3 1151 02676 3551 the Asur-Kalpa - Forgotten Books · TH E A s U R i-K A LP Ahand It contains three...
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Transcript of 3 1151 02676 3551 the Asur-Kalpa - Forgotten Books · TH E A s U R i-K A LP Ahand It contains three...
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3 1 1 5 1 02676 355 1
THE ASUR - KA LPA :
A W IT C H C R A FT P R A CT IC E
OF T H E
ATHA RVA -VE DA,
WITH A N INTRODUCTION ,TRA NSLA TION
,A ND
COMME NTA R! .
A D ISSE R T A T IO N
P RESENTED TO T H E BOA R D O F U N IV ERSIT! STU D IES O F T H E JOH N S H O P K IN SU N IV ERSIT! FO R T H E DEGREE O F DOCTO R O F P H IL O SO P H ! .
B ! H .
'W . MA GOUN .
1 8 8 9 .
DED ICA TED
PROFESSOR MA U R ICE BLOOMFIEL D
OF TH E
JOH NS HOPK INS U N IV ERSIT!
W ITH TH E
SINCERE REGA RD A ND GRA TITU DE OF
T H E A UTH OR .
TH E A SURI-KA LPA ; A W ITCHCRA FT PRA CTICE OFT H E A TH A R V A -VE DA .
I .—INTR OD U CT ION.
The ri tual l i terature of the A tharva-Veda , l ike that of the other
Vedas , has a ttached to i tsel f cer ta in p a r i g i s t a s , or supplemen t s .
O f these , the thirty -fifth, accord ing to the bes t access ib l e MS,is
the A s u r i -K a l p a , an a b h ic ar a , or witchcraft p ract ice , con
tain i ng ri tes to be used i n connect ion wi th the as u r i-plant . T he
q ues t ion as to what th is plant was wil l be d iscussed below . Theuse of the word kalpa for such a tex t is expla i ned by a passage in
the A t h a r v a n i y a-P a d d h a t i, which s ta tes , on the author i ty
of U parvarsa ,
l that i n addi tion to the five A V . ka lpas—K au 9 i k a ,V ai t an a , N a k s a t r a , Can t i , and A fi g ir a s a
—which are ca l ledgru lz
" insp ired ,
’ there are certa in other k a l p a s which are to becons idered as smriz
’
handed down by trad i t ion.
’ 2
Three MSS have been consu l ted in preparing this paper. Two
of them are copies of the p a r igis ta s of the A V . ; the th i rd is acommentary to the A s u r i-K a l p a. A ll three are loans to D r .Bloomfield
'
from the B r i tish Government i n India . Jus t here I
m ay say that I am great ly indeb ted to D r. B loomfield for the use
of these MSS,for the encouragement and ass is tance which he has
given me , and for h is kindness i n looking over my work . The
MSS are as fol lows
A ,large sheets of l ight yel low paper, bound i n book form ,
writ ten lengthwise i n a large clear hand and wi th cons i derab l e
care . I t i s a modern copy .
B ,narrow sheets of l igh t b l ue paper, bound in book form ,
wri tten leng thwise , tex t ful ler i n places than the preceding , bu t in
a poor hand and wi th numerous errors . I t mus t be a very recentcopy . Both of these MSS are numbered 23.
S (Schol ias t) , much older than e i ther of the preced ing,s i ngle
sheets of l igh t brown paper grown dark at the'
edges , wri tten
l e ngthw ise as th e o ther MSS, bu t i n a very poor, though large ,
1 A m i m afi sa (p u r v a teacher. See L i f e a n d E s s a y s of H . T .
Colebrooke , V ol. I I , pp . 31 9—49.
Q Cf. ] . A . O . S . ! I 377, B loom fie ld , O n t h e P o s i t i o n o f t h e V ai t an a
S t’
i t r a i n t h e L i t e r a t u r e o f t h e A t h a r v a -V e d a .
TH E A'
s U R i -K A L P A .
hand . I t conta ins th ree sect ions or chapters . P a r t fi r st (fol ios
i h- 6a’ ) conta ins all the prac t i ces in br ief fo rm ,and occupies about
one - four th of the MS . P a r t secon d (fol ios 6a’—7b
°
) treats only ofthe externals of the p r i nc i pa l r i te , and occupies scarcely one- tenth
of the MS. P a r t th i r d is an e laborate commentary on what hasp receded ; but in i ts p resent cond i t ion deals with onl y about twoth i rds of the p rac t i ces , s ince the MS lacks some fol ios at the close .
1
Th is MS is num bered 1 20 ; bu t is also marked 15 (p at/773m) 1 8,
san’
z . (smiwat) 1 880—8 1 ; and, on the las t fol io , wr i tten across the
end on the ma rgin , 347. From the appearance of theMS i t migh t
be as old as one hund red and fifty years ; and s ince 3am. 1 880 - 8 1
probably has reference to K ielhorn’
s R e p o r t ,2the MS m ay be as
old as i t looks . It contai ns abou t 20 0 glo k a s .
A t the beginning of p a r t th i r d i t names Mahadeva as the
speaker ,3who introduces h is commentary (see p . 1 I , note 1 9) by
say ing : I t [the m a n t r a] is not to be u ttered (performed) with
out teachers by the p recept of a teacher th is magi c power (suc
cess) [comes into be ing]. A ccord ingly in a s ingle final commen
tarythe A s u r i- [r i te] should succeed ,’
a z’
mi gu r zzn aka r iavy amgu ruvdky ena (cod. sz’
d/zi
ekdnlz’
ma éi/edm ad/zy e (cod. gimme ) sda’lzay eta tad dsur z
‘
. 2 .
Mahadeva " is spoken of as the seer of the d iv ine as u r i- tex t ,6
and as becomes a r s i he speaks of the Gayatri , T ristubh , and
A nustubh metres after wh ich he
proceeds to give fu l l i ns tructions concerning the r i tes .
‘P a r t fi r s t seem s to be in fact a vers ion of the p a r ici s ta ,fu l ler than
the tex t and d iffer ing from i t in som e pas sages , but s t i l l e ssen t ial ly the sam e .
The chie f poin t s of d ifference have been noted as read ings of S . They havebeen pu t in to cl o k a form where the MS seemed to warran t i t . R ead ingsfrom p a r ts secon d and th i r d are so m arked .
9 See p . 5, foot -note I . T he MS is ca ta logued on p . 58.
3 T he p a r ici s ta s as a whole a re in the form of d ialogues . C f. !V eber ,H i s t o r y o f I n d i a n L i t e r a t u r e , p . 1 53.
‘T he conj ec tura l read ing sz’
a’dlzidam requ i res a regu lar fem . noun to be
regarded as neu . ; but for th i s tex t i t may be a l lowab le , s ince the MS depart sw idely in p laces from all ru le s of grammar , and a l so trea t s Tz'ddlzz' as a neu . in
other pas sages .T he comma and period and .) have been used in all San skri t passage s as
the s imples t m ean s of trans l i terat ing the two Sanskr i t mark s of punctua t ion( I and “)
5 A n ep i the t of R udra or giva , a l so of V i snu and the nam e of various person s .I t i s an appropria te t i t le , Grea t -Lord ,
”
fo r the teacher of such a tex t .‘arya ( rd u riman lm sya (cod . (fl an k ) ma/zddez 'a 7
‘8ih .
A WI TCH CR A FT P R A C TI CE OF T H E A TH A R VA - VE D A . 3
A part from its subj ect -matter S possesses no l i ttle interes t,
because i t conta i ns abundant evidence of the character of th e
people hav ing to do with i ts r i tes . I t is exceed ingly corrupt , asa few examples may suffice to show. The common wr i t ing for“rpm is sa fpa for dsu r z
’
,asur z
’
; for szzksm a,sulesma for 5 127 71 4 ,
ca rna , etc . : ju/zz’
y at ands /zzfydfa are used for ju/my di ; mry a fe
for m r zjya le, etc. : (rdaymh is found for lzra’ay am b/zz
’
manfr z'
iena
for Mi ni (beginn ing of a sentence) ; kamy e for y et ; iii/2a for
etc. : l i ttle or no a t tent ion is pa i d to s amdh i : the confu
s ion of s ib i lants ,‘s for 9 and v i c e v e r s a , is exceed ingly common
and o ther curious freaks i n spel l i ng occu r , notab l y the use of cy
for c (cy u r zm for czZr zm , and mm’wy a lz
’
for which is of
some interes t from a phonet ic s tandpo int , and th e wri t ing of the
word vagzz‘
kar tukdma i n e ight d ifferent ways,while us ing it
‘
but
twelve t imes,wi th a mis take of some kind in every s ingle ins tance .2
The erro rs are doub tless due i n pa r t to later copyists bu t,from
the present s tate of corruption,i t m ay be safe to infer that the
origi na l MS was bad at the s tart for i t seems hard ly poss ib l e tha tth e scr ibes should be gui l ty of all the errors which i t conta ins , even
i f the present MS is th e resul t of severa l success i ve transcript ions.The natu re of the mis takes s tamps the wri ter at once as an ignorant and perhaps degraded person . I t is abou t such a documentas might be expected to be written in E ngl ish by some Voodoodoctor among the b lacks of the South . Numerous repet i t ionsserve to l igh t up otherwise hopeless passages , and when the brief
outl ines of the p a r igis t a are comb ined with the commentary
the whol e pract ice becomes clear. No two of the MSS exactlyagree i n the order in which the d i fferent forms of the r i te are
treated , and B has a passage not found in e i ther A or S . P ortunately the p a r i g i s t a is mos tly wri tten in gl ok a s , which is ofgreat serv ice i n determini ng the true reading .
3 In s tyl e thep a r i c i s t a is somewha t l ike the s u t r a s , bei ng terse and technical i n i ts form s of express ion , and cons ist ing most l y of what may
1 Cf. P R O C . A . O . S. ,May,
1 886. I n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e S t u d y o f t h e0 1 d - I n d i a n S i b i l a n t s ; by P rof. B loom field and D r . E dward H . Sp ieker.
Q I t m ay be sa id in addi t ion tha t there i s hard ly a sen tence in the en t ire MSin wh ich there are not m is takes in the case- form s
,the m ost c ommon be ing the
u se of a s tem—form for an ace .
3 In the t ex t , where a M S reading i s of no im portance , i t has been though tbes t to om i t i t ; so ,
in the quotat ions from S the MS read ing has been om i t tedwhere the em endat ion i s obv ious , where the sam e m i s take i s repea ted severa lt imes , and, in a few instances , where MS ev idence war ran t s the change ; onthe other hand , where i t has been though t bes t to do so , the passage has beenquo ted v e r b a t i m .
TH E A S U R l -K A L P A .
be cal led rules the commenta ry is , of course , more l ike an ord i
nary tex t .
In this paper the a t temp t has been made not only to p resent acorrec t vers ion of the p a r i c i s t a ,
so far as the mater ial at hand
wou ld al low , but also to reproduce to some ex tent the schol ias t byci t ing ,
mos t ly from the fi rs t d ivis ion , such passages , with the tex t ,as bea r on the same par t o f the r i te ,
and by inco rpora ting in to thecommen ta ry accompanying the t rans lat ion such o ther passages asth row l igh t upon those al ready c i ted , or give an idea of add i t iona l
mat ters not t rea ted of i n the tex t at all. In th is way mos t of thesal ien t po int s of S have been p reserved withou t , at the same time ,
copying its t i resome minu teness of de ta i l and unend ing repe t it ions—no t tha t the commentary is of so much impor tance in i tsel f
,
for , as has been shown, i t rep resents the wo rk of a person of l i ttlein tel l igence appa ren t ly ,
cer ta inly of sma l l acq u i rements but that
the pictu re of the who le migh t be as comple te as poss ib le . T he
p rac t i ce of wi tchcraft form s a dark chapter in the his tory of man
kind , and any thing that th rows l ight upon the a tt i tude of m ind in
which i ts devotees have pract iced the i r cur ious r i tes is not to be
despised . T he med i tat ions ” of S may not be wi thout the i r sugges t ions to those who care to read be tween the l ines , and the wholeprac t i ce is a cu r ious b i t of evidence of the power of supers t i t ionover the human m ind .
'
While the A s u r i-K a l p a has p roved a rich field for emendat ion ,and has afforded some Oppor tun i ty for conjecture ,
i t has not beenal together unfru i tful in new mater ial , as the followmg l is t wi l l show .
S I MP L E ST E MS.
D e n om i n a t i v e V e r b : p z'
séay a , to grind up , make into meal .N o u n s (members of compounds) : nasé z
’
ka des truction .
a t ree or plant of some kind . sadl’
(not in a a col
lec t ion of s ix . sr uca [sr a c] , sacrifice- ladle.
A dj e c t i v e s p ram/ea [pr eta], be longing to a dead [man].
Poss ibly des i r ing to conq uer .P a r t i c l e s : [elf/it , ksa
’
un’
z,and pr im.
“
A n a l o g i c a l V o c a t i v e : du/zz'
le O daughter .N ew M e a n i ng s o r U s e s : su repvanf compound s tem) , as u r f
(plant and probab ly a lso goddess) . So laksm z‘
, apparently and
poss ibly en"
. cel la r /1 mm fou r thly (as adverb) .
See page 2 5, foot -no te 4 .
9 E viden t ly from grz' ‘beauty , wel fare .
’ These words are used as part o f a
mut tered spel l , and have , there fore , no part icu lar m ean ing.
A WI TCH CR A FT P R A C TI CE OE TH E A TH A R VA - VE D A . 5
COMPOUND ST E MS .
N o u n s : ap r aja lva ,ch i ldlessness . u l/eam na , overcoming
A dj e c t i v e s : having i ts po int (ear) to thesouth . devz
‘
ja ,goddess - born . r akz
‘avdsasa , having a reddish
garment . vagy aga ,subdued . Poss ib l y pw z
‘y dmuklza , facing.
N e u t e r s a s A d v e r b s : dz'
natr ay am ,at the three parts of th e
day (A . M M. ,and P. M .) dz
’
ndszfa/eam ,at the eight parts
(watches) of the day . Poss ib ly sap td/zanam ,at the seventh dawn .
COMPOU ND S OF A MOR E GE N E R A L CH A R A CT E R .
ap ardjay a ,i nv incib leness . ka rmaé a
‘
r z’
lzd (fem . of adj. waka) ,deed -performer . ndgena
’m
,a plant
,probab ly Betel . wag/ea rm
kdma, the des i re to render submiss i ve . Poss ib ly also sum tz
’
,a
p lant of some kind .
A few words have as yet baffled all a ttempts at a solu tion . They
wi l l be ment ioned as they occur.Tha t the A s u r i-K a l p a must at one t ime have occup ied a pos it ion of some importance appears from the fact that i t is ment ioned ,according to Weber , I n d . S t u d . ! I I I 4 1 5, under the nameA s u r iy a h,
K a lp a h i n the Ma habh as y a IV I , 1 9 , V ar t t i
k am f. Igb. I n th is connect ion i t m ay be added that the conjecture offered by Professor B loomfield (j. A . O . S. ! I
“
f ar?
caka lp ah is p robab ly not to be unders tood (with Weber , Ind . Stud .
! I I I 455) as one s tudy ing five d ifferent ka lpas, i . e . grduta—szztm s ,
but means an A tharvavedin who is fam il iar wi th these five ka lpas,”
i . e. the five belonging to the A V .,has recently been confirmed
by the d iscovery , m ade by the same scholar , of the word 154mmka ljfiz
‘
(s tem - z'
7z) used in the colophon of a K au g. MS to mean
the wr i ter of a K an g. MS. In connection wi th p aficakalpafi, saysWeber (l o c. the Ma habh as y a (V a r t t . 3f. 67a) mentionsthe words é a
‘
4fiaszzz‘rah
, pdrdga raka lp z'
leab, and mdfrka lp zk ab.
Th is las t word Weber does not at tempt to define , bu t saysof i t Letz teresWort is t i n der vor l iegenden Bez iehung unklar . ”
In the K au cik a -Su t r a , 8 ,2 4 , is ment ioned a g a n a of hymns
(A V . II 2, V I 1 1 1 , and V I I I 6) under the t i tle mdtrndm é m
’
,the
object of which is the prevent ing or removing of evi l ; and
A t h a r v a-P a r ig, i s _
t a2
34 , 4 , ment ions the same g a n a wi th the
1 No . 86. R e p o r t o n t h e S e a r ch f o r S a n s k r i t M S S in t h e B om
b a y P r e s i d e n c y , 1 880 - 81 , by F. K ie lhorn .
9A No. 32 , B No : 34. T he lat ter number ing makes the A s u r i -K a l p aNo.
37 ; for each MS gives between it and the G a n am al a two other p a r ici s t a s
6 A S U R l -K A L P A .
add i t ion of A V . IV 20 , under the same name .
‘ I t also adds , z'
tz'
md/gg a y ah.
” A s Ari/panitr a li means one famil iar wi th the K a l p a
Sut ra s , and ptinwa r aka lp ié ah seem s to have been used of a per
son who had s tud ied the B a r aga r a -K a l p a ,
a i t is safe to infertha t the word mci/g
'ka lp z'
kah meant one who was famil iar with or
made use of the M a t r -K a l p a ,and such a tex t m ay yet be
found .I f i t ever appears , P rofessor B loom field conj ectu res tha t
i t wil l p rove to be a r i tual for the use of a p r ies t in connection wi ththis M a t r g a n a . T he presence of these words in the M a h a
b h as y a ,which con ta ins many A tharvanic words not found
elsewhere ,c i ted as they are withou t explana t ion , goes to show
that they were all wel l unders tood by the people of Patafijali’
s
t ime,and therefore refe rred to ri tes and prac t i ces so fam i l iar to the
Hindoos tha t the mere name was suffic ient to make the reader
unde rstand the au thor ’s m eaning . A s they are all A tharvanic ,
and the wo rd A s u r i-K a l p a h is a lso A tharvanic , there can be
no doub t that the A s u r i-K a l p a h and the A s u r i y a h
K a l p a h are essen t ial ly the same , though the tex t m ay have
suffered some changes at the hands of later author i t ies on the
uses of a s u r i , and i t is ev ident that the p a r i c i s t a mus t have
had cons ide rab le cu rrency among those who made use of A tharvan
r i tes . A dd i t ional ev idence of the famil ia r i ty of the Hindoos wi thsuch p rac t i ces is to be found in the L a w s o f M a n u (! I
where the pract ice of wi tchcraft and of magic with
roo t s (m zila/ra rman) is men t ioned in a l is t of secondary cr imesTh is refe rence also makes clear the fac t tha t such
p rac t ices are old for they mus t have been wel l es tab l ished when
the M ana v a - D h a rm a cas t r a took i ts present shape , and go
back,therefo re , in all p robab i l i ty , some hund reds of years before
our era . On the o ther hand , i t mus t be sa id tha t the MSS bearmarks of a la te origin. S m ent ions the Hindoo tr in i ty (é r a/zma
conta ins the Buddh is t ica l word beva r d,uses the gen .
for the loo. and ins ., e tc. ; and all the MSS con ta in form s (trans
fers to the a -declens ion , etc.) due to analogy and not c i ted in anyof the d ic t ionar ies , bes ides exh ib i ting in the subject-matter certa in
the M a hab h i s e k a and the A n u l om a -K a l p a . B does not number thela t ter or the A s u r i - K a l p a , but has after the M a hab h i s e k a wha t i sev iden t ly a corrupt ion for 35 . T he PETERS. L E x . . w i th A .makes the A n u l om a-K a l p a No. 34 . T he numbering of B has been taken to correspond to D r .
B loom fi e ld’ s ed i t ion o f the K au c.
l C f. Weber , O m i n a e t P o r t e n t a ,pp . 350—53.
No t in A o r B ; bu t see B loom fie ld ,K an e. 8 , 24 , note 5.
3 Cf. Weber,I n d . S t u d . ! I I I 445.
A WI TCH CR A FT P R A C TI CE OF TH E A TH A R VA - VE D A . 7
tendencies which are recogniz ed as modern . They are ment ioned
below.
The word dsur z‘
is the fem . of an adj. from asura spir i t,demon ,
and therefore means primar i ly ,“ belong ing to
,or hav ing to do
wi th,spi r i ts or demons . ” Under the form dsu r z
‘
,the PE T E R S .
L E ! . gives the meaning , s c h w a r z e r S e n f, S i n a p i s r a m o s a
R oxb.
l From the ev idence of the MSS, dsur z‘
mus t b e a plant
wi th a pungent leaf, and mus t bear fru i t (p/za la) and flowers ;moreover , a rel ig ious medi ta tion (dfiy dna) of S , which can hardly
refer to any th ing else , speaks of the“ brigh t fou r-s ided granter of
wishes ” then of the same as “ redd ish ,” b lue-colored
,
” havinga sword in the hand ,
” “ having a hook in the hand,
” hav ing a ‘red
s tone ’ i n the hand ,” etc. A ll these express ions are based upon
characteris t i cs of the plant , as wil l appear below . In describ ing
the ob la t ion the p a r icis ta says The wise m an shou ld makem eal of r ajik a
’
(rdjz'
kdmpz'
szfay ea’bad/lab) , while S in the same
passage speaks of as u r i as made i nto meal . The word rdjz'
led , in
fact , occurs in S only in p a r t th i r d ,never in connect ion wi th
dsur z’
,and always where the latter m igh t be expected . T he same
is true of the word rdjasarsapa ,for example,
vz’
a’lza
’
nep zzrvcwa i karmapm tz'
mdmrdjasarsapdib,p z e a Z/ai kdmyen nydsam,
c/zea’ay etp z e avad ap z'
.
‘In [his] preparat ion , as before , [one should cause] an image
for the ri te [to be made] with b lack mus tard seeds . A s i n the
former case , he should cause the [l imb]-placing ceremony to beperformed ; he should cause [the image] to be chopped a lso as
before . ’ The word reijz'
kci , which was left untrans lated above , is
the common name for the B lack Mus tard of India . Th is plant hasbrigh t yel low flowers , and bears smal l dark seeds contained in a
pod which is t i pped by a long , s tra ight , flat tened , and seedless
beak .
2 In all members of the Mus tard Family,the pungency
pervades the ent i re plant . 3 There can be no doub t that th is wasthe plant actual ly used
,and i t is pla in that the ignorant and
supers t i t ious devotee saw a goddess i n the plant i tsel f,‘and found ,
1 Wm . R oxburg, F l o r a I n d i c a , Semapore, 1 832 .
Q H ooker , F l o r a o f B r i t i s h I n d i a , I 1 57. The B lack Mus tard of
E urope , wh ich i s close ly re la ted,i s described as hav ing smooth erect pods
wh ich are som ewhat four-s ided and t i pped w i th a sword- shaped s ty le. Theycon ta in sma l l dark brown or near ly b lack seeds . T he B lack Mu s tard of the
U . S . i s s im i lar.3Gray , I n t r o d u c t i o n t o S t r u c t u r a l a n d S y s t em a t i c B o t a n y ,
a n d V e ge t a b l e P h y s i o l ogy . 1 873, p . 389 f.4 C f. the frequen t s im i lar personifica tions of the A V .
TH E AS U R i -K A L P A .
perhaps , i n the etiect of the seeds upon h is pala te an evidence of
her supernatu ra l power .
‘ T he red - stone (r ad/l ira) ment ioned
above ,and defined by the d ict ionar ies as a cer ta in red s tone , not
a ruby ,here pla inly means the seeds i n the pod of the as u r i
plan t , while the pod i tsel f is probab ly the sword ,”
and poss ib ly
also the hook .
T he chief object to be attained was the subdu ing of another to .
one’s wil l
, or the des t ruc t ion of an enemy . The use of the hymns
of the A V . for the la t ter pu rpose is sanctioned by the L a w s o f
M a n u (! I 33) With the thought one shoul d u t ter (perform)the hymns of the A tharva -Veda
,
’
[let h im be] withou t hes i tat ion ;the word ’ is the Brahman ’
s weapon, you know ,wi th i t the twice
born should smite [his] enemies ,’
pru /ir aflza rvdfig z’
r asifi kury dd z'
ty tw ining/an,
vdk pas/r an“
: m i brd/zma zzasy a tend lung/ (id a rm a’vz
’
jalz. 33 .
The o ther p rac t ice,as has been s tated , is pronounced crim inal by
the same authori ty . The ri te i tsel f is briefly as fo l lows : aftercerta in i nt roduc tory ceremon ies , the person grinds up mustardinto meal , wi th which he makes an image represent ing the person
whom he des i res to overcome or des troy . Hav ing mu ttered cer
ta i n spel ls to give efficiency to the r i te , he chops up the image ,
ano in t s i t wi th ghee (mel ted bu tter) , cu rds , or some s im i lar sub
s tance , and fina l ly burns i t in a sacred -fire-
pot.”
The idea tha tan image thus des troyed accompl ishes the des truction of the
person represented,or at least does h im ser ious harm ,
s t i l l survives
in Ind ia ,and i t can be dupl icated in almos t any count ry in which
w i tchcraft has been p rac t i ced . The Sam a v i d h an a - B r ahm a n a
con ta ins a s im i lar prac t i ce ,in which an image of dough is roas ted
so as to cause the mo is tu re to exude , and i t is then cu t to piecesand ea ten by the sorcerer . A n image of wax has been largely
used in var ious countr ies , the l i fe of the enemy represented havingbeen supposed to was te away as the wax g radual ly m el ted overa s low fire . Th is p rocess was known to the G reeks , to theRomans , to the Germans , and even to the Chaldeans . 2 A var i
Th is may a l so accoun t for the nam e , s ince at the t im e when t hese prac t icesoriginated the H indoos were both very supers t i t ious and ex trem ely un scien t ificin all ma t ters perta in ing to na tura l phenom ena , and they wou ld ,
therefore ,
qu i te natura l ly ass ign the pungency of the plan t to som e sp iri t or demon .
C f. T heocr . Idyl l I I 28 , H or . E pod . ! V I I 76 ; Grimm , D e u t s ch e M y t h o logie ,
1 0 47 ff ; L enormant. C h a l d e a n M a g i c, p . 5, foot -no te I,and p . 63 ;
Burne l l , Sam a v id han a -B rah m a n a , V ol. I , In trod . p . xxv , and see p . 26 ,
foot -no te 1, end .
A WI TCH CR A FT P R A C TI CE OF TH E A TH A R VA - VE D A . 9
at ion of the same performance is to fi l l the image wi th p ins , attacha hated name to i t , and set i t away to mel t Or dry up according tothe materia l used . Th is is sa i d to be s t i l l p rac t i ced in some parts
of A mer i ca,E ngland and the Continent . 1 I t i s repor ted that a
pract i ce of th is kind , i . e . the making of an effigy to be u sed forh is des truct ion by means of sorcery , was tr ied on Henry V I of
E ngland ; and early in the present century a s im i lar tri ck wasused aga ins t the N i z am of the Deccan .
2 A mong the Indians of
our own country,the Oj ibway sorcerers were supposed to be ab le
to transfer a disease from one person to another by a somewhats imi lar process . They were accus tomed to make , for the pat ientwho paid them
,a smal l wooden image representing his enemy ;
then , p iercing the heart of th is image , they put i n smal l powders ,and pretended by th is means , with the hel p of certa in i ncan tat ions ,to accompl ish the des i red end.
3 The fact that an image has been
so universal ly used in wi tchcraft p ractices is no more remarkab le
than the fact that all nat ions have made use of images to repre
sent their gods in rel ig ious worship , and the two th ings may both
be referred to some law of the human m ind by wh ich s im i larcond itions produce s im i lar resul ts . There is no d iscoverab le con
nection between the Oj ibway ’s wooden image and the H indoo ’seffigy of dough o ther than the mere fact that each is the outcomeof a des ire to inj ure
,and nature teaches them both to th ink of
what is pract i ca l ly the same expedient.The m inor pract ices of the A s u r i-K a l p a ,
which are des ignedei ther to work harm to an enemy or good to the p racti t ioner, wil lbe found in their turn below . They seem to i nd icate a des i re on
the part of the au thor“
to furnish a shor t cut to power and to someof the more important b less ings which were supposed to be ga inedby the sacr ifices prescr ibed by the B r ah m a n a s indeed , th epract ices of the A s u r i-K a l p a
,as a whole ,
seem to show a d ispos i t iou to supplant certa in rel igious forms by s impler magical r i tes ,while endeavoring at the same t ime to obta i n powers for harmwhich rel igious practi ces e i ther left in the hands of the educa ted
B rahmans or did not bes tow at all. I t mus t be added , however ,that th e bel ief in the efficacy of repet i t ion , so consp icuous in the
modern prayer-mills of Th ibet , is here pla inly to be seen . Inthe A s u r i-K a l p a
,as i n all other Ind ian wi tchcraft p ract ices ,
there is , of course , an underly ing s tratum of skepti cism ; bu t the
l Conway, D em o n o l ogy a n d D e v i l -L o r e , V ol . I , p . 2 72 .
2 L yall , A s ia t i c S t u d i es , p . 88.
3 D orman,O r ig i n o f P r i m i t i v e S u p e r s t i t i o n s , p . 361 .
TH E A’
S U R I-K A L P A .
great powe r of the pries ts is taci t ly recogniz ed by the care
enjo ined upon o ne who under takes to subdue a B rahman. The
prac t i ces for ob ta ining b less ings are confined to the latte r part of
the p a r igis t a ,
‘and ,
from the i r gene ra l character , seem l ike an
ex tens ion o f the orig inal p ract ices , perhaps for the pu rpose of
giv ing add i t ional cur rency or respectab i l i ty to the whole ; they
may poss ibly be regarded as a fur the r ind icat ion that the A s u r i
K a l p a ,however ancient its ma in practices may be , is , in i ts present
shape ,compara t i vely modern.
A t the p resent t ime in A mer i ca , the interes t fel t i n wi tchcraft isshown by our su rpr is ingly la rge and growing l i teratu re on the
subject? In Ind ia the interes t fe l t is of a d ifferent nature , but i t
is none the less s t rong . T o the Hindoo the subject is a l iv ing one ,
and while the na t ive l i tera ture referring to mag ic and supers t i t ion
has always been great , a t p resen t , especial ly i n the vernaculard ialec t s , i t is enorm ous , and forms the favor i te reading of the
people .
” So great is its hold upon the nat i ves that Lyal l says of
i t I t is probab le that in no other t ime or country has,witch
craft eve r been so comfor tab ly p racticed as i t is now i n India underBr i t ish rule ”
aga in ,
“in Ind ia everyone be l ieves i n wi tchcraft as
a fac t and jus t be low ,
“In every vi l lage of Central Ind ia they
keep a hered i tary se rvant whose profess ion i t is to ward off
im pend ing ha i ls torms by incan tations , by consu l t ing the mot ion of
water in cer ta in po t s , and by dancing about w i th a sword.
”
Bes ide this may be placed the s tatement of Conway ,6 tha t there
are charm s to p roduce evi l made use of in Ceylon at thepresent t ime. In so far as it throws l igh t on the past h is tory of
such p rac t ices , the work on the A s u r i-K a l p a may not havebeen in va in.
l Both M SS recogn iz e a d iv i s ion of the prac t ices in to groups—A in to two ,
as shown by the figures (I and and B apparent l y in to three ; for i t has a two(2 ) where A has one and what m ay be a one ( I ) in the passage wh ich i ta lone con ta ins . I t lacks the number a t the end . T he d i v i s ions of A havebeen marked in R oman numera l s , s i nce i t has been t hough t bes t to numberthe c l o k a s , a l though the M SS do no t do so . T he pract ices of the secondd iv i s ion are all of the sam e genera l nature .
’ See P o o l e ' s I n d e x . th ird ed i t ion , 1 882 , under the head ings W i t c hc r a f t , D e m o n o l o gy , M a g i c , e tc .
3 Burne l l , Sam a v id h an a -B rah m a n a,I,p . xxv .
A s i a t i c S t u d i e s , 1 882 , p . 96.
5 “ Of course the w i tch i s pun ished when he takes to po i son ing or puresw indl ing (l o c . c i t .)
D em o n o l ogy a n d D e v i l -L o r e ,I 2 74 .
A W'
I TCH CR A FT P R A C TI CE OF TH E A TH A R VA - VE D A . I I
I I.—TE ! T, CR ITICA L NOTE S , A ND E ! TR A CTS FR OM T H E
SC H OLIA S T.
7zezmo rudreiy a‘, o7h é atuke katze/eap ezflre
”szeo/zezgez eiszem
'
f ez/ates r a é lava'
sase“
,at/zeervazzasy ez cite/l ite
"‘g/zore
‘g /zor akarmezkei
r z'
é e", am ze/eem
’
z lam a7 /zem ez o
’
er/7a eta /ea pace: paea m em t/zez8m emtfea
feiveza’da/za teiveez
‘pacer y dvem me oagam einay ahg
sod/l ei .”
gag/y d
vezst/zz’
idy ds“ieimzj
mjaped ydoat ga tim eta/ea.
a’ez/zee smiled sodfia ,
zep aw'
steiy ei o/zezgam“a’ez/zee a
’afia S
’
Ud/Zd svei/zei ,
sup z‘dy d
”mem o o
’er/ea del ker su ited sod/2d sod/2d sod/1d , p r a é udd/zdy ei
fim’ezy an
’
z a’er/ea o
’er/2a sod/l ei sod/l ei $77d sod/l ei sod/lei .
at/zdtee dszem‘
ié alloam up ezez
’e'lesy ei77zo
I 8 ‘tfia r oanah,
neisyeis 77a naksatmmnopeweiso oz'
d/zgya ie. I .
g lertddz'
sar vaa’r avy esv eiszem
'
ga iajdjfiifd ,
1 . A and S omit these three words . S begins greganegeiy a72ameeZL.
—2 . MSS (all three) regu larly pa tron—3. B and S omi t .4 . SoMSS (all three) , fem . from trans i t ion s tem in - ee.—5. So MSS(all th ree) , analog . voc. , as i f from s tem in -d . In all cases wherean a is el ided i t is wr i tten i n the MSS.
—6. B Jear z'
lee , Sbu t in one passage (p. 2 3) —
7. B lam a, A lzem ee 2 .
8 . A omits . 9 . MSS - 7zeey ez . 1 0 . S am u leezsy a m eztz'
m d’
emeleta /2a , zep ewistasy ee szeé /zagezm(cod. 9m ) eta/l ee ez
’a/zez
,sup tezsy a mem o
eta/m pr eebzea'
et/zeesy a Irra’eey em'
z a’ei/zez eta/eel lzem ez leem ez pace;
pacer pacer (cod. fi rm ) m ar/m m eet/l ee {dz/ad a’ez/zez eta/my dvem me
vagam dy eiz‘z’
1 mm [mm plea t roofed , itz'
m zzlezm emtr ah. S alsoca l ls i t a t/za rvazzezmantm lz.— I I . A gz
'
sy ei —1 2 . B - teiy eilt eteZv1 3. B — 1 4 . B
'
magam.— 1 5. B omits , A
svap ldy a .
— 1 6. S p a r t th i r d a’
eoaa’a ltezsy ee O f a cer ta in one
,
’
techn i cal use] m a tzm eta /m eta /lee, zep ew z'
stdyei o/zezgezm demo o’er/7a ,
sup ieiy ei m em o (cod. m ar ei) demo eta/m, p r aoua
’d/zeiy ei lzra’ezy ezm
(cod . r eim ) demo eta/mpacel leemez mezt/ea (cod. 7 62 el f/ea ) idoa a’eta/7a
y dvem me (cod . w et/ate) oagam einay o (cod. y a ) 1 mmpleat sod/lei .1 7. B eiszer z
'
m.—1 8 . B d ecent ai/zezrvazwle, S d i/elzeisy eim a lz .
1 9. B 72a tosy a‘
s tz'
tfiz'
nz'
ir eztr am. S p a r t th i r d
gr imeiheia’e zeveieez ,
f roze vatseema lzeim em tram zeitezmezm,
77a ea tit/7a 72a [ea] naksaimmnee mdsduny d z’
va ( l) (m eisemyever vdsar e,
77a st/zez‘
nezm nee/eta Zze kdp z’
no w ater (I) (veto .9) ea aid/zi
y aie. 1 .
- 20 . A —2 1 T he m a n t r a misy eis, etc .
TH E A'
Sw e
1'
R A L P A .
pal/f lietva z'ay aoap'edsy djig /101i
“edme/bdy z
’
ni ,
Izan/zel 'dmo Izz'
pa ir /m; ea t ragz‘
ka r /umsea b/ nzpatm. 2 .
dsur ig/aA-sp apz
’
sfdjymiz‘ju/myda
’rib /
rime bud/1 0 27,a rkd id/mseign z
’ric"pr ajvdlya lee
“leim . 3 .
p ridcigm to‘stasa lza sr amjze/zzey eidy asy a were)
”aseize
,
g/rr fdktay ei str z vaem z’ a
pdleie‘eignd ze dv z
'
jottam ah". 4 .
guejeiktayei lasa tr zjfa'
s” lze vei z
'
ey eis tze
czidrds tze lavanam z'
era’
i”r eijz
'
ledmp istayea’bud/ml». 5 .
a“
sap la /zd l"sa r va eta eiszer z
’
bomato oacdh,katu ld
'i/ena lm’
smizdlcy amku loeelzea’an
’
z leezrotz'
6.
euneim tze lomab/zz'
h” sdrdlzam ap asmdm'
tr z’
b/zz'
r 077211 271 ,
1 . A y a lr ei B p d ff d '
.— 2 . A je
’
keiz'
sei ,—3. A vé ur vm
'
ze'eez . S a t/za r eijei , oaez
‘
kafl zekdmah ; but elsewhe re reijavae‘ika r fzekeim ah. Cf. p a r t th i r d ,
r dmdvaez’
kar anakd
m a lt and eatr zeg/zdtanakdm aZL — 4 . B dsur z'
m. S dszeryd szep z'
stay d
(cod . p r atz’
ler tz'
m kr tod r /easam z'
dolzz'
r agm'
m (cod .
agni ) p r ayed/y a daksmap ada'
r ao/ey a [or (cod .
-peid!i caslrezza ez’
ltvei (cod . always g lzrta‘
kteimjze/zzey dt1 0 8 astotta r aga ta lzomena r7a (cod . vape
’
[Sc. r eijd b/zeweztzZ]-
5. A a rked/1a 71ei -
, B a rke —6. A m e.—7. A vaty aseize.
— 8 . S
dszer ifl ep z'
stap r a /er tzim krtvei odmapda
’
eud/er amy a pad r e/730 ez
’
ttvei
glzr /eiktmh ju /zuydt 1 0 8 saptei/ze sz’
a’
dlzz’
h (cod . 9. Sagm
'
fi'
z (cod . 4 071 771 agm'
; s im i lar ly below) p rojva
’
Q/eisu r z’m (cod .
-r z'
; so regu larly) g/zq'tdkleimmad/ea ( l
'
) (maa’bze
sa /zz'
tdn'
z ju/zzey eit 1 0 8 Izom enez oatya /zew‘
r a ( 4 0 am vaeam
einay atzZ— Io . S agm
'
mpmjveilya'
szem‘
mmad/m
sa/ n'
ldm (cod . m ad/nu ) 1 0 8 [zom ena sapld/ze y a ( I) (veto?) o/zewa tz'
.
— 1 1 . B m ad/zum z'
er ay d . S dad/zyaktdm(Cod. 1 2 . B m z
'
e'r iteim. [Se . p r a iz
'
kdy eiz'
k Sudumba rasam z
’
do/zir lava zzam z’
erdfi'
z kz'tvei ( 4 1 752)ju /my dl 1 0 8 . Fo r an enemy , S mun
-
m leatze/ea lei z’
leiktdm,Zimba
kdste p r ajveily a Izomayo (y et) 1 0 8lzom enez sa lpdlzeiim a ( l) (rap id/1 0 7mm [or d ire] m r zjyezte r z
'
pzelt .
— 1 3. B samo‘
lzaL— 1 4 . S wetaklza r a r omd (l) asur z’
( l) eleikrtya
(mommiszer im e/ei or - romdszer im y asy a nemnmeim( l )(mimnd ? ) ju /zzey e
’
i a’
akasmdd apasmeim'
ze - r e g zzdy ate ( l)(gulzj a /e —1 5. B (not in A or S) ezmdm ize lom ab/zz
'
a ir a
pee/r a fizr /zfy a ( l) (pa t/r amlz'
py a? ) r /z
'
ngezm ( l) ( lfi igaw'
l 71d r eijasunset/50721 m md/z
'
py a'
lze (y a in blzzipay et ( l) (d/zzZ
ga‘
urer eg r am - r eig r a7h [a lo dady ein m r zyaz'e sdoee (sarvah
50 71790970 11 ,ablza /esao/za /csocedrogy amsam a rog apr ay ojanam .
sem’
tjfia'
ld (Jeile pmqlapeitei ze japdt pope b/zewem tz'
bi ,ekeidagza
'
mg'
aplaoy am —ee/zea’ale lesa o/zewet. 1 .
TH E AS UR I-K A L P A .
ae/zz'
dr apa llreiw/ asi/a u l aZz'sa rsapeis la t/l ei ,
claw /V 776 ! e/ei z’
9 1 3 . I .
kusumeim’
mauabollti pr z’
y a fzgu laga r eim ea,
g ajendr am adasmigrukla lie"M771 ka r t/anew to akz
'
mka r am". 1 4 .
yd; ea’s/r z
'
y o‘6b7gaelza 7zlz
'
1d vaceilep rida lepz'
na lt”
,
sap zespeim’tomsameideiy
reifijanamndgakeea r am”
. 1 5 .
anendk/eib/zyam“a /csio/zy ein
'
l y am"pag e! 30 ea kz
'
mkar ah ,
afijanmit faga r amRust/raw" devijam least/mm eva ea . 1 6.
ma'
itsi ea sa r vaolzzi leina'
n'
z seizeb/zdgy asy a ize kdr anam“
,
la tsam z’
a’lzein
'
l laksa /zoman nz'
d/zeinam p aey a le ma /za l ” . 1 7.
ordd/zapzetr i”sa /zasratah ,
r o‘
jyfam {a loo/l ate wag/am[a lpa ltr a lr isa lzasralah‘8
. 1 8 .
. B uezr am— 2 . B pu t s cl o k a s 1 3—1 8 d i rec t l y after the pas
sage which i t a lone con ta ins .
—3. A y uvatp/za/a g/za le eo z S has
ins tead ,
asu r zjbuspapa llrdzzip zespemz'
ea p lea /ant ea ,
neigendr ap /za /asamy zektan'
z sfi /asmaear zzamhe kar ay el 1 0 8 ,
ab/zz'
manfr z'
tena y ana (y asy a ) sp rga lz'
sa vaeo o/zavatz'
(met) . 15 .
—4 . B m r zjyafiy ae la S has ,
m anahgz’
lei p r ey/afig zee ea z’aga r amneigakeea r am ,
dszer zp/za lasamy uklamszzksmaezirnamtze kar ay et 1 0 8
aobz'
mautr z'
fenay a (yasya) sprie'
(sp r9a ti) sa 71 0 90 6iza71 atz’
(-vel) . 1 6.
—5. B gajefia
’rasa sa77
’
z — 6 . A a lera’va r am.
—7. A y asyai
—S. AJep em ah
,B -
9 . B pumspana77'
asa —1 0 . MSSJeesar am — 1 1 B —1 2 . B y am y am pag e! sa
lezrh/ear ah. S ao/zzmantr zlena ea/eszesv a fij ay ztoa y amm r zksay a z‘z
sa 71 a9o 6Izavalz .
— 1 3. B om i ts , A E zesta .
—1 4 . S has i ns tead ,
asu ry angapafiea /eena {m em am a’
fzzip ay el ,
y asy eigagafidlzam (l) (y o‘sya g
rand/ M771 ?) tzlg/eratz'
(jz'
sa flag/o
blzavatz’
. 1 8 .
I t also reve rses the order of the two fol lowing s tatements—1 5.
S has ,lzu iveisu r fmjze/ neydt,
ma lzam'
a’lzanam la t /za le daeasa /zasranz
'
,
pa idy ur vei z'
p zer zesei- salz) . 2 0 .
—1 6. Omit on account of metre ? S aszerm'
e m ad/zug/ nta /efamlzzelvei . Jab/latepa lr am . 1 9 .
— 1 7. A vrdvapanmm.
— 1 8 . B tatpalr a lr zd/zanam -tr zsa lzasr atah, repeat ing from p l o k a 1 7 las tp ad a to 1 8 end inclus ive . I t then has ran t/mm aeetasali(cl o k a 7 end of fi rs t p ad a to g l o k a 1 2 end i nclus i ve) , afterwhich i t cont inues wi th ol o k a 1 9 (szevarna ) S has ,ra
‘
jya‘
r i/zamm ad/zug /zr leiklamju/zzey eia’eiszer zla/asm im ,
sa r eijy am lab/l a te. 2 1 .
A WI TCH CR A FT P R A C TI CE OF TH E A TH A R VA - V E D A . I S
szeva raasa/zasr ap rap fz'
s‘latfia /lrdndn
’
z z‘re la/csa fa le,
sa /zasr ajapeie“ea z‘aa
’oaa
’zea
’a fee ksZr a é lza/csz
'
reale. 1 9 .
veir z'
p zZrae‘llza liza lage
8
pa ldezpa llavan lasip et“
,
sneineia’a laksmy ei
bmug/eta seize'oarnafea laoe
“ ‘p i z
‘ze’
. 2 0 .
oz’
7zdy ake6fzy/ab suana lo deizero/zeigyae eeiz'
va a’zerolzageifi ,
first/l ame eeimea’
lzeivantz’
safizsp rstei“zea
’a/eena fee. 2 1 .
zeez‘
r amtaga r em’
z East/7am m a ria“ia tp a z
’lr asa rsap dle,tzZrnam iova ro
‘p z
'
vaeo bizavez‘. 2 2 .
la lasz‘
Mamao’d a
’evz
“
ezZr77a sp7'
stas”tat/7a vaoi ,
rdjao/zay e“szer eeoar z meirjaneia
’ ”a’lzl amit fat/7a. 23 .
7zal esy/eia
’
asy eia’b/zzelam em 77a Essa a
’r ojfiaa
’r a zf/as
1 8 ta t/7a,
neineiz’
evary am 7ze'
ip r aja lz/a77'
72 0
y asy/a a’eoy eiszer zgMe. 24 .
y asy/a a’eoy/eisar zgr/ze
". II.
7737 eiszer Z/é a éoale sameiptab
1 . A soarnasa /zasrasy/ap fz'
s lee tatpuspanam. S szevarreeiz’
leam
asa r zp/za lemz'
daeasa/zasr am lzzetoa szeva r 77asa /l asr a77’
7 lab/7am2 . B sa/zaja S pay oofiaksy eiszery zea
’a /é ep raksmdn
’
z ( l) (a’aksi
dz'
tyeim zelebo (l) (pr a zj/ei oizzifvei a’agasa/zasr am japez
‘.
—3. A
- la9e [Mega—4 . B —0 ei77
°
7 ksapel . S asa r z‘
pa llavdir astaea'
lofi
m a7’
7tr zz‘am ( l) sa77
’
7p 727’
77a7h Em a
a tma snap ay eia m a ( 1)a’
lzzZfiay et 5. B Jrsm i . S a laksm zm memey/a fz'
( l)windy/e leopasva rga (leopasargam mufieatzZ—6. A -p /za la9e.
—7.
B 71a .
—8 . A -
gei7z . S a’zerbizagei suoleagei Mama—9. MSS
samsp rsta .
—1 0 . A krstam,B Ea stam.—1 1 . B m asfeireim ata z
‘pa ira n
- 1 2 . B — 1 3. B —1 4 . A -6/zay a .
- 1 5. B m a rj7
'
a7zeiz‘, var aneis ta ffiei . S has i ns tead , ey a r fzeiaa ( l) (ea /zer l/zam
jva rda’z'
b/zzztem astaea leim’
jape/a m eirjayena -7ze7za p r aksma- iz2a77
'
7 m zeey/a tz'
- te - 1 6. B 72a ea tasy aa’
b/zze —1 7. A -cl'
na .
— 1 8 . S has ins tead , asur zp z’
stam ga lavara'
im ( l) pa r i
jaspy a -apy/a) girasi a’lzapay efagr izzto mucare
'
- ey/ale dustagrfii{andm eiszer zm lzomay et 1 0 8 ta io muey atz
'
(Je) kszp r am r—m. B
- 7zieva— 2o . B -p ramata77
'
7. S has instead,a l/za mantr amp r a
kagay/atz'
loieeinam az'
takeimy aya,asa r zmantr alz sa77
’
7p77r 72am -
77o)astu —2 1 . MSSgr/ze 71 71—2 2 . A Jab. 35 .
TH E AS U R i -K A L P A .
I I I .—T R A N S LA TION A N D COMM E NT A R ! .
om, obeisance t o R udra : pungen t one , thou of the pungentleaf, bles sed as u r t
,reddi s h one ,
t hou of the reddi sh garm ent , Odaughter of a t h a r v a n ,
non - terrific one , non - terrific wonderworker (deed-per former),
‘so-and-so
’ sm i te , sm i te , burn , burn ,
cook , cook , crus h , cru s h , so long burn ,so long cook , unt i l t hou
ha s t brough t [him] into my power Sv aha .
‘
This is the so-cal led fundamental formula (m zilamanlra ) . Pre
ced ing it S gives , somewhat at leng th ,a p repa ra t ion r i te (pa r ap
earanavia’lzi) , in which a t r iangular fire -
p ot is p resc r ibed for use
i n reverenc ing the goddess . P a r t th i r d gives a d iagram of i twh ich here dupl ica ted . I t appears tha t the a l ta r -mouth was so
placed that one angle po inted to the sou th for the d iagram has
1572 for pan /a“ eas t ,
”
u for wh o? north,
”
d’
e p robabl y for a’aksma“ sou th ,
”
and a figu re one ( 1 ) which m ay eas i ly be a cor rupt ion for
p r , p r a lZeZ wes t .”
Cf. p a r t .fir s t) p zer zesa /zastapr ameizi e (cod .
-
77a77°
7) tr z’
konakunde’
sa ttvei (cod . sated) daksma"Good -oflering, good ob lat ion .
as we use A men .
U sed at the end of invocat ions very much
9 T he equ i la tera l triangle has been a favori te figure in myst ic i sm as we l l asin magic . See descript ion of the pen tac le in D i c t i o n n a i r e I n f e r n a l ,S ix iem e Ed i t ion ,
1 863, p . 51 8. C f. al so Corne l iu s A grippa , V ol . 1 , p . 1 96 Hi ,
D e u n d e n a r io 84 d u o d e n a r io c u m d u p l i c i d u o d e n a r i i C a b a l i s
t i c a O r p h ic a ; a l so I 2 26 IT ,D e G e om e t r ic i s f igu r i s a t q u e C o r
p o r i b u s q u a v i r t u t e i n m a g i a p o l l e a n t , & q u a e q u ib u s e l em e n t i s
c o n v e n ia n t , a t q u e c o e l i o .
A WI TCH CR A FT P R A C TI CE OF TH E A TH A R VA - VE D A . I7
é a rnz’
ke a’evzm(cod.
-m’
)p zzjay et.‘ Hav ing recl ined (sat down) ,
one should worshi p the goddess i n a th ree - cornered fire -
pot of thes iz e of a man ’s hand , wi th an al tar -mou th having [its] po int (ear)to the sou th .
’
The preparat ion- r i te i ncludes an ob la t ion of gheeand sugar gar lands of the red ,
sweet - sme l l ingO leander an o rnament (mark) of redsandal -wood the par taking of a brahmacarya-ob lat ion cod . and
a ly ing on the ground S , p a r t secon d , adds ,a’aksz
'
naofiz'
m zeleieo nz'
iy/am facing the south constant ly,
’leam é a/d
sanam‘s i tt ing on a woolen b lanket
,
”r a/etavasir ap a r z
'
a’banam
(cod tr ampa r e? ) putti ng on a red garment ,’
and r aktagana’lzd
melepanam‘ano in t ing with red sanda l -wood powder." S
, p a r t
th ir d , says also , saroatr a p ranayameia’z'
sze‘i n all cases i n the
ho ld ing of the breath in worsh ip , etc.
’
The address to th e A s u r i-goddess , beginning the fundamental
formula , occurs in S severa l t imes , mos tly in p a r t th i r d ,wi th
s l igh t var iat ions i n form . In one ins tance i t has as one of i tsi ntroductory phrases , netr atr ay a
‘
y a 77am a li obeisance to Threeeyes ,
’
and then cont inues , o77'
7 katzelee, etc. Under the ti tle
jap amantr afi“ whisper -spel l ,
” i t appears in the form,o77
°
7 1371712
1777 777 97 7771 ksaam1357771771 gr im br im kamo77°
7, katup aflre suolzaga
lP a r t secon d says of i t tr ikona é araweyonisa lzz‘
tam .é arawe/zastamatra 'fh tze
RandomEaryam ,om
'
sa/eita hardly ayafa (a t/za/o ora/zmazw
a’
aé se’
namuk/zaverzhe (m ai tim'
fioma (m zayet é a raoukundaau agna-de
lo agm'
m a’aé sina é aravan
'
i param -rez sz‘
o’ke
‘ ‘A fire-
pot mus t bem ade hav ing a triangu lar al tar-mou th of the s i z e of a hand moreover ;thereupon one shou ld Offer an ob lat ion in the fi re -
pot w i th an a l tarm ou th hav ing a Si tua t ion towards the sou th su i tab le for worshi p [hav ingk ind led] a fi re moreover w i th a to the sou th . T he grea tes t magic (succes s)
T he word karame occurs nowhere e l se and i s not at presen t translatable .
9 Cf. p a r t secon d o/zojanamfiam’
spein’
am eé aszekla ’rh (l) ( 61270510 717. o/zzZm i
gayem ambrafimaearyam a l so p a r t th i r d jz'
tena’r zyalg, (cod.yd) ps ayea
’dr zer z
'mdenim (cod .
-r i
3For explana t ion see D u r ga P u j a (a’urgeipzzjefl by P r a tap a ch a n d r a
G h o s h a (p ratdpaebana’ra g/zosa) , note 1 9 , p . xx ix .
4 I t heads the preparat ion -r i te wi th the words affza padgdtz’
mantm and
ends i t by say ing z'
le'
damkat/zz‘tam (4 777) mantram T he firs t seem s tomean , T he go ing to the feet [of R udra] tex t
’
(pad T he second i s apuz z le ; bu t i t probab ly con ta ins some s im i lar idea referring to the prop i t iat ionof the god .
TH E A S U R I -! A L P A .
asu r z‘
raktaveisase ‘t/za r vazzasy a du lzz
’
te‘g/zor e
‘g/zor e sod/7a
, 0777
1mmbr im97 7777 7340 71771 ksdun’
z gr imbr imFol lowing the m u l a m a n t r a , S g i ves a
‘l imb - placing ceremony cons is t ing of obe isance pa id to the fingersi n pah s , zuul to the hvo pahn s and backs of the hands .
'
I he
object of such a ceremony is sai d to be the menta l ass ignment ofvarious parts of the body to certa in d iv ini t ies
,wi th accompanying
gestu res and prayers .
2In the p resen t case , the end in v iew seem s
to have been the p ropi t iat ion of Rudra .
s Nex t in order comes amed i tat ion in which the protection of Du rga is invoked ,and ment ion is made of some of her character ist i cs
,among them
the possess ion of bod ily form s (durgei navakotz’
m fi r li
In the ca se of a woman l y ing on a couch , as long as she s leep s ,one s hould mu t ter : ‘Of her arisen the going burn , burn s v ah a
,
s v ah a ; of her sea ted the b h aga (p u de n da) burn , burn : s v ah a,
s v ah a ; of her a s leep the m ind burn,burn s v ah a, s v ah a
,
s v ah a,s v ah a ; of her awake the heart burn , burn : s v ah a,
s v ana,s v ana, s v ana,
s v ah a.
4
1 . So then we w i l l teach the A s u r i-K a l p a of the A tharva-V eda
(a t h a r v a n) . For her not a‘lunar-day,
’
nor a‘lunar -m an s ion ,
’
nor the kindl ing of a holy fire i s decreed fi
2 . Over all m a teria l con s i s t ing of ghee, etc . , the a s u r i 6 i scau sed to be mut tered ” one hundred t im es , A nd [let t h ere be] a
1 For other l i s t s of part ic les somewha t s im i lar in nature , cf. D u rga P uja ,pp . 36 end f. and 61 end. I t has been though t bes t to keep the a n u s v ar athroughou t ; the MS u ses the a n u n as ika sign , poss ib ly to indi cate a p ro
longa tion of the vowel s by nasa l i z at ion.
Q See D u rga P a ja , p . 30 tf. , and note 2 1 , p . xxx i f.3 C f. p a r t th ir d , tatra kardfig ulz
’
nydsah, 00 0 771 rudayeidi (rudrdyda'
du) nydsa
f oammantram(0 71) (seima nyeisam(0 77) Horror/yam(0 71) sadbakottamdiThen the finger-plac ing ceremony ; thu s to R udra in the
beginn ing the n y as a ,thus the m a n t r a , the Sam a n ; the n y as a i s to be per
form ed w i th the h ighest m agica l4 S , p a r t fi r st , does not con ta in th i s formu la.
“ T he h ighes t as u r i -ord inance .
’ C f. p . 1 1 , foot-note 1 9 , where a ful ler bu tnot a l toge ther clear form of the m a n t r a i s gi ven .
5 P robab ly the m a n t r a ju s t given ,poss ib ly the m u l a-m a n t r a .
7 Cf. L aw s o f M a n u ,I I 85, where the s tatem en t i s made tha t mu t tering
[the syl lab le 0771,the words olzzir , okra / 07.1 , and w ar
, and the S av i t r i t e (R V .
I I I 62 ,i s ten t im es be t ter than a regu lar sacrifice ; i f they are mut tered so
low tha t they cannot be unders tood , they ava i l one hundred t im es more thana regular sacrifice ; and ,
i f they are rec i ted m en ta l ly , one thousand t imes more .
Th i s i s pos s ib ly the s tart ing po in t of the not ion tha t mu t tered words and par
A WI TCH CR A FT P R A C TI CE OF TH E A TH A R VA - VE D A . 1 9
port ion of t h i s‘con s i s t ing of leaves , etc. [L et t herebe] one , surel y , who des i res to sm i te [h i s] enem ies and to rendersubm i s s ive kings .
Owing to the uncerta inty of the tex t,
2 i t has been thought bes t
to omit the trans lat ion of one p ad a ,though a provis iona l reading
has been adopted . S has no th ing cor responding to i t , bu t readsat/za eiszer z
'
maafr an’
z (97yeiszer z‘
ma 7ztr a7h) ma a t/za rvdzza 723771
(m eitlza rodaa rsz’
r ) asu r z’
a’eva ia (eiszer Z 72772772 ozjam -m) asur zl
pa/etz'
(ch ar t ) nastz’
lzae/zafza’ab -7za
’o) mama eatr ze/esay am (y o)
ma'
razie mo/eane oasi/ear ane (va92 stamolzane (stan d/h ) 27mi
yogaZe, Then me possess ing the d ivine as u r i-m a n t r a [let] the
seer of the A tharva - ri tual , [let] the as u r i-d iv ini ty [hel p
ticles pos ses s a pecu l iar and m ys ter iou s power wh ich even the gods cannotescape , and by wh ich the person unders tand ing how to use them can con tro ldiv ine as we l l as hum an agenc ies and accom pl i sh wha t he w i l l s . A t the
pre sen t t ime in India , the Brahm an s con s ider i t a sacri lege to u t ter the wordo7h (pronounced a
'
um as represen t ing the tr in i ty) a loud , and they al so s t i l lattach wonderful powers to i t . C f. the ammanipaa
'
me 777277: of the Buddhi s t s .S regu lar ly gives the number of ob la t ion s as one hundred and e ight , and a
m a n t r a i s as regu larly sa id to be pronounced w i th the ob lat ion . One hun
dred image s are m en t ioned by S ,p a r t Secon d—sarsapata
'
ilah mah (cod.para)
pra timeiga tah 1 08—but the number 1 0 8 fol lows imm ediate ly , as e lsewhere.
1 T he as u 1 i -plan t .9 T he read ing of A i s impos s ib le as i t s tands , and that of B present s diffi
cu lties wh ich can hard ly be over looked. T he word jigdz'
sa cou ld scarce ly beany th ing but a secondary adj ect ive der ivat i ve from jz
’
gisa , m ean ing “ he who
des ire s to conquer ” (here wh i le gamta or eigamta m igh t be a 3d , s ing.,
root -aor . ,imv . or the s tem of the inf. u sed in a compound. I t i s d ifficu l t to
see why a wom an should be s peci fied as the one des iring to conquer , and eveni f i t were p la in the res t wou ld rema in unsat i s factory . T he root -aor . of the
Vgam i s confined to the V edas,Brahmanas , and Si
'
i tras (Wh i tney , R o o t s ,V e r b -Fo rm s , etc .) and m ay jus t l y be suspected here , though the MSS seemto use som e V edic words , for example , boma (probab ly for lzoma flh), the (p .
98, foot -no te) , and ind/la (A , ol o k a T he infin i t i ve s tem a l so , as part of acompound , does not here m ake sa t i sfactory sen se , though the form i s unobjectionable . T he th ree l ines taken toge ther ev iden t ly serve as a sort of in troduct ion to the pract ice , and tak ing the read ing given in the tex t (as em ended
from the be t ter M S), the whole m ay perhap s be rendered free ly :
‘T he as u r i—[m a n t r a] i s cau sed to be mu t tered one hundred t imesover all sort s of materia l s , such as ghee , etc. ; [There i s to be] bo th a por
t ion of the [as u r i] con s i s t ing of leaves , etc and [there IS to be] a des ireto conquer w i thou t [ord inary m eans (by magic For [there i s] one
who both wishes to sm i te [h i s] enem ie s and to render subm is s ive k ings .’
Wh i le th i s i s not al together sat i sfactory from a Sanskri t s tandpoint , i t i sthe bes t tha t can be done at presen t .
TH E A S U R I -K A LP A .
b r i m . [There is] the core of the m a n t r a (seed) possess ing themigh t of as u r i , the des i re to des troy , the destruction of my
enemy ; in the s lay ing ,in the s tupefy ing , in the making subm is
s i ve ,i n the fix ing l ike a post [th is is] the p ract ice .
’
Fo l lowing th is s tatement S has a con tem plat ioni n wh ich the person should med itate on the br igh t fou rs ided granter of wishes (ca fe/11777 ea ta rb/zaja
'
m9va raa
’am) , hav ing
a hook in the hand adorned wi th all ornamentsseated in the p a d m as a n a -pos i t ion ’
on
a serpent and having a graciouscountenance The MS then has
,777vagzka
r a7te,‘Thus [readeth i t] i n the making submiss i ve .
’
Secondly ,
i n the fix ing l ike a pos t (stamo/zane) the person is to med i tate on
the redd ish , four-s ided , fear less wish -granter (kap z'
ldmea fzerofizejam
aokay avar aa’dm) , with sword in hand having
as an ornament a hal f-moon
cod . etc. A nd th i rdly,in the s lay i ng
or magical i ncantat ion for that pu rpose (mararee) , he should med itate on the b lue -colored , four -s i ded , fear less wish -granter (nila
oar 77a77'
7, hav ing a red - s tone in the hand (r zea’lzz
'
ra
seated on a dead-man wear ing a m u n d agarland etc. The med i tat ion conta insseveral vocat ives addressed to the goddess , for example
,lesame
“ gracious one ,”
na'
gay ajfiopavz'
tz'
ni “ thou that has t a snake forsacred cord ,
”
and so on. The correspond ing reflect ion of S ,
p a r t th i r d , wri t ten in gl o k a s , begins‘Th is
-
is the t ime - triadmedi tat ion. [There is the med i tation] perta ini ng to pass ion and
a lso [that] perta in ing to goodness and [that] perta in ing to spi ri tua ldarkness thereupon the h ighes t , accompanied by all sacred r i tes ,d iv ine ,
hard to be atta ined accompl ishment by magic [takes
a tlza kalaz‘r ay ama
’lzy einam .
rajasamsa'
t /é z l ) eeiz'
va tam asamea taz‘a77par am ,
sarva/ea rmasamdy zektamsad/70 7mm 1 .
For a Sim i lar d h y an a , see D u r ga P u j a, p . 34 f.9 Th i s word i s u sed as an ep i the t of V isnu in the sen se of hav ing four
arm s .3 A posture in re l igious med i tat ion . T he person s i t s w i th h i s th igh s crossed ,
one hand re s t ing on'
the le ft th igh , the o ther held w i th the thumb upon h i sheart , wh i le h i s eyes are d i rected to the t i p o f h i s nose .
4 Candreirdizamdu li i s an ep i thet of Civa .
5 A u ep i thet of D urga.
TH E ASU R f-K A L P A .
ore/eleimoa raa’lza r eim o
’
em’
(I) (0 7777) madly/di me tze soa’ei
(weim) ,
pub/zr avastr ap a r id/zeinam - 7zei77'
z) ( l) (oz/etaP) . 5 .
92e671 r aeanda7za lep aa’
y/afi'
z meilatimeikinzanqlz’
teinz -pddy/a77za'
l
g lzeitr z'
p lza/asamaleei ramndsdmdaktz’
lzaooolzz'
tam . 6 .
To t hese express ions m ay be added tr z’
czzlaeandr eiiez'
a’lzar eim (cod .
‘bear ing a trident and a whi te serpen t ,’and evefavrsa
blzasamst/zz'
teim‘s tand ing by a whi te bul l . ’ I t ends wi th the word s
z'
iz'
teim asam‘Thus [reade th] the [med i tat ion] per ta i n ing to spi r i
tual darkness . ’ T he t h i r d d iv is ion is subs tantia l ly as fo l lows : ‘In
the afternoon moreover [he shou ld m ed i ta t e on] the goddess made
beau t i ful w i th a b lack o rnament,Having put on a b lack ga rment ,
decorated wi th an ornament (mark) of k a s t i‘
i r i (musk
A dorned wi th three eyes i n a s t reak of b lack antimony [appl ied
to the lashes as a col ly r i um] , Si t t ing down along w ith a b i rd,
made i l lus trious wi th a conch - shel l and a d iscus,
‘Possessed of a
b lue lotus ,2 decked with gar lands of ho ly bas i l ,
8 Thus at even
i ng the goddess‘Laksm i, in a b lack color , obe isance ! one
pra ises ’
apa'
ra/me (cod .—ei7z/ze) fee so tom o
’em
’
(0 7777) krsna /amé a’
ra
coo/zz'
lam,
krsnap atapa r z'
diee’
mam (0 777) ( l) (Eastar ztila731777jz
'
ta'
m
krsnakajja la rek/zdy eimZoeanatray aolazsz'
iam ,
"
m‘
lzafige (Jeafigena ) safita'
smeim rank/zaeakr am'
reijzl
teim .
l . oafi kbaeakragadda’lear a hold ing a conch -shel l
,a d i scu s
,and a mace
’
;
an ep i the t of V i snu .
9 N ym p h a e a c a e r u l e a .
8 O c ym u m s a n c t u m .
Poss ib l y the read ing shou ld be r eime'
i'fit dem‘m‘the beau t i fu l goddess but
there i s reason to bel ieve that i t shou ld be m mam. P reced ing the T ime
triad m ed i ta t ion,” there i s a brief as u r i -m ed i tat ion of a s im i lar na ture, in troduced by the words eisurz‘a’lzya
'
nam a'
a'
a'
ze ea (oea'
i T he as u r imedi tat ion and in the beginn ing the a l tar-m edi ta t ion ,
’in wh ich C1 1 and
Lak sm i are bo th m en t ioned (cod . ea 7: and the m ed i tat ion of S,
p a r t fi r st , referring to D urga al so men t ions Lak sm i . T he tendency of theMS to repeat has been m en t ioned .
5 tr i/oeam‘ i s an ep i the t of D urga ; tr iloeana , of Civa . I t i s probab le tha t
the netra traya u sed in a form of the m i'
t l am a n t r a (p . 1 7) refers to the la t ter .3 T he num bering of the MS has been fo l lowed .
A WI TCH CR A FT P R A C TI CE OF TH E A TH A R VA -VE D A . 2 3
nzlozgoa /asamdy zekteimtuta sima‘
ldmazzejz'
tam,
eva (0 0 777 say/a (y am r ame‘
i ( mam deve’
(0 2777) krsnavarne77amo -ma77 sta te. 2 .
The nex t passage is a lmos t hopeless l y corrupt . I t conta insenough syl lab les for more than three cl o k a s , has the figure four
(4 ) at the end , and seems to emphas iz e some of the i tem s al readymentioned .
‘ I t concludes wi th the words : e'
ty aa’z’
-a’ei71 eisa r i
tr z'
keitadlzy einam‘Thus in the beginn ing [of th e r i te readeth]
the as u r i t ime - triad med itat ion .
’
Fu r ther references to the
goddess fol low , among them ; malaia’em'
( 0 ?s ag /leora/ea rma
kar z’
m great goddess non-terrific deed -performer. ” The
who le ends as fo l lows : ‘A nd also [thou who dos t grant] muchcompass ion [and] who dos t bes tow many a success , The med i tat ion of B rahma , Visnu and Civa , del iver the three worlds , 0mother . 8 Thus precisely [readeth] the supreme meditat ion . O
a s u r i , sup reme mis tress , [Thou ar t] the giver of success to the
magical [r i tes] producing enjoyment and del iverance. Thus i n
the beginn ing [readeth i t] i n the as u r i-med i tat ion ,
’
emeka ee‘
z’
z’
va keir zmyeim (y am ?)
dr aamavzsnubaraa’fiyanamfret/77
°
treiz’
loky am amt z’
lze. 3 .
e'
tye eva p ar amaa’ley/emam eiszer z
'
pa ramegoa r z’
,
seiet/ea é dnam okze/etz'
matzttzfifiatap rada. 4 .
£57 a'
a’z’
(aa’ao P)
The significance'
of these references to the goddess as u r i wil l be
d iscussed below. I t appears from the references to the three
parts of the day that the oblat ions were made at the periodsnamed
,and the three parts of the medi tat ion , i n the order given ,
were used with them ,i. e . the one referri ng to r aja s was used in
the morning,that referring to t am a s at noon , and the one refer
‘T he pas sage begin s w i th the words : se'
z'
ttm'
é ompuvdnlze, wh ich shou ldprobab ly be emended to itz
’
sa’
ttm’
é am . par ed/me ; for the conclus ion to the
t h i r d par t of the m ed i ta t ion i s lack ing in the MS , and the words maa’lzydlzne
and apardfizze fol low in the two succeed ing l ines . T he reference to the
t r i s amdh yam becomes clear onl y on the suppos i t ion that seittvz’
kam end sthe th ird d iv i sion ,
and tha t the res t of the passage i s supplementary to thewho le .
9 T he passage i s too corrup t to determ ine whe ther the words shou ld be voc.
or acc. ; bu t they are probab l y voc. C f. the passage c i ted just .below ,a l so p .
1 1 , foot-note 6.
3 Commonly fi sed of Parva ti , w i fe of Civa , i . e. D urga.
TH E 55 11 1 1
11 10 1 1 P A .
r ing to s a t t v a in the afternoon.
‘T he number of ob la tions has
been ment ioned above , and i t w i l l be aga i n cons i dered below in
anot her connec t ion .
3 . T he w i se man should offer as an ob la t ion a m ixture of gheeand fine a s u r i-m eal [in the form
'
of] an image, H av ing k indled a
fire of a r k a-wood fuel , having chopped the image,moreover , w i t h a
wea pon .
4 . H e [becom es] subm i s s ive before whose feet [a per son] offer seight thou sand ob la t ion s . A woman [i s made] subm i s s i ve by [anim age of a s u r i -mea l] anoin ted w i th ghee : B rahman s in a fire of
p a l aca -wood
5. K satriyas , m oreover , by [an image] anointed w i t h sugar : butV aigyas by [one] m ixed wi th curd s : Cudras
,furt hermore , by
[those]Q m ixed w i th sal t : the Wi s e man s hould m ake m eal of
b lack m u s tard.
6. A s a resu l t of an ob lat ion of as u r l [extending] up to the
sevent h day, 3 all t he se [are made] subm i s s ive.
The pract ice i n ful l‘seem s to have been as fol lows : The
w iz ard firs t ground as u r i" i nto mea l , with which he made an
i mage,symbol iz ing the person whom he des i red to overcome .
6
H e used kindl ings (s am id h s)7of a r k a-wood for Rajas and
h is to be observed that the correspondingmedi tat ion in S , p a r t fi r st , i sal so d iv ided in to three m inor reflect ions . No t ime i s m en t ioned w i th the
d iv i s ions in tha t p lace bu t i t i s probab le tha t the sam e ru le was observed as
tha t la id down in p a r t th i r d . I t a l so appears from the former , tha t eachreflect ion was regarded as ins trumen ta l in accompl ish ing some part icu lar partof the complete proces s of subj ugat ion or des truct ion .
‘2 T he change to the p lu . m asc . seem s at the firs t glance to be for the sake of
the m e tre ; but s ince 972090 5 la vanam z'
grayd m akes even a be t ter p ad a than the
one in the tex t , i t m ay be inferred t ha t a d ifferen t word was purpose lyimpl ied in the case of Cudras. A s a ma t ter of fact the word mos t appropriateto them i s masc . C f. cl o k a 5 and foot -note .
8 C f. p . 1 2 , no tes 8 , 1 0 , and 1 2 end ; al so p . 1 3, note 3, and p . 2 7.
4 See cl o k a s 3, 4 ,and 5, and foo t -notes .
5 P robab ly the leaves as we l l as the seeds . See tran s lat ion of cl o k a 2 .
6 C f. p a r t th i r d (b eginn ing of the ri te u sed to subdue a B rahm an), pur 7/ aoralzma timam (pdm aora /zmap ratimdm kr tva ‘having made the former image
of a Brahm a n,
’ i . e. as before .
7 T he s am i d h 5 u sed in offering ob la t ion were sma l l s t ick s of wood abou t aspan (9 in .) long and abou t as th ick as a man
’ s thumb . C f. Colebrooke ,A s i a t i c R e s e a r c h es , V II 2 33. T he usual number i s seven ; but theG r h ya s amg r a h a—P a r ici s ta of Gobhilapu tra gives n ine and the ir nam es(I 2 8
e'
ty eteilz mmio’lzo new er
,
w’
eim d oia’a /d lzrarvei vakrd stzZ/eima 28.
krmidasta'
ea dirg/zei ea vam'
am’
yeilzp rayatna tah.
A WI TCH CR A FT P R A C TI CE OF TH E A TH A R VA - VE D A . 2 5
women , p a l aga-wood for B rahmans,k h a d i r a -wood for K satriyas ,
u d um b a r a-wood for V aigyas and Cadras , and n i m b a ’-wood
for foes . Hav ing chopped up the i mage w ith a sword , he fina l l yoffered i t as an ob lat ion , add ing ghee for a king or woman
,ghee
[and honey2 for a B rahman , sugar for princes , curds for th i rd
cas te persons , sal t for fourth cas te persons , and pungent mus tardoil for foes .
3 I t is to be observed that in the case of a king theperson was to advance with the r ight foot ; i n that of a woman ,
with the left. Th is is doub t less to be put with the s im i lar Hindoonot ion tha t the throbb ing of the righ t eye or arm is lucky for am an and unl ucky for a woman , while with the left eye or arm thecase is reversed .
S , p a r t th i r d , while much fuller i n i ts deta i ls than the othertwo sect ions , adds l i ttl e of impor tance or i n teres t . A few po in t si n which i t d iffers from them m ay be ment ioned , for example
,i n
the ri te used for ensnaring a king i t has r aw'
lee'
ist/zena p r ajoa'
ly a
hav ing kindled [a fire] wi th a s t i ck of r a v i 4—wood i t also pre
D r . B loom fie ld , in h i s ed i t ion ,thu s trans lates d ies s ind die neun 5 am id li s
(Z undholz er). E in z erbrochenes , ein gespal tenes ,‘e in s das k iirz er (als e ine
Spanne) i st , ein krumm e s , e in s das dicker (als ein D aumen) i s t , e in s das zwe iZ we ige hat, ein von Wurmern z erfres senes und e in s das langer (als e ineSpanne) i s t , s ind nach K raften zu verme iden . T he mos t comple te descrip t ionof them , however , i s to be found in the g r li ya-s fi t r a s.
1 In the order nam ed these trees are the C a l o t r o p i s g i ga n t e a , the B u t e af r o n d o s a , the A c a c i a c a t e c h u , the F i c u s g l om e r a t a , and the A z a d ir a ch t a i n d i c a . Some idea of the H indoo v iew in regard to these woodsmay be ob ta ined from the A i t a r e ya-B rah m a n a , I I 1 , T he E rect ion of the
Sacrifice-pos t and the i r appropr ia tenes s m ay be inferred from the
L aw s o f M a n u , I I 45, where i t i s s tated tha t the Brahm an’ s s taff shou ld be
of v i l v a (IE gl e m a rm e l o s) or p a l aca-wood ; the K satriya’s , of v a t a
(F i c u s i n d i c a) or k h a d i r a-wood ; and the V aicya’
s , of p i l u (C a r e y a
a r b o r a or S a l v a d o r a p e r s i c a) or u d u m b a r a-wood . Cudras a re not
d v ija s tw ice-born ,
”and so do not come under the ru le. For m
'
woa, p a r t
th i r d u ses p ieumana’a, wh ich i s on ly ano ther nam e for the sam e wood , and
verifies the emenda t ion (p . 1 2 , foot -note 1 2 end) .9 See p . 1 2 , foot -note 9 .
3 T he use of an image i s t rea ted of in the In troduct ion above . K au c. S t’
i . ,
a d h yaya 6, con ta in s further ma ter ia l of a s im i lar sort . See K du e . 35, 2 8 ;
1 7, 54 ; and 49 , 2 2 .
4 B0h tl ingk , L ex. V ,1 72 , c i te s r a v i as the C a l o t r o p i s g ig a n t e a
wh ich m ake s i t iden t ical wi t h a r k a. In t h i s sen s e i t s eem s to have beenknown here tofore to the lex icographers onl y .
Th i s art icle was in type before I had acce s s to the index to Boh tlingk’s
l ex i con, wh ich al so conta in s the word a p a r aja y a and perhap s o t hers .I t has not been in my power to careful l y con sul t t hat work for all the new
or doub t fu l words in t he se MS S .
TH E A'
s U A’I -K A L P A .
scr ibes i n th is connect ion the “ whisper -spel l (p . 1 7 above) in
tha t for ensnar ing a woman i t has the heading reimeivafi /ea razza
kdmah and refers to the two fundamenta l formulas (m zzlaman
treize) : under the ensnar ing o f a Brahman i t p rescr ibes whi tesandal -wood ,
a wh i te wreath , and a whi te garment wi th other
ornamen t s evetamei/ei evetaoastr a
samanw’
tam) the obla t ion mus t also be performed with espec ialcare (pr ay/amena leomay et) and in prepar ing i t use is made ofba l ls of
Guggula3
gum gugg zeleiz'
r ga tz'
ledZL—cod.g zeg ztldz'
gate'
kd—kr tod) ,b lack mus tard seeds (rajasa r sap eih) , leaves of the bete l - plant
hzdd th) , and other vegetab le products , such as
fru i ts and flowers fina l ly , under the subj ugat ion of a Cudra ,i t
mentions also the C andal a s . A few passages from the same
div is ion may be ci ted wi th reference to the number of oblat ions
and the t ime for pe rforming them . In the ri te used aga i ns twomen : ‘A fterward the muttering is to be performed , moreover ,one hundred and e igh t t imes by (of) men
,
’
pageeijjap am tze [t a rtar/y am astotta r aeatam7e7‘7tom .
‘Having muttered the fundamental formula i n the mou th and
[hav ing performed] one hundreda nd e igh t [ri tes], The gi rl was tesaway in (of) her middle [parts] ; thereupon the girl is l ikely tobecome submiss ive ,
’
m zzlamantr e - tr a771) mule/wjap toeistotta raeateim'
ea,
a’
asy ate m aa’
y einein‘zy osei tatoy osei o/eavea
’vaea
”
.
1 U nder th i s-
{head ing four d ifferen t u ses are given w i th con s iderab le m inu tenes s of deta i l . T he words em ployed to de s igna te a woman are
,rdmd
beau t i fu l woman , yosei“
girl , young woman,
and (once only ) str i “ woman,
w i fe .
”T he words used to s ign i fy her subj ect ion are
,voyagei
“obed ien t ”
(second use) , vapz' subm i s s ive (th ird use), and w gyagei subdued (four th use) .
(Th i s las t word i s a l so u sed of a V aicya and of a Cfidra .) In the firs t usewhere str z
’
occurs , i t i s d i fficu l t to say what the word i s . I t appears tha t thepract ice was used in some in s tances as a ph i l ter , and there i s even reason tobe l ieve tha t th i s may have been i ts mos t common use. C f. V i rg. E c . V I I I64 ff. H or . Sat . I , V I I I 2 3 ff. , and E pod . V ; Lucian D ia l . Mer. IV 4 and 5 ;
Ov id Me t . V II 2 24 ff. , and H ero id . V 1 9 1 ; and see cl ok a s 1 4 and 1 5, and p .
8 , foo t -note 2 .
I t w i l l be remembered that two formu las were given for a wom an . U nderthe pre l im inary ri tes in p a r t th i r d the p lu . i s u sed (mfi lamantreiz
’
p ea).3 B d e l l i u m or the exuda t ion of the A m y r i s a ga l l o c h um .
4From the s ta tem en t s here m ade,and another passage (p . 1 2 , foot -note 9)
wh ich say s that by ob lat ion a certa in h igh number cons i st ing of hundreds(co zy/a liew ra) leads a Brahm an to one
’ s w i l l , i t may be inferred tha t the e igh tthou sand ob lat ion s of the tex t (p . 1 2 ) have spec ia l reference to Brahman s .
A WI TCH CR A FT P R A C TI CE OF TH E A TH A R VA - VE D A . 27
In the ri te for a V aicya : Having done th is (kindled the fire
and performed the other prel im inary r i tes) , at the th ree per iods ofthe day ,
he should bu rn the prepared as u r i [m ade into an
image]. With one hund red and e ight [ri tes] so long shou ld heperform the mu t ter ing at the three periods [morn ing , noon, and
eoamdz'
natr ay/amkrtvda’fiy eikteim
-a /!teim 43277 7771 a’aEet
,
astottar aeataz'
s teivat trolled/0 777jap am dearet. 3 .
One should perform with pa ins the mutter ing during one monthun interruptedly ,
’
japamka ry a‘
tp ray amena m eisam etea77'
t 7zz'
r a7ztaram .
Under th is heading also (firs t gl o k a) the dark for tnight , i . e . fromfull to new moon (krsnapakse) is specified as a time for performingthe r i te . In respect to a K satriya ,
i t is sa id that he shou l d besubdued in the cou rse of twelve days veisarei z
‘
Ze) .
F inal ly,regard ing a foe, i t says :
‘A t the e igh t per iods (watches)of the day having done honor wi th the m a n t r a he goes aga ins t
[his] foe ; On the seventh day the complet ion of the foe- s laying
becom es , fixed,
’
paramp r atyetz'
m antrena pajay z'
tvei a’
z’
neistaleam ,
sap ta‘
lze r zf zegfieitasy a m’
a’
lzanamofiavatz'
a’fir zeoam (cod. 3 .
Mos t of the references agree in fix ing the complet ion of the
ensnar ing on the seventh day. One hund red and eight ob lat ionsperformed in s ix days amounts to j us t e ighteen per day,
and theseperformed at the t r is a in d h y a m would make s ix in the morn i ng ,
s ix at noon , and the same in the afternoon , which was ev idently
the plan fol lowed as a rule.
W i th pungen t mus tard oil [in the obla t ion]1 at the t h ree per iodsof the day, surely one make s a Sp l i t in the fam i l y .
7. W i th the ha i rs of a dog,
2 moreover , [a per son i s] afflicted w i t h
1 I t i s probab le tha t as u r i was to be u sed in th i s and all of the fol low ingprescr i p t ion s , though i t i s om i t ted in m any of them .
9 T he pas sage wh ich i s found onl y in B at th i s po in t i s ve iy corrupt , y ie ldsno connected sen se , and con ta in s noth ing of importance . I t i s probab ly anin terpola t ion . I ts genera l m ean ing seem s to be abou t as fol lows
‘H av ing then ,moreover , smeared a leaf w i th the ha i rs of a dog, or
hav ing we l l smeared w i th mu s tard seeds he should fum igate the l i 11 ga
(per fum e i t w i th incense).H e shou ld then gi ve a measure of wh i te mus tard drink : all doub t
van i shes (d ies). A nd there i s hea l th in ea t ing and in fas t ing : [i t i s] thepract ice in all d iseases .
TH E A S U R I -! A L P A .
epi lep sy dur ing t h ree day s . 1 T he s top p ing [of t h i s i s b rough t about]by m i l k ,
honey , and ghee [in the ob la t ion]. [By per form ing the
ri te] w i t h sal t , however , he [becomes] afflicted w i th fever .‘
8 . In a fire o f a r k a 3-wood s a m idh s , furt hermore,one es tab
l i shes a source of bo i l s . Of t hese he s hou ld under s tand the cure
(s topping) w i t h the hel p of s u r ecv a r i and w i th ghee.
The word szer eevar z‘
, whi ch occu rs i n one o ther passage below
(p . is thus defined by the PE T E R S . L E ! . : B e z . d e r D u r g ad e r L a k s h m i . d e r R ad h a d e r h i m m l i s c h e n
G a fi ga. I t here means ev identl y as u r i “ (probab ly both plant
and d iv in i ty) . The use of th is word for eiszer z’
,comb ined with the
fact that various words found in the as u r i-med itat ion (p . 20 f.)are or m ay be used of Du rga, makes a s trong presumpti ve argu
ment that as u r i was regarded as a form of Du rga. szer ef var z'
,
however , may be used of Laksm i, who is Spoken of in the sameconnection , and who appears aga i n below . I t wi l l a lso be observed
Sure ly the wel l known ones who l ive by alm s [Brahmans] become
bad as a resu l t of mu t tering. I t i s to be mu t tered eleven t im es in succesSion . T he Spl i t in the fam i l y m ay become des troyed (he i s l ike ly tobecom e injured by a Spl i t in the fam i l y ?)In the subjugat ion of a th ird ca s te person he shou ld offer as an ob lat ion
(P) [an image] made w i th powdered s u r a t i s (s u r ab h i s nu tmegsIn the overcom ing (do ing up ) of a C {i d r a , moreover, let [the person] gow i th a lotus -plan t to a place where four way s m ee t .H av ing wr i t ten the nam e , hav ing sei z ed [i t] pressed by the finger
[there ar i ses] headache , fever , [and] col ic . D i sagreemen t i s a non
m ee t ing w i th prosperi ty , a non -m eet ing w i th prosperi ty .
Or the ad y a of the k a l p a [is] to be u sed in a quatern ion of
Brahman s , e tc . : thu s in the ir com ing together, the m agic pract ice of the
four even i s m ade m an i fes t .’
T he word eia’
yei i s a puz z le . I t i s an ep i the t of D urga, but can hardl y beu sed in that sense here . I f for 50370 i t m ay poss ib ly t efer to the m u l am a n t r a as the beginn ing of the k a l p a . I t does not seem l ike ly tha t the MSread ing w tpa
’
a’
yd i s a new word.
T he scen t ing the l i i'
i ga w i th incense may pos s ib ly be a love-charm . Cf. ,
however , H erod . I 1 98, cod/a c 6’
(“
i v 717170 1c 7 77 éwvroi) (1 177770 Bap’vl e
’iveog,
TrepZ flvp t’
n/ mm r ayeCé yevov ZCet , é r é pwfle 68“
77yum) r tbvrorr oeé ee.
l S ‘H av ing t ied up (made one) the as u r i [in the form of an image
w i th a ha ir from a wh i te ass , he w i th whose name he m ay m ake ob la t ion i ssudden ly afflicted w i th (hidden
_
in ep i lep sy .
’
9 as u r i and m i lk a re u sed in m ak ing the one hundred and e igh t ob la t ionsfor h i s res tora t ion to hea l th .
3 S has s im ply as u r i and 11 i m b a leaves .4 S ‘H av ing made as u r i , 1 0 8, he becomes wel l (in h i s own
g/zr tdktdm i s probab ly om i t ted .
TH E E S U E JTK A L P A .
T he flesh of a dead man , h i s rema ins of cour se , and a shes from a
funeral p i le .
l
to . H e who [i s] touched wi th the m ea l [m ade] of t hese becom es
pos ses sed of a ridiculou s character .
2 D el iverance from t h i s i s produced as a re su l t of an Ob la t ion w i th [a s u r i] anointed w i t h goa t
’ sm i lk .
1 1 . T a ga r a ,k u s t h a ,
and m ans i 3 plan t s and al so certa inl yleaves of t h i s [a s u r i] : H e who [i s] touch ed w i t h t hese [ground]fine ,
moreo ver , run s abou t beh ind [one’ s] back .
“
1 2 . Fru i t s and roo t s of t h i s [a s u r i] w i t h the fragrant fa t of anelephant . From contac t w i th fine ma teria l of t he se‘5 [a per son]runs after t hose devoid of sen se.
I t adds : Then the cure (caus ing to cease). H aving made an Ob la t ion of
as u r i ano in ted w i th cow ’ s m i lk , w i th fires of r a v i -wood as a resu l t of h i sown Ob lat ion (ma/m) he becomes we l l (goes to the be ing in h i s own cond i t ion)the eye
-d i sease shou ld d i sappear (becom e
a t/ea geim‘eiu - tz
'
7g.
goduga’
lzm eisamlptzmm (4 5771. 1271t ravi/zuteiganeiih,
m ama /nit w ast/l a ta'
mydti netrarm’
i milz'
tei o/zewet.
P a r t fi r st has as u r i ano in ted w i th m i lk .
’T he s im i lari ty of the m eans
used in produc ing and curing the evi l s i s noteworthy as an ev idence of the
popu lar not ion in Ind ia tha t he who can cure d i sease mus t a l so be ab le to p roduce i t and v i c e v e r s a .
lS H av ing un i ted as u r i , ashe s from a funera l p i le [and] human flesh the
rema in s of a dead P a r t th i r d adds fine chopped m ea t,the hair of
a Can dala ,and som e o ther th ings not ye t clear (u ltakamayeiilt),
cisne ea eiteio/zasmajanaZI.p igitem'
i ramyute,ceindeila lzepasamyuktam a llaé amaydih sa/za (sa leitam) ,mr tam
'
rmeilyasamyuktamsadir ekatra bdrayet. 2
(eadi i s probab l y a fem . derivat ive from god in the sen se of “ sixness , a col leet ion of s ix . T he person un i tes the s ix i tem s m en t ioned .) I t pu t s th i s r i teunder those to be employed aga in s t an enemy , end ing the who l e w i th the
words : z'
tz'
ga tr zet sayav z'
zzaranam ‘Thus [reade th] the deta i led accoun t of thedes truct ion of an enem y .
’
QS ou t of h i s senses .’ I t adds that the m a n t r a i s to be pronounced overthe m ea l .3 T a ga r a i s T a b e r n a e m o n t a n a c a r o n a r i a , a l so a powder made fromi t ; k u s th a i s a plan t u sed for the cure of t a k m a n (fever P) , the C o s t o ss p e c i o s u s or a r a b i e n s ; m ah s i m ay be j a t am ans i (N a r d o s t a c h y sja t am a n s i), k a k k o l i , or m ans a c c h a n d a. T he MSS seem to requ ire a
p lan t cal led k u s th a m afi s i . No such plan t i s m en t ioned el sewhere so far as
known . T he om i ss ion of the a n u s v ar a i s eas i ly expla ined , and i t appears in9 1 0 k a 2 2 . S reads , nagara t aste: te upotm
‘
meii wi .
4 S becomes a servan t (a t tendan t) beh ind [h i s] back .
’
5 S m en t ion s five plan t s bes ides u r i -flowers : t a ga r a ,k u s t h a , u ci t a
(fragran t root of A n d r o p o go n m u r i c a t u s) , u s r a (A n t h e r i c um t u b e
A WI TCH CR A FT P R A C TI CE OF TH E A TH A R VA -V E D A .. 3 1
1 3. U ninjured leave s [of a s u r i] the dark u ci r a-root , l ikewi semus tard s eeds . From the m ea l of t hese the former resu l t 1 [i s produced] and a l so by t hes e inv incib lenes s [i s obtained]. Q
A ccord ing to A th is marks the close of the fi rst d ivis ion of the
practices , all of wh ich thus far have been for the purpose of p ro
ducing i l l , curing the same , or gett ing the mastery of some one .
I n all of them the mate r ials have been ground into meal,to be
used e i ther in making an image of the intended v ictim or to be
appl ied to h im in person. Those that fo l low have al ready beendiscussed above .
1 4 . Flowers [of as u r i realgar , and m i l let and t ag a r a p lan t sW i t h the ju ice from the tem ple s of a huge ru t t ing elephan t ,
4
1 5. A nd the wom en who approach [becom e] subm i s s i ve to (servan t s of) the one anoint ing t he i r feet . H av ing taken t h i s [a s u r i]in bloom , a fi ja n a ,
s
[and] n aga k e ca r a-p lan t .
r o s u m), and some other plan t which i s not c lear. T he t L m ay pos s ib lys tand forjfi (p . 1 3, foo t -no te in wh ich case an em endat ion toj/zeitei (Ja sm in u m a u r i cu l a t u m ) m igh t be su spected. A correct p ad a can then eas i lybe made
,though there i s no MS author i t y for i t , by om i t t ing the doub t fu l word
ot/zasz'
: us7'
a7hj'
lzeiteimta pafieakam. I t prescribes the m a n t r a,and say s
,H e
whom he touches becom es subm i s s ive .
’
3 P robab ly the runn ing after those devo id of sen se .
2S say s , H e shou ld make into fine m eal , moreover , asu r i -flowers and leave s ,and flowers and fru i t s , along w i th fru i t of the n age n d r a (betel H e
becom es subm i s s ive Whom he touches w i th [th i s m eal] con secrated by m a n t r a smu t tered over i t .’ T he use of the m a n t r a , or mu t tered spe l l , seem s to be an
es sen t ia l elem en t in all these pract ices .3 T he read ing Jmea
’asa
‘fat (of a huge may be suspected hereposs ib ly, though the eviden t nature of the compound favors the MS read ing.
4 T he two MS read ings of th i s p ad a are ne i ther of them en t i rely satisfactory . T he MSS agree save in the two m iddle syl lab les of the las t two feet .S gives no he lp . I t reads : H e shou ld make into fine m ea l , m oreover , realgar ,and m i l let , t a ga r a [and] n aga k e ca r a (M e s u a r o x b u rgh i i) plan ts , a longw i th as u r i-fru i t . [H e shou ld mu t ter the spell] one hundred and e igh t [t imes](one hundred and e igh t [m a n t r a s shou ld he m u t ter] H e whom he touchesw i th [th i s m ea l] consecra ted by the m a n t r a mu t tered over i t becom es subm i s s ive .
’ From the connec t ion i t appears tha t the p ai d a mus t refer to or con
ta in ins truct ions for the person u s ing the ph i l ter . B’
s read ing wou ld mean
then :
[L et him be] p repar ing [the m ix ture], however , (E7777 ta) w i thouthe l p (in the m anner [of one] hav ing no
The idea may pos s ib ly be tha t the power of the charm wou ld be impa iredor d iver ted i f another had any th ing to do w i th i t . T hea/zra
’ca rom of A seem s
to m ean‘not act ing the su i tor , ’ or som eth ing s im i lar. C f. p . 1 4 , foot -note 6.
5 A n eye sa lve or o in tmen t m ade from A mom um xan thorrh i z a or an t imony ,used as a cosme t ic.
TH E AS U R I -K A L P A .
1 6. H e whom 1 [a per son] look s at w i t h [hi s] eyes anointed w i t hth i s [com pound becomes h i s] servant . A nja n a ,
t a ga r a , k u s t h a
and d e v lja k a s t h a"preci sely,
1 7 . A nd m a ns i p lan t s [a re] a cau se of good fortune , moreover ,to all crea tures . From an Obla t ion of one hundred t hou sand of the
s a m i d h s of t h i s [a s u r t] grea t t rea sure i s beheld.
3
1 8 . From one t hou sand leave s [of a s u r i] anointed wi t h ghee ,
and honey [in the Ob la t ion , a person becom es] pos ses sedof grown -up sons . One ob ta in s , moreover , a subm i s s i ve kingdomfrom t h ree t hou sand leave s of t h i s , [a s u r i
, offered as an Obla t ion].
S says , For the sake of a k ingdom one shou ld make an oblat ion of as u r i l a k s m i ano inted with honey and ghee
,he ob ta ins
the kingdom .
’ Laksm i is used as a name for Severa l propit iousplants , eviden t ly by a sor t of person ifica t ion ,
and i ts use here as
an ex tens ion of the name for b lack mustard is s ign ificant because
i t is also used in the as u r i medi tat ions above.
1 9 . T he ob ta ining of one t hou sand gold p ieces [comes] from one
hundred thou sand leaves 5 of t h i s [a s u r 1 , offered as an Obla t ion],A nd l ikewi se one t hou sand mu t terings of him who partakes of m i l kover wa ter . 6
20 . Then in a ves sel fi l led wi t h wa ter let him s t rew palaci tw igs . 7
H e i s l ikel y to be freed from i l l-duck 8 as a resul t of an ab lut ion ,in a
golden ve s s el , however .
lB whoever he look s at ,’
a bet ter read ing in some respect s ; bu t S supports
A . I t al so adds the u sua l m u t ter ing of spel l s over the sa lve .
9 P robab ly k a s t h a -d ar u (P i n u s d e o d o r a), ca l led al so d e v a -d ar u .
H ere ca l led “
goddes s-born .
”S has a d i fferen t s tatem en t : H e shou ld per
fum e h im sel f w i th the smoke of five part s of as u 1 1 [flowers , leaves , he
who sm e l l s the scen t of i t becom es subm i s s ive.
’
3 S H av ing offered an Ob la t ion of as u r i ano in ted w i th curds , honey , and
ghee , he shou ld make an Ob lat ion ; he ob ta in s grea t treasure , ten thou sand
[ob lat ions shou ld he m ake]. A m an [w i l l reach] the age of one hundred years
you know [i f he does4 S and the m etre both favor the om i s s ion of th i s word .
5 S ‘ten thou sand as u r i fru i t s , hav ing offered as an ob lat ion .
’
6S ‘H av ing partaken of m i lk over as u r i and wa ter [and] hav ing taken a
pos i t ion fac ing the sou th he shou ld mu t ter ten thou sand t im es . ’7 A Spec ies of cl imb ing plan t , ca l led p a t t r a v a 1 1 1
,p a r n
_a v a 1 1 1
,and
p a l ac i k a. S ‘W i th as u r i tw igs hav ing m ade fu l l [a ves se l] consecratedby one hundred and e igh t spe l l s mut tered over i t , he shou ld ba the h im sel f, heshou ld perfume h im sel f (P) w i th incen se .
’
8 S ‘H e set s as ide i l l - luck in good breed ing he pu t s away the d ispos i t ionto (onse t of) anger.
’T he read ing m
'
neige kopa i s susp ic ious l y l ike m'
ndya
,é eo/zyalp ; bu t other s im i lar cases occur .
A WI TCH CR A FT P R A C TI CE OF TH E A TH A R VA - V E D A . 33
2 1 . [A per son i s l ikel y to be relea sed], as a resul t of an ab lut ion,
from ob s tacles and al so from unfortuna te i l l - luck . A nd touched bythe wa ter , moreover , t hey run abou t beh ind
2 2 . U ci r a , t a g a r a , k u s th a , m u s t a,
Q mu s tard seeds, and
leaves of t h i s [as u r i]. Wh en q uickly touched w i t h mea l [made of
t hese] even a lord s hou ld become subm i s s ive.
23. T u l a s i, b h t‘
i m a da, [and d e v i .3 T ouched w i t h the
mea l [made of these l ikew i se [a per son becomes] s ubm i s s ive .
In ca se of fear of a R aja, [let] s u r e cv a r i be u sed . From purifi
ca t ion w i th i t , l ikew i se the carrying [i t w i t h one].
4
24 . No por tentou s occurrence i s l ikel y to be h i s,l i kew i se no smal l
m i s fortune. [H e i s] nei t her devoid of power nor des t i tu te of childrenin whose hou se the di v ine a s u r i i s , in whose house the divinea s u r 1 i s .5
T hu s endeth the A s u r i-K a l p a .
l S ‘A n ill - favored woman shou ld become we l l - favored T he i l l - luck seem sto be espec ia l ly a husband’ s d is l i ke , and the las t c lause m ay mean ,
therefore ,
that the husbands becom e very a t ten t ive.
Q A species of grass (C y p e r u s r o t u n d u s). S om its.
Th is l ine i s not c lear : t u l a s i i s the H ol y Bas i l ; d e v i may be one of
severa l p lan ts , S a n s e v i e r a r o x b u r gh i a n a, M e d i c a go e s c u l e n t a ,
T r i go n e l l a c o r n i c u l a t a , etc . ; and b h i’
i m a d zi “earth giver ,
”m ay be
a p lan t or s im p ly an ep i the t of one . I f a plan t , i t i s probab ly as u r i (cf.varaa
’ei used in the med i tat ion s). Two oth er m ean ings are pos s ib le : H oly
bas i l , the earth -
giv ing goddes s ,’
and H o ly bas i l [and] the earth -giv ing goddes s [as u S has a d ifferen t s tatem ent : Fourth ly
, w i th respect to [ev i l s]such as (cons is t ing of) fever , etc. , one should mu t ter [the spel l] one hundredand e igh t t im es . By m eans of a puri ficat ion , des truct ion i s averted .
’ For
p ra é sma , cf. P e ters : z'
a’am devadattasya
“ D ies i s t der O rt wo D .
umgekomm en i s t .” I t m igh t be rendered H ere the death (des truct ion) of D .
[took p lace]4 S has, H av ing mu t tered [the spel l] one hundred t imes he shou ld put
asu r i -m eal on h i s head. H e who has been se iz ed i s re leased For thosewho have been overpowered by sin he Shou ld m ake an Ob lat ion of as u 1 1
one hundred and e igh t t imes ; thereupon [the person] i s at once re leased.
’
5 In place of th i s s tatemen t S has Thereupon he causes the tex t to becomec lear by the good-wi l l of m en . L et the a s u r i tex t be comple ted .
’ I t addsthe u sua l end ing‘T he A s u r i-K a 1 p a [i s] concluded.
’
L IFE .
Herber t Wi l l iam Magoun was born Feb . 1 7, 1 856, at Bath,
Mai ne. In 1 871 he entered the high school at Worces ter,Mass ,
where he rema ined about two years and th ree m onths,complet ing
the th ird year ’ s work under private instruct ion at Bath,Ma ine .
The las t year of preparat ion for col lege was spent at Gr innel l,
Iowa ,i n the academy connected wi th Iowa Col lege . H e gradu
a ted from that inst i tu tion in 1 879 , and during the fo l lowing year
acted as ass is tant in the O skaloosa High Schoo l near Grinnel l .A t the close of the year he went eas t and accepted a pos i t ion as
p r incipa l of a grammar school at Bath , Ma ine , from which he wascal led
,after one year ’s serv i ce , to Grinnel l as a tu tor at his a lma
mater . A fter rema i n ing there three years , he res igned th is pos i t ion
to go to theJohns Hopkins Univers i ty but was i nduced to rema in
a year wi th a Hartford insurance company for which he had donesome work during the summer of 1 884. In the fa l l of 1 885 he
entered the univers i ty , taking Greek as h is major s tudy and Lat in
and Sanskri t as m inors . In ]an . ,1 887, h e made Sanskr i t h is major
course and soon after took a scholarship in that s tudy . The
fol lowing year he was appo in ted Fel low in Sanskri t and alsotaught the beginner ’s class i n tha t language . For the year 1 888-
9
he acted as d i rector of the Johns Hopkins Univers i ty gymnas iumdu ring .the absence of the di rector in E u rope , and gave ins truc t ion
i n Swedish gymnas t ics ; but he also continued h is Sansk r i t s tud ies
and gave ins truc t ion in the Nata ,IIz
'
top aa’eea ,
and R ig Veda .
