Prithivi, our Mother

Partha Desikan

From the Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895], Book XII , Hymn I, namely Prithvi Sukta, which I have extracted from sacred-texts.com, here is an assortment, some fourteen verses from a total of sixty-three.

>They tell me that the Gods are continuously watching over Prithvi, the earth. They tell me that she is my Mother, I am her son. They tell me too that the fragrance of all creation on Earth, is Mother earth's fragrance. I invite you to enjoy them with me and to make a silent vow that our kind may yet learn to live in harmony with her, our Mother.

Not over-awed by the crowd of Manu's sons, she who hath

many heights and floods and level plains;

She who bears plants endowed with many varied powers,

may Prithivī for us spread wide and favour usMay Earth,

May Prithivī, always protected with ceaseless care by

Gods who never slumber,

May she pour out for us delicious nectar, may she bedew us

with a flood of splendour.

She who at first was water in the ocean, whom with their  Wondrous powers the sages followed,

May she whose heart is in the highest heaven, compassed about

with truth, and everlasting,

May she, this Earth, bestow upon us lustre, and grant us power

in loftiest dominion.

On whom the running universal waters flow day and night with

never-ceasing motion,

May she with many streams pour milk to feed us, may she

bedew us with a flood of splendour.

She whom the Asvins measured out, o'er whom the foot of

Vishnu strode,

Whom Indra, Lord of Power and Might, freed from all foemen

for himself,

May Earth pour out her milk for us, a mother unto me her son.

O Prithivī, auspicious be thy woodlands, auspicious be thy hills

and snow-clad mountains.

Unslain, unwounded, unsubdued, I have set foot upon the

Earth,

On earth brown, black, ruddy and every-coloured, on the firm

earth that Indra guards from danger.

O Prithivī, thy centre and thy navel, all forces that have issued

from thy body

Set us amid those forces; breathe upon us. I am the son of

Earth, Earth is my Mother. Parjanya is my Sire; may he

promote me.

Earth on whose surface they enclose the altar, and all-performers

spin the thread of worship;

In whom the stakes of sacrifice, resplendent, are fixed and raised

on high before the oblation, may she, this Earth, prospering,

make us prosper.

Produced from thee, on thee move mortal creatures: thou

bearest them, both quadruped and biped.

Thine, Prithivī, are these Five human Races, for whom, though

mortal, Sūrya as he rises spreads with his rays the light that is

immortal.

In concert may these creatures yield us blessings. With honey of

discourse, O Earth, endow me.

A vast abode hast thou become, the Mighty. Great stress is on

thee, press and agitation, but with unceasing care great Indra

guards thee.

So make us shine, O Earth, us with the splendour of gold. Let

no man look on us with hatred.

Scent that hath risen from thee, O Earth, the fragrance which.

growing herbs and plants and waters carry,

Shared by Apsarases, shared by Gandharvas therewith make

thou me sweet: let no man hate me.

Thy scent which entered and possessed the lotus, the scent

which they prepared at Sūryā's bridal,

Scent which Immortals Earth! of old collected, therewith make

thou me sweet: let no man hate me.

Thy scent in women and in men, the luck and light that is in.

males,

That is in heroes and in steeds in sylvan beasts and elephants,

The splendid energy of maids, therewith do thou unite us,.

Earth! Let no man look on us with hate.