Atharva Veda 10.5.40: Kanda 10, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 5, Mantra 40
Sukta 5
४॥ ब्रह्मा॒भ्याव॑र्ते । तन्मे॒ द्रवि॑णं यच्छतु तन्मे॑ ब्राह्मणवर्च॒सम्
brahmā́bhíāvarte | tán me dráviṇaṃ yacchatu tán me brāhmaṇavarcásam ||
Brahmā turns hitherward. Let that bestow on me wealth; let that bestow on me brahmanic splendour.
ब्रह्मा हमारी तरफ मुड़ के देख रहे हैं। उनकी कृपा से मुझे धन मिले। उनकी कृपा से मुझे ब्रह्मन की चमक मिले।
The meaning
What it says
Brahmā/Brahman is called to turn toward the speaker, and ‘that’ (tat) is asked to bestow wealth and brahmanic lustre.
The inner meaning
The mind turns from scattered desire to the source-principle of order (brahman as sacred power/speech). When attention aligns with that ground, both livelihood and radiance arise as byproducts of centeredness.
The truth in it
When life is oriented to a unifying principle (truth, meaning, disciplined speech), resources and recognition tend to organize around it; fragmentation dissipates both.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Brahmavarcasa / Paustika
Its aim
To draw brahman-power itself into favorable presence, yielding wealth and brahmanical lustre.
Word by Word
Pada patha
ब्रह्मा । अभि-आवर्ते । तत् । मे । द्रविणम् । यच्छतु । तत् । मे । ब्राह्मण-वर्चसम्
- ब्रह्मा
- Brahmā (the creator / sacred power personified)Brahmā / the Brahman-principle personified; also the Brahman-priestly power (contextually: brahman as efficacious speech)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) / ब्रह्मा (पुं-प्रातिपदिक)
- अभ्यावर्तते
- turns back/returns; comes back againVerbलट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपदRole कर्तृ (क्रिया)Root √वृत् (वर्तते) + उपसर्ग: अभि-आ-
- तत्
- thatPronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्म (यच्छतु इत्यस्य)Root तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- मे
- to me / for meto me, for mePronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी, एकवचन (एन्क्लिटिक)Role सम्प्रदान (यच्छतु इत्यस्य: ‘to me’)Root अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- द्रविणम्
- wealth; property; treasurewealth, gainNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot द्रविण (प्रातिपदिक)
- यच्छतु
- may (he/it) give; let (him/it) grantlet it give, bestowVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole कर्तृ (क्रिया)Root √यम् (यच्छति)
- तत्
- thatPronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्म (यच्छतु इत्यस्य)Root तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- मे
- to me / for meto me, for mePronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी, एकवचन (एन्क्लिटिक)Role सम्प्रदान (यच्छतु इत्यस्य: ‘to me’)Root अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- ब्राह्मणवर्चसम्
- brahmanical lustre; priestly splendour/holy radiancebrahmanical lustre; sacred brilliance/authorityNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot ब्राह्मण-वर्चस् (समास-प्रातिपदिक; वर्चस् = तेजस्/यशस्)
Sandhi Notes
- ब्रह्मा अभ्यावर्तते । तत् मे द्रविणम् यच्छतु तत् मे ब्राह्मणवर्चसम् ।
- 1) ब्रह्मा॒भ्याव॑र्ते = ब्रह्मा + अभ्यावर्तते (स्वर-लोप/पदसंयोग; ‘अभ्यावर्ते’ पाठे लट्-आत्मनेपद 3sg ‘अभ्यावर्तते’).
- 2) तन्मे = तत् + मे (व्यञ्जन-सन्धि: त् + म् → न्म्).
- 3) तन्मे ब्राह्मणवर्चसम्: पुनः तत् + मे → तन्मे
- तत् (नपुं. एक.) कर्मरूपेण ‘यच्छतु’ इत्यस्य।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition
- Devata
- Brahmā / Brahman
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh (probable)
- Rasa
- Shanta
Sāyaṇa emphasizes brahman as the supreme efficacious agency: when ‘Brahmā’ (either the personified power or the brahman-principle) is turned toward the performer, both material and sacral goods follow. The neuter tat underscores an impersonal, absolute potency—brahman as force—rather than merely a personal deity.
Atharvanic tradition (formulaic prosperity-brahmavarcasa charm)
Brahmavarcasa rites: securing the potency of brahman (vāc/mantra) for social and ritual efficacy.
Collapses the distance between ‘power of the word’ and material support—brahman is treated as the primary efficacious substance that can ‘give’.
Brahmā / Brahman
Source and regulator of sacred speech and ritual order; grants legitimacy to wealth and status through alignment with truth and rite.
Guards against speech-failure, ritual error, loss of learning, and social delegitimation.
4 × ~8; strong demonstrative parallelism (tan me … / tan me …).
Atharvanic ‘tat’-style deictic charm language; cadence supports emphatic pointing to an impersonal power.
Declarative-invocatory; slightly more ‘absolute’ tone than the plural-seer petitions.
Produces centering and solemnity; ‘tat’ functions like a verbal seal.
Establish silence and purity (ācamanam), then begin recitation as a ‘brahman-activation’ act.
Recite the mantra with the right hand placed on the heart or head (seat of varcas), indicating internalization of brahman.
At yacchatu, extend the hand outward and then draw it back to the chest, miming the bestowal and retention of draviṇa and varcas.
Seal with a brief stillness, treating the invoked brahman as now ‘present’ (abhī-āvṛtta) in the performer.
Kauśika Sūtra: brahmavarcasa rites centered on brahman and the Brahman-priest function (general rubric).
Brahman/Atharvan as custodian of brahman: he performs speech as technology, converting metaphysical brahman into tangible prosperity and social-sacral radiance.
Recite before Vedic study, before ritual recitation, or when beginning a livelihood task requiring impeccable speech/ethics (contracts, teaching).
Dawn or before formal speaking; can be used as a brief ‘seal’ after longer prayers.
Any initiated reciter; in household context, the head of house or teacher figure.
As a short grounding mantra before presentations, interviews, or study—framing success as alignment with truth.
Brahman (sacred speech/power) as the primary efficacious ‘substance’
Brahman is treated as a ‘subtle substance’—a transmissible potency that can be summoned, made present, and made to ‘bestow’ tangible and intangible goods.
Cognitive reframing toward meaning/values; performance anxiety reduction through grounding in principle.
Self (speaker)
Draw brahman-power into favorable presence to confer wealth and brahmanic splendour.
Āvāhana via abhyāvartana; deictic fixation (‘tat’) to bind beneficence to the petitioner.
Loss of varcas, poverty through disorder/inauspicious orientation, failures of speech and rite.
Learning-based status, patronage, stable means.
- ब्रह्मा / ब्रह्मन् (brahmā/brahman)
- generative order of mantra, the organizing intelligence of speech and rite
- तत् (tat)
- impersonal absolute/ground; the ‘it’ that bestows beyond ego
- अभ्यावर्ते (abhyāvarte)
- reversal into auspicious alignment; making the transcendent ‘present’
- ब्राह्मणवर्चस् (brāhmaṇavarcas)
- authority that shines from truthful, trained speech
Rest attention in ‘tat’—the impersonal ground of speech and meaning—then let action arise.
viśuddha (speech)
4-4-6 breathing (inhale-hold-exhale) with ‘tat’ mentally on hold, mantra on exhale.
A column of golden light from crown to throat; words emerging as luminous, truthful syllables.
Ekāgratā (one-pointedness) with sattvic clarity.
Practice one day of speech-discipline (no gossip, no harshness). Let ‘wealth’ mean also time, attention, and integrity.
Plain Atharvanic recitation; emphasize ‘tat’ with clean onset rather than volume; keep pitch steady.
Keep demonstratives (tat) crisp; do not swallow final -t; maintain the parallel tanme…tanme… as identical in rhythm.
Low, steady, solemn.
Useful as a ‘closing seal’ after longer prosperity recitations; repetition stabilizes intention without agitation.
12 times
Needing legitimacy, clarity, and stable support through knowledge/speech-based work.
Before study, teaching, signing agreements, or when speech feels scattered.
Greater composure, disciplined speech, culturally framed attraction of support and respect.
Avoid using for manipulative rhetoric; align with truthful communication.
The verse is explicitly non-botanical: it treats brahman as the causal substrate. This is important for Vedic ‘medicine’ broadly construed—efficacy may be achieved by ontological alignment (brahman turned toward one) rather than by pharmacology.
It makes brahman-power the source of both wealth and varcas, implying that material success is ideally downstream of priestly-sacral authority. The performer’s aspiration is not only to possess goods but to embody the charisma that authorizes command within ritual society.
The abstraction ‘brahman’ as an almost autonomous donor is more characteristic of later Vedic speculation and Atharvanic pragmatics than of many RV hymns, where deities more often mediate gifts. The neuter tat is a stylistic marker of impersonalized power.
Gopatha’s Atharvanic orientation elevates brahman (and the Brahman priestly function) as the stabilizer of rites and the remover of ritual fault. A mantra that directly petitions brahman to ‘give’ aligns with that framework: efficacy is the natural consequence of brahman’s favorable presence.
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