Page:Atharva-Veda samhita volume 2.djvu/433

889 mss. (including our M.O.Op.R.K.D.) read ávā ’priyā́ṅ (p. áva: apriyā́n), and this is perhaps the true Atharvan text (though the accent, in that case, should be ávā́ ’priyān), and defensible on the ground of sense; our last pāda is nothing but a senseless corruption. In Kāuç. (88. 27) the verse is used, next after vss. 81 ff.,* in the piṇḍapitṛyajña, with the direction ity uttarasicam avadhūya; the comm. paraphrases this to mean that one is to perform an additional sprinkling (? uttarapariṣeka) next after the worship (upasthāna) of the piṇḍas. For the application of the verse to the Fathers, compare TB. ii. 6. 3$2$, ákṣan pitáraḥ: ámīmadanta pitáraḥ, etc.; ⌊also Sāyaṇa's comm. on TS. i. 8. 5$2$, Poona ed., p. 1159⌋. *⌊It is to be noted that in the piṇḍapitṛyajña of the VS. (ii. 31), amīmadanta pitaraḥ etc. comes just before the verses corresponding to our vss. 81-85.⌋ ⌊ÇGS., i. 15, prescribes the RV. verse for use when the bride greases the axle of the wedding-car: is this because of the resemblance of akṣam ('axle') to akṣan (root ghas)?!⌋

62. Come ye, O Fathers, delectable, by profound roads that the Fathers travel, assigning to us lifetime and progeny; and do ye attach yourselves to us with abundances of wealth.

63. Go away, O Fathers, delectable, by profound roads that go to the stronghold (pūryā́ṇa); then, in a month, come ye again to our houses to eat the oblation, with good progeny, with good heroes.