Kāṇḍa 2 — Charms and household rites

Vbna beholds That Highest which lies hidden, wherein this All resumes one form and fashion.

He is our kinsman, father, and begetter : he knows

I have gone forth around the earth and heaven, I

I round the circumjacent worlds have travelled to

Lord of the World, divine Gandharva, only he should be honoured in the Tribes and worshipped.

Sky-reaching, like the Sun in brightness, holy,

He : the Almighty Creator. The stanssa is taken, with variations, from Bigveda X. 82. 3. 2b ask direction : or, for information ; to learn who is the Supreme Grod ; or what their several fmictions and duties are.

Order (rita) is the eternal Law of the Universe, and the fir gt- horn Bon thereof is Prajapati, the Creator, who is in this stanza identi- fied with AgnL

ObPiining life immortal : Agni alone, it is said, was originally immortal, and the other Qoda obtained immortality through him. See Rigveia V. 3. 4; VI. 7. 4 ; VII. 13. 2. According to other texts (Bigveda IV. 54, 2, and IX. 106. 8), immortality is conferred on them by Savitar and by Soma. The whole of this Book has been trans-

Bless us the Waters ! be the I^ants auspicious ! May Indra's thunderbolt drive off the demons. Far

For length of life, for mighty joy, uninjured, ever

Amulet of a thousand powers, Jangi^a save us,

This overcomes Vishkandha, thisl chases the greedy

With Jangi^a that brings delight. Amulet given by

May Cannabis and Jangija preserve me from Vish-

This Amulet destroys the might of magic and malign-

Ikdra, be gracious, drive thou forth, come, hero,

O Indra, even as one athirst, fill thee with meath as 'twere from heaven. Sweet-toned, the raptures of this juice have come to thee as to the lignt.

Swift-conquering Indra, Mitra-like, smote, as a Yati,

O Indra, let the juices enter thee. Fill full thy belly,

Cannabis : ^and ; hemp ; Cannabis Sativa. The saps of husbandry : the moisture of the cultivated and irrigated soil. The hemp, on the other hand, grows without cultivation.

He slew the Dragon lying on the mountain : his

Impetuous as a bull he chose the Soma, and quaffed the juices in three sacred beakers. Maghavan grasped the thunder for his weapon, and smote to death this first-born of the dragons.

Half-tears and seasons strengthen thee, O Agni, the years, and all the Verities, and Rishis !

Kindle thee, Agni, and make this man prosper : rise

These Brdhmans have elected thee, O Agni : be thou

Seize, Agni, on thy power and firmly hold it : contend

Past those who i^lay, past enemies, past thoughtless

r'Jn three sacred beakera : trikculrukeshu; according to S4yana, at the ihree sacrifices called Jyotis, Gauh, and Ayus, the first three days of the Abhiplava festival: 'and quaffed in threefold sacrifice the juices.' Maghavan : the Bounteous One (Indra).

Hated by sinners, sprung from Gods, this Plant that

All curses of a rival, each curse of a female relative, Curse uttered by an angry priest, all these we tread

Spread on the surface of the earth, downward from

Guard on all sides this woman, guard my children,

The first line of the stanza is in the Anushtup metre : the rest of the hymn is Trishtup.

Twin Stars of happy on^en, flamed Heleasers^ have

Vanish this Night, extinct in Dawn ! Let those who weave their spells depart. So let the plague-destroying Plant remove inherited disease.

With straw of barley tawny-brown in colour with its silvery ears, with stalk and stem of Sesamum — So let the plague-destroying Plant remove inherited disease. 4r Let homage to thy ploughs be paid^ our homage to the pole and yokes.

Betntchei us ; dread of the etil eye (cbashm-i-bad) is still as prevalent in India, especially among wotfien, as it is, and has been f roih early times, in Italy — especially in the southern parts — where the reputation of being a jettatore or jettatrice (caster of the evil eye) brings ostracism and social ruin upon people even of the highest rank.

Frkb this man^ Dasavriksha ! from the demon, from

He hath arisen and come once more, rejoined the

He hath retarned to consciousness, rejoined the

The Gods, the Brahman-priests, and plants observed

Let him who made it also heal : he, truly, is the

Men with blinking eyest farm-labourers who have Worked till they

From family sickness, kinsmen's curse. Destruction,

Gracious to thee be Agni with the Waters, let Soma

Hundred leeches are in tlUs: the amulet possesses the healing power of a hundred physicians and a thousand medicinal herbs.

Brahman-prieBtB : priests versed in sacred knowledge who super- vise and direct the sacritice.

him who made it : probably the God to whom the origin of the amulet, that is, the wood of which it was made, is attributed. With a leech : the amulet contains in itself (st. 3) the powers of a hundred physicians and a thousand healing herbs, so the God when he gives it supplies both leech and medicine. The instrumental hhishdjd, with a

Thou hast been freed from Phthisis and from trouble,

Joy hast thou found, and left ill-will behind thee:

The Gods have freed ft*om sinfulness, redeeming the

Dart against dart, destroyer of destruction, thou art

Sraktya art thou, an Amulet art thou, a counter- charm of spells. Reach thy superior, thou ; surpass thine equal. S Use spells against the man we hate, against the man who hateth us. Reach thy superior, thou ; surpass thine equal

A prince art thou, giver of speech, thou art our bodies' strong defence. Reach thy superior, thou ; surpass thine equal.

Fulgent art thou^ and splendid, thou art heavenly lustre, thou art light. Reach thy supenQr, thou ; surpass thine equal,

BedeenUng the Sun^ the Lavf^ : i^ the Qods haye rescued the Sim from eclipse and preserved the Order of the Upiverse from the fiend^s attack, so they have absolved thee from sin. The Sim, and the Li^Wi are introduced merely by way of illustration.

Thb spacious Firmament, and Earth and Heaven,

Listen to this, ye Gods who merit worship. Hymns here are suDg for me by Bharadv^ja^ Bound in the noose may he be doomed to trouble whoever mars this that our mind hath purposed.^ S Hear this my call, O Indra, Soma-drin]jier, as with a burning heayt I oft invoke thee.

Hatchet : here a^ain Web^r sees an allusioQ to the heated i^xe used in the ordeal by fire : but qotbing more than an illustration se^ms to l^ intended.

Together with thrice-eighty S&ma-singers, Angirases,

O Heaven and Earth, regard me with your favour,

Whoever either scorns us, O ye Maruts, or blames

Thy sevenfold vital breath, thine eight marrows

In J&tavedas' kindled flame I set the place assigned to thee. Let fire consume thy body, and thy voice go to the general breath.

Strength-giver, winning lengthened life, O Agni, with face and back shining with molten butter,

For us surround him, cover him with splendour, give

Thou for our weal hast clothed thee in the mantle :

Shall become a stone: firm and strong to endure: of. I. 2. 2: * Make my body stone.'

So may the Universal Gods protect thee, whom we divest of raiment worn aforetime. So after thee^ welKformed and growing stroager, be born a multitude of thriving brothers,

The general breath : to the element to which it belongs ; like to like.

* Forth from the ball the bold, the shai'p, the greedy one, the single-voiced, Sad&nv^, and all progeny of Chan^a we exterminate.

We drive you forth from cattle-shed, from axle, from \A ithin the waiq,

May Bhiitapati drive away, and Indra, the Sadftnv^s

Whether ye be of farm and field, or whether ye lie

The Univertml Oods : the Viflive Dev&h, Visvedevas, or All-Qods. Thriving brothen : the youth is apparently an only son.

As Heaven and Earth are not afraid, and never suffer

Magwidi : a female eyil spirit not mentioned elsewhere : perhaps the wife of Cha^da and mother of his progeny.

ArdifU : female fiends aqd night-haga : see I. 28. 4. Doum below : in the darkness of the nether world : or, possibly, the house of aik enemy lower down the hill is intended. YdtmthdnU : or, sorceresses, see I. 8. 1.

BMUapaH: lord of creatures, especially of ghosts and evil spirits. The name is applied to Rudra, Agni, Bhava, and Sarva.

By men : by human sorcerers. Spmngfrom Da$yu race : originat- ing from, and sent by, fiends.

As What Hath Been and What Shall Be fear not,

Guard me from death, Inhaling and Exhaling f All bliss to you !

Guard me from overhearing. Earth and Heaven ! All

Do thou, O Siirya, with thine eye protect me t All

Br/ihmanhood and Princely Power: hrdkma and Jnkairdm; priests and nobles.

Preserve me with all care, O All-Sustainer ! All

Power art thou, give me power. All hail !

Might art thou, give me might. All hail !

Strength art thou, give me strength. All hail !

Life art thou, give me life. All hail !

Ear art thou, give me hearing ! Hail !

Eye art thou, give me eyes. All hail !

Shield art thou, shield me well. All hail I

Destruction of the foe art thou, give me the scaring of my foes. All hail 1

The rival's ruiner art thou, give me to drive my

Arayts* ruiner art thou, give me to drive Ar&yis

Pisdchas* ruiner art thou, give me to drive Pis4chas

Sad&nv&s' ruiner art thou, give me to drive Saddnv&s

Burn thou, O Agni, with that heat of thine against the man who hates Us, whom we hate.

Flame thou, O Agni, with that flame of thine against

Shine out, O Agni, with that sheen of thine against

Blaze thou, O Agni, with that blaze of thine against

O Agni, With the splendour that is thine darken the

O Serabhaka, Serabha, back fall your arts of witchery ! Bacl^, Kimidins I let your weapon ^11.

Sevridhaka, O Sevridha, back fall your arts of witchery! Back, Kimidins! let your weapon fall, etc.

O Mroka, Anuinroka, back return your arts of

O Sarpa, Anusarpa, back return your arts of witchery I

Back fall your witcheries, Jiiroi I back your weapon,

Back fall your spells, Upabdi! back your weapon,

Back fall your witchcrafts, Arjun!! your weapon,

Back, O BbarCijl! fall your charms, your weapon,

The Goddess Frisnipari^i hath blest us, aod troubled

Victorious in the olden time this Prisnipar9l was brought forth : With her I cleave, as 'twere a bird's, the head of the Detestables.

The hateful fiend who drinks the blood, and him

Drive and imprison in a hill these Ka^vas harassers

Drive thou away these KaQvas, drive the harassers

Let them come borne^ the cattle that have wandered, whom V^yu hath delighted to attend un,

Let the beasts stream together to this cow-pen.

Together stream the cattle! stream together horses

I pour together milk of kine, with butter blending

Hither I bring the milk of cows, hither have brought

Let not the enemy win the cause ! Strong and pre- dominant art thou.

The strong-winged bird discovered thee, the boar

Yea, Indra laid thee on his arm, to oast the Asuras

Indra devoured the PAt4 plant that he might lay the

With this I overcome my foes as Indra overcame the

O Rudra, Lord of Healing Balms, dark-crested,

Indra, defeat the speech of him who meets us with

This Child, Old Age 1 shall grow to meet thee only : none of the hundred other deaths shall harm him.

Mitra or Varupa the foe-destroyer, accordant, grant him death in course of nature! Thus Agni, Hotar-priest, skilled in high statutes, declareth all the deities' generations.

Let Heaven thy father and let Earth thy mother,

With this : according to D jlrila, the speaker chews the root of the plant, and wears a garland made of seven of its leaves. 2'he wolves : MAvriMn ; according to Saja^ia, wild dogs. The word seems to mean any canine animal of prey. Here perhaps fiends who had assumed the shapes of wolves or hyenas are meant.

Lord of Healing Balms: see I. 19. 3. The verb, Refute, in the second line may perhaps refer to Rudra.

Gods, give him all that earth hath best with bodily

Bestow thou life on him, O J4tavedas. Store him

May this our prayer bring strength and goodly offspring.

A hundred winters : regarded as the natural duration of hitman life : see I. 35. 1.

Ye twain endowed with vigour, grant him vigour.

With health-bestowing drops thine heart I comfort :

Erst Indra, wounded, made this strengthening potion,

With Indra's mighty millstone, that which crushes

The Seen and the Invisible, and the KurAru have I crushed : AlS^^dus, and all Ghhalunas, we bruise to pieces with our spell.

I kill Aldndus with a mighty weapon : burnt or not

Lef what w htward turn outside : let her mini be thoroughly-

Worms that are found on mountains,, in the forests^

Uprising let the Sun destroy, and when he sinketh,

The four-eyed worm, of every shape, the variegated,

With a mighty weapon : with incantation, whicb is elsewhere can- ed a vajra or thunderbolt: see VI. 134. 1 sqq. and 135. 1. Burnt or not burnt : fire £^>pears to be used in the procedure prescribed in the

Avaskava and Borer: two other unidentified species of worms which attack the body of man. Of worms, external and internal, there are said to be twentj varieties, eadk of which has a particular name : see Wise, Hindu System of Medicine,, j^, 348 — 360.

The worms that infest the human body having been disposed of^ the charm is directed against those which attadL trees, {^ants, and cat- tle. So, even at the present day, in the rural porishea near Quebec the priests utter incantations over the potato-buga and grasshoppers* (Harper's New Monthly Magazine, June 1893, p. 106).

I break in pieces both thy horns wherewith thou

In every member, every hair, in every joint wherein

Mat this, of all the beasts that Pasupati rules, Lord

Loosing the seed of future-time existence, give good success, O Gods, to him who worships. May what is present, duly brought, the victim, go to the deities' beloved region.

Those who are looking, deep in meditation, on the

Tame animals of every shape, though varied in

Let those who know receive before all others the vital breath proceeding frem the body. Go to the sky. Stay there with all thy members. By paths which Gods have travelled go to Svarga.

We who enjoying it have grown no richer, for whom

Ilishis have called the sacrifice's patron amerced through sin, sorrowing for his offspring. Those drops of meath whereof he missed enjoyment, — may Visvakarman with those drops unite us.

Tho^t who are looking : other animals, relatives and friends of the victim. Agni, or the Sacrificial Fire, is asked to divert and free them from their sad thoughts. Vimzkarman : the Onmific ; the Creator of All ; here probably an appellative of Agni.

Alike in nature: all being domestic and sacrificial animals* Prajdpati : Lord of Creatures ; here probably an appellative of Ykju,

Those who know : the Gods in heaven. Go to the sky r to Svarga or heaven : see note on stanza 2. According to the Kauiika^dtra XLl V. 15, the victim is slaughtered — it» vital breath ia stopped — as thia fitanza is recited.

To please us may the suitor come, O Agni, seeking this maid and bringing us good ifbrtune.

A s bliss beloved by Soma, dear to Prayer, and stored

0 Agni, may this woman find a husband. Then veri-

As this lair, Maghavan ! that is fair to look on was

Mount up, embark on Bhaga's ship, the full, the

Call out to him, O Lord of Wealth ! Make thou the

Here is the Bdellium and the gold, the Auksha and

Savitar: the Sun ; regarded as the universal vivifieT who' will bless the bride : ' Happy is the bride whom the Sun shines on.' The second mayatu of the second line is evidently an interpolation ; and the last superfluous pida also seems to be a later addition, as no Plant has been mentioned in the preceding stanzas.