68. Thou art the barhís of them that are our Fathers.
The metrical description of the Anukr. implies the reading yé asm-. In Kāuç. (87. 27) the verse is used with 1. 51 etc. (see under 1. 51) in connection with the strewing of barhis.
69. Loosen up the uppermost fetter from us, O Varuṇa, [loosen] down the lowest, off the midmost; then may we in thy sphere, O Āditya, be guiltless unto Aditi.
The verse ⌊which is RV. i. 24. 15, etc.⌋ occurred above as vii. 83. 3 ⌊which see⌋; among our mss., only O.R. write it out in full. The comm. notices the repetition, yet goes on to give a full explication. In Kāuç. (82. 8), it is used in the ceremony of the first day after cremation (next before 3. 56), with the direction iti jyeṣṭhaḥ, apparently implying that "the oldest" son of the deceased pours water on the attendants; the comm. says that with this verse, immediately after the cremation, all the Brahmans should take a bath (snānaṁ kuryuḥ).
70. Release from us all fetters, O Varuṇa, with which one is bound crosswise, with which lengthwise; so may we live hundreds of autumns, by thee, O king, guarded, defended.
The rendering of samāmé and vyāmé in b is far from certain: cf. iv. 16. 8. The comm. explains: samāmo nāma vyāmasaṁjñitapradeçāt saṁkucitapramāṇako deçaḥ: saṁnihite pradeçe dūre pradeçe ce ’ti yāvat. Two of our mss. (O.R.) and one of SPP's read samāné; and two or three of the latter have badhyate, without accent. Nearly all, again, read çarádam in c (our O.R.p.m. Land one of SPP's⌋ -das), and SPP. admits çarádam into his text; our -dām is an emendation, and a necessary one, unless we take instead -das, as in apposition with çatā́ni. The comm. makes no difficulty of reading -dam, understanding it, according to one of his convenient rules of interpretation, as a sing. used in place of a plural. Most of our mss., again (except P.O.Op.R.), but only one of SPP's, accent rā́jan. The comm. points out that rákṣamāṇās is for rákṣya-, which is altogether probable, considering how easily a y is lost after ṣ or ç. The first pāda is identical with vii. 83. 4 a. All the pada-mss. except one of SPP's read gupitā́ instead of -tā́ḥ. The comm. directs the verse to be recited for good fortune evening and morning at the end of the daçarātra in the pitṛmedha.
71. To Agni, carrier of the kavyás, [be] svadhā́ [and] homage.
72. To Soma with the Fathers [be] svadhā́ [and] homage.
⌊Verses 71-87 are prose, except vs. 75, with regard to which see p. 869, ¶5.⌋ These verses ⌊71, 72⌋ are found, in reversed order, in AÇS. ii. 6. 12. In VS. ii. 29 a, b, are found both, but with svā́hā in place of svadhā́ námaḥ, and the same in ÇÇS. iv. 4. 1 and GGS. iv. 2. 39, except that in the latter svāhā precedes the datives. VS. accents pitṛmáte. ⌊See also under vs. 74.⌋ In Kāuç. 87. 8, vss. 71-74 are combined in alternation with vss. 78-80 to accompany in (he piṇḍapitṛyajña the scattering downward of three handfuls of offering; and ⌊are used⌋ again, later (88. 2, 3, 4) in the same ceremony, with oblations. ⌊Verse 71 is employed by Vāit. (9. 8) in the sākamedha, and I suspect (see p. 869, ¶7) that the sūtra intends vss. 72 and 73 also to be thus used: cf. also ĀpÇS. viii. 13. 15, 16.⌋
73. To the Fathers with Soma, svadhā́ [and] homage.
74. To Yama with the Fathers, svadhā́ [and] homage.
