by Roshen Dalal
It has shone upon you, light has arisen, darkness has departed from you. We remove from you death, destruction, and disease.
(8.1; based on the translation by M. Bloomfield)
Prana, Breath or Vital Spirit
Homage to Prana, to him who has dominion over the universe,
Who has become the sovereign Lord of all, on whom the whole
depends!
Homage, O Prana, to your roar, to your thunder and your lightning
flash!
Homage, O Prana, to you and to the rain you send down!
When Prana with a thunderous voice shouts his loud message
to the plants,
They straightway are impregnated, they conceive, and bear
abundantly.
When the due season has arrived and Prana calls aloud to the plants,
Then all is joyful, yes, each thing upon the surface of the earth.
When Prana has poured down his flood of rain upon the
mighty land,
Cattle and beasts rejoice; Now great will be our strength, they cry.
Watered by Prana’s rain the plants have raised their voices together:
You have prolonged our life, they say, and given fragrance to us
all.
Homage to you when you come in with the breath, homage to you when you depart;
Homage, O Prana, be to you when standing and when sitting still.
Homage to you at every breath you draw in and send out!
Homage to you when turned away, homage to you seen face to
face! This reverence be to all of you!
Prana, communicate to us your dear, your very dearest form.
Whatever healing balm you have, give us thereof that we may
live.
Prana clothes living creatures as a father his beloved son. Prana
is sovereign Lord of all, of all that breathes not, and of all that
breathes.
Prana is Fever, he is Death. Prana is worshipped by the gods.
Prana sets in the loftiest sphere the man who speaks the words
of truth.
Prana is Deshtri, and Viraj; Prana is reverenced by all. He is the
Sun, he is the Moon. Prana is called Prajapati.
Both breaths, in and out, are rice and barley, and Prana is called the toiling
ox;
In barley is the in-breath laid, and rice is named the outward breath.
The human infant in the womb draws vital breath and sends it out;
When you, O Prana, quicken the babe it springs anew to life.
The name of Prana is bestowed on Matarishvan and on Vata, the wind.
On Prana, past and future, yes, on Prana everything depends.
All herbs and plants spring forth and grow when you, O Prana
quickenest them,
Plants of Atharvan, Angiras, plants of the deities and men.
When Prana has poured down his flood of rain upon the
mighty earth,
The plants are wakened into life, and also every herb that grows on ground.
The man who knows this truth of you, O Prana, and what supports you,
To him will all present their gift of tribute in the highest world.
As all these living creatures offer you tributes, Prana, so
shall they bring tribute unto him who hears you with attentive ears.
He as an embryo, wanders among the gods; grown; near at hand,
he springs again to being.
Having grown, he enters the present and the future, as a father enters the son with mighty powers.
As Hamsa (divine swan, mystical word), when he rises up, he leaves in the flood one foot unmoved.
If he withdrew it there would be no more tomorrow or today,
Never would there be night, no more would daylight shine or dawn appear.
He rolls on, eight-wheeled and single-fellied, and with a
thousand eyes, forward and backward.
With one half he engendered all creation. What sign is there to
tell us of the other?
Homage, O Prana unto you armed with a swift bow against the rest,
In whose dominion is this All of varied sort that stirs and works!
May he who rules this varied universe, that stirs and works,
May Prana, alert and resolute, assist me through the prayer I pray.
Erect among the sleepers he is awake, and never lies down himself,
No one has ever heard that he has been asleep while others slept.
You, Prana, never shall be hid, never shall be estranged from me.
I bind you on myself for life, O Prana, like the waters’ germ.
(11.4; based on the translation by R.T.H. Griffith)
A hymn of prayer and praise to Prithivi or deified Earth
Truth, high and potent law (rita), the consecrating rite, fervour (tapas),
Brahman, and sacrifice uphold the Earth.
May she, the Queen of all that is and is to be, may Prithivi
make ample space and room for us.
Not over awed by the crowd of Manu’s sons, she who has
many heights and floods and level plains;
She who bears plants endowed with many varied powers, may
Prithivi for us spread wide and favour us.
In whom the sea, and Sindhu, and the waters, in whom our food
and corn-lands had their being,
In whom this all that breathes and moves is active, this Earth.
assign us foremost rank and station!
She who is Lady of the earth’s four regions, in whom our food
and grain-lands had their being,
supports in each place of breathing, moving creatures, this Earth.
Grant us cattle with milk that fails not!
On whom the men of old before us battled, on whom the gods
defeated the asuras,
The varied home of bird, and cattle and horses, this Prithivi
grant us luck and splendour!
Firm standing place, all-bearing, store of treasures,
gold-breasted, harbourer of all that moves.
May Earth who bears Agni Vaishvanara, consort of mighty
Indra, give us great possessions.
May Earth, may Prithivi, always protected with ceaseless care by
gods who never slumber,
May she pour out for us delicious nectar, may she bedew us
with a flood of splendour.
She who at first was water in the ocean, whom with their wondrous powers the sages followed,
May she whose heart is in the highest heaven, compassed about
with truth, and everlasting,
May she, this Earth, bestow upon us lustre, and grant us power
in loftiest dominion.
On whom the running universal waters flow day and night with
never-ceasing motion,
May she with many streams pour milk to feed us, may she
besprinkle us with a flood of splendour.
She whom the Ashvins measured out, over whom the foot of
Vishnu strode,
Whom Indra, Lord of Power and Might, freed from all foes
for himself,
May Earth pour out her milk for us, a mother unto me her son.
O Prithivi, auspicious be your woodlands, auspicious be your hills
and snow-clad mountains.
Unslain, unwounded, unsubdued, I have set foot upon the
Earth,
On earth, brown, black, ruddy and every-coloured, on the firm
earth that Indra guards from danger.
O Prithivi, your centre and your navel, all forces that have issued
from your body
Set us amid those forces; breathe upon us. I am the son of
Earth, Earth is my Mother. Parjanya is my father; may he
protect me.
Earth on whose surface they enclose the altar, and all-performers
In whom the stakes of sacrifice, resplendent, are fixed and raised
on high before the oblation, may she, this Earth, prospering,
make us prosper.
The man who hates us, Earth! who fights against us, who
threatens us with thought or deadly weapon, make him subject to us, as you have done
before.
Produced from you, on you move mortal creatures; you
support them, both quadruped and biped.
yours, Prithivi, are these Five human Races, for whom, though
mortal, Surya as he rises, spreads with his rays the light that is immortal.
Together may these creatures yield us blessings. With the honey of
speech, O Earth, endow me.
Kind, ever gracious be the Earth we tread on, the firm Earth,
Prithivi, supported by (divine) Order, mother of plants and herbs, the
all-producer.
A vast abode you have become, the Mighty. Great stress is on
you, press and agitation, but with unceasing care great Indra
guards you.
So make us shine, O Earth, us with the splendour of gold. Let
no man look on us with hatred.
Agni is in the earth, in plants; the waters hold Agni in them,
in the stones is Agni.
Agni abides deep in men; Agni lives in cattle and horses.
Agni provides shine and heat in the sky; the spacious air is his, the god’s.
Lover of ghi, bearer of oblation, men enkindle him.
Dark-kneed, clothed with Agni, Prithivi sharpen me
and give me splendour!
On earth they offer sacrifice and dressed oblation to the Gods.
Men, mortals, live upon the earth by food in their accustomed way.
May that Earth grant us breath and vital power. Prithivi give
me life of long duration!
Scent that has risen from you, O Earth, the fragrance which.
growing herbs and plants and waters carry,
Shared by apsaras, shared by gandharvas with that fragrance, make
me too sweet; let no man hate me.
Your scent which entered and possessed the lotus, the scent
which they prepared at Surya’s bridal,
Scent which Immortals of old collected, with that fragrance make
me sweet; let no man hate me.
Your perfume in women and in men, the luck and light that is in males,
That is in heroes and in horses in wild animals and elephants,
The splendid energy of maidens, with that do unite us, Earth! Let no man look on us with hate.
Rock, earth, stone, and dust, is this Earth, held together, firmly bound.
To this gold-breasted Prithivi my adoration have I paid.
We invoke here the firmly held, the all-supporting Prithivi,
On whom the trees, lords of the forest, stand evermore immovable.
Sitting at ease or rising up, standing or going on our way.
With our right foot and with our left we will not stumble upon the earth.
I speak to Prithivi the purifier, to patient Earth who grows
strong through Brahma (spiritual power).
O Earth, may we rest on you who bear strength, prosperity,
our portioned share of food, and ghi.
Purified for our bodies flow the waters: we bring distress on
him who would attack us.
I cleanse myself, O Earth, with that which cleanseth.
Earth, let your eastern and your northern regions, those lying
southward and those lying westward,
be propitious to me in all my movements. As long as I walk on the
ground let me not stumble.
Drive us not from the west or east, drive us not from the north
or south,
Be gracious unto us, O Earth: let not the robbers find us; keep
the deadly weapon far away.
As long as, I look upon you, Earth, with Surya as my friend,
So long, through each succeeding year, let not my power of
vision fail.
When, as I lie, O Earth, I turn upon my right side and my left,
When stretched at all our length we lay our ribs on you who
meet us.
Do us no injury there, O Earth who furnishes a bed for all.
Let what I dig from you, O Earth, rapidly spring and grow
again.
O Purifier, let me not pierce through your vitals or your heart.
Earth, may your summer, and your rains, and autumn, your winter,
and your dewy frosts, and spring-time.
May your years, Prithivi! And ordered seasons, and day and
night pour out for us abundance.
The purifier, shrinking from the Serpent, she who held fires that
lie within the waters,
Who gives as prey the God-blaspheming dasyus, Earth choosing
Indra for her Lord, not Vritra, has clung to Shakra (Indra), to the
strong and mighty.
Base of the seat and sheds (sadas), on whom the sacrificial stake is
fixed, and the vessels that hold the Soma (havir-dhane)
On whom the Yajus-knowing priests recite the riks and samans,
And the other priests (ritvig) are employed so that Indra may drink the Soma juice.
On whom the ancient rishis, they who made the world, and with their songs produced the
cows, the seven worshippers (priests), by the sattra sacrifices and by their fervent zeal (tapas);
May she, the Earth, assign to us the opulence for which we yearn,
May Bhaga share and aid the task and Indra come to lead the way.
May she, the Earth, upon whom men sing and dance with varied
shout and noise,
Where men meet in battle, and the war-cry and the drum resound,
May she drive off our foes, may Prithivi rid me of my rivals.
On whom is food, barley and rice, to whom these Races Five belong,
Homage to her, Parjanya’s wife, to her whose marrow is the rain!
Whose castles are the work of gods, and men wage war upon her plain
The Lord of Life make Prithivi, who bears all things in her
womb, pleasant to us on every side!
May Earth the goddess, she who bears her treasure stored
in many places, gold, gems, and riches,
Giver of wealth, may she grant great possessions to us bestowing them
with love and favour.
Earth, on whom live people speaking different languages and with diverse customs, according to
their dwelling-places,
Pour, like a constant cow that never fails, a thousand streams
of treasure to enrich me!
The snake, the sharply stinging scorpion, lying concealed,
bewildered, chilled with cold of winter,
The worm, O Prithivi, each thing that in the rains revives and
stirs, creeping, do not allow it to creep on us! With all things gracious bless us.
Your many paths on which the people travel, the roads for chariots and
wagons to journey over,
on which meet both the good and bad, that pathway may we
attain without a foe or robber. With all things gracious bless us.
Supporting both the foolish and the wise, the earth she bears the death
both of the good and evil.
In friendly concord with the boar, Earth opens herself for the
wild swine that roams the forest.
All wild forest animals, the animals of the woodlands, the man-eaters,
forest-haunting, lions and tigers,
Jackals (ula), wolves, misfortune, and evil spirits, drive from us, chase the
demons to a distance.
Gandharvas and apsaras, kimidins, and malignant sprites,
pi
shachas all, and rakshasas, these keep you, Earth, far from us.
Earth, upon whom the winged bipeds fly together, birds of each various
kind, the swans, the eagles;
On whom Matarishvan, the Wind, comes rushing, rousing the
dust and causing trees to tremble, and flames follow the wind,
back and forth;
Earth, upon whom are settled, joined together, the night and
day, the dusky and the ruddy, Prithivi compassed by the rain
about her,
Happily may she establish us, in each delightful dwelling place.
Heaven, Earth, and the realm of Middle Air have granted me this
wide expanse
Agni, Sun, Waters, all the gods have joined to give me mental power.
I am victorious, I am called the lord superior on earth,
Triumphant, all-overpowering the conqueror on every side.
There, when the gods, O goddess Prithivi, named you, spreading your
wide expanse as you were extending eastward,
Then into you passed many a charm and glory: you made
for yourself the world’s four regions.
In hamlets and in woodland, and in all assembly halls on earth,
In gatherings, and in meetings, we will speak glorious things of you.
As the horse scatters the dust, the people who dwelt upon
the land, at birth, she scattered,
Leader and head of all the world, delightful, the trees’ protectress
and the plants’ upholder.
Whatever I say I speak with honey-sweetness, whatever I behold
for that they love me.
Dazzling, impetuous am I; others who fiercely stir I slay.
Mild, gracious, sweetly scented, milky, with nectar in her breast,
May Earth, may Prithivi bestow her blessings, with milk, on me.
Whom Vishvakarman with oblation followed, when she was set
in mid-air’s billowy ocean;
She, a useful vessel, was hidden, when, for enjoyment, she was made manifest to the (divine) mothers.
You are the vessel that contains people, Aditi, granter of the
wish, far-spreading.
Prajapati, the first-born Son of Order (rita), supplies you with whatever you lack.
Let your breasts, Prithivi, be free from sickness and disease and let them be produced for our advantage.
Through long-extended life, wakeful and watching still, may we
be bearers of offerings to you.
O Earth, my Mother, set me happily in a place secure.
Of one accord with Heaven, O Sage, set me in glory and in wealth.