Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book V/Hymn 31

31. Against witchcraft.

[Çukra.—dvādaçarcam. kṛtyādūṣaṇadevatyam. ānuṣṭubham: 11. bṛhatīgarbhā; 12. pathyābṛhatī.]

Not found (except vs. 12) in Pāipp. Not noticed in Vāit. The hymn is reckoned as belonging in the kṛtyā gaṇa or krtyāpratiharaṇa gaṇa (see note to Kāuç. 39. 7), and it is quoted with several other hymns in Kāuç. 39. 7, in a ceremony for counteracting magic.

Translated: Griffith, i. 241; Bloomfield, 76, 456; Weber, xviii. 284.

1. What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in a raw vessel, what they have made in one of mixed grains; in raw flesh what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.

That is, doubtless, 'back to its maker': cf. iv. 18. 4; and, for the whole verse, iv. 17. 4. The Anukr. makes no account of the redundant syllable in c.

2. What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in a cock, or what in a kurī́ra-wearing goat; in a ewe what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.

Geldner discusses kurī́ra 'horn,' Ved. Stud. i. 130.

3. What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in the one-hoofed, in the one with teeth in both jaws, among cattle; in a donkey what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.

4. What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in a rootless [plant], or [what] secret spell (? valagá) in a narācī́; in thy field what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.

The pada-text does not divide valagám.

5. What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in the householder's fire, also, malevolent (duçcít), in the eastern fire; in the dwelling what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.

6. What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in the assembly (sabhá), what they have made at the gambling-board; in the dice what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.

7. What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in the army (sénā), what they have made in arrow-and-weapon; in the drum what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.

To make the meter complete in the two preceding verses, we need to make the unusual resolution -ya-am at end of a.

8. What witchcraft they have put down for thee in the well, or have dug in at the cemetery; in the seat (sádman) what witchcraft they have made—I take that back again.

The indefinite 'seat' may be used for 'dwelling,' or for 'place of sacrifice.' The Anukr. takes no notice of the metrical irregularities in a, b.

9. What [witchcraft] they have made for thee in the human-bone, and what in the destroying (? sáṁkasuka) fire, [what] dimming, out-burning, flesh-eating one—I take that back again.

'Human-bone' (if not a corrupt reading) is perhaps an epithet of the funeral fire = 'the fire which leaves of the human body nothing but fragments of bone.'

10. He hath brought it by what was not the road; we send it forth from here by the road; he unwise, O men, hath brought [it] together, out of thoughtlessness, for the wise (dhī́ra).

The translation implies the reading maryāḥ; dhī́rebhyaḥ: in c, instead of maryā॰dhī́rebhyaḥ, as given by the pada-mss.; the emendation is suggested by BR. v. 1668; but cf. maryādhāírya (maryā[ḥ] dhāírya?) in MS. i. 4. 8 (p. 56, 1. 18). The lingual ṇ in eṇām at end of a is given by all the saṁhitā-mss., though the Prāt. does not prescribe it. Even the pada-text has hiṇmasi (as hiṇmaḥ) after pra, here as elsewhere.

11. He who hath made hath not been able to make; he hath crushed a foot, a finger; he, fortuneless, hath made what is excellent for us [who are] fortunate ones.

The first three pādas are identical with iv. 18. 6 a-c, and our d here is read by Ppp. in that hymn ⌊but with abhagā for -gó⌋. The Anukr. gives the same false definition of meter in both places. ⌊See notes to iv. 18. 6.⌋

12. The witchcraft-maker, spell-hider, root-possessor, worthy of cursing—let Indra smite him with his great deadly weapon; let Agni pierce him with a hurled [arrow].

This verse is found in Ppp. i., where, for c, d, is read: indras tu sarvāṅs tāṅ hantu sattvaghnena bhavām iva.

The last or sixth anuvāka contains 5 hymns and 70 verses; the old Anukr. says: ṣaṣṭhe tu navāi ’kā ca parā tu ṣaṣṭhe. One or two of the mss. sum up the Book correctly as 31 hymns, and 376 verses.

With the Book ends also the twelfth prapāṭhaka.