Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book III/Hymn 17

17. For successful agriculture.

[Viçvāmitra.—navarcam. sītādevatyam. ānuṣṭubham: 1. ārṣī gāyatrī; 2, 5, 9. triṣṭubh; 3. pathyāpan̄kti; 7. virāṭpurauṣṇih; 8. nicṛt.]

Four verses of this hymn are found together in Pāipp. ii., in the order 2, 1, 5, 4; vs. 5 occurs in Pāipp. xix., and there are verses in Pāipp. xii. and xix. resembling our vs. 6. Much of its material appears also in RV. x. 101, iv. 57, and parts in VS., TS., TA., and MS.: see under the several verses. The hymn is used by Kāuç. (20. 1 ff.) in an extended ceremony for success in plowing, the details of which, however, do not help the interpretation of the verses; vs. 8 (ib. 10) is specially quoted as accompanying an oblation to Indra at the further end of a furrow, or of each one of three furrows; the comm. also regards it as intended by çunāsīrāṇi at 106. 8, in the book of portents, in a charm against the portent of mixed-up plows (whatever that may be*); vs. 4, again, accompanies the marking out of the sacrificial hearth at 137. 19. In Vāit. (28. 30-32), vss. 1, 3, and 2 b appear in the agnicayana, in the ceremony of plowing the sacrificial hearth, and vs. 7 (9. 27) at the end of the cāturmāsya sacrifice, with an oblation to the çunāsīrā. *⌊"Wenn zwei Pflüge sich verstricken beim Ackern," says Weber, Omina, p. 368.⌋

Translated: Weber, xvii. 255; Griffith, i. 106.—Vs. 3 is elaborately discussed by Roth, Festgruss an Böhtlingk, p. 95 ff. See also Weber, Omina und Portenta, p. 371.

1. The poets (kaví) harness the plows (sī́ra), they extend severally the yokes—they the wise ones (dhī́ra), with desire of favor (?) toward the gods.

The verse seems to imply a hidden comparison of the poet's work with the plowman's. The other texts (RV. x. 101. 4; VS. xii. 67; TS. iv. 2. 5⁵; MS. ii. 7. 12; K. xvi. 11; Kap. xxv. 3) read sumnayā́ (but K. has -yuḥ: Kap. not noted), which the translation adopts, -yāú seeming an unintelligent corruption of it; but the comm. gives a double explanation of -yāu, one as "desiring a happy-making sacrifice" and qualifying yajamāne understood, the other as from sumna-ya (-ya for root yā) and qualifying balīvardāu understood! He makes sīra equivalent with lān̄gala, and takes vi tanvate as = "put on the oxen's shoulders"; vi-tan as here applied seems imitated from its use of stringing a bow; in TB. ii. 5. 8¹² we have even ví tanoti sī́ram.

2. Harness ye the plows, extend the yokes; scatter (vap) the seed here in the prepared womb; may the bunch (?) of virā́j be burdened for us; may the sickles draw in (ā-yu) the ripe [grain] yet closer.

In the first half-verse, RV. (ib. 3) and VS. (ib. 68) have tanudhvam for tanota, the rest (ibid.) agreeing with our text (but K. has kṛto yonir); Ppp. reads kṣetre instead of yonāu; yónāu, of course, involves a hidden comparison of sowing with impregnation. In the difficult and obscure second half, the other texts (not Ppp.) give girā́ ca for the unintelligible virā́jas, and ásat (with accent apparently meant as antithetic) for asat, which is read in all the mss., but in our edition (not in SPP's) emended to ásat; the same texts accent çruṣṭís (and our edition was emended to agree with them; SPP. accents the first syllable, with all the mss.). SPP. reads çnúṣṭs, with the majority of his authorities (including oral reciters), and with the comm.; among his mss. are found also çrúṣṭis, çlú-, srú-, snú-, and çnúṣṭīs. Part of our mss. also (E.I.H.Op.) are noted as seeming to intend çnú-, and, as Ppp. supports it by reading suniṣṭis sabh-, the reading çnúṣṭiḥ is adopted in the translation ⌊as also at viii. 2. 1⌋. The manuscripts are not at all to be relied on for distinguishing çnu and çru ⌊cf. iii. 30. 7 and note⌋. The comm. explains it by āçuprāpakaḥ stambaḥ, and sábharās as phalabhārasahitas 'heavy with fruit'; of virā́j he makes easy work by identifying it with anna, on the authority of TB. iii. 8. 10⁴: ánnaṁ vāí virā́ṭ! In d, finally, the chief discordance of the versions is at the end, where, for ā́ yavan (Ppp. āyuvaṁ), RV.VS.Kap. read é ’yāt, and TS.MS.K. ā ’yāt. But TS. has sṛṇyā̀ (instead of -yàs), and some of our mss. (P.M.W.), with the majority of SPP's, combine íchṛṇyàs or icchṛṇyàs, implying çṛṇyàs. The Anukr. does not heed that pāda d is, as it stands, jagatī. ⌊W., in his own copy and in Index, seems to approve the accentless asat.—Comm. has ā yavam in d.⌋

3. Let the plow (lā́n̄gala), lance-pointed, well-lying, with well-smoothed handle, turn up (ud-vap) cow, sheep, an on-going chariot-frame, and a plump wench.

That is, apparently, let all these good things come as the reward of successful agriculture. The verse, not found in RV., but occurring in VS. (ib. 71; and thence quoted in the Vasiṣṭha Dharmasūtra ii. 34 and explained in ii. 35), as well as in TS.MS.K. (as above), has many difficult and questionable points. For pavīrávat (Ppp. puts it before lān̄galam) VS. accents pávīravat, and TS.MS.K. substitute pávīravam; for suçīmam all have suçevam 'very propitious'; the Pet. Lex. suggests susīmam 'having a good parting' i.e. of furrows, or 'even-furrowed'; and R. refers to MB. i. 5. 2, sīmānaṁ nayāmi. Ppp. reads suveçam, which probably means suçevam. The impracticable somasat-saru (so in pada-text) is somapít-saru in VS., MS., K., and Vasiṣṭha, and soma-pitsalaṁ in Ppp.; Vas. renders it "provided with a handle for the drinker of soma," implying the division somapi-tsaru; Weber conjectures a noun uman 'strap,' and emends to soma (= sa-uma) satsaru, "with strap and handle." But TS. reads sumatí॰tsaru, and this is adopted in the translation, mati being taken not as from man but as the word found in matīkṛ and its derivatives, and related with matya etc. (Weber also refers to this meaning and connection.) The comm. explains suçīmam by karṣakasya sukhakaram, without telling how he arrives at such a sense; and somasatsaru (disregarding the pada-division) as from tsaru, either "a concealed going in the ground" (root tsar, explained by chadmagatāu), or else "a kind of part to be held by the plowman's hand"; in either case "a producer of the soma-sacrifice" (i.e. soma-sa). For ratha-vahā́na 'the frame that carries a chariot when not in use,' and prasthā́vat, here virtually 'with the chariot on it,' see R. in the Festgruss an Böhtlingk, p. 95 ff.; the comm. interprets as açvabalīvardādikaṁ rathavāhanasamartham. VS. reads at the beginning of c tád úd vapati, and TS. úd ít kṛṣati; Ppp. has dadata kṛṣata; VS.TS.MS.Ppp. give for e prapharvyàṁ (Ppp. -yāṁ) ca pī́varīm ⌊and VS.TS. invert the order of d and e⌋; the comm. also has pīvarīm (= sthūlām); prapharvī he explains as prathamavayāḥ kanyā. The first pāda is defective unless we resolve la-ān̄-. ⌊Zimmer, p. 236, refers to Sir H. M. Elliot's Memoirs, ii. 341, for a description of the Penjab plow.⌋

4. Let Indra hold down the furrow; let Pūshan defend it; let it, rich in milk, yield to us each further summer.

This verse is found only in RV. (iv. 57. 7), which reads ánu yachatu for abhí rakșatu; Ppp. has mahyaṁ instead of abhi. We had the second half-verse above, as iii. 10. 1 c, d.

5. Successfully (çunám) let the good plowshares thrust apart the earth; successfully let the plowmen follow the beasts of draft; O Çunāsīrā, do ye (two), dripping (?) with oblation, make the herbs rich in berries for this man.

VS. (xii. 69) and MS. (ii. 7. 12) have the whole of this verse; RV. (iv. 57. 8) and TS. (iv. 2. 5⁶), only the first two pādas. For suphālā́s in a, VS. (also our I.) has sú phā́lās, and RV.TS. naḥ phā́lās, both preferable readings; RV.VS. have kṛṣantu for tudantu. In b, TS. gives abhí for ánu (our P.M. have ábhínu); MS. has kinā́ço abhy ètu vāhāíḥ; RV.VS., -çā abhí yantu vāhāíḥ. In c, the comm. gives toṣamāṇā, explaining it by tuṣyantāu. In d, the mss. vary (as everywhere where the word occurs) between -pippalā́s and -piṣpalā́s; about half are for each; VS. MS. end the pāda with kartanā ’smé. Ppp. has a peculiar version: çunaṁ kenāço anv etu vāhaṁ çunaṁ phālo vinadann ayatu bhūmim: çunāsīrā haviṣā yo yajātrāi supippalā oṣadhayas santu tasmāi. The comm. ⌊quoting Yaska⌋ declares Çunāsīrāu to be Vāyu and Āditya (wind and sun); or else, he says, Çuna is god of happiness and Sīra of the plow.

6. Successfully let the draft-animals, successfully the men, successfully let the plow (lā́n̄gala) plow; successfully let the straps be bound; successfully do thou brandish the goad.

This is RV. iv. 57. 4, without variation; it is also found, with the two following verses, in TA. (vi. 6. 2, vss. 6-8), which reads nārā́s instead of náras at end of a. Part of our mss. (P.M.W.E.) have úṣṭrām in d. The comm. declares Çuna to be addressed in the last pāda. Ppp. has in xii. çunaṁ vṛtrām āyaccha çunam aṣṭrām ud in̄gayaḥ çunaṁ tu tapyatāṁ phālaç çunaṁ vahatu lān̄galam; and in xix. the same a, b ⌊ending -ya⌋, but, for c, d, çunaṁ vahasya çuklasyā ’ṣṭrayā jahi dakṣiṇam.

7. O Çunāsīrā, do ye (two) enjoy me here; what milk ye have made in heaven, therewith pour ye upon this [furrow].

'Milk,' i.e. nourishing fluid. Weber implies at the end "earth" (instead of "furrow"), which is perhaps to be preferred. RV. (iv. 57. 5) reads for a çúnāsīrāv imā́ṁ vā́caṁ ju-; TA. (as above) the same, except that it strangely omits the verb, and thus reduces the triṣṭubh pāda to a gāyatrī; both texts mark the principal pāda-division after b. The comm. changes all the three verbs to 3d dual. The Anukr. forbids in a the resolution -sīrā ihá. In our edition the verse is numbered 6, instead of 7.

8. O furrow, we reverence thee; be [turned] hitherward, O fortunate one, that thou mayest be well-willing to us, that thou mayest become of good fruit for us.

RV. (iv. 57. 6) inverts the order of a and b, and both it and TA. (as above) end c and d respectively with subhágā́ ’sasi and suphálā́ ’sasi. All the pāda-mss. have the blundering reading su॰phalā́ḥ in d. The Anukr. perversely refuses to make the resolution tu-ā in a.

9. With ghee, with honey (mádhu) [is] the furrow all anointed, approved (anu-man) by all the gods, by the Maruts; do thou, O furrow, turn hither unto us with milk, rich in refreshment, swelling with fulness of ghee.

The verse is found also in VS. (xii. 70), TS. (iv. 2. 5⁶), and MS. (ii. 7. 12). VS. MS. read -ajyatām for -aktā in a; all make c and d exchange places, and at the beginning of c read asmā́n for sā́ nas; and VS.TS. put páyasā in place of ghṛtávat in d, while MS. gives ūrjó bhāgám mádhumat pínv-.