Mantra 69

Sukta 8

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

स आर्तवानां पाशान्मा मोचि

IAST Transliteration

sá ārtavā́nāṃ pā́śān mā́ móci

English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)

Let him not be loosed from the nooses of the seasons.

Word by Word

• सः: he / that one
• सः: कर्तृ (Kartā)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → स (पुं.)

• आर्तवानाम्: of the season-bound/periodic ones (i.e., those subject to ṛtu/period)
• आर्तवानाम्: सम्बन्ध (genitive relation to ‘पाशान्’)
• Type: Noun/Adjective
• Root: आर्तव (प्रातिपदिक; ‘ऋतु/आर्तव’ सम्बन्धी)

• पाशान्: nooses, bonds
• पाशान्: कर्म (Karma)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाश (प्रातिपदिक)

• मा: do not
• मा: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: मा (निषेध-अव्यय)

• मोचि: may he/it release (let loose)
• मोचि: क्रिया (verbal action)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुच् (धातु; ‘to release, free’)

Attribution

Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (specific r̥ṣi attribution varies by anukramaṇī for AV 16.8)

Devata: Pāśa/Bandhana (binding power), with implicit agency of Kāla/Ṛtu (time/season)

Chandas: Anuṣṭubh-like cadence (short injunctive hemistich; exact metrical classification uncertain in isolation)

Mantra Rasa

{"primary_rasa":"bhayankara","secondary_rasa":"shanta","emotional_arc":"Threat of inescapability, ending in calm certainty of containment.","listener_experience":"A sober sense that the net is cosmic, not merely human.","intensity":5}