Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book XIX/Hymn 26
26. For long life etc.: with something golden.
Of this hymn only vs. 4 is found in Pāipp. (in xx.). The comm. finds it used in Nakṣ. K. 17, 19, in a mahāçānti ceremony called āgneyī, on occasion of danger from fire, with the insertion of a golden earring; further, in Pariç. 11. 1, in a tulāpuruṣa ceremony.
Translated: Grill, 49, 192; Griffith, ii. 283; Bloomfield, 63, 668.
1. The gold that, born out of the fire, immortal, maintains itself over mortals—whoso knows it, he verily merits (arh) it; one that dies of old age becomes he who wears (bhṛ) it.
SPP. accents at the end bibhárti, with the great majority of the mss. (the same also in 2 d); our preference for bíbharti was because only this accent is found elsewhere in AV. Most of the mss. accent énad in c. The masculine enam in c is surprising, as no hint of anything masculine is met with elsewhere in the hymn; the comm. explains it as anvādiṣṭaṁ hiraṇyarūpam padārtham. In a corresponding verse (6) found in a khila of the RV. (to x. 128) is read instead enad (one ms. vedam), which is more likely to be the true text. The same has in b jajñe for dadhre. The Anukr. takes no notice of the redundant syllable in c.
2. The gold, of beauteous color by the sun, that men (mánu) of old with their progeny sought—that, shining (candrá), shall unite thee with splendor; of long life becomes he who wears it.
Very nearly all the mss. read iṣiré at end of b; but both editions, and the comm., give īṣiré. The majority of mss. also accent pūrvé. SPP. reads at end of c sṛjati, with all the authorities (save his P., which has sṛjāti)*; both sense and meter so plainly call for sṛjāti that we adopted it as an emendation in our text; the comm. reads sṛjatu. As to bibharti at the end, see note to vs. i. *⌊W's P.M. have sṛjasvā ”yu-.⌋
3. For life-time thee, for splendor thee, and for force and for strength—that with brilliancy of gold thou mayest shine out among the people.
The comm. reads in c hiraṇyaṁ tej-. The comm. supplies in a, b saṁ sṛjatu to each noun, as if they were in the instrumental case, which is plainly wrong. Probably the 'thee' of the first line is different from the 'thou' of the second, being addressed to the article of gold itself.
⌊The comm. (as noted) and the text of the comm. have hiraṇyaṁ tejasā; but all the other authorities are agreed as to the accentuation hiraṇyatéjasā; which, however, is inherently improbable (Gram. §1267 b), if, with the pada-text, we take the combination as one compound word. Both mss. and comm. and accent all point the other way, and we have doubtless to assume as pada-reading hiraṇya: téjasā, as two words, of which the first is vocative; and, but for our blundering pada-kāra, this is just what our saṁhitā-reading would naturally be taken to mean. The comm. understands 'thee' as referring to the man who wears the gold amulet; but the whole verse gains in concinnity, if we refer 'thee' (with W.) to the amulet itself, and supply with the first half the verb badhnāmi (as at i. 35. 1 c; iv. 10. 7 c; xix. 46. 1 c, d), and take the second half also as addressed to the amulet.⌋
4. What king Varuṇa knows, [what] divine Bṛihaspati knows, what Indra the Vṛitra-slayer knows,—may that be for thee life-giving, may that be for thee splendor-giving.
Next after the verse already quoted (under vs. 1) from the RV. khila, occurs another corresponding to this, but having for b yad u devī sarasvatī, and for d tan me varcasa āyuṣe, and lacking a fifth pāda. Ppp. has in b yad u divo bṛh-, puts yad before indras in c, and has for d, and for end of the verse, tac cittaṁ cittam arhaṇam.
⌊Here ends the third anuvāka, with 6 hymns and 65 verses.⌋