Atharva Veda on Nature

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

by flowing water. 1. From the Himavant (mountains) they flow forth, in the Sindhu (Indus), forsooth, is their assembling-place: may the waters, indeed, grant me that cure for heart-ache! 2. The pain that hurts me in the eyes, and that which hurts in the heels and the fore-feet, the waters, the most skilled of physicians, shall put all that to rights! 3. Ye rivers all, whose mistress is Sindhu, whose queen is Sindhu, grant us the remedy for that: through this (remedy) may we derive benefit from you!

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

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!

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!

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

1. 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!

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. As if from this Agni (fire), that burns and flashes, (the takman) comes. Let him then, too, as a babbling drunkard, pass away! Let him, the impious one, search out some other person, not ourselves! Reverence be to the takman with the burning weapon! 2. Reverence be to Rudra, reverence to the takman, reverence to the luminous king Varuna! Reverence to heaven, reverence to earth, reverence to the plants! 3. To thee here, that burnest through, and turnest all bodies yellow, to the red, to the brown, to the takman produced by the forest, do I render obeisance.

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

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

1. 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. 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!

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

1. Swift as the wind be thou, O steed, when joined (to the chariot); at Indra's urging go, fleet as the mind! The Maruts, the all-possessing, shall harness thee,Tvashtar shall put fleetness into thy 2. With the fleetness, O runner, that has been deposited in thee in a secret place, (with the fleetness) that has been made over to the eagle, the wind, and moves in them, with that, O steed, strong with strength, do thou win the. race, reaching the goal in the contest! 3. Thy body, O steed, leading (our) body, shall run, a pleasure to ourselves, delight to thyself! A god, not stumbling, for the support of the great, he shall, as if upon the heaven, found his own light!

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.

Therefore do I stand with the sacred cord suspended from the right shoulder (prâkinopavita), saying, 'O Pragâpati, watch over me!' The creatures (pragâh) watch over him, Pragâpati watches over him, that knoweth thus.

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!

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!

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!

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

1. 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.

against diseases and demons. 1. Unto long life and great delights, for ever unharmed and vigorous, do we wear the gangida, as an amulet destructive of the vishkandha. 2. From convulsions, from tearing pain, from vishkandha, and from torturing pain, the gangida shall protect us on all sides--an amulet of a thousand virtues! 3. This gangida conquers the vishkandha, and smites the Atrin (devouring demons); may this all- healing gangida protect us from adversity! 4. By means of the invigorating gangida, bestowed by the gods as an amulet, do we conquer in battle the vishkandha and all the Rakshas. 5. May the hemp and may gangida protect me against vishkandha! The one (gangida) is brought hither from the forest, the other (hemp) from the sap of the furrow. 6. Destruction of witchcraft is this amulet, also destruction of hostile powers: may the powerful gangida therefore extend far our lives! XIX, 34, Charm with an amulet derived from the gafigpida- tree, aoainst diseases and demons. 1. Thou art an Angiras, O gangida, a protector art thou, O gangida. All two-footed and four- footed creatures that belong to us the gangida shall protect! 2. The sorceries fifty-three in number, and the hundred performers of sorcery, all these having lost their force, the gangida shall render bereft of strength! 3. Bereft of strength is the gotten-up clamour, bereft of strength are the seven debilitating (charms). Do thou, O gangida, hurl away from here poverty, as an archer an arrow! 4. This gangida is a destroyer of witchcraft, and also a destroyer of hostile powers. May then the powerful gangida extend far our lives! 5. May the greatness of the gangida protect us about on all sides, (the greatness) with which he has overcome the vishkandha (and) the samskandha, (overcoming the powerful (disease) with power! 6. Thrice the gods begot thee that hast grown up upon the earth. The Brahmanas of yore knew thee here by the name of Angiras. 7.

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

1. With thy broad thunder,with the beacon, elevated by tile gods that pervade this all, with the lightning do thou not destroy our grain, O god; nor do thou destroy it with the rays of the sun!

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.

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!

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

The maiden of the Kirâta-tribe, the little one digs up the remedy, with golden spades, on the mountain's back. 15. Hither has come a youthful physician: he slays the speckled (serpent), is irresistible. He, forsooth, crushes the svaga and the vriskika both. 16. Indra did set at naught for me the serpent, (and so did) Mitra and Varuna, Vâta and Parganya 17. Indra did set at naught for me the serpent, the adder, male and female, the svaga, (the serpent) that is striped across, the kasarnîla, and the dasonasi. 18. Indra slew thy first ancestor, O serpent, and since they are crushed, what strength, forsooth, can be theirs? 19. I have gathered up their heads, as the fisherman the karvara (fish). I have gone off into the river's midst, and washed out the serpent's poison. 20. The poison of all serpents the rivers shall carry off! Slain are they that are striped across, crushed are the adders! 21. As skilfully I cull the fibre of the plants, as I guide the mares, (thus), O serpent, shall thy poison go away! 22. The poison that is in the fire, in the sun, in the earth, and in the plants, the kândâ-poison, the kanaknaka, thy poison shall go forth, and come! 23. The serpents that are sprung from the fire, that are sprung from the plants, that are sprung from the water, and originate from the lightning; they from whom great brood has sprung in many ways, those serpents do we revere with obeisance. 24. Thou art, (O plant), a maiden, Taudî by name.; Ghritâkî, forsooth, is thy name. Underfoot is thy place: I take in hand what destroys the poison. 25. From every limb make the poison start; shut it out from the heart! Now the force that is in thy poison shall go down below! 26. The poison has gone to a distance: he has shut it out; he has fused the poison with poison. Agni has put away the poison of the serpent, Soma has led it out. The poison has gone back to the biter. The serpent is dead!

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. 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. 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!

1. Upon the head of the nimble antelope a remedy grows! He has driven the kshetriya (inherited disease) in all directions by means of the horn. 2. The antelope has gone after thee with his four feet. O horn, loosen the kshetriya that is knitted into his heart! 3. (The horn) that glistens yonder like a roof with four wings (sides), with that do we drive out every kshetriya from thy limbs. 4. The lovely twin stars, the vikritau ('the two looseners') that are yonder upon the sky, shall loosen the nethermost and the uppermost fetter of the kshetriya! 5. The waters, verily, are healers, the waters are scatterers of disease, the waters cure all disease: may they. relieve thee from the kshetriya! 6. The kshetriya that has entered into thee from the prepared (magic) concoction, for that I know the remedy; I drive the kshetriya out of thee. 7. When the constellations fade away, and when the dawn does fade away, (then) shall he shine away from us every evil and the kshetriya!

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!

The plants, that which was and shall be, day and night, the tree, the year along with the seasons, have sprung from the Brahmakârin. 21. The earthly and the heavenly animals, the wild and the domestic, the wingless and the winged (animals), have sprung from the Brahmakârin. 22. All the creatures of Pragâpati (the creator) severally carry breath in their souls. All these the brahma, which has been brought hither in the Brahmakârin, protects. 23. This, that was set into motion by the gods, that is insurmountable, that moves shining, from it has sprung the brâhmanam (Brahmanical life), the highest brahma, and all the gods, together with immortality (amrita). 24, 25. The Brahmakârin carries the shining brahma: into this all the gods are woven. Producing in-breathing and out-breathing, as well as through-breathing; speech, mind, heart, brahma, and wisdom, do thou furnish us with sight, hearing, glory, food, semen, blood, and belly! 26. These things the Brahmakârin fashioned upon the back of the (heavenly) water. He stood in the sea kindled with tapas (creative fervour). He, when he has bathed, shines vigorously upon the earth, brown and ruddy.

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

1. 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 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!

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!

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

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

of hair. 1. As a goddess upon the goddess earth thou wast born, O plant! We dig thee up, O nitatni, that thou mayest strengthen (the growth) of the hair. 2. Strengthen the old (hair), beget the new! That which has come forth render more luxurious! 3. That hair of thine which does drop off, and that which is broken root and all, upon it do I sprinkle here the all-healing herb.

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!

The year is the chariot, the full year is the body of the chariot, Virâg, the pole, Agni the front part of the chariot. Indra is the (combatant) standing on the left of the chariot, Kandramas (the moon) the charioteer. 24. Do thou win here, do thou conquer here, overcome, win, hail! These here shall conquer, those yonder be conquered! Hail to these here, perdition to those yonder! Those yonder do I envelop in blue and red!

1. As this draught animal, O ye Asvins, comes on, and proceeds, thus may thy soul come on, and proceed to me! 2. 1 draw to myself thy mind, as the leading stallion the female side-horse. As the stalk of grass torn by the wind, thus shall thy mind fasten itself upon me! 3. A coaxing mixtLire of salve, of sweet wood, of kushtha, and of spikenard, do I deftly pick out with the hands of Bhaga (good fortune).

1. Pass far away, O sin of the mind! Why dost thou utter things not to be uttered? Pass away, I love thee not! To the trees, the forests go on! With the house, the cattle, is my mind. 2. What wrongs we have committed through imprecation, calumny, and false speech, either awake, or asleep--Agni shall put far away from us all offensive evil deeds! 3. What, O Indra Brahmanaspati, we do falselymay Praketas ('care-taker') Ângirasa protect us from misfortune, and from evil!

given as a fee to the Brahmans. 1. O Agni, come into being! Aditi here in her throes, longing for sons, is cooking the porridge for the Brahmans, The seven Rishis, that did create the beings, shall here churn thee, along with progeny! 2. Produce the smoke, ye lusty friends; unharmed by wiles go ye into the contest! Here is the Agni (fire) who gains battles, and commands powerful warriors, with whom the gods did conquer the demons. 3. O Agni, to a great heroic deed thou wast aroused, to cook the Brahman's porridge, O Gâtavedas! The seven Rishis, that did create the beings, have produced thee. Grant her (the wife) wealth together with undiminished heroes! 4. Burn, O Agni, after having been kindled by the firewood, bring skilfully hither the gods that are to be revered! Causing the oblation to cook for these (Brahmans), do thou raise this (sacrificer) to the highest firmament! 5. The, threefold share which was of yore assigned to you (belongs) to the gods, the (departed) Fathers, and to the mortals (the priests). Know your shares! I divide them for you: the (share) of the gods shall protect this (woman)! 6. O Agni, possessed of might, superior, thou dost without fail prevail! Bend down to the ground our hateful rivals!--This measure, that is being measured, and has been measured, may constitute thy kin into (people) that render thee tribute! 7. Mayest thou together with thy kin be endowed with sap! Elevate her (the wife) to great heroism! Ascend on high to the base of the firmament, which they call 'the world of brightness'! 8. This great goddess earth, kindly disposed, shall receive the (sacrificial) skin! Then may we go to the world of well-doing (heaven)! 9. Lay these two press-stones, well coupled, upon the skin; crush skilfully the (soma-) shoots for the sacrificer! Crush down, (O earth), and beat down, those who are hostile to her (the wife); lift up high, and elevate her offspring! 10.

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

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

1. High sounds the voice of the drum, that acts the warrior, the wooden (drum), equipped with the skin of the cow. Whetting thy voice, subduing the enemy, like a lion sure of victory, do thou loudly thunder against them! 2. The wooden (instrument) with fastened (covering) has thundered as a lion, as a bull roars to the cow that longs to mate. Thou art a bull, thy enemies are eunuchs; thou ownest Indra's foesubduing fire! 3. Like a bull in the herd, full of might, lusty, do thou, O snatcher of booty, roar against them! Pierce with fire the heart of the enemy; with -broken ranks the foe shall run and scatter! 4. In victorious battles raise thy roar! What may be captured, capture; sound in many places! Favour, O drum, (our deeds) with thy divine voice; bring to (us) with strength the property of the enemy! 5. When the wife of the enemy hears the voice of the drum, that speaks to a far distance, may she, aroused by the sound, distressed, snatch her son to her arms, and run, frightened at the clash of arms! 6. Do thou, O drum, sound the first sound, ring brilliantly over the back of the earth! Open wide thy maw at the enemies host; resound brightly, joyously, O drum! 7. Between this heaven and earth thy noise shall spread, thy sounds shall quickly part to every side! Shout thou and thunder with swelling sound; make music at thy friend's victory, having, (chosen) the good side! 8. Manipulated with care, its voice shall resound! Make bristle forth the weapons of the warriors! Allied to Indra do thou call hither the warriors; with thy friends beat vigorously down the enemies! 9. A shouting herald, followed by a bold army, spreading news in many places, sounding through the village, eager for success, knowing the way, do thou distribute glory to many in the battle! 10. Desiring advantage, gaining booty, full mighty, thou hast been made keen by (my) song, and winnest battles.

The northerly direction shall make our realm the very uppermost, in offspring, uppermost! The purusha is the metre pahkti: with all (our kin), endowed with all their limbs, may we be united! 11. This 'firm' direction (nadir) is Virâg (brilliancy): reverence be to her; may she be kind to my children and to me! Mayest thou, O goddess Aditi, who boldest all treasures, as an alert guardian guard the cooked porridge! 12. As a father his children do thou, (O earth), embrace us; may gentle winds blow upon us here on earth! Then the porridge which the two divinities (the sacrificer and his wife) are here preparing for us shall take note of our religious fer~our and our truth! 13. Whatever the black bird, that has come hither stealthily, has touched of that ahich has stuck to the rim, or whatever the wet-banded slavegirl does pollute-may ye, O waters, purify (that) mortar and pestle! 14. May this sturdy press-stone, with broad bottom, purified by the purifiers, beat away the Rakshas! Settle upon the skin, afford firm protection; may man and wife not come to grief in their children! 15. The (pestle of) wood has come to us together with the gods: it drives away the Rakshas and Pisâkas. Up it shall rise, shall let its voice resound through it let us conquer all the worlds! 16. The cattle clothed itself in sevenfold strength, those among them that are sleek and those that are poor. The thirty-three gods attend them mayest thou, (O cattle), guide us to the heavenly world! 17. To the bright world of heaven thou shalt lead us; (there) let us be united with wife and children! I take her hand, may she follow me there; neither Nirriti (destruction), nor Arâti (grudge), shall gain mastery over us! 18. May we get past the evil Grâhi (seizure)! Casting aside darkness do thou, (O pestle), let thy lovely voice resound; do not, O wooden tool, when raised, do injury; do not mutilate the grain devoted to the gods! 19.

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.

shape of a ploughshare. 1. The head of the hostile rival, of the enemy that bates me, do I cut off with might. 2. This amulet, produced by the ploughshare, will prepare an armour for me: full of stirred drink it has come to me, together with sap and lustre. 3. If the skilful workman has injured thee with his hand or with his knife, the living bright waters shall purify thee from that, (so that thou shalt be) bright! 4. This amulet has a golden wreath, bestows faith and sacrifice and might; in our house as a guest it shall dwell! 5. Before it (the amulet as a guest) ghee, surâ (liquor), honey, and every kind of food we place. The amulet having gone to the gods shall, as a father for his sons, plan for us growing good, more and more day after day! 6. The amulet which Brihaspati tied, the ploughshare dripping with ghee, the strong khadira, unto strength, that Agni did fasten on; that yields him ghee more and more day after day: with it those that hate me do thou slay! 7. This amulet which Brihaspati tied that Indra did fasten on, for strength and heroism; that yields him might more and more, &c. 8. The amulet which Brihaspati tied... that Soma did fasten on unto perfect hearing and seeing; that verily yields him lustre more and more, &c. 9. The amulet which Brihaspat, tied... that Sûrya did fasten on, with that he conquered these directions of space; that yields him prosperity moreand more, &c. 10. The amulet which Brihaspati tied wearing that amulet Kandramas (the moon) conquered the golden cities of the Asuras and the Dânavas; that yields him fortune more and more, &c. 11. The amulet which Brihaspat' tied for swift Vâta (wind), that yields him strength more and more, &c. 12, The amulet which Brihaspati tied for swift Vâta, with that amulet, O Asvins, do ye guard this plough-land; that yields the two physicians (the Asvins) might more and more, &c. 13.

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.

Counted drops penetrate into the earth, commensurate with the breaths of life and the plants. The uncounted golden (drops), that are poured into (the porridge), have, (themselves) pure, established complete purity. 29. The boiling waters rise and sputter, cast up foam and many bubbles. Unite, ye waters, with this grain, as a woman who beholds her husband in the proper season! 30. Stir up (the grains) as they settle at the bottom: let them mingle their inmost parts with the waters! The water here I have measured with cups; measured was the grain, so as to be according to these regulations. 31. Hand over the sickle, with haste bring promptly (the grass for the barhis); without giving pain let them cut the plants at the joints! They whose kingdom Soma rules, the plants, shall not harbour anger against us! 32. Strew a new barhis for the porridge: pleasing to its heart, and lovely to its sight it shall be! Upon it the gods together with the goddesses shall enter; settle down to this (porridge) in proper order, and cat it! 33. O (instrument of) wood, settle down upon the strewn barhis, in keeping with the divinities and the agnishloma rites! Well shaped, as if by a carpenter (Tvashtar) with his axe, is thy form. Longing for this (porridge) the (gods) shall be seen about the vessel! 34. In sixty autumns the treasurer (of the porridge) shall fetch it, by the cooked grain he shall obtain heaven; the parents and the children shall live upon it. Bring thou this (man) to heaven, into the presence of Agni! 35. (Thyself) a holder, (O pot), hold on to the foundation of the earth: thee, that art immoveable the gods (alone) shall move! Man and wife, alive, with living children, shall remove thee from the hearth of the fire! 36. Thou hast conquered and reached all worlds; as many as are our wishes, thou hast satisfied them. Dip ye in, stirring stick and spoon! Place it (the por idge) upon a single dish! 37. Lay (ghee) upon it, let it spread forth, anoint this dish with ghee!

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.

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.

1. The pepper-corn cures the wounds that have been struck by missiles, it also cures the wounds from stabs. Anent it the gods decreed: 'Powerful to secure life this (plant) shall be!' 2. The pepper-corns spake to one another, as they came out, after having been created: 'He whom we shall find (as yet) alive, that man shall not suffer harm!' 3. The Asuras did dig thee into the ground, the gods cast thee up again, as a cure for disease produced by wind (in the body), moreover as a cure for wounds struck by missiles.

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.