Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book V/Hymn 20

20. To the war-drum.

[Brahman.—dvādaçakam. vānaspatyaṁ dundubhidevatyam (20, 21. sapatnasenāparājayāya devasenāvijayāya ca dundubhim astāut). trāiṣṭubham: 1. jagatī.]

Found also in Pāipp. ix. (in the verse-order 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 8, 6, 7, 9-12). This hymn and vi. 126 are quoted together by Kāuç. 16. 1 and Vāit. 34. 11: by the former, in a battle-rite, for infusing terror into a hostile army; by the latter, with beating of a drum in a sattra sacrifice.

Translated: Ludwig, p. 460; Grill, 68, 153; Griffith, i. 220; Bloomfield, 130, 436; Weber, xviii. 244.

1. The loud-noised drum, warrior-like, of forest-tree, brought together (sámbhṛta) with the ruddy [kine], whetting the voice, dominating our rivals; thunder thou loudly against [them] like a lion, about to conquer.

That is (b), made of wood and bound and headed with cowhide. The mss. make awkward work of writing kṣṇuvānás; nearly all have kṣuṇu-, only Bp.² kṛṇuv-, and E. kṣuv-; but there cannot well be any question as to the true reading. In d, also, most of the mss. have the obviously wrong jyeṣyán, only H.E. jeṣ-. The Anukr. strangely reckons the verse (though it is a perfectly regular triṣṭubh) as a jagatī, apparently only on account of the unnecessary full reading iva (for ’va) in d: or can it perhaps count also kṣuṇuvāno as four syllables? Ppp. has khaṇvāno; in d it reads siṁha iva dveṣaṁn (= hreṣann?) abhi taṅstanayati.

2. Like a lion hath thundered the wooden one, stretched (vi-bandh), like a bull roaring at a longing cow; virile (vṛ́ṣan) [art] thou, impotent thy rivals; Indra-like [is] thy vehemence (çúṣma), overpowering hostile plotters.

The translation implies emendation to vāçitā́m in b, as made in our edition; the mss. vāsitā́m. All the saṁhitā-mss. (after their usual custom: see my Skt. Gr. §232) abbreviate in a to -nīdruv-, and many of them (P.M.W.E.H.O.) have the misreading -nīdhruv-. The pada-text does not divide druváyah, but the case is quoted in the comment to Prāt. iv. 18 as an exceptional one, vaya being regarded as a suffix added to dru. Ppp. reads at the beginning siṅhāivāttānīdruvayo, and combines çuṣmo ‘bhi- in d. The Anukr. notes no irregularity in the verse—as if it abbreviated iva to ’va in both a and b.

3. Found (vidāná) suddenly (sáhasā) like a bull in a herd, do thou, seeking kine, bellow (ru) at [them], winning booty; pierce thou with pain the heart of our adversaries; let our foes, leaving their villages, go urged forth (pra-cyu).

Ppp. reads in a yūthaṁ saha sa-, and in c viddhi. The Anukr. notes no irregularity in the verse, although d is clearly jagatī-pada, and to resolve vidhia in c is contrary to all analogy.

4. Wholly conquering the fighters, shrill-crying, do thou, seizing those that are to be seized, look abroad on many sides; respond (? ā-gur), O drum, devout, to the voice of the gods; bring the possession of our foes.

Vedhā́s is as superfluous to the sense in c as it is redundant in meter. The Anukr. takes no notice of the irregularity, nor of the deficiency in a (ūrdhua- being very harsh, and not found in RV.). The pada-text reads gṛ́hyāḥ in b; pṛ́tanās is apparently to be understood with it. The voice of the gods (or of heaven, dāívī) is apparently the thunder.

5. Hearing the uttered (pra-yam) voice of the drum speaking, let the woman, suppliant, noise-wakened, run to her son, seizing his hand—our enemy, frightened in the conflict of deadly weapons.

One might conjecture in a prayatā́m 'of [us] advancing.' This verse and 6 and 9 are really the only regular triṣṭubhs of the hymn.

6. Mayest thou first (pū́rva), O drum, speak forth thy voice; on the back of earth speak thou, shining (ruc); opening wide the jaws (jabh) on the army of our enemies, speak thou clearly, O drum, pleasantly (sūnṛ́tāvat).

That is, 'what is pleasant to us,' apparently. Pūrva in a might also mean 'in front, in our van.' Ppp. reads in a, b viṣahasva çatrūn: vada bahu rocamānah; and it makes the second half-verse exchange places with 8 c, d.

7. Let there be noise between these two firmaments (nábhas); severally let thy sounds (dhvaní) go swiftly; roar at [them], thunder, truculent (?), resounding (çlokakṛ́t) unto the victory of our friends, a good partizan.

Mitra in mitratū́rya has to be taken as subjective instead of objective genitive. It is only with difficulty (iantu?) that b can be made metrically complete ⌊unless we read táva for te⌋. Ppp. reads at the end çraddhī. ⌊Bloomfield discusses utpípāna, AJP. xii. 441.⌋

8. Made by devices (dhī́), may it speak forth its voice; excite thou the weapons of the warriors; allied with Indra, call in the warriors; by friends smite mightily down the enemies.

'By devices': i.e., apparently, with art. Emendation of vadāti to vadāsi in a is very desirable; Ppp. has the 2d pers. bharasva instead; and, as noted above, it substitutes our 6 c, d for the second half-verse. There is a syllable lacking in a.

9. A vociferating herald (? pravadá), with bold army, making proclaim in many places, sounding through the villages, winning advantage, knowing the ways, do thou distribute (vi-hṛ) fame to many in the [battle] of two kings.

The verse seems to relate to the proclamation of victory and of the desert of those to whom it is due: see Roth, Festgruss an Böhtlingk, p. 99. Ppp. reads prasraveṇo for pravadó in a, and bhaja for hara in d. ⌊For vayúna, Pischel, Ved. Stud. i. 297.⌋

10. Aiming at advantage, conquering good things, very powerful, conquering a host, thou art sharpened by bráhman; as the pressing-stone on the [soma-] stalks in the press, do thou, O drum, dance on [their] possession, seeking booty (gavyán).

The translation implies emendation of gavyám (read by all our mss.) in d to gavyán as made in our edited text; but gavyám védas might perhaps mean 'their possession in kine.' Prāt. ii. 62 prescribes çreyaḥketas (not -yask-). Bp. alone reads ádhriḥ in c, which Pet. Lexx. prefer; adris is, to be sure, superfluous beside grā́vā, and can hardly be translated. Ppp. has, for b, mitraṁ dadhānas tviṣito vipaçcit; and it reads adhi (not ‘dhi) in d. The first pāda is defective, unless we make the violent resolution çr-e- at the beginning; in the third we have to read ’va ⌊or ‘driḥ⌋.

11. Overpowering foes, overpowering and putting down, overpowering hostile plotters, seeking kine, overpowering, up-shooting, bring forth thy voice as a speaker (vāgvín) his discourse (mántra); speak up force (? íṣ) here in order to the conquering of the host.

Sā́ṁgram- in our text is a misprint for sā́ṁgrām-. Ppp. offers no variants. The words çatrūṣā́ṭ and nīṣā́ṭ (both unchanged in pada-text) fall under Prāt. ii. 82; iii. 1; iv. 70. Gavéṣaṇa (p. go॰éṣaṇaḥ) is by Prāt. ii. 23. The second pāda is defective by one syllable.

12. Stirring (cyu) the unstirred, going oftenest into contests, conquering scorners, going in front, unsubduable, made safe by Indra, noting counsels (? vidátha), burning the hearts of our adversaries, go thou quickly.

The abbreviated combination hṛdyo- for hṛddyo- has led here, as at i. 22. 1, to the pada-reading hṛ॰dyótanaḥ in d. The defective meter of a (which is not to be honestly removed by resolving cy into ci) makes the reading suspicious (perhaps samádane?). Ppp. has pṛtanāṣāt for puraetā in b, and kḷptas for guptas in c. Vidáthā in c, perhaps 'the gatherings of our enemies'; ⌊see Geldner, ZDMG. lii. 746⌋.