Library·Atharvaveda Saṃhitā (Śaunaka)·4·4.2
य आत्मदा बलदा यस्य विश्व उपासते प्रशिषं यस्य देवाः । यो ऽस्येशे द्विपदो यश् चतुष्पदः कस्मै देवाय हविषा विधेम ॥१॥
ya ātmadā baladā yasya viśva upāsate praśiṣaṃ yasya devāḥ | yo 'syeśe dvipado yaś catuṣpadaḥ kasmai devāya haviṣā vidhema ||1||
He who is soul-giving, strength-giving; of whom all, of whom [even] the gods, wait upon the instruction; who is lord (īç) of these bipeds, who of quadrupeds—to what god may we pay worship (vidh) with oblation?
Translated by William Dwight Whitney (1905)
यः प्राणतो निमिषतो महित्वैको राजा जगतो बभूव । यस्य छायामृतं यस्य मृत्युः कस्मै देवाय हविषा विधेम ॥२॥
yaḥ prāṇato nimiṣato mahitvaiko rājā jagato babhūva | yasya chāyāmṛtaṃ yasya mṛtyuḥ kasmai devāya haviṣā vidhema ||2||
He who by his greatness became sole king of the breathing, winking animal creation (jágat); of whom immortality (amṛ́tam), of whom death [is] the shadow—to what god may we pay worship with oblation?
Translated by William Dwight Whitney (1905)
यं क्रन्दसी अवतश् चस्कभाने भियसाने रोदसी अह्वयेथाम् । यस्यासौ पन्था रजसो विमानः कस्मै देवाय हविषा विधेम ॥३॥
yaṃ krandasī avataś caskabhāne bhiyasāne rodasī ahvayethām | yasyāsau panthā rajaso vimānaḥ kasmai devāya haviṣā vidhema ||3||
He whom the (two) spheres (krándasī) favor when fixed; whom the terrified firmaments (rodasī) called upon; whose is yon road, traverser of the welkin (rájas)—to what god may we pay worship with oblation?
Translated by William Dwight Whitney (1905)
यस्य द्यौर् उर्वी पृथिवी च मही यस्याद उर्व् अन्तरिक्षम् । यस्यासौ सूरो विततो महित्वा कस्मै देवाय हविषा विधेम ॥४॥
yasya dyaur urvī pṛthivī ca mahī yasyāda urv antarikṣam | yasyāsau sūro vitato mahitvā kasmai devāya haviṣā vidhema ||4||
[By the greatness] of whom the wide heaven and the great earth, [by the greatness] of whom yon wide atmosphere, by the greatness of whom yon sun [is] extended—to what god may we pay worship with oblation?
Translated by William Dwight Whitney (1905)
यस्य विश्वे हिमवन्तो महित्वा समुद्रे यस्य रसाम् इद् आहुः । इमाश् च प्रदिशो यस्य बाहू कस्मै देवाय हविषा विधेम ॥५॥
yasya viśve himavanto mahitvā samudre yasya rasām id āhuḥ | imāś ca pradiśo yasya bāhū kasmai devāya haviṣā vidhema ||5||
Whose [are] all the snowy mountains by [his] greatness; whose, verily, they call Rasā in the ocean; and of whom these directions are the (two) arms—to what god may we pay worship with oblation?
Translated by William Dwight Whitney (1905)
आपो अग्रे विश्वम् आवन् गर्भं दधाना अमृता ऋतज्ञाः । यासु देवीष्व् अधि देव आसीत् कस्मै देवाय हविषा विधेम ॥६॥
āpo agre viśvam āvan garbhaṃ dadhānā amṛtā ṛtajñāḥ | yāsu devīṣv adhi deva āsīt kasmai devāya haviṣā vidhema ||6||
The waters in the beginning favored (av) the all, assuming an embryo, they the immortal, order-knowing ones, over whom, divine ones, the god was—to what god may we pay worship with oblation?
Translated by William Dwight Whitney (1905)
हिरण्यगर्भः सम् अवर्तताग्रे भूतस्य जातः पतिर् एक आसीत् । स दाधार पृथिवीम् उत द्यां कस्मै देवाय हविषा विधेम ॥७॥
hiraṇyagarbhaḥ sam avartatāgre bhūtasya jātaḥ patir eka āsīt | sa dādhāra pṛthivīm uta dyāṃ kasmai devāya haviṣā vidhema ||7||
The golden embryo was evolved (sam-vṛt) in the beginning; it was, when born, the sole lord of existence (bhūtá); it maintained earth and heaven—to what god may we pay worship with oblation?
Translated by William Dwight Whitney (1905)
आपो वत्सं जनयन्तीर् गर्भम् अग्रे सम् ऐरयन् । तस्योत जायमानस्योल्ब आसीद् धिरण्ययः कस्मै देवाय हविषा विधेम ॥८॥
āpo vatsaṃ janayantīr garbham agre sam airayan | tasyota jāyamānasyolba āsīd dhiraṇyayaḥ kasmai devāya haviṣā vidhema ||8||
The waters, generating a young (vatsá), set in motion (sam-īray) in the beginning an embryo; and of that, when born, the fœtal envelop (úlba) was of gold—to what god may we pay worship with oblation?
Translated by William Dwight Whitney (1905)