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II. PRAYERS FOR LONG LIFE AND HEALTH. 61
IV, 9. Salve (âñgana) 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 (amrita). 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 vishkandha 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 balâsa, 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.
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