Page:Atharva-Veda samhita volume 2.djvu/401

asthitas tanuṁ yathāparu saṁcinoti. I think his emendation receives support from the AV. comm., who says, at vol. iv., p. 224⁶, edam barliir ity ṛcā kule jyeṣṭho ‘sthīni yathāparu saṁcinuyāt. If we take sam-ci in the sense of 'assemble' as used in the phrase 'assemble the interchangeable parts of a bicycle or a Waltham watch,' our sūtra would then mean, 'while repeating xviii. 4. 52, he (the dead man's eldest son) assembles a human figure (tanum), limb by limb, from the bones (asthi-tas), i.e. he makes such a figure out of the bones by assembling them.'—If this be right, then we probably have to infer from the AV. text and from the next sūtra, 85. 26, that the eldest son addresses the deities with vss. 25-29, and does so as spokesman of his dead father, represented by the prostrate figure of bones; and that, while uttering vss. 30-35, he addresses his dead father, but does so as speaking for himself.—-As to forming a human figure (puruṣākṛti) with the bones, cf. further Bāudhāyana's Pitṛmedhasūtra, i. 10, especially lines 5, 7, 10, 13 of p. 15, ed. Caland.⌋

26. Let Dhātar protect me from perdition from the southern quarter; arm-moved etc. etc.

27. Let Aditi with the Ādityas protect me from the western quarter; arm-moved etc. etc.

28. Let Soma with all the gods protect me from the northern quarter; arm-moved etc. etc.

29. Dhartar the maintainer shall maintain thee aloft, as Savitar the light (bhānú) to the sky above; to the world-makers etc. etc.

The translation follows the comm. in connecting ūrdhvám with what precedes, instead of (as the meter suggests, and as is perhaps rather to be preferred) with what follows it.* The definition by the Anukr. of the meter of these five verses is not very acceptable; the refrain of 25-28 has 35 syllables (12: 12 + 11); the prefixed variable part varies from 12 to 14; 28 has 46 syllables (11 + 12: 12 + 11). ⌊Cf. note to excerpts from Anukr., above, p. 847, top.⌋

*⌊There is a clear play of words in dhartā dharuṇo dhārayātāi, not without conscious reminiscence, perhaps, of the familiar plays in varaṇo vārayātāi at x. 3. 5 and vi. 85. 1, and in vār idaṁ vārayātāi varaṇāvatyām adhi at iv. 7. 1.† Moreover, I think that these derivatives of root dhṛ make clear reference to dhruvā diç, the 'fixed direction' or 'steadfast region,' and that ūrdhvam makes similar reference to the 'upward region.' Render perhaps: 'Let the Steadier, steadying, steady thee [in the steadfast region], as aloft [that is, in the upward region] Savitar [steadieth or maintaineth] the light, the sky above.' Cf. my note, p. 847, ¶ 8.—†Cf. xix. 36. 6 d.⌋

30. In the eastern quarter, away from approach (?), do I set thee in svadhā́; arm-moved etc. etc.

The phrase purā́ samvṛ́taḥ is very doubtful; perhaps it means rather, with the more literal sense of purā́ and taking -vṛt as from root vṛ, 'before covering up' ⌊so Caland takes it: Todtengebräuche, p. 154-5⌋; the comm., with his ordinary heedlessness of accent, makes it a pple. (as if sáṁvṛtas), rendering it "formerly covered up" (pūrvaṁ saṁchāditaḥ); or else, he says, purā́ is instr. of pur = çarīra 'body,' and it means "along with thy body" (saçarīra eva san). Kāuç. (80. 53) uses the verse (doubtless with the five that follow it) in fixing the body in place on the funeral pile; but he adds in the next rule that Uparibabhrava prohibits it. The comm. takes no notice of any such application.