Page:Atharva-Veda samhita volume 2.djvu/401

857 asthitas tanuṁ yathāparu saṁcinoti. I think his emendation receives support from the AV. comm., who says, at vol. iv., p. 224$6$, edam barliir ity ṛcā kule jyeṣṭho ‘sthīni yathāparu saṁcinuyāt. If we take sam-ci in the sense of 'assemble' as used in the phrase 'assemble the interchangeable parts of a bicycle or a Waltham watch,' our sūtra would then mean, 'while repeating xviii. 4. 52, he (the dead man's eldest son) assembles a human figure (tanum), limb by limb, from the bones (asthi-tas), i.e. he makes such a figure out of the bones by assembling them.'—If this be right, then we probably have to infer from the AV. text and from the next sūtra, 85. 26, that the eldest son addresses the deities with vss. 25-29, and does so as spokesman of his dead father, represented by the prostrate figure of bones; and that, while uttering vss. 30-35, he addresses his dead father, but does so as speaking for himself.—-As to forming a human figure (puruṣākṛti) with the bones, cf. further Bāudhāyana's Pitṛmedhasūtra, i. 10, especially lines 5, 7, 10, 13 of p. 15, ed. Caland.⌋

26. Let Dhātar protect me from perdition from the southern quarter; arm-moved etc. etc.

27. Let Aditi with the Ādityas protect me from the western quarter; arm-moved etc. etc.

28. Let Soma with all the gods protect me from the northern quarter; arm-moved etc. etc.

29. Dhartar the maintainer shall maintain thee aloft, as Savitar the light (bhānú) to the sky above; to the world-makers etc. etc.

30. In the eastern quarter, away from approach (?), do I set thee in svadhā́; arm-moved etc. etc.