Atharvavedaparishishta 63
English (machine translation) 63
- Language
- English
Contents
63.1.1
Om. Now next I shall declare halos around lunar mansions and planets, / of many kinds, bringing about various results:
63.1.2
those belonging to Indra, Varuṇa, and Kubera, [which are] red, pale, and dark-blue; / pale, reddish-brown, yellow, and those non-blue belonging to Fire and Yama;
63.1.3
and those belonging to Prajāpati, Rudra, and Nirṛti, O Bhārgava— / [the sage] declared the halos to be tawny, dappled, and dove-colored.
63.1.4
These nine colors of halos originate from the deities; / they become manifold through relying on one another's qualities.
63.1.5
Seizing the subtle dust of the clouds and joining the conjunction of colors, / by command of the Grandfather, the wind is formed into a circle.
63.1.6
For the good or ill of the worlds, it encloses the luminaries; / knowing its appearance and quality, the benefit or defect is declared.
63.1.7
Settled beyond the lunar mansions, the stars, and the sphere of space, / an adventitious condition is remembered as a halo.
63.1.8
When the sun's rays are sharp, clear, in a soft disc, / glossy, of single color, thick, and with distinct characteristics;
63.1.9
in one red-eyed, knife-sharp, possessing rays, in a yellow disc, / extending from twilight, from midday, up to the end of the lunar mansions;
63.1.10
with rumbling from a load of clouds, in a shining halo, / even out of season, one should know that great danger is imminent;
63.2.1
in dark mist and darkness, when the disc is naturally overwhelmed, / scattered with aerial modifications, covered in sparks, inauspicious;
63.2.2
irregular, devoid of gloss, with broken and foul clouds, / and appearing mostly at the three twilight junctions;
63.2.3
or covering two or three lunar mansions, or covering half a lunar mansion, / or being watched by burning or crying beasts and birds—
63.2.4
During a halo, one should know that imminent danger for kings and others / approaches within seven nights, terrifying on account of thieves, weapons, fire, and death.
63.2.5
Smoky, variegated, madder-red, red, yellow, and black in appearance, / it becomes a turbid circle on one side in form.
63.2.6
And surrounded on all sides by a thin web, / it repeatedly undergoes dissolution and also reformation.
63.2.7
That [halo] is also to be known as wind-natured, with the sun soft and dim; / the halo yields little fruit, [while] wind and rain increase.
63.2.8
If, however, wind and rain do not arise within three nights, / the manifestation of floods, fires, and thieves occurs.
63.2.9
A meteor may be situated within the halo when there is a double ring; / with two, there is fear for the commander-in-chief; with three, fear for the crown prince.
63.3.1
With rings exceeding three, a siege of the city certainly takes place; / where the three—a lunar mansion, a planet, and the moon—are enclosed,
63.3.2
he declares rain after three days; after a month, he should predict war; / and there is the rout of the commanders, the princes, and also the army.
63.3.3
When there is a halo around Mars, there is a portent of weapons and fire, / and stationary beings, farmers, and minor grains are afflicted.
63.3.4
Surrounded by a halo, Saturn would cause wind and rain; / Rāhu certainly afflicts the realm and pregnant wombs.
63.3.5
And the moon, surrounded by a halo, generates diseases, / as well as terrible fear from hunger, asthma, fire, the king, and death.
63.3.6
Ketu, surrounded by a halo in the sky, destroys together with comets; / when two planets are surrounded by halos, he declares battle.
63.3.7
When three [are haloed], fear of hunger and withholding of rain are to be known; / with four, the king dies along with his minister and royal chaplain.
63.3.8
One should know it as like the end of the age when five are surrounded by halos. / On the first lunar day and following, it destroys Brahmins, kṣatriyas, vaiśyas, and śūdras;
63.3.9
on the next three beginning with the fifth: villages, the capital city, and the treasury; / on the eighth, it destroys along with the crown princes the army commanders;
63.3.10
and on the ninth, the tenth, and the eleventh, kings; / on the thirteenth, agitation of the army; on the twelfth, the city is besieged;
63.4.1
on the fourteenth, the king's wife; and on the fifteenth, of the king— / the chaplain, ministers, and kings slay one another.
63.4.2
One should know that there is a siege of the city when Jupiter is haloed; / counselors and scribes are also besieged, and stationary entities.
63.4.3
And one should know rain when the planet Mercury is haloed; / marching kings, kṣatriyas, and the royal faction are afflicted.
63.4.4
The son of Bhṛgu, haloed, makes the price of grain dear. / Halos around star-planets and lunar mansions alone
63.4.5
cause the rising of a great planet, or the death of the king. / In red, yellow, dark, copper-colored, black, green, and reddish-brown,
63.4.6
fear of hunger, weapons, disease, rain, fire, death, crops, wind, and two misfortunes / of the social classes is to be known, corresponding to the colors assumed.
63.4.7
Pigeon-gray and motley bring fear to animals. / Those colored like a peacock’s throat, conch, moon, pearl, or cow's milk,
63.4.8
resembling madhūka-flowers, ghee, or scum, and dark like dūrvā-grass, indicate rain. / Resembling soapberries, looking like sesame oil and myrobalan,
63.4.9
glossy, appearing like clear water, and shining like mirrors are auspicious; / tawny, harsh, rough, looking like turmeric or dawn, / broken, red, short, and pale bring good fortune.
63.4.10
For marching kings, stationary kings, and likewise allies who come to aid, / one should understand the halos according to the outer, inner, and middle positions.
63.5.1
Those whose portion is deeply red, dark, turbid, and bereft of luster— / one should know their defeat; when glossy and white, there is indeed victory.
63.5.2
By whichever cloud-color whichever portion is tinted, / one should know that corresponding result for them; that has been proclaimed in prosperity and the like.
63.5.3
And they call these openings large and pure; / the king should march through those doors: those paths are free of thorns.
63.5.4
Caused by the rising of planets during the downpours of monsoon clouds— / for this reason is the origin of them all; the rest is the sign of portents.
63.5.5
A propitiatory rite to Rudra, with sacrificial fee, is prescribed for portents; / in combination, however, a rite to the Viśvedevas and a fear-dispelling rite are to be recognized.
63.5.6
Knowing the heart of Atharvan portents, undisturbed oneself, / one should perform the great propitiatory rite that destroys all taint.
63.5.6.p1
(Supplement 64: Characteristics of Portents)
Linked texts (1)
- Atharvavedapariśiṣṭa — Sanskrit