Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book I/Hymn 24

24. Against leprosy.

[Brahman.—āsurīvanaspatidevatyam. ānuṣṭubham: 2. niçrtpathyāpan̄kti.]

Found in Pāipp. i., but not in connection with the preceding hymn. For the use of 23 and 24 together by Kāuç., see under hymn 23.

Translated: Weber, iv. 417; Ludwig, p. 509; Grill, 19, 77; Griffith, i. 28; Bloomfield, 16, 268.

1. The eagle (suparṇá) was born first; of it thou wast the gall; then the Asura-woman, conquered by fight (yúdh), took shape as forest-trees.

Ppp. reads at the end vanaspatiḥ, which is more in accordance with the usual construction of rūpaṁ kṛ (mid.) and the like. Ppp. has also jighāṅsitā for yudhā jitā in c. R. suggests the emendation: tad āsurī (instr.) jighatsitaṁ rū-, 'that, attempted to be eaten by the Āsurī, took on vegetable form': i.e. became a healing plant. The comm. still regards the indigo as addressed. He coolly explains jitā by its opposite, jitavatī. All our mss. have in d the absurd accent cákre (emended in the edition to cakre); SPP. reports the same only of two pada-mss.

2. The Asura-woman first made this remedy for leprous spot, this effacer of leprous spot; it has made the leprous spot disappear, has made the skin uniform (sárūpa).

Ppp. has again (as in 23. 4) anenaçat in c; in d it reads surūpam.

3. Uniform by name is thy mother; uniform by name is thy father; uniform-making art thou, O herb; ⌊so⌋ do thou make this uniform.

Found also, as noted above, in TB. (ii. 4. 4²), which has for c sarūpā 'sy oṣadhe. Ppp. reads throughout surūp-. It inserts between this verse and the next: yat tanūjaṁ yad agnijaṁ citra kilāsa jajñiṣe: tad astu sukṛtas tanvo yatas tvā 'pi nayāmasi.

4. The swarthy, uniform-making one [is] brought up off the earth; do thou accomplish this, we pray; make the forms right again.

All our mss. have at the beginning çāmā́, and also very nearly all SPP's; but the latter very properly admits çyā- into his text, it being read by the comm. with a couple of mss. that follow him, and being found in Ppp. also. Ppp. once more has surūp-; it corrupts b into pṛthivyābhyarbhavam, and gives sādaya at end of c. The phrase idáṁ ū ṣú is quoted in Prāt. iii. 4 and iv. 98, which prescribe the protraction and lingualization, and words of the verse are repeatedly cited in the commentary to other rules.