VII, 70. Frustration of the sacrifice of an enemy.
1. Whenever yonder person in his thought, and
with his speech, offers sacrifice accompanied by
oblations and benedictions, may Nirrzti (the goddess
of destruction), allying herself with death, smite his
offering before it takes effect |
2. May sorcerers, Nirrvzti, as well as Rakshas, mar
his true work with error! May the gods, despatched
by Indra, scatter (churn) his sacrificial butter; may
that which yonder person offers not succeed!
3. Lhe two agile supreme rulers, like two eagles
pouncing down, shall strike the sacrificial butter of
the enemy, whosoever plans evil against us!
4. Back do I tie both thy two arms, thy mouth
I shut. With the fury of god Agni have I destroyed
thy oblation.
5. I tie thy two arms, I shut thy mouth. With the fury of terrible Agni have I destroyed thy oblation.
Iii. Imprecations Against Demons, Etc. Qi
II, 7. Charm against curses and hostile plots, undertaken with a certain plant.
1. The god-begotten plant, hated by the wicked,
which wipes away the curses (of the enemies), like
water a foul spot it has washed away all curses
from me.
2. The curse of the rival and the curse of the
kinswoman, the curse which the Brahman shall utter
in wrath, all that (do thou put) under our feet !
3. From heaven her root is suspended, from the
earth it rises up; with her that has a thousand
shoots do thou protect us on all sides!
4. Protect me, protect my offspring, protect our
goods; let not ill-will overcome us, let not hostile
schemes overcome us!
5. The curse shall go to the curser; joint pos-
session shall we have with the friend. Of the
enemy who bewitches with (his) eye we hew off
the ribs.
III, 6. The asvattha-tree as a destroyer of enemies.
1. A male has sprung from a male, the asvattha
(ficus religiosa) from the khadira (acacia catechu).
May this slay my enemies, those whom I hate and
those who hate me!
2. Crush the enemies, as they rush on, O asvattha,
‘displacer, allied with Indra, the slayer of Vvztra,
(allied) with Mitra and Varuza!
3. As thou didst break forth, O asvattha, into the
great flood (of the air), thus do thou break up all
those whom I hate and those who hate me!
4. Thou that goest conquering as a conquering
Q2 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
RS pe WO
bull, with thee here, O asvattha, may we conquer
our rivals!
s. May Nirrdti (the goddess of destruction),
O asvattha, bind in the toils of death that cannot
be loosened those enemies of mine whom I hate
and who hate me!
6. As thou climbest up the trees, O iat ce, and
renderest them subordinate, thus do thou split in two
the head of my enemy, and overcome him!
7. They (the enemies) shall float down like a
ship cut loose from its moorings! There is no
returning again for those that have been driven out
by the ‘ displacer.’
8. I drive them out with my mind, drive them
out with my thought, and also with my incantation.
We drive them out with a branch of the asvattha-
tree.
VI, 75. Oblation for the suppression of enemies (nairbadhyam haviz).
1. Forth from his home do I drive that person
yonder, who as a rival contends with us: through
the oblation devoted to suppression Indra has
broken him to pieces.
2. Indra, the slayer of Vvztra, shall drive him to
the remotest distance, from which in all successive
years he shall not again return!
3. He shall go to the three distances, he shall
go beyond the five peoples; he shall go beyond
the three ethers, whence he shall not again in all
successive years return, while the sun is upon the heavens !
Iii. Imprecations Against Demons, Etc. 93
VI, 37. Curse against one that practises hostile charms.
1. The thousand-eyed curse having yoked his
chariot has come hither, seeking out him that curses
me, as a wolf the house of him that owns sheep.
2. Avoid us, O curse, as a burning fire (avoids)
a lake! Strike here him that curses us, as the
lightning of heaven the tree!
3. He that shall curse us when we do not curse,
and he that shall curse us when we do curse, him
do I hurl to death as a bone to a dog upon the
ground,
VII, 13. Charm to deprive enemies of their strength.
1. As the rising sun takes away the lustre of the
stars, thus do I take away the strength of both the
women and the men that hate me.
2. As many enemies as ye are, looking out against
me, as I come on—of those that hate me do I take
away the strength, as the sun takes away the strength
of persons asleep (while it rises).
IV. CHARMS PERTAINING TO WOMEN (STRIKARMAJI).
II, 36. Charm to obtain a husband.
1. May, O Agni, a suitor after our own heart
come to us, may he come to this maiden with our
fortune! May she, agreeable to suitors, charming
at festivals, promptly obtain happiness through a
husband |
2. Agreeable to Soma, agreeable to Brahma,
arranged by Aryaman, with the unfailing certainty
of god DhAtar, do I bestow upon thee good fortune,
the acquisition of a husband.
3. This woman shall obtain a husband, since king
Soma makes her lovely! May she, begetting sons,
become a queen; may she, going to her husband,
shine in loveliness!
4. As this comfortable cave, O Maghavan (Indra),
furnishing a safe abode, hath become pleasing to ani-
mals, thus may this woman be a favourite of fortune
(Bhaga), beloved, not at odds with her husband!
5. Do thou ascend the full, inexhaustible ship of
Bhaga (fortune); upon this bring hither the suitor
who shall be agreeable (to thee) !
6. Bring hither by thy shouts, O lord of wealth,
the suitor, bend his mind towards her; turn thou the
right side of every agreeable suitor towards (her)!
7. This gold and bdellium, this balsam, and
Iv. Charms Pertaining to Women. 95
Bhaga (fortune), too; these have prepared thee for
husbands, that thou mayest obtain the one that is
agreeable.
8. Hither to thee Savitar shall lead the husband
that is agreeable! Do thou, O herb, bestow (him)
upon her!
VI, 60. Charm for obtaining a husband.
1. This Aryaman (wooer) with loosened crest
of hair comes hither in front (of the procession),
seeking a husband for this spinster, and a wife for
this wifeless man.
2. This maid, O Aryaman, has wearied of going
to the wedding-feasts of other women. Now shall,
without fail, O Aryaman, other women go to her
wedding-feast !
3. Dhatar (the creator) supports (dadhara) this
earth, Dhatar supports the heavens, and the sun.
May Dhatar furnish this spinster with a husband
after her own heart!
VI, 82. Charm for obtaining a wife.
1. I call the name of him that comes here, that
hath come here, and is arriving; I crave (the name)
of Indra, Vvztra’s slayer, the Vasava of hundred-
fold strength.
2. The road by which the Asvins carried away
as a bride Sfiryd, Savitar's daughter, ‘by that road,
Bhaga (fortune) told me, ‘thou shalt bring here a
wife’!
3. With thy wealth-procuring, great, golden hook,
O Indra, husband of Safi, procure a wife for me
that desireth a wife!
96 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
VI, 78. Blessing for a married couple.
1. Through this oblation, that causes prosperity,
may this man flourish anew; may he excel the wife
that they have brought to him with his sap!
2. May he excel in strength, excel in royalty!
May this couple be inexhaustible in wealth that
bestows thousandfold lustre!
3. Tvash¢ar begot (for thee) a wife, Tvash/ar
for her begot thee as a husband. May Tvashéar
bestow upon you two a thousand lives, may he
bestow upon you long life! |
VII, 36. Love-charm spoken by a bridal couple.
The eyes of us two shine like honey, our foreheads
gleam like ointment. Place me within thy heart ;
may one mind be in common to us both!
VII, 37. Charm pronounced by the bride over the bridegroom.
I envelope thee in my garment that was produced
by Manu (the first man), that thou shalt be mine
alone, shalt not even discourse of other women!
VI, 81. A bracelet as an amulet to ensure conception.
1. A holder art thou, holdest both hands, drivest
off the Rakshas. An acquirer of offspring and
wealth this bracelet hath become !
2. O bracelet, open up the womb, that the embryo be put (into it)! Do thou, O limit (-setting bracelet),
Iv. Charms Pertaining to Women. 97
furnish a son, bring him here (4 gamaya), thou that comest here (4game)!
3. The bracelet that Aditi wore, when she desired
a son, IT vashéar shall fasten upon this woman, intend-
ing that she shall beget a son.
III, 23. Charm for obtaining a son (pussavanam).
1. [That which has caused thee to miscarry do we
drive away from thee, that very thing do we deposit
outside of thee, away in a far place.
2. Into thy womb shall enter a male germ, as an
arrow into a quiver! May a man be born there,
a son ten months old!
3. A male son do thou produce, and after him
a male shall be born! Thou shalt be the mother
of sons, of those who are born, and those whom
thou shalt bear!
4. By the effective seed which bulls put forth do thou obtain a son; be a iruitful milch-cow!
5. Pragapati’s (the lord of creatures) work do
I perform for thee: may the germ enter into thy
womb! Obtain thou, woman, a son who shall bring
prosperity to thee, and bring thou prosperity to him!
6. The plants whose father was the sky, whose
mother the earth, whose root the (heavenly) ocean
—may those divine herbs aid thee in obtaining
a son!
VI, 11. Charm for obtaining a son (pumsavanam),.
1. The asvattha (ficus religiosa) has mounted the
sami (mimosa suma): then a male child was pro-
duced. That, forsooth, is the way to obtain a son;
that do we bring to (our) wives.
93 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
- 2, In the male, forsooth, seed doth grow, that is
poured into the female. That, forsooth, is the way
to obtain a son; that has been told by Pragapati.
3. Pragapati, Anumati, and Sinivali have fashioned
him. May he (Pragaépati) elsewhere afford the birth
of a female, but here he shall bestow a man !
VII, 35. An incantation to make a woman sterile.
1. The other enemies conquer with might; beat
back, O GAatavedas, those that are not yet born!
Enrich this kingdom unto happiness, may all the
gods acclaim this man!
2. Of these hundred entrails of thine, as well as
of the thousand canals, of all these have I closed the
openings with a stone.
3. The upper part of the womb do I place below,
there shall come to thee neither offspring nor birth!
I render thee sterile and devoid of offspring ; a stone
do I make into a cover for thee.
VI, 17. Charm to prevent miscarriage.
. As this great earth conceives the germs of the
ene thus shall thy embryo be held mes to produce
a child after pregnancy!
2. As this great earth holds these trees, thus
shall thy embryo be held fast, to produce a child
after pregnancy !
3. As this great earth holds ce mountains and
the peaks, thus shall thy embryo be held fast, to
produce a child after pregnancy !
4. As this great earth holds the animals scattered
Iv. Charms Pertaining to Women. 99
far, thus shall thy embryo be held fast, to produce a child after pregnancy !
I, 11. Charm for easy parturition.
1. Aryaman as active hotar-priest shall utter for
thee the vasha¢-call at this (soma-) pressing, O
Pashan! May (this) woman, (herself) begotten in
the proper way, be delivered, may her Je relax,
that she shall bring forth !
2. Four a ociini has the heaven, and also four
the earth: (from these) the gods created the embryo.
May they open her, that she shall bring forth!
3. May Sadshan open: her womb do we cause |
to gape. Do thou, O Sishava, loosen the womb,
do thou, O Bishkala, let go (the embryo) !
4. Attached not at all to the flesh, nor to the fat,
not at all to the marrow, may the splotched, moist,
placenta come down to be eaten by a dog! May
the placenta fall down! :
5. I split open thy vagina, thy womb, thy canals ;
I separate the mother and the son, the child along
with the placenta. May the placenta fall down!
6. As flies the wind, as flies the mind, as fly the
winged birds, so do thou, O embryo, ten months
old, fall along with the placenta! May the placenta
fall down!