Atharva Veda · 434 of 724

HYMN VIII

Imprecations directed against a hostile army 1. Indra the Shaker shake them up, brave, hero, fortdemolisher,   That into thousand fragments we may strike the armies of our    foes! 2. Let Pūtirajju with her breath corrupt and putrefy that host,   And terror smite our foemen’s heart when fire and smoke are    seen afar. 3. Asvattha, rend those men; do thou devour them quickly,   Khadira!   Like reeds let them be broken through, down-smitten by a lifted    rush. 4. Let Parushāhva make them reeds, and let the bulrush strike    them down:   Bound in a mighty net let them break quickly like an arrow’s    shaft. 5. Air was the net; the poles thereof were the great quarters of the    sky:   Sakra therewith enveloped and cast on the ground the Dasyus’    host. 6. Verily mighty is the net of mighty Sakra rich in wealth:   Therewith press all the foemen down so that not one of them    escape! 7. Great is thy net, brave Indra, thine the mighty match for a    thousand, Lord of Hundred Powers!   Holding them, with his host, therewith hath Indra slaughtered   Dasyus a hundred, thousand, myriad, hundred millions. 8. This world so mighty was the net of Sakra, of the Mighty One:   With this, the net of Indra, I envelop all those men with gloom. 9. Great weakness and misfortune, pain which words can never    charm away,   Languor, fatigue, bewilderment, with these I compass all the    foes. 10. I give those foemen up to Death: bound in the bonds of Death    are they.   I bind and carry them away to meet Death’s wicked messengers. 11. Bear them away, Death’s messengers! envoys of Yama! bind    them fast.   More than a thousand be their slain: the club of Bhava pierce    them through! 12. Forth go the Sādhyas in their might bearing one netpole raised    aloft.   One pole the Rudras carry, one the Vasus, and the Ādityas one. 13. The Visve Devas from above shall come depressing it with    might,   And in the midst the Angirases, slaying the mighty host, shall go. 14. Trees of the forest, trees that bear flower and fruit, and herbs    and plants,   Quadruped, biped send I forth that they may strike this army    dead, 15. Gandharvas, and Apsarases, Gods, Serpents, Fathers, Holy   Men,   Seen and unseen, I send them forth that they may strike this    army dead. 16. Here spread are snares of Death wherefrom thou, once within    them, ne’er art freed:   Full many a thousand of the host yonder this horn shall smite    and slay. 17. The Gharma hath been warmed with fire: this Homa slays a    thousand men.   Let Bhava, Prisnibāhu, and Sarva destroy that armament. 18. Their portion be the fire of Death, hunger, exhaustion, slaughter,    fear.   With your entangling snares and nets, Sarva and Indra! slay that    host. 19. Fly, conquered, in alarm, ye foes, run driven by the spell away!   Let not one man escape of those when routed by Brihaspati. 20. Down fall their weapons on the ground: no strength be theirs    to point a shaft:   Then in their dreadful terror let their arrows wound their vital    parts. 21. Let Heaven and Earth roar out in wrath against them, and Air    with all the Deities in concert,   Let them not find a surety or a refuge, but torn away go down    to Death together. 22. The mules of the Gods’ car are heaven’s four quarters; their    hooves are sacred cakes, the air its body.   Its sides are Heaven and Earth, its reins the Seasons, Voice is its    hood, its grooms are sky’s mid-regions. 23. Year is the car, Full Year the seat for driving, Virāj the pole,    the chariot’s front is Agni, Indra the warrior, and the Moon    the driver. 24. Hence conquer, conquer, Hail! be thou the victor! Let these be    conquerors and those be conquered.   Good luck to these, ill luck to those men yonder! With the    dark-blue-and-red our foes I cover.