According to Kāuç. 75. 8, 9, this verse is addressed to the wooer and his companion, when they are sent out to win the bride; the second half-verse to the priest (who is one of them?). 'Make shine,' doubtless 'set in a favorable light' The verse ⌊scanned by the Anukr. as 11 + 9: 12 + 12 = 44⌋ may best be read as 11 + 11: 12 + 12; ⌊but d has a bad cadence⌋. Ppp. reads mṛtyodyena at end of b, and ṣumbhalo in d.
32. May ye be just here; may ye not go away; may ye, O kine, increase this man with progeny; going in beauty, ruddy, with soma-splendor—may all the gods turn (kṛ) your minds hither.
In Kāuç. 79. 17 this verse (according to the commentators, this and the next) seems to be directed to accompany the paying (in kine) the price demanded for the bride; but surely that cannot have been its original sense. The first pāda is identical with iii. 8. 4 a; c has a redundant syllable. The pada-text writes çúbham: yatīḥ, but the expression is, so far as accent is concerned, treated as if a compound: compare 2. 52 below. No reason is discoverable for the accent of krán in d.
33. May ye, O kine, enter this man together with progeny; this man minisheth (mī) not the share of the gods; for this man shall Pūshan, and all the Maruts, for this man shall Dhātar, Savitar quicken (sū) you.
Ppp. reads viçadhvam at end of a. This verse indicates distinctly that the preceding one is meant as a wish for prosperity in respect to kine.
34. Free from thorns, straight, let the roads be by which [our] comrades go a-wooing for us; together with Bhaga, together with Aryaman—let Dhātar unite [us] with splendor.
The first half-verse is RV. x. 85. 23 a, b, which, however, reads ⌊with MP.⌋ pánthās for ⌊our metrically bad⌋ -thānas; the second half goes on: sám aryamā́ sám bhágo no ninīyāt etc. ⌊cf. MP. i. 1. 2⌋; our text is a foolish and inconsistent substitute. Kāuç. 77. 3 gives the verse, with 2. 11, as to be used when the bridal train starts off home; in 75. 12 it ⌊according to Daça Kar., only the first half-verse⌋ is made to accompany the sending out of a guard for the bride. ⌊Cf. Wint., p. 40.⌋
35. Both what splendor is placed in dice, and what in strong drink—what splendor, O Açvins, is in kine, with that splendor favor (av) ye this woman.
All our mss. accent açvínā in c; our edition makes the necessary correction to açvinā. ⌊SPP. adopts and defends the reading açvínā.⌋ Ppp. puts the verse after our vs. 36. The Anukr. does not heed that the first pāda lacks a syllable. According to Kāuç. 75. 27, this verse, with 43 below, is used in connection with pouring of water on the bride; and again, in 139. 15, this and the next, with several others from different books, accompany a libation ⌊in the fire⌋ in the ceremony of initiation into Vedic study; both also (35, 36) are reckoned as belonging to the varcasya gaṇa (see note to Kāuç. 13. 1). ⌊Cf. ix. 1. 18; vi. 69. 1.⌋
36. With what [splendor] the backsides of the courtezan (mahānagnī́), O Açvins, or with what the strong drink, with what the dice were flooded (abhi-sic), with that splendor favor ye this woman.
