{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/av/av12001.htm","path":"hin/av/av12001.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/av/av12001.htm","text":"Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895]\n1Truth, high and potent Law, the Consecrating Rite, Fervour,\n \u00a0\u00a0Brahma, and Sacrifice uphold the Earth.\n \u00a0\u00a0May she, the Queen of all that is and is to be, may Prithiv\u012b\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0make ample space and room for us.\n 2Not over awded by the crowd of Manu's sons, she who hath\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0many heights and floods and level plains;\n \u00a0\u00a0She who bears plants endowed with many varied powers, may\n \u00a0\u00a0Prithiv\u012b for us spread wide and favour us.\n 3In whom the sea, and Sindhu, and the waters, in whom our food\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and corn-lands had their being,\n \u00a0\u00a0In whom this all that breathes and moves is active, this Earth.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0assign us foremost rank and station!\n 4She who is Lady of the earth's four regions, in whom our food\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and corn-lands had their being,\n \u00a0\u00a0Nurse in each place of breathing, moving creatures, this Earth.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0vouchsafe us kine with milk that fails not!\n 5On whom the men of old before us battled, on whom the Gods\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0attacked the hostile demons,\n \u00a0\u00a0The varied home of bird, and kine and horses, this Prithiv\u012b\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0vouchsafe us luck and splendour!\n 6Firm standing-place, all-bearing, store of treasures, gold-breasted,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0harbourer of all that moveth.\n \u00a0\u00a0May Earth who bears Agni Vaisv\u0101nara, Consort of mighty\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Indra, give us great possessions\n 7May Earth, may Prithiv\u012b, always protected with ceaseless care by\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Gods who never slumber,\n \u00a0\u00a0May she pour out for us delicious nectar, may she bedew us\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0with a flood of splendour.\n 8She who at first was water in the ocean, whom with their wond-\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0rous powers the sages followed,\n \u00a0\u00a0May she whose heart is in the highest heaven, compassed about\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0wit h truth, and everlasting, p. 76\n \u00a0\u00a0May she, this Earth, bestow upon us lustre, and grant us power\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0in loftiest dominion.\n 9On whom the running universal waters flow day and night with\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0never-ceasing motion,\n \u00a0\u00a0May she with many streams pour milk to feed us, may she\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0bedew us with a flood of splendour.\n 10She whom the Asvins measured out, o'er whom the foot of\n \u00a0\u00a0Vishnu strode,\n \u00a0\u00a0Whom Indra, Lord of Power and Might, freed from all foemen\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0for himself,\n \u00a0\u00a0May Earth pour out her milk for us, a mother unto me her son.\n 11O Prithiv\u012b, auspicious be thy woodlands, auspicious be thy hills\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and snow-clad mountains.\n \u00a0\u00a0Unslain, unwounded, unsubdued, I have set foot upon the\n \u00a0\u00a0Earth,\n \u00a0\u00a0On earth brown, black, ruddy and every-coloured, on the firm\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0earth that Indra guards from danger.\n 12O Prithiv\u012b, thy centre and thy navel, all forces that have issued\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0from thy body\n \u00a0\u00a0Set us amid those forces; breathe upon us. I am the son of\n \u00a0\u00a0Earth, Earth is my Mother. Parjanya is my Sire; may he\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0promote me.\n 43Earth on whose surface they enclose the altar, and all-performers\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0spin the thread of worship;\n \u00a0\u00a0In whom the stakes of sacrifice, resplendent, are fixed and raised\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0on high before the oblation, may she, this Earth, prospering,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0make us prosper.\n 14The man who hates us, Earth! who fights against us, who\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0threaten us with thought or deadly weapon, make him our\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0thrall as thou hast done aforetime.\n 15Produced from thee, on thee move mortal creatures: thou\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0bearest them, both quadruped and biped.\n \u00a0\u00a0Thine, Prithiv\u012b, are these Five human Races, for whom, though\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0mortal, S\u016brya as he rises spreads with his rays the light that is\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0immortal.\n 16In concert may these creatures yield us blessings. With honey of\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0discourse, O Earth, endow me.\n 17Kind, ever gracious be the Earth we tread on, the firm Earth,\n \u00a0\u00a0Prithiv\u012b, borne up by Order, mother of plants and herbs, the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0all-producer. p. 77\n 18A vast abode hast thou become, the Mighty. Great stress is on\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0thee, press and agitation, but with unceasing care great Indra\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0guards thee.\n \u00a0\u00a0So make us shine, O Earth, us with the splendour of gold. Let\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0no man look on us with hatred.\n 19Agni is in the earth, in plants; the waters hold Agni in them,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0in the stones is Agni.\n \u00a0\u00a0Agni abideth deep in men: Agnis abide in cows and steeds.\n 20Agni gives shine and heat in heaven: the spacious air is his, the\n \u00a0\u00a0God's\n \u00a0\u00a0Lover of fatness, bearer of oblation, men enkindle him.\n 21Dark-kneed, invested with a fiery mantle, Prithiv\u012b sharpen me\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and give me splendour!\n 22On earth they offer sacrifice and dressed oblation to the Gods.\n \u00a0\u00a0Men, mortals, live upon the earth by food in their accustomed\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0way.\n \u00a0\u00a0May that Earth grant us breath and vital power. Prithiv\u012b give\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0me life of long duration!\n 23Scent that hath risen from thee, O Earth, the fragrance which.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0growing herbs and plants and waters carry,\n \u00a0\u00a0Shared by Apsarases, shared by Gandharvas therewith make\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0thou me sweet: let no man hate me.\n 24Thy scent which entered and possessed the lotus, the scent\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0which they prepared at S\u016bry\u0101's bridal,\n \u00a0\u00a0Scent which Immortals Earth! of old collected, therewith make\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0thou me sweet: let no man hate me.\n 25Thy scent in women and in men, the luck and light that is in.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0males,\n \u00a0\u00a0That is in heroes and in steeds in sylvan beasts and elephants,\n \u00a0\u00a0The splendid energy of maids, therewith do thou unite us,.\n \u00a0\u00a0Earth! Let no man look on us with hate.\n 26Rock earth, and stone, and dust, this Earth is held together,.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0firmly bound.\n \u00a0\u00a0To this gold-breasted Prithiv\u012b mine adoration have I paid.\n 27Hither we call the firmly held, the all-supporting Prithiv\u012b,\n \u00a0\u00a0On whom the trees, lords of the wood, stand evermore immov-\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0able.\n 28Sitting at ease or rising up, standing or going on our way.\n \u00a0\u00a0With our right foot and with our left we will not reel upon the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0earth. p. 78\n 29I speak to Prithiv\u012b the purifier, to patient Earth who groweth\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0strong through Brahma.\n \u00a0\u00a0O Earth, may we recline on thee who bearest strength, increase,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0portioned share of food, and fatness.\n 30Purified for our bodies flow the waters: we bring distress on\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0him who would attack us.\n \u00a0\u00a0I cleanse myself, O Earth, with that which cleanseth.\n 31Earth, be thine eastern and thy northern regions, those lying\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0southward and those lying westward.\n \u00a0\u00a0Propitious unto me in all my movements. Long as I tread the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0ground let me not stumble.\n 32Drive us not from the west or east, drive us not from the north\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0or south,\n \u00a0\u00a0Be gracious unto us, O Earth: let not the robbers find us; keep\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0the deadly weapon far away.\n 33Long as, on thee, I look around, possessing S\u016brya as a friend,\n \u00a0\u00a0So long, through each succeeding year, let not my power of\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0vision fail.\n 34When, as I lie, O Earth, I turn upon my right side and my left,\n \u00a0\u00a0When stretched at all our length we lay our ribs on thee who\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0meetest us.\n \u00a0\u00a0Do us no injury there, O Earth who furnishest a bed for all.\n 35Let what I dig from thee, O Earth, rapidly spring and grow\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0again.\n \u00a0\u00a0O Purifier, let me not pierce through thy vitals or thy heart.\n 36Earth, may thy summer, and thy rains, and autumn, thy winter,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and thy dewy frosts, and spring-time.\n \u00a0\u00a0May thy years, Prithiv\u012b! and ordered seasons, and day and\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0night pour out for us abundance.\n 37The purifier, shrinking from the Serpent, she who held fires that\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0lie within the waters,\n \u00a0\u00a0Who gives as prey the God-blaspheming Dasyus, Earth choosing\n \u00a0\u00a0Indra for her Lord, not Vritra, hath clung to Sakra, to the\n \u00a0\u00a0Strong and Mighty.\n 38Base of the seat and sheds, on whom the sacrificial stake is\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0reared,\n \u00a0\u00a0On whom the Yajus-knowing priests recite their hymns and\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0chant their psalms,\n \u00a0\u00a0And ministers are busied that Indra may drink the Soma juice; p. 79\n 39On whom the ancient Rishis, they who made the world, sang\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0forth the cows,\n \u00a0\u00a0Seven worshippers, by session, with their fervent zeal and\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0sacrifice;\n 40May she, the Earth, assign to us the opulence for which we\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0yearn,\n \u00a0\u00a0May Bhaga share and aid the task and Indra come to lead the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0way.\n 41May she, the Earth, whereon men sing and dance with varied\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0shout and noise,\n \u00a0\u00a0Whereon men meet in battle, and the war-cry and the drum\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0resound,\n \u00a0\u00a0May she drive off our foemen, may Prithiv\u012b rid me of my foes.\n 42On whom is food, barley and rice, to whom these Races Five\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0belong,\n \u00a0\u00a0Homage to her, P arjanya's wife, to her whose marrow is the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0rain!\n 43Whose castles are the work of Gods, and men wage war upon\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0her plain\n \u00a0\u00a0The Lord of Life make Prithiv\u012b, who beareth all things in her\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0womb, pleasant to us on every side!\n 44May Earth the Goddess, she who bears her treasure stored up\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0in many a place, gold, gems, and riches,\n \u00a0\u00a0Giver of opulence, grant great possessions to us bestowing them\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0with love and favour.\n 45Earth, bearing folk of many a varied language with divers rites\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0as suits their dwelling-places,\n \u00a0\u00a0Pour, like a constant cow that never faileth, a thousand streams\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of treasure to enrich me!\n 46Thy snake, thy sharply stinging scorpion, lying concealed, be-\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0wildered, chilled with cold of winter,\n \u00a0\u00a0The worm, O Prithiv\u012b, each thing that in the Rains revives and\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0stirs,\n \u00a0\u00a0Creeping, forbear to creep on us! With all things gracious bless\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0thou us.\n 47Thy many ways on which the people travel, the road for car and\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0wain to journey over,\n \u00a0\u00a0Thereon meet both the good and bad, that pathway may we\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0attain without a foe or robber. With all things gracious bless\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0thou us. p. 80\n 48Supporting both the foolish and the weighty she bears the death\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0both of the good and evil.\n \u00a0\u00a0In friendly concord with the boar, Earth opens herself for the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0wild swine that roams the forest.\n 49All sylvan beasts of thine that love the woodlands, man-eaters,.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0forest-haunting, lions, tigers,\n \u00a0\u00a0Hyena, wolf, Misfortune, evil spirit, drive from us, chase the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0demons to a distance.\n 50Gandharvas and Apsarases, Kim\u012bdins, and malignant sprites,\n \u00a0\u00a0Pis\u0101chas all, and R\u0101kshasas, these keep thou, Earth! afar from\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0us.\n 51To whom the winged bipeds fly together, birds of each various\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0kind, the swans, the eagles;\n \u00a0\u00a0On whom the Wind comes rushing, M\u0101tarisvan, rousing the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0dust and causing trees to tremble, and flame pursues the blast.\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0hither and thither;\n 52Earth, upon whom are settled, joined together, the night and\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0day, the dusky and the ruddy, Prithiv\u012b compassed by the rain\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0about her,\n \u00a0\u00a0Happily may she stablish us in each delightful dwelling place.\n 53Heaven, Earth, the realm of Middle Air have granted me this\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0ample room,\n \u00a0\u00a0Agni, Sun, Waters, all the Gods have joined to give me mental\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0power.\n 54I am victorious, I am called the lord superior on earth,\n \u00a0\u00a0Triumphant, all-o'erpowering the conqueror on every side\n 55There, when the Gods, O Goddess, named thee, spreading thy\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0wide expanse as thou wast broadening eastward,\n \u00a0\u00a0Then into thee passed many a charm and glory: thou madest\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0for thyself the world's four regions.\n 56In hamlets and in woodland, and in all assemblages on earth,\n \u00a0\u00a0In gatherings, meeting of the folk, we will speak glorious things\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0of thee.\n 57As the horse scattereth the dust, the people who dwelt upon\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0the land, at birth, she scattered,\n \u00a0\u00a0Leader and head of all the world, delightful, the trees' protectress\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and the plants' upholder.\n 58Whate'er I say I speak with honey-sweetness, whatever I behold\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0for that they love me.\n \u00a0\u00a0Dazzling, impetuous am I: others who fiercely stir I slay. p. 81\n 59Mild, gracious, sweetly odorous, milky, with nectar in her breast,\n \u00a0\u00a0May Earth, may Prithiv\u012b bestow her benison, with milk, on me.\n 60Whom Visvakarman with oblation followed, when she was set\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0in mid-air's billowy ocean\n \u00a0\u00a0A useful vessel, hid, when, for enjoyment, she was made mani-\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0fest to those with mothers.\n 61Thou art the vessel that containeth people, Aditi, granter of the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0wish, far-spreading.\n \u00a0\u00a0Praj\u0101pati, the first-born Son of Order, supplieth thee with what-\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0soe'er thou lackest.\n 62Let thy breasts, frec from sickness and Consumption, be.\n \u00a0\u00a0Prithiv\u012b, produced for our advantage.\n \u00a0\u00a0Through long-extended life wakeful and watching still may we\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0be thy tributary servants.\n 63O Earth, my Mother, set thou me happily in a place secure.\n \u00a0\u00a0Of one accord with Heaven, O Sage, set me in glory and in\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0wealth.","title":"Atharva Veda: Book 12: Hymn 1: A hymn of prayer and praise to Prithiv\u012b or deified Earth","type":"page"}