Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book III/Hymn 4
4. To establish a king.
[Atharvan.—saptakam. āindram. trāiṣṭubham: 1. jagatī; 4, 5. bhurij.]
Found in Pāipp. iii. Used in Kāuç. only with the next preceding hymn (as there explained), although the two are of essentially different application, this one referring to a king who has been called or chosen, and has to be inaugurated as such. In Vāit. (13. 2), in the agniṣṭoma sacrifice, vs. 7 accompanies, with vii. 28, oblations to pathyā svasti and other divinities.
Translated: Ludwig, p. 252; Zimmer, p. 164; Weber, xvii. 190; Griffith, i. 84; Bloomfield, 113, 330.—Cf. Bergaigne-Henry, Manuel, p. 141.
1. Unto thee hath come the kingdom; with splendor rise forward; [as] lord of the people (víças), sole king, bear thou rule (vi-rāj); let all the directions call thee, O king; become thou here one for waiting on, for homage.
The translation implies in a agan, which is very probably the true reading, though the pada-mss. divide tvā:gan. The metrical redundancy in a, b is best removed by omitting prā́n̄ (for which Ppp. and the comm. read prāk), which seems (as meaning also 'in the east') to have been added in order to make yet more distinct the comparison with the sun implied in úd ihi; the pada-text reckons the word wrongly to b, and the comm. renders it pūrvam 'formerly'; he takes ví rāja as "be resplendent," which is of course possible. The verse has but one real jagatī pāda (a). ⌊With d (= vi. 98. 1 d), cf. námasopasádyas, used twice in RV.⌋
2. Thee let the people (víças) choose unto kingship (rājyà), thee these five divine directions; rest (çri) at the summit of royalty, at the pinnacle (kakúd); from thence, formidable, share out good things to us.
The verse is found also in TS. (iii. 3. 92) and MS. (ii. 5. 10), with nearly accordant differences of reading: gā́vo ‘vŗņata rājyā́ya in a; tvā́ṁ havanta (MS. vardhanti) marútaḥ svarkā́ḥ for b; kṣatrásya kakúbhi (MS. kakúbbhiḥ) çiçriyāṇás in c. TB., moreover, has the second half-verse (in ii. 4. 77; the first half is our iv. 22. 2 a, b), agreeing with AV. except by giving kṣatrásya kakúbhis. Ppp. further varies the word by reading kakudhi; it also has in a vṛṇutām, and for d ato vasūni vi bhajāsy ugraḥ. A number of the mss. (including our O.Op.) read in a rā́jyāya, as, indeed, they generally disagree ⌊in threefold wise⌋ as to the accent of this word. P.M.W. have in a vṛṣatām. The comm. renders várṣman by çarīre, çrayasva by āssva.
3. Unto thee let thy fellows come, calling [thee]; Agni shall go along as speedy messenger; let the wives, the sons, be well-willing; thou, formidable, shalt see arrive (prati-paç) much tribute.
Ppp. has in a, b yantu bhuvanasya jālā ’gnir dūto ‘va jarase dadhāti, and combines in c jāyāṣ p-. The comm. finds in b an incomplete simile: "thy messenger, unassailable like fire, shall" etc.
4. Let the (two) Açvins thee first,—let Mitra-and-Varuṇa both, let all the gods, the Maruts, call thee; then put (kṛ) thy mind unto the giving of good things; from thence, formidable, share out good things to us.
With c compare RV. i. 54. 9 d, which rectifies the meter by reading kṛṣva. The second half-verse is quite different in Ppp.: sajātānāṁ madhyameṣṭhe ’ha masyā (cf. ii. 6. 4 c; iii. 8. 2 d) sve kṣetre savite vi rāja. The third pāda is made bhurij by the change of kṛṣva to kṛṇuṣva.
5. Run forth hither from the furthest distance; propitious to thee be heaven-and-earth both; king Varuṇa here saith this thus; he here hath called thee; ⌊therefore (sá)⌋ do thou come to this place.
Ppp. has babhūtām for ubhe stām at end of b, and ahvat svenam ehi at end of d. SPP. reports all his pada-mss. as reading aha instead of āha in c; no such blunder has been noted in ours. His ms. of the comm. also appears to have āhvat in d, but doubtless only by an oversight of the copyist (under the next verse it gives ahvat in an identical phrase of exposition). MS. (ii. 2. 11; p. 24. 3) gives a pratīka reading ā́ préhi paramásyāḥ parāvátaḥ, while no corresponding verse is found in its text—or elsewhere, so far as is known, unless here.
6. Like a human Indra, go thou away; for thou hast concurred (sam-jñā) in concord with the castes (?); he here hath called thee in his own station; he shall sacrifice to the gods, and he shall arrange the people (víças).
The translation of this obscure and difficult verse implies much and venturesome emendation in the first half: namely, in a, índra iva manuṣyàḥ, and in b várṇāis. Weber also takes manuṣyā̀s as meant for a nom. sing., and renders it "menschengestaltet"; the other translators understand manusyā̀ víças, as does the Pet. Lex. The Ppp. version, indro idam manuṣya pre ’hi, suggests -ṣyaḥ, and is decidedly better in prehi (to be resolved into pṛ-e-hi, whence perhaps the corruption to parehi); the repeated vocative índra॰indra (so the pada-text) is not to be tolerated. For b, Ppp. has saṁ hi yajñiyās tvā varuṇena saṁvidānaḥ, which is too corrupt to give us aid; the emendation to várṇāis is a desperate and purely tentative one, as there is no evidence that várṇa had assumed so early the sense of 'caste.' Weber suggests that varuṇa here is equal to varaṇa 'elector'; Zimmer takes it as virtually for devāis: both entirely unsatisfactory. Ppp. ends the verse with so kalpayād diçah. To the comm. there is no difficulty; the repeated vocative is out of reverence (ādarārtham); manuṣyās is a Vedic irregularity for -ṣyān, or else qualifies prajās understood; the plural varuṇāis is plur. majestaticus for varuṇena; kalpayāt, finally, is svasvavyāpāreṣu niyun̄ktām. The Anukr. passes without notice the jagatī pāda d, it being easy to read the verse into 44 syllables.
7. The wealthy roads, of manifoldly various form, all, assembling, have made wide room for thee; let them all in concord call thee; to the tenth [decade of life] abide here formidable, well-willing.