Atharva Veda 3.10.4: Kanda 3, Anuvaka 1, Sukta 10, Mantra 4

Sukta 10

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

इ॒यमे॒व सा या प्र॑थ॒मा व्यौच्छ॑दा॒स्वित॑रासु चरति॒ प्रवि॑ष्टा । म॒हान्तो॑ अस्यां महि॒मानो॑ अ॒न्तर्व॒धूर्जि॑गाय नव॒गज्जनि॑त्री

Recitation with translationAtharva Veda 3.10.4

IAST Transliteration

iyám evá sā́ yā́ prathamā́ vy àucchad ásvitarāsu carati práviṣṭā | mahánto asyā́ṁ mahimā́no antár vadhū́r jigāya navagáj janitrī́ ||

English Translation (Griffith/Whitney)

This verily is she who first shone forth; among the later ones she moves, entered in and pervading. Great are the grandeurs lodged within her: the Bride, the Begetter, ninefold-going, hath won the victory.

Translation

यह वही रात है जो पहले चमकी थी। बाद वाली रातों में भी यह घुल-मिल के चलती है। इसमें बड़ी ताकत है। यह दुल्हन है, माँ है, और जीत गई है।

The meaning

What it says

The verse praises Rātri (Night) as the primordial one who first “shone forth,” then pervades the later phases of time; within her dwell great powers—she is both “Bride” and “Begetter,” moving in a ninefold manner and winning victory.

The inner meaning

Night symbolizes the psyche’s generative darkness: the womb of renewal, the hidden integration of experience, and the power that quietly pervades waking life. “Victory” is the triumph of ordered rhythm over anxiety, insomnia, and inauspicious drift.

The truth in it

What appears as darkness is often the matrix of order and regeneration; when time is honored (daily/annual rhythm), prosperity and protection arise from alignment rather than force.

What it is for

Kind of hymn

Kāla-śānti / Paustika (Prosperity through time-order)

Its aim

To affirm Night’s primordial authority and her victory over inauspicious forces, thereby stabilizing the household’s time-order and fortune

Ask anything about this verse...Ask

Word by Word

Pada patha

इ॒यम् । ए॒व । सा । या । प्र॒थ॒मा । वि । औ॒च्छ॒त् । अ॒स्वित॑रासु । च॒र॒ति॒ । प्र । वि॒ष्टा । म॒हान्तः॑ । अ॒स्याम् । म॒हि॒मानः॑ । अ॒न्तः । व॒धूः । जि॑गाय । न॒व॒ग॒त् । जनि॑त्री ।

इयम्

this (woman/one)this (fem. nom. sg.), this very Night/power present nowPronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

एव

indeed, justindeed, precisely; emphatic identificationIndeclinableअव्ययRoot एव (निपात)

सा

that (she)she, that one (previously invoked)Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

या

who, whichwho (relative), introducing defining mythic traitRelative pronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

प्रथमा

firstfirst; primordial/precedent-setting in the cycleAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृ (विशेषण)Root प्रथम (प्रातिपदिक)

वि

apart, forth (prefix)apart, forth; marking the ‘opening’ of dawn/appearanceIndeclinableउपसर्गRoot वि (उपसर्ग)

औच्छत्

dawned, shone forthshone forth/appeared (aor. of √uc); the first emergenceVerbलुङ् (अorist), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRole क्रियाRoot उष् (धातु; ‘उषति/उष्यति’—to dawn)

अस्वितरासु

among the othersamong the later ones/other nights (comparative sense); in subsequent cyclesAdjective (used substantively)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, बहुवचनRole अधिकरणRoot अस्वितर (प्रातिपदिक; ‘अन्य/अपर’ अर्थे)

चरति

moves, goes aboutshe moves/roams; continues her course through timeVerbलट्, परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRole क्रियाRoot चर् (धातु)

प्र

forth, forward (prefix)forth, forward; intensifier with ‘entered’Indeclinableउपसर्गRoot प्र (उपसर्ग)

विष्टा

entered, having enteredentered, pervading; having gone into (the world/others)Participleक्त-प्रत्ययान्त, स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृ (विशेषण)Root विश् (धातु) + क्त (कृदन्त)

महान्तः

great (ones)great (powers/attributes), mightyAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot महत् (प्रातिपदिक)

अस्याम्

in her/this (one)in her/in this (loc.), within Night resides potencyPronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचनRole अधिकरणRoot इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

महिमानः

greatnesses, gloriesgreatnesses, majesties; effective powersNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot महिमन् (प्रातिपदिक)

अन्तः

withinwithin; interior locus of powerIndeclinableअव्ययRoot अन्तः (अव्यय/उपपद)

वधूः

bride, young womanbride; the Night as a ritually wedded, fecund figureNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot वधू (प्रातिपदिक)

जिगाय

has conquered, wonhas conquered/won; has prevailed over rivals (esp. inauspiciousness)Verbलिट् (परिपूर्ण/परफेक्ट), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRole क्रियाRoot जि (धातु; ‘to conquer’)

नवगः

nine-going / of nine steps (epithet)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृ (विशेषण)Root नवग (प्रातिपदिक)

जनित्री

begetter, producer, motherbegetter/mother; generative source of beings/boonsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृ (सम्बोधन/विशेषणभाव)Root जनितृ (प्रातिपदिक; agent-noun from √जन्)

Sandhi Notes

• इयम् एव सा या प्रथमा वि-औच्छत् अस्वितरासु चरति प्र-विष्टा । महान्तः अस्याम् महिमानः अन्तः वधूः जिगाय नवगः जनित्री । मुख्य सन्धि-निर्णय:
• (1) व्यौच्छत् = वि + औच्छत् (उष्-धातोः लुङ्; ‘वि’ उपसर्गेण)
• (2) प्रविष्टा = प्र + विष्टा (√विश् + क्त)
• (3) अन्तर्वधूः = अन्तः + वधूः (अव्यय ‘अन्तः’ + प्रथमा ‘वधूः’; विसर्ग-सन्धिना ‘अन्तर्वधूः’)
• अन्यत्र ‘महान्तो अस्यां’ इत्यादि पदसन्धिः केवलं संहितापाठ-रूपेण।

Seer, deity and metre

Rishi

Atharvanic tradition

Devata

Rātri (as victorious, generative, pervading power)

Chandas

Mixed/irregular (Atharvanic prose-poetic tendencies within a metrical frame)

Rasa

Adbhuta and Shanta

Sayana's Commentary

The Seer

The Deity

The Metre

The Rite

In the Home

Substances

Healing Context

Magic Charm Layer

Symbols in this Mantra

Yogic Application

Chanting Notes

Practical Application

Scholarly Questions