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Saham pi Tp
ehii so vi pauttho, B, ehai so upaduttho y; ehijja so pauttho T; kuppajja Ma, Tp; kupijjha Bha; kupejja K anupajja Tp; anigijjha Bha
so pi K
ia Ma, Tp; Bh, R; K, , B,
Y, P; T; S halai Ma
kie vi Ma, Tp; kassa vi Bh, K, V, B, Y, P; T; S manomuhaŋa Ma
piaamanmT Ma.
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214
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May he come from abroad, may I be angry at him, and may he try to please me. (Perhaps) for some (lucky) person this string of wishes with regard to the dearest one is fulfilled.
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The optative ehejja, of which no other instances are known, is peculiar in that it is formed on the future stem ehi- instead of, as is usual, on the present stem e- 'to come' (see Pischel § 529). It should be noted, though, that if the optative had been formed on the stem e-, the verb itself would have become virtually unrecognizable, completely disappearing in the suffix. The context definitely requires an optative. Therefore the future ehii in ehii so vi pauttho, found in Bh,, B and Y (for ehai in Bh and Y, see Berger, 1955: 79, note 6), for the unusual optative ehejja, is almost certainly secondary.
A different problem concerns the spelling ehijja (for ehejja; cf. kuppejja and anunejja). This spelling most likely goes back to the MS of the archetype (see above, p. 172). However, it is not clear why in, for instance, Ma and Tp the -e- in this word was not restored for the i-, as it supposedly was in the other optatives in this Gatha.
For kuppajja in Ma and Tp (for kuppejja) and anumajja in Tp (for anunejja), see 1.
For ii 'thus', see *15.
kassa i is based on R. For the principle underlying the decision to adopt this reading found in R, instead of kassa vi found in the other MSS, see above, p. 163. For other instances of i for vi, see 24 do i (T), 149 jTviasesă i, 255 do i (Bh, R), 304 vamke i (R), 534 mudhahiai (Ma) and 904 do i (T). Te vi in Ma and Tp (Madhavayajvamiśra: kasyaścid dhanyayas; the Chaya in Ma has kasyapi) seems the innovation, The possibility of a reverse change of kTe into kassa is less likely in the present context.
