ITI. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, SORCERERS,
AND ENEMIES (ABHIXARIKANI AND KRITYAPRATIHARANWANI).
I, 7. Against sorcerers and demons.
1. The sorcerer (yatudhana) that vaunts himself,
and the Kimidin do thou, O Agni, convey hither!
For thou, O god, when lauded, becomest the de-
stroyer of the demon.
2. Partake of the ghee, of the sesame-oil, O Agni
Gatavedas, that standest on high, conquerest by
thyself! Make the sorcerers howl!
3. The sorcerers and the devouring (atrin) Kimi-
din shall howl! Do ye, moreover, O Agni and
Indra, receive graciously this our oblation!
4. Agni shall be the first to seize them, Indra
with his (strong) arms shall drive them ‘away!
Every wizard, as soon as he comes, shall proclaim
himself, saying, ‘I am he’!
5. We would see thy might, O Gatavedas; dis-
close-to us the wizards, O thou that beholdest men!
May they all, driven forth by thy fire, disclosing
themselves, come to this spot !
6. Seize hold, O Gatavedas: for our good thou
wast born! Become our messenger, O Agni, and
make the sorcerers howl!
7. Do thou, O Agni, drag hither the sorcerers,
bound in shackles; then Indra with his thunderboit
shall cut off their heads!
Iii. Imprecations Against Demons, Etc. 65
I, 8. Against sorcerers and demons.
1. May this oblation carry hither the sorcerers, as
a river (carries) foam! The man or the woman
who has performed this (sorcery), that person shall
here proclaim himself!
2. This vaunting (sorcerer) has come _ hither:
receive him with alacrity! O Brzhaspati, put him
into subjection; O Agni and Soma, pierce him
through!
3. Slay the offspring of the sorcerer, O soma-
drinking (Indra), and subject (him)! Make drop
out the farther and the nearer eye of the braggart
(demon) !
4. Wherever, O Agni Gatavedas, thou perceivest
the brood of these hidden devourers (atrin), do thou,
mightily strengthened by our charm, slay them: slay
their (brood), O Agni, piercing them a hundredfold!
I, 16. Charm with lead, against demons and sorcerers.
1. Against the devouring demons who, in the
night of the full-moon, have arisen in throngs, may
Agni, the strong, the slayer of the sorcerers, give us
courage !
2. To the lead Varuza gives blessing, to the lead
Agni gives help. Indra gave me the lead: unfail-
ingly it dispels sorcery.
3. This (lead) overcomes the vishkandha, this
smites the devouring demons (atrin); with this I
have overwhelmed all the brood of the Pisdéas.
4. If thou slayest our cow, if our horse or our
(42] if
66 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
domestic, we pierce thee with the lead, so that thou shalt not slay our heroes.
VI, 2. The soma-oblation directed against demons (rakshas).
1. Press the soma, ye priests, and rinse it (for
renewed pressing), in behalf of Indra who shall
listen to the song of the worshipper, and to my
call ! .
2. Do thou, O doughty (Indra), whom the drops
of soma enter as birds a tree, beat off the hostile
brood of the Rakshas!
3. Press ye the soma for Indra, the soma-drinker,
who wields the thunderbolt! A youthful victor and
ruler is he, praised by many men.
II, 14. Charm against a variety of female demons, conceived as hostile to men, cattle, and home.
1. Nissala, the bold, the greedy demon (? dhi-
shaza), and (the female demon) with long-drawn
howl, the bloodthirsty ; all the daughters of Kanda,
the Sadanvds do we destroy.
2. We drive you out of the stable, out of the axle
(of the wagon), and the body of the wagon; we
chase you, O ye daughters of Magundi, from the
house.
3. In yonder house below, there the grudging
demons (ardyi) shall exist; there ruin shall prevail,
and all the witches!
4. May (Rudra), the lord of beings, and Indra,
drive forth from here the Sadanvds; those that are
seated on the foundation of the house Indra shall
overcome with his thunderbolt!
Iii. Imprecations Against Demons, Etc. 67
5. Whether ye belong to (the demons) of inherited
disease, whether ye have been dispatched by men,
or whether ye have originated from the Dasyus
(demon-like aborigines), vanish from here, O ye
Sadanvas!
6. About their dwelling-places I did swiftly
course, as if on a race-course. I have won all
contests with you: vanish from here, O ye Sa-
danvas !
III, 9. Against vishkandha and kabava (hostile demons).
1. Of karsapha and visapha heaven is the father
and earth the mother. As, ye gods, ye have
brought on (the trouble), thus do ye again re-—
move it!
2. Without fastening they (the protecting plants?) .
held fast, thus it has been arranged by Manu. The ©
vishkandha do I render impotent, like one who
gelds cattle.
3. A talisman tied to a reddish thread the active
(seers) then do fasten on : may the fastenings render
impotent the eager, fiery kabava!
4. And since, O ye eager (demons), ye walk like
gods by the wile of the Asuras, the fastening (of the
amulet) is destructive to the kabava, as the ape to
the dog.
5. I revile thee, the kabava, unto misfortune,
(and) shall work harm for thee. Accompanied with
curses ye shall go out like swift chariots!
6. A hundred and one vishkandha are spread out
along the earth; for these at the beginning they
brought out thee, the amulet, that destroys vi-
shkandha.
68 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
IV, 20. Charm with a certain plant (sadampushpa) which exposes demons and enemies.
1. He sees here, he sees yonder, he sees in the
distance, he sees-—the sky, the atmosphere as well
as the earth, all that, O goddess, he sees.
2. The three heavens, the three earths, and these
six directions severally; all creatures may I see
through thee, O divine plant!
3. Thou art verily the eyeball of the divine
eagle; thou didst ascend the earth as a weary
woman a palanquin.
4. The thousand-eyed god shall put this plant
into my right hand: with that do I see every one,
the Stidra as well as the Arya.
5. Reveal (all) forms, do not hide thy own self;
moreover, do thou, O thousand-eyed (plant), look
the Kimidins in the face!
6. Reveal to me the wizards, and reveal the
witches, reveal all the Pisdé#as: for this purpose do
I take hold of thee, O plant!
7. Thou art the eye of Kasyapa, and the eye of
the four-eyed bitch. Like the sun, moving in the
bright day, make thou the Pisé#a evident to me!
8. I have dragged out from his retreat the sor-
cerer and the Kimidin. Through this (charm) do I
see every one, the Sidra as well as the Arya.
9. Him that flies in the air, him that moves across
the sky, him that regards the earth as his resort,
that Pisaga do thou reveal (to me)!
Iii. Imprecations Against Demons, Etc. 69
IV, 17. Charm with the apamarga-plant, against sorcery, demons, and enemies.
1. We take hold, O victorious one, of thee, the
mistress of remedies. I have made thee a thing of
thousandfold strength for every one, O plant!
2. Her, the unfailingly victorious one, that wards
off curses, that is powerful and defensive; (her and)
all the plants have I assembled, intending that she
shall save us from this (trouble) !
3. The woman who has cursed us with a curse, who
has arranged dire misfortune (for us), who has taken
hold of our children, to rob them of their strength—
may she eat (her own) offspring!
4. The magic spell which they have put into the
unburned vessel, that which they have put into the
blue and red thread, that which they have put into
raw flesh, with these slay thou those that have
prepared the spell!
5. Evil dreams, troubled life, Rakshas, gruesome-
ness, and grudging demons (ardyi), all the evil-
named, evil-speaking (powers), these do we drive
out from us.
6. Death from hunger, and death from thirst,
poverty in cattle, and failure of offspring, all that,
O apamarga, do we wipe out (apa mvgmahe) with
thee.
7- Death from thirst, and death from hunger,
moreover, ill-luck at dice, all that, O apamdarga, do
we wipe out with thee.
8. The apamarga is sole ruler over all plants,
with it do we wipe mishap from thee: do thou then
live exempt from disease !
7 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
IV, 18. Charm with the apam4rga-plant, against sorcerers and demons.
1. Night is like unto the sun, the (starry) night is
similar to day. The truth do I engage for help:
the enchantments shall be devoid of force!
2. He, O ye gods, who prepares a spell, and
carries it to the house of one that knows not (of it),
upon him the spell, returning, shall fasten itself like
a suckling calf upon its mother!
3. The person that prepares evil at home, and
desires with it to harm another, she is consumed by
fire, and many stones fall upon her with a loud
crash.
4. Bestow curses, O thou (apam4rga), that hast
a thousand homes, upon che (demons) visikha
(‘crestless’), and vigriva (‘crooked-neck’)! Turn
back the spell upon him that has performed it, as
a beloved maid (is brought) to her lover !
5. With this plant I have put to naught all spells,
those that they have put into thy field, thy cattle,
and into thy domestics.
6. He that has undertaken them has not been
able to accomplish them: he broke his foot, his toe.
He performed a lucky act for us, but for himself
an injury.
7. The apdmarga-plant shall wipe out (apa
marsh¢u) inherited ills, and curses; yea, it shall
wipe out all witches, and all grudging demons
(arayi) !
8. Having wiped out all sorcerers, and all grudg-
ing demons, with thee, O apdmarga, we wipe all
that (evil) out.
III. IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, ETC. Tu
IV, 19. Mystic power of the apamarga- ent. against demons and sorcerers.
1. On the one hand thou deprivest of kin, on the
other thou now procurest kinfolk. Do thou, more-
over, cut the offspring of him that practises spells,
as a reed that springs up in the rain!
2. By a Brahmaza thou hast been blest, by
Kazva, the descendant of Nvzshad. Thou goest
like a strong army; where thou hast arrived, O
plant, there there is no fear.
3. Thou goest at the head of the plants, spread-
ing lustre, as if with a light. Thou art on the one
‘ited the protector of the weak, on the other the
slayer of the Rakshas.
4. When of yore, in the beginning, the gods drove
out the Asuras with thee, then, O plant, thou wast
begotten as apamarga (‘ wiping out’).
5. Thou cuttest to pieces (vibhindati), and hast
a hundred branches; vibhindant (‘cutting to pieces’)
is thy father’s name. Do thou (turn) against, and
cut to pieces (vi bhindhi) him that is hostile to-
wards us!
6. Non-being arose from the earth, that goes to
heaven, (as) a great expansion. Thence, verily,
that, spreading vapours, shall turn against the per-
former (of spells)!
7. Thou didst grow backward, thou hast fruit
which is turned backward. Ward off from me all
curses, ward off very far destructive weapons!
8. Protect me with a hundredfold, guard me with
a thousandfold (strength)! Indra, the strong, shall
put strength into thee, O prince of plants!
VII, 65. Charm with the apamdrga-plant, against curses, and the consequences of sinful deeds.
1. With fruit turned backward thou verily didst
grow, O apamarga: do thou drive all curses quite
far away from here!
2. The evil deeds and foul, or the sinful acts
which we have committed, with thee, O apamarga,
whose face is turned to every side, do we wipe them
out (apa mvzgmahe).
3. If we have sat together with one who ee
black teeth, or diseased nails, or one who is de-
formed, with thee, O apam4rga, we wipe all that
out (apa mvzgmahe).
X, 1. Charm to repel sorceries or spells.
1. The (spell) which they skilfully prepare, as
a bride for the wedding, the multiform (spell),
fashioned by hand, shall go to a distance: we drive
it away |
2. The (spell) that has been brought forward by
the fashioner of the spell, that is endowed with
head, endowed with nose, endowed with ears, and
multiform, shall go to a distance : we drive it away!
3. (The spell) that has been prepared by a Siddra,
prepared by a Raga, prepared by a woman, prepared
by Brahmans, as a wife rejected by her husband,
shall recoil upon her fabricator, (and) his kin!
4. With this herb have I destroyed all spells, that
which they have put into thy field, into thy cattle,
and into thy men.
5. Evil be to him that prepares evil, the curse shall recoil upon him that utters curses: back do we hurl
Iii Imprecations Against Demons, Etc. 73
it against him, that it may slay him that fashions the spell.
6. PratiZina (‘ Back-hurler’), the descendant of
Angiras, is our overseer and officiator (purohita) :
do thou drive back again (prati#iZ) the spells, and
slay yonder fashioners of the spells!
7. He that has said to thee (the spell) : ‘go on’!
upon that enemy, that antagonist do thou turn,
O spell: do not seek out us, that are harmless!
8. He that has fitted together thy joints with
skill, as the wagoner (Azbhu) the joints of a chariot,
to him go, there is thy course: this person here
shall remain unknown to thee!
9g. They that have prepared thee and taken hold
of thee, the cunning wizards—this is what cures it,
destroys the spell, drives it back the opposite way: —
with it do we bathe thee.
10. Since we have come upon the wretched (spell),
as upon (a cow) with a dead calf, flooded away (by
a river), may all evil go away from me, and may
possessions come to me!
11. If (thy enemies) have made (offerings) to thy
Fathers, or have called thy name at the sacrifice,
may these herbs free thee from every indigenous
evil!
12. From the sin of the gods, and that of the
fathers, from mentions of (thy) name, from (evil
schemes) concocted at home, may the herbs free
thee with might, through (this) charm, (and these)
stanzas, (that are) the milk of the /tzshis!
13. As the wind stirs up the dust from the earth,
and the cloud from the atmosphere, thus may all
misfortune, driven by my charm, go away from me!