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Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895], at sacred-texts.com


p. a94

HYMN XXIII

A charm to remove a woman's sterility, and to assure the birth of boys

1From thee we banish and expel the cause of thy sterility.
  This in another place we lay apart from thee and far removed.
2As arrow to the quiver, so let a male embryo enter thee.
  Then from thy side be born a babe, a ten-month child, thy hero
   son.
3Bring forth a male, bring forth a son. Another male shall follow
   him.
  The mother shalt thou be of sons born and hereafter to be
   born.
4With that auspicious general flow wherewith steers propagate
   their kind,
  Do thou obtain thyself a son: be thou a fruitfu! mother-cow.
5I give thee power to bear a child: within, thee pass the germ of
   life!
  Obtain a son, O woman, who shall be a blessing unto thee. Be
   thou a blessing unto him.
6May those celestial herbs whose sire was Heaven, the Earth their
   mother, and their root the ocean.
  May those celestial healing Plants assist thee to obtain a son.


Next: Hymn 24: A song of harvest