Essay name: Atharvaveda ancillary literature (Study)
Author:
B. R. Modak
Affiliation: Savitribai Phule Pune University / Department of Sanskrit and Prakrit Languages
The essay studies the ancillary literature of the Atharva-Veda with special reference to the Parisistas. It does so by understanding the socio-cultural and philosophical aspects of ancient Indian life. The Atharvaveda addresses encompasses all practical aspects of life from health and prosperity to rituals and sorcery.
Chapter 1 - Ancillary Literature of the Atharvaveda (other than the Parisistas)
198 (of 255)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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is, in a way, based on the CA. For instance, general rules
into s, n into n, for restoring the original
for changing
form and for inserting the avagraha in the pada text are
taken for granted and only the exceptions have been recorded
in the APrāt. Another thing that strikes one is the fact
that it refers to about three scores of grammatical or
phonetic technicalities but it does not care to define a
single term. Perhaps, those technicalities are supposed to
have been already known from the CA. Thus the APrät. does
not bear the character of an independent work. It is just
a supplementary treatise.
The first prapathaka of the APrat, begins by stating
that pada is the basis of samhita (and hence each pada should
be known separately with its accent) (1-3). It then goes on
to say that words like Brhaspati (II.13.2) and the word
pratyancam (XI.3.26) are doubly accented (4-5). Then it
mentions that an udatta a may occur between two a letters,
6 e
5 after a or before i and 9 (6-9). Sutras 10-13 lay down
that, in the pada text, the nouns and verbs should be shown
separated from their prefixes and prepositions.
When there
are two prefixes or prepositions, the first one should be
arated. Sutras 14 to 28 deal with the accent of verbs
(5) Cf. Prät. 2.47; Oldenberg, ZDMG IL, p. 172.
(6) e.g. saha:a:ihixaxnah agamam (II.30.5); iha:a: vaha (III.
24.7); dhiya:a:ihi:a:nah (II.5.4); iha:a: etu (I.
15.2) etc.
(7) pra:sumatim (IV.25.6); abhi: Vipasyami (XII.1.33) etc.
Cf. CA 4.1-2.
