Mantra 39

Sukta 2

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

प्रेमां मात्रां मिमीमहे यथापरं न मासातै । शते शरत्सु नो पुरा

IAST Transliteration

prémā́ṃ mā́trāṃ mimīmahe yáthā́paraṃ ná mā́sātai | śaté śáratsu no purā́

English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)

Forth this measure we do mete, that it be not thereafter spent in months: a hundred autumns—so for us, as in the days of old.

Word by Word

प्रेमाम्love, affection (as the object)

मात्राम्measure, portion

मिमीमहेwe measure / we apportion

यथाso that, as

अपरम्the later/other (one)

नnot

मासातैin a month / by a month (within a month)

शतेin a hundred

शरत्सुin (many) autumns/years

नःfor us / our

पुराformerly, before

Attribution

Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (funerary/āyuṣya complex of AV 18; r̥ṣi attribution varies by anukramaṇī traditions)

Devata: Āyus (Longevity) / the impersonal life-measure (mātrā) as efficacious principle

Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (11+?; late Atharvanic cadence; refrain-like pāda structure)

Mantra Rasa

{"primary_rasa":"shanta","secondary_rasa":"adbhuta","emotional_arc":"From concern about depletion to confident expansion into long life.","listener_experience":"Reassurance, steadiness, a sense of ‘more time’ and protected vitality.","intensity":4}