Anuvaka 4
Suktas in Anuvaka 4
Sukta 31
AV 2.31 is a bhaiṣajya charm aimed at destroying and expelling kṛmi—worms/parasites conceived both as bodily infestations and as hostile agents of disease. The hymn repeatedly frames healing as an act of crushing and smiting: Indra’s dṛṣad (press-stone) and Atharvanic vāc (effective sacred speech) are the operative forces that pulverize worms in every bodily locus and cut off their very “birth” (janima) to prevent return.
Sukta 32
AV 2.32 is a krimi-nāśana (worm-destroying) healing charm that mobilizes Āditya’s rising and setting rays as a burning, searching weapon against internal parasites, especially those afflicting cattle. The hymn combines solar purification with Atharvanic “speech-as-medicine,” asserting that the mantra’s brahman crushes and expels every class of kṛmi—inner, surrounding, great and small—restoring vitality and productivity.
Sukta 33
This Atharvavedic healing hymn is a surgical verbal-extraction charm against yákṣma, conceived as a wasting disease-demon that lodges in specific organs and tissues. By naming body-parts in a systematic anatomical sweep and repeatedly declaring “we tear it out” (vi vṛh-), the mantra functions as an exorcistic therapy—dislodging the affliction from head and senses to trunk and skin. The hymn culminates in an all-body purge, empowered by the authoritative healing current associated with Kaśyapa and the vībarha (“uprooting/extractor” force).
Sukta 34
AVŚ 2.34 is a compact Atharvanic protection-and-prosperity charm that secures the well-being of cattle and people by acknowledging Paśupati (Rudra) as the rightful lord of bipeds and quadrupeds and by offering him his due share as a “buying-off” (niṣkrīti). It then widens into a success-formula: the gods are asked to open a safe “path” (gātu/pāthaḥ) for the yajamāna, while hostile bindings and surveillance are loosened by Agni and safeguarded by Viśvakarman so that wealth, herd-increase, and progeny remain intact.
Sukta 35
AV 2.35 is a Viśvakarman hymn used to remediate ritual error (duriṣṭi/énas) and convert a failing offering into a successful, wealth-bearing sviṣṭi. It treats the sacrifice as a living body—endowed with eye, mouth, speech, hearing, and mind—so that when any part is harmed, the cosmic Artificer can refashion it whole. Its power is restorative: it calls back what was “lost” (naṣṭa)—shares, drops, prosperity, and wellbeing—reintegrating the sacrificer and his household with the rite’s proper order.
Sukta 36
AV 2.36 is a domestic nuptial charm that draws a fitting husband toward a maiden and stabilizes the match through social acceptance, prosperity, and emotional concord. By invoking Agni as household mediator and Bhaga as distributor of “portion” and good fortune, the hymn aims to make the girl pleasing among suitors and secure a marriage free from anger and offence.
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