Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book V/Hymn 23
23. Against worms.
[Kāṇva.—trayodaçakam. āindram (krimijambhanāya devān aprārthayat). ānuṣṭubham: 13. virāj.]
Found, except vss. 10-12, in Pāipp. vii. (vs. 9 coming before vs. 6). Used by Kāuç. (29. 20) in a healing ceremony against worms; part of the last verse (13 c) is specially quoted (29. 24) with the direction "do as prescribed in the text." ⌊Cf. hymns 31 and 32 of book ii.⌋
Translated: Kuhn, KZ. xiii. 140; Ludwig, p. 501; Griffith, i. 226; Bloomfield, 23, 452; Weber, xviii. 257.—See Bergaigne-Henry, Manuel, p. 148.
1. Worked in (óta) for me [are] heaven-and-earth; worked in [is] divine Sarasvatī; worked in for me [are] both Indra and Agni: to the effect "let them (dual) grind up the worm."
Here, as everywhere else, the mss. vary with the utmost diversity between krimi and kṛmi; no attempt will be made to report their variations. The first three pādas of the verse are repeated below as vi. 94. 3 a, b, c. The pple. óta (p. ā́॰uta) ⌊'woven on, worked in' (ā + vā)⌋ seems to mean 'brought in for my aid'; a root u is insufficiently supported ⌊see Whitney, Roots etc.⌋. For its forms Ppp. reads in a oṣate, in b okatā, in c okato; Ppp. also has at the end imam for iti.
2. O Indra, lord of riches, smite thou the worms of this boy; smitten are all the niggards by my formidable spell (vácas).
Ppp. reads in b kṛmim, and in c, d viçvā ’rātayo ’greṇa vacasā mimā.
3. What one creeps about his eyes, what one creeps about his nostrils, what one goes to the midst of his teeth—that worm do we grind up.
Read in c, d in our text gáchati táṁ (an accent-sign slipped out of place). Ppp. has in a, b ‘kṣāu and nāsāu ⌊and in c apparently gachasi⌋.
4. Of like form two, of various form two, black two, red two; both the brown and the brown-eared, the vulture and the cuckoo (kóka)—they are slain.
In d, the mss. are divided between te (B.I.H.s.m.T.?K.) and té (P.M.W.H.p.m.O.R.), and either reading is acceptable enough. Our text gives te; the translation above implies té. Ppp. makes sarūpāu and virūpāu exchange places, and has in d kokās.
5. The worms that are white-sided, that are black with white arms, and whatever ones are of all forms—those worms we grind up.
The Anukr. does not notice the deficient syllable of c. Ppp. reads in a sitavakṣās, and in b sitabāhavas.
6. Up in the east goes the sun, seen of all, slayer of the unseen, slaying both those seen and those unseen, and slaughtering all worms.
The first half-verse is RV. i. 191. 8 a, b, without variant. Ppp. reads for a ud asāu sūryo agād, and in b adṛṅhā ⌊the ṅ is written with the anunāsika-sign or candrabindu inverted⌋.
7. The yévāshas, the káshkashas, the stirrers, the çipavitnukás—both let the seen worm be slain, and let the unseen be slain.
The pada-text divides ejat॰kā́ḥ, but not çipavitnukā́ḥ, both according to Prāt. iv. 25. ⌊For ejat-ká, cf. avat-ká, ii. 3. 1 and note; also bhinna-ka, note to ii. 32. 6, and the frequent Pāli forms like ni-panna-ka, Jātaka, ii. p. 720. Ppp. has, for a, b, yavāyavā khāsaṣkaṣki çyāmo dhūkṣāmaç ca parivṛkṇavaḥ: and, for d, adṛṣṭaç co ’ta hanyatām.
8. Slain is the yévāsha of the worms, slain also the nadanimán; I have put them all down, smash (? maṣmaṣā́) like khálva-grains with a millstone.
Nadanimán might possibly mean something like 'a buzzing,' coming from a nadana, root nad. The last pāda is identical with ii. 31. 1 d. Ppp- has instead: hato yavākho hataç ca pavir hato ṣaṁ gaṇavāṅ uta: hatā viçvā ’rātaya anena vacasā mama (cf. 2 c, d).
9. The three-headed, the three-humped (-kakúd), the variegated, the whitish worm—I crush the ribs of it; I hew at what is its head.
The last three pādas are identical with ii. 32. 2 b-d, above. Some of the mss. (P.M.W.H.p.m.) read in a trāikak-. Ppp. has for a, b yo dviçīrṣaç caturakṣaṣ krimiç carn̄go arjunaḥ (cf. the Ppp. version of ii. 32. 2), and in d apa for api. The deficiency of a syllable (unless we read asia) in c is noticed by the Anukr. neither there nor here. The three following verses are the same with ii. 32. 3-5.
10. Like Atri I slay you, O worms, like Kaṇva, like Jamadagni; with the incantation of Agastya I mash together the worms.
11. Slain is the king of the worms, also the chief of them is slain; slain is the worm, having its mother slain, its brother slain, its sister slain.
12. Slain are its neighbors, slain its further neighbors, also those that are petty, as it were—all those worms are slain.
13. Both of all worms and of all she-worms I split the head with a stone, I burn the mouth with fire.
Ppp. reads açminā in c.