Atharva Veda 15.17.4: Kanda 15, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 17, Mantra 4

Sukta 17

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

तस्य॒ व्रात्य॑स्य ।योऽस्य चतु॒र्थो व्या॒नस्तानि॒ नक्ष॑त्राणि

IAST Transliteration

tásya vrā́tyasya | yó ’sya caturthó vyā́nás tā́ni nákṣatrāṇi

English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)

Of that Vratya: that which is his fourth—Vyāna, the pervading breath—those are the Asterisms.

Translation

Von jenem Vrātya: was bei ihm das Vierte ist — Vyāna, der allverbreitende Atem — das sind die Nakṣatras (Sternstationen).

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Word by Word

• तस्य: of that (one)
• तस्य: सम्बन्ध (genitive relation)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• व्रात्यस्य: of the Vrātya (ascetic/outsider consecrated figure)
• व्रात्यस्य: सम्बन्ध
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्रात्य (प्रातिपदिक)

• यः: who (he)
• यः: कर्तृ (of implied ‘is/exists’)
• Type: Pronoun (relative)
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• अस्य: of him/this (one)
• अस्य: सम्बन्ध
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• चतुर्थः: the fourth
• चतुर्थः: विशेषण (of ‘व्यानः’)
• Type: Adjective (ordinal)
• Root: चतुर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)

• व्यानः: Vyāna (the vital breath)
• व्यानः: कर्तृ (predicate-nominative; subject complement)
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्यान (प्रातिपदिक; name of the vital breath ‘Vyāna’)

• तानि: those (things)
• तानि: कर्तृ/कर्म (context: ‘those are…’)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• नक्षत्राणि: the stars / lunar mansions
• नक्षत्राणि: समानााधिकरण (apposition with ‘तानि’)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नक्षत्र (प्रातिपदिक)

Attribution

Rishi: Vratya (subject)

Devata: Vratya / Vyāna; Nakṣatras as correlated celestial order

Chandas: Prose-like Atharvanic identification style

Mantra Rasa

Primary: adbhuta

Secondary: shanta