________________
58
HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
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 Vaisvânara (the funeral pyre ?) may the gods deliver
thee!
28. Thou, the remedy called patudru, art the body of Agni, the deliverer, slayer of Rakshas, slayer of rivals, moreover thou chasest away disease.
Digized by Google
