Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book IV/Hymn 1
Book IV.
⌊The fourth book is made up of forty hymns, divided into eight anuvāka-groups of five hymns each. The normal length of each hymn, as assumed by the Anukramaṇī, is 7 verses; but this is in only partial accord with the actual facts. There are twenty-one hymns of 7 verses each, as against nineteen of more than 7 verses each. Of these nineteen, ten are of 8 verses each; three are of 9 and three are of 10; two are of 12; and one is of 16 verses. The seven hymns which make the Mṛgāra group (hymns 23-29) have 7 verses each. And they are followed by a group of four Rigveda hymns (30-33). The last two hymns of the book (39-40) have a decided Brāhmaṇa-tinge. The entire book has been translated by Weber, Indische Studien, vol. xviii. (1898), pages 1-153.⌋
⌊Weber's statement, that there are twenty-two hymns of 7 verses each and two of 9, rests on the misprinted number (7, for 9) at the end of hymn 20.⌋
⌊The Anukr. states (at the beginning of its treatment of book ii.) that the normal number of verses is 4 for a hymn of book i., and increases by one for each successive book of the first five books. That gives us, for
| Book | i. | ii. | iii. | iv. | v., | as normal number of |
| Verses | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8, | respectively. |
In accord therewith is the statement of the Anukr. (prefixed to its treatment of book iv.) that the seven-versed hymn is the norm for this book: brahina jajñānam iti kāṇḍaṁ, saptarcaṁ sūktaṁ prakṛtir, anyā vikṛtir ity avagachet.⌋
1. Mystic.
[Vena.—bārhaspatyam utā ”dityadāivatam. trāiṣṭubham: 2, 5. bhurij.]
Found in Pāipp. v. (in the verse-order 2, 1, 3, 4 cd 5 ab, 6, 4 ab 5 cd, 7). Reckoned by Kāuç. (9. 1) as one of the hymns of the bṛhachānti gaṇa, and used in various ceremonies: with i. 4-6 and other hymns, for the health and welfare, of kine (19. 1); for success in study and victory over opponents in disputation (38. 23 f.); at the consummation of marriage (79. 11; the comm. says, only vs. 1); and vs. 1 on entering upon Vedic study (139. 10). These are all the applications in Kāuç. that our comm. recognizes; in other cases where the pratīka of vs. 1 is quoted, the vs. v. 6. 1, which is a repetition of it, is apparently intended: see under hymn v. 6. The editor of Kāuç. regards the rest of the anuvāka, from vs. 2 to the end of h. 5, to be prescribed for recitation in 139. 11; but this seems in itself highly improbable, and the comm. does not sanction it. In Vāit. (14. 1), vss. 1 and 2 are added to the gharma-hymn given for the pravargya rite of the agniṣṭoma; and vs. 1 appears again in the agnicayana (28. 33) accompanying the deposition of a plate of gold. And the comm. further quotes the hymn as employed by the Nakṣ. K. (18) in the brāhmī mahāçānti, and by Pariç.. 11. 1 in the tūlāpuruṣa ceremony. There is nothing at all characteristic or explanatory in any of these uses. The hymn is quite out of the usual Atharvan style, and is, as it was doubtless intended to be, very enigmatical; the comm. does not really understand it or illuminate its obscurities, but is obliged at numerous points to give alternative guesses at its meaning; and the translation offered makes no pretense of putting sense and connection into its dark sayings.
Translated: Ludwig, p. 393; Deussen, Geschichte, i. 1. 255; Griffith, i. 129; Weber, xviii. 2.
1. The bráhman that was first born of old (purástāt; in the east?) Vena hath unclosed from the well-shining edge (sīmatás; horizon?); he unclosed the fundamental nearest shapes (viṣṭhā́) of it, the womb (yóni) of the existent and of the non-existent.
The verse occurs in a large number of other texts: SV. (i. 321), VS. (xiii. 3), TS. (iv. 2. 82), TB. (ii. 8. 88), TA. (x. 1, vs. 42), MS. (ii. 7. 15), K. (xvi. 15 et al.), Kap. (25. 5 et al.), ÇÇS. (v. 9. 5), AÇS. (iv. 6. 3); and its pratīka in AB. (i. 19), GB. (ii. 2. 6)—and, what is very remarkable, everywhere without a variant; it is also repeated below as v. 6. 1. Vena is, even in the exposition of the verse given by ÇB. (vii. 4. 1. 14), explained as the sun, and so the comm. regards it, but very implausibly; the moon would better suit the occurrences of the word. The comm. gives both renderings to purástāt in a, and three different explanations of the pāda. In b, the translation takes surúcas as qualifying the virtual ablative sīmatás ⌊which Weber takes as sīm átas! see also Whitney's note to Prāt. iii. 43⌋; the comm. views it as accus. pl., and so does ÇB.; the latter makes it mean "these worlds," the former either that or "its own shining brightnesses." Pāda c is the most obscure of all; ÇB. simply declares it to designate the quarters (díças); the comm. gives alternative interpretations, of no value; upamā́s (p. upa॰mā́ḥ, as if from root mā with upa) he paraphrases with upamīyamānāḥ parichidyamānāḥ.
2. Let this queen of the Fathers (? pítrya) go in the beginning (ágre) for the first birth (janús; race?), standing in the creation; for it (him?) have I sent (hi) this well-shining sinuous one (? hvārá); let them mix (çrī; boil?) the hot drink for the first thirsty one (? dhāsyú).
The connection of the pādas is here yet more obscure than their separate interpretation; the third pāda may perhaps signify the lightning. The verse, with variants, is found in ÇÇS. (v. 9. 6) and AÇS. (iv. 6. 3), and its pratīka in AB. (1. 19) and GB. (ii. 2. 6); the first three read in a pitre for pitryā and eti for etu, and AB. inserts vāi after iyam; and Ppp. also has pitre. In b the two Sūtra-texts give bhūmaneṣṭhāḥ, which is perhaps intended by the bhūminaṣṭāu of Ppp.; in d, the same two have çrīṇantī prathamasya dhāseḥ, and Ppp. -ntu prathamas svadhāsyuḥ. The comm. takes pitryā to mean "come from Prajāpati"; "the queen" is the divinity of speech—or else "this earth," pitryā relating to its father Kaçyapa; dhāsyu is the god desiring food in the form of oblation, and surucam hvãram is suṣṭhu rocamānaṁ kuṭilaṁ vartamānam, qualifying gharmam; ahyam is an adjective, either gantavyam, from the root ah 'go,' or "daily," from ahan 'day'! and çrī is either "mix" or "boil."
3. He who was born forth the knowing relative of it speaks all the births (jániman) of the gods; he bore up the bráhman from the midst of the bráhman; downward, upward, he set forth unto the svadhā́s.
This is found elsewhere only in TS. (ii. 3. 146), which, in a, b, has the less unmanageable asyá bándhuṁ víçvāni devó ján-; and, in d, nīcā́d uccā́ svadháyā ’bhi. Ppp. seems to aim at nearly the same readings with its bandhuṁ viçvāṁ devā jan-, and nīcād uccā svadhayā ’ti. Most of the mss. (including our P.M.W.E.l.K.Kp.) read yajñé for jajñé in a; our O. omits the ḥ of uccāiḥ, and Op. omits that of svadhā́ḥ. The comm. gives alternative explanations of various of the parts of the verse, trying prá jajñé both from jan and from jñā (the translation takes it from jan, as no middle form from pra-jñā occurs elsewhere in the text); and svadhā́s as either object or subject of pra tasthāu (in the latter case tasthāu being for tasthire by the usual equivalence of all verbal forms), and at any rate signifying some kind of sacrificial food.
4. For he of the heaven, he of the earth the right-stander, fixed (skabh) [as his] abode (kṣéma) the (two) great firmaments (ródasī) the great one, when born, fixed apart the (two) great ones, the heaven [as] seat (sádman) and the earthly space (rájas).
Ppp., after our vs. 3, makes a verse out of our 4 c, d and 5 a, b; and then, after our vs. 6, another verse out of our 4 a, b and 5 c, d; and TS. (ii. 3. 146) and AÇS. (iv. 6. 3) combine our 4 c, d and 5 a, b in the same way (omitting the rest), while AB. (i. 19. 3) virtually supports them, by giving our c as a pratīka. All the three read in c astabhāyat (TS. without accent), and AÇS. intrudes pitā after dyām in d. In our text we ought to have not only (with TS.) askabhāyat in c, but also āsk- in b; the accents seem to have been exchanged by a blunder. The comm. makes the sun the "he" of a; he renders kṣémam in b by avināço yathā bhavati; and ví in c apparently by vyāpya vartamānaḥ. The Anukr. passes unnoticed the deficiency of a syllable (unless we resolve pa-árth-) in d. ⌊In a supplementary note, R. reports Ppp. as reading in a, b sa hi vṛtha- (?) ṛceṣṭhā mayi kṣāmaṁ bhrajasī viṣkabhāyati, and as giving jitaḥ for sádma in d.⌋
5. He from the fundamental birth (janús) hath attained (aç) unto (abhi) the summit; Brihaspati, the universal ruler, [is] the divinity of him; since the bright (çukrá) day was born of light, then let the shining (dyumánt) seers (vípra) fade out (? vi-vas) ⌊shine out?⌋.
⌊Whitney's prior draft reads "dwell apart." This he has changed (by a slip? cf. ii. 8. 2) to "fade out," from vas 'shine.' In this case ví vasantu would be irregular, for ví uchantu; see Weber's note, p. 7.⌋ The other two texts (see preceding note) read our a thus: sá budhnā́d āṣṭa janúṣā ’bhy ágram, and TS. has yásya instead of tásya in the next pāda; no variants are reported from Ppp. Some of the AV. mss. also (including our P.M.W.I.K.Kp.) give budhnā́d; but all have after it the impossible form āṣṭra, which SPP. accordingly retains in his text, though the comm. too gives āṣṭa; this is read by emendation in our text. Vasantu, of course, might come from vas 'dwell' or vas 'clothe' ⌊for vas-atām?!⌋; the comm. apparently takes it from the former, paraphrasing the pāda by dīptimanta ṛtvijaḥ svasvavyāpāreṣu vividhaṁ vartantām, or, alternatively, havirbhir devān paricarantu. There is no reason for calling the verse bhurij. ⌊AÇS. reads ugnam (misprint?) for agrám.⌋
6. Verily doth the kāvyá further (hi) that of him—the abode (? dhā́man) of the great god of old (pūrvyá); he was born together with many thus, sleeping now in the loosened (vi-si) eastern half.
No other text has this verse—save Ppp., which has for d pūrvādarād aviduraç ca sahruḥ. The comm. reads in b pūrvasya, and two or three mss. (including our P.) agree with him. Some mss. (including our O.Op.) have at the end sasáṁ nú; and the comm. also so reads, explaining sasa as an annanāman; the true reading is possibly sasánn u (but the pada-text divides sasán: nú). The comm. explains kāvya as yajña (from kavi = ṛtvij), dhāman as tejorūpam maṇḍalātmakaṁ sthānam, eṣa in c as the sun, and the "many" his thousand rays, and viṣita as viçeṣeṇa sambaddha. The last pāda lacks a syllable, unless we resolve pū́-ru-e.
7. Whoso shall approach (? ava-gam) with homage father Atharvan, relative of the gods, Brihaspati—in order that thou mayest be generator of all, poet, god, not to be harmed, self-ruling (? svadhā́vant).
The translation implies in d emendation of dábhāyat to dábhāya; both editions have the former, with all the mss. and the comm. (who comfortably explains it by dabhnoti or hinasti). The comm. also reads in b bṛhaspatis; and this is supported by the Ppp. version: yathā vā ’tharvā pitaraṁ viçvadevaṁ bṛhaspatir manasā vo datsva: and so on (c, d defaced). The comm. takes ava gachāt as = jānīyāt, and svadhāvān as 'joined with food in the form of oblation."