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MANDALA I, HYMN 27.
samsam does not agree with the construction of the later Vedic passages. Can the accusative stand in the ancient language of the Rig-veda in the same connection in which we have found the dative and the locative? So that a-vrask (in the middle or passive) with the accusative would mean to be cut down in the direction towards another being, i. e. being forfeited to that being? In that case the translation of our passage would be: 'May I not, O gods, fall as a victim to the praise (or rather, to the curse) of my better.' If this explanation of the accusative is thought too bold, we should propose to correct the text so as to get a dative or, which would suit the metre better, a locative: magyayasah sámsâya (or sámse) á vrikshi devah.
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