16. The great body which lay there, put together by the putting-together—who brought into it the color with which it shines (ruc) here today?
Ppp. reads adadhat for açayat in a, mayi for mahat in b, and ko ‘smin in d. SPP. reports all his pada-mss. as having at the end ā॰ábharat, which he emends to ā́: abharat; our pada-mss. give the latter.
17. All the gods assisted (? upa-çikṣ); that she who was a woman knew; she who was wife of control (? váça), mistress (īçā́), brought color into it.
Ppp. reads in a upāsikṣan, and viṣasya for vaçasya in c; the comm. (with two or three of SPP's mss.) has instead of the latter viçvasya. There are, failing help from sense, various questionable points in the construction.
18. When Tvashṭar bored through [him?] who [was] the superior father of Tvashṭar, having made the mortal a house, the gods entered into man.
Probably c is adjunct of devā́s; whether b is object of the verb in a is more doubtful. Ppp. gives no help. The comm. makes b define Tvaṣṭar himself, and understands the 'boring' of the openings for the senses, the eyes and ears etc. ⌊Ludwig renders c: "machten die götter den sterblichen zu [ihrem] hause."⌋
19. Sleep, weariness, misery (nírṛti), the deities named evils, old age, baldness, hoariness, entered the body afterward (ánu).
The comm. reads tandrī in a, and khālityam in c. Anu perhaps rather 'one after another.'
20. Theft, ill-doing, wrong, truth, sacrifice, great glory, both strength, dominion, and force, entered the body afterward.
Ppp. has the better reading sahas for bṛhat in b.
21. Both growth (bhū́ti) and diminution, generosities and niggardlinesses, both hungerings and all thirstings, entered the body afterward.
Ppp. combines vā ’bhūtiç in a.
22. Both revilings and non-revilings, both what [says] "come on" (hánta) and "no," faith, the sacrificial fee, and non-faith, entered the body afterward.
Ppp. combines vā ’nindāç in a. The majority of mss. (including our Bp.B.P.M.E.T.R.K.) read dakṣiṇā́ in c; ⌊if I understand W's Collation Book, only Bp.T.K. among his mss. are noted as so reading;⌋ both editions give dákṣiṇā. The comm. explains the word as meaning dhanasamṛddhi. ⌊Cf. Oldenberg, ZDMG. l. 449.⌋
23. Both knowledges and ignorances, and what else is to be taught
(upa-diç); the bráhman entered the body; the verses, the chant, also the formula.
Ppp. combines vā ’vidyāç in a, and reads for c çarīraṁ sarve prā ’viçan ⌊= our 25 c⌋. Bráhman perhaps is here the 'charm,' representing the Atharvan hymns.
