35. (Thyself) a holder, (O pot), hold on to the
foundation of the earth: thee, that art immoveable
190 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
the gods (alone) shall move! Man and wife, alive,
with living children, shall:remove thee from the
hearth of the fire!
36. Thou hast conquered and reached all worlds ;
as many as are our wishes, thou hast satisfied them.
Dip ye in, stirring stick and spoon! Place it (the
porridge) upon a single dish!
37. Lay (ghee) upon it, let it spread forth, anoint
this dish with ghee! As the lowing cow her young
that craves the breast, ye gods shall greet with
sounds of satisfaction this (porridge) !
38. With ghee thou hast covered it, hast made
this place (for the porridge): may it, peerless, spread
afar to heaven! Upon it shall rest the mighty
eagle; gods shall offer it to the divinities!
39. Whatever the wife cooks aside from thee,
(O husband), or the husband (cooks) unbeknown of
thee, O wife, mix that together: to both of you it
shall belong; bring it together into a single place!
40. As many of her children as dwell upon the
earth, and the sons that have been begotten by him,
all those ye shall call up to the dish: on shall come
the young knowing their nest!
41. The goodly streams, swelling with honey,
mixed with ghee, the seats of ambrosia, all these
does he obtain, ascends to heaven. In sixty autumns
the treasurer (of the porridge) shall fetch it!
42. The treasurer shall fetch this treasure: all
outsiders round about shall not control it! The
heaven-directed porridge, that has been presented
and deposited by us, in three divisions has reached
the three heavens.
43. May Agni burn the ungodly Rakshas; the flesh-devouring Pisa&a shall have nothing here to
Ix. Prayers and Imprecations for Brahmans. Iqi
partake of! We drive him away, hold him afar from us: the Adityas and Aagiras shall stay near it!
44. To the Adityas and the Angiras do I offer
this (food of) honey, mixed with ghee. Do ye two,
(man and wife), with clean hands, without having
injured a Brahmaza, performing pious deeds, go to
that heavenly world!
45. I would obtain this highest part of it (the
porridge), the place from which the highest lord
permeates (the all). Pour butter upon it, anoint it
with plentiful ghee: this here is our share, fit for
the Angiras! ,
46. For the sake of truth and holy strength do
we make over this porridge as a hoarded treasure
to the gods: it shall not be lost to us in gaming or
in the assembly; do not let it go to any other
person before me!
47. I cook, and I give (to the Brahmans), and so,
too, my wife, at my religious rite and practice.—With
the birth of a son the world of children has arisen
(for you): do ye two hold on to a life that extends
beyond (your years) !
48. In that place exists no guilt, and no duplicity,
not even if he goes conspiring with his friends.
This full dish of ours has here been deposited: the
cooked (porridge) shall come back again to him that
cooks it! |
49. Kind deeds we shall perform for our friends :
all that hate us shall go to darkness (hell) !—As
(fruitful) cow, and (strong) steer, they (man and
wife) shall during every successive period of their
lives drive away man-besetting death !
50. The fires (all) know one another, that which lives in plants, and lives in the waters, and all the
192 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
(light-) gods that glow upon the heaven. The gold
(here) becomes the light of him that cooks (the
porridge).
51. This (naked skin) among the hides is born
upon man (alone), all other animals are not naked.
Clothe yourselves, (ye Brahmans), in sheltering
garments: (even) the face of the porridge is a home-
spun garment !
52. What falsehood thou shalt speak at play
and in the assembly, or the falsehood that thou
shalt speak through lust for gain—put on together,
(O man and wife), this same garment, deposit upon
it every blemish!
53. Produce rain, go to the gods, let smoke arise
from (thy) surface; all-embracing, about to be
covered with ghee, enter as a co-dweller this
place!
54. In many ways heaven assumes within itself
a different form, according to circumstances. It (the
heaven) has laid aside its black form, purifying itself
to a bright (form); the red form do I sacrifice for
thee into the fire.
55. Lhee here we hand over to the eastern direc-
tion, to Agni as sovereign lord, to the black serpent
as guardian, to Aditya as bowman: do ye guard it
for us, until we arrive! To the goal here he shall
lead us, to old age; old age shall hand us over to
death: then shall we be united with the cooked
(porridge) !
56. Thee here we hand over to the southern
direction, to Indra as sovereign lord, to the serpent
that is striped across as guardian, to Yama as bow-
man: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive! To the
goal here, &c.
Ix. Prayers and Imprecations for Brahmans. 193
57. Thee here we hand over to the western direc-
tion, to Varuza as sovereign lord, to the przdaku-
serpent as guardian, to food as bowman: do ye guard
it for us, until we arrive. To the goal here, &c.
58. Thee here we hand over to the northern
direction, to Soma as sovereign lord, to the svaga-
serpent as guardian, to the lightning as bowman:
do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. To the goal
here, &c.
59. Thee here we hand over to the direction of the
nadir, to Vishzu as sovereign lord, to the serpent
with black-spotted neck as guardian, to the plants
as bowmen: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive.
To the goal here, &c.
60. Thee here we hand over to the direction of
the zenith, to Bvzhaspati as sovereign lord, to the
light-coloured serpent as guardian, to the rain as
bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive.
To the goal here, &c.
IX, 3. Removal of a house that has been presented to a priest as sacrificial reward.
1. The fastenings of the buttresses, the supports,
and also of the connecting beams of the house, that
abounds in treasures, do we loosen.
2. O (house) rich in all treasures! the fetter
which has been bound about thee, and the knot
which has been fastened upon thee, that with my
charm do I undo, as Brzhaspati (undid) Vala.
3. (The builder) has drawn thee together, pressed
thee together, placed firm knots upon thee. Skil-
fully, as the priest who butchers (the Sacrificial
animal), do we with Indra’s aid disjoint thy limbs,
194 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
4. From thy beams, thy bolts, thy frame, and
thy thatch; from thy sides, (O house) abounding in
treasures, do we loosen the fastenings.
5. The fastenings of the dove-tailed (joints), of
the reed (-covering), of the frame-work, do we loosen
here from the ‘ mistress of dwelling.’
6. The ropes which they have tied within thee
for comfort, these do we loosen from thee; be thou
propitious to our persons, O mistress of dwelling,
after thou hast (again) been erected!
7. A receptacle for Soma,a house for Agni, a seat
for the mistresses (of the house), a seat (for the priests),
a seat for the gods art thou, O goddess house!
8. Thy covering of wicker-work, with thousand
eyes, stretched out upon thy crown, fastened down
and laid on, do we loosen with (this) charm.
9. He who receives thee as a gift, O house,
and he by whom thou hast been built, both these,
O mistress of dwelling, shall live attaining old age!
10. Return to him in the other world, firmly
bound, ornamented, (thou house), which we loosen
limb by limb, and joint by joint!
11. He who built thee, O house, brought together
(thy) timbers, he, a Pragdpati on high, did construct
thee, O house, for his progeny (pragayai).
12. We render obeisance to him (the builder) ;
obeisance to the giver, the lord of the house;
obeisance to Agni who serves (the sacrifice); and
air to thy (attendant) man!
. Reverence to the cattle and the horses, and
to eh which is born in the house! Thou that hast
produced, art rich in offspring, thy fetters do we
loosen.
14. Thou dost shelter Agni within, (and) the
Ix. Prayers and Imprecations for Brahmans. 195
domestics together with the cattle. Thou that hast
produced, art rich in offspring, thy fetters do we
loosen.
15. The expanse which is between heaven and
earth, with that do I receive as a gift this house of
thine; the middle region which is stretched out
from the sky, that do I make into a receptacle for
treasures; with that do I receive the house for
this one.
16. Full of nurture, full of milk, fixed upon the |
earth, erected, holding food for all, O house, do
thou not injure them that receive thee as a gift!
17. Enveloped in grass, clothed in reeds, like
night does the house lodge the cattle; erected
thou dost stand upon the earth, like a she-elephant,
firm of foot.
18. The part of thee that was covered with
mats unfolding do I loosen. Thee that hast been
enfolded by Varuza may Mitra uncover in the
morning !
19. The house built with pious word, built by
seers, erected—-may Indra and Agni, the two
immortals, protect the house, the seat of Soma!
20. Chest is crowded upon chest, basket upon
basket; there mortal man is begotten from whom
all things spring.
21. In the house which is built with two facades,
four facades, six facades; in the house with eight
facades, with ten facades, in the ‘mistress of dwell-
ing, Agni rests as if in the womb.
22. lurning towards thee that art turned towards
me, O house, I come to thee that injurest me not.
For Agni and the waters, the first door to divine
order, are within.
196 HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
23. These waters, free from disease, destructive
of disease, do I bring here. The chambers do
I enter in upon in company with the immortal
Agni (fire).
24. Do thou not fasten a fetter upon us; though
a heavy load, become thou light! As a bride do we
carry thee, O house, wherever we please.
25. From the easterly direction of the house
reverence (be) to greatness, hail to the gods who
are to be addressed with hail!
26. From the southerly direction of the house, &c. !
27. From the westerly direction of the house, &c. !
28. From the northerly direction of the house, &c. !
29. From the firm direction (nadir) of the house, &c.!
30. From the upright direction (zenith) of the house, &c. !
31. From every direction of the house reverence
(be) to greatness, hail to the gods who are to be
addressed with hail!
VI, 71. Brahmanical prayer at the receipt of gifts.
1, The varied food which I consume in many
places, my gold, my horses, and, too, my cows, goats,
and sheep: everything whatsoever that I have re-
ceived as a gift—may Agni, the priest, render that
an auspicious offering!
2. The gift that has come to me by sacrifice, or
without sacrifice, bestowed by the Fathers, granted
by men, through which my heart, as it were, lights
up with joy—may Agni, the priest, render that an
auspicious offering!
3. The food that I, O gods, improperly consume,
Ix. Prayers and Imprecations for Brahmans. 197
(the food) I promise, intending to give of it (to the
Brahmans), or not to give of it, by the might of
mighty Vaisvanara (Agni) may (that) food be for
me auspicious and full of honey!
XX, 127. A kuntaépa-hymn. A.
1. Listen, ye folks, to this: (a song) in praise of
a hero shall be sung! Six thousand and ninety
(cows) did we get (when we were) with Kaurama
among the Rusamas,—
2. Whose twice ten buffaloes move right along,
together with their cows; the height of his chariot
just misses the heaven which recedes from its touch.
3. This one (Kaurama) presented the seer with
a hundred jewels, ten chaplets, three hundred steeds,
and ten thousand cattle.
4. Disport thyself, O chanter, disport thyself as
a bird upon a flowering tree; thy tongue glides
quickly over the lips as a razor over the strop.
5. The chanters with their pious song hurry on
blithely as cows; at home are their children, and at
home the cows do they attend.
6. Bring hither, O chanter, thy poem, that which
earns cattle and earns good things! Among the
gods (kings) place thy voice as a manly archer his
arrow !
7. Listen ye to the high praise of the king who
rules over all peoples, the god who is above mortals,
of Vaisvanara Parikshit!