2. The balā́sa of him that has balā́sa I destroy like a muṣkará; I cut its bond like the root of a gourd.
The accent urvārvā́s is noted in the commentary to Prāt. iii. 60; Ppp. reads ulvālvo yathā. The comm. defines urvārū as 'the fruit of the karkaṭī' (Cucumis utilissimus) and explains the comparison to be with the stem of this fruit, which becomes loosened of itself when ripe: cf. xiv. 1. 17. Ppp. and the comm. read puṣkaram in b. Ppp. also has kṛṇomi instead of kṣiṇomi, a preferable reading (BR. pronounce kṣiṇomi "false"; but nu-forms of this root occur in Brāhmaṇa and Sūtra; akṣṇomi, however, would be better in place). ⌊See BR. v. 1348 and 838.⌋
3. Fly out forth from here, O balā́sa, like a young āçuṁgá; then, like the [last] year's bulrush, scud away, innocuous to heroes.
Ppp. has, for b, suparṇo vasater iva ⌊cf. RV. i. 25. 4⌋ 'like a bird from its nest': a much easier reading. The comm. explains āçuṁga as an ordinary adjective, 'swiftgoing,' and, instead of çiçuka, reads çuçuka "a wild animal so called." For c, d, Ppp. has adhe ’ṭa ivā ’hano ‘padrāhy avāiraha. The comm. reads itas ⌊that is itás⌋, pple of root i, for íṭas in c. The Anukr. appears to sanction the contraction iṭe ’va in c.
15. For superiority.
[Uddālaka.—vānaspatyam. ānuṣṭubham.]
Found also in Pāipp. xix. Kāuç. applies (19. 26) in a rite for prosperity, with vi. 142. 3, using an amulet of barley. It is also reckoned (note to 19. 1) to the puṣṭika mantras.
Translated: Florenz, 267 or 19; Griffith, i. 252.
1. Thou art the highest of herbs; of thee the trees are subjects (upastí); let him be our subject who assails us.
The verse is RV. x. 97. 23 (with which VS. xii. 101 precisely agrees), which has, for a, tvám uttamā́ ’sy oṣadhe, and accents úpastayas úpastis. Ppp. elides the a of asi in a, and in c, d has upastir asmākaṁ bhūyād yo ‘sman. The comm. regards the palāça tree as addressed.
2. Whoever, both kindred and not of kin, assails us, of them may I be highest, as this one of trees.
The Ppp. version of i. 19. 4 a, b is (as pointed out at that place) nearly our a, b here. In this verse Ppp. reads samb- and asamb-, and its c is sambandhūn sarvāṅs tīn tvā.
3. As of herbs soma is made highest of oblations, as the talā́çā of trees, [so] may I be highest.
Ppp. reads, for b, c, uttamaṁ havir ucyate (which is better): yavā tvam āiva vṛkṣāṇām. The comm. has palāça in c. If talā́çā is a good reading, it may mean the same as tālīçā (Flacourtia cataphracta).
