Sukta 2

Mantra 1

दीर्घायुःप्राप्तिः। आ र॑भस्वे॒माम॒मृत॑स्य॒ श्नुष्टि॒मच्छि॑द्यमाना ज॒रद॑ष्टिरस्तु ते । असुं॑ त॒ आयुः॒ पुन॒रा भ॑रामि॒ रज॒स्तमो॒ मोप॑ गा॒ मा प्र मे॑ष्ठाः

Lay hold upon this stay of immortality: unshorn, unbroken, let it be thine, to see old age. Thy breath, thy life, I bring again hither; let not mist, let not darkness come nigh—do not thou utterly pass away.

Mantra 2

जीव॑तां॒ ज्योति॑र॒भ्येह्य॒र्वाङा त्वा॑ हरामि श॒तशा॑रदाय । अ॒व॒मु॒ञ्चन् मृ॑त्युपा॒शानश॑स्तिं॒ द्राघी॑य॒ आयुः॑ प्रत॒रं ते॑ दधामि

O light of the living, come hitherward; thee I bring for a hundred autumns. Releasing the nooses of Death, the ill-omened bane, I set for thee a life more long, more onward-reaching.

Mantra 3

वाता॑त् ते प्रा॒णम॑विदं॒ सूर्या॒च्चक्षु॑र॒हं तव॑ । यत् ते॒ मन॒स्त्वयि॒ तद् धा॑रयामि॒ सं वि॒त्स्वाङ्गै॒र्वद॑ जि॒ह्वयाल॑पन्

From Wind for thee I have found thy breath; from the Sun, thy sight, I. What mind of thine is within thee—that I hold fast. Come wholly to thy sense with thy limbs; speak with thy tongue, uttering clear speech.

Mantra 4

प्रा॒णेन॑ त्वा द्वि॒पदां॒ चतु॑ष्पदाम॒ग्निमि॑व जा॒तम॒भि सं ध॑मामि । नम॑स्ते मृत्यो॒ चक्षु॑षे॒ नमः॑ प्रा॒णाय॑ तेऽकरम्

With breath I breathe upon thee—of bipeds, of quadrupeds—like fire new-born I kindle thee wholly. Homage to thee, O Death, to thine eye; homage have I made to Prāṇa for thee.

Mantra 5

अ॒यं जी॑वतु॒ मा मृ॑ते॒मं समी॑रयामसि । कृ॒णोम्य॑स्मै भेष॒जं मृत्यो॒ मा पुरु॑षं वधीः

Let this man live; let him not die: this one we raise up wholly. For him I fashion a remedy. O Death, do not smite the person down.

Mantra 6

जी॒व॒लां न॑घारि॒षां जी॑व॒न्तीमोष॑धीम॒हम्। त्रा॒य॒मा॒णां सह॑मानां॒ सह॑स्वतीमि॒ह हु॑वे॒ऽस्मा अ॑रि॒ष्टता॑तये

The life-bestowing, the unassailable, the living Herb do I invoke—protecting, overpowering, rich in might—here, for this man, unto unhurtful safety.

Mantra 7

अधि॑ ब्रूहि॒ मा र॑भथाः सृ॒जेमं तवै॒व सन्त्सर्व॑हाया इ॒हास्तु॑ । भवा॑शर्वौ मृ॒डतं॒ शर्म॑ यच्छतमप॒सिध्य॑ दुरि॒तं ध॑त्त॒मायुः॑

Pronounce thou over him: seize him not; release this man—being thine, let him abide here, complete in all his years. O Bhava and Śarva, be gracious; grant ye shelter; drive ye away misfortune; set ye fast his life.

Mantra 8

अ॒स्मै मृ॑त्यो॒ अधि॑ ब्रूही॒मं द॑य॒स्वोदि॒तो॒३यमे॑तु । अरि॑ष्टः॒ सर्वा॑ङ्गः सु॒श्रुज्ज॒रसा॑ श॒तहा॑यन आ॒त्मना॒ भुज॑मश्नुताम्

For this man, O Death, pronounce thou; have pity—let him, arisen, go his way. Unharmed, whole-limbed, of good hearing, let him by old age attain a hundred years, and with his very self enjoy his portion.

Mantra 9

दे॒वानां॑ हे॒तिः परि॑ त्वा वृणक्तु पा॒रया॑मि त्वा॒ रज॑स॒ उ॑त् त्वा॑ मृ॒त्योर॑पीपरम्। आ॒राद॒ग्निं क्र॒व्यादं॑ नि॒रूहं॑ जी॒वात॑वे ते परि॒धिं द॑धामि

Let the Gods’ weapon close around thee. I bear thee through from out the region; from Death I have delivered thee. Far off the flesh-devouring Fire, the uprooting one— for thy living I set a boundary round about thee.

Mantra 10

यत् ते॑ नि॒यानं॑ रज॒सं मृत्यो॑ अनवध॒र्ष्यऽम्। प॒थ इ॒मं तस्मा॒द् रक्ष॑न्तो॒ ब्रह्मा॑स्मै॒ वर्म॑ कृण्मसि

That leading-down of thine, O Death, from out the region—irresistible— from that path, guarding this man, we make for him Prayer as armor.

Mantra 11

कृ॒णोमि॑ ते प्राणापा॒नौ ज॒रां मृ॒त्युं दी॒र्घमायुः॑ स्व॒स्ति। वै॒व॒स्व॒तेन॒ प्रहि॑तान् यमदू॒तांश्चर॒तोऽप॑ सेधामि॒ सर्वा॑न्

I set in order for thee the in-breath and the out-breath—old age, death, long life, and welfare. All Yama’s messengers, roaming, sent forth by Vaivasvata, these I drive away and bar off.

Mantra 12

आ॒रादरा॑तिं॒ निरृ॑तिं प॒रो ग्राहिं॑ क्र॒व्यादः॑ पिशा॒चान्। रक्षो॒ यत् सर्वं॑ दुर्भू॒तं तत् तम॑ इ॒वाप॑ हन्मसि

Far away [be] malignity and Nirṛti; far away the Seizer, the flesh-eaters, the Piśācas. Whatsoever Rakṣas, all that is ill-formed, that we smite away, as [one smites] darkness.

Mantra 13

अ॒ग्नेष्टे॑ प्रा॒णम॒मृता॒दायु॑ष्मतो वन्वे जा॒तवे॑दसः । यथा॒ न रिष्या॑ अ॒मृतः॑ स॒जूरस॒स्तत् ते॑ कृणोमि॒ तदु॑ ते॒ समृ॑ध्यताम्

O Agni, from the deathless, from the life-endowed, I seek to win thy breath, O Jātavedas; so that thou suffer no hurt—deathless, in firm accord—this I establish for thee; yea, let that for thee be brought to full success.

Mantra 14

शि॒वे ते॑ स्तां॒ द्यावा॑पृथि॒वी अ॑संता॒पे अ॑भि॒श्रियौ॑ । शं ते॒ सूर्य॒ आ त॑पतु॒ शं वातो॑ वातु ते हृ॒दे। शि॒वा अ॒भि क्ष॑रन्तु॒ त्वापो॑ दि॒व्याः पय॑स्वतीः

Auspicious for thee be Heaven and Earth, untroubling, rich in splendour. Weal—let the Sun shine warmly upon thee; weal—let the Wind blow for thy heart. Kindly let the heavenly Waters, rich in nourishment, flow over thee.

Mantra 15

शि॒वास्ते॑ स॒न्त्वोष॑धय॒ उत् त्वा॑हार्ष॒मध॑रस्या॒ उत्त॑रां पृथि॒वीम॒भि। तत्र॑ त्वादि॒त्यौ र॑क्षतां सूर्याचन्द्र॒मसा॑वु॒भा

Auspicious for thee be the Herbs. Up have I lifted thee from the lower [region] unto the upper Earth. There let the two Ādityas guard thee—both Sun and Moon.

Mantra 16

यत् ते॒ वासः॑ परि॒धानं॒ यां नी॒विं कृ॑णु॒षे त्वम्। शि॒वं ते॑ त॒न्वे॒३तत् कृ॑ण्मः संस्प॒र्शेऽद्रू॑क्ष्णमस्तु ते

What garment of thine is for wearing, what girdle thou dost fasten on—this we appoint as gracious for thy body: in its very touch let it be to thee uninjuring.

Mantra 17

यत् क्षु॒रेण॑ म॒र्चय॑ता सुते॒जसा॒ वप्ता॒ वप॑सि केशश्म॒श्रु। शुभं॒ मुखं॒ मा न॒ आयुः॒ प्र मो॑षीः

When with the razor, sharpened, of excellent edge, the shaver shears the hair and beard—make thou the face auspicious; do not, for us, steal away the life.

Mantra 18

शि॒वौ ते॑ स्तां व्रीहिय॒वाव॑बला॒साव॑दोम॒धौ। ए॒तौ यक्ष्मं॒ वि बा॑धेते ए॒तौ मु॑ञ्चतो॒ अंहसः

Benign for thee be rice and barley, free from phlegm, unharmful in the house. These twain drive off the wasting-disease; these twain release from anguish.

Mantra 19

यद॒श्नासि॒ यत् पिब॑सि धा॒न्यंऽ कृ॒ष्याः पयः॑ । यदा॒द्यं॒१ यद॑ना॒द्यं सर्वं॑ ते॒ अन्न॑मवि॒षं कृ॑णोमि

What thou eatest and what thou drinkest—grain of the tilth, and milk—whether it be fit for eating or unfit, all thy food I render free from poison.

Mantra 20

अह्ने॑ च त्वा॒ रात्र॑ये चो॒भाभ्यां॒ परि॑ दद्मसि । अ॒राये॑भ्यो जिघ॒त्सुभ्य॑ इ॒मं मे॒ परि॑ रक्षत

To Day and unto Night, to both together, we commit thee round about. From foes, from the hungry that would seize, do ye protect this man of mine on every side.

Mantra 21

श॒तं ते॒ऽयुतं॑ हाय॒नान् द्वे यु॒गे त्रीणि॑ च॒त्वारि॑ कृण्मः । इ॒न्द्रा॒ग्नी विश्वे॑ दे॒वास्तेऽनु॑ मन्यन्ता॒महृ॑णीयमानाः

A hundred for thee, a myriad of years—two ages, yea three and four—do we ordain. Indra and Agni, and all the Gods, let them consent thereto, being unangered and unoffended.

Mantra 22

श॒रदे॑ त्वा हेम॒न्ताय॑ वस॒न्ताय॑ ग्री॒ष्माय॒ परि॑ दद्मसि । व॒र्षाणि॒ तुभ्यं॑ स्यो॒नानि॒ येषु॒ वर्ध॑न्त॒ ओष॑धीः

To Autumn thee, to Winter, to the Spring, to Summer do we wholly commit. Years, kindly and benign, be thine—those in which the healing plants wax and prosper.

Mantra 23

मृ॒त्युरी॑शे द्वि॒पदां॑ मृ॒त्युरी॑शे॒ चतु॑ष्पदाम्। तस्मा॒त् त्वां मृ॒त्योर्गोप॑ते॒रुद् भ॑रामि॒ स मा बि॑भेः

Death ruleth over bipeds; Death ruleth over quadrupeds. Therefore from Death, the keeper, do I bear thee forth: fear thou not.

Mantra 24

सोऽरिष्ट॒ न म॑रिष्यसि॒ न म॑रिष्यसि॒ मा बि॑भेः । न वै तत्र॑ म्रियन्ते॒ नो य॑न्त्यध॒मं तमः॑

Unharmed art thou: thou shalt not die, thou shalt not die—fear not. Verily there men die not, nor go they down to the nethermost darkness.

Mantra 25

सर्वो॒ वै तत्र॑ जीवति॒ गौरश्वः॒ पुरु॑षः प॒शुः । यत्रे॒दं ब्रह्म॑ क्रि॒यते॑ परि॒धिर्जीव॑नाय॒ कम्

All verily live there—cow and horse, man and beast—where this holy spell is wrought, a boundary made for life and blessed weal.

Mantra 26

परि॑ त्वा पातु समा॒नेभ्यो॑ऽभिचा॒रात् सब॑न्धुभ्यः । अम॑म्रिर्भवा॒मृतो॑ऽतिजी॒वो मा ते॑ हासिषु॒रस॑वः॒ शरी॑रम्

Round thee let protection stand, from equals’ sorcery, from kindred foes. Be thou unperishing; be deathless, over-living: let not the vital juices ever leave thy body.

Mantra 27

ये मृ॒त्यव॒ एक॑शतं॒ या ना॒ष्ट्रा अ॑तिता॒र्याः । मु॒ञ्चन्तु॒ तस्मा॒त् त्वां दे॒वा अ॒ग्नेर्वै॑श्वान॒रा दधि॑

What deaths there be, a hundredfold, what ruinous perils to be overpassed—let them from thee unloose their hold. The Gods, as Vaiśvānara Agni, set thee (in safety).

Mantra 28

अ॒ग्नेः शरी॑रमसि पारयि॒ष्णु र॑क्षो॒हासि॑ सपत्न॒हा। अथो॑ अमीव॒चात॑नः पू॒तुद्रु॒र्नाम॑ भेष॒जम्

Thou art Agni’s very body, a bearer across; thou art a slayer of demons, a slayer of rivals; yea, a driver-off of sickness—Pūtudru by name, a remedy.