Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI
Book VI.
⌊The sixth book consists mainly of hymns of 3 verses. It is divided into thirteen anuvāka-groups, which have ten hymns each, except the third, seventh, eleventh, and twelfth groups, which have eleven hymns each, and the thirteenth, which has eighteen. It thus contains one hundred and forty-two hymns: and of these, one hundred and twenty-two have 3 verses each; twelve have 4 verses each; and eight have 5 verses each. On account of the intrinsic interest, the variety, and the convenient length of the hymns of this book, they have been favorite subjects of translation and comment. Over half of them (79) have been translated by Ludwig in his Der Rigveda, vol. iii. (Die Mantra-litteratur); over half of them (74) also by Bloomfield in Sacred Books of the East, vol. xlii.; over a third (1-50) by Dr. Carl A. Florenz in Bezzenberger's Beiträge zur Kunde der Indogermanischen Sprachen, vol. xii. 249-314; and nearly a quarter (34) by Grill in his Hundert Lieder.⌋
⌊The hymns of 4 verses are hymns 16, 17, 38, 63, 76, 83, 84, 107, 1ll, 121, 128, and 130. The hymns of 5 verses are hymns 34, 108, 122, 123, 132, 133, 138, and 139. At the beginning of its treatment of this book, the Anukramani calls it the "book of hymns of 3 verses" or tṛcasūktakāṇḍa, and adds that "that number is the norm": tatra tṛcaprakṛtir itarā vikṛtir iti. The possibilities of critical reduction to this "norm" are frequently illustrated among the twenty hymns just cited. Thus the reduction may be effected by omission of some of the refrains and combination of the remainders, as in hymns 38, 107, 130 (this the commentator actually so reduces). Again, the intrusions are sometimes indicated by the meter, as in hymns 111, 123. Or, again, they are indicated by their absence in other versions: thus hymns 16, 17, 34, 63, 83, 108, and 128 consist in fact of only 3 verses in the Pāippalāda text.—For the sequence of the books with reference to the normal lengths of their hymns, see the table on p. cxlviii. See p. clii, end.⌋
| Hymn- number |
Page | |
VI. Book the sixth | ||
| 1 | Praise to Savitar | 281 |
| 2 | Praise and prayer to Indra | 283 |
| 3 | To various divinities: for protection | 283 |
| 4 | To various divinities: for protection | 284 |
| 5 | For some one's exaltation | 285 |
| 6 | Against enemies | 286 |
| 7 | For blessings | 286 |
| 8 | To win a woman's love | 287 |
| 9 | To win a woman's love | 287 |
| 10 | Greeting to divinities etc. of the three spheres | 288 |
| 11 | For birth of sons | 288 |
| 12 | Against the poison of snakes | 289 |
| 13 | To the instruments and ministers of death | 290 |
| 14 | Against the balā́sa | 290 |
| 15 | For superiority | 291 |
| 16 | To various plants (?) | 292 |
| 17 | Against premature birth | 293 |
| 18 | Against jealousy | 293 |
| 19 | For ceremonial purification | 294 |
| 20 | Against fever (takmán) | 295 |
| 21 | To healing plants | 295 |
| 22 | To the Maruts | 296 |
| 23 | To the waters: for blessings | 297 |
| 24 | To the waters: for blessings | 298 |
| 25 | For relief from pains (?) in neck and shoulders | 298 |
| 26 | Against evil | 299 |
| 27 | Against birds of ill omen | 299 |
| 28 | Against birds of ill omen etc. | 300 |
| 29 | Against birds of ill omen | 301 |
| 30 | To the çamī́ plant: for benefit to the hair | 302 |
| 31 | At rising of the sun (or moon) | 303 |
| 32 | Against demons | 304 |
| 33 | Praise to Indra | 305 |
| 34 | Praise and prayer to Agni | 306 |
| 35 | Prayer to Agni Vāiçvānara | 306 |
| 36 | In praise of Agni | 307 |
| 37 | Against curses | 308 |
| 38 | For brilliance | 309 |
| 39 | For glory | 309 |
| 40 | For freedom from fear | 310 |
| 41 | To various divinities | 311 |
| 42 | To remove wrath | 311 |
| 43 | To assuage wrath | 312 |
| 44 | For cessation of a disease | 312 |
| 45 | In atonement of offenses | 313 |
| 46 | Against evil dreams | 314 |
| 47 | For blessings: at the three daily libations | 315 |
| 48 | To the deities of the three daily libations | 316 |
| 49 | To Agni etc. | 316 |
| 50 | Against petty destroyers of grain | 317 |
| 51 | For various blessings | 318 |
| 52 | For deliverance from unseen pests | 319 |
| 53 | For protection: to various gods | 320 |
| 54 | To secure and increase some one's superiority | 321 |
| 55 | For various blessings | 322 |
| 56 | For protection from serpents | 323 |
| 57 | With a certain remedy against disease | 323 |
| 58 | For glory | 324 |
| 59 | For protection to cattle | 325 |
| 60 | For winning a spouse | 325 |
| 61 | Prayer and boasts | 326 |
| 62 | Vāiçvānara etc.: for purification | 327 |
| 63 | For some one's release from perdition (nírṛti) | 328 |
| 64 | For concord | 329 |
| 65 | For success against enemies | 330 |
| 66 | For success against enemies | 330 |
| 67 | For success against enemies | 331 |
| 68 | To accompany the act of shaving | 332 |
| 69 | For glory etc. | 332 |
| 70 | To attach a cow to her calf | 333 |
| 71 | Against harm from improper food | 334 |
| 72 | For virile power | 335 |
| 73 | To assure supremacy | 335 |
| 74 | For harmony | 336 |
| 75 | To eject a rival | 337 |
| 76 | For a kṣatríya's security from death | 338 |
| 77 | For recovery and retention of what is lost | 338 |
| 78 | For matrimonial happiness | 339 |
| 79 | For abundance at home | 340 |
| 80 | The heavenly dog and the kālakāñjás | 340 |
| 81 | For successful pregnancy: with an amulet | 341 |
| 82 | To obtain a wife | 342 |
| 83 | To remove apacíts | 342 |
| 84 | For release from perdition | 343 |
| 85 | For relief from yákṣma | 344 |
| 86 | For supremacy | 345 |
| 87 | To establish some one in sovereignty | 345 |
| 88 | To establish a sovereign | 346 |
| 89 | To win affection | 347 |
| 90 | For safety from Rudra's arrow | 347 |
| 91 | For remedy from disease | 348 |
| 92 | For success of a horse | 348 |
| 93 | For protection: to many gods | 349 |
| 94 | For harmony | 350 |
| 95 | For relief from disease: with kúṣṭka | 350 |
| 96 | For relief from sin and distress | 351 |
| 97 | For victory | 351 |
| 98 | To Indra: for victory | 352 |
| 99 | For safety: to Indra | 353 |
| 100 | Against poison | 354 |
| 101 | For virile power | 354 |
| 102 | To win a woman | 355 |
| 103 | To tie up enemies | 356 |
| 104 | Against enemies | 356 |
| 105 | To get rid of cough | 357 |
| 106 | Against fire in the house | 357 |
| 107 | For protection; to various divinities | 357 |
| 108 | For wisdom | 358 |
| 109 | For healing: pippalī́ | 359 |
| 110 | For a child born at an unlucky time | 360 |
| 111 | For relief from insanity | 361 |
| 112 | For expiation of overslaughing | 362 |
| 113 | For release from seizure (grā́hi) | 362 |
| 114 | Against disability in sacrifice | 363 |
| 115 | For relief from sin | 364 |
| 116 | For relief from guilt | 365 |
| 117 | For relief from guilt or debt | 366 |
| 118 | For relief from guilt | 367 |
| 119 | For relief from guilt or obligation | 368 |
| 120 | To reach heaven | 369 |
| 121 | For release from evil | 370 |
| 122 | With an offering for offspring | 371 |
| 123 | For the success of an offering | 372 |
| 124 | Against evil influence of a sky-drop | 373 |
| 125 | To the war-chariot: for its success | 374 |
| 126 | To the drum: for success against the foe | 375 |
| 127 | Against various diseases: with a wooden amulet | 376 |
| 128 | For auspicious time: with dung-smoke | 377 |
| 129 | For good-fortune: with a çiṅçápā amulet | 378 |
| 130 | To win a man's love | 379 |
| 131 | To win a man's love | 379 |
| 132 | To compel a man's love | 380 |
| 133 | To a girdle: for long life etc. | 380 |
| 134 | To crush an enemy with a thunderbolt | 381 |
| 135 | To crush an enemy | 382 |
| 136 | To fasten and increase the hair | 383 |
| 137 | To fasten and increase the hair | 383 |
| 138 | To make a certain man impotent | 384 |
| 139 | To compel a woman's love | 384 |
| 140 | With the first two upper teeth of a child | 385 |
| 141 | With marking of cattle's ears | 386 |
| 142 | For increase of barley | 387 |