Rig Veda · 992 of 1027
Mandala 10: HYMN CLV. Various.
1.ARAYI, one-eyed limping hag, fly, ever-screeching, to the hill. We frighten thee away with these, the heroes of Sirimbitha.
2.Scared from this place and that is she, destroyer of each germ unborn. Go, sharp-horned Brāhmaṇaspti and drive Arayi far away.
3.Yon log that floats without a man to guide it on the river’s edge,— Seize it, thou thing with hideous jaws, and go thou far away thereon.
4.When, foul with secret stain and spot, ye hastened onward to the breast, All Indra’s enemies were slain and passed away like froth and foam.
5.These men have led about the cow, have duly carried Agni round, And raised their glory tg the Gods. Who will attack them with success?
Asked of Guide
Who or what is Arayi in this hymn, and why are the heroes driving her away?
Arayi is a one-eyed, limping hag figure described as a destroyer of “each germ unborn” and “ever-screeching,” a threat to fertility and order that the hymn seeks to expel. The heroes of Sirimbitha call on Brāhmaṇaspti and other powers to seize her—imagery of a log taken downstream and a thing with “hideous jaws”—so she is removed from the community and its ritual life.
Driving Arayi away protects the sacrificial space: the men who have “led about the cow” and “carried Agni round” secure the ritual and thus the tribe’s prosperity. This matches other Vedic hymns where hostile spirits are banished to preserve fertility and the effectiveness of rites, as seen in similar expulsions in other Rigveda hymns.
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