THE TEXT · ATHARVAVEDA
Hymns discussed in this article
Begin with the verses shown here. Open the other cited hymns to compare their images and aims.
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK XII IN FOCUS
To the earth
Great (bṛhánt) truth, formidable right, consecration, penance, bráhman, sacrifice sustain the earth; let her for us, mistress of what is and what is to be—let the earth make for us wide room (loká);—
Unoppressedness in the midst of men (mānavá). Whose are the ascents (udvát), the advances (pravát), the much plain (samá); who bears the herbs of various virtue (nā́nāvīrya)—let the earth be spread out for us, be prosperous for us.
On whom [are] the ocean and the river (síndhu), the waters; on whom food, plowings, came into being; on whom quickens this that breathes, that stirs—let that earth (bhū́mi) set us in first drinking.
Whose, the earth's, [are] the four quarters; on whom food, plowings, came into being; who bears manifoldly what breathes, what stirs—let that earth (bhū́mi) set us among kine, also in inexhaustibleness (? ánya).
Read the remaining 59 verses of XII.1
On whom the people of eld (pūrvajaná) formerly spread themselves (? vi-kṛ); on whom the gods overcame the Asuras; the station (? viṣṭhā́) of kine, of horses, of birds (váyas)—let the earth assign us fortune (bhága), splendor.
All-bearing, good-holding, firm-standing, gold-backed (-vákṣas), reposer of moving things (jágat), bearing the universal (vāiçvānará) fire, let the earth (bhū́mi), whose bull is Indra, set us in property.
She the earth (bhū́mi pṛthivī́), whom the gods, sleepless, defend all the time without failure—let her yield (duh) to us honey, what is dear; then let her sprinkle us with splendor.
She who in the beginning was sea (salilá) upon the ocean (arṇavá); whom the skilful (manīṣín) moved after with their devices (māyā́); the earth whose immortal heart covered with truth is in the highest firmament (vyòman)—let that earth (bhū́mi) assign to us brilliancy, strength, in highest royalty.
On whom the circulating waters flow the same, night and day, without failure—let that earth (bhū́mi), of many streams (-dhā́rā) yield (duh) us milk; then let her sprinkle [us] with splendor.
Whom the Açvins measured; on whom Vishṇu strode out; whom Indra, lord of might (çacī-), made free from enemies for himself—let that earth (bhū́mi) to us, a mother to a son, release (vi-sṛj) milk ⌊to me⌋.
Let thy hills (girí) [and] snowy mountains (párvata), let thy forest-land (áraṇya), O earth, be pleasant (syoná); upon the brown, black, red, all-formed, fixed (dhruvá) earth (bhū́mi), the earth guarded by Indra—I, unharassed, unsmitten, unwounded, have stood upon the earth.
What is thy middle, O earth, and what thy navel, what refreshments (ū́rj) arose (sam-bhū) out of thy body—in them do thou set us; be purifying (pū) toward us; earth (bhū́mi) is mother, I am earth's son; Parjanya is father—let him save (fill? pṛ) us.
On what earth (bhū́mi) they enclose the sacrificial hearth; on what [earth] men of all works extend the sacrifice; on what earth are set up (mi) the sacrificial posts, erect, bright, before the oblation—let that earth (bhū́mi), increasing, make us increase.
Whoso shall hate us, O earth; whoso shall fight [us]; whoso shall vex [us] with mind, who with deadly weapon—him, O prior-acting earth (bhū́mi), do thou put in our power.
Born from thee, mortals go about upon thee; thou bearest bipeds, thou quadrupeds; thine, O earth, are these five [races] of men, for whom, mortals, the rising sun extends with his rays immortal light.
Let those creatures, without exception (samagrá), together yield fruit (duh) to us; the honey of speech, O earth, do thou assign unto me.
The all-producing (-sū́) mother of herbs, the fixed earth (bhū́mi), the earth maintained by ordinance, the auspicious, the pleasant, may we go about over always.
Thou hast become great, a great station (sadhástha) great is thy trembling, stirring, quaking; great Indra defends thee unremittingly. Do thou, O earth (bhū́mi), make us to shine forth as in the aspect (saṁdṛ́ç) of gold; let no one soever hate us.
Agni is in the earth (bhū́mi), in the herbs; the waters bear Agni; Agni [is] in the stones (áçman); Agni is within men; in kine, in horses are Agnis.
Agni sends heat from the sky; the wide atmosphere is god Agni's; mortals kindle Agni [as] oblation-bearer, ghee-lover.
Let the earth, fire-clad, black-kneed, make me sharpened, brilliant (tvíṣīmant).
On the earth (bhū́mi) they give to the gods the sacrifice, the oblation, duly prepared; on the earth (bhū́mi) mortal men (manuṣyà) live by svadhā́, by food; let that earth (bhū́mi) assign us breath, life-time; let earth make me one who attains old age.
What odor of thine, O earth, came into being, which the herbs, which the waters bear, which the Gandharvas and Apsarases shared—with that do thou make me odorous; let no one soever hate us.
What odor of thine entered into the blue lotus; which they brought together at Sūryā's wedding—the immortals, O earth, [what] odor in the beginning—with that do thou make me odorous; let no one soever hate us.
What odor of thine is in human beings (púruṣa); in women, in men, [what] portion, pleasure; what in horses, in heroes, what in wild animals and in elephants; what splendor, O earth (bhū́mi), in a maiden—with that do thou unite us also; let no one soever hate us.
Rock [is?] earth (bhū́mi), stone, dust; this earth (bhū́mi) [is] held together, held; to that earth, gold-backed (-vákṣas) have I paid homage.
On whom stand always fixed the trees, the forest trees (vānaspatyá), the all-supporting earth that is held [together] do we address.
Arising (ud-īr), also sitting, standing, striding forth, with right and left feet, let us not stagger upon the earth.
The cleansing (vimṛ́gvan) earth do I address, the patient (kṣamá) earth (bhū́mi), increasing by worship (bráhman); may we sit down, O earth (bhū́mi), upon thee, that bearest refreshment, prosperity (puṣṭá), food-portion, ghee.
Let cleansed (çuddhá) waters flow for our body; what mucus (? syédu) is ours, that we deposit on him we love not (ápriya); with a purifier (pavítra), O earth, do I purify myself.
What forward directions are thine, what upward, what are thine, O earth (bhū́mi), downward, and what behind, let those be pleasant to me going about; let me not fall down [when] supported (çri) on creation (bhúvana).
Do not push (nud) us behind, nor in front, nor above and below; become thou welfare for us, O earth (bhū́mi); let not the waylayers find [us]; keep very far off the deadly weapon.
How much of thee I look forth upon, O earth (bhū́mi), with the sun for ally (medín), so far let my sight not fail (mī), from one year (sámā) to another.
In that, lying, I turn myself about upon the right [or] the left side, O earth (bhū́mi); in that we with our ribs lie stretched out upon thee that meetest us—do not in that case injure us, O earth (bhū́mi), thou underlier of everything.
What of thee, O earth (bhū́mi), I dig out, let that quickly grow over; let me not hit (arpay-) thy vitals nor thy heart, O cleansing one.
Let thy hot season, O earth (bhū́mi), rainy season, autumn, winter, cool season, spring—let thine arranged seasons, years, let day-and-night, O earth, yield milk (duh) to us.
She who, cleansing one, trembling away the serpent; on whom were the fires that are within the waters, abandoning the god-insulting barbarians, choosing, she the earth, Indra [and] not Vṛitra, kept herself (dhṛ) for the mighty one (çakrá), the virile bull.
On whom are the seat and oblation-holder; on whom the sacrificial post (yū́pa) is planted; on whom worshipers (brahmán) praise (arc) with verses, with the chant, knowing the sacrificial formulas; on whom are joined the priests (ṛtvíj), for Indra to drink the soma;—
On whom the former being-making seers sang out (ud-arc) the kine—the seven pious ones (vedhás), by their session, together with sacrifice [and] penance;—
Let that earth (bhū́mi) appoint unto us what riches we desire; let Bhaga join on after; let Indra go [as our] forerunner.
On whom, the earth (bhū́mi), mortals sing [and] dance with loud noises (? vyāìlaba); on whom they fight; on whom speaks the shout (ākrandá), the drum—let that earth (bhū́mi) push forth our rivals; let earth make me free from rivals.
On whom is food, rice-and-barley; whose are these five races (kṛṣṭí)—to the earth, whose spouse is Parjanya, fattened (-médas) by the rain, be homage.
Whose are the god-made strongholds; in whose field [men] fall out (? vi-kṛ)—the earth, womb of everything, let Prajāpati make pleasant (ráṇya) to us, spot by spot.
Bearing treasure [and] good in many places hiddenly, let the earth give me jewel (maṇí), gold; giver of good, bestowing good things on us, let the divine one assign [them to us] with favoring mind.
Let the earth, bearing in many places people of different speech, of diverse customs (-dhárman), according to their homes, yield (duh) me a thousand streams of property, like a steady (dhruvá) unresisting milch-cow.
What stinging (vṛ́çcika) harsh-biting serpent of thine lies in secret, winter-harmed, torpid (? bhṛmalá); whatever worm, O earth, becoming lively, stirs in the early rainy season—let that, crawling, not crawl upon us; be thou gracious to us with that which is propitious.
What many roads thou hast, for people to go upon, a track (vártman) for the chariot, and for the going of the cart, by which (pl.) men of both kinds, excellent and evil, go about—that road, free from enemies, free from robbers, may we conquer; be thou gracious to us with that which is propitious.
Bearing the fool, bearer of what is heavy, enduring (titikṣú) the death (? nidhána) of the excellent and of the evil, the earth, in concord with the boar, opens itself to the wild (mṛgá) hog.
What forest animals of thine, wild beasts set in the woods, lions, tigers, go about man-eating—the jackal (? ulá), the wolf, O earth, misfortune, the ṛkṣī́kā, the demon, do thou force (bādh) away from us here.
What Gandharvas, Apsarases [there are], and what arā́yas, kimīdíns: the piçācás, all demons—them do thou keep away from us, O earth (bhū́mi).
She to whom two-footed winged-ones fly together, swans, eagles, hawks, birds; on whom the wind, Mātariçvan, goes about, making clouds of dust (? rájas) and setting in motion the trees—flame (arcís) blows after the forth-blowing, the toward-blowing, of the wind.
On whom the black and the ruddy, combined, [namely] day-and-night, [are] disposed upon the earth (bhū́mi); the broad (pṛthivī́) earth (bhū́mi), wrapped [and] covered with rain—let her kindly (bhadráyā) set us in each loved abode.
Both heaven and earth and atmosphere [have given] me this expanse; fire, sun, waters, and all the gods have together given me wisdom (medhā́).
I am overpowering, superior by name on the earth (bhū́mi); I am subduing, all-overpowering, vanquishing in every region.
When yonder, O divine one, spreading thyself forward, told by the gods, thou didst expand (vi-sṛp) to greatness, then entered into thee well-being; thou didst make fit the four directions.
What villages, what forest, what assemblies, [are] upon the earth (bhū́mi), what hosts, gatherings—in them may we speak what is pleasant (cā́ru) to thee.
As a horse the dust, she has shaken apart those people who dwelt upon the earth since (yā́t) she was born—pleasing, going at the head, keeper of creation (bhúvana), container of forest trees, of herbs.
What I speak, rich in honey I speak it; what I view, that they win (? van) me; brilliant am I, possessed of swiftness; I smite down others that are violent (? dódhat).
Tranquil, fragrant, pleasant, with sweet drink in her udder, rich in milk, let earth (bhū́mi) bless me, earth together with milk.
Whom Viçvakarman sought after with oblation within the ocean, when she was entered into the mist (? rájas); an enjoyable vessel that was deposited in secret became manifest in enjoyment (bhóga) for them that have mothers.
Thou art the scatterer (? āvápana) of people, [art] a wish-fulfilling (kāmadúgha) Aditi, spreading out; what of thee is deficient, may Prajāpati, first-born of righteousness, fill that up for thee.
Let slanders upon thee, free from disease, free from yákṣma, be produced (prásūta) for us, O earth; awakening to meet our long lifetime, may we be tribute-bearers to thee.
O mother earth (bhū́mi), do thou kindly set me down well established; in concord with the heaven, O sage (kávi), do thou set me in fortune, in prosperity (bhū́ti).
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read XII.1 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK I ALSO CITED
To the waters: for blessings
Read comparison hymn I.33 (4 verses)
Of golden color, clean (çúci), purifying, in whom [was] born Savitar, in whom Agni; who, of beauteous color, assumed Agni as embryo—let those waters be weal, pleasant to us.
In the midst of whom goes king Varuṇa, looking down at the truth-and-falsehood of men; who, of beauteous color, etc. etc.
They of whom the gods in heaven make [their] draught (bhakṣá); they that come to be abundantly in the atmosphere; who, of beauteous color, etc. etc.
With propitious eye behold me, O waters; with propitious body touch my skin; they that are ghee-dripping, clean, purifying—let those waters be weal, pleasant to us.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read I.33 at Wikisource ↗
Earth as an inhabited addressee
The Atharvaveda can address an immediate need and also ask how people live among plants, waters, and Earth. Each poem chooses a scale and an addressee, from one afflicted person to a broad sustaining landscape. XII.1 refuses to stay a short petition: it gathers inhabitants, crops, work, and place into an enormous address.
XII.1 keeps finding more of Earth to address: fields, people, work, and the places in which they live. Its length is an argument about dependence. I.33 gives waters a much smaller verbal frame, and that contrast makes the vastness of the Earth hymn impossible to miss.
A long hymn gathers many lives
Its long sequence of petitions and descriptions makes an ethical relationship with land more visible than a simple possession claim. A catalogue, direct appeal, or long sequence of praise organizes the relation between speaker and subject. The form controls what can be named and whether the poem concentrates on a crisis or gathers a wider inhabited world. I.33 can ask waters for blessing; the Earth hymn makes an entire lived world the addressee.
Waters beside the Earth poem
I.33 asks waters for blessing. XII.1 expands attention from one element to a lived world. Comparing these passages reveals a shared concern with sustaining conditions while preserving their distinct addressees. A plant, a river, and Earth are not interchangeable symbols or modern medical remedies.
The opening turns secure ground into a social wish
XII.1.1 says earth is upheld by truth, right, consecration, penance, sacred speech, and sacrifice, then asks her to make wide room for the speakers. The order is striking: a grand account of what sustains the world becomes a local need for space to live. Verse 2 immediately adds freedom from crowding among people, varied slopes, level land, and herbs of many powers. A secure place is therefore social and ecological at once.
Verses 3–6 set food, plowing, waters, cattle, horses, and property upon that same earth. Those concrete goods keep the paired prosperity benefit from becoming an abstract promise of riches. The poem imagines a livable setting in which land, labor, animals, and community are related. Its protective language elsewhere in the hymn shows that the setting is also vulnerable. Asking for room means asking to remain amid competing claims, threats, and the earth's own immense scale.
A long hymn has seams as well as breadth
Whitney reports that Pāippalāda lacks verses 62–63 and rearranges material near verses 3–5. In the Śaunaka version, those early verses move from water and plowing to cattle, fortune, and property. The Pāippalāda order recombines half-verses, so the path through these images is not identical. That variation matters for interpretation: a modern summary saying the hymn has one fixed progression from landscape to wealth would be too neat.
Verses 19–21 shift to Agni in earth, stones, plants, water, and living beings. Whitney regards them as an apparent insertion, yet they make the poem's world more densely inhabited by fire. This is a meaningful internal difference, not a reason to discard the passage. The member benefit about a secure and prosperous place condenses one strong current of XII.1; it does not capture every ritual and cosmological concern in a sixty-three-verse hymn.
WORKED READING
Worked reading: Waters beside the Earth poem
I.33 petitions waters for blessing. XII.1 lets Earth carry a wide field of peoples, plants, work, and places. One element receives a brief request, while the other becomes a long inhabited world. The longer hymn cannot be compressed into the claim that the ground is useful. It gives room to varied communities and labors, so gratitude and petition travel together. I.33’s more focused water request sharpens that point by showing what the Earth poem gains through its broad, inhabited catalogue.