Atharva1

Hymns of the Atharva Veda – Translation by M Bloomfield
Excerpt from the Introduction
The present volume of translations comprises about one third of the entire material of the
Atharva-veda in the text of the Saunaka-school. But it represents the contents and spirit of the
fourth Veda in a far greater measure than is indicated by this numerical statement. The twentieth
book of the Samhitâ, with the exception of the so-called kuntâpasûktini (hymns 127-136), seems
to be a verbatim repetition of mantras contained in the Rig-veda, being employed in the Vaitâna-
sûra at the sastras and stotras of the soma-sacrifice: it is altogether foreign to the spirit of the
original Atharvan. The nineteenth book is a late addendum, in general very corrupt; its omission
(with the exception of hymns 26, 34, 35, 38, 39, 53, and 54) does not detract much from the
general impression left by the body of the collection. The seventeenth book consists of a single
hymn of inferior interest. Again, books XV and XVI, the former entirely Brahmanical prose, the
latter almost entirely so, are of doubtful quality and chronology. Finally, books XIV and XVIII
contain respectively the wedding and funeral stanzas of the Atharvan, and are largely coincident
with corresponding Mantras of the tenth book of the Rig-veda: they are, granted their intrinsic
interest, not specifically Atharvanic. Of the r est of the Atharvan (books I-XIII) there is presented
here about one half, naturally that half which seemed to the translator the most interesting and
characteristic. Since not a little of the collection rises scar cely above the level of mere verbiage,
the process of exclusion has not called for any great degree of abstemiousness.
These successive acts of exclusion have made it possible to present a fairly complete history of
each of the hymns translated. The employment of the hymns in the Atharvanic practices is in
closer touch with the original purpose of the composition or compilation of the hymns than is
true in the case of the other collections of Vedic hymns. Many times, though by no means at all
times, the practices connected with a given hymn present the key to the corr ect interpr etation of
the hymn itself. In any case it is instructive to see what the Atharvan priests did with the hymns
of their own school, even if we must judge their performances to be secondary.
I do not consider any tr anslation of the AV. at this time as final. The most difficult problem,
hardly as yet ripe for final solution, is the original function of many mantras, after they have
been stripped of certain adaptive modifications, imparted to them to meet the immediate purpose
of the Atharvavedin. Not infrequently a stanza has to be rendered in some measure of harmony
with its connection, when, in fact, a more original meaning, not at all applicable to its present
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Hymns of the Atharva Veda – Translation by M Bloomfield
environment, is but scantily covered up by the 'secondary modifications of the text. This garbled
tradition of the ancient texts partakes of the character of popular etymology in the course of the
transmission of wofds. New meaning is read into the mantras, and any little stubbornness on
their part is met with modifications of their wording. The critic encounters here a ver y difficult
situation: searching investigation of the remaining Vedic collections is necessary before a bridge
can be built from the more original meaning to the meaning implied and required by the situation
in a given Atharvan hymn. Needless to say the only correct and useful way to translate a mantra
in the Atharvan, is to reproduce it with the bent which it has received in the Atharvan. The other
Vedic collections are by no means free from the same taint. The entire Vedic tradition, the Rig-
veda not excepted, presents rather the conclusion than the beginning of a long period of literary
activity. Conventionality of subject-matter, style, form (metre), &c., betray themselves at ever y
step: the 'earliest' books of the RV. are not exempt from the same processes of secondary
grouping and adaptation of their mantras, though these are less frequent and less obvious than is
the case in the Atharva-veda.
Obligations to previous translators: Weber, Muir, Ludwig, Zimmer, Grill', Henry, &c., are
acknowledged in the introduction to each hymn. I regret that the work was in the hands of the
printer prior to the appearance of Professor Henr y's excellent version of books X-XII. The late
lamented Professor Whitney kindly furnished me with the advance sheets of the late Shankar
Pandurang Pandit's scholarly edition of the AV. with Sâyana's commentary, as also with many of
the readings of the Cashmir text (the so-called Paippalâda-sâkhâ) of the AV. Neither the
Paippalâda nor Sâyana sensibly relieves the task of its difficulty and responsibility.
MAURICE BLOOMFIELD.
JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY,
BALTIMORE: April, 1896.
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Hymns of the Atharva Veda – Translation by M Bloomfield
I.
CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES AND POSSESSION BY
DEMONS OF DISEASE (BHAISHAGYKNI).
V, 22. Charm against takman (fever) and related diseases.
1. May Agni drive the takman away from her e, may Soma, the press-stone, and Varuna, of tried
skill; may the altar, the straw (upon the altar), and the brightly-flaming fagots (drive him away) !
Away to naught shall go the hateful powers!
2. Thou that makest all men sallow, inflarning them like a searing fire, even now, O takman, thou
shalt become void of strength: do thou now go away down, aye, into the depths!
The takman that is spotted, covered Nvith spots, like reddish sediment, him thou, (O plant) of
unremitting potency, drive away down below!
4. Having made obeisance to the takman, I cast him down below: let him, the champion of
Sakambhara, return again to the Mahâvrishas!
5. His home is with the Mûgavants, his home with the Mahâvrishas. From the moment of thy
birth thou art indigenous with the Balhikas.
6. O takman, vyãla, ví gada, vyánga, hold off (thy missile) far! Seek the gadabout slave-girl,
strike her with thy bolt!
7. O takman, go to the Mûgavants, or to the Balhikas farther away! Seek the lecherous Sûdra
female: her, O takman, give a good shaking-up!
8. Go away to the Mahâvrishas and the Mûgavants, thy kinsfolk, and consume them! Those
(regions) do we bespeak for the takman, or these r egions here other (than ours).
9. (If) in other regions thou dost not abide, mayest thou that art powerful take pity on us!
Takman, now, has become eager: he will go to the Balhikas.
10. When thou, being cold, and then again deliriously hot, accompanied by cough, didst cause
the (sufferer) to shake, then, O takman, thy missiles were terrible: from these surely exempt us!
11. By no means ally thyself with balâsa, cough and spasm! From there do thou not return hither
again: that, O takman, do I ask of thee!
12. O takman, along with thy brother balâsa, along with thy sister cough, along with thy cousin
pâman, go to yonder foreign folk!
13. Destroy the takman that returns on (each) third day, the one that intermits (each) third day,
the one that continues without intermission, and the autumnal one; destroy the cold takman, the
hot, him that comes in summer, and him that arrives in the rainy season!
14. To the Gandhâris, the Mâgavants, the Angas, and the Magadhas, we deliver over the takman,
like a servant, like a treasure!
{06020}
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Hymns of the Atharva Veda – Translation by M Bloomfield
VI, 20. Charm against takman (fever).
1. As if from this Agni (fire), that burns and flashes, (the takman) comes. Let him then, too, as a
babbling drunkard, pass away! Let him, the impious one, search out some other person, not
ourselves! Reverence be to the takman with the burning weapon!
2. Reverence be to Rudra, reverence to the takman, reverence to the luminous king Varuna!
Reverence to heaven, reverence to earth, reverence to the plants!
3. To thee here, that burnest through, and turnest all bodies yellow, to the red, to the brown, to
the takman produced by the forest, do I render obeisance.
{01025}
I, 25. Charm against takman (fever).
1. When Agni, having entered the waters, burned, where the (gods) who uphold the order (of the
universe) rendered homage (to Agni), ther e, they say, is thy origin on high: do thou feel for us,
and spare us, O takman!
2. Whether thou art flame, whether thou art heat, or whether from licking chips (of wood) thou
bast arisen, Hrûdu by name art thou, O god of the yellow: do thou feel for us, and spare us, O
takman!
3. Whether thou art burning, whether thou art scorching, or whether thou art the son of king
Varuna, Hrûdu by name art thou, O god of the yellow: do thou feel for us, and spare us, O
takman!
4. To the cold takman, and to the deliriously hot, the glowing, do I render homage. To hirn that
returns on the morrow, to him that returns for two (successive) days, to the takman that returns
on the third day, homage shall be!
{07116}
VII, 116. Charm against takman (fever).
1. Homage (be) to the deliriously hot, the shaking, exciting, impetuous (takman)! Homage to the
cold (takman), to him that in the past fulfilled desires!
2. May (the takman) that returns on the morrow, he that returns on two (successive) days, the
impious one, pass into this frog!
{05004}
V, 4. Prayer to the kushtha-plant to destroy takman (fever).
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Hymns of the Atharva Veda – Translation by M Bloomfield
1. Thou that art born upon the mountains, as the most potent of plants, come hither, O kushtha,
destroyer of the takman, to drive out from here the takman!
2. To thee (that growest) upon the mountain, the brooding-place of the eagle, (and) art sprung
from Himavant, they come with treasures, having heard (thy fame). For they know (thee to be)
the destroyer of the takman.
3. The asvattha-tree is the seat of the gods in the third heaven from here. There the gods procured
the kushtha, the visible manifestation of amrita ( ambrosia).
4. A golden ship with golden tackle moved upon the heavens. Ther e the gods procured the
kushtha, the flower of amrita (ambrosia).
5. The paths were golden, and golden were the oars; golden were the ships, upon which they
carried forth the kushtha hither (to the mountain).
6. This person here, O kushtha, restore for me, and cure him! Render him free from sickness for
me!
7. Thou art born of the gods, thou art Soma's good friend. Be thou propitious to my in-breathing
and my out-breathing, and to this eye of mine!
8. Sprung in the north from the Himavant (mountains), thou art brought to the people in the east.
There the most stiperior varieties of the kushtha were apportioned.
9. 'Superior,' O kushtha, is thy name; 'superior' is the name of thy father. Do thou drive out all
disease, and render the takman devoid of strength!
10. Pain in the head, affliction in the eye, and ailment of the body, all that shall the kushtha heal-
a divinely powerful (remedy), forsooth!
{19039}
XIX, 39. Prayer to the kushtha-plant to destroy takman
(fever), and other ailments.
1. May the protecting god kushtha come hither f rom the Himavant: destroy thou ever y takman,
and all female spooks!
2. Three names hast thou, O kushtha, (namely: kushtha), na-ghâ-mâra ('forsooth-no-death'), and
na-ghâ-risha ('forsooth-no-harm'). Verily no harm shall suffer (na ghâ . . . rishat) this person
here, for whom I bespeak thee morn and eve, aye the (entire) day!
3. Thy mother's name is gîvalâ ( 'quickening'), thy father's name is gîvanta ( 'living'). Verily no
harm shall suffer this person here, for whom I bespeak thee morn and eve, aye the entire day!
4. Thou art the most superior of the plants, as a steer among cattle, as the tiger among beasts of
prey. Verily no harm shall stiffer this person her e, for whom I bespeak thee morn and eve, aye
the entire day!
5. Thrice begotten by the Sâmbu Angiras, thrice by the Âdityas, and thrice by all the gods, this
kushtha, a universal remedy, stands together with soma. Destroy thou ever y takman, and all
female spooks!
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Hymns of the Atharva Veda – Translation by M Bloomfield
6. The asvattha-tree is the seat of the gods in the third heaven from here. There came to sight the
amrita (ambrosia), there the kushtha-plant was born.
7. A golden ship with golden tackle moved upon the heavens. There came to sight the amrita,
there the kushtha-plant was born.
8. On the spot where the ship glided down, on the peak of the Himavant, there came to sight the
ambrosia, there the kushtha-plant was born. This kushtha, a universal r emedy, stands together
with soma. Destroy thou every takman, and all female spooks!
9. (We know) thee whom Ikshvâku knew of yore, whom the women, fond of kushtha, knew,
whom Vâyasa and Mâtsya knew: therefore art thou a universal remedy.
10. The takman that returns on each third day, the one that cominues without intermission, and
the yearly one, ao thou, (O plant) of unremitting strength, drive away down below!
{01012}
I, 12. Prayer to lightning, conceived as the cause of fever,
headache, and cough.
1. The first red bull, born of the (cloud-)womb, born of wind and clouds, comes on thundering
with rain. May he, that cleaving moves straight on, spare our bodies; he who, a single force, has
passed through threefold!
2. Bowing down to thee that fastenest thyself with heat upon every limb, we would reverence
thee with oblations; we would reverence with oblations the crooks and hooks of thee that hast, as
a seizer, seized the limbs of this person.
3. Free him from headache and also from cough, (produced by the lightning) that has entered his
every joint! May the flashing (lightning), that is born of the cloud, and born of the wind, strike
the trees and the mountains!
4. Comfort be to my upper limb, comfort be to my nether; comfort be to my four members,
comfort to my entire body!
{01022}
I, 22. Charm against jaundice and related diseases.
1. Up to the sun shall go thy heart-ache and thy jaundice: in the colour of the red bull do we
eovelop thee!
2. We envelop thee in red tints, unto long life. May this person go unscathed, and be free of
vellow colour!
3. The cows whose divinity is Rohini, they who, moreover, axe (themselves) red (róhinin)-(in
their) every form and every strength we do envelop thee.
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Hymns of the Atharva Veda – Translation by M Bloomfield
4. Into the parrots, into the ropanâkâs (thrush) do we put thy jaundice, and, furthermore, into the
hâridravas (yellow wagtail) do we put thy jaundice.
{06014}
VI, 14. Charm against the disease balâsa.
1. The internal disease that has set in, that crumbles the bones, and crumbles the joints, ever y
balâsa do thou drive out, that which is in the limbs, and in the joints!
2. The balâsa of him that is afflicted with balâsa do I remove, as one gelds a lusty animal. Its
connection do I cut off as the root of a pumpkin.
3. Fly forth from here, O balâsa, as a swift foal (after the mare). And even, as the reed in every
year, pass away without slaying men!
{04105}
VI, 105. Charm against cough.
1. As the-soul with the soul's desires swiftly to a distance flies, thus do thou, O cough, fly forth
along the soul's course of flight!
2. As a well-sharpened arrow swiftly to a distance flies, thus do thou, O cough, fly forth along
the expanse of the earth!
3. As the rays of the sun swiftly to a distance fly, thus do thou, O cough, fly forth along the flood
of the sea!
{01002}
I, 2. Charm against excessive discharges from the body.
1. We know the father of the arrow, Parg-anya, who furnishes bountiful fluid, and well do we
know his mother, Prithivi (earth), the multiform!
2. O bowstring, turn aside from us, turn my body into stone! Do thou fir mly hold very far away
the hostile powers and the haters!
3. When the bowstring, embracing the wood (of the bow), greets with a whiz the eaoer arrow, do
thou, O Indra, ward off from us the piercing missile!
4. As the point (of the arrow) stands in the way of heaven and earth, thus may the muñga-grass
unfailingly stand in the way of sickness and (excessive) discharge!
{02003}
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Hymns of the Atharva Veda – Translation by M Bloomfield
II, 3. Charm against excessive discharges from the body,
undertaken with spring-water.
1. The spring-water yonder which runs down upon the mountain, that do I render healing for
thee, in order that thou mayest contain a potent remedy.
2. Then surely, yea quite surely, of the hundred remedies contained in thee, thou art the most
superior in checking discharges and removing pain.
3. Deep down do the Asuras bury this great healer of wounds: that is the cure for discharges, and
thal hath removed disease.
4. The ants bring the remedy from the sea: that is the cure for discharges, and that hath quieted
disease.
5. This great healer of wounds has been gotten out of the earth: that is the cure for discharges,
and
that hath removed disease.
6. May the waters afford us welfar e, may the herbs be propitious to us I Indra's bolt shall beat off
the Rakshas, far (from us) shall fly the arrows cast by the Rakshas!
{06044}
VI, 44. Charm against excessive discharges from the body.
1. The heavens have stood still, the earth has stood still, all creatures have stood still. The trees
that sleep erect have stood still: may this disease of thine stand still!
2. Of the hundred remedies which thou hast, of the thousand that have been collected, this is the
most excellent cure for discharges, the best remover of disease.
3. Thou art the urine of Rudra, the navel of amrita (ambrosia). Thy name, forsooth, is vishânakâ,
(thou art) arisen from the foundation of the Fathers, a remover of diseases produced by the winds
(of the body).
{01003}
I, 3. Charm against constipation and retention of urine.
1. We know the father of the arrow, Parganya, of hundredfold power. With this (charm) may I
render comfortable thy body: make thy Outpouring upon the earth; out of thee may it come with
the sound bâl!
2. We know the father of the arrow, Mitra, &c.
3. We know the father of the arrow, Varuna, &c.
4. We know the father of the arrow, Kandra, &c.
5. We know the father of the arrow, Sûrya, &c.
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6. That which has accumulated in thy entralls. thy canals, in thy bladder-thus let thy urine be
released, out completely, with the sound bâl!
7, I split open thy penis like the dike of a lake--thus let thy urine be released, out completely,
with the sound bâl!
8. Relaxed is the opening of thy bladder like the ocean, the reservoir of water --thus let thy urine
be released, out completely, with the sound bâl!
9. As an arrow flies to a distance when hurled from the bow-thus let thy urine be released, out
completely, with the sound bâl!
{06090}
VI, 90. Charm against internal pain (colic), due to the
missiles of Rudra.
1. The arrow that Rudra did cast upon thee, into (thy) limbs, and into thy heart, this here do we
now draw out away from thee.
2. From the hundred arteries which are distributed along thy limbs, from all of these do we
exorcise forth the poisons.
3. Adoration be to thee, O Rudra, as thou casteth (thy arrow); adoration to the (arrow) when it
has been placed upon (the bow); adoration to it as it is being hurled; adoration to it when it has
fallen down!
{01010}
I, 10. Charm against dropsy.
1. This Asura rules over the gods; the commands of Varuna, the ruler, surely come true. From
this (trouble), from the wrath of the mighty (Varuna), do I, excelling in my incantation, lead out
this man.
2. Reverence, O king Varuna, be to thy wrath, for all falsehood, O mighty one, clost thou
discover. A thousand others together do I make over to thee: this thy (man) shall live a hundred
autumns!
3. From the untruth which thou hast spoken, the abundant wrong, with thy tongue--from king,
Varuna I release thee, whose laws do not fail.
4. I release thee from Vaisvânara (Agni), from the great flood. Our rivals, O mighty one, do thou
censure here, and give heed to our prayer!
{07083}
VII, 83. Charm against dropsy.
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1. Thy golden chamber, king Varuna, is built in the waters! Thence the king that maintains the
laws shall loosen all shackles!
2. From every habitation (of thine), O king Varuna, from here do thou free us! In that we have
said, 'ye waters, ye cows;' in that we have said, 'O Varuna,' from this (sin), O Varuna, free us!
3. Lift from us, O Varuna, the uppermost fetter, take down the nethermost, loosen the
middlemost! Then shall we, O Âditya, in thy law, exempt from guilt, live in freedom!
4. Loosen from us, O Varuna, all fetters, the uppermost, the nethermost, and those imposed by
Varuna! Evil dreams, and misfortune drive away from us: then may we go to the world of the
pious!
{06024}
VI, 24. Dropsy, heart-disease, and kindred maladies cured
by flowing water.
1. From the Himavant (mountains) they flow forth, in the Sindhu (Indus), forsooth, is their
assembling-place: may the waters, indeed, grant me that cure for heart-ache!
2. The pain that hurts me in the eyes, and that which hurts in the heels and the fore-feet, the
waters, the most skilled of physicians, shall put all that to rights!
3. Ye rivers all, whose mistress is Sindhu, whose queen is Sindhu, grant us the remedy for that:
through this (remedy) may we derive benefit from you!
{06080}
VI, 80. An oblation to the sun, conceived as one of the two
heavenly dogs, as a cure for paralysis.
1. Through the air he flies, looking down upon all beings: with the majesty of the heavenly dog,
with that oblation would we pay homage to thee!
2. The three kâlakâñga that are fixed upon the sky like gods, all these I have called for help, to
render this person exempt from injury.
3. In the waters is thy origin, upon the heavens thy home, in the middle of the sea, and upon the
earth thy greatness. With the majesty of the heavenly dog, with that oblation would we pay
homage to thee!
{02008}
II, 8. Charm against kshetriya, hereditary disease.
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1. Up have risen the majestic twin stars, the vikritau ('the two looseners'); may they loosen the
nethermost and the uppermost fetter of the kshetriya (inherited disease)!
2. May this night shine (the kshetriya) away, may she shine away the witches; may the plant,
destructive of kshetriya, shine the kshetriya away!
3. With the straw of thy brown barley, endowed with white stalks, with the blossom of the
sesame--may the plant, destructive of kshetriya, shine the: kshetriya away!
4. Reverence be to thy ploughs, reverence to thy wagon-poles and yokes! May the plant,
destructive of kshetriya, shine the kshetriya away!
5. Reverence be to those with sunken eyes reverence to the indicenous (evils?), reverence to the
lord of the field! May the plant, destructive of kshetriya, shine the kshetriya away!
{02010}
II, 10. Charm against kshetriya, hereditary disease.
1. From kshetriya (inherited disease), from Nirriti (the goddess of destruction), from the curse of
the kinswoman, from Druh (the demon of guile), from the fetter of Varuna do I release thee.
Guiltless do I render thee through my charm; may heaven and earth both be propitious to thee!
2. May Agni together with the waters be auspicious to thee, may Soma together with the plants
be auspicious. Thus from kshetriya, from Nir riti, from the curse of the kinswoman, from the
Druh, from the fetter of Varuna do I release thee. Guiltless do I render thee through my charm;
may heaven and earth both be propitious to thee!
May the wind in the atmosphere auspiciously bestow upon thee strength, may the four quarters
of the heaven be auspicious to thee. Thus from kshetriya, from Nirriti &c.
4. These four goddesses, the directions of space, the consorts of the wind, the sun surveys. Thus
from kshetriya, from Nirriti &c.
5. Within these (directions) I assign thee to old age; forth to a distance shall go Nirriti and
disease! Thus from kshetriya, from Nirriti &c.
6. Thou hast been released from disease, from mishap, and from blame; out from the fetter of
Druh, and from Grâhi (the demon of fits) thou hast been released. Thus from kshetriya, from
Nirriti &c.
7. Thou didst leave behind Arâti (the demon of grudge), didst obtain prosperity, didst enter the
happy world of the pious. Thus from kshetriya, from Nirriti &c.
8. The gods, releasing the sun and the ritam (the divine order of the universe) from darkness and
from Grâhi, did take them out of sin. Thus from kshetriya, from Nirriti &c.
{03007}
III, 7. Charm against kshetriya, hereditary disease.
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Hymns of the Atharva Veda – Translation by M Bloomfield
1. Upon the head of the nimble antelope a remedy grows! He has driven the kshetriya ( inherited
disease) in all directions by means of the horn.
2. The antelope has gone after thee with his four feet. O horn, loosen the kshetriya that is knitted
into his heart!
3. (The horn) that glistens yonder like a roof with four wings (sides), with that do we drive out
every kshetriya from thy limbs.
4. The lovely twin stars, the vikritau ('the two looseners') that are yonder upon the sky, shall
loosen the nethermost and the uppermost fetter of the kshetriya!
5. The waters, verily, are healers, the waters are scatterers of disease, the waters cure all disease:
may they. relieve thee from the kshetriya!
6. The kshetriya that has entered into thee from the prepared (magic) concoction, for that I know
the remedy; I drive the kshetriya out of thee.
7. When the constellations fade away, and when the dawn does fade away, (then) shall he shine
away from us every evil and the kshetriya!
{01023}
I, 23. Leprosy cured by a dark plant.
1. Born by night art thou, O plant, dark, black, sable. Do thou, that art rich in colour, stain this
leprosy, and the gray spots!
2. The leprosy and the gray spots drive away from here--may thy native colour settle upon thee--
the white spots cause to fly away!
3. Sable is thy hiding-place, sable thy dwelling-place, sable art thou, O plant: drive away from
here the speckled spots!
4. The leprosy which has originated in the bones, and that which has originated in the body and
upon the skin, the white mark begotten of corruption, I have destroyed with my charm.
{01024}
I, 24. Leprosy cured by a dark plant.
1. The eagle (suparna) that was born at first, his gall thou wast, O plant. The Âsurî having
conquered this (gall) gave it to the trees for their colour.
2. The Âsurî was the first to construct this remedy for leprosy, this destroyer of leprosy. She has
destroyed the leprosy, has made the skin of even colour.
3. 'Even-colour' is the name of thy mother; 'Even-colour ' is the name of thy father; thou, O plant,
producest even colour: render this (spot) of even colour!
4. The black (plant) that produces even colour has been fetched out of the earth. Do thou now,
pray, perfect this, construct anew the colours!
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{06083}
VI, 83. Charm for curing scrofulous sores called apakit.
1. Fly forth, ye apakit (sores), as an eagle from the nest! Sûrya (the sun) shall prepare a remedy,
Kandramâs (the moon) shall shine you away!
2. One is variegated, one is white, one is black, and two are red: I have gotten the names of all of
them. Go ye away without slaying men!
3. The apakit, the daughter of the black one, without bearing offspring will fly away; the boil will
fly away from here, the galunta (swelling) will perish.
4. Consume thy own (proper) oblation with gratification in thy mind, when I here offer svâhâ in
my mind!
{07076}
VII, 76. A. Charm for curing scrofulous sores called apakit.
1. Ye (sores) fall easily from that which falls easily, ye exist less than those that do not exist (at
all); ye are drier than the (part of the body called) sehu, more moist than salt.
2. The apakit (sores) that are upon the neck, and those that are upon the shoulders; the apakit that
are upon the vigâman (some part of the body) fall off of themselves.
B. Charm for curing tumours called gâyânya.
3. The gâyânya that crushes the ribs, that which passes down to the sole of the foot, and
whichever is fixed upon the crown of the head, I have driven out every one.
4. The gâyânya, winged, flies; he settles down upon man. Here is the remedy both for sores not
caused by cutting as well as for wounds sharply cut!
5. We know, O gâyânya, thy origin, whence thou didst spring. How canst thou slay there, in
whose house we offer oblations?
C. Stanza sung at the mid-day pressure of the soma.
6. Drink stoutly, O Indra, slayer of Vritra, hero, of the soma in the cup, at the battle for riches!
Drink thy fill at the mid-day pressure! Living in wealth, do thou bestow wealth upon us!
{07074}
VII, 74. A. Charm for curing scrofulous sores called apakit.
1. We have heard it said that the mother of the black Apakit (pustules) is red: with the root
(found by) the divine sage do I strike all these.
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2. I strike the foremost one of them, and I strike also the middlemost of them; this hindmost one I
cut off as a flake (of wool).
B. Charm to appease jealousy.
3. With Tvashtar's charm I have sobered down thy jealousy; also thy anger, O lord, we have
quieted.
C. Prayer to Agni, the lord of vows.
4. Do thou, O lord of vows, adorned with vows, ever benevolently here shine! May we all,
adoring thee, when thou hast been kindled, O Gâtavedas, be rich in offspring!
{06025}
VI, 25. Charm against scrofulous sores upon neck and
shoulders.
1. The five and fifty (sores) that gather together upon the nape of the neck, from here they all
shall pass away, as the pustules of the (disease called) apakit!
2. The seven and seventy (sores) that gather together upon the neck, from here they all shall pass
away, as the pustules of the (disease called) apakit!
3. The nine and ninety (sores) that gather together upon the shoulders, from here they all shall
pass away, as the pustules of the (disease called) apakit!
{06057}
VI, 57. Urine (gâlâsha) as a cure for scrofulous sores.
1. This, verily, is a remedy, this is the remedy of Rudra, with which one may charm away the
arrow that has one shaft and a hundred points!
2. With gâlâsha (urine) do ye wash (the tumour), with gâlâsha do ye sprinkle it! The gâlâsha is a
potent remedy: do thou (Rudra) with it show mercy to us, that we may live!
3. Both well-being and comfort shall be ours, and nothing whatever shall injure us! To the
ground the disease (shall fall): may ever y remedy be ours, may all remedies be ours!
{04012}
IV, 12. Charm with the plant arundhatî (lâkshâ) for the cure
of fractures.
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1. Rohan! art thou, causing to heal (rohanî), the br oken bone thou causest to heal (rohanî): cause
this here to heal (rohaya), O arundhatî!
2. That bone of thine which, injured and burst, exists in thy person, Dhâtar shall kindly knit
together again, joint with joint!
3. Thy marrow shall unite with marrow, and thy joint (unite) with joint; the part of thy flesh that
has fallen off, and thy bone shall grow together again!
4. Thy marrow shall be joined together with marrow, thy skin grow together with skin! Thy
blood, thy bone shall grow, thy flesh grow together with flesh!
5. Fit together hair with hair, and fit together skin with skin! Thy blood, thy bone shall grow:
what is cut join thou together, O plant!
6. Do thou here rise up, go forth, run forth, (as) a chariot with sound wheels, firm feloe, and
strong nave; stand upright firmly!
7. If he has been injured by falling into a pit, or if a stone was cast and hurt him, may he (Dhâtar,
the fashioner) fit him together, joint to joint, as the wagoner (Ribhu) the parts of a chariot!
{05005}
V, 5. Charm with the plant silâki (lâkshâ, arundhatî) for the
cure of wounds.
1. The night is thy mother, the cloud thy father, Aryaman thy grandfather. Silâkî, forsooth, is thy
name, thou art the sister of the gods.
2. He that drinks thee lives; (that) person thou dost preserve. For thou art the supporter of all
successive (generations), the refuge of men.
3. Every tree thou dost climb, like a wench lusting after a man. 'Victorious,' 'firmly founded,'
'saving,' verily, is thy name.
4. The wound that has been inflicted by the club, by the arrow, or by fire, of that thou art the
cure: do thou cure this person here!
5. Upon the noble plaksha-tree (ficus infectoria) thou growest up, upon the asvattha (ficus
religiosa), the khadir a (acacia catechu), and the dhava (grislea tomentosa); (thou growest up)
upon the noble nyagrodha (ficus indica, banyan-tree), and the parna (butea frondosa). Come thou
to us, O arundhatî!
6. O gold-coloured, lovely, sun-coloured, most handsome (plant), mayest thou come to the
fracture, O cure! 'Cure,' verily, is thy name!
7. O gold-coloured, lovely, fiery (plant), with hairy stem, thou art the sister of the waters, O
lâkshâ, the wind became thy ver y breath.
8. Silâkî is thy name, O thou that art brown as a goat, thy father is the son of a maiden. With the
blood of the brown horse of Yama thou hast verily been sprinkled.
9. Having dropped from the blood of the horse she ran upon the trees, turning into a winged
brook. Do thou come to us, O arundhatî!
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{06109}
VI, 109. The pepper-corn as a cure for wounds.
1. The pepper-corn cures the wounds that have been struck by missiles, it also cures the wounds
from stabs. Anent it the gods decreed: 'Powerful to secure life this (plant) shall be!'
2. The pepper-corns spake to one another, as they came out, after having been created: 'He whom
we shall find (as yet) alive, that man shall not suffer harm!'
3. The Asuras did dig thee into the ground, the gods cast thee up again, as a cure for disease
produced by wind (in the body), moreover as a cure for wounds struck by missiles.
{01017}
I, 17. Charm to stop the flow of blood.
1. The maidens that go yonder, the veins, clothed in red garments, like sisters without a brother,
bereft of strength, they shall stand still!
2. Stand still, thou lower one, stand still, thou higher one; do thou in the middle also stand still!
The most tiny (vein) stands still: may then the great arter y also stand still!
Of the hundred arteries, and the thousand veins, those in the middle here have indeed stood still.
At the same time the ends have ceased (to flow).
4. Around you has passed a great sandy dike: stand ye still, pray take your case!
{02031}
II, 31. Charm against worms.
1. With Indra's great mill-stone, that crushes all vermin, do I grind to pieces the worms, as lentils
with a mill-stone.
2. I have crushed the visible and the invisible worm, and the kurûru, too, I have crushed. All the
algandu and the saluna, the worms, we grind to pieces with our charm.
3. The algandu do I smite with a mighty weapon: those that have been burned, and those that
have not been burned, have become devoid of strength. Those that are left and those that are not
left do I destroy with my song, so that not one of the worms be left.
4. The worm which is in the entrails, and he that is in the head, likewise the one that is in the
ribs: avaskava and vyadhvara, the worms, do we crush with (this) charm.
5. The worms that are within the mountains, forests, plants, cattle, and the waters, those that have
settled in our bodies, all that brood of the worms do I smite.
{02032}
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Hymns of the Atharva Veda – Translation by M Bloomfield
II. 32. Charm against worms in cattle.
1. The rising sun shall slay the worms, the setting sun with his rays shall slay the worms that are
within the cattle!
2. The variegated worm, the four-eyed, the speckled, and the white--I crush his ribs, and I tear
off his head.
3. Like Atri, like Kanva, and like Gamadagni do I slay you, ye worms! With the incantation of
Agastya do I crush the worms to pieces.
4. Slain is the king of the worms, and their viceroy also is slain. Slain is the worm, with him his
mother slain, his brother slain, his sister slain.
5. Slain are they who are inmates with him, slain are his neighbours; moreover all the quite tiny
worms are slain.
6. I break off thy two horns with which thou deliverest thy thrusts; I cut that bag of thine which
is the receptacle for thy poison.
{05023}
V, 23. Charm against worms in children.
1. I have called upon heaven and earth, I have called upon the goddess Sarasvatî, I have called
upon Indra and Agni: 'they shall crush the worm,' (I said).
2. Slay the worms in this boy, O Indra, lord of treasures! Slain are all the evil powers by my
fierce imprecation!
3. Him that moves about in the eyes, that moves about in the nose, that gets to the middle of the
teeth, that worm do we crush.
4. The two of like colour, the two of different colour; the two black ones, and the two red ones;
the brown one, and the brown-eared one; the (one like a) vulture, and the (one like a) cuckoo, are
slain.
5. The worms with white shoulders, the black ones with white arms, and all those that are
variegated, these worms do we crush.
6. In the east rises the sun, seen by all, slaying that which is not seen; slaying the seen and the
unseen (worms), and grinding to pieces all the wor ms.
7. The yevâsha and the kashkasha, the egatka, and the sipavitnuka--the seen worm shall be slain,
moreover the unseen shall be slain!
8. Slain of the worms is the yevâsha, slain further is the nadaniman; all have I crushed down like
lentils with a mill-stone.
9. The worm with three heads and the one with three skulls, the speckled, and the white--I crush
his ribs and I tear off his head.
10. Like Atri, like Kanva, and like Gamadagni do I slay you, ye worms! With the incantation of
Agastya do I crush the worms to pieces.
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11. Slain is the king of the worms, and their viceroy also is slain. Slain is the worm, with him his
mother slain, his brother slain, his sister slain.
12. Slain are they who are inmates with him, slain are his neighbours; moreover all the quite tiny
worms are slain.
13. Of all the male worms, and of all the female worms do I split the heads with the stone, I burn
their faces with fire.
{04006}
IV, 6. Charm against poison.
1. The Brâhmana was the first to be born, with ten heads and ten mouths. He was the first to
drink the soma; that did render poison powerless.
2. As great as heaven and earth are in extent, as far as the seven streams did spread, so far from
here have I proclaimed forth this charm that destroys poison.
3. The eagle Garutmant did, O poison, first devour thee. Thou didst not bewilder him, didst not
injure him, yea, thou didst turn into food for him.
4. The five-fingered hand that did hurl upon thee (the arrow) even from the curved bow--from
the point of the tearing (arrow) have I charmed away the poison.
5. From the point (of the arrow) have I charmed away the poison, from the substance that has
been smeared upon it, and from its plume. From its barbed horn, and its neck, I have charmed
away the poison.
6. Powerless, O arrow, is thy point, and powerless is thy poison. Moreover of powerless wood is
thy powerless bow, O powerless ( arrow)!
7. They that ground (the poison), they that daubed it on, they that hurled it, and they that let it go,
all these have been rendered impotent. The mountain that grows poisonous plants has been
rendered impotent.
8. Impotent are they that dig thee, impotent art thou, O plant! Impotent is that mountain height
whence this poison has sprung.
{04007}
IV, 7. Charm against poison.
1. This water (vâr) in the (river) Varanâvatî shall ward off (vârayâtai)! Amrita (ambrosia) has
been poured into it: with that do I ward off (vâraye) poison from thee.
2. Powerless is the poison from the east, powerless that from the north. Moreover the poison
from the south transforms itself into a porridge.
3. Having made thee (the poison) that comes from a horizontal direction into a porridge, rich in
fat, and cheering, from sheer hunger he has eaten thee, that hast an evil body: do thou not cause
injury!
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4. Thy bewildering quality (madam), O (plant?) that art bewildering (madivati), we cause to fall
like a reed. As a boiling pot of porridge do we remove thee by (our) charm.
5. (Thee, O poison) that art, as it were, heaped about the village, do we cause to stand still by
(our) charm. Stand still as a tree upon its place; do not, thou that hast been dug with the spade,
cause injury!
6. With broom-straw (?), garments, and also with skins they purchased thee: a thing for barter art
thou, O plant! Do not, thou that hast been dug with the spade, cause injury!
7. Those of you who were of yore unequalled in the deeds which they performed-may the), not
injure here our men: for this very purpose do I engage you!
{06100}
VI, 100. Ants as an antidote against poison.
1. The gods have given, the sun has given, the earth has given, the three Sar asvatîs, of one mind,
have given this poison-destroying (remedy)!
2. That water, O ants, which the gods poured for you into the dry land, with this (water), sent
forth by the gods, do ye destroy this poison!
3. Thou art the daughter of the Asuras, thou art the sister of the gods. Sprung f rom heaven and
earth, thou didst render the poison devoid of strength.
{06013}
VI, 13 Charm against snake-poison.
1. Varuna, the sage of heaven, verily lends (power ) to rne. With mighty charms do I dissolve thy
poison. The (poison) which has been dug, that which has not been duo-, and that which is
inherent, 1 have held fast. As a brook in the desert thy poison has dried up.
2. That poison of thine which is not fluid I have confined within these (serpents?). I hold fast the
sap that is in thy middle, thy top, and in thy bottom, too. May (the sap) now vanish out of thee
from fright!
3. My lusty shout (is) as the thunder with the cloud: then do I smite thy (sap) with my strong
charm. With manly strength I have held fast that sap of his. May the sun rise as light from the
darkness!
4. With my eye do I slay thy eye, with poison do I slay thy poison. O serpent, die, do not live;
back upon thee shall thy poison turn!
5. O kairâta, speckled one, upatrinya (grass-dweller?), brown one, listen to me; ye black
repulsive reptiles, (listen to me)! Do not stand upon the ground of my friend; cease with your
poison and make it known (to people?)!
6. I release (thee) from the fury of the black serpent, the taimâta, the brown serpent, the poison
that is not fluid, the all-conquering, as the bowstring (is loosened) from the bow, as chariots
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Hymns of the Atharva Veda – Translation by M Bloomfield
(from horses).
7. Both Âligî and Viligî, both father and mother, we know your kin everywhere. Deprived of
your strength what will ye do?
8. The daughter of urugûlâ, the evil one born with the black--of all those who have run to their
hiding-place the poison is devoid of force.
9. The prickly porcupine, tripping down from the mountain, did declare this: 'Whatsoever
serpents, living in ditches, are here, their poison is most deficient in force.'
10. Tâbuvam (or) not tâbuvam, thou (O serpent) art not tâbuvam. Through tâbuvam thy poison is
bereft of force.
11. Tastuvam (or) not tastuvam, thou (O serpent) art not tastuvam. Through tastuvarn thy poison
is bereft of force.
{06012}
VI, 12. Charm against snake-poison.
1. As the sun (goes around) the heavens I have surrounded the race of the serpents. As night
(puts to rest) all animals except the hamsa bird, (thus) do I with this (charm) ward of f thy poison.
2. With (the charm) that was found of yore by the Brahmans, found by the Rishis, and found by
the gods, with (the charm) that was, will be, and is now present, with this do I ward off thy
poison.
3. With honey do I mix the rivers; the mountains and peaks are honey. Honey are the rivers
Parushnî and Sîpalâ. Prosperity be to thy mouth, prosperity to thy heart!
{07056}
VII, 56. Charm against the poison of serpents, scorpions,
and insects.
1. The poison infused by the serpent that is striped across, by the black serpent, and by the adder;
that poison of the kankaparvan ('with limbs like a comb,' scorpion) this plant has driven out.
2. This herb, born of honey, dripping honey, sweet as honey, honied, is the remedy for injuries;
moreover it crushes insects.
3. Wherever thou hast been bitten, wherever thou hast been sucked, from there do we exorcise
for thee the poison of the small, greedily biting insect, (so that it be) devoid of strength.
4. Thou (serpent) here, crooked, without joints, and without limbs, that twisteth thy crooked
jawsmayest thou, O Brihaspati, straighten them out, as
a (bent) reed!
5. The poison of the sarkota (scorpion) that creeps low upon the ground, (after he) has been
deprived of his strength, I have taken away; moreover I have caused him to be crushed.
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6. There is no strength in thy arms, in thy head, nor in the middle (of thy body). Then why dost
thou so wickedly carry a small (sting) in thy tail?
7. The ants devour thee, pea-hens hack thee to pieces. Yea, every one of you shall declare the
poison of the sarkota powerless!
8. Thou (scorpion) that strikest with both, with mouth as well as tail, in thy mouth there is no
poison: then what can there be in the receptacle in thy tail?
{06016}
VI, 16. Charm against ophthalmia.
1. O âbayu, (and even if) thou art not âbayu, strong is thy juice, O âbayu! We eat a gruel,
compounded of thee.
2. Vihalha is thy father's name, Madâvatî thy mother's name. Thou art verily not such, as to have
consumed thy own self.
3. O Tauvilikâ, do be quiet! This howling one has become quiet. O brown one, and brown-eared
one, go away! Go out, O âla!
4. Alasâlâ thou art first, silâgalâlâ thou art the next, nîlâgalasâlâ (thou art third?)!
{06021}
VI, 21. Charm to promote the growth of hair.
1. Of these three earths (our) earth verily is the highest. From the surface of these I have now
plucked a remedy.
2. Thou art the most excellent of remedies, the best of plants, as Soma (the moon) is the lord in
the watches of the night, as Varuna (is king) among the gods.
3. O ye wealthy, irresistible (plants), ye do generously bestow benefits. And ye strengthen the
hair, and, moreover, promote its increase.
{06136}
VI, 136. Charm with the plant nitatni to promote the growth
of hair.
1. As a goddess upon the goddess earth thou wast born, O plant! We dig thee up, O nitatni, that
thou mayest strengthen (the growth) of the hair.
2. Strengthen the old (hair), beget the new! That which has come forth render more luxurious!
3. That hair of thine which does drop off, and that which is broken root and all, upon it do I
sprinkle here the all-healing herb.
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{06137}
VI, 137. Charm to promote the growth of hair.
1. The (plant) that Gamadagni dug up to promote the growth of his daughter's hair, Vâtahavya
has brought here from the dwelling of Asita.
2. With reins they had to be measured, with outstretched arms they had to be measured out. May
thy hairs grow as reeds, may they (cluster), black, about thy head!
3. Make firm their roots, draw out their ends, expand their middle., O herb! May thy hairs grow
as reeds, may they (cluster), black, about thy head!
{04004}
IV, 4. Charm to promote virility.
1. Thee, the plant, which the Gandharva dug up for Varuna, when his virility had decayed, thee,
that causest strength[1], we dig up.
2. Ushas (Aurora), Sûrya, (the sun), and this charm of mine; the bull Pragâpati (the lord of
creatures) shall with his lusty fire arouse him!
3. This herb shall make thee so very full of lusty strength, that thou shalt, when thou art excited,
exhale heat as a thing on fire!
4. The fire of the plants, and the essence of the bulls shall arouse him! Do thou, O Indra,
controller of bodies, place the lusty force of men into this person!
5. Thou (O herb) art the first-born sap of the waters and also of the plants. Moreover thou art the
brother of Soma, and the lusty force of the antelope buck!
6. Now, O Agni, now, O Savitar, now, O goddess Sarasvatî, now, O Brahmanaspati, do thou
stiffen the pasas as a bow!
7. I stiffen thy pasas as a bowstring upon the bow. Embrace thou (women) as the antelope buck
the gazelle with ever unfailing (strength)!
8. The strength of the horse, the mule, the goat and the ram, moreover the strength of the bull
bestow upon him, O controller of bodies (Indra)!
[1. The original, more drastically, sepaharshanîm. By a few changes and omissions in stanzas 3, 6, and 7 the direct
simplicity of the original has b een similarly veiled.]
{06111}
VI, 111. Charm against mania.
1. Release for me, O Agni, this person here, who, bound and well-secured, loudly jabbers! Then
shall he have due regard for thy share (of the offering), when he shall be free from madness!
2. Agni shall quiet down thy mind, if it has been disturbed! Cunningly do I prepare a remedy,
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that thou shalt be freed from madness.
3. (Whose mind) has been maddened by the sin of the gods, or been robbed of sense by the
Rakshas, (for him) do I cunningly prepare a remedy, that he shall be free from madness.
4. May the Apsaras restore thee, may Indra, may Bhaga restore thee; may all the gods restore
thee, that thou mayest be freed from madness!
{04037}
IV, 37. Charm with the plant agasringi to drive out Rakshas,
Apsaras and Gandharvas.
1. With thee, O herb, the Atharvans first slew the Rakshas, with thee Kasyapa slew (them), with
thee Kanva and Agastya (slew them).
2. With thee do we scatter the Apsar as and Gandharvas. O agasringi (odina pinnata), goad (aga)
the Rakshas, drive them all away with thy smell!
3. The Apsaras, Guggulil, I'lli, Naladi, Aukshagandhi, and Pramandani (by name), shall go to the
river, to the ford of the waters, as if blown away! Thither do ye, O Apsaras, pass away, (since) ye
have been recognised!
4. Where grow the asvattha (ficus religiosa) and the banyan-trees, the great trees with crowns,
thither do ye, O Apsaras, pass away, (since) ye have been recognised!
5. Where your gold and silver swings are, where cymbals and lutes chime together, thither do ye,
O Apsaras, pass away, (since) ye have been r ecog~ nised.
6. Hither has come the mightiest of the plants and herbs. May the agasringi arâtaki pierce with
her sharp horn (tîkshmasringî)!
7. Of the crested Gandharva, the husband of the Apsaras, who comes dancing hither, I crush the
two mushkas and cut off the sepas.
8. Terrible are the missiles of Indr a, with a hundr ed points, brazen; with these he shall pierce the
Gandharvas, who devour oblations, and devour the avakâ-reed.
9. Terrible are the missiles of Indr a, with a hundr ed points, golden; with these he shall pierce the
Gandharvas, who devour oblations, and devour the avakd-reed.
10. All the Pisâkas that devour the avakâ-reeds, that burn, and spread their little light in the
waters, do thou, O herb, crush and overcome!
11. One is like a dog, one like an ape. As a youth, with luxuriant locks, pleasant to look upon, the
Gandharva hangs about the woman. Him do we drive out from here with our powerful charm.
12. The Apsaras, you know, are your wives; ye, the Gandharvas, are their husbands. Speed away,
ye immortals, do not go after mortals!
{02009}
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II, 9. Possession by demons of disease, cured by an amulet of
ten kinds of wood.
1. O (amulet) of ten kinds of wood, release this man from the demon (rakshas) and the fit (grâhi)
which has seized upon.(gagrâha) his joints! Do thou, moreover, O plant, lead him forth to the
world of the living!
2. He has come, he has gone forth, he has joined the community of the living. And he has
become the father of sons, and the most happy of men!
3. This person has come to his senses, he has come to the cities of the living. For he (now) has a
hundred physicians, and also a thousand herbs.
4. The gods have found thy arrangement, (O amulet); the Brahmans, moreover, the plants. All
the gods have found thy arrangement upon the ear th.
5. (The god) that has caused (disease) shall perform the cure; he is himself the best physician.
Let him indeed, the holy one, prepare remedies for thee, together with the (earthly) physician!
{04006}
IV, 6. Charm against demons (pisâka) conceived as the cause
of disease.
1. May Agni Vaisvânara, the bull of unfailing str ength, burn up him that is evil-disposed, and
desires to harm us, and him that plans hostile deeds against us!
2. Between the two rows of teeth of Agni Vaisvânara do I place him that plans to injure us, when
we are not planning to injure him; and him that plans to injure us, when we do plan to injure him.
Those who hound us in our chambers, while shouting goes on in the night of the new moon, and
the other flesh-devourers who plan to injure us, all of them do I overcome with might.
4. With might I overcome the Pisâkas, rob them of their property; all evil-disposed (demons) do I
slay: may my device succeed!
5. With the gods who vie with, and measure their swiftness with this sun, with those that are in
the rivers, and in the mountains, do I, along with my cattle, consort.
6. I plague the Pisâkas as the tiger the cattle-owners. As dogs who have seen a lion, these do not
find a refuge.
7. My strength does not lie with Pisâkas, nor with thieves, nor with prowlers in the forest. From
the village which I enter the Pisâkas vanish away.
8. From the village which my fierce power has entered the Pisâkas vanish away; they do not
devise evil.
9. They who irritate me with their jabber, as (buzzing) mosquitoes the elephant, them I regard as
wretched (creatures), as small vermin upon people.
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10. May Nirriti (the goddess of destruction) take hold of this one, as a horse with the halter! The
fool who is wroth with me is not freed from (her) snare.
{02025}
II, 25. Charm with the plant prisniparnî against the demon
of disease, called kanva.
1. The goddess Prisniparnî has prepared prosperity for us, mishap for Nirriti (the goddess of
destruction). For she is a fierce devourer of the Kanvas: her, the mighty, have I employed.
2. The Prisniparnî was first begotten powerful; with her do I lop off the heads of the evil brood,
as (the head) of a bird.
3. The blood-sucking demon, and him that tries to rob (our) health, Kanva, the devourer of our
offspring, destroy, O Prisniparnî, and overcome!
4. These Kanvas, the effacers of life, drive into the mountain; go thou burning after them like
fire, O goddess Prisniparnî!
5. Drive far away these Kanvas, the effacers of life! Where the dark regions are, there have I
made these flesh-eaters go.
{06032}
VI, 32. Charm for driving away demons (Rakshas and
Pisâkas).
1. Do ye well offer within the fire this oblation with ghee, that destroys the spook! Do thou, O
Agni, burn from afar against the Rakshas, (but) our houses thou shalt not consume!
2. Rudra has broken your necks, ye Pisâkas: may he also break your ribs, ye spooks! The plant
whose power is everywhere has united you with Yama (death).
3. Exempt from danger, O Mitra and Varuna, may we here be; drive back with your flames the
devouring demons (Atrin)! Neither aider, nor support do they find; smiting one another they go
to death.
{02004}
II, 4. Charm with an amulet derived from the gangida tree,
against diseases and demons.
1. Unto long life and great delights, for ever unharmed and vigorous, do we wear the gangida, as
an amulet destructive of the vishkandha.
2. From convulsions, from tearing pain, from vishkandha, and from torturing pain, the gangida
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shall protect us on all sides--an amulet of a thousand virtues!
3. This gangida conquers the vishkandha, and smites the Atrin (devouring demons); may this all-
healing gangida protect us from adversity!
4. By means of the invigorating gangida, bestowed by the gods as an amulet, do we conquer in
battle the vishkandha and all the Rakshas.
5. May the hemp and may gangida protect me against vishkandha! The one (gangida) is brought
hither from the forest, the other (hemp) from the sap of the furrow.
6. Destruction of witchcraft is this amulet, also destruction of hostile powers: may the power ful
gangida therefore extend far our lives!
{19034}
XIX, 34, Charm with an amulet derived from the gafigpida-
tree, aoainst diseases and demons.
1. Thou art an Angiras, O gangida, a protector art thou, O gangida. All two-footed and four-
footed creatures that belong to us the gangida shall protect!
2. The sorceries fifty-three in number, and the hundred performers of sorcery, all these having
lost their force, the gangida shall render bereft of strength!
3. Bereft of strength is the gotten-up clamour, bereft of strength are the seven debilitating
(charms). Do thou, O gangida, hurl away from here poverty, as an archer an arrow!
4. This gangida is a destroyer of witchcraft, and also a destroyer of hostile powers. May then the
powerful gangida extend far our lives!
5. May the greatness of the gangida protect us about on all sides, (the greatness) with which he
has overcome the vishkandha (and) the samskandha, (over coming the powerful (disease) with
power!
6. Thrice the gods begot thee that hast grown up upon the earth. The Brahmanas of yore knew
thee here by the name of Angiras.
7. Neither the plants of olden times, nor they of recent times, surpass thee; a fierce slayer is the
gahaida, and a happy ref uge.
8 And when, O gangida of boundless virtue, thou didst spring up in the days of yore, O fierce
(plant), Indra at first placed strength in thee.
9. Fierce Indra, verily, put might into thee, O lord of the forest! Dispersing all diseases, slay thou
the Rakshas, O plant!
I o. The breaking disease and the tearing disease, the balâsa, and the pain in the limbs, the
takman that comes every autumn, may the gangida render devoid of force!
{19035}
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XIX, 35. Charm with an amulet derived from the gangida-
tree, against diseases and demons.
1. While uttering Indra's name the seers bestowed (upon men) the gangida, which the gods in the
beginning had made into a remedy, destructive of the vishkandha.
2 . May that gangida protect us as a tr easurer his tr easures, he whom the gods and the Brâhmanas
made into a refuge that puts to naught the hostile powers!
3. The evil eye of the hostile-minded, (and) the evil-doer I have approached. Do thou, O
thousandeyed one, watchfully destroy these! A refuge art thou, O gangida.
4. May the gangida protect me from heaven, protect me from earth, protect (me) from the
atmosphere, protect me from the plants, protect me from the past, as well as the future; may he
protect us from every direction of space!
5. The sorceries performed by the gods, and also those performed by men, may the all-healing
gangida render them all devoid of strength!
{06085}
VI, 85. Exorcism of disease by means of an amulet from the
varana-tree.
1. This divine tree, the varana, shall shut out (vârayâtai). The gods, too, have shut out (avîvaran)
the disease that hath entered into this man!
2. By Indra's command, by Mitra's and by Varuna's, by the command of all the gods do we shut
out thy disease.
3. As Vritra did bold fast these ever-flowing waters, thus do I shut out (vâr aye) disease from thee
with (the help of) Agni Vaisvânara.
{06127}
VI, 127. The kîpudru-tree as a panacea.
1. Of the abscess, of the balâsa, of flow of blood, O plant; of neuralgia, O herb, thou shalt not
leave even a speck!
2. Those two boils (testicles) of thine, O balasa, that are fixed upon the arm-pits-I know the
remedy for that: the kîpudru-tree takes care of it.
3. The neuralgia that is in the limbs, that is in the ears and in the eyes-we tear them out, the
neuralgia, the abscess, and the pain in the heart. That unknown disease do we drive away
downward.
{19038}
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XIX, 38. The healing properties of bdellium.
1. [Neither diseases, nor yet a curse, enters this person, O arundhatî!] From him that is penetrated
by the sweet fragrance of the healing bdellium, diseases flee in every direction, as antelopes and
as horses run.
2. Whether, O bdellium, thou comest from the Sindhu (Indus), or whether thou art derived from
the sea, I have seized the qualities of both, that this person shall be exempt from harm.
{06091}
VI, 91. Barley and water as universal remedies.
1. This barley they did plough vigorously, with yokes of eight and yokes of six. With it I drive
off to a far distance the ailment from thy body.
2. Downward blows the wind, downward burns the sun, downward the cow is milked: downward
shall thy ailment pass!
3. The waters verily are healing, the waters chase away disease, the waters cure all (disease):
may they prepare a remedy for thee!
{08007}
VIII, 7. Hymn to all magic and medicinal plants, used as a
universal remedy.
1. The plants that are brown, and those that ar e white; the red ones and the speckled ones; the
sable and the black plants, all (these) do we invoke.
2. May they protect this man from the disease sent by the gods, the herbs whose father is the sky,
whose mother is the earth, whose root is the ocean.
3. The waters and the heavenly plants are foremost; they have driven out from every limb thy
disease, consequent upon sin.
4. The plants that spread forth, those that ar e busby, those that have a single sheath, those that
creep along, do I address; I call in thy behalf the plants that have shoots, those that have stalks,
those that divide their branches, those that ar e derived from all the gods, the strong (plants) that
furnish
life to man.
5. With the might that is yours, ye mighty ones, with the power and strength that is yours, with
that do ye, O plants, rescue this man from this disease!
I now prepare a remedy.
6. The plants givalâ ('quickening'), na-ghâ-rishâ ('forsooth-no-harm'), gîvanti ('living'), and the
arundhatî, which removes (disease), is full of blossoms, and rich in honey, do I call to exempt
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him from injury.
7. Hither shall come the intelligent (plants) that understand my speech, that we may bring this
man into safety out of misery!
8. They that are the food of Agni (the fire), the offspring of the waters, that grow ever renewing
themselves, the firm (plants) that bear a thousand names, the healing (plants), shall be brought
hither!
9. The plants, whose womb is the avaki (blyxa octandra), whose essence are the waters, shall
with their sharp horns thrust aside evil!
10. The plants which release, exempt from Varuna (dropsy), are strong, and destroy poison;
those, too, that remove (the disease) baldsa, and ward off witchcraft shall come hither!'
11. The plants that have been bought, that are right potent, and are praised, shall protect in this
village cow, horse, man, and cattle!
12. Honied are the roots of these herbs, honied their tops, honied their middles, honied their
leaves, honied their blossoms; they share in honey, are the food of immortality. May they yield
ghee, and food, and cattle chief of all!
13. As many in number and in kind the plants here are upon the earth, may they, furnished with a
thousand leaves, release me from death and misery!
14. Tiger-like is the amulet (made of) herbs, a saviour, a protector against hostile schemes: may
it drive off far away from us all diseases and the Rakshas!
15. As if at the roar of the lion they start with fright, as if (at the roar) of fire they tremble before
the (plants) that have been brought hither. The diseases of cattle and men have been driven out
by the herbs: let them pass into navigable streams!
16. The plants release us from Agni Vaisvânara. Spreading over the earth, go ye, whose king is
the tree!
17. The plants, descended from Angiras, that grow upon the mountains and in the plains, shall be
for us rich in milk, auspicious, comforting to the heart!
18. The herbs which I know, and those which I see with my sight; the unknown, those which we
know, and those which we perceive to be charged with (power),--
19. All plants collectively shall note my words, that we may bring this man into safety out of
misfortune,--
20. The asvattha (ficus religiosa), and the darbha among the plants; king Soma, amrita
(ambrosia) and the oblation; rice and barley, the two healing, immortal children of heaven!
21. Ye arise: it is thundering and crashing, ye plants, since Parganya (the god of rain) is
favouring you, O children of Prisni (the spotted cloud), with (his) seed (water).
22. The strength of this amrita (ambrosia) do we crive this man to drink. Moreover, I prepare a
remedy, that he may live a hundred years!
23. The boar knows, the ichneumon knows the healing plant. Those that the serpents and
Gandharvas know, I call hither for help.
24. The plants, derived from the Angiras, which the eagles and the heavenly raghats (falcons)
know, which the birds and the flamingos know, which all winged (creatures) know, which all
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wild animals know, I call hither for help.
25. As many plants as the oxen and kine, as many as the goats and the sheep feed upon, so many
plants, when applied, shall furnish protection to thee!
26. As many (plants), as the human physicians know to contain a remedy, so many, endowed
with every healing quality, do I apply to thee!
27. Those that have flowers, those that have blossoms, those that bear fruit, and those that are
without fruit, as if from the same mother they shall suck sap, to exempt this man from injury!
28. 1 have saved thee from a depth of five fathoms, and, too, from a depth of ten fathoms;
moreover, from the foot-fetter of Yama, and from ever y sin against the gods.
{06096}
VI, 96. Plants as a panacea.
1. The many plants of hundredfold aspect, whose king is Soma, which have been begotten by
Brihaspati, shall free us from calamity!
2. May they free us from (the calamity) consequent upon curses, and also from the (toils) of
Varuna; moreover, from the foot-fetter of Yama, and every sin against the gods!
3. What laws we have infringed upon, with the eye, the mind, and speech, either while awake, or
asleep-may Soma by his (divine) nature clear these (sins) away from us!
{02032}
II, 32. Charm to secure perfect health.
1. From thy eyes, thy nostrils, ears, and chin--the disease which is seated in thy head--from thy
brain and tongue I do tear it out.
2. From thy neck, nape of the neck, ribs, and spine--the disease which is seated in thy fore-arm--
from thy shoulders and arms I do tear it out.
3. From thy heart, thy lungs, viscera, and sides; from thy kidneys, spleen, and liver we do tear
out the disease.
4. From thy entrails, canals, rectum, and abdomen; from thy belly, guts, and navel I do tear out
the disease.
5. From thy thighs, knees, heels, and the tips of thy feet--from thy hips I do tear out the disease
seated in thy buttocks, from thy bottom the disease seated in thy buttocks.
6. From thy bones, marrow, sinews and arteries; from thy hands, fingers, and nails I do tear out
the disease.
7. The disease that is in thy every limb, thy ever y hair, thy every joint; that which is seated in thy
skin, with Kasyapa's charm, that tears out, to either side we do tear it out.
{09008}
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IX, 8. Charm to procure immunity from all diseases.
1. Headache and suffering in the head, pain in the ears and flow of blood, every disease of the
head, do we charm forth from thee.
2. From thy ears, from thy kankûshas the earpain, and the neur algia--every disease of the head do
we charm forth from thee.
3. (With the charm) through whose agency disease hastens forth from the ears and the mouth-
every disease of the head do we charm forth from thee.
4. (The disease) that renders a man deaf and blind--every disease of the head do we charm forth
from thee.
5. Pain in the limbs, fever in the limbs, the neuralgia that affects ever y limb-every disease of the
head do we charm forth from thee.
6. (The disease) whose frightful aspect makes man tremble, the takman (fever) that comes every
autumn, do we charm forth from thee.
7. The disease that creeps along the thighs, and then enters the canals, out of thy inner parts do
we charm forth.
8. If from the heart, from love, or from disgust, it arises, from thy heart and from thy limbs the
balâsa do we charm forth.
9. Jaundice from thy limbs, diarrhoea from within thy bowels, the core of disease from thy inner
soul do we charm forth.
10. To ashes (âsa) the balâsa shall turn; what is diseased shall turn to urine! The poison of all
diseases I have charmed forth from thee.
11. Outside the opening (of the bladder) it shall run off; the rumbling shall pass from thy belly!
The poison of all diseases I have charmed forth from thee.
12. From thy belly, lungs, navel, and heart-the poison of all diseases I have charmed forth from
thee.
13. (The pains) that split the crown (of the head), pierce the head, without doing injury, without
causing disease, they shall run off outside the opening (of the bladder)!
14. They that pierce the heart, creep along the ribs, without doing injury, without causing
disease, they shall run off outside the opening (of the bladder)!
15. They that pierce the sides, bore along the ribs, without doing injury, without causing disease,
they shall run off outside the opening (of the bladder)!
16. They that pierce crosswise, burrow in thy abdomen, without doing injur y, without causing
disease, they shall run off outside the opening (of the bladder)!
17. They that creep along the rectum, twist the bowels, without doing injury, without causing
disease, they shall run off outside the opening (of the bladder)!
18. They that suck the marrow, and split the joints, without doing injury, without causing
disease, they shall run off outside the opening (of the bladder)!
19. The diseases and the injuries that paralyse thy limbs, the poison of all diseases I have
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charmed forth from thee.
20. Of neuralgia, of abscesses, of inflation, or of inflammation of the eyes, the poison of all
diseases I have driven forth from thee.
21. From thy feet, knees, thighs, and bottom; from thy spine, and thy neck the piercing pains,
from thy head the ache I have removed.
22. Firm are the bones of thy skull, and the beat of thy heart. At thy rising, O sun, thou didst
remove the pains of the head, quiet the pangs in the limbs.
{02029}
II, 29. Charm for obtaining long life and prosperity by
transmission of disease.
1. In the essence of earthly bliss, O ye gods, in strength of body (may he live)! May Agni, Sûrya,
Brihaspati bestow upon him life's vigour!
2. Give life to him, O Gâtavedas, bestow in addition progeny upon him, O Tvashtar; procure, O
Savitar, increase of wealth for him; may this one, who belongs to thee, live a hundred autumns!
3. May our prayer bestow upon us vigour, and possession of sound. progeny; ability and property
do ye two, (O heaven and earth), bestow upon us!, May he, conquering lands with might, (live),
O Indra, subjecting the others, his enemies!
4. Given by Indra, instructed by Varuna, sent by the Maruts, strong, he has come to us; may he,
in the lap of ye two, heaven and earth, not suffer fr om hunger and not from thirst!
5. Strength may ye two, that are rich in strength, bestow upon him; milk may ye two, that are
rich in milk, bestow upon him! Strength heaven and earth did bestow upon him; strength all the
gods, the Maruts, and the waters.
6. With the gracious (waters) do I delight thy heart, mayest thou, free from disease, full of force,
rejoice! Clothed in the same garment do ye two drink this stirred drink, taking on as a magic
form the shape of the two Asvins!
7. Indra, having been wounded, first created this vigour, and this ever fresh divine food: that
same belongs to thee. By means of that do thou, full of force, live (a hundred) autumns; may it
not flow out of thee: physicians have prepared it for thee!
II.
PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH
(ÂYUSHYÂNI).
{03011}
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III, 11. Prayer for health and long life.
1. I release thee unto life by means of (my) oblation, from unknown decline, and from
consumption. If Grâhi (seizure) has caught hold ( gagrâha) of this person here, may Indra and
Agni free him from that!
2. If his life has faded, even if he has passed away, if he has been brought to the very vicinity of
death, I snatch him from the lap of Nirriti (the goddess of destruction): I have freed him unto a
life of a hundred autumns.
3. I have snatched him (from death) by means of an oblation which has a thousand eyes,
hundredfold strength, and -ensures a hundredfold life, in order that Indra may conduct him
through the years across to the other side of every misfortune.
4. Live thou, thriving a hundred autumns, a hundred winters, and a hundred springs! May Indra,
Agni, Savitar, Brihaspati (grant) thee a hundred years! I have snatched him (from death) with an
oblation that secures a life,of a hundred years.
5. Enter ye, O in-breathirig and out-breathing, as two bulls a stable! Away shall go the other
deaths, of which, it is said, there are a hundred more!
6. Remain ye here, O in-breathing and out-breathing, do not go away from here; do ye car anew
to old age his body and his limbs!
7. To old age I make thee over, into old age I urge thee; may a happy old age guide thee! Away
shall go the other deaths, of which, it is said, there are a hundred more!
8. Upon thee (life unto) old age has been deposited, as a rope is tied upon a bull. That death
which has fettered thee at thy birth with a firm rope, Brihaspati with the hands of the truth did
strip off from thee.
{02028}
II, 28. Prayer for long life pronounced over a boy.
1. For thee alone, O (death from) old age, this (boy) shall grow up: the other hundred kinds of
death shall not harm him! Like a provident mother in her lap Mitra shall befriend him, shall save
him from misfortune!
2. May Mitra or Varuna, the illustrious, cooperating, grant him death from old age! Then Agni,
the priest, who knows the ways, promulgates all the races of the gods.
3. Thou, (O Agni), rulest over all the animals of the earth, those which have been born, and those
which are to be born: may not in-breathing leave this one, nor yet out-breathing, may neither
friends nor foes slay him!
4. May father Dyaus (sky) and mother Prithivi (earth), co-operating, grant thee death from old
age, that thou mayest live in the lap of Aditi a hundred winters, guarded by in-breathing and
outbreathing!
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5. Lead this dear child to life and vigour, O Agni, Varuna, and king Mitra! As a mother afford
him protection, O Aditi, and all ye gods, that he may attain to old age!
{03031}
III, 31. Prayer for health and long life.
1. The gods are free fr om decrepitude; thou, O Agni, art removed from the demon of hostility. I
free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life.
2. (Vâyu), the purifying (wind), shall free thee from misfortune, Sakra (Indra) from evil sorcery!
I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life.
3. The tame (village) animals are separate from the wild (forest animals); the water has flowed
apart from thirst. I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life.
4. Heaven and earth here go apart; the paths go in every direction. I free thee from all evil and
disease, (and) unite thee with life.
5. 'Tvashtar is preparing a wedding for his daughter,' thus (saying) does this whole world pass
through. I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life.
6. Agni unites (life's) breaths, the moon is united with (life's) breath. I free thee from all evil and
disease, (and) unite thee with life.
7. By means of (life's) breath the gods aroused the everywhere mighty sun. I free thee from all
evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life.
8. Live thou by the (life's) breath of them that have life, and that create life; do not die! I free
thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life.
9. Breathe thou with the (life's) breath of those that breathe; do not die! I free thee from all evil
and disease, (and) unite thee with life.
10. Do thou (rise) up with life, unite thyself with life, (rise) up with the sap of the plants! I free
thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life.
11. From the rain of Parganya we have risen up, immortal. I free thee from all evil and disease,
(and) unite thee with life.
{07053}
VII, 53. Prayer for long life.
1. When, O Brihaspati, thou didst liberate (us) from existence in yonder world of Yama, (and)
from hostile schemes, then did the Asvins, the physicians of the gods, with might sweep death
from us, O Agni!
2. O in-breathing and out-breathing, go along with the body, do not leave it: may they be thy
allies here! Live and thrive a hundred autumns; Agni shall be thy most excellent shepherd and
overseer!
3. Thy vital force that has been dissipated afar, thy in-breathing and thy out-breathing, shall
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come back again! Agni has snatched them from the lap of Nirriti (the goddess of destruction),
and I again introduce them into thy person.
4. Let not his in-breathing desert him, nor his out-breathing quit him and depart! I commit him to
the Seven Rishis: may they convey him in health to old age!
5. Enter, O in-breathing and out-breathing, like two bulls into a stable: this person shall here
flourish, an unmolested repository for old age!
6. Life's breath we do drive into thee, disease we do drive away from thee. May this excellent
Agni endow us with life from every source!
7. Ascending from the darkness of death to the highest firmament, to Sûrya (the sun), the god
among gods, we have reached the highest light.
{08001}
VIII, 1. Prayer for exemption from the dangers of death.
1. To the 'Ender,' to Death be reverence! May thy in-breathing and thy out-breathing remain
here! United here with (life's) spirit this man shall be, sharing in the sun, in the world of
immortality (amrita)!
2. Bhaga has raised him up, Soma with his rays (has raised) him up, the Maruts, the gods, (have
raised) him up, Indra and Agni (have r aised) him up unto well-being.
3. Here (shall be) thy (life's) spirit, here thy inbreathing, here thy life, here thy mind! We rescue
thee from the toils of Nirriti (destruction) by means of our divine utterance.
4. Rise up hence, O man! Casting off the footshackles of death, do not sink down! Be not cut off
from this world, from the sight of Agni and the sun!
5. The wind, Mâtarisvan, shall blow for thee, the waters shall shower amrita (ambrosia) upon
thee, the sun shall shine kindly for thy body! Death shall pity thee: do not waste away!
6. Thou shalt ascend and not descend, O man! Life and alertness do I prepare for thee. Mount,
forsooth, this imperishable, pleasant car; then in old age thou shalt hold converse with thy
family!
7. Thy mind shall not go thither, shall not disappear! Do not become heedless of the living, do
not follow the Fathers! All the gods shall preserve thee here!
8. Do not long after the departed, who conduct (men) afar! Ascend from the darkness, come to
the light! We lay hold of thy hands.
9. The two dogs of Yama, the black and the brindled one, that guard the road (to heaven), that
have been despatched, shall not (go after) thee! Come hither, do not long to be away; do not tarry
here with thy mind turned to a distance!
10. Do not follow this path: it is terrible! I speak of that by which thou hast not hitherto gone.
Darkness is this, O man, do not enter it! Danger is beyond, security here for thee.
11. May the fires that are within the waters gLiard thee, may (the fire) which men kindle guard
thee, may Gâtavedas Vaisvânara (the fir e common to all men) guard thee! Let not the heavenly
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(fire) together with the lightning burn, thee!
12. Let not the flesh-devouring (fire) menace thee: move afar from the funeral pyre! Heaven
shall guard thee, the earth shall guard thee, the sun and moon shall guard thee, the atmosphere
shall guard thee against the divine missile!
13. May the alert and the watchful divinities guard thee, may he that sleeps not and nods not
guard thee, may he that protects and is vigilant guard thee!
14. They shall guard thee, they shall protect thee. Reverence be to them. Hail be to them!
15. Into converse with the living Vâyu, Indra, Dhâtar, and saving Savitar shall put thee; breath
and strength shall not leave thee! Thy (life's) spirit do we call back to thee.
16. Convulsions that draw the jaws together, darkness, shall not come upon thee, nor (the
demon) that tears out the tongue (?)! How shalt thou then waste away? The Âdityas and Vasus,
Indra and Agni shall raise thee up unto well-being!
17. The heavens, the earth, Pragâpati, have rescued thee. The plants with Soma their king have
delivered thee from death.
18. Let this man remain right here, ye gods, let him not depart hence to yonder world! We rescue
him from death with (a charm) of thousandfold strength.
19. I have delivered thee from death. The (powers) that furnish strength shall breathe upon thee.
The (mourning women) with dishevelled hair, they that wail lugubriously, shall not wail over
thee!
20. 1 have snatched thee (from death), I have obtained thee; thou hast returned with renewed
youth. O thou, that art (now) sound of limb, for thee sound sight, and sound life have I obtained.
21. It has shone upon thee, light has arisen, darkness has departed from thee. We remove from
thee death, destruction, and disease.
{08002}
VIII, 2. Prayer for exemption from the dangers of death.
1. Take hold of this (charm) that subjects to immortality (life), may thy life unto old age not be
cut off! I bring to thee anew breath and life: not to mist and darkness, do not waste away!
2. Come hither to the light of the living; I rescue thee unto a life of a hundred autumns! Loosing
the bands of death and imprecation, I bestow upon thee long life extended very far.
3. From the wind thy breath I have obtained, from the sun thine eye; thy soul I hold fast in thee:
be together with thy limbs, speak articulating with thy tongue!
4. With the breath of two-footed and four-footed creatur es I blow upon thee, as on Agni when he
is born (as on fire when kindled). I have paid rever ence, O death, to thine eye, reverence to thy
breath.
5. This (man) shall live and shall not die: we rouse this man (to life)! I make for him a remedy: O
death, do not slay the man!
6. The plant gîvalâ (quickening'), na-ghâ-rishâ ('forsooth-no-harm'), and gîvantî ('living), a
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victorious, mighty saviour-plant do I invoke, that he may be exempt from injury.
7. Befriend him, do not seize him, let him go, (O death); though he be thy very own, let him
abide here with unimpaired strength! O Bhava and Sarva, take pity, grant Protection; misfortune
drive away, and life bestow!
8. Befriend him, death, and pity him: may he from here arise! Unharmed, with sound limbs,
hearing perfectly, through old age carr ying a hundred years, let him get enjoyment by himself
(unaided)!
9. The missile of the gods shall pass thee by! I pass thee across the mist (of death); from death I
have rescued thee. Removing far the flesh-devouring Agni, a barrier do I set around thee, that
thou mayest live.
10. From thy misty road that cannot be withstood, O death, from this path (of thine) we guard
this (man), and make our charm a protection for him.
11. In-breathing and out-breathing. do I prepare for thee, death in old age, long life, and
prosperity. All the messengers of Yama, that roam about, dispatched by Vivasvant's son, do I
drive away.
12. Arâti (grudge), Nirriti (destruction), Grâhi (seizure), and the flesh-devouring Pisâkas (do we
drive) away to a distance, and hurl all wicked Rakshas away into darkness as it were.
13. I crave thy life's breath from the immortal, life-possessing Agni Gâtavedas. That thou shalt
not take harm, shalt be immortal in (Agni's) company, that do I procure for thee, and that shall be
fulfilled for thee!
14. May heaven and earth, the bestowers of happiness, be auspicious and harmless to thee; may
the sun-shine, and the wind blow comfort to thy heart; may the heavenly waters, rich in milk,
flow upon thee kindly!
15. May the plants be auspicious to thee! I have raised thee from the lower to the upper earth:
there may both the Âdityas, the sun and the moon, . protect thee.
16. Whatever garment for clothing, or whatever girdle thou makest for thyself, agreeable to thy
body do we render it; not rough to thy touch shall it be!
17. When thou, the barber, shearest with thy sharp well-whetted razor our hair and beard, do not,
while cleansing our face, rob us of our life!
18. Rice and barley shall be auspicious to thee, causing no balâsa, inflicting no injur y! They two
drive away disease, they two release from calamity.
19. Whatever thou eatest or drinkest, the grain of the plough-land or milk, whatever is or is not to
be eaten, all that food do I render for thee free from poison.
20. To day and to night both do we commit thee: from the demons that seek to devour, do ye
preserve this (man) for me!
21. A hundred years, ten thousand years, two, three, four ages (yuga) do we allot to thee; Indra
and Agni, and all the gods without anger shall favour thee!
22. To autumn thee, to winter, spring and summer, do we commit; the rains in which grow the
plants shall be pleasant to thee!
23. Death rules over bipeds, death rules over quadrupeds. From that death, the lord of cattle, do I
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rescue thee: do not fear!
24. Free from harm thou shalt not die; thou shalt not die: do not fear! Verily, they do not die
there, they do not go to the nethermost darkness;--
25. Verily, every creatur e lives there, the cow, the horse, and man, where this charm is
performed, as the (protecting) barrier for life.
26. May it preserve thee from sorcery, from thy equals and thy kin! Undying be, immortal,
exceedingly vital; thy spirits shall not abandon thy body!
27. From the one and a hundred deaths, from the dangers that are surmountable, from that Agai
Vaisvânara (the funeral pyre?) may the gods deliver thee!
28. Thou, the remedy called p6tudru, art the body of Agni, the deliverer, slayer of Rakshas,
slayer of rivals, moreover thou chasest away disease.
{05030}
V. 30. Prayer for exemption from disease and death.
1. From near thy vicinity, from near thy distance (do I call): remain here, do not follow; do not
follow the Fathers of yore! Firmly do I fasten thy life's breath.
2. Whatever sorcery any kinsman or stranger has practised against thee, both release and
deliverance with my voice do I declare for thee.
3. If thou hast deceived or cursed a woman or a man in thy folly, both release and deliverance
with my voice do I declare for thee.
4. If thou liest (ill) in consequence of a sin committed by thy mother or thy father, both release
and deliverance with my voice do I declar e for thee.
5. Fight shy of the medicine which thy mother and thy father, thy sister and thy brother let out
against thee: I shall cause thee to live unto old age!
6. Remain here, O man, with thy entire soul; do not follow the two messengers of Yama: come to
the abodes of the living!
7. Return when called, knowing the outlet of the path (death), the ascent, the advance, the road of
every living man!
8. Fear not, thou shalt not die: I shall cause thee to live unto old age! I have charmed away from
thy limbs the disease that wastes the limbs.
9. The disease that racks and wastes thy limbs, and the sickness in thy heart, has flown as an
eagle to a far distance, overcome by my charm.
10. The two sages Alert and Watchful, the sleepless and the vigilant, these two guardians of thy
life's breath, are awake both day and night.
11. Agni here is to be revered; the sun shall rise here for thee: rise thou from deep death, yea
from black darkness!
12. Reverence be to Yama, reverence to death; reverence to the Fathers and to those that lead (to
them) [death's messengers?] ! That Agni who knows the way to save do I engage for this man,
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that he be exempt from harm!
13. His breath shall come, his soul shall come, his sight shall come, and, too, his strength! His
body shall collect itself: then shall he stand firm upon his feet!
14. Unite him, Agni, with breath and sight, provide him with a body and with strength! Thou
hast a knowledge of immortality: let him not now depart, let him not now become a dweller in a
house of clay!
15. Thy in-breathing shall not cease, thy outbreathing shall not vanish; Sûrya (the sun), the
supreme lord, shall raise thee from death with his rays!
16. This tongue (of mine), bound (in the mouth, yet) mobile, speaks within: with it I have
charmed away disease, and the hundred torments of the takman (fever).
17. This world is most dear to the gods, unconquered. For whatever death thou wast destined
when thou wast born, O man, that (death) and we call after thee: do not die before old age!
{04009}
IV, 9. Salve (âgana) as a protector of life and limb.
1. Come hither! Thou art the living, protecting eye-ointment of the mountain, given by all the
gods as a safeguard, unto life.
2. Thou art a protection for men, a protection for cattle, thou didst stand for the protection of
horses and steeds.
3. Thou art, O salve, both a protection that crushes the sorcerers, and thou hast knowledge of
immortality (amrita). Moreover, thou art food for the living, and thou art, too, a remedy aorainst
jaundice.
4. From him over whose every limb and every joint thou passest, O salve, thou dost, as a mighty
intercepter, drive away disease.
5. Him that bears thee, O salve, neither curse, nor sorcery, nor burning pain does reach; nor does
the,vishkandha come upon him.
6. From evil scheme, from troubled dream, from evil deed, and also from foulness.; from the evil
eye of the enemy, from this protect us, O salve!
7. Knowing this, O salve, I shall speak the truth, avoid falsehood. May I obtain horses and cattle,
and thy person, O serving-man!
8. Three are servants of the salve: the takman (fever), the balâsa, and the serpent. The highest of
the mountains, Trikakud ('Three-peaks') by name, is thy father.
9. Since the salve of Trikakud is born upon the Himavant, it shall demolish all the wizards and
all the witches.
10. Whether thou art derived from the (mountain) Trikakud, or art said to come from the (river)
Yamunâ, both these names of thine ar e auspicious: with these, O salve, protect us!
{04010}
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IV, 10. The pearl and its shell as an amulet bestowing long
life and prosperity.
1. Born of the wind, the atmosphere, the lightning, and the light, may this pearl shell, born of
gold, protect us from straits!
2. With the shell which was born in the sea, at the head of bright substances, we slay the Rakshas
and conquer the Atrins (devouring demons).
3. With the shell (we conquer) disease and poverty; with the shell, too, the Saânvâs. The shell is
our universal remedy; the pearl shall protect us from straits!
4. Born in the heavens, born in the sea, brought on from the river (Sindhu), this shell, born of
gold, is our life-prolonging amulet.
5. The amulet, born from the sea, a sun, born from Vritra (the cloud), shall on all sides protect us
from the missiles of the gods and the Asuras!
6. Thou art one of the golden substances, thou art born from Soma (the moon). Thou art sightly
on the chariot, thou art brilliant on the quiver. [May it prolong our lives!]
7. The bone of the gods turned into pearl; that, animated, dwells in the waters. That do I fasten
upon thee unto life, lustre, strength, longevity, unto a life lasting a hundred autumns, May the
(amulet) of pearl protect thee!
{19026}
XIX, 26. Gold as an amulet for long life.
1. The gold which is born from fire, the immortal, they bestowed upon the mortals. He who
knows this deserves it; of old age dies he who wears it.
2. The gold, (endowed by) the sun with beautiful colour, which the men of yore, rich in
descendants, did desire, may it gleaming envelop thee in lustre! Long-lived becomes he who
wears it!
3. (May it envelop) thee unto (long) life, unto lustre, unto force, and unto strength, that thou shalt
by the brilliancy of the gold shine forth among people!
4. (The gold) which king Varuna knows, which god Brihaspati knows, which Indra, the slayer of
Vritra, knows, may that become for thee a source of life, may that become for thee a source of
lustre!
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III
IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, SORCERERS,
AND ENEMIES (ÂBHIKÂRIKÂNI AND
KRITYÂPRATIHARANÂNI).
{01007}
I, 7. Against sorcerers and demons.
1. The sorcerer (yâtudhâna) that vaunts himsel and the Kimîdin do thou, O Agni, convey hither!
For thou, O god, when lauded, becomest the destroyer of the demon.
2. Partake of the ghee, of the sesame-oil, O Agni Gâtavedas, that standest on high, conquerest by
thyself! Make the sorcerers howl!
3. The sorcerers and the devouring (atrin) Kimîdin 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! Ever y
wizard, as soon as he comes, shall proclaim himself, saying, 'I am he'!
5. We would see thy might, O Gâtavedas; disclose 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 Gâtavedas: 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 thunderbolt
shall cut off their heads!
{01008}
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 Brihaspati, 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 Gâtavedas, 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!
{01016}
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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 Varuna gives blessing, to the lead Agni gives help. Indra gave me the lead:
unfailingly 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 Pisâkas.
4. If thou slayest our cow, if our horse or our domestic, we pierce thee with the lead, so that thou
shalt not slay our heroes.
{06002}
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.
{02014}
II, 14. Charm against a variety of female demons, conceived
as hostile to men, cattle, and home.
1. Nissâlâ, the bold, the greedy demon (?dhishana), and (the female demon) with long-drawn
howl, the bloodthirsty; all the daughters of Kanda, the Sadânvâs 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 Magundî, from the house.
3. In yonder house below, there the grudging demons (arâyî) shall exist; there ruin shall prevail,
and all the witches!
4. May (Rudra), the lord of beings, and Indra. drive forth from here the Sadânvâs; those that am
seated on the foundation of the house Indra shall overcome with his thunderbolt!
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 Sadânvâs!
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 Sadânvâs!
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{03009}
III, 9. Against vishkandha and kâbava (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 remove it!
2. Without fastening the), (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, fier y kâbava!
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 kâbava, as the ape to the dog.
5. I revile thee, the kâbava, unto misfortune, (and) shall work harm for thee. Accompanied with
curses ye shall go out like swift chariots!
6. A hundred and one vishkandha ar e spread out along the earth; for these at the beginning they
brought out thee, the amulet, that destroys vishkandha.
{04020}
IV, 20. Charm with a certain plant (sadampushpâ) 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 ever y one, the
Sûdra as well as the Ârya.
5. Reveal (all) forms, do not hide thy own self; moreover, do thou, O thousand-eyed (plant), look
the Kimîdins in the face!
6. Reveal to me the wizards, and reveal the witches, reveal all the Pisâkas: 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 Pisâka evident to me!
8. 1 have dragged out from his retreat the sorcerer and the Kimîdin. Through this (charm) do I
see every one, the Sûdr a as well as the Ârya.
9. Him that flies in the air, him that moves across the sky, him that regards the earth as his resort,
that Pisâka do thou reveal (to me)!
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{04017}
IV, 17. Charm with the apâmârga-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 ever), 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 arr anged dir e misfortune (for us), who
has taken hold of our children, to rob them of their strengthmay 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, gruesomeness, and grudging demons (arâyî), all the evil-
named, evil-speakinor (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
apâmârga, do we wipe out (apa mrigmahe) with thee.
7. Death from thirst, and death from hunger, moreover, ill-luck at dice, all that, O apâmârga, do
we wipe out with thee.
8. The apâmârga is sole ruler over all plants, with it do we wipe mishap from thee: do thou then
live exempt from disease!
{04018}
IV, 18. Charm with the apâmârga-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 (apâmârga), that hast a thousand homes, upon the (demons) visikha
('crestless'), and vigrîva ('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.
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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 apâmârga-plant shall wipe out (apa mârshtu) 'inherited ills, and curses; yea, it shall wipe
out all witches, and all grudging demons (arâyî)!
8. Having wiped out all sorcerers, and all grudging demons, with thee, O apâmâr ga, we wipe all
that (evil) out.
{04019}
IV, 19. Mystic power of the apâmârga-plant, against demons
and sorcerers.
1. On the one hand thou deprivest of kin, on the other thou now procurest kinfolk. Do thou,
moreover, cut the offspring of him that practises spells, as a reed that springs up in the rain!
2. By a Brâhmana thou hast been blest, by Kanva, the descendant of Nrishad. Thou goest like a
stronor army; where thou hast arrived, O plant, there there is no fear.
3. Thou goest at the head of the plants, spreading lustre, as if with a light. Thou art on the one
hand 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 apâmârga ('wiping out').
5. Thou cuttest to pieces (vibhindatî), 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 towards 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!
{07065}
VII, 65. Charm with the apâmârga-plant, against curses,
and the consequences of sinful deeds.
1. With fruit turned backward thou verily didst gr ow, O apâmârga: 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 apâmârga,
whose face is turned to every side, do we wipe them out (apa mrigmahe).
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3. If we have sat together with one who has black teeth, or diseased nails, or one who is
deformed, with thee, O apâmârga, we wipe all that out (apa mrigmahe).
{10001}
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 Sadra, prepared by a Râga, 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 it against him, that it may slay him that fashions the spell.
6. Pratikîna (' Back-hurler'), the descendant of Angiras, is our overseer and officiator (purohita):
do thou drive back again (pratîkîh) the spells, and slay yonder fashioner s 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 (Ribhu) the joints of a chariot,
to him go, there is thy course: this person her e shall remain unknown to thee!
9. 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 tile wretched (spell), as upon (a cow) with a dead calf, flooded
away (by a river), may all evil go away from me, and mav 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 ever y 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 Rishis!
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!
14. Stride away (O spell), like a loudly braying she-ass, that has been loosened (from the tether);
reach those that have fabricated thee, driven from here by (my) forceful charm!
15. 'This is the way, O spell,' with these words do we lead thee. Thee that hast been sent Out
against us do we send back again. Go this way like a crushing army, with heavy carts, thou that
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art multiform, and crowned by a crest(?)!
16. In the distance there is light for thee, hitherward there is no road for thee; away from us take
thy course! By another road cross thou ninety navigable streams, hard to cross! Do not injure, go
away!
17. As the wind the trees, crush down and fell (the enemy), leave them neither cow, nor horse,
nor serving-man! Turn from here upon those that have fabricated thee, O spell, awaken them to
childlessness!
18. The spell or the magic which they have buried against thee in the sacrificial straw (barhis), in
the field, (or) in the burial-ground, or if with superior skill they have practised sorcery against
thee, that art simple and innocent, in thy household fire,--
19. The hostile, insidious instrument which they have brought hither has been discovered; that
which has been dug in we have detected. It shall go whence it has been brought hither; there, like
a horse, it shall disport itself, and slay the offspring of him that has fashion'ed the spell!
20. Swords of good brass are in our house: we know how many joints thou hast, O spell! Be sure
to rise, go away from hence! O stranger, what seekest thou here?
21. I shall hew off, O spell, thy neck, and thy feet: run away! May Indra and Agni, to whom
belong the children (of men), protect us!
22. King Soma, who guards and pities us, and the lords of the beings shall take pity on us!
23. May Bhava and Sarva cast the lightning, the divine missile, upon him that performs evil,
fashions a spell, and does wrong!
24. If thou art come two-footed, (or) four-footed, prepared by the fashioner of the spell,
multiform, do thou, having become eight-footed, again go away from here, O misfortune!
25. Anointed, ornamented, and well equipped, go away, carrying every misfortune! Know, O
spell, thy maker, as a daughter her own father!
26. Go away, O spell, do not stand still, track (the enemy) as a wounded (animal)! He is the
game, thou the hunter: he is not able to put thee down.
27. Him that first hurls (the arrow), the other, laying on in defence, slays with the arrow, and
while the first deals the blow, the other returns the blow.
28. Hear, verily, this speech of mine, and then return whence thou camest, against the one that
fashioned thee!
29. Slaughter of an innocent is heinous, O spell: do not slay our cow, horse, or serving-man!
Wherever thou hast been put down, thence thee do we remove. Be lighter than a leaf!
30. If ye are enveloped in darkness, covered as if by a net--we tear all spells out from here, send
them back again to him that fashioned them.
31. The offspring of them that fashion the spell, practise magic, or plot against us, crush thou, O
spell, leave none of them! Slay those that fashion the spell!
32. As the sun is released from darkness, abandons the night, and the streaks of the dawn, thus
every misery, (every) device prepared by the fashioner of the spell, (every) misfortune, do I leave
behind, as an elephant the dust.
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{05031}
V, 31. Charm to repel sorceries or spells.
1. The spell which they have put for thee into an unburned vessel, that which they have put into
mixed grain, that which they have put into raw meat, that do I hurl back again.
2. The spell which they have put for thee into a cock, or that which (they have put) into a goat,
into a crested animal, that which they have put into a sheep, that do I hurl back again.
3. The spell which they have put for thee into solipeds, into animals with teeth on both sides, that
which they have put into an ass, that do I hurl back again.
4. The magic which they have put for thee into moveable property, or into personal possession,
the spell which they have put into the field, that do I hurl back again.
5. The spell which evil-scheming persons have put for thee into the gârhapatya-fire, or into the
housefire, that which they have put -into the house, that do I hurl back again.
6. The spell which they have put for thee into the assembly-hall, that which (they have put) into
the gaming-place, that which they have put into the dice, that do I hurl back again.
7. The spell which they have put for thee into the army, that which they have put into the arrow
and the weapon, that which they have put into the drum, that do I hurl back again.
8. The spell which they have placed down for thee in the well, or have buried in the burial-
ground, that which they have put into (thy) home, that do I hurl back again.
9. That which they have put for thee into human bones, that which (they have put) into the
funeral fire, to the consuming, burning, flesh-eating fir e do I hurl that back again.
10. By an unbeaten path he has brought it (the spell) hither, by a (beaten) path we drive it out
from here. The fool in his folly has prepared (the spell) aorainst those that are surely wise.
11. He that has undertaken it has not been able to accomplish it: he broke his foot, his toe. He,
luckless, performed an auspicious act for us, that are lucky.
12. Him that fashions spells, practises magic, digs after roots, sends out curses, Indra, shall slay
with his mighty weapon, Agni shall pierce with his hurled (arrow) !
{05014}
V, 14. Charm to repel sorceries or spells.
1. An eagle found thee out, a boar dug thee out with his snout. Seek thou, O plant, to injure him
that seeks to injure (us), strike down him that prepares spells (against us'!
2. Strike down the wizards, strike down him that prepares spells (against us); slay thou,
moreover, O plant, him that seeks to injure us!
3. Cutting out from the skin (of the enemy) as if (from the skin) of an antelope, do ye, O gods,
fasten the spell upon him that prepares it, as (one fastens) an ornament!
4. Take hold by the hand and lead away the spell back to him that prepares it! Place it in his very
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presence, so that it shall slay him that prepar es the spell!
5. The spells shall take effect upon him that prepares the spells, the curse upon him that
pronounces the curse! As a chariot with easy-going wheels, the spell shall turn back upon him
that prepares the spell!
6. Whether a woman, or whether a man has prepared the spell for evil, we lead that spell to him
as a horse with the halter.
7. Whether thou hast been prepared by the gods, or hast been prepared by men, we lead thee
back with the help of Indra as an ally.
8. O Agni gainer of battles, do thou gain the battles! With a counter-charm do we hurl back the
spell upon him that prepares the spell.
9. Hold ready, (O plant,) thy weapon, and strike him, slay the very one that has prepared (the
spell)! We do not whet thee for the destruction of him that has not practised (spells).
10. Go as a son to his father, bite like an adder that has been stepped upon. Return thou, O spell,
to him that prepares the spell, as one who overcomes his fetters!
11. As the shy deer, the antelope, goes out to the mating (buck), thus the spell shall reach him
that prepares it!
12. Straighter than an arrow may it (the spell) fly against him, O ye heaven and earth; may that
spell take hold again of him that prepares it, as (a hunter)
of his game!
13. Like fire (the spell) shall progress in the teeth of obstacles, like water along its course! As a
chariot with easy-going wheels the spell shall turn back upon him that prepares the spell!
{08005}
VIII, 5. Prayer for protection addressed to a talisman made
from wood of the sraktya-tree.
1. This attacking talisman, (itself) a man, is fastened upon the man: it is full of force, slays
enemies, makes heroes of men, furnishes shelter, provides good luck.
2. This talisman slays enemies, makes strong men, is powerful, lusty, victorious, strong; as a man
it advances against sorceries and destroys them.
3. With this talisman Indra slew Vritra, with it he, full of device, destroyed the Asuras, with it he
conquered both the heaven and earth, with it he conquered the four regions of space.
4. This talisman of sraktya assails and attacks. With might controlling the enemies, it shall
protect us on all sides!
5. Agni has said this, and Soma has said this; Brihaspati, Savitar, Indra (have said) this. These
divine purohitas, (chaplains) shall turn back for me (upon the sorcerer) the sorceries with
aggressive amulets!
6. I have interposed heaven and earth, also the day, and also the sun. These divine purohitas
(chaplains) shall turn back for me (upon the sorcerer) the sorceries with aggressive amulets!
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7. (For) the folk that make an armour of the talisman of sraktya--like the sun ascending the sky, it
subjects and beats of f the sorceries.
8. With the amulet of sraktya, as if with a seer of powerful spirit, I have gained all battles, I slay
the enemies, the Rakshas.
9. The sorceries that come from the Angiras, the sorceries that come f rom the Asuras, the
sorceries that prepare themselves, and those that are prepared by others, both these shall go away
to a distance across ninety navigable streams!
10. As an armour upon him the gods shall tie the amulet, Indra, Vishnu, Savitar, Rudra, Agni,
Pragâpati, Parameshthin, Virâg,Vaisvânara, and the seers all.
11. Thou art the most superb of plants, as if a steer among the cattle, as if a tiger among beasts of
prey. (The amulet) that we did seek, that have we found, a guardian at our side.
12. He that wears this talisman, verily is a tiger, a lion as well, and, too, a bull; moreover a
curtailer of enemies.
13. Him slay not the Apsaras, nor the Gandharvas, nor mortal men; all reoions does he rule, that
wears this talisman.
14. Kasyapa has created thee, Kasyapa has produced thee. Indra wore thee in human (battle);
wearing thee in the close combat he conquered. The gods did make the talisman an armour of
thousandfold strength.
15. He that plans to harm thee with sorceries, with (unholy) consecrations and sacrifices--him
beat thou back, O Indra, with thy thunderbolt that hath a hundred joints!
16. This talisman verily does assail, full of might, victorious. Offspring and wealth it shall
protect, provide defence, abound in luck!
17. Remove our enemies in the south, remove our enemies in the north; remove, O Indra, our
enemies in the west: light, O hero, place in front ( east) of us!
18. An armour for me be heaven and earth, an armour day, an armour the sun! An armour for me
be Indra and Agni; Dhâtar shall bestow (dadhAtu) an armour upon me!
19. The armour of Indra and Agni, that is thick and strong, all the gods united do not pierce. This
great (armour) shall protect my body on all sides, that I may obtain long lif e, and reach old age!
20. The divine talisman has ascended upon me,unto completc exemption from injury. Assemble
about this post that protects the body, furnishes threefold defence, in order to (secure) strength!
21. Into it Indra shall deposit manliness: do ye, O gods, assemble about it for long life, for life
lasting a hundred autumns, that he may reach old age.
22. May Indra who bestows welfare, the lord of the people, the slayer of Vritra, the controller of
enemies, he that conquereth and is unconquered, the soma-drinking bull that frees from danger,
fasten the amulet upon thee: may it protect thee on each and every side, by day and by night!
{10003}
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X, 3. Praise of the virtues of an amulet derived from the
varana-tree.
1. Here is my varana-amulet, a bull that destroys the rivals: with it do thou close in upon thy
enemies, crush them that desire to injure thee!
2. Break them, crush them, close in upon them: the amulet shall be thy vanguard in front! With
the varana the Devas (gods) did ward off (avârayanta) the onslaught of the Asuras (demons) day
after day.
3, This thousand-eyed, yellow, golden varanaamulet is a universal cure; it shall lay low thy
enemies: be thou the first to injure those that hate thee!
4. This varana will ward off (vârayishyate) the spell that has been spread against thee; this will
protect thee from human danger, this will protect thee from all evil!
5. This divine tree, the varana, shall shut out (vârayâtâi)! The gods, too, have shutout (avivaran)
the disease that has entered into this (man).
6. If when asleep thou shalt behold an evil dream; as often as a wild beast shall run an
inauspicious course; from (ominous) sneezing, and from the evil shriek of a bird, this varana-
amulet will protect thee (vârayishyate).
7. From Arâti (grudge), Nirriti (misfortune), from sorcer y, and from danger; from death and
overstrong weapons the varana will protect thee.
8. The sin that my mother, that my father, that my brothers and my sister have committed; the sin
that we (ourselves) have committed, from that this divine tree will protect us.
9. Through the varana are confused my enemies and my (rival) kin. To untraversed gloom they
have gone: they shall go to the nethermost darkness!
10. (May) I (be) unharmed, with cows unharmed, long-lived, with undiminished men! This
varana-amulet shall guard me in every region (of space)!
11. This varana upon my breast, the kingly, divine tree, shall smite asunder my enemies, as Indra
the Dasyus, the Asuras (demons)!
12. Long-lived, a hundred autumns old, do I wear this varana: kingdom and rule, cattle and
strength, this shall bestow upon me!
13. As the wind breaks with might the trees, the lords of the forest, thus do thou break my rivals,
those formerly born, and the latter born! The varana shall watch over thee!
14. As the wind and the fire consume the trees, the lords of the forest, thus, do thou consume my
rivals, those formerly born, and the latter born! The varana shall watch over thee!
15. As, ruined by the wind, the trees lie prostrate, thus do thou ruin and prostrate my rivals, those
formerly born, and the latter born! The varana shall watch over thee!
16. Do thou cut off, O varana, before their appointed time and before old age, those that aim to
injure him in his cattle, and threaten his sovereignty!
17. As the sun is resplendent, as in him brilliance has been deposited, thus shall the amulet of
varana hold fast for me reputation and prosperity, shall sprinkle me with brilliance, and anoint
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me with splendour!
1 8. As splendour is in the moon, and in the sun, the beholder of men, thus shall the amulet of
varana hold fast, &c.
19. As splendour is in the earth, as in this Gâtavedas (the fire), thus shall the amulet of varana
hold fast, &c.
20. As splendour is in the maiden, as in this appointed chariot, thus shall the amulet of varana
hold fast, &c.
2 1. As splendour is in the soma-draught, as splendour is in the honey-mixture (for guests), thus
shall the amulet of varana hold fast, &c.
22. As splendour is in the agnihotra-oblation, as splendour is in the call vashat, thus shall the
amulet of varana hold fast, &c.
23. As splendour is in the sacrificer, as (splendour) has been deposited in the sacrifice, thus shall
the amulet of varana hold fast, &c.
24. As splendour is in Pragâpati, as in this Parameshthin (the lord on high), thus shall the amulet
of varana hold fast, &c.
25. As immortality is in the gods, as truth has been deposited in them, thus shall the amulet of
varana hod fast, &c.
{10006}
X, 6. Praise of the virtues of amulet of khadira-wood in the
shape of a ploughshare.
1. The head of the hostile rival, of the enemy that bates me, do I cut off with might.
2. This amulet, produced by the ploughshare, will prepare an armour for me: full of stirred drink
it has come to me, together with sap and lustre.
3. If the skilful workman has injured thee with his hand or with his knife, the living bright waters
shall purify thee from that, (so that thou shalt be) bright!
4. This amulet has a golden wreath, bestows faith and sacrifice and might; in our house as a guest
it shall dwell!
5. Before it (the amulet as a guest) ghee, surâ (liquor), honey, and every kind of food we place.
The amulet having gone to the gods shall, as a father for his sons, plan for us growing good,
more and more day after day!
6. The amulet which Brihaspati tied, the ploughshare dripping with ghee, the strong khadira, unto
strength, that Agni did fasten on; that yields him ghee more and more day after day: with it those
that hate me do thou slay!
7. This amulet which Brihaspati tied that Indra did fasten on, for strength and heroism; that
yields him might more and more, &c.
8. The amulet which Brihaspati tied . . . that Soma did fasten on unto perfect hearing and seeing;
that verily yields him lustre more and more, &c.
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9. The amulet which Brihaspat, tied . . . that Sûrya did fasten on, with that he conquered these
directions of space; that yields him prosperity moreand more, &c.
10. The amulet which Brihaspati tied wearing that amulet Kandramas (the moon) conquered the
golden cities of the Asuras and the Dânavas; that yields him fortune more and more, &c.
11. The amulet which Brihaspat' tied for swift Vâta (wind), that yields him strength mor e and
more, &c.
12, The amulet which Brihaspati tied for swift Vâta, with that amulet, O Asvins, do ye guard this
plough-land; that yields the two physicians (the Asvins) might more and more, &c.
13. The amulet which Brihaspati tied for swift Vâta, wearing that, Savitar through it conquered
this light; that yields him abundance more and more, &c.
14. The amulet which Brihaspati tied for swift Vâta, wearing that, the waters ever run
undiminished; that verily yields them ambrosia more and more, &c.
15. The amulet which Brihaspati tied for swift Vâta, that comforting amulet king Varuna did
fasten on; that verily yields him truth more and more, &c.
16. The amulet which Brihaspati tied for swift Vâta, wearing that the gods did conquer all the
worlds in battle; that verily yields them conquest more and more, &c.
17. The amulet which Brihaspati tied for swift Vâta, that comforting amulet the divinities did
fasten on; that verily yields them- all more and more, &c.
18. The seasons did fasten it on; the divisions (of the year ) did fasten it on. Since the year did
fasten it on, it guards every being.
19. The intermediate directions did fasten it on; the directions did fasten it on. The amulet
created by Pragâpati has subjected those that hate me.
20. The Atharvans did tie it on, the descendants of the Atharvans did tie it on; with these allied,
the Angiras cleft the castles of the Dasyus. With it those that hate me do thou slay!
21. That Dhâtar did fasten on: (then) he shaped the being. With it those that hate me do thou
slay!
22. The amulet which Brihaspati tied for the gods, destructive of the Asuras, that has come to me
together with sap and lustre.
23. The amulet . . . has come to me together with cows, goats, and sheep, together with food and
offspring.
24. The amulet . . . has come to me together with rice and barley, together with might and
prosperity.
25. The amulet has come to me with a stream of honey and ghee together with sweet drink.
26. The amulet has come to me together with nourishment and milk, together with goods and
fortune.
27. The amulet . . . has. come to me together with brilliance and strength, together with glory and
reputation.
28. The amulet . . . has come to me together with all 'kinds of prosperity.
29, This amulet the gods shall give me unto prosperity, the mighty amulet that strengthens
sovereignty and injures the rivals!
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30. An (amulet) auspicious for me thou shalt fasten upon (me), together with brahma (spiritual
exaltation) and brilliance! Free from rivals, slaying rivals, it has subjected my rivals.
31. This god-born amulet, the sap milked from which these three worlds revere, shall render me
superior to him that hates me; it shall ascend upon my head unto excellence!
32. The amulet upon which the gods, the Fathers, and men ever live, shall ascend upon my head
unto excellence!
33. As the seed grows in the field, in the furrow drawn by the ploughshare, thus in me offspring,
cattle, and every kind of food shall grow up!
34. Upon whom, O thou amulet that prosperest the sacrifice, I have fastened thee (that art)
propitious, him, O amulet, that yieldest a hundredfold sacrificial reward, thou shalt inspire unto
excellence!
35. This fire-wood that has been laid on together with the oblations do thou, Agni, gladly accept:
may we in this kindled Gâtavedas (fire), through (this) charm, find favour, well-being, offspring,
sight, and cattle!
{04016}
IV, 16. Prayer to Varuna for protection against treacherous
designs.
1. The great guardian among these (gods) sees as if from anear. He that thinketh he is moving
stealthily--all this the gods know.
2. If a man stands, walks, or sneaks about, if he goes slinking away, if he goes into his hiding-
place; if two persons sit together and scheme, king Varuna is there as a third, and knows it.
3. Both this earth here belongs to king Varuna, and also yonder broad sky whose boundaries are
far away. Moreover these two oceans are the loins of Varuna; yea, he is hidden in this small
(drop of) water.
4. He that should flee beyond the heaven far away would not be free from king Varuna. His spies
come hither (to the earth) from heaven, with a thousand eyes do they watch over the earth.
5. King Varuna sees through all that is between heaven and earth, and all that is beyond. He has
counted the winkings of men's eyes. As a (winning) gamester puts down his dice, thus does he
establish these (laws).
6. May all thy fateful toils which, seven by seven, threefold, lie spread out, ensnare him that
speaks falsehood: him that speaks the truth they shall let go!
7. With a hundred snares, O Varuna, surround him, let the liar not go free fr om thee, O thou that
observest men! The rogue shall sit, his belly hanging loose, like a cask without hoops, bursting
all about!
8. With (the snare of) Varuna which is fastened lengthwise, and that which (is fastened)
broadwise, with the indigenous and the foreign, with the divine and the human,--
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9. With all these snares do I fetter thee, O N. N., descended from N. N., the son of the woman N.
N.: all these do I design for thee.
{02012}
II, 12. Imprecation against enemies thwarting holy work.
1. Heaven and earth, the broad atmosphere, the goddess of the field, and the wonderful, far-
striding (Vishnu); moreover, the broad atmospher e guarded by Vâta (the wind): may these here
be inflamed, when I am inflamed!
2. Hear this, O ye revered gods! Let Bharadvâga recite for me songs of praise! 'May he who
injures this our plan be bound in the fetter (of disease) and joined to misfortune!
3. Hear, O soma-drinking Indra, what with burning heart I shout to thee! I cleave, as one cleaves
a tree with an axe, him that injures this our plan.
4. With (the aid of) thrice eighty siman-singers, with (the aid of) the Âdityas, Vasus, and
Angiras--may our father's sacrifices and gifts to the priests, aid us-do I seize this one with fateful
fervour.
5. May heaven and earth look after me, may all the gods support me! O ye Angiras, O ye fathers
devoted to Soma, may he who does harm enter into misfortune!
6 . He who perchance despises us, O ye Maruts, he who abuses the holy practice which is beiog
performed by us, may his evil deeds be firebr ands to him, may the heavens surround with fire the
hater of holy practices!
7. Thy seven in-breathings and thy eight marrows, these do I cut for thee by means of my charm.
Thou shalt go to the seat of Yama, fitly prepared, with Agni as thy guide!
8. 1 set thy footstep upon the kindled fire. May Agni surround thy body, may thy voice enter into
breath!
{07070}
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 Nirriti (the goddess of destruction), allying herself with death,
smite his offering before it takes effect!
2. May sorcerers, Nirriti, 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. The two agile supreme rulers, like two eagle-s pouiicing down, shall strike the sacrificial
butter pf 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.
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5. I tie thy two arms, I shut thy mouth. With the fury of terrible Agni have I destroyed thy
oblation.
{02007}
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 possession shall we have with the friend. Of the enemy
who bewitches with (his) eye we hew of f the ribs.
{03006}
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
Vritra, (allied) with Mitra and Varuxa!
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 bull, with thee here, O asvattha, may we conquer
our rivals!
5. May Nirriti (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 asvattha, and renderest them subordinate, thus do thou split in
two the head of iny 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.
{06075}
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VI, 75. Oblation for the suppression of enemies
(nairbâdhyam havih).
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 Vritra, 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!
{07037}
VII 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.
{07013}
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, lookina out auainst me, as I come on--of those that hate me do I
take away the strenorth, as the sun takes away the strength of persons asleep (while it rises).
IV.
CHARMS PFRTAINING TO WOMEN (STRiKARATkV1).
{02036}
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
1368

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a husband!
2. Agreeable to Soma, agreeable to Brahma, arranged by Aryaman, with the unfailing certainty
of god Dhâtar, do I bestow upon thee good fortune, the acquisition of a husband.
3. This woman shall obtain a hnsband, 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 animals, thus may this woman be a f avourite 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 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 agr eeable! Do thou, O herb, bestow (him)
upon her!
{06060}
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. Dhâtar (the creator) supports (didhhra) this earth, Dhâtar supports the heavens, and the sun.
May Dhatar furnish this spinster with a husband after her own heart).
{06082}
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, Vritra's slayer, the Visava, of hundredfold strength.
2. The road by which the Asvins carried away as a bride Sûryâ, Savitar's daughter,'by that road,'
Bhaga (fortune) told me, 'thou shalt bring here a wife'!
With thy wealth-procuring, great, golden hook, O Indra, husband of Sakî, procure a wife for me
that desireth a wife!
{06078}
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VI, 78. Blessing for a married couple.
1. Through this oblation, that causes prosperity, may this man f lourish 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. Tvashtar begot (for thee) a wife, Tvashtar for her begot thee as a husband. May Tvashtar
bestow upon you two a thousand lives, may he bestow upon you long life!
{07036}
VII, 36. Love-charm spoken by a bridal couple.
1. 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!
{07037}
VII, 37. Charm pronounced by the bride over the
bridegroom.
1. 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!
{06081}
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 of fspring 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), furnish a son, bring him here (A gamaya), thou that comest here (Agame)!
3. The bracelet that Aditi wore, when she desired a son.Tvashtar shall fasten upon this woman,
intending that she shall beget a son.
{03023}
III, 23. Charm for obtaining a son (pumsavanam).
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.
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2. Into thy womb shall enter a male germ, as an arrow into a quiver! May a man be born ther e, 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 fruitful milch-cow!
5. Pragâpati'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 pi-osperity
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!
{06011}
VI, 11. Charm for obtaining a son (pumsavanam).
1. The asvattha (ficus religiosa) has mounted the samî (mimosa suma): then a male child was
produced. That, forsooth, is the way to obtain a son; that do we bring to (our) wives.
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 Pragâpati.
3. Pragâpati, Anumati, and Sinîvâlî have fashioned him. May he (Pragâpati) elsewhere afford the
birth of a female, but here he shall bestow a man!
{07035}
VII, 35. An incantation to make a woman sterile.
1. The other enemies conquer with might; beat back, O Gâtavedas, 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 of fspring; a stone do I make into a cover for thee.
{06017}
VI, 17. Charm to prevent miscarriage.
1. As this great-earth conceives the germs of the beings, thus shalt thy embryo be-beld fast, to
produce a child after pregnancy!
2. As this great earth holds these trees, thus shall thy embr yo be held f ast, to produce a child after
pregnancy!
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3. As this great earth holds the 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 far, thus shall thy embryo be held fast, to
produce a child after pregnancy!
{01011}
I, 11. Charm for easy parturition.
1. Aryaman as active hotar-priest shall utter for thee the vashat-call at this (soma-) pressing, O
Pûshan! May (this) woman, (herself) begotten in
the proper way, be delivered, may her joints relax, that she shall bring forth!
2. Four directions 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 Sûshan open: her womb do we cause to gape. Do thou, O Sûshan, loosen the womb, do
thou, O Bishkalâ, let go (the ernbryo)!
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!
{01034}
I, 34. Charm with licorice, to secure the love of a woman.
1. This plant is born of honey, with honey do we dig for thee. Of honey thou art begotten, do
thou make us full of honey!
2. At the tip of my tongue may I have honey, at my tongue's root the sweetness of honey! In my
power alone shalt thou then be, thou shalt come up to my wish!
3. Sweet as honey is my entrance, sweet as honey my departure. With my voice do I speak sweet
as honey, may I become like honey!
4. I am sweeter than honey, fuller of sweetness than licorice. Mayest thou, without fail, long for
me alone, (as a bee) for a branch full of honey!
5. I have surrounded thee with a clinging sugarcane, to remove aversion, so that thou shalt not be
averse to me!
{02030}
II, 30. Charm to secure the love of a woman.
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1. As the wind tears this grass from the surface of the earth, thus do I tear thy soul, so that thou,
woman, shalt love, shalt not be averse to me!
2. If ye, O two Asvins, shall unite and bring together the loving pair-united are the fortunes
of,both of you (lovers), united the thoughts, united the purposes!
3. When birds desire to chirp, lustily desire to chirp, may my call go there, as an arrow-point
upon the shaft!
4. What is within shall be without, what is without shall be within! Take captive, O her b, the,
soul of the maidens endowed with every chai-m!
5. Longing for a husband this woman hath come, I have come longing for a wife, As a loudly
neighing horFe I have attained to my good fortune!
{06008}
VI, 8. Charm to secure the love of a woman.
1. As the creeper embraces the tree on all sides, thus do thou embrace me, so that thou, woman,
shalt love me, so that thou shalt not be averse to me!
2. As the eagle when he flies forth presses his wings against the earth, thus do I fasten down thy
mind, so that thou, woman, shalt love me, so that thou shalt not be averse to me.
3. As the sun day by day goes about this heaven and earth, thus do I go about thy mind, so that
thou, woman, shalt love me, so that thou shalt not be: averse to me.
{06009}
VI, 9. Charm to secure the love of a woman.
1. Hanker thou after my body, my feet, hanker after my eyes, my thighs! The eyes of thee, as
thou lustest after me, and thy hair shall be parched with love?
2. I make thee cling to my arm, cling to my heart, so that thou shalt be in my power, shalt come
up to my wish!
3. The cows, the mothers of the ghee, who lick their young, in whose heart love is planted, shall
make yonder woman bestow love upon:me!
{06102}
VI, 102. Charm to secure the love of a woman.
1. As this draught animal, O ye Asvins, comes on, and proceeds, thus may thy soul come on, and
proceed to me!
2. 1 draw to myself thy mind, as the leading stallion the female side-horse. As the stalk of grass
torn by the wind, thus shall thy mind fasten itself upon me!
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3. A coaxing mixtLire of salve, of sweet wood, of kushtha, and of spikenar d, do I deftly pick out
with the hands of Bhaga (good fortune).
{03025}
III, 25. Charm to arouse the passionate love of a woman.
1. May (love), the disquieter, disquiet thee; do not hold out upon thy bed! With the terrible arrow
of Kâma (love) do I pierce thee in the heart.
2. The arrow, winged with longing, barbed with love, whose shaft is undeviating desire, with
that, well-aimed, Kâma shall pierce thee in the heart!
3. With that well-aimed arrow of Kâma which parches the spleen, whose plume flies forward,
which burns up, do I pierce thee in the heart.
4. Consumed by burning ardour, with parched mouth, do thou (woman) come to me, pliant, (thy)
pride laid aside, mine alone, speaking sweetly and to me devoted!
5. I drive thee with a goad from thy mother and thy father, so that thou shalt be in my power,
shalt come up to my wish.
6. All her thoughts do ye, O Mitra and Varuna, drive out of her! Then, having deprived her of her
will,.put her into my power alone!
{07139}
VII, 139. Charm to arouse the passionate love of a woman.
1. Clinging to the ground thou didst grow, (O plant), that producest bliss for me; a hundred
branches extend from thee, three and thirty grow down from thee: with this plant of a thousand
leaves thy heart do I parch.
2. Thy heart shall parch ( with love) for me, and thy mouth shall parch (with love for me)!
Languish, moreover, with love for me, with parched mouth pass thy days!
3. Thou that causest affection, kindlest (love), brown, lovely (plant), draw (us) together; draw
together yonder woman and myself, our hearts make the same!
4. As the mouth of him that hath not drunk dries tip, thus languish thou with love for me, with
parched mouth pass thy days!
5. As the Ichneumon tears the serpent, and joins him together again, thus, O potent (plant), join
together what hath been torn by love!
{07038}
VII, 38. Charm to secure the love of a man.
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1. This potent herb do I dig out: it draws toward me the eve, causes (love's) tears. It brings back
him who has gone to a distance, r ejoices him that approaches me.
2. By (the plant) with which the Âsurî allured Indra away from the gods, by that do I subject
thee, that I may be well-beloved of thee!
3. Thy face is turned towards Soma (the nioon), thy face is turned towards Sûrya (the sun), thy
face is turned towards all the gods: 't is tliee here that we do invoke.
4. My speech, not thine, (in this matter) hath weight: in the assembly, forsooth, do thou speak!
To me alone shalt thou belong, shalt not even discourse of other women!
5. Whether thou art beyond the haunts of men, or whether across the river, this very herb, as if a
captive bound, shall bring, thee back to me!
{06130}
VI, 130. Charm to arouse the passionate love of a man.
1. This yearning love comes from the Apsaras, the victorious, imbued with victory. Ye gods,
send forth the yearning love: may yonder man burn after me!
2. My wish is, he shall long for me, devoted he shall long for me! Ye gods, send forth the
yearning love: may yonder man burn after me!
3. That yonder man shall long for me, (but) I for him nevermore, ye gods, send forth the yearning
love: may yonder man burn after me!
4. Do ye, O Maruts, intoxicate him (With love); do thou, O mid-air, intoxicate him; do thou, O
Agni, intoxicate him! May yonder man burn after me!
{06131}
VI, 131. Charm to arouse the passionate love of a man.
1. From thy head unto thy feet do I implant (love's) longing into thee. Ye gods, send forth the
yearning love: may yonder man burn after me!
2. Favour this (plan), Anumati; fit it tooether, Âkûti! Ye gods, send forth the yearning love may
yonder man burn after me!
3. If thou dost run three leagues away, (or even) five leagues, the distance coursed by a
horseman, from there thou shalt again return, shalt be the father of our sons!
{06132}
VI, 132. Charm to arouse the passionate love of a man.
1. Love's consuming longing, together with yearning, which the gods have poured into the
waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of Varuna!
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2. Love's consuming longing, together with yearning, which the all- gods (visve devâh) have
poured into the waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of Varuna!
3. Love's consuming longing, together with yearning, which Indrâni has poured into the waters,
that do I kindle for thee by the law of Varuna!
4. Love's consuming longing, together with yearning, which Indra and Agni have poured into the
waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of Varuna!
5. Love's consuming longing, together with yearning, which Mitra and Varuna have poured into
the waters, that do I kindle for thee by the law of Varuna!
{06005}
IV, 5. Charm at an assignation.
1. The bull with a thousand horns who rose out of the sea, with the aid of him, the mighty one,
do we put the folks to sleep.
2. The wind blows not over the earth. No one looks on. Do thou then, befriended of Indra, put all
women and dogs to sleep!
3. The women that lie upon couches and upon beds, and they that rest in litters, the women all
that exhale sweet fragrance, do we put to sleep.
4. Every moving thing I have held fast. Eye and breath I have held fast. I have held fast all limbs
in the deep gloom of the night.
5. Of him that sits, and him that walks, of him that stands and looks about, of these the eyes we
do shut, just as these premises (are shut).
6. The mother shall sleep, the father shall sleep, the dog shall sleep, the lord of the house shall
sleep! All her relations shall sleep, and these people round about shall sleep!
7. O sleep, put thou to sleep all people with the magic that induces sleep! Put the others to sleep
until the sun rises; may I be awake until the dawn appears, like Indra, unharmed, uninjured!
{06077}
VI, 77. Charm to cause the return of a truant woman.
1. The heavens have stood, the earth has stood, all creatures have stood. The mountains have
stood upon their foundation, the horses in the stable I have caused to stand.
2. Him that has control of departure, that has control of coming home, return, and turning in, that
shepherd do I also call.
3. O Gâtavedas (Agni), cause thou to turn ill; a hundred way's hither shall be thine, a thousand
modes of return shall be thine: with these do thou restore us again!
{06018}
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VI, 18. Charm to allay jealousy.
1. The first impulse of jealousy, moreover the one that comes after the first, the fire, the heart-
burning, that do wc waft away from thee.
2. As the earth is dead in spirit, in spirit more dead than the dead, and as the spirit of him that has
died, thus shall the spirit of the jealous (man) be dead!
3. Yon fluttering little spirit that has been fixed into thy heart, from it the jealousy do I remove,
as air from a water-skin.
{07045}
VII, 45. Charm to allay jealousy.
1. From folk belonging to all. kinds of people, from the Sindhu (Indus) thou hast been brought
hither: from a distance, I ween, has been fetched the ver y remedy for jealousy.
2. As if a fire is burning him, as if the forest-fire burns in various directions, this jealousy of his
do thou quench, as a fire (is quenched) with water!
{01014}
I, 14. A woman's incantation against her rival.
1. I have taken unto myself her fortune and her glory, as a wreath off a tree. Like a mountain
with broad foundation may she sit a long time with her parents!
2. This woman shall be subjected to thee as thy wife, O king Yama; (till then) let her be fixed to
the house of her mother, or her brother, or her father!
3. This woman shall be the keeper of thy house, O king (Yama), and her do we make over to
thee! May she long sit with her relatives, until (her hair) drops f rom her head!
4. With the incantation of Asita, of Kasyapa, and of Gaya do I cover up thy fortune, as women
cover (something) within a chest.
{03018}
III, 18. Charm of a woman against a rival or co-wife.
1. I dig up this plant, of herbs the most potent, by whose power rival women are overcome, and
husbands are obtained.
2. O thou (plant) with erect leaves, lovely, do thou, urged on by the gods, full of might, drive
away my rival, make my h usband mine alone!
3. He did not, forsooth, call thy name, and thou shalt not delight in this' husband! To the ver y
farthest distance do we drive our rival.
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4. Superior am I, O superior (plant), superior, truly, to superior (women). Now shall my rival be
inferior to those that are inferior!
5. I am overpowering, and thou, (O plant), art completely overpowering. Having both grown full
of power, let us overpower my rival!
6. About thee (my husband) I have placed the overpowering (plant), upon thee placed the very
overpowering one. May thy mind run after me as a calf after the cow, as water along its course!
{06138}
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 Indr a
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 . . . . . . . . . .
. . I break them with a club.
5. As women break reeds for a mattress with a stone, thus do I break thy member
{01018}
I, 18. Charm to remove evil bodily characteristics from a
woman.
1. The (foul) mark, the lalâmî (with spot on the forehead), the Arâti (grudging demon), do we
drive out. Then the (signs) that are auspicious (shall remain) with us; (yet) to beget offspring do
we bring the Arâti!
2. May Savitar drive out uncouthness from her feet, may Varuna, 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 vilîdhî (the
driveling one), the lalâmî (with spot on the forehead), these do we drive from us.
{06110}
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VI, 110. Expiatory charm for a child born under an unlucky
star.
1. Of yore, (O Agni), thou wast worthy of supplication 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 (constellation) gyeshihaghnî ('she that slays the oldest'), or
under the vikritâu ('they that uproot'), save thou from being torn up by the root by Yama (death)!
May be (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!
{06140}
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 Brahmanaspati Gâtavedas, 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!
V.
CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY
(RÂGAKARMÂNI).
{04008}
IV, 8. Prayer at the consecration of a king.
1. Himself prosperous (bhûto), he does put strength into the beings (bhûteshu); he became the
chief lord of the beings (bhûtânâm). 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!
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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 Asur a; 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 regionst All
the clans shall wish for thee, and the heavenly waters, rich in sap!
5. The 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!
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!
{03003}
III, 3. Charm for the restoration of an exiled king.
1. (Agni) has shouted loud: may he here well per form 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 gâyatri, the brihatî, and the arka (songs), infused courage into him
with the sautrâmanî-sacrifice!
3. From the waters king Varuna 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!
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III, 4. Prayer at the election of a king.
1. (Thy) kingdom hath come to thee: arise, endowed 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
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