Atharva Veda

The Hymns of the Atharvaveda

Translation by Ralph T.H. Griffith

BOOK I

HYMN XXVII

A charm to obtain invisibility

1          There on the bank those Vipers lie, thrice-seven, having cast
            their skins:
            Now we with their discarded sloughs bind close and cover up the
            eyes of the malicious highway thief.

2          Far let her go, cutting her way, brandishing, as it were, a club:
            Diverted be the new-born's mind: ne'er are the wicked
            prosperous.

3          Not many have had power enough; the feeble ones have not
            prevailed,
            Like scattered fragments of a reed: ne'er are the wicked pros-
            perous.

4          Go forward, feet, press quickly on, bring to the house of him
            who pays.
            Unconquered and unplundered, let Indrānf, foremost, lead the way.

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