asuri kalpa

THEEISENHOWERLIBRARY

3

1151

02538 4748

THE

_ASURi-KALPA

A

WITCHCRAFT

_PRACTICE

ATHARVA-VEDA,

WITH AN

_{INTRODUCTION, TRANSLATION,}

_AND

COMMENTARY.

A

DISSERTATION

PRESENTEDTOTHE BOARDOF UNIVERSITY STUDIES OFTHEJOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY FORTHE DEGREEOFDOCTOROF PHILOSOPHY.

By

H.

W.

MAGOUN.

1889.

BALTIMORE:

Pressof IsaacFriedenwald,

THfe

ASURI-KALPA

A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE

ATHARVA-VEDA,

WITH

AN

INTRODUCTION, TRANSLATION,

AND

COMMENTARY.

A

DISSERTATION

PRESENTEDTOTHE BOARDOF UNIVERSITY STUDIES OFTHEJOHNSHOPKINS UNIVERSITYFORTHE DEGREEOFDOCTOROF PHILOSOPHY.

By

H.

W.

MAGOUN.

1889.

BALTIMORE

:

Press of IsaacFriedenwald,

DEDICATED TO

PROFESSORMAURICE BLOOMFIELD OFTHE

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY WITH THE

SINCEREREGARD ANDGRATITUDE OF THE AUTHOR.

THE

ASURI-KALPA; A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE

OF

THE

ATHARVA-VEDA.

I.—

INTRODUCTION.

The

ritualliteratureof theAtharva-Veda,like thatof the other Vedas,has attachedtoitselfcertain

parifistas,

or supplements.

Of

these,the thirty-fifth,according to the best accessible

MS,

is

the

Asurl-Kalpa,

an

abhicara,

or witchcraft practice, con-tainingritestobe usedinconnection with the asurl-plant.

The

questionas towhat this plantwaswill bediscussed below.

The

use of the

word

kalpaforsuchatextisexplained

by

apassagein

the

Atharvanlya-Paddhati,

which states, on the authority of Uparvarsa,'that inadditiontothefive

AV.

kalpas

—

K

a u9i

k

a,

Vaitana,

Naksatra,

^anti, and

A

n

g

irasa

—

whicharecalled prz^/z'_{inspired,'there are certain other}

kalpas

_{which are}

tobe considered as smrti'

handed

down

by_tradition.'^

Three

MSS

have beenconsultedinpreparingthispaper.

Two

of

them

arecopiesofjhe parifistasof the

AV.

; thethird isa

commentary

to the

Asuri-Kalpa.

All three are loans to Dr. Bloomfield from the British

Government

in India, Just here I

may

saythatI

am

greatly indebtedtoDr. Bloomfield for theuse of these

MSS,

fortheencouragementandassistancewhich hehas givenme,and for his kindness in looking over

my

work.

The

MSS

areasfollows

:

A,

large sheecs oflight yellow paper,

bound

in

book

form, written lengthwise in a large clear hand and with considerable

care. Itisa

modern

copy.

JB,narrow sheets of light blue paper,

bound

in

book

form, written lengthwise,text fuller inplacesthan the preceding, butin

apoorhand andwith

numerous

errors. Itmust beaveryrecent copy. Bothof these

MSS

are

numbered

23.

H

(Scholiast),

much

olderthan eitherof the preceding, single sheets oflight

brown

paper

grown

dark at the edges, written lengthwise as the other

MSS,

but inaverypoor,though large,

'A

mimansa

(purva-) teacher. See Life

and

Essays

ofH. T. Colebrooke, Vol.II,pp.319-49.

2Cf.J.A.O.S.XI377,Bloomfield,

On

the Position ofthe Vaitana-Sutra inthe LiteratureoftheAtharva-Veda.

2

THE

ASUKI-KALPA.

hand. Itcontains threesectionsor chapters, IP

art

fivst(ScXxos

ib-6a') containsallthe practicesin briefform,andoccupiesabout one-fourth of the

MS.

Part

second

(foliosSa'-jb")treatsonly of thee.xternalsof theprincipalrite,andoccupies scarcely one-tenth of the

MS. JPart

third

isanelaborate

commentary

on whathas preceded; butinitspresent condition deals with onlyabout

two-thirdsofthepractices,sincethe

MS

lacks

some

foliosattheclose.'

This

MS

is

numbered

120; butisalso

marked

p

(^pattrdni)18; sam. {saihvat)1880-81; and,onthe last folio,written across the end onthemargin, S47-

From

theappearanceofthe

MS

itmight

beas oldasonehundred andfiftyyears; andsince sam.1880-8/ probablyhas referenceto Kielhorn's

Report,'

the

MS

may

beas

oldasitlooks. Itcontainsabout 200^lokas.

At

thebeginning of

part

third

it

names

Mahadeva

as the speaker,'

who

introduces his

commentary

(seep.11,note 19)by saying: '_It[the

mantra]

isnottobeuttered(performed) with-out teachers;

by

theprecept of a teacherthis magic

power

(suc-cess)[comesintobeing]. Accordinglyina singlefinal

commen-tarytheAsurl-[rite]shouldsucceed,'

—

vhid

gurun

akariavyamgJirtivdkyenasiddhtdam^(cod.sldhi-'),

ekdntiniatikdmadhye(cod. ekdnte-)sddhayeta taddsiiri. 2.

Mahadeva^

is spoken of as the seer of the divine asurl-text,* and as

becomes

a rsi he speaks of the Gayatri,Tristubh, and

Anustubh

metres {gdyatrHnstuba7msh(pchandah'),afterwhich he proceedstogivefullinstructionsconcerningtherites.

^JPavtfirst seemstobein factaversion of thepari?ista, fullerthan the text anddifferingfromitinsomepassages,but stillessentiallythesame.

Thechiefpointsof differencehave beennotedasreadingsof S. Theyhave been putinto glokaformwherethe

MS

seemedtowarrant it. Readings

horn j)(irfssecondandthirdare somarked.

'Seep.5,foot-notei. The

MS

iscataloguedonp.58.

'Theparigistas asawhole are intheform ofdialogues. Cf.Weber, HistoryofIndian Literature,p.153.

*The conjectural reading siddh'idam requires a regular fern, noun to be regardedas neu.; butforthistextitmaybe allowable,sincethe

MS

departs widelyinplacesfromallrulesofgrammar,andalso treats siddhi asaneu.in

otherpassages.

The commaandperiod(,and.)havebeen used inallSanskritpassagesas thesimplest meansof transliterating thetwo Sanskritmarksofpunctuation

(I andII).

*_AnepithetofRudraor^iva, alsoof Visnuandthenameofvarious persons.

It isan appropriatetitle,"Great-Lord,"fortheteacherofsuch atext,

A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE OF

THE

ATHARVA-VEDA.

₃

Apart from its subject-matter

S

possesses no little interest,

because it contains abundant evidence of the character of the people havingto

do

with itsgtes. It is exceedingly corrupt, as a few examples

may

suffice to show.

The

common

writing for

saptaissatpa; fordsurl, asiiri; forsilksma,

suksma

; for ciirna,

curna, Qic:jukiyat3X\djilhiydta are used iorjuhuydt; ?nryaie

for mriyaie,etc.:

rdayam

is found for

hrdayam

; bhimantritefia

for abhi- (beginning of a sentence); karaye for -yet; titha for tithir,etc.: little or noattentionis paidto

samdhi:

the confu-sionofsibilants,' sfor qand vice versa,isexceedingly

common

:

and

other curious freaksin spellingoccur,notably the use of cy

forc{cyurna for curna,and muncyatifor muficati),which is of

some

interest fromaphonetic standpoint,and the writing of the

word

vagika7-tukdma in eight different ways, while using it but twelvetimes,with amistakeof

some

kindineverysingle instance.^

The

errorsare doubtless

due

in partto later copyists; but,from

thepresent state of corruption,it

may

be safe to infer that the

original

MS

wasbadatthestart; foritseemshardly possible that

thescribesshould beguiltyofallthe errorswhichitcontains,even

ifthepresent

MS

istheresultof several successivetranscriptions.

The

nature of the mistakes stamps the writeratonceasan igno-rantand perhaps degradedperson. It isabout sucha

document

asmight be expected to bewritten inEnglish by

some

Voodoo

doctor

among

the blacks of the South.

Numerous

repetitions

serveto light

up

otherwise hopeless passages,and

when

thebrief outlines of the

parijista

are combined with the

commentary

thewhole practice

becomes

clear.

No

twoof the

MSS

exactly agree inthe order in which the different forms of the rite are

treated,and J5has apassagenotfoundineither

A

orS. Fortu-nately the

parifista

is mostlywritten in glokas, which isof great service in determining the true reading.^ In style the

parigista

is

somewhat

likethe sutras, being terse and

tech-nical initsformsof expression,andconsistingmostlyofwhat

may

'Cf. Proc.a. O.S.,May,1886. Introductionto the Studyofthe Old-IndianSibilants; byProf.BloomfieldandDr.EdwardH.Spieker. ^Itmaybesaid inadditionthat thereishardlyasentenceinthe entire

MS

inwhichthere arenotmistakesinthecase-forms, themostcommonbeingthe use of astem-formforanace.

^Inthetext,wherea

MS

readingisofnoimportance,ithasbeen thought besttoomitit;so,inthequotationsfrom

S

the

MS

readinghas been omitted

wheretheemendationisobvious,wherethesamemistakeisrepeatedseveral times,and,in a few instances,where

MS

evidence warrantsthe change;on

the otherhand,whereithasbeen thoughtbest todoso,thepassage hasbeen

4

THE

ASURI-KALPA.

becalled rules; the

commentary

is,of course,

more

likean

ordi-narytext.

Inthispapertheattempt hasbeen

made

not onlytopresenta correct version of the

pari

gista,sofaras the materialat

hand

wouldallow,butalso toreproduceto

some

extent thescholiastby

citing,mostly fromthefirstdivision,such passages,with thetext, asbearonthe

same

part of therite,andbyincorporatingintothe

commentary accompanying

thetranslationsuchother passagesas

throwlight

upon

those alreadycited,or giveanidea of additional matters not treated ofinthe text atall. Inthis

way

mostofthe

salientpoints of

^

have beenpreserved without,atthe

same

time,

copying its tiresome minutenessofdetail and unending repeti-tions

—

notthatthe

commentary

isof so

much

importanceinitself, for,ashasbeen shown,itrepresents the

work

ofaperson oflittle intelligenceapparently,certainlyofsmall acquirements; but that

the picture of thewhole might beascomplete as possible.

The

practice of witchcraftformsadarkchapterinthe historyof

man-kind,

and

anythingthatthrowslight

upon

theattitudeof

mind

in

whichitsdevotees havepracticed theircurious rites is nottobe despised.

The

"meditations"oi

S

may

notbewithouttheir sug-gestionstothose

who

caretoreadbetweenthelines,andthewhole practiceisacurious bit of evidence of the

power

ofsuperstition

over the

human

mind.

While

the

Asurl-Kalpa

hasprovedarichfieldforemendation, andhas afforded

some

opportunityfor conjecture,ithas notbeen altogetherunfruitful in

new

material, asthe followinglistwillshow.

SIMPLE

STEMS.

Denominative Verb:

pidaya.Xo

grind up,

make

intomeal.

Nouns

(members

of

compounds}

: nadika[;ia.j//],destruction.

ravi,^atreeor plant of

some

kind, .jar//(notinacomp.), a col-lectionofsix. sruca(?)[.yrz^^],.sacrifice-ladle.

Adjectives:

pretaka \_preta\ belonging to a dead [man]. Possibly

0)

jigdi!ia,desiringtoconquer.

Particles: klrm,ksdiim,andfr/m."

Analogical Vocative:

duhite \diihitar\

O

daughter.

New

Meanings

or

Uses:

.y/^rfffz^ar/

(compound

stem),

asur

I

(plant

and

probablyalso goddess).

So

lak.pnl, apparently and possibly Qri. caturtham (?),fourthly(asadverb).

'Seepage25, foot-note4.

'_EvidentlyfromQri'beauty,welfare.' Thesewordsare usedas partofa mutteredspell,andhave,therefore,noparticularmeaning.

A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE OF

THE

ATHARVA-VEDA.

₅

COMPOUND

STEMS.

Nouns:

aprajaiva,childlessness, utkarana,overcoming(?).

Adjectives:

daksinakarnika, having its point (ear) to the south, devija, goddess-born, raktavdsasa, having a reddish garment, vagyag;a,snhdn^d. VossWAypratyd7}tukha,i2iC\ng.

Neuters

as

Adverbs:

</z?za/r«>'a?w,atthe three parts of the

day

(A. M., M., and P. M.) dindstakam, at the eight parts (watches) of the day. Possibly(?)saptdhayiam,atthe seventhdawn.

COMPOUNDS

OF

A

MORE GENERAL

CHARACTER.

apardjaya,invincibleness.

karmakdrikd

(fern, ofadj. -rakd), deed-performer, ndgendra,a plant,probablyBetel, vaglkarhi-kdma,the desire to render submissive. Possibly also surati,a plantof

some

kind.

A

fewwords haveasyetbaffledallattemptsata solution.

They

willbe mentionedasthey occur.

Thatthe

Asurl-Kalpa

mustatonetimehave occupieda posi-tionof

some

importance appears fromthefactthatitismentioned, according to Weber, Ind. Stud. XIII 415, under the

name

Asurlyah

Kalpah

in the

Mahabhasya

IV

i, 19,

Vartti-kam

f. 19b. Inthisconnectionit

may

be

added

thatthe conjec-ture offered

by

ProfessorBloomfield_(J.A. O.S.

XI

378):

''pafi-cakalpaliisprobablynottobe understood(with

Weber,

Ind.Stud. XIII455)asone studyingfivedifferentkalpas,i.e.grduta-siltras,

but

means

anAtharvavedin

who

isfamiliarwith thesefivekalpas,"

i.e.the five belonging to the AV.,has recentlybeen confirmed

by

the discovery,

made by

the

same

scholar,of the

word

pafica-kalpi {siem-hi)used inthe colophonof a

Kaug.

MS*

to

mean

thewriterof a

Kau?. MS.

In cown^cXionyNXth. pancakalpali, says

Weber

(loc.cit.),the

Mahabhas

ya

(Vartt.3f.67a)mentions the words kdlpasiltrali, pdrdgarakalpikali,

and

mdtrkalpikali. This last

word

Weber

does not attempt to define, but says ofit: "Letzleres

Wort

istinder vorliegendenBeziehungunklar." Inthe

Kaugika-Sutra,

8,24,is mentioneda

gana

of

hymns

(AV.

II 2,

VI

III,and VIII 6) under the tide mdirndmdni,the object of which is the preventing or removing of evil;

and

Atharva-Parigis

ta^ _34,4,mentions the

same

gana

with the

'No.86. Report onthe Searchfor Sanskrit

MSS

inthe

Bom-bay Presidency,1880-81,by F. Kielhorn.

'^A.No.32,

S

No.34. ThelatternumberingmakestheAsuri-KalpaNo. 37;foreach

MS

givesbetweenitandthe

G

ana

m

a1atwo other pari?istas

6

THE

ASURI-KALFA.

addition of

AV.

IV

20,under the

same

name.' Italso adds, /// 7ndtrgiincihr

As

kdlpastltrali

means

onefamiliarwith the

K

al

pa-Sat

ras,andPiirdgaraka/pikahseemstohavebeen usedof a per-son

who

had studied the

Parag

ara-Kalpa,Mt

is safe to infer that the

word

mdirkalpikali meant one

who

was familiarwith or

made

use of the

M

atr-Kalpa,

and such a text

may

yet be found. If itever appears, Professor Bloomfield conjectures that

itwillprovetobearitual forthe use of apriest inconnection with

this

M

atro^ana.

The

presence of thesewords int-he

M

ah

a-b hasya, which contains

many

Atharvanic words not found elsewhere,cited as they are without explanation, goes to

show

that theywere allwell understood

by

the people ofPatafijali's

time,andtherefore referredtoritesandpracticessofamiliar tothe Hindoos that the

mere

name

was sufficient to

make

the reader understand the author'smeaning.

As

they are all Atharvanic, andthe

word

Asuri-Kalpah

isalsoAtharvanic,jhere can be no doubt that the

Asurl-Kalpah

and the

Asurlyah

K

a1pah are essentially the same, though the text

may

have suffered

some

changes at the hands oflater authorities onthe uses ofasurr,anditisevidentthatthe _pari5ista must have hadconsiderablecurrency

among

those

who

made

use ofAtharvan

rites. Additional evidence of thefamiliarityof theHindooswith such practices is to be found in the

Laws

of

Manu

(XI

63^ where the practice of witchcraft {abhicdrd) and ofmagic with roots lyvnilakarviari) is mentioned in a list ofsecondarycrimes {upapdtaka). Thisreferencealso

makes

clearthefact thatsuch

practicesareold; fortheymust have beenwellestablished

when

the

Manava-Dharma^astra

took its present shape, and

go

back,therefore, inallprobability,

some

hundredsofyears before ourera.

On

theother hand,it must be saidthat the

MSS

bear

marks

of alate origin.

S

mentionsthe

Hindoo

trinity {bralmia-vhmihard),containsthe Buddhistical

word

hevara, uses thegen.

fortheloc.and ins.,etc.; andall the

MSS

contain forms (trans-ferstothe a-declension,etc.)duetoanalogy and notcited inany of thedictionaries,besides exhibitinginthe subject-mattercertain the

Mahabhiseka

andthe

A nuloma-K

alpa.

S

doesnotnumberthe latter or theAsurl-KaIpa, but has after the

Mahabhiseka

what is

evidentlyacorruptionforJJ. ThePeters. Lex., withA,makesthe

Anulo-m

a-KalpaNo.34. Thenumberingof

S

hasbeentakentocorrespondtoDr. Bloomfield'seditionof theKau9.

iCf.Weber,

Omina

etPortenta,pp.

350-53-'_Not'\nA.ox

S

\ butseeBloomfield,Kaug.S,24,note5.

A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE OF

THE

ATHARVA-VEDA.

_/

tendencieswhichare recognizedasmodern.

They

arementioned below.

The word

dsurl'xsthefern,ofanadj.from asura"spirit,

demon,"

and therefore

means

primarily,"belonging to,or having to

do

with, spirits or demons."

Under

the form dsuri, the Peters. Lex.gives the meaning,

schwarzer

Senf,

Sinapis

ramosa

Roxb.^

From

the evidence of the

MSS,

dsuri must bea plant with a pungent leaf, and mustbear fruit {phald) and flowers

;

moreover,areligiousmeditation(dhydna)of S,which canhardly

refer toanythingelse,speaksof the"bright four-sided granter of wishes"; then of the

same

as "reddish," "blue-colored,""having aswordinthehand," "havinga

hook

inthehand,""havinga'

red-stone'inthe hand,"etc. All these expressions are based

upon

characteristicsofthe plant, as will appear below. In describing the oblation the

pari^ista

says: '

The

_wise

man

_should

make

mealofrajika' (rdjikdm

pMayed

budhali),while

S

inthe

same

passagespeaksofasurlas

made

intomeal.

The

word

rdjikd., in

fact,occursin

H

onlyin

part

third,

never in connection with

dsuri,and always wherethelattermight beexpected.

The

same

istrue of the

word

rdjasarsapa,forexample,

—

vidhdneparvavat

karmapratimdm

rdjasarsapdiJi,

purvavat kdrayen nydsam,chedayetpiirvavadapt.

'_{In[his] preparation, as before,[one should cause] an} image

for the rite[to be

made]

with black mustard seeds.

As

inthe formercase,he should cause the [limb]-placing

ceremony

to be performed; he should cause [the image] to be

chopped

alsoas

before.'

The

word

rdjikd,whichwas left untranslated above,is

the

common

name

fortheBlack MustardofIndia. Thisplanthas bright yellowflowers,and bears small dark seeds containedina

pod

which is tipped

by

a long,straight, flattened, and seedless

beak.'^ In all

members

of the

Mustard

Family, the

pungency

pervades the entire plant.^ There can be no doubtthat thiswas the plant actually used, and it is plain that the ignorant and superstitiousdevoteesawagoddessinthe plantitself,^andfound,

'

Wm.

Roxburg,Flora Indiea,Semapore,1832.

-Hooker, Flora of British India, I 157. The Black Mustard of Europe,whichisclosely related,is described as having smooth erectpods

whicharesomewhat four-sidedand tippedwithasword-shapedstyle. They

contain small darkbrownornearlyblackseeds. TheBlackMustard of the U.S.issimilar.

^Gray, Introduction to Structural and Systematic Botany, and Vegetable Physiology.1873,p.389f.

8

THE

ASUKI-KALFA.

perhaps,inthe effect of the seedsuponhispalatean evidence of her supernatural power.'

The

"_red-stone"(j-udhird)mentioned above,anddefined bythedictionaries asacertain redstone, not a ruby,here plainly

means

the seeds in the

pod

of the

asurl-plant,while the

pod

itselfis probablythe"sword,"and possibly

alsothe"hook."

The

chief objecttobeattainedwas thesubduingofanotherto

one'swill,orthe destruction ofanenemy.

The

use of the

hymns

of the

AV.

forthelatter purposeis sanctioned bythe

Laws

of

Manu

(XI

33):

'With

thethought 'one shouldutter(perform)

the

hymns

of theAtharva-Veda,'[let

him

be]withouthesitation

;

the'

word

'istheBrahman's weapon,

you

know,withitthe

twice-born shouldsmite[his]enemies,'

—

gruiiratharvdiigirasilikiiryddityavicdrayan,

vdkgastraihvdibrdhnianasyaiena

hanydd

arm

dvijdh. jj.

The

otherpractice, ashasbeen stated,ispronouncedcriminal

by

the

same

authority.

The

rite itselfis briefly as follows: after

certain introductory ceremonies, the person grinds

up

mustard

intomeal,withwhich he

makes

animagerepresenting theperson

whom

hedesiresto

overcome

or destroy.

Having

muttered cer-tain spells togive efficiency to the rite,he chops

up

the image, anoints itwithghee (melted butter),curds,or

some

similar

sub-stance,andfinallyburns itina " sacred-fire-pot."

The

ideathat

an image thus destroyed accomplishes the destruction of the personrepresented, orat leastdoes

him

seriousharm,stillsurvives

inIndia,anditcan beduplicatedin almostany countryinwhich witchcrafthasbeenpracticed.

The

Samavidhana-Brahmana

containsasimilarpractice, inwhich animageof

dough

isroasted soas tocause the moisturetoexude,and it is then cuttopieces andeaten bythesorcerer.

An

imageof

wax

has been largely usedinvariouscountries,thelifeof the

enemy

representedhaving been supposed towaste

away

asthe

wax

graduallymelted over a slow fire. This process was

known

to the Greeks, to the

Romans,

to the Germans, and even to the Chaldeans."

A

vari-'Thismayalsoaccountforthename,since atthetimewhenthese practices originatedtheHindoos wereboth verysuperstitiousandextremelyunscientific in all matters pertaining to natural phenomena, and they would,therefore, quite naturally assign thepungencyofthe plant tosomespiritordemon.

^Cf.Theocr.Idyll II 28,

Hon

Epod.XVII76;Grimm,

Deutsche

Mythol-ogie, 1047ff.;Lenormant,

Chaldean

Magic,p.5,foot-notei,and p.63; Burnell,

Samavidhana-Brahmana,

Vol. I,Introd.p.xxv, and see p.26, foot-noteI,end.

A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE OF

THE

ATHARVA-VEDA.

₉

ationof the

same

performanceistofilltheimagewithpins,attach a hated

name

toit,andsetit

away

tomelt ordry

up

accordingto

the material used. Thisissaidtobestillpracticedin

some

parts

ofAmerica,

England

and the Continent.' It is reported^that a

practiceofthiskind,i.e.the

making

ofan effigy tobe used for his destruction

by means

of sorcery,was tried on

Henry

VI

of

England

; and early in the present century a similar trick was

usedagainst the

Nizam

of theDeccan.^

Among

theIndians of our

own

country, theOjibwaysorcererswere supposedtobeable

to transferadisease from one person to another

by

a

somewhat

similarprocess.

They

were accustomed to make,forthepatient

who

paid them, a small

wooden

image representing his

enemy

;

then, piercing theheartofthisimage,they putin smallpowders, and pretended

by

thismeans,with thehelp ofcertain incantations, toaccomplishthedesiredend.'

The

fact thatan imagehasbeen so universallyused inwitchcraftpractices isno

more

remarkable than thefact that all nations have

made

use ofimagesto repre-senttheirgodsin religiousworship,andthetwothings

may

both be referred to

some

law of the

human mind by

which similar

conditionsproducesimilar results. Thereisnodiscoverable con-nection between the Ojibway's

wooden

image and theHindoo's

effigyof

dough

otherthan the

mere

factthateachis the

outcome

of a desire to injure,and nature teaches them both to think of whatispracticallythe

same

expedient.

The

minorpracticesof the

Asurl-Kalpa,

whicharedesigned

either to

work harm

toan

enemy

or

good

tothepractitioner, will

befoundintheirturn below.

They seem

to indicatea desireon the partoftheauthortofurnisha short cutto

power and

to

some

of the

more

important blessingswhich were supposedtobe gained

by

the sacrifices prescribed

by

the

Brahmanas;

indeed, the practicesof the

Asurl-Kalpa,

asa whole,seemto

show

a

dispo-sition tosupplantcertain religiousforms

by

simpler magicalrites,

while endeavoring at the

same

timetoobtain powers for

harm

whichreligious practices eitherleftin thehandsof the educated

Brahmans

or did not bestowatall. It must be added, however, thatthebelief in theefficacyofrepetition,so conspicuous in the

modern

"prayer-mills"_{of Thibet,is here}plainly tobeseen. In the

Asurl-Kalpa,

as in all other Indian witchcraft practices,

thereis, of course,an underlying stratum of skepticism; but the 'Conway,

Demonology

andDevil-Lore,Vol.I,p.272.

2Lyall,Asiatic Studies,p.88.

10

THE

ASUKI-KALPA.

great power of the priests is tacitly recognized

by

the care enjoined

upon

one

who

undertakes to subdueaBrahman.

The

practices forobtaining blessings areconfinedto thelatter partof theparifista,'and,from their general character,

seem

like an extension of the original practices, perhaps for the purpose of giving additional currency or respectability to the whole; they

may

possiblybe regardedasa further indicationthatthe

Asurl-K

a1pa,howeverancientitsmainpractices

may

be,is,initspresent shape,comparatively modern.

At

the present time inAmerica,theinterestfelt in witchcraftis

shown by

our surprisingly large and growing literature on the

subject.^ InIndia the interest feltisof adifferent nature,butit isnonethelessstrong.

To

the

Hindoo

the subjectisalivingone, andwhile the nativeliterature referring tomagicandsuperstition has always been great, at present, especially in the vernacular

dialects, it is enormous,

and

forms the favorite reading ofthe people.^

So

great isitshold

upon

the nativesthatLyall says of

it:* "Itis probable that in noother time or countryhas

witch-crafteverbeenso comfortably practicedasitis

now

inIndiaunder

Britishrule";' again," inIndiaeveryonebelievesinwitchcraft as a fact"; andjust below,"IneveryvillageofCentral India they keep a hereditary servant whose profession it is to

ward

off

impendinghailstorms

by

incantations,byconsulting themotionof water in certain pots, and

by

dancing about with a sword." Beside this

may

be placed the statement of Conway,*that there are 84,000charmsto produce evil

made

use ofinCeylonat the presenttime. In so far asitthrows lighton the past history of such practices, the

work

on the

Asurl-Kalpa may

not have beeninvain.

'Both

MSS

recognizeadivisionofthe practices intogroups

—

A.intotwo, asshown bythe figures(/and2),andJB apparentlyinto three;forithasatwo

{2)where

A

has one(/),andwhat maybeaone(/) in the passagewhich it

alonecontains. It lacks thenumberat the end. The divisions of

A

have been marked inRoman numerals, sinceithas been thoughtbest tonumber

the 91okas,although the

MSS

donot doso. The practices ofthe second division areallofthesamegeneralnature.

-See Poole's Index,third edition, iS32, under the headings

Witch-craft,

Demonology,

Magic,etc.

•^Burnell,

Sam

avidh

ana-Brahman

a,I,p.xxv.

*Asiatic Studies,1882,p.96.

^"Ofcourse the witch is punishedwhen he takes to poisoning orpure swindling"(1oc.cit.)

A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE OF

THE

ATHARVA-VEDA.

II

II.—

TEXT, CRITICAL NOTES,

AND

EXTRACTS

FROM

THE

SCHOLIAST.

om

namo

rudrdya>, oi'n kahcke kaUckapaitre' subhaga dsuri

rakte^ rakiavdsase*,atharvanasya dichite''ghore ^ghorakarmakd-rike\

amukam

hana'

hana

daha daha

paca paca

mantha^

mantha

idvad daha tdvat

paca ydvan

me

vaqam dnayaW

svdhd.^"

gayyd-vasthitdyds'^tdvaf^

japed

ydvatsvapiti,prasthitdyd"gatwi

daha

daha

svdhdsvdha, upavistdyd bhagam^* daha daha svdhd svdhd,

sttptdyd^^

mano

daha

daha svdhd svdhd svdhdsvdhd,

prabuddhdyd

hrdayam daha daha

svdhd svdhd svdhd svdhdsvdhd.^^

athdtadsiirlkalpam^''zcpadeksydmo^^'tharvanali,

ndsydsiithir^^

na

naksatram nopavdsovidhiyate. i.

ghriddisarvadravyesv'^''dsurf^gatajdpitd,

I.

A

and

S

omit these three words.

S

begins griganegdya

7iamali.

—

2.

MSS

(allthree) regularly patra.

—

3.

H

and

S

omit.

—

4.

So

MSS

(allthree),fern,fromtransitionstemin-a.

—

5.

So

MSS

(all three),analog,voc,asiffromstemin -d. Inallcaseswhere ana-iselideditiswritteninthe

MSS.—

6.

H

-karike,

S

-kdrake; but in one passage (p.23) -kdrinl.

—7.

Ji hana,

A

hana

2.

—

8.

A

omits.

—

9.

MSS

-naya.

—

10.

8

amukasya

matii'n daha daha,iipavMasya

subhagam

(cod.gii-^dahadaha, snptasya ma7io

daha

daha,prabuddhasya

hrdayam

daha

daha hana

hajia

paca

paca paca

(cod.pra-')

matha matha

idvad daha daha

ydvan

me

vagam

dydti hrlm hmii phat svdhd, iti mulat7iantrah.

S

also callsit atharvanama7itrali.

—

11. Agisyd-.

—

12. ]S-tdydli etdv-.

—

13.

B

prachit'dydpagatim.

—

14. JS

magam.—iS-

B

omits,

A

svaptdya.

—

16.

H

part

third

devadaitasya ['

Of

acertain one,'

technical use] viaiim

daha

daha,upaviddyd

bhagam

daha daha, snptdyd

mano

(cod. 7nard)

daha

daha,

prabuddhdyd

hrdayatn (cod.rda-')

daha

daha

paca hana matha

(cod.ra atha)idvad daha ydva7i

me

(cod.-vakie')vaga7ndnayo(cod. -ya')

hum

phatsvdhd.

—

17.

B

dsurprh.

—

18.

B

-degdd atharvanali,

S

vydkhdsyd77iali.

—

i<^.

B

naiasydstithiniiratrafii.

H

part

tJlM'd grlmdhdde(^-mahadeva) uvdca, grnuvatsam.ahdmantra7ndszirividhi7n tiitamat/i,

na

catitha {-ihir)

na

\ca'\ jiaksatram

na

mdsdu7iydiva(!)(j7idsd7iy

ev'a9)vdsare,

na

sthdnam 7iakia {-tef) tu kdpina vevfa (!) (veta?) ca

vidhl-yaie. i.

12

THE

ASCKI-KALPA.

pattrddyavayavaQ^ cdsyajig^a^cdnupdyini,

hantukdmo

hi ^atnihf ca vagikariutif cabhiipatln. 2. astirtglak^napmdjyam*

juhuydd

dkrtim budhah, arkdidhasdgnim" prajvdlyacittvdstrendkrtim tu'^tdm.j.

pdddgrato'sfasakasramjichicydd

yasya

vaqy''asdu, ghrtdktaydstr'ivaginfpdldgdgndudvijoiiamalf. 4.

gjcddktayd kmtriyds^"iuvdigyds hidadhhnigrayd^\

giidrdsiulavanamigrdi^"^rdjikdm

pidayed

btidhali. 5. dsaptahdl^^sarvaetadsiirihojnato vagdli,

kahddilenatrisamdhyam kulocchedam karotihi. 6.

gimdm^^hilomabhili^^sdrdhaviapasmdrih'ibhir difidih,

I.

Ayatrd-,

S

patrd-.

—

2. A.jikdisd,IBJigdisdgamhigdmi7ii.

—

3. A. -kurvang ca.

S

atha rdjd, vactkarhikdviali; but

else-where rdjavaglkarhikdmah. Cf.

part

third,

rdmdvagikaranakd-vialiand gatrughdtanakdmali.

—

4.J5dsurJm.

S

dsurydsiipi^tayd

(cod. szirsipista-) prahkrtim krtvdrkasamidbhir

agnim

(cod.

-iddhili agnl')p7-ajvdlya

dakmiapaddrabhya

[or -pddend-^ (cod. -pddd-)gash'ena ciitvd (cod. always cihtva) ghrtdktdthjuhuydt 108astotiaragatahome7ia vagi(cod.vagivargi). [Sc.rdjdbhavah.']

—

5.

A

arkedhand-,jB arke-.

—

6.

A

mi.

—

7.

A

vatyasdii.

—

8.

H

dstirisupi^taprakrhm krtvd vdniapddendkramya gastrena cittvd

ghrtdktdm juhuydt 108 saptdhe siddhili (cod. sidhi).

—

9.

S

pa,ldgasa7nidbhir

agnim

(cod.-idhiliagni\ similarlybelow)

/)r«;-vdlydsurmi(cod. -ri\ so regularly)^//r/^/Mr^/itnadha_(J) {tnadhu-sahitdm?) juhuydt 108

homena

gatyahevdj-a (-z'a?-^??)

vagam

diiayati.

—

10.

S

khadirasamidbhir

agnim

prajvdlydsurlm

yyiadhu-sahitdm(cod.madha-) 108 hoviena saptdhe va(!)(vagi)bhavati.

—

II. li viadhiimigrayd.

S

ndujnbarasamidbhir...dadhyaktdm

(cod. dardhoktdm).

—

12.

B

viigritdm. [Sc. pratikdydili1'\

S

2idu77ibarasamidbhir...Iavana77iigrdm krtvd trisamdhydm(-am~)

juhuydt108. For an enemy,

S

dsurm

katukatdildktdm,

limba-kdsfe agni(!) (jiimbakdstendg7tim')prajvdlya ho7nayo (^-yet) 108

homena

satpdhdima(!) {saptdhanam?) \_ov -dhe'] 77iriyateripuli.

—

13.

B

sa77idhat.

—

14.

S

gvetakha7'aro77id(!) asuri(!)ekikrtya {-ro77mdstiri77i eki- or -rot7idsurim cdikl-?)

yasya

ndh7i7ndm(!)

(ndm7id})

juhuydd

akasmdd

apasnid7'du {-rel) gildyate(!)

{guhyate?).

—

15.

B

(notin

A

or

S)

gu7id77itu lo77iabhi {-bhir)aira patraihrlipya(!){pattramlipya})rlingam(!)(Jingam'i')vd rdja-sarmpdilisa77idlipydtu (-yatu?)bhilpayet(!)(dhil-?),

gdureregram

{-rdgram?) tato dadydTt mriyate sdva {say'vah?)

samgayah,

abhaksabhak^^og

cdrogyam

sarvarogaprayojana77i.

samjildtd{-tdh'^)_pindapdtdu{-pdtikd})japdt

pdpd

bhava7itihi,

A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE OF

THE

ATHARVA-VEDA.

1

3

nivrttil}}ksjraviadhvdjydir'^lavanenahisajvarl? 7.

arkdidhaTisamidagjidu*tu^

karoW

sphotasambhavain, iesdmupagamam''vidydtsuregvarya^ghrtenaca. 8.

arkaksirdktaydrkagndvaksinl sphotayed^ dvisah, gatdsunidiisam tasydivanirnidlyamcitibhasma^^ca. g.

esdm curnenasamsprstohdsyagilo^^ 'bhijdyate,

ajdksirdktaydhorndt^"^tasyaviokso^^vidhiyate. 10.

tagaram

kusthani'^ 7ndnsi caiasydhpattrdni cdivahi, etdiliglaksndis hisaihsprstah^^prsthatah paridhdvaii. 11. tasydliphaldniviilldnisurabhihasthnedasd,^^

suksmataddravyasamspargdd^''anudhdvatyaceiasali.^^ 12.

vdigyasddhane

homydg

gurndi {Jwmayecckarndili?)suratibhili(?) krtd77i,

cahispathehiglidrasyapadmhiyotkarane yahi(yd-?). likhUvd

ndma

samgrhya

kardgrdngulhjditam{-pidi-?),

giralipiddjvaraligalamvwtatilisvastyasamgatih \_svastyasamgahh.'] vaipddyd{kal-?)vd prayoktavyd vrdhmanddicahisfaye{brd-), evai'nsampatyabhicdrag\ca'\cahirndmapidargitali.

I. yiSSnivrtih.

S

juhuydt pranmd7iaya7te(}.){pratydtiayanel')

ksirdktdm krtvd hovia

{-mam

?) 108tatahsthito bhavah.

—

2. IS giranaghdjydir.

—

3.

S

dsurimlavanamigrdm juhuydt 108saptdhe jvareriaprathdnayane{}.){pratyd-)ksirdktdmjuhuydt 108

para-svastho bhavati.—:^.

B

arghedhdsa-,

A

arkehdha-.

S

dsurmim-bapatirdni 108(cod. -niva-).

—

5.

B

omits.

—

6.

A

kai'ovisphota-,

B

karute purzisasphofa-.

S

hutvdsa visphotakdir grhyate.

—

7.

A

upasa-.

—

Z.

S

prathdnayana(pratyd-')dsiirlmkrtvd108svasio

bhavati.

—

9.

B

-tamye.

S

dsurim arkakslrdktdmkrtvd...

homayed

yad

asya

ndnmdm

(!)

{ndmnd

?)grhndiiiasydksisphotayati.

For

cure,

S

dsurimksjrdktdni jiihuydt108.

—

10.

S

dsurim citdbhasma

tnahdmahsam

pretakai'n

nirmdlyam

ekjkrtya108.

—

ir.

S

mantri-tena

camnena

{cilrn-)yasya spiindti (!) {sprgatit') sa unmatto

bhavati,

—

12.

B

hometa.

—

13.

S

dsurim ajdksirdktdmkrtvd svastho bhavati. In

_S

theorderis"Eye-twitching,""Epilepsy,""_Fever," "_{Lossof sense,"} "Boils."

—

14.

A

kusfa,

B

nagaram

kustha.

—

1^.

S

abhima7itritena

yasya

spilgati{spr-') saprsthato 'nucaro bhavati.

—

16.

A

surarbhirha-.

—

17.

A

silksmetat

dra-,B

st'iktam

tadra-.—iS. >Sihas,

—

uglram

tagaram

kmtham

zisrdm othasitghdthaihQ.){'^'^^') pag-caka(pa/lcakam),

dsuripuspasamyuktam siiksmacilrnam tu kdrayet108, (cod.-yet,

tendcatdbhiloS)

abhimantritena(cod.mantrl-')yasyagati(sprgati)gavago (savagd) bhavati(bhavet). 14.

14

THE

ASURI-KALPA.

achidrapattrdnyasita nqirali'

sarmpds

iaihd, etacciirndtpiirvaphalam-eidigcdivdparajaya¥. 13. I. ktisumdnivianahgild priyangictagardni*ca,

gajendramadasamyukta))tkiihhirvdnastvakimkaram". 14.

ydg

ca' striyo'bhigachaniitdvaqah pddakpinalf

,

sapuspdriftdiii

samdddydnjanam

ndgakeqara'w>\ 15.

anendktdbhydni'''aksjbhydmyam'''pagyetsa cakimkarah,

anjanam tagaram

kiistham'''devljam

kddham

evaca. 16.

mdhslca sarvabJultdndm sdicbhdgyasyahikdranani"', tatsaviidhdm

lakmhomdn nidhdnam

pagyateviahaV''. 17.

sarpir\_dadhi'^'\madhvakfapaitrdndm

vrddhapuirf

sahasratali,

rdjyam

tu labhate

vaqyam

tatpattratrisahasraiah'*. 18.

I.

B

uclram.

—

2.

B

puts 51

ok

as 13-18directly afterthe

pas-sage whichitalonecontains.—3.

A

yuvatphala ghatecdi-.

S

has

instead,

—

dsuriptisipapaiirdni

pmpdni

caphaldnica,

ndgend'raphalasamyuktam silksmacurnamhekdrayet108, abliimantritena

yana

(yasya)sprgatisa vago bhavati{-vet). 15.

—

4.

B

mrjyamytita-.

S

has,

—

manaligildpriyangugca

iagaram

ndgakegaram,

dstcnphalasaihy7iktam silk^maciirnamtukdrayet108[a^tagatdni'],

abhimantrite7iaya(yasya)sprh{sprgati)savagobhavati{-vet). 16.

—

5.

B

gajciidrdsa saih-.—6.

A

akrdvaram.

—

7.

Ayasyd.—S.

A

-lepanali,

B

pdramdalepaldt.—(^.

B

pwhf^pdndmtsa-.

—

10.

MSS

-kesara7n.—ii.

B

anjanetdktdm.—\2.

B

yam yam

pagyet sa kimkarah.

S

abhimantritena

cakamv

aujayitvd

yam

nirjksayaii sa vagobhavati.—\^.

B

omits,

A

hista.—\^.

S

hasinstead,—

dsuryangapaucakendtmd7iamdhfipayet,

yasydgagahdham

(!){yo 'sya

gandham

?)tighrati{ji-)sa vagyo

bhavati. 18.

It also reverses the order of the twofollowing statements.

—

15.

S

has,—

dadhimadhughrtdkidm htdvdsurlmjuMiydt, ?nahdnidhd7iani labhate dagasahasrdni,

gatdytirvdi purtisd{-sah). 20.

—

16.

Omit

on account of metre?

S

dstirim

madhughrtdktdm

hutvd...labhateputram.

19.—

il-

A

vrdvapannm.—i^.

B

tatpa-tratridhdnam . . . -i'r/^fl'/za^ra/i^A,repeatingfrom

floka

17last

pad

ato 18 end inclusive. It then has

sdrdham

... acetasali

(9loka

7endoffirst

pa

da

to

^loka

12 end inclusive), after

which itcontinues with

^loka

19{siivarna-).

S

has,

—

rdjydrthaihmadlnighridktdm

juhuydd

dsurllakqmlm, sardjyamlabhate. 21.

A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE OF

THE

ATHARVA-VEDA.

I

5

stcvarnasahasraprdptis^tatpattrdndmtulaksaiah, sahasrajapdc^ caiadvadudake ksirabhaksmah. zp.

vdripilrneHhakalaqe^paldqipallavdnksipei*,

sndndd alaksmyd^ mucyetasdicvarnakalage"

pi

hi'. 20.

vindyakebhyalisndnatoddurbhdgydccdiva

durbhagdf

,

prsthatag cdnudhdvaiitisamsprshVtidakenatu. 21.

ugiram

tagaram

kustham^" mustd^^ taipattrasarsapdh, curnendbhihitas^^iiirnam igvaro

pi

vagobhavet. 22. iulastbhilmadddevi cfirnasprstas^^tathdvagi,

rdjabhaye^^suregvarlmdrjandd^^ dhdrandttathd. 2j. na^^syddasyddbhzdaihkiihciv}''7iakmdropadravas^^tathd,

7idndigvaryam^^ ndprajatvam"^"yasya devydsurigrhe, 24.

yasyadevydstiri grhe'^\ II. iiydsurikalpalisantdptalf"^

.

I. A. svarnasahasrasydptis tu tatpuspdndni.

S

suvaryidtha7n dsuriphaldiii dagasahasram hutvd S7ivarnasahasram labhate.

—

2.JBsahaja-.

S

payobhaksy dsuryudakepraksindTii(!) {daksi-?)

ditydmukho (!) {pratyd- ?) bhiitvd dagasahasram japet.

—

3. A.

-lage lokegl-.

—

4. IB -vara ksapet.

S

dsurjpallavdir

astagdtoti-viantritani (!) {astottaragatdbhi77ta7itritam?) saihpilrnam krtvd

atTTia ij){krtvdtmdTiamT) sndpayeta {-yed}) 77ta(l) {dtmd7iam}')

dhiipayet.

—

5. jB -ksml.

S

ataks?7zlih muiicyati (!) (mtiflcati), vi7idyekopasvarga {kopasargam'i) 77iuiicati.

—

6.

A

-phalage.

—

7.

J5 -pi va.

—

8.

A

-gd7i.

S

durbhagd subhagd bhavet.

—

9.

MSS

samsprda.

—

10.

A

krdam,

J5kusUwi.

—

11.JB77iastdrdsndtatpatra-.

—

12.

B

-bhihatas.

—

13. jB-stasas.

—

14,

A

-bhaya.

—

15.jB 77iarj-ja7idt,vd7'a7idstathd.

S

has instead,cya7'tutha(!){caturthaiW^.)

jva7'ddibhutd7iadagatdTiijapeta77idrjaye77a(!) (^-Tiena}) p7'aksi7ia (-inaTJi?) mticyati (-/^?).

—

16. JB 7iaca tasyadbhu-.

—

17.

A

-ci 7ia.

—

18.

S

hasinstead,dstWipistaih gatavd7-dhn(!){^-raml) pari-jaspya(^-apyd) girasidhdpayetagrhito 7nucati{-cyate?),

dudagrhl-td7idmdsurim ho77iayet jo8 tatoTnucyati (^-te) ksipram.

—

19.

S

-7ilgva-.

—

20.

B

-pramatay'n.

S

hasinstead,atha 77ta7itra7h

p7'a-kdgayati lokdndm hitakdTTtyayd, dsuri7na7it7'ali saihpiirriavi l_-7id)

S5-i6

THE

ASURI-KALPA.

III.—

TRANSLATION

AND COMMENTARY.

Orii,obeisancetoRudra: om,

O

pungentone,thouofthepungent

leaf, blessed asuri,reddish one, thou ofthe reddish garment,

O

daughter of atharvan, non-terrific one, non-terrific wonder-worker (deed-performer), 'so-and-so' smite, smite, burn, burn, cook, cook, crush,crush, so long burn, so long cook, until thou

hastbrought[him] into

my

power: Svaha.'

Thisistheso-calledfundamental formula {pnillamantra). Pre-cedingit

S

gives,

somewhat

atlength,apreparation rite {purag-caranavidhi), inwhicha triangular fire-pot isprescribed for use

inreverencing the goddess.

Part

third

gives adiagramofit whichishere duplicated. Itappearsthatthe altar-mouthwasso

placedthatoneangle pointedto thesouth; for thediagram has

pa

{or

parvd

" east,"

u

forudlci "north,"deprobablyfordak&ina

"south,"andafigureone(7)which

may

easilybqacorruptionfor

pr^ pratici"_{west." Cf.}

(

part

first)purusahastapramdne(cod. -nam) trikmiakunde'_{vediyonisahitamsaliva(cod. satvd)}

dak^ina-'

'Good-offering,goodoblation.' Usedat theendof invocations verymuch

asweuseAmen.

^_{Theequilateraltrianglehasbeena favorite figure in}mysticismaswellas in magic. See description ofthe pentacleinDictionnaire Infernal,

Sixidme Edition,1863,p.518. Cf. also CorneliusAgrippa,Vol.I,p.196ff.,

De

undenario

&

duodenario

cum

duplici duodenarii

Cabalis-tica& Orphica;alsoI226ff.,

Ue

Geometricisfigurisatque Cor-poribus quavirtutein

magia

polleant,& quae quibus

dementis

A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE OF

THE

ATHARVA-VEDA.

1/

karnikedevfni(cod. -vi)piljayei.^ '

Having

_reclined

(satdown), one should worshipthegoddessinathree-corneredfire-potof the

sizeofaman'shand, withanaltar-mouthhaving[its]point(ear) tothesouth.'

The

preparation-rite includesan oblation ofghee

and

-sugar{^hrtagarkardhoma),garlands of thered,sweet-smelling oleander (^raktakaravlrapmpamdla), an ornament (mark)of red sandal-wood {raktacmidanatilakcC), the partaking of a brahma-carya-oblation{brahmacaryahavispdnambhakivd, cod,bhaktd'),and a lyingontheground(bhamigayana).^ S,

part

second,

adds, daksindbhimukho nityam'_{facing the south constantly,'}

kanibald-sayiam '_{sitting on a woolen} blanket,'^ _{raktavastraparidhdyiam}

(cod-trampari-')'puttingonared garment,'and

raktagandhd-nulepanam

'anointingwithredsandal-woodpowder.'* S,

part

third,

says also, sarvatra

prdndydmddisu

'_{in all} cases in the holdingof the breathinworship, etc'

The

addresstothe

A

surI-goddess,beginningthe"fundamental formula," occursin

S

severaltimes,mostlyin

part

third,

with

slight variations in form. In one instance it has as one of its

introductory phrases,netratraydyanamali"obeisanceto'

Three-eyes,' "andthen continues,

om

hrim

katuke,etc.

Under

thetitle

japamantrali "whisper-spell," it appears in the form,

om

kllm

hrfih grirh

ksdum k^dum

grim

hrim

kllmom, kahipattresubhaga ^Partsecondsaysofit: trikonakaravuyonisahitamkaravuhastamdtramtu

kundarh karyam,onisahita(!)(yonisahitam?hardlyoni-)ayata (athato?)

brdhmana-daknnavmkhaveslnel^>,{-vdsijiiT)homa{-mayet})karavukundanu(})agna(!){-de

tvagnim?)daksinakaravtimparam{-rd?)sidhi [siddhih). 'Afire-potmustbe

madehavinga triangular

—

altar-mouth ofthe size ofa

—

handmoreover

;

thereupon(?)one should offeran oblation(?) inthe

—

fire-potwithan

altar-mouth havinga situationtowards the south suitableforworship(?) [having

kindled]afiremoreover witha

—

to the south. Thegreatestmagic(success)

[results].' Thewordkaravu occursnowhereelseandisnotatpresent trans-latable.

-Cf.

part

secondbhojanamhavispdnamekasuktam(!){-bhuktam?)

hhilmi-gayanambrahmacaryam; also

part

thirdjitendriyaJi (cod.ja) pujayed dsurim dev'im (cod.-ridevi).

^For explanation see

Durga

Puja (durgdpujd) byPratapachandra

Ghosha

{pratapachandraghosd),note19, p.xxix.

*Itheadsthe preparation-ritewiththewords athapadgdtimantra{-ah),and

endsitbysayingiti damkathitam{-ali\mantrant {-ah). The first seems to

mean,'Thegoingtothe feet [ofRudra]text'{padforpad). Thesecondisa puzzle;butitprobably containssomesimilarideareferring to the propitiation ofthegod.

1

8

THE

ASUKI-KALPA.

dsuri raktavdsase 'iharvanasya duhitc 'ghore 'ghore svdhd,

om

kliihkrlm grimk.^dmh

k^dum

grimhr'mklimorii.^

Following the

ma

la

mantra,

S

gives a 'limb-placing

cere-mony

'_{(aTigaJiydsa),consistingof"obeisance}"_paid

tothefingers in pairs, and to the two palms

and

backs of the hands. "The objectofsucha

ceremony

is said tobethe mental assignmentof variouspartsofthe

body

to certain divinities,with

accompanying

gesturesandprayers.^ In the presentcase,theendinview seems

tohave beenthe propitiationofRudra.^ Nextin ordercomesa meditation{dhydncC), inwhichthe protection of

Durga

isinvoked, and mentionis

made

of

some

of her characteristics,

among

them

thepossession of 90,000,000 bodilyforms{dtcrgd

navakotimiirti-sahiid').

Inthecase of a

woman

lyingona couch, as longasshesleeps,

one should mutter: '_Ofherarisen thegoing burn,burn: svaha,

svaha

; ofherseated the

bhaga

(pudenda)burn,burn:svaha,

svaha;

of her asleep the mind burn, burn: svaha, svaha, svaha,

svaha;

ofher awake the heartburn, burn: svaha, svaha, svaha, svaha,svaha.'*

1. So then

we

willteach the

Asuri-Kalpa

oftheAtharva-Veda (atharvan). For her not a 'lunar-day,' nor a 'lunar-mansion,'

northe kindling ofa holyfire isdecreed.

*

2. Over all material consisting of ghee, etc., the asurl*' is

caused to be muttered'one hundred times,

And

[let there be] a

1Forotherlistsofparticlessomewhatsimilar in nature, cf.

Durga

Puja,

pp.36endf.and61end. Ithasbeenthought bestto keep the anusvara

throughout;the

MS

uses theanunasikasign,possibly to indicate a pro-longation ofthevowelsbynasalization.

'See

Durga

Puja,p.30flf.,andnote21,p.xxxif.

'Cf.

part

third,tatrakardhgultnydsah,evamrudayddi(ritdrdydddii)nydsa evara niantraih{-a7i)samaih{sdma?)jtydsam{roh)kartavyam{-ah) sadhakottanidi [sadhakottamdili). 'Thenthe finger-placingceremony;thustoRudra inthe beginningthenyasa,thusthemantra,the

saman

;thenyasaistobe

per-formedwiththehighestmagical[rites].' *S,

part

first, does not containthisformula.

5'Thehighest asuri-ordinance.' Cf.p.II, foot-note19,where a fullerbut not altogetherclearformofthe

mantra

isgiven.

^Probablythe

mantra

justgiven, possibly themula-mantra.

"Cf.

Laws

ofManu, II 85,where thestatement is madethat muttering [the syllableom,thewordsdhttr,bhuvah,andsvar,andtheSavitri re(RV.

Ill 62, 10)]istentimesbetterthana regular sacrifice;iftheyaremuttered so lowthattheycannotbeunderstood, theyavailone hundredtimesmorethan aregular sacrifice;and,iftheyare recitedmentally,one thousand times more.

par-A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE OF

THE

ATHARVA-VEDA.

I9

portion ofthis'consisting of leaves,etc [Let there be] one,surely,

who

desires tosmite [his]enemies and torender submissivekings.

Owing

tothe uncertainty of thetext,^ithasbeen thoughtbest

toomitthetranslationofone

pad

a,thougha provisional reading hasbeenadopted.

H

hasnothing correspondingtoit,but reads:

atha gri dsurimahtram {qrydstirlmantrani)

md

atharvdna rsih

imdtharvdnarsir) asuridevatd (dsurl-') hrim bijam (^m) asuri-Qakti{dsurl-) nastikachandah {-7idd)

mama

gatrziksayam {-yo)

mdrane mohane

vasikarane (vagi-) stambhane {stambh-')

vini-yogah,

'Then

me

possessing the divine

asurl-m

antra

[let]the seer of the Atharva-ritual, [let] the asurl-divinity [help?]:

tidespossess apeculiar andmysterious power which eventhe gods cannot escape,and by which the person understandinghowtousethem cancontrol divine as well as human agencies andaccomplishwhat he wills. Atthe presenttimeinIndia,theBrahmansconsideritasacrilege to utter theword

oih (pronounced

aum

asrepresenting the trinity)aloud,and theyalso still

attachwonderful powerstoit. Cf.the oihmani padmehumoftheBuddhists.

S

regularlygives the numberofoblationsasone hundred andeight,anda

mantra

isasregularly said tobepronouncedwith the oblation. One hun-dred imagesarementioned byS,partsecond

—

sarmpatdilahomah(cod.pars-) pratimagatah108

—

butthenumber108followsimmediately,aselsewhere.

^Theasuri-plant.

2Thereadingof

^

isimpossibleasit stands,andthatof

^

presents

diffi-cultieswhichcan hardly be overlooked. Thewordjigdisa could scarcelybe anything butasecondaryadjective derivativefromjigtsa,meaning"hewho

desires to conquer" (herefern.),whilegamtuordgamtumight be a3d, sing., root-aor.,imv.or thestemoftheinf.usedinacompound. Itisdifficult to seewhyawomanshouldbespecified as theonedesiring toconquer,andeven

ifitwere plain the restwould remainunsatisfactory. Theroot-aor.ofthe \fgamis confined tothe Vedas,Brahmanas, and Sutras (Whitney,Roots, Verb-Forms,etc.)and mayjustlybe suspectedhere,though the

MSS

seem

tousesomeVedic words,forexample,homa(probablyfor homarti),the i^yu(p.

98, foot-note),andindha[A.,gloka8). Theinfinitivestemalso,as partof a

compound,does not heremakesatisfactory sense,thoughthe formis unobjec-tionable. Thethreelines taken together evidently serveasasortof intro-ductionto the practice,andtaking the reading givenin the text(asemended

fromthebetterMS),thewholemayperhaps be renderedfreely:

'The asurl-[mantra]is causedtobe muttered one hundred times overallsortsof materials,.suchasghee,etc.; [Thereistobe]botha por-tionofthe[asuri]consistingofleaves,etc.,and[thereistobe]a desire toconquer without [ordinary?] means(bymagic?); For[thereis] one

whoboth wishestosmite[his]enemiesandtorender submissivekings.'

While thisisnot altogethersatisfactory from a Sanskritstandpoint,itis

20

THE

ASURI-KALPA.

hrlm.

[Thereis] thecore of the

mantra

(seed) possessing the might offisurl, the desire to destroy, the destruction of

my

enemy

; inthe slaying, in the stupefying, inthe

making

submis-sive, inthefixing likeapost[thisis] thepractice.'

Followingthis statement

S

has a "contemplation'" {dhydnd),

inwhichtheperson shouldmeditate {dhydyef)onthebright

four-sided granter of wishes(j^ukldih caturblmjdm" varaddm'),having

a

hook

in the handl^ankvgahastdni),adornedwith all ornaments

(^sarvdlamkdrabhil^J(dm),se2ii&d inthe

padmasana-position^

on a serpent{ndgopari padmdsanopaviddifi), and havingagracious countenance{prasa7inavada7id?n).

The

MS

thenhas.Hi

vag'ika-rane,'

Thus

_{[readeth it] in the}

making

submissive.' Secondly,

inthefixing likea'post {stavibhane) the personistomeditateon the reddish,four-sided, fearlesswish-granter{kapildmcaturbhujdm abhayavaraddm),with swordin

hand

(khangarahastdni),having

asan ornamentahalf-mooncrest(?){candrdrdhamdulbiepathydnii."^

cod. cahddrdhamdulineprdiix),etc.

And

thirdly, in the slaying ormagicalincantationforthatpurpose (mdrane), he should

medi-tate on the blue-colored,four-sided, fearless wish-granter

(jilla-varndm, etc.), having a "red-stone" in the

hand

(rtcdhira-),

seatedona

dead-man

{mrta^ndnusopaviddni),wearinga

m

u nd

a-garland {^minddmdlddhardm), etc.

The

meditation contains several vocativesaddressed tothe goddess,for example,

k^ame

'

" gracious one," ndgayajrwpavitini"thou that hast a snake for

sacred cord," and so on.

The

corresponding reflection of >S,

part

third,

writtenin

glokas,

begins; 'Thisisthe time-triad meditation. [Thereis the meditation] pertaining topassionand

also [that]pertainingtogoodness and[that]pertainingto spiritual

darkness; thereuponthehighest,accompanied

by

allsacredrites,

divine, hard to be attained accomplishment

by

magic [takes

place],'

—

athakdlatrayam dhydnam.

rdjasamsdtvlkl(!){sdttvikam) cdiva

tdmasam

catataliparatn,

sarvakarmasamdyuktam sddhanam

devadurlabham. i.

'Forasimilardhyana,see

Durga

Puja,p.34f.

-Thisword is usedas an epithetof Visnu in tlie senseofhaving" four arms."

3

_A

_{posturein religiousmeditation.} The personsitswithhis thighs crossed, onehandrestingonthe leftthigh,the other heldwith the thumb upon his heart,whilehiseyesaredirectedtothe tipofhis nose.

*Candrdrdhamdullisanepithetof^iva.

A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE OF

THE

ATHARVA-VEDA.

21

The

three parts ofthis meditation treat mostlyof the

adorn-ment

and characteristicsofagoddess.

The

first following the passagejust cited begins: 'At

dawn

[one should meditate on

the goddess'] shining with reddish apparel, adorned with gufija^ and vidula(?),"

—

prdtd (cod. prdtarakta-) raktdmbardbhdsdm

gufijdvidumabhiisi-tdm

(!){-avidula-?).

Itcontinueswithsimilarexpressions,and the third

9loka

reads

:

'

The

_{one having three eyes} and having_{four mouths,}

illustrious

with the

murmuring

proceeding from the reading of the Veda, Possessed of staves andadisk,* carrying a sacrifice-spoon^

and

ladle,abeautiful one,'

—

trinetrdiiicacahirvaktrdmvedadhvanivirdjiidm,

dandekmnandaldiyuktdm(!){dandikdniandaldiryuktdthl:')

guvali-grucadhardm

(!){sruvasruca-?)"cubhdm. j.

Itendswith thewordszVzrdj'asam,'

Thus

_{[readeth] the}

[medita-tion]pertaining to passion.'

The

second

begins: 'At

midday

[one should meditate on] the goddess wearing white apparel, moreover alwaysgracious.

Having

putonawhitegarment, carry-ing a white serpent,^

Decked

with garlands of

malati^

along withwhitesandal-woodointment,etc..

Having

an appearancelike [thatof]thefruitof the ghatri,'

made

beautifulwithastringof pearlsinthenose,'

—

'This meditation contains noverb;but from the meditationin S,

part

first,it isevidentthatdhydyetistobe supplied. Thedevlnhis expressedin thenextdivision.

^Abrus

precatorius.

^Calamus

rotangor Calamusfasciculatus.

*Thediskismentionedagainjustbelowinanothersectionofthe medita-tion. Thereisageneraltendency noticeableinbothdivisions of

S

torepeat certainideasinthe three partsofthemeditation.

?Theconstant use of thesetwo implementstogethermakesitprobablethat thisisthemeaningofthepassage,whichisverycorrupt.

«Transition stemin -a fromsrtu,though,possibly bad writinghtsruva.

Thesruc isalarge spoon or ladle,madeusuallyofpalaQa- or khadira-wood, andisusedforpouring gheeona sacrificialfire;the sruvaisasmall

spoon usedfor skimmingthe fatfrom thepotinto the sruc. The reading suvahsruca-maybe suspectedhere.

'Thereareseveral plants called kaflcukin,and it maypossiblybeone of these.

sjasminum

grandiflorum.

'Emblicmyrobolan.

22

THE

ASUKI-KALPA.

Qukldmbaradhardm

devi(!)(-vim)

madhydhne

tii sadd givani(!) (-vdm'),

qubhravastraparidhdnam (-ndni) gretakahcukidhdrini(!)

{gveta-kanczikidhdrinim?).5.

qubhracandanakpadyam

mdlai'imdldmanditdm {-pddyamdl-?), ghdtriphalasamdkdrdmndsdtyiduktikaQobhitdm. 6.

To

these expressions

may

be

added

triQiilacandrdhidhardm (cod. -hidhard) '_{bearing a} trident andawhiteserpent,'and gvetavrsa-bhasamsthitdm'_standing

by

awhitebull.' Itendswith thewords

:

Hi

tdmasam

'

Thus

_{[readeth] the [meditation] pertaining} to spiri-tualdarkness.'

The

third

divisionissubstantially asfollows:

'_In

the afternoonmoreover[heshould meditateon] thegoddess

made

beautifulwith a blackornament,

Having

putona blackgarment, decorated with an ornament (mark) of

kasturl

(musk?),

Adorned

with three eyes ina streakofblack antimony[applied

to the lashes as a collyrium],Sitting

down

alongwith a bird,

made

illustriouswith a conch-shell and a discus,*Possessed of a blue lotus,^decked with garlands ofholy basil,^

Thus

at even-ing the goddess* Laksmi, in a black color, obeisance! one praises'(?),

—

apardhne(cod.-dnhe)tusd(!)idm?)devi(!){-vlni) krqndlamkdra-gobhitdm,

krmapataparidhdnam

(-dni)kastiirililakdhkitdm(!)

{kastiiritila-kdfljitdm?).

kr^nakajjalarekhdydm

locanatrayabhmUdm

,

^

vihahge (jhangena)

samdsindm

(-dsindHi) cankhacakravirdji-idm. i"."

^_a.Qaflkhacakmgadddhara 'holdingaconch-shell,a discus,andamace'; anepithetofVisn.u.

*Nymphaea

caerulea.

^Ocymum

sanctum.

*Possiblythereading should berdnidmdevim'the beautifulgoddess';but

thereisreason tobelieve that it shouldbe ranidm. Precedingthe "

Time-triadmeditation,"thereisa briefasurl-meditationof a similar nature,

intro-duced bythewords dsuridhydnainddducavdididhydnam(vedi-?)'The

asuri-meditation and in the beginning the altar-meditation,' in which ^rland LaksmTare both mentioned(cod. fr/f catelaksmi),andthemeditation of 8,

part

first,referring toDurgaalsomentions Laksmi. The tendency of the

MS

torepeat hasbeenmentioned..

^_trilocani\%an epithet ofDurga;trilocana, of ^iva. Itis probable that thenetratrayausedinaformofthemiilamantra(p.17) referstothelatter.

A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE OF

THE ATHARVA-VE

DA. 23

nilotpalasamayuktdm tulaslmdldm anditdm

,

eva {-vam?)sdya{-yam?)

ramd

{-mam

?) devi {-vim)krsnavarne

namo

{-mail?) stute. 2.

The

next passage is almost hopelessly corrupt. It contains

enough

syllables for

more

than three

jlokas,

has thefigurefour

{4) atthe end,and seemstoemphasize

some

of the items already mentioned/ Itconcludeswith thewords: ityadi{-ddv"^) dsuri-irikdladhydnam '

Thus

_{in thebeginning}[ofthe rite (?)readeth] the

asurl

time-triad meditation.' Further references to the goddess follow,

among

them,

mahddevi

{-devyT)

aghorttkarma-kdrinV

{-nil') "greatgoddessnon-terrificdeed-performer."

The

whole ends as follows:

'And

also [thou

who

dost grant]

much

compassion[and]

who

dost bestow

many

asuccess.

The

medita-tion of Brahma, Visnu

and

(^iva, deliver the three worlds,

O

mother.^

Thus

precisely [readeth] the

supreme

meditation.

O

asuri,

supreme

mistress,

[Thou

art]the giver of success to the magical [rites] producing enjoyment and deliverance.

Thus

in

thebeginning[readethit]inthe asurl-meditation,'

—

aneka {-kam?)cdiva

kdrunydm

{-yam?) anekasiddhiddyini,{-z?h dd--^),

brahmavimuharadhydyiam

trdhiirdilokyamambike. 3. ityeva

paramadhydnam

dsuri paramegvari,

sddhakdndm

siddhiddtdbhuktimuktiphalapradd. 4. ityddi{dddv?)dsuridhydne.

The

significanceof these referencestothegoddess

asurl

willbe discussed below. It appears from the references to the three parts of the

day

that the oblations were

made

at the periods named, andthe three parts of the meditation,intheorder given, were usedwiththem,i.e.theone referring to rajas was usedin

themorning,that referringto

tamas

atnoon,and theone

refer-'_{The passage} begins with the words:sdttvikam puvdnhe, which should

probably be emended toiti sdtivikam.purvdhne;for the conclusiontothe

thirdpartof themeditationislackingintheMS, andthewords madhydhne and apardhne follow in the two succeeding lines. The reference to the

trisamdhyam

becomesclear onlyonthe suppositionthatsdttvikamends the third division,and thatthe restofthepassage issupplementarytothe whole.

*_Thepassageistoo corrupt to determine whetherthewords should bevoc. orace; but theyare probablyvoc. Cf. the passagecited justbelow,also p. II, foot-note6.

24

THE

ASURI-KALPA.

ringto

sattva

inthe afternoon.'

The

number

of oblations has been mentioned above, and itwill be againconsideredbelowin

anotherconnection.

3. Thewise

man

shouldoffer as an oblation amixture ofghee andfineasurl-meal [in theformof] an image,Havingkindled a

fireofarka-woodfuel, havingchoppedtheimage, moreover,with a

weapon.

4.

He

[becomes] submissive beforewhose feet[aperson] offers eightthousand oblations.

A

woman

[is made]submissiveby [an

image of asurl-meal] anointed with ghee: Brahmans inafireof

palaga-wood:

5. Ksatriyas,moreover, by[animage] anointed with sugar: but

Vai9yas by [one] mixed with curds: Cudras, furthermore, by

[those]^ mixed with salt: the wise

man

should make meal of

black mustard.

6. Asa result of an oblation ofasurl [extending] up to the

seventhday,^allthese [aremade] submissive.

The

practice in full' seems to have been as follows:

The

wizard first

ground

asuri' into meal,with which he

made

an image, symbolizing the person

whom

he desired to overcome."

He

used kindlings

(samidhs)^

of

arka-wood

for Rajas

and

'_{It is}tobe observedthatthecorrespcmding meditationin S,'partfirst,is

also divided into threeminor reflections.

No

time is mentionedwith the divisions in thatplace;butitisprobablethatthe same rulewasobservedas that laiddownin

part

third. It alsoappears fromtheformer, thateach reflectionwasregardedasinstrumentalin accomplishingsome particular part ofthecomplete process of subjugationordestruction.

-Thechangeto the plu.masc. seemsatthefirstglancetobeforthe sake of themetre; butsince^udras lavanajni^raydmakeseven abetterpadathan the

one in the text, it may be inferred that a different word waspurposely impliedinthe caseof ^udras. Asamatter offact theword mostappropriate tothemismasc. Cf.(jloka5andfoot-note.

*Cf.p.12,notes8,10,and12end; alsop. 13,note3,andp.27.

*See(J1okas3, 4,and5,andfoot-notes.

8Probablytheleaves aswellas the seeds. Seetranslation ofgloka2.

^_a.

_part

_{third(beginning}oftheriteusedtosubdueaBrahman),

///rz/a-brahmatimdm {parvabrahmapratimdmT)krtvd'having madetheformerimage

ofaBrahman,'i.e.as before.

'The samidhsusedinofferingoblationweresmallsticksofwoodabouta span(9 in.)long and aboutas thick as a man'sthumb. Cf. Colebrooke,

Asiatic Researches, VII 233. The usual number is seven; but the

Grhyasamgraha-Parigista of Gobhilaputragivesnineandtheir names

(1*28

f.),-ityetah samidho nava, viQlrndvidaldhrasvdvakrdstilldkvQd dvidhd, 28-krmidastdcadirghdcavarjanlyah prayatnatah.

A

WITCHCRAFT

PRACTICE OF

THE

ATHARVA-VEDA.

25

women,

pa1a9a-woodforBrahmans,

k

ha

d

ira-woodforKsatriyas,

udumbara-wood

for Vaigyas and ^udras, and

nimba*-wood

for foes.

Having chopped up

the imagewith a sword,hefinally

offereditasan oblation,adding ghee foraking or

woman,

ghee [and honey^_?] fora Brahman, sugar forprinces,curds for third castepersons,saltfor fourthcastepersons,and pungent mustard

oilfor foes.^ It is tobe observed that in the case of akingthe person was toadvance with the rightfoot; inthat of a

woman,

with theleft. Thisisdoubtlesstobe put with thesimilar

Hindoo

notion that thethrobbingof the right eye or

arm

is luckyfora

man

and unluckyfora

woman,

whilewith the lefteyeor

arm

the caseisreversed. •

/Sf,

part

third,

while

much

fullerinitsdetails than the other two sections,adds littleofimportanceor interest.

A

few points

inwhichitdiffersfrom

them

may

be mentioned,for example,in

theriteusedfor ensnaring aking it has ravikddhena prajvdlya

'_{havingkindled[a fire]with astickofra vi^-wood}

'; italso

pre-Dr. Bloomfield,inhisedition,thustranslates: " diessinddieneunsamidhs

(Zundholzer). Einzerbrochenes,ein gespaltenes, eins das kiirzer (als eine Spanne)ist,ein krummes,einsdas dicker(alseinDaumen)ist,einsdaszwei

Zweigehat, ein von Wiirmern zerfressenes, undeins das langer (als eine Spanne)ist,sindnach Kraften zu vermeiden." Themost completedescription ofthem, however,istobe foundinthegrhya-sutras.

'Intheordernamedthese trees are theCalotropisgigantea,theButea

frondosa,theAcaciacatechu,theFicus glomerata,and theAzadi-rachta indica. Some idea of the Hindooview inregardtothesewoods maybeobtained fromtheAit areya-Br ah

man

a,IIi.TheErection ofthe Sacrifice-post {yupa);andtheir appropriateness maybe inferred from the

Laws

ofManu,II 45,whereitisstated thatthe Brahman'sstaffshould be ofvilva- (^gle marmelos) or palaga-wood;the Ksatriya's, ofvat

a-(Ficus indica)or khadira-wood; and the Vaigya's, of pilu- (Carey

a

arbora or Salvadorapersica)or udumbara-wood. ^udras are not dvijas "twice-born,"andsodonotcome under therule. Fornimba, 'part

tllirdusespicumanda,whichisonly another namefor thesamewood,and

verifiestheemendation(p.12, foot-note12end). ^Seep.12,.foot-note9.

3Theuse ofanimageistreatedofinthe Introduction above. Kaug.Su.,

adhyaya

6,containsfurther materialof a similarsort. SeeKauc.35,28; 17,54; and49, 22.

»Bohtlingk,Lex. V,172, cites ravi as the

Calotropis gigantea

whichmakesitidenticalwitharka. Inthissense itseemstohave been knownheretoforetothe lexicographersonly.

Thisarticlewasintype beforeIhadaccessto the indexto Bohtlingk's lexicon, which alsocontains the word

aparajaya

and perhaps others.

Ithas notbeen in

my

powertocarefully consultthatworkforallthenew