Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book II/Hymn 29

29. For some one's long life and other blessings.

[Atharvan.—saptarcam. bahudevatyam. trāiṣṭubham: 1. anuṣṭubh; 4. parābṛhatī nicṛtprastārapan̄kti.]

Found in Pāipp., but in two widely separated parts: vss. 1-3 in xix., and vss. 4-7 in i. (next following our hymn 28). Used in Kāuç. (27. 9 ff.) in a curious healing rite for one afflicted with thirst: the patient and a well person are set back to back, wrapped in one garment together, and the latter is made to drink a certain potion apparently prepared for the other; thus the disease will be transferred to the well person: a total perversion of the proper meaning of the hymn. Again, it is used (54. 18) in the godāna and cūḍā ceremonies, and, according to the schol. (58. 17, note), in that of name-giving; and the schol. (42. 15) further add it in the rite on the return home of a Vedic student. And vs. 3 accompanies in Vāit. (22. 16) the pouring of the āçīr milk into the clarified soma in the pūtabhṛt at the agniṣṭoma sacrifice ⌊cf. comm. and Hillebrandt, Ritual-litteratur, p. 129⌋.

Translated: Weber, xiii. 194; Ludwig, p. 493; Griffith, i. 68; Bloomfield, 47, 308.

1. In the sap of what is earthly, O gods, in the strength of Bhaga's self (tanū́)—length of life to this man may Agni, Sūrya—splendor may Brihaspati impart.

Or it might be 'in the sap of earthly portion, in strength of body' (a, b); 'what is earthly' would refer to some characteristic product of earth applied in the rite; the comm. understands the god Bhaga, but his opinion is of no authority. As Weber suggests, the exchange of āyuṣyàm here in c and ā́yus in 2 a would rectify the meter of both verses: in neither case does the Anukr. note an irregularity. Ppp. has here āyur asmāi, but follows it with somo varca dhātā bṛh-. Some of our mss., with two or three of SPP's, accent āyúṣyam. The comm. takes devās in a for a nominative.

2. Length of life to him assign thou, O Jātavedas; progeny, O Tvashṭar, do thou bestow on him; abundance of wealth, O Savitar ('impeller'), do thou impel to him; may he live a hundred autumns of thee.

The construction of a dative with adhi-ni-dhā in b seems hardly admissible; BR. ⌊iii. 917⌋, in quoting the passage, reads asmé, apparently by an intended emendation, which, however, does not suit the connection; asmín is the only real help.

3. Our blessing [assign him] refreshment, possession of excellent progeny; do ye (two), accordant, assign [him] dexterity, property (dráviṇa); [let] this man [be] conquering fields with power, O Indra, putting (kṛ) other rivals beneath him.

The verse is difficult, and, as the parallel texts show, badly corrupted. Āçī́r ṇas (for which Weber ingeniously suggested ā́çīrṇe) is supported by āçī́r nas in MS. (iv. 12. 3) and āçī́r me in TS. (iii. 2. 85) and KÇS. (x. 5. 3); and all these versions give it a verb in b, dadhātu, instead of the impracticable dual dhattam, with which our sácetasāu is in the same combination. The alteration of this to the sávarcasam of TS. MS., or the suvarcasam of KÇS. and Ppp., would indicate that of dhattam to -tām (as middle), and allow sense to be made of the pāda. All the other texts, including Ppp., give in a suprajāstvám instead of the anomalous and bad sāupr-. TS. MS. KÇS. have iṣam for dákṣam in b. The translation implies emendation of jáyam in c to jáyan in accordance with the saṁjáyan of the other texts; but Ppp. has saṁ jayat, which would be even more acceptable—only not with ahám, as all the four read for ayám. TS. MS., finally, combine anyā́ṅ ádh- in d; KÇS. elides ‘nyān. In KÇS., as in Vāit., the first word is to be understood as āçī́r; the comm. interprets both ways ⌊as from āçís 'blessing' or from āçír 'milk'⌋. He regards the āu of sāupra- in a as simply "Vedic," and heaven and earth as addressed in b.

4. Given by Indra, instructed by Varuṇa, sent forth by the Maruts, hath the formidable one come to us; let this man, in your lap, O heaven-and-earth, not hunger, not thirst.

The "thirst" of the patient in Kāuç. has no more substantial foundation than the last two words of this verse. The text in Ppp. is defaced, but shows sṛṣṭas for çiṣṭas in a, and in c, d, after -thivī, pari dadāmi sa mā. The Anukr. would have us scan 11 + 11: 8 + 9 = 39, dividing before upásthe; but the pada-mss. mark the division correctly, after that word.

5. Assign refreshment to him, ye (two) that are rich in refreshment; assign milk to him, ye rich in milk; refreshment have heaven-and-earth assigned to him, [have] all the gods, the Maruts, refreshment [have] the waters.

'Refreshment' is the conventional rendering selected for the ambiguous word ūrj and its varieties. Nearly all our mss. (all save P. M.), and all of SPP's, have the false accentuation devās in d; both editions emend to devā́s, which the comm. also understands. So also with dyā́vāpṛthivī́ in c, for which the mss. have either dyāvāpṛthivī (so nearly all of ours and one of SPP's) or dyāvāpṛthivī́ (so, according to SPP., all his save one, with our O.D.); only our H. has the true reading, which is given by emendation in both editions. The verse (10 + 10: 12 + 11 = 43) is far from being a good triṣṭubh.

6. With propitious things (f.) I gratify thy heart; mayest thou enjoy thyself (mud) free from disease, very splendid; let the two that dwell together (? savāsín) drink this stir-about (manthá), putting on [as] magic the form of the (two) Açvins.

The second half-verse is said apparently of a married pair, who are by supernatural means to become as beautiful as the Açvins. Of course, the comm. follows Kāuç. in understanding it of the sick and well man, and taking savāsín as "dressed in one garment." The comm. supplies adbhís in a, which is plausible (so Weber). Ppp. reads in a tarpayantu, in b modamānaç care ’ha, and in d açvināu. Several of SPP's mss. give mathám in c.

7. Indra in the beginning, being pierced, created this refreshment, [this] unaging svadhā́; it is thine here; by it live thou for autumns, very splendid; be there no flux of thee; the healers have made [it] for thee.

In d, ā́ susrot is here rendered as if it involved the idea of āsrāva 'flux'; the d seems to forbid its being taken to mean "let it not be spilled "; the comm., however, so understands it: pracyuto mā bhūt. Some of our mss. (M.P.W.) read tváyā at beginning of c. The comm. has ūrjam in b. Ppp. gives, in a, b, viḍyo agram ūrjaṁ svadhām ajatām etam eṣā.