Sukta 30

Kind of hymn

Abhicarika (Sorcery) / Apotropaic rivalry-control

What it is for

Neutralize hostile influence and competitors by making the opponent ridiculous and powerless, while establishing the performer’s auspicious protection and prosperity through plant/food and amulet consecration.

Who it is for

Householders and ritual specialists (Atharvanic practitioners) managing rivalry, slander, or social contestation, and seeking protection/prosperity for family and fields.

Also used as

• Apotropaic rivalry-control
• Pāpa-śamana (expiatory)
• Paustika (agricultural prosperity)
• Bhaiṣajya (soothing/protective domestic frame)

The deity

Śamī is invoked as a living, agentive vanaspati whose potency can both unsettle (maddening, hair-loosening, making one laughable) and protect (motherly benevolence, soothing and restoring order). The hymn also frames an older agrarian-sacral scene: barley and honey consecrated on a maṇi in the Sarasvatī field, with Indra as plough-lord and the Maruts as ploughmen.

Powers of the deity

• Deranges or confounds an adversary (māda) and turns them into an object of ridicule
• Repels or suppresses rival growth/hostile agencies (“other forest-growths”) to assert dominance
• Protects the household like a mother, especially children
• Soothes and “sets right” hair/appearance—remedying disorder that signals vulnerability
• Supports auspicious agriculture and expiation when paired with yava (barley), madhu (honey), and maṇi (amulet) consecration

Why the deity is called

To activate Śamī’s ambivalent potency: to socially diminish an opponent through derangement while securing benevolent protection and domestic well-being, anchored by an expiatory, prosperity-linked barley-and-honey consecration.

The seer

• Atharvanic/Āṅgirasa seer (generic attribution in the plant-hymn complex)Atharvan. Plant- and amulet-based charms: pāpa-śamana (evil/allaying), paustika (prosperity), and abhicārika/apotropaic rites that redirect or neutralize an opponent’s social power through derangement and ridicule.

Other hymns of this seer

• AV 6.29
• AV 6.31
• AV 6.32
• AV 6.102 (plant/amulet complex, generic Atharvanic attributions in many recensions)

Preparing for the rite

• Select or approach a Śamī tree/branch; identify and clear away competing undergrowth or substitute with symbolic removal if in a domestic setting.
• Prepare yava (barley) mixed with madhu (honey).
• Place or touch the mixture upon/with a maṇi (amulet/jewel) as the consecration locus; orient the rite toward a pure water/river symbolism (Sarasvatī as purity-field).
• Maintain ritual cleanliness; set intention: expiate evil, secure prosperity, and redirect deranging force toward the rival.

The rite

• Recite 6.30.1 over the honeyed barley and maṇi to establish pāpa-śamana and prosperity under Indra-as-plough-lord and Marut support.
• Recite 6.30.2 toward the Śamī (or while holding its wood/leaf) to awaken its “māda,” explicitly pushing ‘other growths’ away and asserting Śamī’s hundred-branched expansion.
• Recite 6.30.3 to ‘turn’ the power from harshness to benevolence—securing motherly protection and calming hair/appearance disorder for the household.

What it needs

• Śamī wood/leaf (primary)
• Barley (yava)
• Honey (madhu)
• Amulet/jewel (maṇi)
• Clean water or a Sarasvatī-symbolic purity substitute

When

Preferably in daylight; agriculturally auspicious times (pre-sowing, ploughing, or after rainfall) for v.1; rivalry-control may be done when conflict is active, with the closing pacification (v.3) immediately after.

The main substance

Śamī (wood/leaf; personified vanaspati)

Herbs

• Śamī (Prosopis cineraria)

Amulets

• Maṇi (jewel/amulet used as consecration base)

How it is prepared

Mix barley (yava) with honey (madhu); consecrate it by placing/touching it upon a maṇi while reciting 6.30.1. Hold or touch Śamī wood/leaf during 6.30.2–3; optionally remove nearby undergrowth (or perform symbolic clearing) to enact ‘far from you cut the other growths’.