Atharvavedaparishishta 65

English (machine translation) 65

Language: English

65.1 — 11 parts
65.2 — 13 parts
65.3 — 8 parts

65.1.1

Om. Now, therefore, in the auxiliary section on signs, we shall explain the signs of immediate rain.

When the sun appears with a glossy, pure disk, radiant, intensely brilliant, with thick rays, resembling glowing fire, Parjanya rains immediately; and when the quarters are clear, the mountains resemble crow's eggs, with great dust ridges, plunged into lakes, appearing pure, vast, glossy, serene, and cheerful, when the constellations of lights seem low, and when the wind is favorable, auspicious, cool, and low. And here is a verse:

65.1.3

The east wind produces clouds; the other destroys clouds; / the north produces rain; and the south certainly rains.

65.1.4

When clouds have the shape of a whale, makara, mountain, serpent, alligator, aquatic monster, porpoise, conch shell, tree, turtle, wave, fish, buffalo, boar, quarter-elephant, fresh white water lily petal, lotus stem, pot, bud, garland, archway, whirlpool, swastika, vardhamāna dish, chariot, silver-colored, banner, horse, falcon, assembly hall, various aquatic creatures, bird-crying quadrupeds, soft as night blue water lilies and lotus leaves;

65.1.5

resembling pearls, crystal, silver, lapis lazuli, collyrium, black bees, and serpents; with the luster of honey, milk, flame-of-the-forest flowers, smoke, dūrvā grass, silver, gold, and coral:

65.1.6

When [clouds] are seen doubled or tripled, rooted, having high peaks, with great whirls, making sounds like trembling chariot-fellies, reverberating with the roar of ocean waters, booming like agitated kettledrums, or resembling lotus-filaments; or dark like white lotuses or peacock necks, resounding with masses of clouds; or when there are broken clouds, or clouds broken at the base; at times resembling gold or realgar, filled with golden [hues], in these waters and adorned within by [various] places; stirred and spread by the south wind, sounding with deep thundering within the planets; [or] in the middle of half [the sky], one should predict immediate rain. On this there are two verses:

65.1.7

clouds appearing as embryos at sunrise or sunset while the sun shines, / as if blazing on the manifold, uneven points of the sky;

65.1.8

five wind-couches, appearing like golden gems— / wherever they are observed, there it pours down rain.

65.1.9

Having observed a mass of clouds at the rising, ascending, or setting of the sun, and rain-giving [clouds] having the appearance of marine animals, ariṣṭaka-berries, beryl, blue lotuses, lotus leaves, smoke, moss, or herons, possessing a glossy rumble, deep rays, and lightning, increasing together with the wind and bending the wind-blown trees on the ground that have grown large trunks and branches, one should predict immediate rain. On this there are two verses:

65.1.10

"With clouds resembling blazing fire within, pure gold, / or resembling the lustre of blue lotuses, beryl, or collyrium,

65.1.11

growing with dark rays like branching trees— / wherever they are seen, it certainly rains there."

65.2.1

And twilight resembling fire, the sun, blue lotus, karnikāra, refined gold, sunrise, yellow orpiment, blue lotus, ghee, honey, bandhujīvaka, hibiscus flowers, and heaps of kiṃśuka flowers, as well as molten gold, coral, crystal, and beryl colors illuminating the quarters, with tranquil animals and birds;

65.2.2

or when the sun is garlanded with rays, seeing a twilight with glossy, dense, low-hanging clouds, spotless, smooth halos, optical rings, cloud-trees, mock-suns, streaked with red corners, having regions frequented as if by herds of water-buffaloes, bulls, boars, elephants, and aquatic creatures along with smears of fivefold colors. On this there is a verse:

65.2.3

"When surrounded by unblemished halos of twilight, counter-glows, / mock-suns, and water-born [clouds], the twilight immediately brings rain."

65.2.4

According to the characteristics: when weapons, bronze, copper, and iron become moist; fireflies; when there is sweating, […] and the climbing upon high riverbanks, ramparts, city-gates, and house-tops, or dust-bathing of birds;

65.2.5

or seeing the play of children roaming around tanks, wells, and causeways, and reckoning during the conjunctions of planets in Citrā, Viśākhā, Svāti, Kṛttikā, Aṣāḍhā, Uttarabhadrapadā, and Bharaṇī, when covered by great rain after three days; and on this there are two verses:

65.2.6

"The playful frolicking of fish, seeing the cows returning home, / an abundance of gnats and mosquitoes, and the release of shooting stars;

65.2.7

the coming together of water-dwelling and land-dwelling broods of hole-dwellers, / the carrying of ants' eggs, and warm water—these portend rain."

65.2.8

Having honoured the astrologer, on the bank of a pool, well, pond, or river, or in grassy places, with wet clothes and wet hands, one should ask; he should predict immediate rain.

65.2.9

Hearing in the north-eastern quarter the sweet cry of a jay belonging to the water-lineage, or seeing the space between the marks of young children, he should say, 'It will rain.'

65.2.10

Thunder at night, lightning by day, the colour [of the sky] glossy in the field of music, the sight of a double rainbow in a cloudless sky, the bellowing of cattle, and the appearance of clouds resembling rods and short lines of clouds portend immediate rain. On this there are verses:

65.2.11

"When there is a mock-sun to the north of the sun, / it continually checks the rain; when to the south, there is danger from flood.

65.2.12

Earthly rain occurs when endowed with three kinds of omens; / indeed, by a single omen it will extend for five yojanas.

65.2.13

Under whatever omens and lunar mansions along its course / it is deemed auspicious, precisely when those appear does it rain.

65.3.1

However, omens of the contrary kind cause an obstruction; / in their case, an Atharvan priest should perform a propitiatory rite for appeasement."

65.3.2

With the hymn 'sam ut patantu' and others with 'pra nabhasva'; / some prescribe kindling sticks of reed, while others know those made of śamī.

65.3.3

[With kindling sticks of reed offered into the fire fed with calotropis fuel, / there should be an oblation lasting a day and a night; Parjanya will give abundant rain.

65.3.4

Desiring rain, he sacrifices to the Maruts with the hymn 'sam ut patantu' according to the ordinance of domestic sacrifices, just as to Varuṇa. Desiring rain, he sacrifices to the Maruts with the two verses beginning 'pra nabhasva', offering just as to Varuṇa.]

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Atharvavedapariśiṣṭa — Sanskrit