The mark of division in this verse is badly placed in our edition; it should be after çvápadām iva, as in the mss. ⌊and SPP's edition⌋. SPP. reads at the end, with all the mss., ántitam; the comm. this time (cf. the note to vi. 4. 2) gives us our choice between taking it as one word (= atyantasaṁnihitam) or two (= tam eva antike); Ppp. avoids the difficulty by reading instead adhruvam. To me the emendation to ánti tám seems unacceptable. The comm. reads before it pratispāçinam. Prāt. iii. 10 notes the double form çvápad and çvā́pad. The first three pādas are found again below as xix. 39. 4 a, b, c; the irregular uttamás instead of uttamā́ seems due to the influence of the two masculine nouns in the double comparison.
12. He verily becomes a tiger, likewise a lion, likewise a bull, likewise a lessener of rivals, who bears this amulet.
'Lessener'—lit'ly 'one who makes lean'; but, though all the mss. and both editions have -kárçana, it can hardly be otherwise than a misreading for -kárṣaṇa, which the comm. gives. Ppp. has a wholly different c, sarvā diço vi rājati (as our 13 c), and so deprives us of its witness.
13. Not Apsarases smite him, not Gandharvas, not mortals; he reigns over (vi-rāj) all the quarters who bears this amulet.
14. Kaçyapa created thee; Kaçyapa collected thee; Indra bore thee in human wise (?); bearing [thee], he conquered in the conflict (?); the amulet, of thousand-fold might, the gods made their defense.
The obscure mā́nuse, in c, the comm. explains as ⌊a collective⌋ = mānuṣeṣu madhye; he reads in d saṁ̧çreṣaṇe, which is much more acceptable; one is inclined also to conjecture saṁçeṣíṇo ‘jayat. Ppp. brings no help, only reading abadhnata for akṛṇvata at the end.
⌊The comm. reckons our e, f as a separate verse, the 5th of his "decad," thus making this "decad" come out with 13 vss. (instead of 22—10 = 12, as in the Berlin ed.).⌋
15. Whoever with witchcrafts, whoever with consecrations, whoever with sacrifices desires to slay thee—him do thou, O Indra, smite back with the hundred-jointed thunderbolt.
The omission of the second yás tvā would rectify the meter of a.
16. Let this back-turning, forcible, all-conquering amulet verily defend [our] progeny and riches, a very propitious protection.
Ppp. reads sahasvān instead of ojasvān in b. Our text should, for consistency, read ójasvānt s-.
17. Freedom from rivals for us below, freedom from rivals for us above, freedom from rivals for us behind, O Indra, light in front make thou, O hero.
Or the directions may be understood as south, north, west, and east. Ppp. has, for c, indra piçācaṁ naṣ paçcāt.
18. A defense for me [be] heaven-and-earth, a defense the day, a defense the sun, a defense for me both Indra and Agni; a defense let Dhātar assign (dhā) to me.
