Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book V/Hymn 29

29. To Agni: against demons.

[Cātana.—pañcadaçarcam. jātavedasam uta mantroktadevatākam. trāiṣṭubham: 3. 3-p. virāṇnāma gāyatrī; 5. purotijagatī virāḍjagatī; 12-15. anuṣṭubh (12. bhurij; 14. 4-p. parābṛhatī kakummatī).]

Found also (except vss. 10, 11) in Pāipp. xiii. No notice is taken in Vāit. of any part of the hymn; but in Kāuç. 8. 25 it is reckoned among the cātana hymns, or as belonging in the cātana gaṇa, and two or three of its verses (2-4) are separately quoted, as will be pointed out below.

Translated: Ludwig, p. 526; Griffith, i. 236; Weber, xviii. 277.

1. Joined in front, carry thou, O Jātavedas; know this, O Agni, as [it is] being done; thou art a physician (bhiṣáj), a maker of remedy (bheṣajá); by thee may we gain cow, horse, man (púruṣa).

That is (b), take notice of this rite performed in thine honor. The verse is found also in HGS. i. 2. 18, which in a puts (as does Ppp.) purastāt at the end, inserts in b karma after viddhi, and reads in d gā açvān puruṣān. Kāuç. (3. 16) quotes the verse, in company with several others, at a certain libation in the parvan ceremonies.

2. So, O Agni, Jātavedas, do thou do this, in concord with all the gods: he who hath played [against] us, whosoever hath devoured (ghas) us, that this enclosure of his may fall.

The sense of c appears to be 'whoever hath pillaged us in or by play.' The sense of the imprecation in d is obscure. Ppp. reads as follows: tvam for tat in a; for b, c ’nena vidvān haviṣā yaviṣṭhaḥ: piçāco ‘syatamo* dideva; ‘sya in d; and, as e (or as 3 a), yo ‘sya tad eva yatamo jaghāsi. Kāuç. 47. 9 quotes the verse (the scholiast says, vss. 2, 3) as accompanying the offering of portions of sacrificial butter in witchcraft ceremonies. The Prāt., in ii. 77, prescribes the combination -dhíṣ pát- in d. *⌊Haplography for ‘sya yatamo: cf. 4 c.⌋

3. That this enclosure of his may fall, so, O Agni, Jātavedas, do thou do that, in concord with all the gods.

Ppp. reads yathā somasya paridhiṣ patātiḥ tathā tvam agne.

4. Pierce thou into his eyes, pierce into his heart, bore into his tongue, destroy (pra-mṛ) his teeth; whatsoever piçācá hath devoured of him, that one, O Agni, youngest [god], do thou crush back.

Ppp. reads for a mokṣāu na viddhi hṛdayaṁ na viddhi and piçāco syatamo in c, and yaviṣṭhaṣ in d. Kāuç. (25. 24) quotes the verse in a remedial ceremony.

5. What of him is taken [or] taken apart, what is borne away, whatsoever of himself is devoured by the piçācás, that, O Agni, do thou, knowing, bring again; into his body we send flesh [and] spirit (ásu).

Ppp. reads for d çarīre prāṇam asum erayā saṁ sṛjema. The Anukr. defines the meter correctly, according to its methods.

6. In raw, in well-cooked, in mixed (? çabála), in ripe, what piçācá hath injured (dambh) me in the partaking—that let the piçācás atone for (? vi-yātay) with self [and] progeny; be this man free from disease.

Ppp. has for a our 8 a (reading tvā for mā), and for 8 a yāme sap. çavale vip.; further, for b odane manthe diva ota lehe; and here and in the verses that follow, it varies between dadambha and didambha.

7. In milk (kṣīrá), in stirabout whoever hath injured me, who in grain growing uncultivated—in the partaking [thereof]—that let the piçācás etc. etc.

Ppp. reads in a kṣīre tvā māṅse, and in b -pāçye.

8. In the drinking of waters whatever flesh-eater hath injured me lying (çī) in the lair (çáyana) of the familiar demons (yātú)—that let the piçācás etc. etc.

We are tempted to emend (with Ludwig) çáyānam to çáyānas at end of b. Ppp. reads here, in a, b, nearly our 6 a, b, a with the three variants given above, and b with imam for yo mā, and with ‘çane; and it adds our 10 c, d instead of the refrain.

9. By day, by night, whatever flesh-eater hath injured me lying in the lair of the familiar demons—that let the piçācás etc. etc.

Ppp. reads tvā for mā in a, and in b ṣkravyād yātuç çayate piçācaḥ: ud agne dvān pṛthak: çṛṇīhy apy enaṁ dehi nirṛter upasthe. In c of the refrain of all these verses is a syllable lacking, unless we make a harsh and unusual resolution.

10. The flesh-eating, bloody (rudhirá), mind-slaying piçācá do thou slay, O Agni, Jātavedas; let the vigorous Indra slay him with the thunderbolt; let bold Soma cut [off] his head.

The Anukr. takes no notice of the lacking syllables in b and c, the latter of which, indeed, is easily made up for by resolving vá-jṛ-e-ṇa.

11. From of old, O Agni, thou killest the sorcerers; the demons have not conquered thee in fights; burn up the flesh-eaters together with their dupes (?); let them not be freed from thy heavenly missile.

This verse is repeated below as viii. 3. 18, in the midst of the RV. hymn of which it forms a part: see the note upon it there.

12. Bring together, O Jātavedas, what is taken, what borne away; let his members (gā́tra) increase; let this man fill up like a soma-stalk.

Ppp. begins with samābhara, and has jagdham for hṛtam in b. The Anukr. refuses to sanction the abbreviation ’va in d.

13. Like a stalk of soma, O Jātavedas, let this man fill up; make him, O Agni, exuberant, sacrificial (médhya), free from yákṣma; let him live.

Ppp. is illegible in the last half of the preceding verse and the first of this; it reads at the end jīvase. Our mss. are uncertain about virapçínam, B.E.H. having -psí-, I. -ptrā́-, O. -çpí.

14. These, O Agni, are thy piçācá-grinding pieces of fuel; them do thou enjoy, and accept them, O Jātavedas.

The irregular and defective meter of this verse is very inaccurately described by the Anukr.; it counts as 8 + 6: 5 + 11 syllables, having thus a kakubh-element (b), but no bṛhatī.

15. The pieces of fuel of tārṣṭāghá, O Agni, do thou accept with flame (arcís); let the flesh-eater who wants to take this man's flesh (māṅsá) quit his form.

Or 'of tṛṣṭāgha' (a); this name, however, seems not to be met with anywhere; the pada-text reads tārṣṭa॰aghī́h.