14. We address the sacrifice, the sacrificer, the verses (ṛ́c), the chants (sā́man), the remedies; the sacred formulas (yā́jus), the invocations we address: let them free us from distress.
Bheṣajā, which probably refers to material like that included in the Atharva-Veda, is explained by the comm. as çāntikarāṇi vāmadevyādīni; no hymns in our collection receive any such title in the Kāuçika.
15. The five kingdoms of plants, having Soma as their chief (çréṣṭha), we address; the darbhá, hemp, barley, sáha—let them free us from distress.
Ppp. rectifies the meter of b by reading brūmasi; in c it puts bhan̄gas before darbhas. The mss., as usual, differ as to the accent of rājya; several (including our O.) read rā́jyāni, and our R.s.m. has rājyā̀ni. The comm. calls saha simply 'a kind of herb.'
16. The niggards we address, the demons, the serpents, the pure-folk, the Fathers; the hundred-and-one deaths we address: let them free us from distress.
⌊With b, cf. viii. 8. 15, and 9. 24 below. Cf. note to iii. 1 1. 5 for the "hundred-and-one deaths." Cf. also Chāndogya Up., viii. 73, 93, 103, where Indra passes three thirty-two-year terms of studentship with Prajāpati and is then bidden (viii. 113) to pass five years more, to make out the full tale of 101 years.⌋
17. The seasons we address, the lords of the seasons, the year-divisions and the winters, the summers, the years, the months: let them free us from distress.
The verse nearly agrees with iii. 10. 9. The comm. quotes from Tāitt. Brah. ii. 6. 19 in explanation of what gods are lords of the several seasons. Ārtavān he defines as tattadṛtuviçeṣasatnbandhinaḥ padārthān; hāyana and samā are to him simply other names for 'year.'
18. Come, ye gods, from the south; from the west come up eastward; from the east, from the north, mighty, all the gods, coming together: let them free us from distress.
Ppp. rectifies the meter of b by adding nas at the end.
19. All the gods now we address, of true agreements, increasers of righteousness, together with all their spouses: let them free us from distress.
20. The collective gods now we address, of true agreements, increasers of righteousness, together with their collective spouses: let them free us from distress.
This verse (omitted in Ppp.) differs from the preceding only by twice reading sarva instead of viçva. The epithet ṛtāvṛ́dh may also signify 'increasing by righteousness.'
21. Existence we address, the lord of existences, and who is controller of existences; all existences, assembling—let them free us from distress.
Bhūtám at the beginning may be adjective, 'him who is.' Ppp. reads patis for vaçī at end of b, and, for c, bhūtāni sarvā brūmas.
