Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 123
123. For the success of an offering.
[Bhṛgu.—pañcarcam, vāiçvadevam. trāiṣṭubham: 3. 2-p. sāmny anuṣṭubh; 4. 1-av. 2-p. prājāpatyā bhurig anuṣṭubh.]
⌊Partly prose, 3 and 4.⌋ This hymn and the one following are not found in Pāipp. Its uses by Kāuç. and Vāit. with hymn 122 are explained under that hymn. And vss. 3-5 appear also in Vāit. (2. 15), at the parvan sacrifice, in the ceremony of pravaraṇa. ⌊For the whole anuvāka, see under h. 114.⌋
Translated: Muir, v. 293 (vss. 2,4,5); Ludwig, p. 302; Griffith, i. 313.
1. This one, O ye associates (? sadhástha), I deliver to you, whom Jātavedas shall carry [as] a treasure; the sacrificer follows after well-being; him do ye recognize in the highest firmament.
The verse is found also in VS. (xviii. 59) and K. (xl. 13). VS. reads, in a, sadhastha and te (for vas); in b, it puts çevadhím after āváhāt; in c, it reads a. yajñápatir vo átra. The comm. explains sadhasthās as meaning 'the gods' (saha tiṣṭhanty ekatra svarge loke sthāne yajamānena saha nivasanti).
2. Recognize ye him in the highest firmament; ye divine associates, ye know [his] world there; the sacrificer follows after well-being; make ye what he has offered and bestowed plain for him.
This verse is found with the preceding in VS. (xviii. 60) and K. (xl. 13), and also in TB. (iii. 7. 133-4), but with considerable variants: at the beginning, etám jānātha (TB. jānītāt) par-; in b, TB. vṛ́kās for dévās, both VS. and TB. sadh- unaccented, which is better, but VS. vida, which is bad, and both rūpám asya (for lokám átra), which gives a better sense; for c, both yád āgáchāt pathíbhir devayā́nāis; in d, both iṣṭāpūrté, and VS. kṛṇavātha, but TB. kṛṇutāt, both without sma.
3. O gods! O Fathers! O Fathers! O gods! who I am, he am I.
The comm., with his usual carelessness of accent, takes the vocatives here for nominatives. Some of SPP's authorities (also our O.s.m.) omit the accent of the first asmi.
4. He do I cook, he do I give, he do I offer; [as] he, let me not be parted from what is given.
That is, from my gifts, or their reward. The comm. counts and explains these two quasi-verses, 3 and 4, as one. But the Anukr. reckons this hymn (as it reckoned the preceding one) as one of five verses (pañcarca), and SPP's edition as well as ours so divides. ⌊'As that one, I cook' etc. would be an equally accurate translation, and the English of it is not so harsh.⌋
5. In the firmament, O king, stand firm; there let this stand firm; know of what we have bestowed, O king; do thou, O god, be well-willing.
The comm. understands the addresses of this verse as made to Soma, which is very questionable; and the "this" of b to be the iṣṭāpūrtám, which (or dattám, vs. 4) is right. It must be by a corruption of the text that the Anukr. does not define the verse as an anuṣṭubh.