That is, doubtless, 'conduct sacred ceremonies.' All the mss.* have at the beginning ávyasas (p. ávi॰asaḥ), and so have Ppp., the Anukr., Kāuç. and all its scholiasts, and the comm.; whence of course also SPP.; it is unquestionably the Atharvan reading. Yet even the comm. can only say for it that it is the same as avyacasas, a syllable being omitted by Vedic license; and the analysis of the pada-text appears to be one of those wild and senseless guesses of which in this book it presents not a few examples. ⌊The important thing to observe in the pāda avya[ca]saç ca vyacasaç ca is the recurrence of so many confusingly similar syllables: the corruption is a case of haplography (cf. note to iv. 5. 5, and Bloomfield in AJP. xvii. 418); but one would expect avyacaso vyacasaç ca. The pada-mss. ⌊save SPP's J.⌋ have víṣyāmi in b as an integral word; but the comm. understands ví: syāmi, and SPP., as well as our text, so reads; many of the mss. have bí instead of ví. One accents in c vedám, ⌊and one has vedam, without accent; Griffith's 'bunch of grass' implies the reading vedám here and at 72. 1⌋; we might conjecture védim as a better reading; véda is not to be expected in the Atharvan. ⌊The Index gives for books i.-xviii. three occurrences of véda, namely at iv. 35. 6; x. 8. 17; xv. 3. 7: at x. 8. 17 W. suggests that it is perhaps to be rendered simply by 'knowledge'; but in iv. and xv. it can hardly be aught else than 'Veda.'⌋ Some of the mss. accent kṛṇmáhe. There was no sufficient reason for altering the accent of vyácasas in our text to vyacásas; SPP. reads vyác- with the majority of his authorities. The comm. has no notion of what the verse really means: he gives two different expositions—one explaining ávyacas and vyácas to mean the two varieties of breathing, prāṇa and vyāna, the bila to be the mūlādhāra, and veda 'the Veda' (akṣarātmakamantrasaṁgha); the other taking the first two to be the paramātman and jīvātman, the bila the heart, and veda 'knowledge' (cikīrṣitakarmaviṣayaṁ jñānam). *⌊If I understand the Collation Book, W's P. actually begins with avyacásaç cá vyácasáç ca, which, apart from the wild accents, is worth noting.⌋
In Ppp., this hymn is immediately followed by our hymn 72.
69. To the waters: for long life.
[Brahman.—catasraḥ. mantroktādevatyāḥ. 1. āsury anuṣṭubh; 2. sāmny anuṣṭubh; 3. āsurī gāyatrī; 4. sāmny uṣṇih (1-4. 1-av.).]
⌊Prose.⌋ Found also in Pāipp. xix. The four verses of this hymn are called in Kāuç. and Vāit. jivās, and are prescribed to accompany the rinsing of the mouth with water in the parvan ceremony (Kāuç. 3. 4; Vāit. 1. 19, misunderstood by the editor), in a rite for long life at the reception of a Vedic student (Kāuç. 58. 7), and in the madhuparka ceremony (Kāuç. 90. 22); of these the comm. takes notice only of Kāuç. 58. 7. With this use is doubtless connected the attribution of the hymn in the Anukr. to the waters as divinity. ⌊As to the citation by technical designation, and especially as to the ritual uses, see p. 897, ¶2.⌋
Translated: Griffith, ii. 320.
1. Living are ye; may I live; may I live my whole life-time.
2. Living on are ye; may I live on; may I live my whole life-time.
3. Living together are ye; may I live together; may I live my whole life-time.
4. Lively are ye; may I live; may I live my whole life-time.
