# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book XII/Hymn 5

5. The Brahman's cow.
[Atharvācārya.*—sapta paryāyāḥ. brahmagavīdevatāḥ.]
⌊Partly metrical: vss. 15-17, 47-53, 55-70 are so reckoned by W. in the Index, p. 6.⌋ Found also in the main in Pāipp. xvi., but in the central parts with omissions and disorder of which the details are not given; ⌊vss. 58, 60, 64-73 are wanting⌋. Not quoted at all by Vāit., nor probably by Kāuç., since 'the two Brahman-cow hymns' mentioned in Kāuç. 48. 13 are doubtless v. 18, 19; although the comm. ⌊Dārila: cf. Keçava, p. 351$^{20}$⌋ declares these ⌊v. 18, 19⌋ to constitute one of the 'two,' and xii. 5 the other. *⌊The Berlin ms. reads prāguktarṣibrahmagavīdevatāḥ: so also SPP's citation, Critical Notice, p. 21. This seems to mean that Kaçyapa is the ṛṣi; h. 4 clearly has the same "deity" as this.⌋
Translated: Muir, i$^2$. 288 (vss. 4-15); Ludwig, p. 529 (vss. 47-73); Henry, 209, 257; Griffith, ii. 127.
1. By toil, by penance [is she] created, acquired by bráhman, supported (çritá) on righteousness.
All our saṁhitā-mss. combine vittá rté. The appearance of meter in the verse (8 + 8) is perhaps not accidental; but there is no metrical structure elsewhere in the section.
2. Covered with truth, enclosed with fortune, enveloped with glory.
Why the verse is called sāmnī rather than prājāpatyā, like its predecessor, cannot be told. The pada-text does not divide prā́vṛtā, although, in the apparently parallel case, it divides pári॰vṛtā.
3. Set about with svadhā́, surrounded with faith, guarded by consecration, standing firm in the offering, the world her post (nidhána).
The pada-mss. absurdly write práti॰stitāḥ (instead of -tā). The metrical description of the Anukr. is not less absurd; to make the required 30 syllables, we have to resolve pári-ūḍhā.
4. Bráhman her guide, the Brahman her over-lord.
Ppp. combines brāhmaṇo adh-. The á- needs to be restored in order to make the 13 syllables required by the definition of the Anukr.
5. Of the Kshatriya who takes to himself that Brahman-cow, who scathes the Brahman,—
6. There departs the happiness (sunṛ́tā), the heroism, the good luck.
⌊The London Anukr. text reads prathamā bhāu prājāpatyānuṣṭu pakrāmatīti (vs. 6) satyena (etc., vs. 2): may be the pratīka of vs. 6 is misplaced and should be put before [u]bhāu (vs. 6 can be stretched to 16 syllables), or else the definition of 6 is fallen out.⌋ Ppp. reads puṇyalakṣmī.
[Paryāya II.—pañca. 7. sāmnī triṣṭubh; 8, 9. ārcy anuṣṭubh (8. bhurij); 10. uṣṇih; ⌊7-10. 1-p.: see under vs. 11;⌋ 11. ārcī nicṛt pan̄kti.]
7. Both force, and brilliancy, and power, and strength, and speech, and sense (indriyá), and fortune, and virtue (dhárma),—
8. And holiness (bráhman), and dominion ⌊kṣatrám⌋, and kingdom, and subjects (víças), and brightness (tvíṣi), and glory, and honor, and property,—
9. And life-time, and form, and name, and fame, and breath, and expiration, and sight, and hearing,—
10. And milk, and sap, and food, and food-eating, and righteousness, and truth, and sacrifice (iṣṭá), and bestowal (pūrtá), and progeny, and cattle:—
11. All these depart from the Kshatriya who takes to himself the Brahman-cow, who scathes the Brahman.
Lit. 'all these of the K.,' 'that belong to him.' Ppp. omits vs. 10, and abbreviates vs. 9 to āyuç ca çrotraṁ ca, and vs. 11 to tāni sarvāṇy apa krāmanti kṣatriyasya. All our saṁhitā-mss. read in vs. 10 ca rtám. The Anukr. says of vss. 7-10, etāç catasraḥ punaḥ punaḥ padāntareṇa padābhyāsād ekapadāḥ: ⌊that is, they are 1-p. because repeatedly or in each case the groups ending with ca have to be recited with a pāda-interval, i.e. (as Dr. Ryder suggests) because there is in each verse no main cesura⌋.
12. This same Brahman-cow [is] fearful, having deadly poison, witchcraft incarnate (sākṣā́t), kū́lbaja when covered.
Kū́lbaja occurs only here and in vs. 53 below; in the latter verse, Ppp. reads instead pūlyājām.
13. In her are all terrible things and all deaths.
14. In her are all cruel things, all men-killers (puruṣavadhá).
15. This Brahman-cow, when taken to oneself, binds the Brahman-scather, the god-reviler, in the shackle of death.
Several of the saṁhitā-mss. (Bs.P.M.W.E.) read -gavy ā̀3dīyá-, curiously enough. All our mss. have páḍv-, and one or two -vīṅç- or -viṅç-. The verse admits of being read as a gāyatrī, probably not by accident, and might better have been printed as such.
16. Verily (hí) a hundred-killing weapon (mení) is she; verily the destruction of the Brahman-scather is she.
17. Therefore indeed is the cow of the Brahmans hard to be dared against by one who understands (vi-jñā).*
18. [She is] a thunderbolt when running, Vāiçvānara when driven up (údvīta).
19. A missile when extracting (ut-khid) her hoofs, the great god when looking away.
20. Keen-edged (kṣurápavi) when looking; when bellowing, she thunders at one.
Bp. reads vā́sya-. Vss. 19 and 20 were perhaps intended as metrical (8 + 8). ⌊As to mení, vs. 16, cf. Geldner, Festgruss an Böhtlingk, p. 32.⌋
21. Death when uttering hing; the formidable god when slinging about her tail.
All the saṁhitā-mss. read -tyù3gró ⌊K. ū̀g-⌋. This verse also has 16 syllables, divisible into 8 + 8, but evidently only by accident.
22. Total scathing when twisting about her ears; king-yákṣma when urinating.
The Anukr. does not heed that the verse has one syllable too many for a regular sāmnī bṛhatī.
23. A weapon (mení) when being milked; headache when milked.
24. Debility when approaching (upa-sthā); mutual strife when felt of.
Párāmṛṣṭā might also come from root mṛj and mean 'rubbed off.'
25. A shaft when her mouth is being fastened up; mishap (ṛ́ti) when being slain.
The pada-text has api॰nahyámāne, and two or three of our saṁhitā-mss. (P.M.O.p.m.K.R.) retain the e before ṛ́tir.
26. Deadly poisonous when falling down; darkness when fallen down.
27. Going after him, the Brahman-cow exhausts the breaths of the Brahman-scather.
28. [She is] hostility when being cut up, the eating of one's children when being shared out.
Two of the pada-texts (D.Kp.) read pāútra॰ādyam. It is so difficult in most mss. to distinguish dy and gh, that the reading pāútrāgham (cf. pāútram aghám, xii. 3. 14), which Pet. Lex. conjectures as an emendation, might possibly be intended here.
29. A gods' missile when being taken, failure when taken.
The participles, especially the present passive ones, in these verses, are very much bungled over by the mss. For hriyámāṇā. here are read hriy-, hrīy-, hṛy-, hiy-; and Bp. has ṛtā́ for hṛtā́. It is necessary to make the awkward renderings with 'being,' to distinguish present participle from past. The definition of the Anukr. implies the resolution ví-ṛd-.
30. Evil when being set on, harshness when being set down.
31. Poison when heating (? pra-yas), takmán when heated.
All the mss. read práyastā, but Bp. has pra॰yáṅchaṅtī, Bs. -yachantī, emended to -yasy-, P.M.W. -yásyaṅchaṅtī (M. emended to -yasy- ⌊?⌋).
32. Evil (aghá) when being cooked, bad dreaming when cooked.
The description of the Anukr. implies the resolution -pni-am.
33. Uprooting when being turned about (? pari-ā-kṛ), destruction when turned about.
The participles are rendered according to the Pet. Lexx. The Anukr. expects us to resolve pari-ā- once, but not both times. Bp. reads -ākrīyá-.
34. Discord by smell; pain (çúc) when being taken up, a poison-snake when taken up.
The pada-text leaves both participles undivided, as prescribed by Prāt. iv. 62. 'Taken up,' doubtless in preparation for being served up as food. Bp. reads udhrīyá-.
35. Non-prosperity when being served up, disaster when served up.
The mss. again fluctuate between -hriyá-, -hrīyá-, -hiyá-, and, at the end, between -hṛtā, -hatā (P.M.p.m.W.), and -hūtā. (D.). The Anukr. notices this time that the verse is bhurij.
36. Çarva angered when being dressed (piç), Çimidā when dressed.
37. Ruin when being partaken of, perdition when partaken of.
​38. When partaken of, the Brahman-cow cuts off the Brahman-scather from the world, from both this one and the one yonder.
Bp. appears to read lokā́n, and M.R.T. correspondingly -ā́ṅ ch-; O. ⌊D.Kp.⌋ have -ā́t ch-; the rest -ā́ ch-, which means -ā́c ch-, since ch and cch are equivalent and exchangeable. The metrical definition of the Anukr. is ambiguous.
39. The slaying of her is witchcraft, her cutting up (āçásana) is a weapon (mení), the contents of her bowels a secret charm.
All of these, of course, understood as directed against the offender. Ppp. combines tasyā ”han-.
40. [She is] homelessness when hidden (? pari-hnu).
The Pet. Lexx. conjecture pari-hnu (not found elsewhere) to mean 'disavow, disown.'
41. The Brahman-cow, having become the flesh-eating Agni, entering into the Brahman-scather, eats him.
42. All his limbs, joints, roots, she cuts off (vraçc).
43. She severs (chid) his paternal connection, makes perish his maternal connection.
44. All the marriages, acquaintances of the Brahman-scather does the Brahman-cow scorch (? api-kṣā), when not given back by a Kshatriya.
Some of our mss. (O.D.T.R.) accent -dīyámānā, although part of them (O.T.R.) have accented -tríyeṇā́ ’pun-. The description of the passage (7 + 6: 8 + 10 = 31) by the Anukr. is very strange, and valueless.
45. Without abode, without home, without progeny, she makes him; he becomes without succession (?); he is destroyed:—
The translation of aparā॰paraṇá (so the pada-text) is according to the conjecture of the Pet. Lexx. The metrical definition of the Anukr. implies reading karoti ap-.
46. Whatever Kshatriya takes to himself the cow of a Brahman who knoweth thus.
47. Quickly, indeed, at his killing the vultures make a din (āilabá).
Ppp. reads at the end kurvatāi ’lavaṁ. The text of the Anukr. seems defective here. All that is said about the nine verses of 16 syllables is as follows: ādyā skandhogrīvīs tvayā pramūrṇam ⌊vs. 61⌋ prājāpatyānuṣṭubhaḥ. All the verses not of this measure are regularly described. Ludwig translates this whole section ⌊and the next⌋, p. 529.
48. Quickly, indeed, about his place of burning dance the long-haired women, beating on the breast with the hand, making an evil din.
The mss. write no avasāna-mark between the two halves of the verse. Ppp. again reads āilavam. Prāt. iii. 92 notes the non-lingualization of nṛt after pari. ⌊Bloomfield discusses the vs., AJP. xi. 339 or JAOS. xv., p. xlv.⌋
49. Quickly, indeed, in his abodes do the wolves make a din.
Ppp. reads, after vāstuṣu, gan̄gānaṁ kurvate ‘pa vṛṣāt.
50. Quickly, indeed, they ask about him: what that was, is this now that?
We should expect rather kíṁ tád āsī́3t ⌊instead of yát tád etc.⌋, since without a question there is no good reason for the protracted ī. Ludwig translates as if that were the reading. O.D.R. accent ā́sī́3d, as is the rule in the Brāhmaṇas. Ppp. reads, after pṛchanti, etad āsīd ataṁ nu dā.
51. Cut thou, cut on, cut forth, scorch, burn (kṣā).
52. O daughter of An̄giras, exhaust thou the Brahman-scather, that takes to himself [the cow].
Ppp. reads ādadhānam.
53. For thou art called belonging to all the gods, witchcraft, kū́lbaja when covered.
Cf. vs. 12 above. Ppp. reads (as there noted) pūlyājām.
54. Burning (uṣ), consuming, thunderbolt of the brahman.
55. Having become a keen-edged death, run thou out.
Ppp. reads vibhāvasuḥ instead of vi dhāva tvam; the latter reading probably carries on the figure implied in kṣurapavi, which applies especially to the armed wheels of a battle-chariot.
56. Thou takest to thyself the honor of the scathers, their sacrifice and bestowal, their expectations.
Iṣṭám pūrtáṁ ca: i.e., as later, the fruits of these good works. The Anukr. would have done much better to accept the resolution ca āç-, and reckon the verse as 16 syllables.
57. Taking to thyself what is scathed for him who is scathed, thou presentest [it to him] in yonder world.
58. O inviolable one, become thou the guide of the Brahman out of imprecation.
The translation implies emendation of abhíçastyā to -tyāḥ. The verse is wanting in Ppp.
59. Become thou a weapon (mení), a shaft; become thou deadly poisonous from evil (aghá).
60. O inviolable one, smite forth the head of the Brahman-scather that has committed offense, of the god-reviler, the ungenerous.
This verse also is wanting in Ppp. ⌊Pādas b, c recur below, vs. 65.⌋
​61. Let Agni burn the malevolent one, slaughtered, crushed (mṛd) by thee.
Ppp. reads tayā pravṛkṇo rucitam agnir dahatu duṣkṛtam.
[Paryāya VII.—dvādaçakaḥ. 62-64, 66, 68-70. prajāpatyā ’nuṣṭubh; 65. gāyatrī; 67. prājāpatyā gāyatrī; 71. āsurī pan̄kti; 72. prājāpatyā triṣṭubh; 73. āsury uṣṇih.]
62. Cut (vraçc) thou, cut off, cut up; burn thou, burn off, burn up.
63. The Brahman-scather, O divine inviolable one, do thou burn up all the way from the root.
Or 'to the root.' Bs.P.M. read mū́lān. In Ppp., ⌊vss. 62-63 are somewhat altered and⌋ the remaining vss. are wanting.
64. That he may go from Yama's seat to evil worlds, to the distances.
65. So do thou, O divine inviolable one, of the Brahman-scather that has committed offense, of the god-reviler, the ungenerous,—
66. With a thunderbolt hundred-jointed, sharp, razor-pronged,—
67. Smite forth the shoulder-bones, forth the head.
68. His hairs (lóman) do thou cut up (sam-chid); his skin strip off;—
69. His flesh cut in pieces; his sinews wrench off;—
70. His bones distress (pīḍ); his marrow smite out;—
71. All his limbs, [his] joints unloosen.
72. Let the flesh-eating Agni thrust him from the earth, burn (uṣ) up; let Vāyu [do so] from the atmosphere, the great expanse (varimán);—
73. Let the sun thrust him forth from the sky, burn him down.
The Anukr. accepts the resolution ní oṣatu.
⌊The quotations from the Old Anukr. for the seven paryāyas may here be given together: I. vacanāni ca ṣáṭ; II. pañca; III. ṣoḍaça; IV. ekādaça; V. aṣṭa ca; VI. brahmagavyām pañcadaça; VII. tasmād dvādaçakaḥ paraḥ. The sum is 73.—As is readily seen, these quotations together make an anuṣṭubh çloka; and they are printed in metrical form by SPP., vol. i., p. 21 (Critical Notice). For vacanāni, see above, p. 472⌋
⌊Here ends the fifth anuvāka, with 1 hymn (or 7 paryāyas) and 73 vacanas or vacana-avasānarcas.⌋
⌊By some mss. the book is summed up as of 4 artha-sūktas [their vss. number 231] and 7 paryāya-sūktas [73 "verses"], or as of "11 sūktas of both kinds," with a total of 304 verses.⌋
⌊The twenty-seventh prapāṭhaka ends here.⌋