Sacred Concord

AV 6.138

Atharva Veda · translated by Maurice Bloomfield

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!
AV 6.138 · Atharva Veda · 6

Themes in this passage

MarriageStrengthJoyLonelinessKarma

Marriage in other traditions

The same theme, as Christianity, Islam and Hellenism address it.

Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.
1 Corinthians 7:3 · Bible · 1 Corinthians
Allah citeth an example for those who disbelieve: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot, who were under two of Our righteous slaves yet betrayed them so that they (the husbands) availed them naught against Allah and it was said (unto them): Enter the Fire along with those who enter.
Quran 66:10 · Quran · The Prohibition
“Then I saw Alcmena, the wife of Amphitryon, who also bore to Jove indomitable Hercules; and Megara who was daughter to great King Creon, and married the redoubtable son of Amphitryon.
Odyssey 11.22 · Odyssey · 11
Helen, after the death of Paris, married Deiphobus his brother, and at the taking of Troy betrayed him, in order to reconcile herself to Menelaus her first husband, who received her again into favour.
Iliad 24.79 · Iliad · 24

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