Atharva Veda 5.13.7: Kanda 5, Anuvaka 2, Sukta 13, Mantra 7
Sukta 13
आलि॑गी च॒ विलि॑गी च पि॒ता च॑ माता॒ च॑ । वि॒द्म वः॑ स॒र्वतो॒ ब॑न्ध्वर॑साः॒ किं क॑रिष्यथ
ālígī ca vilígī ca pitā́ ca mātā́ ca | vidmá vaḥ sárvato bándhvarasāḥ kíṃ kariṣyatha
Āligī and Viligī, and father and mother—of you we know on every side: ye sapless kinsmen, what will ye do?
अलिगी और विलिगी, और माँ बाप, मैं तुम सबको जानता हूँ। तुम लोग खाली रिश्तेदार हो, कुछ भी नहीं कर सकते। तुम्हारा क्या चलेगा?
The meaning
What it says
The speaker addresses Āligī and Viligī, and their father and mother, declaring: “We know you on every side—sapless kin—what will you do?” This is an intimidation/neutralization of poison agents by naming and exposing their lineage.
The inner meaning
Naming the threat and its ‘family system’ removes its mystique. Fear collapses when the mind recognizes patterns (“we know you from all sides”); the poison’s agency is shamed and rendered ‘sapless’ (arasá).
The truth in it
What is brought into clear knowledge and named loses coercive power. Discernment (vidma) is itself a protective medicine.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Bhaisajya (Healing) / Apotropaic anti-venom charm
Its aim
To identify, intimidate, and neutralize poison/venom-personifications (and by extension the poison in the patient), rendering them powerless
Word by Word
Pada patha
आलि॑गी । च॒ । विलि॑गी । च । पि॒ता । च॑ । मा॒ता॒ । च॑ । वि॒द्म । वः॑ । स॒र्वतः॑ । ब॑न्धु-अर॑साः । किम् । क॒रि॒ष्य॒थ॒
- आलिगी
- the ‘Āligī’ (a named class/being; one who bears the ā-liga mark)Āligī—name of a noxious being/poison-power (a female demoness or poison-personification); in Sayana’s curative reading, a specific venomous agency to be addressed and neutralizedNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot आलिगिन् (प्रातिपदिक; √लिग्/लिङ्ग्-सम्बद्ध ‘लिङ्ग/चिह्न’ से व्युत्पन्न, ‘आ-’ उपसर्गयुक्त)
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययRoot च (निपात)
- विलिगी
- the ‘Viligī’ (a named class/being; one with the vi-liga mark)Viligī—paired with Āligī; another poison/demon-name; functionally, a second venomous force targeted by the charmNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot विलिगिन् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘वि-’ उपसर्गयुक्त)
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययRoot च (निपात)
- पिता
- fatherNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययRoot च (निपात)
- माता
- motherNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot मातृ (प्रातिपदिक)
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययRoot च (निपात)
- विद्म
- we knowVerbलिट् (परिपूर्ण/परफेक्ट), उत्तमपुरुष, बहुवचनRoot √विद् (विद् ‘जानना’)
- वः
- of you / yourPronounषष्ठी (सम्बन्ध), बहुवचनRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- सर्वतः
- on all sides; from every directionfrom every side, wholly (complete knowledge; also implies encirclement/containment)Indeclinableअव्ययRole AdhikaraṇaRoot सर्व (प्रातिपदिक) + तस् (तद्धित-अव्यय)
- बन्ध्वरसाः
- (you) having ‘kin-sap’/kindred essence; kinsmen-like (ones)Noun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग (समूह/व्यक्ति-निर्देश), प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole KartāRoot बन्धु-रस (समास-प्रातिपदिक; बन्धु ‘kin’ + रस ‘sap/essence’)
- किम्
- whatwhat?Pronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (प्रश्न)Role KarmaRoot किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- करिष्यथ
- will you do?Verbलृट् (भविष्यत्), मध्यमपुरुष, बहुवचनRoot √कृ (कर् ‘करना’) + इष्य (भविष्यत्-प्रत्यय)
Sandhi Notes
- ‘बन्ध्वरसाः’ समासपद (बन्धु+रस) है
- ‘वः’ यहाँ षष्ठी बहुवचन (सम्बन्ध) के रूप में ‘your’ अर्थ देता है।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic seer-tradition (often transmitted under Atharvan/Angiras rubric for poison-charms; specific r̥ṣi attribution depends on anukramaṇī tradition)
- Devata
- Viṣa (Poison) and its personified agents (Āligī, Viligī)
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh (predominant in AV healing charms; this verse is anuṣṭubh-like in cadence)
- Rasa
- Raudra and Bhayankara
Sayana treats Āligī/Viligī as named hostile agencies connected with viṣa (poison) or with poison-bearing creatures; the mantra’s force lies in ‘name-and-lineage’ disclosure (nāma-grahaṇa, bandhu-parijñāna), a standard Atharvanic strategy: once their relations and origins are ‘known,’ their efficacy is broken; ‘bandhvarasāḥ’ is taken as ‘deprived of rasa/strength,’ i.e., their supporting network is magically desiccated.
Unknown (Atharvanic/Angiras transmission for viṣa-charms)
Bhaisajya anti-venom incantations using nāma-bandha (name-and-lineage binding) and apotropaic intimidation.
Embodies a core Atharvanic technique: diagnosis by naming. To know the poison’s ‘bandhu’ relations is to control it ritually.
Viṣa (Poison) personified; agents Āligī and Viligī
A hostile substance-force that invades life; here constrained by knowledge and verbal dominance.
Antidotal via reversal: poison is made powerless by identification and ritual shaming.
Apotropaic shielding through naming, intimidation, and social ‘outing’ of the hostile force.
4 × ~8; short name-listing gives staccato force.
Name clusters can compress; AV often prioritizes performative naming over strict metrical regularity.
Taunting, cutting, diagnostic.
Creates psychological dominance over the ‘poison’; reduces panic and fixes attention.
Seat the patient (or the bitten limb) facing east; establish protective boundary (pari-dhi/rekhā) around the working space.
The Atharvan priest recites AV 5.13 sequentially, beginning with the identification-verses; at this mantra, he ‘names’ the hostile agencies and declares knowledge of their kin/origin.
Recite while touching the affected area (bite/wound) with the right hand or with a darbha-blade/amulet-string, symbolically ‘binding’ the poison.
Conclude the segment with a dismissive gesture (apāsarpaṇa), sending the poison-power away from the patient.
Kauśika Sūtra: anti-viṣa (poison) karman context for AV 5.13 (exact sūtra numbering varies by edition; applied in the viṣa-pratiṣedha/viṣa-nāśana rite with recitation over the patient and/or a counter-substance).
Atharvan/Brahman as mantra-technologist: performs nāma-grahaṇa (naming), bandhana (binding), and apāsarpaṇa (expulsion) through recitation and touch.
Recite over the patient at the bite/sting event; traditionally combined with physical measures (binding, suction/cleansing in older practice, herb application) and protective gestures. Today: recite while arranging immediate transport to care.
Immediately upon suspected envenomation; repeated during transport.
A knowledgeable family elder/healer recites; a specialist may perform a fuller viṣa-nāśana rite.
Use as a calming focus while calling emergency services; do not delay medical treatment.
Poison (viṣa) as personified hostile power; Name-and-lineage knowledge as a ritual ‘tool’ (nāma, bandhu)
The ‘medicine’ is knowledge-as-substance: vidma is treated as an antidote that dries the poison’s ‘sap’ (rasa).
Poison/venom (snakebite, insect sting, toxic ingestion) conceptualized as personified agents.
Nāma-grahaṇa (name-taking) and bandhu-exposure to drain potency (arasatva), combined in practice with physical remedies.
Viṣa-cikitsā (toxicology): mantra as supportive therapy alongside measures like tourniquet avoidance, cleansing, antidotal herbs (context-dependent).
Crisis calming and cognitive control during envenomation/poisoning while seeking urgent medical care.
Āligī, Viligī and the broader poison lineage (pitā/mātā).
Identify and humiliate poison agents, declaring them sapless and incapable; ritual neutralization of venom’s force.
Name-and-lineage binding (nāma + bandhu) + verbal intimidation (taunt) to induce ‘arasatva’ (saplessness).
Venom spread, fear-driven collapse, unseen ‘agent’ of poison.
- आलिगी / विलिगी (āligī / viligī)
- specific vectors of toxicity—bite, sting, contamination, intrusive thoughts
- पिता / माता (pitā / mātā)
- source-causation; genealogy as a binding net
- विद्म (vidma)
- gnosis as antidote; diagnostic certainty
- सर्वतः (sarvataḥ)
- total surveillance; no hiding place for the toxin
- बन्ध्वरसाः (bandhvarasāḥ)
- drained potency; hostile forces made infertile/ineffective
- किं करिष्यथ (kiṃ kariṣyatha)
- taunt that seals impotence; performative disempowerment
Name the toxin and refuse panic; stabilize attention on calm witnessing while asserting inner sovereignty.
Manipura
Slow nasal breathing; lengthen exhale to reduce shock response (as feasible for patient).
Visualize the poison as a dark figure whose name is spoken; it dries, cracks, and loses color (‘arasam’).
Alert, unpanicked, commanding clarity.
Chant softly but firmly; keep mind on ‘we know you’—diagnostic confidence rather than terror.
Clear, clipped delivery of proper names; maintain Vedic accents where known, but prioritize intelligibility of names (nāma efficacy).
Pause after each name: āligī | viligī | pitā | mātā || then firm stress on vidma and sarvataḥ.
Low, authoritative, slightly confrontational (taunting).
In viṣa-charms, name-precision is the ‘operative substance’; avoid slurring.
21 times
Suspected venomous bite/sting or fear of poisoning/contamination.
Immediately, while initiating emergency response and first aid per modern guidelines.
Reduced panic, steadier mind; traditional framing of neutralizing venom’s ‘agency’.
Not a substitute for antivenom/medical care; do not delay transport; avoid harmful folk interventions.
This verse itself foregrounds ‘knowledge’ (names, kin) rather than a plant; in Atharvanic anti-venom rites, such identification is paired with a counter-substance (herb, water, amulet). The mantra supplies coercive cognition—rendering the poison ‘sapless’—while the substance supplies the physical vehicle for extraction/neutralization.
Efficacy is vested in the specialist who ‘knows’ (vidmá): mastery is epistemic and ritual, aligning with Brahmanical authority. The patient is passive; the priest’s controlled speech and classificatory power dominate the therapeutic encounter.
The explicit naming of obscure hostile beings (Āligī/Viligī) and the aggressive interrogative (‘what will ye do?’) are characteristic of Atharvanic pragmatic diction. The compound ‘bandhvarasāḥ’ (sapless kin) reflects AV’s penchant for semantically charged compounds used as performative insults.
Gopatha-style Atharvanic theory commonly grounds efficacy in brahman (sacral speech) and in correct application (yukti) of mantras to concrete rites; a verse like this exemplifies the principle that naming/knowing a hostile power constrains it, enabling the subsequent physical countermeasures to ‘take hold.’
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