Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book IV/Hymn 20

20. To discover sorcerers: with an herb.

[Mātṛnāman.—navarcam. mātṛnāmadāivatam. ānuṣṭubham: 1. svarāj; 9. bhurij.]

Found in Pāipp. viii. (in the verse-order 1-4, 7, 6, 8, 9, 5). Reckoned by Kāuç. (8. 25) to the cātanāni; and by the schol. (8. 24, note) added to the mātṛnāmāni: with good reason, if we may trust the Anukr. (which adds to what is given above: anena mātṛnāmāu ’ṣadhim evā ’stāut); but the comm. says nothing about it. The hymn is used by itself (28. 7) to accompany the binding on of an amulet of sadampuṣpā 'ever-flowering' (or, as the comm. and schol. say, trisandhyā) in a healing ceremony (the comm. says, against brahmagraha and the like).

Translated: Ludwig, p. 525; Grill, 2, 133; Griffith, i. 159; Bloomfield, 68, 398; Weber, xviii. 84.—See also Hillebrandt, Veda-chrestomathie, p. 48.

1. He (?) looks on, he looks toward, he looks away, he looks: the sky, the atmosphere, then the earth—all that, O divine one (f.), he looks at.

Ppp. has the 2d sing, paçyasi all the five times, and it is an easier reading (adopted by Grill in his translation), especially in d, unless we may emend devi to devī́; according to the comm., the subject throughout is the wearer of the amulet, and the divine one, as is also indicated by Kāuç., is the sadampuṣpā plant, a plant evidently having something about it that resembles or suggests eyes. Ppp. reads ā for āt in c. ⌊Read prá for práti in a? Pronounce divāntar- in c.⌋

2. Three skies, three earths, and these six directions severally—by thee let me see all beings, O divine herb.

Ppp. has mahī (for -īḥ) instead of pṛthak in b, and in the second half-verse, tathā ’ham sarvā yātṝṇa paçyāmi. Some of our mss. (P.M.) give páṣyāṇi in d. Pāda a is redundant by a syllable, unless we pronounce pṛthvī́s. ⌊For the triplicity, comm. cites RV. ii. 27. 8 and AB. ii. 17 end.⌋

3. Of that heavenly eagle art thou the eye-pupil; thou here hast ascended the earth as a wearied bride (vadhū́) a litter.

Ppp. puts divyasya after suparṇasya. The ground of the comparisons made in the verse is altogether obscure, and the comm. casts no light upon them. ⌊Bloomfield discusses this vs., AJP. xvii. 402.⌋

4. May the thousand-eyed god set it in my right hand; with it do I see every one, both who is Çūdra and [who] Āryan.

Ppp. has hast’ ādadat at end of b, and, for second half-verse, tato ‘haṁ sarvaṁ paçyāmi adbhūtaṁ (sic) yac ca bhavyam. Paçyāni would be an acceptable emendation in c. The comm. (with one of SPP's mss.) reads tvayā in c; he regards the "god" in a as Indra.

5. Make manifest [thy] forms; do not hide thyself away; then mayest thou, O thousand-eyed one, look upon the kimīdíns.

Literally (in d) 'meet with thy look.' Ppp. begins c with evā instead of atho, and ends d with paçyāmy āyata. The abbreviation in c of the stem -cakṣus to -cakṣu is one of those noted in the Prāt. rules ii. 59 and iv. 100.

6. Show me the sorcerers; show the sorceresses; show all the piçācás: with this intent I take hold of (ā-rabh) thee, O herb.

For second half-verse, Ppp. has āpaspṛg eva tiṣṭhantaṁ darçaya māṁ kimīdinam.

7. The eye of Kaçyapa art thou, and of the four-eyed bitch; conceal thou not the piçācá, like the sun gliding (sṛp) in the clear sky (vīdhrá).

That is, allow him to be no more concealed than the sun etc. Both editions read -akṣyā́s at end of b, but it is against the authority of the mss., all of which (save two of SPP's which follow the comm. in giving the true reading) omit, as in numerous other cases, the y after the sibilant. The comm. regards Saramā as referred to; and, in futile attempt at explaining her possession of four eyes, says etenā ’pradhṛṣyaivam uktam. ⌊Cf. Weber, Berl. St., 1895, p. 849, n. 3.⌋ He explains the reference to eyes by the resemblance of the flowers of the plant in question; but this looks rather like a plausible guess than like a statement on any authority. Ppp. has for first half-verse kaçyapasya caturakṣas syaṅtyāç caturakṣā. The comm. derives vīdhra from vi-idh, and glosses it with antarikṣa. The Anukr. appears to approve the abbreviation to sū́ryam ’va in c. ⌊Bloomfield thinks that kaçyapa punningly suggests paçyaka 'seer,' and cites TA. i. 8. 8, kaçyapaḥ paçyako bhavati yat sarvam paripaçyati.

8. I have seized (ud-grabh) out of his shelter (paripā́ṇa) the sorcerer, the kimīdín; with it do I see every one, both Çūdra and Āryan.

Ppp. has in a, b -pāṇaṁ yātudhānāt kimīdinaḥ. The comm. makes tena refer here to yāludhānam, and supplies graham to sarvam—evidently without reason.

9. Whichever flies through the atmosphere, and whichever creeps across the sky; whichever thinks the earth a refuge (nāthá)—that piçācá do thou show forth.

Ppp. has for b bhomīç co ’pasarpati, and in c divam for bhūmim; and its d is tvaṁ piçācaṁ dṛçe kuru. The comm. (with a couple of SPP's mss.) has adhi- instead of ati- in b; he glosses nātham with svāminam. The verse is not bhurij if we combine yò ‘ntár- in a. ⌊Correct the misprinted verse-number.⌋

Here, at the end of the fourth anuvāka, with 5 hymns and 42 verses, the old Anukr. says atha kuryād dvādaça.

Here ends also the seventh prapāṭhaka.