Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VII/Hymn 14 (15)
14 (15). Prayer and praise to Savitar.
[Atharvan.—caturṛcam. sāvitram. ānuṣṭubham: 3. triṣṭubh; 4. jagatī.]
The third and fourth verses are found in Pāipp. xx. The first and second form together one long verse in SV. (i. 464), VS. (iv. 25), MS. (i. 2. 5), and AÇS. (iv. 6. 3), and two, as in our text, in ÇÇS. (v. 9. 11). In Kāuç. (24. 3) the hymn appears only in a general rite for prosperity; in accordance with which, it is included (note to 19. 1) among the puṣṭika mantras. Vāit. (13. 7) uses it in a more specific office, to accompany the winnowing of the soma, in the agniṣṭoma ceremony.
Translated: Henry, 6, 56; Griffith, i. 334.
1. Unto this god Savitar, of poets' skill (-krátu), of true impulse, treasure-bestowing, unto the dear one, I, in the two oṇí's, sing (arc) [my] prayer.
VS.ÇÇS.ACS. add at the end kavím, and MS. has satyásavasam (for -savam). Two or three of the mss. (including our O.) read satyásavām, as if agreeing with matím. The comm. explains oṇyòs as 'heaven and earth, the two favorers (avitṛ) of everything,' and makes matí at the end masc, = sarvāir mantavyam. The construction of the verse is intricate and doubtful. The metrical definition by the Anukr. of the first two verses as anuṣṭubh is bad; they are really four jagatī pādas, to each of which are added four syllables that encumber the sense. ⌊From a critical point of view, these additions seem to me comparable with those in ii. 5; see introduction to ii. 5.⌋
2. He whose lofty light (amáti), gleam, shone brightly in his impelling—he, gold-handed, of good insight, fashioned the heaven with beauty.
The translation assumes at the end the emended reading kṛpā́, which is that of all the other texts and of the comm., and is also given by one or two of the AV. mss. (including our O.*); SPP. adopts kṛpā́t. ÇÇS.AÇS. curiously read at the end kṛpā svas tṛpā svar iti vā, taking as it were a variant into the text. All the pada-mss. have ūrdhvā́ḥ at the beginning, instead of -vā́, as the sense demands; SPP. emends to -vā́ in his pada-text. The comm. paraphrases amatis by amanaçīlā vyāpanaçīlā. *⌊Mistake for P.M.?—Note to Prāt. i. 65 may be compared.⌋
3. For thou didst impel, O god, for the first father—height for him, width for him; then unto us, O Savitar (impeller), do thou day by day impel desirable things, abundance of cattle.
The verse is found also in TB. (ii. 7. 151), AÇS. (iv. 10. 1), and ÇÇS. (v. 14. 8); all read, in c, d, savitaḥ sarvátātā divé-diva ā́; and in a TB. has prasavā́ya instead of prathamā́ya. With d compare also RV. iii. 56. 6 (quoted here by the comm.). Ppp. shows no variants.
4. May the household god, the desirable Savitar, assign to the Fathers treasure, dexterity, life-times; may he drink the soma; may [it] exhilarate him at the sacrifice; any wanderer walks (kram) in his ordinance.