Page:Atharva-Veda samhita.djvu/142

cxxxiv They are divided into what are called paryāyas, or also paryāya-sūktas, but never into decads. ⌊The term paryāya-sūkta is thus somewhat ambiguous, and has a wider and a narrower meaning as designating, for example, on the one hand, the whole group of six paryāyas that compose our ix. 6, or, on the other, a single one of those six (e.g. our ix. 6. 1-17). To avoid this ambiguity, it is well to use paryāya only for the narrower meaning and paryāya-sūkta only for the wider. The hymn ix. 7 is a paryāya-sūkta consisting of only one paryāya. For the word pary-āya (root i: literally Um-gang, circuit, ) it is indeed hard to find an English equivalent: it might, with mental reservations, be rendered by 'strophe'; perhaps 'period' is better; and to leave it (as usual) untranslated may be best.⌋

⌊The paryāya-hymns number eight in all, five in the second grand division (with 23 paryāyas), and three in the third grand division (with 33 paryāyas). They are, in the second division, viii. 10 (with 6 paryāyas); ix. 6 (with 6) and 7 (with 1); xi. 3 (with 3); and xii. 5 (with 7); and, in the third division, xiii. 4 (with 6); book xv. (18 paryāyas); and book xvi. (9 paryāyas). The paryāya-sūktas are marked with a P in tables 2 and 3. For further details, see p. 472.⌋

⌊It will be noticed that two books of the third division, xv. and xvi., consist wholly of paryāyas; and, further, that each book of the second division has at least one of these hymns (ix. has two such, and contiguous), except book x. Even book x. has a long hymn, hymn 5, consisting mostly of prose, but with mingled metrical portions; but despite the fact that the Anukr. divides the hymn into four parts, which parts are even ascribed to different authors (p. 579), it is yet true that those parts are not acknowledged as paryāyas. Moreover, the hymn is expressly called an artha-sūkta by at least one of Whitney's mss.⌋

⌊'''Differences of the Berlin and Bombay numerations in books vii. and xix.'''—As against the Berlin edition, the Bombay edition exhibits certain differences in respect of the numeration of hymns and verses. These are rehearsed by SPP. in his Critical Notice, vol. i., pages 16-24. Those which affect book vii. are described by me at p. 389, and the double numberings for book vii. are given by Whitney from vii. 6. 3 to the end of vii. The Bombay numberings are the correct ones (cf. p. 392, line 4 from end). Other discrepancies, which affect book xix., are referred to at p. 898.⌋

⌊Differences of hymn-numeration in the paryāya-books.—These are the most important differences that concern hymns. They affect all parts of a given book after the read paryāya of that book. They have been carefully explained by me at pages 610-11, but the differences will be more easily apprehended and discussed if put in tabular form. The table harmonizes