{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/av/av14001.htm","path":"hin/av/av14001.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/av/av14001.htm","text":"Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895]\n1Truth is the base that bears the earth; by S\u016brya are the heavens\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0upheld.\n \u00a0\u00a0By Law the \u0100dityas stand secure, and Soma holds his place in\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0heaven.\n 2By Soma are the \u0100dityas strong, by Soma mighty is the earth:\n \u00a0\u00a0Thus Soma in the lap of all these constellations hath his home.\n 3One thinks, when men have brayed the plant, that he hath drunk\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0the Soma's juice.\n \u00a0\u00a0Of him whom Br\u0101hmans truly know as Soma never mortal eats.\n 4When they begin to drink thee, then, O God, thou swellest out\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0again.\n \u00a0\u00a0V\u0101yu in Soma's sentinel. The month is that which shapes the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0years.\n 5Soma, preserved by covering rules, guarded by hymns in Brihat\u012b,\n \u00a0\u00a0Thou standest listening to the stones; none tastes of thee who\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0dwells on earth.\n 6Thought was her coverlet, the power of sight was unguent for her\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0eyes:\n \u00a0\u00a0Her treasure-chest was earth and heaven, when S\u016bry\u0101 went unto\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0her lord.\n 7Raibhi was her dear bridal friend, and N\u0101r\u0101satisi led her home.\n \u00a0\u00a0Lovely to see was S\u016bry\u0101's robe: by G\u0101th\u0101 beautified she moves\n 8Songs were the cross-bars of the pole, Kurira metre docked her\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0head.\n \u00a0\u00a0Both Asvins were the paranymphs: Agni was leader of the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0train.\n 9Soma was he who wooed the maid: the groomsmen were both.\n \u00a0\u00a0Asvins, when\n \u00a0\u00a0The Sun-God Savitar bestowed his willing S\u016bry\u0101 on her lord.\n 10Her spirit was the bridal car, the canopy thereof was heaven:\n \u00a0\u00a0Two radiant oxen formed the team when S\u016bry\u0101 came unto her\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0lord. p. 130\n 11Steadily went the steers upheld by holy verse and song of praise,\n \u00a0\u00a0The chariot-wheels were listening ears: thy path was tremulous\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0in the sky.\n 12Pure, as thou wentest, were thy wheels, breath was the axle pier-\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0cing them.\n \u00a0\u00a0S\u016bry\u0101 advancing to her lord rode on the chariot of her heart.\n 13The bridal pomp of S\u016bry\u0101, which Savitar started, moved along.\n \u00a0\u00a0In Magh\u0101 days are oxen slain, in Phalgunis they wed the bride.\n 14When on your three-wheeled chariot, O ye Asvins, ye came as\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0suitors unto S\u016brya's bridal,\n \u00a0\u00a0Where was one chariot-wheel of yours? Where stood ye for the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0sire's command?\n 15Twin Lords of Lustre, at the time when ye to S\u016bry\u0101's wooing\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0came,\n \u00a0\u00a0Then all the Gods agreed to your proposal P\u016bshan as son elected\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0you as father.\n 16Two wheels of thine the Br\u0101hmans know, S\u016brya! according to\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0their times.\n \u00a0\u00a0That which is hidden only those who know the highest truths\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0have learned.\n 17Worship we pay to Aryaman, finder of husbands, kindly friend.\n \u00a0\u00a0As from its stalk a cucumber, from here I loose thee, not from\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0there\n 18Hence and not thence I send her free. I make her softly fettered\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0there.\n \u00a0\u00a0That, bounteous Indra! she may live blest in her fortune and\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0her sons.\n 19Now from the noose of Varuna I free thee, where with the bless-\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0ed Savitar hath bound thee.\n \u00a0\u00a0May bless be thine together with thy wooer in Order's dwelling,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0in the world of virtue.\n 20Let Bhaga take thy hand and hence conduct thee: let the two\n \u00a0\u00a0Asvins on their car transport thee.\n \u00a0\u00a0Go to the house to be the household's mistress, and speak as\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0lady to thy gathered people.\n 21Happy be thou and prosper with thy children here: be vigilant\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0to rule the household in this home.\n \u00a0\u00a0Closely unite thy body with this man thy lord. So shalt thou,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0full of years, address thy company. p. 131\n 22Be not divided; dwell ye here; reach the full time of human\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0life.\n \u00a0\u00a0With sons and grandsons sport and play, rejoicing in your happy\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0home.\n 23Moving by magic power from east to westward, these children\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0twain go sporting round the ocean.\n \u00a0\u00a0The one beholds all creatures: thou, the other, art born anew,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0duly arranging seasons.\n 24Thou, born afresh, art new and new for ever; ensign of days,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0before the Dawns thou goest.\n \u00a0\u00a0Coming, thou orderest for Gods their portion. Thou lengthenest,\n \u00a0\u00a0Moon, the days of our existence.\n 25Give thou the wollen robe away: deal treasure to the Br\u0101hman-\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0priests.\n \u00a0\u00a0This Witchery hath got her feet: the wife attendeth on her lord.\n 26It turneth dusky-red: the witch who clingeth close is driven off.\n \u00a0\u00a0Well thrive the kinsmen of this bride: the husband is bound\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0fast in bonds.\n 27Unlovely is his body when it glistens with that wicked fiend,\n \u00a0\u00a0What time the husband wraps about his limbs the garment of\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0his wife.\n 28The butchering, the cutting-up, the severing of limb and joint\u2014\n \u00a0\u00a0Behold the forms which S\u016bry\u0101 wears: yet these the Br\u0101hman\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0purifies,\n 29Pungent is this, bitter is this, filled as it were with arrow barbs,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0empoisoned and not fit for use.\n \u00a0\u00a0The Br\u0101hman who knows S\u016bry\u0101 well deserves the garment of\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0the bride.\n 30The Br\u0101hman takes away the robe as a fair thing that brings good\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0luck.\n \u00a0\u00a0He knows the expiating rite whereby the wife is kept unharmed.\n 31Prepare, ye twain, happy and prosperous fortune, speaking the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0truth in faithful utterances.\n \u00a0\u00a0Dear unto her, Brihaspati, make the husband, and pleasant be\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0these words the wooer speaketh.\n 32Remain ye even here and go no farther: strengthen this man, ye\n \u00a0\u00a0Cows, with plenteous offspring.\n \u00a0\u00a0May Dawns that come for glory, bright with Soma, here may all\n \u00a0\u00a0Gods fix and enchant your spirits. p. 132\n 33Come, O ye Cows, with offspring dwell around him: he doth not\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0stint the Gods' alloted portion.\n \u00a0\u00a0To him, your friend, may P\u016bshan, all the Maruts, to him may\n \u00a0\u00a0Dhatar, Savitar send vigour.\n 34Straight in direction be the paths, and thornless, whereby our\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0fellows travel to the wooing.\n \u00a0\u00a0With Bhaga and with Aryaman Dh\u0101tar endue the pair with\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0strength!\n 35Whatever lustre is in dice, whatever lustre is in wine,\n \u00a0\u00a0Whatever lustre is in cows, Asvins, endue this dame therewith.\n 36With all the sheen that balmeth wine, or thigh of female para-\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0mour,\n \u00a0\u00a0With all the sheen that balmeth dice, even with this adorn the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0dame.\n 37He who in water shines unfed with fuel, whom sages worship in\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0their sacrifices.\n \u00a0\u00a0May he, the Waters' Child, send us sweet waters those that en-\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0hanced the power of mighty Indra.\n 38I cast away a handful here, hurtful, injurious to health.\n \u00a0\u00a0I lift another handful up, sparkling and bringing happiness.\n 39Hither let Br\u0101hmans bring her bathing water; let them draw\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0such as guards the lives of heroes.\n \u00a0\u00a0Aryaman's fire let her encircle, P\u016bshan! Fathers-in-law stand,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0with their sons, expectant.\n 40Blest be the gold to thee, and blest the water, blest the yoke's\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0opening, and blest the pillar.\n \u00a0\u00a0Blest he the waters with their hundred cleansings: blest be thy\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0body's union with thy husband.\n 41Cleansing Ap\u0101l\u0101, Indra! thrice, thou gavest sunbright skin to\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0her\n \u00a0\u00a0Drawn, Satakratu! through the hole of car, of wagon, and of\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0yoke.\n 42Saying thy prayer for cheerfulness, children, prosperity, and\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0wealth,\n \u00a0\u00a0Devoted to thy husband, gird thyself for immortality.\n 43As vigorous Sindhu won himself imperial lordship of the\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0streams,\n \u00a0\u00a0So be imperial queen when thou hast come within thy husband's\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0home.\n 44Over thy husband's fathers and his brothers be imperial queen. p. 133\n \u00a0\u00a0Over thy husband's sister and, his mother bear supreme control.\n 45They who have spun, and woven, and extended Goddesses who\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0have drawn the ends together,\n \u00a0\u00a0May they invest thee for full long existence. Heiress of lengthen-\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0ed life, endue this garment,\n 46They mourn the living, they arrange the sacred rite: the men\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0have set their thoughts upon a distant cast:\n \u00a0\u00a0They who have brought the Fathers this delightful gift, when\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0wives allowed their lords the joy of their embrace.\n 47I place upon the lap of Earth the Goddess, a firm auspicious\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0stone to bring thee children.\n \u00a0\u00a0Stand on it, thou, greeted with joy, resplendent: a long long\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0life may Savitar vouchsafe thee.\n 48As Agni in the olden time took the right hand of this our Earth.\n \u00a0\u00a0Even so I take and hold thy hand: be not disquieted, with me,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0with children and with store of wealth.\n 49God Savitar shall take thy hand, and Soma the King shall make\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0thee rich in goodly offspring,\n \u00a0\u00a0Let Agni, Lord Omniscient, make thee happy, till old old age a\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0wife unto thy husband.\n 50I take thy hand in mine for happy fortune that thou mayst reach\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0old age with me thy consort,\n \u00a0\u00a0Gods, Aryaman, Bhaga, Savitar, Purandhi, have given thee to be\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0my household's mistress.\n 51Bhaga and Savitar the God have clasped that hand of thine in\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0theirs,\n \u00a0\u00a0By rule and law thou art my wife: the master of thy house am I.\n 52Be it my care to cherish her: Brihaspati hath made thee mine.\n \u00a0\u00a0A hundred autumns live with me thy husband, mother of my\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0sons!\n 53Tvashtar, by order of the holy sages, hath laid on her Brihas-\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0pati's robe for glory,\n \u00a0\u00a0By means of this let Savitar and Bhaga surround this dame, like\n \u00a0\u00a0S\u016bry\u0101, with her children.\n 54May Indra-Agni, Heaven-Earth, M\u0101tarisvan, may Mitra-Varuna,\n \u00a0\u00a0Bhaga, both the Asvins,\n \u00a0\u00a0Brihaspati, the host of Maruts, Brahma, and Soma magnify this\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0dame with offspring.\n 55It was Brihaspati who first arranged the hair on S\u016bry\u0101's head, p. 134\n \u00a0\u00a0And therefore, O ye Asvins, we adorn this woman for her lord.\n 56This lovely form the maiden wears in spirit I long to look on\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0as my wife approaching,\n \u00a0\u00a0Her will I follow with my nine companions. Who is the sage\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0that loosed the bonds that held her?\n 57I free her: he who sees, within my bosom, my heart's nest\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0knows how her fair form hath struck me.\n \u00a0\u00a0I taste no stolen food: myself untying Varuna's nooses I am\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0freed in spirit.\n 58Now from the bond of Varuna I loose thee, wherein the blessed\n \u00a0\u00a0Savitar hath bound thee.\n \u00a0\u00a0O bride, I give thee here beside thy husband fair space and room\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0and pleasant paths to travel.\n 59Lift up your weapons. Drive away the demons. Transport this\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0woman to the world of virtue.\n \u00a0\u00a0Dilator, most wise, hath found for her a husband. Let him who\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0knows, King Bhaga, go before her.\n 60Bhaga hath formed the four legs of the litter, wrought the four\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0pieces that compose the frame-work.\n \u00a0\u00a0Tvashtar hath decked the straps that go across it, May it be\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0blest, and bring us happy fortune.\n 61Mount this, all-hued. gold tinted, strong wheeled, fashioned of\n \u00a0\u00a0Kinsuka, this chariot lightly rolling,\n \u00a0\u00a0Bound for the world of life immortal, S\u016bry\u0101! Made for thy\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0lord a happy bride's procession.\n 62To us, O Varuna, bring her, kind to brothers; bring her, Brihas-\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0pati, gentle to the cattle.\n \u00a0\u00a0Bring her, O Indra, gentle to her husband: bring her to us, O\n \u00a0\u00a0Savitar, blest with children.\n 63Hurt not the girl, ye Pillars twain upon the path which Gods\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0have made.\n \u00a0\u00a0The portal of the heavenly home we make the bride's auspicious\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0road.\n 64Let prayer he offered up before and after, prayer in the middle,\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0lastly, all around her.\n \u00a0\u00a0Reaching the Gods' inviolable castle shine in thy lord's world\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0gentle and auspicious.","title":"Atharva Veda: Book 14: Hymn 1: On the Bridal of S\u016bry...","type":"page"}