Atharva Veda 9.7.5: Kanda 9, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 7, Mantra 5
Sukta 7
श्ये॒नः क्रो॒डो॒३ऽन्तरि॑क्षं पाज॒स्यं॑१ बृह॒स्पतिः॑ क॒कुद् बृ॑ह॒तीः कीक॑साः
śyénáḥ króḍo ’ntárikṣaṃ pā́jasyaṃ bṛ́haspátiḥ kakúd bṛhatī́ḥ kī́kasāḥ
The hawk is the breast; the mid-air is vigor; Bṛhaspati is the hump; the Bṛhatīs are the bones.
Der Falke ist die Brust; der Luftraum ist Kraft; Bṛhaspati ist der Höcker; die Bṛhatīs sind die Knochen.
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition
Devata: Śyena; Antarikṣa/Pājas; Bṛhaspati; Bṛhatīs (as great sustaining powers)
Chandas: Catalogic/ritual style; bṛhatī is invoked as power-name (not necessarily meter here)
Primary: vira
Secondary: adbhuta
Sāyaṇa interprets the hawk as a symbol of swift protective force stationed in the forepart; ‘antarikṣa’ as the moving reservoir of pājas (vigor) sustaining life; Bṛhaspati, as brahman-priestly power, is fixed in the kakud (withers) as the animal’s eminence; ‘bṛhatīḥ’ are taken as ‘great’ sustaining powers identified with the skeletal supports (kīkasāḥ).
To confer vigor, robustness, and structural integrity upon cattle—especially chest, withers, and bones—by installing swift force (hawk), atmospheric vigor, and priestly protective power (Bṛhaspati).
Weak chest/breath, reduced vigor, skeletal frailty, withers strain from loads.
Chest/breast, withers/hump, bones (skeletal frame).
Invokes swift protective force (śyena), atmospheric vitality (antarikṣa/pājas), and priestly ordering power (Bṛhaspati) to ‘rebuild’ structural strength (bones as bṛhatī).
Asthi-dhātu strengthening (bone tissue) and vāta support (bones/joints); pājas aligns with ojas/tejas-like vitality; Bṛhaspati aligns with vāc and buddhi ordering (sattva).
Supportive focus during recovery from malnutrition, mineral deficiency, or musculoskeletal strain; encourages attention to respiration and load management.
paustika
Cattle, particularly working animals.
To confer vigor and structural integrity, especially chest/withers/bones, by installing powerful guardians.
Bandhu-installation (cosmic-to-body identifications) and ‘meter-as-power’ reinforcement.
Wasting, weakness, strain injuries, and hostile influences that ‘sap’ vigor.
Work-capacity, endurance, herd robustness.
Another limb-power mapping for cattle: hawk as breast, mid-air as vigor, Bṛhaspati as hump/withers, and the ‘Bṛhatīs’ as bones.
The chest becomes swift, watchful courage (hawk); vitality is drawn from the in-between space (antarikṣa) where breath and weather move; the ‘hump’ (kakud) is protected by priestly-order intelligence (Bṛhaspati); bones are ‘great supports’ (bṛhatī)—inner principles of structure and endurance.
Strength is not mere mass: it is alertness, vital atmosphere, guiding intelligence, and deep structure working together.
- श्येनः (śyenaḥ)
- swift protective vision; predatory defense against harm
- क्रोडः (kroḍaḥ)
- courage, breath-capacity, heart-force
- अन्तरिक्षम् (antarikṣam)
- liminal power-field; the space of prāṇa and transformation
- पाजस्यम् (pājasyaṃ)
- radiant stamina; energetic ‘shine’ of health
- बृहस्पतिः (bṛhaspatiḥ)
- protective intelligence, auspicious speech, ritual guardianship
- ककुद् (kakud)
- load-bearing crest; seat of carrying power
- बृहतीः (bṛhatīḥ)
- great sustaining frameworks; supportive rhythms of life
- कीकसाः (kīkasāḥ)
- inner scaffolding; resilience and continuity
Strength-and-support contemplation: open chest, steady withers/spine, feel the ‘bones’ as sacred structure.
Anāhata (chest) and Maṇipūra (vigor/pājas)
Chest-expanding breathing (dirgha/three-part) without strain; feel antarikṣa as inner space.
A hawk of light resting at the sternum; blue sky-space filling the torso; golden Bṛhaspati stabilizing the upper back; white luminous bones as a protective lattice.
Uplifted steadiness.
Chant while maintaining tall posture; end with silent attention to skeletal support and calm breath.
Even, declarative; slight elongation on bṛhaspatiḥ and bṛhatīḥ (power-names).
Keep clear pauses after each identification; avoid slurring śyenaḥ/kroḍaḥ.
श्ये-नः: palatal ‘ś’ distinct, अन्तरिक्षम्: retroflex ‘ṣ’, बृहस्पतिः: ‘bṛh’ with syllabic ṛ, कीकसाः: long ‘ī’, crisp ‘k’
Strong and steady, chest-resonant.
Effective when paired with posture-setting and gentle pressure/massage at withers and chest (non-injurious).
11
Before heavy work, after long travel, or during convalescence from weakness/strain in cattle.
Morning before harnessing; after feeding; during gentle grooming.
Traditional strengthening and protective framing; improved attentiveness to chest/withers soreness and overall vigor.
Do not overload animals; treat pain/lameness medically; avoid pressing sore areas.
पदच्छेदः: श्येनः | क्रोडः | अन्तरिक्षम् | पाजस्यम् | बृहस्पतिः | ककुद् | बृहतीः | कीकसाः । १) ‘क्रो॒डो॒३ऽन्तरि॑क्षम्’ = ‘क्रोडः अन्तरिक्षम्’ (विसर्ग-सन्धिः: अकारादौ विसर्गलोपः; अवग्रहः ‘ऽ’)। २) ‘ककुद्’ वेदिक् प्रथमा-एकवचन रूप (पदान्ते दकारः) — लौकिके ‘ककुत्’ इति रूपं दृश्यते। ३) ‘पाजस्यं॑१’ = ‘पाजस्यम्’ (अनुस्वार/मकार-लेखनभेदः; नपुंसक द्वितीया एकवचन, ‘अन्तरिक्षम्’ इति विशेष्यस्य विशेषणम्)।
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