Volume 1 - Sanskrit Web

J
;
vii. 26- BOOK VII. THE ATHARVA-VEDA-SAWHITA. 406
is a misprint for prd, which all our samhita-xass. give. |_The vs. seems to be suggested
by RV. i.
32. I.J
2. So Vishnu praises forth his heroisms, like a fearful wild beast,
wandering, mountain-staying, —
From distant distance may he come hither. —
The first two padas of this verse, with the first two of our vs. 3, form one verse in
the other texts : RV. i. 1 54. 2 ; TB. ii. 4. 34 ; MS. i. 2. 9
which has it alone, besides our vs. i. RV.MS. read viryena, which is belter, in a;
; Ap. xi. 9. i ; and aLso in Ppp.,
TB.Ap. vlryhya instead. Our second pada forms, together with our (intruded) third
pada, a first half-verse in several other texts : RV. x. 180. 2 ; SV. ii. 1223 ;
VS. xviii. 71 ;
TS. i. 6. 1 24 ; MS. iv. 12.3; instead of jagamydt is read jaganthd by all except TS.,
which has jagdmd-j the whole (RV. etc.) verse is our vii. 84. 3 below. The comm.'
unites to this verse the first two padas of the one following, which certainly belong
much more properly with it ; but the mss. and the Anukr. require the division as made
in our text ; and SPP. also follows them.
3. Upon whose three wide out-stridings dwell all beings.
Widely, O Vishnu, stride out ; widely make us to dwell ; drink the ghee,
O thou ghee-wombed one ;
prolong the master of the sacrifice on and on.
Made up of the second half of a RV. etc. tristubh ver.se (see above : no text shows
in this half any various readings) and a whole anustubh verse, which also is found in
a number of other texts (VS. v. 38 ; TS. 1.3.4"; MS. 1.2. 13; AQS. v. 19. 3 ;
ggS.
viii. 4. 3), and almost without variants (only TS. combines nah krdhi in b, and MS.
reads ghrtavane in c). L^PP- ^""^^ '^'^^ ^ {viqvd).\
4. Here Vishnu strode out ; thrice he set down his steps ;
[it is] collected
in his dust.
This and the three following verses form one connected passage also in RV.
(i. 22. 17-20) and SV. (ii. 1019-22), but not in the other texts in which they are, in
part or all, found. In this verse, RV.SV. read paddm at end of b,* and SV. has/(Z«-
suU at end of c. Of the other texts, VS. (v. 15) and TS. (i. 2. 13') agree with RV.
MS. (i. 2. 9 et al.) \\7i% pada, like our text. The meaning of c is obscure and disputed:
the comm. here explains thus : visnoh . . . pdiisumati pdde lokatrayam . . . samavasthapitain
samdkrstath I'd. Henry renders " for him it is reduced to a dust-heap."
*LSV. also at i.
222.
5. Three steps Vishnu strode out, the unharmable shepherd, ordaining
(dlir) here (itds) [his] ordinances.
RV.SV. read dtas at beginning of c, and VS. (xxxiv. 43) agrees with them; TB.
(ii.4. 6') has instead tdtas. It seems hardly possible to give itds its distinctive meaning
'from here'; but Henry combines it with vi cakraine : "from here." The comm.
has atas.
6. Behold ye the deeds of Vishnu, from where he beholds [your]
courses (vratd),
[he] Indra's suitable companion.
Or ydtas in b may mean simply ' as.' Not only RV.SV., but also the other texts containing
this verse (VS. vi. 4 et al. ; TS. 1.3.6'; MS. i.2. 14), have the same readings
with ours. The comm. explains /ar/af(» as sprqati badhndti vd!