The comm. explains the 'maidens' as the 'water-bringing women,' but they are evidently the waters (fem.) themselves: compare vss. 17, 27 below. The comm. reads tava sam, two separate words, in b; ⌊Roth, in his Notes, adds that Ppp. reads tavas saṁ bharasva⌋; the 'mighty one' is the 'vessel' of d. Verses 13-15 are quoted in Kāuç. (60. 25-29), but not in natural sequence with the verses that precede and follow.
15. The portion of refreshment (ū́rj) [is] set down which [is] yours of old; do thou, instructed by the seer, bring these waters; let this sacrifice be for you progress-gaining (gātu-víd), refuge-gaining, progeny-gaining, formidable, cattle-gaining, hero-gaining.
'Thou' in b is fem., the water-bearer, doubtless, of vs. 13. The 'yours' of a and the 'you' of d refer probably to those interested in the ceremony, though the comm. understands the former of the waters. Ppp. reads nihatas in a, combines and reads -ṣṭā ’pā ’harāi ’tāḥ in b, puts nāthavid before gātuvid in c, and elides vo ‘stu in d.
16. O Agni, the worshipful pot hath ascended thee; bright (çúci), very hot, do thou heat it with heat; let those of the seers, those of the gods, gathering unto their share, very hot, heat this with the seasons.
The comm. understands the epithets in b as belonging to carús, which is doubtless wrong; those in c he understands of 'Brahmans' and 'attendants on Indra and the other gods'; without much question, the flames of Agni are intended. Ppp. reads in c devā ’bhisaṁhatya. The verse plainly accompanies the setting of the vessel for boiling on the fire: so Kāuç. 61. 31; also 2. 7.
17. Let these cleansed, purified, worshipful maidens, the waters, beauteous ones, creep down to the pot; they have given us abundant progeny, cattle; let the cooker of the rice-dish go to the world of the well-doers.
⌊Pāda a is identical with vs. 27 a and vi. 122. 5 a.⌋ The mss. are about equally divided in c between bahulā́m and bahulā́n (our I.T.K.Kp. have the latter; O. has -lāṁn); SPP. accepts the latter, we the former; the comm. has -lān; and he reads pakvā for paktā in d ⌊or c⌋. Ppp. has dadat for adus in c, and eti for etu in d. The verse concerns the pouring in of the water: so Kāuç. 61. 34-5, and 2. 8.—⌊If we read bahulā́ṅç ca in c, and in d pakvāúdanasya as a compound (against the pada-division, which reckons paktā́ to c, and against the double accent) and u for etu, we get most acceptable sense and meter: lokám would be construed as coördinate with paçū́n and pakvāúdanasya as coördinate with nas (cf. xi. 8. 10 c and Speyer, Vedische Syntax, §71, end). The heroic surgery implies no worse corruptions than we have often seen. But this is all mere suggestion.⌋
18. Cleansed with prayer (bráhman) and purified with ghee, shoots of Soma [are] these worshipful rice-grains; enter ye the waters; let the pot receive you; having cooked this, go ye to the world of the well-doers.
A few mss. (including our O.) read etu for eta in d. Ppp. has instead eti; further, in a, utpūtās, and, in c, apa praviçyatu. The verse accompanies the pouring of the rice-grains into the water; so Kāuç. 61. 36, and 2. 9. ⌊Read somāṅçā́vas?⌋ ⌊The Anukr. seems to scan as 12 + 13: 12 + 13 = 50; but the mark of pāda-division is after carur, not before it.⌋
