Volume 1 - Sanskrit Web

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iii. 13- BOOK III. THE ATHARVA-VEDA-SAMHITA. I08
1. Since formerly (? adds), going forth together, ye resounded {nad)
when the dragon was slain, thenceforth ye are streams (nadt) by name
these are your names, O rivers.
The pada-mss. all commit the very gratuitous blunder of writing tah instead of to. at
the beginning of d, as if it belonged \a sindhavas instead of to naindni; SPP. emends
to ta, and the comm. so understands the word. The comm. takes adds as Vedic substitute
for ainusjuin, qualifying dhaii. None of the other texts gives any various reading
for this verse. Pada d sets forth, as it were, the office of the first four verses, in finding
punning etymologies for sundry of the names of water.
2. When, sent forth by Varuna, ye thereupon (dt) quickly skipped
{valg) together, then Indra obtained (sp) you as ye went ; therefore are
ye waters {dp) afterward.
TS. and MS. have in d apas (nomin.), and this is obviously the true reading, and
assumed in the translation ; both editions follow the mss. (except our Op.) in giving
apas. MS. begins the verse with samprdcyutas ; for at in b MS. hasj/(f/ and TS. tas.
In d, Ppp. elides the a of anu; TS. leaves sthana unlingualized. The comm. reads
instead stana.
3. As ye were flowing perversely {apakdmdvi), since Indra verily hindered
{va7-) you by his powers, you, ye divine ones, therefore the name
water {vdr) is assigned you.
Ppp. has for c indro vas saktabhir devais. TS. combines in d var nama. The
comm. apparently takes hikam as a single word (the TS. pada-\.txt so regards it), quoting
as his authority Ndighantuka iii. 12 ; and again in d, if the manuscript does not do
him injustice, he reads hikam for hitam.
4. The one god stood up to you, flowing at [your] will; "the great
ones have breathed up {iid-an)," said he ; therefore water (tidakd) is [so]
called.
The name here really had in mind must be, it would seem, udan, but udakdm has to
be substituted for it in the nominative ; none of the other texts offer a different form.
TS. improves the meter of a by omitting vas, and TS. and MS. leave the a of api
unelided. Ppp. differs more seriously : eko na deva upatisthat syandamand upetyah.
Yathdva^am in b might be ' at his will,' opposed to apakdindm in vs. 3. The sense of
c is rather obscure; the comm. understands: "saying 'by this respect on the part of
Indra we have become great,' they breathed freely (or heaved a sigh of relief : itcchvasitavatyas)
" — which is senseless. R. suggests " Indra put himself in their way with
the polite address and inquiry: 'their worships have given themselves an airing'; and
conducted them on their way again "
; Weber understands them to sigh under the
burden of the god standing " upon " (dpi) them. The comm. declares api to have the
sense of adhi.
5. The waters [are] excellent; the waters verily were ghee; these
waters verily bear Agni-and-Soma ; may the strong (tlvrd) satisfying
savor (rdsd) of the honey-mixed {-pre) come to me along with breath,
with splendor.