THE TEXT · ATHARVAVEDA
Hymns discussed in this article
These verses give the wording and sequence examined in the article below.
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK I IN FOCUS
Against demons: with an amulet of lead
What devourers, on the night of new moon, have arisen troop-wise (?)—the fourth Agni is the demon-slayer; he shall bless us.
The lead Varuṇa blesses; the lead Agni favors; Indra bestowed on me the lead; it, surely, is a dispeller of familiar demons.
This overpowers the víṣkandha; this drives off (bādh) the devourers; with this I overpower all the races (jātá) that are the piçācī́'s.
If our cow thou slayest, if [our] horse, if [our] man (púruṣa), we pierce thee there with lead, that thou be no slayer of our heroes.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read I.16 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK I IN FOCUS
For long life etc.: with a gold amulet
What gold the descendants of Dakṣa, well-willing, bound on for Çatānīka, that I bind for thee, in order to life (ā́yus), splendor, strength, to length of life for a hundred autumns.
Not demons, not piçācás overcome him, for this is the first-born force of the gods; whoso bears the gold of the descendants of Dakṣa, he makes for himself long life among the living.
The waters' brilliancy, light, force, and strength, also the heroic powers (vīryà) of the forest trees, do we maintain in him, as in Indra Indra's powers (indriyá); this gold shall he, being capable, bear.
With seasons of summers (? sámā), of months, we [fill] thee, with the milk of the year I fill [thee]; let Indra-and-Agni, let all the gods, approve thee, not bearing enmity.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read I.35 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK II IN FOCUS
Against various evils: with a jan̄giḍá amulet
In order to length of life, to great joy, we, taking no harm, all the time capable (dakṣ), bear the jan̄giḍá, the víṣkandha-spoiling amulet.
From jambá, from viçará, from víṣkandha, from scorching (abhiçócana), let the jan̄giḍá, the amulet of thousand-fold valiance (-vīryà), protect us about on every side.
This one overpowers the víṣkandha; this drives off the devourers; let this jan̄giḍá, possessing all remedies, protect us from distress.
With the amulet given by the gods, the kindly jan̄giḍá, we overpower in the struggle (vyāyāmá) the víṣkandha [and] all demons.
Read the remaining 2 verses of II.4
Let both the hemp and the jan̄giḍá defend me from the víṣkandha: the one brought from the forest, the other from the juices (rása) of ploughing.
Witchcraft-spoiling is this amulet, likewise niggard-spoiling; likewise shall the pov/eriul jan̄giḍá prolong our life-times.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read II.4 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK X IN FOCUS
With an amulet
The head of the niggardly (arātīyú) cousin, of the evil-hearted hater, I cut off with force.
This amulet, born of the plow-share, shall make defense (várman) for me; it hath come to me filled with stir-about, with sap, together with splendor.
In that the skilful smith (tákṣan) hath smitten thee away with the hand by a knife, from that let the lively, bright (çúci) waters purify thee, that art bright.
Let this golden-garlanded amulet, bestowing (dhā) faith, sacrifice, greatness, dwell a guest in our house.
Read the remaining 31 verses of X.6
To it we distribute (kṣad) ghee, strong drink, honey, food after food; for us, as a father for his sons, let it provide (cikits-) what is better and better, more and more, morrow after morrow—the amulet, coming from the gods.
What amulet, plow-share, ghee-dripping, the formidable khadirá, Brihaspati bound on, in order to force—that Agni fastened on; it yields (duh) to him sacrificial butter, more and more, morrow after morrow; with that do thou slay thy haters.
What amulet etc. etc.—that Indra fastened on, in order to force, to heroism; it yields to him strength, more and more etc. etc.
What amulet etc. etc.—that Soma fastened on, in order to great hearing (çrótra) [and] sight (cákṣas); it yields to him splendor, more and more etc. etc.
What amulet etc. etc.—that the sun fastened on; therewith he conquered these quarters; it yields to him growth (bhū́ti), more and more etc. etc.
What amulet etc. etc.—bearing that amulet, the moon conquered the strongholds of the Asuras, the golden [strongholds] of the Dānavas; it yields to him fortune, more and more etc. etc.
What amulet Brihaspati bound on for the swift wind, that yields him vigor (vā́jina), more and more etc. etc.
What amulet Brihaspati bound on for the swift wind, with that amulet the Açvins defend this plowing (kṛṣí); it yields for the two physicians greatness, more and more etc. etc.
What amulet Brihaspati bound on for the swift wind, Savitar, bearing that amulet, conquered with it this heaven (svàr); it yields to him pleasantness (sūnṛ́tā), more and more etc. etc.
What amulet Brihaspati bound on for the swift wind, bearing that amulet the waters run always unexhausted; it yields to them immortality (amṛ́ta), more and more etc. etc.
What amulet Brihaspati bound on for the swift wind, that healthful amulet king Varuṇa fastened on; it yields to him truth, more and more etc. etc.
What amulet Brihaspati bound on for the swift wind, bearing that amulet, the gods conquered by fight all worlds; it yields to them conquest, more and more etc. etc.
What amulet Brihaspati bound on for the swift wind, that healthful amulet here the deities fastened on; it yields to them everything, more and more etc. etc.
The seasons bound it on; they of the seasons bound it on; the year, having bound it on, defends all existence.
The intermediate quarters bound on; the directions bound it on; the amulet created by Prajāpati hath made my haters beneath me (ádhard).
The Atharvans bound on; the descendants of Atharvan bound on; allied (medín) with them, the An̄girases split the strongholds of the barbarians; with it do thou slay thy haters.
Dhātar fastened it on; he disposed (vi-kḷp) [all] existence; with it do thou slay thy haters.
What [amulet] Brihaspati bound on for the gods, a destruction of Asuras—that amulet hath come here to me, together with sap, with splendor.
What [amulet] etc. etc., together with kine, with goats and sheep, together with food, with progeny.
What [amulet] etc. etc., together with rice and barley, together with greatness, growth.
What [amulet] etc. etc., with a stream of honey, of ghee, together with sweet drink—the amulet.
What [amulet] etc. etc., together with refreshment, with milk, together with property, with fortune.
What [amulet] etc. etc., together with brightness, with brilliance, together with glory, with fame.
What [amulet] etc. etc., together with all growths.
This amulet here let the deities give to me in order to prosperity—the overpowering, dominion-increasing, rival-damaging amulet.
Together with bráhman, with brightness, I fasten on myself the propitious one; free from rivals, rival-slaying, it hath made my rivals beneath me.
Let this god-born amulet make me superior to my hater; whose milked-out milk these three worlds worship, let that amulet mount here upon me, in order to supremacy, at the head.
What gods. Fathers, men, always subsist upon, let that amulet mount here upon me, in order to supremacy, at the head.
As seed in a cultivated field (urvárā) grows up in what is dragged with the plow-share, so in me let progeny, cattle, food upon food, grow up.
On whom, O sacrifice-increasing amulet, I have fastened thee, propitious, him do thou quicken unto supremacy, O amulet of a hundred sacrificial gifts.
This fuel, laid on together, do thou, O Agni, enjoying, welcome with oblations; in him may we find favor, welfare, progeny, sight, cattle—in Jātavedas kindled with worship (bráhman).
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read X.6 at Wikisource ↗
Lead, gold, and jāṅgiḍa
Lead, gold, and jāṅgiḍa are not three examples of one magical substance. I.16 makes lead answer danger; I.35 gives gold a life wish; II.4 invokes a plant against an expanding array of harms. The poems attach a different future to each carried object, and the difference begins in the spoken request.
I.16 places lead against danger; I.35 links gold with life; II.4 crowds jāṅgiḍa with threats it is asked to withstand. The material changes, but more importantly the requested outcome changes with it. “An amulet” is only the beginning of a reading.
A material receives a task
An amulet is portable, but portability tells us almost nothing about its aim. The lead text’s defensive demand is sharp; the gold text places radiance near hoped-for longevity; the jāṅgiḍa poem names threat after threat. What matters is the relation between material, verbal list, and the life situation imagined around the bearer.
Three objects, three requests
Read I.16, I.35, and II.4 as a three-column comparison. Lead faces danger, gold marks a flourishing life, and jāṅgiḍa receives a proliferating protective catalogue. Those distinct verbal jobs show why an amulet index organized only by metal or plant would conceal the poems’ actual requests. The contrast is not a ranking of stronger and weaker materials. It is a comparison of how three voices attach three very different hopes to what a person can carry.
The plow-share charm accumulates provision
X.6 gives a different material history to an amulet than the article's lead, gold, and jangida examples. It calls an object born of a plow-share, shaped or cut by a smith, washed with bright water, and welcomed as a guest in the house. The object can be defensive in verse 2, yet verse 5 asks it to provide better and more, day after day, as a father provides for children. Its prosperity is recurrent provision, not a one-time prize.
The hymn's repeated pattern in verses 6–17 assigns the amulet to gods and cosmic powers, each receiving a different benefit. Agni receives sacrificial butter, Indra strength, Soma splendor, the sun growth, and the moon fortune. Repetition turns one made object into a vehicle for many kinds of increase. Whitney notes that Pāippalāda reverses the sun and Soma in verses 8–9; even the sequence of the amulet's gifts can vary between witnesses.
Provision is named in household goods
The later verses draw the amulet together with cattle, goats, sheep, rice, barley, milk, property, and fortune. These are concrete kinds of sustenance. Lead in I.16 is chiefly a protective boundary; gold in I.35 concerns life and brilliance; jangida in II.4 fights harm. X.6 is the clearest member of the comparison for growing provision. Treating all four amulets as interchangeable lucky tokens would erase their material and verbal differences.
Whitney says many X.6 verses are absent from Pāippalāda, including several of the late inventory lines. The Śaunaka sequence still shows why an amulet might be imagined as an enduring source of household support. The paired six-phase member working is original modern writing, not a recovered plow-share charm. Its benefit follows the historical hymn's repeated more-and-more language while the article keeps each material object distinct.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: one amulet, several economies
Compare I.16, I.35, II.4, and X.6 by asking what each object is expected to do. The lead object addresses hostile magic; gold seeks life and brightness; jangida drives harmful forces away. X.6.5 asks for better and more provision day after day, while verses 23–26 enumerate animals, grains, milk, property, and fortune. These are not identical outcomes. Within X.6, read verses 8–10 as a sequence of splendor, growth, and fortune, then note Whitney's report that Pāippalāda swaps the sun and Soma in the first two positions. The shared amulet form hides changing materials, aims, and textual order.