Ppp., have at the beginning uçatī́ rā́try (a-), but the pada-mss. give rā́tri instead of rā́trī, as they should give, and as SPP's pada-text reads by emendation. What follows it the pada-mss. offer as ánu॰sāma: drā́him (or drāhím); in the saṁhitā-mss. the first word appears as ánusāma (once ánusama) or (accentless, and so making one word with -drā́him or -drā́hi) anusāma- or aṁnusāma-; and the second appears as -drā́him, -drā́hi, drā́him, drā́hím, drāhí, drā́vi, prā́him. The rest of the half-verse, tiṣṭhate mitrá iva svadhā́bhiḥ, is the same in all, including the comm. and Ppp. SPP. emends to ánu sā́ bhadrā́ ’bhí ti-, which appears to be modeled on our ánu mā bhadrā́bhir ví ti-, but is defective both in sense and in meter. The comm. gives anukṣaṇaṁ vi ti-, cutting loose entirely from the ms.-reading; his own text, according to SPP., has anusāmadrā vi ti-. Ppp., finally, has avasāna bhadrād vi ti-, which suggests the emendation uçatī́ rā́try ávasā no bhadrā́ ví tiṣṭhate etc. Our ví tiṣṭhate, at any rate, is by the support of Ppp. and the comm. put nearly beyond question.
⌊I have made some modifications in the above paragraph which I could not well indicate by the ell-brackets.—For those who do not have the Bombay ed., it may be well to give SPP's reconstructions of the verse: first, the text of the comm.: ati viçvāny arhad gambhīro varṣiṣṭham arhati çraviṣṭhā: uçatī rātry anusāmadrā vi tiṣṭhate mitra iva svadhābhih; second, the text which the comm. actually explains: ati viçvāny arhati gambhīrā varṣiṣṭham arhati çraviṣṭhā: uçatī rātry anukṣaṇaṁ vi tiṣṭhate mitra iva svadhābhiḥ; third, SPP's reading: áti viçvāny aruhad gambhīró várṣiṣṭham aruhanta çráviṣṭhāḥ: uçatī́ rā́try (p. rā́trī) ánu sā́ bhadrā́ ’bhi tiṣṭhate mitrá iva svadhā́bhiḥ.⌋
3. O desirable, welcome, well-portioned, well-born one! thou didst come, O night; mayest thou be well-willing here; save thou for us the things that are produced (jātá) for men, likewise what [are] for cattle, by prosperity ⌊puṣṭyā́⌋.
⌊Or, '[and] prosperous,' if we read puṣṭā́.⌋ The mss. all read in a várye, which we need not have altered to vā́rye, as várya is found elsewhere as early as TB.; Ppp. has niryāi. Three of SPP's authorities and one of ours have vándye, ⌊one has véde⌋, the rest with Ppp., vánde; the comm. vade (= sarvāir abhiṣṭūyamāne). Ppp. has svajātā. In b, most of the mss. begin with ā́jā́gan (one ájā́gan; p. ā́: jā́: agan), and the true reading is in all probability ā́ ’jāgan, impf. intensive of gam; or, if left as "pluperfect," as in our edition, it should at any rate be ā́ ’jagan, as SPP., with the comm., reads. Rātri is our (evidently called-for) emendation for rā́tri of the mss., which SPP. follows. Syās, at the end of b, is also for syām of the mss., the comm., and SPP.; it is an obvious improvement, though not quite necessary ⌊and receiving no support from Ppp.: see below⌋. Ppp. has a peculiar (and corrupt) version: ā (if svajātā, as quoted above, is for svajāta ā) cāgni rātri sumanā hy asyām. In c, the translation implies emendation of asmā́ṅs to asmé, against all the authorities, including Ppp. and the comm. The pada-mss. read jātā́ḥ, their natural inference from the rare and anomalous combination jātā́ átho; SPP. emends to jātā́. In d, Ppp. reads çriyā instead of atho, and at the end puṣṭyā, with all the mss. (they vary only as to its accent), and with SPP.; our conjectural emendation puṣṭā́ is supported only by the comm. ⌊text and explanation⌋.
4. The eager night has taken to herself the splendor of the lion, of the stag, of the tiger, of the leopard, the horse's bottom, man's (púruṣa) roar (? māyú); many forms thou makest for thyself, shining out.
