Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VIII/Hymn 4

4. Against sorcerers and demons: to Indra and Soma.

[Cātana.—pañcaviṅçakam. mantroktadevatyam. jāgatam: 8-14, 16, 17, 19, 22, 24. triṣṭubh; 20, 23. bhurij; 25. anuṣṭubh.]

Found also in Pāipp. xvi. (with exchange of order between 4 and 5, and between 19 and 20). It is, with no change of order of verses, and with only few and insignificant variants, RV. vii. 104; not a verse occurs further in any other text, so far as known.

⌊No ritual use of the hymn is prescribed either by Kāuç. or by Vāit. But the comm. regards this hymn as used with the preceding one in a variety of practices: see h. 3.⌋

Translated: by the RV. translators; and as AV. hymn by Henry, 10, 47; Griffith, i. 396.

1. O Indra-and-Soma, burn the demon, oppress (ubj) [him]; put (arpay-) down, ye two bulls, them that thrive in darkness; crush away, scorch down the fools (acít); slay, push, pin (çā) down the devourers.

Tamovṛ́dh may be (so Ludwig) 'increaser of darkness.' The comm. has nothing better than hiṅs to suggest for ubj.

2. O Indra-and-Soma, against ⌊abhí⌋ the evil-plotter, the evil, let heat boil all up ⌊sam-yas⌋ like a fiery pot; assign unavoidable hate unto the brahman-hating, flesh-eating kimīdín of terrible aspect.

The construction and meaning of the first half-verse are doubtful; the comm. glosses yayastu with simple gacchatu. RV. has agnivā́ṅ instead of -mā́ṅ in b. In our edition, the accent-sign which should stand under gni in this word has slipped to the right, under māṅ. ⌊Here W. seems to take sam as intensive and to render its force by "all up." Neither in BR. nor in the Index is it joined with yas: but cf. saṁ-yāsa.⌋

3. O Indra-and-Soma, pierce ye the evil-doers within their hiding-place (vavrá), in untenable darkness, whence there shall not come up again any one soever of them; be that your furious might unto overpowering.

RV. reads at beginning of c yáthā nā́ ’taḥ pún-. In our edition read duṣkṛ́to in a.

4. O Indra-and-Soma, cause to roll (vṛt) from the sky the deadly weapon, from the earth also, a shattering for the evil-plotter; shape out from the mountains (párvata) the noisy one, wherewith ye burn down the increasing demon.

The comm. glosses svaryà with svaraṇārha. Ppp. has the easier reading pra harataṁ for vartayatam in a.

5. O Indra-and-Soma, cause [it] to roll forth from the sky; with fireheated, stone-smiting, unaging heat-weapons do ye pierce the devourers in the abyss; let them go to silence.

Ppp. reads divas for yuvam in b; the comm. has in d niḥsvaram, which would be a good reading, but is against the pada-texts of both RV. and AV. (ni॰svarám).

6. O Indra-and-Soma, be there about you on all sides this prayer (matí), as a girth [about] two vigorous (vājín) horses, the invocation (hótrā) that I send forth to you with wisdom; these acts of worship (bráhman) quicken ye like two lords of men.

RV. reads in d nṛpátī ’va, as the meter demands, and so do our P.M.W.R.T.K. and part of SPP's authorities, also the comm., and Ppp., and this is, almost beyond question, the true text; but SPP. adopts in his edition nṛpátī iva, with the remainder (a majority) of his saṁhitā authorities. The pada-reading is probably nṛpátī ivé ’ti nṛpátī॰iva, as all the pada-mss. except our Bp. (both copies) appear to read, and as the RV. pada reads; but we should altogether expect nṛpátī ’vé ’ti nṛpátī॰iva, as Bp. reads. The anomaly of the addition of iti after iva instead of after nṛpátī (first time) is noted in Prāt. i. 82 c; the Prāt. takes no notice of the exceptional combination nṛpatī ’va—which is, to be sure, an argument against its right to stand in the saṁhitā-text: see note to Prāt. iii. 33. The retention of dental n in hinómi after pari is prescribed by Prāt. iii. 88. Ppp. reads instead pra hiṇomi. ⌊Cf. Geldner, Ved. Stud. ii. 134.⌋

7. Remember ye with [your] rapid courses; smite the haters, the destructive demoniacs; O Indra-and-Soma, let there not be ease (sugá) for the evil-doer, the hater that at any time vexes me.

RV. reads, in d, nas for mā, and druhā́ for druhús. Ppp. ends with (for abhi...) api kā cid ud ūhuḥ. The retention of dental s in práti smar- is by Prāt. ii. 102; the passage is there quoted in the commentary. Our comm. glosses tujayadbhis with balavadbhis, and attenuates the difficult prati smarethām to prati gacchatam.

8. Whoever reviles with untrue speeches me walking with simple mind—like waters grasped with the fist, let the speaker of what is not be [himself] non-existent, O Indra.

The comm. glosses abhicáṣṭe with abhiçāpaṁ karoti. The long initial vowel of ā́satas (p. ásataḥ) is by Prāt. iii. 21, iv. 90; the passage is there quoted.

9. They who distract (vi-hṛ) with [their] courses him of simple intent, or who spoil at their will (svadhā́bhis) what is excellent—let Soma either deliver them up to the serpent, or let him set them in the lap of perdition.

The comm. declares svadhā in b an annanāma, and renders svadhābhis by annāir nimittabhūtāiḥ, 'for food'! An accent-mark is wanting in our text over the ya of dūṣáyanti in b.

10. Whoever, O Agni, tries to harm our taste of drink, of horses, of kine, whoever of our bodies—let the enemy, the thief, the theft-committer, go to want (dabhrá); let him be degraded with self and with posterity.

RV. reads in b yó áçvānāṁ yó gávām, and the comm. does the same. ⌊But SPP. reports that Sāyaṇa's text reads b thus: ye aç. ye g. yas t.⌋ A number of our mss. (P.M.W.R.K.) read ví for ní at beginning of d, but SPP. reports no such variant among his authorities. The form ṣá after ní here is not quoted in the Prāt. commentary. ⌊Join nas rather with the genitives of a and b?⌋

11. Be he far away, with self and with posterity, be he beneath all the three earths, let his glory dry up, ye gods, who by day and who by night tries to harm me.

RV. reads in d nas instead of mā.

12. It is easy of understanding for a knowing man (jána) [that] true and untrue words (vácas) are at variance; of them what is true, whichever is more right, that Soma verily favors; he smites the untrue.

Ppp. reads paspṛçāte at end of b.

13. Soma by no means furthers the wicked [man], nor the kshatríya who maintains [anything] falsely; he smites the demon; he smites the speaker of untruth; both lie within reach of Indra.

14. If I am one of false gods, or if I put upon (? api-ūh) the gods what is vain, O Agni—why art thou angry with us, O Jātavedas? let them of hateful speech obtain (sac) misery of thee.

RV. reads ā́sa instead of ásmi at end of a. The comm. renders te in d as if it were té; for the difficult apy-ūhé he gives simply vahāmi (moghaṁ vyarthaṁ devān stotavyān yaṣṭavyāṅç ca apyūhe vahāmi).

15. May I die today if I am a sorcerer, or if I have burnt (tap) a man's lifetime; then let him be divided from ten heroes who vainly says to me "thou sorcerer."

The comm. glosses vīrāis with putrāis, which is probably its virtual meaning: 'may he lose ten heroic sons.' Our pada-text differs from that of RV. by dividing daçá॰bhiḥ in c. Ppp. reads pāuruṣasya in b.

16. Whoever to me that am no sorcerer (áyātu) says "thou sorcerer," or whatever demoniac says "I am pure (çúci)"—let Indra smite him with a great deadly weapon; may he fall lowest of every creature.

Áyātu doubtless literally 'that have no yātú or familiar demon' (though the proper accent in such case would be ayātú), opposite of yātumánt 'possessing such a yātú,' or yātudhā́na 'holding or containing such.'

17. She who goes forth in the night like an owl (?), hateful, hiding herself away—may she fall down into an endless hole (vavrá); let the [pressing-] stones smite the demoniacs with [their] noises.

RV. again (as in 7 d) reads druhā́ for druhús in b; also vavrā̈ṅ anantā́ṅ áva in c. Ppp. reads dūhas in b; and the comm. has upa instead of apa. He glosses khargálā with ulūkī.

18. Scatter yourselves, O Maruts, among the people (vikṣú); seek, seize, crush (sam-piṣ) the demoniacs, who, becoming birds, fly in the nights, or who have put defilements (rípas) on the heavenly sacrifice.

RV. has bhūtvī́ in c. SPP. reads i3cchata in a, because the great majority of his authorities give it. This is contrary to the established usage of both RV. and AV. (but in accordance with that of SV.), although in nearly every such case a part of the mss. lengthen the vowel; part of ours do the same here, as elsewhere. The comm. glosses ripas with hiṅsas; and dadhire with dhārayanti!

19. Cause the stone to roll forth from the sky, O Indra; [it,] sharpened by Soma, do thou wholly sharpen, O liberal one; from before, from away, from below, from above, do thou smite upon the demoniacs with a mountain.

RV. reads in a áçm- after divó, and some of SPP's authorities do the same. RV. has also prā́ktād ápāktād and údaktād in c; the directions admit also of being understood as from east, west, south, and north.

20. Here fly these dog-sorcerers (çváyātu); Indra the unharmable they the harm-seeking seek to harm; the mighty one (çakrá) sharpens his deadly weapon for the treacherous ones (píçuna); now may he let fly (sṛj) the thunderbolt at the sorcerers (yātumánt).

The epithets like çváyātu in this verse and below in vs. 22 seem by their accent (and by comparison with yātumánt and yātudhā́na) to signify strictly 'one having a dog (etc.) for his familiar demon.' The comm. glosses with çvarūpadhāriṇaḥ çvasahitā [vā]. Ppp. combines at end of b -vo adābhyam.

21. Indra was the crusher-away of the familiar demons (yātú), of the oblation-disturbers, of them who strive to win upon [it]; let the mighty one (çakrá) attack them that are demoniacs as an ax the woods, splitting [them] like vessels.

RV. reads eti in d, and no small share of the AV. mss. (the majority of SPP's) do the same (including our P.s.m.I.D.R.p.m.Kp.); both editions give etu. The AV. pada-text, like the RV., divides and accents in b abhí: ā॰vívāsatām. The Petersburg Lexicons treat the abhi as if in direct combination with the participle; and they translate 'approach with hostile intent,' which is highly arbitrary. The comm. gives no aid, rendering simply abhimukhaṁ gacchatām. Ppp. reads in b -matīnām. ⌊W. would probably have changed "crusher-away" to "demolisher" on the revision.⌋

22. The owl-sorcerer, the owlet-(?)sorcerer smite thou, the dog-sorcerer and the cuckoo-sorcerer, the eagle-(? suparṇá)sorcerer and the vulture-sorcerer—do thou destroy (pra-mṛṇ) the demon, O Indra, as if with a mill-stone.

As to the renderings of these various names for sorcerers, see under vs. 20. For çuçulūka- Ppp. has çulūka-, the comm. çiçulūka-. The translation of it is a mere guess, to avoid transferring the word.

23. Let not the sorcerous demon reach us; let the kimīdíns that are paired fade away; let the earth protect us from earthly distress, let the atmosphere protect us from heavenly.

RV. reads, in a, b, yātumā́vatām ápo ’chatu mithunā́ yā́ kimīdínā. Ppp. has kimādinām. The comm. glosses apo ’chantu with simple apa gacchantu. The pada-division of yāt- in a is yātu॰mā́vat both in AV. and in RV.; the word is the subject of Prāt. iv. 8.

24. O Indra, smite the man sorcerer, likewise the woman ⌊who is⌋ prevailing with magic (māyā́); let the neckless false-worshipers vanish (? ṛd); let them not see the sun moving upward.

The obscure ṛdantu in c is glossed by the comm. with naçyantu; Ppp. reads rujanta instead. Çā́çadānām the comm. explains as = hiṅsatīm.

25. Look thou on; look abroad; O Soma, Indra also, watch ye; hurl ye the deadly weapon at the demons, the thunderbolt at the sorcerers (yātumánt).

⌊Here ends the second anuvāka, with 2 hymns and 51 verses. The quoted Anukr. says turīyam āhur iha pañcaviṅçakam.⌋