Mantra 2

Sukta 11

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

यदि क्षितायुर्यदि वा परेतो यदि मृत्योरन्तिकं नीत एव। तमा हरामि निरृतेरुपस्थादस्पार्शमेनं शतशारदाय

IAST Transliteration

yádi kṣitā́yur yádi vā parétó yádi mṛtyór ántikaṃ nī́ta evá | tám ā́ harāmi nírṛter upásthād aspā́rśam enaṃ śatáśāradāya ||

English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)

If his life be spent, or if he be departed, if verily he hath been led nigh unto Death—him do I bring back from Nirṛti’s very lap, making him untouched, for a hundred autumns.

Word by Word

• यदि: if
• यदि: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि

• क्षितायुः: (one) whose lifespan is diminished
• क्षितायुः: Kartā (understood subject) / predicate adjective
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षितायु (प्रातिपदिक: क्षित + आयुस्)

• यदि: if
• यदि: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि

• वा: or
• वा: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा

• परेतः: departed, gone (as good as dead)
• परेतः: Kartā (understood subject) / predicate adjective
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परेत (कृदन्त/विशेषण: परि-इ √इ → परेत ‘gone away’)

• यदि: if
• यदि: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि

• मृत्योः: of death
• मृत्योः: सम्बन्ध (genitival relation) / source-context for ‘near’
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृत्यु (प्रातिपदिक)

• अन्तिकम्: near, in proximity
• अन्तिकम्: Adhikaraṇa (locative sense expressed by acc.)
• Type: Noun/Adjective
• Root: अन्तिक (प्रातिपदिक)

• नीतः: led (away), taken
• नीतः: Kartā (of the state: ‘having been led’) / predicate
• Type: Verb (participial)
• Root: नी (नि + √इ) / √नी (to lead) → नीत (PPP)

• एव: indeed, just
• एव: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• तम्: him
• तम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• आ: towards, back (preverb)
• आ: —
• Type: Indeclinable (preverb) / particle
• Root: आ

• हरामि: I bring (back), I take away
• हरामि: Kartā = speaker (I)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √हृ (हरति) with आ- (आहरति)

• निरृतेः: of Nirṛti (goddess/power of dissolution, misfortune)
• निरृतेः: सम्बन्ध (genitival) with ‘उपस्थात्’
• Type: Noun
• Root: निरृति (प्रातिपदिक)

• उपस्थात्: from the lap/embrace (i.e., from the clutches)
• उपस्थात्: Apādāna
• Type: Indeclinable (adverbial) / Noun-derived
• Root: उपस्थ (प्रातिपदिक) + तसिल् (ablatival adverb) / ‘उपस्था’ in pada-text tradition

• अस्पार्शम्: untouched, uncontacted
• अस्पार्शम्: Karma (as object-complement construction) / result-state
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अस्पार्श (प्रातिपदिक: a- + स्पर्श ‘touch’)

• एनम्: this one, him
• एनम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्/इदम्-प्रकार (enad-pronoun stem ‘एन्-’)

• शतशारदाय: for (living) a hundred autumns (i.e., a hundred years)
• शतशारदाय: Sampradāna (purpose/benefit) / prayojana-dative
• Type: Adjective (used predicatively) / Noun-like compound
• Root: शतशारद (प्रातिपदिक: शत + शारद ‘autumnal year’)

Attribution

Rishi: Atharvanic healer tradition

Devata: Nirṛti (as adversary locus) and Death (Mṛtyu) as the threshold power; the mantra’s operative authority is the Atharvan’s speech-act

Chandas: Triṣṭubh (probable; requires metrical verification)

Mantra Rasa

{"primary_rasa":"adbhuta","secondary_rasa":"shanta","emotional_arc":"From dread and finality to wonder at reversal, settling into calm longevity-blessing.","listener_experience":"A jolt of hope; sense of being ‘pulled back’ from a cliff-edge; afterward, quiet relief.","intensity":7}