VI, 138. Charm for depriving a man of his
virility.
1. As the best of the plants thou art reputed,
O herb: turn this man for me to-day into a eunuch
that wears his hair dressed !
2. Turn him into a eunuch that wears his hair
dressed, and into one that wears a hood! ‘Then
Indra with a pair of stones shall break his testicles
both !
3. O eunuch, into a eunuch thee I have turned;
O castrate, into a castrate thee I have turned;
O. weakling, into a weakling thee I have turned !
A hood upon his head, and a hair-net do we place. —
4. The two canals, fashioned by the gods, in
which man’s power rests, in thy: testicles
ican. 3: 1 break them with a club.
Iv. Charms Pertaining to Women. 109
5. As women break reeds for a mattress with a stone, thus do J break thy member . .
I, 18 Charm to remove evil bodily characteristics from a woman.
1. The (foul) mark, the lalami (with spot on the
forehead), the Arati (grudging demon), do we drive
out. Then the (signs) that are auspicious (shall
remain) with us; (yet) to beget offspring do we
bring the Arti!
2. May Savitar drive out uncouthness from her
feet, may Varuza, Mitra, and Aryaman (drive it)
out from her hands; may Anumati kindly drive it
out for us! For happiness the gods have created
this woman.
3. The fierceness that is in thyself, in thy body,
or in thy look, all that do we strike away with our
charm, May god Savitar prosper thee!
4. The goat-footed, the bull-toothed, her who
scares the cattle, the snorting one, the vilid/i (the
driveling one), the lalami (with spot on the fore-
head), these do we drive from us.
VI, 110. Expiatory charm for a child born under an unlucky star.
1. Of yore, (O Agni), thou wast worthy of sup-
plication at the sacrifice; thou wast the priest in
olden times, and now anew shalt sit (at our sacrifice) !
Delight, O Agni, thy own body, and, sacrificing,
bring good fortune here to us!
2. Him that hath been born under the (constella- tion) gyesh/Aaghni (‘she that slays the: oldest’), or
IIo HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
under the viérztau (‘they that uproot’), save thou
from being torn up by the root by Yama (death)!
May he (Agni) guide him across all misfortunes to
long life, to a life of a hundred autumns !
3. On a tiger (-like) day the hero was born; born
under a (good) constellation he becometh a mighty
hero. Let him not slay, when he grows up, his
father, let him not injure the mother that hath
begotten him!
VI, 140. Expiation for the irregular appearance of the first pair of teeth.
1. Those two teeth, the tigers, that have broken
forth, eager to devour father and mother, do thou,
O Brahmazaspati Gatavedas, render auspicious !
2. Do ye eat rice, eat barley, and eat, too, beans,
as well as sesamum! That, O teeth, is the share
deposited for your enrichment. Do not injure
father and mother!
3. Since ye have been invoked, O teeth, be ye in
unison kind and propitious! Elsewhere, O teeth,
shall pass away the fierce (qualities) of your body!
Do not injure father and mother!
CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY (RAGAKARMANAI).
IV, 8. Prayer at the consecration of a king.
1. Himself prosperous (bhiito),he does put strength
into the beings (bhiteshu); he became the chief lord
of the beings (bhfitandm). To his consecration .
death does come: may he, the king, favour this
kingdom !
2. Come forth hither—do not glance away—as
a mighty guardian, slayer of enemies! Step hither,
thou who prosperest thy friends: the gods shall
bless thee !
3. As he did step hither all (men) did attend
him. Clothed in grace, he moves, shining by his
own lustre. This is the great name of the manly
Asura; endowed with every form (quality) he
entered upon immortal (deeds).
4. Thyself a tiger, do thou upon this tiger-skin
stride (victorious) through the great regions! All
the clans shall wish for thee, and the heavenly
waters, rich in sap!
5. [he heavenly waters, rich in sap, flow joyously,
(and too) those in the sky and upon the earth: with
the lustre of all of these do I sprinkle thee.
6. They have sprinkled thee with their lustre,
the heavenly waters rich in sap. May Savitar thus
fashion thee, that thou shalt prosper thy friends!
II2 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
7. (The waters) thus embracing him, the tiger,
promote him, the lion, to great good fortune. Him,
the leopard in the midst of the waters, as though
standing in the ocean, the beneficent (floods, or the
vigorous priests) cleanse thoroughly !
III, 3. Charm for the restoration of an exiled king.
1. (Agni) has shouted loud: may he here well
perform his work! Spread thyself out, O Agni, over
the far-reaching hemispheres of the world! The all-
possessing Maruts shall engage thee: bring hither
that (king) who devoutly spends the offering !
2. However far he be, the red (steeds) shall urge
hither Indra, the seer, to friendship, since the gods,
(chanting) for him the gdayatri, the brzhati, and the
arka (songs), infused courage into him with the
sautramazi-sacrifice !
3. From the waters king Varuza shall call thee,
Soma shall call thee from the mountains, Indra shall
cite thee to these clans! Turn into an eagle and fly
to these clans !
4. An eagle shall bring hither from a distance
him that is fit to be called, (yet) wanders exiled in
a strange land! The Asvins shall prepare for thee
a path, easy to travel! Do ye, his kinfolk, gather
close about him!
5. Thy opponents shall call thee; thy friends have
chosen thee! Indra, Agni, and all the gods have
kept prosperity with this people.
6. The kinsman or the stranger that opposes thy
call, him, O Indra, drive away; then render this.
(king) accepted here!
V. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY. I1l3
III, 4. Prayer at the election of a king.
1. (Thy) kingdom hath come to thee: arise, en-
dowed with lustre! Go forth as the lord of the
people, rule (shine) thou, a universal ruler! All the
regions of the compass shall call thee, O king;
attended and revered be thou here!
2. Thee the clans, thee these regions, goddesses
five, shall choose for empire! Root thyself upon
the height, the pinnacle of royalty: then do thou,
mighty, distribute goods among us! |
3. Thy kinsmen with calls shall come to thee;
agile Agni shall go with them as messenger! Thy
wives, thy sons shall be devoted to thee; being
a mighty (ruler) thou shalt behold rich tribute!
4. The Asvins first, Mitra and Varuza both, all
the gods, and the Maruts, shall call thee! Then fix
thy mind upon the bestowal of wealth, then do thou,
mighty, distribute wealth among us!
5. Hither hasten forth from the farthest distance ;
heaven and earth, both, shall be propitious to thee!
Thus did this king Varumza (as if, ‘the chooser’)
decree that; he himself did call thee: ‘come thou
hither ’!
6. O Indra, Indra, come thou to the tribes of
men, for thou hast agreed, concordant with the
Varumas (as if, ‘the electors’). He did call thee to
thy own domain (thinking): ‘let him revere the
gods, and manage, too, the people’!
7. The rich divinities of the roads, of manifold
diverse forms, all coming together have given thee
a broad domain. ‘They shall all concordantly call
114 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
thee; rule here, a mighty, benevolent (king), up to the tenth decade (of thy life)!
III, 5. Praise of an amulet derived from the parza- tree, designed to strengthen royal power.
1. Hither hath come this amulet of parza-wood,
with its might mightily crushing the enemy. (It is)
the strength of the gods, the sap of the waters: may
it assiduously enliven me with energy !
2. The power to rule thou shalt hold fast in me,
O amulet of parza-wood; wealth (thou shalt hold
fast) in me! May], rooted in the domain of royalty,
become the chief!
3. Their very own amulet which the gods de-
posited s>cretly in the tree, that the gods shall give
us to wear, together with life!
4. The parza has come hither as the mighty
strength of the soma, given by Indra, instructed by
Varuza. May I, shining brilliantly, wear it, unto
long life, during a hundred autumns!
5. Lhe amulet of parvza-wood has ascended upon
me unto complete exemption from injury, that I may
rise superior (even) to friends and alliances!
6. The skilful builders of chariots, and the inge-
nious workers of metal, the folk about me all, do
thou, O parza, make my aids!
7. The kings who (themselves) make kings, the
charioteers, and leaders of hosts, the folk about me
all, do thou, O parza, make my aids!
8. Thou art the body-protecting parza, a hero,
brother of me, the hero. Along with the brilliancy
of the year do I fasten thee on, O amulet!
V. Charms Pertaining to Royalty. Erg
IV, 22. Charm to secure the superiority of a king.
1. This warrior, O Indra, do thou strengthen for
me, do thou install this one as sole ruler (bull) of
the Vis (the people); emasculate all his enemies,
subject them to him in (their) contests!
2. To him apportion his share of villages, horses,
and cattle; deprive of his share the one that is his
enemy! May this king be the pinnacle of royalty ;
subject to him, O Indra, every enemy!
3. May this one be the treasure-lord of riches, may
this king be the tribal lord of the Vis (the people)!
Upon this one, O Indra, bestow great lustre, devoid
of lustre render his enemy !
4. For him shall-ye, O heaven and earth, milk
ample good, as two milch-cows yielding warm milk!
May this king be favoured of Indra, favoured of
cows, of plants, and cattle!
5. I unite with thee Indra who has supremacy,
through whom one conquers and is not (himself)
conquered, who shall install thee as sole ruler of the
people, and as chief of the human kings. :
6. Superior art thou, inferior are thy rivals,
and whatsoever adversaries are thine, O king!
Sole ruler, befriended of Indra, victorious, bring
thou hither the supplies of those who act as thy
enemies !
7. Presenting the front of a lion do thou devour
all (their) people, presenting the front of a tiger do
thou strike down the enemies! Sole ruler, befriended
of Indra, victorious, seize upon the supplies of those
who act as thy enemies!
116 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
I, 9. Prayer for earthly and heavenly success.
1. Upon this (person) the Vasus, Indra, Pishan,
Varuza, Mitra, and Agni, shall bestow goods (vasu)!
The Adityas, and, further, all the gods shall hold
him in the higher light!
2. Light, ye gods, shall be at his bidding : Sarya
(the sun), Agni (fire), or even gold! Inferior to us
shall be our rivals! Cause him to ascend to the
highest heaven !
3. With that most potent charm with which, |
O GAtavedas (Agni), thou didst bring to Indra the
(soma-) drink, with that, O Agni, do thou here
strengthen this one; grant him supremacy over his
kinsmen !
4. Their sacrifice and their glory, their increase
of wealth and their thoughtful plans, I have usurped,
O Agni. Inferior to us shall be our rivals! Cause
him to ascend to the highest heaven !
VI, 38. Prayer for lustre and power.
1. The brilliancy that is in the lion, the tiger,
and the serpent; in Agni, the Brahmaza, and Siarya
(shall be ours)! May the lovely goddess that bore
Indra come to us, endowed with lustre!
2. (The brilliancy) that is in the elephant, panther,
and in gold; in the waters, cattle, and in men (shall
be ours)! May the lovely goddess that bore Indra
come to us, endowed with lustre!
3. (The brilliancy) that is in the chariot, the dice,
in the strength of the bull; in the wind, Parganya,
and in the fire of Varuza (shall be ours)! May the
V. CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY. El7
lovely goddess that bore Indra come to us, endowed with lustre!
4. (The brilliancy) that is in the man of royal
caste, in the stretched drum, in the strength of the
horse, in the shout of men (shall be ours)! May the
lovely goddess that bore Indra come to us, endowed
with lustre !
VI, 39. Prayer for glory (yasas).
1. The oblation that yields glory, sped on by
Indra, of thousandfold strength, well offered, pre-
pared with might, shall prosper! Cause me, that .
offers the oblation, to continue long beholding
(light), and to rise to supremacy !
2. (That he may come) to us, let us honour with
obeisance glory-owning Indra, the glorious one with
glory-yielding (oblations)! Do thou (the oblation)
grant us sovereignty sped on by Indra; may we in
thy favour be glorious!
3. Glorious was Indra born, glorious Agni, glorious
Soma. Glorious, of all beings the most glorious,
am I.