Av08 H1

Created by Jijith Nadumuri at 02 Jul 2011 11:22 and updated at 02 Jul 2011 14:02

ATHARVA VEDA

BOOK VIII (8)

HYMN I (1)

A charm to recover a dying man

[0800101] Homage to Death the Ender! May thy breathings, inward and outward, still remain within thee.
Here stay this man united with his spirit in the Sun s realm, the world of life eternal!

[0800102] Bhaga hath lifted up this man, and Soma with his filaments, Indra and Agni, and the Gods the Maruts, raised him up to health.

[0800103] Here is thy spirit, here thy breath, here is thy life, here is thy soul: By a celestial utterance we raise thee from Destruction s bonds.

[0800104] Up from this place, O man, rise! sink not downward, casting away the bonds of Death that hold thee.
Be not thou parted from this world, from sight of Agni and the Sun.

[0800105] Purely for thee breathe Wind and Matarisvan, and let the Waters rain on thee their nectar.
The Sun shall shine with healing on thy body; Death shall have mercy on thee: do not leave us!

[0800106] Upward must be thy way, O man, not downward: with life and mental vigour I endow thee.
Ascend this car eternal, lightly rolling; then full of years shalt thou address the meeting.

[0800107] Let not thy soul go thither, nor be lost to us: slight not the living, go not where the Fathers are.
Let all the Gods retain thee here in safety.

[0800108] Yearn not for the departed ones, for those who lead men far away.
Rise up from darkness into light: come, both thy hands we clasp in ours.

[0800109] Let not the black dog and the brindled seize thee, two warders of the way sent forth by Yama.
Come hither; do not hesitate: with mind averted stay not there. [p. a323]

[0800110] Forbear to tread this path, for it is awful: that path I speak of which thou hast not travelled.
Enter it not, O man; this way is darkness: forward is danger, hitherward is safety.

[0800111] Thy guardians be the Fires within the Waters, thy guardian be the Fire which men enkindle.
Thy guardian be Vaisvanara Jatavedas; let not celestial Fire with lightning burn thee.

[0800112] Let not the Flesh Consumer plot against thee: depart thou far away from the Destroyer.
Be Heaven and Earth and Sun and Moon thy keepers, and from the dart of Gods may Air protect thee.

[0800113] May Vigilance and Watchfulness protect thee, Sleepless and Slumberless keep guard above thee! Let Guardian and let Wakeful be thy warders.

[0800114] Let these be thy preservers, these thy keepers.
All hail to these, to these be lowly worship!

[0800115] May saving Savitar, Vayu, Indra, Dhatar restore thee to com munion with the living.
Let not thy vigour or thy breath forsake thee: we recall thy life.

[0800116] Let not the fiend with snapping jaws, nor darkness find thee: tongue, holy grass: how shouldst thou perish? May the Adityas and the Vasus, Indra and Agni raise thee and to health restore thee.

[0800117] The Sky hath raised thee, and the Earth, Prajapati hath raised thee up.
The Plants and Herbs with Soma as their King have rescued thee from Death.

[0800118] Here let this man, O Gods, remain: let him not go to yonder world.
We rescue him from Mrityu with a charm that hath a thousand powers.

[0800119] I have delivered thee from Death.
Strength givers smelt and fashion thee! Let not she fiends with wild loose locks, or fearful howlers yell at thee.

[0800120] I have attained and captured thee: thou hast returned restored to youth.
Perfect in body: so have I found all thy sight and all thy life. [p. a324]

[0800121] Life hath breathed on thee; light hath come: darkness hath past away from thee.
Far from thee we have buried Death, buried Destruction and: Decline.

HYMN II (2)

The same

[0800201] Seize to thyself this trust of life for ever: thine be longevity which nothing shortens.
Thy spirit and thy life again I bring thee: die not, nor vanish into mist and darkness.

[0800202] Come to the light of living men, come hither: I draw thee to a life of hundred autumns.
Loosing the bonds of Death, the curse that holds thee, I give thee age of very long duration.

[0800203] Thy breath have I recovered from the Wind, thy vision from the Sun.
Thy mind I stablish and secure within thee: feel in thy members,.
use thy tongue, conversing.

[0800204] I blow upon thee with the breath of bipeds and quadrupeds, as on a fire new kindled.
To thee, O Death, and to thy sight and breath have I paid reverence.

[0800205] Let this man live, let him not die: we raise him, we recover him.
I make for him a healing balm.
O Death, forbear to slay this man. [p. a325]

[0800206] Here for sound health I invocate a living animating plant, Preserving, queller of disease, victorious, full of power and might.

[0800207] Seize him not, but encourage and release him: here let him stay, though thine, in all his vigour.
Bhava and Sarva, pity and protect him: give him full life and drive away misfortunes.

[0800208] Comfort him, Death, and pity him: let him arise and pass away, Unharmed, with all his members, hearing well, with old, may he through hundred years win profit with his soul.

[0800209] May the Gods missile pass thee by.
I bring thee safe from the mist: from death have I preserved thee.
Far have I banished flesh consuming Agni: I place a rampart for thy life s protection.

[0800210] Saving him from that misty path of thine which cannot be defined.
From that descent of thine, O Death, we make for him a shield of prayer.

[0800211] I give thee both the acts of breath, health, lengthened life, and death by age.
All Yama s messengers who roam around, sent by Vaivasvata, I chase away.

[0800212] Far off we drive Malignity, Destruction, Pisachas banqueters on flesh, and Grahi.
And all the demon kind, the brood of sin, like darkness, we dispel.

[0800213] I win thy life from Agni, from the living everlasting Jatavedas.
This I procure for thee, that thou, undying, mayst not suffer harm, that thou mayst be content, that all be well with thee.

[0800214] Gracious to thee be Heaven and Earth, bringing no grief, and drawing nigh! Pleasantly shine the Sun for thee, the Wind blow sweetly to thy heart! Let the celestial Waters full of milk flow happily for thee.

[0800215] Auspicious be the Plants to thee! I have upraised thee, borne thee from the lower to the upper earth: Let the two Sons of Aditi, the Sun and Moon, protect thee there.

[0800216] Whatever robe to cover thee or zone thou makest for thyself, We make it pleasant to thy frame: may it be soft and smooth to touch. [p. a326]

[0800217] When, with a very keen and cleasing razor, our hair and beards thou shavest as a barber, Smoothing our face steal not our vital forces.

[0800218] Auspicious unto thee be rice and barley, causing no painful sick ness or consumption, these deliver from calamity.

[0800219] Thy food, thy drink, whatever they be corn grown by cultivation, milk, Food eatable, uneatable, I make all poisonless for thee.

[0800220] We give thee over as a charge to Day and Night, in trust to both.
Keep him for me from stingy fiends, from those who fain would feed on him.

[0800221] A hundred, yea, ten thousand years we give thee, ages two, three, four.
May Indra, Agni, all the Gods, with willing favour look on thee.

[0800222] To Autumn we deliver thee, to Winter, Spring and Summer s care.
We trust thee with auspicious years wherein the plants and herbs grow up.

[0800223] Death is the lord of bipeds, Death is sovran lord of quadrupeds.
Away I bear thee from that: Death the ruler: be not thou afraid.

[0800224] Thou, still uninjured, shalt not die: be not afraid; thou shalt not die.
Here where I am men do not die or go to lowest depths of gloom.

[0800225] Here verily all creatures live, the cow, the horse, the man, the beast, Here where this holy prayer is used, a rampart that protecteth life.
Let it preserve thee from thy peers, from incantation, from thy friends.

[0800226] Live very long, be healthy, be immortal: let not the vital breath forsake thy body.

[0800227] One and a hundred modes of death, dangers that may be over come, May Gods deliver thee from this when Agni, dear to all men, bids.

[0800228] Body of Agni prompt to save, slayer of fiends and foes art thou, Yea, banisher of malady, the healing balm called Putudru.

[p. a327]

HYMN III (3)

A prayer for the destruction of demons

[0800301] I balm with oil the mighty demon slayer, to the most famous friend I come for shelter.
Enkindled, sharpened by our rites, may Agni protect us in the day and night from evil.

[0800302] O Jatavedas, armed with teeth of iron, enkindled with thy flame, attack the demons.
Seize with thy tongue the foolish gods adorers: rend, put with in thy mouth the raw flesh eaters.

[0800303] Apply thy teeth, the upper and the lower, thou who hast both, enkindled and destroying.
Roam also in the air, O King, around us, and with thy jaws assail the wicked spirits.

[0800304] Pierce through the Yatudhana s skin, O Agni; let the destroying dart with fire consume him.
Rend his joints, Jatavedas! let the eater of raw flesh, seeking flesh, tear and destroy him.

[0800305] Where now thou seest, Agni Jatavedas! a Yatudhana, standing still or roaming.
Or one that flieth through the air s mid region, kindled to fury as an archer pierce him. [p. a328]

[0800306] Bending thy shafts through sacrifices, Agni! dipping thine arrows in the hymn to point them, Pierce to the heart therewith the Yatudhanas, and break their arms uplifted to attack thee.

[0800307] Rescue the captives also, Jatavedas! yea, those whom Yatudha nas spears have captured.
Strike down that fiend, blazing before him, Agni! Let spotted carrion eating kites devour him.

[0800308] Here tell this forth, O Agni: whosoever is, he himself, or acteth as, a demon, Grasp him, O thou most youthful, with thy fuel: to the Man Seer s eye give him as booty.

[0800309] With keen glance guard the sacrifice, O Agni: thou Sage, con duct it onward to the Vasus.
Let not the fiends, O Man Beholder, harm thee burning against the Rakshasas to slay them.

[0800310] Look on the fiend, amid men, as Man Beholder: rend thou his three extremities in pieces.
Demolish with thy flame his ribs, O Agni: the Yatudhana s root destroy thou triply.

[0800311] Thrice, Agni, let thy noose surround the demon who with his falsehood injures holy Order.
Loud roaring with thy flame, Jatavedas, fetter him in the pre sense of the singer.

[0800312] Agni, what curse the pair this day may utter, what rude rough word the worshippers have spoken, Each arrowy taunt sped from the angry spirit, pierce to the heart therewith the Yatudhanas.

[0800313] With fervent heat exterminate the demons: destroy the fiends with glow and flame, O Agni.
Destroy with fire the foolish gods adorers: destroy the insatiate fiercely burning creatures.

[0800314] May Gods destroy to day the evil doer: may uttered curses turn again and strike him.
Let arrows pierce the liar in his vitals, and Visva s net enclose the Yatudhana.

[0800315] The fiend who smears himself with flesh of cattle, with flesh of horses and of human bodies, Who steals the milch cow s milk away, O Agni, tear off the heads of such with fiery fury. [p. a329]

[0800316] Let the fiends steal the poison of the cattle: may Aditi cast off the evil doers.
May the God Savitar give them up to ruin, and be their share of herbs and plants denied them.

[0800317] The cow gives milk each year, O Man Beholder: let not the Yatudhana ever taste it.
Agni, if one should glut him with the biestings, pierce with thy flame his vitals as he meets thee.

[0800318] Agni, from days of old thou slayest demons: never have Rakshasas in fight overcome thee.
Burn up the foolish ones, the flesh devourers: let none of them escape thy heavenly arrow.

[0800319] Guard us, O Agni, from above and under, protect us from be hind and from before us; And may thy flames, most fierce and never wasting, glowing with fervent heat, consume the sinner.

[0800320] From rear, from front, from under, from above us, Agni, pro tect us as a sage with wisdom.
Guard to old age thy friend as friend eternal: O Agni, as im mortal, guard us mortals.

[0800321] Lend thou the worshipper that eye, O Agni, where with thou lookest on the hoof armed demons.
With light celestial in Atharvan s manner burn up the fool who ruins truth with falsehood.

[0800322] We set thee round us as a fort, victorious Agni! thee, a sage, In conquering colour day by day, destroyer of the treacherous foe.

[0800323] With deadly poison strike thou back the treacherous brood of Rakshasas, O Agni, with thy sharpened glow, with rays that flash with points of flame.

[0800324] Agni shines far and wide with lofty splendour, and by his great ness makes all things apparent.
He conquers godless and malign enchantments, and sharpens both his horns to gore the ogres.

[0800325] Thy two unwasting horns, O Jatavedas, keen pointed weapons, sharpened by devotion With these transfix the wicked souled Kimidin, with fierce flame, Jatavedas! when he meets thee. [p. a330]

[0800326] Bright, radiant, meet to be adored, immortal with refulgent glow, Agni drives Rakshasas away.

HYMN IV (4)

Imprecations on demons

[0800401] Indra and Soma, burn, destroy the demon foe! Send downward, O ye Bulls, those who add gloom to gloom.
Annihilate the fools, slay them and burn them up: chase them away from us, pierce the voracious fiends. [p. a331]

[0800402] Let sin, Indra and Soma! round the wicked boil, like as a cald ron set amid the flames of fire.
Against the foe of prayer, eater of gory flesh, the fearful eyed Kimidin, keep perpetual hate.

[0800403] Indra and Soma, plunge the wicked in the depth, yea, cast them into darkness that hath no support, So that not one of them may ever thence return: so may your wrathful might prevail and conquer them.

[0800404] Indra and Soma, hurl your deadly crushing bolt down on the wicked fiend from heaven and from the earth.
Yea, fashion from the big clouds your celestial dart wherewith ye burn to death the waxing demon race.

[0800405] Indra and Soma, cast ye downward from the sky your deadly bolts of stone burning with fiery flame, Eternal, scorching darts.
Plunge the voracious fiends within the depth, and let them pass without a sound.

[0800406] Indra and Soma, let this hymn control you both, even as the girth encompasses two vigorous steeds The song of praise which I with wisdom offer you.
Do ye, as Lords of men, animate these my prayers.

[0800407] In your impetuous manner think ye both thereon: destroy those evil spirits, kill the treacherous fiends.
Indra and Soma, let the wicked have no bliss whoso at any time attacks and injures us.

[0800408] Whoso accuses me with words of falsehood when I pursue my way with guileless spirit, May he, the speaker of untruth, be, Indra! like water which the hollowed hand compresses.

[0800409] Those who destroy, as is their wont, the simple, and with their evil natures harm the righteous, May Soma give them over to the serpent, or to the lap of Nirriti consign them.

[0800410] O Agni, whosoever seeks to injure the essence of our food, kine, steeds, or bodies, May he, the adversary, thief, and robber, sink to destruction,.
both himself and offspring.

[0800411] May he be swept away, himself and children; may all the three earths press him down beneath them.
May his fair glory, O ye Gods, be blighted, who in the day or night would fain destroy us. [p. a332]

[0800412] The prudent finds it easy to distinguish the true and false: their words oppose each other.
Of these two that which is the true and honest Soma protects, and brings the false to nothing.

[0800413] Never doth Soma aid and guide the wicked or him who falsely claims the Warrior s title.
He slays the fiend and him who speaks untruly: both lie entan gled in the noose of Indra.

[0800414] As if I worshipped deities of falsehood, or thought vain thoughts about the Gods, O Agni! Why art thou angry with us, Jatavedas? Destruction fall on those who lie against thee!

[0800415] So may I die this day if I have harassed any man s life, or if I be a demon.
Yea, may he lose all his ten sons together who with false tongue hath called me Yatudhana.

[0800416] May Indra slay him with a mighty weapon, and let the vilest of all creatures perish, The fiend who says that he is pure, who calls me a demon though devoid of demon nature.

[0800417] She too who wanders like an owl at night time, hiding her body in her guile and malice, May she fall downward into endless caverns.
May press stones with loud ring destroy the demons.

[0800418] Spread out, ye Maruts, search among the people: seize ye and grind the Rakshasas to pieces, Who fly abroad, transformed to birds, at night time, and sully and pollute our holy worship.

[0800419] Hurl down from heaven thy bolt of stone, O Indra: sharpen it, Maghavan, made keen by Soma.
Forward, behind, and from above and under, smite down the demons with thy rocky weapon.

[0800420] They fly, the demon dogs, and, bent on mischief, fain would they harm indomitable Indra.
Sakra makes sharp his weapon for the wicked: now let him cast his bolt at fiendish wizards.

[0800421] Indra hath ever been the fiends destroyer who spoil oblations of the Gods invokers.
Yea, Sakra, like an axe that splits the timber, assails and sma shes them like earthen vessels. [p. a333]

[0800422] Destroy the fiend shaped like an owl or owlet, destroy him in.
the form of dog or cuckoo.
Destroy him shaped as eagle or as vulture: as with a stone, O Indra, crush the demon.

[0800423] Let not the fiend of witchcraft workers reach us: may Dawn.
drive off the couples of Kimidins.
Earth keep us safe from earthly woe and trouble! From grief that comes from heaven Mid air preserve us!

[0800424] Indra destroy the demon, male and female, joying and triumph ing in arts of magic! Let the fools gods with bent necks fall and perish, and see no.
more the Sun when he arises.

[0800425] Look, each one, hither, look around.
Indra and Soma, watch ye well.
Cast forth your weapon at the fiends: against the sorcerers hurl your bolt.

[p. a334]

HYMN V (5)

A charm accompanying investiture with an amulet

[0800501] Upon the strong is bound the strong, this magic cord, this Amu let, Potent, foe slayer, served by valiant heroes, happy and fortu nate defence.

[0800502] This Charm, foe slayer, served by many heroes, strong, power ful, victorious, and mighty, goes bravely forth to meet and ruin witchcraft.

[0800503] With this same Amulet wise Indra routed the Asuras, with this he slaughtered Vritra, With this he won this pair, both Earth and Heaven, and made the sky s four regions his possession.

[0800504] May this encircling magic cord, this Amulet of Sraktya wood, Mighty, subduing enemies, keep us secure on every side.

[0800505] This Agni hath declared, Soma declared it, Brihaspati, and Savitar, and Indra.
So may these Gods whom I have set before me oppose with saving charms and banish witchcraft.

[0800506] I have obscured the heaven and earth, yea, and the daylight and the sun.
So may these Gods whom I have set before me oppose with saving charms and banish witchcraft.

[0800507] Whoever for his armour takes an amulet of the Sraktya tree, Like the Sun risen up to heaven, quells witchcraft with superior might.

[0800508] With Amulet of Sraktya wood, as with a thoughtful Rishi s aid, In every fight have I prevailed; I smite the foes and Rakshasas.

[0800509] All witchcraft of Angirases,"all witchcraft wrought by Asuras, All witchcraft self originate, and all that others have prepared, May these depart to both remotest spaces, past ninety ample water floods.

[0800510] May the Gods bind the Charm on him for armour, Indra, and Vishnu, Savitar Rudra, Agni, Prajapati, sublimest Parameshlhin, Viraj, Vaisvanara, and all the Rishis.

[0800511] Thou art the chief of all the plants, even as a bull among the beasts. [p. a335] A tiger of the beasts of prey.
Him whom we sought for have we found, him lying near in wait for us.

[0800512] A tiger verily is he, he is a lion, and a bull, Subduer of his foes is he, the man who wears this Amulet.

[0800513] No mortal beings slay him, no Gandharvas, no Apsarases; over all the regions he is king, the man who wears this Amulet.

[0800514] Kasyapa formed and fashioned thee, Kasyapa raised and sent thee forth.
Indra wore thee, and, wearing thee, won in the wrestling match with man.
The Amulet of boundless might the Gods have made a coat of mail.

[0800515] Whoever would destroy thee with Diksha rites, sacrifices, spells, Meet him and smite him, Indra! with thy hundred knotted thunderbolt.

[0800516] Verily let this Amulet, circular, potent, conquering, Happy and fortunate defence, preserve thy children and thy wealth.

[0800517] Brave Indra, set before us light, peace and security from below, Peace and security from above, peace and security from behind.

[0800518] My coat of mail is Heaven and Earth, my coat of mail is Day and Sun: A coat of mail may Indra and Agni and Dhatar grant to me.

[0800519] Not all the Gods may pierce, all leagued together, the vast strong shield which Indra gives, and Agni.
May that great shield on all sides guard my body, that to full old my life may be extended.

[0800520] Let the Gods Charm be bound on me to keep me safe from every ill.
Come ye and enter all within this pillar, the safe guard of the body, thrice defended.

[0800521] In this let Indra lay a store of valour: approach ye Gods, and enter it together, For his long life, to last a hundred autumns, that to full age his days may be extended.

[0800522] Lord of the clan who brings, us bliss, fiend slayer, queller of the foe, May he, the conqueror, never subdued, may Indra bind the Charm on thee, [p. a336] Bull, Soma drinker, he who gives us peace.
May he protect thee round about, by night and day on every, side.

HYMN VI (6)

A charm to exercise evil spirits who beset women

[0800601] Let neither fiend of evil name, Alinsa, Vatsapa, desire Thy pair of husband wooers which thy mother cleansed when, thou wast born.

[0800602] Palala, Anupalala, Sarku, Koka, Malimlucha, Palijaka Vavri vasas and Asresha, Rikshagriva and Pramilin.

[0800603] Approach not, come not hitherward: creep not thou in between her thighs.
I set, to guard her, Baja, that which chases him of evil name. [p. a337]

[0800604] Durnama and Sunama both are eager to converse with her.
We drive away Arayas: let Sunama seek the women folk,

[0800605] The black and hairy Asura, and Stambaja and Tundika, Arayas from this girl we drive, from bosom, waist, and parts below.

[0800606] Sniffer, and Feeler, him who eats raw flesh, and him who licks his lips, Arayas with the tails of dogs, the yellow Baja hath destroyed.

[0800607] Whoever, in thy brother s shape or father s comes to thee in sleep, Let Baja rout and chase them like eunuchs with woman s head dress on.

[0800608] Whoever steals to thee asleep or thinks to harm thee when awake, These hath it banished, as the Sun travelling round drives shade away.

[0800609] Whoever causeth her to lose her child or bear untimely fruit, Destroy him, O thou Plant, destroy the slippery fiend who lusts for her.

[0800610] Those who at evening, with the bray of asses, dance around the house, Kukshilas, and Kusulas, and Kakubhas, Srimas, Karumas, These with thine odour, O thou Plant, drive far away to every side.

[0800611] Kukundhas and Kukurabhas who dress themselves in hides and skins, Who dance about like eunuchs, who raise a wild clamour in the wood, all these we banish far away.

[0800612] All those who cannot bear the Sun who warms us yonder from the sky, Arayas with the smell of goats, malodorous, with bloody mouths, the Makakas we drive afar.

[0800613] All those who on their shoulders bear a head of monstrous magnitude, Who pierce the women s loins with pain, those demons, Indra drive away!

[0800614] Those, bearing horns upon their hands, who first of all approach the brides; Standing in ovens, laughing loud, those who in bushes flash forth light, all these we banish hence away. [p. a338]

[0800615] Those who have retroverted toes, and heels and faces in the front, Khalajas, Sakadhumajas, Urundas, all the Matmatas, impotent Kumbhamushkas, these, Drive thou, O Brahmanaspati, far from this girl with vigilance.

[0800616] Sightless and with distorted eyes, impotent.
woman less be they.
O Healing Plant, cast each away who, not her husband, would approach this woman wedded to her lord.

[0800617] The Bristly haired, the Maniac haired, the Biter, and the Groper fiend, The Creeper near, the Copper hued, the Snouty, and the Saluda, With foot and heel kick over, as a hasty cow her milking pan.

[0800618] If one should touch thy coming babe or kill thine infant newly born, The yellow Plant with mighty bow shall pierce him even to the heart.

[0800619] Those who kill infants unawares, and near the new made mothers lie, Let Pinga chase the amorous Gandharvas as wind chases cloud.

[0800620] Let it maintain the genial seed: let the laid embryo rest secure.
Let both strong Healers, to be worn within the girdle, guard the babe.

[0800621] From the Kimidin, for thy lord and children, Pinga shield thee well, From Sayaka, and Nagnaka, Tangalva, and Pavinasa.

[0800622] From the five footed, fingerless, from the four eyed, the double faced, From the Close creeper, from the Worm, from the Quick roller guard her well.

[0800623] Those who eat flesh uncooked, and those who eat the bleeding flesh of men, Feeders on babes unborn, long haired, far from this place we banish these.

[0800624] Shy slinkers from the Sun, as slinks a woman from her husband s sire, Deep down into the heart of these let Baja and let Pinga pierce.

[0800625] Pinga, preserve the babe at birth, make not the boy a female child.
Let not Egg eaters mar the germs: drive the Kimidins far away. [p. a339]

[0800626] Sterility, and infants death, and weeping that announceth woe, Dear! lay them on the fiend as thou wouldst pluck a garland from a tree.

[p. a340]

HYMN VII (7)

A charm to restore a sick man to health

[0800701] The tawny coloured, and the pale, the variegated and the red, The dusky tinted, and the black, all Plants we summon hither ward.

[0800702] This man let them deliver from Consumption which the Gods have sent.
The father of these Herbs was Heaven, their mother Earth, the Sea their root.

[0800703] The Waters are the best, and heavenly Plants.
From every limb of thine have they removed Consumption caused by sin.

[0800704] I speak to Healing Herbs spreading, and bushy, to creepers, and to those whose sheath is single, I call for thee the fibrous and the reed like, and branching.
Plants, dear to the Visve Devas, powerful, giving life to men.

[0800705] The conquering strength, the power and might which ye, victo rious Plants, possess, Therewith deliver this man here from this Consumption, O ye Plants: so I prepare the remedy.

[0800706] The living Plant that giveth life, that driveth malady away, Arundhati, the rescuer, strengthening, rich a sweets I call, to free this man from scath and harm.

[0800707] Hitherward let the sapient come, the friendly sharers o f my speech. [p. a341] That we may give this man relief and raise him from his evil plight.

[0800708] Germ of the Waters, Agni s food, Plants ever growing fresh and new, Sure, healing, bearing thousand names, let them be all collected here.

[0800709] Let Plants whose soul is water, girt with Avakas, piercing with their sharp horns expel the malady.

[0800710] Strong, antidotes of poison, those releasers, free from Varuna, And those that drive away Catarrh, and those that frustrate magic arts, let all those Plants come hitherward.

[0800711] Let purchased Plants of mightier power, Plants that are praised for excellence.
Here in this village safely keep cattle and horses, man and beast.

[0800712] Sweet is their root, sweet are these Plants top branches, sweet also is their intermediate portion; Sweet is their foliage, and sweet their blossom, combined with sweetness is their taste of Amrit: food, fatness let them yield, with kine preceding.

[0800713] These Plants that grow upon the earth, whatever their number and their size, Let these with all their thousand leaves free me from Death and misery.

[0800714] May the Plants Tiger amulet, protective, guardian from the curse, Beat off the brood of demons, drive all maladies afar from us.

[0800715] Before the gathered Plants they fly and scatter, as though a lion s roar or fire dismayed them.
Expelled by Plants, let men s and kine s Consumption pass from us to the navigable rivers.

[0800716] Emancipated from the sway of Agni, of Vaisvanara, go, covering the earth, ye Plants whose ruler is Vanaspati.

[0800717] May these be pleasant to our heart, auspicious, rich in store of milk, These Plants of the Angirases which grow on mountains and on plains.

[0800718] The Plants I know myself, the plants that with mine eye I look upon, Plants yet unknown, and those we know, wherein we find that power is stored, [p. a342]

[0800719] Let all the congregated Plants attend and mark mine utterance, That we may rescue this man here and save him from severe distress.

[0800720] Asvattha, Darbha, King of Plants, is Soma, deathless sacrifice Barley and Rice are healing balms, the sons of Heaven who never die.

[0800721] Lift yourselves up, ye Healing Plants, loud is the thunder s crash and roar.
When with full flow Parjanya, ye Children of Prisni! blesseth; you.

[0800722] We give the essence of that stream of nectar of this man to drink: So I prepare a remedy that he may live a hundred years.

[0800723] Well doth the wild boar know a Plant, the mungoose knows the Healing Herb.
I call, to aid this man, the Plants which Serpents and Gandharvas know.

[0800724] Plants of Angirases which hawks, celestial Plants which eagles.
know; Plants known to swans and lesser fowl, Plants known to all the birds that fly.
Plants that are known to sylvan beasts, I call them all to aid this man.

[0800725] The multitude of herbs whereon the Cows whom none may slaughter feed, all that are food for goats and sheep, So many Plants, brought hitherward, give shelter and defence to thee!

[0800726] Hitherward unto thee I bring the Plants that cure all maladies, All Plants wherein physicians have discovered health bestowing power.

[0800727] Let Plants with flower and Plants with bud, the fruitful and the fruitless, all, Like children of one mother, yield their stores for this man s perfeet health.

[0800728] From the Five arrowed, from the Ten arrowed have I delivered thee, Freed thee from Yama s fetter and from all offence against the Gods,

[p. a343]

HYMN VIII (8)

Imprecations directed against a hostile army

[0800801] Indra the Shaker shake them up, brave, hero, fortdemolisher, That into thousand fragments we may strike the armies of our foes!

[0800802] Let Putirajju with her breath corrupt and putrefy that host, And terror smite our foemen s heart when fire and smoke are seen afar.

[0800803] Asvattha, rend those men; do thou devour them quickly, Khadira! Like reeds let them be broken through, down smitten by a lifted rush.

[0800804] Let Parushahva make them reeds, and let the bulrush strike them down: Bound in a mighty net let them break quickly like an arrow s shaft.

[0800805] Air was the net; the poles thereof were the great quarters of the sky: [p. a344] Sakra therewith enveloped and cast on the ground the Dasyus host.

[0800806] Verily mighty is the net of mighty Sakra rich in wealth: Therewith press all the foemen down so that not one of them escape!

[0800807] Great is thy net, brave Indra, thine the mighty match for a thousand, Lord of Hundred Powers! Holding them, with his host, therewith hath Indra slaughtered Dasyus a hundred, thousand, myriad, hundred millions.

[0800808] This world so mighty was the net of Sakra, of the Mighty One: With this, the net of Indra, I envelop all those men with gloom.

[0800809] Great weakness and misfortune, pain which words can never charm away, Languor, fatigue, bewilderment, with these I compass all the foes.

[0800810] I give those foemen up to Death: bound in the bonds of Death are they.
I bind and carry them away to meet Death s wicked messengers.

[0800811] Bear them away, Death s messengers! envoys of Yama! bind them fast.
More than a thousand be their slain: the club of Bhava pierce them through!

[0800812] Forth go the Sadhyas in their might bearing one netpole raised aloft.
One pole the Rudras carry, one the Vasus, and the Adityas one.

[0800813] The Visve Devas from above shall come depressing it with might, And in the midst the Angirases, slaying the mighty host, shall go.

[0800814] Trees of the forest, trees that bear flower and fruit, and herbs and plants, Quadruped, biped send I forth that they may strike this army dead,

[0800815] Gandharvas, and Apsarases, Gods, Serpents, Fathers, Holy Men, Seen and unseen, I send them forth that they may strike this army dead.

[0800816] Here spread are snares of Death wherefrom thou, once within them, never art freed: Full many a thousand of the host yonder this horn shall smite and slay. [p. a345]

[0800817] The Gharma hath been warmed with fire: this Homa slays a thousand men.
Let Bhava, Prisnibahu, and Sarva destroy that armament.

[0800818] Their portion be the fire of Death, hunger, exhaustion, slaughter, fear.
With your entangling snares and nets, Sarva and Indra! slay that host.

[0800819] Fly, conquered, in alarm, ye foes, run driven by the spell away! Let not one man escape of those when routed by Brihaspati.

[0800820] Down fall their weapons on the ground: no strength be theirs to point a shaft: Then in their dreadful terror let their arrows wound their vital parts.

[0800821] Let Heaven and Earth roar out in wrath against them, and Air with all the Deities in concert, Let them not find a surety or a refuge, but torn away go down to Death together.

[0800822] The mules of the Gods car are heaven s four quarters; their hooves are sacred cakes, the air its body.
Its sides are Heaven and Earth, its reins the Seasons, Voice is its hood, its grooms are sky s mid regions.

[0800823] Year is the car, Full Year the seat for driving, Viraj the pole, the chariot s front is Agni, Indra the warrior, and the Moon the driver.

[0800824] Hence conquer, conquer, Hail! be thou the victor! Let these be conquerors and those be conquered.
Good luck to these, ill luck to those men yonder! With the dark blue and red our foes I cover.

[p. a346]

HYMN IX (9)

An enunciation of cosmogonical, ritual, and metrical doctrine

[0800901] Whence were these two produced? which was that region? From what world, from which earth had they their being? Calves of Viraj, these two arose from water.
I ask thee of these twain, who was their milker.

[0800902] He who prepared a threefold home, and lying there made the water bellow through his greatness, Calf of Viraj, giving each wish fulfilment, made bodies for him self far off, in secret.

[0800903] Which are the three, the mighty three, whereof the fourth divides the voice, This may the Brahman know by prayer and fervour, whereto belongs the one, whereto the other.

[0800904] Out of the Brihat as the sixth five Salmons have been fashioned forth: From Brihati was Brihat formed: whence was the Brihati com posed?

[0800905] On measure Brihati is based, and measure on the measurer: From magic might came magic might, from magic might came Matali.

[0800906] Vaisvanara s image is the sky above us, so far as Agni forced both spheres asunder. [p. a347] Thence from that region as the sixth come praise songs, and every sixth day hence again go upward.

[0800907] We, Kasyapa! six present Rishis, ask thee for thou hast prov ed things tried and meet for trial They call Viraj the Father of Devotion: tell her to us thy friends in all her figures.

[0800908] She whom, advancing, sacrifices follow, and when she takes her station stand beside her, By whose control and hest the spirit moveth, she is Viraj, in highest heaven, O Rishis.

[0800909] Breathless, she moves by breath of living creatures, Svaraj pre cedes, Viraj comes closely after.
Some men behold her not, and some behold her, Viraj meet shaped, who thinks of all existence.

[0800910] Who hath perceived Viraj s duplication, perceived her seasons and her rule and practice? Who knows her steps, how oft, how far extended, who knows her home and number of her dawnings?

[0800911] She here who first of all sent forth her lustre moves onward resting on these lower creatures.
Exalted power and might are stored within her: the woman hath prevailed, the new come mother.

[0800912] Both Dawns on wings of song, with rich adornment, move on together to their common dwelling.
Surya s two wives, unwasting, most prolific, knowing their way, move, rich in light, together.

[0800913] The three have passed along the path of Order three warm libations have regarded offspring One quickens progeny, one strengthens vigour, and one protects the kingdom of the pious.

[0800914] She who was fourth was made by Agni, Soma, and Rishis as.
they formed both halves of worship, Gayatri, Trishtup, Jagati, Anushtup, Brihadarki lightening the sacrificer.

[0800915] Five milkings answer to the fivefold dawning, five seasons to the cow who bears five titles.
The five sky regions made fifteen in number, one head have these to one sole world directed.

[0800916] Six Elements arose, first born of Order: the six day time is carried by six Samans. [p. a348] Six yoked the plough is, as each trace is numbered: they call both broad ones six; six, Earth and Heaven.

[0800917] They call the cold months six, and six the hot ones.
Which, tell us, of the seasons is redundant? Seven sages, eagles, have sat down together: seven metres match the seven Consecrations.

[0800918] Seven are the Homas, seven the logs for burning, seven are the streams of mead, and seven the seasons.
Into the world have come seven streams of butter; those we have heard of as the Seven Vultures.

[0800919] Seven metres, by four syllables increasing, each of the seven founded upon another How are the hymns of praise on these supported, and how are these imposed upon the praise songs?

[0800920] How hath the Gayatri filled out three triads? On the fifteen how is the Trishtup moulded, Jagati fashioned on the three and thirty? How is Anushtup formed? how Ekavinsa?

[0800921] Eight Elements sprang up, first born of Order: the Priests divine are eight in number, Indra! Eight are the wombs of Aditi, eight her children; for the eighth night is the libation destined.

[0800922] So planning bliss for you have I come hither to win your friendship: kind am I, and gracious.
Born from one source, propitious is your wisdom: knowing full well to all of you it cometh.

[0800923] To Indra eight, to Yama six, seven to the Rishis, seven to each: The number five accompanies waters and men and healing herbs.

[0800924] The Heifer, all his own, poured forth for Indra control and milk at her first time of milking; And he then satisfied the four divisions, the Gods and men and Asuras and Rishis.

[0800925] Who is the Cow? Who is the Single Rishi? What is the law, what are the benedictions? What on the earth is the one only Spirit? Which of the number is the Single Season?

[0800926] One is the Cow, one is the Single Spirit, one is the law, single are benedictions. [p. a349] The Spirit dwelling on the earth is single: the Single Season never is transcended.

[p. a350]

Atharva Veda Books:-

Book 1

av01-h1
av01-h10
av01-h20
av01-h30

Book 2

av02-h1
av02-h10
av02-h20
av02-h30

Book 3

av03-h1
av03-h10
av03-h20
av03-h30

Book 4

av04-h1
av04-h10
av04-h20
av04-h30
av04-h40

Book5

av05-h1
av05-h10
av05-h20
av05-h30

Book6

av06-h1
av06-h10
av06-h20
av06-h30
av06-h40
av06-h50
av06-h60
av06-h70
av06-h80
av06-h90
av06-h100
av06-h110
av06-h120
av06-h130
av06-h140

Book 7

av07-h1
av07-h10
av07-h20
av07-h30
av07-h40
av07-h50
av07-h60
av07-h70
av07-h80
av07-h90
av07-h100
av07-h110

Book 8

av08-h1
av08-h10

Book 9

av09-h1
av09-h10

Book 10

av10-h1
av10-h10

Book 11

av11-h1
av11-h10

Book 12

av12-h1

Book 13

av13-h1

Book 14

av14-h1

Book 15

av15-h1
av15-h10

Book 16

av16-h1

Book 17

av17-h1

Book 18

av18-h1

Book 19

av19-h1
av19-h10
av19-h20
av19-h30
av19-h40
av19-h50
av19-h60
av19-h70

Book 20

av20-h1
av20-h10
av20-h20
av20-h30
av20-h40
av20-h50
av20-h60
av20-h70
av20-h80
av20-h90
av20-h100
av20-h110
av20-h120
av20-h130
av20-h140

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