Atharva Veda on Greed

as hostile to men, cattle, and home. 1. Nissâlâ, the bold, the greedy demon (?dhishana), and (the female demon) with long-drawn howl, the bloodthirsty; all the daughters of Kanda, the Sadânvâs do we destroy. 2. We drive you out of the stable, out of the axle (of the wagon), and the body of the wagon; we chase you, O ye daughters of Magundî, from the house. 3. In yonder house below, there the grudging demons (arâyî) shall exist; there ruin shall prevail, and all the witches! 4. May (Rudra), the lord of beings, and Indra. drive forth from here the Sadânvâs; those that am seated on the foundation of the house Indra shall overcome with his thunderbolt! 5. Whether ye belong to (the demons) of inherited disease, whether ye have been dispatched by men, or whether ye have originated from the Dasyus (demon-like aborigines), vanish from here, O ye Sadânvâs! 6. About their dwelling-places I did swiftly course, as if on a race-course. I have won all contests with you: vanish from here, O ye Sadânvâs!

avarice. 1. Bring (wealth) to us, do not stand in our way, O Arâti; do not keep from us the sacrificial reward as it is being taken (to us)! Adoration be to the power of grudge, the power of failure, adoration to Arâti! 2. To thy advising minister, whom thou, Arâti, didst make thy agent, do we make obeisance. Do not bring failure to my wish! 3. May our wish, instilled by the gods, be fulfilled by day and night! We go in quest of Arâti. Adoration be to Arâti! 4. Sarasvatî (speech), Anumati (favour), and Bhaga (fortune) we go to invoke. Pleasant, honied, words I have spoken on the occasions when the gods were invoked. 5. Him whom I implore with Vâk Sarasvatî (the goddess-of speech), the yoke-fellow of thought, faith shall find to-day, bestowed by the brown soma! 6. Neither our wish nor our speech do thou frustrate! May Indra and Agni both bring us wealth! Do ye all who to-day desire to make gifts to us gain favour with Arâti! 7. Go far away, failure! Thy missile do we avert. I know thee (to be) oppressive and piercing, O Arâti! 8. Thou dost even transform thyself into a naked woman, and attach thyself to people in their sleep, frustrating, O Arâti, the thought, and intention of man. 9. To her who, great, and of great dimension, did penetrate all the regions, to this golden-locked Nirriti (goddess of misfortune), I have rendered obeisance. 10. To the gold-complexioned, lovely one, who rests upon golden cushions, to the great one, to that Arâti who wears golden robes, I have rendered obeisance.

Thou, O crested (god), carriest in (thy hand), that smites thousands, a yellow, golden bow that slays hundreds; Rudra's arrow, the missile of the gods, flies abroad: reverence be to it, in whatever direction from here (it flies)! 13. The adversary who lurks and seeks to overcome thee, O Rudra, upon him thou dost fasten thyself from behind, as (the hunter) that follows the trail of a wounded (animal). 14. Bhava and Rudra, united and concordant, both strong (ugrau), ye advance to deeds of heroism: reverence be to both of them, in whatever direction (they are) from here! 15. Reverence be to thee coming, reverence to thee going; reverence, O Rudra, be to thee standing, and reverence, also, to thee sitting! 16. Reverence in the evening, reverence in the morning, reverence by night,reverence byday! I have offered reverence to Bhava and to Sarva, both. 17. Let us not with our tongue offend Rudra, who rushes on, thousand-eyed, overseeing all, who hurls (his shafts) forward, who is manifoldly wise! 18. We approach first the (god) that has dark horses, is black, sable, destructive, terrible, who casts down the car of Kesin: reverence be to him! 19. Do not hurl at us thy club, thy divine bolt; be not incensed at us, O lord of cattle! Shake over some other than us the celestial branch! 20. Injure us not, interpose for us, spare us, be not angry with us! Let us not contend with thee! 21. Do not covet our cattle, our men, our goats and sheep! Bend thy course elsewhere, O strong god (ugra), slay the offspring of the blasphemers! 22. He whose missile, fever and cough, assails the single (victim), as the snorting of a stallion, who snatches away (his victims) one by one, to him be reverence! 23. He who dwells fixed in the atmosphere, smiting the blasphemers of the god that do not sacrifice, to him be reverence with ten sakvarî-stanzas! 24. For thee the wild beasts of the forest have been placed in the forest: flamingoes, eagles, birds of prey, and fowls.

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. Up to the sun shall go thy heart-ache and thy jaundice: in the colour of the red bull do we eovelop thee! 2. We envelop thee in red tints, unto long life. May this person go unscathed, and be free of vellow colour! 3. The cows whose divinity is Rohini, they who, moreover, axe (themselves) red (róhinin)-(in their) every form and every strength we do envelop thee. 4. Into the parrots, into the ropanâkâs (thrush) do we put thy jaundice, and, furthermore, into the hâridravas (yellow wagtail) do we put thy jaundice.

exposes demons and enemies. 1. He sees here, he sees yonder, he sees in the distance, he sees--the sky, the atmosphere as well as the earth, all that, O goddess, he sees. 2. The three heavens, the three earths, and these six directions severally; all creatures may I see through thee, O divine plant! 3. Thou art verily the eyeball of the divine eagle; thou didst ascend the earth as a weary woman a palanquin. 4. The thousand-eyed god shall put this plant into my right hand: with that do I see every one, the Sûdra as well as the Ârya. 5. Reveal (all) forms, do not hide thy own self; moreover, do thou, O thousand-eyed (plant), look the Kimîdins in the face! 6. Reveal to me the wizards, and reveal the witches, reveal all the Pisâkas: for this purpose do I take hold of thee, O plant! 7. Thou art the eye of Kasyapa, and the eye of the four-eyed bitch. Like the sun, moving in the bright day, make thou the Pisâka evident to me! 8. 1 have dragged out from his retreat the sorcerer and the Kimîdin. Through this (charm) do I see every one, the Sûdra as well as the Ârya. 9. Him that flies in the air, him that moves across the sky, him that regards the earth as his resort, that Pisâka do thou reveal (to me)!

1. I call the name of him that comes here, that hath come here, and is arriving; I crave (the name) of Indra, Vritra's slayer, the Visava, of hundredfold strength. 2. The road by which the Asvins carried away as a bride Sûryâ, Savitar's daughter,'by that road,' Bhaga (fortune) told me, 'thou shalt bring here a wife'! With thy wealth-procuring, great, golden hook, O Indra, husband of Sakî, procure a wife for me that desireth a wife!

1. As the wind tears this grass from the surface of the earth, thus do I tear thy soul, so that thou, woman, shalt love, shalt not be averse to me! 2. If ye, O two Asvins, shall unite and bring together the loving pair-united are the fortunes of,both of you (lovers), united the thoughts, united the purposes! 3. When birds desire to chirp, lustily desire to chirp, may my call go there, as an arrow-point upon the shaft! 4. What is within shall be without, what is without shall be within! Take captive, O herb, the, soul of the maidens endowed with every chai-m! 5. Longing for a husband this woman hath come, I have come longing for a wife, As a loudly neighing horFe I have attained to my good fortune!

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!

1. Clinging to the ground thou didst grow, (O plant), that producest bliss for me; a hundred branches extend from thee, three and thirty grow down from thee: with this plant of a thousand leaves thy heart do I parch. 2. Thy heart shall parch (with love) for me, and thy mouth shall parch (with love for me)! Languish, moreover, with love for me, with parched mouth pass thy days! 3. Thou that causest affection, kindlest (love), brown, lovely (plant), draw (us) together; draw together yonder woman and myself, our hearts make the same! 4. As the mouth of him that hath not drunk dries tip, thus languish thou with love for me, with parched mouth pass thy days! 5. As the Ichneumon tears the serpent, and joins him together again, thus, O potent (plant), join together what hath been torn by love!

1. This yearning love comes from the Apsaras, the victorious, imbued with victory. Ye gods, send forth the yearning love: may yonder man burn after me! 2. My wish is, he shall long for me, devoted he shall long for me! Ye gods, send forth the yearning love: may yonder man burn after me! 3. That yonder man shall long for me, (but) I for him nevermore, ye gods, send forth the yearning love: may yonder man burn after me! 4. Do ye, O Maruts, intoxicate him (With love); do thou, O mid-air, intoxicate him; do thou, O Agni, intoxicate him! May yonder man burn after me!

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. Love's consuming longing, together with yearning, which the gods have poured into the waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of Varuna! 2. Love's consuming longing, together with yearning, which the all-gods (visve devâh) have poured into the waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of Varuna! 3. Love's consuming longing, together with yearning, which Indrâni has poured into the waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of Varuna! 4. Love's consuming longing, together with yearning, which Indra and Agni have poured into the waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of Varuna! 5. Love's consuming longing, together with yearning, which Mitra and Varuna have poured into the waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of Varuna!

1. Upon this (person) the Vasus, Indra, Pûshan, Varuna, Mitra, and Agni, shall bestow goods (vasu)! The Âdityas, and, further, all the gods shall hold him in the higher light! 2. Light, ye gods, shall be at his bidding: Sûrya (the sun), Agni (fire), or even gold! Inferior to us shall be our rivals! Cause him to ascend to the highest heaven 3. With that most potent charm with which, O Gâtavedas (Agni), thou didst bring to Indra the (soma-) drink, with that, O Agni, do thou here strengthen this one; grant him supremacy over his kinsmen! 4. Their sacrifice and their glory, their increase of wealth and their thoughtful plans, I have usurped, O Agni. Inferior to us shall be our rivals! Cause him to ascend to the highest heaven!

1. Indra, the merchant, do I summon: may he come to us, may he be our van; driving away the demon of grudge, the waylayers, and wild beasts, may he, the possessor, bestow wealth upon 2. May the many paths, the roads of the gods, which come together between heaven and earth, c,ladden me with milk and ghee, so that I may gather in wealth from my purchases! 3. Desirous do I, O Agni, with firewood and ghee offer oblations (to thee), for success and strength; according to ability praising (thee) with my prayer, do I sing this divine song, that I may gain a hundredfold! 4. (Pardon, O Agni, this sin of ours [incurred upon] the far road which we have travelled!) May our purchases and our sales be successful for us; may what I get in barter render me a gainer! May ye two (Indra and Agni) in accord take pleasure in this oblation! May our transactions and the accruing gain be auspicious to us! 5. The wealth with which I go to purchase, desiring, ye gods, to gain wealth through wealth, may that grow more, not less! Drive away, O Agni, in return for the oblation, the gods who shut off 6. The wealth with which I go to purchase, desiring, ye gods, to gain wealth through wealth, may Indra, Pragâpati, Savitar, Soma, Agni, place lustre into it for me! 7. We praise with reverence thee, O priest (Agni) Vaisvdnara. Do thou over our children, selves, cattle, and life's breath watch! 8. Daily, never failing, shall we bring (oblations to thee), O Gâtavedas, (as if fodder) to a horse standing (in the stable). In growth of wealth and nutriment rejoicing, may we, O Agni, thy neighbours, not take harm!

1. As the lightning at all times smites irresistibly the tree, thus would I to-day irresistibly beat the gamesters with my dice! 2. Whether they be alert, or not alert, the fortune of (these) folks, unresisting, shall assemble from all sides, the gain (collect) within my hands! 3. I invoke with reverence Agni, who has his own riches; here attached he shall beap up gain for us! I procure (wealth) for myself, as if with chariots that win the race. May I accomplish auspiciously the song of praise to the Maruts! 4. May we by thy aid conquer the (adversary s) troop; help us (to obtain) our share in every contest! Make for us, O Indra, a good and ample road; crush, O Maghavan, the lusty power of our enemies! 5. I have conquered and cleaned thee out (?); I have also gained thy reserve. As the wolf plucks to pieces the sheep, thus do I pluck thy winnings. 6. Even the strong hand the bold player conquers, as the skilled gambler heaps up his winnings at the proper time. Upon him that loves the game (the god), and does not spare his money, (the game, the god) verily bestows the delights of wealth. 7. Through (the possession of) cattle we all would suppress (our) wretched poverty, or with grain our hunger, O thou oft implored (god)! May we foremost among rulers, unharmed, gain wealth by our cunning devices! 8. Gain is deposited in my right hand, victory in my left. Let me become a conqueror of cattle, horses, wealth, and gold! 9. O dice, yield play, profitable as a cow that is rich in milk! Bind me to a streak of gain, as the bow (is bound) with the string!

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!

As the lowing cow her young that craves the breast, ye gods shall greet with sounds of satisfaction this (porridge)! 38. With ghee thou hast covered it, hast made this place (for the porridge): may it, peerless, spread afar to heaven! Upon it shall rest the mighty eagle; gods shall offer it to the divinities! 39. Whatever the wife cooks aside from thee, (O husband), or the husband (cooks) unbeknown of thee, O wife, mix that together: to both of you it shall belong; bring it together into a single place! 40. As many of her children as dwell upon the earth, and the sons that have been begotten by him, all those ye shall call up to the dish: on shall come the young knowing their nest! 41. The goodly streams, swelling with honey, mixed with ghee, the seats of ambrosia, all these does he obtain, ascends to heaven. In sixty autumns the treasurer (of the porridge) shall fetch it! 42. The treasurer shall fetch this treasure: all outsiders round about shall not control it! The heaven-directed porridge, that has been presented and deposited by us, in three divisions has reached the thrte heavens. 43. May Agni burn the ungodly Rakshas; the flesh-devouring Pisâka shall have nothing here to partake of! We drive him away, hold him afar from us: the Âdityas and Angiras shall stay near 44. To the Âdityas and the Angiras do I offer this (food of) honey, mixed with ghee. Do ye two, (man and wife), with clean hands, without having injured a Brâhmana, performing pious deeds, go to that heavenly world! 45. I would obtain this highest part of it (the porridge), the place from which the highest lord permeates (the all). Pour butter upon it, anoint it witb plentiful ghee: this here is our share, fit for the Angiras! 46. For the sake of truth and holy strength do we make over this porridge as a hoarded treasure to the gods: it shall not be lost to us in gaming or in the assembly; do not let it go to any other person before me! 47.