VI, 131. Charm to arouse the passionate love of a man.
1. From thy head unto thy feet do I implant
(love's) longing into thee. Ye gods, send forth the
yearning love : may yonder man burn after me !
2. Favour this (plan), Anumati ; fit it together,
Akuti ! Ye gods, send forth the yearning love :
may yonder man burn after me !
3. If thou dost run three leagues away, (or even)
five leagues, the distance coursed by a horseman,
from there thou shalt again return, shalt be the
father of our sons !
VI, 132. Charm to arouse the passionate love of a man.
1. Love's consuming longing, together with yearn-
Iv. Charms Pertaining to Women. Io5
ing, which the gods have poured into the waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of Varima !
2. Love's consuming longing, together with yearn-
ing, which the all-gods (vLsve deva/fc) have poured
into the waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law
of Vanma !
3. Love's consuming longing, together with yearn-
ing, which Indra;rf has poured into the waters, that
do I kindle for thee by the law of Varu^a !
4. Love's consuming longing, together with yearn-
ing, which Indra and Agni have poured into the
waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of
Vanma !
5. Love's consuming longing, together with yearn-
ing, which Mitra and Varu^a have poured into the
waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of
Varu/za !
IV, 5. Charm at an assignation.
1. The bull with a thousand horns who rose out
of the sea, with the aid of him, the mighty one, do
we put the folks to sleep.
2. The wind blows not over the earth. No one
looks on. Do thou then, befriended of Indra, put
all women and dogs to sleep !
3. The women that lie upon couches and upon
beds, and they that rest in litters, the women all
that exhale sweet fragrance, do we put to sleep.
4. Every moving thing I have held fast. Eye
and breath I have held fast. I have held fast all
limbs in the deep gloom of the night.
5. Of him that sits, and him that walks, of him
that stands and looks about, of these the eyes we do
shut, just as these premises (are shut).
I06 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
6. The mother shall sleep, the father shall sleep,
the dog shall sleep, the lord of the house shall sleep !
All her relations shall sleep, and these people round
about shall sleep !
7. O sleep, put thou to sleep all people with the
magic that induces sleep ! Put the others to sleep
until the sun rises ; may I be awake until the dawn
appears, like Indra, unharmed, uninjured !
VI, 77. Charm to cause the return of a truant woman.
1. The heavens have stood, the earth has stood,
all creatures have stood. The mountains have
stood upon their foundation, the horses in the stable
I have caused to stand.
2. Him that has control of departure, that has
control of coming home, return, and turning in, that
shepherd do I also call.
3. O Gatavedas (Agni), cause thou to turn in;
a hundred ways hither shall be thine, a thousand
modes of return shall be thine : with these do thou
restore us again !
VI, 18. Charm to allay jealousy.
1. The first impulse of jealousy, moreover the
one that comes after the first, the fire, the heart-
burning, that do we waft away from thee.
2. As the earth is dead in spirit, in spirit more
dead than the dead, and as the spirit of him that
has died, thus shall the spirit of the jealous (man)
be dead !
3. Yon fluttering little spirit that has been fixed
Iv. Charms Pertaining to Women. I07
into thy heart, from it the jealousy do I remove, as air from a water-skin.
VII, 45. Charm to allay jealousy.
1. From folk belonging to all kinds of people,
from the Sindhu (Indus) thou hast been brought
hither : from a distance, I ween, has been fetched
the very remedy for jealousy.
2. As if a fire is burning him, as if the forest-fire
burns in various directions, this jealousy of his do
thou quench, as a fire (is quenched) with water !
I, 14. A woman's incantation against her rival.
1. I have taken unto myself her fortune and her
glory, as a wreath off a tree. Like a mountain with
broad foundation may she sit a long time with her
parents !
2. This woman shall be subjected to thee as thy
wife, O king Yama; (till then) let her be fixed to
the house of her mother, or her brother, or her
father !
3. This woman shall be the keeper of thy house,
O king (Yama), and her do we make over to thee !
May she long sit with her relatives, until (her hair)
drops from her head !
4. With the incantation of Asita, of Ka^yapa, and
of Gaya do I cover up thy fortune, as women cover
(something) within a chest.
Ill, 18. Charm of a woman against a rival or co-wife.
1. I dig up this plant, of herbs the most potent,
by whose power rival women are overcome, and
husbands are obtained.
IOS HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
2. O thou (plant) with erect leaves, lovely, do
thou, urged on by the gods, full of might, drive
away my rival, make my husband mine alone !
3. He did not, forsooth, call thy name, and thou
shalt not delight in this husband ! To the very
farthest distance do we drive our rival.
4. Superior am I, O superior (plant), superior,
truly, to superior (women). Now shall my rival be
inferior to those that are inferior !
5. I am overpowering, and thou, (O plant), art
completely overpowering. Having both grown full
of power, let us overpower my rival !
6. About thee (my husband) I have placed the
overpowering (plant), upon thee placed the very
overpowering one. May thy mind run after me as
a calf after the cow, as water along its course !
VI, 138. Charm for depriving a man of his virility.
1. As the best of the plants thou art reputed,
O herb : turn this man for me to-day into a eunuch
that wears his hair dressed !
2. Turn him into a eunuch that wears his hair
dressed, and into one that wears a hood ! Then
Indra with a pair of stones shall break his testicles
both!
3. O eunuch, into a eunuch thee I have turned ;
O castrate, into a castrate thee I have turned ;
O weakling, into a weakling thee I have turned !
A hood upon his head, and a hair-net do we place.
4. The two canals, fashioned by the gods, in
which man's power rests, in thy testicles
I break them with a club.
Iv. Charms Pertaining to Women. Io9
5. As women break reeds for a mattress with a stone, thus do I break thy member
I, 18. Charm to remove evil bodily characteristics from a woman.
1. The (foul) mark, the lalami (with spot on the
forehead), the Arati (grudging demon), do we drive
out. Then the (signs) that are auspicious (shall
remain) with us ; (yet) to beget offspring do we
bring the Arati !
2. May Savitar drive out uncouthness from her
feet, may Vanma, Mitra, and Aryaman (drive it)
out from her hands ; may Anumati kindly drive it
out for us ! For happiness the gods have created
this woman.
3. The fierceness that is in thyself, in thy body,
or in thy look, all that do we strike away with our
charm. May god Savitar prosper thee !
4. The goat-footed, the bull-toothed, her who
scares the cattle, the snorting one, the vilid/ti (the
driveling one), the lalami (with spot on the fore-
head), these do we drive from us.
VI, no. Expiatory charm for a child born under an unlucky star.
1. Of yore, (O Agni), thou wast worthy of sup-
plication at the sacrifice ; thou wast the priest in
olden times, and now anew shalt sit (at our sacrifice) !
Delight, O Agni, thy own body, and, sacrificing,
bring good fortune here to us !
2. Him that hath been born under the (constella- tion) ^yesh/^aghni ('she that slays the oldest'), or
IIO HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
under the viirztau ('they that uproot'), save thou
from being torn up by the root by Yama (death) !
May he (Agni) guide him across all misfortunes to
long life, to a life of a hundred autumns !
3. On a tiger (-like) day the hero was born ; born
under a (good) constellation he becometh a mighty
hero. Let him not slay, when he grows up, his
father, let him not injure the mother that hath
begotten him!
VI, 140. Expiation for the irregular appearance of the first pair of teeth.
1. Those two teeth, the tigers, that have broken
forth, eager to devour father and mother, do thou,
O Brahma/zaspati Gatavedas, render auspicious !
2. Do ye eat rice, eat barley, and eat, too, beans,
as well as sesamum ! That, O teeth, is the share
deposited for your enrichment. Do not injure
father and mother !
3. Since ye have been invoked, O teeth, be ye in
unison kind and propitious ! Elsewhere, O teeth,
shall pass away the fierce (qualities) of your body !
Do not injure father and mother!
CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY (RAGAKARMAM).
IV, 8. Prayer at the consecration of a king.
i. Himself prosperous (bhftto), he does put strength
into the beings (bhuteshu) ; he became the chief lord
of the beings (bhutanam). To his consecration
death does come : may he, the king, favour this
kingdom !
2. Come forth hither — do not glance away — as
a mighty guardian, slayer of enemies ! Step hither,
thou who prosperest thy friends : the gods shall
bless thee !
3. As he did step hither all (men) did attend
him. Clothed in grace, he moves, shining by his
own lustre. This is the great name of the manly
Asura ; endowed with every form (quality) he
entered upon immortal (deeds).
4. Thyself a tiger, do thou upon this tiger-skin
stride (victorious) through the great regions! All
the clans shall wish for thee, and the heavenly
waters, rich in sap !
5. The heavenly waters, rich in sap, flow joyously,
(and too) those in the sky and upon the earth : with
the lustre of all of these do I sprinkle thee.
6. They have sprinkled thee with their lustre,
the heavenly waters rich in sap. May Savitar thus
fashion thee, that thou shalt prosper thy friends !
112 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
7. (The waters) thus embracing him, the tiger,
promote him, the lion, to great good fortune. Him,
the leopard in the midst of the waters, as though
standing in the ocean, the beneficent (floods, or the
vigorous priests) cleanse thoroughly !
Ill, 3. Charm for the restoration of an exiled
king.
1. (Agni) has shouted loud: may he here well
perform his work ! Spread thyself out, O Agni, over
the far-reaching hemispheres of the world ! The all-
possessing Maruts shall engage thee : bring hither
that (king) who devoutly spends the offering !
2. However far he be, the red (steeds) shall urge
hither Indra, the seer, to friendship, since the gods,
(chanting) for him the gayatri, the brzhati, and the
arka (songs), infused courage into him with the
sautrama/rf-sacrifice !
3. From the waters king Varu^a shall call thee,
Soma shall call thee from the mountains, Indra shall
cite thee to these clans ! Turn into an eagle and fly
to these clans !
4. An eagle shall bring hither from a distance
him that is fit to be called, (yet) wanders exiled in
a. strange land ! The Asvins shall prepare for thee
a path, easy to travel ! Do ye, his kinfolk, gather
close about him !
5. Thy opponents shall call thee ; thy friends have
chosen thee ! Indra, Agni, and all the gods have
kept prosperity with this people.
6. The kinsman or the stranger that opposes thy
call, him, O Indra, drive away; then render this
(king) accepted here!
Charms Pertaining to Royalty. Ii3
III, 4. Prayer at the election of a king.
1. (Thy) kingdom hath come to thee: arise, en-
dowed with lustre ! Go forth as the lord of the
people, rule (shine) thou, a universal ruler ! All the
regions of the compass shall call thee, O king;
attended and revered be thou here !
2. Thee the clans, thee these regions, goddesses
five, shall choose for empire ! Root thyself upon
the height, the pinnacle of royalty : then do thou,
mighty, distribute goods among us !
3. Thy kinsmen with calls shall come to thee ;
agile Agni shall go with them as messenger ! Thy
wives, thy sons shall be devoted to thee ; being
a mighty (ruler) thou shalt behold rich tribute !
4. The Asvins first, Mitra and Varu/za both, all
the gods, and the Maruts, shall call thee ! Then fix
thy mind upon the bestowal of wealth, then do thou,
mighty, distribute wealth among us !
5. Hither hasten forth from the farthest distance ;
heaven and earth, both, shall be propitious to thee !
Thus did this king Varu/za (as if, ' the chooser ')
decree that ; he himself did call thee : ' come thou
hither'!
6. O Indra, Indra, come thou to the tribes of
men, for thou hast agreed, concordant with the
Varu/zas (as if, 'the electors'). He did call thee to
thy own domain (thinking) : ' let him revere the
gods, and manage, too, the people ' !
7. The rich divinities of the roads, of manifold
diverse forms, all coming together have given thee
a broad domain. They shall all concordantly call