Atharva Veda 8.9

Mystic: extolling the virā́j

Whence [were] those two born? which side (árdha) was that? out of what world? out of which earth? the two young (vatsá) of the virā́j rose out of the sea (salilá); of those I ask thee: by whether [of them was] she milked?

He who caused the sea to resound (krand) with greatness, making a threefold lair (yóni) as he lay, the desire-milking young of the virā́j; he made his bodies secret (gúhā) in the distance.

What three great ones (bṛhát, n.) there are, the fourth of which [one] disjoins [as] speech—the priest (brahmán) may know it by penance, the inspired one, in which one (ékam) is joined, in which one [is joined].

Forth out of bṛhát [as] sixth five sāmans [were] fashioned; bṛhát was fashioned out of bṛhatī́; out of what was bṛhatī́ made?

Bṛhatī́ the measure (mā́trā) was fashioned forth out of measure [as] a mother; illusion (māyā́) was born from illusion, Mātalī out of illusion.

Vāiçvānara's counterpart [is] the sky above, as far as Agni forced (bādh) apart the two firmaments; from that sixth yonder come the sómas; up from here they go unto the sixth of the day.

We these six seers ask thee, O Kaçyapa, for thou didst join what is joined and what is to be joined; they call (ah) virā́j the father of the bráhman; distribute (? vi-dhā) it to us [thy] friends according to [our] numbers.

After whom, when removed, the sacrifices remove (pra-cyu), [whom], when attending, they attend on (upa-sthā), in whose course (vratá) ⌊and?⌋ impulse the monster (? yakṣá) stirs—that, O seers, is the virā́j in the highest firmament.

Breathless, she goes by the breath of breathing ones (f.); virā́j goes unto svarā́j from behind; virā́j that touches, that is adapted to, everything—some see her, some see her not.

Who understandeth (pra-vid) the pair-ness of virā́j? who the seasons, who the ordering (kálpa) of her? who her steps (kráma), how many times milked out (vi-duh)? who her abode (dhā́man), how many times dawnings (vyùṣṭi)?

This same is she that first shone forth; among these other ones (f.) she goes about having entered; great mightinesses [are] within her; the woman, the new-going generatrix, hath conquered.

The two meter-winged dawns, greatly adorning themselves, move on together toward the same lair (yóni); spouses of the sun, they move on together, understanding, having ensigns, unaging, having abundant seed.

Three (f.) have come along the road of righteousness; three heats (gharmá) have come after the seed; one (f.) enlivens the progeny, one the refreshment (ū́rj); one defends the realm of the godly ones.

She that was fourth set Agni-and-Soma; the seers arranging the (two) wings of the sacrifice—gāyatrī́, triṣṭúbh, jágatī, anuṣṭúbh, bṛhadarkī́, bringing heaven (svàr) for the sacrificer.

Five milkings after five dawnings; five seasons after the five-named cow; five quarters arranged by the fifteenth—those (f.) [are] one-headed toward one world.

Six [are] born the beings first-born of righteousness; six sā́mans carry the six-day (?) [sacrifice]; after the six-yoked plough (sī́ra) severally a sā́man; six they call (ah) the heavens and earths, six the wide [spaces].

Six they call the cold, and six the hot months; tell ye us the season, which one [is] in excess (átirikta); seven eagles (suparṇá), poets, sat down; seven meters after seven consecrations.

Seven [are] the offerings (hóma), the fuels seven, the sweet things (mádhu, n.) seven, the seasons seven; seven sacrificial butters (ā́jya) went about the existent thing (bhūtá); those (f .) are seven-vultured, so have we heard.

Seven [are] the meters increasing (-úttara) by four, the one set upon the other: how do the praises (stóma) stand firm in them? how are they set in the praises?

How did gāyatrī permeate (vi-āp) the triple [stóma]? how is triṣṭúbh adapted to that of fifteen? how jāgatī to that of thirty-three? how [is] anuṣṭúbh that of twenty-one?

Eight [are] born the beings first-born of righteousness; eight, O Indra, are the priests (ṛtvíj) who are of the gods; Aditi has eight wombs (yóni), eight sons; the oblation (havyám) goes unto the eighth night.

Thus thinking what is better have I come hither; in your friendship I am auspicious (çéva); being of the same birth, your skill is propitious; it (m.), understanding, goes about to you all (f.).

Eight of Indra, six of Yama, seven of the seers, seven-fold; waters, men (manuṣyà), herbs—them five followed (sac) after.

Since the heifer milked solely (kévalī) for Indra [his] will (váça), the beestings, [when] first milked, then [she] gratified in four ways the four—gods, men, Asuras, and seers.

What now [is] the ox (gó), who the sole seer, what the abode (dhā́man), what the blessings (āçís)? the monster on the earth [is] simple (ekavṛ́t); the sole season—which now is that?

One [is] the ox, one the sole seer, one the abode, singly the blessings; the monster on the earth [is] single; the sole season is not in excess.