{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/av/av08008.htm","path":"hin/av/av08008.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/av/av08008.htm","text":"Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895]\n1Indra the Shaker shake them up, brave, hero, fortdemolisher,\n \u00a0\u00a0That into thousand fragments we may strike the armies of our\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0foes!\n 2Let P\u016btirajju with her breath corrupt and putrefy that host,\n \u00a0\u00a0And terror smite our foemen's heart when fire and smoke are\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0seen afar.\n 3Asvattha, rend those men; do thou devour them quickly,\n \u00a0\u00a0Khadira!\n \u00a0\u00a0Like reeds let them be broken through, down-smitten by a lifted\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0rush.\n 4Let Parush\u0101hva make them reeds, and let the bulrush strike\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0them down:\n \u00a0\u00a0Bound in a mighty net let them break quickly like an arrow's\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0shaft.\n 5Air was the net; the poles thereof were the great quarters of the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0sky: p. a344\n \u00a0\u00a0Sakra therewith enveloped and cast on the ground the Dasyus'\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0host.\n 6Verily mighty is the net of mighty Sakra rich in wealth:\n \u00a0\u00a0Therewith press all the foemen down so that not one of them\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0escape!\n 7Great is thy net, brave Indra, thine the mighty match for a\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0thousand, Lord of Hundred Powers!\n \u00a0\u00a0Holding them, with his host, therewith hath Indra slaughtered\n \u00a0\u00a0Dasyus a hundred, thousand, myriad, hundred millions.\n 8This world so mighty was the net of Sakra, of the Mighty One:\n \u00a0\u00a0With this, the net of Indra, I envelop all those men with gloom.\n 9Great weakness and misfortune, pain which words can never\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0charm away,\n \u00a0\u00a0Languor, fatigue, bewilderment, with these I compass all the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0foes.\n 10I give those foemen up to Death: bound in the bonds of Death\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0are they.\n \u00a0\u00a0I bind and carry them away to meet Death's wicked messengers.\n 11Bear them away, Death's messengers! envoys of Yama! bind\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0them fast.\n \u00a0\u00a0More than a thousand be their slain: the club of Bhava pierce\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0them through!\n 12Forth go the S\u0101dhyas in their might bearing one netpole raised\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0aloft.\n \u00a0\u00a0One pole the Rudras carry, one the Vasus, and the \u0100dityas one.\n 13The Visve Devas from above shall come depressing it with\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0might,\n \u00a0\u00a0And in the midst the Angirases, slaying the mighty host, shall go.\n 14Trees of the forest, trees that bear flower and fruit, and herbs\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and plants,\n \u00a0\u00a0Quadruped, biped send I forth that they may strike this army\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0dead,\n 15Gandharvas, and Apsarases, Gods, Serpents, Fathers, Holy\n \u00a0\u00a0Men,\n \u00a0\u00a0Seen and unseen, I send them forth that they may strike this\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0army dead.\n 16Here spread are snares of Death wherefrom thou, once within\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0them, ne'er art freed:\n \u00a0\u00a0Full many a thousand of the host yonder this horn shall smite\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and slay. p. a345\n 17The Gharma hath been warmed with fire: this Homa slays a\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0thousand men.\n \u00a0\u00a0Let Bhava, Prisnib\u0101hu, and Sarva destroy that armament.\n 18Their portion be the fire of Death, hunger, exhaustion, slaughter,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0fear.\n \u00a0\u00a0With your entangling snares and nets, Sarva and Indra! slay that\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0host.\n 19Fly, conquered, in alarm, ye foes, run driven by the spell away!\n \u00a0\u00a0Let not one man escape of those when routed by Brihaspati.\n 20Down fall their weapons on the ground: no strength be theirs\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0to point a shaft:\n \u00a0\u00a0Then in their dreadful terror let their arrows wound their vital\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0parts.\n 21Let Heaven and Earth roar out in wrath against them, and Air\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0with all the Deities in concert,\n \u00a0\u00a0Let them not find a surety or a refuge, but torn away go down\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0to Death together.\n 22The mules of the Gods' car are heaven's four quarters; their\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0hooves are sacred cakes, the air its body.\n \u00a0\u00a0Its sides are Heaven and Earth, its reins the Seasons, Voice is its\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0hood, its grooms are sky's mid-regions.\n 23Year is the car, Full Year the seat for driving, Vir\u0101j the pole,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0the chariot's front is Agni, Indra the warrior, and the Moon\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0the driver.\n 24Hence conquer, conquer, Hail! be thou the victor! Let these be\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0conquerors and those be conquered.\n \u00a0\u00a0Good luck to these, ill luck to those men yonder! With the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0dark-blue-and-red our foes I cover.","title":"Atharva Veda: Book 8: Hymn 8: Imprecations directed against a hostile army","type":"page"}