Volume 1 - Sanskrit Web

36l TRANSLATION AND NOTES. BOOK VI. -vi. Ill
and spoken of in third person in c, d. Three asterisms are here |_and in 1 1
2 J referred
to, all in our constellation Scorpio: Antares or Cor Scorpionis (either alone or with a, t)
is usually called jry«//M 'oldest,' but also (more anciently?), as an asterism of ill omen,
jyesthaghni ' she that slays the oldest'* ;
mula ' root,' also in the same manner mfila-
'
barhanl \or -na\, lit. root-wrencher,'* is the tail, or in the tail, of which the terminal
star-pair, or the sting (X, u), has the specific name vicrtau. LSee note to ii. 8. i.J The
comm. takes yamasya as belonging to mtilabarhanat. By a misprint, our text begins
withj^'a/- (readj^y^-). *l_See TB. i. 5. z^.\
3. On the tiger day hath been born the hero, asterism-born, being
born rich in heroes ; let him not, increasing, slay his father; let him not
harm his mother that gave him birth.
We should expect at the beginning vyaghryS or vatydghre ; the comm. paraphrases
the word with vyaghravat krure. |_In d, read sd ma matdramt — As to minlt, see
Gram. § 726.J
III. For relief from insanity.
\Atharvan. — caturrcam. dgneyam. dnustubham : i. pardnustup tristubh^
This hymn, like the preceding, is wanting in Paipp. Kaug. (8. 24) reckons it as one
of the matrndmani (with ii. 2 and viii. 6) ;
and the comm. quotes a remedial rite against
demons (26. 29-32) as an example of their use.
Translated: Ludwig, p. 512 ; Zimmer, p. 393 ; Grill, 21, 170; Griffith, i. 306 ; Bloomfield,
32, 518. — Cf. Hillebrandt, Veda-chrestomathie, p. 50.
1. Free thou this man for me, O Agni, who here bound, well-restrained,
cries loudly ; thenceforth shall he make for thee a portion, when he shall
be uncrazed.
Nearly all our mss., and the great majority of SPP's, have the false accent atds at
beginning of c; both editions give dtas. The comm. x^2A& yaihd iox yadd in d. The
comm. paraphrases suyatas by susthu niyamito niruddhaprasarah san. Pada b has a
redundant syllable.
2. Let Agni quiet [it] down for thee, if thy mind is excited {ud-yu) ;
I, knowing, make a remedy, that thou mayest be uncrazed.
The comm. reads udyatam { = grahavikdreno ^dbhrantam) instead of udyutam in b.
3. Crazed from sin against the gods, crazed from a demon— I, knowing,
make a remedy, when he shall be uncrazed.
A few of the authorities (including our O.) nccentydda in d; ydthd would be a preferable
reading.
|_Bloomfield, " sin of the gods," AJP. xvii. 433, JAOS., etc.J
4. May the Apsarases give thee again, may Indra again, may Bhaga
again ; may all the gods give thee again, that thou mayest be uncrazed.
The samhita reading in a and c would, of course, equally admit of tvd : aduh ' have
given thee,' and this would be an equally acceptable meaning ; the comm. so understands
and interprets. In our text, t^'SlA piinas at beginning of c (the sign for u dropped out).
The difference of meter tends to point out vs. i as an alien addition by which this
hymn has been increased beyond the norm of the book.