2. From what member of him flames Agni? from what member blows (pū) Mātariçvan? from what member doth the moon measure out, measuring the member of great Skambha?
Skambha, lit. 'prop, support, pillar,' strangely used in this hymn as frame of the universe or half-personified as its soul. Ppp. reads in d skambhasya mahan mim-. ⌊Read vimímāno in d?⌋
3. In what member of him is situated the earth? in what member is situated the atmosphere? in what member is the sky set? in what member is situated what is beyond the sky?
This is one of the five verses (3-6, 9) which are left by the Anukr. to fall under the general description of the hymn as trāiṣṭubham. All of them are more or less redundant; this, for example, is as much bhurij as vs. 2, which was so described. Ppp. puts the verse before our 2.
4. Whither desiring to attain does Agni flame aloft? whither desiring to attain blows Mātariçvan? whither desiring to attain, the turns (āvṛ́t) go, that Skambha tell [me]: which forsooth is he?
Here we have two syllables in excess, unnoticed by the Anukr. Many of the mss. accent svít in d.
5. Whither go the half-months, whither the months, in concord with the year? whither the seasons go, whither they of the seasons, that Skambha tell [me]: which forsooth is he?
Again two unnoticed redundant syllables.
6. Whither desiring to attain run in concord the two maidens (yuvatí) of diverse form, day-and-night? whither desiring to attain, the waters go, that Skambha tell [me]: which forsooth is he?
Here it is only the last pāda that is one syllable in excess. Ppp. puts the verse before our 5.
7. In what, having established [them], Prajāpati maintained all the worlds, that Skambha tell [me]: which forsooth is he?
Many of our mss. appear to read stabdhā́ in a, but it is doubtless only carelessness in writing. Here again, as above and in the verses below where the refrain is written out, part of the mss. accent svít.
8. What that was highest, lowest, and what that was midmost Prajāpati created, of all forms—by how much did Skambha enter there? what did not enter, how much was that?
Or (in d) 'what he did not enter.' The Anukr. this time notices the redundant syllable (in a).
9. By how much did Skambha enter the existent? how much of him lies along that which will exist? what one member he made thousand-fold, by how much did Skambha enter there?
The Anukr. again passes without notice the redundant syllable in c.
