8. For authority.
[Atharvan.—māitram uta vāiçvadevam. trāiṣṭubham: 2, 6. jagatī; 4. 4-p. virāḑbṛhatīgarbhā; 5. anuṣṭubh.]
Verses 1-4 found in Pāipp. i., but defaced. The hymn is used by Kāuç. (55. 17-18; also 55. 1, note), with i. 9, 30, etc., in the ceremony of reception of a Vedic student, and, according to the schol. (10. 19, note), in that for the generation of wisdom (the comm. says, as belonging to the āyuṣya gaṇa). Verses 5 and 6 are the same with vi. 94. 1, 2, and it is vi. 94, rather than these verses here, that is used in Kāuç. 12. 5 (the comm. blunderingly prescribes the use under both passages). Verse 4 has the same pratīka as xiv. 1. 32 and one or the other of the two verses is taught in Vāit. (22. 1) as used "by Kāuçika" in the agniṣṭoma; but our Kāuç. has no such use, and it is doubtless xiv. 1. 32, 33 that he prescribes (79. 17 ff.) in the nuptial ceremonies; but the comm. reports the use here, as if it referred to vss. 4 and 5. The comm. further regards the hymn as employed by the Nakṣ. K. (18), in the āirāvatī rite, and by Pariçiṣṭa 5. 3; in both cases as an āyuṣya hymn.
Translated: Weber, xvii. 212; Griffith, i. 90.
1. Let Mitra come, arranging with the seasons, uniting (? sam-veçaya-) the earth with the ruddy ones (usríyā); then to us let Varuṇa, Vāyu, Agni, assign great royalty of union (? saṁveçyà).
The verse is very obscure, and probably corrupt, though found almost without variant (only tat for atha in c) in Ppp. also. The epithet saṁveçyà (found only here) seems fashioned to correspond to the participle saṁveçáyan in b; but Weber renders the ppl. by "umlagernd" and the epithet by "ruhsam"; the comm., by "pervading" (vyāpnuvan) and "suitable for abiding in" (saṁveçārham avasthānayogyam). The comm. takes usríyās as gāvas, i.e. kiraṇās 'rays.' R. ventures heroic emendations: "Let Mitra come after ordering of the time, enlivening (saṁhāpayan or something equivalent, since 'putting to rest' is no result of the action of Mitra's rays) the earth with his rays; but let Varuṇa make wind and fire (vāyúm agním), make our great realm go to rest." The first pada is redundant, unless we make the double combination mitrá rtúbhiḥ. ⌊BR. take kalp- as 'sich richtend nach.'⌋
2. Let Dhātar, Rāti, Savitar enjoy here (idám); let Indra, Tvashṭar, welcome my words (vácas); I call the divine Aditi, mother of heroes (çū́ra-), that I may be midmost man of my fellows.
The first pada is also vii. 17. 4 a, and VS. viii. 17 a. The plural verb in b seems to imply that all the deities mentioned in the line are to be regarded as its subjects. Madhyameṣṭhā́ (like madhyamaçī́, iv. 9. 4), probably the one whom the others gather about as chief; the comm. has nothing valuable (samṛddhakāmaḥ san svasamānāiḥ sevyaḥ). The comm. takes rāti in a as = Aryaman. Ppp. has gṛhṇantu for haryantu in b. The meter of d would be rectified by reading syā́m (or ásam, as is perhaps assumable in this stage of the language) for ásāni. The verse as it stands (11 + 12: 11 + 12 = 46) is ill described as a jagatī.
3. I call, with acts of homage. Soma, Savitar, all the Ādityas, in the contest for preëminence; may this fire shine for very long, kindled by [my] fellows who gainsay not.
