54. Let Pūshan, knowing, urge thee forth from here—he, the shepherd of creation (bhúvana) who loses no cattle; may he commit thee to those Fathers, [and] Agni to the beneficent gods.
The RV. has a corresponding verse (x. 17. 3), without variant. TA. (in vi. 1. i) has in c dadāt (as has our comm.), and at the end suvidátrebhyas. The mss. are somewhat equally divided in c-d between -bhyo ‘gnír and -bhyo agnír; our text adopts the latter; SPP., better, the former, with RV. and TA.
55. May life-time, having all life-time, protect thee about; let Pūshan protect thee in front on the forward road; where sit the well-doers, whither they have gone, there let god Savitar set thee.
RV., in the corresponding verse (x. 17. 4), reads pāsati in a, and té yayús at end of c ⌊thus rectifying the meter in both places⌋; and TA. (in vi. 1. 2) agrees with it both times; the comm. also has pāsati. The verse is metrically irregular (10 + 11: 12 + 11 = 44); ⌊but perfectly good in its RV. form (11 + 11: 12 + 11)⌋.
56. I yoke for thee these two conveyers ⌊váhni⌋, to convey (vah) thee to the other life; with them to Yama's seat and to the assemblies go thou down (áva).
Ava, in d, is so strange that we can only regard it as a corruption for ápi, which TA. reads in the corresponding verse (in vi. 1. 1). TA. also has the better reading -nīthāya in b ⌊so both editions⌋, as has also the comm., though its explanation seems rather to imply -nītāya. TA. further has the bad accent vahnī́ in a, and gives in c yā́bhyām, and in d (for sámitīs) sukṛ́tām. The comm. has sam iti, talking sam as joint prefix with ava, and iti as anena prakāreṇa; our Bp.E. read sámitī ca; possibly the comm's error is akin with this. According to Kāuç. (80. 34), the verse is used when two draft-oxen, or two men, are harnessed to draw the body to the funeral pile.
57. This garment hath now come first to thee; remove (apa-ūh) that one which thou didst wear here before; knowing, do thou follow along with what is offered and bestowed, where it is given thee variously among them of various connection (? víbandhu).
TK. (in vi. 1. 1) has a corresponding verse, but with sundry variants: at the beginning, idáṁ (which is better) tvā vástram; in c, d, ánu sám paçya dákṣiṇāṁ yáthā te. Te dattám is perhaps better 'given by thee'—thy former deeds of religion and charity, now to be enjoyed in their fruit; and víbandhu 'to those not thine own connections.' The Pet. Lexx. explain víbandhuṣu as 'destitute of connections or relatives.' The comm., with its customary regardlessness of accent, understands the word as two words, vi bandhuṣu, and connects vi (= viçeṣeṇa) with dattam. According to Kāuç. 80. 17, the verse is used, with 4. 31, in connection with dressing the body for cremation; in 81. 29, some of the mss. substitute it for vs. 22 above. Some of the schol. (note to Kāuç. 80. 52) use it and 4. 31 when the body is laid on the funeral pile. The verse, as a triṣṭubh, is rather svarāj than bhurij (11 + 12: 11 + 12 = 46).
58. Wrap about thee of kine a protection from the fire; cover thyself up with grease and fatness, lest the bold one, exulting with violence
(háras), shake thee strongly (dadṛ́ḥ) about, intending to consume thee.
