Hymns of the Atharvaveda - Book 05

HYMN VI

A prayer for protection and prosperity

1Eastward at first the prayer was generated: Vena disclosed bright
flashes from the summit,
Disclosed his deepest nearest revelations, womb of the non-
existent and existent.
2None have attained to those of old, those who wrought holy
acts for you,
Let them not harm our heroes here. Therefore I set before you
this.
3Sweet-tongued, exhaustless, they have sent their voices down
together in heaven's vault that pours a thousand streams.
His wildly-restless warders never close an eye: in every place
the snarers stand to bind men fast.
4Speed forward, conquering all foes, to win the spoil,
Thou comest on thy haters with a surging sea. Thy name is
Fragile. The thirteenth month is Indra's home.
5Through this now hast thou sent thy gifts. All hail!
With sharpened arms and missiles, kind and friendly, be gracious
unto us, Soma and Rudra!
6Through this hast thou been left in want. All hail!
With sharpened arms and missiles, kind and friendly, be gracious
unto us, Soma and Rudra!
7Through this hast thou committed faults. All hail!
With sharpened arms and missiles, kind and friendly, be gracious
unto us, Soma and Rudra!
8Free us from trouble, free us from dishonour, accept our wor-
ship, give us life immortal.
9O missile of the eye, missile of spirit, thou missile of devotion
and of fervour!
Thou art the weapon shot against the weapon. Let those be
weaponless who sin against us.
10Make with thy weapon weaponless, O Agni, all wicked men
who deal with us as foemen with eye, with thought, with
spirit, or intention.
11Thou art the house of Indra. I betake me to thee, I enter thee
with all my cattle,
With all my people and with all my body, with all my soul, with
mine entire possessions.
12Thou art the guard of Indra. I betake me to thee, etc.
13Thou art the shield of Indra. I betake me to thee, etc.
14Indra's protection art thou. I betake me to thee, I enter thee
with all my cattle.
With all my people and with all my body, with all my soul, with
mine entire possessions.

HYMN VII

A charm to deprecate Arāti or Malignity

1Bring thou to us, bar not the way, Arāti! Stay not the guerdon
that is being brought us.
Homage be paid to Failure, to Misfortune, and Malignity.
2The man whom thou preferrest, O Arāti, he who prates to us—
This man of thine, we reverence. Baffle not thou my heart's
desire,
3May our desire which Gods have roused fulfil itself by day and
night.
We seek to win Arāti: to Arāti be our homage paid.
4We, suppliant, call on Bhaga, on Sarasvati, Anumati,
Pleasant words have I spoken, sweet as honey is, at invocations
of the Gods.
5The portion that I crave with speech intelligent and full of
power,
May faith, presented with the gift of tawny Soma, find to-day.
6Do not thou make our words or wishes fruitless. Let the twain
Indra Agni, bring us treasures.
All, fain to-day to give us gifts, welcome Arāti with your love.
7Misfortune! go thou far away: we turn thy harmful dart aside.
I know thee well, Arāti! as oppressor, one who penetrates.
8Oft, coming as a naked girl thou hauntest people in their sleep,
Baffling the thought, Arāti! and the firm intention of a man.
9To her the mighty vast in size, who penetrates all points of
space,
To her mine homage have I paid, Nirriti with her golden hair.
10Auspicious, with her golden hue, pillowed on gold, the mighty
one
To this Arāti clad in robes of gold mine homage have I paid.

HYMN VIII

A charm for the discomfiture and destruction of hostile priests

1With fuel of Vikankata bring molten butter to the Gods.
O Agni, make them joyful here: let them all come unto my call.
2O Indra, come unto my call, This will I do. So hear it thou.
Let these exertions for the sake of Indra guide my wish aright.
Therewith, O Jātavedas, Lord of Bodies! may we win us strength.
3Whatever plot from yonder, O ye Gods, that godless man would
frame,
Let not the Gods come to his call, nor Agni bear his offering up.
Come, ye, come hither to my call.
4Run, ye Fxertions, farther on By Indra's order smite and slay.
As a wolf worrieth a sheep, so let not him escape from you
while life remains. Stop fast his breath.
5The Brāhman whom those yonder have appointed priest, for
injury,
He, Indra! is beneath thy feet. I cast him to the God of Death.
6If they have issued forth, strongholds of Gods, and made their
shield of prayer,
Gaining protection for their lives, protection round about, make
all their instigation powerless.
7Exertions which that man hath made, Exertions which he yet
will make
Turn them, O Indra, back again, O Vritra-slayer, back again on
him that they may kill that man.
8As Indra, having seized him, set his foot upon Udvāchana,
Even so for all the coming years I cast those men beneath my
feet.
9Here, Indra Vritra-slayer, in thy strength pierce thou their vital.
parts.
Here, even here, attack them, O Indra. Thine own dear friend
am I.
Indra, we closely cling to thee. May we be in thy favouring
grace.

HYMN IX

A prayer to Heaven and Earth for protection and assistance

1All hail to Heaven!
2All hail to Earth!
3All hail to Air!
4All hail to Air!
5All hail to Heaven!
6All hail to Eartht!
7Mine eye is Sīirya and my breath is Vāta, Air is my soul and
Prithivī my body.
I verily who never have been conquered give up my life toe
Heaven and Earth for keeping.
8Exalt my life, my strength, my deed and action; increase my
understanding and my vigour.
Be ye my powerful keepers, watch and guard me, ye mistresses
of life and life's creators! Dwell ye within me, and forbear
to harm me.

HYMN X

A prayer to the presiding deities of the four quarters for protection

1Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who fights against
me from the eastern quarter.
May he encounter it!
2Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who fights against
me from the southern quarter.
May he encounter it!
3Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who fights against
me from the western quarter.
May he encounter it!
4Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who fights against
me from northern quarter.
May he encounter it!
5Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who fights against
me from the stedfast region.
May he encounter it!
r 6.Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who fights against
Lme from the lofty region!
M iy he encounter it!
7Thou art my wall of stone against the sinner who from points
intermediate fights against me.
May he encounter it!
8With Brihat I invoke the mind, with Mātarisvan both the
breaths,
The eye from Sūrya, and the ear from Air, the body from the
Earth.
We, with Sarasvati who suits the mind, call Speech to come to
us.

HYMN XI

A dialogue between Atharvan and Varuna

1How, terrible in might, hast thou here spoken to the great God,
how to the gold-hued Father!
Thy mind watched, greedy Varuna! to recover the brindled cow
thou hadst bestowed as guerdon.
2Not through desire do I revoke my present: I bring this brind-
led cow to contemplate her.
Now by what lore, by what inherent nature, knowest thou all
things that exist, Atharvan?
3Truly I am profound in wisdom, truly I know by nature all
existing creatures.
No Dāsa by his greatness, not an Arya, may violate the law that
I will stablish.
4None, self-dependent Varuna! existeth wiser than thou or sager
by his wisdom.
Thou knowest well all these created beings: even the man of
wondrous powers fears thee.
5O self-dependent Varuna, wise director, thou knowest verily all
generations.
What is, unerring one! beyond this region? What more remote
than that which is most distant?
6One thing there is beyond this air, and something beyond that
one, most hard to reach, remotest.
I, Varuna, who know, to thee declare it. Let churls be mighty
in the lower regions. Let Dāsas sink into the earth beneath
them.
7Many reproaches, Varuna, dost thou utter against the misers.
who revoke their presents.
Be not thou added to that crowd of niggards: let not men call
thee an illiberal giver.
8Let not men call me an illiberal giver. I give thee back the
brindled cow, O singer.
Attend in every place where men inhabit, with all thy powers,
the hymn that tells my praises.
9Let hymns of praise ascend to thee, uplifted in every place of
human habitation.
But give me now the gift thou hast not given. Thou art my
friend for ever firm and faithful.
10One origin, Varuna! one bond unites us I know the nature of
that common kinship.
I give thee now the gift that I retracted. I am thy friend for ever
firm and faithful.
11God, giving life unto the god who lauds me, Sage strengthener
of the sage who sings my praises.
Thou, self-dependent Varuna! hast begotten the kinsman of the
Gods, our sire Atharvan.
On him bestow most highly-lauded riches. Thou art our friend,
high over all, our kinsman.

HYMN XII

An Apri or propitiatory hymn

1Thou in the house of man this day enkindled worshippest Gods
as God, O Jātavedas.
Observant, bright as Mitra, bring them hither. Thou art a
sapient and foreknowing envoy.
2Tanùnapāt, fair-tongued! with sweet meath balming the baths
and ways of Order, make them pleasant.
Bear to the Gods our sacrifice, exalting with holy thoughts our
hymns of praise and worship.
3Invoked, deserving prayer and adoration, O Agni, come accor
dant with the Vasus.
Thou art, O youthful Lord, the Gods' Invoker, so, best of sacri-
ficers, bring them quickly.
4By rule the Sacred Grass is scattered eastward, a robe to clothe
this earth when dawns are breaking.
Widely it spreads around and far extended, fair for the Gods
and bringing peace and freedom,
5Let the expansive Doors be widely opened, like wives who deck
their beauty for their husbands.
Lofty, celestial, all-impelling Portals, admit the Gods and give
them easy entrance!
6Pouring sweet dews let holy Night and Morning, each close to
each, be seated at their station,—
Lofty, celestial Dames with gold to deck them, assuming all
their fair and radiant beauty.
7Come the first two celestial sweet-voiced Hotars, arranging
sacrifice for man to worship,
As singers who inspire us in assemblies, showing the eastern
light with their direction!
8Let Bhārati come quickly to our worship and Ilā showing like a
human being.
So let Sarasvati and both her fellows, deft Goddesses, on this
fair grass be seated.
9Hotar more skilled in sacrifice, bring hither with speed to-day
God Tvashar, thou who knowest,
Even him who formed these two, the Earth and Heaven, the
Parents, with their forms, and every creature.
10Bring thou to our oblations which thou balmest the companies
of Gods in ordered season.
Agni, Vanaspati, the Immolator sweeten our offered gifts with
meath and butter!
11Agni as soon as he was born made ready the sacrifice and was
the Gods' preceder.
May the Gods eat our offering consecrated according to this true
Priest's voice and guidance.

HYMN XIII

A charm against snakes

1Varuna, Sage of heaven, hath given me the gift: with spells of
mighty power I draw thy poison out.
Dug up, not dug, adherent, I have seized it fast: low hath thy
venom sunk like water in the sands.
2All the non-fluid portion of thy venom, I receive in these.
I take thy middlemost, thy highest, lowest juice: may it be
spent and lest by reason of thy fear.
3Strong is my cry like thunder with the rainy cloud: with power-
ful incantation let thy strength be stayed.
I, with the men to aid, have seized that juice of his; as light
from out the gloom, let Sūrya rise on high
4I with this eye destroy thine eye, and with this poison conquer
thine.
Live not, O Snake, but die the death: back go thy venom on
thyself.
5Listen to me, Black Snakes and hateful creatures, Lurker-in-
Grass, Karait, and Brown, and Spotty,
Approach not near the house my friend inhabits: give warning,
and rest quiet with your poison.
6Even as the cord that strings the bow, I slacken, as it were, the
cars.
Of the All-conquering serpent's wrath, of the fierce rage of
Black, and Brown, Taimāta, and Apodaka.
7And Āligi and Viligi, their father and the mother too,—
What will ye do? Your venomed sap, we know, is utterly
powerless.
8Daughter of Urugūlā, she-fiend whom the black, skinned mother
bare—
All female serpents poison who crept swiftly near is impotent.
9Dwelling beside the mountain's slope, the quick-eared porcupine
exclaimed:
Of all these she-snakes homed in earth the poison is most
powerless.
10Tābuva or not Tābuva, thou verily art not Tābuva: poison is
killed by Tābuva.
Tastuva or not Tastuva, thou verily art not Tastuva: poison is
killed by Tastuva.

HYMN XIV

A charm against witchcraft

1An eagle found thee: with his snout a wild boar dug thee from
the earth.
Harm thou, O Plant, the mischievous, and drive the sorcerer
away.
2Beat thou the Yātudhānas back, drive thou away the sorcerer;
And chase afar, O Plant, the man who fain would do us injury.
3As 'twere a strip cut round from skin of a white-footed an-
telope,
Bind, like a golden chain, O God, his witchcraft on the sorcerer.
4Take thou his sorcery by the hand, and to the sorcerer lead it
back.
Lay it before him, face to face, that it may kill the sorcerer.
5Back on the wizard fall his craft, upon the curser light his
curse!
Let witchcraft, like a well-naved car, roll back upon the
sorcerer.
6Whoso, for other's harm hath dealt-woman or man-in magic
arts,
To him we lead the sorcery back, even as a courser with a rope.
7Now whether thou hast been prepared by Gods or been pre-
pared by men,
We, with our Indra at our side to aid us, lead thee back again.
8Agni, victorious in fight, subdue the armies of our foes!
Back on the sorcerer we cast his sorcery, and beat it home.
9Thou who hast piercing weapons, pierce him who hath wrought
it; conquer him.
We do not sharpen thee to slay the man who hath not practised
it.
10Go as a son goes to his sire: bite as a trampled viper bites.
As one who flies from bonds, go back, O Witchcraft, to the
sorcerer.
11Even as the timid antelope or hind from her assailant flees,
So swiftly let the sorcery o'ertake and reach the sorcerer.
12Straighter than any arrow let it fly against him, Heaven and
Earth.
So let that witchcraft seize again the wizard like a beast of
chase.
13Let it go contrary like flame, like water following its course.
Let witchcraft, like a well-naved car, roll back upon the
sorcerer.

HYMN XV

A charm for general prosperity

1Plant! I have those who shall avert the threatened danger, ten
and one.
O sacred Plant, produced aright! make sweetness, sweet thy self,
for me.
2Twenty and two, O Plant, have I who shall avert the threatened
ill.
O sacred Plant, produced aright! make sweetness, sweet thyself,
for me.

HYMN XVI

A charm for the increase of cattle

1Bull! if thou art the single bull, beget. Thou hast no vital sap.

HYMN XVII

The abduction and restoration of a Brāhman's wife

1These first, the boundless Sea, and Mātarisvan, fierce glowing
Fire, the Strong, the Bliss-bestower,
And heavenly Floods, first-born by holy Order, exclaimed
against the outrage on a Brāhman.
2King Soma first of all, without reluctance, made restitution of
the Brāhman's consort.
Mitra and Varuna were the inviters: Agni as Hotar took her
hand and led her.
3The man, her pledge, must by the hand be taken when he hath
cried, She is a Brāhman's consort.
She stayed not for a herald to conduct her: thus is the kingdom
of a ruler guarded.
4She whom they call the star with loosened tresses, descending as.
misfortune on the village,
The Brāhman's consort, she disturbs the kingdom where hath
appeared the hare with fiery flashing.
5Active in duty serves the Brahmachāri: he is a member of the
Gods' own body.
Through him Brihaspati obtained his consort, as the Gods gained
the ladle brought by Soma.
6Thus spake of her those Gods of old, Seven Rishis, who sate
them down to their austere devotion:
Dire is a Brāhman's wife led home by others: in the supremest
heaven she plants confusion.
7When infants die, untimely born, when herds of cattle waste
away,
When heroes strike each other dead, the Brāhman's wife
destroyeth them.
8Even if ten former husbands—none a Brāhman—had espoused a
dame,
And then a Brāhman took her hand, he is her husband, only he,
9Not Vaisya, not Rājanya, no, the Brāhman is indeed her lord:
This Sūrya in his course proclaims to the Five Races of man-
kind.
10So then the Gods restored her, so men gave the woman back
again.
Princes who kept their promises restored the Brāhman's wedded
wife.
11Having restored the Brāhman's wife, and freed them, with Gods'
aid, from sin,
They shared the fulness of the earth and worn themselves ex-
tended sway.
12No lovely wife who brings her dower in hundreds rests upon his
bed,
Within whose kingdom is detained, through want of sense, a
Brāhman's dame.
13No broad-browed calf with wide-set ears is ever in his homestead
born.
Within whose kingdom is detained, through want of sense, a
Brāhman's dame.
14No steward, golden-necklaced, goes before the meat-trays of the
man.
Within whose kingdom is detained, through want of sense, a
Brāhman's dame.
15No black-eared courser, white of hue, moves proudly, harnessed
to his car,
In whose dominion is detained, through want of sense, a
Brāhman's dame.
16No lily grows with oval bulbs, no lotus-pool is in his field,
In whose dominion is detained, through senseless love, a
Brāhman's dame.
17The men whose task it is to milk drain not the brindled cow for
him,
In whose dominion is detained, through senseless love, a
Brāhman's dame.
18His milch-cow doth not profit one, his draught-ox masters not
the yoke,
Wherever, severed from his wife, a Brāhman spends the mourn-
ful night.

HYMN XVIII

The wickedness of oppressing and robbing Brāhmans

1The Gods, O Prince, have not bestowed this cow on thee to eat
thereof.
Seek not, Rājanya, to devour the Brāhman's cow which none
may eat.
2A base Rājanya, spoiled at dice, and ruined by himself, may eat.
The Brāhman's cow and think, To-day and not tomorrow, let
me live!
3The Brāhman's cow is like a snake, charged with due poison,
clothed with skin.
Rājanya! bitter to the taste is she, and none may eat of her.
4She takes away his strength, she mars his splendour, she ruins
everything like fire enkindled.
That man drinks poison of the deadly serpent who counts the
Brāhman as mere food to feed him.
5Whoever smites him, deeming him a weakling-blasphemer,
coveting his wealth through folly
Indra sets fire alight within his bosom. He who acts thus is
loathed by Earth and Heaven.
6No Brāhman must be injured, safe as fire from him who loves
himself.
For Soma is akin to him and Indra guards him from the curse.
7The fool who eats the Brāhmans' food and thinks it pleasant to
the taste,
Eats, but can ne'er digest, the cow that bristles with a hundred
barbs,
8His voice an arrow's neck, his tongue a bowstring, his windpipes
fire-enveloped heads of arrows,
With these the Brāhman pierces through blasphemers, with
God-sped bows that quell the hearts within them.
9Keen arrows have the Brāhmans, armed with missiles: the shaft,
when they discharge it, never faileth.
Pursuing him with fiery zeal and anger, they pierce the foeman
even from a distance.
10They who, themselves ten hundred, were the rulers of a thousand
men,
The Vaitahavyas, were destroyed for that they ate a Brāhman's
cow.
11The cow, indeed, when she was slain o'erthrew those Vaitahavyas,
who
Cooked the last she-goat that remained of Kesaraprābandhā's
flock.
12One and a hundred were the folk, those whom the earth shook
off from her:
When they had wronged the Brāhman race they perished incon-
ceivably.
13Among mankind the Gods' despiser moveth: he hath drunk
poison, naught but bone is left him.
Who wrongs the kinsman of the Gods, the Brāhman, gains not
the sphere to which the Fathers travelled.
14Agni, in sooth, is called our guide, Soma is called our next of
kin.
Indra quells him who curses us. Sages know well that this is so.
15Prince! like a poisoned arrow, like a deadly snake, O lord of
kine!
Dire is the Brāhman's arrow: he pierces his enemies therewith.

HYMN XIX

The wickedness of robbing or insulting Brāhmans

1The sons of Vitahavya, the Srinjayas, waxed exceeding strong.
They well-nigh touched the heavens, but they wronged Bhrigu
and were overthrown.
2When men pierced Brihatsāman through, the Brāhman, son of
Angiras,
The ram with teeth in both his jaws, the sheep, devoured their
progeny.
3If men have spat upon, or shot their rheum upon a Brāhman,
they.
Sit in the middle of a stream running with blood, devouring
hair.
4While yet the Brāhman's cow which men are dressing quivers in
her throe:
She mars the kingdom's splendour: there no vigorous hero
springs to life.
5Terrible is her cutting-up: her bitter flesh is cast away,
And it is counted sin among the Fathers if her milk is drunk.
6If any King who deems himself mighty would eat a Brāhman
up,
Rent and disrupted is that realm wherein a Brāhman is oppres-
sed.
7She grows eight-footed, and four-eyed, four-eared, four-jawed,
two-faced, two-tongued,
And shatters down the kingdom of the man who doth the
Brāhman wrong.
8As water swamps a leaky ship so ruin overflows that realm.
Misfortune smites the realm wherein a Brāhman suffers scath
and harm.
9The very trees repel the man, and drive him from their sheltering
shade,
Whoever claims, O Nārada, the treasure that a Brāhman owns.
10That wealth, King Varuna hath said, is poison by the Gods
prepared.
None hath kept watch to guard his realm who hath devoured a
Brāhman's cow.
11Those nine-and-ninety people whom Earth shook and cast away
from her,
When they had wronged the Brāhman race were ruined incon-
ceivably.
12Oppressor of the Brāhmans! thus the Gods have spoken and
declared,
The step-effacing wisp they bind upon the dead shall be thy
couch.
13Oppressor of the Brāhmans! tears wept by the man who suffers
wrong,
These are the share of water which the Gods have destined to be
thine.
14The share of water which the Gods have destined to be thine, is
that,
Oppressor of the priest! wherewith men lave the corpse and wet
the beard.
15The rain of Mitra-Varuna falls not on him who wrongs the
priest.
To him no counsel brings success: he wins, no friend to do his
will.

HYMN XX

A hymn to the War-drum to secure victory

1Formed out of wood, compact with straps of leather, loud is the:
War-drum as he plays the hero.
Whetting thy voice and vanquishing opponents, roar at them
like a lion fain to conquer!
2The fastened frame hath roared as 'twere a lion, like a bull bel-
lowing to meet the heifer.
Thou art a bull, thine enemies are weaklings: thine is the foe-
subduing strength of Indra.
3Like a bull marked by strength among the cattle, roar seeking
kine and gathering up the booty.
Pierce through our adversaries' heart with sorrow, and let our
routed foes desert their hamlets.
4Victorious in the battle, loudly roaring, seizing what may be
seized, look all around thee.
Utter, O Drum, thy heavenly voice with triumph. Bring, as a
priest, our enemies' possessions.
5Hearing the Drum's far-reaching voice resounding, let the foe's
dame, waked by the roar, afflicted,
Grasping her son, run forward in her terror amid the conflict of
the deadly weapons.
6Thou, first of all, O Drum, thy voice shalt utter: over the ridge
of earth speak forth exultant.
Crunching with might the army of the foemen, declare thy
message pleasantly and clearly.
7Loud be thy roar between the earth and heaven. Swift let thy
sounds go forth in all directions.
Neigh at them, thunder, set in opposition, song-maker, good
ally that friends may conquer.
8He shall send forth his voice whom art hath fashioned. Make
thou the weapons of our warriors bristle.
With Indra for ally call out our heroes, and with thy friends
scatter and chase the foemen
9Resonant, roaring, with thy powerful weapons, warning, and
heard by troops in many places,
Knowing all rules and winning us advantage, deal fame to many
where two kings are fighting.
10Bent on advantage, mightier, gaining treasures, victor in war,
the spell hath made thee keener.
As, in the press, the stone to stalks of Soma, thus, Drum! go
dancing to our foes' possessions.
11Foe-conqueror, victor, vanquishing opponents, seeker of booty,
mastering, destroying.
Speak out as a skilled speaker tells his counsel, speak strength
to us that we may win the battle.
12Shaker of things unshaken, readiest corner to battles; conquer-
ing foes, resistless leader,
Guarded by Indra, watching our assemblies, go quickly, breaker
of their hearts who hate us.

HYMN XXI

A hymn to the War-drum and various deities for victory

1Speak to our enemies, O Drum, discouragement and wild
dismay.
We bring upon our foemen fear and discord and discomfiture.
Drum! drive these enemies away.
2When sacrificial butter hath been offered, let our foemen flee.
Through consternation, terrified, trembling in mind and eye and
heart.
3Wrought out of wood, compact with straps of leather, dear to
all the clan,
Bedewed with sacrificial oil, speak terror to our enemies.
4As the wild creatures of the wood flee in their terror from a
man,
Even so do thou, O Drum, roar out against our foes to frighten
them, and then bewilder thou their thoughts.
5As, when the wolf approaches, goats and sheep run sorely
terrified,
Even so do thou, O Drum, roar out against our foes to frighten
them, and then bewilder thou their thoughts.
6As birds of air, day after day, fly in wild terror from the hawk,
as from a roaring lion's voice,
Even so do thou, O Drum, roar out against our foes to frighten
them, and then bewilder thou their thoughts.
7May all the deities whose might controls the fortune of the fray
Frighten away our enemies with Drum and skin of antelope.
8Let those our enemies who go yonder in their battalions shake.
In fear at shadows and the sounds of feet which Indra sporteth
with.
9To all the quarters of the sky let clang of bowstrings and our
Drums.
Cry out to hosts of foes that go discomfited in serried ranks.
10Āditya, take their sight away! Follow them close, ye motes of
light.
Let them cleave fast to foot-bound hosts when strength of arm
hath past away.
11Do ye, O mighty Maruts, sons of Prisni, crush down, with
Indra for ally, our foemen.
King Soma. Varuna, great God and sovran, Indra too, aye,
Death,—
12May these embattled Gods, brilliant as Sūrya—All hail!—one-
minded conquer those who hate us.

HYMN XXII

A charm against fever

1Hence, filled with holy strength let Agni, Soma, and Varuna,
the Press-stone, and the Altar.
And Grass, and glowing Fuel banish Fever. Let hateful things
stay at a distance yonder.
2And thou thyself who makest all men yellow, consuming them
with burning heat like Agni,
Thou, Fever! then be weak and ineffective. Pass hence into the
realms below or vanish.
3Endowed with universal power! send Fever down-ward, far
away,
The spotty, like red-coloured dust, sprung from a spotty
ancestor.
4When I have paid obeisance to Fever I send him downward
forth.
So let Sakambhara's boxer go again to the Mahāvrishas.
5His mansions are the Mūjavans, and the Mahāvrishas his home,
Thou, Fever, ever since thy birth hast lived among the Bahlikas.
6Fever, snake, limbless one, speak out! Keep thyself far away
fi om us.
Seek thou a wanton Dāst girl and strike her with thy thunder-
bolt.
7Go, Fever, to the Mūjavans, or, farther, to the Bahlikas.
Seek a lascivious Sara girl and seem to shake her through and
through.
8Go hence and eat thy kinsmen the Mahāvrishas and Mūjavans.
These or those foreign regions we proclaim to Fever for his
home.
9In a strange land thou joyest not; subdued, thou wilt be kind
to us.
Fever is eager to depart, and to the Bahlikas will go,
10Since thou now cold, now burning hot, with cough besides, hast
made us shake,
Terrible, Fever, are thy darts: forbear to injure us with these.
11Take none of these to be thy friends, Cough, or Consumption
or Decline:
Never come thence again to us! O Fever, thus I counsel thee.
12Go, Fever, with Consumption, thy brother, and with thy sister,
Cough.
And with thy nephew Herpes, go away unto that alien folk.
13Chase Fever whether cold or hot, brought by the summer or
the rains,
Tertian, intermittent, or autumnal, or continual.
14We to Gandhāris, Mūjavans, to Angas and to Magadhas.
Hand over Fever as it were a servant and a thing of price.

HYMN XXIII

A charm against parasitic worms

1I have called Heaven and Earth to aid, have called divine
Sarasvati,
Indra and Agni have I called: Let these destroy the worm, I
prayed.
2O Indra, Lord of Treasures, kill the worms that prey upon this
boy.
All the malignant spirits have been smitten by my potent spell.
We utterly destroy the worm, the worm that creeps around the
eyes.
The worm that crawls about the nose, the worm that gets bet-
ween the teeth.
3Two of like colour, two unlike, two coloured black, two
coloured red.
The tawny and the tawny-eared, Vulture and Wolf, all these
are killed.
4Worms that are white about the sides, those that are black with
black-hued arms,
All that show various tints and hues, these worms we utterly
destroy.
5Eastward the Sun is mounting, seen of all, destroying thing
unseen,
Crushing and killing all the worms invisible and visible.
6Let the Yevāshas, Kaskashas, Ejatkas, Sipavitnukas,
Let both the worm that we can see, and that we see not, be
destroyed.
7Slain the Yevāsha of the worms, slain too is the Nadaniman.
I have reduced them all to dust like vetches with the pounding-
stone.
8The worm Sāranga, white of hue, three-headed, with a triple
hump,
I split and tear his ribs away, I wrench off every head he has.
9I kill you, worms, as Atri, as Kanva and Jamadagni killed.
I crush the worms to pieces with a spell that erst Agastya used.
10The King of worms hath been destroyed, he who was lord of
these is slain.
Slain is the worm whose mother, whose brother and sister have
been slain.
11Destroyed are his dependants, who those dwell around him are
destroyed,
And all the worms that seem to be the little ones are done to
death
12Of every worm and insect, of the female and the male alike,
I crush the head to pieces with a stone and burn the face with
fire.

HYMN XXIV

A priest's prayer for protection and assistance

1Savitar, Lord of furthering aids, protect me, in this my prayer,
in this mine act, in this my sacerdotal charge, in this perfor-
mance, in this thought, in this my plan and wish, in this my
calling on the Gods! All hail!
2May Agni, Lord of forest trees, protect, me, in, etc.
3May Heaven and Earth, the Queens of bounties, save me.
4May Varuna, the Lord of waters, save me.
5May Mitra-Varuna, Lords of rain, preserve me.
6Lords of the mountains, may the Maruts save me.
7May, Soma, Lord of plants and herbs, protect me.
8May Vāyu, Lord of middle air, protect me.
9May Sūrya, sovran Lord of eyes, protect me.
10May the Moon, Lord of constellations, save me.
11May Indra who is Lord of heaven protect me.
12The Maruts' father, Lord of cattle, save me.
13May Mrityu, Lord of living creatures, save me.
14May Yama, Regent of the Fathers, save me.
15May the Forefathers of old time protect me.
16May Fathers of succeeding ages save me.
17Next may the Fathers of our fathers save me, in this my prayer,.
in this mine act, in this my sacerdotal charge, in this perfor-
mance, in this thought, in this my plan and wish, in this my
calling on the Gods! All hail!

HYMN XXV

A charm to facilitate conception

1Let the man, sower of the germ, lay, as a feather on a shaft.
Limb drawn from limb, whate'er is culled from cloud and from
the womb of heaven.
2Even as this broad earth received the germ of all the things that
be,
Thus within thee I lay the germ. I call thee, Earth, to strengthen
it.
3O Sinivāli, set the germ, set thou the germ, Sarasvati! In thee
let both the Asvins, crowned with lotuses, bestow the germ.
4Let Mitra-Varuna and God Brihaspati lay the germ in thee.
Indra and Agni lay the germ, Dhātar bestow the germ in thee.
5Let Vishnu form and mould the womb, let Tvashtar duly shape
the forms,
Prajāpati infuse the stream, and Dhātar lay for thee the germ.
6Drink thou the procreative draught well-known to Varuna the
King,
Known to divine Sarasvati, and Indra slayer of the foe.
7Thou art the germ of plants and herbs, thou art the germ of
forest trees,
The germ of each existing thing, so here, O Agni, lay the germ.
8Rise up, put forth thy manly strength, and lay thy germ within
the womb.
A bull art thou with vigorous strength: for progeny we bring
thee near.
9Prepare thee, Bārhatsāmā, let the germ be laid within thy side.
The Soma-drinking Gods have given a son to thee, thy son and
mine.
10O Dhātar, thou Disposer, lay within the body of this dame.
A male germ with the noblest form, for her, in the tenth month,
to bear.
11Tvashtar, celestial artist, lay within the body of this dame.
A male germ with the noblest form for her in the tenth month
to bear.
12Savitar, vivifier, lay within the body of this dame A male germ
with the noblest form for her in the tenth month to bear.
13O Lord of Life, Prajāpati, within this woman's body lay
A male germ with the noblest form for her in the tenth month
to bear.

HYMN XXVI

A hymn of invitation to the gods

1In sacrifice for you may sapient Agni—All hail!—use Yajus
texts and fuel.
2May Savitar the God—All hail!—foreknowing, chief in this
sacrifice, employ them.
3In this great rite—All hail!—may sapient Indra use lauds,
rejoicings, well-yoked coursers.
4Bring Praishas in the rite—All hail!—and Nivids, learned, con-
nected, with the Consorts.
5As a dame brings her son—All hail! O Maruts, connected, in
the rite bring measures.
6Here Aditi is come—All hail!—preparing the rite with grass and
lustral waters.
7Let Vishnu in this rite in varied manner—All hail! use well-
yoked steeds, his fervours.
8Let Tvashtar in this rite in varied manner—All hail!—use forms,
his well-yoked coursers.
9Let Bhaga in this rite use prayers, foreknowing—All hail! for
this use well-yoked coursers.
10Let Soma in this rite in varied manner—All hail!—use milk-
streams, well-yoked coursers.
11Let Indra in this rite in varied manner—All hail!—use powers,.
his well-yoked coursers.
12Hitherward come ye with the prayer, O Asvins, exalting sacrifice
with cry of Vashat!
Brihaspati!—All hail!—with prayer come hither. Here is the
rite, here heaven for him who worships.

HYMN XXVII

An Apri or Propitiatory hymn

1Uplifted be this sacrificer's fuel: lofty and brilliant be the flames
of Agni!
Splendidly bright, fair-faced, with all his offspring, Tanūnapāt
the Asura, many-handed.
2God among Gods, the God bedews the paths with fatness and'
with mead.
3With store of mead to sacrifice comes Agni, comes Narāsansa
Agni, friendly-minded, comes Savitar, righteous God who
brings all blessings.
4Hither he comes with power and fatness also, the luminous,.
implored with adoration.
5At holy rites and offerings Agni loveth the scoops: let this man
worship Agni's greatness.
6He is the furtherer at glad oblations: there stood the Vasus and
the treasure-givers.
7Ever the Doors divine, and all protect this worshipper's holy
work.
8Far-reaching, ruling by the Law of Agni,
May Dawn and Night, the holy, speeding near us, aid this our
sacrificial ceremony.
9Celestial Hotars, with the tongues of Agni praise and extol our
lofty ceremony, so that our sacrifice be well conducted!
10Three Goddesses upon this grass, be seated, Idā, Sarasvati,
Mahi, and Bhārati adored with praise.
11This our nutritious genial flow, God Tvashtar! and growth of
wealth, pour down on this man's kindred.
12Vanaspati, rejoicing, of thyself send God-ward! Let Agni, Im-
molator, sweeten our libation.
13Pay sacrifice to Indra, Jātavedas Agni, with Hail! Let all the
Gods accept the gifts we offer.

HYMN XXVIII

A charm to ensure general protection and prosperity

1For lengthened life, to last through hundred autumns, they
equalize with nine the nine aspirations.
Three in gold, three in silver, three in iron by heat are stablished
in their several places.
2May Agni, Sun, and Moon, and Earth, and Waters, Sky, Air,
the Quarters and the Points between them,
And Parts of Years accordant with the Seasons by this three-
threaded Amulet preserve me.
3In three-threaded Charm rest triple fulness! Let Pūshan cover it
with milk and butter.
Here rest abundant store of food and people, may ample store
of cattle rest within it.
4Enrich this charm, Ādityas, with your treasure; magnify this,
when magnified, O Agni.
Endow it with heroic strength, O Indra: therein be lodged a
triple power of increase.
5With gold let Earth protect thee, and with iron, accordant, all-
sustaining Agni save thee!
And in accordance with the plants may silver, regarding thee
with favour, grant thee vigour.
6This gold, born threefold at its first production, grew the one
thing that Agni loved most dearly: it fell away, one part of
injured Soma.
One part they call seed of the sapient Waters. This gold bring
thee long life when triply threaded!
7Three lives of Jamadagni, thrice the vital force of Kasyapa,
Three sights of immortality, three lives have I prepared for thee.
8When with the three-stringed charm came three strong eagles,
sharing the Sacred Syllable and mighty,
With immortality they drove off Mrityu, obscuring and conceal-
ing all distresses.
9The golden guard thee from the sky, the silvern guard thee from
the air,
The iron guard thee from the earth! This man hath reached the
forts of Gods.
10May these three castles of the Gods keep thee secure on every
side.
Endowed with strength, possessing these, be thou the master of
thy foes,
11The God who first bound on in the beginning the deities' im-
mortal golden castle,—
Him I salute with ten extended fingers. Blest be the three-
stringed charm I bind upon thee.
12Aryaman be thy binder-on, and Pūshan and Brihaspati:
Whatever name the brood of day possess, therewith we fasten
thee.
13With Seasons and with Lengths of Time, for vigour and exten-
ded life,
With all the splendour of the Sun we fasten thee about the neck.
14Drawn forth from butter and with meath besprinkled, firm as
the earth, unshakable, triumphant.
Breaking down foes and casting them beneath me, be fastened
on me for exalted fortune!

HYMN XXIX

A charm for the destruction of malignant goblins

1Made ready in the east drive forth, take notice of what is hap-
pening here, omniscient Agni!
Thou bringest medicine and healest sickness: through thee may
we win horses, kine, and people.
2Accordant with all Gods, O Jātavedas Agni, perform this work
as we beseech thee,
That this defence of his may fall, whoever hath caused us pain,
whoever hath consumed us.
3Unanimous, with all the Gods together, so do this thing O Agni
Jātavedas, that this defence of his may fall and fail him.
4Pierce both his eyes, pierce thou the heart within him, crush
thou his teeth and cleave his tongue asunder.
Rend thou, most youthful Agni, that Pisācha whoso amid them
all of this hath eaten.
5Whatever of his body hath been taken, plundered, borne off, or
eaten by Pisāchas,
This, Agni, knowing it, again bring hither! We give back flesh
and spirit to his body.
6If some Pisācha in my food raw, ready, thoroughly cooked, or,
spotty, hath deceived me,
Let the Pisāchas with their lives and offspring atone for this,
and let this man be healthy.
7If one hath cheated me in milk or porridge, in food from grain
or plants that need no culture.
Let the Pisāchas, etc.
8If one, flesh eater, in a draught of water have wronged me lying
in the bed of goblins,
Let the Pisāchas, etc.
9If one, flesh-eater, in the day or night-time have wronged me
lying in the bed of goblins,
Let the Pisāchas, etc.
10O Agni Jātavedas, slay the bloody Pisācha, flesh-devourer, mind-
destroyer,
Strong Indra strike him with his bolt of thunder, courageous
Soma cut his head to pieces!
11Thou, Agni, ever slayest Yātudhānas, the fiends have never con-
quered thee in battles.
Consume thou from the root the flesh-devourers, let none of
them escape thy heavenly weapon
12Collect, O Jātavedas, what hath been removed and borne away.
Let this man's members grow, let him swell like the tendril of a
plant.
13Like as the Soma's tendril, thus, O Jātavedas let him swell,
Let him live, Agni I Make him fat, free from consumption, full
of sap.
14Here, Agni, is the fuel, here are logs that crush Pisāchas down.
O Jātavedas, willingly accept them and be pleased therewith.
15Accept, O Agni, with thy flame the billets of Tārshtāgha wood.
Let the flesh-eater who would take the flesh of this man lose his
form.

HYMN XXX

A charm to restore life and health

1From thy vicinity I call, from near, from far, from night at
hand.
Stay here: depart not: follow not the Fathers of the olden
time. I bind thy vital spirit fast.
2If any man, a stranger or akin, hath cast a spell on thee,
I with my voice to thee declare thy freedom and release there-
from.
3If in thy folly thou hast lied or cursed a woman or a man,
I with my voice declare to thee thy freedom and release there-
from.
4If thou art lying there because of mother's or of father's sin,
I with my voice declare to thee thy freedom and release there-
from.
5Accept the healing medicine, the balm thy mother and thy sire,
Thy sister and thy brother bring. I make thee live through
lengthened years.
6O man, stay here among us; stay with all thy spirit: follow not
Yama's two messengers. Approach the castles where the living
dwell.
7Come back as thou art called to come, knowing the outlet of
the path,
And the Approach and its ascent, the way of every living man.
8Be not alarmed: thou wilt not die. I give thee lengthened years
of life.
Forth from thy members have I charmed Decline that caused
the fever there.
9Gone is the pain that racked thee, gone thy fever, gone thy
heart's disease.
Consumption, conquered by my voice, hath, like a hawk, fled
far away.
10Two sages, Sense and Vigilance, the sleepless and the watchful
one,
These, the protectors of thy life, shall be awake both day and
night.
11This Agni must be waited on. Here let the Sun mount up for
thee.
Rise from deep death and come away, yea, from black darkness
rise thou up!
12Homage be paid to Yama, to Mrityu, and to the Fathers, and to
those who guide us!
I honour first, for this man's preservation, that Agni who well
knoweth how to save him.
13Let breath and mind return to him, let sight and vigour come
again
Let all his body be restored and firmly stand upon its feet.
14Provide this man with breath and sight, O Agni, and with his
body and his strength unite him.
Thou knowest Amrit: let him not go hence, nor dwell in house
of clay.
15Let not thine inward breathing fail, let not thine outward breath
be lost.
Let Sūrya who is Lord Supreme raise thee from death with
beams of light.
16Tied, tremulously moving, here the tongue is speaking in the
mouth.
With thee I charmed Decline away and Fever's hundred ago-
nies.
17This living world, unconquered of the Gods, is most beloved of
all.
To whatsoever death thou wast destined when thou wast born,.
O man,
This death and we call after thee. Die not before decrepit age!

HYMN XXXI

A counter-charm against the incantations of an enemy

1The spell that they have cast for thee on unbaked dish or ming-
led meal,
The witchcraft wrought on undressed meat, this I strike back
again on them.
2The spell that they have cast for thee on jungle-cock, goat,
horned ram,
The witchcraft wrought upon thy ewe, this I strike back again
on them.
3The spell that they have cast upon thy beast that hath uncloven
hooves,
The ass with teeth in both his jaws, this I strike back again on
them.
4The secret spell upon thy plants Amūlā or Narāchi, spell
That they have cast upon thy field, this I strike back again on
them.
5The spell that wicked men have cast on thine original household-
fire,
And on thy sacrificial hall, this I strike back again on them.
6The spell that they have cast upon thy public room thy gambl-
ing-board,
Spell they have cast upon thy dice, this I strike back again on
them.
7The spell that they have cast upon thine army or thy shafts and
arms,
Spell they have cast upon the drum, this I throw back again on
them.
8Charm they have laid within thy well or buried in the burning-
ground,
Charm they have laid within thy home, this I throw back again
on them.
9The spell that they have wrought for thee in flickering fire of
human bones,—
Mroka, consuming, cannibal, this I throw back again on them.
10He brought this by no proper path, by the right path we drive it
back.
The fool in folly brought it to those who observe established
bounds.
11No power had he who wrought the spell: he hurt his foot, he
broke his toe.
Unlucky for his wealthy lords, he hath wrought happiness for us.
12May Indra slay with mighty bolt, may Agni with his missible
pierce.
The sorcerer who brings the curse, who deals with roots and
secret spells.

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Source: The Hymns of the Atharvaveda. translation by Ralph T.H. Griffith [1895-6]. The text has been reformatted by Jayaram V for Hinduwebsite.com.  As far as the presentation of the material is concerned, this online version does not follow the original book. While all possible care has been taken to reproduce the text accurately, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or the authenticity of the text produced. We strongly recommend to  use this text for general reading and understanding and refer the original edition for serious studies and academic projects .