Atharva Veda 2.18.1: Kanda 2, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 18, Mantra 1
Sukta 18
शत्रुनाशनम्। भ्रा॒तृ॒व्य॒क्षय॑णमसि भ्रातृव्य॒चात॑नं मे दाः॒ स्वाहा॑
śatrunāśanam | bhrā́tṛvyakṣáyaṇam asi bhrātṛvyacā́tanaṃ me dā́ḥ svā́hā
A slayer of foes: thou art the wasting of the Rival; bestow on me the driving-forth of the Rival—svāhā.
यह मंत्र दुश्मन को खत्म करने के लिए है। तू राइवल को बरबाद करने वाली शक्ति है, मुझे वो शक्ति दे कि दुश्मन भाग जाए। स्वाहा के साथ यह हवन पूरा होता है।
The meaning
What it says
A consecrated oblation/formula identified as “foe-slaying” and “rival-wasting,” asking that the power to drive out the bhrātṛvya (hostile peer/competitor) be granted to the sacrificer.
The inner meaning
Psychologically, the “bhrātṛvya” is the shadow-competitor: envy, rivalry, and status-anxiety that drains vitality. The mantra externalizes that pressure, then ritually dislodges it—reclaiming confidence, boundaries, and social standing.
The truth in it
Hostility thrives when it is unnamed and uncontained; when clearly identified and ritually bounded, it loses force. Speech (vāc) plus disciplined action can convert fear into protective order.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Abhicarika (Sorcery/Counter-sorcery); also Rajakarmani/Apotropaic (rival-subduing)
Its aim
To diminish and expel a bhrātṛvya (rival claimant/hostile peer), securing the patron’s safety, status, and success.
Word by Word
Pada patha
शत्रु-नाशनम् । भ्रातृव्य-क्षयणम् असि । भ्रातृव्य-चातनम् मे दाः । स्वाहा
- शत्रुनाशनम्
- enemy-destruction (destroyer of enemies)enemy-destruction; a (mantra/act/object) whose potency is to ruin hostile forcesNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचनRole KarmaRoot शत्रु- (प्रातिपदिक) + नाशन- (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक; √नश् ‘नाशे’ से)
- भ्रातृव्यक्षयणम्
- rival-destruction (causing the rival’s ruin)wasting-away of the bhrātṛvya (rival/hostile kinsman); a formula that causes the rival’s diminution (kṣaya)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचनRole KarmaRoot भ्रातृव्य- (प्रातिपदिक) + क्षयण- (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक; √क्षि/क्षय् ‘क्षये’ से)
- असि
- you arethou art; declarative identification of the rite/amulet as that very powerVerbलट् (वर्तमान); मध्यमपुरुष; एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध/अस्तित्व-क्रिया; कर्तृ-सम्बन्धःRoot √अस् ‘भुवि’
- भ्रातृव्यचातनम्
- driving-off/dispelling of the rivaldriving-off/expulsion of the bhrātṛvya; an apotropaic force that repels and routs the rivalNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचनRole KarmaRoot भ्रातृव्य- (प्रातिपदिक) + चातन- (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक; √चत्/चात् ‘हिंसायाम्/नाशने’—वैदिक प्रयोग)
- मे
- for me / myfor me, to me; marking the beneficiary (the sacrificer/patron)Pronounषष्ठी एकवचन (एन्क्लिटिक)Role सम्बन्ध (सम्बन्ध-कारकः/षष्ठी)Root अस्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- दाः
- give (grant)give, bestow; performatively enjoining the power to confer the stated effectVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ); मध्यमपुरुष; एकवचनRole कर्तृ: त्वम्; कर्म: भ्रातृव्यचातनम्Root √दा ‘दाने’
- स्वाहा
- svāhā (hail!; offering-formula)svāhā; oblation-call sealing the mantra’s efficacy in a fire-offering (or its domestic analogue)Indeclinableअव्यय (हविर्दाने/आहुत्यन्ते उच्चार्यते)Role मन्त्र-समापन/आहुत्यनुज्ञाRoot स्वाहा (निपात/वैदिक उद्गार)
Sandhi Notes
- शत्रुनाशनम् | भ्रातृव्यक्षयणम् असि | भ्रातृव्यचातनं मे दाः | स्वाहा । सन्धिः:
- (1) भ्रातृव्यक्षयणमसि = भ्रातृव्यक्षयणम् + असि (म् + अ → म; परसवर्ण/अनुस्वार-लोप-प्रकारः वैदिकपाठे).
- (2) दाः॒ स्वाहा॑—विसर्ग/अवग्रह-विशेषः न
- केवलं पदविरामः.
- (3) ‘शत्रुनाशनम्’ शीर्ष/उद्देश-रूपेण पृथक् पदम् (नपुंसक एकवचन)
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic/Angirasa tradition.
- Devata
- Mantra as operative power (brahman); implicitly Agni as carrier due to svāhā.
- Chandas
- Likely Anuṣṭubh or a short pragmatic formula; exact meter requires full pada-count verification.
- Rasa
- Raudra and Vira
Sāyaṇa glosses bhrātṛvya as the inimical competitor (often within one’s social sphere), not merely an external enemy. The mantra identifies the employed implement/act as ‘bhrātṛvyakṣayaṇa’ (causing kṣaya, decline) and petitions for ‘cātana’ (expulsion/repulsion). The closing svāhā indicates application with an offering (homa) or a svāhā-marked domestic act, making the utterance performative rather than descriptive.
Hymn belongs to Atharvanic–Āṅgirasa apotropaic corpus.
Abhicārika counter-rival rites; mantra-identification of an offering/implement as a hostile-power diminisher and expeller.
Represents the Atharvan strategy of converting social conflict into a controlled ritual operation: naming, diminishing (kṣaya), and expelling (cātana) through vāc + offering.
Bhrātṛvya-kṣayaṇa / Bhrātṛvya-cātana (operative brahman; oblation empowered by svāhā, typically borne by Agni)
A functional divinity: the efficacy that reduces hostile claimants and restores the sacrificer’s protected social space; fire mediates the transfer of intent into cosmic order.
Restores depleted vitality caused by conflict, fear, and social harassment (psychosomatic ‘wasting’).
Creates an apotropaic perimeter; redirects rivalry away from the patron; ritually ‘unhouses’ the opponent’s influence.
Formulaic Anuṣṭubh-like (Atharvanic svāhā-formula)
4×~8 (with pragmatic contractions/expansions typical of charm-formulas)
Short identificatory clauses (‘…asi’) + imperative/benefactive (‘…me dāḥ’) often override strict metrical regularity.
Clipped, percussive cadence; strong performative stress on kṣayaṇa / cātana / svāhā.
Produces a ‘command-and-seal’ effect: identification → request → oblation closure.
Prepare a fire (gārhapatya or domestic āhavanīya substitute) and seat the patron facing east.
Take the offering substance (commonly ghee or a prepared oblation) and mentally designate the target as ‘bhrātṛvya’.
Recite the mantra once over the oblation, emphasizing the identificatory clause ‘…asi’.
At ‘svāhā’, cast the oblation into the fire to ‘send’ the expulsion/diminution toward the rival.
Optionally repeat in a counted series (3/7/9) according to local prayoga, maintaining the same target-identification throughout.
Kauśika Sūtra: general bhrātṛvya-/śatru-karmāṇi sections.
Atharvan/Brahman officiant: performs target-identification (saṃkalpa), recites with correct accent, and executes the svāhā-oblation; safeguards against recoil by maintaining ritual purity and controlled intention.
Used in a domestic fire-offering or while empowering a protective object placed at thresholds/seat; suited to disputes over position, inheritance, or public honor.
At dawn/evening fire, or immediately before assemblies/contests/negotiations.
Householder with Atharvanic know-how or a purohita; emphasis on correct utterance and intentional focus.
Recited as a boundary-setting vow with a small lamp/diya offering; avoid directing it toward trivial quarrels.
Oblation (ghṛta/anna implied by svāhā); Ritual implement/amulet or offering-substance identified as ‘bhrātṛvyakṣayaṇa’ (context-dependent)
Implicit: the ‘thou art’ (asi) can consecrate a dravya/maṇi used as a charm-support in Atharvan practice.
svāhā implies Agni and an oblation (ghee/food) as the carrier.
Fire is the juridical ‘court’ of the gods: rivalry is converted into an offering, then neutralized by being transferred out of the human sphere.
Conflict-stress reduction and boundary-setting; ritualized coping for rivalry/harassment (psychological resilience).
bhrātṛvya (named rival/hostile peer)
To diminish and expel a hostile rival claimant (bhrātṛvya), securing victory, safety, and status.
Mantra-identification of the offering/implement as the very power of ‘wasting’ and ‘expulsion,’ then sealing via svāhā into fire.
social usurpation, legal/ritual contestation, envy-driven harm
status, authority, success in competition
- śatru
- any obstructive force—external opponent or internal sabotage
- bhrātṛvya
- competitive pressure, envy, contested legitimacy (inheritance, office, prestige)
- kṣayaṇa
- ritual “drying up” of hostile power—removing its nourishment/support
- cātana
- boundary-making; banishment of intrusive influences
- svāhā
- sealing/dispatching the intention through fire; irrevocable release of the charge
Cutting cords of rivalry; establishing a protected inner seat (āsana) of self-possession.
manipura
Short, firm exhalations (repeated) followed by steady nasal breathing.
A ring of fire around the body/house pushing a dark intrusive figure outward until it dissolves.
Decisive, vigilant clarity (rakṣā-buddhi).
Recite softly, then pause in silence after svāhā, feeling the ‘boundary’ stabilize; follow with a śānti prayer to prevent spillover aggression.
Pragmatic Atharvan recitation with clear udātta emphasis on kṣayaṇa/cātana and a marked closing on svāhā.
Keep ‘…asi’ lightly linked; land weight on kṣa- in kṣayaṇa and cā- in cātana; do not rush svāhā.
Firm, controlled, non-shouting; ‘command’ tone without agitation.
Best used with a concrete support (offering/amulet); the ‘asi’ clause is the consecration—treat it as the moment the object becomes the power.
3 times
Facing sustained rivalry at work/community, contested role, harassment, or hostile competition.
Before important meetings/competitions; during a small lamp or fire offering; when you must reassert boundaries.
Greater confidence, reduced interference, and a felt sense of protection; symbolic ‘clearing’ of hostile atmosphere.
Do not use to fuel obsession or paranoia; if conflict is legal/ethical, pair with fair action and counsel.
No explicit plant is named; the operative logic is transferable: the oblation/implement is verbally constituted as ‘bhrātṛvyakṣayaṇa’. In Atharvanic technology, substance becomes efficacious by designation (nāmadheya) and performative utterance; if a plant/amulet is used in the wider sukta-prayoga, this verse functions as the consecratory ‘naming’ that installs the rival-wasting power into that medium.
The term bhrātṛvya encodes rivalry within a near-peer field—kinsmen, co-residents, or competing claimants—rather than distant foreigners. The patron’s access to an Atharvan priest and to svāhā-marked offerings implies a household with ritual resources; the verse presumes that social conflict is legitimately managed through sanctioned ritual coercion.
The compact nominal compounds (śatru-nāśana-, bhrātṛvya-kṣayaṇa-, bhrātṛvya-cātana-) reflect Atharvanic pragmatic style: mantra as ‘named function’. The verb dāḥ (2nd sg. injunctive/imperative ‘give’) with me is straightforward Vedic usage; the prominence of technical rival-terms (bhrātṛvya) and action-nouns (cātana) is more characteristic of Atharvavedic ritual language than of many RV hymnic praises.
Gopatha’s general Atharvanic theory treats brahman/mantra as an efficacious force when correctly known, uttered, and applied in rite; svāhā links speech to offering, making the mantra ‘go forth’ via Agni. While a specific Gopatha passage for 2.18.1 must be located by concordance, the broader framework is that rival-subduing is achieved by correct identification (saṃjñā), controlled intention, and the oblation as vehicle—precisely the structure of ‘…asi … me dāḥ svāhā’.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Atharva Veda in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
