Anuvaka 3
Suktas in Anuvaka 3
Sukta 21
This one-verse hymn praises the single all-pervading Lord—read as Sūrya/Āditya or as a monistic Pati—before whom all beings gather “with speech” in acknowledgment. It affirms a primeval sovereignty that continually receives the “newcomer” and keeps the world’s courses turning on one track, aligning the reciter with orderly recurrence (ṛta-like regularity) and prosperity.
Sukta 22
This brief two-verse hymn invokes Jyotis/Āditya—Light as a cosmic, moral, and perceptual force—to make vision clear and conduct aligned with ṛta (ordered rightness). By setting “light” in the ordinance of dharma and yoking it with the dawn-solar surge, the sukta functions as a protective-healing charm that dispels darkness, confusion, and hostile influences while supporting timely prosperity (especially cattle/wealth).
Sukta 23
AVŚ 7.23 is a compact rakṣoghna charm that targets the whole cluster of nocturnal and psychosomatic afflictions—bad dreams, “ill-living,” demonic oppression, and hostile speech. In a single anuṣṭubh-style utterance it names the threats and performs their banishment, aiming to restore safe sleep, vitality, and social-spoken well-being.
Sukta 24
This one-verse Paustika hymn functions as a “divine authorization” (saṃkalpa-siddhi) prayer: whatever gains the gods have already won or uncovered for the sacrificer are requested to be formally granted and made stable. Savitṛ, as the power of right ordinance and impelling consent, is asked—together with Prajāpati and Anumati—to “set firmly” prosperity, success, and auspicious outcomes.
Sukta 25
This brief two-mantra hymn invokes Viṣṇu together with Varuṇa as the paired upholders of cosmic order who “make fast the regions” and rule irresistibly by strength and dharma. Its Atharvanic use is apotropaic: by aligning the ritual space and the quarters with their unopposed sovereignty, it stabilizes the world around the reciter and wards off disorder, fear, and hostile forces.
Sukta 26
AV 7.26 retools the famous Ṛgvedic Trivikrama-stotra as an Atharvanic charm for fixing space, securing settlement, and pushing away hostile forces. By recalling Viṣṇu’s three cosmic strides—by which the worlds are held in place—the hymn “sets the steps” of the patron: boundaries become firm, the dwelling becomes broad (uru kṣaya), and obstacles to rite and livelihood are driven off. Its paustika thrust (hands filled with wealth from all quarters) is inseparable from rakṣoghna protection, since prosperity is framed as the stable, guarded order of space.
Sukta 27
This one-verse hymn installs Iḍā (Vaiśvadevī) as the purifying, prosperity-bearing presence that “stands by” the yajña and encompasses the sacrificer through vrata (ordered observance). By depicting her as ghee-footed and Soma-backed, it sacralizes the ritual space, cleansing worshippers and warding off impurity and hostile forces that could destabilize the sacrifice.
Sukta 28
This one-mantra hymn is a compact śānti-prayer that sanctifies the technical means of sacrifice—Veda/knowledge, the wood-splitting tool, the axe, and the altar-space—so that no fault or mishap arises in preparation. By repeatedly installing “svasti” (auspicious safety) upon implements and the vedi, it de-risks the rite and culminates in a direct request that the yajña-loving gods accept and relish the offering.
Sukta 29
This brief two-verse hymn invokes the dual deities Agni–Viṣṇu to carry and relish the ghee oblation, ensuring that the offering is correctly conveyed from the household fire to the divine sphere. By praising the “secret name/path of ghee” and asking that Agni’s tongue transmit it upward, the sukta aims to secure complete domestic prosperity symbolized as the “seven treasures” present in every home where the rite is performed.
Sukta 30
This one-verse bhaiṣajya–rakṣā hymn consecrates añjana (collyrium/eye-ointment) by declaring it “well-made” (svākta) through the sanction of cosmic and priestly powers. By invoking Dyāvā-Pṛthivī, Mitra, Brahmaṇaspati, and Savitar as the makers of the remedy, the mantra aims to render the preparation faultless, efficacious, and protective against harms that strike the eyes—especially malignant influence and the evil glance.
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