Atharva Veda 5.21.10: Kanda 5, Anuvaka 3, Sukta 21, Mantra 10
Sukta 21
आदि॑त्य॒ चक्षु॒रा द॑त्स्व॒ मरी॑च॒योऽनु॑ धावत । प॒त्स॒ङ्गिनी॒रा स॑जन्तु॒ विग॑ते बाहुवी॒र्येऽ
ādítya cákṣur ā́ datsva marī́cayo ’nú dhāvata | patsáṅginīr ā́ sajantu vígate bāhúvīrye
O Āditya, bestow hither sight; let the rays run on in pursuit. Let the foot-attending powers attach themselves to us, when the foe’s arm-might is gone away.
يا آديتيا، امنحنا البصرَ ههنا؛ ولتجرِ أشعتُك مُلاحِقةً. ولتلتصق بنا القوى الملازمةُ للخطى، حين يزول بأسُ ذراعِ العدوّ.
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition
Devata: Āditya (Sun); secondarily Marīcayaḥ (rays) as agents
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (approximate; final pāda appears truncated in the provided text and may be defective/elliptical)
Primary: adbhuta
Secondary: vira
Sāyaṇa takes Āditya as the giver of cákṣus—both literal vision and strategic ‘seeing’ (battle-awareness). The marīcayas are personified pursuers that ‘run after’ and harry the enemy. patsáṅginīḥ are explained as attendants that accompany the marching (either rays accompanying the host or supportive forces that keep pace), joining the sacrificer’s side once the opponent’s bāhuvīrya is ‘dislodged’ (vigata).
To obtain solar sight/watchfulness and to have pursuing rays/attendants harry the enemy until his arm-strength departs
Impaired sight/obscuration (literal or metaphorical); also ‘hidden harms’ (adṛṣṭa-type threats) in a battle/protection frame.
Eyes (cakṣuḥ)
Solar bestowal of cakṣus + exposure/pursuit by rays; restoration of supportive faculties when threat-power wanes.
Sūrya-tejas and ālocaka pitta (visual faculty); light as a purifier and regulator of perception.
Vision/attention training; circadian light exposure supporting alertness; psychological ‘situational awareness’ under stress.
mixed
Hostile opponent’s strength (bāhuvīrya) and any concealed threat.
To gain solar sight and vigilant pursuit of threats, culminating in the enemy’s loss of arm-power and the attachment of supportive forces to the practitioner.
Invocation of solar faculty-transfer (cakṣur ā datsva) + ‘pursuit’ command to rays + adhesion of attendants (ā sajantu) once threat wanes.
Ambush, confusion, loss of vigilance, concealment of danger.
The speaker asks Āditya (the Sun) to grant sight; the rays are urged to pursue; and ‘foot-attending powers’ are asked to attach to the speaker when the enemy’s arm-strength has departed.
Clarity (cákṣus) is requested as the primary battlefield asset: awareness, vigilance, and discernment. The ‘rays pursuing’ symbolize focused attention that does not let threats hide. When the opponent’s ‘arm-might’ is gone, one’s supportive faculties ‘attach’—stability returns.
Vision—literal and ethical—precedes effective action. When awareness is bright, hidden dangers are exposed and hostile power wanes.
- आदित्य (āditya)
- Illumination, truth, surveillance, moral clarity
- चक्षुः (cakṣuḥ)
- Discernment, situational awareness, insight
- मरीचयः (marīcayaḥ)
- Probing attention; healing light; pursuit that leaves no hiding place
- अनु धावत (anu dhāvata)
- Relentless clarity chasing away concealment and fear
- पत्संगिनीः (patsaṅginīḥ)
- Supportive powers that ‘keep pace’: allies, endurance, momentum, protective attendants
- बाहुवीर्य (bāhuvīrya)
- Capacity for harm; coercive power that must be made to ‘depart’
Dawn-clarity: invite inner light to ‘see through’ confusion and threat.
Ājñā (discernment)
Gentle sūrya-bhedana (right-nostril inhale) in moderation; exhale softly on ‘cakṣur ā datsva’.
Golden rays enter the forehead/eyes as cooling clarity, then radiate outward to expose and dissolve hidden threats.
Bright, vigilant calm.
Practice at dawn; keep eyes relaxed; visualize rays pursuing not people but obscurations—fear, deception, and confusion.
Follow udātta marks; keep ‘आदित्य’ and ‘चक्षुः’ clearly articulated; allow a slightly longer pause after pāda 2.
Emphasize the requests/commands: ‘चक्षुर् आ दत्स्व’, ‘अनु धावत’, ‘आ सजन्तु’.
आदित्य: long ā; dental d, मरीचयः: keep long ī (marī-) and clear c, पत्संगिनीः: articulate ts (pat-saṅ-) cleanly
Clear, bright, slightly uplifted tone; less harsh than battle verses.
If the final pāda is textually uncertain in a given tradition, keep intention fixed on ‘enemy strength departing’ and ‘supports attaching’.
7
Need for clarity, vigilance, and protection—travel, examinations, leadership decisions, or navigating deception.
At dawn; before important decisions; when feeling mentally ‘in the dark’.
Improved clarity and confidence; reduced susceptibility to hidden threats; steadier perception.
For eye disease, treat as devotional support only—seek medical care; avoid unsafe sun-gazing.
पाठे ‘चक्षु॒रा द॑त्स्व’ इति संधिः: चक्षुः + आ → चक्षुरा (विसर्गलोपः, उ/ः + आ → उरा). ‘मरी॑च॒योऽनु॑’ इति: मरीचयः + अनु → मरीचयोऽनु (विसर्गस्य ‘ओऽ’ आदेशः). अन्ते ‘वी॒र्येऽ’ इति अपूर्णः पाठः; सामान्यतः ‘वीर्ये’ इति सप्तमी-एकवचनम्, परतः स्वरादौ ‘ऽ’ (अवग्रह) दृश्यते।
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