184 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
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 Brihma^as ! (But) the descendants of the i?zshis,
that eat thee, being full of substance, spreading forth,
shall not take harm !
33. To the descendants of the 7?zshis I make thee
over, O porridge ; those who are not descended from
Rtshis 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 offspring
and long life with abundance of wealth.
35. Thou art a lusty male, penetratest heaven : go
thou to the ./?zshis, descended from Rhhis ! 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 Brahma;/as, ascended
Ix. Prayers and Imprecations for Brahmans. 1 85
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 purifica-
tions 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 amma (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
1 86 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
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 pankti : with all (our kin),
endowed with all their limbs, may we be united !
11. This 'firm' direction (nadir) is Vira^* (bril-
liancy) : reverence be to her ; may she be kind to
my children and to me ! Mayest thou, O goddess
Aditi, who holdest 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 divini-
ties (the sacrificer and his wife) are here preparing
for us shall take note of our religious fervour and
our truth !
13. Whatever the black bird, that has come
hither stealthily, has touched of that which has
stuck to the rim, or whatever the wet-handed slave-
girl does pollute — may ye, O waters, purify (that)
mortar and pestle !
Ix. Prayers and Imprecations for Brahmans. 187
1 4. May this sturdy press-stone, with broad bot-
tom, 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
Pua^as. Up it shall rise, shall let its voice resound :
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 !
1 7. 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
Nirrzti (destruction), nor Arati (grudge), shall gain
mastery over us !
18. May we get past the evil Grahi (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 Brahma^a : 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
1 88 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
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 Varu/za on the west support thee upon thy foun-
dation, 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 living,
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 them-
selves further ; may they conduct us to the heavenly
world !
27. Whether ye are over-abundant or just suffi-
cient, 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, com-
mensurate with the breaths of life and the plants.
The uncounted golden (drops), that are poured into
Ix. Prayers and Imprecations for Brahmans. 1 89
(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
eat it !
33. O (instrument of) wood, settle down upon the
strewn barhis, in keeping with the divinities and the
agnish/oma rites ! Well shaped, as if by a carpenter
(Tvash/ar) 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
I go HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
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
porridge) 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 three heavens.
43. May Agni burn the ungodly Rakshas ; the flesh-devouring Pisa^a shall have nothing here to
Ix. Prayers and Imprecations for Brahmans. 191
partake of! We drive him away, hold him afar from us : the Adityas and Angiras shall stay near it !
44. To the Adityas 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 Brahma^a, 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
with 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 !