Hymns of the Atharva Veda  (continued..)

Part 1     Part 2     Part3

VII.

CHARMS TO SECURE PROSPERITY IN HOUSE, FIELD, CATTLE, BUSINESS, GAMBLING, AND KINDRED MATTERS.

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III, 12. Prayer at the building of a house.

1. Right here do I erect a firm house: may it stand upon a (good) foundation, dripping with ghee! Thee may we inhabit, O house, with heroes all, with strong heroes, with uninjured heroes!
2. Right here, do thou, O house, stand firmly, full of horses, full of cattle, full of abundance! Full of sap, ful.] of ghee, full of milk, elevate thyself unto great happiness!
3. A supporter art thou, O house, with broad roof, containing purified grain! To thee may the calf come, to thee the child, to thee the milch-cows, when they return in the evening!
4. May Savitar, Vâyu, Indra, Brihaspati cunningly erect this house! Alay the Alaruts sprinkle it with moisture and with ghee; may king Bhaga let our ploughing take root!
5. O mistress of dwelling, as a sheltering and kindly goddess thou wast erected by the gods in the bealrinina; clothed in grass, be thou kindly disposed; give us, moreover, wealth along with heroes!
6. Do thou, O cross-beam, according to regulation ascend the post, do thou, mightily ruling, hold off the enemies! May they that approach thee reverently, O house, not suffer injury, may we with all our heroes live a hundred autumns!
7. Hither to this (house) hath come the tender child, hither the calf along with (the other) domestic animals; hither the vessel (full) of liquor, together with bowls of sour milk!
8. Carry forth, O woman, this full jar, a stream of ghee mixed with ambrosia! Do thou these drinkers supply with ambrosia; the sacrifice and the gifts (to the Brahmans) shall it (the house) protect!
9. These waters, free from disease, destructive of disease, do I carry forth. The chambers do I enter in upon together with the immortal Agni (fire).

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VI, 142. Blessing during the sowing of seed.

1. Raise thyself up, grow thick by thy own might, O grain! Burst every vessel! The lightning in the heavens shall not destroy thee!
2. When we invoke thee, god grain, and thou dost listen, then do thou raise thyself up like the sky, be inexhaustible as the sea!
3. Inexhaustible shall be those that attend to thee, inexhaustible thy heaps! Theywhogivethee as a present shall be inexhaustible, they who eat thee shall be inexhaustible!

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VI, 79. Charm for procuring increase of grain.

1. May this bounteous Nabhasaspati (the lord of the cloud) preserve for us (possessions) without measure in our house!
2. Do thou, O Nabhasaspati, keep strengthening food in our house, may prosperity and goods come hither!
3. O bounteous god, thou dost command thousandfold prosperity: of that do thou bestow upon iis, of that do thou give us, in that may we share with thee!

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VI, 50. Exorcism of vermin infesting grain in the field.

1. Slay ye the tarda ('borer'), the samanka ('hook'), and the mole, O Asvins; cut off their heads, and crush their ribs! Shut their mouths, that they shall not eat the barley; free ye, moreover, the grain from danger!
2. Ho tarda ('borer'), ho locust, ho gabhya ('snapper'), upakvasa! As a Brahman (eats not) an uncompleted sacrifice, do ye, not eating this barley, without working injury, get out!
3. O husband of the tardâ (-female), O husband Of the vaghâ (-female), ye of the sharp teeth, listen to me! The vyadvaras (' rodents') of the forest, and whatever other vyadvaras (there are), all these we do crush.

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VII, 11. Charm to protect grain from lightning.

1. With thy broad thunder,with the beacon, elevated by tile gods that pervade this all, with the lightning do thou not destroy our grain, O god; nor do thou destroy it with the rays of the sun!

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II, 26. Charm for the prosperity of cattle.

1. Hither shall come the cattle which have strayed to a distance, whose companionship Vâyu (the wind) enjoys! (The cattle) whose structure of form Tvashtar knows, Savitar shall hold in place in this stable!
2. To this stable the cattle shall flow together, Brihaspati skilfully shall conduct them hither! Sînîvâlî shall conduct hither their van: do thou, O Anumati, hold them in place after they have arrived!
3. May the cattle, may the horses, and may the domestics flow together; may the increase of the grain flow together! I sacrifice with an oblation that causeth to flow together!
4. I pour together the milk of the cows, I pour together strength and sap with the ghee. Poured together shall be our heroes, constant shall be the cows with me the owner of the cows!
5. I bring hither the milk of the cows, I have brought hither the sap of the grain. Brought hither are our heroes, brought hither to this house are our wives.

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III, 14. Charm for the prosperity of cattle.

1. With a firmly founded stable, with wealth, with well-being, with the name of that which is born on a lucky day do we unite you (O cattle)!
2. May Aryaman unite you, may Pûshan, Brihaspati, and Indra, the conqueror of booty, unite you! Do ye prosper my possessions!
Flocking together without fear, making ordure in this stable, holding honey fit for soma, free from disease, ye shall come hither!
4. Right here come, ye cows, and prosper here like the sakâ-bird! And right here do ye beget (your youn(y)! May ye be in accord with me!
5. May your stable be auspicious to you, prosper ye like the sâri-birds and parrots! And right here do ye beget (your young)! With us do we unite you.
6. Attach yourselves, O cows, to me as your possessor; may this stable here cause you to prosper! Upon you, growing numerous, and living, may we, increasing in wealth, alive, attend!

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VI, 59. Prayer to the plant arundhatî for protection to cattle.

1. Thy foremost protection, O Arundhatî, do thou bestow upon steer and milch-kine, upon (cattle of) the age when weaned from their mother, upon (all) four-footed creatures!
2. May Arundhatî, the herb, bestow protection along with the gods, render full of sap the stable, free from disease our men!
3. The variegated, lovely, life-giving (plant) do I invoke. May she carry away for us, far from the cattle, the missile hurled by Rudra!

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VI, 70. Charm to secure the attachment of a cow to her calf.

1. As meat, and liquor, and dice (abound) at the gambling-place, as the heart of thf. lusty male hankers after the woman, thus shall thy heart, O cow, hanker after the calf!
2. As the elephant directs his steps after the steps of the female, as the heart of the lusty male hankers after the woman, thus shall thy heart, O cow, hanker after the calf!
3. As the felloe, and as the spokes, and as the nave (of the wheel is joined) to the felloe, as the heart of the lusty male hankers after the woman, thus shall thy heart, O cow, hanker after the calf!

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III, 28. Formula in expiation of the birth of twin-calves

1. Through one creation at a time this (cow) was born, when the fashioners of the beings did create the cows of many colours. (Therefore), when a cow doth beget twins portentously, growling and cross she injureth the cattle.
2. This (cow) doth injure our cattle: a flesh-eater, devourer, she hath become. Hence to a Brahman he shall give her; in this way she may be kindly and auspicious!
3. Auspicious be to (our) men, auspicious to (our) cows and horses, auspicious to this entire field, auspicious be to us right here!
4. Here be prosperity, licre be sap! Be thou here one that especially gives a thousandfold! Make the cattle prosper, thou mother of twins!
5. Where our pious friends live joyously, having left behind the ailments of their bodies, to that world the mother of twins did attain: may she not injure our men and our cattle!
6. Where is the world of our pious friends, where the world of thern that sacrifice with the agnihotra, to that world the mother of twins did attain: may she not injure our imen and our cattle!

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VI, 92. Charm to endow a horse with swiftness.

1. Swift as the wind be thou, O steed, when joined (to the chariot); at Indra's urging go, fleet as the mind! The Maruts, the all-possessing, shall harness thee,Tvashtar shall put fleetness into thy feet!
2. With the fleetness, O runner, that has been deposited in thee in a secret place, (with the fleetness) that has been made over to the eagle, the wind, and moves in them, with that, O steed, strong with strength, do thou win the. race, reaching the goal in the contest!
3. Thy body, O steed, leading (our) body, shall run, a pleasure to ourselves, delight to thyself! A god, not stumbling, for the support of the great, he shall, as if upon the heaven, found his own light!

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III, 13. Charm for conducting a river into a new channel.

1. Because of yore, when the (cloud-) serpent was slain (by Indra), ye did rush forth and shout (anadatâ), therefore is your name 'shouters' (nadyah rivers'): that is your designation, ye streams!
2. Because, when sent forth by Varuna, ye then quickly did bubble up; then Indra met (âpnot) you, as ye went, therefore anon are ye 'meeters' (âpah waters')!
3. When reluctantly ye flowed, Indra, forsooth, did with might choose (avîvarata) you as his own, ye goddesses! Therefore 'choice' (vâr 'water') has been given you as your name!
4. One god stood upon you, as ye flowed according to will. Up breathed (ud ânishuh) they who are known as 'the great' (mahîh). Therefore 'upbreather' (udakam 'water') are they called!
5. The waters are kindly, the waters in truth were ghee. These waters, truly, do support Agni and Soma. May the readily flowing, strong sap of the honey-dripping (waters) come to me, together with life's breath and lustre!
6. Then do I see them and also do I hear them; their sound, their voice doth come to me. When, ye golden-coloured, I have refreshed myself with you, then I ween, ambrosia (amrita) am I tasting!
7. Here, ye waters, is your heart, here is your calf, ye righteous ones! Come ye, mighty ones, by this way here, by which I am conducting you here!

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VI, 106. Charm to ward off danger from fire.

1. Where thou comest, (O fire), and where thou goest away, the blooming dûrvâ-plant shall grow: a well-spring there shall rise up, or a lotus-laden pool!
2. Here (shall be) the gathering place of the waters, here the dwelling-place of the sea! In the midst of a pond our house shall be: turn, (O fire), away thy jaws!
With a covering of coolness do we envelop thee, O house; cool as a pond be thou for us! Agni shall furnish the remedy!

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IV, 3. Shepherd's charm against wild beasts and robbers.

1. Three have gone away from here, the tiger, man, and wolf. Out of sight, forsooth, cm the rivers, out of siaht (grows the divine tree (the banyan-tree?): out of sight the enemies shall retreat!
2. The wolf shall tlead a distant path, and the robber one still more distant! On a distant path shall move the biting rope (the serpent), on a distant path the plotter of evil!
3. Thy eyes and thy jaw we crush, O tiger, and also all thy twenty claws.
4. We crush the tiger, the foremost of animals, armed with teeth. Next, too, the thief, and then the serpent, the wizard, and also the wolf.
5. The thief that approacheth to-day, crushed to pieces he goeth away. Where the paths are precipitate he shall go, Indra shall slay him with his bolt!
6. The teeth of the wild beast are dulled, and broken are his ribs. Out of thy sight the dragon shall go, down shall tumble the hare-hunting beast!
7. The (jaw, O beast,) that thou shuttest together, thou shalt not open up; that which thou openest up, thou shalt not shut together!--Born of Indra, born of Soma, thou, (my charm), art Atharvan's crusher of tigers.

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III, 15. A merchant's prayer.

1. Indra, the merchant, do I summon: may he come to us, may he be our van; driving away the demon of grudge, the waylayers, and wild beasts, may he, the possessor, bestow wealth upon me!
2. May the many paths, the roads of the gods, which come together between heaven and earth, c,ladden me with milk and ghee, so that I may gather in wealth from my purchases!
3. Desirous do I, O Agni, with firewood and ghee offer oblations (to thee), for success and strength; according to ability praising (thee) with my prayer, do I sing this divine song, that I may gain a hundredfold!
4. (Pardon, O Agni, this sin of ours [incurred upon] the far road which we have travelled!) May our purchases and our sales be successful for us; may what I get in barter render me a gainer! May ye two (Indra and Agni) in accord take pleasure in this oblation! May our transactions and the accruing gain be auspicious to us!
5. The wealth with which I go to purchase, desiring, ye gods, to gain wealth through wealth, may that grow more, not less! Drive away, O Agni, in return for the oblation, the gods who shut off gain!
6. The wealth with which I go to purchase, desiring, ye gods, to gain wealth through wealth, may Indra, Pragâpati, Savitar, Soma, Agni, place lustre into it for me!
7. We praise with reverence thee, O priest (Agni) Vaisvdnara. Do thou over our children, selves, cattle, and life's breath watch!
8. Daily, never failing, shall we bring (oblations to thee), O Gâtavedas, (as if fodder) to a horse standing (in the stable). In growth of wealth and nutriment rejoicing, may we, O Agni, thy neighbours, not take harm!

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IV, 38. A. Prayer for success in gambling.

1. The successful, victorious, skilfully gaming Apsarâ, that Apsarâ who makes the winnings in the game of dice, do I call hither.
2. The skilfully gaming Apsarâ who sweeps and heaps up (the stakes), that Apsarâ who takes the winnings in the game of dice, do I call hither.
May she, who dances about with the dice, when she takes the stakes from the game of dice, when she desires to win for us, obtain the advantage by (her) magic! May she come to us full of abundance! Let them not win this wealth of ours!
4. The (Apsarâs) who rejoice in dice, who carry grief and wrath-tbat joyful and exulting Apsarâ, do I call hither.

B. Prayer to secure the return of calves that have strayed to a distance.

5. They (the cattle) who wander along the rays of the sun, or they who wander along the flood of light) they whose bull (the. sun), full of strength, from afar protecting, with the day wanders about all the worlds-may he (the bull), full of strength, delighting in this offering, come to us together with the atmosphere!
6. Together with the atmosphere, O thou who art full of strength, protect the white (karkî) calf, O thou swift steed (the sun)! Here are many drops (of ghee) for thee; come hither! May this white calf (karkî) of thine, may thy mind, be here!
7. Together with the atmosphere, O thou who art full of strength, protect the white (karkî) calf, O thou swift steed (the sun)! Here is the fodder, here the stall, here do we tie down the calf. Whatever (are your) names, we own you. Hail!

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VII, 50. Prayer for success at dice.

1. As the lightning at all times smites irresistibly the tree, thus would I to-day irresistibly beat the gamesters with my dice!
2. Whether they be alert, or not alert, the fortune of (these) folks, unresisting, shall assemble from all sides, the gain (collect) within my hands!
3. I invoke with reverence Agni, who has his own riches; here attached he shall beap up gain for us! I procure (wealth) for myself, as if with chariots that win the race. May I accomplish auspiciously the song of praise to the Maruts!
4. May we by thy aid conquer the (adversary s) troop; help us (to obtain) our share in every contest! Make for us, O Indra, a good and ample road; crush, O Maghavan, the lusty power of our enemies!
5. I have conquered and cleaned thee out (?); I have also gained thy reserve. As the wolf plucks to pieces the sheep, thus do I pluck thy winnings.
6. Even the strong hand the bold player conquers, as the skilled gambler heaps up his winnings at the proper time. Upon him that loves the game (the god), and does not spare his money, (the game, the god) verily bestows the delights of wealth.
7. Through (the possession of) cattle we all would suppress (our) wretched poverty, or with grain our hunger, O thou oft implored (god)! May we foremost among rulers, unharmed, gain wealth by our cunning devices!
8. Gain is deposited in my right hand, victory in my left. Let me become a conqueror of cattle, horses, wealth, and gold!
9. O dice, yield play, profitable as a cow that is rich in milk! Bind me to a streak of gain, as the bow (is bound) with the string!

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VI, 56. Exorcism of serpents from the premises.

1. May the serpent, ye gods, not slay us along with our children and our men! The closed (jaw) shall not snap open, the open one not close! Reverence (be) to the divine folk!
2. Reverence be to the black serpent, reverence to the one that is striped across! To the brown svaga reverence; reverence to the divine folk!
3. I clap thy teeth upon thy teeth, and also thy jaw upon thy jaw; I press thy tongue against thy tongue, and close up, O serpent, thy mouth.

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X, 4. Charm against serpents, invoking the horse of Pedu that slays serpents.

1. To Indra belongs the first chariot, to the gods the second chariot, to Varuna, forsooth, the third. The serpents' chariot is the last: it shall hit a post, and come to grief!
2. The young darbha-grass burns (the serpents?), the tail of the horse, the tail of the shaggy one, the seat of the wagon (burns the serpents?).
3. Strike down, O white (horse), with thy forefoot and thy hind-foot! As timber floating in water, the poison of the serpents, the fierce fluid, is devoid of strength.
4. Neighing loudly he dived down, and, again diving up, said: 'As timber floating in water, the poison of the serpents, the fierce fluid, is devoid of strength.'
5. The horse of Pedu slays the kasarnîla, the horse of Pedu slays the white (serpent), and also the black. The horse of Pedu cleaves the head of the ratharvî, the adder.
6. O horse of Pedu, go thou first: we come after thee! Thou shalt cast out the serpents from the road upon which we come!
7. Here the horse of Pedu was born; from here is his departure. Here are the tracks of the serpent-killing, powerful steed!
8. May the closed (serpent's jaw) not snap open, may the open one not close! The two serpents in this field, man and wife, they are both bereft of strength.
9. Without strength here are the serpents, those that are near, and those that are far. With a club do I slay the vriskika (scorpion), with a staff the serpent that has approached.
10. Here is the remedy for both the aghâsva and the svaga! Indra (and) Pedu's horse have put to naught the evil-planning (aghâyantam) serpent.
11. The horse of Pedu do we remember, the strong, with strong footing: behind he, staring forth, these adders.
12. Deprived are they of life's spirit, deprived of poison, slain by Indra with his bolt. Indra hath slain them: we have slain them.
13. Slain are they that are striped across, crushed are the adders! Slay thou the one that produces a hood, (slay) the white and the black in the darbha-grass!
14. The maiden of the Kirâta-tribe, the little one digs up the remedy, with golden spades, on the mountain's back.
15. Hither has come a youthful physician: he slays the speckled (serpent), is irresistible. He, forsooth, crushes the svaga and the vriskika both.
16. Indra did set at naught for me the serpent, (and so did) Mitra and Varuna, Vâta and Parganya both.
17. Indra did set at naught for me the serpent, the adder, male and female, the svaga, (the serpent) that is striped across, the kasarnîla, and the dasonasi.
18. Indra slew thy first ancestor, O serpent, and since they are crushed, what strength, forsooth, can be theirs?
19. I have gathered up their heads, as the fisherman the karvara (fish). I have gone off into the river's midst, and washed out the serpent's poison.
20. The poison of all serpents the rivers shall carry off! Slain are they that are striped across, crushed are the adders!
21. As skilfully I cull the fibre of the plants, as I guide the mares, (thus), O serpent, shall thy poison go away!
22. The poison that is in the fire, in the sun, in the earth, and in the plants, the kândâ-poison, the kanaknaka, thy poison shall go forth, and come!
23. The serpents that are sprung from the fire, that are sprung from the plants, that are sprung from the water, and originate from the lightning; they from whom great brood has sprung in many ways, those serpents do we revere with obeisance.
24. Thou art, (O plant), a maiden, Taudî by name.; Ghritâkî, forsooth, is thy name. Underfoot is thy place: I take in hand what destroys the poison.
25. From every limb make the poison start; shut it out from the heart! Now the force that is in thy poison shall go down below!
26. The poison has gone to a distance: he has shut it out; he has fused the poison with poison. Agni has put away the poison of the serpent, Soma has led it out. The poison has gone back to the biter. The serpent is dead!

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XI, 2. Prayer to Bhava and Sarva for protection from dangers.

1. O Bhava and Sarva, be merciful, do not attack (us); ye lords of beings, lords of cattle, reverence be to you twain! Discharge not your arrow even after it has been laid on (the bow), and has been drawn! Destroy not our bipeds and our quadrupeds!
2. Prepare not our bodies for the dog, or the jackal; for the aliklavas, the vultures, and the black birds! Thy greedy insects, O lord of cattle (pasupate), and thy birds shall not get us to devour!
3. Reverence we offer, O Bhava, to thy roaring, to thy breath, and to thy injurious qualities; reverence to thee, O Rudra, thousand-eyed, immortal!
4. We offer reverence to thee from the east, from the north, and from the -south; from (every) domain, and from heaven. Reverence be to thy atmosphere!
5. To thy face, O lord of cattle, to thy eyes, O Bhava, to thy skin, to thy form, thy appearance, (and to thy aspect) from behind, reverence be!
6. To thy limbs, to thy belly, to thy tongue, to thy mouth, to thy teeth, to thy smell (nose), reverence be!
7. May we not conflict with Rudra, the archer with the dark crest, the thousand-eyed, powerful one, the slayer of Ardhaka!
8. Bhava shall steer clear from us on all sides, Bhava shall steer clear from us, as fire from water! May he not bear malice towards us: reverence be to him!
9. Four times, eight times, be reverence to Bhava, ten times be reverence to thee, O lord of cattle! To thy (charge) have been assigned these five (kinds of) cattle: cows, horses, men, goats and sheep.
10. Thine, O strong god (ugra), are the four regions, thine the sky, thine the earth, and thine this broad atmosphere; thine is this all that has a spirit and has breath upon the earth.
11. Thine is this broad, treasure-holding receptacle within which all worlds are contained. Do thou spare us, O lord of cattle: reverence be to thee! Far from us shall go the jackals, evil omens, dogs; far shall go (the mourning women) who bewail rnisfortune with dishevelled hair!
12. Thou, O crested (god), carriest in (thy hand), that smites thousands, a yellow, golden bow that slays hundreds; Rudra's arrow, the missile of the gods, flies abroad: reverence be to it, in whatever direction from here (it flies)!
13. The adversary who lurks and seeks to overcome thee, O Rudra, upon him thou dost fasten thyself from behind, as (the hunter) that follows the trail of a wounded (animal).
14. Bhava and Rudra, united and concordant, both strong (ugrau), ye advance to deeds of heroism: reverence be to both of them, in whatever direction (they are) from here!
15. Reverence be to thee coming, reverence to thee going; reverence, O Rudra, be to thee standing, and reverence, also, to thee sitting!
16. Reverence in the evening, reverence in the morning, reverence by night,reverence byday! I have offered reverence to Bhava and to Sarva, both.
17. Let us not with our tongue offend Rudra, who rushes on, thousand-eyed, overseeing all, who hurls (his shafts) forward, who is manifoldly wise!
18. We approach first the (god) that has dark horses, is black, sable, destructive, terrible, who casts down the car of Kesin: reverence be to him!
19. Do not hurl at us thy club, thy divine bolt; be not incensed at us, O lord of cattle! Shake over some other than us the celestial branch!
20. Injure us not, interpose for us, spare us, be not angry with us! Let us not contend with thee!
21. Do not covet our cattle, our men, our goats and sheep! Bend thy course elsewhere, O strong god (ugra), slay the offspring of the blasphemers!
22. He whose missile, fever and cough, assails the single (victim), as the snorting of a stallion, who snatches away (his victims) one by one, to him be reverence!
23. He who dwells fixed in the atmosphere, smiting the blasphemers of the god that do not sacrifice, to him be reverence with ten sakvarî-stanzas!
24. For thee the wild beasts of the forest have been placed in the forest: flamingoes, eagles, birds of prey, and fowls. Thy spirit, O lord of cattle, is within the waters, to strengthen thee the heavenly waters flow.
25. The dolphins, great serpents (boas), purîkayas (water-animals), sea-monsters, fishes, ragasas at which thou shootest-there exists for thee, O Bhava, no distance, and no barrier. At a glance thou lookest around the entire earth; from the eastern thou slayest in the northern ocean.
26. Do not, O Rudra, contaminate us with fever, or with poison, or with heavenly fire: cause this lightning to descend elsewhere than upon us!
27. Bhava rules the sky, Bhava rules the earth; Bhava has filled the broad: atmosphere. Reverence be to him in whatever direction from here (he abides)!
28. O king Bhava, be merciful to thy worshipper, for thou art the lord of living beasts! He who believes the gods exist, to his quadruped and biped be merciful!
29. Slay neither our great nor our small; neither those of us that are riding, nor those that shall ride; neither our father, nor our mother. Cause no injury, O Rudra, to our own persons!
30. To Rudra's howling dogs, who swallow their food without blessing, who have wide jaws, I have made this obeisance.
31. Reverence, O god, be to thy shouting hosts, reverence to thy long-haired, reverence to thy reverenced, reverence to thy devouring hosts! May well-being and security be to us!

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IV, 28. Prayer to Bhava and Sarva for protection from calamities.

1. O Bhava and Sarva, I am devoted to you. Take note of that, ye under whose control, is all this which shines (the visible universe)! Ye who rule all these two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from calamity!
2. Ye to whom belongs all that is near by, yea, all that is far; ye who are known as the most skilful archers among bowmen; ye who rule all these two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from calamity!
3. The thousand-eyed slayers of Vritra both do I invoke. I go praising the two strong gods (ugrau) whose pastures extend far. Ye who rule all these two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from calamity!
4. Ye who, united, did undertake many (deeds) of old, and, moreover, did visit portents upon the. people; ye who rule all these two-footed and fourfooted creatures, deliver us from calamity!
5. Ye from whose blows no one either among gods or men escapes; ye who rule all these twofooted and four-footed creatures, deliver us from calamity!
6. The sorcerer who prepares a spell, or manipulates the roots (of plants) against us, against him, ye strong gods, launch your thunderbolt! Ye who rule all these two-footed and four-footed creatures, deliver us from calamity.
7. Ye strong gods, favour us in battles, bring into contact with your thunderbolt the Kimîdin! I praise you, O Bhava and Sarva, call fervently upon you in distress: deliver us from calamity!

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VII, 9. Charm for finding lost property.

1. On the distant path of the paths Pûshan was born, on the distant path of heaven, on the distant path of the earth. Upon the two most lovely places both he walks hither and away, knowing (the way).
2. Pûshan knows these regions all; he shall lead us by the most dangerless (way). Bestowing well-being, of radiant glow, keeping our heroes undiminished, he shall, alert and skilful, go before us!
3. O Pûshan, under thy law may we never suffer harm: as praisers of thee are we here!
4. Pûshan shall from the east place his right hand about us, shall bring again to us what has been lost: we shall come upon what has been lost!

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VI, 128. Propitiation of the weather-prophet.

1. When the stars made Sakadhûma their king they bestowed good weather upon him: 'This shall be his dominion,' they said.
2. Let us have good weather at noon, good weather at eve, good weather in the early morning, good weather in the niyht
3. For day and night, for the stars, for sun and moon, and for us prepare good weather, O king Sakadhûma!
4. To thee, O Sakadhûma, ruler of the stars, that gavest us good weather in the evening in the night, and by day, let there ever be obeisance!

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XI, 6. Prayer for deliverance from calamity, addressed to the entire pantheon.

1. To Agni we speak and to the trees, to the plants and to the herbs; to Indra, Brihaspati, and Sûya: they shall deliver us from calamity!
2. We speak to king Varuna, to Mitra, Vishnu and Bhaga. To Amsa and Vivasvant do we speak: they shall deliver us from calamity!
3. We speak to Savitar, the god, to Dhâtar, and to Pûshan; to first-born Tvashtar do we speak: they shall deliver us from calamity!
4. We speak to the Gandharvas and the Apsaras, to the Asvins and to Brahmanaspati, to the god whose name is Aryaman: they shall deliver us from calamity!
5. Now do we speak to day and night, to Sûrya (sun) and to Kandramas (moon), the twain; to all the Âdityas we speak: they shall deliver us from calamity!
6. We speak to Vâta (wind) and Parganya, to the atmosphere and the directions of space. And to all the regions do we speak: they shall deliver us from calamity!
7. Day and night, and Ushas (dawn), too, shall deliver thee from curses! Soma the god, whom they call Kandramas (moon), shall deliver me!
8. To the animals of the earth and those of heaven, to the wild beasts of the forest, to the winged birds, do we speak: they shall deliver us from calamity!
9. Now do we speak to Bhava and Sarva, to Rudra and Pasupati; their arrows do we know well: these (arrows) shall be ever propitious to us!
10. We speak to the heavens, and the stars, to earth, the Yakshas, and the mountains; to the seas.. the rivers, and the lakes: they shall deliver us from calamity!
11. To the seven Rishis now do we speak, to the divine waters and Pragâpati. To the Fathers with Yama at their head: they shall deliver us from calamity!
12. The gods that dwell in heaven, and those that dwell in the atmosphere; the mighty (gods) that are fixed upon the earth, they shall deliver us from
calamity!
13. The Âdityas, Rudras, Vasus, the divine Atharvans in heaven, and the wise Angiras: they shall deliver us from calamity!
14. We speak to the sacrifice and the sacrificer, to the riks, the sâmans, and the healing (Atharvan) charms; we speak to the yagus-formulas and the invocations (to the gods): they shall deliver us from calamity!
15. We speak to the five kingdoms of the plants with soma the most excellent among them. The darbha-grass, hemp, and mighty barley: they shall deliver us from calamity!
16. We speak to the Arâyas (demons of grudge), Rakshas, serpents, pious men, and Fathers; to the one and a hundred deaths: they shall deliver us from calamity!
17. To the seasons we speak, to the lords of the seasons, and to the sections of the year; to the halfyears, years, and months: they shall deliver us from calamity!
18. Come, ye gods, from the south and the west; ye gods in the east come forth! From the east, from the north the mighty gods, all the gods assembled: they shall deliver us from calamity!
19, 20. We speak here to all the gods that hold to their agreements, promote the order (of the universe), together with all their wives: they shall deliver us from calamity!
21. We speak to being, to the lord of being, and also to him that controls the beings; to the beings all assembled: they shall deliver us from calamity!
22. The five divine regions, the twelve divine seasons, the teeth of the year, they shall ever be propitious, to us!
23. The amrita (ambrosia), bought for the price of a chariot, which Mâtalî knows as a remedy, that Indra stored away in the waters: that, O ye waters, furnish ye as a remedy!

VIII.

CHARMS IN EXPIATION OF SIN AND DEFILEMENT.

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VI, 45. Prayer against mental delinquency.

1. Pass far away, O sin of the mind! Why dost thou utter things not to be uttered? Pass away, I love thee not! To the trees, the forests go on! With the house, the cattle, is my mind.
2. What wrongs we have committed through imprecation, calumny, and false speech, either awake, or asleep--Agni shall put far away from us all offensive evil deeds!
3. What, O Indra Brahmanaspati, we do falselymay Praketas ('care-taker') Ângirasa protect us from misfortune, and from evil!

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VI, 26. Charm to avert evil.

1. Let me go, O evil; being powerful, take thou pity on us! Set me, O evil, unharmed, into the world of happiness!
2. If, O evil, thou dost not abandon us, then do we abandon thee at the fork of the road. May evil follow after another (man)!
3. Away from us may thousand-eyed, immortal (evil) dwell! Him whom we hate may it strike, and him whom we hate do thou surely smite!

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VI, 114. Expiatory formula for imperfections in the sacrifice.

1. The god-angering (deed), O ye gods, that we, the (Brahman) gods, have committed, from that do ye, O Âdityas, release us, by virtue of the order of the universe!
2. By virtue of the order of the universe do ye, O reverend Âdityas, release us here, if, O ye carriers of the sacrifice, though desirous of accomplishing (the sacrifice), we did not accomplish (it)!--
3. (If), when sacrificing with the fat (animal), when offering oblations of ghee with the spoon, when desiring to benefit you, O all ye gods, we have contrary to desire, not succeeded!

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VI, 115. Expiatory formulas for sins.

1. From the sins which knowingly or unknowingly we have committed, do ye, all gods, of one accord, release us!
2. If awake, or if asleep, to sin inclined, I have committed a sin, may what has been, and what shall be, as if from a wooden post, release me!
3. As one released from a wooden post, as one in a sweat by bathing (is cleansed) of filth, as ghee is clarified by the sieve, may all (the gods) clear me from sin!

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VI, 112. Expiation for the precedence of a younger brother over an older.

1. May this (younger brother) not slay the oldest one of them, O Agni; protect him that he be not torn out by the root! Do thou here cunningly loosen the fetter of Grâhi (attack of disease); may all the gods give thee leave!
2. Free these three, O Agni, from the three fetters with which they have been shackled! Do thou cunningly loosen the fetters of Grâhi; release them all, father, sons, and mother!
3. The fetters with which the older brother, whose younger brother has married before him, has been bound, with which he has been encumbered and shackled limb by limb, may they be loosened; since fit for loosening they are! Wipe off, O Pûshan, the misdeeds upon him that practiseth abortion!

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VI, 113. Expiation for certain heinous crimes.

1. On Trita the gods wiped off this sin, Trita wiped it off on human beings; hence if Grâhi (attack of disease) has seized thee, may these gods remove her by means of their charm!
2. Enter into the rays, into smoke, O sin; go into the vapours, and into the fog! Lose thyself on the foam of the river! 'Wipet off, O Pûshan, the misdeeds upon him that practiseth abortion!
3. Deposited in twelve places is that which has been wiped off Trita, the sins belonging to humanity. Hence if Grâhi has seized thee, may these gods remove her by means of their charm!

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VI, 120. Prayer for heaven after remission of sins.

1. If air, or earth and heaven, if mother or father, we have injured, may this Agni Gârhapatya (household fire) without fail lead us out from this (crime)
to the world of well-doing!
2. The earth is our mother, Aditi (the universe) our kin, the air our protector from hostile schemes. May father sky bring prosperity to us from the world of the Fathers; may I come to my (departed) kin, and not lose heaven!
3. In that bright world where our pious friends live in joy, having cast aside the ailments of their own bodies, free from lameness, not deformed in limb, there may we behold our parents and our children!

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VI, 27. Charm against pigeons regarded as ominous birds.

1. O ye gods, if the pigeon, despatched as the messenger of Nirriti (the goddess of destruction), hath come here seeking (us out), we shall sing his praises, and prepare (our) ransom. May our two-footed and four-footed creatures be prosperous!
2. Auspicious to us shall be the pigeon that has been despatched; harmless, ye gods, the bird shall be to our house! The sage Agni shall verily take pleasure in our oblation; the winged missile shall avoid us!
3. The winged missile shall not do us injury: upon our hearth, our fireplace he (the pigeon) takes his steps! Propitious he shall be to our cattle and
our domestics; may not, ye gods, the pigeon here do harm to us!

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VI, 29. Charm against ominous pigeons and owls.

1. Upon those persons yonder the winged missile shall fall! If the owl shrieks, futile shall this be, or if the pigeon takes his steps upon the fire!
2. To thy two messengers, O Nirriti, who come here, despatched or not despatched, to our house, to the pigeon and to the owl, this shall be no place to step upon!
3. He shall not fly hither to slaughter (our) men; to keep (our) men sound he shall settle here! Charm .him very far away unto a distant region, that (people) shall behold you (i.e. him) in Yama's house devoid of strength, that they shall behold you bereft of power!

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VII, 64. Expiation when one is defiled by a black bird of omen.

1. What this black bird flying forth towards (me) has dropped here--may the waters protect me from all that misfortune and evil!
2. What this black bird has brushed here with thy mouth, O Nirtiti (goddess of misfortune)-may Agni Gârhapatya (the god of the household fire) free me from this sin!

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VI, 46. Exorcism of evil dreams.

1. Thou who art neither alive nor dead, the immortal child of the gods art thou, O Sleep! Varunânî is thy mother, Yama (death) thy father, Araru is thy name.
2. We know, O Sleep, thy birth, thou art the son of the divine women-folk, the instrument of Yama (death)! Thou art the ender, thou art death! Thus do we know thee, O Sleep: do thou, O Sleep, protect us from evil dreams!
3. As one pays off a sixteenth, an eighth, or an (entire) debt, thus do we transfer every evil dream upon our enemy.

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VII, 115. Charm for the removal of evil characteristics, and the acquisition of auspicious ones.

1. Fly forth from here, O evil mark, vanish from here, fly forth to yonder place! Upon him that hates us do we fasten thee with a brazen hook.
2. The unsavoury mark which flying has alighted upon me, as a creeper upon a tree, that mayest thou put away from us, away from here, O golden-handed
(golden-rayed) Savitar (the sun), bestowing goods upon us!
3. Together with the body of the mortal, from his birth, one and a hundred marks are born. Those that are most foul do we drive away from here; the auspicious ones, O Gâtavedas (Agni), do thou hold fast for us!
4. These (marks) here I have separated, as cows scattered upon the heather. The pure marks shall remain, the foul ones I have made to disappear!

IX.

PRAYERS AND IMPRECATIONS IN THE INTEREST OF THE BRAHMANS.

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V, 18. Imprecation against the oppressors of Brahmans.

1. The gods, O king, did not give to thee this (Cow) to eat. Do not, O prince, seek to devour the cow of the Brâhmana, which is unfit to be eaten!
2. The prince, beguiled by dice, the wretched one who has lost as a stake his own person, he may, perchance, eat the cow of the Brâhmana, (thinking), 'let me live to-day (if) not to-morrow'!
3. Enveloped (is she) in her skin, as an adder with evil poison; do not, O prince, (eat the cow) of the Brâhmana: sapless, unfit to be eaten, is that cow!
4. Away does (the Brâhmana) take regal power, destroys vigour; like fire which has caught does he burn away everything. He that regards the Brâhmana as fit food drinks of the poison of the taimâta-serpent.
5. He who thinks him (the Brahman) mild, and slays him, he who reviles the gods, lusts after wealth, without thought, in his heart Indra kindles a fire; him both heaven and earth hate while he lives.
6. The Brâhmana must not be encroached upon, any more than fire, by him that regards his own body! For Soma is his (the Brâhmana's) heir, Indra protects him from hostile plots.
7. He swallows her (the cow), bristling with a hundred hooks, (but) is unable to digest her, he, the fool who, devouring the food of the Brahmans, thinks, 'I am eating a luscious (morsel).'
8. (The Brahman's) tongue turns into a bow. string, his voice into the neck of an arrow; his windpipe, his teeth are bedaubed with holy fire: with these the Brahman strikes those who revile the gods, by means of bows that have the strength to reach the heart, discharged by the gods.
9. The Brâhmanas have sharp arrows, are armed with missiles, the arrow whi ch they hurl goes not in vain; pursuing him with their holy fire and their wrath, even from afar, do they pierce him.
10. They who ruled over a thousand, and were themselves ten hundred, the Vaitahavya, when they devoured the cow of the Brâhmana, perished.
11. The cow herself, when slaughtered, came down upon the Vaitahavyas. who had roasted for themselves the last she-goat of Kesaraprâbandhâ.
12. The one hundred and one persons whom the earth did cast off, because they had injured the offspring of a Brâhmana, were ruined irretrievably.
13. As a reviler of the gods does he live among mortals, having swallowed poison, he becomes more bone (than flesh). He that injureth a Brâhmana, whose kin are the gods, does not reach heaven by the road of the Fathers.
14. Agni is called our guide, Soma our heir, Indra slays those who curse (us): that the strong (sages) know.
15. Like a poisoned arrow, O king, like -an adder, O lord of cattle, is the terrible arrow of the Brâhmana: with that he smites those who revile (the gods).

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V, 19. Imprecation against the oppressors of Brahmans.

1. Beyond measure they waxed strong, just fell short of touching the heavens. When they infringed upon Bhrigu they perished, the Sriñgaya Vaitahavyas.
2. The persons who pierced Brihatsâman, the descendant of Angiras, the Brâhmana--a ram with two rows of teeth, a sheep devoured their offspring.
3. They who spat upon the Brâhmana, who desired tribute from him, they sit in the middle of a pool of blood, chewing hair.
4. The cow of the Brahman, when roasted, as far as she reaches does she destroy the lustre of the kingdom; no lusty hero is born (there).
5. A cruel (sacrilegious) deed is her slaughter, her meat, when eaten, is sapless; when her milk is drunk, that surely is accounted a crime against the Fathers.
6. When the king, weening himself mighty, desires to destroy the Brâhmana, then royal power is dissipated, where the Brâhmana is oppressed.
7. Becoming eight-footed, four-eyed, four-eared, four-jawed, two-mouthed, two-tongued, she dispels the rule of the oppressor of the Brahman.
8. That (kingdom) surely she swamps, as water a leaking ship; misfortune strikes that kingdom, in which they injure a Brâhmana.
9. The trees chase away with the words: 'do not come within our shade,' him who covets the wealth that belongs to a Brâhmana, O Nârada!
10. King Varuna pronounced this (to be) poison, prepared by the gods: no one who has devoured the cow of a Brâhmana retains the charge of a kingdom.
11. Those full nine and ninety whom the earth did cast off, because they had injured the offspring of a Brâhmana, were ruined irretrievably.
12. The kûdî-plant (Christ's thorn) that wipes away the track (of death), which they fasten to the dead, that very one, O oppressor of Brahmans, the gods did declare (to be) thy couch.
13. The tears which have rolled from (the eyes of) the oppressed (Brahman), as he laments, these very ones, O oppressor of Brahmans, the gods did assign to thee as thy share of water.
14. The water with which they bathe the dead, with which they moisten his beard, that very one, O oppressor of Brahmans, the gods did assign to thee as thy share of water.
15. The rain of Mitra and Varuna does not moisten the oppressor of Brahmans; the assembly is not complacent for him, he does not guide his friend according to his will.

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V, 7. Prayer to appease Arâti, the demon of grudge and avarice.

1. Bring (wealth) to us, do not stand in our way, O Arâti; do not keep from us the sacrificial reward as it is being taken (to us)! Adoration be to the power of grudge, the power of failure, adoration to Arâti!
2. To thy advising minister, whom thou, Arâti, didst make thy agent, do we make obeisance. Do not bring failure to my wish!
3. May our wish, instilled by the gods, be fulfilled by day and night! We go in quest of Arâti. Adoration be to Arâti!
4. Sarasvatî (speech), Anumati (favour), and Bhaga (fortune) we go to invoke. Pleasant, honied, words I have spoken on the occasions when the gods were invoked.
5. Him whom I implore with Vâk Sarasvatî (the goddess-of speech), the yoke-fellow of thought, faith shall find to-day, bestowed by the brown soma!
6. Neither our wish nor our speech do thou frustrate! May Indra and Agni both bring us wealth! Do ye all who to-day desire to make gifts to us gain favour with Arâti!
7. Go far away, failure! Thy missile do we avert. I know thee (to be) oppressive and piercing, O Arâti!
8. Thou dost even transform thyself into a naked woman, and attach thyself to people in their sleep, frustrating, O Arâti, the thought, and intention of man.
9. To her who, great, and of great dimension, did penetrate all the regions, to this golden-locked Nirriti (goddess of misfortune), I have rendered obeisance.
10. To the gold-complexioned, lovely one, who rests upon golden cushions, to the great one, to that Arâti who wears golden robes, I have rendered obeisance.

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XII, 4. The necessity of giving away sterile cows to the Brahmans.

1. 'I give,' he shall surely say,'the sterile cow to the begging Brahmans'--and they have noted her--that brings progeny and offspring!
2. With his offspring does he trade, of his cattle is he deprived, that refuses to give the cow of the gods to the begging descendants of the Rishis.
3. Through (the gift of) a cow with broken horns his (cattle) breaks down, through a lame one he tumbles into a pit, through a mutilated one his house is burned, through a one-eyed one his property is given away.
4. Flow of blood attacks the cattle-owner from the spot where her dung is deposited: this understanding there is about the vasâ (the sterile cow); for thou (sterile cow) art said to be very difficult to deceive!
5. From the resting-place of her feet the (disease) called viklindu overtakes (the owner, or the cattle). Without sickness breaks down (the cattle) which she sniffs upon with her nose.
6. He that pierces her ears is estranged from the gods. He thinks: 'I am making a mark (upon her),' (but) he diminishes his own property.
7. If any one for whatsoever purpose cuts her tail then do his colts die, and the wolf tears his calves.
8. If a crow has injured her hair, as long as she is with her owner then do his children die: decline overtakes them without (noticeable) sickness.
9. If the serving-maid sweeps together her dung, that bites as lye, there arises from this sin disfigurement that passeth not away.
10. The sterile cow in her very birth is born for the gods and Brâhmanas. Hence to the Brahmans she is to be given: that, they say, guarantees the security of one's own property.
11. For those that come requesting her the cow has been created by the gods. Oppression of Brahmans it is called, if he keeps her for himself.
12. He that refuses to give the cow of the gods to the descendants of the Rishis who ask for it, infringes upon the gods, and the wrath of the Brâhmanas.
13. Though he derives benefit from this sterile cow, another (cow) then shall he seek! When kept she injures (his) folk, if he refuses to give her after she has been asked for!
14. The sterile cow is as a treasure deposited for die Brâhmanas: they come here for her, with whomsoever she is born.
15. The Brâhmanas come here for their own, when they come for the sterile cow. The refusal of her is, as though he were oppressing them in other concerns.
I& If she herds up to her third year, and no disease is discovered in her, and he finds her to be a sterile cow, O Nârada, then must he look for the Brâhmanas.
17. If he denies that she is sterile, a treasure deposited for the gods, then Bhava and Sarva, both, come upon him, and hurl their arrow upon him.
18. Though he does not perceive upon her either udder, or tits, yet both yield him milk, if he has prevailed upon himself to give away the sterile cow.
19. Hard to cheat, she oppresses him, if, when asked for, he refuses to give her. His desires are not fulfilled, if he aims to accomplish them without giving her away.
20. The gods did ask for the sterile cow, making the Brâhmana their mouthpiece. The man that does not give (her) enters into the wrath of all of these.
21. Into the wrath of the cattle enters he that gives not the sterile cow to the Brâhmanas; if he, the mortal, appropriates the share deposited for the gods.
22. Even if a hundred other Brâhmanas beg the owner for the sterile cow, yet the gods did say anent her: 'The cow belongs to him that knoweth thus.'
23. He that refuses the sterile cow to him that knoweth thus, and gives her to others, difficult to dwell upon is for him the earth with her divinities.
24. The gods did beg the sterile cow of him wilh whom she was born at first. That very one Nârada recognised and drove forth in company with the gods.
25. The sterile cow renders childless, and poor in cattle, him that yet appropriates her, when she has been begged for by the Brâhmanas.
26. For Agni and Soma, for Kâma, for Mitra, and for Varuna, for these do the Brâhmanas beg her: upon these he infringes, if he gl ves her not.
27. As long as the owner does not himself hear the stanzas referring to (the giving away of) her, she may herd among his cattle; (only) if he has not heard (them) may she pass the night in his house.
28. He that has listened to the stanzas, yet has permitted her to herd among the cattle, his life and prosperity the angry gods destroy.
29. The sterile cow, even when she rambles freely, is a treasure deposited for the gods. Make evident thy true nature when thou desirest to go to thy (proper) stable!
30. She makes evident her nature when she desires to go to her (proper) stable. Then indeed the sterile cow puts it into the minds of the Brahmans to beg (for her).
31. She evolves it in her mind, that (thought) reaches the gods. Then do the Brahmans come to beg for the sterile cow.
32. The call svadhâ befriends him with the Fathers, the sacrifice with the gods. Through the gift of the sterile cow the man of royal caste incurs not the anger of (her), his mother.
33. The sterile cow is the mother of the man of royal caste: thus was it from the beginning. It is said to be no (real) deprivation if she is given to the Brahmans.
34. As if he were to rob the ghee ladled up for Agni (the fire) from the (very) spoon, thus, if he gives not the sterile cow to the Brahmans, does he infringe upon Agni.
35. The sterile cow has the purodasa (sacrificial cake) for her calf, she yields plentiful milk, helps in this world, and fulfils all wishes for him that gives her (to the Brahmans).
36. The sterile cow fulfils all wishes in the kingdom of Yama for him that gives her. But they say that hell falls to the lot of him that withholds her, when she has been begged for.
37. The sterile cow, even if she should become fruitful, lives in anger at her owner: 'since he did regard me as sterile (without giving me to the Brahmans), he shall be bound in the fetters of death!'
38, He who thinks that the cow is sterile, and (yet) roasts her at home, even his children qnd grandchildren Brihaspati causes to be importuned (for her).
39. Fiercely does the (supposed) sterile cow burn when she herds with the cattle, though she be a (fruitful) cow. She verily, too, milks poison for the owner that does not present her.
40. It pleases the cattle when she is given to the Brahmans; moreover, the sterile cow is pleased, when she is made an offering to the gods (Brahmans).
41. From the sterile cows which the gods, returning from the sacrifice, created, Nârada picked out as (most) terrible the viliptî.
42. In reference to her the gods reflected: 'Is she a sterile cow, or not?' And Nârada in reference to her said: 'Of sterile cows she is the most sterile!'
43. 'How many sterile cows (are there), O Nârada, which thou knowest to be born among men?' About these do I ask thee, that knowest: 'Of which may the non-Brâhmana not eat?'
44. Of the viliptî, of her that has born a sterile cow, and of the sterile cow (herself), the non-Brâhmana, that hopes for prosperity, shall not eat!
45. Reverence be to thee, O Nârada, that knowest thoroughly which sterile cow is the most terrible, by withholding which (from the Brahmans) destruction is.incurred.
46. The viliptî, O Brihaspati, her that has, begotten a sterile cow, and the sterile cow (herself), the non-Brâhmana, that hopes for prosperity, shall not eat!
47. Three kinds, forsooth, of sterile cows are there: the viliptî, she that has begotten a sterile cow, and the sterile cow (herself). These he shall give to the Brahmans; (then) does he not estrange himself from Pragâpati.
48. 'This is your oblation, O Brâhmanas,' thus shall he reflect, if he is supplicated, if they ask him for the sterile cow, terrible in the house of him that refuses to give her.
49. The gods animadverted in reference to Bheda and the sterile cow, angry because he had not given her, in these verses-and therefore he (Bheda) perished.
50. Bheda did not present the sterile cow, though requested by Indra: for this sin the gods crushed him in battle.
51. The counsellors that advise the withholding (of the sterile cow), they, the rogues, in their folly, conflict with the wrath of Indra.
52. They who lead the owner of cattle aside, then say to him: 'do not give,' in their folly they run into the missile hurled by Rudra.
53. And if he roasts the sterile cow at home, whether he makes a sacrifice of her, or not, he sins against the gods and Brâhmanas, and as a cheat falls from heaven.

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XI, 1. The preparation of the brahmaudana, the porridge given as a fee to the Brahmans.

1. O Agni, come into being! Aditi here in her throes, longing for sons, is cooking the porridge for the Brahmans, The seven Rishis, that did create the beings, shall here churn thee, along with progeny!
2. Produce the smoke, ye lusty friends; unharmed by wiles go ye into the contest! Here is the Agni (fire) who gains battles, and commands powerful warriors, with whom the gods did conquer the demons.
3. O Agni, to a great heroic deed thou wast aroused, to cook the Brahman's porridge, O Gâtavedas! The seven Rishis, that did create the beings, have produced thee. Grant her (the wife) wealth together with undiminished heroes!
4. Burn, O Agni, after having been kindled by the firewood, bring skilfully hither the gods that are to be revered! Causing the oblation to cook for these (Brahmans), do thou raise this (sacrificer) to the highest firmament!
5. The, threefold share which was of yore assigned to you (belongs) to the gods, the (departed) Fathers, and to the mortals (the priests). Know your shares! I divide them for you: the (share) of the gods shall protect this (woman)!
6. O Agni, possessed of might, superior, thou dost without fail prevail! Bend down to the ground our hateful rivals!--This measure, that is being measured, and has been measured, may constitute thy kin into (people) that render thee tribute!
7. Mayest thou together with thy kin be endowed with sap! Elevate her (the wife) to great heroism! Ascend on high to the base of the firmament, which they call 'the world of brightness'!
8. This great goddess earth, kindly disposed, shall receive the (sacrificial) skin! Then may we go to the world of well-doing (heaven)!
9. Lay these two press-stones, well coupled, upon the skin; crush skilfully the (soma-) shoots for the sacrificer! Crush down, (O earth), and beat down, those who are hostile to her (the wife); lift up high, and elevate her offspring!
10. Take into thy hands, O man, the press-stones that work together: the gods that are to be revered have come to thy sacrifice! Whatever three wishes thou dost choose, I shall here procure for thee unto fulfilment.
11. This, (O winnowing-basket), is thy purpose, and this thy nature: may Aditi, mother of heroes, take hold of thee! Winnow out those who are hostile to this (woman); afford her wealth and undiminished heroes!
12. Do ye, (O grains), remain in the (winnowing-) basket, while (the wind) blows over you; be separated, ye who are fit for the sacrifice, from the chaff! May we in happiness be superior to all our equals! I bend down under our feet those that hate us.
13. Retire, O woman, and return promptly! The stable of the waters (water-vessel) has settled upon thee, that thou mayest carry it: of these (the waters) thou shalt take such as are fit for sacrifice; having intelligently divided them off, thou shalt leave the rest behind!
14. These bright women, (the waters), have come hither. Arise, thou woman, and gather strength! To thee, that art rendered by thy husband a true wife, (and) by thy children rich in offspring, the sacrifice has come: receive the (water-) vessel!
15. The share of food that belongs to you of yore has been set aside for you. Instructed by the Rishis bring thou (woman) hither this water! May this sacrifice win advancement for you, win prAection, win offspring for you; may it be mighty, win cattle, and heroes for you!
16. O Agni, the sacrificial pot has settled upon thee: do thou shining, brightly glowing, heat it with thy glow! May the divine descendants of the Rishis, assembled about their share (of the porridge), full of fervour, heat this (pot) at the proper time!
17. Pure and clear may these sacrificial women, the waters bright, flow into the pot! The), have given us abundant offspring and cattle. May he that cooks the porridge go to the world of the pious (heaven)!
18. Purified by (our) prayer, and clarified by the ghee are the soma-shoots, (and) these sacrificial grains. Enter the water; may the pot receive you! When ye have cookect this (porridge) go ye to the world of the pious (heaven)!
19. Spread out far unto great extent, with a thousand surfaces, in the world of the pious! Grandfathers, fathers, children, grandchildren--I am the fifteenth one that did cook thee.
20. The porridge has a thousand surfaces, a hundred streams, and is indestructible; it is the road of the gods, leads to heaven. Yonder (enemies) do I place upon thee: injure them and their offspring; (but) to me that brings gifts thou shalt be merciful!
21. Step upon the altar (vedi); make this woman thrive in her progeny; repel the demons.; advance her! May we in happiness be superior to all our equals! I bend down under our feet all those that hate us.
22. Turn towards her with cattle, (thou pot), face towards her, together with the divine powers! Neither curses nor hostile magic shall reach thee; rule in thy dwelling free from disease!
23. Properly built, placed with care, this altar (vedi) has been arranged of yore for the Brahmans porridge. Put it, O woman, upon the purified amsadhrl; place there the porridge for the divine (Brâhmanas)!
24. May this sacrificial ladle (sruk), the second hand of Aditi, which the seven Rishis, the creators of the beings, did fashion, may this spoon, knowing the limbs of the porridge, heap it upon the altar!
25. The divine (Brâhmanas) shall sit down to thee, the cooked saerfice: do thou again descending from the fire, approach them! Clarified by soma settle in the belly of the Brâhmanas; the descendants of the Rishis who eat thee shall not take harm!
26. O king Soma, infuse harmony into the good Brâhmanas who shall sit about thee! Eagerly do I invite to the porridge the Rishis, descended from Rishis, that are born of religious fervour, and gladly obey the call.
27. These pure and clear sacrificial women (the waters) I put into the hands of the Brâhmanas severally. With whatever wish I pour this upon you, may Indra. accompanied by the Maruts grant this to me!
28. This gold is my immortal light, this ripe fruit of the field is my wish-granting cow. This treasure I present to the Brâhmanas: I prepare for myself a road that leads. to the Fathers in the heavens.
29. Scatter the spelt into Agni Gâtavedas (the fire), sweep away to a far distance the chaff! This (chaff) we have heard, is the share of the ruler of the house (Agni), and we know, too, what belonos to Nirriti (destruction) as her share.
30. Note, (O porridge), him that takes pains, and cooks and presses the soma; lift him up to the heavenly road, upon which, after he has reached the fullest age, he shall ascend to the highest firmament, the supreme heavens!
31. Anoint (with ghee), O adhvaryu (priest), the surface of this sustaining (porridge), make skilfully a place for the melted butter; with ghee do thou anoint all its limbs! I prepare for myself a road that leads to the Fathers in the heavens.
32. O sustaining (porridge), cast destruction and strife among such as are sitting about thee, and are not Brâhmanas! (But) the descendants of the -Rishis, that eat thee, being full of substance, spreading forth, shall not take harm!
33. To the descendants of the Rishis I make thee over, O porridge; those who are not descended from Rishis have no share in it! May Agni as my guardian, may all the Maruts, and all the gods watch over the cooked food!
34. Thee (the porridge) that milkest the sacrifice, art evermore abundant, the male milch-cow, the seat of wealth, we beseech for immortality of off-spring and long life with abundance of wealth.
35. Thou art a lusty male, penetratest heaven: go thou to the Rishis, descended from Rishis! Dwell in the world of the pious: there is a well-prepared (place) for us two!
36. Pack thyself up, go forth! O Agni, prepare the roads, that lead to the gods! By these: well-prepared (roads) may we reach the sacrifice, standing upon the firmament (that shines) with seven rays!
37. With the light with which the gods, having cooked the porridge for the Brâmanas, ascended to heaven, to the world of the pious, with that would we go to the world of the pious, ascending to the light, to the highest firmament!

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XII, 3. The preparation of the brahmaudana, the porridge given as a fee to the Brahmans.

1. (Thyself) a male, step thou upon the hide of the male (steer): go, call thither all that is dear to thee! At whatever age ye two formerly did first unite (in marriage), may that age be your common lot in Yama's kingdom!
2. Your sight shall be as clear (as formerly), your strength as abundant, your lustre as great, your vitality as manifold! When Agni, the (funeral-) pyre, fastens himself upon the corpse, then as a pair ye.shall rise from the (cooked) porridge!
3. Come ye together in this world, upon the road to the gods, and in Yama's realms! By purifications purified call ye together the offspring that has sprung from you!
4. Around the water united, sit ye down, O children; around this living (father) and the waters that refresh the living! Partake of these (waters), and of that porridge which the mother of you two cooks, and which is called amrita (ambrosia)!
5. The porridge which the father of you two, and which the mother cooks, unto freedom from defilement and foulness of speech, that porridge with a hundred streams (of ghee), leading to heaven, has penetrated with might both the hemispheres of the world.
6. In that one of the two hemispheres and the two heavenly worlds, conquered by the pious, which especially abounds in light, and is rich in honey, in that do ye in the fulness of time come together with your children!
7. Keep ever on in an easterly direction: this is the region that the faithful cling to! When your cooked porridge has been prepared on the fire, hold together, O man and wife, that ye may guard it!
8. When ye shall have reached the southerly direction, turn ye to this vessel! In that Yama, associated with the fathers, shall give abundant protection to your cooked porridge!
9. This westerly direction is especially favoured: in it Soma is ruler and consoler. To this hold, attach yourselves to the pious: then as a pair ye shall rise from the cooked porridge!
10. The northerly direction shall make our realm the very uppermost, in offspring, uppermost! The purusha is the metre pahkti: with all (our kin), endowed with all their limbs, may we be united!
11. This 'firm' direction (nadir) is Virâg (brilliancy): reverence be to her; may she be kind to my children and to me! Mayest thou, O goddess Aditi, who boldest all treasures, as an alert guardian guard the cooked porridge!
12. As a father his children do thou, (O earth), embrace us; may gentle winds blow upon us here on earth! Then the porridge which the two divinities (the sacrificer and his wife) are here preparing for us shall take note of our religious fer~our and our truth!
13. Whatever the black bird, that has come hither stealthily, has touched of that ahich has stuck to the rim, or whatever the wet-banded slavegirl does pollute-may ye, O waters, purify (that) mortar and pestle!
14. May this sturdy press-stone, with broad bottom, purified by the purifiers, beat away the Rakshas! Settle upon the skin, afford firm protection; may man and wife not come to grief in their children!
15. The (pestle of) wood has come to us together with the gods: it drives away the Rakshas and Pisâkas. Up it shall rise, shall let its voice resound
through it let us conquer all the worlds!
16. The cattle clothed itself in sevenfold strength, those among them that are sleek and those that are poor. The thirty-three gods attend them mayest thou, (O cattle), guide us to the heavenly world!
17. To the bright world of heaven thou shalt lead us; (there) let us be united with wife and children! I take her hand, may she follow me there; neither Nirriti (destruction), nor Arâti (grudge), shall gain mastery over us!
18. May we get past the evil Grâhi (seizure)! Casting aside darkness do thou, (O pestle), let thy lovely voice resound; do not, O wooden tool, when raised, do injury; do not mutilate the grain devoted to the gods!
19. All-embracing, about to be covered with ghee, enter, (O pot), as a co-dweller this space!--Take hold of the winnowing-basket, that has been grown by the rain: the spelt and the chaff it shall sift out!
20. Three regions are constructed after the pattern of the Brâhmana: yonder heaven, the earth, and the atmosphere.--Take the (soma-) shoots, and hold one another, (O man and wife)! They (the shoots) shall swell (with moisture), and again go back into the winnowing-basket!
21. Of manifold variegated colours are the animals, one colour hast thou, (O porridge), when successfully prepared.--Push these (soma-) Shoots upon this red skin; the press-stone shall purify them as the washer-man his clothes!
22. Thee, the (pot of) earth, I place upon the earth: your substance is the same, though thine, (O pot), is modified. Even though a blow has cracked or scratched thee, do not therefore burst: with this verse do I cover that up!
23. Gently as a mother embrace the son: I unite thee, (pot of) earth, with the earth! Mayest thou, the hollow pot, not totter upon the altar, when thou art pressed by the tools of sacrifice and the ghee!
24. May Agni who cooks thee protect thee on the east, Indra with the Maruts protect thee on the south! May Varuna on the west support thee upon thy foundation, may Soma on the north hold thee together!
25. Purified by the purifiers, the (waters) flow pure from the clouds, they reach to the spaces of heaven, and of the earth. They are alive, refresh the livino, and are firmly rooted: may Agni heat them, after they have been poured into the vessel!
26. From heaven they come, into the earth they penetrate; from the earth they penetrate into the atmosphere. May they, now pure, yet purify themselves further; may they conduct us to the heavenly world!
27. Whether ye are over-abundant or just sufficient, ye are surely clear, pure, and immortal: cook, ye waters, instructed by the husband and wife, obliging and helpful, the porridge!
28. Counted drops penetrate into the earth, commensurate with the breaths of life and the plants. The uncounted golden (drops), that are poured into (the porridge), have, (themselves) pure, established complete purity.
29. The boiling waters rise and sputter, cast up foam and many bubbles. Unite, ye waters, with this grain, as a woman who beholds her husband in the proper season!
30. Stir up (the grains) as they settle at the bottom: let them mingle their inmost parts with the waters! The water here I have measured with cups; measured was the grain, so as to be according to these regulations.
31. Hand over the sickle, with haste bring promptly (the grass for the barhis); without giving pain let them cut the plants at the joints! They whose kingdom Soma rules, the plants, shall not harbour anger against us!
32. Strew a new barhis for the porridge: pleasing to its heart, and lovely to its sight it shall be! Upon it the gods together with the goddesses shall enter; settle down to this (porridge) in proper order, and cat it!
33. O (instrument of) wood, settle down upon the strewn barhis, in keeping with the divinities and the agnishloma rites! Well shaped, as if by a carpenter (Tvashtar) with his axe, is thy form. Longing for this (porridge) the (gods) shall be seen about the vessel!
34. In sixty autumns the treasurer (of the porridge) shall fetch it, by the cooked grain he shall obtain heaven; the parents and the children shall live upon it. Bring thou this (man) to heaven, into the presence of Agni!
35. (Thyself) a holder, (O pot), hold on to the foundation of the earth: thee, that art immoveable the gods (alone) shall move! Man and wife, alive, with living children, shall remove thee from the hearth of the fire!
36. Thou hast conquered and reached all worlds; as many as are our wishes, thou hast satisfied them. Dip ye in, stirring stick and spoon! Place it (the por idge) upon a single dish!
37. Lay (ghee) upon it, let it spread forth, anoint this dish with ghee! As the lowing cow her young that craves the breast, ye gods shall greet with sounds of satisfaction this (porridge)!
38. With ghee thou hast covered it, hast made this place (for the porridge): may it, peerless, spread afar to heaven! Upon it shall rest the mighty eagle; gods shall offer it to the divinities!
39. Whatever the wife cooks aside from thee, (O husband), or the husband (cooks) unbeknown of thee, O wife, mix that together: to both of you it shall belong; bring it together into a single place!
40. As many of her children as dwell upon the earth, and the sons that have been begotten by him, all those ye shall call up to the dish: on shall come the young knowing their nest!
41. The goodly streams, swelling with honey, mixed with ghee, the seats of ambrosia, all these does he obtain, ascends to heaven. In sixty autumns the treasurer (of the porridge) shall fetch it!
42. The treasurer shall fetch this treasure: all outsiders round about shall not control it! The heaven-directed porridge, that has been presented and deposited by us, in three divisions has reached the thrte heavens.
43. May Agni burn the ungodly Rakshas; the flesh-devouring Pisâka shall have nothing here to partake of! We drive him away, hold him afar from us: the Âdityas and Angiras shall stay near it!
44. To the Âdityas and the Angiras do I offer this (food of) honey, mixed with ghee. Do ye two, (man and wife), with clean hands, without having injured a Brâhmana, performing pious deeds, go to that heavenly world!
45. I would obtain this highest part of it (the porridge), the place from which the highest lord permeates (the all). Pour butter upon it, anoint it witb plentiful ghee: this here is our share, fit for the Angiras!
46. For the sake of truth and holy strength do we make over this porridge as a hoarded treasure to the gods: it shall not be lost to us in gaming or in the assembly; do not let it go to any other person before me!
47. I cook, and I give (to the Brahmans), and so, too, my wife, at my religious rite and practice.--With the birth of a son the world of children has arisen (for you): do ye two hold on to a life that extends beyond (your years)!
48. In that place exists no guilt, and no duplicity, not even if he goes conspiring with his friends. This full dish of ours has here been deposited: the cooked (porridge) shall come back again to him that cooks it!
49. kind deeds we shall perform for our friends: all that hate us shall go to darkness (hell)!--As (fruitful) cow, and (strong) steer, they (man and wife) shall during, every successive period of their lives drive away man-besetting death!
50. The fires (all) know one another, that which lives in plants, and lives in the waters, and all the (light-) gods that glow upon the heaven. The gold (here) becomes the light of him that cooks (the porridge).
51. This (naked skin) among the hides is born upon man (alone), all other animals are riot naked. Clothe yourselves, (ye Brahmans), in sheltering garments: (even) the face of the porridge is a homespun garment!
52. What falsehood thou shalt speak at play and in the assembly, or the falsehood that thou shalt speak through lust for gain--put on together, (O man and wife), this same garment, deposit upon it every blemish!
53. Produce rain, go to the gods, let smoke arise from (thy) surface; all-embracing, about to be covered with ghee, enter as a co-dweller this place!
54. In many ways heaven assumes within itself a different form, according to circumstances. It (the heaven) has laid aside its black form, purifying itself to a bright (form); the red form do I sacrifice fot thee into the fire.
55. Thee here we hand over to the eastern direction, to Agni as sovereign lord, to the black serpent as guardian, to Âditya as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive! To the goal here he shall lead us, to old age; old age shall hand us over to death: then shall we be united with the cooked (porridge)!
56. Thee here we hand over to the southern direction, to Indra as sovereign lord, to the serpent that is striped across as guardian, to Yama as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive! To the goal here, &c.
57. Thee here we hand over to the western direction, to Varuna as sovereign lord, to the pridâku-serpent as guardian, to food as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. To the goal here, &c.
58. Thee here we hand over to the northern direction, to Soma as sovereign lord, to the svaga-serpent as guardian, to the lightning as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. To the goal here, &c.
59. Thee here we hand over to the direction of the nadir, to Vishnu as sovereign lord, to the serpent with black-spotted neck as guardian, to the plants as bowmen: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. To the goal here, &c.
60. Thee here we hand over to the direction of the zenith, to Brihaspati as sovereign lord, to the light-coloured serpent as guardian, to the rain as bowman: do ye guard it for us, until we arrive. To the goal here, &c.

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IX, 3. Removal of a house that has been presented to a priest as sacrificial reward.

1. The fastenings of the buttresses, the supports, and also of the connectinc, beams of the house, that abounds in treasures, do we loosen.
2. O (house) rich in all treasures! the fetter which has been bound about thee, and the knot which has been fastened upon thee, that with my charm do I undo, as Brihaspati (undid) Vala.
3. (The builder) has drawn thee to,,ether, pressed thee together, placed firm knots upon thee. Skilfully, as the priest who butchers (the sacrificial animal), do we with Indra's aid disjoint thy limbs.
4. From thy beams, thy bolts, thy frame, and thy thatch; from thy sides, (O house) abounding in treasures, do we loosen the fastenings.
5. The fastenings of the dove-tailed (joints), of the reed (-covering), of the frame-work, do we loosen here from the 'mistress of dwelling.'
6. The ropes which they have tied within thee for comfort, these do we loosen from thee; be thou propitious to our persons, O mistress of dwelling, after thou hast (again) been erected!
7. A receptacle for Soma, a house for Agni, a seat for the mistresses (of the house), a seat (for the priests), a seat for the gods art thou, O goddess house!
8. Thy covering of wicker-work, with thousand eyes, stretched out upon thy crown, fastened down and laid on, do we loosen with (this) charm.
9. He who receives thee as a gift, O house, and he by whom thou hast been built, both these, O mistress of dwelling, shall live attaining old age!
10. Return to him in the other world, firmly bound, ornamented, (thou house), which we loosen limb by limb, and joint by joint!
11. He who built thee, O house, brought together (thy) timbers, he, a Pragâpati on high, did construct thee, O house, for his progeny (pragâyai).
12. We render obeisance to him (the builder); obeisance to the giver, the lord of the house; obeisance to Agni who serves (the sacrifice); and obeisance to thy (attendant) man!
13. Reverence to the cattle and the horses, and to that which is born in the house! Thou that hast produced, art rich in offspring, thy fetters do we loosen.
14. Thou dost shelter Agni within, (and) the domestics together with the cattle. Thou that hast produced, art rich in offspring, thy fetters do we loosen.
15. The expanse which is between heaven and earth, with that do I receive as a gift this house of thine; the middle region which is stretched out from the sky, that do I make into a receptacle for treasures; with that do I receive the house for this one.
16. Full of nurture, full of milk, fixed upon the earth, erected, holding food for all, O house, do thou not injure them that receive thee as a gift!
17. Enveloped in grass, clothed in reeds, like night does the house lodge the cattle; erected thou dost stand upon the earth, like a she-elephant, firm of foot.
18. The part of thee that was covered with mats unfolding do I loosen. Thee that hast been enfolded by Varuna may Mitra uncover in the morning!
19. The house built with pious word, built by seers, erected--may Indra and Agni, the two immortals, protect the house, the seat of Soma!
20. Chest is crowded upon chest, basket upon basket; there mortal man is begotten from whom all things spring.
21. In the house which is built with two facades, four facades, six facades; in the house with eight facades, with ten facades, in the 'mistress of dwelling.' Agni rests as if in the womb.
Tuirning towards thee that art turned towards me, O house, I come to thee that injurest me not. For Agni and the waters, the first door to divine order, are within.
23. These waters, free from disease, destructive of disease, do I bring here. The chambers do I enter in upon in company with the immortal Agni (fire).
24. Do thou not fasten a fetter upon us; though a heavy load, become thou light! As a bride do we carry thee, O house, wherever we please.
25. From the easterly direction of the house reverence (be) to greatness, hail to the gods who are to be addressed with hail!
26. From the southerly direction of the house, &c.!
27. From the westerly direction of the house, &c.!
28. From the northerly direction of the house, &c.!
29. From the firm direction (nadir) of the house, &c.!
30. From the upright direction (zenith) of the house, &c.!
3 1. From every direction of the house reverence (be) to greatness, hail to the gods who are to be addressed with hail!

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VI, 71. Brahmanical prayer at the receipt of gifts.

1. The varied food which I consume in many places, my gold, my horses, and, too, my cows, goats, and sheep: everything whatsoever that I have received as a gift--may Agni, the priest, render that an auspicious offering!
2. The gift that has come to me by sacrifice, or without sacrifice, bestowed by the Fathers, granted by men, through which my heart, as it were, lights up with joy--may Agni, the priest, render that an auspicious offering!
3. The food that I, O gods, improperly consume, (the food) I promise, intending to give of it (to the Brahmans), or not to give of it, by the might of mighty Vaisvânara (Agni) may (that) food be for me auspicious and full of honey!

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XX, 127. A kuntâpa-hymn.

A.

1. Listen, ye folks, to this: (a song) in praise of a hero shall be sung! Six thousand and ninety (cows) did we get (when we were) with Kaurama among the Rusamas,--
2. Whose twice ten buffaloes move right along, touether with their cows; the height of his chariot just misses the heaven which recedes from its touch.
3. This one (Kaurama) presented the seer with a hundred jewels, ten chaplets, three hundred steeds, and ten thousand cattle.

B.

4. Disport thyself, O chanter, disport thyself as a bird upon a flowering tree; thy tongue glides quickly over the lips as a razor over the strop.
5. The chanters with their pious song hurry on blithely as cows; at home are their children, and at home the cows do they attend.
6. Bring hither, O chanter, thy poem, that which earns cattle and earns good things! Among the gods (kings) place thy voice as a manly archer his arrow!

C.

7. Listen ye to the high praise of the king who rules over all peoples, the god who is above mortals, of Vaisvânara Parikshit!
8. 'Parikshit has procured for us a secure dwelling when he, the most excellent one, weat to his seat.' (Thus) the husband in Kuru-land, when he founds his household, converses with his wife.
9. 'What may I bring to thee, curds, stirred drink, or liquor?' (Thus) I the wife asks her husband in the kingdom of king Parikshit.
10. Like light the ripe barley runs over beyond the mouth (of the vessels). The people thrive merrily in the kingdom of king Parikshit.

D.

11. Indra has awakened the poet, saying: 'Arise, move about, and sing; of me, the strong, verily, sing the praises; full every pious one shall offer thee (sacrificial reward)!'
12. Here, O cattle, ye shall be born, here, ye horses, here, ye domestics! And Pûshan also, who bestows a thousand (cows) as sacrificial reward, settles down here.
13. May these cattle, O Indra, not suffer harm, and may their owner not suffer harm; may the hostile folk, O Indra, may the thief not gain possession of them!
14. We shout to the hero with hymn and song we (shout) with a pleasing song. Take delight in our songs; may we not ever suffer harm!

X.

COSMOGONIC AND THEOSOPHIC HYMNS.

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XII, 1. Hymn to goddess Earth.

1. Truth, greatness, universal order (rita), strength. consecration, creative fervour (tapas), spiritual exaltation (brahma), the sacrifice, support the earth. May this earth, the mistress of that which was and shall be, prepare for us a broad domain!
2. The earth that has heights, and slopes, and great plains, that supports the plants of manifold virtue, free from the pressure that comes from the midst of men, she shall spread out for us, and fit. herself for us!
3. The earth upon which the sea, and the rivers and the waters, upon which food and the tribes of men have arisen, upon which this breathing, moving life exists, shall afford us precedence in drinking!
4. The earth whose are the four regions of space, upon which food and the tribes of men have arisen, which supports the manifold breathing, moving things, shall afford us cattle and other possessions also!
5. The earth upon which of old the first men unfolded themselves, upon which the gods overcame the Asuras, shall procure for us (all) kinds of cattle, horses, and fowls, good fortune, and glory!
6. The earth that supports all, furnishes wealth, the foundation, the golden-breasted resting-place of all living creatures, she that supports Agni Vaisvânara (the fire), and mates with Indra, the bull, shall furnish us with property!
7. The broad earth, which the sleepless gods ever attentively guard, shall milk for us precious honey, and, moreover, besprinkle us with glory!
8. That earth which formerly was water upon the ocean (of space), which the wise (seers) found out by their skilful devices; whose heart is in the highest heaven, immortal, surrounded by truth, shall bestow upon us brilliancy and strength, (and place us) in supreme sovereignty!
9. That earth upon which the attendant waters jointly flow by day and night unceasingly, shall pour out milk for us in rich streams, and, moreover, besprinkle us with glory!
10. The earth which the Asvins have measured, upon which Vishnu has stepped out, which Indra, the lord of might, has made friendly to himself; she, the mother, shall pour forth milk for me, the son!
11. Thy snowy mountain heights, and thy forests, O earth, shall be kind to us! The brown, the black, the red, the multi-coloured, the firm earth, that is protected by Indra, I have settled upon, not suppressed, not slain, not wounded.
12. Into thy rniddle set us, O earth, and into thy navel, into the nourishing strength that has grown tip from thy body; purify thyself for us! The earth is the mother, and I the son of the earth; Paro-anya is the father; he, too, shall save us!
13. The earth upon which they (the priests) inclose the altar (vedi), upon which they, devoted to all (holy) works, unfold the sacrifice, upon which are set up, in front of the sacrifice, the sacrificial posts, erect and brilliant, that earth shall prosper us, herself prospering!
14. Him that hates us, O earth, him that battles against us, him that is hostile towards us with his mind and his weapons, do thou subject to us, anticipating (our wish) by deed!
15. The mortals born of thee live on thee, thou supportest both bipeds and quadrupeds. Thine, O earth, are these five races of men, the mortals, upon whom the rising sun sheds undying light with his rays.
16. These creatures all together shall yield milk for us; do thou, O earth, give us the honey of speech!
17. Upon the firm, broad earth, the all-begetting mother of the plants, that is supported by (divine) law, upon her, propitious and kind, may we ever pass-our lives!
18. A great gathering-place thou, great (earth), hast become; great haste, commotion, and agitation are upon thee. Great Indra protects thee unceasingly. Do thou, O earth, cause us to brighten as if at the sight of gold: not any one shall hate us!
19. Agni (fire) is in the earth, in the plants, the waters hold Agni, Agni is in the stones; Agni is within men, Agnis (fires) are within cattle, within horses.
20. Agni glows from the sky, to Agni, the god, belongs the broad air. The mortals kindle Agni, the bearer of oblations, that loveth ghee.
21. The earth, clothed in Agni, with dark knees, shall make me brilliant and alert!
22. Upon the earth men give to the gods the sacrifice, the prepared oblation; upon the earth mortal men live pleasantly by food. May this earth give us breath and life, may she cause me to reach old age!
23. The fragrance, O earth, that has arisen upon thee, which the plants and the waters hold, which the Gandharvas and the Apsaras have partaken of, with that make me fragrant: not any one shall hate us!
24. That fragrance of thine which has entered into the lotus, that fragrance, O earth, which the immortals of yore gathered up at the marriage of Sûryâ, with that make me fragrant: not any one shall hate us!
25. That fragrance of thine which is in men, the loveliness and charm that is in male and female, that which is in steeds and heroes, that which is in the wild animals with trunks (elephants), the lustre that is in the maiden, O earth, with that do thou blend us: not any one shall hate us!
26. Rock, stone, dust is this earth; this earth is supported, held together. To this golden-breasted earth I have rendered obeisance.
27. The earth, upon whom the forest-sprung trees ever stand firm, the all-nourishing, compact earth, do we invoke.
28. Rising or sitting, standing or walking, may we not stumble with our right or left foot upon the earth!
29. To the pure earth I speak, to the ground, the soil that has grown through the brahma (spiritual exaltation). Upon thee, that holdest nourishment, prosperity, food, and ghee, we would settle down, O earth!
30. Purified the waters shall flow for our bodies; what flows off from us that do we deposit upon him we dislike: with a purifier, O earth, do I purify myself!
31. Thy easterly regions, and thy northern, thy southerly (regions), O earth, and thy western, shall be kind to me as I walk (upon thee)! May I that have been placed into the world not fall down!
32. Do not drive us from the west, nor from the east; not from the north, and not from the south! Security be thou for us, O earth: waylayers shall not find us, hold far away (their) murderous weapon!
33. As long as I look out upon thee, O earth, with Sûrya (the sun) as my companion, so long shall my sight not fall, as year followeth upon year!
34. When, as I lie, I turn upon my right or left side, O earth; when stretched out we lie with our ribs upon thee pressing against (us), do not, O earth, that liest close to everything, there injure us!
35. What, O earth, I dig out of thee, quickly shall that grow again: may I not, O pure one, pierce thy vital spot, (and) not thy heart!
36. Thy summer, O earth, thy rainy season, thy autumn, winter, early spring, and spring; thy decreed yearly seasons, thy days and nights shall yield us milk
37. The pure earth that starts in fright away from the serpent, upon whom were the fires that are within the waters, she that delivers (to destruction) the blasphemous Dasyus, she that takes the side of Indra, not of Vritra, (that earth) adheres to Sakra (mighty Indra), the lusty bull.
38. Upon whom rests the sacrificial hut (sadas) and the (two) vehicles that hold the soma (havirdhâne), in whom the sacrificial post is fixed, upon whom the Brâhmanas praise (the gods) with riks and sâmans, knowing (also) the yagur-formulas; upon whom the serving-priests (ritvig) are employed so that Indra shall drink the soma;--
39. Upon whom the seers of yore, that created the beings, brought forth with their songs the cows, they the seven active (priests), by means of the satra-offerings, the sacrifices, and (their) creative fervour (tapas);--
40. May this earth point out to us the wealth that we-crave; may Bhaga (fortune) add his help, may Indra come here as (our) champion!
41. The earth upon whom the noisy mortals sing and dance, upon whom they fight, upon whom resounds the roaring drum, shall drive forth our enemies, shall make us free from rivals!
42. To the earth upon whom are food, and rice and barley, upon whom live these five races of men, to the earth, the wife of Parganya, that is fattened by rain, be reverence!
43. The earth upon whose ground the citadels constructed by the gods unfold themselves, every region of her that is the womb of all, Pragâpati shall make pleasant for us!
44. The earth that holds treasures manifold in secret places, wealth, jewels, and gold shall she give to me; she that bestows wealth liberally, the kindly goddess, wealth shall she bestow upon us!
45. The earth that holds people of manifold varied speech, of different customs, according to their habitations, as a reliable milch-cow that does not kick, shall she milk for me a thousand streams of wealth!
46. The serpent, the scorpion with thirsty fangs, that hibernating torpidly lies upon thee; the worm, and whatever living thing, O earth, moves in the rainy season, shall, when it creeps, not creep upon us: with what is auspicious (on thee) be gracious to us!
47. Thy many paths upon which people go, thy tracks for chariots and wagons to advance, upon which both good and evil men proceed, this road, free from enemies, and free from thieves, may we gain: with what is auspicious (on thee) be gracious to us!
48. The earth holds the fool and holds the wise, endures that good and bad dwell (upon her); she keeps company with the boar, gives herself up to the wild hog.
49. Thy forest animals, the wild animals homed in the woods, the man-eating lions, and tigers that roam; the ula, the wolf, mishap, injury (rikshikâ), and demons (rakshas), O earth, drive away from us!
50. The Gandharvas, the Apsaras, the Arâyas and Kimîdins; the Pisâkas and all demons (rakshas), these, O earth, h