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546
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
Stanza 2. The rendering of the words hirah and dhamánih is necessarily vague : see the note on I, 17, 3, and cf. VI, 90, 2. Ludwig, 'därme,' and 'adern.' Sâyana, very precisely, 'small veins,' and 'thick arteries. That may be the correct philological interpretation of the words, but in that case the stanza must have been originally constructed as a charm to stop flow of blood from the body.
VII, 36-37. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 96. Both stanzas are recited at the 'rites of the fourth day' (katurthîkarma), the performances immediately preceding the consummation of marriage. At Kaus. 79, 2 bride and bridegroom anoint one another while reciting VII, 36; at 79, 7 the bride' envelops the bridegroom in her robe while reciting VII, 37.
Previous renditions by Weber, Indische Studien, V, 248 ; Grill, pp. 55, 179; Henry, Le livre VII de l'Atharva-véda, pp. 13, 67. The Anukramani (VII, 36), mantroktåkshidevatyam; (VII, 37), lingoktadevatyam.
Stanza 1. a, b. The sense is: 'May our eyes with their brightness, our faces with their freshness, inspire us with love for one another!'
Stanza 2. For mánugâta, cf. XIV, 2, 41. The second hemistich is nearly identical with VII, 38, 4 c, d.
VII, 38. COMMENTARY TO PAGE 103. For the practices associated with this hymn, see the introduction to VI, 139. The charm is there undertaken by a woman, here by a man. It has been translated by
Not so the Paddhatis, vastrena s khâdayati tau, i.e. the priest envelops the two. But this is contrary to the context of the stanza.
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