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 IV IN FOCUS
Praise and prayer to fury (manyú)
He who hath worshiped thee, O fury, missile thunderbolt, gains (puṣ) power, force, everything, in succession; may we, with thee as ally, that art made of power, overpower the barbarian, the Aryan, with powerful power.
Fury [was] Indra, fury indeed was a god; fury [was] priest (hótar), Varuṇa, Jātavedas; the clans (víç) which are descended from Manu (mā́nuṣa) praise fury; protect us, O fury, in accord with fervor (tápas).
Attack, O fury, being mightier than a mighty one; with fervor as ally smite apart the foes; slayer of enemies, slayer of Vṛtra, and slayer of barbarians, do thou bring to us all [their] good things.
Since thou, O fury, art of overcoming force, self-existent, terrible, overpowering hostile plotters, belonging to all men (-carṣaṇí), powerful, very powerful—do thou put in us force in fights.
Read the remaining 3 verses of IV.32
Being portionless, I am gone far away, by the action (? krátu) of thee that art mighty, O forethoughtful one; so at thee, O fury, I, actionless, was wrathful; come to us, thine own self (tanū́), giving strength.
Here I am for thee; come hitherward unto us, meeting (pratīcīná) [us], O powerful, all-giving one; O thunderbolt-bearing fury, turn hither to us; let us (two) slay the barbarians; and do thou know thy partner (āpí).
Go thou forth against [them]; be on our right hand; then will we (two) smite and slay many Vṛtras; I offer to thee the sustaining top of the sweet (mádhu); let us both drink first the initial draught (? upāṅçú).
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read IV.32 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK IV ALSO CITED
Praise and prayer to fury (manyú)
Read comparison hymn IV.31 (7 verses)
In alliance (sarátham) with thee, O fury, battering, feeling excitement, excited, O companion of the Maruts, having keen arrows, sharpening up their weapons, let [our] men go forward unto [the foe], having forms of fire.
Like fire, O fury, do thou, made brilliant, overpower; invoked, O powerful one, do thou be our army-leader; having slain the foes, share out their possession (védas); making (mā) force, thrust away the scorners (mṛ́dh).
Overpower for us (?), O fury, the hostile plotter; go forward breaking, killing, slaughtering the foes; thy formidable rush (? pā́jas) surely they have not impeded; thou, controlling, shalt bring them under control, O sole-born one.
Thou art the one praised (?) of many, O fury; sharpen up clan on clan (víç) unto fighting; with thee as ally (yuj), O thou of undivided brightness (?), we make a clear noise unto victory.
Victory-making, like Indra, not to be talked down, do thou, O fury, be our over-lord here; thy dear name we sing, O powerful one; we know that fount whence thou camest (ā-bhū).
Born together with efficacy (? ā́bhūti), O missile (sā́yaka) thunderbolt, thou bearest superior power, O associate; be thou allied (medín) with our energy (krátu), O fury, much-invoked one, in the mingling (saṁsṛ́j) of great riches.
The mingled riches of both sides, put together, let Varuṇa and fury assign to us; conceiving fears in their hearts, let the foes, conquered, vanish away.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read IV.31 at Wikisource ↗
The opening promises accumulated strength
Verse 1 describes the person who worships Fury as gaining power and force in succession, then asks to overcome opponents with Fury as an ally. Verse 3 presses the same military aim harder: Fury should strike the foes and bring their good things to the speaker. The latter request is the textual basis for a modern shorthand about spoils. Still, the hymn does not begin with a simple inventory of property. It begins with what allegiance to a divine personification can do to a group’s capacity. The goods arrive in the wake of a victorious relationship, and the speaker’s words try to create that relationship before the battle result is imagined.
Fury absorbs several divine roles
Verse 2 says Fury was Indra and a god, and associates the force with priest, Varuṇa, and Jātavedas. The accumulation is more than a list of famous names. It makes Manyu appear able to cross functions that might otherwise be separated: striking, guarding, burning, and conducting sacred speech. The descendants of Manu praise this power, and the speaker asks to be protected in agreement with fervor. A textual uncertainty is important here. Whitney’s translation assumes an accusative form supported by the Rigvedic parallel and some other witnesses, while the received Atharvavedic form appears problematic. The general praise is clear; the exact grammar of one clause is contested.
The speaker must repair a break
Verse 5 is striking because the speaker confesses to being far away and lacking effective action, then calls Fury to return with strength. Verse 6 answers with a pledge: the speaker is here for the deity and wants the deity to come hither as an ally. This movement interrupts the otherwise confident war rhetoric. The voice that hoped to defeat foes also fears losing contact with its own empowering force. Whitney notes obscure wording in the fifth verse, so a precise biography of the speaker cannot be extracted from it. Nevertheless, the appeal for renewed closeness is unmistakable. The hymn dramatizes alliance as something that must be restored, not simply possessed.
The final offering is shared
The last verse asks Fury to stand on the right hand as the two partners strike adversaries, then offers the top of sweetness and proposes that both drink first. Whitney marks the exact phrase for the draught uncertain. Even with that uncertainty, the closing differs from a bare demand for plunder: it ends with a bond expressed through a shared offering. IV.31, its paired hymn, closes by assigning the combined riches of both sides and making foes depart in fear. IV.32 folds victory back into companionship between speaker and deity. The two hymns were later used together and each has Rigvedic parallels, yet their endings teach different ways to imagine effective battle power.
WORKED READING
The change between verses 3 and 6
Put IV.32.3 beside IV.32.6. Verse 3 wants Fury to strike enemies and bring their goods; verse 6 wants Fury to turn toward the speaker and recognize a partner. The first is a desired result in the world; the second repairs the relationship meant to make that result possible. Compare IV.31.7, where the final appeal centers on awarding spoils and implanting fear in foes. This comparison shows why IV.32 cannot be reduced to another version of the same battle curse. The plea for Fury's favor admits that the addressed power is not automatically on the speaker's side, even after its violence is celebrated.