Page:Atharva-Veda samhita.djvu/487

317 1. Surely no mortal, O Agni, hath attained the cruelty of thy self (tanū́). The ape gnaws (bhas) the shaft (téjana), as a cow her own after-birth.

2. Like a ram, thou art bent both together and wide apart, when in the upper wood [the upper] and the lower stone devour; exciting (ard) head with head, breast (ápsas) with breast, he gnaws the soma-stalks (aṅçu) with green mouths.

3. The eagles have uttered (kṛ) their voice close in the sky; in the lair (ākhará) the black lively ones have danced; when they come down to the removal of the lower [stone], they have assumed much seed, they that resort to the sun.

1. Smite, O Açvins, the borer, the samān̄ká, the rat; split their head; crush in their ribs; lest they eat the barley, shut up their mouth; then make fearlessness for the grain.