18. Whoever shall handle thy embryo, or shall make it born dead—let the brown one, with formidable bow, make him pierced to the heart.
The comm. explains prati mṛçāt by pīḍayet. The a of hṛdayāvídham, and its non-division in pada-text, are the subject of Prāt. iii. 3, iv. 68. ⌊Delete the accent mark under tu in d.⌋
19. They who suddenly make die those that are born, [who] lie by the bearing [women]—the Gandharvas, woman-seekers (?), let the brown one drive, as the wind a cloud.
Ppp. begins ye sto j-, and ends abhrāi vātāi ’va rājatu. The comm. explains amnojātān as = ardhotpannān. The Prāt., ii. 52, expressly prescribes that the final of amnáḥ is not ⌊convertible into⌋ r—which seems a plain acknowledgment that at a later period the word was treated as being amnár.
20. Let [her] maintain what is left (?); what is set, let not that fall down; let the two formidable remedies, to be borne in the under garment, defend thine embryo.
Parisṛṣṭam in a is very hard to deal with, both on account of the meaning and because combinations of root sṛj with pari are hardly met with; the Pet. Lexicon suggests emendation to -çriṣṭam; as both Ppp. and the comm. have -çiṣṭam, I have taken the liberty of so translating. The comm. paraphrases it by homādiviniyogāvaçiṣṭaṁ sarṣapadvayam ⌊see the introduction⌋ and makes it the object of dhārayatu. Ppp. also reads yujyatam for yad dhitam in b, and, at the end, nivabhāryayāu. ⌊Whitney queries for a: 'Let what is wreathed about (pari-sṛj) maintain.' This might refer to bandages swathed around, to support the abdomen. In b, hitám would refer to the embryo (cf. dhātā dadhātu etc.), and áva pādi to untimely delivery (cf. i. 11. 4-6).⌋
21. From the rim-nosed, the tan̄galvà, the shady (? chā́yaka) and naked, from the kimīdín, let the brown one protect thee about for progeny, for husband.
Or chāyaka may come from root chā, and so signify 'tearing' or the like; the comm. reads instead sāyakāt. Ppp. has at the beginning pavāinasa tan̄-.
22. From the two-mouthed, the four-eyed, the five-footed, the fingerless one, from the much twining twiner (vṛ́nta) that creeps forth upon [one], do thou protect [her] about.
All the pada-mss. most absurdly divide anam॰guréḥ at end of b; SPP. properly emends to anan̄guréḥ, but why "with Sāyaṇa" is not evident; Ppp. reads anan̄guleḥ; and further has, in c, vṛddhād adhi pra-. SPP. seems to regard the comm. as reading abhiprasarpataḥ.
23. They who eat raw meat, and who the flesh of men, the hairy ones [that] devour embryos—them we make to disappear from here.
Ppp. combines at the beginning yā ”mam, and has in place of our d ’rāyān ⌊combined keçavārāyan⌋ asyā bhaṅsaso muṣkayor apa hanmasi (as in its version of our 5 c, d—cf. 2). The pada-reading keça॰vā́ḥ is quoted in the commentary to Prāt. iv. 18.
