p. a322
BOOK VIII
HYMN I
A charm to recover a dying man
1Homage to Death the Ender! May thy breathings, inward and
outward, still remain within thee.
Here stay this man united with his spirit in the Sun's realm, the
world of life eternal!
2Bhaga hath lifted up this man, and Soma with his filaments,
Indra and Agni, and the Gods the Maruts, raised him up to
health.
3Here is thy spirit, here thy breath, here is thy life, here is thy
soul:
By a celestial utterance we raise thee from Destruction's bonds.
4Up from this place, O man, rise! sink not downward, casting
away the bonds of Death that hold thee.
Be not thou parted from this world, from sight of Agni and the
Sun.
5Purely for thee breathe Wind and Mātarisvan, and let the
Waters rain on thee their nectar.
The Sun shall shine with healing on thy body; Death shall have
mercy on thee: do not leave us!
6Upward must be thy way, O man, not downward: with life and
mental vigour I endow thee.
Ascend this car eternal, lightly rolling; then full of years shalt
thou address the meeting.
7Let not thy soul go thither, nor be lost to us: slight not the
living, go not where the Fathers are.
Let all the Gods retain thee here in safety.
8Yearn not for the departed ones, for those who lead men far
away.
Rise up from darkness into light: come, both thy hands we
clasp in ours.
9Let not the black dog and the brindled seize thee, two warders
of the way sent forth by Yama.
Come hither; do not hesitate: with mind averted stay not there. p. a323
10Forbear to tread this path, for it is awful: that path I speak of
which thou hast not travelled.
Enter it not, O man; this way is darkness: forward is danger,
hitherward is safety.
11Thy guardians be the Fires within the Waters, thy guardian be
the Fire which men enkindle.
Thy guardian be Vaisvānara Jātavedas; let not celestial Fire with
lightning burn thee.
12Let not the Flesh-Consumer plot against thee: depart thou far
away from the Destroyer.
Be Heaven and Earth and Sun and Moon thy keepers, and from
the dart of Gods may Air protect thee.
13May Vigilance and Watchfulness protect thee, Sleepless and
Slumberless keep guard above thee!
Let Guardian and let Wakeful be thy warders.
14Let these be thy preservers, these thy keepers. All hail to these,
to these be lowly worship!
15May saving Savitar, Vāyu, Indra, Dhātar restore thee to com-
munion with the living.
Let not thy vigour or thy breath forsake thee: we recall thy life.
16Let not the fiend with snapping jaws, nor darkness find thee:
tongue, holy grass: how shouldst thou perish?
May the Ādityas and the Vasus, Indra and Agni raise thee and
to health restore thee.
17The Sky hath raised thee, and the Earth, Prajāpati hath raised
thee up.
The Plants and Herbs with Soma as their King have rescued
thee from Death.
18Here let this man, O Gods, remain: let him not go to yonder
world.
We rescue him from Mrityu with a charm that hath a thousand
powers.
19I have delivered thee from Death. Strength-givers smelt and
fashion thee!
Let not she-fiends with wild loose locks, or fearful howlers yell
at thee.
20I have attained and captured thee: thou hast returned restored
to youth.
Perfect in body: so have I found all thy sight and all thy life. p. a324
21Life hath breathed on thee; light hath come: darkness hath past
away from thee.
Far from thee we have buried Death, buried Destruction and:
Decline.
HYMN II
The same
1Seize to thyself this trust of life for ever: thine be longevity
which nothing shortens.
Thy spirit and thy life again I bring thee: die not, nor vanish
into mist and darkness.
2Come to the light of living men, come hither: I draw thee to a
life of hundred autumns.
Loosing the bonds of Death, the curse that holds thee, I give thee
age of very long duration.
3Thy breath have I recovered from the Wind, thy vision from the
Sun.
Thy mind I stablish and secure within thee: feel in thy members,.
use thy tongue, conversing.
4I blow upon thee with the breath of bipeds and quadrupeds, as
on a fire new-kindled.
To thee, O Death, and to thy sight and breath have I paid
reverence.
5Let this man live, let him not die: we raise him, we recover him.
I make for him a healing balm. O Death, forbear to slay this
man. p. a325
6Here for sound health I invocate a living animating plant,
Preserving, queller of disease, victorious, full of power and
might.
7Seize him not, but encourage and release him: here let him stay,
though thine, in all his vigour.
Bhava and Sarva, pity and protect him: give him full life and
drive away misfortunes.
8Comfort him, Death, and pity him: let him arise and pass away,
Unharmed, with all his members, hearing well, with old, may he
through hundred years win profit with his soul.
9May the Gods' missile pass thee by. I bring thee safe from the
mist: from death have I preserved thee.
Far have I banished flesh-consuming Agni: I place a rampart
for thy life's protection.
10Saving him from that misty path of thine which cannot be
defined.
From that descent of thine, O Death, we make for him a shield
of prayer.
11I give thee both the acts of breath, health, lengthened life, and
death by age.
All Yama's messengers who roam around, sent by Vaivasvata,
I chase away.
12Far off we drive Malignity, Destruction, Pisāchas banqueters on
flesh, and Grāhi.
And all the demon kind, the brood of sin, like darkness, we
dispel.
13I win thy life from Agni, from the living everlasting Jātavedas.
This I procure for thee, that thou, undying, mayst not suffer
harm, that thou mayst be content, that all be well with thee.
14Gracious to thee be Heaven and Earth, bringing no grief, and
drawing nigh!
Pleasantly shine the Sun for thee, the Wind blow sweetly to
thy heart!
Let the celestial Waters full of milk flow happily for thee.
15Auspicious be the Plants to thee! I have upraised thee, borne
thee from the lower to the upper earth:
Let the two Sons of Aditi, the Sun and Moon, protect thee there.
16Whatever robe to cover thee or zone thou makest for thyself,
We make it pleasant to thy frame: may it be soft and smooth
to touch. p. a326
17When, with a very keen and cleasing razor, our hair and beards
thou shavest as a barber,
Smoothing our face steal not our vital forces.
18Auspicious unto thee be rice and barley, causing no painful sick-
ness or consumption, these deliver from calamity.
19Thy food, thy drink, whate'er they be corn grown by cultivation,
milk,
Food eatable, uneatable, I make all poisonless for thee.
20We give thee over as a charge to Day and Night, in trust to
both.
Keep him for me from stingy fiends, from those who fain would
feed on him.
21A hundred, yea, ten thousand years we give thee, ages two,
three, four.
May Indra, Agni, all the Gods, with willing favour look on thee.
22To Autumn we deliver thee, to Winter, Spring and Summer's
care.
We trust thee with auspicious years wherein the plants and herbs
grow up.
23Death is the lord of bipeds, Death is sovran lord of quadrupeds.
Away I bear thee from that: Death the ruler: be not thou
afraid.
24Thou, still uninjured, shalt not die: be not afraid; thou shalt
not die.
Here where I am men do not die or go to lowest depths of
gloom.
25Here verily all creatures live, the cow, the horse, the man, the
beast,
Here where this holy prayer is used, a rampart that protecteth
life.
Let it preserve thee from thy peers, from incantation, from thy
friends.
26Live very long, be healthy, be immortal: let not the vital breath
forsake thy body.
27One and a hundred modes of death, dangers that may be over-
come,
May Gods deliver thee from this when Agni, dear to all men,
bids.
28Body of Agni prompt to save, slayer of fiends and foes art thou,
Yea, banisher of malady, the healing balm called Pūtudru.
p. a327
HYMN III
A prayer for the destruction of demons
1I balm with oil the mighty demon-slayer, to the most famous
friend I come for shelter.
Enkindled, sharpened by our rites, may Agni protect us in the
day and night from evil.
2O Jātavedas, armed with teeth of iron, enkindled with thy flame,
attack the demons.
Seize with thy tongue the foolish gods' adorers: rend, put with-
in thy mouth the raw-flesh-eaters.
3Apply thy teeth, the upper and the lower, thou who hast both,
enkindled and destroying.
Roam also in the air, O King, around us, and with thy jaws
assail the wicked spirits.
4Pierce through the Yātudhāna's skin, O Agni; let the destroying
dart with fire consume him.
Rend his joints, Jātavedas! let the eater of raw flesh, seeking
flesh, tear and destroy him.
5Where now thou seest, Agni Jātavedas! a Yātudhāna, standing
still or roaming.
Or one that flieth through the air's mid-region, kindled to fury
as an archer pierce him. p. a328
6Bending thy shafts through sacrifices, Agni! dipping thine
arrows in the hymn to point them,
Pierce to the heart therewith the Yātudhānas, and break their
arms uplifted to attack thee.
7Rescue the captives also, Jātavedas! yea, those whom Yātudhā-
nas' spears have captured.
Strike down that fiend, blazing before him, Agni! Let spotted
carrion-eating kites devour him.
8Here tell this forth, O Agni: whosoever is, he himself, or acteth
as, a demon,
Grasp him, O thou most youthful, with thy fuel: to the Man-
Seer's eye give him as booty.
9With keen glance guard the sacrifice, O Agni: thou Sage, con-
duct it onward to the Vasus.
Let not the fiends, O Man-Beholder, harm thee burning against
the Rākshasas to slay them.
10Look on the fiend, 'mid men, as Man-Beholder: rend thou his
three extremities in pieces.
Demolish with thy flame his ribs, O Agni: the Yātudhāna's
root destroy thou triply.
11Thrice, Agni, let thy noose surround the demon who with his
falsehood injures holy Order.
Loud roaring with thy flame, Jātavedas, fetter him in the pre-
sense of the singer.
12Agni, what curse the pair this day may utter, what rude rough
word the worshippers have spoken,
Each arrowy taunt sped from the angry spirit,—pierce to the
heart therewith the Yātudhānas.
13With fervent heat exterminate the demons: destroy the fiends
with glow and flame, O Agni.
Destroy with fire the foolish gods' adorers: destroy the insatiate
fiercely-burning creatures.
14May Gods destroy to-day the evil-doer: may uttered curses turn
again and strike him.
Let arrows pierce the liar in his vitals, and Visva's net enclose
the Yātudhāna.
15The fiend who smears himself with flesh of cattle, with flesh of
horses and of human bodies,
Who steals the milch-cow's milk away, O Agni,—tear off the
heads of such with fiery fury. p. a329
16Let the fiends steal the poison of the cattle: may Aditi cast off
the evil-doers.
May the God Savitar give them up to ruin, and be their share
of herbs and plants denied them.
17The cow gives milk each year, O Man-Beholder: let not the
Yātudhāna ever taste it.
Agni, if one should glut him with the biestings, pierce with thy
flame his vitals as he meets thee.
18Agni, from days of old thou slayest demons: never have
Rākshasas in fight o'ercome thee.
Burn up the foolish ones, the flesh-devourers: let none of them
escape thy heavenly arrow.
19Guard us, O Agni, from above and under, protect us from be-
hind and from before us;
And may thy flames, most fierce and never wasting, glowing
with fervent heat, consume the sinner.
20From rear, from front, from under, from above us, Agni, pro-
tect us as a sage with wisdom.
Guard to old age thy friend as friend eternal: O Agni, as im-
mortal, guard us mortals.
21Lend thou the worshipper that eye, O Agni, where with thou
lookest on the hoof-armed demons.
With light celestial in Atharvan's manner burn up the fool who
ruins truth with falsehood.
22We set thee round us as a fort, victorious Agni! thee, a sage,
In conquering colour day by day, destroyer of the treacherous
foe.
23With deadly poison strike thou back the treacherous brood of
Rākshasas,
O Agni, with thy sharpened glow, with rays that flash with
points of flame.
24Agni shines far and wide with lofty splendour, and by his great-
ness makes all things apparent.
He conquers godless and malign enchantments, and sharpens
both his horns to gore the ogres.
25Thy two unwasting horns, O Jātavedas, keen-pointed weapons,
sharpened by devotion
With these transfix the wicked-souled Kimidin, with fierce flame,
Jātavedas! when he meets thee. p. a330
26Bright, radiant, meet to be adored, immortal with refulgent
glow,
Agni drives Rākshasas away.
HYMN IV
Imprecations on demons
1Indra and Soma, burn, destroy the demon foe! Send downward,
O ye Bulls, those who add gloom to gloom.
Annihilate the fools, slay them and burn them up: chase them
away from us, pierce the voracious fiends. p. a331
2Let sin, Indra and Soma! round the wicked boil, like as a cald-
ron set amid the flames of fire.
Against the foe of prayer, eater of gory flesh, the fearful-eyed
Kimidin, keep perpetual hate.
3Indra and Soma, plunge the wicked in the depth, yea, cast them
into darkness that hath no support,
So that not one of them may ever thence return: so may your
wrathful might prevail and conquer them.
4Indra and Soma, hurl your deadly crushing bolt down on the
wicked fiend from heaven and from the earth.
Yea, fashion from the big clouds your celestial dart wherewith
ye burn to death the waxing demon race.
5Indra and Soma, cast ye downward from the sky your deadly
bolts of stone burning with fiery flame,
Eternal, scorching darts. Plunge the voracious fiends within the
depth, and let them pass without a sound.
6Indra and Soma, let this hymn control you both, even as the
girth encompasses two vigorous steeds
The song of praise which I with wisdom offer you. Do ye, as
Lords of men, animate these my prayers.
7In your impetuous manner think ye both thereon: destroy those
evil spirits, kill the treacherous fiends.
Indra and Soma, let the wicked have no bliss whoso at any time-
attacks and injures us.
8Whoso accuses me with words of falsehood when I pursue my
way with guileless spirit,
May he, the speaker of untruth, be, Indra! like water which the
hollowed hand compresses.
9Those who destroy, as is their wont, the simple, and with their
evil natures harm the righteous,
May Soma give them over to the serpent, or to the lap of
Nirriti consign them.
10O Agni, whosoever seeks to injure the essence of our food, kine,
steeds, or bodies,
May he, the adversary, thief, and robber, sink to destruction,.
both himself and offspring.
11May he be swept away, himself and children; may all the three
earths press him down beneath them.
May his fair glory, O ye Gods, be blighted, who in the day or
night would fain destroy us. p. a332
12The prudent finds it easy to distinguish the true and false: their
words oppose each other.
Of these two that which is the true and honest Soma protects,
and brings the false to nothing.
13Never doth Soma aid and guide the wicked or him who falsely
claims the Warrior's title.
He slays the fiend and him who speaks untruly: both lie entan-
gled in the noose of Indra.
14As if I worshipped deities of falsehood, or thought vain thoughts
about the Gods, O Agni!
Why art thou angry with us, Jātavedas? Destruction fall on
those who lie against thee!
15So may I die this day if I have harassed any man's life, or if I
be a demon.
Yea, may he lose all his ten sons together who with false tongue
hath called me Yātudhāna.
16May Indra slay him with a mighty weapon, and let the vilest of
all creatures perish,
The fiend who says that he is pure, who calls me a demon
though devoid of demon nature.
17She too who wanders like an owl at night-time, hiding her body
in her guile and malice,
May she fall downward into endless caverns. May press-stones
with loud ring destroy the demons.
18Spread out, ye Maruts, search among the people: seize ye and
grind the Rākshasas to pieces,
Who fly abroad, transformed to birds, at night-time, and sully
and pollute our holy worship.
19Hurl down from heaven thy bolt of stone, O Indra: sharpen it,
Maghavan, made keen by Soma.
Forward, behind, and from above and under, smite down the
demons with thy rocky weapon.
20They fly, the demon dogs, and, bent on mischief, fain would they
harm indomitable Indra.
Sakra makes sharp his weapon for the wicked: now let him
cast his bolt at fiendish wizards.
21Indra hath ever been the fiends' destroyer who spoil oblations of
the Gods' invokers.
Yea, Sakra, like an axe that splits the timber, assails and sma-
shes them like earthen vessels. p. a333
22Destroy the fiend shaped like an owl or owlet, destroy him in.
the form of dog or cuckoo.
Destroy him shaped as eagle or as vulture: as with a stone, O
Indra, crush the demon.
23Let not the fiend of witchcraft-workers reach us: may Dawn.
drive off the couples of Kimidins.
Earth keep us safe from earthly woe and trouble! From grief
that comes from heaven Mid-air preserve us!
24Indra destroy the demon, male and female, joying and triumph-
ing in arts of magic!
Let the fools' gods with bent necks fall and perish, and see no.
more the Sun when he arises.
25Look, each one, hither, look around. Indra and Soma, watch ye
well.
Cast forth your weapon at the fiends: against the sorcerers hurl
your bolt.
p. a334
HYMN V
A charm accompanying investiture with an amulet
1Upon the strong is bound the strong, this magic cord, this Amu-
let,
Potent, foe-slayer, served by valiant heroes, happy and fortu-
nate defence.
2This Charm, foe-slayer, served by many heroes, strong, power-
ful, victorious, and mighty, goes bravely forth to meet and
ruin witchcraft.
3With this same Amulet wise Indra routed the Asuras, with this
he slaughtered Vritra,
With this he won this pair, both Earth and Heaven, and made
the sky's four regions his possession.
4May this encircling magic cord, this Amulet of Srāktya wood,
Mighty, subduing enemies, keep us secure on every side.
5This Agni hath declared, Soma declared it, Brihaspati, and
Savitar, and Indra.
So may these Gods whom I have set before me oppose with
saving charms and banish witchcraft.
6I have obscured the heaven and earth, yea, and the daylight and
the sun.
So may these Gods whom I have set before me oppose with
saving charms and banish witchcraft.
7Whoever for his armour takes an amulet of the Srāktya tree,
Like the Sun risen up to heaven, quells witchcraft with superior
might.
8With Amulet of Srāktya wood, as with a thoughtful Rishi's aid,
In every fight have I prevailed; I smite the foes and Rākshasas.
9All witchcraft of Angirases,"all witchcraft wrought by Asuras,
All witchcraft self-originate, and all that others have prepared,
May these depart to both remotest spaces, past ninety ample
water-floods.
10May the Gods bind the Charm on him for armour, Indra, and
Vishnu, Savitar Rudra, Agni,
Prajāpati, sublimest Parameshlhin, Virāj, Vaisvānara, and all
the Rishis.
11Thou art the chief of all the plants, even as a bull among the
beasts. p. a335
A tiger of the beasts of prey. Him whom we sought for have we
found, him lying near in wait for us.
12A tiger verily is he, he is a lion, and a bull,
Subduer of his foes is he, the man who wears this Amulet.
13No mortal beings slay him, no Gāndharvas, no Apsarases;
O'er all the regions he is king, the man who wears this Amulet.
14Kasyapa formed and fashioned thee, Kasyapa raised and sent
thee forth.
Indra wore thee, and, wearing thee, won in the wrestling-match
with man.
The Amulet of boundless might the Gods have made a coat of
mail.
15Whoever would destroy thee with Dikshā-rites, sacrifices, spells,
Meet him and smite him, Indra! with thy hundred-knotted
thunderbolt.
16Verily let this Amulet, circular, potent, conquering,
Happy and fortunate defence, preserve thy children and thy
wealth.
17Brave Indra, set before us light, peace and security from below,
Peace and security from above, peace and security from behind.
18My coat of mail is Heaven and Earth, my coat of mail is Day
and Sun:
A coat of mail may Indra and Agni and Dhātar grant to me.
19Not all the Gods may pierce, all leagued together, the vast
strong shield which Indra gives, and Agni.
May that great shield on all sides guard my body, that to full
old my life may be extended.
20Let the Gods' Charm be bound on me to keep me safe from
every ill.
Come ye and enter all within this pillar, the safe-guard of the
body, thrice-defended.
21In this let Indra lay a store of valour: approach ye Gods, and
enter it together,
For his long life, to last a hundred autumns, that to full age his
days may be extended.
22Lord of the clan who brings, us bliss, fiend-slayer, queller of the
foe,
May he, the conqueror, ne'er subdued, may Indra bind the
Charm on thee, p. a336
Bull, Soma-drinker, he who gives us peace.
May he protect thee round about, by night and day on every,
side.
HYMN VI
A charm to exercise evil spirits who beset women
1Let neither fiend of evil name, Alinsa, Vatsapa, desire
Thy pair of husband-wooers which thy mother cleansed when,
thou wast born.
2Palala, Anupalala, Sarku, Koka, Malimlucha, Palijaka Vavri-
vāsas and Asresha, Rikshagriva and Pramilin.
3Approach not, come not hitherward: creep not thou in-between
her thighs.
I set, to guard her, Baja, that which chases him of evil name. p. a337
4Durnāmā and Sunāmā both are eager to converse with her.
We drive away Arāyas: let Sunāmā seek the women-folk,
5The black and hairy Asura, and Stambaja and Tundika,
Arāyas from this girl we drive, from bosom, waist, and parts
below.
6Sniffer, and Feeler, him who eats raw flesh, and him who licks
his lips,
Arāyas with the tails of dogs, the yellow Baja hath destroyed.
7Whoever, in thy brother's shape or father's comes to thee in
sleep,
Let Baja rout and chase them like eunuchs with woman's head-
dress on.
8Whoever steals to thee asleep or thinks to harm thee when
awake,—
These hath it banished, as the Sun travelling round drives shade
away.
9Whoever causeth her to lose her child or bear untimely fruit,—
Destroy him, O thou Plant, destroy the slippery fiend who lusts
for her.
10Those who at evening, with the bray of asses, dance around the
house, Kukshilas, and Kusfilas, and Kakubhas, Srimas,
Karumas,
These with thine odour, O thou Plant, drive far away to every
side.
11Kukundhas and Kukūrabhas who dress themselves in hides and
skins,
Who dance about like eunuchs, who raise a wild clamour in the
wood, all these we banish far away.
12All those who cannot bear the Sun who warms us yonder from
the sky,
Arāyas with the smell of goats, malodorous, with bloody mouths,
the Makakas we drive afar.
13All those who on their shoulders bear a head of monstrous
magnitude,
Who pierce the women's loins with pain,—those demons, Indra
drive away!
14Those, bearing horns upon their hands, who first of all approach
the brides;
Standing in ovens, laughing loud, those who in bushes flash forth
light, all these we banish hence away. p. a338
15Those who have retroverted toes, and heels and faces in the
front,
Khalajas, Sakadhūmajas, Urundas, all the Matmatas, impotent
Kumbhamushkas, these,
Drive thou, O Brāhmanaspati, far from this girl with vigilance.
16Sightless and with distorted eyes, impotent. woman less be they.
O Healing Plant, cast each away who, not her husband, would
approach this woman wedded to her lord.
17The Bristly-haired, the Maniac-haired, the Biter, and the
Groper-fiend,
The Creeper-near, the Copper-hued, the Snouty, and the Saluda,
With foot and heel kick over, as a hasty cow her milking-pan.
18If one should touch thy coming babe or kill thine infant newly
born,
The yellow Plant with mighty bow shall pierce him even to the
heart.
19Those who kill infants unawares, and near the new-made mothers
lie,
Let Pinga chase the amorous Gandharvas as wind chases cloud.
20Let it maintain the genial seed: let the laid embryo rest secure.
Let both strong Healers, to be worn within the girdle, guard the
babe.
21From the Kimīdin, for thy lord and children, Pinga shield thee
well,
From Sāyaka, and Nagnaka, Tangalva, and Pavīnasa.
22From the five-footed, fingerless, from the four-eyed, the double-
faced,
From the Close-creeper, from the Worm, from the Quick-roller
guard her well.
23Those who eat flesh uncooked, and those who eat the bleeding
flesh of men,
Feeders on babes unborn, long-haired, far from this place we
banish these.
24Shy slinkers from the Sun, as slinks a woman from her husband's
sire,
Deep down into the heart of these let Baja and let Pinga pierce.
25Pinga, preserve the babe at birth, make not the boy a female
child.
Let not Egg-eaters mar the germs: drive the Kimidins far away. p. a339
26Sterility, and infants' death, and weeping that announceth
woe,
Dear! lay them on the fiend as thou wouldst pluck a garland
from a tree.
p. a340
HYMN VII
A charm to restore a sick man to health
1The tawny-coloured, and the pale, the variegated and the red,
The dusky-tinted, and the black,—all Plants we summon hither-
ward.
2This man let them deliver from Consumption which the Gods
have sent.
The father of these Herbs was Heaven, their mother Earth, the
Sea their root.
3The Waters are the best, and heavenly Plants.
From every limb of thine have they removed Consumption
caused by sin.
4I speak to Healing Herbs spreading, and bushy, to creepers, and
to those whose sheath is single,
I call for thee the fibrous and the reed-like, and branching.
Plants, dear to the Visve Devas, powerful, giving life to men.
5The conquering strength, the power and might which ye, victo-
rious Plants, possess,
Therewith deliver this man here from this Consumption, O ye
Plants: so I prepare the remedy.
6The living Plant that giveth life, that driveth malady away,
Arundhatr, the rescuer, strengthening, rich a sweets I call, to free
this man from scath and harm.
7Hitherward let the sapient come, the friendly sharers o f my
speech. p. a341
That we may give this man relief and raise him from his evil
plight.
8Germ of the Waters, Agni's food, Plants ever growing fresh and
new,
Sure, healing, bearing thousand names, let them be all collected
here.
9Let Plants whose soul is water, girt with Avakās, piercing with
their sharp horns expel the malady.
10Strong, antidotes of poison, those releasers, free from Varuna,
And those that drive away Catarrh, and those that frustrate
magic arts, let all those Plants come hitherward.
11Let purchased Plants of mightier power, Plants that are praised
for excellence.
Here in this village safely keep cattle and horses, man and beast.
12Sweet is their root, sweet are these Plants' top branches, sweet
also is their intermediate portion;
Sweet is their foliage, and sweet their blossom, combined with
sweetness is their taste of Amrit: food, fatness let them yield,
with kine preceding.
13These Plants that grow upon the earth, whate'er their number
and their size,
Let these with all their thousand leaves free me from Death and
misery.
14May the Plants' Tiger-amulet, protective, guardian from the
curse,
Beat off the brood of demons, drive all maladies afar from us.
15Before the gathered Plants they fly and scatter, as though a lion's
roar or fire dismayed them.
Expelled by Plants, let men's and kine's Consumption pass from
us to the navigable rivers.
16Emancipated from the sway of Agni, of Vaisvānara, go, covering
the earth, ye Plants whose ruler is Vanaspati.
17May these be pleasant to our heart, auspicious, rich in store of
milk,
These Plants of the Angirases which grow on mountains and on
plains.
18The Plants I know myself, the plants that with mine eye I look
upon,
Plants yet unknown, and those we know, wherein we find that
power is stored, p. a342
19Let all the congregated Plants attend and mark mine utterance,
That we may rescue this man here and save him from severe
distress.
20Asvattha, Darbha, King of Plants, is Soma, deathless sacrifice
Barley and Rice are healing balms, the sons of Heaven who
never die.
21Lift yourselves up, ye Healing Plants, loud is the thunder's crash
and roar.
When with full flow Parjanya, ye Children of Prisni! blesseth;
you.
22We give the essence of that stream of nectar of this man to
drink:
So I prepare a remedy that he may live a hundred years.
23Well doth the wild boar know a Plant, the mungoose knows the
Healing Herb.
I call, to aid this man, the Plants which Serpents and Gandhar-
vas know.
24Plants of Angirases which hawks, celestial Plants which eagles.
know;
Plants known to swans and lesser fowl, Plants known to all the
birds that fly.
Plants that are known to sylvan beasts,—I call them all to aid
this man.
25The multitude of herbs whereon the Cows whom none may
slaughter feed, all that are food for goats and sheep,
So many Plants, brought hitherward, give shelter and defence to
thee!
26Hitherward unto thee I bring the Plants that cure all maladies,
All Plants wherein physicians have discovered health-bestowing
power.
27Let Plants with flower and Plants with bud, the fruitful and the
fruitless, all,
Like children of one mother, yield their stores for this man's
perfeet health.
28From the Five-arrowed, from the Ten-arrowed have I delivered
thee,
Freed thee from Yama's fetter and from all offence against the
Gods,
p. a343
HYMN VIII
Imprecations directed against a hostile army
1Indra the Shaker shake them up, brave, hero, fortdemolisher,
That into thousand fragments we may strike the armies of our
foes!
2Let Pūtirajju with her breath corrupt and putrefy that host,
And terror smite our foemen's heart when fire and smoke are
seen afar.
3Asvattha, rend those men; do thou devour them quickly,
Khadira!
Like reeds let them be broken through, down-smitten by a lifted
rush.
4Let Parushāhva make them reeds, and let the bulrush strike
them down:
Bound in a mighty net let them break quickly like an arrow's
shaft.
5Air was the net; the poles thereof were the great quarters of the
sky: p. a344
Sakra therewith enveloped and cast on the ground the Dasyus'
host.
6Verily mighty is the net of mighty Sakra rich in wealth:
Therewith press all the foemen down so that not one of them
escape!
7Great is thy net, brave Indra, thine the mighty match for a
thousand, Lord of Hundred Powers!
Holding them, with his host, therewith hath Indra slaughtered
Dasyus a hundred, thousand, myriad, hundred millions.
8This world so mighty was the net of Sakra, of the Mighty One:
With this, the net of Indra, I envelop all those men with gloom.
9Great weakness and misfortune, pain which words can never
charm away,
Languor, fatigue, bewilderment, with these I compass all the
foes.
10I give those foemen up to Death: bound in the bonds of Death
are they.
I bind and carry them away to meet Death's wicked messengers.
11Bear them away, Death's messengers! envoys of Yama! bind
them fast.
More than a thousand be their slain: the club of Bhava pierce
them through!
12Forth go the Sādhyas in their might bearing one netpole raised
aloft.
One pole the Rudras carry, one the Vasus, and the Ādityas one.
13The Visve Devas from above shall come depressing it with
might,
And in the midst the Angirases, slaying the mighty host, shall go.
14Trees of the forest, trees that bear flower and fruit, and herbs
and plants,
Quadruped, biped send I forth that they may strike this army
dead,
15Gandharvas, and Apsarases, Gods, Serpents, Fathers, Holy
Men,
Seen and unseen, I send them forth that they may strike this
army dead.
16Here spread are snares of Death wherefrom thou, once within
them, ne'er art freed:
Full many a thousand of the host yonder this horn shall smite
and slay. p. a345
17The Gharma hath been warmed with fire: this Homa slays a
thousand men.
Let Bhava, Prisnibāhu, and Sarva destroy that armament.
18Their portion be the fire of Death, hunger, exhaustion, slaughter,
fear.
With your entangling snares and nets, Sarva and Indra! slay that
host.
19Fly, conquered, in alarm, ye foes, run driven by the spell away!
Let not one man escape of those when routed by Brihaspati.
20Down fall their weapons on the ground: no strength be theirs
to point a shaft:
Then in their dreadful terror let their arrows wound their vital
parts.
21Let Heaven and Earth roar out in wrath against them, and Air
with all the Deities in concert,
Let them not find a surety or a refuge, but torn away go down
to Death together.
22The mules of the Gods' car are heaven's four quarters; their
hooves are sacred cakes, the air its body.
Its sides are Heaven and Earth, its reins the Seasons, Voice is its
hood, its grooms are sky's mid-regions.
23Year is the car, Full Year the seat for driving, Virāj the pole,
the chariot's front is Agni, Indra the warrior, and the Moon
the driver.
24Hence conquer, conquer, Hail! be thou the victor! Let these be
conquerors and those be conquered.
Good luck to these, ill luck to those men yonder! With the
dark-blue-and-red our foes I cover.
p. a346
HYMN IX
An enunciation of cosmogonical, ritual, and metrical doctrine
1Whence were these two produced? which was that region?'
From what world, from which earth had they their being?
Calves of Virāj, these two arose from water. I ask thee of these
twain, who was their milker.
2He who prepared a threefold home, and lying there made the
water bellow through his greatness,
Calf of Virāj, giving each wish fulfilment, made bodies for him-
self far off, in secret.
3Which are the three, the mighty three, whereof the fourth divides
the voice,
This may the Brāhman know by prayer and fervour, whereto
belongs the one, whereto the other.
4Out of the Brihat as the sixth five Salmons have been fashioned
forth:
From Brihatī was Brihat formed: whence was the Brihatī com-
posed?
5On measure Brihatī is based, and measure on the measurer:
From magic might came magic might, from magic might came
Mātali.
6Vaisvānara's image is the sky above us, so far as Agni forced
both spheres asunder. p. a347
Thence from that region as the sixth come praise-songs, and
every sixth day hence again go upward.
7We, Kagyapa! six present Rishis, ask thee—for thou hast prov-
ed things tried and meet for trial
They call Virāj the Father of Devotion: tell her to us thy
friends in all her figures.
8She whom, advancing, sacrifices follow, and when she takes her
station stand beside her,
By whose control and hest the spirit moveth, she is Virāj, in
highest heaven, O Rishis.
9Breathless, she moves by breath of living creatures, Svarāj pre-
cedes, Virāj comes closely after.
Some men behold her not, and some behold her, Virāj meet-
shaped, who thinks of all existence.
10Who hath perceived Virāj's duplication, perceived her seasons
and her rule and practice?
Who knows her steps, how oft, how far extended, who knows
her home and number of her dawnings?
11She here who first of all sent forth her lustre moves onward
resting on these lower creatures.
Exalted power and might are stored within her: the woman
hath prevailed, the new-come mother.
12Both Dawns on wings of song, with rich adornment, move on
together to their common dwelling.
Sūrya's two wives, unwasting, most prolific, knowing their way,
move, rich in light, together.
13The three have passed along the path of Order—three warm
libations have regarded offspring
One quickens progeny, one strengthens vigour, and one protects
the kingdom of the pious.
14She who was fourth was made by Agni, Soma, and Rishis as.
they formed both halves of worship,
Gāyatrī, Trishtup, Jagatī, Anushtup, Brihadarki lightening the
sacrificer.
15Five milkings answer to the fivefold dawning, five seasons to
the cow who bears five titles.
The five sky-regions made fifteen in number, one head have
these to one sole world directed.
16Six Elements arose, first-born of Order: the six-day time is
carried by six Sāmans. p. a348
Six-yoked the plough is, as each trace is numbered: they call
both broad ones six; six, Earth and Heaven.
17They call the cold months six, and six the hot ones. Which, tell
us, of the seasons is redundant?
Seven sages, eagles, have sat down together: seven metres
match the seven Consecrations.
18Seven are the Homas, seven the logs for burning, seven are the
streams of mead, and seven the seasons.
Into the world have come seven streams of butter; those we
have heard of as the Seven Vultures.
19Seven metres, by four syllables increasing, each of the seven
founded upon another
How are the hymns of praise on these supported, and how are
these imposed upon the praise-songs?
20How hath the Gāyatri filled out three triads? On the fifteen
how is the Trishtup moulded,
Jagatī fashioned on the three-and-thirty? How is Anushtup
formed? how Ekavinsa?
21Eight Elements sprang up, first born of Order: the Priests
divine are eight in number, Indra!
Eight are the wombs of Aditi, eight her children; for the eighth
night is the libation destined.
22So planning bliss for you have I come hither to win your
friendship: kind am I, and gracious.
Born from one source, propitious is your wisdom: knowing
full well to all of you it cometh.
23To Indra eight, to Yama six, seven to the Rishis, seven to
each:
The number five accompanies waters and men and healing
herbs.
24The Heifer, all his own, poured forth for Indra control and
milk at her first time of milking;
And he then satisfied the four divisions, the Gods and men and
Asuras and Rishis.
25Who is the Cow? Who is the Single Rishi? What is the law,
what are the benedictions?
What on the earth is the one only Spirit? Which of the number
is the Single Season?
26One is the Cow, one is the Single Spirit, one is the law, single
are benedictions. p. a349
The Spirit dwelling on the earth is single: the Single Season
never is transcended.
p. a350
HYMN X
A glorification of the mystical abstraction Virāj
1Viraj at first was This. At birth all feared her; the thought, She
will become this All, struck terror.
2She rose, the Gārhapatya fire she entered. He who knows this
becomes lord of a household, performer of domestic sacri-
fices.
3She mounted up, the Eastward fire she entered. He who knows
this becomes the Gods' beloved, and to his call they come
when she invokes them.
4She mounted up, the Southward fire she entered.
He who knows this becomes a fit performer of sacrifice, meet
for honour, shelter-giver.
5She mounted up, she entered the Assembly. He who knows this
becomes polite and courtly, and people come as guests to his
assembly.
6She mounted up, she passed within the meeting. He who knows
this becomes fit for the meeting, and to his hall of meeting
come the people. p. a351
7She mounted up, she entered Consultation. Whoso knows this
is fit to be consulted, and to his consultation come the
people.
8She mounted up, and, into four divided, she took her station in
the air's mid-region.
9Of her the Gods and men said, This she knoweth. That we may
both have life let us invoke her.
10Thus did they cry to her:
11Come, Strength! come, Food! come, Charmer! come, Free-
giver!
12Her calf, her well-beloved calf, was Indra: Gāyatri was her
rope, the cloud her udder.
13Two teats she had, Rathantara and Brihat, two, Yajnāyajniya
and Vāmadevya.
14With the Rathantara the Gods milked from her the Plants, and
all the wide expanse with Brihat.
15They drew the Waters forth with Vāmadevya, with Yajnayaj-
niya they milked out worship.
16For him who knoweth this, Rathantara poureth out Plants,
and Brihat yieldeth wide expansion.
17Waters from Vāmdevya come, from Yajnāyajniya sacrifice.
18She rose, she came unto the tress: they killed her. A year went
by and she again existed.
Hence in a year the wounds of trees heal over. He who knows
this sees his loathed rival wounded.
19She mounted up, she came unto the Fathers: they killed her:
in a month she re-existed.
Hence men give monthly offerings to the Fathers: who knows
this, knows the path which they have trodden.
20She rose, she came unto the Gods: they killed her: but in a
fortnight she again was living.
Fortnightly, hence, men serve the Gods with Vasat! Who
knows this knows the way which Gods pass over.
21She mounted up, she came to men: they killed her Presently
she regained her life and being.
Hence on both days to men they bring and offer—who knows
this—near-seated in the dwelling.
22She rose, approached the Asuras: they called her: their cry was,
Come, O Māyā, come thou hither. p. a352
Her dear calf was Virochana Prāhrādi: her milking vessel was a.
pan of iron.
Dvimūrdhā Ārtvya milked her, yea, this Māyā, The Asuras
depend for life on Māyā. He who knows this becomes a fit
supporter.
23She mounted up, she came unto the Fathers. The Fathers called.
to her, O Food, come hither.
King Yama was her calf, her pail was silvern. Antaka, Mrityu's.
son, milked her, this Svadhā.
This Food the Fathers make their lives' sustainer. He who•
knows this becomes a meet supporter.
24She mounted up, she came to men. They called her, Come unto-
us, come hither thou Free-giver!
Earth was her milking-pail, the calf beside her Manu Vaivasvata,
Vivasvān's offspring.
Prithi the son of Vena was her milker: he milked forth hus-
bandry and grain for sowing.
These men depend for life on corn and tillage. He who knows
this becomes a meet supporter, successful in the culture of his_
corn-land.
25She rose, she came unto the Seven Rishis. They called her,.
Come, Rich in Devotion! hither.
King Soma was her calf. the Moon her milk-pail. Brihaspati.
Āngirasa, her milker,
Drew from her udder Prayer and Holy Fervour. Fervour and
Prayer maintain the Seven Rishis.
He who knows this becomes a meet supporter, a priest illustri-
ous for his sacred knowledge.
26She rose, she came unto the Gods. They called her, crying, O
Vigour, come to us, come hither!
God Savitar milked her, he milked forth Vigour. The Gods
depend for life upon that Vigour. He who knows this becomes
a meet supporter.
27She rose approached the Apsarases and Gandharvas. They called
her, Come to us, O Fragrant-scented!
The son of Sūryavarchas, Chitraratha, was her dear calf, her pail.
a lotus-petal.
The son of Sūryavarchas, Vasuruchi, milked and drew from her
most delightful fragrance.
That scent supports Apsarases and Gandharvas. He who knows p. a353
this becomes a meet supporter, and round him ever breathes
delicious odour.
28She mounted up, she came to Other People. They called her,
crying, Come, Concealment! hither.
Her dear calf was Vaisravana Kubera, a vessel never tempered
was her milk-pail.
Rajatanābhi, offspring of Kubera, milked her, and from her
udder drew concealment.
By that concealment live the Other People. He who knows this
becomes a meet supporter, and makes all evil disappear and
vanish.
29She mounted up, she came unto the Serpents. The Serpents
called her, Venomous! come hither.
Her calf was Takshaka, Visāla's offspring: a bottlegourd suppli-
ed a milking-vessel.
Irāvān's offspring, Dhritarāshtra milked her, and from her udder
drew forth only poison.
That poison quickens and supports the Serpents: He who knows
this becomes a meet supporter.
30One would ward off, for him who hath this knowledge, if with a
bottle-gourd he sprinkled water.
31And did he not repel, if in his spirit he said, I drive thee back,
he would repel it.
32The poison that it drives away, that poison verily repels.
33The man who hath this knowledge pours its venom on his hated
foe.
p. a354 p. a355
p. a356
BOOK IX
HYMN I
A glorification of the Asvins' whip and a prayer for blessings
1The Asvins' Honey-whip was born from heaven and earth, from
middle air, and ocean, and from fire and wind.
All living creatures welcome it with joyful hearts, fraught with
the store of Amrit it hath gathered up.
2They call thee earth's great strength in every form, they call
thee too the ocean's genial seed.
Whence comes the Honey-whip bestowing bounty, there Vital
Spirit is, and Amrit treasured.
3In sundry spots, repeatedly reflecting, men view upon the earth:
her course and action;
For she, the first-born daughter of the Maruts, derives her
origin from Wind and Agni.
4Daughter of Vasus, mother of Ādityas, centre of Amrit breath
of living creatures.
The Honey-whip, gold-coloured, dropping fatness, moves as a
mighty embryo 'mid mortals.
5The deities begat the Whip of Honey: her embryo assumed all
forms and fashions.
The mother nourishes that tender infant which at its birth
looks on all worlds and beings.
6Who understandeth well, who hath perceived it, her heart's un-
injured Soma-holding beaker?
Let the wise Brāhman priest therein be joyful.
7He understandeth them, he hath perceived them, her breasts
that pour a thousand streams, uninjured.
They unreluctantly yield strength and vigour.
8She who with voice upraised in constant clamour, mighty, life-
giving, goes unto her function,
Bellowing to the heated three libations, suckles with streams of
milk, and still is lowing. p. a357
9On whom, well-fed, the Waters wait in worship, and steers and
self-refulgent bulls attend her.
For thee, for one like thee down pour the Waters, and cause
desire and strength to rain upon thee.
10The thunder is thy voice, O Lord of Creatures: a Bull, thou
castest on the earth thy vigour.
The Honey-whip, the Manus' first-born daughter, derives her
origin from Wind and Agni.
11As at the morning sacrifice the Asvins twain love Soma well,
Even so may both the Asvins lay splendour and strength within
my soul.
12As at the second sacrifice Indra and Agni love him well,
Let the pair, Indra Agni, lay splendour and strength within my
soul.
13As at third sacrifice Soma is the Ribhus' well-beloved one,
Even so may they, the Ribhus, store splendour and strength
within my soul.
14Fain would I bring forth sweetness, fain would make it mine.
Bringing milk, Agni! have I come: splendour and strength
bestow on me!
15Grant me, O Agni, splendid strength, and progeny, and length-
ened life.
May the Gods know me as I am, may Indra with the Rishis
know.
16As honey-bees collect and add fresh honey to their honey store,
Even so may both the Asvins lay splendour and strength within
my soul.
17As over honey flies besmear this honey which the bees have
made,
So may both Asvins lay in me splendour and strength and
power and might.
18May all the sweetness that is found in hills and mountains,
steeds and kine,
And wine that floweth from the cup,—may all that sweetness
be in me.
19May both the Asvins, Lords of Light, balm me with honey of
the bees,
That I may speak among the folk words full of splendour and
of strength. p. a358
20The thunder is thy voice, O Lord of Creatures: a Bull, thou
castest strength on earth and heaven.
To that all cattle look for their existence: with this she nourishes
their force and vigour.
21The Whip itself is Heaven, Earth is the handle, the point of
juncture is the Air's mid-region.
The lash is lightning, and the tip is golden.
22Whoever knows the Whip's seven kinds of honey, becomes
himself a man endowed with sweetness.
Brāhman and King, the draught-ox and the milch-cow, barley
and rice, and honey is the seventh.
23Sweet is the man, sweet are his goods and chattels: he who
knows this conquers the worlds of sweetness.
24The thundering of Prajāpati in heaven is verily manifest to living
creatures.
Therefore I stand from right to left invested, and, O Prajāpati,
I cry, regard me!
The man who hath this knowledge is regarded by living beings
and the Lord of Creatures.
p. a359
HYMN II
A glorification of Kāma as God of desire of all that is good
1Kāma the Bull, slayer of foes, I worship with molten butter,
sacrifice, oblation.
Beneath my feet cast down mine adversaries with thy great
manly power, when I have praised thee.
2That which is hateful to mine eye and spirit, that harasses and
robs me of enjoyment,
The evil dream I loose upon my foemen. May I rend him when
I have lauded Kāma.
3Kāma, do thou, a mighty Lord and Ruler, let loose ill dream,
misfortune, want of children,
Homelessness, Kāma! utter destitution, upon the sinner who
designs my ruin.
4Drive them away, drive them afar, O Kāma; indigence fall on
those who are my foemen!
When they have been cast down to deepest darkness, consume
their dwellings with thy fire, O Agni.
5She, Kāma! she is called the Cow, thy daughter, she who is
named Vāk and Virāj by sages.
By her drive thou my foemen to a distance. May cattle, vital
breath, and life forsake them.
6By Kāma's might, King Varuna's and Indra's, by Vishnu's
strength, and Savitar's instigation,
I chase my foes with sacrifice to Agni, as a deft steersman drives
his boat through waters.
7May Kāma, mighty one, my potent warder, give me full free-
dom from mine adversaries.
May all the Deities be my protection, all Gods come nigh to
this mine invocation.
8Accepting this oblation rich with fatness, be joyful here, ye
Gods whose chief is Kāma,
Giving me freedom from mine adversaries.
9Ye, Indra, Agni, Kāma! come together and cast mine adver-
saries down beneath me.
When they have sunk into the deepest darkness, O Agni, with
thy fire consume their dwellings. p. a360
10Slay those who are mine enemies, O Kāma: headlong to depth
of blinding darkness hurl them.
Reft be they all of manly strength and vigour! Let them not
have a single day's existence.
11Kāma hath slain those who were mine opponents, and given me
ample room to grow and prosper.
Let the four regions bow them down before me, and let the
six expanses bring me fatness.
12Let them drift downward like a boat torn from the rope that
held it fast.
There is no turning back for those whom our keen arrows have
repelled.
13Agni averts, Indra averts, and Soma: may the averting Gods
avert this foeman.
14To be avoided by his friends, detested, repelled, with few men
round him, let him wander.
Yea, on the earth descend the lightning-flashes: may the strong
God destroy your adversaries.
15This potent lightning nourishes things shaken, and things un-
shaken yet, and all the thunders.
May the Sun, rising with his wealth and splendour, drive in
victorious might my foemen downward.
16Thy firm and triply-barred protection, Kāma! thy spell, made
weapon-proof extended armour
With that drive thou my foemen to a distance. May cattle, vital
breath, and life forsake them.
17Far from the world wherein we live, O Kāma, drive thou my
foemen with that selfsame weapon
Wherewith the Gods repelled the fiends, and Indra cast down
the Dasyus into deepest darkness.
18As Gods repelled the Asuras, and Indra down to the lowest
darkness drove the demons,
So, Kāma, from this world, to distant places, drive thou the
men who are mine adversaries.
19First before all sprang Kāma into being. Gods, Fathers, mortal
men have never matched him.
Stronger than these art thou, and great for ever. Kāma, to thee,
to thee I offer worship.
20Wide as the space which heaven and earth encompass, far as
the flow of waters, far as Agni, p. a361
Stronger than these art thou, and great for ever. Kāma, to thee,
to thee I offer worship.
21Vast as the quarters of the sky and regions that lie between
them spread in all directions, vast as celestial tracts and views
of heaven,
Stronger than these art thou, and great for ever. Kāma, to thee,
to thee I offer worship.
22Many as are the bees, and bats, and reptiles, and female serpents
of the trees, and beetles,
Stronger art thou than these, and great for ever. Kāma, to thee,
to thee I offer worship.
23Stronger art thou than aught that stands or twinkles, stronger
art thou than ocean, Kāma! Manyu!
Stronger than these art thou, and great for ever. Kāma, to thee,
to thee I offer worship.
24Not even Vāta is the peer of Kāma, not Agni, Chandramas
the Moon, nor Sūrya.
Stronger than these art thou, and great for ever. Kāma, to thee,
to thee I offer worship.
25Thy lovely and auspicious forms, O Kāma, whereby the thing
thou wilt becometh real,
With these come thou and make thy home among us, and make
malignant thoughts inhabit elsewhere.
p. a362
HYMN III
On the consecration of a newly built house
1We loose the ties and fastenings of the house that holds all
precious things,
The bands of pillars and of stays, the ties of beams that form
the roof.
2All-wealthy House! each knot and band, each cord that is
attached to thee
I with my spell untie, as erst Brihaspati disclosed the cave.
3He drew them close, he pressed them fast, he made thy knotted.
bands secure:
With Indra's help we loose them as a skilful Slaughterer severs
joints.
4We loose the bands of thy bamboos, of bolts, of fastening, of
thatch,
We loose the ties of thy side-posts, O House that holdest all we
prize.
5We loosen here the ties and bands of straw in bundles, and of
clamps,
Of all that compasses and binds the Lady Genius of the Home.
6We loose the loops which men have bound within thee, loops
to tie and hold.
Be gracious, when erected, to our bodies, Lady of the Home.
7Store-house of Soma, Agni's hall, the ladies' bower, the resi-
dence,
The seat of Gods art thou, O Goddess House. p. a363
8We with our incantation loose the net that hath a thousand.
eyes.
The diadem, securely tied and laid upon the central beam.
9The man who takes thee as his own, and he who was thy builder,.
House!
Both these, O Lady of the Home, shall live to long-extended'
years.
10There let her come to meet this man. Firm, strongly fastened,.
and prepared
Art thou whose several limbs and joints we part and loosen one
by one.
11He who collected timber for the work and built thee up, O
House,
Made thee for coming progeny, Prajāpati, the Lord Supreme.
12Homage to him! We worship too the giver and the Mansion's
lord:
Homage to Agni! to the man who serves at holy rites for thee.
13Homage to kine and steeds! to all that shall be born within the
house
We loose the bonds that fasten thee, mother of multitudes to
come!
14Agni thou shelterest within, and people with domestic beasts.
We loose the bonds that fasten thee, mother of multitudes to
come!
15All space that lies between the earth and heaven, therewith I
take this house for thy possession,
And all that measures out the air's mid-region I make a hollow
to contain thy treasures. Therewith I take the house for his
possession.
16Rich in prosperity, rich in milk, founded and built upon the
earth,
Injure not thy receivers, House who holdest food of every sort!'
17Grass-covered, clad with straw, the house, like Night, gives rest
to man and beast.
Thou standest, built upon the earth, like a she-elephant, borne
on feet.
18I loosen and remove from thee thy covering formed by mats of
reed.
What Varuna hath firmly closed Mitra shall ope at early morn. p. a364
19May Indra, Agni, deathless Gods, protect the house where
Soma dwells,
House that was founded with the prayer, built and erected by
the wise.
20Nest upon nest hath been imposed, compartment on compart-
ment laid:
There man shall propagate his kind, and there shall everything
born.
21Within the house constructed with two side-posts, or with four,
or six.
Built with eight side-posts, or with ten, lies Agni like a babe
unborn.
22Turned to thee, House! I come to thee, innocent, turned to
welcome me:
For Fire and Water are within, the first chief door of sacrifice.
23Water that kills Consumption, free from all Consumption, here
I bring.
With Agni, the immortal one, I enter and possess the house.
24Lay thou no cord or noose on us: a weighty burthen, still be
light!
Withersoever be our will, O House, we bear thee like a bride.
25Now from the east side of the house to the Great Power be
homage paid!
Hail to the Gods whose due is Hail!
26Now from the south side of the house, etc.
27Now from the west side of the house, etc.
28Now from the north side of the house, etc.
29So from the mansion's every side to the Great Power be homage
paid!
Hail to the Gods whose due is Hail!
p. a365
HYMN IV
A glorification of the typical sacrificial bull
1The Bull, fierce, thousandfold, filled full of vigour, bearing
within his flanks all forms and natures,
Brihaspati's Steer, hath stretched the thread, bestowing bliss on
the worshipper, the liberal giver.
2He who at first became the Waters' model, a match for everyone,
like Earth the Goddess;
The husband of the cows, the young calves' father, may be
secure us thousandfold abundance.
3Masculine, prégnant, stedfast. full of vigour, the Bull sustains a
trunk of goodly treasure.
May Agni Jātavedas bear him offered, on pathways traversed by
the Gods, to Indra. p. a366
4The husband of the cows, the young calves' father, father is he
of mighty water-eddies.
Calf, after-birth, new milk drawn hot, and biestings, curds, butter,
that is his best genial humour.
5He is the Gods' allotted share and bundle, essence of waters,
and of plants, and butter.
Sakra elected him, the draught of Soma. What was his body
was a lofty mountain.
06. A beaker filled with Soma juice thou bearest. framer of forms,
begetter of the cattle.
Kindly to us be these thy wombs here present, and stay for us,
O Axe, those that are yonder.
7He bears oblation, and his seed is butter. Thousand-fold plenty;
sacrifice they call him.
May he, the Bull, wearing the shape of Indra, come unto us, O
Gods, bestowed, with blessing.
8Both arms of Varuna, and Indra's vigour, the Maruts' hump is
he, the Asvins' shoulders.
They who are sages, bards endowed with wisdom, call him
Brihaspati compact and heightened.
9Thou, vigorous, reachest to the tribes of heaven. Thee they call
Indra, thee they call Sarasvān.
Turned to one aim, that Brāhman gives a thousand who offers
up the Bull as his oblation.
10Brihaspati, Savitar gave thee vital vigour: thy breath was
brought from Tvashtar and from Vāyu.
In thought I offer thee in air's mid-region. Thy sacrificial grass
be Earth and Heaven!
11Let the priest joyfully extol the limbs and members of the Bull
Who moved and roared among the kine as Indra moves among
the Gods.
12The sides must be Anumati's, and both rib-pieces Bhaga's share,
Of the knee-bones hath Mitra said, Both these are mine, and
only mine.
13The Ādityas claim the hinder parts, the loins must be Brihas-
pati's.
Vāta, the God, receives the tail: he stirs the plants and herbs
therewith,
14To Sūryā they assigned the skin, to Sinivāli inward parts. p. a367
The Slaughterer hath the feet, they said, when they distributed
the Bull.
15They made a jest of kindred's curse: a jar of Soma juice was set,
What time the deities, convened, assigned the Bull's divided
parts.
16They gave the hooves to tortoises, to Saramā scraps of the feet:
His undigested food they gave to worms and things that creep
and crawl.
17That Bull, the husband of the kine, pierces the demons with his
horns,
Banishes famine with his eye, and hears good tidings with his
ears.
18With hundred sacrifices he worships: the fires consume him not:
All Gods promote the Braman who offers the Bull in sacrifice.
19He who hath given away the Bull to Brāhmans frees and cheers
his soul.
In his own cattle-pen he sees the growth and increase of his
cows.
20Let there be cattle, let there be bodily strength and progeny:
All this may the Gods kindly grant to him who gives away the
Bull.
21Indra here verily hath rejoiced: let him bestow conspicuous
wealth.
May he draw forth at will from yonder side of heaven a deft
cow, good to milk, whose calf is never wanting.
22With close connexion mingle with the cows in this our cattle-
pen:
Mingle, the Bull's prolific flow, and, Indra! thine heroic
strength!
23Here we restore this Bull, your youthful leader: sporting with
him, go, wander at your pleasure.
Ne'er, wealthy ones! may he be reft of offspring; and do ye
favour us with growth of riches.
p. a368
HYMN V
A glorification of a sacrificial goat
1Seize him and bring him hither. Let him travel. foreknowing, to
the regions of the pious.
Crossing in many a place the mighty darkness, let the Goat
mount to the third heaven above us.
2I bring thee hither as a share for Indra; prince, at this sacrifice,.
for him who worships.
Grasp firmly from behind all those who hate us: so let the sacri-
ficer's men be sinless.
3Wash from his feet all trace of evil-doing: foreknowing, with
cleansed hooves let him go upward.
Gazing on many a spot, crossing the darkness, let the Goat
mount to the third heaven above us.
4Cut up this skin with the grey knife, Dissector! dividing joint
from joint, and mangle nothing
Do him no injury: limb by limb arrange him, and send him up
to the third cope of heaven.
5With verse upon the fire I set the caldron: pour in the water;
lay him down within it! p. a369
Encompass him with fire, ye Immolators. Cooked, let him reach
the world where dwell the righteous.
6Hence come thou forth, vexed by no pain or torment. Mount to
the third heaven from the heated vessel.
As fire out of the fire hast thou arisen. Conquer and win this
lucid world of splendour.
7The Goat is Agni: light they call him, saying that living man
must give him to the Brāhman.
Given in this world by a devout believer, the Goat dispels and
drives afar the darkness.
8Let the Panchaudana Goat, about to visit the three lights, pass
away in five divisions.
Go midst the pious who have paid their worship, and parted,
dwell on the third cope of heaven.
9Rise to that world, O Goat, where dwell the righteous: pass, like
a Sarabha veiled, all difficult places.
The Goat Panchaudana, given to a Brāhman, shall with all ful-
ness satisfy the giver.
10The Goat Panchaudana, given to a Brāhman, sets the bestower
on the pitch of heaven,
In the third vault, third sky, third ridge. One only Cow omni-
form art thou, that yields all wishes.
11That is the third light that is yours, ye Fathers. He gives the
Goat Panchaudana to the Brāhman.
Given in this world by the devout believer, the Goat dispels and
drives afar the darkness.
12Seeking the world of good men who have worshipped, he gives
the Goat Panchaudana to the Brāhman.
Win thou this world as thy complete possession. Auspicious
unto us be he, accepted!
13Truly the Goat sprang from the glow of Agni, inspired as sage
with all a sage's power.
Sacrifice, filled, filled full, offered with Vashat—this let the Gods
arrange.at proper seasons.
14Home-woven raiment let him give, and gold as guerdon to the
priests.
So he obtains completely all celestial and terrestrial worlds.
15Near to thee, Goat! approach these streams of Soma, divine,
distilling meath, bedecked with butter! p. a370
Stay thou the earth and sky and fix them firmly up on the seven-
rayed pitch and height of heaven.
16Unborn art thou, O Goat: to heaven thou goest. Though thee
Angirases knew that radiant region.
So may I know that holy world.
17Convey our sacrifice to heaven, that it may reach the Gods, with
that
Whereby thou, Agni, bearest wealth in thousands, and all pre-
cious things.
18The Goat Panchaudana, when cooked, transporteth, repelling
Nirriti, to the world of Svarga.
By him may we win worlds which Sūrya brightens.
19The droppings of the Odanas attending the Goat which I have
lodged with priest or people
May all this know us in the world of virtue, O Agni, at the
meeting of the pathways.
20This Unborn cleft apart in the beginning: his breast became the
earth, his back was heaven.
His middle was the air, his sides the regions; the hollows of his
belly formed both oceans.
21His eyes were Truth and Right. The whole together was Truth:
Virāj his head and Faith his breathing.
This Goat Panchaudana was indeed a sacrifice unlimited.
22A boundless sacrifice he performs, he wins himself a boundless
world:
Who gives the Goat Panchaudana illumined with a priestly fee.
23Let him not break the victim's bones, let him not suck the
marrow out.
Let the man, taking him entire, here, even here deposit him.
24This, even this is his true form: the man uniteth him therewith.
Food, greatness, strength he bringeth him who giveth the Goat
Panchaudana illumed with guerdon.
25The five gold pieces, and the five new garments, and the five
milch-kine yield him all his wishes.
Who gives the Goat Panchaudana illumined with a priestly
fee.
26The five gold pieces, area light to light him, robes become armour
to defend his body;
He winneth Svarga as his home who giveth the Goat Panchaud-
ana illumed with bountry. p. a371
27When she who hath been wedded finds a second husband after-
ward,
The twain shall not be parted if they give the Goat Panchaud-
ana.
28One world with the re-wedded wife becomes the second hus-
band's home.
Who gives the Goat Panchaudana illumined with the priestly fee.
29They who have given a cow who drops a calf each season, or an
ox,
A coverlet, a robe, or gold, go to the loftiest sphere of heaven.
30Himself, the father and the son, the grandson, and the father's
sire,
Mother, wife, her who bore his babes, all the beloved ones I call.
31The man who knows the season named the Scorching—the Goat
Pafichaudana is this scorching season
He lives himself, he verily burns up his hated rival's fame,
Who gives the Goat Panchaudana illumined with the priestly
fee.
32The man who knows the season called the Working takes to
himself the active fame, his hated rival's active fame.
The Goat Panchaudana is this Working season.
He lives himself, etc.
33The man who knows the season called the Meeting takes to him-
self the gathering fame, his hated rival's gathering fame.
The Goat Panchaudana is this Meeting season.
34The man who knows the called the Swelling takes to himself the
swelling fame, his hated rival's swelling fame.
The Goat Panchaudana is this Swelling season.
He lives himself, etc.
35The man who knows the season called the Rising takes to him-
self the rising fame, his hated rival's rising fame.
The Goat Panchaudana in this Rising season.
36The man who knows the season called Surpassing takes to him-
self thé conquering fame, his hated rival's conquering fame.
The Goat Panchaudana is this Conquering season.
He lives himself, he verily burns up his hated rival's fame
Who gives the Goat Panchaudana illumined with a priestly fee.
37He cooks the Goat and the five boiled rice messes. May the uni-
ted Quarters, all accordant, and intermediate points, accept
him from thee. p. a372
38May these preserve him for thee. Here I offer t o these the molten
butter as oblation.
p. a373
HYMN VI
A glorification of hospitable reception of guests
1Whoso will know Prayer with immediate knowledge, whose mem-
bers are the stuff, whose spine the verses:
2Whose hairs are psalms, whose heart is called the Yajus, whose
coverlet is verily oblation—
3Verily when a host looks at his guests he looks at the place of
sacrifice to the Gods.
4When he salutes them reverently he undergoes preparation for
a religious ceremony: when he calls for water, he solemnly
brings sacrificial water.
5The water that is solemnly brought at a sacrifice is this same
water.
6The libation which they bring; the sacrificial victim dedicated
to Agni and Soma which is tied to the post, that, verily, is
this man.
7When they arrange dwelling-rooms they arrange the sacred
chamber and the shed for housing the Soma cars.
8What they spread upon the floor is just Sacrificial Grass.
9With the couch that the men bring, he wins for himself the
world of Svarga.
10The pillow-coverings that they bring are the green sticks that
surround the sacrificial altar.
11The ointment that they bring for injunction is just clarified
liquid butter.
12The food they bring before the general distribution represents
the two sacrificial cakes of rice meal. p. a374
13When they call the man who prepares food they summon the
preparer of oblation.
14The grains of rice and barley that are selected are just filaments
of the Soma plant.
15The pestle and mortar are really the stones of the Soma press.
16The winnowing-basket is the filter, the chaff the Soma dregs,
the water, the pressing-gear.
17Spoon, ladle, fork, stirring-prong are the wooden Soma tubs;
the earthen cooking-pots are the mortar-shaped Soma
vessels; this earth is just the black-antelope's skin.
18Or the host acts in this way to a Yajamāna's Brāhman: when
he looks at the furniture and utensils he says, More here t
yet more here.
19When he says, Bring out more, he lengthens his life thereby.
20He brings oblations: he makes the men sit down.
21As the guest of the seated company he himself offers up
sacrifice.
22With ladle, with hand, in life, at the sacrificial post, with cry of
Ladle! with exclamation of Vashat!
23Now these guests, as priests beloved or not beloved, bring one
to the world of Svarga.
24He who hath this knowledge should not eat hating, should not
eat the food of one who hates him, nor of one who is doubt-
ful, nor of one who is undecided.
25This man whose food they eat hath all his wickedness blotted
out.
26All that man's sin whose food they do not eat remains unblot-
ted out.
27The man who supplies food hath always pressing stones adjusted,
a wet Soma filter, well prepared religious rites, and mental
power to complete the arranged sacrifice.
28The arranged sacrifice of the man who offers food is a sacrifice
to Prajāpati.
29The man who offers food follows the steps of Prajāpati.
30The fire of the guests is the Āhavaniya, the fire in the dwelling
is the Gārhapatya, that whereon they cook food is the South-
ern Sacrificial Fire.
31Now that man who eats before the guest eats up the sacrifice
and the merit of the house.
32He devours the milk and the sap: p. a375
33And the vigour and prosperity.
34And the progeny and the cattle:
35And the fame and reputation.
36The man who eats before the guest eats up the glory and the
understanding of the house.
37The man should not eat before the guest who is a Brāhman
versed in holy lore.
38When the guest hath eaten he should eat. This is the rule for
the animation of the sacrifice and the preservation of its
continuity.
39Now the sweetest portion, the produce of the cow, milk, or
flesh, that verily he should not eat.
40The man who having this knowledge pours out milk and offers
it wins for himself as much thereby as he gains by the perfor-
mance of a very successful Agnishtoma sacrifice.
41The man who having this knowledge pours out clarified butter
and offers it wins for himself thereby as much as he gains by
the performance of a very successful Atirātra sacrifice.
42He who pours out mead and offers it wins for himself thereby
as much as he gains by the performance of a very successful
Sattrasadya sacrifice.
43He who having this knowledge besprinkles flesh and offers it
wins for himself thereby as much as he gains by the perfor-
mance of a very successful Twelve-Day sacrifice.
44The man who having this knowledge pours out water and offers
it obtains a resting-place for the procreation of living beings
and becomes dear to living beings, even the man who having
this knowledge pours out water and offers it.
45For him Dawn murmurs, and Savitar sings the prelude; Brihas-
pati chants with vigour, and Tvashtar joins in with increase;
the Visve Devāh take up conclusion. He who hath this know-
ledge is the abiding-place of welfare, of progeny, and of
cattle.
46For him the rising Sun murmurs, and Early Morning sings the
prelude; Noon chants the psalm, Afternoon joins in; the
setting Sun takes up the conclusion. He who hath this know-
ledge is the abiding place of welfare, of progeny, and of
cattle.
47For him the Rain-cloud murmurs when present, sings the pre-
lude when thundering, joins in when lightening, chants the p. a376
psalm when raining, and takes up the conclusion when it stays
the downpour. He who hath this knowledge is the abiding-
place of welfare, of progeny, and of cattle.
48He looks at the guests, he utters a gentle sound; he speaks, he
signs the prelude; he calls for water, he chants the psalm; he
offers the residue of the sacrifice, he takes up the conclusion.
49When he summons the door-keeper he gives instruction.
50He (the door-keeper) pronounces the sacrificial formula in his
answer to what he hears.
51When the attendants with vessels in their hands, foremost and
hindmost, come in, they are just the priests who manage the
Soma cups.
52Not one of them is incompetent to sacrifice.
53Or if the host, having offered food to his guest, goes up to the
house, he virtually enters the bath of purification.
54When he distributes food he distributes priestly fees; what he
performs he asks as favour.
55He having been invited on earth, regales, invited in that, which
wears all various forms on earth.
56He, having been invited in air, regales, invited, in that which
wears all various forms in air.
57He having been invited in the sky, regales, invited, in that which
wears all various forms in the sky.
58He, having been invited among the gods, regales, invited in that
which wears all various forms among the Gods.
59He, having been invited in the worlds, regales, invited, in that
which wears all various forms in the worlds.
60He, having been invited hath been invited.
61He gains this world and the world yonder.
62He who hath this knowledge wins the luminous spheres.
p. a377
HYMN VII
A glorification of the typically bull and cow
1Prajapati and Parameshthin are the two horns, Indra is the
head, Agni the forehead, Yama the joint of the neck.
2King Soma is the brain, Sky is the upper jaw, Earth is the
lower jaw.
3Lightning is the tongue, the Maruts are the teeth, Revati is the
neck, the Krittikās are the shoulders, the Gharma s the
shoulder-bar.
4His universe is Vāyu, Svarga is his world, Krishpadram is the
tendons and Vertebrae. p. a378
5The Syena ceremony is the breast, Air is the region of the belly,.
Brihaspati is the hump, Brihatī the breast-bone and cartilages
of the ribs.
6The consorts of the Gods are the ribs, the attendants are ribs.
7Mitra and Varuna are the shoulder-blades. Tvashtar and Arya-
man the fore-arms, Mahādeva is the arms.
8Indrāni is the hinder parts, Vāyu the tail, Pavamāna the hair.
9Priestly rank and princely power are the hips, and strength is.
the thigh.
10Dhātar and Savitar are the two knee-bones, the Gandharvas are
the legs the Apsarases are bits of the feet, Aditi is the hooves.
11Thought is the heart, intelligence is the liver, law the pericar-
dium.
12Hunger is the belly, refreshing drink is the rectum, mountains.
are the inward parts.
13Wrath is the kidneys, anger the testes, offspring the generative
organ.
14The river is the womb, the Lords of the Rain are the breasts,.
the thunder is the udder.
15The All-embracing (Aditi) is the hide, the herbs are her hair,.
and the Lunar Mansions her form.
16The hosts of Gods are her entrails, man are her bowels, and
demons her abdomen.
17Rākshasas are the blood, the Other Folk are the contents of the
Stomach.
18The rain-cloud is her fat, her resting-place her marrow.
19Sitting he is Agni, when he hath stood up he is the Asvins.
20Standing east-wards he is Indra, standing southwards, Yama.
21Standing westwards he is Dhātar, standing northwards Savitar.
22When he hath got his grass he is King Soma.
23He is Mitra when he looks about him, and when he hath turned
round he is joy.
24When he is yoking he belongs to the All-Gods, when yoked he
is Prajāpati, when unyoked he is All.
25This verily is omniform, wearing all forms, bovine-formed.
26Upon him wait omniform beasts, wearing every shape, each one
who hath this knowledge.
p. a379
HYMN VIII
A charm for the cure of various diseases connected with Consumption
1Each pain and ache that racks the head, earache, and erysipelas,.
All malady that wrings thy brow we charm away with this our
spell.
2From both thine ears, from parts thereof, thine earache, and the
throbbing pain,
All malady that wrings thy brow we charm away with this our
spell.
3So that Consumption may depart forth from thine ears and from.
thy mouth,
All malady that wrings thy brow we charm away with this our
spell.
4The malady that makes one deaf, the malady that makes one
blind,
All malady that wrings thy brow we charm away with this our
spell.
5The throbbing pain in all thy limbs that rends thy frame with
fever-throes,
All malady that wrings thy brow we charm away with this our
spell.
6The malady whose awful look makes a man quiver with alarm,
Fever whom every Autumn brings we charm away with this our
spell. p. a380
7Disease that creeps about the thighs and, after, reaches both the
groins,
Consumption from thine inward parts we charm away with this
our spell.
8If the disease originates from love, from hatred, from the heart,
Forth from the heart and from the limbs we charm the wasting
malady.
9The yellow Jaundice from thy limbs, and Colic from the parts
within,
And Phthisis from thine inward soul we charm away with this
our spell.
10Let wasting malady turn to dust, become the water of disease.
I have evoked the poison-taint of all Consumptions out of thee.
11Forth from the hollow let it run, and rumbling sounds from
thine inside.
I have evoked the poison-taint of all Consumptions out of thee.
12Forth from thy belly and thy lungs, forth from thy navel and
thy heart.
I have evoked the poison taint of all Consumptions out of thee.
13The penetrating stabs of pain which rend asunder crown and
head,
Let them depart and pass away, free from disease and harming
not.
14The pangs that stab the heart and reach the breast-bone and
connected parts,
Let them depart and pass away, free from disease and harming
not.
15The stabs that penetrate the sides and pierce their way along the
ribs,
Let them depart and pass away, free from disease and harming
not.
16The penetrating pangs that pierce thy stomach as they shoot
across,
Let them depart and pass away, free from disease and harming
not.
17The pains that through the bowels creep, disordering the inward
parts,
Let them depart and pass away, free from disease and harming
not. p. a381
18The pains that suck the marrow out, and rend and tear the bones
apart,
May they speed forth and pass away, free from disease and
harming not.
19Consumptions with their Colic pains which make thy limbs
insensible
I have evoked the poison-taint of all Consumptions out of thee.
20Of piercing pain, of abscesses, rheumatic ache, ophthalmia—
I have evoked the poison-taint of all Consumptions out of thee.
21I have dispelled the piercing pains from feet, knees, hips, and
hinder parts,
And spine, and from the neck and nape the malady that racked
the head.
22Sound are the skull-bones of thy head and thy heart's beat is
regular.
Thou, Sun, arising with thy beams hast chased away the head's
disease, hast stilled the pain that racked the limbs.
p. a382
HYMN IX
Enunciation of mystico-theological and cosmological doctrine
1The second brother of this lovely Hotar, hoary with eld, is the
voracious Lightning.
The third is he whose back is balmed with butter. Here have I
seen the King with seven male children.
2The seven make the one-wheeled chariot ready: bearing seven
names the single Courser draws it.
The wheel, three-naved, is sound and undecaying: thereon these
worlds of life are all dependent.
3The seven who on this seven-wheeled car are mounted have
horses, seven in tale, who draw them onward.
Seven sisters utter songs of praise together, in whom the Cows'
seven names are held and treasured.
4Who hath beheld at birth the Primal Being, when She who hath
no bone supports the bony?
Where is the blood of earth, the life, the spirit? Who may ap-
proach the man who knows, to ask it?
5Let him who knoweth presently declare it, this lovely Bird's
securely-founded station.
Forth from his head the Cows draw milk, and wearing his ves-
ture with their foot have drunk the water.
6Unripe in mind, in spirit undiscerning, I ask of these the Gods'
established places.
High up above the yearling Calf the sages, to form a web, their
own seven threads have woven.
7Here, ignorant, I ask the wise who know it, as one who knows
not, for the sake of knowledge,
What is That One, who in the Unborn's image hath stablished
and fixed firm this world's six regions.
8The Mother gave the Sire his share of Order. With thought at
first she wedded him in spirit.
She, coyly loth, was filled with dew prolific. With adoration
men approached to praise her.
9Yoked was the Mother to the boon Cow's car-pole; in humid
folds of cloud the infant rested.
Then the Calf lowed and looked upon the Mother, the Cow
who wears all shapes in three directions.
10Bearing three mothers and three fathers, single he stood erect:
they never made him weary. p. a383
On yonder heaven's high ridge they speak together in speech
not known to all, themselves all-knowing.
11Upon the five-spoked wheel revolving ever, whereon all crea-
tures rest and are dependent,
The axle, heavy-laden, is not heated: the nave from ancient
time remains unheated.
12They call him in the farther half of heaven the Sire five-footed,
of twelve forms, wealthy in watery store.
These others, later still, say that he takes his stand upon a seven-
wheeled car, six-spoked, whose sight is clear.
13Formed with twelve spokes, too strong for age to weaken, this
wheel of during Order rolls round heaven.
Herein established, joined in pairs together, seven hundred sons
and twenty stand, O Agni.
14The wheel revolves, unwasting, with its felly: ten draw it, yoked
to the far-stretching car-pole.
Girt by the region moves the eye of Sūrya, on whom dependent
rest all living creatures.
15They told me these were males, though truly females. He who
hath eyes sees this, the blind discerns not.
The son who is a sage hath comprehended: who knows this
rightly is his father's father.
16Of the co-born they call the seventh single-born: the six twin,
pairs are called the Rishis, sons of Gods.
Their good gifts sought of men are ranged in order due, and,
various, form by form, move for their guiding Lord.
17Beneath the upper realm, above this lower, bearing her Calf at
foot, the Cow hath risen.
Whitherward, to what place hath she departed? Where doth she
calve? Not in this herd of cattle.
18Who, that the father of this Calf discerneth beneath the upper
realm, above the lower,
Showing himself a sage, may here declare him? Whence hath
the godlike spirit had its rising?
19Those that come hitherward they call departing, those that depart
they call directed hither.
Whatever ye have made, Indra and Soma! steeds draw, as' twere,
yoked to the region's car-pole.
20Two Birds with fair wings, knit with bonds of friendship, in the
same sheltering tree have found a refuge, p. a384
One of the twain eats the sweet Fig-tree's berry: the other, eat-
ing not, regardeth only.
21The tree whereon the fine Birds eat the sweetness, where they
all rest and procreate their offspring
Upon the top, they say the fruit is luscious: none gaineth it who
knoweth not the Father.
22Where the fine birds hymn ceaselessly their portion of life eter-
nal, and the sacred synods.
There is the Universe's Guard and Keeper who, wise hath
entered into me the simple.
p. a385
p. a386
HYMN X
Continuation of Hymn 9
1How on the Gāyatri the Gāyatri was based; how from the
Trishtup they fashioned the Trishtup forth:
How on the Jagatī was based the Jagatī—they who know this
have won themselves immortal life.
2With Gāyatri he measures out the praise-song, Sāman with
praise-song, triplet with the Trishtup, p. a387
The triplet with the two or four-foot measure, and with the
syllable they form seven metres.
3With Jagatī the flood in heaven he stablished, and saw the Sun
in the Rathantara Sāman.
Gāyatri hath, they say, three logs for burning: hence it excels
in majesty and vigour.
4I invocate this Milch-cow good at milking, so that the Milker,
deft of hand, may milk her.
May "Savitar give goodliest stimulation. The caldron is made
hot: he will proclaim it.
5She, Lady of all treasures, hath 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 high advantage.
6The Cow hath lowed after her blinking youngling: she licks his
forehead as she lows, to form it.
His mouth she fondly calls to her warm udder, and suckles him
with milk while gently lowing.
7He also snorts, by whom encompassed round the Cow lows as
she closely clings to him who sheds the rain.
She with her shrilling cries hath humbled mortal men, and turn-
ed to lightning, hath stripped off her covering robe.
8That which hath breath and life and speed and motion lies
firmly stablished in the midst of houses.
The living moves by powers of the departed: the immortal is
the brother of the mortal.
9The old hath waked the young Moon from his slumber, who
runs his circling course with many round him.
Behold the God's high wisdom in its greatness: he who died
yesterday to-day is living.
10He who hath made him doth not comprehend him: from him
who saw him surely he is hidden.
He, yet enveloped in his mother's bosom, source of much life,
hath sunk into destruction.
11I saw the Herdsman, him who never stumbles, approaching by
his pathways and departing.
He clothed with gathered and diffusive splendours, within the
worlds continually travels.
12Dyaus is our father, our begetter: kinship is here. This great
Earth is our kin and mother. p. a388
Between the wide-spread world-halves is the birth-place. The
Father laid the Daughter's germ within it.
13I bid thee tell me earth's extremest limit, about the Stallion's
genial flow I ask thee;
I ask about the universe's centre, and touching highest heaven
where Speech abideth.
14The earth's most distant limit is this altar: this Soma is the
Stallion's genial humour;
This sacrifice the universe's centre: this Brāhman highest heaven
where Speech abideth.
15What thing I truly am I know not clearly: mysterious, fettered
in my mind I wander.
When the first-born of holy Law approached me, then of this
Speech I first obtain a portion.
16Back, forward goes he, grasped by power inherent, immortal
born the brother of the mortal.
Ceaseless they move in opposite directions: men mark the one
and fail to mark the other.
17Seven germs unripened yet are Heaven's prolific seed: their
functions they maintain by Vishnu's ordinance.
Endued with wisdom through intelligence and thought, present
on every side they compass us about.
18Upon what syllable of holy praise-hymn, as 'twere their highest
heaven, the Gods repose them
Who knows not this, what will he do with praise-hymn? But
they who know it well sit here assembled.
19They, ordering the verse's foot by measure, with the half-verse
arranged each thing that moveth.
Prayer was diffused in many forms three-footed thereby the
world's four regions have their being
20Fortunate mayst thou be with goodly pasture, and may we also
be exceeding wealthy.
Feed on the grass, O Cow, through all the seasons, and coming
hitherward drink limpid water.
21Forming the water-floods the Cow herself hath lowed, one-foot-
ed or two-footed or four-footed, she,
Who hath become eight-footed or acquired nine feet, the uni-
verse's thousand-syllabled Pankti. From her descend in
streams the seas of water. p. a389
22Dark the descent: the birds are golden-coloured. Robed in the
floods they fly aloft to heaven.
Again from Order's seat have they descended, and inundated all
the earth with fatness.
23The footless Maid precedeth footed creatures. Who marketh,
Mitra Varuna! this your doing?
The Babe unborn supporteth this world's burthen, supporteth
Right and watcheth Wrong and Falsehood.
24Virāj is Speech, and Earth, and Air's mid-region. He is Praja-
pati, and he is Mrityu.
He is the Lord Imperial of the Sādhyas. He rules what is and
what shall be hereafter. May he make me lord of what is and
shall be.
251 saw from far away the smoke of fuel with spires that rose on
high o'er that beneath it.
The heroes cooked and dressed the spotted bullock. These were
the customs in the days aforetime.
26Three with long tresses show in ordered season. One of them
sheareth when the year is ended.
One with his powers the universe regardeth. Of one the sweep
is seen, but not the figure.
27Speech hath been measured out in four divisions: the Brāhmans
who have wisdom comprehend them.
Three, kept in close concealment, cause no motion. Of Speech
men speak the fourth division only.
28They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni; and he is heavenly
nobly-winged Garutmān.
That which is One bards call by many a title: they call It Agni,
Yama, Mātariswan.
p. a390 p. a391 p. a392
BOOK X
HYMN I
A charm against witchcraft
1Afar let her depart: away we drive her whom, made with hands,
all-beautiful,
Skilled men prepare and fashion like a bride amid her nuptial
train.
2Complete, with head and nose and ears, all-beauteous, wrought
with magic skill
Afar let her depart: away we drive her.
3Made by a Sidra or a Prince, by priests or women let her go.
Back to her maker as her kin, like a dame banished by her lord.
4I with this salutary herb have ruined all their magic arts,
The spell which they have cast upon thy field, thy cattle, or thy
men.
5Ill fall on him who doeth ill, on him who curseth fall the
curse!
We drive her back that she may slay the man who wrought the
witchery.
6Against her comes the Angirasa, the Priest whose eye is over us.
Turn back all witcheries and slay those practisers of magic arts.
7Whoever said to thee, Go forth against the foeman up the
stream,
To him, O Krityā, go thou back. Pursue not us, the sinless
ones.
8He who composed thy limbs with thought as a deft joiner builds
a car,
Go to him: thither lies thy way. This man is all unknown to
thee.
9The cunning men, the sorcerers who fashioned thee and held thee
fast,—
This cures and mars their witchery, this, repellent, drives it back
the way it came. With this we make thee swim.
10When we have found her ducked and drenched, a hapless cow
whose calf hath died,
Let all my woe depart and let abundant riches come to me.
11If, as they gave thy parents aught, they named thee, or at sacri-
fice,
From all their purposed evil let these healing herbs deliver thee.
12From mention of thy name, from sin against the Fathers or the
Gods,
These herbs of healing shall by prayer release thee, by power,
by holy texts, the milk of .Rishis.
13As the wind stirs the dust from earth and drives the rain cloud
from the sky,
So, chased and banished by the spell, all misery departs from
me.
14Go with a resonant cry, depart, like a she-ass whose cords are
loosed.
Go to thy makers: hence! away! Go driven by the potent
spell.
15This, Krityā, is thy path, we say, and guide thee. We drive thee
back who hast been sent against us.
Go by this pathway, breaking loose for onslaught even as a host
complete with cars and horses.
16No path leads hitherward for thee to travel. Turn thee from us:
far off, thy light is yonder.
Fly hence across the ninety floods, the rivers most hard to pass.
Begone, and be not wounded.
17As wind the trees, so smite and overthrow them: leave not cow,
horse, or man of them surviving
Return, O Krityā, unto those who made thee. Wake them from
sleep to find that they are childless.
18The charm or secret power which they have buried for thee in
sacred grass, field, cemetery,
Or spell in household fire which men more cunning have
wrought against thee innocent and simple,—
19That tool of hatred, understood, made ready, stealthy and buried
deep, have we discovered,
Let that go back to whence it came, turn thither like a horse
and kill the children of the sorcerer.
20Within our house are swords of goodly iron. Krityā, we know
thy joints and all their places.
Arise this instant and begone! What, stranger! art thou seek-
ing here?
21O Krityā, I will cut thy throat and hew thy feet off. Run, be-
gone!
Indra and Agni, Guardian Lords of living creatures, shield us
well!
22May Soma, gracious friend, imperial Sovran, and the world's
Masters look on us with favour.
23Bhava and Sarva cast the flash of lightning, the weapon of the
Gods, against the sinner who made the evil thing, who deals
in witchcraft!
24If thou hast come two-footed or four-footed, made by the
sorcerer, wrought in perfect beauty,
Become eight-footed and go hence. Speed back again, thou evil
one.
25Anointed, balmed, and well adorned, bearing all trouble with
thee, go.
Even as a daughter knows her sire, so know thy marker, Krityā,
thou.
26Krityā, begone, stay not. Pursue as 'twere the wounded crea-
ture's track.
He is the chase, the hunter thou he may not slight or humble thee.
27He waits, and aiming with his shaft smites him who first would
shoot at him,
And, when the foeman deals a blow before him, following strikes
him down.
28Hearken to this my word; then go thither away whence thou
hast come; to him who made thee go thou back.
29The slaughter of an innocent, O Krityā, is an awful deed. Slay
not cow, horse, or man of ours.
In whatsoever place thou art concealed we rouse thee up there-
from: become thou lighter than a leaf.
30If ye be girt about with clouds of darkness, bound as with a
net.
We rend and tear all witcheries hence and to their maker send
them back.
31The brood of wizard, sorcerer, the purposer of evil deed.
Crush thou, O Krityā spare not, kill those practisers of magic
arts.
32As Sūrya frees himself from depth of darkness, and casts away
the night and rays of morning,
So I repel each baleful charm which an enchanter hath pre-
pared;
And, as an elephant shakes off the dust, I cast the plague aside.
HYMN II
Purusha, Primeval Man or humanity personified
1Who framed the heels of Pūrusha? Who fashioned the flesh of
him? Who formed and fixed his ankles?
Who made the openings and well-moulded fingers? Who gave
him foot-soles and a central station?
2Whence did they make the ankles that are under, and the knee-
bones of Pūrusha above them?
What led them onward to the legs' construction? Who planned
and formed the knees' articulations?
3A fourfold frame is fixt with ends connected, and up above the
knees a yielding belly.
The hips and thighs, who was their generator, those props where-
by the trunk grew firmly stablished?
43Who and how many were those Gods who fastened the chest of
Pūrusha and neck together?
How many fixed his breasts? Who formed his elbows? How
many joined together ribs and shoulders?
5Who put together both his arms and said, Let him show manly
strength?
Who and what God was he who set the shoulderblades upon
the trunk?
6Who pierced the seven openings in the head? Who made these
ears, these nostrils, eyes, and mouth,
Through whose surpassing might in all directions bipeds and
quadrupeds have power of motion?
7He set within the jaws the tongue that reaches far, and thereon
placed Speech the mighty Goddess.
He wanders to and fro mid living creatures, robed in the waters.
Who hath understood it?
8Who was he, first, of all the Gods who fashioned his skull and
brain and occiput and forehead,
The pile that Pūrusha's two jaws supported? Who was that
God who mounted up to heaven?
9Whence bringeth mighty Pūrusha both pleasant and unpleasant
things,
Of varied sort, sleep, and alarm, fatigue, enjoyments and de-
lights?
10Whence is there found in Pūrusha want, evil, suffering, dis-
tress?
Whence come success, prosperity opulence, thought, and utte-
rance?
11Who stored in him floods turned in all directions, moving diverse
and formed to flow in rivers,
Hasty, red, copper-hued, and purple, running all ways in
Purusha, upward and downward?
12Who gave him visible form and shape? Who gave him magni-
tude and name?
Who gave him motion, consciousness? Who furnished Pūrusha
with feet?
13Who wove the vital air in him, who filled him with the down-
ward breath?
What God bestowed on Pūrusha the general pervading air?
14What God, what only Deity placed sacrifice in Pūrusha?
Who gave him truth and falsehood? Whence came Death and
immortality?
15Who wrapped a garment round him? Who arranged the life he
hath to live?
Who granted him the boon of speech? Who gave this fleetness
to his feet?
16Through whom did he spread waters out, through whom did he
make Day to shine?
Through whom did he enkindle Dawn and give the gift of even-
tide?
17Who set the seed in him and said, Still be the thread of life spun
out?
Who gave him intellect besides? Who gave him voice and
gestic power?
18Through whom did he bedeck the earth, through whom did he
encompass heaven?
Whose might made Pūrusha surpass the mountains and created
things?
19Through whom seeks he Parjanya out, and Soma of the piercing
sight?
Through whom belief and sacrifice? Through whom was spirit
laid in him?
20What leads him to the learned priest? What leads him to this
Lord Supreme?
How doth he gain this Agni? By whom hath he measured out
the year?
21He, Brahma gains the learned priest, he Brahma, gains this Lord
Supreme.
As Brahma, Man wins Agni here Brahma hath measured out the
year.
22Through whom doth he abide with Gods? Through whom with
the Celestial Tribes?
Why is this other called a star? Why is this called the Real
Power?
23Brahma inhabits with the Gods, Brahma among the Heavenly
Tribes.
Brahma this other star is called. Brahma is called the Real
Power.
24By whom was this our earth disposed? By whom was heaven
placed over it?
By whom was this expanse of air raised up on high and stre-
tched across?
25By Brahma was this earth disposed: Brahma is sky arranged
above.
Brahma is this expanse of air lifted on high and stretched
across.
26Together, with his needle hath Atharvan sewn his head and
heart.
And Pavamāna hovered from his head on high above his brain.
27That is indeed Atharvan's head, the well-closed casket of the
Gods.
Spirit and Food and Vital Air protect that head from injury.
28Stationed on high, Purusha hath pervaded all regions spread
aloft and stretched transversely.
He who knows Brahma's cattle, yea, the fort whence Purusha is
named,
29Yea, knows that fort of Brahma girt about with immortality,
Brahma and Brāhmas have bestowed sight, progeny, and life on
him.
30Sight leaves him not, breath quits not him before life's natural
decay,
Who knows the fort of Brahma, yea, the fort whence Purusha
is named.
31The fort of Gods, impregnable, with circles eight and portals
nine,
Contains a golden treasure-chest, celestial, begirt with light.
32Men deep in lore of Brahma know that Animated Being which
Dwells in the golden treasure-chest that hath three spokes and
three supports.
33Brahma hath passed within the fort, the golden castle; ne'er
subdued,
Bright with excessive brilliancy, compassed with glory round
about.
HYMN III
Purusha, Primeval Man or humanity personified
1Here is my charm the Varana, slayer of rivals, strong in act.
With this grasp thou thine enemies, crush those who fain would
injure thee.
2Break them in pieces; grasp them and destroy them. This Amu-
let shall go before and lead thee.
With Varana the Gods, from morn to morning, have warded off
the Asuras' enchantment.
3This charm, this Varana healeth all diseases, bright with a thou-
sand eyes and golden glister.
This charm shall conquer and cast down thy foemen. Be thou
the first to slay the men who hate thee.
4This will stay witchcraft wrought for thee, will guard thee from
the fear of man:
From all distress and misery this Varana will shield thee well.
5Guard against ill of varied kind is Varana this heavenly Plant.
The Gods have stayed and driven off Consumption which had
seized this man.
6If in thy sleep thou see an evil vision, oft as the beast repeats his
loathed approaches,
This Amulet, this Varana will guard thee from sneeze, and from
the bird's ill-omened message.
7From Mischief, from Malignity, from incantation, from alarm,
From death, from stronger foeman's stroke the Varana will
guard thee well.
8Each sinful act that we have done,—my mother, father, and my
friends,—
From all the guilt this heavenly Plant will be our guard and
sure defence.
9Affrighted by the Varana let my rivals near akin to me
Pass to the region void of light: to deepest darkness let them
go.
10Safe are my cattle, safe am I, long-lived with all my men
around.
This Varana, mine Amulet, shall guard me well on every side.
11This Varana is on my breast, the sovran, the celestial Plant.
Let it afflict my foemen as Indra quelled fiends and Asuras.
12Through hundred autumn seasons, long to live, I wear this
Varana.
May it bestow on me great strength, cattle, and royalty and
power.
13As with its might the wind breaks down the trees, the sovrans
of the wood,
So break and rend my rivals, born before me and born after.
Let the Varana protect thee well.
14As Agni and the wind devour the trees, the sovrans of the wood,
Even so devour my rivals, born before me and born after. Let
the Varana protect thee well.
15As, shattered by the tempest, trees lie withering ruined on the
ground.
Thus over throw my rivals thou, so crush them down and ruin.
them, those born before and after. Let this Varana protect
thee well.
16Cut them in pieces, Varana! before their destined term of life,
Those who would hurt his cattle, those who fain would harm.
the realm he rules.
17As Sūrya shines with brightest sheen, as splendour hath been
stored in him,
So may the Charm, the Varana, give me prosperity and fame.
With lustre let it sprinkle me, and balm me with magni-
ficence.
18As glory dwelleth in the Moon and in the Sun who vieweth
men,
So may the Charm, etc.
19As glory dwelleth in the Earth, and in this Jātavedas here,
So may the Charm etc.
20As glory dwelleth in a maid, and in this well-constructed car,
So may the Charm, etc.
21As glory dwelleth in the draught of Soma and the honeyed.
drink,
So may the Charm, etc.
22As glory dwells in sacrifice to Agni, and the hallowing word,
So may the Charm, etc.
23As glory is bestowed upon the patron and this sacrifice,
So may the Charm, etc.
24As glory dwelleth in the Lord of Life and in this God Supreme,.
So may the Charm, etc.
25As immortality and truth have been established in the Gods,
So may the Charm, the Varana, give me prosperity and fame.
With lustre let it sprinkle me, and balm me with magnificence.
HYMN IV
A charm to destroy venomous serpents
2The first of all is Indra's car, next is the chariot of the Gods
the third is Varuna's alone.
The last, the Serpents' chariot, struck the pillar and then sped
away.
2Their lustre is the Darbha-grass, its young shoots are their
horse's tail: the reed's plume is their chariot seat.
3Strike out, white courser! with thy foot, strike both with fore
and hinder foot,
Stay the dire poison of the Snakes, and make it weak as soaking
wood.
-4. Loud neighing he hath dived below, and rising up again replied,
Stayed the dire poison of the Snakes, and made it weak as
soaking wood.
5Paidva kills Kasarnila, kills both the white Serpent and the
black,
Paidva hath struck and cleft in twain Ratharvi's and the Viper's
head.
6Go onward, horse of Pedu! go thou first: we follow after thee.
Cast thou aside the Serpents from the pathway whereupon we
tread.
7Here was the horse of Pedu born: this is the way that takes him
hence.
These are the tracks the courser left, the mighty slayer of the
Snakes.
8Let him not close the opened mouth, nor open that which now
is closed.
Two snakes are in this field, and both, female and male, are
powerless.
9Powerless are the serpents here, those that are near and those
afar.
I kill the scorpion with a club, and with a staff the new-come
snake.
10This is the remedy against Aghāsva and the adder, both:
Indra and Paidva have subdued and tamed the vicious snake for
me.
11We fix our thoughts on Pedu's horse, strong, off-spring of a
stedfast line.
Behind our backs the vipers here crouch down and lie in wait
for us.
12Bereft of life and poison they lie slain by bolt-armed Indra's
hand. Indra and we have slaughtered them.
013. Tiraschirājis have been slain, and vipers crushed and brayed to
bits.
Slay Darvi in the Darbha-grass, Karikrata, and White and
Black.
14The young maid of Kirāta race, a little damsel, digs the drug,
Digs it with shovels wrought of gold on the high ridges of the
hills.
15Hither the young uuconquered leech who slays the speckled
snake hath come.
He verily demolishes adder and scorpion; both of them.
16Indra, Mitra and Varuna, and Vāta and Parjanya both have
given the serpent up to me.
17Indra hath given him up to me, the female viper and the male,
The adder, him with stripes athwart. Kasarnila, Dasonasi.
18O Serpent, Indra hath destroyed the sire who first engendered
thee:
And when these snakes are pierced and bored what sap and
vigour will be theirs?
19Their heads have I seized firmly as a fisher grasps the spotted
prey,
Waded half through the stream and washed the poison of the
serpents off.
20Let the floods hurry on and bear the poison of all snakes afar.
Tiraschirājis have been slain and vipers crushed and brayed to
bits.
21As from the salutary plants I deftly pick the fibres out, And
guide them skilfully like mares, so let thy venom, Snake!
depart,
22All poison that the sun and fire, all that the earth and plants
contain,
Poison of most effectual power—let all thy venom pass away.
23Serpents which fire or plants have generated, those which have
sprung from waters or the lightning,
Whose mighty broods are found in many places, these serpents
we will reverently worship.
24Thou art a maid called Taudi, or Ghritāchi is thy name. Thy
place;
Is underneath my foot. I take the poison-killing remedy.
25From every member drive away the venom, and avoid the heart.
Then let the poison's burning heat pass downward and away-
from thee.
26The bane hath fled afar. It wept, and asked the poison how it
fared.
27Agni hath found the venom of the serpent, Soma drawn it out.
Back to the biter hath returned the poison, and the snake hath
died.
HYMN V
A charm to overthrow a rival and gain strength, dignity, long life, children, and general prosperity
1Ye are the power of Indra, ye the force and strength of Indra,
ye his hero might and manliness.
I join you with the bonds of Prayer to the victorious enterprise.
6For the victorious enterprise let all creation stand by me. For
me ye, Waters, are prepared.
7Ye are the share of Agni. Grant, O heavenly Waters unto us the
Waters' brilliant energy.
By statute of Prajāpati I set you down for this our world.
15Waters, your ceremonial share of Waters which the waters hold,
which aids our sacrifice to Gods,
This as a remnant here I leave. Do not thou wash it clean away.
With this we let the man go by who hates us and whom we
abhor.
Him would I fain o'erthrow and slay with this our ceremonial
act, with this our prayer, our thunder-bolt.
22Whatever evil I have done within this last triennium,
From all that woe and misery let the waters shield and guard
me well.
23Onward I urge your gathered floods: enter your own abiding-
place,
Uninjured and with all your strength. Let nothing bend or bow
us down.
24May the pure Waters cleanse us from defilement,
Fair to behold remove our sin and trouble, and bear away ill-
dream and all pollution.
25Thou art the step of Vishnu, rival-slayer, sharpened by earth,
aglow with fire of Agni,
Earth have I ranged: from earth we bar him who hates us and
whom we hate.
26Ours is superior place and ours is conquest: may I in all fights
tread down spite and malice.
Let him not live, let vital breath desert him.
36With this I here invest the power and splendour, the life of that
man and his vital breathing, the son of such a sire and such a
woman, here do I overthrow and cast him downward.
37I follow Sūrya's course in heaven, the course that takes him to
the South.
May that bestow upon me wealth and glory of a Brāhman's
rank.
38I turn me to the regions bright with splendour.
May they bestow upon me wealth and glory of a Brāhman's
rank.
39I turn me to the Rishis Seven. May they, etc.
40I turn me unto Prayer. May that, etc.
41I turn me unto Brāhmans. May they etc.
42We hunt that man, we beat him down and slay him with our
murderous blows.
We with the spell have hurried him to Parameshthin's opened
jaws.
43Let the shot missile catch him with Vaisvānara's two mighty
fangs.
This offering, and the mightiest Goddess, the Fuel, eat him up!
44Thou art the bound of Varuna the King.
Bind, such an one, the son of such a woman, in vital breath and
in the food that feeds him.
45All food of thine, O Lord of Life, that lies, upon the face of
earth,
Thereof bestow thou upon us. O Lord of Life, Prajāpati!
46Celestial Waters have I sought: with juice have I besprinkled
them.
With milk, O Agni, have I come; bestow upon me splendid
strength.
47Give me the boon of splendid strength; give, Agni! progeny
and life.
May the Gods know this prayer of mine, may Indra with the
Rishis know.
48What curse soever couples launch against us, whatever bitter
speech the chatterers utter,
With Manyu's arrow, offspring of the spirit, transfix thou to the
heart the Yātudhānas,
49Destroy the Yātudhānas with thy fervour, consume the demons
with thy wrath, O Agni.
Destroy the fool's gods with thy fiery splendour, destroy the
blazing ones, the insatiable.
50Well-skilled, against this man I hurl the Water's bolt with four
spikes, to cleave his head asunder.
May it destroy all members of his body. Let the whole host of
Gods approve my purpose.
HYMN VI
The glorification of an all-powerful amulet
1With power I cut away the head of my malignant rival, of mine
evil-hearted enemy.
2This Amulet of citron-wood shall make for me a trusty shield
Filled with the mingled beverage, with sap and vigour hath it
come.
3What though the strong-armed carpenter have cleft thee with
his hand and axe.
Pure animating waters shall cleanse thee and make thee bright
again.
4This Amulet, decked with chain of gold, shall give faith,
sacrifice, and might, and dwell as guest within our house.
5To this we give apportioned food, clarified butter, wine, and
meath.
May it provide each boon for us as doth a father for his sons.
Again, again, from morn to morn, having approached the
deities.
6The Charm Brihaspati hath bound, the fatness-dropping citron-
wood, the potent Khadira for strength,
This Agni hath put on: it yields clarified butter for this man.
Again, again, from morn to morn. With this subdue thine
enemies.
7The Charm Brihaspati hath bound, the fatness-dropping citron-
wood, the potent Khadira, for strength,
This Charm hath Indra put on him for power and manly
puissance.
It yieldeth strength to strengthen him, again, again, from morn
to morn, having approached the deities.
8The Charin Brihaspati, etc.
This Charm hath Soma put on him for might, for hearing, and
for sight.
This yields him energy indeed, again, again, etc.
9The Charm Brihaspati, etc.
This Sūrya put on him, with this conquered the regions of the
sky.
This yieldeth him ability, again, etc.
10The Charm Brihaspati, etc.
This Charm did Chandra wear, with this conquered the forts of
Asuras, the golden forts of Dānavas.
This yields him glory and renown, again, etc.
11The Amulet Brihaspati bound on the swiftly-moving Wind.
This yieldeth him a vigorous steed, again, etc.
12The Asvins with this Amulet protect this culture of our fields.
This yields the two Physicians might, again, etc.
13Savitar wore this Amulet: herewith he won this lucid heaven.
This yields him glory and delight, again, etc.
14Wearing this Charm the Waters flow eternally inviolate. This
yieldeth them ambrosia, again etc.
15King Varuna assumed and wore this salutary Amulet.
This yieldeth him his truthfulness, again, etc.
16Wearing this Amulet the Gods conquered in battle all the
worlds.
This yieldeth victory for them, again, etc.
17The Amulet Brihaspati formed for the swiftly-moving Wind,
This salutary Amulet the Deities assumed and wore.
This yieldeth them the universe, again, again, from morn to
morn. With this subdue thine enemies.
18The seasons formed that Amulet, the Groups of Seasons fashion-
ed it.
The Year having constructed it preserveth everything that is.
19The regions of the heaven, the points that lie between them
fashioned it.
Created by Prajāpati, may the Charm cast my foemen down.
20Atharvan made the Amulet, Atharvan's children fashioned it.
With them the sage Angirases broke through the Dasyus'
fortresses. With this subdue thine enemies.
21Dhātar bound on this Amulet: he ranged and ordered all that
is. With this do thou subdue thy foes.
22The Amulet Brihaspati formed for the Gods, that slew the
fiends.
That Amulet here hath come to me combined with sap and
energy.
23The Amulet, etc.
That Amulet here hath come to me, hath come with cows, and
goats, and sheep, hath come with food and progeny.
24The Amulet, etc.
That Amulet here hath come to me with store of barley and of
rice, with greatness and prosperity.
25The Amulet, etc.
That Amulet here hath come to me with streams of butter and
of mead, with sweet delicious beverage.
26The Amulet, etc.
That Amulet here hath come to me with power and abundant
strength, hath come with glory and with wealth.
27The Amulet, etc..
That Amulet here hath come to me with splendour and a blaze
of light, with honour and illustrious fame.
28The Amulet Brihaspati made for the Gods, that slew the fiends,
That Amulet here hath come to me combined with all
prosperities.
29That Amulet may the Deities bestow on me to win success,
The conquering, strength-increasing Charm, the damager of
enemies.
30I bind on me my happy fate with holy prayer and energy.
Foeless destroyer of the foe, it hath subdued mine enemies.
31May this Chaim, offspring of the Gods, make me superior to my
foe.
So may this charm whose milk expressed these three worlds
longingly await,
Be fastened on me here, that it may crown me with surpassing
power.
32The Charm to which men, Fathers, Gods look ever for their
maintenance,
May this be fastened on me here, to crown me with surpassing
power
33As, when the plough hath tilled the soil, the seed springs up in.
fertile land,
Let cattle, progeny, and food of every kind spring up with me.
34Charm, forwarder of sacrifice, who hast a hundred priestly fees.
Speed to preeminence him to whom I have attached thy happy
fate.
35Love thou, O Agni, pleased with burnt oblations, this sacred
fuel that is ranged in order.
In him may we find grace and loving-kindness, happiness,
progeny, and sight and cattle, in Jātavedas kindled with
devotion.
HYMN VII
Skambha, the Pillar or Fulcrum of all existence
1Which of his members is the seat of Fervour: Which is the base
of Ceremonial Order?
Where in him standeth Faith? Where Holy Duty? Where, in
what part of him is truth implanted?
2Out of which member glows the light of Agni? Form which
proceeds the breath of Mātarisvan?
From which doth Chandra measure out his journey, travelling
over Skambha's mighty body?
3Which of his members is the earth's upholder? Which gives the
middle air a base to rest on?
Where, in which member is the sky established? Where hath
the space above the sky its dwelling?
4Whitherward yearning blazeth Agni upward? Whitherward
yearning bloweth Mātarisvan?
Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha to whom with long-
ing go the turning pathways?
5Whitheward go the half-months, and, accordant with the full
year, the months in their procession?
Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha to whom go seasons
and the groups of seasons?
6Whitherward yearning speed the two young Damsels, accordant,
Day and Night, of different colour?
Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha to whom the Waters
take their way with longing?
7Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha,
On whom Prajāpati set up and firmly stablished all the worlds?
8That universe which Prajāpati created, wearing all forms,, the
highest, midmost, lowest,
How far did Skambha penetrate within it? What portion did
he leave unpenetrated?
9How far within the past hath Skambha entered? How much of
him hath reached into the future?
That one part which he set in thousand places,—how far did
Skambha penetrate within it?
10Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha in whom men
recognize the Waters, Brahma,
In whom they know the worlds and their enclosures, in whom
are non-existence and existence?
11Declare that. Skambha, who is he of many,
In whom, exerting every power, Fervour maintains her loftiest
vow;
In whom are comprehended Law, Waters, Devotion and Belief
12Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha
On whom as their foundation earth and firmament and sky are
set;
In whom as their appointed place rest Fire and Moon and Sun
and Wind?
13Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha
He in whose body are contained all three-and-thirty Deities?
14Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha.
In whom the Sages earliest born, the Richas, Sāman, Yajus,
Earth, and the one highest Sage abide?
15Who out of many, tell me, is the Skambha.
Who comprehendeth, for mankind, both immortality and death,
He who containeth for mankind the gathered waters as his
veins?
16Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha,
He whose chief arteries stand there, the sky's four regions, he irk
whom Sacrifice putteth forth its might?
17They who in Purusha understand Brahma know Him who is.
Supreme.
He who knows Him who is Supreme, and he who knows the
Lord of Life,
These know the loftiest Power Divine, and thence know Skam-
bha thoroughly.
18Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha
Of whom Vaisvānara became the head, the Angirases his eye,
and Yātus his corporeal parts?
19Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha
Whose mouth they say is Holy Lore, his tongue the Honey-
sweetened Whip, his udder is Virāj, they say?
20Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha
From whom they hewed the lichas off, from whom they
chipped the Yajus, he
Whose hairs are Sāma-verses and his mouth the Atharvāngi-
rases?
21Men count as 'twere a thing supreme nonentity's conspicuous
branch;
And lower man who serve thy branch regard it as an entity.
22Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha
In whom Ādityas dwell, in whom Rudras and Vasus are
contained,
In whom the future and the past and all the worlds are firmly
set;
23Whose secret treasure evermore the three-and thirty Gods
protect?
Who knoweth now the treasure which, O Deities ye watch and
guard?
24Where the Gods, versed in Sacred Lore, worship the loftiest
Power Divine
The priest who knows them face to face may be a sage who
knows the truth.
25Great, verily, are those Gods who sprang from non-existence
into life.
Further, men say that that one part of Skambha is nonentity.
26Where Skambha generating gave the Ancient World its shape
and form,
They recognized that single part of Skambha as the Ancient
World,
27The three-and-thirty Gods within his body were disposed as
limbs:
Some, deeply versed in Holy Lore, some know those three-and-
thirty Gods.
28Men know Hiranyagarbha as supreme and inexpressible:
In the beginning, in the midst of the world, Skambha poured
that gold.
29On Skambha Fervour rests, the worlds and Holy Law repose on
him.
Skambha, I clearly know that all of thee on Indra is imposed.
30On Indra Fervour rests, on him the worlds and Holy Law
recline.
Indra, I clearly know that all of thee on Skambha findeth rest.
31Ere sun and dawn man calls and calls one Deity by the other's
name.
When the Unborn first sprang into existence he reached that
independent sovran lordship; than which aught higher never
hath arisen.
32Be reverence paid to him, that highest Brahma, whose base is
Earth, his belly Air, who made the sky to be his head.
33Homage to highest Brahma, him whose eye is Sūrya and the
Moon who groweth young and new again, him who made
Agni for his mouth.
34Homage to highest Brahma, him whose two life-breathings were
the Wind,
The Angirases his sight: who made the regions be his means of
sense.
35Skambha set fast these two, the earth and heaven, Skambha
maintained the ample air between them.
Skambha established the six spacious regions: this whole world
Skambha entered and pervaded.
36Homage to highest Brahma, him who, sprung from Fervour and
from toil,
Filled all the worlds completely, who made Soma for himself
alone.
37Why doth the Wind move ceaselessly? Why doth the spirit take
no rest?
Why do the Waters, seeking truth, never at any time repose?
38Absorbed in Fervour, is the mighty Being, in the world's centre,
on the waters' surface.
To him the Deities, one and all betake them. So stand the tree-
trunk with the branches round it.
39Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha.
To whom the Deities with hands, with feet, and voice, and ear,
and eye.
Present unmeasured tribute in the measured hall of sacrifice?
40Darkness is chased away from him: he is exempt from all dist-
ress.
In him are all the lights, the three abiding in Prajāpati.
41He verily who knows the Reed of Gold that stands amid the
flood, is the mysterious Lord of Life.
42Singly the two young Maids of different colours approach the
six-pegged warp in turns and weave it.
The one draws out the threads, the other lays them: they break
them not, they reach no end of labour.
43Of these two, dancing round as 'twere, I cannot distinguish
whether ranks before the other.
A Male in weaves this web, a Male divides it: a Male hath
stretched it to the cope of heaven
44These pegs have buttressed up the sky. The Sāmans have turned
them into shuttles for the weaving.
HYMN VIII
Speculations on the Supreme Being and Cosmogonical and theological subjects
1Worship to loftiest Brahma, Lord of what hath been and what
shall be,
To him who rules the universe, and heavenly light is all his own!
2Upheld by Skambha's power these two, the heaven and the earth,
stand fast.
Skambha is all this world of life, whatever breathes or shuts an.
eye.
3Three generations have gone by and vanished and others near
have entered into sunlight.
There stood on high he who metes out the region into green,
plants hath passed the Golden-coloured.
4One is the wheel, the tires are twelve in number, the naves are
three What man hath understood it?
Three hundred spokes have thereupon been hammered, and sixty
pins set firmly in their places.
5Discern thou this, O Savitar. Six are the twins, one singly born.
They claim relationship in that among them which is born alone.
6Though manifest, it lies concealed in the vast place they call the
old:
Therein is firmly stationed all the moving, breathing universe.
7Up, eastward downward in the west, ‘it rolleth, with countless
elements, one-wheeled, single-fellied.
With half it hath begotten all creation. Where hath the other half
become unnoticed?
13In front of these the five-horsed car moves onward: side-horses,
harnessed with the others draw it.
No one hath seen its hither course untravelled; the height sees
it more near, the depth more distant.
9The bowl with mouth inclined and bottom upward holds stored
within it every form of glory.
Thereon together sit the Seven Rishis who have become this
mighty One's protectors
10The Verse employed at opening and conclusion, the Verse
employed in each and every portion;
That by which sacrifice proceedeth onward. I ask thee which is
that of all the Verses.
11That which hath power of motion, that which flies, or stands,
which breathes or breathes not, which, existing, shuts the eye
Wearing all forms that entity upholds the earth, and in its close
consistence still is only one.
12The infinite to every side extended, the finite and the infinite
around us,
These twain Heaven's Lord divides as he advances, knowing the
past hereof and all the future
13Within the womb Prajāpati is moving: he, though unseen, is
born in sundry places.
He with one half engendered all creation. What sign is there to
tell us of the other?
14All men behold him with the eye, but with the mind they know
not him.
Holding aloft the water as a water-bearer in her jar.
15With the full vase he dwells afar, is left far off what time it fails,
A mighty Being in creation's centre: to him the rulers of the
realms bring tribute.
16That, whence the Sun arises, that whither he goes to take his
rest,
That verily I hold supreme: naught in the world surpasses it.
17Those who in recent times, midmost, or ancient, on all sides.
greet the sage who knows the Veda,
One and all, verily discuss Āditya, the second Agni, and the
threefold Hansa.
18This gold-hued Haiisa's wings, flying to heaven, spread o'er a
thousand days' continued journey.
Supporting all the Gods upon his bosom, he goes his way behol-
ding every creature.
19By truth he blazes up aloft by Brahma, he looks down below:
He breathes obliquely with his breath, he on whom what is.
highest rests.
20The sage who knows the kindling-sticks whence by attrition
wealth is drawn,
Will comprehend what is most high, will know the mighty
Brāhmana.
21Footless at first was he produced, footless he brought celestial
light.
Four-footed grown, and meet for use, he seized each thing
enjoyable.
22Useful will he become, and then will he consume great store of
food
The man who humbly worshippeth the eternal and victorious
God.
23Him too they call eternal; he may become new again to-day.
Day and Night reproduce themselves, each from the form the
other wears.
24A hundred, thousand, myriad, yea a hundred million stores of
wealth that passes count are laid in him.
This wealth they kill as he looks on, and now this God shines
bright therefrom.
25One is yet finer than a hair, one is not even visible. And hence
the Deity who grasps with firmer hold is dear to me.
26This fair one is untouched by age, immortal in a mortal's house.
He for whom she was made lies low, and he who formed her
hath grown old.
27Thou art a woman, and a man; thou art a damsel and a boy.
Grown old thou totterest with a staff, new-born thou lookest
every way.
28Either the sire or son of these, the eldest or the youngest child.
As sole God dwelling in the mind, first born, he still is in the
womb.
29Forth from the full he lifts the full, the full he sprinkles with
the full.
Now also may we know the source from which the stream is
sprinkled round.
30Brought forth in olden time, the everlasting, high over all that
is was she, the Ancient.
The mighty Goddess of the Morn, refulgent with one eye, looketh
round with one that winketh,
31Known by the name of Guardian Grace the Deity sits girt by
Right.
The trees have taken from her hue, green-garlanded, their robe
of green.
32When he is near she leaves him not, she sees him not though he
is near.
Behold the wisdom of the God; he hath not died, he grows not
old.
33Voices that never were before emitted speak as fitteth them.
Whither they go and speak, they say there is the mighty Brāh-
mana.
34I ask thee where the waters' flower by wondrous magic art was
placed,
Thereon the Gods and men are set as spokes are fastened in the
nave.
35Who gave command unto the wind that blowet!
Who ranged the five united heavenly regions?
Who were the Gods who cared not for oblations!
Which of them brought the sacrificial waters?
36One God inhabiteth the earth we live on; another hath encom-
passed air's mid-region.
One, the Supporter, takes the heaven and bears it: some keep-
ing watch guard all the quarters safely.
37The man who knows the drawn-out string on which these crea-
tures all are strung,
The man who knows the thread's thread, he may know the
mighty Brāhmana.
38I know the drawn-out string, the thread whereon these creatures
all are strung.
I know the thread's thread also, thus I know the mighty Brah-
ma na.
39When Agni passed between the earth and heaven devouring with
his flame the all-consumer,
Where dwelt afar the spouses of one husband, where at that
moment, where was Mātarisvan?
-40. Into the floods had Mātarisvan entered, the deities had past in-
to the waters.
There stood the mighty measurer of the region: into the ver-
dant plants went Pavamāna.
41Over the Gāyatri, above the immortal world he strode away.
Those who by Song discovered Song—where did the Unborn see
that thing?
42Luller to rest, and gatherer-up of treasures, Savitar like a God
whose laws are constant, hath stood like Indra in the war for
riches.
43Men versed in sacred knowledge know that living Being that
abides.
In the nine-portalled Lotus Flower, enclosed with triple bands
and bonds.
44Desireless, firm, immortal, self-existent, contented with the es-
sence, lacking nothing,
Free from the fear of Death is he who knoweth that Soul cou-
rageous, youthful, undecaying.
HYMN IX
The Sataudanā or Hundredfold Oblation
1Binding the mouths of those who threaten mischief, against my
rivals cast this bolt of thunder,
Indra first gave the Hundredfold Oblation, welfare of him who
worships, foe-destroying.
2Thy skin shall be the Altar; let thine hair become the Sacred
Grass.
This cord hath held thee firmly: let this pressing-stone dance
round on thee:
3The holy water be thy hair: let thy tongue make thee clean, O
Cow.
Go, Hundredfold Oblation, made bright and adorable, to hea-
ven.
4He who prepares the Hundredfold Oblation gains each wish
thereby:
For all his ministering priests, contented, move as fitteth them.
5He rises up to heaven, ascends to younder third celestial
height.
Whoever gives the Hundredfold Oblation with the central
cake.
6That man completely wins those worlds, both of the heavens
and of the earth,
Whoever pays the Hundredfold. Oblation with its golden light.
7Thine Immolators, Goddess! and the men who dress thee for
the feast, all these will guard thee, Hundredfold Oblation!
Have no fear of them.
8The Vasus from the South will be thy guards, the Maruts from
the North,
Ādityas from the West; o'ertake and pass the Agnishtoma,
thou!
9The Gods, the Fathers, mortal men, Gandharvas, and Apsara-
ses,
All these will be the guards: o'ertake and pass the Atirātra,
thou!
10The man who pays the Hundredfold Oblation winneth all the
worlds,
Air, heaven, and earth, Ādityas, and Maruts, and regions of the
sky.
11Sprinkling down fatness, to the Gods will the beneficent God-
dess go.
Harm not thy dresser, Cow! To heaven, O Hundredfold Obla-
tion, speed!
12From all the Gods enthroned in heaven, in air, from those who
dwell on earth,
Draw forth for evermore a stream of milk, of butter, and of
mead.
13Let thy head, let thy mouth, let both thine ears, and those two
jaws of thine.
Pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk, and
mead.
14Let both thy lips, thy nostrils, both thy horns, and these two
eyes of thine.
Pour for the given, etc.
15Let heart and pericardium, let thy lungs with all the bronchial
tubes, etc.
16Let liver, and let kidneys, let thine entrails, and the parts within,
etc.
17Let rectum and omentum, let thy belly's hollows, and thy skin,
etc.
18Let all thy marrow, every bone, let all thy flesh, and all thy
blood, etc.
19Let both thy shoulders and thy hump, thy forelegs, and their
lower parts, etc.
20Let neck and nape and shoulder-joints, thy ribs and inter-costal
parts, etc.
21So let thy thighs and thy knee-bones, thy hinder quarters, and
thy hips, etc.
22So let thy tail and all the hairs thereof, thine udder, and thy
teats, etc.
23Let all thy legs, the refuse of thy feet, thy heelropes, and thy
hooves.
Pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter milk, and
mead.
24Let all thy skin, Sataudanā! let every hair thou hast, O Cow,
Pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk, and
mead.
25Sprinkled with molten butter, let the two meal-cakes be sport
for thee.
Make them thy wings, O Goddess, and bear him who dresses
thee to heaven.
26Each grain of rice in mortar or on pestle, all on the skin or in
the winnowing-basket,
Whatever purifying Mātarisvan, the Wind, hath sifted, let the
Hotar Agni make of it an acceptable oblation.
27In the priest's hands I lay, in separate order, the sweet celestial
Waters, dropping fatness.
As here I sprinkle them may all my wishes be granted unto me
in perfect fulness. May we have ample wealth in our posses-
sion.
HYMN X
A glorification of the sacred Cow as representing the radiant heavens
1Worship to thee springing to life, and worship unto thee when
born!
Worship, O Cow, to thy tail-hair, and to thy hooves, and to thy
form!
2The man who knows the Seven Floods, who knows the seven
distances,
Who knows the head of sacrifice, he may receive the holy Cow.
3I know the Seven Water-floods, I know the seven distances,
I know the head of sacrifice, and Soma shining bright in her.
4Hitherward we invite with prayer the Cow who pours a thou-
sand streams,
By whom the heaven, by whom the earth, by whom these waters
are preserved.
5Upon her back there are a hundred keepers, a hundred metal
bowls, a hundred milkers.
The Deities who breathe in her all separately know the Cow.
6Her foot is sacrifice, her milk libation, Svadhā her breath, Mahï-
lukā the mighty:
To the God goes with prayer the Cow who hath Parjanya for
her lord.
7Agni hath entered into thee; Soma, O Cow, hath entered thee.
Thine udder is Parjanya, O blest Cow; the lightnings are thy
teats.
8Thou pourest out the Waters first, and corn-lands afterward,
O Cow.
Thirdly thou pourest princely sway. O Cow, thou pourest food
and milk.
9When, Holy One, thou camest nigh invited by the Ādityas' call,
Indra gave thee to drink, O cow, a thousand bowls of Soma
juice.
10The Bull, what time thou followedst the way of Indra, summon-
ed thee:
Thence the Fiend-slayer, angered, took thy water and thy milk
away.
11O Cow, the milk which in his wrath the Lord of Riches took
from thee,
That same the vault of heaven now preserveth in three reser-
voirs.
12The Cow Celestial received that Soma in three vessels, where.
Atharvan, consecrated, sate upon the Sacred Grass of gold.
13Come hither with the Soma, come with every footed thing; the
Cow
With Kalis and Gandharvas by her side hath stepped upon the
sea.
14Come hither with the Wind, yea, come with every creature borne
on wings.
Laden with holy verse and song the Cow hath leapt into the
sea.
15Come with the Sun, come hitherward with every creature that
hath eyes,
Bearing auspicious lights with her the Cow hath looked across
the sea.
16When, covered round about with gold, thou stoodest there, O
Holy One,
The ocean turned into a horse and mounted on thy back, O
Cow,
17Then came and met the Blessed Ones, Deshtri, the Cow, and
Svadhā, where
Atharvan, consecrated. sate upon the Sacred Grass of gold.
18The Kshatriya's mother is the Cow, thy mother, Svadhā! is the
Cow.
Sacrifice is the weapon of the Cow: the thought arose from,
her.
19From Brahma's summit there went forth a drop that mounted
up on high:
From that wast thou produced, O Cow, from that the Hotar
sprang to life.
20Forth from thy mouth the Gāthās came, from thy neck's nape
sprang strength, O Cow.
Sacrifice from thy flanks was born, and rays of sunlight from.
thy teats,
21From thy fore-quarters and thy thighs motion was generated,
Cow!
Food from thine entrails was produced, and from thy belly came
the plants.
22When into Varuna's belly thou hadst found a passage for thy-
self,
The Brāhman called thee thence, for he knew how to guide and
lead thee forth.
23All trembled at the babe that came from him who brings not to
the birth.
He hath produced her—thus they cried—He is a cow, and formed
by spells, he hath become skin to her.
24He only joineth battle, yea, he who alone controlleth her.
Now sacrifices have become victories, and the Cow their eye.
25The Cow hath welcomed sacrifice: the Cow hath held the Sun
in place.
Together with the prayer the mess of rice hath passed into the
Cow.
26They call the Cow immortal life, pay homage to the Cow as
Death.
She hath become this universe, Fathers, and Rishis, hath become
the Gods, and men, and Asuras.
27The man who hath this knowledge may receive the Cow with.
welcoming.
So for the giver willingly doth perfect sacrifice pour milk.
28Within the mouth of Varuna three tongues are glittering with
light.
That which shines midmost of them is this Cow most difficult to
hold.
29Four-parted was the Cow's prolific humour.
One-fourth is Water, one-fourth life eternal, one-fourth is sacri-
fice, one-fourth are cattle.
30The Cow is Heaven, the Cow is Earth, the Cow is Vishnu, Lord
of Life.
e The Sādhyas and the Vasus have drunk the out-pourings of the
Cow.
31When these, Sādhyas and Vasus, have drunk the out-pourings of
the Cow,
They in the Bright One's dwelling-place pay adoration to her
milk.
32For Soma some have milked her: some worship the fatness she
hath poured.
They who have given a cow to him who hath this knowledge
have gone up to the third region of the sky.
33He who hath given a Cow unto the Brāhmans winneth all the
worlds.
For Right is firmly set in her devotion, and religious zeal.
34Both Gods and mortal men depend for life and being on the
Cow.
She hath become this universe: all that the Sun surveys is she.
BOOK XI
HYMN I
An accompaniment to the preparation and presentation of a Brahmaudana
1Agni, spring forth! Here Aditi, afflicted, cooks a Brahmaudana,
yearning for children.
Let the Seven Rishis, World-creators, rub thee into existence
here with gift of offspring.
2Raise, as I bid, the smoke, my strong companions, lovers of free-
dom from deceit and malice!
Victor in fight heroic, here is Agni by whom the Gods subdued
the hostile demons.
3Thou, Agni, wart produced for mighty valour, to cook Brahmau-
dana, O Jātavedas.
Seven Rishis, makers of the world, begat thee, Grant to this
woman wealth with store of heroes.
4Burn up, O Agni, kindled with the fuel. Knowing the Gods who
merit worship, bring them.
Cooking, for these, oblation, Jātavedas! lift up this man to
heaven's most lofty summit.
5Your portion from of old is triply parted, portion of Gods, of
Fathers, and of mortals.
Know, all, your shares. I deal them out among you. The portion
of the Gods shall save this woman.
6Strong art thou, Agni, conquering, all-surpassing. Crush down
our foemen, ruin those who hate us.
So let this measure, measured, being measured, make all our kin
thy tributary vassals.
7Increase with kinsmen and with all abundance: to mighty strength
and power lift up this woman.
Erect, rise upward to the sky's high station, rise to the lofty
world which men call Svarga.
8May this great Earth receive the skin, this Goddess Prithivī,
showing us her love and favour. Then may we go unto the
world of virtue.
9Fix on the skin these two joined press-stones, duly rending the
fibres for the sacrificer.
Strike down and slay those who assail this woman, and elevating
raise on high her offspring.
10Grasp with thy hand, O man, the well-formed press-stones: the
holy Gods have come unto thy worship.
Three wishes of thy heart which thou electest, these happy gains
for thee I here make ready.
11Here thy devotion is, here is thy birthplace. Aditi, Mother of
brave sons, accept thee!
Wipe away those who fight against this woman with wealth and
store of goodly sons endow her.
12Rest in the roaring frame of wood: be parted from husk and
chaff, ye Sacrificial Fibres.
May we surpass in glory all our rivals. I cast beneath my feet
the men who hate us.
13Go, Dame, and quickly come again: the waters, enclosed, have
mounted thee that thou mayst bear them.
Take thou of these such as are fit for service: skilfully separating.
leave the others.
14Hither these Dames have come in radiant beauty. Arise and seize=
upon thy strength, O woman.
To thee hath sacrifice come: take the pitcher, blest with a good
lord, children, children's children.
15Instructed by the Rishis, bring those waters, the share of strength
which was of old assigned you.
Let this effectual sacrifice afford you protection, fortune, off-
spring, men, and cattle.
16Agni, on thee the sacrificial caldron hath mounted: shining,.
fiercely flaming, heat it.
May hottest flames, divine, sprung from the Rishis, gathering,
with the Seasons, heat this portion.
17Purified, bright, and holy, let these Women, these lucid waters
glide into the caldron.
Cattle and many children may they give us. May he who cooks.
the Odana go to heaven.
18Ye, Sacrificial Rice and Soma Fibres, cleansed and made pure by
prayer and molten butter.
Enter the water: let the caldron take you. May he who dresses
this ascend to heaven.
19Expand thyself abroad in all thy greatness, with thousand Prish-
thas, in the world of virtue.
Grandfathers, fathers, children, and descendants, fifteenth am I
to thee when I have dressed it.
20With thousand streams and Prishthas, undecaying, Brahmaudana
is celestial, God-reaching.
Those I give up to thee with all their children. Force them to
tribute, but to me be gracious.
21Rise to the altar: bless this dame with offspring. Promote this
woman; drive away the demons.
May we surpass in glory all our rivals. I cast beneath my feet the
men who hate us.
22Approach this woman here with store of cattle: together with
the deities come to meet her.
Let not a curse or imprecation reach thee: in thine own seat
shine forth exempt from sickness.
23Fashioned at first by Right, set by the spirit, this altar of Brahmau-
dana was appointed.
Place the pure boiler on it, woman! set thou therein the rice
mess of Celestial Beings.
24This second hand of Aditi, this ladle which the Seven Rishis,
world-creators, fashioned.
May this scoop deftly pile upon the altar, therein, the members
of the rice-oblation.
25Let the dressed offering and divine Ones serve thee: creep from.
the fire again, own these as masters.
Made pure with Soma rest within the Brāhmans: let not thine
eaters, Rishis' sons, be injured.
26Give understanding unto these, King Soma! all the good Brāh
mans who attend and serve thee.
Oft, in Brahmaudana, and well I call on: Rishis, their sons, and
those who sprang from Fervour.
27Here I set singly in the hands of Brāhmans these cleansed and.
purifie d and holy Women,
May Indra, Marut girt, grant me the blessing which as I sprinkle
you, my heart desireth.
28Here is my gold, a light immortal: ripened grain from the field
this Cow of Plenty give me!
This wealth I place among the Brāhmans, making a path that
leads to heaven among the Fathers.
29Lay thou the chaff in Agni Jātavedas: remove the husks and
drive them to a distance.
That, we have heard, that is the House-Lord's portion: we know
the share allotted to Destruction.
30Mark him who toils and cooks and pours oblation: make this
man climb the path that leads to heaven,
That he may mount and reach life that is highest, ascending to
the loftiest vault above us.
31Adhvaryu, cleanse that face of the Supporter. Make room, well
knowing, for the molten butter.
Purify duly all the limbs with fatness. I make a path to heaven
amid the Fathers.
32Supporter, send to those men fiends and battle, to all non-Brah-
mans who attend and serve thee.
Famous and foremost, with their great possessions, let not these
here, the Rishis sons, be injured.
33I set thee, Odana, with Rishis' children: naught here belongs to
men not sprung from Rishis.
Let Agni my protector, all the Maruts, the Visve Devas guard
the cooked oblation.
34May we adore thee, Sacrifice that yieldeth an everlasting son,
cow, home of treasures,
Together with increasing store of riches, long life and immor-
tality of children.
35Thou art a Bull that mounts to heaven: to Rishis and their off-
spring go.
Rest in the world of pious men: there is the place prepared for
us.
36Level the ways: go thitherward, O Agni. Make ready thou the
Godward-leading pathways.
By these our pious actions may we follow sacrifice dwelling in
the seven-rayed heaven.
37May we invested with that light go upward, ascending to the
sky's most lofty summit.
Wherewith the Gods, what time they had made ready
Brahmaudana, mounted to the world of virtue.
HYMN II
Prayer and praise to Bhava, Sarva and Rudra
1Bhava and Sarva, spare us, be not hostile. Homage to you, twin
Lords of beasts and spirits!
Shoot not the arrow aimed and drawn against us: forbear to
harm our quadrupeds and bipeds.
2Cast not our bodies to the dog or jackal, nor, Lord of Beasts!
to carrion-kites or vultures.
Let not thy black voracious flies attack them; let not thy birds
obtain them for their banquet.
3We offer homage to thy shout, Bhava! thy breath, thy racking
pains:
Homage, Immortal One! to thee, to Rudra of the thousand
eyes.
4We offer reverence to thee from eastward, and from north and
south,
From all the compass of the sky, to thee and to the firmament.
5Homage, O Bhava, Lord of Beasts, unto thy face and all thine
eyes,
To skin, and hue, and aspect, and to thee when looked at from
behind!
6We offer homage to thy limbs, thy belly, and thy tongue, and
mouth we offer homage to thy smell.
7Never may we contend with him, the mighty archer, thousand-
eyed.
Rudra who wears black tufts of hair, the slaughterer of
Ardhaka.
8May he, may Bhava from all sides avoid us, avoid us even as
fire avoids the waters. Let him not threaten us. To him be
homage!
9Four times, eight times be homage paid to Bhava, yea, Lord of
Beasts, ten times be reverence paid thee!
Thine are these animals, five several classes, oxen, and goats and
sheep, and men, and horses
10Thine the four regions, thine are earth and heaven, thine,
Mighty One, this firmament between them;
Thine everything with soul and breath here on the surface of the
land.
11Thine is this ample wealth-containing storehouse that holds with-
in it all these living creatures.
Favour us, Lord of Beasts, to thee be homage! Far from us go
ill-omens, dogs, and jackals, and wild-haired women with
their horrid shrieking!
12A yellow bow of gold thou wieldest, slaying its hundred, tufted
God! smiting its thousand.
Weapon of Gods, far flies the shaft of Rudra: wherever it may
be, we pay it homage.
13Thou, Rudra, followest close the foe who lies in wait to conquer
thee.
Even as a hunter who pursues the footsteps of the wounded
game.
14Accordant and allies, Bhava and Rudra, with mighty strength ye
go to deeds of valour. Wherever they may be, we pay them
homage.
15Be homage, Rudra, unto thee approaching and departing hence!
Homage to thee when standing still, to thee when seated and at
rest!
16Homage at evening and at morn, homage at night, homage by
day .
To Bhava and to Sarva, both, have I paid lowly reverence,
17Let us not outrage with our tongue far-seeing Rudra, thousand-
eyed,
Inspired with varied lore, who shoots his arrows forward, far
away.
18Foremost we go to meet his car, the chariot of the long-haired
God,
Drawn by brown horses, dusky, black, o'erthrowing, slaying,
terrible. Let reverence be paid to him.
19Cast not thy club at us, thy heavenly weapon. Lord of Beasts,
be not wroth with us. Let reverence be paid to thee.
Shake thy celestial branch above some others elsewhere, not o'er
us.
20Do us no harm, but comfort us: avoid thou us, and be not
wroth. Never let us contend with thee.
21Covet not thou our kine or men, covet not thou our goats or
sheep.
Elsewhither, strong One! turn thine aim: destroy the mockers'
family.
22Homage to him whose weapon, Cough or Fever, assails one like
the neighing of a stallion; to him who draws one forth and
then another!
23Homage be paid him with ten Sakvari verses who stands
established in the air's mid-region, slaying non-sacrificing
God-despisers!
24For thee were forest beasts and sylvan creatures placed in the
wood, and small birds, swans, and eagles.
Floods, Lord of Beasts! contain thy living beings: to swell thy
strength flow the celestial Waters.
25Porpoises, serpents, strange aquatic monsters, fishes, and things
unclean at which thou shootest.
Nothing is far for thee, naught checks thee, Bhava! The whole
earth in a moment thou surveyest. From the east sea thou
smitest in the northern.
26O'erwhelm us not with Fever or with poison, nor, Rudra! with
the fire that comes from heaven. Elsewhere, and not on us,
cast down this lightning.
27Ruler of heaven and Lord of earth is Bhava: Bhava hath filled
the spacious air's mid-region. Where'er he be, to him be paid
our homage!
28King Bhava, favour him who offers worship, for thou art
Pasupati, Lord of victims.
Be gracious to the quadruped and biped of the believer in the
Gods' existence.
29Harm thou among us neither great nor little, not one who bears
us, not our future bearers.
Injure no sire among us, harm no mother. Forbear to injure our
own bodies, Rudra.
30This lowly reverence have I paid to Rudra's dogs with mighty
mouths,
Hounds terrible with bark and howl, who gorge unmasticated
food.
31Homage to thy loud-shouting hosts and thy long-haired
followers!
Homage to hosts that are adored, homage to armies that enjoy
Homage to all thy troops, O God. Security and bliss be ours!
HYMN III
A glorification of the Odana or oblation of boiled rice
11. Of that Odana Brihaspati is the head, Brahma the mouth.
22. Heaven and Earth are the ears, the Sun and Moon are the
eyes, the seven Rishis are the vital airs inhaled and exhaled.
3. Vision is the pestle, Desire the mortar. 4. Diti is the
winnowing basket, Aditi is she who holds it, Vāta is the sifter.
5. Horses are the grains, oxen the winnowed ricegrains, gnats
the husks. 6. Kabru is the husked grain, the rain cloud is the
reed. 7. Grey iron is its flesh, copper its blood. 8. Tin is its
ashes, gold its colour, the blue lotus flower its scent. 9. The
threshing-floor is its dish, the wooden swords its shoulders,
the car-shafts its backbones. 10. Collar-bones are its entrails,
straps its intestines. 11. This earth, verily becomes the jar,
and heaven the cover of the Odana as it is cooking.
12. Furrows are its ribs, sandy soils the undigested contents
of its stomach. 13. Law is its water for the hands and family
custom its aspersion. 14. The jar covered with the Rich has
been solemnly directed by the priestly office. 15. Received by
the Brāhman, it has been carried round. 16. The Brihat is,
the stirring-spoon, the Rathantara the ladle. 17. The Seasons
are the dressers, the Groups of Seasons kindle the fire.
18. The caldron flames round the oblation (charu) whose
mouth consists of five openings.
1919. The sacrificial word, all worlds are to be won with Odana.
2020. Whereon in order rest the three, the ocean, and the heaven, and
earth.
2121. Within the residue whereof the Gods arranged six eightieth
parts—
2222. I ask thee, of this Odana what is the mighty magnitude.
2323. He who may know the magnitude of the Odana. 24. Would say,
Not small, nor devoid of moistening sauce; not this, nor any-
thing whatever. 25. He would not declare it to be greater than
the giver imagines it to be. 26. The theologians say, Thou
hast eaten the averted Odana and the Odana turned hither-
ward. 27. Thou hast eaten the Odana and the Odana will eat
thee. 28. Thou hast eaten this averted; thy inward breath will
leave thee; so he said to this one. 29. Thou hast eaten this
turned hitherward; thy downward breath will leave thee; so
he said to this one. 30. I indeed have not eaten the Odana,
nor has the Odana eaten me. 31. The Odana has just eaten
the Odana.
2
3232. And thence he said to this one, Thou hast eaten this with a
different head from that with which the ancient Rishis ate:
thy offspring, reckoning from the eldest, will die. I have eaten
it neither turned downward, nor turned away, nor turned
hitherward. With Brihaspati as head: with him I have eaten,
with him have I come to it. Now this Odana is complete with
all members, joints, and body. Complete, verily, with all his
members, joints, and body is he who possess this knowledge.
33. And thence he said to him, Thou hast eaten this with
other ears than those with which the ancient Rishis ate it.
Thou wilt be deaf. I have eaten it neither, etc. (as in verse 32).
With Heaven and Earth as ears, with these I have eaten it,
with these I have come to it. Now this Odana, etc. (as in 32).
34. And thence he said to him. Thou hast eaten this with
other eyes . . . thou wilt be blind. With Sun and Moon, etc.
35. And thence, etc. . . with other month. Thy offspring will
die, reckoning from the head . . . With Brahma as mouth.
36. And thence, etc. . . . with other tongue . . . Thy tongue
will die . . . With the tongue of Agni. 37. And thence, etc. . .
With other teeth . . . Thy teeth will fall out . . . With the
Seasons as teeth. 38. And thence, etc. . . . with other vital
airs. . . . Thy vital airs will leave thee . . . With the Seven
Rishis as the vital airs. 39. And thence, etc. . . . with other
expanse . . . Consumption will destroy thee . . . With the
firmament as expanse. 40 And thence, etc. . . . with other
back. . . . Lightning will slay thee. . . With the heaven as
back. 41. And thence, etc. . . . with other breast . . . Thou
wilt fail in agriculture. . . . With the earth as breast. 42. And
thence, etc. . . . with other belly . . . colic will destroy thee . . .
With truth as belly. 43. And thence, etc. . . . with other
abdomen . . . Thou wilt die in the water . . . With the sea as
abdomen. 44. And thence, etc. . . . with other thighs . . .
Thy thigh will perish . . . With Mitra-Varuna as thighs.
45. And thence, etc. . . . with other knees . . . Thou wilt
become a sick man . . . With the knees of Tvashtar. 46. And
thence, etc. . . . with other feet . . . Thou wilt become a
wanderer . . . With the feet of the Asvins. 47. And thence,
etc. . . with other fore-parts of the feet . . . A serpent will
kill thee . . . With the fore-parts of Savitar's feet. 48. And
thence, etc. . . . with other hands . . . The Brāhmana (divine
power) will kill thee . . . With the hands of Right. 49. And
thence, etc. . . . with other basis . . . Without standing-ground
and resting-place thou wilt die . . . Having taken my stand on
truth. With this I ate it, with this I came to it. Now this
Odana is complete with all members, joints, and body.
Complete, verily, with all his members, joints, and body is he
who possesses this knowledge.
HYMN IV
A glorification of Prāna, Breath or Vital Spirit
1Homage to Prāna, him who hath dominion o'er the universe,
Who hath become the Sovran Lord of all, on whom the whole
depends!
2Homage, O Prāna, to thy roar, to thunder-peal and lightning
flash!
Homage, O Prāna, unto thee what time thou sendest down thy
rain!
3When Prāna with a thunderous voice shouts his loud message
to the plants,
They straightway are impregnate, they conceive, and bear
abundantly.
4When the due season hath arrived and Prāna shouteth to herbs,
Then all is joyful, yea, each thing upon the surface of the earth.
5When Prāna hath poured down his flood of rain upon the
mighty land.
Cattle and beasts rejoice thereat: Now great will he our
strength, they cry.
6Watered by Prāna's rain the plants have raised their voices in
accord:
Thou hast prolonged our life, they say, and given fragrance to us
all.
7Homage to thee when coming nigh, homage to thee departing
hence!
Homage, O Prāna, be to thee when standing and when sitting
still.
8Homage to thee at every breath thou drawest in and sendest
forth!
Homage to thee when turned away, homage to thee seen face to
face! This reverence be to all of thee!
9Prāna, communicate to us thy dear, thy very dearest form.
Whatever healing balm thou hast, give us thereof that we may
live.
10Prāna robes living creatures as a father his beloved son. Prāna
is sovran Lord of all, of all that breathes not, all that
breathes
11Prāna is Fever, he is Death. Prāna is worshipped by the Gods.
Prāna sets in the loftiest sphere the man who speaks the words
of truth.
12Prāna is Deshtri, and Virāj Prāna is reverenced by all. He is the
Sun, he is the Moon. Prāna is called Prajāpati.
13Both breaths are rice and barley, and Prāna is called the toiling
ox:
In barley is the inbreath laid, and rice is named the outward
breath.
14The human infant in the womb draws vital breath and sends it
Lout:
When thou, O Prāna, quickenest the babe it springs anew to
life.
15The name of Prāna is bestowed on Mātarisvan and on Wind.
On Prāna, past and future, yea, on Prāna everything depends.
16All herbs and plants spring forth and grow when thou, O Prāna
quickenest,
Plants of Atharvan, Angiras, plants of the deities and men.
17When Prāna hath poured down his flood of rain upon the
mighty earth,
The plants are wakened into life, and every herd that grows on
ground.
18The man who knows this truth of thee, O Prāna, and what bears
thee up
To him will all present their gift of tribute in that loftiest will
all present their gift of tribute in that loftiest world.
19As all these living creatures are thy tributaries, Prāna, so
Shall they bring tribute unto him who hears thee with attentive
ears.
20Filled with a babe, mid deities he wanders: grown; near at hand,
he springs again to being.
That Father, grown the present and the future, hath past into
the son with mighty powers.
21Hansa, what time he rises up, leaves in the flood one foot un-
moved.
If he withdrew it there would be no more tomorrow or to-day,
Never would there be night, no more would daylight shine or
morning flush.
22It rolleth on, eight-wheeled and single-fellied, and with a thousand
eyes, forward and backward.
With one half it engendered all creation. What sign is there to
tell us of the other?
23Homage, O Prāna unto thee armed with swift bow among the
rest,
In whose dominion is this All of varied sort that stirs and
works!
24May he who rules this Universe of varied sort, that stirs and
works,
Prāna, alert and resolute, assist me through the prayer I pray.
25Erect among the sleepers he wakes, and is never laid at length,
No one hath ever heard that he hath been asleep while others
slept.
26Thou, Prāna, never shalt be hid, never shalt be estranged from
me.
I bind thee on myself for life, O Prāna, like the Waters' germ.
HYMN V
A glorification of the Brahmachgri or religious student
1Stirring both worlds the Brahmachāri moveth: in him the
deities are all one-minded.
He hath established firmly earth and heaven: he satisfies his
Master with his Fervour.
2After the Brahmachārī go the Fathers, the heavenly hosts, all
Gods in separate order.
After him too have the Gandharvas followed, thirty and three,
three hundred, and six thousand. He satisfies all Gods with
his devotion.
3The Master, welcoming his new disciple, into his bowels takes
the Brahmachāri.
Three nights he holds and bears him in this belly. When he is
born, the Gods convene to see him.
4This log is earth, the second log is heaven: he fills the air's mid
region with the fuel.
With fuel, with his zone the Brahmachāri contents the worlds,
with labour and with Fervour.
5The Brahmachāri, earlier born than Brahma, sprang up through
Fervour, robed in hot libation.
From him sprang heavenly lore, the highest Brahma, and all the
Gods, with life that lasts for ever.
6Lighted by fuel goes the Brahmachāri, clad in black-buck skin,
consecrate, long-bearded.
Swiftly he goes from east to northern ocean, grasping the worlds,
oft bringing them anear him.
7The Brahmachāri, fathering Prayer, world, Waters, Virāj, Prajā-
pati, and Parameshthin,
Lay as a germ within the Immortal's bosom, then became Indra
and destroyed the demons.
8The Master fashioned both these cloudy regions, profound and
spacious pair, the earth and heaven.
The Brahmachāri guards them with his Fervour. In him the
deities are all one-minded.
9The Brahmachāri first of all brought hither this ample earth as
alms, and heaven above it.
He makes these twain two fuel-logs, and worships, On these sup-
ported rest all living creatures.
10Both treasuries of sacred lore lie hidden, one hitherward, beyond
heaven's ridge the other.
The Brahmachārī with his Fervour guards them. He makes this
all his own as knowing Brahma.
11Hitherward one, hence from the earth the other, two Agnis meet
between these cloudy regions.
Close to these two firm rays of light are clinging. The Brahma-
chāri enters them through Fervour.
12Thundering, shouting, ruddy-hued, and pallid, he bears along the
earth great manly vigour.
Down on the ridge of earth the Brahmachāri pours seed, and
this gives life to heaven's four regions.
13The Brahmachāri stores with fuel Waters, and Fire, and Sun, and
Moon, and Mātarisvan.
The Water's lights move separate in the rain-cloud, Man, rain,
and water are their molten butter.
14The Master is Death, Varuna, Soma, the plants of earth, and
milk.
The thunder-clouds were men of war. By these this heavenly
light was brought.
15Varuna, made a Master, takes at home the butter to himself.
Whatever with Prajāpati he sought, the Brahmachāri gave like
Mitra from his loftiest soul.
16The pupil is the Master, yea, the pupil is Prajāpati.
Prajāpati shines bright; the bright Virāj grew potent Indra's self.
17By Fervour and by self-restraint the King protects the realm he
rules.
By self-restraint the Master seeks a Brahmachari to instruct.
18By self-restraint a maiden finds a youth to be her wedded lord.
By self-restraint the ox and horse seek to win fodder for them-
selves.
19By Fervour and by self-restraint the Gods draye Death away
from them,
And Indra brought by self-restraint heaven's lustre to the deities.
20The plants, what is and what shall be, day, night, the tall tree of
the wood,
The year with seasons of the year, all from the Brahmachāri
sprang.
21All creatures of the earth and heaven, tame animals and sylvan
beasts,
Winged and wingless creatures, from the Brahmachāri sprang
to life,
22All children of Prajāpati have breath distinctly in themselves.
The Brahma that is stored within the Brahmachāri guards them
all.
23Piled up on high, but never yet ascended, that power of deities
is brightly shining.
From that sprang heavenly lore, the loftiest Brahma, and all the
Gods with, life that lasts for ever.
24The Brahmachāri wields the radiant Brahma wherein all Gods
are woven close together;
Creating breath, inhaling and exhaling, voice, mind, and heart,
Brahma and holy wisdom.
25Bestow on us the power of sight and hearing, glory and food and
seed and blood and belly.
26These, standing on the flood, the Brahmachāri formed practising
in sea his hot devotion.
When he hath bathed, brown, yellow-hued, he shines exceedingly
on earth.
HYMN VI
A prayer to all Divinities and Sanctities for deliverance from distress
1We call on Agni, on the trees lords of the forest, herbs and.
plants,
Indra, Sūrya, Brihaspati: may they deliver us from woe.
2We call on Vishnu, Bhaga, on Mitra and Varuna the King,
Ansa Vivasvān we address: may they deliver us from woe.
3We call on Savitar the God, on Pūshan the establisher,
Tvashtar the foremost we address: may they deliver us from
woe.
4Gandharvas and Apsarases; the Asvins, Brāhmanaspati,
Aryaman, God, by name we call: may they deliver us from woe.
5This word of ours to Day and Night, and to the Sun and Moon
we speak,
All the Ādityas we address: may they deliver us from woe.
6Vāta, Parjanya we address, the Quarters, and the Firmament,
And all the Regions of the sky: may they deliver us from woe.
7From all that brings a curse may Day and Night and Dawn
deliver me,
May Soma free me, God to whom they give the name of Chan-
dramās.
8All creatures both of heaven and earth, wild beasts and sylvan
animals,
And winged birds of air we call: may they deliver us from woe.
9Bhava and Sarva we address, and Rudra who is Lord of Beasts,
Their arrows which we feel and know: may they be ever kind to
us.
10We speak to Constellations, Heaven, to Earth, to Genii, and to
Hills,
To Seas, to Rivers, and to Lakes: may they deliver us from woe.
11Or the Seven Rishis we address, Waters divine, Prajāpati,
Fathers with Yama at their head: may they deliver us from woe.
12Gods whose abode is in the heaven and those who dwell in
middle air,
And Mighty ones who rest on earth: may they deliver us from.
woe.
13Ādityas, Rudra, Vasus, Gods aloft in heaven, Atharvan's sons,
The sages, sons of Angiras: may they deliver us from woe.
14To sacrifice, to worshipper, hymns, songs, and healing charms,
we speak,
To priestly acts and Yajus texts: may they deliver us from woe.
15To the five kingdoms of the plants which Soma rules as Lord we
speak.
Darbha, hemp, barley, mighty power: may these deliver us from
woe,
16To demons and fierce fiends we speak, to Holy Genii, Fathers,.
Snakes,
And to the hundred deaths and one: may these deliver us from
woe.
17We speak to Seasons, Season-Lords, to years and sections of the
year,
To Months, half-months, and years complete: may they deliver
us from woe.
18Come hither from the south, ye Gods, rise and come forward
from the west.
Gathered together, all ye Gods, ye mighty Ones, from east and
and north: may they deliver us from woe.
19This we address to all the Gods, faithful, maintainers of the
Right,
With all their Consorts by their side: may they deliver us from
woe.
20We speak to the collected Gods, faithful, maintainers of the
Right.
Present with their collective Dames: may these deliver us from
woe.
21The spirit, yea, the spirits' Lord, ruler of spirits, we address.
Together let all spirits meet: may these deliver us from woe.
22The five Sky regions, Goddesses, and the twelve Seasons which
are Gods.
The teeth of the completed year, may these deliver us from woe.
23The deathless balm that Mātalī knows, purchased at a chariot's
price,
Indra effused into the floods. Waters, give us that healing
balm!
HYMN VII
A glorification of the Uchchhishta or Residue of Sacrifice
1The Residue of Sacrifice containeth name, and from, and world:
Indra and Agni and the whole universe are comprised therein.
2The Residue of Sacrifice holdeth Earth, Heaven, and all that is:
The Residue of Sacrifice holdeth sea, waters, Moon, and Wind.
3Real, non-real, both are there, Prajāpati, and Death, and
strength:
Thereon depend the worldly ones: in me are glory Dra and Vra.
4The firm, the fast, the strong, the hard, Brahma, the All-creating
Ten.
Gods, as a wheel about the nave, are fixed all round the
Residue.
5Verse, Song, and Sacrificial Text, chanting, the prelude, and the
laud,
The hum is in the Residue, the tone, the murmur of the psalm.
6Within the Residue, like babes unborn, the parts of sacrifice,
Aindrāgne Pāvamāna lie. Mahānāmnī, Mahavrata.
7The Vājapeya, Royal Rite, the Agnishoma and its forms,
Hymns, joyfullest with living grass the Asvamedha, are therein,
8Dikshā and Agnyādheya rite that sates the wish, with magic-
hymn,
Suspended rites, long sessions, are contained within the Residue.
9Faith fire-oblation, fervent zeal, service, and sacrificial cry,
Guerdon, good works and their reward, are stored within the
Residue.
10Sacrifice of one night, or two, Sadya1 kri, Ukthya, and Prakri,
Call, deep-toned summons are therein, fine parts, through lore,
of sacrifice,
11Sacrifice of four nights, of five, of six nights, day and night
conjoined,
Shodai, seven-night sacrifice, all these sprang from the Residue,
these which the Immortal One contains.
12Pratihāra and Nidhanam, the Visvajit, the Abhijit,
The two Sāhnātirātrās and Twelve-day rite are stored therein.
13Pleasantness, reverence, peace, and power, strength, vigour,
immortality
All forward wishes are with love satisfied in the Residue.
14Nine several oceans, earths, and skies are set within, the Residue,
Bright shines the Sun therein, in me, the Residue, are Day and
Night.
15The Residue the Father's sire, who bears this universe, supports
Vishūvān, Upahavya, and all worship offered secretly.
16The Father's sire, the Residue, grandson of Spirit, primal Sire,
Lord of the universe, the Bull, dwells on the earth victorious.
17Right, truth, dominion, fervent zeal, toil, duty, action, future,
past,
Valour; prosperity, and strength dwell in the Residue in
strength.
18Welfare, resolve and energy, the six expanses, kingship, sway,
Prayer, and direction, and the year, oblation, planets, are there-
in;
19And the four Hotars, Apri hymns, the Nivids, and Four-
monthly rites,
Oblations, sacrifices, and animal offerings, and their forms.
20Months, half-months, sections of the year, seasons are in the
Residue,
The waters resonant afar, the thunder, and the mighty noise.
21Pebbles, sand, stones, and herbs, and plants, and grass are in
the Residue,
Closely embraced and laid therein are lightnings and the clouds
and rain.
22Gain, acquisition, and success, fulness, complete prosperity.
Great gain and wealth, are laid, concealed and treasured, in the
Residue.
23All things that breathe the breath of life, all creatures that have
eyes to see,
All the celestial Gods whose home is heaven sprang from the
Residue.
24Verses, and Songs, and magic hymns, Purāna, sacrificial text.
All the celestial Gods whose home is heaven sprang from the
Residue.
25Inbreath and outbreath, eye and ear, decay and freedom from
decay,
All the celestial Gods whose home is heaven sprang from the
Residue.
26All pleasures and enjoyments, all delights and rapturous ecsta-
sies,
All the celestial Gods whose home is heaven sprang from the
Residue.
27The Deities, the Fathers, men, Gandharvas, and Apsarases.
6 All the celestial Gods whose home is heaven sprang from the
Residue.
HYMN VIII
On the origin of some Gods and the creation of man
1When Manyu brought his consort home forth from Sankalpa's
dwelling-place,
Who were the wooers of the bride, who was the chief who
courted her?
2Fervour and Action were the two, in depths of the great billowy
sea?
These were the wooers of the bride; Brahma the chief who
courted her.
3Ten Gods before the Gods were born together in the ancient
time.
Whoso may know them face to face may now pronounce the
mighty word.
4Inbreath and outbreath, eye and ear, decay and freedom from.
decay,
Spiration upward and diffused, voice, mind have brought us
wish and plan.
5As yet the Seasons were unborn, and Dilator and Prajāpati,
Both Asvins, Indra, Agni. Whom then did they worship as
supreme?
6Fervour and Action were the two, in depths of the great billowy
sea;
Fervour sprang up from Action: this they served and worship-
ped as supreme.
7He may account himself well versed in ancient time who knows
by name.
The earth that was before this earth, which only wisest Sages
know.
8From whom did Indra spring? from whom sprang Soma?
whence was Agni born?
From whom did Tvashtar spring to life? and whence is Dilator's
origin?
9Indra from Indra, Soma from Soma, Agni from Agni sprang
Tvashtar from Tvashtar was produced, Dilator was Dhātar's
origin.
10Those Gods who were of old, the Ten begotten earlier than the
Gods,
What world do they inhabit since they gave the world unto
their sons?
11When he had brought together hair, sinew and bone, marrow
and flesh.
And to the body added feet, then to what world did he depart?
12Whence, from what region did he bring the hair, the sinews, and
the bones,
Marrow and limbs, and joints, and flesh? Who was the bringer,
and from whence?
13Casters, those Gods were called who brought together all the
elements:
When they had fused the mortal man complete, they entered
into him.
14The thighs, the knee-bones, and the feet, the head, the face,
Land both the hands,
The ribs, the nipples, and the sides—what I ishi hath constructed
that?
15Head, both the hands, and face, and tongue, and neck, and inter-
coastal parts,
All this, investing it with skins, Mahi conjoined with bond and
tie.
16What time the might body lay firmly compact with tie and bond,
Who gave its colour to the form, the hue wherewith it shines
to-day?
17All Deities had lent their aid: of this a noble Dame took note,
Tsā, the Consort of Command. She gave its colour to the form.
18When Tvashtar, Tvashtar's loftier Sire, had bored it out and
hollowed it.
Gods made the mortal their abode, and entered and possessed
the man.
19Sleep, specially, Sloth, Nirriti, and deities whose name is Sin,
Baldness, old age, and hoary hairs within the body found their
way.
20Theft, evil-doing, and deceit, truth, sacrifice, exalted fame,
Strength, princely power, and energy entered the body as a
home.
21Prosperity and poverty, kindnesses and malignities,
Hunger and thirst of every kind entered the body as a home.
22Reproaches, freedom from reproach, all blamable, all blameless
deeds,
Bounty, belief, and unbelief entered the body as a home.
23All knowledge and all ignorance, each other thing that one may
learn,
Entered the body, prayer, and hymns, and songs, and sacrificial
texts.
24Enjoyments, pleasures, and delights, gladness, and rapturous
ecstasies.
Laughter and merriment and dance entered the body as a home.
25Discourse and conversation, and the shrill-resounding cries of
woe,
All entered in, the motives and the purposes combined there-
with.
26Inbreath and outbreath, ear and eye, decay and freedom from
decay.
Breath upward and diffused, voice, mind, these quickly with the
body move,
27All earnest wishes, all commands, directions, and admonish-
ments.
Reflections, all deliberate plans entered the body as a home.
28They laid in the abhorrent frame those waters hidden, bright,
and thick,
Which in the bowels spring from blood, from mourning or from
hasty toil.
29Fuel they turned to bone, and then they set light waters in the
frame.
The molten butter they made seed: then the Gods entered into
man.
30All Waters, all the Deities. Virāj with Brahma at her side:
Brahma into the body passed: Prajāpati is Lord thereof.
31The Sun and Wind formed, separate, the eye and vital breath of
man.
His other person have the Gods bestowed on Agni as a gift.
32Therefore whoever knoweth man regardeth him as Brāhman's
self:
For all the Deities abide in him as cattle in their pen.
33At his first death he goeth hence, asunder, in three separate
parts.
He goeth yonder with one part, with one he goeth yonder:
here he sinketh downward with a third.
34In the primeval waters cold the body is deposited.
In this there is the power of growth: from this is power of
growth declared.
HYMN IX
An incantation for the destruction of a hostile army
1All arms and every arrow, all the power and might that bows
possess,
The warlike weapon, axes, swords, the plan and purpose in the
heart,
All this, O Arbudi, make thou visible to our enemies, and let
them look on mist and fog.
2Arise ye and prepare yourselves: ye, the celestial hosts, are
friends.
Let your mysterious natures be seen by our friends O Arbudi.
3Rise both of you: begin your work with fettering and binding.
fast,
Assail, both of you, Arbudi, the armies of our enemies.
4The God whose name is Arbudi, and Nyarbudi the Mighty
One,
The two by whom the air and this great earth are compassed
and possessed,
With these two friends of Indra I go forth to conquer with the
host.
5Rise with our army stand thou up. O Godlike Being, Arbudi.
Breaking the hosts of enemies, surround them with thy winding
coils.
6Exhibiting, O Arbudi, seven children of the mist and fog,
When butter hath been offered, rise with all of these and with
the host.
7Beating her breast, with tearful face, let the short-earned, the
wild-haired hag.
Shriek loudly when a man is slain, pierced through by thee, O
Arbudi;
8Snatching away the vertebra, while with her thought she seeks
her son,
Her husband, brother, kin, when one, Arbudi! hath been pierc-
ed by thee.
9Let vultures, ravens, kites, and crows, and every carrion-eating
bird.
Feast on our foes, and show where one, Arbudi! hath been
pierced by thee.
10Then let each greedy beast of prey, and fly and worm regale
itself
Upon the human corpse where one, Arbudi, hath been pierced
by thee.
11Attack them, both of you; bear off their vital breath O Nyar-
budi.
Let mingled shouts and echoing cries of woe amid our foemen
show where thou, O Arbudi, hast pierced
12Shake them, and let them sink with fear: e'erwhelm our enemies
with dread.
With widely-grasping bends of arm, O Arbudi, crush down our
foes.
13Let those mens' arms grow faint and weak, dull be the purpose
of their heart;
And let not aught of them be left when thou, O Arbudi, hast
pierced.
14Self-smiting, beating breast and thigh, careless of unguent, with
their hair dishevelled, weeping,
hags shall run together, when a man is slain, when thou, O
Arbudi, hast pierced.
15Apsarases with dog-like mates, and Rūpakās, O Arbudi,
And her who licks the cup inside, and seeks to wound in ill-
kept place,
All these, O Arbudi, do thou make visible to our enemies and
let them look on mists and fog.
16The fiend who creeps upon the sword, maimed, dwelling where
Lthe wounded lie,
The misty shapes that lurk concealed, Gandharvas and Apsara-
ses, demons, and snakes and Other Folk;
17Armed with four fangs and yellow teeth, deformed, with faces
smeared with blood, the terrible and fearless ones,
18Make thou, O Arbudi, those wings of hostile armies quake with
dread.
Let Conqueror and Victor, friends of Indra, overcome our foes.
19Stifled and crushed, O Nyarbudi, low let the smitten foeman lie.
With tongue of fire and crest of smoke go conquering maidens
with our host!
20May Indra, Lord of Might, strike down each bravest warrior of
the foes,
Whom this our band hath put to flight: let not one man of
those escape.
21Let their hearts burst asunder, let their breath fly up and pass
away.
Let dryness of the mouth o'ertake our foemen, not the friendly
ones.
22The clever and the foolish ones, those who are twisted round,
the deaf,
The dusky-hued, the hornless goats and those whose voice is like
the buck's,
All these, O Arbudi, do thou make visible to our enemies:
cause them to look on mists and fog.
23Arbudi and Trishandhi fall upon our foes and scatter them,
So that, O Indra, Lord of Might, Slayer of Vritra, we may kill
thousands of these our enemies!
24Tall trees, and those who live in woods, the herbs and creeping
plants of Earth,
Gandharvas, and Apsarases, Snakes, [ ] Beings, Fathers,
Gods,
All these do thou, O Arbudi, make visible to our enemies:
cause them to look on mists and fog.
25High sway have Maruts, and the God Āditya, Brāhmanaspati,
High sway have Indra, Agni, and Dilator, Mitra, Prajāpati,
High sway have Rishis given to you, showing upon our enemies
where thou, O Arbudi, hast pierced.
26With full dominion over these, rise, stand ye up, prepare your-
selves,
Ye are our friends, celestial hosts. When ye have won this
battle, go, each to his several sphere, apart.
HYMN X
1Rise up, with all your banners rise; prepare your strength, ye
vapoury Forms!
Serpents and fiends and Other Folk, charge and pursue our
enemies!
2Let those who bear an evil name, in air, in heaven on earth, and
men,
After Trishandhi's will, revere your power, the sway that Know-
ledge gives, together with your ruddy flags.
3Let those with iron faces, with faces like needles or like combs,
Flesh-eaters, rapid as the wind, cling closely to our foemen with
Trishandhi for their thunderbolt.
4Omniscient Āditya, make full many a corpse to disappear.
Let this devoted army of Trishandhi be in my control.
5Rise up, O Godlike Being, rise, Arbudi, with thine army: this,
Tribute is sacrificed to thee, Trishandhi's welcome offering
6May this four-footed White-foot, may this arrow brace and bind
thee fast:
Together with Trishandhi's host, be thou, O Witchcraft, meant
for foes.
7Down let the dim-eyed demon fly, and let her shorteared sister
shriek:
Red be the banners when the host of Arbudi hath won the day.
8Let all the birds that move on wings come downward, all fowls
that roam the heavens and air's midregion.
Let beasts of prey and flies attacks, and vultures that eat raw
flesh mangle and gnaw the carcase.
9By that same binding treaty which thou madest, Brihaspati!
with Indra! and with Brahma,
By Indra's pledge I bid the Gods come hither. Conquer on this
side, not on their side yonder.
10Brihaspati Angirasa, Rishis made strong and keen by prayer,
Have set Trishandhi in the heaven, dire weapon that destroys
the fiends.
11The Gods enjoyed Trishandhi for the sake of energy and power,
Him under whose protection, both, Indra and yon Āditya stand.
12The Gods, victorious, won themselves all worlds by this oblation,
which
Brihaspati Angirasa effused, a very thunderbolt, a weapon to
destory the friends.
13That fiend-destroying weapon which Brihaspati Angirasa poured
out and made a thunderbolt.
Even therewith, Brihaspati, I brush that hostile armament, and
strike the foemen down with might.
14Over to us come all the Gods who eat the hallowed sacrifice
With this oblation be ye pleased: conquer on this side, not on
that.
15Over,to us let all Gods come: dear is Trishandhi's offering.
Keen the great pledge through which, of old, the Asuras were
overthrown.
16Let Vāyu bend the arrow-points of those who are our enemies.
Let Indra break their arms away: no power to lay the shaft be
theirs!
Āditya utterly destroy their missile! Chandramās bar the path
of him who lingers!
17If they have issued forth strongholds of Gods, and made their
shields of prayer,
Gaining protection for their lives, protection round about, make
all their instigation powerless
18With the Flesh-eater and with Death, following the Purohita,
On! forward with Trishandhi's host! conquering enemies
advance!
19Do thou, Trishandhi, with the gloom of darkness compass round
our foes;
Let none escape of them expelled with speckled butter mixt with
curds.
20Let White-foot fall upon those wings of our opponents' arma-
ment;
Mazed and bewildered be those hands of foes this day, O Nyar-
budi.
21Mazed are the foemen, Nyarbudi! Slay thou each bravest man
of them: with this our army slaughter them.
22Low lie the warrior, mailed, unmailed, each foeman in the rush
of war.
Down-smitten with the strings of bows, the fastenings of mail,
the charge!
23The armour-clad, the armourless, enemies clothed with coats of
mail,
All these struck down, O Arbudi, let dogs devour upon the
earth.
24Car-borne and carless fighting men, riders and those who go
on foot,
All these, struck down, let vultures, kites, and all, the birds of
air devour.
25Low let the hostile army lie, thousands of corpses, on the
ground,
Pierced through and rent to pieces where the deadly weapons
clash in fight.
26With eagles let them eat the evil-hearted, pierced in the vitals,
lying crushed and howling.
The foe whoe'er will fight against this our protecting sacrifice.
27With this which Gods attend, with this which never fails to gain
its end,
Let Indra, Vritra-slayer, smite, and with Trishandhi as a bolt.
BOOK XII
HYMN I
A hymn of prayer and praise to Prithivī or deified Earth
1Truth, high and potent Law, the Consecrating Rite, Fervour,
Brahma, and Sacrifice uphold the Earth.
May she, the Queen of all that is and is to be, may Prithivī
make ample space and room for us.
2Not over awded by the crowd of Manu's sons, she who hath
many heights and floods and level plains;
She who bears plants endowed with many varied powers, may
Prithivī for us spread wide and favour us.
3In whom the sea, and Sindhu, and the waters, in whom our food
and corn-lands had their being,
In whom this all that breathes and moves is active, this Earth.
assign us foremost rank and station!
4She who is Lady of the earth's four regions, in whom our food
and corn-lands had their being,
Nurse in each place of breathing, moving creatures, this Earth.
vouchsafe us kine with milk that fails not!
5On whom the men of old before us battled, on whom the Gods
attacked the hostile demons,
The varied home of bird, and kine and horses, this Prithivī
vouchsafe us luck and splendour!
6Firm standing-place, all-bearing, store of treasures, gold-breasted,
harbourer of all that moveth.
May Earth who bears Agni Vaisvānara, Consort of mighty
Indra, give us great possessions
7May Earth, may Prithivī, always protected with ceaseless care by
Gods who never slumber,
May she pour out for us delicious nectar, may she bedew us
with a flood of splendour.
8She who at first was water in the ocean, whom with their wond-
rous powers the sages followed,
May she whose heart is in the highest heaven, compassed about
wit h truth, and everlasting,
May she, this Earth, bestow upon us lustre, and grant us power
in loftiest dominion.
9On whom the running universal waters flow day and night with
never-ceasing motion,
May she with many streams pour milk to feed us, may she
bedew us with a flood of splendour.
10She whom the Asvins measured out, o'er whom the foot of
Vishnu strode,
Whom Indra, Lord of Power and Might, freed from all foemen
for himself,
May Earth pour out her milk for us, a mother unto me her son.
11O Prithivī, auspicious be thy woodlands, auspicious be thy hills
and snow-clad mountains.
Unslain, unwounded, unsubdued, I have set foot upon the
Earth,
On earth brown, black, ruddy and every-coloured, on the firm
earth that Indra guards from danger.
12O Prithivī, thy centre and thy navel, all forces that have issued
from thy body
Set us amid those forces; breathe upon us. I am the son of
Earth, Earth is my Mother. Parjanya is my Sire; may he
promote me.
43Earth on whose surface they enclose the altar, and all-performers
spin the thread of worship;
In whom the stakes of sacrifice, resplendent, are fixed and raised
on high before the oblation, may she, this Earth, prospering,
make us prosper.
14The man who hates us, Earth! who fights against us, who
threaten us with thought or deadly weapon, make him our
thrall as thou hast done aforetime.
15Produced from thee, on thee move mortal creatures: thou
bearest them, both quadruped and biped.
Thine, Prithivī, are these Five human Races, for whom, though
mortal, Sūrya as he rises spreads with his rays the light that is
immortal.
16In concert may these creatures yield us blessings. With honey of
discourse, O Earth, endow me.
17Kind, ever gracious be the Earth we tread on, the firm Earth,
Prithivī, borne up by Order, mother of plants and herbs, the
all-producer.
18A vast abode hast thou become, the Mighty. Great stress is on
thee, press and agitation, but with unceasing care great Indra
guards thee.
So make us shine, O Earth, us with the splendour of gold. Let
no man look on us with hatred.
19Agni is in the earth, in plants; the waters hold Agni in them,
in the stones is Agni.
Agni abideth deep in men: Agnis abide in cows and steeds.
20Agni gives shine and heat in heaven: the spacious air is his, the
God's
Lover of fatness, bearer of oblation, men enkindle him.
21Dark-kneed, invested with a fiery mantle, Prithivī sharpen me
and give me splendour!
22On earth they offer sacrifice and dressed oblation to the Gods.
Men, mortals, live upon the earth by food in their accustomed
way.
May that Earth grant us breath and vital power. Prithivī give
me life of long duration!
23Scent that hath risen from thee, O Earth, the fragrance which.
growing herbs and plants and waters carry,
Shared by Apsarases, shared by Gandharvas therewith make
thou me sweet: let no man hate me.
24Thy scent which entered and possessed the lotus, the scent
which they prepared at Sūryā's bridal,
Scent which Immortals Earth! of old collected, therewith make
thou me sweet: let no man hate me.
25Thy scent in women and in men, the luck and light that is in.
males,
That is in heroes and in steeds in sylvan beasts and elephants,
The splendid energy of maids, therewith do thou unite us,.
Earth! Let no man look on us with hate.
26Rock earth, and stone, and dust, this Earth is held together,.
firmly bound.
To this gold-breasted Prithivī mine adoration have I paid.
27Hither we call the firmly held, the all-supporting Prithivī,
On whom the trees, lords of the wood, stand evermore immov-
able.
28Sitting at ease or rising up, standing or going on our way.
With our right foot and with our left we will not reel upon the
earth.
29I speak to Prithivī the purifier, to patient Earth who groweth
strong through Brahma.
O Earth, may we recline on thee who bearest strength, increase,
portioned share of food, and fatness.
30Purified for our bodies flow the waters: we bring distress on
him who would attack us.
I cleanse myself, O Earth, with that which cleanseth.
31Earth, be thine eastern and thy northern regions, those lying
southward and those lying westward.
Propitious unto me in all my movements. Long as I tread the
ground let me not stumble.
32Drive us not from the west or east, drive us not from the north
or south,
Be gracious unto us, O Earth: let not the robbers find us; keep
the deadly weapon far away.
33Long as, on thee, I look around, possessing Sūrya as a friend,
So long, through each succeeding year, let not my power of
vision fail.
34When, as I lie, O Earth, I turn upon my right side and my left,
When stretched at all our length we lay our ribs on thee who
meetest us.
Do us no injury there, O Earth who furnishest a bed for all.
35Let what I dig from thee, O Earth, rapidly spring and grow
again.
O Purifier, let me not pierce through thy vitals or thy heart.
36Earth, may thy summer, and thy rains, and autumn, thy winter,
and thy dewy frosts, and spring-time.
May thy years, Prithivī! and ordered seasons, and day and
night pour out for us abundance.
37The purifier, shrinking from the Serpent, she who held fires that
lie within the waters,
Who gives as prey the God-blaspheming Dasyus, Earth choosing
Indra for her Lord, not Vritra, hath clung to Sakra, to the
Strong and Mighty.
38Base of the seat and sheds, on whom the sacrificial stake is
reared,
On whom the Yajus-knowing priests recite their hymns and
chant their psalms,
And ministers are busied that Indra may drink the Soma juice;
39On whom the ancient Rishis, they who made the world, sang
forth the cows,
Seven worshippers, by session, with their fervent zeal and
sacrifice;
40May she, the Earth, assign to us the opulence for which we
yearn,
May Bhaga share and aid the task and Indra come to lead the
way.
41May she, the Earth, whereon men sing and dance with varied
shout and noise,
Whereon men meet in battle, and the war-cry and the drum
resound,
May she drive off our foemen, may Prithivī rid me of my foes.
42On whom is food, barley and rice, to whom these Races Five
belong,
Homage to her, P arjanya's wife, to her whose marrow is the
rain!
43Whose castles are the work of Gods, and men wage war upon
her plain
The Lord of Life make Prithivī, who beareth all things in her
womb, pleasant to us on every side!
44May Earth the Goddess, she who bears her treasure stored up
in many a place, gold, gems, and riches,
Giver of opulence, grant great possessions to us bestowing them
with love and favour.
45Earth, bearing folk of many a varied language with divers rites
as suits their dwelling-places,
Pour, like a constant cow that never faileth, a thousand streams
of treasure to enrich me!
46Thy snake, thy sharply stinging scorpion, lying concealed, be-
wildered, chilled with cold of winter,
The worm, O Prithivī, each thing that in the Rains revives and
stirs,
Creeping, forbear to creep on us! With all things gracious bless
thou us.
47Thy many ways on which the people travel, the road for car and
wain to journey over,
Thereon meet both the good and bad, that pathway may we
attain without a foe or robber. With all things gracious bless
thou us.
48Supporting both the foolish and the weighty she bears the death
both of the good and evil.
In friendly concord with the boar, Earth opens herself for the
wild swine that roams the forest.
49All sylvan beasts of thine that love the woodlands, man-eaters,.
forest-haunting, lions, tigers,
Hyena, wolf, Misfortune, evil spirit, drive from us, chase the
demons to a distance.
50Gandharvas and Apsarases, Kimīdins, and malignant sprites,
Pisāchas all, and Rākshasas, these keep thou, Earth! afar from
us.
51To whom the winged bipeds fly together, birds of each various
kind, the swans, the eagles;
On whom the Wind comes rushing, Mātarisvan, rousing the
dust and causing trees to tremble, and flame pursues the blast.
hither and thither;
52Earth, upon whom are settled, joined together, the night and
day, the dusky and the ruddy, Prithivī compassed by the rain
about her,
Happily may she stablish us in each delightful dwelling place.
53Heaven, Earth, the realm of Middle Air have granted me this
ample room,
Agni, Sun, Waters, all the Gods have joined to give me mental
power.
54I am victorious, I am called the lord superior on earth,
Triumphant, all-o'erpowering the conqueror on every side
55There, when the Gods, O Goddess, named thee, spreading thy
wide expanse as thou wast broadening eastward,
Then into thee passed many a charm and glory: thou madest
for thyself the world's four regions.
56In hamlets and in woodland, and in all assemblages on earth,
In gatherings, meeting of the folk, we will speak glorious things
of thee.
57As the horse scattereth the dust, the people who dwelt upon
the land, at birth, she scattered,
Leader and head of all the world, delightful, the trees' protectress
and the plants' upholder.
58Whate'er I say I speak with honey-sweetness, whatever I behold
for that they love me.
Dazzling, impetuous am I: others who fiercely stir I slay.
59Mild, gracious, sweetly odorous, milky, with nectar in her breast,
May Earth, may Prithivī bestow her benison, with milk, on me.
60Whom Visvakarman with oblation followed, when she was set
in mid-air's billowy ocean
A useful vessel, hid, when, for enjoyment, she was made mani-
fest to those with mothers.
61Thou art the vessel that containeth people, Aditi, granter of the
wish, far-spreading.
Prajāpati, the first-born Son of Order, supplieth thee with what-
soe'er thou lackest.
62Let thy breasts, frec from sickness and Consumption, be.
Prithivī, produced for our advantage.
Through long-extended life wakeful and watching still may we
be thy tributary servants.
63O Earth, my Mother, set thou me happily in a place secure.
Of one accord with Heaven, O Sage, set me in glory and in
wealth.
HYMN II
A funeral hymn, and deprecation of Agni the Consumer of corpses
1This is no place to hold thee; mount the Nāda: this lead is
thine appointed share. Come hither.
Together with Consumption in the cattle, Consumption in our
men, go henee, go southward.
2With this we chase and banish all consumptive malady and
Death,
With sinner andamalicious man, with helper and with minister,
3Death and Misfortune we expel, Malignity we drive away.
O Agni, thou who eatest not the corpse, eat him who hateth us:
him whom we hate we send to thee.
4If the corpse-eating Agni, or a tiger leaving his lair, hath entered
this our homestead,
With beans prepared in butter I expel him: far let him go to
fires that lie in waters.
5When, angered that a man hath died, we in our wrath have
banished thee,
That deed is easily set right through thee: we kindle thee again.
6Again have the Ādityas, Rudras, Vasus, the Brāhman, bringer
of good things, O Agni,
Again hath Brāhmanaspati disposed thee for long life lasting
through a hundred autumns.
7I sweep afar, for sacrifice to Fathers, corpse-eating Agni who
hath come among us,
Although he saw this other, Jātavedas: in loftiest space let him
inflame the caldron.
8I drive corpse-eating Agni to a distance: sin-laden let him go to
Yamas vassals.
Here let this other, Jātavedas, carry oblation to the Deities, fore-
knowing.
9I quickly sweep away corpse-eating Agni, Death, with his bolt
potdepriving men of motion.
From household fire, well-knowing, I divide him: so in the
world of Fathers be his portion.
10Corpse-eating Agni, toil-worn, meet for praises, I send away
bypaths used by the Fathers.
Stay there; keep watch among the Fathers: come not again to
us by ways whereon Gods travel.
11They being cleansed and bright, the purifiers, kindle Sankasuka
for our well-being.
Impurity leaveth us and sin departeth: lighted by the good
cleanser Agni cleanseth.
12Agni the God, the Breaker-up, hath mounted to the heights of
heaven.
Released from all transgression, he hath from the curse delivered
us.
13On Agni here, the Breaker-up, we wipe impurities away.
Cleansed, fit for sacrifice have we become: may he prolong our
lives.
14The Breaker-up, the Burster, the Destroyer, and the Silent One,
These have expelled Consumption far, far off from thee ānd all
thou hast,
15Corpse-eating Agni we expel, the Agni who bewilders men,
Him who is in our horses, in our heroes, cows, and goats, and
sheep:
16We drive thee forth to other folk, to alien cattle, alien steeds,
Thee the corpse-eating Agni, thee the Agni who bewilders men,
17Whereon the Deities, whereon men too have purified themselves,
Exalting fatness, cleanse thyself, Agni, therein and mount to
heaven.
18O Agni, kindled and adored, turn not away to visit us.
Shine brightly even there in heaven, so that we long may see the
Sun.
19Wipe all away on lead and reed, on Agni, him who breaketh up,
Then on a black-hued sheep, and on a cushion pain that racks.
the head,
20Wipe off pollution, lay it in the lead and in the black-hued
sheep,
And headache in the cushion; then be cleansed and fit to sacri-
fice.
21Go onward, Death, pursue thy special pathway apart from that
which Gods are wont to travel.
To thee I say it who hast eyes and hearest: great grow the
number of these men around us!
22Divided from the dead are these, the living: now is our calling
on the Gods successful.
We have gone forth for dancing and for laughter: may we with
brave sons speak to the assembly.
23Here I erect this rampart for the living: let none of these, none
other, reach this limit.
May they survive a hundred lengthened autumns, and may they
bury Death beneath this mountain.
24Live your full lives and find age delightful, all of you striving,
one behind the other.
May Tvashtar, maker of fair things, be gracious, and lead your
whole lives on to full existence.
25As the days follow days in close succession, as with the seasons
duly come the seasons.
As each successor fails not his foregoer, so constitute the lives of
these, Ordainer!
26Gather your strength, my friends; the stream flows stony:
acquit yourselves as men, and cross the river.
Abandon here the powers that were malignant, and let us cross
to powers exempt from sickness.
27Rise up erect, cross over, my companions: the stream is stony
that flows here before us.
Abandon here the powers that were ungracious, and let us cross
to powers benign and friendly.
28Becoming pure and bright and purifying begin the Vaisvadevi
strain for splendour..
May we rejoice, o'erpassing troublous places, with all our heroes
through a hundred winters.
29On pathways swept by wind, directed upward, passing beyond
the lower, on the higher,
Thrice seven times have the Rishis, the Departed, forced Mrityu
backward with the fastened fetter.
30Effecting Mrityu's footstep ye came hither, to further times pro-
longing your existence,
Seated, drive Mrityu to his proper dwelling: then may we,
living, speak to the assembly.
31Let these unwidowed dames with goodly husbands adorn them-
selves with fragrant balm and unguent,
Decked with fair jewels, tearless, sound and healthy, first let the
dames go up to where he lieth.
32I with oblation separate both classes, and with my prayer dis-
part their several portions.
I offer food that wastes not to the Fathers, a nd to these men
give life of long duration.
33That Agni, Fathers! who, himself immortal, hath entered and
possessed our mortal bosoms,
Even him I grasp and hold the God with me, Let him not hate
us, may we never hate him.
34When ye have left the household fire, with the Corpse-eater
southward go.
Do that which is delightful to the Fathers, Brāhmans, and your-
selves.
35Agni, the banqueter on flesh, not banished, for the eldest son
Taketh a double share of wealth and spoileth it with poverty.
36What man acquires by plough, by war, all that he wins by toil
of hand,
He loses all if Agni the Carnivorous be not set aside,
37Unholy, splendour-reft is he, his sacrifice unfit to eat. Krayād
deprives of tilth of cow, of riches him whom he pursues,
38Oft as a greedy beggar speaks the mortal who has brought
distress,
Those whom Carnivorous Agni close at hand runs after and
detects.
39When a dame's husband dies the house is tangled fast in
Grāhi's net.
A learned Brāhman must be sought to drive Carnivorous Agni,
forth.
40From any evil we have done, act of impurity or sin,
Let waters purge me and from all that comes from Agni
Breaker-up.
41By pathways travelled by the Gods these waters, well-knowing,
from below have mounted upward.
High on the summit of the raining mountain the ancient rivers
fresh and new are flowing.
42Drive off Carnivorous Agni, thou Agni who eatest not the flesh;.
carry oblation paid to Gods.
43The Flesh-eater hath entered him: he hath pursued the Flesh-
eater.
Making two tigers different-wise, I bear away the ungracious
one.
44He who holds Gods within himself, the rampart and defence of
men,
Agni, the sacred household fire, hath come and stands between
them both.
45Prolong the lives of those who live, O Agni, Let the dead go
unto world of Fathers.
As goodly household fire burn up Arāti; give this man dawn
brighter than all the mornings.
46Subduing all our adversaries, Agni, give us their food, their
strength and their possessions.
47Grasp ye this Indra, furtherer, satisfier: he will release you
from disgrace and trouble.
With him drive back the shaft that flies against you, with him.
ward off the missile shot by Rudra.
48Seize with firm hold the Ox who boundeth forward: he will
uplift you from disgrace and trouble.
Enter this ship of Savitar; let us flee from poverty over all the
six expenses.
49Thou followest the day and night, supporting, standing, at
peace, promoting, rich in heroes.
Long bearing undiseased and happy sleepers, be ours, O Bed,
with smell of man about thee,
50They sever from the Gods, they live in sin and misery evermore,
Those whom from very near at hand Carnivorous Agni casteth
down as a horse tramples down the reeds.
51The faithless, who from lust of wealth abide with him who feeds
on flesh,
For ever set upon the fire an alien caldron, not their own.
52Forward in spirit would he fly, and often turns he back again,
Whomso Carnivorous Agni from anear discovers and torments.
53Among tame beasts the black ewe is thy portion, and the bright
lead is thine, they say, Flesh-eater!
Mashed beans have been assigned thee for oblation go seek the
dark wood and the wildernesses.
54I sought the rustling sugar-cane, white Seasamum, and cane and
reed.
I made this Indra's fuel, and the Fire of Yama I removed.
55Against the sinking western Sun I set them; each sundered path,
knowing my way, I entered.
I have warned off the ghosts of the Departed: to these I give
the boon of long existence.
HYMN III
An accompaniment to the preparation and presentation of sacrificial offerings by a householder and his wife, with prayer for prosperity and happiness on earth and in heaven
1Mount, male from male, the skin. Go thither: summon those
whom thou lovest, one and all, to meet thee,
Strong as ye were when first ye met each other, still be your
strength the same in Yama's kingdom.
2So strong your sight, so many be your powers, so great your
force, your energies so many,
When fire attends the body as its fuel, then may, ye gain full
chargers, O ye couple.
3Together in this world, in God-ward pathway, together be ye in
the realms of Yama.
Invite, made pure with means of purifying, whatever seed of
yours hath been developed.
4Do ye, O sons, unite you with the waters, meeting this living
man, ye life-sustainers,
Allot to them the Odana your mother is making ready, which
they call immortal.
5That which your mother and your sire, to banish sin and un-
cleanness from their lips, are cooking.
That Odana with hundred streams, sky-reaching, hath in its
might prevaded earth and heaven.
6Live with your sons, when life on earth is ended, live in the
sphere most rich in light and sweetness.
In skies that have been won by sacrificers make both the worlds,
earth, heaven, your habitation.
7Approach the eastern, yea: the eastern region, this is the
sphere to which the faithful turn them,
Your cooked oblation that in fire was offered, together, wife and
husband, meet to guard it.
8Now, as your steps approach the southern quarter, move in.
your circling course about this vessel.
Herein, accordant with the Fathers, Yama shall mightily protect
your cooked oblation.
9Best of the regions is indeed this western wherein the King and
gracious Lord is Soma.
Thither resort for rest, follow the pious. Then gain the laden
chargers, O ye couple.
10Ever victorious is the northern region: may the east quarter set
us first and foremost.
The Man became the five-divisioned metre. May we abide wit .
all our members perfect.
11This stedfast realm is Queen. To her be homage! To me and
to my sons may she be gracious.
Guard thou, O Goddess Aditi, all-bounteous, our cooked oblation
as an active warder.
12Embrace us as a father clasps his children. Here on the Earth
let kindly breezes fan us.
Let the rice-mess these two cook here, O Goddess, know this
our truthfulness and zealous fervour.
13If the dark bird hath come to us and, stealing the hanging. .
morsel, settled in his dwelling,
Or if the slave-girl hath, wet-handed, smearing the pestle and
the mortar, cleansed the waters,
14This pressing-stone, broad-based and strength-bestowing, made
pure by cleansing means, shall chase the demon.
Mount on the skin: afford us great protection, Let not the sons'
sin fall on wife and husband.
15Together with the Gods, banning Pis5chas and demons, hath
Vanaspati come hither.
He shall rise up and send his voice out loudly. May we win all
the worlds with him to help us.
16Seven victims held the sacrificial essence, the bright one and the
one that hath grown feeble.
The three-and-thirty Deities attend them. As such, conduct us
io the world of Svarga.
17Unto the world of Svarga shalt thou lead us: there may we dwell
beside our wife and children.
I take thy hand Let not Destruction, let not Malignity come
hither and subdue us.
18We have subdued that sinful-hearted Grāhi. Thou shalt speak
sweetly having chased the darkness.
Let not the wooden gear made ready fail us, nor harm the grain
of rice that pays due worship.
19Soon to be, decked with butter, all-embracing, come to this
world wherewith birth unites thee.
Seize thou the winnowing-fan which rains have nourished, and
let this separate the chaff and refuse.
20Three worlds hath Power Divine marked out and measured,
Fheaven yonder, and the earth, and airs mid-region.
Grasp ye the stalks and in your hands retain them: let them be
watered and again be winnowed.
21Manifold, various are the shapes of victims. Thou growest uni-
form by great abundance.
Push thou away this skin of ruddy colour: the stone will cleanse
as one who cleanses raiment.
22Earth upon earth l set thee. This thy body is con-substantial,.
but in form it differs.
Whate'er hath been worn off or scratched in fixing, leak not
thereat: I spread a charm to mend it.
23Thou for thy son shalt yearn as yearns a mother. I lay thee
down and with the earth unite thee.
Conjoined with sacrificial gear and butter may pot and jar stand
firmly on the altar.
24Eastward may Agni as he cooks preserve thee. Southward may
Indra, grit by Maruts, guard thee,
Varuna strengthen and support thee westward, and Soma on
the north hold thee together.
25Drops flow, made pure by filters, from the rain-cloud: to heaven
and earth and to the worlds they travel,
May Indra light them up, poured in the vessel, lively and sted-
fast, quickening living creatures.
26From heaven they come, they visit earth, and rising from earth
unite themselves with air's mid-region,
Purified, excellent, they with shine in beauty. Thus may they lead us
to the world of Svarga.
27Yea, and supreme, alike in conformation, and brilliant and
refulgent and immortal,
As such, enjoined, well-guarding, water-givers, dress ye the
Odana for wife and husband.
28Numbered, they visit earth, these drops of moisture, commensu-
rate with plants and vital breathings,
Unnumbered, scattered, beautiful in colour, the bright, ones
have pervaded all refulgence.
29Heated, they rage and boil in agitation, they cast about their
foam and countless bubbles
Like a fond woman when she sees her husband—what time ye
waters and these rice-grains mingle,
30Take up these rice-grains lying at the bottom: led them be blent
and mingled with the waters.
This water I have measured in the vessel, if as mid-points the
rice-grains have been meted.
31Present the sickle: quickly bring it hither. Let them out plants
and joints with hands that harm not.
So may the plants be free from wrath against us, they o'er
whose realm Soma hath won dominion.
32Strew ye fresh grass for the boiled rice to rest on: fair let it be,
sweet to the eye and spirit.
Hither come Goddesses with Gods, and sitting here taste in
proper season this oblation.
33On the strewn grass. Vanaspati, be seated; commensurate with
Gods and Agnishtomas.
Let thy fair form, wrought as by Tvashtar's hatchet, mark these
that yearn for thee within the vessel.
34In sixty autumns may the Treasure-Guardian seek to gain
heavenly light by cooked oblation.
On this may sons and fathers live dependent. Send thou this
mess to Fire that leads to heaven.
35On the earth's breast stand firmly as supporter: may Deities
stir thee who ne'er hast shaken.
So living man and wife with living children remove thee from
the hearth of circling Agni.
36All wishes that have blessed those with fulfilment, having won
all the worlds have met together.
Let them plunge in both stirring-spoon and ladle: raise this and
set it in a single vessel.
37Pour out the covering butter, spread it eastward: sprinkle this
vessel over with the fatness.
Greet this, ye Deities, with gentle murmur, as lowing cows wel-
come their tender suckling.
38Thou hast poured oil and made the worlds: let heaven, unequal-
led, be spread out in wide extension.
Herein be cooked the buffalo, strong-pinioned: the Gods shall
give the Deities this oblation.
39Whate'er thy wife, away from thee, makes ready, or what, O
wife, apart from thee, thy husband,
Combine it all: let it be yours in common while ye produce one
world with joint endeavour.
40All these now dwelling on the earth, mine offspring, these whom,
this woman here, my wife, hath borne me,
Invite them all unto the vessel: knowing their kinship have the
children met together.
41Swollen with savoury meath, the stream of treasures, sources of
immortality blent with fatness
Soma retains all these; in sixty autumns the Guardian Lord of
Treasures may desire them.
42The Lord of Treasures may desire this treasure: lordless on.
every side be all the others.
Our mess, presented seeking heaven, hath mounted in three
divisions all three realms of Svarga.
43May Agni burn the God-denying demon: let no carnivorous.
Pis icha drink here.
We drive him off, we keep him at a distance. Ādityas and
Angirases pursue him!
44This meath do I announce, mingled with butter, to the Angi-
rases and the Ādityas.
With pure hands ne'er laid roughly on a Brahman go, pious.
couple, to the world of Svarga.
45Of this have I obtained the noblest portion from that same
world whence Parmeshthin gained it.
Pour forth, besprinkle butter rich in fatness: the share of
Angiras is here before us.
46To Deities, to Truth, to holy Fervour this treasure we consign,.
this rich deposit,
At play, in meeting led it not desert us, never give out to anyone
besides me.
47I cook the offering, I present oblation: only my wife attends
the holy service.
A youthful world, a son hath been begotten. Begin a life that
brings success and triumph.
48There is no fault in this, no reservation, none when it goes with
friends in close alliance.
We have laid down this vessel in perfection: the cooked mess
shall re-enter him who cooked it.
49To those we love may we do acts that please them. Away to
darkness go all those who hate us!
Cow, ox, and strength of every kind approach us! Thus let
them banish death of human beings.
50Perfectly do the Agnis know each other, one visitor of plants
and one of rivers,
And all the Gods who shine and glow in heaven. Gold is the
light of him who cooks oblation.
51Man hath received this skin of his from nature: of other
animals not one is naked.
Ye make him clothe himself with might for raiment. Odana's
mouth is a home-woven vesture.
52Whatever thou may say at dice, in meeting, whatever falsehood
through desire of riches,
Ye two, about one common warp uniting, deposit all impurity
within it.
53Win thou the rain: approach the Gods. Around thee thou from
the skin shalt make the smoke rise upward.
Soon to be, decked with butter, all-embracing, come to this
world wherewith one birth unites thee.
54In many a shape hath heaven transformed its body, as in itself
is known, of varied eolour.
Cleansing the bright, the dark form hath it banished: the red
form in the fire to thee I offer.
55To the eastern region, to Agni the Regent, to Asita the Protector,
Āditya the Archer, we present thee, this offering of ours. Do
ye preserve it from aggression
To full old age may Destiny conduct us; may full old age deliver
us to Mrityu. Then may we be with our prepared oblation.
56To the southern region, to Indra the Regent, to Tiraschirāji the
Protector, to Yama the Archer, we present, etc. (as in stanza
55)
57To the western region, to Varuna the Regent, to Pridāku the
Protector, to Food the Archer, we present, etc.
58To the northern region, to Soma the Regent, to Svaja the Protec-
tor, to Thunderbolt the Archer, we present, etc.
59To the stedfast region, to Vishnu the Regent, to Kalmāshagriva
the Protector, to Plants the Archers, we present, etc.
60To the upper region, to Brihaspati the Regent, to Svitra the
Protector, to Rain the Archer, we present thee, this offering
of ours. Do ye preserve it from aggression.
To full old age may Destiny conduct us, may full old age deliver
us to Mrityu. Then may we be with our prepared oblation.
HYMN IV
On the duty of giving cows to Brāhmans, and the sin and danger of withholding the gift
1Give the gift, shall be his word: and straightway they have bound
the Cow
For Brāhman priests who beg the boon. That bringeth sons and
progeny.
2He trades and traffics with his sons, and in his cattle suffers loss.
Who will not give the Cow of Gods to Rishis children when
they beg.
3They perish through a hornless cow, a lame cow sinks them in a
pit.
Through a maimed cow his house is burnt: a one-eyed cow
destroys his wealth.
4Fierce fever where her droppings fall attacks the master of the
kine.
So have they named her Vasa, for thou art called uncontrollable.
5The malady Viklindu springs on him from ground whereon she
stands,
And suddenly, from fell disease, perish the men on whom she
sniffs.
6Whoever twitches up her ears is separated from the Gods.
He deems he makes a mark, but he diminishes his wealth
thereby.
7If to his own advantage one applies the long hair of her tail,
His colts, in consequence thereof. die, and the wolf destroys his
calves.
8If, while her master owneth her, a carrion crow hath harmed her
hair,
His young boys die thereof, Decline o'ertakes them after fell
disease.
9What time the Dāsi woman throws lye on the droppings of the
Cow,
Misshapen birth arises thence, inseparable from that sin.
10For Gods and Brāhmans is the Cow produced when first she
springs to life,
Hence to the priests must she be given: this they call guarding
private wealth.
11The God-created Cow belongs to those who come to ask for
her.
They call it outrage on the priests when one retains her as his
own.
12He who withholds the Cow of Gods from Rishis' sons who ask
the gift
Is made an alien to the Gods, and subject to the Brāhmans'
wrath:
13Then let him seek another Cow, whate'er his profit be in this.
The Cow, not given, harms a man when he denies her at their
prayer.
14Like a rich treasure stored away in safety is the Brāhmans' Cow.
Therefore men come to visit her, with whomsoever she is born.
15So when the Brāhmans come unto the Cow they come unto their
own.
For this is her withholding, to oppress these in another life.
16Thus after three years may she go, speaking what is not under-
stood.
He, Nārads! would know the Cow, then Brāhmans must be
sought unto.
17Whoso calls her a worthless Cow, the stored-up treasure of the
Gods,
Bhava and Sarva, both of them, move round and shoot a shaft
at him.
18The man who hath no knowledge of her udder and the teats
thereof,
She yields him milk with these, if he hath purposed to bestow
the Cow.
19If he withholds the Cow they beg, she lies rebellious in his stall.
Vain are the wishes and the hopes which he, withholding her,
would gain.
20The Deities have begged the Cow, using the Brāhman as their
mouth:
The man who gives her not incurs the enmity of all the Gods.
21Withholding her from Brāhmans, he incurs the anger of the
beasts,
When mortal man appropriates the destined portion of the
Gods.
22If hundred other Brāhmans beg the Cow of him who owneth
her,
The Gods have said, She, verily, belongs to him who knows the
truth.
23Whoso to others, not to him who hath this knowledge, gives the
Cow,
Earth, with the Deities, is hard for him to win and rest upon.
24The Deities begged the Cow from him with whom at first she
was produced:
Her, this one, Nārada would know: with Deities he drove her
forth.
25The Cow deprives of progeny and makes him poor in cattle who
Retains in his possession her whom Brāhmans have solicited.
26For Agni and for Soma, for Kāma, Mitra and Varuna,
For these the Brāhmans ask: from these is he who giveth not
estranged.
27Long as her owner hath not heard, himself, the verses, let her
move
Among his kine: when he hath heard, let her not make her
home with him;
28He who hath heard her verses and still makes her roam among
his kine.
The Gods in anger rend away his life and his prosperity
29Roaming in many a place the Cow is the stored treasure of the
Gods,
Make manifest thy shape and form when she would seek her
dwelling-place.
30Her shape and form she manifests when she would seek her
dwelling-place;
Then verily the Cow attends to Brāhman priests and their
request.
31This thought he settles in his mind. This safely goeth to the
Gods.
Then verily the Brāhman priests approach that they may beg the
Cow
32By Svadhā to the Fathers, by sacrifice to the Deities,
By giving them the Cow, the Prince doth not incur the mother's.
wrath.
33The Prince's mother is the Cow: so was it ordered from of old.
She, when bestowed upon the priests, cannot be given back, they
say.
34As molten butter, held at length, drops down to Agni from the
scoop,
So falls away from Agni he who gives no Cow to Brāhman
priests.
35Good milker, with rice-cake as calf, she in the world comes
nigh to him,
To him who gave her as a gift the Cow grants every hope and.
wish.
36In Yama's realm the Cow fulfils each wish for him who gave her
up;
But hell, they say, is for the man who, when they beg, bestow
her not.
37Enraged against her owner roams the Cow when she hath been
impregned.
He deemed me fruitless is her thought; let him be bound in,
snares of Death!
38Whoever looking on the Cow as fruitless, cooks her flesh at
home,
Brihaspati compels his sons and children of his sons to beg.
39Downward she sends a mighty heat, though amid kine a Cow
she roams.
Poison she yields for him who owns and hath not given her away.
40The animal is happy when it is bestowed upon the priests:
But happy is the Cow when she is made a sacrifice to Gods.
41Nārada chose the terrible Vilipti out of all the cows Which the
Gods formed and framed when they had risen up from sacri-
fice
42The Gods considered her in doubt whether she were a Cow or
not.
Mirada spake of her and said, The veriest Cow of cows is she.
43How many cows, O Nārada, knowest thou, born among man-
kind
I ask thee who dost know, of which must none who is no
Brāhman eat?
44Vilipti, cow, and she who drops no second calf, Brihaspati!
Of these none not a Brāhmana should eat if he hope for emi-
nence.
45Homage, O Nārada, to thee who hast quick knowledge of the
cows.
Which of these is the direst, whose withholding bringeth death
to man?
46Vilipti, O Brihaspati, cow, mother of no second calf—Of these
none not a Brāhman should eat if he hope for eminence.
47Threefold are kine, Vilipti, cow, the mother of no seeond calf:
These one should give to priests, and he will not offend Prajā-
pati.
48This Brāhmans! is your sacrifice: thus should one think when he
is asked,
What time they beg from him the Cow fearful in the with-
holder's house.
49He gave her not to us, so spake the Gods, in anger, of the Cow.
With these same verses they addressed Bheda: this brought
him to his death.
50Solicited by Indra, still Bheda refused to give this Cow.
In strife for victory the Gods destroyed him for that sin of his.
51The men of evil counsel who advise refusal of the Cow,
Miscreants, through their foolishness, are subjected to Indra's
wrath.
52They who seduce the owner of the Cow and say, Bestow her
not.
Encounter through their want of sense the missile shot by
Rudra's hand.
53If in his home one cooks the Cow, sacrificed or not sacrificed.
Wronger of Gods and Brāhmans' he departs, dishonest, from
the world.
HYMN V
On the duty of giving cows to Brāhmans, and the sin and danger of withholding the gift
1Created by toil and holy fervour, found by devotion, resting in
right;
2Invested with truth, surrounded with honour, compassed about
with glory;
3Girt round with inherent power, fortified with faith, protected,
by consecration, installed at sacrifice, the world her resting-
place;
4Brahma her guide, the Brāhman her lord and ruler;
5Of the Kshatriya who taketh to himself this Brāhman's cow and
oppresseth the Brāhman.
6The glory, the heroism, and the favouring fortune depart.
7The energy and vigour, the power and might the speech and
mental strength, the glory and duty;
8Devotion and princely sway, kingship and people, brilliance and
honour, and splendour and wealth;
9Long life and goodly form, and name and fame, inbreathing and
expiration, and sight, and hearing;
10Milk and flavour, and food and nourishment, and right and
truth, and action and fulfilment, and children and cattle;
11All these blessings of a Kshatriya depart from him when he
oppresseth the Brāhman and taketh to himself the hhman's
cow.
12Terrible is she this Brāhman's cow, and fearfully venomous,
visibly witchcraft.
13In her are all horrors and all death.
14In her are all dreadful, deeds, all slaughters of mankind.
15This, the Brāhman's cow, being appropriated, holdeth bound in
the fetter of Death the oppressor of the Brāhman, the blas-
phemer of the Gods.
16A hundred-killing bolt is she: she slays the Brāhman's injurer.
17Therefore the Brāhmans' cow is held inviolable by the wise.
18Running she is a thunderbolt, when driven away she is Vaisvā-
nara;
19An arrow when she draweth up her hooves, and Mahādeva when
she looketh around;
20Sharp as a razor when she beholdeth, she thundereth when she
belloweth.
21Death is she when she loweth, and a fierce God when she whis-
keth her tail;
22Utter destruction when she moveth her ears this way and that,
Consumption when she droppeth water;
23A missile when milking, pain in the head when milked;
24The taking away of strength when she approacheth, a hand-to-
hand fighter when roughly touched;
25Wounding like an arrow when she is fastened by her mouth,
contention when she is beaten;
26Fearfully venomous when falling, darkness when she hath fallen
down.
27Following him, the Brāhman's cow extinguisheth the vital breath
of the injurer of the Brāhman.
28Hostility when being cut to pieces, woe to children when the
portions are distributed,
29A destructive missile of Gods when she is being seized,
misfortune when carried away;
30Misery while being additionally acquired, contumely and abuse
while being put in the stall;
31Poison when in agitation, fever when seasoned with condi-
ments;
32Sin while she is cooking, evil dream when she is cooked;
33Uprooting when she is being turned round, destruction when she
hath been turned round;
34Discord by her smell, grief when she is being eviscerated: ser-
pent with poison in its fang when drawn;
35Loss of power while sacrificially presented, humiliation when she
hath been offered;
36Wrathful Sarva while being carved. Simidā when cut up:
37Poverty while she is being eaten. Destruction when eaten.
38The Brāhman's cow when eaten cuts off the injurer of Brāhmans
both from this world and from the world yonder.
39Her slaughter is the sin of witchcraft, her cutting-up is a thunder-
bolt, her undigested grass is a secret spell.
40Homelessness is she when denied her rights.
41Having become Flesh-eating Agni the Brāhman's cow entereth
into and devoureth the oppressor of Brāhmans.
42She sunders all his members, joints, and roots.
43She cuts off relationship on the father's side and destroys mater-
nal kinship.
44The Brāhman's cow, not restored by a Kshatriya, ruins the
marriages and all the kinsmen of the Brāhman's oppressor.
45She makes him houseless, homeless, childless: he is extinguished
without posterity to succeed him.
046. So shall it be with the Kshatriya who takes to himself the cow
of the Braman who hath this knowledge.
47Quickly, when he is smitten down by death, the clamorous vul-
tures cry:
48Quickly around his funeral fire dance women with dishevelled
locks,
Striking the hand upon the breast and uttering their evil shriek.
49Quickly the wolves are howling in the habitation where he
lived:
50Quickly they ask about him, What is this? What thing hath
happened here?
51Rend, rend to pieces, rend away, destroy, destroy him utterly.
52Destroy Angirasi! the wretch who robs and wrongs the Brah-
mans, born.
53Of evil womb, thou witchcraft hid, for Vaisvadevi is thy name,
54Consuming, burning all things up, the thunderbolt of spell and
charm.
55Go thou, becoming Mrityu sharp as razor's edge pursue thy
course:
56Thou bearest off the tyrants' strength, their store of merit, and
their prayers.
57Bearing off wrong, thou givest in that world to him who hath
been wronged.
58O Cow, become a tracker through the curse the Brāhman hath
pronounced,
59Become a bolt, an arrow through his sin, be terribly venomous.
60O Cow, break thou the head of him who wrongs the Brāhmans,
criminal, niggard, blasphemer of the Gods.
61Let Agni burn the spiteful wretch when crushed to death and
slain by thee.
62Rend, rend to bits, rend through and through, scorch and con-
sume and burn to dust,
63Consume thou, even from the root, the Brāhmans' tyrant, god-
like Cow!
64That he may go from Yama's home afar into the worlds of sin.
its
65So, Goddess Cow, do thou from him, the Brāhmans' tyrant,
criminal, niggard, blasphemer of the Gods,
66With hundred-knotted thunderbolt, sharpened and edged with
razor-blades,
67Strike off the shoulders and the head.
68Snatch thou the hair from off his head, and from his body strip
the skin:
69Tear out his sinews, cause his flesh to fall in pieces from his
frame.
70Crush thou his bones together, strike and beat the marrow out
of him.
71Dislocate all his limbs and joints.
72From earth let the Carnivorous Agni drive him, let Vayu burn.
him from mid-air's broad region.
73From heaven let Sūrya drive him and consume him.
BOOK XIII
HYMN I
The glorification of Rohita, a form of Fire and of the Sun
1Rise, Mighty One, who liest in the waters, and enter this thy
fair and glorious kingdom.
Let Rohita who made this All uphold thee carefully nurtured
for supreme dominion.
2The strength that was in waters hath ascended. Mount o'er the
tribes which thou hast generated.
Creating Soma, waters, plants and cattle, bring hitherward both
quadrupeds and bipeds.
3Ye Maruts, strong and mighty, sons of Prisni, with Indra for
ally crush down our foemen.
Let Rohita, ye bounteous givers, hear you, thrice-seven Maruts
who delight in sweetness!
4Up to the lap of births, to lofty places, hath Rohita, the germ
of Dames, ascended.
Conjoined with these he found the six realms: seeing his way
in front here he received the kingship.
5For thee hath Rohita obtained dominion, scattered thine ene-
mies, become thy safeguard.
So by the potent Sakvaris let Heaven and Earth be milked to-
yield thee all thy wishes.
6Rohita gave the Earth and Heavens their being. There Para-
meshthin held the cord extended.
Thereon reposeth Aja Ekapāda. He with his might hath stab-
lished Earth and Heaven.
7Rohita firmly stablished Earth and Heaven: by him was ether
fixt by him the welkin.
He measured out mid air and all the regions: by him the Gods
found life that lasts for ever.
8Arranging shoots, springs, Rohita considered this Universe in
all its forms and phases.
May he, gone up to heaven with mighty glory, anoint thy sov-
ranty with milk and fatness.
9Thy risings up, thy mountings and ascensions wherewith thou
fillest heaven and air's mid-region—
By prayer for these, by milk of these, increasing, in Rohita's
kingdom watch, among his people.
10The tribes thy heat produced have followed hither the Calf and
Gāyatri, the strain that lauds him.
With friendly heart let them approach to serve thee, and the
Calf Rohita come with his mother.
11Erected, Rohita hath reached the welkin, wise, young, creating
every form and figure.
Agni, refulgent with his heightened lustre, in the third realm
hath brought us joy and gladness.
12Thousand-horned Bull, may Jātavedas, worshipped with butter,
balmed with Soma, rich in heroes,
Besought, ne'er quit me; may I ne'er forsake thee. Give me
abundant men and herds of cattle.
13Rohita is the sire and mouth of worship: to him with voice, ear,
heart I pay oblation.
To Rohita come Gods with joyful spirit. May he by risings raise
me till I join him.
14Rohita ordered sacrifice for Visvakarman: thence have I obta-
ined this strength and energy.
May I proclaim thee as my kin over the greatness of the world.
15On thee have mounted Brihatī and Pankti. and Kakup with great
splendour, Jātavedas!
The cry of Vashat with the voice uplifted and Rohita with seed
on thee have mounted.
16He goes into the womb of earth, he robes himself in heaven and
air.
He on the Bright One's station hath reached heavenly light and
all the worlds.
17To us, Vāchaspati, may Earth be pleasant, pleasant our dwelling,
pleasant be our couches.
Even here may Prāna be our friend: may Agni, O Parameshthin
give thee life and splendour.
18And those, Vāchaspati, our own five seasons, sacred to Visva-
karman their creator.
Even here our friend be Prāna: Parameshthin, may Rohita
vouchsafe the life and splendour.
19Breed, O Vāchaspati, joy and understanding, kine i n our stall
and children in our consorts.
Even here may Prāna be our friend: may Agni, O Parameshthin,
give thee life and splendour.
20With splendour let God Savitar, and Agni, with splendour
Mitra, Varuna invest thee.
Treading down all Malignities, come hither. Pleasant and'
glorious hast thou made this kingdom.
21Rohita, car-borne by a speckled leader, thou, pouring water,.
goest on in triumph.
22Golden, refulgent, lofty is the Lady, Rohinī, Rohita's devoted
Consort.
Through her may we win various spoil and booty, through her
be conquerors in every battle.
23Rohita's seat is Rohinī before us: that is the path the speckled
Mare pursueth.
Kasyapas and Gandharvas lead her upward, and heavenly sages
ever watch and guard her,
24Sūrya's bay steeds refulgent and immortal draw the light-rolling.
chariot on for ever.
Drinker of fatness, Rohita, resplendent, hath entered into
various-coloured heaven,
25Rohita, Bull whose horns are sharply pointed, superior of Agni
and of Sūrya,
He who supports the sundered earth and heaven,—from him the
Gods effect their own creations.
26Rohita rose to heaven from mighty ocean, Rohita rose and
clomb all steeps and rises.
27Prepare the Milky One who teems with fatness: she is the Gods'
never-reluctant milch-cow.
Indra drink Soma: ours be peace and safety. Let Agni lead the
laud, and chase our foemen.
28Both kindling and inflamed, adored with butter and enhanced
thereby.
May conquering Agni, conqueror of all, destroy mine enemies.
29Let him smite down in death and burn the foeman who
attacketh me.
Our adversaries we consume through Agni the Carnivorous.
30Beat them down, Indra, with thy bolt, beat them down, mighty
with thine arm.
I through the energy and force of Agni have secured my foes.
31Cast down our foes beneath our feet, O Agni. Brihaspati,
oppress our rebel kinsman.
Low let them fall, O Indra-Agni. Mitra-Varuna, powerless to
show their anger.
32Ascending up on high, O God. O Sūrya, drive my foes away.
Yea, beat them backward with the stone: to deepest darkness
let them go.
33Calf of Virāj, the Bull of prayers and worship, whitebacked, he
hath gone up to air's mid-region.
Singing, they hymn the Calf, with gifts of butter: him who is
Brahma they exalt with Brahma.
34Rise up to earth, rise up to heaven above it; rise up to opulence,
rise up to kingship.
Rise up to offspring, rise to life immortal; rise, and with Rohita
unite thy body.
35With all the Gods who circle round the Sun, upholding royal
sway,
With all of these may Rohita accordant, give sovranty to thee
with friendly spirit.
36Cleansed by prayer, sacrifices bear thee upward: bay coursers,
ever travelling, convey thee. Thy light shines over sea and
billowy ocean.
37Rohita, conqueror of cows and riches and gathered spoil, is
heaven's and earth's upholder.
Over earth's greatness would I tell my kinship with thee who
hast a thousand births and seven.
38A glorious sight to beasts and men, thou goest glorious to the
regions and mid-regions.
On earth's, on Aditi's bosom, bright with glory. Fain would I
equal Savitar in beauty.
39Thou, yonder, knowest all things here, when here thou knowest
what is there.
From here men see the sphere of light, Sūrya profoundly wise in
heaven.
40A God, thou injurest the Gods: thou movest in the ocean's
depth.
Men kindle common Agni: him only the higher sages know.
41Beneath the upper realm, above this lower, bearing her Calf at
foot, the Cow hath risen
Whitherward, to what place hath she departed? Where doth she
calve? Not in this herd of cattle.
42She hath become one-footed or two-footed, four-footed, or
eight-footed or nine-footed,
This universe's thousand-syllabled Pankti Oceans flow forth
from her in all directions.
43Rising to heaven, immortal, hear my calling. Cleansed by
prayer, sacrifices bear thee upward. Bay coursers, ever on the
road, convey thee.
44This, O Immortal One, I know of thee, thy progress to the sky
thy dwelling-place in loftiest heaven.
45Beyond the sky, beyond the Earth looks Sūrya, and beyond the
floods.
The single eye of all that is; to mighty heaven hath he arisen.
46The earth was made his altar, and the wide expanses were the
fence.
There Rohita established both these Agnis, fervent heat and
cold.
47He stablished heat and cold, he made the mountains sacrificial
posts.
Then both the Agnis, Rohita's who found celestial light, with
rain for molten butter, sacrificed.
48Rohita's Agni-his who found heaven's light-is kindled with the
prayer.
From him the heat, from him the cold, from him the sacrifice
was born.
49Both Agins-Rohita's who found the light of heaven—made
strong by prayer,
Waxing by prayer, adored with prayer, by prayer enkindled,
sacrificed.
50One is deposited in Truth, one kindled in the waters: both
Agnis of Rohita who found the light are set aflame with prayer.
51That decked by Wind, and that prepared by Indra Brāhman-
aspati,
Agnis of Rohita who found light, prayer-enkindled, sacrificed.
52Rohita made the earth to be his altar, heaven his Dakshinā.
Then heat he took for Agni, and with rain for molten butter he
created every living thing.
53The earth became an altar, heat was Agni, and the butter rain.
There Agni made, by song and hymn, these mountains rise and
stand erect.
54Then, having made the hills stand up, Rohita spake to Earth,
and said:
In thee let every thing be born, what is and what is yet to be.
55This sacrifice, the first of all, the past, the present, had its birth.
From that arose this universe, yea, all this world of brightness,
brought by Rohita the heavenly Sage.
56If thou should kick a cow, or by indecent act offend the Sun,
Thy root I sever; nevermore mayst thou cast shadow on the
ground.
57Thou who, between the fire and me, passest across the line of
shade.
Thy root I sever: nevermore mayst thou cast shadow on the
ground.
58Whoe'er he be who, Sūrya, God! comes between thee and me
to-day,
On him we wipe away ill-dream, and troubles, and impurity.
59Let us not, Indra, leave the path, the Soma-presser's sacrifice.
Let not malignities dwell with us.
60May we obtain, completely wrought, the thread spun out tc
reach the Gods,
That perfecteth our sacrifice.
HYMN II
The glorification of the Sun as Āditya, Sūrya and Rohita
1Radiant, refulgent in the sky are reared the banners of his light,
Āditya's, who beholdeth man, mighty in act and bountiful.
2Let us laud him, the whole world's Herdsman, Sūrya, who with
his rays illumines all the regions,
Mark of the quarters, brightening them with lustre, swift,
mighty-pinioned, flying in the ocean.
3From west to east thou speedest freely, making by magic day
and night of diverse colours.
This is Āditya, thy transcendent glory, that thou alone art born
through all creation.
4Victorious, inspired, and brightly shining, whom seven strong
tawny-coloured coursers carry,
Whom Atri lifted from the flood to heaven, thus men behold
thee as thy course thou runnest.
5Let them not snare thee speeding on thy journey: pass safely,
swiftly places hard to traverse,
While measuring out the day and night thou movest—O Sūrya,
even Heaven and Earth the Goddess.
6Hail to thy rapid car whereon, O Sūrya, thou circlest in a
moment both the limits,
Whirled by thy bay steeds, best of all at drawing, thy hundred
horses or seven goodly coursers!
7Mount thy strong car, O Sūrya, lightly rolling, drawn by good
steeds, propitious, brightly gleaming,
Whirled by thy bays, most excellent at drawing, thy hundred
horses or seven goodly coursers.
8Sūrya hath harnessed to his car to draw him seven stately bay
steeds gay with wolden housings.
The Bright One started from the distant region: dispelling
gloom the God hath climbed the heavens.
9With lofty banner hath the God gone upward, and introduced
the light, expelling darkness.
He hath looked round on all the worlds, the Hero, the son of
Aditi, Celestial Eagle.
10Rising, thou spreadest out thy rays, thou nourishest all shapes
and forms.
Thou with thy power illumest both the oceans, encompassing
all spheres with thy refulgence.
11Moving by magic power to east and westward, these two young
creatures, sporting, circle ocean.
One of the pair beholds all living creatures: with wheels of gold
the bay steeds bear the other.
12Atri established thee in heaven. O Surya, to create the month.
So on thou goest, firmly held, heating, beholding all that is.
13As the Calf both his parents so thou joinest both the distant
bounds,
Surely the Gods up yonder knew this sacred mystery long ago.
14Sūrya is eager to obtain all wealth that lies along the sea,
Great is the course spread out for him, his eastward and his
westward path.
15He finishes his race with speed and never turns his thought
aside,
Thereby he keeps not from the Gods enjoyment of the Drink of
Life.
16His heralds bear him up aloft, the God who knoweth all that
live,
Sūrya, that all may look on him.
17The Constellations pass away, like thieves, departing in the
night.
Before the all-beholding Sun.
18His herald rays are seen afar refulgent o'er the world of men,
Like flames of fire that burn and blaze.
19Swift and all-beautiful art thou, O Sūrya, maker of the light,
Illuming all the radiant realm.
20Thou goest to the hosts of Gods, thou comest hither to mankind,
Hither, all light to behold.
21With that same eye of thine wherewith thou seest, brilliant
Varuna.
The active one among mankind,
22Traversing sky and wide mid-air, thou metest with thy beams
our days,
Sun, seeing all things that have life.
23Seven bay steeds harnessed to thy car bear thee, O thou far-
seeing One,
God, Sūrya, with the radiant hair.
24Sūrya, hath yoked the pure bright seven, the daughters of the
car, with these,
His own dear team, he travelleth.
25Devout, aflame with fervent heat, Rohita hath gone up to
heaven.
He is re-born, returning to his birthplace, and hath become the
Gods' imperial ruler.
26Dear unto all men, facing all directions, with hands and palms
on every side extended,
He, the sole God, engendering earth and heaven, beareth them
with his wings and arms together.
27The single-footed hath outstepped the biped, the biped overtakes
the triple-footed.
The biped hath outstridden the six-footed: these sit around the
single-footed's body.
28When he, unwearied, fain to go, hath mounted his bays, he
makes two colours, brightly shining.
Rising with banners, conquering the regions, thou sendest light
through all the floods, Āditya.
29Verily, Sūrya, thou art great: truly, Āditya, thou art great.
Great is thy grandeur, Mighty One: thou, O Āditya, thou art
great.
30In heaven, O Bird, and in mid-air thou shinest: thou shinest on
the earth and in the waters.
Thou hast pervaded both the seas with splendour: a God art
thou, O God, light-winner, mighty.
31Soaring in mid-course hither from the distance, fleet and ins-
pired, the Bird that flies above us,
With might advancing Vishnu manifested, he conquers all that
moves with radiant banner:
32Brilliant, observant, mighty Lord, an Eagle illuming both the
spheres and air between them.
Day and the Night, clad in the robes of Sūrya, spread forth more
widely all his hero powers.
33Flaming and radiant, strengthening his body, bestowing floods
that promptly come to meet us,
He, luminous, winged, mighty, strength-bestower, hath mounted
all the regions as he forms them.
34Bright presence of the Gods, the luminous herald Sūrya hath
mounted the celestial regions.
Day's maker, he hath shone away the darkness, and radiant,
passed o'er places hard to traverse.
35He hath gone up on high, the Gods' bright presence, the eye of
Mitra, Varuna and Agni.
The soul of all that moveth not or moveth, Sūrya hath filled the
earth and air and heaven,
36High in the midst of heaven may we behold thee whom men call
Savitar, the bright red Eagle,
Soaring and speeding on thy way, refulgent, unwasting light
which Atri erst discovered.
37Him, Son of Aditi, an Eagle hasting along heaven's height, I
supplicate in terror,
As such prolong our lengthened life, O Sūrya: may we, unha-
rmed, enjoy thy gracious favour.
38This gold-hued Hansa's wings, soaring to heaven, spread o'er a
thousand days' continued journey
Supporting all the Gods upon his bosom, he goes his way behold-
ing every creature.
39Rohita, in primeval days Prajāpati, was, after, Time, Mouth of
all sacrifices, he, Rohita, brought celestial light.
40He, Rohita, became the world: Rohita gave the heaven its heat.
Rohita with his beams of light travelled along the earth and sea.
41To all the regions Rohita came, the imperial Lord of heaven.
He watches over ocean, heaven, and earth and all existing things.
42Mounting the lofty ones, he, bright, unwearied, splendidly
shining, makes two separate colours,
While through all worlds that are he sends his lustre, radiant,
observant, mighty, wind-approacher.
43One form comes on, the other is reverted: to day and night the
Strong One shapes and fits him.
With humble prayer for aid we call on Sūrya, who knows the
way, whose home is in the region.
44The suppliant's way, filling the earth, the Mighty circleth the
world with eye that none deceiveth.
May he, all-seeing, well-disposed and holy, give ear and listen to
the word I utter.
45Blazing with light his majesty hath compassed ocean and earth
and heaven and air's mid-region.
May he, all-seeing, well-disposed and holy, give ear and listen to
the word I utter.
46Agni is weakened by the people's fuel to meet the Dawn who
cometh like a milch-cow,
Like young trees shooting up on high their branches, his flames
are mounting to the vault of heaven.
HYMN III
A glorification of Rohita. with a malediction on the man who wrongs a Brāhman
1He who engendered these, the earth and heaven, who made the
worlds the mantle that he weareth,
In whom abide the six wide-spreading regions through which the
Bird's keen vision penetrateth,
This God is wroth offended by the sinner who wrongs the
Brāhman who hath gained this knowledge
Agitate him, O Rohita; destroy him: entangle in thy snares the
Brāman's tyrant.
2He from whom winds blow pure in ordered season, from whom
the seas flow forth in all directions,
This God, etc.
3He who takes life away, he who bestows it; from whom comes
breath to every living creature,
This God, etc.
4Who with the breath he draws sates earth and heaven, with
expiration fills the ocean's belly,
This God, etc.
5In whom Virāj, Prajāpati, Parameshthin, Agni Vaisvānara abide
with Pankti,
He who hath taken to himself the breathing of the Supreme, the
vigour of the Highest,
This God, etc.
6On whom rest six expenses and five regions, four waters, and
three syllables of worship,
He who hath looked between both spheres in anger,
This God, etc.
7He who, consuming food, became its master, the Lord of Prayer,
the Regent of Devotion,
The world's Lord, present and to be hereafter,
This God, etc.
8He who metes out the thirteenth month, constructed with days
and nights, containing thirty members,
This God, etc.
9Dark 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,
This God, etc.
10What silver. Kasyapa, thou hast refulgent, what brightly-shining
lotus-flower collected,
Wherein are gathered seven Suns together,
This God, etc.
11In front the Brihat-Sāman is his mantle, and from behind
Rathantara enfolds him,
Ever with care robing themselves in splendour.
This God, etc.
12One of his wings was Brihat, and the other Rathantarr., vigorous
with one same purpose,
What time the Gods gave Rohita his being.
This God, etc.
13At evening he is Varuna and Agni, ascending in the morning he
is Mitra.
As Savitar, he moves through air's mid region, as Indra warms-
the heavens from the centre.
This God, etc.
14This gold-hued Harisa's wings, soaring to heaven spread o'er a
thousand days' continued journey.
Supporting all the Gods upon his bosom, he goes his way behol-
ding every creature.
This God, etc.
15This is the God who dwells-within the waters, the thousand-
rooted, many-powered Atri,
He who brought all this world into existence.
This God; etc.
16With flying feet his tawny coursers carry the bright God through,
the sky, aglow with splendour.
Whose limbs uplifted fire and heat the heavens: hither he shines-
with beams of golden colour.
This God, etc.
17He beside whom his bay steeds bear the Ādityas, by whom as
sacrifice go many knowing.
The sole light shining spread through various places.
This God, etc.
18This seven make the one-wheeled chariot ready: bearing seven
names the single courser draws it.
The wheel, three-naved, is sound and undecaying: thereon these
worlds of life are all dependent.
This God, etc.
19Eight times attached the potent Courser draws it, Sire of the
Gods, father of hymns and praises.
So Mātarisvan, measuring in spirit the thread of Order, purifies
all regions.
This God, etc.
20The thread that goes through all celestial quarters within the
Gāyatri, womb of life eternal.
This God, etc.
21There are the settings, three the upward risings, three are the-
spaces, yea, and three the heavens.
We know thy triple place of birth, O Agni, we know the deities''
triple generations.
22He who, as soon as born, laid broad earth open, and set the
ocean in the air's mid-region, This God, etc.
23Thou, Agni, kind with lights and mental powers, hast up in
heaven shone as the Sun, enkindled.
The Maruts, sons of Prisni, sang his praises what time the Gods
gave Rohita his being. This God, etc.
24Giver of breath, giver of strength and vigour, he whose com-
mandment all the Gods acknowledge,
He who is Lord of this, of man and cattle, This God, etc.
25The single-footed hath outstepped the biped, the biped overtakes
the triple-footed.
The quadruped hath wrought when bipeds called him, standing
and looking on the five collected.
This God is wroth offended by the sinner that wrongs the
Brāhman who hath gained this knowledge.
Agitate him, O Rohita; destroy him: entangle in thy snares the
Brāhman's tyrant.
26Born is the darksome Mother's Son, the whitely shining Calf of
Night.
He, Rohita, ascendeth up to heaven, hath mounted to the
heights.
HYMN IV
A glorification of the Sun as the only Deity
1Down looking, on the ridge of sky Savitar goes to highest
heaven.
2To misty cloud filled with his rays Mahendra goes encompassed
round.
3Creator and Ordainer, he is Vāyu, he is lifted cloud.
4Rudra, and Mahādeva, he is Aryaman and Varuna.
5Agni is he, and Siirya, he is verily Mahāyama.
6Calves, joined, stand close beside him, ten in number, with one
single head.
7From west to east they bend their way: when he mounts up he
shines afar.
8His are these banded Maruts: they move gathered close like
porters' thongs.
9To misty cloud filled with his rays Mahendra goes encompassed
round,
10His are the nine supports, the casks set in nine several places
here.
11He keeppeth watch o'er creatures, all that breatheth and that
breatheth not.
12This conquering might hath entered him, He is the sole the
simple One, the One alone.
13In him these Deities become simple and One
14Renown and glory, and force and cloud, the Brāhman's
splendour, and food, and nourishment,
15To him who knoweth this God as simple and one.
16Neither second, nor third, nor yet fourth is he called;
17He is called neither fifth, nor sixth, nor yet seventh
18He is called neither eighth, nor ninth, nor yet tenth.
19He watcheth over creatures, all that breatheth and that breatheth
not.
20This conquering might hath entered him. He is the sole, the
simple One, the One alone,
21In him these Deities become simple and One
22Devotion and Religious Fervour, and renown and glory, and
force and cloud, the Brāhman's splendour, and food and
nourishment.
23And past and future, and Faith and lustre, and heaven and sweet
oblation,
24To him who knoweth this God as simple and One.
25He, verily, is death, he is immortality, he is the monster, he is
the fiend.
26He is Rudra, winner of wealth in the giving of wealth; in uttering
homage he is the sacrificial exclamation Vashat duly employed.
27All sorcerers on earth obey with reverence his high behest.
28All constellations yonder, with the Moon, are subject to his will.
29He was brought forth from Day: and Day derives his origin.
from him.
30He was brought forth from Night: and Night derives her origins
from him.
31He was produced from Air: and Air derives its origin from him.
32He was produced from Wind: and Wind derives his origin from.
him.
33From Heaven was he produced: and Heaven derives his origin
from him.
34He sprang from regions of the sky: from him the heavenly
regions sprang.
35He is the offspring of the Earth: Earth hath her origin from
him.
36He was produced from fire: and fire derives its origin from
him.
37He is the waters' offspring: and from him the waters were
produced.
38From holy verses was he born: from him the holy verses
sprang.
39He is the son of sacrifice: and sacrifice was born from him.
40Sacrifice, sacrifice's Lord, he was made head of sacrifice.
41He thundereth, he lighteneth, he casteth down the thunder-stone
42For misery or happiness, for mortal man or Asura.
43Whether thou formest growing plants, or sendest rain for
happiness, or hast increased the race of man,
44Such is thy greatness, liberal Lord! A hundred bodily forms are
thine.
45Millions are in thy million, or thou art a billion in thyself.
46Stronger than immortality is Indra: stronger thou than deaths;
47Yea, stronger than Malignity art thou, O Indra, Lord of Might.
Calling thee Master, Sovran Chief, we pay our reverence to
thee.
48Worship to thee whom all behold! Regard me, thou whom all
regard,
49With food, and fame, and vigour, with the splendour of a
Brāhman's rank
50We pay thee reverence calling thee strength, power, and might,
and conquering force.
51We pay thee reverence calling thee red power, the silvery
expanse.
52We pay thee reverence calling thee vast, wide, the good, the
universe.
53We pay thee reverence, calling thee extension, compass, width,
and world.
54We pay thee reverence, calling thee rich, opulent in this and that,
with wealth unceasing and secure
55Worship to thee whom all behold! Regard me, thou whom all
regard.
56With food, and fame, and vigour, with the splendour of a
Brāhman's rank.
The Hymns of the Atharva Veda, books 8 to 13. 1896. Hermetic Cloud, https://hermeticcloud.com/library/griffith-atharva-veda-2/. Public-domain text reproduced in full; markup only.