Atharva Veda 3.21.10: Kanda 3, Anuvaka 3, Sukta 21, Mantra 10
Sukta 21
ये पर्व॑ताः॒ सोम॑पृष्ठा॒ आप॑ उत्तान॒शीव॑रीः । वातः॑ प॒र्जन्य॒ आद॒ग्निस्ते क्र॒व्याद॑मशीशमन्
yé párvatāḥ sómapṛṣṭhā ā́pa uttānaśī́varīḥ | vā́taḥ párjanya ā́d agníṣ té kravyā́dam aśīśaman ||
The Soma-backed mountains, the waters wide outspread, the Wind, Parjanya, and Agni—by these hath that flesh-eater been made quiet.
Pahad jahan Soma ped hote hain, paani jo faila hua hai, hawa, baadal aur Agni, in sab ne us maans khane wale ko shant kar diya hai. Yeh sab milke us buri cheez ko control mein kar diye.
The meaning
What it says
Cosmic coolers and stabilizers—Soma-backed mountains, wide-spread waters, Wind, Parjanya (rain), and Agni—have made the flesh-eater quiet.
The inner meaning
Stability (mountains), nourishment/soothing (Soma), emotional cleansing (waters), breath-regulation (wind), restorative release (rain), and disciplined transformation (Agni) together pacify the devouring impulse.
The truth in it
When destructive heat rises, antidotes are the great regulators: steadiness, fluidity, breath, renewal, and rightly-ordered fire.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Apotropaic Śānti with cooling/purificatory cosmology
Its aim
To pacify the flesh-eating fire through the agency of waters, rain, wind, and stabilizing cosmic supports (mountains), i.e., by invoking cooling and ordering forces.
Word by Word
Pada patha
ये । पर्वताः । सोम-पृष्ठाः । आपः । उत्तान-शीवरीः । वातः । पर्जन्यः । आत् । अग्निः । ते । क्रव्यादम् । अशीशमन् ।
- ये
- who/which (those)which/who (relative)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot यद् (sarvanāma-prātipadika)
- पर्वताः
- mountainsNounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot पर्वत (prātipadika)
- सोमपृष्ठाः
- having Soma on their backs / Soma-backedSoma-backed (bearing Soma; or having Soma on their back—mythic/ritual epithet transferred to mountains)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम् (पर्वताः इति विशेषणम्)Role KartāRoot सोमपृष्ठ (बहुव्रीहि-समास; सोम + पृष्ठ)
- आपः
- watersNounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot अप् (prātipadika; pluralia tantum)
- उत्तानशीवरीः
- lying/spreading out; widely extended (of the waters)with outstretched/upraised ‘śīvarī’ (obscure; often taken as ‘spreading, wide-flowing’; Sayana tends to gloss as ‘expanded, widely extended’ waters)Adjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम् (आपः इति विशेषणम्)Role KartāRoot उत्तानशीवरी (prātipadika; कर्मधारय/बहुव्रीहि-भावः: उत्तान + शीवरी)
- वातः
- windNounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot वात (prātipadika)
- पर्जन्यः
- Parjanya (rain-god); rainParjanya (rain-cloud/rain-god)Nounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot पर्जन्य (prātipadika)
- आद्
- then; moreoverIndeclinableअव्ययम् (निपातः; ‘then/thereupon/also’ अर्थे)Root आद् (avyaya)
- अग्निः
- Agni; fireAgni (fire)Nounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot अग्नि (prātipadika)
- ते
- they (those)they (those forces just named)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम् (पूर्वोक्ताः—ये पर्वताः/आपः इत्यादयः)Role KartāRoot तद् (sarvanāma-prātipadika)
- क्रव्यादम्
- the flesh-eater (demonic being)the flesh-eater (kravyād)Noun (epithet)पुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot क्रव्याद (prātipadika; क्रवि + आद ‘eater’)
- अशीशमन्
- they quieted/appeased; they made (him) be at peacehave quieted/pacified (they have stilled; plural perfect)Verbलुङ् (aorist), परस्मैपदम्, 3 पुरुषः, बहुवचनम्Root √शम् (धातु; causative/intensive-stem: शीशम्-)
Sandhi Notes
- (1) पर्जन्यः + आद् → पर्जन्य आद् (visarga before vowel often written without explicit change in Saṃhitā orthography here)
- (2) आद् + अग्निः → आदग्निः (d + a → da; external sandhi)
- (3) ते + क्रव्यादम् → ते क्रव्यादम् (no change)
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition (anukramaṇī-dependent)
- Devata
- Cosmic regulators (Āpaḥ, Vāta, Parjanya) with Agni; target: kravyād
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta and Adbhuta
Sayana interprets the verse as calling on cooling and regulating cosmic agencies—waters, rain, wind, and even Agni in a controlled form—to pacify the kravyād. The mountains and Soma imagery reinforce a ritual geography: Soma-associated, life-sustaining powers counteract the predatory fire.
Atharvanic tradition (cosmic-śānti voice; anukramaṇī attribution varies)
Cooling/purificatory cosmology; using macrocosmic elements as ritual counteragents to dangerous heat and impurity.
Expands the pacification beyond ‘gods’ to elemental order: the cosmos itself becomes the medicine against devouring fire.
Āpaḥ, Vāta, Parjanya, Parvatas, with Agni as regulated transformer
Elemental balancing: water and rain quench, wind disperses, mountains stabilize, Agni is restrained into lawful function.
Cooling, cleansing, restoring after ‘burning’ conditions—ritual and psychological.
Prevents spread of kravyād influence; re-establishes safe ecological order around the household.
4×8 with dense compounds (somapṛṣṭhāḥ, uttānaśīvarīḥ).
Compound-heavy pādas typical of AV style; chanting benefits from clear compound segmentation.
Elemental roll-call; each item adds ‘cooling weight.’
Somatic sense of cooling—listeners often feel breath slow and shoulders drop.
Recite the mantra while sprinkling water around the hearth/affected area (or upon the patient/object), aligning ‘āpaḥ’ with the physical act.
If rain/wind are ritually represented, fan the fire lightly (vāta) and then restrain it, symbolizing regulation rather than spread.
Offer a final oblation to Agni as ‘controlled fire’, not kravyād, and conclude with a quieting formula.
Kauśika Sūtra: śānti rites where water-sprinkling accompanies Agni-pacification using AV 3.21 (edition-dependent).
Atharvan priest as environmental regulator: he coordinates water, breath/wind, and fire in a controlled sequence to transform destructive heat into domesticated ritual heat.
Recite while sprinkling water around hearth/threshold; or while ventilating space after smoke/incident.
After 3.21.8–9 as the ‘cooling completion’ verse; also during rain-prayers when fear of fire/heat is present.
Householder as ritual technician: water + mantra + boundary-circling.
Elemental śānti applications with water-sprinkling and fire-calming sequences (exact cite varies).
Pair with a glass of water offering and mindful breathing near an open window.
waters (āpaḥ) as cooling/purifying medium; rain (Parjanya) as fire-quenching power; wind (vāta) as regulator/disperser; mountains (parvata) as cosmic stabilizers
āpaḥ explicitly; Parjanya as rain-water power.
Agni present as both target-associated force and regulated ally.
A classic Atharvanic ‘cooling charm’: water/rain/wind/mountain are the pharmaka that neutralize the hot, consuming agent.
Heat/agitation states (ritual ‘burning’), post-exposure distress, impurity anxiety; metaphorical ‘consumption.’
Elemental counterbalancing: invoke waters/rain/wind/grounding to pacify fire; psychosomatic cooling via imagery.
Pitta pacification (āpaḥ/parjanya), Vāta regulation (vāta invoked in a harmonizing, not aggravating, way).
Cooling imagery + breath regulation for anxiety; environmental grounding (nature-based calming).
kravyād Agni
To pacify kravyād by mobilizing elemental forces that naturally restrain fire.
Cosmic substitution: set cool/stable elements against devouring heat; enumerative binding (‘by these…’).
Overheating, ominous fire, perceived contagion from death-contact.
- सोमपृष्ठ (somapṛṣṭha)
- cool, nourishing support; the ‘nectar’ that steadies harshness
- आपः (āpaḥ)
- purification, emotional cooling, life-restoration
- वात (vāta)
- prāṇa regulation; dispersal of stagnation and fumes
- पर्जन्य (parjanya)
- grace that quenches excess heat; renewal after crisis
- पर्वत (parvata)
- cosmic grounding; immovable support during liminality
Elemental balancing: ground (mountain), flow (water), breath (wind), release (rain), steady heat (lamp-flame).
Maṇipūra cooled; Svādhiṣṭhāna supported by water imagery.
Nadi-śodhana or simple 1:2 inhale:exhale; imagine vāta carrying out smoke on exhale.
Rain falling on a wild flame until it becomes a steady lamp beside a river at a mountain’s foot.
Cooling clarity; spaciousness.
Chant 3 times, then do 12 slow breaths; end by touching the ground (bhū-sparśa) for stability.
Keep a flowing cadence; slightly lengthen āpaḥ and vātaḥ for ‘cooling’ resonance.
Segment compounds: soma-pṛṣṭhāḥ; uttāna-śīvarīḥ; avoid swallowing consonant clusters.
Cool, open-throated, airy (not forceful).
Works well with actual water-sprinkling (prokṣaṇa) and ventilation—ritual action mirrors mantra imagery.
3 times
When the home feels ‘overheated’—after conflict, smoke, illness anxiety, or death-contact stress.
Morning after a heavy night; during hot weather agitation; after cleansing the space with water.
Cooling calm, clearer breathing, sense of restored order.
If using actual fire, keep safety first; mantra complements, not replaces, practical measures.
The functional analogue of ‘medicine’ here is hydrological rather than botanical: waters and rain are invoked as cooling agents. In ritual practice this readily maps onto sprinkling, making the mantra a verbal operator for a physical cooling technology.
It encodes a worldview where domestic safety depends on aligning household practice with cosmic regulators (rain, wind, waters). The priest mediates that alignment, translating macrocosm into microcosmic procedure.
The cosmological catalogue is RV-like, but the explicit therapeutic/apotropaic telos—‘they have pacified the kravyād’—is Atharvanic in its applied closure and its readiness for ritual enactment (sprinkling, regulation).
Gopatha typically rationalizes efficacy through correspondences: cooling agencies counteract fiery danger. This verse exemplifies that correspondence-system, making waters/rain/wind the ‘counter-forces’ that ritually neutralize kravyād.
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