2. Forth from heaven, from earth [is its] force brought up; forth from forest-trees [is its] power brought hither; to the force of the waters, brought forth hither by the kine, to Indra's thunderbolt, the chariot, do thou sacrifice with oblation.
Or all the nouns ("force" and "power" in a, b as well) are to be taken as accusatives with yaja 'sacrifice to.' Ppp. reads ābhṛtaṁ at end of a, and parisambhṛtaṁ in b. All the other versions have the better reading ā́vṛtam at end of c; and so has the comm., followed by three of SPP's mss.; and it is accordingly adopted in SPP's text. MS. reads ā́vṛtam also in b, and antárikṣāt instead of ója údbhṛtam in a. TS.VS. have diváḥ p- at the beginning. The comm. refers to TS. vi. i. 34 as authority for identifying the chariot with Indra's thunderbolt.
3. Indra's force, the Maruts' front (ánīka), Mitra's embryo, Varuṇa's navel—do thou, enjoying this oblation-giving of ours, O divine chariot, accept the oblations.
All the other versions have vájras for ójas in 'a, and Ppp. agrees with them. All, too (not Ppp.), combine sé ’mā́m at beginning of c, against the requirement of the meter. The GB. quotes (i. 2. 21) the pratīka of this verse in its form as given by our text. ⌊Ppp. has dharuṇasya for vár- in b.⌋
126. To the drum: for success against the foe.
[Atharvan.—vānaspatyadundubhidevatyam. bhuriktrāiṣṭubham: 3. purobṛhatī virāḍgarbhā triṣṭubh.]
Found also in Pāipp. xv.* (but 1 c, d and 2 a, b are wanting, probably by an error of the copyist), and in the same other texts as the preceding hymn (RV.VS.TS.MS.: in MS. the three verses are not in consecution with those of 125). Applied by Kāuç. (16. 1) in a battle rite, with v. 20, as the drums and other musical instruments of war, duly prepared, are sounded thrice and handed to those who are to play them. Vāit. (34. 11) has it (also with v. 20) in the same ceremony as the preceding hymn, as the drum-heads are drawn on. *⌊Seems to be an error for Pāipp. vii.⌋
Translated: by the RV. translators; and Griffith, 1.315—See also Bergaigne-Henry, Manuel, p. 156.
1. Blast thou unto heaven and earth; in many places let them win for thee the scattered living creatures (jágat); do thou, O drum, allied with Indra [and] the gods, drive away our foes further than far.
The second pāda is translated according to the reading of our text, whose vanvatām, however, can hardly be otherwise than a corruption of the manutām of the other texts; Ppp. has instead sunutām, which is yet worse; the comm. has vanutām. MS. has, in d, ārā́t for dūrā́t.
2. Resound thou at [them]; mayest thou assign strength [and] force to us; thunder against [them], forcing off difficulties; drive, O drum, misfortune away from here; Indra's fist art thou; be stout.
The other texts have, in b, níḥ ṣṭanihi for abhi ṣṭana, and, in c, protha for sedha, and the plural duchúnās (save TS., which gives -nāṅ, in pada-text -nān).
