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HYMNS OF THE ATHARVA-VEDA.
food in our house, may prosperity and goods come hither!
3. O bounteous god, thou dost command thousandfold prosperity: of that do thou bestow upon us, of that do thou give us, in that may we share with thee!
VI, 50. Exorcism of vermin infesting grain in
the field. 1. Slay ye the tarda ('borer'), the samanka (hook'), and the mole, O Asvins; cut off their heads,'and crush their ribs! Shut their mouths, that they shall not eat the barley; free ye, moreover, the grain from danger !
2. Ho tarda (borer '), ho locust, ho gabhya (“snapper '), upakvasa! As a Brahman (eats not) an uncompleted sacrifice, do ye, not eating this barley, without working injury, get out!
3. O husband of the tardà (-female), O husband of the vaghà (-female), ye of the sharp teeth, listen to me! The vyadvaras (rodents') of the forest, and whatever other vyadvaras (there are), all these we do crush.
VII, 11. Charm to protect grain from lightning.
With thy broad thunder, with the beacon, elevated by the gods that pervade this all, with the lightning do thou not destroy our grain, O god; nor do thou destroy it with the rays of the sun!
II, 26. Charm for the prosperity of cattle. 1. Hither shall come the cattle which have strayed to a distance, whose companionship Vayu
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