The Atharva Veda

'O Oblations!' You who are the sum of the collection of offerings, protect this ongoing sacrifice, this ritual that consists of a collection of offerings. If some offerings are abandoned or transposed, the ritual, which is the sum of these parts, becomes flawed; therefore, the individual oblations are prayed to separately. Just as in a forest assembly there is no 'group' if there are no trees, here too there is a lack of the collective. Furthermore, 'O you who flow together' saṃsrāvaṇāḥ collected flows. (The lyuṭ suffix is used here in the sense of the act). You, the collected offerings such as ghee, milk, and the like, protect this sacrifice. For without the means, the goal cannot be achieved. Alternatively, 'O Oblations,' you deities who are to be invoked, protect this sacrifice and the sacrificer who desires the fruit of the act. Enrich him with all fruits such as cattle, sons, and so forth. Those who offer are called 'Oblations' homāḥ, or perhaps the priests are being addressed. The second half, beginning with 'this sacrifice,' has been explained.

May the vayaḥ-dhayaḥ those who bestow vigor/youth embrace this sacrifice in every form. May the four quarters increase this sacrifice. I offer with the saṃsrāvya collected/consecrated oblation. || 3 ||

Every form. Those who bestow vigor. Having taken hold. This. Around. Embrace. Sacrifice. This. Four. Quarters. May they increase. With the collected oblation. With the oblation. I offer. || 3 ||

'May the vayaḥ-dhayaḥ those who bestow vigor [embrace] every form.' The dual form vayaḥ-dhayaḥ is used according to the rule 'nityavayoh' (Pāṇini 8.1.4). For the scripture says, 'there are seventeen types of vigor/age.' Having taken hold, having grasped all the desired fruits such as cattle and sons, I, the practitioner, say to this sacrifice: 'I embrace this sacrificer, who desires the fruits and who is the initiator of the action, [binding him] on all sides with the fruits of cattle and sons.' By the rule 'dvitīyāṭau' (Pāṇini 2.4.34), the substitute ena is used. Śvaja means to embrace. In the present tense, first person singular, the nasal of the penultimate is dropped according to 'daśamaścāṃ śati' (Pāṇini 6.4.25). How can one practitioner accept all forms of vigor? To this, he says: 'May the four quarters—the cardinal directions such as the East and the others—and the people dwelling there increase this sacrifice; may they make the sacrificer prosperous with all his desired fruits.' The phrase regarding the collected oblation is as before.

Thus ends the first hymn of the first anuvāka section of the nineteenth kāṇḍa book.

With the hymn 'May the waters bring you happiness' original: "Śaṃ ta āpaḥ", one should consecrate water collected from rivers and other sources for the great śānti pacification ritual that serves as the foundation. It is codified in the Śāntikalpa:
"One should collect holy water from rivers or lakes. The learned one then consecrates it with 'May they flow together' and 'May the waters from the Himalayas bring you happiness'" (Śāntikalpa 20.2; 3).
May the waters from the Himalayas bring you happiness; may they be auspicious for you.

1. Hema (Himalayan) S'.

2. Eternal/Constant S'.

3. Śaṃmu te > Śaṃmu te Dc; Śaṃ te S'.