Ppp. appears to have read in a suvā ruhanta; in b it has dhama instead of nā́bhim; and it ends d with yaçasā tapasvyā. The comm. has jeṣma (=jayema) in c ⌊instead of geṣma (Skt. Gram. §894 c)⌋; gharma is to him once more "the blazing sun." ⌊As to the stock-phrase in c, cf. Bloomfield, AJP. xvii. 419.⌋ The verse (10 + 11: 10 + 13 = 44) is a very poor triṣṭubh.
7. Indra by form, Agni by carrying (váha), Prajāpati, Parameshṭhin, Virāj; in Viçvānara he strode, in Vāiçvānara he strode, in the draft-ox he strode; he made firm, he sustained.
This is the obscurest verse of this obscure hymn, and no attempt will be made to solve its riddles. Ppp. has a quite different text: indro balenā ’sya parameṣṭhī vratenāi ’na gāus tena vāiçvadevāḥ: yo ‘smān dveṣṭi yaṁ ca vayaṁ dviṣmas tasya prāṇān asavahes tasya prāṇān vi varhah. The two concluding clauses of our text most obviously belong with vs. 7 rather than vs. 8, and both editions so class them; but SPP. states that all his authorities reckon them to vs. 8, ending vs. 7 with the third akramata (which some of the mss., including our P.M.W.E.O.Op., mutilate to akramat). He adds that the Anukr. does the same; but this is evidently an oversight, our mss. of the Anukr. calling vs. 8 a simple anuṣṭubh (madhyam etad anaḑuha iti pañcā ’nuṣṭubhaḥ) and giving of vs. 7 a lengthy definition (see above), implying the division 9 + 10: 8 + 8 + 8: 12 = 55 (restoring both times the elided initial a in f); perhaps, then, SPP. is also mistaken in regard to the unanimity of his "mss. and Vāidikas"; at any rate, part of our mss. (Bp.I.H.Op.K.) divide with the editions. The comm., however, does not; as, indeed, he is repeatedly at discordance with the Anukr. on such points. He explains váha in a as "the part that carries (vahati) the yoke; the shoulder," and has nothing of any value to say as to the general sense of the verse. ⌊The identification of the draft-ox with Agni seems to rest on Agni's chief function of "carrying"; cf. RV. x. 51. 5 d; 52. 1 d, 3 d, 4 a.⌋
8. That is the middle of the draft-ox, where this carrying (váha) is set; so much of him is in front (prācī́na) as he is put all together on the opposite side.
The virtual meaning of the second half-verse appears plainly to be that the two parts of the ox, before and behind the point where the pull comes (i.e. where the yoke rests) are equal; but it is strangely expressed, and the reason why the point is insisted on does not appear. The comm. so understands it: evam prākpratyagbhāgāv ubhāv api samānāu; he renders vaha this time by bhāra; Ludwig takes it as "the hump." ⌊In this verse, b can hardly mean "where the pull comes," but rather 'where the burden is put,' i.e. the back; cf. Deussen, l.c., p. 231. Nevertheless, see BR. under vaha, 2 a and 2 b.⌋
9. Whoso knows the milkings of the draft-ox, seven, unfailing, both progeny and world he obtains: so the seven seers know.
Ppp. reads anapadasyatas both here (b) and at 12 d; it also combines saptarṣ- in d, as does the comm., and a couple of SPP's authorities. For consistency, our text ought to combine in a-b dóhānt s-; SPP. also leaves out here the connecting t. The comm. explains the seven milkings or yields of milk alternatively as "the seven cultivated plants, rice etc." or "the seven worlds and oceans"—not happening, apparently, to think of any other heptad at the moment. He quotes the names of the seven seers from Āçvalāyana. ⌊The number of this vs. is misprinted.⌋
