Atharva Veda 5.31.10: Kanda 5, Anuvaka 4, Sukta 31, Mantra 10
Sukta 31
अप॑थे॒ना ज॑भारैणां॒ तां प॒थेतः प्र हि॑ण्मसि । अधी॑रो मर्या॒धीरे॑भ्यः॒ सं ज॑भा॒राचि॑त्त्या
ápathenā́ jabhā́rāināṃ tā́ṃ pathétaḥ prá hiṇmasi | ádhīro maryādhī́rebhyaḥ sáṃ jabhārā́cittyā ||
By a path astray he hath brought her hither: from the pathway do we drive her forth. The reckless one—from reckless men—hath wholly brought her by unthinking heedlessness.
किसी ने गलत रास्ते से उस औरत को यहाँ लाया है। अब हम उसे सही रास्ते से बाहर निकाल देते हैं। यह बढ़ काम करने वाले लोगों ने बिना सोचे-समझे उसे ला दिया।
Rishi: Atharvanic tradition (cycle attribution variable)
Devata: Kṛtyā/evil conveyance (no single high deity; operative power is the charm itself)
Chandas: Anuṣṭubh (probable; verse is in AV-style anuṣṭubh cadence)
Primary: vira
Secondary: bhayankara
Sāyaṇa construes the verse as identifying the mode of transmission: the kṛtyā is ‘brought’ by an improper route (apatha), i.e., by illicit procedure or liminal encounter on the road. The community/priestly ‘we’ expels it from the path (a common site of meeting and contagion). ‘adhīra/maryādhīra’ marks the sender/bearer as socially and ritually uncontrolled; ‘acittyā’ underscores culpable negligence or ignorant malice.
To drive out the incoming kṛtyā encountered/transmitted on roads and to stigmatize/neutralize the reckless agents who convey it.
Kṛtyā conceived as a transmissible affliction contracted on roads/through contact networks.
Expulsion by re-routing: identify wrong-channel entry (apatha) and force exit from the legitimate channel (patha).
Comparable to nidāna-parivarjana (removal of causes): stop the exposure pathway; also resonates with āgantuka (externally caused) disorders.
Infection-control and behavioral risk reduction: avoid unsafe vectors, improve situational awareness, reduce exposure to reckless carriers.
abhicarika
The kṛtyā and its human conveyors (adhīra men)
Drive out the incoming kṛtyā associated with roads and reckless conveyance; neutralize the agents/vectors by naming them.
Nirṇij/expulsion (hiṇmasi), patha-apatha discrimination, stigmatizing the vector (adhīra/acittyā).
Roadside/liminal contamination, socially transmitted malice or panic.
The hostile kṛtyā is imagined as arriving via a wrong path (apatha). The practitioners drive her out from the proper path (patha). The verse blames reckless, unthinking men (adhīra, acittyā) as the conveyors who brought her.
Misfortune is framed as a ‘route problem’: harmful patterns enter through careless choices, risky routes, and heedlessness. The charm repairs discernment—separating right-way from wrong-way—and restores social accountability by naming the behavioral type that transmits harm.
Many harms spread through negligence and poor pathways (habits, networks, routines). Changing the pathway—behaviorally and socially—often matters as much as treating the symptom.
- apatha
- misguided habit-channel; unsafe conduit of contagion/malice
- patha
- orderly norm; protected channel of life and conduct
- pra hiṇmasi
- active expulsion; refusing entry
- adhīra
- lack of self-regulation; impulsivity as vector
- acittyā
- mindlessness as the doorway through which harm enters
Discernment of ‘right path’ vs ‘wrong path’ in thought and habit; expelling intrusive tendencies.
muladhara (boundaries/safety)
Nāḍī-śodhana (alternate nostril) to re-establish ‘right channel’ flow; end with a firm exhale on hiṇmasi.
Visualize a forked road: choose the bright path; push a dark mist off the roadway into barren ground where it dissipates.
From vigilance to steadiness and ethical clarity.
After chanting, make one concrete ‘path correction’ (avoid a risky contact, adjust routine, improve hygiene, set a boundary).
Plain Atharvanic chant; keep a steady, walking cadence.
Mark the contrast apathena… / patha-taḥ… with clear pause; stress hiṇmasi as the expulsive act.
apathena: short a- vowels; clear th, maryādhīrebhyaḥ: keep retroflex ḍh; avoid swallowing syllables, acittyā: double t; long yā
Commanding but controlled; suited to threshold recitation.
Pairs well with a physical ‘sending out’ action (sweeping, sprinkling, foot-washing) to concretize the path metaphor.
11
After travel, entering new social spaces, or feeling ‘picked up something’ from public contact; recurring troubles linked to certain routes/associations.
At the doorway on returning home; before sleep if anxiety about outside influence persists.
Sense of safe re-entry, reduced anxiety, strengthened discernment about risky channels.
Avoid scapegoating individuals; interpret ‘reckless men’ as behaviors/vectors. Seek professional help for persistent anxiety or paranoia.
पदच्छेद (Vedic sandhi resolved): अपथेना | जभार | एणाम् | ताम् | पथेतः | प्र | हिण्मसि । अधीरो | मर्यः | अधीरेभ्यः | सम् | जभार | अचित्त्या । विशेष: ‘पथेतः’ वैदिक पञ्चमी-एकवचन (पथात्) के स्थान पर; ‘हिṇ्मसि’ वैदिक धातुरूप (√हन्/√हिण्) ‘हम दूर करते/मारते हैं’ अर्थ में।
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