Ppp. has ahaṣram in b, in c āhariṣam (for āhṛtās) and vīrān, and in d ā patnīm e ’dam. Our Bp. gives ahāriṣam (and H. aharāriṣam) in b, and ā́hūtās in c.
The anuvāka ⌊4.⌋ has this time 9 hymns, with 48 verses; the old Anukr. says dvyūnaṁ [çatārdhaṁ] turīyah.
27. For victory in disputation: with a plant.
[Kapiñjala.—saptarcam. vānaspatyam. ānuṣṭubham.]
Found in Pāipp. ii. Kāuç. uses the hymn in the rite or charm for overcoming an adversary in public dispute: one is to come to the assembly from the north-eastern direction (because of its name aparājita 'unconquered'), chewing the root of the plant, and to have it in his mouth while speaking; also to bind on an amulet of it, and to wear a wreath of seven of its leaves (38. 18-21). Verse 6, again, is reckoned (50. 13, note) to the rāudra gaṇa. The comm. further quotes from the Nakṣ. ⌊error for Çānti⌋ K. (17, 19) a prescription of the use of the hymn in a mahāçānti called aparājitā.
Translated: Weber, xiii. 190; Ludwig, p. 461; Grill, 1st edition, 18, 51; Bloomfield, JAOS. xiii., p. xlii (PAOS. May, 1885), or AJP. vii. 479; Grill, 2d edition, 23, 93; Griffith, i. 66; Bloomfield, SBE. xlii. 137, 304.—Bloomfield was the first to point out (on the authority of Kāuç.) the connection of prāç with root prach, and to give the true interpretation of the hymn. Grill follows him in the second edition.
1. May [my] foe by no means win (ji) the dispute; overpowering, overcoming art thou; smite the dispute of [my] counter-disputant; make them sapless, O herb.
"Dispute" (prā́ç) is literally 'questioning.' The comm. renders the word in a by praṣṭar 'questioner,' but in c gives us our choice between that and praçna 'question,' and in 7 a acknowledges only the latter meaning. Prátiprāças is translated here as genitive; the comm. takes it secondly as such, but first as accus. pl.; the Ppp. reading favors the latter: sā ’mūn pratiprāço jaya rasā kṛ-. With either understanding, the accent is anomalous; we ought to have pratiprā́ças. Arasā́n also is in favor of the plural. If we could emend prā́çan in c to prāçí 'in the disputation,' it would make things much easier. For a Ppp. has yaç catrūn saṁjayāt. Néd in a is simply the emphasized negative.
2. The eagle discovered (anu-vid) thee; the swine dug thee with his snout: smite the dispute etc. etc.
Pāda b shows that the root is the part of the plant employed. If we struck off the impertinent refrain from vss. 2-5, and combined the lines into two verses, the hymn would conform to the norm of the second book (as in more than one case above ⌊p. 37⌋).
3. Indra put (kŗ) thee on his arm, in order to lay low (stŗ) the Asuras: smite the dispute etc. etc.
The comm., both here and in the next verse, understands -bhya(ḥ) stárītave as -bhyas tárī-, though he then explains tarītave by starītum. Pāda a is rendered in accordance with the comm. and with Weber; Grill, 'took thee into his arm.'
4. Indra consumed (vi-aç) the pāṭá, in order to lay low the Asuras: smite the dispute etc. etc.
