Anuvaka 2
Suktas in Anuvaka 2
Sukta 11
This sukta is an Atharvanic obstetric charm for unblocking and completing childbirth, addressed to the Quarters and the Gods as cosmic agents who “open” what is closed. It combines spatial-totality imagery (all directions of sky and earth) with the concrete physiology of delivery—womb opening, expulsion of obstruction, and descent of the afterbirth—so that birth proceeds swiftly, safely, and without retention.
Sukta 12
This four-verse healing–pacification hymn targets diffuse illness (especially yakṣma/wasting), headache, cough, and rending limb/joint pain by calling in a storm-like purifying force and the restorative powers of plants and mountains. It culminates in a comprehensive “śam” (weal/peace) formula that distributes well-being across upper and lower parts, the four limbs, and the whole body. The hymn’s power lies in naming afflictions precisely, expelling them as intrusive agents, and sealing the patient with all-encompassing bodily wholeness.
Sukta 13
AV 1.13 is a short propitiatory healing-protection hymn that addresses a concentrated, potentially dangerous tapas (fiery ascetic heat) as a personal power called “Pravato Nāpāt,” together with its weapon-like “missile” aspect. By repeated namas (obeisance) and praise of its hidden cosmic seat, the hymn pacifies the force and redirects it toward bodily well-being, household safety, and the protection of children.
Sukta 14
AV 1.14 is a domestic benediction for a maiden at the threshold of marriage, aiming to “assign” varcas (radiant attractiveness, social lustre) through Bhaga’s allotment of fortune. It also ritually manages the bride’s transfer from natal kin to the husband’s house, fastening her to the new household while invoking ancestral support and long-standing stability.
Sukta 15
This paustika hymn concentrates prosperity by calling natural currents—rivers, winds, and winged movers—to converge and “flow together” toward the sacrificer. By pleasing the approving heavenly realm with a unifying oblation, it aims to make wealth, cattle, and auspicious gain stream in and stay established in one’s place.
Sukta 16
AV 1.16 is a compact apotropaic hymn that weaponizes lead (sīsa) as a mantra-charged medium to expel yātu—hostile sorcery and demonic affliction. It frames the charm’s authority under Varuṇa, Agni, and Indra, and asserts that the empowered ‘this’ (idam)—the prepared amulet/remedy—overcomes Viṣkandha, devourers (attriṇ), and Piśāca-broods. The hymn culminates in a protective threat: any being harming cattle, horses, or men is to be ritually ‘pierced’ with lead so it becomes no slayer of heroes.
Sukta 17
AV 1.17 is a compact Atharvanic charm for fixing protection in place and for restoring bodily/structural order when loosened, displaced, or threatened. It installs a stabilizing force in all positions (lower–far/outer–middle), “sets in order” channels and limbs, and finally throws a circumambient barrier—personified as Sikātāvatī and the lofty Bow—so the protected space does not dissolve and welfare remains firm.
Sukta 18
AV 1.18 is a compact Atharvanic charm that drives out alakṣmī (misfortune/poverty), arāti (hostile obstruction and non-giving), and any ‘ghora’ inner affliction clinging to the body. By “wafting away” impurity and ritually relocating it from the person’s limbs and appearance, the hymn simultaneously attracts bhadrā/śrī—auspicious fortune that supports household success and progeny. The operative force is vāc (mantra-speech) backed by Savitar and allied deities who impel the evil away and set good fortune in motion.
Sukta 19
This brief apotropaic hymn is a weapon-deflecting charm: it asks that hostile archers and “over-piercers” fail to find the ritual subject, and that all missiles swerve away and fall harmlessly. The sukta turns enemy aggression back upon itself by commanding arrows—divine and human—to miss the protected person and instead strike the foes. Indra (and in one verse Rudra as the archer) is invoked as the divine controller of trajectories, making protection a matter of sacred command rather than mere evasion.
Sukta 20
AV 1.20 is an Atharvanic apotropaic hymn that turns to Mitra–Varuṇa (with special emphasis on Varuṇa) to repel “warlike slaughter” (vadhá) and hostile, ill-willed aggression raised against the client. It casts danger as something launched from any direction—near or far—and commands it to be driven off “around and away,” while establishing a protective enclosure of śárman (shelter) and an assurance of non-defeat. The hymn’s power lies in invoking the sovereign, order-guarding deities as chastisers of enemies and as providers of an expanded refuge that prevents the ally from being slain and the client from being conquered.
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