Page:Atharva-Veda samhita.djvu/136

cxxviii third consists of the books (xiii.-xviii.) characterized each by unity of subject. These divisions, although not clearly recognized in name (but cf. page clvii, below) by the text-makers, are nevertheless clearly recognized in fact, as is shown by the general arrangement of the text as a whole and as is set forth in detail in the next chapter, pages cxl-clxi. Concerning their recognition by the Old Anukr., see the paragraphs below, pages cxxxix f. In this chapter will be treated the divisions commonly recognized by the native tradition.⌋

The division into prapāṭhakas.—The literal meaning of pra-pāṭhaka is 'Vor-lesung' or 'lesson' or 'lecture.' This division, though noticed in all the mss., is probably a recent, and certainly a very secondary and unimportant one. It is not recognized by the commentary, and it does not appear in the Bombay edition. No ms. gives more than the simple statement, "such and such a prapāṭhaka finished"; no enumeration of hymns or verses is anywhere added. There are 34 prapāṭhakas, and they are numbered consecutively for the whole text so far as they go, that is, from book i. to book xviii. inclusive. The prapāṭhaka-division is not extended into books xix. and xx.

Prapāṭhakas: their number and distribution and extent.—First grand division (books i.-vii.): in each of the books i.-iii. there are 2 prapāṭhakas; in each of the books iv.-vi. there are 3; and in book vii. there are 2: in all, (6 + 9 + 2 =) 17. —Second grand division (books viii.-xii.): in each of the five books viii.-xii. there are 2 prapāṭhakas: in all, 10. —Third grand division (books xiii.-xviii.): each of the first five books, xiii.-xvii., forms 1 prapāṭhaka, while the sixth and last, book xviii., forms 2: in all, 7. —Sum for the three divisions, (17 + 10 + 7 =) 34. —In book iv. the division is very uneven, the first of the 3 prapāṭhakas containing 169 verses or over half the book; while in xii., on the other hand, in order to make an even division of the 304 verses as between the 2 prapāṭhakas, the end of the first is allowed to fall in the middle of a hymn (just after 3. 30), thus giving 148 verses to the first and 156 to the second. ⌊On comparing the verse-totals of the books of the first grand division with the number of prapāṭhakas in each book, an attempt towards a rough approximation to equality of length among them will appear. The like is true in the second grand division; and also in the third (note especially book xviii.), so far as is feasible without making a prapāṭhaka run over more than one book.⌋

Their relation to the anuvāka-divisions.—The prapāṭhaka-divisions mostly coincide with the anuvāka-divisions. Exceptions are as follows: prapāṭhaka 11 begins with v. 8, in the middle of the second anuvāka of book v.; 19 begins with viii. 6, in the middle of the third anuvāka of book viii.; 21 begins with ix. 6, in the middle of the third anuvāka