varana-tree. 1. Here is my varana-amulet, a bull that destroys the rivals: with it do thou close in upon thy enemies, crush them that desire to injure thee! 2. Break them, crush them, close in upon them: the amulet shall be thy vanguard in front! With the varana the Devas (gods) did ward off (avârayanta) the onslaught of the Asuras (demons) day after day. 3, This thousand-eyed, yellow, golden varanaamulet is a universal cure; it shall lay low thy enemies: be thou the first to injure those that hate thee! 4. This varana will ward off (vârayishyate) the spell that has been spread against thee; this will protect thee from human danger, this will protect thee from all evil! 5. This divine tree, the varana, shall shut out (vârayâtâi)! The gods, too, have shutout (avivaran) the disease that has entered into this (man). 6. If when asleep thou shalt behold an evil dream; as often as a wild beast shall run an inauspicious course; from (ominous) sneezing, and from the evil shriek of a bird, this varana- amulet will protect thee (vârayishyate). 7. From Arâti (grudge), Nirriti (misfortune), from sorcery, and from danger; from death and overstrong weapons the varana will protect thee. 8. The sin that my mother, that my father, that my brothers and my sister have committed; the sin that we (ourselves) have committed, from that this divine tree will protect us. 9. Through the varana are confused my enemies and my (rival) kin. To untraversed gloom they have gone: they shall go to the nethermost darkness! 10. (May) I (be) unharmed, with cows unharmed, long-lived, with undiminished men! This varana-amulet shall guard me in every region (of space)! 11. This varana upon my breast, the kingly, divine tree, shall smite asunder my enemies, as Indra the Dasyus, the Asuras (demons)! 12. Long-lived, a hundred autumns old, do I wear this varana: kingdom and rule, cattle and strength, this shall bestow upon me! 13.AV 10.6a · Atharva Veda · 10
AV 10.6a
Atharva Veda · translated by Maurice Bloomfield
Themes in this passage
ProtectionWarThe DivineFamilySinDeathDesireHealing
Protection in other traditions
The same theme, as Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Hellenism address it.
That is the safe refuge, that is the best refuge; having gone to that refuge, a man is delivered from all pain.Dhp 14.192 · Dhammapada · The Buddha (The Awakened)
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.Psalms 121:7 · Bible · Psalms
Say: Lo! none can protect me from Allah, nor can I find any refuge beside HimQuran 72:22 · Quran · The Jinn
Now shield with shield, with helmet helmet closed, To armour armour, lance to lance opposed, Host against host with shadowy squadrons drew, The sounding darts in iron tempests flew, Victors and vanquish’d join’d promiscuous cries, And shrilling shouts and dying groans arise; With streaming blood the slippery fields are dyed, And slaughter’d heroes swell the dreadful tide.Iliad 4.38 · Iliad · 4
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