Atharva Veda 6.139.2: Kanda 6, Anuvaka 14, Sukta 139, Mantra 2
Sukta 139
शुष्य॑तु॒ मयि॑ ते॒ हृद॑य॒मथो॑ शुष्यत्वा॒स्यऽम्। अथो॒ नि शु॑ष्य॒ मां कामे॒नाथो॒ शुष्का॑स्या चर
śúṣyatu máyí te hṛ́dayam átho śúṣyatv āsyàm | átho ní śuṣya mā́m kāména átho śúṣkāsyā cara
Let thy heart be parched toward me; yea, let thy mouth be parched. Yea, dry up wholly for me with longing; and, dry-mouthed, come thou hither and move as I will.
उसका दिल मेरे लिए सूखा हो, जैसे प्यासा हो। उसका मुँह भी सूखा हो। वो मेरे लिए तड़पे, मेरे पास आने को बेकरार हो। प्यासा मुँह ले कर मेरे पास आए और मेरे कहने पे चले।
The meaning
What it says
The speaker commands the target’s heart and mouth to ‘dry’ toward the speaker, to be consumed by longing, and to come, dry-mouthed, under the speaker’s control.
The inner meaning
A projection of craving and insecurity: the operator seeks certainty by manufacturing dependence in the other. ‘Dryness’ depicts obsessive fixation—attention drained from all else.
The truth in it
Desire can dehydrate the psyche: when longing becomes compulsion, it narrows speech (mouth) and feeling (heart) into a single hunger.
What it is for
- Kind of hymn
- Abhicarika (coercive love/attraction spell)
Its aim
To induce love-sickness and compel the target to come under the operator’s control, ‘dry-mouthed’ with longing.
Word by Word
Pada patha
शुष्यतु । मयि । ते । हृदयम् । अथो इति । शुष्यतु । आस्य॑म् । अथो इति । नि । शुष्य । माम् । कामेन । अथो इति । शुष्कास्या । चर
- शुष्यतु
- let (it) dry uplet it dry up, wither away (magically: let desire/resolve be parched and weakened)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role क्रियाRoot शुष् (धातु)
- मयि
- in mein me, toward me (as the locus/target of attraction or fixation)Pronounसप्तमी, एकवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- ते
- yourthy, of thee (the addressed person’s)Pronounषष्ठी, एकवचनम्Role सम्बन्धःRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- हृदयम्
- heartheart; mind/intent (seat of desire and resolve in Atharvanic psychology)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot हृदय (प्रातिपदिक)
- अथो
- and also / moreoverIndeclinableनिपातः (समुच्चय/अनन्तरार्थे)Role सम्बन्धकःRoot अथो (निपात)
- शुष्यतु
- let (it) dry uplet it dry up (repetition for reinforcement)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role क्रियाRoot शुष् (धातु)
- आस्यम्
- mouthmouth; speech-organ (magically: the power of utterance/consent)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot आस्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- अथो
- and also / moreoverIndeclinableनिपातः (समुच्चय/अनन्तरार्थे)Role सम्बन्धकःRoot अथो (निपात)
- नि
- down, completelydown, into; completely (prefix of totalizing constraint)Indeclinableउपसर्गः/अव्ययम्Role क्रियाविशेषणम्Root नि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- शुष्य
- dry up!dry up! wither! (injunctive/imperative force directed at the person’s desire)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), परस्मैपदम्, मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role क्रियाRoot शुष् (धातु)
- माम्
- mePronounद्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- कामेन
- with desire / by lustwith desire; by means of love-longing (instrumental: desire as the binding agent)Nounपुंलिङ्गम्, तृतीया, एकवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot काम (प्रातिपदिक)
- अथो
- and also / moreoverIndeclinableनिपातः (समुच्चय/अनन्तरार्थे)Role सम्बन्धकःRoot अथो (निपात)
- शुष्कास्या
- (she) of dry mouth / dry-mouthed (one)dry-mouthed (epithet of the afflicted/compelled: parched with longing)Adjective (compound)बहुव्रीहिः/कर्मधारय-समासः (शुष्कम् आस्यम् यस्याः/यस्य), स्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा, एकवचनम् (सम्बोधन/प्रथमार्थे)Role KartāRoot शुष्क (विशेषण-प्रातिपदिक) + आस्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- चर
- go, move aboutgo, move, behave (command: come/act under compulsion)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), परस्मैपदम्, मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role क्रियाRoot चर् (धातु)
Sandhi Notes
- (1) शुष्यत्वा॒स्यऽम् → शुष्यतु + आस्यम् (उ + आ → वा; अवग्रहः ‘ऽ’ = अ-लोप-चिह्नः)
- (2) नि शु॑ष्य → नि + शुष्य (उपसर्ग ‘नि’ पृथक्)
- (3) शुष्का॑स्या → शुष्क + आस्य (समासः; ‘आस्या’ इति रूपं स्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्)
- (4) ते हृदयम्: ‘ते’ षष्ठी-एकवचनं (युष्मद्) ‘तव’ अर्थे
- (5) हृदयम्/आस्यम् नपुंसक-प्रथमा एकवचनं कर्तृरूपे ‘शुष्यतु’ इत्यस्य।
Seer, deity and metre
- Rishi
- Atharvanic (traditional attribution for kāmya hymns; specific r̥ṣi varies by anukramaṇī)
- Devata
- Kāma (desire) as operative force; the target’s heart/mouth as loci of efficacy
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh (predominant in AV coercive charms; exact metrical scan may vary with pada division)
- Rasa
- Shringara and Raudra
Sāyaṇa takes ‘drying’ (śoṣa) as the Atharvanic mode of coercion: the victim’s heart (saṅkalpa) and mouth (vāk/abhilāṣa) are ‘dried’ so that resistance and alternative speech are weakened, and the person is driven by kāma toward the operator. ‘śuṣkāsyā’ marks the visible symptom of love-sickness (parched mouth), serving as both sign and mechanism of compulsion.
Anonymous Atharvanic operator (kāmya/abhicāra blend; attribution varies)
Kāmya attraction spells using somatic symptoms (dryness, restlessness) as signs of efficacy
Illustrates Atharvanic erotics as a technology of symptoms: love-sickness is ritually induced and read as proof of mantra-force.
Kāma (Desire) as operative power
Kāma is the mover that draws beings together; in coercive use, it becomes a binding current overriding consent.
4 x ~8; repeated atho iti (‘and further’) creates a litany effect
Repetition of atho and enclitic forms can produce slight syllabic elasticity typical of AV charms.
Incantatory escalation—each clause tightens the bind.
Builds obsessive pressure; ‘drying’ imagery can induce a trance of fixation in operator and (ritually imagined) target.
The Atharvan operator seats the beneficiary facing the target’s direction.
The mantra is recited while performing a ‘binding’ gesture (saṃdāna/saṃyojana) with a cord or by symbolic ‘drying’ action (e.g., touching the mouth/heart region of a proxy effigy).
The operator repeats the drying formula with intensified cadence, concluding with the command ‘cara’ to effect movement.
The rite is sealed by a final recitation over the beneficiary’s breath (prāṇa) to project compulsion.
Kauśika Sūtra: kāmya/strīkāmaṇa-type prakaraṇa (love-compulsion rites) — exact sūtra number requires manuscript/edition alignment.
Atharvan/Brahman as mantra-technologist: reciter and controller of the coercive speech-act; supervises correct accent and repetition to avoid reversal.
Historically recited in private, sometimes with directional gestures toward the target’s dwelling/path; may be paired with a uniting agent in adjacent verses.
Often at night or liminal hours; secrecy enhances the ‘binding’ logic.
Usually operator-led; a specialist may prescribe adjunct substances/acts.
KauśS includes kāmya/saṃvanana rites; this verse aligns with attraction-compulsion procedures (exact cite varies by edition).
Not recommended as a coercive practice; can be presented as a study text on consent and the rhetoric of desire.
Absence of substances foregrounds vāc as pharmakon: speech alone is imagined to alter physiology (dry mouth, restless heart) and behavior.
Induced love-sickness (not therapeutic)
Heart and mouth
‘Dryness’ (rūkṣatā) and burning longing resemble vāta/pitta agitation; here weaponized rather than treated.
Coercive manipulation; parallels to obsessive attachment and control dynamics.
The desired person (second person ‘te’)
To induce compulsive longing and compel the target to approach and comply.
Somatic symptom imposition (parching) + repeated reinforcement (atho) + command of locomotion (cara).
- शुष्यतु (śuṣyatu)
- consumption by craving; depletion of alternative interests
- हृदय (hṛdaya)
- affect, intention, attachment-center
- आस्य (āsya)
- speech, appetite, the social interface
- काम (kāma)
- operative force that binds attention and motion
- चर (cara)
- compelled movement; surrender of autonomy
Transforming craving into spacious awareness; cultivating non-attachment.
Anāhata (heart)
Nadi śodhana or lengthened exhale to cool ‘heat’ of longing.
Cool water/light moistening the heart and mouth (counter-image to śuṣyatu) to restore balance.
From fixation to witnessing clarity.
Use the verse as a diagnostic mirror: notice grasping; then practice metta/maitrī without control—wish well-being without compulsion.
Śaunakīya; keep the repeated śuṣyatu/śuṣya as rhythmic anchors; atho iti marks a stepwise intensification.
Pause slightly after each atho to create the sense of tightening constraint; keep ‘mayi’ clear as the directional focus.
Pressed, insistent (historical coercive style).
Many kāmya charms rely on escalating refrains; ethically, modern presentation should foreground consent and non-harm.
Textual study of Atharvanic love-magic and its psychology.
For recitation only in educational/reflective settings, not to coerce.
Understanding how somatic metaphors (dryness) encode obsession and control in ritual language.
Avoid using against others; may reinforce unhealthy attachment patterns—seek support if obsessional thoughts are present.
No explicit plant/amulet is named in this verse; efficacy is achieved through somatic metaphor (‘drying’ of heart and mouth) functioning as a psychophysiological model of love-sickness. In Atharvanic logic, the symptom (parched mouth) is both sign and instrument of compulsion.
The operator’s speech is framed as sovereign over another’s interiority (hṛdaya) and agency (cara). This presumes access to Atharvanic expertise—typically mediated by a ritual specialist—thus encoding asymmetry between ritual-knower and target.
The coercive injunctive/imperative style and the psychophysical targeting of ‘heart’ and ‘mouth’ are characteristically Atharvanic. The repeated ‘atho’ as incremental intensifier is common in AV charm diction, less typical of RV hymnody’s praise-structure.
Gopatha tends to rationalize Atharvanic efficacy through brahman (sacral speech) and correct performance; the ‘drying’ here would be construed as the brahman’s capacity to constrain prāṇa/saṅkalpa, making the target’s desire the vehicle of compliance.
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