Sukta 3
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (specific r̥ṣi not stated in the provided excerpt; commonly indexed to Atharvan/Angiras lineages for healing hymns).
Devata: Bheṣaja (the Remedy) / the mountain-born healing power (implicit).
Chandas: Mixed/irregular (Atharvavedic healing prose-verse tendency; not securely determinable from a single mantra without full hymn metrical audit).
Mantras
Mantra 1
आस्रावस्य भेषजम्। अदो यदवधावत्यवत्कमधि पर्वतात्। तत् ते कृणोमि भेषजं सुभेषजं यथाससि
A remedy for the running sore: that which yonder, streaming downward, (comes) from upon the mountain—this for thee I make a remedy, a right good remedy, that so thou mayest be (whole).
Mantra 2
आदङ्गा कुविदङ्गा शतं या भेषजानि ते । तेषामसि त्वमुत्तममनास्रावमरोगणम्
Then, O ye members, O ye that know the members, the hundred remedies that are thine—of these thou art the highest: a stay of all outflow, a banisher of disease.
Mantra 3
नीचैः खनन्त्यसुरा अरुस्राणमिदं महत्। तदास्रावस्य भेषजं तदु रोगमनीनशत्
Downward they dig—the Asuras—for this mighty Arusrāṇa. That is the medicament for the running flux; that, indeed, hath made the disease to vanish.
Mantra 4
उपजीका उद् भरन्ति समुद्रादधि भेषजम्। तदास्रावस्य भेषजं तदु रोगमशीशमत्
The Upajīkās bear forth the remedy from the Sea. That is the remedy for the running flux; that, verily, hath stilled the disease.
Mantra 5
अरुस्राणमिदं महत् पृथिव्या अध्युद्भृतम्। तदास्रावस्य भेषजं तदु रोगमनीनशत्
This mighty remedy, drawn up from Earth, is for the running sore: that medicine—verily that—hath made the disease to vanish.
Mantra 6
शं नो भवन्त्वप ओषधयः शिवाः । इन्द्रस्य वज्रो अप हन्तु रक्षस आराद् विसृष्टा इषवः पतन्तु रक्षसाम्
Be welfare unto us: let the Waters, let the Herbs be gracious. Let Indra’s thunderbolt smite the Rākṣasas away; from afar let the discharged arrows fly upon the Rākṣasas.
Frequently Asked Questions
It targets āsrāva—an abnormal “running” discharge such as an oozing sore or bleeding/flux—and aims to stop the flow and restore health.
The hymn invokes Bheṣaja, the Remedy itself, treating medicine as a divine healing power sourced from mountain, earth, and sea.
A healer recites it over a prepared medicine (herb/mineral and water), then applies it to the affected area as a wash or dressing, repeating the refrain that it is “the remedy for āsrāva.”