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 XI IN FOCUS
To conquer enemies: to Trishandhi
Stand ye up, equip yourselves, ye specters, together with ensigns; ye serpents, other-folks, demons, run after our enemies.
Your mastery I know, [your] kingdom, O Trishandhi, together with red ensigns; what in the atmosphere, what in the sky, and what men (mānavá) [are] on the earth, let those ill-named ones sit (? upa-ās) in the mind (cétas) of Trishandhi.
Iron-(áyas-)mouthed, needle-mouthed, likewise thorn-tree-(vikan̄kaṭī-)mouthed, let the flesh-eaters, of wind-swiftness, fasten on our enemies with the three-jointed (tríṣandhi) thunderbolt.
O Jatavedas, Aditya, put thou between much human flesh; let this army of Trishandhi be well-placed in my control.
Read the remaining 23 verses of XI.10
Stand thou up, O god-folk, O Arbudi, with the army; this tribute is offered (ā-hu) to you ⌊pl.⌋; the offering [is] dear to Trishandhi.
Let the white-footed one tie together, this shaft (çaravyā̀), four-footed; O witchcraft, be thou for our enemies, together with the army of Trishandhi.
Let the smoke-eyed (f.) one fall together, and the crop-eared one (f.) yell; it being conquered by the army of Trishandhi, let the ensigns be red.
Let the winged ones descend, the birds, they that go about in the atmosphere, in the sky; let the wild beasts, the flies, take hold together; let the raw-flesh-eating vultures scratch at the human carrion.
The agreement (saṁdhā) which thou hast agreed on with Indra and with the bráhman, O Brihaspati, by that Indra-agreement do I call hither all the gods: conquer ye on this side, not on that!
Brihaspati of the An̄giras race, the seers sharpened by the bráhman, set up (ā-çri) in the sky the Asura-destroying weapon, Trishandhi.
By whom yonder sun, and Indra, both stand protected—Trishandhi the gods shared, in order to both force and strength.
All worlds did the gods completely conquer by means of that offering (ā́huti)—the thunderbolt which Brihaspati of the An̄giras race poured, an Asura-destroying weapon.
The thunderbolt which Brihaspati of the An̄giras race poured, an Asura-destroying weapon—therewith do I blot out (ni-lip) yon army, O Brihaspati; I slay the enemies with force.
All the gods come over hither, who partake of [the offering] made with váṣat; enjoy ye this offering; conquer ye on this side, not on that!
Let all the gods come over hither; the offering [is] dear to Trishandhi; defend ye the great agreement by which in the beginning the Asuras were conquered.
Let Vāyu bend up the arrow-points of the enemies; let Indra break back their arms; let them not be able to set the arrow; let Āditya make their missile weapon (astrá) disappear; let the moon put (yu) them on the track of what is not gone.
If they have gone forward to the gods' strongholds, have made the bráhman their defenses; if (? yát) they have encouraged (? upa-vac) themselves, making a body-protection, a complete protection—all that do thou make sapless.
Causing to follow the puróhita with the flesh-eating [fire] and with death, O Trishandhi, go forth with the army; conquer the enemies; go forward.
O Trishandhi, do thou envelop our enemies with darkness; of them yonder, thrust forth by the speckled butter, let none soever be freed.
Let the white-footed one (f.) fall upon (? sam-pat) yonder lines of our enemies; let yonder armies of our enemies be confounded today, O Nyarbudi.
Confounded [be] our enemies, O Nyarbudi; slay thou of them each best man (vára); slay [them] with this army.
Whoever is mailed, and who without mail, and what enemy is in march (? ájman); by bowstring-fetters, by mail-fetters, smitten by the march let him lie.
Who have defenses, who have no defenses, and the enemies who have defenses—all those, O Arbudi, being slain, let dogs eat on the ground.
Who have chariots, who have no chariots, those without seats and they who have seats (sādá)—all those, being slain, let vultures, falcons, birds (patatrín) eat.
Let the army of our enemies lie with thousand corpses (-kúṇapa) in the conflict of weapons, pierced through, cut to pieces (?).
Let the eagles (suparṇá) eat him, pierced to the vitals, crying loudly, lying crushed, the evil-minded one—what enemy of ours wishes to fight against this opposing offering.
[The offering] which the gods follow (anu-sthā), of which there is no failure—with that let Indra, Vṛitra-slayer, slay, with the three-jointed thunderbolt.
Whitney–Lanman translation as printed (1905) · Read XI.10 at Wikisource ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK VIII ALSO CITED
To conquer enemies
Read comparison hymn VIII.8 (24 verses)
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.
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 ↗
The hymn first builds a rival army
Verse 1 calls specters, serpents, and demons to run after the enemy, while verse 2 names Trishandhi's mastery and red ensigns. Verse 3 brings flesh-eaters with iron, needle, and thorn-like mouths and a three-jointed thunderbolt. This frightening force is assembled before the opposing defenses are described. The sequence makes verse 17 more than a generic demand to win. The speaker has already imagined a formidable attacking coalition and must now imagine how it could overcome resistance. Red banners, strange mouths, and the bolt are not evidence of a recorded host. They are elements of a verbal construction directed against an unnamed army.
Brihaspati gives the weapon a precedent
Verses 9 through 13 link the attack to agreement with Indra and to Brihaspati's Asura-destroying weapon. The current speaker asks that the old victorious force be turned on the present side's enemies. Verses 14 and 15 then call gods to enjoy an offering and conquer 'on this side, not on that.' Allegiance is central: the poem cannot simply assume that every divine power is automatically committed. By making an offering and recalling a primordial agreement, it tries to secure the direction of the bolt. That rhetorical preparation explains why an enemy's separate sacred defenses would be a problem requiring an explicit verse.
Verse 17 strips protection of force
The verse allows that enemies may have approached divine strongholds, made sacred utterance their defense, and adopted a full body protection. The response is that all such measures should be rendered sapless. The poem attacks efficacy rather than only masonry. A 'stronghold' in this passage is linked to gods and bráhman, so the line should not be flattened into a claim about walls of a physical fort. Whitney marks some constructions as doubtful and notes the verse also appears at V.8.6. The repeated line can move between settings, but its local function in XI.10 is clear: rival religious and bodily safeguards must fail before Trishandhi's side can prevail.
A net hymn denies escape by another means
VIII.8 surrounds enemy troops with an expanding net and later says no one should be released. XI.10.17 imagines the opponents already equipped with protection and asks that it lose its sap. Both seek to deny safety, yet one encloses a host while the other hollows out its defenses. The absence of XI.10 from Pāippalāda limits how broadly its sequence can be generalized across Atharvavedic witnesses. A modern spell to 'weaken strongholds' would be a new imaginative adaptation. The source tells us what one martial speaker wanted to happen to opposing protection, not that any sacred defense was actually overcome.
WORKED READING
A worked comparison
Compare XI.10.16 and 17. Verse 16 bends arrow-points and breaks arms; verse 17 considers a stronger problem, opponents who have made gods and bráhman into a complete defense. The requested answer is to make that defense sapless. Then compare VIII.8.8, where the whole world is a net around an army. VIII.8 removes paths of escape from outside; XI.10 removes potency from what the enemy already carries or invokes. The distinction helps keep 'weakening strongholds' tied to the actual verse rather than a generic siege image.