
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (hymn classified by function: sapátna-kṣayaṇa)
Devata: Indra (as expeller/smasher of foes)
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (typical for concise expulsive charms)
Mantra 1
सपत्नक्षयणम्। निरमुं नुद ओकसः सपत्नो यः पृतन्यति । नैर्बाध्येऽन हविषेन्द्र एनं पराशरीत्
Drive forth from the dwelling that rival who makes battle; in the Nairbādhya, with oblation, may Indra utterly smite him away.
Mantra 2
परमां तं परावतमिन्द्रो नुदतु वृत्रहा। यतो न पुनरायति शश्वतीभ्यः समाभ्यः
To the farthest away-land let Indra, Vrtra-slayer, drive him—whence he comes not back again for everlasting years.
Mantra 3
एतु तिस्रः परावत एतु पञ्च जनाँ अति । एतु तिस्रोऽति रोचना यतो न पुनरायति । शश्वतीभ्यः समाभ्यो यावत् सूर्यो असद् दिवि
Let him go to the three far regions; let him go beyond the five peoples; let him go beyond the three luminous realms—whence he comes not back again for everlasting years, so long as the Sun shall be in heaven.
It is used to drive a hostile rival out of one’s dwelling or settlement and to prevent that person from returning, by invoking Indra’s coercive power.
No. The text centers on command-formulae and boundary logic (the house/threshold), with a simple havis offering (often ghee or food) as the supporting ritual act.
These are totalizing boundaries: the ‘five peoples’ represent the full human social world, and the ‘three rocanā’ extend the banishment beyond luminous cosmic domains—so the rival is excluded from every sphere of return.