Samhita

“ Both mss. and comm. and accent all point the other way, and we have doubtless to assume as pada-reading hiraṇya: téjasā, as two words, of which the first is vocative; and, but for our blundering pada-kāra, this is just what our saṁhitā-reading would naturally be taken to mean. The comm. understands 'thee' as referring to the man who wears the gold amulet ”

“ The data of the Kāuçika no sufficient warrant for dogmatism in the exegesis of the Saṁhitā.—There is every reason to suppose that the actual text of the saṁhitās is often a fragmentary and faulty record of the antecedent (I will not say original) oral tradition; and that the stanzas as we find them have often been dislocated and their natural sequence faulted by the action of the diaskeuasts. It is moreover palpable that questions of original sequence, so far from being cleared up, are often complicated all the more by the comparison of the sequences of the ritual texts (see p. lxxv) . ”

“ The mantras or sayings composing the Samhita of the Atharva Veda differ from those of the other Vedas by being in the form of spells rather than prayers or hymns, and seem to indicate a stage of religion lower than that of the Rig Veda. ”

“ If thou hast eaten it with another firm standing (pratiṣṭhā́) than that with which the ancient seers ate this, without firm standing, without support (āyátana) wilt thou die: thus one says to him; it verily [have] I not [eaten] coming hither, nor retiring, nor coming on; standing firm in truth, therewith have I etc. etc.
All our saṁhitā-mss., and the majority of SPP's, have the false accent apratiṣṭhānó ‘nāy- in b ”

“ Let Indra-and-Agni tie them up, and king Soma, allied; let Indra with the Maruts make tying-up for our enemies.
Ppp. has for b the better version rājñā somena medinā (the construction of our medināu being anomalous) ; also me for nas at the end. Some of the pada texts (including our D.Kp.) read enām in a, and the saṁhitā mss. generally enāṁ instead of enān; the comm. gives enān. The comm. explains medināu badly by medasvināv asmābhir dattena haviṣā mādyantāu vā. ”

“ The Upanishads represent the final portion of the Vedic Literature, and is therefore often called the Vedanta. I have already explained how the elevated monotheism of the Samhitas became lost to later generations in the hard crust of Nature-Worship under which it was imbedded, and how erroneous interpretations of the Samhitas led to an inordinate development of the Vedic ritual. Formal religion usurped the place of the religion of the heart. ”

“ These pieces of fuel are for thee, O Agni; with them, O burning one, become thou united; put in us [long] life-time; put immortality in the Āryan.
The second and fourth pādas are wholly corrupt; the translation follows in part our emended text. ⌊For b, the translation implies tā́bhir dhakṣo (cf. RV. x. 115. 4; ii. 4. 4, where the saṁhitā has dákṣoḥ; RV. Prāt. iv. 41 end) sám íd bhava;⌋ and for d, it implies amṛtatváṁ cā́ ”rye. For b, the general reading of the authorities is tvā́m íd dhaṅsó (p. haṅsáḥ) samíd (p. sam॰ít) bhava ”

“ The mss. of the Sūtras may sometimes be taken as testimony for the readings of the cited pratīkas. The like was said (p. lxxiii) of the mss. of the Anukramaṇīs. The mss. of the Kāuçika (cf. Bloomfield's Introduction, p. xxxix) are wont to agree with those of the Vulgate, even in obvious blunders.
Grouping of mantra-material in Sūtra and in Saṁhitā compared.—Many instances might be adduced from the Kāuçika which may well have a direct bearing upon our judgment concerning the unitary character of hymns that appear as units in our text. ”

“ With the first half-verse compare vs. 26 a, b, above; the last pāda is the same with 25 d. The construction of rákṣas in a is doubtful; it might be vocative; the comm. combines it into a compound with samadam; and he treats te, as before, as if it were té. Ppp. reads at beginning of b, as our text in vs. 26, subrāhmaṇās. The verse is not quoted in Kāuç.
33. I set thee down, O rice-dish, among them of the seers; for them that are not of the seers there is no portion here; let Agni my guardian, and all the Maruts, let all the gods defend the cooked [offering] . ”

“ Let the spouses of the gods, eager, help us; let them help us forward unto offspring (? tují) , unto winning of booty (vā́ja) ; they that are of earth, they that are in the sphere (vratá) of the waters—let those well-invoked goddesses bestow on us protection.
The translation implies the accent devī́s in d. The other texts read accordantly devīḥ suhavāḥ and yachata ”

“ The comm. renders a, b thus: "the mighty one, Agni, looks near by upon the birth of the gods, Indra etc., as in a noisy (kṣumati = çabdavati) herd (yūthā being = yūthe) of kine a master sees his own cattle (paçvas) ": or, he says, it is the consuming fire that is addressed: "O Agni, this sacrificer who is being consumed by thee, mighty by thy favor, in a noisy cattle-crowd, looks upon the birth of the gods as upon herds of cattle (paçvas) ; the sense being that the gods come to light in the neighborhood of him who has gone to the world of the gods." ”

“ The verse yát kāma is found at xix. 52. 5, and yásmāt kóçāt at the end of the book, and neither elsewhere.⌋
⌊Relation of book xix. to Vāitāna.—Still less than Kāuçika, does Vāitāna imply by its citations a recognition of the text of book xix. as an integral part of the saṁhitā.—In all Vāitāna there are only seven sūtras (Garbe gives five) that cite passages occurring in book xix.: they are Vāit. 1. 18 and 19, citing the apratiratha hymn and the "jivā́s-verses"; 3. 5 and 19. 12, citing ā́ devā́nam; 3. 9, citing devásya tvā; 28. 14, citing yád agne yā́ni kā́ni cit ”

“ Whatever householder's fire of ours may be overlord of cattle: let the virile (vṛ́ṣan) amulet of udumbára unite me with prosperity.
The connection of the parts of the verse is obscure. The comm. makes b apodosis to a, supplying asti in a, and taking ásat optatively—which is extremely implausible. In d the mss. read sá mā (p. sáḥ: mā) ; the comm. divides sam ā, with his usual disregard of accent (ā = sarvataḥ) ; our sám mā is an obvious and unquestionable emendation, and is also read by Ppp. ”

“ What I eat (?) that is borrowed, that is not given back; with what tribute of Yama I go about—now, O Agni, I become guiltless (anṛṇá) as to that; thou knowest how to unfasten all fetters.
The translation implies emendation of ásmi to ádmi in a; this is suggested by jaghasa in vs. 2, and is adopted by Ludwig also; but possibly apratīttam asmi might be borne as a sort of careless vulgar expression for "I am guilty of non-payment." ”

“ For him, O Agni-and-Soma, maintain ye dominion, for him wealth; in the sphere of royalty make ye him superior to his fellow.
Two or three of our mss. have in b the bad reading dhārayatām; and, in c, even the majority of them give -vargre (as Bp. at iii. 5. 2, and B. Kp. at xi. 2. 4: but SPP. reports nothing of the sort in his authorities) . Ppp. has yasya for the first asmāi, and asya for the second, and vardhayatas for dhārayatam in b; also aho for imam in c.
3. Whoever, both related and unrelated, assails us—every such one mayest thou make subject to me, the sacrificer, the soma-presser. ”

“ I fasten back thine arms; I fasten up thy mouth; with the fury of terrible Agni—therewith have I smitten thine oblation.
SPP. has at the beginning ápi, his authorities being equally divided between ápi and ápa. The majority of ours (only D. noted to the contrary) have ápa, which is decidedly to be preferred, as corresponding also to 4 a, and as less repetitious. ”

“ The sun, the wind, shared [respectively] the eye, the breath of man; then his other self the gods bestowed (pra-yam) on Agni.
'Shared' (ví bhejire, pl.) is ungrammatical as taken with the subject (which is only two-fold) given in the text. The comm. understands that the other 'senses' with their deities are viewed as included with these two. Ppp. reads tathā instead of atha in c.
32. Therefore, indeed, one who knows man ⌊púruṣa⌋ thinks "this is bráhman"; for all deities are seated in him, as cows in a cow-stall. ”

“ One of SPP's mss. has bhūyāsta. In 87, most of the mss. insert an avasāna after smaḥ, and SPP. follows them; it is of course senseless, unless we use one also after stha in 86†; nor does the Anukr. appear to acknowledge it, since it notes no difference of division as between the two verses; but our ⌊printed⌋ text at any rate blunders in not reading either smo asmā́n or smo ‘smā́n since it has omitted the avasāna-mark. The metrical definitions of the Anukr. are worthless, as there is no trace of meter in the two passages; they can by violence be read into the number of syllables called for. ”

“ People know the golden-embryo [as] highest, not to be overcrowed (anatyudyá) ; the skambhá in the beginning poured forth that gold within the world.
Ppp. puts this verse after our 30.
29. In the skambhá the worlds, in the skambhá penance, in the skambhá right is set; thee, O skambhá, I know plainly [as] set all together in Indra.
The mss. are much at variance in regard to skámbha in c; all save W. (the poorest and least trustworthy of all) end the word with m, and O.s.m.D. accent skambhám. That skámbha is really intended can hardly admit of question; Ppp. appears to read it. ”

“ As of the powerful Agni the lusters (bhānú) go forth in every direction—gleaming away our evil.
These four verses are (rejecting the intrusive refrain) one connected sentence: the prá's in vss. 3 and 4 repeat by anticipation the jā́yemahi prá of vs. 4 b; "we" are, in fact, Agni's sūri's, since we depute him to sacrifice for us, just as our sūri's procure us, the priests; and our progeny is to increase and spread like the brightness of the fire. ”

“ Of whom the evil-doers shared ⌊bhaj⌋ the cruelty, the well-doers, by non-sleep, [shared] the pure (púṇya) life-time—thou revelest in the sky (svàr) with the highest relative; thou wast born out of the mind of one practising fervor.
The translation is a merely literal rendering, and does not pretend to be an intelligent one. It implies in a, with SPP., a majority of his mss., and the comm., ábhajanta (the other readings are apacanta, abhacanta, aṣacanta; and there are varieties of accent) ”

“ The ruddy one mounted the sky, out of the great sea (arṇavá) ; the ruddy one ascended all ascents.
That the verse is reckoned as belonging to the salila gaṇa was noted under the preceding verse.
27. Measure thou out (vi-mā) the milk-giving, ghee-dripping (ghṛtā́ñc) [cow] ; this is the unresisting milch-cow of the gods. Let Indra drink the soma; let there be comfort (kṣéma) ; let Agni commence praising; do thou thrust away the scorners. ”

“ The last and obscurest pāda is identical with 34 a. The Anukr. perhaps accepts the redundant syllable of b and the deficient of c as balancing each other. The verse is used, with 44 below, in Kāuç. 62. 18, to accompany the further pouring in of juices. Ppp. reads samaktās for prapīnās in a, and dhāmayas at end of b, and combines -pā ’bh- in d.
42. He shall seek unto it, [as] treasure-keepers unto a treasure; let those who are others be not lords (ánīçvara) about; given by us, deposited, heaven-going, with three divisions it has ascended to three heavens (svargá) .
Ppp. ”

“ Him verily sight doth not desert, nor breath, before old age, who knoweth the bráhman's stronghold (púr) , from which man (púruṣa) is [so] called.
The latter half-verse is identical with 28 c, d. Ppp. reads puraḥ at end of b, and yasmāt in d.
31. Eight-wheeled, nine-doored, is the impregnable stronghold of the gods; in that is a golden vessel, heaven-going (svargá) , covered with light.
The verse is found also in TA. (i. 27. 2-3) , which reads hiraṇmayas in c, and inserts lokás after svargás in d. ⌊Reminiscences of this verse are seen in x. 8. 43 a, b.⌋
32. ”

“ May Vāyu collect them; let Tvashṭar stay fast in order to [their] prosperity; may Indra bless them; let Rudra take care for [their] numbers.
Samā́karat (p. sam॰ā́karat) might, of course, also be indicative (sam-ā́-akarat) . Ppp., in c, combines indrā ”bhyo, and reads bruvat; in d, it has ‘va gachatu for cikitsatu. The comm. renders dhriyatām by dhārayatu, and d by pādāsyādirogaparihāreṇa bahvīḥ karotu. ”

“ The same light with the sun—night possesses the same with the day; I make what is effective (satyá) for aid; sapless be the makers (f.) [of witchcraft] .
Kṛ́tvarīs at the end borrows a special sense from its relationship with kṛtyā ⌊a case of "reflected meaning"—see note to iii. 11. 8⌋. The construction in the first half-verse (if here rightly understood) is peculiarly intricate: samám jyótis is, as it were, coördinate with the samá of samā́vatī, as if it were samajyotiṣmatī: i.e. "night has its light as good as the sun's or the day's." ”

“ Let all the gods come over hither; the offering [is] dear to Trishandhi; defend ye the great agreement by which in the beginning the Asuras were conquered.
The comm. appears to read in a -yanti, as in vs. 14 a, but he interprets it as an imperative this time.
16. Let Vāyu bend up the arrow-points of the enemies; let Indra break back their arms; let them not be able to set the arrow; let Āditya make their missile weapon (astrá) disappear; let the moon put (yu) them on the track of what is not gone. ”

“ That thou mayest be superior, free from rivals, rival-slaying—mayest be controler of thy fellows—so may Savitar make thee: let the unsubdued one defend thee.
The mss., and SPP., read in a uttarás (p. ut॰taráḥ) ; our text makes the necessary emendation to úttaras. In c, the same read asat; we emended to asas, and ought to have gone a step further and accented ásas, since the following táthā shows that the three preceding pādas are all alike under the government of yáthā; Ppp. has in c, with us, asas. Ppp. further combines ‘so ‘sapatnaḥ in a-b, and reads tvā abhi in e. ”