14. They shall guard thee, they shall protect thee. Reverence be to them. Hail be to them!
15. Into converse with the living Vayu, Indra, Dhatar, and saving Savitar shall put thee; breath
Il. .PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH. 55
and strength shall not leave thee! Thy (life’s) spirit do we call back to thee.
16. Convulsions that draw the jaws together,
darkness, shall not come upon thee, nor (the demon)
that tears out the tongue (?)! How shalt thou then
waste away? The Adityas and Vasus, Indra and
Agni shall raise thee up unto well-being!
17. The heavens, the earth, Pragdapati, have
rescued thee. The plants with Soma their king
have delivered thee from death. :
18. Let this man remain right here, ye av let
him not depart hence to yonder world! We rescue
him from death with (a charm) of thousandfold
strength. |
19. I have delivered thee from death. The
(powers) that furnish strength shall breathe upon
thee. The (mourning women) with dishevelled
hair, they that wail lugubriously, shall not wail
over thee!
20. I have snatched thee (from death), I have
obtained thee; thou hast returned with renewed
youth. O thou, that art (now) sound of limb, for
thee sound sight, and sound life have I obtained.
21. It has shone upon thee, light has arisen,
darkness has departed from thee. We remove from
thee death, destruction, and disease.
VIII, 2. Prayer for exemption from the dangers of death.
1. Take hold of this (charm) that subjects to
immortality (life), may thy life unto old age not be
cut off! I bring to thee anew breath and life: go
not to mist and darkness, do not waste away !
56 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
2. Come hither to the light of the living; I rescue
thee unto a life of a hundred autumns! Loosing the
bands of death and imprecation, I bestow upon thee
long life extended very far.
3. From the wind thy breath I have obtained,
from the sun thine eye; thy soul I hold fast in thee:
be together with thy limbs, speak articulating with
thy tongue! |
4. With the breath of two-footed and four-footed
creatures I blow upon thee, as on Agni when he ts
born (as on fire when kindled). I have paid rever-
ence, O death, to thine eye, reverence to thy breath.
5. This (man) shall live and shall not die: we
rouse this man (to life)! I make for him a remedy:
- O death, do not slay the man!
6. The plant givala (‘quickening’), na-gha-risha
(‘forsooth-no-harm’), and givanti (‘living’), a victo-
rious, mighty saviour-plant do I invoke, that he may
be exempt from injury.
7. Befriend him, do not seize him, let hin go,
(O death); though he be thy very own, let him
abide here with unimpaired strength! O Bhava and
Sarva, take pity, grant protection; misfortune drive
away, and life bestow!
8. Befriend him, death, and pity him: may he from
here arise! Unharmed, with sound limbs, hearing
perfectly, through old age carrying a hundred years,
let him get enjoyment by himself (unaided) !
g. The missile of the gods shall pass thee by!
I pass thee across the mist (of death); from death
I have rescued thee. Removing far the flesh-
devouring Agni, a barrier do I set around thee,
that thou mayest live.
10. From thy misty road that cannot be withstood,
Ii. Prayers for Long Life and Health. 57
O death, from this path (of thine) we guard this (man), and make our charm a protection for him.
11. In-breathing and out-breathing do I prepare
for thee, death in old age, long life, and prosperity.
All the messengers of Yama, that roam about, dis-
patched by Vivasvant's son, do I drive away.
12. Arati (grudge), Nirrzti (destruction), Grahi
(seizure), and the flesh-devouring Pisd#as (do we
drive) away to a distance, and hurl all wicked
Rakshas away into darkness as it were.
13. I crave thy life’s breath from the immortal,
life-possessing Agni Gatavedas. That thou shalt
not take harm, shalt be immortal in (Agni’s) com-
pany, that do I procure for thee, and that shall be
fulfilled for thee!
14. May heaven and earth, the bestowers of hap-
piness, be auspicious and harmless to thee; may
the sun shine, and the wind blow comfort to thy
heart; may the heavenly waters, rich in milk, flow
upon thee kindly!
15. May the plants be auspicious to thee! I have
raised thee from the lower to the upper earth: there
may both the Adityas, the sun and the moon, pro-
tect thee.
16. Whatever garment for clothing, or whatever
girdle thou makest for thyself, agreeable to thy
body do we render it; not rough to thy touch shall
it be!
17. When thou, the barber, shearest with thy sharp
well-whetted razor our hair and beard, do not, while
cleansing our face, rob us of our life!
18. Rice and barley shall be auspicious to thee,
causing no balasa, inflicting no injury! They two
drive away disease, they two release from calamity.
58 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
19. Whatever thou eatest or drinkest, the grain
of the plough-land or milk, whatever is or is not to
be eaten, all that food do I: render for thee free
from poison.
20. To day and to night both do we commit thee:
from the demons that seek to devour, do ye preserve
this (man) for me!
21. A hundred years, ten thousand years, two,
three, four ages (yuga) do we allot to thee; Indra
and Agni, and all the gods without anger shall
favour thee!
22. To autumn thee, to winter, spring and summer,
do we commit; the rains in which grow the plants
shall be pleasant to thee!
23. Death rules over bipeds, death rules over
quadrupeds. From that death, the lord of cattle,
do I rescue thee: do not fear!
24. Free from harm thou shalt not die; thou
shalt not die: do not fear! Verily, they do not
die there, they do not go to the nethermost dark-
ness ;—
25. Verily, every creature lives there, the cow,
the horse, and man, where this charm is performed,
as the (protecting) barrier for life.
26. May it preserve thee from sorcery, from thy
equals and thy kin! Undying be, immortal, exceed-
ingly vital; thy spirits shall not abandon thy body!
27. From the one and a hundred deaths, from
the dangers that are surmountable, from that Agni
Vaisvanara (the funeral pyre ?) may the gods deliver
thee!
28. Thou, the remedy called paitudru, art the body
of Agni, the deliverer, slayer of Rakshas, slayer of
rivals, moreover thou chasest away disease.
Ii. Prayers for Long Life and Health. 59
V, 30. Prayer for exemption from disease and death.
1. From near thy vicinity, from near thy distance
(do I call): remain here, do not follow; do not
follow the Fathers of yore! Firmly do I fasten thy
life's breath.
2. Whatever sorcery any kinsman or sae has
practised against thee, both release and deliverance
with my voice do I declare for thee.
3. If thou hast deceived or cursed a woman or
a man in thy folly, both release and deliverance
with my voice do I declare for thee.
4. If thou liest (ill) in consequence of a sin com-
mitted by thy mother or thy father, both release
and deliverance with my voice do I declare for
thee.
5. Fight shy of the medicine which thy mother
and thy father, thy sister and thy brother let out
against thee: I shall cause thee to live unto old
age |
6. Remain here, O man, with thy entire soul; do
not follow the two messengers of Yama: come to
the abodes of the living!
7. Return when called, knowing the outlet of the
path (death), the ascent, the advance, the road of
every living man!
8. Fear not, thou shalt not die: I shall cause
thee to live unto old age! I have charmed away
from thy limbs the disease that wastes the limbs.
9g. The disease that racks and wastes thy limbs,
and the sickness in thy heart, has flown as an eagle
to a far distance, overcome by my charm.
60 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
10. The two sages Alert and Watchful, the sleep-
less and the vigilant, these two guardians of thy
life’s breath, are awake both day and night.
11. Agni here is to be revered; the sun shall rise
here for thee: rise thou from deep death, yea from
black darkness !
12. Reverence be to Yama, reverence to death;
reverence to the Fathers and to those that lead (to
them) [death’s messengers ?]! That Agni who knows
the way to save do I engage for this man, that he
be exempt from harm!
13. His breath shall come, his soul shall come,
his sight shall come, and, too, his strength! His
body shall collect itself: then shall he stand firm
upon his feet !
14. Unite him, Agni, with breath and sight, pro-
vide him with a body and with strength! Thou
hast a knowledge of immortality: let him not now
depart, let him not now become a dweller in a house
of clay!
15. Thy in-breathing shall not cease, thy out-
breathing shall not vanish; Strya (the sun), the
supreme lord, shall raise thee from death with his
rays!
16. This tongue (of mine), bound (in the mouth,
yet) mobile, speaks within: with it I have charmed
away disease, and the hundred torments of the
takman (fever).
17. This world is most dear to the gods, uncon-
quered. For whatever death thou wast destined
when thou wast born, O man, that (death) and we
call after thee: do not die before old age!
Ii. Prayers for Long Life and Health. 61
IV,9. Salve (A#%gana) as a protector of life and limb.
1. Come hither! Thou art the living, protecting
eye-ointment of the mountain, given by all the gods
as a safeguard, unto life.
2. Thou art a protection for men, a protection
for cattle, thou didst stand for the protection of
horses and steeds.
3. Thou art, O salve, both a protection that
crushes the sorcerers, and thou hast knowledge of
immortality (amvzta). Moreover, thou art food for
the living, and thou art, too, a remedy against —
jaundice.
4. From him over whose every limb and every
joint thou passest, O salve, thou dost, as a mighty
intercepter, drive away disease.
5. Him that bears thee, O salve, neither curse,
nor sorcery, nor burning pain does reach; nor does
the vishkandha come upon him.
6. From evil scheme, from troubled dream, from
evil deed, and also from foulness; from the evil eye
of the enemy, from this protect us, O salve!
7. Knowing this, O salve, I shall speak the truth,
avoid falsehood. May I obtain horses and cattle,
and thy person, O serving-man !
8. Three are servants of the salve: the takman
(fever), the balasa, and the serpent. The highest
of the mountains, Trikakud (‘ Three-peaks’) by
name, is thy father.
9. Since the salve of Trikakud is born upon the
Himavant, it shall demolish all the wizards and all
the witches.
62 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
10. Whether thou art derived from the (mountain)
Trikakud, or art said to come from the (river)
Yamuna, both these names of thine are auspicious:
with these, O salve, protect us!
IV, 10. The pearl and its shell as an amulet bestowing long life and prosperity.
1. Born of the wind, the atmosphere, the light-
ning, and the light, may this pearl shell, born of
gold, protect us from straits!
2, With the shell which was born in the sea, at
the head of bright substances, we slay the Rakshas
and conquer the Atrins (devouring demons).
3. With the shell (we conquer) disease and
poverty; with the shell, too, the Sadanvas. The
shell is our universal remedy; the pearl shall pro-
tect us from straits !
4. Born in the heavens, born in the sea, brought
on from the river (Sindhu), this shell, born of gold,
is our life-prolonging amulet.
5. The amulet, born from the sea, a sun, born
from Vretra (the cloud), shall on all sides protect
us from the missiles of the gods and the Asuras!
6. Thou art one of the golden substances, thou
art born from Soma (the moon). Thou art sightly
on the chariot, thou art brilliant on the quiver.
[May it prolong our lives!]
7. The bone of the gods turned into pearl; that,
animated, dwells in the waters. That do I fasten
upon thee unto life, lustre, strength, longevity, unto
a life lasting a hundred autumns. May the (amulet)
of pearl protect thee!
Il. PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH. 63
XIX, 26. Gold as an amulet for long life.
1. The gold which is born from fire, the immortal,
they bestowed upon the mortals. He who knows
this deserves it; of old age dies he who wears it.
2. The gold, (endowed by) the sun with beautiful
colour, which the men of yore, rich in descendants,
did desire, may it gleaming envelop thee in lustre!
Long-lived becomes he who wears it!
3. (May it envelop) thee unto (long) life, unto
lustre, unto force, and unto strength, that thou shalt
by the brilliancy of the gold shine forth among
people! |
4. (The gold) which king Varuza knows, which
god Brzhaspati knows, which Indra, the slayer of
Vritra, knows, may that become for thee a source
of life, may that become for thee a source of lustre !