Page:Atharva-Veda samhita.djvu/531

and spoken of in third person in c, d. Three asterisms are here ⌊and in 112⌋ referred to, all in our constellation Scorpio: Antares or Cor Scorpionis (either alone or with σ, τ) is usually called jyeṣṭhā 'oldest,' but also (more anciently?), as an asterism of ill omen, jyeṣṭhaghnī 'she that slays the oldest'*; mūla 'root,' also in the same manner mūlabarhaṇī ⌊or -ṇa⌋, lit. 'root-wrencher,'* is the tail, or in the tail, of which the terminal star-pair, or the sting (λ, υ), has the specific name vicṛtāu. ⌊See note to ii. 8. i.⌋ The comm. takes yamasya as belonging to mūlabarhaṇāt. By a misprint, our text begins with jyāi- (read jye-). *⌊See TB. i. 5. 2⁸.⌋

3. On the tiger day hath been born the hero, asterism-born, being born rich in heroes; let him not, increasing, slay his father; let him not harm his mother that gave him birth.

We should expect at the beginning vyāghryé or vāíyāghre; the comm. paraphrases the word with vyāghravat krūre. ⌊In d, read sá mā́ mātáram?—As to minīt, see Gram. §726.⌋

111. For relief from insanity.

[Atharvan.—caturṛcam. āgneyam. ānuṣṭubham: 1. parānuṣṭup triṣṭubh.]

This hymn, like the preceding, is wanting in Pāipp. Kāuç. (8. 24) reckons it as one of the mātṛnāmāni (with ii. 2 and viii. 6); and the comm. quotes a remedial rite against demons (26. 29-32) as an example of their use.

Translated: Ludwig, p. 512; Zimmer, p. 393; Grill, 21, 170; Griffith, i. 306; Bloomfield, 32, 518.—Cf. Hillebrandt, Veda-chrestomathie, p. 50.

1. Free thou this man for me, O Agni, who here bound, well-restrained, cries loudly; thenceforth shall he make for thee a portion, when he shall be uncrazed.

Nearly all our mss., and the great majority of SPP's, have the false accent atás at beginning of c; both editions give átas. The comm. reads yathā for yadā in d. The comm. paraphrases suyatas by suṣṭhu niyamito niruddhaprasaraḥ san. Pāda b has a redundant syllable.

2. Let Agni quiet [it] down for thee, if thy mind is excited (ud-yu); I, knowing, make a remedy, that thou mayest be uncrazed.

The comm. reads udyatam (= grahavikāreṇo ’dbhrāntam) instead of udyutam in b.

3. Crazed from sin against the gods, crazed from a demon—I, knowing, make a remedy, when he shall be uncrazed.

A few of the authorities (including our O.) accent yádā in d; yáthā would be a preferable reading. ⌊Bloomfield, "sin of the gods," AJP. xvii. 433, JAOS., etc.⌋

4. May the Apsarases give thee again, may Indra again, may Bhaga again; may all the gods give thee again, that thou mayest be uncrazed.

The saṁhitā reading in a and c would, of course, equally admit of tvā: aduḥ 'have given thee,' and this would be an equally acceptable meaning; the comm. so understands and interprets. In our text, read púnas at beginning of c (the sign for u dropped out).

The difference of meter tends to point out vs. 1 as an alien addition by which this hymn has been increased beyond the norm of the book.