# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book IX/Hymn 3

3. To accompany the releasing of a house.
⌊Partly prose—25 to end.⌋ Found also in Pāipp. xvi. (in the verse-order 1-3, 5, 4, 6-10, 14, 16, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 21, 18, 20, 19, 24, 23, 22, 25-31). The hymn is not noticed in Vāit.; but several verses (1, 15, 18, 22, 24) are quoted in Kāuç. 66. 22-30, in connection with an inauguration-ceremony (savayajña) in which a house (a toy house?) is an object given.
Translated: Ludwig, p. 464; Zimmer, p. 151 (vss. 1-24); Grill, 60, 188 (vss. 1-24); Henry, 87, 121; Griffith, i. 434; Bloomfield, 193, 595.—Cf. also Oldenberg, IFA. vi. 179.
1. Of the props (upamít), of the supports (pratimít), and also of the connectors (? parimít) of the dwelling (çā́lā) that possesses all choice things, we unfasten the tied (naddhá) [parts].
Ppp. reads upamitaṣ pratimito ‘tho parimitaç ca yaç çālāyā viçvavārāyā te naddhān vi cṛtāmasi.
2. What of thee is tied, O thou that possessest all choice things, what fetter and knot is made, that with a spell (vā́c) I make fall apart, as Brihaspati [did] Bala.
All the mss. read balám (not valám) in c, as also Ppp. (bṛhaspatiṁ vahaṁ balam). Our Bp. has in d sraṅçayāmi: tvát. The Anukr. seems to imply the abbreviation of iva to ’va in c.
3. He stretched (ā-yam), he combined (sam-bṛh), he made thy knots firm (dṛḍhá); with Indra we unfasten [them], as a knowing slaughterer the joints.
4. Of thy beams (vaṅçá), ties (náhana), and binding (prāṇāhá) grass, of thy sides (pakṣá), O thou that possessest all choice things, we unfasten the tied [parts].
Vaṅçá is properly a bamboo beam. Prāṇāhá (unchanged in pada-text) seems to occur only here, nor is root nah elsewhere combined with pra; I have ventured to render it as an adj., as tṛ́ṇa appears to call for a descriptive epithet. Ppp. reads naddhān vi in d.
5. Of the clamps (saṁdaṅçá), of the paladás, and of the embracer (páriṣvañjalya)—now of the mistress of the building do we unfasten the tied [parts].
Ppp. reads, in a, b, palidānāṁ pariṣvañcanadasya ca; and, for c, sarvā mānasya patni te; it also puts the verse before our 4.
6. What hanging vessels (? çikyà) they bound on to thee within for enjoyment, those we unfasten for thee; be thou, [when] set up, O mistress of the building, propitious to our self (tanū́).
Çikyà may be an ornamental hanging appendage of some kind.* All the mss. read mā́nasya patni in d; our edition emends to mān-. The pada-text has úddhitā, undivided, in e (as at xviii. 2. 34, and uddhíḥ at viii. 8. 22); the case ought to fall under Prāt. iv. 62, but root dhā is not mentioned there, though we find han superfluously included. Ppp. reads yāni te antaç cikyāny āmedho ‘ntyāya kaṁ; and, for d, sarvā mānasya patnyā.
*⌊As to decorations of this kind, see John Griffiths, The Paintings in the Buddhist Cave-Temples of Ajantâ, London, 1896, plates 6, 10, and 13; of. also Karpūra-mañjarī, iii. 27, ed. Konow, and my note thereon at p. 289. W. has interlined "slings" as an alternative rendering of çikyà.⌋
7. Oblation-holder (havirdhā́na), fire-place (agniçā́la), wives' site [and] seat; seat of the gods art thou, O heavenly dwelling.
The paroṣṇih is regular, save for the common variant of a triṣṭubh instead of a jagatī-pāda at the end.
8. The thousand-eyed net (ákṣu), stretched out as opaçá on the division-line (viṣūvánt), tied down, put on, do we with worship (bráhman) unfasten.
Abhihita in c doubtless contains the suggestion of abhidhāni 'a halter.' Geldner (Ved. Stud. i. 136) wants to make of akṣu a 'stake' or 'pillar.' Viṣūvant probably means the 'parting of the hair, crown' (so Zimmer), here the ridge of the roof. Ppp. begins with yakṣmopiçam, and has in c the easier reading apinaddham apihitam.
​9. He who, O dwelling, accepts thee, and he by whom thou art built—let both those, O mistress of the building, live to attain old age.
The mā́nasya of the mss. in c is again emended in our edition to mān-. Ppp. rectifies the meter of a by reading yaç citrā (ca tvā?) pr-. The Anukr. pays no heed to the irregularity of the verse (9 + 8: 8 + 7).
10. Do thou, made firm, tied, adorned (pari-kṛ), go to him yonder—thou whose every limb, whose every joint we unfasten.
O. reads in a amútrāi ’ṇam. Páriṣkṛtā is unaltered in the pada-text, as prescribed by Prāt. iv. 58. Enam probably indicates the "acceptor" (9 a, 15). Ppp. reads in b tridhā for dṛḍhā, and begins c with tasyas. ⌊As to amútra, cf. Oldenberg, IFA. vi. 179.⌋
11. He who fixed (ni-mi) thee, O dwelling, [who] brought together the forest trees—unto progeny, O dwelling, he, [as a] most exalted Prajāpati, made thee.
Ppp. reads pūrvas for çāle in a.
12. Homage to him, homage to the giver, and to the lord of the dwelling we pay; homage to the forth-moving (pra-car) fire, and to thy spirit (? púruṣa) [be] homage.
Ppp. reads in b kṛṇmasi.
13. Homage to kine, to horses, whatever is born (vi-jā) in the dwelling; thou rich in births (vijā-), rich in progeny, we unfasten thy fetters.
Ppp. lacks, probably by an oversight, the second half-verse.
14. Thou coverest within the fire, the men together with the cattle (paçú); thou rich in births, rich in progeny, we unfasten thy fetters.
15. Between both heaven and earth what expanse [there is], therewith do I accept this dwelling of thine; the atmosphere that pervades (vimā́na) space (rájas), that do I make a paunch (udára) for treasures; therewith I accept the house for this man.
This verse in Kāuç. 66. 28 accompanies the "acceptance" of the house in question. The Anukr. calls it an atiçakvarī, though it contains only 57 syllables (12 + 12: 11 + 11: 11) instead of 60. Ppp. reads at end of b tāi ’māṁ (an abbreviation which is here acceptable, as making a good triṣṭubh—pāda ⌊such was the case at ix. 2. 7 also⌋), and in e yac chālāṁ for tena ç-.
16. Rich in refreshment, rich in milk, fixed (ni-mi), built upon the earth, bearing all food, O dwelling, do not thou injure those accepting [thee].
17. Wrapped (ā-vṛ) with grass, clothing itself in paladás, the dwelling, place of rest (nivéçanī) of living creatures, like the night—built on the earth thou standest, like a she-elephant, having feet.
That is, apparently, heavy and big on the four corner posts, like an elephant (female because 'dwelling' is feminine) on its feet. With b compare xii. i. 6 b. The verse as a prastārapan̄kti (11 + 12: 8 + 8) has no irregularity which the Anukr. is wont to heed.
​18. Of thy rush-work (íṭa) I unfasten what was tied on, uncovering; [thee] pressed together by Varuṇa let Mitra in the morning open out.
The verse in Kāuç. 66. 24 accompanies the letting down (ava-sṛ) of the door. ⌊Bergaigne has a note on the vs., Rel. Véd. iii. 122.⌋
19. The dwelling fixed with worship (bráhman), fixed, built by the poets—let Indra-and-Agni, immortal, defend the dwelling, the seat for soma (somyá).
P. reads nírmitām in b, and sāumyám in d. Ppp. has a quite different version: catussraktiṁ paricakrāṁ for a; viçvāna bibhratī çālām (cf. our 16 c) amṛto sāumyaṁ sadaḥ for c, d.
20. A nest (kulā́ya) upon a nest, a vessel (kóça) pressed together in a vessel—there a mortal is born (vi-jā), from whom all is generated (pra-jā).
Ppp. has martyas in c.
21. [The dwelling] which is fixed with two sides, with four sides, which with six sides—the eight-sided, the ten-sided dwelling, the mistress of the building, Agni lies in like an embryo.
The pada-text reads aṣṭā॰pakṣām in c, by Prāt. iii. 2; iv. 94. ⌊As to pakṣa, cf. iii. 7. 3.⌋ The verse is a good pan̄kti, involving only the resolution mā́nasi-a in d, but the Anukr. absurdly treats it as of four pādas; and, in accordance with this, the pada-mss. mark a pāda division after çā́lām.
22. I go forward, O dwelling, turned toward thee, uninjuring, that art turned toward me; for within [are] fire and waters, the first door of right (ṛtá).
Ppp. reads at the end prathamobhā. The mss. all have ca rtásya in c-d. The verse is quoted in Kāuç. 66. 25, accompanying the action of 'going forward with (ādāya) water-pot [and] fire.'
23. I bring forward these waters, free from yákṣma, dispellers of yákṣma; I set forth unto the houses, together with immortal fire.
We had this verse above, as iii. 12. 9. Ppp. (which omitted it as part of that hymn) reads in a harāmi, and in c abhi (for upa).
24. Fasten thou not on us the fetter; a heavy burden, become thou light; like a woman (vadhū́), O dwelling, we carry thee where we will.
Quoted in Kāuç. 66. 30. ⌊Cf. again Oldenberg, IFA. vi. 179.—Over "woman" W. interlines "bride?"⌋
25. From the eastern quarter, homage to the greatness of the dwelling! hail to the gods that are to be hailed!
⌊Ppp. puts svāhā devebhyaḥ svāhyebhyaḥ before prācyaḥ: and has a similar order in the following vss.⌋
​26. From the southern quarter, homage etc. etc.
27. From the western quarter, homage etc. etc.
28. From the northern quarter, homage etc. etc.
29. From the firm quarter, homage etc. etc.
30. From the upward quarter, homage etc. etc.
31 . From every quarter, homage etc. etc.
In the last verse diçódiçaḥ should have been printed without space before the repetition, as is our usage elsewhere.
⌊After this hymn, which exceeds the norm by 11 verses, the quotation from the Old Anukr. is ekādaçāi ’vo "’pamitām" iti syuḥ.⌋