Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book IV/Hymn 28
28. Praise and prayer to Bhava and Çarva.
[Mṛgāra.—(see h. 23). 1. dvyatijāgatagarbhā bhurij.]
Found in Pāipp. iv. (next after our h. 26), but having nothing correspondent to it in the Yajur-Veda texts. Having the same beginning (bhavāçarvāu) as xi. 2. 1, one cannot tell in many cases which of the two hymns is intended by a quotation in Kāuç.; but according to the comm. (also to Keçava; Dārila appears to think otherwise) this one is employed in a healing ceremony at 28. 8; it is also reckoned (26. 1, note) to the takmanāçana gaṇa.
Translated: Muir, OST. iv.2 332; Griffith, i. 169; Bloomfield, 158, 406; Weber, xviii. 111.
1. O Bhava-and-Çarva, I reverence you, know ye that; ye in whose direction is all that shines out (vi-ruc) here, who lord it over these bipeds [and] quadrupeds: do ye free us from distress.
Ppp. has, for b, yayor vāṁ yad idaṁ vitiṣṭhate; our vāṁ makes this pāda redundant. In c, some of the pada-mss. (including our Bp.) have asya (but asyá, correctly, in 6 c). The expression in b corresponds with that in 23. 7 and vii. 25. 2. According to the comm., the name Bhava signifies bhavaty asmāt sarvaṁ jagad; and Çarva, çṛṇāti hinasti sarvam antakāle.
2. Ye whose is whatever is on the way and afar; who are known as best shooters among arrow-bearers; who lord it etc. etc.
Ppp. has vitatāu for viditāu (perhaps vīḍitāu?) in b, and its c reads bhavāçarvāu bhavatam me syonāu, which then continues to be (as in 26. 2-6) part of the refrain through vs. 6, taking the place of our c. The comm., with a couple of SPP's mss., has iṣubhṛ́tāu for -tām in b. He explains abhyadhve by samīpadeçe. Perhaps a means rather 'on whose way [is] even whatever is afar.'
3. I call on the (two) thousand-eyed Vṛtra-slayers; I go praising the (two) formidable ones, having pastures afar: who lord it etc. etc.
One of the oddest pada-text blunders of the whole work is made in b; stuvánnemi is resolved into stuván: nemi instead of stuván: emi; and then one or two of the mss. (including our Op.) corrupt further to stuvát, and the comm. to nemī (manufacturing for it two different, but equally absurd, explanations after his manner ⌊cf. Festgruss an Roth, p. 91⌋). Ppp. has in a, b huve vā dūrehetī sunemi ugrāu. ⌊Add avasāna-mark after ugrāu.⌋
4. Ye who have taken hold (ā-rabh) of much together in the beginning, if ye have let loose (pra-sṛj) the portent (abhibhā́) among the people (jána): who lord it etc. etc.
The sense of the verse is very obscure. All the mss. without exception have in b the absurd reading ásrāṣṭram, which our edition emends to -ṭam, but which SPP. retains, though the comm. gives -ṭam. Ppp. has the better reading ugrāu for agre in a. The comm. treats bahú sākám, in spite of accents, as one word, = janasaṁgham.
5. From whose deadly weapon no one soever escapes (apa-pad), among gods and among men (mā́nuṣa); who lord it etc. etc.
Ppp. reads in a, b kiṁ canā ’ntar deveṣu uta.
6. Whoso is witchcraft-maker, root-cutter (?), sorcerer, down on him put [your] thunderbolt, O formidable ones; who lord it etc. etc.
Ppp. is defaced in this verse, and omits mūlakṛt. The comm. takes -kṛ́t in a both times as from kṛt 'cut,' and mūla- as "offspring, the root of increase of a family"; the Pet. Lex. conjectures "preparing roots for purposes of witchcraft" ⌊see Bloomfield's note, p. 407⌋; one might also guess mūrakṛ́t ⌊see Weber's comment, p. 114⌋. Most of our mss. (all save H.p.m.K.D.), and the majority of SPP's, have the false reading dhattām in b; both editions give -tam.
7. Bless us in fights, O formidable ones; visit (sam-sṛj) with [your] thunderbolt whoever is a kimīdín: I praise Bhava-and-Çarva; [as] a suppliant I call loudly on [them]; do ye free us from distress.
Ppp. reads me for nas in a, and leaves -su ugrāu uncombined. ⌊Its closing half-verse is as in the Vulgate (as may be inferred from the note to vs. 2).⌋