Atharva Veda 19.47.8: Kanda 19, Anuvaka 5, Sukta 47, Mantra 8
Sukta 47
अध॑ रात्रि तृ॒ष्टधू॑ममशी॒र्षाण॒महिं॑ कृणु । हनू॒ वृक॑स्य ज॒म्भया॒स्तेन॒ तं द्रु॑प॒दे ज॑हि
ádha rā́tri tṛṣṭadhū́mam aśīrṣā́ṇam ahíṃ kṛṇu | hanū́ vṛ́kasya jambháyā sténa taṃ drupadé jahí
Then, O Night, make him a smoke-dark, headless serpent. With the wolf’s jaws, with the crushing bite—O thief—smite that man in the stocks.
रात, चोर को ऐसा बना दे जैसे काला धुआं हो, बिना सर के सांप जैसा। भेड़िए के दाँत से उसको मार। चोर को पकड़ के उसकी पिटाई कर दे।
The meaning
What it says
Night is asked to transform the offender into a smoke-dark, headless serpent; with the wolf’s jaws and crushing bite, strike the thief and smite him in the stocks (drupada).
The inner meaning
A coercive imagination meant to paralyze harmful intent: the ‘thief’ becomes dehumanized into a limbless, headless impulse—unable to plan (headless) or act (serpent bound to ground). The ‘wolf’s jaws’ are the community’s enforcement; the ‘stocks’ are consequence and containment.
The truth in it
When predation threatens communal safety, society invokes restraint and deterrence; the psyche also needs firm containment of compulsions that ‘steal’ one’s life-force.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Rakṣoghna / Apotropaic (anti-thief immobilization)
Its aim
To stupefy, disempower, and immobilize a thief; to bind him as if in stocks.
Word by Word
Pada patha
अध॑ । रात्रि । तृ॒ष्ट-धू॑मम् । अ॒शी॒र्षाण॑म् । अ॒हिम् । कृ॒णु । हनू॑ । वृक॑स्य । ज॒म्भया॑ । स्तेन॑ । तम् । द्रु॑प॒दे । ज॒हि
- अध
- then, thereafterthen/now; a performative transition into the coercive actIndeclinableअव्यय (काल/अनुक्रम-सूचक)Role AdhikaraṇaRoot अध (अव्यय)
- रात्रि
- the nightO Night; invoked as agent of concealment and restraintNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole KartāRoot रात्रि- (प्रातिपदिक)
- तृष्टधूमम्
- (him) with parched/dry smokesmoke-dark/soot-smoked; making the target obscured, choked, or stupefiedAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचन (विशेषण)Role KarmaRoot तृष्ट-धूम- (समास; प्रातिपदिक)
- अशीर्षाणम्
- headlessheadless; deprived of direction/power (ritual disempowerment)Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचन (विशेषण)Role KarmaRoot अ-शीर्षन्- (नञ्-समास; प्रातिपदिक)
- अहिम्
- the serpentserpent; here a constricting, dangerous form imposed on the adversaryNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचनRole KarmaRoot अहि- (प्रातिपदिक)
- कृणु
- make!make (him); transformative imperativeVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole क्रियाRoot कृ (करणे)
- हनू
- the two jawsthe jaws; instrument of biting/seizingNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग (द्विवचन-रूप), द्वितीया/प्रथमा द्विवचन; अत्र द्वितीया द्विवचनRole KarmaRoot हनु- (प्रातिपदिक)
- वृकस्य
- of the wolfof the wolf; predator imagery for the thiefNounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी एकवचनRole सम्बन्धRoot वृक- (प्रातिपदिक)
- जम्भया
- with (your) jaw/bitingwith the jaw/with biting; by a crushing seizureNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया एकवचनRole KaraṇaRoot जम्भा- (प्रातिपदिक)
- स्तेन
- with a thief (as instrument/means)O thief / against the thief; vocative/targeting particle in contextNounपुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया एकवचनRole KaraṇaRoot स्तेन- (प्रातिपदिक)
- तम्
- him/that onePronounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचनRole KarmaRoot तद् (सर्वनाम)
- द्रुपदे
- in/at the wooden fetter (stocks)in the stocks / in the wooden fetter; a restraint-device (drupada- as ‘wooden block/stock’)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी एकवचन (वेदे लोकेटिव-प्रयोगः)Role AdhikaraṇaRoot द्रुपद- (प्रातिपदिक)
- जहि
- strike/kill!smite/strike down; coercive punitive commandVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole क्रियाRoot हन् (हिंसायाम्)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: अध | रात्रि | तृष्टधूमम् | अशीर्षाणम् | अहिम् | कृणु | हनू | वृकस्य | जम्भया | स्तेन | तम् | द्रुपदे | जहि ।
- 1) रात्रि तृष्टधूमम्: संधि-निवृत्तिः न आवश्यक (पदसीमा).
- 2) जम्भया स्तेन: विसर्ग/अनुस्वार-संधि नहीं
- पृथक् पद.
- 3) द्रुपदे जहि: पदसीमा पर संधि नहीं।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition (Rātri-hymn complex)
- Devata
- Rātri (Night)
- Chandas
- Predominantly anuṣṭubh-like cadence (late Atharvanic; not strictly regular)
- Rasa
- Raudra and Bhayankara
Sayana reads the imagery as ritual coercion: Night is asked to render the thief stupefied/obscured (‘smoke-dark’) and powerless (‘headless’), like a serpent fit to be seized. ‘Drupada’ is taken as a wooden restraint (stocks/fetter), aligning the mantra with binding and immobilization rather than literal killing; ‘jahi’ is thus ‘strike down’ in the sense of subduing.
Atharvanic tradition (Rātri-hymn complex)
Rakṣoghna and coercive apotropaic charms: immobilizing thieves/hostiles through transformative imagery and binding language.
Shows the Atharvanic spectrum: protection can become coercive. The mantra dramatizes deterrence—speech as fetter—under the authority of Night as guardian.
Rātri (Night)
Night as the liminal judge: she covers the household and exposes/cripples the wrongdoer; she is both concealment for the protected and confusion for the predator.
Deterrent and immobilizing protection: disempowers the thief, binds him to consequence (stocks).
4 short padas with imperative verbs; forceful consonant clusters support percussive delivery.
Charm diction overrides strict metrical regularity; imagery is compact and violent, typical of rakṣoghna spells.
Percussive, striking; suitable for emphatic articulation on key verbs (kṛṇu, jahi).
Creates a felt ‘binding’ and ‘striking’ effect; psychologically reinforces deterrence and resolve.
The priest performs an outward-facing recitation at night, naming the thief as target.
A wooden block/stock or a symbolic substitute is touched/indicated while uttering ‘drupade’.
A binding gesture (hands closing like jaws) accompanies ‘jambhayā’, miming seizure.
The mantra is used to ‘fix’ the thief in place—either to prevent approach or to aid capture by human agents.
Kauśika Sūtra: Rātri/anti-thief binding rite (bandhana-prayoga) — exact sūtra numbering varies by edition.
Atharvan as ritual technologist of restraint: coordinates verbal coercion with a physical fetter-symbol (drupada) and binding gestures.
Used as a coercive follow-up after general night-protection; recited when there is active threat or repeated theft, often with symbolic binding gestures (tying a cord, touching a wooden post).
Night, especially during watch; at the moment of detecting intrusion (ritually, even if only suspected).
Typically a knowledgeable practitioner/purohita or the household protector; requires restraint and ethical framing.
If used today, best treated as symbolic language for ‘binding harm’ while focusing on lawful protection and safety planning.
drupada (stocks/wooden fetter); predator/serpent imagery as coercive transformation
Drupada represents material restraint—wooden law made tangible. Smoke-darkness symbolizes confusion and loss of agency imposed on the wrongdoer, reversing his use of night’s cover.
Deterrence/containment framing; in personal practice, can symbolize binding addictive/compulsive behaviors (used cautiously as metaphor).
A thief/robber (stená).
To stupefy, transform, and immobilize a thief; to bind him as if in stocks and subject him to punitive force.
Coercive transformation (make him ‘headless serpent’) + binding (drupada) + predatory counter-image (wolf jaws).
Theft and nocturnal intrusion.
Security of property/livestock.
- tṛṣṭa-dhūmam
- obscured agency; the shadow-self; loss of clear identity
- aśīrṣāṇam
- deprived of strategy/intellect; cut off from ‘head’ of intention
- ahim
- chthonic force, creeping danger; also bound, ground-hugging incapacity
- vṛkasya hanū
- predatory counter-force; communal punishment; sharp deterrence
- jambhayā
- immobilization; stopping the act at its source
- drupade
- binding, legal restraint, public containment
Transform and bind harmful impulses: visualize the ‘thief’ as intrusive thought/addiction being rendered headless (no planning) and placed in ‘stocks’ (containment).
Muladhara (safety/boundary)
Forceful exhale without strain (kapālabhāti-like only if trained; otherwise sharp sigh-exhales) synchronized with ‘jahi’.
A dark serpent-form dissolving into smoke outside a protective circle; a wooden fetter locking at the boundary.
Protective fierceness under ethical restraint.
Use only for boundary-strengthening, not for cultivating hatred; end with a calming breath cycle to return to steadiness.
Strong imperative delivery; strike the consonants in kṛṇu and jahi; keep rātri vocative clear.
Emphasize ‘rātri’ and the action verbs; give ‘drupade’ a heavy, binding cadence.
Low, forceful, clipped; outward-directed.
Because of its coercive/abhicārika tone, traditional usage implies ethical containment—recite with intent of protection, not vindictiveness; conclude with a pacifying verse if available in one’s practice.
3 times
Acute fear of intrusion; repeated theft; need to reinforce boundaries and deterrence.
At night during heightened risk; after detecting signs of theft; as a symbolic ‘binding’ while implementing security measures.
Psychological strengthening of resolve and boundary; traditional immobilization/deterrence intent.
Avoid using this to amplify rage; do not replace legal/safety actions; if anxiety escalates, switch to calmer protective prayers.
Again, no herb appears; the rite is ‘mechanical’ rather than pharmacological. The operative material is the fetter (drupada) and the mimetic ‘jaws’ gesture, showing Atharvanic preference for binding technologies when confronting social threats like theft.
The thief is constructed as predator (wolf) and demon-adjacent (serpent-form), legitimating coercion against marginal/antisocial actors. The household’s security is sacralized, and the priest’s speech-act becomes a tool of social control.
The direct targeting (‘stena’) and the concrete penal image (‘drupada’) are more characteristic of AV’s domestic-legal imagination than RV’s sacrificial register. The transformative imperative (‘kṛṇu’) applied to an enemy is a typical Atharvanic magical syntax.
Gopatha’s emphasis on bandhana (binding) and niyama (restriction) as Atharvanic powers fits the verse’s logic: the mantra ‘makes’ the adversary into a constrained form and ‘places’ him in stocks through speech coordinated with a restraint-symbol.
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