Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI/Hymn 78

78. For matrimonial happiness.

[Atharvan.—1, 2. cāndramasyāu; 3. tvāṣṭrī. 1-3. anuṣṭubh.]

Found also in Pāipp. xix. ⌊and at MP. i. 8. 6, 7, 10⌋. Employed by Kāuç. twice (78. 10, 14) in the marriage ceremonies, with other passages, with anointing the heads of the married pair, making them eat together, etc.

Translated: Weber, Ind. Stud. v. 238; Ludwig, p. 371; Grill, 57, 166; Griffith, i. 287; Bloomfield, 96, 498; also, as part of the MP. hymn, by Winternitz, Hochzeitsrituell, p. 73.

1. By this actual (? bhūtá) oblation let this man be filled up again; the wife that they have brought to him, let him grow superior (abhi-vṛdh) to her by essence (rása).

Ppp. has bhūtasya for bhūtena in a, and inverts the order of words in b. Grill acutely suggests bhūtyena in a, 'for prosperity (bhūti),' and the comm. paraphrases it with samṛddhikareṇa 'prosperity-malting.' Abhi in d, and in 2 a, b, seems to have a meaning like that which it has in abhi-bhū. The comm. makes no difficulty of rendering the neuter vardhatām as if it were causative. Ppp. takes away the difficulty of the expression in this verse by the very different reading jāyāṁ yām asmā ’vidaṁ sā rasenā ’bhi vardhatām.

2. Let him grow superior to [her] by fatness (páyas), let him grow superior to [her] by royalty; by wealth of thousand-fold splendor let these two be unexhausted.

Ppp. has, in a, prajayā instead of payasā. The accent stā́m is read by all but one (O.) of our mss. and by all but one ⌊or two⌋ of SPP's.

3. Tvashṭar generated the wife, Tvashṭar [generated] thee as husband for her; let Tvashṭar make for you two a thousand life-times (ā́yus), a long life-time.

⌊Ppp. adds dadhāu after patim in b, which is better; has, in c, sahasra āy-; and, in d, mām for vām.⌋