Atharva Veda 3.13.5: Kanda 3, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 13, Mantra 5
Sukta 13
आपो॑ भ॒द्रा घृ॒तमिदाप॑ आसन्न॒ग्नीषोमौ॑ बिभ्र॒त्याप॒ इत् ताः। ती॒व्रो रसो॑ मधुपृचा॑मरंग॒म आ मा॑ प्रा॒णेन॑ स॒ह वर्च॑सा गमेत्
ā́po bhadrā́ ghṛtám íd ā́pa āsann agnī́ṣómau bibhratī́r ā́pa ít tā́ḥ | tīvró rásो madhupṛcā́m áraṅgam ā́ mā prāṇéna sahá várcasā gamet
Auspicious are the Waters: the Waters were, indeed, ghee; bearing Agni and Soma—those Waters indeed. Let their keen essence, honey-blent and harmless, come unto me together with breath and with splendour.
જળો શુભ છે; જળો તો ખરેખર ઘૃત જ હતા. અગ્નિ અને સોમને ધારણ કરનાર—એ જળો જ. તેમનો તીવ્ર રસ, મધુથી મિશ્રિત અને નિર્દોષ, પ્રાણ સાથે અને તેજ સાથે મારી પાસે આવે.
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (unspecified)
Devata: Āpas (Waters) as bearers of Agni and Soma
Chandas: Mixed/expanded anuṣṭubh-like (AV often allows freer cadence in longer pādas); exact metrical scan uncertain without full pada accent data
Primary: shanta
Secondary: adbhuta
Sāyaṇa emphasizes the identification of waters with ghṛta as a statement of nourishing unctuousness and sacrificial purity. ‘Bearing Agni and Soma’ is taken as waters containing both heating and life-sap principles, hence fit for healing. ‘Tīvra rasa’ is the concentrated medicinal efficacy; ‘madhupṛcā’ indicates a sweet, tonic admixture; ‘araṅga’ assures non-injury. The optative prayer seeks prāṇa and varcas as concrete therapeutic outcomes.
To ingest/receive consecrated water as a tonic that restores prāṇa (life-breath) and varcas (vigour/splendour), framed as a safe, honeyed essence.
General debility, loss of breath/strength, convalescence; heat-agitation needing safe replenishment.
Consecrated water as a carrier of balanced potency (Agni-Soma), bringing prāṇa and varcas; ‘honey-blent’ suggests palatability and assimilation.
Rasāyana-like framing (varcas/ojas-adjacent); balancing pitta (cool sweet waters) while supporting agni (digestive fire) without harm.
Oral hydration/tonic intake during fatigue; warm/cool fluids with honey (where appropriate) for convalescence; psychosomatic uplift through ritual.
mixed
Patient/reciter drinking or being sprinkled with consecrated water.
To make water a safe but powerful tonic that restores breath (prāṇa) and radiance (varcas).
Substance-identification (water = ghṛta), deity-infusion (Agni-Soma), and invitational drawing-in (ā… gamet).
Toxicity, adverse effects, weakness, loss of lustre, post-illness depletion.
Vitality, attractiveness, strength, ‘glow’ (varcas)
The waters are auspicious; they are likened to ghee and said to bear Agni and Soma. Their sharp (keen) essence, mixed with honey and harmless, is invoked to come with prāṇa (breath/life) and varcas (splendour/vigour).
Healing is the reintegration of opposites: fire (Agni) and cool nectar (Soma) held together in a single medium. The ‘keen essence’ is disciplined vitality—strong yet non-injurious—arriving as renewed breath and confidence.
True nourishment is both potent and non-harming; vitality arises when transformative fire and restorative sweetness are harmonized in the body and mind.
- āpaḥ bhadrāḥ
- safe, beneficent life-current; trustworthy remedy
- ghṛtám
- unctuous nourishment; sacrificial excellence; soothing carrier of healing
- Agni-Ṣomau bibhratyn
- holding transformation (Agni) and rejuvenation (Soma) in balance
- tīvraḥ rasaḥ
- potency/efficacy of the medicine; concentrated life-force
- madhupṛcām
- sweetened, agreeable, harmonizing; also ‘nectar-like’
- araṅgam
- non-toxic potency; healing without collateral damage
- prāṇa
- vital regulation; life-wind restored
- varcas
- immunity-like brilliance; confidence, glow, strength
Invite balanced potency: warmth of transformation and cool nectar of restoration entering as breath and radiance.
Maṇipūra (Agni) harmonized with Svādhiṣṭhāna (Āpas) and Anāhata (prāṇa flow).
Sama-vṛtti (equal inhale/exhale) to symbolize Agni-Soma balance; finish with a few cooling breaths if overheated.
Golden honey-light dissolving into clear water; two lights (flame and moon) merge and flow into the chest as steady breath.
Replenishing pratyāhāra leading to calm vitality.
Chant, then sip slowly; feel breath deepen and posture brighten (varcas).
Keep the opening ‘āpo bhadrā’ bright and lifted; lengthen the invitational ‘ā mā … gamet’ slightly to ‘draw’ the essence in.
Mark semantic stresses: bhadrāḥ / ghṛtam / agnīṣomau / tīvraḥ rasaḥ / prāṇena / varcasā.
agnīṣomau: long ī, retroflex ṣ, clear diphthong -au, madhupṛcām: dental dh, clear ṛ vowel, araṅgam: roll the -ra-, nasal -ṅ- before g
Warm, nourishing, slightly uplifting.
If used for drinking, recite an odd number (3/7/9) and sip in small measures, maintaining ritual cleanliness (śauca).
7
Convalescence, fatigue, low vitality, loss of confidence/‘glow’.
Before drinking water in the morning; before/after medicine; after fever subsides (rebuilding phase).
Subjective increase in steadiness of breath, calm energy, and sense of nourishment; supports hydration habits.
Honey is not for infants; avoid additives if medically contraindicated (diabetes, allergies). Seek medical care for persistent weakness.
पदच्छेदः (सन्धिविग्रह): आपः | भद्राः | घृतम् | इद् | आपः | आसन् | अग्नीषोमौ | बिभ्रती | आपः | इत् | ताः | तीव्रः | रसः | मधुपृचाम् | अरङ्गम् | आ | मा | प्राणेन | सह | वर्चसा | गमेत् । प्रमुख-सन्धयः: (1) घृतमिदापः = घृतम् + इद् + आपः (म् + इ → मि; निपात ‘इद्’ संहितायाम् ‘इद्/इत्’ रूपेण). (2) आसन्नग्नीषोमौ = आसन् + अग्नीषोमौ (न् + अ → न्न). (3) बिभ्रत्यापः = बिभ्रती + आपः (ई + आ → या; संहितायां ‘त्य’ लेखनम्). (4) आप इत् ताः = आपः + इत् + ताः (विसर्गलोप/पदविरामे). (5) आ मा = उपसर्ग ‘आ’ + सर्वनाम ‘मा’ (पदविभागः).
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