A History of Sanskrit Literature c10.81

c10.81

In concluding this survey of the *Atharva-veda*, I would draw attention to a hymn to Varuṇa (iv. 16), which, though its last two stanzas are ordinary Atharvan spells for binding enemies with the fetters of that deity, in its remaining verses exalts divine omniscience in a strain unequalled in any other Vedic poem. The following three stanzas are perhaps the best:—