A History of Indian Literature v1.c8.s3.79

v1.c8.s3.79

Family discord, too, arises through the influence of evil demons or malicious wizards. Therefore we find in the Atharvaveda also a number of spells for the restoration of harmony, which stand midway between the expiatory formulas and the benedictions. For to this class belong not only the spells by which peace and harmony are to be restored in the family, but also formulas by which one can appease the wrath of a great master, or by which one desires to gain influence in an assembly, the art of persuasion in a court of law, and so on. One of the most pleasing of this kind of songs is Ath. III, 30, which begins with the words: