Atharva Veda
Section - 8
VIII. CHARMS IN EXPIATION OF SIN AND
DEFILEMENT.
VI, 45. Prayer against mental
delinquency.
1. Pass far away, O sin of the mind! Why dost
thou utter things not to be uttered? Pass away, I love thee not! To the trees,
the forests go on! With the house, the cattle, is my mind.
2. What wrongs we have committed through
imprecation, calumny, and false speech, either awake, or asleep–Agni shall put
far away from us all offensive evil deeds!
3. What, O Indra Brahmanaspati, we do
falselymay Praketas (‘care-taker’) Ângirasa protect us from misfortune, and
from evil!
VI, 26. Charm to avert evil.
1. Let me go, O evil; being powerful, take
thou pity on us! Set me, O evil, unharmed, into the world of happiness!
2. If, O evil, thou dost not abandon us, then
do we abandon thee at the fork of the road. May evil follow after another
(man)!
3. Away from us may thousand-eyed, immortal
(evil) dwell! Him whom we hate may it strike, and him whom we hate do thou
surely smite!
VI, 114. Expiatory formula for imperfections in the sacrifice.
1. The god-angering (deed), O ye gods, that
we, the (Brahman) gods, have committed, from that do ye, O Âdityas, release us,
by virtue of the order of the universe!
2. By virtue of the order of the universe do
ye, O reverend Âdityas, release us here, if, O ye carriers of the sacrifice,
though desirous of accomplishing (the sacrifice), we did not accomplish (it)!–
3. (If), when sacrificing with the fat
(animal), when offering oblations of ghee with the spoon, when desiring to
benefit you, O all ye gods, we have contrary to desire, not succeeded!
VI, 115. Expiatory formulas for sins.
1. From the sins which knowingly or
unknowingly we have committed, do ye, all gods, of one accord, release us!
2. If awake, or if asleep, to sin inclined, I
have committed a sin, may what has been, and what shall be, as if from a wooden
post, release me!
3. As one released from a wooden post, as one
in a sweat by bathing (is cleansed) of filth, as ghee is clarified by the
sieve, may all (the gods) clear me from sin!
VI, 112. Expiation for the precedence of a younger brother over an older.
1. May this (younger brother) not slay the
oldest one of them, O Agni; protect him that he be not torn out by the root! Do
thou here cunningly loosen the fetter of Grâhi (attack of disease); may all the
gods give thee leave!
2. Free these three, O Agni, from the three
fetters with which they have been shackled! Do thou cunningly loosen the
fetters of Grâhi; release them all, father, sons, and mother!
3. The fetters with which the older brother,
whose younger brother has married before him, has been bound, with which he has
been encumbered and shackled limb by limb, may they be loosened; since fit for
loosening they are! Wipe off, O Pûshan, the misdeeds upon him that practiseth
abortion!
VI, 113. Expiation for certain heinous crimes.
1. On Trita the gods wiped off this sin,
Trita wiped it off on human beings; hence if Grâhi (attack of disease) has
seized thee, may these gods remove her by means of their charm!
2. Enter into the rays, into smoke, O sin; go
into the vapours, and into the fog! Lose thyself on the foam of the river!
‘Wipet off, O Pûshan, the misdeeds upon him that practiseth abortion!
3. Deposited in twelve places is that which
has been wiped off Trita, the sins belonging to humanity. Hence if Grâhi has
seized thee, may these gods remove her by means of their charm!
VI, 120. Prayer for heaven after remission of sins.
1. If air, or earth and heaven, if mother or
father, we have injured, may this Agni Gârhapatya (household fire) without fail
lead us out from this (crime)
to the world of well-doing!
to the world of well-doing!
2. The earth is our mother, Aditi (the
universe) our kin, the air our protector from hostile schemes. May father sky
bring prosperity to us from the world of the Fathers; may I come to my
(departed) kin, and not lose heaven!
3. In that bright world where our pious
friends live in joy, having cast aside the ailments of their own bodies, free
from lameness, not deformed in limb, there may we behold our parents and our
children!
VI, 27. Charm against pigeons regarded as ominous birds.
1. O ye gods, if the pigeon, despatched as
the messenger of Nirriti (the goddess of destruction), hath come here seeking
(us out), we shall sing his praises, and prepare (our) ransom. May our
two-footed and four-footed creatures be prosperous!
2. Auspicious to us shall be the pigeon that
has been despatched; harmless, ye gods, the bird shall be to our house! The
sage Agni shall verily take pleasure in our oblation; the winged missile shall
avoid us!
3. The winged missile shall not do us injury:
upon our hearth, our fireplace he (the pigeon) takes his steps! Propitious he
shall be to our cattle and
our domestics; may not, ye gods, the pigeon here do harm to us!
our domestics; may not, ye gods, the pigeon here do harm to us!
VI, 29. Charm against ominous pigeons and owls.
1. Upon those persons yonder the winged missile
shall fall! If the owl shrieks, futile shall this be, or if the pigeon takes
his steps upon the fire!
2. To thy two messengers, O Nirriti, who come
here, despatched or not despatched, to our house, to the pigeon and to the owl,
this shall be no place to step upon!
3. He shall not fly hither to slaughter (our)
men; to keep (our) men sound he shall settle here! Charm .him very far away
unto a distant region, that (people) shall behold you (i.e. him) in Yama’s
house devoid of strength, that they shall behold you bereft of power!
VII, 64. Expiation when one is defiled by a black bird of omen.
1. What this black bird flying forth towards
(me) has dropped here–may the waters protect me from all that misfortune and
evil!
2. What this black bird has brushed here with
thy mouth, O Nirtiti (goddess of misfortune)-may Agni Gârhapatya (the god of
the household fire) free me from this sin!
VI, 46. Exorcism of evil dreams.
1. Thou who art neither alive nor dead, the
immortal child of the gods art thou, O Sleep! Varunânî is thy mother, Yama
(death) thy father, Araru is thy name.
2. We know, O Sleep, thy birth, thou art the
son of the divine women-folk, the instrument of Yama (death)! Thou art the
ender, thou art death! Thus do we know thee, O Sleep: do thou, O Sleep, protect
us from evil dreams!
3. As one pays off a sixteenth, an eighth, or
an (entire) debt, thus do we transfer every evil dream upon our enemy.
VII, 115. Charm for the removal of evil characteristics, and the acquisition of auspicious ones.
1. Fly forth from here, O evil mark, vanish
from here, fly forth to yonder place! Upon him that hates us do we fasten thee
with a brazen hook.
2. The unsavoury mark which flying has
alighted upon me, as a creeper upon a tree, that mayest thou put away from us,
away from here, O golden-handed
(golden-rayed) Savitar (the sun), bestowing goods upon us!
(golden-rayed) Savitar (the sun), bestowing goods upon us!
3. Together with the body of the mortal, from
his birth, one and a hundred marks are born. Those that are most foul do we
drive away from here; the auspicious ones, O Gâtavedas (Agni), do thou hold
fast for us!
4. These (marks) here I have separated, as
cows scattered upon the heather. The pure marks shall remain, the foul ones I
have made to disappear!
Atharva Veda
Section -9
IX. PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS IN THE INTEREST
OF THE BRAHMANS.
V, 18. Imprecation against the oppressors
of Brahmans.
1. The gods, O king, did not give to thee
this (Cow) to eat. Do not, O prince, seek to devour the cow of the Brâhmana,
which is unfit to be eaten!
2. The prince, beguiled by dice, the wretched
one who has lost as a stake his own person, he may, perchance, eat the cow of
the Brâhmana, (thinking), ‘let me live to-day (if) not to-morrow’!
3. Enveloped (is she) in her skin, as an
adder with evil poison; do not, O prince, (eat the cow) of the Brâhmana:
sapless, unfit to be eaten, is that cow!
4. Away does (the Brâhmana) take regal power,
destroys vigour; like fire which has caught does he burn away everything. He
that regards the Brâhmana as fit food drinks of the poison of the taimâta-serpent.
5. He who thinks him (the Brahman) mild, and
slays him, he who reviles the gods, lusts after wealth, without thought, in his
heart Indra kindles a fire; him both heaven and earth hate while he lives.
6. The Brâhmana must not be encroached upon,
any more than fire, by him that regards his own body! For Soma is his (the
Brâhmana’s) heir, Indra protects him from hostile plots.
7. He swallows her (the cow), bristling with
a hundred hooks, (but) is unable to digest her, he, the fool who, devouring the
food of the Brahmans, thinks, ‘I am eating a luscious (morsel).’
8. (The Brahman’s) tongue turns into a bow.
string, his voice into the neck of an arrow; his windpipe, his teeth are
bedaubed with holy fire: with these the Brahman strikes those who revile the
gods, by means of bows that have the strength to reach the heart, discharged by
the gods.
9. The Brâhmanas have sharp arrows, are armed
with missiles, the arrow whi ch they hurl goes not in vain; pursuing him with
their holy fire and their wrath, even from afar, do they pierce him.
10. They who ruled over a thousand, and were
themselves ten hundred, the Vaitahavya, when they devoured the cow of the
Brâhmana, perished.
11. The cow herself, when slaughtered, came
down upon the Vaitahavyas. who had roasted for themselves the last she-goat of
Kesaraprâbandhâ.
12. The one hundred and one persons whom the
earth did cast off, because they had injured the offspring of a Brâhmana, were
ruined irretrievably.
13. As a reviler of the gods does he live
among mortals, having swallowed poison, he becomes more bone (than flesh). He
that injureth a Brâhmana, whose kin are the gods, does not reach heaven by the
road of the Fathers.
14. Agni is called our guide, Soma our heir,
Indra slays those who curse (us): that the strong (sages) know.
15. Like a poisoned arrow, O king, like -an
adder, O lord of cattle, is the terrible arrow of the Brâhmana: with that he
smites those who revile (the gods).
V, 19. Imprecation against the oppressors of Brahmans.
1. Beyond measure they waxed strong, just
fell short of touching the heavens. When they infringed upon Bhrigu they
perished, the Sriñgaya Vaitahavyas.
2. The persons who pierced Brihatsâman, the
descendant of Angiras, the Brâhmana–a ram with two rows of teeth, a sheep
devoured their offspring.
3. They who spat upon the Brâhmana, who
desired tribute from him, they sit in the middle of a pool of blood, chewing
hair.
4. The cow of the Brahman, when roasted, as
far as she reaches does she destroy the lustre of the kingdom; no lusty hero is
born (there).
5. A cruel (sacrilegious) deed is her
slaughter, her meat, when eaten, is sapless; when her milk is drunk, that
surely is accounted a crime against the Fathers.
6. When the king, weening himself mighty,
desires to destroy the Brâhmana, then royal power is dissipated, where the
Brâhmana is oppressed.
7. Becoming eight-footed, four-eyed,
four-eared, four-jawed, two-mouthed, two-tongued, she dispels the rule of the
oppressor of the Brahman.
8. That (kingdom) surely she swamps, as water
a leaking ship; misfortune strikes that kingdom, in which they injure a
Brâhmana.
9. The trees chase away with the words: ‘do
not come within our shade,’ him who covets the wealth that belongs to a
Brâhmana, O Nârada!
10. King Varuna pronounced this (to be)
poison, prepared by the gods: no one who has devoured the cow of a Brâhmana
retains the charge of a kingdom.
11. Those full nine and ninety whom the earth
did cast off, because they had injured the offspring of a Brâhmana, were ruined
irretrievably.
12. The kûdî-plant (Christ’s thorn) that
wipes away the track (of death), which they fasten to the dead, that very one,
O oppressor of Brahmans, the gods did declare (to be) thy couch.
13. The tears which have rolled from (the
eyes of) the oppressed (Brahman), as he laments, these very ones, O oppressor
of Brahmans, the gods did assign to thee as thy share of water.
14. The water with which they bathe the dead,
with which they moisten his beard, that very one, O oppressor of Brahmans, the
gods did assign to thee as thy share of water.
15. The rain of Mitra and Varuna does not
moisten the oppressor of Brahmans; the assembly is not complacent for him, he
does not guide his friend according to his will.
V, 7. Prayer to appease Arâti, the demon of grudge and avarice.
1. Bring (wealth) to us, do not stand in our
way, O Arâti; do not keep from us the sacrificial reward as it is being taken
(to us)! Adoration be to the power of grudge, the power of failure, adoration
to Arâti!
2. To thy advising minister, whom thou,
Arâti, didst make thy agent, do we make obeisance. Do not bring failure to my
wish!
3. May our wish, instilled by the gods, be
fulfilled by day and night! We go in quest of Arâti. Adoration be to Arâti!
4. Sarasvatî (speech), Anumati (favour), and
Bhaga (fortune) we go to invoke. Pleasant, honied, words I have spoken on the
occasions when the gods were invoked.
5. Him whom I implore with Vâk Sarasvatî (the
goddess-of speech), the yoke-fellow of thought, faith shall find to-day,
bestowed by the brown soma!
6. Neither our wish nor our speech do thou
frustrate! May Indra and Agni both bring us wealth! Do ye all who to-day desire
to make gifts to us gain favour with Arâti!
7. Go far away, failure! Thy missile do we
avert. I know thee (to be) oppressive and piercing, O Arâti!
8. Thou dost even transform thyself into a
naked woman, and attach thyself to people in their sleep, frustrating, O Arâti,
the thought, and intention of man.
9. To her who, great, and of great dimension,
did penetrate all the regions, to this golden-locked Nirriti (goddess of
misfortune), I have rendered obeisance.
10. To the gold-complexioned, lovely one, who
rests upon golden cushions, to the great one, to that Arâti who wears golden
robes, I have rendered obeisance.
XII, 4. The necessity of giving away
sterile cows to the Brahmans.
1. ‘I give,’ he shall surely say,’the sterile
cow to the begging Brahmans’–and they have noted her–that brings progeny and
offspring!
2. With his offspring does he trade, of his
cattle is he deprived, that refuses to give the cow of the gods to the begging
descendants of the Rishis.
3. Through (the gift of) a cow with broken
horns his (cattle) breaks down, through a lame one he tumbles into a pit,
through a mutilated one his house is burned, through a one-eyed one his property
is given away.
4. Flow of blood attacks the cattle-owner
from the spot where her dung is deposited: this understanding there is about
the vasâ (the sterile cow); for thou (sterile cow) art said to be very
difficult to deceive!
5. From the resting-place of her feet the
(disease) called viklindu overtakes (the owner, or the cattle). Without
sickness breaks down (the cattle) which she sniffs upon with her nose.
6. He that pierces her ears is estranged from
the gods. He thinks: ‘I am making a mark (upon her),’ (but) he diminishes his
own property.
7. If any one for whatsoever purpose cuts her
tail then do his colts die, and the wolf tears his calves.
8. If a crow has injured her hair, as long as
she is with her owner then do his children die: decline overtakes them without
(noticeable) sickness.
9. If the serving-maid sweeps together her
dung, that bites as lye, there arises from this sin disfigurement that passeth
not away.
10. The sterile cow in her very birth is born
for the gods and Brâhmanas. Hence to the Brahmans she is to be given: that,
they say, guarantees the security of one’s own property.
11. For those that come requesting her the
cow has been created by the gods. Oppression of Brahmans it is called, if he
keeps her for himself.
12. He that refuses to give the cow of the
gods to the descendants of the Rishis who ask for it, infringes upon the gods,
and the wrath of the Brâhmanas.
13. Though he derives benefit from this
sterile cow, another (cow) then shall he seek! When kept she injures (his)
folk, if he refuses to give her after she has been asked for!
14. The sterile cow is as a treasure
deposited for die Brâhmanas: they come here for her, with whomsoever she is
born.
15. The Brâhmanas come here for their own,
when they come for the sterile cow. The refusal of her is, as though he were
oppressing them in other concerns.
16. I& If she herds up to her third year,
and no disease is discovered in her, and he finds her to be a sterile cow, O
Nârada, then must he look for the Brâhmanas.
17. If he denies that she is sterile, a
treasure deposited for the gods, then Bhava and Sarva, both, come upon him, and
hurl their arrow upon him.
18. Though he does not perceive upon her
either udder, or tits, yet both yield him milk, if he has prevailed upon
himself to give away the sterile cow.
19. Hard to cheat, she oppresses him, if,
when asked for, he refuses to give her. His desires are not fulfilled, if he
aims to accomplish them without giving her away.
20. The gods did ask for the sterile cow,
making the Brâhmana their mouthpiece. The man that does not give (her) enters
into the wrath of all of these.
21. Into the wrath of the cattle enters he
that gives not the sterile cow to the Brâhmanas; if he, the mortal,
appropriates the share deposited for the gods.
22. Even if a hundred other Brâhmanas beg the
owner for the sterile cow, yet the gods did say anent her: ‘The cow belongs to
him that knoweth thus.’
23. He that refuses the sterile cow to him
that knoweth thus, and gives her to others, difficult to dwell upon is for him
the earth with her divinities.
24. The gods did beg the sterile cow of him
wilh whom she was born at first. That very one Nârada recognised and drove
forth in company with the gods.
25. The sterile cow renders childless, and
poor in cattle, him that yet appropriates her, when she has been begged for by
the Brâhmanas.
26. For Agni and Soma, for Kâma, for Mitra,
and for Varuna, for these do the Brâhmanas beg her: upon these he infringes, if
he gl ves her not.
27. As long as the owner does not himself hear
the stanzas referring to (the giving away of) her, she may herd among his
cattle; (only) if he has not heard (them) may she pass the night in his house.
28. He that has listened to the stanzas, yet
has permitted her to herd among the cattle, his life and prosperity the angry
gods destroy.
29. The sterile cow, even when she rambles
freely, is a treasure deposited for the gods. Make evident thy true nature when
thou desirest to go to thy (proper) stable!
30. She makes evident her nature when she
desires to go to her (proper) stable. Then indeed the sterile cow puts it into
the minds of the Brahmans to beg (for her).
31. She evolves it in her mind, that
(thought) reaches the gods. Then do the Brahmans come to beg for the sterile
cow.
32. The call svadhâ befriends him with the
Fathers, the sacrifice with the gods. Through the gift of the sterile cow the
man of royal caste incurs not the anger of (her), his mother.
33. The sterile cow is the mother of the man
of royal caste: thus was it from the beginning. It is said to be no (real)
deprivation if she is given to the Brahmans.
34. As if he were to rob the ghee ladled up
for Agni (the fire) from the (very) spoon, thus, if he gives not the sterile
cow to the Brahmans, does he infringe upon Agni.
35. The sterile cow has the purodasa
(sacrificial cake) for her calf, she yields plentiful milk, helps in this
world, and fulfils all wishes for him that gives her (to the Brahmans).
36. The sterile cow fulfils all wishes in the
kingdom of Yama for him that gives her. But they
say that hell falls to the lot of him that withholds her, when she has been
begged for.
37. The sterile cow, even if she should
become fruitful, lives in anger at her owner: ‘since he did regard me as
sterile (without giving me to the Brahmans), he shall be bound in the fetters
of death!’
38, He who thinks that the cow is sterile,
and (yet) roasts her at home, even his children qnd grandchildren Brihaspati
causes to be importuned (for her).
39. Fiercely does the (supposed) sterile cow
burn when she herds with the cattle, though she be a (fruitful) cow. She
verily, too, milks poison for the owner that does not present her.
40. It pleases the cattle when she is given
to the Brahmans; moreover, the sterile cow is pleased, when she is made an
offering to the gods (Brahmans).
41. From the sterile cows which the gods,
returning from the sacrifice, created, Nârada picked out as (most) terrible the
viliptî.
42. In reference to her the gods reflected:
‘Is she a sterile cow, or not?’ And Nârada in reference to her said: ‘Of
sterile cows she is the most sterile!’
43. ‘How many sterile cows (are there), O
Nârada, which thou knowest to be born among men?’ About these do I ask thee,
that knowest: ‘Of which may the non-Brâhmana not eat?’
44. Of the viliptî, of her that has born a
sterile cow, and of the sterile cow (herself), the non-Brâhmana, that hopes for
prosperity, shall not eat!
45. Reverence be to thee, O Nârada, that
knowest thoroughly which sterile cow is the most terrible, by withholding which
(from the Brahmans) destruction is.incurred.
46. The viliptî, O Brihaspati, her that has,
begotten a sterile cow, and the sterile cow (herself), the non-Brâhmana, that
hopes for prosperity, shall not eat!
47. Three kinds, forsooth, of sterile cows
are there: the viliptî, she that has begotten a sterile cow, and the sterile
cow (herself). These he shall give to the Brahmans; (then) does he not estrange
himself from Pragâpati.
48. ‘This is your oblation, O Brâhmanas,’
thus shall he reflect, if he is supplicated, if they ask him for the sterile
cow, terrible in the house of him that refuses to give her.
49. The gods animadverted in reference to
Bheda and the sterile cow, angry because he had not given her, in these
verses-and therefore he (Bheda) perished.
50. Bheda did not present the sterile cow,
though requested by Indra: for this sin the gods crushed him in battle.
51. The counsellors that advise the
withholding (of the sterile cow), they, the rogues, in their folly, conflict
with the wrath of Indra.
52. They who lead the owner of cattle aside,
then say to him: ‘do not give,’ in their folly they run into the missile hurled
by Rudra.
53. And if he roasts the sterile cow at home,
whether he makes a sacrifice of her, or not, he sins against the gods and
Brâhmanas, and as a cheat falls from heaven.
XI, 1. The preparation of the
brahmaudana, the porridge given as a fee to the Brahmans.
1. O Agni, come into being! Aditi here in her
throes, longing for sons, is cooking the porridge for the Brahmans, The seven
Rishis, that did create the beings, shall here churn thee, along with progeny!
2. Produce the smoke, ye lusty friends;
unharmed by wiles go ye into the contest! Here is the Agni (fire) who gains
battles, and commands powerful warriors, with whom the gods did conquer the
demons.
3. O Agni, to a great heroic deed thou wast
aroused, to cook the Brahman’s porridge, O Gâtavedas! The seven Rishis, that
did create the beings, have produced thee. Grant her (the wife) wealth together
with undiminished heroes!
4. Burn, O Agni, after having been kindled by
the firewood, bring skilfully hither the gods that are to be revered! Causing
the oblation to cook for these (Brahmans), do thou raise this (sacrificer) to
the highest firmament!
5. The, threefold share which was of yore
assigned to you (belongs) to the gods, the (departed) Fathers, and to the
mortals (the priests). Know your shares! I divide them for you: the (share) of
the gods shall protect this (woman)!
6. O Agni, possessed of might, superior, thou
dost without fail prevail! Bend down to the ground our hateful rivals!–This
measure, that is being measured, and has been measured, may constitute thy kin
into (people) that render thee tribute!
7. Mayest thou together with thy kin be
endowed with sap! Elevate her (the wife) to great heroism! Ascend on high to
the base of the firmament, which they call ‘the world of brightness’!
8. This great goddess earth, kindly disposed,
shall receive the (sacrificial) skin! Then may we go to the world of well-doing
(heaven)!
9. Lay these two press-stones, well coupled,
upon the skin; crush skilfully the (soma-) shoots for the sacrificer! Crush
down, (O earth), and beat down, those who are hostile to her (the wife); lift
up high, and elevate her offspring!
10. Take into thy hands, O man, the
press-stones that work together: the gods that are to be revered have come to
thy sacrifice! Whatever three wishes thou dost choose, I shall here procure for
thee unto fulfilment.
11. This, (O winnowing-basket), is thy
purpose, and this thy nature: may Aditi, mother of heroes, take hold of thee!
Winnow out those who are hostile to this (woman); afford her wealth and
undiminished heroes!
12. Do ye, (O grains), remain in the
(winnowing-) basket, while (the wind) blows over you; be separated, ye who are
fit for the sacrifice, from the chaff! May we in happiness be superior to all
our equals! I bend down under our feet those that hate us.
13. Retire, O woman, and return promptly! The
stable of the waters (water-vessel) has settled upon thee, that thou mayest
carry it: of these (the waters) thou shalt take such as are fit for sacrifice;
having intelligently divided them off, thou shalt leave the rest behind!
14. These bright women, (the waters), have
come hither. Arise, thou woman, and gather strength! To thee, that art rendered
by thy husband a true wife, (and) by thy children rich in offspring, the
sacrifice has come: receive the (water-) vessel!
15. The share of food that belongs to you of
yore has been set aside for you. Instructed by the Rishis bring thou (woman)
hither this water! May this sacrifice win advancement for you, win prAection,
win offspring for you; may it be mighty, win cattle, and heroes for you!
16. O Agni, the sacrificial pot has settled
upon thee: do thou shining, brightly glowing, heat it with thy glow! May the
divine descendants of the Rishis, assembled about their share (of the
porridge), full of fervour, heat this (pot) at the proper time!
17. Pure and clear may these sacrificial
women, the waters bright, flow into the pot! The), have given us abundant offspring
and cattle. May he that cooks the porridge go to the world of the pious
(heaven)!
18. Purified by (our) prayer, and clarified
by the ghee are the soma-shoots, (and) these sacrificial grains. Enter the
water; may the pot receive you! When ye have cookect this (porridge) go ye to
the world of the pious (heaven)!
19. Spread out far unto great extent, with a
thousand surfaces, in the world of the pious! Grandfathers, fathers, children,
grandchildren–I am the fifteenth one that did cook thee.
20. The porridge has a thousand surfaces, a
hundred streams, and is indestructible; it is the road of the gods, leads to
heaven. Yonder (enemies) do I place upon thee: injure them and their offspring;
(but) to me that brings gifts thou shalt be merciful!
21. Step upon the altar (vedi); make this
woman thrive in her progeny; repel the demons.; advance her! May we in
happiness be superior to all our equals! I bend down under our feet all those
that hate us.
22. Turn towards her with cattle, (thou pot),
face towards her, together with the divine powers! Neither curses nor hostile
magic shall reach thee; rule in thy dwelling free from disease!
23. Properly built, placed with care, this
altar (vedi) has been arranged of yore for the Brahmans porridge. Put it, O
woman, upon the purified amsadhrl; place there the porridge for the divine
(Brâhmanas)!
24. May this sacrificial ladle (sruk), the
second hand of Aditi, which the seven Rishis, the creators of the beings, did
fashion, may this spoon, knowing the limbs of the porridge, heap it upon the
altar!
25. The divine (Brâhmanas) shall sit down to
thee, the cooked saerfice: do thou again descending from the fire, approach
them! Clarified by soma settle in the belly of the Brâhmanas; the descendants
of the Rishis who eat thee shall not take harm!
26. O king Soma, infuse harmony into the good
Brâhmanas who shall sit about thee! Eagerly do I invite to the porridge the
Rishis, descended from Rishis, that are born of religious fervour, and gladly
obey the call.
27. These pure and clear sacrificial women
(the waters) I put into the hands of the Brâhmanas severally. With whatever
wish I pour this upon you, may Indra. accompanied by the Maruts grant this to
me!
28. This gold is my immortal light, this ripe
fruit of the field is my wish-granting cow. This treasure I present to the
Brâhmanas: I prepare for myself a road that leads. to the Fathers in the
heavens.
29. Scatter the spelt into Agni Gâtavedas
(the fire), sweep away to a far distance the chaff! This (chaff) we have heard,
is the share of the ruler of the house (Agni), and we know, too, what belonos
to Nirriti (destruction) as her share.
30. Note, (O porridge), him that takes pains,
and cooks and presses the soma; lift him up to the heavenly road, upon which,
after he has reached the fullest age, he shall ascend to the highest firmament,
the supreme heavens!
31. Anoint (with ghee), O adhvaryu (priest),
the surface of this sustaining (porridge), make skilfully a place for the
melted butter; with ghee do thou anoint all its limbs! I prepare for myself a
road that leads to the Fathers in the heavens.
32. O sustaining (porridge), cast destruction
and strife among such as are sitting about thee, and are not Brâhmanas! (But)
the descendants of the -Rishis, that eat thee, being full of substance,
spreading forth, shall not take harm!
33. To the descendants of the Rishis I make
thee over, O porridge; those who are not descended from Rishis have no share in
it! May Agni as my guardian, may all the Maruts, and all the gods watch over
the cooked food!
34. Thee (the porridge) that milkest the
sacrifice, art evermore abundant, the male milch-cow, the seat of wealth, we
beseech for immortality of off-spring and long life with abundance of wealth.
35. Thou art a lusty male, penetratest
heaven: go thou to the Rishis, descended from Rishis! Dwell in the world of the
pious: there is a well-prepared (place) for us two!
36. Pack thyself up, go forth! O Agni,
prepare the roads, that lead to the gods! By these: well-prepared (roads) may
we reach the sacrifice, standing upon the firmament (that shines) with seven
rays!
37. With the light with which the gods,
having cooked the porridge for the Brâmanas, ascended to heaven, to the world
of the pious, with that would we go to the world of the pious, ascending to the
light, to the highest firmament!
XII, 3. The preparation of the brahmaudana,
the porridge given as a fee to the Brahmans.
1. (Thyself) a male, step thou upon the hide
of the male (steer): go, call thither all that is dear to thee! At whatever age
ye two formerly did first unite (in marriage), may that age be your common lot
in Yama’s kingdom!
2. Your sight shall be as clear (as
formerly), your strength as abundant, your lustre as great, your vitality as
manifold! When Agni, the (funeral-) pyre, fastens himself upon the corpse, then
as a pair ye.shall rise from the (cooked) porridge!
3. Come ye together in this world, upon the
road to the gods, and in Yama’s realms! By purifications purified call ye
together the offspring that has sprung from you!
4. Around the water united, sit ye down, O
children; around this living (father) and the waters that refresh the living!
Partake of these (waters), and of that porridge which the mother of you two
cooks, and which is called amrita (ambrosia)!
5. The porridge which the father of you two,
and which the mother cooks, unto freedom from defilement and foulness of
speech, that porridge with a hundred streams (of ghee), leading to heaven, has
penetrated with might both the hemispheres of the world.
6. In that one of the two hemispheres and the
two heavenly worlds, conquered by the pious, which especially abounds in light,
and is rich in honey, in that do ye in the fulness of time come together with
your children!
7. Keep ever on in an easterly direction:
this is the region that the faithful cling to! When your cooked porridge has
been prepared on the fire, hold together, O man and wife, that ye may guard it!
8. When ye shall have reached the southerly
direction, turn ye to this vessel! In that Yama, associated with the fathers,
shall give abundant protection to your cooked porridge!
9. This westerly direction is especially
favoured: in it Soma is ruler and consoler. To this hold, attach yourselves to
the pious: then as a pair ye shall rise from the cooked porridge!
10. The northerly direction shall make our
realm the very uppermost, in offspring, uppermost! The purusha is the metre
pahkti: with all (our kin), endowed with all their limbs, may we be united!
11. This ‘firm’ direction (nadir) is Virâg
(brilliancy): reverence be to her; may she be kind to my children and to me!
Mayest thou, O goddess Aditi, who boldest all treasures, as an alert guardian
guard the cooked porridge!
12. As a father his children do thou, (O
earth), embrace us; may gentle winds blow upon us here on earth! Then the
porridge which the two divinities (the sacrificer and his wife) are here
preparing for us shall take note of our religious fer~our and our truth!
13. Whatever the black bird, that has come
hither stealthily, has touched of that ahich has stuck to the rim, or whatever
the wet-banded slavegirl does pollute-may ye, O waters, purify (that) mortar
and pestle!
14. May this sturdy press-stone, with broad
bottom, purified by the purifiers, beat away the Rakshas! Settle upon the skin,
afford firm protection; may man and wife not come to grief in their children!
15. The (pestle of) wood has come to us
together with the gods: it drives away the Rakshas and Pisâkas. Up it shall
rise, shall let its voice resound
through it let us conquer all the worlds!
through it let us conquer all the worlds!
16. The cattle clothed itself in sevenfold
strength, those among them that are sleek and those that are poor. The
thirty-three gods attend them mayest thou, (O cattle), guide us to the heavenly
world!
17. To the bright world of heaven thou shalt
lead us; (there) let us be united with wife and children! I take her hand, may
she follow me there; neither Nirriti (destruction), nor Arâti (grudge), shall
gain mastery over us!
18. May we get past the evil Grâhi (seizure)!
Casting aside darkness do thou, (O pestle), let thy lovely voice resound; do
not, O wooden tool, when raised, do injury; do not mutilate the grain devoted
to the gods!
19. All-embracing, about to be covered with
ghee, enter, (O pot), as a co-dweller this space!–Take hold of the
winnowing-basket, that has been grown by the rain: the spelt and the chaff it
shall sift out!
20. Three regions are constructed after the
pattern of the Brâhmana: yonder heaven, the earth, and the atmosphere.–Take the
(soma-) shoots, and hold one another, (O man and wife)! They (the shoots) shall
swell (with moisture), and again go back into the winnowing-basket!
21. Of manifold variegated colours are the
animals, one colour hast thou, (O porridge), when successfully prepared.–Push
these (soma-) Shoots upon this red skin; the press-stone shall purify them as
the washer-man his clothes!
22. Thee, the (pot of) earth, I place upon
the earth: your substance is the same, though thine, (O pot), is modified. Even
though a blow has cracked or scratched thee, do not therefore burst: with this
verse do I cover that up!
23. Gently as a mother embrace the son: I
unite thee, (pot of) earth, with the earth! Mayest thou, the hollow pot, not
totter upon the altar, when thou art pressed by the tools of sacrifice and the
ghee!
24. May Agni who cooks thee protect thee on
the east, Indra with the Maruts protect thee on the south! May Varuna on the
west support thee upon thy foundation, may Soma on the north hold thee
together!
25. Purified by the purifiers, the (waters)
flow pure from the clouds, they reach to the spaces of heaven, and of the
earth. They are alive, refresh the livino, and are firmly rooted: may Agni heat
them, after they have been poured into the vessel!
26. From heaven they come, into the earth
they penetrate; from the earth they penetrate into the atmosphere. May they,
now pure, yet purify themselves further; may they conduct us to the heavenly
world!
27. Whether ye are over-abundant or just
sufficient, ye are surely clear, pure, and immortal: cook, ye waters,
instructed by the husband and wife, obliging and helpful, the porridge!
28. Counted drops penetrate into the earth,
commensurate with the breaths of life and the plants. The uncounted golden
(drops), that are poured into (the porridge), have, (themselves) pure,
established complete purity.
29. The boiling waters rise and sputter, cast
up foam and many bubbles. Unite, ye waters, with this grain, as a woman who
beholds her husband in the proper season!
30. Stir up (the grains) as they settle at
the bottom: let them mingle their inmost parts with the waters! The water here
I have measured with cups; measured was the grain, so as to be according to
these regulations.
31. Hand over the sickle, with haste bring
promptly (the grass for the barhis); without giving pain let them cut the plants
at the joints! They whose kingdom Soma rules, the plants, shall not harbour
anger against us!
32. Strew a new barhis for the porridge:
pleasing to its heart, and lovely to its sight it shall be! Upon it the gods
together with the goddesses shall enter; settle down to this (porridge) in
proper order, and cat it!
33. O (instrument of) wood, settle down upon
the strewn barhis, in keeping with the divinities and the agnishloma rites!
Well shaped, as if by a carpenter (Tvashtar) with his axe, is thy form. Longing
for this (porridge) the (gods) shall be seen about the vessel!
34. In sixty autumns the treasurer (of the
porridge) shall fetch it, by the cooked grain he shall obtain heaven; the
parents and the children shall live upon it. Bring thou this (man) to heaven,
into the presence of Agni!
35. (Thyself) a holder, (O pot), hold on to
the foundation of the earth: thee, that art immoveable the gods (alone) shall
move! Man and wife, alive, with living children, shall remove thee from the
hearth of the fire!
36. Thou hast conquered and reached all
worlds; as many as are our wishes, thou hast satisfied them. Dip ye in,
stirring stick and spoon! Place it (the por idge) upon a single dish!
37. Lay (ghee) upon it, let it spread forth,
anoint this dish with ghee! As the lowing cow her young that craves the breast,
ye gods shall greet with sounds of satisfaction this (porridge)!
38. With ghee thou hast covered it, hast made
this place (for the porridge): may it, peerless, spread afar to heaven! Upon it
shall rest the mighty eagle; gods shall offer it to the divinities!
39. Whatever the wife cooks aside from thee,
(O husband), or the husband (cooks) unbeknown of thee, O wife, mix that
together: to both of you it shall belong; bring it together into a single
place!
40. As many of her children as dwell upon the
earth, and the sons that have been begotten by him, all those ye shall call up
to the dish: on shall come the young knowing their nest!
41. The goodly streams, swelling with honey,
mixed with ghee, the seats of ambrosia, all these does he obtain, ascends to
heaven. In sixty autumns the treasurer (of the porridge) shall fetch it!
42. The treasurer shall fetch this treasure:
all outsiders round about shall not control it! The heaven-directed porridge,
that has been presented and deposited by us, in three divisions has reached the
thrte heavens.
43. May Agni burn the ungodly Rakshas; the
flesh-devouring Pisâka shall have nothing here to partake of! We drive him
away, hold him afar from us: the Âdityas and Angiras shall stay near it!
44. To the Âdityas and the Angiras do I offer
this (food of) honey, mixed with ghee. Do ye two, (man and wife), with clean
hands, without having injured a Brâhmana, performing pious deeds, go to that
heavenly world!
45. I would obtain this highest part of it
(the porridge), the place from which the highest lord permeates (the all). Pour
butter upon it, anoint it witb plentiful ghee: this here is our share, fit for
the Angiras!
46. For the sake of truth and holy strength
do we make over this porridge as a hoarded treasure to the gods: it shall not
be lost to us in gaming or in the assembly; do not let it go to any other
person before me!
47. I cook, and I give (to the Brahmans), and
so, too, my wife, at my religious rite and practice.–With the birth of a son
the world of children has arisen (for you): do ye two hold on to a life that
extends beyond (your years)!
48. In that place exists no guilt, and no
duplicity, not even if he goes conspiring with his friends. This full dish of
ours has here been deposited: the cooked (porridge) shall come back again to
him that cooks it!
49. kind deeds we shall perform for our
friends: all that hate us shall go to darkness (hell)!–As (fruitful) cow, and
(strong) steer, they (man and wife) shall during, every successive period of
their lives drive away man-besetting death!
50. The fires (all) know one another, that
which lives in plants, and lives in the waters, and all the (light-) gods that
glow upon the heaven. The gold (here) becomes the light of him that cooks (the
porridge).
51. This (naked skin) among the hides is born
upon man (alone), all other animals are riot naked. Clothe yourselves, (ye
Brahmans), in sheltering garments: (even) the face of the porridge is a
homespun garment!
52. What falsehood thou shalt speak at play
and in the assembly, or the falsehood that thou shalt speak through lust for
gain–put on together, (O man and wife), this same garment, deposit upon it
every blemish!
53. Produce rain, go to the gods, let smoke
arise from (thy) surface; all-embracing, about to be covered with ghee, enter
as a co-dweller this place!
54. In many ways heaven assumes within itself
a different form, according to circumstances. It (the heaven) has laid aside
its black form, purifying itself to a bright (form); the red form do I
sacrifice fot thee into the fire.
55. Thee here we hand over to the eastern
direction, to Agni as sovereign lord, to the black serpent as guardian, to
Âditya as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive! To the goal here he
shall lead us, to old age; old age shall hand us over to death: then shall we
be united with the cooked (porridge)!
56. Thee here we hand over to the southern
direction, to Indra as sovereign lord, to the serpent that is striped across as
guardian, to Yama as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive! To the
goal here, &c.
57. Thee here we hand over to the western
direction, to Varuna as sovereign lord, to the pridâku-serpent as guardian, to
food as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. To the goal here,
&c.
58. Thee here we hand over to the northern
direction, to Soma as sovereign lord, to the svaga-serpent as guardian, to the
lightning as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. To the goal here,
&c.
59. Thee here we hand over to the direction
of the nadir, to Vishnu as sovereign lord, to the serpent with black-spotted
neck as guardian, to the plants as bowmen: do ye guard it for us, until we
arrive. To the goal here, &c.
60. Thee here we hand over to the direction
of the zenith, to Brihaspati as sovereign lord, to the light-coloured serpent
as guardian, to the rain as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. To
the goal here, &c.
IX, 3. Removal of a house that has been
presented to a priest as sacrificial reward.
1. The fastenings of the buttresses, the
supports, and also of the connectinc, beams of the house, that abounds in
treasures, do we loosen.
2. O (house) rich in all treasures! the
fetter which has been bound about thee, and the knot which has been fastened
upon thee, that with my charm do I undo, as Brihaspati (undid) Vala.
3. (The builder) has drawn thee to,,ether,
pressed thee together, placed firm knots upon thee. Skilfully, as the priest
who butchers (the sacrificial animal), do we with Indra’s aid disjoint thy
limbs.
4. From thy beams, thy bolts, thy frame, and
thy thatch; from thy sides, (O house) abounding in treasures, do we loosen the
fastenings.
5. The fastenings of the dove-tailed
(joints), of the reed (-covering), of the frame-work, do we loosen here from
the ‘mistress of dwelling.’
6. The ropes which they have tied within thee
for comfort, these do we loosen from thee; be thou propitious to our persons, O
mistress of dwelling, after thou hast (again) been erected!
7. A receptacle for Soma, a house for Agni, a
seat for the mistresses (of the house), a seat (for the priests), a seat for
the gods art thou, O goddess house!
8. Thy covering of wicker-work, with thousand
eyes, stretched out upon thy crown, fastened down and laid on, do we loosen
with (this) charm.
9. He who receives thee as a gift, O house,
and he by whom thou hast been built, both these, O mistress of dwelling, shall
live attaining old age!
10. Return to him in the other world, firmly
bound, ornamented, (thou house), which we loosen limb by limb, and joint by
joint!
11. He who built thee, O house, brought
together (thy) timbers, he, a Pragâpati on high, did construct thee, O house,
for his progeny (pragâyai).
12. We render obeisance to him (the builder);
obeisance to the giver, the lord of the house; obeisance to Agni who serves
(the sacrifice); and obeisance to thy (attendant) man!
13. Reverence to the cattle and the horses,
and to that which is born in the house! Thou that hast produced,
art rich in offspring, thy fetters do we loosen.
art rich in offspring, thy fetters do we loosen.
14. Thou dost shelter Agni within, (and) the
domestics together with the cattle. Thou that hast produced, art rich in
offspring, thy fetters do we loosen.
15. The expanse which is between heaven and
earth, with that do I receive as a gift this house of thine; the middle region
which is stretched out from the sky, that do I make into a receptacle for
treasures; with that do I receive the house for this one.
16. Full of nurture, full of milk, fixed upon
the earth, erected, holding food for all, O house, do thou not injure them that
receive thee as a gift!
17. Enveloped in grass, clothed in reeds,
like night does the house lodge the cattle; erected thou dost stand upon the
earth, like a she-elephant, firm of foot.
18. The part of thee that was covered with
mats unfolding do I loosen. Thee that hast been enfolded by Varuna may Mitra
uncover in the morning!
19. The house built with pious word, built by
seers, erected–may Indra and Agni, the two immortals, protect the house, the
seat of Soma!
20. Chest is crowded upon chest, basket upon basket;
there mortal man is begotten from whom all things spring.
21. In the house which is built with two
facades, four facades, six facades; in the house with eight facades, with ten
facades, in the ‘mistress of dwelling.’ Agni rests as if in the womb.
22. Tuirning towards thee that art turned
towards me, O house, I come to thee that injurest me not. For Agni and the
waters, the first door to divine order, are within.
23. These waters, free from disease,
destructive of disease, do I bring here. The chambers do I enter in upon in
company with the immortal Agni (fire).
24. Do thou not fasten a fetter upon us;
though a heavy load, become thou light! As a bride do we carry thee, O house,
wherever we please.
25. From the easterly direction of the house
reverence (be) to greatness, hail to the gods who are to be addressed with
hail!
26. From the southerly direction of the
house, &c.!
27. From the westerly direction of the house,
&c.!
28. From the northerly direction of the
house, &c.!
29. From the firm direction (nadir) of the
house, &c.!
30. From the upright direction (zenith) of
the house, &c.!
31. From every direction of the house
reverence (be) to greatness, hail to the gods who are to be addressed with
hail!
VI, 71. Brahmanical prayer at the receipt of gifts.
1. The varied food which I consume in many
places, my gold, my horses, and, too, my cows, goats, and sheep: everything
whatsoever that I have received as a gift–may Agni, the priest, render that an
auspicious offering!
2. The gift that has come to me by sacrifice,
or without sacrifice, bestowed by the Fathers, granted by men, through which my
heart, as it were, lights up with joy–may Agni, the priest, render that an
auspicious offering!
3. The food that I, O gods, improperly
consume, (the food) I promise, intending to give of it (to the Brahmans), or
not to give of it, by the might of mighty Vaisvânara (Agni) may (that) food be
for me auspicious and full of honey!
XX, 127. A kuntâpa-hymn.
A.
1. Listen, ye folks, to this: (a song) in praise of a hero shall be sung! Six thousand and ninety (cows) did we get (when we were) with Kaurama among the Rusamas,–
1. Listen, ye folks, to this: (a song) in praise of a hero shall be sung! Six thousand and ninety (cows) did we get (when we were) with Kaurama among the Rusamas,–
2. Whose twice ten buffaloes move right
along, touether with their cows; the height of his chariot just misses the
heaven which recedes from its touch.
3. This one (Kaurama) presented the seer with
a hundred jewels, ten chaplets, three hundred steeds, and ten thousand cattle.
B.
4. Disport thyself, O chanter, disport thyself as a bird upon a flowering tree; thy tongue glides quickly over the lips as a razor over the strop.
4. Disport thyself, O chanter, disport thyself as a bird upon a flowering tree; thy tongue glides quickly over the lips as a razor over the strop.
5. The chanters with their pious song hurry
on blithely as cows; at home are their children, and at home the cows do they
attend.
6. Bring hither, O chanter, thy poem, that
which earns cattle and earns good things! Among the gods (kings) place thy
voice as a manly archer his arrow!
C.
7. Listen ye to the high praise of the king who rules over all peoples, the god who is above mortals, of Vaisvânara Parikshit!
7. Listen ye to the high praise of the king who rules over all peoples, the god who is above mortals, of Vaisvânara Parikshit!
8. ‘Parikshit has procured for us a secure
dwelling when he, the most excellent one, weat to his seat.’ (Thus) the husband
in Kuru-land, when he founds his household, converses with his wife.
9. ‘What may I bring to thee, curds, stirred
drink, or liquor?’ (Thus) I the wife asks her husband in the kingdom of king
Parikshit.
10. Like light the ripe barley runs over
beyond the mouth (of the vessels). The people thrive merrily in the kingdom of
king Parikshit.
D.
11. Indra has awakened the poet, saying: ‘Arise, move about, and sing; of me, the strong, verily, sing the praises; full every pious one shall offer thee (sacrificial reward)!’
11. Indra has awakened the poet, saying: ‘Arise, move about, and sing; of me, the strong, verily, sing the praises; full every pious one shall offer thee (sacrificial reward)!’
12. Here, O cattle, ye shall be born, here,
ye horses, here, ye domestics! And Pûshan also, who bestows a thousand (cows)
as sacrificial reward, settles down here.
13. May these cattle, O Indra, not suffer harm,
and may their owner not suffer harm; may the hostile folk, O Indra, may the
thief not gain possession of them!
14. We shout to the hero with hymn and song
we (shout) with a pleasing song. Take delight in our songs; may we not ever
suffer harm!
Atharva Veda
Section -10
X. COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS.
XII, 1. Hymn to goddess Earth.
1. Truth, greatness, universal order (rita),
strength. consecration, creative fervour (tapas), spiritual exaltation
(brahma), the sacrifice, support the earth. May this earth, the mistress of
that which was and shall be, prepare for us a broad domain!
2. The earth that has heights, and slopes,
and great plains, that supports the plants of manifold virtue, free from the
pressure that comes from the midst of men, she shall spread out for us, and
fit. herself for us!
3. The earth upon which the sea, and the
rivers and the waters, upon which food and the tribes of men have arisen, upon
which this breathing, moving life exists, shall afford us precedence in
drinking!
4. The earth whose are the four regions of
space, upon which food and the tribes of men have arisen, which supports the
manifold breathing, moving thinas, shall afford us cattle and other possessions
also!
5. The earth upon which of old the first men
unfolded themselves, upon which the gods overcame the Asuras, shall procure for
us (all) kinds of cattle, horses, and fowls, good fortune, and glory!
6. The earth that supports all, furnishes
wealth, the foundation, the golden-breasted resting-place of all living creatures,
she that supports Agni Vaisvânara (the fire), and mates with Indra, the bull,
shall furnish us with
property!
property!
7. The broad -earth, which the sleepless gods
ever attentively guard, shall milk for us precious honey, and, moreover,
besprinkle us with glory!
8. That earth which formerly was water upon
the ocean (of space), which the wise (seers) found out by their skilful
devices; whose heart is in the highest heaven, immortal, surrounded by truth,
shall bestow upon us brilliancy and strength, (and place us) in supreme
sovereignty!
9. That earth upon which the attendant waters
jointly flow by day and night unceasingly, shall pour out milk for us in rich
streams, and, moreover, besprinkle us with glory!
10. The earth which the Asvins have measured,
upon which Vishnu has stepped out, which Indra, the lord of might, has made
friendly to himself; she, the mother, shall pour forth milk for me, the son!
11. Thy snowy mountain heights, and thy
forests, O earth, shall be kind to us! The brown, the black, the red, the
multi-coloured, the firm earth, that is protected by Indra, I have settled
upon, not suppressed, not slain, not wounded.
12. Into thy rniddle set us, O earth, and
into thy navel, into the nourishing strength that has grown tip from thy body;
purify thyself for us! The earth is the mother, and I the son of the earth;
Paro-anya is the father; he, too, shall save us!
13. The earth upon which they (the priests)
inclose the altar (vedi), upon which they, devoted to all (holy) works, unfold
the sacrifice, upon which are set up, in front of the sacrifice, the
sacrificial posts, erect and brilliant, that earth shall prosper us, herself
prospering!
14. Him that hates us, O earth, him that
battles against us, him that is hostile towards us with his mind and his weapons,
do thou subject to us, anticipating (our wish) by deed!
15. The mortals born of thee live on thee,
thou supportest both bipeds and quadrupeds. Thine, O earth, are these five
races of men, the mortals, upon whom the rising sun sheds undying light with
his rays.
16. These creatures all together shall yield
milk for us; do thou, O earth, give us the honey of speech!
17. Upon the firm, broad earth, the
all-begetting mother of the plants, that is supported by (divine) law, upon
her, propitious and kind, may we ever pass-our lives!
18. A great gathering-place thou, great
(earth), hast become; great haste, commotion, and agitation are upon thee.
Great Indra protects thee unceasingly. Do thou, O earth, cause us to brighten
as if at the sight of gold: not any one shall hate us!
19. Agni (fire) is in the earth, in the
plants, the waters hold Agni, Agni is in the stones; Agni is within men, Agnis
(fires) are within cattle, within horses.
20. Agni glows from the sky, to Agni, the
god, belongs the broad air. The mortals kindle Agni, the bearer of oblations,
that loveth ghee.
21. The earth, clothed in Agni, with dark
knees, shall make me brilliant and alert!
22. Upon the earth men give to the gods the
sacrifice, the prepared oblation; upon the earth mortal men live pleasantly by
food. May this earth give us breath and life, may she cause me to reach old
age!
23. The fragrance, O earth, that has arisen
upon thee, which the plants and the waters hold, which the Gandharvas and the
Apsaras have partaken of, with that make me fragrant: not any one shall hate
us!
24. That fragrance of thine which has entered
into the lotus, that fragrance, O earth, which the immortals of yore gathered
up at the marriage of Sûryâ, with that make me fragrant: not any one shall hate
us!
25. That fragrance of thine which is in men,
the loveliness and charm that is in male and female, that which is in steeds
and heroes, that which is in the wild animals with trunks (elephants), the
lustre that is in the maiden, O earth, with that do thou blend us: not any one
shall hate us!
26. Rock, stone, dust is this earth; this
earth is supported, held together. To this golden-breasted earth I have
rendered obeisance.
27. The earth, upon whom the forest-sprung
trees ever stand firm, the all-nourishing, compact earth, do we invoke.
28. Rising or sitting, standing or walking,
may we not stumble with our right or left foot upon the earth!
29. To the pure earth I speak, to the ground,
the soil that has grown through the brahma (spiritual exaltation). Upon thee,
that holdest nourishment, prosperity, food, and ghee, we would settle down, O
earth!
30. Purified the waters shall flow for our
bodies; what flows off from us that do we deposit upon him we dislike: with a
purifier, O earth, do I purify myself!
31. Thy easterly regions, and thy northern,
thy southerly (regions), O earth, and thy western, shall be kind to me as I
walk (upon thee)! May I that have been placed into the world not fall down!
32. Do not drive us from the west, nor from
the east; not from the north, and not from the south! Security be thou for us,
O earth: waylayers shall not find us, hold far away (their) murderous weapon!
33. As long as I look out upon thee, O earth,
with Sûrya (the sun) as my companion, so long shall my sight not fall, as year
followeth upon year!
34. When, as I lie, I turn upon my right or
left side, O earth; when stretched out we lie with our ribs upon thee pressing
against (us), do not, O earth, that liest close to everything, there injure us!
35. What, O earth, I dig out of thee, quickly
shall that grow again: may I not, O pure one, pierce thy vital spot, (and) not
thy heart!
36. Thy summer, O earth, thy rainy season,
thy autumn, winter, early spring, and spring; thy decreed yearly seasons, thy
days and nights shall yield us milk
37. The pure earth that starts in fright away
from the serpent, upon whom were the fires that are within the waters, she that
delivers (to destruction) the blasphemous Dasyus, she that takes the side of
Indra, not of
Vritra, (that earth) adheres to Sakra (mighty Indra), the lusty bull.
Vritra, (that earth) adheres to Sakra (mighty Indra), the lusty bull.
38. Upon whom rests the sacrificial hut
(sadas) and the (two) vehicles that hold the soma (havirdhâne), in whom the
sacrificial post is fixed, upon whom the Brâhmanas praise (the gods) with riks
and sâmans, knowing (also) the yagur-formulas; upon whom the serving-priests
(ritvig) are employed so that Indra shall drink the soma;–
39. Upon whom the seers of yore, that created
the beings, brought forth with their songs the cows, they the seven active
(priests), by means of the satra-offerings, the sacrifices, and (their)
creative fervour (tapas);–
40. May this earth point out to us the wealth
that we-crave; may Bhaga (fortune) add his help, may Indra come here as (our)
champion!
41. The earth upon whom the noisy mortals
sing and dance, upon whom they fight, upon whom resounds the roaring drum,
shall drive forth our enemies, shall make us free from rivals!
42. To the earth upon whom are food, and rice
and barley, upon whom live these five races of men, to the earth, the wife of
Parganya, that is fattened by rain, be reverence!
43. The earth upon whose ground the citadels
constructed by the gods unfold themselves, every region of her that is the womb
of all, Pragâpati shall make pleasant for us!
44. The earth that holds treasures manifold
in secret places, wealth, jewels, and gold shall she give to me; she that
bestows wealth liberally, the kindly goddess, wealth shall she bestow upon us!
45. The earth that holds people of manifold
varied speech, of different customs, according to their habitations, as a
reliable milch-cow that does not kick, shall she milk for me a thousand streams
of wealth!
46. The serpent, the scorpion with thirsty fangs, that hibernating torpidly lies upon thee; the worm, and whatever living thing, O earth, moves in the rainy season, shall, when it creeps, not creep upon us: with what is auspicious (on thee) be gracious to us!
46. The serpent, the scorpion with thirsty fangs, that hibernating torpidly lies upon thee; the worm, and whatever living thing, O earth, moves in the rainy season, shall, when it creeps, not creep upon us: with what is auspicious (on thee) be gracious to us!
47. Thy many paths upon which people go, thy
tracks for chariots and wagons to advance, upon which both good and evil men
proceed, this road, free from enemies, and free from thieves, may we gain: with
what is auspicious (on thee) be gracious to us!
48. The earth holds the fool and holds the
wise, endures that good and bad dwell (upon her); she keeps company with the
boar, gives herself up to the wild hog.
49. Thy forest animals, the wild animals
homed in the woods, the man-eating lions, and tigers that roam; the ula, the
wolf, mishap, injury (rikshikâ), and demons (rakshas), O earth, drive away from
us!
50. The Gandharvas, the Apsaras, the Arâyas
and Kimîdins; the Pisâkas and all demons (rakshas), these, O earth, hold from
us!
51. The earth upon whom the biped birds fly
together, the flamingoes, eagles, birds of prey, and fowls; upon whom
Mâtarisvan, the wind, hastens, raising the dust, and tossing the trees-as the
wind blows forth and back the flame bursts after;–
52. The earth upon whom day and night
jointly, black and bright, have been decreed, the broad earth covered and
enveloped with rain, shall kindly place us into every pleasant abode!
53. Heaven, and earth, and air have here
given me expanse; Agni, Sûrya, the waters, and all the gods together have given
me wisdom.
54. Mighty am I, ‘Superior’ (uttara) by name, upon the earth,
conquering am I, all-conquering, completely conquering every region.
55. At that time, O goddess, when,
spreading., (prathamânâ) forth, named (prithivî ‘broad’) by the gods, thou
didst extend to greatness, then prosperity did enter thee, (and) thou didst
fashion the four regions.
56. In the villages and in the wilderness, in
the assembly-halls that are upon the earth; in the gatherings, and in the
meetings, may we hold forth agreeably to thee!
57. As dust a steed did she, as soon as she
was born, scatter these people, that dwelt upon the earth, she the lovely one,
the leader, the guardian of the world, that holds the trees and plants.
58. The words I speak, honied do I speak
them: the things I see they furnish me with. Brilliant I am and alert: the
others that rush (against me) do I beat down.
59. Gentle, fragrant, kindly, with the sweet
drink (kîlâla) in her udder, rich in milk, the broad earth together with (her)
milk shall give us courage!
60. She whom Visvakarman (the creator of all)
did search out by means of oblations, when she had entered the surging (flood
of the) atmosphere, she, the vessel destined to nourish, deposited in a secret
place, became visible (to the gods) and the (heavenly) mothers.
61. Thou art the scatterer of men, the
broadly expanding Aditi that yields milk according to wish. What is wanting in
thee Pragâpati, first-born of the divine order (rita), shall supply for thee
62. Thy laps, O earth, free from ailment!
Free from disease, shall be produced for us! May we attentively, throuoh our
long lives, be bearers of bali-offerings to thee!
63. O mother earth, kindly set me down upon a
well-founded place! With (father) heaven cooperating, O thou wise one, do thou
place me into happiness and prosperity!
XIII, 1. Prayer for sovereign power
addressed to the god Rohita and his female Rohinî.
1. Rise up, O steed, that art within the
waters, enter this kingdom, rich in liberal gifts! Rohita (the red sun) who has
begotten this all, shall keep thee well-supported for sovereignty!
2. The steed that is within the waters has
risen up: ascend upon the clans that are sprung from thee! Furnishing soma, the
waters, plants, and cows, cause thou four-footed and two-footed creatures to
enter here!
3. Do ye, strong Maruts, children of Prisni
(the cloud), allied with Indra, crush the enemies! Rohita shall hear you, that
give abundant gifts, the thrice seven Maruts, who take delight in sweet
(nourishment)!
4. Rohita has climbed the heights, he has
ascended them, he, the embryo of women, (has ascended) the womb of births.
Closely united with these women they found out the six broad (directions);
spying out a road
he has brought hither sovereignty.
he has brought hither sovereignty.
5. Hither to thee Rohita has brought
sovereignty; he has dispersed the enemies: freedom from danger has resulted for
thee. To thee heaven and earth together with the revatî and sakvarî-stanzas
shall yield gifts at will!
6. Rohita produced heaven and earth; there
Parameshthin (the lord on high) extended the thread (of the sacrifice). There
Aga Ekapâda (the one-footed goat, the sun) did fix himself; he made firm the
heavens and earth with his strength.
7. Rohita made firm heaven and earth, by him
the (heavenly) light was established, by him the firmament. By him the
atmosphere and the spaces were measured out, through him the gods obtained
immortality.
8. Rohita did ponder the multiform (universe)
while preparing (his) climbings and advances. Having ascended the heaven with
great might, he shall anoint thy royalty with milk and ghee!
9. All thy climbings, advances, and all thy
ascents with which thou, (Rohita, the sun), fillest the heavens and the
atmosphere, having strengthened thyself with their brahma and payas (spiritual
and physical essence) do thou keep awake (do thou watch over) among the people
in the kingdom of the (earthly) Rohita (the king)!
10. The peoples that have originated from thy
tapas (heat, or creative fervour), have followed here the calf, the gâyatri.
They shall enter thee with kindly spirit; the calf Rohita with its mother shall
come on!
11. High on the firmament Rohita has stood, a
youth, a sage, begettinu all forms. As Agni he shines with piercing light, in
the third space he did assume lovely (forms).
12. A bull with a thousand horns, Gâtavedas
(fire), endowed with sacrifices of ghee, carrying soma upon his back, rich in
heroes, he shall, when implored, not abandon me, nor may I abandon thee:
abundance in cattle and abundance in heroes procure for me!
14. Rohita is the generator of the sacrifice,
and its mouth; to Rohita I offer oblations with voice, ear, and mind. To Rohita
the gods resort with glad mind: he shall cause me to rise through elevation
derived from the assembly!
14. Rohita arranged a sacrifice for
Visvakarman; from it these brilliant, qualities have come to me. Let me
announce thy origin over the extent of the world!
15, Upon thee have ascended the brihatî and
the pankti (metres), upon thee the kakubh with splendour, O Gâtavedas. Upon
thee the vashat-call, whose syllables make an ushnihâ, has ascended, upon thee
Rohita with his seed has ascended.
16. This one clothes himself in the womb of
the earth, this one clothes himself in heaven, and in the atmosphere. This one
at the station of the brown (sun) did attain unto the worlds of light.
17. O Vâkaspati (lord of speech), the earth
shall be pleasant to us, pleasant our dwelling, agrecable our couches! Right here
life’s breath shall be to our friend; thee, O Parameshthin, Agni shall envelop
in life and lustre!
18. O Vâkaspati, the five seasons that we
have, which have come about as the creation of Visvakarman, rialit here (they
and) life’s breath shall be to our friend; thee, O Parameshthin, Rohita shall
envelop in life and lustre!
19. O Vâkaspati, good cheer and spirit,
cattle in our stable, children in our wombs beget thou! Right here life’s
breath shall be to our friend; thee, O Parameshthin, I envelop in life and
lustre.
20. God Savitar and Agni shall envelop thee,
Mitra and Varuna surround thee with lustre! Treading down all powers of grudge
come thou hither: thou hast made this kingdom rich in liberal gifts.
21. Thou, O Rohita, whom the brindled cow,
harnessed at the side, carries, goest with brilliance, causing the waters to
flow.
22. Devoted to Rohita is Rohinî his mistress,
with beautiful colour (complexion), great, and lustrous: through her may we
conquer booty of every description, through her win every battle!
23. This seat, Rohinî, belongs to Rohita;
yonder is the path on which the brindled (female) goes! Her the Gandharvas and
the Kasyapas lead forth, her the sages guard with diligence.
24. The radiant bay steeds of the sun, the
immortal, ever draw the delightful chariot. Rohita, the drinker of ghee, the
shining god, did enter the variegated heavens.
25. Rohita, the sharp-horned bull, who
surpasses Agni and surpasses Sûrya, who props up the earth and the sky, out of
him the gods frame the creations.
26. Rohita ascended the heaven from the great
flood; Rohita has climbed all heights.
27. Create (the cow) that is rich in milk,
drips with ghee: she is the milch-cowof the gods that does not refuse! Indra
shall drink the Soma, there shall be secure possession; Agni shall sing
praises: the enemies do thou drive out!
28. Agni kindled, spreads his flames,
fortified by ghee, sprinkled with ghee. Victorious, all-conquering Agni shall
slay them that are my rivals!
29. He shall slay them, shall burn the enemy
that battles against us! With the flesh-devouring Agni do we burn our rivals.
30. Smite them down, O Indra, with the
thunderbolt, with thy (strong) arm! Then have I overpowered my rivals with
Agni’s brilliant strengths.
31. O Agni, subject our rivals to us; confuse,
O Brihaspati, the kinsman that is puffed up! O Indra and Agni, O Mitra and
Varuna, subjected they shall be, unable to vent their wrath against us!
32. Do thou, god Sûrya (the sun), when thou
risest, beat down my rivals, beat them down with a stone: they shall go to the
nethermost darkness!
33. The calf of Virâg, the bull of prayers,
carrying the bright (soma) upon his back, has ascended the atmosphere. A song
accompanied by ghee they sing to the calf; himself brahma (spiritual
exaltation) they swell him with their brahma (prayer).
34. Ascend the heavens, ascend the earth
sovereignty ascend thou, and possessions ascend thou! Offspring ascend thou,
and immortality ascend thou, unite thy body with Rohita!
35. The gods that hold sovereignty, who go
about the sun, with these allied, Rohita, kindly disposed, shall bestow
sovereignty upon thee!
36. The sacrifices purified by prayer lead
thee forth; the bay steeds that travel upon the road carry thee: thou shinest
across the swelling ocean.
37. In Rohita who conquers wealth, conquers
cattle, and conquers booty, heaven and earth are fixed. Of thee that hast a
thousand and seven births, let me announce the origin over the extent of the
world!
38. Glorious thou goest to the intermediate
directions and the directions (of space), glorious (in the sight) of animals
and the tribes of men, glorious in the lap of the earth, of Aditi: may I like
Savitar be lovely!
39. Being yonder thou knowest (what takes
place) here; being here thou beholdest these things. Here (men) behold the
inspired sun that shines upon the sky.
40. A god thou praisest the gods, thou movest
within the flood. They kindle (him), a universal fire; him the highest sages
know.
41. Below the superior (region), above the
inferior (region) here, the cow has arisen supporting (her) calf by the foot.
Whither is she turned; to which half (of the universe), forsooth, has she aone
away; where, forsooth, does she beget? Verily not in this herd!
42. One-footed, two-footed, four-footed is
she; eight-footed, nine-footed became she, the thousand-syllabled (consisting
of thousand elements) pankti (quinary stanza) of the universe: the oceans from
her flow forth upon (the world).
43. Ascending the heaven, immortal, receive
kindly my song! The sacrifices purified by prayer lead thee forth; the bay
steeds that travel upon the road carry thee.
44. That do I know of thee, O immortal, where
thy march is upon the sky, where thy habitation is in the highest heaven.
45. Sûrya (the sun) surveys the sky, Sûrya
the earth, Sûrya the waters. Sûrya is the single eye of being: he has ascended
the great heavens.
46. The broad (directions) where the fagots
that fence in (the fire), the earth turned itself into a fire-altar. There
Rohita laid on for himself these two fires, cold and heat.
47. Laying on cold and heat, using the
mountains as sacrificial posts, the two fires of Rohita who knows the
(heavenly) light, into which (the fires) rain (flowed) as ghee, carried out the
sacrifice.
48. The fire of Rohita who knows the
(heavenly) light is kindled by prayer. From it heat, from it cold, from it the
sacrifice was produced.
49. The two fires swelling through prayer,
increased through prayer, sacrificed into with prayer; the two fires of Rohita
who knows the (heavenly) light, kindled through prayer, carried out the
sacrifice.
50. One is deposited in truth, the other is
kindled in the waters. The two fires of Rohita who knows the (heavenly) light,
kindled through prayer, carried out the sacrifice.
51. The fire which the wind brightens up, and
that which Indra and Brahmanaspati (brighten up), the two fires of Rohita who
knows the (heavenly) light, kindled through prayer, carried out the sacrifice.
52. Having fashioned the earth into an altar,
having made the heavens (his) sacrificial reward, then having made heat into
fire, Rohita created all that has breath through rain (serving) as ghee.
53. Rain fashioned itself into ghee, heat
into fire, the earth into an altar. Then Agni by (his) songs fashioned the high
mountains.
54. Having fashioned by means of songs the
high (mountains), Rohita spake to the earth: In thee all shall be born, what is
and what shall be.
55. The sacrifice first, (and then) what is
and what shall be was born. From that this all was born, and whatever here
appears, brought hither by the sage Rohita.
56. He who kicks a cow with his foot, and he
who micturates towards the sun–of thee do I tear out the root; thou shalt
henceforth not cast a shadow!
57. Thou that passest across me, casting thy
shadow against me, between me and the fire–of thee do I tear out the root; thou
shalt henceforth not cast a shadow!
58. He, O god Sûrya, that to-day passes
between thee and me, upon him our evil dream, our foulness, and our misfortunes
do we wipe off.
59. May we not miss our way, may we not, O
Indra, miss the sacrifice of him that presses the soma; may.not the powers of
grudge intercept us!
60. The (guiding) thread stretched out among
the gods, that accomplishes the sacrifice, that, by pouring oblations, may we
attain!
XI, 5. Glorification of the sun, or the
primeval principle, as a Brahman disciple.
1. The Brahmakârin (Brahmanical disciple)
moves inciting both hemispheres of the world; in him the gods are harmonised.
He holds the heavens and the earth, he fills the teacher with creative fervour
(tapas).
2. The fathers, the divine folk, and all the
gods severally follow the Brahmakârin; the Gandharvas did go after him, six
thousand three hundred and thirty-three. He fills all the gods with creative
fervour.
3. When the teacher receives the Brahmakârin as
a disciple, he places him as a foetus inside (of his body). He carries him for
three nights in his belly: when he is born the gods gather about to see him.
4. This earth is (his first) piece of
firewood, the heaven the second, and the atmosphere also he fills with (the
third) piece of firewood. The Brahmakârin. fills the worlds with his firewood,
his girdle, his asceticism, and his creative fervour.
5. Prior to the brahma (spiritual exaltation)
the Brahmakârin was born; clothed in heat, by creative fervour he arose. From
him sprung the brâhmanam (Brahmanic life) and the highest brahma, and all the
gods together with immortality (amrita).
6. The Brahmakârin advances, kindled by the
firewood, clothed in the skin of the black antelope, consecrated, with long
beard. Within the day he passes from the eastern to the northern sea; gathering
together the worlds he repeatedly shapes them.
7. The Brahmakârin, begetting the brahma, the
waters, the world, Pragâpati Parameshthin (he that stands in the hiahest
place), and Virâg, having become an embryo in the womb of immortality, having
forsooth, become Indra, pierced the Asuras.
8. The teacher fashioned these two hern
spheres of the world, the broad and the deep, earth and heaven. These the
Brahmakârin guards with his creative fervour (tapas): in him the gods are
harmonised.
9. This broad earth and the heaven the
Brahmakârin first brought hither as alms. Having made these into two sticks of
firewood he reveres them upon them all beings have been founded.
10. One is on the hither side, the other on
the farther side of the back of the heavens; secretly are deposited the two
receptacles of the brâhmanam (Brahmanic life). These the Brahmakârin protects
by his tapas (creative fervour); understandingly he performs that brahma (spiritual
exaltation) solely.
11. One on the hither side, the other away
from the earth, do the two Agnis come together between these two hemispheres
(of the world). To them adhere the rays firmly; the Brahmakârin by his tapas
(creative fervour) enters into the (rays).
12. Shouting forth, thundering, red, white he
carries a great penis along the earth. The Brahmakârin sprinkles seed upon the
back of the earth; through it the four directions live.
13. Into fire, the sun, the moon, Mâtarisvan
(wind), and the waters, the Brahmakârin places the firewood; the lights from
these severally go into the clouds, from them come sacrificial butter, the
purusha (primeval man), rain, and water.
14. Death is the teacher, (and) Varuna, Soma,
the plants, milk; the clouds were the warriors: by these this light has been
brought hither.
15. Varuna, having become the teacher, at
home prepares the ghee solely. Whatever he desired from Pragâpati, that the
Brahmakârin furnished, as Mitra (a friend) from his own Atman (spirit, or person).
16. The Brahmakârin is the teacher, the
Brahmakârin Pragâpati. Pragâpati rules (shines forth, vi râgati); Virâg
(heavenly power, or light) became Indra, the ruler.
17. Through holy disciplehood.
(brahmakâryam), through tapas (creative fervour), the king protects his
kingdom. The teacher by (his own) brahmakâryam (holy life) seeks (finds) the
Brahmakârin.
18. Through holy disciplehood the maiden
obtains a young husband, through holy disciplehood the steer, the horse seeks
to obtain fodder.
19. Through holy disciplehood, through
creative fervour, the gods drove away death. Indrajorsooth, by his holy
disciplehood brought the light to the gods.
20. The plants, that which was and shall be,
day and night, the tree, the year along with the seasons, have sprung from the
Brahmakârin.
21. The earthly and the heavenly animals, the
wild and the domestic, the wingless and the winged (animals), have sprung from
the Brahmakârin.
22. All the creatures of Pragâpati (the
creator) severally carry breath in their souls. All these the brahma, which has
been brought hither in the Brahmakârin, protects.
23. This, that was set into motion by the
gods, that is insurmountable, that moves shining, from it has sprung the
brâhmanam (Brahmanical life), the highest brahma, and all the gods, together
with immortality (amrita).
24, 25. The Brahmakârin carries the shining
brahma: into this all the gods are woven. Producing in-breathing and
out-breathing, as well as through-breathing; speech, mind, heart, brahma, and
wisdom, do thou furnish us with sight, hearing, glory, food, semen, blood, and
belly!
26. These things the Brahmakârin fashioned
upon the back of the (heavenly) water. He stood in the sea kindled with tapas
(creative fervour). He, when he has bathed, shines vigorously upon the earth,
brown and ruddy.
XI, 4. Prâna, life or breath, personified as the supreme spirit.
1. Reverence to Prâna, to whom all this
(universe) is subject, who has become the lord of the all, on whom the all is
supported!
2. Reverence, O Prâna, to thy roaring (wind),
reverence, O Prâna, to thy thunder, reverence, O Prâna, to thy lightning,
reverence, O Prâna, to thy rain!
When Prâna calls aloud to the plants with his thunder, they are fecundated, they conceive, and then are
produced abundant (plants).
When Prâna calls aloud to the plants with his thunder, they are fecundated, they conceive, and then are
produced abundant (plants).
4. When the season has arrived, and Prâna
calls aloud to the plants, then everything rejoices, whatsoever is upon the
earth.
5. When Prâna has watered the great earth
with rain, then the beasts rejoice; (they think): ‘strength, forsooth, we shall
now obtain.’
6. When they had been watered by Prâna, the
plants spake in concert: ‘thou hast, forsooth, prolonged our life, thou hast
made us all fragrant.’
7. Reverence be, O Prâna, to thee coming,
reverence to thee going; ‘reverence to thee standing, and reverence, too, to
thee sitting!
8. Reverence be to thee, O Prâna, when thou
breatbest in (primate), reverence when thou breathest out! Reverence be to thee
when thou art turned away, reverence to thee when thou art turned hither: to
thee,
entire, reverence be here!
entire, reverence be here!
9. Of thy dear form, O Prâna, of thy very
dear form, of the healing power that is thine, give unto us, that we
may live!
may live!
10. Prâna clothes the creatures, as a father
his dear son. Prâna, truly, is the lord of all, of all that breathes, and does
not breathe.
11. Prâna is death, Prâna is fever. The gods
worship Prana. Prâna shall place the truth-speaker in the highest world
12. Prâna is Virâg (power, lustre), Prâna is
Deshtrî (the divinity that guides): all worship Prâna. Prâna verily is sun and
moon. They call Prâna Pragâpati.
13. Rice and barley are in-breathing and
outbreathing. Prâna is called a steer. In-breathing forsooth, is founded upon
barley; rice is called out-breathing.
14. Man breathes out and breathes in when
within the womb. When thou, O Prâna, quickenest him, then is he born again.
15. They call Prâna Mâtarisvan (the wind);
Prâna, forsooth, is called Vâta (the wind). The past and the future, the all,
verily is supported upon Prâna.
16. The holy (âtharvana) plants, the magic
(ângirasa) plants, the divine plants, and those produced by men, spring forth,
when thou, O Prâna, quickenest them.
17, When Prâna has watered the great earth
with rain, then the plants spring forth, and also every sort of herb.
18. Whoever, O Prâna, knows this regarding
thee, and (knows) on what thou art supported, to him all shall offer tribute in
yonder highest world.
19. As all these creatures, O Prâna, offer
thee tribute, so they shall offer tribute (in yonder world) to him who hears
thee, O far-famed one!
20. He moves as an embryo within the gods;
having arrived, and being in existence, he is born again. Having arisen he
enters with his mights the present and the future, as a father (goes to) his
son.
21. When as a swan he rises from the water he
does not withdraw his one foot. If in truth he were to withdraw it, there would
be neither to-day, nor to-morrow, no night and no day, never would the dawn
appear.
22. With eight wheels, and one felloe he
moves, containing a thousand sounds (elements), upward in the east, downward in
the west. With (his) half he produced the whole world: what is the visible sign
of his (other) half?
23. He who rules over this (all) derived from
every source, and over everything that movesreverence be to thee, O Prâna, that
wieldest a swift bow against others (the enemies)!
24. May Prâna, who rules over this (all)
derived from every source, and over everything that moves, (may he) unwearied,
strong through the brahma, adhere to me!
25. Erect he watches in those that sleep, nor
does lie lie down across. No one has heard of his sleeping in those that sleep.
26. O Prâna, be not turned away from me, thou
shalt not be other than myself! As the embryo of the waters (fire), thee, O
Prâna, do bind to me, that I may live.
IX, 2. Prayer to Kâma (love), personified
as a primordial power.
1. To the bull that slays the enemy, to Kâma,
do I render tribute with ghee, oblation, and (sacrificial) melted butter. Do
thou, since thou hast been extolled, hurl down my enemies by thy great might!
2. The evil dream which is offensive to my
mind and eye, which harasses and does not please me, that (dream) do I let
loose upon my enemy. Having praised Kâma may I prevail!
3,. Evil dreams, O Kâma, and misfortune, O
Kâma, childlessness, ill-health, and trouble, do thou, a strong lord, let loose
upon him that designs evil against us!
4. Drive them away, O Kâma, thrust them away,
O Kâma; may they that are my enemies fall into trouble! When they have been
driven into the nethermost darkness, do thou, O Agni, burn up their d welling-
places!
5. That milch-cow, O Kâma, whom the sages
call Vâk Virâg (ruling, or resplendent speech), is said to be thy daughter; by
her drive away my enemies; breath, cattle, and life shall give them a wide
birth!
6. With the strength of Kâma, Indra, king
Varuna, and Vishnu, with the impelling force (savena) of Savitar, with the
priestly power of Agni, do I drive forth the enemies, as a skilled steersman a
boat.
7. My sturdy guardian, strong Kâma, shall
procure for me full freedom from enmity! May the gods collectively be my
refuge, may all the gods respond to this, my invocation!
8. Taking pleasure in this (sacrificial)
melted butter, and ghee do ye, (O gods), of whom Kâma is the highest, be joyful
in this place, procuring for me full freedom from enmity!
9. O Indra and Agni, and Kâma, having formed
an alliance, do ye hurl down my enemies; when they have fallen into the
nethermost darkness, do thou, O Agni, burn up after them their dwelling places!
10. Slay thou, O Kâma, those that are my
enemies, hurl them down into blind darkness. Devoid of vigour, Without sap let
them all be; they shall not live a single day!
11. Kâma has slain those that are my enemies,
a broad space has he furnished me to thrive in. May the four directions of
space bow down to me, and the six broad (regions) carry ghee to me!
12. They (the enemies) shall float down like
a boat cut loose from its moorings! There is no returning again for those who
have been struck by our missiles.
13. Agni is a defence, Indra a defence, Soma
a defence. May the gods, who by their defence ward off (the enemy), ward him
off!
14. With his men reduced, driven out, the
hated (enemy) shall go, shunned by his own friends! And down upon the earth do
the lightnings alight; may the strong god crush your enemies!
15. This mighty lightning supports both
moveable and immoveable things, as well as all thunders. May the rising sun by
his resources and his majesty hurl down my enemies, lie the mighty one!
16. With that triple-armoured powerful
covering of thine, O Kâma, with the charm that has been made into an
Invulnerate armour spread (over thee), with that do thou drive away those who
are my enemies; may breath, cattle, and life give them a wide berth!
17. With the weapon with which the god drove
forth the Asuras, with which Indra led the Dasyus to the nethermost darkness,
with that do thou, O Kâma, drive forth far away from this world those who are
my enemies!
18. As the gods drove forth the Asuras, as
Indra. forced the demons into the nethermost darkness, thus do thou, O Kâma, drive
forth far away from this world those who are my enemies!
19. Kâma was born at first; him neither the
gods, nor the Fathers, nor men have equalled. To these art thou superior, and
ever great; to thee, O Kâma, do I verily offer reverence.
20. As great as are the heavens and earth in
extent, as far as the waters have swept, as far as fire; to these art thou
superior, &c.
21. Great as are the directions (of space)
and the intermediate direction on either side, great as are the regions and the
vistas of the sky; to these art thou superior, &c.
22. As many bees, bats, kurûru-worms, as many
vaghas and tree-serpents as there are; to these art thou superior, &c.
23. Superior art thou to all that winks
(lives), superior to all that stands still (is not alive), superior to the
ocean art thou, O Kâma, Manyu! To these art thou superior, &c.
24. Not, surely, does the wind equal Kâma,
not the fire, not the sun, and not the moon. To these art thou superior,
&c.
25. With those auspicious and gracious forms
of thine, O Kâma, through which what thou wilst becometh reaL with these do
thou enter into us, and elsewhere send the evil thoughts!
XIX, 53. Prayer to Kâla (time), personified as a primordial power.
1. Time, the steed, runs with seven reins
(rays), thousand-eyed, ageless, rich in seed. The seers, thinking holy
thoughts, mount him, all the beings (worlds) are his wheels.
2. With seven wheels does this Time ride,
seven naves has he, immortality is his axle. He carries hither all these beings
(worlds). Time, the first god, now hastens onward.
3. A full jar has been placed upon Time; him,
verily, we see existing in many forms. He carries away all these beings
(worlds); they call him Time in the highest heaven.
4. He surely did bring hither all the beings
(worlds), he surely did encompass all the beings (worlds). Being their father,
he became their son; there is, verily, no other force, higher than he.
5. Time begot yonder heaven, Time also
(begot) these earths. That which was, and that which shall be, urged forth by
Time, spreads out.
6. Time created the earth, in Time the sun
burns. In Time are all beings, in Time the eye looks abroad.
7. In Time mind is fixed, in Time breath (is
fixed), in Time names (are fixed); when Time has arrived all these creatures
rejoice.
8. In Time tapas (creative fervour) is fixed;
in Time the highest (being is fixed); in Time brahma (spiritual exaltation) is
fixed; Time is the lord of everything, he was the father of Pragâpati.
9. By him this (universe) was urged forth, by
him it was begotten, and upon him this (universe) was founded. Time, truly,
having become the brahma (spiritual exaltation), supports Parameshthin (the
highest lord).
10. Time created the creatures (pragâh), and
Time in the beginning (created) the lord of creatures (Prâgapati); the
self-existing Kasyapa and the tapas (creative fervour) from Time were born.
XIX, 54. Prayer to Kâla (time),
personified as a primordial power.
1. From Time the waters did arise, from Time
the brahma (spiritual exaltation), the tapas (creative fervour), the regions
(of space did arise). Through Time the sun rises, in Time he goes down again.
2. Through Time the wind blows, through Time
(exists) the great earth; the great sky is fixed in Time. In Time the son
(Pragâpati) begot of yore that which was, and that which shall be.
3. From Time the Riks arose, the Yagus was
born from Time; Time put forth the sacrifice, the imperishable share of the
gods.
4. Upon Time the Gandharvas and Apsarases are
founded, upon Time the worlds (are founded), in Time this Angiras and Atharvan
rule over the heavens.
5. Having conquered this world and the
highest world, and the holy (pure) worlds (and) their holy divisions; having by
means of the brahma (spiritual exaltation) conquered all the worlds, Time, the
highest God, forsooth, hastens onward.
XI, 7. Apotheosis of the ukkhishta, the
leavings of the sacrifice.
1. In the ukkhishta are deposited name
(quality) and form, in the ukkhishta the world is deposited. Within the
ukkhishta Indra and Agni, and the all are deposited.
2. In the ukkhishta heaven and earth, and all
beings, are deposited; in the ukkhishta are deposited the waters, the ocean,
the moon, and the wind.
3. In the ukkhishta are both being and
non-being, death, strength (food), and Pragâpati. The (creatures) of the world
are founded upon the ukkhishta; (also) that which is confined and that which is
free, and the grace in me.
4. He who fastens what is firm, the strong,
the leader, the brahma, the ten creators of the all, the divinities, are fixed
on all sides to the ukkhishta as the (spokes of the) wheel to the nave.
5. Rik, Sâman, and Yagus, the singing of the
sâmans, their introductions, and the stotras are in the ukkhishta. The sound
‘him’ is in the ukkhishta, and the modulations and the music of the sâman. That
is in me.
6. The prayer to Indra and Agni (aindrâgnam),
the call to the soma, as it is being purified (pâvamâmam), the
mahânâmnî-verses, the singing of the mahâvrata, (these) divisions of the
service are in the ukkhishta, as the embryo in the mother.
7. The ceremony of the consecration of the
king (râgasûya), the vâgapeya, the agnishtoma, and the cattle-sacrifice
belonging to it, the arka and the horse-sacrifice, and the most delightful
(sacrifice) for which fresh barhis is strewn, are in the ukkhishta.
8. The preparation of the sacred fire
(agnyâdheyam), the consecration for the soma-sacrifice (dikshâ), the sacrifice
by which (special) wishes are fulfilled, together with the metres, the
sacrifices that have passed out, and the extended sacrifices (satra), are
lounded upon the ukkhishta.
9. The agnihotra, faith, the call vashat,
vows and asceticism, sacrificial rewards, what is sacrificed (to the gods) and
given (to the priests) are contained in the ukkhishta.
10. The (soma-sacrifice) that lasts one night
(ekarâtra), and that which lasts two nights (dvirâtra), the (condensed
soma-sacrifice called) sadyahkrî, and
(that which is called) prakrî, the (Songs called) ukthya, are woven and deposited in the ukkhishta; (also the parts) of the sacrifice subtle through (higher) knowledge.
(that which is called) prakrî, the (Songs called) ukthya, are woven and deposited in the ukkhishta; (also the parts) of the sacrifice subtle through (higher) knowledge.
11. The soma-sacrifice that lasts four nights
(katûrâtra), five nights (pañkarâtra), six nights (shadrâtra), and along (with
them) those that last double the time; the sixteenfold stotra (shodasin), and
the soma-sacrifice that lasts seven nights (saptarâtra), all the sacrifices
which were founded upon immortality (amrita), were begotten of the ukkhishta.
12. The pratihâra-passages (in the
sâman-songs), and their final syllables, the (soma-sacrifices called) visvagit
and abhgit, the soma-sacrifice that ends
with the day (sâhna), and that which lasts into the next day (atirâtra), are in the ukkhishta–the soma-sacrifice also that lasts twelve days. That is in me.
with the day (sâhna), and that which lasts into the next day (atirâtra), are in the ukkhishta–the soma-sacrifice also that lasts twelve days. That is in me.
13. Liberality, accomplishment, possession,
the call svadhâ, nurture, immortality (amrita), and might, all inner desires
are satisfied according to wish in the ukkhishta.
14. The nine earths, oceans, heavens, are
founded upon the ukkhishta. The sun shines in the ukkhishta, and day and night
also. That is in me.
15. The (soma-sacrifice called) upahavya, the
offering on the middle day of a sacrifice lasting a year (vishûvant), and the
sacrifices that are secretly presented, Ukkhishta, the sustainer of the
universe, the father of the generator (Pragâpati), supports.
16. Ukkhishta, the father of the generator,
the grandson of the spirit (asu), the primal ancestor (grandfather), the ruler
of the universe, the lusty bull dwells upon the earth.
17. Order (rita), truth (satya), creative
fervour (tapas), sovereignty, asceticism, law and works; past, future,
strength, and prosperity, are in the ukkhishta-force in force.
18. Success, might, plans, dominion,
sovereignty, the six broad (regions), the year, libation (idâ), the orders to
the priests (praisha), the draughts of soma (graha), oblations (are founded)
upon the ukkhishta.
19. The (liturgies called) katurhotârah, the
âpri-hymns, the triennial sacrifices, the (formulas called) nîvid, the
sacrifices, the priestly functions, the cattle-sacrifice and the soma-oblations
connected with it, are in the ukkhishta.
20. The half-months and months, the divisions
of the year together with the seasons, the resounding waters, thunder, the
great Vedic canon (sruti) are in the ukkhishta.
21. Pebbles, sand, stones, herbs, plants,
grass, clouds, lightning, rain, are attached to, and are founded upon the
ukkhishta.
22. Success, attainment, accomplishment,
control, greatness, prosperity, supreme attainment, and wellbeing rest upon,
rest in, have been deposited in the ukkhishta.
23. Whatever breathes with breath, and sees
with sight, all gods in the heavens, founded upon heaven, were born of the
ukkhishta.
24. The riks and the sâmans, the metres, the
ancient legends (purânam) together with the yagus, all gods in the heavens,
founded upon heaven, were born of the ukkhishta.
25. In-breathing and out-breathing, sight,
hearing, imperishableness and perishableness, all gods in the heavens, founded
upon heaven, were born of the ukkhishta.
26. Joys, pleasures, delights, jubilation and
merriment, all gods in the heavens, founded upon heaven, were born of the
ukkhishta.
27. The gods, the (deceased) Fathers, men, Gandharvas and Apsaras, all gods in the heavens, founded upon heaven, were born of the ukkhishta.
27. The gods, the (deceased) Fathers, men, Gandharvas and Apsaras, all gods in the heavens, founded upon heaven, were born of the ukkhishta.
IX, 1. Hymn to the honey-lash of the Asvins.
1. From heaven, from earth, from the
atmosphere, from the sea, from the fire, and from the wind, the honey-lash hath
verily sprung. This, clothed in amrita (ambrosia), all the creatures revering,
acclaim in their hearts.
2. Great sap of all forms (colours) it
hath-they call thee moreover the seed of the ocean. Where the honey-lash comes
bestowing gifts, there life’s breath, and there immortality has settled down.
3. Men severally, contemplating it
profoundly, behold its action upon the earth: from the fire and from the wind
the honey-lash hath verily sprung, the strong child of the Maruts.
4. Mother of the Âdityas, daughter of the
Vasus, breath of life of created beings, nave of immortality, the honey-lash,
golden-coloured, dripping ghee, as a great embryo, moves among mortals.
5. The god’s begot the lash of honey, from it
came an embryo having all forms (colours). This, as soon as born, (while yet)
young its mother nourishes; this, as soon as born, surveys all the worlds.
6. Who knows it and who perceives it, the
inexhaustible, soma-holding cup that has come from the heart of it (the
honey-lash)? ‘Tis the wise priest: he shall derive inspiration from it!
7. He knows them, and he perceives them, the
inexhaustible breasts of it (the honey-lash), that yield a thousand streams.
Nourishment they pour out -without recalcitration.
8. The great (cow) that loudly gives forth
the sound ‘him,’ that bestows strength, and goes with loud shouts to the holy
act, bellowing with lust for the three (male) gharmas (fires), she lows, and
drips with (streams) of milk.
9. When the waters, the mighty bulls,
self-sovereign, wait upon (the cow), swollen with milk, (then) they, the
waters, pour nourishment (upon her), and cause her to pour nourishment at will
for him that knoweth this.
10. The thunder is thy voice, O Pragâpati; as
a bull thou hurlest thy fire upon the earth. From the fire, and from the wind
the honey-lash hath verily sprung, the strong child of the Maruts.
11. As the soma at the morn ing-pressure is
dear to the Asvins, thus in my own person, O Asvins, lustre shall be sustained!
12. As the soma at the second (mid-day)
pressure is dear to Indra and Agni, thus in my own person, O Indra, and Agni,
lustre shall be sustained!
13. As the soma at the third pressure
(evening) is dear to the Ribhus, thus in my own person, O Ribhus, lustre shall
be sustained!
14. May I beget honey for myself; may I
obtain honey for myself! Bringing milk, O Agni, I have come:. endow me with
lustre!
15. Endow me, O Agni, with lustre, endow me
with offspring and with life! May the gods take note of this (prayer) of mine;
may Indra together with the Rishis (take note of it)!
16. As bees carry together honey upon honey,
thus in my own person, O Asvins, lustre shall be sustained!
17. As the bees pile this honey upon honey,
thus in my own person, O Asvins, lustre, brilliance, strength, and force shall
be sustained!
18. The honey that is in the mountains, in
the heights; in the cows, and in the horses; the honey which is in the surâ
(brandy) as it is being poured out, that shall be in me!
19. O Asvins, lords of brightness, anoint me
with the honey of the bee, that I may speak forceful speech among men!
20. The thunder is thy speech, O Pragâpati;
as a bull thou hurlest thy fire upon earth and heaven. All animals live upon it
(the earth), and she with it (Pragâpati’s fire) fills nourishment and food.
21. The earth is the staff, the atmosphere
the embryo, the heaven the whip (itself?), the lightning the whip-cord; of gold
is the tip (of the whip?).
22. He that knoweth the seven honies of the
whip becomes rich in honey; (to wit), the Brâhmana, the king, the cow, the ox,
rice, barley, and honey as the seventh.
23. Rich in honey becomes he, rich in honey
become his appurtenances, worlds rich in honey does he win, he that knoweth
thus.
24. When in a bright sky it thunders, then
Pragâpati manifests himself to (his) creatures (pragâh). Therefore do I stand
with the sacred cord suspended from the right shoulder (prâkinopavita), saying,
‘O Pragâpati, watch over me!’ The creatures (pragâh) watch over him, Pragâpati
watches over him, that knoweth thus.
End of Atharva Veda
(My humble
salutations to the Translator for the collection)
