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V.
CHARMS PERTAINING TO ROYALTY (RĀJAKARMĀṆI).
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IV, 8. Prayer at the consecration of a king.
1. Himself prosperous (bhūto), he does put strength into the beings (bhūteṣu);
he became the chief lord of the beings (bhūtānām). To his consecration death
does come: may he, the king, favour this kingdom!
2. Come forth hither — do not glance away — as a mighty guardian, slayer of
enemies! Step hither, thou who prosperest thy friends: the gods shall bless
thee!
3. As he did step hither all (men) did attend him. Clothed in grace, he moves,
shining by his own lustre. This is the great name of the manly Asura; endowed
with every form (quality) he entered upon immortal (deeds).
4. Thyself a tiger, do thou upon this tiger-skin stride (victorious) through
the great regions! All the clans shall wish for thee, and the heavenly waters,
rich in sap!
5. The heavenly waters, rich in sap, flow joyously, (and too) those in the sky
and upon the earth: with the lustre of all of these do I sprinkle thee.
6. They have sprinkled thee with their lustre, the heavenly waters rich in
sap. May Savitar thus fashion thee, that thou shalt prosper thy friends!
7. (The waters) thus embracing him, the tiger, promote him, the lion, to great
good fortune. Him, the leopard in the midst of the waters, as though standing
in the ocean, the beneficent (floods, or the vigorous priests) cleanse
thoroughly!
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{03003}
III, 3. Charm for the restoration of an exiled king.
1. (Agni) has shouted loud: may he here well perform his work! Spread thyself
out, O Agni, over the far-reaching hemispheres of the world! The
all-possessing Maruts shall engage thee: bring hither that (king) who devoutly
spends the offering!
2. However far he be, the red (steeds) shall urge hither Indra, the seer, to
friendship, since the gods, (chanting) for him the gāyatrī, the bṛhatī, and
the arka (songs), infused courage into him with the sautrāmaṇī-sacrifice!
3. From the waters king Varuṇa shall call thee, Soma shall call thee from the
mountains, Indra shall cite thee to these clans! Turn into an eagle and fly to
these clans!
4. An eagle shall bring hither from a distance him that is fit to be called,
(yet) wanders exiled in a strange land! The Aśvins shall prepare for thee a
path, easy to travel! Do ye, his kinfolk, gather close about him!
5. Thy opponents shall call thee; thy friends have chosen thee! Indra, Agni,
and all the gods have kept prosperity with this people.
6. The kinsman or the stranger that opposes thy call, him, O Indra, drive
away; then render this (king) accepted here!
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{03004}
III, 4. Prayer at the election of a king.
1. (Thy) kingdom hath come to thee: arise, endowed with lustre! Go forth as
the lord of the people, rule (shine) thou, a universal ruler! All the regions
of the compass shall call thee, O king; attended and revered be thou here!
2. Thee the clans, thee these regions, goddesses five, shall choose for
empire! Root thyself upon the height, the pinnacle of royalty: then do thou,
mighty, distribute goods among us!
3. Thy kinsmen with calls shall come to thee; agile Agni shall go with them as
messenger! Thy wives, thy sons shall be devoted to thee; being a mighty
(ruler) thou shalt behold rich tribute!
4. The Aśvins first, Mitra and Varuṇa both, all the gods, and the Maruts,
shall call thee! Then fix thy mind upon the bestowal of wealth, then do thou,
mighty, distribute wealth among us!
5. Hither hasten forth from the farthest distance heaven and earth, both,
shall be propitious to thee! Thus did this king Varuṇa (as if, 'the chooser')
decree that; he himself did call thee: 'come thou hither'!
6. O Indra, Indra, come thou to the tribes of men, for thou hast agreed,
concordant with the Varuṇas (as if, 'the electors'). He did call thee to thy
own domain (thinking): 'let him revere the gods, and manage, too, the people'!
7. The rich divinities of the roads, of manifold diverse forms, all coming
together have given thee a broad domain. They shall all concordantly call
thee; rule here, a mighty, benevolent (king), to up the tenth decade (of thy
life)!
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{03005}
III, 5. Praise of an amulet derived from the parṇa-tree, designed to
strengthen royal power.
1. Hither hath come this amulet of parṇa-wood, with its might mightily
crushing the enemy. (It is) the strength of the gods, the sap of the waters:
may it assiduously enliven me with energy!
2. The power to rule thou shalt hold fast in me, O amulet of parṇa-wood;
wealth (thou shalt hold fast) in me! May I, rooted in the domain of royalty,
become the chief!
3. Their very own amulet which the gods deposited secretly in the tree, that
the gods shall give us to wear, together with life!
4. The parṇa has come hither as the mighty strength of the soma, given by
Indra, instructed by Varuṇa. May I, shining brilliantly, wear it, unto long
life, during a hundred autumns!
5. The amulet of parṇa-wood has ascended upon me unto complete exemption from
injury, that I may rise superior (even) to friends and alliances!
6. The skilful builders of chariots, and the ingenious workers of metal, the
folk about me all, do thou, O parṇa, make my aids!
7. The kings who (themselves) make kings, the charioteers, and leaders of
hosts, the folk about me all, do thou, O parṇa, make my aids!
8. Thou art the body-protecting parṇa, a hero, brother of me, the hero. Along
with the brilliancy of the year do I fasten thee on, O amulet!
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IV, 22. Charm to secure the superiority of a king.
1. This warrior, O Indra, do thou strengthen for me, do thou install this one
as sole ruler (bull) of the Viś (the people); emasculate all his enemies,
subject them to him in (their) contests!
2. To him apportion his share of villages, horses, and cattle; deprive of his
share the one that is his enemy! May this king be the pinnacle of royalty;
subject to him, O Indra, every enemy!
3. May this one be the treasure-lord of riches, may this king be the tribal
lord of the Viś (the people)! Upon this one, O Indra, bestow great lustre,
devoid of lustre render his enemy!
4. For him shall ye, O heaven and earth, milk ample good, as two milch-cows
yielding warm milk! May this king be favoured of Indra, favoured of cows, of
plants, and cattle!
5. I unite with thee Indra who has supremacy, through whom one conquers and is
not (himself) conquered, who shall install thee as sole ruler of the people,
and as chief of the human kings.
6. Superior art thou, inferior are thy rivals, and whatsoever adversaries are
thine, O king! Sole ruler, befriended of Indra, victorious, bring thou hither
the supplies of those who act as thy enemies!
7. Presenting the front of a lion do thou devour all (their) people,
presenting the front of a tiger do thou strike down the enemies! Sole ruler,
befriended of Indra, victorious, seize upon the supplies of those who act as
thy enemies!
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I, 9. Prayer for earthly and heavenly success.
1. Upon this (person) the Vasus, Indra, Pūṣan, Varuṇa, Mitra, and Agni, shall
bestow goods (vasu)! The Ādityas, and, further, all the gods shall hold him in
the higher light!
2. Light, ye gods, shall be at his bidding: Sūrya (the sun), Agni (fire), or
even gold! Inferior to us shall be our rivals! Cause him to ascend to the
highest heaven!
3. With that most potent charm with which, O Jātavedas (Agni), thou didst
bring to Indra the (soma-) drink, with that, O Agni, do thou here strengthen
this one; grant him supremacy over his kinsmen!
4. Their sacrifice and their glory, their increase of wealth and their
thoughtful plans, I have usurped, O Agni. Inferior to us shall be our rivals!
Cause him to ascend to the highest heaven!
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{06038}
VI, 38. Prayer for lustre and power.
1. The brilliancy that is in the lion, the tiger, and the serpent; in Agni,
the Brāhmaṇa, and Sūrya (shall be ours)! May the lovely goddess that bore
Indra come to us, endowed with lustre!
2. (The brilliancy) that is in the elephant, panther, and in gold; in the
waters, cattle, and men (shall be ours)! May the lovely goddess that bore
Indra come to us, endowed with lustre!
3. (The brilliancy) that is in the chariot, the dice, in the strength of the
bull; in the wind, Parjanya, and in the fire of Varuṇa (shall be ours)! May
the lovely goddess that bore Indra come to us, endowed with lustre!
4. (The brilliancy) that is in the man of royal caste, in the stretched drum,
in the strength of the horse, in the shout of men (shall be ours)! May the
lovely goddess that bore Indra come to us, endowed with lustre!
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VI, 39. Prayer for glory (yaśas).
1. The oblation that yields glory, sped on by Indra, of thousandfold strength,
well offered, prepared with might, shall prosper! Cause me, that offers the
oblation, to continue long beholding (light), and to rise to supremacy!
2. (That he may come) to us, let us honour with obeisance glory-owning Indra,
the glorious one with glory-yielding (oblations)! Do thou (the oblation) grant
us sovereignty sped on by Indra; may we in thy favour be glorious!
3. Glorious was Indra born, glorious Agni, glorious Soma. Glorious, of all
beings the most glorious, am I.
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VIII, 8. Battle-charm.
1. May Indra churn (the enemy), he, the churner, Śakra (mighty), the hero,
that pierces the forts, so that we shall slay the armies of the enemies a
thousandfold!
2. May the rotten rope, wafting itself against yonder army, turn it into a
stench. When the enemies see from afar our smoke and fire, fear shall they lay
into their hearts!
3. Tear asunder those (enemies), O aśvattha (ficus religiosa), devour (khāda)
them, O khadira (acacia catechu) in lively style! Like the tājadbhaṅga
(ricinus communis) they shall be broken (bhajyantām), may the vadhaka (a
certain kind of tree) slay them with his weapons (vadhaiḥ)!
4. May the knotty āhvā-plant put knots upon yonder (enemies), may the vadhaka
slay them with his weapons! Bound up in (our) great trap-net, they shall
quickly be broken as an arrow-reed!
5. The atmosphere was the net, the great regions (of space) the (supporting)
poles of the net: with these Śakra (mighty Indra) did surround and scatter the
army of the Dasyus.
6. Great, forsooth, is the net of great Śakra, who is rich in steeds: with it
infold thou all the enemies, so that not one of them shall be released!
7. Great is the net of thee, great Indra, hero, that art equal to a thousand,
and hast hundredfold might. With that (net) Śakra slew a hundred, thousand,
ten thousand, a hundred million foes, having surrounded them with (his) army.
8. This great world was the net of great Śakra: with this net of Indra I
infold all those (enemies) yonder in darkness.
9. With great dejection, failure, and irrefragable misfortune; with fatigue,
lassitude, and confusion, do I surround all those (enemies) yonder.
10. To death do I hand them over, with the fetters of death they have been
bound. To the evil messengers of death do I lead them captive.
11. Guide ye those (foes), ye messengers of death; ye messengers of Yama,
infold them! Let more than thousands be slain; may the club of Bhava crush
them!
12. The Sādhyas (blessed) go holding up with might one support of the net, the
Rudras another, the Vasus another, (still) another is upheld by the Ādityas.
13. All the gods shall go pressing from above with might; the Aṅgiras shall go
on the middle (of the net), slaying the mighty army!
14. The trees, and (growths) that are like trees, the plants and the herbs as
well; two-footed and four-footed creatures do I impel, that they shall slay
yonder army!
15. The Gandharvas and Apsaras, the serpents and the gods, holy men and
(deceased) Fathers, the visible and invisible (beings), do I impel, that they
shall slay yonder army!
16. Scattered here are the fetters of death; when thou steppest upon them thou
shalt not escape! May this hammer slay (the men) of yonder army by the
thousand!
17. The gharma (sacrificial hot drink) that has been heated by the fire, this
sacrifice (shall) slay thousands! Do ye, Bhava and Śarva, whose arms are
mottled, slay yonder army!
18. Into the (snare of) death they shall fall, into hunger, exhaustion,
slaughter, and fear! O Indra and Śarva, do ye with trap and net slay yonder
army!
19. Conquered, O foes, do ye flee away; repelled by (our) charm, do ye run! Of
yonder host, repulsed by Bṛhaspati, not one shall be saved!
20. May their weapons fall from their (hands), may they be unable to lay the
arrow on (the bow)! And then (our) arrows shall smite them, badly frightened,
in their vital members!
21. Heaven and earth shall shriek at them, and the atmosphere, along with the
divine powers! Neither aider, nor support did they find; smiting one another
they shall go to death!
22. The four regions are the she-mules of the god's chariot, the puroḍāśas
(sacrificial rice-cakes) the hoofs, the atmosphere the seat (of the wagon).
Heaven and earth are its two sides, the seasons the reins, the intermediate
regions the attendants, Vāk (speech) the road.
23. The year is the chariot, the full year is the body of the chariot, Virāj,
the pole, Agni the front part of the chariot. Indra is the (combatant)
standing on the left of the chariot, Candramas (the moon) the charioteer.
24. Do thou win here, do thou conquer here, overcome, win, hail! These here
shall conquer, those yonder be conquered! Hail to these here, perdition to
those yonder! Those yonder do I envelop in blue and red!
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I, 19. Battle-charm against arrow-wounds.
1. The piercing (arrows) shall not hit us, nor shall the striking arrows hit
us! Far away from us, O Indra, to either side, cause the arrow-shower to fall!
2. To either side of us the arrows shall fall, those that have been shot and
shall be shot! Ye divine and ye human arrows, pierce ye mine enemies!
3. Be he our own, or be he strange, the kinsman, or the foreigner, who bear
enmity towards us, those enemies of mine Rudra shall pierce with a shower of
arrows!
4. Him that rivals us, or does not rival us, him that curses us with hate, may
all the gods injure! My charm protects me from within!
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{03001}
III, 1. Battle-charm for confusing the enemy.
1. Agni shall skilfully march against our opponents, burning against their
schemes and hostile plans; Jātavedas shall confuse the army of our opponents
and deprive them (of the use) of their hands!
2. Ye Maruts are mighty in such matters: advance ye, crush ye, conquer ye (the
enemy)! These Vasus when implored did crush (them). Agni, verily, as their
vanguard shall skilfully attack!
3. O Maghavan, the hostile army which contends against us — do ye, O Indra,
Vṛtra's slayer, and Agni, burn against them!
4. Thy thunderbolt, O Indra, who hast been driven forward swiftly by thy two
bay steeds, shall advance, crushing the enemies. Slay them that resist,
pursue, or flee, deprive their schemes of fulfilment!
5. O Indra, confuse the army of the enemy; with the impact of the fire and the
wind scatter them to either side!
6. Indra shall confuse the army, the Maruts shall slay it with might! Agni
shall rob it of its sight; vanquished it shall turn about!
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{03002}
III, 2. Battle-charm for confusing the enemy.
1. Agni, our skilful vanguard, shall attack, burning, against their schemes
and hostile plans! Jātavedas shall bewilder the plans of the enemy, and
deprive them (of the use) of their hands!
2. This fire has confused the schemes that are in your mind; it shall blow you
from your home, blow you away from everywhere!
3. O Indra, bewildering their schemes, come hither with thy (own) plan: with
the impact of the fire and the wind scatter them to either side!
4. O ye plans of theirs, fly ye away; O ye schemes, be ye confused! Moreover,
what now is in their mind, do thou drive that out of them!
5. Do thou, O (goddess) Apvā, confusing their plans, go forth (to them), and
seize their limbs! Attack them, burn with flames into their hearts; strike the
enemy with fits, (strike our) opponents with darkness!
6. That army yonder of the enemy, that comes against us fighting with might,
do ye, O Maruts, strike with planless darkness, that one of them shall not
know the other!
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VI, 97. Battle-charm of a king upon the eve of battle.
1. Superior is the sacrifice, superior Agni, superior Soma, superior Indra. To
the end that I shall be superior to all hostile armies do we thus, offering
the agnihotra, reverently present this oblation!
2. Hail be, ye wise Mitra and Varuṇa: with honey swell ye our kingdom here,
(so that it shall) abound in offspring! Drive far to a distance misfortune,
strip off from us sin, even after it has been committed!
3. With inspiration follow ye this strong hero; cling close, ye friends, to
Indra (the king), who conquers villages, conquers cattle, has the thunderbolt
in his arm, overcomes the host arrayed (against him), crushing it with might!
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{06099}
VI, 99. Battle-charm of a king on the eve of battle.
1. I call upon thee, O Indra, from afar, upon thee for protection against
tribulation. I call the strong avenger that has many names, and is of
unequalled birth.
2. Where the hostile weapon now rises against us, threatening to slay, there
do we place the two arms of Indra round about.
3. The two arms of Indra, the protector, do we place round about us: let him
protect us! O god Savitar, and king Soma, render me of confident mind, that I
may prosper!
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{11009}
XI, 9. Prayer to Arbudi and Nyarbudi for help in battle.
1. The arms, the arrows, and the might of the bows; the swords, the axes, the
weapons, and the artful scheme that is in our mind; all that, O Arbudi, do
thou make the enemies see, and spectres also make them see!
2. Arise, and arm yourselves; friends are ye, O divine folk! May our friends
be perceived and protected by you, O Arbudi (and Nyarbudi)!
3. Arise (ye two), and take hold! With fetters and shackles surround ye the
armies of the enemy, O Arbudi (and Nyarbudi)!
4. The god whose name is Arbudi, and the lord Nyarbudi, by whom the atmosphere
and this great earth has been infolded, with these two companions of Indra do
I pursue the conquered (king) with my army.
5. Arise, thou divine person, O Arbudi, together with thy army! Crushing the
army of the enemy, encompass them with thy embraces!
6. Thou, Arbudi, makest appear the sevenfold spectral brood. Do thou, when the
oblation has been poured, rise up with all these, together with the army!
7. (The female mourner), beating herself, with tear-stained face, with short
(mutilated?) ears, with dishevelled hair, shall lament, when a man has been
slain, pierced by thee, O Arbudi!
8. She curves her spine while longing in her heart for her son, her husband,
and her kin, when (a man) has been pierced by thee, O Arbudi!
9. The aliklavas and the jāṣkamadas, the vultures, the strong-winged hawks,
the crows, and the birds (of prey) shall obtain their fill! Let them make
evident to the enemy, when (a man) has been pierced by thee, O Arbudi!
10. Then, too, every wild beast, insect, and worm shall obtain his fill on the
human carcass, when (a man) has been pierced by thee, O Arbudi!
11. Seize ye, and tear out in-breathing and out-breathing, O Nyarbudi (and
Arbudi): deep-sounding groans shall arise! Let them make it evident to the
enemy, when (a man) has been pierced by thee, O Arbudi!
12. Scare them forth, let them tremble; bewilder the enemies with fright! With
thy broad embrace, with the clasp of thy arms crush the enemies, O Nyarbudi!
13. May their arms, and the artful scheme that is in their mind be confused!
Not a thing shall remain of them, pierced by thee, O Arbudi!
14. May (the mourning women) beating themselves, run together, smiting their
breasts and their thighs, not anointed, with dishevelled hair, howling, when a
man has been slain, has been pierced by thee, O Arbudi!
15. The dog-like Apsaras, and also the Rūpakās (phantoms), the plucking
sprite, that eagerly licks within the vessel, and her that seeks out what has
been carelessly hidden, all those do thou, O Arbudi, make the enemies see, and
spectres also make them see!
16. (And also make them see) her that strides upon the mist, the mutilated
one, who dwells with the mutilated; the vapoury spooks that are hidden, and
the Gandharvas and Apsaras, the serpents, and other brood, and the Rakṣas!
17. (And also) the spooks with fourfold teeth, black teeth, testicles like a
pot, bloody faces, who are inherently frightful, and terrifying!
18. Frighten thou, O Arbudi, yonder lines of the enemy; the conquering and the
victorious (Arbudi and Nyarbudi), the two comrades of Indra, shall conquer the
enemies!
19. Dissolved, crushed, slain the enemy shall lie, O Nyarbudi! May victorious
sprites, with fiery tongues and smoky crests, go with (our) army!
20. Of the enemies repulsed by this (army), O Arbudi, Indra, the spouse of
Śacī, shall slay each picked man: not a single one of those yonder shall
escape!
21. May their hearts burst, may their life's breath escape upward! May dryness
of the mouth overtake (our) enemies, but not (our) allies!
22. Those who are bold and those who are cowardly, those who turn (in flight)
and those who are deaf (to danger?), those who are (like) dark goats, and
those, too, who bleat like goats, all those, do thou, O Arbudi, make the
enemies see, and spectres also make them see!
23. Arbudi and Triṣandhi shall pierce our enemies, so that, O Indra, slayer of
Vṛtra, spouse of Śacī, we may slay the enemy by thousands!
24. The trees, and (growths) that are like trees, the plants and the herbs as
well, the Gandharvas and the Apsaras, the serpents, gods, pious men, and
(departed) Fathers, all those, O Arbudi, do thou make the enemies see, and
spectres also make them see!
25. The Maruts, god Āditya, Brahmaṇaspati did rule over you; Indra, and Agni,
Dhātar, Mitra, and Prajāpati did rule over you; the seers did rule over you.
Let them make evident to the enemies when (a man) has been pierced by thee, O
Arbudi!
26. Ruling over all these, rise ye and arm yourselves! Ye divine folk are
(our) friends: win ye the battle, and disperse to your various abodes!
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{11010}
XI, 10. Prayer to Triṣandhi for help in battle.
1. Arise and arm yourselves, ye nebulous spectres together with fiery portents;
ye serpents, other brood, and Rakṣas, run ye after the enemy!
2. He knows how to rule your kingdom together with the red portents (of the
heavens). The evil brood that is in the air and the heaven, and the human
(powers) upon the earth, shall be obedient to the plans of Triṣandhi!
3. The brazen-beaked (birds of prey), those with beaks pointed as a needle,
and those, too, with thorny beaks, flesh-devouring, swift as the wind, shall
fasten themselves upon the enemies, together with the Triṣandhi-bolt (the bolt
with three joints)!
4. Make away with, O Jātavedas Āditya, many carcasses! This army of Triṣandhi
shall be devoted to my bidding!
5. Arise thou divine person, O Arbudi, together with thy army! This tribute
has been offered to you (Arbudi and Triṣandhi), an offering pleasing to
Triṣandhi.
6. This white-footed, four-footed arrow shall fetter (?). Do thou, O magic
spell, operate, together with the army of Triṣandhi, against the enemies!
7. May (the mourning woman) with suffused eyes hurry on, may she that hath
short (mutilated?) ears shout when (a man) has been overcome by the army of
Triṣandhi! Red portents shall be (visible)!
8. May the winged birds that move in the air and in the sky descend; beasts of
prey and insects shall seize upon them; the vultures that feed upon raw flesh
shall hack into (their) carcasses!
9. By virtue of the compact which thou, O Bṛhaspati, didst close with Indra
and Brahman, by virtue of that agreement with Indra, do I call hither all the
gods: on this side conquer, not over yonder!
10. Bṛhaspati, the descendant of Aṅgiras, and the seers, inspired by (our)
song, did fix the three-jointed (Triṣandhi) weapon upon the sky for the
destruction of the Asuras.
11. Triṣandhi, by whom both yonder Āditya (the sun) and Indra, are protected,
the gods did destine for (our) might and strength.
12. All the worlds the gods did conquer through this oblation, (and) by the
bolt which Bṛhaspati, the descendant of Aṅgiras, did mould into a weapon for
the destruction of the Asuras.
13. With the bolt which Bṛhaspati, the descendant of Aṅgiras, did mould into a
weapon for the destruction of the Asuras do I, O Bṛhaspati, annihilate yonder
army: I smite the enemies with force.
14. All the gods that eat the oblation offered with the call vaṣaṭ are coming
over. Receive this oblation graciously; conquer on this side, not over yonder!
15. May all the gods come over: the oblation is pleasing to Triṣandhi. Adhere
to the great compact under which of yore the Asuras were conquered!
16. Vāyu (the wind) shall bend the points of the enemies' bows, Indra shall
break their arms, so that they shall be unable to lay on their arrows, Āditya
(the sun) shall send their missiles astray, and Candramas (the moon) shall bar
the way of (the enemy) that has not (as yet) started!
17. If they have come on as citadels of the gods, if they have constituted an
inspired charm as their armour, if they have gathered courage through the
protections for the body and the bulwarks which they have made, render all
that devoid of force!
18. Placing (our) purohita (chaplain), together with the flesh-devourer (Agni)
and death, in thy train, do thou, O Triṣandhi, go forth with thy army, conquer
the enemies, advance!
19. O Triṣandhi, envelop thou the enemies in darkness; may not a single one of
those, driven forth by the speckled ghee, be saved!
20. May the white-footed (arrow?) fly to yonder lines of the enemy, may yonder
armies of the enemies be to-day put to confusion, O Nyarbudi!
21. The enemies have been confused, O Nyarbudi: slay each picked man among
them, slay them with this army!
22. The enemy with coat-of-mail, he that has no coat-of-mail, and he that
stands in the battle-throng, throttled by the strings of their bows, by the
fastenings of their coats-of-mail, by the battle-throng, they shall lie!
23. Those with armour and those without armour, the enemies that are shielded
by armour, all those, O Arbudi, after they have been slain, dogs shall devour
upon the ground!
24. Those that ride on chariots, and those that have no chariots, those that
are mounted, and those that are not mounted, all those, after they have been
slain, vultures and strong-winged hawks shall devour!
25. Counting its dead by thousands, the hostile army, pierced and shattered in
the clash of arms, shall lie!
26. Pierced in a vital spot, shrieking in concert with the birds of prey,
wretched, crushed, prostrate, (the birds of prey) shall devour the enemy who
attempts to hinder this oblation of ours directed against (him)!
27. With (the oblation) to which the gods flock, which is free from failure —
with it Indra, the slayer of Vṛtra, shall slay, and with the Triṣandhi-bolt
(the bolt with three joints)!
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{05020}
V, 20. Hymn to the battle-drum.
1. High sounds the voice of the drum, that acts the warrior, the wooden
(drum), equipped with the skin of the cow. Whetting thy voice, subduing the
enemy, like a lion sure of victory, do thou loudly thunder against them!
2. The wooden (instrument) with fastened (covering) has thundered as a lion,
as a bull roars to the cow that longs to mate. Thou art a bull, thy enemies
are eunuchs; thou ownest Indra's foe-subduing fire!
3. Like a bull in the herd, full of might, lusty, do thou, O snatcher of
booty, roar against them! Pierce with fire the heart of the enemy; with broken
ranks the foe shall run and scatter!
4. In victorious battles raise thy roar! What may be captured, capture; sound
in many places! Favour, O drum, (our deeds) with thy divine voice; bring to
(us) with strength the property of the enemy!
5. When the wife of the enemy hears the voice of the drum, that speaks to a
far distance, may she, aroused by the sound, distressed, snatch her son to her
arms, and run, frightened at the clash of arms!
6. Do thou, O drum, sound the first sound, ring brilliantly over the back of
the earth! Open wide thy maw at the enemies' host; resound brightly, joyously,
O drum!
7. Between this heaven and earth thy noise shall spread, thy sounds shall
quickly part to every side! Shout thou and thunder with swelling sound; make
music at thy friend's victory, having (chosen) the good side!
8. Manipulated with care, its voice shall resound! Make bristle forth the
weapons of the warriors! Allied to Indra do thou call hither the warriors;
with thy friends beat vigorously down the enemies!
9. A shouting herald, followed by a bold army, spreading news in many places,
sounding through the village, eager for success, knowing the way, do thou
distribute glory to many in the battle!
10. Desiring advantage, gaining booty, full mighty, thou hast been made keen
by (my) song, and winnest battles. As the press-stone on the gathering skin
dances upon the soma-shoots, thus do thou, O drum, lustily dance upon the
booty!
11. A conqueror of enemies, overwhelming, foe-subduing, eager for the fray,
victoriously crushing, as a speaker his speech do thou carry forth thy sound;
sound forth here strength for victory in battle!
12. Shaking those that are unshaken, hurrying to the strife, a conqueror of
enemies, an unconquerable leader, protected by Indra, attending to the hosts,
do thou that crusheth the hearts of the enemies, quickly go!
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{05021}
V, 21. Hymn to the battle-drum, the terror of the enemy.
1. Carry with thy voice, O drum, lack of heart, and failure of courage among
the enemies! Disagreement, dismay, and fright, do we place into the enemies:
beat them down, O drum!
2. Agitated in their minds, their sight, their hearts, the enemies shall run,
frightened with terror, when our oblation has been offered!
3. Made of wood, equipped with the skin of the cow, at home with every clan,
put thou with thy voice terror into the enemies, when thou hast been anointed
with ghee!
4. As the wild animals of the forest start in fear from man, thus do thou, O
drum, shout against the enemies, frighten them away, and bewilder their minds!
5. As goats and sheep run from the wolf, badly frightened, thus do thou, O
drum, shout against the enemies, frighten them away, and bewilder their minds!
6. As birds start in fear from the eagle, as by day and by night (they start)
at the roar of the lion, thus do thou, O drum, shout against the enemies,
frighten them away, and bewilder their minds!
7. With the drum and the skin of the antelope all the gods, that sway the
battle, have scared away the enemies.
8. At the noise of the beat of the feet when Indra disports himself, and at
his shadow, our enemies yonder, that come in successive ranks, shall tremble!
9. The whirring of the bowstring and the drums shall shout at the directions
where the conquered armies of the enemies go in successive ranks!
10. O sun, take away their sight; O rays, run after them; clinging to their
feet, fasten yourselves upon them, when the strength of their arms is gone!
11. Ye strong Maruts, Pṛśni's children, with Indra as an ally, crush ye the
enemies; Soma the king (shall crush them), Varuṇa the king, Mahādeva, and also
Mṛtyu (death), and Indra!
12. These wise armies of the gods, having the sun as their ensign, shall
conquer our enemies! Hail!
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