Book 4: Hymn 38: A charm for success in gambling

HYMN XXXVIII

A charm for success in gambling

1Hither I call the Apsaras, victorious, who plays with skill,
Her who comes freely fort to view, who wins the stakes in games
of dice.
2Hither I call that Apsaras who scatters and who gathers up. p. a149
The Apsaras who plays with skill and takes her winnings in the
game.
3Dancing around us with the dice, winning the wager by her
play.
May she obtain the stake for us and gain the victory with skill.
May she approach us full of strength: let them not win this
wealth of ours.
4Hither I call that Apsaras, the joyous, the delightful one—
Those nymphs who revel in the dice, who suffer grief and yield
to wrath.
5Who follow in their course the rays of Sūrya, or as a particle of
light attend him.
Whose leader from afar, with store of riches, compasses quickly
all the worlds and guards them.
Pleased, may he come to this our burnt oblation, together with
the Air, enriched with treasure.
6Together with the Air, O rich in treasure, guard here the white
cow and the calf, O mighty!
Here are abundant drops for thee, come hither! Here is thy
white calf, let thy mind be with us.
7Together with the Air, O rich in treasure, keep the white calf in
safety here, O mighty!
Here is the grass, here is the stall, here do we bind the calf. We
are your masters, name by name. All Hail!