Atharva Veda 2.31.1: Kanda 2, Anuvaka 4, Sukta 31, Mantra 1
Sukta 31
क्रिमिजम्भनम्। इन्द्र॑स्य॒ या म॒ही दृ॒षत् क्रिमे॒र्विश्व॑स्य॒ तर्ह॑णी । तया॑ पिनष्मि॒ सं क्रिमी॑न् दृ॒षदा॒ खल्वाँ॑ इव
krimijámbhanam | índrasya yā mahī́ dṛṣát krimér víśvasya tárhaṇī́ | táyā pinaṣmi sáṃ krimī́n dṛṣádā khálvāṃ iva
Worm-crushing. That mighty Indra’s press-stone which is the vanquisher of every worm—therewith I pound the worms all together, as (one pounds) in a mortar with the grinding-stone.
यह भी कीड़े कुचलने का मंत्र है। इंद्र की वो बड़ी पिसानी पत्थर है जो हर कीड़े को हराती है। उससे मैं सारे कीड़े को आपस में कुचल देता हूँ, जैसे किसी ओखली में बात को पेस्टल से कुचलते हैं।
The meaning
What it says
Indra’s mighty press-stone (dṛṣad), the vanquisher of every worm, is invoked; with it the speaker pounds the worms together like grinding in a mortar (khalva).
The inner meaning
The mind uses a single concentrated instrument (focused will) to crush scattered anxieties/impulses (‘worms’) into nothing—turning diffuse disturbance into manageable ‘powder.’
The truth in it
What multiplies by hiding in fragments is defeated by compression and steady pressure; concentrated force overcomes infestation.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Bhaisajya (Healing)
Its aim
To destroy and expel krimi (parasitic worms), conceived both as biological infestation and as a malevolent affliction-agent.
Word by Word
Pada patha
क्रिमि-जम्भनम् । इन्द्रस्य । या । मही । दृ-षत् । क्रिमेः । विश्वस्य । तर्हणी । तया । पिनष्मि । सम् । क्रिमीन् । दृ-षदा । खल्वान् । इव ।
- क्रिमि-जम्भनम्
- worm-destroyer (a vermifuge/charm)‘worm-crushing’ (a vermifuge charm/act; lit. the crushing of krimi—parasitic worms—by mantra and rite)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot क्रिमिजम्भन (प्रातिपदिक; क्रिमि + जम्भन)
- इन्द्रस्य
- of IndraNounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- या
- which (she/that)which (feminine; referring to the ‘mighty’ crushing agency—stone/force—belonging to Indra)Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- मही
- great, mightyAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot मही (प्रातिपदिक; adj./noun)
- दृषत्
- (the) stone; stone(-weapon)press-stone, grinding-stone (dṛṣad; the crushing implement; also the ‘hard’ smiting power)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot दृषद् (प्रातिपदिक)
- क्रिमेः
- of the wormNounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole ApādānaRoot क्रिमि (प्रातिपदिक)
- विश्वस्य
- of all, of the wholeof every, of all (universal scope: all kinds/species of worms)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot विश्व (प्रातिपदिक)
- तर्हणी
- overcomer, vanquisherovercoming, vanquishing (a ‘crossing-over’ power that carries one beyond the affliction; hence ‘worm-subduing’)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot तर्हणी (प्रातिपदिक; from √तॄ/तॄ् ‘to overcome/cross’)
- तया
- with that (female/that means)with that (instrumental; by means of that Indraic crushing agency/stone)Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचनRole KaraṇaRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- पिनष्मि
- I crush/poundI crush, I pound (ritual-technological verb: the priest’s enacted crushing, transferring to the worms)Verbलट् (वर्तमान), उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचनRole KartāRoot √पिष् (पिनष्टि) ‘to crush, pound’
- सम्
- together, completelytogether, wholly (complete destruction; gathering them for total crushing)Indeclinableउपसर्ग (क्रियाविशेषण)Root सम् (उपसर्ग)
- क्रिमीन्
- wormsNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot क्रिमि (प्रातिपदिक)
- दृषदा
- with a stonewith a press-stone (instrumental; the physical implement or its ritual substitute)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचनRole KaraṇaRoot दृषद् (प्रातिपदिक)
- खल्वान्
- mortars (pounding-troughs)as in a mortar / like (things) in a mortar (khálva; a pounding-vessel; image of pulverization)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot खल्व (प्रातिपदिक; ‘mortar, trough’)
- इव
- like, as ifas, like (simile-marker; makes the crushing vivid and performative)Indeclinableउपमानार्थक-अव्ययRoot इव (निपात)
Sandhi Notes
- क्रिमिजम्भनम् | इन्द्रस्य या मही दृषत् क्रिमेः विश्वस्य तर्हणी | तया पिनष्मि सम् क्रिमीन् दृषदा खल्वान् इव ||
- 1) ‘सं क्रिमीन्’ → ‘सम् क्रिमीन्’ (अनुस्वार/परसवर्ण; म् + क्).
- 2) ‘खल्वान् इव’ में पाठ ‘खल्वाँ॑’ = खल्वान् (द्वि. बहु.) का वैदिक उच्चारण/स्वर-चिह्न
- क्रिमि + जम्भन (जम्भन ‘दमन/वध’), नपुं. एकवचन।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic tradition (often transmitted under Atharvan/Angiras rubric for bhaiṣajya charms; specific r̥ṣi attribution varies by anukramaṇī tradition).
- Devata
- Indra (as smiter; with the dṛṣad as his empowered instrument).
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh-like cadence (mixed/irregular in Atharvan healing verses; often treated as anuṣṭubh in practical recitation).
- Rasa
- Vira and Raudra
Sayana takes the opening as a heading: ‘krimi-jambhana’—a charm for the destruction of worms. ‘Indra’s dṛṣad’ is glossed as the crushing power belonging to Indra, concretized as a grinding-stone employed in the rite. ‘tárhaṇī’ is explained as that which overcomes (tarati) the krimi-affliction. The speaker (Atharvan priest) ritually ‘pounds’ the worms by symbolic action—crushing a substance as proxy—so that the mantra’s utterance and the implement’s hardness jointly effect expulsion and destruction.
Unknown (AVŚ 2.31 krimi-jambhana complex; anukramaṇī attribution to be verified)
Krimi-jambhana (worm-crushing) through empowered implements and analogical action (mortar-grinding).
Shows Atharvanic ‘instrumental’ magic: the deva’s tool (dṛṣad) becomes the healer’s tool, collapsing cosmic and domestic agency into one action.
Indra as krimi-vanquisher (via dṛṣad)
Smiter of obstructive forces; lends martial efficacy to domestic healing.
Crushing/neutralizing parasitic agents; empowering tools used in treatment.
Defends the body/household against devouring infestations.
4 pādas aiming at ~8; heavy compounds and caesurae may produce slight irregularity
Practical recitation favors semantic beats (dṛṣat / tarhaṇī / pinaṣmi) over strict syllable counting.
Hammering, imitative of pounding action.
Synchronizes voice with imagined/actual grinding—mantra becomes the ‘sound’ of crushing.
The Atharvan priest prepares a grinding-stone (dṛṣad) and a mortar-like vessel (khalva) or a pounding surface.
A proxy-substance (often a small portion of food, flour, or a medicinal paste) is placed for pounding, representing the krimi within the patient.
While reciting the mantra, the priest performs forceful pounding/grinding, synchronizing the verb pinaṣmi (‘I crush’) with the physical act.
The pounded material is then disposed of (cast away) or administered in a controlled manner depending on local tradition—disposal emphasizes expulsion; administration emphasizes internal ‘crushing’ of worms.
The patient is touched or breathed upon at the close, transferring the Indraic ‘tárhaṇī’ power to the body and sealing the apotropaic effect.
Kauśika Sūtra: Krimi-nāśana (worm-destruction) karman; commonly grouped with AV 2.31 mantras in the bhaiṣajya cycle (exact numbering varies by edition).
Atharvan/Brahman officiant as ritual-technologist: he vocalizes the mantra, executes the mimetic crushing act, and manages transfer (saṃskāra) of efficacy from implement and speech to the patient’s affliction.
Recite while holding a small stone/pestle, making symbolic grinding motions over water/food/medicine to be administered, or over the patient’s abdomen (non-invasively).
At commencement of treatment; may be repeated before doses to ‘empower’ them.
Atharvan practitioner or householder; correct handling of implements and focused intent emphasized.
Kauśika: krimi-jambhana rites often include pounding/stone symbolism; exact sūtra number to be confirmed for AVŚ 2.31.
As a motivational adjunct to treatment adherence; avoid any harmful physical pressure.
dṛṣad (press-stone / grinding-stone); khalva (mortar; pounding-vessel, or the act of pounding as ritual analogue)
The household tool becomes a sacral weapon: grinding implements symbolize controlled force, containment, and transformation—turning ‘living’ infestation into inert matter.
Krimi (worms/parasites), broadly construed (biological + demonized).
Sympathetic magic: crushing action (real or visualized) empowered by Indra’s archetypal smiting; containment in ‘mortar’ prevents escape.
Krimi-roga; also aligns with lekhana/kṣaraṇa metaphors (breaking down accumulations).
Antiparasitic eradication; mechanical metaphor for disrupting biofilms/parasite load; ‘hit hard’ early treatment principle (metaphoric).
Krimi (worms/infestation agents).
To crush and destroy worms entirely, preventing their dispersal and return.
Imitative action (pounding) + divine tool transference (Indra’s dṛṣad becomes operative implement).
Wasting, recurrent infection.
- इन्द्र (Indra)
- decisive protective power; immune-strength metaphor
- दृषद् (dṛṣad)
- therapeutic pressure; empowered implement that crushes pathology
- तर्हणी (tarhaṇī)
- the winning capacity of the remedy—its proven efficacy
- पिनष्मि (pinaṣmi)
- active intervention; not mere supplication
- खल्व (khalva)
- the body/field where transformation occurs; containment for eradication
- क्रिमि (krími)
- devouring agent; infestation of body and vitality
One-pointed crushing of intrusive ‘small thoughts’ that multiply when ignored.
Manipura
Pulsed exhale synchronized with ‘pinaṣmi’; steady inhale to gather force.
A stone of light compressing dark worm-like threads into dust, then being swept out.
Dhāraṇā with embodied visualization of grinding away impurities.
Keep compassion for the body while maintaining firmness toward the pathology; end with cooling breaths to balance the ‘crushing’ heat.
Keep a strong rise on índrasya; stress dṛṣádā and pinaṣmi as action-words.
Pause slightly after tarhaṇī; then deliver pinaṣmi with percussive clarity.
Percussive, steady, like measured pounding; avoid strain.
If paired with actual grinding (of safe, prescribed medicine), keep the action gentle and symbolic; Atharvanic ‘kriyā’ supports the mantra’s imitative logic.
9 times
Parasite concerns; feelings of being ‘drained’ by recurring minor ailments; need for decisive start to treatment.
At start of a cleansing regimen; before administering medicine (as blessing).
Sense of agency and protection; reinforces intention of complete eradication.
Do not apply physical pressure that could harm; seek medical care for suspected parasitic infection.
This verse is primarily lithic-technological rather than botanical: efficacy is anchored in the dṛṣad (grinding-stone) and the act of pounding. Where later practice introduces a paste or flour as proxy, the ‘substance’ becomes a carrier for mimetic violence—its pulverization stands in for the worms’ destruction. The mantra’s semantics (pinaṣmi, jambhana) and the implement’s hardness mutually reinforce a theory of cure by enacted analogy.
The speaker’s authoritative ‘I crush’ presumes a specialist operator whose speech-act is efficacious when paired with correct procedure. Indra’s martial sovereignty is domesticated into household medicine, but control remains with the Atharvan priestly expert who mediates divine force into therapeutic action—an index of ritual specialization and the priest’s jurisdiction over invisible afflictions.
The diction is Rigvedic in its Indraic imagery (dṛṣad as crushing power), yet Atharvanic in its direct medical targeting (krimi as disease-agent) and in the performative first-person technicality (pinaṣmi synchronized with rite). The compact nominal heading ‘krimijambhanam’ functions like a procedural label, reflecting Atharvanic liturgical pragmatics more than Rigvedic hymnody.
In Gopatha-style reasoning, efficacy arises from bandhu (correspondence): the hard stone corresponds to irresistible divine force; crushing corresponds to overcoming (tar-) the affliction; and correct recitation binds the act to its intended target. The charm’s success is thus not merely pharmacological but cosmological—aligning Indra’s smiting with a domestic therapeutic operation.
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