prayer. In another hymn the aid of a goddess Apvā (said to mean "disease or fear") is invoked against the enemies of the singer:—
"Bewildering the hearts of our enemies, O Apvā, take possession of
their limbs and pass onwards; come near, burn them with fires in their
hearts; may our enemies fall into blind darkness (O. S. T. vol. v. p.
110). . . . Attack, ye heroes, and conquer; may Indra grant you protection;
may our arm be productive of terror, that ye may be unconquerable.
Arrow-goddess, sharpened by prayer; fly past as when shot
off; reach the enemies; penetrate into them; let not even one escape
thee" (S. V., p. 297.—Sama Veda, 2. 9. 3. 5).
But these expressions of hostility, directed apparently against
enemies who were engaged in actual war with the friends of the
writer, make no approach in the bitterness of their curses to
the language of the Psalmist when dealing with his personal
foes. A parallel to this more private enmity may be found in
the Atharva-Veda, where the god Kama is invoked to bring
down the severest evils upon the objects of the imprecation:—
"With oblations of butter I worship Kama, the mighty slayer of
enemies. Do thou, when lauded, beat down my foes by thy great
might. The sleeplessness which is displeasing to my mind and eye,
which harrasses and does not delight me, that sleeplessness I let loose
upon my enemy. Having praised Kama, may I rend him. Kama, do
thou, a fierce lord, let loose sleeplessness, misfortune, childlessness,
homelessness, and want upon him who designs us evil. . . . May
breath, cattle, life, forsake them. . . . Indra, Agni, and Kama,
mounted on the same chariot, hurl ye down my foes; when they have
fallen into the nethermost darkness, do thou, Agni, burn up their dwellings.
Kama, slay my enemies; cast them down down into thick [literally,
blind] darkness. Let them all become destitute of power and
vigor, and not live a single day. . . . Let them (my enemies) float
downwards like a boat severed from its moorings. . . . Do thou,
Kama, drive my enemies from this world by that [same weapon or
amulet] wherewith the gods repelled the Asuras, and Indra hurled the
Dasyus into the nethermost darkness" (O. S. T., vol. v. p. 404).
As corresponding to the many expressions to be found in the
