A prayer for protection, guidance, and prosperity

Hymns of the Atharva Veda, by Ralph T.H. Griffith, [1895], at sacred-texts.com

HYMN XXVII

A charm to obtain invisibility

1There on the bank those Vipers lie, thrice-seven, having cast
   their skins:
  Now we with their discarded sloughs bind close and cover up the
   eyes of the malicious highway thief.
2Far let her go, cutting her way, brandishing, as it were, a club:
  Diverted be the new-born's mind: ne'er are the wicked
   prosperous.
3Not many have had power enough; the feeble ones have not
   prevailed,
  Like scattered fragments of a reed: ne'er are the wicked pros-
   perous.
4Go forward, feet, press quickly on, bring to the house of him
   who pays.
  Unconquered and unplundered, let Indrānf, foremost, lead the
   way.