Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book XV/Paryaya 10

10. Paryāya the tenth.

[ekādaçaka. 1. 2-p. sāmnī bṛhatī; 2. 3-p. ārcī pan̄kti; 3. 2-p. prājāpatyā pan̄kti; 4. 3-p. vardhamānā gāyatrī; 5. 3-p. sāmnī bṛhatī; 6, 8, 10. 2-p. āsurī gāyatrī; 7, 9. sāmny uṣṇih; 11. āsurī bṛhatī.]

Translated: Aufrecht, Ind. Stud. i. 134; Griffith, ii. 192.

1. So then, to the houses of whatever king a thus-knowing Vrātya may come as guest,—

2. He should esteem him better than himself; so does he not offend (ā-vraçc) against dominion; so does he not offend against royalty.

⌊That is, 'he [the king] should esteem him [the Vrātya] better,' etc.⌋ The Berlin mss. read, as the sense requires, mānayet táthā, nor was any deviation from this noted in the mss. collated before publication; those compared later, however, all give mānaye táthā; ⌊and so do all of SPP's authorities, including his then living reciters, but excepting his ms. C^P, which has mānayet táthā, secunda manu, and mānaye t-, prima manu.—Compare the case of yame dīrgham, yamed dīrgham, at xviii. 2. 3.⌋

3. Thence verily arose both sanctity (bráhman) and dominion; they said: Whom shall we enter?

'Thence' (átas) Aufrecht understands to mean "out of him (the Vrātya)"—which is possible, but doubtful: compare átas in vs. 5.

4. Let sanctity enter Brihaspati [and] dominion Indra; thus verily: it was said (íti).

Or the iti means 'he (the Vrātya) said'; Aufrecht so understands it. The mss. make very bad work over the verb in this verse: Bp. reads pra॰viçatu, Bs.P.M.O.T.K. prāviçatu, all without accent; E. has prā́ viçatu, R. prāviçátu, D. pra॰viçátu. The true reading is doubtless praviçátu, and our text should be emended to this; the situation is one in which an accent on the verb-form is called for. There is no reason for understanding pra-ā, and the prolongation of simple pra to prā is wholly unsuited to this book. ⌊SPP's authorities show a fairly bewildering variety of differences, in respect to bráhma praviçátu: see his note, p. 334.⌋ The metrical definition of the Anukr. ⌊6 + 7 + 8: Ind. Stud. viii. 129⌋ does not fit at all.

5. Thence (átas) verily sanctity entered Brihaspati [and] dominion Indra.

For prā́viçat the pada-text has prá: aviçat; doubtless it should be pra॰áviçat.

6. This earth verily is Prajāpati, the sky is Indra.

7. This fire verily is sanctity, yonder Āditya is dominion.

8. To him comes sanctity, he becomes possessed of the splendor of sanctity (brahmavarcasín),—

9. Who knows earth as Brihaspati, fire as sanctity.

10. To him comes Indra's quality, he becomes possessed of Indra's quality,—

11. Who knows Āditya as dominion, the sky as Indra.