7. Let Viçvakarman with the seven seers protect me from the northern quarter: in him I etc. etc.
8. Let Indra with (-vant) the Maruts protect me from that quarter: in him I etc. etc.
The comm. quotes Bhagavad-Gītā x. 6 (rather futilely) to support the association of the seven seers with Viçvakarman as highest self (paramātman), and (most superfluously) RV. viii. 85 (96). 7 and AB. iii. 20. 1 (part) to show that Indra and the Maruts go together.
9. Let Prajāpati, possessing generative powers (prajánanavant), together with firm support (pratiṣṭhā́), protect me from the fixed quarter: in him I etc. etc.
Many of the mss. give various other accents to prajánanavān; all read pratiṣṭhā́yā (p. ॰sthā́yāḥ), which SPP. accordingly retains,* although it is a palpable corruption; the comm. makes no difficulty of it, viewing it simply as a case of the substitution of genitive for instrumental; he adds, however, another interpretation, supplying prajananena for sahá to govern, and making pratiṣṭhā́yās an adjective qualifying diçás. *⌊W's B. and all of SPP's authorities appear to accent pratíṣṭāyā, p. pratí॰sthāyāḥ, and this is in fact the accentuation and reading in SPP's text, although I do not see what is to be made of it.⌋
10. Let Bṛihaspati with all the gods protect me from the upward quarter: in him I etc. etc.
The comm. calls these prose "verses" and those of the next hymn paryāyas; and the metrical definitions of the Anukr. are of course worthless, although it is possible to read out something like the numbers of syllables required by that treatise.
18. For protection: to various gods.
[Atharvan.—daçaham. pratyṛcam mantroktadevatyam. dvāipadam: 1, 8. sāmnī triṣṭubh; 2-6. ārcy anuṣṭubh (5. samrāj ⌊intending svarāj?⌋); 7, 9, 10. prājāpatyā triṣṭubh.]
⌊Prose.⌋ ⌊Not found in Pāipp.⌋ See note to the preceding hymn ⌊for ritual uses⌋. The gods etc. are throughout the same as in that hymn. ⌊The two hymns are closely accordant in general and special peculiarities of structure.⌋ ⌊A similar passage is found at MS. i. 5. 4, p. 719-15, as W. notes in the Collation Book: he also says "cf. K. vii. 2." AV. v. 10 presents some analogies with our hymn, and iv. 40 still more.⌋
Translated: Griffith, ii. 277.
1. Let those malignants (aghāyú) who shall attack (abhi-dās) me from the eastern quarter come upon (ṛch) Agni with (-vant) the Vasus.
The comm. has the more regular vasumantam. All the mss., and the comm., have at the end of all the verses ‘bhidā́sāt, which SPP. accordingly retains; our edition makes the absolutely necessary emendation to -sān. ⌊Is -dā́sāt a faulty reminiscence of AV. v. 10?⌋ Most of the saṁhitā-mss. also accent diçó ‘bhi-. Some of the mss. leave té unaccented. 'With' is represented throughout the hymn by -vant or -mant, not by the instrumental case. As usual, ṛch signifies a coming into hostile or detrimental contact or collision. ⌊W. interlines "run against" as alternative for "come upon."⌋
