Atharva Veda 9.9

asya vāmasya palitasya hotus tasya bhrātā madhyamo asty aśnaḥ tṛtīyo bhrātā ghṛtapṛṣṭho asyātrāpaśyaṃ viśpatiṃ saptaputram

Mystic

Of this pleasant (vāmá) hoary invoker—of him the brother is the midmost stone (? áçna); his third brother [is] ghee-backed; there I saw the lord of the people who hath seven sons.

sapta yuñjanti ratham ekacakram eko aśvo vahati saptanāmā trinābhi cakram ajaram anarvaṃ yatremā viśvā bhuvanādhi tasthuḥ

Seven harness (yuj) a one-wheeled chariot; one horse, having seven names, draws (vah) [it]; of three naves [is] the wheel, unwasting, unassailed, whereon stand all these existences.

imaṃ ratham adhi ye sapta tasthuḥ saptacakraṃ sapta vahanty aśvāḥ sapta svasāro abhi saṃ navanta yatra gavām nihitā sapta nāma

The seven that stand on this chariot—seven horses draw it, seven-wheeled; seven sisters shout at [it] together, where are set down the seven names of the kine.

ko dadarśa prathamaṃ jāyamānam asthanvantaṃ yad anasthā bibharti bhūmyā asur asṛg ātmā kva svit ko vidvāṃsam upa gāt praṣṭum etat

Who saw it first in process of birth, as the boneless one bears (bhṛ) him that has bones? where forsooth the earth's life (ásu), blood, soul? who shall go to ask that of him who knows?

iha bravītu ya īm aṅga vedāsya vāmasya nihitaṃ padaṃ veḥ śīrṣṇaḥ kṣīraṃ duhrate gāvo asya vavriṃ vasānā udakaṃ padā 'puḥ

Let him who truly knows ⌊here⌋ tell (brū) the set-down track of this pleasant bird; the kine extract (duh) milk from his head; clothing themselves in a wrap, they have drunk water with the foot.

pākaḥ pṛchāmi manasā 'vijānan devānām enā nihitā padāni vatse baṣkaye 'dhi sapta tantūn vi tatnire kavaya otavā u

Simple, not discerning (vi-jñā) with the mind, I ask about the thus set-down tracks of the gods; over the yearling (? baṣkáya) calf have the poets stretched out seven lines (tántu) for weaving.

acikitvāṃs cikituṣaś cid atra kavīn pṛchāmi vidvano na vidvān vi yas tastambha ṣaṭ imā rajāṃsy ajasya rūpe kiṃ api svid ekam

I, not understanding (cit), ask here the understanding poets, I unknowing (vid), them that know; he who propped asunder these six spaces (rájas), in the form of the goat (? ajá)—was that also alone?

mātā pitaram ṛta ā babhāja 'dhīty agre manasā saṃ hi jagme sā bībhatsur garbharasā nividdhā namasvanta id upavākam īyuḥ

The mother portioned the father in righteousness, for with meditation (dhītí), with mind, came together in the beginning she, repugnant, womb-sapped, pierced; paying homage, verily, they went unto encouragement.

yuktā mātāsīd dhuri dakṣiṇāyā atiṣṭhad garbho vṛjanīṣv antaḥ amīmed vatso anu gām apaśyad viśvarūpyaṃ triṣu yojaneṣu

The mother was yoked to the pole of the sacrificial gift; the embryo stood among the wiles (? vṛjanī́); the calf bleated, looked after the cow of all forms, in the three distances (yójana).

tisro mātṝs trīn pitṝn bibhrad eka ūrdhvas tasthau nem ava glāpayanta mantrayante divo amuṣya pṛṣṭhe viśvavido vācam aviśvavinnām

The one, bearing three mothers [and] three fathers, stood upright; verily they do not exhaust him; on the back of yon sky the all-knowing ones talk a speech not found by all.

pañcāre cakre parivartamāne yasminn ātasthur bhuvanāni viśvā tasya nākṣas tapyate bhūribhāraḥ sanād eva na chidyate sanābhiḥ

On the five-spoked circumvolving wheel on which stood all existences—its axle, much-burdened, is not heated; even from of old it is not severed with the nave.

pañcapādaṃ pitaraṃ dvādaśākṛtiṃ diva āhuḥ pare ardhe purīṣiṇam atheme anya upare vicakṣaṇe saptacakre ṣaḍara āhur arpitam

The five-footed father, of twelve shapes (-ā́kṛti), they call rich in ground (purīṣín) in the far (pára) half of the sky; then these others call [him] set (árpita) in the lower outlook that is seven-wheeled, six-spoked.

dvādaśāraṃ nahi taj jarāya varvarti cakraṃ pari dyām ṛtasya ā putrā agne mithunāso atra sapta śatāni viṃśatiś ca tasthuḥ

The twelve-spoked wheel—for that is not to be worn out—revolves greatly about the sky of righteousness; there, O Agni, stood the sons, paired, seven hundred and twenty.

sanemi cakram ajaraṃ vi vavṛta uttānāyāṃ daśa yuktā vahanti sūryasya cakṣū rajasaity āvṛtaṃ yasminn ātasthur bhuvanāni viśvā

The unwasting wheel, with rim, rolls about; ten harnessed ones draw upon the outstretched one (fem.); the sun's eye goes surrounded with the welkin (rájas), in which stood all existences.

striyaḥ satīs tām u me puṃsaḥ āhuḥ paśyad akṣaṇvān vi cetad andhaḥ kavir yaḥ putraḥ sa īm ā ciketa yas tā vijānāt sa pituṣ pitāsat

Them, being women, they declared (ah) to me to be men; he who hath eyes may see, [but] the blind will not distinguish (vi-cit); the son that is a poet, he verily understood (ā-cit); whoever knows those things apart, he shall be [his] father's father.

sākaṃjānāṃ saptatham āhur ekajaṃ ṣaḍ id yamā ṛṣayo devajā iti teṣām iṣṭāni vihitāni dhāmaśa sthātre rejante vikṛtāni rūpaśaḥ

Of those born together the seventh they call sole-born; six, they say, are twins, god-born seers; the sacrifices (? iṣṭá) of them, distributed according to their abodes, quake in their station, being altered (vi-kṛ) in respect to form.

avaḥ pareṇa para enā avareṇa padā vatsaṃ bibhratī gaur ud asthāt sā kadrīcī kaṃ svid ardhaṃ parāgāt kva svit sūte nahi yūthe asmin

Below the distant (pára), thus beyond the lower, bearing (bhṛ) her calf with her foot, the cow hath stood up; whitherwards, to what quarter (árdha) hath she forsooth gone away? where giveth she birth? for [it is] not in this herd.

avaḥ pareṇa pitaraṃ yo asya vedāvaḥ pareṇa para enāvareṇa kavīyamānaḥ ka iha pra vocad devaṃ manaḥ kuto adhi prajātam

Below the distant whoever knows his father, below the distant, thus beyond the lower—who, playing the poet, shall proclaim [him] here? from whence [is] heavenly mind produced?

ye arvāñcas tāṁ u parāca āhur ye parāñcas tāṁ u arvāca āhuḥ indraś ca yā cakrathuḥ soma tāni dhurā na yuktā rajaso vahanti

Them that are hitherward they call off-ward; them, again, that are off-ward they call hitherward; what things, O Soma, thou and Indra have done, those they draw, harnessed as it were with the pole of the welkin.

dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā samānaṃ vṛkṣaṃ pari ṣasvajāte tayor anyaḥ pippalaṃ svādv atty anaśnann anyo abhi cākaśīti

Two eagles (suparṇá), joint companions, embrace the same tree; of them the one eats the sweet berry; the other looks on all the time, not partaking.

yasmin vṛkṣe madhvadaḥ suparṇā niviśante suvate cādhi viśve tasya yad āhuḥ pippalaṃ svādv agre tan non naśad yaḥ pitaraṃ na veda

On what tree the honey-eating eagles all settle and give birth—what they call the sweet berry in the top of it, that cannot he attain who knoweth not [his] father.

yatrā suparṇā amṛtasya bhakṣam animeṣaṃ vidathābhisvaranti enā viśvasya bhuvanasya gopāḥ sa mā dhīraḥ pākam atrā viveśa

Where the eagles, with counsel (vidátha), sound incessantly (ánimeṣam) unto the draught of amṛ́ta,—thus the shepherd of all existence, he the wise one entered there into me that am simple.