Udvā́cana is heard of nowhere else, and the name looks so improbable that the Pet. Lexx. conjecture udváñcana; Ppp. has instead udvātana; it puts this verse at the end of the hymn. The redundancy of d is passed without notice by the Anukr.
9. Here, O Indra, Vṛtra-slayer, do thou, formidable, pierce them in the vitals; just here do thou trample upon them; O Indra, thine ally am I; we take hold on thee, O Indra; may we be in thy favor.
Some of the mss. (H.I.O.K.) read atrāi ’ṇān in a; and some (P.M.W.O.) reckon the last two pādas as a tenth ⌊or separate⌋ verse. Mármāṇi in b in our text is a misprint for mármaṇi. The Anukr. appears to count, without good reason, only 7 syllables in d as well as in b.
9. For protection: to various gods.
[Brahman.—aṣṭakam. vāstoṣpatyam. 1, 5. dāivī bṛhatī; 2, 6. dāivī triṣṭubh; 3, 4. dāivī jagatī; 7. virāḍuṣṇigbṛhatīgarbhā 5-p. jagatī; 8. puraskṛtitriṣṭubbṛhatīgarbhā 4-p. 3-av. jagatī.]
⌊This piece is prose.⌋ Neither this piece nor the next is found in Pāipp. This one is quoted in Kāuç. (28. 17) in a remedial ceremony, together with vi. 91; and it is reckoned (8. 23, note) to the vāstu gaṇa and (26. 1, note) the takmaṇāçana gaṇa.
Translated: Griffith, i. 201; Weber, xviii. 197.
1. To heaven hail!
2. To earth hail!
3. To atmosphere hail!
4. To atmosphere hail!
5. To heaven hail!
6. To earth hail!
⌊The invocations of vss. 4-6 are those of 1-3 with changed order.⌋
7. The sun my eye, wind my breath, atmosphere my soul (ātmán), earth my body; unquelled (astṛtá) by name am I here; [as] such I deposit myself for heaven and earth to guard (gopīthá).
8. Up life-time, up strength, up act (kṛtá), up action (kṛtyā́), up skill (manīṣā́), up sense (indriyá); O life- (ā́yus-) maker, O ye (two) mistresses of life, rich in svadhā́⌊m.⌋, be ye my guardians, guard me; be my soulsitters; do not harm me.
The nouns with 'up' are accusatives, but what verb should be supplied for the construction it is not easy to see. Perhaps ā́yuṣkṛt (p. ā́yuḥ-kṛt) should be -kṛtā, as dual; at any rate, all that follows it is dual. Apparently the Anukr. would divide vs. 7 as 9 + 12: 10 + 7 + 10 = 48; and vs. 8 as 9 + 11: 20: 11 = 51; but the descriptions are blind and inaccurate. ⌊Weber discusses the peculiarities of gender.⌋
A passage corresponding to this hymn is found in K. xxxvii. 15.
