Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book V/Hymn 8
8. Against enemies: to Indra and other gods.
[Atharvan (?).—navakam. nānādevatyam: 1, 2. āgneye; 3. vāiçvadevī; 4-9. āindryas. ānuṣṭubham: 2. 3-av. 6-p. jagatī; 3, 4. bhurikpathyāpan̄kti; 6. prastārapan̄kti; 7. dvyuṣṇiggarbhā pathyāpan̄kti; 9. 3-av. 6-p. dvyuṣṇiggarbhā jagatī.]
Found also (except vs. 7) in Pāipp. vii. Not quoted in Vāit., and in Kāuç. only once, in a witchcraft ceremony (48. 8), after iv. 16, with the direction "do as specified in the text."
Translated: Ludwig, p. 439; Grifiith, i. 200; Weber, xviii. 194.
1. With fuel of víkan̄kata do thou carry the sacrificial butter to the gods; O Agni, make them revel here; let all come to my call.
The víkan̄kata is identified as Flacourtia sapida, a thorny plant. Ppp. reads sādaya, which is better, in c, and combines sarvā ”yantu in d.
2. O Indra, come to my call; this will I do; that hear thou; let these over-runners (? atisará) of Indra's bring to pass (sam-nam) my design; by them may we be equal to (çak) heroism, O Jātavedas, self-controller.
The obscure atisará is rendered etymologically, being found nowhere else; the Pet. Lex. conjectures "start, effort." For idáṁ kariṣyāmi in b is probably substituted in practical use a statement of the act performed. The Anukr. takes no notice of the redundant syllable in the pāda.
3. What he there yonder, O gods, being godless, desires to do—let not Agni carry his oblation; let not the gods go to his call; come ye only (evá) unto my call.
Some of the mss. (Bp2.p.m.Bp.I.D.) read cíkīriṣati in b. We may make the contraction devā ’sya in d, though the Anukr. does not sanction it.
4. Overrun (ati-dhāv), ye over-runners; slay by Indra's spell (vácas); shake (math) ye as a wolf [shakes] a sheep; let him not be released from you alive; shut up his breath.
The end of the verse is different, but without sense, in Ppp. An accent-mark has dropped out under the ta of mathnīta in our text ⌊and under hata there is one which should be deleted⌋. The Anukr. apparently forbids us to make the familiar contraction vṛke ’va in c, and then overlooks the deficiency of a syllable in d. ⌊Cf. Bergaigne, Rel. véd. iii. 7-8.⌋
5. What brahmán they yonder have put forward for failure (åpabhūti), [be] he beneath thy feet, O Indra; him I cast unto death.
Brahmán: probably performer of an incantation. Ppp. reads abhibhūtaye in b.
6. If they have gone forward to the gods' strongholds (-purā), have made incantation (bráhman) their defenses—if (? yát) making a body-protection, a complete protection, they have encouraged themselves (upa-vac): all that do thou make sapless.
The verse is found again below, as xi. 10. 17,* but without commentary. Bráhman may have here one of its higher senses; possibly upa-vac is to be understood as = upa-vad 'reproach, impute.' For kṛṇvānā́ yád upociré, Ppp. reads simply cakrire, with paripāṇāni before it. The verse is plainly a pathyāpan̄kti, but the pada-mss. support the misconception of the Anukr. by putting the pāda-division after kṛṇvānā́s. The Anukr. ought to say āstārapan̄kti, but it not very rarely makes this confusion. *⌊Vol. iii. p. 195, of SPP's ed.⌋
7. What over-runners he yonder has made, and what he shall make, do thou, O Indra, Vṛtra-slayer, turn (ā-kṛ) them back again, that they may shatter (tṛh) yon person (jána).
Wanting (as noted above) in Ppp. ⌊for tṛṇáhān, see Gram. §687.⌋
8. As Indra, taking Udvācana, put [him] underneath his feet, so do I put down them yonder, through everlasting (çáçvat) years (sámā).
Udvā́cana is heard of nowhere else, and the name looks so improbable that the Pet. Lexx. conjecture udváñcana; Ppp. has instead udvātana; it puts this verse at the end of the hymn. The redundancy of d is passed without notice by the Anukr.
9. Here, O Indra, Vṛtra-slayer, do thou, formidable, pierce them in the vitals; just here do thou trample upon them; O Indra, thine ally am I; we take hold on thee, O Indra; may we be in thy favor.
Some of the mss. (H.I.O.K.) read atrāi ’ṇān in a; and some (P.M.W.O.) reckon the last two pādas as a tenth ⌊or separate⌋ verse. Mármāṇi in b in our text is a misprint for mármaṇi. The Anukr. appears to count, without good reason, only 7 syllables in d as well as in b.