Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VII/Hymn 50 (52)
50 (52). For success with dice.
[An̄giras (kitavabādhanakāmas*).—navarcam. āindram. ānuṣṭubham: 3, 7. triṣṭubh; 4. jagatī; 6. bhurik triṣṭubh.]
Most of the verses (viz. excepting 4 and 6) are found in Pāipp., but not together: 5, 1, 2 in xx.; 3 also in xx., but in another part; 7 in xvii.; 8, 9 in i. The hymn is plainly made up of heterogeneous parts, pieced together with a little adaptation. Used in Kāuç. (41. 13) with iv. 38 and vii. 109, in a rite for good luck in gambling; the dice, steeped (vāsita) in a liquid ⌊dadhi-madhu⌋, are cast on a place that has been smoothened for the purpose. *⌊The mss. seem to have kitava-dvaṁdhana-kāmas. Bloomfield suggests -bandhana-; Dr. Ryder, -dvaṁdva-dhana-; but, considering the relation of bādh with badh, W's -bādhana- seems best in accord with badhyāsam of 1 d.⌋
Translated: Ludwig, p. 455; Zimmer, p. 285 (5 verses); Grill, 71, 180; Henry, 18, 75; Griffith, i. 349; Bloomfield, 150, 548.—Muir, v. 429, may be consulted.—Whitney seems to have intended to rewrite the matter concerning this hymn.
1. As the thunderbolt always strikes the tree irresistibly, so may I today smite ⌊badh, vadh⌋ the gamblers irresistibly with the dice.
Ppp. reads, in b, viçvāhaṁ, and, for c, evā ’ham amuṁ kitavam. The comm. has vadhyāsam in d. Compare vii. 109. 4, below. The Anukr. overlooks the deficiency in a.
2. Of the quick, of the slow, of the people that cannot avoid it (?), let the fortune come together from all sides, my winnings in hand.
That is, apparently, so as to be won by me. The meaning of dvarjuṣīṇām in b is extremely problematical; the translators: "wehrlos" etc. Comparison with viçā́ṁ vavarjúṣīṇām, RV. i. 134. 6, and the irregularity of the unreduplicated form, make the reading very suspicious; Ppp. gives instead devayatīm; the comm. explains it ⌊alternatively⌋ as dyūtakriyām aparityajantīnām, sticking to the game in spite of ill luck. For d, Ppp. has antarhastyaṁ kṛtaṁ manaḥ.
3. I praise Agni, who owns good things, with acts of homage; here, attached, may he divide (vi-ci) our winnings; I am borne forward as it were by booty-winning chariots; forward to the right may I further the praise of the Maruts.
The verse is RV. v. 60. 1, found also in TB. (ii. 7. 124) and MS. (iv. 14. 11). All these texts give sv-ávasam in a, of which our reading seems an awkward corruption; in b they have prasattás (but TB. prasaptás); in c they accent vājayádbhis; in d they (also Ppp.) read pradakṣiṇít; at the end MS. has açyām. Some of our mss. (Bp.R.T.) give ṛndhyām. The comm. explains ví cayat as simply = karotu ⌊karotu itself may be used technically; cf. Ved. Stud. i. 119⌋. Kṛtam he understands throughout as the winning die (kṛtaçabdavācyaṁ lābhahetumayam). The verse is brought in here only on account of the comparison in b.
4. May we, with thee as ally, conquer the troop (? vṛt) do thou help upward our side in every conflict; for us, O Indra, make thou wide space, easy-going; do thou break up the virilities of our foes, O bounteous one.
The verse is RV. i. 102. 4, where várivas is read in c instead of várīyas. The comm. explains vṛt as antagonist at play, aṅça as victory (jayalakṣaṇa), and bhara as the contest with dice.
5. I have won of thee what is scored together (?); I have won also the check (?); as a wolf might shake a sheep, so I shake thy winnings.
Saṁlikhitam and saṁrudh are technical terms, obscure to us. The comm. ingeniously states that players sometimes stop or check (saṁrudh) an antagonist by marks (an̄ka) which they make with slivers of dice and the like, and that such marks and the one who checks by means of them are intended—a pretty evident fabrication. Ppp. reads saṁvṛtam instead of saṁrudham; the comm. explains the latter word simply by saṁroddhāram.
6. Also, a superior player, he wins the advance (?); he divides in time the winnings like a gambler; he who, a god-lover, obstructs not riches—him verily he unites with wealth at pleasure (?).
The verse is full of technical gambling expressions, not understood by us. It is RV. x. 42. 9, with variants: RV. reads atidī́vya jayāti in a; in b, yát for iva, and hence vicinóti; in c, dhánā ruṇaddhi; in d, rāyā́ (which the translation given above follows: the comm. reads it) and svadhā́vān. The comm. also has jayāti, as demanded by the meter, in a. He explains prahām by akṣāiḥ prahantāram pratikitavam, and vi cinoti this time by mṛgayate. With ná dhánam ruṇáddhi compare the gambler's vow, ná dhánā ruṇadhmi, in RV. x. 34. 12; the comm. says dyūtalabdhaṁ dhanaṁ na vyarthaṁ sthāpayati kiṁ tu devatārthaṁ viniyun̄kte. The Anukr. distinctly refuses the contraction to kṛtaṁ ’va in b.
7. By kine may we pass over ill-conditioned misery, or by barley over hunger, O much-invoked one, all of us; may we first among kings, unharmed, win riches by [our] stratagems.
Or perhaps 'unharmed by [others'] stratagems.' The verse has no reason here; it is RV. x. 42. 10, with variants: RV. omits the meter-disturbing vā in b (the Anukr. ignores the irregularity), and reads víçvām at the end of the pāda; also rā́jabhis in c, and, in d, asmā́kena vṛjánenā. Ppp. has, for c, vayaṁ rājānas prathamā dhamānām. The comm., against the pada-text (-māh; RV. pada the same), understands prathamā as neut. pl., qualifying dhanāni. ⌊Cf. Geldner, Ved. Stud. i. 150; Foy, KZ. xxxiv. 251.⌋
8. My winnings in my right hand, victory in my left is placed; kine-winner may I be, horse-winner, riches-winning, gold-winner.
Ppp. reads, for b, savye me jayā ”hitaḥ, and, in d, kṛtaṁcayas for dhanaṁjayas.
9. O ye dice, give [me] fruitful play, like a milking cow; fasten me together with a stream (?) of winnings, as a bow with sinew.
Ppp. reads divam for dyuvam in a, and dhāraya in c. Dhārā, in whatever sense taken, makes a very unacceptable comparison; the comm. paraphrases it with saṁtatyā uparyuparilābhahetuk¿rtāyapravāheṇa. ⌊His interpretation seems to mean 'Unite me with a succession (saṁtati or pravāha) of fours' (kṛta-aya), or, as we should say, 'Give me a run (dhārā or pravāha) of double sixes,' 'Give me a run of luck.'⌋