Page:Atharva-Veda samhita volume 2.djvu/420

14. He that hath sacrificed hath ascended the piled fire, about to fly up to heaven (dív) from the back of the firmament (nā́ka); for him, the well-doer, shines forth from the welkin (nábhas), full of light, the heavenly road, traveled by the gods.

The mss. vary in a between citám and cittám; our text reads the latter; SPP's the former, which is doubtless correct, and which is implied by the translation. The comm. notes that agni is used to mean iṣṭakacitaḥ pradeçaḥ, quoting Āpast. 25. 4 as authority. According to Kāuç. (80. 52), the verse (the comm. says, vss. 14-15) accompanies the laying of the body supine on the pile; it comes next after 1. 46.

15. Agni thine invoker, Brihaspati thine officiating priest, be Indra on the right thy supervising priest (brahmán); this offered sacrifice, being completed (sáṁsthita), goeth where is the ancient track of those offered.

Both editions read in c, with nearly all the mss. (all ours save R.s.m., and half of SPP's), hutó ‘yám, but both are wrong, the emendation to hutò ‘yám being a matter of simple necessity (see note to Prāt. iii. 55). The verse is the last of the long passage that is used (by Kāuç. 81. 45) at the end of the cremation ceremony (see under vs. 1). It is far from being a regular triṣṭubh; ⌊after resolving hotā adh- in a and restoring in c the elided vowel, pādas a and b and c scan with smooth cadences as 12 + 11: 11; there remains pāda d, with one syllable missing before the cesura: it would be a faultless triṣṭubh if we dared to insert ásti (yátrā́sti): the comm. understands the equivalent vidyate⌋.

16. Rich in cakes, rich in milk (kṣīrá-) let the dish (carú) take seat here; to the world-makers, the road-makers, do we sacrifice, whoever of you are here, sharing in the oblation of the gods.

⌊The definition of verses 16-24 as 14: 12 + 11 = 37 is right by mechanical count; but the metrical character of what precedes the first avasāna is wholly misprized by the Anukr.: carúr ā́ ihá sīdatu is doubtless an anuṣṭubh pāda; and I am strongly tempted to suspect the loss (by haplography again: cf. iv. 5. 5, note) of a ca before caru, poor as the resulting cadence may be, so that instead of 14 we should have 8 + 8.⌋

We had the same refrain above, in 3. 25-35. ⌊Cf. my introduction to hymn 3, p. 847, ¶8.⌋ According to Kāuç. (86. 3), the verses beginning with apūpavān (16-24) are used as, in each case, what is specified in the verse (mantroktam) is deposited in the quarters and intermediate quarters (dikṣv aṣṭamadeçeṣu); this is in the ceremony of interment of the bone-relics, next after the use of 4. 57 and 3. 72 (see under the latter). ⌊At this point Whitney compares TA. vi. 8 and cites part of it. The TA. leaves out the depositions in the intermediate directions, SE. etc., and so has only 5 deposition-mantras instead of 9. The matter is treated more fully just below.⌋ According to the comm., caru means specifically the contents of the dish here: kumbhyām pakva odanaḥ; and ihá signifies: asmin saṁcayanakarmaṇy asthnāṁ samīpe paçcimadigbhāge; the others are set in the remaining half-directions, and one in the middle. ⌊Observe that the AV. begins the depositions with the west (so the comm., at p. 197⁸, and at 201¹⁶ just cited), while the TA. begins, as noted below, with the east.⌋

⌊As part of the requisites for performing the pitṛnidhāna, Kāuç. (83. 2) prescribes eleven dishes (carūn). According to Kāuç. 86. 2, two dishes (carū*) are to be deposited, with our 4. 57 and 3. 72, near the head of the human figure formed with the bones (note