Atharva Veda · 429 of 724

HYMN III

A prayer for the destruction of demons 1. I balm with oil the mighty demon-slayer, to the most famous    friend I come for shelter.   Enkindled, sharpened by our rites, may Agni protect us in the    day and night from evil. 2. O Jātavedas, armed with teeth of iron, enkindled with thy flame,    attack the demons.   Seize with thy tongue the foolish gods’ adorers: rend, put with-    in thy mouth the raw-flesh-eaters. 3. Apply thy teeth, the upper and the lower, thou who hast both,    enkindled and destroying.   Roam also in the air, O King, around us, and with thy jaws    assail the wicked spirits. 4. Pierce through the Yātudhāna’s skin, O Agni; let the destroying    dart with fire consume him.   Rend his joints, Jātavedas! let the eater of raw flesh, seeking    flesh, tear and destroy him. 5. Where now thou seest, Agni Jātavedas! a Yātudhāna, standing    still or roaming.   Or one that flieth through the air’s mid-region, kindled to fury    as an archer pierce him. 6. Bending thy shafts through sacrifices, Agni! dipping thine    arrows in the hymn to point them,   Pierce to the heart therewith the Yātudhānas, and break their    arms uplifted to attack thee. 7. Rescue the captives also, Jātavedas! yea, those whom Yātudhā-    nas’ spears have captured.   Strike down that fiend, blazing before him, Agni! Let spotted    carrion-eating kites devour him. 8. Here tell this forth, O Agni: whosoever is, he himself, or acteth    as, a demon,   Grasp him, O thou most youthful, with thy fuel: to the Man-   Seer’s eye give him as booty. 9. With keen glance guard the sacrifice, O Agni: thou Sage, con-    duct it onward to the Vasus.   Let not the fiends, O Man-Beholder, harm thee burning against    the Rākshasas to slay them. 10. Look on the fiend, ’mid men, as Man-Beholder: rend thou his    three extremities in pieces.   Demolish with thy flame his ribs, O Agni: the Yātudhāna’s    root destroy thou triply. 11. Thrice, Agni, let thy noose surround the demon who with his    falsehood injures holy Order.   Loud roaring with thy flame, Jātavedas, fetter him in the pre-    sense of the singer. 12. Agni, what curse the pair this day may utter, what rude rough    word the worshippers have spoken,   Each arrowy taunt sped from the angry spirit,—pierce to the    heart therewith the Yātudhānas. 13. With fervent heat exterminate the demons: destroy the fiends    with glow and flame, O Agni.   Destroy with fire the foolish gods’ adorers: destroy the insatiate    fiercely-burning creatures. 14. May Gods destroy to-day the evil-doer: may uttered curses turn    again and strike him.   Let arrows pierce the liar in his vitals, and Visva’s net enclose    the Yātudhāna. 15. The fiend who smears himself with flesh of cattle, with flesh of    horses and of human bodies,   Who steals the milch-cow’s milk away, O Agni,—tear off the    heads of such with fiery fury. 16. Let the fiends steal the poison of the cattle: may Aditi cast off    the evil-doers.   May the God Savitar give them up to ruin, and be their share    of herbs and plants denied them. 17. The cow gives milk each year, O Man-Beholder: let not the   Yātudhāna ever taste it.   Agni, if one should glut him with the biestings, pierce with thy    flame his vitals as he meets thee. 18. Agni, from days of old thou slayest demons: never have   Rākshasas in fight o’ercome thee.   Burn up the foolish ones, the flesh-devourers: let none of them    escape thy heavenly arrow. 19. Guard us, O Agni, from above and under, protect us from be-    hind and from before us;   And may thy flames, most fierce and never wasting, glowing    with fervent heat, consume the sinner. 20. From rear, from front, from under, from above us, Agni, pro-    tect us as a sage with wisdom.   Guard to old age thy friend as friend eternal: O Agni, as im-    mortal, guard us mortals. 21. Lend thou the worshipper that eye, O Agni, where with thou    lookest on the hoof-armed demons.   With light celestial in Atharvan’s manner burn up the fool who    ruins truth with falsehood. 22. We set thee round us as a fort, victorious Agni! thee, a sage,   In conquering colour day by day, destroyer of the treacherous    foe. 23. With deadly poison strike thou back the treacherous brood of   Rākshasas,   O Agni, with thy sharpened glow, with rays that flash with    points of flame. 24. Agni shines far and wide with lofty splendour, and by his great-    ness makes all things apparent.   He conquers godless and malign enchantments, and sharpens    both his horns to gore the ogres. 25. Thy two unwasting horns, O Jātavedas, keen-pointed weapons,    sharpened by devotion   With these transfix the wicked-souled Kimidin, with fierce flame,   Jātavedas! when he meets thee. 26. Bright, radiant, meet to be adored, immortal with refulgent    glow,   Agni drives Rākshasas away.