# Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book XIX/Hymn 49

49. Praise and prayer to night.
This hymn and the following occur together also in Pāipp. xiv. Their viniyoga is the same with that of the two preceding hymns (see under hymn 47). They are translated together (but in reversed order) by Ludwig.
Translated: Ludwig, p. 466; Griffith, ii. 306.
​1. The lively woman, household maiden, night, of god Savitar, of Bhaga, all-expanded, of easy invocation, of assembled fortune (? -çrī́), hath filled heaven-and-earth with greatness.
In a, the pada-mss. read dámūnā; SPP. emends to -náḥ. In c, all the mss., with the comm. and SPP., read açvakṣabhā́ (p. açva॰kṣabhā́), which, as being unintelligible, our edition emends at a venture to viçvávyacās, and the translation follows the latter, for lack of anything better. The comm. gives two explanations: açu (= āçu) + akṣa + bhā (= abhibhavati or tiraskaroti), meaning çīghrapravṛtticakṣurādinirodhikā; or, alternatively, by analogy with vs. 4 c, açvakṣā (= açvān kṣāyati or kṣapayati) bhā (= dīptiḥ) yasyāḥ sā: both as absurd as possible. Ppp. reads açvakṣarā. Many of the mss. read sámbhṛtaḥçrīr, and the pada-mss. divide falsely sám॰bhṛtaçrīḥ instead of sámbhṛta॰çrīḥ; SPP. follows them. Ppp. reads saṁbhṛtaḥçīr ā.
2. The profound one hath surmounted all things; the most mighty one hath ascended to the loftiest sky; the eager night spreads toward me like a friend with excellent svadhā́s.
3. O desirable, welcome, well-portioned, well-born one! thou didst come, O night; mayest thou be well-willing here; save thou for us the things that are produced (jātá) for men, likewise what [are] for cattle, by prosperity ⌊puṣṭyā́⌋.
⌊Or, '[and] prosperous,' if we read puṣṭā́.⌋ The mss. all read in a várye, which we need not have altered to vā́rye, as várya is found elsewhere as early as TB.; Ppp. has niryāi. Three of SPP's authorities and one of ours have vándye, ⌊one has véde⌋, the rest with Ppp., vánde; the comm. vade (= sarvāir abhiṣṭūyamāne). Ppp. has svajātā. In b, most of the mss. begin with ā́jā́gan (one ájā́gan; p. ā́: jā́: agan), and the true reading is in all probability ā́ ’jāgan, impf. intensive of gam; or, if left as "pluperfect," as in our edition, it should at any rate be ā́ ’jagan, as SPP., with the comm., reads. Rātri is our (evidently called-for) emendation for rā́tri of the mss., which SPP. follows. Syās, at the end of b, is also for syām of the mss., the comm., and SPP.; it is an obvious improvement, though not quite necessary ⌊and receiving no support from Ppp.: see below⌋. Ppp. has a peculiar (and corrupt) version: ā (if svajātā, as quoted above, is for svajāta ā) cāgni rātri sumanā hy asyām. In c, the translation implies emendation of asmā́ṅs to asmé, against all the authorities, including Ppp. and the comm. The pada-mss. read jātā́ḥ, their natural inference from the rare and anomalous combination jātā́ átho; SPP. emends to jātā́. In d, Ppp. reads çriyā instead of atho, and at the end puṣṭyā, with all the mss. (they vary only as to its accent), and with SPP.; our conjectural emendation puṣṭā́ is supported only by the comm. ⌊text and explanation⌋.
4. The eager night has taken to herself the splendor of the lion, of the stag, of the tiger, of the leopard, the horse's bottom, man's (púruṣa) roar (? māyú); many forms thou makest for thyself, shining out.
5. Propitious to me [be] night and [the time] after sunrise; be the mother of cold (himá) easy of invocation for us; notice, O well-portioned one, this song of praise, with which I greet thee in all the quarters.
The translation implies in a a new conjectural reading: çivā́ me rā́try anūsūryáṁ ca; an accusative is opposed by the connection, and the meter needs another syllable. Anūtsūryá is venturesome, but we had otsūryám, p. ā॰utsūryám, above, at iv. 5. 7. At any rate, neither our text nor that of SPP. (çivā́ṁ rā́trim anusū́ryaṁ ca) seems to give any sense. Ppp. supports the mss.: çivāṁ rātrim ahni sūryaṁ ca; the majority of the saṁhita-mss. have çivā́ṁ rā́trim ahi sū́-, others anu for ahi (p. çivā́m: rā́trim: anu॰sū́ryam: ca); the comm. has rātrimahi, and understands it as rātri (voc.) mahi (= mahāntam, and qualifying sūryam!). ⌊SPP. suggests çivā́ rā́trī mahī́ sū́ryaç ca.⌋ In b, Ppp. has yamasya. In c, nearly all the mss. read açvá (or áçva) for asyá; and the pada-mss. treat it as an independent word; SPP. has asyá, with us. In d, a few mss. have vándye or vádye. Ppp. reads at the end vikṣu.
6. Our song of praise, O shining (vibhā́van) night, like a king thou enjoyest; may we be having all heroes, may we become having all possessions, through (ánu) the out-shining dawns.
The mss. read at the end anūṣásaḥ (p. anu॰uṣásaḥ); SPP. emends as we had done. Ppp., in b, c, d, has, joṣasī yathā nas sarvavīrā bh-. The verse is very ill described by the Anukr.; it is a good pan̄kti with one syllable wanting in c.
7. Pleasant names thou assumest:—whoso desire to damage my riches, them, O night, do thou burn continually, so that no thief be found, so that he be not found again.
8. Excellent art thou, O night, like a decorated bowl; thou bearest [as] maiden the whole form of kine; full of eyes, eager, [thou showest] me wondrous forms; thou hast put on (prati-muc) the stars of heaven (divyá).
Of this verse also the translation is a make-shift, following in part the mss. and in part our conjectural emendations. In a the only point of question is the last word, which the mss. read as ṣiṣṭás (so the majority) or çiṣṭas or viṣṭás ⌊etc.⌋: the comm. has viṣṭas (= bhojanārtham pariviṣṭas). Ppp. gives the whole pāda as bhadrā ’si rātris tapaso nu viṣṭo. In b, nearly all the mss. give víçvaṁ górūpaṁ yuvatir ⌊several have -tím⌋ bibharṣi (one has bíbh-), and this the translation follows, alterations not seeming to supply a better sense. SPP., however, follows the comm. in offering víṣvan̄ for víçvam (in saṁhitā he prints it incorrectly víṣvaṁ gó-, as if there were an assimilated final in the case); ⌊but in his Corrections at the end of vol. iv. he duly notes the error;⌋ he would hardly accept the comm's interpretation, = viṣūcī (one gender for another); but how he would render it, it is hard to see. Ppp. reads viçvaṁ gorūpaṁ yuvatid vibharṣi, but another hand has written above -tir bibha-. In c, nearly all the mss. (including the comm's text, as stated by SPP.) leave me unchanged before uçatī́ and SPP. accepts it in his text, though against all rule and practice; two of our mss. have ma. ⌊All the authorities give cákṣuṣmatī, and this is followed by the comm. and SPP., and also by W. in the translation, therein departing from the emendation ('to me having eyes') of the Berlin ed.⌋ Ppp. has for the pāda cakṣuṣmatī ve yuvatī ’va rūpaḥ. The translation supplies a verb, as seems necessary unless the text be still further altered. For d the general ms.-reading is práti tyā́ṁ divyā́ tákmā amukthāḥ (also tvám and tvā́ for tyā́m, and takmā́; p. takmā̀ḥ or -mā́ḥ); but the comm. offers práti tváṁ divyā́ ná kṣā́m amukthāḥ, and this SPP. accepts ⌊accenting thus⌋ and prints. Ppp. has pratyāṁ dityāṁ divyām arukṣam amugdhaḥ. The comm's version of the text is senseless, and his attempt to put meaning into it very absurd; it might suggest práti tváṁ divyā́ nákṣatrāṇy amukthāḥ. Our text ought to accent tā́rakā am-, if the reading is admitted.
9. What thief shall come today, [what] malicious mortal villain, may night, going to meet him, smite away the neck, ⌊away⌋ the head of him;—
The two following pādas ⌊10 a, b⌋ evidently belong to this verse rather than to verse 10; but our division is that of the mss. and the Anukr., and so is adopted also by SPP. The comm. inserts another line after our 9 a, b: yo mama rātri surūpa āyati sa sampiṣṭo apāyati; and then he divides the four lines that follow into two verses of four pādas each, giving eleven verses to the whole hymn. The majority of mss. accent martyás in b. The comm. reads harat for hanat at the end. Ppp. has yu dya stenā yutv aghāyu mṛtyo ripuḥ; and, in d, pra gīyasva pra. Pāda a is the a of iv. 3. 5, ⌊of which the b recurs here as the second pāda of the comm's inserted line and also as the fourth pāda of our vs. 10⌋.
​10. ⌊Away⌋ his feet, that he may not go; ⌊away⌋ his hands, that he may not harm.
What marauder shall approach, may he go away all crushed; may he go away, may he go well away; may he go away in a dry place (?).
At the end of b, the majority of mss. read yáthā́çiṣaḥ, which all the pada-mss. resolve into yáthā: áçiṣaḥ; ⌊most of⌋ the rest, and SPP., give yáthā́ ’çiṣat; the comm. yathā ”çliṣat (= saṁçleṣayet). Ppp. offers pra pādāu na yat āhataṣ pra hastāu na yanāçiṣat. In e, the pada-mss. compound su॰ápāyati, doubtless wrongly; ⌊read as pada-text sú: ápa: ayati⌋. All the mss., the comm., and SPP., give in f sthāṇāú, and the comm. explains it as = çākhopaçākhārahitavṛkṣamūla āçraye. After it, the mss. have apā́yataḥ (p. apa॰áyataḥ), but the comm. agrees with us in ápā ’yati, and SPP. accordingly also adopts it. The translation follows throughout the emendations of our text; perhaps, in f, sthā́ne would be better than sthalé, as more closely resembling the ms.-reading. We are deprived of the help of Ppp. upon the point, as it skips from apāyati in e to tṛṣṭadhūnam in 50. 1 a; for c, d, it had yo mulalaṁ sulapāyati sa saṁpiṣṭyo upāyati. We had d above as iv. 3. 5 b; ⌊cf. the end of the note to vs. 9⌋.