Atharva Veda 20.126.14: Kanda 20, Anuvaka 13, Sukta 126, Mantra 14
Sukta 126
उ॒क्ष्णो हि मे॒ पञ्च॑दश सा॒कं पच॑न्ति विंश॒तिम्। उ॒ताहम॑द्मि॒ पीव॒ इदु॒भा कु॒क्षी पृ॑णन्ति मे॒ विश्व॑स्मा॒दिन्द्र॒ उत्त॑रः
ukṣṇó hí mé páñcadaśa sākáṃ pácanti viṃśatím | utā́ham admi pīvá íd ubhā́ kúxī pṛṇanti me víśvasmā́d índra úttaraḥ
For me, in sooth, they cook at once fifteen, yea twenty, of the bull. And I, moreover, eat the rich fat: both bellies are filled for me. Indra is higher than all.
मेरे लिए पंद्रह से बीस बैल एक साथ पकाते हैं। मैं उनका मोटा-मोटा मास खाता हूँ। दोनों पेट भरते हैं। इंद्र सबसे बड़ा है।
Rishi: Indra-stuti tradition (late Atharvanic/Rigvedic borrowing; specific r̥ṣi not securely determinable from the isolated verse)
Devata: Indra
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (with refrain-like cadence ending in ‘…indra uttaraḥ’)
Primary: vira
Secondary: adbhuta
Sayana treats the verse as a boast of plenitude bestowed by Indra: the ‘bull’ signifies strength and abundant provision; the counted numbers (15/20) are read as emphatic measures of plenty rather than strict arithmetic. ‘Both bellies’ is glossed as complete satiation—hunger and want removed through Indra’s superiority (uttaratva) over all rivals.
To secure abundance of food and the patron’s superiority over all rivals through Indra’s victorious power
Emaciation/weakness due to lack of nourishment (general), and psychosomatic depletion from scarcity stress.
kukṣi (belly/digestive region)
Paustika replenishment: invoking Indra’s bounteous power to ‘fill’ (pṛṇanti) and restore vitality through food-essence imagery.
Bṛṃhaṇa (bulk-building) and ojas-increase through nourishing food; supports agni when food is wholesome and well-prepared.
Nutrition security + confidence/anti-scarcity mindset; communal meals as resilience-building.
paustika
Patron/household prosperity; competitive social field (rivals).
Secure abundance of food and assert superiority over rivals through Indra’s victorious, bountiful power.
Stuti + boast (ātmastuti) + refrain of supremacy; verbal claiming of plenty as performative prosperity.
Hunger, poverty, social diminishment, rival dominance.
food abundance, status, victory in competition
A boast of abundance: many portions of bull are cooked; the speaker eats rich fat; both bellies are filled; Indra is supreme over all.
Confidence and entitlement to nourishment: the psyche claims fullness (satiety) and social superiority by aligning with Indra’s victorious archetype.
Abundance is stabilized by shared ritual confidence and the sense of rightful sufficiency; the ‘higher’ principle (Indra) is invoked to overcome scarcity-mind and rivalry.
- उक्ष्णः (ukṣṇaḥ)
- strength, virility, high-value nourishment; sacrificial/feast potency
- पचन्ति (pacanti)
- social provisioning; transformation of raw resources into shareable prosperity
- पीवः (pīvaḥ)
- essence, surplus, rasa of life; the ‘best portion’ of well-being
- कुक्षी (kukṣī)
- complete satisfaction; fullness on both levels—physical and social/psychic
- इन्द्र उत्तरः (indra uttaraḥ)
- victory of expansive confidence over all competitors and constraints
Cultivate ‘inner Indra’: confident, unobstructed will aligned with ethical abundance.
manipura
Kapālabhāti (gentle, trained) or energizing ujjāyī to kindle confidence and digestive fire.
Warm golden fire of digestion in the belly filling both ‘kukṣī’ with steady nourishment; obstacles shatter like Vṛtra under vajra.
Expansive, victorious, satiated.
Pair with mindful eating: recite once, then eat slowly, feeling sufficiency; convert boast into gratitude and steadiness.
Stotra-like recitation with a strong cadential fall on ‘uttaraḥ’; keep refrain consistent each time.
Maintain clear word breaks per padapāṭha; emphasize pīvaḥ and uttaraḥ; avoid rushing the long compounds.
उक्ष्णः: pronounce kṣṇ cluster cleanly, पञ्चदश/विंशतिम्: keep nasalization and dental ś/t distinct, पीवः: long ī; soft v, विश्वस्मात्: articulate śv cluster without inserting vowel
Full, resonant, confident; suitable for group chanting.
In AVŚ 20 Indra-stutis often function as ‘power-sayings’; the refrain can be used responsorially by the group.
9
Seeking prosperity, food security, strength after depletion, or confidence before competition.
Before meals, during community feasts, before important contests/interviews (reframed as confidence practice).
Enhanced sense of sufficiency, vigor, and social courage; gratitude anchored in a protective divine frame.
If using in a literal diet/health context, pair with balanced nutrition; avoid glorifying excess or harm to others.
पदच्छेदः (सन्धिविग्रह): उक्ष्णः हि मे पञ्चदश साकम् पचन्ति विंशतिम् । उत अहम् अद्मि पीवः इत् । उभा कुक्षी पृणन्ति मे विश्वस्मात् इन्द्रः उत्तरः । 1) उताहम् = उत + अहम्। 2) इदु॒भा = इत् + उभा (वैदिक निपात ‘इत्/इद्’ + उभा; संहितायां द्/त्-परिवर्तन/लोपप्रवृत्तिः)। 3) विश्वस्मादिन्द्र = विश्वस्मात् + इन्द्रः (त् + इ → संहितायां त्-लोप/सन्धिः; लिखिते ‘द्’ दृश्यते)।
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