Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 16
16. To various plants (?).
[Çāunaka (anena hinahidevam astāut).—mantroktadevatyam uta cāndramasam. ānuṣṭubham. caturṛcam. 1. nicṛt 3-p. gāyatrī; 3. bṛhatīgarbhā kakummaty anuṣṭubh; 4. 3-p. pratiṣṭhā.]
Found also in Pāipp. xix. Appears in Kāuç. (30. 1), in a healing rite, explained as intended for disease of the eyes, with various use of mustard plant. Verse 4 is quoted alone later (51. 15), in a rite explained by Keç. simply as one for welfare, by the comm. as for welfare in connection with food (annasvastyayana): and the comm. reads in Kāuç. anna- (not āla-) bheṣajam; the three çalāñjālāgrāṇi of 51. 16 the comm. explains as sasyavallīs.
The whole hymn is totally obscure; that it relates to a disease of the eyes, as assumed by the native comment, there appears no good reason to believe.
Translated: Florenz, 268 or 20; Griffith, i. 253 (see his notes); Bloomfield, 30, 464.
1. O ābayu, non-ābayu! thy juice is sharp (ugrá), O ābayu! unto thy broth do we eat.
The hymn is unintelligible, and the translation only mechanical. Ppp. and the comm. read āv-, anāv- in a, b (Ppp. combining ugrā ”v-); and the comm. derives the words from the verbal stem āvaya, with suffix u, and renders 'being eaten' (adyamāna), 'not being eaten' (abhakṣyamāṇa), understanding 'mustard' (sarṣapa) to be addressed. Ppp. has, for c, yā te karmam açīmahi ⌊and, in a, elides ‘nāvayo⌋.
2. Vihálha by name is thy father, madávatī ('intoxicated') by name is thy mother; for thou art he, not thyself, thou that didst consume thyself.
SPP. reads in a viháhlas. The translation of the second half-verse implies the altered division and accentuation of c that is made in our edition; the mss. read sá hina (not divided in pada-text) tvám asi; and SPP. follows them. Ppp. has for c çevas tvam asi (its d is like ours), but it omits a, b, and, on the other hand, adds at the end babhruç ca babhrukarṇaç ca nīlākalaçālāçavaṣ paçcā. The comm. reads vihaṅla for vihalha (which is supported by the commentary to Prāt. i. 46) in a, and regards hi na as two words in c. The verse as it stands (8 + 9: 6 + 8 = 31) is very improperly passed as a simple anuṣṭubh. ⌊An ási between hí and ná would mend the meter of c if such stuff were worth mending.⌋
3. O tāuvilikā, quiet down; this racket hath quieted down; both the brown and the brown-eared one: go away, O nirāla!
It is perhaps by a misprint that SPP. reads áva: īlaya (for il-) in the pada-text of a (though our D. has also īl-). To the comm., tāuvilikā is the name of a piçācī that produces disease; āilaba, a kind of disease of the eyes; babhru and babhrukarṇa, causes of disease; and nirāla, also a disease. The translation implies the emendation of nír āla to nirāla.* Ppp. has a peculiar text: tāulike ‘ve ’layā ’vā imāilavāilāi: ihas tvām āhutiṁ jusāṇo manasā svāhā; but part of this belongs perhaps to the following piece. ⌊The Anukr. scans as 8 + 9: 8 + 6.⌋, *⌊Comm. reads nirāla; R. has nír āçala, and T. has nílāçala. Comm. has further apāihi!⌋
4. Alasálā art thou first; silā́njālā art thou after; nīlāgalasálā.