Atharva Veda 4.9.4: Kanda 4, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 9, Mantra 4

Sukta 9

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

यस्या॑ञ्जन प्र॒सर्प॒स्यङ्ग॑मङ्गं॒ परु॑ष्परुः । ततो॒ यक्ष्मं॒ वि बा॑धस उ॒ग्रो मध्यम॒शीरि॑व

Recitation with translationAtharva Veda 4.9.4

IAST Transliteration

yásyā́ñjana prasárpasyaṅgámaṅgaṃ párūṣparuḥ | táto yakṣmáṃ ví bādhase ugró mádhyam aśī́riva

English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)

O Collyrium, when the Creeping ill hath run through limb on limb, through joint on joint, from thence thou drivest forth the yakṣma—fierce—cleaving its very midst as with an axe.

Translation

يا أَنْجَنَة (الكُحْل)، حين يسري الداءُ الزاحفُ من عضوٍ إلى عضو، ومن مفصلٍ إلى مفصل، فمن هناك تطردُ اليَكْشْمَا (yakṣma)—الشديد—شاقًّا وسطَه كما لو بفأس.

Ask anything about this verse...Ask

Word by Word

• यस्याः: of whom/whose
• यस्याः: सम्बन्ध (genitive relation)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• अञ्जन: collyrium; ointment
• अञ्जन: कर्म (implied object/thing applied) / विषय
• Type: Noun
• Root: अञ्जन (प्रातिपदिक; ‘collyrium/black ointment’)

• प्रसर्पस्य: of the creeping/spreading (one/thing)
• प्रसर्पस्य: सम्बन्ध
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रसर्प (प्रातिपदिक; ‘creeping/spreading’)

• अङ्गम्: limb
• अङ्गम्: कर्म (with implied ‘reaches/affects’)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)

• अङ्गम्: (each) limb
• अङ्गम्: कर्म
• Type: Noun
• Root: अङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)

• परुष्परुः: joint by joint; at the joints
• परुष्परुः: कर्म/अधिकरण (distributive locus)
• Type: Noun
• Root: परुष्परु (प्रातिपदिक; ‘joint/knuckle; node’)

• ततः: from there/thereupon
• ततः: अपादान (from that; thence)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (तद्-प्रातिपदिकात्)

• यक्ष्मम्: disease; wasting illness
• यक्ष्मम्: कर्म
• Type: Noun
• Root: यक्ष्म (प्रातिपदिक; ‘consumption/disease’)

• वि: apart; away (intensifier/separator)
• वि: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)

• बाधसे: you repel; you drive away
• बाधसे: क्रिया (मुख्य क्रिया); कर्ता = त्वम् (अन्तर्निहित)
• Type: Verb
• Root: बाध् (धातु)

• उग्रः: fierce; powerful
• उग्रः: कर्तृ-विशेषण (of the agent addressed)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उग्र (प्रातिपदिक)

• मध्यमशीरिव: like one with a head in the middle (i.e., striking at the center)
• मध्यमशीरिव: कर्तृ-विशेषण (with simile)
• Type: Adjective + Indeclinable
• Root: मध्यमशीरि (प्रातिपदिक; ‘mid-head/central-headed’; epithet) + इव (अव्यय)

Attribution

Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (healing-charms corpus)

Devata: Āñjana as bhaiṣajya; antagonist: Yakṣma personified

Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (with Atharvanic flexibility)

Mantra Rasa

Primary: vira

Secondary: raudra