Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book III/Hymn 21

21. With oblation to the various forms of fire or Agni.

[Vasiṣṭha.—daçarcam. āgneyam. trāiṣṭubham: 1. puro ‘nuṣṭubh; 2, 3, 8. bhurij; 5. jagatī; 6. upariṣṭādvirāḍbṛhatī; 7. virāḍgarbhā; 9, 10. anuṣṭubh (9. nicṛt).]

The whole of the hymn is found in Pāipp., vss. 1-9 in iii., vs. 10 in vii. The material is used by Kāuç. in a number of rites: it is reckoned (9. 1; the comm. says, only vss. 1-7) to the bṛhachānti gaṇa; it appears in the charm against the evil influence of the flesh-eating fire (43. 16-21; according to the comm., vss. 1-7 are quoted in 16, and the whole hymn in 20); again, in the establishment of the house-fire (72. 13; vss. 1-7, comm.); again, in the funeral rites (82. 25), on the third day after cremation, with oblation to the relics; once more, in the expiatory ceremony (123. 1), when birds or other creatures have meddled with sacrificial objects. Moreover, vs. 8 (the comm. says, vss. 8-10), with other passages from xii. 2, in a rite of appeasement in the house-fire ceremony (71. 8). In Vāit., vss. 1-7 are used in the agniṣṭoma (16. 16) on occasion of the soma becoming spilt; and vs. 7 in the sākamedha part of the cāturmāsya sacrifice ⌊9. 17⌋.

Translated: Weber, xvii. 277; Grifiith, i. 113; vss. 1-7 also by Ludwig, p. 325.

1. The fires that are within the waters, that are in Vṛtra, that are in man, that are in stones, the one that hath entered the herbs, the forest-trees—to those fires be this oblation made.

Verses 1-4 are found also in MS. (ii. 13. 13) and in K. (xl. 3); both texts read yás for yé through the first half-verse, and áçmani for áçmasu; MS. begins yó apsv àntár agnír, and K. yó apsv àgnír antár; K. further has bhuvanāni viçvā for óṣadhīr yó vánaspátīṅs. Ppp. reads yo apsv antar yo vṛtre antar yaḥ puruṣe yo ‘çmani: yo viveça oṣa-, and combines in d tebhyo ‘gni-. Part of the mss. (including our P.M.W.I.) combine vivéç’ óṣadh- in c, and both editions have adopted that reading—doubtless wrongly, since the Prāt. prescribes no such irregularity, nor is it elsewhere found to occur with oṣadhi. The comm. explains what different "fires" are intended: the vāḍava etc. in the waters; that in the cloud (by Nir. ii. 16) or else in the body of the Asura Vṛtra; in man, those of digestion; in stones, those in the sūryakānta etc. (sparkling jewels); those that make herbs etc. ripen their fruits. Weber regards the stones that strike fire as intended, which seems more probable. The division of the verse by the Anukr., 8 + 11: 11 + 11, is not to be approved. ⌊Pādas a and b rather as 11 + 8; pādas c and d are in order, 12 + 11.—In c, correct to āvivéçāúṣadhīr, as MS. reads.⌋

2. [The fire] that is within soma, that is within the kine, that is entered into the birds, into the wild beasts (mṛgá), that entered into bipeds, into quadrupeds—to those fires be this oblation made.

MS. and K. begin b with váyāṅsi yá āvivéṣa; Ppp. with yo viṣṭo vayasi. The comm. takes the kine in a as representing the domestic animals in general, the fire being that which makes their milk cooked instead of raw, as often alluded to. SPP. follows the mss. in reading in b váyaḥsu; our alteration to the equivalent váyassu was needless. The verse (10 + 11: 13 + 11 = 45) is bhurij, but also irregular enough. ⌊Pādas b and d are in order, each a triṣṭubh; and c, if we throw out the second yás, is a good jagatī; a is bad.⌋

3. He who, a god, goes in the same chariot with Indra, he that belongs to all men (vāiçvānará) and to all gods (?), whom, very powerful in fights, I call loudly on—to those fires be this oblation made.

MS. and K. have for a yéné ’ndrasya ráthaṁ sambabhūvúr, and Ppp. partly agrees with them, reading ye ’ndreṇa sarathaṁ saṁbabhūva. In b, the translation ventures to follow Ppp's reading viçvadevyas instead of -dāvyàs, because of its so obvious preferability in the connection; -dāvyas is quite in place in vs. 9, and may perhaps have blundered from there into this verse; but MS. and K. have -dāvyàs; they further exchange the places of our 3 c and 4 c. Pāda b is a very poor triṣṭubh, though capable of being read into 11 syllables ⌊read utá vā?⌋.

4. He who is the all-eating god, and whom they call Desire (kā́ma), whom they call giver, receiving one, who is wise, mighty, encompassing, unharmable—to those fires be this oblation made.

MS. begins the verse with viçvā́dam agním; K., with hutādam agnim; of b, both spoil the meter by reading pratigrahītā́ram; MS. begins c with dhī́ro yáḥ; K's c is corrupt. Ppp. reads āha for āhus in a (not in b also). The comm. simply paraphrases pratigṛhṇántam by pratigrahītī́ram; the reference is probably to the offerings which Agni receives in order to give them to the various gods. In our edition, an accent-mark belonging under ā of āhús in a has slipped aside to the left.

5. Thou on whom as priest (hótar) agreed with their mind the thirteen kinds of beings (bhāuvaná), the five races of men (mānavá): to the splendor-bestowing, glorious one, rich in pleasantness—to those fires be this oblation made.

The unusual and obscure number "thirteen" here seduces the comm. into declaring first that bhāuvaná signifies "-month," coming from bhuvana "year"; and then the mānavā́s are the seasons! But he further makes the latter to be the four castes, with the niṣādas as fifth, and the former the thirteen sons, Viçvakarman etc., of a great sage named bhuvana (because of viçvakarvman bhāuvana in AB. viii. 21. 8-11). Ppp. reads bhuvanā for bhāuvanā́s. The Anukr. does not heed that the last pāda is triṣṭubh.

6. To him whose food is oxen, whose food is cows, to the soma-backed, the pious: to those of whom the one for all men (vāiçvānará-) is chief—to those fires be this oblation made.

The first half-verse is RV. viii. 43. 11 a, b (also found, without variant, in TS. i. 3. 147). MS. (ii. 13. 13) has the whole verse as pādas a, b, d, e, interposing as c the pāda (stómair vidhemā ’gnáye) which ends the gāyatrī in RV.TS. The meter (8 + 8: 8 + 11) is, as bṛhatī, rather nicṛt than virāj.

7. They who move on along the sky, the earth, the atmosphere, along the lightning; who are within the quarters, who within the wind—to those fires be this oblation made.

Our P.M.W. read in b vīdyútam, and P.M.W.I, end the pāda with -carati. SPP. regards the exposition of the comm. as implying that the latter takes anu in b as an independent word: ánu saṁc-. In the definition of the Anukr., virāj appears to be used as meaning 'a pāda of 10 syllables' (11 + 10: 10 + 11 = 42). ⌊Read yé ca vā́te?⌋

The three remaining verses of the hymn are plainly independent of what precedes, concerning themselves directly with the appeasement of an ill-omened fire; but the combination of the two parts is an old one, being found also in Ppp. The ejection of the evidently patched-together vs. 6 would reduce the first part ⌊vss. 1-7⌋ to the norm of this book.

8. Gold-handed Savitar, Indra, Brihaspati, Varuṇa, Mitra, Agni, all the gods, the Angirases, do we call; let them appease (çam) this flesh-eating fire.

Ppp. inverts the order of a and b. ⌊MGS. has the vs. at ii. i. 6.⌋ The comm. gives a double explanation of "gold-handed": either "having gold in his hand to give to his praisers," or "having a hand of gold"; he also allows us to take án̄girasas either as accusative or as nominative, "we the Angirases." The Anukr. notes that c is jagatī.

9. Appeased is the flesh-eating, appeased the men-injuring fire; so also the one that is of all conflagrations, him, the flesh-eating, have I appeased.

Ppp. has atho puruṣareṣiṇaḥ for b, and this time viçvadavyas in c. The anuṣṭubh is rather virāj than nicṛt.

10. The mountains that are soma-backed, the waters that lie supine, the wind, Parjanya, then also Agni—these have appeased the flesh-eating one.

All our mss. save one (O.), and all SPP's save two or three that follow the comm., read açīçamam (apparently by infection from the end of vs. 9) at the end; both editions emend to -man, which is the reading of the comm. ⌊Ppp. has the vs. in vii. (as noted above), and combines -pṛṣṭhā ”pa in a-b and parjanyā ”d in c.—For "soma-backed," see Hillebrandt, Ved. Mythol. i. 60 f.⌋