Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VII/Hymn 99 (104)

99 (104). When bestrewing the védi.

[Atharvan.—mantroktadāivatam. trāiṣṭubham: 1. bhurij.]

Wanting in Pāipp. Is in Kāuç. (2. 20) the priest's direction for strewing the barhis; and the same in Vāit. (2. 7): both in the parvan sacrifice.

Translated: Ludwig, p. 434; Henry, 40, 113; Griffith, i. 377.—Henry gives an elaborate comment. Oldenberg, Indogermanische Forschungen, Anzeiger, iii. 3, refers to Hillebrandt, Neu- und Vollmondsopfer, 19, 64.

1. Strew thou around, enclose the sacrificial hearth (védi) do not rob the sister lying down yonder; the hótar's seat [is] yellow, golden; those [are] jewels (niṣká) in the sacrificer's world.

The comm. regards the bunch of darbha grass as addressed. Ludwig conjectures the 'sister' to be the uttaravedi; and Henry also understands the same; it is perhaps rather the grass that lies about; the comm. gives several diverse guesses. A corresponding verse is found in TB. iii. 7. 5¹³ and Āp. iii. 13. 5: they read abhí for pári at beginning of a; jāmím mā́ hiṅsir amuyā́ çáyānā for b; -danā háritāḥ suvárṇāḥ in c, and, in d, imé for eté and bradhné for loké.