Page:Atharva-Veda samhita volume 2.djvu/426

no rayiṁ sarvavīraṁ ni yacchantu; and the comparison appears to convict our unintelligible third pāda of being a very gross corruption. ⌊Observe that the word preceding āsīnam ends in m, and cf. the cases assembled under xviii. 2. 3.⌋ The comm. has no difficulty in explaining 'a sitting refreshment' as "a piṇḍa set upon the barhis." Both editions read at the end yachān, but all the mss. save one of SPP's read yachāt; the comm. has -ān. The Anukr. does not heed that the first pāda is jagatī. For the ritual application, see under the preceding verse. ⌊With a, cf. 2. 4 d, above.⌋

41. They kindle the immortal one, oblation-carrying, ghee-loving; he knoweth the deposited deposits, the Fathers that are gone away to the distances.

The comm., with his usual disregard of the accent, takes ghṛtapríyam as from ghṛtá + priyá ⌊prītikaram ājyaṁ yasya⌋. For the ritual use as prescribed by Kāuç. 87. 22, see under 2. 34, one of the verses that accompanies it. But the verse is used also, by Kāuç. 86. 18, at the end of the ceremony of interment on "making the devouring (saṁkasuka) fire blaze up"; this the comm. does not report in his statement of viniyoga. ⌊Caland appears to be right in thinking that the pratīka samindhate means samindhate saṁkasukam, xii. 2. 11, and not our verse here. See under xii. 2. 11 and note the free use of vss. from xii. 2. in the sūtras immediately following 86. 18.⌋

42. What stirabout for thee, what rice-dish, what flesh I offer (ni-pṛ) to thee, be they for thee rich in svadhā́, rich in honey, dripping with ghee.

The second half-verse is identical with 3. 68 c, d, above. Nearly all the mss. (of ours, all save Op.) accent mántham in a; both editions read manthám. The comm. again ⌊see under 2. 30⌋ notes the technical sense of ni-pṛ: niparaṇaṁ nāma pitryopavītinā parācīnapāṇinā pitrarthaṁ coditadravyasya prakṣepaḥ. By Kāuç. 84. 6, the verse accompanies an offering of the articles mentioned, in the hut (vimita) in the preparation for interment of the relics; the comm. overlooks this. ⌊For the ceremony, cf. Caland, Todtengebräuche, p. 137.⌋

43. What grains I scatter along for thee, mixed with sesame, rich in svadhā́, be they for thee abundant, prevailing; them let king Yama approve for thee.

This is a repetition of 3. 69, being distinguished as such (and not of 4. 26) by the words íti pū́rvā, instead of íty ékā, after the pratīka in most of the mss. Nevertheless, the two saṁhitā-mss. of ours (O.R.) which give it in full, read udbhvī́s in c, the word in 4. 26, instead of vibhvī́s, that in 3. 69; and the comm. also states the repetition to be of 4. 26; and SPP's text reads accordingly. ⌊For the ritual, see under 3. 69.⌋

44. This [is] the former, the after down-track, by which thy former Fathers went away; they who are the forerunners, the followers (? abhiṣác) of it, they carry thee to the world of the well-doing.

Our reading abhiṣā́cas is an emendation, almost every ms. giving abhiçā́cas (our Op. has abhi॰sā́caḥ, and also one ⌊or two⌋ of SPP's authorities); -ṣā́c- is of course intended, and the comm. gives it. SPP's text follows the mss. The comm. explains niyāna as the wagon (çakaṭa) on which the corpse is carried to the funeral pile; and the 'forerunners' and 'followers' as the oxen that draw it, in front and on all sides: which is