Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book VI

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1347416Atharva-Veda Samhita — Book VIWilliam Dwight Whitney

Book VI.

⌊The sixth book consists mainly of hymns of 3 verses. It is divided into thirteen anuvāka-groups, which have ten hymns each, except the third, seventh, eleventh, and twelfth groups, which have eleven hymns each, and the thirteenth, which has eighteen. It thus contains one hundred and forty-two hymns: and of these, one hundred and twenty-two have 3 verses each; twelve have 4 verses each; and eight have 5 verses each. On account of the intrinsic interest, the variety, and the convenient length of the hymns of this book, they have been favorite subjects of translation and comment. Over half of them (79) have been translated by Ludwig in his Der Rigveda, vol. iii. (Die Mantra-litteratur); over half of them (74) also by Bloomfield in Sacred Books of the East, vol. xlii.; over a third (1-50) by Dr. Carl A. Florenz in Bezzenberger's Beiträge zur Kunde der Indogermanischen Sprachen, vol. xii. 249-314; and nearly a quarter (34) by Grill in his Hundert Lieder.⌋

⌊The hymns of 4 verses are hymns 16, 17, 38, 63, 76, 83, 84, 107, 1ll, 121, 128, and 130. The hymns of 5 verses are hymns 34, 108, 122, 123, 132, 133, 138, and 139. At the beginning of its treatment of this book, the Anukramani calls it the "book of hymns of 3 verses" or tṛcasūktakāṇḍa, and adds that "that number is the norm": tatra tṛcaprakṛtir itarā vikṛtir iti. The possibilities of critical reduction to this "norm" are frequently illustrated among the twenty hymns just cited. Thus the reduction may be effected by omission of some of the refrains and combination of the remainders, as in hymns 38, 107, 130 (this the commentator actually so reduces). Again, the intrusions are sometimes indicated by the meter, as in hymns 111, 123. Or, again, they are indicated by their absence in other versions: thus hymns 16, 17, 34, 63, 83, 108, and 128 consist in fact of only 3 verses in the Pāippalāda text.—For the sequence of the books with reference to the normal lengths of their hymns, see the table on p. cxlviii. See p. clii, end.⌋

Hymn-
number
Page

VI. Book the sixth

1 Praise to Savitar 281
2 Praise and prayer to Indra 283
3 To various divinities: for protection 283
4 To various divinities: for protection 284
5 For some one's exaltation 285
6 Against enemies 286
7 For blessings 286
8 To win a woman's love 287
9 To win a woman's love 287
10 Greeting to divinities etc. of the three spheres 288
11 For birth of sons 288
12 Against the poison of snakes 289
13 To the instruments and ministers of death 290
14 Against the balā́sa 290
15 For superiority 291
16 To various plants (?) 292
17 Against premature birth 293
18 Against jealousy 293
19 For ceremonial purification 294
20 Against fever (takmán) 295
21 To healing plants 295
22 To the Maruts 296
23 To the waters: for blessings 297
24 To the waters: for blessings 298
25 For relief from pains (?) in neck and shoulders 298
26 Against evil 299
27 Against birds of ill omen 299
28 Against birds of ill omen etc. 300
29 Against birds of ill omen 301
30 To the çamī́ plant: for benefit to the hair 302
31 At rising of the sun (or moon) 303
32 Against demons 304
33 Praise to Indra 305
34 Praise and prayer to Agni 306
35 Prayer to Agni Vāiçvānara 306
36 In praise of Agni 307
37 Against curses 308
38 For brilliance 309
39 For glory 309
40 For freedom from fear 310
41 To various divinities 311
42 To remove wrath 311
43 To assuage wrath 312
44 For cessation of a disease 312
45 In atonement of offenses 313
46 Against evil dreams 314
47 For blessings: at the three daily libations 315
48 To the deities of the three daily libations 316
49 To Agni etc. 316
50 Against petty destroyers of grain 317
51 For various blessings 318
52 For deliverance from unseen pests 319
53 For protection: to various gods 320
54 To secure and increase some one's superiority 321
55 For various blessings 322
56 For protection from serpents 323
57 With a certain remedy against disease 323
58 For glory 324
59 For protection to cattle 325
60 For winning a spouse 325
61 Prayer and boasts 326
62 Vāiçvānara etc.: for purification 327
63 For some one's release from perdition (nírṛti) 328
64 For concord 329
65 For success against enemies 330
66 For success against enemies 330
67 For success against enemies 331
68 To accompany the act of shaving 332
69 For glory etc. 332
70 To attach a cow to her calf 333
71 Against harm from improper food 334
72 For virile power 335
73 To assure supremacy 335
74 For harmony 336
75 To eject a rival 337
76 For a kṣatríya's security from death 338
77 For recovery and retention of what is lost 338
78 For matrimonial happiness 339
79 For abundance at home 340
80 The heavenly dog and the kālakāñjás 340
81 For successful pregnancy: with an amulet 341
82 To obtain a wife 342
83 To remove apacíts 342
84 For release from perdition 343
85 For relief from yákṣma 344
86 For supremacy 345
87 To establish some one in sovereignty 345
88 To establish a sovereign 346
89 To win affection 347
90 For safety from Rudra's arrow 347
91 For remedy from disease 348
92 For success of a horse 348
93 For protection: to many gods 349
94 For harmony 350
95 For relief from disease: with kúṣṭka 350
96 For relief from sin and distress 351
97 For victory 351
98 To Indra: for victory 352
99 For safety: to Indra 353
100 Against poison 354
101 For virile power 354
102 To win a woman 355
103 To tie up enemies 356
104 Against enemies 356
105 To get rid of cough 357
106 Against fire in the house 357
107 For protection; to various divinities 357
108 For wisdom 358
109 For healing: pippalī́ 359
110 For a child born at an unlucky time 360
111 For relief from insanity 361
112 For expiation of overslaughing 362
113 For release from seizure (grā́hi) 362
114 Against disability in sacrifice 363
115 For relief from sin 364
116 For relief from guilt 365
117 For relief from guilt or debt 366
118 For relief from guilt 367
119 For relief from guilt or obligation 368
120 To reach heaven 369
121 For release from evil 370
122 With an offering for offspring 371
123 For the success of an offering 372
124 Against evil influence of a sky-drop 373
125 To the war-chariot: for its success 374
126 To the drum: for success against the foe 375
127 Against various diseases: with a wooden amulet 376
128 For auspicious time: with dung-smoke 377
129 For good-fortune: with a çiṅçápā amulet 378
130 To win a man's love 379
131 To win a man's love 379
132 To compel a man's love 380
133 To a girdle: for long life etc. 380
134 To crush an enemy with a thunderbolt 381
135 To crush an enemy 382
136 To fasten and increase the hair 383
137 To fasten and increase the hair 383
138 To make a certain man impotent 384
139 To compel a woman's love 384
140 With the first two upper teeth of a child 385
141 With marking of cattle's ears 386
142 For increase of barley 387