Sukta 16

Kind of hymn

Bhaisajya (Healing)

What it is for

Cure or removal of eye-disease by empowering a medicinal preparation and banishing the affliction under all its recognized names.

Who it is for

Household healer/vaidya, Atharvanic practitioner, or family member treating ocular irritation/infection; also applicable for a patient needing protection from recurring ‘eye-grasp’ afflictions.

Also used as

• Shantika (pacificatory healing)
• Apotropaic expulsion (graha/disease-spirit dismissal)
• Onomastic diagnosis/control (naming the disease-forms)

The deity

A personified healing potency identified with the remedy’s ‘rasa’—both fierce against disease and ‘harmless’ to the patient (Anābaya). In this hymn it functions as the empowered medicine itself, invoked to remove eye-affliction and neutralize its hostile agencies.

Powers of the deity

• Heals and restores sight/ocular comfort
• Makes the medicine’s rasa ‘ugra’ (forceful) against pathology
• Drives away named disease-spirits/affliction-forms
• Overcomes the disease by encompassing all its names (onomastic control)

Why the deity is called

To awaken and direct the remedy’s sap/essence so that, when taken/applied via karambha, it cures eye-disease and expels the affliction’s named attackers.

The seer

• Anonymous Atharvan (Angiras-type attribution)Atharvan. Bhaiṣajya charms: medical incantations that empower remedies (rasa), diagnose by naming, and drive out disease-spirits (graha-style entities), especially in brief, high-impact anuṣṭubh verses.

Other hymns of this seer

• AV 6.14
• AV 6.15
• AV 6.17
• AV 6.20

Preparing for the rite

• Prepare a karambha-like mixture (thick gruel/food vehicle) suitable for carrying an herbal juice/extract (rasa).
• If available, obtain the identified remedy ‘Ābaya/Anābaya’ (as plant/medicine name or its empowered substitute) and express/prepare its rasa.
• Seat the patient facing good light; cleanse hands and the eye-area with clean water.

The rite

• Recite the opening mantra while presenting/empowering the karambha and invoking Ābaya/Anābaya as the fierce yet harmless rasa.
• Administer the karambha (ingestion as vehicle) and/or apply a small, safe medicinal preparation as appropriate to the eye condition (traditionally the ‘rasa’ is the operative essence).
• Recite the expulsion verse(s) naming the affliction-agents (e.g., Tauvīlike, Avelayāva, Babhru, Babhru-karṇa) and command them to depart ‘forth, away’.
• Conclude by reciting the naming/identification formula (multiple disease-names) to encompass the disorder and thereby render it controllable and removable.

What it needs

• Karambha (thick gruel/mixture as medicinal vehicle)
• Medicinal rasa (sap/juice/extract) identified as Ābaya/Anābaya (or a locally recognized equivalent remedy)
• Clean water (for washing/ritual purity)

When

Preferably at dawn or in clear daylight (eye-ailments), and repeated for 3 days or until relief; also usable immediately at onset of redness/pain.

The main substance

Karambha as a medicinal carrier for the remedy’s rasa (Ābaya/Anābaya)

Herbs

• Ābaya/Anābaya (identified medicinal agent; tradition-dependent plant identification)

How it is prepared

Prepare karambha (thick gruel) and mix in a measured amount of expressed rasa (juice/extract) from the remedy; empower by recitation during mixing and administration. If topical use is intended, use only a safe, medically appropriate preparation for the eye.