Atharva Veda on Family

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!

pair of teeth. 1. Those two teeth, the tigers, that have broken forth, eager to devour father and mother, do thou, O Brahmanaspati Gâtavedas, render auspicious! 2. Do ye eat rice, eat barley, and eat, too, beans, as well as sesamum! That, O teeth.. is the share deposited for your enrichment. Do not injure father and mother! 3. Since ye have been invoked, O teeth, be ye in unison kind and propitious! Elsewhere, O teeth, shall pass away the fierce (qualities) of your body! Do not injure father and mother! CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY (RÂGAKARMÂNI).

over an older. 1. May this (younger brother) not slay the oldest one of them, O Agni; protect him that he be not torn out by the root! Do thou here cunningly loosen the fetter of Grâhi (attack of disease); may all the gods give thee leave! 2. Free these three, O Agni, from the three fetters with which they have been shackled! Do thou cunningly loosen the fetters of Grâhi; release them all, father, sons, and mother! 3. The fetters with which the older brother, whose younger brother has married before him, has been bound, with which he has been encumbered and shackled limb by limb, may they be loosened; since fit for loosening they are! Wipe off, O Pûshan, the misdeeds upon him that practiseth abortion!

1. Unity of heart, and unity of mind, freedom from hatred, do I procure for you. Do ye take delight in one another, as a cow in her (new-) born calf! 2. The son shall be devoted to his father, be of the same mind with his mother; the wife shall speak honied, sweet, words to her husband! 3. The brother shall not hate the brother, and the sister not the sister! Harmonious, devoted to the same purpose, speak ye words in kindly spirit! 4. That charm which causes the gods not to disagree, and not to hate one another, that do we prepare in your house, as a means of agreement for your folk. 5. Following your leader, of (the same) mind, do ye not hold yourselves apart! Do ye come here, co-operating, going along the same wagon-pole, speaking agreeably to one another! I render you of the same aim, of the same mind. 6. Identical shall be your drink, in common shall be your share of food! I yoke you together in the same traces: do ye worship Agni, joining together, as spokes around about the hub! 7. I render you of the same aim, of the same mind, all paying deference to one (person) through my harmonising charm. Like the gods that are guarding the ambrosia, may he (the leader) be welldisposed towards you, night and day!

1. We know the father of the arrow, Parganya, of hundredfold power. With this (charm) may I render comfortable thy body: make thy Outpouring upon the earth; out of thee may it come with the sound bâl! 2. We know the father of the arrow, Mitra, &c. 3. We know the father of the arrow, Varuna, &c. 4. We know the father of the arrow, Kandra, &c. 5. We know the father of the arrow, Sûrya, &c. 6. That which has accumulated in thy entralls. thy canals, in thy bladder-thus let thy urine be released, out completely, with the sound bâl! 7, I split open thy penis like the dike of a lake--thus let thy urine be released, out completely, with the sound bâl! 8. Relaxed is the opening of thy bladder like the ocean, the reservoir of water--thus let thy urine be released, out completely, with the sound bâl! 9. As an arrow flies to a distance when hurled from the bow-thus let thy urine be released, out completely, with the sound bâl!

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. I have taken unto myself her fortune and her glory, as a wreath off a tree. Like a mountain with broad foundation may she sit a long time with her parents! 2. This woman shall be subjected to thee as thy wife, O king Yama; (till then) let her be fixed to the house of her mother, or her brother, or her father! 3. This woman shall be the keeper of thy house, O king (Yama), and her do we make over to thee! May she long sit with her relatives, until (her hair) drops from her head! 4. With the incantation of Asita, of Kasyapa, and of Gaya do I cover up thy fortune, as women cover (something) within a chest.

cure of wounds. 1. The night is thy mother, the cloud thy father, Aryaman thy grandfather. Silâkî, forsooth, is thy name, thou art the sister of the gods. 2. He that drinks thee lives; (that) person thou dost preserve. For thou art the supporter of all successive (generations), the refuge of men. 3. Every tree thou dost climb, like a wench lusting after a man. 'Victorious,' 'firmly founded,' 'saving,' verily, is thy name. 4. The wound that has been inflicted by the club, by the arrow, or by fire, of that thou art the cure: do thou cure this person here! 5. Upon the noble plaksha-tree (ficus infectoria) thou growest up, upon the asvattha (ficus religiosa), the khadira (acacia catechu), and the dhava (grislea tomentosa); (thou growest up) upon the noble nyagrodha (ficus indica, banyan-tree), and the parna (butea frondosa). Come thou to us, O arundhatî! 6. O gold-coloured, lovely, sun-coloured, most handsome (plant), mayest thou come to the fracture, O cure! 'Cure,' verily, is thy name! 7. O gold-coloured, lovely, fiery (plant), with hairy stem, thou art the sister of the waters, O lâkshâ, the wind became thy very breath. 8. Silâkî is thy name, O thou that art brown as a goat, thy father is the son of a maiden. With the blood of the brown horse of Yama thou hast verily been sprinkled. 9. Having dropped from the blood of the horse she ran upon the trees, turning into a winged brook. Do thou come to us, O arundhatî!

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!

given as a fee to the Brahmans. 1. (Thyself) a male, step thou upon the hide of the male (steer): go, call thither all that is dear to thee! At whatever age ye two formerly did first unite (in marriage), may that age be your common lot in Yama's kingdom! 2. Your sight shall be as clear (as formerly), your strength as abundant, your lustre as great, your vitality as manifold! When Agni, the (funeral-) pyre, fastens himself upon the corpse, then as a pair ye.shall rise from the (cooked) porridge! 3. Come ye together in this world, upon the road to the gods, and in Yama's realms! By purifications purified call ye together the offspring that has sprung from you! 4. Around the water united, sit ye down, O children; around this living (father) and the waters that refresh the living! Partake of these (waters), and of that porridge which the mother of you two cooks, and which is called amrita (ambrosia)! 5. The porridge which the father of you two, and which the mother cooks, unto freedom from defilement and foulness of speech, that porridge with a hundred streams (of ghee), leading to heaven, has penetrated with might both the hemispheres of the world. 6. In that one of the two hemispheres and the two heavenly worlds, conquered by the pious, which especially abounds in light, and is rich in honey, in that do ye in the fulness of time come together with your children! 7. Keep ever on in an easterly direction: this is the region that the faithful cling to! When your cooked porridge has been prepared on the fire, hold together, O man and wife, that ye may guard 8. When ye shall have reached the southerly direction, turn ye to this vessel! In that Yama, associated with the fathers, shall give abundant protection to your cooked porridge! 9. This westerly direction is especially favoured: in it Soma is ruler and consoler. To this hold, attach yourselves to the pious: then as a pair ye shall rise from the cooked porridge! 10.

She whom Visvakarman (the creator of all) did search out by means of oblations, when she had entered the surging (flood of the) atmosphere, she, the vessel destined to nourish, deposited in a secret place, became visible (to the gods) and the (heavenly) mothers. 61. Thou art the scatterer of men, the broadly expanding Aditi that yields milk according to wish. What is wanting in thee Pragâpati, first-born of the divine order (rita), shall supply for thee 62. Thy laps, O earth, free from ailment! Free from disease, shall be produced for us! May we attentively, throuoh our long lives, be bearers of bali-offerings to thee! 63. O mother earth, kindly set me down upon a well-founded place! With (father) heaven cooperating, O thou wise one, do thou place me into happiness and prosperity!

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. O âbayu, (and even if) thou art not âbayu, strong is thy juice, O âbayu! We eat a gruel, compounded of thee. 2. Vihalha is thy father's name, Madâvatî thy mother's name. Thou art verily not such, as to have consumed thy own self. 3. O Tauvilikâ, do be quiet! This howling one has become quiet. O brown one, and brown-eared one, go away! Go out, O âla! 4. Alasâlâ thou art first, silâñgalâlâ thou art the next, nîlâgalasâlâ (thou art third?)!

1. Through one creation at a time this (cow) was born, when the fashioners of the beings did create the cows of many colours. (Therefore), when a cow doth beget twins portentously, growling and cross she injureth the cattle. 2. This (cow) doth injure our cattle: a flesh-eater, devourer, she hath become. Hence to a Brahman he shall give her; in this way she may be kindly and auspicious! 3. Auspicious be to (our) men, auspicious to (our) cows and horses, auspicious to this entire field, auspicious be to us right here! 4. Here be prosperity, licre be sap! Be thou here one that especially gives a thousandfold! Make the cattle prosper, thou mother of twins! 5. Where our pious friends live joyously, having left behind the ailments of their bodies, to that world the mother of twins did attain: may she not injure our men and our cattle! 6. Where is the world of our pious friends, where the world of thern that sacrifice with the agnihotra, to that world the mother of twins did attain: may she not injure our imen and our cattle!

The earth which the Asvins have measured, upon which Vishnu has stepped out, which Indra, the lord of might, has made friendly to himself; she, the mother, shall pour forth milk for me, the son! 11. Thy snowy mountain heights, and thy forests, O earth, shall be kind to us! The brown, the black, the red, the multi-coloured, the firm earth, that is protected by Indra, I have settled upon, not suppressed, not slain, not wounded. 12. Into thy rniddle set us, O earth, and into thy navel, into the nourishing strength that has grown tip from thy body; purify thyself for us! The earth is the mother, and I the son of the earth; Paro-anya is the father; he, too, shall save us! 13. The earth upon which they (the priests) inclose the altar (vedi), upon which they, devoted to all (holy) works, unfold the sacrifice, upon which are set up, in front of the sacrifice, the sacrificial posts, erect and brilliant, that earth shall prosper us, herself prospering! 14. Him that hates us, O earth, him that battles against us, him that is hostile towards us with his mind and his weapons, do thou subject to us, anticipating (our wish) by deed! 15. The mortals born of thee live on thee, thou supportest both bipeds and quadrupeds. Thine, O earth, are these five races of men, the mortals, upon whom the rising sun sheds undying light with his rays. 16. These creatures all together shall yield milk for us; do thou, O earth, give us the honey of speech! 17. Upon the firm, broad earth, the all-begetting mother of the plants, that is supported by (divine) law, upon her, propitious and kind, may we ever pass-our lives! 18. A great gathering-place thou, great (earth), hast become; great haste, commotion, and agitation are upon thee. Great Indra protects thee unceasingly. Do thou, O earth, cause us to brighten as if at the sight of gold: not any one shall hate us! 19.

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. We know the father of the arrow, Parg-anya, who furnishes bountiful fluid, and well do we know his mother, Prithivi (earth), the multiform! 2. O bowstring, turn aside from us, turn my body into stone! Do thou firmly hold very far away the hostile powers and the haters! 3. When the bowstring, embracing the wood (of the bow), greets with a whiz the eaoer arrow, do thou, O Indra, ward off from us the piercing missile! 4. As the point (of the arrow) stands in the way of heaven and earth, thus may the muñga-grass unfailingly stand in the way of sickness and (excessive) discharge!

1. The eagle (suparna) that was born at first, his gall thou wast, O plant. The Âsurî having conquered this (gall) gave it to the trees for their colour. 2. The Âsurî was the first to construct this remedy for leprosy, this destroyer of leprosy. She has destroyed the leprosy, has made the skin of even colour. 3. 'Even-colour' is the name of thy mother; 'Even-colour' is the name of thy father; thou, O plant, producest even colour: render this (spot) of even colour! 4. The black (plant) that produces even colour has been fetched out of the earth. Do thou now, pray, perfect this, construct anew the colours!

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. With Indra's great mill-stone, that crushes all vermin, do I grind to pieces the worms, as lentils with a mill-stone. 2. I have crushed the visible and the invisible worm, and the kurûru, too, I have crushed. All the algandu and the saluna, the worms, we grind to pieces with our charm. 3. The algandu do I smite with a mighty weapon: those that have been burned, and those that have not been burned, have become devoid of strength. Those that are left and those that are not left do I destroy with my song, so that not one of the worms be left. 4. The worm which is in the entrails, and he that is in the head, likewise the one that is in the ribs: avaskava and vyadhvara, the worms, do we crush with (this) charm. 5. The worms that are within the mountains, forests, plants, cattle, and the waters, those that have settled in our bodies, all that brood of the worms do I smite. II. 32. Charm against worms in cattle. 1. The rising sun shall slay the worms, the setting sun with his rays shall slay the worms that are within the cattle! 2. The variegated worm, the four-eyed, the speckled, and the white--I crush his ribs, and I tear off his head. 3. Like Atri, like Kanva, and like Gamadagni do I slay you, ye worms! With the incantation of Agastya do I crush the worms to pieces. 4. Slain is the king of the worms, and their viceroy also is slain. Slain is the worm, with him his mother slain, his brother slain, his sister slain. 5. Slain are they who are inmates with him, slain are his neighbours; moreover all the quite tiny worms are slain. 6. I break off thy two horns with which thou deliverest thy thrusts; I cut that bag of thine which is the receptacle for thy poison.

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.

1. I have called upon heaven and earth, I have called upon the goddess Sarasvatî, I have called upon Indra and Agni: 'they shall crush the worm,' (I said). 2. Slay the worms in this boy, O Indra, lord of treasures! Slain are all the evil powers by my fierce imprecation! 3. Him that moves about in the eyes, that moves about in the nose, that gets to the middle of the teeth, that worm do we crush. 4. The two of like colour, the two of different colour; the two black ones, and the two red ones; the brown one, and the brown-eared one; the (one like a) vulture, and the (one like a) cuckoo, are slain. 5. The worms with white shoulders, the black ones with white arms, and all those that are variegated, these worms do we crush. 6. In the east rises the sun, seen by all, slaying that which is not seen; slaying the seen and the unseen (worms), and grinding to pieces all the worms. 7. The yevâsha and the kashkasha, the egatka, and the sipavitnuka--the seen worm shall be slain, moreover the unseen shall be slain! 8. Slain of the worms is the yevâsha, slain further is the nadaniman; all have I crushed down like lentils with a mill-stone. 9. The worm with three heads and the one with three skulls, the speckled, and the white--I crush his ribs and I tear off his head. 10. Like Atri, like Kanva, and like Gamadagni do I slay you, ye worms! With the incantation of Agastya do I crush the worms to pieces. 11. Slain is the king of the worms, and their viceroy also is slain. Slain is the worm, with him his mother slain, his brother slain, his sister slain. 12. Slain are they who are inmates with him, slain are his neighbours; moreover all the quite tiny worms are slain. 13. Of all the male worms, and of all the female worms do I split the heads with the stone, I burn their faces with fire.

1. May (love), the disquieter, disquiet thee; do not hold out upon thy bed! With the terrible arrow of Kâma (love) do I pierce thee in the heart. 2. The arrow, winged with longing, barbed with love, whose shaft is undeviating desire, with that, well-aimed, Kâma shall pierce thee in the heart! 3. With that well-aimed arrow of Kâma which parches the spleen, whose plume flies forward, which burns up, do I pierce thee in the heart. 4. Consumed by burning ardour, with parched mouth, do thou (woman) come to me, pliant, (thy) pride laid aside, mine alone, speaking sweetly and to me devoted! 5. I drive thee with a goad from thy mother and thy father, so that thou shalt be in my power, shalt come up to my wish. 6. All her thoughts do ye, O Mitra and Varuna, drive out of her! Then, having deprived her of her will,.put her into my power alone!

For Agni and Soma, for Kâma, for Mitra, and for Varuna, for these do the Brâhmanas beg her: upon these he infringes, if he gl ves her not. 27. As long as the owner does not himself hear the stanzas referring to (the giving away of) her, she may herd among his cattle; (only) if he has not heard (them) may she pass the night in his house. 28. He that has listened to the stanzas, yet has permitted her to herd among the cattle, his life and prosperity the angry gods destroy. 29. The sterile cow, even when she rambles freely, is a treasure deposited for the gods. Make evident thy true nature when thou desirest to go to thy (proper) stable! 30. She makes evident her nature when she desires to go to her (proper) stable. Then indeed the sterile cow puts it into the minds of the Brahmans to beg (for her). 31. She evolves it in her mind, that (thought) reaches the gods. Then do the Brahmans come to beg for the sterile cow. 32. The call svadhâ befriends him with the Fathers, the sacrifice with the gods. Through the gift of the sterile cow the man of royal caste incurs not the anger of (her), his mother. 33. The sterile cow is the mother of the man of royal caste: thus was it from the beginning. It is said to be no (real) deprivation if she is given to the Brahmans. 34. As if he were to rob the ghee ladled up for Agni (the fire) from the (very) spoon, thus, if he gives not the sterile cow to the Brahmans, does he infringe upon Agni. 35. The sterile cow has the purodasa (sacrificial cake) for her calf, she yields plentiful milk, helps in this world, and fulfils all wishes for him that gives her (to the Brahmans). 36. The sterile cow fulfils all wishes in the kingdom of Yama for him that gives her. But they say that hell falls to the lot of him that withholds her, when she has been begged for. 37.

1. Of karsapha and visapha heaven is the father and earth the mother. As, ye gods, ye have brought on (the trouble), thus do ye again remove it! 2. Without fastening the), (the protecting plants?) held fast, thus it has been arranged by Manu. The vishkandha do I render impotent, like one who gelds cattle. 3. A talisman tied to a reddish thread the active (seers) then do fasten on: may the fastenings render impotent the eager, fiery kâbava! 4. And since, O ye eager (demons), ye walk like gods by the wile of the Asuras, the fastening (of the amulet) is destructive to the kâbava, as the ape to the dog. 5. I revile thee, the kâbava, unto misfortune, (and) shall work harm for thee. Accompanied with curses ye shall go out like swift chariots! 6. A hundred and one vishkandha are spread out along the earth; for these at the beginning they brought out thee, the amulet, that destroys vishkandha.

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.

1. What this black bird flying forth towards (me) has dropped here--may the waters protect me from all that misfortune and evil! 2. What this black bird has brushed here with thy mouth, O Nirtiti (goddess of misfortune)-may Agni Gârhapatya (the god of the household fire) free me from this sin!

1. The bull with a thousand horns who rose out of the sea, with the aid of him, the mighty one, do we put the folks to sleep. 2. The wind blows not over the earth. No one looks on. Do thou then, befriended of Indra, put all women and dogs to sleep! 3. The women that lie upon couches and upon beds, and they that rest in litters, the women all that exhale sweet fragrance, do we put to sleep. 4. Every moving thing I have held fast. Eye and breath I have held fast. I have held fast all limbs in the deep gloom of the night. 5. Of him that sits, and him that walks, of him that stands and looks about, of these the eyes we do shut, just as these premises (are shut). 6. The mother shall sleep, the father shall sleep, the dog shall sleep, the lord of the house shall sleep! All her relations shall sleep, and these people round about shall sleep! 7. O sleep, put thou to sleep all people with the magic that induces sleep! Put the others to sleep until the sun rises; may I be awake until the dawn appears, like Indra, unharmed, uninjured!

Thy spirit, O lord of cattle, is within the waters, to strengthen thee the heavenly waters flow. 25. The dolphins, great serpents (boas), purîkayas (water-animals), sea-monsters, fishes, ragasas at which thou shootest-there exists for thee, O Bhava, no distance, and no barrier. At a glance thou lookest around the entire earth; from the eastern thou slayest in the northern ocean. 26. Do not, O Rudra, contaminate us with fever, or with poison, or with heavenly fire: cause this lightning to descend elsewhere than upon us! 27. Bhava rules the sky, Bhava rules the earth; Bhava has filled the broad: atmosphere. Reverence be to him in whatever direction from here (he abides)! 28. O king Bhava, be merciful to thy worshipper, for thou art the lord of living beasts! He who believes the gods exist, to his quadruped and biped be merciful! 29. Slay neither our great nor our small; neither those of us that are riding, nor those that shall ride; neither our father, nor our mother. Cause no injury, O Rudra, to our own persons! 30. To Rudra's howling dogs, who swallow their food without blessing, who have wide jaws, I have made this obeisance. 31. Reverence, O god, be to thy shouting hosts, reverence to thy long-haired, reverence to thy reverenced, reverence to thy devouring hosts! May well-being and security be to us!

1. Heaven and earth, the broad atmosphere, the goddess of the field, and the wonderful, far- striding (Vishnu); moreover, the broad atmosphere guarded by Vâta (the wind): may these here be inflamed, when I am inflamed! 2. Hear this, O ye revered gods! Let Bharadvâga recite for me songs of praise! 'May he who injures this our plan be bound in the fetter (of disease) and joined to misfortune! 3. Hear, O soma-drinking Indra, what with burning heart I shout to thee! I cleave, as one cleaves a tree with an axe, him that injures this our plan. 4. With (the aid of) thrice eighty siman-singers, with (the aid of) the Âdityas, Vasus, and Angiras--may our father's sacrifices and gifts to the priests, aid us-do I seize this one with fateful fervour. 5. May heaven and earth look after me, may all the gods support me! O ye Angiras, O ye fathers devoted to Soma, may he who does harm enter into misfortune! 6. He who perchance despises us, O ye Maruts, he who abuses the holy practice which is beiog performed by us, may his evil deeds be firebrands to him, may the heavens surround with fire the hater of holy practices! 7. Thy seven in-breathings and thy eight marrows, these do I cut for thee by means of my charm. Thou shalt go to the seat of Yama, fitly prepared, with Agni as thy guide! 8. 1 set thy footstep upon the kindled fire. May Agni surround thy body, may thy voice enter into breath!

The (soma-sacrifice) that lasts one night (ekarâtra), and that which lasts two nights (dvirâtra), the (condensed soma-sacrifice called) sadyahkrî, and (that which is called) prakrî, the (Songs called) ukthya, are woven and deposited in the ukkhishta; (also the parts) of the sacrifice subtle through (higher) knowledge. 11. The soma-sacrifice that lasts four nights (katûrâtra), five nights (pañkarâtra), six nights (shadrâtra), and along (with them) those that last double the time; the sixteenfold stotra (shodasin), and the soma-sacrifice that lasts seven nights (saptarâtra), all the sacrifices which were founded upon immortality (amrita), were begotten of the ukkhishta. 12. The pratihâra-passages (in the sâman-songs), and their final syllables, the (soma-sacrifices called) visvagit and abhgit, the soma-sacrifice that ends with the day (sâhna), and that which lasts into the next day (atirâtra), are in the ukkhishta--the soma-sacrifice also that lasts twelve days. That is in me. 13. Liberality, accomplishment, possession, the call svadhâ, nurture, immortality (amrita), and might, all inner desires are satisfied according to wish in the ukkhishta. 14. The nine earths, oceans, heavens, are founded upon the ukkhishta. The sun shines in the ukkhishta, and day and night also. That is in me. 15. The (soma-sacrifice called) upahavya, the offering on the middle day of a sacrifice lasting a year (vishûvant), and the sacrifices that are secretly presented, Ukkhishta, the sustainer of the universe, the father of the generator (Pragâpati), supports. 16. Ukkhishta, the father of the generator, the grandson of the spirit (asu), the primal ancestor (grandfather), the ruler of the universe, the lusty bull dwells upon the earth. 17. Order (rita), truth (satya), creative fervour (tapas), sovereignty, asceticism, law and works; past, future, strength, and prosperity, are in the ukkhishta-force in force. 18.

1. Thy foremost protection, O Arundhatî, do thou bestow upon steer and milch-kine, upon (cattle of) the age when weaned from their mother, upon (all) four-footed creatures! 2. May Arundhatî, the herb, bestow protection along with the gods, render full of sap the stable, free from disease our men! 3. The variegated, lovely, life-giving (plant) do I invoke. May she carry away for us, far from the cattle, the missile hurled by Rudra!

power. 1. Time, the steed, runs with seven reins (rays), thousand-eyed, ageless, rich in seed. The seers, thinking holy thoughts, mount him, all the beings (worlds) are his wheels. 2. With seven wheels does this Time ride, seven naves has he, immortality is his axle. He carries hither all these beings (worlds). Time, the first god, now hastens onward. 3. A full jar has been placed upon Time; him, verily, we see existing in many forms. He carries away all these beings (worlds); they call him Time in the highest heaven. 4. He surely did bring hither all the beings (worlds), he surely did encompass all the beings (worlds). Being their father, he became their son; there is, verily, no other force, higher than he. 5. Time begot yonder heaven, Time also (begot) these earths. That which was, and that which shall be, urged forth by Time, spreads out. 6. Time created the earth, in Time the sun burns. In Time are all beings, in Time the eye looks abroad. 7. In Time mind is fixed, in Time breath (is fixed), in Time names (are fixed); when Time has arrived all these creatures rejoice. 8. In Time tapas (creative fervour) is fixed; in Time the highest (being is fixed); in Time brahma (spiritual exaltation) is fixed; Time is the lord of everything, he was the father of Pragâpati. 9. By him this (universe) was urged forth, by him it was begotten, and upon him this (universe) was founded. Time, truly, having become the brahma (spiritual exaltation), supports Parameshthin (the highest lord). 10. Time created the creatures (pragâh), and Time in the beginning (created) the lord of creatures (Prâgapati); the self-existing Kasyapa and the tapas (creative fervour) from Time were born.

(fever), and other ailments. 1. May the protecting god kushtha come hither from the Himavant: destroy thou every takman, and all female spooks! 2. Three names hast thou, O kushtha, (namely: kushtha), na-ghâ-mâra ('forsooth-no-death'), and na-ghâ-risha ('forsooth-no-harm'). Verily no harm shall suffer (na ghâ... rishat) this person here, for whom I bespeak thee morn and eve, aye the (entire) day! 3. Thy mother's name is gîvalâ ('quickening'), thy father's name is gîvanta ('living'). Verily no harm shall suffer this person here, for whom I bespeak thee morn and eve, aye the entire day! 4. Thou art the most superior of the plants, as a steer among cattle, as the tiger among beasts of prey. Verily no harm shall stiffer this person here, for whom I bespeak thee morn and eve, aye the entire day! 5. Thrice begotten by the Sâmbu Angiras, thrice by the Âdityas, and thrice by all the gods, this kushtha, a universal remedy, stands together with soma. Destroy thou every takman, and all female spooks! 6. The asvattha-tree is the seat of the gods in the third heaven from here. There came to sight the amrita (ambrosia), there the kushtha-plant was born. 7. A golden ship with golden tackle moved upon the heavens. There came to sight the amrita, there the kushtha-plant was born. 8. On the spot where the ship glided down, on the peak of the Himavant, there came to sight the ambrosia, there the kushtha-plant was born. This kushtha, a universal remedy, stands together with soma. Destroy thou every takman, and all female spooks! 9. (We know) thee whom Ikshvâku knew of yore, whom the women, fond of kushtha, knew, whom Vâyasa and Mâtsya knew: therefore art thou a universal remedy. 10. The takman that returns on each third day, the one that cominues without intermission, and the yearly one, ao thou, (O plant) of unremitting strength, drive away down below!

1. From thy head unto thy feet do I implant (love's) longing into thee. Ye gods, send forth the yearning love: may yonder man burn after me! 2. Favour this (plan), Anumati; fit it tooether, Âkûti! Ye gods, send forth the yearning love may yonder man burn after me! 3. If thou dost run three leagues away, (or even) five leagues, the distance coursed by a horseman, from there thou shalt again return, shalt be the father of our sons!

1. Hanker thou after my body, my feet, hanker after my eyes, my thighs! The eyes of thee, as thou lustest after me, and thy hair shall be parched with love? 2. I make thee cling to my arm, cling to my heart, so that thou shalt be in my power, shalt come up to my wish! 3. The cows, the mothers of the ghee, who lick their young, in whose heart love is planted, shall make yonder woman bestow love upon:me!

universal remedy. 1. The plants that are brown, and those that are white; the red ones and the speckled ones; the sable and the black plants, all (these) do we invoke. 2. May they protect this man from the disease sent by the gods, the herbs whose father is the sky, whose mother is the earth, whose root is the ocean. 3. The waters and the heavenly plants are foremost; they have driven out from every limb thy disease, consequent upon sin. 4. The plants that spread forth, those that are busby, those that have a single sheath, those that creep along, do I address; I call in thy behalf the plants that have shoots, those that have stalks, those that divide their branches, those that are derived from all the gods, the strong (plants) that furnish life to man. 5. With the might that is yours, ye mighty ones, with the power and strength that is yours, with that do ye, O plants, rescue this man from this disease! I now prepare a remedy. 6. The plants givalâ ('quickening'), na-ghâ-rishâ ('forsooth-no-harm'), gîvanti ('living'), and the arundhatî, which removes (disease), is full of blossoms, and rich in honey, do I call to exempt him from injury. 7. Hither shall come the intelligent (plants) that understand my speech, that we may bring this man into safety out of misery! 8. They that are the food of Agni (the fire), the offspring of the waters, that grow ever renewing themselves, the firm (plants) that bear a thousand names, the healing (plants), shall be brought hither! 9. The plants, whose womb is the avaki (blyxa octandra), whose essence are the waters, shall with their sharp horns thrust aside evil! 10. The plants which release, exempt from Varuna (dropsy), are strong, and destroy poison; those, too, that remove (the disease) baldsa, and ward off witchcraft shall come hither!' 11. The plants that have been bought, that are right potent, and are praised, shall protect in this village cow, horse, man, and cattle! 12.

1. From heaven, from earth, from the atmosphere, from the sea, from the fire, and from the wind, the honey-lash hath verily sprung. This, clothed in amrita (ambrosia), all the creatures revering, acclaim in their hearts. 2. Great sap of all forms (colours) it hath-they call thee moreover the seed of the ocean. Where the honey-lash comes bestowing gifts, there life's breath, and there immortality has settled down. 3. Men severally, contemplating it profoundly, behold its action upon the earth: from the fire and from the wind the honey-lash hath verily sprung, the strong child of the Maruts. 4. Mother of the Âdityas, daughter of the Vasus, breath of life of created beings, nave of immortality, the honey-lash, golden-coloured, dripping ghee, as a great embryo, moves among mortals. 5. The god's begot the lash of honey, from it came an embryo having all forms (colours). This, as soon as born, (while yet) young its mother nourishes; this, as soon as born, surveys all the worlds. 6. Who knows it and who perceives it, the inexhaustible, soma-holding cup that has come from the heart of it (the honey-lash)? 'Tis the wise priest: he shall derive inspiration from it! 7. He knows them, and he perceives them, the inexhaustible breasts of it (the honey-lash), that yield a thousand streams. Nourishment they pour out -without recalcitration. 8. The great (cow) that loudly gives forth the sound 'him,' that bestows strength, and goes with loud shouts to the holy act, bellowing with lust for the three (male) gharmas (fires), she lows, and drips with (streams) of milk. 9. When the waters, the mighty bulls, self-sovereign, wait upon (the cow), swollen with milk, (then) they, the waters, pour nourishment (upon her), and cause her to pour nourishment at will for him that knoweth this. 10. The thunder is thy voice, O Pragâpati; as a bull thou hurlest thy fire upon the earth. From the fire, and from the wind the honey-lash hath verily sprung, the strong child of the Maruts. 11.

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!

From the sin of the gods, and that of the fathers, from mentions of (thy) name, from (evil schemes) concocted at home, may the herbs free thee with might, through (this) charm, (and these) stanzas, (that are) the milk of the Rishis! 13. As the wind stirs up the dust from the earth, and the cloud from the atmosphere, thus may all misfortune, driven by my charm, go away from me! 14. Stride away (O spell), like a loudly braying she-ass, that has been loosened (from the tether); reach those that have fabricated thee, driven from here by (my) forceful charm! 15. 'This is the way, O spell,' with these words do we lead thee. Thee that hast been sent Out against us do we send back again. Go this way like a crushing army, with heavy carts, thou that art multiform, and crowned by a crest(?) 16. In the distance there is light for thee, hitherward there is no road for thee; away from us take thy course! By another road cross thou ninety navigable streams, hard to cross! Do not injure, go 17. As the wind the trees, crush down and fell (the enemy), leave them neither cow, nor horse, nor serving-man! Turn from here upon those that have fabricated thee, O spell, awaken them to childlessness! 18. The spell or the magic which they have buried against thee in the sacrificial straw (barhis), in the field, (or) in the burial-ground, or if with superior skill they have practised sorcery against thee, that art simple and innocent, in thy household fire,-- 19. The hostile, insidious instrument which they have brought hither has been discovered; that which has been dug in we have detected. It shall go whence it has been brought hither; there, like a horse, it shall disport itself, and slay the offspring of him that has fashion'ed the spell! 20. Swords of good brass are in our house: we know how many joints thou hast, O spell! Be sure to rise, go away from hence! O stranger, what seekest thou here? 21. I shall hew off, O spell, thy neck, and thy feet: run away!

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. The heavens have stood still, the earth has stood still, all creatures have stood still. The trees that sleep erect have stood still: may this disease of thine stand still! 2. Of the hundred remedies which thou hast, of the thousand that have been collected, this is the most excellent cure for discharges, the best remover of disease. 3. Thou art the urine of Rudra, the navel of amrita (ambrosia). Thy name, forsooth, is vishânakâ, (thou art) arisen from the foundation of the Fathers, a remover of diseases produced by the winds (of the body).

1. The maidens that go yonder, the veins, clothed in red garments, like sisters without a brother, bereft of strength, they shall stand still! 2. Stand still, thou lower one, stand still, thou higher one; do thou in the middle also stand still! The most tiny (vein) stands still: may then the great artery also stand still! Of the hundred arteries, and the thousand veins, those in the middle here have indeed stood still. At the same time the ends have ceased (to flow). 4. Around you has passed a great sandy dike: stand ye still, pray take your case!

1. Your minds, your purposes, your plans, do we cause to bend. Ye persons yonder, that are devoted to other purposes, we cause you to comply! 2. With my mind do I seize your minds: do ye with your thoughts follow my thought! I place your hearts in my control: come ye, directing your way after my course! 3. I have called upon heaven and earth, I have called upon the goddess Sarasvatî, I have called upon both Indra and Agni: may we succeed in this. O Sarasvatî! CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY IN HOUSE, FIELD, CATTLE, BUSINESS, GAMBLING, AND KINDRED MATTERS.

1. May assembly and meeting, the two daughters of Pragâpati, concurrently aid me! May he with whom I shall meet co-operate with me, may I, O ye Fathers, speak agreeably to those assembled! 2. We know thy name, O assembly: 'mirth,' verily, is thy name; may all those that sit assembled in thee utter speech in harmony with me! 3. Of them that are sitting together I take to myself the power and the understanding: in this entire vathering render, O Indra, me successful! 4. If your mind has wandered to a distance, or has been enchained here or there, then do we turn it hither: may your mind take delight in me!

1. We have heard it said that the mother of the black Apakit (pustules) is red: with the root (found by) the divine sage do I strike all these. 2. I strike the foremost one of them, and I strike also the middlemost of them; this hindmost one I cut off as a flake (of wool). B. Charm to appease jealousy. 3. With Tvashtar's charm I have sobered down thy jealousy; also thy anger, O lord, we have quieted. C. Prayer to Agni, the lord of vows. 4. Do thou, O lord of vows, adorned with vows, ever benevolently here shine! May we all, adoring thee, when thou hast been kindled, O Gâtavedas, be rich in offspring!

1. The varied food which I consume in many places, my gold, my horses, and, too, my cows, goats, and sheep: everything whatsoever that I have received as a gift--may Agni, the priest, render that an auspicious offering! 2. The gift that has come to me by sacrifice, or without sacrifice, bestowed by the Fathers, granted by men, through which my heart, as it were, lights up with joy--may Agni, the priest, render that an auspicious offering! 3. The food that I, O gods, improperly consume, (the food) I promise, intending to give of it (to the Brahmans), or not to give of it, by the might of mighty Vaisvânara (Agni) may (that) food be for me auspicious and full of honey!

who had roasted for themselves the last she-goat of Kesaraprâbandhâ. 12. The one hundred and one persons whom the earth did cast off, because they had injured the offspring of a Brâhmana, were ruined irretrievably. 13. As a reviler of the gods does he live among mortals, having swallowed poison, he becomes more bone (than flesh). He that injureth a Brâhmana, whose kin are the gods, does not reach heaven by the road of the Fathers. 14. Agni is called our guide, Soma our heir, Indra slays those who curse (us): that the strong (sages) know. 15. Like a poisoned arrow, O king, like -an adder, O lord of cattle, is the terrible arrow of the Brâhmana: with that he smites those who revile (the gods).

Arbudi and Trishamdhi shall pierce our enemies, so that, O Indra, slayer of Vritra, spouse of Sakî, we may slay the enemy by thousands! 24. The trees, and (growths) that are like trees, the plants and the herbs as well, the Gandharvas and the Apsaras, the serpents, gods, pious men, and (departed) Fathers, all those, O Arbudi, do thou make the enemies see, and spectres also make them see! 25. The Maruts, god Âditya, Brahmanaspati did rule over you; Indra, and Agni, Dhâtar, Mitra, and Pragâpati did rule over you; the seers did rule over you. Let them make evident to the enemies when (a man) has been pierced by thee, O Arbudi! 26. Ruling over all these, rise ye and arm yourselves! Ye divine folk are (our) friends: win ye the battle, and disperse to your various abodes!

ten kinds of wood. 1. O (amulet) of ten kinds of wood, release this man from the demon (rakshas) and the fit (grâhi) which has seized upon.(gagrâha) his joints! Do thou, moreover, O plant, lead him forth to the world of the living! 2. He has come, he has gone forth, he has joined the community of the living. And he has become the father of sons, and the most happy of men! 3. This person has come to his senses, he has come to the cities of the living. For he (now) has a hundred physicians, and also a thousand herbs. 4. The gods have found thy arrangement, (O amulet); the Brahmans, moreover, the plants. All the gods have found thy arrangement upon the earth. 5. (The god) that has caused (disease) shall perform the cure; he is himself the best physician. Let him indeed, the holy one, prepare remedies for thee, together with the (earthly) physician!

The plants, derived from the Angiras, which the eagles and the heavenly raghats (falcons) know, which the birds and the flamingos know, which all winged (creatures) know, which all wild animals know, I call hither for help. 25. As many plants as the oxen and kine, as many as the goats and the sheep feed upon, so many plants, when applied, shall furnish protection to thee! 26. As many (plants), as the human physicians know to contain a remedy, so many, endowed with every healing quality, do I apply to thee! 27. Those that have flowers, those that have blossoms, those that bear fruit, and those that are without fruit, as if from the same mother they shall suck sap, to exempt this man from injury! 28. 1 have saved thee from a depth of five fathoms, and, too, from a depth of ten fathoms; moreover, from the foot-fetter of Yama, and from every sin against the gods.

1. Aryaman as active hotar-priest shall utter for thee the vashat-call at this (soma-) pressing, O Pûshan! May (this) woman, (herself) begotten in the proper way, be delivered, may her joints relax, that she shall bring forth! 2. Four directions has the heaven, and also four the earth: (from these) the gods created the embryo. May they open her, that she shall bring forth! 3. May Sûshan open: her womb do we cause to gape. Do thou, O Sûshan, loosen the womb, do thou, O Bishkalâ, let go (the ernbryo)! 4. Attached not at all to the flesh, nor to the fat, not at all to the marrow, may the splotched, moist, placenta come down to be eaten by a dog! May the placenta fall down! 5. I split open thy vagina, thy womb, thy canals; I separate the mother and the son, the child along with the placenta. May the placenta fall down! 6. As flies the wind, as flies the mind, as fly the winged birds, so do thou, O embryo,. ten months old, fall along with the placenta! May the placenta fall down!

has come to me together with all 'kinds of prosperity. 29, This amulet the gods shall give me unto prosperity, the mighty amulet that strengthens sovereignty and injures the rivals! 30. An (amulet) auspicious for me thou shalt fasten upon (me), together with brahma (spiritual exaltation) and brilliance! Free from rivals, slaying rivals, it has subjected my rivals. 31. This god-born amulet, the sap milked from which these three worlds revere, shall render me superior to him that hates me; it shall ascend upon my head unto excellence! 32. The amulet upon which the gods, the Fathers, and men ever live, shall ascend upon my head unto excellence! 33. As the seed grows in the field, in the furrow drawn by the ploughshare, thus in me offspring, cattle, and every kind of food shall grow up! 34. Upon whom, O thou amulet that prosperest the sacrifice, I have fastened thee (that art) propitious, him, O amulet, that yieldest a hundredfold sacrificial reward, thou shalt inspire unto excellence! 35. This fire-wood that has been laid on together with the oblations do thou, Agni, gladly accept: may we in this kindled Gâtavedas (fire), through (this) charm, find favour, well-being, offspring, sight, and cattle!

designed to strengthen royal power. 1. Hither hath come this amulet of parna-wood, with its might mightily crushing the enemy. (It is) the strength of the gods, the sap of the waters: may it assiduously enliven me with energy! 2. The power to rule thou shalt hold fast in me, O amulet of parna-wood; wealth (thou shalt hold fast) in me! May I, rooted in the domain of royalty, become the chief! 3. Their very own amulet which the gods deposited secretly in the tree, that the gods shall give us to wear, together with life! 4. The parna has come hither as the mighty strength of the soma, given by Indra, instructed by Varuna. May I, shining brilliantly, wear it, unto long life, during a hundred autumns! 5. The amulet of parna-wood has ascended upon me unto complete exemption from injury, that I may rise superior (even) to friends and alliances! 6. The skilful builders of chariots, and the ingenious workers of metal, the folk about me all, do thou, O parna, make my aids! 7. The kings who (themselves) make kings, the charioteers, and leaders of hosts, the folk about me all, do thou, O parna, make my aids! 8. Thou art the body-protecting parna, a 'liero, brother of me, the hero. Along with the brilliancy of the year do I fasten thee on, O amulet!

1. Thee, the plant, which the Gandharva dug up for Varuna, when his virility had decayed, thee, that causest strength[1], we dig up. 2. Ushas (Aurora), Sûrya, (the sun), and this charm of mine; the bull Pragâpati (the lord of creatures) shall with his lusty fire arouse him! 3. This herb shall make thee so very full of lusty strength, that thou shalt, when thou art excited, exhale heat as a thing on fire! 4. The fire of the plants, and the essence of the bulls shall arouse him! Do thou, O Indra, controller of bodies, place the lusty force of men into this person! 5. Thou (O herb) art the first-born sap of the waters and also of the plants. Moreover thou art the brother of Soma, and the lusty force of the antelope buck! 6. Now, O Agni, now, O Savitar, now, O goddess Sarasvatî, now, O Brahmanaspati, do thou stiffen the pasas as a bow! 7. I stiffen thy pasas as a bowstring upon the bow. Embrace thou (women) as the antelope buck the gazelle with ever unfailing (strength)! 8. The strength of the horse, the mule, the goat and the ram, moreover the strength of the bull bestow upon him, O controller of bodies (Indra)! [1. The original, more drastically, sepaharshanîm. By a few changes and omissions in stanzas 3, 6, and 7 the direct simplicity of the original has been similarly veiled.]

and demons. 1. Night is like unto the sun, the (starry) night is similar to day. The truth do I engage for help: the enchantments shall be devoid of force! 2. He, O ye gods, who prepares a spell, and carries it to the house of one that knows not (of it), upon him the spell, returning, shall fasten itself like a suckling calf upon its mother! 3. The person that prepares evil at home, and desires with it to harm another, she is consumed by fire, and many stones fall upon her with a loud crash. 4. Bestow curses, O thou (apâmârga), that hast a thousand homes, upon the (demons) visikha ('crestless'), and vigrîva ('crooked-neck')! Turn back the spell upon him that has performed it, as a beloved maid (is brought) to her lover! 5. With this plant I have put to naught all spells, those that they have put into thy field, thy cattle, and into thy domestics. 6. He that has undertaken them has not been able to accomplish them: he broke his foot, his toe. He performed a lucky act for us, but for himself an injury. 7. The apâmârga-plant shall wipe out (apa mârshtu) 'inherited ills, and curses; yea, it shall wipe out all witches, and all grudging demons (arâyî)! 8. Having wiped out all sorcerers, and all grudging demons, with thee, O apâmârga, we wipe all that (evil) out.

and sorcerers. 1. On the one hand thou deprivest of kin, on the other thou now procurest kinfolk. Do thou, moreover, cut the offspring of him that practises spells, as a reed that springs up in the rain! 2. By a Brâhmana thou hast been blest, by Kanva, the descendant of Nrishad. Thou goest like a stronor army; where thou hast arrived, O plant, there there is no fear. 3. Thou goest at the head of the plants, spreading lustre, as if with a light. Thou art on the one hand the protector of the weak, on the other the slayer of the Rakshas. 4. When of yore, in the beginning, the gods drove out the Asuras with thee, then, O plant, thou wast begotten as apâmârga ('wiping out'). 5. Thou cuttest to pieces (vibhindatî), and hast a hundred branches; vibhindant ('cutting to pieces') is thy father's name. Do thou (turn) against, and cut to pieces (vi bhindhi) him that is hostile towards us! 6. Non-being arose from the earth, that goes to heaven, (as) a great expansion. Thence, verily, that, spreading vapours, shall turn against the performer (of spells)! 7. Thou didst grow backward, thou hast fruit which is turned backward. Ward off from me all curses, ward off very far destructive weapons! 8. Protect me with a hundredfold, guard me with a thousandfold (strength)! Indra, the strong, shall put strength into thee, O prince of plants!

Success, might, plans, dominion, sovereignty, the six broad (regions), the year, libation (idâ), the orders to the priests (praisha), the draughts of soma (graha), oblations (are founded) upon the ukkhishta. 19. The (liturgies called) katurhotârah, the âpri-hymns, the triennial sacrifices, the (formulas called) nîvid, the sacrifices, the priestly functions, the cattle-sacrifice and the soma-oblations connected with it, are in the ukkhishta. 20. The half-months and months, the divisions of the year together with the seasons, the resounding waters, thunder, the great Vedic canon (sruti) are in the ukkhishta. 21. Pebbles, sand, stones, herbs, plants, grass, clouds, lightning, rain, are attached to, and are founded upon the ukkhishta. 22. Success, attainment, accomplishment, control, greatness, prosperity, supreme attainment, and wellbeing rest upon, rest in, have been deposited in the ukkhishta. 23. Whatever breathes with breath, and sees with sight, all gods in the heavens, founded upon heaven, were born of the ukkhishta. 24. The riks and the sâmans, the metres, the ancient legends (purânam) together with the yagus, all gods in the heavens, founded upon heaven, were born of the ukkhishta. 25. In-breathing and out-breathing, sight, hearing, imperishableness and perishableness, all gods in the heavens, founded upon heaven, were born of the ukkhishta. 26. Joys, pleasures, delights, jubilation and merriment, all gods in the heavens, founded upon heaven, were born of the ukkhishta. 27. The gods, the (deceased) Fathers, men, Gandharvas and Apsaras, all gods in the heavens, founded upon heaven, were born of the ukkhishta.

1. Come hither! Thou art the living, protecting eye-ointment of the mountain, given by all the gods as a safeguard, unto life. 2. Thou art a protection for men, a protection for cattle, thou didst stand for the protection of horses and steeds. 3. Thou art, O salve, both a protection that crushes the sorcerers, and thou hast knowledge of immortality (amrita). Moreover, thou art food for the living, and thou art, too, a remedy aorainst jaundice. 4. From him over whose every limb and every joint thou passest, O salve, thou dost, as a mighty intercepter, drive away disease. 5. Him that bears thee, O salve, neither curse, nor sorcery, nor burning pain does reach; nor does the,vishkandha come upon him. 6. From evil scheme, from troubled dream, from evil deed, and also from foulness.; from the evil eye of the enemy, from this protect us, O salve! 7. Knowing this, O salve, I shall speak the truth, avoid falsehood. May I obtain horses and cattle, and thy person, O serving-man! 8. Three are servants of the salve: the takman (fever), the balâsa, and the serpent. The highest of the mountains, Trikakud ('Three-peaks') by name, is thy father. 9. Since the salve of Trikakud is born upon the Himavant, it shall demolish all the wizards and all the witches. 10. Whether thou art derived from the (mountain) Trikakud, or art said to come from the (river) Yamunâ, both these names of thine are auspicious: with these, O salve, protect us!

1. Thou that art born upon the mountains, as the most potent of plants, come hither, O kushtha, destroyer of the takman, to drive out from here the takman! 2. To thee (that growest) upon the mountain, the brooding-place of the eagle, (and) art sprung from Himavant, they come with treasures, having heard (thy fame). For they know (thee to be) the destroyer of the takman. 3. The asvattha-tree is the seat of the gods in the third heaven from here. There the gods procured the kushtha, the visible manifestation of amrita (ambrosia). 4. A golden ship with golden tackle moved upon the heavens. There the gods procured the kushtha, the flower of amrita (ambrosia). 5. The paths were golden, and golden were the oars; golden were the ships, upon which they carried forth the kushtha hither (to the mountain). 6. This person here, O kushtha, restore for me, and cure him! Render him free from sickness for 7. Thou art born of the gods, thou art Soma's good friend. Be thou propitious to my in-breathing and my out-breathing, and to this eye of mine! 8. Sprung in the north from the Himavant (mountains), thou art brought to the people in the east. There the most stiperior varieties of the kushtha were apportioned. 9. 'Superior,' O kushtha, is thy name; 'superior' is the name of thy father. Do thou drive out all disease, and render the takman devoid of strength! 10. Pain in the head, affliction in the eye, and ailment of the body, all that shall the kushtha heal- a divinely powerful (remedy), forsooth!