Kāṇḍa 8 — Hymns on sickness, death, kingship

Homage to Death the Ender! May thy breathings, inward and outward, still remain within thee.

Bhaga hath lifted up this man, and Soma with his

Here is thy spirit, here thy breath, here is thy life,

Up from this place, O man, rise! sink not downward,

Purely for thee breathe Wind and MAtarisvan,

Upward must be thy way, O man, not downward :

Let not thy soul go thither, nor be lost to us : slight

Yearn not for the departed ones, for those who lead

Let not the black dog and the brindled seize thee,

Forbear to tread this path, for it is awful : that path

Thy guardians be the Fires within the Waters,

Let not the Flesh-Consumer plot against thee:

May Vigilance and Watchfulness protect thee, Sleep-

Let these be thy preservers, these thy keepers.

May saving Savitar, Vdyu, Indra, Dh&tar restore

Let not the fiend with snapping jaws, nor darkness find

The Sky hath raised thee, and the Earth, Praj4pati

Here let this man, O Gods, remain : let him not go

I have delivered thee from Death. Strength-givers

I have attained and captured thee : thou hast return-

Life hath breathed on thee ; light hath come : dark-

Seize to thyself this trust of life for eyer : thine be

Come to the light of living men, come hither :

Thy breath have I recovered from the Wind, thy

I blow upon thee with the breath of bipeds and

Let this man live, let him not die : we raise him,

Here for sound health I invocate a living animating

Seize him not, but encourage and elease him : here

Comfort him, Death, and pity him : let him arise

May the Gods' missile pass thee by. I bring thee safe

Saving him from that misty path of thine which cannot be defied. From that descent of thine, 0 Death, we make for him a shield of prayer.

Far oflf we drive Malignity, Destruction, PisAchas

I win thy life from Agni, from the living everlasting

Gracious to thee be Heaven and Earth, bringing qo

Auspicious be the Plants to thee! I have upraised

Whatever robe to cover thee or zone thou makest for

When, with a very keen and cleansing razor, our hair

Auspicious unto thee be rice and barley, causing no

Thy food, thy drink, whatever they be, corn grown by

We give thee over as a charge to Day and Night,

A hundred, yea, ten thousand years we give tbee,

To Autumn we deliver tbee, to Winter, Spring, and

Death is the lord of bipeds. Death is sovran lord of

Thou, still uninjured, shalt not die : be not afraid ;

Here verily all creatures live, the cow, the horse, the

Live very long, be healthy, be immortal : let not the

One and a hundred modes of death, dangers that may

Body of Agni prompt to save, slayer of fiends and

I BALM with oil the mighty demon-slayer, to the most

O J4tavedas, armed with teeth of iron, enkindled

Apply thy teeth, the upper and the lower, thou who

Pierce through the YditudhAna's skin, O Agni ;

Where now thou seest, Agni J&tavedas! a YAtudhdna,

Bending thy shafts through sacrifices, Agni ! dipping

Rescue the captives also, JMavedas ! yea, those whom

Here tell this forth, O Agni : whosoever is, he

With keen glance guard the sacrifice, O Agni : thou

Look on the fiend, 'mid men, as Man-Beholder :

Thrice, Agni, let thy noose surround the demon who

Agni, what curse the pair this day may utter, what

With fervent heat exterminate the demans : destroy

May Gods destroy to-day the evil-doer: may uttered

The fiend who smears himself with flesh of cattle^

Let the fiends steal the poison of the cattle : may

The cow gives milk each year, O Man-Beholder :

Agni, from days of old thou slayest demons : never

Guard us, O Agni, from above and under, protect u»

From rear, from front, from under, from above us,

Lend thou the worshipper that eye, O Agni, where-

We set thee round us as a fort, victorious Agni !

With deadly poison strike thou back the treacherous

Agni shines far and wide with lofty splendour,

Thy two unwasting horns, O J4tavedas, keen-pointed

Bright, radiant, meet to be adored, immortal with

Upon the strong is bound the strong, this magic cord,

This Charm, foe-slayer, served by many heroes, strong,

With this same Amulet wise Indra routed the

May this encircling magic cord, this Amulet of

This Agni hath declared, Soma declared it, Brihas-

Whoever for his armour takes an amulet of the

With Amulet of Sr4ktya wood, as with a thoughtful

All witchcraft of Angirases, all witchcraft wrought

May the Gods bind the Charm on him for armour,

Thou art the chief of all the plants, even as a bull

No mortal beings slay him, no Gandharvas, no

Katsyapa formed and fashioned thee, Kasyapa raised

Whoever would destroy thee with DikshA-rites,

Verily let this Amulet, circular, potent, conquering, Happy and fortunate defence, preserve thy children

Brave Indra, set before us light, peace and security

My coat of mail is Heaven and Earth, my coat of

Not all the Gods may pierce, all leagued together,

Lot the Gods' Charm be bound on me to keep me

In this let Indra lay a store of valour : approach

Lord of the clan who brings us bliss, fiend-slayer,

Let neither fiend of evil name^ Alifisa, Vatsapa, desire

Pal41a, Anupal&la, Sarku> Koka, Malimlucha, Falijaka, Vavrivdsas and Asresha, l^^ikshagriva and Pramilin.

Approach not, come not hither ward : creep not thou

Darnim& and Sun&m& both are eager to converse with

The black and hairy Asura, and Stambaja and

Sniffer, and Feeler, him who eats raw flesh, and him

Whoever steals to thee asleep or thinks to harm thee when awake, — These hath it banished, as the Sun travelling round drives shade away.

Whoever causeth her to lose her ehfld or bear un- timely fruit,— Destroy him, O thou Plant, destroy the slippery fiend who lusts for her.

Those who at evening, with the bray of asses, danoe

Kukundhas and Kuk^rabhas who dress themselves

All those who cannot bear the Sun who warms us

All those who on their shoulders bear a head of

Those, bearing horns upon their hands, who first of

Those who have retroverted toes, and heels and faces

Sightless and with distorted eyes, impotent, woman-

The Bristly-haired, the Maniac-haired, the Biter, and

If one should touch thy coming babe or kill thine

Those who kill infants unawares, and near the new-

Let it maintain the genial seed : let the laid embryo

TAm />»7/ar ; this protective amulet.

Prom the- five-footed,, fingerless^ from the four-eyed^

Shy slinkers from the Sui>, as slinks a woman* from her husband's sire, — Deep down into the heart of these let Baja and let Pinga pierce.

Egg-eaters ; fiends who de^^our the unborn babe. Cf. II. 25. 4..

Sterility, and infants'^ d)eath^ and weepings that an- nouQceth wooj — Dear I lay them, oa the fiend as thou wouldst pluek a garland from a tree.

Pinga, preserve the babe at birth, make not the boy a female child. Let not Egg-eaters mar the germs : drive the Kiml- dins far away.

The tawny-coloured, and the pale, the variegated, and the red,

This man let them deliver from Consumption which the Gods have sent. The father of these Herbs was Heaven, their mother Earth, the Sea their root.

I speak to Healing Herbs spreading, and bushy, to

The conquering strength, the power and might which

The living Plant that giveth life, that driveth malady

Hitherward let the sapient come, the friendly sharers

Germ of the Waters, Agni's food. Plants ever grow-

Let Plants whose soul is water, girt with Avak&s,

Strong, antidotes of poison, those releasers, free from

Sweet is their root, sweet are these Plants' top

These IMants that grow upon the earth, whate'er

May the Plants' Tiger-amulet, proteotive^ guardiaa

Before the gathered Plants they fly and scatter^ as

Vanatpati : lord of the wood ; here the Soma Plant.

May these be pleasant to our heart, auspieiotts^ rich

The Plants I know myself, the plants that with mine

Let all the congr^ated Plants attend and mark nune

Asvattha, Datbha, King of Plants, i& Soma, death-^

Lift yourselves up, ye Healing Plants, loud is the

We give the essence of that stream of nectar to this

Well doth the wild boar know a Plant, the mungoose

Plants of Angirases which hawks, celestial Plants

The multitude of herbs whereon the Cows whom none

Hitherward unto thee I bring the Plants that cure

Let Plants with flower and Plants with bud, the

From the Five-afrowed, from the Ten-arrowed have I delivered thee, Freed thee from Yama's fetter and from all ofiFence against the Gods.

Indra the Shaker shake them up, brave, hero, fort-

Let PAtirajju with her breath corrupt and putrefy

Asvattha, rend those men ; do thou devour them

Let Parush&hva make them reeds, and let the bul-

Air was the net ; the poles thereof were the great

Verily mighty is the net of mighty Sakra rich in

Great is thy net, brave Indra, thine the mighty^

This world so mighty was the net of Sakra, of the

Great weakness and misfortune, pain which words

I give those foemen up to Death : bound in the bonds

Bear them away. Death's messengers! envoys of

Forth go the S4dhyas in their might bearing one net-

The Visve Devas from above shall come depressing

Trees of the forest, trees that bear flower and fruit,

Gandharvas, and Apsarases, Gods, Serpents, Fathers,

Here spread are snares of Death wherefrom thou,

The Gharma hath been warmed with fire : this Homa

Their portion be the fire of Death, hunger, exhaus-

Fly, conquered, in alarm, ye foes, run driven by the

Down fall their weapons on the ground : no strength

Let Heaven and Earth roar out in wrath against

The mules of the Gods' car are heaven's four quarters;

Year is the car. Full Year the seat for driving, Vir4j

Hence conquer, conquer. Hail ! be thou the victor !

Five-arrowed : this and Ten-arrowed appear to be fanciful epithets of fever or other severe disease personified.

Whence were these two produced? which was that region ? From what world, from which earth had they their being ?

He who prepared a threefold home, and lying there

Which are the three, the mighty three, whereof the

Out of the Brihat as the sixth five Samans have been

On measure Brihati is based> and measure on the

VaisvA^nara's image is the sky above us, so far ai»

We, Kaisyapa! six present Rishis, ask thee — for thoit

+ 8 + 12 + 8.

Breathless, she moves by breath of living creatures.

Who hath perceiyed Vir&j's duplication, perceived

She here who first of all sent forth her lustre moves

Both Dawns on wings of song, with rich adornment,

The three have passed along the path of Order —

She who was fourth was made by Agni, Soma, and

Pive milkings answer to the fivefold dawning, five

Six Elements arose, first-born of Order: the six-day

They call the cold months six, and six the hot ones.

Seven are the Homas, seven the logs for burning,

Seven metres, by four syllables increasing, each of

How hath the G^yatri filled out three triads ? On the

Eight Elements sprang up, first born 6f Order : the

So planning bliss for you have I come hither to win

To Indra eight, to Yama six, seven to the Rishis,

The Heifer, all his own, poured forth for Indra control

Who is the Cow ? Who is the Single Rishi ? What

One is the Cow, one is the Single Spirit, one is the law, single are benedictions. The Spirit dwelling on the earth is single : the Single Season never is transcended.

VirAj at first was I'his. At birth all feared her ; the thought, She will become this All, struck terror.

She rose, the GArbapatya fire she entered. He who

She mounted up, the Eastward fire she entered.

She mounted up, the Southward fire she entered.

She mounted up, she entered the Assembly. He

She mounted up, she passed within the meeting. He

She mounted up, she entered Consultation. Whoso

She mounted up, and, into four divided, she took

Of her the Gods and men said, This she knoweth.

Thus did they cry to her :

Come, Strength! come. Food ! come, Charmer ! come,

Her calf, her well-belovfed calf, was Indra : G&yatrl

Two teats she had, Rathantara and Brihat, two,

With the Rathantara the Gods milked from her the

They drew the Waters forth with Vdrtiadevya, with

For him who ki>oweth this, Rathantara poureth tjut

Waters from V4madevya comej from Yajnayajniya

She rose, she came unto the trees: they icilled ber.

She mounted up, she came unto the Fathers : they

She rose, she came unto the Gods : they killed her ;

She mounted up, she came to men : they killed her.

She rose, approached the Asuras : they called her :

She mounted up, she came unto the Fathers. The

She mounted up, she came to men. They called her,

She rose, she came unto the Seven Rishis. They

She rose, approached the Apsarases and Gandharvas.

She mounfted up, she came to Other People. They

She mounted op, she came unto the Serpents. The

One would ward off, for him who bath this know-

And did he not repel, if in his spirit he said^ I drive

The poison that it drives away, that poison verily

The man who hath this knowledge pours its venom