Sukta 90
Rishi: Atharvanic/Aṅgiras-type attribution (book-level tradition; specific r̥ṣi uncertain without padānukramaṇī citation)
Devata: Bodily function/organ-state (implicit); operative power of mantra (vac) rather than a named deity
Chandas: Mixed/irregular (Atharvanic medical verses often deviate from strict RV meters)
Mantras
Mantra 1
शत्रुबलनाशनम्। अपि वृश्च पुराणवद् व्रततेरिव गुष्पितम्। ओजो दास्यस्य दम्भय
Cut off, even as in days of old, the knotted swelling as it were of the vowed one; crush thou the might of the Dāsa.
Mantra 2
वयं तदस्य सम्भृतं वस्विन्द्रेण वि भजामहै । म्लापयामि भ्रजः शिभ्रं वरुणस्य व्रतेन ते
That gathered wealth of his, with Indra will we portion out. I make to wither thy flashing splendour, by Varuṇa’s ordinance upon thee.
Mantra 3
यथा शेपो अपायातै स्त्रीषु चासदनावयाः । अवस्थस्य क्नदीवतः शाङ्-कुरस्य नितोदिनः । यदाततमव तत् तनु यदुत्ततं नि तत् तनु
Even as the virile member may pass away from women, together with the hindrance to approach—of the standing, the oozing, the sprout-like, the piercing one—what is stretched out, that do thou let down; what is lifted up, that do thou set down.
Frequently Asked Questions
It combines both. Verses 7.90.1–2 work in an abhicāric/apotropaic mode (crushing an enemy’s ojas and withering their brilliance), while 7.90.3 is explicitly therapeutic in effect, commanding normalization of a genital/sexual bodily state.
No single deity is consistently addressed throughout. Indra is invoked as the power of victory and appropriation (7.90.2), Varuṇa as the binding force of ‘vrata’ that withers hostile splendor (7.90.2), and the final verse functions as direct mantra-command over the body rather than praise of a named god.
Not in the text as given—no herbs or amulets are specified. The hymn’s method is primarily verbal/performative (vāc), though some practitioners may add a symbolic ‘cutting’ gesture for 7.90.1 as an optional, interpretive aid.