Page:Atharva-Veda samhita.djvu/328

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iv. 8-
THE ATHARVA-VEDA-SAṀHITĀ.
158

The version of the first half-verse given by TB. is quite different: yā́ divyā́ ā́paḥ páyasā sambabhūvúḥ: yā́ antárikṣe utá pā́rthivīr yā́ḥ; and Ppp. so far agrees as to have uta pārthivā yāḥ; TB. also reads rucā́ for apā́m in c. The comm. renders madanti as if causative: prāṇinas tarpayanti. The abhiṣeka process, instead of an anointing with oil, is a pouring of water upon the person to be consecrated. The verse (11 + 10: 8 + 8 = 37) lacks three syllables of being complete, rather than two. ⌊Put another yā́s at the beginning of b and the verse is orderly, 11 + 11: 8 + 8.⌋

⌊Perhaps mad here approaches its physical meaning, 'boil (cf. ÇB. iii. 4. 3 end, and my Reader, p. 211), bubble over, overflow'; used of the rains that 'drip abundantly with.' páyas or life-giving moisture. W's prior draft rendered mad by "intoxicate"; over this he interlined "revel."—This, says Weber, is the verse of the act of consecration proper. The celebrant transfers to the king the várcas or glory-giving vigor of the waters of all three worlds.⌋


6. The heavenly waters, rich in milk, have poured upon thee with splendor; that thou be an increaser of friends, so shall Savitar make thee.

Instead of our asiñcan, SPP. gives, as the reading of all his authorities, asican, which is decidedly preferable, and implied in the translation (our Bp. is doubtful; other mss. possibly overlooked at this point); TB. has instead asicam; Ppp. and the comm., asṛjan. Then, for b, TB. and Ppp. give divyéna páyasā (Ppp. pāy-) sahá; and in c TB. has rāṣṭravárdh-, which is better, and before it yáthā́sā (regarded by its commentary as yáthā: ā́sa).


7. Thus, embracing the tiger, they incite (hi) the lion unto great good-fortune; as the well-being ones (subhū́) the ocean that stands, do they rub thoroughly down the leopard amid the waters.

Found also in TB. (ii. 7. 164) and MS. (ii. 1. 9: besides K.). In b, MS. has mṛjanti for hinvanti, and dhánāya (which rectifies the meter) for sāúbhagāya. For c, MS. has a much less unmanageable version, mahiṣáṁ naḥ subhvàm, and Ppp. supports it by giving mahiṣaṁ nas subhavas: thus, in each pāda the king is compared to a different powerful animal—which is the leading motive of the verse. But TB. differs from our text only by giving suhávam* for subhúvas. Subhvàm, with a further slight emendation of samudrám to -dré, would give a greatly improved sense: "him who stands comfortable in the ocean, as it were," or bears himself well under the water poured upon him. The phrase samudráṁ ná subhvàḥ occurs also at RV. i. 52. 4 b (and its occurrence here in such form may be a reminiscence of that); Sāyaṇa there understands subhvàs of the "streams" that fill the ocean; and our comm. gives a corresponding interpretation here (nadīrūpā āpaḥ); samudrám he allows us alternatively to take as = varuṇam. He also, most ungrammatically, takes enā́ at the beginning as ends "those [waters]." Ppp. further has pari mṛjyante for marm- in d. *⌊Poona ed., p. 750, reads suhúvam.⌋


9. For protection etc.: with a certain ointment.

[Bhṛgu.—daçarcam. trāikakudāñjanadāivatam. ānuṣṭubham: 2. kakummatī; 3. pathyāpan̄kti.]

Found mostly in Pāipp. viii. (in the verse-order 9, 3, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 4, 7). Used by Kāuç. (58. 8) with the binding on of an ointment-amulet, in a ceremony for long life of the Vedic pupil after his initiation. And the comm. quotes it from the Nakṣ. K. (19) ⌊error for Çānti, says BI.⌋, as employed in the mahāçānti called āirāvatī.