Rigveda Hymn 191: Hymns to Water, Grass, and Sun for Snake Bite Cure
Summary: This page presents Hymn 191 from Book I of the Rigveda, one of Hinduism's oldest sacred texts, translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith. The hymn invokes Water, Grass, and the Sun as protective forces against venomous creatures and snake bites. Readers will find the complete Sanskrit hymn text with English translation, reflecting ancient Vedic healing practices and spiritual remedies documented in Hindu philosophical tradition.
HYMN 191 Water. Grass. Sun.
1. VENOMOUS, slightly venomous, or venomous aquatic worm,-
Both creatures, stinging, unobserved,
with poison have infected me.
2 Coming, it kills the unobserved; it kills them as it goes away,
It kills them as it drives them off, and bruising bruises them to death.
3 Sara grass, Darbha,
Kusara, and Sairya, Munja, Virana,
Where all these creatures dwell unseen, with poison have
infected me.
4 The cows had settled in their stalls, the beasts of prey had sought their lairs,
Extinguished were the lights of men, when things unseen infected me.
5 Or these, these reptiles,
are observed, like lurking thieves at evening time.
Seers of all, themselves unseen: be therefore
very vigilant.
6 Heaven is your Sire, your Mother Earth, Soma your Brother, Aditi
Your Sister:
seeing all, unseen, keep still and dwell ye happily.
7 Biters of shoulder or of limb, with
needle-stings, most venomous,
Unseen, whatever ye may be, vanish together and be gone.
8
Slayer of things unseen, the Sun, beheld of all, mounts, eastward, up,
Consuming all that are
not seen, and evil spirits of the night.
9 There hath the Sun-God mounted up, who scorches
much and everything.
Even the Aditya from the hills, all-seen, destroying things unseen.
10 I hang the poison in the Sun, a wine-skin in a vintner's house,
He will not die, nor shall we die: his path is far: he whom Bay Horses bear hath turned thee
to sweet meath.
11 This little bird, so very small, hath swallowed all thy poison up.
She
will not die, nor shall we die: his path is far: he whom Bay Horses bear hath turned thee to sweet
meath.
12 The three-times-seven bright sparks of fire have swallowed up the poison's strength.
They will not die, nor shall we die: his path is far: he whom Bay Horses bear hath turned thee
to sweet meath.
13 Of ninety rivers and of nine with power to stay the venom's course,-
The names of all I have secured: his path is far: he whom Bay Horses bear hath turned thee to
sweet meath.
14 So have the peahens three-times-seven, so have the maiden Sisters Seven
Carried thy venom far away, as girls bear water in their jars.
15 The poison-insect is so small;
I crush the creature with a stone.
I turn the poison hence away, departed unto distant lands.
16 Forth issuing from the mountain's side the poison-insect spake and said:
The scorpion's
venom hath no strength Scorpion, thy venom is but weak.
Source: These hymns are reproduced from An English translation of the Vedas by Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1896. Griffith wrote in a poetic, archaic style. In order to make the hymns sound like English poetry, he often compromised the original meaning of the Sanskrit words. Further, his Sanskrit knowledge was limited by the scholarship of the 19th century. For many Indian readers, this feels distant, making his work less accessible than modern prose translations. This page has been formatted, and the hymns are selected and organized by Jayaram V for Hinduwebsite.com. Hymn numbers have been changed from Roman numerals to standard numbers.