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HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
Stangas 5, 6. Cf. Prasna Up. II, 10: When thou, O Prana, sprinklest the rain, then are these creatures full of joy ; (they think): “ food shall we have according to wish.”. Prâna here, as elsewhere in this composition, approaches closely to the character of Parganya ; see the hymn, RV. V, 83. For st. 5, cf. st. 17.
Stanza 7. The verse is formulaic; see, e. g. XI, 2, 15.
Stanza 11. Sâyana, 'by his going out he causes the death of all living beings.' For Påda b of this and the following stanza, cf. the similar sentiments assembled by Scherman, l. c., pp. 35, 59.
Stansa 18. The epithet anadván, ‘ox, suggests AV. IV, 11, where supreme divine power is attributed to an ox. See Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, V, 399, and Jacob's Concordance, S. v. anaduh.
Stanza 18. In the ritualistic literature the terms atharvana and angirasa are differentiated, so that the former means "holy,' being the equivalent of sânta, while the latter means 'pertaining to sorcery,' being the equivalent of abhikârika. Cf. Kaus. 47, 2. 12 ; Vait. Sa. 5, 10; Gopatha-Br. I, 2, 18; Rig-vidhâna IV, 6,4. See Journ. Amer. Or. Soc. XI, 387 ff.; Amer. Journ. Phil. XI, p. 332, note; and the introduction to the present work. Especially in the passages quoted from the Vaitana-sätra and the Gopatha-Brâhmana this distinction is expressed clearly, and there seems to be no good reason to doubt that the writer here has it in mind. For angirasih (sc. oshadhih), see also AV. VIII, 5, 9; 7, 17. 24. Cf. also XIX, 39, 5.
Stanza 21. Sâyana explains hamsá, alternately, as either the sun, or breath. The latter, if it withdraws from man, produces
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