Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book IV/Hymn 13

13. For healing.

[Çaṁtāti.—cāndramasam uta vāiçvadevam. ānuṣṭubham.]

Found in Pāipp. v. (in the verse-order 1, 5, 2-4, 6, 7). Vss. 1-5, 7 are in RV. x. 137, and vs. 6 occurs elsewhere in RV. x. Only vss. 1-3 have representatives in Yajur-Veda texts. The hymn is called çaṁtātīya in Kāuç. (9. 4), in the list of the laghuçānti gaṇa hymns; and our comm. to i. 4 counts it also to the bṛhachānti gaṇa (reading in Kāuç. 9. 1 uta devās for the tad eva of the edited text), but he makes no mention of it here; he further declares it to belong among the aṅholin̄gās (for which see Kāuç. 32. 27, note); the schol., on the other hand, put it in the āyuṣyagaṇa (54. 11, note). It is used (58. 3, 11) in the ceremonies for long life that follow the initiation of a Vedic student. In Vāit. (38. 1) it appears, with ii. 33 and iii. 11 etc., in a healing ceremony for a sacrificer ⌊see comm.⌋ who falls ill.

Translated: by the RV. translators; and Aufrecht, ZDMG. xxiv. 203; Griffith, i. 147; Weber, xviii. 48.—See Lanman's Reader, p. 390.

1. Both, O ye gods, him that is put down, O ye gods, ye lead up again, and him that hath done evil (ā́gas), O ye gods, O ye gods, ye make to live again.

Found without variant as RV. x. 137. 1, and also in MS. (iv. 14. 2.) But Ppp. reads uddharatā for ún nayathā in b, and its second half-verse is tato manuṣyaṁ taṁ devā devăṣ kṛṇuta jīvase. The comm. explains avahitam as dharmaviṣaye sāvadhānam, apramattam, or alternatively, avasthāpitam; supplying to it kuruta, and making of b an independent sentence, with double interpretation; and he says something in excuse of the four-fold repetition of the vocative.

2. These two winds blow from the river as far as the distance; let the one blow hither dexterity for thee; let the other blow away what complaint (rápas) [thou hast].

Besides RV. (vs. 2), TB. (ii. 4. 1⁷) and TA. (iv. 42. 1, vs. 6) have this verse. Both accent in c āvā́tu, as does SPP's text, and as ours ought to do, since all the mss. so read, and the accent is fully justified as an antithetical one; our text was altered to agree with the ā́ vātu of RV., which is less observant of the antithetical accent than AV., as both alike are far less observant of it than the Brāhmaṇas. All the three other texts have párā for ví at beginning of d; and TB.TA. give me instead of te in c. The second pāda is translated in attempted adaptation to the third and fourth; of course, the two ablatives with a might properly be rendered coordinately, and either 'hither from' or 'hence as far as'; the comm. takes both in the latter sense.

3. Hither, O wind, blow healing; away, O wind, blow what complaint [there is]; for thou, all-healing one, goest [as] messenger of the gods.

TB.TA. (as above) put this verse before the one that precedes it here and in RV. All the three read in c viçvábheṣajas, and Ppp. intends to agree with them (-bhejajo de-). The comm. offers an alternative explanation of devānām in which it is understood as = indriyāṇām 'the senses.' ⌊Von Schroeder gives a, b, Tübinger Kaṭha-hss., p. 115.⌋

4. Let the gods rescue this man, let the troops of Maruts rescue, let all beings rescue, that this man may be free from complaints.

In RV., this verse and the following one change places. In a, RV. reads ihá for imám, and in b the sing. trā́yatām...gaṇáḥ. Ppp. ends b with maruto gaṇāiḥ, and d with agado ‘sati. The first pāda is defective unless we make a harsh resolution of a long ā. We had d above as i. 22. 2 c.

5. I have come unto thee with wealfulnesses, likewise with uninjurednesses; I have brought for thee formidable dexterity; I drive (sū) away for thee the yákṣma.

The RV. text has in c te bhadrám ā́ ’bhārṣam; both editions give the false form ā́ ’bhāriṣam, because this time all the mss. (except our E.p.m.) chance to read it; in such cases they are usually divided between the two forms, and we need not have scrupled to emend here; the comm. has -rṣam. Ppp. reads in c te bhadram āriṣaṁ, and, for d, parā suvāmy ānuyat.

6. This is my fortunate hand, this my more fortunate one, this my all-healing one; this is of propitious touch.

This is, without variant, RV. x. 60. 12; it takes in our hymn the place of RV. x. 137. 6.

7. With (two) ten-branched hands—the tongue [is] forerunner of voice—with (two) disease-removing hands: with them do we touch thee.

RV. (vs. 7) has for c, d anāmayitnúbhyāṁ tvā tā́bhyāṁ tvó ’pa spṛçāmasi. The Anukr. takes no notice of the redundancy in our c.