Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book II/Hymn 34
34. Accompanying the sacrifice of an animal.
[Atharvan.—pāçupatyam; paçubhāgakaraṇam. trāiṣṭubham.]
Found in Pāipp. iii.; and also in the Black-Yajus texts, TS. (iii. 1. 41-3), and K. (xxx. 8, in part). Used by Kāuç. (44. 7) in the vaçāçamana ceremony, accompanying the anointing of the vaçā; in the same, vs. 5 accompanies (44. 15) the stoppage of the victim's breath; and the same verse appears in the funeral rites (81. 33), with verses from xviii. 2 and 3, in connection with the lighting of the pile. This hymn and the one next following are further employed among the kāmyāni, with invocation of Indra and Agni, by one who "desires the world" (59. 21: "desires over-lordship of all the world," comm.). In Vāit. (10. 16), the hymn (so the comm.) is said on the release of the victim from the sacrificial post in the paçubandha.
Translated: Weber, xiii. 207; Ludwig, p. 433; Griflith, i. 75.—See also Roth, Ueber den AV. p. 14.
1. The lord of cattle, who rules over (īç) the cattle, the four-footed, and who also over the two-footed—let him, bought off, go to [his] sacrificial portion; let abundances of wealth attach themselves to (sac) the sacrificer.
In the TS. version, this verse comes second (the verse-order being 5, 1, 3, 4, 2). Both TS. and K. have at the beginning yéṣām, which Ppp. supports by reading eṣām, and which rectifies the meter of a: this gives quite a different application to c, and a different cast to the meaning of the verse. TS. has also ca for yás in b, ayám (‘yám) for sá in c, and it ends (better) with yájamānasya santu. K. (Weber) has for b catuṣpāda uta ye dvipādaḥ, and for c niṣkrītās te yajñiyam bhāgaṁ yantu; and Ppp. differs from it only slightly, adding vā after uta in b, and ending c with yajñiyā yānti lokam. Apparently it is the lord of cattle who is to be bribed to content himself with his sacrificial share, in lieu of taking the whole. The Anukr. does not heed the irregularities of meter in a, b. ⌊The Ppp. form of b seems to be catuṣpadām uta vā ye dvipadaḥ!⌋
2. Do ye, releasing (pra-muc) the seed of being, assign progress (gātú) to the sacrificer, O gods; what hath stood brought hither (upákṛta), strenuous (çaçamāná), let it go upon the dear path of the gods.
TS. (and K.?) rectifies the meter of a (whose irregularity the Anukr. ignores) by reading pramuñcámānās; it also has jīvám for priyám in d. Ppp. gives gopā for retas in a, and in b makes dhatta and devās change places; in d it reads eti. Priyám may qualify the subject in d: 'let it, dear [to the gods], go' etc. Upā́kṛta and çaçamāná have their usual technical senses, 'brought to the sacrifice' and 'efficient in the performance of religious duty'; the latter is explained by the comm. alternatively, as "being put to death" or "leaping up" (root çaç)! Devās is, according to him, first "the breaths, sight etc.," then "the gods, Agni etc." ⌊E. Sieg discusses pā́thas, Gurupūjākaumudī, p. 98.⌋
3. They who, giving attention to (anu-dhī) the one being bound, looked after [him] with mind and with eye—let the divine Agni at first (ágre) release them, he the all-working, in unison with (saṁ-rā) progeny.
TS. and MS. (i. 2. 15) have badhyámānās for dī́dyānās, and TS. follows it with abhyāíkṣ-; and in c combines agnís tā́ṅ; MS. also has ṭā́ṅ. Both read in d prajā́patis for viçvákarmā; and TS. ends with saṁvidānás. Ppp. has in c mumukta devās, and, for d, prajāpatiṣ prajābhis saṁvidānāṁ; it then adds another verse: yeṣāṁ prāṇo na badhnanti baddhaṁ gavāṁ paçūnām uta pāuruṣāṇām: indras tāṁ (i.e. tān agre pra etc.). The comm. reads in a vadhyamānam, which is better; he explains samrarāṇas by saha çabdāyamānas, as if from the root rā 'bark'! Comparison with the next verse seems to show the other animals, comrades of the victim, to be aimed at in the verse. ⌊Cf. Weber's notes, p. 209, and esp. his reference to ÇB. iii. 7. 45.—MS. has ṭáṅ, p. tā́n: see above, page xc.⌋
4. The cattle that are of the village, all-formed, being of various forms, manifoldly of one form—let the divine Vāyu at first release them, Prajāpati, in unison with progeny.
TS. and K. have āraṇyā́s 'of the forest' in a, for grāmyā́s, and TS. combines vāyús tā́ṅ in c, and ends again with -vidānaḥ. TA. (iii. 11) has two versions (vss. 29, 32), of which the second precisely agrees with TS., while the first has grāmyā́s, like our text (and agnís tā́ṅ in c). Ppp. is quite different: ya āraṇyā́ṣ paçavo viçvarúpā uta ye kūrūpāḥ:...mumukta devaḥ prajāpatiṣ prajābhis saṁvidānāṁ.
5. Foreknowing, let them first (pū́rva) receive the breath (prāṇá) coming to [them] forth from the limbs. Go to heaven; stand firm with thy bodies; go to paradise (svargá) by god-traveled roads.
Ppp. has devās for pūrve in a, tābhyām for divam in c, and at the end -bhiç çivebhiḥ. TS. reads gṛhṇanti in a; and TS. K. MS. (ii. 5. 10 c, d) invert the order of c and d, and give the better reading óṣadhīṣu for dívaṁ gacha ⌊cf. RV. x. 16. 3⌋; MS. also has hutás for svargam. The comm. makes pūrve mean "the gods previously stationed in the atmosphere"; perhaps it is 'before the demons get hold of it.'