Sukta 28
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (hymn-family attribution uncertain in this excerpt)
Devata: Puṣṭi/Rasa; addressed agent ‘Yamini’
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (probable; pāda-structure consistent with AV anuṣṭubh usage)
AV 3.28 est un hymne paustika visant à affermir et accroître la prospérité du troupeau en « faisant venir » Puṣṭi (l’accroissement nourricier) et Rasa (la sève vitale) au lieu du sacrifiant. Il reconnaît aussi une puissance qui dépérit le bétail, nommée Yaminī (avec les noms apparentés Rifatī, Ruśatī), et transforme cette force dangereuse et intempestive en une śivā — une présence bienveillante et florissante — pour les gens, les champs et les animaux.
Kind of charm
Mantras
Mantra 1
पशुपोषणम्। एकै॑कयै॒षा सृष्ट्या॒ सं ब॑भूव॒ यत्र॒ गा असृ॑जन्त भूत॒कृतो॑ वि॒श्वरू॑पाः । यत्र॑ वि॒जाय॑ते य॒मिन्य॑प॒र्तुः सा प॒शून् क्षि॑णाति रिफ॒ती रुश॑ती
Nourrissement du bétail. Par chaque acte unique de création, elle s’est entièrement constituée là où les Faiseurs des êtres, aux formes universelles, firent naître les vaches. Là où Yaminī naît hors de la saison due, là elle épuise le bétail—Rifatī, Ruśatī.
Mantra 2
ए॒षा प॒शून्त्सं क्षि॑णाति क्र॒व्याद् भू॒त्वा व्यद्व॑री । उ॒तैनां॑ ब्र॒ह्मणे॑ दद्या॒त् तथा॑ स्यो॒ना शि॒वा स्या॑त्
Elle épuise entièrement le bétail, devenue mangeuse de chair—Vyadvārī. Et l’on doit la remettre au Brahman; ainsi puisse-t-elle devenir bienveillante, propice.
Mantra 3
शि॒वा भ॑व॒ पुरु॑षेभ्यो॒ गोभ्यो॒ अश्वे॑भ्यः शि॒वा। शि॒वास्मै सर्व॑स्मै॒ क्षेत्रा॑य शि॒वा न॑ इ॒हैधि॑
Sois bienfaisante envers les hommes, bienfaisante envers les vaches, bienfaisante envers les chevaux — bienfaisante. Bienfaisante envers tout ce champ; bienfaisante pour nous — ici, prospère.
Mantra 4
इ॒ह पुष्टि॑रि॒ह रस॑ इ॒ह स॒हस्र॑सातमा भव । प॒शून् य॑मिनि पोषय
Ici soit la prospérité (puṣṭi), ici la sève vitale (rasa) ; ici deviens la plus mille-gagnante. Ô Yamini, nourris le bétail.
Mantra 5
यत्रा॑ सु॒हार्दः॑ सु॒कृतो॒ मद॑न्ति वि॒हाय॒ रोगं॑ त॒न्व॑१ स्वायाः॑ । तं लो॒कं य॒मिन्य॑भि॒संब॑भूव॒ सा नो॒ मा हिं॑सी॒त् पुरु॑षान् प॒शूंश्च॑
Là où les cœurs bienveillants, les bienfaisants, se réjouissent, ayant rejeté la maladie loin de leur propre corps — vers ce monde, ô Yamini, tu t’es approchée. Qu’elle ne nous fasse pas de mal, ni aux hommes ni au bétail.
Mantra 6
यत्रा॑ सु॒हार्दां॑ सु॒कृता॑मग्निहोत्र॒हुतां॒ यत्र॑ लो॒कः । तं लो॒कं य॒मिन्य॑भि॒संब॑भूव॒ सा नो॒ मा हिं॑सी॒त् पुरु॑षान् प॒शूंश्च॑
Là où est le monde des cœurs bienveillants, des bienfaisants, de ceux qui offrent l’Agnihotra, là où est ce monde—vers ce monde, ô Yamini, tu t’es approchée. Qu’elle ne nous fasse pas de mal, ni aux hommes ni au bétail.
Inside Sukta 28
How it unfolds
- How it opens
Begins with the theme of paśu-poṣaṇa (cattle-nourishment) and a cosmogonic recollection: the place where the ‘All-formed makers of beings’ produced the kine, establishing the archetype of herd-creation.
- What it asks
May Puṣṭi and Rasa abide ‘here’; may Yaminī nourish the cattle and cease the out-of-season, wasting tendency; may the force become śivā for men, cows, horses, and the whole field.
- Where its power lies
The hymn asserts efficacy by direct localization (iha… iha…) and by verbal transformation: the same named agency that can ‘waste’ is compelled to become ‘thousand-winning’ and benign, demonstrating Atharvanic control through naming and command.
- How it closes
Closes with śivā-imperatives (‘be benign… here thrive’) that seal the space—people, herd, and kṣetra—into a stable condition of auspicious increase.
Famous verses
iha puṣṭir iha rasaḥ
śivā bhava
Kind of hymn
Paustika (Prosperity; cattle-increase)
What it is for
Herds and fields thrive: prosperity and vital sap are fixed ‘here’; cattle-wasting affliction is checked and redirected into auspicious nourishment.
Who it is for
Householders, herdsmen, and ritual specialists concerned with cattle fertility, milk-yield, and protection of the byre/field from wasting influences.
Also used as
- Rakṣā (herd-protection)
- Śāntika (pacification/benign-making of a harmful force)
The deity
Puṣṭi is the personified principle of nourishment and increase; Rasa is the life-sap that makes growth, milk-yield, and fertility effective. Yaminī appears as a liminal female power that, when ‘born out of season’ (apartuḥ), can waste cattle, but is also commanded to nourish and become auspicious.
Powers of the deity
- Localizes prosperity ‘here’ (iha) in home, byre, and field
- Increases livestock numbers and productivity (milk, fertility, thriving)
- Restores nutritive vitality (rasa) to animals and land
- Identifies and neutralizes cattle-wasting influences linked with irregular seasonality
- Transforms harmful agency into benign śivā-force for humans, herds, horses, and fields
Why the deity is called
To secure cattle-increase by installing Puṣṭi and Rasa in the sacrificer’s domain, while restraining/pacifying Yaminī and her allied wasting forms so they instead nourish the herd.
The seer
- Atharvanic seer (anonymous/uncertain attribution)Atharvan. Paustika and rakṣā charms: localization of prosperity (puṣṭi/rasa), protection of cattle, and pacification/redirecting of personified afflictions that waste herds.
Other hymns of this seer
- AV 3.11 (paustika/protective themes; Atharvanic style)
- AV 6.142 (puṣṭi-oriented increase charm; Atharvanic family type)
- AV 2.26 (rakṣā-style repulsion/pacification formulae; Atharvanic idiom)
Preparing for the rite
- Clean the cowshed/byre and the threshold of the dwelling; establish a calm, protected space.
- Seat the reciter facing the herd or the byre-door; mentally ‘place’ Puṣṭi and Rasa in the locale by intention (saṅkalpa).
- If available, mark a small boundary around the herd-area (rope/line of dust) as a symbolic ‘here’ (iha) to be filled with prosperity.
The rite
- Recite the hymn over the herd and the field, emphasizing deictic placement formulas (iha… iha…).
- Name and address Yaminī directly, commanding nourishment rather than wasting; then recite the śivā-formula to pacify and convert the agency.
- Conclude by circling the herd once (clockwise) or touching the byre-post/field-edge as a sealing gesture of stabilization.
What it needs
- None required by the cited verses (optional: clean water for sprinkling the byre/field-edge as a śānti act).
When
Preferably at dawn or early morning when the cattle are assembled; also suitable at the start of a grazing cycle, calving season, or when wasting signs appear.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is used to bring prosperity (Puṣṭi) and vital sap (Rasa) into one’s dwelling, cowshed, and fields, with the practical goal of increasing and protecting cattle.
Yaminī is a personified agency linked with liminal/irregular seasonality that can waste cattle when ‘out of season,’ but the hymn directly commands her to nourish and become benign (śivā).
Not in the cited verses: it works primarily through recitation and directed intention over the herd/field; optional simple śānti acts like sprinkling clean water may be added by practice.
Ask anything about Sukta 28 of the Atharva Veda
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
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.
