The Atharva Veda

Book I — Charms to cure diseases

1May Agni drive the takman away from here, may Soma, the press-stone, and Varu»a, of tried skill ; may the altar, the straw (upon the altar), and the brightly-flaming fagots (drive him away) ! Away to naught shall go the hateful powers !

2Thou that makest all men sallow, inflaming them like a searing fire, even now, O takman, thou shalt become void of strength : do thou now go away down, aye, into the depths !

3The takman that is spotted, covered with spots, like reddish sediment, him thou, (O plant) of unremitting potency, drive away down below !

4Having made obeisance to the takman, I cast him down below : let him, the champion of Szkam- bhara, return- again to the Mah^vrfshas !

5His home is with the Md^vants, his home B HYMJiS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA. with the MahSvr/shas. From the moment of thy birth thou art indigenous with the Balhikas.

6O takman, vySla, vf gada, vyihga, hold off (thy missile) far! Seek the gadabout slave-girl, strike her with thy bolt !

7O takman, go to the Mfi^javants, or to the Balhikas farther away I Seek the lecherous ^Odra- female : her, O takman, give a good shaking-up !

8Go away to the MahOvWshas and the MO^- vants, thy kinsfolk, and consume them! Those (regions) do we bespeak for the takman, or these regions here other (than ours). 9. (If) in other regions thou dost not abide, mayest thou that art powerful take pity on us! Takman, now, has become eager : he will go to the Balhikas. ro. When thou, being cold, and then again de- liriously hot, accompanied by cough, didst cause the (sufferer) to shake, then, O takman, thy missiles were terrible : from these sorely exempt us !

9By no means ally thyself with bal&sa, cough and spasm ! From there do thou not return hither again : that, O takman, do I ask of thee !

10O takman, along with thy brother balAsa, along with thy sister cough, along with thy cousin pdman, go to yonder foreign folk !

11Destroy the takman that returns on (each) third day, the one that intermits (each) third day, the one that continues without intermission, and the autumnal one; destroy the cold takman, the hot, him that comes in summer, and him that arrives in the rainy season !

12To the Gandhdris, the Mfi^vants, the Ahgas, and the Magadhas, We deliver over the takman, like ^a servant, like a treasure ! T. CHARMS TO CURE DISEASES. VI, 20. Charm against takman (fever).

13As if from this Agni (fire), that burns and flashes, (the takman) comes. Let him then, too, as a babbling drunkard, pass away! Let him, the impious 01.2, search out some other person, not ourselves! Reverence be to the takman with the burning weapon !

14Reverence be to Rudra, reverence to the takman, reverence to the luminous king Varu«a! Reverence to heaven, reverence to earth, reverence to the plants I

Vol. 2 — HYMN I.

15Complete, with head and nose and ears, all-beaute- ous, wrought with magio skill, Afar let her depart : away we drive her,

16Made by a gfidra or a Prince, by priests or women, let her go. Back to her maker as her kin, like a dame banished by her lord.

17I with this salutary herb have ruined all their magio an.'H, The spell which they have cast upon thy field, thy cattle, or, thy men. 5 111 fall on him who deeth ill, on him who curseth fall the curse 1 .We drive her back that she may slay the man who wrought the witchery. . The hymn is a charm against witchcraft.

18Her ; K?ity& or Witchcraft embodied : a created tor malevolent purposes, lihe Spenser beautiful female form* »s false Puessa* by the magic power of some host lie sorcerer.

19Against) her comes the Angir&sa, the Priest whose ©ye is oy©r us. Turn back ail witcheries and slay those practisers of magic arts.

20Whoever said to thee. Go forth against the foeman up the stream, To him, 0 Kritya, go thou back* Pursue not us, the sinless ones.

21He who composed thy limbs with thought as a deft joiner builds a car, Go to him : thither lies thy way. This man is all unknown to thee.

22The cunning men, the sorcerers who fashioned thee and held thee fast, — This cures and mars their witchery, this, repellent, drives it back the way it came. With this w© make thee swim.

23When we have found her ducked and drenched, a hapless cow whose calf hath died, Let all my woe depart and let abundant riches come to me.

24The Angirasa, the Priest: Brihaspati, the Purohita of the Gods ahd the type of priestly rank, regarded as a descendant of, or devoted to, the great Rishi Angiras.

25Up the stream ; uddptam ; Professor Ludwig takes the word to mean unrelated, not akin ( from dpi , an associate or kinsman, instead of from ap, water ), with a play on the meaning 'up or against the stream/

26Composed thy limbs ; as Archimago (Faery Queene, I. 1. 45) 'fram'd of liquid ayre' Duessa’s 'tender partes/

27Repellent ; or, amulet ; made of the 'salutary herb* of stanza 4. which he himself was finally subjected. Even in recent times, in Europe as well as in India, reputed witches have been ducked in the nearest stream by superstitions villagers. 'We make thee ■ swim (away)/ — Ludwig.

28Ducked and drenched .* 'that she has swum away/ according' to Ludwig. HY MN 1. ] THE ATHARVA-VED A.

29If, as they gave tby parents aught, they named .thee, or at sacrifice, From ail their purposed evil let these healing herbs deliver thee.

Vol. 2 — HYMN II.

30Whence did they make the ankles that are under, and the knee-bones of Purusba above them ? What led them onward to the legs’ construction % Who planned and formed the knees’ articulations ?

31A fourfold frame is fixt with ends connected, and up above the knees a yielding belly. The hips and thighs, who was their generator, those props whereby the trunk grew firmly stabliehed ?

32Who and how many were those Gods who fastened the chest of Purusha and neck together ? How many fixed his breasts ? Who formed bis elbows ? How many joined together ribs and shoulder® ?

33Who put together both his arms and said. Let him show manly strength ? Who and what God was he who set the shoulder- blades upon the trunk %

34Who pierced the seven openings in the head ? Who made these ears, these nostrils, eyes, and mouth, Through whose surpassing might in all directions bipeds and quadrupeds have power of motion ? or Humanity personified, and in stanzas 16, 18, 28 identified with the Supreme Being,

35Foot-soles : uchchhlakha & ; the word does not occur elsewhere, and its precise meaning is uncertain, I adopt Professor Ludwig's conjec- tural interpretation. Central : in the centre of the world,

36They : the agents in his creation, whoever they were.

37Elbows : haphau^aH ; the meaning of the word is uncertain. body are not found elsewhere and are conjecturally rendered.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 2.

38H© set within the jaws the tongue that reaches far, and thereon placed Speech the mighty Goddess, He wanders to and fro mid living creatures, robed in the waters. Who hath understood it ?

39Who was he, first, of ail the Gods who fashioned his skull and brain and occiput and forehead, The pile that Purusha’s two jaws supported ? Who was that God who mounted up to heaven ?

40Whence bringeth mighty Purusha both pleasant and unpleasant things Of varied sort, sleep, and alarm, fatigue, enjoyments and delights ?

41Whence is there found in Purusha want, evil, suf- fering, distress ? Whence come success, prosperity opulence, thought, and utterance ?

42Who stored in him floods turned in all directions, moving diverse and formed to flow in rivers, Hasty, red, copper-hued, and purple, running all ways In Purusha, upward and downward ?

43Who gave him visible form and shape ? Who gavq, him magnitude and name ? Who gave him motion, consciousness ? Who furnished Purusha with feet %

44He : Purusha's creator.

45Red .... purple ; distinguishing arterial and venous blood.

46Form .... name ; ‘Here/ Muir observes (0. S. Texts, V* 379; note), ‘we have the ndma and rtipa of the Vedantists. Compare Taittiriya Br&hmana, ii. 2, 7, 1 : “ Praj&pati created living beings. form. Hence, men say ‘Prajapati is form/ He entered into them with name. Hence men say ‘ Prajapati is name/* On *Nama~r&pe the Connecting-link between Brahman and the World/ see Professor ‘Max Muller's Three Lectures on the Veddnta Philosophy, pp, 151 sqq*

47Who wove the vital air in him, who filled Mm with the downward breath ? What God bestowed on Purusha the general pervad- ing air ?

48What God, what only Deity placed sacrifice in Purusha ? Who gave him truth and falsehood ? Whence came Death and immortality %

49Who wrapped a 'garment round him ? Who arranged the life he hath to live ? Who granted him the boon of speech ? Who gave this fleetness to his feet ?

50Through whom did he spread waters cut, through , whom did he make Day to shine ? Through whom did he enkindle Dawn and give the gift of eventide ?

51Who set the seed in him and said, Still be the thread of life spun out ? Who gave him intellect besides ? Who gave him voice and gestic power ?

52Through whom did he bedeck the earth, through whom did he encompass heaven ? - Whose might made Purusha surpass the mountains and created things ?

Vol. 2 — HYMN 3.

53Brahma hath passed within the fort, the golden castle; ne’er subdued, Bright with excessive brilliancy, compassed with glory round about,

Vol. 2 — HYMN III.

54Break them in pieces ; grasp them and destroy them* This Amulet shall go before and lead thee. With Varana the Gods, from morn to morning, have warded off the Asuras’ enchantment.

55'This charm, this Varana healeth all diseases, bright with a thousand eyes and golden glister. This charm shall conquer and cast down thy foemem Be thou the first to slay the men who hale thee.

56This will stay witchcraft wrought for thee, will guard thee from the fear of man : From all distress and misery this Varana will shield thee well. omission of some stanzas and the addition of valuable annotations, by Scherman, Philosophische Hyhanen aus der Rig-und Atharva-Veda- Sanhit&, p. 41.

57Varana ; a plant or small tree ( Crataeva Roxburgh!! ), used in medicine and supposed to possess magical virtues. See IV. 7. 1. note, and VI. 85. h ' [ BOOK X.

58Guard against ill of varied kind is Varana this hea- venly Plant. The Gods have stayed and driven off Consumption which had seized this mm.

59If in thy sleep thou see an evil vision, oft as the beast repeats his loathed approaches, This Amulet, this Varana will guard thee from sneeze, and from the bird's ill-omened message.

60From Mischief, from Malignity, from incantation, from alarm, From death, from stronger foem&n’s stroke the Varana will guard thee well.

61Each sinful act that w© have done, — my mother, father, and my friends, — From all the guilt this heavenly Plant will b© our guard and sure defence.

62Affrighted by the Varana let my rivals near akin to me Pass to the region void of light : to deepest darkness let them go.

63Safe are my cattle, safe am I, long-lived with all my men around. This Varana, mine Amulet, shall guard me well on every side

64From sneeze : The use of the benediction, God bless you ! after sneezing is attributed to St. Gregory. Aristotle mentions a similar custom among the Greeks, and Cicero says ( de Div. 2. 40 ), Sternu- tamenta erunt observanda. The same superstition has been observed also among natives of Africa and Indian tribes of North America. the raven. The owl and the dove a ho were regarded as birds of ill omen. See Rigveda X. 165,

65The Varana mill guard : varand vdrayishyate.

66Rivals : bhr&’trivy&h ; primarily, father's brother's sons* cousins ; then hostile cousins, rivals, enemies, which is almost exclusively the meaning of the word in the Veda. The region void of light : the Indian Tartarus or place of departed sinners, the n&’raha lokd or world of hell of XII 4. 36, the opposite in every respect of the bright and blissful world of Yama. HlMKf a ] the aTharva-veda.

67This V'erana is on my breast, the sovran, the celes- tial Plant. Let it afflict my foemen as Indra quelled fiends and Asuras.

68Through hundred autumn seasons, long to live, I wear this Varana. May it bestow on me great strength, cattle, and royalty* and power.

Vol. 2 — HYMN IV.

69Their lustre is the Darbha-graes, its young shoots are their horse’s tail : the reed’s plume Is their chariot seat.

70A s, glory dwelleth in a maid ; of . * The splendid energy of maids* ( XII. 1 25 ).

71The hallowing word : the sacrificial exclamation Vashat. See I, 11. 1, note. A charm for the destruction of venomous serpents.

72The Imaginary chariot*race represents the weakness of serpents compared with the power of the Gods who are to b© invoked to destroy them. <

73Their ; the serpents*. The meaning of the line appears to be that their chariot and horses are the grass and reeds among which they live.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 4.

74Strike out, white oourser ! with thy foot, strike both with for© and hinder foot. Stay the dir© poison of the Snakes* and make it weak as soaking wood*

75Loud neighing h© hath dived below* and rising up again replied, Stayed the dire poison of the Snakes* and made it weak as soaking wood.

76Paidva kills Kasarnila, kills both the white Serpent and the black. Paidva hath struck and cleft in twain Ratharvfs and the Viper’s head. 6, Go onward, horse of Pedu ! go thou first : we follow after thee. Cast thou aside the Serpents from the pathway whereupon we tread.

77Her© was the horse of Pedu born : this is the way that takes Mm hence. These are the tracks the courser left, the mighty slayer of the Snakes.

78Let him not close the opened mouth, nor open that which now is closed. Two snakes are- in this field, and both, female.- and male, are powerless.

79White COUYS3Y : the reference is to the white serpent-slaying or Ahi-destroying horse given by the Asvins to their devotee the royal Rishi Pedu ( Rigveda I. 116.6; 117.9). This horse, according to Rergaigne ( La* Religion Vddique, II. 452 ), symbolized the Sun and' thou, O Soma, slayest every Dasyu’ ( R. V. IX. 88. 4 ). Stay the dire poison : T adopt Prof. Geldner's interpretation of this line ( Vedische Stjudien, II. p. 75 ).

80LOud-neighing : arahghushdh . Prof. Ludwig retains this word as the name of the horse.

81Paidva : ( the horse ) belonging to Pedu. Kasarnila : an unidenti- fied venomous serpent. Ratharvi : another species of serpent, so called on. account, of its rapid motion. S The first line is repeated from VI. 56, 1. [ BOOK X

82Powerless are the serpents here, those that are near and those afar. I kill the scorpion with a club, and with a staff the new-come snake*

83This is the remedy against Agh&sva and the adder, both : Indra and Paidva have subdued and tamed the vici- ous snake for me,

84We fix our thoughts on Pedu’e horse, strong, off- spring of a stedfast line. Behind our Jbaoks the vipers here crouch down and line in wait for us.

85Bereft of life and poison they lie slain by bolt-armed Indra’s hand. Indra and we have slaughtered them.

86Tiraschir&jia have been slain, and vipers crushed and brayed to bits. Slay Darvi in the Darbha-grass, Karikrata, and White and Black.

87The young maid of Kir&ta race, a little damsel, digs the drug, Digs it with shovels wrought of gold on the high ridges of the hills. ,15 Hither the young unoonquered leech who slays the speckled snake hath come. He verily demolishes adder and scorpion; both of them. J6 Indra, Mitra and Varuna, and V&ta and Parjanya both have given the serpent up to me.

88Aghdsva : here, apparently, the name of a serpent. In Rigveda I. 116. 6 Agh&sva ( having bad or vicions horses ) is another nam§ or an epithet of Pedu.

Vol. 2 — HYMN V.

89For the victorious enterprise let all creation stand by me. For me ye, Waters, are prepared,

90Ye are the share of Agni. Grant, O heavenly Waters unto us the Waters’ brilliant energy. By statute of Prajapati I set you down for this our • world. The hymn, which is a mixture — sometimes even in the same §tanaa— : of verse and prose, is a charm to secure the overthrow of am enemy and the acquisition of strength, dignity, long lift,' children, : weaith and general prosperity.

91Ye ; the srcrificial Waters used in the ceremony which the hymn Npariies. Bonds of Prayer : the binding efficacy of devotion. an epith«^% a} Soma, and Waters respectively in the place of Prayer, t Thi^^anza is repeated in 8 — 14 with the substitution, in the of Agni, of Indra, Soma, yaruna, Mitra,-Yaruna, Yama, the feathers, and God Savitar respectively. The verses in the original are' in prose.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 5. THE ATHARVA VEDA. V

92Waters, your ceremonial share of Waters which the waters hold, which aids our sacrifice to Gods, This as a remnant here I leave. Do not thou wash ■ it clean away. With this we let the man goby who hates us and whom we abhor. Him would I fain o’erfchrow and slay with this our ceremonial act, with this our prayer, our thunder- bolt

93Whatever evil 1 have done within this last trien* nium 3 From all that woe and misery let the waters shield- and guard me well.

94Odward I urge your gathered floods: enter your own, abididg -place, . Uninjured and with all your strength. Let nothing bend or bow us down. .....

95May the pure Waters cleanse rs from defilement, , Ipair to behold remove our sin and trouble, and bear away ill-dream and all pollution.

96Thou art the step of Vishnu, rival-slayer, sharpened. by earth, aglow with fire of Agni, Earth have I ranged : from earth we bar him who hates us and whom we hate.

97Thunderbolt : see VI. 134. I, note . This verse is repeated in 16—21, wave, calf, bull, Hiranyagarbha (Germ o£ Golden LiKb% and the speckled heavenly stone (the thunderbolt) being substituted respectively, for ‘ceremonial share.’ The second, third and. forth of these represent Agni who dwells, like the thunderbolt, w * a form of lightning in the waters of the ocean of air. . 25 The. step of Vishnu: referring to Vishnu s three strides through the three worlds, or the rising, culmination, and setting of the Sun, which are to be symbolised in the performance of the cere- mony by the officiate taking three steps between the altar and the Ahavaniya fire. See Kausika-Sfttra VI. 14. [ BOOK X.

98Ours is superior place and ours is conquest : may I in ail fights tread down spite and malice. Let him not live, let vital breath desert him.

99With this 1 here invest the power and splendour, the life of that man and his vital breathing, the son of such a sire and such a woman, here do I overthrow and cast him downward.

100I follow Surya’s course in heaven, the course that takes him to the South. May that bestow upon me wealth and glory of a Brahman’s rank.

101I turn me to the regions bright with splendour. May they bestow upon me wealth and glory of a Brahman’s rank. 39 1 turn me to the Rishis Seven. May they, etc.

102I turn me unto Prayer. May that, etc.

103I turn me unto Brahmans. May they etc,

104We hunt that man, we beat him down and slay him with our murderous blows. We with the spell have hurried him to Paramesh- fchin’s opened jaws.

105Let the shot missile eateh him with Vaipvanara’s two mighty fangs. _ This offering, and the mightiest? Goddess, the Fuel, eat him up 1

106Him : the enemy for whose destruction the ceremony is per* formed. This verse is repeated in 27—35, with the substitution, for Barth (thrice) and Agni, of Heaven and Surya in 27 * the Quarters and Mind in 28; the Regions and Vata in 29 ; the Riehas and S&mans in 30 ; Sacrifice and Brahma or Prayer in 31 ; Plants? and Soma (the Moon) in 32; Waters and Yanina in 33 ; Agriculture and Pood in 3t ; ?ital Breath and Maxi in 35,

Vol. 2 — HYMN VI.

107Couples : sacrifices and their wives. Manyu : Passion or Ardour personified. See IV. 31 and 32. Ydiudh&nas: demons or .sorcerers; see 1. 7. 1, note.

108Waters’ bolt i the thunderbolt from the watery clouds. Jhe hymn is the glorification of an all-powerful amulet.

109This Amulet of citron-wood shall make for me a . . trusty shield : Filled with the mingled beverage, with sap and vigour hath it come.

110What though the strong-armed carpenter have cleft thee with his hand and axe. Pure animating waters shall cleanse thee and make thee bright again.

111This Amulet, decked with chain of gold, shall give faith, sacrifice, and might, and dwell as guest within our house.

112To this we give apportioned food, elarfied butter, wine, and meath. May it provide each boon for us as doth a father for his sons, Again, again, from morn to morn, having approach- ed the deities.

113The Charm Brihaspati hath bound, the fatness-drop- ping citron-wood, the potent Khadira, for strength, This Agni hath put on : it yields clarified butter for this man. Again, again, from morn to morn. With this subdue thine enemies.

114The Charm Brihaspati hath bound, the fatness-drop- ping citron-wood, the potent Khadira, for strength, This Charm hath Indra put on him for power and manly puissance. It yieldeth strength to strengthen him, again, again', from morn to morn, having approached the deities.

115Mingled beverage : manthd , gruel ; parched barley-meal stirred round in milk

116Having approached the deities : worn by the worshipper when he sacrifices. '6 Khadira: the Acacia Catechu ; a tree with very hard 'wood from which the sruva or sacrificial ladle and axle-pins are made, The Khadira is mentioned together with the Asvattha or Sacred Fig Treein HI. 6* 1 and V. 5. 5, See also XIL $.1.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 6 THE ATHARVA VEDA. 23

117The Charm Brihaspati, etc. This Charm hath Soma put on him for might, for hearing, and for sight. This yields him energy indeed, again, again, etc.

118The Charm Brihaspati, etc. This Sfirya put on him, with this conquered the re- gions of the sky. This yieldeth him ability, again, etc.

119The Charm Brihaspati, ete. This Charm did Chandra wear, with this conquered the forts of A suras, the golden forts of Ddnavas. This yields him glory and renown, again, etc.

120The Amulet Brihaspati bound on the swiftly-moving Wind. This yieldeth him a vigorous steed, again, etc.

121The Asvins with this Amulet protect this culture of our fields. This yields the two Physicians might, again, etc

122Savitar wore this Amuleb : herewith he won this lucid heaven. This yields him glory and delight, again, etc.

123Wearing thisCharm the Waters flow eternally inviolate. This yieldeth them ambrosia, again, ete.

124King Varuija assumed and wore this salutary Amulet,. This yieldeth him his truthfulness, again, etc.

125Wearing this Amulet the Gods conquered in battle. all the worlds. This yieldeth victory for them, again, etc.

126The Amulet Brihaspati formed for the swiftly-mov- ing Wind, This salutary Amulet the Deities assumed and wore. This yieldeth them the universe, again, again, from morn to morn. With this subdue thine enemies.

127TheAsvms : regarded as the protectors o£ agriculture which they first taught men to practise (Rigveda 1. 117, 21 ; VIII. 22. 6). VIII. 18. 8. 1 ' * ■

128The Seasons formed that Amulet, the Groups of Seasons fashioned it. The Year having constructed it preaerveth every- thing that is.

129The regions of the heaven, the points that lie bet- ween them fashioned it. Created by Prajapafci, may the Charm cast my foe- men down.

130Atharvan made the Amulet, Atharvan’s children fashioned it. With them the sage Angirases brake through the Dasyus* fortresses. With this subdue thine ene- mies.

131Dhatar bound on this Amulet : he ranged and order- ed all that is. With this do thou subdue thy foea,

Vol. 2 — HYMN 6.

132The Amulet, etc. That Amulet here hath come to me with power and abundant strength, hath come with glory and with wealth.

133That Amulet, etc. That Amulet here hath come to m© with splendour and a blaze of light, with honour and illustrious fame,

134The Amulet Brihaspati made for the Gods, that slew the fiends, That Amulet here hath come to me combined with all prosperities,

135That Amulet may the Deities bestow on me to win success, The conquering, strength-increasing Charm, the dam&ger of enemies* 30 1 bind on me my happy fate with holy prayer and energy. Foeless destroyer of the foe, it hath subdued mine enemies.

136May this Charm, offspring of the Gods, make me superior to my foe. So may this charm whose milk expressed theses three worlds longingly await, Be fastened on me here, that it may crown me with surpassing power.

137The Charm to which men, Fathers, Gods look ever. for their maintenance. May 'this be fastened on me here, to crown me with surpassing power.

138As, when the plough hath tilled the soil, the seed springs up in fertile land. Let cattle, progeny, and food of every kind spring up with me.

139Charm, forwarder of sacrifice, who hast [a hundred priestly fees.

140THE HYMNS OF [ BOOK X Speed to preeminence him to whom I have attached thy happy late*

141Love thou, 0 Agni, pleased with burnt oblations, this sacred fuel that is ranged in order, Iu him may we find .grace and loving-kindness* hap* piness, progeny, and sight and cattle, in J&t&vedas kindled with devotion,

Vol. 2 — HYMN VIL

142Out of which member glows the light of Agni 2 Form which proceeds the breath of M&tarisvan ? From which doth Chandra measure out his journey, travelling over Skambha’s mighty body ?

143Which of his members is the earth’s upholder ? Which gives the middle air a base to rest on ? Where, in Which member is the sky established ? Where hath the space above the sky its dwelling ?

144Whitherward yearning blaze ih Agni upward ? Whi- therward yearning bloweth M&tarisvan ? Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha to whom with longing go the turning pathways ? "the name of Skambha, the Pillar, Support, or Fulcrum of all existence.

145Fervour ; tdpas ( from tap, to be hot ) ; warmth, pain, penance , religious austerity, fervent devotion. Ceremonial Order : riidm ; Di- vine Law ; divinely appointed sacrifice.

146MdtariBvan : Wind ; see V, 2, 9, note ; 10. 8 ; 17. 1. Chandra ; the Moon, Skambha: the world is the same as stambha, a pillar or buttress. So Sfirya ( R, V, IV. 13. 5 ) and Soma ( R. V. IX. 74. 2; 86, 46) are called the pillars or supports of heaven,

147The space above the sky : the highest of the three heavens ( see IV. 20. 2 and R, V, V, 60. 6 ) ; the Heaven of heavens, of the Hebrews, above the air and the starry firmament,

Vol. 2 — HYMN 7. THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 27

148Whitherard go the half-months, and, accordant with the full year, the months in their procession ? Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha to whom go seasons and the groups of seasons ?

149Whitherward yearning speed the two young Damsels, accordant, Day and Night, of different colour ? Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha to whom the Waters take their way with longing %

150Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha, On whom Praj&pati set up and firmly stablished all th© worlds ?

151That universe which Prajapati created, wearing all forms, th© highest, midmost, lowest, How far did Skambha penetrate within it ? What portion did he leave unpenetrated ?

152How far within th© past hath Skambha entered 1 How much of him hath reached into the future ? That one part which he set in thousand places,— how far did Skambha penetrate within it ?

153Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha in whom men recognize the Waters, Brahma, In whom they know the worlds and their enclosures^ in whom ate nomexistenc© and existence ?

154Declare that Skambha, who is he of many, In whom, exerting every power, Fervour maintains her loftiest vow ; In whom are comprehended Law, Waters, Devotion and Belief ?

155Pva]dpati : Lord of Life, Creator ; here represented as inferior to Skambha whose commands ho executes.

156That one pari : or, member. See stanza 25.

157Brahma : the meaning here may be Prayer : ‘divine thought.. of existence as well as all that actually exists.

158Devotion ; or. and Brahma : ‘divine science’— Muir. [ BOOK t,

159Who out of many, tel! me, is that Skambha On whom as their foundation earth and firmament and sky are set ; In whom as their appointed place rest Fire and Moon and Sun and Wind !

160Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha, He in whose body are contained all three*and-thirty Deities ?

161Three-and-thirty Deities : in the Rigveda the number of the Gods is frequently said to be thirty-three : 'Come, O Nasatyas, with the thrice-eleven Gods’ ( I. 34. 11 ) ; 'Bring thou those three-and -thirty Gods* ( I. 45. 2 ) ; ‘0 ye eleven Gods whose home is heaven, O ye eleven who make earth your dwelling, Ye, who with might, eleven, live in waters, accept this sacrifice, O Gods, with pleasure, ( I. 139. 11 ) ; Bring, with their Dames, the Gods, the three* and-thirty* (III. 6. 9) ; see also R. V. VIII. 28, 1 ; 30. 2 ; 35. 3 ; V&lakhilya 9. 2. The Sat© Professor Haug remarks on an ancient Vaisvadeva Nivid or invoking prayer cited in his Aitareya Br&hmanam, Vol. II. p. 212 ; 'It is, however, highly interesting, as perhaps one of the most ancient accounts we have of the number of Hindu deities. They are here stated at 3 times 11, then at 33, then at 303, then at 3003. It appears from this statement that only the number 3 remained unchanged, whilst the number 30 was multiplied by 10 or 100. Similarly the number of gods is stated at 3339 in a hymn ascribed to the Risfai Visvkmitra, Rigveda III. 9. 9. This statement appears to rely on the Vaisvadeva Nivid. , For if we add 33+303+3003 we obtain exactly the number 3339. This coincidence can hardly be fortuitous, and we have strong reasons to believe that Visv&mitra perfectly knew this Visve Devah Nivid, „ But, as Professor Max Mitlier observes { Three Lectures on the Ved&nta Philosophy, p. 26 ), 'we find the incipient reasoners postulating One God behind all the deities of the earliest pantheon. As early a writer as Y&ska about 500 B. C. has formed to himself a systematic theology, and represents ah the Vedic deities as really three, those like the Fire, whose place is on earth, those like Indra, whose place is in the air, and those like the Sun, , whose place is in the sky; nay he declares that it is owing to the greatness .of the deity that the one Divine Self is celebrated as -if It were many.' The same ideas are well summed

Vol. 2 — HYMN 7

162Who oat of many, tell me, m that Skambha In whom the Sages earliest born, the Riehae, Saman, Yajus, Earth, and the one highest Sage abide \

163Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha Who comprehendeth, for mankind, both immortality and death, He who oontaineth for mankind the gathered waters as his veins ?

164Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha, He whose chief arteries stand there, the sky ? s four regions, he in’ whom Sacrifice putteth forth its might ?

165They who in Purusha understand Brahma know Him who is Supreme. He who knows Him who is Supreme, and he who knows the Lord of Life, These know the loftiest Power Divine, and thence know Sksmbha thoroughly.

166Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha Of whom Vaisvanara became the head, the Angirases his eye, and Y&tus his corporeal parts ? up in one of the Upanishads ( Brih, Ar. Up. III. 9 ), where we are told that there were at first more than three thousand and three hundred gods, but that they weie reduced to 33, to 6, to 3,~ to 2, to 1 J, and at last to one, which One is the breath of life, the Self, and his name is That/

167Purusha ; man. Brahma : 'the divine essence 9 — Muir. Him who is Supreme : Parmesbthin. The Lord of Life : Prajapati. Power Divine : brd’hmanam ; 'divine mystery/— Muir.

168Ydtus : evil spirits, demons. Professor Ludwig suggests the substitution of Yatis, a mythical race of ascetics connected with the Bhrigus ; the malicious character of the Yatus { Dr. Scherman re- marks. ) not being in accordance with their identification with the members of the All -God. [ BOOK X.

169Who out of many, tell me, ia that Skambha Whose mouth they say is Holy Lore, hia tongue the Honey-sweetened Whip, his udder is Vir&j, they say ?

170Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha From whom they hewed the Riehas off, from whom they chipped the Yajus, he Whose hairs are S&ma-versea and his mouth the Atharv&ngirases ?

171Men count as ’twere a thing supreme nonentity’s oonspiouous branch ; And lower man who serve thy branoh regard it as an entity.

172Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha In whom Adityas dwell, in whom Rudras and Vasus are contained, In whom the future and the past and ail the worlds are firmly set ;

173Holy Love : brahma ; ‘divine knowledge.'— Muir. The Honey- sweetened Whip : the Madhukafd' or Honey-whip ( a symbol, perhaps, of creative and invigorating power) of the Asvins: see IX. 1 sqq.

174The Atharv&ngirases : the Songs or Hymns of the Atharvans and Angirases ; see Vol. I., Preface, p. vi.

175The stanza may be rendered, in accordance with Professor Goldsthcker’s interpretation ( O. S. Texts, V. p 384 ) ; Some count as ?twere supreme this branch existing, non-reality; But some, inferior, deeming it reality, adore thy branch ; that is, in Professor Gold- stacker's words : 'Some people think that the existing branch ( i, e* the existing Vedas— compare verse 20 ), which is not the reality { asat ), is, as it were ( iva ), the highest ( paramam ) Veda ; on the other hand, those ( people ) inferior ( to the former }, who believe that it is the reality ( sat ), worship thy branch ( i, c, those later Vedas ).* Professor Ludwig suggests the reading dpave , other, instead of mare, inferior ; in which case the meaning would be that different men entertain different opinions, regarding the relative priority of the existent and the non- existent, My version in the text follows. Muir’s rendering which was partly suggested by Professor Aufrecht.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 7.

176Whose secret treasure evermore the three-and thirty Gods protect % Who knoweth now the treasure which, 0 Deities ye watch and guard I

177Where the Gods, versed in Sacred Lore, worship the loftiest Power Divine— The priest who knows them face to face may be a sage who knows^the truth.

178Great, verily, are*‘those* Gods*, who japrang* from non» existence into life. Further, men say that that one part of Skambha is nonentity.

179Where Skambha generating gave the Ancient World its shape and form, They recognized that single part of Skambha as the Ancient World,

180The three-and-thirty Gods within his body were disposed as limbs : Some, deeply versed in Holy Lore, some know Ihoe® three-and-thirty Gods*

181Men know Hiranysgarbha as supreme and inexpress- ible : la the beginning, in the midst of the world, Skambha poured that gold,

182Secret treasure : according to Professor Goldstucker, the primi- tive, premaeval Veda, identified with Skambha.

183The priest : ‘the Atharva-veda priest (Brahm&), who baa a knowledge of those god-guardians of the premaevel Veda has the know- ledge) or, he who has such a knowlege is a (true) Atharva-veda priest)/ — Goldstucker.

184Further : Ludwig suggests purd, of old, instead of pards of the text. Nonentity ; cf. stanza 10.

185Were disposed as limbs ; so Ludwig ; f found their several bodies/— Muir ; ‘distributed the limbs among them/ — Scherman,

186Biranyagarbha : the Germ of Golden Light ; here meaning Fraj&pati, Lord of Creation, see IV. 2. 7, That gold : out of which Hiranyagarbha sprang to life. Inexpressible : anatyudhydm : Ludwig's * fiber den hiaaus sich nichts sagen lasst* and Scbennan*s 'Dauber- t&ubaren* give more accurately the full meaning of the word? [ BOOK X,

187On Skambha Fervour rests, the worlds and Holy Law repose on him* Skambhs, I clearly know that all of the© on Indra is imposed,

188On Indra Fervour rests, on him the words and Holy Law recline. Indra, I clearly know that ail of thee on Skambha findeth rest,

189Ere sun and dawn man calls and calls one Deity by the other's name* When the Unborn first sprang into existence he reaohed that independent sovran lordship, than which aught higher never hath arisen.

190Be reveernce paid to him, that highest Brahma, whose base is Earth, his belly Air, who made the sky to be his head.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 7.

191Homage to highest Brahma, him who, sprung from Fervour and from toil. Filled all the worlds completely, who made Soma for himself alone.

192Why doth the Wind move ceaselessly ? Why doth the spirit take no rest ? Why do the Waters, seeking truth, never at any time repose ?

193Absorbed in Fervour, is the mighty Being, in the World’s centre, on the waters’ surface. To him the Deities, one and all betake them. So stands the tree-trunk with the branches round it.

194Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha To whom the Deities with hands, with feet, and voice, and ear, and eye Present unmeasured tribute in the measured hall of sacrifice ?

195Darkness is chased away from him : he is exempt from all distress. In him are all the lights, the three abiding in Pra- japati.

196He verily who knows the Reed of Gold that stands amid the flood, is the mysterious Lord of Life.

197Seeking truth : following the natural law of their being,

198The mighty Being ; c£, X. 2. 32, and 8. 15 ; Brahma with whom Skambha is identified.

199The lights , the three : Sun, lightning, and fire ; or light mani- fested in heaven, the firmament, and on earth.

200The Meed of Gold : meaning Agni. Of. 4 I look upon the streams of oil descending, and lo ! the Golden Reed is there among them* (R. V. IV. 58. 5) ; where the Golden Reed is Agni produced as light- ning in the streams of oil or fatness, the fertilizing waters which descend from the ocean of air. See Muir’s note. [BOOK X.

201Singly the two young Maids of different colours approach the six-pegged warp in turns and weave it. The one draws out the threads, the other lays them : they break them not, they reach no end of labour.

202Of these two, dancing round as ’twere, I cannot distinguish whether ranks before the other. A Male inweaves this web, a Male divides it *. a Male hath stretched it to the cope of heaven.

203These pegs have buttressed up the sky. The Samans have turned them into shuttles for the weaving.

Vol. 2 — HYMN VIII.

204Upheld by Skambha’s power these two, the heaven and the earth, stand fast. Skambha is all this world of life, whatever breathes or shuts an eye.

205Tioo young Maids : ITshas or Dawn and Night). Six-pegged : stretched over the aix regions of the world. Dawn weaves the luminous weft of Day, and Night removes it from the loom.

206A Male ♦ the first Man or Male ; Purusha, Adipurusba, Praj£» path This web ; meaning here the mysterious primeval sacrifice which constitutes creation. Of. * The Man extends it, and the Man unbinds it : even to the vault of heaven hath he outspun it. These pegs are fastened to the seat of worship : they made the Sama-hymns their weaving-shuttles’ (R. V. X. 130. 2.) The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III. p. stanzas 42 — 44) by Scherman, with an excellent and almost exhaus- tive commentary, in his Philosophische Hymnen aus der Rig-unci Atharva-veda-SanhM, The hymn consists of speculations, somewhat fragmentary and ■unconnected, on the Supreme Being and cosmogonical and theological subjects.

207Skamhhds power : see the preceding hymn. BYMN8.} THE ATHARVA-VEDA.

208Three generations have gone by and vanished, and others uear have entered into sunlight. There stood on high he who uaetes out the region : into* green plants hath passed the Golden-coloured.

209One is the wheel, the tires are twelve in number, the naves ate three. What naan hath understood it ? Three hundred spokes have thereupon been hammer- ed, and sixty pins set firmly in their places.

210Discern thou this, O Savitar. Six are the twins, one singly born. They claim relationship in that among them which is born alone.

211Though manifest, it lies concealed in the vast place they call the old : Therein is firmly stationed all the moving, breathing universe.

212Up, eastward, downward in the west, its rolleth, with countless elements, one-wheeled, single-fellied. With half it. hath begotten ail creation. Where hath the. other half become unnoticed ?

213Three generations : according to the legend (Satapatha-Br|h- inaria, II. 5. 1), Praj&pati produced in succession three kinds c £ creatures, birds, small reptiles, and serpents, all of which died. The fourth generation (mammalia) lived and enjoyed the light of the sun. stanza is found, with variations, in R, V. VIII. 90. 14.

214The wheel : the Sun in his annual course ; the year. The tires : the months. The naves : the three chief seasons, Summer, Rains,, and Winter. Spokes . . .pins: the days.

215Twins : the seasons, consisting each of two months. One : the intercalary month.

216It : the wheel, that is, the Sun. Concealed : at night, Vast place : the mysterious place- to which both Day and Night alternately retire. Of. R. V. IIL 55. 15.

217With half: the light and heat of day* The other half: the Sun during the night. ' ' ' ' THE HYMN 8 OF [BOOK X.

218In fronfc of these the five-horsed car moves onward : side-horses, harnessed with the others draw it. No one hath seen its hither course untravelled ; the height sees it more near, the depth more distant.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 8 .

219All men behold him with the eye, but with the mind they know not him Holding aloft the water as a water-bearer in her jar.

220With the full vase he dwells afar, is left far off what time it fails, A mighty Being in creation’s centre : to him the rulers of the realms bring tribute.

221That, whence the Sun arises, that whither he goes to take his rest, That verily I hold supreme : naught in the world surpasses it.

222Those who in recent times, midmost, or ancient, on all sides greet the sage who knows the Veda, One and all, verily, discuss Aditya, the second Agni, and the threefold Hansa.

223This gold-hued Hahsa’s wings, flying to heaven, spread o’er a thousand days’ continued journey. Supporting all the Gods upon his bosom, he goes his way beholding every creature,

224By truth he blazes up aloft, by Brahma, he looks down below : He breathes obliquely with his breath, he on whom what is highest rests.

225The first line is obscure. Ludwig suggests that vase or pitcher here may mean the Moon. A mighty Being : majidd yakshdtn ; a super- natural animated Being (cf. X. 2. 32 ; 7. 38), apparently regarded as the First Cause of creation. The rulers of the realms : the Gods.

226That ; the mysterious place : cf. stanza 6.

227Aditya : the Sun. Agni and Hansa also are names of the Sun. from pervading heaven, firmament, and earth.

228Thousand : ‘ For the heavenly world is at a distance of about 1000 day’s travelling on horseback from here (this earth).— Haug’s Aitareya BrShmapa, II, 2, 17.

229THE HYMNS OF f BOOK X.

230The sage who knows the kindling-sticks whence by attrition wealth is drawn, Will comprehend what is most high, will know the mighty Brahmapa.

231Footless at first was he produced, footless he brought celestial light. Four-footed grown, and meet for use, he seized each thing enjoyable.

232Useful will he become, and then will he consume great store of food — The man who humbly worshippeth the eternal and victorious God.

233Him too they call eternal ; he may become new again to-day. Day and Night reproduce themselves, each from the form the other wears.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 8.3

234This fair one is untouched by age, immortal in a mortal’s house. He for whom she was made lies low, and he who formed her hath grown old.

235Thou art a woman, and a man ; thou art a damsel and a boy. Grown old thou totterest with a staff, new-born thou lookest every way.

236Either the sire or son of these, the eldest or the youngest child, As sole God dwelling in the mind, first born, he still is in the womb.

237Forth from the full he lifts the full, the full he sprin- kles with the full. Now also may we know the source from which that stream is sprinkled round.

238Brought forth in olden time, the everlasting, high over all that is was she, the Ancient. The mighty Goddess of the Morn, refulgent with one eye, looketh round with one that winketh.

239Known by the name of Guardian Grace the Deity sits girt by Right. The trees have taken from her hue, green-garlanded,^ their robe of green.

240When he is near she leaves him not, she sees him not though he is near. Behold the wisdom of the God ; he hath not died, he grows not old.

241The fair one : or blissful one; Ushas or Dawn. In a mortal’s house : Dawn is the friend of men and the constant visitor of their dwellings. He : in both places the setting Sun ; Dawn being some- times called the daughter of Prajgpati or the Sun.

242The Moon is again the subject.

243The Moon, regarded as the sender of rain, appears to be the subject of of this stanza which, like the preceding stanza, is purposely enigmatical. He : the Sun.

244Voices that never were before emitted speak as fitteth them. Whither they go and speak, they say there is the mighty Brahmana.

245I ask thee where the waters’ flower by wondrou3 magic art was placed, Thereon the Gods and men are set as spokes are fastened in the nave.

246Who gave command unto the wind that blowet ? Who ranged the five united heavenly regions ? Who were the Gods who cared not for oblations ? Which of them brought the sacrificial waters 1

247One God inhabiteth the earth we live on ; another hath encompassed air’s mid-region. One, the Supporter, takes the heaven and bears it : some keeping watch guard ail the quarters safely.

248The man who knows the drawn-out string on which these creatures all are strung, The man who knows the thread’s thread, he may know the mighty Brahmana.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 8.

249When Ago! passed between the earth and heaven, devouring with his flame the all-consumer, Where dwelt afar the spouses cf one husband, where at that moment, where was M&tarisvan 1 ■40 Into the floods had M&t&risvan entered, the deities had past into the waters. There stood the mighty measurer of the region : into the verdant plants went Pavamana. 4 1 Over the G&yatri, above the immortal world he strode away. Those who by Song discovered Song— -where did the Unborn see that thing ?

250Luiier to rest, and gatherer-up ef treasures, Savitar like a God whose laws are constant, hath stood like Indra in the war for riches.

251Men versed in sacred * knowledge know that living Being that abides. In the nine-porballed Lotus Flower, enclosed with triple bands and bonds.

252The spouses of one husband : perhaps the regions of the sky may be intended, personified ns Goddesses each of vvhom is faithful to one lord and protector. Md, tar is van : the Wind-God.

253Measurer of the region : Agni as the Sun : cf, stanza 3^ Pava-mdna : a name or epithet of Agni; Brilliant. ihB fourth pada is taken from R. V. VIII. 90. 14, and Sayan a in his Commentary on the passage explains harltafj (verdant plants) as the quarters of the sky, and Pdvamdnah as Vayu or the Wind. Prof, Grassmann takes pdvamdnah to be the Soma, and haritah to be the horses of the Sun. form of lightning into the plants, ^

254The stanza is found, with a variation, R V. X. 139. 3.

255That living Being ; yakshdm dtmanvdt ; tire Supreme Self or Soul. Niiie-portalled Lo'us Flower: the human body. Cf. X. 2. 31. enclose. -It is possible that these may be here a first reference to the three gunas [Fundamental Qualities] afterwards so celebrated i„ Indian philosophical speculation.’— Muir. The word g urn mean- ing both rope or bond and quality. ' 6 [ BOOK X.

256Desireless, firm, immortal, self-existent, contented with the essence, lacking nothing, Free from the fear of Death is fee who knoweth that Soul courageous, youthful, undecaying.

Vol. 2 — HYMN IX.

257Thy skin shall be the Altar ; let thine hair become the Sacred Grass. This cord hath held thee firmly : let this pressing- stone dance round on thee:

258The holy water be thy hair : let thy tongue make thee clean, 0 Cow. Go, Hundredfold Oblation, made bright and adorable, to heaven. by Ludwig, Der Rigveda. III. p. 395, and in part by Muir, O. S. latter scholar has added an excellent commentary on the portion which he has translated. accompanied with a hundred odanns, messes of boiled rice or other grain mashed and cooked with inilk,

259Binding the mouths : addressed to the priest who is binding the month , of the victim before immolation, Hundredfold Oblation : $ataudan&. CL the sacrifice of the Paiichaudana goat in IX. 5.

260The Cow is addressed* Dance round on thee : part of the skin is laid on the ground for the Soma press to stand on. to the Gods, Cf, VI. 122, 4,

Vol. 2 — HYMN 9. THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 43

261H© who prepares the Hundredfold Oblation gaio^ each wish thereby : For alb his ministering priests, contented, move m fitteth them.

262He rises up to heaven, ascends to yonder third celes- tial height, Whoever gives the Hundredfold Oblation with the central cake.

263That man completely wins those worlds, both of the heavens and of the earth, Whoever pays the Hundredfold. Oblation with its golden light.

264Thine Immolators, Goddess ! and the men who dress thee for the feast, all these will guard thee, Hundred- fold Oblation ! Have no fear of them.

265The Vasus from the South will be thy guards, the Maruts from the North, Adityas from the West ; overtake and pass the Agnishtoma, thou !

266The Gods, the Fathers, mortal men, Gandkarvas, and Apsarases, All these will be the guards : overtake and pass the Atiratra, thou !

267Th© man who pays the Hundredfold Oblation win* neth all the worlds, Air, heaven, and earth, Adityas, and Maruts, and regions of the sky.

268With the central cake ; apdydn&bhim ; literally, having a navel which consists, of, or is decorated with a cake of flour.

269Golden light : the priests* honorarium paid in gold.

270Goddess ; the Cow is addressed.

271Agnishtoma : meaning Praise of Agni ; a liturgical rite, the sim- plest form of Soma sacrifice.

272Atr/dtm ; a form of the Soma sacrifice requiring three nocfcurnnl recitations. See Satapatba- Brahmana ( Sacred Books of the East ) Part . II. p. 398, ,44 [ BOOK X, 1! Sprinkling down fatness, to the Gods will the bene* fieent Goddess go. Harm not thy dresser, Cow ! To heaven, O -Hub* dradfold Oblation, speed !

273From all the Gods enthroned in heaven, in air, from those wiie dwell on earth. Draw forth lor evermore a stream of milk, of butter, and of mead,

274Let thy head, let thy mouth, let both thine ears, azd those two jaws of thine. Four for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk, and mead.

275Let both tby lips, thy nostrils, both thy horns, and these two ©yes of thine. Pour for the giver, etc.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 10 THE ATHARVA-VEDA.

276Let all thy skiu, S&t&ud&ua ! let ©very hair thou hast, 0 Cow, Pour far the giver miugled eurd, and flowing butter, milk, and mead®

277Sprinkled with molten butter, let the two meal-cakes be sport for thee. Make them thy wings, O Goddess, and bear him who dresses thee to heaven,,

278Each grain of rice in mortar or on pestle, all on the skin or in the winnowing- basket. Whatever purifying M&tarisvan, the Wind, hath sifted, let the Hotar Agoi make of it an acceptable oblation® 27 in the priest's hands 1' lay, in separate order, the sweet celestial Waters, dropping fatness. As here I sprinkle them may all my wishes be grant- ed unto me to perfect fulness* May we have ample wealth io our possession.

Vol. 2 — HYMN X

279The man who knows the Seven Floods, who knows the seven distances, Details of the sacrificial procedure are given in the Kaufika- Sfitra, LXV. 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, and LXVL 5, 20. III* p* 270. The hymn is a glorification of the sacred Cow*

280Seven Floods : the Celestial Rivers, corresponding to the Seven Rivers of the country occupied by the Aryan immigrants. Seven dis- tances : more usually three distances or vast distant spaces, corres* 4(5 | BOOK .X. Who knows the head of sacrifice, he may receive the holy Cow. 3 1 know the Seven Water-floods, I know the seven distances, 1 know the head of sacrifice, and Soma shining bright in her.

281Hitherward we invite with prayer the Cow who pours a thousand streams, By whom the heaven, by whom the earth, by whom these waters are preserved.

282Upon her back there are a hundred keepers, a bun* dred metal bowls, a hundred milkers. The Deities who breathe in her all separately know the Cow.

283Her foot is sacrifice, her milk libation, Svadha her breath, Mahiluka the mighty : To the God goes with prayer the Cow who hath Par- janya for her lord,

284Agni hath entered into the© ; Soma, O Cow, hath entered thee* Thin© udder is Parjanya, O blest Cow ; the light- nings are thy teats*

285Thou, pourest out the Waters first, and corn-lands afterward, 0 Cow. Thirdly thou pourest princely away. O Cow, thou pourest food and milk, ponding to the three worlds of heaven, firmament, and earthTare spoken" of ( A. V. VI. 75. 3 ; R. V. VIII. 5. 8 ; 32. 22 ). Here seven is used to correspond with the rivers ; the distant spaces beyond them ; the secrets of furthest heaven. The head of sacrifice : the most important part ; sacrifice being regarded as an animated being* 5, Metal bowls : to serve as milk-pails,

286Svadhd : food ofiered to the Fathers or Maces ; or the sacrificial benediction used at such presentations. Mahilukd ; a name or an epithet of the sacred Cow. Parjanya : specially the protector of the Cow as God of the rainy cloud which makes grass grow to feed her.

287Thine udder is Parjanya : and pours out fatness like , th*. raincloud.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 10. THE ATH ARV A- VEDA.

288Wheo, Holy One, thou earnest nigh Invited by the Adityas* call, Indra gave thee”; to drink, 0 cow, a thousand bowls of Soma juice.

289The Bull, what time thou followedst the way 'of Indra, summoned thee $ Thence the Fiend-slayer, angered, took thy water and thy milk away. 11 0 Cow, the milk which in his wrath »the Lord of Riches took from thee, That same the vault of heaven now preserveth in three reservoirs.

290The Cow Celestial received that Soma io three ves- sels, where Atharvan, consecrated, sate upon the Sacred tGrass of gold.

291Com© hither with the Soma, come with every footed thing ; the Cow With Kalis and Qandharvaa by her side hath step- ped upon the sea,

292Come hither with the Wind, yea, come with every creature borne on wings. Laden with holy verse and song the Cow hath leapt into the sea,

293Come with the Sun, come hitherward with every creature that hath eyes. Bearing auspicious lights with her the Cow hath looked across the sea.

294The Bull : the mighty Vritra, the obstructer of the seasonable rain, conquered by Indra. Cf. the dragon-fights of the Greek Apollo and the Scandinavian Sigmund. Similarly, 'Am I a sea or a whale that thou settest a watch over me T (Job. 7. 12} ; where the allusion is to the sea of air and Jehovah's struggle with one of its monsters. f By .his understanding he smiteth through the proud’ (the dragon of the upper ocean).*— Job. 26. 12.

295Kalis : a class of mythical beings connected with the Gandhar- yas, and .supposed to be addicted to gambling. Cf. VII. 103. 1. [ BOOK X,

296When, covered round about with gold, thou stoodest there, 0 Holy One, The ocean turned into a horse and mounted on thy back. 0 Cow.

297Then came and met the Blessed Ones, Deshtri, the. Cow, and Svadhfu where Atharvan, consecrated, sate upon the Sacred Grass of gold.

298The Kshatriya’s mother is the Cow, thy mother, Svadha 1 is the Cow. Sacrifice is the weapon of the Cow : the thought arose from her.

299From Brahma's summit there went forth a drop that mounted up on high : From that wast thou produced, 0 Cow, from, that the Hotar sprang to life,

300Forth from thy mouth the G&th&s came, from thy neck’s nspe sprang strength, 0 Cow, Sacrifice from thy flanks was born, and rays of sun- light from thy teats.

301From’ thy fore-quarters and thy thighs motion was generated, Cow ! Food from thine entrails was produced, and from thy belly came the plants.

302When into Vanina's belly thou hadsfc found a pass. age for thyself. The Brahman called thee thence, for he knew how to guide and lead thee forth.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 10. THE ATHARVAWEDA.

303H© only jorneth battle, yea, he who alone control]© th her. Now sacrifices have become victories, and the Cow their eye.

304The Cow hath welcomed sacrifice : the Cow hath held the Sun in place* Together with the prayer the mess of rice hath passed into the Cow.

305They call the Cow immortal life, pay homage to the Cow as Death. She hath become this universe. Fathers, and Rishis, hath become the Gods, and men, and Asuras.

306The man who bath this knowledge may receive the Cow with welcoming. So for the giver willingly doth perfect sacrifice pour milk.

307Within the mouth of Vanina three tongues are glittering with light. That which shines midmost of them is this Cow most difficult to hold.

308Four-parted was the Cow’s prolific humour. One-fourth is Water, one-fourth life eternal, on 8 fourth is sacrifice, one-fourth are cattle.

309The Cow is Heaven, the Cow is Earth, the Cow is Vishnu, Lord of Life. The S&dhyas and the Vasus have drunk the out- pourings of the Cow.

310When these, Sadhyas and Vasus, have drunk the out-pourings of the Cow, They in the Bright One’s dwelling-place pay adora- tion to her milk.

311For Soma some have milked her : some worship the fatness she hath poured.

312In the Bright One’s dwelling-place : in the home of the Sun.

313A home in highest heaven will reward the man who gives a cow a* sacrificial fee to Br&hmans. [ BOOK X, They who have given a oow to him who hath this knowledge have gone up to the third region of the sky.

314He who hath given a Cow unto the Br&hmans winneth all the worlds. For Eight is firmly set in her, devotion, [and reli- gious zeal.

315Both Gods and mortal men depend for life and being on the Cow. She hath become this universe : all that the Sun surveys is she. by us with barren cows ( vasd'bhih )/ ( R. V. IT. 7. 5 ). ; but frequently used as synonymous with g6, gaus in the feminine. Bt)OK xt.

Vol. 2 — HYMN I.

316Raise, as I bid, the smoke, my strong companions, lovers of freedom from deceit and malice ! Victor in fight heroic, here is Agni by whom the Gods subdued fcb© hostile demons*

317Thou, Agni, wast produced for mighty valour, to cook Brahmaudana, 0 Jatavedas. Seven Rishis, makers of the world, begat thee. Grant to this woman wealth with store of heroes. of a Brahmaudana (a mess of rice pap boiled in milk and partly distri- buted to Brahmans, especially to priests who officiate at the sacrifice) which is to ensure children, prosperity, and happiness to the institu- __ tor of the sacrifice and his wife : 'Brahmaudana that wmneth all things. (A. V. IV. 35. 7), ! spring forth: be born ; spring into life from the fire-drill and burn brilliantly, so that the sacrifice may be effectually performed b .“ ee I 9. 1, note; here regarded as the type of motherhood Aditi . see . Arfiti's children. — Taittiriya-Brkhmana (Mity&h, vai praj&h men are Aditi s cbUdren. y 1 8 8 1 ), and representing the sacnficer s wife. cf - A. V. VI. 81. d. yl ^Brahmaudana : as an offering to the Gods, the Sadhyas (see IX 10. ttt 28 1) -IV 12, note. Rub thee into existence : produce thee “ * ot °/r:: s '- c “ d ”° Jp J.Uy th, gif. Ol Agni. a. E v. i. 66. * , in. 1. 23. , W “ ““ Ck "* of th© sacrifice* [ BOOK XI*

318Bum up, 0 Agin, kindled with the fuel. Knowing the Gods who merit worship, bring them. Cooking, for these, oblation, Jatavedas ! lift up this man to heaven's most lofty summit.

319Your portion from of old is triply parted, portion of Gods, of Fathers, and of mortals* Know, all, your shares, I deal them out among you* The portion of the Gods shall save this woman.

320Strong art thou, Agoi, conquering, all-surpassing. Crush down our foemen, ruin those who hate us. So let this measure, measured, being measured, make all our kin thy tributary vassals.

321Increase with kinsmen and with all abundance : to mighty strength and power lift up this woman. Erect, rise upward to the* sky's high station, rise to the lofty world which men call Svarga.

322May this great Earth receive the skiD, this Goddess Pyifcbivi, showing us her love and favour. Then may we. go unto the world of virtue.

323Fix on the skin these two joined press-stones, duly rending the fibres for the sacrificer. Strike down and slay those who assail this woman, and elevating raise on high her offspring.

324To heaven's most lofty summit : to the highest human felicity on earth, and eventually to bliss in heaven.

325Triply parted ; here the rice is deposited in three heaps; the share of the Fathers to be offered as an obsequial oblation, and that of men to be given as food to the Brahman,

326The skin ; of a black antelope, on which the pressure of the Soma and the bruising and husking of the rice used in oblations are per- formed,, This skin is one of the symbols of Brahmanical worship and civilization. See SatapatUa Brahman a, I. 1. 4. 1. (Sacred Books of the East, XII. p. 23). ' ’ "* 9 -Fibres ; ansu'n ; portions of the stalks of the plant ; perhaps, as has been suggested, the internodes or parts between the knots.

Vol. 2 — HYMN i. THE ATHARVA-VEDA 53

327Grasp with thy hand, 0 man, the well-formed press- stones : the holy Gods have come unto thy worship. Three wishes of thy heart which thou electest, these happy gains for thee I here make ready.

328Here thy devotion is, here is thy birthplace. Adit?, Mother of brave sons, accept thee ! Wipe away those who fight against this woman with wealth and store of goodly sons endow her.

329Rest in the roaring frame of wood : be parted from husk and chaff, ye Sacrificial Fibres. May we surpass in glory all our rivals. I oast beneath my feet the men who hate us.

330Go, Dame, and quickly come again : the waters, en- closed, have mounted thee that thou mayst bear them. Take thou of these such as are fit for service : skil- fully separating leave the others.

331Hither these Dames have come in radiant beauty. Arise and seize upon thy strength, 0 woman. To thee hath sacrifice come : take the pitcher, blest with a good lord, children, children's children.

332Instructed by the Rishis, bring those waters, the share of strength which was of old assigned you. Let this effectual sacrifice afford you protection, for- tune, offspring, men, and cattle.

333Agni, on thee the sacrificial caldron hath mounted: shining, fiercely flaming, heat it. May hottest flames, divine, sprung from the Rishis, gathering with the Seasons, heat this portion.

334Three wishes : one for each of the offerings or shares mentioned in stanza 5.

335Wooden frame ; the Soma press, made partly of wood,

336Go, Dame ; to bring the water required for the preparation of the offering. The waters , enclosed : literally, the pen or fold of the waters.

337These Dames : the waters personified. Cf. stanza 17.

338Purified, bright, and holy* let these Women, these lucid waters glide into the caldron* Cattle and many children may they give us* May he who cooks the Odana go to heaven.

339Ye, Sacrificial Rice and Soma Fibres, cleansed and made pure by prayer and molten butter, Enter the water : let the caldron take you. May he who dresses this ascend to heaven.

340Expand thyself abroad in all thy greatness, with thousand Prishthas, in the world of virtue. Grandfathers, fathers, children, and descendants, fifteenth am I to thee when I have dressed it.

341With thousand streams and Prishthas, undecaying, Brahmaudana is celestial, God-reaching. Those I give up to thee Vvith all their children. Fore© them to tribute, but to me be gracious.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 1.

342This second hand of Aditi, this ladle which the Seven Rishis, world-creators, fashioned. May this scoop deftly pile upon the altar, therein, the members of the rice-oblation*

343Let the dressed offering and divine Ones serve thee : creep from the fire again, own these as masters. Made pure with Soma rest within the Brahmans : let not thine eaters, Rishis’ sons, be injured,

344Give understanding unto these, King Soma l all the good Brahmans who attend and serve thee. Oft, in Brahmaudana, and well I call on ; Rishis, their sons, and those who sprang form Fervour.

345Here I set singly in the hands of Brahmans these cleansed and durified and holy Women, May Indra, Mar ut- girt, grant me the blessing which as 1 sprinkle you, my heart desireth. 2^ Here is my gold, a light immortal : ripened grain from the field this Cow of Plenty give me l This wealth I place among the Brahmans, making a path that leads to heaven among the Fathers,

346Lay thou the chaff in Agni J&tavedas : remove the husks and drive them to a distance. That, we have heard, that is the House-Lord’s por- tion : we know the share allotted to Destruction,

347Ladle : svtitch ; offering- spoon. Scoop : or spoon ; ddrvi, used especially in fire*oblations.

348Creep from the fire : addressed to the Odana. These : the priests. Rishis* sons : or ancestral Sages.

349Who sprang from Fervour : whose element is religious asceticism and devotion ; of pious nature.

350Women : sacrificial waters,

351My gold , a light immortal : a piece o! gold presented with the oblation at the recitation of the test, ‘This (butter) is thy body, O Shining (Agni) ! this (gold) is thy light’ (Sacred Books of the East, XXVI. p. 54).

352The House-Lord* s portion : the share allotted to Agni God of the" Homestead* [ BOOK XI.

353Mark him who toils and cooks and pours oblation ; make this man climb the path that leads to heaven, That he may mount and reach life that is highest, ascending to the loftiest vault above ns.

354Adhvaryu, cleanse that* face of the Supporter. Make room, well knowing, for the molten butter. Purify duly all the limbs with latness. I make a path to heaven amid the Fathers.

355Supporter, send to those men fiends and Jbattle, to all non-Brahmans who attend and serve the©. Famous and foremost, with their great possessions, let not these here, the Rishis sons, be injured.

356I set thee, Odana, with Rishis 5 children ; naught here belongs to men not sprung from Rishis. Let Agni my protector, all the Maruts, the Visv© Devas guard the cooked oblation.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 2. J

357May w© invested with that light go upward, ascend- ing to the sky’s most lofty summit* Wherewith the Gods, what time they had made ready Br&hmaudana, mounted to the world of virtue,

Vol. 2 — HYMN II

358Cast not our bodies to the dog or jackal, nor, Lord of Beasts ! to carrion-kites or vultures. Let not thy black voracious flies attack them | let not thy birds obtain them for their banquet.

359W© offer homage to thy shout, Bhava ! thy breath, thy racking pains : Homage, Immortal One ! to thee, to Rudra of the thousand ©yes.

360We offer reverence to thee from eastward, and from north and south, From all the compass of the sky, to thee and to the firmament.

361Homage, O Bhava, Lord of Beasts, unto thy face and all thine eyes. To skin, and hue, and aspect, and to the© when look- ed at from behind !

362Wo offer homage to thy limbs, thy belly, and thy tongue, and mouth we offer homage to thy smell.

363Never may we contend with him, the mighty archer, thousand-eyed, Rudra who wears black tufts of hair, the alughim^ of Ardbaka, A hymn of praise and prayer to Bkava, Sarva, and Rudra, *

364Bhava and Sarva See IV. 28, I, note ; VI. 93, 1. 2; VIII.-2- 7 ; XI, 6. 9. ; XII, 4. 17 : XIII. 4. 4 ; XV. 5. 1, 2.

365Ardhaha : the name of a demon which does not occur elsewhert* It may be the same as Andhaka ; son of Kafyapa and Diti, who was " 8 [ BOOK XI.

366May he, may Bhava from all sides avoid us, avoid us even as fire avoids the waters. Let him not threaten us. To him be homage !

367Four times, eight times be homage paid to Bhava, yea, Lord of Beasts, ten times be reverence paid thee ! Thine are these animals, five several classes, oxen, and goats and sheep, and men, and horses.

368Thine the four regions, thine are earth and heaven, thine, Mighty One, this firmament between them • Thine everything with soul and breath here on the surface of the land.

369Thine is this ample wealtb-eontainiDg storehouse that holds within it all these living oreatures. Favour us, Lord of Beasts, to thee be homage ! Far from us go ill-omens, dogs, and jackals, and wild- haired women with their horrid shrieking !

370A yellow bow of gold thou wieldest, slaying its hun- ■ dred, tufted God ! smiting its thousand. Weapon of Gods, far flies the shaft of Rudra : wher- ever it may be, we pay it homage.

371Thou, Rudra, followest close the foe who lies in wait to conquer thee. Even as a hunter who pursues the footsteps of the wounded game.

372Accordant and allies, Bhava and Rudra, with mighty strength ye go to deeds of valour. Wherever they may be, we pay them homage.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 2. THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 59

373Homage at evening and at morn, homage at night, homage by day : To Bbava and to $arva, both, have 1 paid lowly reverence,

374Let us not outrage with our tongue far-seeing Rudra, thousand-eyed. Inspired with varied lore, who shoots his arrows for- ward, far away.

375Foremost we go to meet his car, the chariot of the long-haired God, Drawn by brown horses, dusky, black, o’erthrowing, slaying, terrible. Let reverence be paid to him.

376Cast not thy club at us, thy heavenly weapon. Lord of Beasts, be not wroth with us. Let reverence be paid to thee. Shake thy celestial branch above some others else- where, not o'er us.

377Do us no harm, bub comfort us : avoid thou us, and be not wroth. Never let us contend with thee,

378Covet not thou our kine or men, covet not thou our goats or sheep. Elsewhither, strong One ! turn thine aim : destroy the mockers’ family.

379Homage to him whose weapon, Cough . or Fever, assails one like the neighing of a stallion ; to him who draws one forth and then another !

380Homage be paid him with ten $akvad verses who stands established in the air’s mid-region, slaying non-sacrificing God-despisers !

381Branch : meaning missile.

382Like, the neighing of a stallion : which the incessant cough ana cries of the sufferers are supposed to resemble. Who draws one forth : one arrow from his quiver.

383S akvari verses : hymns of praise in the Sakvari metre, consisting of 8x7 syllables, or four padas of fourteen syllables each. SO THE HYMNS OF [ BOOK XI.

384Fop thee were forest beasts and sylvan creatures placed in the wood, and small birds, swans, and eagles, Floods, Lord of Beasts 1 contain thy living beings : to swell thy strength flow the celestial Waters,

385Porpoises, serpents, strange aquatic monsters, fishes, and things unclean at which thou shootest. Nothing is far for thee, naught checks thee, Bhava ! The whole earth in a moment thou surveyest. From the east sea thou ami test in the northern.

386O’erwheim us not with Fever or with poison, nor, Rudra ! with the fire that comes from heaven. Elsewhere, and not on us, cast down this lightning.

387Ruler of heaven and Lord of earth is Bhava : Bhava hath filled the spacious air’s mid-region. Where’er he be, to him be paid our homage !

Vol. 2 — HYMN III

388Harms are the grains, oxen the winnowed rice- grain®, gnats the husk®, 6 Kabru i® the husked grain, the rain* cloud i® the reed, 7 Grey iron is its flesh, copper its blood. 8 Tin is its ashes, gold its colour, the blue lotus flower its scent. 9 The threshing- floor is its dish, the wooden swords its shoulders, the oar-shafts its backbones. 10 Collar-bones are its

389Enjoy : devour their prey. by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III. p. 549. glorification of the Odana or oblation of boiled rice or pap.

390Desire : or Kama. See IX, 2,

391Diti ; a Goddess or personification usually associated with Aditi as her antithesis or complement ; the name and idea being evolved from tho. elder Aditi in the same way as Sura a God, is from the an- cient Vedic Asura, a demon. See VII 7, In later times Diti, 'wife of Kasyapa, was regarded as the mother of the Daityas who were, like the Greek Titans, enemies ol the Gods whose mother was Aditi, Kasyapa’s other wife. See R&m&yana, I. XLV.

392Kabm ; there is no clue to the meaning of this word,

393Wooden swords : sacrificial implements used for stirring the boiled rice, for trimming the mound used as as altar, and for other purposes calculated to assure the proper performance of the rite* [ BOOK XL enfcraili, straps its intestines, 11 This earth, verily becomes the jar, and heaven the cover of the Odana as it is cooking, 12 Furrows are its ribs, sandy soils the undigested contents of its stomach, 13 Law is ■ its water for the hands and family custom its asper- sion. 14 The jar covered with the Rich has been solemnly directed by the priestly office, 15 Received by tho Brahman, it has been carried round, 16 The Brih&t is the stirring-spoon, the Rathantara the ladle, 17 The Seasons are the dressers, the Groups of Seasons kindle the fire, 11 The caldron flames round the oblation ( ' char u ) whose mouth consists of five openings.

394The sacrificial word, all worlds are to b© won with .Odana,

395Whereon in order rest the three, the ocean, and the heaven, and earth.

396Within the residue whereof the Gods arranged six eightieth parts —

397I ask thee, of this Odana what is the mighty magni- tude,

398He who may know the magnitude of the Odana

399Would say, Not small, nor devoid of moistening sauce ; not this, nor anything whatever. 25 He would not declare it to be greater than the giver imagines it to be. 29 The theologians say, Thou hast eaten the averted Odana and the Odana turned hitherward. 27 Thou hast eaten the Odana, and the

400Brihat : the name of a most highly valued Saman in B$ihatl metre (8+8 + 12-1-8), found in Samaveda II. ii. i. 12, reproduced from Rigveda VI. 46. 1, 2. Rathantara : another most important S&man in the same metre, found, in Samaveda XL i. i. 11, taken from Rigveda VII. 32. 22 23.

401Cham ; a sacrificial caldron ; also boiled rice, or oblation of grain bailed in milk,, butter or water. at serious explanation.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 3.

402And thence he said to this one, Thou hast eaten this with a diSerent head from that with which the ancient Rishis ate : thy offspring, reckon- ing from the eldest, will die. I have eaten it neither turned downward, nor turned away, nor turned hither- ward. With Brihaspati as head : with him I have eaten, with him have I come to it. Now this Odana is complete with all members, joints, and body. Com- plete, verily, with all his members, joints, and body is he who possess this knowledge. 33 And thenc© he said to him, Thou hast eaten this with other ears than those with which the ancient Rishis ate it. Thou wilt be deaf. I have eaten it neither, etc. ( as in verse 32 ), With Heaven and Earth as ears, with these I have eaten it, with these I have com© to it,- Now this Odana, etc. ( as in 32 ), 34 And thence he said to him. Thou hast eaten this with other eyes . . . thou wilt be blind. With Sun and Moon, etc. 35 And thence, etc. . . . with other month. Thy offspring will die, reckoning from the head . . . With Brahma as r moufch. 36 And thence, etc. . . . with other ton- gue . * Thy tongue will die . . . With the tongue of Agni 37 And thence, etc. . . . With other teeth, . . # Thy teeth will fall out .... With the Seasons as teeth. 38 And thence, etc with other vital airs .... Thy vital airs will leave thee . . .'"With the Seven Rishis as the vital airs. 39 And thence, •etc/. • . with other expanse .... Consumption . will [ BOOK Xl destroy thee . . . With the firmament aa expanse,

403And thence, etc, . • . with other back. . . . Light- ning will slay thee , . . . With the heaven as back,

404And thence, etc, . . , with other breast . • . Thou wilt fail in agriculture, . . . With the earth as breast.

405And thence, etc with other belly . • . colic will destroy thee .... With truth as belly, 43 And thence, etc. * . . with other abdomen . . . Thou wilt die in the water . . . With the sea as abdomen,

406And thence, etc . . . with other thighs . . . Thy thigh will perish .... With Mitra- Varu$a as thighs.

407And thence, etc ... . with other knees . . . Thou wilt become a sick man ... . With the knees of Tv&ahtar. 46 And thence, etc. . « • with other feet • . . Thou wilt become a wanderer ..... With the feet of the Asvins. 47 And thence, etc ... . with other fore-parts of the feet ... k serpent will kill the© .... With the fore-parts of Savitart feet.

408And thence, etc. .... with other hands . . . The Brahmana ( divine power ) will kill thee .... With the hands of Bight. 49 And thence, etc. . . . with oher basis .... Without standing-ground and rest- ing-place thou wilt die Having taken my stand on truth. With this I at© it, with this I came to it. Now this Odana is complete with all member®, joint®, and body. Complete, verily, with all hi* mem- ber®, joints, and body is he who possesses this know- ledge.

Vol. 2 — HYMN i.

409Homage, 0 Prana, to thy roar, to thunder-peal and lightning -flash ! Homage, 0 Prana, unto thee what time thou sendesfc down thy rain ! . S When Prana with a thunderous voice shouts his loud message to the plants, They straightway are impregnate, they conceive,’ and bear abundantly.

410When the due season hath arrived and Praija shou- teth to herbs, Then all is joyful, yea, each thing upon the surface of the earth.

411When Prana hath poured down his flood of rain up- on the mighty land. Cattle and beasts rejoice thereat : Now great will be , our strength, they cry.

412Watered by Prana’s rain the plants have raised their voices in accord : Thou-, hast prolonged our life, they say, and given fragrance to us all,

413Homage to thee when coming nigh, homage to thee departing hence] Homage, 0 Pr&na, be to thee when standing and when sitting still.

414Homage to thee at every breath thou drawest in and sendest forth ! Homage to thee when turned away, homage to thee seen face to face ! This reverence be to ail of thee ]

415Pr&n.a, communicate to us thy dear, thy very dearest , form, "Whatever healing balm thou hast, give us thereof that we may live.

416In this and the four following stanzas Pr&na is invested with the attributes of Prajanya the God of the Rain-cloud. Of, R .V.V. 83. THE HYMN 8 Of [BOOK XI

417Praija robes living creatures as a father his belovbd son. Praija is sovran Lord of all, of all that breathes not, all that breathes,

418Prana is Fever, he is Death. Prapa is worshipped by the Gods. Prana sets in the loftiest sphere the man who speaks the words of truth.

419Prana is Desh trl, and Viraj Prana is revereneed by all. He is the Sun, he is the Moon. Prana is eallsd Prajapati.

420Both breaths are rice and barley, and Prana is called the toiling ox : In barley is the iubreath laid, and rice is named the outward breath.

421The human infant in the womb draws vital breath and sends it out : When thou, O Phhja, quickenest the babe it springs anew to life.

422The name of Prana is bestowed on Mltarisvan and on Wind. On Pr&ija, past and future, yea, on Prana everything depends.

423All herbs and plants spring forth and grow when_^ thou, 0 Prajja, quickenest, - Plants of Atharvan, Angiras, plants of the deities and men.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 4. THE ATHAH VA- VEDA. 6

424As all these living creatures are thy tributaries,- PrUna, so Shall they bring tribute unto him who hears thee with attentive ears*

425Filled with a babe, mid deities he wanders: grown, near at hand, he springs again to being. That Father, grown the present and the future, hath . past into the son with mighty powers.

426Hausa, wbat time he rises up, leaves in the flood one foot unmoved. If he withdrew, it there would be no more to-morrow or to-day. Never would there be night, no more would daylight shine or morning flush.

427It rolleth on, eight-wheeled and single-fellied, and with a thousand eyes, forward and backward. With one half it engendered all creation. What sign is there to tell us of the other ?

428Homage, 0 Praija, unto thee armed with swift bow among the rest, In whose dominion is this All of varied sort that stirs and works ! •94 May he who rules this Universe of varied sorb, that stirs and works, Praija, alert and resolute, assisb me through the, prayer I pray.

429Erect among the sleepers he wakes, and is never laid at length. No one hath ever heard that he hath been asleep while others slept.

430He springs again to being : every birth that occurs being in rea- lity a rebirth of Pr|na. The same is said of Prajapati.

431Haiisa : the Sun : see X. 8. 17.

432It : the chariot of the Sun. The stanza is repeated, with a vari- ant, from X. 8. 7.

433Armed with swift bow : like Rudra Bhava, and Sarva.

434THE HYMNS OF [BOOK Xf.

435Thou, Prana, never shalb be hid, never shalt be estranged from me. I bind thee on myself for life, 0 Pr&na, like the Waters’ germ.

Vol. 2 — HYMN V.

436After the Brahmaehari go the Fathers, the heavenly hosts, all Gods in separate order. After him too have the Gandharvas followed, thirty and three, three hundred, and sis thousand. He satisfies all Gods with his devotion.

437The Master, welcoming his new disciple, into his bowels takes the Brahmaehari. Three nights he holds and bears him in his belly. When he is born, the Gods convene to see him.

438The Waters ’ germ ; Agni, offspring in his lightning form of the waters or watery clouds of the ocean of air. by Muir, O. S. Texts, V. p. 394, and, in its entirety and with annota~^ tions, by Scherman, Philosophische Hymmen, p. 69.

439Brahmachdri .* a young Brahman in the first Asrama, stage or period, of his religious life from the time of his upanayanam f confirm- ation or initiation by investiture of the sacrificial cord, till he marries and enters the second stage as a householder. Master ; Ach&rya ; religious teacher. Fervour: tapas ; religious austerity and fervent devotion.

440The Aoh&rya performs for the disciple the part of a spiritual second mother ; and by the initiation ceremony the youth is regenerate or born anew. Details of a Brahmach^rS’s inflation are given in Asval&yana Grihya-Shtra, I. 20. 2 eqq,. and in other Grihya Sfitras, translated in Sacred 'Books of the East, Vols. XXIX and XXX.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 5.

441This log is earth, the second log is heaven : he fills the air’s mid region with the fuel. With fuel,, with his zone the Brahmacharl contents the worlds, with labour and with Fervour.

442The Brahmacharl, earlier born than Brahma, sprang up through Fervour, robed in hot libation. From him sprang heavenly lore, the highest Brahma, and all the Gods, with life that lasts for ever.

443Lighted by fuel goes the Brahmacharl,, clad in black- buck skin, consecrate, long-bearded. Swiftly he goes from east to northern ocean, grasping the worlds, oft bringing them anear him.

444The Brahmacharl, fathering Prayer, world, Waters, Vir&j, Prajapati, and Parameshthin, Lay as a germ within the Immortal’s bosom, then became Indra and destroyed the demons.

445The Master fashioned both these cloudy regions, profound and spacious pair, the earth and heaven. The Brahmacharl guards them with his Fervour. In him the deities are all one-minded.

446The Brahmachari first of all brought hither this ample earth as alms, and heaven above it. He makes these twain two fuel-logs, and worships. On these supported rest all living creatures.

447This log ; part of the ceremony consists in the Brahmachari’s placing fuel on the sacrificial fire. Zone ; the sacrificial cord or girdle first assumed at initiation.

448Earlier born than Brahma : that is, than the Personal Deity.

449Black-buck skin : as prescribed for religious students. Cf. XI. 1.8, note.

450Within the Immortal's bosom : c in the womb of immortality. ; - Muir. y * ■ A & The Master : the Ach&rya, as the cause of the Brahmacb§ rfs spiritual birth.

451As alms ; with reference to the poverty of the Brahmachari who lives on the gifts of the pious.

452Both treasuries of sacred lore He hidden, one hither- ward, beyond heaven’s ridge the other. The Brahmach&rl with his Fervour guards them. He makes this all his own as knowing Brahma.

453Hitherward one, hence from the earth the other, two .Agnis meet between these cloudy regions. Close to these two firm rays of light are clinging. The Brahmaehari enters them through Fervour.

454Thundering, shouting, ruddy-hued, and pallid, he bears along the earth great manly vigour, Down on the ridge of earth the Brahmaehari pours seed, and this gives life to heaven’s four regions.

455The' Brahmach&ri stores with fuel Waters, and Fire, and Sun, and Moon, and Matarisvan. The Water’s lights move separate in the rain-cloud. Man, rain, and water are their molten butter.

Vol. 2 — HYMN VI.

456We call on Vishnu, Bhaga, on Mitra and Varuna the King. . t Ansa, Vivasvan we address : may they deliver us from woe.

457We call on Savitar the God, on Pdshan the establi- sher, Tvashtar the foremost we address : may they deliver us from woe.

458Gandharvas and Apsarases, the Asvins, Brahmanas- patij Aryaman, God, by name we call : may they deliver us from woe.

459This word of ours to Day and Nightj and to the Sun and Moon we speak, AU the Adityas we address t may they deliver us from woe. from distress.

460Ah*i& : the Distributer ; one of the Adityas, This deity is not mentioned again in the Atharva-veda, and his name occurs only twice in the Rigveda hymns. ffrM2V6J THE ATHARVA-VEDA.

461Vita, Parjanya we address, the Quarters, and the Firmament, And .all the Regions of the sky : may they deliver us from woe.

462From all that brings a curse may Day aud Night and Dawn deliver me. May Soma free me, God to whom they give the name of Chandram&s.

463All creatures both of heaven and earth, wild beasts and sylvan animals, And wingbd birds of air we call : may they deliver us from woe.

464Bhava and Sarva we address, and Rudra who is Lord of Beasts, Their arrows which we feel and know : may they be ever kind to us.

465We speak to Constellations, Heaven, to Earth, to Genii, and to Hills, To Seas, to Rivers, and to Lakes : may they deliver us from woe.

466Or the Seven Rishis we address, Waters divine, Prajapati, Fathers with Yama at their head : may they deliver us from woe.

467Gogs whose abode is in the heaven and those who dwell in middle air, And Mighty Ones who rest on earth : may they deliver us from woe.

468Adityas, Rudras, Vasus, Gods aloft in heaven, Atharvan’s sons, The sages, sons of Angir&s : may they deliver us from woe.

469Chandram&s * the Moon as measurer of time, compounded of chandra, bright. Moon, and mas, from md, to measure* root also of moon (the measure or measurer),

470Bhava mid Sarva : see XI, 2,

Vol. 2 — HYMN l.J

471The spirit, yea* the spirits’ Lord, ruler of spirits', we address. Together let all spirits meet : may these deliver us from woe. *

472The five Sky regions, Goddesses, and the twelve Seasons which are Gods. The teeth of the completed year, may these deliver us from woe.

473The deathless balm that Matali knows, purchased at a chariot’s price, Indra effused into the floods. Waters, give us that healing balm !

Vol. 2 — HYMN VII.

474The Residue of Sacrifice holdeth Earth, Heaven, and all that is : The Residue of Sacrifice holdeth sea, waters, Moon, and Wind.

475Real, non-real, both are there, Prajapati, and. Death, and strength : Thereon depend the worldly ones: in me are glory Dra and Vra. '

476Spirits' Lord: Bhufcapafci ; Lord of Creatures,, especially of ghosts and evil spirits. The name is applied to Agni,. Rudra, Bhava. and Sarva.

477Matali ; a divine being associated with Yama and the Fathers., CL X. 13. 3. The legend refered to cannot be traced,. Sacrifice.

478Fame and form : the connecting links between Brahman and the world. See X. 2. 12 ,. note.

479Real, non-real ; ‘bobh the existent and the non-existent. —Muir, The participles are in the masculine gender. Wordly ones : meaning^' apparently, all human beings. Dra and Vra:. these words are abso- ■ lutely meaningless,, and probably corrupt. In me ; that is,, in th% Residue : of,, stanza 14, line 2.

480The- firm, the fast* the strong, the hard, Brahma, the All-creating Ten, Gods, as a wheel about the nave* are fixed all round the Residue* .

481Verse, Song, and Sacrificial Text, chanting, the prelude, and the laud, The hum is in the Residue, the tone, the murmur of the psalm.

482Within the Residue, like babes unborn, the parts of sacrifice, Aindragne P&vamana lie, Mahanamni, Mahavrata.

483The Vajayeya, Royal Rite, the Agnishtoma and its forms. Hymns, joyfullest with living grass the Asvamedha, are therein,

484The All-creating Ten : probably, as Muir suggests, the ten Mabarshis or Great Rishis mentioned by Manu, I. 34 sqq., who are called Lords of living creatures. ‘Reference to rishis or to seven rishifc as “formers of existing things ” ( bhuta-hritah ), is also found in the Atharva-veda, VI. 108.4; VI. .188. 4. 5; XI. L 1, 3, 24; XII. 1. 39; „and the word butakntah , without the addition of rishis, is found in the same work iii. 28. i; iv. 35, 2, and xix. 16. 2. — 0. S. Texts, I. p. 37- 5, Verse, Song, and Sacrifiical Text: rich, sgman, and yajus. Chant- ing : of the hymns of the Samaveda by the Udgatar-priest. The hum : the sound him or king in the chanting, commencing each Saman.

485Aindrdgna ; the due of Indra and Agni. Pdvamdna : the due of Soma Pavamna. Mahdndmrii : certain, verses of the Sgfcma-veda Mahdr varia: a Germany forming part of a Sattra or year-long sacrificial Session.

486The Vdjajieya ; an important Soma sacrifice. Royal rite ; the Bajanixya, a great sacrifice or religious ceremony performed at the co- ronation 'of a supreme sovereign or universal monarch by the king himself and his tributary princes. Agnishtoma ; a protracted ceremony or sacrifice (literally, Praise of Agni), extending over several days in spring, an forming an essential part of the Jyotishtoma. Asvamedha : the Horse-Sacrifice. SeeR V, I. 162 and 163.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 7. THE ATBaRVA-VBD A. 77

487Diksha and Agnyadheya 9 rite that sates the wish* with magic hymn, Suspended rites, long sessions, are contained within the Residue.

488Faith fire-oblation, fervent zeal, service, and sacri- ficial cry, Guerdon, good works and their reward, are stored within the Residue.

489Sacrifice of one night, or two, Sadyahkrij Ukthya^ and Prakrl, * Call, deep-toned summons are therein, fine parts, through lore, of sacrifice.

490Sacrifice of four nights, of five, of six nights, day and night conjoined, Shodasi, seven-night sacrifice, all these sprang from the Residue, these which the Immortal One con- tains .

491Pratih&ra and Nidhanam, the Visvajit, the Abhijih, The two Sahnatiratras and the Twelve-day rite are stored therein. the fire on hj sacrificial fire-place or ground prepared for itsrecsption.

492Firt-ublation : or, Agnihotra ;a burnt oblation to Agni, chiefly^ of milk, oil, and sour gruel. Sacrificial cry : exclamation of Vashat* ■when the offering is thrown intothe fire. Guerdon : the Dakshin&, or honorarium presented to the officiating priests. Good works : sacrifice. Meward : in heaven.

493Sadyahkri : the name of a certain Ek&ha or one-day sacrifice* within which, byjshorteningthe procedure, three several ceremonies are performed. Uhthya : a Soma sacrifice supplementary to, or a modifi- cation of, the Agnishtoma. Prakrv : a sacrifice named, similarly to Sa- dyahkri, from the purchase of Soma. Gall : invocation. reya Br&hmana, IV. 1. I.

494Pratihdra : the response in the S^man, chanted by the Pratihar- tar priest who assists the Udg^tar. Nidhanam : the finale of the S&tnan, Hsvxjit : (all conquering) the name of an Ek&ha or one-day sacrifice in the Gavg naayana ceremony. Abhijit : (victorious) an Ek&ha in the Oav&mayana, eight days before the Visvajit. Sdhndtird- tras : certain ceremonies performed during a night and the following day.

495Pleasantness, reverence, pesce, and power, strength, vigour, immortality — All forward wishes are with love satisfied in the Residue.

496Niue several oceans, earths, and skies are set within the Residue. Bright shines the Sun therein, in me, the Residue, are Day and Night.

497The Residue, the Father’s sire, who bears this uni- verse, supports Vishdv&n, Upahavya, and all worship offered secretly.

498The Father's sire, the Residue, grandson of Spirit, primal Sire, Lord of the universe, the Bull, dwells on the earth victorious.

499Right, truth, dominion, fervent zeal, toil, duty, action, future, past, Valour, prosperity, and strength dwell in the Residue in strength,

500Welfare, resolve and energy, the six expanses, king Ship, sway, Prayer, and direction, and the year, oblation, planets, are therein ;

501And the four Hotars, Apr! hymns, the Nivids, and Four-monthly rites, Oblations, sacrifices, and animal offerings, and their forms. ■ the usual number of three oceans of air, etc. multiplie d

Vol. 2 — HYMN 7. THE jTHAUVA-V EDA. 79

502Months, half-months, sections of the year, seasons, are in the Residue, The waters resonant afc-r, the thunder, and the mighty noise.

503Pebbles, sand, stones, and herbs, and plants, and grass are in the Residue. Closely embraced and laid therein are lightnings and the clouds and rain.

504Gain, acquisition, and success, fulness, complete prosperity, _ " Great gain and wealth, are laid, concealed and trea- sured, in the Residue.

505All things that breathe the breath of life, all erea- . tures that have eyes to see, All the celestial Gods whose home is heaven sprang from the Residue.

506Verses, and Songs, and magic hymns, Purtiia, sacri- ficial text, All the celestial Gods whose home is heaven sprang from the Residue.

507Inbreath and outbreatb, eye and ear, decay and freedom from decay, AH the celestial Gods whose home is heaven sprang from the Residue.

508All pleasures and enjoyments, all delights and rap- - turous ecstasies. All the celestial Gods whose home is heaven sprang from the Residue. 2 7 The Deities, the Fathers, men, Gandharvas, and Apsarases, All the celestial Gods whose home is heaven sprang from the Re.idue. ancient legend. Sacrificial text : the Yajurveda. by Muir, 0. S Texts* Y, 396—398, and by Sober man, Philoyophisoke Hyrnnen, p. 87. ( BOOK XI

Vol. 2 — HYMN VIII

509Fervour and Action were the two, in depths of the great billowy sea ? These were the wooers of the bride ; Brahma the chief who courted her.

510Ten Gods before the Gods were born together in the ancient time. Whoso may know them face to face may now pro- nounce the mighty word.

511Inbreath and outbreath, eye and ear, decay and free- dom from decay, Spiration upward and diffused, voice, mind have brought us wish and plan.

512As yet the Seasons were unborn, and Dh&tar and Prajapati, Both Asvins, Indra, Agni. Whom then did they worship as supreme ?

513Fervour and Action were the two, in depths of the great billowy sea ; - Fervour sprang up from Action: this they served and worshipped as supreme.

514He may account himself well versed in ancient time who knows by name. The earth that was before this earth, which only wisest Sages know. Concerning the origin of some Gods and the creation of man.

515Manyu : Ardour personified. Sahkalpa ; Resolution. Wooers of the bride : the bridegroom's friends who arranged the marriage, and took part in the ceremony as paranymphs or bridemen. Chief: or, first

516Fervour : tdpas; religious devotion or austerity. Action: karma* Brahma : here the Personal Deity.

517Ten Gods : perhaps the * All-creating Ten’ mentioned in XI, 7,4.

518Billowy sea ; the aerial ocean of watery cloud. HYMNS.) THE ATHARVA-VEDA. 81

519From whom did Indra spring ? from whom sprang Soma ? whence was Agni born ? From whom did Tvashtar spring to life ? and whence is Dh& tar’s origin ?

520Indra from Indra, Soma from Soma, from Agni Agni sprang. Tvashtar from Tvashtar was produced, Dh&fcar was Dh&tar’s origin.

521Those Gods who were of old, the Ten begotten earlier than the Gods, What world do they inhabit since they gave the world unto their sons ?

522When he had brought together hair, sinew and bone, marrow and flesb, And to the body added feet, then to what world did he depart ?

523Whence, from what region did he bring the hair, the sinews, and the bones, Marrow and limbs, and joints, and flesh ? Who was the bringer, and from whence ?

Vol. 2 — HYMN 8 .

524Discourse and conversation, and the shrill-resound- ing cries of woe, All entered in, the motives and the purposes com- bined therewith.

525Inbreath and outbreath, ear and eye, decay and free- dom from decay, Breath upward and diffused, voice, mind, these quickly with the body move.

526All earnest wishes, all commands, directions, and admonishments, "Reflections, all deliberate plans entered the body aa a home.

527They laid in the abhorrent frame those waters hidden, bright, and thick, "Which in the bowels spring from blood, from mourn- ing or from hasty toil.

528Fuel they turned to bone, and then they set light waters in the frame. The molten butter they made seed : then the Gods entered into man.

529All Waters, all the Deities. Viraj with Brahma at her side Brahma into the body passed: Prajapati is Lord, thereof.

530The Sun and Wind formed, separate, the eye and vital breath of man. His other person have the Gods bestowed on Agni as a gift.

531Therefore whoever knoweth man regarde th Lina as Brahman’s self: For all the Deities abide in him as cattle in their pen.

532Waters ; in the shape of tears and sweat.

533Brahma : in line 1 the Personal Deity is probably understood*

534Hare there is a pantheistic identification of Purusha or Man with Brahma the Supreme Self or Soul,

535At his first death he goeth hence, asunder, in three separate parts. He goeth yonder with one part, with one he goeth yonder : here he sinketh down ward with a third,

536In the primeval waters cold the body is deposited. In this there is the power of growth : from this is power of growth declared,

Vol. 2 — HYMN IX.

537Arise ye and prepare yourselves : ye, the celestial hosts, are friends. Let your mysterious natures be seen by our friends 0 Arbudi. 3 .Rise both of you : begin your work with fettering and binding fast. Assail, both of you, Arbudi, the armies of our enemies.

538Three separate parts : one part goes to heaven, one to the sun and wind, and one to earth.

539The power of growth ; when, after decomposition, it has been changed into earth. Hymnen, p. 67. tile army. the air, conquered by Indra (R. V. II. 11. 20 ; VIII, 3. 19) ; and Arbudi serins to have been originally a kindred being of similar nature and powers, but willing and able to assist those who invoke his aid. air./'' ^ ■ 3 Both of you ; Arbudi and Nyarbudi, a similar supernatural being.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 9J THE ATHA R VA- VED .

540The God whose name is Arbudi, and Nyarbudi the Mighty One, The two by whom the air and this great earth are compassed and possessed, With these two friends of Indra I go forth to con- quer with the host.

541Kise, with our army stand thou up, 0 Godlike Being, Arbudi. Breaking the hosts of enemies, surround them with thy winding coils.

542Exhibiting, O Arbudi, seven children of the mist and fog, When butter hath been offered, rise with all of these and with the host.

543Beating her breast, with tearful face, let the short- eared, the wild-haired hag Shriek loudly when a man is slain, pierced through by thee, O Arbudi ;

544Snatching away the vertebra, while with her thought she seeks her son. Her husband, brother, kin, when one, Arbudi ! hath been pierced by thee.

545Let vultures, ravens, kites, and crows, and every carrion-eating bird. Feast on our foes, and show where one, Arbudi ! hath been pierced by thee.

546Then let each greedy beast of prey, and fly and worm • regale itself Upon the human corpse where one, Arbudi, hath been pierced by thee. It Attack them, both of you ; bear off their vital breath, O Nyarbudi. Let mingled shouts and echoing cries of woe amid our foemen show where thou, 0 Arbudi, hast pierced.

547Shake them, and let them sink with fear : o'erwhelm our enemies with dread.

548THS HYMNS OF [BOOK XT, With widely-grasping bends of arm, 0 Arbudi, crush down our foes.

549Let those mens’ arms grow faint and weak, dull be the purpose of their heart ; And let not aught of them be left when thou, 0 Arbudi, hast pierced.

550Self-smiting, beating breast and thigh, careless of unguent, with their hair dishevelled, weeping, hags shall run together, when a man is slain, when thou, 0 Arbudi, hast pierced.

551Apsarases with dog-like mates, and RApak&s, O Arbudi, And her who licks the cup inside, and seeks to wound in ill-kept place, All these, 0 Arbudi, do thou make visible to our enemies, and let them look on mists and fog.

552The fiend who creeps upon the sword, maimed, dwelling where the wounded lie, The misty shapes that lurk concealed, Gandharvas and Apsarases, demons, and snakes, and Other Folk ;

553Armed with four fangs and yellow teeth, deformed, with faces smeared with blood, the terrible and fearless ones,

554Make thou, 0 Arbudi, those wings of hostile armies quake with dread. Let Conqueror and Victor, friends of Indra, over- come our foes,

Vol. 2 — HYMN 9.

555Stifled and crushed, 0 Nyarbudi, low let the smitten foeman lie. With tongue of fire and crest of smoke go conquering maidens with our host 1

556May Indra, Lord of Might, strike down each bravest warrior of the foes. Whom this our band hath put to flight : let not one man of those escape.

557Let their hearts burst asunder, let their breath fly up and pass away. Let dryness of the mouth o’ertake our foemen, not the friendly ones.

558The clever and the foolish ones, those who are twist- ed round, the deaf, The dusky-hued, the hornless goats, and those whose voiee is like the buck’s, AH these, O Arbudi, do thou make visible to our enemies : cause them to look on mists and fog.

559Arbudi and Trishandhi fall upon our foes and scatter them, So that, 0 Indra, Lord of Might, Slayer of Vxitra, we may kill thousands of these our enemies 1

560Tall trees, and those who live in woods, the herbs and creeping plants of Earth, Gandharvas, and Apsarases, Snakes, Holy Beings, Eathers, Gods, All these do thou, 0 Arbudi, make visible to our enemies : cause them to look on mists and fog. |N

561High sway have Maruts, and the God Aditya^ Brahmanaspati, High sway have Indra, Agni, and Dhatar, Mitra, ,, Prajapati, High sway have Risbis given to you, showing upon our enemies where thou, 0 Arbudi, hast pierced. following hymn. . The hymn has been translated by Ludwig, Bar Eigvada, III, p. 530. ' ■ * 1 THE HI MN8 OF l BOOK XL

562With full dominion over these, rise, stand ye on prepare yourselves, J v * Ye are our friends, celestial hosts, When ye have won this battle, go, each to his several sphere apart, r ’

Vol. 2 — HYMN X.

563Let those who bear an evil name, in air, in heaven on earth, and men, * After Trishandhi’s will, revere your power, the sway that Knowledge gives, together with your ruddy nags, ■

564Let those with iron faces, with faces like needles or like combs^ Flesh-eaters, rapid as the wind, cling closely to our foemen with Trishandhi for their thunderbolt.

565Omniscient Aditya, make full many a corpse to dis- appear. Let this devoted army of Trishandhi be in mv con- trol. J

566Rise up, 0 Godlike Being, rise, Arbudi, with thine army ; this. “ ’ Tribute is sacrificed to thee, Trishandhi’s welcome offering. The hymn is an incantation for the destruction of the enamv

567Vapoury Forms : or Mists and Fogs, personified. Cf. XI 9 1 Other Folk : spirits of darkness. See XI. 9. 16, note.

568Trishandhi : literally, composed of three parts or members • a personification of an arrow consisting of shaft, steel, and point (sea atedwUh B Arbudf a ’ *' 2) ’ ^ re S arded as a ™rlike Power assocj-

569Arbudi : XI* 9, 1 } note.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 10.

570May this four-footed White-foot, may this arrow brace and bind thee fast: Together with Trishandhi’s host, be thou, O Witch- craft, meant for foes.

571Down let the dim-eyed demon fly, and let her short- eared sister shriek : Bed be the banners when the host of Arbudi hath won the day.

572Let all the birds that move on wings come downward, all fowls that roam the heavens and air’s mid- region. Let beasts of prey and flies attack, and vultures that eat raw flesh mangle and gnaw the carcase.

573By that same binding treaty which thou madest, Brihaspati ! with Indra ! and With Brahma, By Indra’s pledge I bid the Gods come hither. Con- quer on this side, not on their side yonder,

574Brihaspati Angirasa, Rishis made strong and keen by prayer Have set Trishandhi in the heaven, dire weapon that destroys the fiends.

575The Gods enjoyed Trishandhi for the sake of energy and power, Him uuder whose protection, both, Indra and yon Aditya, stand.

576The Gods, victorious, won themselves all worlds by this oblation, which Brihaspati Angirasa effused, a very thunderbolt, a weapon to destroy the fiends,

577That fiend-destroying weapon which Brihaspati An- girasa poured out and made a. thunderbolt.

578Four-footed White-foot t the personified arrow, consisting of abaft* steel, point, and feathers, (Aitareya Br&hmana, I, 25) with a white foot or notch. ' , , 10 Angirasa : descendant of, or devoted to the ancient sago Anginas and his family ; a common epithet of BriLaspati 8 the type of the priesthood.

579Ton Aditya ; the Sun. THE HfMNB OP [BOOK XI. Even therewith, Brihaspati, I brash that hostile ar- mament, and strike the foemen down with might.

580Over to us come all the Gods who eat the hallowed sacrifice. With this oblation be ye pleased : conquer on this side, not on that.

581Over to us let all Gods come : dear is Trishandhi’s offering. Keep the great pledge through which, of old, the Asuras were overthrown.

582Let Vayu bend the arrow-points of those who are our enemies. Let Indra break their anna away : no power to lay the shaft be theirs ! Aditya utterly destroy their missile! Chahdram&s bar the path of him who lingers !

583If they have issued forth strongholds of Gods, and made their shields of prayer, Gaining protection for their lives, protection round about, make all their instigation powerless.

584With the Flesh- eater and with Death, following the Purohifca, On! forward with Trishandhi’s host! conquering enemies advance ! ' 19 Do. thou, Trishandhi, with the gloom of darkness compass round our foes ; Let none escape of them expelled with speckled but- ter mixt with curds.

Vol. 2 — BOOK XII

585Not over-crowded by the crowd of Menu’s sons, she who hath many heights and floods and level plains ; She who bears plants endowed with many varied po- wers, may Prithivl for us spread wide and favour us.,

586In whom the sea, and Sindhu, and the waters, in whom our food and eorn-lan ds had their being, In whom this all that breathes and moves is active, this Earth assign us foremost rank and station [

587She who is Lady of the earth’s four regions, in whom our food and corn-lands had their being, Nurse in each place of breathing, moving creatures, this Earth vouchsafe us kine with milk that fails not !

588On whom the men of old before us battled, on whom the Gods attacked the hostile demons, The varied home of bird, and kine anh horses, this Prithivl vouchsafe us luck and splendour ! A hymn of praise and prayer to- Prithivl or deified Earth.

589Law ; the established Order of the universe. Consecrating Mite : dikshd' ; for details of this ceremony see Aitareva Brahmana, 1. 1. 3. Prithivt ; literally, the wide, the extended.

590Manu’s sons : human beings, descendants of Mans, primeval Man, the Old German Mannus.

591Sindhu : the Indus. Greek ’Iwoe ; from the Iranian Hiadji. s Indus incolia Sindu* appellatus’ (Pliny, Hist. Nat. 6. 20. 7l)- [ BOOK XI 1.

592Firm standing-place, all-bearing, store of treasures, gold-breasted, harbourer of ail that moveth, May Earth who bears A.gni Vaisv&nara, Consort of mighty Indra, give us great possessions.

593May Earth, may Prithivi, always protected with ceaseless care by Gods who ne?er slumber, May she pour out for us delicious nectar, may she bedew us with a flood of splendour.

594She who at first was water in the ocean, whom with their wondrous powers the sages followed, May she whose heart is in the highest heaven, com- passed about with truth, and everlasting, May she, this Earth, bestow upon us lustre, and grant us power in loftiest dominion.

595On whom the running universal waters flow day and night with never-ceasing motion, May she with many streams pour milk to feed us, may she bedew us with a flood of splendour.

596She whom the Asvins measured out, o’er whom the foot of Vishpu strode, Whom Indra, Lord of Power and Might, freed from all foemen for himself, May Earth pour out her milk for us, a mother unto me her son. 11 0 Prithivi, auspicious be thy woodlands, auspicious be thy hills and snow -clad mountains.

597Water in the ocean : cf. ‘heavenly Floods, first-born by holy Order (K. V. X. 109. 1). * In the beginning waters alone formed thi# universe* (Satapatha-Brahm&na, XIV. 8, 6. 1 ) ; c And the earth was •without form and void .... And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters* (Genesis, I. 2).

598Whom the Asvins measured out : the formation or manifestation: fcy light, of heaven and earth is ascribed to the Asvins in R. V, X. 24.* 5, 6. The foot of Vishnu ; when, as the Sun, he made the first of his three strides through the three worlds.

599Every-coloured : ‘ with the variation of each soil*

Vol. 2 — HYMN l.J THE ATHARVA-VED A. 95

600Earth on whose surface they enclose the altar, and all-performers spin the thread of worship ; In whom the stakes of sacrifice, resplendent, are fixed and raised on high before the oblation, may she, this Earth, prospering, make us prosper.

601The man who hates us, Earth ! who fights against us, who threaten us with thought or deadly wea- pon, make him our thrall as thou hast done afore- time.

602Produced from thee, on thee move mortal creatures : thou bearest them, both quadruped and biped. Thine, Prithivi, are these Five human Races, for whom, though mortal, Surya as he rises spreads with his rays the light that is immortal,

603In concert may these creatures yield us blessings. With honey of discourse, 0 Earth, endow me.

604Kind, ever gracious be the Earth we tread on, the firm Earth, Prithivi, borne up by Order, mother of plants and herbs, the all-producer.

605A. vast abode hast thou become, the Mighty. Great stress is on thee, press and agitation, but with un- ceasing care great Indra guards thee. So make us shine, 0 Earth, us with the splendour of gold. Let no man look on us with hatred.

606Parjanya : see M. Muller, India, What can it Teach us 1 p. 183.

607Five human Races : the Five Tribes, frequently mentioned in the hymns of the Rigveda and Atharve-veda. See 111. 21. 5 ; 24. 3; IV .23. 1 5 V. 17. 9 ; VI. 75. 3 ; VIII. 6 . 1 .

608THE HYMNS OF [ BOOK Xlt.

609Agni is in the earth; in plants ; the waters hold Agni in them, in the stones is Agni. Agni abideth deep in men : Agnis abide in cows and steeds.

610Agni gives shine and heat in heaven : the spacious air is his, the God's. Lover of fatness, bearer of oblation; men enkindle him.

611Dark-kneed; invested with a fiery mantle, Prithivi sharpen me and give me splendour 1

612On earth they offer sacrifice and dressed oblation to the Gods. Men, mortals, live upon the earth by food in their accustomed way. May that Earth grant us breath and vital power. Prithivi give me life of long duration ]

613Scent that hath risen from thee, 0 Earth, the fra- grance which growing herbs and plants and waters carry, Shared by Apsarases, shared by Gandharvas. there- with make thou me sweet : let no man hate me,

614Thy scent which entered and possessed the lotus, the scent which they prepared at Shrysj’s bridal, Scent which Immortals, Earth ! of old collected, there- with make thou me sweet : let no man hate me.

Vol. 2 — HYMN . THE ATHARVA-VRDA. 9

615Rock, earth, and stone, and dust, this Earth is held together, firmly bound. To this gold-breasted Prithivi mine adoration have I paid.

616Hither we call the firmly held, the all-supporting Prithivi, On whom the trees, lords of the wood, stand ever- more immovable.

617Sitting at ease or rising up, standing or going on our way, With our right foot and with our left we will not reel upon the earth.

618I speak to Prithivi the purifier, to patient Earth who groweth strong through Brahma, 0 Earth, may we recline on thee who bearest strength,’ increase, portioned share of food, and fatness.

619Purified for our bodies flow the waters : we bring distress on him who would attack us. 1 cleanse myself, O Earth, with that which eleanseth.

620Earth, be thine eastern and thy northern regions^ those lying south ward and those lying westward. Propitious unto me in all my movements. Long as I tread the ground let me not stumble.

621Drive us not from the west or east, drive us not from the north or south. Be gracious unto us, O Earth : let not the robbers find us ; keep the deadly weapon far away. bodies) in place unwelcome we deposit. *

622Let me not stumble : of stanza 28, •98 THE HYMNS OF IBOOK XU,

623Long as, on thee, I look around, possessing Sftrya as a friend, So long, through each succeeding year, let not my power of vision fail.

624When, as I lie, 0 Earth, I turn upon my right side and my left, When stretched at all our length we lay our ribs oa thee who meetest us, Do us no injury there, 0 Earth who furnishest a bed for all.

625Let what I dig from thee, O Earth, rapidly spring and grow again. 0 Purifier, let me not pierce through thy vitals or thy heart.

626Earth, may thy summer, and thy rains, and autumn, thy winter, and thy dewy frosts, and spring-time, May thy years, Prithivl 1 and ordered seasons, and day and night pour out for us abundance.

627The purifier, shrinking from, the Serpent, she who held fires that lie within the waters, Who gives as prey the God-blaspheming Dasyus, Earth choosing Tndra fur her Lord, not Vritra, hath clung to Sakra, to the Strong and Mighty. -38 Base of the seat and sheds, on whom the sacrificial stake is reared, On whom the Yajus-knowing priests recite their hymns and chant their psalms, And ministers are busied that Indra may drink the Soma juice ; ;

628The Serpent : the dragon Vritra, the malevolent demon who obstructs the rain. Sakra : the Mighty One ; Indra.

629Base of the sent and sheds : thes^aiSis the lodge or place of the Soma, erected in fin sacrificial enclosure near the Agnidhriy* hearth ; and the. two sheds or havirdhdnas shelter the Soma carts and sacrificial offerings. See plan of the sacrificial enclosure in Vol. I. of Haug’s Aifcareya Brahms or in Mrs, Manning’s Ancient and Medieval

Vol. 2 — HYMN 1. TEE A TEAR VA- VED A 9

630May she, the Earth,, assign- to us the opulence for which we yearn. May Bhaga share and aid the task and Indra come to lead the way.

631May she, the Earth, whereon men sing and dance with, varied shout and noise, Whereon men meet in battle, and the war-cry and the drain* resound, May she drive off our foemen,. may Prithivt rid me of my foes..

632On whom is food, barley and rice,, to whom, these- Races Five belong. Homage- to-her, Parjanya’s wife, to her whose marrow is the rain 1

633Whose castles are the work of Gods, and men wage war upon, her plain— ~ The Lord of Life make Prithivi, who beareth all things- in her womb, pleasant to- us on every side ! ^ 44' May Earth the Goddess, she who bears- her treasure stored up in many a place, gold, gems, and riches, India, V oL L. p. 89* Sacrificial stake : or Yupa, erected close to the eastern gate of the enclosure, just beyond the Uttara Vedi. It is a lofty post of E^hadira, Bilva, or Palasa wood, anointed' with clarified butter, adorned with ribbons, and surmounted by a Hag. It is then deified and regarded as a form of Agni. See the hymn, addressed to the Sacrificial. Post, B. V. Ill, 8.

634They who' made the world :■ see XT. t- 4, note.. Sang forth the cows : called forth by the power of their hymns the heavenly cows or beams of light that had been imprisoned in the massive cloud by the- demon of darkness,. By session : with long-continued sacrifice*.

635Races Five : see III. 25. 5, note. Parjanya’s wife ; wedded to- and impregnated by, the God of the Rain-cloud, See- 1, M*. } India.,, What can it Teach u&1 p. 1 S3,* 100 THE HYMNS OF J BOOK Xlf. Giver of opulence, grant great possessions to us bes- towing them with love and favour.

636Earth, bearing folk of many a varied language with divers rites as suits their dwelling-places, Pour, like a constant cow that never faileth, a thou- sand streams of treasure to enrich me !

637Thy snake, thy sharply-stinging scorpion, lying con- cealed, bewildered, chilled with cold of winter, The worm, 0 Prithivj, each thing that in the Bains revives and stirs. Creeping, forbear to creep on us ! With all things ■ gracious bless thou us.

638Thy many ways on which the people travel, the road for car and wain to journey over, Thereon meet both the good and bad, that pathway may we attain without a foe or robber. With all things gracious bless thou us,

639Supporting both the foolish and the weighty she bears the death both of the good and evil. In friendly concord with the boar, Earth opens her- self for the wild swine that roams the forest.

640All sylvan beasts of thine that love the woodlands, man-eaters, forest-haunting, lions, tigers, Hyena, wolf, Misfortune, evil spirit, drive from us, chase the demons to a distance.

641Gandharvas and Apsarases, Kimidins, and malignant sprites, Pisachas all, and Bakshasas, these keep thou, Earth I afar from us.

642To whom the winged bipeds fly together, birds of each various kind, the swans, the eagles ; On whom the Wind comes rushing, Matarisvan, rousing the dust and causing trees to tremble, and flame pursues the blast hither and thither ;

643Earth, upon whom are settled, joined together, the night and day, the dusky and the ruddy, Prithivt compassed by the rain about her,

Vol. 2 — HYMN l.J THE A TEA R VA- VED A. 101

644Heaven, Earth, the realm of Middle Air have grant- ed me this ample room, Agni, Sun, Waters, all the Gods have joined to give me mental power.

645I am victorious, I am called the lord superior on earth, Triumphant, all-o’erpowering, the conqueror on every side.

646There, when the Gods, 0 Goddess, named thee, spreading thy wide expanse as thou wast broaden- ing eastward. Then into thee passed many a charm and glory : thou madest for thyself the world’s four regions.

647In hamlets and in woodland, and in all assemblages on earth, In gatherings, meeting of the folk, we will speak glorious things of thee.

648As the horse scattereth the dust, the people who dwelt upon the land , at birth, she scattered, Leader and head of all the world, delightful, the trees’ protectress and the plants’ upholder.

649Whate’er I say I speak with honey-sweetness, what- ever I behold for that they love me. Dazzling, impetuous am 1 : others who fiercely stir I slay.

650Mild v graeious, sweetly odorous, milky, with nectar in her breast, May Earth, may Prithivi bestow her benison, with milk, on tne. -60 Whom Visvakarman with oblation followed, when she was set in mid-air’s billowy ocean —

651Vismkarman; the Onmific ; the Architect of the Universe, resembling Prajgpati and often not distinguished from him. Those with mothers ; all living creatures. 102 THE HYMNS OF {BOOS XAL A useful Tassel, hid, when, for enjoyment,, she- was made manifest to those with mothers.

652Thou art the vessel' that eontameth people, Aditfj. granter of the wish, far-spreading. Praj&patr, the first-born Son of Order,, supplieth thee with whatsoe’er thou lackesb..

653Let thy breasts, free from sickness and Consumption,, be, Prithivi, produced for our advantage. Through long-extended life wakeful and watching still- may we be thy tributary servants. 63 0 Earth, my Mother, set thou me happily in a place secure. Of one accord with Heaven,. O Sage, set me in glory and in wealth.

Vol. 2 — HYMN II.

654With this we chase and banish all consumptive ma- lady and Death, With sinner and malicious man, with helper and with minister.

655Aditi : here meaning Prithivi or Earth. fire that consumes the bodies of the dead.

656Thee : Agni of the funeral pile whose task is finished. The Nad, a : literally, the reed ; a name of the Anv&h&ryapachanagni or fire used for cooking the monthly Sr&dha or commemorative repast in honour of theManes or spirits of the Departed. See Sacred Books of the East, XII. p. 338 (Satapatha-Br.$hmana II. 3, 2). Lead : used in incantations as a charm to drive away malevolent spirits. See I. 16. 2 ; XIX 20. 52. region.

657With this : by the power of this charm. OYMN 2.] THE ATHARVA-VEDA.

658Death and Misfortune we expel, Malignity we drive away. *0 Agni, thou who eatest not the corpse, eat him who hateth us : him whom we hate we send to thee.

659If the corpse-eating Agni, or a tiger leaving his lair, hath entered this our homestead. With beans prepared in butter I expel him : far let him go to fires that lie in waters.

660When, angered that a man hath died, we in our wrath have banished thee, That -deed is easily set right through thee : we kindle thee again,

661Again have the Adityas, ftudras, Vasus, the Brah- man, bringer of good things, 0 Agni, Again hath Brahmanaspati disposed thee for long life lasting through a hundred autumns. ,8 7 I sweep afar, for sacrifice to Fathers, corpse-eating Agni who hath come among us Although he saw .this other, Jatavedas : in loftiest space let him inflame the caldron. S I drive corpse-eating Agni to a distance : sin-laden let him go to Yamas vassals. Here let this other, J&tavedas, carry oblation to the Deities, foreknowing. V I quickly sweep away corpse-eating Agni, Death, with his bolt depriving men of motion. . From household fire, well-knowing, I divide him : so in the world of Fathers be his portion.

662Corpse-eating Agni, toil-worn, meet for praises, I send away by paths used by the Fathers. Stay there ’ keep watch among the Fathers : come not again to us by ways whereon Gods travel.

663Who eatest not the corpse : akrawy&d ; Agni in his friendly form as distinguished from the terrible fire of the funeral pile.

664For sacrifice to Fathers ; cf. stanza 1. This other, Jdtavedas : the ordinary sacrificial and domestie fire.

665Tama’s vassals : the Departed. 104 THE HYMNS OF [ BOOK XIL

666They being cleansed and bright, the purifiers, kindle Sahkasuka for our well-being. Impurity leavetk us and sin departeth : lighted by the good cleanser Agni cleanseth.

667Agni the God, the Breaker-up, hath mounted to the heights of heaven. Beleased from all transgression, he hath from the curse delivered us.

668On Agni here, the Breaker -up, we wipe impurities away. Cleansed, fib for sacrifice have we become : may he prolong our lives.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 2.J

669Wipe all 'away 'on lead and reed, on Agni, him who breaketh up, Then on a black-hued sheep, and on a cushion pain that racks the head,

670Wipe off pollution, lay it in the lead and in the black- hued sheep, And headache in the cushion ; then be cleansed and fit to sacrifice. 2! Go onward, Death, pursue thy special pathway apart from that which. Gods are wont to travel. To thee I say it who hast eyes and hearest : great grow the number of these men around us !

671Divided from the dead are these, the living : now is our calling on the Gods successful. We have gone forth for dancing and for laughter : may we with brave sons speak to the assembly.

672Here I erect this rampart for the living : let none of these, none other, reach this limit. May they survive a hundred lengthened autumns, and may they bury Death beneath this mountain.

673Lead ; of stanza 1. Reed: that is, in the fire called Nada (read) in stanza 1.

674This stanza, taken with the last p£da varied from B. Y. X. the remains of: the cremated corpse has been completed, and the log separating the dead from the living (stanza 23) has been laid down. of the Departed

675Taken, with the last pada varied, from B. Y. X. 18. 3. We have gone forth : from the burial-ground after completion of our duties there. For dancing andjor laughter .* to return to our usual joyous life. So, with us, after a military funeral, the band returns playing lively airs.

676Taken from B. Y. X. 18. 4. This rampart ; represented by a log of wood and a stone deposited by the Adhvaryu as a line of demar- cation between the dead and the living, limiting, as it were, the jurisdiction of Death until the natural time for his approach. This mountain : represented by the stone, or by a newly-raised mound of earth. 106 THE HYMNS OF [ BOOK XII.

677Live your full lives and find old age delightful, all of you striving, one behind the other. May Tvashtar, maker of fair things, be gracious, and lead your whole lives on to full existence,

678As the days follow days in close succession, as with the seasons duly come the seasons, : As each successor fails not his foregoer, so constitute the lives of these, Ordainer !

679Gather your strength, my friends ; the stream flows stony : acquit yourselves as men, and cross the river. Abandon here the powers that were malignant, and let us cross to powers exempt from sickness.

680Rise up erect, cross over, my companions: the stream is stony that flows here before us. Abandon here the powers that were ungracious, and let us cross to powers benign and friendly.

681Becoming pure and bright and purifying begin the Yaisvadevi strain for splendour. May we rejoicp, o’erpassing troublous places, with all our heroes through a hundred winters.

682On pathways swept by wind, directed upward, pass- ing beyond the lower, on the higher, Thrice seven times have the Rishis, the Departed, forced Mrityu backward with the fastened fetter.

683Taken from K. V* X. 18. 5 One behind the other : in natural order, tbe oldest first reaching the end of the journey of life.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 2.1

684Effacing Mrifcyu’s footstep ye came hither,, to further times prolonging your existence. , Seated, drive Mritsyu to his proper dwelling : then- may we, living, speak to the assembly.

685Let these unwidowed dames with goodly husbands adorn themselves with fragrant balm and unguent. Decked with fair jewels, tearless, sound and healthy,, first let the dames go up to where he Beth.

686I with oblation separate both classes, and with my prayer dispart their several portions. I offer food that wastes not to the Fathers, and to these men give life of long duration,

687That Agni r Fathers ! who, himself immortal, hath entered and possessed our mortal bosoms. Even him I grasp and hold the God within me.. Let him not hate us, may we never hate him.

688When ye have left the household fire, with the Corpse-ehter southward go. Do that which is delightful to the Fathers, Brah- mans, and yourselves.

689Agni,. the banqueter on flesh, not banished, for the eldest son Takath a double share of wealth and spoileth it with* poverty, .

690What man acquires by plough, by war,, all that be- wins by toil of hand, He loses all if Agni the Carnivorous be not set aside;.

691The first line is taken from E. V. X. IS. 2. Effacing Mrityu’ss footstep : preventing the premature return of the God of Death. ‘Avoid- ing the path of Death.’ — Wilson; ‘That- your way may avoid the house of Death.’— Max Muller. Of. A. V. 19. 12, note,.

692Taken from E. V. X. IS. f. Se ; the corpse*. .......

693Both classes : the fathers or Manes and the living mourners.

694Southward : to the realm of Yama and the Departed. Of. Sfcanzal.

695The meaning seems to be, that if thorites are not duly perform- ed the, eldest son of the departed , though he receives a double share, of the property, will be .eventually ruined. THE HYMN8 OF [BOOK XII.

696Unholy, splendour-reft is he, his sacrifice unfit to eat, Kray ad deprives of tilth, of cow, of riches him whom he pursues.

697Oft as a greedy beggar speaks the mortal who has brought distress, Those whom Carnivorous Agni close at hand runs after and detects.

698When a dame’s husband dies the house is tangled fast in Gr&hi’s net. A learned Brahman must be sought to drive Carni- vorous Agin f 0 rth.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 2.

699Prolong the lives of those who live, 0 Agni. Let the dead go unto the world of Fathers. As goodly household fire burn up Ar&ti ; give this man dawn brighter than all the mornings,

700Subduing all our adversaries, Agni, give ns their. food, their strength and their possessions.

701Grasp ye this Indra, furtherer, satisfier : he will release you from disgrace and trouble. With him drive back the shaft that flies against you, with him ward off the missile shot by Rudra.

702Seize with firm hold the Ox who boundeth forward : he will uplift you from disgrace and trouble. Enter this ship of Savitar ; let us flee from poverty over all the six expanses.

703Thou foilowest the day and night, supporting, stand- ing, at peace, promoting, rich in heroes. Long, bearing undiseased and happy sleepers, be ours, 0 Bed, with smell of man about thee.

704They sever from the Gods, they live in sin and misery evermore, Those whom from very near at hand Carnivorous Agni easteth down as a horse tramples down the reeds.

705The faithless, who from lust of wealth abide with him who feeds on flesh, For ever set upon the fire an alien caldron, not their own.

706Ardti : Malignity personified.

707The Ox : Indra. Ship of Savitar : sacrifice to that God. Cfi ‘Bhaga’s ship’ (II. 36. 5.)

708Addressed to the Bed. Foilowest day and night : are idle during the day and occupied at night. The stanza is out of place.

709Abide with him who feeds onfiesh ; get their living by officiating at the cremation of corpses, . [BOOK XI!. no THB HYMNS OF

710Forward in spirit would he fly, and often turns he back again, Whomso Carnivorous Agni from anear discovers and torments.

711Among tame beasts the black ewe is thy portion, and the bright lead is thine, they say, Flesh-eater! Meshed beans have been assigned thee for oblation ; go seek the dark wood and the wildernesses,

712I sought the rustling sugar-cane, white Sesamum,. and cane and reed, I made this Indra’s fuel, and the Fire of Yama I removed.

713Against the sinking -western Sun I set them ; each sundered path, knowing my way, I entered. I have warned off the ghosts of the Departed : to- these I give the boon of long existence.

Vol. 2 — HYMN III.

714Fire of Yama : fire of the funeral pile.

715Sinking western Sun : regarded as a type of Yama. The hymn has been translated by Ludwig,. Der Rigveda, III. 479. tion of sacrificial offerings to the Gods by a householder and his wife, with prayer for prosperity and happiness on earth and in heaven.

716Male from male : A&vattha (Ficus Religiosa) with a masculine name, that has grown on a Khadira (Acacia Catechu) which is also a masculine word ; its somewhat unusual birth increasing the magical virtue of the holy wood, Of. III. 6. 1, note. Here, as in R. V. I. 135.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 3J

717So strong your sight, so many be your powers, so great your force, your energies so many. When fire attends the body as its fuel, then may ye gain full chargers, O ye couple.

718Together in this world, in God-ward pathway, to- gether be ye in the realms of Yama. Invite, made pure with means of purifying, what- ever seed of yours hath been developed.

719Do ye, O sons, unite you with the waters, meeting this living man, ye life-sustainers. Allot to them the Odana your mother is making ready, which they call immortal.

720That which your mother and your sire, to banish sin and uncleanness from their lips, are cooking. That Odana with hundred streams, sky-reaching, hath in its might pervaded earth and heaven.

721Live with your sons, when life on earth is ended, live in the sphere most rich in light and sweetness. In skies that have been won by saerifieers make both the worlds, earth, heaven, your habitation.

722Approach the eastern, yea, the eastern region : this is the sphere to which the faithful turn them. Your cooked oblation that in fire was offered, toge- ther, wife and husband, meet to guard it.

723Gain full chargers: meet your oblation in heaven, and bo reward- ed for the pious offerings which you are now preparing.

724In God-ward pathway : on your journey to heaven.

725Allot to them: allow the sacrificial waters to share the task of preparing the oblation of mashed rice.

726The couple walk round the Soma vessel, beginning on the east side and moving round from left to right. See Sacred Books of the East XII. p. 37, note. To which the faithful turn them : ‘For the east is the quarter of the gods, and from the east westwards the gods approach men ; that is why one offers to them while standing with his face towards the east’ (Satapatha-Br&hmana, III. I. 1, 7; S. B* of the East, XXYI. -3). [BOOK XI L

727Now, as four steps approach the southern quarter, move in your circling course about this vessel. Herein, accordant with the Fathers, Yama shall mightily protect your cooked oblation.

728Best of the regions is indeed this western wherein the King and gracious Lord is Soma. Thither resort for rest, follow the pious. Then gain the laden chargers, O ye couple.

729Ever victorious is the northern region : may the east quarter set us first and foremost. The Man became the five-divisioned metre. May we abide with all our members perfect. ■

730This stedfast realm is Queen. To her be homage ! To me and to my sons may she be gracious. Guard thou, 0 Goddess A.diti, all-bounteous, our cooked oblation as an active warder.

731Embrace us as a father clasps his children. Here on the Earth let kindly breezes fm us. Let the rice-mess these two cook here, O Goddess, know this our truthfulness and zealous fervour.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 2.

732This pressing-stone, broad-based and strength-bestow- ing, made pure by cleansing means, shall chase the demon. Mount on the skin ; afford us great protection. Let not the sons’ sin fail on wife and husband.

733Together with the Gods, banning Pisachas and de- mons, hath Vanaspati come hither. He shall rise up and send his voice out loudly. May we win all the worlds with him to help us.

734Seven victims held the sacrificial essence, the bright one and the one that hath grown feeble. The three-and-thirty Deities attend them. As such, conduct us to the world of Svarga.

735Unto the world of Svarga shalt thou lead us : there may we dwell beside our wife and children. I take thy hand. Let not Destruction, let not Malignity come hither and subdue us. duty is to husk and pound the rice when the mi tstress of the house does not do the work herself. here the wooden pestle used for pounding out the rice.

736Seven victims : the following legend (found also, slightly different, in Aitareya- Brahmana, II. 8) is recorded in Satapatha Brahmana, L 2, 3. 6, 7 : ‘At first namely, the gods offered up a man as a victim. entered into the horse. They offered up the horse. When it was offered up, the sacrificial essence went out of it. It entered into the ox. When it was offered up, the sacrificial essence went out of it, It entered into the sheep. When it was offered up, the sacrfiicai essence went^ut of it. It entered into the goat. They offered up the geat. When it was offered up, the sacrificial essence went out of it. found it (in the shape of) those two (substances) the rice and barley: therefore even now they obtain these two by digging; and as much efficacy as all those sacrificed animal victims would have for Mm so much efficacy has this oblation (of rice &c.) for him who knows this 1 (Sacred Books of the East, XII. p. 50). See also Muir, 0. S. Texts, IV\ p. 289, note. Bright . . , feeble ; apparently the moon in two different phases. See Hillebrandt, Vedisehe Mythologie, I 828.:

737Thy hand: the handle of the pestle. THE HTMNti OF [BOOK XII.

738We have subdued that sinful-hearted Grahi. Thou shalt speak sweetly having chased the darkness. Let not the wooden gear made ready fail us, nor harm the grain of rice that pays due worship.

739Soon to be, decked with butter ? all-embracing, come to this world wherewith birth unites thee. Seize thou the winnowing-fan which rains have nour- ished, and let this separate the chaff and refuse.

740Three worlds hath Power Divine marked out and measured, heaven yonder, and the earth, aud airs mid-region. Grasp ye the stalks and in your hands retain them: let them be watered and again be winnowed.

741Manifold, various are the shapes of victims. Thou growest uniform by great abundance. Push thou away this skin of ruddy colour : the stone will cleanse as one who cleanses raiment.

742Earth upon earth I set thee. This thy body is eon- substantial, but in form it differs, Whate’er hath been worn off or scratched in fixing, leak not thereat : I spread a charm to mend it.

743Thou for thy son shalt yearn as yearns a mother. I lay thee down and with the earth unite thee. Conjoined with sacrificial gear and butter may pot and jar stand firmly on the altar.

744Grdhi ; the female demon who seizes and destroys men.

745The first line is apparently addressed to the coming Soma juice* Which rains have nourished : made of reeds which grow chiefly in the rainy season.

746Stalks; or joints : the pieces between the knots of the Soma plants. Be watered : sprinkled with water to strengthen and swell them before the juice is extracted. The process is called &pyayanam.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 3.

747Thou hast poured oil and made the worlds: let heaven, unequalled, be spread out in wide extension. Herein be cooked the buffalo, strong-pinioned : the Gods shall give the Deities this oblation. •

748Whate’er thy wife, away from thee, makes ready, or what, O wife, apart from thee, thy husband, Combine it all : let it be yours in common while ya produce one world with joint endeavour.

749All these now dwelling on the earth, mine offspring, these whom this woman here, my wife, hath borne me, Invite them all unto the vessel : knowing their kinship have the children met together.

750Swollen with savoury meath, the stream of treasures, sourses of immortality blent with fatness — Soma retains all these : in sixty autumns the Guard- ian Lord of Treasures may desire them.

751The Lord of Treasures may desire this treasure : lordless on every side be all the others. Our mess, presented, seeking heaven, hath mounted in three divisions all three realms of S varga.

752May Agni burn the God-denying demon : let no carnivorous Pisacha drink here. We drive him off, we keep him at a distance. Adi- tyas and Angirases pursue him !

753This meath do I announce, mingled with butter, to the Angirases and the Adityas, With pure hands ne’er laid roughly on a Brahman go, pious couple, to the world of Svarga.

754Made the worlds : sacrihce being the all-powerful element in creation. The buffalo, strong-pinioned : the mighty Odana which, when offered to the Gods, files up to heaven.

755Sources of immortality : the streams of Soma juice which bestow upon the worshippers eternal life in heaven. Sixty autumns : ct stanza 34.

756All the others : our enemies. In three divisions .* one for the Gods, one for the Fathers, and one given to the Brahmans. Of. X. I. 5. [ BOOK XU,

757Of this have I obtained the noblest portion from that same world whence Parameshthin gained it. Pour forth, besprinkle butter rich in fatness : the share of Angiras is here before us.

758To Deities, to Truth, to holy Fervour this tresure- we consign, this rich deposit, At play, in meeting let it not desert us, never give out to anyone besides me,

759I cook the offering, T present oblatiou : only my wife attends the holy service. A youthful world, a son hath been begotten. Begin a life that brings success and triumph.

760There is no fault in this, no reservation, none when it goes with friends in close alliance. We have laid down this vessel in perfection : the cooked mess shall re-entsr him who cooked it.

761To those we love may we do acts that please them*. Away to darkness go all those who hate us! Cow. ox, and strenght of every kind approach us ! Thus 1st them banish death of human beings. 5 0 Perfectly do the Agnis know each other, one visitor of plants and one of rivers, And all the Gods who shine and glow in heaven. Gold is the light of him who cooks oblatibn.

Vol. 2 — HYMN IV.

762He trades and traffics with his sons, and in his cattle suffers loss. Who will not give the Cow of Gods to Rishis’ child- ren when they beg.

763They perish through a hornless cow, a lame cow sinks them in a pit. Through a maimed cow his house is burnt : a one- eyed cow destroys his wealth.

764Fierce fever where her droppings fall attacks the master of the kine. So have they 'named her Vas&, for thou art called uncontrollable. and danger of withholding the gift.

765The Cow of Gods : that belongs to holy priests.

766Vasd : a barren cow ; a cow ; the word being fancifully connec- ted with power, authority, control-

Vol. 2 — HYMN 4.

767The malady Viklindu springs on him from ground ■whereon she stands, And suddenly, from fell disease, perish the men on whom she sniffs.

768Whoever twitches up her ears is separated from the Gods. He deems he makes a mark, but he diminishes his wealth thereby.

769If to his own advantage one applies the long hair of her tail, His colts, in consequence thereof, die, and the wolf destroys his calves.

770If, while her master owneth her, a carrion crow hath harmed her hair, His young boys die thereof, Decline o’ertakes them after fell disease.

771What time the D&si woman throws lye on the drop- pings of the Cow, Misshapen birth arises thence, inseparable from that sin. 10' For Gods and Brdhmans is the Cow produced when first she springs to life, Hence to the priests must she be given : this they call guarding private wealth.

772The God-created Cow belongs to those who come to ask for her.

773Viklindu : the meaning is uncertain ; perhaps, dissolution, general decay.

774Twitches icp her ears : in order to brand them and marls the cow as his own property.

775Ddst : of barbarous or indigenous race : or slave-girl. Ludwig translates the first line differently : ‘ wenn ihren reinigenden- laugenartigen [palyulanam 1 ] mist die Dasi zrusammensfegt : T What time the Dasi girl collects alkaline droppings of the cow ; but this could hardly be considered a sinful act, unless the owner was. robbed, thereby. 8a 122 ' [BOOK XIL. They call it outrage on the priests when one retains her as his own. 12' He who withholds the Cow of' God's from Rishis’ sons who ask the gift Is made an alien- to the Gods, and subject to the Brahmans’ wrath. 13' Then let him seek another Cow, whatever his profit be in this. The Cow, not given, harms a man when he denies her at their prayer.

776Like a rich treasure- stored' away in safety is the Brahmans’ Cow. Therefore men come to visit her, with whomsoever she is born.

777So when the Brdhmans come unto- the Cow they come unto their own. For this- is her withholding, to- oppress- these in another life.

778Thus after three years may she go, speaking what is not understood. He, Nsrada ! would 1 know the Cow, then Br&hmans- must be sought unto.

779Whoso calls her a worthless Cow, the stored-up treasure of the God's, Bhava and Sarva, both of them, move round and 1 shoot a shaft at him.

780Speaking* what is- not understood:, that is, giving, warnings which are disregarded. Ludwigs taking gadd in dvijndtagadd as coming from. gadcm r poison, instead of from gada, speech, translates ; ‘ an der man das gift nicht hat erkannt : * whose poison [deadly danger of retaining her] none hath recognized. Ndrada ; a devarsld or lii'shi of the celes- tial class who acts as a reporter Between heaven and earth. His name is introduced as an imaginary auditor to make a warning or speech, more solemn and authoritative. Of. Y. 19. 9. The meaning of the- sbmm seems- to be that the cow must not be retained beyond three* years..' ' TEE ATHARTA-7EDA.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 4.

781If he withholds the Cow they beg, she lies rebellious in his stall. Vain are the wishes and the hopes which he, with- holding her, would gain. .

782The Deities have begged the Cow, using the Brah- man as their mouth : The man who gives her not incurs the enmity of all the Gods.

783Withholding her from Br&hmans, he incurs the anger of the beasts, When mortal man appropriates the destined portion of the Gods.

784If hundred other Brahmans beg the Cow of him who owneth her, The Gods have said, She, verily, belongs to him who knows the truth.

785Whoso to others, not to him who hath this know- ledge, gives the Cow, Earth, with the Deities, is hard for Mm to win and rest upon.

786The Deities begged the Cow from him with whom at first she was produced : Her, this one, N&raaa would know : with Deities he drove her forth.

787The Cow deprives of progeny and makes him poor in cattle who Retains in his possession her whom Brahmans have solicited.

788The cow which the owner intends to bestow bn a Brahman mil ■give him milk without the trouble of milking her. [. BOOK XII.

789For Agni and for Soma, for K&ma, Mitra and Varuna, For these the Br&hmans ask : from these is he who giveth not estranged.

790Long as her owner hath not heard, himself, the' verses, let her move Among his kine : when he hath heard, let her not make her home with him.

791He who hath heard her verses and still makes her roam among his kine, The Gods in anger rend away his life and his pros- perity.

792Roaming in many a place the Cow is the stored trea- sure of the Gods. Make manifest thy shape and form when she would seek her dwelling-place.

793Her shape and form she manifests when she would seek her dwelling-place : Then verily the Cow attends to Brahman priests and their request.

794This thought he settles in his mind, This surely goeth to the Gods. Then verily the Brahman priests approach that they may beg the Cow. .32 By S vadha to the Fathers, by sacrifice to the Deities, By giving them the Cow, the Prince doth not incur the mother’s wrath.

795The Prince’s mother is the Cow : so was it ordered from of old. She, when bestowed upon the priests, cannot be given back, they say.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 4.

796As molten butter, held at length, drops down to Agni from the scoop, So falls away from Agni he who gives no Cow to Brahman priests.

797Good milker, with rice-cake as calf, she in the world comes nigh to him, To him who gave her as a gift the Cow grants every hope and wish.

798In Yama’s realm the Cow fulfils each wish for him who gave her up ; But hell, they say, is for the man who, when they beg, bestow her not.

799Enraged against her owner roams the Cow when she hath been impregned. He deemed me fruitless, is her thought ; let him be bound in snares of Death !

800Whoever looking on the Cow as fruitless, cooks her flesh at home, Brihaspati compels his sons and children of his sons to beg.

801Rice-cake : pwrvddsa ; a sacrificial cake of ground rice usually divided into pieces and offered in one or more cups.

802Fruitlem : vek&tam ; a cow which habitually miscarries, and which may therefore be slaughtered e when a king or another man who deserves high honour is to be received ’ (Aitareya-Brahmana I. 15). receiving a most distinguished guest is stated in the Smritis. But, as S&yana observes, (which entirely agrees with the opinions held now-a- days) this custom belongs to former Yugas (periods of the world). for the reception of a high guest was the death of the cow of the house/ According to Apasiamb&’s Aphorisms on the Sacred Law of ' the Hindus, the Snataka or student who has completed his course of religious study, when he speaks of a cow that is not a milch-cow is not to say 4 She is not a milch-cow/ but c this is a cow which will become & milch-cow/ See Sacred Books of the East, II. p, 95. •1.26

803Downward she sends a mighty heat, though amid kine a Cow she roams. Poison she yields for him who owns and hath not given her away.

804The animal is happy when it is bestowed upon the priests ; But happy is the Cow when she is made a sacrifice to' Gods. .41 Narada chose the terrible Yilipti out of all the cows Which the Gods formed and framed when they had risen up from sacrifice.

805The Gods considered her in doubt whether she were •a Cow or not. N&rada spake of her and said, The veriest Cow of cows is she.

806How many cows, 0 Narada, knowest thou, born among mankind ? I ask thee who dost know, of which must none who is no Brihman eat •?

807Yilipti, cow, and she who drops no second calf, Brihaspati ! Of these none not a BrJihman should eat if he hope for eminence.

808Homage, 0 N&rada, to thee who hast quick know- ledge of the cows. Which of these is the direst, whose withholding bringeth death to man ?

809Yilipti, 0 Brihaspati, cow, mother of no second calf— Of these none not a Br&hman should eat if he hope for eminence.

810Threefold are kine, Yilipti, cow, the mother of no second calf : These one should give to priests, and he will not offend Prajapati.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 5.

811This, Br&hmans ! is your sacrifice : thus should! one think when he is asked, What time they beg from him the Cow fearful in the withholder’s house.

812He gave her not to us, so spake the Gods, in anger,. of the Co w. With these same verses they addressed Bheda : this brought him to his death.

813Solicited by Indra, still Bheda refused to give this Cow. In strife for victory the Gods destroyed him for that sin of his,

814The men of evil counsel who advise refusal of the Cow, Miscreants, through their foolishness,, are subjected; to Indra’s wrath.

815They who seduce the owner ©f the C’ow and say,. Bestow her not, Encounter through their want of sense the missile shot by Rudra’s hand.

816If in his home one cooks the Cow, sacrificed or not sacrificed, Wronger of Gods and Brahmans, he departs, dis- honest, from the world.

Vol. 2 — HYMN V.

817Girt round with inherent power, fortified with faith, protected by consecration, installed at sacrifice,.

818Bheda : nothing further appears to he? known of this man who refused to give his cow to Indra., This hymn, which is unintelligible in parts* has been translated b y Ludwig, Der Eigveda, III. p. 448. inculcating, still more forcibly, the sin and danger of robbing a Brah- man of his cow. 123 THE HYMNS OF [. BOON XII.. the world her resting-place ; 4 Brahma her guide, the Brahman her lord and ruler; 5 Of the Ksha- triya who taketh to himself this Br&hm'an T s cow and oppresseth the Br&hman

819The glory, the heroism, and the favouring fortune depart. 7 The energy and vigour, the power and might, the speech and mental strength, the glory and duty ;

820Devotion and princely sway, kingship and people, brilliance and honour, and splendour and wealth ;

821Long life and goodly form, and name and fame, in- breathing and expiration, and sight, and hearing;

822Milk and flavour, and food and nourishment, and right and truth, and action and fulfilment, and children and cattle; 11 All these blessings of a Kshatriya depart from him when he oppresseth the Brahman and taketh to himself the Brahman’s cow.

823Terrible is she, this Brahman’s cow, and fearfully venomous, visibly witchcraft. 13 In her are all hor- rors and all deaths. 14 In her are all dreadful deeds, all slaughters of mankind. 15 This, the Brih man’s cow, being appropriated, holdeth bound in the fetter of Death the oppressor of the Br&hman, the blas- phemer of the Gods.

824A hundred -killing bolt is she : she slays the Brahman’s injurer.

825Therefore the Brahmans’ cow is held inviolable by the wise.

826Running she is a thunderbolt, when driven away she is Vaisvanara ; 19 An arrow when she draweth up her hooves, and MhMdeva when she looketh around ; 20 Sharp as a razor when she beholdeth, she thundereth when she belloweth. 21 Death is; she when she loweth, and a fierce God when she whisketh her tail ; 22 Utter destruction when she

827V hilly witchcraft: an epithet follows, Mtbaj&mitd, invested with fattbuja , the meaning of the compound being uncoitain.. CL stanza* 53, note-

Vol. 2 — HYMN 5.

828Following him, the Brahman’s cow extinguished the vital breath of the injurer of the Brahman ; 2$ Hostility when being cut to pieces, woe to children when the portions are distributed ; 29 A destruct- ive missile of Gods when she is being seized, misfor- tune when carried away ; 30 Misery while being additionally acquired, contumely and abuse while being put in the stall • 31 Poison when in agitaion, fever when seasoned with condiments ; 32 Sin while she is cooking, evil dream when she is cooked ; 33 Uprooting when she is being turned round, destruc- tion when she hath been turned round ; 34 Discord by her smell, grief when she is being eviscerated ; serpent with poison in its fang when drawn ; 35 Loss of power while sacrificially presented, humiliation when she hath been offered ; 36 Wrathful $arva while being carved, Simidfi when out up ; 37 Poverty while she is being eaten. Destruction when eaten. 38 The Brahman’s cow when eaten cuts off the injurer of Brahmans both from this world and from the world yonder. 39 Her slaughter is the sin of witchcraft, her cutting-up is a thiindetboit, her undigested grass is a secret spell. 40 Homelessness is! she when denied her rights. 41 Having become Flesh-eating Agni the Brahman’s cow entereth into and devoureth the

829Simula, : apparently a female demon, or a disease attributed to her influence. 'May all the rivers keep us free from Simida' ( R. V, VII. 50.) Cf. A. V. IV. 25. 4. [ BOOK XII. oppressor of Brahmans. 42 She sunders all his members, joints, and roots, 43 She outs oil relation- ship on the father’s side and destroys maternal kinship. 44 The Brahman’s cow, not restored by a Kshatriya, mins the marriages and all the kinsmen of the Brahman’s oppressor. 45 She makes him house- less, homeless, childless : he is extinguished without posterity te succeed him. 46 So shall it be with the Kshatriya who takes to himself the cow of the Brah- man who hath this knowledge.

830Quickly, when he is smitten down by death, the clamorous vultures cry :

831Quickly around his funeral fire dance women with dishevelled locks, Striking the hand upon the breast and uttering their evil shriek.

832Quickly tb© wolves are howling in the habitation where he lived :

833Quickly they ask about him, What ' m this? What thing hath happened her© ?

834Rend, rend to pieces, rend away, destroy, destroy him utterly*

835Destroy Angirasi ! the wretch who robs and wrongs the Brahmans, born

836Of evil womb, thou witchcraft hid, for Vaisvadevi is thy name,

837Consuming, burning all things up, the thunderbolt of spell and charm.

838Go thou, becoming Mrityu sharp as razor’s edge, pursue thy course :

839Angirasi : (the cow) belonging to Angiras and his representa- tives the Atharva-priests.

840Born of evil womb : A#75aj«m = ku-ulba-yarn.— Ludwig. Cf. stanza 12. Vaisvadevi, : belonging to all the Gods or to the Visve Devas. by Ludwig, Der Rigveda, III, p. 529.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 5.

841Thou bearcst of! fche tyrants* strength, their store of merit, and their prayers*

842Bearing off wrong, thou givesfc in that world to him who hath been wronged*

843O Cow, become a tracker through the curse the Brah* man hath pronounced,

844Become a bolt, an arrow through his *Bio, be terribly venomous, 60 0 Cow, break thou the head of him who wrongs 'the Brahmans, criminal,, niggard, blasphemer of the Gods.

845Let Agai burn the spiteful wretch when crushed to death and slain by thee.

846Rend, rend to bits, rend through and through, scorch and consume and bum to dust, '

847Consume thou, even from the root, the Brahmans" tyrant, godlike Cow !

848That he may go from Yama’s home afar into the worlds of sin.

849So, Goddess Cow, do thou from him, the Brahmans" tyrant, criminal, niggard, blasphemer of the Gods,

850With hundred-knotted thunderbolt, sharpened and edged with razor-blades,

851Strike off the shoulders and the head.

852Snatch thou the hair from off his head, and from hi© body strip the skin :

853Tear out his sinews, cause his flesh to fall in pieces from his frame.

854Crush thou his bones together, strike and beat the marrow out of him.

855Dislocate all his limbs and joints.

Vol. 2 — HYMN I.

856The strength that was in waters hath ascended. Mount o’er the tribes which thou hast generated. Creating Soma, waters, plants and cattle, bring hitherward both quadrupeds and bipeds.

857Ye Marais, strong and mighty, sons of Frisni, with Indra for ally crush down our foemen. Let Rohita, ye bounteous givers, hear you, tin ice- seven Maruts who delight in sweetness !

858Up to the lap of births, to lofty places, hath Rohita, the germ of Dames, ascended. the Red, a form of Fire and of the Sun, but distinguished from both those deities. The whole Book has been translated and elucidated with an excellent commentary by M. Victor Henry ( Les Hymnes Rohitas. Livre XIII de T Alharva-veda, Traduit et Common te par Victor Henry, Charge de Cours a la Faculte dos Lettres do Paris. Paris : j. Maisouneuvc. 1891 ).

859Mighty One : vdjin ; ‘winner ox the spoil. '-Henry. Liest in the waters : in which thou, as the Sun, hast set. Itohiia : thyself as the rising Sun.

860The tribes : celestial as well as terrestrial ; Rohita being the great source from which all life has sprung.

861Thrice-seven : a fanciful expression for an indefinite number. said to be thrice-sixty. or, according to Sayana, sixty-three, that is nine bands or companies consisting of seven each. Cf. A. V. I. l, 1, note.

862The lap of births ; the place whence ail creation springs. There is a play of words in the original : rUho ruroha rohita Mruroha. Dames ; the Dawns. [ BOOS XIII. Conjoined with these he found the six realms : seeing his way in front here he received the kingship.

863For the© hath Rohita obtained dominion, scattered thine enemies, become thy safeguard. So by the potent Sakvaris let Heaven and Earth be milked to yield the© all thy wishes.

864Rohita gave the Earth and Heavens their being. There Parameshthin held the cord extended. Thereon reposeth Aja Ekapada. He with his might hath stablished Earth and Heaven.

865Rohita firmly stablished Earth and Heaven : by him was ether fixfc, by him the welkin. He measured out mid air and all the regions : by him the Gods found life that lasts for ever.

866Arranging shoots, springs, Rohita considered this Universe in all its forms and phases. May he, gone up to heaven with mighty glory, anoint thy sovranty with milk and fatness.

867Thy risings up, thy mountings and ascensions where- with thou filiest heaven and air’s mid-region— By prayer for these, by milk of these, increasing, in Rohita’s kingdom watch, among his people.

868For thee : lor thyself, Rohita. Scattered : M. Henry reads vy &$yan~vx dsyatiovvi da than ox the text which is maikedas doubt- ful in the Index Verborum Sakvaris : ( lrom sak, to be strong ) verses in the Sakvari metre censisting of 50 ( 7 xS ) syllables ; here the stanzas of the two Samans or psalms called Raivata ( Wealthy ) and Sakvara ( Potent ), the former of which is identified with the Brihat, iii Aita- reya Brahmana, IV. 13,, and the latter with the Rathantara. See XI, 3. 16, note.

869Parameshthin : the Supreme Being. Aja Ekapada : the Unborn or Eternal One-footed ; a personification of the Sun and here identified with Rohita.

870Ether : star ; the highest heaven, the empyrean, the abode of the Sun, supported by the vault of ndka, the firmament or welkin. them immortal.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 1. 1

871The tribes thy heat produced have followed hither the Calf and GAyatri, the strain that lauds him. With friendly heart let them approach to serve thee, and the Calf Rohita come with his mother.

872Erected, Rohita hath reached the welkin, wise, young, creating every form and figure, Agni, refulgent with his heightened lustre, in the third realm hath brought us joy and gladness.

873Thousand-horned Bull, may Jfitavedus, worshipped with butter, balmed with Soma, rich in heroes, Besought, ne’er quit me ; may I ne’er forsake thee. Give me abundant men and herds of cattle.

874Rohita is the sire and moots of worship : to him with voice, ear, heart I pay oblation. To Rohita come Gods with joyful spirit May he by risings raise me till I join him.

875Rohita ordered sacrifice for Visvakarman : thence have I obtained this strength and energy. May I proclaim thee as my kin over the greatness of the world.

876The hides : cf. stanza 2. Here the Celestials are meant. Thy heat : there is a play on the word idpas which means both heat and fervent devotion or religions austerity. The Calf : Agni or Rohita as the young Sun. Gdyatrl : the personification of the metre which is especially sacred to Agni identified here with Rohita. Bis mother : Dawn, who precedes and may be said to produce the Sun-

877Agni : as the Sun, identified with Rohita.

878Thousand-homed Bull : the mighty one with his countless rays of light.

879Till I join him : I adopt M. Henry's reading s amity at, infinitive dative, for sdmityai of the text which appears to he corrupt.

880Visvakarman : the Omnific ; ‘the mythical being who has ar- ranged in heaven all the phases of the first sacrifice whence all crea- tion .sprang, phases of which those of the earthly sacrifice are the im- age and the copy’ — Henry. Creation typified and originated by the mysterious primeval sacrifice is the subject of R, V. X. 130. Hndra after having slain Vritra became Visvakarman. Prajupati after having produced the creatures became ( also ) Visvakarman ” ( Hang’s Aita- r Brahrnana, IV. 22 ); See also R. V. X, SI and 82. [ BOOK XIII. !5 Oo the© have mounted Brihati and Pankti, and Kakup with great splendour, Jfitavedaa ! The cry of Vashat with tho voice uplifted and Rohita with seed on the© have mounted.

881He goes into the womb of earth, he robes himself in heaven and air. He on the Bright One’s station hath reached heaven- ly light and all the worlds.

882To us, Vachaspati, may Earth be pleasant, pleasant our dwelling, pleasant be our couches. Even here may Prana be our friend : may Agni, O Parameshthin, give thee life and splendour.

883And those, Vaehaspati, our own five seasons, sacred to Visvakarman their creator. Even here our friend be Prana : Parameshthin, may Rohita vouchsafe the life and splendour.

884With the voice uplifted ; ‘What is the exact meaning of the strange epithet ushnihdh shard applied to the cry vashat ? Of course it would be very simple to correct ushnthdkshdro and to translate the ushmh and the imperishable vashat ; ” but this would require three changes of accent against which the pada text protests One resource is left, to admit that the poet ( ? ), after having expressly enumerated several metres, has added the ushnih by means of a pun on the word uslnxihd “nape of the neck” and “ushnih-” In this case ushnihdh shard might signify “that which is pronounced on the top/’ because the vashat is a sort of crowning of the sacrifice, or still rather it would be a refined substitute for the adjective uchchaivghosha , which is found in two places in the A. V., and would naturally be rendered by “uttered with a high voice/ * This latter interpretation appears to me to be almost certainly correct/ — Henry. Prof. Ludwig translates : 'Ushniha, Om/

885The Bright One*s station : the abode of the Sun, the empyrean. and appear to have been inserted in the hymn solely on account of the mention of Rohita in stanza 18.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 1.

886Breed, 0 V&chaspati, joy and understanding, kin© in our stall and children in our consorts. Even here may Prana be our friend : may Agni, O P&rameshtkin, give thee life and splendour.

887With splendour let God Savitar, and Agni, with splendour Mifcra, Varona invest thee. Treading down all Malignities, com© hither. Plea® sant and glorious hast thou made this kingdom.

888Rohita, car-born© by a speckled leader, thou, pouring water, goest on in triumph *

889Golden, refulgent, lofty is the Lady, Rohini, Rohita’e devoted Consort. Through her may we win various spoil and booty, through her be conquerors in every battle.

890Rohita’s seat is Rohini before us : that is the path the speckled Mare pursueth. Kasyapas and Gandharvas lead her upward, and heavenly sages ever watch and guard her,

891Surya’s bay steeds refulgent and immortal draw the light-rolling chariot on for ever. Drinker of fatness, Rohita, resplendent, hath entered into various-coloured heaven,

892Rohita, Bull whose horns are sharply pointed, supe- rior of Agni and of Sfirya, He who supports the sundered earth and heaven* — from him the Gods effect their own creations.

893This kingdom : cf. stanza 1, line 1.

894Rohini : feminine of Rohita, the Red ( cow or mare ) : here meaning Ushas or Dawn. In later times Rohini was the name of a lunar asterism personified as a daughter of Daksha and regarded as the favourite wife of the Moon.

895Speckled Mare : cf. stanza 21. Kasyapas : a class of semi-divine genii or spirits who regulate the course of the Sun. Gandharvas : celestial beings who dwell in the sky and govern the course of the heavenly bodies.

896Horns : rays of light, Superior of Agni ; see introductory note. 13S [ BOOK XIII.

897Rohiia rose to heaven from mighty ocean, Rofaita rose and oiomb all steeps and rises*

898Prepare th© Milky One who teems with fatness : she is the Gods 9 never-reluctant milch-oow. Indra drink Soma : ours be peace and safety. Let Agni lead the land, and chase our foemen.

899Both kindling and inflamed, adored with butter and enhanced thereby, May conquering Agni, conqueror of all, destroy mine enemies.

900Let him smite down in ‘death and burn the foeman who attacketh me. Our adversaries we consume through Agni th© Oar» nivorous.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 1.

901Rise up to earth, rise up to heaven above it ; rise up to opulence, rise up to kingship. Rise up to offspring, rise to life immortal ; rise, and with Rohita unite thy body.

902With all the Gods who circle round the Sun, up- holding royal sway. With all of these may Rohita accordant, give sov- ran ty to thee with friendly spirit.

903Cleansed by prayer, sacrifices bear the© upward : bay coursers, ever travelling, convey thee. Thy light shines over sea and billowy ocean.

904Rohita, conqueror of cows and riches and gathered spoil, is heaven’s and earth’s upholder. Over earth’s greatness would I tell my kinship with the© who hast a thousand births and seven.

905A glorious sight to beasts and men, thou goest glorious to the regions and mid-regions. On earth’s, on Adifci’s bosom, bright with glory. Fain would I equal Savitar in beauty.

906Thou, yonder, knowest all things here, when here thou knowest what is there. From here men see the sphere of light, Surya pro* foundly wise in heaven.

907A God, thou iojurest the Gods : thou merest in the ocean’s depth. Men kindle common Agni : him only the higher sages know.

908Sea and billowy ocean : the ocean of air ; a hendiadys,

909Hast a thousand births and seven ; art re-born day after day for ever. The numbers are fanciful.

910Thou injurest the Gods : dimmest their glory with thy sur- passing brightness. Common Agni ; whose blessings all men enjoy, although only sages can really understand the nature of the Deity* [ BOOK XIII.

911Beneath the upper realm, above this lower, bearing her Calf at foot, the Cow hath risen. Whitherward, to what place hath she departed ? Where doth she calve ? Not in this herd of cattle.

912She hath become one-footed or two-footed, four- footed, or eight-footed or nine-footed, This universe's thousand-syllabled Pankti Oceans flow forth from her in all directions.

913Bising to heaven, immortal, hear my calling. Cleans- ed by prayer, sacrifices bear thee upward. Bay coursers, ever on th© road, convey thee.

914This, 0 Immortal One, I know of thee, thy progress to the sky, thy dwelling-place in loftiest heaven.

915Boyond the sky, beyond the Earth looks Siirya, and beyond the floods. The single eye of all that is? to mighty heaven hath he arisen.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 1.

916Rohita’s Agni-— his who found heaven's light— is kindled with the prayer. From him the heat, from him the cold, from him the sacrifice was born*

917Both Agnis— Rohifca’s who found the light of heaven — made strong by prayer, Waxing by prayer, adored with prayer, by prayer enkindled, sacrificed.

918On© is deposited in Truth, one kindled in the waters : both Agnis of Rohifca who found the light are set aflame with prayer.

919That decked by Wind, and that prepared by Indra Brahmanaspati, Agnis of Rohita who found light, prayer-enkindled, sacrificed.

920Rohita made the earth to be his altar, heaven hi® Dakshin&. Then heat he took for Agni, and with rain for molten butter he created every living thing.

921The earth became an altar, heat was Agni, and the butter rain. There Agni made, by song and hymn, these moun- tains rise and stand erect.

922Then, having made the hills stand up. Rohita spake to Earth and said : In thee let ©very thing be born, what is and what is yet to be.

923Agni : here representing the two Agnis of stanza 46.

924One i the Sun. One : lightning springing from the watery clouds.

925Dakshind : or, priestly fee. 142 THE HYMNS OF [ BOOK XIII.

926This sacrifice, the first of ail, the past, the present, had its birth. From that arose this universe, yea, all this world of brightness, brought by Rohita the heavenly Sage.

927If thou should kick a cow, or by indecent aot offend the Sun, Thy root I sever ; nevermore mayst thou cast shadow on the ground.

928Thou who* between the fire and me, passest across the line of shade. Thy root I sever : nevermore mayst thou cast shadow on the ground.

929Whoe’er he be who, Sfirya, God ! comes between thee and me to-day, On him we wipe away ill-dream, and troubles, and impurity.

930Let us not, Indra, leave the path, the Soma-presser’s sacrifice. Let not malignities dwell with us.

Vol. 2 — HYMN II.

931Let us laud him, the whole world’s Herdsman, Surya, who with his rays illumines all the regions, Mark of the quarters, brightening them with lustre, swift, mighty-pinioned, dying in the ocean.

932From west to east thou speedest freely, making by magic day and night of diverse colours. This is Adifcya, thy transcendent glory, that thou alone art born through all creation.

933Victorious, inspired, and brightly shining, whom seven strong tawny-coloured coursers carry, Whom Afcri lifted from the flood to heaven, thus men behold thee as thy course thou runnest.

934Let them not soar© the© speeding on thy journey : pass safely, swiftly places hard to traverse, — While measuring out the day and night thou movest— O Sfirya, even Heaven and Earth the Goddess.

935Mark of the quarters : ( prajnd' nam, as corrected by von Roth, instead of prajM'ndm of the text ) the sign according to which the posi- tion of the cardinal points is fixed.

936Atri : a celebrated Riski, said to have been thrown into a fiery pit by the Asuras and delivered by the Asvins ( R. V. 112. 7; 116. or Lords of Creation engendered by Manu for the purpose of creating the universe. In R. V. V. 40. 8 Atri is said to have ‘established in the heaven the eye of Surya/ eclipsed or darkened by the magic arts of the demon Svarbhanu, the Rahu of later times. In stanza 9 of the same hymn the Atris or descendants of Atri are said to have ‘found the Sun again/

937Let them not snare thee : the Sun being regarded as a bird. See 'XVII. 1. 8, note. THE^HYMNS OP [ BOOK XIII.

938Hail to thy rapid ear* whereon, 0 Surya, thou cirelest in a moment both the. limits, Whirled by thy bay| steeds, best of all at drawing, thy hundred horses or seven goodly coursers !

939Mount thy strong car, O Sfirya, lightly rolling, drawn by good steeds, propitious, brightly gleaming, Whirled by thy bays, most excellent at drawing, thy hundred horses or seven goodly coursers.

940Sfirya hath harnessed to his oar to draw him seven stately bay steeds gay with wolden housings. The Bright On© . [started from the distant region : dispelling gloom the God hath climbed the heavens.

941With lofty banner hath the God gone upward, and introduced the light, expelling darkness. He hath looked round on ail the worlds, the Hero, the son of Aditi, Celestial Eagle.

942Rising, thou spreadest out thy rays, thou nourishest all shapes and forms. Thou with thy power illumest both the oceans, encompassing all spheres with thy refulgence.

943Moving by magic power to east and westward, these two young creatures, sporting, circle ocean. One of the pair beholds all living creatures : with wheels of gold the bay steeds bear the other.

944Atri established thee in [heaven, 0 Sfirya, to create the month. So on thou goesfc, firmly held, heating, beholding all that is.

945Both the limits : the eastern and western horizons.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 2.

946As till© Calf both his parents so thou joinest both the distant bounds. Surely the Gods up yonder knew this sacred mystery long ago,

947Sfirya is eager to obtain all wealth that lies along the sea. Great is the course spread out for him, his eastward and his westward path.

948He finishes his race with speed and never turns his thought aside# Thereby he keeps not from the Gods enjoyment of the Drink of Life,

949His heralds bear him up aloft, the God who knoweth ail that live, Surra, that all may look on him.

950The Constellations pass away, like thieves, departing in the night. Before the all-beholding Sun.

951His herald rays are seen afar refulgent o'er the world of men, Like flames of fire that burn and blaze.

952Swift and all-beautiful art then, 0 Sfirya, maker of the light, Illuming all the radiant realm,

953Them goest. to the hosts of Gods; then contest hither to mankind, Hither, all light to be behold,

954The Calf : Agni. His parents : the upper and lower parts of the fire-drill. Both the distant hounds : cf. stanza 6. The force of the com- parison is not very obvious. See M. Henry’s note.

955Stanzas 16 — 24 are taken from R. V. I. 50. 1 — 9, and appear again in A. V. XX. 47. 13 — 21. Heralds: or, banners ; the rays of light or luminous clouds that announce his approach. The Cod who hnoweth all that live : jdtdvedasam : here an epithet of Surya, [ BOOK XIII.

956With that same eye cf thine wherewith thou geest, brilliant Vanina* The active one among mankind,

957Traversing sky and wide mid-air, thou metest with thy beams our days, Sun, seeing all things that have life,

958Seven bay steeds harnessed to thy car bear thee, 0 thou far-seeing One, God, Sfirya, with the radiant hair.

959Sfirya hath yoked the pure bright seven, the daugh- ters of the car, with these, His own dear team, he travelleth.

960Devout, aflame with fervent heat, Rohita hath gone up to heaven. H© is re-born, returning to his birthplace, and hath become the Gods* imperial ruler.

Vol. 2 — HYMN 2. THE AlTlARVA-VEDA. Ul

961When he, unwearied, fain to go, hath mounted bis bays, he makes two colours, brightly shining. Rising with banners, conquering the regions, thou sendest light through ail the floods, Aditya.

962Verily, Stirya, thou art great : truly, Aditya, thou art great. Great is thy grandeur, Mighty One : thou, 0 Aditya, thou art great.

963In heaven, 0 Bird, and in mid-air thou shinest : thou shinest on the earth and in the waters. Thou hast pervaded both the seas with splendour : a God art thou, 0 God, light- winner,* mighty.

964Soaring in mid-course hither from the distance, fleet and inspired, the Bird that flies above us. With might advancing Vishnu manifested, he con- quers all that moves with radiant banner :

965Brilliant, observant, mighty Lord, an Eagle illuming both the spheres and air between them. Bay and the Night, clad in the robes of Surya, spread forth more widely all his hero powers.

966Flaming and radiant, strengthening his body, bestow- ing floods that promptly come to meet us, He, luminous, winged, mighty, strength-bestower, hath mounted all the regions as he forms them.

967Bright presence of the Gods, the luminous herald, Surya hath mounted the celestial regions. Day’s maker, he hath shone away the darkness, and rediant, passed o’er places hard to traverse. when bipeds (men) call them, and stand and look where five (several men) are met together/ being uncertain at first whether their masters are among them or not. See A. V. XIII. 3. 25. There are many traces of similar riddles in the Veda. The riddles propounded by Samson are recorded in the Bible ; there is a large collection of enigmas in the Icelandic Herverar Saga ; and old English and Scottish ballads abound in them, See Baring-Gould’s Strange Survivals pp. 220 —237.

968Taken, with variations, R. V, VIII. 90. 11, [ BOOK XIII*

969He hath gone up on high, the Gods 5 bright presence, the eye of Mifcra, Vanina and Agni. The soul of all that movefch not or moveth, Sftrya hath filled the earth and air and heaven,

970High in the °midst of heaven may we behold thee whom men call Savibar, the bright red Eagle, Soaring and speeding on thy way, refulgent, unwast- ing light which Atri erst discovered.

971Him, Son of Adifci, an Eagle hasting along heaven’s height, I supplicate in terror. As such prolong our lengthened life, O Siuya ; may we, unharmed, enjoy thy gracious favour.

972This gold-hued Haiisa’s wings, scaring to heaven, spread o’er a thousand days’ continued journey. Supporting all the Gods upon his bosom, he goes his way beholding every creature. 39' Rohita, in primeval days Piajapati, was, after, Time, Mouth of ail sacrifices, he, Rohita, brought celestial light.

973He, Rohita, became the world : Rohita gave the heaven its heat. Rohita with his beams of light travelled along the earth and sea.

974To all the regions Rohita came, the imperial Lord of heaven. He watches over ocean, heaven, and earth and all existing things,

975Mounting the lofty ones, he, bright, unwearied, splen- didly shining, makes two separate colours, ~ 35 Taken from R, V. L 115. 1.