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VI, 112. COMMENTARY.
525
not altogether certain, seems better than Grill's to some disease, a conception which leads him to emend the word to iyám (sc. grâhih). Both Ludwig and Grill, moreover, refer gyeshthám to the father,' who, to be sure, is mentioned in st. 2 in a general way, along with the mother and the sons, 'release them all, father, sons, and mother.' This is simply another way of saying, 'release the entire family from the consequences of the sin committed by a single member. The point of the hymn is stated in the first Pada, and their rendering of gyeshthám causes them to miss it1
I do not know whether the selection of Agni as the helping agent is of the general sort, or whether it refers to the legends reported above, in all of which Agni plays a part. In the versions of the Maitr. S. and Tait. Br. Agni helps the gods to free themselves from their pollution, and he is introduced also in the narrative of the Sat. Br. But in general Agni chases away evil demons, protects against poverty, straits, and enmities (RV. IV, 11, 5); especially does he remove the consequences of sin, vy énâmsi sisratho vishvag agne (RV. IV, 12, 5).
c. Grâhi is the attack of disease personified as a female demon. Since the word is derived from the root grah, 'seize,' she is supposed to fetter the sick person (cf. the second stanza), and the medicine man's practices take the turn of freeing him froin them symbolically; see the Kausika above, and cf. RV. X, 161, 1; AV. II, 9, 1.
d. "May all the gods give thee leave,' i.e. may they support thee in thy undertaking, as e.g. Agni is supported by a train of gods when he drives out fever in AV. V, 22, 1.
The entire hemistich, however, may have been secondarily adapted to the present situation : gyeshthám vadhît reminds us of gyeshthaghni, the designation of a certain constellation (VI, 110, 2), and Pâda b repeats formulaically VI, 110, 2 b, which obviously alludes to the constellation mula. Cf. the introduction to that hymn and the note on its second stanza.
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