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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1) ! We do not whet thee for the destruction of him that has not practised (spells). 10. Go as a son to his father, bite like an adder that has been stepped upon. Return thou, O spell, to him that prepares the spell, as one who over- comes his fetters ! 11. As the shy deer, the antelope, goes out to the mating (buck), thus the spell shall reach him that prepares it ! 12. Straighter than an arrow may it (the spell) fly III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 79 against him, O ye heaven and earth ; may that spell take hold again of him that prepares it, as (a hunter) of his game ! 13. Like fire (the spell) shall progress in the teeth of obstacles, like water along its course ! As a chariot with easy-going wheels the spell shall turn back upon him that prepares the spell ! VIII, 5. Prayer for protection addressed to a talis- man made from wood of the sraktya-tree. 1. This attacking talisman, (itself) a man, is fastened upon the man : it is full of force, slays enemies, makes heroes of men, furnishes shelter, provides good luck. 2. This talisman slays enemies, makes strong men, is powerful, lusty, victorious, strong ; as a man it advances against sorceries and destroys them. 3. With this talisman Indra slew Wztra, with it he, full of device, destroyed the Asuras, with it he conquered both the heaven and earth, with it he conquered the four regions of space. 4. This talisman of sraktya assails and attacks. With might controlling the enemies, it shall protect us on all sides ! 5. Agni has said this, and Soma has said this ; Brzhaspati, Savitar, Indra (have said) this. These divine purohitas (chaplains) shall turn back for me (upon the sorcerer) the sorceries with aggressive amulets ! 6. I have interposed heaven and earth, also the day, and also the sun. These divine purohitas (chaplains) shall turn back for me (upon the sorcerer) the sorceries with aggressive amulets ! 80 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 7. (For) the folk that make an armour of the talisman of sraktya — like the sun ascending the sky, it subjects and beats off the sorceries. 8. With the amulet of sraktya, as if with a seer of powerful spirit, I have gained all battles, I slay the enemies, the Rakshas. 9. The sorceries that come from the Angiras, the sorceries that come from the Asuras, the sorceries that prepare themselves, and those that are prepared by others, both these shall go away to a distance across ninety navigable streams ! 10.
2enemies, the Rakshas. 9. The sorceries that come from the Angiras, the sorceries that come from the Asuras, the sorceries that prepare themselves, and those that are prepared by others, both these shall go away to a distance across ninety navigable streams ! 10. As an armour upon him the gods shall tie the amulet, Indra, Vish/m, Savitar, Rudra, Agni, Pra^a- pati, Paramesh/^in, Vira^, Vaisvanara, and the seers all. 11. Thou art the most superb of plants, as if a steer among the cattle, as if a tiger among beasts of prey. (The amulet) that we did seek, that have we found, a guardian at our side. 12. He that wears this talisman, verily is a tiger, a lion as well, and, too, a bull ; moreover a curtailer of enemies. 13. Him slay not the Apsaras, nor the Gan- dharvas, nor mortal men ; all regions does he rule, that wears this talisman. 14. Kasyapa has created thee, Ka^yapa has pro- duced thee. Indra wore thee in human (battle) ; wearing thee in the close combat he conquered. The gods did make the talisman an armour of thousandfold strength. 15. He that plans to harm thee with sorceries, with (unholy) consecrations and sacrifices — him beat thou back, O Indra, with thy thunderbolt that hath a hundred joints ! 16. This talisman verily does assail, full of might, III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 8 1 victorious. Offspring and wealth it shall protect, provide defence, abound in luck ! 17. Remove our enemies in the south, remove our enemies in the north ; remove, O Indra, our enemies in the west : light, O hero, place in front (east) of us ! 18. An armour for me be heaven and earth, an armour day, an armour the sun ! An armour for me be Indra and Agni ; Dhatar shall bestow (dadhatu) an armour upon me ! 19. The armour of Indra and Agni, that is thick and strong, all the gods united do not pierce. This great (armour) shall protect my body on all sides, that I may obtain long life, and reach old age ! 20. The divine talisman has ascended upon me unto complete exemption from injury. Assemble about this post that protects the body, furnishes threefold defence, in order to (secure) strength ! 21. Into it Indra shall deposit manliness: do ye, O gods, assemble about it for long life, for life lasting a hundred autumns, that he may reach old age. 22.
3e about this post that protects the body, furnishes threefold defence, in order to (secure) strength ! 21. Into it Indra shall deposit manliness: do ye, O gods, assemble about it for long life, for life lasting a hundred autumns, that he may reach old age. 22. May Indra who bestows welfare, the lord of the people, the slayer of Vrztra, the controller of enemies, he that conquereth and is unconquered, the soma-drinking bull that frees from danger, fasten the amulet upon thee : may it protect thee on each and every side, by day and by night ! X, 3. Praise of the virtues of an amulet derived from the vara/za-tree. 1. Here is my vara^a-amulet, a bull that destroys the rivals : with it do thou close in upon thy enemies, crush them that desire to injure thee ! [42] G 82 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 2. Break them, crush them, close in upon them : the amulet shall be thy van-guard in front ! With the vara^a the Devas (gods) did ward off (av&ra- yanta) the onslaught of the Asuras (demons) day after day. 3. This thousand-eyed, yellow, golden vara^a- amulet is a universal cure ; it shall lay low thy enemies : be thou the first to injure those that hate thee ! 4. This vara/za will ward off (varayishyate) the spell that has been spread against thee ; this will protect thee from human danger, this will protect thee from all evil ! 5. This divine tree, the vara/za, shall shut out (varayatai) ! The gods, too, have shut out (avivaran) the disease that has entered into this (man). 6. If when asleep thou shalt behold an evil dream ; as often as a wild beast shall run an inauspicious course ; from (ominous) sneezing, and from the evil shriek of a bird, this vara^a-amulet will protect thee (varayishyate). 7. From Arati (grudge), Nirrzti (misfortune), from sorcery, and from danger; from death and over- strong weapons the vara^a will protect thee. 8. The sin that my mother, that my father, that my brothers and my sister have committed ; the sin that we (ourselves) have committed, from that this divine tree will protect us. 9. Through the vara^a are confused my enemies and my (rival) kin. To untra versed gloom they have gone : they shall go to the nethermost darkness ! 10. (May) I (be) unharmed, with cows unharmed, long-lived, with undiminished men ! This vara^a- amulet shall guard me in every region (of space) ! III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 83 11. This vara^a upon my breast, the kingly, divine tree, shall smite asunder my enemies, as Indra the Dasyus, the Asuras (demons) ! 12.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1) ! We do not whet thee for the destruction of him that has not practised (spells). 10. Go as a son to his father, bite like an adder that has been stepped upon. Return thou, O spell, to him that prepares the spell, as one who over- comes his fetters ! 11. As the shy deer, the antelope, goes out to the mating (buck), thus the spell shall reach him that prepares it ! 12. Straighter than an arrow may it (the spell) fly III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 79 against him, O ye heaven and earth ; may that spell take hold again of him that prepares it, as (a hunter) of his game ! 13. Like fire (the spell) shall progress in the teeth of obstacles, like water along its course ! As a chariot with easy-going wheels the spell shall turn back upon him that prepares the spell ! VIII, 5. Prayer for protection addressed to a talis- man made from wood of the sraktya-tree. 1. This attacking talisman, (itself) a man, is fastened upon the man : it is full of force, slays enemies, makes heroes of men, furnishes shelter, provides good luck. 2. This talisman slays enemies, makes strong men, is powerful, lusty, victorious, strong ; as a man it advances against sorceries and destroys them. 3. With this talisman Indra slew Wztra, with it he, full of device, destroyed the Asuras, with it he conquered both the heaven and earth, with it he conquered the four regions of space. 4. This talisman of sraktya assails and attacks. With might controlling the enemies, it shall protect us on all sides ! 5. Agni has said this, and Soma has said this ; Brzhaspati, Savitar, Indra (have said) this. These divine purohitas (chaplains) shall turn back for me (upon the sorcerer) the sorceries with aggressive amulets ! 6. I have interposed heaven and earth, also the day, and also the sun. These divine purohitas (chaplains) shall turn back for me (upon the sorcerer) the sorceries with aggressive amulets ! 80 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 7. (For) the folk that make an armour of the talisman of sraktya — like the sun ascending the sky, it subjects and beats off the sorceries. 8. With the amulet of sraktya, as if with a seer of powerful spirit, I have gained all battles, I slay the enemies, the Rakshas. 9. The sorceries that come from the Angiras, the sorceries that come from the Asuras, the sorceries that prepare themselves, and those that are prepared by others, both these shall go away to a distance across ninety navigable streams ! 10.
2enemies, the Rakshas. 9. The sorceries that come from the Angiras, the sorceries that come from the Asuras, the sorceries that prepare themselves, and those that are prepared by others, both these shall go away to a distance across ninety navigable streams ! 10. As an armour upon him the gods shall tie the amulet, Indra, Vish/m, Savitar, Rudra, Agni, Pra^a- pati, Paramesh/^in, Vira^, Vaisvanara, and the seers all. 11. Thou art the most superb of plants, as if a steer among the cattle, as if a tiger among beasts of prey. (The amulet) that we did seek, that have we found, a guardian at our side. 12. He that wears this talisman, verily is a tiger, a lion as well, and, too, a bull ; moreover a curtailer of enemies. 13. Him slay not the Apsaras, nor the Gan- dharvas, nor mortal men ; all regions does he rule, that wears this talisman. 14. Kasyapa has created thee, Ka^yapa has pro- duced thee. Indra wore thee in human (battle) ; wearing thee in the close combat he conquered. The gods did make the talisman an armour of thousandfold strength. 15. He that plans to harm thee with sorceries, with (unholy) consecrations and sacrifices — him beat thou back, O Indra, with thy thunderbolt that hath a hundred joints ! 16. This talisman verily does assail, full of might, III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 8 1 victorious. Offspring and wealth it shall protect, provide defence, abound in luck ! 17. Remove our enemies in the south, remove our enemies in the north ; remove, O Indra, our enemies in the west : light, O hero, place in front (east) of us ! 18. An armour for me be heaven and earth, an armour day, an armour the sun ! An armour for me be Indra and Agni ; Dhatar shall bestow (dadhatu) an armour upon me ! 19. The armour of Indra and Agni, that is thick and strong, all the gods united do not pierce. This great (armour) shall protect my body on all sides, that I may obtain long life, and reach old age ! 20. The divine talisman has ascended upon me unto complete exemption from injury. Assemble about this post that protects the body, furnishes threefold defence, in order to (secure) strength ! 21. Into it Indra shall deposit manliness: do ye, O gods, assemble about it for long life, for life lasting a hundred autumns, that he may reach old age. 22.
3e about this post that protects the body, furnishes threefold defence, in order to (secure) strength ! 21. Into it Indra shall deposit manliness: do ye, O gods, assemble about it for long life, for life lasting a hundred autumns, that he may reach old age. 22. May Indra who bestows welfare, the lord of the people, the slayer of Vrztra, the controller of enemies, he that conquereth and is unconquered, the soma-drinking bull that frees from danger, fasten the amulet upon thee : may it protect thee on each and every side, by day and by night ! X, 3. Praise of the virtues of an amulet derived from the vara/za-tree. 1. Here is my vara^a-amulet, a bull that destroys the rivals : with it do thou close in upon thy enemies, crush them that desire to injure thee ! [42] G 82 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 2. Break them, crush them, close in upon them : the amulet shall be thy van-guard in front ! With the vara^a the Devas (gods) did ward off (av&ra- yanta) the onslaught of the Asuras (demons) day after day. 3. This thousand-eyed, yellow, golden vara^a- amulet is a universal cure ; it shall lay low thy enemies : be thou the first to injure those that hate thee ! 4. This vara/za will ward off (varayishyate) the spell that has been spread against thee ; this will protect thee from human danger, this will protect thee from all evil ! 5. This divine tree, the vara/za, shall shut out (varayatai) ! The gods, too, have shut out (avivaran) the disease that has entered into this (man). 6. If when asleep thou shalt behold an evil dream ; as often as a wild beast shall run an inauspicious course ; from (ominous) sneezing, and from the evil shriek of a bird, this vara^a-amulet will protect thee (varayishyate). 7. From Arati (grudge), Nirrzti (misfortune), from sorcery, and from danger; from death and over- strong weapons the vara^a will protect thee. 8. The sin that my mother, that my father, that my brothers and my sister have committed ; the sin that we (ourselves) have committed, from that this divine tree will protect us. 9. Through the vara^a are confused my enemies and my (rival) kin. To untra versed gloom they have gone : they shall go to the nethermost darkness ! 10. (May) I (be) unharmed, with cows unharmed, long-lived, with undiminished men ! This vara^a- amulet shall guard me in every region (of space) ! III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. 83 11. This vara^a upon my breast, the kingly, divine tree, shall smite asunder my enemies, as Indra the Dasyus, the Asuras (demons) ! 12.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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