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 VIII IN FOCUS
To conquer enemies
Let Indra the shaker shake (math) [them], he the mighty hero, stronghold-splitter, in order that we may slay by thousands the armies of our enemies.
Let the putrid rope, breathing on [it], make yonder army putrid; seeing afar smoke, fire, let our enemies set fear in their hearts.
Crush yonder men out, O açvattá; devour (khād) them speedily, O khadirá; let them be suddenly ⌊tājád⌋ broken ⌊bhāñj⌋ like hemp bhán̄ga⌋; let the slayer (vádhaka) slay (han) them with deadly weapons (vadhá).
Let the rough-called one make yonder men rough (paruṣá); let the slayer slay them with deadly weapons; let them be broken quickly like a reed (çará), tied together with a great net.
Read the remaining 20 verses of VIII.8
The atmosphere was the net; the great quarters [were] the net-stakes; therewith encircling [them], the mighty one (çakrá) scattered away the army of the barbarians (dásyu).
Since great [is] the net of the great mighty one, the vigorous (vājínīvant)—therewith do thou crowd (ubj) down upon all [our] foes, that no one soever of them may be released.
Great, O Indra, hero (çū́ra), is the net of thee that art great, that art worth a thousand, that hast hundred-fold heroism; therewith encircling the army of the barbarians, the mighty one slew a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred million.
This great world was the net of the great mighty one; by that net of Indra do I encircle all yon men with darkness.
Debility, formidable ill-success, and mishap that is not to be exorcised away (an-apavācaná), toil, and weariness, and confusion—with these do I encircle all yon men.
To death do I deliver those yonder; with fetters of death [are] they bound (sā); the sad messengers that are death's—them I lead them to meet, having bound (bandh) [them].
Lead ye them, O messengers of death; O messengers of Yama, restrain (apa-umbh) [them]; be they slain to more than thousands; let Bhava's club (? matyà) shatter them.
The Perfectibles (sādhyá) go lifting with force one net-stake, the Rudras one, the Vasus one; by the Ādityas one is lifted.
Let all the gods from above go crowding with force; let the An̄girases go slaying midway the great army.
The forest trees, them of the forest trees, the herbs and the plants, what is biped, what is quadruped I despatch (iṣ), that they may slay yonder army.
The Gandharvas and Apsarases, the serpents, the gods, the pure-folks, the Fathers, those seen, those unseen I despatch, that they may slay yonder army.
Here are spread the fetters of death, which stepping into thou art not released; let this horn (kū́ṭa) slay of yonder army by thousands.
The hot drink (gharmá) [is] kindled with fire, this thousand-slaying oblation (hóma); both Bhava and the spotted-armed one—O Çarva, slay ye (two) yonder army.
Let them go unto death's burning (?), unto hunger, debility, the deadly weapon, fear; by snare (ákṣu) and net, O Çarva, [do thou] and Indra slay yonder army.
Flee (tras) forth, O enemies, being conquered; run, ⌊being⌋ thrust by the charm (bráhman); of them yonder, thrust forth by Brihaspati, let none soever be freed.
Let their weapons (ā́yudha) fall down; let them not be able to fit the arrow; then, of them fearing much let arrows strike in the vitals.
Together let heaven-and-earth yell at them; together let the atmosphere, along with the deities; let them not find a knower, nor a foundation; mutually destroying one another let them go unto death.
The four quarters [are] the she-mules of the god-chariot; the sacrificial cakes [are] the hoofs, the atmosphere the seat (? uddhí), heaven-and-earth the two sides, the seasons the reins, the intermediate directions the attendants, speech the rim (? párirathya).
The year (saṁvatsará) is the chariot, the complete year (parivatsará) the chariot-lap, virā́j the pole (īṣá), Agni the chariot-mouth, Indra the left-stander, the moon the charioteer.
On this side conquer thou; on this side conquer away, conquer completely, conquer; hail! let these here conquer, let those yonder be conquered; hail ⌊svā́hā⌋ to these! wail (duráhā) to those! with the blue-red one I stretch down upon them yonder.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read VIII.8 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK XI ALSO CITED
To conquer enemies: to Arbudi
Read comparison hymn XI.9 (26 verses)
What arms (bāhú) [there are], what arrows, and the powers (vīryà) of bows, swords (así), axes (paraçú), weapon, and what thought-and-design in the heart—all that, O Arbudi, do thou make our enemies to see; and do thou show forth specters (udārá).
Stand up, equip ye yourselves (sam-nah), O friends, god-folk; beheld, concealed of you be [those] who are our friends, O Arbudi.
Stand ye (two) up, take ye hold; with tying up, with tying together, gird ye the armies of our enemies, O Arbudi.
The God that is Arbudi by name, and the lord (ī́çāna) Nyarbudi, by whom the atmosphere is involved (ā-vṛ), and this great earth—by those (two) who are allied with Indra, I go after what is conquered with an army.
Stand thou up, O god-folk, Arbudi, with the army; breaking (bhañj) the army of our enemies, envelop it with [thy] coils (bhogá).
Presenting to view, O Nyarbudi, the seven kinds of specters, with them all do thou stand up, when the butter is offered, with the army.
Smiting herself, tear-faced, and crop-eared (?), let her yell, with disheveled hair, when the man is slain, bitten (? rad), O Arbudi, of thee.
Drawing in her karū́kara, seeking with her mind her son, husband, brother, also her people (svá)—in case of thy bite, O Arbudi.
Let the buzzards, jāṣkamadás, vultures, falcons, winged ones, let the crows, the birds (çakúni), satisfy themselves—exhibiting among the enemies—in case of thy bite, O Arbudi.
Then let all wild beasts, let the fly, let the worm satisfy itself upon the carrion of men, bitten, O Arbudi, of thee.
Take ye (two) hold, tear out (sam-bṛh) [their] breath-and-expiration, O Nyarbudi; let groaning (? nivāçá) noises assemble—exhibiting among the enemies—in case of thy bite, O Arbudi.
Make thou [them] tremble; let them quake together; unite our enemies with fear; with broad-gripping arm-hooks pierce thou our enemies, O Nyarbudi.
Let their arms be confounded, and what thought-and-design is in their heart; let not anything of them be left—in case of thy bite, O Arbudi.
Smiting themselves let them (f.) run together, smiting on the breast, the thighs (? paṭāurá), not anointing, with disheveled hair, wailing when the man is slain, bitten, O Arbudi, of thee.
Dog-accompanied Apsarases, she-jackals (? rū́pakā) also, O Arbudi, the riçā́, licking much in the inner vessel, seeking what is ill-deposited—all these (f.), O Arbudi, do thou make our enemies to see, and do thou show forth specters;—
Her that strides upon the khaḍū́ra, mutilated, wearing what is mutilated (?); the specters that are concealed, and what Gandharvas-and-Apsarases [there are], serpents, other-folk, demons;—
The four-tusked ones, the black-toothed, the pot-testicled, the blood-faced; they that are self-frighting and frighting.
Do thou, O Arbudi, make to tremble yonder lines (síc) of our enemies; let both the conquering one and the conqueror, allied with Indra, conquer our enemies.
Let our enemy lie squelched, crushed, slain, O Nyarbudi; let tongues of fire, tufts of smoke, go conquering with the army.
Of our enemies, pushed forth by it, O Arbudi, let Indra, lord of might (çácīpáti), slay each best man (vára); let no one soever of them be freed.
Let their hearts burst open (ut-kas), their breath pass up aloft; let dryness of mouth follow after our enemies, ⌊and⌋ not those who are friendly.
Both they who are wise (dhī́ra) and they who are unwise, those going away and they who are deaf, they of darkness arid they who are hornless (tūpará), likewise those that smell of (?) the goat—all those (m.), O Arbudi, do thou make our enemies to see, and do thou show forth specters.
Let both Arbudi and Trishandhi pierce through our enemies, in order that, O Indra, Vṛitra-slayer, lord of might, we may slay of them, of our enemies, by thousands.
The forest-trees, them of the forest-trees, herbs and plants, Gandharvas-and-Apsarases, serpents, gods, pure-folk (puṇyajaná). Fathers—all those, O Arbudi, do thou make our enemies to see, and do thou show forth specters.
Mastery over you have the Maruts [gained], the heavenly Āditya, Brahmaṇaspati; mastery over you have both Indra and Agni, Dhātar, Mitra, Prajāpati; mastery over you have the seers gained (kṛ)—exhibiting among the enemies—in case of thy bite, O Arbudi.
Masters (ī́çāna) of them all, stand ye up, equip yourselves, ye friends, god-folks; having wholly conquered in this conflict, scatter ye to your several worlds.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read XI.9 at Wikisource ↗
Indra's shaking begins the sequence
Verse 1 asks Indra to shake the enemy's armies so that thousands may be killed. The next verse does not simply repeat the demand for killing. It imagines a sensation inside the opposing soldiers: the sight of smoke or fire is to set fear in their hearts. The movement from Indra's outside force to the enemy's inward response is the beginning of a psychological strategy. The hymn does not describe a particular historical battle or demonstrate that soldiers panicked. Its speaker wishes that a small visible sign will alter the enemy's perception before the wider network of traps and divine beings is named.
Rope, smoke, and flame are not fully transparent
Whitney translates a putrid rope in verse 2, but his notes explore different explanations of the phrase. The editor's account of a later army rite describes a rope placed near sparks, with smoke and then newly kindled fire addressed in turn. In that ritual context, the two terms can be alternatives for two stages rather than one awkwardly long simultaneous line. The received verse contains both, and its meter has troubled readers. We should not erase the textual puzzle, nor present the later rite as the poem's only original use. The clearest feature is the desired perception: enemies see the sign and become afraid.
Fear expands from one sign to an environment
Verses 5 through 8 enlarge a net from atmosphere and directions to the whole world, while verse 9 adds weakness, ill success, toil, and confusion. The fire's local spectacle becomes one strand of an enclosing experience in which the opposing army has nowhere reassuring to look. Verse 12 even imagines several classes of gods lifting net stakes. The escalation is imaginative and cumulative: a smoke plume is followed by a cosmos arranged as a snare. This differs from a simple threat of physical assault. The hymn tries to make the enemy's world seem hostile in every direction.
Another army hymn stages terror as visions
XI.9 asks Arbudi to show an opposing army specters, weapons, and scenes of bodily ruin. VIII.8.2 relies first on smoke and flame, a visible sign with a plausible ritual counterpart; XI.9 turns more overtly to dreadful apparitions. Both texts hope to unsettle enemy ranks before defeat is verified, and both use partisan violent language. The Pāippalāda VIII.8 changes the order of some early verses, while XI.9 is mostly absent there. These transmission differences limit claims about one fixed ancient war program. A contemporary working to incite fear would be an invented application, not a procedure whose effect the hymns prove.
WORKED READING
A worked comparison
Compare VIII.8.2 with XI.9.1. In VIII.8, the enemy is to see smoke and fire and feel fear; in XI.9, Arbudi is asked to make enemies see weapons and specters. One begins from a tangible sign, the other from a terrifying display called up in speech. Return to VIII.8.8, where the whole world becomes the net around the enemy. The progression shows how a local fright is amplified into a complete landscape of danger. The whole-world net makes the earlier smoke and fire episode one stage in a larger escalation of imagined enclosure.