I58 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
27. Bhava rules the sky, Bhava rules the earth;
Bhava has filled the broad atmosphere. Reverence
be to him in whatever direction from here (he
abides) !
28. O king Bhava, be merciful to thy worshipper,
for thou art the lord of living beasts! He who
believes the gods exist, to his quadruped and biped
be merciful !
29. Slay neither our great nor our small ; neither
those of us that are riding, nor those that shall ride ;
neither our father, nor our mother. Cause no injury,
O Rudra, to our own persons !
30. To Rudra's howling dogs, who swallow their
food without blessing, who have wride jaws, I have
made this obeisance.
31. Reverence, O god, be to thy shouting hosts,
reverence to thy long-haired, reverence to thy
reverenced, reverence to thy devouring hosts ! May
well-being and security be to us !
IV, 28. Prayer to Bhava and .Sarva for protection from calamities.
1. O Bhava and 6arva, I am devoted to you.
Take note of that, ye under whose control is all this
which shines (the visible universe) ! Ye who rule
all these two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver
us from calamity !
2. Ye to whom belongs all that is near by, yea,
all that is far ; ye who are known as the most skil-
ful archers among bowmen ; ye who rule all these
two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from
calamity !
3. The thousand-eyed slayers of Vntra both do
Vil Charms to Secure Prosperity. 1 59
I invoke. I go praising the two strong gods (ugrau)
whose pastures extend far. Ye who rule all these
two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from
calamity !
4. Ye who, united, did undertake many (deeds) of
old, and, moreover, did visit portents upon the
people ; ye who rule all these two-footed and four-
footed creatures, deliver us from calamity !
5. Ye from whose blows no one either among
gods or men escapes ; ye who rule all these two-
footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from
calamity !
6. The sorcerer who prepares a spell, or manipu-
lates the roots (of plants) against us, against him,
ye strong gods, launch your thunderbolt ! Ye who
rule all these two-footed and four-footed creatures,
deliver us from calamity.
7. Ye strong gods, favour us in battles, bring into
contact with your thunderbolt the Kimtdin ! I praise
you, O Bhava and 6arva, call fervently upon you in
distress : deliver us from calamity !
VII, 9. Charm for finding lost property.
1. On the distant path of the paths Pushan was
born, on the distant path of heaven, on the distant
path of the earth. Upon the two most lovely places
both he walks hither and away, knowing (the way).
2. Pushan knows these regions all ; he shall lead
us by the most dangerless (way). Bestowing well-
being, of radiant glow, keeping our heroes undi-
minished, he shall, alert and skilful, go before us!
3. O Pushan, under thy law may we never suffer harm : as praisers of thee are we here !
4. Ptishan shall from the east place his right hand
l60 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
about us, shall bring again to us what has been lost : we shall come upon what has been lost !
VI, 128. Propitiation of the weather-prophet.
1. When the stars made .Sakadhfima their king
they bestowed good weather upon him : * This shall
be his dominion/ they said.
2. Let us have good weather at noon, good
weather at eve, good weather in the early morning,
good weather in the night !
3. For day and night, for the stars, for sun and
moon, and for us prepare good weather, O king
•Sakadhuma !
4. To thee, O 6akadhuma, ruler of the stars, that
gavest us good weather in the evening, in the night,
and by day, let there ever be obeisance !
XI, 6. Prayer for deliverance from calamity, addressed to the entire pantheon.
1. To Agni we speak and to the trees, to the
plants and to the herbs ; to Indra, Brzhaspati, and
Surya : they shall deliver us from calamity !
2. We speak to king Varu^a, to Mitra, Vishnu
and Bhaga. To Amsa and Vivasvant do we speak :
they shall deliver us from calamity !
3. We speak to Savitar, the god, to Dhatar, and to
Pushan ; to first-born Tvash/ar do we speak : they
shall deliver us from calamity !
4. We speak to the Gandharvas and the Apsaras,
to the A^vins and to Brahma/zaspati, to the god
whose name is Aryaman : they shall deliver us from
calamity !
5. Now do we speak to day and night, to Stlrya
VII. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. l6l
(sun) and to Aandramas (moon), the twain ; to all
the Adityas we speak : they shall deliver us from
calamity !
6. We speak to V&ta (wind) and Par^anya, to the
atmosphere and the directions of space. And to all
the regions do we speak : they shall deliver us from
calamity !
7. Day and night, and Ushas (dawn), too, shall
deliver thee from curses ! Soma the god, whom they
call Aandramas (moon), shall deliver me !
8. To the animals of the earth and those of heaven,
to the wild beasts of the forest, to the winged birds,
do we speak : they shall deliver us from calamity !
9. Now do we speak to Bhava and .Sarva, to Rudra
and Pasupati ; their arrows do we know well : these
(arrows) shall be ever propitious to us !
10. We speak to the heavens, and the stars, to
earth, the Yakshas, and the mountains ; to the seas,
the rivers, and the lakes : they shall deliver us from
calamity !
1 1. To the seven 7?zshis now do we speak, to the
divine waters and Pra^apati. To the Fathers with
Yama at their head : they shall deliver us from
calamity !
12. The gods that dwell in heaven, and those that
dwell in the atmosphere ; the mighty (gods) that
are fixed upon the earth, they shall deliver us from
calamity !
13. The Adityas, Rudras, Vasus, the divine Athar-
vans in heaven, and the wise Angiras : they shall
deliver us from calamity !
14. We speak to the sacrifice and the sacrificer, to
the riks, the samans, and the healing (Atharvan)
charms ; we speak to the ya^us-formulas and the
1 62 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
invocations (to the gods) : they shall deliver us from calamity !
15. We speak to the five kingdoms of the plants
with soma the most excellent among them. The
darbha-grass, hemp, and mighty barley : they shall
deliver us from calamity !
16. We speak to the Ariyas (demons of grudge),
Rakshas, serpents, pious men, and Fathers ; to the
one and a hundred deaths : they shall deliver us
from calamity !
1 7. To the seasons we speak, to the lords of the
seasons, and to the sections of the year ; to the half-
years, years, and months : they shall deliver us from
calamity !
18. Come, ye gods, from the south and the west ;
ye gods in the east come forth ! From the east, from
the north the mighty gods, all the gods assembled :
they shall deliver us from calamity !
19. 20. We speak here to all the gods that hold to
their agreements, promote the order (of the universe),
together with all their wives : they shall deliver us
from calamity !
21. We speak to being, to the lord of being, and
also to him that controls the beings ; to the beings
all assembled : they shall deliver us from calamity !
22. The five divine regions, the twelve divine
seasons, the teeth of the year, they shall ever be
propitious to us !
2$. The amrzta (ambrosia), bought for the price of
a chariot, which Matali knows as a remedy, that Indra
stored away in the waters : that, O ye waters, furnish
ye as a remedy !
VIII.
CHARMS IN EXPIATION OF SIN AND DEFILEMENT.
VI, 45. Prayer against mental delinquency.
1. Pass far away, O sin of the mind! Why dost
thou utter things not to be uttered ? Pass away,
I love thee not ! To the trees, the forests go on !
With the house, the cattle, is my mind.
2. What wrongs we have committed through
imprecation, calumny, and false speech, either awake,
or asleep — Agni shall put far away from us all
offensive evil deeds!
3. What, O Indra Brahma^aspati, we do falsely —
may Pra/£etas ('care-taker') Angirasa protect us
from misfortune, and from evil!
VI, 26. Charm to avert evil.
1. Let me go, O evil; being powerful, take thou
pity on us! Set me, O evil, unharmed, into the
world of happiness !
2. If, O evil, thou dost not abandon us, then do
we abandon thee at the fork of the road. May evil
follow after another (man) !
3. Away from us may thousand-eyed, immortal
(evil) dwell ! Him whom we hate may it strike, and
him whom we hate do thou surely smite !
1 64 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
VI, 114. Expiatory formula for imperfections in the sacrifice.
1 . The god-angering (deed), O ye gods, that we,
the (Brahman) gods, have committed, from that do
ye, O Adityas, release us, by virtue of the order of
the universe !
2. By virtue of the order of the universe do ye,
O reverend Adityas, release us here, if, O ye carriers
of the sacrifice, though desirous of accomplishing
(the sacrifice), we did not accomplish (it) ! —
3. (If), when sacrificing with the fat (animal), when
offering oblations of ghee with the spoon, when
desiring to benefit you, O all ye gods, wre have
contrary to desire, not succeeded !
VI, 115. Expiatory formulas for sins.
1. From the sins which knowingly or unknowingly
we have committed, do ye, all gods, of one accord,
release us !
2. If awake, or if asleep, to sin inclined, I have
committed a sin, may what has been, and what shall
be, as if from a wooden post, release me !
3. As one released from a wooden post, as one in
a sweat by bathing (is cleansed) of filth, as ghee is
clarified by the sieve, may all (the gods) clear me
from sin !
VI, 112. Expiation for the precedence of a younger brother over an older.
1. May this (younger brother) not slay the oldest
one of them, O Agni ; protect him that he be not
torn out by the root! Do thou here cunningly
Viii. Charms in Expiation of Sin Etc. 1 65
loosen the fetter of Grahi (attack of disease) ; may all the gods give thee leave !
2. Free these three, O Agni, from the three fetters
with which they have been shackled ! Do thou
cunningly loosen the fetters of Grahi ; release them
all, father, sons, and mother !
3. The fetters with which the older brother, whose
younger brother has married before him, has been
bound, with which he has been encumbered and
shackled limb by limb, may they be loosened ; since
fit for loosening they are ! Wipe off, O Pushan, the
misdeeds upon him that practiseth abortion !
VI, 113. Expiation for certain heinous crimes.
1. On TVzta the gods wiped off this sin, TYzta
wiped it off on human beings ; hence if Grahi (attack
of disease) has seized thee, may these gods remove
her by means of their charm !
2. Enter into the rays, into smoke, O sin ; go into
the vapours, and into the fog ! Lose thyself on
the foam of the river! Wipe off, O Pushan, the
misdeeds upon him that practiseth abortion !
3. Deposited in twelve places is that which has
been wiped off TVzta/the sins belonging to humanity.
Hence if Grahi has seized thee, may these gods
remove her by means of their charm !
VI, 120. Prayer for heaven after remission of
sins.
i. If air, or earth and heaven, if mother or father,
we have injured, may this Agni Garhapatya (house-
hold fire) without fail lead us out from this (crime)
to the world of well-doing !
1 66 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
2. The earth is our mother, Aditi (the universe)
our kin, the air our protector from hostile schemes.
May father sky bring prosperity to us from the world
of the Fathers ; may I come to my (departed) kin,
and not lose heaven !
3. In that bright world where our pious friends live
in joy, having cast aside the ailments of their own
bodies, free from lameness, not deformed in limb,
there may we behold our parents and our children !
VI, 27. Charm against pigeons regarded as ominous birds.
1. O ye gods, if the pigeon, despatched as the
messenger of Nirrzti (the goddess of destruction),
hath come here seeking (us out), we shall sing his
praises, and prepare (our) ransom. May our two-
footed and four-footed creatures be prosperous !
2. Auspicious to us shall be the pigeon that has
been despatched ; harmless, ye gods, the bird shall
be to our house ! The sage Agni shall verily take
pleasure in our oblation ; the winged missile shall
avoid us !
3. The winged missile shall not do us injury:
upon our hearth, our fireplace he (the pigeon) takes
his steps ! Propitious he shall be to our cattle and
our domestics ; may not, ye gods, the pigeon here
do harm to us !