Atharva Veda 12.2.23: Kanda 12, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 2, Mantra 23
Sukta 2
इ॒मं जी॒वेभ्यः॑ परि॒धिं द॑धामि॒ मैषां॒ नु गा॒दप॑रो॒ अर्थ॑मे॒तम्। श॒तं जीव॑न्तः श॒रदः॑ पुरू॒चीस्ति॒रो मृ॒त्युं द॑धतां॒ पर्व॑तेन
imáṃ jīvébhyaḥ paridhíṃ dadhāmi mā́iṣāṃ nú gā́d áparo ártham etám | śatáṃ jī́vantaḥ śarádaḥ purūcī́s tiró mṛtyúṃ dadhatāṃ párvatena ||
This rampart for the living I set in place: let not for these, even now, the later end—this doom—be reached. Living, may they attain a hundred autumns, many in number; may they set themselves beyond Death, as by a mountain-barrier.
Diesen Schutzwall für die Lebenden errichte ich: Möge für sie, selbst jetzt, das spätere Ende – dieses Verhängnis – nicht erreicht werden. Lebend mögen sie hundert Herbste erlangen, viele an Zahl; mögen sie sich jenseits des Todes festsetzen, wie hinter einer Bergschranke.
Rishi: Traditionally associated with Atharvanic seers of the Pṛthivī-sūkta complex (book 12); precise r̥ṣi assignment varies by anukramaṇī tradition.
Devata: Āyus (Life) and apotropaic power against Mṛtyu (Death); implicitly Pṛthivī as protective ground in the 12.2 context.
Chandas: Triṣṭubh-like cadence (edition-dependent; book 12 often exhibits mixed/expanded meters).
Primary: shanta
Secondary: vira
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