Atharva Veda 2.14.3: Kanda 2, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 14, Mantra 3
Sukta 14
अ॒सौ यो अ॑ध॒राद् गृ॒हस्तत्र॑ सन्त्वरा॒य्यः । तत्र॑ से॒दिर्न्युऽच्यतु॒ सर्वा॑श्च यातुधा॒न्यः
asáu yó ádharād gṛháḥ tátra santu ārāyyàḥ | tátra sedír ny ùcyatu sárvāś ca yātudhānyàḥ ||
Yonder—whoso house is from beneath—there let the hostile ones abide; there let a seat be set down by utterance, and there (be) all the Yātudhānī demonesses.
Dort—wessen Haus unten ist—dort sollen die Feindseligen wohnen; dort werde durch das Wort ein Sitz niedergesetzt, und dort (seien) alle Yātudhānī-Dämoninnen.
The meaning
What it says
The mantra assigns hostile ones to a ‘yonder’ house that is ‘from beneath’; there, by utterance, a seat is set down, and there all yātudhānī demonesses are to be confined.
The inner meaning
Strategic displacement and containment: instead of fighting everywhere, the mind learns to localize fear and intrusive thoughts into a bounded ‘seat’—a classic Atharvan technique of fixing wandering harm.
The truth in it
What is given a boundary loses tyranny: naming a place for chaos confines it; ordered speech can relocate and immobilize what otherwise roams freely.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Rakṣoghna / Apotropaic (protective; demon-expulsion/binding)
Its aim
To secure the household by fixing hostile beings and yātudhānī demonesses to a designated 'lower' locus, preventing their roaming and harm within the domestic space.
Word by Word
Pada patha
असौ । यः । अधरात् । गृहः । तत्र । सन्तु । अरा॒य्यः । तत्र । सेदिः । नि । उच्यतु । सर्वाः । च । यातुधा॒न्यः ।
- असौ
- that (man/one)that (yonder; the one indicated at a distance—here, the hostile presence to be pointed out and fixed)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot अदस् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- यः
- whowho/which (relative marker introducing the targeted agent or locus)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अधरात्
- from belowfrom below; from the lower region (nether/under-side—suggesting a chthonic, concealed, or inferior source of harm)Adjective (used adverbially) / Noun-likeनपुंसकलिङ्गे (अधरा-शब्दः), पञ्चमी, एकवचनम्; अव्ययीभावार्थे ‘from below’Role ApādānaRoot अधरा (विशेषण-प्रातिपदिक; ‘lower’)
- गृहः
- house; dwellingNounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot गृह (प्रातिपदिक)
- तत्र
- therethere; in that place (deictic fixation—pinning the evil to a determinate locus)Indeclinableअव्ययम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot तत्र (अव्यय)
- सन्तु
- let them belet them be; may they remain (injunctive/benedictive force used to confine and station the hostile beings)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), प्रथमपुरुषः, बहुवचनम्Role विधेय-क्रियाRoot अस् (धातु)
- अराय्यः
- enemies; hostile beingshostile ones; enemies (arai-: injurer, adversary—often including human rivals and non-human malefics)Nounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot अरायि (प्रातिपदिक; ‘enemy/hostile one’)
- तत्र
- thereIndeclinableअव्ययम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot तत्र (अव्यय)
- सेदिः
- has sat/settled; has taken seata seat/sitting-place; settling (interpretable as 'seat' or 'lair'—the appointed place where the evil is made to sit fast)Verbलिट्/परिपूर्ण (वैदिक), प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम् (पाठभेदेषु रूपनिश्चयः कठिनः)Role विधेय-क्रियाRoot सद् (धातु) → सेदिः (परिपूर्ण/परफेक्ट-रूप) अथवा ‘सेदिः’ इति वैदिक-रूप
- नि
- down; in; firmlydown; into; firmly (preverb indicating downward fixing, deposition, or suppression)Indeclinable (preverb)अव्ययम् (उपसर्गः)Role क्रियाविशेषणम्Root नि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- उच्यताम्
- let it be uttered/saidVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), कर्मणि-प्रयोगः, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role विधेय-क्रियाRoot वच् (धातु) + उद् (उपसर्ग) → उच्यते (कर्मणि)
- सर्वाः
- allAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot सर्व (सर्वनाम-विशेषण-प्रातिपदिक)
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययम्Role समुच्चयRoot च (अव्यय)
- यातुधान्यः
- witches; sorceresses; demonessesyātudhānīs: witch-like demonesses, devourers, harmful female spirits (a standard Atharvanic class of nocturnal/impure malefics to be expelled or confined)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot यातुधानी (प्रातिपदिक; ‘witch/demoness’, fem.)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (सम्भाव्यः): असौ | यः | अधरात् | गृहः | तत्र | सन्तु | अराय्यः | तत्र | सेदिः | नि | उच्यताम् | सर्वाः | च | यातुधान्यः ।
- 1) ‘अधराद्’ इति संहितापाठे दकारः परे ‘गृ-’ इत्यादौ स्थितः
- पदपाठे ‘अधरात्’ (पञ्चमी) इति।
- 2) ‘से॒दिर्न्युऽच्यतु’ इत्यत्र संधिः: सेदिः + नि + उच्यताम् → सेदिर्न्युच्यताम् (नि + उ- → न्यु-).
- 3) ‘अराय्यः’ वैदिक-दीर्घ/य्य-प्रयोगः
- सामान्यरूपे ‘अरायः’ इति अपेक्षितम्, परन्तु मन्त्रपाठानुसारं ‘अराय्यः’ स्वीकृतम्।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition (specific ṛṣi attribution varies by anukramaṇī for this hymn).
- Devata
- Rakṣas-nivāraṇa (apotropaic force); implicitly the power of Vāc and the household-protecting efficacy of the Atharvan.
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh (probable; common for AV domestic/apotropaic verses).
- Rasa
- Bhayankara and Shanta
Sāyaṇa construes the verse as a localization-and-binding formula: the adversaries (ārāyyas) and yātudhānīs are not merely driven away but are compelled to 'sit' in an appointed place. 'Adharāt' is taken as indicating a lower/under region (hence an unclean or nether source), and the repeated 'tatra' functions as a verbal peg (pratiṣṭhā) fixing the malefics. 'Ucyatu' is performative: the priest’s pronouncement itself establishes the 'seat' (sedi) and effects the confinement.
Ātharvaṇa (anonymous; AVŚ 2.14 seer varies by anukramaṇī)
Binding and localization rites (bandhana/sthāpana) for domestic protection; controlling liminal presences without constant combat.
Demonstrates Atharvan ‘spatial magic’: evil is not merely expelled but assigned a seat—ritual geography as protection.
Vāc (operative speech) as rakṣoghna force; implicit household-protective power
Vāc organizes space by decree; hostile forces are made to ‘sit’ where speech assigns them, preserving the ordered domestic cosmos.
Confinement and displacement of yātudhānīs and hostile agencies away from living space.
4 pādas of ~8 syllables (probable; AV phrasing may compress).
Deictic ‘asau’ and spatial terms often create performative pauses; recitation may emphasize pointing gestures rather than strict metrical flow.
Directive and pointing; cadence supports ‘assignment’ and ‘setting down’.
Creates a felt relocation—listeners sense the ‘push away’ and the ‘sit there’ command.
Select the domestic locus to be protected (house, threshold, under-space, or a boundary point).
Mark a specific spot as the 'seat' (sedi) for the malefics—often a place outside the living area or at a lower/outer boundary.
The Atharvan priest recites the mantra while gesturing downward (ni-) and indicating 'there' (tatra), verbally fixing the hostile beings to that spot.
Optionally accompany with a protective circuit of the house (paryāya/parikrama) and a concluding dismissal, so the confined beings do not re-enter.
Seal the act with a final utterance (uçyatu) as the performative completion of the binding.
Kauśika Sūtra: Rakṣohoma / Rakṣoghna-karman sections (house-protection and demon-binding rites; exact sutra numbering varies by edition).
Atharvan/Brahman officiant as apotropaic technician: he identifies the malefic presence, assigns it a locus, and effects confinement through authoritative utterance and boundary-gestures.
Point outward/downward while reciting; designate a spot outside the dwelling (near boundary stone, pit, or outer corner) as the ‘seat’; mark it with ash or a line.
Dusk/nightfall; after disturbing dreams; before sleep in a new place.
Atharvan practitioner or householder performs with clear gestures (pointing, marking).
Often consistent with Kauśika house-protection sequences for AVŚ 2.14 (edition-specific citation required).
Use as a ‘worry seat’ ritual: assign anxieties to a journal/container outside the bedroom, then return to rest.
verbal binding (vāc as operative instrument); designated 'seat' or locus (sedi) for confinement; domestic threshold/under-space (adhara as spatial-symbolic marker)
Protection is enacted by ritual cartography: the ‘lower’ region becomes a quarantine zone; speech creates the boundary and installs the ‘seat’ that immobilizes harmful roamers.
Containment visualization for anxiety/intrusive thoughts (placing worries in a ‘container’); environmental psychology of safe zones.
Arāyyaḥ (hostile ones), yātudhānī demonesses.
Relocate and confine hostile beings and yātudhānīs to a designated lower/outer locus, preventing harm inside the home.
Spatial displacement (deictic ‘yonder’) + verbal installation of a confinement seat (sedī ni ucyatu).
Wandering malefic influence, nocturnal terrors, domestic ill-omens.
- asau (असौ)
- distancing move; pushing danger away from the self/home
- adharāt (अधरात्)
- underworld/liminal underside; the ‘lower’ psychic strata
- arāyyaḥ (अरा॒य्यः)
- enemies, misfortunes, intrusive forces
- sedī (सेदिः)
- containment locus; confinement mechanism
- ni ucyatu (नि उच्यतु)
- vāc as binding technology—speech installs a constraint
- yātudhānīḥ (यातुधा॒न्यः)
- harmful, consuming, deceptive influences; wandering afflictions
Containment and boundary awareness; directing attention away from fear-loci.
mūlādhāra
Exhale while pointing ‘asau’; inhale returning attention to the heart; repeat gently.
Visualize a marked circle outside your inner ‘house’; place all intrusive forms there, seated and unable to cross the line.
Alert-to-calm transition; controlled vigilance.
Do not ‘fight’ the image—relocate it. End by visualizing the home filled with steady light and the threshold sealed.
Keep deictic ‘asau’ distinct with a slight pause; emphasize ‘ni ucyatu’ as the performative act.
Articulate yātudhānyàḥ clearly; avoid slurring the compound-like sequences.
Directive but not harsh; a ‘placing’ tone.
Gesture is part of the mantra: pointing outward/downward and marking the ‘seat’ completes the speech-act of confinement.
9 times
Home feels unsettled; recurring fear at night; desire to ‘contain’ disruptive influences rather than obsess over them.
Before sleep; after a frightening incident; during house-clearing.
Greater sense of safety and containment; calmer sleep through boundary visualization.
If fear is linked to trauma, pair with professional support; avoid scapegoating neighbors/outsiders as ‘yonder house’.
No explicit plant or drug is named in this verse; the operative 'substance' is spatial and verbal. The mantra functions as a technology of localization (tatra…tatra) and deposition (ni-), creating a ritual 'container' (sedi) by speech. In Atharvanic medicine and protection, such verbal confinement often substitutes for, or complements, material amulets and fumigations: the curative/protective efficacy is achieved by controlling the movement and residence of the harmful agent.
The verse presupposes a specialist who can diagnose invisible hostility and command it by authoritative speech. This elevates the Atharvan priest as a domestic security expert whose utterance is juridical-performative: he assigns a 'seat' to enemies and demonesses. The household (gṛha) appears as a protected social unit, while threats are externalized and subordinated—made to 'sit' where the ritualist decrees.
The diction is characteristically Atharvanic in its pragmatic deixis and spatial control: repeated 'tatra' and the performative 'uçyatu' foreground speech as an instrument. The focus on yātudhānīs (a demonological category frequent in AV) and the domestic 'gṛha' setting aligns with AV’s applied register more than RV’s predominantly hymnic praise. The construction reads like a ritual directive embedded in verse, reflecting the AV tendency toward incantatory, operational language.
In the Gopatha Brāhmaṇa’s Atharvanic theology, efficacy commonly rests on brahman/vāc as a force that binds, repels, and reorders hostile powers when properly deployed. This verse exemplifies that model: by naming, pointing, and assigning a locus, the priest converts diffuse danger into a contained, socially manageable condition. The 'seat' (sedi) is a ritual-legal fiction made real by correct utterance, consistent with Gopatha’s emphasis on the Atharvan’s speech as protective power.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Atharva Veda in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
