Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 121

121. For release from evil.

[Kāuçika.—[caturṛcam.] mantroktadevatyam. 1, 2. triṣṭubh; 3, 4. anuṣṭubh.]

Found also in Pāipp. xvi. ⌊For vss. 3, 4, cf. v. Schroeder, Zwei Hss., p. 15, Tübinger Kaṭka-hss., p. 75.⌋ Used by Kāuç. (52. 3) with vi. 63 and 84, in a rite for release from various bonds; ⌊and with the whole anuvāka—see under h. 114⌋.

Translated: Ludwig, p. 442; Zimmer, p. 182 (3 vss.); Griffith, i. 311.

1. An untier, do thou untie off us the fetters that are highest, lowest, that are Varuṇa's; remove (nis-sū) from us evil-dreaming [and] difficulty; then may we go to the world of the well-done.

Viṣā́ṇā (p. vi॰sā́nā) is doubtless 'antler' here, as at iii. 7. 1, 2 ⌊which see⌋ (though neither Kāuç. nor the schol. nor our comm. make mention of such an article as used here); but it was necessary to render it etymologically, to bring out the word-play between it and ví ṣya; the comm. treats it as a participle (= vimuñcatī), disregarding, as usual, the accent (really vi-sā́ + ana ⌊Skt. Gram. §1150 e⌋). The second pāda is the same with vii. 83. 4 b. The proper readings in c are (see note to Prāt. ii. 86) duṣṣvāpnyam and níṣṣva, which the mss. almost without exception* abbreviate to duṣvap- and níṣva, just as they abbreviate dattvā to datvā, or, in vs. 2 a, rájjvām to rájvām (see my Skt. Gr. §232). SPP. here gives in his saṁhitā-text ní ṣva, with all his authorities; our text has níh ṣva, with only one of ours (O.): doubtless the true metrical form is níṣ ṣuvā ’smát. ⌊Cf. Roth, ZDMG. xlviii. 119, note.⌋ Ppp. lacks our second half-verse, having instead 2 a, b. *⌊That is, if we take the occurrences of the words as a whole in AV.⌋

2. If (yát) thou art bound in wood, and if in a rope; if thou art bound in the earth, and if by a spell (vā́c)—may this householder's-fire lead us up from that to the world of the well-done.

The second half-verse here is the same with 120. 1 c, d, and seems unconnected with the first half. Ppp. reads, in a, dāruṇā and rajvā, and omits the second half-verse, thus reducing the hymn to three verses, the norm of the book.

3. Arisen are the two blessed stars named the Unfasteners; let them bestow here of immortality (amṛ́ta); let the releaser of the bound advance.

The first half-verse is the same with ii. 8. 1 a, b; compare also iii. 7. 4 a, b. The verse corresponds to TA. ii. 6. 1³, which has, for a, amī́ ⌊AV. iii. 7. 4, amū́⌋yé subháge diví, and, in d, etád for prāí ’tu.

4. Go thou apart; make room; mayest thou free the bound one from the bond; like a young fallen out of the womb, do thou dwell along all roads.

A corresponding verse is found in TA. (ii. 6. 1⁴), which has, for a, ví jihīrṣva lokā́n kṛdhi,* and, at the end, ánu ṣva (also pathás after sárvān). Ppp. reads at the end anu gacha, and this is what the comm. gives as paraphrase of ánu kṣiya. The Anukr. seems to authorize the contraction yonye ’va in c. *⌊In c, yónes for yónyās.⌋