Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 62
62. To Vāiçvānara etc.: for purification.
[Atharvan (?).—rāudram uta mantroktadevatyam. trāiṣṭubham.]
Found also in Pāipp. xix. (but the first verse is given only by its pratīka, and has not been found elsewhere), and its first two verses in other texts, as noted below. Agrees in use with the preceding hymn as regards the gaṇas to which it is reckoned (Kāuç. 9. 2, and note to 50. 13; Keç. ⌊to 61. 5⌋ and the comm. ⌊page 37 end⌋ further have it, with vi. 19 and 51, in a pavitra gaṇa), and (41. 14) in the rite for good fortune; and it appears (41. 15) in another similar rite, with worship of the rising sun; and is added (note to 41. 13) in one for luck in gambling.
Translated: Griffith, i. 279.
1. Let Vāiçvānara (Agni) by his rays purify us, the wind, lively with mists (? nábhas), by his breath; let heaven-and-earth, rich in milk, righteous, worshipful, purify us by milk.
The verse is found also in TB. (i. 4. 83) and MS. (iii. 11. 10). They read mā for nas in a and d, mayobhū́s (which is decidedly better) for nábhobhis at end of b, and páyobhis for páyasvatī in c. Pāda c is jagatī.
2. Take ye hold upon the pleasantness of Vāiçvānara, of which the regions are the smooth-backed bodies; with that, singing in joint revelings, may we be lords of wealth (pl.).
The sense, especially of b, is obscure, and the version mechanical; b is perhaps a reminiscence of RV. i. 162. 7 b. Found, considerably altered in a, b, in VS. (xix. 44), and TB.MS. (as above). They read for a, b vāiçvadevī́ punatī́ devy ā́ ’gād yásyām (TB. yásyāi, MS. yásyās) imā́ (TB.MS. omit) bahvyàs (TB. bahvī́s) tanvò (TB. tanúvo) vītápṛṣṭhāḥ; all have mádantas for gṛṇántas in c, and TB.MS. -mā́dyeṣu—this last an alteration plainly called for by the meter; and the Anukr. does not describe the verse as nicṛt. Ppp. has at the beginning vāiçvadevyaṁ, for b a wholly different text, çuddhā bhavanta çucayaṣ pāvakāḥ (our 3 b), and in c, corruptly, -nta sasada ādayema. The variants indicate, as often elsewhere, the hopelessness of a rendering.
3. Take ye hold upon that (f.) of Vāiçvānara in order to splendor, becoming cleansed, clear, purifying; here, reveling in joint reveling with Iḍā, may we long see the sun going up.
The first half-verse is nearly identical with xii. 2. 28 a, b. Durga to Nir. vi. 12 (Calcutta ed'n, iii. 187) quotes vāiçvadevīṁ sūnṛtām ā rabhadhvam, showing that sūnṛta is meant here also, as in vs. 2. Ppp. reads in a vaiçvānaryaṁ, combines varcasā ”rabh-; ⌊has for b our 2 b, combining yasyā ”çās;⌋ and begins c with īḑe ’ha sadh-.