Volume 1 - Sanskrit Web

iii. 3- BOOK III. THE ATHARVA-VEDA-SAWHITA. 88
The Anukr. ignores the jagaii pada (c) |_or lets it offset a counted as io!J. [The
usual compound is sv-dpas; but sv-apas, though not quotable, is quite possible.J
2. Indra, the inspired one, however far away, let the ruddy ones set
in motion hither {d-cydvaya-) in order to friendship, when the gods venture
(?) for him 3. gdyatri, a brliatt, a song {arkd), with the sdHtrdmani
(ceremony).
This verse is nearly as obscure as the preceding, and probably as hopelessly corrupt.
The "ruddy ones" in a are, according to the comm., priests (rtvij); Weber understands
" horses," Ludwig " somas." The comm. takes dddhrsanta in d first from root
dhr (! = aiiharayan), then apparently from lihrs (^purvam 7'israstSvayavant indratn
punah sarvdvayavopetajii akurvan, citing TS. v. 6. 34); Ppp. has dadri^auta ; perhaps
dadrjianta might be made to yield the best sense ;
restoration of the augment would fill
out the deficient meter, which the Anukr. fails to remark. R. conjectures " made firm
for him the mighty j^aya/ri as bolt." About half the mss. (including our Bp.E.I.H.K.)
accent in b sakhyhyaj the same uncertainty as to this word appears elsewhere.
3. For the waters let king Varuna call thee; let Soma call thee for
the mountains ; let Indra call thee for these subjects (vi^) ;
becoming a
falcon, fly unto these subjects.
" For" may of course be " from " in a and b, as preferred by [_the four J
translators
and comm. Ppp. reads, in a, b varutio juhava somas tva 'yam hvayatij and again in
C, indras ivd 'yam hvayati. With the proper resolutions, this verse is a decent tristiibh;
the Anukr. scans it as n4-io: 10-1-10 = 41. The verses in our text are wrongly
numbered from this one on.
4. Let the falcon lead hither from far {pdra) the one to be called,
living exiled in others' territory (ks^tra) ; let the (two) A9vins make the
road for thee easy to go ;
settle together about this man, ye his fellows.
The translation follows both previous translators, and the comm. (= hvatavyam), in
implying hdvyam in a instead of havydm oblation yet Ppp. reads havis, which supports
havydm. The comm., with several of SPP's mss., has ai'aruddham in b; for
'
' ;
Lthe technicalj aparuddhaq caran (and ava-gam, 6 d) compare especially PB. xii. 1 2. 6.
5. Let thine opponents call thee ; thy friends have chosen [thee] against
[them] Q prdti) ; Indra-and-Agni, all the gods, have maintained for thee
security (kshnd) in the people (viq).
The coram., and a few of SPP's mss. that follow it, have at the beginning vdyantu
(= sdmtatyena sevantdin). Several samhita-mss. (including our P.M.O.Op.) read
pratijdtiah ; Ppp. has the easier reading pahca jandh, with Jn'ayanti for -ittu, and, in
b, varsata for avrsata; also it ends with adldharas. As in more than one other case,
all the mss. accent U in the second half-verse, and the pada-ttxX. puts its
double stroke
of pada-division before the word ;
and both editions read /^y but it should plainly be te,
as our translation renders, and as the comm. also explains it. The comm. combines in
b pratimitrds, making it mean " opposing friends " ; the combination of vr choose ' '
with prati is strange and obscure.
6. Whatever fellow disputes thy call, and whatever outsider — making