Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book III/Hymn 22

22. To the gods: for splendor (várcas).

[Vasiṣṭha.—varcasyam. bārhaspatyam uta vāiçvadevam. ānuṣṭubham: 1. virāṭ triṣṭubh; 3. 5-p. parānuṣṭub virāḑatijagatī; 4. 3-av. 6-p. jagatī.]

Found also (except vs. 6) in Pāipp. iii. Is reckoned to the varcasya gaṇa (Kāuç. 12. 10, note), and used in a charm for splendor (13. 1), with binding on an amulet of ivory. The comm. quotes the hymn also as employed by the Nakṣ. K. in a mahāçānti called brāhmī, for attainment of brahman-splendor; and by Pariç. iv. 1, in the daily morning consecration of an elephant for a king.

Translated: Ludwig, p. 461; Weber, xvii. 282; Griffith, i. 115.

1. Let elephant-splendor, great glory, spread itself, which came into being from Aditi's body; that same have all together given to me—all the gods, Aditi, in unison.

⌊Cf. vii. 17. 3 n.⌋

A number of the mss. (including our Bp.Op.) read ā́dityās ⌊accent!⌋ in b, and several of ours follow it with yám instead of yát. Ppp. rectifies the meter of d by reading devāsas. Emendation in a to bṛhádyaças would be acceptable. ÇB. (iii. 1. 3. 4; perhaps on the basis of b?) has a legend of the production of the elephant from something born of Aditi (see R. in Ind. Stud. xiv. 392). The comm. explains prathatām in a by asmāsu prathitam prakhyātam bhavatu 'be proclaimed as belonging to us.' In our edition, an accent-mark has dropped out from under the ba of -babhūva. An irregular verse, scanned by the Anukr. as 12 + 10: 10 + 10 = 42, but convertible into 45 syllables by resolving tanú-as, sáru-e, víçu-e (of which only the first is unobjectionable). ⌊If we read devāsas in d, the vs. is in order (12 + 11: ? + 11), except in c (tád ít sárve?).⌋

2. Let both Mitra and Varuṇa, Indra and Rudra, [each] take notice; the all-nourishing gods—let them anoint me with splendor.

All the mss.* read cetatus at end of b, and so does Ppp., and our edition has it; but SPP. follows the comm. and substitutes cetatu; SV. i. 154 has sómaḥ pūṣā́ ca cetatuḥ; the translation implies cetatu, the other being probably a false form, generated under stress of the difficult construction of a singular verb with the preceding subjects. Weber takes it as cetatus, 3d dual perf. of root cat "frighten into submission." The Anukr. takes no notice of the deficiency of a syllable in a. *⌊So W's two drafts; but his collations note P.M.W. as reading cetutaḥ (!) and Op. as reading cetatú.⌋

3. With what splendor the elephant came into being, with what the king among men (manuṣyà), among waters, with what the gods in the beginning went to godhood—with that splendor do thou, O Agni, now make me splendid.

Apsú, in b, is an impertinent intrusion as regards both sense and meter; it is wanting in Ppp. In c all the mss. give āyam (saṁh., āyaṁ); our edition makes the necessary emendation to ā́yan, and so does SPP. in his pada-text; but in saṁhitā (perhaps by an oversight) he reads āyan, unaccented; the comm. has āyan (accent doubtful): cf. iv. 14. 1 c, where the mss. again read āyam for āyan in the same phrase. Ppp. has a very different second half-verse: yena devā jyotiṣā āyām udāyan tena mā ’gne varcasā saṁ sṛje ’ha. The comm. makes apsu in b mean either "[creatures] in the waters," or else "[Yakshas, Gandharvas, etc.] in the atmosphere." The metrical definition of the Anukr. is mechanically correct ⌊52-2 = 50⌋ if we count 13 syllables in b ⌊and combine varcasāgne⌋!

4. What great splendor becomes thine, O Jātavedas, from the offering; how great splendor there is of the sun, and of the ásura-like elephant—so great splendor let the (two) Açvins, lotus-wreathed, assign unto me.

All the mss. read in b bhavati, and SPP. accordingly adopts it in his edition; ours makes the necessary correction to bhávati. The comm. reads āhute, vocative, at end of b; Ppp. has instead āhutam; and then adds to it, as second half-verse, our 3 d, e (with abhya for adyá, and kṛdhi for kṛṇu), putting also the whole ⌊i.e. our 4 a, b + 3 d, e⌋ before our vs. 3; and then it gives the remainder (c-f) of our vs. 4 here, with kṛṇutām for ā́ dhattām, and in c yavad varcaḥ sūr-.

5. As far as the four directions, as far as the eye reaches (sam-aç), let so great force (indriyá) come together, that elephant-splendor, in me.

The comm. reads sam etu in c.

6. Since the elephant has become the superior (atiṣṭhā́vant) of the comfortable (? suṣád) wild beasts, with his fortune [and] splendor do I pour (sic) upon myself.

That is, 'I shed it upon me, cover myself with it.' The comm. understands the somewhat questionable suṣád nearly as here translated, "living at their pleasure in the forest"; and atiṣṭhāvant as possessing superiority either of strength or of position.

Weber entitles the hymn, without good reason, "taming of a wild elephant."