Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VII/Hymn 118 (123)

118 (123). When arming a warrior.

[Atharvān̄giras.—bahudevatyam uta cāndramasam. trāiṣṭubham.]

Wanting in Pāipp. Used in Kāuç. (16. 7) in one of the battle rites, for terrifying a hostile army, with arming a king or kshatriya; for its connection with hymn 117, see under that hymn; and some mss. read it in 39. 28, in a rite against witchcraft (probably wrongly, as the comm. knows no such use). Vāit. has it (34. 12) in the sattra sacrifice, with arming a king.

Translated: Henry, 46, 125; Griffith, i. 384.

1. I cover thy vitals with armor; let king Soma dress thee over with the immortal (amṛ́ta); let Varuṇa make for thee [room] wider than wide; after thee conquering let the gods revel.

The verse is also RV. vi. 75. 18, found further as SV. ii. 1220, VS. xvii. 49, all these without variation from our text; but TS. (in iv. 6. 4⁵) has -vármabhis in a, abhí (for ánu) in b, várivas te astu for váruṇas te kṛṇotu ⌊improving the meter⌋ in c, and, for d, j. tvā́m ánu madantu devā́ḥ. The third pāda has a redundant syllable.

The last or tenth anuvāka, of 16 hymns and 32 verses, ends here; and the quoted Anukr. says ⌊tṛtīyā⌋ ’ntyāu ṣoḍaça ⌊cf. p. 413 end⌋, and paro dvātriṅçaka ucyate.

Two of our mss. sum up the book as of 118 hymns, others note only the number of vargas or decads; none say 123.

Here ends also the seventeenth prapāṭhaka.