entire pantheon. 1. To Agni we speak and to the trees, to the plants and to the herbs; to Indra, Brihaspati, and Sûya: they shall deliver us from calamity! 2. We speak to king Varuna, to Mitra, Vishnu and Bhaga. To Amsa and Vivasvant do we speak: they shall deliver us from calamity! 3. We speak to Savitar, the god, to Dhâtar, and to Pûshan; to first-born Tvashtar do we speak: they shall deliver us from calamity! 4. We speak to the Gandharvas and the Apsaras, to the Asvins and to Brahmanaspati, to the god whose name is Aryaman: they shall deliver us from calamity! 5. Now do we speak to day and night, to Sûrya (sun) and to Kandramas (moon), the twain; to all the Âdityas we speak: they shall deliver us from calamity! 6. We speak to Vâta (wind) and Parganya, to the atmosphere and the directions of space. And to all the regions do we speak: they shall deliver us from calamity! 7. Day and night, and Ushas (dawn), too, shall deliver thee from curses! Soma the god, whom they call Kandramas (moon), shall deliver me! 8. To the animals of the earth and those of heaven, to the wild beasts of the forest, to the winged birds, do we speak: they shall deliver us from calamity! 9. Now do we speak to Bhava and Sarva, to Rudra and Pasupati; their arrows do we know well: these (arrows) shall be ever propitious to us! 10. We speak to the heavens, and the stars, to earth, the Yakshas, and the mountains; to the seas.. the rivers, and the lakes: they shall deliver us from calamity! 11. To the seven Rishis now do we speak, to the divine waters and Pragâpati. To the Fathers with Yama at their head: they shall deliver us from calamity! 12. The gods that dwell in heaven, and those that dwell in the atmosphere; the mighty (gods) that are fixed upon the earth, they shall deliver us from calamity! 13. The Âdityas, Rudras, Vasus, the divine Atharvans in heaven, and the wise Angiras: they shall deliver us from calamity! 14.AV 6.45a · Atharva Veda · 6
Atharva Veda on Liberation
22 passages in the Atharva Veda address liberation, in the Maurice Bloomfield translation.
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calamities. 1. O Bhava and Sarva, I am devoted to you. Take note of that, ye under whose control, is all this which shines (the visible universe)! Ye who rule all these two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from calamity! 2. Ye to whom belongs all that is near by, yea, all that is far; ye who are known as the most skilful archers among bowmen; ye who rule all these two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from calamity! 3. The thousand-eyed slayers of Vritra both do I invoke. I go praising the two strong gods (ugrau) whose pastures extend far. Ye who rule all these two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from calamity! 4. Ye who, united, did undertake many (deeds) of old, and, moreover, did visit portents upon the. people; ye who rule all these two-footed and fourfooted creatures, deliver us from calamity! 5. Ye from whose blows no one either among gods or men escapes; ye who rule all these twofooted and four-footed creatures, deliver us from calamity! 6. The sorcerer who prepares a spell, or manipulates the roots (of plants) against us, against him, ye strong gods, launch your thunderbolt! Ye who rule all these two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from calamity. 7. Ye strong gods, favour us in battles, bring into contact with your thunderbolt the Kimîdin! I praise you, O Bhava and Sarva, call fervently upon you in distress: deliver us from calamity!AV 7.9 · Atharva Veda · 7
We speak to the sacrifice and the sacrificer, to the riks, the sâmans, and the healing (Atharvan) charms; we speak to the yagus-formulas and the invocations (to the gods): they shall deliver us from calamity! 15. We speak to the five kingdoms of the plants with soma the most excellent among them. The darbha-grass, hemp, and mighty barley: they shall deliver us from calamity! 16. We speak to the Arâyas (demons of grudge), Rakshas, serpents, pious men, and Fathers; to the one and a hundred deaths: they shall deliver us from calamity! 17. To the seasons we speak, to the lords of the seasons, and to the sections of the year; to the halfyears, years, and months: they shall deliver us from calamity! 18. Come, ye gods, from the south and the west; ye gods in the east come forth! From the east, from the north the mighty gods, all the gods assembled: they shall deliver us from calamity! 19, 20. We speak here to all the gods that hold to their agreements, promote the order (of the universe), together with all their wives: they shall deliver us from calamity! 21. We speak to being, to the lord of being, and also to him that controls the beings; to the beings all assembled: they shall deliver us from calamity! 22. The five divine regions, the twelve divine seasons, the teeth of the year, they shall ever be propitious, to us! 23. The amrita (ambrosia), bought for the price of a chariot, which Mâtalî knows as a remedy, that Indra stored away in the waters: that, O ye waters, furnish ye as a remedy! CHARMS IN EXPIATION OF SIN AND DEFILEMENT.AV 6.45b · Atharva Veda · 6
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.AV 4.9c · Atharva Veda · 4
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.AV 6.96c · Atharva Veda · 6
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.AV 5.20b · Atharva Veda · 5
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.AV 1.19b · Atharva Veda · 1
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.AV 4.9b · Atharva Veda · 4
1. Release for me, O Agni, this person here, who, bound and well-secured, loudly jabbers! Then shall he have due regard for thy share (of the offering), when he shall be free from madness! 2. Agni shall quiet down thy mind, if it has been disturbed! Cunningly do I prepare a remedy, that thou shalt be freed from madness. 3. (Whose mind) has been maddened by the sin of the gods, or been robbed of sense by the Rakshas, (for him) do I cunningly prepare a remedy, that he shall be free from madness. 4. May the Apsaras restore thee, may Indra, may Bhaga restore thee; may all the gods restore thee, that thou mayest be freed from madness!AV 4.37 · Atharva Veda · 4
1. The many plants of hundredfold aspect, whose king is Soma, which have been begotten by Brihaspati, shall free us from calamity! 2. May they free us from (the calamity) consequent upon curses, and also from the (toils) of Varuna; moreover, from the foot-fetter of Yama, and every sin against the gods! 3. What laws we have infringed upon, with the eye, the mind, and speech, either while awake, or asleep-may Soma by his (divine) nature clear these (sins) away from us!AV 2.32 · Atharva Veda · 2
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.AV 2.28 · Atharva Veda · 2
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.AV 7.53 · Atharva Veda · 7
1. When, O Brihaspati, thou didst liberate (us) from existence in yonder world of Yama, (and) from hostile schemes, then did the Asvins, the physicians of the gods, with might sweep death from us, O Agni! 2. O in-breathing and out-breathing, go along with the body, do not leave it: may they be thy allies here! Live and thrive a hundred autumns; Agni shall be thy most excellent shepherd and overseer! 3. Thy vital force that has been dissipated afar, thy in-breathing and thy out-breathing, shall come back again! Agni has snatched them from the lap of Nirriti (the goddess of destruction), and I again introduce them into thy person. 4. Let not his in-breathing desert him, nor his out-breathing quit him and depart! I commit him to the Seven Rishis: may they convey him in health to old age! 5. Enter, O in-breathing and out-breathing, like two bulls into a stable: this person shall here flourish, an unmolested repository for old age! 6. Life's breath we do drive into thee, disease we do drive away from thee. May this excellent Agni endow us with life from every source! 7. Ascending from the darkness of death to the highest firmament, to Sûrya (the sun), the god among gods, we have reached the highest light.AV 8.1 · Atharva Veda · 8
1. 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.AV 4.9a · Atharva Veda · 4
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!AV 6.11 · Atharva Veda · 6
1. The god-angering (deed), O ye gods, that we, the (Brahman) gods, have committed, from that do ye, O Âdityas, release us, by virtue of the order of the universe! 2. By virtue of the order of the universe do ye, O reverend Âdityas, release us here, if, O ye carriers of the sacrifice, though desirous of accomplishing (the sacrifice), we did not accomplish (it)!-- 3. (If), when sacrificing with the fat (animal), when offering oblations of ghee with the spoon, when desiring to benefit you, O all ye gods, we have contrary to desire, not succeeded!AV 6.115 · Atharva Veda · 6
1. From the sins which knowingly or unknowingly we have committed, do ye, all gods, of one accord, release us! 2. If awake, or if asleep, to sin inclined, I have committed a sin, may what has been, and what shall be, as if from a wooden post, release me! 3. As one released from a wooden post, as one in a sweat by bathing (is cleansed) of filth, as ghee is clarified by the sieve, may all (the gods) clear me from sin!AV 6.112 · Atharva Veda · 6
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!AV 6.113 · Atharva Veda · 6
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.AV 9.3c · Atharva Veda · 9
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!AV 9.3f · Atharva Veda · 9
as sacrificial reward. 1. The fastenings of the buttresses, the supports, and also of the connectinc, beams of the house, that abounds in treasures, do we loosen. 2. O (house) rich in all treasures! the fetter which has been bound about thee, and the knot which has been fastened upon thee, that with my charm do I undo, as Brihaspati (undid) Vala. 3. (The builder) has drawn thee to,,ether, pressed thee together, placed firm knots upon thee. Skilfully, as the priest who butchers (the sacrificial animal), do we with Indra's aid disjoint thy limbs. 4. From thy beams, thy bolts, thy frame, and thy thatch; from thy sides, (O house) abounding in treasures, do we loosen the fastenings. 5. The fastenings of the dove-tailed (joints), of the reed (-covering), of the frame-work, do we loosen here from the 'mistress of dwelling.' 6. The ropes which they have tied within thee for comfort, these do we loosen from thee; be thou propitious to our persons, O mistress of dwelling, after thou hast (again) been erected! 7. A receptacle for Soma, a house for Agni, a seat for the mistresses (of the house), a seat (for the priests), a seat for the gods art thou, O goddess house! 8. Thy covering of wicker-work, with thousand eyes, stretched out upon thy crown, fastened down and laid on, do we loosen with (this) charm. 9. He who receives thee as a gift, O house, and he by whom thou hast been built, both these, O mistress of dwelling, shall live attaining old age! 10. Return to him in the other world, firmly bound, ornamented, (thou house), which we loosen limb by limb, and joint by joint! 11. He who built thee, O house, brought together (thy) timbers, he, a Pragâpati on high, did construct thee, O house, for his progeny (pragâyai). 12. We render obeisance to him (the builder); obeisance to the giver, the lord of the house; obeisance to Agni who serves (the sacrifice); and obeisance to thy (attendant) man! 13. Reverence to the cattle and the horses, and to that which is born in the house!AV 6.71a · Atharva Veda · 6
Purified the waters shall flow for our bodies; what flows off from us that do we deposit upon him we dislike: with a purifier, O earth, do I purify myself! 31. Thy easterly regions, and thy northern, thy southerly (regions), O earth, and thy western, shall be kind to me as I walk (upon thee)! May I that have been placed into the world not fall 32. Do not drive us from the west, nor from the east; not from the north, and not from the south! Security be thou for us, O earth: waylayers shall not find us, hold far away (their) murderous weapon! 33. As long as I look out upon thee, O earth, with Sûrya (the sun) as my companion, so long shall my sight not fall, as year followeth upon year! 34. When, as I lie, I turn upon my right or left side, O earth; when stretched out we lie with our ribs upon thee pressing against (us), do not, O earth, that liest close to everything, there injure us! 35. What, O earth, I dig out of thee, quickly shall that grow again: may I not, O pure one, pierce thy vital spot, (and) not thy heart! 36. Thy summer, O earth, thy rainy season, thy autumn, winter, early spring, and spring; thy decreed yearly seasons, thy days and nights shall yield us milk 37. The pure earth that starts in fright away from the serpent, upon whom were the fires that are within the waters, she that delivers (to destruction) the blasphemous Dasyus, she that takes the side of Indra, not of Vritra, (that earth) adheres to Sakra (mighty Indra), the lusty bull. 38. Upon whom rests the sacrificial hut (sadas) and the (two) vehicles that hold the soma (havirdhâne), in whom the sacrificial post is fixed, upon whom the Brâhmanas praise (the gods) with riks and sâmans, knowing (also) the yagur-formulas; upon whom the serving-priests (ritvig) are employed so that Indra shall drink the soma;-- 39.AV 13.1d · Atharva Veda · 13
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