Volume 1 - Sanskrit Web

iv. 5- BOOK IV. THE ATHARVA-VEDA-SAMHITA. 1 52
For talpeqayas in a, Ppp. has pustiq-, and RV. (vii. 55.8) vahyeq- ; both give talpa-
(ivarts (Ppp. -rl) at end of b. RV. further mars the meter of c by giving -gandhds.
4. Whatever stirs have I seized ; eye, breath have I seized ; all the
limbs have I
seized, in the depth (ati^arvard) of the nights.
Ppp. reads in d uta garvare; the
comm. explains ati(- by tamobhuyisthe madhyaratrakale.
5. Whoso sits, whoso goes about, and whoso standing looks out — of
them we put together the eyes, just like this habitation (Jiannyd).
RV. (vii. 55. 6) rectifies the
meter of a by adding ca before cdrati (the Anukr. takes
no notice of the deficiency of a syllable in our version) ; its b is ydq ca pdqyati no
jdnah; and in c it has hantnas for dadhmas, and (as also Ppp.) aksatii. The comm.
gives no explanation of the obscure comparison in d, nor of the word harmyd, but
simply says "as this harinya that we see is deprived of the faculty of sight." |_Is not
the tertium comparationis simply the closing.' We close their eyes as we close this
house. The comm. renders sdth dadhmas by nimilitdni kurmas. — For the loss of ca
before cdrati, cf . iv. 1 8. 6 a = v. 3 1 . ii a (jd before qaqaka ?), and vi. 9 1 . 2 a (' z/a before
vStif). Other cases (vii. 81. 1 c, etc.) cited by Bloomfield, AJP. xvii. 418.J
6. Let the mother sleep, the father sleep, the dog sleep, the housemaster
(vi^pdti) sleep ; let the relatives {jiidti) of her sleep ; let this
folk round about sleep.
For svdptu (5 times) and svdpantu, RV. (vii. 55. 5) gives sdsiu and sasdntu; also,
in c, sdrve ' all for asyai ' ' of her ' — which latter is to us a welcome indication of the
reason for all this putting to sleep, and marks the Atharvan application of the hymn,
whether that were or were not its original intent. In b, all the mss. have sva instead of
fvdy both editions emend to the latter, which is read also by the comm. |_For asyai,
cf. iii. 25. 6.J
7. O sleep, with the imposition (abhikarana) of sleep do thou put to.
sleep all the folk ; till sun-up make the others sleep, till dawning let me
be awake, like Indra, uninjured, unexhausted.
Several of SPP's mss. have at the beginning svdpnas. Ppp. reads svapnadhik-,
and so does the comm. (explaining adhik- as adhistkdnam (ayyadi) ; the latter has in
d dvyusam ; and Ppp. gives caratdt for jagrtat. A khila to RV. vii. 55 has a corresponding
verse, reading for a svapndh svapnadhikdrane (thus rectifying the meter), in
C a sitrydm, and for d dvyiisdih jdgriydd ahdm. The Anukr. uses the name jyotis so
loosely that it is difficult to say precisely how it would have the verse scanned ; it is really
a bhurij pankti.
The 5 hymns of the first anuvaka contain 37 verses ; and the old Anukr., taking 30
as norm, says simply sapta.
6. Against the poison of a poisoned arrow.
\Garutman. — astarcam. taksakadevatyam. dnusiuiAam.']
Found (except vs. I ) in Paipp. v. Used by Kau;. (with, as the schol. and the
comm. say, the next following hymn also) in a rite (28. i ff.) of healing for poison, with
homage to Taksaka, chief of the serpent gods ; and the schol. (but not the comm.)