VI, 57. Urine (^alasha) as a cure for scrofulous sores.
1. This, verily, is a remedy, this is the remedy of
Rudra, with which one may charm away the arrow
that has one shaft and a hundred points !
2. With ^alasha (urine) do ye wash (the tumour),
with ^alasha do ye sprinkle it! The ^alasha is
a potent remedy : do thou (Rudra) with it show
mercy to us, that we may live !
3. Both well-being and comfort shall be ours, and
nothing whatever shall injure us ! To the ground
the disease (shall fall) : may every remedy be ours,
may all remedies be ours !
IV, 12. Charm with the plant arundhatt (laksha) for the cure of fractures.
1. Roha/zi art thou, causing to heal (roha/zi), the
broken bone thou causest to heal (roha^i) : cause
this here to heal (rohaya), O arundhati !
20 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
2. That bone of thine which, injured and burst,
exists in thy person, Dhatar shall kindly knit to-
gether again, joint with joint!
3. Thy marrow shall unite with marrow, and thy
joint (unite) with joint ; the part of thy flesh that
has fallen off, and thy bone shall grow together
again !
4. Thy marrow shall be joined together with
marrow, thy skin grow together with skin ! Thy
blood, thy bone shall grow, thy flesh grow together
with flesh !
5. Fit together hair with hair, and fit together
skin with skin ! Thy blood, thy bone shall grow :
what is cut join thou together, O plant!
6. Do thou here rise up, go forth, run forth, (as)
a chariot with sound wheels, firm feloe, and strong
nave ; stand upright firmly !
7. If he has been injured by falling into a pit, or
if a stone was cast and hurt him, may he (Dhatar,
the fashioner) fit him together, joint to joint, as the
wagoner (Jfobhu) the parts of a chariot !
V, 5. Charm with the plant sila/£i (laksha, arundhati) for the cure of wounds.
1. The night is thy mother, the cloud thy father,
Aryaman thy grandfather. Silaii, forsooth, is thy
name, thou art the sister of the gods.
2. He that drinks thee lives; (that) person thou
dost preserve. For thou art the supporter of all
successive (generations), the refuge of men.
3. Every tree thou dost climb, like a wench
lusting after a man. ' Victorious/ ' firmly founded/
' saving/ verily, is thy name.
I. Charms to Cure Diseases. 21
4. The wound that has been inflicted by the club,
by the arrow, or by fire, of that thou art the cure :
do thou cure this person here !
5. Upon the noble plaksha-tree (ficus infectoria)
thou growest up, upon the asvattha (ficus religiosa),
the khadira (acacia catechu), and the dhava (grislea
tomentosa) ; (thou growest up) upon the noble nya-
grodha (ficus indica, banyan-tree), and the par/za
(butea frondosa). Come thou to us, O arundhati !
6. O gold-coloured, lovely, sun-coloured, most
handsome (plant), mayest thou come to the fracture,
O cure ! ' Cure/ verily, is thy name !
7. O gold-coloured, lovely, fiery (plant), with hairy
stem, thou art the sister of the waters, O ldksha, the
wind became thy very breath.
8. Sila^i is thy name, O thou that art brown as
a goat, thy father is the son of a maiden. With
the blood of the brown horse of Yama thou hast
verily been sprinkled.
9. Having dropped from the blood of the horse
she ran upon the trees, turning into a winged brook.
Do thou come to us, O arundhati !
VI, 109. The pepper-corn as a cure for wounds.
1. The pepper-corn cures the wounds that have
been struck by missiles, it also cures the wounds
from stabs. Anent it the gods decreed : ' Powerful
to secure life this (plant) shall be ! '
2. The pepper-corns spake to one another, as
they came out, after having been created : ' He whom
we shall find (as yet) alive, that man shall not suffer
harm ! '
3. The Asuras did dig thee into the ground, the
2 2 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
gods cast thee up again, as a cure for disease pro-
duced by wind (in the body), moreover as a cure for
wounds struck by missiles.
I, 17. Charm to stop the flow of blood.
t. The maidens that go yonder, the veins, clothed
in red garments, like sisters without a brother, bereft
of strength, they shall stand still !
2. Stand still, thou lower one, stand still, thou
higher one ; do thou in the middle also stand still !
The most tiny (vein) stands still : may then the
great artery also stand still !
3. Of the hundred arteries, and the thousand
veins, those in the middle here have indeed stood
still. At the same time the ends have ceased (to
flow).
4. Around you has passed a great sandy dike : stand ye still, pray take your ease !
II, 31. Charm against worms.
1. With Indra's great mill-stone, that crushes all
vermin, do I grind to pieces the worms, as lentils
with a mill-stone.
2. I have crushed the visible and the invisible
worm, and the kururu, too, I have crushed. All the
alga/zafu and the ^aluna, the worms, we grind to
pieces with our charm.
3. The alga^u do I smite with a mighty weapon:
those that have been burned, and those that have
not been burned, have become devoid of strength.
Those that are left and those that are not left do I
destroy with my song, so that not one of the worms
be left.
I. Charms to Cure Diseases. 23
4. The worm which is in the entrails, and he that
is in the head, likewise the one that is in the ribs :
avaskava and vyadhvara, the worms, do we crush
with (this) charm.
5. The worms that are within the mountains,
forests, plants, cattle, and the waters, those that
have settled in our bodies, all that brood of the
worms do I smite.
II, 32. Charm against worms in cattle.
1. The rising sun shall slay the worms, the setting
sun with his rays shall slay the worms that are
within the cattle !
2. The variegated worm, the four -eyed, the
speckled, and the white — I crush his ribs, and I tear
off his head.
3. Like Atri, like Ka/zva, and like Gamadagni do
I slay you, ye worms ! With the incantation of
Agastya do I crush the worms to pieces.
4. Slain is the king of the worms, and their viceroy
also is slain. Slain is the worm, with him his mother
slain, his brother slain, his sister slain.
5. Slain are they who are inmates with him, slain
are his neighbours; moreover all the quite tiny worms
are slain.
6. I break off thy two horns with which thou
deliverest thy thrusts ; I cut that bag of thine which
is the receptacle for thy poison.
V, 23. Charm against worms in children.
1. I have called upon heaven and earth, I have called upon the goddess Sarasvati, I have called
24 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
upon Indra and Agni : ' they shall crush the worm/ (I said).
2. Slay the worms in this boy, O Indra, lord of
treasures ! Slain are all the evil powers by my
fierce imprecation !
3. Him that moves about in the eyes, that moves
about in the nose, that gets to the middle of the
teeth, that worm do we crush.
4. The two of like colour, the two of different
colour ; the two black ones, and the two red ones ;
the brown one, and the brown-eared one ; the (one
like a) vulture, and the (one like a) cuckoo, are
slain.
5. The worms with white shoulders, the black
ones with white arms, and all those that are varie-
gated, these worms do we crush.
6. In the east rises the sun, seen by all, slaying
that which is not seen ; slaying the seen and the unseen
(worms), and grinding to pieces all the worms.
7. The yevasha and the kashkasha, the e^atka,
and the sipavitnuka — the seen worm shall be slain,
moreover the unseen shall be slain !
8. Slain of the worms is the yevasha, slain further
is the nadaniman ; all have I crushed down like
lentils with a mill-stone.
9. The worm with three heads and the one with
three skulls, the speckled, and the white — I crush
his ribs and I tear off his head.
10. Like Atri, like Ka/zva, and like Gamadagni
do I slay you, ye worms ! With the incantation of
Agastya do I crush the worms to pieces.
11. Slain is the king of the worms, and their
viceroy also is slain. Slain is the worm, with him
his mother slain, his brother slain, his sister slain.
I. Charms to Cure Diseases. 25
12. Slain are they who are inmates with him, slain
are his neighbours ; moreover all the quite tiny
worms are slain.
13. Of all the male worms, and of all the female
worms do I split the heads with the stone, I burn
their faces with fire.
IV, 6. Charm against poison.
1. The Brahma^a was the first to be born, with
ten heads and ten mouths. He was the first to
drink the soma ; that did render poison powerless.
2. As great as heaven and earth are in extent, as
far as the seven streams did spread, so far from here
have I proclaimed forth this charm that destroys
poison.
3. The eagle Garutmant did, O poison, first
devour thee. Thou didst not bewilder him, didst
not injure him, yea, thou didst turn into food for
him.
4. The five-fingered hand that did hurl upon thee
(the arrow) even from the curved bow — from the
point of the tearing (arrow) have I charmed away
the poison.
5. From the point (of the arrow) have I charmed
away the poison, from the substance that has been
smeared upon it, and from its plume. From its
barbed horn, and its neck, I have charmed away the
poison.
6. Powerless, O arrow, is thy point, and powerless
is thy poison. Moreover of powerless wood is thy
powerless bow, O powerless (arrow) !
7. They that ground (the poison), they that daubed it on, they that hurled it, and they that let
26 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
it go, all these have been rendered impotent. The
mountain that grows poisonous plants has been
rendered impotent.
8. Impotent are they that dig thee, impotent art
thou, O plant ! Impotent is that mountain height
whence this poison has sprung.
IV, 7. Charm against poison.
1. This water (var) in the (river) Vara/zavati shall
ward off (varayatai) ! Amrzta (ambrosia) has been
poured into it : with that do I ward off (varaye)
poison from thee.
2. Powerless is the poison from the east, power-
less that from the north. Moreover the poison from
the south transforms itself into a porridge.
3. Having made thee (the poison) that comes from
a horizontal direction into a porridge, rich in fat, and
cheering, from sheer hunger he has eaten thee, that
hast an evil body : do thou not cause injury !
4. Thy bewildering quality (madam), O (plant ?)
that art bewildering (madavati), we cause to fall like
a reed. As a boiling pot of porridge do we remove
thee by (our) charm.
5. (Thee, O poison) that art, as it were, heaped
about the village, do we cause to stand still by (our)
charm. Stand still as a tree upon its place ; do not,
thou that hast been dug with the spade, cause
injury !
6. With broom-straw (?), garments, and also
with skins they purchased thee : a thing for barter
art thou, O plant ! Do not, thou that hast been dug
with the spade, cause injury !
7. Those of you who were of yore unequalled in
I. Charms to Cure Diseases. 27
the deeds which they performed— may they not
injure here our men : for this very purpose do I
engage you !
VI, 100. Ants as an antidote against poison.
1. The gods have given, the sun has given, the
earth has given, the three Sarasvatis, of one mind,
have given this poison-destroying (remedy) !
2. That water, O ants, which the gods poured for
you into the dry land, with this (water), sent forth
by the gods, do ye destroy this poison !
3. Thou art the daughter of the Asuras, thou art
the sister of the gods. Sprung from heaven and
earth, thou didst render the poison devoid of
strength.
V, 13. Charm against snake-poison.
1. Varima, the sage of heaven, verily lends (power)
to me. With mighty charms do I dissolve thy
poison. The (poison) which has been dug, that
which has not been dug, and that which is inherent,
I have held fast. As a brook in the desert thy
poison has dried up.
2. That poison of thine which is not fluid I have
confined within these (serpents ?). I hold fast the sap
that is in thy middle, thy top, and in thy bottom, too.
May (the sap) now vanish out of thee from fright !
3. My lusty shout (is) as the thunder with the
cloud : then do I smite thy (sap) with my strong
charm. With manly strength I have held fast that
sap of his. May the sun rise as light from the
darkness !