Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 47
47. For blessings: at the three daily libations.
[An̄giras (?).—āgneyam; 2. vāiçvadevī; 3. sāudhanvanā. trāiṣṭubham.]
Found also in Pāipp. xix. and in TS. (iii. 1. 91-2), and KÇS. Not used by Kāuç.; appears in Vāit. (21. 7) in the agniṣṭoma, with vi. 48 and ix. 1. 11-13, at the savanas.
Translated: Ludwig, p. 429; Florenz, 308 or 60; Griffith, i. 270.
1. Let Agni at the morning libation (sávana) protect us, he that belongs to all men (vāiçvānará), all-maker, all-wealful; let him, the purifier, set us in property (dráviṇa); may we be long-lived, provided with draughts.
Ppp. ends b with pathikṛd viçvakṛṣṭiḥ, and TS. has mahinā́, KÇS. (ix. 3. 21) mahīnām, and MS. (i. 3. 36) viçvaçrī́s, for viçvakṛ́t; all have dráviṇam (for -ṇe) in c; and MS. reads prātáḥ sávanāt in a. ⌊As to the morning invocation of Agni, see Bloomfield, JAOS. xvi. 10.⌋ The comm. explains sahábhakṣās by samānasomapānāḥ putrapāutrādibhiḥ sahabhojanā vā.
2. May all the gods, the Maruts, Indra, not leave us at this second libation; long-lived, speaking what is dear to them, may we be in the favor of the gods.
Neither Ppp. nor TS. nor KÇS. (ix. 14. 17) have any variant in this verse.
3. This third libation [is] of the poets (kaví), who rightfully (ṛténa) sent out the bowl; let those Sāudhanvanas, who have attained heaven, conduct our happy-offering unto what is better.
That is (a), of the Ribhus, one of whose merits, leading to the conferral of immortality upon them, was their service to the ceremonial in connection with the libational bowl, which they made four. ⌊For this the comm. gives ample citations, e.g. RV. i. 161. 2.⌋ Ppp. combines, in c, sāudhanvanā ’mṛtā ”naçānās, and ends the verse with nayātha. TS. has the insignificant variants of súvar in c, and vásīyas in d; KÇS. (x. 3. 21) reads tṛtīya-savanam in a, and no ‘bhi vasīyo n- in d.