21. He incurs the wrath of cattle (paçú) who gives not the cow to the Brahmans—if a mortal keeps to himself the deposited portion of the gods.
The saṁhitā-mss. accent in b brāhmaṇébhyo dadat, and the pada correspondingly adadat (instead of ádadat). Our text makes the necessary emendation. Ppp. gives for d ṛtāse nu priyāyate. ⌊See note to 11, above.⌋
22. If a hundred other Brahmans should ask the cow of its master, yet (átha) the gods said of her: the cow is his who knoweth thus.
All our mss. save two (I. and [?] E.s.m.) read etām (without accent) in c; our text follows the two.
23. Whoever, not having given her to one who knoweth thus, then shall give the cow to others, hard to go upon for him in his station is the earth with its deity.
In b the pada-text has anyébhyaḥ: adadat, and the saṁhitā-mss. correspondingly -bhyo dadad v-; this is emended in our text to -bhyó ‘d- (as if ádadat, as in vs. 21); but a decidedly better emendation would be to -bhyo dádat, as translated. Ppp. reads anyasmāi d-, which favors this understanding of the pāda; it also combines tasmā ’dh- in c.
24. The gods asked the cow [of him] in whose possession she was first (ágre) born; that same one may Nārada know; together with the gods he drove her away.
The connection of c, d is obscure, and tempts to conjectural emendations; Ludwig suggests vidvā́n for vidyāt: 'knowing her to be such, Nārada together with the gods drove her away (as theirs)'; this is quite acceptable. Ppp. reads at the end udājitā. One or two of our mss. (D.R.p.m.) accent nāradáḥ. The Anukr. takes no notice of the lack of a syllable in a. ⌊Read devā́so as in 20?⌋
25. The cow makes a man (pū́ruṣa) destitute of descendants, poor in cattle, if, when she is asked for by the Brahmans, then he keeps her to himself.
Ppp. reads in b pāuruṣam, and in d nu priyāyata. The Anukr. takes no notice of any deficiency in c; we may best resolve bṛ-āh-. ⌊Read brāhmaṇébhiç?⌋
26. For Agni-and-Soma, for Love (kā́ma), for Mitra and for Varuṇa—for these the Brahmans ask her; under their wrath falls he who gives not.
27. So long as the master of her should not himself overhear the verses (ṛ́ç), so long may she go about among his kine (gó); she may not abide in his house after he has heard.
The translation implies the evidently necessary emendation of vaçet at the end to vaset; R., indeed, has the latter; ⌊and so have 8 of SPP's authorities, against 7 with vaçet;⌋ Ppp. is corrupt: nā ’sya çrutā gṛhe sya. The Anukr. takes no notice of any redundancy in b; but it can hardly expect us to make a pada-division between no and ’paçṛṇuyāt. The 'verses' are doubtless those with which the Brahmans come to claim their rightful property.
