Plain text of Book 5, Hymn 23
1 I have called on God, Lord of heaven and earth, to aid; let Him destroy the worm, I prayed.
2 O God, Lord of treasures, kill the worms that prey upon this boy.
All the malignant spirits have been smitten by my potent prayer.
3 We utterly destroy the worm, the worm that creeps around the eyes,
The worm that crawls about the nose, the worm that gets between the teeth.
4 Two of like colour, two unlike, two coloured black, two coloured red,
The tawny and the tawny-eared, Vulture and Wolf, all these are killed.
5 Worms that are white about the sides, those that are black with black-hued arms,
All that show various tints and hues, these worms we utterly destroy.
6 Eastward the sun is mounting, seen of all, destroying things unseen,
Crushing and killing all the worms invisible and visible.
7 Let the Yevashas, Kaskashas, Ejatkas, Sipavitnukas,
Let both the worm that we can see, and that we see not, be destroyed.
8 Slain the Yevasha of the worms, slain too is the Nadaniman.
I have reduced them all to dust like vetches with the pounding-stone.
9 The worm Saranga, white of hue, three-headed, with a triple hump,—
I split and tear his ribs away, I wrench off every head he has.
10 I kill you, worms, as Atri, as Kanva and Jamadagni killed.
I crush the worms to pieces with a prayer that erst Agastya used.
11 The King of worms hath been destroyed, he who was lord of these is slain.
Slain is the worm whose mother, whose brother and sister have been slain.
12 Destroyed are his dependants, those who dwell around him are destroyed,
And all the worms that seem to be the little ones are done to death.
13 Of every worm and insect, of the female and the male alike,
I crush the head to pieces with a stone and burn the face with fire.