
Hymns of the Atharvaveda - Book 12

Contents
- Hymn 1: A hymn of prayer and praise to Prithivī or deified Earth
- Hymn 2: A funeral hymn, and deprecation of Agni the Consumer of corpses
- Hymn 3: A prayer for prosperity and happiness on earth and in heaven by a householder and his wife.
- Hymn 4: On the duty of giving cows to Brāhmans, and the sin and danger of withholding the gift
- Hymn 5: On the duty of giving cows to Brāhmans, and the sin and danger of withholding the gift
HYMN I

A hymn of prayer and praise to Prithivī or deified Earth
1Truth, high and potent Law, the Consecrating
Rite, Fervour,
Brahma, and Sacrifice uphold the Earth.
May she, the Queen of all that is and is to be, may Prithivī
make ample space and room for us.
2Not
over awded by the crowd of Manu's sons, she who hath
many
heights and floods and level plains;
She who bears plants
endowed with many varied powers, may
Prithivī for us
spread wide and favour us.
3In whom the
sea, and Sindhu, and the waters, in whom our food
and corn-lands
had their being,
In whom this all that breathes and moves
is active, this Earth.
assign us foremost rank and station!
4She who is Lady of the earth's four regions,
in whom our food
and corn-lands had their being,
Nurse
in each place of breathing, moving creatures, this Earth.
vouchsafe us kine with milk that fails not!
5On whom the men of old before us battled,
on whom the Gods
attacked the hostile demons,
The varied
home of bird, and kine and horses, this Prithivī
vouchsafe
us luck and splendour!
6Firm standing-place, all-bearing, store
of treasures, gold-breasted,
harbourer of all that moveth.
May Earth who bears Agni Vaisvānara, Consort of mighty
Indra, give us great possessions
7May
Earth, may Prithivī, always protected with ceaseless care
by
Gods who never slumber,
May she pour out for us delicious
nectar, may she bedew us
with a flood of splendour.
8She who at first was water in the ocean,
whom with their wond-
rous powers the sages followed,
May she whose heart is in the highest heaven, compassed about
wit h truth, and everlasting, p. 76
May
she, this Earth, bestow upon us lustre, and grant us power
in loftiest dominion.
9On whom the running
universal waters flow day and night with
never-ceasing motion,
May she with many streams pour milk to feed us, may she
bedew
us with a flood of splendour.
10She whom
the Asvins measured out, o'er whom the foot of
Vishnu strode,
Whom Indra, Lord of Power and Might, freed from all foemen
for himself,
May Earth pour out her milk for us, a mother
unto me her son.
11O Prithivī, auspicious
be thy woodlands, auspicious be thy hills
and snow-clad mountains.
Unslain, unwounded, unsubdued, I have set foot upon the
Earth,
On earth brown, black, ruddy and every-coloured, on the firm
earth that Indra guards from danger.
12O
Prithivī, thy centre and thy navel, all forces that have
issued
from thy body
Set us amid those forces; breathe
upon us. I am the son of
Earth, Earth is my Mother. Parjanya
is my Sire; may he
promote me.
43Earth
on whose surface they enclose the altar, and all-performers
spin the thread of worship;
In whom the stakes of sacrifice,
resplendent, are fixed and raised
on high before the oblation,
may she, this Earth, prospering,
make us prosper.
14The man who hates us, Earth! who fights
against us, who
threaten us with thought or deadly weapon,
make him our
thrall as thou hast done aforetime.
15Produced from thee, on thee move mortal
creatures: thou
bearest them, both quadruped and biped.
Thine, Prithivī, are these Five human Races, for whom,
though
mortal, Sūrya as he rises spreads with his rays
the light that is
immortal.
16In concert
may these creatures yield us blessings. With honey of
discourse,
O Earth, endow me.
17Kind, ever gracious
be the Earth we tread on, the firm Earth,
Prithivī,
borne up by Order, mother of plants and herbs, the
all-producer.
p. 77
18A vast abode
hast thou become, the Mighty. Great stress is on
thee, press
and agitation, but with unceasing care great Indra
guards
thee.
So make us shine, O Earth, us with the splendour of
gold. Let
no man look on us with hatred.
19Agni is in the earth, in plants; the waters
hold Agni in them,
in the stones is Agni.
Agni abideth
deep in men: Agnis abide in cows and steeds.
20Agni gives shine and heat in heaven: the
spacious air is his, the
God's
Lover of fatness, bearer
of oblation, men enkindle him.
21Dark-kneed,
invested with a fiery mantle, Prithivī sharpen me
and
give me splendour!
22On earth they offer
sacrifice and dressed oblation to the Gods.
Men, mortals,
live upon the earth by food in their accustomed
way.
May
that Earth grant us breath and vital power. Prithivī give
me life of long duration!
23Scent that
hath risen from thee, O Earth, the fragrance which.
growing
herbs and plants and waters carry,
Shared by Apsarases, shared
by Gandharvas therewith make
thou me sweet: let no man hate
me.
24Thy scent which entered and possessed
the lotus, the scent
which they prepared at Sūryā's
bridal,
Scent which Immortals Earth! of old collected, therewith
make
thou me sweet: let no man hate me.
25Thy scent in women and in men, the
luck and light that is in.
males,
That is in heroes and
in steeds in sylvan beasts and elephants,
The splendid energy
of maids, therewith do thou unite us,.
Earth! Let no man
look on us with hate.
26Rock earth, and
stone, and dust, this Earth is held together,.
firmly bound.
To this gold-breasted Prithivī mine adoration have I paid.
27Hither we call the firmly held, the all-supporting
Prithivī,
On whom the trees, lords of the wood, stand
evermore immov-
able.
28Sitting at
ease or rising up, standing or going on our way.
With our
right foot and with our left we will not reel upon the
earth.
p. 78
29I speak to
Prithivī the purifier, to patient Earth who groweth
strong through Brahma.
O Earth, may we recline on thee who
bearest strength, increase,
portioned share of food, and
fatness.
30Purified for our bodies flow
the waters: we bring distress on
him who would attack us.
I cleanse myself, O Earth, with that which cleanseth.
31Earth, be thine eastern and thy northern
regions, those lying
southward and those lying westward.
Propitious unto me in all my movements. Long as I tread the
ground let me not stumble.
32Drive us
not from the west or east, drive us not from the north
or
south,
Be gracious unto us, O Earth: let not the robbers
find us; keep
the deadly weapon far away.
33Long as, on thee, I look around, possessing
Sūrya as a friend,
So long, through each succeeding
year, let not my power of
vision fail.
34When, as I lie, O Earth, I turn upon my
right side and my left,
When stretched at all our length
we lay our ribs on thee who
meetest us.
Do us no injury
there, O Earth who furnishest a bed for all.
35Let what I dig from thee, O Earth, rapidly
spring and grow
again.
O Purifier, let me not pierce through
thy vitals or thy heart.
36Earth, may
thy summer, and thy rains, and autumn, thy winter,
and thy
dewy frosts, and spring-time.
May thy years, Prithivī!
and ordered seasons, and day and
night pour out for us abundance.
37The purifier, shrinking from the Serpent,
she who held fires that
lie within the waters,
Who gives
as prey the God-blaspheming Dasyus, Earth choosing
Indra
for her Lord, not Vritra, hath clung to Sakra, to the
Strong
and Mighty.
38Base of the seat and sheds,
on whom the sacrificial stake is
reared,
On whom the Yajus-knowing
priests recite their hymns and
chant their psalms,
And
ministers are busied that Indra may drink the Soma juice;
p. 79
39On whom the
ancient Rishis, they who made the world, sang
forth the cows,
Seven worshippers, by session, with their fervent zeal and
sacrifice;
40May she, the Earth, assign
to us the opulence for which we
yearn,
May Bhaga share
and aid the task and Indra come to lead the
way.
41May she, the Earth, whereon men sing and
dance with varied
shout and noise,
Whereon men meet in
battle, and the war-cry and the drum
resound,
May she
drive off our foemen, may Prithivī rid me of my foes.
42On whom is food, barley and rice, to whom
these Races Five
belong,
Homage to her, P arjanya's wife,
to her whose marrow is the
rain!
43Whose
castles are the work of Gods, and men wage war upon
her plain
The Lord of Life make Prithivī, who beareth all things
in her
womb, pleasant to us on every side!
44May Earth the Goddess, she who bears her
treasure stored up
in many a place, gold, gems, and riches,
Giver of opulence, grant great possessions to us bestowing them
with love and favour.
45Earth, bearing
folk of many a varied language with divers rites
as suits
their dwelling-places,
Pour, like a constant cow that never
faileth, a thousand streams
of treasure to enrich me!
46Thy snake, thy sharply stinging scorpion,
lying concealed, be-
wildered, chilled with cold of winter,
The worm, O Prithivī, each thing that in the Rains revives
and
stirs,
Creeping, forbear to creep on us! With all
things gracious bless
thou us.
47Thy
many ways on which the people travel, the road for car and
wain to journey over,
Thereon meet both the good and bad,
that pathway may we
attain without a foe or robber. With
all things gracious bless
thou us. p. 80
48Supporting both the foolish and the weighty
she bears the death
both of the good and evil.
In friendly
concord with the boar, Earth opens herself for the
wild swine
that roams the forest.
49All sylvan beasts
of thine that love the woodlands, man-eaters,.
forest-haunting,
lions, tigers,
Hyena, wolf, Misfortune, evil spirit, drive
from us, chase the
demons to a distance.
50Gandharvas and Apsarases, Kimīdins,
and malignant sprites,
Pisāchas all, and Rākshasas,
these keep thou, Earth! afar from
us.
51To whom the winged bipeds fly together, birds of each
various
kind, the swans, the eagles;
On whom the Wind
comes rushing, Mātarisvan, rousing the
dust and causing
trees to tremble, and flame pursues the blast.
hither and
thither;
52Earth, upon whom are settled,
joined together, the night and
day, the dusky and the ruddy,
Prithivī compassed by the rain
about her,
Happily
may she stablish us in each delightful dwelling place.
53Heaven, Earth, the realm of Middle Air
have granted me this
ample room,
Agni, Sun, Waters, all
the Gods have joined to give me mental
power.
54I am victorious, I am called the lord
superior on earth,
Triumphant, all-o'erpowering the conqueror
on every side
55There, when the Gods,
O Goddess, named thee, spreading thy
wide expanse as thou
wast broadening eastward,
Then into thee passed many a charm
and glory: thou madest
for thyself the world's four regions.
56In hamlets and in woodland, and in all
assemblages on earth,
In gatherings, meeting of the folk,
we will speak glorious things
of thee.
57As the horse scattereth the dust, the
people who dwelt upon
the land, at birth, she scattered,
Leader and head of all the world, delightful, the trees' protectress
and the plants' upholder.
58Whate'er
I say I speak with honey-sweetness, whatever I behold
for
that they love me.
Dazzling, impetuous am I: others who fiercely
stir I slay. p. 81
59Mild,
gracious, sweetly odorous, milky, with nectar in her breast,
May Earth, may Prithivī bestow her benison, with milk,
on me.
60Whom Visvakarman with oblation
followed, when she was set
in mid-air's billowy ocean
A useful vessel, hid, when, for enjoyment, she was made mani-
fest to those with mothers.
61Thou art
the vessel that containeth people, Aditi, granter of the
wish, far-spreading.
Prajāpati, the first-born Son of
Order, supplieth thee with what-
soe'er thou lackest.
62Let thy breasts, frec from sickness and
Consumption, be.
Prithivī, produced for our advantage.
Through long-extended life wakeful and watching still may we
be thy tributary servants.
63O Earth,
my Mother, set thou me happily in a place secure.
Of one
accord with Heaven, O Sage, set me in glory and in
wealth.
HYMN II

A funeral hymn, and deprecation of Agni the Consumer of corpses
1This is no place to hold thee; mount
the Nāda: this lead is
thine appointed share. Come hither.
Together with Consumption in the cattle, Consumption in our
men, go henee, go southward.
2With this
we chase and banish all consumptive malady and
Death,
With sinner andamalicious man, with helper and with minister,
3Death and Misfortune we expel, Malignity
we drive away.
O Agni, thou who eatest not the corpse, eat
him who hateth us:
him whom we hate we send to thee.
p. 83
4If the corpse-eating
Agni, or a tiger leaving his lair, hath entered
this our
homestead,
With beans prepared in butter I expel him: far
let him go to
fires that lie in waters.
5When, angered that a man hath died, we
in our wrath have
banished thee,
That deed is easily set
right through thee: we kindle thee again.
6Again have the Ādityas, Rudras, Vasus,
the Brāhman, bringer
of good things, O Agni,
Again
hath Brāhmanaspati disposed thee for long life lasting
through a hundred autumns.
7I sweep afar,
for sacrifice to Fathers, corpse-eating Agni who
hath come
among us,
Although he saw this other, Jātavedas: in
loftiest space let him
inflame the caldron.
8I drive corpse-eating Agni to a distance:
sin-laden let him go to
Yamas vassals.
Here let this other,
Jātavedas, carry oblation to the Deities, fore-
knowing.
9I quickly sweep away corpse-eating Agni,
Death, with his bolt
potdepriving men of motion.
From
household fire, well-knowing, I divide him: so in the
world
of Fathers be his portion.
10Corpse-eating
Agni, toil-worn, meet for praises, I send away
bypaths used
by the Fathers.
Stay there; keep watch among the Fathers:
come not again to
us by ways whereon Gods travel.
11They being cleansed and bright, the purifiers,
kindle Sankasuka
for our well-being.
Impurity leaveth
us and sin departeth: lighted by the good
cleanser Agni cleanseth.
12Agni the God, the Breaker-up, hath mounted
to the heights of
heaven.
Released from all transgression,
he hath from the curse delivered
us.
13On
Agni here, the Breaker-up, we wipe impurities away.
Cleansed,
fit for sacrifice have we become: may he prolong our
lives.
14The Breaker-up, the Burster, the Destroyer,
and the Silent One, p. 84
These have
expelled Consumption far, far off from thee ānd all
thou hast,
15Corpse-eating Agni we expel,
the Agni who bewilders men,
Him who is in our horses, in
our heroes, cows, and goats, and
sheep:
16We drive thee forth to other folk, to
alien cattle, alien steeds,
Thee the corpse-eating Agni,
thee the Agni who bewilders men,
17Whereon
the Deities, whereon men too have purified themselves,
Exalting
fatness, cleanse thyself, Agni, therein and mount to
heaven.
18O Agni, kindled and adored, turn not away
to visit us.
Shine brightly even there in heaven, so that
we long may see the
Sun.
19Wipe all
away on lead and reed, on Agni, him who breaketh up,
Then
on a black-hued sheep, and on a cushion pain that racks.
the head,
20Wipe off pollution, lay it
in the lead and in the black-hued
sheep,
And headache
in the cushion; then be cleansed and fit to sacri-
fice.
21Go onward, Death, pursue thy special pathway
apart from that
which Gods are wont to travel.
To thee
I say it who hast eyes and hearest: great grow the
number
of these men around us!
22Divided from
the dead are these, the living: now is our calling
on the
Gods successful.
We have gone forth for dancing and for laughter:
may we with
brave sons speak to the assembly.
23Here I erect this rampart for the living:
let none of these, none
other, reach this limit.
May they
survive a hundred lengthened autumns, and may they
bury Death
beneath this mountain.
24Live your full
lives and find age delightful, all of you striving,
one behind
the other.
May Tvashtar, maker of fair things, be gracious,
and lead your
whole lives on to full existence.
25As the days follow days in close succession,
as with the seasons
duly come the seasons.
As each successor
fails not his foregoer, so constitute the lives of
these,
Ordainer! p. 85
26Gather
your strength, my friends; the stream flows stony:
acquit
yourselves as men, and cross the river.
Abandon here the
powers that were malignant, and let us cross
to powers exempt
from sickness.
27Rise up erect, cross
over, my companions: the stream is stony
that flows here
before us.
Abandon here the powers that were ungracious,
and let us cross
to powers benign and friendly.
28Becoming pure and bright and purifying
begin the Vaisvadevi
strain for splendour..
May we rejoice,
o'erpassing troublous places, with all our heroes
through
a hundred winters.
29On pathways swept
by wind, directed upward, passing beyond
the lower, on the
higher,
Thrice seven times have the Rishis, the Departed,
forced Mrityu
backward with the fastened fetter.
30Effecting Mrityu's footstep ye came hither,
to further times pro-
longing your existence,
Seated,
drive Mrityu to his proper dwelling: then may we,
living,
speak to the assembly.
31Let these unwidowed
dames with goodly husbands adorn them-
selves with fragrant
balm and unguent,
Decked with fair jewels, tearless, sound
and healthy, first let the
dames go up to where he lieth.
32I with oblation separate both classes,
and with my prayer dis-
part their several portions.
I
offer food that wastes not to the Fathers, a nd to these men
give life of long duration.
33That Agni,
Fathers! who, himself immortal, hath entered and
possessed
our mortal bosoms,
Even him I grasp and hold the God with
me, Let him not hate
us, may we never hate him.
34When ye have left the household fire,
with the Corpse-eater
southward go.
Do that which is delightful
to the Fathers, Brāhmans, and your-
selves.
35Agni, the banqueter on flesh, not banished,
for the eldest son
Taketh a double share of wealth and spoileth
it with poverty.
36What man acquires
by plough, by war, all that he wins by toil
of hand,
p. 86
He loses all if Agni the Carnivorous
be not set aside,
37Unholy, splendour-reft
is he, his sacrifice unfit to eat. Krayād
deprives of
tilth of cow, of riches him whom he pursues,
38Oft as a greedy beggar speaks the mortal
who has brought
distress,
Those whom Carnivorous Agni
close at hand runs after and
detects.
39When a dame's husband dies the house is tangled
fast in
Grāhi's net.
A learned Brāhman
must be sought to drive Carnivorous Agni,
forth.
40From any evil we have done, act of impurity
or sin,
Let waters purge me and from all that comes from
Agni
Breaker-up.
41By pathways travelled
by the Gods these waters, well-knowing,
from below have mounted
upward.
High on the summit of the raining mountain the ancient
rivers
fresh and new are flowing.
42Drive
off Carnivorous Agni, thou Agni who eatest not the flesh;.
carry oblation paid to Gods.
43The Flesh-eater
hath entered him: he hath pursued the Flesh-
eater.
Making
two tigers different-wise, I bear away the ungracious
one.
44He who holds Gods within himself, the
rampart and defence of
men,
Agni, the sacred household
fire, hath come and stands between
them both.
45Prolong the lives of those who live, O
Agni, Let the dead go
unto world of Fathers.
As goodly
household fire burn up Arāti; give this man dawn
brighter
than all the mornings.
46Subduing all
our adversaries, Agni, give us their food, their
strength
and their possessions.
47Grasp ye this
Indra, furtherer, satisfier: he will release you
from disgrace
and trouble.
With him drive back the shaft that flies against
you, with him.
ward off the missile shot by Rudra.
48Seize with firm hold the Ox who boundeth
forward: he will
uplift you from disgrace and trouble.
p. 87
Enter this ship of Savitar; let
us flee from poverty over all the
six expenses.
49Thou followest the day and night, supporting,
standing, at
peace, promoting, rich in heroes.
Long bearing
undiseased and happy sleepers, be ours, O Bed,
with smell
of man about thee,
50They sever from
the Gods, they live in sin and misery evermore,
Those whom
from very near at hand Carnivorous Agni casteth
down as a
horse tramples down the reeds.
51The
faithless, who from lust of wealth abide with him who feeds
on flesh,
For ever set upon the fire an alien caldron, not
their own.
52Forward in spirit would
he fly, and often turns he back again,
Whomso Carnivorous
Agni from anear discovers and torments.
53Among
tame beasts the black ewe is thy portion, and the bright
lead is thine, they say, Flesh-eater!
Mashed beans have been
assigned thee for oblation go seek the
dark wood and the
wildernesses.
54I sought the rustling
sugar-cane, white Seasamum, and cane and
reed.
I made
this Indra's fuel, and the Fire of Yama I removed.
55Against the sinking western Sun I set
them; each sundered path,
knowing my way, I entered.
I
have warned off the ghosts of the Departed: to these I give
the boon of long existence.
HYMN III

An accompaniment to the preparation and presentation of sacrificial offerings by a householder and his wife, with prayer for prosperity and happiness on earth and in heaven
1Mount, male from male, the skin. Go
thither: summon those
whom thou lovest, one and all, to meet
thee,
Strong as ye were when first ye met each other, still
be your
strength the same in Yama's kingdom.
2So strong your sight, so many be your powers,
so great your
force, your energies so many,
When fire
attends the body as its fuel, then may, ye gain full
chargers,
O ye couple.
3Together in this world,
in God-ward pathway, together be ye in
the realms of Yama.
Invite, made pure with means of purifying, whatever seed of
yours hath been developed.
4Do ye, O
sons, unite you with the waters, meeting this living
man,
ye life-sustainers,
Allot to them the Odana your mother is
making ready, which
they call immortal.
5That which your mother and your sire, to
banish sin and un-
cleanness from their lips, are cooking.
That Odana with hundred streams, sky-reaching, hath in its
might prevaded earth and heaven.
6Live
with your sons, when life on earth is ended, live in the
sphere most rich in light and sweetness.
In skies that have
been won by sacrificers make both the worlds,
earth, heaven,
your habitation.
7Approach the eastern,
yea: the eastern region, this is the
sphere to which the
faithful turn them,
Your cooked oblation that in fire was
offered, together, wife and
husband, meet to guard it.
p. 90
8Now, as your
steps approach the southern quarter, move in.
your circling
course about this vessel.
Herein, accordant with the Fathers,
Yama shall mightily protect
your cooked oblation.
9Best of the regions is indeed this western
wherein the King and
gracious Lord is Soma.
Thither resort
for rest, follow the pious. Then gain the laden
chargers,
O ye couple.
10Ever victorious is the
northern region: may the east quarter set
us first and foremost.
The Man became the five-divisioned metre. May we abide wit .
all our members perfect.
11This stedfast
realm is Queen. To her be homage! To me and
to my sons may
she be gracious.
Guard thou, O Goddess Aditi, all-bounteous,
our cooked oblation
as an active warder.
12Embrace us as a father clasps his children.
Here on the Earth
let kindly breezes fan us.
Let the rice-mess
these two cook here, O Goddess, know this
our truthfulness
and zealous fervour.
13If the dark bird
hath come to us and, stealing the hanging. .
morsel, settled
in his dwelling,
Or if the slave-girl hath, wet-handed, smearing
the pestle and
the mortar, cleansed the waters,
14This pressing-stone, broad-based and strength-bestowing,
made
pure by cleansing means, shall chase the demon.
Mount
on the skin: afford us great protection, Let not the sons'
sin fall on wife and husband.
15Together
with the Gods, banning Pis5chas and demons, hath
Vanaspati
come hither.
He shall rise up and send his voice out loudly.
May we win all
the worlds with him to help us.
16Seven victims held the sacrificial essence,
the bright one and the
one that hath grown feeble.
The
three-and-thirty Deities attend them. As such, conduct us
io the world of Svarga.
17Unto the world
of Svarga shalt thou lead us: there may we dwell
beside our
wife and children.
I take thy hand Let not Destruction, let
not Malignity come
hither and subdue us.
p. 91
18We have subdued that sinful-hearted
Grāhi. Thou shalt speak
sweetly having chased the darkness.
Let not the wooden gear made ready fail us, nor harm the grain
of rice that pays due worship.
19Soon
to be, decked with butter, all-embracing, come to this
world
wherewith birth unites thee.
Seize thou the winnowing-fan
which rains have nourished, and
let this separate the chaff
and refuse.
20Three worlds hath Power
Divine marked out and measured,
Fheaven yonder, and the earth,
and airs mid-region.
Grasp ye the stalks and in your hands
retain them: let them be
watered and again be winnowed.
21Manifold, various are the shapes of victims.
Thou growest uni-
form by great abundance.
Push thou away
this skin of ruddy colour: the stone will cleanse
as one
who cleanses raiment.
22Earth upon earth
l set thee. This thy body is con-substantial,.
but in form
it differs.
Whate'er hath been worn off or scratched in fixing,
leak not
thereat: I spread a charm to mend it.
23Thou for thy son shalt yearn as yearns
a mother. I lay thee
down and with the earth unite thee.
Conjoined with sacrificial gear and butter may pot and jar stand
firmly on the altar.
24Eastward may Agni
as he cooks preserve thee. Southward may
Indra, grit by Maruts,
guard thee,
Varuna strengthen and support thee westward,
and Soma on
the north hold thee together.
25Drops flow, made pure by filters, from
the rain-cloud: to heaven
and earth and to the worlds they
travel,
May Indra light them up, poured in the vessel, lively
and sted-
fast, quickening living creatures.
26From heaven they come, they visit earth,
and rising from earth
unite themselves with air's mid-region,
Purified, excellent, they with shine in beauty. Thus may they
lead us
to the world of Svarga.
27Yea,
and supreme, alike in conformation, and brilliant and
refulgent
and immortal,
As such, enjoined, well-guarding, water-givers,
dress ye the
Odana for wife and husband.
p. 92
28Numbered, they visit earth,
these drops of moisture, commensu-
rate with plants and vital
breathings,
Unnumbered, scattered, beautiful in colour, the
bright, ones
have pervaded all refulgence.
29Heated, they rage and boil in agitation,
they cast about their
foam and countless bubbles
Like
a fond woman when she sees her husband—what time ye
waters
and these rice-grains mingle,
30Take
up these rice-grains lying at the bottom: led them be blent
and mingled with the waters.
This water I have measured in
the vessel, if as mid-points the
rice-grains have been meted.
31Present the sickle: quickly bring it hither.
Let them out plants
and joints with hands that harm not.
So may the plants be free from wrath against us, they o'er
whose realm Soma hath won dominion.
32Strew
ye fresh grass for the boiled rice to rest on: fair let it be,
sweet to the eye and spirit.
Hither come Goddesses with Gods,
and sitting here taste in
proper season this oblation.
33On the strewn grass. Vanaspati, be seated;
commensurate with
Gods and Agnishtomas.
Let thy fair form,
wrought as by Tvashtar's hatchet, mark these
that yearn for
thee within the vessel.
34In sixty autumns
may the Treasure-Guardian seek to gain
heavenly light by
cooked oblation.
On this may sons and fathers live dependent.
Send thou this
mess to Fire that leads to heaven.
35On the earth's breast stand firmly as
supporter: may Deities
stir thee who ne'er hast shaken.
So living man and wife with living children remove thee from
the hearth of circling Agni.
36All wishes
that have blessed those with fulfilment, having won
all the
worlds have met together.
Let them plunge in both stirring-spoon
and ladle: raise this and
set it in a single vessel.
37Pour out the covering butter, spread it
eastward: sprinkle this
vessel over with the fatness.
Greet this, ye Deities, with gentle murmur, as lowing cows wel-
come their tender suckling. p. 93
38Thou hast poured oil and made the worlds:
let heaven, unequal-
led, be spread out in wide extension.
Herein be cooked the buffalo, strong-pinioned: the Gods shall
give the Deities this oblation.
39Whate'er
thy wife, away from thee, makes ready, or what, O
wife, apart
from thee, thy husband,
Combine it all: let it be yours in
common while ye produce one
world with joint endeavour.
40All these now dwelling on the earth, mine
offspring, these whom,
this woman here, my wife, hath borne
me,
Invite them all unto the vessel: knowing their kinship
have the
children met together.
41Swollen
with savoury meath, the stream of treasures, sources of
immortality
blent with fatness
Soma retains all these; in sixty autumns
the Guardian Lord of
Treasures may desire them.
42The Lord of Treasures may desire this
treasure: lordless on.
every side be all the others.
Our
mess, presented seeking heaven, hath mounted in three
divisions
all three realms of Svarga.
43May Agni
burn the God-denying demon: let no carnivorous.
Pis icha
drink here.
We drive him off, we keep him at a distance. Ādityas
and
Angirases pursue him!
44This meath
do I announce, mingled with butter, to the Angi-
rases and
the Ādityas.
With pure hands ne'er laid roughly on a
Brahman go, pious.
couple, to the world of Svarga.
45Of this have I obtained the noblest portion
from that same
world whence Parmeshthin gained it.
Pour
forth, besprinkle butter rich in fatness: the share of
Angiras
is here before us.
46To Deities, to Truth,
to holy Fervour this treasure we consign,.
this rich deposit,
At play, in meeting led it not desert us, never give out to
anyone
besides me.
47I cook the offering,
I present oblation: only my wife attends
the holy service.
A youthful world, a son hath been begotten. Begin a life that
brings success and triumph. p. 94
48There is no fault in this, no reservation,
none when it goes with
friends in close alliance.
We have
laid down this vessel in perfection: the cooked mess
shall
re-enter him who cooked it.
49To those
we love may we do acts that please them. Away to
darkness
go all those who hate us!
Cow, ox, and strength of every
kind approach us! Thus let
them banish death of human beings.
50Perfectly do the Agnis know each other,
one visitor of plants
and one of rivers,
And all the Gods
who shine and glow in heaven. Gold is the
light of him who
cooks oblation.
51Man hath received this
skin of his from nature: of other
animals not one is naked.
Ye make him clothe himself with might for raiment. Odana's
mouth is a home-woven vesture.
52Whatever
thou may say at dice, in meeting, whatever falsehood
through
desire of riches,
Ye two, about one common warp uniting,
deposit all impurity
within it.
53Win
thou the rain: approach the Gods. Around thee thou from
the
skin shalt make the smoke rise upward.
Soon to be, decked
with butter, all-embracing, come to this
world wherewith
one birth unites thee.
54In many a shape
hath heaven transformed its body, as in itself
is known,
of varied eolour.
Cleansing the bright, the dark form hath
it banished: the red
form in the fire to thee I offer.
55To the eastern region, to Agni the Regent,
to Asita the Protector,
Āditya the Archer, we present
thee, this offering of ours. Do
ye preserve it from aggression
To full old age may Destiny conduct us; may full old age deliver
us to Mrityu. Then may we be with our prepared oblation.
56To the southern region, to Indra the Regent,
to Tiraschirāji the
Protector, to Yama the Archer, we
present, etc. (as in stanza
55)
57To
the western region, to Varuna the Regent, to Pridāku the
Protector, to Food the Archer, we present, etc.
58To the northern region, to Soma the Regent,
to Svaja the Protec-
tor, to Thunderbolt the Archer, we present,
etc. p. 95
59To the
stedfast region, to Vishnu the Regent, to Kalmāshagriva
the Protector, to Plants the Archers, we present, etc.
60To the upper region, to Brihaspati the
Regent, to Svitra the
Protector, to Rain the Archer, we present
thee, this offering
of ours. Do ye preserve it from aggression.
To full old age may Destiny conduct us, may full old age deliver
us to Mrityu. Then may we be with our prepared oblation.
HYMN IV

On the duty of giving cows to Brāhmans, and the sin and danger of withholding the gift
1Give the gift, shall be his word: and
straightway they have bound
the Cow
For Brāhman priests
who beg the boon. That bringeth sons and
progeny.
2He trades and traffics with his sons, and
in his cattle suffers loss.
Who will not give the Cow of
Gods to Rishis children when
they beg.
3They perish through a hornless cow, a lame
cow sinks them in a
pit.
Through a maimed cow his house
is burnt: a one-eyed cow
destroys his wealth.
4Fierce fever where her droppings fall attacks
the master of the
kine.
So have they named her Vasa, for
thou art called uncontrollable.
5The
malady Viklindu springs on him from ground whereon she
stands,
And suddenly, from fell disease, perish the men on whom she
sniffs.
6Whoever twitches up her ears
is separated from the Gods.
He deems he makes a mark, but
he diminishes his wealth
thereby.
7If
to his own advantage one applies the long hair of her tail,
p. 98
His colts, in consequence thereof.
die, and the wolf destroys his
calves.
8If, while her master owneth her, a carrion
crow hath harmed her
hair,
His young boys die thereof,
Decline o'ertakes them after fell
disease.
9What time the Dāsi woman throws lye
on the droppings of the
Cow,
Misshapen birth arises thence,
inseparable from that sin.
10For Gods
and Brāhmans is the Cow produced when first she
springs
to life,
Hence to the priests must she be given: this they
call guarding
private wealth.
11The
God-created Cow belongs to those who come to ask for
her.
They call it outrage on the priests when one retains her as
his
own.
12He who withholds the Cow
of Gods from Rishis' sons who ask
the gift
Is made an
alien to the Gods, and subject to the Brāhmans'
wrath:
13Then let him seek another Cow, whate'er
his profit be in this.
The Cow, not given, harms a man when
he denies her at their
prayer.
14Like
a rich treasure stored away in safety is the Brāhmans'
Cow.
Therefore men come to visit her, with whomsoever she
is born.
15So when the Brāhmans
come unto the Cow they come unto their
own.
For this is
her withholding, to oppress these in another life.
16Thus after three years may she go, speaking
what is not under-
stood.
He, Nārads! would know
the Cow, then Brāhmans must be
sought unto.
17Whoso calls her a worthless Cow, the stored-up
treasure of the
Gods,
Bhava and Sarva, both of them, move
round and shoot a shaft
at him.
18The
man who hath no knowledge of her udder and the teats
thereof,
p. 99
She yields him milk with these,
if he hath purposed to bestow
the Cow.
19If he withholds the Cow they beg, she
lies rebellious in his stall.
Vain are the wishes and the
hopes which he, withholding her,
would gain.
20The Deities have begged the Cow, using
the Brāhman as their
mouth:
The man who gives her
not incurs the enmity of all the Gods.
21Withholding
her from Brāhmans, he incurs the anger of the
beasts,
When mortal man appropriates the destined portion of the
Gods.
22If hundred other Brāhmans
beg the Cow of him who owneth
her,
The Gods have said,
She, verily, belongs to him who knows the
truth.
23Whoso to others, not to him who hath this
knowledge, gives the
Cow,
Earth, with the Deities, is
hard for him to win and rest upon.
24The
Deities begged the Cow from him with whom at first she
was
produced:
Her, this one, Nārada would know: with Deities
he drove her
forth.
25The Cow deprives
of progeny and makes him poor in cattle who
Retains in his
possession her whom Brāhmans have solicited.
26For Agni and for Soma, for Kāma,
Mitra and Varuna,
For these the Brāhmans ask: from these
is he who giveth not
estranged.
27Long
as her owner hath not heard, himself, the verses, let her
move
Among his kine: when he hath heard, let her not make
her
home with him;
28He who hath heard
her verses and still makes her roam among
his kine.
The
Gods in anger rend away his life and his prosperity
29Roaming in many a place the Cow is the
stored treasure of the
Gods,
Make manifest thy shape and
form when she would seek her
dwelling-place.
p. 100
30Her shape
and form she manifests when she would seek her
dwelling-place;
Then verily the Cow attends to Brāhman priests and their
request.
31This thought he settles in
his mind. This safely goeth to the
Gods.
Then verily the
Brāhman priests approach that they may beg the
Cow
32By Svadhā to the Fathers, by sacrifice
to the Deities,
By giving them the Cow, the Prince doth not
incur the mother's.
wrath.
33The Prince's
mother is the Cow: so was it ordered from of old.
She, when
bestowed upon the priests, cannot be given back, they
say.
34As molten butter, held at length, drops
down to Agni from the
scoop,
So falls away from Agni he
who gives no Cow to Brāhman
priests.
35Good milker, with rice-cake as calf, she
in the world comes
nigh to him,
To him who gave her as
a gift the Cow grants every hope and.
wish.
36In Yama's realm the Cow fulfils each wish
for him who gave her
up;
But hell, they say, is for the
man who, when they beg, bestow
her not.
37Enraged against her owner roams the Cow
when she hath been
impregned.
He deemed me fruitless is
her thought; let him be bound in,
snares of Death!
38Whoever looking on the Cow as fruitless,
cooks her flesh at
home,
Brihaspati compels his sons and
children of his sons to beg.
39Downward
she sends a mighty heat, though amid kine a Cow
she roams.
Poison she yields for him who owns and hath not given her away.
40The animal is happy when it is bestowed
upon the priests:
But happy is the Cow when she is made a
sacrifice to Gods.
41Nārada chose
the terrible Vilipti out of all the cows Which the
p. 101
Gods formed and framed when they
had risen up from sacri-
fice
42The
Gods considered her in doubt whether she were a Cow or
not.
Mirada spake of her and said, The veriest Cow of cows is she.
43How many cows, O Nārada, knowest
thou, born among man-
kind
I ask thee who dost know, of
which must none who is no
Brāhman eat?
44Vilipti, cow, and she who drops no second
calf, Brihaspati!
Of these none not a Brāhmana should
eat if he hope for emi-
nence.
45Homage,
O Nārada, to thee who hast quick knowledge of the
cows.
Which of these is the direst, whose withholding bringeth death
to man?
46Vilipti, O Brihaspati, cow,
mother of no second calf—Of these
none not a Brāhman
should eat if he hope for eminence.
47Threefold
are kine, Vilipti, cow, the mother of no seeond calf:
These
one should give to priests, and he will not offend Prajā-
pati.
48This Brāhmans! is your sacrifice:
thus should one think when he
is asked,
What time they
beg from him the Cow fearful in the with-
holder's house.
49He gave her not to us, so spake the Gods,
in anger, of the Cow.
With these same verses they addressed
Bheda: this brought
him to his death.
50Solicited by Indra, still Bheda refused to give this Cow.
In strife for victory the Gods destroyed him for that sin of
his.
51The men of evil counsel who advise
refusal of the Cow,
Miscreants, through their foolishness,
are subjected to Indra's
wrath.
52They
who seduce the owner of the Cow and say, Bestow her
not.
Encounter through their want of sense the missile shot by
Rudra's hand.
53If in his home one cooks
the Cow, sacrificed or not sacrificed.
Wronger of Gods and
Brāhmans' he departs, dishonest, from
the world.
HYMN V

On the duty of giving cows to Brāhmans, and the sin and danger of withholding the gift
1Created by toil and holy fervour, found
by devotion, resting in
right;
2Invested
with truth, surrounded with honour, compassed about
with
glory;
3Girt round with inherent power,
fortified with faith, protected,
by consecration, installed
at sacrifice, the world her resting-
place;
4Brahma her guide, the Brāhman her
lord and ruler;
5Of the Kshatriya who
taketh to himself this Brāhman's cow and
oppresseth
the Brāhman.
6The glory, the heroism,
and the favouring fortune depart.
7The
energy and vigour, the power and might the speech and
mental
strength, the glory and duty;
8Devotion
and princely sway, kingship and people, brilliance and
honour,
and splendour and wealth;
9Long life
and goodly form, and name and fame, inbreathing and
expiration,
and sight, and hearing;
10Milk and flavour,
and food and nourishment, and right and
truth, and action
and fulfilment, and children and cattle;
11All these blessings of a Kshatriya depart from him when
he
oppresseth the Brāhman and taketh to himself the
hhman's
cow.
12Terrible is she this
Brāhman's cow, and fearfully venomous,
visibly witchcraft.
13In her are all horrors and all death.
14In her are all dreadful, deeds, all slaughters
of mankind.
15This, the Brāhman's
cow, being appropriated, holdeth bound in
the fetter of Death
the oppressor of the Brāhman, the blas-
phemer of the
Gods.
16A hundred-killing bolt is she:
she slays the Brāhman's injurer.
17Therefore
the Brāhmans' cow is held inviolable by the wise.
18Running she is a thunderbolt, when driven
away she is Vaisvā-
nara;
19An
arrow when she draweth up her hooves, and Mahādeva when
she looketh around;
20Sharp as a razor
when she beholdeth, she thundereth when she
belloweth.
p. 104
21Death is
she when she loweth, and a fierce God when she whis-
keth
her tail;
22Utter destruction when she
moveth her ears this way and that,
Consumption when she droppeth
water;
23A missile when milking, pain
in the head when milked;
24The taking
away of strength when she approacheth, a hand-to-
hand fighter
when roughly touched;
25Wounding like
an arrow when she is fastened by her mouth,
contention when
she is beaten;
26Fearfully venomous when
falling, darkness when she hath fallen
down.
27Following him, the Brāhman's cow
extinguisheth the vital breath
of the injurer of the Brāhman.
28Hostility when being cut to pieces, woe
to children when the
portions are distributed,
29A destructive missile of Gods when she
is being seized,
misfortune when carried away;
30Misery while being additionally acquired,
contumely and abuse
while being put in the stall;
31Poison when in agitation, fever when seasoned
with condi-
ments;
32Sin while she
is cooking, evil dream when she is cooked;
33Uprooting when she is being turned round,
destruction when she
hath been turned round;
34Discord by her smell, grief when she is
being eviscerated: ser-
pent with poison in its fang when
drawn;
35Loss of power while sacrificially
presented, humiliation when she
hath been offered;
36Wrathful Sarva while being carved. Simidā
when cut up:
37Poverty while she is being
eaten. Destruction when eaten.
38The
Brāhman's cow when eaten cuts off the injurer of Brāhmans
both from this world and from the world yonder.
39Her slaughter is the sin of witchcraft,
her cutting-up is a thunder-
bolt, her undigested grass is
a secret spell.
40Homelessness is she
when denied her rights.
41Having become
Flesh-eating Agni the Brāhman's cow entereth
into and
devoureth the oppressor of Brāhmans.
42She sunders all his members, joints, and
roots.
43She cuts off relationship on
the father's side and destroys mater-
nal kinship.
p. 105
44The Brāhman's
cow, not restored by a Kshatriya, ruins the
marriages and
all the kinsmen of the Brāhman's oppressor.
45She makes him houseless, homeless, childless:
he is extinguished
without posterity to succeed him.
046. So shall it be with the Kshatriya who
takes to himself the cow
of the Braman who hath this knowledge.
47Quickly, when he is smitten down by death,
the clamorous vul-
tures cry:
48Quickly
around his funeral fire dance women with dishevelled
locks,
Striking the hand upon the breast and uttering their evil shriek.
49Quickly the wolves are howling in the
habitation where he
lived:
50Quickly
they ask about him, What is this? What thing hath
happened
here?
51Rend, rend to pieces, rend away,
destroy, destroy him utterly.
52Destroy
Angirasi! the wretch who robs and wrongs the Brah-
mans,
born.
53Of evil womb, thou witchcraft
hid, for Vaisvadevi is thy name,
54Consuming,
burning all things up, the thunderbolt of spell and
charm.
55Go thou, becoming Mrityu sharp as razor's
edge pursue thy
course:
56Thou bearest
off the tyrants' strength, their store of merit, and
their
prayers.
57Bearing off wrong, thou givest
in that world to him who hath
been wronged.
58O Cow, become a tracker through the curse
the Brāhman hath
pronounced,
59Become
a bolt, an arrow through his sin, be terribly venomous.
60O Cow, break thou the head of him who
wrongs the Brāhmans,
criminal, niggard, blasphemer of
the Gods.
61Let Agni burn the spiteful
wretch when crushed to death and
slain by thee.
62Rend, rend to bits, rend through and through,
scorch and con-
sume and burn to dust,
63Consume thou, even from the root, the
Brāhmans' tyrant, god-
like Cow!
64That he may go from Yama's home afar into the worlds of
sin.
its p. 106
65So,
Goddess Cow, do thou from him, the Brāhmans' tyrant,
criminal, niggard, blasphemer of the Gods,
66With hundred-knotted thunderbolt, sharpened
and edged with
razor-blades,
67Strike
off the shoulders and the head.
68Snatch
thou the hair from off his head, and from his body strip
the skin:
69Tear out his sinews, cause
his flesh to fall in pieces from his
frame.
70Crush thou his bones together, strike
and beat the marrow out
of him.
71Dislocate
all his limbs and joints.
72From earth
let the Carnivorous Agni drive him, let Vayu burn.
him from
mid-air's broad region.
73From heaven
let Sūrya drive him and consume him.
Suggestions for Further Reading
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book One
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Two
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Three
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Four
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Five
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Six
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Seven
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Eight
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Nine
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Ten
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Eleven
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Twelve
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Thirteen
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Fourteen
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Fifteen
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Sixteen
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Seventeen
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Eighteen
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Nineteen
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda, Book Twenty
- Hymns Of The Atharva-Veda
- Hymns of the Sama veda
- The Rig Veda translation
- Yajur Veda: The Veda Of The Black Yajus School
- Essays On Dharma
- Esoteric Mystic Hinduism
- Introduction to Hinduism
- Hindu Way of Life
- Essays On Karma
- Hindu Rites and Rituals
- The Origin of The Sanskrit Language
- Symbolism in Hinduism
- Essays on The Upanishads
- Concepts of Hinduism
- Essays on Atman
- Hindu Festivals
- Spiritual Practice
- Right Living
- Yoga of Sorrow
- Happiness
- Mental Health
- Concepts of Buddhism
- General Essays
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 .