Page:Atharva-Veda samhita.djvu/495

325

1. To the draft-oxen ⌊do thou⌋ first, to the milch kine ⌊do thou⌋, O arundhatī́, to the non-milch cow, in order to vigor (váyas), to four-footed creatures do thou yield protection.

2. Let the herb, the arundhatī́, allied with the gods (?), yield protection; may it make the cow-stall rich in milk, and the men (púruṣa) free from disease (yákṣma).

3. I appeal to the all-formed, well-portioned, vivifying one; let it conduct the hurled missile of Rudra far away from our kine.

1. Here cometh Aryaman, with locks ⌊-stupá⌋ loosened in front, seeking a husband for this spinster, and a wife for a wifeless one.

Ppp. reads in b viṣatastugaḥ (i.e. viṣitastukaḥ). Our edition has -srupaḥ, the manuscript distinction of sru and stu being always doubtful, and the majority of the authorities here giving as plainly sru as it is possible to give it. The comm. explains viṣita- as viçeṣeṇa sito baddhaḥ, and as used of the "rays" (stupa-) of the sun (aryaman) in the east (purastāt). Aryaman is perhaps properly rendered here by 'suitor, match-maker' ('Brautwerber,' Weber, Grill); but doubtless at any rate the address implies an identification of such a functionary with the god Aryaman. The