Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VII/Hymn 109 (114)
109 (114). ⌊For success with the dice.⌋
[Bādarāyaṇi.*—saptarcam. āgneyam uta mantroktadāivatam. ānuṣṭubham: 1. virāṭ purastādbṛhatī; 2, 3, 5, 6. triṣṭubh.]
Found also in Pāipp. iv. (in the verse-order 6, 1, 2, 5, 3, 7, 4). Used by Kāuç. (41. 13), with hymn 50 etc., in a rite for success in gambling: see under 50; and by Vāit. (6. 10), in the agnyādheya ceremony, when the sacrificer hands the adhvaryu the anointed dice, for winning at play the somakrayaṇī cow. ⌊The decad division cuts the hymn between vss. 3 and 4: cf. p. 389.⌋ *⌊Note that iv. 38 is for luck in gambling and is ascribed to the same rishi. Cf. introd. to iv. 38 and 40.⌋
Translated: Muir, v. 429 (vss. 1-4); Ludwig, p. 456; Henry, 42, 118; Griffith, i. 380.—Cf. Zimmer, p. 285, 284.
1. This homage to the formidable brown one, who among the dice is self-controller; with ghee do I aid (?) Kali; may he be gracious to us in such plight.
⌊In a, Henry would suppress either idám or else námo.⌋ Ppp. combines yo ‘kṣeṣu in b, and reads kalyam in c. The comm. explains babhráve as babhruvarṇāyāi ’tatsaṁjñakāya dyūtajayakāriṇe devāya; of Kali he says parājayahetuḥ pañcasaṁkhyāyukto ‘kṣaviṣayo ‘yaḥ kalir ity ucyate, and quotes TB. i. 5. 111; çikṣāmi is either tāḍayāmi or samarthaṁ kartum icchāmi.
2. Do thou, O Agni, carry ghee for the Apsarases, dust for the dice, gravel and waters; enjoying in their respective shares the oblation-giving, the gods revel in both kinds of oblations.
Ppp. puts agne after ghṛtam in a ⌊a great improvement of the meter⌋, reads nakhebhyas in b, makes c refer to Agni by giving yathābhāgas and juṣāṇas, and has madantu in d. Some of the mss. (including our D.K.) also read madantu, and it gives the preferable sense; but both editions have -ti, as being better supported. Half SPP's mss., and at least one (D.) of ours, give pāṅçū́n in b. The comm. boldly declares akṣebhyas in b to mean pratikitavebhyas: they are to have dust etc. flung at them, that they may be beaten.
3. The Apsarases revel a joint reveling, between the oblation-holder (havirdhā́na) and the sun; let them unite my hands with ghee; let them make the rival gambler subject to me.
Ppp. begins yā ’ps- puts antarā first in b, reads in c tā nāu ⌊intending no?⌋ hastaṁ kṛtena (this is a great improvement) saṁ sṛ-, and has naṛ kit- in d. The comm. understands havirdhāna in b to signify the earth. The first half-verse is identical with xiv. 2. 34 a, b.
4. Ill luck (?) to the opposing player; do thou shed upon us with ghee; smite thou him who plays against us as a tree with a thunderbolt.
Compare above, 50. 1. The obscure word at the beginning is divided ādi॰navám by the pada-mss.; SPP., however, alters his pada-text to ādinavám, simply to agree with the comm's grammatical explanation! as if that were of the smallest authority or value; and here it is even worse than usual; the comm. makes the word a verb-form from root dīv + ā, and glosses it with ādivyāmy akṣāir ādīvanaṁ* karomi! Ppp. treats the verse as a cited one; but it has not been found elsewhere in its text. *⌊In the Corrections to vol. ii., p. 5355, SPP. suggests ādevanam.⌋
5. He who made this riches for our playing, who the taking (?) and leaving of the dice—that god, enjoying this libation of ours—may we revel a joint reveling with the Gandharvas.
The Ppp. version is quite different: yo no devo dhanam idaṁ dideça yo ‘kṣāṇāṁ grahaṇaṁ çaṣaṇaṁ ca: sa no ’vatu havir etc.; also gandharvāis sadh- in d. The comm. explains gláhanam and çéṣaṇam respectively by grahaṇa¿m svakīyāir akṣāir jitvā svīkaraṇam, and svīyānām akṣāṇāṁ jayāhvasthāne (one ms. -yāṅhva-) ‘vaçeṣaṇam.
6. Having good things in common (? sáṁvasu)—that is your appellation; for stern-looking, realm-bearing [are] the dice; you as such, O drops, would we worship with oblation; may we be lords of wealth.
Ppp. begins c with tasmāi ta indro hav-. Emendation in b to akṣāḥ (voc.) would be a welcome improvement; Henry so translates. The minor Pet. Lex. conjectures that indavas in c means 'the marks or pips on the dice': perhaps rather applied figuratively to the dice themselves*; the comm. renders by somavantaḥ somopalakṣitahaviryuktāḥ,† as adj. qualifying vayam. The comm. is uncertain whether the Gandharvas or the dice are addressed in a; in b he understands the two epithets to be gen. sing., ugrampaçyā being for -çyāyās! and he refers to and quotes TA. ii. 4. 1, where they are found as singular, instead of our own text vi. 118. 2. The third pāda is jagatī ⌊only by count⌋. *⌊The major Lex. takes it as 'dice.'—W. put a sign opposite indavo as if he meant to make a text-critical remark about it. His Collation-book notes no variant ms. reading; but SPP. reports idáṁ vaḥ and indaváḥ; none give índavaḥ.⌋ †⌊As if it were índavaḥ = índtimantaḥ.⌋
7. If (yát) a suppliant I call on the gods, if we have dwelt in Vedic studentship, if I take up the brown dice—let them be gracious to us in such plight.
Ppp. begins with yad devān, and reads ūvima in b. One would like to emend to ālebhé in c.