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II.
PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH (ĀYUṢYĀṆI).
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{03011}
III, 11. Prayer for health and long life.
1. I release thee unto life by means of (my) oblation, from unknown decline,
and from consumption. If Grāhi (seizure) has caught hold (jagrāha) of this
person here, may Indra and Agni free him from that!
2. If his life has faded, even if he has passed away, if he has been brought
to the very vicinity of death, I snatch him from the lap of Nirṛti (the
goddess of destruction): I have freed him unto a life of a hundred autumns.
3. I have snatched him (from death) by means of an oblation which has a
thousand eyes, hundredfold strength, and ensures a hundredfold life, in order
that Indra may conduct him through the years across to the other side of every
misfortune.
4. Live thou, thriving a hundred autumns, a hundred winters, and a hundred
springs! May Indra, Agni, Savitar, Bṛhaspati (grant) thee a hundred years! I
have snatched him (from death) with an oblation that secures a life of a
hundred years.
5. Enter ye, O in-breathing and out-breathing, as two bulls a stable! Away
shall go the other deaths, of which, it is said, there are a hundred more!
6. Remain ye here, O in-breathing and out-breathing, do not go away from here;
do ye carry anew to old age his body and his limbs!
7. To old age I make thee over, into old age I urge thee; may a happy old age
guide thee! Away shall go the other deaths, of which, it is said, there are a
hundred more!
8. Upon thee (life unto) old age has been deposited, as a rope is tied upon a
bull. That death which has fettered thee at thy birth with a firm rope,
Bṛhaspati with the hands of the truth did strip off from thee.
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{02028}
II, 28. Prayer for long life pronounced over a boy.
1. For thee alone, O (death from) old age, this (boy) shall grow up: the other
hundred kinds of death shall not harm him! Like a provident mother in her lap
Mitra shall befriend him, shall save him from misfortune!
2. May Mitra or Varuṇa, the illustrious, cooperating, grant him death from old
age! Then Agni, the priest, who knows the ways, promulgates all the races of
the gods.
3. Thou, (O Agni), rulest over all the animals of the earth, those which have
been born, and those which are to be born: may not in-breathing leave this
one, nor yet out-breathing, may neither friends nor foes slay him!
4. May father Dyaus (sky) and mother Pṛthivī (earth), co-operating, grant thee
death from old age, that thou mayest live in the lap of Aditi a hundred
winters, guarded by in-breathing and out-breathing!
5. Lead this dear child to life and vigour, O Agni, Varuṇa, and king Mitra! As
a mother afford him protection, O Aditi, and all ye gods, that he may attain
to old age!
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{03031}
III, 31. Prayer for health and long life.
1. The gods are free from decrepitude; thou, O Agni, art removed from the
demon of hostility. I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee
with life.
2. (Vāyu), the purifying (wind), shall free thee from misfortune, Śakra
(Indra) from evil sorcery! I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite
thee with life.
3. The tame (village) animals are separate from the wild (forest animals); the
water has flowed apart from thirst. I free thee from all evil and disease,
(and) unite thee with life.
4. Heaven and earth here go apart; the paths go in every direction. I free
thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life.
5. 'Tvaṣṭar is preparing a wedding for his daughter,' thus (saying) does this
whole world pass through. I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite
thee with life.
6. Agni unites (life's) breaths, the moon is united with (life's) breath. I
free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life.
7. By means of (life's) breath the gods aroused the everywhere mighty sun. I
free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life.
8. Live thou by the (life's) breath of them that have life, and that create
life; do not die! I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with
life.
9. Breathe thou with the (life's) breath of those that breathe; do not die! I
free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life.
10. Do thou (rise) up with life, unite thyself with life, (rise) up with the
sap of the plants! I free thee from all evil and disease, (and) unite thee
with life.
11. From the rain of Parjanya we have risen up, immortal. I free thee from all
evil and disease, (and) unite thee with life.
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{07053}
VII, 53. Prayer for long life.
1. When, O Bṛhaspati, thou didst liberate (us) from existence in yonder world
of Yama, (and) from hostile schemes, then did the Aśvins, the physicians of
the gods, with might sweep death from us, O Agni!
2. O in-breathing and out-breathing, go along with the body, do not leave it:
may they be thy allies here! Live and thrive a hundred autumns; Agni shall be
thy most excellent shepherd and overseer!
3. Thy vital force that has been dissipated afar, thy in-breathing and thy
out-breathing, shall come back again! Agni has snatched them from the lap of
Nirṛti (the goddess of destruction), and I again introduce them into thy
person.
4. Let not his in-breathing desert him, nor his out-breathing quit him and
depart! I commit him to the Seven Ṛṣis: may they convey him in health to old
age!
5. Enter, O in-breathing and out-breathing, like two bulls into a stable: this
person shall here flourish, an unmolested repository for old age!
6. Life's breath we do drive into thee, disease we do drive away from thee.
May this excellent Agni endow us with life from every source!
7. Ascending from the darkness of death to the highest firmament, to Sūrya
(the sun), the god among gods, we have reached the highest light.
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{08001}
VIII, 1. Prayer for exemption from the dangers of death.
1. To the 'Ender,' to Death be reverence! May thy in-breathing and thy
out-breathing remain here! United here with (life's) spirit this man shall be,
sharing in the sun, in the world of immortality (amṛta)!
2. Bhaga has raised him up, Soma with his rays (has raised) him up, the
Maruts, the gods, (have raised) him up, Indra and Agni (have raised) him up
unto well-being.
3. Here (shall be) thy (life's) spirit, here thy in-breathing, here thy life,
here thy mind! We rescue thee from the toils of Nirṛti (destruction) by means
of our divine utterance.
4. Rise up hence, O man! Casting off the footshackles of death, do not sink
down! Be not cut off from this world, from the sight of Agni and the sun!
5. The wind, Mātariśvan, shall blow for thee, the waters shall shower amṛta
(ambrosia) upon thee, the sun shall shine kindly for thy body! Death shall
pity thee: do not waste away!
6. Thou shalt ascend and not descend, O man! Life and alertness do I prepare
for thee. Mount, forsooth, this imperishable, pleasant car; then in old age
thou shalt hold converse with thy family!
7. Thy mind shall not go thither, shall not disappear! Do not become heedless
of the living, do not follow the Fathers! All the gods shall preserve thee
here!
8. Do not long after the departed, who conduct (men) afar! Ascend from the
darkness, come to the light! We lay hold of thy hands.
9. The two dogs of Yama, the black and the brindled one, that guard the road
(to heaven), that have been despatched, shall not (go after) thee! Come
hither, do not long to be away; do not tarry here with thy mind turned to a
distance!
10. Do not follow this path: it is terrible! I speak of that by which thou
hast not hitherto gone. Darkness is this, O man, do not enter it! Danger is
beyond, security here for thee.
11. May the fires that are within the waters guard thee, may (the fire) which
men kindle guard thee, may Jātavedas Vaiśvānara (the fire common to all men)
guard thee! Let not the heavenly (fire) together with the lightning burn thee!
12. Let not the flesh-devouring (fire) menace thee: move afar from the funeral
pyre! Heaven shall guard thee, the earth shall guard thee, the sun and moon
shall guard thee, the atmosphere shall guard thee against the divine missile!
13. May the alert and the watchful divinities guard thee, may he that sleeps
not and nods not guard thee, may he that protects and is vigilant guard thee!
14. They shall guard thee, they shall protect thee. Reverence be to them. Hail
be to them!
15. Into converse with the living Vāyu, Indra, Dhātar, and saving Savitar
shall put thee; breath and strength shall not leave thee! Thy (life's) spirit
do we call back to thee.
16. Convulsions that draw the jaws together, darkness, shall not come upon
thee, nor (the demon) that tears out the tongue (?)! How shalt thou then waste
away? The Ādityas and Vasus, Indra and Agni shall raise thee up unto
well-being!
17. The heavens, the earth, Prajāpati, have rescued thee. The plants with Soma
their king have delivered thee from death.
18. Let this man remain right here, ye gods, let him not depart hence to
yonder world! We rescue him from death with (a charm) of thousandfold
strength.
19. I have delivered thee from death. The (powers) that furnish strength shall
breathe upon thee. The (mourning women) with dishevelled hair, they that wail
lugubriously, shall not wail over thee!
20. I have snatched thee (from death), I have obtained thee; thou hast
returned with renewed youth. O thou, that art (now) sound of limb, for thee
sound sight, and sound life have I obtained.
21. It has shone upon thee, light has arisen, darkness has departed from thee.
We remove from thee death, destruction, and disease.
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{08002}
VIII, 2. Prayer for exemption from the dangers of death.
1. Take hold of this (charm) that subjects to immortality (life), may thy life
unto old age not be cut off! I bring to thee anew breath and life: not to mist
and darkness, do not waste away!
2. Come hither to the light of the living; I rescue thee unto a life of a
hundred autumns! Loosing the bands of death and imprecation, I bestow upon
thee long life extended very far.
3. From the wind thy breath I have obtained, from the sun thine eye; thy soul
I hold fast in thee: be together with thy limbs, speak articulating with thy
tongue!
4. With the breath of two-footed and four-footed creatures I blow upon thee,
as on Agni when he is born (as on fire when kindled). I have paid reverence, O
death, to thine eye, reverence to thy breath.
5. This (man) shall live and shall not die: we rouse this man (to life)! I
make for him a remedy: O death, do not slay the man!
6. The plant jīvalā ('quickening'), na-ghā-riṣā ('forsooth-no-harm'), and
jīvantī ('living'), a victorious, mighty saviour-plant do I invoke, that he
may be exempt from injury.
7. Befriend him, do not seize him, let him go, (O death); though he be thy
very own, let him abide here with unimpaired strength! O Bhava and Śarva, take
pity, grant protection, misfortune drive away, and life bestow!
8. Befriend him, death, and pity him: may he from here arise! Unharmed, with
sound limbs, hearing perfectly, through old age carrying a hundred years, let
him get enjoyment by himself (unaided)!
9. The missile of the gods shall pass thee by! I pass thee across the mist (of
death); from death I have rescued thee. Removing far the flesh-devouring Agni,
a barrier do I set around thee, that thou mayest live.
10. From thy misty road that cannot be withstood, O death, from this path (of
thine) we guard this (man), and make our charm a protection for him.
11. In-breathing and out-breathing do I prepare for thee, death in old age,
long life, and prosperity. All the messengers of Yama, that roam about,
dispatched by Vivasvant's son, do I drive away.
12. Arāti (grudge), Nirṛti (destruction), Grāhi (seizure), and the
flesh-devouring Piśācas (do we drive) away to a distance, and hurl all wicked
Rakṣas away into darkness as it were.
13. I crave thy life's breath from the immortal, life-possessing Agni
Jātavedas. That thou shalt not take harm, shalt be immortal in (Agni's)
company, that do I procure for thee, and that shall be fulfilled for thee!
14. May heaven and earth, the bestowers of happiness, be auspicious and
harmless to thee; may the sun-shine, and the wind blow comfort to thy heart;
may the heavenly waters, rich in milk, flow upon thee kindly!
15. May the plants be auspicious to thee! I have raised thee from the lower to
the upper earth: there may both the Ādityas, the sun and the moon, protect
thee.
16. Whatever garment for clothing, or whatever girdle thou makest for thyself,
agreeable to thy body do we render it; not rough to thy touch shall it be!
17. When thou, the barber, shearest with thy sharp well-whetted razor our hair
and beard, do not, while cleansing our face, rob us of our life!
18. Rice and barley shall be auspicious to thee, causing no balāsa, inflicting
no injury! They two drive away disease, they two release from calamity.
19. Whatever thou eatest or drinkest, the grain of the plough-land or milk,
whatever is or is not to be eaten, all that food do I render for thee free
from poison.
20. To day and to night both do we commit thee: from the demons that seek to
devour, do ye preserve this (man) for me!
21. A hundred years, ten thousand years, two, three, four ages (yuga) do we
allot to thee; Indra and Agni, and all the gods without anger shall favour
thee!
22. To autumn thee, to winter, spring and summer, do we commit; the rains in
which grow the plants shall be pleasant to thee!
23. Death rules over bipeds, death rules over quadrupeds. From that death, the
lord of cattle, do I rescue thee: do not fear!
24. Free from harm thou shalt not die; thou shalt not die: do not fear!
Verily, they do not die there, they do not go to the nethermost darkness;--
25. Verily, every creature lives there, the cow, the horse, and man, where
this charm is performed, as the (protecting) barrier for life.
26. May it preserve thee from sorcery, from thy equals and thy kin! Undying
be, immortal, exceedingly vital; thy spirits shall not abandon thy body!
27. From the one and a hundred deaths, from the dangers that are surmountable,
from that Agni Vaiśvānara (the funeral pyre?) may the gods deliver thee!
28. Thou, the remedy called pūtudru, art the body of Agni, the deliverer,
slayer of Rakṣas, slayer of rivals, moreover thou chasest away disease.
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{05030}
V, 30. Prayer for exemption from disease and death.
1. From near thy vicinity, from near thy distance (do I call): remain here, do
not follow; do not follow the Fathers of yore! Firmly do I fasten thy life's
breath.
2. Whatever sorcery any kinsman or stranger has practised against thee, both
release and deliverance with my voice do I declare for thee.
3. If thou hast deceived or cursed a woman or a man in thy folly, both release
and deliverance with my voice do I declare for thee.
4. If thou liest (ill) in consequence of a sin committed by thy mother or thy
father, both release and deliverance with my voice do I declare for thee.
5. Fight shy of the medicine which thy mother and thy father, thy sister and
thy brother let out against thee: I shall cause thee to live unto old age!
6. Remain here, O man, with thy entire soul; do not follow the two messengers
of Yama: come to the abodes of the living!
7. Return when called, knowing the outlet of the path (death), the ascent, the
advance, the road of every living man!
8. Fear not, thou shalt not die: I shall cause thee to live unto old age! I
have charmed away from thy limbs the disease that wastes the limbs.
9. The disease that racks and wastes thy limbs, and the sickness in thy heart,
has flown as an eagle to a far distance, overcome by my charm.
10. The two sages Alert and Watchful, the sleepless and the vigilant, these
two guardians of thy life's breath, are awake both day and night.
11. Agni here is to be revered; the sun shall rise here for thee: rise thou
from deep death, yea from black darkness!
12. Reverence be to Yama, reverence to death; reverence to the Fathers and to
those that lead (to them) [death's messengers?]! That Agni who knows the way
to save do I engage for this man, that he be exempt from harm!
13. His breath shall come, his soul shall come, his sight shall come, and,
too, his strength! His body shall collect itself: then shall he stand firm
upon his feet!
14. Unite him, Agni, with breath and sight, provide him with a body and with
strength! Thou hast a knowledge of immortality: let him not now depart, let
him not now become a dweller in a house of clay!
15. Thy in-breathing shall not cease, thy out-breathing shall not vanish;
Sūrya (the sun), the supreme lord, shall raise thee from death with his rays!
16. This tongue (of mine), bound (in the mouth, yet) mobile, speaks within:
with it I have charmed away disease, and the hundred torments of the takman
(fever).
17. This world is most dear to the gods, unconquered. For whatever death thou
wast destined when thou wast born, O man, that (death) and we call after thee:
do not die before old age!
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{04009}
IV, 9. Salve (āñjana) as a protector of life and limb.
1. Come hither! Thou art the living, protecting eye-ointment of the mountain,
given by all the gods as a safeguard, unto life.
2. Thou art a protection for men, a protection for cattle, thou didst stand
for the protection of horses and steeds.
3. Thou art, O salve, both a protection that crushes the sorcerers, and thou
hast knowledge of immortality (amṛta). Moreover, thou art food for the living,
and thou art, too, a remedy against jaundice.
4. From him over whose every limb and every joint thou passest, O salve, thou
dost, as a mighty intercepter, drive away disease.
5. Him that bears thee, O salve, neither curse, nor sorcery, nor burning pain
does reach; nor does the viṣkandha come upon him.
6. From evil scheme, from troubled dream, from evil deed, and also from
foulness; from the evil eye of the enemy, from this protect us, O salve!
7. Knowing this, O salve, I shall speak the truth, avoid falsehood. May I
obtain horses and cattle, and thy person, O serving-man!
8. Three are servants of the salve: the takman (fever), the balāsa, and the
serpent. The highest of the mountains, Trikakud ('Three-peaks') by name, is
thy father.
9. Since the salve of Trikakud is born upon the Himavant, it shall demolish
all the wizards and all the witches.
10. Whether thou art derived from the (mountain) Trikakud, or art said to come
from the (river) Yamunā, both these names of thine are auspicious: with these,
O salve, protect us!
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{04010}
IV, 10. The pearl and its shell as an amulet bestowing long life and
prosperity.
1. Born of the wind, the atmosphere, the lightning, and the light, may this
pearl shell, born of gold, protect us from straits!
2. With the shell which was born in the sea, at the head of bright substances,
we slay the Rakṣas and conquer the Atrins (devouring demons).
3. With the shell (we conquer) disease and poverty; with the shell, too, the
Sāṇvās. The shell is our universal remedy; the pearl shall protect us from
straits!
4. Born in the heavens, born in the sea, brought on from the river (Sindhu),
this shell, born of gold, is our life-prolonging amulet.
5. The amulet, born from the sea, a sun, born from Vṛtra (the cloud), shall on
all sides protect us from the missiles of the gods and the Asuras!
6. Thou art one of the golden substances, thou art born from Soma (the moon).
Thou art sightly on the chariot, thou art brilliant on the quiver. [May it
prolong our lives!]
7. The bone of the gods turned into pearl; that, animated, dwells in the
waters. That do I fasten upon thee unto life, lustre, strength, longevity,
unto a life lasting a hundred autumns. May the (amulet) of pearl protect thee!
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{19026}
XIX, 26. Gold as an amulet for long life.
1. The gold which is born from fire, the immortal, they bestowed upon the
mortals. He who knows this deserves it; of old age dies he who wears it.
2. The gold, (endowed by) the sun with beautiful colour, which the men of
yore, rich in descendants, did desire, may it gleaming envelop thee in lustre!
Long-lived becomes he who wears it!
3. (May it envelop) thee unto (long) life, unto lustre, unto force, and unto
strength, that thou shalt by the brilliancy of the gold shine forth among
people!
4. (The gold) which king Varuṇa knows, which god Bṛhaspati knows, which
Indra, the slayer of Vṛtra, knows, may that become for thee a source of life,
may that become for thee a source of lustre!
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