Anuvaka 2
Suktas in Anuvaka 2
Sukta 11
AV 2.11 is a compact Atharvanic charm for rivalry and enmity: it turns hostile dveṣa back toward the hater while empowering the patron to “attain the better lot” (śreyas) and step beyond an opponent’s equal standing. Across five anuṣṭubh-like verses it re-labels destructive agencies (spoiling, weapon, wrath) and then re-consecrates the performer/patron with brilliance and light, asserting that mantra-power can both repel aggression and secure superior prosperity.
Sukta 12
AVŚ 2.12 is a mixed-purpose Atharvanic hymn that frames the performer’s lived territory (kṣetra) within the great cosmic enclosures—Heaven–Earth and the Midspace—so that hostile affliction is forced to rebound upon its sender. It combines apotropaic counter-sorcery (tapas/“scorching back” the attacker, felling the mind-harmer through Indra) with a final restorative turn in which Agni Jātavedas re-establishes the victim’s footing, breath (asu), and speech (vāk).
Sukta 13
AVŚ 2.13 is a longevity-and-protection hymn that petitions Agni as āyurdāḥ (bestower of life) to grant ripe old age (jaras) and to guard the recipient like a father surrounding his children. Alongside Agni’s nourishing “ghee-and-honey” imagery, the hymn deploys a protective garment (vāsaḥ) as a portable shield against curses and harm, sealing welfare, wealth, and increase for the household and herd.
Sukta 14
AVŚ 2.14 is a rakṣoghna household-protection hymn that forcefully expels bhūtas, rākṣasas, and named female afflicters from the home and its vulnerable joints (foundation, cattle-stall, cart/axle). It installs Indra as a standing, vajra-bearing guardian over the dwelling while Bhūtapati functions as the controller who drives hostile beings out. The hymn’s power is framed as a complete eviction—pushing the intruders beyond domestic boundaries and sealing the house as a protected space.
Sukta 15
This brief Atharvavedic healing-protective hymn addresses Prāṇa (the vital breath) directly, commanding it to remain steady, fearless, and unharmed within the patient. By aligning the patient’s life-breath with inviolable cosmic and social exemplars—Day and Night, brahman and kṣatra, past and future—it counters shock, panic, and the dangerous “flight” of prāṇa that precedes collapse. Its power lies in repetitive, stabilizing comparison (yathā… evā…) that ritually “sets” prāṇa back into firmness and continuity.
Sukta 16
This brief Atharvanic charm is a compact life-protection (āyusya) formula that stabilizes the vital breaths—Prāṇa and Apāna—against the approach of Mṛtyu (Death). Through svāhā-sealed invocations to the life-winds and to cosmic guardians (Sūrya’s eye, Agni Vaiśvānara with the All-Gods), it establishes a protective enclosure intended to avert premature or violent death and to restore steadiness to the living person.
Sukta 17
AVŚ 2.17 is a compact Atharvanic “faculty-installation” hymn that re-seats vital powers in the patient by directly addressing them as personified indriya-forces. Through short svāhā-formulas—especially to Āyus (Life) and Śrotra (Hearing)—it aims to restore sensory capacity, stabilize life-force, and extend protective coverage (paripāṇa) against further impairment.
Sukta 18
Atharvaveda 2.18 is a compact, oblation-marked set of operative formulas aimed at wasting (kṣayaṇa) and driving away (cātana) hostile rivals—especially the bhrātṛvya (competitive peer/claimant) and arā́ya (hostile power). Each mantra identifies the rite’s implement/act as the very force of enemy-destruction and then petitions that force to be transferred to the sacrificer as protection, victory, and unbroken security. The repeated svāhā frames the charm as a fire-offering performance in which mantra-power (brahman) is carried and “sealed” through Agni.
Sukta 19
This short Agni-hymn is a compact Atharvanic counter-charm that turns hostile intent back upon its sender by harnessing Agni’s arciṣ (flame), śocis (scorching heat), and tejas (splendour). It functions as a ritualized “reversal” (praty-), seeking to burn, scorch, and de-empower the one who hates the performer, while simultaneously protecting the household through the controlled power of the fire.
Sukta 20
AVŚ 2.20 is a compact enemy-subduing (śatrunāśana) hymn that asks Vāyu to reverse hostility by applying his own tapas, śociṣ (burning flame), and tejas against the hater. The repeated refrain “yo ’smān dveṣṭi yaṃ vayaṃ dviṣmaḥ” frames the rite as retaliatory reversal: the adversary’s hate is met with Vāyu’s scorching force and the stripping of hostile potency.
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