Atharva Veda 15.4.7: Kanda 15, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 4, Mantra 7
Sukta 4
तस्मै॑ प्र॒तीच्या॑ दि॒शः
tásmai pratī́cyā diśáḥ
For him (is secured) the western quarter.
उसके लिए पश्चिम की तरफ सेफ है। यह डायरेक्शन उसके लिए सिक्योर हो गयी।
The meaning
What it says
For him, the western quarter is secured/assigned.
The inner meaning
A terse ‘grid-extension’ formula: once one quarter is sealed, attention moves to the next. Psychologically, it trains the mind to complete protection comprehensively, not selectively.
The truth in it
Safety is strengthened by completeness: partial measures leave gaps; systematic coverage reduces vulnerability.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Dik-rakṣā (Directional protection) / liturgical transition
Its aim
To extend the protective grid to the western quarter for the beneficiary.
Word by Word
Pada patha
तस्मै । प्र॒तीच्या॑ः । दि॒शः
- तस्मै
- to him/for thatto him/for him (the beneficiary)Pronounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (प्रयोगतः), चतुर्थी विभक्ति, एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- प्रतीच्या
- of the western (direction)Adjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी विभक्ति, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root प्रत्यञ्च् (प्रातिपदिक)
- दिशः
- of the directionthe quarter/directionNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी विभक्ति, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root दिश् (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: तस्मै | प्रतीच्या | दिशः । अत्र बाह्य-सन्धिः न दृश्यते। ‘प्रतीच्या दिशः’ इति षष्ठी-सम्बन्धः (genitive relation): ‘of the western direction’
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- As per AV 15.4 complex
- Devata
- Pratīcī diś (West quarter)
- Chandas
- Formulaic fragment
- Rasa
- Shanta
Another linking assignment-formula, moving the protective circuit onward from the south to the west; it cues the next installation of seasonal guardians for the western direction.
AV 15.4 complex (variable anukramaṇī attribution)
Liturgical ‘link-phrases’ that stitch a larger dik-rakṣā sequence; mastery of terse performative formulas.
Shows Atharvanic power of minimal speech: a short utterance can function as a ritual act of placement.
Pratīcī diś (West quarter)
Quarter as a cosmic segment of space; west governs closure, return, and containment within the daily cycle.
Spatial containment; closing the perimeter from the west.
Short nominal clause; functions as a transition marker within a longer recitation.
Elliptical syntax typical of AV schematic passages; meaning supplied by ritual context.
Abrupt, clipped, ‘stamp-like’.
Acts as a quick seal before moving on—audible punctuation.
After completing the southern station, turn (clockwise) toward the west.
Recite this formula while indicating the western boundary (gesture, glance, or boundary-mark).
Proceed to the subsequent mantra(s) that specify the western guardians.
Kauśika Sūtra: clockwise quarter-circuit (pradakṣiṇā) in rakṣā rites (general; used as a turning-cue)
Atharvan/Brahman manages the spatial choreography of the rite, ensuring the quarter-turn and verbal designation coincide.
Used as a linking utterance while turning to/gesturing toward the west in a directional protection rite.
At sunset protections; or within any dik-bandhana sequence.
Reciter marks the quarter, possibly with a step, glance, or sprinkling if the wider rite includes substances.
Mindful boundary-setting at day’s end: ‘seal the west’ as symbolic closure of daily stressors.
Diś (West) as ritually bounded space
Space is treated as a manipulable substance: by naming the quarter, the ritual ‘sets’ it into a protective configuration.
Beneficiary and their perimeter.
Extend the protective enclosure to the western quarter as part of a directional warding lattice.
Directional naming/assignment (dik-sthāpana) as performative boundary-making.
Unspecified western-entry dangers; general inauspicious ingress.
Security, completion, stability.
- तस्मै (tasmai)
- the beneficiary as the center of the protective mandala
- प्रतीची दिश् (pratīcī diś)
- setting sun, closure, transitions; the place where day ‘completes’—hence suited to sealing and finishing
Closure practice: release the day, seal attention from dispersal; cultivate completion (pūrṇatā).
Ajna (integration) or Muladhara (security), depending on intent.
Exhale-lengthening (e.g., 4-in/6-out) to evoke west/sunset settling.
A setting sun forming a golden boundary on the western edge of your personal mandala.
Contained, finished, quiet.
Recite once at evening; pause for three slow breaths imagining the perimeter complete.
Plain, even delivery; treat as a ‘marker’ rather than a melodic line.
Keep pratīcyāḥ with long ī; avoid shortening the ending visarga/ḥ in diśaḥ if present in your recitational style.
Soft but decisive—like placing a seal.
Its function depends on sequence-context; do not isolate as a standalone ‘full’ charm unless you supply the larger directional frame.
1 times
Need for closure and boundary-setting; end-of-day protection for home and mind.
At sunset; after completing a protective recitation sequence; before sleep.
Psychological closure; sense of completed perimeter.
None; this is a spatial-ritual marker. The ‘medicine’ here is ordered space produced by authoritative speech.
It presupposes a guided ritual circuit; the beneficiary’s safety is constructed through priestly control of space, sequence, and sanctioned utterance.
The phrase is grammatically simple and old; its modular deployment as a liturgical hinge is more characteristic of Atharvanic/Brāhmaṇa ritual scripting.
By bandhu reasoning, naming the quarter and binding it to the beneficiary is itself an act of acquisition and protection; the quarter becomes ‘his’ through correct designation.
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