Volume 1 - Sanskrit Web

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iii. 17- BOOK III. THE ATHARVA-VEDA-SAMHITA. I16
That is, apparently, let all these good things come as the reward of successful agriculture.
The verse, not found in RV., but occurring in VS. (ib. 71 ; and thence quoted
in the Vasistha Dharmasutra ii. 34 and explained in ii.
35), as well as in TS.MS.K. (as
above), has many difficult and questionable points. Yox pavirdvat (Ppp. puts it before
langalam) VS. accents /^fi/irafa^, and TS.MS.K. substitute /(fwfrawa;«y for suqlmam
all have suqevatn ' very propitious '
; the Pet. Lex. suggests suslmam 'having a good
parting' i.e. of furrows, or 'even-furrowed'; and R. refers to MB. i. 5. 2, simanath
nayami. Ppp. reads suveqam, which probably means suqevatn. The impracticable
somasat-saru (so in/«rfa-text) is somapU-saru in VS., MS., K., and Vasistha, and somapitsalam
in Ppp. ; Vas. renders it " provided with a handle for the drinker of soma,"
implying the division sotnapi-tsaru ; Weber conjectures a noun
'
uman strap,' and
emends to sotna { = sa-uma) salsaru, "with strap and handle." But TS. reads sumatlotsaru,
and this is adopted in the translation, matt being taken not as from Tiiaii but
as the word found in viatikr and its derivatives, and related with matya etc. (Weber
also refers to this meaning and connection.) The comm. explains suqimam by karsakasya
snkhakaram, without telling how he arrives at such a sense ; and sotiiasatsarii
(disregarding the /artiz-division) as from isarii, either " a concealed going in the ground "
(root Isar, explained by chadmagatdu), or else " a kind of part to be held by the plowman's
hand "
; in either case " a producer of the soma-sacrifice " (i.e. soma-sa). For
ratha-vahana 'the frame that carries a chariot when not in use,' and prasthavat,
here virtually ' with the chariot on it,' see R. in the Festgruss an B'ohtlingk, p. 95 ff.
the comm. interprets as aqvabalivardadikaih rathavahanasaviartham.
VS. reads at
the beginning of c tdd ud vapati, and TS. ud U krsati; Ppp. has dadata krsata;
VS.TS.MS.Ppp. give for e prapharvyatit (Ppp. -yam) ca pivariin |_and VS.TS. invert
the order of d and ej ; the comm. also hz& pivartm {= sthfdam') ;
prapharvl he explains
as praihamavayah kanyd. The first pada is defective unless we resolve la-Sn-.
l_Zimmer, p. 236, refers to Sir H. M. Elliot's Memoirs, ii. 341, for a description of the
Penjab plow.J
4. Let Indra hold down the furrow ; let Pushan defend it ; let it, rich
in milk, yield to us each further summer.
This verse is found only in RV. (iv. 57. 7), which reads dnu yachatu for abht raksatu ;
Ppp. has mahyam instead of abhi. We had the second half-verse above, as iii. 10. i c, d.
5. Successfully {gtmdm) let the good plowshares thrust apart the
earth ; successfully let the plowmen follow the beasts of draft ; O Cunasira,
do ye (two), dripping (.') with oblation, make the herbs rich in
berries for this man.
VS. (xii. 69) and MS. (ii. 7. 12) have the whole of this verse; RV. (iv. 57.8) and
TS. (iv. 2. 5^), only the first two padas. For supkalas in a, VS. (also our I.) has sii
phalds, and RV.TS. nah phalas, both preferable readings; RV.VS. have krsantu for
tudantu. In b, TS. gives abhi for dnu (our P.M. have dbhinu); MS. has kinaqo
abhy itu vdhaih; RV.VS., -fa abhi yantu vahdih. In c, the comm. gives tosamSiid,
explaining it by iusyaniSu. In d, the mss. vary (as everywhere where the word occurs)
between -pippalas and -pispalas ; about half are for each ;
VS. MS. end the pada with
kartand 'sin^. Ppp. has a peculiar version : qunam kendqo anv etu vdhaiii qunaih
phdlo vinadann ayatu bhtimim : qundsird havisd yo yajdtrdi supippald osadhayas
santti iasmdi. The comm. |_quoting YaskaJ declares Qundsirdu to be Vayu and Aditya
(wind and sun) ; or else, he says, Quna is god of happiness and Slra of the plow.