1. I release thee unto life by means of (my) oblation, from unknown decline, and from consumption. If Grâhi (seizure) has caught hold (gagrâha) of this person here, may Indra and Agni free him from that! 2. If his life has faded, even if he has passed away, if he has been brought to the very vicinity of death, I snatch him from the lap of Nirriti (the goddess of destruction): I have freed him unto a life of a hundred autumns. 3. I have snatched him (from death) by means of an oblation which has a thousand eyes, hundredfold strength, and -ensures a hundredfold life, in order that Indra may conduct him through the years across to the other side of every misfortune. 4. Live thou, thriving a hundred autumns, a hundred winters, and a hundred springs! May Indra, Agni, Savitar, Brihaspati (grant) thee a hundred years! I have snatched him (from death) with an oblation that secures a life,of a hundred years. 5. Enter ye, O in-breathirig and out-breathing, as two bulls a stable! Away shall go the other deaths, of which, it is said, there are a hundred more! 6. Remain ye here, O in-breathing and out-breathing, do not go away from here; do ye car anew to old age his body and his limbs! 7. To old age I make thee over, into old age I urge thee; may a happy old age guide thee! Away shall go the other deaths, of which, it is said, there are a hundred more! 8. Upon thee (life unto) old age has been deposited, as a rope is tied upon a bull. That death which has fettered thee at thy birth with a firm rope, Brihaspati with the hands of the truth did strip off from thee.AV 2.28 · Atharva Veda · 2
AV 2.28
Atharva Veda · translated by Maurice Bloomfield
Themes in this passage
DeathStrengthTruthPovertyAttachmentSelf-ControlRebirthLiberation
Death in other traditions
The same theme, as Christianity, Islam, Taoism and Hellenism address it.
And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish.Numbers 17:12 · Bible · Numbers
Lo! thou wilt die, and lo! they will die;Quran 39:30 · Quran · The Companies
The people do not fear death; to what purpose is it to (try to) frighten them with death? If the people were always in awe of death, and I could always seize those who do wrong, and put them to death, who would dare to do wrong?Tao Te Ching 74.1 · Tao Te Ching
These words, attended with a shower of tears, The youth address’d to unrelenting ears: “Talk not of life, or ransom (he replies): Patroclus dead, whoever meets me, dies: In vain a single Trojan sues for grace; But least, the sons of Priam’s hateful race. Die then, my friend! what boots it to deplore? The great, the good Patroclus is no more! He, far thy better, was foredoom’d to die, And thou, dost thou bewail mortality? Seest thou not me, whom nature’s gifts adorn, Sprung from a hero, from a goddess born? The day shall come (which nothing can avert) When by the spear, the arrow, or the dart, By night, or day, by force, or by design, Impending death and certain fate are mine! Die then,”—He said; and as the word he spoke, The fainting stripling sank before the stroke: His hand forgot its grasp, and left the spear, While all his trembling frame confess’d his fear: Sudden, Achilles his broad sword display’d, And buried in his neck the reeking blade. Prone fell the youth; and panting on the land, The gushing purple dyed the thirsty sand. The victor to the stream the carcase gave, And thus insults him, floating on the wave:Iliad 21.7 · Iliad · 21
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