Sacred Concord

8

Atharva Veda · 5 chapters · 7 passages

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1. This barley they did plough vigorously, with yokes of eight and yokes of six. With it I drive off to a far distance the ailment from thy body. 2. Downward blows the wind, downward burns the sun, downward the cow is milked: downward shall thy ailment pass! 3. The waters verily are healing, the waters chase away disease, the waters cure all (disease): may they prepare a remedy for thee!
AV 8.7 · Atharva Veda · 8
1. When, O Brihaspati, thou didst liberate (us) from existence in yonder world of Yama, (and) from hostile schemes, then did the Asvins, the physicians of the gods, with might sweep death from us, O Agni! 2. O in-breathing and out-breathing, go along with the body, do not leave it: may they be thy allies here! Live and thrive a hundred autumns; Agni shall be thy most excellent shepherd and overseer! 3. Thy vital force that has been dissipated afar, thy in-breathing and thy out-breathing, shall come back again! Agni has snatched them from the lap of Nirriti (the goddess of destruction), and I again introduce them into thy person. 4. Let not his in-breathing desert him, nor his out-breathing quit him and depart! I commit him to the Seven Rishis: may they convey him in health to old age! 5. Enter, O in-breathing and out-breathing, like two bulls into a stable: this person shall here flourish, an unmolested repository for old age! 6. Life's breath we do drive into thee, disease we do drive away from thee. May this excellent Agni endow us with life from every source! 7. Ascending from the darkness of death to the highest firmament, to Sûrya (the sun), the god among gods, we have reached the highest light.
AV 8.1 · Atharva Veda · 8
1. To the 'Ender,' to Death be reverence! May thy in-breathing and thy out-breathing remain here! United here with (life's) spirit this man shall be, sharing in the sun, in the world of immortality (amrita)! 2. Bhaga has raised him up, Soma with his rays (has raised) him up, the Maruts, the gods, (have raised) him up, Indra and Agni (have raised) him up unto well-being. 3. Here (shall be) thy (life's) spirit, here thy inbreathing, here thy life, here thy mind! We rescue thee from the toils of Nirriti (destruction) by means of our divine utterance. 4. Rise up hence, O man! Casting off the footshackles of death, do not sink down! Be not cut off from this world, from the sight of Agni and the sun! 5. The wind, Mâtarisvan, shall blow for thee, the waters shall shower amrita (ambrosia) upon thee, the sun shall shine kindly for thy body! Death shall pity thee: do not waste away! 6. Thou shalt ascend and not descend, O man! Life and alertness do I prepare for thee. Mount, forsooth, this imperishable, pleasant car; then in old age thou shalt hold converse with thy family! 7. Thy mind shall not go thither, shall not disappear! Do not become heedless of the living, do not follow the Fathers! All the gods shall preserve thee here! 8. Do not long after the departed, who conduct (men) afar! Ascend from the darkness, come to the light! We lay hold of thy hands. 9. The two dogs of Yama, the black and the brindled one, that guard the road (to heaven), that have been despatched, shall not (go after) thee! Come hither, do not long to be away; do not tarry here with thy mind turned to a distance! 10. Do not follow this path: it is terrible! I speak of that by which thou hast not hitherto gone. Darkness is this, O man, do not enter it! Danger is beyond, security here for thee. 11. May the fires that are within the waters gLiard thee, may (the fire) which men kindle guard thee, may Gâtavedas Vaisvânara (the fire common to all men) guard thee!
AV 8.2a · Atharva Veda · 8
Let not the heavenly (fire) together with the lightning burn, thee! 12. Let not the flesh-devouring (fire) menace thee: move afar from the funeral pyre! Heaven shall guard thee, the earth shall guard thee, the sun and moon shall guard thee, the atmosphere shall guard thee against the divine missile! 13. May the alert and the watchful divinities guard thee, may he that sleeps not and nods not guard thee, may he that protects and is vigilant guard thee! 14. They shall guard thee, they shall protect thee. Reverence be to them. Hail be to them! 15. Into converse with the living Vâyu, Indra, Dhâtar, and saving Savitar shall put thee; breath and strength shall not leave thee! Thy (life's) spirit do we call back to thee. 16. Convulsions that draw the jaws together, darkness, shall not come upon thee, nor (the demon) that tears out the tongue (?) How shalt thou then waste away? The Âdityas and Vasus, Indra and Agni shall raise thee up unto well-being! 17. The heavens, the earth, Pragâpati, have rescued thee. The plants with Soma their king have delivered thee from death. 18. Let this man remain right here, ye gods, let him not depart hence to yonder world! We rescue him from death with (a charm) of thousandfold strength. 19. I have delivered thee from death. The (powers) that furnish strength shall breathe upon thee. The (mourning women) with dishevelled hair, they that wail lugubriously, shall not wail over 20. 1 have snatched thee (from death), I have obtained thee; thou hast returned with renewed youth. O thou, that art (now) sound of limb, for thee sound sight, and sound life have I obtained. 21. It has shone upon thee, light has arisen, darkness has departed from thee. We remove from thee death, destruction, and disease.
AV 8.2b · Atharva Veda · 8
1. An eagle found thee out, a boar dug thee out with his snout. Seek thou, O plant, to injure him that seeks to injure (us), strike down him that prepares spells (against us'! 2. Strike down the wizards, strike down him that prepares spells (against us); slay thou, moreover, O plant, him that seeks to injure us! 3. Cutting out from the skin (of the enemy) as if (from the skin) of an antelope, do ye, O gods, fasten the spell upon him that prepares it, as (one fastens) an ornament! 4. Take hold by the hand and lead away the spell back to him that prepares it! Place it in his very presence, so that it shall slay him that prepares the spell! 5. The spells shall take effect upon him that prepares the spells, the curse upon him that pronounces the curse! As a chariot with easy-going wheels, the spell shall turn back upon him that prepares the spell! 6. Whether a woman, or whether a man has prepared the spell for evil, we lead that spell to him as a horse with the halter. 7. Whether thou hast been prepared by the gods, or hast been prepared by men, we lead thee back with the help of Indra as an ally. 8. O Agni gainer of battles, do thou gain the battles! With a counter-charm do we hurl back the spell upon him that prepares the spell. 9. Hold ready, (O plant,) thy weapon, and strike him, slay the very one that has prepared (the spell)! We do not whet thee for the destruction of him that has not practised (spells). 10. Go as a son to his father, bite like an adder that has been stepped upon. Return thou, O spell, to him that prepares the spell, as one who overcomes his fetters! 11. As the shy deer, the antelope, goes out to the mating (buck), thus the spell shall reach him that prepares it! 12. Straighter than an arrow may it (the spell) fly against him, O ye heaven and earth; may that spell take hold again of him that prepares it, as (a hunter) of his game! 13. Like fire (the spell) shall progress in the teeth of obstacles, like water along its course!
AV 8.5a · Atharva Veda · 8
As a chariot with easy-going wheels the spell shall turn back upon him that prepares the spell!
AV 8.5b · Atharva Veda · 8
1. The oblation that yields glory, sped on by Indra, of thousandfold strength, well offered, prepared with might, shall prosper! Cause me, that offers the oblation, to continue long beholding (light), and to rise to supremacy! 2. (That he may come) to us, let us honour with obeisance glory-owning Indra, the glorious one with glory-yielding (oblations)! Do thou (the oblation) grant us sovereignty sped on by Indra; may we in thy favour be glorious! 3. Glorious was Indra born, glorious Agni, glorious Soma. Glorious, of all beings the most glorious, am I.
AV 8.8 · Atharva Veda · 8

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