History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v5.c72.85

v5.c72.85

⁴⁷⁹ X. 18. 14. This verse is rather obscure and various interpretations have been proposed by German scholars (Roth, Grassmann, Ludwig, Geldner and Oldenberg) and others like Whitney and Hopkins. The translation is only tentative, but it probably brings out the sense in the context much better than many other interpretations. The idea probably is that the speaker wants to disconnect himself from the dead just as a feather may become loosened from an arrow that is shot and therefore he states that he wants to stop addressing the dead and close up all connection with the dead. The Bṛhaddevatā (VII. 18-19) remarks on this verse ‘प्रतीचीने यथाहानि अपहन्त्येतराणि तु । अहःसु पितरो बभ्रुरित्याशास्तेऽन्त्ययाशिषः’ ॥