Atharvaveda 4.16
Atharvavedasaṃhitā 4.16
- Language
- Sanskrit
4.16.1
br̥hánn eṣām adhiṣṭhātā́ antikā́d iva paśyati |
yá stāyán mányate cárant sárvaṃ devā́ idáṃ viduḥ ||1||
The great superintendent of them sees, as it were, from close by; whoever thinks to be going on in secret, all this the gods know.
4.16.2
yás tíṣṭhati cárati yáś ca vañcati yó nilā́yaṃ cárati yáḥ pratáṅkam |
dváu saṃniṣádya yán mantráyete rā́jā tád veda váruṇas tr̥tī́yaḥ ||2||
Whoso stands, goes about, and whoso goes crookedly (vañc), whoso goes about hiddenly, who defiantly (? pratán̄kam)—what two, sitting down together, talk, king Varuṇa, as third, knows that.
4.16.3
utéyáṃ bhū́mir váruṇasya rā́jña utā́sáu dyáur br̥hatī́ dūréantā |
utó samudráu váruṇasya kukṣī́ utā́smínn álpa udaké nílīnaḥ ||3||
Both this earth is king Varuṇa's, and yonder great sky with distant margins (-ánta); also the two oceans are Varuṇa's paunches; also in this petty water is he hidden.
4.16.4
utá yó dyā́m atisárpāt parástān ná sá mucyātai váruṇasya rā́jñaḥ |
divá spáśaḥ prá carantīdám asya sahasrākṣā́ áti paśyanti bhū́mim ||4||
Also whoso should creep far off beyond the sky, he should not be released from king Varuṇa; from the sky his spies go forth hither; thousand-eyed, they look over the earth.
4.16.5
sárvaṃ tád rā́jā váruṇo ví caṣṭe yád antarā́ ródasī yát parástāt |
sáṃkhyātā asya nimíṣo jánānām akṣā́n iva śvaghnī́ ní minoti tā́ni ||5||
All this king Varuna beholds (vi-cakṣ)—what is between the two firmaments (ródasī), what beyond; numbered of him are the winkings of people; as a gambler the dice, [so] does he fix (? ni-mi) these things.
4.16.6
yé te pā́śā varuṇa saptásapta tredhā́ tíṣṭhanti víṣitā rúṣantaḥ |
chinántu sárve ánr̥taṃ vádantaṃ yáḥ satyavādy áti táṃ sr̥jantu ||6||
What fetters (pā́ça) of thine, O Varuṇa, seven by seven, stand triply relaxed (vi-si), shining—let them all bind him that speaks untruth; whoso is truth-speaking, let them let him go.
4.16.7
śaténa pā́śair abhí dhehi varuṇainaṃ mā́ te mocy anr̥tavā́ṅ nr̥cakṣaḥ |
ā́stāṃ jālmá udáraṃ śraṃśayitvā́ kóśa ivābandháḥ parikr̥tyámānaḥ ||7||
With a hundred fetters, O Varuṇa, do thou bridle (abhi-dhā) him; let not the speaker of untruth escape thee, O men-watcher; let the villain sit letting his belly fall [apart], like a hoopless vessel, being cut round about.
4.16.8
yáḥ samābhyò váruṇo yó vyābhyò yáḥ saṃdeśyò váruṇo yó videśyò |
yó daivó váruṇo yáś ca mā́nuṣaḥ ||8||
The Varuṇa that is lengthwise (samāmyà), that is crosswise (vyāmyà); the Varuṇa that is of the same region (saṁdeçyà), that is of a different region (videçyà); the Varuṇa that is of the gods, and that is of men—
4.16.9
táis tvā sárvair abhí ṣyāmi pā́śair asāv āmuṣyāyaṇāmuṣyāḥ putra |
tā́n u te sárvān anusáṃdiśāmi ||9||
With all those fetters I fasten (abhi-sā) thee, O so-and-so, of such-and-such a family, son of such-and-such a mother; and all of them I successively appoint for thee.
Translations (3)
- Atharva-Veda Saṃhitā (HOS 7–8) — William Dwight Whitney 1905, English
- The Hymns of the Atharvaveda — Ralph T. H. Griffith 1895, English
- Hymns of the Atharva-Veda (SBE 42) — Maurice Bloomfield 1897, English
Commentaries (2)
- Atharvavedabhāṣya (Sāyaṇa) — Sāyaṇa, Sanskrit
- Atharvavedasaṃhitābhāṣya — Mādhavācārya, Sanskrit
Linked texts (18)
- Atharvaveda — Sanskrit
- Aṅgirasī — Sanskrit
- A Vedic Concordance — Maurice Bloomfield, English
- Vyākhyānamālākathānaka (Acyutānanda Sarasvatī) — Acyutānanda Sarasvatī, Sanskrit
- Altindische Grammatik — Jacob Wackernagel & Albert Debrunner, German
- History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) — P. V. Kane, English
- History of Indian Medicine, containing Notices, Biographical and Bibliographical, of the Āyurvedic Physicians and their Works on Medicine — Girindranath Mukhopadhyaya, English
- Die Religion des Veda — Hermann Oldenberg, German
- The Religions of India — Edward Washburn Hopkins, English
- Vedic Index of Names and Subjects — Arthur A. Macdonell & A. Berriedale Keith, English
- Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India, their Religion and Institutions — John Muir, English
- A History of Indian Philosophy — Surendranath Dasgupta, English
- The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads — Arthur Berriedale Keith, English
- Hinduism and Buddhism: An Historical Sketch — Charles Eliot, English
- Die Kosmographie der Inder nach den Quellen dargestellt — Willibald Kirfel, German
- The State in Ancient India: A Study in the Structure and Practical Working of Political Institutions in North India in Ancient Times — Beni Prasad, English
- War in Ancient India — V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar, English
- Vedic Mythology — Arthur Anthony Macdonell, English