VI, 97. Battle-charm of a king upon the eve of
battle.
1. Superior is the sacrifice, superior Agni, superior
Soma, superior Indra. To the end that I shall be
superior to all hostile armies do we thus, offering
the agnihotra, reverently present this oblation !
2. Hail be, ye wise Mitra and Varu^a : with
honey swell ye our kingdom here, (so that it shall)
abound in offspring ! Drive far to a distance mis-
fortune, strip off from us sin, even after it has been
committed !
3. With inspiration follow ye this strong hero ;
cling close, ye friends, to Indra (the king), who
conquers villages, conquers cattle, has the thunder-
bolt in his arm, overcomes the host arrayed (against
him), crushing it with might !
V. Charms Pertaining to Royalty. 1 23
VI, 99. Battle-charm of a king on the eve of battle.
1. I call upon thee, O Indra, from afar, upon thee
for protection against tribulation. I call the strong
avenger that has many names, and is of unequalled
birth.
2. Where the hostile weapon now rises against us,
threatening to slay, there do we place the two arms
of Indra round about.
3. The two arms of Indra, the protector, do we
place round about us : let him protect us ! O god
Savitar, and king Soma, render me of confident
mind, that I may prosper !
XI, 9. Prayer to Arbudi and Nyarbudi for help in battle.
1. The arms, the arrows, and the might of the
bows; the swords, the axes, the weapons, and the
artful scheme that is in our mind; all that, O Arbudi,
do thou make the enemies see, and spectres also
make them see !
2. Arise, and arm yourselves ; friends are ye, O
divine folk! May our friends be perceived and
protected by you, O Arbudi (and Nyarbudi) !
3. Arise (ye two), and take hold ! With fetters
and shackles surround ye the armies of the enemy,
O Arbudi (and Nyarbudi) !
4. The god whose name is Arbudi, and the lord
Nyarbudi, by whom the atmosphere and this great
earth has been infolded, with these two companions
of Indra do I pursue the conquered (king) with my
army.
124 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
5. Arise, thou divine person, O Arbudi, together
with thy army ! Crushing the army of the enemy,
encompass them with thy embraces !
6. Thou, Arbudi, makest appear the sevenfold
spectral brood. Do thou, when the oblation has
been poured, rise up with all these, together with
the army !
7. (The female mourner), beating herself, with
tear-stained face, with short (mutilated ?) ears, with
dishevelled hair, shall lament, when a man has been
slain, pierced by thee, O Arbudi !
8. She curves her spine while longing in her
heart for her son, her husband, and her kin, when
(a man) has been pierced by thee, O Arbudi !
9. The aliklavas and the ^ashkamadas, the vul-
tures, the strong-winged hawks, the crows, and the
birds (of prey) shall obtain their fill! Let them
make evident to the enemy, when (a man) has been
pierced by thee, O Arbudi !
10. Then, too, every wild beast, insect, and worm
shall obtain his fill on the human carcass, when
(a man) has been pierced by thee, O Arbudi !
11. Seize ye, and tear out in-breathing and out-
breathing, O Nyarbudi (and Arbudi): deep-sounding
groans shall arise ! Let them make it evident to
the enemy, when (a man) has been pierced by thee,
O Arbudi !
12. Scare them forth, let them tremble; bewilder
the enemies with fright ! With thy broad embrace,
with the clasp of thy arms crush the enemies, O
Nyarbudi !
13. May their arms, and the artful scheme that is
in their mind be confused ! Not a thing shall remain
of them, pierced by thee, O Arbudi !
V. Charms Pertaining to Royalty. 1 25
14. May (the mourning women) beating them-
selves, run together, smiting their breasts and their
thighs, not anointed, with dishevelled hair, howling,
when a man has been slain, has been pierced by
thee, O Arbudi !
15. The dog-like Apsaras, and also the Rupakas
(phantoms), the plucking sprite, that eagerly licks
within the vessel, and her that seeks out what has
been carelessly hidden, all those do thou, O Arbudi,
make the enemies see, and spectres also make
them see !
16. (And also make them see) her that strides
upon the mist, the mutilated one, who dwells with
the mutilated ; the vapoury spooks that are hidden,
and the Gandharvas and Apsaras, the serpents, and
other brood, and the Rakshas !
17. (And also) the spooks with fourfold teeth,
black teeth, testicles like a pot, bloody faces, who
are inherently frightful, and terrifying !
18. Frighten thou, O Arbudi, yonder lines of the
enemy ; the conquering and the victorious (Arbudi
and Nyarbudi), the two comrades of Indra, shall
conquer the enemies !
19. Dissolved, crushed, slain the enemy shall lie,
O Nyarbudi ! May victorious sprites, with fiery
tongues and smoky crests, go with (our) army !
20. Of the enemies repulsed by this (army), O
Arbudi, Indra, the spouse of Sa&i, shall slay each
picked man : not a single one of those yonder shall
escape !
21. May their hearts burst, may their life's breath
escape upward! May dryness of the mouth over-
take (our) enemies, but not (our) allies !
22. Those who are bold and those who are
126 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
cowardly, those who turn (in flight) and those who
are deaf (to danger?), those who are (like) dark
goats, and those, too, who bleat like goats, all those,
do thou, O Arbudi, make the enemies see, and
spectres also make them see !
23. Arbudi and Trishamdhi shall pierce our
enemies, so that, O Indra, slayer of Vntra, spouse
of Sa&i, we may slay the enemy by thousands !
24. The trees, and (growths) that are like trees,
the plants and the herbs as well, the Gandharvas
and the Apsaras, the serpents, gods, pious men, and
(departed) Fathers, all those, O Arbudi, do thou
make the enemies see, and spectres also make
them see !
25. The Maruts, god Aditya, Brahma^aspati did
rule over you ; Indra and Agni, Dhatar, Mitra, and
Pra^apati did rule over you ; the seers did rule over
you. Let them make evident to the enemies when
(a man) has been pierced by thee, O Arbudi !
26. Ruling over all these, rise ye and arm your-
selves ! Ye divine folk are (our) friends : win ye
the battle, and disperse to your various abodes !
XI, 10. Prayer to Trisha^dhi for help in battle.
1 . Arise and arm yourselves, ye nebulous spectres
together with fiery portents; ye serpents, other
brood, and Rakshas, run ye after the enemy !
2. He knows how to rule your kingdom together
with the red portents (of the heavens). The evil
brood that is in the air and the heaven, and the
human (powers) upon the earth, shall be obedient to
the plans of Trishawdhi !
V. Charms Pertaining to Royalty. 1 27
3. The brazen-beaked (birds of prey), those with
beaks pointed as a needle, and those, too, with
thorny beaks, flesh-devouring, swift as the wind,
shall fasten themselves upon the enemies, together
with the Trishawdhi-bolt (the bolt with three
joints) !
4. Make away with, O 6atavedas Aditya, many
carcasses ! This army of Trisha^dhi shall be de-
voted to my bidding !
5. Arise thou divine person, O Arbudi, together
with thy army! This tribute has been offered to
you (Arbudi and Trishawdhi), an offering pleasing
to Trisha^dhi.
6. This white-footed, four-footed arrow shall
fetter (?). Do thou, O magic spell, operate, together
with the army of Trishawdhi, against the enemies !
7. May (the mourning woman) with suffused eyes
hurry on, may she that hath short (mutilated ?) ears
shout when (a man) has been overcome by the army
of Trisha^dhi ! Red portents shall be (visible) !
8. May the winged birds that move in the air and
in the sky descend ; beasts of prey and insects shall
seize upon them ; the vultures that feed upon raw
flesh shall hack into (their) carcasses !
9. By virtue of the compact which thou, O Brz~
haspati, didst close with Indra and Brahman, by
virtue of that agreement with Indra, do I call
hither all the gods : on this side conquer, not over
yonder !
10. Brzhaspati, the descendant of Angiras, and
the seers, inspired by (our) song, did fix the three-
jointed (Trisha^dhi) weapon upon the sky for the
destruction of the Asuras.
11. Trisha^dhi, by whom both yonder Aditya
128 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
(the sun) and Indra are protected, the gods did destine for (our) might and strength.
12. All the worlds the gods did conquer through
this oblation, (and) by the bolt which Br/haspati,
the descendant of Angiras, did mould into a weapon
for the destruction of the Asuras.
1 3. With the bolt which Brzhaspati, the descendant
of Angiras, did mould into a weapon for the destruc-
tion of the Asuras do I, O Brzhaspati, annihilate
yonder army : I smite the enemies with force.
14. All the gods that eat the oblation offered
with the call vasha/ are coming over. Receive this
oblation graciously ; conquer on this side, not over
yonder !
15. May all the gods come over: the oblation
is pleasing to Trisha^dhi. Adhere to the great
compact under which of yore the Asuras were
conquered !
16. Vayu (the wind) shall bend the points of the
enemies' bows, Indra shall break their arms, so that
they shall be unable to lay on their arrows, Aditya
(the sun) shall send their missiles astray, and Aan-
dramas (the moon) shall bar the way of (the enemy)
that has not (as yet) started !
17. If they have come on as citadels of the gods,
if they have constituted an inspired charm as their
armour, if they have gathered courage through the
protections for the body and the bulwarks which
they have made, render all that devoid of force !
1 8. Placing (our) purohita (chaplain), together with
the flesh-devourer (Agni) and death, in thy train, do
thou, O Trisha;?zdhi, go forth with thy army, conquer
the enemies, advance !
19. O Trisha^dhi, envelop thou the enemies in
Charms Pertaining to Royalty. 1 29
darkness ; may not a single one of those, driven forth by the speckled ghee, be saved !
20. May the white-footed (arrow ?) fly to yonder
lines of the enemy, may yonder armies of the
enemies be to-day put to confusion, O Nyarbudi !
21. The enemies have been confused, O Nyar-
budi : slay each picked man among them, slay them
with this army !
22. The enemy with coat-of-mail, he that has no
coat-of-mail, and he that stands in the battle-throng,
throttled by the strings of their bows, by the fasten-
ings of their coats-of-mail, by the battle-throng, they
shall lie !
23. Those with armour and those without armour,
the enemies that are shielded by armour, all those,
O Arbudi, after they have been slain, dogs shall
devour upon the ground !
24. Those that ride on chariots, and those that
have no chariots, those that are mounted, and those
that are not mounted, all those, after they have
been slain, vultures and strong-winged hawks shall
devour !
25. Counting its dead by thousands, the hostile
army, pierced and shattered in the clash of arms,
shall lie !
26. Pierced in a vital spot, shrieking in concert
with the birds of prey, wretched, crushed, prostrate,
(the birds of prey) shall devour the enemy who
attempts to hinder this oblation of ours directed
against (him) !
27. With (the oblation) to which the gods flock,
which is free from failure, with it Indra, the slayer
of Wztra, shall slay, and with the Trishawdhi-bolt
(the bolt with three joints) !
13O HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
V, 20. Hymn to the battle-drum.
1. High sounds the voice of the drum, that acts
the warrior, the wooden (drum), equipped with the
skin of the cow. Whetting thy voice, subduing the
enemy, like a lion sure of victory, do thou loudly
thunder against them !
2. The wooden (instrument) with fastened (cover-
ing) has thundered as a lion, as a bull roars to the
cow that longs to mate. Thou art a bull, thy
enemies are eunuchs ; thou ownest Indra's foe-
subduing fire !
3. Like a bull in the herd, full of might, lusty, do
thou, O snatcher of booty, roar against them !
Pierce with fire the heart of the enemy ; with
broken ranks the foe shall run and scatter !
4. In victorious battles raise thy roar! What
may be captured, capture ; sound in many places !
Favour, O drum, (our deeds) with thy divine voice ;
bring to (us) with strength the property of the
enemy !
5. When the wife of the enemy hears the voice of
the drum, that speaks to a far distance, may she,
aroused by the sound, distressed, snatch her son
to her arms, and run, frightened at the clash of
arms!
6. Do thou, O drum, sound the first sound, ring
brilliantly over the back of the earth ! Open wide
thy maw at the enemies host; resound brightly,
joyously, O drum !
7. Between this heaven and earth thy noise shall
spread, thy sounds shall quickly part to every side !
Shout thou and thunder with swelling sound ; make