Atharva Veda 11.3.118: Kanda 11, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 3, Mantra 118
Sukta 3
तं वा अ॒हं नार्वाञ्चं॒ न परा॑ञ्चं॒ न प्र॒त्यञ्च॑म्
táṃ vā́ aháṃ nā́rvāñcaṃ ná parā́ñcaṃ ná pratyáñcam
Him, verily, I—neither hitherward, nor awayward, nor counterward—[do I set/allow].
मैं उसको कहीं भी नहीं जाने देता, न इधर, न उधर, न पीछे। उसकी कोई जगह नहीं है मेरे पास।
The meaning
What it says
The speaker declares a binding: “Him I do not set/allow as hitherward, nor awayward, nor counterward”—a threefold directional negation that immobilizes.
The inner meaning
A psychological ‘freeze’ of intrusive threat: the hostile force is denied approach (arvāñc), denied escape (parāñc), and denied counter-turning (pratyañc). It is held in a neutralized limbo.
The truth in it
Protection can be achieved by limiting the degrees of freedom of harm—containment before expulsion. Naming directions maps chaos into controllable space.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Apotropaic (Protective) / Abhicarika (Binding)
Its aim
To immobilize a hostile force/person so it can neither come toward the sacrificer, nor escape, nor turn back in counter-attack.
Word by Word
Pada patha
तम् । वै । अहम् । न । अर्वाञ्चम् । न । पराञ्चम् । न । प्रत्यञ्चम् ।
- तम्
- him/that (as object)him/that one (the object under discussion; likely the person/force being constrained)Pronounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- वै
- indeed, surelyindeed; verily (assertive particle)Indeclinableनिपात (अव्यय)Root वै (निपात)
- अहम्
- IPronounउत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेध (अव्यय)Root न (निषेध-अव्यय)
- अर्वाञ्चम्
- turned this way / inward / toward usturned hitherward; facing toward (arvāñc = toward the speaker/this side)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot अर्वाञ्च् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘अर्वाक्’ = इहाभिमुख/अधोमुख)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेध (अव्यय)Root न (निषेध-अव्यय)
- पराञ्चम्
- turned away / outwardturned away; facing outward/away (parāñc = away from here)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot पराञ्च् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘पराक्’ = बहिर्मुख/पराङ्मुख)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेध (अव्यय)Root न (निषेध-अव्यय)
- प्रत्यञ्चम्
- turned back/toward (inward-facing)turned back/against; facing toward in return (pratyāñc = counter-facing; adversative orientation)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot प्रत्यञ्च् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘प्रत्यक्’ = प्रत्यग्/अन्तर्मुख)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: तम् वै अहम् न अर्वाञ्चम् न पराञ्चम् न प्रत्यञ्चम्।
- 1) ‘वा’ इति पाठभेदः सम्भवः
- अत्र ‘वै’ (निपात) रूपेण ग्रहणम्।
- 2) ‘अहं’ इत्यत्र वैदिकस्वरचिह्नः (अ॒हं) केवलं उदात्त/अनुदात्त-निर्देशः, पदरूपे परिवर्तनं न।
- 3) ‘नार्वाञ्चम्’ = ‘न’ + ‘अर्वाञ्चम्’ (स्वर-सन्धि/व्यञ्जन-सन्धि से ‘न’ + ‘अ’ → ‘ना’)।
- 4) ‘परा॑ञ्चम्’ ‘प्र॒त्यञ्च॑म्’ में च्-आदि प्रत्ययान्त विशेषण-प्रातिपदिक (अर्वाञ्च्/पराञ्च्/प्रत्यञ्च्) के द्वितीया-एकवचन रूप।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Unspecified (first-person ritual voice)
- Devata
- Directional powers (diś) implicitly; binding force of mantra
- Chandas
- Prose / truncated formula
- Rasa
- Vira and Shanta
Sāyaṇa takes the triple negation of orientations as a binding formula: the speaker refuses the entity any directional ‘turning,’ i.e., any agency to approach, depart, or retaliate. The ellipsis implies a verb of restraining/placing (ni-dhā/bandh) understood from context; the mantra functions as a directional immobilization.
Unspecified (first-person ritual voice)
Shāntika-abhicārika boundary control: binding, immobilizing, and directional containment of threats.
The Atharvanic ‘I’ is the empowered ritual subject whose controlled speech establishes a protected spatial order.
Diś (Directions) and Mantra-śakti (binding speech)
Directions structure the world; by invoking their logic implicitly, the charm constrains movement and agency of hostile forces within ordered space.
Creates a protective cordon by denying vector, exit, and reversal—classic containment.
A compact negation-chain; rhythmic triad (na… na… na…) provides incantatory closure.
Triadic negation is typical of Atharvanic binding charms; semantic rhythm replaces metrical regularity.
Hammering, juridical cadence—like a threefold prohibition.
Produces a felt ‘lock’ in space; listener senses closure of routes.
Mark three directions (toward, away, counter) with lines or pegs
Place the effigy/cord-bound token at the center
Recite while circling once and making a ‘stop’ gesture at each direction
Tie a knot (granthi) to ‘fix’ the state
Deposit the token in a boundary place (crossroads/threshold) to maintain immobilization.
Atharvan as binder (bandhaka) who controls directional agency; Brahman as overseer preventing the force from ‘turning back’ upon the operator.
Recited when protecting thresholds (doorways, courtyards) or when a feared influence is thought to be ‘circling’ the home.
At dusk/nightfall, or during confrontation/accusation of harmful intent.
Householder or Atharvanic practitioner establishes a boundary by spoken declaration, optionally while tracing a circle mentally.
Use as a boundary mantra before entering stressful spaces; pair with a brief grounding pause.
Purely verbal-spatial technology: the ‘substance’ is the mapped space of directions sealed by speech.
Cognitive technique of ‘containment’ for intrusive thoughts: deny approach, deny flight, deny rebound—observe without engagement.
Hostile person, curse-agent, or malevolent influence
Immobilize a hostile force/person so it cannot approach, flee, or counter-attack; prepares for expulsion or neutralization.
Directional negation and binding through declarative speech; spatial cordoning by mantra.
Approach of harm, evasion of accountability, retaliatory backlash
- अर्वाञ्च (arvāñc)
- incoming threat; intrusion into one’s boundary
- पराञ्च (parāñc)
- escape of the hostile agent; refusal to let harm ‘get away’ unaccounted
- प्रत्यञ्च (pratyañc)
- counter-attack, rebound harm, retaliation
- तम् (tam)
- the identified hostile force/person, now objectified for binding
Boundary-setting: hold attention at the ‘perimeter’ of awareness; do not let the threat enter, do not chase it away, do not fight it—contain it.
Manipura (agency/boundaries)
Box-breath (equal inhale-hold-exhale-hold) to reinforce containment.
A three-gated seal closes: front (arvāñc), back/out (parāñc), and reverse (pratyañc).
Dharana on a protective circle/square around the self.
Recite once with full intention, then sit silently for several breaths, maintaining the felt boundary.
Prose; emphasize the three ‘na’ beats evenly to create the binding triad.
Slight stress on arvāñcam / parāñcam / pratyañcam; keep them parallel in delivery.
Steady, authoritative, low volume but firm.
Triadic repetition (3x) often suits binding formulas; maintain identical cadence each time to ‘seal’ the pattern.
3 times
Feeling threatened by someone’s hostility, gossip, or a perceived ‘bad influence’ entering the home or mind.
Before sleep, before meetings, when crossing thresholds, or immediately after sensing an intrusive fear.
Stronger boundaries; reduced reactivity; containment of fear and hostility.
Do not use to escalate conflict; pair with practical safety steps. If paranoia/anxiety is severe, seek professional support.
No botanical correlate; the operative technology is spatial: controlling directionality is equivalent to controlling agency. Material correlates would be pegs/knots rather than herbs.
The ‘I’ is empowered to regulate movement and retaliation—an index of priestly authority to manage invisible threats on behalf of patrons.
The directional adjectives arvāñc/parāñc/pratyāñc are old, but their triadic, quasi-legal negation is characteristic of Atharvanic binding formulas and later ritual prose.
Gopatha frequently interprets mantras as constraints on movement/approach of hostile entities (rakṣas, etc.). This verse fits that hermeneutic: efficacy is spatial immobilization enacted by speech.
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