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576
18 and 19 are catalogued (Kaus. 25, 36, note) in the svastyayanagana ('stanzas productive of welfare') of the Ganamâlâ, Ath. Paris. 32, 11; st. 22 in the first of the two abhayagana, 'stanzas that procure freedom from danger,' Ath. Paris. 32, 12; see Kaus. 16, 8, note. Cf. also Sântikalpa 191; Ath. Paris. 6, 1.
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
The hymn has been rendered by Henry, Les livres VIII et IX de l'Atharva-véda, pp. 14, 50 ff.
Stanza 1.
In the prose literature (e. g. Sat. Br. VII, 4, 1, 33) pratisará is amulet.' Its literal meaning is 'going against, attacking,' and so it is ordinarily to be rendered. Sâyana, 'he that practises sorcery him it attacks.' In II, 11, 2 it is used synonymously with pratyabhikárana. Cf. also the note on IV, 17, 2. The Pet. Lex. and Zimmer, Altindisches Leben, explain the word in a different, it seems to me,
erroneous way.
Stanza 3.
In Pâda c, either ubhé or imé is metrically superfluous; the former, perhaps, is to be thrown out.
Stanza 4.
The term pratîvartá occurs only in this hymn (4 and 16). The Pet. Lex. renders it by 'in sich zurücklaufend ;' Zimmer, l. c., by 'cord;' Henry, 'knot.' Without doubt the word is closely synonymous with pratisará in the sense of assailing.' Sâyana, pratimukham vartayaty anena.
Stanza 9.
For the connection of the name Angiras with unholy (ângirasa abhikârika) practices, see the notes on XI, 4, 16, and X, 1, 6, and the introduction to this volume. For Pâda f, cf. VIII, 7, 15, and note the strained alliteration between navatím and nåvyäh. So also X, 1, 16.
1 Cited erroneously by Sâyana as Nakshatrakalpa.
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