Page:Atharva-Veda samhita volume 2.djvu/322

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xv. 4-
BOOK XV. THE ATHARVA-VEDA-SAṀHITĀ.
778

two rainy months guard from the western quarter, and vāirūpá and vāirājá attend, him who knoweth thus.

The Anukr. implies in a pratī́ci-ās. For c, the definition bhāumārcī ⌊so the Berlin ms. and SPP's excerpts in his Critical Notice, p. 224⌋ is elsewhere unknown, and appears to be equivalent to simple ārcī.


4. ⌊10.⌋ For him, from the northern quarter, ⌊11.⌋ they made the two autumn months guardians, and çyāitá and nāudhasá attendants. ⌊12.⌋ The two autumn months guard from the northern quarter, and çyāitá and nāudhasá attend, him who knoweth thus.

Here again (as in 2. 4), the mss. vary between çyāitá and çāitá in b and c, but Bp. this time has çyāi-.


5. ⌊13.⌋ For him, from the fixed quarter, ⌊14.⌋ they made the two winter months guardians, and earth and fire attendants. ⌊15.⌋ The two winter months guard from the fixed quarter, and earth and fire attend, him who knoweth thus.

6. ⌊16.⌋ For him, from the upward quarter, ⌊17.⌋ they made the two cool months guardians, and heaven and Āditya attendants. ⌊18.⌋ The two cool months guard from the upward quarter, and heaven and Āditya attend, him who knoweth thus.


5. Paryāya the fifth.

[ṣoḍaça. mantroktarudradevatyāk. 1 a. 3-p. samaviṣamā gāyatrī; 1 b. 3-p. bhurig ārcī triṣṭubh; c of 1-7. 2-p. prājāpatyā ’nuṣṭubh; 2 a. 3-p. svarāṭ prājāpatyā pan̄kti; b of 2-4, 6. 3-p. brāhmī gāyatrī; a of 3, 4, 6. 3-p. kakubh; a of 5, 7. bhurig viṣamā gāyatrī; 5 b. nicṛd brāhmī gāyatrī; 7 b. virāj.]

In this hymn, again, the division made by the mss. and the Anukr. is very strange and obviously opposed to the sense. Sixteen subdivisions ⌊the reckoning is explained above at p. 772, ¶ 3⌋ are made by reckoning the last 16 syllables ⌊following ī́çānaḥ and⌋ (beginning with nā́ ’sya) as belonging only to verses 1 and 7; and the mss. set no avasāna-mark after tiṣṭhati, where alone it has reason, but, in vss. 1, 7, introduce it after ī́çānaḥ, in the middle of a sentence. Rather than put it in so out of place, we have omitted it in our text. One ms. (R.), it may be noticed, fills out to tiṣṭhati॰: nā́ ’sya paçū́n ná sa-॰, showing that it understands vss. 2-6 to be carried out in full, like 1 and 7; the other mss. stop at diçáḥ, ⌊but at anuṣṭhātā́ in vs. 6⌋.

Translated: Aufrecht, Ind. Stud. i. 132; Muir, iv.2 338; Griffith, ii. 189.


1. ⌊1.⌋ For him, from the intermediate direction of the eastern quarter, they made the archer (iṣvāsá) Bhava attendant. ⌊2.⌋ The archer Bhava attends him [as] attendant from the intermediate direction of the eastern quarter; not Çarva, not Bhava, not Īçāna ('the lord') ⌊3.⌋ injures him nor his cattle nor his fellows who knoweth thus.

A resolution is needed in a to make 24 syllables (10 + 6 + 8), also in b to make the meter bhurij. ⌊This paragraph is reckoned to the rāudra gaṇa; see note to Kāuç. 50. 13.⌋ ⌊The word "him" after "injures" is part of the second avasāna.⌋