notes on atharvaveda-samhitā book 14

7/28/2019 Notes on Atharvaveda-Samhit book 14

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N O T E S O N A T H A R V A V E D A - S A . M H 1 T A B O O K 1 4by

J . G O N D AUtrecht

T h e f o l l o w i n g n o t e s a r e a s e l e c t i o n f r o m t h e " L e s e f r i i c h t e " g a t h e r e di n re a d i n g a n d r e - re a d i n g th e w e d d i n g - h y m n s o f t he A t h a r v a v e d a a n ds o m e s u g g e s ti o ns w h i c h m a y p e r h a p s l e a d t o i m p r o v e m e n t s u p o n t h et r a n s l a ti o n s p u b l i s h e d h i t h e r t o ? T h o s e e m e n d a t i o n s w h i c h a r e i m p l i e di n G e l d n e r ' s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n ~ o f t h e p a r a l l e l s t a n z a s c o n t a i n e d i n . R g v e d a1 0, 8 5 h a v e n o t b e e n r e p e a t e d . F o r a r u n n i n g c o m m e n t a r y o n th i s b o o kt h e r e a d e r m a y b e r e fe r r e d t o W h i t n e y - L a n m a n , f o r a d is c u s si o n o f t h ec e r e m o n i e s c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e s o l e m n i z a t io n o f a V e d i c m a r r i a g e t oW i n t e r n i t z ' o l d , b u t s t il l u s e f u l p u b l i c a t i o n )

14, 1, la: saty~n6t tabhi t~ bh~mi.h cf. A V . 12, 1, 1 satyd.m b.rhdt...p .r thiv f .m dharayant i and ~ B. 7 , 4 , 1 , 8 . . . iyarn, saty e prat i . s thi ta tas m adiyam eva sa tyam iyam. hy eva i . sam, lokanam addhatamam " t h i s e a r t h i se s t a b l i s h e d o n ' t r u t h ' ( i .e . t h e ' p r i n c i p l e ' o f a d h e r i n g t o , h o l d i n g t o ,r e a l i t y ) , a n d h e n c e t r u t h i s t h i s e a r t h , f o r t h i s e a r t h i s t h e m o s t c e r t a i no f t h e s e w o r l d s . ' '~ T h e e a r t h b e i n g fi x e d o b e y e d t h e s e t tl e d o r d e r ) C f .also T/~. 10, 63 sa tye sarva.m prati .s t .hitam; ViS m.rti 8, 30 s a t y e n a b h a rd h a r a y a t i ; M b h . 14, 35, 22ff . cr . ed. s a t y a d b h f a a n i j a ta n i e t c . 6

14, l , 4 : tata.h: n o t " t h e n " , b u t r a t h e r " f r o m w h i c h " ( v iz . t h e h e a v e n l ys o m a r e f e r r e d t o i n t h e p r e c e d i n g s t a n z a s , w h i c h b e i n g k n o w n t o t h eb r a h m a n s i s n o t d r u n k b y o r d i n a r y m e n ( st. 3 )) . T h e r e f e re n c e t o th e1 See especially W. D. Wh itney - C h. R. Lanman, Atharva-veda Sarithita (CambridgeM ass., 190 5), p. 7 38ff.K. F. Geldner, Der Rig-veda iibersetzt, II I (Cambridge, M ass., 1951) p. 267ff.8 M. Winternitz, Das altindische Hochzeitsrituell nach dem ,'rpastambfya-g.rhyasatra(Wien, 1892).F o r addhd see D. S. Ruegg, in Journa l asiatique, 243 (1955 ), p. 163, el. e.g ./~ V. 1, 52,13 satydm ad dhd.5 See also G . Tucci , "Ea rth in India and Tibet" , Eranos-Jahrbuch, 22 (Zfirich, 1954),p. 329 . Th e relation between the divine draught (soma) and the m oo n will be discussedelsewhere (He t probleem der con tinufteit in de oudere Indische geschiedenis, VersL Med .Kon. Ned . Akad. v. W et., Lett., N.R ., 26, 6, Am sterdam, 1963).6 See H. Liiders, Varuoa (G6 ttingen , 1951-1959), p. 574t".


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2 J. GONDAg o d o f w i n d a n d a t m o s p h e r e , V a y u ( v a y f i . h s 6 ma s y a r a k . s i t d ) , c a n n o t b ed i s s o c i a t e d f r o m t h e f a c t t h a t u s u a l l y h e i s t h e f i r s t a m o n g t h e g o d s t od r i n k t h e s o m a . 7 d k r t i O : " b a s i c f o r m " , f r o m w h i c h d e ri v ed f o r m s m a yb e k n o w n o r w h i c h f u r n i s h e s a c l u e t o t h e i r n a t u r e .

A V . 1 4, 1, 7 : s ee G e l d n e r ' s t r a n s l a t i o n o f , a n d c o m m e n t o n , . RV . 10 ,85, 6.

A V . 1 4, 1 , 6 - 1 3 : t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g s t a n z a s . R V . 1 0, 85 , 6 -1 3 a r e k n o w nt o t h e a u t h o r o f th e B . r h a d d e v a f ft ( 7 , 1 23 ) a s s f c r y d y a i b h ~v a v . r t t a m w h i c hs e e m s to m e a n s o m e t h i n g l ik e " t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f e x is ti n g ( po s it iv e )e n t i t i e s f o r ( t h e b e n e f i t o f ) S O r y a " s ; c f . a l s o i b i d . 7 , 14011au.sasi.h s ar va th aca i t ( t bhavav . r t ta .m pracaks .a te " a n d t h e y d e c l a r e t h a t t h e s e s t a n z a s a d -d r e s s e d t o U s a s 9 f o r m a s a w h o l e a ( t ex t) ~i co n c er ne d w i t h t h e t r a n s f o r m a -t i o n o f e x i s ti n g e n t i t ie s " . T h e s e s t a n z a s w h i c h i n d e e d d e a l m a i n l y w i th ~ th ee n t it ie s s e r v i n g a s re q u i s it e s f o r S ~ r y ~ ' s w e d d i n g - w h i c h i s t h e m y t h i c a lp r o t o t y p e o f al l w e d d i n g s - a n d w i t h t h e d i v in it ie s p e r f o r m i n g a f u n c t i o na r e a c c o r d i n g t o t h e . R g v i d h ~ n a 3 , 2 2, 3 t" . t o b e r e c i t e d t o a g i r l, b e c a u s ei t c a n h e l p h e r t o a w o r t h y a n d s u i t a b l e h u s b a n d .

1 4, 1 , 2 3 - 2 4 . T h e s e t w o s t a n z a s a r e r e p e a t e d h e r e f r o m 7 , 8 1, 1 - 2 w h e r et h e y f o r m p a r t o f a t e xt a d d re s s ed t o t h e s u n a n d t h e m o o n ? ~ W h e r e a ss t. 1 r e f e r s t o b o t h c e l e s ti a l b o d i e s , t h e f i r s t h a l f o f s t. 2 m a y b e c o n s i d e r e dt o a d d r e s s t h e s u n, it s s e c o n d h a l f t o b e s p o k e n t o t h e m o o n . T h e s u ni s i n d e e d t h e k e t u - o r " s i g n " o f t h e d a y s ( . R V . 3 , 3 4 , 4 ; 6 , 7, 5 ), a n d t h em o o n m a y b e s a i d t o " g r a n t t h e i r s h a re t o t h e g o d s a s it c o m e s " . 11T h e s t a n z a s a r e d i r e c t e d b y K a u g i k a 2 4, 18 t o b e u s e d t o a c c o m p a n yt h e w o r s h i p o f th e dar.fa-, i .e . th e s l e n d e r c r e s c e n t o f t h e n e w m o o n w h e nf i r s t v i s ib l e ( see a l so A V . 7, 81, 3): d f~rv~gra i r a~ja lav apa ~n~ya darJamdargibhir upat i . s t .hate . T h e c o m m e n t a t o r K e ~ a v a o b s e rv e s ( o n K a u ~ . 24 ,1 8) t h a t s o m e m u t t e r A V . ~ 7 , 8 1 a t n e w m o o n o n f i r st s ig h t o f th e c e l e s t ia lb o d y , f o r t h e s a k e o f p r o s p e r i t y ? ~" I f , w h a t s e e m s p r o b a b l e , t h i s is a m o r eo r i g in a l a p p l i c a t io n o f t h e s t a n z a s th e y m a y b e s u p p o s e d t o h a v e b e e ni n s e rt e d i n th e m a r r i a g e t e x ts b e c a u s e th e f o r m u l a s p r o n o u n c e d i n s a lu t a -t i o n o f t h e d a r~ a w e r e o f c o u r s e a ls o u s e d o n a w e d d i n g - d a y . A m a r r i a g e7 Li iders , o.e., p. 217ff. Fo r the celestial soma, ib idem, p. 202ff.8 See also A. A. Macd ondl, The Brhad-devata attributed to ~qaunaka (Harvard, 1904),p. 283.9 S f i r y~ i sa f orm ofU s .as , c f . i b id .,7 ,119-121 .10 See also Ge ldne r, De r Rig-veda iibersetzt , II I, p. 269t".11 Fo r the m oo n as a measure of time see A. A. Macdon ell and A . B. Keith, Vedieindex o f nam es and subjec ts, II (Benares, 1958), p. 156ff.13 Ke~ava: am avasy~y~.rn keeic candram asa.m d.r.st.v~ ]a pa m kurva nti pu.st.ik~m~.h(ed. by M . Bloomfield, J A O S 15, p. 322).


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NOTES ON ATHARVAVEDA-SAM.. IT~- BO OK 14 3s h o u l d a c c o r d i n g t o X g v Gs . 1 , 4 , 1 b e c e l e b r a t e d i n t h e b r i g h t h a l f o f am o n t h (~pftryamd.napak.se)) 314, 1, 26 : n?lalohitdt .n bh ava ti k .rty dsa ktlr vy ajy ate " i t b e c o m e s b l u e - r e d 14,t h e k.rtyfi O.e. a n a r t i f a c t o r m a t e r i a l o b j e c t b e l ie v e d to b e a p o w e r - b e a r e ra n d u s e d i n ' m a g i c a l ' r i t es ) , t h e ' a t t a c h m e n t ' ( i.e . i n f e c t io n ) 15 s m e a r si ts e l f o u t " . 16 A s a l r e a d y s u r m i s e d b y W h i t n e y - L a n m a n , p . 7 4 5 , th e s ew o r d s s e e m t o r e f e r t o t h e b l o o d y d i s c o l o r a t i o n o f t h e b r i d e ' s ( u n d e r )-g a r m e n t , w h i c h n o w h a s b e c o m e th e b e a r e r o f a d a n g e ro u s s u b s ta n c e( se e s t. 2 7 ). T h e a p p l i c a t i o n o f th e s e w o r d s t a u g h t b y S d h k h a y a n a , G s .1, 12, 8 (raktak.r.sn.am avikam, k.saumam , va triman, im. pratisaram, j ~ at a yo' sya badhnant i " h e r r e l a t i v e s t i e a r e d - a n d - b l u e w o o l l e n o r l i n e n w i t ht h r e e g e m s ( r o u n d h e r n e c k o r w r i s t ) " ) i m p r e s s e s u s a s s e c o n d a r y .P~tda c ddhante asyaj~at6ya.h " n o w h e r re l a ti v e s p r o s p e r " s e e m t o i n t im a t et h a t a s u c c e s s f u l d e f l o r a t i o n f r e e s t h e b r i d e ' s r e l a t i v e s , w h o n o w a r ed e f i n i t i v e l y r e l i e v e d o f a l l r e s p o n s i b i f i t y , f r o m a n y i m p e d i m e n t t o t h e i rp r o s p e r i t y s o f a r a s t h e b r id e is c o n c e r n e d . N o w t h e b r i d e g r o o m h a sb e c o m e l i a b l e t o s e r i o u s r i s k s ( c f . p a d a d ) . 1 7

14, 1, 27: agl~ld tan~r bha vat i d o e s n o t i n m y o p i n i o n m e a n " u n l o v e l yb e c o m e s ( h i s ) b o d y " , b u t " h i s b o d y ( o r r a t h e r p e r s o n ) s u f f e r s a s e r i o u st o ss o f w e l l - b e i n g " . T h e a d j e c ti v e , a " / - f o r m " b e s id e a~r~ra- w h i c h i sg i v e n b y .R V . 10 , 8 5 , 3 0 ( w h e r e G e l d n e r i n c o r r e c t l y t r a n s l a t e s " u n s c h 6 n ' ' i s )a n d A V . P p . , d o e s n o t p r i m a r i l y r e f e r t o t h e a e s t h e t i c a n d t h e s u b l i m ee r o t i c a s p e c t s o f t h e c o n c e p t e x p r e s s e d b y t h e t e r m ~ d - . ~9 A V . 4 , 2 1 , 6(.RV. 6, 28, 6) yay6m, g avo m ed ay ath d k.r~dm, cid a~r?r6m cit krn.uthasu p r6 t i k a m m e a n s " Y e , O k i n e , f a t t e n w h o e v e r is l e a n ; m a k e o f g o o da s p e c t t h e o n e w h o l o o k s il l ( is w o r n o u t , i s d o i n g b a d l y ) " . I fa i l t ou n d e r s t a n d w h y i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h E g g e l i n g ' s t r a n s l a t i o n 2~ ~ B . 3 , 1 , 2 ,16 ap y agl~lat.n suvasasam, did rks an te s h o u l d m e a n " p e o p l e li k e t o s e elz See also P. V. Ka ne, History ofDharma~astra, II (Poona, 1941), p. 511ft.14 Fo r this "Hochzeitsfarbe" see e .g .J .J . M eyer, Trilogie (Ztirich-Leipzig, 1937), I,p. 62ff.; A. Weber, Indische Studien, V, p. 308.15 See pada-text (an d pada-text o f 8V . 10, 85, 28) asaktiO.1 6 C f . R . V . 9 , 8 6 , 43.17 Co m par e also the literature m entioned in Aspec ts of early Vi.s.nuism Utrecht, 1954),p. 183, n. 33. Fo r ancient Germ an customs an d belief in connection w ith the bride'sclothes etc. see Handw6rterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens, herausgegeben von H.Biichtold-St/iubli trod E. H offma nn-K rayer, I (B erlin-Leipzig, 1927), 1529ff.18 Also H. Otdenberg, "D ie vedischen W orte fiir 'sch6 n' and 'Sch6nheit' und dasvedisehe Seh6nh eitsgefiihl", in Nachr. k6nigl. G es. d. W iss. Giittingen,ph.-h. KI. (1918),p. 38.19 Fo r which see Asp ects of early Vi$.nuism,p. 176ff.~0 J. Eg gelin g, The ~atapatha-Brahman.a translated, II (Oxford, 1885), p. 9.


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4 J. GONDAe v e n a n u g l y p e r s o n p r o p e r l y c l a d " ; r a t h e r " e v e n a d e s t i tu t e " . S i m i la r lyA i B . 1, 25, 15 y as m ad apy agl? la sy a g r o tr iy as ya m uk h am v y e v a ~ a y a t et.rptam iva m a y m e a n : " i n t h a t t h e f a ce o f ev e n a drotriya- w h o i s d o i n gb a d l y i s k n o w n ( s e e n ) a s s at i sf i e d " . I n l a t e r ti m e s a ls o t h e u n f o r t u n a t em a n w h o i s g r e a tl y re d u c e d b y il ln e ss , p o v e r t y o r a d v e r s it y m a y b e c h a r a c -t e r i z e d a s agr~ra- o r aglfla-. C o m p a r e a l s o M a n u 4 , 2 0 6 ; M b h . 3, 170,58 c r . ed . tacc ho kay uk tam agr fkam, du.hkhadainyasamahatam. T h e b r i d e -g r o o m ' s b o d y d o e s n o t b e c o m e " u n l o v e l y " w h e n h e w r ap s h i s o w nm e m b e r (ahga-, c f . M a n u 8 , 3 74 3 1 ) w i t h t h e e x t r e m e l y i n a u s p i c i o u sg a rm e n t 2 ~ ; t h i s o b j e c t w a s r a t h e r s u p p o s e d t o i n j u r e h i s g r i - , i . e . h i sp h y s i c a l , m a t e r i a l a n d s o c i al w e l l - b e in g a n d i t s m a n i f e s t a t i o n s a n dc o n s e q u e n c e s . 2z T h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n i s, a s f a r a s I a m a b l e t o s e e, c o r r o -b o r a t e d b y t h e n e x t w o r d s r (tga tf pa p6y am uyd " t a k i n g o f f e n c e ( i n j u r e d ,a n g r y ) i n t h a t e v il w a y " . T h e i d e a e x p re s se d b y papa- i s v e r y o f t e no p p o s e d t o d r f- . I n . R V . 8 , 2 , 2 0 t h e agr f ro jamata n o d o u b t i s t h e " s o n - i n -l a w w h o s e g r~ - h a s g o n e " ; t h e a d j e c t iv e durha~avan i n t h e s a m e s t a n z ae x p re s se s t h e i d e a o f " i n a u s p i c io u s b y b e i n g h a r m f u l " . F o r rug- o r ru.s-i n t h e s e ns e o f " in j u r i n g , d o i n g h a r m " (hir.nsayam) see the Dhhtup~ t t .ha28, 126, ru.s[a. " o f f e n d e d , a n g r y , c r o s s , i r r i t a t e d " a n d tu.st.a- " p l e a s e d "b e i n g o p p o s i t e s . I n A V . 1 4, 1, 3 8 a l s o th i s m e a n i n g s e e m s t o s u i t t h ec o n t e x t b e t t e r ; 3 , 2 8 , 1 t h e s e n se o f " a n g r y " c a n n o t b e a v o i d e d . 24

1 4, 1 , 2 8 . I t m a y s a f e l y b e a s s u m e d t h a t S ~ty a.n a's i n t e rp r e t a t i o n o ft h i s s t a n z a (S h y a n. a o n . R V . 1 0, 8 5, 3 5 ) i s i n p a r t i m p ro b a b l e , i n p a r to n l y a p o s s i b i l i t y : a~asanam .: ta.sadhanam , tac canyavarn, am. bh ava ti;vigasanam. : girasi nidhfyam anarn , tad.rgam, da~ ante ni dh fya m an am ; ad hivi-kartana.m ya t tr idha vaso vik.rntanti; tan y agasanad~ni vasar.nsy ava sthitan isf~ryaya.h rftpan, bh ava nti. H a r a d a t t a , o n .4pGs. 3, 9 , 11, is l ikewise oft h e o p i n i o n t h a t t h e p r o c e s s e s r e l a t e t o t h e b r i d e ' s g a r m e n t . 25 W h e nv i e w e d i n t h e l i g h t o f th e B.rhaddevata (7 , 13 5) , a c c o rd i n g t o w h i c h t h es t a n z a d e a l s w i t h a bha vav.rtti -~s " a m o d e o f b e i n g o f e x i st in g e n t it i e s" ,o n e m i g h t p e r h a p s s u p p o s e t h e f ir s t l in e to m e n t i o n t h r e e a s p e c t s o f th eal li~ga-,Kullfika.22 vivahakdlaparihita.mvaso na spra~t.avyam ity ahur "they say that one should nottouch the garment w ith w hic h (the bride) is clothed at th e time o f the w edding"(.Sa.dguru~isya, on Anu kramaoik~t on J~V. 10, 85, 29t".). F or the belief tha t the bride'sgarment is "disinfected of evil fortu ne" see also J. P. M ills, The Lhota Nagas (London,1922), p. 152f.as Th e ancient Germ ans attributed a curative influence o the bride's clothes: Handwtb.d. deu tsch. Abergl., I, 15321".a~ See W hitney-L anm an, o.c., p. 134.as See also W internitz, o.c., p. 100f.a0 See abov e, no te on 14, 1, 6-13.


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NOTES ON ATHARVAVEDA-SAM.HIT.~ BOOK 14 5" b l o o d y c u t t i n g " , a p p e a r i n g i n t h e a c t o f d e f l o r a ti o n w h i c h in t h e i rv i s ib l e e f fe c t s u p o n t h e g a r m e n t a r e s a i d t o b e m a n i f e s t a t i o n s o r c h a r a c -t e r i st i c f o r m s o f S Q r y 5.

14, 1, 31: br6hmaeaspate p6tim asyai rocaya m e a n s " O B . , p l a c e h e rh u s b a n d i n a f a v o u r a b l e l ig h t fo r h e r " , o r " m a k e h i m p l e a s a n t t o h e r " ,i . e . " c a u s e h e r t o l i k e h i m " .

14, 1 , 32f . and KauL 7 9 , 17 . I h a v e m y d o u b t s a b o u t t h e c o r r e c t n e s so f W h i t n e y ( - L a n m a n ) ' s n o t e : " t h i s v e rs e . .. s e em s t o b e d i r e c te d t oa c c o m p a n y t h e p a y i n g ( in k i ne ) t h e p r i c e d e m a n d e d f o r th e b r i d e ; b u ts u r el y t h a t c a n n o t h a v e b e e n i ts o r ig i n a l s e n se " . T h e c o w s m e n t i o n e di n t h e t e x t a r e n o t , i n m y o p i n i o n , a p u r c h a s e - p r i c e i n t h e c o m m e r c i a ls e n s e , b u t a m e a n s o f r e d r e s s i n g , i n a s o c i o - r e l i g i o u s s e n s e, t h e b a l a n c ew h i c h w o u l d b e d i s tu r b e d b y a o n e - s id e d g if t o f a d a u g h t e r3 7 M a y t h ewords 14 , 1 , 33 b ay6m. devdnam, n6 minati bhag6m " t h i s o n e d o e s n o tw r o n g t h e g o d s o f t h e i r s h a r e " b e r e g a r d e d a s a c o m m e n t o n t h e r i tu a l l yc o r r e c t c o n d u c t o f t h e b r i d e g r o o m w h o p r e s e n ts t h e c o w ? I f so , A V .1 2, 4 , 2 1 w o u l d p r o v i d e u s w i t h a c u r i o u s p a r al l el . H e r e t h e m a n w h od o e s n o t g i ve t h e c o w t o t h e b r a h m a n s , i n c u rs t h e w r a t h o f ca t tl e , " i fh e k e e p s t o h i m s e l f t h e d e p o s i t e d p o r t i o n o f th e g o d s " (devdnam. nihitam.bh~g6m, m6rtyas cdn nipriy~y6te). T h e c e r e m o n i a l p r e s e n t o f a co w o ro f c o w s , m a d e i n r e t u r n , l e g a l iz e s t h e m a r r i a g e s h o w i n g t h a t t h e g i r l i sn o s la v e o r c o n c u b i n e . T h e c o w s g i v e n i n re t u r n a r e th e r e f o r e i m p l o r e d ,a n d n o d o u b t e x p e c t e d , t o i n c r ea s e " t h i s o n e " , i .e . t h e b r i d e g r o o m f r o mw h o s e f a m i l y t h e y c o m e , w i t h p r o g e n y . S t a n z a 3 3 d o e s n o t, a s is h e ldb y W h i t n e y - L a n m a n , i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e p r e c e d i n g o n e i s m e a n t a s " aw i s h f o r p r o s p e r i t y i n r e sp e c t w i t h k i n e " . T h e c o w s a r e e x p r e s s l y i m p l o r e d" t o e n t e r t h is m a n w i t h p r o g e n y " . F o r t h e se ns e o f s6m. vi~atha c o m p a r ee.g. 7, 110, 3; 13, 1, 10.14, 1, 36: y~ na mahan aghnyd j6ghanam ... t~nemdm, vfrcas?tvatamd o e s n o t m e a n " w i t h w h a t ( s p le n d o r ) th e b a c k s id e s o f t h e c o u r t e z a n(l it . 'g r e a t n a k e d w o m a n ' ) . . . w i t h t h a t s p l e n d o r fa v o r y e t h is w o m a n "( W h i t n e y - L a n m a n ) . T h e w o r d mahanaghnyah, s h o u l d , w i t h t h e t r a n s -l a to r s , b e e m e n d e d t o -nagnya.h. I t s s e n se is " s t a r k n a k e d " , c f. t h e m a s c .mahanagna- A V . 2 0 , 1 3 6, 1 1 ( wh e r e t h e P e t r . D i c t . a l r e a d y t r a n s l a t e d b y" B u h l e r " ) mahanagnt mahanagn6m, dhdvantam 6nu dhavati a n d ~ t f i k h ~ s .1 2, 2 4 , 2, st . 4 f f . wh e r e a f t e r s o m e s t a n z a s d e a l i n g w i t h t h e c o i t u s t h e s a m ew o r d s r e c u r : " t h e h a r l o t r u n s a f te r t h e p a r a m o u r , w h o r u n s a w a y "a n d ( s t . 6 ) ma hana gny upa b rftte svastyave~ita .mpasa. " t h e h a r l o t e n t r e a ts37 See "Reflection s on the arsa and asura forms of marriage", in Sar~pa-Bharatf(Festsehrift-L. Sarup) (H osbiarpu r, 1954 ), p. 2 23ff.


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6 J. GONDAt h e p e n i s w h i c h h a s b e e n c a u s e d t o e n t e r s u c c e s f u l l y " . 2s S e e a l s o A i B . 1 ,27, 2 t a y a m a h a n a g n y a b h f tt a y d s om a m , r a j a n a m a k r f n a n , n o t w i t h K e it h 29 :" w i t h h e r a s a g r e a t n a k e d O n e . . . " T h i s se n s e o f m a h a - i s h a r d l y i nn e ed o f c o m m e n t : m a h a k a r u n , a - is to b e t r a n s la t e d b y " v e r y c o m p a s s i o n -a t e " , mahakrs .n .a - b y " v e r y b l a c k " et c. T h e t e r m j a g h a n a - r e fe r s t o b u t t o c ka n d p u d e n d a ; v a r c a s - p r i m a r i l y d e n o t e s a k i n d o f v i g o u r o r e n e r g yl e n d i n g a c e r t a i n p r e s t i g e a n d d i g n i t y t o a p e r s o n . T h e p o e t a s k s t h eA ~ v in s t o g i v e t h e b r i d e t h e s e x u a l v i g o u r c o n s i d e r e d t o b e p r o p e r t oh a r l o t s . 8~ T h e g o d s a r e n o t s o m u c h r e q u e s t e d t o " g i v e h e r a l l t h e a t t r a c -t i o n s w h i c h t h e v a r i o u s s e d u c t i v e t h i n g s ( m e n t i o n e d i n t h e t e x t ) a r ek n o w n t o p o s s e s s " ( W h i t n e y - L a n m a n ) a s t o t r a n s f e r t o h e r t h e i r s pe ci ficp o w e r , a s f a r a s t h i s m a y p r o m o t e h e r f e r t i l i ty (c f . a l s o 1 4, 1 , 3 5 ). A s t ot h e s t r o n g d r i n k , t h e d e s c r i p t io n o f t h e u s a g e m e n t i o n e d b y G o b h i l a G s .2 , 1 , 10 l e a v e s n o t h i n g t o b e d e s i r e d : k l [ t a k a i r y a v a i r m a . s a i r v a p l u t d m .s u h . r t s u r o t t a m e n a s a d a r [ r a m , t r i r m f l r d h a n y a b h i . s i ~ c e t k a r n a v e d a t e n a m am a d o n a m d s ? t i . . . " a f r i e n d m u s t s p r i n k l e ( t h e b r i d e ) a f t e r s h e h a s b e e nw a s h e d w i t h p r e p a r e d g r a i n s . . . t h r e e t i m e s o n h e r h e a d w i t h t h e b e s tl i q u o r s o t h a t t h e w h o l e o f h e r b o d y i s m o i s t e n e d , w i t h th e f o r m u l a :O K ~ m a , I k n o w t h y n a m e , in t o x i c a t i o n is t h y n a m e " . S t r o n g l iq u o rw a s i n d e e d c o n s i d e r e d t o s t i m u l a t e e r o t i c f e e l i n g s a n d s e x u a l a p p e t i t e ;i t i s " e r o t i s c h f f ir d i e F r a u e n n S t i g " , a l G a m b l i n g w a s , i n c o n n e c t i o nw i t h r e l i g i o u s r it e s o r a s e l e m e n t o f fe s ti v it ie s , a m e r i t o r i o u s w o r ks u p p o s e d to b r in g a b o u t g o o d f o r tu n e . G a m b l i n g g e n e r a te s o r d is c h a rg e s ,i n a m a g i c o - r e l i g i o u s w a y , p o w e r . 8~ A c c o r d i n g t o t h e B h a v . P u r . 140,1 8 t h e g r e a t D i p f iv a l i f e s ti v a l w i ll b e s u c c e s s fu l , t h a t i s p r o m o t e h a p p i n e s sa n d w e l fa r e , w h e n m e n a n d w o m e n , e l a t e d a n d e x u l ta n t , i n d u lg e i n d ic e -p l a y i n g , d r i n k i n g s p i r it s a n d s e x u a l i n t e r c o u r s e . I n t h e s o - c a l le d S u k h a r f i-t r i a w o m a n s h o u l d p l a y a t d ic e w i t h h e r h u s b a n d i n o r d e r to o b t a i n s o n sa n d w e l f a r e . H e r e a n d e l s e w h e r e ( 1 4, 1 , 3 5 ; 5 4 ; 5 5 ; 2 , 1 3) v a r i o u s p o w e r sa r e in v o k e d o r a d d r e s s e d b e c a u s e th e y w e r e b e li e v ed to p r o m o t e c o n j u g a lh a p p i n e s s a n d t o g i v e o f f sp r i n g , s828 See W. Caland, ~d~khayana-~rautasfttra, ed. by Lokesh Chandra (Nagpur, 1953),p. 341.2a A .B . Keith, Rigveda Brahmanas (Cam bridge, M ass., 1920), p. 128.8o "D ie H ure stellt den Inbegriff unbeschr~nkter Geschlechtlichkeit da r" (Meyer,Trilogie altindiseher Miiehte und Feste der Vegetation, I, p. 9; II, p. 37; III, p. 239).sl Meyer, o.e., II I, p. 316 . F or epic passages pointing to the sam e conviction seeMeyer, Sex ua l life in ancient India, II (Lon don, 1930), p. 327.82 Fo r this aspect of the game at dice see e.g. Mey er, Trilogie, II, p. 84f.; 89f.;144; 15 1; B. A. Gupte, Hindu holidays and ceremonial (Calcutta, 1919 ), p. 41f.;J. C. Heesterman, The ancient Indian royal consecration, Diss. (Utrecht, 1957), p. 143ff.33 D ie Religionen Indiens (Stuttgart, 1960), I, p. 92.


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N O T E S O N ATHARVAVEDA-SAMHITA BOOK 14 714, 1, 38: r~antam, grabhdm " a n a n g r y r e s e n t i n g s e i z e r " : f o r t h e

c o m b i n a t io n c o m p a r e A i B . 4, 10, 15 na y a ro.sdti na grabhat " w h o s h a l ln o t b e wr a t h , n o r s e i z e ( u s ) " ; c f . a l s o AS s . 6 , 5 , 1 8 ; ~ S s . 9 , 2 0 , 2 6 .1 4 , 1 , 4 2 : " g i r d t h y s e l f " : s e e n o t e o n 1 4 , 2 , 7 4 .1 4 , 1 , 4 6 : s e e m y p a p e r "R.gveda 10, 40 , 10 ". 341 4, 1 , 5 5 : f o r t h i s s t a n z a wh i c h i n Kaug. 7 9, 14 i s m a d e t o a c c o m p a n y

t h e p a r t i n g o f t h e b r i d e ' s h a i r s e e m y a r t i c le o n t h e S i m a n t o n n a y a n a . ~5T h e v e r b akalpayat e x p r e s s es th e i d e a o f " p r e p a r i n g , a r r a n g i n g , f i t t in go u t , s e t t i n g i n o r d e r " , ~obhaydmasi s u ch c o n n o t a t i o n s a s " m a k i n g r e ad y ,p r e p a r i n g , d e c o r a t i n g , a d o r n i n g " ; t h e a e s t h et ic e l e m e n t c o n t a i n e d i nt h e v e r b s h o u l d h o w e v e r n o t b e e m p h a s i z e d .

1 4 , 1 , 5 6 : t h i s s t a n z a s e e m s t o h a v e b e e n i n t e n d e d t o a c c o m p a n y t h eu n l o o s e n i n g o f t h e b r i d e ' s h a i r , i f a t l e a s t t h e A t h . P a d d h a t i i s r i g h tw h i c h h a s i t u s e d , t o g e t h e r w i t h s t a n z a 5 5, i n t h e c e r e m o n y o f p a r t i n gh e r h a i r . T h o u g h o b s c u r e i n s o m e r e s p e c ts t h e s t a n z a f u rn i s h e s u s w i t ht h e i n t e re s t in g i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t " t h i s i s t h a t f o r m i n w h i c h t h e y o u n gw o m e n d r e s s e d h e r s e l f " a n d e n d s b y a s k i n g w h o " u n l o o s e n e d t h e s ef e t t e r s " : n o d o u b t a r e fe r e n c e t o t h e c h a n g e o f th e h a i r - d re s s o n e n t e r in gu p o n a n e w s t a g e o f l if e o r a n e w s o c i a l p o s i t i o n . 36

14, 1, 57: ahd.m v[ .sy~mi m dy i r f tpdm asy~ v~d ad i t pd~yan mdnasa.hku ldya m ] n6 stdyam adm i manas6dam ucye svay6m. ~ rathn 6n6 v6run, asyapa~dn. T h e t r a n s l a t i o n o f th i s s t a n z a w h i c h is u s e d b y Kau~. 76 , 28 inl o o s e n i n g t h e yoktra- (anovahabandhan~ rajju.h, R u d r a d a t t a o n XpastSs .2 , 5, 4 : " t h e t h o n g s b y w h i c h a n a n i m a l i s a t t a c h e d t o t h e p o l e o f a c a r -r i a g e " ) f r o m t h e b r i d e s e e m s t o b e a s f o l l o w s : " I l o o s e n i n m y s e l f ( i.e .m e n t a l l y ) h e r f i g u re ( l it e ra l l y ); h e v e r i l y w i l l k n o w w h o s ee s t h e n e s t o fm i n d ; I e a t n o t t h i n g s s t o l e n (i .e . I d o n o t t a k e t o w i fe a g i rl w h o i s n o tm y d u e ) ; I w a s f r e e d b y m i n d , m y s e l f l o o s e n i n g t h e f e t te r s o f V a r u. n a" .F o r t h e u n g ir d in g c o m p a r e ApGs . 5 , 12 . F o r kuldya- " t h e b o d y a s th ed w e l l i n g - p l a c e o f th e s o u l " s e e B.4U. 4 , 3 , 1 2. F r o m t h e l a s t w o r d s o ft h e s t a n z a i t s e e m s t o a p p e a r t h a t t h e b r i d e g r o o m w h o m a y b e s u p p o s e dt o b e s p e a k i n g f r e e s h i m s e l f f r o m " s i n '8 7 b y p e r f o r m i n g t h e a c t o f l o o s e -n i n g m e n t i o n e d i n p ~ td a a .

1 4 , 1 , 6 1 : T h e b r i d e i s a d d r e s s e d a s S i r y i , t h e m y t h i c a l " U r b r a u t " ,o f w h o m s h e i s a re p r e s e n t a t i v e .

34 In lndologieal studies in honor o f W. Norm an Brown (Ne w Haven, Corm., 1962),p. 78ff.35 In East and W est, 7 (Rom e, 1956), p. 12ff.36 Ibidem,p. 22ff.37 Co mp are S. Rod he, Deliver us from evil (Lurid, 1946),passim.


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8 J. GONDAA V . 1 4, 2 , 2 -4 . H e r e t h e p o e t r e fe r s t o t h e d i v i n e h u s b a n d s o f th e b r i d e

w h o h a d a r i g h t to p o s s e ss h e r b e f o r e sh e w a s g i v en t o a m o r t a l m a n .. f fpas tGs . 4 , 1 0 h a s t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g s t a n z a s . R V . 1 0, 85 , 4 0 a n d 4 1 u s e da f t e r t h e b r i d e h a s g o n e u n d e r n e a t h t h e y o k e o f t h e v e h ic leaS, an act nod o u b t m e a n t t o b r i n g a b o u t h e r l i b e r a t io n f r o m h e r d i v i n e o w n e r s . 89T h e g a n d h a r v a s , t h o u g h d i v in e b ei n g s o f a c o m p l e x n a t u r e , a r e i n t e ra l ia c o n c e r n e d w i t h c o n c e p t i o n . 4~ A s s u c h t h e y a r e o n t h e o n e h a n dw o r s h i p p e d f o r t he s ak e o f p r o g e n y ( P B . 1 9, 3, 2 ) a n d o n t h e o t h e r h a n db e l ie v e d t o c a u s e t h e d e a t h o f e m b r y o s a n d b a b i e s ( A V . 8, 6 , 18f . ) . A st h e y a r e n o t w i ll in g t o r e n o u n c e t h e i r r ig h t s t o a n e w l y m a r r i e d w o m a n ,t h e y o u n g h u s b a n d a t t e m p t s t o g e t r i d o f t h e m p a y i n g h o m a g e t o t h e m( A V . 1 4, 2, 3 4 f f . ) o r b y e x e r c i z i n g t h e m o r c h a s i n g t h e m a w a y ( .R V . 1 0,85 , 21 f . ) . H en ce a l so A V . 1 4, 2 , 9 " l e t t h e g a n d h a r v a s . . . b e b e n e v o l e n tt o th i s b r i d e " . S e e a l s o A V . 1 4, 2 , 3 4 f . S o m a , w h o s e p l a c e i s t a k e n b yt h e g a n d h a r v a ( 1 4 , 2 , 3 ) , t h e d i v i n e p r i n c i p l e , e s s e n c e a n d " U r b i l d " o fa l l l i f e -b e a r i n g m o i s t u r e i n t h e u n i v e r s e , th e k i n g w h o s e r e a l m i s re a l i ze di n t h e u n i v e r s a l f e r t i l i t y p ro c e s s e s , w h i c h m a n i f e s t s i t s e l f i n a l l li f e-p ro c e s s e s , i s , i n t e r a l i a , t h e l i f e - g i v i n g a n d g e n e r a t i v e f o r c e i n h e r e n t i nt h e p r o c e s s e s o f f e c u n d a t i o n . C o m p a r e , i n th i s c o n n e c t i o n , e .g . . R V . 9 ,6 0, 4 " b r i n g ( O S o m a ) s e m e n c a p a b l e o f p r o d u c i n g p r o g e n y " ( p r a j d v a drdtah .) 41 a n d 9 , 5 9, 1 " b r i n g a w e a l t h o f c h i l d r e n " . H e n c e S o m a ' s i n t e r e s ti n y o u n g w o m e n : A V . 1 4, 1 , 9 k n o w s h i m t o h a v e b e e n t h e vadhf~yu- " t h eo n e w h o l o n g s f o r a w i f e , t h e s u i t o r " , w h e n i n t h e m y t h i c a l " U r z e i t "S f iry fi e n t e r e d i n t o m a t r i m o n y . I n R . V . 9 , 6 9, 3 h e i s e v e n i n a g e n e ra lw a y c al le d t o b e " b r id e - l o n g i n g " o r " d e si r o u s o f y o u n g w o m e n " ( v a -dhfty~.h). 42 A s t o t h e r 61 e o f A g n i a n d t h e t w o o t h e r d e i ti e s w e l e a r n f r o mN a r a d a 12 , 28 (Nep . ) , B h a v i r 1 , 1 8 2 , 3 1 a n d o t h e r t e x t s t h a t S o m aw a s b e l ie v e d t o e n j o y a g ir l a s s o o n a s h a i r a p p e a r e d o n h e r b o d y , t h eg a n d h a r v a a s s o o n a s h e r b r e a s ts b e g a n t o d e v e lo p , a n d A g n i a t t h e t im eas See W internitz, o.c., p, 48.a9 Com pare the ritual act mentioned/~V. 8, 91, 7 and Caland, Altindisches Zauber-ritual (Am sterdam, 1900), p. 31 ; K . W einhold, Zu r Geschichte des heidnischen Ritus(Berlin [Aka d.], 1896), p. 37.40 See e .g .A .B . K eith "Gand harva", in Coomaraswamy Commem. Vol . o f JournalIndian Society o f Oriental Art, 5 (Calcutta, 1938), 613; E. Windiseh, "Buddh as G eb urt" ,Abh. siichs. Ge s. d. Wiss. , 26, 2, p. 12; J. J. Meyer, Ober das Wesen der altindischenRechtsschriften (Leipzig, 1927), the passages given under " gan dh arv a"; the same,Sex ua l li fe in ancient India, p. 575, s.v. gandharvas; in general Die Religionen Indiens,I, p. 101.41 C f . a l s o J~ V . 9 , 85, 28; 39.~ Fo r the interpretation of this place see L. Renou, l~tudes vddiques e t p~n. ndennes,IX (Paris, 1961 ), p. 78.


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N O T E S O N ATHAP,VAVEDA-SAM.HIT.~ BOOK 14 11po te nc y (see e .g. 1 , 23, 4) . 5o T he ghoram, cak.su.h (e.g. A V . 19, 35, 3; T.~.4, 38; A p a s t S s . 15, 19, 8) 51 be ing the evi l eye ( b ( p O a ) ~ t b g 7cOVrlpbg)H a r a d a t t a ' s c o m m e n t a r y o n A p G s . 6 , 6 i s no doub t r i gh t i n unde r -s t a n d i n g p a d a c ( " w h a t , o f v a r i o u s f o r m s , i s b o u n d t o , i. e. w o r n b y , h e r " )o f t h e " o r n a m e n t s " w o r n b y t h e b ri d e ( .~ p. h a s asydrn f o r 6 s t i ) : y a cca sy~ m paryanaddham, sarv ato ban dhu bhir nad dha .m v i~;varftpam, ndn ar f tpamitbhara.nadi . T h e s e " o r n a m e n t s " w e re a t t h e s am e t i m e , a n d p r o b a b l y i nt he f i rs t p la c e , a m u l e t s 52 w h i c h w e r e w or n t o w a r d o f f e v il , t o ne u t r a l i z et h e u n d e s i r a b le e f fe c ts o f e n v y , h a t r e d a n d m a l e v o l e n c e , a n d t o b r i n g o ra t t r a c t (a -bhar - ) g o o d l u ck .

A V . 14, 2 , 16. T h e o r i g i na l a pp l i c a t i on o f t h i s s t a nz a s e e m s t o ha v eb e e n h a n d e d d o w n b y S ~ fi kh ~ ty a na , w h o a f t e r re f e r ri n g t o t h e b r i d a l c a rc ross in g a r ive r ha s i t used (1 , 15 , 20) in case the w a te r i s deep (ag~dhe).W h e n t h e d r a u g h t - a n i m a l s a n d t h e b r i d a l c o u p l e r u n t h e r i sk o f b e in gd r o w n e d s er ie s o f f o r m u l a s l i k e th i s s t a n z a m i g h t p e r h a p s h a v e a l s oa c c o m p a n i e d t h e a t te m p t s o f u n y o k i n g ( cf . K aug . 77, 15) the oxe n an dr e a c h in g , o n th e i r b a c k s o r s w i m m i n g , t h e b a n k o f th e r i v er . H o w e v e r ,t h e p ~ d a s b a n d ( p r o b a b l y a ls o ) a, m a y a l so a d m i t o f t h e p r e f e ra b l ei n t e r p r e t a t i o n a d o p t e d b y G e l d n e r 5 3 : " E u r e W e l l e s o l l d i e J o c h z a p f e ne m p o r h e b e n ( so a s t o s ti c k u p o u t o f t h e w a t e r ), i h r G e w i is se r , g e b e td ie S t r i inge f re i l " . R.g v i d h a n a 2 , 2 , 3 L d o e s n o t i n d e e d s p e a k o f a n ys e ri o u s s it u a t i o n : " h e w h o w i t h a y o k e d c h a r i o t w i sh e s q u i c k l y t o g a i nt he o ppos i t e b a n k o f t he w a t e r , s ha l l .. . m u t t e r t he s t a n z a .RV . 3 , 33, 13( N A V . 14 , 2 , 1 6 ) " : " B i t t e f i ir e i ne n be i de r D ur c h f a h r t i m F l u s s e s te c ke nb l e ib e n d e n W a g e n " 3 4

A V . 14, 2 , 19. I n t h i s e xo r c i s m a c c o m pa n y i n g a c om p l e t e s p r i nk l i ngo f h e r n ew h o m e b y t h e b r i d e (Kau~. 77, 16) I would in b ahdm. tve .deabhibhd.h srdd g . rhdt dec ided ly p re fe r ~ .de to i .de, beca use i t i s d i f f i cu l t tos e e w hy N i r. rt i, t he p ow e r o f pe r d i t i on a n d d e s t r uc t i on w h i c h i s e xo r c i z e d( p f ida c ) , s ho u l d ha ve be e n a dd r e s s e d a s I .d~t, t he d i v i ne r e p r e s e n t a t i veo f th e o b l a t io n c o n s i st in g in m i lk a n d b u t t e r a n d t h e a b u n d a n c e p r o v i d e dby the co w. Fo r i .de see e .g . .RV . 5 , 60 , 1 ; 10, 85 , 21 and for the t en oro f t h i s s e n t e nc e A V . 14, 2 , 33 (a nd espe cia l ly p~ da b) . 55

f lV . 14 , 2 , 20. Th e f i r s t p~tda (10 sy l lab les ins te ad of 8 ) i s i r reg ula r :50 See Notes on brahman (Utrecht, 1950), p. 42L5~ Cf. Ca land , Altind. Zau berritual, p. 79L~2 See The N ew Indian Antiquary, 2 (Poon a, 1939-1940) (Festschrift-F. W . Th om as),p. 69ff.5a Geldner,o.c., 12, p. 374.s~ Geldner,Lc.55 See furth er on.


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12 J. GONDAya d d g d r h a p a t ya m 6 s a p a r ya i t . T h e v e r b , a d e n o m i n a t i v e (saparyd-" w o r s h i p " ) , o c c u r s e l s e w h e r e ; t h e f o r m i s , i t i s t r u e , n o t u n i q u e , b u tm i gh t be c o r r up t . 56 T he c o n j e c t u r e [asa]paryait (cf. A V . 15, 1, 5; 19, 53,4 ) w o u l d h e l p u s to a w o r d f o r " c i r c u m a m b u l a t i n g " w h i c h w o u l d s u itt he c on t e x t . 57 F o r m s o f saparya- occur in s t . 18d en 23d!

A V. 14, 2, 27 : ~vrgurebhya.h i . e . t o t he f a t he r - i n - l a w a nd h i s r e l a t i ve s( b r o t he r s ) o f t he s a m e a ge . C f . e .g . t he u s e o f pitara.h i n t he s e ns e o f" a f a t h e r a n d h i s b r o t h e r s , f a t h e r a n d u n c l e s, e t c . " : M a n u 2, 151 ( p i t f n :gaun. an pit.rvyatatputradfn adhika vaya sa.h, K ullftk a).

A V . 14, 2, 33 f it ti .st .het6 vi~vavaso nrmase.ddm ahe tva [j a m lm icchapit.rs.rdam, n ~aktdm, s6 te b hag 6 janfi.sa trs ya viddhi . I w o u l d v e n t u r e t h et r a n s l a t i o n : " s t a n d u p f r o m h e r e, O V i~ v~ tv asu ; w i t h h o m a g e d o w er e que s t t he e ( t o do t ha t ) ; s e e k t he e a f e m a l e r e la t i ve w h o l ive s ( unm a r r i e d )w i t h he r f a t he r , a s p in ste rS 8 ; t ha t i s t hy po r t i on by ( r i gh t o f ) b i r t h ; t a kec ogn i z a n c e o f t h a t t " F o r p~ tda b se e 14, 2 , 19 ; 34 a n d 35. T h e ga nd ha r vai s po l i t e ly , bu t e f fec t ive ly expe l l ed . F or pit.r.s6d- co m pa re .RV. 1 , 117 , 7ghr.sdyai t i t p i t .rs .rde durogd pdt im, j~ryantyd agvinav adat tam " a l s o t oGho.s~t59 w h o l iv e d ( u n m a r r i e d ) a t h o m e w i t h h e r f a t h e r ( p a re n ts ) , y eA ~ v in s g a v e a h u s b a n d , w h e n s h e b e c a m e o l d " . T h e v e r b a l a d je c ti v ec a n i n t h is c o n t e x t n e i t h e r m e a n " a n o i n t e d , d e c o r a t e d " ( M o n i e r - W i l l ia m s )n o r " i n s e r t e d " ( W h i t n e y - L a n m a n ) . T h e n o u n n ya h g a - ( f r o m ni-a~j- " t ob e s m e a r , d i p i n , e t c . " ) d e n o t e s a " r e s i d u e " o r " r e s i d u u m " : T B . 3 , 7 , 6 ,20 y6 nya~ g6 ava~Lsyate rrk.sas~m, bh~gadh~yam dpas t r t pr rv ah at~ d i t rO:3, 2, 10, 2 atho pa pm an a eva bhrat.rvyasya nyahgam, chinat ti .

J U B . 1, 45, 5 (---- 1, 14, 4, 5) n ya h g a a s s u m e s t h e s e n s e o f " t r a c e " :neha ka~cana pa pm a nyahga .h par i~ek .syate " n o e v i l w h a t e v e r , ( n o t a )t race , w i l l be l e f t he re " ; s imi la r ly 2 , 12, 1 an d 2 (2 , 4 , 3 , 1 an d 2) ; 3 ,37 , 3 (3, 6 , 9 , 7 ). Th e sam e sense ( " r es id uu m , res t " ) is expres se d byn y a k t a - in K~t.h. 8, 2 (1, p. 85, 7 and 10) ya d eva s ya t a t r a n ya k t a m , t a tta issam, bharat i ; sim ila rly 18, 19 (1, p. 279 , 16); 19, 1 (iI , p . 1, 11) a t h o y a devasyatra nyaktam, tasyavaruddhyai ; 25, 6 (II , p. 111, 1) ya d eva s ya t r agli.st.am, ya n nyak tam, ta d e tai s sam. bh ar ati; 36, 7 ( I I I , p . 75, 7) y a d e v avarun, ag.rhftam, ten a varun,am. niravadayate ' tho yad evatra varun,a s yanyakta .m tasy a nirav at tya anapek.saman, a ay ant i . S i m i l a r l y , M S . 1, 10,13 (I, p. 153, 14) y a d evatra varun, asy a nyaktam, tasyai .sa nirava t t ih; 3 , 2 , 566 w .D . W hitney, A Sanskri t grammar5 (Le ipzig , 1924), w555 c; 904 b; 1068 a.~ For yadd with the imp erfect see B. D elbriiek, Altindische Sy nta x (H alle a. S.,1888), p. 590.58 The Du tch overgeschoten ("superfluous") applied to wom en who have remainedunm arried would be a mo re exact rendering of the text, if m y interpretation is right.50 Cf. BV. 10, 39 and 40 .


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NOTES O N ATHARVAVEDA-SA .MHIT~. BOOK 14 13(III , p. 23, 2); 3, 8, 5 ( I I I , p. 10 1, 5) . See a lso TB. 1 , 1 , 3 , 4 yad dkhu-kafi .sa.m sambh dro bhavati , ya d evdsya tatra nyakta.m tad evdvarundhe;ibid. 9; 1, 2, 1, 2; 5; 9 ya thd dar?ram, bhftte.su ny ak tam ; 2, 5, 1, 3 cak.surdevand.m jyo t i r am.rte nyak tam . The suppos i t i on s e e ms to be wa r r a n t e dt h a t t h e w o r d i s u s e d h e r e m e t a p h o r i c a l l y t o d e n o t e a w o m a n w h o h a sr e ma ine d unma r r i e d .

14, 2, 34 apsar6sa.h sadhamdda.m m ada nti havirdhdnam antard s~rya.mca t tds te jani tra m abh i td .h p6reh i n6m as te gandharvart~nd k.r~tomi " t h eAp sarases reve l toge th e r be tw een the shed on the sac ri ficial p lace andthe sun ; t he y a r e t hy ( " p r oc r e a t ive ma t t e r " , o r r a the r ) i n s t r ume n t o fp r o c r e a t i o n ; g o a w a y t o t h e m ; I p a y h o m a g e t o t h e e, O g a n d h a r v a , a tt he t ime " .

The f i rs t line i s ident ica l w i th A V. 7 , 109 , 3 I , w here these n ym phsa r e i nvo ke d to " un i t e h is ha nds w i th ghe e " a nd to m a ke the r iva l ga m ble rsubjec t to h im, s t . 5 express ing the wish to reve l toge the r wi th the gan-dha r va s . I t i s no doub t t o i nd ic a t e t he sphe r e o f a c tion a n d in fluenc e o fthese "w ives o f the g od s" (A V. 6 , 11 8 , 3), wh o ac cord ing to the Mah~tbhfi -r a t a l i ve a nd wa nde r a bou t i n he a ve n a nd a i r , i n moun ta in s , f o r e s t s a ndrive rs (see e.g. 1, 208, 14; 5, 119, 5; 6, 6 2, 25; 8, 64, 1 crit. ed. 6~ fro mwh ich p laces the y w ere expec ted to ex tend , a s "d iv in it~t d i bu on augu r io '~1 ,the i r sy m pa th y and k indness to h um an be ings (cf . A V. 7 , 109 , 3 and 14,2 , 9 " l e t t he ga ndha r va s a nd the he a ve n ly a psa r a se s who s t a nd uponthe se f o r e s t t r ee s be k ind to t h i s b r ide " ) . The w o r d j a n i t r a m has a s imilarsense in V S . 19, 84 p6y asd dukr6m am.~tam, jani tr am . . . janaya nta " b ym e a ns o f mi lk t he y ge ne ra t e d b r igh t imm or ta l p r oc r e a t ive m a t t e r "( wh ic h m a y be a me a ns o f ge ne ra t ing ) . F o r t he a psa r a se s a s t he w ivesof the gan dha rvas see A V. 4 , 37 , 12 jdy d id vo apsart iso g6ndharvd.h p6ta yoy a y 6 m and 14, 2 , 35 where the gan dh arva Vigv~tvasu i s r eque s ted to goa w a y to h i s w ive s , t he a psa r ase s . The p a da t e x t gives gandharvartunaa s a u n it y ; I a m h o w e v e r u n a b l e t o u n d e r s t a n d W h i t n e y - L a n m a n ' si n t er p r et a ti o n " h o m a g e I p a y th e e w i t h t h e G a n d h a r v a - s e a s o n " . C o n -s ide ring ga ndha r v a to be a voc a t ive , I wo u ld t r a ns la t e r tund "a t the r i tua l lyr ig h t p o i n t o f t i m e " . F o r .rtuna in th is sense ( " f ixed t ime , e sp . t imeappoin ted for any ac t ion such as sac r i f ices , r egula r worsh ip e tc . " ) seee.g..RV. 1, 15, 1; 2, 37, 6.

14, 2 , 35: the phrase bhdmdya c6ksu.se was t r ans la ted " to h is te r r ib lee y e " ( W h i t n e y -L a n m a n ) . H o w e v e r , bhama- i s a subs tan t ive meaning60 S e e a l s o G . B o r s a n i , Contributo allo studio sulla concezione e sullo sviluppo storicodell' apsaras (Mi l a no , 1938) , p . 64 ; e l . a l so p . 79 .61 Borsa n i , o.c., p . 66 f .


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14 J. GONDA" p a s s i o n , w r a t h , a n g e r " . I t s e e m s t h e r e f o r e p r e f e r a b l e t o re g a r d b o t hn o u n s a s c o n s t i t u t i n g a h e n d i a d y s . 6~ T h e u s u a l e x p r e s s i o n f o r t h e " e v i le y e " is , a s a l r e a d y o b s e r v e d , ghorat.n cak.su.h, cf. al so A V. 4, 9, 6 durhdrda~cdk.su.so gh ord t t(tsmdn na.h p~ hy a~jana. A s i s w e l l k n o w n o n e c o u l ds t r i k e o n e ' s e n e m y w i t h t h e e v i l e y e : T X . 4 , 3 8 ; A p S s . 1 5, 1 9, 8 . - F o r t h e" m e a n i n g " o f b r a h m a n i n th is s ta n z a (brc~hman. te nc~ma.h) t h e s a m ep a s s a g e m a y b e q u o t e d : brahman, a tva ~apdmi " m i t d e m h e i l i g e n W o r t e( o d e r : " m i t d ea n Z a u b e r w o r t e " ) v e r fi u c h e i ch d i c h ; m i t d e m F l u c h e d e sh e i li g e n W o r t e s v e r f lu c h e i c h d i c h " ( C a la n d 6 3) : th u s " h o m a g e ( b e ) t ot h e e w i t h th e ( f u n d a m e n t a l ) p o w e r in h e r e n t i n m y f o r m u l a s " r a t h e r t h a n" . . . w i t h w o r s h i p " ( W h i t n e y - L a n m a n ) . L i k e a ll f o r m s o f " r e v e r e n t i a ls a l u t a t i o n " b r a h m a n w a s c o n s i d e r e d a vardhanam, i . e . s o m e t h i n g t h a ts t r e n g t h e n s , c a u s e s t o i n c r e a s e o r g r a n t s p r o s p e r i t y . ~ T h a t nama.h" h o m a g e " i s i n t r i n s i c a l l y p o w e r f u l a n d w a s s u p p o s e d t o m a k e t h e g o d ss u b j ec t t o t h e m a n w h o p r o n o u n c e s i t a p p e a r s w i th a l l c l ea r n es s d e s ir a b lef r o m .RV. 6 , 51 , 8 .

14, 2, 37: sd .m p i ta rd v / t v i y e s .r je tham c a n h a r d l y m e a n " u n i t e , O y e( t w o ) p a r e n t s , t h e ( t w o ) t h i n g s t h a t a r e s e a s o n a b l e " i . e . " ( p r o b a b l y ) t h er e s p e c ti v e c o n t r i b u t i o n s o f t h e t w o to t h e e m b r y o " ( W h i t n e y - L a n m a n ) .N o r h a s t h e t r a n s l a t i o n p r o p o s e d i n M o n i e r - W i l l i a m s ' D i c t i o n a r y ( 2 2 4 )m u c h t o r e c o m m e n d i t: " O w o m a n ( a c ce n t !) 65 d u r i n g t h e t i m e f a v o u r a b l ef o r p r o c r e a t i o n " . A l t h o u g h t h e p a d a t e x t r e g a r d s t h e w o r d .rtviye a sd u a l , i t m a y b e a lo c a t iv e : " a t t h e t im e a f t e r t h e m o n t h l y c o u r s e s " ,w h i c h - a s i s w e l l k n o w n - , i s e s p e c i a ll y f a v o u r a b l e f o r c o n c e p t i o n .Cf. TS. 2, 5, 1, 5 f tv iydt prajdm, v indamahai " ( t h e w o m e n s a i d : . . . ) l e tu s o b t a i n o f f s p r i n g f r o m t h e p e r i o d a f t e r th e m e n s e s , ( le t u s e n j o yi n t e r c o u r s e a t w il l u p t o d e l i v e r y ) " . T h e r e a d i n g y6 sev a d.r.st.vd p d ti mr'tviyaya h a n d e d d o w n , i n A V . 1 2 , 3 , 2 9 , b y a l l t h e a u t h o r i t i e s a n d e x -p l a in e d b y S h a n k a r P ~ n d u r a n g P a n d i f f 6 a s mai thunaya d o e s n o t s e e mt o n e e d e m e n d i n g (r.'tviya y d R o t h - W h i t n e y , a n d tr a n s l a te d , b y W h i t n e y -62 Fo r Vedic instances of this "figure" - a device by which an idea ordinarily expressedby a noun and an attributive adjective or epithet is conveyed by two coordinatednouns - see Epithets in the R gveda ('s-Gravenh age, 1959), p. 245f.6s W . Caland , Das ~rautas~ttra des ~ pastam ba, II (A msterdam, 1924), p. 463.64 Noteson brahman, p. 40.~ A .A . Macdonell , Vedie gramma r (Strassburg, 1910), w 109 b.e6 Atharvaveda w ith the com men tary o f S~ya.ndedrya (Bom bay, 1895-98), III , p. 231:"the construction with y~ .rtviyd s~ yos.eva (resulting from Whitney-Lanman's con-jecture) though no t incorrect appears un-Vedic, and is opposed to all mss. and reciters,and further, is not necessary. In all passages wh ich hav e yet been found rtviya- m aycorrectly be interpreted as equivalent to 'maithuna-'. See AV. 14, 2, 37 ; R .V. 10,183, 2."


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NOTES ON ATHARVAVEDA-SAMHITA BOOK 14 15L a n m a n " l ik e a w o m a n t h a t i s i n h e r s e a so n " ) , i f i t m a y b e r e g a r d e d a s ac a s e o f th e r a r e " t i m e - d e n o t i n g d a t i v e ' '6 7 w h i c h e x p r e s s es a t im e t o c o m ew h e n a li m i t o f so m e t h i n g t o b e d o n e i s i n t i m a t e d : K a l id o M a L 5 " ( Ih a v e s e t a t li b e r t y y o u r h o r s e ) t h a t i t m u s t b e b r o u g h t b a c k a f t er a y e a r( i . e . n o t g o i n g b e y o n d t h a t t i m e ) " : vatsaraya nivar taniya.h . T h e n t h et r a n s l a t i o n w o u l d r u n a s f o l l o w s : " l ik e a w o m a n w h o h a s se e n h e r h u s b a n du n i t e y o u r s e l v e s, O w a t e r s , w i t h t h e s e r ic e - g r a in s ' h a v i n g in v i e w t h er i g h t p e r i o d '6 s i .e . s o t h a t t h e u n i o n w i ll n o t t a k e p l a c e a f t e r t h a t p e r i o d " .N o o t h e r V e d i c in s t an c e s o f t h i s u se o f t h e d a t iv e a r e h o w e v e r k n o w n t om e .

14 , 2 , 38 c : y d n a u r ~ u ~ a t i v i g rd y a t i " w h o s h a ll w il li n g ly p a r t h e r t h i g h sf o r u s " . I n d t h e o p t a t i v e p r a h a r e m a i s n o t " m a y i n s e rt " , b u t " w i s h t o . . . .s h o u l d l i k e t o . . . " .

1 4, 2 , 4 2 . F r o m 1 4, 1, 9 i t a p p e a r s t h a t vadhfty~- m e a n s t h e " b r i d e -g r o o m " ; W h i t n e y - L a n m a n ' s " b r i d e - se e k e r " is u n c le a r. F o r t h e f o rc e o ft h e s uf fi x - y ~ - c o m p a r e A V . y a ~ a s y ~ - " s e e k i n g r e n o w n " ; m.rgayu-" h u n t i n g g a m e , h u n t s m a n " . T h e g o d s I n d r a a n d B r h a s p a ti a r e r e q ue s te dt o g i v e t h e c l o t h e s to t h e p r i e st w h o , b e i n g " a t t e n t i v e a n d e x p e r i e n c e d "( c i k i t ~ ' e , s t. 4 1 ) , i s a b l e t o n e u t r a l i z e t h e p o w e r i n h e r e n t i n t h e m . T h ev e r b dattam. " t h e y g i v e " i n p ~ d a a m u s t l i k e w i s e r e f e r t o t h e s e t w o g o d s .T r a n s i t i o n s f r o m t h e n a r r a t i v e s ty l e t o d i r e c t s p e e c h o r v i c e v e r s a a r en o t u n c o m m o n i n th e V e d i c m a n t r a l i t e ra tu r e . 6g

1 4 , 2 , 4 7 yd r t~ c id abhigr isa .h pu rd ja t r f ibh ya gtt(da.h I sdm. dh ata sa .mdhi .mm agh dv~ purf ~vdsur n l .s kar td v i hr u t a ~ p~na .h . T h i s s t a n z a w h i c h o c c u r sV a i t . 1 2, 7 a s a n e x p i a t i o n w h e n a n y t h i n g i s b r o k e n d u r i n g t h e s a cr if ic e ,K a u L 5 7, 7 w h e n a s t u d e n t ' s s t a f f is b r o k e n , a n d 7 7 , 7 w h e n a n y t h i n g o nt h e b r i d a l c a r n e e d s m e n d i n g , P B . 9 , 1 0 , 1 w h e n t h e rnahavira ( t h e p o tu s e d a t t h e p r a v a r g y a c e r e m o n y ) b r e a k s , 7o s h o u l d i n m y o p i n i o n b e t r a n s -l a t e d a s f o ll o w s 71 : " H e w h o w i t h o u t c l a m p i n g , f o r e s t a ll i n g t h e f r a c t u r i n go f t h e c o l l a r b o n e p u t s i n a s ti tc h ( o r : h e a l s t h e w o u n d ) , h e , th e b e n e v o l e n t ,t h e o n e o f m u c h g o o d , w i ll c e r t a i n l y r e s t o r e w h a t is d i s l o c a t e d " . T h e r ei s n o n e e d t o t r a n s l a t e abhi~r~sa.h b y " c l a m p " o r " V e r b a n d " . 72 - F o r67 See J. S. Speyer, Sanskri t Syntax (Leiden, 1886), p. 159, w216 IV b .68 F or a n explication o f this dative see m y pap er on the Vedic dative, in Lingua,11 (1962), p. 147.69 F or examples see H. Oldenberg, g~gveda, Textkritische und exegetische Noten,II (BeNin, 1912), p. 379 s.v. "We chsel in der Rieh tung der Rede, besonders Wechselvo n 2. mad 3. Person ".70 Fo r other occurrences see W hitney-L anm an, o.c., p. 762f.71 Fo r Geldner 's t ransla t ion see De r R igveda iibersetzt, I I , p . 278.78 For .rte and abl. "used as an infinitive" see B. Delbrtick, Alt indische Syntax(Halle a. S., 1888 ), p. 418.


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16 J. GONDA

p u r d i n t h e s en s e o f " a n t i c i p a t i n g , f o r e s t a l l i n g " a n d h e n c e " g u a r d i n ga g a i n s t , p r e v e n t i n g , a v e r t i n g 'v 3 o n e m i g h t c o m p a re . R V . 1 , 7 1 ; 1 0ndbho ndt r ftpdm, jar im d m ind t i pu rd tdsyd abh / ias t er ddh ih i " o l d a g ed e t r a c ts f r o m t h e o u t w a r d a p p e a r a n c e l ik e a c l o u d ( w h i c h c h a n g e s i t sa p p e a r a n c e ) ; d o t h o u t u r n t h y m i n d t o w a r d s ( u s) fo r e s ta l li n g t h a tb l a m e " r a t h e r t h a n , w i t h G e l d n e r , " D a s A l t e r ve r~ in d er t d a s A u s s e h e nw i e di e W o l k e ( i h r A u s s e h e n ~ n d e r t ). B e v o r s o l c h e r V o r w u r f 74 ( e r h o b e nw i rd ) , g e d e n k e (u n s e r ) ! " ; 1 0 , 3 9 , 6 purd tdsy~ abh i ias t er dva sp .r tam" p r e s e r v e ( m e ) f r o m t h a t b l a m e " . - F o r j a t r u - " c o l l a r b o n e " i n t h e p l u r a lc o m p a r e Vardh . BS . 67 (68) , 30 vi .samair vis.amo jat ru bh ir arthavihfno'sthisa.mdhiparin.a d d h a i .h . . . " a w r e t c h is m a r k e d b y u n e q u a l c o l l a r - b o n e s ;a p e r s o n d e p r i v e d o f g o o d s b y s u c h t h a t a r e b e s et w i t h t h e j o i n t s o f t h eb o n e s " . T h e w o r d f o r " l u n g s " , k l o m a n - i s l i k e w i s e u s e d i n t h e p l u r a l :see e .g . V d j S . 2 5 , 8. T h e s e ns e o f t h e t e x t m a y t h e r e f o r e b e : " l e s t t h e yb r e a k t h e i r c o l l ar b o n e s " . A s f a r a s I k n o w , t h e m e a n i n g " n e c k r o p e s "t e n t a ti v e l y a s s u m e d b y W h i t n e y - L a n m a n a n d C a l a n d 75 d o e s n o t o c c u re l s ew h e r e , s o t h a t , t a k e n b y i t se lf , t h e s t a n z a d o e s n o t s e e m t o a p p l y t ol if el es s o b j e c ts . T h e m e t a p h o r i c a l u s e o f n a m e s o f p a r t s o f t h e h u m a nb o d y is o n t h e o t h e r h a n d a f r e q u e n t p h e n o m e n o n . - Ni.skarta m a y b ec o n s i d e r e d a " p e r i p h r a s t i c f u t u r e " .

14, 2 , 48: d p d s m d t t d m a u cch a t u " l e t d a r k n e s s ( , g o i n g a w a y ) f r o m u sp a s s i n t o d a y b r e a k " . C f . . R V . 5 , 3 0 , 1 4 a~tchat sd rdtrL

14 , 2 , 49 : The upavdsana- i s a " s h i r t " o r ' w a i s t - c l o t h " r a t h e r t h a n a n" o u t e r g a r m e n t " : c f. t h e a p p l i c a t io n o f t h e s t a n z a in Kaug . 7 9 , 2 3 ( i m m e -d i a t e l y a f t e r s t. 4 8 w h i c h i s u s e d t o a c c o m p a n y t h e f a s t e n i n g o f th e b r i d e ' sg a r m e n t - a f t e r t h e d e f l o r a t i o n - t o a t r u n k o r st a k e ).

A V . 14, 2, 50 yd me pr i y d tam a tan~ .h sd m e b ibh~ya vdsasa.h I t dsydgretvdm. vana spate n~vim, k.rn.u.sva m d vaydm, r i.sd m a. " M y d e a r e s t s e l f7s isa f r a id o f t h e g a r m e n t ; d o t h o u , O l o r d o f t h e f o r e st , m a k e o f i t f o r t h y s e l fa n ' a p r o n ' i n f r o n t ; l et u s n o t s u f f er h a r m " .

A nivi- i s a p ie c e o f c l o t h w r a p p e d r o u n d t h e w a i st , t h a t i s - a f t e r ad e s c r i p t i o n a p p l y i n g t o a l a t e r p e r i o d - t o s a y , it is th e c e n t r a l k n o t o f ap r o t r u d i n g n a t u r e w h i c h c o m e s i n t o b e i n g w h e n t h e f r o n t p l e at s o f ad h o t i -l i k e g a r m e n t a r e b u n c h e d u p a n d h e l d i n p o s i t io n b y t h e i r u p p e r

78 See also Stud ia Indologica, Festschrift-W. Kirfel (Bon n, 1955), p. 112.74 "D er V orwurf n/imlich, dasz das Alter uns und u nsere Freundschaft ver/inderthabe" (Geldner, o.c., I s, p. 94).7s W . Calan d, Pa~cavi.mAa-Brdhma.na Calcu tta, 1 931), p. 227.7s Fo r the emphatic force of ya- see "Th e original character of the Indo-E uropeanrelative pronoun io-" , in Lingua, 4 (Am sterdam, 1954), p. lff .


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NOTES ON ATHARVAVEDA-SAM. IT#_ BO OK 14 17e n d s b e i n g t u c k e d i n t o t h e w r a p p i n g o f th e g a r m e n t a t t h e n a v e l . 77S u c h a d r es s m i g h t b e w o r n f o r r e as o n s o f d e c e n c y a n d i n o r d e r t o p r o t e c tt h e p r i v a t e p a r t s a g a i n s t e v il p o w e r s a n d i n fl u e nc e s . T h e t re e - w h i c his w r a p p e d w i t h th e g a r m e n t b y t h e p e r s o n w h o h a s it i n c h a r g e ( K a u d .7 9, 24 ) - is t h o u g h t t o b e a b le t o t r a n s f o r m t h e d a n g e r o u s g a r m e n t i n t oa p r o t e c t i v e n iv i - . 78 H e n c e a l s o s t. 51 - a c c o r d i n g t o K a u g . 7 9 , 2 6 -p r o n o u n c e d b y t h e n e w p o s s e s s o r o f t h e a r t ic le o f c l o t h i n g : " m a y i tse n d s , e d g es , t h r e a d s . . . t o u c h u s p l e a s a n t l y " .

A V . 14 , 2 , 52 d ~ k s . a . : k a n y a k ~ v r a t a - , c f . A p a s t G s . 2 , 5 , 2 .A V . 1 4, 2 , 5 9 w a s a t t h e t i m e d i s c u s s e d b y B l o o m f i e l d 79 w h o a r r i v e d

a t th e c o n c l u s i o n t h a t s t. 5 9 - 62 e v i d e n t l y h a d n o c o n n e c t i o n o r i g i n a l lyw i t h m a r r i a g e c e r e m o n i e s , b u t r a t h e r w i t h w a i li n g s fo r th e d e c e a s e d a n dw i t h t h e r e l a t e d n o i s y p r a c t i c e s a t th e f u n e r a l , w h i c h b e i n g r e g a r d e d a si n a u s p i c io u s re q u i r e d e x p ia t io n . A l t h o u g h K a u d i k a ( 7 9 , 3 0 ) q u o t i n go n l y s t. 5 9 d o e s n o t m e n t i o n a d e fi n it e p u r p o s e , b u t u s e s th e t e x t s i m p l ya s a n a c c o m p a n i m e n t o f a l i b a t io n a t th e v e r y e n d o f t h e m a r r i a g e r i te sI w o u l d n o t o b j e c t to c o m b i n i n g i t w i t h t h e s a m e a u t h o r i t y w i t h A V .1 4, 1 , 4 6 ( s ee a b o v e ) . - I w o u l d s u p p o s e t h e k e ~ i n o j d n d . h t o b e t h o s e w h o- a c c o r d i n g t o 1 4, 1, 4 6 - s h e d te a r s . A s m a y a p p e a r f r o m s t . 2 , 6 0 t h e yd i d s o w i t h l o o s e , d i s h e v e l l e d h a i r : y d d i y d m , d u h i t d t d v a v i k e ~ p d r u d a dg.rhd. A s i s w e l l k n o w n l o o s e n e d o r d i s h e v e ll e d h a i r, e s p e c i a l ly o f w o m e n ,w a s w i d e l y b e l ie v e d t o b e r i t u a l ly p o t e n t , t h a t i s to s a y t o b e e i th e ra p o t r o p a e i c ( o r e l i m i n a t o r y ) o r t o s p r e a d e v il a n d d i s a s te r S ~ c f . e .g . A V .8 , 1, 1 9 ; 1 1 , 2 , 1 1 3 ; 1 2 , 5 , 4 8 ; 1 9 , 3 2 , 2 a n d i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e s e i n d i a nt e x t s : C a e s a r , B . G . 1 , 5 1 m u l i e r e s . . . . q u a e i n p r o e l i u m p r o f i c i s c e n t e sm i l i t e s p a s s i s m a n i b u s f l e n t e s i m p l o r a b a n t , n e s e in s e r v i t u t e m R o m a n i s~7 G .S . Ghurye , Indian costume (Bom bay, 1951) , p . 128.78 See also J. Pley, D e lanae in ant iquorum ri tibus usu (Gieszen, 1911), p. 56ff., 106.Perhaps the th ing mo s t comm only employed in Europe as a r ecep tac le fo r s i cknessand trouble of all sorts is a tree, fever etc. being believed to be tied up to it by meansof threads wo rn by the patient . Fo r examples see J . G. Frazer , The golden bough,abr . ed., I I , Lon don , 1957, p . 71 5. "M an hi ingt einen Leinwandlappen, der mit derkrank en SteUe in Beriihrung geko mm en is t , an den B aum und glaubt, au f diese Weised ie Krankhe i t an den Baum bannen zu k6nnen" (A . He l lwig , Verbreehen u nd A ber-glaube, Leipzig, 1908, p. 58).79 M . Bloom field, in Am er . dourn , o f Ph il ., 11, p . 336ff . ("Women as mourners inthe Atharv a-V eda", o n s t. 59-62). I t m ight be remembered that L udw ig t ransla tedthese s tanzas w ithout any com m ent as pa r t o f the wedding text (Ludwig, D e r R i g - V e da ,I I I , p . 475) and that Weber regarded them as connected with expiatory performancesin the house o f the fa the r o f the b r ide (A . Weber, Ind. Studien, V, p. 214).80 Cf. e.g. M eyer, Trilogie, I, p . 171 ; Handwtb. d. deutsch. Abergl. , VI, 881ff . C om parea l so W . Koppers , Die Bh i l in Zentralindien (Wien, 1948) , p . 292: "A ls/ iussere K enn-zeichen einer Hexe gelten, dass sic ihr Haar lose herabhi~ngend tr/igt und dass sien a c k t b ad e n g e h t . . . " .


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18 J. GONDAt r a d e r e n t ; 7 , 48 m a t r e s f a m i l i a e . . . s u o s o b t e s t a r i e t m o r e g al l ic o p a s s u mc a p i l l u m o s t e n t a r e . . . c o e p e r u n t ; Livius , 1 , 13 s a b i n a e m u l i e r e s . . . c r i n i b u sp a s s i s s c i s s a q u e v e s t e . . . a u s a e s e i n t e r t e l a v o l a n t i a i n f e r r e ; V e r g . A e n . 1 ,4 8 0 a d t e m p l u m . . . p a l l a d i s i b a n t [ c r i n i b u s i li a d e s p a s s i s . .. 8 1 I n a n c i e n tI n d i a , t h e r e la t iv e s w h o w e r e i n c h a r g e o f t h e c r e m a t i o n h a d t o w e a r t h e i rs a c r e d c o r d s o v e r t h e r i g h t s h o u l d e r , t o l o o s e n th e i r h a i r a n d t o s p r i n k l ed u s t o v e r i t ( m u k t a g i k h & h , k e A a n p r a k i r y a ) . 82 T h e s a m e c u s t o m o b t a in e di n p e r f o r m i n g th e f u n e r a l r it e s f o r a n A r y a n w h o h a d c o m m i t t e d a g r a v ec r i m e ( G a u t a m a S m . r ti 2 0, 5 ). T h e c o m m e n t a t o r K e ~ a v a ( o n K a u s 79, 30)m a y t h e r e f o r e b e r ig h t i n s t a ti n g t h a t s t . 5 9 -6 2 a r e e m p l o y e d t o g e t h e r i na p r a y a ~ c i t t a .

B l o o m f i e l d ss d i d n o t e x c l u d e t h e p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t a p r a c t i c e s i m i l a r t ot h e fu n e r a l d an c e m a y h a v e b e e n a d o p t e d b y th e A t h a r v a v e d i n s a l o n gw i t h th e v e r se s o n th e o c c a s i o n o f t h e b r i d e ' s d e p a r t u r e . I f o r o n e w o u l dr a t h e r a s s u m e t h e d a n c i n g m e n t i o n e d i n t h e t e x t t o h a v e b e e n p a r t o ft h e c e re m o n i e s a n d p e r f o r m a n c e s o f t he w e d di ng . C o m p a r e S 6 h k h G s .1 , 11 , 5 w h e r e , i n a d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e i nd ra n, i k a r m a n , i . e . - t h e f o r m a lb a t h i n g a n d d r e ss i n g o f t h e b r i d e b e f o r e s h e i s t a k e n t o h e r n e w h o m e s4 -f o u r o r e i g h t w o m e n , w h o a r e n o t w i d o w s a n d a r e t o b e r e g a l e d w i t hf o o d , a r e s a id t o e x e c u t e in t h e h o u s e o f h e r f a t h e r a f o u r f o l d d a n c e :c a ta s r o '. st .a u v a v id h a v ~ .h . . . t a r p a y i t v E t c a tu r ~ n a r ta n a .m k u r y u .h . D a n c e sa r e, i n v a r i o u s p a r t s o f th e w o r l d , e x e c u t e d f o r in s t a n c e t o " m a k e r a i n " ,t o p r o m o t e t h e f e r ti l it y o f t h e s o il , to " p l e a s e " t h e g e n i i o f v e g e t a t i o n ,t o w a r d o f f o r c h a s e a w a y d e m o n s e t c . et c. s5 T h e d a n c e i s i n d e e d n o tm e r e l y a n a m u s e m e n t o r a n a e s t h e ti c p u r s u i t ; b e i n g a t t h e s a m e t i m es p o r t a n d c u lt , p l e a s u r e a n d w o r k o f so c i al a n d r e l ig i o u s im p o r t a n c e ,t h e d a n c e m a y a s a c e re m o n i a l p e r f o r m a n c e b e p a r t o f th e s e rv i ce o ft h e g o d s a n d g e n e r a t e p o w e r , s681 See also M. P. Nilsson, Geschichte der griechischen Religion, I (Miinchen, 1941),p. 104.83 W. Caland, Die ahindischen Todten- und Bestattungsgebriiuche (Amsterdam,1896), p. 12; 21; 24; 1 38f. and p. 74; 76. Fo r the same custom in other circumstancessee e.g. Apas t . ~s . 14, 22, lf.88 Bloomfield, Am . J . Ph i l ., 11, p. 341.8~ See A. Hilleb rand t, Ritualliteratur (Strassburg, 1897), p. 64.8~ I refer to M eyer, Trilogie, II I, p. 322; for the religious function of dancing: G . vander Leeuw, Wegen en grenzen, ~(Amsterdam, 1948); the same, Religion in essence andrnamfestation (London, 1938), p. 37 4ff.; F. Heiler, Erscheinungsformen und Wesender Religion (Stuttgart, 1961), p. 24 0ff.36 Fo r dancing in Vedic ritual: A . B. Keith, The religion and philosophy o f the Vedaand Upanishads (Cambridge Mass., 1925), p. 646. Fo r ceremonial dancing in Germ anfolklore see Handwtb. d. deutsch. AbergL, IV, 156; V, 12531".


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NOTES ON ATHARVAVEDA-SAN..IHIT.~BOOK 14 19A l t h o u g h t h e w e e p i n g m e n t i o n e d i n th e t e x t w a s p a r t o f t h e w e d d i n g

c e r e m o n i e s i t is o n t h e o t h e r h a n d e x p r e s sl y s a id t h a t t h o s e w h o w e e p" d o e v i l " : r6d en a kr.nv6nto 'ghdtm. s7 T h i s s t a t e m e n t s e e m s t o b e f o u n d e do n t h e b e l i e f t h a t t e a r s a r e a s o u r c e o f e v i l a n d m i s f o r t u n e . C f . M b h . 7 ,71, 19 B. d o c a t o h i m a h a r a j a a g h a m ( n o t i c e t h i s w o r d w h i c h i s a l s o i nA V. st . 59 an d 60) e v a b h i v a r d h a t e " t h e e v il ( i m p u r i ty ) o f t h e m a n w h om o u r n s ( w a il s) i n c r e a s e s .. . ,, s s T e a r s a r e e v e n b e li e v e d t o b u r n t h ed e c e a s e d : K a L R a g h . 8, 85 svajanadru k i la t isam, ta tam, da ha t i p re ta m , s9C o m p a r e a l s o 1 1 , 1 , 3 6 c r . e d . v i sp h u l ih g a i v a h y e t a n d a h a n t i k il a m a n a v a n" l i k e s p a r k s o f fi re t h e y b u r n t h o s e ~~ m e n " a n d 1 , 17 3, 1 5 c r. e d . w h e r et h e h o t t e a r s o f a lo v i n g w if e t u r n e d t o a m i g h t y f ir e t h a t b u r n s t h e l a n du p : t a s y a .h k r o d h a b h i b h f a a y a y a d a d ru n y a p a t a d b h u v i [ s o 'g n ih . s a m a -bha vad d i p t as t am . ca dedam , vya d f paya t . F o o d u p o n w h i c h a t e a r h a sf a l l e n w a s h e l d t o b e n o u r i s h m e n t f o r g h o s t s ( M a n u 3 , 2 3 0 ; c f . M b h . 9,4 2, 22 ), a n d t h e d e c e a s e d f o r w h o m t e a r s a r e s h e d h a v e t o s w a l l o w th e mt o g e th e r w i t h th e m u c u s o f t h e m o u r n e r s ( Y a j g a v a l k y a 3, 11) . Tearsi n d e e d , b e l o n g , t o g e t h e r w i t h s w e a t , n a i l - p a r i n g s e t c . , t o t h e " u n c l e a n " ,i .e . r it u a ll y b a s e p r o d u c t s o f th e h u m a n b o d y , w h i c h l e a v e o n e a c c e s si b let o t h e e v i l p o w e r s ( M a n u 5, 135: Vis..nuSm.rti 22 , 81 e t c . ) . T he y a re ca l l ed" c a l a m i t o u s , p e r n i c i o u s " (adiva- ) a n d c o n s i d e r e d a n e v il o m e n , 91 a c o n -c e p t i o n w h i c h p r o b a b l y is a t t h e r o o t o f t h e c u s t o m o f c o v e r in g th ef a c e w h e n w e e p i n g , w h i c h i s a l s o d o n e i n t h e M a h ~ t b h a r a t a ( 9 , 6 2 , 6 4m u kham , pra ccha dya vasasa ] pu tradokabh isam , t ap t a gandh f~r~ praru rodah a ; 1 1, 15 , 1 0). T h e s o r r o w t o w h i c h m e n g i v e t h e m s e l v e s u p a l l t o om u c h a r o u s e s b u r n i n g g r i e f ( s a m . t @ a y a t i ) i n t h o s e f o r w h o m t e a r s a r es h e d : M b h . 14 , 2 , 2 , so r row (~oka-) i t s e lf b e i n g c o n s i d e r e d u n c l e a n n e s s(adauca-) . H e n c e n o d o u b t a l s o A V . 1 4, 2 , 6 2 " i f i n t h y p r o g e n y , c a t t l e ,h o u s e , a n y e v i l h a s s e t t le d ( a g h 6 m ) d o n e b y t h e e v i l -d o e r s (aghakr'dbhi .h) ,f r o m t h a t " s i n " ( enas - ) l et A g n i a n d S a v i t a r r e le a s e t h e e " . T h e w o r da g h a - w h i c h i n t h e . R g v e d a a p p l i e s a s a n a d j e c t i v e t o t h e m a l i g n a n t(du.hddva.h) w o l f (1 , 42 , 2 ), t o a sco rch ing g low (6 , 62 , 8 ; 7 , 104 , 2 ) , t o ane n e m y ( 1, 1 8 9, 5 e t c .) , a n d d e n o t e s , a s a s u b s t a n t i v e , a v a r i e t y o f e v ila Fo r this expression see S. Rodhe, Deliver us rom evi l (Lund , 1946), p. 44. Curiouslyenough, W eber translated rodena by "Gejauchze".8s It is no t relevant to o ur subject tha t this line occurs in a passage which obviouslyis a later addition to the Dro.naparvan: S. K. De, The Dro.naparvan, I (Poona, 1959),p. 264.89 See also H. Ltiders, Philologica indica (G6ttingen, 1940), p. 99 ( = Z D M G , 58,p. 706ff.).90 hy ete in some mss.91 Som e parallels were collected by M eyer, Sexual l i fe in ancient India, p. 420ff.,who quotes Mbh. 3, 28, 18 (?).


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20 J. GONDAw h i c h c a n b e b u r n t o r s h o n e a w a y b y A g n i ( 1 , 9 7 , 1 = A V . 4 , 3 3, 1 ), b er e p e l l e d b y th e l i g h t o f d a w n ( 10 , 35 , 3) o r m a y b e t r a n s f e r r e d t o o t h e rp e o p l e ( 5, 3, 7 ), m a y a p p r o a c h o r a t t a c k a m a n f r o m b e h i n d (2~ 4 1 , 1 1),o r r e a c h h i m i n a u n s p e c i fi e d w a y ( 8 , 1 8, 1 4). I t m a y b e o f i n t e r e s t t on o t e a l s o t h a t 2 , 2 9 , 5 pd~a- " b o n d " a n d a g h a - o c c u r a s p a r a l l e l s : " f a ra w a y m u s t b e y o u r b o n d s , O g o d s , f a r a w a y th e ' e v i l s ' " , a n d 7 , 8 3, 5aghdny ary6 vanfi .s~m 6rataya.h " d i e U b e l t a t e n d e s N e b e n b u h l e r s , d i eM i s s g u n s t d e r N e i d e r " ( G e l d n e r ) a re m e n t i o n e d i n t h e s a m e b r e a t h ; i nA V . 1 0, 1 , 5 i t c o m b i n e s w i t h gap6tha.h " c u r s e " . I n A V . 8 , 6 , 26 i t be longsw i t h c h i l d l e ss n e s s a n d s t il l -b i r th t o t h o s e m a n i f e s t a t i o n s o f ev i l a n dm i s f o r t u n e w h i c h m a y b e a t t a c h e d t o a n e n e m y ; f r o m 12 , 3 , 14 w e l ea r nt h a t a m a r r i e d c o u p l e m a y " f a l l i n t o agha- p r o c e e d i n g f r o m s o n s " .- I t is n e e d le s s t o r e m a r k t h a t I d o n o t a g r e e w i t h W e b e r a n d Z i m m e f f 2 sof a r a s t h e y r e g a r d s t . 5 9 a n d 6 1 a s prayagc i t ta v e r s e s f o r " b o i s t e r o u sm e r r i m e n t a t t h e w e d d i n g " . S t. 6 0 m a y in d e e d b e v i e w e d a s a f o r m u l au t t e r e d i n e x p i a t i o n o f t h e w a i l i n g o f t h e b r i d e a s s h e l e a v e s t h e p a t e r n a lh o u s e .

A V . 1 4, 2 , 6 3 " s c a t t e r i n g s h r i v e l l e d g r a i n s " : a r i tu a l a c t i n t e n d e d t od r i v e a w a y e v i l a n d t o b r i n g l u c k . 93

A V . 1 4, 2 , 6 8. A s o b s e r v e d b y W h i t n e y - L a n m a n t h e m a j o r i t y o f th em a n u s c r i p t s r e a d k6n. .akas " t h o r n " i n s t e a d o f k 6 ~ k a t a s i n p ~ d a a .A t h o r n y b r a n c h , o r a s i m i l ar o b je c t w h i c h c o u l d m e t a p h o r i c a l l y b e a rt h is n a m e m a y b e s u p p o s e d t o h a v e s e r v ed a s a " p r i m i t i v e " h a i r - c o m b . 94

A V . 1 4, 2 , 7 0 : s e e t h e c o m m e n t o n s t . 74 . 95A V . 1 4 , 2 , 7 1 , t o b e u s e d d u r i n g t h e c o n s u m m a t i o n (Kaug. 79, 10),

i n i t s f i rs t w o r d s 6 m o ' h 6 m a s m i s d tv 6 m r e m in d s u s o f t he R o m a n f o r m u l aubi tu Gaius , ib i ego Gaia a n d t h e G e r m a n w o i c h M a n n b i n , d a b i s t d uF r a u , u n d w o d u F r a u b i s t , d a b in i c h M a n n . A s t o t h e f o r m u l a s d m a h 6 masmy .~k tv6m c o m p a r e ~ B . 8 , 1 , 3 , 5 sam a va rca .h pa t io " t h e s a m a n i st h e h u s b a n d o f t h e . re ".99 H . Zimm er, Altindisehes Leben (Be rlin, 1879 ), p. 2881".98 Cf. e.g .W . Crooke, The popular religion and folklore o f Northern India, I (West-minster 1896), p. 239.0, "Ausser d er gew/Shnlichen, aus K nochen, Ho lz oAi. gesehnitzten Fo rm k om m enin Ozeanien, Indonesien, Ostafrika, dem Amazonasgebiet und an einzelnen andemOften K~ mrn e aus di innen, zusammengebundenen H olzst~ibchen vo r" (K. Birket-Smith, Geschichte der Kultur, Ziir ich, 1946, p. 21 9). O n w ooden com bs also M .Ebert, Reallexikon der Vorgesehichte, VI (Berlin, 1926), p. 198 ff.; S. Fuchs, TheGond and Bhumia of Eastern Mandla (London, 1960), p. 55. Fo r "Stabchenk~imm e"in South-East Asia see e.g .G . Busehan, Die V61kerAsiens, Au straliens und der S iidsee-imeIn (Berlin, o.J.), p. 783.95 Cf. also W internitz , o.e., p. 47f.


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NOTES ON ATHAR VAVEDA-S AM.HIT/k B OOK 14 2114, 2, 74 y~dd .m p~rv dgan ra~an~ydm~n~ pra ja - 'm asya i d rdv i~am ceh~

da t t vd [ tdm. vahan tv 6ga tasydnu p6n tham, v i rd .d i y f .m supr a jd d tya ja is .~ t ." W h o h a s c o m e h e r e b ef o re , g ir d li n g h e r s e l f - , l e t t h e m c a r ry h e r a l o n gt h e r o a d t o t h e ( r e g i o n w h i c h h a s ) n o t y e t ( b e e n ) v i s i t e d , a f t e r h a v i n gg i v e n t o t h i s w o m a n h e r e p r o g e n y a n d p r o p e r t y ; t h i s o n e , (a m a n i f e s t a -t i o n o f ) Vir~ t., h a s c o n q u e r e d w i t h g o o d p r o g e n y " .

I c a n n o t a g r e e w i th W h i t n e y - L a n m a n t h a t t h i s s ta n z a, w h i c h i n d e e di s obs c u r e by i t s e l f , i s no t m a de c l e a r by K a u g . 77, 4 (yedam. p f t rve t iten an ya sy am ft .dhay~m, va dhftyasya da~am, catu.spa the dak.sin, air ab hit i.st .hati)f r o m w h i c h i t a p p e a r s t h a t i t w a s t o b e u s e d i f a n o t h e r b r i d a l p r o c e s s io n( cf . s t. a ) m e t t h e c o r t6 g e o f th e b r i d e a n d b r i d e g r o o m f o r w h o m t h es t a n z a s w e r e t o b e r e c it e d a n d t h e r i t u a l a c ts t o b e p e r f o r m e d . T h e t e x tc o n t a i n s a d o w n r i g h t i m p r e c a t i o n w h i c h , h o w e v e r r u d e a n d e v e n i n -c o m p r e h e n s ib l e f r o m t h e p o i n t o f v ie w o f m o d e r n " e d u c a t e d " p e o p le ,m a y t o a c e r t a i n e x t e n t b e c o m p a r e d t o t h e p r e s c r i p t i o n s g i v e n a n d t h ea c t i o n t o b e t a k e n i n c a se a n o t h e r s ac r if ic e r w i s h e d t o c a l l u p o n t h e g o d sat th e sam e t im e. 06 A lre ad y .Rgvedic texts s uc h as 2, 18, 3; 3 , 35, 5; 7 ,32 , 1 ; 8 , 33, 14 ; 66 , 12 spe ak of r iva l ry be tw een sac r if i ce rs - l a t e r t ex t sa l so o f j e a l o u s y o r h o s t i l i ty ( c o m m . o n A i B . 1, 3 , 21) - an d the brf ihm an,asw h i l e re f e r r i ng to m y t h i c a l a nd l e ge nda r y oc c u r r e nc e s - a s a c r if ic e r ha df o r i n s t a nc e i n duc e d I n d r a t o c a r r y o f f h i s r i va l 's s a c r if i ci a l s ubs t a nc e s t oh i m ( P B . 9 , 4 , 1 0) - t e a c h h o w t o t a k e a w a y th e g o d s f r o m o n e ' s r iv a ls( P B . 9 , 4 , 14 ) , o r i f t he s a c ri f ic e r o r t he o f f ic i a ti ng p r i e s ts s ho u l d w i s h t hede a t h o f t he s a c ri fi c e r o r o f t he p r i e s ts o f t he r i va l pa r t y , ho w t o b r i ng t h i se v e n t t o p a s s ( J B . 1, 343; ~ahkh,~s. 13, 5 , 7-12) . T he sac r i f icer w ho isf i rs t c on s e c r a t e d i s how e ve r s t a t e d t o " g r a s p " t he s a c ri fi c e a n d t he de i ti e s," n o m i s f o r t u n e is h is a s t h e r e is o f h i m w h o is n o t c o n s e c r a t e d f ir s t "( A i B . 1, 3, 21) . 97 Th e m ea nin g o f A V . 14 , 2 , 74 m a y t he r e f o r e be : t heo t h e r b r id e " c a n g o h a n g " , p r o v i d e d t h a t s he d o es n o t t h r o u g h h e r u n -w i s h e d f o r p r e s en c e p r e v e n t " t h i s w o m a n " f r o m b e i n g b le s se d w i t h p r o -g e n y a n d p r o p e r t y . T h e e x p r e s si o n a g a t a s y a . . . p a n t h a m seems tom e a n " t h e p a t h t o ( th e r e g i o n ) w h i c h h a s n o t ( y et ) b e e n g o n e t o o r v is i te d " ,i.e . " t h e p a t h o r r e g io n o f d e a t h 'g s r a t h e r t h a n " t h e r o a d o n w h i c h o n eha s no t ( ye t) go ne " , - t he ve r b a l a d j e c t ive g a t a - be i ng e uphe m i s t i c a l l y96 F o r t h i s so -c a l l e d sa.msava- " t h e s i m u l t a n e o u s p e r f o r m a n c e o f ( s o m a - ) s a c r i f i c e s "( w h i c h , i f t h e s a c ri fi ce r s a r e n o t s e p a r a t e d b y a r i v e r o r a m o u n t a i n , w a s h e l d t o b es i n f u l : A ~ v S s . 6 , 6 , 11 ; c om m . on A i B . 1 , 3 , 21 ) i n g e n e r a l s e e A . H i l l e b r a n d t , V ed i s ch eM y t h o l o g i e , ~ I (B re s l a u , 1927) , p . 260 f f . (w i t h r e fe re nc e s t o r i t ua l t e x t s ) .97 Cf . a ls o M S . 2, 1 , 7 ; 2 , 11; TB. 1 , 4 , 6 , 4 .98 C f . a l s o R . R o t h i n t h e P e t r . D i c t . , I , 2 3 ; M o n i e r - W i l l i a m s , A S a n s kr i t -E n g l i s hD i c t i o n a r y , p . 4 . F o r g a t a - see .RV. 7, 58, 3 gat6 nddhv&


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22 J . GONDAu s e d f o r " d e a d " - w h i c h w o u l d a ls o c o m e t o " t h e p a t h o f d e a t h " . I tr e c u r s A V. 1 1, 1 0, 1 6 i n a t e x t in t e n d e d t o c o n q u e r e n e m i e s : " l e t V ~ y ub e n d t h e a r r o w - p o i n t s o f t h e e n e m i e s ; le t I n d r a b r e a k t h e i r a r m s . . . ; l e tt h e m o o n - w h i c h a s i s w e l l k n o w n w a s b e li e v e d t o b e t h e r e s id e n c e o f t h ed e c e a s e d (Kau.sUp. 1, 2 ) 99 - p u t t h e m o n t h e ' t r a c k o f d e a t h ' " .

A s t o ra~anaydman~, t h e m o s t p r o b a b l e m e a n i n g o f th is i s o la t e dp a r t i c ip l e s e e m s t o b e , n o t " g u i d e d b y a r e i n " ( M o n i e r - W i l l ia m s , c f.Petr . D ic t . V I , 2 8 7 ) , b u t " g i r d i n g h e r s e l f " , a ra~ana- b e i n g a l s o a " r o p e ,c o r d , s tr a p , g i r t h , g ir d l e, z o n e (e s p . o f a w o m a n ) " . F r o m A V . 1 4 , 1 , 4 2 ;2 , 7 0 ; K a u L 7 6 , 7 a n d o t h e r t e x t s i t a p p e a r s t h a t t h e b r i d e i s t o b e g i r d e dw i th a y o k e - r o p e " i n o r d e r t o b e c o m e ' i m m o r t a l ' " , o r " t o o b ta i n w e a l tha n d p r o g e n y " . 1~176 o r e o v e r , A V . 1 4, 2, 7 0 d sd sdm.naddh~ sanuhi vdjamd m d m " d o t h o u b e i n g g i r d e d w i n t h i s v f i j a " - c f . a l s o T S . 3 , 5 , 6 , 1 s ddfk.si td sanavo vdjam asme " b e i n g c o n s e c r a t e d d o t h o u w i n v f ij a f o r u s '1~- s h o w s t h a t t h is a c t m i g h t a l s o b e e x e c u t e d i n o r d e r t o w i n t h e g e n e r a t i v ep o w e r m a n i f e s t i n g i t s e lf i n v e g e t a t i o n , i n c a t t le e t c. b y w h i c h n e w li fea n d n e w f o o d is o b t a i n e d . S e e a l s o 1 4, 2 , 7 2 . . . sacev ahi b.rhatd vdjasd taye.A g i r d l e (mekhala- ) w a s a l s o f a s t e n e d t o a p e r s o n w h o w o u l d u n d e r t a k ea c o n s e c r a t i o n w i t h a v i e w to abhicdra- i . e . t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o r a d a p t a t i o no f ri te s f o r m a l e v o l e n t p u r p o s e sl ~ A V . 6 , 1 3 3, w h e r e i t i s a d d r e s s e d a sa " h e r o - s l a y e r " a n d i s e x p e c t e d t o g i v e l e n g t h o f li fe ( st . 5 ), i n t e ll i g e n c ea n d o t h e r d e s i r a b l e q u a l i ti e s ( st . 4 ) t o it s b e a r e r . F r o m Kaug. 4 7 , 1 6w h e r e t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h is t e x t is e x p o u n d e d , i t m o r e o v e r a p p e a r st h a t t h e s t a ff w h i c h w a s u s e d t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e g ir d le w a s c o n s i d e r e da " r i v al - k il l in g v a j r a " , b y w h i c h i t s o w n e r d e s i r e d t o c o n q u e r h is e n e m y(v.rtram). T h e g i r d l e i t s e l f w a s - s e e A V . 6 , 1 3 3 , 3 - i n d e e d l i k e w i s e am e a n s o f b i n d i n g a r i v al a n d o f " i m p e d i n g h is p r o g r e s s " ( c o m m . :anena mekhalabandhanena ~atrum eva niruddhagat im bahnamity ar tha.h)99 Cf. also H . G. Narah ari, eftman (Ad yar, 1941), p. 91ft. and the sam e, in AnnalsBhandarkar Or. R es. lnst., 24 (1943), p. 45ff.10o Th e wife o f the sacrificer is acco rding ly consecrated "w ith a y oke, the sacrificerhimself w ith a girdle for the sake o f forming a pa ir" iTS. 6, 1, 3, 5).101 Applied to the wife of the sacrificer when b eing girded a t the diks6 or consecra-t ion; see W. Caland et V. Henry, L'Agnis.t.oma (Paris, 1906), p. 18.102 F or particulars Caland, Altindisehes Za uberritual (Amsterdam, 190 0), p. 160and 157, n. 1. "D ie Stellung des GiJrtels im Ab erglau ben erklart sich haupts~ichliehaus den mit dem Binden un d L 6sen verknt ipf ten VorsteUungen des Volkes . Da zukom mt , dasz de r G . . . . sowohl yon M~innern a ls auch yon F rauen ge tragen wi rd unddementsprechend bald Zeichen der Kraf t und I terrschaf t , bald Sinnbi ld der Liebeund Keuschheit ist . . . N oc h st~irkere K raft verleihen Zauber-Gttrtel . . . D as Um giirtenst~trkt nich t allein die Kraf t, sond ern verwandelt au eh . . . " (Hand wtb. d. deutsch.Abergl., III , 1210ft., where also o n girdles supposed to m ake invincible o r to destroyrivals etc.).


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N O T E S O N ATHARVAVEDA-SAMHITA BOOK 14 23w h i c h m a y n o t b e w i d e o f t h e m a r k : " a s D e a t h ' s s t u d e n t " ( m . r t y 6 rb r a h m a c a r t ) t he pe r f o r m e r o f t he r i t e de c la r e s h i m s e l f " t o s o l ic i t f r o me x is te n ce a m a n f o r Y a m a " w h o m h e " t ie s w i t h th i s g ir d le b y m e a n s o ft h e p o w e r i n h e r e n t in th e f o r m u l a s , h i s a s c et ic i sm a n d t o i l " . A l t h o u g ht h e a b o v e q u o t a t i o n s m a y s u f fi ce t o e n a b l e u s t o f o r m a n i d e a o f t h ei m p l i c a t i o n s o f A V . 1 4, 2 , 7 4 a , s o m e r e m a r k s m a y b e a d d e d . T h e g i r d le ,S B . 3 , 2 , 1 , 10 s a ys , m us t be w o r n b y t he m a n w ho i s c ons e c r a t e d (dik.sita-)be c a us e i t i s a s ou r c e o f s t r e ng t h (~rj-) b y w h i c h o n e a t t a i n s c o m p l e t i o n( s a m f t p t i ) . I t m a y t h e r e fo r e b e c o n s i d er e d t o " s y m b o l i z e " th e d~k.sa(see e.g. ~B. 3, 4, 3, 2-5; 6, 2, 2, 39; cf. also M a n u 2, 42f . ; 64 , 174 ands i m i l a r t e x t s r e f e r r i ng t o t he V e d a s t ude n t ) . I n t ha t on e g i r d s one s e l fi n th e m i d d l e o n e s e p a r at e s t h e p u r e a n d t h e i m p u r e p a r t s o f t h e b o d y(cf. T S . 6 , 1 , 3 , 4 ) l~ t he f o r m e r be i ng a b ove t h e na ve l , t he l a t t e r w ha ti s be low .

T h e i d e n t i f i c a ti o n o f th e b r i d e w i t h th e i m p o r t a n t ' c o n c e p t ' o f V irftj( " a viraj'" W h i t n e y - L a n m a n , . 9 ) c a n n o t b e d i s c o n n e c t e d f r o m A V . 14,2 , 15 add res s ing the b r i d e p r d t i t i.s t. ha vi rd . d a s i " s t a n d f ir m , v i r ~ j a r t t h o u "( W h i t n e y - L a n m a n ) , t h e w o r d s b e i n g i n t e n d e d t o a c c o m p a n y t h e a c t o fm a k i n g t h e b r i d e s t a n d f i r m a f t e r r i s i n g f r o m t h e c o u c h ( K a u L 76, 33).I n . R V . 1 0, 1 59 (a " T r i u m p h l i e d e in e r F r a u . . . . d i e i h r e n M a n n s ic hu n t e r t a n g e m a c h t u n d d a m i t a l l e N e b e n b u h l e r i n n e n a u s d e m F e l d eg e s c h la g e n h a t "l ~ t h e d a u g h t e r o f t h e w o m a n s p e a k in g i s l ik e w i seca l l ed (a ) viraj- ( s t. 3 ). S ince he r sons

notes on atharvaveda-samhitā book 14

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