Page:Atharva-Veda samhita volume 2.djvu/307

begins yád ṛté, has jartṛ́bhyas in b, purovásus in c, ⌊and víhṛtam in d in the Calcutta ed.: the Poona ed., p. 327, prints it víhrutam, with a virāma after the h!⌋. MS. has a very corrupt text for a, b (jári cétī́d etc.), and saṁdhís and puruv- in c; and the Āpast. text (Wint., p. 69 ⌊MP. i. 7. 1⌋) agrees throughout with TA. Ppp. writes āṛdaḥ for ātṛdaḥ. The needed description of the verse as a pathyābṛhatī is omitted by our Anukr. Vāit. 12. 7 has the verse used as expiation when anything is broken during the sacrifice; Kāuç. 77. 7, when anything on the bridal car needs mending; and also, 57. 7, when a student's staff is broken.

48. Away from us let the darkness shine (vas), that is deep blue, brown (piçán̄ga), also red; she who is consuming, spotted, her I fasten (ā-saj) on this pillar.

The latter half-verse is corrupt in Ppp. beyond intelligibility. ⌊The definition sataḥpan¯kti (cf. my note to vi. 20. 3 and Ind. Stud. viii. 45) presumably means 9 + 11: 9 + 11. If we could dispense with the yā́ in c, the verse would be excellent so far as rhythm and cadence go (8 + 11: 8 + 11).⌋ It is used in Kāuç. 79. 22 in connection with taking away the bridal garment to cleanse it. The 'she' is perhaps the female demon supposed to belong to the defiled article.

49. How many witchcrafts in the outer garment (? upavā́sana), how many fetters of king Varuṇa, what failures, what non-successes—them I cause to sit upon this pillar.

Ppp. has paçcācāne in a for upavāsane; and, for d, asmin tā stāno muñcāmi sarvām. Our P.M.W. read in d tā́ṁ sth-; the rest, tā́ḥ sth-. In Kāuç. 79. 23 the verse is used immediately after the preceding. The lack of a syllable in a is disregarded by the Anukr.

50. What is my dearest self (tanū́), that of me is afraid of the garment; of it do thou, O forest-lord, make first (ágre) for thyself an inner wrap (nīví); let us not suffer harm.

This verse is used in Kāuç. 79. 24 next after the two preceding, the person who has the garment in charge wrapping a tree with it. The Anukr. contains no definition of the meter (8 + 8: 8 + 11 = 35). The verse, as noted above, is wanting in Ppp.

51. What ends [there are], how many edges (síc), what webs, and what lines; what garment woven by the spouses—may that touch us pleasantly.

More lit., '[as] a pleasant one.' With this verse, according to Kāuç. 79. 26, the new possessor of the garment puts it on, then coming back with vs. 44. The Anukr. notices this time the redundant syllable in b (we are doubtless to contract to yāú ’tavo). Ppp. reads, for c, d, vāso yat patnībhṛtaṁ tanvā syonam upa spṛçaḥ.

52. Eager, these young girls, going to a husband from the father's world, have let go the consecration: hail!

All our mss. ⌊and SPP's authorities⌋ leave yatīḥ in b unaccented, as if 1. 32 c, as if pátiṁ yatīḥ were a sort of compound word, ⌊although the pada-text treats them as separate words!⌋. ⌊Cf. MP. i. 4. 4, and Wint, p. 54, vs. 4, p. 55 n. 1.⌋ The Anukr. counts in svā́hā at the end as a metrical part of the verse. According to Kāuç. 75. 24,