Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book XVIII/Hymn 4

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2537222Atharva-Veda SamhitaBook XVIII, Hymn 4William Dwight Whitney

4. ⌊Funeral verses.⌋

[Atharvan,—ekonanavati.1 yamadevatyam mantroktabahtidevatyaṁ ca (81. pitṛdevatyam;2 88. āgneyī; 89. cāndramasī). trāiṣṭubham: 1, 4, 7, 14, 36, 60. bhurij; 2, 5, 11, 29, 50, 51, 58. jagatī; 3. 5-p. bhurig atijagatī; 6, 9, 13. 5-p. çakvarī (9. bhurij; 13. 3-av.); 8. 5-p. atiçakvarī; 12. mahābṛhatī; 16-24. 3-p. bhurin̄ mahābṛhatī; 26, 33, [43]. upariṣṭādbṛhatī3 (26. virāj); 27. yājuṣī gāyatrī; [25], 31, 32, 38, 41, 42, 55-57, 59, 61. anuṣṭubh3 (56. kakummatī); 39, 62, 63. āstārapan̄kti (39. purovirāj; 62. bhurij; 63. svarāj); 49. anuṣṭubgarbhā triṣṭubh; 53. purovirāṭ sataḥpan̄kti; 66. 3-p. svarāḍ gāyatrī; 67. 2-p. ārcy anuṣṭubh; 68, 71. āsury anuṣṭubh; 72-74, 79. āsurī pan̄kti; 75. āsurī gāyatrī; 76. āsury uṣṇih; 77. dāivī jagatī; 78. āsuri triṣṭubh; 80. āsurī jagatī; 81. prājāpatyā ’nuṣṭubh; 82. sāmnī bṛhatī; 83, 84. sāmnī triṣṭubh; 83. āsurī bṛhatī (67-68, 71-86. 1-av.)4; 86, 87. 4-p. uṣṇih (86. kakummatī; 87. çan̄kumatī); 88. 3-av. pathyāpan̄kti; 89. 3-p. pathyāpan̄kti.]

⌊Notes to the Anukramaṇī-excerpts.⌋ 1⌊In giving this item, the Anukr. repeats the half-çloka from the Old Anukr., given at p. 814.⌋ 2⌊The mss. read namo vaḥ pitara iti pitṛdevatyam: ādyā (vs. 81) prājāpatyānuṣṭup etc. By using the neuter -devatyam, perhaps the Anukr. means the whole decad-sūkta (the 28th), except vss. 88 and 89.⌋ 3⌊Verses 43 and 25 were defined by the Anukr. under 3. 69 and 3. 68, and the definitions are not repeated here.⌋ 4⌊In stating that vss. 71-86 are 1-av., the Anukr. uses the ...itiprabhṛti...ityātas that appears at Kāuç. 81. 44: cf. 85. 26 and 86. 17, where also we have the strange ityātas.⌋

⌊Parts of the hymn are prose: vss. 27, 67-68, 71-74, and 76-87: so Whitney, Index, p. 6. As to vs. 75, it is hard to say whether the fact that it scans easily is significant or not. Perhaps we have here a mere casual lapse into meter (cf. p. 772, ¶5); or it may be that the mantra, as the first of the sequence to which it belongs, is intentionally metrical, while the ūhas of vss. 76 and 77 destroy the rhythm of those vss. The comm., p. 24020, lumps the whole decad-sūkta, vss. 71-80, together, and says etat sūktaṁ sarvaṁ yajurmantrātmakam.⌋

⌊Only one verse (49) is found in Pāipp. As to the significance of the occurrence, see under vs. 49.⌋

Ritual uses.—The Vāitāna naturally makes few citations from this hymn: vs. 59 is used in the agnyādheya; and vss. 28 and 75-77 in the agniṣṭoma. But in the sākamedha, particularly in the offering to the manes (Vāit. 9. 8) in one of the seasonal sacrifices, vs. 71 finds application; as also, I suspect, vss. 72 and 73, though the latter are not so recognized by Garbe. Something like two thirds of the verses find use in Kāuç., and those uses are all in the eleventh adhyāya, the pitṛmedha and piṇḍapitṛyajña, as noted above, p. 814, end. Verse 48 constitutes no real exception. For all ritual uses, see under the verses.⌋

The provenience of the material of this hymn.—Whereas in the preceding three hymns a very large or a large part of the verses are found also in RV., in this hymn only a small part, to wit 12 verses out of 89, are so found. However much or little weight is to be laid on the fact that these 89 verses are called a "hymn," the hymn is, at any rate, the longest in the AV. In general, the collection looks as if it were made of after-gleanings from the stock material of tradition (cf. Weber, Sb. 1896, p. 278); although indeed some parts of it appear to be the reflex of what we may well regard as very ancient elements in the ritual: such are the giving of the viaticum to the dead (vss. 16 ff.) and the invocation of the ancestors (vss. 75-77) and so on. The relation of the order of occurrence in the AV. text to the order of use in the ritual is obscure and in part indeterminable. But a reason for the arrangement is sometimes to be found: thus the practices that go with vss. 51 and 52 are separated in the ritual; but the vss. are set together in the text because of several notable surface-resemblances between them.—The RV. verses are as follows:

our 28 = RV. x. 17. 11 our 59 = RV. vi. 2. 6
our 29 = RV. x. 107. 4 our 60 = RV. ix. 86. 16
our 45 = RV. x. 17. 7 our 61 = RV. i. 82. 2
our 46 = RV. x. 17. 9 ab 8 cd our 69 = RV. i. 24. 15
our 47 = RV. x. 17. 8 ab 9 cd our 88 = RV. v. 6. 4
our 58 = RV. ix. 86. 19 our 89 = RV. i. 105. 1

The verses that recur in the sixth prapāṭhaka of the TA. (if we count those in TA. vi. 8 as five: see note to vs. 16) also number about a dozen: to wit, 16 ff., 28, 30, 34, 35, 51, 55, 57.⌋

⌊For the purpose of the following discussion, the hymn may be divided into Parts; of which only some, not all, are of critical significance.

Part I., verses 1-15.—Refers in general to the ignis rogalis and its belongings and is treated as a ritual unit by Kāuç. 81.45.

Part II., verses 16-27, and 28.—Offering of the viaticum for the dead: cakes, with milk, etc. etc.; then sesame.—The unity of vss. 16-24 is sufficiently marked by their external form alone. Verse 28 seems to me to belong to this part, and to be appended for use as an expiation in case of any spilling of the liquids of the foregoing libations: cf. TA. comm., vikṣarantam abhimantrayate etc.

Part III., verses 29-44.—This seems to me to be in general essentially a continuation of Part II., but with certain disturbing elements. The water poured on the bones (29-30, but also 36), the garment (31), the black sesame (32-34, but also 43), and the vānyā̀ cow's milk (35) may well be taken as parts of the dead man's viaticum. If vs. 42 be part of the dhuvana (Caland), it is not far in time from the viaticum ceremony, I suppose. But the ritual use of 44 (corpse on cart) certainly precedes the cremation; while that of vss. 38-41, if rightly reckoned to the piṇḍa ceremony (so comm.), may well follow it by a long interval. As for vs. 37, see under the verse.

Part IV., verses 45-47.—To Sarasvatī with the Fathers, RV. x. 17. 7-9, recurring as Part VII. of hymn 1. The tṛca is a ritual unit, used (so comm.) immediately after the cremation.

Part V., verses 48-70.—Verse 48 and the group 58-60 and vs. 67 and vs. 70 find no use in Kāuç. The comm. assigns a use to 48, but only by a blunder; and the group he perhaps considers as a part of the pitṛmedha ritual; and in reporting the use of 66, he groups with it 67.—Vss. 49 and 50 stand side by side in Kāuç.: with 49 the liturge takes the two bullocks that drew the hearse, and with 50 he accepts his fee. Vs. 51 goes with the strewing of darbha on the pyre: and 52 would seem (see under 52) to belong with it, but is put to a use quite different and later in natural order, the forming of a human figure with the bones (Kāuç. 85. 25). If the latter use be the correct one, then the acts that go with vss. 53 and 54 (covering bones with palāça and stones) form a reasonable sequel to it; although, to be sure, they also form a sequel to vs. 36 (besprinkling of the bones), both naturally and in the text of Kāuç. If I am right in understanding vs. 55 to accompany the patting of the grave-mound (see under 55), then the piling thereof (with vss. 66 and 67) must intervene between 54 and 55. Vs. 56, a symbolical taking of his hereditament by the oldest son, must belong to an earlier stage of the proceedings. One use of 57 is in the viaticum ceremony (described under vs. 16); the other is in the much later piṇḍa or cake ceremony. Here too, if anywhere (but see under 58), belongs the group 58-60; and the group 61-65, with 68, seems to belong also to the same cake ceremony (61, cake-sprinkling; 68, strewing the barhis to receive the cakes; 62, strewing of sesame on that barhis; 63, dismissal of the Fathers; 64, offering of grains with the pot-offering noticed below under Part VI.; 65, the "withdrawal of the fires," apparently the ultimate act in this connection). Vss. 66 and 67 (mound-piling) were mentioned above; and so was 68, which clearly suits the action immediately preceding that of 62. Vs. 69 accompanies a much earlier act, the expiatory bath taken just after the cremation. Vs. 70, which has no use in Kāuç., seems to me to be put here because, like 69, it contains a prayer for release from the bonds of Varuṇa.

Part VI., verses 71-87.—All this passage of unbroken prose (but see p. 869, ¶5) belongs to the piṇḍapitṛyajña. The comm., p. 2419, aptly notes that offerings to the gods are announced with svā́hā and váṣaṭ and those to the Fathers with svadhā́ and námas. This Part falls naturally into 5 subdivisions, each with its own manifest unity:

subdivision 1 = verses 71, 72, 73, 74; subdivision 2 = verses 75, 76, 77;
subdivision 3 = verses 78, 79, 80; subdivision 4 = verses 81, 82, 83, 84, 85;
subdivision 5 = verses 86, 87.
Subdivisions 1 and 3 accompany the ceremony of strewing three handfuls [of grain? trīn adhomuṣṭīn, Keç.], and they dovetail each into the other in such wise that they are used (Kāuç. 87. 8) thus: 71, with 78; 72, with 73 or 79; 74, with 80. Thus the second handful is strewn while the liturge repeats idaṁ "somāya pitṛmate svadhā" (72) either with pitṛbhyaḥ somavadbhyaḥ (73) or else with pitṛbhyo antarikṣasadbhyaḥ (79). The appropriateness of the linkage in each of the three cases is palpable. The second use of the mantras of subdivisions 1 and 3 is with the pot-offering (Kāuç. 88. 1-4).—-Then comes (88. 11) the offering of the cakes with subdivision 2 (piṇḍapradānamantrā evam āmnāyante: comm.). These first three subdivisions are clearly triplets; and their symmetry is marred only by vs. 73, which is simply an alternative of vs. 79, awkwardly interjected after vs. 72 for lack of a better place.—Subdivision 4 consists of doublets (5 in all): to wit, 8 ascriptions of homage to the Fathers' various attributes, 4 expressed by nouns and 4 by substantival relative clauses, and a final doublet (85) with námas and svadhā́.—Subdivision 5 consists of 2 entirely symmetrical 4-membered mantras, the prior one relating to yonder world, the latter to this.
Part VII., verses 88 and 89.—Verse 88 accompanies the laying on of fuel just before the final withdrawal of the fires (explained under 65). Why the Tritaverse, 89, should be here, is, as Whitney observes, very obscure.⌋
Translated: as AV. hymn, by Ludwig, pages 488-493; Weber, Sb. 1896, pages 277-294; Griffith, ii. 247-258; also the occasional RV. verses by the RV. translators. — Weber's analysis etc., p. 277-8, may be consulted.


1. Ascend to [your] generatrix, ye Jātavedases; by [roads] that the Fathers travel I make you ascend together; the offering-carrier, sent out, hath carried the offerings; united (yuktá), set ye him who hath sacrificed in the world of the well-doing.

The translation implies emendation in a to jātavedasas, though all the mss., and hence both editions, read jātáv-; all, also, accent in c havyavā́has, and SPP. has that in his text; our edition makes the obviously necessary emendation to -vāhás ⌊cf. the opposite error in vs. 10⌋. All our saṁhita-mss. ⌊see Prāt. i. 94, note⌋ make in c the false combination ávāḍh ḍh-; SPP. says nothing of his, and both editions have correctly ávāḍ ḍh-. Our O.Op.R., and one of SPP's mss., read in c iṣitā́; the comm. also has it, explaining it with iṣitāny iṣṭāni. The comm. also understands jātavedasas as vocative (probably, after his manner, simply disregarding the accent); he explains janitrīm as svotpādikām araṇim; and the Kāuç. (80. 23) takes the same view: iti pṛthaç araṇīṣv agnīn samāropayanti; but its correctness as original sense of the verse may be strongly questioned. The comm. explains ā rohata by çaktyātmanā praviçata; and describes the samāropaṇa as taking place "because of the absence of any further ceremonies to be performed by him, being now dead, by help of the fires." In the comm's viniyoga he says simply araṇidvayam agnāu pratāpayet. All this is in the case of a person who has died away from home. But vss. 1-15 are also used nearly at the end of the cremation ceremony (Kāuç. 81. 45), with the direction ity āhitāgnim (Keç. adds upatiṣṭhate), ⌊and the comm. fills out the direction thus: citistham āhitāgnim pretam upatiṣṭheta⌋. The verse, as a triṣṭubh, is redundant by a syllable ⌊in a, which is thus a good jagatī-pāda: and also by one in d, which, however, by reason of its triṣṭubh cadence, is neither one thing nor the other⌋.


2. The gods, the seasons, arrange the sacrifice, the oblation, the sacrificial cake, the ladles (srúc), the implements (-ā́yudha) of sacrifice; with them go thou by roads that the gods travel, by which they that have sacrificed go to the heavenly (svargá) world.

The word srucás in b is shown by the meter to be probably an intrusion, and it is superfluous as regards the sense. ⌊The excision of havís would give a better cesura.⌋ The verse is, of course, in no way a real jagatī. Kāuç. (81. 10) directs it to be used as a sacrificial cake is laid on the breast of the corpse on the funeral pile; the comm. takes no notice of this.


3. Look thou happily (sādhú) along the road of righteousness, by which go the An̄girases, well-doers; by those roads go thou to heaven (svargá), where the Ādityas feed on honey; spread thou out upon the third firmament.

The last pāda we had above as ix. 5. 8 d. Our O.Op.R., and one or two of SPP's mss., read tébhyas at beginning of c. The comm. explains víçrayasva in e by viçritaḥ pratiṣṭhito bhava. The metrical description of the Anukr. fits the verse, if we ⌊decline to make two of the three easy resolutions (in c and d) by which the verse reads as five good triṣṭubh pādas⌋.


4. Three eagles (suparṇá)...upon the back of the firmament (nā́ka), at the summit (? viṣṭáp) are set (çritá); let the heavenly (svargá) worlds, filled (?) with amṛ́ta, yield (duh) food, refreshment to the sacrificer.

The pada-text reads in a māyū́ íti, which is, I presume, intended to mark the word as a locative: see Prāt. i. 74 and note upon it. The comm., however, understands it as dual, and explains it as meaning māyumantāu çabdakāriṇāu vāyuparjanyāu, because Vāyu and Parjanya are noisy in connection with clouds; for upara, by Nirukta 2. 21, means 'a cloud'; and the three eagles are Agni, Sūrya, and Soma! the general sense being that Vāyu and Parjanya are set over the world of the atmosphere, and the other three over the heavenly world! In c, the translation follows the comm. ⌊and Whitney's P.M.I, and one of SPP's mss.⌋ in reading viṣṭā́s instead of viṣṭhā́s (p. vi॰sthā́ḥ); it is glossed with vyāptāḥ pūrṇāḥ. Neither this verse nor the preceding is quoted by Kāuç., nor has either a viniyoga indicated in the comm.


5. The sacrificial spoon (juhū́) sustains the sky, the offering spoon (upabhṛ́t) the atmosphere; the ladle (dhruvā́) sustains ⌊dhṛ⌋ the earth, the support (pratiṣṭhā́); unto me (?) let the worlds, ghee-backed, heavenly (svargá), yield every desire for the sacrificer.

The reading and sense at the beginning of c are very doubtful; the pada-mss. all give prati॰mā́m, as if it were accusative of pratimā́; most of the saṁhitā-mss. have pratīmā́m (our Bs. has pratímā́m ⌊!⌋, and P.M. pratimā́m; T. has pratīmám), and it is quoted in the comment to the Prāt. (ii. 35: so the ms.) as the same ⌊that is, I presume, in the form pratīmām⌋. SPP. emends to prátī ’mā́m, since, with his usual disregard of the accent, the comm. so reads, explaining imām as referring to pṛthivīm; our edition has pratimā́m, with the majority of our earlier mss. The translation implies práti mā́m, simply on account of superior intelligibility; doubtless the true AV. reading is pratīmā́m. Simply práti would rectify the meter, and give a yet better sense. The verse (13 + 11: 12 (11?) + 11 = 47) is, of course, no proper jagatī. This and the verse next following are used, according to Kāuç. 81. 7, as the sacrificial utensils are laid about and upon the body, to be burned with it.


6. O ladle, ascend the all-nourishing earth; stride, O offering spoon, unto the atmosphere; O sacrificial spoon, go to the sky (dív) in company with the sacrificer; with the little spoon (sruvá) [as] calf, milk thou all the teeming, unirritated quarters.

The mss. in general strangely accent the two vocatives in a and b on the final syllable; all ours (save Op.s.m.), and all but one or two of SPP's, have dhruvé (-vá in saṁhitā); all ours (save Op.), and nearly all SPP's, have upabhṛ́t; all ours ⌊save Bs.⌋ and most of SPP's, however, accent júhu correctly in c (but P.I. have jū́hū, and M. has júhū); both editions make the necessary corrections. At the end, SPP. gives in his text áhṛṇīyamānaḥ, with the great majority of his authorities, and with the comm.* Of our mss., only O.s.m.Op.D.R.p.m. give -naḥ, while O.p.m.R.s.m. have -nāḥ; the reading -nāḥ is, in my opinion, decidedly the preferable one; it is the quarters that kindly make no resistance to being milked. According to the comm., the adhvaryu, at time of sacrifice, holds the upabhṛt in his left hand, and makes oblation with the juhū in his right. The verse (13 + 11: 12 + 11 + 9 = 56) counts as the Anukr. describes it. Its ritual use was given under the preceding verse. *⌊The comm. assumes a very harsh change to the direct address and applies ahṛṇ- to the sacrificer: atha pratyakṣavad uktiḥ: evaṁ srugbhir lokatrayam prāpito yajamānas tvam ahṛṇīyamānaḥ.⌋


7. By fords they cross the advances (pravát) called the great ones, by what [road] the sacrifice-makers, the well-doers, go; there did they set a world for the sacrificer, when they arranged the quarters, the creatures (bhūtá).

⌊Or, 'By crossings (tīrthá) they cross (tṛ).'⌋ The comm. explains praváto mahī́r íti by prakṛṣṭā mahatīr āpadaḥ...evam; it also makes díças and bhūtā́ni in d the joint subject of ákalpayanta, having before taken adadhus as an imperative (vidadhatu)! Though the verse is obscure, the probabilities are doubtless in favor of the translation as given. ⌊Pāda a seems to be a reminiscence of 1. 49, above, or RV. x. 14. 1. Pischel renders the vs., Ved. Stud. ii. 74.⌋


8. The track (áyana) of the An̄girases is the eastern fire; the Ādityas' track is the householder's fire; the track of the sacrificial gifts is the southern fire; do thou, with thy limbs, whole (sárva), powerful (? çagmá), go unto the greatness of Agni [as] disposed by bráhman.

Both in this verse and in the next, most of our mss. accent falsely dákṣiṇāgnis; SPP. reports it of only one of his, and only in vs. 9. The comm. glosses çagma with sukhita. The verse (11 + 11 + 11: 13 + 11 = 57) counts short of what the Anukr. describes it (atiçakvarī = 60 syll.).


9. Let the eastern fire burn (tap) thee happily (çám) in front; let the householder's fire burn happily behind; let the southern fire burn refuge, defense for thee; from the north, from the midst, from the atmosphere, from each quarter, O Agni, protect him round about from what is terrible.

⌊Cf. vs. 11.⌋ As to the accent of dakṣiṇāgnis in c, see under vs. 8. The funeral pile is separately, but simultaneously, kindled from each of the sacrificial fires. To make the verse bhurij, we have to commit the violence of scanning agne instead of ‘gne in the last pāda (so 12 + 10: 12 + 11 + 12 = 57). ⌊The a of agnís in a and that of agne in e are of course to be elided. The insertion of another tvā in b after çám paçcā́t rectifies the meter. In c we have perhaps to tolerate 5 pre-cesural syllables; but with this reservation and the rectification in b, all 5 pādas are faultless triṣṭubhs.⌋


10. Ye, O Agni, having become back-carrying (? pṛṣṭiváh) horses, shall with most healthful forms (tanū́) carry him that has sacrificed unto the heavenly (svargá) world, where they revel in common revelry with the gods.

The doubtful word in this verse is pṛṣṭivā́has (as both editions read). All our mss. save one (Op.), and the majority of SPP's, accent pṛṣṭivāhás, as if nom. sing, of -vāhá, apparently by an error the opposite of that committed in vs. 1. Two of our later collated mss. (Op.R.),and one of SPP's by correction ⌊as if to correspond with -vāhás, have áçvas before it; and the comm. also reads açvas, with praṣṭivāhas, explaining that praṣṭi is a chariot of the gods, harnessed with three horses, of which one is in front and two behind; and a praṣṭivāha horse is, of course, one that draws such a chariot. ⌊Cf. vi. 102. 2 and note.⌋ ⌊Four⌋ of our mss. ⌊Bs.M.I.T.⌋, but only one of SPP's, leave madanti unaccented at the end; ⌊Whitney's Bp.O.Op.R.K. accent it, as it should be⌋; the comm. reads instead madema. The Anukr. passes without notice the deficiency of a syllable in b.


11. Burn (tap), O Agni, happily behind, happily in front; burn him happily above, happily below; being one, O Jātavedas, triply disposed, set him collectedly (samyák) in the world of the well-doers.

⌊Cf . vs. 9.⌋ The adverbs translated 'behind' etc. might with at least equal propriety be rendered 'on the west,' 'on the east,' 'on the north,' and 'on the south.' Nearly all our mss. (not Bs.I.), and half of SPP's ⌊have the impossible⌋ accent jātávedas in c; and a few (including our O.R.) have at the end lokám. ⌊Although samyág enaṁ must pass for the true AV. reading, one cannot forbear to query whether it has not displaced an original samyák táṁ.⌋


12. Let the fires, kindled, take hold happily; let the Jātavedases, making done (çṛtá) here him that is Prajāpati's [and] sacrificial, not throw him down.

The verse (11 + 12: 12) lacks a syllable of counting as a full bṛhatī. Two of our mss. (O.R.) read in b jātavedaḥ (without accent). The comm. reads sam instead of çam at the beginning. ⌊Cf. vs. 13.⌋

⌊The verse reminds us strongly of 2. 4 (which see), where cikṣipas without ava has quite a different meaning. Here, cikṣipan with ava means 'let them [the fires, not] throw [any part of the dead man] down'; that is, Agni (in his kindly forms, çivā́s tanvàs) is to treat the dead man kindly and not let a foot, the head, or a hand fall off from the funeral pile, but is to consume him completely: cf. the comm., who aptly says, yathā niravaçeṣaṁ dahyate tathā. The importance, in Hindu belief, of having every member of the body carried by Agni to the other world for use in the next life is abundantly shown by the hymns: see especially AV. xviii. 3. 9 ab; 2. 24 c; 4. 64; iv. 34. 2: and Whitney, Oriental and Linguistic Studies, i. 56-57.—When, as often happens, the pile of wood is too short for the corpse, the feet will naturally overhang and drop off from the pyre. In my journal of a visit at Benares, under date of Feb. 25, 1889, I find the following: "Saw a cremation, at the Burning Ghat. One foot of the corpse fell off the pyre (which was none too long), and a man tried to put it back on the fire with a bamboo. But failing, he took it by the toe with thumb and fingers and chucked it back." An allusion to an occurrence of this kind is clearly made by the Chāndogya Upanishad at vii. 15. 3: atha yady apy enān utkrāntaprāṇāñ cchūlena [cf. the bamboo, above] samāsaṁ vyatisaṁdahet: nāi ’vāi ’nam brūyuḥ pitṛha ’sī ’ti etc.⌋


13. The sacrifice goes, extended, adapting itself (? kḷp), [taking] him who hath sacrificed, unto the heavenly (svargá) world; let the fires enjoy it, made a whole oblation; let the Jātavedases, making done here him that is Prajāpati's [and] sacrificial, not throw him down.

⌊Cf. vs. 12.⌋ 'Sacrifice' and 'whole oblation' ⌊and 'it,' that is tám in c,⌋ all refer, of course, to the deceased himself. ⌊Cf. Whitney, Oriental and Linguistic Studies, i. 56: "To burn the body of a deceased person was accordingly an act of solemn sacrifice, which made Agni its bearer to the other world, the future dwelling of its former possessor."—Cf. also Caland's most apposite citation from Bāudhāyana, jātasaṁskāreṇe ’maṁ lokam abhijayati; mṛtasaṁskāreṇā ’muṁ lokam, in his Todtengebräuche, pages 174, 178.⌋ The defective meter and incomplete construction of b make it altogether probable that the text is corrupt: ījānā́nām would help both. The comm. makes no difficulty of taking abhi..eti causatively, = abhigamayati. He paraphrases kalpámānas by iṣṭam pradeçam prāpayituṁ samarthaḥ. The mss. vary between kalpámānas, kálpamānas, and kalpamā́nas; all of ours that were collated before printing had kalpá-, which we accordingly admitted in our text; but we ought to have emended to kálpa-, which SPP. reads. Two of our mss. (O.R.), and one of SPP's, also have jātavedasaḥ at end of d. The verse counts just a full atiçakvarī (11 + 10: 11 + 12: 12 = 56).


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 to 3. 25); next, eight more (Kāuç. 86. 3) in the eight directions, with 8 vss. of our present sequence, that is, 4. 16-23; and then the eleventh and last dish in the center with our 4. 24, according to Kāuç. 86. 4, where we are to read (see under vs. 24) madhye ‘pavantam (for pacantam), 'in the center [a dish] with water.'⌋ *⌊So we must read, with three of Bloomfield's mss., as Caland suggests, Todtengebräuche, p. 152, and as the AV. comm. makes plain at 22419 (carudvayam), though not at 17623.⌋

⌊TA. vi. 8 reads thus: apūpávān ghṛtávāṅç carúr é ‘há sīdatū ’ttabhnuván pṛthivī́ṁ dyā́m utó ’pári: yonikṛ́taḥ pathikṛ́taḥ saparyata yé devā́nāṁ ghṛtábhāgā ihá sthá: eṣā́ te yamasā́dane svadhā́ ní dhīyate gṛhè ‘sāu: dáçākṣarā [:] tā́m rakṣasva etc. etc.—This set of mantras is metrical as far as gṛhé inclusive, 7 (8?) + 8 + 12: 12 + 11: 8 + 8; then prose. It accompanies the deposition of the cakes with a dish of ghee to the east of the bone-relics, and is followed by four other sets, which are not given in full in TA., but may, with the help of Sāyaṇa, be reconstructed as ūhas of this set. The order of deposition is (strangely) pradakṣiṇa, that is, from E. to S. to W. to N. and center. In the first set (used at the east) the words to be replaced are ghṛtávān, ghṛtábhāgās, and dáçākṣarā; and they are replaced in the second set (south) by çṛtávān, çṛtábhāgās, and çatā́kṣarā respectively; in the third set (west), by kṣīrávān, kṣīrábhāgās, and sahásrākṣarā; in the fourth set (north), by dádhivān, dádhibhāgās, and ayútākṣarā; and in the fifth set (center), by mádhumān, mádhubhāgās, and ácyutākṣarā. Thus the mantra of the last set would begin apūpávān mádhumān etc., for the deposition of cakes is common to that of all the dishes (so AV. comm., p. 2025: apūpasāhityaṁ sarveṣāṁ carūṇāṁ sādhāraṇam).⌋


17. Rich in cakes, rich in curds (dádhi-), let the dish etc. etc.

18. Rich in cakes, rich in drops (drapsá-), let the dish etc. etc.

Our O. reads drápsa-, ⌊and so does one of SPP's mss.⌋. According to the comm., drapsa signifies "particles of curds" (dadhikaṇās).


19. Rich in cakes, rich in ghee, let the dish etc. etc.

20. Rich in cakes, rich in flesh (māṅsá-), let the dish etc. etc.

21. Rich in cakes, rich in food, let the dish etc. etc.

22. Rich in cakes, rich in honey, let the dish etc. etc.

23. Rich in cakes, rich in sap, let the dish etc. etc.

24. Rich in cakes, rich in water (ápa-), let the dish etc. etc.

Instead of apavant in this verse, the comm. has a second time apūpavant, explaining that it means cakes of a different material. In the five dishes of TA. (vi. 8) are contained respectively (besides the cakes), ghee, boiled flesh (çṛtá), milk, curds, and honey. ⌊Caland's suggestion of ‘pavantam for pacantam at Kāuç. 86. 4 (see WZKM. viii. 369) brings the text of Kāuç. into harmony with ápavāṅs of this vs.: cf. ¶3 of the notes to vs. 16.⌋


25. What vessels covered with cakes the gods maintained for thee, be they for thee rich in svadhā́, rich in honey, dripping with ghee.

This is a ⌊precise⌋ repetition of 3. 68 above. While most of the mss. quote it, as usual, by the first words with íty ékā added, two (O.R.) write it in full. According to the comm., the verse follows the deposition of the nine dishes; and it adds: "one should put on mixed grains"; the Kāuç. makes no mention of it.

26. What grains I scatter along for thee, mixed with sesame, rich in svadhā́, be they for thee uprising (udbhú), prevailing; them let king Yama approve for thee.

This verse, differing from 3. 69 and 4. 43 by a single word (udbhvī́s instead of vibhvī́s), is written out in full by all the mss. The comm. has, instead of udbhvīs, abhvīs, glossing it with mahatyas. ⌊For a possible ritual use of the verse, see under 3. 69.⌋


27. A more abundant inexhaustibleness.

The comm. adds this to the preceding verse as a part of it; but the Anukr. and the mss. reckon it as an independent verse.


28. The drop leaped (skand) toward the earth, the sky (dív), toward both this lair (yóni) and the one that was of old; of the drop that goes about toward the same lair do I make oblation, after seven invocations (hótrā).

The verse is RV. x. 17. 11, and found also in several other texts: VS. (xiii. 5), TS. (iv. 2. 82, 95), TA. (vi. 6. 1), MS. (ii. 5. 10), ÇB. (vii. 4. 120). RV. differs from our text by reading in a prathamā́ṅ ánu dyū́n; all the rest agree throughout with AV., save that TS.TA. have tṛtī́yam for samānám in c. ⌊In MS. this verse stands between our ix. 4. 5 and 4. 4, as already noted under ix. 4. 5.⌋ Kāuç. does not apply the verse, but it is found (as above) in the funeral ceremony of TA., next after our 4. 35 below, being addressed to any overflow of the offered dish of curds and honey. The comm. explains drapsa by somarasasthitodakakaṇa, and teaches that such a drop, or the soma itself, is here praised, in view of the enjoyment of the fruit of their soma-sacrifices by the Fathers in heaven; it also points out that in CB. (vii. 4. 120) this drop is praised as the sun (āditya). In Vāit. (16. 17) the verse (with RV. x. 17. 12, 13 and one or two others) is used in the agniṣṭoma ceremony, with offerings to the soma-drops (vāipruṣa), on occasion of the overflow of soma.


29. A hundred-streamed Vāyu, a heaven-finding sun (? arká), wealth, do those men-beholders look upon; whoso bestow (pṛ) and present (prayam) always, they milk a sacrificial gift having seven mothers.

The verse corresponds to RV. x. 107. 4, which differs by reading havís at end of b, ⌊and saṁgamé at end of c⌋; it also reads duhate in d and puts the word after dákṣiṇām; the RV. hymn is one in praise of generous givers. Nṛcákṣasas in b might of course be gen. sing. (so Grassmann); both translators ⌊Grassmann and Ludwig⌋ take saptámātaram as 'mother of seven,' which is against the accent; the comm. takes it properly as possessive, but gives three different guesses at its value. The comm. takes in b as 'for thy sake,' against the accent. Kāuç. does not quote the verse; the comm. says that it and the next are used together on watering the bone-relics with water falling from a vessel with a hundred holes; and these hundred holes it regards as referred to by the first word of the verse.


30. They milk a receptacle (kóça), a jar with four orifices, iḍā [as] milch-cow rich in honey, in order to well-being; reveling refreshment, Aditi among the people, injure thou not, O Agni, in the highest firmament (vyòman).

The first half-verse is found also in TB. iii. 7. 416 and Āp. i. 13. 1, both of which read útsam for kóçam, devī́m for dhenúm, and suvarvídam for svastáye. The second half occurs in VS. (xiii. 49 c, d), TS. (in iv. 2. 102), ⌊MS., in ii. 7. 17, page 10215⌋, and TA. (in vi. 6. 1); they all agree in reading for c ghṛtáṁ dúhānām áditiṁ jánāya, for which our text is a corruption, capable of only mechanical translation. The comm., in a, still thinks of four of the holes in the hundred-holed vessel; íḍā is either the earth or the name of a certain cow. In the funeral ceremony of TA. (as above), our c, d, with ⌊the correspondent of⌋ our 36 a, b below as first half, is used next after our vs. 28, and for the same purpose. The Anukr. does not heed that the first two pādas are jagatī.


31. This garment god Savitar gives thee to wear (bhṛ); putting on that, which is tārpyà, do thou go about in Yama's realm.

Some of the mss. (including our O.Op.R.) read dadātu in b. Our Op. accents tā́rpyam, and the word is variously accented by half of SPP's authorities. The comm. first explains the word as tarpaṇārham prītikaram, and then adds: 'or, made of a kind of grass called tṛpā, [and] anointed with ghee.' For the ritual use of the verse, in company with 2. 57, see under the latter verse. The comm. says only that it is addressed to the garment when the dead man is wrapped up.


32. The grains became a milch-cow; the sesame became her calf; upon her, unexhausted, one lives in Yama's realm.

The mss. are a little at variance as to the accent of tilo ‘bhavat; but the majority give tilò, which is accepted in both editions. The comm. reads at the end jīvāti. The ritual application of this verse and its successor was given with that of 3. 69 above; the comm. says here that with vss. 32-34 grains mingled with sesame are put upon the bones. The first pāda is one syllable short.


33. Be these, O so-and-so, thy milch-kine that yield what is desired; variegated, white, of like form, of different form, with sesame as calf, let them wait upon (upa-sthā) thee there.

One of our mss. (Op.), and three or four of SPP's authorities, accent tílavatsās in d. The comm. has bhavanti in b. The verse (8 + 7: 11 + 11 = 37) is not at all an upariṣṭādbṛhatī, but rather an irregular āstārapan̄kti.


34. Grains variegated, yellow, white, grains black, red, [be] thy milch-kine here; with sesame as calf, yielding (duh) him refreshment, be they ever unresisting.

The verse is found also in TA. (in vi. 7. 1), with its first half abbreviated to éṇīr dhānā́ háriṇīr árjunīḥ santu dhenávaḥ; and it accents tíla- in c (with our Op. and one or two of SPP's mss.). Our O. ⌊and apparently also P.I.⌋, with ⌊one or⌋ two of SPP's mss., also accent enī́s. Only a minority of the mss. (including our Bs.p.m. and Op.) have at the end -ntīḥ, the rest -ntī. Here and in vs. 36, most of the mss. accent anapasphúr-, and accordingly both edited texts accept it; but the readings ought unquestionably to be emended to ánapasphur- (which is given here by ⌊TA., Poona ed.,⌋ our O.R., ⌊and one or two of SPP's mss.⌋; in 36, by none); the accentuation in this part of the text is more than usually faulty. The comm. stupidly declares apasphuraṇa = nāça, and the participle therefore = ⌊avinaçvaryaḥ or⌋ akṣīṇāḥ. ⌊As alternative rendering, W. suggests 'not refractory.'⌋ ⌊W's 'here' seems to be meant as (the hardly licit) version of the accentless asya: Weber notices the wild incongruity (absent in the TA. version) between asya in a, te in b, and asmāí in c.⌋


35. In Vāiçvānara I offer this oblation, a thousand-fold, hundred-streamed fountain (útsa); it supports (bhṛ) [our] father, grandfathers; [our] great-grandfathers it supports, swelling.

That is, with fatness or abundance (pinv). The verse is found also at the beginning of TA. vi. 6; but this rectifies the meter of b by reading sāhasrám útsaṁ çatádhāram etám; and its c, d are not less different: tásminn eṣá pitáram pitámahám prápitāmaham bibharat pínvamāne. One of our mss. (Op.) also accents prápitāmahān. In TA. (as noticed above) the verse is next followed by our 4. 28, in the relic-interment ceremony; according to Kāuç. (82. 22), it is used on the second day after cremation, with an oblation on the back of a vānyavatsā* cow, after causing her to be milked on the site of the funeral pile. The comm. ⌊p. 20918⌋ calls the cow anyavatsā (only by an error of the editor?). ⌊If error, it is an easy one, for the comm's words as combined are dahanasthānasaṁnidhāv anyavatsāyāḥ: but anyavatsā occurs in the comm. to AB. vii. 2, mentioned below.⌋ The verse (11 + 9: 11 + 12 = 43) is hardly fit to be reckoned a triṣṭubh.

*⌊Primarily, vānyà, abhivānyà, apivānyà, nivānyà, as gerundives of van, mean 'to be won over to or wonted to': abhivānyavatsá is 'a calf that has to be wonted to' its new or adoptive mother. Such a word as the last, with bahuvrīhi accent, means '(a cow) possessing such a calf,' and by inference, 'a cow that has lost her own calf': so abhivānyàvatsā, AB. vii. 2, and Hiraṇyakeçi-sūtra, in Caland's Pitṛmedha-sūtras, p. 588; apivānyàvatsā, Kāuç., twice?, see below; nivānyàvatsā, ÇB. xii. 5. 14.—These possessives are then abbreviated, and we find abhivānyà at TB. i. 6. 84 and four times in the Pitṛmedhasūtras (see Caland's Index), and nivānyā̀ at ÇB. ii. 6. 16, both words with the same meaning as abhivānyàvatsā, but coming to it secondarily; and also vānyā̀ at TB. ii. 6. 162, p. 676 Poona, glossed by mṛtavatsā dhenuḥ, and ĀpÇS. viii. 15. 17, as equivalent of the not quotable vānyàvatsā.—After putting to paper the explanations just given I find them confirmed by Nārāyaṇa, to whom I was brought by Aufrecht's valuable note upon his excerpt from Sāyaṇa's comment on AB. vii. 2 (p. 377): Nārāyaṇa, in his comm. on AÇS. iii. 10. 17 says abhivānyavatsā nāmā ’nyavatsena dohanīyā: abhivānyo vatso yasyāḥ sā ’bhivānyavatsā: abhivānyo ‘bhivananīya ity arthaḥ.—In Kāuç. 82. 22 there can be little doubt (cf. BR. i. 347) that we have to read apivānyavatsām after ādahane ca; and in like manner, at 80. 25, apivānyavatsāyās: with the latter passage is to be compared ÇB. ii. 6. 16, which describes the same ceremony; see also Caland, Todtengebräuche, p. 151. The use of the milk of a cow whose calf is dead is in keeping with the use of cows that are old, ugly, barren, etc.: cf. ÇB. xii. 5. 14 (dead man's agnihotra) and Caland, l.c., p. 173, p. 20.⌋


36. A thousand-streamed, hundred-streamed fountain, unexhausted, expanded upon the back of the sea, yielding refreshment, unresisting, do the Fathers wait on at their will (? svadhā́bhis).

The first half-verse stands in VS. ⌊xiii. 49⌋ TS. ⌊iv. 2. 102⌋ TA. ⌊vi. 6. 1⌋ MS. ⌊ii. 7. 17, p. 10214⌋ as the first two pādas of a verse of which our 30 c, d above is second half; in all, the first word is imám followed in VS. MS. by sāhasrám, in TS.TA. by samudrám, before çatádh-; all of course omit the evidently intruded ákṣitam*, and end b with mádhye, VS. having before it sarirásya, and TS.TA. bhúvanasya. Some of the mss. (including our O.⌊?⌋Op.R.K.) have in d the false accent upā́sate. The verse exceeds the proper measure of a triṣṭubh by the amount of ákṣitam in a. By Kāuç. (86. 5), it accompanies a sprinkling with water; ⌊Keç. says that it is the bones that are so sprinkled; so also the comm., who adds that it is done with a very leaky old dish (sahasracchidra-pātra): cf. Caland, l.c., p. 173. The sprinkling is part of the dhuvana ceremony, l.c., p. 137.⌋ *⌊The rationale of the intrusion becomes clear, I think, if we compare with our a, b the first pāda of iv. 27. 2, útsam ákṣitam viácanti yé sádā.⌋


37. This funeral pile (? kásāmbu) [is] piled with piling; come, ye [his] fellows, look down at it; this mortal goeth to immortality; make ye houses for him according to his kindred.

A number of the mss. (including our P.M.I.) read in a cittám, as in 14 a above. The pada-text at end of b is paçyata: ā́: ita. Some of the mss. make a blundering insertion of signs of kampa in mártyo ‘yám in c. O. has at the end -sámbudham. The comm. shows its usual skill in explaining kasāmbu; it means kasāç cā ’mbūni ca, kasa being by abbreviation from kīkasa, and = asthi! Kāuç. (86. 1) has the verse accompany the viewing of the bone-relics ⌊which are now in the trench, says Keç.⌋ by the 'fellows' of the deceased; the comm. says that either the relatives or all are to look at them as deposited in the hollow, while the manager recites the verse. The meter of the last pāda is redundant, and suggests emendation of the closing word. ⌊The vs., with its cayanena citam and gṛhān (cf. ÇB. as cited below under vs. 55), seems clearly to refer to a grave-mound; but the ritual use, with its trench, is in flat contradiction with such reference.⌋


38. Be thou just here, winning riches, with thought here, with ability here; be thou here, very heroic, vigor-bestowing, not smitten away.

The comm. understands iha citta iha kratuḥ as four independent words. According to Kāuç. (87. 21), the verse is made to accompany the taking of one of two lighted sticks of wood (see under 1. 56), and setting it up in the dirt (see under 2. 34). That this was its original office may be questioned; perhaps it is rather an invocation of the ancestor for help to his descendants.


39. These waters, rich in honey, satisfying (abhi-tṛp) son [and] grandson, yielding to the Fathers svadhā́ [and] amṛ́ta—let the heavenly waters gratify both sides.

That is, the Fathers on the one side, and their living descendants on the other. Some of the mss. (including our O.R.) accent abhí in a. The abhi could extremely well be spared, and its omission would make the verse a good āstārapan̄kti ⌊with triṣṭubh close in c and d⌋. According to Kāuç., the next verse is used in the piṇḍapitṛyajña while pouring water on the fire (88. 23), after the presentation of the piṇḍas, and this one while then rinsing the mouth (88. 24). ⌊As to vs. 40, see p. xcvii, note.⌋


40. O waters, send forth (pra-hi) Agni unto the Fathers; this sacrifice of mine let the Fathers enjoy; they who attach themselves unto a sitting refreshment, may they confirm to us wealth having all heroes.

A corresponding verse is found in HGS. (in ii. 10. 6), reading thus: āpo devīḥ pra hiṇutā ’gnim etaṁ yajñam pitaro no juṣantām: māsī ’mām ūrjam uta ye bhajante te no rayiṁ sarvavīraṁ ni yacchantu; and the comparison appears to convict our unintelligible third pāda of being a very gross corruption. ⌊Observe that the word preceding āsīnam ends in m, and cf. the cases assembled under xviii. 2. 3.⌋ The comm. has no difficulty in explaining 'a sitting refreshment' as "a piṇḍa set upon the barhis." Both editions read at the end yachān, but all the mss. save one of SPP's read yachāt; the comm. has -ān. The Anukr. does not heed that the first pāda is jagatī. For the ritual application, see under the preceding verse. ⌊With a, cf. 2. 4 d, above.⌋


41. They kindle the immortal one, oblation-carrying, ghee-loving; he knoweth the deposited deposits, the Fathers that are gone away to the distances.

The comm., with his usual disregard of the accent, takes ghṛtapríyam as from ghṛtá + priyáprītikaram ājyaṁ yasya⌋. For the ritual use as prescribed by Kāuç. 87. 22, see under 2. 34, one of the verses that accompanies it. But the verse is used also, by Kāuç. 86. 18, at the end of the ceremony of interment on "making the devouring (saṁkasuka) fire blaze up"; this the comm. does not report in his statement of viniyoga. ⌊Caland appears to be right in thinking that the pratīka samindhate means samindhate saṁkasukam, xii. 2. 11, and not our verse here. See under xii. 2. 11 and note the free use of vss. from xii. 2. in the sūtras immediately following 86. 18.⌋


42. What stirabout for thee, what rice-dish, what flesh I offer (ni-pṛ) to thee, be they for thee rich in svadhā́, rich in honey, dripping with ghee.

The second half-verse is identical with 3. 68 c, d, above. Nearly all the mss. (of ours, all save Op.) accent mántham in a; both editions read manthám. The comm. again ⌊see under 2. 30⌋ notes the technical sense of ni-pṛ: niparaṇaṁ nāma pitryopavītinā parācīnapāṇinā pitrarthaṁ coditadravyasya prakṣepaḥ. By Kāuç. 84. 6, the verse accompanies an offering of the articles mentioned, in the hut (vimita) in the preparation for interment of the relics; the comm. overlooks this. ⌊For the ceremony, cf. Caland, Todtengebräuche, p. 137.⌋


43. What grains I scatter along for thee, mixed with sesame, rich in svadhā́, be they for thee abundant, prevailing; them let king Yama approve for thee.

This is a repetition of 3. 69, being distinguished as such (and not of 4. 26) by the words íti pū́rvā, instead of íty ékā, after the pratīka in most of the mss. Nevertheless, the two saṁhitā-mss. of ours (O.R.) which give it in full, read udbhvī́s in c, the word in 4. 26, instead of vibhvī́s, that in 3. 69; and the comm. also states the repetition to be of 4. 26; and SPP's text reads accordingly. ⌊For the ritual, see under 3. 69.⌋


44. This [is] the former, the after down-track, by which thy former Fathers went away; they who are the forerunners, the followers (? abhiṣác) of it, they carry thee to the world of the well-doing.

Our reading abhiṣā́cas is an emendation, almost every ms. giving abhiçā́cas (our Op. has abhi॰sā́caḥ, and also one ⌊or two⌋ of SPP's authorities); -ṣā́c- is of course intended, and the comm. gives it. SPP's text follows the mss. The comm. explains niyāna as the wagon (çakaṭa) on which the corpse is carried to the funeral pile; and the 'forerunners' and 'followers' as the oxen that draw it, in front and on all sides: which is doubtless not at all the true sense; he also reads vahantu in d. The verse is one of the hariṇīs ⌊Kāuç. 80. 35; 82. 31 note⌋: see under 1. 61. It lacks (in a) a syllable of being a full triṣṭubh. Its second pāda is identical with 1. 54 b.


45. On Sarasvatī do the pious call; on Sarasvatī, while the sacrifice is being extended; on Sarasvatī do the well-doers call; may Sarasvatī give what is desirable to the worshiper.

46. On Sarasvatī do the Fathers call, arriving at the sacrifice on the south; sitting on this barhís, do ye revel; assign thou to us food free from disease.

47. O Sarasvatī, that wentest in company with the songs, with the svadhā́s, O goddess, reveling with the Fathers, assign thou to the sacrificer here a portion of refreshment of thousand-fold value, abundance of wealth.

These three verses are a repetition of i. 41-43 ⌊see notes thereon⌋, quoted by íti tisráḥ in most mss., but written out by our O.R. (both accenting dakṣiṇā́ in 46 b).


48. Thee, being earth, I make enter into earth; may god Dhātar lengthen out our life-time; let him that goeth very far away be a finder of good for you; then may the dead (pl.) come to be (sam-bhū) among the Fathers.

The first pāda is identical with that of xii. 3. 22, and hence the comm. here makes the blunder of reporting this verse as quoted by Kāuç. 61. 30,* whereas it is evidently the other; and he explains the meaning to be that earth is smeared upon the vessel ⌊porridge-pot⌋, which is entirely out of place in this connection, the analogy being with our own phrase "earth to earth." The problematic párāparāitā ⌊p. párā॰parāitā⌋ in c is rendered strictly according to its form, as if composed of párā-parā+etṛ; the Pet. Lexx. render it as "one who departs after another or in due order"; but I cannot see how this meaning is arrived at. The comm. reads parāparetās (our O. gives -retas), and explains it as dūradeçam parān̄mukham ito gatāḥ. The comm. also, against pada-text and accent, understands adhā ’mṛtās in d. *⌊Cf. p. 869, ¶7.⌋


49. Start ye (du.) forward hither, wipe off that which the portents (? abhibhā́) have said there of you; from that come ye, inviolable ones, to this which is better, being bestowers here on me, a giver to the Fathers.

This is highly obscure, and the second half-verse, especially, is rendered only mechanically, and even then with substitution of vásīyas where nearly all the mss. have váçīyas or vaçīyas (our M.I.D., and one of SPP's, vaçāyas, which our text, quite unsuccessfully, emends to vaçā́ya); SPP. admits váçīyas in his text; the comm. has vásīyas. According to Kāuç. (82. 40), the verse is addressed to the two kine (the comm. says, the two that have drawn the hearse): the direction is iti gāvāv upayachati; it is perhaps intended as a purification of them after the ill-omened service which they have performed. In c the vocative, aghnyāu, is an emendation, SPP. reading with the mss. aghnyāú; but the accentuation of the mss. is here very unauthoritative; the comm. also takes the word as vocative. Nearly all our mss. (all save O.Op.R.) leave ūcus in b without accent. The comm. is not ashamed to derive abhibhās formally from abhi-bhū, and to explain it by abhibhāvakās or dūṣakās; his general explication of the pāda, as intimating a reproach brought against the pair for having been engaged in such business, is doubtless good. The defective meter suggests a corruption of the text. The comm. takes iha and bhojanāu in d as two independent words, and renders bhojanāu by bhojayitārāu or pālayitārāu. Two of SPP's mss. also accent the words separately. ⌊On his margin Whitney pencilled the memorandum, "Recast this note."⌋ ⌊In Ppp., immediately after our xvii. 1. 30, comes this verse. Its appearance in that place is possibly to be interpreted as a hint at the existence in Ppp. of our book xviii., of which, however, there are no other traces in Ppp. save the straggling verses 1. 46 (in ii.), 2. 13 (in xix.), 2. 17 and 3. 56 (in xx.).⌋ ⌊☞ Last addition misplaced: see p. 1016.⌋


50. This sacrificial gift hath come excellently to us, given by him, well-milking, vigor-bestowing; old age, coming close to (? upa-pṛc) them living in youth, shall lead these away together unto the Fathers.

According to Kāuç. (82. 41, the next rule to that which quotes the preceding verse), the verse accompanies the giving ⌊or receiving: comm.⌋ of a dakṣiṇā or sacrificial gift of at least ten kine ⌊the comm. says one⌋, at the close of the after-cremation ceremonies. But this gives no clew to the meaning of the second half-verse, whose connection with the first remains very obscure. The two editions agree in their text throughout, but upapṛ́ñcatī is obviously an inadmissible accentuation, requiring emendation to upapṛñcatī́; and it is against all rule to accent any but the last of two or more prefixes to the same verb: hence upasampárāṇayāt—which accent is given by ⌊two or⌋ three of SPP's authorities, and which he therefore had good reason for adopting (it is also given by our O.Op.R., all collated after our publication). ⌊If I understand the Collation Book, O.R. accent upasám párā-.⌋ Three of our pada-mss. (Bp.Kp.D., but D. not accented) make the anomalous division upa॰sám: parānayāt; the other (Op.) has upa॰sampárānayāt, which is the regular and proper form: see Prāt. iv. 2 and note, and iv. 7. In c, our Bp.D. (but D. without accent) have the strange reading yāú: váne, and Op. yāuváneṣu; while Bs. ⌊O.K.⌋ also accent yāú váne, as do two of SPP's mss. (three others yāuváne, and only two, with our M.T.R.s.m., yāúvane).


51. This barhís I bring forward for the Fathers; a living, higher one I strew for the gods; that do thou ascend, O man, becoming sacrificial; let the Fathers acknowledge thee who art departed.

A corresponding verse is found in TA. (in vi. 7. 2), which reads in a bharema, for b devébhyo jī́vanta úttaram bharema, for c, d táttvam ārohā́so médhyo bháva ⌊Poona ed. bhávam*⌋ yaména tváṁ yamyà saṁvidānáḥ: its text is plainly in part corrupt. Bhávan in c is an emendation, all our mss. save one (Op.), and the majority of SPP's, reading bhavan, as if mixing the word up with bhava, imperative. The comm. reads in b jīvan. Neither this verse nor its predecessor is to be called with any reason a jagati; but 50 c, d and 51 c have jagatī cadences⌋. This has the same pratīka, so far as concerns the first two words, as 1. 46, and it is impossible to tell which of the two verses is quoted by Kāuç.; but the comm. declares the first half of this one to be used as darbha-grass is strewn upon the wood of the funeral pile, and the second half as the corpse is laid supine upon the grass thus strewn: that is to say, this verse is intended in Kāuç. 80. 51; ⌊so also Caland, WZKM. viii. 368⌋. *⌊The mss. vary between bhavaṁ and bhava and the TA. comm. understands bhava.⌋


52. Thou hast sat upon this barhís, thou hast become sacrificial; let the Fathers acknowledge thee who art departed; collect thy body according to its joints; I arrange thy members with bráhman.

The reading yathāparú in c is an emendation, made alike by both editions;* the comm. has it, but all the mss. give yathāpurú—which is perhaps not altogether untranslatable: 'according to its muchness.' We should expect in b rather jānan than another jānatu (51 d). The verse evidently belongs with its predecessor ⌊used at 80. 51⌋, but is entirely separated from it in ritual use, accompanying, according to Kāuç. 85. 25, ⌊the assembling of the bones so as to form a human figure, as explained under 3. 25⌋; next after it are quoted 2. 24, 26 and 3. 25-37. Pāda b has an extra syllable. ⌊With regard to the place of the vs., see p. 870, ¶1, and p. 870, end.⌋

*⌊In support of the emendation, SPP. adduces ix. 5. 4, with its yathāparú and paruçás. I think that yathāparú (as against yathāpurú) is strongly supported by the sense (much less so by the mss.) of the two Kāuçikan passages which give the ritual for ix. 5. 4 and for this vs. respectively, to wit, 64. 10 and 85. 25. In the latter passage the mss. have yathāparuḥ saṁcinoti (one, -puru), and Keçava says yathāparu, and Bloomfield emends to yathāparu; but I am not quite sure that it is necessary, for yathāparus may not be bad Sanskrit.⌋


53. King leaf is the cover of the dishes; the strength of refreshment, the power, vigor, hath come to us, dispensing (vi-dhā) life-time to the living (pl.), in order to length of life for a hundred autumns.

The comm. reads in a, against the pada-text and the metrical requirement, the later abbreviated pidhānam. It understands by parṇa ('leaf') the tree so called, or the palāça-tree; and this may be correct; this tree, it says, owing to its sacrificial quality, is the overlord of trees. ⌊Cf. the synonyms brahmapādapa (in Hemacandra) and yājñika, viprapriyā (in Rājanighaṇṭu): cf. also brahma vāi palāçah, ÇB. xiii. 8. 41.⌋ It takes ūrjás as a nominative, which makes a decidedly easier reading, but is unsupported by Vedic usage elsewhere. Only two or three mss. (including our Op.) read in c vidádhat, the rest vídadhat (and the pada-mss. ví॰dadhat, which is absurd ⌊cf. note to xiii. 3. 17⌋, but rather indicates that the word was correctly viewed as a participle); and SPP. accepts vídadhat, p. ví॰dadhat, because the comm. supports the majority of the mss. by understanding ví dadhat. The true reading is, beyond all reasonable question, vidádhat, as our text gives it. The meter seems to be viewed by the Anukr. as 10 + 11: 8 + 11 = 40; it is rather too irregular to merit a name. Its use* in Kāuç. (86. 6) follows that of vs. 36 above; it accompanies the laying of middle-foliage (? madhyamapalāçās) down upon the offering dishes: the comm. says, more explicitly, upon the nine dishes spoken of in vss. 16-24, and also upon the perforated plates (madhyapalāçapatrāir ācchādayet); Keçava's explanation corresponds closely with this.

*⌊The palāça has ternate leaves, from 8 to 16 inches long: Roxburgh, Flora Indica, p. 540, Calc. ed. 1874. By madhyama parṇa or palāça is meant the middle one of any of these ternate groups; the middle one is especially fit for holy use by reason of its likeness to a sacrificial ladle: TB. i. 6. 103, madhyaména parṇéna juhoti: srúg ghy èṣā́: cf. also Sāyaṇa on TS. i. 8. 6, p. 1167, Poona. I am indebted to Caland's excellent paragraphs on this subject, ZDMG. liii. 212.—The "nine dishes" are the last nine of the eleven whose deposition is explained above, under vs. 16. The "plates" are the leaky old dishes noticed above under vs. 36.⌋


54. The share of refreshment that generated this man;—the stone attained (gam) the overlordship of the foods;—him praise ye, all-befriended, with oblations; may that Yama make (dhā) us to live further.

The second half-verse is identical with 3. 63 c, d above. The translation of the first half is purely mechanical, the sense being wholly obscure. The comm. renders bhāgás by sambhaktā, and ūrjás by annasyā ’sthisamīpasthāpitacarulakṣaṇasya, yamas being the implied subject; then the 'stone' is the one used to cover the same annāni or caravas. A couple of our mss. (O.R.) and one of SPP's read in b áçvā́ ’nnām; several (including our O.Op.R.) have ádhipatyam. Some of ours (O.R.K.) and three of SPP's leave jagāma without an accent, which seems better, and is implied in the translation. One of SPP's gives bhāgám in a. In Kāuç. (86. 7) the verse is used next after 53, and accompanies the covering of the same dishes with stones—or, the comm. adds, with bricks. ⌊Cf. Caland, Todtengebräuche, p. 157.⌋ It lacks a syllable in a. Our edition leaves viçvamitrās in this verse without accent, on the authority of two of our mss. (Bp.M.); all SPP's give viçvámitrās, p. viçvá॰mitrāḥ, as in 3. 63, and he accepts this in his text. The two verses ought of course to be made to agree, but there is little reason for preferring either nominative or vocative ⌊the comm. takes the doubtful word as voc.⌋. ⌊If the Viçvāmitras be not meant here and at 3. 63, then Weber's observations reported under 3. 16 lose some of their basis.⌋


55. As the five clans (mānavá) scattered (vap) a dwelling (harmyá) for Yama, so do I scatter a dwelling, that there may be many of me (?).

A corresponding verse is found in TA. (in vi. 6. 2); it reads hārmyám in a and c, and evám in c; and for d yáthā́ ’sāma jīvaloké bhū́rayas, which, however unmetrical, is at least capable of being translated, while this can hardly be claimed for our d. All the mss. read at the end ásatas, save one of SPP's, which follows the comm. in giving ásata, as is read in both editions—in ours, purely as an emendation. The comm. makes no difficulty of taking ásata as = syāta, and explaining "that ye my relatives may be numerous"; but that would be ásatha; and ásata has no grammatical standing of any kind, and hence is to be rejected. The comparison with TA. at least shows that the pāda is corrupt. The comm. foolishly divides evā́vapāmi in c into eva āvapāmi. Three of our pada—mss. (not Op.) most absurdly divide áva-pan in b; it is strange that SPP. reports nothing of the kind from his authorities. By Kāuç. (86. 11) the verse is used next after 2. 50 etc., with the direction iti saṁçritya ('on finishing the pile'?); the comm. says that with it they are to divide (kuṭṭay) leftwise, with sticks or bricks, the part of the cemetery on which the pile stood: in TA. it accompanies the "placing in the jar [of relics] the drugs called sarvāuṣadhi" (hence, perhaps, the use of vap in the verse, as they are strewn in); ⌊but cf. Caland, Todtengebräuche, p. 149⌋. ⌊On saṁçritya (?) and kuṭṭayeyus.—Kāuç. 86. 10 reads: idam id vā u na (xviii. 2. 50) upa sarpa (3. 49) asāu hā (4 .66) iti cinvanti. Sūtra 11 continues: yathā yamāya (4. 55) iti saṁçritya. Upon 10, Keç. says: çilābhir (? çalākābhir?) viṣamābhir iṣṭakābhir vā prasavyaṁ cinvanti çmaçānam. And the AV. comm., in giving the ritual for 2. 50 (p. 115) and 3. 49 (p. 161) and 4. 66 (p. 233), says: çmaçānadeçaṁ viṣamasaṁkhyākābhiḥ çalākābhir iṣṭakābhir vā prasavyaṁ cinuyāt, using the very same words in all three passages, save that he leaves out the second word in the second passage. Then, for 4. 55 (p. 224) he says: çalākābhir iṣṭakābhir vā prasavyaṁ citaṁ çmaçānapradeçam kuṭṭayeyuḥ.—In all these passages, çmaçāna or çmaçāna-deça or -pradeça must mean the mound which they heap (ci) over the buried bones: cf. ÇB. xiii. 8. 11 athā ’smāi çmaçānaṁ kurvanti, gṛhān vā prajñānaṁ vā ('or as a monument'), and Harisvāmin's comment, p. 101715, çmaçānam prasiddham asthi-saṁrakṣa-vāstu; the mound is, as with us, not quite knee-high, ÇB. xiii. 8. 312, adhojānu.—The meaning of our comm. on 4. 55, accordingly, seems to be: 'after the mound has been heaped up (citam), they should pat (kuṭṭay) it with splints of wood or with bricks, [going around it, as they pat it,] to the left.'—If this be right and if kuṭṭay is the comm's version of the word after iti in sūtra 11, then I suspect that Bloomfield has not hit the right reading in the printed text. Whitney's 'on finishing the pile' would call for saṁsthāpya; but saṁçnathya is much nearer to the meaning of kuṭṭay and also to the probable intention of Bl's mss., and I would accordingly read saṁçnathya in place of the printed saṁçritya. Root çnath means 'thrust, push,' in their ordinary and in their obscene senses, and here, with sam, 'to make [the mound] compact or firm by striking or beating or patting,' as a modern gravemaker pats the mound with his spade to give it shape and firmness.⌋


56. Wear (bhṛ) thou this gold, which thy father wore before; of thy father, going to heaven (svargá), do thou wipe off the right hand.

The majority of mss. read pitur in c, some pítur, and hardly any (of ours, only Op.) pitúr. Many of ours have mṛḍhḍhi in d: see Prāt. i. 94 and note. The comm. strangely gives pipṛhi ⌊cf. xiii. 1. 1, note⌋ in a (though abibhar in b!). According to Kāuç. 80. 46, 47, the first half-verse is used as the manager takes with the right hand some gold worn by the deceased, smears it with ghee, and passes it to the eldest son; the second half-verse, as he makes him wipe off his (of course, the father's) right hand; the comm. states it thus: "with the first half he makes the oldest son heat (ādipayet: as if the comm. read in Kāuç. ādīpayati instead of ādāp-) in the fire gold found in the hand of the deceased; with the other half the son should wipe the deceased's hand."


57. Both those who are living and those who are dead; those who are born and those who are worshipful—for them let there go a brook of ghee, honey-streamed, overflowing.

We had the second half-verse above as 3. 72 c, d, only with çatádhārā instead of mádhudhārā. The mss. are again at variance as to the accent of kulyā; and the majority also accent madhúdhārā, as if they had çatádh- in mind ⌊cf. end of note to 1. 42 above⌋. Yajñíya is a queer antithesis to jātá, and the comm. reads instead jajñiyās, explaining it as jajñim utpattiṁ yānti gacchanti: that is, jajñi—root yā! The comm. also understands in d madhudhārās, as object of vyundatī. A corresponding verse is found in TA. (in vi. 12): it omits the first ca in a; has at end of b the almost acceptable reading jántyās (it ought to be jántvās); offers in c the curious corruption dhārayitum for kulyāi ’tu; ⌊and accents mádhudhārā in d⌋. The schol. add the verse to 56, as used by Kāuç. 80. 46; the Kāuç. uses it twice with 3. 72: see under that verse; in TA. it has an utterly different application, in the ceremony of turning loose the cow that was led with the corpse to the funeral pile.


58. There purifies itself the conspicuous bull of the prayers, the sun of days, lengthener out of dawns, of the sky (dív); the breath of the rivers hath made the jars to resound loudly; entering Indra's heart with skill.

This is a verse out of one of the most formidable hymns of the RV. soma-book (RV. ix. 86. 19), and occurring also twice in SV. (i. 559; ii. 171). In b, RV. reads sómo áhnaḥ pratarītó ’ṣáso diváḥ; in c, krāṇā́ and avīvaçat; in d, hā́rdi and manīṣíbhis; with this SV. in general agrees, but has, with AV., áhnām and uṣásām in b, and acikradat in c; it is peculiar in reading prāṇā́ (p. pra॰ānā́) at beginning of c; a corruption, doubtless, which is carried out to greater intelligibility in our prāṇás. The AV. corruption, of both sense and meter, in b, pratárītā uṣ-, supported by the pada-reading pra॰tárītāḥ, is very strange; of our mss., only three (O.K., supported by Op. -tā: uṣ-) have the correct -to ’ṣ-; of SPP's, according to his account, about half support -to ’ṣ-, and he accordingly admits that reading into his text; we ought to have done the same by emendation. For hā́rdim āviçán (p. ā॰viçán) man-, the comm. reads hārdima...aviçat...mau-.⌋ What right the verse has here (or vs. 60, coming from the same RV. hymn) does not appear; neither Kāuç. nor the comm. uses it in the ritual; but the latter says, as if by way of excuse, that, as the Fathers enjoy the fruit of the soma-sacrifices which they have offered, soma is praised in the ceremonies for the Fathers. He explains the 'rivers' in c as the vasatīvarī waters. ⌊He says, p. 22423, vṛṣā matīnām ityādīnāṁ tisṛṇām (vss. 58, 59, 60) pitṛmedha eva kāṇḍokto viniyogo ‘nusaṁdheyaḥ, which is not clear to me: should it be pitṛmedhakāṇḍa evokto?


59. Let thy sparkling (? tveṣá) smoke cover, being in the sky, extended bright; for thou, O purifier, shinest like the sun with luster, with beauty (kṛpā́).

The verse is RV. vi. 2. 6 and SV. i. 83; both read ṛṇvati in a; ⌊in b, SV. combines diví sáṅ ch-: cf. diví ṣáṅ ch- at xvii. 1. 12⌋. The comm. explains kṛpā as = kṛpayā or stutyā. Vāit. (6. 11) uses the verse, with others, in the ceremony of establishing the fires.


60. Soma (índu) verily goes forward to Indra's rendezvous; the comrade does not violate (pra-mī) the comrade's agreements; thou rushest to join, as a male after females—soma, in the jar, by a road of a hundred tracks.

The verse corresponds to RV. ix. 86. 16, which has, however, important variants: in a, pró ayāsīd índur and niṛkṛtám; in b, saṁgíram; in c, yuvatíbhis and arṣati; in d, çatáyāmnā; SV. (i. 557; ii. 502) agrees with RV. except in the last item, having, like our text, -yāmanā. ⌊The meter shows that it is to be pronounced -yāmanā, whichever way it is written: cf. JAOS. x. 532.⌋ Our níṣkṛtim is hardly better than a corruption of the RV. reading; but the comm. understands it as Indra's "belly" (jaṭharalakṣaṇāṁ sthānam), and supports his opinion by quoting RV. iii. 35. 6. Saṁgirás, in b, is understood in the translation as saṁgíras (which is read by two or three mss., including our O.), the former being unintelligible; the comm. gives two explanations, both implying the accent -gír-, one from sam-gṛ 'agree,' the other from sam-gṛ or -gil 'swallow down,' thus finding in the verse another "belly" (saṁgiras = saṁgiram = udaram). Our text of c spoils both the meter and the connection, making the line render very lamely; the comm. reads yóṣā and takes it as an instrumental (like yuvatíbhis); in d he has the RV.SV. reading. The metrical definition of the Anukr. is worthless. ⌊The RV. verse is a good jagatī, and so is this, barring c, where the corruptions have spoiled meter as well as sense.⌋


61. They have eaten; they have revelled ⌊surely⌋; they have shaken off (áva) those that are dear; having own brightness (svábhānu), they have praised; inspired, youngest, we implore.

The verse corresponds to RV. i. 82. 2 a-d, and is found also in other texts: SV. i. 415; VS. iii. 51; TS. in i. 8. 52; MS. in i. 10. 3. All these agree in reading in c priyā́s for priyā́n, and, for d, víprā náviṣṭhayā matī́; and they add a fifth pāda, a refrain, having nothing to do with the meaning of the verse. A majority of the AV. mss. (including our M.O.Op.R.K.D.) read ávā ’priyā́ṅ (p. áva: apriyā́n), and this is perhaps the true Atharvan text (though the accent, in that case, should be ávā́ ’priyān), and defensible on the ground of sense; our last pāda is nothing but a senseless corruption. In Kāuç. (88. 27) the verse is used, next after vss. 81 ff.,* in the piṇḍapitṛyajña, with the direction ity uttarasicam avadhūya; the comm. paraphrases this to mean that one is to perform an additional sprinkling (? uttarapariṣeka) next after the worship (upasthāna) of the piṇḍas. For the application of the verse to the Fathers, compare TB. ii. 6. 32, ákṣan pitáraḥ: ámīmadanta pitáraḥ, etc.; ⌊also Sāyaṇa's comm. on TS. i. 8. 52, Poona ed., p. 1159⌋. *⌊It is to be noted that in the piṇḍapitṛyajña of the VS. (ii. 31), amīmadanta pitaraḥ etc. comes just before the verses corresponding to our vss. 81-85.⌋ ⌊ÇGS., i. 15, prescribes the RV. verse for use when the bride greases the axle of the wedding-car: is this because of the resemblance of akṣam ('axle') to akṣan (root ghas)?!⌋ ⌊See p. lxxix.⌋


62. Come ye, O Fathers, delectable, by profound roads that the Fathers travel, assigning to us lifetime and progeny; and do ye attach yourselves to us with abundances of wealth.

The last pāda was found above as ix. 4. 24 d. Corresponding verses are found in HGS. ii. 10. 5 and MB. ii. 3. 5. For a, b, MB. reads eta pitaraḥ somyāso gambhīrebhiḥ pathibhiḥ pūrviṇebhiḥ; and as second half-verse it has our 3. 14 c, d. HGS. has ā yāta pitaraḥ somyā gambhīraḥ (misprint for -rāiḥ?) pathibhiḥ pūrvyāiḥ, with an altogether different c, d. We should prefer somyāsas unaccented, both in this verse and in the next, but no ms. so reads. The comm. has in c dadhata, which he pronounces the same as dhatta. In Kāuç., in the pitṛnidhana ceremony, the verse accompanies (83. 27) the bringing of the bone-relics, before sunset ⌊into the hut: Keç.⌋; and it is followed (83. 28, 29) by 1. 52 and 2. 29; then, in the piṇḍapitṛyajña (87. 28), the three are repeated; the comm. notices only the latter use, stating that with this verse one is to scatter sesame on the barhis spread for the purpose of giving the piṇḍas. In number of syllables, the verse answers to the description of the Anukr. (9+ 10: 11 + 11 = 41). ⌊The MB. reading makes a rectification of the meter at the beginning of b.⌋


63. Go away, O Fathers, delectable, by profound roads that go to the stronghold (pūryā́ṇa); then, in a month, come ye again to our houses to eat the oblation, with good progeny, with good heroes.

All the pada-mss. commit the strange blunder of dividing ā́yāta in c into ā́: ayāta; both editions make the necessary correction; the comm. also understands ā yāta. In d, some of the mss. make great difficulty over áttum, reading also ⌊annum,⌋, atnum, antum, atnūn, and the comm. gives as a compound haviratnūn; but our O.R.D., and the majority of SPP's authorities, have the correct reading; as does also HGS. in its corresponding verse ⌊ii. 13. 2⌋. HGS. ⌊spoils the meter of a by modernizing somyā́sas to⌋ somyās; reads in b pūrvyāis; ⌊and begins c with atha⌋. The first half-verse occurs also in MS. i. 10. 3 and AÇS. ii. 7. 9. MS. makes nearly good meter of it, reading páre ’tana pitaraḥ somyāso gambhīrébhiḥ pathíbhiḥ pūrvébhiḥ (which should evidently be emended to pūrvyébhis); AÇS. differs from this only by having at the end pūrviṇebhis (with K. and Kap.S., as pointed out by Schröder). Prāt. iii. 83 quotes the word pūryāṇa. Kaug. uses the verse in the piṇḍapitṛyajña (88. 28), next after vs. 61, in dismissing the Fathers after their feast of piṇḍas. The metrical description of the Anukr. is very poor: ⌊it is probable that the verse originally was 11 + 11: 12 + 11; but its b is spoiled metrically⌋.


64. What one limb of you Agni Jātavedas left when making you go to the Fathers' world, that same for you I fill up again; revel ye, O Fathers, in heaven (svargá) with [all] your limbs.

HGS. has (in ii. 11. 1) an analogous but quite different verse: yad vaḥ kravyād an̄gam adahal lokān ayam praṇayañ jātavedāḥ: tad vo ’ham punar ā veçayāmy ariṣṭāḥ sarvāir an̄gāiḥ sam bhavata pitaraḥ. Most of our mss. (all except O.Op.R.), but, by his account, only one of SPP's, leave ajahāt in a unaccented; on the other hand, all without exception accent in d pitáras, which SPP. accordingly admits into his text; but our emendation to pitáras is plainly necessary. What the comm. says is here unknown, because the manuscript shows a considerable lacuna, involving the latter half of the explanation of this verse, with the text of the next and the larger part of its exposition. Kāuç. uses the verse (88. 5) in the piṇḍapitṛyajña, next after vss. 74, 78, to accompany an offering of rice-grains with the stirring-stick (sāyavana ⌊that is, sa-āyavana: SPP's saṁyavana, p. 2334, does not seem right⌋). ⌊As to completeness of limbs in the other world, see my note to 4. 12, above. This verse was translated metrically by Whitney, O. and L.S., i. 57.⌋


65. Jātavedas has been the messenger sent forth, at evening, at close of day to be honored by men;—thou hast given to the Fathers; they have eaten after their wont; eat thou, O god, the presented oblations.

We had the second half-verse above as 3. 42 c, d. Part of our mss. (O.Op.R.D.), with, so far as appears, the majority of SPP's, read in b upavándyas, and the latter accordingly adopts it in his text; the root vand does not appear to be anywhere else combined with upa. The line reads like a kind of echo of RV. iv. 54. i ⌊TB. iii. 7. 134⌋. The verse is the last one quoted in the piṇḍapitṛyajña by Kāuç. (89. 14), to accompany the withdrawal of the "extended" fires. ⌊By "extended" I suppose W. means the technical praṇīta (cf. comm., p. 2336). The words of Kāuç. are agnim pratyānayati: the ceremony seems to be the same as that prescribed by ÇB. at ii. 4. 224, punar ulmukam api sṛjati, and by ÇÇS. at iv. 5. 9, ulmukam agnāu kṛtvā.⌋


66. Thou yonder, ho! hither thy mind! as sisters (jāmí) a kákutsala, do thou cover him, O earth.

The translation implies the evidently necessary emendation to ásāu in a; both editions give asāú, because this is read by all the mss.; the comm. understands the word as a vocative; it also reads the interjection as , while the pada-text gives hāí. It further glosses jāmayas ⌊alternatively⌋ with bhaginyas, and reads kakutsthalam, explaining it as pradhānāvayavapradeçam, and paraphrasing with putrādīnāṁ çiraḥprabhṛtīny an̄gāni çītātapavātanivāraṇāya. The Pet. Lexx. conjecture kakutsala to be a pet word for a little child. We had the third pāda above as 2. 50 d, 51 d, and 3. 50 d. Kāuç. uses the verse (86. 10) with 2. 50 and 3. 49 in the ceremony over the bone-relics. The comm. includes with it vs. 67.


67. Let the worlds where the Fathers sit adorn themselves (çumbh); I make thee to sit in the world where the Fathers sit.

The first phrase is VS. v. 26 f, which, however, reads çúndhantām; Āp. vii. 9. 10 has çundhatāṁ lokaḥ pitṛṣadanaḥ. ⌊For variants as between çundh and çumbh, cf. notes to vi. 115. 3; xii. 2. 40; 3. 13, 21, 26; xviii. 3. 56.⌋


68. Thou art the barhís of them that are our Fathers.

The metrical description of the Anukr. implies the reading yé asm-. In Kāuç. (87. 27) the verse is used with 1. 51 etc. (see under 1. 51) in connection with the strewing of barhis.


69. Loosen up the uppermost fetter from us, O Varuṇa, [loosen] down the lowest, off the midmost; then may we in thy sphere, O Āditya, be guiltless unto Aditi.

The verse ⌊which is RV. i. 24. 15, etc.⌋ occurred above as vii. 83. 3 ⌊which see⌋; among our mss., only O.R. write it out in full. The comm. notices the repetition, yet goes on to give a full explication. In Kāuç. (82. 8), it is used in the ceremony of the first day after cremation (next before 3. 56), with the direction iti jyeṣṭhaḥ, apparently implying that "the oldest" son of the deceased pours water on the attendants; the comm. says that with this verse, immediately after the cremation, all the Brahmans should take a bath (snānaṁ kuryuḥ).


70. Release from us all fetters, O Varuṇa, with which one is bound crosswise, with which lengthwise; so may we live hundreds of autumns, by thee, O king, guarded, defended.

The rendering of samāmé and vyāmé in b is far from certain: cf. iv. 16. 8. The comm. explains: samāmo nāma vyāmasaṁjñitapradeçāt saṁkucitapramāṇako deçaḥ: saṁnihite pradeçe dūre pradeçe ce ’ti yāvat. Two of our mss. (O.R.) and one of SPP's read samāné; and two or three of the latter have badhyate, without accent. Nearly all, again, read çarádam in c (our O.R.p.m. Land one of SPP's⌋ -das), and SPP. admits çarádam into his text; our -dām is an emendation, and a necessary one, unless we take instead -das, as in apposition with çatā́ni. The comm. makes no difficulty of reading -dam, understanding it, according to one of his convenient rules of interpretation, as a sing. used in place of a plural. Most of our mss., again (except P.O.Op.R.), but only one of SPP's, accent rā́jan. The comm. points out that rákṣamāṇās is for rákṣya-, which is altogether probable, considering how easily a y is lost after or ç. The first pāda is identical with vii. 83. 4 a. All the pada-mss. except one of SPP's read gupitā́ instead of -tā́ḥ. The comm. directs the verse to be recited for good fortune evening and morning at the end of the daçarātra in the pitṛmedha.


71. To Agni, carrier of the kavyás, [be] svadhā́ [and] homage.

72. To Soma with the Fathers [be] svadhā́ [and] homage.

⌊Verses 71-87 are prose, except vs. 75, with regard to which see p. 869, ¶5.⌋ These verses ⌊71, 72⌋ are found, in reversed order, in AÇS. ii. 6. 12. In VS. ii. 29 a, b, are found both, but with svā́hā in place of svadhā́ námaḥ, and the same in ÇÇS. iv. 4. 1 and GGS. iv. 2. 39, except that in the latter svāhā precedes the datives. VS. accents pitṛmáte. ⌊See also under vs. 74.⌋ In Kāuç. 87. 8, vss. 71-74 are combined in alternation with vss. 78-80 to accompany in (he piṇḍapitṛyajña the scattering downward of three handfuls of offering; and ⌊are used⌋ again, later (88. 2, 3, 4) in the same ceremony, with oblations. ⌊Verse 71 is employed by Vāit. (9. 8) in the sākamedha, and I suspect (see p. 869, ¶7) that the sūtra intends vss. 72 and 73 also to be thus used: cf. also ĀpÇS. viii. 13. 15, 16.⌋


73. To the Fathers with Soma, svadhā́ [and] homage.

74. To Yama with the Fathers, svadhā́ [and] homage.

For the ritual use of these verses see the preceding note. ⌊Parallels of our vss. 72 and 74 and 71, and in that order, recur at MGS. ii. 9. 13: cf. the pratīkas in Knauer's Index, and also under pitṛbhyas, p. 152.⌋


75. Here is svadhā́ for thee, O great-grandfather, and for them that are after (ánu) thee.

76. Here is svadhā́ for thee, O grandfather, and for them that are after thee.

77. Here is svadhā́ for thee, O father.

Passages analogous with these three verses are found in a number of other texts: TS. i. 8. 51; AÇS. ii. 6. 15; Āp. i. 9. 1 (cf. also viii. 16. 6; xiii. 12. 9); ÇÇS. iv. 4. 2; GGS. iv. 2. 35; ÇB. ii. 4. 219 forbids the use of yé ca tvā́m ánu, and KÇS. iv. 1. 12 is of the same opinion. ⌊Opposite vs. 75, W. notes K. ix. 6.⌋ In 77 all our mss. save one (Op.) read tátas instead of tata; half of SPP's do the same. In Kāuç. 88. 11 the three verses (doubtless: only the pratīka of 75 is quoted; the comm. says the three) are used on setting down three combined (saṁhata) piṇḍas on the barhis; and Vāit. (22. 22) employs them similarly in the agniṣṭoma. Though 75 is easily read as two anuṣṭubh pādas, the Anukr. allows it only 15 syllables, refusing to resolve tu-ā́m here, as it also refuses in 76. ⌊As to vs. 75, see p. 869, ¶5.⌋ ⌊Apropos of tata and tāta, the comm. cites AA. i. 3. 3; and Sāyaṇa, in his comment on that passage, gives two little tales about Prajāpati's early linguistic ventures which remind us somewhat of the beautiful βεκός story as told by Herodotus in the beginning of Euterpe.⌋


78. Svadhā́ to the Fathers that sit upon the earth.

79. Svadhā́ to the Fathers that sit in the atmosphere.

80. Svadhā́ to the Fathers that sit in the sky (dív).

These verses are found also in Āp. i. 9. 6, and in GGS. iv. 3. 10. GGS. has pṛthivīṣadbhyas ⌊and antarīkṣasadbhyas⌋; both combine pitṛbhyo ‘ntar-; and our O.R.K., with half of SPP's authorities, do the same; the Anukr. implies -bhyo antar-, but that proves nothing. For the ritual use, see under vss. 71, 72 above. Both Āp. and GGS. prescribe the verses for the case that the names of the Fathers intended are not known.


81. Homage, O Fathers, to your refreshment (ū́rj); homage, O Fathers, to your sap.

82. Homage, O Fathers, to your terror* (bhā́ma); homage, O Fathers, to your fury.

83. Homage, O Fathers, to that of yours which is terrible; homage, O Fathers, to that of yours which is cruel.

84. Homage, O Fathers, to that of yours which is propitious; homage, O Fathers, to that of yours which is pleasant.

85. Homage to you, O Fathers; svadhā́ to you, O Fathers.

For a wonder, these formulas are written by all the mss. without variation and without error. Corresponding passages are to be found in many other texts: VS. ii. 32; TB. i. 3. 108; MS. i. 10. 3; K. ix. 6; ÇÇS. iv. 5. 1; AÇS. ii. 7. 7; Āp. i. 10. 2 and xiii. 12. 10; GGS. iv. 3. 18-21; MB. ii. 3. 8-11; none of them agree closely with our text; but the details of accordance and of difference are not worth giving. In Kāuç. (88. 26) they accompany in the piṇḍapitṛyajña the reverence (upasthāna) paid to the Fathers, being then followed by vss. 61 and 63. *⌊That is, 'to your terror-inspiring fury.'⌋


86. They who are there, O Fathers—Fathers there are ye—[be] they after you; may ye be the best of them.

87. They who are here, O Fathers—alive here are we—[be] they after us; may we be the best of them.

The translation here implies certain emendations of the text: pitaras ⌊accentless⌋ in 87 and the first time in 86, and the omission of after the second pitáras in 86: the latter is made also in our text, while SPP. reads, with the mss., yé ‘tra pitáraḥ pitáro yé ‘tra yūyáṁ sthá. As to the accent of the pitaraḥ pitaro in 86, the mss. are wildly discordant, presenting every possible variation, and, considering the many accentual blunders which they commit in this part of the text, the details are not worth reporting, nor need we feel any hesitation in amending to what seems to make the best sense. The omission of is much more serious, but seems demanded by the sense, and by the analogy of 87. Similar passages are found in ⌊TS. iii. 2. 56,⌋ TB. i. 3. 108-9 ⌊like TS.⌋, and ÇÇS. iv. 5. 1 (the latter nearest like our text: ye ‘tra pitaraḥ pitaraḥ stha yūyaṁ teṣāṁ çreṣṭhā bhūyāstha: ya iha pitaro manuṣyā vayaṁ teṣāṁ çreṣṭhā bhūyāsma); compare also MS. i. 10. 3 and AÇS. ii. 7. 7.* All our mss. save one (Op.), and most of SPP's, leave stha in 86 unaccented; this non-accentuation, so far as it goes, favors the omission of . Bhūyāstha is a grammatically impossible form, and should be emended to -sta, which is read by ⌊TS. and⌋ TB. in the corresponding passage; ÇÇS., as has been seen, gives -stha. One of SPP's mss. has bhūyāsta. In 87, most of the mss. insert an avasāna after smaḥ, and SPP. follows them; it is of course senseless, unless we use one also after stha in 86†; nor does the Anukr. appear to acknowledge it, since it notes no difference of division as between the two verses; but our ⌊printed⌋ text at any rate blunders in not reading either smo asmā́n or smo ‘smā́n since it has omitted the avasāna-mark. The metrical definitions of the Anukr. are worthless, as there is no trace of meter in the two passages; they can by violence be read into the number of syllables called for.

*⌊In the second and third paragraphs below are given these passages from TB., MS., and AÇS. The TS. passage agrees with the TB. passage, save that TS. has yè ‘smíṅ loké for the very bad yè ‘smiṅ loké of TB.⌋

†⌊We ought, I think, in fact to read with SPP. an avasāna-mark after smaḥ in vs. 87, not only as being abundantly supported by the mss. of both editions, but also as called for by the sense and the general (quadripartite) structure of the verse. And the same applies to the reading of an avasāna-mark after stha in vs. 86; it is printed in neither edition, but appears to be well warranted by the authorities of both.⌋

⌊The TB. passage, at i. 3. 108-9, with the avasānas as printed in the Poona ed., is: yá etásmiṅ loké sthá (8) yuṣmā́ṅs té ‘nuyè ‘smiṅ lokémā́ṁ té ‘nuyá etásmiṅ loké stháyūyáṁ téṣāṁ vásiṣṭhā bhūyāstayè ‘smiṅ lokéaháṁ téṣāṁ vásiṣṭho bhūyāsam.—This passage and its analogues have been discussed in two papers by Böhtlingk, Berichte der sächsischen Gesell., sessions of July 8, 1893, and May 2, 1896. In the first, having the TB. passage before him, he proposed to read, in place of the first sthá, the word syús, and to begin the first apodosis with it, and to delete the second sthá. In the second, having our AV. verses before him, he ascribes the false ending of bhūyāstha of 86 to the correct preceding stha; and, on the other hand, the false sma of 87 to the correct ending of bhūyāsma. The false sma, however, is—as we have seen—to be printed smo or smaḥ (cf. Index, p. 41 b). Moreover, he suspects that the second pitaras of 86 may be a corruption of páretās ('mortui istic vos estis'): this would be an easy corruption in nāgarī, but I do not feel that páretās offers a better antithesis to the jīvā́s of 87 (ÇÇS. manuṣyās) than does the word pitaras itself; and the latter are distinctly enough other-world beings: cf. 2. 48 (but also 49), and 1. 50, 54 above, also x. 6. 32.—Apropos of the blunder bhūyāstha: reading Dīgha Nikāya on the day of writing the above note, I observed at ix. 7, line 5, the phrase saññā uppajjanti etc., 'ideas arise,' and then in the very next sentence, ekā saññā uppajjanti, 'a single idea arise,' with plural verb-ending, albeit the ekā makes the breach of common concord most manifest and some mss. indeed read uppajjati. For the like error, see xv. 7. 3: cf. also notes xiv. 2. 59; xviii. 3. 47.⌋

⌊The MS. passage, p. 1436, is: eṣā́ yuṣmā́kam pitaraḥ: imā́ asmā́kam: jīvā́ vo jī́vanta[ḥ] ihá sántaḥ syāma.—The AÇS., p. 125 end, reads: etā yuṣmākam pitaraḥ: imā asmākam: jīvā vo jīvanta iha santaḥ syāma. To this, Gārgya, in his vṛtti, adds: itikārādhyāhāreṇa sūtracchedaḥ: santaḥ syāmeti mantraḥ paṭhitavyo vaḥkāraṁ varjayitvā.—The etās and imās seem to refer to svadhā́s (cf. ÇÇS. as above: yā atra pitarḥh svadhā, yuṣmākaṁ sā: ya iha pitara edhatur, asmākaṁ saḥ); and the eṣā́ of MS. appears to require correction to etā́ p. etā́ḥ.⌋


88. Thee, O Agni, would we kindle, full of light (dyumánt), O god, unwasting; as that very wondrous fuel of thine shall shine in the sky (dív), bring thou food for thy praisers.

The verse is RV. v. 6. 4, and occurs also as SV. i. 419 and ii. 372, and in TS. iv. 4. 46 and MS. ii. 13. 7. All these agree together throughout, reading in a te agna idh- for tvā ’gna idh-, and in c syā́ for sā́. SPP. reads in c, with the comm., yád gha, and makes no note upon it, implying that his mss. have the same; ours, however, give yád dha (p. yát: ha), in accordance with the other texts. All the mss. put an an avasāna between d and e ⌊i.e. after dyávi⌋, and the Anukr. supports it, whence SPP. has it in his edition; we left it out as being uncalled for, and wanting in the parallel texts. For the use of the verse in Kāuç. with 3. 42, see the note to the latter: cf. p. 871, ¶3.


89. The moon among the waters runs, an eagle in the sky (dív); they find not your track, O golden-rimmed lightnings: know me as such, O firmaments (ródasī).

The verse is RV. i. 105. 1 and also SV. i. 417 ⌊Trāita Sāman⌋; and its first two pādas are VS. xxxiii. 90 a, b; it is quoted by pratīka in GB. i. 2. 9; ⌊pāda e is refrain all through the RV. hymn, save in the last, the 19th, verse⌋. Both RV. and SV. read in d vidyutas, as vocative, and the AV. mss. are divided between that and vidyútas; SPP. has the former, which is to be preferred. The comm. repeats the story of Trita and his two brothers, as "told by the Çāṭyāyanins," in almost precisely the same words as those in which it is given in the commentator's introduction to RV. i. 105. ⌊Oertel gives a summary thereof, and also the corresponding passage, JB. i. 184, text and version, JAOS. xviii.1 p. 18-20.⌋ ⌊The comm. quotes the verse as applied in mahāçānti called vāruṇī in the Nakṣatra Kalpa, 18.⌋ Why the verse should be found as conclusion of this book of funeral hymns is very obscure. ⌊☞ See p. 1016.⌋

⌊Here ends the fourth anuvāka, with 1 hymn and 89 verses. The quoted Anukr. says ekonanavatiç cāi ’va yameṣu vihitā ṛcaḥ: cf. pages 814 and 869, ¶4, note 1.⌋

⌊Here also ends the thirty-fourth prapāṭhaka.⌋