Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book XIX/Hymn 11
11. For well-being.
[Brahman (çāntikāmaḥ).—ṣaṭ. sāumyam. trāiṣṭubham.]
The hymn is made up of the remaining verses of RV. vii. 35, ⌊vss. 11-15,⌋ with another RV. verse (v. 47. 7) added. Among the former the differences of order and reading are very slight. ⌊The hymn is found, as noted under hymn 10, in Pāipp. xiii.⌋
Translated: Griffith, ii. 272; and also, of course, by the RV. translators.
1. Weal for us be the lords of truth; weal for us the coursers and weal be the kine; weal for us the Ṛibhus, well-doers, having good hands; weal for us be the Fathers at our invocations.
This verse and the following one are found in RV. in inverted order (as vss. 12 and 11). The comm. quotes sundry RV. verses illustrating the character of the Ṛibhus, and is uncertain whether háva at the end comes from root hū or from hu.
2. Weal for us be the gods, the all-gods; weal be Sarasvatī with the prayers (dhī́); weal the followers (? abhiṣác) and weal the gift-following (rātiṣác); weal for us they of the sky, they of the earth, weal for us they of the waters.
This verse is found, without variant, also in TB. ii. 8. 63 and MS. iv. 14. 11. The comm. declares devā́ viçvádevās to mean bahustotrakā indrādayaḥ; abhiṣā́cas, yajñam abhitaḥ samavayanto devāḥ; and rātiṣā́cas, dānārthaṁ saṁgacchamānā devāḥ—these two epithets belonging to the viçve devāḥ. Ppp. reads at the end āpyāḥ.
3. Weal for us be the divine (devá) one-footed goat (ajá ékapad), weal the bottom snake (áhi budhnyà), weal the ocean; weal for us be Peru, grandson of the waters (apā́ṁ nápāt); weal for us be the spotted one (pṛ́çni), guarded by the gods.
The RV. version reads in b çáṁ nó ‘hir b-, and at the end -gopāḥ ⌊Müller's 2d quarto ed. and Aufrecht's 2d ed. have -gopā: as for the form, see my Noun-Inflection, p. 445⌋; Ppp. agrees with RV. in b, and has -gopāḥ at the end. The comm. explains perús as pārayitā duḥkhebhyaḥ, and pṛçni as mother of the Maruts. The omission of nas in our b makes the meter defective, but the Anukr. takes no notice of it.
4. Let the Ādityas, the Rudras, the Vasus enjoy this very new worship (bráhman) as it is performed; let there hear us them of the sky, them of the earth, also the kine-born, who are worshipful.
The RV. version ⌊vs. 14⌋ reads at end of a juṣanta. The comm. explains gojātās as the Maruts, born of Pṛçni.
5. They who are the worshipful priests (ṛtvíj) of the gods, to be worshiped of man (mánu), immortal, right-knowing—let them bestow on us today wide passage (urugāyá): do ye protect us ever with blessings.
RV. reads in a devā́nāṁ yajñíyā yajñíyānām. The comm. apparently takes -gāya as from gā 'sing,' as he glosses urugāyám with prabhūtāṁ kīrtim, and does not even, as is his wont in such cases, give an alternative explanation implying gā 'go.'
6. Be it so, O Mitra-and-Varuṇa, so, O Agni: weal [and] profit for us be this praise (çastá); may we reach sounding (gādhá) and firm standing; homage to the great sky, [our] seat.
The verse is found, without variant, as RV. v. 47. 7. The comm. takes çastam in b as adjective to çaṁ yos, which is perhaps better; also it connects bṛhate with sādanāya, and understands by this the earth. Ppp. reads in c gātum for gādham, and in d sādhanāya.