Atharva Veda on Strength

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).

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

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.

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.

power. 1. To the bull that slays the enemy, to Kâma, do I render tribute with ghee, oblation, and (sacrificial) melted butter. Do thou, since thou hast been extolled, hurl down my enemies by thy great might! 2. The evil dream which is offensive to my mind and eye, which harasses and does not please me, that (dream) do I let loose upon my enemy. Having praised Kâma may I prevail! 3,. Evil dreams, O Kâma, and misfortune, O Kâma, childlessness, ill-health, and trouble, do thou, a strong lord, let loose upon him that designs evil against us! 4. Drive them away, O Kâma, thrust them away, O Kâma; may they that are my enemies fall into trouble! When they have been driven into the nethermost darkness, do thou, O Agni, burn up their d welling- places! 5. That milch-cow, O Kâma, whom the sages call Vâk Virâg (ruling, or resplendent speech), is said to be thy daughter; by her drive away my enemies; breath, cattle, and life shall give them a wide birth! 6. With the strength of Kâma, Indra, king Varuna, and Vishnu, with the impelling force (savena) of Savitar, with the priestly power of Agni, do I drive forth the enemies, as a skilled steersman a 7. My sturdy guardian, strong Kâma, shall procure for me full freedom from enmity! May the gods collectively be my refuge, may all the gods respond to this, my invocation! 8. Taking pleasure in this (sacrificial) melted butter, and ghee do ye, (O gods), of whom Kâma is the highest, be joyful in this place, procuring for me full freedom from enmity! 9. O Indra and Agni, and Kâma, having formed an alliance, do ye hurl down my enemies; when they have fallen into the nethermost darkness, do thou, O Agni, burn up after them their dwelling places! 10. Slay thou, O Kâma, those that are my enemies, hurl them down into blind darkness. Devoid of vigour, Without sap let them all be; they shall not live a single day! 11. Kâma has slain those that are my enemies, a broad space has he furnished me to thrive in.

that slays serpents. 1. To Indra belongs the first chariot, to the gods the second chariot, to Varuna, forsooth, the third. The serpents' chariot is the last: it shall hit a post, and come to grief! 2. The young darbha-grass burns (the serpents?), the tail of the horse, the tail of the shaggy one, the seat of the wagon (burns the serpents?) 3. Strike down, O white (horse), with thy forefoot and thy hind-foot! As timber floating in water, the poison of the serpents, the fierce fluid, is devoid of strength. 4. Neighing loudly he dived down, and, again diving up, said: 'As timber floating in water, the poison of the serpents, the fierce fluid, is devoid of strength.' 5. The horse of Pedu slays the kasarnîla, the horse of Pedu slays the white (serpent), and also the black. The horse of Pedu cleaves the head of the ratharvî, the adder. 6. O horse of Pedu, go thou first: we come after thee! Thou shalt cast out the serpents from the road upon which we come! 7. Here the horse of Pedu was born; from here is his departure. Here are the tracks of the serpent- killing, powerful steed! 8. May the closed (serpent's jaw) not snap open, may the open one not close! The two serpents in this field, man and wife, they are both bereft of strength. 9. Without strength here are the serpents, those that are near, and those that are far. With a club do I slay the vriskika (scorpion), with a staff the serpent that has approached. 10. Here is the remedy for both the aghâsva and the svaga! Indra (and) Pedu's horse have put to naught the evil-planning (aghâyantam) serpent. 11. The horse of Pedu do we remember, the strong, with strong footing: behind he, staring forth, these adders. 12. Deprived are they of life's spirit, deprived of poison, slain by Indra with his bolt. Indra hath slain them: we have slain them. 13. Slain are they that are striped across, crushed are the adders! Slay thou the one that produces a hood, (slay) the white and the black in the darbha-grass! 14.

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

1. 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.]

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.

of disease. 1. May Agni Vaisvânara, the bull of unfailing strength, burn up him that is evil-disposed, and desires to harm us, and him that plans hostile deeds against us! 2. Between the two rows of teeth of Agni Vaisvânara do I place him that plans to injure us, when we are not planning to injure him; and him that plans to injure us, when we do plan to injure him. Those who hound us in our chambers, while shouting goes on in the night of the new moon, and the other flesh-devourers who plan to injure us, all of them do I overcome with might. 4. With might I overcome the Pisâkas, rob them of their property; all evil-disposed (demons) do I slay: may my device succeed! 5. With the gods who vie with, and measure their swiftness with this sun, with those that are in the rivers, and in the mountains, do I, along with my cattle, consort. 6. I plague the Pisâkas as the tiger the cattle-owners. As dogs who have seen a lion, these do not find a refuge. 7. My strength does not lie with Pisâkas, nor with thieves, nor with prowlers in the forest. From the village which I enter the Pisâkas vanish away. 8. From the village which my fierce power has entered the Pisâkas vanish away; they do not devise evil. 9. They who irritate me with their jabber, as (buzzing) mosquitoes the elephant, them I regard as wretched (creatures), as small vermin upon people. 10. May Nirriti (the goddess of destruction) take hold of this one, as a horse with the halter! The fool who is wroth with me is not freed from (her) snare.

from wood of the sraktya-tree. 1. This attacking talisman, (itself) a man, is fastened upon the man: it is full of force, slays enemies, makes heroes of men, furnishes shelter, provides good luck. 2. This talisman slays enemies, makes strong men, is powerful, lusty, victorious, strong; as a man it advances against sorceries and destroys them. 3. With this talisman Indra slew Vritra, with it he, full of device, destroyed the Asuras, with it he conquered both the heaven and earth, with it he conquered the four regions of space. 4. This talisman of sraktya assails and attacks. With might controlling the enemies, it shall protect us on all sides! 5. Agni has said this, and Soma has said this; Brihaspati, Savitar, Indra (have said) this. These divine purohitas, (chaplains) shall turn back for me (upon the sorcerer) the sorceries with aggressive amulets! 6. I have interposed heaven and earth, also the day, and also the sun. These divine purohitas (chaplains) shall turn back for me (upon the sorcerer) the sorceries with aggressive amulets! 7. (For) the folk that make an armour of the talisman of sraktya--like the sun ascending the sky, it subjects and beats off the sorceries. 8. With the amulet of sraktya, as if with a seer of powerful spirit, I have gained all battles, I slay the enemies, the Rakshas. 9. The sorceries that come from the Angiras, the sorceries that come from the Asuras, the sorceries that prepare themselves, and those that are prepared by others, both these shall go away to a distance across ninety navigable streams! 10. As an armour upon him the gods shall tie the amulet, Indra, Vishnu, Savitar, Rudra, Agni, Pragâpati, Parameshthin, Virâg,Vaisvânara, and the seers all. 11. Thou art the most superb of plants, as if a steer among the cattle, as if a tiger among beasts of prey. (The amulet) that we did seek, that have we found, a guardian at our side. 12.

1. This Asura rules over the gods; the commands of Varuna, the ruler, surely come true. From this (trouble), from the wrath of the mighty (Varuna), do I, excelling in my incantation, lead out this man. 2. Reverence, O king Varuna, be to thy wrath, for all falsehood, O mighty one, clost thou discover. A thousand others together do I make over to thee: this thy (man) shall live a hundred autumns! 3. From the untruth which thou hast spoken, the abundant wrong, with thy tongue--from king, Varuna I release thee, whose laws do not fail. 4. I release thee from Vaisvânara (Agni), from the great flood. Our rivals, O mighty one, do thou censure here, and give heed to our prayer!

1. (Thy) kingdom hath come to thee: arise, endowed with lustre! Go forth as the lord of the people, rule (shine) thou, a universal ruler! All the regions of the compass shall call thee, O king; attended and revered be thou here! 2. Thee the clans, thee these regions, goddesses five, shall choose for empire! Root thyself upon the height, the pinnacle of royalty: then do thou, mighty, distribute goods among us! 3. Thy kinsmen with calls shall come to thee; agile Agni shall go with them as messenger! Thy wives, thy sons shall be devoted to thee; being a mighty (ruler) thou shalt behold rich tribute! 4. The Asvins first, Mitra and Varuna both, all the gods, and the Maruts, shall call thee! Then fix thy mind upon the bestowal of wealth, then do thou, mighty, distribute wealth among us! 5. Hither hasten forth from the farthest distance heaven and earth, both, shall be propitious to thee! Thus did this king Varuna (as if, 'the chooser') decree that; he himself did call thee: 'come thou hither'! 6. O Indra, Indra, come thou to the tribes of men, for thou hast agreed, concordant with the Varunas (as if,'the electors'), He did call thee to thy own domain (thinking): 'let him revere the gods, and manage, too, the people'! 7. The rich divinities of the roads, of manifold diverse forms, all coming together have given thee a broad domain. They shall all concordantly call thee; rule here, a mighty, benevolent (king), to up the tenth decade (of thy life)!

1. I dig up this plant, of herbs the most potent, by whose power rival women are overcome, and husbands are obtained. 2. O thou (plant) with erect leaves, lovely, do thou, urged on by the gods, full of might, drive away my rival, make my h usband mine alone! 3. He did not, forsooth, call thy name, and thou shalt not delight in this' husband! To the very farthest distance do we drive our rival. 4. Superior am I, O superior (plant), superior, truly, to superior (women). Now shall my rival be inferior to those that are inferior! 5. I am overpowering, and thou, (O plant), art completely overpowering. Having both grown full of power, let us overpower my rival! 6. About thee (my husband) I have placed the overpowering (plant), upon thee placed the very overpowering one. May thy mind run after me as a calf after the cow, as water along its course!

1. The successful, victorious, skilfully gaming Apsarâ, that Apsarâ who makes the winnings in the game of dice, do I call hither. 2. The skilfully gaming Apsarâ who sweeps and heaps up (the stakes), that Apsarâ who takes the winnings in the game of dice, do I call hither. May she, who dances about with the dice, when she takes the stakes from the game of dice, when she desires to win for us, obtain the advantage by (her) magic! May she come to us full of abundance! Let them not win this wealth of ours! 4. The (Apsarâs) who rejoice in dice, who carry grief and wrath-tbat joyful and exulting Apsarâ, do I call hither. B. Prayer to secure the return of calves that have strayed to a distance. 5. They (the cattle) who wander along the rays of the sun, or they who wander along the flood of light) they whose bull (the. sun), full of strength, from afar protecting, with the day wanders about all the worlds-may he (the bull), full of strength, delighting in this offering, come to us together with the atmosphere! 6. Together with the atmosphere, O thou who art full of strength, protect the white (karkî) calf, O thou swift steed (the sun)! Here are many drops (of ghee) for thee; come hither! May this white calf (karkî) of thine, may thy mind, be here! 7. Together with the atmosphere, O thou who art full of strength, protect the white (karkî) calf, O thou swift steed (the sun)! Here is the fodder, here the stall, here do we tie down the calf. Whatever (are your) names, we own you. Hail!

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. As the rising sun takes away the lustre of the stars, thus do I take away the strength of both the women and the men that hate me. 2. As many enemies as ye are, lookina out auainst me, as I come on--of those that hate me do I take away the strenorth, as the sun takes away the strength of persons asleep (while it rises). CHARMS PFRTAINING TO WOMEN (STRiKARATkV1).

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

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.)

May the four directions of space bow down to me, and the six broad (regions) carry ghee to me! 12. They (the enemies) shall float down like a boat cut loose from its moorings! There is no returning again for those who have been struck by our missiles. 13. Agni is a defence, Indra a defence, Soma a defence. May the gods, who by their defence ward off (the enemy), ward him off! 14. With his men reduced, driven out, the hated (enemy) shall go, shunned by his own friends! And down upon the earth do the lightnings alight; may the strong god crush your enemies! 15. This mighty lightning supports both moveable and immoveable things, as well as all thunders. May the rising sun by his resources and his majesty hurl down my enemies, lie the mighty one! 16. With that triple-armoured powerful covering of thine, O Kâma, with the charm that has been made into an Invulnerate armour spread (over thee), with that do thou drive away those who are my enemies; may breath, cattle, and life give them a wide berth! 17. With the weapon with which the god drove forth the Asuras, with which Indra led the Dasyus to the nethermost darkness, with that do thou, O Kâma, drive forth far away from this world those who are my enemies! 18. As the gods drove forth the Asuras, as Indra. forced the demons into the nethermost darkness, thus do thou, O Kâma, drive forth far away from this world those who are my enemies! 19. Kâma was born at first; him neither the gods, nor the Fathers, nor men have equalled. To these art thou superior, and ever great; to thee, O Kâma, do I verily offer reverence. 20. As great as are the heavens and earth in extent, as far as the waters have swept, as far as fire; to these art thou superior, &c. 21. Great as are the directions (of space) and the intermediate direction on either side, great as are the regions and the vistas of the sky; to these art thou superior, &c. 22.

1. The oblation that yields glory, sped on by Indra, of thousandfold strength, well offered, prepared with might, shall prosper! Cause me, that offers the oblation, to continue long beholding (light), and to rise to supremacy! 2. (That he may come) to us, let us honour with obeisance glory-owning Indra, the glorious one with glory-yielding (oblations)! Do thou (the oblation) grant us sovereignty sped on by Indra; may we in thy favour be glorious! 3. Glorious was Indra born, glorious Agni, glorious Soma. Glorious, of all beings the most glorious, am I.

the pâtâ-plant. 1. May the enemy not win the debate! Thou art mighty and overpowering. Overcome the debate of those that debate against us, render them devoid of force, O plant! 2. An eagle found thee out, a boar dug thee out with his snout. Overcome the debate of those that debate against us, render them devoid of force, O plant! 3. Indra placed thee upon his arm in order to overthrow the Asuras. Overcome the debate of those that debate against us, render them devoid of force, O plant! 4. Indra did eat the pâtâ-plant, in order to overthrow the Asuras. Overcome the debate of those that debate against us, render them devoid of force, O plant! 5. By means of thee I shall conquer the enemy, as Indra (conquered) the Sâlâvrikas. Overcome the debate of those that debate against us, render them devoid of force, O plant! 6. O Rudra, whose remedy is the urine, with black crest of hair, performer of (strong) deeds,overcome thou the debate of those that debate against us, render them devoid of force, O plant! 7. Overcome thou the debate of him that is hostile to us, O Indra! Encourage us with thy might! Render me superior in debate!

1. Because of yore, when the (cloud-) serpent was slain (by Indra), ye did rush forth and shout (anadatâ), therefore is your name 'shouters' (nadyah rivers'): that is your designation, ye streams! 2. Because, when sent forth by Varuna, ye then quickly did bubble up; then Indra met (âpnot) you, as ye went, therefore anon are ye 'meeters' (âpah waters')! 3. When reluctantly ye flowed, Indra, forsooth, did with might choose (avîvarata) you as his own, ye goddesses! Therefore 'choice' (vâr 'water') has been given you as your name! 4. One god stood upon you, as ye flowed according to will. Up breathed (ud ânishuh) they who are known as 'the great' (mahîh). Therefore 'upbreather' (udakam 'water') are they called! 5. The waters are kindly, the waters in truth were ghee. These waters, truly, do support Agni and Soma. May the readily flowing, strong sap of the honey-dripping (waters) come to me, together with life's breath and lustre! 6. Then do I see them and also do I hear them; their sound, their voice doth come to me. When, ye golden-coloured, I have refreshed myself with you, then I ween, ambrosia (amrita) am I tasting! 7. Here, ye waters, is your heart, here is your calf, ye righteous ones! Come ye, mighty ones, by this way here, by which I am conducting you here!

Neither the plants of olden times, nor they of recent times, surpass thee; a fierce slayer is the gahaida, and a happy refuge. 8 And when, O gangida of boundless virtue, thou didst spring up in the days of yore, O fierce (plant), Indra at first placed strength in thee. 9. Fierce Indra, verily, put might into thee, O lord of the forest! Dispersing all diseases, slay thou the Rakshas, O plant! I o. The breaking disease and the tearing disease, the balâsa, and the pain in the limbs, the takman that comes every autumn, may the gangida render devoid of force!

and insects. 1. The poison infused by the serpent that is striped across, by the black serpent, and by the adder; that poison of the kankaparvan ('with limbs like a comb,' scorpion) this plant has driven out. 2. This herb, born of honey, dripping honey, sweet as honey, honied, is the remedy for injuries; moreover it crushes insects. 3. Wherever thou hast been bitten, wherever thou hast been sucked, from there do we exorcise for thee the poison of the small, greedily biting insect, (so that it be) devoid of strength. 4. Thou (serpent) here, crooked, without joints, and without limbs, that twisteth thy crooked jawsmayest thou, O Brihaspati, straighten them out, as a (bent) reed! 5. The poison of the sarkota (scorpion) that creeps low upon the ground, (after he) has been deprived of his strength, I have taken away; moreover I have caused him to be crushed. 6. There is no strength in thy arms, in thy head, nor in the middle (of thy body). Then why dost thou so wickedly carry a small (sting) in thy tail? 7. The ants devour thee, pea-hens hack thee to pieces. Yea, every one of you shall declare the poison of the sarkota powerless! 8. Thou (scorpion) that strikest with both, with mouth as well as tail, in thy mouth there is no poison: then what can there be in the receptacle in thy tail?

Him that fashions spells, practises magic, digs after roots, sends out curses, Indra, shall slay with his mighty weapon, Agni shall pierce with his hurled (arrow)!

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!

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!

1. Superior is the sacrifice, superior Agni, superior Soma, superior Indra. To the end that I shall be superior to all hostile armies do we thus, offering the agnihotra, reverently present this oblation! 2. Hail be, ye wise Mitra and Varuna: with honey swell ye our kingdom here, (so that it shall) abound in offspring! Drive far to a distance misfortune, strip off from us sin, even after it has been committed! 3. With inspiration follow ye this strong hero; cling close, ye friends, to Indra (the king), who conquers villages, conquers cattle, has the thunderbolt in his arm, overcomes the host arrayed (against him), crushing it with might!

1. Upon those persons yonder the winged missile shall fall! If the owl shrieks, futile shall this be, or if the pigeon takes his steps upon the fire! 2. To thy two messengers, O Nirriti, who come here, despatched or not despatched, to our house, to the pigeon and to the owl, this shall be no place to step upon! 3. He shall not fly hither to slaughter (our) men; to keep (our) men sound he shall settle here! Charm.him very far away unto a distant region, that (people) shall behold you (i.e. him) in Yama's house devoid of strength, that they shall behold you bereft of power!

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

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!

of disease, called kanva. 1. The goddess Prisniparnî has prepared prosperity for us, mishap for Nirriti (the goddess of destruction). For she is a fierce devourer of the Kanvas: her, the mighty, have I employed. 2. The Prisniparnî was first begotten powerful; with her do I lop off the heads of the evil brood, as (the head) of a bird. 3. The blood-sucking demon, and him that tries to rob (our) health, Kanva, the devourer of our offspring, destroy, O Prisniparnî, and overcome! 4. These Kanvas, the effacers of life, drive into the mountain; go thou burning after them like fire, O goddess Prisniparnî! 5. Drive far away these Kanvas, the effacers of life! Where the dark regions are, there have I made these flesh-eaters go.

Rohita and his female Rohinî. 1. Rise up, O steed, that art within the waters, enter this kingdom, rich in liberal gifts! Rohita (the red sun) who has begotten this all, shall keep thee well-supported for sovereignty! 2. The steed that is within the waters has risen up: ascend upon the clans that are sprung from thee! Furnishing soma, the waters, plants, and cows, cause thou four-footed and two-footed creatures to enter here! 3. Do ye, strong Maruts, children of Prisni (the cloud), allied with Indra, crush the enemies! Rohita shall hear you, that give abundant gifts, the thrice seven Maruts, who take delight in sweet (nourishment)! 4. Rohita has climbed the heights, he has ascended them, he, the embryo of women, (has ascended) the womb of births. Closely united with these women they found out the six broad (directions); spying out a road he has brought hither sovereignty. 5. Hither to thee Rohita has brought sovereignty; he has dispersed the enemies: freedom from danger has resulted for thee. To thee heaven and earth together with the revatî and sakvarî- stanzas shall yield gifts at will! 6. Rohita produced heaven and earth; there Parameshthin (the lord on high) extended the thread (of the sacrifice). There Aga Ekapâda (the one-footed goat, the sun) did fix himself; he made firm the heavens and earth with his strength. 7. Rohita made firm heaven and earth, by him the (heavenly) light was established, by him the firmament. By him the atmosphere and the spaces were measured out, through him the gods obtained immortality. 8. Rohita did ponder the multiform (universe) while preparing (his) climbings and advances. Having ascended the heaven with great might, he shall anoint thy royalty with milk and ghee! 9.

Let not the heavenly (fire) together with the lightning burn, thee! 12. Let not the flesh-devouring (fire) menace thee: move afar from the funeral pyre! Heaven shall guard thee, the earth shall guard thee, the sun and moon shall guard thee, the atmosphere shall guard thee against the divine missile! 13. May the alert and the watchful divinities guard thee, may he that sleeps not and nods not guard thee, may he that protects and is vigilant guard thee! 14. They shall guard thee, they shall protect thee. Reverence be to them. Hail be to them! 15. Into converse with the living Vâyu, Indra, Dhâtar, and saving Savitar shall put thee; breath and strength shall not leave thee! Thy (life's) spirit do we call back to thee. 16. Convulsions that draw the jaws together, darkness, shall not come upon thee, nor (the demon) that tears out the tongue (?) How shalt thou then waste away? The Âdityas and Vasus, Indra and Agni shall raise thee up unto well-being! 17. The heavens, the earth, Pragâpati, have rescued thee. The plants with Soma their king have delivered thee from death. 18. Let this man remain right here, ye gods, let him not depart hence to yonder world! We rescue him from death with (a charm) of thousandfold strength. 19. I have delivered thee from death. The (powers) that furnish strength shall breathe upon thee. The (mourning women) with dishevelled hair, they that wail lugubriously, shall not wail over 20. 1 have snatched thee (from death), I have obtained thee; thou hast returned with renewed youth. O thou, that art (now) sound of limb, for thee sound sight, and sound life have I obtained. 21. It has shone upon thee, light has arisen, darkness has departed from thee. We remove from thee death, destruction, and disease.

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

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

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.

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

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

1. The gods, O king, did not give to thee this (Cow) to eat. Do not, O prince, seek to devour the cow of the Brâhmana, which is unfit to be eaten! 2. The prince, beguiled by dice, the wretched one who has lost as a stake his own person, he may, perchance, eat the cow of the Brâhmana, (thinking), 'let me live to-day (if) not to-morrow'! 3. Enveloped (is she) in her skin, as an adder with evil poison; do not, O prince, (eat the cow) of the Brâhmana: sapless, unfit to be eaten, is that cow! 4. Away does (the Brâhmana) take regal power, destroys vigour; like fire which has caught does he burn away everything. He that regards the Brâhmana as fit food drinks of the poison of the taimâta-serpent. 5. He who thinks him (the Brahman) mild, and slays him, he who reviles the gods, lusts after wealth, without thought, in his heart Indra kindles a fire; him both heaven and earth hate while he lives. 6. The Brâhmana must not be encroached upon, any more than fire, by him that regards his own body! For Soma is his (the Brâhmana's) heir, Indra protects him from hostile plots. 7. He swallows her (the cow), bristling with a hundred hooks, (but) is unable to digest her, he, the fool who, devouring the food of the Brahmans, thinks, 'I am eating a luscious (morsel).' 8. (The Brahman's) tongue turns into a bow. string, his voice into the neck of an arrow; his windpipe, his teeth are bedaubed with holy fire: with these the Brahman strikes those who revile the gods, by means of bows that have the strength to reach the heart, discharged by the gods. 9. The Brâhmanas have sharp arrows, are armed with missiles, the arrow whi ch they hurl goes not in vain; pursuing him with their holy fire and their wrath, even from afar, do they pierce him. 10. They who ruled over a thousand, and were themselves ten hundred, the Vaitahavya, when they devoured the cow of the Brâhmana, perished. 11. The cow herself, when slaughtered, came down upon the Vaitahavyas.

1. Agni shall skilfully march against our opponents, burning against their schemes and hostile plans; Gâtavedas shall confuse the army of our opponents and deprive them (of the use) of their hands! 2. Ye Maruts are mighty in such matters: advance ye, crush ye, conquer ye (the enerny)! These Vasus when implored did crush (them). Agni, vily, as their vanauard shall skilfully attack! 3. O Maghavan, the hostile army which contends against us--do ye, O Indra, Vritra's slayer, and Agni, burn against them! 4. Thy thunderbolt, O Indra, who hast been driven forward swiftly by thy two bay steeds, shall advance, crushing the enemies. Slay them that resist, pursue, or flee, deprive their schemes of fulfilment! 5. O Indra, confuse the army of the enemy; with the impact of the fire and the wind scatter them to either side! 6. Indra shall confuse the army, the Miaruts shall slay it with might! Agni shall rob it of its sight; vanquished it shall turn about!

1. The sorcerer (yâtudhâna) that vaunts himsel and the Kimîdin do thou, O Agni, convey hither! For thou, O god, when lauded, becomest the destroyer of the demon. 2. Partake of the ghee, of the sesame-oil, O Agni Gâtavedas, that standest on high, conquerest by thyself! Make the sorcerers howl! 3. The sorcerers and the devouring (atrin) Kimîdin shall howl! Do ye, moreover, O Agni and Indra, receive graciously this our oblation! 4. Agni shall be the first to seize them, Indra with his (strong) arms shall drive them away! Every wizard, as soon as he comes, shall proclaim himself, saying, 'I am he'! 5. We would see thy might, O Gâtavedas; disclose to us the wizards, O thou that beholdest men! May they all, driven forth by thy fire, disclosing themselves, come to this spot! 6. Seize hold, O Gâtavedas: for our good thou wast born! Become our messenger, O Agni, and make the sorcerers howl! 7. Do thou, O Agni, drag hither the sorcerers, bound in shackles; then Indra with his thunderbolt shall cut off their heads!

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!

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

1. 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!

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!

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

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.

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

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

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

1. Of these three earths (our) earth verily is the highest. From the surface of these I have now plucked a remedy. 2. Thou art the most excellent of remedies, the best of plants, as Soma (the moon) is the lord in the watches of the night, as Varuna (is king) among the gods. 3. O ye wealthy, irresistible (plants), ye do generously bestow benefits. And ye strengthen the hair, and, moreover, promote its increase.

1. Raise thyself up, grow thick by thy own might, O grain! Burst every vessel! The lightning in the heavens shall not destroy thee! 2. When we invoke thee, god grain, and thou dost listen, then do thou raise thyself up like the sky, be inexhaustible as the sea! 3. Inexhaustible shall be those that attend to thee, inexhaustible thy heaps! Theywhogivethee as a present shall be inexhaustible, they who eat thee shall be inexhaustible!

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

1. Through this oblation, that causes prosperity, may this man flourish anew; may he excel the wife that they have brought to him with his sap! 2. May he excel in strength, excel in royalty! May this couple be inexhaustible in wealth that bestows thousandfold lustre! 3. Tvashtar begot (for thee) a wife, Tvashtar for her begot thee as a husband. May Tvashtar bestow upon you two a thousand lives, may he bestow upon you long life!

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.

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