1. Adversary-destroying art thou; adversary-expulsion mayest thou give me: hail!
'Adversary' is lit. 'nephew' or 'brother's son' (bhrātṛvyd). The Ppp. phrases are after this model: bhātṛvyakṣīṇam asi bhrātṛvyajambhanam asi svāhā, and concern successively the piçācas, sadānvās, and bhrātṛvyas. The Anukr. supports the comm. in regarding the hymn as addressed to Agni, and agrees with Kāuç. in regard to the accompanying action, saying: sapatnakṣayaṇīḥ samidha ādhāyā ’gnim prārthanīyam aprārthayat. ⌊Instead of "destroying" W. has interlined "destruction."⌋
2. Rival-destroying art thou; rival-expulsion mayest thou give me: hail!
3. Wizard- (? arā́ya-) destroying art thou; wizard-expulsion mayest thou give me: hail!
4. Piçācá-destroying art thou; piçācá-expulsion mayest thou give me: hail!
5. Sadā́nvā-destroy'mg art thou; sadā́nvā-expulsion mayest thou give me: hail!
Read in our edition sadānvācā́t-.
19. Against enemies: to Agni (fire).
[Atharvan.—āgneyam. 1-4. nicṛdviṣamāgāyatrī; 5. bhurigviṣamā.]
⌊Not metrical.⌋ This hymn (but not its four successors and counterparts) is found in Pāipp. ii.; also in MS. (i. 5. 2: in verse-order 1, 4, 3, 2, 5) and Āp. (vi. 21. 1: in verse-order 3, 4, 1, 2, 5); further, in K. Its first pratīka (but regarded by the schol. and by the comm. as including all the five hymns) is used by Kāuç. (47. 8) to accompany the purastād homas in the witchcraft rites. The Anukr. has a common description of the five hymns, 19-23, as pañca sūktāni pañcarcāni pañcādpatyni (? or -catapāty-) tripādgāyatrāṇy ekāvasānāni. ⌊The mss. blunder; but pañcāpatyāni is probably right; see note to Kāuç. 47. 8.⌋
Translated: Weber, xiii. 181; Griffith, i. 62.
1. O Agni! with the heat that is thine, be hot against him who hates us, whom we hate.
MS. leaves (in all the verses) the a of asmā́n unelided, and both MS. and Āp. insert ca before vayám.
2. O Agni! with the rage (háras) that is thine, rage against him who hates us, whom we hate.
Práti hara has to be strained in rendering, to preserve the parallelism of the expression. ⌊Or, 'with the seizing-force that is thine, force back him' etc.?⌋
3. O Agni! with the gleam (arcís) that is thine, gleam against him who hates us, whom we hate.
4. O Agni! with the burning (çocís) that is thine, burn against him who hates us, whom we hate.
