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tion to IV, 12). The Atharvan has a way of formulating qualities as father, mother, brother, &c. of the object they are attributed to; see the note on V, 5, I.
b. I have not followed the edition in emending gîvantó, the unanimous reading of the MSS., to givaló. A glance at VIII, 2, 6; 7, 6 shows gîvalám by the side of gîvantîm ; and givanta, gîvantî, gîvantikâ are sufficiently authenticated as names of remedial plants. The emendation seems entirely groundless. For another father of the plant, see V, 4, 9 b.
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
Stanza 4.
a. Cf. VIII, 5, 11; V, 4, 9 a, b, and also I b. The fulsome praise in the manner of kathenotheism. When another plant is employed the expressions are no less exorbitant; cf. e. g. VI, 15, 1.
Stanza 5.
a. The MSS. have trík sambubhyo ángirebhyas, or angireyebhyas, for which the vulgate substitutes boldly, trír bhrígubhyo ángirobhyas. I have followed it, not without some misgivings, in translating ángirobhyas; the text, however, may possibly disguise some patronymic derivative of ángiras. Sâyana comments upon ángireyebhyas, with the words, angirasâm apatyabhûtebhyak sâmbubhyah. But I could not go so far as to substitute trír bhrígubhyo for trík sấmbubhyo, the lectio difficilior, apparently for the reason merely that the Bhrigu and Angiras are frequently mentioned together. Sâmbu and especially its patronymic Sâmbavya are well authenticated, the latter being a schoolname of a sautra-sâkhâ. The Sâmbavya-grihyasûtra is a version closely related to the Sânkhâyana-grihyasutra ; cf. Indische Studien, XV, 4 and 154.
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e. sâkám sómena tishthati (cf. V, 4, 7 b): both sóma and kúshtha are mountain-plants; the former has the epithet girishtha, dwelling upon the mountain,' RV. IX, 18, 1, &c., and the mountains are called sómaprishtha, 'having soma upon their backs,' AV. III, 21, 10. For kúshtha as a mountain-plant, see V, 4, 1; VI, 95, 3.
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