Atharva Veda 2.24.2: Kanda 2, Anuvaka 3, Sukta 24, Mantra 2

Sukta 24

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

शेवृ॑धक॒ शेवृ॑ध॒ पुन॑र्वो यन्तु या॒तवः॒ पुन॑र्हे॒तिः कि॑मीदिनः । यस्य॒ स्थ तम॑त्त॒ यो वः प्राहै॒त् तम॑त्त॒ स्वा मां॒सान्य॑त्त

Recitation with translationAtharva Veda 2.24.2

IAST Transliteration

śevṛ́dhaka śevṛ́dha púnar vo yantu yā́tavaḥ púnar hetíḥ kimī́dinaḥ | yásya sthá tám atta yó vaḥ prā́ha et tám atta svā́ māṁsā́ny atta

English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)

O Śevṛdhaka, O Śevṛdh, back let your Yātus go; back (go) the weapon-stroke, ye Kimīdins. Whose ye are, him devour; he who hath sent you forth—him devour; his own flesh-pieces devour.

Translation

હે શેવૃધક, હે શેવૃધ, તમારા યાતુઓ (જાદુઈ પ્રયોગો/જાદુગરો) પાછા ફરી જાઓ; હે કીમિદિન, હેતિ (શસ્ત્રપ્રહાર) પણ પાછી વળે. તમે જેમના છો, તેમને જ ભક્ષો; જેણે તમને મોકલ્યા છે, તેને જ ભક્ષો; તેના પોતાના માંસના ટુકડાઓ જ ભક્ષો.

The meaning

What it says

Vocative address to Śevṛdhaka/Śevṛdh with the command that the yātus (sorcerous agencies), the weapon-stroke (hetí), and the Kimīdins return; then a coercive rule: devour the one to whom you belong and the one who sent you, devour his own flesh.

The inner meaning

Names (Śevṛdhaka/Śevṛdh) act as ‘handles’ for controlling the unseen. The verse converts helplessness into agency by asserting ownership logic: what is dispatched remains tied to its sender.

The truth in it

Actions and intentions carry signatures; when recognized, they can be returned, neutralized, or integrated without being carried by the innocent.

What it is for

Kind of hymn

Abhicarika (counter-sorcery / apotropaic reversal)

Its aim

To repel yātu/kimīdin affliction and force it to recoil upon the sender (the sorcerer/enemy), causing his wasting and self-consumption.

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Word by Word

Pada patha

शेवृधक । शेवृध । पुनः । वः । यन्तु । यातवः । पुनः । हेतिः । किमीदिनः । यस्य । स्थ । तम् । अत्त । यः । वः । प्राह । एत् । तम् । अत्त । स्वा । मांसानि । अत्त

शेवृधक

O ‘śevṛdhaka’ (protective/healing exclamation; charm-word)O Śevṛdhaka—name/epithet of a devouring, disease-like demon; invoked/adjured as a specific malevolent agent (per Sayana: a yātu/kimīdin-type afflicter).Indeclinableअव्यय (सम्बोधन/उद्गार-प्रयोग)Root शेवृधक- (प्रातिपदिक; अव्युत्पन्न/दुर्लभ)

शेवृध

O ‘śevṛdh’ (charm-word/exclamation)O Śevṛdh—companion form/variant address; a hostile being to be redirected; vocative repetition for coercive force.Indeclinableअव्यय (सम्बोधन/उद्गार-प्रयोग)Root शेवृध- (प्रातिपदिक; अव्युत्पन्न/दुर्लभ)

पुनः

again, backback, again—formula of reversal/returning the evil upon its source.Indeclinableअव्ययRoot पुनः

वः

to you / for youof you/for you—addressing the hostile beings (yātus/kimīdins) as a group.Pronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी बहुवचन (enclitic ‘वः’: your/to you)Role SampradānaRoot युष्मद्

यन्तु

let (them) go/comelet (them) go, let (them) depart—injunctive/imperative of dismissal and expulsion.Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे) परस्मैपद, 3 पुरुष, बहुवचनRole KartāRoot या (धातु)

यातवः

the goers; wanderers (often: hostile beings/spirits)yātus, sorcerous/demonic beings—harmful agents (witchcraft-demons) causing wasting, possession, or mischance.Nounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole KartāRoot या (धातु) → यातु- (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)

पुनः

again, backback—reiterated to intensify the ‘rebound’ logic of apotropaic speech.Indeclinableअव्ययRoot पुनः

हेतिः

missile; weapon; hostile thrustmissile, weapon, stroke—here the harmful ‘blow’/attack (including disease-stroke) that is to be turned back.Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole KartāRoot हेति-

किमीदिनः

the ‘what-doers’/mischief-makers; harmful beingskimīdins—worm/larva-like devourers; in Atharvan usage, a class of gnawing, flesh-eating afflictions/demons (often mapped to internal parasites or necrotizing disease).Noun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole KartāRoot किमीदिन्- (प्रातिपदिक; ‘किम्’ + ईदिन्/इदिन्- प्रकार)

यस्य

whosewhose—introduces the target to whom the demons properly belong (the sender/owner).Pronounषष्ठी एकवचन (पुं/नपुं)Root यद्

स्थ

you areyou are/you belong (to)—2nd pl. ‘you are of him’; marks rightful affiliation of the evil with its originator.Verbलट्, 2 पुरुष, बहुवचन (वैदिक ‘स्थ’ = ‘you are’)Root अस् (धातु) / स्था (धातु) — here as enclitic copula ‘स्थ’ (= ‘अस्ति/सन्ति’ in Vedic usage)

तम्

himhim—that person (the one to whom you belong; typically the sorcerer/enemy).Pronounद्वितीया एकवचन (पुं)Role KarmaRoot तद्

अत्त

eat (devour)!eat, devour—command to consume the hostile party’s own; magical redirection into self-destruction.Verbलोट्/लट्, परस्मैपद, 2 पुरुष, एकवचन (वैदिक आज्ञा: ‘eat!’)Root अद् (धातु)

यः

whowho—relative pronoun introducing the offender.Pronounप्रथमा एकवचन (पुं)Role KartāRoot यद्

वः

you / to youyou—again addressing the demons/afflictions.Pronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी बहुवचन (enclitic)Role SampradānaRoot युष्मद्

प्राहैट्

(who) has struck/assailed you (reading uncertain)Verb (uncertain) / Mantric formअस्पष्ट (संहिता-पाठे मन्त्र-रूप/ध्वन्यात्मक)Role KartāRoot प्र + अहि/हन्? (पाठभेद-संभाव्य); वैदिक संहिता-पाठ ‘प्राहैट्’ = ‘प्र + आ + हि + एट्’ इति ध्वन्यात्मक/मन्त्र-रूप; निश्चित धातु-अन्वय कठिन

तम्

himhim—that sender again; the intended ‘return address’ of the evil.Pronounद्वितीया एकवचन (पुं)Role KarmaRoot तद्

अत्त

eat (devour)!devour—repeated imperative for intensification.Verbलोट्/लट्, परस्मैपद, 2 पुरुष, एकवचनRoot अद् (धातु)

स्वा

one’s ownhis own—reflexive possessive; stresses that the consumption is of the offender’s own substance/people/flesh.Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचन (as qualifier of ‘मांसानि’)Role KarmaRoot स्व- (प्रातिपदिक)

मांसानि

flesh (pieces of flesh)fleshes, pieces of flesh—concretizes the devouring; in Atharvan idiom, the wasting of the enemy’s body/strength.Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot मांस-

अत्त

eat (devour)!devour—final coercive command sealing the reversal.Verbलोट्/लट्, परस्मैपद, 2 पुरुष, एकवचनRoot अद् (धातु)

Sandhi Notes

• शेवृधक | शेवृध | पुनः | वः | यन्तु | यातवः | पुनः | हेतिः | किमीदिनः | यस्य | स्थ | तम् | अत्त | यः | वः | प्राहैट् | तम् | अत्त | स्वा | मांसानि | अत्त ।
• 1) ‘पुन॑र्वो’ = ‘पुनः + वः’ (विसर्ग-लोप/र्-आदेश).
• 2) ‘पुन॑र्हे॒तिः’ = ‘पुनः + हेतिः’ (विसर्ग→र्).
• 3) ‘मां॒सान्य॑त्त’ = ‘मांसानि + अत्त’ (इ + अ → य् संधि).
• 4) ‘प्राहैट्’ पद का धात्वर्थ/रूप Atharva-परम्परा में मन्त्र-ध्वनि/पाठभेद के कारण अनिश्चित
• शौनक/पैप्पलाद पाठान्तर सम्भव।

Seer, deity and metre

Rishi

Atharvanic/Angiras-type attribution (hymn-level tradition; verse itself does not name the seer).

Devata

Apotropaic address to yātus/kimīdins (hostile beings) under coercive command; functional ‘deity’ is the expulsion/reversal power of the mantra.

Chandas

Anuṣṭubh-like (Atharvanic mixed anuṣṭubh; requires metrical verification against pada counts in a critical edition).

Rasa

Raudra and Vira

Sayana's Commentary

The Seer

The Deity

The Metre

The Rite

In the Home

Substances

Healing Context

Magic Charm Layer

Symbols in this Mantra

Yogic Application

Chanting Notes

Practical Application

Scholarly Questions