# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book XIII/Hymn 4

4. Extolling the sun.
[(Brahman.—ādhyātmam; rohitādityadevatyam. trāiṣṭubham.*) ṣaṭ paryāyāḥ. mantrokta drvatyāḥ.]
⌊Partly prose, and vss. 14-15, 22-26, and 46-56 are so designated in W's Index, p. 6.⌋ This hymn is not found in Pāipp., nor noticed either in Kāuç. or in Vāit. *⌊Here, indeed (but cf. introd. to hymn 3), the general definition for the whole kāṇḍa as "trāiṣṭubham" does not seem to apply.⌋
Translated: Henry, 17, 51; Griffith, ii. 154.
[Paryāya I.—trayodaça. 1-11. prājāpatyā ’nuṣṭubh; 12. virāḍ gāyatrī; 13. āsury uṣṇih.]
1. He goes [as] impeller (Savitar) to the heaven (svàr), looking down upon the back of the sky.
2. To the cloud-mass (nábhas) brought by rays he goes [as] great Indra, covered.
3. He [is] the Creator (dhātṛ́), he the disposer, he Vāyu, the upraised (ut-çri) cloud-mass.
A syllable is lacking, unless we make harsh resolution, in a.
4. He [is] Aryaman, he Varuṇa, he Rudra, he the great god.
5. He [is] Agni, he also the Sun, he indeed great Yama.
Parts of this verse are quoted as examples under Prāt. ii. 21, 24; iii. 35, 36; iv. 116.
6. On him wait (upa-sthā) young ones (vatsá), ten, united, having one head.
Henry acutely suggests emendation in b to -ṇo ‘yútā dáça 'ten myriads'—i.e. of rays, all heading in the sun itself. It seems probable that the original text had ékaçīrṣās: cf. dáçaçīrṣas, iv. 6. 1; the verse as it stands is redundant.
7. From behind they stretch on forward; when he rises, he shines forth.
Vibhā́sati would seem a better reading at the end.
8. His is this troop of Maruts; he goes sling-made.
That is (?), 'as if hung in slings ' ⌊OB. 'an Schnüre gehängt'⌋. Henry makes a venturesome and unacceptable emendation, and regards the adjective as referring to the 'troop '—which is not impossible.
9. To the cloud-mass brought by rays he goes [as] great Indra, covered.
This is a repetition of vs. 2; all the mss. give it in full.
10. His are these nine vessels (kóça), the props set nine-fold.
The pada-text reads viṣṭambhā́ḥ, undivided.
11. He looks abroad for living creatures (prajā́), both what breathes and what does not.
Cf. vs. 19, below; 'for,' apparently 'for the advantage of.'
​12. Into him is entered (ni-gam) this power; he himself is one, single (ekavṛ́t), one only.
The verse lacks four syllables of the gāyatrī number, instead of two, as the Anukr. counts.
13. These gods in him become single.
The Anukr. counts fourteen syllables in the verse; one does not see where it finds more than thirteen.
[Paryāya II.—aṣṭāu. 14. bhurik sāmnī triṣṭubh; 15. āsurī pan̄kti; 16, 19. prājāpatyā ’nuṣṭubh; 17, 18. āsurī gāyatrī.]
14. Both fame and glory and water (? ámbhas) and cloud-mass and Brahman-splendor and food and food-eating.
The Pet. Lex. regards nábhaç ca as intruded here, and ámbhas as having the sense of 'might.'
15. He who knows this single god—
16. Not second, not third, also not fourth is he called.
17. Not fifth, not sixth, also not seventh is he called.
18. Not eighth, not ninth, also not tenth is he called.
19. He looks abroad for everything, both what breathes and what does not.
20. Into him is entered this power; he himself is one, single, one only.
21. All the gods in him become single.
The last three verses are nearly identical with 11-13 above. Of the last two the Anukr. does not define the meter, perhaps by an omission in the ms. (or else because they were defined just above). All our mss. save one (D.) ⌊and all SPP's authorities, except P$^2$⌋ accent sarvé in 21, as if because of eté in 13. ⌊Both editions emend to sárve.⌋
[Paryāya III.—sapta. 22. bhurik prājāpatyā triṣṭubh; 23. ārcī gāyatrī; 25. 1-p. āsurī gāyatrī; 26. ārcy anuṣṭubh; 27, 28. prājāpatyā ’nuṣṭubh.]
22. Both worship (bráhman) and penance and fame and glory and water and cloud-mass and Brahman-splendor and food and food-eating—
This is vs. 14 over again, with two more items prefixed.
23. And what is and what shall be and faith and sheen and heaven (svargá) and svadhā́.
The mss. vary between bhavyàm (Bp.), bhávyam (Bs.p.m.D.), and bhavyám (Bs.s.m., and all the rest). ⌊SPP's authorities show a similar disagreement. He reads bhávyam; and the same reading⌋ in our text is evidently called for.
24. He who knows this single god—
This verse is identical with vs. 15 above, and is accordingly not separately described by the Anukr.
​25. He verily [is] death, he immortality (amṛ́ta), he the monster (abhvà), he the demon.
The verse is probably quoted under Prāt. iii. 65 (see the note there). In order to make out the fifteen syllables of the Anukr., we have to read só amṛ́taṁ só abhvàm.
26. He [is] Rudra, winner of good, in the giving of good; in the expression of homage, [he is] the utterance váṣaṭ, put together after.
The connection here is very doubtful. Henry understands it as above; Muir (iv. 338) quite differently. The verse is very peculiarly treated by the Anukr.; first it is quoted in its proper place thus: sa rudra ity ārṣī (so the Berlin ms., but the London ms. has āsurī) gāyatrī; and then, after the definition of vss. 27, 28, the London ms. says again sa rudro vasuvanir ārcy anuṣṭup. The descriptions ārṣī gāyatrī and ārcy anuṣṭubh (each implying 24 syllables) both apply equally well, if we restore -kāró ánu.
27. All these familiar demons (yātú) wait upon his direction (praçís).
28. In his control are all yon asterisms, together with the moon.
29. He verily was born of the day; of him the day was born.
The Anukr. unaccountably ratifies the elision áhno ‘j-, instead of restoring aj- and recognizing the pāda for what it is, eight syllables.
30. He verily was born of the night; of him the night was born.
31. He verily was born of the atmosphere; of him the atmosphere was born.
The verse lacks four syllables, instead of two, of the twenty-four that make a gāyatrī.
32. He verily was born of Vāyu (wind); of him Vāyu was born.
33. He verily was born of the sky; out of him the sky was born.
Here again the Anukr. requires us to read divò ‘j-.
34. He verily was born of the quarters; of him the quarters were born.
Here we are to make both elisions, in a and b.
35. He verily was born of the earth; of him the earth was born.
Nearly all our mss. (all save Bp.D.R.) accent bhūmés and bhūmís.
36. He verily was born of fire; of him fire was born.
37. He verily was born of the waters; of him the waters were born.
The metrical description is the same as that of vs. 34, and with the same lack of good reason (the mss. read sa vā adbhya ṛgbhyaḥ sāmnyuṣṇiganuṣṭubhāu, which is senseless, and should doubtless be emended to -uṣṇihāu).
38. He verily was born of the verses (ṛ́c); of him the verses were born.
As to the meter, see the note to the preceding verse.
​39. He verily was born of the sacrifice; of him the sacrifice was born.
The Anukr., as above, forces the elision yajñò ‘j-.
40. He is the sacrifice; his is the sacrifice; he [is] made the head of the sacrifice.
41. He thunders; he lightens; he indeed hurls the stone.
That is, the thunderbolt. The second pāda is one of the examples under Prāt. iii. 36.
42. Either for the evil [man] or for the excellent; for man or for Asura.
'For,' i.e. 'at,' ⌊taking the verse as a continuation of 41⌋.
43. Either when thou makest the herbs, or when thou rainest excellently, or when thou hast increased him of the people (? janyá).
This appears to be the only example known of the accent janyá instead of jánya, and how little authoritative it is may be inferred from the fact that all our mss. leave avīvṛdhas unaccented after it. Our text makes the necessary emendation to áv-. ⌊All SPP's authorities, however, agree in reading not only janyám but also avīvṛdhas. The latter he also emends to áv-.⌋
44. Such, O bountiful one, is thy greatness; and thine, too (úpa), are a hundred bodies.
There is no difficulty in counting the verse into 16 syllables, as required by the Anukr. ⌊It reads naturally as 9 + 8.⌋
45. Thine, too, are two billions, [many] billions (?); or else thou art a hundred million.
The translation implies the readings bádve bádvāni, which, on account of the accent, seem probably meant by the mss., which vary between bádhv-, báddh-, báddhv-; K. reads baddhve vádvāni, D. báddhe baddhā́ni. ⌊SPP's authorities also exhibit very wide disagreements, which reflect a corresponding uncertainty of the tradition.⌋ The word is just such a one as the mss. might be expected to boggle and blunder over, both they and we being left without help from the sense. Henry, who accepts the same emendation, understands bádve as locative, which is perhaps better, and at any rate favored by the fact that the pada-text does not read bádve íti.
46. More is Indra than non-dying (??); more art thou, O Indra, than the deaths.
'Non-dying' is the conjecture of the Pet. Lexx. for namurá, which occurs nowhere else; it is adopted here, simply for lack of anything better, although in itself of a high degree of implausibility. ⌊Henry also adopts it; but see his note, p. 54.⌋ It is surprising to find Indra brought in here at the end for address, instead of the sun; there is nothing to show that the two remaining paryāyas are not for him. ⌊Note, however, the praise of the sun under the names of Indra and Viṣṇu, so prominent in book xvii., below: see page 805. Perhaps we have here a similar identification.⌋
​47. More than the niggard, lord of strength (çácī) art thou, O Indra; as called mighty, prevailing, do we worship (upa-ās) thee.
Prāt. ii. 71 expressly forbids the combination çácyās p-, which we should have expected here. The verse (9 + 8: 8 = 25) is strangely defined by the Anukr.
48. Homage be to thee, O conspicuous one (paçyata); see ⌊páçya⌋ me, O conspicuous one.
Paçyata is an anomalous and forced substitute for darçata, made in this passage only, for assonance with paçya. The Anukr. ratifies the combination te astu.
49. With food-eating, with glory, with brilliancy (téjas), with Brahman-splendor;
50. As called water (? ámbhas), force (áma), greatness, power, do we worship thee.
The Anukr. ratifies the combination ámbho ámo. By a usage that is rare, all the mss. omit in this verse ⌊what follows⌋ after íti, although the repetition is not of the end of the next preceding verse, but of vs. 47. Then, of course, the following verses are written in the same curtailed way until vs. 54, which is filled out to the end.
51. As called water (ámbhas), red, silvery (rajatá), welkin (rájas), power, do we worship thee.
Again ⌊as at vs. 31⌋ we have a verse called virāḍ gāyatrī which lacks four syllables of being 24.
[Paryāya VI.—pañca. 52, 53. prājāpatyā ’nuṣṭubh; 54. 2-p. ārṣī gāyatrī.]
52. As called wide, broad, happy (subhū́), earths (? bhúvas), do we worship thee.
Bhúvas is here rendered literally, in the only sense which the word has elsewhere in AV. If it is a first appearance of the vyāhṛti common later, its meaning is wholly obscure in this connection. ⌊Aufrecht, KZ. xxxiv. 458, makes some observations about the relations of the noun-forms and adjective-forms in vss. 52-53.⌋
53. As called breadth, width, expanse, world, do we worship thee.
54. As called one of arising good, of increasing (??) good, of gathering good, of coming good, do we worship thee.
The translation implies the heroic substitution of vṛdhádvasu for the wholly senseless idádvasu. The Pet. Lexx., to be sure, conjecture for the latter the meaning 'rich in this and that' (which Henry follows); but, besides the fact that idát = idám is not less heroic than idát = vṛdhát, the signification given does not belong rightly to the compound, nor has it any application here. Our rendering has at least concinnity—unless, indeed, in a text of this character, that be an argument against its acceptance. All the compounds are evidently possessive.
55. Homage be to thee, O conspicuous one; see me, O conspicuous one.
56. With food-eating, with glory, with brilliancy, with Brahman-splendor.
These two verses are identical with vss. 48, 49, above ⌊and are therefore not defined by the Anukr.⌋.
⌊The quotations from the Old Anukr., given piecemeal for this paryāya-sūkta at the end of each paryāya, may here be given together: I. trayodaça; II. aṣṭāu ca; III. tataḥ paraḥ sapta; IV. saptadaça; V. ṣaṭ ca bodhyāḥ; VI. ṣaṣṭaḥ pañcaka ucyate.—They are given by SPP. in his "Critical Notice," vol. i., p. 21, with the introductory words, caturthasyā ’vasānāni vakṣyamāṇāni tāni çṛṇu.⌋
⌊In paryāya V., vss. 47, 50, and 51 have the refrain; and in VI., vss. 52, 53, and 54 have it: these verses are styled gaṇāvasānarcaḥ, and the rest avasānarcaḥ (as was already noted above, p. 472). But since none of the former is divided in two by an avasāna-mark, the distinction does not affect the sums of the "ṛcaḥ of both kinds," which are (as just stated) 3 + 3 for V. and 3 + 2 for VI.⌋
⌊Here ends the fourth anuvāka, consisting of 1 paryāya-sūkta with 6 paryāyas and 56 verses.⌋
⌊Some mss. reckon up the hymns as 20 (that is 14 of the decad-divisions of our hymns 1-3, plus 6 paryāyas of our hymn 4) and the verses as 188.⌋
⌊Here ends the twenty-eighth prapāṭhaka.⌋