Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 28

28. Against birds of ill omen etc.

[Bhṛgu.—yāmyam uta nāirṛtam. trāiṣṭubham: 2. anuṣṭubh; 3. jagatī.]

All the verses found also in Pāipp., but not together; 1. occurs after the preceding hymn in xix.; 3. at a later point in xix.; 2. in x.; and there is no internal connection perceptible among them. Used by Kāuç., with the preceding and the following hymn, against birds of ill omen (46. 7); and vs. 2 is especially quoted as accompanying the leading of a cow [and] fire three times around the house. ⌊Vss. 1 and 3 occur at MGS. ii. 17. 1—see under h. 27.⌋

Translated: Florenz, 285 or 37; Griffith, i. 260.

1. With the praise-verse (ṛ́ç) drive ye the dove forth (praṇódam); reveling in food (íṣ) we lead a cow about, breaking up tracks hard to go in; leaving us (our ?) sustenance shall it fly forth, swift-flying.

Praṇódam, lit. 'with forth-driving,' a quasi gerundial cognate accusative. RV. (x. 165. 5) has nayadhvam at end of b, a better reading. In Ppp., b, c are omitted. For c, RV. has saṁyopáyanto duritā́ni víçvā. In d, both RV. and Ppp. (also the comm.) end with prá patāt pátiṣṭhaḥ, of which our reading can only be a corruption; páthiṣṭhaḥ (p. páthiṣṭhaḥ) indicates a confusion with pathi॰ṣṭhá ⌊the non-division and accent also point to pátiṣṭhaḥ as true reading⌋. ⌊Ppp. has hitvām for hitvā́ na.⌋

2. These have taken fire about; these have led the cow about; they have gained themselves fame (çrávas) among the gods—who shall venture to attack them?

The RV. has the same verse at x. 155. 5 (also VS., xxxv. 18, precisely the same text with RV.), reading, for a, b, párī ’mé gā́m aneṣata páry agním ahṛṣata. Ppp. transposes a and b and reads pary agnim aharṣata (a false form). The arṣata of our text is plainly nothing but a corruption; and part of the mss. (including our P.M.W.I.) have instead ariṣata ⌊or arīṣata; K. riṣatu⌋.

3. He who first attained (ā-sad) the slope [of heaven], spying out the road for many, who is master of these bipeds, who of the quadrupeds—to that Yama, to death, be homage.

With the former half-verse is to be compared RV. x. 14. 1 a, b: pareyivā́ṅsam praváto mahī́r ánu b. p. anupaspaçānám (which is AV. xviii. 1. 49 a, b); d is the last pāda also of RV. x. 165. 4 (of which a, b are found here in 29. 1); c is nearly equal to RV. x. 121. 3 c (our iv. 2. 1 c; xiii. 3. 24 c). Ppp. follows RV. in c in putting īçe before asya (reading īçay asya). Our pada-text accents asyá: ī́çe; in RV. also asyá is accented. The verse lacks two syllables of being a full jagatī. ⌊Pischel discusses the verse, Ved. Stud. ii. 73: cf. 66.⌋ ⌊Ppp. has pravatāsasāda.⌋