Atharva Veda 11.3.48: Kanda 11, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 3, Mantra 48
Sukta 3
तं वा अ॒हं नार्वाञ्चं॒ न परा॑ञ्चं॒ न प्र॒त्यञ्च॑म्
táṃ vā aháṃ nā́rvāñcaṃ ná parā́ñcaṃ ná pratyáñcam
Him verily I—neither hither-turned, nor away-turned, nor back-turned—(do I admit/allow).
मैं उस आदमी को नहीं मानता जो न इधर देखता है, न उधर, न पीछे। वो ऐसा है जैसे न यहाँ है न वहाँ, मैं उसे बिल्कुल नहीं मानता।
The meaning
What it says
A threefold denial of access: “Him I (admit) neither hither-turned, nor away-turned, nor back-turned.” The affliction is refused in every direction.
The inner meaning
A mental boundary practice: the mind refuses entry to intrusive fear/illness narratives from any approach—front, flight, or return.
The truth in it
Protection is often totalizing: closing all ‘routes’ of harm—physical, social, and psychological—prevents recurrence and relapse.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Apotropaic (Rakṣā) / Bhaisajya (countering eye-affliction context)
Its aim
To deny the affliction any directional access—preventing approach, departure-with-return, or any movement—thereby immobilizing and nullifying it.
Word by Word
Pada patha
तम् । वै । अहम् । न । अर्वाञ्चम् । न । पराञ्चम् । न । प्रत्यञ्चम् ।
- तम्
- him/that (one)him/that (the affliction/person/target previously mentioned)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → त
- वै
- indeed, surelyindeed; verily (assertive particle; ritual certainty)Indeclinable (particle)निपातः (अव्ययम्)Root वै (निपात)
- अहम्
- IPronounउत्तम-पुरुषः, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- notIndeclinable (negation)निषेधार्थक-अव्ययम्Root न (निषेध-अव्यय)
- अर्वाञ्चम्
- turned this way, facing hitherturned hitherward; facing toward (toward me/us)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्Role कर्म (तम् इति सर्वनामस्य विशेषणम्)Root अर्वाञ्च् (प्रातिपदिक; दिशावाचक-विशेषण)
- न
- notIndeclinable (negation)निषेधार्थक-अव्ययम्Root न (निषेध-अव्यय)
- पराञ्चम्
- turned away, facing yonderturned away; facing outward/away (banishment direction)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्Role कर्म (तम् इति सर्वनामस्य विशेषणम्)Root पराञ्च् (प्रातिपदिक; दिशावाचक-विशेषण)
- न
- notIndeclinable (negation)निषेधार्थक-अव्ययम्Root न (निषेध-अव्यय)
- प्रत्यञ्चम्
- turned toward (me/us), facing back/againstturned back toward; facing against/returning (counter-turning, recoil)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया-विभक्तिः, एकवचनम्Role कर्म (तम् इति सर्वनामस्य विशेषणम्)Root प्रत्यञ्च् (प्रातिपदिक; दिशावाचक-विशेषण)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: तम् | वै | अहम् | न | अर्वाञ्चम् | न | पराञ्चम् | न | प्रत्यञ्चम् ।
- 1) ‘तं वा अहम्’ इति संहितायां ‘वा’ (वै/वा निपात) परतः ‘अहम्’ इत्यत्र विशेष-सन्धिः न
- केवलं पद-संयोगः।
- 2) ‘नार्वाञ्चम्’ = ‘न’ + ‘अर्वाञ्चम्’ (न + अ… → ना…; दीर्घ-सन्धिः)।
- 3) ‘न पराञ्चम्’, ‘न प्रत्यञ्चम्’ इत्यत्र सन्धिः न
- पृथक् पदानि।
Seer, deity and metre
- Devata
- Rakṣā (Protection) as function; the ‘blocked’ entity is the doṣa/curse.
- Chandas
- Prose/fragment (elliptical).
- Rasa
- Shanta and Vira
Sayana takes the triple directional negation as a total ritual interdiction: the speaker blocks the entity (curse/affliction) from any directional approach or retreat, i.e., it is given no ‘path’ (gati) at all. The ellipsis implies a verb of acceptance/allowance (‘na…’ = ‘na icchāmi/na anujānāmi’), a common Atharvanic style of apotropaic refusal.
Unknown/uncertain (AVŚ 11.3 context)
Rakṣā-style negation formulas; immobilizing and excluding doṣas through directional closure.
Embodies Atharvan ‘net-casting’ protection: the world’s directions are sealed by speech so the harmful force has no pathway.
Rakṣā (protective exclusion) operating against a doṣa/curse
Maintains boundaries and correct orientation; keeps disorder/affliction outside the human sphere.
Prevents re-entry and relapse by ritually sealing the ‘doors’ of approach.
Directional blockade—front/back/away—so the hostile force cannot maneuver.
Enumeration with repeated negation; mantraic cadence via parallelism
Characteristic Atharvanic triadic closure (threefold denial) used in charms.
Hammering parallel beats; the ‘na… na… na…’ creates a locking rhythm.
Feels like bolting three locks; induces certainty and guardedness.
Stand between beneficiary and perceived source of harm; mark three directions (toward, away, back) with hand/rod gestures.
Recite the mantra while making three blocking motions corresponding to arvañc-/parāñc-/pratyañc-.
Conclude by drawing a protective line (with water, ash, or staff) to ‘close’ movement routes.
Kauśika Sūtra: exact citation uncertain; directionality formulas commonly accompany gestures of blocking (mudrā-like hand display), boundary-making, or casting away.
Atharvan priest as boundary-maker (rakṣākṛt), performing directional blocking synchronized with recitation.
Spoken at thresholds (door, bedside) or over the patient; can be paired with a symbolic sealing gesture (tracing a circle, touching three points).
At nightfall, before sleep, or after a perceived attack/omen; also after treatment to prevent return.
Householder recitation; specialist may prescribe directional gestures.
Use as a brief protective affirmation before sleep when anxious about relapse.
The ‘material’ is spatial order itself: directions are treated as controllable channels sealed by mantra.
Eye-affliction/curse context; more generally, recurrent or returning doṣa
Not explicit; contextually eyes/vision
Apotropaic exclusion through directional sealing; prevents approach and recurrence.
Relapse prevention (punar-āvṛtti) and nidāna-parivarjana (avoidance/removal of causes) framed as ritual ‘non-admission’.
Boundary-setting to reduce triggers; relapse-prevention mindset for recurrent conditions; hygiene/avoidance behaviors ritualized.
Doṣa/curse/affliction entity
To immobilize and exclude the harmful entity so it cannot enter, exit-and-return, or circle back.
Dik-bandhana (direction-binding) via verbal negation and triadic enumeration.
Recurrence, reinfection, repeated malefic influence
- अर्वाञ्च् (arvāñc)
- incoming attack/incipient symptom
- पराञ्च् (parāñc)
- harm that seems gone but leaves a trace; denial of lingering influence
- प्रत्यञ्च् (pratyañc)
- relapse/recurrence; boomerang effect of curse or disease
- न (na)
- apotropaic negation; ritual refusal as barrier
Seal the senses: practice ‘non-admission’ of intrusive thoughts and fears.
Box-breath (4-4-4-4) while mentally placing ‘na’ at front/back/around.
Three gates around the body close; a soft luminous boundary forms around the head/eyes.
Pratyāhāra (withdrawal) leading to steadiness.
Recite once per ‘direction’ internally, then rest in silence sensing the boundary as non-reactivity.
Prose with strong parallel accents; keep each ‘na’ crisp and equal.
Slight pause after each negation phrase to ‘lock’ the seal.
Low, steady, guarding tone.
Triadic repetition matches the triadic negation; optionally accompany with three sealing gestures.
3 times
Eye hygiene and rest; Protective lighting at night (reduce strain); Follow with the sun-moon eye identification (11.3.49) for constructive restoration
Concern about a returning symptom, recurring bad influence, or ‘evil eye’ style anxiety around health.
After a healing act, before sleep, or when leaving/entering a risky environment.
Sense of closure; reduced rumination; culturally coherent ‘relapse-prevention’ framing.
If symptoms persist or worsen, seek medical care; do not use to justify avoidance of necessary treatment.
No substance is named; the technology is spatial and kinetic—directional negation plus gesture. In practice, such mantras often pair with boundary media (water/ash), but that is not explicit here.
It encodes the priest’s authority to regulate invisible agencies through spatial command; the ritual specialist controls ‘routes’ of harm, a form of power over misfortune that supports priestly social centrality.
The directional adjectives (arvāñc-, parāñc-, pratyañc-) are old, but the Atharvanic innovation is their deployment in a terse, quasi-legal apotropaic denial with ellipsis, closer to ritual prose than RV hymn syntax.
Gopatha often rationalizes efficacy via correct ‘restriction’ (niyama) and ‘exclusion’ (apavāda) of doṣas; this verse exemplifies exclusion by denying all directional possibilities, a conceptual ‘closure’ of harm.
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