Page:Atharva-Veda samhita volume 2.djvu/310

Ppp. reads in c sambharasya. Kāuç. 76. 1 makes the verse accompany the rubbing of the bride dry after the bath with a garment, which is then carried to the woods and fastened to a tree.

67. Having settled the defilement on the wooer, the difficulty on the dress, we have become worshipful, cleansed (çudh); may he extend our life-times.

Ppp. also has this time sambhale in a; in d, it combines nā ”yūnṣi and reads tāriṣam. ⌊Here, as at iv. 10. 6 and ii. 4. 6: see notes,⌋ part of our mss. (Bs.E.O.D.) read tārṣat. With the verse compare xii. 2. 20 above. The Anukr. passes without notice the extra syllable in a.

68. The artificial hundred-toothed comb (?) that is here shall scratch away the defilement of the hair of her, away that of her head.

The majority of our mss. (all but Bs.s.m.P.R.) read káṇṭakas 'thorn' in a. Ppp. has kan̄kadas. The Kāuç. text, 76. 5, with the subsidiary texts (see note to that rule), gives kan̄kata, with our edition. There is little to choose between the two readings. Ppp. reads in b apā ’syāt k-. The verse, which is a purauṣṇih, is not defined by the Anukr. Kāuç. 76. 5 makes it accompany the combing of the bride's hair after she has been bathed and (with 1. 45, 53) clothed in a new garment.

69. Away from every limb of her do we deposit the yákṣma; let that not attain (pra-āp) the earth nor the gods; let it not attain the heaven, the wide atmosphere; let that defilement not attain the waters, O Agni; let it not attain Yama and all the Fathers.

Ppp. reads in a, b yo ‘yam asyām upa yakṣmaṁ ni dhatta naḥ. Kāuç. 76. 14 uses the verse to accompany the purifying of the bride. The metrical structure (8 + 8: 11 + 11: 11 + 11 = 60) is described as well as the Anukr. knows how.

70. I gird thee with the milk of the earth; I gird thee with the milk of the herbs; I gird thee with progeny, with riches; do thou, being girded, win (ā-san) this strength (? vā́ja).

TS. (iii. 5. 6¹) has a corresponding verse, of which this seems an artificial variation: sáṁ tvā nahyāmi páyasā ghṛténa s. t. n. apá óṣadhībhiḥ: s. t. n. prajáyā ’hám adyá sā́ dīkṣitā́ sanavo vā́jam asmé. ⌊Cf. MGS. i. 11. 6 (with adbhís for apás), and p. 156.⌋ Kāuç. 76. 7 uses the verse (with 1. 42) at the girding of the bride.

71. He am I, she thou; chant am I, verse thou; heaven I, earth thou; let us (two) come together here; let us generate progeny.

The verse (8 + 8 + 8: 7 + 8 = 39) is strangely called a bṛhatī by the Anukr. It is found, with more or less variation, in a host of other texts: AB. (viii. 27. 4), TB. (iii. 7.1⁹), K. (xxxv. 18), ÇB. (xiv. 9. 4¹⁹), AGS. (i. 7. 6), PCS. (i. 6. 3), HGS. (i. 20. 2), Āp. (ix. 2. 3). In the first pāda, TB. (with which HGS. and Āp. agree throughout) has the unintelligent reading ámūhám; AB. has sa for sā, which seems also a mere blunder. After this, AB.ÇB.AGS.PGS. add the same, inverted: sā́ (AB. sa again) tvám asy ámo ‘hám (ÇB. PGS. ahám). As regards our third pāda, there is no variant in reading, but AB.TB.AGS.HGS.Āp. put it before our second. In our second pāda, the same texts omit the asmi; the whole pāda is wanting in Ppp. For our d, AB. has tāv eha saṁ vahāvahāi, and ends there; TB. etc. give as ending to the verse tā́v é ’hi sám bhavāva