Bhashya
तत्र इयं स्तुत्यर्था आख्यायिकेत्यवोचाम; का पुनःसा आख्यायिकेति उच्यते- इदमित्यनन्तरनिर्दिष्टं व्यपदिशति, बुद्धौ संनिहितत्वात् ; वै-शब्दः स्मरणार्थः ; तदित्याख्यायिकानिर्वृत्तं प्रकरणान्तरमभिहितं परोक्षं वै-शब्देन स्मारयन् इह व्यपदिशति ; यत् प्रवर्ग्यप्रकरणे सूचितम्, न आविष्कृतं मधु, तदिदं मधु इह अनन्तरं निर्दिष्टम्- 'इयं पृथिवी' इत्यादिना ; कथं तत्र प्रकरणान्तरे सूचितम्-दध्यङ् ह वा आभ्यामाथर्वणो मधु नाम ब्राह्मणमुवाच ; तदेनयोः प्रियं धाम तद्देवैनयोरेतेनोपगच्छति ; स होवाचेन्द्रेण वा उक्तोऽस्म्येतच्चेदन्यस्मा अनुब्रूयास्त एव ते शिरश्छिन्द्यामिति ; तस्माद्वै बिभेमि यद्वै मे स शिरो न च्छिन्द्यात्तद्वामुपनेष्य इति ; तौ होचतुरावां त्वा तस्मात्त्रास्यावह इति ; कथं मा त्रास्येथे इति ; यदा नावुपनेष्यसे ; अथ ते शिरश्छित्त्वान्यत्राहृत्योपनिधास्यावः ; अथाश्वस्य शिर आहृत्य तत्ते प्रतिधास्यावः ; तेन नावनुवक्ष्यसि ; स यदा नावनुवक्ष्यसि ; अथ ते तदिन्द्रः शिरश्छेत्स्यति ; अथ ते स्वं शिर आहृत्य तत्ते प्रतिधास्याव इति ; तथेति तौ होपनिन्ये ; तौ यदोपनिन्ये ; अथाश्व शिरश्छित्त्वा अन्यत्रोपनिदधतुः ; अथाश्वस्य शिर आहृत्य तद्वास्य प्रतिदधतुः ; तेन हाभ्यामनूवाच ; स यदाभ्यामनूवाच अथास्य तदिन्द्रः शिरश्चिच्छेद ; अथास्यमीयत इति-न चान्यत्किंचिद्धीयत एवेति-स्तुतावेतौ भवतः; निन्दां प्रशंसां हि लौकिकाः स्मरन्ति; तथा प्रशंसारूपा च निन्दा लोके प्रसिद्धा ।दध्यङ्नाम आथर्वणः; हेत्यनर्थको निपातः; यन्मधु कक्ष्यम् आत्मज्ञानलक्षणम् आथर्वणः वां युवाभ्याम् अश्वस्य शीष्णा शिरसा, प्र यत् ईम् उवाच-यत्प्रोवाच मधु; ईमित्यनर्थको निपातः ॥
In plain words
We said earlier that this is a story told for the sake of praise. What story is that? Here is the answer. 'This' points to what was just mentioned, because that is what's present to the mind. The word 'indeed' here simply recalls something already known. 'That' recalls, by means of this same word, a matter stated far off in another section, in the form of a story, and points to it now. The teaching that was only hinted at in the section on the Pravargya rite, never fully disclosed there, is disclosed right here, in what follows, beginning with the words 'this is the earth.' How was it hinted at there? Like this: Dadhyañc, son of Atharvan, once taught the two Aśvins a treatise called the honey-teaching. It was a treasure dear to them both, and the gods draw near to them because of it. He told them, 'Indra has warned me — if you teach this to anyone else, he will cut off your head.' 'That is why I am afraid. So that he can't cut off my own head, let me give the teaching to you two instead.' The Aśvins answered, 'We will protect you from that.' 'How will you protect me?' 'When you're ready to teach us,' they said, 'we'll cut off your head and hide it somewhere else. Then we'll bring a horse's head and fit it in place of yours. Teach us through that. Once you've taught us that way, Indra will cut off that horse's head — and then we'll bring back your own head and set it right back in place.' 'Agreed,' he said, and he let the two of them in on the plan. Once he had told them what to do, they cut off his head and hid it elsewhere, then brought a horse's head and fitted it onto him. Through that head he taught them both. And once he had taught them, Indra cut off that head. Now, 'his head is gone' sounds like a loss — but 'nothing else at all was truly lost.' Put those two statements together and you get praise, not complaint — ordinary people know this trick well: blame that is really praise, and, just as commonly, praise dressed up as blame. 'Dadhyañc' is simply the name of Atharvan's son; 'indeed' here is just a filler word carrying no meaning of its own. And the secret teaching, the one about knowing the self — that is what Atharvan's son taught you two, the Aśvins, through the horse's head. 'Which he proclaimed' means exactly that: he declared it, this honey-teaching. And 'īm' too is just a filler word, carrying no meaning of its own.
Close to the Sanskrit
There [we] said this is a story whose purpose is praise; what, then, is that story? It is answered: 'idam' ('this') refers to what was indicated immediately after, since that is present to the mind. The word 'vai' has the sense of recollection. 'Tat' ('that'), recalling by the word 'vai' a remote matter stated in a different section, produced by way of a story, here refers to it. The madhu that was hinted at in the section on the Pravargya, but not there disclosed — that very madhu is here, immediately following, indicated by the phrase beginning 'this is the earth.' How was it hinted at there, in that other section? [Thus:] 'Dadhyañc, the descendant of Atharvan, indeed taught the two of them the treatise called madhu. That is a dear treasure of these two; by that the gods approach these two.' He said: 'I have been told by Indra: if you tell this to anyone else, then indeed I will surely cut off your head.' 'Therefore indeed I am afraid; so that he may not cut off my head, that I will impart to you two,' he said. The two said: 'We two will protect you from that.' 'How will you two protect me?' 'When you shall teach us two — then, having cut off your head, having taken it elsewhere, we two will hide it; then, having brought a horse's head, we two will fix that in place of yours; with that you shall teach us two. When you have taught us two thus, then Indra will cut off that head of yours; then, having brought your own head, we two will fix that back in place,' they said. 'So be it,' he said, and he then took the two into his confidence. When he had instructed the two, then, having cut off [his] head, they hid it elsewhere; then, having brought the horse's head, they fixed that in place of his. With that he then taught the two of them. When he had taught the two of them, then Indra cut off that head of his. Then, 'his head wanes' — and yet 'nothing else at all is truly lost' — these two statements are both praise; for ordinary people recognize blame that is really praise; likewise, blame in the form of praise is well known in the world. 'Dadhyañc' is the name of the descendant of Atharvan; 'ha' is a meaningless particle. The madhu which is secret, characterized by knowledge of the self — the descendant of Atharvan taught to you two, by means of the horse's head; 'which he proclaimed' — that is the madhu. 'Īm' is a meaningless particle.