Kāṇḍa 3 — Charms for prosperity, royal power

Let the wise Agni go against our foemen, burning

Mighty are ye for such a deed, O Maruts^ Go for-

O Maghavan, O Indra, thou who slayest fiends, and,

Shot down the slope, with thy two tawny coursers,

Indra, bewilder thou the foemen's army.

Let Indra daze their army. Let the Maruts slay it with their might. Let Agni take their eyes away, and let the conquered host retreat.

Mat Agni, he who knows, our envoy, meet them»

This Agni hath bewildered all the senses that were

Dazing their senses, Indra, come hither ward with

Vanish, ye hopes and plans of theirs, be ye con-

Bewildering the senses of our foemen, seize on their

Let Indra daze their army: this and the following hymn are classed in the Eausika-Sdtra with mokandni^ ma^cal charms for stupe- fying and bewildering an enemy.

Loudly he roared. Here let him labour deftly.

Though he be far away, let the red horses bring

King Varuija call thee hither from the waters 1 Prom

May the hawk bring the man who must be summoned,

Let thine opponents call thee back. Thy friends

He who disputes our calling thee, be he a stranger

To thee hath come the kingship with its splendour : On ! shine as lord, sole ruler of the people.

The tribesmen shall elect thee for the kingship, these five celestial regions shall elect thee. Rest on the height and top of kingly power : thence as a mighty man award us treasures.

Kinsmen, inviting thee, shall go to meet thee, with

First shall the Asvins, Varuna and Mitra, the Uni-

Thy friends Tiave chosen thee again : other passages also in the Atharva-yeda show that the kingship was sometimes elective : see the following hymn, stama 2, and V. 19. 16, and VI. 87, 88. Cf. also Bigveda X. 173. 1.

Pass to the tribes of men O Indra, Indra. Thou

The Bounteous Paths in sundry forms and places,

This Parna- Amulet hath come, strong and destroy- ing with its strength my rivals.

O Parija- Amulet, in me set firmly might and opulence. Witbin the compass of my rule may I be rooted and

That dear mysterious Amulet which Gods have set

As Indra's gift, by Varupa instructed, Par^a hath

The Par^a-Charm hath come to me for great securi-

Sagacious builders of the car, clever and skilful arti-

The kings and makers of the kings, troop-leaders,

Thou, Par^a, art my body's guard, man kin by birth

Masculine springs from masculine, Asvattha grows

Crush down my foes, Asvattha! Rend, O BursteiTy those who storm and rage, With Indra, slayer of the fiends, with Mitra and with Varu^a.

As thou hast rent : the Khadira tree. In the mighty sea : in the topmost branches that waved in the ocean of air.

Thou who like some yictorious bull displayest thy

Hath eome to me: or, literally, bath mounted me, that is, probably, been fastened round my neck.

Builders of the car: the rathakdrah, wheelwright, carpenter, chariot-maker, was held in high honour in the village community ; and as the builder of his war-chariots was on terms of friendly intimacy with the king. He was moreover regarded as the representative of the Ribhus, those ancient artificers whose wondrous skill obtained for

Makers of the kings : the influential nobles who set the king on his throne. Masters of the horse : sUtdh ; charioteers. In Vedic times these were royal officers of considerable importance, and iu the Epic period they were also the heralds of the king.

As thou hast rent and torn apart, Asvattha t in th,e mighty sea, So rend asunder all those men who hate me and whom I detest.

Let Mitra come, arranging, with the Seasons, lulling the Earth to rest with gleams of splendour.

May Indra, Tvashtar hear my word with favour, may Dhdtar, R4ti, Savitar accept it.

Soma I call, and Savitar with homage, and all the

Here, verily, may you stay : go ye no farther. The

It seems that the patient — probably a child — was bathed at this

I with my spirit seize and hold your spirits. Follow

The ceremony lasts till sunrise, when the patient is supposed to

Heaven is the sire, the mother Earth, of Karsapha

The bands hold fast without a knot : this is the way

7'his fire : the saorifioial fire in which oblations to the invoked deities are offered.

May you $tay : the kinsmen are addressed. The strong Herd :. P£ishan, the guardian of flocks and herds, and giver of general prosperity, l^his man: the householder who recites the preceding and the following stanzas, this stanza being spoken by one of the officiating priests.

Yea, I will chide thee to thy shame, I will disgrace

One and one hundred over ei^rth are the Vishkandhas

The First hath dawned. With Yama may it be a

May she whom Gods accept with joy, Night who

Thou whom with reverence we approach, O Night,

This same is she whose light first dawned upon us :

Loud was the wooden press-gear's ring and rattle,

The shrine of I1& flows with oil and fatness : accept,

Come thou to nourish me and make me prosper.

This Year hath come to us, thy lord and consort,

The Seasons, and the Seasons' Lords I worship,

I oflTer to the Seasons, to their several groups,

With fatness and libation we sacrifice and adore the

Ek&shtak&, burning with zealous fervour, brought

Indra's and Soma's mother! thou art daughter of

Here, even here I fix my firm-set dwelling: flowing

Even here, O House, stand thou on firm foundation,

A spacious store, O House, art thou, full of clean

This House may Savitar and Vdyu stablish, Brihas-

Queen of the Home 1 thou, sheltering, kindly God-

Thou Pole, in ordered fashion mount the pillar.

To this the tender boy hath come, to this the calf

Bring hitherward, O dame, the well-filled pitcher,

Water that kills Consumption, free from all Consump- tion, here I bring. With Agni, the immortal one, I enter and possess the house.

As TE, when Ahi had been slain, flowed forth toge- ther with a roar,

As driven forth by Varu^a ye swiftly urged your

Indra restrained you with his might. Goddesses,

One only God set foot on you flowing according

Water is good, water indeed is fatness. Agni and

Then verily, I see, yea, also hear them : their sound

Here, O ye Waters, is your heart. Here is your

The householder now enters and takes formal possession of the house with water and fire, the two most important necessaries of human life.

A Pen wherein to dwell at ease, abundance and pros- perity,

May Aryaman pour gifts on you, and PAshan, and

Moving together, free from fear, with plenteous

Come hither, to this place, O Cows : here thrive as

Auspicious be this stall to you. Prosper like culti-

Follow me, Cows, as master of the cattle. Here may this Cow-pen make you grow and prosper. Still while we live may we approach you living, ever increasing with the growth of riches.

I STIR and animate the merchant Indra : may he approach and be our guide and leader.

The many paths which Gods are wont to travel, the paths which go between the earth and heaven, May they rejoice with me in milk and fatness that I may make rich profit by my purchase.

Pardon this stubbornness of ours, O Agni, the dis-

The wealth wherewith I carry on my traffic, seeking,

Approach : the word lipasadema implying careful attention to the wants of the cows.

With reverence we sing thy praise, O Hotar-priest

With fuel, Agni 1 and with butter, longing, mine oflfering I present for strength and conquest ; With prayer, so far as I have strength, adoring— this holy hymn to gain a hundred treasures.

Agni at dawn, and Indra we invoke at dawn, and Varuija and Mitra, and the Asvins twain :

We call strong Bhaga, conqueror in the morning,

Bhaga, our guide, Bhaga whose gifts are faithful,

So may felicity be ours at present, and when the

May Bhaga verily be biiss-bestower, and through

To this our sacrifice may the Dawns incline them,

May the kind Mornings dawn on us for ever with

Wise and devoted to the Gods the skilful men bind

Lay on the yokes and fasten well the traces : formed

The keen-shared plough that bringeth bliss, furnished

May Indra press the furrow down, may Piishaa

Happily let the shares turn up the ploughland, the

Happily work our steers and men ! May the plough

: its second hemistich, which is a solemn formula, occurs also in Atharva-veda III. 10. 1.

Auspicious Slt4, come thou near : we venerate and

lioved by the Visvedevas and the Maruts, let Sltft be bedewed with oil and honey. Turn thou to us with wealth of milk, O Sita, in vigorous strength and pouring streams of fatness.

From out the earth I dig this Plant, an herb of most

Auspicious, with expanded leaves, sent by the Gods,

Indeed he hath not named her name : thou with this

Stronger am I, O stronger one, yea, mightier than

I am the conqueror, and thou, thou also art victori-

I've girt thee with the conquering Plant, beneath

With oil and honey : some clarified butter with honey or meath was, it seems, poured into the first furrow to secure a good crop.

Quickened is this my priestly rank, quickened is

I quicken these men's princely sway, the might, the

Down fall the men, low let them lie, who fight

Keener than is the axe's edge, keener than Agni's

The weapons of these men I whet and sharpen, with

According to Darila, with the recitation of the first hemistich leaves of the magical plant are to be placed in the bed of the rival,

Advance and be victorious, men ! Exceeding mighty

Loosed from the bowstring fly away, thou Arrow,

This is thine ordered place of birth whence sprung to

Turn hither, Agni, speak to us, come to us with a

Let Aryaman vouchsafe us wealth, and Bhaga, and

We call King Soma to our aid, and Agni with our

Do thou, O Agni, with thy fires strengthen our

Both Indra here and V4yu we invoke with an aus-

Urge Aryaman to send us gifts, and Indra, and

Now have we reached the ordering of power, and all

May heaven's five spacious regions pour their milk

May speech that winneth cows be mine. With

All Fires that are in water and in Vritra, all those that man and stones contain within them,

That which abides in Soma and in cattle, that which

The Fire that rideth by the side of Indra, the God

The all-devouring God whom men call K&ma,

To thee, strength-giver^ glorious, rich in pleasant

To him who feeds on ox and cow, sage, bearing

All fiery flames that follow after lightning, flashing

The golden-handed Savitar and Indra, Brihaspati,

Flesh-eating Agni is appeased, appeased is he who hurteth men. Now him who burneth every thing, the Flesh-con- 8umer> have I stilled.

The mountains where the Soma grows, the waters lying calm and still, Vdta, Parjanya, Agni'fe self have made the Flesh- consumer rest.

Famed be the Elephant's strength, the lofty glory, which out of Aditi's body took existence 1

On this have Mitra, Varuija, Indra, and Rudra fixed

The strength wherewith the Elephant was dowered,

The lofty strength which sacrifice brings, J&tavedas I

Far as the heavens' four regions spread, far as the

Now hath the Elephant become chief of all pleasant

Agn^B ulfi the fire having done its work and almost burnt itself out, y&ta and Parjanya, or wind and rain, having aided its extinction.

From thee we banish and expel the cause of thy

As arrow to the quiver, so let a male embryo enter thee. Then from thy side be born a babe, a ten-month child, thy hero son.

Bring forth a male, bring forth a son. Another male

With that auspicious genial flow wherewith steers

Far as the heavens* four regions spread : let the possession of so mighty an elephant make me supreme ruler over all around me as far as the distant horizon.

May those celestial herbs whose sire was Heaven,.

Thk {dants of earth are rich in milk, and rich in milk is this my word.

Him who is rich in milk I know. Abundant hath be made our corn.

All the five regions of the heavens, all the five races

Open the well with hundred streams, exhaustless,

O Hundred-handed, gather up. O Thousand-hand-

Three sheaves are the Gandharvas' claim, the lady of

Adding and Gathering are thy two attendantsy O Praj&pati. May they bring hither increase, wealth abandant, inexhaustible.

^ Let the Impeller goad thee on. Rest not in peace upon thy bed. Terrible is the shaft of Love: therewith I pierqe thee to the heart.

That arrow winged with longing thought, its stem Desire, its neck Resolve, Let K&ma, having truly aimed, shoot forth and pierce thee in the heart.

Ye Gods who dwel^ within this westward region,

Pierced through with fiercely-burning heat, steal to

Away from mother and from sire I drive thee hither

Mitra and Varu^a, expel all thought and purpose

Adding and Gathering: Upoh^ and Samiihi, names given to the two industrious goblins. Attendant^ or treasurers \ keepers an^ distributors of thy riches in the shape of com. 0 Prajdpati : the Protector of Life being closely connected with the harvest which sup- ports it.

AoNi is regent of the East, its warder is Asita, the

Indra is regent of the South, its warder Tiraschir&ji,

Of the West region Varu^a is ruler, PridAku warder,

Soma is ruler of the Western region, Svaja the

Vishnu is ruler of the firm-set region, Kalm&shagrlva

UpmoH region : the highest point of the heaven overhead, the senith.

This cow was born to bring forth offspring singly, though they created kine of every colour.

She brings destruction on the beasts^ turned to a

Be thou auspicious to our folk, bring luck to horses

Let there be rain and increase here, here be thou

Firm-set region : the nadir. See III. 26. 5« KalvUUhagriva : Spotty-neck.

Topmost region : the zenith. Svitra : White Serpent ; an un- identified species.

THE HYMSS OF {BOOK III.

When yonder kings who sit beside Yama divide among themselves the sixteenth part of hopes fulfilled,

He satisfies each hope and want, prevailing, present

He who bestows a white-hooved ram, adequate to

He who bestows a white-hooved ram, adequate to

He who bestows a white-hooved ram, adequate to

Like a refreshing draught, like sea, the mighty

Whose gift was this, and given to whom ? K&ma

May Earth receive thee as her own, and this great

Freedom from hate I bring to you, concord and

One-minded with his mother let the son be loyal to

No brother hate his brother, no sister to sister be

That spell through which Gods sever not, nor ever

Intelligent, submissive, rest united, friendly and kind,

Two Gods whose home is one : the ABvins.

Edma to Edma gives the gift : K&ma, Desire, represents both the performer of the sacrifice, who desires a commensurate return, and the God who desires to receive it. * The infinity of these mutual desires

This staHza is addressed to the worshipper by the priest who hints at the risk which he himself runs in accepting for the God an offering which may not give satisfaction, and at the gratitude which his medi-

Mat Gods release from failing strength, thou Agni,

Ma^ Favam&na free from harm, and Sakra from un-

Tame beasts have parted from wild beasts, water

Farted are heaven and earth, and paths turned to

Tvashtar prepares the bridal of his daughter ; then

Agni combines the vital airs. The Moon is closely

The Gk)ds have lifted np with breath the Sun whose

Die not. Live with the breath of those who make

Die not. Stay here. Breathe with the breath of

Rise up with life, conjoined with life, Up„ with the

We as immortal beings have arisen with Parjanya's

because he protects all creatures His daughter Ushas is the dawn. And when it is said that he was in love with her, this only means that at sunrise, the sun runs after the dawn, the dawn being at the same time called the daughter of the sun, because she rises when he ap- proaches.' See M. Mailer's History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, pp. 529, 530. The legend of Praj&pati and his daughter is related in

For life I set thee free by this oblation both from

Be his days ended, be he now departed, be he

With sacrifice hundred-eyed and hundred-powered,

Live, waxing in thy strength, a hundred autumns,

Breath, Respiration, come to him, as two car-oxen

Breath, Respiration, stay ye here. Go ye not hence

I give thee over to old age, make thee the subject of

Old age hath girt thee with its bonds even as they

Dhdtar: the Ordainer. Vtdhdtar: the Disposer. Fortune: Proa- perity, personified.

Indra* s and Soma^s mother: the laudation of the personified Ekftshtaldl or First Ashtaka here reaches its climax. ' In stanzas 3 and 8 she was called the Consort of the Year, and here she becomes the mother of two of the chief Gods and daughter of the Father of the