Volume 1 - Sanskrit Web

iv. 14- BOOK IV. THE ATHARVA-VEDA-SAMHITA. 170
vs. 5 (8. 17), in the paman sacrifices, witli transfer of tlie fires, and again, in the
agnistoma (15. 9), when the fire is brought to the utiaravedi; and the comm. regards
vs. 3 as quoted at 27. 6, in the vajapeya rite.
Translated: Griffith, i. 149; Weber, xviii. 51 (elaborate comment).
1. Since the goat has been born from the heat of Agni (the fire),
it saw [its] generator in the beginning; by it the gods in the beginnings
attained (i) [their] godhead; by (with.') it the sacrificial ones {me'dhya)
ascended the ascents (roha).
Found also in VS. (xiii. 51), MS. (ii. 7. 17 ;
like VS. throughout), and TS. (iv. 2. io4).
VS. and MS. have in c, d devdtam dgram ayahs Una rdham ayann j'lpa jitMh-. TS. has
at the beginning aja, and, correspondingly, sa (with vat added) in b, and tdya in c and
d; it also reverses the order of c and d, agreeing otherwise with VS. MS. in d, but having
dgre^ like AV., in c ; it also replaces (^okat hy gdrb/iat in a. We have a again below as
ix. 5. 13 a; and c is nearly equivalent to iii. 22. 3 c: moreover the pada-ms^., here as
there,
misinterpret ayah before Una as ayam, which SPP. properly corrects to dyan
in h.\s pada-icxt ; all our saihhitd-mss. read ayah. The comm. declares /// in a to be
intended to intimate that the same statement was made in another text also ; and he
quotes TS. ii. I. 14; rdha he explains by svargddiloka ; Una he takes both times as
designating the means. The Anukr. takes no notice of the deficiency of a syllable in b.
|_As to ajd, see Weber, Berliner Sb., 1895, p. 847 n.J
2. Stride ye with the fire to the firmament (ndka), bearing in your
hands vessel-[fires] (fikhya) ; having gone to the back of the sky, to the
heaven {svdr),
sit ye mingled with the gods.
The other texts (VS. xvii. 65 ; TS. iv. 6. 5' ; MS.
ii. 10.6) differ but slightly from
ours: all have the sing, ukhyam at beginning of b, and TS.MS. combine divdh p-
in c. Ppp- reads agntthis in a, and eksdth for ukhydn in b ; for the latter, the comm.
(with one of SPP's mss.) gives aksdn, which he defines as aksavat prakd^akdn anusthitdn
yajhdn. As usual, the mss. vary at the end between the equivalent ddhvam
and dddhvam; our text reads the latter, SPP's the former.
3. From the back of earth I have ascended to the atmosphere; from
the atmosphere I have ascended to the sky ; from the back of the sky,
of the firmament (ndka), I
have gone to heaven (svdr), to light.
The other three texts (VS. xvii. 67; TS. and MS. as above) agree in omitting
prsthat in a and adding nd after ahdm before antdriksain. In this verse, the comm.
takes svdr-2s> the sun (in vs. 2, as the j-z/ar^a loka'). It is too irregular (14 + 9 :7 + 8 = 38)
|_If we omit the first ahdm, and combine
to be so simply defined as it is by the Anukr.
dlvaruham in b and resolve -adt suar in cd, we get an orderly purastddbrhati.\
4. Going to heaven (svdr) they look not away ; they ascend to the
sky, the two firmaments (i-odasl) — they who, well-knowing, have
extended the everywhere-streaming sacrifice.
The other texts (VS. xvii. 68 ; TS. and MS. as above) have no variants; but Ppp.
ends b with rohantu rddhasah. The comm. again takes svar as svarga ; and viqvatodhdram
as either sarvalo dhdrakam or else sarvato 'vicchinnaphalaprdptyupdyd
yasmin.