Atharva Veda on Death

1. Take hold of this (charm) that subjects to immortality (life), may thy life unto old age not be cut off! I bring to thee anew breath and life: not to mist and darkness, do not waste away! 2. Come hither to the light of the living; I rescue thee unto a life of a hundred autumns! Loosing the bands of death and imprecation, I bestow upon thee long life extended very far. 3. From the wind thy breath I have obtained, from the sun thine eye; thy soul I hold fast in thee: be together with thy limbs, speak articulating with thy tongue! 4. With the breath of two-footed and four-footed creatures I blow upon thee, as on Agni when he is born (as on fire when kindled). I have paid reverence, O death, to thine eye, reverence to thy breath. 5. This (man) shall live and shall not die: we rouse this man (to life)! I make for him a remedy: O death, do not slay the man! 6. The plant gîvalâ (quickening'), na-ghâ-rishâ ('forsooth-no-harm'), and gîvantî ('living), a victorious, mighty saviour-plant do I invoke, that he may be exempt from injury. 7. Befriend him, do not seize him, let him go, (O death); though he be thy very own, let him abide here with unimpaired strength! O Bhava and Sarva, take pity, grant Protection; misfortune drive away, and life bestow! 8. Befriend him, death, and pity him: may he from here arise! Unharmed, with sound limbs, hearing perfectly, through old age carrying a hundred years, let him get enjoyment by himself (unaided)! 9. The missile of the gods shall pass thee by! I pass thee across the mist (of death); from death I have rescued thee. Removing far the flesh-devouring Agni, a barrier do I set around thee, that thou mayest live. 10. From thy misty road that cannot be withstood, O death, from this path (of thine) we guard this (man), and make our charm a protection for him. 11. In-breathing and out-breathing. do I prepare for thee, death in old age, long life, and prosperity.

The disease that racks and wastes thy limbs, and the sickness in thy heart, has flown as an eagle to a far distance, overcome by my charm. 10. The two sages Alert and Watchful, the sleepless and the vigilant, these two guardians of thy life's breath, are awake both day and night. 11. Agni here is to be revered; the sun shall rise here for thee: rise thou from deep death, yea from black darkness! 12. Reverence be to Yama, reverence to death; reverence to the Fathers and to those that lead (to them) [death's messengers?] That Agni who knows the way to save do I engage for this man, that he be exempt from harm! 13. His breath shall come, his soul shall come, his sight shall come, and, too, his strength! His body shall collect itself: then shall he stand firm upon his feet! 14. Unite him, Agni, with breath and sight, provide him with a body and with strength! Thou hast a knowledge of immortality: let him not now depart, let him not now become a dweller in a house of clay! 15. Thy in-breathing shall not cease, thy outbreathing shall not vanish; Sûrya (the sun), the supreme lord, shall raise thee from death with his rays! 16. This tongue (of mine), bound (in the mouth, yet) mobile, speaks within: with it I have charmed away disease, and the hundred torments of the takman (fever). 17. This world is most dear to the gods, unconquered. For whatever death thou wast destined when thou wast born, O man, that (death) and we call after thee: do not die before old age!

From that death, the lord of cattle, do I rescue thee: do not fear! 24. Free from harm thou shalt not die; thou shalt not die: do not fear! Verily, they do not die there, they do not go to the nethermost darkness;-- 25. Verily, every creature lives there, the cow, the horse, and man, where this charm is performed, as the (protecting) barrier for life. 26. May it preserve thee from sorcery, from thy equals and thy kin! Undying be, immortal, exceedingly vital; thy spirits shall not abandon thy body! 27. From the one and a hundred deaths, from the dangers that are surmountable, from that Agai Vaisvânara (the funeral pyre?) may the gods deliver thee! 28. Thou, the remedy called p6tudru, art the body of Agni, the deliverer, slayer of Rakshas, slayer of rivals, moreover thou chasest away disease. V. 30. Prayer for exemption from disease and death. 1. From near thy vicinity, from near thy distance (do I call): remain here, do not follow; do not follow the Fathers of yore! Firmly do I fasten thy life's breath. 2. Whatever sorcery any kinsman or stranger has practised against thee, both release and deliverance with my voice do I declare for thee. 3. If thou hast deceived or cursed a woman or a man in thy folly, both release and deliverance with my voice do I declare for thee. 4. If thou liest (ill) in consequence of a sin committed by thy mother or thy father, both release and deliverance with my voice do I declare for thee. 5. Fight shy of the medicine which thy mother and thy father, thy sister and thy brother let out against thee: I shall cause thee to live unto old age! 6. Remain here, O man, with thy entire soul; do not follow the two messengers of Yama: come to the abodes of the living! 7. Return when called, knowing the outlet of the path (death), the ascent, the advance, the road of every living man! 8. Fear not, thou shalt not die: I shall cause thee to live unto old age! I have charmed away from thy limbs the disease that wastes the limbs. 9.

1. Thou who art neither alive nor dead, the immortal child of the gods art thou, O Sleep! Varunânî is thy mother, Yama (death) thy father, Araru is thy name. 2. We know, O Sleep, thy birth, thou art the son of the divine women-folk, the instrument of Yama (death)! Thou art the ender, thou art death! Thus do we know thee, O Sleep: do thou, O Sleep, protect us from evil dreams! 3. As one pays off a sixteenth, an eighth, or an (entire) debt, thus do we transfer every evil dream upon our enemy.

1. For thee alone, O (death from) old age, this (boy) shall grow up: the other hundred kinds of death shall not harm him! Like a provident mother in her lap Mitra shall befriend him, shall save him from misfortune! 2. May Mitra or Varuna, the illustrious, cooperating, grant him death from old age! Then Agni, the priest, who knows the ways, promulgates all the races of the gods. 3. Thou, (O Agni), rulest over all the animals of the earth, those which have been born, and those which are to be born: may not in-breathing leave this one, nor yet out-breathing, may neither friends nor foes slay him! 4. May father Dyaus (sky) and mother Prithivi (earth), co-operating, grant thee death from old age, that thou mayest live in the lap of Aditi a hundred winters, guarded by in-breathing and outbreathing! 5. Lead this dear child to life and vigour, O Agni, Varuna, and king Mitra! As a mother afford him protection, O Aditi, and all ye gods, that he may attain to old age!

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.

demons, and enemies. 1. We take hold, O victorious one, of thee, the mistress of remedies. I have made thee a thing of thousandfold strength for ever), one, O plant! 2. Her, the unfailingly victorious one, that wards off curses, that is powerful and defensive; (her and) all the plants have I assembled, intending that she shall save us from this (trouble)! 3. The woman who has cursed us with a curse, who has arranged dire misfortune (for us), who has taken hold of our children, to rob them of their strengthmay she eat (her own) offspring! 4. The magic spell which they have put into the unburned vessel, that which they have put into the blue and red thread, that which they have put into raw flesh, with these slay thou those that have prepared the spell! 5. Evil dreams, troubled life, Rakshas, gruesomeness, and grudging demons (arâyî), all the evil- named, evil-speakinor (powers), these do we drive out from us. 6. Death from hunger, and death from thirst, poverty in cattle, and failure of offspring, all that, O apâmârga, do we wipe out (apa mrigmahe) with thee. 7. Death from thirst, and death from hunger, moreover, ill-luck at dice, all that, O apâmârga, do we wipe out with thee. 8. The apâmârga is sole ruler over all plants, with it do we wipe mishap from thee: do thou then live exempt from disease!

1. I release thee unto life by means of (my) oblation, from unknown decline, and from consumption. If Grâhi (seizure) has caught hold (gagrâha) of this person here, may Indra and Agni free him from that! 2. If his life has faded, even if he has passed away, if he has been brought to the very vicinity of death, I snatch him from the lap of Nirriti (the goddess of destruction): I have freed him unto a life of a hundred autumns. 3. I have snatched him (from death) by means of an oblation which has a thousand eyes, hundredfold strength, and -ensures a hundredfold life, in order that Indra may conduct him through the years across to the other side of every misfortune. 4. Live thou, thriving a hundred autumns, a hundred winters, and a hundred springs! May Indra, Agni, Savitar, Brihaspati (grant) thee a hundred years! I have snatched him (from death) with an oblation that secures a life,of a hundred years. 5. Enter ye, O in-breathirig and out-breathing, as two bulls a stable! Away shall go the other deaths, of which, it is said, there are a hundred more! 6. Remain ye here, O in-breathing and out-breathing, do not go away from here; do ye car anew to old age his body and his limbs! 7. To old age I make thee over, into old age I urge thee; may a happy old age guide thee! Away shall go the other deaths, of which, it is said, there are a hundred more! 8. Upon thee (life unto) old age has been deposited, as a rope is tied upon a bull. That death which has fettered thee at thy birth with a firm rope, Brihaspati with the hands of the truth did strip off from thee.

1. The first impulse of jealousy, moreover the one that comes after the first, the fire, the heart- burning, that do wc waft away from thee. 2. As the earth is dead in spirit, in spirit more dead than the dead, and as the spirit of him that has died, thus shall the spirit of the jealous (man) be dead! 3. Yon fluttering little spirit that has been fixed into thy heart, from it the jealousy do I remove, as air from a water-skin.

1. May Indra churn (the enemy), he, the churner, Sakra (mighty), the hero, that pierces the forts, so that we shall slay the armies of the enemies a thousandfold! 2. May the rotten rope, wafting itself against yonder army, turn it into a stench. When the enemies see from afar our smoke and fire, fear shall they lay into their hearts! 3. Tear asunder those (enemies), O asvattha (ficus religiosa), devour (khâda) them, O! khadira (acacia catechu) in lively style! Like the tâgadbhanga (ricinus communis) they shall be broken (bhagyantâm), may the vadhaka (a certain kind of tree) slay them with his weapons (vadhaih)! 4. May the knotty âhva-plant put knots upon yonder (enemies), may the vadhaka slay them with his weapons! Bound up in (our) great trap-net, they shall quickly be broken as an arrow-reed! 5. The atmosphere was the net, the great regions (of space) the (supporting) poles of the net: with these Sakra (mighty Indra) did surround and scatter the army of the Dasyus. 6. Great, forsooth, is the net of great Sakra, who is rich in steeds: with it infold thou all the enemies, so that not one of them shall be released! 7. Great is the net of thee, great Indra, hero, that art equal to a thousand, and hast hundredfold might. With that (net) Sakra slew a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, a hundred million foes, having surrounded them with (his) army. 8. This great world was the net of great Sakra: with this net of Indra I infold all those (enemies) yonder in darkness, 9. With great dejection, failure, and irrefragable misfortune; with fatigue, lassitude, and confusion, do I surround all those (enemies) yonder. 10. To death do I hand them over, with the fetters of death they have been bound. To the evil messengers of death do I lead them captive. 11. Guide ye those (foes), ye messengers of death; ye messengers of Yama, infold them! Let more than thousands be slain; may the club of Bhava crush them! 12.

All the messengers of Yama, that roam about, dispatched by Vivasvant's son, do I drive away. 12. Arâti (grudge), Nirriti (destruction), Grâhi (seizure), and the flesh-devouring Pisâkas (do we drive) away to a distance, and hurl all wicked Rakshas away into darkness as it were. 13. I crave thy life's breath from the immortal, life-possessing Agni Gâtavedas. That thou shalt not take harm, shalt be immortal in (Agni's) company, that do I procure for thee, and that shall be fulfilled for thee! 14. May heaven and earth, the bestowers of happiness, be auspicious and harmless to thee; may the sun-shine, and the wind blow comfort to thy heart; may the heavenly waters, rich in milk, flow upon thee kindly! 15. May the plants be auspicious to thee! I have raised thee from the lower to the upper earth: there may both the Âdityas, the sun and the moon,. protect thee. 16. Whatever garment for clothing, or whatever girdle thou makest for thyself, agreeable to thy body do we render it; not rough to thy touch shall it be! 17. When thou, the barber, shearest with thy sharp well-whetted razor our hair and beard, do not, while cleansing our face, rob us of our life! 18. Rice and barley shall be auspicious to thee, causing no balâsa, inflicting no injury! They two drive away disease, they two release from calamity. 19. Whatever thou eatest or drinkest, the grain of the plough-land or milk, whatever is or is not to be eaten, all that food do I render for thee free from poison. 20. To day and to night both do we commit thee: from the demons that seek to devour, do ye preserve this (man) for me! 21. A hundred years, ten thousand years, two, three, four ages (yuga) do we allot to thee; Indra and Agni, and all the gods without anger shall favour thee! 22. To autumn thee, to winter, spring and summer, do we commit; the rains in which grow the plants shall be pleasant to thee! 23. Death rules over bipeds, death rules over quadrupeds.

Pisâkas). 1. Do ye well offer within the fire this oblation with ghee, that destroys the spook! Do thou, O Agni, burn from afar against the Rakshas, (but) our houses thou shalt not consume! 2. Rudra has broken your necks, ye Pisâkas: may he also break your ribs, ye spooks! The plant whose power is everywhere has united you with Yama (death). 3. Exempt from danger, O Mitra and Varuna, may we here be; drive back with your flames the devouring demons (Atrin)! Neither aider, nor support do they find; smiting one another they go to death.

1. The gold which is born from fire, the immortal, they bestowed upon the mortals. He who knows this deserves it; of old age dies he who wears it. 2. The gold, (endowed by) the sun with beautiful colour, which the men of yore, rich in descendants, did desire, may it gleaming envelop thee in lustre! Long-lived becomes he who wears it! 3. (May it envelop) thee unto (long) life, unto lustre, unto force, and unto strength, that thou shalt by the brilliancy of the gold shine forth among people! 4. (The gold) which king Varuna knows, which god Brihaspati knows, which Indra, the slayer of Vritra, knows, may that become for thee a source of life, may that become for thee a source of lustre! IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, SORCERERS, AND ENEMIES (ÂBHIKÂRIKÂNI AND KRITYÂPRATIHARANÂNI).

1. The gods are free from decrepitude; thou, O Agni, art removed from the demon of hostility. I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life. 2. (Vâyu), the purifying (wind), shall free thee from misfortune, Sakra (Indra) from evil sorcery! I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life. 3. The tame (village) animals are separate from the wild (forest animals); the water has flowed apart from thirst. I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life. 4. Heaven and earth here go apart; the paths go in every direction. I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life. 5. 'Tvashtar is preparing a wedding for his daughter,' thus (saying) does this whole world pass through. I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life. 6. Agni unites (life's) breaths, the moon is united with (life's) breath. I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life. 7. By means of (life's) breath the gods aroused the everywhere mighty sun. I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life. 8. Live thou by the (life's) breath of them that have life, and that create life; do not die! I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life. 9. Breathe thou with the (life's) breath of those that breathe; do not die! I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life. 10. Do thou (rise) up with life, unite thyself with life, (rise) up with the sap of the plants! I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life. 11. From the rain of Parganya we have risen up, immortal. I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life.

The Sâdhyas (blessed) go holding up with might one support of the net, the Rudras another, the Vasus another, (Still) another is upheld by the Âdityas. 13. All the gods shall go pressing from above with might; the Angiras shall go on the middle (of the net), slaying the mighty army! 14. The trees, and (growths) that are like trees, the plants and the herbs as well; two-footed and four-footed creatures do I impel, that they shall slay yonder army! 15. The Gandharvas and Apsaras, the serpents and the gods, holy men and (deceased) Fathers, the visible and invisible (beings), do I impel, that they shall slay yonder army! 16. Scattered here are the fetters of death; when thou steppest upon them thou shalt not escape! May this hammer slay (the men) of yonder army by the thousand! 17. The gharma (sacrificial hot drink) that has been heated by the fire, this sacrifice (shall) slay thousands! Do ye, Bhava and Sarva, whose arms are mottled, slay yonder army! 18. Into the (snare of) death they shall fall, into hunger, exhaustion, slaughter, and fear! O Indra and Sarva, do ye with trap and net slay yonder army! 19. Conquered, O foes, do ye flee away; repelled by (our) charm, do ye run! Of yonder host, repulsed by Brihaspati, not one shall be saved! 20. May their weapons fall from their (hands), may they be unable to lay the arrow on (the bow)! And then (our) arrows shall smite them, badly frightened, in their vital members! 21. Heaven and earth shall shriek at them, and the atmosphere, along with the divine powers! Neither aider, nor support did they find; smiting one another they shall go to death! 22. The four regions are the she-mules of the god's chariot, the purodâsas (sacrificial rice-cakes) the hoofs, the atmosphere the seat (of the wagon). Heaven and earth are its two sides, the seasons the reins, the intermediate regions the attendants, Vâk (speech) the road. 23.

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!

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.

1. Himself prosperous (bhûto), he does put strength into the beings (bhûteshu); he became the chief lord of the beings (bhûtânâm). To his consecration death does come: may he, the king, favour this kingdom! 2. Come forth hither-do not glance away-as a mighty guardian, slayer of enemies! Step hither, thou who prosperest thy friends: the gods shall bless thee! 3. As he did step hither all (men) did attend him. Clothed in grace, he moves, shining by his own lustre. This is the great name of the manly Asura; endowed with every form (quality) he entered upon immortal (deeds). 4. Thyself a tiger, do thou upon this tiger-skin stride (victorious) through the great regionst All the clans shall wish for thee, and the heavenly waters, rich in sap! 5. The heavenly waters, rich in sap, flow joyously, (and too) those in the sky and upon the earth: with the lustre of all of these do I sprinkle thee. 6. They have sprinkled thee with their lustre., the heavenly waters rich in sap. May Savitar thus fashion thee, that thou shalt prosper thy friends! 7. (The waters) thus embracing him, the tiger, promote him, the lion, to great good fortune. Him, the leopard in the midst of the waters, as though standing in the ocean, the beneficent (floods, or the vigorous priests) cleanse thoroughly!

The water with which they bathe the dead, with which they moisten his beard, that very one, O oppressor of Brahmans, the gods did assign to thee as thy share of water. 15. The rain of Mitra and Varuna does not moisten the oppressor of Brahmans; the assembly is not complacent for him, he does not guide his friend according to his will.

1. Let me go, O evil; being powerful, take thou pity on us! Set me, O evil, unharmed, into the world of happiness! 2. If, O evil, thou dost not abandon us, then do we abandon thee at the fork of the road. May evil follow after another (man)! 3. Away from us may thousand-eyed, immortal (evil) dwell! Him whom we hate may it strike, and him whom we hate do thou surely smite!

Below the superior (region), above the inferior (region) here, the cow has arisen supporting (her) calf by the foot. Whither is she turned; to which half (of the universe), forsooth, has she aone away; where, forsooth, does she beget? Verily not in this herd! 42. One-footed, two-footed, four-footed is she; eight-footed, nine-footed became she, the thousand-syllabled (consisting of thousand elements) pankti (quinary stanza) of the universe: the oceans from her flow forth upon (the world). 43. Ascending the heaven, immortal, receive kindly my song! The sacrifices purified by prayer lead thee forth; the bay steeds that travel upon the road carry thee. 44. That do I know of thee, O immortal, where thy march is upon the sky, where thy habitation is in the highest heaven. 45. Sûrya (the sun) surveys the sky, Sûrya the earth, Sûrya the waters. Sûrya is the single eye of being: he has ascended the great heavens. 46. The broad (directions) where the fagots that fence in (the fire), the earth turned itself into a fire-altar. There Rohita laid on for himself these two fires, cold and heat. 47. Laying on cold and heat, using the mountains as sacrificial posts, the two fires of Rohita who knows the (heavenly) light, into which (the fires) rain (flowed) as ghee, carried out the sacrifice. 48. The fire of Rohita who knows the (heavenly) light is kindled by prayer. From it heat, from it cold, from it the sacrifice was produced. 49. The two fires swelling through prayer, increased through prayer, sacrificed into with prayer; the two fires of Rohita who knows the (heavenly) light, kindled through prayer, carried out the sacrifice. 50. One is deposited in truth, the other is kindled in the waters. The two fires of Rohita who knows the (heavenly) light, kindled through prayer, carried out the sacrifice. 51.

10. One is on the hither side, the other on the farther side of the back of the heavens; secretly are deposited the two receptacles of the brâhmanam (Brahmanic life). These the Brahmakârin protects by his tapas (creative fervour); understandingly he performs that brahma (spiritual exaltation) solely. 11. One on the hither side, the other away from the earth, do the two Agnis come together between these two hemispheres (of the world). To them adhere the rays firmly; the Brahmakârin by his tapas (creative fervour) enters into the (rays). 12. Shouting forth, thundering, red, white he carries a great penis along the earth. The Brahmakârin sprinkles seed upon the back of the earth; through it the four directions live. 13. Into fire, the sun, the moon, Mâtarisvan (wind), and the waters, the Brahmakârin places the firewood; the lights from these severally go into the clouds, from them come sacrificial butter, the purusha (primeval man), rain, and water. 14. Death is the teacher, (and) Varuna, Soma, the plants, milk; the clouds were the warriors: by these this light has been brought hither. 15. Varuna, having become the teacher, at home prepares the ghee solely. Whatever he desired from Pragâpati, that the Brahmakârin furnished, as Mitra (a friend) from his own Atman (spirit, or person). 16. The Brahmakârin is the teacher, the Brahmakârin Pragâpati. Pragâpati rules (shines forth, vi râgati); Virâg (heavenly power, or light) became Indra, the ruler. 17. Through holy disciplehood. (brahmakâryam), through tapas (creative fervour), the king protects his kingdom. The teacher by (his own) brahmakâryam (holy life) seeks (finds) the Brahmakârin. 18. Through holy disciplehood the maiden obtains a young husband, through holy disciplehood the steer, the horse seeks to obtain fodder. 19. Through holy disciplehood, through creative fervour, the gods drove away death. Indrajorsooth, by his holy disciplehood brought the light to the gods. 20.

1. Beyond measure they waxed strong, just fell short of touching the heavens. When they infringed upon Bhrigu they perished, the Sriñgaya Vaitahavyas. 2. The persons who pierced Brihatsâman, the descendant of Angiras, the Brâhmana--a ram with two rows of teeth, a sheep devoured their offspring. 3. They who spat upon the Brâhmana, who desired tribute from him, they sit in the middle of a pool of blood, chewing hair. 4. The cow of the Brahman, when roasted, as far as she reaches does she destroy the lustre of the kingdom; no lusty hero is born (there). 5. A cruel (sacrilegious) deed is her slaughter, her meat, when eaten, is sapless; when her milk is drunk, that surely is accounted a crime against the Fathers. 6. When the king, weening himself mighty, desires to destroy the Brâhmana, then royal power is dissipated, where the Brâhmana is oppressed. 7. Becoming eight-footed, four-eyed, four-eared, four-jawed, two-mouthed, two-tongued, she dispels the rule of the oppressor of the Brahman. 8. That (kingdom) surely she swamps, as water a leaking ship; misfortune strikes that kingdom, in which they injure a Brâhmana. 9. The trees chase away with the words: 'do not come within our shade,' him who covets the wealth that belongs to a Brâhmana, O Nârada! 10. King Varuna pronounced this (to be) poison, prepared by the gods: no one who has devoured the cow of a Brâhmana retains the charge of a kingdom. 11. Those full nine and ninety whom the earth did cast off, because they had injured the offspring of a Brâhmana, were ruined irretrievably. 12. The kûdî-plant (Christ's thorn) that wipes away the track (of death), which they fasten to the dead, that very one, O oppressor of Brahmans, the gods did declare (to be) thy couch. 13. The tears which have rolled from (the eyes of) the oppressed (Brahman), as he laments, these very ones, O oppressor of Brahmans, the gods did assign to thee as thy share of water. 14.

Honied are the roots of these herbs, honied their tops, honied their middles, honied their leaves, honied their blossoms; they share in honey, are the food of immortality. May they yield ghee, and food, and cattle chief of all! 13. As many in number and in kind the plants here are upon the earth, may they, furnished with a thousand leaves, release me from death and misery! 14. Tiger-like is the amulet (made of) herbs, a saviour, a protector against hostile schemes: may it drive off far away from us all diseases and the Rakshas! 15. As if at the roar of the lion they start with fright, as if (at the roar) of fire they tremble before the (plants) that have been brought hither. The diseases of cattle and men have been driven out by the herbs: let them pass into navigable streams! 16. The plants release us from Agni Vaisvânara. Spreading over the earth, go ye, whose king is the tree! 17. The plants, descended from Angiras, that grow upon the mountains and in the plains, shall be for us rich in milk, auspicious, comforting to the heart! 18. The herbs which I know, and those which I see with my sight; the unknown, those which we know, and those which we perceive to be charged with (power),-- 19. All plants collectively shall note my words, that we may bring this man into safety out of misfortune,-- 20. The asvattha (ficus religiosa), and the darbha among the plants; king Soma, amrita (ambrosia) and the oblation; rice and barley, the two healing, immortal children of heaven! 21. Ye arise: it is thundering and crashing, ye plants, since Parganya (the god of rain) is favouring you, O children of Prisni (the spotted cloud), with (his) seed (water). 22. The strength of this amrita (ambrosia) do we crive this man to drink. Moreover, I prepare a remedy, that he may live a hundred years! 23. The boar knows, the ichneumon knows the healing plant. Those that the serpents and Gandharvas know, I call hither for help. 24.

O sun, take away their sight; O rays, run after them; clinging to their feet, fasten yourselves upon them, when the strength of their arms is gone! 11. Ye strong Maruts, Prisni's children, with Indra as an ally, crush ye the enemies; Soma the king (shall crush them), Varuna the king, Mahâdeva, and also Mrityu (death), and Indra! 12. These wise armies of the gods, having the sun as their ensign, shall conquer our enemies! CHARMS TO SECURE HARMONY, INFLUENCE IN THE ASSE-NIBLY, AND THE LIKE (SÂMMANASYÂNI, ETC.)

Brahmans. 1. 'I give,' he shall surely say,'the sterile cow to the begging Brahmans'--and they have noted her- -that brings progeny and offspring! 2. With his offspring does he trade, of his cattle is he deprived, that refuses to give the cow of the gods to the begging descendants of the Rishis. 3. Through (the gift of) a cow with broken horns his (cattle) breaks down, through a lame one he tumbles into a pit, through a mutilated one his house is burned, through a one-eyed one his property is given away. 4. Flow of blood attacks the cattle-owner from the spot where her dung is deposited: this understanding there is about the vasâ (the sterile cow); for thou (sterile cow) art said to be very difficult to deceive! 5. From the resting-place of her feet the (disease) called viklindu overtakes (the owner, or the cattle). Without sickness breaks down (the cattle) which she sniffs upon with her nose. 6. He that pierces her ears is estranged from the gods. He thinks: 'I am making a mark (upon her),' (but) he diminishes his own property. 7. If any one for whatsoever purpose cuts her tail then do his colts die, and the wolf tears his calves. 8. If a crow has injured her hair, as long as she is with her owner then do his children die: decline overtakes them without (noticeable) sickness. 9. If the serving-maid sweeps together her dung, that bites as lye, there arises from this sin disfigurement that passeth not away. 10. The sterile cow in her very birth is born for the gods and Brâhmanas. Hence to the Brahmans she is to be given: that, they say, guarantees the security of one's own property. 11. For those that come requesting her the cow has been created by the gods. Oppression of Brahmans it is called, if he keeps her for himself. 12. He that refuses to give the cow of the gods to the descendants of the Rishis who ask for it, infringes upon the gods, and the wrath of the Brâhmanas. 13. Though he derives benefit from this sterile cow, another (cow) then shall he seek!

When kept she injures (his) folk, if he refuses to give her after she has been asked for! 14. The sterile cow is as a treasure deposited for die Brâhmanas: they come here for her, with whomsoever she is born. 15. The Brâhmanas come here for their own, when they come for the sterile cow. The refusal of her is, as though he were oppressing them in other concerns. I& If she herds up to her third year, and no disease is discovered in her, and he finds her to be a sterile cow, O Nârada, then must he look for the Brâhmanas. 17. If he denies that she is sterile, a treasure deposited for the gods, then Bhava and Sarva, both, come upon him, and hurl their arrow upon him. 18. Though he does not perceive upon her either udder, or tits, yet both yield him milk, if he has prevailed upon himself to give away the sterile cow. 19. Hard to cheat, she oppresses him, if, when asked for, he refuses to give her. His desires are not fulfilled, if he aims to accomplish them without giving her away. 20. The gods did ask for the sterile cow, making the Brâhmana their mouthpiece. The man that does not give (her) enters into the wrath of all of these. 21. Into the wrath of the cattle enters he that gives not the sterile cow to the Brâhmanas; if he, the mortal, appropriates the share deposited for the gods. 22. Even if a hundred other Brâhmanas beg the owner for the sterile cow, yet the gods did say anent her: 'The cow belongs to him that knoweth thus.' 23. He that refuses the sterile cow to him that knoweth thus, and gives her to others, difficult to dwell upon is for him the earth with her divinities. 24. The gods did beg the sterile cow of him wilh whom she was born at first. That very one Nârada recognised and drove forth in company with the gods. 25. The sterile cow renders childless, and poor in cattle, him that yet appropriates her, when she has been begged for by the Brâhmanas. 26.

Thou that hast produced, art rich in offspring, thy fetters do we loosen. 14. Thou dost shelter Agni within, (and) the domestics together with the cattle. Thou that hast produced, art rich in offspring, thy fetters do we loosen. 15. The expanse which is between heaven and earth, with that do I receive as a gift this house of thine; the middle region which is stretched out from the sky, that do I make into a receptacle for treasures; with that do I receive the house for this one. 16. Full of nurture, full of milk, fixed upon the earth, erected, holding food for all, O house, do thou not injure them that receive thee as a gift! 17. Enveloped in grass, clothed in reeds, like night does the house lodge the cattle; erected thou dost stand upon the earth, like a she-elephant, firm of foot. 18. The part of thee that was covered with mats unfolding do I loosen. Thee that hast been enfolded by Varuna may Mitra uncover in the morning! 19. The house built with pious word, built by seers, erected--may Indra and Agni, the two immortals, protect the house, the seat of Soma! 20. Chest is crowded upon chest, basket upon basket; there mortal man is begotten from whom all things spring. 21. In the house which is built with two facades, four facades, six facades; in the house with eight facades, with ten facades, in the 'mistress of dwelling.' Agni rests as if in the womb. Tuirning towards thee that art turned towards me, O house, I come to thee that injurest me not. For Agni and the waters, the first door to divine order, are within. 23. These waters, free from disease, destructive of disease, do I bring here. The chambers do I enter in upon in company with the immortal Agni (fire). 24. Do thou not fasten a fetter upon us; though a heavy load, become thou light! As a bride do we carry thee, O house, wherever we please. 25. From the easterly direction of the house reverence (be) to greatness, hail to the gods who are to be addressed with hail! 26.

1. Fly forth, ye apakit (sores), as an eagle from the nest! Sûrya (the sun) shall prepare a remedy, Kandramâs (the moon) shall shine you away! 2. One is variegated, one is white, one is black, and two are red: I have gotten the names of all of them. Go ye away without slaying men! 3. The apakit, the daughter of the black one, without bearing offspring will fly away; the boil will fly away from here, the galunta (swelling) will perish. 4. Consume thy own (proper) oblation with gratification in thy mind, when I here offer svâhâ in my mind!

1. Of yore, (O Agni), thou wast worthy of supplication at the sacrifice; thou wast the priest in olden times, and now anew shalt sit (at our sacrifice)! Delight, O Agni, thy own body, and, sacrificing, bring good fortune here to us! 2. Him that hath been born under the (constellation) gyeshihaghnî ('she that slays the oldest'), or under the vikritâu ('they that uproot'), save thou from being torn up by the root by Yama (death)! May be (Agni) guide him across all misfortunes to long life, to a life of a hundred autumns! 3. On a tiger (-like) day the hero was born; born under a (good) constellation he becometh a mighty hero. Let him not slay, when he grows up, his father, let him not injure the mother that hath begotten him!

1. Whenever yonder person in his thought, and with his speech, offers sacrifice accompanied by oblations and benedictions, may Nirriti (the goddess of destruction), allying herself with death, smite his offering before it takes effect! 2. May sorcerers, Nirriti, as well as Rakshas, mar his true work with error! May the gods, despatched by Indra, scatter (churn) his sacrificial butter; may that which yonder person offers not succeed! 3. The two agile supreme rulers, like two eagle-s pouiicing down, shall strike the sacrificial butter pf the enemy, whosoever plans evil against us! 4. Back do I tie both thy two arms, thy mouth I shut. With the fury of god Agni, have I destroyed thy oblation. 5. I tie thy two arms, I shut thy mouth. With the fury of terrible Agni have I destroyed thy oblation.

the acquisition of auspicious ones. 1. Fly forth from here, O evil mark, vanish from here, fly forth to yonder place! Upon him that hates us do we fasten thee with a brazen hook. 2. The unsavoury mark which flying has alighted upon me, as a creeper upon a tree, that mayest thou put away from us, away from here, O golden-handed (golden-rayed) Savitar (the sun), bestowing goods upon us! 3. Together with the body of the mortal, from his birth, one and a hundred marks are born. Those that are most foul do we drive away from here; the auspicious ones, O Gâtavedas (Agni), do thou hold fast for us! 4. These (marks) here I have separated, as cows scattered upon the heather. The pure marks shall remain, the foul ones I have made to disappear! PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS IN THE INTEREST OF THE BRAHMANS.

(nairbâdhyam havih). 1. Forth from his home do I drive that person yonder, who as a rival contends with us: through the oblation devoted to suppression Indra, has broken him to pieces. 2. Indra, the slayer of Vritra, shall drive him to the remotest distance, from which in all successive years he shall not again return! 3. He shall go to the three distances, he shall go beyond the five peoples; he shall go beyond the three ethers, whence he shall not again in all successive years return, while the sun is upon the heavens! VII 37. Curse against one that practises hostile charms. 1. The thousand-eyed curse having yoked his chariot has come hither, seeking out him that curses me, as a wolf the house of him that owns sheep. 2. Avoid us, O curse, as a burning fire (avoids) a lake! Strike here him that curses us, as the lightning of heaven the tree! 3. He that shall curse us when we do not curse, and he that shall curse us when we do curse, him do I hurl to death as a bone to a dog upon the ground.

1. A male has sprung from a male, the asvattha (ficus religiosa) from the khadira (acacia catechu). May this slay my enemies, those whom I hate and those who hate me! 2. Crush the enemies, as they rush on, O asvattha, 'displacer,' allied with Indra, the slayer of Vritra, (allied) with Mitra and Varuxa! 3. As thou didst break forth, O asvattha, into the great flood (of the air), thus do thou break up all those whom I hate and those who hate me! 4. Thou that goest conquering as a conquering bull, with thee here, O asvattha, may we conquer our rivals! 5. May Nirriti (the goddess of destruction), O asvattha, bind in the toils of death that cannot be loosened those enemies of mine whom I hate and who hate me! 6. As thou climbest up the trees, O asvattha, and renderest them subordinate, thus do thou split in two the head of iny enemy, and overcome him! 7. They (the enemies) shall float down like a ship cut loose from its moorings! There is no returning again for those that have been driven out by the 'displacer.' 8. I drive them out with my mind, drive them out with my thought, and also with my incantation. We drive them out with a branch of the asvattha-tree.

To the goal here he shall lead us, to old age; old age shall hand us over to death: then shall we be united with the cooked (porridge)! 56. Thee here we hand over to the southern direction, to Indra as sovereign lord, to the serpent that is striped across as guardian, to Yama as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive! To the goal here, &c. 57. Thee here we hand over to the western direction, to Varuna as sovereign lord, to the pridâku- serpent as guardian, to food as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. To the goal here, 58. Thee here we hand over to the northern direction, to Soma as sovereign lord, to the svaga- serpent as guardian, to the lightning as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. To the goal here, &c. 59. Thee here we hand over to the direction of the nadir, to Vishnu as sovereign lord, to the serpent with black-spotted neck as guardian, to the plants as bowmen: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. To the goal here, &c. 60. Thee here we hand over to the direction of the zenith, to Brihaspati as sovereign lord, to the light-coloured serpent as guardian, to the rain as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. To the goal here, &c.

1. Right here do I erect a firm house: may it stand upon a (good) foundation, dripping with ghee! Thee may we inhabit, O house, with heroes all, with strong heroes, with uninjured heroes! 2. Right here, do thou, O house, stand firmly, full of horses, full of cattle, full of abundance! Full of sap, ful.] of ghee, full of milk, elevate thyself unto great happiness! 3. A supporter art thou, O house, with broad roof, containing purified grain! To thee may the calf come, to thee the child, to thee the milch-cows, when they return in the evening! 4. May Savitar, Vâyu, Indra, Brihaspati cunningly erect this house! Alay the Alaruts sprinkle it with moisture and with ghee; may king Bhaga let our ploughing take root! 5. O mistress of dwelling, as a sheltering and kindly goddess thou wast erected by the gods in the bealrinina; clothed in grass, be thou kindly disposed; give us, moreover, wealth along with heroes! 6. Do thou, O cross-beam, according to regulation ascend the post, do thou, mightily ruling, hold off the enemies! May they that approach thee reverently, O house, not suffer injury, may we with all our heroes live a hundred autumns! 7. Hither to this (house) hath come the tender child, hither the calf along with (the other) domestic animals; hither the vessel (full) of liquor, together with bowls of sour milk! 8. Carry forth, O woman, this full jar, a stream of ghee mixed with ambrosia! Do thou these drinkers supply with ambrosia; the sacrifice and the gifts (to the Brahmans) shall it (the house) protect! 9. These waters, free from disease, destructive of disease, do I carry forth. The chambers do I enter in upon together with the immortal Agni (fire).

All the worlds the gods did conquer through this oblation, (and) by the bolt which Brihaspati, the descendant of Angiras, did mould into a weapon for the destruction of the Asuras. 13. With the bolt which Brihaspati, the descendant of Angiras, did, mould into a weapon for the destruction of the Asuras do I, O Brihaspati, annihilate yonder army: I smite the enemies with force. 14. All the gods that eat the oblation offered with the call vashat are coming over. Receive this oblation graciously; conquer on this side, not over yonder! 15. May all the gods come over: the oblation is pleasing to Trishamdhi. Adhere to the great compact under which of yore the Asuras were conquered! 16. Vâyu (the wind) shall bend the points of the enemies' bows, Indra shall break their arms, so that they shall be unable to lay on their arrows, Âditya (the sun) shall send their missiles astray, and Kandramas (the moon) shall bar the way of (the enemy) that has not (as yet) started! 17. If they have come on as citadels of the gods, if they have constituted an inspired charm as their armour, if they have gathered courage through the protections for the body and the bulwarks which they have made, render all that devoid of force! 18. Placing (our) purohita (chaplain), together with the flesh-devourer (Agni) and death, in thy train, do thoti, O Trishamdhi, go forth with thy army, conquer the enemies, advance! 19. O Trishamdhi, envelop thou the enemies in darkness; may not a single one of those, driven forth by the speckled ghee, be saved! 20. May the white-footed (arrow?) fly to yonder lines of the enemy, may yonder armies of the enemies be to-day put to confusion, O Nyarbudi! 21. The enemies have been confused, O Nyarbudi: slay each picked man among them, slay them with this army! 22.

1. Truth, greatness, universal order (rita), strength. consecration, creative fervour (tapas), spiritual exaltation (brahma), the sacrifice, support the earth. May this earth, the mistress of that which was and shall be, prepare for us a broad domain! 2. The earth that has heights, and slopes, and great plains, that supports the plants of manifold virtue, free from the pressure that comes from the midst of men, she shall spread out for us, and fit. herself for us! 3. The earth upon which the sea, and the rivers and the waters, upon which food and the tribes of men have arisen, upon which this breathing, moving life exists, shall afford us precedence in drinking! 4. The earth whose are the four regions of space, upon which food and the tribes of men have arisen, which supports the manifold breathing, moving things, shall afford us cattle and other possessions also! 5. The earth upon which of old the first men unfolded themselves, upon which the gods overcame the Asuras, shall procure for us (all) kinds of cattle, horses, and fowls, good fortune, and glory! 6. The earth that supports all, furnishes wealth, the foundation, the golden-breasted resting-place of all living creatures, she that supports Agni Vaisvânara (the fire), and mates with Indra, the bull, shall furnish us with property! 7. The broad earth, which the sleepless gods ever attentively guard, shall milk for us precious honey, and, moreover, besprinkle us with glory! 8. That earth which formerly was water upon the ocean (of space), which the wise (seers) found out by their skilful devices; whose heart is in the highest heaven, immortal, surrounded by truth, shall bestow upon us brilliancy and strength, (and place us) in supreme sovereignty! 9. That earth upon which the attendant waters jointly flow by day and night unceasingly, shall pour out milk for us in rich streams, and, moreover, besprinkle us with glory! 10.

sacrifice. 1. In the ukkhishta are deposited name (quality) and form, in the ukkhishta the world is deposited. Within the ukkhishta Indra and Agni, and the all are deposited. 2. In the ukkhishta heaven and earth, and all beings, are deposited; in the ukkhishta are deposited the waters, the ocean, the moon, and the wind. 3. In the ukkhishta are both being and non-being, death, strength (food), and Pragâpati. The (creatures) of the world are founded upon the ukkhishta; (also) that which is confined and that which is free, and the grace in me. 4. He who fastens what is firm, the strong, the leader, the brahma, the ten creators of the all, the divinities, are fixed on all sides to the ukkhishta as the (spokes of the) wheel to the nave. 5. Rik, Sâman, and Yagus, the singing of the sâmans, their introductions, and the stotras are in the ukkhishta. The sound 'him' is in the ukkhishta, and the modulations and the music of the sâman. That is in me. 6. The prayer to Indra and Agni (aindrâgnam), the call to the soma, as it is being purified (pâvamâmam), the mahânâmnî-verses, the singing of the mahâvrata, (these) divisions of the service are in the ukkhishta, as the embryo in the mother. 7. The ceremony of the consecration of the king (râgasûya), the vâgapeya, the agnishtoma, and the cattle-sacrifice belonging to it, the arka and the horse-sacrifice, and the most delightful (sacrifice) for which fresh barhis is strewn, are in the ukkhishta. 8. The preparation of the sacred fire (agnyâdheyam), the consecration for the soma-sacrifice (dikshâ), the sacrifice by which (special) wishes are fulfilled, together with the metres, the sacrifices that have passed out, and the extended sacrifices (satra), are lounded upon the ukkhishta. 9. The agnihotra, faith, the call vashat, vows and asceticism, sacrificial rewards, what is sacrificed (to the gods) and given (to the priests) are contained in the ukkhishta. 10.

He that wears this talisman, verily is a tiger, a lion as well, and, too, a bull; moreover a curtailer of enemies. 13. Him slay not the Apsaras, nor the Gandharvas, nor mortal men; all reoions does he rule, that wears this talisman. 14. Kasyapa has created thee, Kasyapa has produced thee. Indra wore thee in human (battle); wearing thee in the close combat he conquered. The gods did make the talisman an armour of thousandfold strength. 15. He that plans to harm thee with sorceries, with (unholy) consecrations and sacrifices--him beat thou back, O Indra, with thy thunderbolt that hath a hundred joints! 16. This talisman verily does assail, full of might, victorious. Offspring and wealth it shall protect, provide defence, abound in luck! 17. Remove our enemies in the south, remove our enemies in the north; remove, O Indra, our enemies in the west: light, O hero, place in front (east) of us! 18. An armour for me be heaven and earth, an armour day, an armour the sun! An armour for me be Indra and Agni; Dhâtar shall bestow (dadhAtu) an armour upon me! 19. The armour of Indra and Agni, that is thick and strong, all the gods united do not pierce. This great (armour) shall protect my body on all sides, that I may obtain long life, and reach old age! 20. The divine talisman has ascended upon me,unto completc exemption from injury. Assemble about this post that protects the body, furnishes threefold defence, in order to (secure) strength! 21. Into it Indra shall deposit manliness: do ye, O gods, assemble about it for long life, for life lasting a hundred autumns, that he may reach old age. 22. May Indra who bestows welfare, the lord of the people, the slayer of Vritra, the controller of enemies, he that conquereth and is unconquered, the soma-drinking bull that frees from danger, fasten the amulet upon thee: may it protect thee on each and every side, by day and by night!

varana-tree. 1. Here is my varana-amulet, a bull that destroys the rivals: with it do thou close in upon thy enemies, crush them that desire to injure thee! 2. Break them, crush them, close in upon them: the amulet shall be thy vanguard in front! With the varana the Devas (gods) did ward off (avârayanta) the onslaught of the Asuras (demons) day after day. 3, This thousand-eyed, yellow, golden varanaamulet is a universal cure; it shall lay low thy enemies: be thou the first to injure those that hate thee! 4. This varana will ward off (vârayishyate) the spell that has been spread against thee; this will protect thee from human danger, this will protect thee from all evil! 5. This divine tree, the varana, shall shut out (vârayâtâi)! The gods, too, have shutout (avivaran) the disease that has entered into this (man). 6. If when asleep thou shalt behold an evil dream; as often as a wild beast shall run an inauspicious course; from (ominous) sneezing, and from the evil shriek of a bird, this varana- amulet will protect thee (vârayishyate). 7. From Arâti (grudge), Nirriti (misfortune), from sorcery, and from danger; from death and overstrong weapons the varana will protect thee. 8. The sin that my mother, that my father, that my brothers and my sister have committed; the sin that we (ourselves) have committed, from that this divine tree will protect us. 9. Through the varana are confused my enemies and my (rival) kin. To untraversed gloom they have gone: they shall go to the nethermost darkness! 10. (May) I (be) unharmed, with cows unharmed, long-lived, with undiminished men! This varana-amulet shall guard me in every region (of space)! 11. This varana upon my breast, the kingly, divine tree, shall smite asunder my enemies, as Indra the Dasyus, the Asuras (demons)! 12. Long-lived, a hundred autumns old, do I wear this varana: kingdom and rule, cattle and strength, this shall bestow upon me! 13.

The sterile cow, even if she should become fruitful, lives in anger at her owner: 'since he did regard me as sterile (without giving me to the Brahmans), he shall be bound in the fetters of death!' 38, He who thinks that the cow is sterile, and (yet) roasts her at home, even his children qnd grandchildren Brihaspati causes to be importuned (for her). 39. Fiercely does the (supposed) sterile cow burn when she herds with the cattle, though she be a (fruitful) cow. She verily, too, milks poison for the owner that does not present her. 40. It pleases the cattle when she is given to the Brahmans; moreover, the sterile cow is pleased, when she is made an offering to the gods (Brahmans). 41. From the sterile cows which the gods, returning from the sacrifice, created, Nârada picked out as (most) terrible the viliptî. 42. In reference to her the gods reflected: 'Is she a sterile cow, or not?' And Nârada in reference to her said: 'Of sterile cows she is the most sterile!' 43. 'How many sterile cows (are there), O Nârada, which thou knowest to be born among men?' About these do I ask thee, that knowest: 'Of which may the non-Brâhmana not eat?' 44. Of the viliptî, of her that has born a sterile cow, and of the sterile cow (herself), the non- Brâhmana, that hopes for prosperity, shall not eat! 45. Reverence be to thee, O Nârada, that knowest thoroughly which sterile cow is the most terrible, by withholding which (from the Brahmans) destruction is.incurred. 46. The viliptî, O Brihaspati, her that has, begotten a sterile cow, and the sterile cow (herself), the non-Brâhmana, that hopes for prosperity, shall not eat! 47. Three kinds, forsooth, of sterile cows are there: the viliptî, she that has begotten a sterile cow, and the sterile cow (herself). These he shall give to the Brahmans; (then) does he not estrange himself from Pragâpati. 48.

I cook, and I give (to the Brahmans), and so, too, my wife, at my religious rite and practice.-- With the birth of a son the world of children has arisen (for you): do ye two hold on to a life that extends beyond (your years)! 48. In that place exists no guilt, and no duplicity, not even if he goes conspiring with his friends. This full dish of ours has here been deposited: the cooked (porridge) shall come back again to him that cooks it! 49. kind deeds we shall perform for our friends: all that hate us shall go to darkness (hell)!--As (fruitful) cow, and (strong) steer, they (man and wife) shall during, every successive period of their lives drive away man-besetting death! 50. The fires (all) know one another, that which lives in plants, and lives in the waters, and all the (light-) gods that glow upon the heaven. The gold (here) becomes the light of him that cooks (the porridge). 51. This (naked skin) among the hides is born upon man (alone), all other animals are riot naked. Clothe yourselves, (ye Brahmans), in sheltering garments: (even) the face of the porridge is a homespun garment! 52. What falsehood thou shalt speak at play and in the assembly, or the falsehood that thou shalt speak through lust for gain--put on together, (O man and wife), this same garment, deposit upon it every blemish! 53. Produce rain, go to the gods, let smoke arise from (thy) surface; all-embracing, about to be covered with ghee, enter as a co-dweller this place! 54. In many ways heaven assumes within itself a different form, according to circumstances. It (the heaven) has laid aside its black form, purifying itself to a bright (form); the red form do I sacrifice fot thee into the fire. 55. Thee here we hand over to the eastern direction, to Agni as sovereign lord, to the black serpent as guardian, to Âditya as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive!

Agni (fire) is in the earth, in the plants, the waters hold Agni, Agni is in the stones; Agni is within men, Agnis (fires) are within cattle, within horses. 20. Agni glows from the sky, to Agni, the god, belongs the broad air. The mortals kindle Agni, the bearer of oblations, that loveth ghee. 21. The earth, clothed in Agni, with dark knees, shall make me brilliant and alert! 22. Upon the earth men give to the gods the sacrifice, the prepared oblation; upon the earth mortal men live pleasantly by food. May this earth give us breath and life, may she cause me to reach old age! 23. The fragrance, O earth, that has arisen upon thee, which the plants and the waters hold, which the Gandharvas and the Apsaras have partaken of, with that make me fragrant: not any one shall hate us! 24. That fragrance of thine which has entered into the lotus, that fragrance, O earth, which the immortals of yore gathered up at the marriage of Sûryâ, with that make me fragrant: not any one shall hate us! 25. That fragrance of thine which is in men, the loveliness and charm that is in male and female, that which is in steeds and heroes, that which is in the wild animals with trunks (elephants), the lustre that is in the maiden, O earth, with that do thou blend us: not any one shall hate us! 26. Rock, stone, dust is this earth; this earth is supported, held together. To this golden-breasted earth I have rendered obeisance. 27. The earth, upon whom the forest-sprung trees ever stand firm, the all-nourishing, compact earth, do we invoke. 28. Rising or sitting, standing or walking, may we not stumble with our right or left foot upon the earth! 29. To the pure earth I speak, to the ground, the soil that has grown through the brahma (spiritual exaltation). Upon thee, that holdest nourishment, prosperity, food, and ghee, we would settle down, O earth! 30.

18. O Vâkaspati, the five seasons that we have, which have come about as the creation of Visvakarman, rialit here (they and) life's breath shall be to our friend; thee, O Parameshthin, Rohita shall envelop in life and lustre! 19. O Vâkaspati, good cheer and spirit, cattle in our stable, children in our wombs beget thou! Right here life's breath shall be to our friend; thee, O Parameshthin, I envelop in life and lustre. 20. God Savitar and Agni shall envelop thee, Mitra and Varuna surround thee with lustre! Treading down all powers of grudge come thou hither: thou hast made this kingdom rich in liberal gifts. 21. Thou, O Rohita, whom the brindled cow, harnessed at the side, carries, goest with brilliance, causing the waters to flow. 22. Devoted to Rohita is Rohinî his mistress, with beautiful colour (complexion), great, and lustrous: through her may we conquer booty of every description, through her win every battle! 23. This seat, Rohinî, belongs to Rohita; yonder is the path on which the brindled (female) goes! Her the Gandharvas and the Kasyapas lead forth, her the sages guard with diligence. 24. The radiant bay steeds of the sun, the immortal, ever draw the delightful chariot. Rohita, the drinker of ghee, the shining god, did enter the variegated heavens. 25. Rohita, the sharp-horned bull, who surpasses Agni and surpasses Sûrya, who props up the earth and the sky, out of him the gods frame the creations. 26. Rohita ascended the heaven from the great flood; Rohita has climbed all heights. 27. Create (the cow) that is rich in milk, drips with ghee: she is the milch-cowof the gods that does not refuse! Indra shall drink the Soma, there shall be secure possession; Agni shall sing praises: the enemies do thou drive out! 28. Agni kindled, spreads his flames, fortified by ghee, sprinkled with ghee. Victorious, all- conquering Agni shall slay them that are my rivals! 29. He shall slay them, shall burn the enemy that battles against us!

These pure and clear sacrificial women (the waters) I put into the hands of the Brâhmanas severally. With whatever wish I pour this upon you, may Indra. accompanied by the Maruts grant this to me! 28. This gold is my immortal light, this ripe fruit of the field is my wish-granting cow. This treasure I present to the Brâhmanas: I prepare for myself a road that leads. to the Fathers in the heavens. 29. Scatter the spelt into Agni Gâtavedas (the fire), sweep away to a far distance the chaff! This (chaff) we have heard, is the share of the ruler of the house (Agni), and we know, too, what belonos to Nirriti (destruction) as her share. 30. Note, (O porridge), him that takes pains, and cooks and presses the soma; lift him up to the heavenly road, upon which, after he has reached the fullest age, he shall ascend to the highest firmament, the supreme heavens! 31. Anoint (with ghee), O adhvaryu (priest), the surface of this sustaining (porridge), make skilfully a place for the melted butter; with ghee do thou anoint all its limbs! I prepare for myself a road that leads to the Fathers in the heavens. 32. O sustaining (porridge), cast destruction and strife among such as are sitting about thee, and are not Brâhmanas! (But) the descendants of the -Rishis, that eat thee, being full of substance, spreading forth, shall not take harm! 33. To the descendants of the Rishis I make thee over, O porridge; those who are not descended from Rishis have no share in it! May Agni as my guardian, may all the Maruts, and all the gods watch over the cooked food! 34. Thee (the porridge) that milkest the sacrifice, art evermore abundant, the male milch-cow, the seat of wealth, we beseech for immortality of off-spring and long life with abundance of wealth. 35. Thou art a lusty male, penetratest heaven: go thou to the Rishis, descended from Rishis! Dwell in the world of the pious: there is a well-prepared (place) for us two! 36. Pack thyself up, go forth!

All-embracing, about to be covered with ghee, enter, (O pot), as a co-dweller this space!-- Take hold of the winnowing-basket, that has been grown by the rain: the spelt and the chaff it shall sift out! 20. Three regions are constructed after the pattern of the Brâhmana: yonder heaven, the earth, and the atmosphere.--Take the (soma-) shoots, and hold one another, (O man and wife)! They (the shoots) shall swell (with moisture), and again go back into the winnowing-basket! 21. Of manifold variegated colours are the animals, one colour hast thou, (O porridge), when successfully prepared.--Push these (soma-) Shoots upon this red skin; the press-stone shall purify them as the washer-man his clothes! 22. Thee, the (pot of) earth, I place upon the earth: your substance is the same, though thine, (O pot), is modified. Even though a blow has cracked or scratched thee, do not therefore burst: with this verse do I cover that up! 23. Gently as a mother embrace the son: I unite thee, (pot of) earth, with the earth! Mayest thou, the hollow pot, not totter upon the altar, when thou art pressed by the tools of sacrifice and the 24. May Agni who cooks thee protect thee on the east, Indra with the Maruts protect thee on the south! May Varuna on the west support thee upon thy foundation, may Soma on the north hold thee together! 25. Purified by the purifiers, the (waters) flow pure from the clouds, they reach to the spaces of heaven, and of the earth. They are alive, refresh the livino, and are firmly rooted: may Agni heat them, after they have been poured into the vessel! 26. From heaven they come, into the earth they penetrate; from the earth they penetrate into the atmosphere. May they, now pure, yet purify themselves further; may they conduct us to the heavenly world! 27. Whether ye are over-abundant or just sufficient, ye are surely clear, pure, and immortal: cook, ye waters, instructed by the husband and wife, obliging and helpful, the porridge! 28.

spirit. 1. Reverence to Prâna, to whom all this (universe) is subject, who has become the lord of the all, on whom the all is supported! 2. Reverence, O Prâna, to thy roaring (wind), reverence, O Prâna, to thy thunder, reverence, O Prâna, to thy lightning, reverence, O Prâna, to thy rain! When Prâna calls aloud to the plants with his thunder, they are fecundated, they conceive, and then are produced abundant (plants). 4. When the season has arrived, and Prâna calls aloud to the plants, then everything rejoices, whatsoever is upon the earth. 5. When Prâna has watered the great earth with rain, then the beasts rejoice; (they think): 'strength, forsooth, we shall now obtain.' 6. When they had been watered by Prâna, the plants spake in concert: 'thou hast, forsooth, prolonged our life, thou hast made us all fragrant.' 7. Reverence be, O Prâna, to thee coming, reverence to thee going; 'reverence to thee standing, and reverence, too, to thee sitting! 8. Reverence be to thee, O Prâna, when thou breatbest in (primate), reverence when thou breathest out! Reverence be to thee when thou art turned away, reverence to thee when thou art turned hither: to thee, entire, reverence be here! 9. Of thy dear form, O Prâna, of thy very dear form, of the healing power that is thine, give unto us, that we may live! 10. Prâna clothes the creatures, as a father his dear son. Prâna, truly, is the lord of all, of all that breathes, and does not breathe. 11. Prâna is death, Prâna is fever. The gods worship Prana. Prâna shall place the truth-speaker in the highest world 12. Prâna is Virâg (power, lustre), Prâna is Deshtrî (the divinity that guides): all worship Prâna. Prâna verily is sun and moon. They call Prâna Pragâpati. 13. Rice and barley are in-breathing and outbreathing. Prâna is called a steer. In-breathing forsooth, is founded upon barley; rice is called out-breathing. 14. Man breathes out and breathes in when within the womb. When thou, O Prâna, quickenest him, then is he born again.

dangers. 1. O Bhava and Sarva, be merciful, do not attack (us); ye lords of beings, lords of cattle, reverence be to you twain! Discharge not your arrow even after it has been laid on (the bow), and has been drawn! Destroy not our bipeds and our quadrupeds! 2. Prepare not our bodies for the dog, or the jackal; for the aliklavas, the vultures, and the black birds! Thy greedy insects, O lord of cattle (pasupate), and thy birds shall not get us to devour! 3. Reverence we offer, O Bhava, to thy roaring, to thy breath, and to thy injurious qualities; reverence to thee, O Rudra, thousand-eyed, immortal! 4. We offer reverence to thee from the east, from the north, and from the -south; from (every) domain, and from heaven. Reverence be to thy atmosphere! 5. To thy face, O lord of cattle, to thy eyes, O Bhava, to thy skin, to thy form, thy appearance, (and to thy aspect) from behind, reverence be! 6. To thy limbs, to thy belly, to thy tongue, to thy mouth, to thy teeth, to thy smell (nose), reverence be! 7. May we not conflict with Rudra, the archer with the dark crest, the thousand-eyed, powerful one, the slayer of Ardhaka! 8. Bhava shall steer clear from us on all sides, Bhava shall steer clear from us, as fire from water! May he not bear malice towards us: reverence be to him! 9. Four times, eight times, be reverence to Bhava, ten times be reverence to thee, O lord of cattle! To thy (charge) have been assigned these five (kinds of) cattle: cows, horses, men, goats and sheep. 10. Thine, O strong god (ugra), are the four regions, thine the sky, thine the earth, and thine this broad atmosphere; thine is this all that has a spirit and has breath upon the earth. 11. Thine is this broad, treasure-holding receptacle within which all worlds are contained. Do thou spare us, O lord of cattle: reverence be to thee! Far from us shall go the jackals, evil omens, dogs; far shall go (the mourning women) who bewail rnisfortune with dishevelled hair! 12.

1. The gods have given, the sun has given, the earth has given, the three Sarasvatîs, of one mind, have given this poison-destroying (remedy)! 2. That water, O ants, which the gods poured for you into the dry land, with this (water), sent forth by the gods, do ye destroy this poison! 3. Thou art the daughter of the Asuras, thou art the sister of the gods. Sprung from heaven and earth, thou didst render the poison devoid of strength. VI, 13 Charm against snake-poison. 1. Varuna, the sage of heaven, verily lends (power) to rne. With mighty charms do I dissolve thy poison. The (poison) which has been dug, that which has not been duo-, and that which is inherent, 1 have held fast. As a brook in the desert thy poison has dried up. 2. That poison of thine which is not fluid I have confined within these (serpents?) I hold fast the sap that is in thy middle, thy top, and in thy bottom, too. May (the sap) now vanish out of thee from fright! 3. My lusty shout (is) as the thunder with the cloud: then do I smite thy (sap) with my strong charm. With manly strength I have held fast that sap of his. May the sun rise as light from the darkness! 4. With my eye do I slay thy eye, with poison do I slay thy poison. O serpent, die, do not live; back upon thee shall thy poison turn! 5. O kairâta, speckled one, upatrinya (grass-dweller?), brown one, listen to me; ye black repulsive reptiles, (listen to me)! Do not stand upon the ground of my friend; cease with your poison and make it known (to people?) 6. I release (thee) from the fury of the black serpent, the taimâta, the brown serpent, the poison that is not fluid, the all-conquering, as the bowstring (is loosened) from the bow, as chariots (from horses). 7. Both Âligî and Viligî, both father and mother, we know your kin everywhere. Deprived of your strength what will ye do? 8. The daughter of urugûlâ, the evil one born with the black--of all those who have run to their hiding-place the poison is devoid of force. 9.

transmission of disease. 1. In the essence of earthly bliss, O ye gods, in strength of body (may he live)! May Agni, Sûrya, Brihaspati bestow upon him life's vigour! 2. Give life to him, O Gâtavedas, bestow in addition progeny upon him, O Tvashtar; procure, O Savitar, increase of wealth for him; may this one, who belongs to thee, live a hundred autumns! 3. May our prayer bestow upon us vigour, and possession of sound. progeny; ability and property do ye two, (O heaven and earth), bestow upon us!, May he, conquering lands with might, (live), O Indra, subjecting the others, his enemies! 4. Given by Indra, instructed by Varuna, sent by the Maruts, strong, he has come to us; may he, in the lap of ye two, heaven and earth, not suffer from hunger and not from thirst! 5. Strength may ye two, that are rich in strength, bestow upon him; milk may ye two, that are rich in milk, bestow upon him! Strength heaven and earth did bestow upon him; strength all the gods, the Maruts, and the waters. 6. With the gracious (waters) do I delight thy heart, mayest thou, free from disease, full of force, rejoice! Clothed in the same garment do ye two drink this stirred drink, taking on as a magic form the shape of the two Asvins! 7. Indra, having been wounded, first created this vigour, and this ever fresh divine food: that same belongs to thee. By means of that do thou, full of force, live (a hundred) autumns; may it not flow out of thee: physicians have prepared it for thee! PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH (ÂYUSHYÂNI).

1. That which has caused thee to miscarry do we drive away from thee, that very thing do we deposit outside of thee, away in a far place. 2. Into thy womb shall enter a male germ, as an arrow into a quiver! May a man be born there, a son ten months old! 3. A male son do thou produce, and after him a male shall be born! Thou shalt be the mother of sons, of those who are born, and those whom thou shalt bear! 4. By the effective seed which bulls put forth do thou obtain a son; be a fruitful milch-cow! 5. Pragâpati's (the lord of creatures) work do I perform for thee: may the germ enter into thy womb! Obtain thou, woman, a son who shall bring prosperity to thee, and bring thou pi-osperity to him! 6. The plants whose father was the sky, whose mother the earth, Whose root the (heavenly) ocean--may those divine herbs aid thee in obtaining a son!

1. As this great-earth conceives the germs of the beings, thus shalt thy embryo be-beld fast, to produce a child after pregnancy! 2. As this great earth holds these trees, thus shall thy embryo be held fast, to produce a child after pregnancy! 3. As this great earth holds the mountains and the peaks, thus shall thy embryo be held fast, to produce a child after pregnancy! 4. As this great earth holds the animals scattered far, thus shall thy embryo be held fast, to produce a child after pregnancy!

1. If air, or earth and heaven, if mother or father, we have injured, may this Agni Gârhapatya (household fire) without fail lead us out from this (crime) to the world of well-doing! 2. The earth is our mother, Aditi (the universe) our kin, the air our protector from hostile schemes. May father sky bring prosperity to us from the world of the Fathers; may I come to my (departed) kin, and not lose heaven! 3. In that bright world where our pious friends live in joy, having cast aside the ailments of their own bodies, free from lameness, not deformed in limb, there may we behold our parents and our children!