Atharva Veda 2.35.3: Kanda 2, Anuvaka 4, Sukta 35, Mantra 3
Sukta 35
अ॒दा॒न्यान्त्सो॑म॒पान् मन्य॑मानो य॒ज्ञस्य॑ वि॒द्वान्त्स॑म॒ये न धीरः॑ । यदेन॑श्चकृ॒वान् ब॒द्ध ए॒ष तं वि॑श्वकर्म॒न् प्र मु॑ञ्चा स्व॒स्तये॑
adānyā́n somapā́n manyámāno yajñásya vidvā́n samayé ná dhī́raḥ | yád énaś cakṛvā́n baddhá eṣá táṃ viśvakarman prá muñcā svastáye ||
Ungiving, yet deeming himself a Soma-drinker, and, though knowing the sacrifice, at the due season not steadfast—whatever sin he hath committed, this man is bound thereby: him, O Viśvakarman, do thou wholly loose, for welfare.
Ungebend, doch sich für einen Soma-Trinker haltend, und, obgleich des Opfers kundig, zur rechten Zeit nicht standhaft—welche Schuld er auch getan hat, dadurch ist dieser Mann gebunden: ihn, o Viśvakarman, löse ganz, zum Heil.
Rishi: Traditionally Atharvanic/Angirasa attribution for expiatory hymns; specific r̥ṣi for 2.35 requires pada-anukramaṇī confirmation.
Devata: Viśvakarman (as releaser and cosmic rectifier); secondarily ‘svasti’ as the desired state.
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (probable; requires metrical verification against pada counts in the Saunaka tradition).
Primary: karuna
Secondary: shanta
Sāyaṇa construes the verse as a prayer of expiation and unbinding: the person, though imagining himself fit for Soma and even ‘knowing’ the yajña, fails in dhī (ritual composure/rectitude) at the critical samaya, and by that lapse incurs enas which ‘binds’ him. Viśvakarman is invoked as the cosmic arranger who can re-set what is disordered and therefore can ‘release’ (pra-muc) the bound one into svasti. The stress falls on adānya (withholding dakṣiṇā/gifts) as a paradigmatic sacrificial fault producing bondage.
To loosen the ‘bond’ of sin/pollution incurred by ritual/social fault (especially miserliness toward Soma-drinkers and failure at the proper ritual time), restoring auspicious welfare (svasti).
Enas-bond: guilt, ritual impurity, social-ethical fault producing misfortune; ‘stuckness’ and loss of steadiness.
Confessional naming of fault-pattern → divine loosening (pra muñca) → sealing in svasti.
Miserliness/withholding parallels vāta constriction and mental rajas/tamas; svasti aligns with sattva and regulated daily timing (dinacaryā).
Moral injury, shame spirals, addictive entitlement patterns; behavioral repair and self-forgiveness as ‘unbinding’.
prayaschitta
The offender/client who is ‘bound’ by enas.
Release from the binding consequence of wrongdoing and ritual negligence; restoration of welfare.
Expiatory diagnosis (adānya/samaye na dhīraḥ) + direct command to deity (pra muñca) + welfare formula (svastaye).
Misfortune arising from ethical-ritual breach; social exclusion; inner turmoil.
General well-being (svasti), ritual success, social harmony.
A man who is ungiving yet thinks himself a Soma-drinker, who knows the sacrifice but is not steady at the proper time—whatever sin he has done, he is bound by it; O Viśvakarman, loosen him wholly for welfare.
Self-deception (claiming entitlement without generosity) creates inner ‘bondage’—guilt, rigidity, and loss of ritual timing (psychological attunement). Viśvakarman is invoked as the power that re-aligns one’s inner order so the knot of enas releases into svasti (well-being).
Ethical imbalance binds: when entitlement replaces reciprocity, the psyche constricts. Repair requires honest re-ordering, not mere self-justification.
- अदान्यान् (adānyān)
- blocked flow; refusal of reciprocity that causes constriction
- सोमपान् मन्यमानः (somapān manyamānaḥ)
- spiritual entitlement; claiming status without the supporting ethic
- समये न धीरः (samaye na dhīraḥ)
- loss of inner timing/discipline; failure of ritual-attunement
- एनस् (enas)
- binding residue of misdeed; moral-ritual toxicity
- बद्धः (baddhaḥ)
- karmic/psychic knot; social-ritual exclusion
- स्वस्ति (svasti)
- restored coherence and protection; ‘safe passage’ in life
Release the knot of guilt/entitlement; restore right relationship with giving and timing.
Anāhata (generosity/flow) and Maṇipūra (discipline, dhīra steadiness).
Nadi-śodhana 6–12 rounds; silently place pra muñca on the exhale.
A tight knot at the heart loosening into a smooth flowing ribbon; a clock/sun-cycle aligning (samaya).
From self-justifying agitation to honest steadiness.
Recite 8 or 16 times; then perform a small act of dāna the same day to ‘ground’ the release.
Maintain clear udātta on enas and pra muñca; keep svastaye as a settling cadence.
Pause after baddha eṣa; deliver pra muñca as the performative pivot.
adānyān: long ā; dental n clear, somapān: keep -pān long ā, yajñasya: palatal jñ conjunct, viśvakarman: final -n lightly nasal
Contrite but firm; soften on svastaye.
Best paired with an actual corrective act (dāna/prāyaścitta); the charm presumes ethical re-flow, not mere recitation.
16
After ethical lapse, broken promise, ritual negligence, or feeling ‘cursed by one’s own actions’.
After acknowledging fault; before restarting a discipline; before family rites to clear a sense of impurity.
Relief from guilt, renewed steadiness, improved social harmony and confidence.
Avoid using as bypassing: if harm was done, repair materially and apologize; seek counseling for severe guilt/depression.
पदच्छेद (सन्धि-निरसन): अदान्यान् सोमपान् मन्यमानः यज्ञस्य विद्वान् समये न धीरः । यत् एनः चक्रिवान् बद्धः एषः तम् विश्वकर्मन् प्र मुञ्च स्वस्तये । प्रमुख सन्धि: (1) अदान्यान्+सोमपान् → अदान्यान्त्सोमपान् (न् + स् = न्त्स्). (2) विद्वान्+समये → विद्वान्त्समये (न् + स् = न्त्स्). (3) यत्+एनः → यदेनः (त् + ए → दे; जश्त्व/सन्धि-परिणाम). (4) बद्धः+एषः → बद्ध एष (ः + ए → ओ/अभाव; पदपाठ में प्रायः विसर्ग-लोप/विराम). (5) विश्वकर्मन्+प्र → विश्वकर्मन् प्र (सन्धि नहीं; सम्बोधन के बाद विराम).
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.
