Atharva Veda

The Hymns of the Atharvaveda

Translation by Ralph T.H. Griffith

BOOK I

HYMN XIX

A prayer for protection from arrows and for the punishment of enemies

1          Let not the piercers find us, nor let those who wound discover us.
            O Indra, make the arrows fall, turned, far from us, to every side.

2          Turned from us let the arrows fall, those shot and those that will be shot.
            Shafts of the Gods and shafts of men, strike and transfix mine enemies.

3          Whoever treateth us as foes, be he our own or strange to us, a kinsman or a             foreigner,
            May Rudra with his arrows pierce and slay these enemies of mine

4          The rival and non-rival, he who in his hatred curses us
            May all the deities injure him! My nearest, closest mail is prayer.

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