Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book IV/Hymn 14
14. With the sacrifice of a goat.
[Bhṛgu.—navarcam. ājyam, āgneyam. trāiṣṭubham: 2, 4. anuṣṭubh; 3. prastārapan̄kti; 7, 9. jagatī; 8. 5-p. atiçakvarī.]
Verses 1-6 are found also in Pāipp. iii. (in the verse-order 1, 2, 5, 4, 6, 3), and in various Yajur-Veda texts (vss. 1 and 6 not in company with the rest); vss. 7-9, in Pāipp. xvi. The hymn is used in Kāuç. (64. 23 ff.) in the sava sacrifices, with goat or goat-rice-mess (ajāudana) as sava: vss. 2-4, at 68. 24-27 (and also, the comm. says, in recitation in all sava sacrifices); vs. 5, at 63. 9 (the comm. says, with oblation in all); vs. 6, at 64. 17; vs. 7 (vss. 7 and 8, according to the comm.), at 64. 18-20 (with setting up the goat); vs. 9, at 64. 22 (with offering the skin having head and feet left attached to it). In Vāit., vs. 1 is used (29. 3) in the agnicayana, with building in a goat's head; vss. 2-5 (29. 17), in the same ceremony as the priests mount the altar; vs. 5 (8. 17), in the parvan sacrifices, with transfer of the fires, and again, in the agniṣṭoma (15. 9), when the fire is brought to the uttaravedi; and the comm. regards vs. 3 as quoted at 27. 6, in the vājapeya rite.
Translated: Griffith, i. 149; Weber, xviii. 51 (elaborate comment).
1. Since the goat has been born from the heat of Agni (the fire), it saw [its] generator in the beginning; by it the gods in the beginnings attained (i) [their] godhead; by (with?) it the sacrificial ones (médhya) ascended the ascents (róha).
Found also in VS. (xiii. 51), MS. (ii. 7. 17; like VS. throughout), and TS. (iv. 2. 104). VS. and MS. have in c, d devátām ágram āyaṅs téna róham āyann úpa médh-. TS. has at the beginning ajā́, and, correspondingly, sā́ (with vāí added) in b, and táyā in c and d; it also reverses the order of c and d, agreeing otherwise with VS. MS. in d, but having ágre, like AV., in c; it also replaces çókāt by gárbhāt in a. We have a again below as ix. 5. 13 a; and c is nearly equivalent to iii. 22. 3 c: moreover the pada-mss., here as there, misinterpret āyaṅ before téna as āyam, which SPP. properly corrects to āyan in his pada-text; all our saṁhitā-mss. read āyaṅ. The comm. declares hí in a to be intended to intimate that the same statement was made in another text also; and he quotes TS. ii. 1. 14; róha he explains by svargādiloka; téna he takes both times as designating the means. The Anukr. takes no notice of the deficiency of a syllable in b. ⌊As to ajá, see Weber, Berliner Sb., 1895, p. 847 n.⌋
2. Stride ye with the fire to the firmament (nā́ka), bearing in your hands vessel-[fires] (úkhya); having gone to the back of the sky, to the heaven (svàr), sit ye mingled with the gods.
The other texts (VS. xvii. 65; TS. iv. 6. 51; MS. ii. 10. 6) differ but slightly from ours: all have the sing. úkhyam at beginning of b, and TS.MS. combine diváḥ p- in c. Ppp. reads agníbhis in a, and ekṣāṁ for úkhyān in b; for the latter, the comm. (with one of SPP's mss.) gives akṣān, which he defines as akṣavat prakāçakān anuṣṭhitān yajñān. As usual, the mss. vary at the end between the equivalent ādhvam and āddhvam; our text reads the latter, SPP's the former.
3. From the back of earth I have ascended to the atmosphere; from the atmosphere I have ascended to the sky; from the back of the sky, of the firmament (nā́ka), I have gone to heaven (svàr), to light.
The other three texts (VS. xvii. 67; TS. and MS. as above) agree in omitting pṛṣṭhā́t in a and adding úd after ahám before antárikṣam. In this verse, the comm. takes svàr as the sun (in vs. 2, as the svarga loka). It is too irregular (14 + 9: 7 + 8 = 38) to be so simply defined as it is by the Anukr. ⌊If we omit the first ahám, and combine dívā́ruham in b and resolve -aāt suar in cd, we get an orderly purastādbṛhatī.⌋
4. Going to heaven (svàr) they look not away; they ascend to the sky, the two firmaments (ródasī)—they who, well-knowing, have extended the everywhere-streaming sacrifice.
The other texts (VS. xvii. 68; TS. and MS. as above) have no variants; but Ppp. ends b with rohantu rādhasaḥ. The comm. again takes svar as svarga; and viçvatodhāram as either sarvato dhārakam or else sarvato ‘vicchinnaphalaprāptyupāyā yasmin.
5. O Agni, go forth first of the divinities, eye of gods and of human beings (mā́nuṣa)—pressing on (? íyakṣa-) in unison with the Bhṛgus, let the sacrificers go to heaven (svàr), to well-being.
The other texts (VS. xvii. 69; TS. and MS. as above) all read mártyānām at end of b; and for devátānām in a VS.TS. have devayatā́m, MS. devāyatā́m; and Ppp. also reads martyānām and devayatām; in c, MS. has sahá for sajóṣās. The comm. paraphrases cakṣus by cakṣurindriyavat priyaḥ, and iyakṣamāṇās by yaṣṭum icchantaḥ.
6. With milk, with ghee, I anoint the goat, the heavenly eagle, milky, great; by it may we go to the world of the well-done, ascending the heaven (svàr), unto the highest firmament (nā́ka).
TS. (iv. 7. 13) and MS. (ii. 12. 3) have a parallel verse, with which Ppp. also corresponds in the first half: agníṁ (Ppp. -nīṁ) yunajmi çávasā ghṛténa divyáṁ suparṇáṁ (Ppp. samudraṁ) váyasā (MS. vayasám; but Ppp. payasaṁ) bṛhántam (Ppp. ruhantam); as second half, they read: téna vayám patema bradhnásya viṣṭápaṁ súvo (MS. svò) rúhāṇā ádhi nā́ka uttamé, while Ppp. differs from our text only by having at beginning of d saruhāṇā adhi. The second half-verse is repeated below as xi. 1. 37 c, d. The comm. reads in b payasam, but regards it as vayasam with Vedic substitution of p for v; svàr this time is either svarga or sūryātmakam paramaṁ jyotiḥ. The triṣṭubh is irregular in its last two pādas. ⌊Pronounce gā-iṣma in c (? in spite of Gram. §894 c, end). Pāda d is simply acatalectic. Ought we perhaps to read súāróh-, i.e. súar róh- (root ruh without ā, as at x. 2. 8; xii. 3. 42; xix. 6. 2)?⌋
7. Accompanied by five rice-messes (-odaná), by the five fingers, with the spoon, take thou up five-fold that rice-mess. In the eastern quarter set thou the head of the goat; in the southern (dákṣiṇa) quarter set his right (dákṣiṇa) side.
Verses 7-9 are not found in other texts, not even in Ppp.* The comm. (against the accent) explains páñcāudanam as pañcadhā vibhaktam odanam; uddhara as "take out of the kettle (sthālī) and set on the barhis"; and, both here and in the following verse, he substitutes for the actual part of the animal the cooked meat taken from such part, with the share of rice-mess that goes with it. The verse is a jagatī only by number of syllables (11 + 13: 11 + 13 = 48; each pāda ⌊save b⌋ has trochaic close). ⌊Reject diçí in d and scan as 11 + 12: 11 + 11⌋ *⌊In a supplementary note, Roth says that they do occur (as noted above) in Ppp. xvi.⌋
8. In the western quarter set his rump (bhasád); in the northern (úttara) quarter set his other (úttara) side; in the upward quarter set the goat's back-bone; in the fixed quarter set his belly (? pājasyà); midway in the atmosphere his middle.
The comm. explains pājasyàm thus: pāja iti balanāma: tatra hitam udaragatam ūvadhyam; and dhehi in connection with it as meaning ni khana—which looks quite improbable. It is only by violence that this verse can be extended to 60 syllables, as the Anukr. requires. ⌊Reject diçí in b and c, as in vs. 7, and combine bhasádāsya, and we get five good triṣṭubh pādas.⌋ Our edition inserts after pājasyàm an avasāna-mark which is wanting in the mss. and in SPP's text.
9. Do thou envelop with cooked skin the cooked goat, brought together with all his limbs, all-formed. Do thou rise up from here unto the highest firmament (nā́ka); with thy four feet stand firm in the quarters.
One would expect in a rather áçṛtayā, as the hide can hardly have been cooked; the comm. reads instead çrathayā, explaining it as viçasanena vibhaktayā; but no such word as çratha appears to be found elsewhere, and both it and its interpretation are very implausible. To tvacā he adds "having the feet, tail, and head on." The verses read as if the goat himself, after cooking whole, were set up in position, the head to the east. The Anukr. does not heed that the second and fourth pādas are triṣṭubh. ⌊Ppp. has çrutam ekaṁ çrutayā.⌋