Sukta 14
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition
Devata: Bheṣaja/Healing power (implicit); the addressed force is the expulsion-command against Balāsa
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh
Mantras
Mantra 1
बलासनाशनम्। अस्थिस्रंसं परुस्रंसमास्थितं हृदयामयम्। बलासं सर्वं नाशयाङ्गेष्ठा यश्च पर्वसु
The bone-loosening, the joint-loosening, that is seated as heart-disease—destroy thou all that balāsa, whether it stand in the limbs or in the joints.
Mantra 2
निर्बलासं बलासिनः क्षिणोमि मुष्करं यथा । छिनद्म्यस्य बन्धनं मूलमुर्वार्वा इव
Balāsa forth! from him that hath Balāsa I consume it, as one consumes a mushkara-growth. I cut away its bond, I hew its root, as one (severs) the uṛvārū-vine.
Mantra 3
निर्बलासेतः प्र पताशुङ्गः शिशुको यथा । अथो इट इव हायनोप द्राह्यवीरहा
Freed from Balāsa, fly forth—blunted, like a little child. And like a dart-shot, like the year that passes, creep down and away, thou that slayest no heroes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Balāsa is treated as a disease-agent that causes loosening and disorder in bones and joints and can also lodge as distress in the heart-region. The hymn addresses it as something to be commanded out, not appeased.
It uses strong metaphors of surgery and uprooting: the illness is imagined as bound to the patient and rooted in them. By ‘cutting’ the bond and ‘hewing’ the root, the charm aims to prevent the disease from returning.
The verses do not mandate a substance. They rely primarily on the spoken expulsion; however, the imagery of uṛvārū-vine severing and “consuming” a muṣkara-growth can be paired with simple symbolic gestures or exemplars in practice.