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VI, 139. COMMENTARY.
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seems to be some form of coiffure which has become at this stage of the literature a characteristic ornamentation of women; its primary meaning may have been horn,' but this is by no means rendered certain by Pañk. Br. XIII, 4,3 (upon which Geldner relies), since it may be figurative in that sense.
Stansas 2, 3. The exact meaning of kurtra (Sayana, kesagalam), kuririn (Sâyana, kurîråh kesah tadvantam kuru), and kúmba (Sâyana, ábharanam strînâm) is again uncertain, but they all refer to female head-gear.
VI, 139. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 102. The present charm is apparently addressed to a plant which is, however, not mentioned by name, unless nyastika be a proper noun. The hymn is rubricated, along with VI, 129 and VII, 38, at Kaus. 36, 12 : the person practising the charm digs up a suvarkala-plant", with the ceremonies pertaining to the digging up of plants (cf. Kaus. 33, 9. 16), fastens (its) white blossoms upon his head, and thus enters the village. Neither of the two other hymns (VI, 129 and VII, 38) defines the plant more specifically?: the exactitude of the Satra does not inspire confidence.
The hymn has been rendered by Weber, Indische Studien, V, 247 ; Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, 515.
Stanga 1. For the formulaic numbers see the analogical parallels mentioned by A. Kuhn in Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung, XIII, 133. The &t. dey. nyastika is
· Darila, suvarkalâ prasiddhå trisamdhyâsâdrisî (cf. the introduction to IV, 20); Kesava has sankhapushpi and sûryavelã (cf. sûryavallî); Sâyana, sankhapushpikâ, andropogon aciculatus.'
. Cf. however the epithet mâmpasya, VII, 38, 1, with the description in IV, 20, 1. This again points to the plant trisamdhyâ.
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