p. a1
BOOK I
HYMN I
A prayer to Vāchaspati for divine illumination and help.
1Now may Vāchaspati assign to me the strength and powers of
Those
Who, wearing every shape and form, the triple seven, are
wandering round.
2Come thou again, Vāchaspati, come with divine intelligence.
Vasoshpati, repose thou here. In me be Knowledge, yea, in me.
3Here, even here, spread sheltering arms like the two bow-ends
strained with cord.
This let Vāchaspati confirm. In me be Knowledge, yea, in me.
4Vāchaspati hath been invoked: may he invite us in reply.
May we adhere to Sacred Lore. Never may I be reft thereof.
p. a2
HYMN II
A charm against dysentery
1We know the father of the shaft, Parjanya, liberal nourisher,
Know well his mother: Prithivī, Earth with her manifold
designs.
2Do thou, O Bowstring, bend thyself around us: make my body
stone.
Firm in thy strength drive far away malignities and hateful
things.
3When, closely clinging round the wood, the bowstring sings
triumph to the swift and whizzing arrow,
Indra, ward off from us the shaft, the missile.
4As in its flight the arrow's point hangs between earth and
firmament,
So stand this Munja grass between ailment and dysenteric ill!
p. a3
HYMN III
A charm against constipation and suppression of urine
1We know the father of the shaft, Parjanya strong with hundred
powers:
By this may I bring health unto thy body: let the channels pour
their burthen freely as of old.
2We know the father of the shaft, Mitra, the Lord of hundred
powers:
By this, etc.
3We know the father of the shaft, Varuna, strong with hundred
powers: p. a4
By this, etc.
4We know the father of the shaft, the Moon endowed with
hundred powers:
By this, etc.
5We know the father of the shaft, the Sun endowed with hundred
powers:
By this may I bring health unto thy body: let the channels pour
their burthen freely as of old.
6Whate'er hath gathered, as it flowed, in bowels, bladder, or in
groins,
Thus let the conduit, free from check, pour all its burthen as of
old.
7I lay the passage open as one cleaves the dam that bars the
lake:
Thus let, etc.
8Now hath the portal been unclosed as, of the sea that holds the
flood:
Thus let, etc.
9Even as the arrow flies away when loosened from the archer's
bow,
Thus let the burthen be discharged from channels that are checked
no more.
p. a5
HYMN IV
To the waters, for the prosperity of cattle
1Along their paths the Mothers go, sisters of priestly
ministrants,
Blending their water with the mead.
2May yonder Waters near the Sun, or those wherewith the Sun is
joined,
Send forth this sacrifice of ours.
3I call the Waters, Goddesses, hitherward where our cattle
drink:
The streams must share the sacrifice.
4Amrit is in the Waters, in the Waters balm.
Yea, through our praises of the Floods, O horses, be ye fleet and
strong, and, O ye kine, be full of strength.
HYMN V
To the waters, for strength and power
1Ye, Waters, truly bring us bliss: so help ye us to strength and
power p. a6
That we may look on great delight.
2Here grant to us a share of dew, that most auspicious dew of
yours,
Like mothers in their longing love.
3For you we fain would go to him to whose abode ye send us
forth,
And, Waters, give us procreant strength.
4I pray the Floods to send us balm, those who bear rule o'er
precious things,
And have supreme control of men.
HYMN VI
To the waters, for health and wealth
1The Waters be to us for drink, Goddesses, for our aid and
bliss: p. a7
Let them stream health and wealth to us.
2Within the Waters—Soma thus hath told me—dwell all balms
that heal,
And Agni, he who blesseth all.
3O Waters, teem with medicine to keep my body safe from harm,
So that I long may see the Sun.
4The Waters bless us, all that rise in desert lands or marshy
pools!
Bless us the Waters dug from earth, bless us the Waters brought
in jars, bless us the Waters of the Rains!
HYMN VII
To Indra and Agni, for the detection and destruction of evil spirits
1Bring the Kimidin hither, bring the Yātudhāna self-declared
For Agni, God, thou, lauded, hast become the Dasyu's
slaughterer.
2O Jātavedas, Lord Supreme, controller of our bodies, taste
The butter, Agni, taste the oil: make thou the Yātudhānas
mourn.
3Let Yātudhānas mourn, let all greedy Kimidins weep and
wail:
And, Agni, Indra, may ye both accept this sacrifice of ours. p. a8
4May Agni seize upon them first, may strong-armed Indra drive
them forth:
Let every wicked sorcerer come hither and say, Here am I.
5Let us behold thy strength, O Jātavedas. Viewer of men, tell us
the Yātudhānas.
Burnt by thy heat and making declaration let all approach this
sacrifice before thee.
6O Jātavedas, seize, on them: for our advantage art thou born:
Agni, be thou our messenger and make the Yātudhānas wail.
7O Agni, bring thou hitherward the Yātudhānas bound and
chained.
And afterward let Indra tear their heads off with his thunder-
bolt.
HYMN VIII
To Indra, Brihaspati, Soma and Agni, for the destruction of sorcerers
1This sacrifice shall bring the Yātudhānas as the flood brings
foam: p. a9
Here let the doer of this deed woman or man, acknowledge it.
2This one hath come confessing all: do ye receive him
eagerly.
Master him thou, Brihaspati; Agni and Soma, pierce him
through.
3O Soma-drinker, strike and bring the Yātudhāna's progeny:
Make the confessing sinner's eyes fall from his head, both right
and left.
4As thou, O Agni Jātavedas, knowest the races of these secret
greedy beings,
So strengthened by the power of prayer, O Agni, crushing them
down a hundred times destroy them.
HYMN IX
Benediction on a King at his inauguration
1May Indra, Pūshan, Varuria, Mitra, Agni, benignant Gods,
maintain this man in riches.
May the Ādityas and the Vive Devas set and support him in
supremest lustre. p. a10
2May light, O Gods, be under his dominion, Agni, the Sun, all;
that is bright and golden.
Prostrate beneath our feet his foes and rivals. Uplift him to the.
loftiest cope of heaven.
3Through that most mighty prayer, O Jātavedas, wherewith thou.
broughtest milk to strengthen Indra,
Even therewith exalt this man, O Agni, and give him highest rank
among his kinsmen.
4I have assumed their sacrifice, O Agni, their hopes, their glory,.
and their riches' fulness.
Prostrate beneath our feet his foes and rivals. Uplift him to the-
loftiest cope of heaven.
p. a11
HYMN X
Absolution of a sinner after intercession with Varuna
1This Lord is the Gods' ruler; for the wishes of Varuna the King
must be accomplished.
Therefore, triumphant with the prayer I utter, I rescue this man
from the Fierce One's anger.
2Homage be paid, King Varuna, to thine anger; for thou, dread
God, detectest every falsehood.
I send a thousand others forth together: let this thy servant live
a hundred autumns.
3Whatever falsehood thou hast told, much evil spoken with the
tongue,
I liberate thee from the noose of Varuna the righteous King.
4I free thee from Vaisvānara, from the great surging flood of sin.
Call thou thy brothers, Awful One! and pay attention to our
prayer.
HYMN XI
A charm to be used at child-birth
1Vashat to thee. O Pūshan At this birth let Aryaman the Sage
perform as Hotar-priest, p. a12
As one who bears in season let this dame be ready to bring forth
her child.
2Four are the regions of the sky, and four the regions of the
earth:
The Gods have brought the babe; let them prepare the woman
for the birth.
3Puerpera (infatem) detegat: nos uterum aperimus. Lexa teipsam,
puerpera. Tu, parturiens! emitte eum non carni, non adipi,
non medullae adhāerntem.
4Descendat viscosa placenta, cani, comedenda placenta; decidat
placenta.
5Diffindo tuum urinae ductum, diffindo vaginam, diffindo inguina.
Matrem natumque divido, puerum a placenta divido: decidat
placenta.
6Sicut ventus, sicut mens, sicut alites volant, sic, decem mensium
puer, cum placenta descende: descendat placenta.
HYMN XII
A prayer to Lightning, against fever, headache, and cough
1Born from the womb, brought forth from wind and from the
cloud, the first red bull comes onward thundering with the
rain.
Our bodies may he spare who, cleaving, goes straight on; he who,
a single force, divides himself in three.
2Bending to thee who clingest to each limb with heat, fain would
we worship thee with offered sacrifice,
Worship with sacrifice the bends and curves of thee who with a
vigorous grasp hast seized on this one's limbs.
3Do thou release this man from headache, free him from cough
which has entered into all his limbs and joints.
May he, the child of cloud, the offspring of the wind, the whiz-
zing lighting, strike the mountains and the trees.
4Well be it with my upper frame, well be it with my lower parts.
With my four limbs let it be well. Let all my body be in health.
p. a13
HYMN XIII
A prayer to Lightning, for happiness
1Homage to thee, the Lightning's flash, homage to thee, the
Thunder's roar!
Homage to thee, the Stone which thou hurlest against the
undevout!
2Homage to thee, Child of the Flood whence thou collectest fer-
vent heat!
Be gracious to our bodies, give our children happiness and
joy.
3Yea, homage be to thee, O Offspring of the Flood! Homage we
pay to thee, the dart and fiery flame:
For well we know thy secret and sublimest home, where thou as
central point art buried in the sea.
4Thou, Arrow, which the host of Gods created, making it strong
and mighty for the shooting,
Be gracious, lauded thus, to our assembly. To thee, that Arrow,.
be our homage, Goddess!
p. a14
HYMN XIV
A woman's incantation against a rival
1As from the tree a wreath, have I assumed her fortune and her
fame:
Among her kinsfolk long may she dwell, like a mountain broadly-
based.
2King Yama, let this maiden be surrendered as a wife to thee:
Bound let her be meanwhile within, her mother's, brother's,
father's house.
3Queen of thy race is she, O King: to thee do we deliver her.
Long with her kinsfolk may she sit, until her hair be white with
age.
4With Asita's and Kasyapa's and Gaya's incantation, thus
As sisters pack within a chest, I bind and tie thy fortune up.
p. a15
HYMN XV
A prayer for the prosperity of an institutor of sacrifice
1Let the streams, flow together, let the winds and birds assembled
come.
Let this my sacrifice delight them always. I offer it with duly mixt
oblation.
2Come to my call, Blent Offerings, come ye very nigh. And,
singers, do ye strengthen and increase this man.
Hither come every animal: with this man let all wealth abide.
3All river founts that blend their streams for ever inexhaustible—
With all these confluent streams of mine we make abundant
riches flow.
4All streams of melted butter, and all streams of water and of
milk
With all these confluent streams of mine we make abundant
riches flow.
p. a16
HYMN XVI
A prayer and charm against demons
1May potent Agni who destroys the demons bless and shelter us.
From greedy fiends who rise in troops at night-time when the
moon is dark.
2Varuna's benison hath blessed the lead, and Agni strengthens it.
Indra hath given me the lead: this verily repels the fiends.
3This overcomes Vishkandha, -this drives the voracious fiends
away:
By means of this have I, o'erthrown all the Pisāchi's demon
brood.
4If thou destroy a cow of ours, a human being, or a steed,
We pierce thee with this piece of lead so that thou mayst not slay
our men.
p. a17
HYMN XVII
A charm to be used at venesection
1Those maidens there, the veins, who run their course in robes of
ruddy hue,
Must now stand quiet, reft of power, like sisters who are brother-
less.
2Stay still, thou upper vein, stay still, thou lower, stay, thou
midmost one,
The smallest one of all stands still: let the great vessel e'en be
still.
3Among a thousand vessels charged with blood, among a thousand
veins,
Even these the middlemost stand still and their extremities have
rest.
4A mighty rampart built of sand hath circled and encompassed
you:
Be still, and quietly take rest.
HYMN XVIII
A charm to avert evil spirits of misfortune and to secure prosperity
1We drive away the Spotted Hag, Misfortune, and Malignity:
All blessings to our children then! We chase Malignity
away.
2Let Savitar, Mitra, Varuna, and Aryaman drive away Stinginess
from both the hands and feet:
May Favour, granting us her bounties, drive her off. The Gods
created Favour for our happiness.
3Each fearful sign upon thy body, in thyself, each inauspicious
mark seen in thy hair, thy face,
All this we drive away and banish with our speech. May Savitar
the God graciously further thee. p. a18
4Antelope-foot, and Bullock-tooth, Cow-terrifier, Vapour-form,
The Licker, and the Spotted Hag, all these we drive away from
us.
HYMN XIX
A prayer for protection from arrows and for the punishment of enemies
1Let not the piercers find us, nor let those who wound discover
us.
O Indra, make the arrows fall, turned, far from us, to every
side.
2Turned from us let the arrows fall, those shot and those that will
be shot.
Shafts of the Gods and shafts of men, strike and transfix mine
enemies:
3Whoever treateth us as foes, be he our own or strange to us, a
kinsman or a foreigner,
May Rudra with his arrows pierce and slay these enemies of
mine. p. a19
4The rival and non-rival, he who in his hatred curses us
May all the deities injure him! My nearest, closest mail is
prayer.
HYMN XX
A prayer to Soma, the Maruts, Mitra, and Varuna, for protection
1May it glide harmless by in this our sacrifice, O Soma, God!
Maruts, be gracious unto us.
Let not disaster, let not malison find us out; let not abominable
guiles discover us.
2Mitra and Varuna, ye twain, turn carefully away from us
The deadly dart that flies to-day, the missile of the wicked
ones.
3Ward off from this side and from that, O Varuna, the deadly
dart:
Give us thy great protection, turn the lethal weapon far away.
4A mighty Ruler thus art thou, unconquered, vanquisher of
foes,
Even thou whose friend is never slain, whose friend is never over-
come.
p. a20
HYMN XXI
A prayer to Indra for protection
1Lord of the clans, giver of bliss, fiend-slayer, mighty o'er the
foe,
May Indra, Soma-drinker, go before us, Bull, who brings us
peace.
2Indra, subdue our enemies, lay low the men who fight with
us:
Down into nether darkness send the man who shows us enmity:
3Strike down the fiend, strike down the foes, break thou asunder
Vritra's jaws.
O Indra, Vritra-slayer, quell the wrath of the assailing foe.
4Turn thou the foeman's thought away, his dart who fain would
conquer us:
Grant us thy great protection; keep his deadly weapon far
away.
HYMN XXII
A charm against jaundice
1As the Sun rises, let thy sore disease and yellowness depart. p. a21
We compass and surround thee with the colour of a ruddy ox.
2With ruddy hues we compass thee that thou mayst live a leng-
thened life:
So that this man be free from harm, and cast his yellow tint
away.
3Devatyās that are red of hue, yea, and the ruddy-coloured
kine,
Each several form, each several force—with these we compass
thee about.
4To parrots and to starlings we transfer thy sickly yellowness:
Now in the yellow-coloured birds we lay this yellowness of
thine.
HYMN XXIII
A charm against leprosy
1O Plant, thou sprangest up at night, dusky, dark-coloured,
black in hue! p. a22
So, Rajani, re-colour thou these ashy spots, this leprosy.
2Expel the leprosy, remove from him the spots and ashy hue:
Let thine own colour come to thee; drive far away the specks of
white.
3Dark is the place of thy repose, dark is the place thou dwellest
in:
Dusky and dark, O Plant, art thou: remove from him each
speck and spot.
4I with my spell have chased away the pallid sign of leprosy,
Caused by infection, on the skin, sprung from the body, from the
bones.
HYMN XXIV
A charm against leprosy
1First, before all, the strong-winged Bird was born;; thou wast
the gall thereof.
Conquered in fight, the Asuri took then the shape and form of
plants.
2The Asuri made, first of all, this medicine for leprosy, this
banisher of leprosy.
She banished leprosy, and gave one general colour to the skin.
3One-coloured, is thy mother's name, One-coloured is thy father
called:
One-colour-maker, Plant! art thou: give thou one colour to this
man. p. a23
4Sāmā who gives one general hue was formed and fashioned from
the earth:
Further this work efficiently. Restore the colours that were his.
HYMN XXV
A prayer to fever, as a charm against his attacks
1When Agni blazed when he had pierced the Waters, whereat the
Law-observers paid him homage,
There, men assever, was thy loftiest birthplace: O Fever, yield-
ing to our prayer avoid us.
2If thou be fiery glow, or inflammation, or if thy birthplace call
for chips of fuel,
Rack is thy name, God of the sickly yellow! O Fever, yielding
to our prayer avoid us.
3Be thou distress, or agonizing torment, be thou the son King
Varuna hath begotten,
Rack isthy name, God of the sickly yellow! O Fever, yielding to
our prayer avoid us.
4I offer homage to the chilly Fever, to his fierce burning glow I
offer homage. p. a24
Be adoration paid to Fever coming each other day, the third, of
two days running.
HYMN XXVI
A prayer for protection, guidance, and prosperity
1Let that Destructive Weapon be far distant from us, O ye Gods;
far be the Stone ye wont to hurl.
2Our friend be that Celestial Grace, Indra and Bhaga be our friends,
and Savitar with splendid Wealth. p. a25
3Thou, Offspring of the waterflood, ye Maruts, with your sun-
bright skins, give us protection reaching far.
4Further us rightly, favour ye our bodies with your gracious love.
Give thou our children happiness.
HYMN XXVII
A charm to obtain invisibility
1There on the bank those Vipers lie, thrice-seven, having cast
their skins:
Now we with their discarded sloughs bind close and cover up the
eyes of the malicious highway thief.
2Far let her go, cutting her way, brandishing, as it were, a club:
Diverted be the new-born's mind: ne'er are the wicked
prosperous.
3Not many have had power enough; the feeble ones have not
prevailed,
Like scattered fragments of a reed: ne'er are the wicked pros-
perous.
4Go forward, feet, press quickly on, bring to the house of him
who pays.
Unconquered and unplundered, let Indrānf, foremost, lead the
way.
p. a26
HYMN XXVIII
A prayer to Agni for the destruction of evil spirits
1God Agni hath come forth to us, fiend-slayer, chaser of disease,
Burning the Yātudhānas up, Kimidins, and deceitful ones.
2Consume the Yātudhānas, God! meet the Kimidins with thy
flame:
Burn up the Yātudhānis as they face thee, thou whose path is
black!
3She who hath cursed us with a curse, or hath conceived a
murderous sin;
Or seized our son to take his blood, let her devour the child
she bare.
4Let her, the Yātudhāni eat son, sister, and her daughter's.
child.
Now let the twain by turns destroy the wild-haired Yātudhānis-
and crush down Arāyis to the earth!
HYMN XXIX
A charm to secure the supremacy of a dethroned King
1With that victorious Amulet which strengthened Indra's power-
and might p. a27
Do thou, O Brāhmanaspati, increase our strength for kingly
sway.
2Subduing those who rival us, subduing all malignities,
Withstand the man who menaces, and him who seeks to injure-
us.
3Soma and Savitar the God have strengthened and exalted thee:
All elements have aided thee, to make thee general conqueror.
4Slayer of rivals, vanquisher, may that victorious Amulet
Be bound on me for regal sway and conquest of mine enemies.
5Yon Sun hath mounted up on high, and this my word hath
mounted up
That I may smite my foes and be slayer of rivals, rivalless.
6Destroyer of my rivals, strong, victorious, with royal sway,
May I be ruler of these men, and King and sovran of the folk.
HYMN XXX
A benediction on a King at his consecration
1Guard and protect this man, all Gods and Vasus. Over him keep-
ye watch and ward, Ādityas.
Let not death reach him from the hands of brothers from hands
of aliens, or of human beings.
2Listen, one-minded, to the word I, utter, the sons, O Gods,
among you, and the fathers!
I trust this man to all of you: preserve him happily, and to
length of days conduct him.
3All Gods who dwell on earth or in the heavens, in air, within.
the plants, the beasts, the waters,
Grant this man life to full old age, and let him escape the
hundred other ways of dying. p. a28
4You, claiming Anuyājas or Prayājas, sharers, or not consumers,
of oblation,
You, to whom heaven's five regions are apportioned, I make
companions at his sacred sessions.
HYMN XXXI
A prayer for protection and general prosperity
1Here will we serve with sacrifice the great Controllers of the
world,
The four immortal Warders who protect the regions of the sky.
2Ye, Guardians of the regions, Gods who keep the quarters of
the heavens,
Rescue and free us from the bonds of Nirriti, from grief and
woe!
3I, free from stiffness, serve thee with oblation, not lame I sacri-
fice with oil and fatness.
Let the strong Warder God, who keeps the regions bring to us
hither safety and well-being.
4Well be it with our mother and our father, well be it with our
cows, and beasts, and people.
Ours be all happy fortune, grace, and favour. Long, very long
may we behold the sunlight.
p. a29
HYMN XXXII
In praise of Heaven and Earth
1Ye people, hear and mark this well: he will pronounce a mighty
prayer:
That which gives breathing to the Plants is not on earth nor in,
the heaven.
2Their station, as of those who rest when weary, is in midmost air:
The base whereon this world is built, the sages know or know
it not.
3What the two trembling hemispheres and ground produced and
fashioned forth.
This All, is ever fresh to-day, even as the currents of the sea.
4This All hath compassed round the one, and on the other lies
at rest.
To Earth and all-possessing Heaven mine adoration have I paid.
p. a30
HYMN XXXIII
To the Waters, for health and happiness
1May they, the golden-hued, the bright, the splendid, they wherein
Savitar was born and Agni,
They who took Agni as a germ, fair-coloured, the Waters, bring
felicity and bless us!
2They in the midst whereof King Varuna moveth, viewing men's
righteous and unrighteous dealing.
They who took Agni as a germ, fair-coloured,—those Waters bring
felicity and bless us!
3Whom the Gods make their beverage in heaven, they who wax
manifold in air's mid-region,
They who took Agni as a germ, fair-coloured,—those Waters bring
felicity and bless us!
4Ye Waters, with auspicious eye behold me: touch ye my skin
with your auspicious body.
May they, the bright and pure, distilling fatness, those Waters,
bring felicity and bless us.
HYMN XXXIV
A young man's love-charm
01. From honey sprang this Plant to life; with honey now we dig
thee up.
Make us as sweet as honey, for from honey hast thou been pro-
duced.
2My tongue hath honey at the tip, and sweetest honey at the root: p. a31
Thou yieldest to my wish and will, and shalt be mine and only
mine.
3My coming in is honey-sweet and honey-sweet, my going forth:
My voice and words are sweet: I fain would be like honey in
my look.
4Sweeter am I than honey, yet more full of sweets than licorice:
So mayst thou love me as a branch full of all sweets, and only me.
5Around thee have I girt a zone of sugar-cane to banish hate.
That thou mayst be in love with me, my darling never to depart.
HYMN XXXV
A charm to ensure long life and glory to the wearer of an amulet
1This Ornament of Gold which Daksha's children bound, with
benevolent thoughts, on Satānïka,
This do I bind on thee for life, for glory, for long life lasting
through a hundred autumns.
2This man no fiends may conquer, no Pisāchas, for this is might
of Gods, their primal offspring.
Whoever wears the Gold of Daksha's children hath a long
lengthened life among the living.
3The light, the power, the lustre of the Waters, the strength of
Trees, and all their forceful vigour,
We lay on him as powers abide in Indra: so let him wear this
Gold and show his valour.
4With monthly and six-monthly times and seasons, with the full
year's sweet essence do we fill thee, p. a32
May Indra, Agni, and all Gods together, showing no anger, grant
thee what thou wishest.
HYMN CXLIII
Hymn to the Asvins
1We invocate this day your car, far-spreading, O Asvins, even
the gathering of the sunlight,
Car praised in hymns, most ample, rich in treasure, fitted with
seats, the car that beareth Sūryā.
2Asvins, ye gained that glory by your Godhead, ye Sons of
Heaven, by your own might and power.
Food followeth close upon your bright appearing when stately
horses in your chariot draw you.
3Who bringeth you to-day for help with offered oblations, or with
hymns to drink the juices?
Who, for the sacrifice's ancient lover, turneth you hither, Asvins,
offering homage?
4Borne on your golden car, ye omnipresent! come to this sacrifice
of ours, Nāsatyas.
Drink of the pleasant liquor of the Soma: give riches to the
people who adore you.
5Come hitherward to us from earth, from heaven, borne on your
golden chariot rolling lightly.
Suffer not other worshippers to stay you: here are ye bound by
earlier bonds of friendship.
6Now for us both, mete out, O Wonder-Workers, riches exceed-
ing great with store of heroes,
Because the men have sent you praise, O Asvins, and Ajamīlhas
come to the laudation.
7Whene'er I gratified you here together, your grace was given us,
O ye rich in booty.
Protect, ye twain, the singer of your praises: to you, Nāsatyas,
is my wish directed.
8Sweet be the plants for us, the heavens, the waters, and full of
sweets for us be air's mid-region!
May the Field's Lord for us be full of sweetness, and may we
follow after him uninjured.
9Asvins, that work of yours deserves our wonder, the Bull of
firmament and earth and heaven;
Yes, and your thousand promises in battle. Come near to all
these men and drink beside us.
p. a33
BOOK II
HYMN I
Glorification of the prime cause of all things
1Vena beholds That Highest which lies hidden, wherein this All
resumes one form and fashion.
Thence Prisni milked all life that had existence: the hosts that
know the light with songs extolled her.
2Knowing Eternity, may the Gandharva declare to us that highest
secret station.
Three steps thereof lie hidden in the darkness: he who knows
these shall be the father's father.
3He is our kinsman, father, and begetter: he knows all beings
and all Ordinances.
He only gave the Gods their appellations: all creatures go to
him to ask direction.
4I have gone forth around the earth and heaven, I have approached
the first-born Son of Order.
He, putting voice, as 'twere, within the speaker, stands in the
world, he, verily is Agni.
5I round the circumjacent worlds have travelled to see the far-
extended thread of Order.
Wherein the Gods, obtaining life eternal, have risen upward to
one common birthplace.
p. a34
HYMN II
A charm to ensure success in gambling
1Lord of the World, divine Gandharva, only he should be
honoured in the Tribes and worshipped.
Fast with my spell, celestial God, I hold thee. Homage to thee!
Thy home is in the heavens.
2Sky-reaching, like the Sun in brightness, holy, he who averts
from us the Gods' displeasure.
Lord of the World, may the Gandharva bless us, the friendly
God who only must be worshipped.
3I came, I met these faultless, blameless beings: among the
Apsarases was the Gandharva.
Their home is in the sea—so men have told me,—whence they
come quickly hitherward and vanish.
4Thou, Cloudy! ye who follow the Gandharva Visvā-vasu, ye,
Starry! Lightning-Flasher!
You, O ye Goddesses, I truly worship.
5Haunters of darkness, shrill in voice, dice-lovers, maddeners of
the mind
To these have I paid homage, the Gandharva's wives, Apsarases.
p. a35
HYMN III
A water-cure charm
1That little spring of water which is running downward from the
hill
I turn to healing balm for thee that thou mayst be good
medicine.
2Hither and onward! Well! Come on! Among thy hundred
remedies
Most excellent of all art thou, curing disease and morbid flow.
3The Asuras bury deep in earth this mighty thing that healeth
wounds.
This is the cure for morbid flow, this driveth malady away.
4The emmets from the water-flood produce this healing medicine:
This is the cure for morbid flow, this driveth malady away.
5Mighty is this wound-healing balm: from out the earth was it
produced.
This is the cure for morbid flow, this driveth malady away.
6Bless us the Waters! be the Plants auspicious!
May Indra's thunderbolt drive off the demons. Far from us fall
the shafts they shoot against us!
p. a36
HYMN IV
A charm to ensure health and prosperity by wearing an amulet
1For length of life, for mighty joy, uninjured, ever showing
strength.
We wear Vishkandha's antidote, the Amulet of Jangida.
2Amulet of a thousand powers, Jangida save us, all around.
From Jambha, and from Viara, Vishkandha, and tormenting
pain.
3This overcomes Vishkandha, this chases the greedy fiends away:
May this our panacea, may Jangida save us from distress.
4With Jangida that brings delight, Amulet given by the Gods,
We in the conflict overcome Vishkandha and all Rākshasas.
5May Cannabis and Jangida preserve me from Vishkandha,—
that
Brought to us from the forest, this sprung from the saps of
husbandry.
6This Amulet destroys the might of magic and malignity:
So may victorious Jangida prolong the years we have to live.
p. a37
HYMN V
Invitation to, and praise of Indra
1Indra, be gracious, drive thou forth, come, Hero, with thy two
bay steeds.
Taste the libation, hither, enjoying meath and the hymn, come,
fair, to the banquet.
2O Indra, even as one athirst, fill thee with meath as 'twere from
heaven.
Sweet-toned, the raptures of this juice have come to thee as to
the light.
3Swift-conquering Indra, Mitra like, smote, as a Yati, Vritra
dead.
Like Bhrigu he cleft Vala through, and quelled his foes in Soma's
rapturous joy.
4O Indra, let the juices enter thee. Fill full thy belly, sate thee,
mighty one! Let the hymn bring thee.
Hear thou my call, accept the song I sing, here, Indra, with thy
friends enjoy thyself, to height of rapture.
5Now will I tell the manly deeds of Indra, the first that he
achieved, the thunder-wielder.
He slew the Dragon, then disclosed the waters, and cleft the
channels of the mountain torrents.
6He slew the Dragon lying on the mountain: his heavenly bolt of
thunder Tvashtar fashioned.
Like lowing kine in rapid flow descending the waters glided
downward to the ocean.
7Impetuous as a bull he chose the Soma, and quaffed the juices
in three sacred beakers. p. a38
Maghavan grasped the thunder for his weapon, and smote to
death this first-born of the dragons.
HYMN VI
A prayer to Agni for protection
1Half-years and seasons strengthen thee, O Agni, the years, and
all the Verities, and Rishis! p. a39
Flash forth with thy celestial effulgence: illumine all four regions
of the heavens.
2Kindle thee, Agni, and make this man prosper: rise up erect
for high and happy fortune.
Agni, be those uninjured who adore thee, and may thy priests be
glorious and no others.
3These Brāhmans have elected thee, O Agni: be thou propitious
in our sacred chamber.
Slayer of rivals, Agni, quell our foemen: watch in our house
with care that never ceases.
4Seize, Agni, on thy power and firmly hold it: contend thou with
the Friend by way of friendship.
Placed in the centre of our fellows, Agni, flash forth to be
invoked by kings around thee.
5Past those who slay, past enemies, past thoughtless men, past
those who hate,
Yea, Agni, hear us safe past all distresses: give thou us opulence
with men about us.
HYMN VII
A counter-charm against imprecation and malignity
1Hated by sinners, sprung from Gods, this Plant that turns the
curse away
Hath washed from me all curses, as water makes clean from
spot and stain.
2All curses of a rival, each curse of a female relative, Curse
uttered by an augry priest, all these we tread beneath our feet.
3Spread on the surface of the earth, downward from heaven thy
root depends: p. a40
With this that hath a thousand joints keep thou us safe on every
side.
4Guard on all sides this woman, guard my children, us, and all
our wealth!
Let not malignity o'ercome, nor adversaries conquer us.
5Upon the curser fall his curse! Dwell we with him whose heart
is true!
We split the cruel villain's ribs whose evil eye bewitches us.
HYMN VIII
A charm against hereditary disease (kshetriya)
1Twin Stars of happy omen, named Releasers, have gone up.
May they
Loose, of inherited disease, the uppermost and lowest bond.
2Vanish this Night, extinct in Dawn! Let those who weave their
spells depart.
So let the plague-destroying Plant remove inherited disease.
3With straw of barley tawny-brown in colour with its silvery ears,
with stalk and stem of Sesamum-
So let the plague-destroying Plant remove inherited disease.
4Let homage to thy ploughs be paid, our homage to the pole and
yokes.
So let the plague-destroying Plant remove inherited disease.
5Homage to men with blinking eyes, homage to those who hear
and act! To the Field's Lord be homage paid.
So let the plague-destroying Plant remove inherited disease.
p. a41
HYMN IX
A charm to cure dangerous disease
1Free this man, Dasavriksha! from the demon, from Grāhi who
hath seized his joints and members,
And raise him up again, O Tree, into the world of living men.
2He hath arisen and come once more, rejoined the band of those
who live.
May he become the sire of sons, and of all men most fortunate.
3He hath returned to consciousness, rejoined the living's firm
abodes,
For hundred leeches are in this, yea, and a thousand healing
herbs.
4The Gods, the Brāhman-priests, and plants observed the way to
gather thee:
All deities described the way men gather thee upon the earth.
5Let him who made it also heal: he, truly, is the deftest leech.
Pure, with a leech he verily shall give thee medicines that heal.
p. a42
HYMN X
Absolution and benediction
1From family sickness, kinsmen's curse, Destruction, from Druh,
from Varuna's noose I free and save thee.
With spell and prayer I make thee pure and sinless: to thee be
both, the Earth and Heaven, auspicious!
2Gracious to thee be Agni with the Waters, let Soma with the
Plants be kind and bless thee.
From family sickness, kinsmen's curse, Destruction, from Druh,
from Varuna's noose I thus release thee.
3May kind Wind strengthen thee in air's mid-region, to thee may
heaven's four quarters be auspicious.
From family sickness, kinsmen's curse, Destruction, from Druh,
from Varuna's curse I thus release thee.
4These Goddesses, four regions of the heavens, on whom the
Sun looks kindly, wives of Vāta—
From family sickness, kinsmen's curse, Destruction, from Druh,
from Varuna's noose I thus release thee.
5For long life, in the midst of these I set thee. Away pass Nirriti,
away Consumption!
From family sickness, kinsmen's curse, Destruction, from Druh,
from Varuna's noose I thus release thee.
6Thou hast been freed from Phthisis and from trouble, from
shame, and from the snare of Druh and Grain.
From family sickness, kinsmen's curse, Destruction, from Druh,
from Varuna's noose I thus release thee.p. a43
7Joy hast thou found, and left ill-will behind thee: thou hast
attained the happy world of virtue.
From family sickness, kinsmen's curse, Destruction, from Druh,
from Varuna's noose I thus release thee.
8The Gods have freed from, sinfulness, redeeming the Sun, the
Law from darkness and from Grāhi.
From family sickness, kinsmen's curse, Destruction, from Druh,
from Varuna's noose I thus release thee.
With spell and prayer I make thee pure and sinless: to thee be
both, the Earth and Heaven, auspicious!
HYMN XI
Counter-charm, with an amulet, against an enemy's spell
1Dart against dart, destroyer of destruction, thou art the missile
sent to meet the missile. p. a44
Reach thy superior, thou; surpass thine equal.
2Sraktya art thou, an Amulet art thou, a counter-charm of spells,
Reach thy superior, thou; surpass thine equal.
3Use spells against the man we hate, against the man who hateth
us.
Reach thy superior, thou; surpass thine equal.
4A prince art thou, giver of speech, thou art our bodies' strong
defence.
Reach thy superior, thou; surpass thine equal.
5Fulgent art thou, and splendid, thou art heavenly lustre, thou
art light.
Reach thy superior, thou; surpass thine equal.
HYMN XII
A prayer for vengeance on a malicious rival worshipper
1The spacious Firmament, and Earth and Heaven, the Field's
Queen, and the wonderful Wide-Strider,
Yea, the broad middle air which Vāta guardeth, may these now
burn with heat while I am burning.
2Listen to this, ye Gods who merit worship. Hymns here are sung
for me by Bharadvāja.
Bound in the noose may he be doomed to trouble whoever mars
this that our mind hath purposed.
3Hear this my call, O Indra, Soma-drinker, as with a burning
heart I oft invoke thee.
I smite, as 'twere a tree felled with a hatchet, the man who
marreth this my plan and purpose.
4Together with thrice-eighty Sāma-singers, Angirases, and Vasus,
and Ādityas,
May the felicity of the Fathers guard us. I seize that man with
fire that Gods have kindled. p. a45
5O Heaven and Earth, regard me with your favour, and, all ye
Gods, stand on my side and help me.
Angirases, Fathers worthy of the Soma! woe fall on him who,
caused the hateful outrage!
6Whoever either scorns us, O ye Maruts, or blames devotion
which we now are paying.
Let his own wicked deeds be fires to burn him. May Heaven
consume the man who hates devotion.
7Thy sevenfold vital breath, thine eight marrows I rend away
with prayer.
With Agni as thine envoy, go, prepared, to Yama's dwelling
place.
8In Jātavedas kindled flame I set the place assigned to thee.
Let fire consume thy body, and thy voice go to the general
breath.
p. a46
HYMN XIII
A youth's Investiture ceremony (godānam)
1Strength-giver, winning lengthened life, O Agni, with face and
back shining with molten butter,
Drink thou the butter and fair milk and honey, and, as a sire
his sons, keep this man safely.
2For us surround him, cover him with splendour, give him long
life, and death when age removes him.
The garment hath Brihaspati presented to Soma, to the King, to
w rap about him.
3Thou for our w eal hast clothed thee in the mantle: thou hast
become our heifers' guard from witchcraft.
Live thou a hundred full and plenteous autumns, and wrap thee
in prosperity of riches.
4Come hither, stand upon the stone: thy body shall become a
stone.
The Universal Gods shall make thy life a hundred autumns
long.
5So may the Universal Gods protect thee, whom we divest of
raiment worn aforetime.
So after thee, well-formed and growing stronger, be born a
multitude of thriving brothers.
p. a47
HYMN XIV
A charm to banish vermin and noxious creatures
1Forth from the hall the bold, the sharp, the greedy one, the
single-voiced,
Sadānvās, and all progeny of Chanda we exterminate.
2We drive you forth from cattle-shed, from axle, from within the
wain,
Ye daughters of Magundi, we frighten and chase you from out
homes.
3Yonder let the Arāyis dwell, there where that house is down
below.
Let utter indigence and all the Yātudhānis settle there.
4May Bhūtapati drive away, and Indra, the Sadānvās hence.
Let Indra with his bolt quell those who sit upon our dwelling's
floor.
5Whether ye be of farm and field, or whether ye be sent by men,
Or be ye sprung from Dasyu race, vanish, Sadānvās, and begone.
6I have gone round their homes as runs a fleet-foot racer round
the post,
And in all races conquered you. Vanish, Sadānvās, and begone.
p. a48
HYMN XV
A charm against fear
1As Heaven and Earth are not afraid, and never suffer loss or
harm,
Even so, my spirit, fear not thou.
2As Day and Night are not afraid, nor ever suffer loss or harm,
Even so, my spirit, fear not thou.
3As Sun and Moon are not afraid, nor ever suffer loss or harm.
Even so. my spirit, fear not thou.
4As Brāhmanhood and Princely Power fear not, nor suffer loss,
or harm,
Even so, my spirit, fear not thou.
5As Truth and Falsehood have no fear, nor ever suffer loss or
harm,
Even so, my spirit, fear not thou.
6As What Hath Been and What Shall Be fear not, nor suffer loss
or harm,
Even so, my spirit, fear not thou.
p. a49
HYMN XVI
A prayer for general protection
1Guard me from death, Inhaling and Exhaling! All bliss to you!
2Guard me from overhearing, Earth and Heaven! All hail to
you!
3Do thou, O Sūrya, with thine eye protect me! All hail to
thee!
4Agni Vaisvānara, with all Gods preserve me! All hail to thee!
5Preserve me with all care. O All-Sustainer! All hail to thee!
HYMN XVII
A prayer to an amulet for health and strength
1Power art thou, give me power. All hail!
2Might art thou, give me might. All hail!
3Strength art thou, give me strength. All hail!
4Life art thou, give me life. All hail!
5Ear art thou, give me hearing! Hail!
6Eye art thou, give me eyes. All hail!
7Shield art thou, shield me well. All hail
HYMN XVIII
A charm against enemies, goblins, and other evil creatures
1Destruction of the foe art thou, give me the scaring of my foes.
All hail!
2The rival's ruiner art thou, give me to drive my rivals off. All
hail!
3Arāyis' ruiner art thou, give me to drive Arāyis off. All hail! p. a50
4Pisa-chas' ruiner art thou, give me to drive Pisāchas off. All
hail!
5Sadānvās' ruiner art thou, give me to drive Sadānvās off. All
hail!
HYMN XIX
A prayer to Agni for aid against an enemy
1Burn thou, O Agni, with that heat of thine against the man
who hates us, whom we hate.
2Flame thou, O Agni, with that flame of thine against the man
who hates us, whom we hate.
3Shine out, O Agni, with that sheen of thine against the man who
hates us, whom we hate.
4Blaze thou, O Agni, with that blaze of thine against the man
who hates us, whom we hate.
5O Agni, with the splendour that is thine darken the man who
hates us, whom we hate.
It appears that hymns 20-23 were omitted—JBH
HYMN XXIV
A charm against the magic arts of fiends
1O Serabhaka, Serabha, back fall your arts of witchery! Back,
Kimidins! let your weapon fall.
Eat your possessor; eat ye him who sent you forth;
2Srvridhaka, O Sevridha, back fall your arts of witchery! Back,
Kimidins! let your weapon fall, etc.
3O Mroka, Anumroka, back return your arts of witchery! Back,
Kimidins! let your weapon fall, etc.
4O Sarpa, Anusarpa, back return your arts of witchery! Back, 'i
Kimidins! let your weapon fall, etc.
5Back fall your witcheries, Jūrni! back your weapon, ye
Kimidinis, etc. p. a51
6Back fall your spells, Upabdi! back your weapon, ye Kimidinis,
etc.
7Back fall your witchcrafts, Arjuni! your weapon, ye Kimidinis,
etc,
8Back, O, Bharūji! fall your charms, your weapon, ye Kimidinis.
Eat your possessor; eat ye him who sent you forth; eat your
own flesh.
HYMN XXV
A charm against fiends who cause abortion
1The Goddess Prisniparni hath blest us, and troubled Nirriti.
Fierce crusher of the Kanvas she: her have I gained, the mighty
one.
2Victorious in the olden time this Prisniparni was brought forth:
With her I cleave, as 'twere a bird's, the head of the Detestables. p. a52
4The hateful fiend who drinks the blood, and him who take away
the growth,
The Kanva who devours the germ, quell, Prisniparni! and!
destroy.
5Drive and imprison in a hill these Kanvas harassers of life:
Follow them Prisniparni, thou Goddess, like fire consuming.
them.
6Drive thou away these Kanvas, drive the harassers of life afar.
Whither the shades of darkness go, I send the fiends who feed
on flesh.
There is no verse 3 in the copytext—JBH
HYMN XXVI
A benediction on homeward coming cattle
1Let them come home, the cattle that have wandered, whom Vāyu
hath delighted to attend on,
Whose forms and figures are well known to Tvashtar. These cows
let Savitar drive within this stable.
2Let the beasts stream together to this cow-pen. Brihaspati who
knoweth lead them hither!
Let Sinivāli guide the foremost homeward. When they have
come, Anumati! enclose them.
3Together stream the cattle! stream together horses and the
men!
Hitherward press all growth of grain! I offer sacrifice with mixt
oblation.
4I pour together milk of kine, with butter blending strength and
juice.
Well sprinkled be our men, as true to me as cows are to their
herd! p. a53
5Hither I bring the milk of cows, hither have brought the juice
of corn.
Hitherward have our men been brought, hitherward to this
house our wives.
HYMN XXVII
A charm against an opponent in debate
1Let not the enemy win the cause! Strong and predominant art
thou.
Refute mine adversary's speech. Render them dull and flat, O
Plant.
2The strong-winged bird discovered thee, the boar unearthed thee
with his snout.
Refute mine adversary's speech. Render them dull and flat, O
Plant.
3Yea, Indra laid thee on his arm, to cast the Asuras to the
ground.
Refute mine adversary's speech. Render them dull and flat, O
Plant.
4Indra devoured the Pātā plant that he might lay the Asuras
low.
Refute mine adversary's speech! Render them dull and flat, O
Plant. p. a54
5With this I overcome my foes as Indra overcame the wolves.
Refute mine adversary's speech! Render them dull and flat, O
Plant.
6O Rudra, Lord of Healing Balms, dark-crested, skilful in thy
work!—
Refute mine adversary's speech. Render them dull and flat, O
Plant.
7Indra, defeat the speech of him who meets us with hostility.
Comfort us with thy power and might. Make me superior in
debate.
HYMN XXVIII
A prayer for a boy's long and happy life
1This Child, Old Age! shall grow to meet thee only: none of
the hundred other deaths shall harm him. p. a55
From trouble caused by friends let Mitra guard him, as a kind
mother guards the son she nurses.
2Mitra or Varuna the foe-destroyer, accordant, grant him death
in course of nature!
Thus Agni, Hotar-priest, skilled in high statutes, declareth all
the deities' generations.
3Thou art the Lord of all terrestrial cattle, of cattle born and to
be born hereafter.
Let not breath drawn or breath emitted fail him. Let not his
friends, let not his foemen slay him.
4Let Heaven thy father and let Earth thy mother, accordant, give
thee death in course of nature,
That thou mayst live on Aditi's bosom, guarded, a hundred
winters, through thy respirations.
5Lead him to life, O Agni, and to splendour, this dear child,
Varuna! and thou King Mitra!
Give him protection, Aditi! as a mother; All Gods, that his be
life of long duration;
HYMN XXIX
A benediction on a sick man
1Gods, give him all that earth hath best with bodily strength and
happy fate.
Agni and Sūrya grant him life, Brihaspati give him eminence!
2Bestow thou life on him, O Jātavedas. Store him with future
progeny, O Tvashtar.
Send him, O Savitar, full growth of riches. Let this thy servant
live a hundred autumns.
3May this our prayer bring strength and goodly offspring. Give,
both of you one-minded, strength and riches. p. a56
Let him with might win fields and victory, Indra! setting beneath
his feet the rest, his rivals.
4As Indra's gift, by Varuna instructed the fierce one came to us
sent by the Maruts.
Let him, O Heaven and Earth, rest in your bosom. Let him not
hunger, let him not be thirsty.
5Ye twain endowed with vigour, grant him vigour. Ye who are
rich in milk, give milk to feed him.
These twain have given him vigour, Earth and Heaven, and all
the Gods, the Maruts, and the Waters.
6With health-bestowing drops thine heart I comfort: all-bright
again, and undiseased, enjoy them.
Drest in like robes let these two drink the mixture, wearing
the Asvins' form as an illusion.
7Erst Indra, wounded, made this strengthening portion, eternal
food: thine is it, here presented.
With this live full of vigour through the autumns. Let not thy
strength be drained. Leeches have helped thee.
HYMN XXX
A man's love-charm
1As the wind shake this Tuft of Grass hither and thither on the
ground. p. a57
So do I stir and shake thy mind, that thou mayst be in love
with me, my darling, never to depart.
2Ye, Asvins, lead together, ye unite and bring the loving pair.
Now have the fortunes of you twain, now have your vows and
spirits met.
3When eagles, calling out aloud, are screaming in the joy of
health,
Then to my calling let her come, as to the arrow's neck the
shaft.
4Let what is inward turn outside, let what is outward be within:
Seize and possess, O Plant, the mind of maidens rich in every
charm.
5Seeking a husband she hath come! and I came longing for a
wife:
Even as a loudly-neighing steed may fate and fortune have I
met.
p. a58
HYMN XXXI
A charm against all sorts of worms
1With Indra's mighty millstone, that which crushes worms of
every sort,
I bray and bruise the worms to bits like vetches on the grinding
stone.
2The Seen and the Invisible, and the Kurūru have I crushed:
Alāndus, and all Chhalunas, we bruise to pieces with our spell.
3I kill Alāndus with a mighty weapon: burnt or not burnt they
now have lost their vigour .
Left or not left, I with the spell subdue them: let not a single
worm remain uninjured.
4The worm that lives within the ribs, within the bowels, in the
head.
Avaskava and Borer, these we bruise to pieces with the spell.
5Worms that are found on mountains, in the forests, that live in
plants, in cattle, in the waters,
Those that have made their way within our bodies,—these I
destroy, the worms' whole generation.
p. a59
HYMN XXXII
A charm against worms or bots in cows
1Uprising let the Sun destroy, and when he sinketh, with his
beams.
The Worms that live within the cow.
2The four-eyed worm, of every shape, the variegated, and the
white
I break and crush the creature's ribs, and tear away its head
besides.
3Like Atri I destroy you, Worms! in Kanva's, Jamadagni's way:
I bray and bruise the creeping things to pieces with Agastya's•
spell.
4Slain is the sovran of these Worms, yea, their controlling lord
is slain:
Slain is the Worm, his mother slain, brother and sister both are
slain.
5Slain are his ministers, and slain his followers and retinue:
Yes, those that seemed the tiniest things, the Worms have all
been put to death.
6I break in pieces both thy horns wherewith thou pushest here
and there:
I cleave and rend the bag which holds the venom which is•
stored in thee.
p. a60
HYMN XXXIII
1From both thy nostrils, from both eyes, from both thine ears,
and from thy chin,
Forth from thy brain and tongue I root Consumption seated in
thy head.
2Forth from the neck and from the nape, from dorsal vertebrae
and spine.
From arms and shoulder-blades I root Consumption seated in
thine arms.
3Forth from thy heart and from thy lungs, from thy gall-bladder
and thy sides,
From kidneys, spleen and liver thy Consumption we eradicate.
4From bowels and intestines, from the rectum and the belly, I
Extirpate thy Consumption, from flanks, navel and mesentery.
5Forth from thy thighs and from thy knees, heels and the fore-
parts of thy feet.
Forth from thy loins and hips I draw Consumption setted in
thy loins.
6Forth from thy marrows and thy bones, forth from thy tendons
and thy veins
I banish thy Consumption, from thy hands, thy fingers, and thy
nails.
7In every member, every hair, in every joint wherein it lies,
We with the exorcising spell of Kasyapa drive far away Con-
sumption settled in thy skin.
p. a61
HYMN XXXIV
A prayer accompanying an animal sacrifice
1May this, of all the beasts that Pasupati rules, Lord of animals,.
quadruped and biped,
Come, purchased, to the sacrificial portion. May growth of
wealth attend the sacrificer.
2Loosing the seed of future-time existence, give good success, O
Gods, to him who worships.
May what is present, duly brought, the victim, go to the deities'
beloved region.
3Those who are looking, deep in meditation, on the bound ani-
mal with eye and spirit
To them, the first, may Agni, God, give freedom, rejoicing in his
creatures, Visvakarman.
4Tame animals of every shape, though varied in colour, manifold.
alike in nature
To them, the first, may Vāyu, God, give freedom, Prajāpati.
rejoicing in his creatures.
5Let those who know receive before all others the vital breath
proceeding from the body.
Go to the sky. Stay there with all thy members. By paths which
Gods have travelled go to Svarga.
p. a62
HYMN XXXV
Expiation for an imperfectly performed sacrifice
1We who enjoying it have grown no richer, for whom the sacred
altar-fires have sorrowed,
We who compounded with deficient worship,—may Visvakarman
make our service prosper.
2Rishis have called the sacrifice's patron amerced through sin,
sorrowing for his offspring.
Those drops of meath whereof the missed enjoyment,—may
Visvakarman with those drops unite us.
3Regarding niggard churls as Soma-drinkers, skilful in sacrifice,
weak at the meeting,
Whatever sin the captive hath committed, do thou for weal
release him, Visvakarman!
4Awful are Rishis: unto them be homage, and to their eye and
truthfulness of spirit!
Loud homage to Brihaspati, O mighty! Homage to thee, O
Visvakarman! Guard us.
5The eye of sacrifice, source, and beginning—with voice, ear,
spirit unto him I offer.
To this our sacrifice wrought by Visvakarman may the Gods
come gracious and kindly-hearted.
p. a63
HYMN XXXVI
A charm to secure a husband for a marriageable girl
1To please us may the suitor come, O Agni, seeking this maid and
bringing us good fortune.
Approved by wooers, lovely in assemblies, may she be soon
made happy with a husband.
2As bliss beloved by Soma, dear to Prayer, and stored by Arya-
man,
With the God Dhātar's truthfulness I work the bridal oracle.
3O Agni, may this woman find a husband. Then verily King Soma
makes her happy.
May she bear sons, chief lady of the household, blessed and
bearing rule beside her consort.
4As this lair, Maghavan! that is fair to look on was dear to wild
things as a pleasant dwelling,
So may this woman here be Bhaga's darling. Loved by her lord
and prizing his affection. p. a64
5Mount up, embark on Bhaga's ship, the full, the inexhaustible,
Thereon bring hitherward to us the lover whom thou fain
wouldst wed.
6Call out to him, O Lord of Wealth! Make thou the lover well-
inclined.
Set each on thy right hand who is a lover worthy of her choice.
7Here is the Bdellium and the gold, the Auksha and the bliss are
here:
These bring thee to the husbands, so to find the man whom thou.
wouldst have.
8May Savitar lead and bring to thee the husband whom thy heart
desires.
O Plant, be this thy gift to her!
p. a65
p. a66
BOOK III
HYMN I
A prayer or charm for the defeat and destruction of enemies in battle
1Let the wise Agni go against our foemen, burning against ill-will
and imprecation
Let him bewilder our opponents' army, Let Jātavedas smite and
make them handless.
2Mighty are ye for such a deed, O Maruts. Go forward, overcome
them and destroy them.
The Vasus slew, and these were left imploring. Wise Agni as our
messenger assail them!
3O Maghavan, O Indra, thou who slayest fiends, and, Agni, thou,
Burn, both of you, against these men, the foeman's host that
threatens us.
4Shot down the slope, with thy two tawny coursers, forth go thy
bolt, destroying foes, O Indra!
Slay those who fly, slay those who stand and follow.
On every side fulfil these men's intention.
5Indra, bewilder thou the foemen's army.
With Agni's, Vāta's furious rush drive them away to every side.
6Let Indra daze their army. Let the Maruts slay it with their
might.
Let Agni take their eyes away, and let the conquered host
retreat.
p. a67
HYMN II
A rifaccimento or recension of I
1May Agni, he who knows, our envoy, meet them, burning
against ill-will and imprecation.
May he bewilder our opponent's senses. May Jātavedas smite and
make them handless.
2This Agni hath bewildered all the senses that were in your
hearts:
Now let him blast you from your home, blast you away from
every side.
3Dazing their senses, Indra, come hitherward with the wish and
will.
With Agni's, Vāta's furious rush drive them to every side away.
4Vanish, ye hopes and plans of theirs, be ye confounded, all their
thoughts!
Whatever wish is in their heart, do thou expel it utterly.
5Bewildering the senses of our foemen, seize on their bodies and
depart, O Apvā!
Go meet them, flame within their hearts and burn them. Smite
thou the foes with darkness and amazement.
6That army of our enemies, O Maruts, that comes against us with'
its might, contending—
Meet ye and strike it with unwelcome darkness so that not one.
of them may know another.
HYMN III
A charm for the restoration of an expelled king
L Loudly he roared. Here let him labour deftly. Spread, Agni, over
spacious earth and heaven. p. a68
Let Maruts who possesses all treasures yoke thee. Bring him who
reverently paid oblations.
2Though he be far away, let the red horses bring Indra, bring the
sage to us and friendship,
Since with Sautrāmani Gods for him o'erpower Gāyatri, Brihatī,
and hymn of praises.
3King Varuna call thee hither from the waters! From hills and
mountains Soma call thee hither!
Let Indra call thee hither to these people. Fly hither to these
people as a falcon.
4May the hawk bring the man who must be summoned, from far
away, in alien land, an exile.
May both the Asvins make thy pathway easy. Come, and unite
yourselves with him, ye Kinsmen.
5Let thine opponents call thee back. Thy friends have chosen,
thee again.
Indra and Agni, all the Gods have kept thy home amid the
tribe.
6He who disputes our calling thee, be he a stranger or akin.
Drive him, O Indra, far away, and do thou bring this man to
us.
p. a69
HYMN IV
A benediction at the election of a king
1To thee hath come the kingship with its splendour: On! shine
as lord, sole ruler of the people.
King! let all regions of the heavens invite thee. Here let men
wait on thee and bow before thee.
2The tribesmen shall elect thee for the Kingship, these five celestial
regions shall elect thee.
Rest on the height and top of kingly power: thence as a mighty
man award us treasures.
3Kinsmen, inviting thee, shall go to meet thee, with thee go
Agni as an active herald.
Let women and their sons be friendly-minded. Thou mighty one,
shalt see abundant tribute.
4First shall the Asvins, Varuna and Mitra, the Universal Gods,
and Maruts call thee.
Then turn thy mind to giving gifts of treasures, thence, mighty
one, distribute wealth among us.
5Speed to us hither from the farthest distance. Propitious unto
thee be Earth and Heaven.
Even so hath Varuna this King asserted, he who himself hath
called thee: come thou hither.
6Pass to the tribes of men. O Indra, Indra. Thou the Varunas
hast been found accordant.
To his own place this one hath called thee, saying, Let him adore
the Gods and guide the clansmen.
7The Bounteous Paths in sundry forms and places,
all in accord, have given thee room and comfort.
Let all of these in concert call thee hither. Live thy tenth decade
here, a strong kind ruler.
p. a70
HYMN V
A King's address to an amulet which is to strengthen his authority
1This Parna-Amulet hath come, strong and destroying with its
strength my rivals.
The power of the Gods, the plants' sweet essence, may it incite
me ceaselessly with vigour.
2O Parna-Amulet, in me set firmly might and opulence.
Within the compass of my rule may I be rooted and supreme.
3That dear mysterious Amulet which Gods have set within the
tree,
May the Gods grant to me to wear together with extended
life.
4As Indra's gift, by Varuna instructed, Parna hath come, the
mighty strength of Soma:
This would I, brightly shining, love and cherish for long life
lasting through a hundred autumns.
5The Parna-Charm hath come to me for great security from ill.
That I may be exalted, yea, above the wealth of Aryaman.
6Sagacious builders of the car, cleaver and skilful artisans,—
Make all the men on every side, Parna, obedient to my will
7The kings and makers of the kings, troop-leaders, masters of the
horse,
Make all the men on every side, Parna, obedient to my will.
8Thou, Parna, art my body's guard, man kin my birth to me a
man.
With splendour of the circling year I bind thee on me, Amulet!
p. a71
HYMN VI
Address to an amulet which is to secure the defeat of the wearer's enemies
1Masculine springs from masculine, Asvattha grows from Kha-
dira,
May it destroy mine enemies, who hate me and whom I detest.
2Crush down my foes, Asvattha! Rend, O Burster, those who
storm and rage,
With Indra, slayer of the fiends, with Mitra and with Varuna.
3As thou hast rent and torn apart, Asvattha! in the mighty sea,
So rend asundar all those men who hate me and whom I detest.
4Thou who like some victorious bull displayest thy surpassing
might,
With thee, with thee, Asvattha! we would overcome our
enemies.
5Nirriti bind them with the bonds of Death which never may be
loosed. p. a72
Mine enemies, Asvattha! those who hate me and whom I
detest.
6As thou, Asvastha!, mountest on the trees and overthrowest
them,
So do thou break my foeman's head asunder and o'erpower
him.
7Let them drift downward like a boat torn from the rope that
fastened it.
There is no turning back for those whom He who Cleaves hath
driven away.
8With mental power I drive them forth, drive them with intellect
and charm.
We banish and expel them with the branch of an Asvattha tree.
HYMN VII
A charm with an amulet of buck horn to drive away hereditary disease
1The fleet-foot Roebuck wears upon his head a healing remedy.
Innate disease he drives away to all directions with his horn.
2With his four feet the vigorous Buck hath bounded in pursuit of
thee.
Unbind the chronic sickness, Horn! deeply inwoven in the heart.
3That which shines younder, like a roof resting on four walls,
down on us,— p. a73
Therewith from out thy body we drive all the chronic malady,
4May those twin stars, auspicious, named Releasers, up in yonder
sky.
Loose of the chronic malady the uppermost and lowest bond.
5Water, indeed, hath power to heal, Water drives malady away.
May water—for it healeth all—free thee from permanent disease.
6Hath some prepared decoction brought inveterate disease on
thee,
I know the balm that healeth it: we drive the malady away.
7What time the starlight disappears, what time the gleams of
Dawn depart,
May evil fortune pass from us, the chronic sickness disappear.
HYMN VIII
A charm to secure the submission, love, and fidelity of kinsmen
1Let Mitra come, arranging, with the Seasons, lulling the Earth
to rest with gleams of splendour.
And so let Agni, Varuna, and Vāyu make our dominion tran-
quil and exalted.
2May Indra, Tvashtar hear my word with favour, may Dhātar,
Rāti, Savitar accept it.
I call the Goddess Aditi, heroes' mother, that I may be the
centre of my kinsmen.
3Soma I call, and Savitar with homage, and all the Ādityas in the
time of contest. p. a74
Long may this fire send forth its splendour, lighted by kinsmen
uttering no word against me.
4Here, verily, may you stay: go ye no farther. The strong Herd,
Lord of Increase, drive you hither!
To please this man may all the Gods together come unto you
and be as dames who love him.
5We bend together all your minds, your vows and purposes we
bend.
We bend together you who stand apart with hopes opposed to
ours.
6I with my spirit seize and hold your spirits. Follow with thought
and wish my thoughts and wishes.
I make your hearts the thralls of my dominion; on me attendant
come thy way I guide you.
HYMN IX
A charm against rheumatism (vishkondha)
1Heaven is the sire, the mother Earth, of Karsapha and Visapha.
As ye have brought them hither, Gods! so do ye move therm
hence away.
2The bands hold fast without a knot: this is the way that Manu-
used.
I make Vishkandha impotent as one emasculateth bulls.
3Then to a tawny-coloured string the wise and skilful bind a
brush.
Let bandages make impotent the strong and active Kābava.
4Ye who move active in your strength like Gods with Asuras'
magic powers,
Even as the monkey scorns the dogs, Bandages! scorn the
Kābava.
5Yea, I will chide thee to thy shame, I will disgrace the Kābava. p. a75
Under our impracations ye, like rapid cars, shall pass away.
6One and one hundred over earth are the Vishkandhas spread
abroad.
Before these have they fetched thee forth. Vishkandha quelling
Amulet.
HYMN X
A new year prayer
1The First hath dawned. With Yama may it be a cow to pour
forth milk.
May she be rich in milk and stream for us through many a com-
ing year.
2May she whom Gods accept with joy, Night who approacheth.
as a cow,
She who is Consort of the Year, bring us abundant happiness
3Thou whom with reverence we approach, O Night, as model of
the Year,
Vouchsafe. us children long to live; bless us with increase of
our wealth.
4This same is she whose light first dawned upon us: she moves
established in the midst of others: p. a76
Great powers and glories are contained within her: a first-born
bride, she conquers and bears children.
5Loud was the wooden pass-gear's ring and rattle, as it made
annual oblation ready.
First Ashtakā! may we be lords of riches, with goodly children
and good men about us.
6The shrine of Ilā flows with oil and fatness: accept, O Jātavedas,
our oblations.
Tame animals of varied form and colour—may all the seven
abide with me contented.
7Come thou to nourish me and make me prosper. Night! may the
favour of the Gods attend us.
Filled full, O Ladle, fly thou forth. Completely filled fly back
again.
Serving at every sacrifice bring to us food and energy.
8This Year hath come to us, thy lord and consort, O Ekāshtakā.
Vouchsafe us children long to live, bless us with increase of our
wealth.
9The Seasons, and the Seasons' Lords I worship, annual parts
and groups.
Half years, Years, Months, I offer to the Lord of all existing
things.
10I offer to the Seasons, to their several groups, to Months, to
Years.
Dhātar, Vidhātar, Fortune, to the lord of all existing things.
11With fatness and libation we sacrifice and adore the Gods.
Wealthy in kine may we retire to rest us in our modest homes.
12Ekāshtakā, burning with zealous fervour, brought forth her
babe the great and glorious Indra.
With him the Gods subdued their adversaries: the Lord of
Might became the Dasyus' slayer.
13Indra's and Soma's mother! thou art daughter of Prajāpati.
Satisfy thou our hearts' desires. Gladly accept our sacrifice.
p. a77
HYMN XI
A charm for the recovery of a dangerously sick man
1For life I set thee free by this oblation both from unmarked'.
decline and from consumption:
Or if the grasping demon have possessed him, free him from her,.
O Indra, thou and Agni!
2Be his days ended, be he now departed, be he brought very
near to death already,
Out of Destruction's lap again I bring him, save him for life to
last a hundred autumns. p. a78
3With sacrifice thousand-eyed and hundred-powered, bringing a
hundred lives, have I restored him,
That Indra through the autumns may conduct him safe to the
farther shore of all misfortune.
4Live, waxing in thy strength a hundred autumns, live through
a hundred springs, a hundred winters!
Indra, Agni, Savitar, Brihaspati give thee a hundred! With
hundred-lived oblation have I saved him,
5Breath, Respiration, come to him, as two car-oxen to their
stall!
Let all the other deaths, whereof men count a hundred, pass
away.
6Breath, Respiration, stay ye here. Go ye not hence away from
him,
Bring, so that he may reach old age, body and members back
again.
7I give thee over to old age, make thee the subject of old age.
Let kindly old age lead thee on. Let all the other deaths, whereof
men count a hundred, pass away!
8Old age hath girt thee with its bonds even as they bind a bull
with rope.
The death held thee at thy birth bound with a firmly-knotted
noose,
Therefrom, with both the hands of Truth, Brihaspati hath loose-
ned thee.
p. a79
HYMN XII
A benediction on a newly built house
1Here, even here I fix my firm-set dwelling; flowing with fatness
may it stand in safety.
May we approach thee, House! with all our people, uncharmed
and goodly men, and dwell within thee,
2Even here, O House, stand thou on firm foundation, wealthy in
horses, rich in kine and gladness.
Wealthy in nourishment. in milk and fatness, rise up for great
felicity and fortune.
3A spacious store, O House, art thou, full of clean corn and
lofty-roofed.
Let the young calf and little boy approach thee, and milch-kine
streaming homeward in the evening.
4This House may Savitar and Vāyu stablish, Brihaspati who
knows the way, and Indra.
May the moist Maruts sprinkle it with fatness, and may King
Bhaga make our corn-land fruitful.
5Queen of the home! thou, sheltering, kindly Goddess, wast sta-
blished by the Gods in the beginning.
Clad in thy robe of grass be friendly-minded, and give us wealth
with goodly men about us.
6Thou Pole, in ordered fashion mount the pillar. Strong, shining
forth afar, keep off our foemen.
House! let not those who dwell within thee suffer. Live we with
all our men, a hundred autumns.
7To this the tender boy hath come, to this the calf with all the
beasts,
To this crock of foaming drink, hither with jars of curdled
milk.
8Bring hitherward, O dame, the well-filled pitcher, the stream
of molten butter blent with nectar.
Bedew these drinkers with a draught of Amrit.
May all our hopes' fulfilment guard this dwelling.
9Water that kills Consumption, free from all Consumption, here
I bring.
With Agni, the immortal one, I enter and possess the house.
p. a80
HYMN XIII
A benediction on a newly cut water channel
1As ye, when Ahi had been slain, flowed forth together with a
roar,
So are ye called the Roaring Ones: this, O ye Rivers, is your
name.
2As driven forth by Varuna ye swiftly urged your rolling waves,
There Indra reached you as you flowed; hence ye are still the
Water-floods.
3Indra restrained you with his might. Goddesses, as ye glided
on
Not in accordance with his will: hence have ye got the name of
Streams.
4One only God set foot on you flowing according to your will, p. a81
The mighty ones breathed upward fast: hence; Water is the name
they bear.
5Water is good, water indeed is fatness. Agni and Soma, truly,
both bring water.
May the strong rain of those who scatter sweetness come helpful
unto me with breath and vigour.
6Then verily, I see, yea, also hear them: their sound approaches
me, their voice comes hither.
Even then I think I am enjoying Amrit, what time I drink my
fill of you, gold coloured!
7Here, O ye Waters, is your heart. Here is your calf, ye holy
ones.
Flow here, just here, O mighty Streams, whither I now am lead-
ing you.
p. a82
HYMN XIV
A benediction on a cattle pen
1A Pen wherein to dwell at ease, abundance and prosperity,
Whate'er is called the birth of day, all this do we bestow on
you.
2May Aryaman pour gifts on you, and Pūshan, land Brihaspati,
And Indra, winner of the prize. Make ye my riches grow with me.
3Moving together, free from fear, with plenteous droppings in
this pen,
Bearing sweet milk-like Soma-juice, come hither free from all
disease.
4Come hither, to this place, O Cows: here thrive as though ye
were manured.
Even here increase and multiply; let us be friendly, you and me.
5Auspicious be this stall to you. Prosper like cultivated rice.
Even here increase and multiply. Myself do we bestow on you.
6Follow me, Cows, as master of the cattle. Here may this Cow-
pen make you grow and prosper,
Still while we live may we approach you living, ever increasing
with the growth of riches.
HYMN XV
A merchant's prayer for success in his business
1I stir and animate the merchant Indra; may he approach and
be our guide and leader. p. a83
Chasing ill-will, wild beast, and highway robber, may he who
hath the power give me riches.
2The many paths which Gods are wont to travel, the paths which
go between the earth and heaven,
May they rejoice with me in milk and fatness that I may make
rich profit by my purchase.
3With fuel. Agni! and with butter, longing, mine offering I
present for strength and conquest;
With prayer, so far as I have strength, adoring—this holy hymn
to gain a hundred treasures.
4Pardon this stubbornness of ours. O Agni, the distant pathway
which our feet have trodden.
Propitious unto us be sale and barter, may interchange of mer-
chandise enrich me.
Accept, ye twain, accordant, this libation! Prosperous be our
ventures and incomings.
5The wealth wherewith I carry on my traffic, seeking, ye Gods!
wealth with the wealth I offer,
May this grow more for me, not less: O Agni, through sacrifice
chase those who hinder profit!
6The wealth wherewith I carry on my traffic, seeking, ye Gods!
wealth with the wealth I offer,
Herein may Indra, Savitar, and Soma, Prajāpati, and Agni give
me splendour.
7With reverence we sign thy praise, O Hotar-priest Vaisvānara.
Over our children keep thou watch, over our bodies, kine, and
lives.
8Still to thee ever will we bring oblation, as to a stabled horse, O
Jātavedas.
Joying in food and in the growth of riches may we thy servants,
Agni, never suffer.
p. a84
HYMN XVI
A Rishi's morning prayer
1Agni at dawn, and Indra we invoke at dawn, and Varuna and
Mitra, and the Asvins twain:
Bhaga at dawn, Pūshan and Brāhmanaspati, Soma at dawn, and
Rudra we invoke at dawn.
2We all strong Bhaga, conqueror in the morning, the son of
Aditi, the great Disposer,
Whom each who deems himself poor, strong and mighty, a king,
addresses thus, Grant thou my portion!
3Bhaga, our guide, Bhaga whose gifts are faithful, favour this
hymn and give us wealth, O Bhaga.
Bhaga, augment our store of kine and horses. Bhaga, may we be
rich in men and heroes.
4So may felicity be ours at present, and when the Sun advances,
and at noontide;
And may we still, O Bounteous One, at sunset be happy in the
Gods' protecting favour. p. a85
5May Bhaga verily be bliss-bestower, and through him, Gods!
may happiness attend us.
As such with all my might I call and call thee: as such be thou
our leader here, O Bhaga.
6To this our sacrifice may the Dawns incline them, and come to
the pure place like Dadhikrāvan.
As strong steeds draw a chariot may they bring me hitherward
Bhaga who discovers treasure.
7May the kind Mornings dawn on us for ever with, wealth of
kine, of horses, and of heroes.
Streaming with all abundance, pouring fatness,
Do ye preserve us evermore with blessings!
HYMN XVII
A farmer's song and prayer to speed the plough
1Wise and devoted to the Gods the skilful men bind plough-ropes
fast, p. a86
And lay the yokes on either side.
2Lay on the yokes and fasten well the traces: formed is the
furrow, sow the seed within it.
Virāj vouchsafe us hearing fraught with plenty!
Let the ripe grain come near and near the sickle.
3The keen-shared plough that bringeth bliss, furnished with traces
and with stilts,
Shear out for me a cow, a sheep, a rapid drawer of the car, a
blooming woman, plump and strong!
4May Indra press the furrow down, may Pūshan guard and cherish
her.
May she, well stored with milk yield milk for us through each
succeeding year.
5Happily let the shares turn up the ploughland, the ploughers
happily follow the oxen.
Pleased with our sacrifice, Suna and Sira! make the plants bring
this man abundant produce.
6Happily work our steers and men! May the plough furrow
happily,
Happily be the traces bound. Happily ply the driving-goad.
7Suna and Sira, welcome ye this laud, and with the milk that ye
have made in heaven,
Bedew ye both this earth of ours.
8Auspicious Sitā, come thou near: we venerate and worship thee.
That thou mayst bless and prosper us and bring us fruits
abundantly.
9Loved by the Visvedevas and the Maruts, let Sitā be bedewed.
with oil and honey.
Turn thou to us with wealth of milk, O Sitā, in vigorous
strength and pouring streams of fatness.
p. a87
HYMN XVIII
A jealous wife's incantation against a rival
1From out the earth I dig this Plant, and herb of most effectual
power,
Wherewith one quells the rival wife and gains the husband for
one's self.
2Auspicious, with expanded leaves, sent by the Gods, victorious
Plant,
Drive thou, the rival wife away, and make my husband only
mine.
3Indeed he hath not named her name: thou with this husband
dalliest not,
Far into distance most remote we drive the rival wife away. p. a88
4Stronger am I, O stronger one, yea, mightier than the mightier;
Beneath me be my rival wife, down, lower than the lowest
dames!
5I am the conqueror, and thou, thou also art victorious:
As victory attends us both we will subdue my fellowwife.
6I've girt thee with the conquering Plant, beneath thee laid the
mightiest one.
As a cow hastens to her calf, so let thy spirit speed to me,
hasten like water on its way.
HYMN XIX
A glorification of the office of a king's household priest
1Quickened is this my priest rank, quickened is manly strength
and force,
Quickened be changeless power, whereof I am the conquering
President!
2I quicken these men's princely sway, the might, the manly
strength and force;
I rend away the foemen's arms with this presented sacrifice.
3Down fall the men, low let them lie, who fight against our
mighty prince,
I ruin foemen with my spell, and raise my friends to high estate.
4Keener than is the axe's edge, keener than Agni's self are they,
Keener than Indra's bolt are they whose Priest and President am I.
5The weapons of these men I whet and sharpen, with valiant
heroes I increase their kingdom. p. a89
Victorious be their power and ever ageless! May all the Gods
promote their thoughts and wishes.
66Let their fierce powers, O Maghavan, be heightened, and upward
go the shout of conquering heroes.
Apart and clear, let shout and roar and shriek and lamentation
rise!
Let the Gods led by Indra, let the Maruts with our army go.
7Advance and be victorious, men I Exceeding mighty be your
arms!
Smite with sharp-pointed arrows those whose bows are weak.
With your strong arms and weapons smite the feeble foe.
8Loosed from the bowstring fly away, thou Arrow, sharpened by
our prayer.
Assail the foemen, vanquish them, conquer each bravest man of
theirs, and let not one of them escape.
HYMN XX
A prayer for riches and general prosperity
1This is thine ordered place of birth whence sprung to life thou
shinest forth. p. a90
Knowing this, Agni, mount on high and cause our riches to
increase.
2Turn hither, Agni, speak to us, come to us with a friendly mind.
Enrich us, Sovran of the Tribes! Thou art the giver of our
wealth.
3Let Aryaman vouchsafe us, wealth, and Bhaga, and Brihaspati,
The Goddesses grant wealth to us, Sūnritā, Goddess, give me
wealth!
4We call King Soma to our aid, and Agni with our songs and.
hymn,
The Ādityas, Vishnu, Sūrya, and the Brāhman-priest Brihaspati.
5Do thou, O Agni, with thy fires strengthen our prayer and.
sacrifice.
Incite thou us, O God, to give, and send us riches to bestow.
6Both Indra here and Vāyu we invoke with an auspicious call,
That in assembly all the folk may be benevolent to us, and be
inclined to give us gifts.
7Urge Aryaman to send us gifts, and Indra, and Brihaspati,
Vāta, Vishnu, Sarasvati, and the strong courser Savitar.
8Now have we reached the ordering of power, and all these
worlds of life are held within it.
Let him who knows urge e'en the churl to bounty Give wealth.
to us with all good men about us.
9May heaven's five spacious regions pour their milk for me with
all their might.
May I obtain each wish and hope formed by my spirit and my
heart.
10May speech that winneth cows be mine. With splendour mount
thou over me.
May Vāyu hedge me round about May Pūshan make me pros-
perous.
p. a91
HYMN XXI
In honour of fire in all shapes, to appease Agni of the funeral pile and to quench the flames of cremation
1All Fires that are in water and in Vritra, all those that man and
stones contain within them,
That which hath entered herbs and trees and bushes—to all
these Fires be this oblation offered.
2That which abides in Soma and in cattle, that which lies deep in
birds and sylvan creatures,
That which hath entered quadrupeds and bipeds—to all these
Fires be this oblation offered.
3The Fire that rideth by the side of Indra, the God Vaisvānara,.
yea all-consuming,
Whom, as the victor, I invoke in battles—to all these Fires be
this oblation offered.
4The all-devouring God whom men call Kāma, he whom they
call the Giver and Receiver,
Invincible, pervading, wise, and mighty—to all these Fires be
this oblation offered.
5To thee, strength-giver, glorious, rich in pleasant strains, whom.
in their minds the thirteen creatures of the world,
And the five sons of man regard as Hotar-priest—to all these-
Fires be this oblation offered. p. a92
6To him who feeds on ox and cow, sage, bearing Soma on his
back,
To all Vaisvānara's followers—to these be this oblation paid.
7All fiery flames that follow after lightning, flashing o'er earth,
through firmament and heaven,
All that are in the wind and skyey regions—to all these Fires be
this oblation offered.
8The golden-handed Savitar and Indra, Brihaspati, Varuna,
Mitra, and Agni,
The Angirases we call, the Visve Devas: let them appease this
Agni, Flesh-devourer.
9Flesh-eating Agni is appeased, appeased is he who hurteth men.
Now him who burneth every thing, the Flesh-consumer, have I
stilled.
10The mountains where the Soma grows, the waters lying calm and
still,
Vāta, Parjanya, Agni's self have made the Flesh-consumer rest.
p. a93
HYMN XXII
The taming and training of an elephant for a king to ride on
1Famed be the Elephant's strength, the lofty glory, which out of
Aditi's body took existence!
They all have given me this for my possession, even all the Gods
and Aditi accordant.
2On this have Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and Rudra fixed their
thought.
May those all-fostering deities anoint and balm me with his
strength.
3The strength wherewith the Elephant was dowered, that decks a
King among the men, in waters,
O Agni, even with that strength make thou me vigorous to-day.
4The lofty strength which sacrifice brings, Jātavedas! unto thee,
What strength the Sun possesses, all strength of the royal Ele-
phant—such strength vouchsafe to me the pair of Asvins
lotus-garlanded!
5Far as the heaven's four regions spread, far as the eye's most
distant ken.
So wide, so vast let power be mine, this vigour of the Elephant.
6Now hath the Elephant become chief of all pleasant beasts to
ride.
With his high fortune and his strength I grace and conscorate
myself.
p. a94
HYMN XXIII
A charm to remove a woman's sterility, and to assure the birth of boys
1From thee we banish and expel the cause of thy sterility.
This in another place we lay apart from thee and far removed.
2As arrow to the quiver, so let a male embryo enter thee.
Then from thy side be born a babe, a ten-month child, thy hero
son.
3Bring forth a male, bring forth a son. Another male shall follow
him.
The mother shalt thou be of sons born and hereafter to be
born.
4With that auspicious general flow wherewith steers propagate
their kind,
Do thou obtain thyself a son: be thou a fruitfu! mother-cow.
5I give thee power to bear a child: within, thee pass the germ of
life!
Obtain a son, O woman, who shall be a blessing unto thee. Be
thou a blessing unto him.
6May those celestial herbs whose sire was Heaven, the Earth their
mother, and their root the ocean.
May those celestial healing Plants assist thee to obtain a son.
p. a95
HYMN XXIV
A song of harvest
1The plants of earth are rich in milk, and rich in milk is this
my word,
So from the rich in milk I bring thousandfold profit hitherward.
2Him who is rich in milk I know. Abundant hath he made our
corn.
The God whose name is Gatherer, him we invoke who dwelleth
in his house who sacrifices not.
3All the five regions of the heavens, all the five races of man-
kind,
As after rain the stream brings drift, let them bring increase
hitherward.
4Open the well with hundred streams, exhaustless, with a thousand
streams.
So cause this corn of ours to be exhaustless, with a thousand
streams.
5O Hundred-handed, gather up. O Thousand-handed, pour thou
forth.
Bring hither increase of the corn prepared and yet to be pre-
pared.
6Three sheaves are the Gandharvas' claim, the lady of the house
hath four.
We touch thee with the sheaf that is the most abundant of them
all.
7Adding and Gathering are thy two attendants, O Prajāpati.
May they bring hither increase, wealth abundant, inexhaustible.
p. a96
HYMN XXV
A man's love-charm
1Let the Impeller goad thee on. Rest not in peace upon thy bed.
Terrible is the shaft of Love: therewith I pierce thee to the
heart.
2That arrow winged with longing thought, its stem Desire, its
neck, Resolve,
Let Kāma, having truly aimed, shoot forth and pierce thee in
the heart.
3The shaft of Kāma, pointed well, that withers and consumes the
spleen.
With hasty feathers, all aglow, therewith I pierce thee to the
heart.
4Pierced through with fiercely-burning heat, steal to me with thy
parching lips,
Gentle and humble, all mine own, devoted, with sweet words of
love.
5Away Lfrom mother and from sire I drive thee hither with a
whip,
That thou mayst be at my command and yield to every wish of
mine. p. a97
6Mitra and Varuna, expel all thought and purpose from her
heart.
Deprive her of her own free will and make her subject unto me.
HYMN XXVI
A charm to win the favour of all serpents
1Ye Gods who dwell within this eastward region, entitled
Weapons, Agni forms your arrows.
Be kind and gracious unto us and bless us. To you be reverence,
to you be welcome!
2Ye Gods who dwell within this southward region, entitled Eager,
Kāma forms your arrows.
Be kind, etc.
3Ye Gods who dwell within this westward region, whose name is
Radiant, Water forms your arrows.
Be kind, etc.
4Ye Gods who dwell within this northward region, whose name
is Piercers, Vāta forms your arrows.
Be kind, etc.
5Ye Gods whose home is in this firm-set region—Nilimpas is your
name—Plants are your arrow.
Be kind, etc.
6Ye Gods whose home is in this upmost region, Yearners by
name, Brihaspati forms your arrows.
Be kind and gracious unto us and bless us. To you be reverence,
to you be welcome!
p. a98
HYMN XXVII
A charm consigning an enemy to the serpents for punishment
1Agni is regent of the East, its warder is Asita, the Ādityas are
the arrows.
Worship to these the regents, these the warders, and to the
arrows, yea, to these be worship!
Within your jaws we lay the man who hateth us and whom we
hate.
2Indra is regent of the South, its warder Tiraschirāji, and the
shafts the Fathers.
Worship to these the regents, these the warders, and to the
arrows, yea, to these be worship!
Within your jaws we lay the man who hateth us and whom we
hate.
3Of the West region Varuna is ruler, Pridāku warder, Nourish-
ment the arrows.
Worship, etc.
4Soma is ruler of the Northern region, Svaja the warder, lightn-
ing's flash the arrows.
Worship, etc.
5Vishnu is ruler of the firm-set region, Kalmāshagriva warder,
Plants the arrows.
Worship, etc.
6Brihaspati controls the topmost region, Svitra is warder, and
the Rain the arrows.
Worship to these the regents, these the warders, and to the
arrows, yea, to these be worship,!
Within your jaws we lay the man who hateth us and whom we
hate.
p. a99
HYMN XXVIII
A charm to change the ill-omened birth of twin calves into a blessing
1This cow was born to bring forth offspring singly, though they
created kine of every colour.
When she produces twins in spite of Order, sullen, with groan
and grudge she harms the cattle.
2She brings destruction on the beasts, turned to a flesh-devouring
worm.
Yes, give her to the Brāhman that she may bring luck and
happiness.
3Be thou auspicious to our folk, bring luck to horses and to kine.
Auspicious unto all this farm, bring luck and happiness to us.
4Let there be rain and increase here, here be thou most munifi-
cient.
Mother of twins, prosper our herd.
5Where, having left all sickness of their bodies, the pious lead, as
friends, their lives of gladness
Nigh to that world approached the twin calves' mother. Let her
not harm our people and our cattle.
6Where lies the world of those dear friends, the pious, those who
have brought due sacrifice to Agni
Nigh to that world approached the twins calves' mother. Let her
not harm our people and our cattle.
p. a100
HYMN XXIX
On the means to obtain immunity from taxation in the next world
1When yonder kings who sit beside Yama divide among them-
selves the sixteenth part of hopes fulfilled,
A ram bestowed as sacrifice, white-footed, frees us from the tax.
2He satisfies each hope and want, prevailing, present and pre-
pared.
The wish-fulfilling ram, bestowed, white-footed is exhaustless
still.
3He who bestows a white-hooved ram, adequate to the place he
holds.
Ascends to the celestial height, the heaven where tribute is not
paid to one more mighty by the weak.
4He who bestows a white-hooved ram, adequate to the place he
holds.
Offered with five cakes, lives on that, unwasting, in the Fathers'
world.
5He who bestows a white-hooved ram, adequate to the place he
holds,
Offered with five cakes, lives on that, wasteless, while Sun and.
Moon endure.
6Like a refreshing draught, like sea, the mighty flood, he faileth
not.
Like the two Gods whose home is one, the ram white-footed,
faileth not.
7Whose gift was this, and given to whom? Kāma to Kāma gave
the gift.
Kāma is giver, Kāma is receiver. Kāma has passed into the sea.
Through Kāma do I take thee to myself. O Kāma, this is thine. p. a101
8May Earth receive thee as her own, and this great interspace of
air.
Neither in breath and body nor in progeny may this acceptance
do me harm.
HYMN XXIX
On the means to obtain immunity from taxation in the next world
1Freedom from hate I bring to you, concord and unanimity.
Love one another as the cow loveth the calf that she hath borne.
2One-minded with his mother let the son be loyal to his sire.
Let the wife, calm and gentle, speak words sweet as honey to her
lord.
3No brother hate his brother, no sister to sister be unkind.
Unanimous, with one intent, speak ye your speech in friend-
liness.
4That spell through which Gods sever not, nor ever bear each
other hate,
That spell we lay upon your home, a bond of union for the
men.
5Intelligent, submissive, rest united, friendly and kind, bearing
the yoke together.
Come, speaking sweetly each one to the other. I make you one-
intentioned and one-minded. p. a102
6Let what you drink, your share of food be common together,
with one common bond I bid you.
Serve Agni, gathered round him like the spokes about the
chariot nave.
7With binding charm I make you all united, obeying one sole
leader and one-minded.
Even as the Gods who watch and guard the Amrit, at morn and
eve may ye be kindly-hearted.
HYMN XXXI
A charm for the recovery of one dangerously ill
1May Gods release from failing strength, thou Agni, from
malignity!
I free from every evil, from decline: I compass round with life.
2May Pavamāna free from harm, and Sakra from unrighteous
deed.
I free from every evil, from decline: I compass round with life.
3Tame beasts have parted from wild beasts, water and thirst have
gone apart
I free, etc.
4Parted are heaven and earth, and paths turned to each quarter
of the sky.
I free, etc.
5Tvashtar prepares the bridal of his daughter; then all this world
of life departs and leaves him.
I free, etc.
6Agni combines the vital airs. The moon is closely joined with
breath.
I free. etc. p. a103
7The Gods have lifted up with breath the Sun whose might is
everywhere.
I free, etc.
8Die not. Live with the breath of those who make and who enjoy
long life.
I free, etc.
9Die not. Stay here. Breathe with the breath of those who draw
the vital air.
I free, etc.
10Rise up with life, conjoined with life. Up, with the sap of growing
plants!
I free, etc.
11We as immortal beings have arisen with Parjanya's rain,
I free from every evil, from decline: I compass round with life.
p. a104
BOOK IV
HYMN I
Cosmogonical and mystico-theological doctrine
1Eastward at first the prayer was generated: Vena disclosed bright
flashes from the summit,
Disclosed his deepest, nearest revelations, womb of the non-
existent and existent.
2Let this Queen come in front, her Father's daughter, found in
the worlds for earliest generation.
For him they set this radiant vault in motion. Let them prepare
warm milk for him who first would drink.
3He who was born as his all-knowing kinsman declareth all the
deities' generations.
He from the midst of prayer his prayer hath taken. On high,
below, spread forth his godlike nature.
4For he, true to the law of Earth and Heaven, established both
the mighty worlds securely.
Mighty when born, he propped apart the mighty, the sky, our
earthly home, and air's mid-region.
5He from the depth hath been reborn for ever, Brihaspati the
world's sole Lord and Ruler.
From light was born the Day with all its lustre: through this
let sages live endowed with splendour.
6The sage and poet verily advanceth the statute of that mighty
God primeval.
He was born here with many more beside him: they slumbered
when the foremost side was opened.
7The man who seeks the friend of Gods, Atharvan the father,
and Brihaspati, with worship,
Crying to him, Be thou all things' creator! the wise God, self-
dependent, never injures.
p. a107
HYMN III
A Charm against tigers, wolves, thieves and other noxious creatures
1Three have gone hence and passed away, the man, the tiger,
and the wolf.
Down, verily, the rivers flow, down-goeth the celestial Tree,.
down let our foemen bend and bow.
2On distant pathway go the wolf, on pathway most remote the
thief!
On a far road speed forth the rope with teeth, and the malicious
man!
3We crush and rend to pieces both thine eyes, O Tiger, and thy
jaws and all the twenty claws we break.
4We break and rend the tiger first of creatures that are armed.
with teeth;
The robber then, and then the snake, the sorcerer, and then the
wolf.
5The thief who cometh near to-day departeth bruised and crush-
ed to bits.
By nearest way let him be gone. Let Indra slay him with his
bolt.
6Let the beast's teeth be broken off, shivered and shattered be
his ribs! p. a108
Slack be thy bowstring: downward go the wild beast that
pursues the hare!
7Open not what thou hast compressed, close not what thou hast
not compressed.
Indra's and Soma's child, thou art Atharvan's tiger-crushing
charm.
HYMN IV
A charm to restore virile power
1We dig thee from the earth, the Plant which strengthens and
exalts the nerves,
The Plant which the Gandharva dug for Varuna whose power
was lost.
2Let Ushas and let Sūrya rise, let this the speech I utter rise.
Let the strong male Prajāpati arise with manly energy.
3Sicut tui surgentis (membrum virile) tanquam inflammatum
palpitat, hoc illud tui ardentius haec herba faciat.
4Sursum (estote) herbarum vires, taurorum vigor. Tu, Indra,
corporis potens, virorum masculum robur in hoc homine
depone.
5Ros aquarum primigenitus atque arborum, Somae etiam frater
es, vatum sacrorum masculus vigor es.
6Hodie, Agnis! hodie Savitar! hodie dea Sarasvatis! hodie
Brahmanaspatis! hujus fascinum velut arcum extende.
7Velut nervum in arcu ego tuum fascinum extendo. Aggredere
(mulierem) semper indefessus velut cervus damam.
8Quae sunt equi vires, muli, capri, arietis, atque tauri, illas, cor-
poris potens! in hoc homine depone.
p. a109
HYMN V
A lover's sleep-charm
1The Bull who hath a thousand horns, who rises up from out the
sea,
By him the strong and mighty one we lull the folk to rest and.
sleep.
2Over the surface of the earth there breathes no wind, there looks.
no eye.
Lull all the women, lull the dogs to sleep, with Indra as thy
friend!
3The woman sleeping in the court, lying without, or stretched on
beds,
The matrons with their odorous sweets—these, one and all, we
lull to sleep.
4Each moving thing have I secured, have held and held the eye
and breath.
Each limb and member have I seized in the deep darkness of
the night.
5The man who sits, the man who walks, whoever stands and clearly
sees
Of these we closely shut the eyes, even as we closely shut this
house.
6Sleep mother, let the father sleep, sleep dog, and master of the
home.
Let all her kinsmen sleep, sleep all the people who are round
about.
7With soporific charm, O Sleep, lull thou to slumber all the folk.
Let the rest sleep till break of day, I will remain awake till
dawn, like Indra free from scath and harm.
p. a110
HYMN VI
A charm to make a poisoned arrow harmless
1The Brāhman first was brought to life ten-headed and with faces
ten.
First drinker of the Soma, he made poison ineffectual.
2Far as the heavens and earth are spread in compass, far as the
Seven Rivers are extended,
So far my spell, the antidote of poison, have I spoken hence,
3The strong-winged Bird Garutmān first of all, O Poison fed on
thee:
Thou didst not gripe or make him drunk: aye, thou becamest
food for him.
4Whoever with five fingers hath discharged thee from the crooked
bow,
I from the shaft have charmed away the poison of the fastening
band.
5The poison have I charmed away from shaft, cement, and feather-
ed end;
Yea, from the barb, the neck, the horn, the poison have I charmed
away.
6Feeble, O Arrow, is thy shaft, thy poison, too, hath lost its
strength.
Made of a worthless tree, thy bow, O feeble one, is impotent.
7The men who brayed it, smeared it on, they who discharged it,
sent it forth,
All these are made emasculate, emasculate the poison-hill.
8Thy diggers are emasculate, emasculate, O, Plant art thou.
The rugged mountain that produced this poison is emasculate.
p. a111
HYMN VII
A charm to make a poisonous plant innocuous
1So may this water guard us on the bank of Varanāvati.
Therein hath Amrit been infused: with that I ward thy poison
off.
2Weak is the poison of the East, weak is the poison of the North,
So too this poison of the South counts as a cake of curds and
meal.
3When he hath made of thee a cake, broad, steaming, swelling up
with fat,
And even in hunger eaten thee, then gripe him not, thou hideous
one!
4Intoxicater! like a shaft we make thy spirit fly away, Like a pot
boiling on the fire, we with our word remove thee hence.
5We set around thee with the spell as 'twere a gathered arma-
ment.
Stay quiet like a rooted tree. Dug up with mattocks, gripe not
thou.
6For coverings men have bartered thee, for skins of deer and
woven cloths.
Thou art a thing of sale, O Plant. Dug up with mattocks, gripe
not thou!
7None have attained to those of old, those who wrought holy acts
for you.
Let them not harm our heroes here. Therefore I set before you
this.
p. a112
HYMN VIII
A benediction at the consecration of a King
1The Being lays the sap of life in beings: he hath become the
sovran Lord of creatures.
Death comes to this man's royal consecration: let him as King
own and allow this kingdom.
2Come forward, turn not back in scorn, strong guardian, slayer
of the foes.
Approach, O gladdener of thy friends. The Gods have blessed
and strengthened thee.
3All waited on him as he came to meet them. He self-resplendent
moves endued with glory.
That is the royal hero's lofty nature: he, manifold, hath gained
immortal powers.
4Stride forth to heaven's broad regions, thou, a tiger on a tiger's
skin.
Let all the people long for thee. Let heavenly floods be rich in
milk.
5Heaven's waters joyous in their milk, the waters of middle air,
and those that earth containeth-
I with the gathered power and might of all these waters sprinkle
thee,
6The heavenly waters rich in milk have sprinkled thee with power
and might.
To be the gladdener of thy friends. May Savitar so fashion thee.
7These, compassing the tiger, rouse the lion to great joy and
bliss. p. a113
As strong floods purify the standing ocean, so men adorn the
leopard in the waters
HYMN IX
A charm addressed to a precious ointment for safety and wealth
1Approach! thou art the mountain's eye, the living thing that
saveth us;
A gift bestowed by all the Gods, yea, the defence that guardeth
life.
2Thou art the safeguard of the men, thou art the safeguard of
the kine,
Thou standest ready to protect the horses that are fleet of foot.
3Thou, also, Salve! art a defence that rends and crushes
sorcerers.
Thou knowest, too, of Amrit, thou art the delight of all who
live, a jaundice-curing balm art thou.
4Whomso thou creepest over, Salve! member by member, joint
by joint,
From him, like some strong arbiter of strife, thou banishest
decline.
5No imprecation reaches him, no magic, no tormenting fiend,
O Salve, Vishkandha seizes not the man who carries thee about.
6From lying speech, from evil dream, from wicked act and
sinfulness, p. a114
From hostile and malignant eye,—from these, O Salve, protect
us well.
7I, knowing this, O Salve, will speak the very truth and not a
lie:
May I obtain both horse and ox, may I obtain thy life, O man.
8Three are the slaves that serve the Salve, Fever, Consumption,
and the Snake.
Thy father is the loftiest of mountains, named the Triple-
peaked.
9Sprung from the Snowy Mountain's side, this Ointment of the
Three-peaked hill.
Crushes and rends all sorcerers and every witch and sorceress.
10If thou art from the Three-peaked hill or hast thy name from
Yamunā,
These names are both auspicious: by these two protect thou us,
O Salve!
p. a115
HYMN X
A charm accompanying investiture with an amulet of shell
1Child of the wind firmament, sprung from the lightning and the
light,
May this the gold-born Shell that bears the pearl preserve us
from distress.
2Shell that wast born from out the sea, set at the head of
things that shine!
With thee we slay the Rākshasas and overcome voracious fiends.
3We stay disease and indigence, and chase Sadānvās with the
Shell.
May the all-healing Shell that bears the pearl preserve us from
distress.
4Born in the heaven, sprung from the sea, brought to us hither
from the flood.
This gold-born Shell shall be to us an amulet to lengthen life.
5From ocean sprang the Amulet, from Vritra sprang the Lord of
Day:
May this protect us round about from shaft of God and Asura.
6Peerless 'mid golden ornaments art thou: from Soma wast thou
born.
Thou gleamest on the quiver, thou art beautiful upon the car:
may it prolong our days of life!
7Bone of the Good became the pearl's shell-mother endowed with
soul it moveth in the waters.
I bind this on thee for life, strength, and vigour, for long life
lasting through a hundred autumns.
May the pearl's mother keep and guard thee safely!
p. a116
HYMN XI
A glorification of the sacrificial gharma or milk caldron
1The Bull supports the wide-spread earth and heaven, the Bull
supports the spacious air between them.
The Bull supports the sky's six spacious regions: the universal
world hath he pervaded.
2The Bull is Indra o'er the beasts he watches. He, Sakra
measures out three several pathways.
He, milking out the worlds, the past, the future, discharges all
the Gods' eternal duties.
3Being produced among mankind as Indra, the Caldron works
heated and brightly glowing.
Let him not, with good sons, pass off in vapour who hath not
eaten of the Ox with knowledge.
4The Ox pours milk out in the world of virtue: in earliest time,
he, Pavam5na, swells it.
Parjanya is the stream, Maruts his udder, sacrifice is the milk,
the meed his milking.
5That which not sacrifice nor sacrificer, not giver nor receiver
rules and governs,
All-winning, all-supporting, all-effecting,—which of all quadru-
peds, tell us! is the Caldron?
6May we, fame-seekers, reach the world of virtue by service of
the Gharma and through fervour,
Whereby the Gods went up to heaven, the centre of life eternal,
having left the body.
7Prajāpati, supreme and sovran ruler, Indra by form and by his
shoulder Agni,
Came to Visvānara, came to all men's Bullock: he firmly forti-
fied and held securely. p. a117
8The middle of the Bullock's neck, there where the shoulder-bar
is placed,
Extends as far to east of him as that is settled to the west.
9He whosoever knows the seven exhaustless pourings of the Ox,
Wins himself offspring and the world: the great Seven Rishis
know this well.
10With feet subduing weariness, with legs extracting freshening
draughts,
Through toil the plougher and the Ox approach the honeyed
beverage.
11Assigned are these twelve nights, they say, as holy to Prajāpati:
Whoever knows their proper prayer performs the service of the
Ox.
12At evening he is milked, is milked at early morn, is milked at
noon.
We know that streams of milk that flow from him are in-
exhaustible.
p. a118
HYMN XII
A charm to mend a broken bone
1Thou art the healer, making whole, the healer of the broken
bone:
Make thou this whole, Arundhatī!
2Whatever bone of thine within thy body hath been wrenched or
cracked,
May Dhātar set it properly and join together limb by limb.
3With marrow be the marrow joined, thy limb united with the
limb.
Let what hath fallen of thy flesh, and the bone also grow again.
4Let marrow close with marrow, let skin grow united with the
skin.
Let blood and bone grow strong in thee, flesh grow together
with the flesh.
5Join thou together hair with hair, join thou together skin with
skin.
Let blood and bone grow strong in thee. Unite the broken part,.
O Plant.
6Arise, advance, speed forth; the car hath goodly fellies, naves,
and wheels!!
Stand up erect upon thy feet.
7If he be torn and shattered, having fallen into a pit, or a cast
stone have struck him,
Let the skilled leech join limb with limb, as 'twere the portions
of a car.
p. a119
HYMN XIII
A charm to restore a sick man to health
1Gods, raise again the man whom ye, O Gods, have humbled
and brought low.
Ye Gods, restore to life again, him, Gods! who hath committed
sin.
2Here these two winds are blowing far as Sindhu from a distant
land.
May one breathe energy to thee, the other blow thy fault away.
3Hither, O Wind, blow healing balm, blow every fault away, thou
Wind!
For thou who hast all medicine comest as envoy of the Gods.
4May the Gods keep and save this man, the Maruts' host deliver
him.
All things that be deliver him that he be freed from his offence.
5I am come nigh to thee with balms to give thee rest and keep
thee safe.
I bring thee mighty strength, I drive thy wasting malady away.
6Felicitous is this my hand, yet more felicitous is this.
This hand contains all healing balms, and this makes whole with
gentle touch.
7The tongue that leads the voice precedes. Then with our tenfold-
branching hands.
With these two healers of disease, we stroke thee with a soft
caress.
p. a120
HYMN XIV
Accompanying the sacrifice of a he-goat
1The Goat was verily produced from Agni. Through sorrow he
beheld, at first, his father.
Through him at first the Gods attained to godhead, and, meet
for sacrifices, were exalted.
2Bearing in hands seethed viands, go with Agni to the cope of
heaven.
Reaching the sky that touches heaven, mix with the company of
Gods.
3From earth's high ridge to middle air I mounted, and from mid-
air ascended up to heaven.
From the high pitch of heaven's cope I came into the world of
light.
4Mounting the sky they look not round; they rise to heaven
through both the worlds,
Sages who paid the sacrifice that pours its streams on every
side.
5First among all the deities, come forward, thou who art eye of
Gods and men, O Agni.
Imploring, and accordant with the Bhrigus, to heaven in safety
go the sacrificers!
6With milk and butter I anoint the mighty, celestial Goat, strong-
winged, and full of juices.
Through him will we attain the world of virtue, ascending to the
loftiest cope, to heaven.
7Set the Goat's head toward the eastern region, and turn his right
side to the southern quarter.
His hinder part turn to the western quarter, and set his left side
to the northern region.
8Set the Goat's backbone upmost in the zenith, and lay his belly
downward in the nadir; set his midportion in mid-air between
them.
9O'er the dressed Goat lay a dressed skin to robe him prepared,
in perfect form, with all his members.
Rise upward to the loftiest vault of heaven: with thy four feet
stand firmly in the regions.
p. a121
HYMN XV
A charm to hasten the coming of the rains
1Let all the misty regions fly together, let all the rain-clouds sped
by wind, assemble.
Let waters satisfy the earth, the voices of the great mist-enve-
loped Bull who roareth.
2Let them show forth, the strong, the bounteous Maruts: let
plants and shrubs be hung with drops of moisture.
Let floods of rain refresh the ground with gladness and herbs
spring various with each form and colour.
3Cause us who sing to see the gathering vapours: out burst in
many a place the rush of waters!
Let floods of rain refresh the ground with gladness; and herbs
spring various with each form and colour.
4Apart, Parjanya! let the troops of Maruts, roaring, swell the
song.
Let pouring torrents of the rain that raineth rain upon the
earth.
05. Up from the sea lift your dread might, ye Maruts: as light and
splendour, send the vapour upward! p. a122
Let waters satisfy the earth, the voices of the great mist-enve-
loped Bull who roareth.
6Roar, thunder, set the sea in agitation, bedew the ground with
thy sweet rain, Parjanya!
Send plenteous showers on him who seeketh shelter, and let the
owner of lean kine go homeward.
7Let the boon Maruts, let the springs and coiling serpents tend!
you well.
Urged by the Maruts let the clouds pour down their rain upon.
the earth.
8Let lightning flash on every side: from all the regions blow the
winds!
Urged by the Maruts let the clouds pour down their rain upon
the earth.
9May waters, lightning, cloud, and rain, boon springs and serpents
tend you well.
Urged by the Maruts let the clouds pour down their rain upon
the earth.
10May he who hath become the plants' high regent, suiting our
bodies, Agni of the Waters,
May Jātavedas send us rain from heaven, Amrit and vital breath
to earthly creatures.
11Sending up waters from the flood and ocean Prajapati move the
sea to agitation!
Forth flow the moisture of the vigorous stallion!
With this thy roar of thunder come thou hither,
12Our father, Lord divine pouring the torrents. Let the streams
breathe, O Varuna, of the waters.
Pour the floods down: along the brooks and channels let frogs
with speckled arms send out their voices.
13They who lay quiet for a year, the Brāhmans who fulfil their
vows.
The frogs, have lifted up their voice, the voice Parjanya hath.
inspired.
14Speak forth a welcome, female frog! Do thou O frog, accost
the rain.
Stretch thy four feet apart, and swim in the middle of the lake.
15Khanvakhā, ho! Khaimakhā, ho! thou in the middle, Taduri!
Fathers, enjoy the rain from one who strives to win the Marutes
heart.p. a123
16Lift up the mighty cask and pour down water; let the wind
blow, and lightnings flash around us.
Let sacrifice be paid, and, widely scattered, let herbs and plants
be full of joy and gladness.
HYMN XVI
On the omnipresence and omniscience of Varuna
1The mighty Ruler of these worlds beholds as though from close
at hand,
The man who thinks he acts by stealth: all this the Gods
perceive and know.
2If a man stands or walks or moves in secret, goes to his lying-
down or his uprising,
What two men whisper as they sit together, King Varuna knows:
he as the third is present.
3This earth, too, is King Varuna's possession, and the high
heaven whose ends are far asunder.
The loins of Varuna are both the oceans, and this small drop of
water, too, contains him. p. a124
4If one should flee afar beyond the heaven, King Varuna would
still be round about him.
Proceeding hither from the sky his envoys look, thousand-eyed,
over the earth beneath them.
5All this the royal Varuna beholdeth, all between heaven and
earth and all beyond them.
The twinklings of men's eyelids hath he counted. As one who
plays throws dice he settles all things.
6Those fatal snares of thine which stand extended, threefold,
O Varuna, seven by seven,
May they all catch the man who tells a falsehood, and pass un-
harmed the man whose words are truthful.
7Varuna, snare him with a hundred nooses! Man's watcher! let
not him who lies escape thee.
There let the villain sit with hanging belly and bandaged like a
cask whose hoops are broken.
8Varuna sends, and drives away, diseases: Varuna is both native
and a stranger,
Varuna is celestial and is human.
9I bind and hold thee fast with all these nooses, thou son of such
a man and such a mother.
All these do I assign thee as thy portion.
p. a125
HYMN XVII
A charm to secure freedom from various evils
1We seize and hold thee, Conquering One! the queen of medi-
cines that heal.
O Plant, I have endowed thee with a hundred powers for every
man,
2Still conquering, banishing the curse, mighty, with thy reverted.
bloom.
Thee and all Plants have I invoked: Hence let it save us! was
my prayer.
3She who hath cursed us with a curse, or hath conceived a
murderous sin,
Or seized our son to take his blood, may she devour the child
she bare.
4What magic they have wrought for thee in dish unbaked or
burnt dark-red,
What they have wrought in flesh undressed,—conquer the
sorcerers therewith.
5Ill dream and wretchedness of life, Rākshasa, monster, stingy
hags,
All the she-fiends of evil name and voice, we drive away from
us.
6Death caused by famine, caused by thirst, failure of children,.
loss of kine,
With thee, O Apāmārga, all this ill we cleanse and wipe away.
7Death caused by thirst, death caused by stress of hunger, loss at
play with dice,
All this, O Apāmārga with thine aid we cleanse and wipe away.
8The Apāmārga is alone the sovran of all Plants that grow.
With this we wipe away whate'er hath fallen on thee: go in
health!
p. a126
HYMN XVIII
A counter-charm against the incantations of enemies
1The moonlight equalleth the sun, night is the rival of the day.
I make effectual power my help: let magic arts be impotent.
2Gods! if one make and bring a spell on some man's house who
knows it not,
Close as the calf that sucks the cow may it revert and cling to
him.
3When one puts poison in a dish of unbaked clay to kill a man,
It cracks when set upon the fire with the sharp sound of many
stones.
4Endowed with thousand powers! adjure the bald and those with
necks awry.
Back to its author turn the spell like a dear damsel to her
friend!
5I with this Plant have ruined all malignant powers of witchery.
The spell which they have laid upon thy field, thy cattle, or thy
men.
6No power had he who wrought the spell: he hurt his foot, he
broke his toe.
His act hath brought us happiness and pain and sorrow to him-
self.
7Let Apāmārga sweep away chronic disease and every curse,
Sweep sorceresses clean away, and all malignant stingy hags.
8Sweep thou away the sorcerers, all stingy fiendish hags away.
All this, O Apāmārga, with thine aid we wipe away from us.
p. a127
HYMN XIX
A counter-charm and charm to secure general protection.
1Thou breakest ties of kith and kin, thou causest, too, relation-
ship:
So bruise the sorcerer's offspring, like a reed that groweth in the
Rains.
2Thou hast been blessed with blessing by the Brāhman, Kanva
Nārshada.
Thou fliest like a flashing dart: there is no fear or danger, Plant!
within the limit of thy range.
3Illumining, as 'twere, with light, thou movest at the head of
plants.
The saviour of the simple man art thou, and slayer of the fiends.
4As once when time began the Gods with thee expelled the
Asuras,
Even thence, O Plant, wast thou produced as one who wipes and
sweeps away.
5Thy father's name was Cleaver. Thou with thousand branches
cleavest all.
Do thou, turned backward, cleave and rend the man who treateth
us as foes.
6The evil sprang from earth; it mounts to heaven and spreads to
vast extent.
Reverted, shaking him with might, thence on its maker let it
fall.
7For thou hast grown reverted, and turned backward also is thy
fruit.
Remove all curses far from me, keep most remote the stroke of
death. p. a128
8Preserve me with a hundred, yea, protect me with a thousand
aids.
May mighty Indra, Lord of Plants! give store of strength and.
power to thee.
HYMN XX
A charm for the acquisition of superhuman powers of sight
1It sees in front, it sees behind, it sees afar away, it sees
The sky, the firmament, and earth: all this, O Goddess, it
beholds.
2Through thee, O godlike Plant, may I behold all creatures that
exist,
Three several heavens, three several earths, and these six regions
one by one.
3The pupil, verily, art thou of that celestial Engle's eye.
On earth hast thou alighted as a weary woman seeks her couch.
4The God who hath a thousand eyes give me this Plant in my
right hand!
I look on every one therewith, each Sūdra and each Āryan man.
5Make manifest the forms of things; hide not their essences from
sight.
And, thou who hast a thousand eyes, look the Kimidins in the
face. p. a129
6Make me see Yātudhānas, make thou Yātudhānis visible.
Make me see all Pisāchas With this prayer, O Plant, I hold thee
fast.
7Thou art the sight of Kasyapa and of the hound who hath four
eyes.
Make the Pisācha manifest as Sūrya when he rides at noon.
8Kimidin, Yātudhāna from their hiding-places have I dragged.
I look on every one with this, Sūdra and Aryan man alike.
9Make that Pisācha visible, the fiend who flies in middle air,
The fiend who glides across the sky, and him who deems the
earth his help.
p. a130
HYMN XXI
Glorification and benediction of cows
1The kine have come and brought good fortune: let them rest in
the cow-pen and be happy near us.
Here let them stay prolific, many-coloured, and yield through
many morns their milk for Indra.
2Indra aids him who offers sacrifice and praise: he takes not what
is his, and gives him more thereto.
Increasing ever more and ever more his wealth, he makes the
pious dwell within unbroken bounds.
3These are ne'er lost, no robber ever injures them: no evil-minded
foe attempts to harass them.
The master of the kine lives a long life with these, the Cows
whereby he pours his gifts and serves the Gods.
4The charger with his dusty brow o'ertakes them not, and never
to the shambles do they take their way.
These Cows, the cattle of the pious worshipper, roam over wide-
spread pasture where no danger is.
5To me the Cows seem Bhaga, they seem Indra, they seem a
portion of the first poured Soma.
These present Cows, they, O ye men, are Indra. I long for Indra
with my heart and spirit.
6O Cows, ye fatten e'en the worn and wasted, and make the
unlovely beautiful to look on.
Prosper my home, ye with auspicious voices! Your power is
magnified in our assemblies.
7In goodly pasturage, bright-hued, prolific, drinking pure water at
fair drinking-places,
Never be thief or sinful man your master, and may the dart of
Rudra still avoid you!
p. a131
HYMN XXII
A benediction on a newly consecrated king
1Exalt and strengthen this my Prince, O Indra, Make him sole
lord and leader of the people.
Scatter his foes, deliver all his rivals into his hand in struggles
for precedence.
2Give him a share in village, kine, and horses, and leave his
enemy without a portion.
Let him as King be head and chief of Princes, Give up to him,
O Indra, every foeman.
3Let him be treasure-lord of goodly treasures, let him as King be
master of the people.
Grant unto him great power and might, O Indra, and strip his
enemy of strength and vigour.
4Like milch-kine yielding milk for warm libations, pour, Heaven
and Earth! on him full many a blessing.
May he as King be Indra's well-beloved, the darling of the kine,
the plants, the cattle.
5I join in league with thee victorious Indra, with whom men
conquer and are ne'er defeated.
He shall make thee the folk's sole lord and leader, shall make
thee highest of all human rulers.
6Supreme art thou, beneath thee are thy rivals, and all, O King,
who were thine adversaries.
Sole lord and leader and allied with Indra, bring, conqueror, thy
foremen's goods and treasures.
7Consume, with lion aspect, all their hamlets, with tiger aspect,
drive away thy foemen.
Sole lord and leader and allied with Indra, seize, conqueror,
thine enemies' possessions.
p. a132
HYMN XXIII
Magnification of Agni and prayer for his protection
1I fix my heart on wise and ancient Agni, the Five Tribes' Lord,
in many a place enkindled.
We seek him who hath entered all our houses. May he deliver
us from grief and trouble.
2As thou conveyest offerings, Jātavedas! and fashionest the sacri-
fice with knowledge,
So bear thou to the Gods the prayer we utter. May he deliver
us from grief and trouble.
3I pray to Agni in each act successful, employed in every sacrifice,
the strongest,
Fiend-slayer, served with fatness, strengthening worship. May
he deliver us from grief and trouble.
4We invoke the oblation-bearer, well-born Agni Jātavedas,
Him, Vaisvānara, almighty. May he set us free from trouble.
5With whom as friend the Rishis gave their power new splendour,
with whom they kept aloof the Asuras' devices,
Agni, with whom Indra subdued the Panis. May he deliver us.
from grief and trouble.
6Through whom the Gods discovered life eternal, through whom
they stored the plants with pleasant juices,
Through whom they brought to men the light of heaven. May
he deliver us from grief and trouble.
7I, suppliant, praise and ever call on Agni, sole Lord of all this
world, of all that shineth,
Of what exists and shall exist hereafter. May he deliver us from
grief and trouble.
p. a133
HYMN XXIV
A hymn of prayer and praise to Indra
1I think of Indra, only him for ever, fiend-slayer, May these lauds
of mine come near him.
He cometh to the pious offerer's calling. May he deliver us from
grief and trouble.
2Who with strong arms o'ercame his strong opponents, who
broke and crushed the power of the demons,
Who won the rivers and the kine in battle. May he deliver us
from grief and trouble.
3Ruler of men, finder of light, the hero: the pressing-stones
declare his valour, master.
Of sweetest sacrifice with seven Hotars. May he deliver us from
grief and trouble.
4The lord of barren cows and bulls and oxen, finder of light for
whom the posts are planted,
For whom the bright juice flows cleansed by devotion. May he
deliver us from grief and trouble.
5Whose favour those desire who offer Soma, whom, arrow-bearer,
men invoke in battle,
On whom the hymn depends, in whom is power, May he deliver
us from grief and trouble.
6Why was born, first, for active operation, whose valour as the
first hath been awakened,
Who raised his bolt when he encountered Ahi. May he deliver us
from grief and trouble.
7Strong Lord, who leadeth hosts to meet for battle, who sendeth
riches both of earth and heaven,
I, suppliant, praise and ever call on Indra. May he deliver us
from grief and trouble.
p. a134
HYMN XXV
A hymn of prayer and praise to Vāyu and Savitar
1I think on Vāyu's and Savitar's holy rites, ye twain who penetrate
and guard the living world:
Ye who have come to be this All's pervaders, deliver us, ye two
from grief and trouble.
2Ye who have counted up the earth's expanses, and in the sky
smoothed out the air's mid-region,
Whose going-forth hath ne'er been reached by any, deliver us,
ye two, from grief and trouble.
3Beauteously bright! men rest in thy dominion when thou hast
risen up and hastened onward.
Ye, Vāyu, Savitar, preserve all creatures. Deliver us, ye, twain,
from grief and trouble.
4Hence, Vāyu, Savitar drive evil action, chase Simidā away, drive
off the demons.
Ye give us store of energy and power. Deliver us, ye twain,
from grief and trouble.
5Of their own selves let Savitar and Vāyu send favourable strength
and wealth and plenty.
Here give us perfect freedom from consumption. Deliver us, ye
twain, from grief and trouble.
6Ye, Savitar and Vāyu, to assist us, enjoy the hymn and the
delightful cheerer.
Come hither downward from the stream of blessing. Deliver us,
ye twain, from grief and trouble.
7Like noblest benisons they have stayed in the God loving man's
abode.
I glorify bright Savitar and Vāyu. Deliver us, ye twain, from
grief and trouble.
p. a135
HYMN XXVI
A hymn to Heaven and Earth
1O Heaven and Earth, I think on you, wise, givers of abundant
gifts, ye who through measureless expanses have spread forth.
For ye are seats and homes of goodly treasures. Deliver us, ye
twain from grief and trouble.
2Yea, seats and homes are ye of goodly treasures, grown strong,
divine, blessed, and far-extending,
To me, O Heaven and Earth, be ye auspicious. Deliver us, ye
twain, from grief and trouble.
3I call on you who warm and cause no sorrow, deep, spacious,
meet to be adored by poets.
To me, O Heaven and Earth, be ye auspicious. Deliver us, ye
twain, from grief and trouble.
4Ye who maintain Amrit and sacrifices, ye who support rivers
and human beings,
To me, O Heaven and Earth, be ye auspicious, Deliver us, ye
twain, from grief and trouble.
5Ye by whom cows and forest trees are cherished within whose
range all creatures are included,
To me, O Heaven and Earth, be ye auspicious. Deliver us, ye
twain, from grief and trouble.
6Ye who delight in nectar and in fatness, ye without whom men
have no strength or power,
To me, O Heaven and Earth, be ye auspicious. Deliver us, ye
twain, from grief and trouble.
7The grief that pains me here, whoever caused it, not sent by fate,
hath sprung from human action.
I, suppliant, praise Heaven, Earth, and oft invoke them. Deliver
us, ye twain, from grief and trouble.
HYMN XXVII
A hymn to the Maruts
1I think upon the Maruts: may they bless me, may they assist
me to this wealth in battle. p. a136
I call them like swift well-trained steeds to help us. May they
deliver us from grief and trouble.
2Those who surround the never-failing fountain for ever, and
bedew the plants with moisture,
The Maruts, Prini's sons, I chiefly honour. May they deliver us
from grief and trouble.
3Bards, who invigorate the milk of milch-kine, the sap of growing
plants, the speed of coursers
To us may the strong Maruts be auspicious. May they deliver us
from grief and trouble.
4They who raised water from the sea to heaven and send it from
the sky to earth in showers,
The Maruts who move mighty with their waters, may they
deliver us from grief and trouble.
5They who delight in nectar and in fatness, they who bestow
upon us health and vigour.
The Maruts who rain mighty with their waters, may they deliver
us from grief and trouble.
6Whether with stormy might the Maruts established this All, or
Gods with their celestial power,
Ye, kindly Gods, are able to restore it. May they deliver us from
grief and trouble.
7Potent in battles is the Maruts' army, impetuous train, well-
known, exceeding mighty.
I, suppliant, praise and oft invoke the Maruts. May they deliver
us from grief and trouble.
HYMN XXVIII
A hymn to Bhava and Sarva
1I Reverence you—mark this—Bhava and Sarva, ye under whose
control is this that shineth.
Lords of this world both quadruped and biped. Deliver us, ye
twain, from grief and trouble. p. a137
2Lords of all near and even of what is distant, famed as the best
and skilfullest of archers,
Lords of this world both quadruped and biped, Deliver us, ye
twain, from grief and trouble.
3Thousand-eyed foe-destroyers, I invoke you, still praising you
the strong, of wide dominion:
Lords of this world both quadruped and biped, Deliver us, ye
twain, from grief and trouble.
4Ye who of old wrought many a deed in concert, and showed
among mankind unhappy omens;
Lords of this world both quadruped and biped, Deliver us, ye
twain, from grief and trouble.
5Ye from the stroke of whose destroying weapon not one among
the Gods or men escapeth,
Lords of this world both quadruped and biped, Deliver us, ye
twain, from grief and trouble.
6Hurl your bolt, strong Gods, at the Yātudhāna, him who makes
ready roots and deals in magic:
Lords of this world both quadruped and biped, Deliver us, ye
twain, from grief and trouble.
7Comfort and aid us, ye strong Gods, in battles, at each Kimidin
send your bolt of thunder.
I, suppliant, praise and ever call on Bhav and Sarva. Set us free
from grief and trouble.
HYMN XXIX
A hymn to Mitra-Varuna
1You twain, O Mitra, Varuna, I honour, Lawstrengtheners, wise,
who drive away oppressors.
Ye who protect the truthful in his battles, deliver us, ye twain,
from grief and trouble. p. a138
2Ye the wise Gods who drive away oppressors, ye who protect
the truthful in his battles,
Who come, men's guards, to juice pressed forth by Babhru,.
deliver us, ye twain, from grief and trouble.
3Mitra and Varuna who help Agasti, Atri, and Angiras, and
Jamadagni,
Ye who help Kasyapa, who help Vasishtha, deliver us, ye twain,
from grief and trouble.
4Mitra and Varuna, who help Syāvāsva, Atri, and Purumilha,
and Vadhryasva,
Ye who help Vimada and Saptavadhri, deliver us, ye twain,
from grief and trouble.
5Ye, Varuna, Mitra, who give aid to Kutsa, Gavishthira,
Bharadvāja, Visvāmitra,
Who help Kakshivan and give aid to Kanva, deliver us, ye
twain, from grief and trouble.
6Ye, Mitra, Varuna, who help Trisoka, Medhātithi, and Usanā
son of Kavi,
Ye, Gotama's and Mudgala's protectors, deliver us, ye twain,
from grief and trouble.
7Whose straight-reined car that keeps the track of goodness assails
and ruins him who walks perversely
I, suppliant, praise with constant invocation Mitra and Varuna.
Save us from affliction.
p. a139
HYMN XXX
A glorification of vāk or speech
1I travel with the Rudras and the Vasus, with the Ādityas and
All-Gods I wander.
I hold aloft both Varuna and Mitra, I hold aloft Indra and
both the Asvins.
2I am the Queen, the gatherer-up of treasures, most thoughtful,
first of those who merit worship.
The Gods, making me enter many places, in diverse spots have
set mine habitation.
3I, verily, myself announce and utter the word that Gods, and
men alike shall welcome.
I make the man I love exceeding mighty, make him a sage, a
Rishi, and a Brāhman.
4Through me alone all eat the food that feeds them, each man
who sees, breathes, hears, the word out-spoken.
They know it not, but yet they dwell beside me. Hear, one and
all, the truth as I declare it.
5I bend the bow for Rudra that his arrow may strike and slay
the hater of devotion.
I rouse and order battle for the people, and I have penetrated
Earth and Heaven.
6I cherish and sustain high-swelling Soma, and Tvashtar I support,
Pashan, and Bhaga.
I load with wealth the zealous sacrificer who pours the juice and
offers his oblation.
7On the world's summit I bring forth the Father: my home is in
the waters, in the ocean.
Thence I extend o'er all existing creatures, and touch even
yonder heaven with my forehead.
8I breathe a strong breath like the wind and tempest, the while I
hold together all existence. p. a140
Beyond this wide earth and beyond the heavens I have become
so mighty in my grandeur.
HYMN XXXI
A hymn to Manyu or Wrath
1Borne on with thee, O Manyu girt by Maruts, let our brave men,
impetuous, bursting forward,
March on, like flames of fire in form, exulting, with pointed
arrows, sharpening their weapons.
2Flashing like fire, be thou, O conquering Manyu, invoked, O
victor, as our army's leader.
Slay thou our foes, distribute their possession: show forth thy
vigour, scatter those who hate us.
3O Manyu, overcome those who assail us. On! breaking, slaying,
crushing down the foemen.
They have not hindered thine impetuous vigour: mighty! sole
born! reduce them to subjection.
4Alone of many thou art worshipped, Manyu: sharpen the spirit
of each clan for combat.
With thee to aid, O thou of perfect splendour, we raise the
glorious battle-shout for conquest.
5Unyielding, bringing victory like Indra, O Manyu be thou here
our sovran ruler. p. a141
To thy dear name. O victor, we sing praises: we know the
spring from which thou art come hither.
6Twin-borne with power, destructive bolt of thunder the highest
conquering might is thine, subduer!
Be friendly to us in thy spirit, Manyu! O much-invoked, in
shock of mighty battle!
7For spoil let Varuna and Manyu give us the wealth of both sides
gathered and collected;
And let our enemies with stricken spirits, o'er-whelmed with.
terror, sling away defeated.
HYMN XXXII
A hymn to Manyu
1He who hath reverenced thee, Manyu, destructive bolt! breeds.
for himself forthwith all conquering energy.
Arya and Dāsa will we conquer with thine aid, with thee the
conqueror, with conquest conquest-sped.
2Manyu was Indra, yea, the God was Manyu; Manyu was Hotar
Varuna, Jātavedas.
The tribes of human lineage worship Manyu. Accordant, with
thy fervour, Manyu! guard us.
3Come hither, Manyu, mightier than the mighty: smite, with thy
fervour, for ally, our foemen.
Slayer of foes, of Vritra, and of Dasyu, bring thou to us all kinds
of wealth and treasure.
4For thou art, Manyu, of surpassing vigour, fierce, queller of the
foe, and self-existent,
Shared by all men, victorious, subduer: vouchsafe to us superior
strength in battles.
5I have departed still without a portion, wise God! according to
thy will, the mighty.
I, feeble man, was wroth with thee, O Manyu. Come in thy
proper form and give us vigour.
6Come hither, I am all thine own: advancing, turn thou to me,
victorious, all-bestowing. p. a142
Come to me, Manyu, wielder of the thunder: bethink thee of
thy friend, and slay the Dasyus.
7Approach, and on our right hand hold thy station, then let us
slay a multitude of foemen.
The best of meath I offer to support thee: may we be first to
drink thereof in quiet.
HYMN XXXIII
A prayer to Agni for protection and prosperity
1Chasing our pain with splendid light, O Agni, shine thou wealth
on us.
His lustre flash our pain away.
2For goodly fields, for pleasant homes, for wealth we sacrifice to
thee.
His lustre flash our pain away!
3Best praiser of all these be he, and foremost be our noble chiefs.
His lustre flash our pain away!
4So that thy worshipper and we, thine, Agni! in our sons may
live.
His lustre flash our pain away!
5As ever conquering Agni's beams of splendour go to every side,
His lustre flash our pain away.
6To every side thy face is turned, thou art triumphant everywhere.
His lustre flash our pain away!
7O thou whose face looks every way, bear off our foes as in a
ship.
His lustre flash our pain away!
8As in a ship across the flood, transport us to felicity. His lustre
flash our pain away
p. a143
HYMN XXXIV
Glorification of the Vishtāri sacrifice
1The head of this is prayer, its back the Brihat, Odanas's belly is
the Vāmadevya;
Its face reality, its sides the metre, Vishtāri sacrifice produced
from fervour.
2Boneless, cleansed, purified by him who cleanseth, they go res-
plendent to the world of splendour.
Fire burneth not their organ of enjoyment: much pleasure have
they in the world of Svarga.
3Never doth want or evil fortune visit those who prepare oblation
called Vishtāri.
He goes unto the Gods, he dwells with Yama, he joys among
Gandharvas meet for Soma.
4Yama robs not of generative vigour the men who dress oblation
called Vishtāri.
Borne on his car, a charioteer, he travels: endowed with wings
he soars beyond the heavens.
5Strongest is this, performed, of sacrifices: he hath reached
heaven who hath prepared Vishtāri.
The oval-fruited lotus spreads his fibre: there bloom the nelo-
phar and water-lilies.
Abundant with their overflow of sweetness, these streams shall
reach thee in the world of Svarga, whole lakes with lotus-
blossom shall approach thee.
6Full lakes of butter with their banks of honey, flowing with wine,
and milk and curds and water
Abundant with their overflow of sweetness, these streams shall
reach thee in the world of Svarga, whole lakes with lotus-
blossom shall approach thee.
7I give four pitchers, in four several places, filled to the brim with
milk and curds and water. p. a144
Abundant with their overflow of sweetness, these streams shall
reach thee in the world of Svarga, whole lakes with lotus-
blossom shall approach thee.
8I part this Odana among the Brāhmans, Vishtāri, conquering
worlds and reaching heaven.
Let me not lose it: swelling by its nature, be it my perfect Cow
to grant all wishes!
HYMN XXXV
Magnification of the Odana or oblation of milk and rice
1Odana which Prajāpati, the firstborn of Order, dressed with
fervour for the Brāhman,
which guards the worlds from breaking atIthe centre,—I with this
Odana will conquer Mrityu. p. a145
2Whereby the World-Creators vanquished Mrityu, that which
they found by fervour, toil and trouble,
That which prayer first made ready for the Brāhman,—I with
this Odana will conquer Mrityu.
3That which upholds the Earth, the all-sustainer, that which hath
filled air's middle realm with moisture,
Which, raised on high in grandeur, stablished heaven,—I with
this Odana will conquer Mrityu.
4From which the months with thirty spokes were moulded, from
which the twelve-spoked year was formed and fashioned.
Which circling day and night have ne'er o'ertaken,—I with this
Odana will conquer Mrityu.
5Which hath become breath-giver, life-bestower; to which the
worlds flow full of oil and fatness,
To whom belong all the refulgent regions,—I with this Odana
will conquer Mrityu.
6From which, matured, sprang Amrit into being, which hath
become Gāyatris lord and ruler,
In which the perfect Vedas have been treasured,—I with this
Odana will conquer Mrityu,
7I drive away the hostile God-despiser: far off be those who are
mine adversaries,
I dress Brahmaudana that winneth all things. May the Gods
hear me who believe and trust them.
HYMN XXXVI
A charm against fiends, human enemies, and other pests
1Endowed with true strength, let the Bull, Agni Vaisvānara, burn
them up.
Him who would pain and injure us, him who would treat us as
a foe. p. a146
2Him who, unharmed, would injure us, and him who, harmed,
would do us harm,
I lay between the doubled fangs of Agni, of Vaisvānara.
3Those who, what time the moon is dark, hunt with loud cry and
answering shout,
Flesh-eaters, others who would harm,—all these I overcome with
might.
4I conquer the Pisāchas with my power, and take their wealth
away.
All who would injure us I slay. Let mine intention have success.
5With Gods who flee with him, and match their rapid motion
with the Sun,
I with those animals who dwell in rivers and on hills am found.
6I trouble the Pisāchas as the tiger plagues men rich in kine.
They, even as dogs when they have seen a lion, find no hiding-
place.
7Naught with Pisāchas can I do, with thieves, with roamers of the
wood.
Pisāchas flee and vanish from each village as I enter it.
8Into whatever village this mine awful power penetrates,
Thence the Pisāchas flee away, and plot no further mischief
there.
9Those who enrage me with their prate, as flies torment an
elephant,
I deem unhappy creatures, like small insects troublesome to
man.
10Destruction seize upon the man, as with a cord they hold a
horse,
The fool who is enraged with me! He is not rescued from the
noose.
p. a147
HYMN XXXVII
A charm against Gandharvas and Apsarases
1With thee, O Plant, in olden time Atharvans smote and slew the
fiends.
Kasyapa smote with thee, with thee did Kanava and Agastya
smite.
2With thee we scare and drive away Gandharvas and Apsarases.
O Ajasringi, chase the fiends. Cause all to vanish with thy
smell.
3Let the Apsarases, puffed away, go to the river, to the ford,—
Guggulū, Pīlā, Naladi, Aukshagandhi, Pramandini.
Ye have become attentive since the Apsarases have past away.
4Where great trees are, Asvatthas and Nyagrodhas with their
leafy crests,
There where your swings are green and bright, and lutes and
cymbals sound in tune,
'Ye have become attentive since the Apsarases have past away.
5Hither hath come this one, the most effectual of herbs and
plants.
6Let Ajasringi penetrate, Arā4aki with sharpened horn.
7From the Gandharva, dancing near, the lord of the Apsarases,
Wearing the tuft of hair, I take all manhood and virility.
8With those dread hundred iron spears, the darts of Indra, let it
pierce.
The Blyxa-fed Gandharvas, those who bring no sacrificial gift.
9With those dread hundred golden spears, the darts of Indra, let
it pierce. p. a148
The Blyxa-fed Gandharvas, those who bring no sacrificial gift.
10O Plant, be thou victorious, crush the Pisāchas, one and all,
Blyxa-fed, shining in the floods, illumining the selfish ones.
11Youthful, completely decked with hair, one monkey-like, one
like a dog,—
So the Gandharva, putting on a lovely look, pursues a dame.
Him with an efficacious charm we scare and cause to vanish
hence.
12Your wives are the Apsarases, and ye, Gandharvas, are their
lords.
Run ye, immortal ones, away: forbear to interfere with men!
HYMN XXXVIII
A charm for success in gambling
1Hither I call the Apsaras, victorious, who plays with skill,
Her who comes freely fort to view, who wins the stakes in games
of dice.
2Hither I call that Apsaras who scatters and who gathers up. p. a149
The Apsaras who plays with skill and takes her winnings in the
game.
3Dancing around us with the dice, winning the wager by her
play.
May she obtain the stake for us and gain the victory with skill.
May she approach us full of strength: let them not win this
wealth of ours.
4Hither I call that Apsaras, the joyous, the delightful one—
Those nymphs who revel in the dice, who suffer grief and yield
to wrath.
5Who follow in their course the rays of Sūrya, or as a particle of
light attend him.
Whose leader from afar, with store of riches, compasses quickly
all the worlds and guards them.
Pleased, may he come to this our burnt oblation, together with
the Air, enriched with treasure.
6Together with the Air, O rich in treasure, guard here the white
cow and the calf, O mighty!
Here are abundant drops for thee, come hither! Here is thy
white calf, let thy mind be with us.
7Together with the Air, O rich in treasure, keep the white calf in
safety here, O mighty!
Here is the grass, here is the stall, here do we bind the calf. We
are your masters, name by name. All Hail!
HYMN XXXIX
A prayer to various deities for health, wealth, and prosperity
1Agni no earth kath had mine homage. May he bless me. p. a150
As I have bowed me down to Agni on the earth, so let the
Favouring Graces bow them down to me.
2Earth is the Cow, her calf is Agni. May she with her calf Agni
yield me food, strength, all my wish, life first of all, and off-
spring, plenty, wealth. All Hail!
3Vāyu in air hath had mine homage. May he bless me.
As I have bowed me down to Vāyu in the air, so let the Favour-
ing Graces bow them down to me.
4Air is the Cow, her calf is Vāyu. May she with her calf Vāyu
yield me food, strength, all my wish, life first of all, and off-
spring, plenty, wealth. All Hail!
5The Sun in heaven hath had my homage. May he bless me.
As I have bowed me down unto the Sun in heaven, so let the
Favouring Graces bow them down to me.
6Heaven is the Cow, her calf Āditya. May she yield with her calf
the Sun food, strength, and all my wish, life first of all, and
offspring, plenty, wealth. All Hail!
7To Chandra in the quarters have I bowed me. May he bless me.
As unto Chandra in the quarters I have bent, so let the Favour-
ing Graces bow them down to me.
8The quarters are the Cows, their calf is Chandra. May they
yield with their calf the Moon food, strength and all my wish,
life first of all, and offspring, plenty, wealth. All Hail!
9Agni moves having entered into Agni, the Rishis' son, who
guards from imprecations,
I offer unto thee with reverent worship. Let me not mar the
Gods' appointed service.
10Skilled in all ways, O God, O Jātavedas, I offer what is cleansed
by heart and spirit.
To all thy seven mouths, O Jātavedas. Do thou accept with
pleasure my libation.
p. a151
HYMN XL
A charm against rival worshippers
1O Jātavedas, eastward sacrificers, as foes assail us from the
eastern quarter.
May they, turned back, be pained for harming Agni. I drive
them backward with mine incantation.
2O Jātavedas, southward sacrificers as foes assail us from the
southern quarter.
May they, turned back, be pained for harming Yama. I smite
them backward with mine incantation.
3O Jātavedas, westward sacrificers as foes assail us from the
western quarter.
For harming Varuna be they turned and troubled! I smite them
backward with mine incantation.
4Jātavedas, northward sacrificers as foes assail us from the
northern quarter.
For harming Soma be they turned and troubled! I smite them
backward with mine incantation.
5O Jātavedas, nether sacrificers, as foes assail us from the stead-
fast quarter.
For harming Earth let them be turned and troubled. I smite
them backward with mine incantation.
6Those who pay sacrifice, O Jātavedas, from air assail us from
the midway quarter.
For harming Vāyu be they turned and troubled! I smite them
backward with mine incantation.
7The sacrificers from above assail us, O Jātavedas, from the lofty
quarter.
For wronging Sūrya be they turned and troubled! I smite them
backward with mine incantation.
8Those from all points assail us, Jātavedas, who sacrifice from
intermediate regions.
For wronging Prayer let them be turned and troubled, I smite
them backward with mine incantation.
p. a152 p. a153
BOOK V
HYMN I
A glorification of Trita and Varuna
1He who with special plans and deathless spirit, waxing, well-
born, hath come unto his birth-place,
As he who shines upholds the days, thus Trita, of pure life,
bears the Three as their supporter.
2He who, the first, approached the holy statutes makes, after,
many beauteous forms and figures.
Eager to drink, his birth-place first he entered who understands
the word when yet unspoken.
3He who—the fluid gold, with radiant kinsmen—to fervent glow
delivered up thy body,
On him both set names, that shall live for ever: to him the regions
shall send robes to clothe him,
4As these have gone to their primeval station, each gaining an
imperishable dwelling,
May kissing mothers of the bards' beloved bring the pole-draw-
ing husband to the sister.
5By holy wisdom I a sage, Far-Strider! offer to thee this lofty
adoration.
This worship both the mighty eddying rivers, coming together
to this station, heighten.
6Seven are the pathways which the wise have fashioned: to one
of these may come the troubled mortal.
On sure ground where the ways are parted standeth Life's Pillar
in the dwelling of the Highest.
7Working, I go my way with deathless spirit: life, spirit, bodies
have gone gladly thither.
Aye, Sakra also gives his gift of treasure as when the sacrificer
meets with power.
8Yea, the son asks dominion of his father: this they declared the
noblest path to welfare.
Varuna, let them see thy revelations: display the wondrous
shapes of times to follow. p. a154
9Halt with the milk, its other half, thou minglest and with that
half, strong! unbeguiled! increasest.
Let us exalt the gracious friend, the mighty, Varuna son of-
Aditi, strength-giver.
We have told him the marvels sung by poets. The utterance of
Heaven and Earth is truthful.
p. a155
HYMN II
A glorification of Indra
1In all the worlds That was the best and highest whence sprang
the Mighty One of splendid valour.
As soon as born he overcomes his foemen, when those rejoice in
him who bring him succour.
2Grown mighty in his strength, with ample vigour, he as a foe
strikes fear into the Dāsa,
Eager to win the breathing and the breathless: All sang thy
praise at banquet and oblation.
3All concentrate on thee their mental vigour what time these,
twice or thrice, are thine assistants,
Blend what is sweeter than the sweet with sweetness win quickly
with our meath that meath in battle.
4If verily in every war the sages joy and exult in thee who win-
nest treasures,
With mightier power, strong God, extend thy firmness: let not
malevolent Kaokas harm thee.
5Proudly we put our trust in thee in battles, when we behold
great wealth the prize of combat.
I with my words impel thy weapons onward, and sharpen with
my prayer thy vital vigour.
6Thou in that house, the highest or the lowest, which thy protec-
tion guards, bestowest riches.
Establish ye the ever-wandering mother, and bring full many
deeds to their completion.
7Praise in the height Him who hath many pathways, courageous,
strongest, Aptya of the Aptyas
Through strength he shows himself of ample power: pattern of
Prithivī, he fights and conquers.
8Brihaddiva, the foremost of light-winners, hath made these holy
prayers, this strength for Indra. p. a156
Free Lord, he rules the mighty fold of cattle, winning, aglow,
even all the billowy waters.
9Thus hath Brihaddiva, the great Atharvan, spoken to Indra as
himself in person.
Two sisters free from stain, the Mātarivans, with power impel
him onward and exalt him.
p. a157
HYMN III
A prayer to Agni, Indra, and other deities for victory and prosperity
1Let strength be mine while I invoke thee, Agni! enkindling thee
may we support our bodies.
May the four regions bend and bow before me: with thee for
guardian may we win the combat.
2Baffling the range of our opponents, Agni! guard us as our
protector round about us.
Down the steep slope go they who hate us, backward, and let
their thought who watch at home be ruined.
3May all the Gods be on my side in battle, the Maruts led by
Indra, Vishnu, Agni.
Mine be the middle air's extended region, and may the Wind
blow favouring these my wishes.
4For me let them present all mine oblations, and let my mind's
intention be accomplished.
May I be guiltless of the least transgression: may all the Gods
come hither and protect me.
5May the Gods grant me riches, may the blessing and invocation
of the Gods assist me.
This boon shall the celestial Hotars win us: may we, unwound-
ed, have brave heroes round us.
6Ye six divine Expanses, give us freedom. Here, all ye Gods,
acquit yourselves like heroes.
Let not calamity or curse o'ertake us, nor deeds of wickedness
that merit hatred.
7Do ye three Goddesses give ample shelter and all success to us
ourselves and children.
Let us not lose our children or our bodies: let us not benefit
the foe, King Soma!
8Foodful and much-invoked, at this our calling may the far-
reaching Bull grant us wide shelter.
Lord of bay coursers, Indra, bless our children: harm us not,
give us not as prey to others.
9Lord of the world, Creator and Disposer, may the God Savitar
who quells assailants,
May the Ādityas, Rudras, both the Asvins, Gods, guard the
sacrificer from destruction.
10Let those who are our foemen stay afar from us: with Indra
and with Agni we will drive them off. p. a158
The Ādityas and the Rudras, over us on high, have made me
strong, a thinker, and a sovran lord.
11Yea, we call Indra hitherward, the winner of wealth in battle
and of kine and horses.
May he mark this our worship when we call him, Lord of bay
steeds, thou art our friend and comrade.
HYMN IV
A charm against fever and other ailments
1Thou who wast born on mountains, thou most mighty of all
plants that grow.
Thou Banisher of Fever, come, Kushtha! make Fever pass
away.
2Brought from the Snowy Mountain, born on the high hill where
eagles breed,
Men seek to buy thee when they hear: for Fever's Banisher
they know.
3In the third heaven above us stands the Asvattha tree, the seat
of Gods.
There the Gods sought the Kushtha Plant, embodiment of end-
less life.
4There moved through heaven a golden ship, a ship with cordage
wrought of Gold.
There the Gods won the Kushtha Plant, the blossom of eternal
life. p. a159
5They sailed on pathways paved with gold, the oars they piled
were wrought of gold:
All golden were the ships wherein they carried Kushtha down
to earth.
6O Kushtha, bring thou hitherward this man of mine, restore his
health,
Yes, free him from disease for me.
7Thou art descended from thee Gods, Soma's benignant friend
art thou,
Befriend my breath and vital air be gracious unto this mine eye.
8Sprung, northward, from the Snowy Hill thou art conveyed to
eastern men.
There they deal out among themselves Kushtha's most noble
qualities.
9Most excellent, indeed, art thou, Kushtha! most noble is thy
sire.
Make all Consumption pass away and render Fever powerless.
10Malady that affects the head, eye-weakness, bodily defect—
All this let Kushtha heal and cure: aye, godlike is the vigorous
power.
HYMN V
A charm to mend a broken bone
1Aryaman is thy grandsire, Night thy mother, and the Cloud thy
sire.
Thy name is called Silāchi. Thou, thyself, art sister of the Gods.
2Whoever drinketh thee hath life: thou savest and protectest
man.
As nursing mother of mankind, thou takest all upon thy lap.
3Thou clingest close to every tree, as a fond damsel clasps her
love. p. a160
Thy name is called The Conqueror, She who Stands Fast, The
Rescuer.
4Whatever wound the arrow, or the staff, or violence inflicts,
Thereof thou art the remedy: as such restore this man to health.
5Thou springest from blest Plaxa, or Asvattha, Dhava, Khadira,
Parna, or blest Nyagrodha, so come thou to use, Arundhatī!
6Gold-coloured, bringing happy fate, most lovely, brilliant as the
Sun,
Mayst thou, O Healing! come unto the fracture: Healing is thy
name.
7Gold-coloured, bringing happy fate, odorous, hairy-bodied one,
The sister of the Waters art thou, Lākshā! and thy soul is Wind.
8Silāchi is thy name: thy sire, O goat-brown! is a damsel's son.
Thou hast been sprinkled by the mouth of Yama's tawny-
coloured horse.
9Issuing from the horse's blood away she glided to the trees.
Become a winged water-brook, and come to us, Arundhatī!
HYMN VI
A prayer for protection and prosperity
1Eastward at first the prayer was generated: Vena disclosed bright
flashes from the summit, p. a161
Disclosed his deepest nearest revelations, womb of the non-
existent and existent.
2None have attained to those of old, those who wrought holy
acts for you,
Let them not harm our heroes here. Therefore I set before you
this.
3Sweet-tongued, exhaustless, they have sent their voices down
together in heaven's vault that pours a thousand streams.
His wildly-restless warders never close an eye: in every place
the snarers stand to bind men fast.
4Speed forward, conquering all foes, to win the spoil,
Thou comest on thy haters with a surging sea. Thy name is
Fragile. The thirteenth month is Indra's home.
5Through this now hast thou sent thy gifts. All hail!
With sharpened arms and missiles, kind and friendly, be gracious
unto us, Soma and Rudra!
6Through this hast thou been left in want. All hail!
With sharpened arms and missiles, kind and friendly, be gracious
unto us, Soma and Rudra!
7Through this hast thou committed faults. All hail!
With sharpened arms and missiles, kind and friendly, be gracious
unto us, Soma and Rudra!
8Free us from trouble, free us from dishonour, accept our wor-
ship, give us life immortal.
9O missile of the eye, missile of spirit, thou missile of devotion
and of fervour!
Thou art the weapon shot against the weapon. Let those be
weaponless who sin against us.
10Make with thy weapon weaponless, O Agni, all wicked men
who deal with us as foemen with eye, with thought, with
spirit, or intention.
11Thou art the house of Indra. I betake me to thee, I enter thee
with all my cattle,
With all my people and with all my body, with all my soul, with
mine entire possessions.
12Thou art the guard of Indra. I betake me to thee, etc.
13Thou art the shield of Indra. I betake me to thee, etc.
14Indra's protection art thou. I betake me to thee, I enter thee
with all my cattle.
With all my people and with all my body, with all my soul, with p. a162
mine entire possessions.
HYMN VII
A charm to deprecate Arāti or Malignity
1Bring thou to us, bar not the way, Arāti! Stay not the guerdon
that is being brought us.
Homage be paid to Failure, to Misfortune, and Malignity.
2The man whom thou preferrest, O Arāti, he who prates to us—
This man of thine, we reverence. Baffle not thou my heart's
desire,
3May our desire which Gods have roused fulfil itself by day and
night.
We seek to win Arāti: to Arāti be our homage paid.
4We, suppliant, call on Bhaga, on Sarasvati, Anumati,
Pleasant words have I spoken, sweet as honey is, at invocations
of the Gods.
5The portion that I crave with speech intelligent and full of
power,
May faith, presented with the gift of tawny Soma, find to-day.
6Do not thou make our words or wishes fruitless. Let the twain
Indra Agni, bring us treasures.
All, fain to-day to give us gifts, welcome Arāti with your love. p. a163
7Misfortune! go thou far away: we turn thy harmful dart aside.
I know thee well, Arāti! as oppressor, one who penetrates.
8Oft, coming as a naked girl thou hauntest people in their sleep,
Baffling the thought, Arāti! and the firm intention of a man.
9To her the mighty vast in size, who penetrates all points of
space,
To her mine homage have I paid, Nirriti with her golden hair.
10Auspicious, with her golden hue, pillowed on gold, the mighty
one
To this Arāti clad in robes of gold mine homage have I paid.
HYMN VIII
A charm for the discomfiture and destruction of hostile priests
1With fuel of Vikankata bring molten butter to the Gods.
O Agni, make them joyful here: let them all come unto my call.
2O Indra, come unto my call, This will I do. So hear it thou.
Let these exertions for the sake of Indra guide my wish aright.
Therewith, O Jātavedas, Lord of Bodies! may we win us strength.
3Whatever plot from yonder, O ye Gods, that godless man would
frame,
Let not the Gods come to his call, nor Agni bear his offering up.
Come, ye, come hither to my call.
4Run, ye Fxertions, farther on By Indra's order smite and slay.
As a wolf worrieth a sheep, so let not him escape from you
while life remains. Stop fast his breath.
5The Brāhman whom those yonder have appointed priest, for
injury,
He, Indra! is beneath thy feet. I cast him to the God of Death.
6If they have issued forth, strongholds of Gods, and made their
shield of prayer, p. a164
Gaining protection for their lives, protection round about, make
all their instigation powerless.
7Exertions which that man hath made, Exertions which he yet
will make
Turn them, O Indra, back again, O Vritra-slayer, back again on
him that they may kill that man.
8As Indra, having seized him, set his foot upon Udvāchana,
Even so for all the coming years I cast those men beneath my
feet.
9Here, Indra Vritra-slayer, in thy strength pierce thou their vital.
parts.
Here, even here, attack them, O Indra. Thine own dear friend
am I.
Indra, we closely cling to thee. May we be in thy favouring
grace.
HYMN IX
A prayer to Heaven and Earth for protection and assistance
1All hail to Heaven!
2All hail to Earth!
3All hail to Air!
4All hail to Air!
5All hail to Heaven!
6All hail to Eartht!
7Mine eye is Sīirya and my breath is Vāta, Air is my soul and
Prithivī my body.
I verily who never have been conquered give up my life toe
Heaven and Earth for keeping. p. a165
8Exalt my life, my strength, my deed and action; increase my
understanding and my vigour.
Be ye my powerful keepers, watch and guard me, ye mistresses
of life and life's creators! Dwell ye within me, and forbear
to harm me.
HYMN X
A prayer to the presiding deities of the four quarters for protection
1Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who fights against
me from the eastern quarter.
May he encounter it!
2Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who fights against
me from the southern quarter.
May he encounter it!
3Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who fights against
me from the western quarter.
May he encounter it!
4Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who fights against
me from northern quarter.
May he encounter it!
5Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who fights against
me from the stedfast region.
May he encounter it!
r 6.Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who fights against
Lme from the lofty region!
M iy he encounter it!
7Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who from points
intermediate fights against me.
May he encounter it!
8With Brihat I invoke the mind, with Mātarisvan both the
breaths,
The eye from Sūrya, and the ear from Air, the body from the
Earth. p. a166
We, with Sarasvati who suits the mind, call Speech to come to
us.
HYMN XI
A dialogue between Atharvan and Varuna
1How, terrible in might, hast thou here spoken to the great God,
how to the gold-hued Father!
Thy mind watched, greedy Varuna! to recover the brindled cow
thou hadst bestowed as guerdon.
2Not through desire do I revoke my present: I bring this brind-
led cow to contemplate her.
Now by what lore, by what inherent nature, knowest thou all
things that exist, Atharvan?
3Truly I am profound in wisdom, truly I know by nature all
existing creatures.
No Dāsa by his greatness, not an Arya, may violate the law that
I will stablish.
4None, self-dependent Varuna! existeth wiser than thou or sager
by his wisdom.
Thou knowest well all these created beings: even the man of
wondrous powers fears thee.
5O self-dependent Varuna, wise director, thou knowest verily all
generations.
What is, unerring one! beyond this region? What more remote
than that which is most distant?
6One thing there is beyond this air, and something beyond that
one, most hard to reach, remotest.
I, Varuna, who know, to thee declare it. Let churls be mighty p. a167
in the lower regions. Let Dāsas sink into the earth beneath
them.
7Many reproaches, Varuna, dost thou utter against the misers.
who revoke their presents.
Be not thou added to that crowd of niggards: let not men call
thee an illiberal giver.
8Let not men call me an illiberal giver. I give thee back the
brindled cow, O singer.
Attend in every place where men inhabit, with all thy powers,
the hymn that tells my praises.
9Let hymns of praise ascend to thee, uplifted in every place of
human habitation.
But give me now the gift thou hast not given. Thou art my
friend for ever firm and faithful.
10One origin, Varuna! one bond unites us I know the nature of
that common kinship.
I give thee now the gift that I retracted. I am thy friend for ever
firm and faithful.
11God, giving life unto the god who lauds me, Sage strengthener
of the sage who sings my praises.
Thou, self-dependent Varuna! hast begotten the kinsman of the
Gods, our sire Atharvan.
On him bestow most highly-lauded riches. Thou art our friend,
high over all, our kinsman.
p. a168
HYMN XII
An Apri or propitiatory hymn
1Thou in the house of man this day enkindled worshippest Gods
as God, O Jātavedas.
Observant, bright as Mitra, bring them hither. Thou art a
sapient and foreknowing envoy.
2Tanùnapāt, fair-tongued! with sweet meath balming the baths
and ways of Order, make them pleasant.
Bear to the Gods our sacrifice, exalting with holy thoughts our
hymns of praise and worship.
3Invoked, deserving prayer and adoration, O Agni, come accor
dant with the Vasus.
Thou art, O youthful Lord, the Gods' Invoker, so, best of sacri-
ficers, bring them quickly.
4By rule the Sacred Grass is scattered eastward, a robe to clothe
this earth when dawns are breaking.
Widely it spreads around and far extended, fair for the Gods
and bringing peace and freedom,
5Let the expansive Doors be widely opened, like wives who deck
their beauty for their husbands.
Lofty, celestial, all-impelling Portals, admit the Gods and give
them easy entrance!
6Pouring sweet dews let holy Night and Morning, each close to
each, be seated at their station,—
Lofty, celestial Dames with gold to deck them, assuming all
their fair and radiant beauty.
7Come the first two celestial sweet-voiced Hotars, arranging
sacrifice for man to worship, p. a169
As singers who inspire us in assemblies, showing the eastern
light with their direction!
8Let Bhārati come quickly to our worship and Ilā showing like a
human being.
So let Sarasvati and both her fellows, deft Goddesses, on this
fair grass be seated.
9Hotar more skilled in sacrifice, bring hither with speed to-day
God Tvashar, thou who knowest,
Even him who formed these two, the Earth and Heaven, the
Parents, with their forms, and every creature.
10Bring thou to our oblations which thou balmest the companies
of Gods in ordered season.
Agni, Vanaspati, the Immolator sweeten our offered gifts with
meath and butter!
11Agni as soon as he was born made ready the sacrifice and was
the Gods' preceder.
May the Gods eat our offering consecrated according to this true
Priest's voice and guidance.
p. a170
HYMN XIII
A charm against snakes
1Varuna, Sage of heaven, hath given me the gift: with spells of
mighty power I draw thy poison out.
Dug up, not dug, adherent, I have seized it fast: low hath thy
venom sunk like water in the sands.
2All the non-fluid portion of thy venom, I receive in these.
I take thy middlemost, thy highest, lowest juice: may it be
spent and lest by reason of thy fear.
3Strong is my cry like thunder with the rainy cloud: with power-
ful incantation let thy strength be stayed.
I, with the men to aid, have seized that juice of his; as light
from out the gloom, let Sūrya rise on high
4I with this eye destroy thine eye, and with this poison conquer
thine.
Live not, O Snake, but die the death: back go thy venom on
thyself.
5Listen to me, Black Snakes and hateful creatures, Lurker-in-
Grass, Karait, and Brown, and Spotty,
Approach not near the house my friend inhabits: give warning,
and rest quiet with your poison.
6Even as the cord that strings the bow, I slacken, as it were, the
cars.
Of the All-conquering serpent's wrath, of the fierce rage of
Black, and Brown, Taimāta, and Apodaka.
7And Āligi and Viligi, their father and the mother too,—
What will ye do? Your venomed sap, we know, is utterly
powerless.
8Daughter of Urugūlā, she-fiend whom the black, skinned mother
bare—
All female serpents poison who crept swiftly near is impotent.
9Dwelling beside the mountain's slope, the quick-eared porcupine
exclaimed:
Of all these she-snakes homed in earth the poison is most
powerless.
10Tābuva or not Tābuva, thou verily art not Tābuva: poison is
killed by Tābuva. p. a171
Tastuva or not Tastuva, thou verily art not Tastuva: poison is
killed by Tastuva.
HYMN XIV
A charm against witchcraft
1An eagle found thee: with his snout a wild boar dug thee from
the earth.
Harm thou, O Plant, the mischievous, and drive the sorcerer
away.
2Beat thou the Yātudhānas back, drive thou away the sorcerer;
And chase afar, O Plant, the man who fain would do us injury.
3As 'twere a strip cut round from skin of a white-footed an-
telope,
Bind, like a golden chain, O God, his witchcraft on the sorcerer.
4Take thou his sorcery by the hand, and to the sorcerer lead it
back.
Lay it before him, face to face, that it may kill the sorcerer.
5Back on the wizard fall his craft, upon the curser light his
curse! p. a172
Let witchcraft, like a well-naved car, roll back upon the
sorcerer.
6Whoso, for other's harm hath dealt-woman or man-in magic
arts,
To him we lead the sorcery back, even as a courser with a rope.
7Now whether thou hast been prepared by Gods or been pre-
pared by men,
We, with our Indra at our side to aid us, lead thee back again.
8Agni, victorious in fight, subdue the armies of our foes!
Back on the sorcerer we cast his sorcery, and beat it home.
9Thou who hast piercing weapons, pierce him who hath wrought
it; conquer him.
We do not sharpen thee to slay the man who hath not practised
it.
10Go as a son goes to his sire: bite as a trampled viper bites.
As one who flies from bonds, go back, O Witchcraft, to the
sorcerer.
11Even as the timid antelope or hind from her assailant flees,
So swiftly let the sorcery o'ertake and reach the sorcerer.
12Straighter than any arrow let it fly against him, Heaven and
Earth.
So let that witchcraft seize again the wizard like a beast of
chase.
13Let it go contrary like flame, like water following its course.
Let witchcraft, like a well-naved car, roll back upon the
sorcerer.
HYMN XV
A charm for general prosperity
1Plant! I have those who shall avert the threatened danger, ten
and one. p. a173
O sacred Plant, produced aright! make sweetness, sweet thy self,
for me.
2Twenty and two, O Plant, have I who shall avert the threatened
ill.
O sacred Plant, produced aright! make sweetness, sweet thyself,
for me.
HYMN XVI
A charm for the increase of cattle
1Bull! if thou art the single bull, beget. Thou hast no vital sap.
HYMN XVII
The abduction and restoration of a Brāhman's wife
1These first, the boundless Sea, and Mātarisvan, fierce glowing
Fire, the Strong, the Bliss-bestower,
And heavenly Floods, first-born by holy Order, exclaimed
against the outrage on a Brāhman.
2King Soma first of all, without reluctance, made restitution of
the Brāhman's consort.
Mitra and Varuna were the inviters: Agni as Hotar took her
hand and led her.
3The man, her pledge, must by the hand be taken when he hath
cried, She is a Brāhman's consort.
She stayed not for a herald to conduct her: thus is the kingdom
of a ruler guarded.
4She whom they call the star with loosened tresses, descending as.
misfortune on the village, p. a174
The Brāhman's consort, she disturbs the kingdom where hath
appeared the hare with fiery flashing.
5Active in duty serves the Brahmachāri: he is a member of the
Gods' own body.
Through him Brihaspati obtained his consort, as the Gods gained
the ladle brought by Soma.
6Thus spake of her those Gods of old, Seven Rishis, who sate
them down to their austere devotion:
Dire is a Brāhman's wife led home by others: in the supremest
heaven she plants confusion.
7When infants die, untimely born, when herds of cattle waste
away,
When heroes strike each other dead, the Brāhman's wife
destroyeth them.
8Even if ten former husbands—none a Brāhman—had espoused a
dame,
And then a Brāhman took her hand, he is her husband, only he,
9Not Vaisya, not Rājanya, no, the Brāhman is indeed her lord:
This Sūrya in his course proclaims to the Five Races of man-
kind.
10So then the Gods restored her, so men gave the woman back
again.
Princes who kept their promises restored the Brāhman's wedded
wife.
11Having restored the Brāhman's wife, and freed them, with Gods'
aid, from sin,
They shared the fulness of the earth and worn themselves ex-
tended sway.
12No lovely wife who brings her dower in hundreds rests upon his
bed,
Within whose kingdom is detained, through want of sense, a
Brāhman's dame.
13No broad-browed calf with wide-set ears is ever in his homestead
born.
Within whose kingdom is detained, through want of sense, a
Brāhman's dame.
14No steward, golden-necklaced, goes before the meat-trays of the
man.
Within whose kingdom is detained, through want of sense, a
Brāhman's dame. p. a175
15No black-eared courser, white of hue, moves proudly, harnessed
to his car,
In whose dominion is detained, through want of sense, a
Brāhman's dame.
16No lily grows with oval bulbs, no lotus-pool is in his field,
In whose dominion is detained, through senseless love, a
Brāhman's dame.
17The men whose task it is to milk drain not the brindled cow for
him,
In whose dominion is detained, through senseless love, a
Brāhman's dame.
18His milch-cow doth not profit one, his draught-ox masters not
the yoke,
Wherever, severed from his wife, a Brāhman spends the mourn-
ful night.
p. a176
HYMN XVIII
The wickedness of oppressing and robbing Brāhmans
1The Gods, O Prince, have not bestowed this cow on thee to eat
thereof.
Seek not, Rājanya, to devour the Brāhman's cow which none
may eat.
2A base Rājanya, spoiled at dice, and ruined by himself, may eat.
The Brāhman's cow and think, To-day and not tomorrow, let
me live!
3The Brāhman's cow is like a snake, charged with due poison,
clothed with skin.
Rājanya! bitter to the taste is she, and none may eat of her.
4She takes away his strength, she mars his splendour, she ruins
everything like fire enkindled.
That man drinks poison of the deadly serpent who counts the
Brāhman as mere food to feed him.
5Whoever smites him, deeming him a weakling-blasphemer,
coveting his wealth through folly
Indra sets fire alight within his bosom. He who acts thus is
loathed by Earth and Heaven.
6No Brāhman must be injured, safe as fire from him who loves
himself.
For Soma is akin to him and Indra guards him from the curse.
7The fool who eats the Brāhmans' food and thinks it pleasant to
the taste,
Eats, but can ne'er digest, the cow that bristles with a hundred
barbs,
8His voice an arrow's neck, his tongue a bowstring, his windpipes
fire-enveloped heads of arrows, p. a177
With these the Brāhman pierces through blasphemers, with
God-sped bows that quell the hearts within them.
9Keen arrows have the Brāhmans, armed with missiles: the shaft,
when they discharge it, never faileth.
Pursuing him with fiery zeal and anger, they pierce the foeman
even from a distance.
10They who, themselves ten hundred, were the rulers of a thousand
men,
The Vaitahavyas, were destroyed for that they ate a Brāhman's
cow.
11The cow, indeed, when she was slain o'erthrew those Vaitahavyas,
who
Cooked the last she-goat that remained of Kesaraprābandhā's
flock.
12One and a hundred were the folk, those whom the earth shook
off from her:
When they had wronged the Brāhman race they perished incon-
ceivably.
13Among mankind the Gods' despiser moveth: he hath drunk
poison, naught but bone is left him.
Who wrongs the kinsman of the Gods, the Brāhman, gains not
the sphere to which the Fathers travelled.
14Agni, in sooth, is called our guide, Soma is called our next of
kin.
Indra quells him who curses us. Sages know well that this is so.
15Prince! like a poisoned arrow, like a deadly snake, O lord of
kine!
Dire is the Brāhman's arrow: he pierces his enemies therewith.
p. a178
HYMN XIX
The wickedness of robbing or insulting Brāhmans
1The sons of Vitahavya, the Srinjayas, waxed exceeding strong.
They well-nigh touched the heavens, but they wronged Bhrigu
and were overthrown.
2When men pierced Brihatsāman through, the Brāhman, son of
Angiras,
The ram with teeth in both his jaws, the sheep, devoured their
progeny.
3If men have spat upon, or shot their rheum upon a Brāhman,
they.
Sit in the middle of a stream running with blood, devouring
hair.
4While yet the Brāhman's cow which men are dressing quivers in
her throe:
She mars the kingdom's splendour: there no vigorous hero
springs to life.
5Terrible is her cutting-up: her bitter flesh is cast away,
And it is counted sin among the Fathers if her milk is drunk.
6If any King who deems himself mighty would eat a Brāhman
up,
Rent and disrupted is that realm wherein a Brāhman is oppres-
sed.
7She grows eight-footed, and four-eyed, four-eared, four-jawed,
two-faced, two-tongued,
And shatters down the kingdom of the man who doth the
Brāhman wrong.
8As water swamps a leaky ship so ruin overflows that realm.
Misfortune smites the realm wherein a Brāhman suffers scath
and harm.
9The very trees repel the man, and drive him from their sheltering
shade,
Whoever claims, O Nārada, the treasure that a Brāhman owns. p. a179
10That wealth, King Varuna hath said, is poison by the Gods
prepared.
None hath kept watch to guard his realm who hath devoured a
Brāhman's cow.
11Those nine-and-ninety people whom Earth shook and cast away
from her,
When they had wronged the Brāhman race were ruined incon-
ceivably.
12Oppressor of the Brāhmans! thus the Gods have spoken and
declared,
The step-effacing wisp they bind upon the dead shall be thy
couch.
13Oppressor of the Brāhmans! tears wept by the man who suffers
wrong,
These are the share of water which the Gods have destined to be
thine.
14The share of water which the Gods have destined to be thine, is
that,
Oppressor of the priest! wherewith men lave the corpse and wet
the beard.
15The rain of Mitra-Varuna falls not on him who wrongs the
priest.
To him no counsel brings success: he wins, no friend to do his
will.
p. a180
HYMN XX
A hymn to the War-drum to secure victory
1Formed out of wood, compact with straps of leather, loud is the:
War-drum as he plays the hero.
Whetting thy voice and vanquishing opponents, roar at them
like a lion fain to conquer!
2The fastened frame hath roared as 'twere a lion, like a bull bel-
lowing to meet the heifer.
Thou art a bull, thine enemies are weaklings: thine is the foe-
subduing strength of Indra.
3Like a bull marked by strength among the cattle, roar seeking
kine and gathering up the booty.
Pierce through our adversaries' heart with sorrow, and let our
routed foes desert their hamlets.
4Victorious in the battle, loudly roaring, seizing what may be
seized, look all around thee.
Utter, O Drum, thy heavenly voice with triumph. Bring, as a
priest, our enemies' possessions.
5Hearing the Drum's far-reaching voice resounding, let the foe's
dame, waked by the roar, afflicted,
Grasping her son, run forward in her terror amid the conflict of
the deadly weapons.
6Thou, first of all, O Drum, thy voice shalt utter: over the ridge
of earth speak forth exultant.
Crunching with might the army of the foemen, declare thy
message pleasantly and clearly.
7Loud be thy roar between the earth and heaven. Swift let thy
sounds go forth in all directions.
Neigh at them, thunder, set in opposition, song-maker, good
ally that friends may conquer. p. a181
8He shall send forth his voice whom art hath fashioned. Make
thou the weapons of our warriors bristle.
With Indra for ally call out our heroes, and with thy friends
scatter and chase the foemen
9Resonant, roaring, with thy powerful weapons, warning, and
heard by troops in many places,
Knowing all rules and winning us advantage, deal fame to many
where two kings are fighting.
10Bent on advantage, mightier, gaining treasures, victor in war,
the spell hath made thee keener.
As, in the press, the stone to stalks of Soma, thus, Drum! go
dancing to our foes' possessions.
11Foe-conqueror, victor, vanquishing opponents, seeker of booty,
mastering, destroying.
Speak out as a skilled speaker tells his counsel, speak strength
to us that we may win the battle.
12Shaker of things unshaken, readiest corner to battles; conquer-
ing foes, resistless leader,
Guarded by Indra, watching our assemblies, go quickly, breaker
of their hearts who hate us.
HYMN XXI
A hymn to the War-drum and various deities for victory
1Speak to our enemies, O Drum, discouragement and wild
dismay.
We bring upon our foemen fear and discord and discomfiture.
Drum! drive these enemies away.
2When sacrificial butter hath been offered, let our foemen flee.
Through consternation, terrified, trembling in mind and eye and
heart.
3Wrought out of wood, compact with straps of leather, dear to
all the clan, p. a182
Bedewed with sacrificial oil, speak terror to our enemies.
4As the wild creatures of the wood flee in their terror from a
man,
Even so do thou, O Drum, roar out against our foes to frighten
them, and then bewilder thou their thoughts.
5As, when the wolf approaches, goats and sheep run sorely
terrified,
Even so do thou, O Drum, roar out against our foes to frighten
them, and then bewilder thou their thoughts.
6As birds of air, day after day, fly in wild terror from the hawk,
as from a roaring lion's voice,
Even so do thou, O Drum, roar out against our foes to frighten
them, and then bewilder thou their thoughts.
7May all the deities whose might controls the fortune of the fray
Frighten away our enemies with Drum and skin of antelope.
8Let those our enemies who go yonder in their battalions shake.
In fear at shadows and the sounds of feet which Indra sporteth
with.
9To all the quarters of the sky let clang of bowstrings and our
Drums.
Cry out to hosts of foes that go discomfited in serried ranks.
10Āditya, take their sight away! Follow them close, ye motes of
light.
Let them cleave fast to foot-bound hosts when strength of arm
hath past away.
11Do ye, O mighty Maruts, sons of Prisni, crush down, with
Indra for ally, our foemen.
King Soma. Varuna, great God and sovran, Indra too, aye,
Death,—
12May these embattled Gods, brilliant as Sūrya—All hail!—one-
minded conquer those who hate us.
p. a183
HYMN XXII
A charm against fever
1Hence, filled with holy strength let Agni, Soma, and Varuna,
the Press-stone, and the Altar.
And Grass, and glowing Fuel banish Fever. Let hateful things
stay at a distance yonder.
2And thou thyself who makest all men yellow, consuming them
with burning heat like Agni,
Thou, Fever! then be weak and ineffective. Pass hence into the
realms below or vanish.
3Endowed with universal power! send Fever down-ward, far
away,
The spotty, like red-coloured dust, sprung from a spotty
ancestor.
4When I have paid obeisance to Fever I send him downward
forth.
So let Sakambhara's boxer go again to the Mahāvrishas.
5His mansions are the Mūjavans, and the Mahāvrishas his home,
Thou, Fever, ever since thy birth hast lived among the Bahlikas.
6Fever, snake, limbless one, speak out! Keep thyself far away
fi om us.
Seek thou a wanton Dāst girl and strike her with thy thunder-
bolt.
7Go, Fever, to the Mūjavans, or, farther, to the Bahlikas.
Seek a lascivious Sara girl and seem to shake her through and
through.
8Go hence and eat thy kinsmen the Mahāvrishas and Mūjavans.
These or those foreign regions we proclaim to Fever for his
home.
9In a strange land thou joyest not; subdued, thou wilt be kind
to us.
Fever is eager to depart, and to the Bahlikas will go,
10Since thou now cold, now burning hot, with cough besides, hast
made us shake,
Terrible, Fever, are thy darts: forbear to injure us with these.
11Take none of these to be thy friends, Cough, or Consumption
or Decline:
Never come thence again to us! O Fever, thus I counsel thee.
12Go, Fever, with Consumption, thy brother, and with thy sister,
Cough. p. a184
And with thy nephew Herpes, go away unto that alien folk.
13Chase Fever whether cold or hot, brought by the summer or
the rains,
Tertian, intermittent, or autumnal, or continual.
14We to Gandhāris, Mūjavans, to Angas and to Magadhas.
Hand over Fever as it were a servant and a thing of price.
HYMN XXIII
A charm against parasitic worms
1I have called Heaven and Earth to aid, have called divine
Sarasvati,
Indra and Agni have I called: Let these destroy the worm, I
prayed.
2O Indra, Lord of Treasures, kill the worms that prey upon this
boy.
All the malignant spirits have been smitten by my potent spell. p. a185
We utterly destroy the worm, the worm that creeps around the
eyes.
The worm that crawls about the nose, the worm that gets bet-
ween the teeth.
3Two of like colour, two unlike, two coloured black, two
coloured red.
The tawny and the tawny-eared, Vulture and Wolf, all these
are killed.
4Worms that are white about the sides, those that are black with
black-hued arms,
All that show various tints and hues, these worms we utterly
destroy.
5Eastward the Sun is mounting, seen of all, destroying thing
unseen,
Crushing and killing all the worms invisible and visible.
6Let the Yevāshas, Kaskashas, Ejatkas, Sipavitnukas,
Let both the worm that we can see, and that we see not, be
destroyed.
7Slain the Yevāsha of the worms, slain too is the Nadaniman.
I have reduced them all to dust like vetches with the pounding-
stone.
8The worm Sāranga, white of hue, three-headed, with a triple
hump,
I split and tear his ribs away, I wrench off every head he has.
9I kill you, worms, as Atri, as Kanva and Jamadagni killed.
I crush the worms to pieces with a spell that erst Agastya used.
10The King of worms hath been destroyed, he who was lord of
these is slain.
Slain is the worm whose mother, whose brother and sister have
been slain.
11Destroyed are his dependants, who those dwell around him are
destroyed,
And all the worms that seem to be the little ones are done to
death
12Of every worm and insect, of the female and the male alike,
I crush the head to pieces with a stone and burn the face with
fire.
p. a186
HYMN XXIV
A priest's prayer for protection and assistance
1Savitar, Lord of furthering aids, protect me, in this my prayer,
in this mine act, in this my sacerdotal charge, in this perfor-
mance, in this thought, in this my plan and wish, in this my
calling on the Gods! All hail!
2May Agni, Lord of forest trees, protect, me, in, etc.
3May Heaven and Earth, the Queens of bounties, save me.
4May Varuna, the Lord of waters, save me.
5May Mitra-Varuna, Lords of rain, preserve me.
6Lords of the mountains, may the Maruts save me.
7May, Soma, Lord of plants and herbs, protect me.
8May Vāyu, Lord of middle air, protect me.
9May Sūrya, sovran Lord of eyes, protect me.
10May the Moon, Lord of constellations, save me.
11May Indra who is Lord of heaven protect me.
12The Maruts' father, Lord of cattle, save me.
13May Mrityu, Lord of living creatures, save me.
14May Yama, Regent of the Fathers, save me.
15May the Forefathers of old time protect me.
16May Fathers of succeeding ages save me.
17Next may the Fathers of our fathers save me, in this my prayer,.
in this mine act, in this my sacerdotal charge, in this perfor-
mance, in this thought, in this my plan and wish, in this my
calling on the Gods! All hail!
p. a187
HYMN XXV
A charm to facilitate conception
1Let the man, sower of the germ, lay, as a feather on a shaft.
Limb drawn from limb, whate'er is culled from cloud and from
the womb of heaven.
2Even as this broad earth received the germ of all the things that
be,
Thus within thee I lay the germ. I call thee, Earth, to strengthen
it.
3O Sinivāli, set the germ, set thou the germ, Sarasvati! In thee
let both the Asvins, crowned with lotuses, bestow the germ.
4Let Mitra-Varuna and God Brihaspati lay the germ in thee.
Indra and Agni lay the germ, Dhātar bestow the germ in thee.
5Let Vishnu form and mould the womb, let Tvashtar duly shape
the forms,
Prajāpati infuse the stream, and Dhātar lay for thee the germ.
6Drink thou the procreative draught well-known to Varuna the
King,
Known to divine Sarasvati, and Indra slayer of the foe.
7Thou art the germ of plants and herbs, thou art the germ of
forest trees,
The germ of each existing thing, so here, O Agni, lay the germ.
8Rise up, put forth thy manly strength, and lay thy germ within
the womb.
A bull art thou with vigorous strength: for progeny we bring
thee near.
9Prepare thee, Bārhatsāmā, let the germ be laid within thy side.
The Soma-drinking Gods have given a son to thee, thy son and
mine.
10O Dhātar, thou Disposer, lay within the body of this dame.
A male germ with the noblest form, for her, in the tenth month,
to bear.
11Tvashtar, celestial artist, lay within the body of this dame.
A male germ with the noblest form for her in the tenth month
to bear. p. a188
12Savitar, vivifier, lay within the body of this dame A male germ
with the noblest form for her in the tenth month to bear.
13O Lord of Life, Prajāpati, within this woman's body lay
A male germ with the noblest form for her in the tenth month
to bear.
HYMN XXVI
A hymn of invitation to the gods
1In sacrifice for you may sapient Agni—All hail!—use Yajus
texts and fuel.
2May Savitar the God—All hail!—foreknowing, chief in this
sacrifice, employ them.
3In this great rite—All hail!—may sapient Indra use lauds,
rejoicings, well-yoked coursers.
4Bring Praishas in the rite—All hail!—and Nivids, learned, con-
nected, with the Consorts.
5As a dame brings her son—All hail! O Maruts, connected, in
the rite bring measures.
6Here Aditi is come—All hail!—preparing the rite with grass and
lustral waters.
7Let Vishnu in this rite in varied manner—All hail! use well-
yoked steeds, his fervours.
8Let Tvashtar in this rite in varied manner—All hail!—use forms,
his well-yoked coursers. p. a189
9Let Bhaga in this rite use prayers, foreknowing—All hail! for
this use well-yoked coursers.
10Let Soma in this rite in varied manner—All hail!—use milk-
streams, well-yoked coursers.
11Let Indra in this rite in varied manner—All hail!—use powers,.
his well-yoked coursers.
12Hitherward come ye with the prayer, O Asvins, exalting sacrifice
with cry of Vashat!
Brihaspati!—All hail!—with prayer come hither. Here is the
rite, here heaven for him who worships.
HYMN XXVII
An Apri or Propitiatory hymn
1Uplifted be this sacrificer's fuel: lofty and brilliant be the flames
of Agni!
Splendidly bright, fair-faced, with all his offspring, Tanūnapāt
the Asura, many-handed.
2God among Gods, the God bedews the paths with fatness and'
with mead.
3With store of mead to sacrifice comes Agni, comes Narāsansa
Agni, friendly-minded, comes Savitar, righteous God who
brings all blessings.
4Hither he comes with power and fatness also, the luminous,.
implored with adoration. p. a190
5At holy rites and offerings Agni loveth the scoops: let this man
worship Agni's greatness.
6He is the furtherer at glad oblations: there stood the Vasus and
the treasure-givers.
7Ever the Doors divine, and all protect this worshipper's holy
work.
8Far-reaching, ruling by the Law of Agni,
May Dawn and Night, the holy, speeding near us, aid this our
sacrificial ceremony.
9Celestial Hotars, with the tongues of Agni praise and extol our
lofty ceremony, so that our sacrifice be well conducted!
10Three Goddesses upon this grass, be seated, Idā, Sarasvati,
Mahi, and Bhārati adored with praise.
11This our nutritious genial flow, God Tvashtar! and growth of
wealth, pour down on this man's kindred.
12Vanaspati, rejoicing, of thyself send God-ward! Let Agni, Im-
molator, sweeten our libation.
13Pay sacrifice to Indra, Jātavedas Agni, with Hail! Let all the
Gods accept the gifts we offer.
p. a191
HYMN XXVIII
A charm to ensure general protection and prosperity
1For lengthened life, to last through hundred autumns, they
equalize with nine the nine aspirations.
Three in gold, three in silver, three in iron by heat are stablished
in their several places.
2May Agni, Sun, and Moon, and Earth, and Waters, Sky, Air,
the Quarters and the Points between them,
And Parts of Years accordant with the Seasons by this three-
threaded Amulet preserve me.
3In three-threaded Charm rest triple fulness! Let Pūshan cover it
with milk and butter.
Here rest abundant store of food and people, may ample store
of cattle rest within it.
4Enrich this charm, Ādityas, with your treasure; magnify this,
when magnified, O Agni.
Endow it with heroic strength, O Indra: therein be lodged a
triple power of increase.
5With gold let Earth protect thee, and with iron, accordant, all-
sustaining Agni save thee!
And in accordance with the plants may silver, regarding thee
with favour, grant thee vigour.
6This gold, born threefold at its first production, grew the one
thing that Agni loved most dearly: it fell away, one part of
injured Soma.
One part they call seed of the sapient Waters. This gold bring
thee long life when triply threaded!
7Three lives of Jamadagni, thrice the vital force of Kasyapa,
Three sights of immortality, three lives have I prepared for thee.
8When with the three-stringed charm came three strong eagles,
sharing the Sacred Syllable and mighty,
With immortality they drove off Mrityu, obscuring and conceal-
ing all distresses.
9The golden guard thee from the sky, the silvern guard thee from
the air,
The iron guard thee from the earth! This man hath reached the
forts of Gods.
10May these three castles of the Gods keep thee secure on every
side.
Endowed with strength, possessing these, be thou the master of
thy foes, p. a192
11The God who first bound on in the beginning the deities' im-
mortal golden castle,—
Him I salute with ten extended fingers. Blest be the three-
stringed charm I bind upon thee.
12Aryaman be thy binder-on, and Pūshan and Brihaspati:
Whatever name the brood of day possess, therewith we fasten
thee.
13With Seasons and with Lengths of Time, for vigour and exten-
ded life,
With all the splendour of the Sun we fasten thee about the neck.
14Drawn forth from butter and with meath besprinkled, firm as
the earth, unshakable, triumphant.
Breaking down foes and casting them beneath me, be fastened
on me for exalted fortune!
HYMN XXIX
A charm for the destruction of malignant goblins
1Made ready in the east drive forth, take notice of what is hap-
pening here, omniscient Agni! p. a193
Thou bringest medicine and healest sickness: through thee may
we win horses, kine, and people.
2Accordant with all Gods, O Jātavedas Agni, perform this work
as we beseech thee,
That this defence of his may fall, whoever hath caused us pain,
whoever hath consumed us.
3Unanimous, with all the Gods together, so do this thing O Agni
Jātavedas, that this defence of his may fall and fail him.
4Pierce both his eyes, pierce thou the heart within him, crush
thou his teeth and cleave his tongue asunder.
Rend thou, most youthful Agni, that Pisācha whoso amid them
all of this hath eaten.
5Whatever of his body hath been taken, plundered, borne off, or
eaten by Pisāchas,
This, Agni, knowing it, again bring hither! We give back flesh
and spirit to his body.
6If some Pisācha in my food raw, ready, thoroughly cooked, or,
spotty, hath deceived me,
Let the Pisāchas with their lives and offspring atone for this,
and let this man be healthy.
7If one hath cheated me in milk or porridge, in food from grain
or plants that need no culture.
Let the Pisāchas, etc.
8If one, flesh eater, in a draught of water have wronged me lying
in the bed of goblins,
Let the Pisāchas, etc.
9If one, flesh-eater, in the day or night-time have wronged me
lying in the bed of goblins,
Let the Pisāchas, etc.
10O Agni Jātavedas, slay the bloody Pisācha, flesh-devourer, mind-
destroyer,
Strong Indra strike him with his bolt of thunder, courageous
Soma cut his head to pieces!
11Thou, Agni, ever slayest Yātudhānas, the fiends have never con-
quered thee in battles.
Consume thou from the root the flesh-devourers, let none of
them escape thy heavenly weapon
12Collect, O Jātavedas, what hath been removed and borne away.
Let this man's members grow, let him swell like the tendril of a
plant. p. a194
13Like as the Soma's tendril, thus, O Jātavedas let him swell,
Let him live, Agni I Make him fat, free from consumption, full
of sap.
14Here, Agni, is the fuel, here are logs that crush Pisāchas down.
O Jātavedas, willingly accept them and be pleased therewith.
15Accept, O Agni, with thy flame the billets of Tārshtāgha wood.
Let the flesh-eater who would take the flesh of this man lose his
form.
HYMN XXX
A charm to restore life and health
1From thy vicinity I call, from near, from far, from night at
hand.
Stay here: depart not: follow not the Fathers of the olden
time. I bind thy vital spirit fast.
2If any man, a stranger or akin, hath cast a spell on thee,
I with my voice to thee declare thy freedom and release there-
from.
3If in thy folly thou hast lied or cursed a woman or a man,
I with my voice declare to thee thy freedom and release there-
from. p. a195
4If thou art lying there because of mother's or of father's sin,
I with my voice declare to thee thy freedom and release there-
from.
5Accept the healing medicine, the balm thy mother and thy sire,
Thy sister and thy brother bring. I make thee live through
lengthened years.
6O man, stay here among us; stay with all thy spirit: follow not
Yama's two messengers. Approach the castles where the living
dwell.
7Come back as thou art called to come, knowing the outlet of
the path,
And the Approach and its ascent, the way of every living man.
8Be not alarmed: thou wilt not die. I give thee lengthened years
of life.
Forth from thy members have I charmed Decline that caused
the fever there.
9Gone is the pain that racked thee, gone thy fever, gone thy
heart's disease.
Consumption, conquered by my voice, hath, like a hawk, fled
far away.
10Two sages, Sense and Vigilance, the sleepless and the watchful
one,
These, the protectors of thy life, shall be awake both day and
night.
11This Agni must be waited on. Here let the Sun mount up for
thee.
Rise from deep death and come away, yea, from black darkness
rise thou up!
12Homage be paid to Yama, to Mrityu, and to the Fathers, and to
those who guide us!
I honour first, for this man's preservation, that Agni who well
knoweth how to save him.
13Let breath and mind return to him, let sight and vigour come
again
Let all his body be restored and firmly stand upon its feet.
14Provide this man with breath and sight, O Agni, and with his
body and his strength unite him.
Thou knowest Amrit: let him not go hence, nor dwell in house
of clay.
15Let not thine inward breathing fail, let not thine outward breath p. a196
be lost.
Let Sūrya who is Lord Supreme raise thee from death with
beams of light.
16Tied, tremulously moving, here the tongue is speaking in the
mouth.
With thee I charmed Decline away and Fever's hundred ago-
nies.
17This living world, unconquered of the Gods, is most beloved of
all.
To whatsoever death thou wast destined when thou wast born,.
O man,
This death and we call after thee. Die not before decrepit age!
HYMN XXXI
A counter-charm against the incantations of an enemy
1The spell that they have cast for thee on unbaked dish or ming-
led meal, p. a197
The witchcraft wrought on undressed meat, this I strike back
again on them.
2The spell that they have cast for thee on jungle-cock, goat,
horned ram,
The witchcraft wrought upon thy ewe, this I strike back again
on them.
3The spell that they have cast upon thy beast that hath uncloven
hooves,
The ass with teeth in both his jaws, this I strike back again on
them.
4The secret spell upon thy plants Amūlā or Narāchi, spell
That they have cast upon thy field, this I strike back again on
them.
5The spell that wicked men have cast on thine original household-
fire,
And on thy sacrificial hall, this I strike back again on them.
6The spell that they have cast upon thy public room thy gambl-
ing-board,
Spell they have cast upon thy dice, this I strike back again on
them.
7The spell that they have cast upon thine army or thy shafts and
arms,
Spell they have cast upon the drum, this I throw back again on
them.
8Charm they have laid within thy well or buried in the burning-
ground,
Charm they have laid within thy home, this I throw back again
on them.
9The spell that they have wrought for thee in flickering fire of
human bones,—
Mroka, consuming, cannibal, this I throw back again on them.
10He brought this by no proper path, by the right path we drive it
back.
The fool in folly brought it to those who observe established
bounds.
11No power had he who wrought the spell: he hurt his foot, he
broke his toe.
Unlucky for his wealthy lords, he hath wrought happiness for us.
12May Indra slay with mighty bolt, may Agni with his missible
pierce. p. a198
The sorcerer who brings the curse, who deals with roots and
secret spells.
p. a199
BOOK VI
HYMN I
In praise of Savitar
1Sing, Atharvana, at eve, sing loudly, bring a splendid present:
hymn God Savitar with praises.
2Yea, praise him whose home is in the river, Son of Truth, the
youthful, gracious friend whose word is guileless.
3Savitar our God shall send us many everlasting treasures, that
both paths may well be travelled.
HYMN II
In praise of Indra
1For Indra, ministering priests! run ye and press the Soma juice,
That he may hear his praiser's word, and this my call.
2Thou into whom the drops find way as sap pours life into a
tree,
Drive off in thine abundant might our demon foes.
3For Indra, thunder-armed, who drinks the Soma press the Soma
out:
He, youthful, conqueror, and Lord is praised by all.
HYMN III
A prayer to various deities for protection and prosperity
1Guard us the Maruts! Guard us well, O Indra, Piishan, Aditi.
Guard us, O Waters' Child, and Rivers Seven. May Vishnu
guard us, and the Sky. p. a200
2May Heaven and Earth take care of us for victory, may Pressing-
Stone and Soma save us from distress.
Sarasvati, auspicious Goddess, guard us well: preserve us Agni
and his kind protecting powers.
3Preserve us both the Asvins, Gods and Lords of Light, and let
the Dawns and Night bring us deliverance.
The Waters' Child protect our house from every harm. Do thou,
God Tvashtar, make us strong for health and wealth.
HYMN IV
A hymn to various deities for protection
1May Tvashtar, Brāhmanaspati, Parjanya hear my holy prayer.
May Aditi with all her sons, the brothers, guard us, invincible,
protecting power.
2May Ansa, Bhaga, Varuna, and Mitra, Aryaman, Aditi, and
Maruts guard us.
May we be freed from that oppressor's hatred. May he keep
off that foeman who is near us.
3May both the Asvins further our devotion. With ceaseless care
deliver us, Wide-Ranger! O Father Heaven, keep from us all
misfortunes.
HYMN V
A prayer to Agni and Indra for the well being of a princely patron
1Agni, adored with sacred oil, lift up this man to high estate.
Endow him with full store of strength and make him rich in
progeny.
2Advance him, Indra! Let him be ruler of all akin to him. p. a201
Grant him sufficiency of wealth: guide him to life and length of
days.
3Prosper this man, O Agni, in whose house we offer sacrifice.
May Soma bless him, and the God here present, Brāhmanaspati.
HYMN VI
A prayer to Brāhmanaspati for protection from wicked men
1The godless man whoever plots against us, Brāhmanaspati,
Thou shalt give up as prey to me the worshipper who pour the
juice.
2If, Soma, any spiteful man hath aimed at us whose thoughts are
kind,
Smite with thy bolt upon his face: he, crushed to pieces, vani-
sheth.
3Soma, whoever troubleth us, be he a stranger or akin,
Deprive him of the strength he hath: slay him thy-self like
mighty Dyaus!
HYMN VI
A prayer to Aditi for help and protection
1Aditi is sky, and air's mid-region, Aditi is the father, son, and
mother,
Aditi all the Gods and the Five Nations, Aditi what is now and
what is future.
2We call for help the Queen of Law and Order, great mother of
all those whose ways are righteous,
Far-spread, unwasting strong in her dominion, Aditi wisely lead-
ing, well protecting. p. a273
3Sinless may we ascend, for weal, the vessel, rowed with good
oars, divine, that never leaketh,
Earth, our strong guard, incomparable Heaven, Aditi wisely lead-
ing, well protecting.
4Let us bring hither, in pursuit of riches, Aditi with our word,
the mighty mother,
Her in whose lap the spacious air is lying: may she afford us
triply-guarding shelter!
HYMN VIII
A man's love-charm
1Like as the creeper throws, her arms on every side around the
tree,
So hold thou me in thine embrace that thou mayst be in love
with me, my darling, never to depart.
2As, when he mounts, the eagle strikes his pinions downward on
the earth,
So do I strike thy spirit down that thou mayst be in love with
me, my darling, never to depart.
3As in his rapid course the Sun encompasses the heaven and:
earth,
So do I compass round thy mind that thou mayst be in love with.
me, my darling, never to depart.
HYMN IX
A man's love-charm
1Desire my body, love my feet, love thou mine eyes, and love my
legs.
Let both thine eyes and hair, fond girl! be dried and parched.
through love of me.
2I make thee hang upon mine arm, I make thee lie upon my
heart.
Thou yieldest to my wish, that thou mayst be submissive to my
will.
3May they whose kisses are a bond, a love-charm laid within the
heart,
Mothers of butter, may the cows incline that maid to love of
me.
p. a203
HYMN X
A thanksgiving for life, hearing, and sight
1All hail for hearing to the Earth, to Trees, to Agni, sovran
Lord!
2All hail for breath to Air, for power to life to Vāyu, sovran
Lord!
3All hail for vision to the Stars, to Heaven, to Sūrya, sovran
Lord!
HYMN XI
An epithalamian charm to ensure the birth of a boy
1Asvattha on the Sami-tree. There a male birth is certified.
There is the finding of a son: this bring we to the women-folk.
2The father sows the genial seed, the woman tends and fosters it.
This is the finding of a son: thus hath Prajāpati declared.
3Prajāpati, Anumati, Sinivāli have ordered it.
Elsewhere may he effect the birth of maids, but here prepare a
boy.
p. a204
HYMN XII
A charm against venomous serpents
1I, As the Sun goes round the heaven, have travelled round the
Serpents' race.
I ward thy poison off, as Night parts all else living from the
Sun.
2With this, discovered in the days of old by Brāhmans, Rishis,
Gods,
With this I ward thy poison off, thou Biter! formed and form-
ing now.
3With mead I mingle flowing streams: the hills and mountains
shall be mead.
Parushni and Sipālā mead. May it be well with mouth and
heart.
HYMN XIII
Homage to death
1Worship to weapons of the Gods! worship to weapons of the
Kings!
Then worship to the people's arms! worship, O Death, be paid
to thee!
2Let worship be to thy defence and to thine accusation paid.
Death! be this worship paid to thy good-will and thy malevo-
lence!
3Worship to thy physicians, to thy sorcerers be worship paid!
Death! let this reverence be done unto thy Brāhmans and thy
roots.
p. a205
HYMN XIV
A charm against consumption
1Remove thou all Decline that lurks within the members and the
joints,
The firmly-settled heart-disease that racks the bones and rends
the limbs.
2From the consumptive man I pluck Decline as 'twere a severed
part.
I cut the bond that fetters him, even as a root of cucumber.
3Begone, Consumption, hence away, like a young foal that runs.
at speed.
Then, not pernicious to our men, flee, yearly visitant like grass!
HYMN XV
A charm for power and preeminence
1Most excellent of all the plants art thou: thy vassals are the
trees.
Let him be subject to our power, the man who seeks to injure
us.
2Whoever seeks to injure us, with kinsmen or no kin to aid,
May I be uppermost of all, even as this Plant is queen of trees.
3As Soma hath been made the best of all oblations 'mid the
plants,
So, as Talāsā is the queen of trees, may I be chief of all.
p. a206
HYMN XVI
A medical charm
1O Ābayu, non-Ābayu, dire is thy juice, O Ābayu; we eat the
gruel made of thee.
2Vihalha is thy father's name, thy mother's is Madāvati.
Yea, verily thou art not he, thou who hast well protected life.
3Go thou to rest, Tauvilikā! This noisy cry hath sunk to rest.
Go hence, depart, Nirāla, thou! the tawny and the tawny-
eared.
HYMN XVII
A charm to ensure conception
1Even as this mighty Earth conceived the germ of all the things
that be,
So may the germ of life be laid in thee that thou mayst bear a
son.
2Even as this mighty Earth hath borne and bears the stately
forest trees,
So may the germ of life be borne in thee that thou mayst bear a
son.
3Even as this mighty Earth hath borne and bears the mountains
and the hills,
So may the germ of life be borne in thee that thou mayst bear
a son. p. a207
4Even as this mighty Earth supports the moving world that
dwells thereon,
So may the germ of life be borne in thee that thou mayst bear a
son.
HYMN XVIII
A charm to banish jealousy
1The first approach of Jealousy, and that which followeth the
first,
The pain, the fire that burns within thy heart we quench and
drive away.
2Even as the earth is dead to sense, yea, more unconscious than
the dead,
Even as a corpse's spirit is the spirit of the jealous man.
3The thought that harbours in thy heart, the fluttering doubt
that dwells therein.
Yea, all thy jealousy, like heat born of the dance, I banish
thence.
HYMN XIX
A prayer for purification
1Let the Gods purify me, let men purify me with a prayer.
Cleanse me all creatures that exist! may Pavamāna make me
pure.
2May Pavamāna make me pure for wisdom and for power and
life, and unassailed security. p. a208
3God Savitar, byboth of these, filter and pressing out this juice,
purify us that we may see.
HYMN XX
A charm against fever
1He goes away as 'twere from this fierce burning fire, inebriated
and lamenting he departs.
Let him, the lawless, seek another and not us. Worship be paid
to Fever armed with fiery heat.
2To Rudra and to Fever be our worship paid: worship be paid
to Varuna the splendid King!
Worship to Dyaus, to Earth, worship be paid to Plants!
3Thou who, aglow with heat, makest all bodies green, to thee,
red, brown, I bow, the Fever of the wood.
HYMN XXI
A charm to strengthen hair and promote its growth
1Of all the three terrestrial realms the ground is verily the best.
I from the skin that covers these gather a healing medicine.
2Thou art the best of medicines, most excellent of Plants art
thou,
As Soma 'mid the wandering stars, as Varuna among the Gods.
3Endowed with wealth, denying not, give freely fain to give your
gifts!
Ye stay the hair from falling off: ye strengthen and increase its
growth.
p. a209
HYMN XXII
To the Maruts or Storm-Gods
1Dark the descent; the strong-winged birds are golden: they fly
aloft to heaven, enrobed in waters.
They have come hither from the seat of Order, and inundated
earth with streams of fatness.
2Ye make floods rich in milk, make plants propitious, what time
ye stir, O golden-breasted Maruts!
Pour down your showers of vigorous strength and favour there
where ye sprinkle mead, O Maruts, heroes!
3O Maruts, send ye down, streaming with water rain which, may,
filling all the sloping valleys,
Leap like a bold girl in a man's embraces, or like a matron
tumbled by her husband.
HYMN XXIII
To the Waters
1Here flow the restless ones, they flow unceasing through the day
and night,
Most excellently wise I call the Goddess Waters hitherward.
2Let the deft Waters, summoned, give permission that we bear
them off,
And quickly set us on our way.
3Let all the people celebrate the rite of Savitar the God.
Sweet unto us be Waters, Plants propitious!
p. a210
HYMN XXIV
To the Rivers
1Forth from the Hills of Snow they stream, and meet in Sindhu
here or there.
To me the sacred Waters gave the balm that heals the heart's
disease.
2Whatever rupture I have had that injured eyes or heels or toes.
All this the Waters, skilfullest physicians, shall make well again,
3All Rivers who have Sindhu for your Lady, Sindhu for your
Queen,
Give us the balm that heals this ill: this boon let us enjoy from
you.
HYMN XXV
A charm to remove pustules or scrofulous swellings (apachitas)
1May all the five-and-fifty which meet round the tendons of the
neck.
Depart and vanish hence away like plaguing insects buzz and
hum!
2Those seventy-and-seven which meet round the upper vertebrae,
Let them all vanish hence away like plaguing insects' buzz and
hum!
3Those nine-and-ninety which, combined, attack the shoulder
round about,
Let them all vanish hence away like plaguing insects' buzz and
hum!
p. a211
HYMN XXVI
To Affliction
1Let me go free, O Misery: do thou, the mighty, pity us.
Set me uninjured in the world of happiness, O Misery.
2From thee, from thee who fliest not from us, O Misery, we fly.
Then at the turning of the paths let Misery fall on someone else.
3May the immortal, thousand eyed, dwell otherwhere apart from
us.
Let him afflict the man we hate: smite only him who is our foe.
HYMN XXVII
A charm to avert misfortune foreshown by the coming of a dove
1Gods! whatsoe'er the Dove came hither seeking, sent to us as
the envoy of Destruction,
For that let us sing hymns and make atonement, Well be it with
our quadrupeds and bipeds!
2Auspicious be the Dove that hath been sent us, a harmless bird,
O Gods, that seeks our dwelling!
May Agni, Sage, be pleased with our oblation, and may the
missile borne on wings avoid us.
3Let not the arrow that hath wings distract us. Beside the fire-
place, on the hearth it settles.
May it bring welfare to our men and cattle: here let the Dove,
ye Gods, forbear to harm us.
p. a212
HYMN XXVIII
A charm to avert misfortune foreshown by the coming of a dove
1Drive forth the Dove, chase it with holy verses: rejoicing bring
we hither food and cattle,
Obliterating traces of misfortune. Most fleet may it fly forth and
leave us vigour.
2These men have strengthened Agni's might, these men have
brought the kine to us.
They have sung glory to the Gods. Who is the man that con-
quers them?
3Be reverence paid to him who, while exploring the path for
many, first approached the river,
Lord of this world of quadrupeds and bipeds; to him be rever-
ence paid, to Death, to Yama!
HYMN XXIX
A charm to avert misfortune foreshown by the coming of a dove and an owl
1On these men yonder fall the winged missile: the screeching of
the Owl is ineffective,
And that the Dove beside the fire hath settled. p. a213
2Thine envoys who came hither, O Destruction, sent or not sent
by thee unto our dwelling,
The Dove and Owl, effectless be their visit!
3Oft may it fly to us to save our heroes from slaughter, oft perch
here to bring fair offspring,
Turn thee and send thy voice afar: cry to the region far away;
That I may see thee in the home of Yama reft of all thy power,
that I may see thee impotent.
HYMN XXX
A charm to promote the growth of hair
1Over a magic stone, beside Sarasvati, the Gods Ploughed in this
barley that was blent with mead.
Lord of the plough was Indra, strong with hundred powers: the
ploughers were the Maruts they who give rich gifts.
2Thy joy in hair that falleth or is scattered, wherewith thou sub-
jectest a man to laughter
To other trees, far from thee will I drive it. Grow up, thou
Samī, with a hundred branches.
3Auspicious, bearing mighty leaves, holy one, nurtured by the rain,
Even as a mother to her sons, be gracious, Samī to our hair.
HYMN XXXI
To Sūrya the Sun-God
1This spotted Bull hath come and sat before his mother in the
east.
Advancing to his father Heaven. p. a214
2As expiration from his breath his radiance penetrates within.
The Bull shines out through all the sky.
3He rules supreme through thirty realms—One winged with song
hath made him mount
Throughout the days at break of morn.
HYMN XXXII
A charm against fiends and goblins
1With butter, in his hall v4here fire is burning, perform that sacri-
fice which quells the goblins.
Burn from afar against the demons Agni! Afflict not in thy fury
us who praise thee.
2Let Rudra break your necks, O ye Pisāchas, and split your ribs
asunder, Yātudhānas!
Your herb of universal power with Yama hath allied itself.
3Here, Mitra-Varuna! may we dwell safely: with splendour drive
the greedy demons backward,
Let them not find a surety or a refuge, but torn away go down
to Death together.
HYMN XXXIII
A prayer to Indra for riches
1He who controls this air and men who aid his strength, and
wood, and heaven, the lofty seat which Indra loves.
2The bold whose overpowering might the boldest never hath
defied,— p. a215
As erst still, unassailable is Indra's wrath, and fame, and force.
3May he bestow on us that wealth, far-spreading, bright with
yellow hue.
Indra is mightiest Lord among the folk.
HYMN XXXIV
To Agni for protection from enemies
1Send forth thy voice to Agni, to the manly hero of our homes,
So may he bear us past our foes.
2That Agni who with sharpened flame of fire consumes the
Rākshasas,
So may he bear us past our foes.
3He who from distance far remote shineth across the tracts of
land,
May he transport us past our foes.
4He who beholds all creatures, who observes them with a careful
eye,
May he transport us past our foes.
5That brilliant Agni who was born beyond this region of the air,
May he transport us past our foes!
HYMN XXXV
To Agni Vaisvānara
1Forth from the distance far away Vaisvānara come to succour
us! Agni approach our eulogies!
2Vaisvānara with friendly thoughts hath come to this our sacrifice,
Agni who saves from woe, to lauds.
3Vaisvānara hath formed the hymn and laud of the Angirases. To
these may he bring glorious right.
p. a216
HYMN XXXVI
In praise of Agni Vaisvānara
1Holy Vaisvānara we seek, the Lord of light and endless life, the
burning One who fadeth not.
2He hath directed all things; he sends forth the Seasons in his
might, furthering sacrifice's power.
3Agni Kāma in other homes shines forth the sole imperial Lord
of all that is and is to be.
HYMN XXXVII
A charm to divert Imprecation personified
1Hitherward, having yoked his steeds, came Imprecation,
thousand-eyed,
Seeking my curser, as a wolf the home of one who owneth sheep.
2Avoid us, Imprecation! as consuming fire avoids the lake.
Smite thou the man who curses us, as the sky's lightning strikes
the tree.
3Who curses us, himself uncursed, or, cursed, who curses us
again,
Him cast I as a sop to Death, as to a dog one throws a bone.
HYMN XXXVIII
A prayer for surpassing strength and energy
1What energy the lion hath, the tiger, adder, and burning fire,
Brāhman, or Sūrya,
And the blest Goddess who gave birth to Indra, come unto us
conjoined with strength and vigour!
2All energy of elephant and panther, all energy of gold, men, kine,
and waters, p. a217
And the blest Goddess who gave birth to Indra come unto us
conjoined with strength and vigour.
3Might in car, axles, in the strong bull's courage, in Varuna's
breath, in Vāta, in Parjanya,
In Warrior, in the war-drum stretched for battle, in the man's
roar and in the horse's mettle,
May the blest Goddess who gave birth to Indra come unto us
conjoined with strength and vigour.
HYMN XXXIX
A priest's prayer for power and glory
1Let sacrifice, like fame, thrive sped by Indra, inspired, well-
ordered, with a thousand powers.
To highest rank raise me who bring oblation, me who move
forth to far-extended vision.
2We will pay sacrifice and serve with worship our glorious Indra,
famous for his glories.
Give thou us sway which Indra hath promoted, and in this boon
of thine may we be famous.
3Indra was glorious at his birth; Agni, Soma were born
renowned.
And glorious am I, the most illustrious of all that is.
HYMN XL
A prayer for peace and security
1Here may we dwell, O Heaven and Earth, in safety. May Savitar
and Soma send us safety.
Our safety be the wide air: ours be safety through the oblation
of the Seven Rishis. p. a218
2May the Four Quarters give this hamlet power: Savitar favour
us and make us happy!
May Indra make us free from foes and danger: may wrath of
Kings be turned to other places.
3Make thou us free from enemies both from below and from
above.
O Indra, give us perfect peace, peace from behind and from be-
fore.
HYMN XLI
A prayer for protection, long life, and various blessings
1For mind, for intellect, for thought, for purpose, for intelligence,.
For sense, for hearing, and for sight, let us adore with sacrifice.
2For expiration, vital air, and breath that amply nourishes,
Let us with sacrifice adore Sarasvatī whose reach is wide.
3Let not the Rishis, the divine, forsake us, our own, our very
selves, our lives' protectors.
Do ye, immortal, still attend us mortals, and give us vital power
to live the longer.
HYMN XLII
A charm to reconcile estranged friends
1I loose the anger from thy heart as 'twere the bowstring from a
bow,
That we, one-minded now, may walk together as familiar
friends.
2Together let us walk as friends: thy wrathful feeling I remove.
Beneath a heavy stone we cast thy wrath away and bury it.
3I trample on thine anger thus, I tread it down with heel and toe:
So dost thou yield thee to my will, to speak no more rebelliously.
p. a219
HYMN XLIII
The same
1For stranger and for friend alike this Darbha-grass removeth
wrath.
Soother of Anger is it called because it calms the angry man.
2This Plant that hath abundant roots spreads to the place where
waters meet.
Soother of anger is the name Darbha-grass that springs from
earth.
3We draw thine obstinacy forth, set in thy mouth and in thy jaw:
So dost thou yield thee to my will. to speak no more rebelli-
ously.
HYMN XLIV
A charm to remove disease
1Firm stood the heaven, firm stood the earth, firm stood this
universal world.
Firm stood the trees that sleep erect: let this thy malady be still.
2Of all thy hundred remedies, a thousand remedies combined.
This is the surest cure for flux, most excellent to heal disease.
3Thou art the stream that Rudra pours, the closest kin of Amrita.
Thy name is called Vishānakā: thou sprangest from the Fathers'
root, removing illness caused by wind.
p. a220
HYMN XLV
A prayer for preservation from mental sin and evil promptings
1Sin of the Mind, avaunt! begone! Why sayest thou what none
should say?
Go hence away, I love thee not. Go to the forests and the trees.
My heart is in our homes and cows.
2Whatever wrong we have committed, sleeping or waking, by
ill-wish, dislike, or slander,
All these offences, which deserve displeasure, may Agni take
from us and keep them distant.
3Indra and Brāhmanaspati! whatever foolish deed we plan,
May provident Angirasa preserve us from the sin and woe.
HYMN XLVI
A charm against evil dreams
1Thou, neither quick nor dead, O Sleep, art fraught with Amrit
of the Gods.
Thy name is Araru: thy sire is Yama; Varunāni bare thee.
2We know thy birth, O Sleep, thou art son of the sisters of the
Gods; the minister of Yama thou, thou art Antaka, thou art
Death.
So well we know thee who thou art. Sleep, guard us from the
evil dream.
3As men discharge a debt, as they pay up an eighth and half-an-
eighth,
So the whole evil dream do we pay and assign unto our foe.
p. a221
HYMN XLVII
To accompany the three daily libations
1Dear to all men, all-prosperer, all-creating, may Agni, guard us•
at the morn's libation.
May he, the brightly pure one, give us riches: may we have life
enjoying food together.
2At this our second offering may Indra, Maruts, and Visve Devas
never fail us.
Still may the favour of the Gods be with us, blest with long life
and speaking words that please them.
3We pour this third libation of the Sages who fashioned forth
the cup in proper order.
Winners of heaven, may they, Sudhanvan's children, lead our
fair sacrifice to happy fortune.
HYMN XLVIII
Formulas to be used at the three daily libations
1Thou art the Hawk, Gāyatri's lord: I hold thee fast. Happily
bear me to the goal of this my sacrifice. All hail!
2Thou art the Ribhu, lord of Jagatī: I hold thee fast. Happily
bear me to the goal of this my sacrifice. Al I hail!
3Thou art the Bull, the Trishtup's lord: I hold thee fast. Happily
bear me to the goal of this my sacrifice. All hail!
p. a222
HYMN XLIX
In praise of Agni
1O Agni, in thy body man hath never found a wounded part.
The Ape devours the arrow's shaft as a cow eats her after-
birth.
2Thou like a fleece contractest and expandest thee what time the
upper stone and that below devour.
Closely compressing head with head and breast with breast he
crunches up the tendrils with his yellow jaws.
3The Eagles have sent forth their voice aloud to heaven: in the
sky's vault the dark impetuous ones have danced.
When they come downward to repair the lower stone, they,
dwellers with the Sun, have gained abundant seed.
p. a223
HYMN L
A charm for the destruction of vermin
1Destroy the rat, the mole, the boring beetle, cut off their heads
and crush their ribs, O Asvins.
Bind fast their mouths; let them not eat our barley: so guard,
ye twain, our growing corn from danger.
2Ho! boring beetle, ho! thou worm, ho! noxious grub and
grasshopper!
As a priest leaves the unfinished sacrifice, go hence devouring
not, injuring not this corn.
3Hearken to me, lord of the female borer, lord of the female
grub! ye rough-toothed vermin!
Whate'er ye be, dwelling in woods, and piercing, we crush and
mangle all those piercing insects.
HYMN LI
A prayer for purification and forgiveness of sins
1Cleansed by the filter of the Wind comes Soma past all our
enemies, meet friend of Indra.
2May the maternal Waters make us ready: cleanse us with fat-
ness they who cleanse with fatness!
The Goddesses bear off each blot and tarnish: I come forth
from the waters cleansed and stainless.
3O Varuna, whatever the offence may be, the sin which men
commit against the heavenly folk— p. a224
When, through our want of thought we violate thy laws, punish
us not, O God, for that iniquity.
HYMN LII
A charm against noxious reptiles and insects
1Slaying the Rākshasas, the Sun mounts upward in the front of
heaven,
Āditya, from the mountains, seen of all, destroying things
unseen.
2The kine had settled in their pen, wild animals sought their lairs
The wavelets of the brooks had passed away, and were beheld
no more.
3I have brought Kanva's famous Plant, life-giving, and itself
inspired,
The medicine that healeth all: may it suppress my hidden foes.
HYMN LIII
A prayer for recovery and preservation of health and security
1May Heaven and Earth, wise pair, may lofty Sukra grant me
this thing by reason of the guerdon.
May Agni, Soma mark through this libation: may Vāyu,
Savitar, and Bhaga guard us.
2Again return to us our breath and spirit, again come back to us
our life and vision!
Vaisvānara, unscathed, our bodies' guardian, stand between us
and every woe and danger!
3We are again united with our bodies, with happy mind, with
spirit, strength, and splendour. p. a225
May Tvashtar here make room for us, and freedom and smooth
whate'er is injured in our bodies.
HYMN LIV
A benediction on a newly elected King
1Win the love of Indra that his friend may reach yet higher state.
Increase, as rain the grass, this man's dominion and his lofty
fame.
2Confirm the princely power in him, Agni and Soma! grant him
wealth.
In all the circuit of his rule make him yet higher for your
friend.
3The man who shows us enmity, whether a stranger or akin,
Thou wilt give up entire to me who sacrifice and press the juice.
HYMN LV
A prayer for general protection and prosperity
1Of all the many God-frequented pathways that traverse realms
between the earth and heaven,
Consign me, all ye Gods to that which leadeth to perfect and
inviolable safety.
2Maintain us in well-being Summer, Winter Dew-time and Spring,
Autumn, and Rainy Season
Give us our share of cattle and of Children. May we enjoy
your unassailed protection.
3Pay to the Year your lofty adoration, to the first Year, the
second, and the present.
Many we abide in the auspicious favour and gracious love of
these who claim our worship.
p. a226
HYMN LVI
A charm against snakes
1Let not the serpent slay us, O Gods, with our children and our
folk.
Let it not close the opened mouth nor open that which now is
closed.
2Be worship paid unto the black, worship to that with stripes
across!
To the brown viper reverence, reverence to the demon brood!
3I close together fangs with fang, I close together jaws with jaw.
I close together tongue with tongue, I close together mouth
with mouth.
HYMN LVII
A charm for a wound or bruise
1This is a medicine indeed, Rudra's own medicine is this,
Wherewith he warns the arrow off one-shafted, with a hundred
tips.
2Besprinkle it with anodyne, bedew it with relieving balm:
Strong, soothing is the medicine: bless us therewith that we
may live.
3Let it be health and joy to us. Let nothing vex or injure us.
Down with the wound! Let all to us be balm, the whole be
medicine.
p. a227
HYMN LVIII
A priest's prayer for power and glory
1May Indra Maghavan give me name and glory. May Heaven
and Earth, this couple, make me famous.
May Savitar the deity make me honoured. Here may the man
who gives the guerdon love me.
2Indra from Heaven and Earth receiveth glory among the plants
the Waters have their glory;
Even so may we be glorious'mid all the Universal Gods.
3Indra and Agni were renowned, famous was Soma at his birth;
So too am I illustrious, most glorious of all that is.
HYMN LIX
A charm to protect cattle and men
1First, O Arundhatī, protect our oxen and milky kine:
Protect each one that is infirm, each quadruped that yields no
milk.
2Let the Plant give us sheltering aid, Arundhatī allied with Gods;
Avert Consumption from our men and make our cow-pen rich
in milk.
3I welcome the auspicious Plant, life-giving, wearing every hue.
Far from our cattle may it turn the deadly dart which Rudra
casts.
HYMN LX
The wooing of a bride
1With forelock loosened o'er his brow here comes the wooer of
the bride, p. a228
Seeking a husband for this maid, a wife for this unmarried man.
2Wooer! this girl hath toiled in vain, going to others' marriages.
Now to her wedding, verily, wooer! another maid shall come.
3Dhātar upholds the spacious earth, upholds the sky, upholds the
Sun.
Dhātar bestow upon this maid a husband suited to her wish!
HYMN LXI
A prayer for prosperity and greatness
1The Waters send me what is sweet and pleasant, Sūra bring all
I need for light and vision!
The deities, and all of pious nature, and Savitar the God afford
me freedom!
2I set the heaven and the earth asunder, I brought all seven sea-
sons into being.
My word is truth, what I deny is falsehood, above celestial Vāk,
above the nations.
3I gave existence to the earth and heaven, I made the seasons and
the seven rivers.
My word is truth; what I deny is falsehood, I who rejoice in
Agni's, Soma's friendship.
HYMN LXII
A prayer for purification and riches
1Cleanse us Vaisvānara with rays of splendour! With breath and
clouds let quickening Vāyu cleanse us. p. a229
And, rich in milky rain, let Earth and Heaven, worshipful, holy,
cleanse us with their water.
2Lay hold on Sūnritā whose forms and regions have fair smooth
backs, her who is all men's treasure.
Through her may we, in sacrificial banquets singing her glory, be
the lords of riches.
3For splendour, seize on her whom all men worship, becoming
pure yourselves, and bright, and brilliant.
Here, through our prayer rejoicing in the banquet, long may we
look upon the Sun ascending.
HYMN LXIII
The symbolical liberation of a sacrificial victim
1That collar round thy neck, not to be loosened, which Nirriti
the Goddess bound and fastened,
I loose for thy long life and strength and vigour. Eat, liberated,
food that brings no sorrow.
2To thee, sharp-pointed Nirriti, be homage! Loose thou the
binding fetters wrought of iron.
To me, in truth, again doth Yama give thee. To him, to Yama,
yea, to Death, be homage!
3Compassed by death which comes in thousand manners, here
art thou fastened to the iron pillar.
Unanimous with Yama and the Fathers, make this man rise and
reach the loftiest heaven.
4Thou, mighty Agni, good and true, gatherest up all precious
things.
Bring us all treasures as thou art enkindled at libation's place.
p. a230
HYMN LXIV
To promote unanimity in an assembly
1Agree and be united: let your minds be all of one accord,
Even as the Gods of ancient days, unanimous, await their share.
2The rede is common, common the assembly, common the law,
so be their thoughts united.
I offer up your general oblation: together entertain one common
purpose.
3One and the same be your resolve, be all your hearts in har-
mony:
One and the same be all your minds that all may happily con-
sent.
HYMN LXV
A sacrificial charm against enemies
1The angry spirit hath relaxed: loose are the arms that act with
mind.
Do thou, destroyer, overcome and drive these foemen's might
away, and then bring opulence to us.
2The shaft for handless fiends which, Gods! ye cast against the
handless ones,
With this, in shape of sacrifice, I rend the arms of enemies.
3Indra made first for Asuras the shaft designed for handless foes:
Victorious shall my heroes be with Indra as their constant
friend.
p. a231
HYMN LXVI
A charm for the destruction and plunder of enemies
1Handless be every foeman who assaileth, they who with missiles
come to fight against us!
Dash them together with great slaughter, Indra! and let their
robber chief run pierced with arrows.
2Ye who run hither bending bows, brandishing swords and cast-
ing darts.
Handless be ye, O enemies! Let Indra mangle you to-day.
3Handless be these our enemies! We enervate their languid
limbs.
So let us part among ourselves, in hundreds, Indra! all their
wealth.
HYMN LXVII
A charm for the destruction and plunder of enemies
1Indra and Pūshan have gone forth along the ways on every side.
To-day those hosts of enemies must flee bewildered far away.
2Ye foes, come hitherward dismayed like serpents when their
heads are gone.
Let Indra slay each bravest one of you whom Agni hath con-
fused.
3Gird thou a bullock's hide on these, make those as timid as the
deer.
Let the foe flee away, and let his kine come hither-ward to us.
HYMN LXVIII
A charm to accompany the shaving of the beard
1Savitar hath come hither with the razor: come thou, O Vāyu,
with the heated water.
One-minded let Ādityas, Rudras, Vasus moisten the hair: shave
ye who know King Soma.
2Let Aditi shave the beard, and let the Waters bathe it with their
strength: p. a232
Prajāpati restore his health for sight and days of lengthened life!
3The razor used by Savitar, for shaving, who knoweth Varuna
and royal Soma,
Even with this shave ye this man, O Brāhman. Let him be rich
in horses, kine, and children.
HYMN LXIX
A priest's prayer for power and glory
1Mine be the glory in the hill, in vales, in cattle, and in gold,
Mine be the sweetness that is found in nectar and in flowing
wine!
2With your delicious honey balm me, Asvins, Lords of splendid
light!
That clear and resonant may be the voice I utter to mankind.
3In me be strength, in me be fame, in me the power of sacrifice:
Prajāpati establish this in me as firm as light in heaven!
HYMN LXX
A benediction on cow and calf
1As wine associates with flesh, as dice attend the gaming-board,
As an enamoured man's desire is firmly set upon a dame,
So let thy heart and soul, O Cow, be firmly set upou thy calf.
2As the male elephant pursues with eager step his female's track,
As an enamoured man's desire is firmly set upon a dame,
So let thy heart and soul, O Cow, be firmly set upon the calf.
3Close as the felly and the spoke, fixt as the wheel-rim on the
nave,
As an enamoured man's desire is firmly set upon a dame,
So let thy heart and soul, O Cow, be firmly set upon thy calf.
p. a233
HYMN LXXI
A priest's benediction after meat
1What food I eat of varied form and nature, food whether gold,
or horse, sheep, goat, or bullock,
Whatever gift I have received, may Agni the Hotar make it
sacrifice well-offered.
2Whatever, sacrificed or not, hath reached me, bestowed by men
and sanctioned by the Fathers,
Whereby my heart seems to leap up, may Agni the Hotar make
that sacrifice well-offered.
3What food I eat unjustly, Gods! or, doubtful between bestow-
ing and refusing, swallow,
Through greatness of Vaisvānara the mighty may that same food
be sweet to me and blessed!
HYMN LXXII
A charm to restore or increase virile power
1Sicut anguis niger ad voluntatem se extendit, Asurarum arte
magica formas novas efficiens, sic fascinum tuum, partem cum
parte, conjunctum, hic hymnus efficiat.
2Velut penis (tayadarus quem ventus permagnum fecit, quantus.
est onagri penis, tantus penis tuus increscat.
3Quantum estonagri membrum masculinum, elephanti, asinique,
quantum est fortis equi, tantus penis tuus increscat.
HYMN LXXIII
A King's charm to conciliate his discontented kinsmen
1Let Varuna come hither, Soma, Agni, Brihaspati come hither
with the Vasus!
Unanimous, ye kinsmen, come united, come to the glory of this
mighty guardian.
2The inclination which your hearts have harboured, the purpose
which hath occupied your spirits,
This I annul with sacrifice and butter. In me be your sweet
resting-place, O kinsmen.
3Stand even here; forsake me not. Before us may Pūshan make
your path unfit to travel.
Vāstoshpati incessantly recall you! In me be your sweet resting-
place, O kinsmen!
p. a234
HYMN LXXIV
A King's charm to secure the fidelity of his people
1Close gathered be your bodies: be your minds and vows in.
unison!
Here present Brāhmanaspati and Bhaga have assembled you.
2Let there be union of your minds, let there be union of your
hearts:
All that is troubled in your lot with this I mend and harmonize.
3As, free from jealousy, the strong Ādityas have been the Vasus'
and the Rudras' fellows.
So free from jealousy, Lord of Three Titles! cause thou these
people here to be one-minded.
HYMN LXXV
A charm to effect the removal of an enemy
1Forth from his dwelling drive that man, the foeman who
assaileth us:
Through the Expellent sacrifice hath Indra rent and mangled
him.
2Indra, Foe-Slayer, drive him forth into the distance most
remote,
Whence never more shall be return in all the years that are to
come.
3To the three distances, beyond mankind's Five Races, let him go,
Beyond the three skies let him go, whence he shall never come-
again
In all the years that are to be, long as the Sun is in the heaven.
p. a235
HYMN LXXVI
A benediction on a new-born Kshatriya child
1Those who are sitting round this babe prepare him to be looked
upon.
Let Agni thoroughly inflamed with all his tongues rise from his-
heart.
2For length of life I use the name of Agni the Consuming God,
Whose smoke the sage who knows the truth beholds proceeding.
from his mouth.
3The man who knows his fuel laid in order by the Kshatriya
Sets not his foot upon the steep declivity that leads to Death.
4Those who encompass slay him not: he goes not near his lurk—
ing foes
The Kshatriya who, knowing well, takes Agni's name for length
of life.
HYMN LXXVII
A charm to bring the cattle home
1Firm stands the heaven, firm stands the earth, firm stands this
universal world,
Firm stand the rooted mountains. I have put the horses in the
stall.
2I call the Herdsman, him who knows the way to drive the
cattle forth,
Who knows the way to drive them home, to drive them back
and drive them in.
3O Jātavedas turn them back: a hundred homeward ways be
thine!
Thou hast a thousand avenues: by these restore our kine to us.
p. a236
HYMN LXXVIII
A nuptial benediction
1Let this man be again bedewed with this presented sacrifice.
And comfort with the sap of life the bride whom they have
brought to him.
2With life's sap let him comfort her, and raise her high with
princely sway.
In wealth that hath a thousand powers, this pair be inexhausti-
ble!
3Tvashtar formed her to be thy dame, Tvashtar made thee to be
her lord.
Long life let Tvashtar give you both. Let Tvashtar give a
thousand lives.
HYMN LXXIX
A prayer for seasonable rain and prosperity
1May this our Lord of Cloudy Sky, bedewed with liquid drops
preserve unequalled riches in our homes.
2Lord of the Cloudy Sky, bestow vigour and strength on our
abodes. Let wealth and treasure come to us.
3Thou, God bedewed with drops, art Lord of infinite prosperity.
Grant us thereof, give us thereof: may we enjoy this boon of
thine.
HYMN LXXX
A prayer for help and protection
1He flieth in the firmament observing all the things that be:
We with this offering will adore the greatness of the Heavenly
Hound. p. a237
2The three, the Kālakānjas, set aloft in heaven as they were
Gods
All these I call to be our help and keep this man secure from
harm.
3In waters is thy birth, in heaven thy station, thy majesty on
earth and in the ocean.
We with this offering will adore the greatness of the Heavenly
Hound.
HYMN LXXXI
A charm to facilitate child-birth
1Thou art a grasper, holding fast both hands: drivest fiends
away.
A holder both of progeny and riches hath this Ring become.
2Prepare accordantly, O Ring, the mother for the infant's birth.
On the right way bring forth the boy. Make him come hither.
I am here.
3The Amulet which Aditi wore when desirous of a son,
Tvashtar hath bound upon this dame and said, Be mother of a
boy.
HYMN LXXXII
A charm to win a bride
1I call the name of him who comes, hath come, and still draws-
nigh to us. p. a238
Foe-slaying Indra's name I love, the Vasus' friend with hundred
powers.
2Thus Bhaga spake to me: Let him bring thee a consort by the
path.
Whereon the Asvins brought the bride Sūryā the child of
Savitar.
3Great, Indra. is that hook of thine, bestowing treasure, wrought
of gold:
Therewith, O Lord of Might, bestow a wife on me who long to
wed.
HYMN LXXXIII
A charm against sores and pustules (apachitas)
1Hence, Sores and Pustules, fly away even as the eagle from his
home.
Let Sūrya bring a remedy, the Moon shine forth and banish
you.
2One bright with variegated tints, one white, one black, a couple
red:—
The'names of all have I declared. Begone, and injure not our
men.
3Hence, childless, shall the Pustule flee, grand-daughter of the
dusky one.
The Boil shall fly away from us, the morbid growth shall vanish
hence.
Taste, happy in thy mind, thine own oblation, as I with Svāhā
with my heart present it.
p. a239
HYMN LXXXIV
A charm to accompany the symbolical loosing of sacrificial victims
1Thou in whose dread mouth I present oblation, that these bound
victims may obtain their freedom,
The people deem that thou art Earth: I know thee thoroughly,
and I say thou art Destruction.
2Be thou enriched, O Welfare, with oblations, here among us is
thine allotted portion.
Free—Hail to thee!—from sin those here and yonder.
3Do thou, Destruction, thus, without a rival, release us from the
iron bonds that hind us.
To me doth Yama verily restore thee. To him, to Yama, yea, to
Death be worship!
4Thou hast been fastened to an iron pillar, here compassed with
a thousand deaths around thee.
In full accord with Yama and the Fathers, send this man up-
ward to the loftiest heaven.
HYMN LXXXV
A charm against Consumption
1Let Varana the heavenly tree here present keep disease away.
The Gods have driven off Decline that entered and possessed
this man. p. a240
2We with the speech of Indra and of Mitra and of Varuna.
We with the speech of all the Gods will drive Decline away from
thee.
3Even as Vritra checked and stayed these waters flowing every
way,
With Agni, God of all mankind. I check and banish thy Decline.
HYMN LXXXVI
A glorification of a newly consecrated King
1This is the Lord of Indra, this the Lord of Heaven, the Lord of
Earth,
The Lord of all existing things: the one and only Lord be thou,
2The Sea is regent of the floods, Agni is ruler of the land,
The Moon is regent of the stars: the one and only Lord be
thou.
3Thou art the King of Asuras, the crown and summit of man-
kind:
Thou art the partner of the Gods: the one and only Lord be
thou.
HYMN LXXXVII
A benediction addressed to a newly elected King
1Here art thou: I have chosen thee. Stand stedfast and immov-
able.
Let all the clans desire thee: let not thy kingdom fall away.
2Be even here: fall not away: be like a mountain unremoved.
Stand stedfast here like Indra's self, and hold the kingship in
the grasp.
3This man hath Indra stablished, made secure by constant sacri-
fice.
Soma, and Brāhmanaspati here present bless and comfort him!
p. a241
HYMN LXXXVIII
A benediction addressed to a newly elected King
1Firm is the sky, firm is the earth, and firm is all this living
world;
Firm are these mountains on their base, and stedfast is this King
of men.
2Stedfast may Varuna the King, stedfast the God Brihaspati,
Stedfast may Indra stedfast, too, may Agni keep thy stedfast
reign.
3Firm, never to be shaken, crush thy foemen, under thy feet lay
those who strive against thee.
One-minded, true to thee be all the regions: faithful to thee, the
firm, be this assembly!
HYMN LXXXIX
A man's love charm
1This strength that Soma hath bestowed, the head of her who
gladdeneth,—
With that which thence hath been produced we make thy spirit
sorrowful.
2We make thy spirit sorrowful, we fill thy mind with pain and
grief.
As smoke accompanies the wind, so let thy fancy follow me.
3May Varuna and Mitra, may Sarasvati the Goddess,
May the centre of the earth, and both her limits bring thee close
to me.
p. a242
HYMN XC
A charm to cure a poisoned man
1The shaft that Rudra hath shot forth against thy members and
thy heart,
Here do we draw from thee to-day, and turn it hence to every
side.
2From all the hundred vessels spread throughout the members of
thy frame.
From all those vessels and canals we call the poisonous matter
forth.
3Worship to thee, the archer, and O Rudra, to thy levelled shaft!
Yea, worship to thine arrow when it left the bow, and when it
fell!
HYMN XCI
A charm against disease
1They made this barley ready with a team of eight, a team of six.
With this I drive to westward, far away, thy bodily disease.
2Vita breathes downward from above, and downward Sūrya sends
his heat:
Downward is drawn the milch-cow's milk: so downward go thy
malady!
3The Waters verily bring health, the Waters drive disease away.
The Waters cure all malady: may they bring medicine for thee.
p. a243
HYMN XCII
A charm to strengthen and inspirit a war-horse
1Be fleet as wind, Strong Steed, when thou art harnessed; go
forth as swift as thought at lndra's sending.
Let the possessors of all wealth, the Maruts, yoke thee, and
Tvashtar in thy feet lay swiftness.
2That speed, that lies concealed in thee, O Charger, speed granted
to the hawk or wind that wandered,
Therewith, Strong Steed, saving in shock of battle endowed
with might by might win thou the contest.
3Bearing thy body, Charger, may thy body run blessing us and
winning thee protection.
May he, unswerving, to uphold the mighty, stablish his lustre as
a God in heaven.
HYMN XCIII
A prayer for protection from poison
1Yama, Death direly fatal, the Destroyer, with his black crest,
Sarva the tawny archer,
And all the Gods uprisen with their army, may these on every
side avoid our heroes.
2With mind, burnt offerings, butter, and libation, to royal Bhava
and the archer Sarva,
To these the worshipful I pay my worship: may they turn else-
where things with deadly venom.
3Save us, All-Gods and all-possessing Maruts, from murderous
stroke and things that slay with poison.
Pure is the might of Varuna, Agni, Soma. May Vāta's and
Parjanya's favour bless us.
p. a244
HYMN XCIV
A charm to reconcile a King's discontented people
1We bend your minds in union, bend in harmony your hopes and
plans:
You there, who turn to sundered ways, we bend and bow in
unison.
2I with my spirit make your spirits captive: these with their
thoughts follow my thought and wishes.
I make your hearts submissive to mine order closely attending
go where I precede you.
3I have invoked both Heaven and Earth, invoked divine
Sarasvati,
Indra and Agni have I called: Sarasvati, so may we thrive!
HYMN XCV
A charm to remove disease
1In the third heaven above us stands the Asvattha tree, the seat
of Gods.
There the Gods gained the Kushtha plant, embodiment of end-
less life.
2There moved through heaven a golden ship, a ship with cordage
wrought of gold.
There Gods obtained the Kushtha plant, the flower of immor-
tality.
3Thou art the infant of the plants, the infant of the Snowy Hills:
The germ of every thing that is: free this my friend from his
disease.
HYMN XCVI
A prayer for deliverance from sin and sorrow
1The many plants of hundred shapes and forms that Soma rules
as King, p. a245
Commanded by Brihaspati, deliver us from grief and woe!
2Let them release me from the curse and from the noose of
Varupa,
Free me from Yama's fetter, and from every sin against the
Gods!
3From every fault in look, in word, in spirit that we, awake or
sleeping, have committed,
May Soma, with his godlike nature, cleanse us.
HYMN XCVII
A prayer for the success and prosperity of a King
1The sacrifice is victor, Agni victor, victorious is Soma, Indra
conquers:
So will we bring oblation unto Agni, this sacrifice that I may
win all battles.
9Praise to you, Mitra-Varupa, hymn-singers! Here swell with
meath dominion blest with children.
Far into distant regions drive Destruction, and even from
committed sin absolve us.
3In this strong hero be ye glad and joyful: cleave ye to him even
as ye cleave to Indra.
Victorious, kine-winner, thunder-wielder, who quells a host and
with his might destroys it.
HYMN XCVIII
Praise of Indra
1Indra be victor, never to be vanquished, to reign among the
Kings as sovran ruler! p. a246
Here be thou meet for praise and supplication, to be revered
and waited on and worshipped.
2Thou fain for glory, an imperial ruler, hast won dominion over
men, O Indra,
Of these celestial tribes be thou the sovran: long-lasting be thy
sway and undecaying!
3Thou governest the north and eastern regions, Indra! fiend-
slayer! thou destroycst foemen.
Thou hast won all, far as the rivers wander. Bull, called to
help, on our right hand thou goest.
HYMN XCIX
A prayer for protection in battle
1Indra, before affliction comes, I call thee from the wide expanse.
The mighty guardian, born alone, wearer of many names, I call.
2Whatever deadly missile launched to-day flies forth to slaughter
us.
We take both arms of Indra to encompass us on every side.
3We draw about us both the arms of Indra, our deliverer. May
they protect us thoroughly.
O Savitar, thou God, O royal Soma, make thou me pious-
minded for my welfare.
HYMN C
A charm against poison
1The Gods and Sūrya gave the gift, the Earth and Heaven best-
owed the boon.
The three Sarasvatis in full accord bestowed the antidote.
2That water, Upajīkās! which Gods poured for you on thirsty land,
With that same water sent by Gods, drive ye away this poison
here. p. a247
3The daughter of the Asuras art thou, and sister of the Gods.
Thou who hast sprung from heaven and earth hast robbed the
poison of its power.
HYMN CI
A charm to promote virile vigour
1Taurum age, palpita, incresce et teipsum extende: per totum
membrum increscat penis: hoc tu caede feminam.
2Quo debilem stimulant, quo aegrum excitant (homines), hoc, O
Brahmanaspatis, hujus penem in arcus modum extende.
3Velut nervum in arcu ego tuum fascinum extendo. Aggredere
(mulierem) semper indefessus velut cervus damam.
HYMN CII
A man's love charm
1Even as this ox, O Asvins, steps and turns together with his
mate,
So let thy fancy turn itself, come nearer, and unite with me.
2I, as the shaft-horse draws the mare beside him, draw thee to
myself.
Like grass that storm and wind have rent, so be thy mind at-
tached to me!
3Swiftly from Bhaga's hands I bear away a love-compelling charm
Of ointment and of sugar-cane, of Spikenard and the Kushtha
plant.
p. a248
HYMN CIII
A charm to check the approach of a hostile army
1Brihaspati and Savitar prepare a rope to bind you fast!
Let Bhaga, Mitra, Aryaman, and both the Asvins make the
bond.
2I bind together all of them, the first, the last, the middlemost.
Indra hath girded these with cord: bind them together, Agni,
thou!
3Those yonder who approach to fight, with banners raised along
their ranks,
Indra hath girded these with cord: bind them together, Agni,
thou!
HYMN CIV
The same
1We bind our foemen with a bond that binds them close and
holds them fast.
Their breath and respiration I dissever, and their lives from
life.
2This bond, made keen by Indra, I have formed with heat of holy
zeal.
Securely bind our enemies, O Agni, who are standing here.
3Indra and Agni bind them fast, Soma the King, and both the
Friends!
May Indra, girt by Maruts, make a bond to bind our enemies.
p. a249
HYMN CV
A charm to cure cough
1Rapidly as the fancy flies forth with conceptions of the mind.
So following the fancy's flight, O Cough, flee rapidly away.
2Rapidly as an arrow flies away with keenly-sharpened point,
So swiftly flee away, O Cough, over the region of the earth!
3Rapidly as the beams of light, the rays of Sūrya, fly away,
So, Cough! fly rapidly away over the current of the sea!
HYMN CVI
A charm to protect a house from fire
1Let flowery Dūrvā grass grow up about thine exit and
approach.
There let a spring of water rise, or lake with blooming lotuses.
2This is the place where waters meet, here is the gathering of the
flood.
Our home is set amid the lake: turn thou thy jaws away from
it.
3O House, we compass thee about with coolness to envelop thee.
Cool as a lake be thou to us. Let Agni bring us healing balm!
HYMN CVII
A charm to protect men and cattle
1Entrust me, Visvajit, to Trāyamānā.
Guard, Trāyamānā, all our men, guard all our wealth of
quadrupeds.
2To Visvajit entrust me, Trāyamānā.
O Visvajit, guard all our men, etc.
3To Visvajit entrust me, O Kalyāni.
Guard, O Kalyāni, all our men, etc. p. a250
4To Sarvavid entrust me, O Kalyāni.
O Sarvavid, guard all our men, guard all our wealth of
quadrupeds.
HYMN CVIII
A prayer for wisdom
1Intelligence, come first to us with store of horses and of kine!
Thou with the rays of Sūrya art our worshipful and holy one.
2The first, devout Intelligence, lauded by sages, sped by prayer,
Drunk by Brahmachāris, for the favour of the Gods I call.
3That excellent Intelligence which Ribhus know, and Asuras,
Intelligence which sages know, we cause to enter into me.
4Do thou, O Agni, make me wise this day with that Intelligence.
Which the creative ishis, which the men endowed with wisdom
knew.
5Intelligence at eve, at morn, Intelligence at noon of day,
With the Sun's beams, and by our speech we plant in us
Intelligence.
HYMN CIX
A charm to heal punctured wounds
1The Berry heals the missile's rent, it heals the deeply-piercing
wound.
The Gods prepared and fashioned it. This hath sufficient power
for life.
2When from their origin they came, the Berries spake among
themselves:
The man whom we shall find alive shall never suffer injury. p. a251
3Asuras buried thee in earth: the Gods again uplifted thee.
Healer of sickness caused by wounds and healer of the missile's
rent.
HYMN CX
A benediction on a new-born child
1Yea, ancient, meet for praise at sacrifices, ever and now thou
sittest down as Hotar.
And now, O Agni, make thy person friendly, and win felicity
for us by worship.
2Neath Jyaishthaghni and Yama's Two Releasers this child was
born: preserve him from uprooting.
He shall conduct him safe past all misfortunes to lengthened
life that lasts a hundred autumns.
3Born on the Tiger's day was he, a hero, the Constellations'
child, born brave and manly.
Let him not wound, when grown in strength, his father, nor
disregard his mother, her who bare him.
HYMN CXI
A charm for insanity
1Unbind and loose for me this man, O Agni, who bound and
well restrained is chattering folly. p. a252
Afterward he will offer thee thy portion when he hath been
delivered from his madness.
2Let Agni gently soothe thy mind when fierce excitement troubles
it.
Well-skilled I make a medicine that thou no larger mayst be
mad.
3Insane through sin against the Gods, or maddened by a demon's
power—
Well-skilled I make a medicine to free thee from insanity.
4May the Apsarases release, Indra and Bhaga let thee go.
May all the Gods deliver thee that thou no longer mayst be
mad.
HYMN CXII
A health-charm for man, woman, and son
1Let not this one, O Agni, wound the highest of these: preserve
thou him from utter ruin.
Knowing the way do thou untie the nooses of the she-fiend: let
all the Gods approve thee.
2Rend thou the; bonds of these asunder, Agni! the, threefold
noose whereby the three were fastened.
Knowing the way untie the she-fiend's nooses: free all, the son,
the father, and the mother.
3The elder brother's bonds, still left unwedded, fettered in every
limb and bound securely,
Loose these, for they are bonds for loosing: Pūshan, turn woes
away upon the babe-destroyer.
p. a253
HYMN CXIII
A charm to banish the fiend Grāhi
1This sin the Gods wiped off and laid on Trita, and Trita wiped
it off on human beings.
Thence if the female fiend hath made thee captive, the Gods by
prayer shall banish her and free thee.
2Enter the particles of light and vapours, go to the rising fogs or
mists, O Evil!
Hence! vanish in the foams of rivers. Pūshan, wipe woes away
upon the babe-destroyer!
3Stored in twelve separate places lies what Trita hath wiped away,
the sins of human beings.
Thence if the female fiend hath made thee captive, the Gods by
prayer shall banish her and free thee.
HYMN CXIV
A prayer for pardon of faults and errors in sacrificing
1Whatever God-provoking wrong we priests have done, O
Deities.
Therefrom do ye deliver us, Ādityas! by the right of Law.
2Here set us free, O holy ones, Ādityas, by the right of Law.
When striving, bringing sacrifice, we failed to offer it aright.
3With ladle full of fatness we, worshippers, pouring holy oil,
Striving, have failed, O all ye Gods, against our will, to offer it.
p. a254
HYMN CXV
A prayer for forgiveness of sins
1Whatever wrong we wittingly or in our ignorance have done,
Do ye deliver us therefrom, O all ye Gods, of one accord.
2If I, a sinner, when awake or sleeping have committed sin,
Free me therefrom as from a stake, from present and from
future guilt.
3As one unfastened from a stake, or cleansed by bathing after
toil,
As butter which the sieve hath cleansed, so all shall purge me
from the sin.
HYMN CXVI
A prayer for pardon of sin against mother, father, son, or brother
1The wealth which husbandmen aforetime, digging, like men who
find their food with knowledge, buried,
This to the King, Vivasvān's son, I offer, Sweet be our food and
fit for sacrificing!
2May he, Vaivasvata, prepare our portion; May he whose share
is mead with mead besprinkle.
Our sin in hasty mood against our mother, or guilt whereby a
sire is wronged and angered.
3Whether this sin into our heart hath entered regarding mother,
father, son or brother,
Auspicious be to us the zeal and spirit of all the fathers who are
here among us.
HYMN CXVII
A prayer for freedom from debt
1That which I eat, a debt which still is owing, the tribute due to
Yama, which supports me, p. a255
Thereby may I be free from debt, O Agni. Thou knowest how
to rend all bonds asunder.
2Still dwelling here we give again this present; we send it forth,
the living from the living.
Throwing away the grain whence I have eaten, thereby shall I
be free from debt, O Agni.
3May we be free in this world and that yonder, in the third
world may we be unindebted.
May we, debt-free, abide in all the pathways, in all the worlds
which Gods and Fathers visit.
HYMN CXVIII
A prayer for pardon of cheating at play
1If we have sinned with both our hands, desiring to take the host
of dice for our possession,
May both Apsarases to-day forgive us that debt, the fiercely-
conquering, fiercely-looking.
2Stern viewers of their sins who rule the people, forgive us what
hash happened as we gambled.
Not urging us to pay the debt we owed him, he with a cord
hath gone to Yama's kingdom.
3My creditor, the man whose wife I visit, he, Gods! whom I
approach with supplication,
Let not these men dominate me in speaking. Mind this, ye two
Apsarases, Gods' Consorts!
HYMN CXIX
A prayer for release from debts incurred without intention of payment
1The debt which I incur, not gaming, Agni! and, not intending
to repay, acknowledge, p. a256
That may Vaisvānara, the best, our sovran, carry away into the
world of virtue.
2I cause Vaisvānara to know, confessing the debt whose payment
to the Gods is promised.
He knows to tear asunder all these nooses: so may we dwell
with him the gentle-minded.
3Vaisvānara the Purifier purge me when I oppose their hope and
break my promise,
Unknowing in my heart. With supplication, whatever guilt there
is in that, I banish.
HYMN CXX
A prayer for pardon of sins and felicity hereafter
1If we have injured Air, or Earth, or Heaven, if we have wronged
our Mother or our Father,
May Agni Gārhapatya here absolve us, and bear us up into the
world of virtue.
2Earth is our Mother, Aditi our birth-place: our brother Air save
us from imprecation!
Dyaus, Father, save us, from the world of Fathers! My world
not lost, may I approach my kindred.
3There where our virtuous friends, who left behind them their
bodily infirmities, are happy,
Free from distortion of the limbs and lameness, may we behold,
in heaven, our sons and parents.
p. a257
HYMN CXXI
A prayer for happiness in heaven
1Spreading them out, untie the snares that hold us, Varuna's
bonds, the upper and the lower.
Drive from us evil dream, drive off misfortune; then let us go in-
to the world of virtue.
2If thou art bound with cord or tied to timber, fixt in the earth,
or by a word imprisoned,
Our Agni Gārhapatya here shall free thee, and lead thee up into
the world of virtue.
3The two auspicious stars whose name is called Releasers have
gone up.
Send Amrit hither, let it come freeing the captive from his
bonds!
4Open thyself, make room: from bonds thou shalt release the
prisoner.
Freed, like an infant newly born, dwell in all pathways where
thou wilt.
HYMN CXXII
A prayer for happiness in heaven
1This portion I who understand deliver to Visvakarman first-born
son of Order.
So may we follow to the end, unbroken, beyond old age, the
thread which we have given.
2This long-drawn thread some follow who have offered in order-
ed course oblation to the Fathers:
Some, offering and giving to the friendless, if they can give:
herein they find their heaven.
3, Stand on my side and range yourselves in order, ye two! The
faithful reach this world of Svarga. p. a258
When your dressed food hath been bestowed on Agni, to guard
it, wife and husband, come together!
4Dwelling with zeal I mount in spirit after the lofty sacrifice as it
departeth.
Agni, may we, beyond decay, invited, in the third heaven, feast
and enjoy the banquet.
5These women here, cleansed, purified, and holy, I place at rest
singly, in hands of Brāhmans.
May Indra, Marut-girt, grant me the blessing I long for as I
pour you this libation.
HYMN CXXIII
A prayer for happiness in heaven
1Ye who are present, unto you I offer this treasure brought to
us by Jātavedas
Happily will the sacrificer follow: do ye acknowledge him in
highest heaven.
2Do ye acknowledge him in highest heaven: ye know the world
here present in assembly.
In peace will he who sacrifices follow: show him the joy which
comes from pious actions.
3Gods are the Fathers, and the Fathers Gods. I am the very man
I am.
4I cook, I give, I offer up oblation. From what I gave let me
not be disparted.
5O King, take thou thy stand in heaven, there also let that gift
be placed. p. a259
Recognize, King, the gift which we have given, and be gracious,
God!
HYMN CXXIV
An Omen from the sky
1From the high firmament, yea, out of heaven a water-drop with
dew on me hath fallen.
I, Agni! share the merit of the pious, with vigour, milk, and
hymns and sacrifices.
2If from a tree that fruit hath fallen downward if, aught from air
that is vāyu.
Where it hath touched my body or my garment, thence may the
Waters drive Destruction backward.
3It is a fragrant ointment, happy fortune, sheen all of gold, yea,
purified from blemish.
Spread over us are all purifications. Death and Malignity shall
not subdue us.
HYMN CXXV
Glorification of a war-chariot
1Mayst thou, O Tree, be firm indeed in body, our friend that
furthers us, a goodly hero.
Put forth thy strength, compact with thongs of leather, and let
thy rider win all spoils of battle.
2Its mighty strength was borrowed from the heaven and earth:
its conquering force was brought from sovrans of the wood.
Honour with sacrifice the Car like Indra's bolt, the Car girt
round with straps, the vigour of the floods.
3Thou bolt of Indra, vanguard of the Maruts, close knit to
Varuna and child of Mitra,
As such, accepting gifts which here we offer, receive, O godlike
Chariot, these oblations.
p. a260
HYMN CXXVI
Glorification of the war drum
1Send forth thy voice aloud through earth and heaven, and let
the world in all its breadth regard thee.
O Drum, accordant with the Gods and Indra, drive thou afar,
yea, very far, our foemen.
2Thunder out strength and fill us full of vigour, yea, thunder
forth and drive away misfortunes.
Drive hence, O Drum, drive thou away mischances. Thou art
the fist of Indra, show thy firmness.
3Conquer those yonder and let these be victors. Let the Drum
speak aloud as battle's signal.
Let our men, winged with horses, fly together. Let our car-
warriors, Indra! be triumphant.
HYMN CXXVII
A charm to banish various diseases
1Of abscess, of decline, of inflammation of the eyes. O Plant,
Of penetrating pain, thou Herb, let not a particle remain.
2Those nerves of thine, Consumption! which stand closely hidden
in thy groin
I know the balm for that disease: the magic cure is Sipudru.
3We draw from thee piercing pain that penetrates and racks thy
limbs,
That pierces ears, that pierces eyes, the abscess, and the heart's
disease.
Downward and far away from thee we banish that unknown.
decline.
p. a261
HYMN CXXVIII
A charm for fair weather
1What time the heavenly bodies chose the Weather Prophet as
their King,
They brought him favouring weather, and, Let this be his do-
main, they said.
2May we have weather fair at noon, May we have weather fair
at eve,
Fair weather when the morning breaks, fair weather when the
night is come.
3Fair weather to the day and night, and to the stars and sun and
moon.
Give favourable weather thou, King, Weather Prophet, unto us.
4Be worship ever paid to thee, O Weather Prophet, King of
Star s,
Who gavest us oo weather in the evening and by night and
day!
p. a262
HYMN CXXIX
A charm for success and happiness
1With fortune of the Sisu tree—with Indra as my friend to aid
I give myself a happy fate. Fly and begone, Malignities!
2That splendour and felicity wherewith thou hast excelled the
trees
Give me therewith a happy fate. Fly and begone, Malignities
3Blind fortune, with reverted leaves that is deposited in trees—
Give me therewith a happy fate. Fly and begone, Malignities.
HYMN CXXX
A woman's love-charm
1This is the Apsarases' love-spell, the conquering, resistless ones'.
Send the spell forth, ye Deities! Let him consume with love of
me.
2I pray, may he remember me, think of me, loving and beloved.
Send forth the spell, ye Deities! Let him consume with love
of me.
3That he may think of me, that I may never, never think of him,.
Send forth the spell, ye Deities! Let him consume with love
of me.
4Madden him, Maruts, madden him. Madden him, madden him,
O Air.
Madden him, Agni, madden him. Let him consume with love
of me.
p. a263
HYMN CXXXI
A woman's love-charm
1Down upon thee, from head to foot, I draw the pangs of long-
ing love.
Send forth the charm, ye Deities! Let him consume with love
of me.
2Assent to this, O Heavenly Grace! Celestial Purpose, guide it
well!
Send forth the charm, ye Deities! Let him consume with love
of me.
3If thou shouldst run three leagues away, five leagues, a horse's
daily stage,
Thence thou shalt come to me again and be the father of our
sons.
HYMN CXXXII
The same
1The Philter, burning with the pangs of yearning love, which
Gods have poured within the bosom of the floods,
That spell for thee I heat by Varuna's decree.
2The charm which, burning with the pangs of love, the General
Gods have poured within the bosom of the floods,
That spell for thee I heat by Varuna's decree.
3The Philter, burning with the pangs of longing, which Indrāni
hath effused within the waters' depth,
That spell for thee I heat by Varuna's decree.
4The charm, aglow with longing, which Indra and Agni have
effused within the bosom of the floods,
That spell for thee I heat by Varuna's decree.
5The charm aglow with longing which Mitra and Varuna have
poured within the bosom of the floods,
That spell for thee I heat by Varuna's decree.
p. a264
HYMN CXXXIII
A glorification of the sacred girdle
1By the direction of that God we journey, he will seek means to
save and he will free us;
The God who hath engirt us with this Girdle, he who hath fast-
ened it, and made us ready.
2Thou, weapon of the Rishis, art adored and served with
sacrifice.
First tasting of the votive milk, Zone, be a hero-slayer thou!
3As I am now Death's Brahmachāri claiming out of the living
world a man for Yama,
So with Austerity and Prayer and Fervour I bind this Girdle
round the man before me.
4She hath become, Faith's daughter, sprung from Fervour, the
sister of the world-creating Rishis;
As such, O Girdle, give us thought and wisdom, give us religious
zeal and mental vigour.
5Thou whom primeval Rishis girt about them, they who made the
world,
As such do thou encircle me, O Girdle, for long days of life.
HYMN CXXXIV
A priest's prayer for power to punish wrong-doers
1This Thunderbolt shall take its fill of Order, scare life away and
overthrow the kingdom.
Tear necks in pieces. rend napes asunder, even as the Lord of
Might the neck of Vritra.
2Down, down beneath the conquerors, let him not rise, concealed
in earth, but lie down-smitten with the bolt.
3Seek out the fierce oppressor, yea, strike only the oppressor
dead. p. a265
Down on the fierce oppressor's head strike at full length, O
Thunderbolt!
HYMN CXXXV
A priest's fulmination against an enemy
1Whate'er I eat I turn to strength, and thus I grasp the Thunder-
bolt,
Rending the shoulders of that man as Indra shattered Vritra's
neck.
2I drink together what I drink, even as the sea that swallows all.
Drinking the life-breath of that man, we drink that man and
swallow him.
3Whate'er I eat I swallow up, even as the sea that swallows all.
Swallowing that man's vital breath, we swallow him completely
up.
HYMN CXXXVI
A charm to promote the growth of hair
1Born from the bosom of wide Earth the Goddess, godlike Plant,
art thou:
So we, Nitatnī! dig thee up to strengthen and fix fast the hair.
2Make the old firm, make new hair spring, lengthen what has
already grown.
3Thy hair where it is falling off, and with the roots is torn away,
I wet and sprinkle with the Plant, the remedy for all disease.
p. a266
HYMN CXXXVII
A charm to promote the growth of hair
1The Plant which Jamadagni dug to make his daughter's locks.
grow long,
This same hath Vitahavya brought to us from Asita's abode.
2They might be measured with a rein, meted with both extended
arms.
Let the black locks spring thick and strong and grow like reeds
upon thy head.
3Strengthen the roots, prolong the points, lengthen the middle
part, O Plant.
Let the black locks spring thick and strong and grow like reeds
upon thy head.
HYMN CXXXVIII
A woman's imprecation on her unfaithful lover
1O Plant, thy fame is spread abroad as best of all the herbs that
grow.
Unman for me to-day this man that he may wear the horn of
hair.
2Make him a eunuch with a horn, set thou the crest upon his-
head.
Let Indra with two pressing-stones deprive him of his manly
strength.
3I have unmanned thee, eunuch! yea, impotent! made thee-
impotent, and robbed thee, weakling! of thy strength.
Upon his head we set the horn, we set the branching ornament.
4Duas tuas venas, a Diis factas, in quibus stat vigor virilis,
paxillo ligneo in testiculis ob istam mulierem tibi findo.
5Ut mulieres mattam (tegetem) facturae arundinem lapide findunt,
sic fascinum tuum cum testiculis ob istam mulierem findo.
p. a267
HYMN CXXXIX
A woman's love-charm
1Thou hast grown up, a source of joy to bless me with pros-
perity.
A hundred are thy tendrils, three-and-thirty thy descending
shoots.
With this that bears a thousand leaves I dry thy heart and
wither it.
2Let thy heart wither for my love and let thy month be dry for
me.
Parch and dry up with longing, go with lips that love of me
hath dried.
3Drive us together, tawny! fair! a go-between who wakens
love.
Drive us together, him and me, and give us both one heart and
mind.
4Even as his mouth is parched who finds no water for his burn-
ing thirst,
So parch and burn with longing, go with lips that love of me
hath dried.
5Even as the Mungoose bites and rends and then restores the
wounded snake,
So do thou, Mighty one, restore the fracture of our severed
love.
p. a268
HYMN CXL
A blessing on a child's first two teeth
1Two tigers have grown up who long to eat the mother and the
sire:
Soothe, Brāhmanaspati, and thou, O Jātavedas, both these
teeth.
2Let rice and barley be your food, eat also beans and sesamum.
This is the share allotted you, to be your portion, ye two Teeth.
Harm not your mother and your sire.
3Both fellow teeth have been invoked, gentle and bringing happi-
ness.
Else whither let the fierceness of your nature turn away, O
Teeth! Harm not your mother or your sire.
HYMN CXLI
A blessing on cattle
1Vayu collected these: to find their sustenance be Tvashtar's
care:
May Indra bless and comfort them, and Rudra look that they
increase.
2Take thou the iron axe and make a pair by marks upon their
ears.
This sign the Asvins have impressed: let these increase and
multiply.
3Even as Gods and Asuras, even as mortal men have done,
Do ye, that these may multiply in thousands, Asvins! make the
mark.
HYMN CXLI
A blessing on cattle
1Spring high, O Barley, and become much through thine own
magnificence: p. a269
Burst all the vessels; let the bolt from heaven forbear to strike
thee down.
2As we invite and call to thee, Barley, a God who heareth us,
Raise thyself up like heaven on high and be exhaustless as the
sea.
3Exhaustless let thine out-turns be, exhaustless be thy gathered
heaps,
Exhaustless be thy givers, and exhaustless those who eat of
thee.
p. a270
BOOK VII
HYMN I
Glorification of the power of prayer and to Agni
1They who by thought have guided all that Speech hath best, or
they who with their heart have uttered words of truth,
Made stronger by the strength which the third prayer bestows,
have by the fourth prayer learned the nature of the Cow.
2Well knows this son his sire, he knows his mother well: he hath
been son, and he hath been illiberal.
He hath encompassed heaven, and air's mid-realm, and sky; he
hath become this All; he hath come nigh to us.
HYMN II
Praise of Atharvan
1Invoke for us, proclaim in sundry places, the kinsman of the
Gods, our sire Atharvan,
His mother's germ, his father's breath, the youthful, who with
his mind hath noticed this oblation.
HYMN IV
To Vāyu God of the Wind
1With thine eleven teams, to aid our wishes, yea, with thy two-
and-twenty teams, O Vāyu,
With all thy three-and-thirty teams for drawing, here loose these
teams, thou who art prompt to listen!
HYMN V
A glorification of sacrifice
1The Gods adored the Sacrifice with worship: these were the
statutes of primeval ages.
Those mighty ones attained the cope of heaven, there where the
Sādhyas, Gods of old, are dwelling.
2Sacrifice was, was manifest among us: it sprang to life and then
in time grew stronger.
Then it became thedeities' lord and ruler: may it bestow on us
abundant riches.
3Where the Gods worshipped Gods with their oblation, worship-
ped immortals with immortal spirit, p. a272
There in the loftiest heaven may we be happy, and look upon
that light when Sūrya rises.
4With their oblation, Purusha, the Gods performed a sacrifice.
A sacrifice more potent still they paid with the invoking hymn.
5With dog the Gods, perplexed, have paid oblation, and with
cow's limbs in sundry sacrifices.
Invoke for us, in many a place declare him who with his mind.
hath noticed this our worship.
HYMN VI
A prayer to Aditi for help and protection
1Aditi is sky, and air's mid-region, Aditi is the father, son, and
mother,
Aditi all the Gods and the Five Nations, Aditi what is now and
what is future.
2We call for help the Queen of Law and Order, great mother of
all those whose ways are righteous,
Far-spread, unwasting strong in her dominion, Aditi wisely lead-
ing, well protecting. p. a273
3Sinless may we ascend, for weal, the vessel, rowed with good
oars, divine, that never leaketh,
Earth, our strong guard, incomparable Heaven, Aditi wisely lead-
ing, well protecting.
4Let us bring hither, in pursuit of riches, Aditi with our word,
the mighty mother,
Her in whose lap the spacious air is lying: may she afford us
triply-guarding shelter!
HYMN VII
Praise of the Ādityas
1I have sung praise to Diti's sons and Aditi's, those very lofty and
invulnerable Gods.
For far within the depths of ocean is their home and in the wor-
ship paid them none excelleth these.
HYMN VIII
Godspeed to a departing traveller
1Go forward on thy way from good to better: Brihaspati pre-
cede thy steps and guide thee! p. a274
Place this man here, within this earth's enclosure, afar from foes
with all his men about him.
HYMN IX
A prayer to Pūshan for protection and the recovery of lost property
1Pūshan was born to move on distant pathways, on roads remote
from earth, remote from heaven.
To both most lovely places of assembly he travels and returns
with perfect knowledge.
2Pūshan knows all these realms: may he conduct us by ways that
are most free from fear and danger.
Giver of blessings, glowing, all heroic, may he the wise and
watchful go before us.
3We are thy praisers here, O Pūshan: never let us be injured
under thy protection.
4From out the distance, far and wide, may Pūshan stretch his
right hand forth.
Let him drive back our lost to us, let us return with what is lost.
HYMN X
A prayer for the favour of Sarasvati
1That breast of thine, exhaustless and delightful, good to invoke,
beneficent, free giver.
Wherewith thou feedest all things that are choicest, bring that,
Sarasvati, that we may drain it.
p. a275
HYMN XI
A prayer to protect corn from lightning and drought
1That far-spread thunder, sent from thee, which cometh on all
this world, a high celestial signal
Strike not, O God, our growing corn with lightning, not kill it
with the burning rays of Sūrya.
HYMN XII
A prayer for influence at deliberative and religious meetings
1In concord may Prajapati's two daughters, Gathering and As-
sembly, both protect me.
May every man I meet respect and aid me. Fair be my words,
O Fathers, at the meetings.
2We know thy name, O Conference: thy name is interchange of
talk.
Let all the company who join the Conference agree with me.
3Of these men seated here I make the splendour and the lore
mine own.
Indra, make me conspicuous in all this gathered company.
4Whether your thoughts are turned away, or bound and fastened
here or there,
We draw them hitherward again: let your mind firmly rest on
me.
p. a276
HYMN XIII
A charm to win superiority over foes and rivals
1As the Sun, rising, taketh to himself the brightness of the stars,.
So I assume the glory of women and men mine enemies.
All ye amang my rivals who behold me as I come to you,
I seize the glory of my foes as the Sun, rising, theirs who sleep.
HYMN XIV
A prayer to Savitar for prosperity
1I praise this God, parent of heaven and earth, exceeding wiser
possessed of real energy, giver of treasure, thinker dear to all,.
2Whose splendour is sublime, whose light shone brilliant in crea-
tion, who, wise, and golden-handed, in his beauty made the
sky.
3As thou, God! quickening, for our ancient father, sentest him
height above and room about him,
So unto us, O Savitar, send treasures, abundant, day by day, in
shape of cattle.
4Savitar, God, our household friend, most precious, hath sent
our fathers life and power and riches.
Let him drink Soma and rejoice when worshipped. Under his
law even the Wanderer travels.
p. a277
HYMN XV
A charm to win divine favour and felicity
1I choose, O Savitar, that glorious favour, with fruitful energy
and every blessing,
Even this one's teeming cow, erst milked by Kanva, thousand-
streamed, milked for happiness by the mighty.
HYMN XVI
A prayer for prosperity
1Increase this man Brihaspati! Illume him, O Savitar, for high
and happy fortune.
Sharpen him thoroughly though already sharpened: with glad
acclaim let all the Gods receive him.
HYMN XVII
A prayer for wealth and children
1May the Ordainer give us wealth, Lord, ruler of the world of
life: with full hand may he give to us.
2May Dhātar grant the worshipper henceforth imperishable life.
May we obtain the favour of the God who giveth every boon.
3To him may Dhātar grant all kinds of blessings who, craving
children, serves him in his dwelling.
Him may the Gods invest with life eternal, yea, all the Gods and
Aditi accordant.
4May this our gift please Savitar, Rāti, Dhātar, Prajāpati, and
Agni Lord of Treasures.
May Tvashtar, Vishnu, blessing him with children, give store ot
riches to the sacrificer.
p. a278
HYMN XVIII
A prayer for rain
1Burst open, Prithvi, and cleave asunder this celestial cloud.
Untie, O Dhātar—for thou canst—the bottle of the breast of
heaven.
2Let not the Sun's heat burn, nor cold destroy her. Let Earth
with all her quickening drops burst open.
Even for her the waters flow, and fatness: where Soma is even
there is bliss for ever.
HYMN XIX
A prayer for prosperity
1Prajapati engenders earthly creatures: may the benevolent
Ordainer form them,
Having one common womb, and mind, and spirit. He who is.
Lord of Plenty give me plenty!
HYMN XX
A prayer for prosperity and happiness
1Anumati approve to-day our sacrifice among the Gods!
May Agni bear mine offerings away for me the worshipper.
2Do thou, Anumati! approve, and grant us health and happiness.
Accept the offered sacrifice, and, Goddess, give us progeny. p. a279
3May he approving in return accord us wealth inexhaustible with
store of children.
Never may we be subject to his anger, but rest in his benevo-
lence and mercy.
4Thy name is easy to invoke, good leader! approved, Anumati
and rich in bounty.
Source of all bonds! fill up therewith our worship, and, Blest
One! grant us wealth with goodly heroes.
5Anumati hath come to this our worship well-formed to give
good lands and valiant heroes:
For her kind care hath blessed us. God-protected, may she assist
the sacrifice we offer.
6Anumati became this All, whatever standeth or walketh, every-
thing that moveth.
May we enjoy thy gracious love, O Goddess. Regard us, O Anu-
mati, with favour.
HYMN XXI
A funeral stanza
1With prayer come all together to the Lord of Heaven: he is the
peerless one, far-reaching, guest of men.
He, God of ancient time, hath gained a recent thrall; to him
alone is turned the path which all must tread.
HYMN XXII
To Savitar, or Yama invested with Savitar's attributes
1Unto a thousand sages he hath given sight: thought, light is he
in ranging all.
2The Bright One hath sent forth the Dawns, a closely gathered
band,
Immaculate, unanimous, brightly refulgent in their homes.
p. a280
HYMN XXIII
A charm to banish fiends and troubles
1The fearful dream, and indigence, the monster, the malignant
hags.
All female fiends of evil name and wicked tongue we drive afar.
HYMN XXIV
A prayer for riches
1What treasure hath been dug for us by Indra, by Agni, Visve-
devas, tuneful Maruts,
On us may Savitar whose laws are faithful, Prajāpati, and
Heavenly Grace bestow it.
HYMN XXV
Praise of Vishnu and Varuna
1The early morning prayer hath come to Vishnu and Varuna,
Lords through might, whom none hath equalled,
Gods by whose power the realms of air were stablished, strongest
and most heroic in their vigour.
2The early prayer hath ever come to Vishnu and Varuna by that
God's high power and statute.
In whose control is all this world that shineth, all that hath
powers to see and all that breatheth.
HYMN XXVI
Praise of Vishnu
1I will declare the mighty deeds of Vishnu, of him who measured
out the earthly regions, p. a281
Who propped the highest place of congregation, thrice setting
down his footstep, widely striding.
2Loud boast doth Vishnu make of this achievement, like some
wild beast, dread, prowling, mountain-roaming.
May he approach us from the farthest distance.
3Thou within whose three wide-extended paces all worlds and
creatures have their habitation,
Drink oil, thou homed in oil! promote the sacrificer more and
more.
4Through all this world strode Vishnu: thrice his foot he planted,
and the whole
Was gathered in his footstep's dust.
5Vishnu the guardian, he whom none deceiveth, made three steps,
thenceforth.
Establishing these high decrees.
6Look ye on Vishnu's works, whereby the friend of Indra, close-
allied,
Hath let his holy ways be seen.
7The princes evermore behold that loftiest place where Vishnu is,
Like an extended eye in heaven,
8From heaven, O Vishnu, or from earth, O Vishnu, or from the
great far-spreading air's mid-region,
Fill both thy hands full of abundant treasures, and from the
right and left bestow them freely.
p. a282
HYMN XXVII
A prayer to Ida, Goddess of devotion
1May Idā with her statute dwell beside us, she in whose place the
pious purge and cleanse them.
She, mighty, Soma-decked, whose foot drops fatness, meet for
All-Gods, hath come to aid our worship.
HYMN XXVIII
Praise of the sacrificial utensils
1Blest be the Broom, may the Mace bring a blessing, and may the
Altar and the Hatchet bless us.
Worshipful Gods, may they accept this worship, lovers of sacri-
fice, and sacrificers.
HYMN XXIX
To Agni and Vishnu
1This is your glorious might, Agni and Vishnu! Ye drink the
essence of the mystic butter.
Placing in every home seven costly treasures. Let your tongue
stretch to take the offered fatness.
2Ye love the great law, Agni Vishnu! joying, ye feast on mystic
essences of butter,
Exalted in each house with fair laudation. Let your tongue
stretch to take the offered fatness.
HYMN XXX
A charm to be used when the eyes are anointed
1Heaven, Earth, and Mitra here have caused mine eyes to be-
anointed well,
Savitar, Brāhmanaspati take care that they be duly balmed!
p. a283
HYMN XXXI
A prayer for the overthrow of enemies
1Rouse us to-day O Indra, Maghavan, hero, with thy best pos-
sible and varied succours,
May he who hateth us fall low beneath us, and him whom we
detest let life abandon.
HYMN XXXII
A prayer to Agni for long life
1We bringing homage have approached the friend who seeks our
wondering praise,
Young, strengthener of the sacrifice. May he bestow long life on
me.
HYMN XXXIII
A prayer for long life, children, and riches
1Let Pūshan, let the Maruts, let Brihaspati pour forth on me;
This present Agni pour on me children and riches in a stream!
May he bestow long life on me.
HYMN XXXIV
A prayer for freedom from sin and the overthrow of enemies
1Agni, drive off my rivals born and living, repel those yet unborn,
O Jātavedas.
Cast down beneath my feet mine adversaries. In Aditi's regard
may we be sinless.
p. a284
HYMN XXXV
A prayer for the prosperity of a King and his kingdom
1Subdue with conquering might his other rivals, those yet unborn
repel, O Jātavedas.
For great felicity protect this kingdom, and in this man let all
the Gods be joyful.
2Hae quot tibi sunt venae atque arteriae harum omnium os tibi
lapide occlusi.
3Uteri tui summam partem inferam facio: ne tibi soboles neque
filius eveniat. Sterilem et infecundam te facio: lapidem tuum,
operimentum facio.
HYMN XXXVI
A charm to be pronounced by bride and bridegroom
1Sweet are the glances of our eyes, our faces are as smooth as
balm,
Within thy bosom harbour me; one spirit dwell in both of us!
HYMN XXXVII
A nuptial charm to be spoken by the bride
1With this my robe, inherited from Manu, I envelop thee,
So that thou mayst be all mine own and give no thought to other
dames.
HYMN XXXVIII
A maiden's love-charm
1I dig this Healing Herb that makes my lover look on me and
weep;
That bids the parting friend return and kindly greets him as he
comes.
2This Herb wherewith the Asuri drew Indra downward from the
Gods,
With this same Herb I draw thee close that I may be most dear
to thee.
3Thou art the peer of Soma, yea, thou art the equal of the Sun, p. a285
The peer of all the Gods art thou: therefore we call thee hither—
ward.
4I am the speaker here, not thou: speak thou where the assembly
meets.
Thou shalt be mine and only mine, and never mention other
dames.
5If thou art far away beyond the rivers, far away from men,
This Herb shall seem to bind thee fast and bring thee back my
prisoner.
HYMN XXXIX
A sacrificial charm for rain and prosperity
1May he establish in our home the master of riches, gladdening
with rain in season,
Mighty, strong-winged, celestial, dropping moisture, Bull of the
plants and embryo of waters.
p. a286
HYMN XL
A prayer for prosperity
1We call Sarasvān, under whose protection all cattle wander, to
preserve and aid us,
Him in whose ordinance abide the waters, to whose command
the Lord of Plenty listens.
2Abiding here let us invoke Sarasvān, the seat of riches, glorious,
wealth-increaser,
Him who inclines and gives to him who worships, the rich pos-
sessor and the Lord of Fulness.
HYMN XLI
A prayer for prosperity
1Observing men, and viewing home, the Falcon hath cleft his swift
way over wastes and waters.
May he, with Indra for a friend, auspicious, traversing all air's
lower realms, come hither.
2The heavenly Falcon, viewing men, well-pinioned, strength-giver,
hundred-footed, hundred-nested,
Shall give us treasure which was taken from us. May it be rich
in food among our Fathers.
HYMN XLII
A prayer for delivery from sin and sickness
1Scatter and drive away, Soma and Rudra, the sickness that hath
come within our dwelling, p. a287
Afar into the distance chase Destruction, and even from commit-
ted sin release us.
2Lay on our bodies, O ye twain, O Soma and Rudra, all those
balms that heal diseases.
Set free and draw away the sin committed, which we have still
inherent in our persons.
HYMN XLIII
A charm against lightning
1Some of thy words bode weal and some misfortune: thou scat-
terest them all with friendly feeling.
Deep within this three words are laid: among them one hath
flown off even as the sound was uttered.
HYMN XLIV
In praise of Indra and Vishnu
1Ye twain have conquered, and have not been vanquished: not
either of the pair hath been defeated.
Ye, Indra Vishnu, when ye fought your battle; produced this
infinite with three divisions.
p. a288
HYMN XLV
A charm against jealousy
1Brought hitherward from Sindhu, from a folk of every mingled
race,
Fetched from afar, thou art I deem, a balm that cureth.
jealousy.
2As one with water quencheth fire, so calm this lover's
jealousy,
Like heat of fire that burneth here, or flame that rageth through
the wood.
HYMN XLVI
A charm for offspring and prosperity
1O broad-tressed Sinivāli, thou who art the sister of the Gods,
Accept the offered sacrifice, and, Goddess, grant us progeny.
2Present the sacrifice to her, to Sinivāli, Queen of men, Beauti-
ful-fingered, lovely-armed, prolific, bearing many a child.
3Thou who as Queen of men art Indra's equal, a Goddess
coming with a thousand tresses,
To thee our sacrifices are performed, O Consort of Vishnu
Goddess, urge thy Lord to bounty!
HYMN XLVII
A prayer for wealth and birth of a son
1Oft in this sacrifice with favoured cry I call Kuhū, beneficent
Goddess, skilled in all her works.
May she vouchsafe us wealth with every boon, and give a, hero
meet for praise who gives a hundred gifts.
2Kuhl), the Queen of Gods and immortality, called to assist,
enjoy this sacrifice of' ours!
Let her, desirous of our worship, hear to-day: may she,
intelligent, give increase of our wealth.
p. a289
HYMN XLVIII
A prayer for prosperity and the birth of a son
1I call on Rākā with hair laud and reverent cry: may she,
auspicious, hear us and herself observe.
With never-breaking needle may she sew her work, and send a
glorious man who gives a hundred gifts.
2All thy kind favours, Rākā! lovely in their form, wherewith
thou grantest treasures to the man who gives,
With these come thou to us this day benevolent, O blessed one,
bestowing wealth of thousand sorts.
HYMN XLIX
A prayer for children and booty
1May the Gods' Consorts aid us of their own free will, help us
to offspring and the winning of the spoil.
May Goddesses who quickly listen shelter us, both those on
earth and they within the waters' realm.
2May the Dames, wives of Gods, enjoy our presents, Rāt, Asvini
Indrāni and Agnāyi;
May Rodasi and Varunāni hear us, and Goddesses come at the
matrons' season.
HYMN L
A gambler's prayer for success in gaming
1As evermore the lightning flash strikes, irresistible, the tree,
So, irresistible, may I conquer the gamblers with the dice. p. a290
2From every side, from hale and sick, impotent to defend them-
selves,
May all the fortune of the folk as winnings pass into my hands.
3I pray to Agni, him who guards his treasure: here, won by
homage, may he pile our winnings.
As 'twere with racing cars I bring my presents: duly with
reverence, let me laud the Maruts.
4With thee to aid us may we win the treasure: do thou assist
our side in every battle.
Give us wide room and easy way, O Indra; break down, O
Maghavan, the foemen's valour.
5I have completely cleaned thee out, won from thee what thou
keptest back.
As a wolf tears and rends a sheep, so do I tear thy stake away.
6Yea, by superior play one gains advantage: in time he piles his
spoil as doth a gambler.
He overwhelms with wealth's inherent powers the devotee who
keeps not back his riches.
7May we all, much-invoked! repel with cattle want that brings
sin, hunger with store of barley.
May we uninjured, first among the princes, obtain possessions
by our own exertions.
8My right hand holds my winnings fast, and in my left is
victory.
I would that I were winner of cattle and horses, wealth and
gold.
9Dice, give me play that bringeth fruit as 'twere a cow with
flowing milk!
And, as the bowstring binds, the bow, unite me with a stream of
gains.
p. a291
HYMN LI
A prayer for Brihaspati's and Indra's protection
1Brihaspati protect us from the sinner, from rearward, from
above, and from below us!
May Indra from the front and from the centre, as friend to
friends, vouchsafe us room and freedom.
HYMN LII
A prayer for peace and concord
1Give us agreement with our own, with strangers give us unity:
Do ye, O Asvins, in this place join us in sympathy and love.
2May we agree in mind, agree in purpose: let us not fight against
the heavenly spirit.
Around us rise no din of frequent slaughter, nor Indra's arrow
fly, for day is present!
HYMN LIII
A charm to recover a sick man at the point of death
1As thou, Brihaspati, from the curse hast saved us, from dwel-
ling yonder in the realm of Yama,
The Asvins, leeches of the Gods, O Agni, have chased Death
far from us with mighty powers.
2Move both together; do not leave the body. Let both the
breathings stay for thee united.
Waxing in strength live thou a hundred autumns. Thy noblest
guardian and thy lord is Agni. p. a292
3Return, thy life now vanished into distance! Return, the breath
thou drawest and exhalest!
Agni hath snatched it from Destruction's bosom: into thyself
again I introduce it.
4Let not the vital breath he draws forsake him, let not his
expiration part and leave him.
I give him over to the Seven Rishis: let them conduct him to
old age in safety.
5Enter him, both ye breaths, like two draught-oxen entering their
stall.
Let him, the treasure of old age, still wax in strength, uninjured,.
here.
6I send thee back thy vital breath; I drive Consumption far from
thee,
May Agni here, most excellent, sustain our life on every side.
7From out the depth of darkness, we, ascending to the highest
heaven,
Have come to the sublimest light, to Sūrya, God among the.
Gods.
HYMN LIV
A charm to obtain knowledge of the Veda
1We worship holy Verse and Song, by which they carry out their
acts,
Shining in order's seat these twain present the sacrifice to Gods.
2As I have asked about Verse, Song, Sacrifice, strength, force,.
Yajus-text,
So never let this lore that I have sought forsake me, Lord of
Might!
p. a293
HYMN LV
A charm to ensure a prosperous journey
1Thy downward paths from heaven, whereby thou hast raised all
the world to life,
Give us in gracious love, good Lord!
HYMN LVI
A charm against poisonous bites and stings
1Whether it came from viper, from black snake or snake with
transverse stripes,
Or Kankaparvan's bite, this herb hath made the poison power-
less.
2Honey-born, honey-dropping, rich in honey, honeysweet, this
herb,
Is medicine that heals the wound and kills the gnat that bites
and stings.
3Whatever bit, or sucked thy blood, we summon thence away
from thee
The ineffectual poison of the little sharply-stinging gnat.
4Thou here who crookest wicked jaws, thou tortuous, jointless,
limbless thing,
These jaws thou, Brāhmanaspati! shalt bend together like a
reed.
5This scorpion here that creeps along, low on the ground and
powerless— p. a294
I have removed his poison and then utterly demolished him.
6No strength in thy two arms hast thou, nor in thy head, nor in
thy waist:
Then what is that small thing thou so viciously bearest in thy
tail?
7The emmets make a meal of thee and peahens tear and mangle
thee:
All ye are crying out, In sooth the scorpion's poison hath no
strength.
8Thou creature who inflictest wounds both with thy mouth and
with thy tail,
No poison in thy mouth hast thou: what at thy tail's root will
there be?
HYMN LVII
A charm for some physical disorder
1Whatever trouble hath disturbed and shaken me—I speak with
hope, I move, imploring, 'mid the folk
What harm my body in myself hath suffered, now let Sarasvati
relieve with fatness.
2Seven flow for him, the youth on whom the Maruts wait: the
sons have taught the Father everlasting laws.
Both worlds are his: both shine belonging unto him. Both
move together: both, as his possession thrive.
p. a295
HYMN LVIII
An invitation to Indra and Varuna
1True to laws, Indra Varuna, drinkers of the juice, quaff this
pressed Soma which shall give you rapturous joy!
Let sacrifice, your car, to entertain the Gods, approach its rest-
ing-place that they may drink thereof.
2O Indra Varuna, drink your fill, ye heroes, of this effectual and
sweetest Soma.
This juice was shed by us that ye might quaff it. On this trimmed
grass be seated and rejoice you.
HYMN LIX
An imprecation
1Like a tree struck by lightning may the man be withered from
the root.
Who curseth us who curse not him, or, when we curse him.
curseth us.
HYMN LX
A parting traveller's address to the houses of his village
1I, prudent, bringing power, a treasure-winner, with amicable
eye that strikes no terror,
Come, praising and kind-thoughted, to these houses: be not
afraid of me, be glad and joyful.
2Let these delightful Houses that are rich in power and store of
milk,
Replete with wealth and standing firm, become aware of our
approach.
3These Houses we invoke, whereon the distant exile sets his
thought, p. a296
Wherein dwells many a friendly heart: let them beware of our
approach.
4Thus greeted, ye of ample wealth, friends who enjoy delightful
sweets.
Be ever free from hunger, free from thirst! Ye Houses, fear us
not.
5Kind greeting to the cattle here, kind greeting to the goats and
sheep!
Then, of the food within our homes, kind greeting to the plea-
sant drink!
6Full of refreshment, full of charms, of laughter and felicity,
Be ever free from hunger, free from thirst! Ye Houses, fear us
not.
Stay here, and come not after me: prosper in every form and
shape.
With happy fortune will I come! Grow more abundant still
through me!
HYMN LXI
A prayer for sacred knowledge and its fruits
1Since, Agni, with our fervent zeal we undergo austerity,
May we be dear to Sacred Lore, may we be wise and live long
lives.
2Agni, we practise acts austere, we undergo austerity.
So listening to Holy Lore may we grow wise and full of days.
p. a297
HYMN LXII
A prayer for the overthrow of enemies
1Like a car-warrior, Agni here, grown mighty, Lord of the brave,
Chief Priest, hath conquered footmen.
Laid on earth's centre he hath flashed and glittered. Low may
he lay our enemies beneath us.
HYMN LXIII
A prayer for deliverance from affliction
1We call with lauds from his most lofty dwelling victorious Agni,
conqueror in battles.
May he conveyus over all distresses, may the God Agni bear us
past our troubles.
HYMN LXIV
A charm to avert an evil omen
1From all that woe and trouble may the Waters save and rescue
me,
Whate'er the Raven, black of hue, flying out hither ward, hath
dropped.
2May Agni Gārhapatya save and set me free from all this guilt.
Which the black Raven with thy mouth, O Nirriti, hath wiped
away.
p. a298
HYMN LXV
A charm against imprecation and threatened evils
1With retroverted fruit hast thou, O Apāmārga, sprung and
grown.
Hence into distance most remote drive every curse away from,
me.
2Whatever evil we have done, whatever vile or sinful act,
With thee, O Apāmārga, who lookest all ways, we wipe it off.
3If with the cripple we have lived, whose teeth are black and
nails deformed,
With thee, O Apāmārga, we wipe all that ill away from us.
HYMN LXVI
A prayer to Vāk
1If it was in the wind or air's mid-region, if it was in the trees or
in the bushes,
To meet whose utterance forth streamed the cattle, may that.
Celestial Power again approach us.
HYMN LXVII
A priest's prayer to the Agnayo Dhishnyāh
1May sense return to me again, and spirit, return my Sacred
Power and my possessions!
Again let fires, aflame on lesser altars, each duly stationed, here
succeed and prosper.
p. a299
HYMN LXVIII
A prayer for children and prosperity
1Sarasvati, in thy decrees, Goddess, in thy celestial laws,
Accept the offered sacrifice, and, Goddess, grant us progeny.
2Here is, Sarasvati, thy fat libation, this sacrifice passing to the
mouth of Fathers.
These most auspicious offerings have ascended to thee: through,
these may we be full of sweetness.
3Be kind and most auspicious, be gracious to us, Sarasvati, May
we be ever in thy sight.
HYMN LXIX
A prayer for prosperity
1May the wind kindly breathe on us, may the Sun warm us.
pleasantly.
May days pass happily for us, may night draw near delightfully,
may dawn break joyfully for us!
HYMN LXX
A charm to frustrate an enemy's sacrifice
1Whatever sacrifice that man performeth with voice, mind, sacred
formula, oblation,
May, in accord with Death, Destruction ruin his offering before
it gain fulfilment.
2For him may sorcerers, Destruction, demons strike and prevent
fulfilment through their falsehood.
Let Gods, by Indra sent, destroy his butter, and let his sacrifice
be ineffective.
3Let the two Sovrans, swift to come, like falcons swooping on
their prey,
Destroy the butter of the foe whoever plots to injure us.
4I seize thine arms and draw them back, I bind a bandage on thy
mouth.
I with the anger of the God Agni have killed thy sacrifice. p. a300
5Behind thy back I tie thine arms, I bind a bandage on thy
mouth:
With the terrific Agni's wrath have I destroyed thy sacrifice.
HYMN LXXI
In praise of Agni
1We set thee round us as a fort, victorious Agni! thee a sage,
Bold in thy colour day by day, destroyer of the treacherous foe.
HYMN LXXII
An invitation to Indra
1Rise up and look upon the share of Indra fixt by ritual use.
Whether ye poured libation dressed or took delight in it un-
cooked.
2Libation is prepared. Come to us, Indra: the Sun hath travelled
over half his journey.
Friends with their treasures sit around thee, waiting like heads
of houses for their wandering chieftain.
3Dressed in the udder and on fire, I fancy; well dressed, I fancy,
is this new oblation.
Quaff thickened milk of noon's libation, Indra, well pleased, O
Thunderer, famed for many an exploit!
HYMN LXXIII
An invitation to the Asvins
1Inflamed is Agni, Heroes! charioteer of heaven. The caldron
boils: the meath is drained to be your food.
For we, O Asvins, singers sprung from many a house, invite you
to be present at our banquetings. p. a301
2Asvins, the fire is all aglow: your caldron hath been heated;.
come!
Here, even now, O Heroes, are the milch-kine milked. The
priests, ye mighty ones! rejoice.
3Pure with the Gods is sacrifice with cry of Hail! That is the
Asvins' cup whence Gods are wont to drink.
Yea, the Immortal Ones accept it, one and all, and come to kiss
that cup with the Gandharva's mouth.
4Milk, molten butter offered when the mornings break,—this is
your portion, Asvins! Come ye hitherward.
Lords of the brave, balm-lovers, guards of sacrifice, drink ye the
warm libation in the light of heaven.
5Let the warm drink approach you with its Hotar-priest: let the
Adhvaryu come to you with store of milk.
Come, O ye Asvins, taste the meath that hath been drained,
drink of the milk provided by this radiant cow.
6Come hither, quickly come, thou milker of the kine; into the
caldron pour milk of the radiant cow.
Most precious Savitar hath looked upon the heaven. After
Dawn's going-forth he sends his light abroad.
7I invocate this milch-cow good for milking, so that the milker,
deft of hand, may milk her.
May Savitar give goodliest stimulation. The caldron hath been
warmed. Let him proclaim it.
8She, sovran of all treasures, is come hither yearning in spirit for
her calf, and lowing.
May this cow yield her milk for both the Asvins, and may she
prosper to our great advantage.
9As dear house-friend, guest welcome in the dwelling, to this our
sacrifice come thou who knowest.
And, Agni, having scattered all assailants, bring to us the posses-
sions of our foemen.
10Show thyself strong for mighty bliss, O Agni! Most excellent be
thine effulgent splendours!
Make easy to maintain our household lordship, and overcome
the might of those who hate us.
11Fortunate mayst thou be with goodly pasture, and may we also
be exceeding wealthy.
Feed on the grass, O Cow, at every season, and, coming hither,
drink the limpid water.
p. a302
HYMN LXXIV
A charm to cure pustules, sores, or scrofulous swellings (apachitas)
1Black is the mother, we have heard, from whom the red-hued
Pustules sprang.
With the divine ascetic's root I pierce and penetrate them all.
2I pierce the foremost one of these, I perforate the middlemost,
And here I cut the hindermost asunder like a lock of hair.
3With spell that Tvashtar sent to us I have dispelled thy jealousy.
We mitigate and pacify the anger that thou feltest, Lord!
4Lord of religious rites, by law, anointed, shine thou forth here
for ever friendly-minded.
So may we all with children, Jātavedas! worship and humbly
wait on thee enkindled.
HYMN LXXV
A blessing on cows
1Let not a thief or wicked man possess you: let not the dart of
Rudra come anear you,
Prolific, shining in the goodly pasture, drinking at pleasant pools
the limpid water. p. a303
2Ye know the place and rest content, close-gathered, called by
many a name. Come to me, Goddesses, with Gods
Bedew with streams of fatness us, this cattle-pen, and all this
place.
HYMN LXXVI
A charm to cure scrofulous pustules and scrofula
1Rapidly dropping, quick to drop, more evil than the evil ones,
More sapless than a dried-up bone, swifter than salt to melt
away.
2Pustules that rise upon the neck, Pustules upon the shoulder-
joints,
Pustules that, falling of themselves, spring up on every twofold
limb:
3I have expelled and banished all Scrofula harboured in the head,
And that which bores the breast-bone through, and that which
settles in the sole.
4Scrofula flies borne on by wings: it penerates and holds the
man.
Here is the cure of either kind, the chronic and the transient.
5We know thine origin, Scrofula! know whence thou, Scrofula,
art born.
How hast thou then struck this man here, him in whose house
we sacrifice?
6Boldly drink Soma from the beaker, Indra! hero in war for
treasure! Vritra-slayer.
Fill thyself full at the mid-day libation: thyself possessing riches
grant us riches.
p. a304
HYMN LXXVII
An incantation against an enemy
1Ye Maruts, full of fiery heat, accept this offering brought for
you
To help us, ye who slay the foe.
2Maruts, the man who filled with rage against us beyond our
thoughts would harm us, O ye Vasus,
May he be tangled in the toils of Mischief: smite ye him down
with your most flaming weapon.
3Each year come, friends to man, the tuneful Maruts, dwelling in
spacious mansions, trooped together.
Exhilarating, gladdening full of fiery heat, may they deliver us
from binding bonds of sin.
HYMN LXXVIII
A charm for a prince's prosperity
1I free thee from the cord, I loose the bond, I loose the fastening.
Even here, perpetual, Agni, wax thou strong. p. a305
2I with celestial prayer appoint thee, Agni, maintainer of this
man in princely powers.
Here brightly shine for us with wealth: declare thou to Gods
this favoured giver of oblations.
HYMN LXXIX
A hymn to the New Moon
1Night of the New-born Moon, whatever fortune the Gods who
dwell with greatness have assigned thee,
Therewith fulfil our sacrifice, all-baunteous! Blessed One, grant
us wealth with manly offspring.
2I am the New Moon's Night, the good and pious are my in-
habitants, these dwell within me.
In me have Gods of both the spheres, and Sādhyas, with Indra
as their chief, all met together.
3The Night hath come, the gatherer of treasures, bestowing
strength, prosperity, and riches.
To New Moon's Night let us present oblation: pouring out
strength, with milk hath she come hither.
4Night of New Moon! ne'er hath been born another than thou
embracing all these forms and natures,
May we have what we longed for when we brought thee obla-
tions: may we be the lords of riches.
HYMN LXXX
A hymn to the Full Moon
1Full in the front, full rearward, from the middle the Full Moon's
Night hath conquered in the battle.
In her: may we, dwelling with Gods and greatness, feast in the
height of heaven, on strengthening viands. p. a306
2To him, the Full Moon's mighty Bull, we pay our solemn sacri-
fice.
May he bestow upon us wealth unwasting, inexhaustible.
3No one but thou, Prajāpati, none beside thee, pervading, gave
to all these forms their being.
Grant us our hearts' desire when we invoke thee: may we have
store of riches in possession.
4First was the Full Moon meet for adoration among the days and
in the nights' deep darkness.
Into thy heaven, O Holy One, have entered those pious men
who honour thee with worship.
HYMN LXXXI
A hymn to the New Moon
1Forward and backward by their wondrous power move these
two youths, disporting, round the ocean.
One views all living things, and thou, the other, art born again
arranging times and seasons.
2Thou art re-born for ever new: thou marchest, ensign of days,
in forefront of the mornings.
Marching thou dealest to the Gods their portion. Thou lengthe-
nest, Moon! the days of man's existence.
3O spray of Soma, Lord of Wars! all-perfect verily art thou.
Make me all-perfect, Beauteous One! in riches and in progeny.
4Thou art the New Moon, fair to see, thou art complete in every
part.
May I be perfect, fully blest in every way in steeds and kine, in
children, cattle, home, and wealth.
5Inflate thee with his vital breath who hathes us and whom we
detest.
May we grow rich in steeds and kine, in children, cattle, houses,
wealth.
45With that unwasting stalk which Gods, unwasting Gods, in-
crease and eat, p. a307
May Varuna, Brihaspati, and Indra, the Lords and Guardians of
the world, increase us.
HYMN LXXXII
In praise of Agni
1Sing with fair laud the combat for the cattle. Bestow upon us
excellent possessions.
Lead to the Gods the sacrifice we offer: let streams of oil flow
pure and full of sweetness.
2Agni I first appropriate with power, with splendour, and with
might.
I give myself children and lengthened life, with Hail! take Agni
to myself.
3Even here do thou, O Agni, stablish wealth: let not oppressors
injure thee by thinking of thee first.
Light be thy task of ruling, Agni, with, thy power: may he who
worships thee wax strong, invincible.
4Agni hath looked upon the spring of Morning, looked on the
days, the earliest Jātavedas.
So, following the gleams of Morning, Sūrya hath entered heaven
and earth as his possession.
5Agni hath looked upon the spring of Mornings, looked on the
days, the earliest Jātavedas.
So he in countless places hath extended, full against heaven and
earth, the beams of Sūrya. p. a308
6Butter to thee in heaven thy home, O Agni! Manu this day hath
kindled thee with butter.
Let the Celestial Daughters bring thee butter: Let cows pour
butter forth for thee, O Agni.
HYMN LXXXIII
A prayer for deliverance from sin and other evils
1Stablished amid the waters is, King Varuna, thy golden home.
Thence let the Sovran who maintains the statutes loose all bind-
ing cords.
2Hence free thou us, King Varuna, from each successive bond
and tie.
As we have cried, O Varuna! have said, The Waters, they are
kine, thence set us free, O Varuna.
3Loosen the bonds, O Varuna, that hold us, loosen the bond.
above, between, and under.
So before Aditi may we be sinless under thy favouring auspices,
Āditya!
4Varuna, free us from all snares that bind us, Varuna's bonds, the
upper and the lower.
Drive from us evil dream, drive off misfortune: then let us pass
into the world of virtue.
p. a309
HYMN LXXXIV
A prayer for protection
1Holder of sway, shine here refulgent, Agni! invincible immortal
Jātavedas.
With succours friendly to mankind, auspicious, driving away all
maladies, guard our dwelling.
2Thou, Indra, lord and leader of the people, wast born for lovely
strength and high dominion.
Thou dravest off the folk who were unfriendly, and madest for
the Gods wide room and freedom.
3Like a dread wild beast roaming on the mountain, may he.
approach us from the farthest distance.
Whetting thy bolt and thy sharp blade, O Indra, crush down our
foes and scatter those who hate us.
HYMN LXXXV
A charm to ensure victory in battle
1This very mighty one whom Gods urge onward, the conqueror
of cars, ever triumphant,
Swift, fleet to battle, with uninjured fellies, even Tārkshya for
our weal will we call hither.
p. a310
HYMN LXXXVI
The same
1Indra the rescuer, Indra the helper, Indra the brave who hears
each invocation,
Sakra I call, Indra invoked of many. May Indra Maghavan pros-
per and bless us.
HYMN LXXXVII
A prayer to Rudra as Agni
1To Rudra in the fire, to him who dwells in floods, to Rudra who
hath entered into herbs and plants,
To him who formed and fashioned all these worlds, to him this
Rudra, yea, to Agni, reverence be paid!
HYMN LXXXVIII
A charm to cure a snake-bite
1Depart! thou art a foe, a foe. Poison with poison hast thou
mixt, yea, verily poison hast thou mixt.
Go to the serpent: strike him dead.
HYMN LXXXIX
A prayer for purification and prosperity
1The heavenly Waters have I ranged: we have been sated with
their dew. p. a311
Here, Agni, bearing milk, am I. Endow me with the gift of
strength.
2Endow me with the gift of strength, with children, and a length-
ened life.
May the Gods mark this prayer of mine, may Indra with the
Rishis mark.
3Ye Waters, wash away this stain and whatsoever taint be here,
Each sinful wrong that I have done and every harmless curse
of mine.
4Thou art the wood, may I succeed! fuel, may I be glorified!
splendour, give splendour unto me.
HYMN XC
A charm against a rival in love
1Tear thou asunder, as of old, like tangles of a creeping plant.
Demolish thou the Dāsa's might.
2May we with Indra's help divide the gathered treasure of the
foe.
I, by the law of Varuna, bring down thy pride and wantonness.
3Ut virga abeat et feminis innocua fiat, (virga) membri humidi,
membri quod verberat penetratque, id quod tentum est laxa,
id quod sursum tentum est deorsum tende.
HYMN XCI
A Prayer for protection
1May Indra with his help, Lord of all treasures, be unto us a
careful protector.
Drive off our foes and give us peace and safety. May we be lords
of goodly store of heroes.
p. a312
HYMN XCII
A Prayer for protection
1May this rich Indra as our good protector keep even far away
the men who hate us.
May we enjoy his favour, his the holy: may we enjoy his
blessed loving-kindness.
HYMN XCIII
A prayer for success in battle
1With Indra's and with Manyu's aid may we subdue our enemies,
resistlessly destroying foes.
HYMN XCIV
A charm to ensure the obedience of subjects
1We laid the constant Soma on with constant sacrificial gift,
That Indra may make all the tribes unanimous and only ours.
HYMN XCV
An incantation against an undetected thief
1To heaven, as 'twere, have soared this man's two vultures,
staggering, dusky hued.
The Parcher and the Drier-up, the pair who parch and dry his
heart.
2I verily have stirred them up like oxen resting after toil.
Like two loud-snarling curs, or like two wolves who watch to
make their spring:
3Like two that thrust, like two that pierce, like two that strike
with mutual blows.
I bind the conduit of the man or dame who hence hath taken
aught.
p. a313
HYMN XCVI
An incantation against an undetected thief
1The kine are resting in the stall, home to her nest hath flown
the bird,
The hills are firmly rooted: I have fixed the kidneys in their
place.
HYMN XCVII
Sacrificial formulas
1As we have here elected thee, skilled Hotar! to-day as this our
sacrifice proceedeth,
Come to the firm place, mightiest! yea, come firmly. Knowing
the sacrifice, approach the Soma.
2With kine connect us, and with spirit, Indra! Lord of Bay
Steeds, with princes and with favour,
With the God-destined portion of the Brāhmans,
and the good-will of Gods who merit worship.
3The willing Gods whom, God, thou hast brought hither, send
thou to their own dwelling-place, O Agni.
When ye have eaten and have drunk sweet juices, endow this
man with precious wealth, ye Vasus.
4Gods, we have made your seats of easy access, who, pleased
with me, have come to my libation.
Bearing and bringing hitherward your treasures, after the rich
warm beverage mount to heaven.
5Go to the sacrifiee, go to its master, Sacrifice! To thy birth-
place go with Svāhā. p. a314
6This is thy sacrifice with hole hymnal, Lord of the Rite, Svāhā!
and fraught with vigour.
7Vashat to paid and yet unpaid oblations! Ye Gods who know
the way, find and pursue it!
8Lord of the Mind, lay this our sacrifice in heaven among the
Gods. Svāhā in heaven! Svāhā on earth!
Svāhā in air! In wind have I paid offerings. Hail!
HYMN XCVIII
Anointing the sacred grass
1Balmed is the Grass with butter and libation, with Indra.
gracious Lord, and with the Maruts.
Hail! let the sacrifice go forth anointed to Indra with the Gods
and Visve Devas.
HYMN XCIX
The preparation of the altar
1Strew thou the Grass, and spread it on the Altar: rob not the
sister who is lying yonder.
The Hotar's seat is green and golden: these are gold necklets.
in the plaee of him who worships.
p. a315
HYMN C
A charm against nightmare
1I turn away from evil dream, from dream of sin, from indigence.
I make the prayer mine inmost friend. Hence! torturing.
dreamy phantasies!
HYMN CI
The same
1The food that in a dream I eat is not perceived at early morn.
May all that food be blest to me because it is not seen by day.
HYMN CII
A charm to obtain pardon for an indecent act
1When I have worshipped Heaven and Earth, reverenced Firma-
ment and Death,
I will make water standing up. Let not the Sovrans injure me.
HYMN CIII
The cry of an unemployed priest
1What princely warrior, seeking higher fortune, will free us from
this shameful fiend of mischief?
What friend of sacrifice? What guerdon-lover? Who winneth:
'mid the Gods a long existence?
p. a316
HYMN CIV
A prayer for prosperity
1Who will prepare the dappled Cow, good milker, ne'er without
calf, whom Varuna gave Atharvan,
And, joying in Brihaspati's alliance, arrange according to his will
her body?
HYMN CV
An initiation formula
1Leaving humanity behind, making the heavenly word thy choice,
With all thy friends address thyself to furthering and guiding
men.
HYMN CVI
A prayer for pardon of sin
1Each thoughtless ill that we have done, O Agni, all error in our
conduct, Jātavedas!
Therefrom do thou, O sapient God, preserve us. May we thy
friends, for bliss, have life eternal.
HYMN CVII
A charm against Cough
1The seven bright beams of Surya bring the waters downward
from the sky,
The streams of ocean: these have made the sting that pained
thee drop away.
p. a317
HYMN CVIII
A prayer for protection
1Whoso by stealth or openly would harm us, a friend who knows
us, or a stranger, Agni!
May the strange she-fiend armed with teeth attack them: O
Agni, theirs be neither home nor children!
2Whoso oppresseth us O Jātavedas, asleep or waking, standing
still or moving.
Accordant with Vaisvānara thy comrade, O Jātavedas, meet
them and consume them.
HYMN CIX
A prayer for success in gambling
1My homage to the strong, the brown, the sovran lord among
the dice!
Butter on Kali I bestow: may he be kind to one like me.
2Bear butter to the Apsarases, O Agni, and to the Dice bear dust
and sand and water.
The Gods delight in both oblations, joying in sacrificial gifts
apportioned duly.
3The Apsarases take pleasure in the banquet between the Sun and.
the libation-holder.
With butter let them fill my hands, and give me, to be my prey,
the man who plays against me.
4Evil be mine opponent's luck! Sprinkle thou butter over us.
Strike, as a tree with lightning flash, mine adversary in the game.
5The God who found for us this wealth for gambling, to cast the
dice and count the winning number,
May he accept the sacrifice we offer, and with Gandharvas revel
in the banquet.
6Fellow-inhabitants, such is your title, for Dice with looks of
power support dominion. p. a318
As such with offerings may we serve you, Indus! May we have
riches in our own possession.
7As I invoke the Gods at need, as I have lived in chastity,
May these, when I have grasped the Dice, the brown, be kind to
one like me.
HYMN CX
A prayer for success in battle
1Resistless, Agni, Indra, smite his foemen for the worshipper,
For best foe-slayers are ye both.
2Agni I call, and Indra, foe-destroyers, swift moving, heroes,
Gods who wield the thunder,
Through whom they won the light in the beginning, these who
have made all worlds their habitation.
3The God Brihaspati hath won thy friendly favour with the cup.
With hymns, O Indra, enter us for the juice-pouring worshipper.
HYMN CXI
A prayer for offspring
1Belly of Indra art thou, Soma-holder! the very soul of Gods
and human beings.
Here be the sire of offspring, thine here present! Here be they
glad in thee who now are elsewhere.
p. a319
HYMN CXII
A prayer for protection and freedom from sin
1Radiant with light are Heaven and Earth, whose grace is nigh,
whose sway is vast.
Seven Goddesses have flowed to us: may they deliver us from
woe;
2Release me from the curse's bond and plague that comes from
Varuna;
Free me from Yama's fetter and from every sin against the
Gods.
HYMN CXIII
A woman's incantation against a rival
1Rough Plant, thou rough rude parasite, cut thou that man, O
Rough and Rude,
That thou mayst hinder from his act that man in all his manly
strength.
2Thou, rugged Plant, art rude and rough, Vishā, Vishātaki art
thou.
That thou mayest be cast off by him, as by a bull a barren cow.
p. a320
HYMN CXIV
A woman's incantation against a rival
1I have extracted from thy sides, I have extracted from thy heart,
I have extracted from thy face the strength and splendour that
were thine.
2Let pain and suffering pass away, let cares and curses vanish.
hence.
Let Agni slay the fiendish hags, Soma kill bags who trouble us.
HYMN CXV
A charm against Misfortune
1Hence. Evil Fortune! fly away, vanish from this place and from
that.
We fix thee with an iron hook unto the man who hateth us.
2Granting us riches, Savitar! golden-banded, send thou away
from us to other regions
That Fortune who, flying, abominable, hath, as a creeper climbs•
a tree, assailed me.
3One and a hundred Fortunes all together are at his birth born
with a mortal's body.
Of these we send away the most unlucky: keep lucky ones for
us, O Jātavedas.
4I have disparted these and those like cows who stray on common
land.
Here let auspicious Fortunes stay: hence have I banished evil
ones.
p. a321
HYMN CXVI
A charm against Fever
1Homage to him the burning one, shaker, exciter, violent!
Homage to him the cold who acts according to his ancient will!
2May he, the lawless one, who comes alternate or two following
days, pass over and possess the frog.
HYMN CXVII
A charm to ensure prosperity
1Come hither, Indra, with bay steeds, joyous, with tails like pea-
cock plumes.
Let none impede thy way as fowlers stay the bird: pass o'er
them as o'er desert lands.
HYMN CXVIII
A benediction on a warrior
1Thy vital parts I cover with thine armour: with immortality
King Soma clothe thee!
Varuna give thee what is more than ample, and in thy triumph
let the Gods be joyful.
The Hymns of the Atharva Veda, books 1 to 7. 1896. Hermetic Cloud, https://hermeticcloud.com/library/griffith-atharva-veda-1/. Public-domain text reproduced in full; markup only.