36. To get a husband for a woman.
[Pativedana.—aṣṭarcam. āgnīṣomīyam. trāiṣṭubham: 1. bhurij; 2, 5-7. anuṣṭubh; 8. nicṛtpurauṣṇih.]
Found (except vss. 6,8) in Pāipp. ii. (in the verse-order 1, 3, 2, 4, 5, 7). Used by Kāuç. (34. 13 ff.) among the women's rites, in a ceremony for obtaining a husband; vss. 5 and 7 are specially referred to or quoted, with rites adapted to the text. It is further regarded by the schol. and the comm. as signified bypativedana (75. 7), at the beginning of the chapters on nuptial rites, accompanying the sending out of a wooer or paranymph.
Translated: Weber, v. 219; xiii. 214; Ludwig, p. 476; Grill, 55, 102; Grifiith, i. 78; Bloomfield, 94, 322.—Cf. Zimmer, p. 306.
1. Unto our favor, O Agni, may a wooer come, to this girl, along with our fortune (bhága). Enjoyable (juṣṭá) [is she] to suitors (vará), agreeable at festivals (sámana); be there quickly good-fortune for her with a husband.
The text is not improbably corrupt. Ppp. reads ina, bsumatiṁ skandaloke idam āṁ kumāryāmāno bhagena; but it combinesc andd much better into one sentence by reading fordoṣaṁ patyā bhavati (-tu?)subhage ’yam. The comm. explainssambhalas assambhāṣakaḥ samādātā vā; or else, he says, it meanshiṅsakaḥ pūrvam abhilāṣavighātī kanyām anicchan puruṣaḥ. He quotes ĀpGS. i. 4 to show thatvará also means paranymph.Juṣṭā́ he quotes Pāṇini to prove accentedjúṣṭā. Ind he readsūṣam, and declares it to signifysukhakaram. ⌊Bergaigne,Rel. véd. i. 159, takessámana as = 'marriage.'⌋
2. Fortune enjoyed by Soma, enjoyed by Brahman, brought together by Aryaman; with the truth of divine Dhātar, the husband-finder I perform (kṛ).
Ppp. has a mutilated first half-verse:somajuṣṭo aryamṇā saṁbhṛto bhaga; and at the endpatirvedanam. The comm. understands inabrahma- to mean the Gandharva, who and Soma are the first husbands of a bride (xiv. 2. 3, 4). He does not see inbhaga anything butkanyārūpam bhāgadheyam; but the meaning "favors" is not impossible.
⌊Bothbhagam ("fortune" or "favors") andpativedanam (the ceremony called "husband-finder") are objects ofkṛṇomi; which, accordingly, needs to be rendered by 'make' or 'procure' for the one combination and by 'perform' for the other. It is hardly a case of zeugma.—Bloomfield notes thatsaṁbhṛta contains a conscious allusion tosambhala, vs. 1.⌋
3. May this woman, O Agni, find a husband; for king Soma maketh her of good-fortune; giving birth to sons, she shall become chief consort (máhiṣī); having gone to a husband, let her, having good-fortune, bear rule (vi-rāj).
Three mss. (including our P.O.) readnā́ri ina. ⌊Forvideṣṭa ina (Grammar2 §850 a),⌋ Ppp. hasvideṣṭu; at end ofb it reads-gaṁ kṛṇotu; and it changes the second half-verse into an address by readingbhavāsi, andsubhage vi rājā. The comm. explainsmahiṣī asmahanīyā çreṣṭhā bhāryā. The fourth pāda is best scanned asjagatī, with resolutionga-tu-ā́ ⌊or insertsā́ beforesubhágā⌋.
4. As, O bounteous one (maghávan), this pleasant covert hath been dear to the well-settled (suṣád) wild beasts, so let this woman be enjoyed of Bhaga, mutually dear, not disagreeing with her husband.
The translation here involves emendation of the unmanageablesuṣádā inb tosuṣádām, as suggested by iii. 22. 6. SPP. has in hispada-text.su॰sádāḥ (as if nom. ofsuṣádas), and makes no note upon the word—probably by an oversight, as of ourpada-mss. only Op. has such a reading; the comm. understandssuṣádās, and explains it bysukhena sthātuṁ yogyaḥ 'comfortable to dwell in'; which is not unacceptable. The comm. also has inamaghavān, and indabhirādhayantī (=abhivardhayantī, or elseputrapaçvādibhiḥ samṛddhā bhavantī). Ppp. has at the beginningyathā khaṁraṁ maghavaṅ cārur eṣu, and, inc, d,yaṁ vayaṁ juṣṭā bhagasyā ’stu saṁpr-. All oursaṁhitā-mss. save one (H.), and half of SPP's, giveeṣáḥ pr- ina-b; but the comment to Prāt. ii. 57 quotes this passage as illustration of the loss of its finalvisarga byeṣás. Kāuç. (34. 14) evidently intends an allusion to this verse in one of its directions:mṛgākharād vedyām mantroktāni 'the articles mentioned in the text on the sacrificial hearth from a wild beast's covert,' but the comm. does not explain the meaning. The Anukr. ignores the redundancy of a syllable inc. ⌊Pronouncejuṣṭā iyam and rejectnārī?—The use ofsámpriya in dual and plural is natural: its extension to the singular is rather illogical (cf. TS. iv. 2. 4), unless we assign intensive value tosam ('very dear').⌋
5. Ascend thou the boat of Bhaga, full, unfailing; with that cause to cross over hither a suitor who is according to thy wish.
Orpratikāmyà may perhaps mean 'responsive to thy love.' Ppp. has inaā ruha, inbanuparas-, and forc, dtrayo pūṣā hitaṁ yaṣ patiṣ patikāmyaḥ. The comm. understandsupa- inc as an independent word. With this verse, according to the comm., the girl is made to ascend a properly prepared boat.
6. Shout to [him], O lord of riches; make a suitor hither-minded; turn the right side to every one who is a suitor according to thy wish.
Circumambulation with the right side toward one is a sign of reverence.Ā krandaya ina is perhaps a real causative, 'make him call out to us'; the comm. takes it so. His explanation ⌊page 332⌋ of the accompanying rite is: "offering rice in the night, one should make the girl step forward to the right."
7. Here [is] gold, bdellium; here [is]āukṣá, likewise fortune; these have given thee unto husbands, in order to find one according to thy wish.
8. Hither let Savitar conduct for thee, conduct a husband that is according to thy wish; do thou assign [him] to her, O herb.
The secondnayatu is a detriment equally to sense and to meter; the Anukr. counts it toa, and thepada-mss. mark the division accordingly. Emendation oftvám inc totám is strongly suggested. The verse hardly belongs to the hymn as originally made up; there has been no reference elsewhere to an "herb"; nor does Kāuç. introduce such an element.
In the concludinganuvāka ⌊6.⌋ are 5 hymns, 31 verses: the Anukr. says accordinglytriṅçadekādhiko ‘ntyaḥ.
This is the end also of the fourthprapāṭhaka.
⌊One or two mss. sum up the book as 36 hymns and 207 verses.⌋