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Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895], at sacred-texts.com
1Which of his members is the seat of Fervour: Which is the base
of Ceremonial Order? p. 21
Where in him standeth Faith? Where Holy Duty? Where, in
what part of him is truth implanted?
2Out of which member glows the light of Agni? Form which
proceeds the breath of Mātarisvan?
From which doth Chandra measure out his journey, travelling
over Skambha's mighty body?
3Which of his members is the earth's upholder? Which gives the
middle air a base to rest on?
Where, in which member is the sky established? Where hath
the space above the sky its dwelling?
4Whitherward yearning blazeth Agni upward? Whitherward
yearning bloweth Mātarisvan?
Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha to whom with long-
ing go the turning pathways?
5Whitheward go the half-months, and, accordant with the full
year, the months in their procession?
Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha to whom go seasons
and the groups of seasons?
6Whitherward yearning speed the two young Damsels, accordant,
Day and Night, of different colour?
Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha to whom the Waters
take their way with longing?
7Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha,
On whom Prajāpati set up and firmly stablished all the worlds?
8That universe which Prajāpati created, wearing all forms,, the
highest, midmost, lowest,
How far did Skambha penetrate within it? What portion did
he leave unpenetrated?
9How far within the past hath Skambha entered? How much of
him hath reached into the future?
That one part which he set in thousand places,—how far did
Skambha penetrate within it?
10Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha in whom men
recognize the Waters, Brahma,
In whom they know the worlds and their enclosures, in whom
are non-existence and existence?
11Declare that. Skambha, who is he of many,
In whom, exerting every power, Fervour maintains her loftiest
vow; p. 22
In whom are comprehended Law, Waters, Devotion and Belief
12Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha
On whom as their foundation earth and firmament and sky are
set;
In whom as their appointed place rest Fire and Moon and Sun
and Wind?
13Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha
He in whose body are contained all three-and-thirty Deities?
14Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha.
In whom the Sages earliest born, the Richas, Sāman, Yajus,
Earth, and the one highest Sage abide?
15Who out of many, tell me, is the Skambha.
Who comprehendeth, for mankind, both immortality and death,
He who containeth for mankind the gathered waters as his
veins?
16Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha,
He whose chief arteries stand there, the sky's four regions, he irk
whom Sacrifice putteth forth its might?
17They who in Purusha understand Brahma know Him who is.
Supreme.
He who knows Him who is Supreme, and he who knows the
Lord of Life,
These know the loftiest Power Divine, and thence know Skam-
bha thoroughly.
18Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha
Of whom Vaisvānara became the head, the Angirases his eye,
and Yātus his corporeal parts?
19Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha
Whose mouth they say is Holy Lore, his tongue the Honey-
sweetened Whip, his udder is Virāj, they say?
20Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha
From whom they hewed the lichas off, from whom they
chipped the Yajus, he
Whose hairs are Sāma-verses and his mouth the Atharvāngi-
rases?
21Men count as 'twere a thing supreme nonentity's conspicuous
branch;
And lower man who serve thy branch regard it as an entity.
22Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha p. 23
In whom Ādityas dwell, in whom Rudras and Vasus are
contained,
In whom the future and the past and all the worlds are firmly
set;
23Whose secret treasure evermore the three-and thirty Gods
protect?
Who knoweth now the treasure which, O Deities ye watch and
guard?
24Where the Gods, versed in Sacred Lore, worship the loftiest
Power Divine
The priest who knows them face to face may be a sage who
knows the truth.
25Great, verily, are those Gods who sprang from non-existence
into life.
Further, men say that that one part of Skambha is nonentity.
26Where Skambha generating gave the Ancient World its shape
and form,
They recognized that single part of Skambha as the Ancient
World,
27The three-and-thirty Gods within his body were disposed as
limbs:
Some, deeply versed in Holy Lore, some know those three-and-
thirty Gods.
28Men know Hiranyagarbha as supreme and inexpressible:
In the beginning, in the midst of the world, Skambha poured
that gold.
29On Skambha Fervour rests, the worlds and Holy Law repose on
him.
Skambha, I clearly know that all of thee on Indra is imposed.
30On Indra Fervour rests, on him the worlds and Holy Law
recline.
Indra, I clearly know that all of thee on Skambha findeth rest.
31Ere sun and dawn man calls and calls one Deity by the other's
name.
When the Unborn first sprang into existence he reached that
independent sovran lordship; than which aught higher never
hath arisen.
32Be reverence paid to him, that highest Brahma, whose base is
Earth, his belly Air, who made the sky to be his head. p. 24
33Homage to highest Brahma, him whose eye is Sūrya and the
Moon who groweth young and new again, him who made
Agni for his mouth.
34Homage to highest Brahma, him whose two life-breathings were
the Wind,
The Angirases his sight: who made the regions be his means of
sense.
35Skambha set fast these two, the earth and heaven, Skambha
maintained the ample air between them.
Skambha established the six spacious regions: this whole world
Skambha entered and pervaded.
36Homage to highest Brahma, him who, sprung from Fervour and
from toil,
Filled all the worlds completely, who made Soma for himself
alone.
37Why doth the Wind move ceaselessly? Why doth the spirit take
no rest?
Why do the Waters, seeking truth, never at any time repose?
38Absorbed in Fervour, is the mighty Being, in the world's centre,
on the waters' surface.
To him the Deities, one and all betake them. So stand the tree-
trunk with the branches round it.
39Who out of many, tell me, is that Skambha.
To whom the Deities with hands, with feet, and voice, and ear,
and eye.
Present unmeasured tribute in the measured hall of sacrifice?
40Darkness is chased away from him: he is exempt from all dist-
ress.
In him are all the lights, the three abiding in Prajāpati.
41He verily who knows the Reed of Gold that stands amid the
flood, is the mysterious Lord of Life.
42Singly the two young Maids of different colours approach the
six-pegged warp in turns and weave it.
The one draws out the threads, the other lays them: they break
them not, they reach no end of labour.
43Of these two, dancing round as 'twere, I cannot distinguish
whether ranks before the other.
A Male in weaves this web, a Male divides it: a Male hath
stretched it to the cope of heaven p. 25
44These pegs have buttressed up the sky. The Sāmans have turned
them into shuttles for the weaving.