lydhrti of that Veda 9 (8). This is followed by an especial panegyric of the
Angirasah, illustrated by a mantra of independent character '°. (9). Brahma
next elaborates from the six directions five other Vedas and from these
the vydhrtis : sarpaveda and vrdhat; pisdcaveda and karat; asuraveda
and guhat\ itihdsaveda and mahat-, purdnaveda and tad'^^ (10). From the
near and distant regions he extracts sam, ^the high syllable', tirdhvam
aksaram, with allusion, doubtless, to the sdnta-veda (11). Brahma continues
to create the moon, stars, plants and trees, and from 'his minor breaths the
many other gods', winding up with the 'threefold, seven-stringed sacrifice
consisting of 2 1 forms'. The text illustrates the latter by citing a pada from
the Paippalada-hymn given in full Vait. 10. 17, and by referring to the sloka-
chapter, GB. i. 5.25 /12). Brahma then institutes a sacrifice choosing certain
divinities as special Srauta-priests^^ Candramas the divinity of the AV. figures
as Brahman-priest, the Atharvangirasah as a special variety of Brahmans,
called goptdrah. Prajapati recommends that abundant fees be given to such
priests lest there be injury to the rtvij, the sacrificer, and his ofl:spring (13).
Finally the functions of the Brahman-priest (and the goptdrah) as curers
{samdhdnd) of the flaws of the sacrifice (virista) are defined ^^ (14,15). The
entire cosmogony is origin?.l in that it establishes the Atharvan as the pivot
about which the creative acts revolve, and in leading up dexterously to the
presumably main object of a Brahmana of the AV.: the exaltation of the
functions of the Brahman-priest who is, of course, understood to be an
Atharvavedin.
I Cp. Brh. Ar. Up. 5. 4. — 2 paroksax GB. i. I. 7 (bis\ 39; 2. 21 (bis); 3. 19;
4. 23, and similarly AB. 3. 33. 6; 7. 30. 4; TB. 1. 5. 9. 2, etc. — 3 GB. I. i. 20,
29* 39; 2. 16. 23; 3. 14; 5. 15, 19. The conception reaches back to the Sanihita
itself, AV. 2. 22 and 23: see S 45- — '^ ^-P- AV. 19. 22 and 23, and see § 35. —
5 The same subject is treated in an expanded form in the second cosmogony,
I. I. 17—19.— 6 This etymology occurs also JBU. 2. ii. 9. — 7 Cp. Bergaigne,
TIL 144; Geldner, Ved. Stud. II,' 292. — 8 Cp. IS. XIII. 433. — 9 janat as the
vyahrti of the Angirasa-Veda is contrasted with om of the Atharvana-Veda also in
GB. I. 1. 20; 2. 24; 3. 3; 2. 2. 14. Neither Kausika nor Vaitana bring out any
such distinction, janat being the general Atharvanic vyahrti-. see the indexes to the
editions, p. 381 (Kaus.), and p. 95 (Vait.). For the origin oi janat cp. RV. 2. 21. 4;
4. 40. 2 (cp. also 3. 61. 4). — 10 Quoted with variants by Say ana in the intro-
duction to the AV., p. 5. — II Cp. Kaus. 91. 10 ff. — 12 Emend in the text,
camasd, adhvaryavo to camasadhvaryavo. — 13 Cp. Kau^. 9. 5 ff. The passage in
GB. I. I. 14, tad yatha lavanena etc., is borrowed from Chand. Up. 4. I7- 7> it is
alluded to a second time in GB. i. 3. 3.
§ 68. First Prapathaka: 1. i. 16 — 30. The Pranava-Upanisad,
being a cosmogonic account deriving creation from the om. — In
the Persian translation of fifty Upanisads, the so-called Oupnekhat, which was
made in 1656 for the Sultan Mohammed Dara Shukoh in the city of Delhi,
and which was afterwards (1801 — 2) translated by Anquetil Duperron into
Latin, the Pranou figures as the 48^^ Upanisad of the collection \ Weber,
after erroneously identifying the Pranou with the Prana and Pranagnihotra
Upanisads (IS. I. 249, 286), soon recognized its proper title to be Pranava
(IS. II. 394, 396; III. 326), and presented an account of it, condensed from
Anquetil's Latin translation (IS. IX. 49 ff.). Manuscripts of an independent
Pranava-Upanisad are reported in the catalogues^, but have not up to date
come into the hands of students of the Upanisads. Thus Deussen in his
recent translation of the Upanisads (Sechzig Upanishad's, p. 858 ff.) felt com-
pelled to present the Pranou in a German translation from Anquetil's Perso-
Latin version, without, as he thought, having access to the Sanskrit original.
Yet the Sanskrit text of the Pranava has unconsciously been in the hands of
IV. The Gopatha-BrAhmana. — - B. Contents of the Purva-Brahmana. 109
Indologists for more than 25 years: it is the part of the GB. here before us.
A comparison of GB. i. i. 16 — 30 with Deussen's translation shows that the
differences between the two versions are unimportant: they are likely to be
due to the blending of text and commentary in the Persian version, as well
as to the peculiar tertiary character of Deussen's final result. In its form as
an independent Upani§ad the Pranava is divided into three Brahmapas, em-
bracing respectively sections 16 — 22; section 23; and sections 24 — 30 of
GB. A quick survey of its contents and a comparison with GB. may be
gotten with the help of Deussen's translation.
This part of GB. represents obviously an independent account of
creation by a different writer. It is probably of later date than the first
cosmogony, and conceived under different impulses: The Brahma (neuter)
creates Brahma (masc.) upon a lotus-leaf. The latter by means of penance
perceives the syllable 07n of two letters, four morae. With the first letter he
perceives the waters and moisture 3, with the second brilliancy and the
luminaries + (16). From the three vocalic morae (i. e., presumably, 0 plutied)
a chain of cosmic, liturgic, and psycho-physical triads (cp. i. i. 6) are next
derived: earth, atmosphere, heaven; fire (with plants and trees), wind, sun;
RV., YV., SV.; bhitr^ bhuvah^ svah\ gdyatri, tristubhy jagatl\ etc. (17 — 19).
From its first consonantal mora v^ are derived water, moon (cp. i. i. 13),
AV., om itself (! otn iti svam dtnidnam)^ janat (the vydhrti of the Angiras;
cp. I. 2. 24), anustubh, etc. (20). From its second consonantal mora m the
itihdsa-piirdna and other literary varieties, which differ wholly from the cor-
responding account irf the first cosmogony, i. i. 10; vrdhat and the other
Atharvanic vydhrtis (i. i. 10); musical instruments, singing, and dancing; the
metre brhati) etc. (21). The second cosmogony leads up to the same climax
as the first, the glorification of the duties of the Atharvanic Brahman-priest
who heals with the 07n before and after the sacrifice all its defects (illustrated
by AV. 10. 8. 9, and 9. 10. 18). The rather dignified chapter winds up with
a hocus-pocus according to which om recited 1000 times grants all wishes
(22). At this point ends the first Brahmana of the Pranava. The remaining
chapters of the ^;;z-cosmogony seem again secondary. In Brahmana-manner
a conflict of the gods and Asuras about the city {aifidranagaram) of the
Vasordharas (Anquetil's defective Sudha) is narrated; the Asuras are victorious
until the gods turn victors under the leadership of om^ the oldest son of
Brahma. The reward of the om is that no holy text shall be chanted without
om. Hence the om figures as follows : rcy rg b/iavati, yajusi yajuh, sdmni
sdma^ sloke slokah^ pranave pranavah, thus sayeth a Brahmana-text. The AV.
is omitted, pointing seemingly to the origin of the passage from a non-
Atharvan source^ (23). At this point ends the second Brahmana of the
Pranava.. The next chapters contain a grammatico-philosophic disquisition on
the om which betrays its very late and independent origin by statements not
in accord with the preceding. Thus in section 25, as frequently in the later
AV. Upanisads, four morae are ascribed to the om in a manner different
from section 17. The etymology, pronunciation, and use of om are described
with great detail, introducing a large number of technical grammatical terms ".
In section 24 thirty-six questions about the om are posited. In section 25 Prajapati
explains the o??i to Indra: it is said to have different pronunciations in the
four Vedas {svaritoddtta in the RV., etc.). Its four morae are said to be
respectively brahtnadevatyd^visnudevatyd^ Js'dnadevatyd, sarvadcvatyd (text j-^r^^^*);
each has an individual color. In section 26 the questions asked in 24 are
answered in detail. In defining the term avyaya the karika, Mahabhasya I,
p. 96 (Ktelhorn's edition) is introduced. In section 28 an evil divinity Do§apati
no II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA- VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
figures as a Rishi at the beginning of the dvdpara-2,gQ (see % 66, note i).
The chapter again leads up to the importance of the bhrgvangirovidah
(24 — 28). This in turn furnishes the occasion for an account of the four
Vedas and renewed exaltation of the AV. The Vedas, their divinities (the
mooU; as usual^ the divinity of the AV.), metres, and especially their initial
mantras are stated: as opening mantra of the AV. the pratlka of 1.6. i (Jain
fw devir abhisjaye) is given ^ A renewed mystic exaltation of the om serves
as the finale of the <?w-cosmogony (29, 30).
I Cp. Max MiJLLER, SBE. voL T, p. LViiff. — 2 See p. 21, note 52.— 3 Read,
apah sne/iam tra, for aposnehas ca, with BoHTLiNGK, BKSGW., February, 1896, p. 16
of the reprint. — 4 Cp., e. g., Chand. Up. VI. 2 ff. — 5 Though om is said in
I. 1. 16, 25 to consist of four morae, its treatment here presupposes five. The
V seems to be a transitional consonant derived fi-om 0 = av, i. e., au ^ v m; cp.
BoHTLiNGK, 1. c. — 6 Cp. however SBE. XLII, p. xxxii ff. — 7 See B6htlingk,
1. c, p. 17. — 8 See Kausika, Introduction, p. xxxvii ff., and above, p. 14.
§ 69. First Prapathaka: i, i. 31 — 38. The Gayatrl-Upanisad. —
This text describes itself as an Upanisad, and deals with a theme suggestive
of the Shavank Upanisad, though it is not at all like it (cp. Deussen, 1. c.
p. 867). It has been translated by Rajendralala Mitra in the introduction
to his edition of GB., p. 1 9 ff. It begins with the legend of a scholastic duel
between Maudgalya and a strange sage Glava Maitreya, apparently an adherent
of the Sama-Veda, judging by the fact that the name Glava is mentioned
in PB.25. 15.3; SB.i.4.6; Chand. Up. 1.12, and, as far as is known, nowhere
else. Glava is defeated because he cannot explain 'the sdvitrt, the gdyatrJ,
of 24 syllables and 12 (cosmic) pairs, whose eye are the bhrgvangirasah, on
which all this is founded'. Maudgalya then explains {2>7)) Savitar and the
sdvH7'i as consisting of 12 cosmic pairs {mithunani)\ mind and speech; Agni
and earth, etc., v/inding up with the sacrifice and its fee {yajna and daksind).
Then follows a mystic correlation of the three padas of the gdyatfl with three
cosmic sets of twelve each, prthivi^ rc^ cigni^ etc., antariksa^ yajus, vdyu^ etc.,
each of which has the final outcome of vrata, rehgious devotion (cp. varenya
in the text of the gdyatfi). With characteristic inconsistency the AV. itself is
ignored in this apportionment of the gdyatn, though it has been assumed
that the bhrgvaiigirasah are its eye. The subject ends with the statement,
sriyam asnuie ya ... evaT7i etdm veddndm mdtaram sdvitrlsampadam upanisadain
updsta iti brdhmanam.
% 70. First Prapathaka: i. i. 39. The acamana-rite. — The first
prapathaka ends with a chapter on the dcamana^ being the Brahmana-comment
to Vait. I. 19; Kaus. 3. 4; 90. 22. The opening pratlka, dpo garb/iam jana-
yantih, seems to refer to an independent (Paippalada?) version of AV.4. 2.8
{dpo vatsam janayantih); other mantras (AV. 19. 69 and 70), formulas, and
slokas are also cited. The main prescript is, that the dcamana, the act of
rinsing the mouth, shall take place three times; the Atharvan school-character
of the chapter appears in the identification of the three dcainanas with
the purastdddhoma, djyabhdgau^ and samsthitahomdh (Kaus. 3. 19; Vait.
1.4, etc.). Finally the Bhrgvangirasah are correlated with the waters by
means of a si oka similar to the prose-statement in i. i. 29. The chapter
is an independent, though late, Atharvanic lucubration: it may possibly
have been suggested by the expression, dpo jyotisi pratisthitdh, in the pre-
ceding section.
S 71. Second Prapathaka: 1.2.1 — 9. The duties of the Brahma-
car in. — The theme may have been suggested by the preceding treatise on
the sdvitrl, whose acquisition is an important part of the training of the
IV. The Gopatha-Brahmana. — B. Contents of the Purva-Brahmana. hi
]Jrahman disciple. The treatment is based upon AV. 11.5, a hymn glorifying
the sun as a Ikahman disciple ^ ; it is carried out, with considerable originality,
differing markedly from the presentations in SH. 11. 5. 4; TA. 2, and the
Grhyasutras. The Brahmacarin is urged to overcome the seven passions:
caste-pride {brahmavarcasam), fame, sleep, anger, bragging, personal beauty,
and fragrance, which are correlated respectively with the antelope, the teacher,
the boa, the boar, water ^ maidens, trees and plants. If he clothes himself
in the skin of the antelope he obtains brahmavarcasam-, if he works for his
teacher he obtains the latter's fame; if, though sleepy, he abstains from sleep
he obtains the sleep that is in the boa; if, humble in spirit, he does not injure
any one through anger he obtains the anger that is in the boar; if he does
not perform braggart tricks in the water he obtains the braggadocio that is
in the water; if he does not look at a naked maiden he obtains the beauty
that is in the maiden; if he does not smell at plants and trees, after having
cut them, he becomes himself fragrant (i, 2). The next four sections continue
the duties and rewards of the Brahmacarin with allegories and illustrative
legends (3 — 6). The next chapter contains mantras in expiation, of certain
sins to which he is liable: two of them occur Vait. 12. 7 — 9 (Ap.S.9. 13. 11),
but a third {yadidatn rtukdmya etc.) seems original with the GB. The
Brahmacarin is next described as devdndm parisutam, 'that which has been
set in motion by the gods' (the sun), referring to AV. 11. 5. 23 in its Paippalada-
version^ (7). In chapter S'^ the Brahmacarin is urged to betake himself to
a hermitage, after the pattern of the great sages of yore. The son of the
great Rishi Vasistha recited the hemistich AV. 11. 5. 25*'' (ii. 5. 24*=^ in
the vulgata) into the mouth of a shell, in order that a cold and a hot
spring should issue therefrom. Then in the middle of the river Vipas
there arose the first hermitage Vasisthasila by name. This was followed
by others: the names of the hermitages are for the most part original.
After an account of an extraordinary feat of asceticism it is said that
Siva performed tapas during 48000 brdhmya years upon the back of the
ocean {salilasya prsthe). The chapter is Pauranic rather than Brahmana.
Lastly, in chapter 9, as at the end of each of the preceding broader
themes the text again finds its way to a statement of the preeminence
of the AV. and the Brahman-priest {bhrgvaiigiras). After explaining the
brah7nodya-%XzxiZ2i AV. 13. 2. 27, the functions of the four Vedas and their
priests are discussed and illustrated by mantras from the AV. and elsewhere,
one stanza {antarikse pathibhir etc.) being RV. 10. 168. 3 with original
variants.
§ 72. Second Prapathaka concluded. Various subjects: i. 2.
10 — 14. Disquisition on the sacrifice and the sacrificial place
{devayajana). — A hungry priest, Vicarin the son of Kabandha Atharvana
(cp. 1.2.18), too proud to seek subsistence, is sent out by his equally hungry
mother. Having gone to a soma-sacrifice at the court of the emperor Man-
dhatar Yauvanasva he proceeds at once to give instruction in marked Upanisad-
style on the sacrifice and the choice of a sacrificial place: 'As all rivers
having proper names lose their identity in the ocean, thus do all the Vedas
and subsidiary literary categories lose their individual character in the sacri-
fice.' After a description of the ritualistic properties of the devayajana the
relative position and functions of the four priests loom up once more: the
Brahman-priest is, of course, the mind of the sacrifice (cp. i. 3. 2, 14). The
subject is disposed of with a final definition of the devayajana under four
heads,, dtmdy sraddhd^ rtvija/i, and bhaumam, exhibiting points of contact
with SB. 3. I. I.
1 1 2 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
I. 2. 15 — 17. The brahmaudana at the agnyadheya. — Here the
GB. begins to address itself more directly to the task of acting as a Brahmana
to the Vait.(5.4; cp. 6.6). Not, as might be expected, is this subject treated
here in relation to the conspicuous brakmaudana-hymw?,, AV. ii.i and 12.3,
but with the superficial purpose of correlating the cdtuhprdsya odana (porridge
sufficient for four priests) with the Atharvanic Vedic tetrad, the string upon
which the Brahmana harps in and o_ut of season. After reciting the famiUar
legend of Aditi who begot the Adityas by eating the leavings of the
brahmaudana^ y the cdtuhprdsya is correlated with the stereotyped cosmic
and liturgic tetrads: the AV. comes in for the tetrad, dpah, candramdh,
brahmaveda, and brahmaiva (function of the Brahman-priest). This is
supported by liturgic explanations of the mantra catvdri srngds etc. (RV.
4.58.3, etal.)^, and AV. 10. 10. 2. This is followed by the recommendation,
rather striking in an extreme partisan text, that the first fee at the
sacrifice be given to an Atreya priest, descended from the Atri-stock, for
the well-known reason that Atri freed the sun from darkness. The passage
rubricates AV. 13. 2. 4^^, 12, and seems to illustrate Vait. 21. 25 (cp. SB.
4.3.4.21).
I. 2. 18 — 21. The iron-shod horse at the agnyadheya.^ — This
horse, one of the main requirements of the agnyadheya (Vait. 5. 11; SB. 2. i.
4. 16), is produced by Vac from, frightful, gruesome waters. The three Vedas
fail to pacify the horse; then Samyu Atharvana, the /^////-principle of the
AV.7, engages Vicarin, the son of Kabandha Atharvana (cp. i. 2. 10), who
prepares the 'holy water' {sdntyudaka) by means of 'holy' {atharvana) and
'witchcraft' {dngirasa) plants, and by the recitation of the appropriate lists of
mantras^ (18). The account of the horse is interrupted by an Atharvanic
legend concerned with the origin and nature of the Brahman-priest and his
assistants (cp. Vait. 11. 3): the latter are stated to be Sadasya, Brahmanac-
chamsin, Potar, and Agnidhra^ (19). The text returns to the 'fire-footed'
horse, explaining why it is called Agni Vaisvanara in the mantra, agnim
tvdhur vaisvdiiaram (Vait. 6. 7; GB. i. 2. 21), and to differentiate it from
Agni Jatavedas, the fire at the agnyddhdna itself. The Brahmana (i. e. the
Brahmanic religion) ^° carried Agni Vaisvanara; the latter created these worlds.
Then Agni Jatavedas in rivalry determines to exhibit his brilliancy and force,
so that the Brahmana should carry him also. Jatavedas exhibits his virtues
in four different ways; the last time 'he sawViraj, the wife of the Brahmana',
and gave her to him. Then the Brahmana built Agni Jatavedas; Agni
Vaisvanara, on the other hand, became the horse which frightened the gods,
and Brahman (the Brahman-priest) calmed it with the above-mentioned stanza,
and with the five stanzas, Vait. 6. i. Next, anent Vait. 6. 8, the chariot {ratha)
is mounted. It originated from the sap {rasa) of the Brahman, went to the
gods, frightened them, but sundry stanzas appeased it also. Finally reasons
are given why cows and gold are presented to the Brahmans at the cdtuh-
prdsya (Vait. 6. 6).
I. 2. 22 — 23. The samtapana-fire. — From the time of RV. 7. 59. 9
the term sdmtapana is associated with the Maruts, being ritualistically tinted
from the start. As in Vait. 9. 2 the term appears everywhere in connection
with the Maruts at the sdkafnedha-c&x&momQs (one of the seasonal sacrifices,
cdturmdsydni)'^^. Here, however, it appears as the name of a fire connected
with brahma^ the brdhmana^ and the brdhmyam havis. Especially in the
Grhya-ceremonies {samskaras) the Brahmana without the sdmtapana suggests
to the writer a clod in a pot that does not shine. It would seem as though
the single fire of the house-practices, in which a single Brahmana is engaged.
IV. The Gopatha-Brahmana. — B. Contents op the Purva-Brahmana. 113
were here called sdmtapana. The subject-matter itself, and the reason for its
presence here are far from clear.
1.2.24 — 1.3.5. Preeminence of the Atharvanic Brahman-priest. —
The text returns to its pet theme, the Atharvanic Brahman (cp. Vait. 11. 2).
An inane legend introduces the cosmic and liturgic tetrads (cp. i. 2. 16),
designed to shelter the fourth Veda, which figures in the series with atharv-
dngirahy brahmatva^ dpaJj.^ candramdh , . , om ity atharvandm iukram^ janad
ity ahgirasdm (cp. i. i. 20, and above, p. 8).
J SBE. XLII, p. 214, 626 ff. — 2 Read, krodho 'pah ilagham, for, krodhopaslagham,
in the text, p. 23, last line. — 3 See Roth, AV. in Kaschmir, p. 23. — 4 Marked
7 in the edition: the false numbering continues to 14; after that correctly 15, etc.
— 5 Cp. TS. 6. 5. 6. I; MS. 2. i. 12; TB. I. i. 9. I. — 6 This liturgic explanation
of the mantra is parallel to, yet different from that presented by the scholiasts at
VS. 17. 91; TA. 10. 10. 2; Nir. 13. 7. Roth, AV. in Kaschmir, p. 23, points out
that the writing catvari srn^ds (GB., p. 34, I. 3) is that of the AVP. Three lines
below, however, and at the end of GB. 2. 2. 6, we have the pratlka in the form,
catvari stvgeti. — 7 See p. 8, and SBE. XLII, p. XXl. — » Kaus. 9; Vait. 5. loff.;
see JAOvS. XL 387 ff.; SBE. XLII, p. xvni. — 9 Later, in passages that betray
their origin from ritual-texts of the RV., the Brahmandcchamsin, with Maitravaruna
and Achavaka, figures as one of the assistants of the Ilotar: e. g. 2. 4. 14. —
10 Cp. SB. I. 4. I. 10 ff. — II Weber, IS. X. 340; Hillebrandt, Ritual-Li tteratur,
p. 117.
§ 73. Third Prapathaka. Various subjects: 1.3. i — 5. Preeminence
of the Atharvanic Brahman-priest (continued). — In i. 3. i they that
know the bhrgvahgirasah are called devd brahmandJi\ without them the sacri-
fice limps like a quadruped deprived of its allowance of four feet Section 1.3.2
continues with an Atharvanic redaction of AB. 5.32. 3!!., with this conspicuous
diiference that the AB. says, atha kena brahmatvam kriyata iti: trayya lidyayd;
but the GB. ascribes the brahmatvam to the Atharvan. This is followed in
1.3.3 by expiatory rules when priests break their silence at certain sacrifices.
This is again an Atharvanic mouthing over of AB. 5. 32. 5 — t^t,. 4, with the
difference that the GB. places om in front and janat after the expiatory
formulas bhur^ etc.: obviously ^w represents the atharvdnah^ janat the angirasah
(cp. 1. 1. 20; 2.24); the other formulas are, as it were, sandwiched in between
these. In i. 3. 4 the chief services for which the priests receive their fees
are recounted after the pattern of AB. 5.34. iff.; those of the Brahman-priest
{dez'ayajana?n me 'ciklpad etc.) are of interest. This is followed (i. 3. 5) by
an inconsequential legend showing how in a sacrifice undertaken with only
three priests the fees were reduced by one half
1.3.6 — 10. Mystic explanation of the new-moon and full-moon
sacrifice. — This is an expanded treatment of SB. 11. 4. i, giving the im-
pression of direct dependence upon that text. Uddalaka Aruni, the son of
Gotama, from the country of the Kurupaiicalas, is chosen by his people to
go to the Northerners {tidicydn)^ where he engages in a brahmodya-conitst
with Svaidayana Saunaka, the prize being a necklace. The separate acts of
the darsapurnamdsa are correlated with facts and events in the development
of the human body: Hair grows first on the head, later comes the beard and
hair on the body; it turns grey first on the head, finally all over the body.
Creatures are born toothless, the teeth coming later; they fall out in the
seventh or eighth year, grow again, doomed all to fall out in the end. The
lower teeth appear first, the upper later on; the lower are narrower and
weaker, the upper broader and stronger; etc. The physiological review ends,
kasmdd idam siinam uccasa eti mclpadyate kasmdt sakrd (? iakrd) apdnam (7).
A specimen of the correlation of these facts with the practices at the darsa-
purnamdsa is as follows: Because the sacrificial straw {barhis) is first spread
Indo-arische Philologie. II. 1b. g
114 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GOPATHA-BrAHMANA.
in front of the altar {vedi), therefore these (human) creatures are born first
with hair on their heads, etc. (9). Cp. Vait. 2 and 3.
I. 3. II — 16. Mystic explanations of acts at the agnihotra. — In
continuance of the preceding legend another Brahman, Pracinayogya by name,
questions Uddalaka Aruni as to the mystic meaning of the acts of the agni-
hotra. The passage corresponds to SB. 11. 5. 3. i — 7^, but the theme
is handled independently and in close relation to the description Vait. 7,
sharing with it some words elsewhere unknown 2. This is followed (13^ 14) by
J>rdyascittas for accidents that may befall the three Srauta-fires, a theme foreign
to the published text of Vait, but possibly dealt within its unpublished /r^^^/-
^2V/<a:-chapters3. SB. 11. 5. 3. 8 fif. has a closely parallel, yet independent
treatment: the expiatory formulas differ in the two texts. The advantage of these
expiations is illustrated in a chain of causation^ introducing the famiUar cosmic
series of the four Vedas {manas, catidramas, dpas for AV.; cp. i. 2. 12, 16,
etc.). Returning to the agnihotra, a legend is told concerning the family of
Priyamedha Bharadvaja who thought themselves Veda-wise, 'knew it all', and
did hot consult any one skilled in the Vedas: they offered the agnihotra
either once, twice, or thrice a day. They that offered it twice prospered
mosf^ (15). The next chapter contains a fanciful account of the nature and
origin of svdhd; it is said to belong to the family of the Lamagayanas, a name
famihar in the Saman-schools: possibly the subject is derived from a text of
that Veda.
1. 3. 17 — 23. Notes on the agnistoma, especially on the con-
secration of the sacrificer (diksa). — Abruptly the texts translates itself
to the agnistoma, in a legend about the priestly family of the Karus who,
because they were poor, performed that sacrifice with one cow (the so-called
ekagu). The passage is a note on Vait. 24. 20. The kdravo Ipasvdh^ 'the
poor clerics', typify the Brahmans in general who are thus excused from too
great personal sacrifices (17). This is followed by an account of the i"«z/^;z7><7-
animal at the agnistoma, suggested by Vait. 22. 21, but evidently derived from
the closely similar account, AB. 7. i. i = AS. 12. 9. Atharvanic traits are
entirely wanting (18). Next the diksd is treated in close correspondence with
Vait. II. 17. It begins with an explanation of the word diksita {dhiyam
ksiyati^), states the reasons why a diksita may not rise and greet any one
(Vait. II. 18); explains the terms vicaksanavati vac and canasitavatl vdc^ ;
states why the food of the diksita must not be eaten, nor his name pronounced ;
and how conflicting t-Zf/Y^^- ceremonies on the part of others are to be avoided7(i9).
This is followed by a legend in which points connected with the diksd are
discussed (20). Next come the rules of conduct for the diksita, coinciding
towards the end almost literally with Vait. 11. 21 — 26 (21). Then comes a
prdyascitta for transgressions of the rules of diksd (Vait. 12. i): the mantras
are stated in full here as well as in Vait.^ (22). Lastly come the practices
of the diksita when his wife is pregnant (Vait. 12. 14). The description of
the diksd makes the impression of being a secondary amplification of the
statements of the Vait, rather than the product of independent school-tradition,
parallel to that embodied in the Sutra.
I Cp. also AB. 5. 26. 6; TB. 2. I. 7. i; JB. I. 21. — 2 gavldi 'cow that
yields the milk for the agnihotra' (Vait. 7. 2); samudvTinta 'boiling over'
(Vait. 7. 3); adbhi/i pratyani *to add water' (Vait. 7. 3). The word pitryupavlta
is also Atharvanic (Kaus. 87. 26; Vait 7. 15). — 3 See SBE. XLII, p. LXXI,
note I, and above, p. 16. — 4 See SB. 2.^3. i. 18 ff.; KB. 2. 9 (end). — 5 Cp.
the explanation of diksita as dhlksila in SB. 3. 2. 2. 30. — 6 Cp. also GB. 2.
2. 23; AB. I. 6. 8ff.; KS. 7. 5. 7; ApS. 10. 12. 7.-7 GB. 2. 2. ii, 15, 24. Cp.
samsava, AB. I. 3. 2i; vi sprdh^ Vait. 16. 6; 17. 7: see Garbe's note on Vait.
IV. The Gopatha-BrAhmana. — B. Contents of the Purva-BrAhmana. i i 5
16. 6. — 8 The majority of the mss. at Vait. present them in an abbreviated
{galita) form.
8 74. Fourth Prapathaka. Mystic-theosophic exposition of the
sattra of the year. — The dependence of this long and elaborate theme of
GB. upon book 12 of SB. has been stated above, S ^^' It extends through
the fourth and fifth prapathakas, with the excepjtion of the last three sections
(23 — 25) of the fifth. The first 6 sections = SB. 12. i.i, deal with xht diksd
of the 16 Srauta-priests — the i7'\ the sadasya^ is not mentioned (cp. Vait
31. I and II. 3). This is followed (7, 8) by a mythical derivation of the
various istis and other acts of the agnisfoma from the divinities supposed to
correspond to them, and an account of the rewards attending these ceremonies;
the agnisfoma figures here as one of the main features of , the visuvat-Az.y of
the sattra of the year^, as well as many other days: see SB. 12. i. 2. i and
12. I. 3. I — 7, and cp. Vait. 11 — 17. The next two sections (9, 10) derive
the separate parts and ceremonies of the normal sattra, the gavamayana, from
gods and divine personifications, with attendant rewards: see SB. 12. i. 2. 2, 3
and 12. I. 3. 8 — 22, and cp. Vait. 31. 7ff. Next, two sections (11, 12) correlate
the sattra and certain of its parts with the year: see SB. 12. 2. 3. i. Then
five sections (13 — 17) discuss the parts of the sattra from the point of view
of the ?na/idvrata-d2iys' : see SB. 12. i. 3. 23 and, 12. 2. 3. 2 — 4, 8. The
discussion winds up with an expanded statement of SB. 12.2.3.4: the position
of the abhiplava in the sattra between two prsthya is correlated with certain
facts of ordinary life. Two sections (18, 19), essentially the same as SB. 12.
3. 3.6, 7, compare the sattra-ytax with the wings of a great eagle, the visuvat-
day in the middle being, as it were, the body of the eagle. Next (20 = SB.
12. 2. 2. i) the character of \ki^ jyotih {jyotistomd)^ as part of the abhiplava
is discussed. Then follow two sections (21,22 = SB. 12. 2. 3. 10, 11) with an
account of the ascending and descending scale of the festival-divisions of the
j^/Zr^-year, the visuvat-ddiy in the middle^; the second part of this account is
then (23) supported by a legend of the contest , between the Adityas and
Angiras'^ which is worked up rather differently in SB. 12. 2. 2. 9 — 12. This
is dangerous ground for the GB. to venture upon, since the legends of the
struggles between the Adityas and Angiras regularly exhibit the latter in the
position of vanquished victims, similar to the Asuras in their struggles with
the Devas; that, of course, is contrary to the spirit of the GB. where the
Angiras are especially revered. The mere appearance of such a legend in
this text betrays its secondary origin; but for the fact that it does not in this
instance present the Angiras in too pronounced a position of disadvantage,
it would be intolerable here. The prapathaka is concluded (24 = SB. 12. 2.
2. 13 — 23) with a theological discourse ibrahmodya) betw;een Predi (SB. Proti)
Kausambeya Kausuravindu and his teacher (Jddalaka Aruni in which the
sacrifice, the year, as the single one {ekam), is said to consist of respectively
ten, nine, eight, etc. days {ahani). Very neat is the turn given by the GB.
to the relation of the year with the number four. Whereas the SB. establishes
this relation through the four-footed cattle, the GB. does not neglect to clinch
its oft-repeated assertion that the Veda is fourfold: catvdro vai vedd vedair
yajtias tdyate. It is not possible to doubt that GB. presents the secondary
version of the two.
I Vait. 31. 10; KS. 13.2.7. — 2 See Hillebrandt, Ritual-Lit'teratur, p. 157- —
3 Weber, Naksatra, II. 282, note; Hillebrandt, 1. c; cp. Vait. 31. I4- — ♦ Cp.
Weber, IS. I. 291 ff.; Episches im vedischen Ritual, p. 46.
§ 75. Fifth Prapathaka: i. 5. i — 22. Exposition of the sattra of
the year concluded. — The first section = SB. 12. 2. 2. 12, deals with the
8*
1 1 6 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GOPATHA-BrAHMAN A.
abhiplava^ normally of six days, in mystic ^ variations which enable it to em-
brace from five days to one. Next (2 = SB. 12. 2.1. i — 9) comes a phase of
the sattra called gddhapratistha) and then three sections in which the sattra
and its parts are correlated with the cosmic man {purusa) and his members
(3 = SB. 12. I. 4. iff.; 4 = SB. 12. 2. 4. I ff.; 5 = SB. 12. 3. 2. i ff.). In
these sections the GB. exhibits a good deal of independence; especially the
two slokas in section 5 differ considerably from those in SB. 12. 3. 2. 6, 7:
they occur nowhere else in the published literature. Then (6 = SB. 12.3.
5. 12 — 13) comes a statement of the identical grouping and numerical relation
of the main events of the two sattra half-years on either side of the visuvat-
day, which differs from those made in Vait. 31. 15; GB. i. 5. 23.
At this point (7) the text introduces a yajnakrama stating the so-called
haviryajna or isti^ and the soma-sacrifices {somasamst/idh). It coincides with
the order followed in the Vait. only up to the first of the soma-festivals, the
agnistoma'^. Nor does t\\\s> yajnakrama, or that exhibited practically in Vait,
coincide with that stated farther on, GB. 1.5.23. The latter coincides almost
perfectly with the classical yajnakrama^ as reported on the authority of
Gautama's Dharmasutra 8. 19, 20^; the present account is more or less
independent of all other known statements. This yajnakrama is merely a
stepping-stone to the glorification of the sa/iasradaksina-sdiCxi^cQ (8). Prajapati
performs all ceremonies in the order of the yajnakrama, obtaining only
perishable results {antam), but when he follows up a sattra with the sahasra-
daksina he obtains imperishable results. The two sections bear every mark
of secondary construction in behalf of Vait. 34. 21.
In renewed touch with SB., section 9 of GB. = SB. 12. 3. 5. 3 — 11
advises those that are devoting themselves to the sattra {samvatsarasajnsadah)
to keep intact the other sacrifices, agnihotra^ etc., which ordinarily would
claim their attention. Next (10 = SB. 12. 3. 3. iff.) there is a legend, in
illustration of Vait. 42. 18, about the impossible sattra of a 1000 years ^, for
which the visvajit is substituted : the GB. characteristically substitutes five Vedas
{rci, yajusi, sdmni, s'dftte = atharvani, and ghore == arigirasi) for the three
Vedas, SB. 12. 3. 3. 2 4. Sections 11 — 20 expand considerably the subject of
the three daily savanas, as treated in SB. 12. 3. 4. iff. The GB. manages to
import a good many Atharvan traits: in 11, a propos oi vidvdmsah^ the fourth
(Brahman) priest is described in almost the same words as Kaus. 9^4. 3, 4.
The four formulas, mayi bhargah ... mayi sarvam, are correlated in SB. 12.
3. 4. 6 — 9 with three cosmic-liturgic forms, including the trayl vidyd and an
indefinite fourth corresponding to sarvam, namely, ye anye lokds {devds, vedds,
prdnds) tat sarvam; the GB. changes this into a definite tetrad, so as to
provide amply for an Atharvanic cosmos {dpah, candramdh^ etc.) in relation
to the formula 7nayi sarvam {sarvavidyd = bra/imaveda): see sections 15
and 19. Very noteworthy is the original version of the three formulas at the
three savanas (12 — 14)^: the passage GB. 11 — 20 offers perhaps the most
conspicuous instance of the manner in which this text, though removed by
an almost immeasurable distance from the original springs of Srauta-tradition,
yet manages to adapt existing materials to its all-absorbing purpose, the
glorification of the Atharvan. At this point (21) a legend introducing Dadhyanc
Angirasa, not found in SB., correlates the formulas, oni srdvaya, etc., containing
17 syllables, with the year, or Prajapati, or the sacrifice^, and then leads up
to the pravara, the invitation of the manes, Vait. 2. 15; the very words of
that text as also the citation^ (AV. 6. 123. 3 — 5) are repeated in GB. The
subject is concluded (22 = SB. 12. 3. 5. 11) with the sdvitrapasu (cp. Vait.
22. 10).
IV. The Gopatha BrAhmana. — C. Contents of the Uttara-BrAhmana. 117
S 76. Fifth Prapathaka: i. 5. 23—25. Metrical treatise on the
sacrifice. — The last three sections of the Purva-Brahraai>a lack a certain
unity of structure, which makes it possible to imagine that they are not from
the same hand. First (23) there is the ordinary yajnakrama\ its account of
the hm'iryajna and somasamsthah {sutyah) coincides with Gaut Dh. 8. 19, 20:
the pdkayajna accord with the wording and order of Satyavrata Samfisrami
in the Hindu Journal Usha 7. The apparent derivation here of the yajfiakrama
from schools of the SV. may lend significance to the presence in this section
of slokas that are paralleled by the JairainTya-Brfihmaija, also a Saman-texL
The rest of the section consists of questions and answers ibrahmodyd) devoted
to the time-divisions of the sacrificial year. One of the stanzas is identical
with Vait. 31. 15. Another (p. 85, 1. 17) occurs in a variant form in Jaim.
Br. 2. 73^; yet another stanza, Jaim. Br. 2. 71 9, exhibits a certain relationship
with that beginning GB., p. 85, 1. 13. The next section (24) contains a
cosmogonic Atharvanic account of the origin of the sacrifice. Vaisvanara
heated with tapas, desiring offspring, pours semen into Sraddha. From this
union the world-conquering soma-toothed Angiras is born. Then the resulting
four Vedas^° are described: 'The holy Atharvan and, Angiras praise with
prdyascittas and bhesajas\ Next follows a list of the 17 Srauta-priests, divided
into four Vedic groups", to which are added four other functionaries, the
wife at the sacrifice {diksita patm), the butcher {samiiar)^ the householder
{grhapati), and lastly Angiras himself. The last section (24) is the final
apotheosis of the Atharvan. After stating that all the 2 1 orthodox sacrifices,
both of the present and of yore, resolve themselves in the Angiras, the text
enters once more upon an elaborate cosmic tetrad in behalf of the AV., similar
to, yet somewhat different from the preceding ones ' ^ The final outcome of the
cosmogony is the sacrifice protected {gupta'^^^) by the Atharvan. In addition
to the regular sacrifice the formulas and offerings of the village *♦ and forest
also resolve themselves in the Angiras; and, finally, the Atharvan secures the
heaven of Brahma, whereas the trayl vidyd can only procure the trivisiapam
tridivam ndkam uttamatn.
I See Garbe, Vaitana-Sfitra, Translation, p. iv. — ^ Weber, IS. X. 326; Max
MiJLLER, ZDMG., IX, p. Lxxni; SBE. XXX. 357 ff.; Hillebrandt, ibid. p. 41. —
3 Weber, IS. XIII. 335 ; Hillebrandt, ibid. p. 1 58. — 4 See above, p. 8. — 5 See
above, S 66, end. — 6 Cp. GB. i. 3. 10; 5. 10; SB. 12. 3. 3. 3- — 7 Max MOller,
SBE. XXX. 358; cp. above p. 116. The somasamsthah coincide also with AS. 6.1 1. 1;
KS. 10. 9. 28. — ^ To wit: ayuiam ekam prayuiani sastir^ niyute dve nova caksarani^
sapta sahasrani das'aio dasa, etavan atmZi par amah prajapaUh. — 9 afiav eU navatayo
bhavanty, ahoratranam parivatsarasya, asliir asmin savanani trlni ra, sahasram ca
pavamTinas ca sarve. — i" The SV. is alluded to with the probably late expression
samaghosa 'noise of the Saman', as in the Grhya and Dharraa-texts. — " The
sadasya is included this time among the Atharvanas; cp. GB. 1.4. 1—6; Vait. 11. 3.
— 12 E. g. in I. 5. 15 and 19. — ^3 Cp. the goplarahy GB. I. 1. 13.-- M Cp. the
gramayajaka, etc., SBE. XLII, p. XL, note.
C. CONTENTS OF THE UlTARA-BRAHMANA (THE YAJNAKRAMA ')•
§ 77. First Prapathaka: 2. i. i — 12. The new and full-moon
offerings. — The first section deals with three points: the purification of the
Brahman's seat; the fetching of the /r«;/7/«-water; and the placing of the
parid/it-stlcks around the fire. The first two themes are borrowed literally
from KB. 6. 13, except for two characteristic touches. The formula, idam
aham arvdvasoh etc., appears in its Atharvanic form, idam aham arvdgvasoh
etc. (Kaus. 3. 7; 137. 39); and for, brhaspatir ha vai dri'dndm brahmd^ in
KB._, the GB. reads, brhaspatir vd dtigiraso, unto the greater glory of the
1 1 8 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
Angirasa-Veda. The statement about the pramtd-wdXtr, Vait. 2. 2, coincides
with both GB. and KB., whereas that which concerns the paridhis (Vait. 2.
8, 13) does not appear in KB., but seems to be original with GB. The next
three sections (2 — 4) deal with the /r^/zV^-a-food, Vait. 3. 7 ff.^, beginning with
the /r^j-V/r^-legend: Rudra being refused a share of the sacrifice cut off a
portion of it, the prasitra. This is given successively to Bhaga whom it
makes blind; to Savitar whom it makes handless (and subsequently golden-
handed); to Pusan whom it makes a toothless eater of gruel; to Idhma
Angirasa who loses by it his head; toVarhi (Barhi) Angirasa whose body is
disjointed by it; finally to Brhaspati Angirasa (the typical Brahman-priest)
who recites mantras over it that render it harmless^. Idhma Angirasa echoes
the well-known legend of Dadhyanc Atharvana or Angirasa'^. Neither Idhma
nor Barhi are mentioned elsewhere, being clap-trap personifications; the three
Angirasas who figure here indicate the working over of the legend into an
Atharvanic mould. The last half of section 3 corresponds closely to KB.
6. 14; section 4 to TS. 2.6.9. Next, individual points of the darsapurnamdsa
are treated: the prohibition of the dakshm^ because the anvdhdrya-^^oxxx^g^
is the ordained fee at these sacrifices 5 (5); the next section (6), a propos
of the afivd/idrya, is borrowed almost literally from MS. 1.4. 6 (p. 54, 1.3ff.)i
then (7)- the anvdhdrya is described as Prajapati's share, the point being
illustrated by the legend of the gods' sacrifice to Prajapati, whereas the Asuras
sacrificed into one another's mouths^. The need of performing the darsa-
purnamdsa before entering upon the soma-sacrifice is urged in section 8; an
expiatory act on the rise of the moon when the priest is about to cook for
the evening-offering is the theme of section 9 7; the mystic description of the
purvd and uttard paurnamdsi and aindvdsyd is copied literally from Kaus.
1. 29, 30, and defined further in section 10. The rule that only one of the
two full-moon and new-moon days shall be chosen (11) is copied almost
verbatim, with shocking blunders on the part of the edited text, from TS.
2. 5. 5. 2ff. Finally (12) certain oblations to Agni-Visnu, and to SarasvatI
and Sarasvant, preparatory to the darsapurnamdsa, are described in accordance
with Vait. 8. i, 2^.
2. I. 13 — 16. Kamyestayah. — The next three sections (13 — 15) deal
with sacrifices for the fulfilment of special wishes. The Vait. has nothing to
correspond; they are, indeed, an almost verbatim copy of MS. 2. i. 10 9.
Section 16 is the Brahmana of Vait. 11. i (beginning of the agnistoma), in
verbal agreement with GB.: he that wishes to perform a soma-sacrifice shall
offer a freed steer {usram aiiusrstam) to Indra-Agni, in case his father and
grandfather had not made a soma-sacrifice in their life-time. Since the theme
is treated out of order it was perhaps conceived as a kdmyesti.
2. I. 17 — 26. Agrayana; agnicayana; and caturmasyani. — The
offering of the first fruits of the season (17) begins with the usual legend ex-
plaining the libations to Agni-Indra, the Visve Devah, and Soma^°; otherwise
the treatment corresponds closely to Vait. 8. 3 — 7. Judging from the mention,
at the end, of the Atharvanic purastdddhotna and samsthitahoma (Kaus. 3. 19;
Vait. I. 4, etc.) this seems to be a somewhat original Brahmana. In section
18 the text, apparently without reason, undertakes a salto mortale into the
agnicayana-QtxtviiOXiy^ describing the use of the apratirat/ia-hymn in its Atharvan
version (AV. 19. 13) at that ceremony. The Brahmana illustrates Vait. 2 9. 16,
and is almost identical with MS. 3. 3. 7 (p. 40, 1. 2ff.); cp. also SB. 9. 2. 3.
I — 5. The irregularity is the more marked because the next sections deal
with the cdtur??idsydni which in Vait. 8 follow immediately upon the dgrd-
yana. The remaining sections of this prapathaka (19 — 26) deal with the
IV. The Gopatha-BrAhmana. — C. Contents of the Uttara-Brahmana. 119
seasonal offerings; they are, as has been shown above (p. 102), taken from
KB., and call for no further comment.
I See above p. 116. — 2 Cp. KIJ. 6. 13, 14; SB. i. 7. 4. sff.; TS. 2. 6. 8;
RAjendralAla MiTRA, Introd. p. 29 ff. — 3 Cp. especially, TS. 2. 6. 8. 5 ff. —
4 Weber, IS. I. 290, 384. - 5 Vait. 3. 19; cp. TS. 1. 7. 3. 3; .SB. i. 2. 3. 5. —
6 Vait. 3. 20; cp. TS. 1. 7. 3. 4. _ 7 Very similar to TS. 2. 5. 5. iff.; cp. KB.
4. 2. — 8 Cp. AH. I. i; wB. 3. ,. 3. ,. __ 9 Cp. TS. 2. 2. 2. i; KB. 4- 3- —
xo Cp. SB. 2. 4. 3.
5 78. Second Prapathaka: 2. 2. 1—4. The tanunaptra-ceremony
of the agnistoma.— The first section opens in a rather perplexing manner
with certain kdmyestis in which quadrupeds and birds are sacrificed by him
that has built the holy fire {dhitagtii) in order to gain some special wish*.
It interrupts the yajnakrama of Vait, which in chapter 10 deals with the
pasubandha, unless the GH. regards this as a note on that very ceremony.
Then (2—4) the text turns to the tanunaptra, beginning with the legend in
TS. 6. 2. 2. I almost verbatim ^ Then comes the ceremony proper, again in
close touch withTS., but with an Atharvanic improvement or two; e. g., the
GB. substitutes manas (representing the Brahman-priest) for prdna in TS.
The numerous mantras, however, accord in the main with Vait (13. i6ff.)
rather than TS.^ Apparently the GB. embellishes the acts of the Sutra with
the Brahmana of TS., without drawing upon independent tradition.
2. 2. 5 — 6. The pravargya-ceremony. — Section 5 again interrupts the
yajnakrama of Vait by one of those disquisitions on defects in the sacrifice
which lead up to the glorification of the bhrgvangiraind-^ it may have been
thought suitable here because of the yajna-XtgtwA in section 6. The dis-
cussion is based upon the word viakha, introduced in the statement, makha
ity etad yajnandmadheyam^ which is the language of the Naighantukas*. This
section is almost certainly later thanYaska: sundry Parisista-slokas also point
to a very late date. Then comes the pravargya ^ (6), beginning with the usual
myth, copied almost verbatim from AB. i. 18 (cp. also AB. i. 4. 9). The per-
formance and the mantras accord in the main with Vait 13. 2 5 ft with which
GB. at times agrees almost verbally (e. g. 13. 26, 30). The Vait (14. i)
quotes the gharma-hymn from AVP. in full; the GB. cites it by pratika
{gharmam tapdmi). Certainly GB. presupposes the Sutra.
2.2.7 — 12. The upasad-days, and continuation of the agni§toma. —
Sections 7 and 8 deal with the legend and general matters pertaining to the
upasads^; the legend is treated with some degree of independence'. Section 9
joins Vait 15. 3 in the same recital of the divine women {devapatnyah)\ both
texts differ from the similar statements, MS. i. 9. 2; TA. 3. 9. iff.*. Section 10
is the Brahmana of Vait 16. 5, partly in verbal agreement: the source of the
legendary explanation of the 33 'forms of the sacrifice' {yajnatanus) is un-
known9. Section 11, in verbal agreement with Vait 16. 6, prescribes how
the soma-sacrifice of a rival may be frustrated ^°. Section 12 is the Brahmana
of Vait 16. 15 — 17, dealing with expiations for the overflow of the soma:
the two texts agree verbally. The mantras of Vait 16. 17 :ire quoted frag-
mentarily in GB. with explanatory remarks, quite as though the Vait were in
this instance the Samhita of GB.
2. 2. 13 — 15. The stomabhaga-mantras". — Section 13 begins with
the legend of their origin, substantially the same as TS. 3. 5. 2. i, except that
GB. omits very significantly the statement, tasmdd vdsistho brahmd kdryahy
which is, of course, contrary to the doctrine of tlie Atharvan ritualists. The
mantras in the sequel differ from those in Vait and TS., but section 14
shares with Vait 17. 16 the hst of Atharvan vydhrtis (cp. GB. i. 3. 3), and
I 20 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GOPATHA-BraHMANA.
prescribes the use of om and janat, one on each side of the ordinary ones
(e. g., om bhur j'anat), for the purpose of protection {rgbhir evobhayato 'tharv-
dngirob/iir guptdbhir) ^^ The expression apa gd 'cease to sing' occurs only
here and at Vait. 17. 4. Section 15, illustrating Vait. 17. 7, dwells upon the
value of the stomabhagas in overcoming the simultaneous sacrifice of a rival:
the two texts share the long mantra, stutese etc. The Brahmana, though
making some show of independence, is later than the Sutra. In continued
touch with Vait, section 16 deals with the distribution of the agnldhra-^xt
at the close of \hQ ^bahispavamdna, with the Sd^mQ praisas in both texts (Vait.
17. 12 — 18. i; cp. SB. 4. 2. 5. 11). Section 17, anent Vait. 18. 5 (cp. TS. 3. i.
10. i), deals with the pravrtdhuHs, oblations on choosing the priests; sections
18, 19 (Vait. 18. II — 15) with the practices about the sadas. The mantra,
dhisnyebhyo namo namah, Vait. 18. 11, is alluded to fragmentarily in GB., as
though the Vait. occupied the place of a Samhita. A propos of Vait. 19. 6,
sections 20 — 22 describe the Hotar-priest's oblations with the prasthita-Q.\x^'E>
at the three savanas. Since the Hotar is a Rigvedin these sections are pur-
loined bodily from the AB. 6. 10; 6. 11. 6ff.; and 6. 12. 6ff. The prapathaka
ends with two seemingly inconsequential sections (23, 24), the first of which
is again taken up with the explanation of the terms vicaksanavatl vdc, and
canasitavati vdc (see i. 3. 19); the last surprisingly bounds back to the
darsapurnamdsa^ urging the engagement of the gods {parigrhniydt) on the
first of the new-moon and full-moon days, because these sacrifices are savrta,
i. e., undertaken by many at the same time^^. The section seems to be the
Brahmana of Vait. i. 14.
I Cp. Vait. 43. 32, 33; SB. II. 7. I. 2; ApS. 7. 28. 8; MS. 2. 5. 11. — 2 Cp.
AB. I. 24; SB. 3. 4. 2. Iff.; MS. 3. 7. 10. See Weber, IS. X. 362; Hillebrandt,
Ritual-Litteratur, p. 127. — 3 But, attohhisastetiyam iii^ in GB. 3, accords with TS.
6. 2. 2. 4: the Vait. 13. 18 has anabhisastih. — 4 Yaska's Nigh. 3. 17; Kautsavaya
45: cp. PAOS., October 1890, p. XLViiifif.* — 5 Haug, AB., Translation, p. 41,
note I; Weber, IS. IX. 218—20; Hillebrandt, 1. c. p. 127, i34ff. — 6 Weber,
IS. X. 363 ff.; Hillebrandt, 1. c. 127. — 7 Cp. SB. 3. 4. 4. 3ff.; AB. i. 23; KB.
8. 8; TS. 6. 2. 3; MS. 3. 8. i. — » Bloomfield, ZDMG. XL VIII. 549. — 9 Cp.
Garbe, Vait., Translation, 16, 5, note. GB. is cited by the scholiast to Pan. 3.
4. i6. — 10 See the remark on 1. 3. 19, above, % 73, note 7. — " Vait. 17. 4ff.;
TS. 3. 5. 2; MS. 2. 8. 8; SB. 8. 5. 3; PB. i. 9. iff. — " Cp. above under 1.3.3.
— 13 See the note on i. 3. 19.
§79. Third Prapathaka: 2.3.1 — 11. Agnistoma continued: the
vasatkara and anuvasatkara; rtugrahas; etc. — By way of illustrating
Vait. 1 9. 8 — 1 2 which deals with the vasaikdra and a?iuvasatkdra (acts of the
Hotar) sections i — 6 of GB. present with slight modifications AB. 3. 5 — 3. 8.
Yaska, Nirukta 8. 22, also presents the opening of AB. 3. 8. i; GB. 2. 3. 4
in a form different from each, but it is not necessary in this instance to credit
him with independent tradition any more than GB.; both have mouthed over
the text of AB. The second part of section 6 (Vait. 19. 18, 19) explains the
blessing on drinking the soma, reproducing with verbal changes AB. 7.33. 5ff.
Sections 7, 8 treat the rtugrahas (Vait. 20. 2): section 7 is partly identical with
and wholly similar to AB. 2.29; section 8 in part corresponds to AB. 6.1 4. 5 \
Section 9 presents a legendary explanation of the sound him (Vait. 20. 15, 16),
being written in good archaic Brahmana-language ^, and deriving some inter-
esting illustrations from every-day hfe. A closely similar passage has not
been found ^: it may have been derived from a Saman-source with Atharvanic
adaptations {himkrtydtharvdno brahmatvam kurvanti). Section 10, dealing
with the dhdva and //-^^/^^^r^-formulas 4 (Vait. 20. i5ff".); is copied almost
verbatim from AB. 3. 12 (cp. KB. 14. 3), excepting that the formulas them-
selves are quoted in the spelling of Vait. which differs from that of all the
IV. The Gopatha-BrAhmana. — C Contents of the Uttara-BrAhmana. 121
other texts 5. Section 11, illustrating Vait. 2 1.3,4, is copied with slight alterations
from KB. 11. 4 and 5, including the expression, /// ha smdha kausitakih^
which leaves no doubt as to its origin: cp. above, p. 102.
2. 3. 12 — 19. The pratahsavana of the ekaha. — Section 12 begins
with a legend, similar to AB. 3. 14, in which Prajapati while performing an
{agmstoma-)'?>2,QX\{\Q.Q encounters Death whom he drives step by step from one of
the sastras and stotras of the agni stoma to the other. Sections 13 — 15 account
for the three Sastras (following the ajya and praugd) of the three assistants
of the Hotar, the Maitravaruna, Brahmanacchamsin, and Achavaka^; these
sections bear upon Vait. 20. 14. Although they contain many mantras which
ought to guide to parallel chapters in other Brahmai>a-texts this is not the
case;, they seem original with GB., patterned perhaps after some RV.-sutra
(cp. SS. 12. I ff.). Thus the mantra, ayavi u tva vicarsane (RV. 8. 17. 7 =
AV. 20. 5. i) is not quoted outside of Vait. 21. 2 and GB. 2. 3. 14; indra
fiba pratikdviam suiasya (RV. 10. 112. i) only in GB. 2. 3. 14. Section 16
motivates by a Brahmaria, which again seems independent, the fourfold use
of the ahdva {iamsdvoni) of the prdtahsavana in relation to Vait. 20. 15 (cp.
GB. 2. 4. 4 and 18). Sections 17 — 19 deal with the daksind^ the order in
which it should be given to the priests, and the materials of which it shall
consist (cp. Vait. 21. 24 — 22.2): they are an almost verbatim copy of
MS. 4. 8. 3.
2. 3. 20 — 2. 4. 4. The madhyamdinasavana of the ekaha. — The
subject is treated in the main in the order of Vait., borrowing considerably
from AB., but, as in the case of the prdtahsavana^ some chapters seem to
be original with GB. Sections 20, 21, reproducing almost literally AB.3. 23,
present the legend of the union of Sa (the Rk) with Ama (the Saman),
resulting in the junction of three rcas to produce one sdman^ etc. (cp. Vait.
22. 8). Section 22, reproducing AB. 3. 24, deals with the stotriya, anurupa^
dhdyyd^ pragdtha^ and nivids of the fiiskevaiya-s'astra, and bears upon Vait
22. 10 — 12 7. Section 23 presents a legendary account of Indra's exclusive
right to the niskevalya-sastra at the midday-pressure of the soma: 'In the
beginning there was but one soma-pressure, in the morning. Then Prajapati
created the midday-pressure for his eldest son Indra'. The legend is quite
different from that told AB. 3. 24. loff. (cp. KB. 15. 4); it is original, if we
may trust the quotation of the mantra RV. 7. 98. 5 «= AV. 20. 87. 3, as this
is not mentioned in any other text, not even the Vaitana.
' Cp. also KB. 13' 9. — 2 Cp. the sigmatic aorist adragy p. 127, 1. 3. —
3 Cp. TS. 6. 4. II. 3 — 4. — 4 IIiLLEBRANDT, 1. c. loi ff. — 5 E. g. adhvaryo
samsavom, Vait. 20. i8; GB. here and 2. 4. 4; adhvaryo somsava K.S. 19. 6. 26;
adhvaryo somsavo KB. 14. 3; SS. 7. 1 9. 6; adhvaryo somsavom AB. 3. 12. 3; AS.
5. 14. 3; ApS. 12. 27. 12. — 6 See Weber, IS. X. 353. The strictly Atharvanic
division of the 17 Srauta-priests does not assign the Brahmanacchamsin to the
Hotrakas, but makes him an assistant of the Brahman: see Vait. ii. 3; GB. i.
4. 6. — 7 The word prativlta 'veiled' does not occur outside of GB. and Vait.
(22. 12).
S 80. Fourth Prapathaka: 2. 4. i — 4. The madhyarndinasavana
concluded. — The mddhyamdina is continued in sections i — 3 with an account
of the stotriya^ anurupa, pragdtha, etc.,^of the three Hotrakas (cp. 2. 3.1 3— 15).
They are based upon AS. 7. 4. iff.; SS. 7. 22 — 24, worked over slightly into
Brahmana-form. Section 4 accounts for the five-fold use of the dhdia of the
mddhyamdina {adhvaryo iamsdvom)^: the Brahmana seems original; cp. GB.
2. 3. 16 and 2. 4. 18.
2. 4. 5 — 18. The trtiya-savana of the ekaha. — Continuing in the
order of Vait., section 5 illustrates the pdtriivaia-graha (Vait 22. 3), and the
12 2 II. Litter ATUR u. Geschichte. ib. Atharva-Veda andGopatha-Brahmana.
consumption of the Agnldhra's share in the lap of the Nestar (Vait. 25. 5).
The Brahmana is borrowed from AB. 6. 3. 8 — 11 ^ Section 6 illustrates the
offerings of shavings (Vait. 23. 12); the scattering of barley-grains in the
dhavaniya-^xt (Vait. 23. 13); the pouring of the soma-cups west of the cdtvdla-
pits (Vait. 23. 14): the Brahmana is borrowed from KB. 18.7 and 8. Section
7 deals with the purification of the sacrificer, and is similar to, yet different
from Vait. 23. 22. The mantras, ahhud devah, and the drapsavatyah (sc.
rcaJi) occur in both Vait. and GB.; but instead of the Paippalada-hymn, yat
te grdvd, of the Vait., the GB. has smimlbhih ^ (sc. rgbhih) : the Brahmana
seems to be derived from an unkown Srauta-source. Section 8, illustrating
Vait. 24. 15, 16, describes the burning up of the vedi and the offering of
grits {saktuhomd) : TS. 3. 3. 8. 2 ff. presents a fairly close parallel. That the
TS. is in fact its source seems likely, because the next section (9) interrupts
the order of the Vait, yet is also derived from the same chapter of TS.
Section 9 begins with a rite on the ekdstakd-^d^y bearing, out of order, on
Vait. 31. 4, 5, and being a continuation of the Brahmana in TS. 3. 3. 8. 4 — 6,
which is copied almost literally. But at the end the section returns to the
order of Vait. (24. 14), describing the agnisamdropana (cp. TS. 3. 4. 10. 4).
Section 10 deals with the relation of the three savanas to the day and their
symbolic connection with the three main positions of the sun: it is borrowed
from AB. 3. 44.
At this point the GB. turns to the sasiras of the trtiyasavana, in a
treatment analogous to that of the first two savanas (2. 3. 12 — 19, and 2. 3.
30 — 2. 4. 4). Sections 11 — 14 introduce a legend, elsewhere unknown in
this form. The gods Indra, Agni, Varuna, Brhaspati, and Visnu prevented
the Asuras from entering the evening twilight, and thus ruining the sastras of
the evening. Agni changes into a horse {asvd) and enters the conflict first;
hence the sdkatnasva-sdman heads the sastras at the trtiya-savana^. The
five gods, engaged in the conflict, are identified respectively with vac, prdna,
manas^ cakms, s'rotra, and through these ^prdnas' with Prajapati; reasons
are assigned why they are praised at the trtiyasavana. Finally, these gods,
barring Agni who has been provided for in the sdkamasva^ are distributed
among the sastras of the three Hotrakas: Indra- Varuna with the Maitra-
varuna; Indra-Brhaspati with the Brahmanacchamsin; and Indra-Visnu with
the Achavaka^. The next three sections (15 — 17) state the mantras for the
uktha, stotriya,^ anuriipa, etc., of the Hotrakas, being based upon Rig-Vedic
sources (cp. AS. 6. i. 2; SS. 9. 2 — 4). Section 18 concludes the agnistoma
with an account of the fourfold dhdva of the trtiyasavana {adhvaryo saih-
samsavotri) which seems original, like the parallel sections 2. 3. 16, and
2. 4. 4.
2.4.19. The sodasin-sacrifice. — Section 19 concludes the prapathaka
with a brief explanation of this sacrifice, thus returning to the order of Vait.
(25. 12). The Brahmana is borrowed from AB. 4. i. 5 — 8.
I Cp. AB. 3. 12. 3; KB. 14. 3. — 2 Weber, IS. X. 390; Hillebrandt, 1. c.
133. — 3 Cp. ApS. 13. 20. 8. — 4 Cp. AB. 3. 49; PB. 8. 8. 1—5. — 5 Cp. AB.
3. 50; PB. 8. 8. 6, 7.
§81. Fifth Prapathaka: 2.5.1 — 5. The atiratra-performances. —
These continue the order of Vait., chapter 26: the GB. is patched together
out of passages of AB. and KB. (cp. above, p. 102). Section i, almost
identical with AB. 4. 5, explains the origin of the atirdtra as typifying the
expulsion of the Asuras out of the night by Indra and the metres, his allies;
the- three periods {paryayas) represent the successive acts of expulsion from
the first part of the night, midnight, and the last part of the night. Section 2,
IV. The Gopatha-BrAhmana. — C. Contents of the Uttara-BrAhmana. 123
borrowed from AB. 4. 6. 4 — 7, explains the advantages of the iasiras at the
three paryayas (Vait. 26. 3). Section 3, borrowed from AB. 4. 6. 8 — 14, ex-
plains how the pavamdna-stotras^ which properly belong to the day alone,
are also provided for the night; it also explains other features of the atirdtra
that are patterned after the soma-performances of the day*. Section 4,
borrowed from KB. 17. 7, identifies the fixtures of the sacrifice with the
members of the cosmic man {purusa), and the officiating priests with the
breaths and other functions of the body. The first part of section 5 deals
once more with the expulsion of the Asuras: this time the statement is
borrowed from KB., in mechanical continuation of 17. 7, whereas the first
discussion of the same theme was derived from the AB. The compiler has
not taken the trouble to assimilate his excerpts. The second part of section 5,
borrowed from KB. 17. 9, explains the distribution of the metres at
the iastras.
2. 5. 6 — 10. The sautramanT, vajapeya, and aptoryama rites. —
The next two sections disturb the order of the Vait, which treats the sautrd-
mam in chapter 30, after the vajapeya and aptorydma. Section 6 presents
one of the legends that have attached themselves to the sautrdmanl, being
SB. 12. 8. 3. I — 2; section 7, illustrating Vait. 30. 16, 18, deals with the
saman-chants at the sautrdmaui\ it almost copies SB. 12. 8. 3. 23 — 28'. In
section 8 the text returns to the order of Vait (27. i — 17), illustrating the
z'<J/'«/<?)'^-ceremony by a Brahmana obviously copied from PB. 18. 7 -J. Sections
9, 10 deal with the aptorydma^ \ the presentation is not in very close touch
with Vait (27. 18 ff.), nor has it been possible to find its source in the
published Brahmanas. Cp. in a general way PB. 20. 3. 2 ff.
2. 5. II — 2. 6. 16 (end). The ahina-(sattra-)sacrifices. — To these
performances 5 are devoted the remaining sections of GB., in general corre-
spondence with the order and treatment of Vait 31 fif. The Brahmanas are
borrowed en bloc from the sixth book of AB. with the usual slight alterations;
the mantras are assimilated to some extent to those of Vait Section 11 is
composed of AB. 6. 17. i, 2 and 6. 5; section 12 = AB. 6. 6; section 13 =
AB. 6. 7; section 14 is very similar to AB. 6. 8; section 15 is almost identical
with AB. 6. 18. 4ff., introduced by a sentence from AB. 6. 17. 2, and ending
in a passage from AB. 6. 17. 3, 4; cp. Vait 31. 19, 20.
I GB. shares with Vait. 20. 15 the expression, uliamat praCtharat. — 2 Both
GB. and Vait read samsyana for samsarta, in SB. and elsewhere; cp. Garbe's
note on Vait. 30. 16. — .3 Weber, Ueber den Vajapeya, SPAW., 1892, p. 7650".
— 4 Eggeling, SBE. XLI, p. xx; Hillebrandt, 1. c. p. 138. — 5 The GB.
designates them as atiaikahika = ahlna (cp. also ahargana): the word is wanting
in the lexicons.
§ 82. Sixth Prapathaka: The ahTna-sacrifices continued. —
Section i is composed of AB. 6. 18. i — 3; 6. 19. i — 10 (cp. Vait 31. 25).
Section 2 continues from the middle of AB. 6. 19. 10 through to 6. 20,
with some omissions on the part of GB. (cp. Vait 32. 10). Sections 3 — 5
are almost identical with AB. 6. 21 — 23 (cp. Vait 35. 12, and 35.2,4).
Section 6 explains why the Hotar recites two ukthas and one sukta, whereas
his assistants, the Hotrakas, recite one uktha and two suktas\ the first part
of section 7 specifies the sastras of the Hotrakas to their respective pairs
of divinities. Neither of these passages seems to be derived from any
known Brahmana; cp., however, AB. 6. 13 and 14 (especially AB. 6. 13. 7
with GB. p. 167, 1. 3 ff.). The end of section 7, dealing with the so-called
silpdni, is nearly identical with AB. 6. 27. i — 5. Section 8 is almost identical
with AB. 6. 27. 6—30. 4; section 9 with AB. 6. 30. 5—6. 31; section 10 with
124 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
AB. 5. 9 and 10 (cp. Vait. 31. 27); section 11 with AB. 5. 11 — 5. 12. 3,
finishing with 6. 32. i, 2. Section 12 is composed of a selection of passages
some of which are identical with paragraphs of the AB.; others exhibit a
certain degree of independence, yet seem to have been suggested by the
same text: AB. 5. 19. 12 (cp. Vait. 32. 12); 6.29.1 (cp. Vait. 32. 13); 6.29.2
(the vrsakapiAx^xim; cp. Vait. 32. 14); and 6. 32 (cp. Vait. 32. 19). Section 13
is compiled similarly from AB. 6. 33. i — 5 (cp. Vait. 32. 20; KB. 30. 5);
33.16,17 (cp. Vait. 32. 27; KB. 30. 7); 6.33.19 (cp.Vait. 32. 22); 6.33.18
(cp. Vait. 32. 23); 6. 33. 20 (cp. Vait. 32. 26). Section 14 is compiled from
AB. 6. 34 — 36.3 (cp. Vait. 32. 28 — 30); section 15 works over AB. 6. 36. 4 — 7
with a considerable degree of independence (cp. Vait. 32. 31); and, finally,
section 16 is based upon AB. 6. 36. 8 — 17 (cp. Vait. 32. 33, 35).
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
AA. = Aitareya-Aranyaka.
AB. = Aitareya-Brahmana.
Abhandhing; == Abhandlung iiber den Atharva-Veda.
AG. = A^vaUlyana-Grhyasulra.
AJPh. == American Journal of Philology.
APAW. = Abhandlungen der Kgl. I'reussischen Akademie der Wissensch.iften.
ApDli. = Apastamba-Dharmasfltra.
ApG. = Agastamba-Grhyasutra.
ApMB. = Apastamba-Mantrabrahmana, or Mantrapatha.
ApvS. = Apastamba-Srautasutra.
ArS. = Aranyaka-Sannhita.
A^. = A^valayana-Srautasfltra.
Ath. Paddh. = Atharva-^or AtharvanIya-)Paddhati to KauSika-Sfltra.
Ath. Pari^. = Atharva-Parisista.
Ath. Prat. = Atharva-Prati^akhya.
AV. = Atharva-Veda in the Saunaklya school.
AVP. = Atharva-Veda in the Paippalada school.
AWAW. = Abhandlungen der Kais. Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Wien.
Baudh. Dh. = Baudhayana-Dharmasutra.
BB. = Bezzenberger's Beitrage zur Kunde der Indogertnanischen Sprachen.
BDh. = Baudhayana-Dharmasutra.
BKSGW. == Berichte der Kgl. Sachsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften.
BrhU. and Brh. Ar. Up. == Brhad-Aranyaka-Upanisad.
BRW. = B6HTLINGK und Roth, Sanskrit Worterbuch.
ChU. and Chand. Up. = Chandogya-Upanisad.
Contributions. = Bloomfield, Contributions to the Interpretation of the Veda.
DLZ. = Deutsche Litteraturzeitung.
Gaut. Dh. = Gautama-Dharmasutra.
GB. = Gopatha-Brahmana.
GDh. = Gautama-Dharmasutra.
GG. = Gobhila-Grhyasutra.
GGA. = Gottingische gelehrte Anzeigen.
HASL. = History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature.
HG. = Hiranyakesi-Grhyastltra.
Introd. = Introduction.
IS. = Indische Studien.
IStr. = Indische Streifen.
JA. = Journal Asiatique.
Jaim. Br. = Jaiminlya-Brahmana.
JAOS. = Journal of the American Oriental Society.
JB. = Jaiminlya-Brahmana.
JBAS. = Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
JBU. = Jaiminlya-Brahmana-Upanisad.
KapS. = Kapisthala-Samhita.
Kau§. = Kausika-Satra.
KB. = Kau.sltaki-Brahmana.
Kes. = Ke^ava's Paddhati to Kau^ika-Sfltra.
KS. = Kathaka-San hita.
KS. = Katyayana-Srautasutra.
KZ. = Kuhn's Zeitschrift fiir vergleichende Sprachforschung.
LS. = Latyayana-Srautasutra.
Mahabh. ==s Mahabharata.
126 List of Abbreviations.
MG. = Manava-Grhyasutra.
MHASL. = Max Muller, History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature.
MS. = Maitrayani-Samhita.
MU. = Maitri-Upanisad.
Naks. = Naksatrakalpa.
Nigh, = Nighantuka.
Nir. = Nirukta.
OLS. = Oriental and Linguistic Studies.
OST. = Original Sanskrit Texts.
Pan. = Panini.
PAOS. = Proceedings of the American Oriental Society. ^
PB. == Pancavimsa-Brahmana, or Tandya-Brahmana.
PBAS. = Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
Pet. Lex. = Petersburg Lexicon.
PG. = Paraskara-Grhyasutra.
RV. = Rig-Veda.
Rvidh. = Rig-vidhana.
RVKh. = Rig-Veda Khila.
Say. = Sayana.
. B. = Satapatha-Brahmana.
SB. = Sadvimsa-Brahmana.
SEE. =" Sacred Books of the East.
Seven Hymns = Bloomfield, Seven Hymns of the Atharva-Veda.
SG. = Safikhayana-Grhyasutra.
SMB. = Samaveda-Mantrabrahmana.
SPAW. = Sitzungsberichte der Kgl. Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
SS. = Sankhayana-Srautasutra.
St. and sts. = stanza, and stanzas.
SV. = Sama-Veda.
Svidh. = Samavidjiana-Brahmana.
TA. = Taittirlya-Aranyaka.
TB. = Taittirlya-Brahmana.
TS. = Taittirlya-Samhita.
Up. = Upanisad.
VaDh. and Vas. Dh. = Vasistha-Dharmasastra.
Vait. = Vaitana-Sutra.
Ved. Stud. = PiscHEL und Geldner, Vedische Studien.
Vend. = Vendidad.
Verz. = Verzeichniss der Sanskrit- und Prakrit-Handschriften in der Kgl. Bibliothek
zu Berlin.
ViDh. and Vis. Dh. = Visnu-Smrti.
VS. = Vajasaneyi-Samhita in the Madhyamdina school.
VSK. = Vajasaneyi-Samhita in the Kanva school.
WL. = Weber, Indische Literaturgeschichte.
WZKM. == Wiener Zeitscbrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes.
Yajn. and Yajnav. = Yajnavalkya-Dharmasastra.
YV. = Yajur-Veda.
Yvidh. = Yajur-vidhana.
ZDMG. = Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft.
ZiMMER = ZiMMER, Altindisches Leben.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
paee
PART I. THE ATHARVA-VEDA IN
GENERAL.
A. Character and Chronology of
THE AtHARVA-VkDA.
S 1. External comparison with the
other Vedas I
S 2. Relative chronology of the po-
pular and hieratic literatures 2
S 3- Chronology of the Atharvan
redaction 2
S 4- Relation of the AV. to theBrah-
manas, and the Dharma-texts 3
B. Historical Character of the
Atharvan, and its Relation to
THE HoUSE-BOOKS.
S 5' The mutual relations of the AV.
and the Grhya-sutras, and their
historical value .... 5
S 6. vScope of the AV. as a record
of ancient life 6
C. The Names of the Atharva-Veda
and their Meanings.
S 7- The compound Atharvangirasah
and the meaning of its two
members, Atharvan and Angiras 7
S 8. Cause of the distinctionbetween
Atharvan and Angiras . . 9
S 9- The terms Bhrgvangirasah,
Brahmaveda, and the designa-
tions of Atharvan priests . . 9
D. The Schools OF the Atharva-Veda.
S 10. Character and sources of the
reports on the schools of
the AV n
S II. The nine sakhas of the AV. ii
S 12. Estimate ofthe historical value
of the sakhas, and their relation
to the teachers of the Satras 13
S 13. The two Samhita-sakhas, the
Saunakxya and the Paippalada 13
S 14. Brief account of the Paippa-
lada-sakha 1 4
E. Brief Sketch of Atharvanic
Literature.
S 15. The Samhitas, Sutras, and
Brahmana 15
S 16. The Kalpas and the Parisistas 16
S 17- On the Smrti of Paithrnasi . 17
S 18. The Atharvan Upani§ads . 18
page
S 19* Grammatical and text-histor-
ical treatises 20
F. The Position of the Atharva-
Veda IN Hindu Literature in
General.
S 20, General estimate of the AV. 21
S 21. The Atharvan in the RV. . 21
S 22. The Atharvan in the AV. itself 22
S 23. The Atharvan in the .Srauta-
texts 22
S 24. The Atharvan in the Upani5ads 24
S 25. The Atharvan in the Grhya-
sfltras 24
S 26. The Atharvan in the law-
literature (dharma) ... 25
S 27. The Atharvan in the Maha-
bharata 26
S 28. The Atharvan in Sanskrit,
Jaina, and Bauddhaliterature 27
S 29. The Atharvan in grammatical,
lexical, and text-historical
works 27
G. The Atharva-Veda in the View
OF its Ritualistic Literature.
S 30. The attitude ofthe ritual texts
towards the Atharvan and its
priests 28
S 31. Exaltation ofthe Atharvan, and
the office of the Brahman in
the ritual texts .... 29
S 32. The office of the Purohita in
the ritual texts .... 29
S 33. Causes leading up to the ex-
altation of the Atharvan and
its priests 30
S 34' Connection of the Purohita
with the AV., and interrelation
of Purohita and Brahman . 32
PARTIL THE REDACTION AND EX-
TERNAL FORM OF THE ATHARVA-
VEDA IN THE SCHOOL OF SAU-
NAKA.
A. Division and Arrangement ofthe
Hymns.
S 35' The division of the Sairhita
into 20 books .... 34
S 36. Arrangement of the books
according to hymns of diflfer-
ent length 35
S 37- Arrangement of the hymns
within the books ... 38
128
Table of Contents.
page
B. The Metres of the Atharvan and
THEIR Relation to the Critical
Restoration of the Text.
§ 38. The metres, with special refer-
ence to the Atharvanic (popu-
lar) anustubh 41
§ 39. On the critical restoration of
Atharvan metres ... 42
§ 40. Order of stanzas and conca-
tenation as critical aids . 43
C. The Relation of the Atharva-
Veda to THE Remaining Hymn-
Collections.
S 41. Special features of the Athar-
van collection; its connection
with ApS. and TB. ... 44
§ 42. Relation of the language of the
AV. to that of the RV. . 45
§ 43. The various readings of the
RV. and the AV. ... 47
§ 44. Traces of superior tradition
in the AV. as compared with
the RV 49
§ 45. Adaptation and expansion of
Yajus-themes for Atharvanic
purposes 50
§ 46. The various readings of theAV.
and the Yajus-Samhitas . . 53
§ 47. The various readings of theAV.
and the Srauta-sfltras . . 55
§ 48. Traces of superior tradition in
the AV. as compared with the
Yajus-texts 56
PART III. CONTENTS OF THE
ATHARVA-VEDA IN THE vSAU-
NAKiYA-SCHOOL.
§ 49, Classification of the hymns 57
§ 50. Class l). Charms to cure dis-
eases and possession by de-
mons (bhaisajyani) ... 58
§ 51. Class 2). Prayers for long life
and health (ayusyani) . . 6^
$ 52. Class 3). Imprecations against
demons, sorcerers, and ene-
mies (abhicarikani and krtya-
pratiharanani) .... 65
§ 53. Class 4). Charms pertaining to
women (strlkarmani) ... 69
§ 54. Class 5). Charms to secure har-
mony, influence in the assem-
bly, and the like (sammana-
syani, etc.) 72
§ 55. Class6). Charms pertaining to
royalty (rajakarmani) . . 73
§ 56. Class 7). Prayers and impre-
cations in the interest of
Brahmans 76
page
§ 57. Class 8). Charms to secure
prosperity and freedom from
danger (paustikani) ... 80
§ 58. Class 9). Charms in expiation
of sin and defilement (praya-
scittani) 83
§ 59. Class 10). Cosmogonic and
theosophic hymns ... 86
§ 60. Class 11). Ritualistic and gene-
ral hymns ...... 91
S 61. Class 12). The books dealing
with individual themes (books
13-18) 93
§ 62. Class 13). The twentieth book 95
S 63. Class 14). The kuntapa-hymns 96
PART IV. THE GOPATHA-BRAHMANA.
A. Relation of the Text to the
Atharva-Veda and its Position in
Vedic Literature.
§ 64. General remarks . . . .101
S 65. The Uttara-Brahmana . .102
S 66. The Purva-Brahmana . . 104
B. Contents of the Purva-Brahmana.
S 67. First Prapathaka: i. i. 1 — 15.
An Atharvanic cosmogony in
Upanisad manner . . .107
S 68. First Prapathaka: 1. 1. 16— 30.
The Pranava-Upanisad, being
a cosmogonic account deriv-
ing creation from the om . 108
§ 69. First Prapathaka: 1. 1. 31 — 38.
The G ay atrl- Upanisad , . no
S 70. FirstPrapathaka: I. 1.39. The
acamana-rite no
§ 71. Second Prapathaka: 1.2. 1— 9.
The duties of the Brahma-
carin no
§ 72. Second Prapathaka concluded.
Various subjects . . . .111
§ 73. Third Prapathaka. Various
subjects 113
S 74 Fourth Prapathaka. Mystic-
theosophic exposition of the
sattra of the year . . .115
S 75. Fifth Prapathaka: 1.5. 1— 22.
Exposition of the sattra of the
year concluded . . . .115
S 76. Fifth Prapathaka: 1. 5.23—25.
Metrical treatise on the sacrifice 1 1 7
C. Contents of the Uttara-Brah-
mana (the Yajnakrama).
S 77. First Prapathaka . . . .117
S 78. Second Prapathaka . . .119
S 79. Third Prapathaka . . .120
S 80. Fourth Prapathaka . . .121
S 81. Fifth Prapathaka . . . .122
S 82. Sixth Prapathaka . . . .123
List of Abbreviations 125
I. SANSKRIT INDEX.
The references in both Indexes are to pages.
aniholingflh (sc. rcah) 83 note
27. *
Agni» his relation to life-
bestowing char|3S 64.
agnicayana 92, 118.
Agni Pariksit 97.
agnistoma 91, 114.
agnisainaropana 122.
agnihotra 114, 116.
agnyadheya 1 1 2.
Augiras, mythic fire-priests 1,
9, lo, 23; origin of 107,
117; name of an Atharvanic
teacher 1 9 (Angir), 24 ; sages
34, 107; as a name of AV.
(its witchcraft) 8, 9, 23, 65 ;
designation of AV. as a
whole 27; their conflicts
with the Adityas 8, 68 note
3, 115. Cp. fliigirasa.
augirasah viniSinah 34, 107.
Aja Ekapad 87, 90.
aja paiicaudana 78.
aja^rugl 62.
ajflatayaksma 60.
ajyeyata (of Brahmans) 76, 87.
atithigva, 'presenting a cow
to guests' 7 note 2.
atithipati 90.
atimityu-sava 79 note 17.
atiratra 102, 122.
ativada 99, loi note 7.
Atharvaka-vidhana 17.
Atharva-tarpana 17.
Atharvan, mythic fire-priest
I, 5 note 8, 9, 10, 23; as
a name of AV. (its blessings)
8> 9, 65; origin of 107;
popular etymology of 1 1
note 9; derivatives of 9;
nameof ateacher 19; priests
and sages 9, 34, 107; typical
priest 77. Cp. atharvana,
Atharva-Prati^akhya 20, 35,
40, 96. Cp. Caturadhya-
yika.
Atharvavedoktam jyotisam 1 7.
Atharvaiigirasah I, 7, 9 (ex-
planation), 22, 25, 27, 32,
Indo-arische Philolo^e. IL 1 B.
107, 117, 120. Cp. Bbrgvaii-
girasah.
Atharvangirovid 104. Cp,
Phrgvangirovid.
AdbhutaSflnti 17.
adbhutani 83, 85. Cp. omens
and portents.
AnukramanI (of AV.) 20, 40
note 17,41. Cp.Prhatsarva*,
and Sarvanu".
anuvasatkara 1 20.
anusiubh, popular and hieratic
41 ; in wedding-charms 41.
anaikahika = ahlna 123 note
5-
apacit (apaci) 59, 61.
apanodanani (sc. suktani) 76
note II.
apam suktani 15 note 20, 93.
apagha-hymn 82.
apamarga 67, 69 note 16.
aptoryama 123.
apratiratha-sQkta 76, 11 8.
abadhyata (of Brahmans) 76.
abhicara 66. Cp. abhicarikani.
Abhicara-kalpa 8. Cp. Angi-
rasa-kalpa.
abhiplava 115, 116.
abhiseka-gana, and, -mantrah
15 note 20, 94.
abhivarta havis (mani) 93.
aralu-amulet 66.
Arati 71.
arundhati 61.
arghya-ceremony 7 note 2.
Arbudi 75.
Aryaman 71.
alaji 61.
avi-sava 78.
aslilabhflsanam 98, 99. Cp.
obscenity,
asvamedha 74, 98, 100.
asat, *non-being', in witchcraft
3. 86.
asura-veda 108.
astfta-amulet 64.
ahargana 123 note 5.
ahlna-(sattra-)sacrifices 123.
Cp. sattra.
I Akfepa, commentary on Vai-
I tflna-Sdtra 16.
I agrlyaQa 1 1 8.
ahgirasa, witchcraft, contrast-
ed with atharv-apa 8, 9, 22,
51, 62 note I, 105, 107,
I 112, 113; Angirasa-sages
' 107. Cp. .\iigiras and ftbhi-
' carika^u
Aiigirasa-Kalpa 8, 17.
I Angirasa-veda 65, 107, 108,
118.
acamana no.
ajijiiasenyah 99.
atraan in AV. 88.
I Atreya-priest 1 12.
j atharvana, blessings, contrast-
I ed with angirasa 8, 9, 22,
I 62 note 1, 105, 107, 112,
I 1^3; angi rasa-sages 107.
I Cp. Atharvan.
Atharvana-pramitaksara 17.
Atharvana-sutra, a gramma-
tical treatise 20.
Atharvanlya-paddhati 18.
i Adityas, in conflict with Angi-
I rases 8, 68 note 3, 115.
adityaiigirasyah (sc. rcah) 99.
Apastamba-Srautasutra 45-
aprl-sakta 54, 92.
abayu 61.
! abhicarikani 22, 65. Cp. angi-
I rasa.
I Ayu 64.
I Ayur-Veda 58.
ayusyani (sc. sflktani) 81.
Aranyaka-jyotisam 17.
asura papman 107 note 8.
AsurTkalpa 13, 17,20 note 13.
; asrava 59, 60.
ahanasyah 99.
itihasa-veda loS.
Idhma Angirasa 103, 1 1 8.
I Lulra, prototyi>e of kings 74-
indragathah 98.
j indramahotsava 17, 76 note 6.
; Huphali 13.
I i$tfipflxtam 76.
9
I30 n. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B, AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BrAHMANA.
ucchista-hymn 87, 90.
Uttaniapatala 17, 20, 35, 40
note 6.
uttara-brahmana 10 1, 102.
Uddalaka Aruiji 113— 115.
udyuga 60.
upajika 61.
upanayana 64.
Upavarsa 16.
upasad-days 119.
Urvasi 64.
ytugralia 120.
rsihasta, a ceremony 64.
ekagu (agnistoma) 105, 1 14.
Ekadandisamnyasa-upanisad
(and'-vidhi) 18.
ekastaka 82, 122.
ekaha 121.
aitasapralapa 96, 97, 98, lOO,
101 note 12.
odana-sava 78.
om, origin of 107, 108, 110;
as the vyahrti oftheausiDi-
cious parts of the AV. 8,
105, 109, 113, 120.
Ausanasadbhutani 17.
kanva, a kmd of demon 62.
Kabandha Atharvana 111,112.
karkipravadah (sc. rcah) 81.
Kasyapa 20 note 7.
Kankayana 13.
Kathaka Rcaka 14.
Kama 70, 87.
kamya istayah, kamyestayah
66, 72,"74, 80, 83 (bis), 93*
102, 118, 119.
karavyah (sc. rcah) 97.
Karu 114.
Kala, hymn to 89.
kimldin 52.
kuntapa-hymns 15, 16, 37,
79 note II, 95, 96, 100.
kustha-plant 59, 60, 62.
kudl-plant 77.
kusmanda 4, S6 note 3.
krtya 9,* 52, 65.
krtyapratiharanani 65, 6S.
kevaladin 85.
Kesava 16.
Kautsavya, or Kautsavaya,
author of an Atharvan Nir-
ukta 17, 20, 120 note 4.
Kaurupathi 13.
KauSika 13, 16, 17, 57.
'ksatra-veda' 10, 73.
ksetriya 60.
Ganamala 17.
garbhadfmha^ani 72 note II.
garbhadhana 71.
gavamayana 1 15.
gatha narasamsyah 1 00.
gadhapratistha 116.
gayatrl (savitri) 79, 89, 9 1 note
12, no.
Gayatrl-Upanisad 20, 106, iio.
Garuda-Upanisad 19, 61, 69
note 7.
Gargya 13.
guhya ghrta 93.
godana 64.
goptarah 108, II 7 note 13.
go-sava 78.
Grahayuddha 17.
gramayajaka, and -yajin 73,
117 note 14.
gramya vyadhi 6;^.
grahi 62.
Glava Maitreya no.
gharma-sukta 92, 103, 119.
ghora, ghora-veda 8, 105, 116.
Ghora Angirasa 8, 23.
Caturadhyayika 12, 14. Cp.
Atharva-Pratisakhya.
caturveda 105.
catuh^arava-sava 78.
Caranavyuha 11, 17, 20, 104,
105, 106 note I, 107 note 7.
catuhprasya odana 112.
caturmasyani J 02, 112, 118.
Caranavaidya 13.
cipudru-tree 62.
cudakarma 64.
Ctilika-Upanisad 19. 90 note i,
94.
Cyavana Bhargava, or Angi-
rasa 72'
jangida-tree 60, 62.
Jajali 12.
janakalpah 98.
janat, vyahrti of the terrible
parts of AV: 8, 105, 108,
109, 113, 120.
jambha 62.
Jalada, Jaladayana 12, 13.
Jajala 12, 13.
Jatikayana 13.
jalasa 61.
jivah (sc. rcah) 15 note 20.
takman 58, 59.
Taksaka Vaisaleya 61.
tanunaptra-ceremony 119.
tabuva, 'taboo' 61.
Tarksya Aristanemi 82.
trtlya-savana 121, 122.
trsnagrhlta 62.
Trikandamandana 20.
Trita 85.
Trisamdhi 75.
trisavana-vrata 93 note 6.
tristubh, in funeral-hymns 41.
Tauda, Taudayana 12.
Tvastar-Savitar 4.
daksina I2i; its consequences
100 ; daksina-hymns 76,77,
78, S7, 90.
Dadhyafic Angirasa or Athar-
vana 23, 116, 118.
Damtyosthavidhi, a gramma-
tical treatise 20.
daksayana-amulet 53, 64.
dadhikra-stanzas 100.
danastuti 76, 77, 97, 99, 100.
daralaksana 72 note lo.
Darila 16.
dig-yukte (sc. sukte) 81.
disarn klptayah 98.
diksa 79, 114, 115.
diksita 84.
Dirghatamas-hymn 86, 88.
Dusin = Mara 105, no.
deva, as designation of Brah-
mans 3, 76.
Devadarsa, Devadarsin 12, 13.
devanltha 99.
Dosapati 105.
drapsavatyah (sc. rcah) 122.
Dvitapaniya-Upanisad 18.
Dhurtakalpa 17, 20 note 13.
dhruva havis 93.
Naksatrakalpa 17, 35.
narasamsyah (sc. rcah) 76, 79
note II, 97, 100.
nitatnl, a plant 61.
Nirukta 45, 119; Nirukta-
nighantu of Kautsavya 20.
nirrtikarmani 86 note 19.
niskevalya-sastra 121.
nairbadhya havis 93.
nairhasta havis 93.
Nyarbudi 75.
paksahata 60.
pancakalpa, ''kalpin 10, 17.
Pancatapanlya-Upanisad 18.
Paiicapatalika 20, 35.
Pariksit 97.
Paribabhrava 13.
pari-vid 85.
parivrkta mahisi 98.
Parisistas of AV. 16.
parihasta 71 •
parvan, fictitious subdivision
of AV. 35.
pavamana-stotra 123.
pasubandha 92,
pata-plant 73.
patnlvata-graha 12 1.
papayaksma 60.
papl laksml 85.
papmagrhita 86 note 5.
paman 60.
pariksityah (sc. rcah) 97-
pariplavam akhyanam 10 1 note
14.
L Sanskrit Index.
131
Parthairavasa 13.
Pippaladi II, 19, 24.
pippaladi-santi-gana 12, 14.
pisaca-veda 108.
pun.savana 71.
punya laksml 85.
pur.lna-veda 108.
purusamedha 98, loo.
puriisa-sflkta 88.
rururavas 64.
purohita 25, 29, 30, 34 note 17,
74, 75, 76, 77, 86.
pustikarma 80.
pugayajniya 73. Cp. grama".
pQtudru-tree 64.
piirva-brahmana loi, 104,107.
pr^niparnl-plant 62.
prsni-sava 78.
Pedu 81.
Paithlnasi, author of a smrti
17; of a sraddhakalpa 18,
21 note 22.
Paithlnasi Mausahputra 18.
Paidva 81.
Paippalada, Paippalada-sakha
II, 13, 14, 15,40,103,105,
106, 108, no, 113 note 6,
119, 122.
paippalada-mantrah 12,17,40
note 4.
Paippalada-sraddhakalpa 12.
paimahsila madhumantha 78.
paustika 8. Cp. pustikarma.
Pranava-(Pranou)Upani.sad 19,
24, 102, 105, 106, 108.
prati, characteristic of 'coun-
ter-witchcraft' 68, 69 note 6.
pratipras 73.
pratiradha 99.
Pratlclna = Brhaspati 9.
pratyafigirasa = pratyabhi-
carana 8, 66, 68.
pratrasa ajya 93.
pravara 116.
pravargya 119.
pravalhikah 98.
Praclnayogya 114.
prajapatya-hymns 38, 94.
Prana-hymn 88.
pratah-savana 121.
Pratisakhya : see, Atharva-
Pratisakhya.
prayascitta 4, 83, 103, 104,
106, 114, 117.
pras 73.
prasitra-food, and -legend
103, 118.
Priyamedha Bharadvaja 114.
Predi(Proti)Kausambeya Kau-
suravindu 115.
Barhi Angirasa 103, 118.
balasa 60.
Brhatsarvanukramanika ofAV.
20. Cp. Anukramani, and
Sarvanu°.
Brhaspati, prototype of puro-
hita 34 note 17, 74, 75;
Aiigirasa 9, 117, 118. Cp.
Brahmanaspati.
brahma, religion as a whole,
30, 86; in relation to the
sun 89.
brahmagavl 79 note 8.
brahmacarin, duties of 106,
no; hymn to 89.
Brahmanaspati, prototype of
purohita 75. Cp. Brhaspati.
brahman-priest, universal the-
ologian and fourth priest
at srauta-sacrifices 10, 29,
30, 32, 105, 108, 112, 113,
I 116, 119; in relation to
purohita 32(1.
Brahmavada 13.
brahmavarcasa 79 note 21.
Brahma-Veda 1,9, 10, 24,31,
73, 86, 107, 112, 116. Cp.
sarvavidya.
brahmodya, and brahmodya-
hymns 88, 98, loo, 113,
115, ii7-
brahmaudana 78, 87,90, 112.
Brahmanacchamsin 96.
brahmanoktam, a ceremony
64.
Bhaga 71.
Bhadra, commentator of Kau-
sika 16.
' Bharadvaja's cleaver', ahymn
Bhava and Sarva 52, 82.
Bhagali 13.
Bhargava 13.
Bhisaj Atharvana 8, 23.
bhuta havis 93.
bhutechadah-stanzas 96, 99.
Bhrgu, a mythic fire-priest i ,
9, 10,23; name of a teacher
19; origin of 107; designa-
tion of AV. 9, 10.
Bhrgu-veda (bhrguvistara) 9,
10.
Bhrgvangirasah i, 9, 10, 107,
no, in^ 113. Cp.Atharvaii-
girasah.
Bhrgvangirovid 10, 104, no,
119. Cp. Atharvangirovid.
bhesajani i, 8, 9, 10, 22, 23,
58, 117. Cp. santa.
bhaisajya 58.
maiigalika-hymns (AV. book
18) 38.
madhusukta 90.
manaspapa 84.
manupravalha 101 note 15.
Mandhatar Yauvanasva in.
Manyu 'wrath', as spirit of
battle 75.
manyusamana 72. |
* Manskunder' (manya and
skandhya), a disease 59.
Mahabhasya, passage from in
GB. 109.
mahavrata-days 115.
mahasanti 15 note 20.
Mathara 13.
matfkalpika 10.
madhyatndina-savana 92, I2l.
Mara 105, no.
mitravinda 72.
, mOlakarman, mulakriya 26,
65. Cp. roots.
I mQlakft, mfllin 68, 82.
mfgara-hymns 38, 51, 82;
i mrgara-vrata 83 note 23.
, mesaspigl, a plant 62.
I mohana 76 note II.
\ Mauda, Maudayana 12, 13.
Maudgalya 1 10.
Mausallputra (Paithlnasi) 18.
yaksma 60.
yajnakrama 102, 104, 106, 116,
"7, 119.
yajfiaprayascitta-sutra,append-
ix ofVaitana 1 6, 86 note 1 1,
yaso havih 93.
yfttu, yatuvidah 1, 8, 9, 23.
yatudhana 26.
yatuvidya 61, 65.
Yaska 17.
Yuvan Kausika 13.
raksas, charms against 62.
rak§ovidya 61, 65.
rathavahana havis 93.
rahasya-texts 17.
rajakarmani 73, 74, 86. Cp.
royal rites,
rajayaksma 60.
rajasuya 74, 100.
Ramakrsna, author ofSamska-
raganapati n.
ra§trasamvarga-hymns 76 note
5.
Rudra, commentator of Kau-
sika 16.
Rebha (Agni) 97.
raibhyah (sc. fcah) 97.
rohita-hymns 38, 55, 87, 89.
93-
Rohita and RohinI, symbols
of king and queen 75.
laksanagranthah 20.
laksml, punya and papi 85.
laksa-plant 61.
Lamagayana 114.
varana-tree 62.
Varnapatala 20.
valaga 65, valagin 68.
vala 78, 87, 90, 92.
9*
132 II. I.ITTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
vasikarana, vasikaranaman-
trah 70, 72.
vasatkara 120.
Vacaspati 79.
Vac Viraj 89.
Vac wSarasvatI 77.
vajapeya 74, 81, 123.
vavata mahisi 98.
Vasudeva 17.
Vicarin ill, 112.
Vitana-kalpa 17.
vidradha 60.
Vidhana-kalpa 8. Cp. Angi
rasa-kalpa.
Viraj 89.
visvajit 116.
visavidya 61.
visanaka, 'plant', or 'horn' 60.
visani 62.
visasahi-hymn 38, 65, 94;
visasahi-vrata 95.
visuvat 115, 116.
vistarin odana 78.
vihavya-(vihaviya-)hymn 67,
68, 69 note 22.
vrsakapi-hymn 100, 124.
Vena 89.
Vaitana-sfltra 16, 17.
Vaitayana 16, 86 note 11.
vyahrtis in AV. 105, 107, 108,
109, 113, 119.
vratya-book (book 15 of AV.)
38, 91 note 15; vratya-sto-
mah 94.
Samyu Atharvana 8, 1 12.
sakadhuma 81.
sataudana 78.
samtatlya-hymn 62.
sambhumayobhu-hymns 1 5
note 20.
Sarva 52, 82, 109.
sastrakanda 96, 100.
sakuna 85.
santa, santa-veda 8, 9, 62 note i ,
105, 116. Cp. bhesajani
Santi, wife of Atharvan 8.
Santikalpa 13, 17.
santyudaka 112.
sala-sava 78.
silpa, silpani lOO, 123.
Siva 90, 105.
suno divyasya maho havis
93-
sepaharsana 62.
Saunaka, wSaunakin, Saunakiya
12, 13, 19.
Saunaka-(Shavank)Upanisad
12, 20, 110.
Saunaklya-sutra 14, 20 note
syenayaga, syenejya 80.
sraddha, 'faith expressed in
I ^ works' 77.
I Sraddha, personified 1 17.
i Sraddhakalpa 17 (bis), 21 note
sodasin-sacrifice 122.
sodasopacarapuja 17.
samvatsara-pravalha 101 note
samvanana 70, 72.
! saniskara 69.
Samskaraganapati ii.
Samhita-kalpa, and -vidhi 16,
17.
sattra 104, 115, 123.
Sadasya-priest 115, 117.
Sanatkumara 24.
samnati, samnati-homah 73,
81.
sapatnlbadhana 70.
saptarsinam havis 93.
samana havis 93.
sarpavidya, sarpa-veda6l,'io8.
sarpahuti 83 note 15.
sarvavid, sarvavidya 105, 116.
Cp. Brahma-Veda.
Sarvanukramanika I. Cp. Anu-
kramanl, and Brhatsarva".
salilani suktani 15 note 20, 93.
sava, sava-hymns 78, 87, 90.
savanas, three daily 34, 92,
103, 106, 116.
sahasradaksina-sacrifice 116.
sanisravya havis 81, 93.
sakamasva-saman 122.
sakamedha-rites 112.
samgramikani suktani 76 note
II.
samtapana-fire 112.-
samaghosa 117 note 10.
sammanasyani 72.
savikah sambharah 78.
savitra pasu 1 16.
savitrl: see, gayatrl.
silacl- plant 61.
simantakarma 71.
subhesaja 10.
Sumantu 25.
surya-stikta (book 14 of AV.)
38, 69, 88, 94.
senastambhana 76 note 11.
Somaditya, author of the
Aksepa, commentary of Vai-
tana 16.
sosyantikarma 71.
sautramani 74, 93 note 3, 123.
saumyah (sc. rcah) 122.
Skandayaga 17, 20 note 13.
Skambha-hymns 3, 88.
stomabhaga-legend 104; -man-
tras 119.
Stauda, Staudayana 12
strlkarmani 69.
sraktya-tree, sraktya-amulet
68.
Svarasastra 20.
svargaudana 78.
Svaidayana Saunaka 113.
havis, havis-hymns 67, 69
note 17, 93.
hiranyagarbha-hymn 88.
hrdya, hrdayasya bandhanah
70, 72. .
II. GENERAL INDEX.
Aboriginal barbarism, influ-
ence upon the Veda 8.
adaptation of hymns and
stanzas 49, 50, 57.
Alberuni on AV. 4, 10, 28
note 3, 95.
allopatliy, allopathic symbo-
lism 60.
amulets, general character of
59; bestow and protect life
64; various kinds 53, 62,
64, 66, 67.
anatomy, knowledge of in AV.
4.
ants 60, 6r.
Apastamba-srautasutra, rela-
tion of to AV. 45.
'appeaser of wrath' 72.
arrangement of the hymns of
AV. 34, 36, 38.
assembly, charms to secure
influence in 72.
Atharvan-hymns, arrangement
and division of 34, 36, 38;
classification of 57; number
of I> 57; grouped according
to subject-matter 38 ; group-
ed on account of verbal
correspondences 39.
Atharvan literature, brief
sketch of i5fT.
Atharvan redaction, chrono-
logy of 2, 3.
Atharva-veda, names of i, 7;
books-number of34 ; borrow-
ed material in 44; commen-
' tary of 40 ; contempt of 3 ;
contents of 57 ; designations
of 1, 7; editions of 40;
verse-beginnings of 40;
historical character of 5, 6 ;
index verborum of 40 ;
metres of 40; position of
in Hindu literature 21 ; in
AV. itself 22; text-histori-
cal treatises of 20; trans-
lations of 57 note; schools
of llfi". ; relation to other
collections 44. Cp. Sauna-
kiya-version.
'attractio similium' 60, 6$, i
note 14. I
avarice, conjuration against 77. '
Avesta, supposed to mention
AV. 5 note 8; haoma-wor-
ship in 2.
barley and water, curative 62.
battle-charms, battle-devices
75.
bdellium 62.
beans, used in sorcery 66, 69
note 14.
birds ominous, charms against
85.
bleeding 61.
books of AV., number of 34;
I arrangement and subdivi-
sions of 35 ff. ; first seven 35 ;
eight to eighteen 37 ; thir-
teen to eighteen 93 flf. ;
I twentieth book 95.
I borrowed material in AV.
I 44-
j Brahmans, claims and pre-
j tensions of 3, 76 ff.; gifts
; to 78; high character of
79; inviolability of 76, 77,
87 ; prayers and impreca-
tions in behalf of 7, 76;
social condition of 76;
poverty of 77 ; noblesse
oblige of 79.
Brahmana-texts, their relation
to AV. 3.
Buddhistic literature, referen-
ces to AV. 27.
calumny, charm against 84.
cattle, marking of 8i.
cattle-charms 80.
cattle-slaughter, expiation of
85.
caste in AV. 4.
charades 98 — 100.
chronology of Atharvan re-
daction 2, 3 ; of popular
and hieratic language 2, 3, I
46. I
classification of AV. hymns
57.
'cleaver of Bharadvflja', a
hymn 67.
colic 60.
commentary on AV. 40 ; com-
mentaries on Vaitana-satra
and Kauiika-sutra 16.
composite hymns 37, 43.
concatenation of stanzas 43,
44 note 15.
conflict of sacrifices 67 ff.,
114 note 7.
consecration of kings 74. Cp.
rajasuya.
constipation 60.
contempt of AV. 3.
contents of AV. 57.
cosmogonic hymns 86.
cosmogonies, Atharvanic 107,
109, 117.
counter-witchcraft 68.
cow and calf, charm to se-
cure mutual attachment of
81.
cow of Brahman, inviolable
77.
danger, charms to obviate it
80, 81.
deaths, 100 or more varieties
of 64.
debate, success in 72, 73.
debts, burden the conscience
84-
defilement, charms against
83.
demons, charms against 62,
65; designations of 66, 68.
designations of AV. i, 7.
Dharma-texts, relation of to
AV. 3, 25.
dialectic differences contrast-
ed with chronological differ-
ences 2, 46.
didactic stanzas 98.
diseases, account of $9^' '»
transference of 62.
dissension in family etc. 72.
divine eagle 80, 82.
divisions of AV. 34, 36, 38.
dogs heavenly 60, 93; dog-
sacrifice 68.
134 II- LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GOPATHA-BraHMANA.
dreams, evil 8^, 85.
dropsy 60.
Earth, hymn to 90.
eating alone, expiation of
85.
editions of AV. 40.
effigies used in witchcraft 66,
68, 68 note 4.
eighth to eighteenth book of
AV. 37-
eighteenth book of AV. 95.
election of kings 74.
elephant, symbol of royalty
74.
evil bodily characteristics,
charms against 71*
evil dreams S3, 85.
:iled kin
him 74.
expiation for gifts received
79, 84.
expiatory hymns, stanzas, and
formulas 34, 38, 83, 84,
111; chi'onologic al signifi-
cance of 4.
eye, diseases of 61.
family strife, charms against
72.
'Father time' 89.
fifteenth book of AV. 94.
fire, charms against 80.
fire-service contrasted with
soma-service 1, 2.
first to seventh book of AV.
35- I
five Vedas(!) 105, 108, 116. \
four Vedas, posited, defended, '
and illustrated 40 note 30, |
104, 105, no, 112, 113,
114, 115, 116, 117.
fourteenth book of AV. 94.
frog, against fire 80; symbol
of rain 80; against fever
63 note 5.
funeral-hymns and stanzas 15,
95 ; chronology of 2 ; funeral-
practices 77.
gambling-charms 81 ; -debts
84.
geographical data in AV. 4.
gifts, expiation for receipt of
79, 84.
girdle, sacred 64.
goat, as gift to Brahmans
78.
Gopatha-brahmana 16, 10 iff.;
contents of 107; purva-
brahmana of 104, 107;
uttara-brahmana of 1 02, 117;
correspondence of with
Jaiminiya - brahmana 117;
with Vedic texts in general
103, 104; secondary cha-
racter of 102.
grain, charms to secure abund-
ance of 80.
grammatical treatises, belong-
ing to AV. 20; contain
references to AV. 27 ; gram-
matical matters in Gopatha-
brahmana 105, 109.
Grhya-sutras, character of and
relation to AV. 5, 6, 24,
45-
grouping of hymns, according
to subject-matter 38; on
account of verbal corres-
pondences 39.
'Grudge' (Arati), name of a
demon 77.
hair, charms to cause its
growth 61.
haoma-worship in Avesta 2.
harmony, charms to secure it
7, 72.
health, charms to procure it
81.
hemiplegia 60.
hieratic language and religion
contrasted with popular 2,
46.
Hindu literature, its estimate
of AV. 21.
historical character of AV.
5, 6.
*holy water' IJ2.
holy wood, ten kinds of 62.
homoeopathy 60, 63 note 14.
horse, charm to make it swift
81.
hospitality, rites of in RV. 7
note 2.
house, moved when given
as a gift to Brahmans
78.
house-building 80.
hundred years, ideal length
of life 64.
husband, charms to obtain
one 71.
imprecations, against demons
etc. 65 ff. ; against oppres-
sors of Brahmans 77 ; against
rivals 70.
index verborum of AV. 40;
index of pratlkas 40.
Jaiminlya-brahmana, corres-
pondence of with AV. 45 ;
with GB. 117.
Jaina-literature, its view of
AV. 27.
journey, charm to ensure its
safety 8l.
Kalpas of AV-, five 13, 16.
Kausika-sQtra described 16,
17; its relation to AV.
57-
kings, their election, con-
secration, or exile 74- Cp.
royal rites.
Ksatriyas, their relation to
AV. lo, 73.
language of AV., chronology
of 45 ; relation to that of
RV. 45, 47 ; to the classical
dialect 45.
law-books, relation of to AV.
3» 25.
lead, used in sorcery 66.
leprosy 60.
lightning, protection against
80.
lion, symbol of royalty 74.
literature of AV., brief sketch
of I5ff.
liturgic terms in AV. 93
note 3.
long life, charms to secure it
62, 63.
lost property, charms to find
it 8l.
love charms 70, 71.
Mahabharata, relation of to
AV. 26.
mania 83 ; charms to cure it
62.
marking of cattle 81.
medicine and medical charms
in AV. 7, 57, 58; chrono-
logy of 59; symbolic treat-
ment of 59 ff.; in classical
Sanskrit 63 note 10.
merchant's prayer 81.
metres of AV. i, 41; critical
restoration of 42.
miscarriage, charm to prevent
it 71 :
mishap and misfortune^ charms
to prevent them 83.
moon, phases of 82; in cos-
mic relation with AV. 40
note 30, 51, 107, 108, 112,
114, 116.
mourning-women 95.
mustard, against ophthalmia
61.
names of AV. i, 7*
new-moon and full-moon
offerings 1 13, 117.
new-year's festival 82.
Night, hymns to 82.
nightmare 83, 85.
Nirukta, relation 'of to AV.
45-
noblesse oblige of Brahmans
79.
II. General Index.
135
number of hymns in AV. i,
57-
obscenity in AV. 98, 99, 100.
omens and portents 17, 83.
Cp. adbhutani.
ophthalmia 61.
oppression of Brahmans 76,
77, 94-
order of Atharvan stanzas as
critical help 43.
Taippalada-version of AV.,
description of 14, 15; ex-
tract from in the Ka^haka
Rcaka 14.
panaceas 62.
pantheon, Vedic in AV. 3,
90.
panther, symbol of royalty
74.
Pari^istas of AV. described
16.
Parsis, 'Vedas' of 8.
pearl and its shell as amulets
64.
pepper as a cure for wounds
61.
Persian translation of AV. 58;
of Upanisads 19, 108.
personal characteristics, good
and evil 72 note 10, 85.
philtres 70.
•piss-ants' 60, 61.
ploughing-charm So.
ploughshare-amulet 67.
poison, charms against 61.
popular religion contrasted
with hieratic religion 2.
porridge as gift to Brahmans
78.
purificatory charms 84.
Purohita, his relation to AV.
25» 29, 30, 74; to Brhas-
pati 34 note 17; to royalty
74, 75-
Pflrva-brahmana of Gopatha-
brahmana 101 ff., 104; con-
tents of 107.
praya:§citta-literature in AV.
4, 83. ,
prose parts of AV i, 5 note i,
41.
prosperity, charms to obtain
it 80, 81.
rain, charms to secure it 80.
religious matters, neglect of
84.
riddles 98—100.'
Rig-veda, its relation to AV.
2, 21, 45.
ritualistic hymns 33, 91.
ritual texts of AV., their
attitude towards the AV.
28, 29.
rivals, charms against 69, 70.
river, charm to conduct it
into a new channel 80.
roots of plants, sorcery with
26, 27, 52, 65, 68, 68 note 4,
82.
royal rites and charms 7, 17,
33* 73 ff.
sacrifices, conflict of 67 ff.,
114 note 7; imperfections
in 84, 103, 104, 106, 108,
119.
salve, amulet of 62, 64.
.Sama-veda, relation of to AV.
45.
Sanskrit literature, its esti-
mate of AV. 27.
Saunaklya-version of AV. de-
scription of 13, 15; its
padapatha described 16;
its commentary 16; its re-
daction 34 ff. Cp. Atharva-
veda.
schools of AV. llff. ; discri-
minated against in the Pari-
sistas 30.
seed, blessing of 80.
serpent, symbol of royalty
74 ; serpents, charms against
61, 81.
sesame in sorcery-practices
26, 69 note 14.
seventeenth book of AV. 94.
Cp. visasahi.
shepherd's charm against wild
beasts 81.
sin, Hindu conception of 83;
sins of the gods 83, 85.
sixteenth book of AV. 94.
sleeping-charm 70.
soma-service, contrasted with
fire-service i, 2.
sorcery-practices 66 ; native
literature of 66; undertaken
with theosophic hymns 3,
86, 89; with an ethical
hymn 87.
sores, cure of 61.
spells, planted in all sorts of
objects 68. Cp. krtya.
srauta-practices in AV. 4, 33,
84, 91, 92, 93 note 3.
srauta-priests, 16 in number
115; 17 or 21 in number
117.
§rauta-texts, their estimate of
AV. 22.
stanzas, number of in AV. I.
sterility, charm against 71.
stray cattle, charm to bring
it back 81.
sun in relation to brahma
89.
superior readings in AV. as
compared with RV. 49;
as compared with Yajur-
veda 56.
symbolic treatment of disease
59 ff.
Taittlriya-brahmapa, its rela-
tion to AV. 4S.
teachers, list of Atharvanic
13.
teeth, first pair of in children
71.
tetrads, Atharvanic ; see, four
Vedas.
text-historical treatises of AV.
20.
theosophic hymns 2, 3, 4, S6;
list of in Calika-upanii^ad
90 note 1.
thirteenth book of AV. 87,
. 93.
tiger, tiger-skin, symbol of
royalty 74.
Time as a theosophic con-
cept 89.
transference of disease 62.
translations of AV. 57 note.
truant woman, charm to bring
her back 70.
tumors 61.
twentieth book of AV. 91,95,
96, 100.
twenty, number of Atharvan
books 34, 107.
twin-calves, expiation of the
birth of 77.
unlucky star, child bom under
71.
Upanisads in general, their
relation to AV. 24; Upani-
sads of the AV. 18—20;
Upanisad-material in Go-
pat ha-brahmana 19, 104,
107, 108, no.
urine, retention of 60; urin-
ating, expiation of 84.
Uttara-brahmana of Gopatha-
brahmana 10 1; secondary
character of 102 ; contents
of 117.
Vaitana-sutra, described 16,
17; relation of to Gopatha-
brahmana 102.
Various readings of AV. and
RV. 47; of AV. and Yajur-
veda 53 ; of AV. and Srauta-
sutras 55.
Varuna and Atharvan, dia-
logue between 77.
Vedas : see, four Vedas, and,
five Vedas.
Vedic learning, prayers to
obtain it 79.
venereal disease 63.
136 II. LiTTERATUR U. GeSCHICHTE. I B. AtHARVA-VeDA AND GoPATHA-BraHMANA.
vermin in the field, exorcism
of 80.
village-politics 7, 73.
virility, charms to produce it
62; charms to deprive men
men of it 70.
war-charms 75*
water, as gift to Brahmans
79; as a cure of disease
62 ; waters and moon in
cosmic relation with AV.
; 40 note 30, 51, 107, 108,
I 112, 114, 116.
[ water-plants, used against fire
: 80.
wealth, charms to procure it
I 81.
' weather-charm, weather-pro-
i phet 81.
wedding-charms 69, 71 ; chro-
nology of 2.
wedding-hymns of AV. 94.
Cp. siarya-sukta.
wisdom, rite to procure it
79.
witchcraft: see, sorcery,
women, charms pertaining to
7, 69.
worms, charms against 61.
wounds, cure of 61.
younger brother's precedence,
expiation of 85.
zoographic data in AV. 4.
FK BlooBfield, Maurice
3407 The Atharvaveda
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