Page:Atharva-Veda samhita volume 2.djvu/237

of the prose is ā́: asmā́kam: ā́॰etoḥ. In every verse, Ppp. omits tvā before diçé (an improvement) and reads dadhmas for dadmas. In the refrain ⌊of every verse, apparently⌋, it has dadhātv adhā for dadātv atha. In this verse it combines diçe agnaye. The metrical description of the Anukr. is very puzzling; the part common to all the verses is 6 + 10: 11 + 11 + 11 = 49 syllables; then the varying parts range ⌊with some resolutions⌋ from 25 to 31 syllables: all together, from 74 to 8o syllables; and atidhṛti is regularly 76, and kṛti 80; but the Anukr., after calling all atidhṛti, appears to call all but one kṛti. The verses are quoted in Kāuç. 63. 22, in connection with the rest of the hymn.

56. To the southern quarter, to Indra as overlord, to the cross-lined [serpent] as defender, to Yama having arrows, we commit thee here; guard ye etc. etc.

57. To the western quarter, to Varuṇa as overlord, to the pṛ́dāku as defender, to food having arrows, we commit thee here; guard ye etc. etc.

58. To the northern quarter, to Soma as overlord, to the constrictor as defender, to the thunderbolt having arrows, we commit thee here; guard ye etc. etc.

Our edition follows all the mss. in accenting rakṣitré ‘çányāi; it should be, of course, -trè.

59. To the fixed quarter, to Vishṇu as overlord, to the spotted-necked [serpent] as defender, to the herbs having arrows, we commit thee here; guard ye etc. etc.

Ppp. reads vīrudbhyas for oṣadhībhyas.

60. To the upward quarter, to Brihaspati as overlord, to the white [serpent] as defender, to rain having arrows, we commit thee here; guard ye etc. etc.

⌊Here ends the third anuvāka, with 1 hymn and 60 verses. The quoted Anukr. says svargaḥ ṣaṣṭiḥ, i.e., 'the svarga[-hymn] is sixty.' The stem svarga, in one form or another, occurs a dozen times in the hymn.⌋

4. The cow (vaçā́) as belonging exclusively to the Brahmans.

[Kaçyapa.—tripañcāçat. mantroktavaçādevatyam. ānuṣṭubham: 7. bhurij; 20. virāj; 32. uṣṇigbṛhatīgarbhā; 42. bṛhatīgarbhā.]

Found also in Pāipp. xvii. (with slight differences of verse-order ⌊4, 6, 5, 8, 7, 9 and 17, 19, 18, 20⌋). Not noticed at all in Vāit., and in Kāuç. only once, in 66. 20, where, with x. 10, it (or the first verse) is to be spoken by the giver of a cow, after sprinkling etc.

Translated; Ludwig, p. 448; Henry, 203, 248; Griffith, ii. 120; Bloomfield, 174, 656.

1. I give [her]—thus should he say, if they have noticed (? anu-budh) her—[I give] the cow (vaçā́) to the priests (brahmán) that ask for her; that brings progeny, descendants.

Perhaps ánu ábhutsata is rather 'have recognized': i.e., have made her out to be the kind of cow that is called vaçā́; or there may be in it something of the meaning of anu-jnā: 'have approved, or taken a liking to.' ⌊Cf. MGS. i. 8. 6 and p. 150.⌋