III, 13. Charm for conducting a river into a new channel.
1. Because of yore, when the (cloud-) serpent was
slain (by Indra), ye did rush forth and shout (ana-
data), therefore is your name ‘shouters’ (nadyah
‘rivers’): that is your designation, ye streams!
2. Because, when sent forth by Varuza, ye then
quickly did bubble up; then Indra met (Apnot) you,
as ye went, therefore anon are ye ‘meeters’ (Apad
‘waters ’)!
3. When reluctantly ye flowed, Indra, forsooth,
did with might choose (avivarata) you as his own,
ye goddesses! Therefore ‘choice’ (var ‘ water’) has
been given you as your name!
4. One god stood upon you, as ye flowed accord-
ing to will. Up breathed (ud AnishuZ) they who
are known as ‘the great’ (mahiZ). Therefore ‘up-
breather’ (udakam ‘ water’) are they called!
5. The waters are kindly, the waters in truth were ghee. These waters, truly, do support Agni and
VI¥. CtHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. 147
Soma. May the readily flowing, strong sap of the
honey-dripping (waters) come to me, together with
life's breath and lustre!
6. Then do I see them and also do I hear them ;
their sound, their voice doth come to me.: When,
ye golden-coloured, I have refreshed myself with
you, then I ween, ambrosia (amvzta) am I tasting!
7. Here, ye waters, is your heart, here is your
calf, ye righteous ones! Come ye, mighty ones, by
this way here, by which I am conducting you here!
VI, 106. Charm to ward off danger from fire.
1. Where thou comest, (O fire), and where thou
goest away, the blooming dirva-plant shall grow:
a well-spring there shall rise up, or a lotus-laden pool!
2. Here (shall be) the gathering place of the
waters, here the dwelling-place of the sea! In the
midst of a pond our house shall be: turn, (O fire),
away thy jaws!
3. With a covering of coolness do we envelop
thee, O house; cool as a pond be thou for us! Agni
shall furnish the remedy !
IV, 3. Shepherd’s charm against wild beasts and robbers.
1. Three have gone away from here, the tiger,
man, and wolf. Out of sight, forsooth, go the
rivers, out of sight (grows) the divine tree (the
banyan-tree ?) : out of sight the enemies shall retreat !
2. The wolf shall tread a distant path, and the
robber one still more distant! On a distant path
shall move the biting rope (the serpent), on a distant
path the plotter of evil!
148 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
3. Thy eyes and thy jaw we crush, O tiger, and also all thy twenty claws.
4. We crush the tiger, ‘the foremost of animals,
armed with teeth. Next, too, the thief, and then
the serpent, the wizard, and also the wolf.
5. The thief that approacheth to-day, crushed to
pieces he goeth away. Where the paths are preci-
pitate he shall go, Indra shall slay him with his
bolt !
6. The teeth of the wild beast are dulled, and
broken are his ribs. Out of thy sight the dragon
shall go, down shall tumble the hare-hunting
beast!
7. The (jaw, O beast,) that thou shuttest together,
thou shalt not open up; that which thou openest up,
thou shalt not shut together !—Born of Indra, born
of Soma, thou, (my charm), art Atharvan’s crusher
of tigers.
III, 15. A merchant’s prayer.
1. Indra, the merchant, do I summon: may he
come to us, may he be our van; driving away the
demon of grudge, the waylayers, and wild beasts,
may he, the possessor, bestow wealth upon me!
2. May the many paths, the roads of the gods,
which come together between heaven and earth,
gladden me with milk and ghee, so that I may
gather in wealth from my purchases!
3. Desirous do I, O Agni, with firewood and
ghee offer oblations (to thee), for success and
strength; according to ability praising (thee) with
my prayer, do I sing this divine song, that I may
gain a hundredfold !
4. (Pardon, O Agni, this sin of ours [incurred
Vil} “GHaARMS TO SECURE* PROSPERITY. 149
upon] the far road which we have travelled!) May
our purchases and our sales be successful for us;
may what I get in barter render me a gainer! May
ye two (Indra and Agni) in accord take pleasure in
this oblation! May our transactions and the accru-
ing gain be auspicious to us !
5. The wealth with which I go to purchase, de-
siring, ye gods, to gain wealth through wealth, may
that grow more, not less! Drive away, O Agni, in
return for the oblation, the gods who shut off gain!
6. The wealth with which I go to purchase, de-
siring, ye gods, to gain wealth through wealth, may
Indra, Pragapati, Savitar, Soma, Agni, place lustre
into it for me!
7. We praise with reverence thee, O priest (Agni)
Vaisvanara. Do thou over our children, selves,
cattle, and life’s breath watch !
8. Daily, never failing, shall we bring (oblations to
thee), O Gatavedas, (as if fodder) to a horse stand-
ing (in the stable). In growth of wealth and nutri-
ment rejoicing, may we, O Agni, thy neighbours,
not take harm!
1V, 38. <A. Prayer for success in gambling.
1. The successful, victorious, skilfully gaming
Apsara, that Apsara who makes the winnings in the
game of dice, do I call hither.
2. The skilfully gaming Apsara who sweeps and
heaps up (the stakes), that Apsara who takes the
winnings in the game of dice, do I call hither.
3. May she, who dances about with the dice,
when she takes the stakes from the game of dice,
when she desires to win for us, obtain the advantage
150 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
by (her) magic! May she come to_us full of abun- dance! Let them not win this wealth of ours!
4. The (Apsards) who rejoice in dice, who carry
grief and wrath—that joyful and exulting Apsara, do
I call hither.
B. Prayer to secure the return of calves that have strayed to a distance.
5. They (the cattle) who wander along the rays
of the sun, or they who wander along the flood of
light, they whose bull (the sun), full of strength, from
afar protecting, with the day wanders about all the
worlds—may he (the bull), full of strength, delight-
ing in this offering, come to us together with the
atmosphere !
6. Together with the atmosphere, O thou who
art full of strength, protect the white (karki) calf,
O thou swift steed (the sun)! Here are many drops
(of ghee) for thee; come hither! May this white
calf (karki) of thine, may thy mind, be here!
7. Together with the atmosphere, O thou who
art full of strength, protect the white (karki) calf,
O thou swift steed (the sun)! Here is the fodder,
here the stall, here do we tie down the calf. What-
ever (are your) names, we own you. Hail!
VII, 50. Prayer for success at dice.
1. As the lightning at all times smites irresistibly
the tree, thus would I to-day irresistibly beat the
gamesters with my dice!
2. Whether they be alert, or not alert, the fortune
of (these) folks, unresisting, shall assemble from all
sides, the gain (collect) within my hands!
VII. CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY. It
3. I invoke with reverence Agni, who has his
own riches; here attached he shall heap up gain
for us! I procure (wealth) for myself, as if with
chariots that win the race. May I accomplish au-
spiciously the song of praise to the Maruts!
4. May we by thy aid conquer the (adversary’s)
troop; help us (to obtain) our share in every con-
test! Make for us, O Indra, a good and ample
road ; crush, O Maghavan, the lusty power of our
enemies!
5. I have conquered and cleaned thee out (?);
I have also gained thy reserve. As the wolf plucks
to pieces the sheep, thus do I pluck thy winnings.
6. Even the strong hand the bold player conquers, —
as the skilled gambler heaps up his winnings at
the proper time. Upon him that loves the game
(the god), and does not spare his money, (the game,
the god) verily bestows the delights of wealth.
7. Through (the possession of) cattle we all
would suppress (our) wretched poverty, or with
grain our hunger, O thou oft implored (god)! May
we foremost among rulers, unharmed, gain wealth
by our cunning devices !
8. Gain is deposited in my right hand, victory in
my left. Let me become a conqueror of cattle,
horses, wealth, and gold!
9. O dice, yield play, profitable as a cow that is
rich in milk! Bind me to a streak of gain, as the
bew (is bound) with the string!
VI, 56. Exorcism of serpents from the premises.
1. May the serpent, ye gods, not slay us along with our children and our men! The closed (jaw)
I52 HYMNS: OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
shall not snap open, the open one not close! Rever- ence (be) to the divine folk !
2. Reverence be to the black serpent, reverence
to the one that is striped across! To the brown
svaga reverence; reverence to the divine folk!
3. I clap thy teeth upon thy teeth, and also thy
jaw upon thy jaw; I press thy tongue against thy
tongue, and close up, O serpent, thy mouth.
X, 4. Charm against serpents, invoking the horse of Pedu that slays serpents.
1. To Indra belongs the first chariot, to the gods
the second chariot, to Varuza, forsooth, the third.
The serpents’ chariot is the last: it shall hit a post,
and come to grief!
2. The young darbha-grass burns (the serpents ?),
the tail of the horse, the tail of the shaggy one, the
seat of the wagon (burns the serpents ?).
3. Strike down, O white (horse), with thy fore-
foot and thy hind-foot! As timber floating in water,
the poison of the serpents, the fierce fluid, is devoid
of strength.
4. Neighing loudly he dived down, and, again
diving up, said: ‘As timber floating in water, the
poison of the serpents, the fierce fluid, is devoid of
strength.’
5. The horse of Pedu slays the kasarzila, the
horse of Pedu slays the white (serpent), and also
the black. The horse of Pedu cleaves the head of
the ratharvi, the adder.
6. O horse of Pedu, go thou first: we come after
thee! Thou shalt cast out the serpents from the
road upon which we come !
7. Here the horse of Pedu was born; from here
Vii. Charms to Secure Prosperity. B53
is his departure. Here are the tracks of the serpent- killing, powerful steed!
8. May the closed (serpent’s jaw) not snap open,
may the open one not close! The two serpents in
this field, man and wife, they are both bereft of
strength.
g. Without strength here are the serpents, those
that are near, and those that are far. With a club
do I slay the vrzskika (scorpion), with a staff the
serpent that has approached.
10. Here is the remedy for both the aghasva and
the svaga! Indra (and) Pedu’s horse have put to
naught the evil-planning (aghayantam) serpent.
11. The horse of Pedu do we remember, the
strong, with strong footing: behind lie, staring forth,
these adders.
12. Deprived are they of life’s spirit, deprived of
poison, slain by Indra with his bolt. Indra hath
slain them: we have slain them.
13. Slain are they that are striped across, crushed
are the adders! Slay thou the one that produces
a hood, (slay) the white and the black in the darbha-
grass !
14. The maiden of the Kirata-tribe, the little one
digs up the remedy, with golden spades, on the
mountain's back.
15. Hither has come a youthful physician: he
slays the speckled (serpent), is irresistible. He,
forsooth, crushes the svaga and the vvzskika both.
16. Indra did set at naught for me the serpent,
(and so did) Mitra and Varuza, Vata and Parganya
both.
17. Indra did set at naught for me the serpent, the adder, male and female, the svaga, (the serpent)
154 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
that is striped across, the kasarwila, and the dasonasi. 7
18. Indra slew thy first ancestor, O serpent, and
since they are crushed, what strength, forsooth, can
be theirs ?
19. I have gathered up their heads, as the fisher-
man the karvara (fish). I have gone off into the
river's midst, and washed out the serpent’s poison.
20. The poison of all serpents the rivers shall
carry off! Slain are they that are striped across,
crushed are the adders!
21. As skilfully I cull the fibre of the plants, as
I guide the mares, (thus), O serpent, shall thy poison
go away !
22. The poison that is in the fire, in the sun, in.
the earth, and in the plants, the kanda-poison, the
kanaknaka, thy poison shall go forth, and come!
23. The serpents that are sprung from the fire,
that are sprung from the plants, that are sprung
from the water, and originate from the lightning ;
they from whom great brood has sprung in many
ways, those serpents do we revere with obeisance.
24. Thou art, (O plant), a maiden, Taudi by
name; Ghvzta&i, forsooth, is thy name. Underfoot
is thy place: I take in hand what destroys the
poison.
25. From every limb make the poison start ; shut
it out from the heart! Now the force that is in thy
poison shall go down below!
26. The poison has gone to a distance: he has
shut it out; he has fused the poison with poison.
Agni has put away the poison of the serpent, Soma
has led it out. The poison has gone back to the
biter. The serpent is dead!