VI, 100. Ants as an antidote against poison.
1. The gods have given, the sun has given, the earth has given, the three Sarasvatîs, of one mind, have given this poison-destroying (remedy)!
2. That water, O ants, which the gods poured for you into the dry land, with this (water), sent forth by the gods, do ye destroy this poison!
3. Thou art the daughter of the Asuras, thou art the sister of the gods. Sprung from heaven and earth, thou didst render the poison devoid of strength.
VI, 13 Charm against snake-poison.
1. Varuna, the sage of heaven, verily lends (power) to rne. With mighty charms do I dissolve thy poison. The (poison) which has been dug, that which has not been duo-, and that which is inherent, 1 have held fast. As a brook in the desert thy poison has dried up.
2. That poison of thine which is not fluid I have confined within these (serpents?). I hold fast the sap that is in thy middle, thy top, and in thy bottom, too. May (the sap) now vanish out of thee from fright!
3. My lusty shout (is) as the thunder with the cloud: then do I smite thy (sap) with my strong charm. With manly strength I have held fast that sap of his. May the sun rise as light from the darkness!
4. With my eye do I slay thy eye, with poison do I slay thy poison. O serpent, die, do not live; back upon thee shall thy poison turn!
5. O kairâta, speckled one, upatrinya (grass-dweller?), brown one, listen to me; ye black repulsive reptiles, (listen to me)! Do not stand upon the ground of my friend; cease with your poison and make it known (to people?)!
6. I release (thee) from the fury of the black serpent, the taimâta, the brown serpent, the poison that is not fluid, the all-conquering, as the bowstring (is loosened) from the bow, as chariots (from horses).
7. Both Âligî and Viligî, both father and mother, we know your kin everywhere. Deprived of your strength what will ye do?
8. The daughter of urugûlâ, the evil one born with the black–of all those who have run to their hiding-place the poison is devoid of force.
9. The prickly porcupine, tripping down from the mountain, did declare this: ‘Whatsoever serpents, living in ditches, are here, their poison is most deficient in force.’
10. Tâbuvam (or) not tâbuvam, thou (O serpent) art not tâbuvam. Through tâbuvam thy poison is bereft of force.
11. Tastuvam (or) not tastuvam, thou (O serpent) art not tastuvam. Through tastuvarn thy poison is bereft of force.
VI, 12. Charm against snake-poison.
1. As the sun (goes around) the heavens I have surrounded the race of the serpents. As night (puts to rest) all animals except the hamsa bird, (thus) do I with this (charm) ward off thy poison.
2. With (the charm) that was found of yore by the Brahmans, found by the Rishis, and found by the gods, with (the charm) that was, will be, and is now present, with this do I ward off thy poison.
3. With honey do I mix the rivers; the mountains and peaks are honey. Honey are the rivers Parushnî and Sîpalâ. Prosperity be to thy mouth, prosperity to thy heart!
VII, 56. Charm against the poison of serpents, scorpions, and insects.
1. The poison infused by the serpent that is striped across, by the black serpent, and by the adder; that poison of the kankaparvan (‘with limbs like a comb,’ scorpion) this plant has driven out.
2. This herb, born of honey, dripping honey, sweet as honey, honied, is the remedy for injuries; moreover it crushes insects.
3. Wherever thou hast been bitten, wherever thou hast been sucked, from there do we exorcise for thee the poison of the small, greedily biting insect, (so that it be) devoid of strength.
4. Thou (serpent) here, crooked, without joints, and without limbs, that twisteth thy crooked jawsmayest thou, O Brihaspati, straighten them out, as
a (bent) reed!
5. The poison of the sarkota (scorpion) that creeps low upon the ground, (after he) has been deprived of his strength, I have taken away; moreover I have caused him to be crushed.
6. There is no strength in thy arms, in thy head, nor in the middle (of thy body). Then why dost thou so wickedly carry a small (sting) in thy tail?
7. The ants devour thee, pea-hens hack thee to pieces. Yea, every one of you shall declare the poison of the sarkota powerless!
8. Thou (scorpion) that strikest with both, with mouth as well as tail, in thy mouth there is no poison: then what can there be in the receptacle in thy tail?
VI, 16. Charm against ophthalmia.
1. O âbayu, (and even if) thou art not âbayu, strong is thy juice, O âbayu! We eat a gruel, compounded of thee.
2. Vihalha is thy father’s name, Madâvatî thy mother’s name. Thou art verily not such, as to have consumed thy own self.
3. O Tauvilikâ, do be quiet! This howling one has become quiet. O brown one, and brown-eared one, go away! Go out, O âla!
4. Alasâlâ thou art first, silâñgalâlâ thou art the next, nîlâgalasâlâ (thou art third?)!
VI, 21. Charm to promote the growth of hair.
1. Of these three earths (our) earth verily is the highest. From the surface of these I have now plucked a remedy.
2. Thou art the most excellent of remedies, the best of plants, as Soma (the moon) is the lord in the watches of the night, as Varuna (is king) among the gods.
3. O ye wealthy, irresistible (plants), ye do generously bestow benefits. And ye strengthen the hair, and, moreover, promote its increase.
VI, 136. Charm with the plant nitatni to promote the growth of hair.
1. As a goddess upon the goddess earth thou wast born, O plant! We dig thee up, O nitatni, that thou mayest strengthen (the growth) of the hair.
2. Strengthen the old (hair), beget the new! That which has come forth render more luxurious!
3. That hair of thine which does drop off, and that which is broken root and all, upon it do I sprinkle here the all-healing herb.
VI, 137. Charm to promote the growth of hair.
1. The (plant) that Gamadagni dug up to promote the growth of his daughter’s hair, Vâtahavya has brought here from the dwelling of Asita.
2. With reins they had to be measured, with outstretched arms they had to be measured out. May thy hairs grow as reeds, may they (cluster), black, about thy head!
3. Make firm their roots, draw out their ends, expand their middle., O herb! May thy hairs grow as reeds, may they (cluster), black, about thy head!
IV, 4. Charm to promote virility.
1. Thee, the plant, which the Gandharva dug up for Varuna, when his virility had decayed, thee, that causest strength[1], we dig up.
2. Ushas (Aurora), Sûrya, (the sun), and this charm of mine; the bull Pragâpati (the lord of creatures) shall with his lusty fire arouse him!
3. This herb shall make thee so very full of lusty strength, that thou shalt, when thou art excited, exhale heat as a thing on fire!
4. The fire of the plants, and the essence of the bulls shall arouse him! Do thou, O Indra, controller of bodies, place the lusty force of men into this person!
5. Thou (O herb) art the first-born sap of the waters and also of the plants. Moreover thou art the brother of Soma, and the lusty force of the antelope buck!
6. Now, O Agni, now, O Savitar, now, O goddess Sarasvatî, now, O Brahmanaspati, do thou stiffen the pasas as a bow!
7. I stiffen thy pasas as a bowstring upon the bow. Embrace thou (women) as the antelope buck the gazelle with ever unfailing (strength)!
8. The strength of the horse, the mule, the goat and the ram, moreover the strength of the bull bestow upon him, O controller of bodies (Indra)!
[1. The original, more drastically, sepaharshanîm. By a few changes and omissions in stanzas 3, 6, and 7 the direct simplicity of the original has been similarly veiled.]
