I 14 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
thee ; rule here, a mighty, benevolent (king), up to the tenth decade (of thy life) !
Ill, 5. Praise of an amulet derived from the par/za- tree, designed to strengthen royal power.
1. Hither hath come this amulet of pama-wood,
with its might mightily crushing the enemy. (It is)
the strength of the gods, the sap of the waters : may
it assiduously enliven me with energy !
2. The power to rule thou shalt hold fast in me,
O amulet of par^a-wood ; wealth (thou shalt hold
fast) in me ! May I, rooted in the domain of royalty,
become the chief!
3. Their very own amulet which the gods de-
posited secretly in the tree, that the gods shall give
us to wear, together with life !
4. The par^a has come hither as the mighty
strength of the soma, given by Indra, instructed by
Varu;za. May I, shining brilliantly, wear it, unto
long life, during a hundred autumns!
5. The amulet of par/za-wood has ascended upon
me unto complete exemption from injury, that I may
rise superior (even) to friends and alliances !
6. The skilful builders of chariots, and the inge-
nious workers of metal, the folk about me all, do
thou, O par/za, make my aids !
7. The kings who (themselves) make kings, the
charioteers, and leaders of hosts, the folk about me
all, do thou, O par/za, make my aids !
8. Thou art the body-protecting par/za, a hero,
brother of me, the hero. Along with the brilliancy
of the year do I fasten thee on, O amulet !
V. Charms Pertaining to Royalty. I 1 5
IV, 22. Charm to secure the superiority of a king.
i. This warrior, O Indra, do thou strengthen for
me, do thou install this one as sole ruler (bull) of
the Vis (the people) ; emasculate all his enemies,
subject them to him in (their) contests !
2. To him apportion his share of villages, horses,
and cattle ; deprive of his share the one that is his
enemy ! May this king be the pinnacle of royalty ;
subject to him, O Indra, every enemy!
3. May this one be the treasure-lord of riches, may
this king be the tribal lord of the Vis (the people) !
Upon this one, O Indra, bestow great lustre, devoid
of lustre render his enemy !
4. For him shall ye, O heaven and earth, milk
ample good, as two milch-cows yielding warm milk !
May this king be favoured of Indra, favoured of
cows, of plants, and cattle !
5. I unite with thee Indra who has supremacy,
through whom one conquers and is not (himself)
conquered, who shall install thee as sole ruler of the
people, and as chief of the human kings.
6. Superior art thou, inferior are thy rivals,
and whatsoever adversaries are thine, O king!
Sole ruler, befriended of Indra, victorious, bring
thou hither the supplies of those who act as thy
enemies !
7. Presenting the front of a lion do thou devour
all (their) people, presenting the front of a tiger do
thou strike down the enemies ! Sole ruler, befriended
of Indra, victorious, seize upon the supplies of those
who act as thy enemies !
Il6 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
I, 9. Prayer for earthly and heavenly success.
1. Upon this (person) the Vasus, Indra, Pushan,
Varu;za, Mitra, and Agni, shall bestow goods (vasu) !
The Adityas, and, further, all the gods shall hold
him in the higher light !
2. Light, ye gods, shall be at his bidding : Surya
(the sun), Agni (fire), or even gold ! Inferior to us
shall be our rivals ! Cause him to ascend to the
highest heaven !
3. With that most potent charm with which,
O C&tavedas (Agni), thou didst bring to Indra the
(soma-) drink, with that, O Agni, do thou here
strengthen this one ; grant him supremacy over his
kinsmen !
4. Their sacrifice and their glory, their increase
of wealth and their thoughtful plans, I have usurped,
O Agni. Inferior to us shall be our rivals ! Cause
him to ascend to the highest heaven !
VI, 38. Prayer for lustre and power.
1. The brilliancy that is in the lion, the tiger,
and the serpent ; in Agni, the Brahma^a, and Surya
(shall be ours) ! May the lovely goddess that bore
Indra come to us, endowed with lustre !
2. (The brilliancy) that is in the elephant, panther,
and in gold ; in the waters, cattle, and in men (shall
be ours) ! May the lovely goddess that bore Indra
come to us, endowed with lustre !
3. (The brilliancy) that is in the chariot, the dice,
in the strength of the bull ; in the wind, Par^anya,
and in the fire of Vanma (shall be ours) ! May the
V. Charms Pertaining to Royalty. 1 1 7
lovely goddess that bore Indra come to us, endowed with lustre !
4. (The brilliancy) that is in the man of royal
caste, in the stretched drum, in the strength of the
horse, in the shout of men (shall be ours) ! May the
lovely goddess that bore Indra come to us, endowed
with lustre !
VI, 39. Prayer for glory (yasas).
1. The oblation that yields glory, sped on by
Indra, of thousandfold strength, well offered, pre-
pared with might, shall prosper! Cause me, that
offers the oblation, to continue long beholding
(light), and to rise to supremacy!
2. (That he may come) to us, let us honour with
obeisance glory-owning Indra, the glorious one with
glory-yielding (oblations) ! Do thou (the oblation)
grant us sovereignty sped on by Indra ; may we in
thy favour be glorious !
3. Glorious was Indra born, glorious Agni, glorious
Soma. Glorious, of all beings the most glorious,
am I.
VIII, 8. Battle-charm.
1. May Indra churn (the enemy), he, the churner,
.Sakra (mighty), the hero, that pierces the forts, so
that we shall slay the armies of the enemies a
thousandfold !
2. May the rotten rope, wafting itself against
yonder army, turn it into a stench. When the
enemies see from afar our smoke and fire, fear shall
they lay into their hearts !
3. Tear asunder those (enemies), O ai'vattha
Il8 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
(ficus religiosa), devour (khada) them, O khadira
(acacia catechu) in lively style! Like the ta£*ad-
bhanga (ricinus communis) they shall be broken
(bha^yantam), may the vadhaka (a certain kind of
tree) slay them with his weapons (vadhai^) !
4. May the knotty ahva-plant put knots upon
yonder (enemies), may the vadhaka slay them with
his weapons! Bound up in (our) great trap-net,
they shall quickly be broken as an arrow-reed !
5. The atmosphere was the net, the great regions
(of space) the (supporting) poles of the net : with
these £akra (mighty Indra) did surround and scatter
the army of the Dasyus.
6. Great, forsooth, is the net of great vSakra, who
is rich in steeds : with it infold thou all the enemies,
so that not one of them shall be released !
7. Great is the net of thee, great Indra, hero, that
art equal to a thousand, and hast hundredfold might.
With that (net) Sakra slew a hundred, thousand,
ten thousand, a hundred million foes, having sur-
rounded them with (his) army.
8. This great world was the net of great .Sakra :
with this net of Indra I infold all those (enemies)
yonder in darkness.
9. With great dejection, failure, and irrefragable
misfortune ; with fatigue, lassitude, and confusion,
do I surround all those (enemies) yonder.
10. To death do I hand them over, with the
fetters of death they have been bound. To the evil
messengers of death do I lead them captive.
1 1. Guide ye those (foes), ye messengers of death;
ye messengers of Yama, infold them ! Let more
than thousands be slain; may the club of Bhava
crush them !
V. Charms Pertaining to Royalty. Ii9
12. The S&dhyas (blessed) go holding up with
might one support of the net, the Rudras another,
the Vasus another. (Still) another is upheld by the
Adityas.
13. All the gods shall go pressing from above
with might ; the Angiras shall go on the middle (of
the net), slaying the mighty army !
14. The trees, and (growths) that are like trees,
the plants and the herbs as well ; two-footed and
four-footed creatures do I impel, that they shall slay
yonder army !
15. The Gandharvas and Apsaras, the serpents
and the gods, holy men and (deceased) Fathers, the
visible and invisible (beings), do I impel, that they
shall slay yonder army !
16. Scattered here are the fetters of death ; when
thou steppest upon them thou shalt not escape!
May this hammer slay (the men) of yonder army by
the thousand !
17. The gharma (sacrificial hot drink) that has
been heated by the fire, this sacrifice (shall) slay
thousands ! Do ye, Bhava and .Sarva, whose arms
are mottled, slay yonder army !
18. Into the (snare of) death they shall fall, into
hunger, exhaustion, slaughter, and fear ! O Indra and
6arva, do ye with trap and net slay yonder army !
1 9. Conquered, O foes, do ye flee away ; repelled
by (our) charm, do ye run ! Of yonder host, re-
pulsed by Brzhaspati, not one shall be saved !
20. May their wreapons fall from their (hands),
may they be unable to lay the arrow on (the bow) !
And then (our) arrows shall smite them, badly
frightened, in their vital members !
21. Heaven and earth shall shriek at them, and
120 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
the atmosphere, along with the divine powers !
Neither aider, nor support did they find; smiting
one another they shall go to death !
22. The four regions are the she-mules of the
god's chariot, the puroa&ras (sacrificial rice-cakes)
the hoofs, the atmosphere the seat (of the wagon).
Heaven and earth are its two sides, the seasons
the reins, the intermediate regions the attendants,
V&k (speech) the road.
23. The year is the chariot, the full year is the
body of the chariot, Virag" the pole, Agni the front
part of the chariot. Indra is the (combatant) stand-
ing on the left of the chariot, Aandramas (the moon)
the charioteer.
24. Do thou win here, do thou conquer here,
overcome, win, hail ! These here shall conquer,
those yonder be conquered! Hail to these here,
perdition to those yonder! Those yonder do I
envelop in blue and red !
I, 19. Battle-charm against arrow-wounds.
1. The piercing (arrows) shall not hit us, nor
shall the striking arrows hit us ! Far away from
us, O Indra, to either side, cause the arrow-shower
to fall !
2. To either side of us the arrows shall fall, those
that have been shot and shall be shot ! Ye divine
and ye human arrows, pierce ye mine enemies !
3. Be he our own, or be he strange, the kinsman,
or the foreigner, who bear enmity towards us, those
enemies of mine Rudra shall pierce with a shower
of arrows !
4. Him that rivals us, or does not rival us, him
V. Charms Pertaining to Royalty. 121
that curses us with hate, may all the gods injure : my charm protects me from within !
Ill, i. Battle-charm for confusing the enemy.
i. Agni shall skilfully march against our oppo-
nents, burning against their schemes and hostile
plans ; Gatavedas shall confuse the army of our
opponents and deprive them (of the use) of their
hands !
2. Ye Maruts are mighty in such matters : ad-
vance ye, crush ye, conquer ye (the enemy) ! These
Vasus when implored did crush (them). Agni,
verily, as their vanguard shall skilfully attack !
3. O Maghavan, the hostile army which contends
against us — do ye, O Indra, Wztra's slayer, and
Agni, burn against them !
4. Thy thunderbolt, O Indra, who hast been
driven forward swiftly by thy two bay steeds,
shall advance, crushing the enemies. Slay them
that resist, pursue, or flee, deprive their schemes of
fulfilment !
5. O Indra, confuse the army of the enemy; with
the impact of the fire and the wind scatter them to
either side !
6. Indra shall confuse the army, the Maruts shall
slay it with might ! Agni shall rob it of its sight ;
vanquished it shall turn about !
Ill, 2. Battle-charm for confusing the enemy.
1. Agni, our skilful vanguard, shall attack, burn-
ing against their schemes and hostile plans ! Gata-
vedas shall bewilder the plans of the enemy, and
deprive them (of the use) of their hands !
2. This fire has confused the schemes that are in
122 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
your mind ; it shall blow you from your home, blow you away from everywhere !
3. O Indra, bewildering their schemes, come
hither with thy (own) plan : with the impact of the
fire and the wind scatter them to either side !
4. O ye plans of theirs, fly ye away ; O ye schemes,
be ye confused ! Moreover, what now is in their
mind, do thou drive that out of them !
5. Do thou, O (goddess) Apva, confusing their
plans, go forth (to them), and seize their limbs !
Attack them, burn with flames into their hearts ;
strike the enemy with fits, (strike our) opponents
with darkness !
6. That army yonder of the enemy, that comes
against us fighting with might, do ye, O Maruts,
strike with planless darkness, that one of them shall
not know the other !