VIII, 1. Prayer for exemption from the dangers
of death.
1. To the ' Ender/ to Death be reverence ! May
thy in-breathing and thy out-breathing remain here !
United here with (life's) spirit this man shall be,
sharing in the sun, in the world of immortality
(amrzta) !
2. Bhaga has raised him up, Soma with his rays
(has raised) him up, the Maruts, the gods, (have
raised) him up, Indra and Agni (have raised) him
up unto well-being.
3. Here (shall be) thy (life's) spirit, here thy in-
breathing, here thy life, here thy mind ! We rescue
thee from the toils of Nirr/ti (destruction) by means
of our divine utterance.
4. Rise up hence, O man ! Casting off the foot-
shackles of death, do not sink down ! Be not cut off
from this world, from the sight of Agni and the sun !
5. The wind, MatarLrvan, shall blow for thee, the
waters shall shower amrzta (ambrosia) upon thee,
the sun shall shine kindly for thy body! Death
shall pity thee : do not waste away !
6. Thou shalt ascend and not descend, O man !
Life and alertness do I prepare for thee. Mount,
forsooth, this imperishable, pleasant car; then in
old age thou shalt hold converse with thy family !
54 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
7. Thy mind shall not go thither, shall not dis-
appear! Do not become heedless of the living, do
not follow the Fathers ! All the gods shall preserve
thee here !
8. Do not long after the departed, who conduct
(men) afar ! Ascend from the darkness, come to the
light ! We lay hold of thy hands.
9. The two dogs of Yama, the black and the
brindled one, that guard the road (to heaven), that
have been despatched, shall not (go after) thee!
Come hither, do not long to be away; do not tarry
here with thy mind turned to a distance !
10. Do not follow this path: it is terrible ! I speak
of that by which thou hast not hitherto gone.
Darkness is this, O man, do not enter it ! Danger
is beyond, security here for thee.
11. May the fires that are within the waters
guard thee, may (the fire) which men kindle guard
thee, may Gatavedas Vauvanara (the fire common
to all men) guard thee ! Let not the heavenly (fire)
together with the lightning burn thee !
12. Let not the flesh-devouring (fire) menace
thee: move afar from the funeral pyre! Heaven
shall guard thee, the earth shall guard thee, the sun
and moon shall guard thee, the atmosphere shall
guard thee against the divine missile !
13. May the alert and the watchful divinities
guard thee, may he that sleeps not and nods not
guard thee, may he that protects and is vigilant
guard thee !
14. They shall guard thee, they shall protect thee. Reverence be to them. Hail be to them !
15. Into converse with the living Vayu, Indra, Dhatar, and saving Savitar shall put thee ; breath
Ii. Prayers for Long Life and Health. 55
and strength shall not leave thee ! Thy (life's) spirit do we call back to thee.
16. Convulsions that draw the jaws together,
darkness, shall not come upon thee, nor (the demon)
that tears out the tongue (?) ! How shalt thou then
waste away ? The Adityas and Vasus, Indra and
Agni shall raise thee up unto well-being!
17. The heavens, the earth, Pra^apati, have
rescued thee. The plants with Soma their king
have delivered thee from death.
18. Let this man remain right here, ye gods, let
him not depart hence to yonder world ! We rescue
him from death with (a charm) of thousandfold
strength.
19. I have delivered thee from death. The
(powers) that furnish strength shall breathe upon
thee. The (mourning women) with dishevelled
hair, they that wail lugubriously, shall not wail
over thee !
20. I have snatched thee (from death), I have
obtained thee ; thou hast returned with renewed
youth. O thou, that art (now) sound of limb, for
thee sound sight, and sound life have I obtained.
21. It has shone upon thee, light has arisen,
darkness has departed from thee. We remove from
thee death, destruction, and disease.
VIII, 2, Prayer for exemption from the dangers
of death.
1. Take hold of this (charm) that subjects to
immortality (life), may thy life unto old age not be
cut off! I bring to thee anew breath and life: go
not to mist and darkness, do not waste away !
56 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
2. Come hither to the light of the living; I rescue
thee unto a life of a hundred autumns ! Loosing the
bands of death and imprecation, I bestow upon thee
long life extended very far.
3. From the wind thy breath I have obtained,
from the sun thine eye ; thy soul I hold fast in thee :
be together with thy limbs, speak articulating with
thy tongue !
4. With the breath of two-footed and four-footed
creatures I blow upon thee, as on Agni when he is
born (as on fire when kindled). I have paid rever-
ence, O death, to thine eye, reverence to thy breath.
5. This (man) shall live and shall not die : we rouse this man (to life) ! I make for him a remedy :
0 death, do not slay the man !
6. The plant ^ivala (' quickening '), na-gha-risha
(' forsooth-no-harm '), and ^Ivantf ('living'), a victo-
rious, mighty saviour-plant do I invoke, that he may
be exempt from injury.
7. Befriend him, do not seize him, let him go,
(O death) ; though he be thy very own, let him
abide here with unimpaired strength ! O Bhava and
.Sarva, take pity, grant protection ; misfortune drive
away, and life bestow !
8. Befriend him, death, and pity him : may he from
here arise ! Unharmed, with sound limbs, hearing
perfectly, through old age carrying a hundred years,
let him get enjoyment by himself (unaided) !
9. The missile of the gods shall pass thee by !
1 pass thee across the mist (of death) ; from death
I have rescued thee. Removing far the flesh-
devouring Agni, a barrier do I set around thee,
that thou mayest live.
10. From thy misty road that cannot be withstood,
Ii. Prayers for Long Life and Health. 57
O death, from this path (of thine) we guard this (man), and make our charm a protection for him.
11. In-breathing and out-breathing do I prepare
for thee, death in old age, long life, and prosperity.
All the messengers of Yama, that roam about, dis-
patched by Vivasvant's son, do I drive away.
12. Arati (grudge), Nirrz'ti (destruction), Grahi
(seizure), and the flesh-devouring Vis&kas (do we
drive) away to a distance, and hurl all wicked
Rakshas away into darkness as it were.
13. I crave thy life's breath from the immortal,
life-possessing Agni 6atavedas. That thou shalt
not take harm, shalt be immortal in (Agni's) com-
pany, that do I procure for thee, and that shall be
fulfilled for thee !
14. May heaven and earth, the bestowers of hap-
piness, be auspicious and harmless to thee ; may
the sun shine, and the wind blow comfort to thy
heart ; may the heavenly waters, rich in milk, flow
upon thee kindly !
15. May the plants be auspicious to thee ! I have
raised thee from the lower to the upper earth : there
may both the Adityas, the sun and the moon, pro-
tect thee.
16. Whatever garment for clothing, or whatever
girdle thou makest for thyself, agreeable to thy
body do we render it ; not rough to thy touch shall
it be !
1 7. When thou, the barber, shearest with thy sharp
well-whetted razor our hair and beard, do not, while
cleansing our face, rob us of our life !
18. Rice and barley shall be auspicious to thee,
causing no balasa, inflicting no injury ! They two
drive away disease, they two release from calamity.
58 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
19. Whatever thou eatest or drinkest, the grain
of the plough-land or milk, whatever is or is not to
be eaten, all that food do I render for thee free
from poison.
20. To day and to night both do we commit thee :
from the demons that seek to devour, do ye preserve
this (man) for me !
21. A hundred years, ten thousand years, two,
three, four ages (yuga) do we allot to thee ; Indra
and Agni, and all the gods without anger shall
favour thee !
22. To autumn thee, to winter, spring and summer,
do we commit ; the rains in which grow the plants
shall be pleasant to thee !
23. Death rules over bipeds, death rules over
quadrupeds. From that death, the lord of cattle,
do I rescue thee : do not fear !
24. Free from harm thou shalt not die ; thou
shalt not die : do not fear ! Verily, they do not
die there, they do not go to the nethermost dark-
ness ; —
25. Verily, every creature lives there, the cow,
the horse, and man, where this charm is performed,
as the (protecting) barrier for life.
26. May it preserve thee from sorcery, from thy
equals and thy kin ! Undying be, immortal, exceed-
ingly vital ; thy spirits shall not abandon thy body !
27. From the one and a hundred deaths, from
the dangers that are surmountable, from that Agni
Vaisv&nara (the funeral pyre ?) may the gods deliver
thee !
28. Thou, the remedy called putudru, art the body
of Agni, the deliverer, slayer of Rakshas, slayer of
rivals, moreover thou chasest away disease.
Ii. Prayers for Long Life and Health. 59
V, 30. Prayer for exemption from disease and
death.
1. From near thy vicinity, from near thy distance
(do I call) : remain here, do not follow ; do not
follow the Fathers of yore ! Firmly do I fasten thy
life's breath.
2. Whatever sorcery any kinsman or stranger has
practised against thee, both release and deliverance
with my voice do I declare for thee.
3. If thou hast deceived or cursed a woman or
a man in thy folly, both release and deliverance
with my voice do I declare for thee.
4. If thou liest (ill) in consequence of a sin com-
mitted by thy mother or thy father, both release
and deliverance with my voice do I declare for
thee.
5. Fight shy of the medicine which thy mother
and thy father, thy sister and thy brother let out
against thee : I shall cause thee to live unto old
age!
6. Remain here, O man, with thy entire soul ; do
not follow the two messengers of Yama : come to
the abodes of the living !
7. Return when called, knowing the outlet of the
path (death), the ascent, the advance, the road of
every living man !
8. Fear not, thou shalt not die : I shall cause
thee to live unto old age ! I have charmed away
from thy limbs the disease that wastes the limbs.
9. The disease that racks and wastes thy limbs,
and the sickness in thy heart, has flown as an eagle
to a far distance, overcome by my charm.
60 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
10. The two sages Alert and Watchful, the sleep-
less and the vigilant, these two guardians of thy
life's breath, are awake both day and night.
1 1 . Agni here is to be revered ; the sun shall rise
here for thee : rise thou from deep death, yea from
black darkness !
12. Reverence be to Yama, reverence to death;
reverence to the Fathers and to those that lead (to
them) [death's messengers ?] ! That Agni who knows
the way to save do I engage for this man, that he
be exempt from harm !
13. His breath shall come, his soul shall come,
his sight shall come, and, too, his strength ! His
body shall collect itself: then shall he stand firm
upon his feet !
14. Unite him, Agni, with breath and sight, pro-
vide him with a body and with strength ! Thou
hast a knowledge of immortality: let him not now
depart, let him not now become a dweller in a house
of clay !
15. Thy in-breathing shall not cease, thy out-
breathing shall not vanish ; Surya (the sun), the
supreme lord, shall raise thee from death with his
rays !
16. This tongue (of mine), bound (in the mouth,
yet) mobile, speaks within : with it I have charmed
away disease, and the hundred torments of the
takman (fever).
1 7. This world is most dear to the gods, uncon-
quered. For whatever death thou wast destined
when thou wast born, O man, that (death) and we
call after thee : do not die before old age !