Anuvaka 6
Suktas in Anuvaka 6
Sukta 51
This one-verse rakṣoghna hymn establishes a complete protective perimeter by assigning guardianship of all directions to Bṛhaspati and Indra. Bṛhaspati is asked to ward off the “evil-doer” from behind, above/north, and below, while Indra secures the front and the center, expanding a safe “wide space” (varīyas) for the community.
Sukta 52
This brief Saṁjñāna-hymn petitions the Aśvins to plant concord (common understanding) within one’s own circle and even with outsiders, so that collective life proceeds without fracture. It further asks that public uproar, ominous signs, and destabilizing portents be restrained when the many assemble—especially in tense civic or martial moments—so unified counsel prevails.
Sukta 53
This healing hymn stabilizes the patient’s vital economy by recalling and re-seating Prāṇa (in-breath) and Apāna (out-breath) so they do not depart at the approach of death. It reverses Yama/Mṛtyu’s claim, invokes divine physicians (Aśvins, Agni Bhiṣaj), and places the sufferer under the safeguarding conveyance of the Saptarṣis toward safe old age. Its power is framed as a “treasure against wasting” (jarimán), restoring unimpaired vitality and continuity of life.
Sukta 54
This brief two-mantra hymn venerates the Ṛc and Sāman as living, efficacious forms of sacred speech that make ritual action possible and carry the sacrifice to the gods. It also functions as a study-protection charm: the student petitions that the potent Veda—when questioned and handled—cause no harm, but instead yield strength, clarity, and successful performance.
Sukta 55
This one-verse hymn petitions Indra to grant svasty-ayana—an auspicious, obstacle-free passage—by aligning the traveler with Indra’s own “heaven-descending” paths that set the world in motion. By invoking those divine routes as a protective template, the mantra functions both as a prosperity-charm (successful undertaking) and an apotropaic safeguard (warding mishap, delay, and hostile forces) during travel.
Sukta 56
AV 7.56 is an anti-venom healing charm that identifies and subdues the poison of the śarkota and other creeping, biting beings by the force of mantra and medicinal vīrúd. The hymn combines botanical antidote-power with brahman (sacred speech), declaring the creature’s venom “crushed” and its biting mouths bent down and rendered harmless.
Sukta 57
This brief Atharvavedic hymn invokes Sarasvatī as a healer who restores inner steadiness and bodily integrity when one is shaken by anxiety, wandering supplication, or a felt “rift” within the body. Through the image of ghṛta (ghee) as nourishing plenitude and the motif of seven flowing streams, it seeks all-sided thriving—health, strength, and orderly flourishing (ṛta) for the person and household line.
Sukta 58
This brief Paustika hymn is an “anna–soma acceptance” formula that invites Indra and Varuṇa to drink the pressed, honeyed Soma and to seat themselves on the barhis, thereby ratifying the offering. By securing the gods’ pleased participation in the rite, it aims to stabilize nourishment (anna), vigor, and orderly prosperity under firm divine ordinance.
Sukta 59
This one-verse rakṣā–abhicārika charm seeks “release from curse” (śāpa-mocanam) by turning back hostile imprecations onto their source. It imagines the curser’s power being struck like a tree by lightning and made to wither from the root, asserting a total reversal and severing of the curse’s support.
Sukta 60
AVŚ 7.60 is a paustika house-entry and household-stabilization hymn that installs “bhadra” (auspicious prosperity) in the dwelling and makes the home itself friendly to its occupants. It pacifies forces of lack—hunger and thirst—and converts the house into a secure, welcoming container of wealth, strength, and harmonious companionship, sealed by the insistence on “here itself” (ihaiva) as the locus of thriving.
Read Atharva Veda in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.