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ON THE VARIANT READINGS IN AVS 3.12 AS
NOTED IN SĀYANA-BHĀSYA
Neelima Mone
Indian tradition holds that the Atharvaveda (AV) is ninefold. : navadha atharvano vedah ninefold is the atharvana veda' (Pät M.bhā. I 9.22); upto this day two of these recensions have become available to us. (i) Av Saunaka ( AVS )and ii) AV Paippalāda (AVP). Unfortunataly both these recensions are available only with many corruptions. The editors like S. P. Pandit, Whitney, Vishvabandhu record many such corruptions in their editions. These corruptions many times affect the corret and / or meanigful understanding of the text and interpretation. Yet, these editors give bi se readings without any comment.
Again, Sāyana, the only orthodox commentator of this Veda has many times shown differences of readings with those in all the editions. His commentary cites, as words from such a text under his comment, that differs with the available texts of the AVÓ, AVP, Pp etc. His explanation of accents also many times supposes an accent different from that of the text. Moreover, many times Sāyaṇa's text and explanation agrees with some other Samhitās. There variations are coted down by the editors of the text, but they have offered no comments. Therefore, I intend to discuss here a few variant readings in Sāyana's commentary, with a view to ascertaining their correctness. It is true that Sāyana's commentary is very much beneficial to the student of this Veda, yet it is necessary to study the variant readings critically and to see if they violate the meaning of the verses and disturb the tenor of the hymns-thus proving unsuitable or otherwise.
Before coming to Sāyaṇa's reading, it is necessary to say about the extent to which ancillary Vedic literature would help, in a situation where there arises a doubt about the correctness of a reading of the text. The Kausika Sūtra ( Kau Sū) (with Därila's Bhāşya-this available on part of Kau. Su and Keśava's paddhati ) and the Vailāna. Sūtra ( Vai Sū) are the age-old authorities of the Atharvanikas which dicuss the employment of the hymns of the AV; but they can help us only to a certain extent as regards the prob'em of the variations in the text. They cannot become the final authorities, because they do not reproduce the text, they quote it by 'Pratika.'
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