1

1. As 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 one, search out some other person, not ourselves! Reverence be to the takman with the burning weapon! 2. Reverence be to Rudra, reverence to the takman, reverence to the luminous king Varuna! Reverence to heaven, reverence to earth, reverence to the plants! 3. To thee here, that burnest through, and turnest all bodies yellow, to the red, to the brown, to the takman produced by the forest, do I render obeisance.

(fever), and other ailments. 1. May the protecting god kushtha come hither from the Himavant: destroy thou every takman, and all female spooks! 2. Three names hast thou, O kushtha, (namely: kushtha), na-ghâ-mâra ('forsooth-no-death'), and na-ghâ-risha ('forsooth-no-harm'). Verily no harm shall suffer (na ghâ... rishat) this person here, for whom I bespeak thee morn and eve, aye the (entire) day! 3. Thy mother's name is gîvalâ ('quickening'), thy father's name is gîvanta ('living'). Verily no harm shall suffer this person here, for whom I bespeak thee morn and eve, aye the entire day! 4. Thou art the most superior of the plants, as a steer among cattle, as the tiger among beasts of prey. Verily no harm shall stiffer this person here, for whom I bespeak thee morn and eve, aye the entire day! 5. Thrice begotten by the Sâmbu Angiras, thrice by the Âdityas, and thrice by all the gods, this kushtha, a universal remedy, stands together with soma. Destroy thou every takman, and all female spooks! 6. The asvattha-tree is the seat of the gods in the third heaven from here. There came to sight the amrita (ambrosia), there the kushtha-plant was born. 7. A golden ship with golden tackle moved upon the heavens. There came to sight the amrita, there the kushtha-plant was born. 8. On the spot where the ship glided down, on the peak of the Himavant, there came to sight the ambrosia, there the kushtha-plant was born. This kushtha, a universal remedy, stands together with soma. Destroy thou every takman, and all female spooks! 9. (We know) thee whom Ikshvâku knew of yore, whom the women, fond of kushtha, knew, whom Vâyasa and Mâtsya knew: therefore art thou a universal remedy. 10. The takman that returns on each third day, the one that cominues without intermission, and the yearly one, ao thou, (O plant) of unremitting strength, drive away down below!

headache, and cough. 1. The first red bull, born of the (cloud-)womb, born of wind and clouds, comes on thundering with rain. May he, that cleaving moves straight on, spare our bodies; he who, a single force, has passed through threefold! 2. Bowing down to thee that fastenest thyself with heat upon every limb, we would reverence thee with oblations; we would reverence with oblations the crooks and hooks of thee that hast, as a seizer, seized the limbs of this person. 3. Free him from headache and also from cough, (produced by the lightning) that has entered his every joint! May the flashing (lightning), that is born of the cloud, and born of the wind, strike the trees and the mountains! 4. Comfort be to my upper limb, comfort be to my nether; comfort be to my four members, comfort to my entire body!

1. As the-soul with the soul's desires swiftly to a distance flies, thus do thou, O cough, fly forth along the soul's course of flight! 2. As a well-sharpened arrow swiftly to a distance flies, thus do thou, O cough, fly forth along the expanse of the earth! 3. As the rays of the sun swiftly to a distance fly, thus do thou, O cough, fly forth along the flood of the sea!

1. The heavens have stood still, the earth has stood still, all creatures have stood still. The trees that sleep erect have stood still: may this disease of thine stand still! 2. Of the hundred remedies which thou hast, of the thousand that have been collected, this is the most excellent cure for discharges, the best remover of disease. 3. Thou art the urine of Rudra, the navel of amrita (ambrosia). Thy name, forsooth, is vishânakâ, (thou art) arisen from the foundation of the Fathers, a remover of diseases produced by the winds (of the body).

missiles of Rudra. 1. The arrow that Rudra did cast upon thee, into (thy) limbs, and into thy heart, this here do we now draw out away from thee. 2. From the hundred arteries which are distributed along thy limbs, from all of these do we exorcise forth the poisons. 3. Adoration be to thee, O Rudra, as thou casteth (thy arrow); adoration to the (arrow) when it has been placed upon (the bow); adoration to it as it is being hurled; adoration to it when it has fallen down!

1. Upon the head of the nimble antelope a remedy grows! He has driven the kshetriya (inherited disease) in all directions by means of the horn. 2. The antelope has gone after thee with his four feet. O horn, loosen the kshetriya that is knitted into his heart! 3. (The horn) that glistens yonder like a roof with four wings (sides), with that do we drive out every kshetriya from thy limbs. 4. The lovely twin stars, the vikritau ('the two looseners') that are yonder upon the sky, shall loosen the nethermost and the uppermost fetter of the kshetriya! 5. The waters, verily, are healers, the waters are scatterers of disease, the waters cure all disease: may they. relieve thee from the kshetriya! 6. The kshetriya that has entered into thee from the prepared (magic) concoction, for that I know the remedy; I drive the kshetriya out of thee. 7. When the constellations fade away, and when the dawn does fade away, (then) shall he shine away from us every evil and the kshetriya!

1. Born by night art thou, O plant, dark, black, sable. Do thou, that art rich in colour, stain this leprosy, and the gray spots! 2. The leprosy and the gray spots drive away from here--may thy native colour settle upon thee-- the white spots cause to fly away! 3. Sable is thy hiding-place, sable thy dwelling-place, sable art thou, O plant: drive away from here the speckled spots! 4. The leprosy which has originated in the bones, and that which has originated in the body and upon the skin, the white mark begotten of corruption, I have destroyed with my charm.

1. The pepper-corn cures the wounds that have been struck by missiles, it also cures the wounds from stabs. Anent it the gods decreed: 'Powerful to secure life this (plant) shall be!' 2. The pepper-corns spake to one another, as they came out, after having been created: 'He whom we shall find (as yet) alive, that man shall not suffer harm!' 3. The Asuras did dig thee into the ground, the gods cast thee up again, as a cure for disease produced by wind (in the body), moreover as a cure for wounds struck by missiles.

1. The gold which is born from fire, the immortal, they bestowed upon the mortals. He who knows this deserves it; of old age dies he who wears it. 2. The gold, (endowed by) the sun with beautiful colour, which the men of yore, rich in descendants, did desire, may it gleaming envelop thee in lustre! Long-lived becomes he who wears it! 3. (May it envelop) thee unto (long) life, unto lustre, unto force, and unto strength, that thou shalt by the brilliancy of the gold shine forth among people! 4. (The gold) which king Varuna knows, which god Brihaspati knows, which Indra, the slayer of Vritra, knows, may that become for thee a source of life, may that become for thee a source of lustre! IMPRECATIONS AGAINST DEMONS, SORCERERS, AND ENEMIES (ÂBHIKÂRIKÂNI AND KRITYÂPRATIHARANÂNI).

1. The sorcerer (yâtudhâna) that vaunts himsel and the Kimîdin do thou, O Agni, convey hither! For thou, O god, when lauded, becomest the destroyer of the demon. 2. Partake of the ghee, of the sesame-oil, O Agni Gâtavedas, that standest on high, conquerest by thyself! Make the sorcerers howl! 3. The sorcerers and the devouring (atrin) Kimîdin shall howl! Do ye, moreover, O Agni and Indra, receive graciously this our oblation! 4. Agni shall be the first to seize them, Indra with his (strong) arms shall drive them away! Every wizard, as soon as he comes, shall proclaim himself, saying, 'I am he'! 5. We would see thy might, O Gâtavedas; disclose to us the wizards, O thou that beholdest men! May they all, driven forth by thy fire, disclosing themselves, come to this spot! 6. Seize hold, O Gâtavedas: for our good thou wast born! Become our messenger, O Agni, and make the sorcerers howl! 7. Do thou, O Agni, drag hither the sorcerers, bound in shackles; then Indra with his thunderbolt shall cut off their heads!

1. May this oblation carry hither the sorcerers, as a river (carries) foam! The man or the woman who has performed this (sorcery), that person shall here proclaim himself! 2. This vaunting (sorcerer) has come hither: receive him with alacrity! O Brihaspati, put him into subjection; O Agni and Soma, pierce him through! 3. Slay the offspring of the sorcerer, O soma-drinking (Indra), and subject (him)! Make drop out the farther and the nearer eye of the braggart (demon)! 4. Wherever, O Agni Gâtavedas, thou perceivest the brood of these hidden devourers (atrin), do thou, mightily strengthened by our charm, slay them: slay their (brood), O Agni, piercing them a hundredfold!

1. As this great-earth conceives the germs of the beings, thus shalt thy embryo be-beld fast, to produce a child after pregnancy! 2. As this great earth holds these trees, thus shall thy embryo be held fast, to produce a child after pregnancy! 3. As this great earth holds the mountains and the peaks, thus shall thy embryo be held fast, to produce a child after pregnancy! 4. As this great earth holds the animals scattered far, thus shall thy embryo be held fast, to produce a child after pregnancy!

1. Aryaman as active hotar-priest shall utter for thee the vashat-call at this (soma-) pressing, O Pûshan! May (this) woman, (herself) begotten in the proper way, be delivered, may her joints relax, that she shall bring forth! 2. Four directions has the heaven, and also four the earth: (from these) the gods created the embryo. May they open her, that she shall bring forth! 3. May Sûshan open: her womb do we cause to gape. Do thou, O Sûshan, loosen the womb, do thou, O Bishkalâ, let go (the ernbryo)! 4. Attached not at all to the flesh, nor to the fat, not at all to the marrow, may the splotched, moist, placenta come down to be eaten by a dog! May the placenta fall down! 5. I split open thy vagina, thy womb, thy canals; I separate the mother and the son, the child along with the placenta. May the placenta fall down! 6. As flies the wind, as flies the mind, as fly the winged birds, so do thou, O embryo,. ten months old, fall along with the placenta! May the placenta fall down!

1. From folk belonging to all. kinds of people, from the Sindhu (Indus) thou hast been brought hither: from a distance, I ween, has been fetched the very remedy for jealousy. 2. As if a fire is burning him, as if the forest-fire burns in various directions, this jealousy of his do thou quench, as a fire (is quenched) with water!

1. As the best of the plants thou art reputed, O herb: turn this man for me to-day into a eunuch that wears his hair dressed! 2. Turn him into a eunuch that wears his hair dressed, and into one that wears a hood! Then Indra with a pair of stones shall break his testicles both! 3. O eunuch, into a eunuch thee I have turned;O castrate, into a castrate thee I have turned; O weakling, into a weakling thee I have turned! A hood upon his head, and a hair-net do we place. 4. The two canals, fashioned by the gods, in which man's power rests, in thy testicles............ I break them with a club. 5. As women break reeds for a mattress with a stone, thus do I break thy member

1. This warrior, O Indra, do thou strengthen for me, do thou install this one as sole ruler (bull) of the Vis (the people); emasculate all his enemies, subject them to him in (their) contests! 2. To him apportion his share of villages, horses, and cattle; deprive of his share the one that is his enemy! May this king be the pinnacle of royalty; subject to him, O Indra, every enemy! 3. May this one be the treasure-lord of riches, may this king be the tribal lord of the Vis (the people)! Upon this one, O Indra, bestow great lustre, devoid of lustre render his enemy! 4. For him shall ye, O heaven and earth, milk ample good, as two milch-cows yielding warm milk! May this king be favoured of Indra, favoured of cows, of plants, and cattle! 5. I unite with thee Indra who has supremacy, through whom one conquers and is not (himself) conquered, who shall install thee as sole ruler of the people, and as chief of the human kings. 6. Superior art thou, inferior are thy rivals, and whatsoever adversaries are thine, O king! Sole ruler, befriended of Indra, victorious, bring thou hither the supplies of those who act as thy enemies! 7. Presenting the front of a lion do thou devour all (their) people, presenting the front of a tiger do thou strike down the enemies! Sole ruler, befriended of Indra, victorious, seize upon the supplies of those who act as thy enemies!

1. May Indra churn (the enemy), he, the churner, Sakra (mighty), the hero, that pierces the forts, so that we shall slay the armies of the enemies a thousandfold! 2. May the rotten rope, wafting itself against yonder army, turn it into a stench. When the enemies see from afar our smoke and fire, fear shall they lay into their hearts! 3. Tear asunder those (enemies), O asvattha (ficus religiosa), devour (khâda) them, O! khadira (acacia catechu) in lively style! Like the tâgadbhanga (ricinus communis) they shall be broken (bhagyantâm), may the vadhaka (a certain kind of tree) slay them with his weapons (vadhaih)! 4. May the knotty âhva-plant put knots upon yonder (enemies), may the vadhaka slay them with his weapons! Bound up in (our) great trap-net, they shall quickly be broken as an arrow-reed! 5. The atmosphere was the net, the great regions (of space) the (supporting) poles of the net: with these Sakra (mighty Indra) did surround and scatter the army of the Dasyus. 6. Great, forsooth, is the net of great Sakra, who is rich in steeds: with it infold thou all the enemies, so that not one of them shall be released! 7. Great is the net of thee, great Indra, hero, that art equal to a thousand, and hast hundredfold might. With that (net) Sakra slew a hundred, thousand, ten thousand, a hundred million foes, having surrounded them with (his) army. 8. This great world was the net of great Sakra: with this net of Indra I infold all those (enemies) yonder in darkness, 9. With great dejection, failure, and irrefragable misfortune; with fatigue, lassitude, and confusion, do I surround all those (enemies) yonder. 10. To death do I hand them over, with the fetters of death they have been bound. To the evil messengers of death do I lead them captive. 11. Guide ye those (foes), ye messengers of death; ye messengers of Yama, infold them! Let more than thousands be slain; may the club of Bhava crush them! 12.

The Sâdhyas (blessed) go holding up with might one support of the net, the Rudras another, the Vasus another, (Still) another is upheld by the Âdityas. 13. All the gods shall go pressing from above with might; the Angiras shall go on the middle (of the net), slaying the mighty army! 14. The trees, and (growths) that are like trees, the plants and the herbs as well; two-footed and four-footed creatures do I impel, that they shall slay yonder army! 15. The Gandharvas and Apsaras, the serpents and the gods, holy men and (deceased) Fathers, the visible and invisible (beings), do I impel, that they shall slay yonder army! 16. Scattered here are the fetters of death; when thou steppest upon them thou shalt not escape! May this hammer slay (the men) of yonder army by the thousand! 17. The gharma (sacrificial hot drink) that has been heated by the fire, this sacrifice (shall) slay thousands! Do ye, Bhava and Sarva, whose arms are mottled, slay yonder army! 18. Into the (snare of) death they shall fall, into hunger, exhaustion, slaughter, and fear! O Indra and Sarva, do ye with trap and net slay yonder army! 19. Conquered, O foes, do ye flee away; repelled by (our) charm, do ye run! Of yonder host, repulsed by Brihaspati, not one shall be saved! 20. May their weapons fall from their (hands), may they be unable to lay the arrow on (the bow)! And then (our) arrows shall smite them, badly frightened, in their vital members! 21. Heaven and earth shall shriek at them, and the atmosphere, along with the divine powers! Neither aider, nor support did they find; smiting one another they shall go to death! 22. The four regions are the she-mules of the god's chariot, the purodâsas (sacrificial rice-cakes) the hoofs, the atmosphere the seat (of the wagon). Heaven and earth are its two sides, the seasons the reins, the intermediate regions the attendants, Vâk (speech) the road. 23.

The year is the chariot, the full year is the body of the chariot, Virâg, the pole, Agni the front part of the chariot. Indra is the (combatant) standing on the left of the chariot, Kandramas (the moon) the charioteer. 24. Do thou win here, do thou conquer here, overcome, win, hail! These here shall conquer, those yonder be conquered! Hail to these here, perdition to those yonder! Those yonder do I envelop in blue and red!