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 Arbudi
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.
Read the remaining 22 verses of XI.9
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 ↗
ATHARVAVEDA · BOOK XI ALSO CITED
To conquer enemies: to Trishandhi
Read comparison hymn XI.10 (27 verses)
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.
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 ↗
Weapons are made into an image of fear
Verse 1 lists arms, arrows, bows, swords, axes, and the plans held in the heart, asking Arbudi to make the enemy see them and to show specters. This is an unusual opening because sight itself is the immediate battlefield. The opponents must confront their own instruments and imagined terrors. The verse does not say they have actually fled; it seeks to affect what they perceive. Whitney's note reports that the commentator could understand the specters as demons or ominous atmospheric signs. The uncertain identity of the apparitions should be kept open, while their function as a weapon of fear is plain.
Two allied names coil around the host
Verses 3 through 5 bring in Arbudi and Nyarbudi, asking them to bind, encircle, and break the opposing formation. Whitney reads their dual verbs as an indication that both are addressed even when only one name is explicit. Verse 4 spans atmosphere and earth, making the pair's reach immense. Verse 5's coils encourage a serpent-like interpretation, but the poem does more than summon an animal: it imagines a whole army hemmed in by divine force allied with Indra. The later identification of these names in commentary should not be confused with a full zoological description supplied by the verse itself.
The imagined aftermath is part of the assault
A run of verses pictures wailing women, scavenging birds, flies, worms, and bodies. The poem tries to make the opposing side encounter the signs of defeat, including its effect on families. These scenes are graphic, and their cruelty is part of the text's rhetoric. Verses 15 through 17 add strange beings and grotesque physical traits; some terms are difficult to translate. Verse 21 asks for dry mouths and terror among enemies but not friends. This friend-enemy distinction shows the selective ambition of the poem. Its effects are wished for by a partisan voice, not documented by an observer after combat.
The collection turns sight into a repeated refrain
Several later verses return to the command that Arbudi show specters to the enemy, giving the long hymn a refrain-like visual frame. Verse 23 names Trishandhi beside Arbudi, preparing the next hymn's focus. Whitney says XI.9 as a whole is absent from Pāippalāda, although fragments of some verses appear there. XI.10 likewise lacks a Pāippalāda counterpart. Those limits matter when claiming a fixed pan-Atharvan war sequence. A modern spell made from the imagery would be a contemporary invention. The historical text reveals a wish to break an army's nerve and formation; it cannot verify that such terror was ever produced.
WORKED READING
A worked comparison
Read XI.9.1 and XI.9.15 together. The first asks Arbudi to show weapons and specters; the later verse supplies disturbing beings for that display. Now compare XI.10.1, which sends an entire retinue of specters, serpents, and demons after the enemy. XI.9 makes the opponent see signs of doom; XI.10 mobilizes those signs as a force under Trishandhi. The shared imagery matters, but the shift in agency prevents the two neighboring hymns from collapsing into one continuous undifferentiated battle cry. The placement of the creatures in each verse matters: a vision imposed on an opponent is a different narrative from a company sent into pursuit.