[Advaita-l] Is it saMpradAya dOSha or pATha bhEda??

[Anand Hudli]

Interestingly enough, the AshvalAyana saMhitA of the R^ig veda, recently
edited by Brajbihari Chaubey and published with saMhitA pATha and pada
pATha in two volumes by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, has
the "mamA vaha" reading. It is to be noted that this R^ig veda saMhitA is
different from the extant shAkala saMhitA of the shAkala shAkhA of the R^ig
veda. While the shrIsUkta appears as a Khila sUkta in the shAkala saMhitA,
it is a standard hymn appearing as the 88th and 89th sUktas of the 5th
maNDala in the AshvalAyana saMhitA. There are more than 200 additional
mantras in this saMhitA. The first mantra of the shrI sUkta is praying
Jataveda or Agni to invite shrI-lakshmI for the sake of the person reciting
it, "me mahyaM madarthamA vaha Ahvaya". Why request Agni? sAyaNa bhAShya
quotes from the shruti which says "agnirvai devAnAM hotA", agni is the hotA
priest among the Gods. He invites other Gods to the Yajna.

Anand