4. Lead thou away the witchcraft back to the witchcraft-maker, grasping its hand; set it straight before (samakṣám) him, that it may smite the witchcraft-maker.
Ppp. has, for b, pratiharaṇaṁ na harāmasi (our 8 c); but in book ii. it has the whole half-verse just as it stands here.
5. Be the witchcrafts for the witchcraft-maker, the curse for him that curses; like an easy chariot let the witchcraft roll back to the witchcraft-maker.
6. If woman, or if man, hath made witchcraft in order to evil, it we conduct unto him, like a horse by a horse-halter.
The Anukr. doubtless scans d as áçvam ivā ’çvābhidhā́nyā, instead of áçvam ’va ’çvābhidhā́niā, as it should be.
7. If either thou art god-made, or if made by man, thee, being such, do we lead back, with Indra as ally.
Ppp. has a very different version of this verse: yā kṛtye devakṛtā yā vā manuṣyajā ’si: tāṁ tvā pratyan̄ prahiṇmasi pratīcī nayana brahmaṇā. The ṇ in púnar ṇayāmasi is prescribed by Prāt. iii. 81. Táṁ at beginning of c is a misprint for tā́ṁ.
8. O Agni, overpowerer of fighters, overpower the fighters; we take the witchcraft back to the witchcraft-maker by a returner.
Ppp. reads in b prati instead of punar, thus making a better correspondence with pratiharaṇa in c. The Anukr's definition of the "verse" is purely artificial; the first pāda is distinctly unmetrical, and the third hardly metrical.
9. O practiced piercer (?), pierce him; whoever made [it], him do thou smite; we do not sharpen thee up to slay (vadhá) him who has not made [it].
This verse is found in Ppp. in book ii., much corrupted, with, for d, vadhāya çaṁsamīmahe. Kṛtavyadhanī may possibly be the proper name of the herb addressed: cf. kṛtavedhana or -dhaka, "name of a sort of fennel or anise" (Pet. Lex.).
10. Go as a son to a father; like a constrictor trampled on, bite; go, O witchcraft, back to the witchcraft-maker, as it were treading down [thy] bond.
That is, apparently, escaping and treading on what has restrained thee. Ppp. combines in b svajāiva, and reads for c, d, tantur ivāvyayaṁnide kṛtye kṛtyākṛtaṁ kṛtāḥ. Though the verse is a perfectly good anuṣṭubh, the Anukr., reading iva three times as dissyllabic, turns it into a defective bṛhatī.
11. Up, like a she-antelope (eṇī́), a she-elephant (? vāraṇī́), with leaping on, like a hind, let the witchcraft go to its maker.
